RTHK: UN reprimands Russia over Ukraine; China abstains

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to reprimand Russia for its operation in Ukraine and demanded that Moscow stop fighting and withdraw its military forces, an action that aims to diplomatically isolate Russia at the world body.

The resolution, supported by 141 of the assembly's 193 members, passed in a rare emergency session called by the UN Security Council while Ukrainian forces battled to defend the port of Kherson in the face of air strikes and a devastating bombardment that forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee.

Russia was joined by Belarus, which has served as a launch pad for Russian forces, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria in voting against the resolution. Thirty-five members, including China, abstained.

Elaborating on Chinas abstention, Beijings envoy, Zhang Jun, said the resolution did not undergo full consultations with the whole membership of the assembly.

"Nor does it take full consideration of the history and complexity of the current crisis. It does not highlight the importance of the principle of indivisible security, or the urgency of promoting political settlement and stepping up diplomatic efforts, he said. These are not in line with Chinas consistent positions.

China says it will not participate in Western sanctions against Moscow.

The text of the resolution deplores Russia's "aggression against Ukraine." The last time the Security Council convened an emergency session of the General Assembly was in 1982, according to the UN website.

While General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they carry political weight, with Wednesday's vote representing a symbolic victory for Ukraine and increasing Moscow's international isolation.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the assembly that Russia was poised to intensify the brutality of its offensive and urged members to hold Moscow accountable for its violations of international law.

Russia's UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, denied Moscow was targeting civilians and accused Western governments of pressuring assembly members to pass the resolution, whose adoption he said could fuel further violence.

"The evil will never stop. It requires more and more space," Ukraine's UN envoy, Sergiy Kyslytsa, said in urging passage of the resolution, calling it "one of the building blocks to build a wall to stop" the Russian offensive. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2022-03-02. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Xi tells armed police to always be faithful guardian of Party, people

Xinhua) 08:04, March 03, 2022

People wait to visit the memorial of the first National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in Shanghai, east China, June 6, 2021. (Xinhua/Liu Ying)

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged armed police forces to always serve as the faithful guardian of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in the reply to a letter from a People's Armed Police Force unit in Shanghai.

In his letter, Xi praised the unit for its honorable tradition and achievements in learning the Party's history, and called for carrying forward the great founding spirit of the CPC.

Since 1998, members of the unit have devoted their weekends and holidays to explaining the Party's history to over 4.5 million visitors to the site of the first CPC National Congress in Shanghai. The site is part of a memorial that chronicles the founding of the CPC as well as the Party's efforts and achievements over the past 100 years.

Armed police officers of the unit recently wrote to Xi to report their progress in studying the Party's history.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
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Iodine pills are seen in a classroom in Fessenheim during a nuclear accident drill near Frances oldest nuclear power station in June 2018.
In 1923, Fabian Chavez was 26 years old when he and his sister Rayo Chavez crossed the border at El Paso, Texas. Between the two of them, they had $1.40.

Fabian stated that he was going to join his brother John Chavez in Mason City, Iowa, to work as a laborer in the beet fields.

Ten years later Fabian would be dead and buried in St. Josephs Cemetery in Mason City. Eleven years later, John would be murdered and Simona, John's wife, would die from tuberculosis.

John and Simona were married in 1919 here in Mason City. John crossed the El Paso border two years earlier. Simona and her brother also crossed at El Paso that same year. The 1927 City Directory shows the family living at Lehigh Row with John as a scaleman at Lehigh.

John, Simona and their six children lived at 13 Lehigh Row in 1930. Like many people who lived on Lehigh Row, they took in borders, Fabian was their border. John worked at Lehigh, Fabian worked in the beet fields.

In November of 1933, Fabian was found dead outside of 13 Lehigh Row, the home of John and his family. Fabian died of a heart condition, and following a funeral at Holy Family Catholic Church, he was buried in Elmwood-St. Josephs cemetery. John built the concrete cross that still stands to mark Fabians grave.

Tragedy struck the family again in the spring of 1934. Simona was diagnosed with the highly contagious tuberculosis and required hospitalization. John had taken Simona to Mercy Hospital in Mason City for treatment.

Upon his return home, a scuffle broke out between John and a neighbor. The scuffle quickly escalated with a knife and a poker. Thinking the scuffle was over John turned around to walk into his home and was stabbed in the back by a knife thrown by the neighbor. John was taken to Mercy Hospital where he died. Simona remained in the hospital making arrangements for their six children.

She adopted the children out to local Mexican families who would keep the children in the United States and continue to teach them the Catholic faith. Simona was transferred to the local pest house, a contagious medical setting, where she died the next year.

John and Simona are buried in Elmwood-St. Josephs cemetery.

John and Simona had six children. Three of their sons entered the armed forces; one son did not return from Korea and received the Purple Heart. One daughter, a medical secretary, married a soldier in the army who landed on Normandy Beach, there were six children in their family. John and Simona's second daughter married and currently lives in San Antonio.

This selection was written with the assistance of Nina Givan, John and Simona's granddaughter.

Tales from Elmwood-St. Joseph is a collaboration between Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery, the Globe Gazette and KCMR Radio that highlights the life of a Mason City resident.

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Quote:

(A) Certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same placeone reason is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals.

Quote:

(B) If used repeatedly in the same placeone reason that certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals.

Quote:

(C) If used repeatedly in the same placeone reason certain pesticides can become ineffective is suggested by the finding that much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes are found in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than those that are free of such chemicals.

than those

in

Quote:

(D) The finding that there are much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in soils that are free of such chemicals is suggestive of one reason, if used repeatedly in the same place, certain pesticides can become ineffective.

Quote:

(E) The finding of much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide use than in those that are free of such chemicals suggests one reason certain pesticides can become ineffective if used repeatedly in the same place.

of

that

I totally hate this question, and generally start cursing uncontrollably when my students miss it. But I'm cursing at the question -- NOT my students -- because I think the question is ridiculous.But as usual: the GMAT doesn't really care what any of us think. Let's solve this SOB."One reason is suggested by the finding..." Seriously, GMAT? Who the hell writes like that?!But remember our two-step technique from the SC Guide for Beginners : eliminate DEFINITE errors first, then look for meaning issues. I don't think that this muddy mess is DEFINITELY wrong. The semicolon correctly separates two independent clauses, and the comparison seems OK."One reason is suggested by the finding" is awkward and wordy, in my opinion. But that's just my opinion, and my opinion doesn't matter -- and no matter how awesome you are, neither does yours.Keep (A), perhaps while holding your nose.I'm comfortable getting rid of this one right away, because of that very first phrase: "if used repeatedly in one place" would need to be followed by "pesticides," not "one reason." (B) is out.(C) has the same issue as (B), plus that comparison seems a little bit off: "much larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes are found in soils with a relatively long history of pesticide usethat are free of such chemicals." "Than those" would be better if it said "thanthose." (C) is out.This isn't horrible, to be honest. Well... actually, yeah it is, but so is (A). I don't think there's a DEFINITE error in (D), but the placement of "if used repeatedly in one place" is definitely suspect: it sounds like "one reason" is the thing that is used repeatedly in the same place. You basically have to re-read the whole thing to figure out that it's the pesticides that are used in one place.More generally, I think you could make a (not super-convincing) argument that the sentence is so horrendously wordy that you lose track of the subject. "The finding (blah blah blah....) is suggestive of one reason...." In general, please be really careful with this sort of thing. Frankly, (A) is pretty wordy, too; (D) is arguably wordy enough that the meaning become unclear. That's a judgment call, and that's really not the way you want to think about SC , but it maybe adds a little bit of support to the idea that (A) is better than (D).If you wanted to be conservative, you could keep (D), but I think that the modifier placement issue definitely tilts us toward (A). So (D) is out.I actually really like the placement of "if used repeatedly in the same place" here. And I think we can make a similar (weak!) case about "wordiness" as in (D): there's a whole lot of stuff between the subject and the verb, and that makes things muddy. But again: you shouldn't be terribly convinced by arguments about "wordiness" , and we should try to find something that's more solid, relating to either grammar or meaning.And here's the big issue: "the findingmuch larger populations of pesticide-degrading microbes..." We're really not talking about the "finding of microbes" -- that would refer to the act of seeing the microbes themselves. The "reason" that we're interested in is the findingthere are larger populations of microbes in some soils than in others.And I know: that's subtle as all hell, but it definitely makes the meaning in (E) a little bit illogical. So we're left with a steaming pile of poo, otherwise known as answer choice (A)._________________
NEW YORK (AP)  Until a year ago, Stephana Ferrell's political activism was limited to the occasional letter to elected officials.

Then came her local school board meeting in Orange County, Florida and an objection raised to Maia Kobabe's graphic novel "Gender Queer: A Memoir." And the county's decision last fall to remove it from high school shelves.

"By winter break, we realized this was happening all over the state and needed to start a project to rally parents to protect access to information and ideas in school," says Ferrell, a mother of two. Along with fellow Orange County parent Jen Cousins, she founded the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which works with existing parent groups statewide on a range of educational issues, including efforts to "keep or get back books that have gone under challenge or have been banned."

Over the past year, book challenges and bans have reached levels not seen in decades, according to officials at the American Library Association, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and other advocates for free expression. Censorship efforts have ranged from local communities such as Orange County and a Tennessee school board's pulling Art Spiegelman's graphic novel "Maus," to statewide initiatives.

"There are some books with pornography and pedophilia that should absolutely be removed from K through 12 school libraries," says Yael Levin, a spokeswoman for No Left Turn in Education, a national group opposed to what it calls a "Leftist agenda" for public schools that has called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the availability of "Gender Queer" among other books. "Now we're not talking about a public library or bookstores. We're talking about K through 12 school libraries, books that are just pornographic and with pedophilic content."

According to PEN America, which has been tracking legislation around the country, dozens of bills have been proposed that restrict classroom reading and discussion. Virtually all of the laws focus on sexuality, gender identity or race. In Missouri, a bill would ban teachers from using the "1619 Project," the New York Times magazine issue which centers around slavery in American history and was released last fall as a book.

The responses have come from organizations large and small, and sometimes from individuals such as Ferrell.

The American Civil Liberties Union, PEN America and the NCAC have been working with local activists, educators and families around the country, helping them "to prepare for meetings, to draft letters and to mobilize opposition," according to PEN America's executive director, Suzanne Nossel. The CEO of Penguin Random House, Markus Dohle, has said he will personally donate $500,000 for a book defense fund to be run in partnership with PEN. Hachette Book Group has announced "emergency donations" to PEN, the NCAC and the Authors Guild.

Legal action has been one strategy. In Missouri, the ACLU filed suit in federal court in mid-February to prevent the Wentzville school district from removing such books as "Gender Queer," Nobel laureate Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" and Keise Laymon's memoir "Heavy." The civil liberties union has also filed open records requests in Tennessee and Montana over book bans, and a warning letter in Mississippi against what it described as the "unconstitutionality of public library book bans."

Vera Eidelman, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, cited the U.S. Supreme Court's 1982 ruling declaring that "local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books." The tricky area, Eidelman acknowledged, is that schools officials are allowed to ban books for reasons other than not approving of the viewpoints the books express. Officials might determine, for instance, that the book is too profane or vulgar.

"The problem is just that often our definitions, for example, of vulgarity or age appropriateness, are for lack of a better word, mushy, and they can also hide or be used as pretext for viewpoint-based decisions by the government," she said.

Two anti-banning initiatives were launched in Pennsylvania. In Kutztown, eighth grader Joslyn Diffenbaugh formed a banned book club last fall that began with a reading of George Orwell's "Animal Farm." The Pennridge Improvement Project has started a drive to purchase books that have been removed from schools, including Leslea Newman's "Heather has Two Mommies" and Kim Johnson's "This is My America," and place them in small free libraries around the district.

The wave of bans has led to new organizations and to a change of focus for existing groups. Katie Paris, an Ohio resident and the founder of Red, Wine & Blue, a national network of politically engaged "PTA mamas and digital divas" founded in 2019, said that last year she began receiving calls from members begging for help as debates over "critical race theory" erupted.

Red, Wine & Blue started online sessions it calls Trouble Maker Training, which includes such guidance as "Present a calm face to counter the yelling and shouting" and "Own individual freedom: You can decide what is right for your child, but you don't get to dictate what's right for other families." Red, Wine & Blue also launched a website that tracks book bans, raised about $65,000 to organize against bans and is organizing an event in March featuring authors of banned books and parents from communities where books are being challenged.

"We think education works best when it's parents and teachers working together," says Paris, the mother of 7- and 3-year old boys. "And if you don't want your child to have access to a book, then opt them out. That's fine. You just don't want to just take that opportunity away from my kids."

Trying to get a book restored is often like other kinds of community activism  letter writing, speeches, attending meetings.

Meenal McNary is a member of the Round Rock Black Parents Association, based about 20 miles from Austin, Texas. The association was founded in 2015 after a Black teenager was slammed to the ground by a police officer, but more recently became active in diversifying the curriculum and fighting efforts to remove books. Last year, a parent's objection led to Round Rock school district officials considering whether "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You," by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, should be taken off middle school reading lists.

"We worked with a middle school teacher who started a petition, and that gained a lot of traction, with more than a 1,000 signatures," McNary says. The district followed a three-step review process  culminating with a school board vote  during which McNary and others helped organize people into writing letters, turning up for board meetings and telling others about the petition.

"We had children speaking up in favor of this book, even though it was traumatic for some of them to read," McNary says. "We had everyone from middle school students to grandmothers and grandfathers stating their reasons why this should remain on the shelves. The board ended up voting in our favor and the book is still there."

***

Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas.
The General Assembly is advancing a bill that would prohibit the governor or his aides from interfering with an investigation by the Office of the State Inspector General (OSIG).

The lawmaker who filed the bill said he did so after reading Richmond Times-Dispatch reporting in 2021 that documented how senior aides to then-Gov. Ralph Northam in 2020 summoned the inspector general to a meeting when he was investigating misconduct at the Virginia Parole Board. Northam's aides then questioned his power and reprimanded him.

The bill from Del. Les Adams, R-Pittsylvania, has passed the House of Delegates without opposition and got a 14-0 vote of support Wednesday in the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee, meaning the bill is expected to pass the Senate and head to Gov. Glenn Youngkin for consideration.

Governors appoint the inspector general, who oversees investigations of fraud, waste, abuse and corruption in executive branch agencies of state government.

The 2020 meeting in which the governor's staff summoned Inspector General Michael Westfall and his team followed the start of investigations by OSIG that eventually concluded the Virginia Parole Board violated state laws and policies in the process used for release of certain people from prison. That included not properly communicating with the families of victims.

The Times-Dispatch obtained a recording of the meeting.

Under questioning from the governors team during the tense meeting, Westfall promised that his agency would not look into new complaints about the parole board but would instead forward them to the governors office.

Brian Moran, the secretary of public safety and homeland security under Northam, asked Westfall how OSIG even had authority to examine something like whether the parole board had met the requirement to notify a commonwealths attorney that an inmate had been paroled.

Moran told the OSIG investigators they were being used as political tools.

Westfall told his team after the meeting that he feared for his job:

Ill be honest with you, in the back of my mind  you know, no rumor starting  but this is the type of stuff that leads to me getting a new job. Against my will. And Im fine with that. I knew that when I took the job.

Adams told senators Wednesday that he looked at state law and was surprised there was no prohibition on such interference, because the inspector general was intended to be independent. (The office was created in 2012).

The legislation would prohibit interference or undue influence on OSIG by the governor, chief of staff, counsel, policy director and Cabinet secretaries.

The lead OSIG investigator looking into the parole board was fired, and filed a federal lawsuit in January over her termination.

Attorney General Jason Miyares is now investigating the parole board.
Of Virginias 95 counties and 38 cities, very, very few boast a state historical marker that shares some of the incredible stories of United States Colored Troops.

Now, Culpeper does.

Some 70 area residents joined historians and a state official in Brandy Station on Saturday to unveil and dedicate the new marker on Brandy Road in the history-rich hamlet beside busy U.S. 29.

Vietnam War veteran Ed Gantt, a retired Navy officer and pilot who led Fighter Squadron 31 at Naval Air Station Miramar, introduced the events speakers at the Brandy Station Volunteer Fire Department. But first, he offered his perspective.

Our real honored guest is invisiblethe 190,000 to 200,000 African Americans who decided they werent going to wait for the end of slavery, but would make sure that freedom came by the sword, Gantt said. And when they did that, they did it at tremendous risk.

If they hadnt done that 160 years ago, we would be a very different nation, he said. The world would be a different place.

Brandy Stations marker, one of a handful in Virginia that educates the public about USCT soldiers, notes the first African American soldiers to serve in the Unions Army of the Potomac during the astonishing Overland Campaign of 1864.

Brainstorm of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, headquartered in Culpeper, the campaign spelled the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. Eleven months after it began, Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox Court House.

Culpeper County native Howard Lambert, president of The Freedom Foundation of Virginia, welcomed everyone to its event in Brandy Station.

You are in a very special place today and for a very special occasion, Lambert said.  Welcome to Culpeper County; theres a lot to see and do here. This is my hometown; this place is near and dear to my heart. But years ago, when I rode the school bus as a boy here, little did I know the history of Brandy Station.

The crossroads village was the center of fighting in American historys largest cavalry engagement and is home to the Graffiti House, a wartime field hospitalnow a museumwhere Union and Confederate soldiers scrawled artwork and inscriptions. Fought on June 9, 1863, the wide-ranging Battle of Brandy Station inflicted 1,300 casualties and impacted Lees Gettysburg Campaign.

But it is the wars later Overland Campaign that the new marker describes.

On May 5, 1864, some 4,000 African American soldiers marched into Culpeper County at Kellys Ford as part of Grants Army of the Potomac, the Unions primary fighting force in the wars Eastern Theater.

Seven USCT regiments entered Lees Central Virginia turf via Culpeper, after crossing the Rappahannock River. Many had been enslaved, some in Culpeper and nearby counties, before joining the armys ranks and returning south. Culpeper researcher Zann Nelson has identified at least 120 USCTs who were born in Culpeper.

Representing those 4,000 Black soldiers on Saturday were living historians with the 23rd Regiment, USCT, a Spotsylvania-based re-enactment unit.

On May 15, 1864, the 23rds men became the first Black soldiers to fight in combat against Lees vaunted Army of Northern Virginia. They prevailed.

Dr. James K. Bryant II, a historian, author and former Shenandoah University professor, detailed the Black regiments service in Virginia.

All of the USCT soldiers were green, having never served together in combat, said Bryant, the dedications keynote speaker.

But that makes their accomplishments during the Overland Campaign all the more remarkable, as they stepped forwardmarching at the double quickto fight Lees cavalry and infantry, and again in the horrific Battle of the Crater in Petersburg, he said.

As May 1864s Battle of the Wilderness grew desperate when Confederates launched a massive counterattack, Union headquarters told Brig. Gen. Edward Ferrerro, commander of the Black regiments in the Ninth Corps Fourth Division, to attack and press the enemy with all dispatch, he said.

The 23rd Regiments men went straight from guarding Grants supply trains to combat in Spotsylvania County, to hold the armys right flank.

That instance, the first combat between Black troops and Lees army in Central Virginia, hints at the significance of the U.S. Colored Troops in the Overland Campaign, Bryant said. Its a subject that merits being better noted in the annals of the Civil War, he said.

This is our history, Bryant said. Im not talking about African Americans or just Black people. Its important history for all people who consider America their country.

Entering Confederate-held territory, the soldiers of Brig. Gen. Edward Ferreros 9th Army Corps knew what they were getting into, Bryant said. One can only imagine what went through their minds as they marched into Culpeper.

Black troops risked execution or re-enslavement because the Confederate government considered them to be slaves in revolt.

Bryant gave shout-outs to Culpeper historical researcher Zann Nelson and Culpeper historian Clark B. Hall for helping bring to light more of the stories of USCTs in Culpeper.

Virginia Board of Historic Review member David Ruth, who serves on the panel that approved the marker, came from the state capital to speak at the dedication.

Hundreds of state historical markers note Civil War events and people, but only a handful focus on United States Colored Troops, said Ruth, a former superintendent of Richmond National Battlefield Park.

So this marker is a critical and much-needed addition to the state historic marker program, he said. And its important to note that this program could not exist without community-minded citizens.

He thanked Lambert, The Freedom Foundation and the Virginia Department of Transportation for their work on the Overland Campaign project.

Gantt asked Ruth to convey the foundations appreciation to Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Ruth said that in the past five years, Virginia has devoted more than half of its new markers to African American history.

Brandy Station resident Eugene Triplett, a Freedom Foundation director, urged participants to dig more into their family history to see if they could discover a connection to Civil War-era history.

He acknowledged the search can be hard, saying USCT descendants first have to find their genealogical haystack before they can search for a family member, the proverbial needle in a haystack.

That is difficult because slaveholders records often listed only first names for enslaved people.

But as Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.s popular Finding Your Roots TV program attests, it is possible, Triplett said.

If everyone who attended Saturdays event did a DNA test, theyd probably find they are related to a USCT soldier in the seven regiments mentioned on the Brandy Station historical marker, he said. Triplett recognized many of the soldiers surnames among the events attendees.

During Saturdays event, Civil War women were represented, too.

In the Brandy Station fire hall, Spotsylvania resident Jamie Perdue and her son Royal portrayed Dinwiddie County native Elizabeth Keckley, first lady Mary Lincolns dressmaker and confidante, and Keckleys baby George.

Outside, Culpeper County resident Delores Triplett Brown, descendant of a soldier in the 27th USCT, removed the state historical markers wrapping as Culpeper sheriffs deputy Chris Williams stood in Brandy Road to direct traffic.

U.S. military veteran Yvette Blake portrayed a member of the 23rd USCT, serving in the regiments color guard during the markers unveiling.
A House subcommittee on Wednesday rejected a Senate bill to bar most personal use of campaign funds, scuttling a measure that had passed the Senate on a vote of 37-3.

A GOP-led subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections Committee voted 5-3 along party lines to defeat the bill sponsored by Sen. John Bell, D-Loudoun, ending the legislation for this session, which is set to close March 12.

Virginia is one of the few states with no rules governing how legislative candidates and state lawmakers spend their campaign money. Lawmakers studied the issue last year, which resulted in Bell's bill.

Bell told the subcommittee that the measure "isn't a perfect bill" but it was meant to prevent the "the most egregious things."

"We have nothing today," Bell said. "There is nothing to stop anybody from, frankly, doing anything they want with these funds."

He added: "Frankly, when a candidate or an elected official does one of these most egregious things and it hits the paper it makes all of us look bad."

Republicans who control the House of Delegates previously killed legislation that would ban the personal use of campaign money. Bell's bill differed in several respects. For instance, it would have allowed candidates and lawmakers to spend the money on food and clothing.

"If a candidate has a piece of pizza at the campaign office with their staff, technically that could be a violation," so the bill removes references to food, Bell said.

"Clothing is another issue," Bell said. "If a candidate has a shirt with a campaign logo" that also could have been a violation, so Bell's bill does not bar spending on clothing.

The bill also would have allowed use of campaign funds for professional development that relates to campaign or legislative training.

Del. Kim Taylor, R-Dinwiddie, a member of the subcommittee, said she disagreed with the bill's exemption for child care as an appropriate use of campaign funds.

"This is a position of public service," Taylor said. "If you have children that need child care, I do not think that that should come out of campaign funding."

Bell said the provision was meant to help volunteers serving in a campaign. He said a working group that looked at campaign finance issues recognized that child care is a challenge for volunteers in both political parties.

Bell said he would be willing to remove the provision if it moved the bill forward.

"I'm not looking for the perfect solution," Bell said. "I'm looking for a start - and sometimes we need to do that in very complex areas."

Del. Candi King, D-Prince William, said she could not support the measure without its exemptions for child care and dependent care. She said that without continuing to allow such expenditures, the legislature would continue to see disparities between "independently wealthy" candidates who can afford to run and serve and "working people" who face more challenges in seeking public office.

Del. Margaret Ransone, R-Westmoreland, said she is not comfortable putting a measure in the state code that, as Bell said, is not perfect. Ransone noted that the House has backed a bill that would continue the work of a panel that is studying campaign finance issues.
A House of Delegates proposal to create a fund for school construction is likely headed into negotiations with the Senate that will have everything to do with the final two-year state budget and how it will address a multi-billion-dollar problem of crumbling school buildings across Virginia.

The Senate Finance & Appropriations Committed amended a House bill on Wednesday to conform it with a Senate measure that originally aimed to do the same thing - create a separate fund to issue grants to local school divisions to repair or replace schools.

But House Bill 563, proposed by Del. Israel O'Quinn, R-Washington County, is now part of the larger budget debate over whether to make grants to localities or offer them interest-subsidized loans with rebates for a portion of the cost for those that can least afford to pay.

Senate Finance Chair Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, made clear she wants the legislation sent to a conference committee for negotiations with the House in conjunction with the debate over the budget.

"This is obviously one of the major topics of this session," Howell said.

The committee approved a substitute for O'Quinn's bill that would conform it to Senate Bill 473, proposed by Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, chair of the Commission on School Modernization and Construction.

The House bill also includes provisions that are identical to Senate Bill 238, proposed by Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, to direct the state departments of education and general services to develop a way to help school divisions assess the condition of each school building and the cost to maintain it properly.

By conforming the two bills, the Senate and House will have to resolve the differences in conference committee, just as they will for the pending budgets.

The Senate budget includes $500 million in state funds that then-Gov. Ralph Northam proposed in December to help localities address a problem that would cost as much as $25 billion to replace all of the school buildings in Virginia over 50 years old, or more than half of them.

The budget also includes language that McClellan proposed in a separate bill, Senate Bill 471, that would continue to use the Literary Fund for school loans, raising the amount available and lowering the interest cost to borrowers. That bill also appears headed to a conference committee for negotiations.

The House budget eliminates that language and takes a different approach to avoid setting a precedent by using state money to pay for what has been a local responsibility.

It would establish a loan-rebate program with $292 million in state funds and $250 million from the Literary Fund that the state would use to subsidize the interest on up to $2 billion in loans, with rebates of up to 30% of the loan principal for the poorest localities. Ultimately, the House is counting on proceeds from casino gaming to replenish the fund.

The budget provision passed the House on a 52-48 party-line vote last week, with Democrats arguing that local governments can't afford to pay back big loans without additional help, including the option for a voluntary 1% sales tax for school construction, a concept that House Republicans have blocked twice during this session.

O'Quinn told the House last week that the loan-rebate program may not be ideal, but he said, "2 billion dollars is a lot of money in any context."

McClellan said in an interview said their bills are alike in that "the fund is the same, [but] the bottom line is the grant program."

She is wary of using the Literary Fund, from which the state has routinely diverted money to pay for teacher retirement, for a loan-rebate program that ultimately would rely on casino gaming proceeds.

"I'm still skeptical that the casino money is going to be enough," she said.

Despite the differences, McClellan regards the debate as a long-awaited opportunity for the state to address the problem of crumbling schools.

"I think the fact that we're even talking and they're willing to do something is real progress," she said. "The question is whether they're willing to do enough."
RALEIGH  On a Sunday night, a small crowd files into Carolina Ballet studio, shaking off the January cold and exchanging stories of recent productions: set changes in Playmakers Repertory Companys Stick Fly and a double-sword fight scene in Studio 1s Macbeth.

These people are actors, and theyre here to fight.

The dance studio is wide-open, with gray floors scuffed by the feet of countless past performers in countless past rehearsals. Its a blank slate that still bears the echoes of everything its held. A cluster of spray-painted blue columns stands against one wall, and ballet bars circle the room.

The floor-to-ceiling mirror along the front wall gives the room the appearance of being larger than it is.

Dressed in sweatpants, leggings and T-shirts for easy movement, 10 students spread across the floor, giving each other a wide berth for the weapons they wield.

Its the first day of quarterstaff training. Six feet long, made of hickory or ash and polished to a smooth shine, the quarterstaff offers an important lesson in owning the space around you.

The resounding smack of wood hitting wood  with the staff occasionally clattering to the ground  echoes throughout the rehearsal space.

From teachers to directors to dramatic arts students, theres a wide range of experience in the studio. Some of the students grip the staff uncertainly in their gloved hands, while others balance it easily, comfortable with the muscle memory of previous training or performance.

This first class of the new semester is about getting comfortable with the basics; and, always, its about having fun.

The class

Jeff Jones is a certified teacher and fight director who has been choreographing and teaching in the Triangle for more than 20 years. He choreographs for Carolina Ballet, Playmakers Repertory Company and several other theater companies throughout the Triangle.

For almost as long, Jones has taught this stage combat class each Sunday, now called the Collaborative Combat Movement Arts (facebook.com/stagecombatacademync). The class, which is $20 per two-hour session, prepares students for certification in as many as eight different weapons, including short sword, broadsword, quarterstaff and unarmed combat.

Over the years, it has become a community for actors from the Triangle and beyond to connect through the precise technique of this shared passion.

The class is broken into semesters that roughly align with a college schedule. Each semester is devoted to one weapon in the rotating cast of eight.

At the end of the training period, students have the option to perform for adjudicators who issue certificates in mastery of individual weapons. As certificates accumulate, participants can work up the rankings of the Society of American Fight Directors, the organization that certifies actors as fighters and teachers of stage combat.

Though stage combat training is not a requirement for most actors, its a skill that can enhance an actors overall performance and presence onstage.

And this training doesnt just come in handy in elaborate Shakespearean brawls and swordplay.

Even the briefest unarmed tussles require good technique and safety precautions to keep the actors safe and the performance convincing.

Acting is all about conflict, and combat is the physical language of conflict, Jones said.

Getting ready

Class begins with a warm-up of stretches and lunges, imaginary weapons raised high as a playlist shuffles everything from orchestral music to Pinks Raise Your Glass.

Kira Cornell knits her brow in concentration, testing the weight of the staff. She spars with the air in front of her, feeling out the way one movement flows into the next. A first-year dramatic arts major at UNC-Chapel Hill, Cornell first discovered her love of stage combat as a high school student in Hillsborough.

Shed been active in local and school theater, but something clicked for her when she began combat training.

She loves the community she finds in the art, as well as the way mastering fight techniques increases her confidence on stage and her ability to fully commit to a role. She dreams of one day becoming a certified teacher and fight director.

Throughout my journey to workshops and classes, I love being around fight people, Cornell said. Getting to be around them for a point of time in the week is really, really great.

Cornell remembers enacting dramatic stick sword fights in her backyard as a little kid, sparring with trees and imaginary opponents.

Whenever I say I do stage combat, people who knew me as a little girl are like Yeah, that makes sense, Cornell said. I feel like this is what I was leading up to my entire life.

One of the actors Cornell has become good friends with is also a UNC-Chapel Hill student.

Benjamin Tarlton is a junior dramatic arts major who has been taking Jones class since 2016.

UNC-Chapel Hill does not offer a stage combat class for undergraduates, and Tarlton frequently receives requests from student theater groups to consult on fight scenes and choreography.

He initially discovered his love for stage combat when playing Edward in a 2016 production of Henry VI, and hes now certified in five weapons.

Kira Cornells father, Jeff Cornell, is a dramatic arts professor at UNC and also a regular attendee of Jones Sunday night combat class. Though hes participated in stage fights before, Jeff Cornell had limited fight training experience prior to this class. Through this study of technique and form, hes found new ways to become fully immersed in scene and character while onstage.

The form becomes a vessel into which you can throw yourself with release and abandon, which is, for a performer, what were always looking for  ways that we can be more spontaneous and less controlled, Jeff Cornell said.

Theres no doubt that this training develops the motor skills, spatial awareness and technique necessary for a successful fight scene. But just as important, stage fight training also enhances trust and communication between actors and self-confidence both on and off the stage.

It becomes a little lesson in life and, of course, our discipline, Jeff Cornell said. Whether its voice training or movement training or text work with Shakespeare, theres a way that Hamlet doesnt seem so intimidating because youve got tools to whittle it down to size and find your way into it.

Time to fight

After spending an hour or so mastering the movement and getting comfortable with the staff, the class partners off and begins a slow motion sequence of attacks and defense.

Built into each move are the safety precautions necessary to make both parties feel comfortable and confident in the fight.

Slice one end of the staff toward your opponents side and let the other end land against the outside of your arm, absorbing the motion and controlling exactly when the swing stops. Rather than aim for the knee, aim just above it, so if anything goes wrong it doesnt cause any serious injury.

As for blades, they are carefully dulled and tested before use.

After class, the students cluster at the front of the studio to exchange their quarterstaffs for single swords, last semesters weapon. They partner off and launch into the choreography like a second language.

On one side of the room, Jeff and Kira Cornell engage in a graceful spar to the sound of metal singing against metal. On the other end of the studio, two students improvise a dramatic death scene. One lunges forward and the other deftly tucks the outstretched blade under his arm, letting out a dramatic wail and collapsing to the floor, gloved hand wrapped around the blunt metal blade.

He breaks into laughter, reaching up to grasp his partners extended hand. He brushes himself off, and they raise their swords, ready to fight again.

UNC Media Hub is a collection of students from the various concentrations in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media working together to create integrated and free multimedia packages covering stories from around North Carolina.
Here's a look at some of today's COVID-19 news.

Revelers decked out in traditional purple, green and gold came out to party on Fat Tuesday in New Orleans first full-dress Mardi Gras since 2020. The fun includes back-to-back parades across the city and marches through the French Quarter and beyond, with masks against COVID-19 required only in indoor public spaces.

Parade routes are shorter than usual, because there aren't enough police for the standard ones, even with officers working 12-hour shifts as they always do on Mardi Gras and the days leading up to the end of the Carnival season.

But with COVID-19 hospitalizations and case numbers falling worldwide and 92% of the city's adults at least partly vaccinated, parades and other festivities are back on after a season without them.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees crowded a revered Hindu temple in Nepals capital for a festival on Tuesday as coronavirus cases decline and life returns to normal.

Around a million devotees were expected to visit the temple to Hindu god Shiva on Shivaratri, one of Nepal's most cherished festivals.

Temples, schools and markets have begun to reopen in recent weeks as the number of COVID-19 cases declines. On Monday, just 180 new infections were reported, down from a peak of over 9,000 per day in January.

Most adults in the United States are getting back to some degree of pre-pandemic normalcy, but they're divided over concerns and expectations for what's next.

Three surveys conducted in February -- from the Kaiser Family Foundation, Axios/Ipsos and the Washington Post in collaboration with ABC News -- asked adults to assess the current state of the pandemic in the United States.

Only a third of adults think the virus is "completely" or "mostly" under control, according to the Post/ABC survey. But most think the worst is behind them, the KFF survey found.

As the United States emerges from the Omicron wave, Covid-19 testing has slowed to a fraction of what it was at the beginning of the year.

In mid-January, as daily case counts reached their peak, about 2.5 million tests were processed each day in the United States. Now, there are about 670,000 tests coming through each day, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

"Testing, especially as the Omicron wave goes down, does not lose its relevance," epidemiologist Dr. Michael Mina emphasized. "Testing is how we see the virus. We can't see it if we do not test."

Read more of the day's COVID news here:

White House will roll out next phase of Covid-19 response Wednesday The White House will roll out a new strategy laying out the next phase of its response to the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday, two administration officials told CNN, outlining a vision that involves fewer disruptions to daily life while preparing for the unpredictable potential of another game-changing variant.

***
DURHAM  The American economy is emerging strong from nearly two years of pandemic-induced disruptions and losses, and the best way forward is to create more jobs that allow workers to organize for better wages and save more money, Vice President Kamala Harris said Wednesday.

In her third trip to North Carolina since taking office, Harris came to Durham, having most recently visited the Triangle while campaigning in 2020. For this visit, she was joined by Gov. Roy Cooper and Durham Mayor Elaine ONeal along with Democratic state lawmakers and members of Congress at Durham Technical Community College.

She spoke about the Biden administrations efforts to create more good-paying, union jobs throughout the country and promote collective bargaining in both the public and private sectors. Accompanying her from Washington was U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, as well as U.S. Reps. David Price and G.K. Butterfield.

As a nation we have made real progress in our fight to end this pandemic and get our economy back to normal. And with more than 215 million people vaccinated, our communities are more protected from this virus than theyve ever been before, Harris said to a small crowd of invited guests at Durham Tech. And that said, the president and I know the fight is not yet won.

Traveling across the country over the past year, the Democratic vice president said she had met several people who were struggling to pay their heating bills, fill their cars with gas or afford groceries. People are understandably tired and frustrated, Harris said, but theyre also determined to return to work, school and a sense of normalcy.

What I see most clearly, is neither the fear nor the fatigue, but resilience, Harris said. The resilience of the American people, and the determination of the American people to always build a better future.

The status of the COVID-19 pandemic and the cost of living could be key factors in whether voters keep Democrats in control of Congress in the 2022 midterms or deliver a blow to President Joe Bidens agenda by voting for Republicans.

The vice presidents visit was part of a travel blitz by administration officials following Bidens State of the Union address on Tuesday night. Biden touched briefly on community colleges, jobs and wages.

Before her speech, Harris toured the IBEW local 553 apprentice program at Durham Tech along with a handful of dignitaries. Students in the program, which trains them to become union electricians, demonstrated equipment for the vice president. Tara Schmitt, a third-year apprentice at Durham Tech, introduced Harris.

You are a face and image of the future of labor in America, Harris said to Schmitt.

The vice president later said union workers are helping build critical infrastructure including solar panels that will combat climate change, fiber optic cables to deliver high-speed internet and new pipes necessary for safe drinking water.

North Carolina has long had the second lowest union membership rate in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, although the state has seen some increase during the pandemic. The states ban on collective bargaining for public sector workers has been in place for more than half a century. The average national union membership rate is 10.3%. North Carolinas rate is 2.6%.

The Biden administration is committed to empowering workers to organize, Harris said, and is deeply proud to be the most pro-labor administration in the history of our country.

Walsh, the Secretary of Labor, said part of that commitment is $45 million in new spending by the federal government on grant programs to bolster community colleges. The grants will connect people to training and good-paying jobs, and will help bring more working people into the middle class. The program will be focused on women and people of color, he added.

Harris said the Durham Tech students she met on Wednesday will be part of a new era of the American labor movement.

Every person should be able to benefit from the power of solidarity, because every person in our nation, no matter where they start, deserves an opportunity to succeed, Harris said. That is the future we are fighting for.

Takeila Hannah and her 8-year-old daughter Tatum came to Durham Tech hoping to see Harris speak. Hannah donated to Harriss own presidential campaign before she dropped out and joined the Democratic ticket as Bidens running mate.

We wanted to see her up close and personal, Hannah said. We support her message and were just overall supporters of the Biden administration.

Asked what she liked about Harris, Tatum said she looks like me.
HIGH POINT  Preventing prisoners from having a lack of reading material does not violate their civil rights, the attorney for Sheriff Gregory Seabolt argued in a court filing seeking the dismissal of an inmates lawsuit.

Franklin Kyle Willis filed the lawsuit against Seabolt and Maj. Phillip Cheek in Greensboros U.S. District Court last September.

The response to the lawsuit, filed Monday, details that in May 2021 the Randolph County Detention Centers staff confiscated all books, magazines, dictionaries, booklets and newspapers  but left a Bible for each inmate.

The reason, according to the filing, was to eliminate fire hazards and to prevent people outside the jail from using printed reading material to smuggle drugs or other contraband to inmates.

Willis wanted more of a selection.

According to Seabolts filing, however, the jail staff was entitled to take the reading materials. The filing cites prior court decisions, including by the U.S. Supreme Court, that upheld similar restrictions in other cases.

Importantly, and as recently held by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, a prisons restriction on publications available to inmates specifically in response to concerns of fire hazards or contraband, like here, do not violate the First or Fourteenth Amendments, according to the the filing.

Also, the jail provides other reading material on electronic tablets. Willis argued in his lawsuit that what could be found on the tablets was severely limited, and tablets were not always available.

There was ... an adequate alternative available to Willis  the tablet, according to Seabolts filing. He admits that this option was available to him twice per day for two several-hour blocks of time. He simply takes issue with the selection licensed to the jail.

Its not the first time a prisoner has complained about the lack of reading materials at the Randolph jail. In January, an inmate filed a similar complaint.
CHARLOTTE  Many bars, restaurants and liquor stores in North Carolina are pledging to stop selling Russian-made alcohol because of the invasion of Ukraine.

But that doesnt mean youll have to go without many popular brands.

Still, the state agency that governs liquor sales in North Carolina has said it will be suspending the sale of some Russian-made products in accordance with an executive order from Gov. Roy Cooper.

These suspensions will remain in effect until further notice, according to a statement from the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.

That move came shortly after Cooper issued an executive order in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine calling on state entities to review all existing contracts and operations to determine whether they directly benefit any Russian entities and take all reasonable steps to terminate that contract or operation.

In his executive order, Cooper said Russia has  inflicted and will continue to inflict significant harm and suffering on the people of Ukraine.

Ending the sale of Russian-made goods is meant to impose economic consequences on the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin, although economists have said the prohibition of Russian vodka sales wont have much of an impact on the countrys economy because most vodka in the U.S. isnt Russian-made.

North Carolinas decision is also meant to show solidarity with Ukrainian people who live in the state.

But if youre a vodka fan, you dont have to give it up completely to show solidarity with Ukraine. Many popular brands are not based in Russia, including Absolut Vodka (Swedish), Grey Goose (French) and Smirnoff (American).

One of the vodka brands thats been most commonly mistaken as Russian is Stoli.

The brand said in a statement that Stoli vodka brands and its owner Yuri Shefler were exiled from Russia nearly two decades ago.
Russias war in Ukraine is intensifying. The United States and most of the other western powers have condemned Russia for invading Ukraine, joining together to implement massive sanctions that are only beginning to crush the Russian economy.

Many of us are watching this horrifying war from afar and wondering how we can help ordinary Ukrainian people whose homes, cities and lives are being destroyed before our eyes.

In times of humanitarian crises like this, acts of compassion and generosity can make a huge difference. There are dozens of organizations working directly in Ukraine, or active in nations that border on Ukraine, to provide aid to Ukrainian refugees.

If youre looking to support people affected by the war in Ukraine, consider donating money directly to the following organizations.

How to Donate to Organizations in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Red Cross

The Red Cross is often on the frontlines of war serving to help those affected by armed conflict. The Ukrainian Red Cross is currently assisting people inside the country by aiding evacuations and providing shelter, food and basic necessities.

World Central Kitchen

World Central Kitchen (WCK), established in 2010, is an organization that deploys chefs directly to disaster areas to provide hot meals to those in need. WCK is currently working in Ukraine and along its borders in neighboring countries.

GlobalGiving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund

GlobalGiving is raising funds to support locally-led organizations throughout Ukraine. Any donations to the fund will provide essentials for refugees, health, psychological and support and access to education and economic assistance.

Vostok SOS

Vostok SOS is a Ukraine-based non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to assisting areas of conflict within Ukraine. The organization is currently accepting donations to help aid local people, evacuate the vulnerable and provide trauma support after shelling.

Voices of Children

Created in 2015, the Voices of Children Foundation has been providing psychological support to children affected by war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine through art therapy, video storytelling, mobile psychologists and more. Now, the organization is working to support children across the country with emergency psychological assistance and assisting in the evacuation process.

Media Support

Donating directly toward the media in Ukraine can help fight against Russian misinformation and keep Ukrainians informed of the latest developments. A GoFundMe has been launched by various organizations to help keep Ukraines media outlets running during the war.

How to Support Ukrainian Refugees

The United Nations refugee agency reported on Tuesday that 660,000 Ukrainians have fled the country due to the war. Many have fled to neighboring countries including Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Romania.

Many refugees will be in dire need of basic supplies, food and resources as theyre now forced to rebuild their lives. You can donate to the following organizations to help them do this.

The International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee is a longstanding organization that provides resources to those fleeing countries in crisis, including providing cash assistance, medical treatment and more. The organization is currently on the ground in both Poland and Ukraine to provide support to those who have had to flee their homes.

The Polish Red Cross

As of Feb. 28, most of the Ukrainian refugees have crossed into the countrys eastern neighbor, Poland. The Polish Red Cross has provided humanitarian reception points at Ukrainian-Polish borders to assist those entering with humanitarian aid and medical support.

Donate to the Polish Red Cross. (Note: the website is in Polish, but most browsers have an option to translate pages into English. Donations will be made in local Polish currency, zloty, and will be converted according to your cards current exchange rate. See here for bank transfer donations.)

Malteser International

Malteser International is the humanitarian relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta and is currently involved in relief efforts for Ukraine. The organization is providing food, shelter, emergency medical care and more both within Ukraine and neighboring countries. You can donate specifically to its efforts in Ukraine on the donation page.

***
Im writing this as Vladimir Putin is eating up Ukraine. Did we fall asleep and wake up in 1938 to hear that Hitler had taken the Sudetenland? Who knew this could happen in 2022?

Actually, we knew. Putin told us he was going to do it with every public statement that avoided a direct no, with every troop movement at the border, with every invocation of the sovereignty of the pro-Russian separatist regions. There are no surprises when it comes to Putins desire to reconstruct the Soviet Union. Its not a matter of if. Its always been a matter of when.

As I watch this invasion unfold, switching between networks and social media sites, Ive come to the conclusion that we are no longer the breed of American who parachuted onto the shores of Normandy. That sacrificed lives in a bloody grave in the waters of Pearl Harbor, marched with the Fighting 69th to battle Germany a generation before them, and battled in the heat of deserts to avenge the murder of 3,000 fellow citizens.

We are now tribes, divided by loyalties and political expedience. Its not a surprise, given what weve seen unfold over the past 20 to 30 years, but its a devastating commentary on where were headed as a nation.

I spent a good part of the last few days unfriending those who blamed Biden for weakness and those who blamed Trump for loving Putin. I dont need their alternative viewpoints, and wont be enriched by their separate takes on the crisis at hand. Im done with dissent.

Thats because whatever you might think of the wisdom of putting boots on the ground in a country located thousands upon thousands of miles away, you cannot simply throw up your hands, offer thoughts and prayers, and believe that youve done your duty as an American when a dictator swallows up a sovereign nation.

You are also derelict if you try to compare whats happening in Ukraine to our southern border, blaming liberals for caring more about a foreign nation than about our own security and national integrity. Thats comparing apples and bloody bodies, or bananas and those standing in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square.

We are obligated to care about our legacy in the world, which has been battered and bruised by many different flawed men and women. Obama was one. Trump was another. Biden, the failed bureaucrat of Afghanistan, is most definitely and glaringly a third.

But those leaders are not America. We the people are, and when we start backing off and saying things like Well, I dont want my nephew or my son or my grandson or my whatever putting boots on anyone elses territory, I despair of ever again being proud of this nation and its history. And if that makes me sound like Michelle Obama, so be it.

On the other hand, you have liberals who are so damn obsessed with what happened on Jan. 6  something that was regrettable but did not destroy our essential character  they ignore the absolute failure of their own tribe and reach back to blame Trump. To be clear, this invasion happened on their leaders watch, not under the guidance of the man they despise. And yet, if they are calling for engagement, they are making penance for the repellent anti-Americanism they have exhibited in vilifying conservatives over the past years, and decades.

I am devastated to be in this middle place, because I am no moderate. I actually hate that word, because it communicates a lukewarm, tasteless, insubstantial broth. A person without values, in other words. That will anger moderates who believe that they stand on high moral ground. But only those who are willing to make a choice, a decision in moments of crisis occupy that summit. And those who try and see both sides are often those who see no side clearly.

Any American who takes more pleasure in attacking her political rival than in seeking comfort and protection for the threatened, or who excuses evil if it advances his own partisan goals, is someone I renounce, and excommunicate, from my life. Effective immediately.

But if you are still reading, and you are still listening, hear this: As someone who cannot shoot a rifle but who has worked with war refugees, please contact me at the below email address if you know of someone in need of assistance in Ukraine. I will try and direct you to someone who can help.

Christine Flowers (cflowers1961@gmail.com) is an attorney and a columnist for the Delaware County (Pa.) Daily Times.
RALEIGH  Over the past couple of weeks, North Carolina politicos have focused intently on the outcome of the states latest redistricting saga. After the GOP-majority General Assembly saw its original set of electoral districts thrown out by the courts, lawmakers tried again. Their new legislative maps were accepted. A three-judge panel rejected the Republicans newly crafted congressional districts, however, and enacted a remedial map for the 2022 cycle.

As all this was going on, however, average North Carolinians were paying closer attention to events unfolding thousands of miles away.

Russias invasion of Ukraine is a tragedy, an outrage and a wake-up call about the continued threat to liberty and order posed by dictators pursuing 19th-century aims with 21st-century arms. Here in North Carolina, it also represents a potential inflection point in our midterm elections.

This became clear Feb. 26 when three Republican candidates  former Gov. Pat McCrory, former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker and Marjorie Eastman, an Army veteran and businesswoman  faced off in the first televised debate of the U.S. Senate primary. Held at the John Locke Foundations Carolina Liberty Conference in Raleigh, the debate made statewide headlines not only because of what the participants said, but also because of the identity of their frequent target, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd.

He wasnt there. He declined the invitation, saying he wouldnt agree even to discuss a GOP debate until the candidate-filing period closed. Event organizers put a lectern on the stage to underline his absence.

With the Russian invasion occurring in real time, Budds decision not to participate proved costly. The congressman is vulnerable on the issue. In the past, he sometimes voted against bills to sanction Russia for its conduct in Ukraine. More recently, Budd was in the audience when former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Budd, called Vladimir Putin pretty smart for launching his current invasion of Russias southern neighbor.

The day before the Senate debate, McCrory formally filed for the office and told reporters that Budd had been defending Russia and defending Putin when its indefensible. During the debate, McCrory and the other participants doubled down on the subject. Eastman called the dictator a thug and his invasion unprovoked and unjustified. Walker argued that the U.S. and its allies ought to go after Putin directly.

Asked later to respond, Budd told CBS-17 that Putin was evil and an international thug but also that he was intelligent, so we have to treat him as such. Not surprisingly, both the McCrory campaign and the Democratic Party spent the next 24 hours making hay of Budds foolish choice of words. Hed been better off showing up for the debate and defending his record, which is actually more mixed on Russia than his critics suggest.

The Senate primary isnt the only race where the issue is likely to bite. Last week, GOP congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke to a white-nationalist organization in Orlando where the organizer asked the audience to give a round of applause for Russia and got chants of Putin! Putin! in response. Greene tried to pretend later she didnt know what shed gotten herself into, but no one believed her. Some GOP candidates here in North Carolina have sought her endorsement or been on stage with her. Youre going to hear a lot more about that in the coming weeks.

On the Democratic side, President Bidens disastrous first year in office has set up his party for a disastrous midterm election. Now Democrats are hoping his efforts to organize an anti-Putin coalition will not only get results in Ukraine but also bring voters around to the Democratic ticket.

North Carolinians do care. In a pre-invasion High Point University poll, 47% said Russias military build-up on the Ukraine border was a major threat to U.S. interests, with another 27% calling it a minor threat.

Most voters dont favor direct American military invention, of course, which isnt in the cards anyway. They do favor tough talk and tougher sanctions. And theyre right.

John Hood is a John Locke Foundation board member and author of the novel Mountain Folk, a historical fantasy set during the American Revolution (MountainFolkBook.com).
How much worse can it get? he asked.

We had been discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and what it could mean for the future. He was concerned not just about the economy but also about global instability and the prospects for increased conflict in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He had no confidence in America as a positive force for good in the world.

And why should he? American self-confidence is at an all-time low. We lack trust in our government, our financial institutions, our businesses and our universities. We lack trust in each other. It seems impossible to get a majority opinion on any direction we should take as a country. If we cannot lead ourselves, how can we expect to lead anyone else?

Whats more, we dont even seem to like ourselves. We know that from the stories we tell, which rarely are about the many good things people are doing. We love to talk about fellow Americans worst behavior, and when we focus exclusively on bad behavior, it soon comes to seem as if that is all there is.

When I mentioned to a few people recently that I would be flying to Oklahoma, the first thing they told me was the news they had just heard about yet another unruly airline passenger having to be restrained.

According to the FAA, 2021 set a record for unruly behavior by airline passengers, with 5,981 incidents. That seems like a lot of bad behavior, but one should keep in mind that there are about 42,000 domestic flights carrying 2.6 million passengers each day. So even last year, with a record amount of bad behavior, ruly passengers outnumbered unruly passengers by a ratio of 944,255,000 to 1. Put another way, 1 out of about every 2,500 flights has a passenger who misbehaves badly enough to be reported.

My flight was uneventful. The people I encountered were invariably kind and helpful. It was early in the morning, so the TSA agents were a little bleary-eyed but cheerful. There was a long line at the airport coffee shop, but the people waiting were patient, and the baristas quick and efficient. As I was boarding the plane, the man ahead of me set his own bags down to help an elderly woman lift her carry-on bag into the overhead compartment. When I arrived at my destination, a young woman at the car rental counter greeted me with a twinkle in her eye (and most likely a smile behind her mask). Thats the way it was during the entire trip. People were, as usual, friendly and polite.

I would love to see this as a news headline: Ruly passenger helps stranger with luggage. Of course, a story like that would not be news, because it happens all the time. But that is the point: Good behavior is the norm. We know that because most of us witness it every day.

The real story to be told about unruly airline passengers is not that there are so many more of them recently, it is that they dont get away with it. Other passengers and well-trained flight attendants dont let them. If there is one thing that can unite people into a common purpose, its a bully who is out of control.

The moral lesson is this: When large numbers of people share expectations about acceptable behavior, those behaviors are increased. For the most part, people in our country treat each other with courtesy and respect in public places. The greatest danger is not that more bullies will suddenly show up. The greatest danger is that we might begin thinking bad behavior is the norm, and we quit standing up to it.

Countries are the same way. In the days since Russia invaded Ukraine, we witnessed democratically minded people coming together to stand up to bad behavior. Russian President Vladimir Putin is a bully. He always has been. But our own lack of self-confidence and the loss of trust in democratic institutions has emboldened him. That seems to be shifting now.

Democracy succeeds only on the basis of trust and collaboration. Without free people willingly coming together to insist on shared norms of acceptable behavior, the powerful individual can seize control.

For too long, America has been suffering from the problem of self-misrepresentation, believing the worst stories about itself and neglecting to tell the best stories.

We need to tell the good stories because that is how we keep our hope alive. It is how we encourage each other to keep going. It is how we remind each other that it takes all of us to keep the bullies in check.

Sometimes I like to start my classes by asking students to share a story of something good they witnessed during the past few days. Everybody has those stories, but until we share them, they seem disconnected and isolated, too insignificant to make a difference. But when a room full of people all share stories of goodness, an amazing thing happens: hope is restored; spirits are lifted; confidence is reclaimed.

Take time this week to share your own stories of goodness with people around you. Let them know this is what America looks like. It is the goodness and integrity of everyday people that makes a democracy strong. Right now, the world needs reminders of the virtues of democracy. America needs to remind itself of its own goodness.

Richard Kyte is director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis., and co-host of The Ethical Life podcast.
Arianne Wing is the co-author of Noodles Through Escargots, and co-owner of the L.T. Sue Co. Tea Room and Emporium, benefiting the restoration and preservation of China Alley. She may be reached at ariannewing@gmail.com
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PHILADELPHIA  As Russian forces were closing in on Kyiv last Thursday, Oksana Maslova, a Philadelphia Ballet dancer from Ukraine, was exchanging text messages with friends and family nearly 5,000 miles away. Her mother, who had gone to Kyiv to be with Maslova's sister, spent the previous two nights in a bomb shelter, and communication had grown sporadic.

At the same time, "Swan Lake," for which the company had been preparing for weeks, was getting its first full run-through. And suddenly, in rehearsal, the echoes between art and real life grew loud and painful for the ballerina.

"Basically the whole story is that I have to ask the Prince to not shoot the swans," said Maslova, who dances the part of Odette in the production, "and I get those parallels in my head. It felt like a nightmare, that I am literally in my gestures asking him to not kill."

More echoes, still, came by way of the dancer cast as Von Rothbart, whose curse turns Odette into a swan during the day and returns her to her human form at night.

"Of course, I am the evil wizard  who's a Russian, too," said Moscow-born Aleksey Babayev.

The two appear in the roles twice during Philadelphia Ballet's production of "Swan Lake."

Off stage, Maslova and Babayev are friends. They've danced together before, just last month in Alba Castillo's "The Persistence of Memory." Their families get together for birthdays and holidays. And on a recent morning, as the reality of the invasion set in, they reflected on the fact that as all-consuming as their art form is, art cannot always succeed in offering a refuge from real life.

"Most of the time, yes. But now when it gets to this point, no," said Maslova in a conversation at the ballet's studios as the eerie sounds of "Danse Macabre" seeped in from a morning dance class.

Philadelphia Ballet, like other major troupes, draws talent internationally, with members from Japan, China, Brazil, Cuba, South Korea, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.

Maslova, from Nikopol, on the Dnieper River, joined the company in 2014 as soloist and was promoted to principal dancer in 2016. Babayev left Moscow at 11 months old and has since had one foot in the West and the other in Russia. He was raised in Richmond, Virginia, and Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, accepted into Philadelphia Ballet's PBII program in 2008, and moved back to Russia at age 19 to join the Stanislavsky Ballet. He returned to the Philadelphia company's corps de ballet in 2016 before becoming a soloist.

He has no immediate family in Russia, but does have friends in the region. The international ballet network is tight, both say, so they monitor the social media feeds of friends showing ground-level assaults in Ukraine.

These kinds of real-time dispatches handily contradict the Russian government's campaign of misinformation, they say.

"This morning I saw a tank went completely over a peaceful car," said Maslova. "Someone filmed it from a window on the street close to where I was living when I was in Kyiv, so I know the street. People say it's fake. I said, 'No, I know those streets. It's not fake.'

"Many Russians don't believe it happened, they don't know what happened because the news they get is completely different," she says. "They lie to their own people."

Her Russian friends, though, do see clearly what's happening, she says, and they are standing with Ukraine. Friends from Moscow tell her that the attack on her country "is not normal in the 21st century after all we've done together in the Second World War, and they apologize and are very ashamed for the Russians. I say, 'It's not your fault.'"

Says Babayev:

"I have friends in Russia, they're a little bit in shock right now. They also didn't think this was going to happen because Ukrainians and Russians  they're the same people. It's like fighting a war with our own people. It makes no sense to me."

Babayev says he feels like he's living in two worlds. "I don't want to hear that a random missile hit my friends. I'm trying to work, trying to pay attention, trying to have notifications on my phone and trying not to look at my phone."

The Russian invasion is, he says, "like a bad shadow. It's always there in the back of your mind."

Artists often speak of the power of art to change the world. But that's not what this moment calls for, Maslova says.

"The art can help people to be more kind, more thoughtful, the art could change the way you act as a person. But the art cannot save my mom from the bomb that is falling right now. I was thinking, 'How can I help?' I cannot. The art cannot help in this way now."

Now, she says, the responsibility rests with all of humanity.

"My hope is that the world will react stronger to what's going on. It's not just a simple demonstration with someone protecting their rights. It's a bigger thing. For me, the world needs to wake up quicker."

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As widely reported lately, the U.S. meatpacking industry is now dominated by four out-of-state meatpacking companies that dictate the prices Montana ranchers receive for beef, poultry and pork. Most ranchers must send cattle sometimes hundreds of miles away for processing, only to be shipped back to Montana for sale.

Also widely reported is the unending drought Montana is experiencing, a drought exacerbated by climate disruption caused by greenhouse gas emissions. With less water to grow hay for feed, hay prices skyrocketed last year to all-time highs in some cases.

These two realities have put many Montana ranchers at significant risk of financial failure. Thankfully, there are solutions available that can help address both problems.

First, both Sens. Tester and Daines recognize the severity of the meatpacking problem and are backing bills to address this issue. We should all support these efforts to protect our vital Montana industry and way of life.

Second, there is a conservative, small-government approach to addressing climate disruption over the longer-term. Known as a carbon fee with cash back policy, its a fee assessed where fossil fuels enter the economy (e.g. the first point at which the fossil fuel is sold). The fee is based upon the amount of carbon dioxide that will be released when the fuel is burned. Studies show that placing a fee on carbon emissions in this manner will encourage a shift away from fossil fuel consumption without imposing government regulations that choose winners and losers.

Why should Montanans care about reducing fossil fuel consumption? At a global scale, settled science clearly shows that greenhouse gas emission produced through the burning of fossil fuels is disrupting the relative balance of the environment that weve enjoyed for the past 10,000 years.

Here in Montana, our economic mainstays of farming, ranching and outdoor recreation are all negatively impacted by climate disruption caused by greenhouse gas emissions. Shorter, warmer, drier winters have become a new normal especially in eastern Montana. Coupled with longer, hotter summers interspersed with dramatic temperature swings throughout the year, ranchers and farmers are suffering. Winter and summer recreational opportunities are being impacted as well.

To ensure a more predictable transition from fossil fuels, an initial per-ton carbon fee would start low and gradually increase year over year (e.g. begin with a $15 per ton fee and increase by $10 per ton each year). This gradual, predictable cost increase incentivizes a transition to lower carbon emissions energy sources and products while not sending shockwaves through our economy in the process. Importantly, the policy can be tailored to protect industries like farming and ranching through fee-rebates on things like agricultural fuels.

Every dollar collected would be placed in a trust that distributes the funds out to all Americans, based upon household membership. In this way, Americans would be free to decide how to use the cash payment, whether to offset the short-term cost increases incurred as we transition to low-carbon alternatives, purchase lower carbon products like electric vehicles, or save it for a rainy day.

To reiterate, a carbon fee and dividend policy is a classically conservative approach to addressing climate disruption, and numerous studies have shown this policy offers an efficient, effective, predictable way to shift from fossil fuel dependence. Indeed, both the Business Roundtable and American Petroleum Institute support a carbon fee and dividend policy for these reasons.

Please urge Sens. Tester and Daines to support a carbon fee and cash back policy. Montana ranchers need action and, as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce states, "inaction is not an option" when it comes to addressing climate change.

Mike Wood lives in Missoula and is a member of the Citizens Climate Lobby.

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DECATUR  Daniel S. Boehme Sr., the Decatur man police accuse of killing his girlfriend with an ax and believe he may have planned to dismember her body and bury it in a backyard, appeared in court Wednesday.

Boehme, 63, had been listed as intending to waive a preliminary hearing to see if there was probable cause to try him on the charge he murdered 35-year-old Helena Sunny Beams sometime around Jan. 26 at his Decatur home.

Her bloody body was found in a bedroom next to the ax that is thought to be the weapon used to kill her. Boehme is pleading not guilty to three alternate counts of murder.

When the defendant was led into court, however, Chief Public Defender Michelle Sanders told Macon County Circuit Court Judge Rodney Forbes that her client had changed his mind, and now wanted a full preliminary hearing.

Boehme then tried to speak while the judge was speaking to demand a speedy trial but Forbes silenced him and told the defendant he must speak through your attorney.

Macon County States Attorney Scott Rueter said he would do his best to have police witnesses ready to go by next week and Forbes rescheduled the case for a preliminary hearing March 9. Boehme remains held at the Macon County Jail with bail set at $2 million, requiring the posting of a $200,000 bond for him to be released.

A sworn affidavit from Decatur police said detectives had received an anonymous tip on Jan. 27 that Boehme had killed Beams. According to the affidavit, the tip said Boehme had chopped her up in little pieces and placed her in a hole at an unknown location.

Police began trying to find Beams and said concerns rose when her phone went straight to voicemail and she hadnt been seen at her job since Jan. 25. And when officers traveled to Warrensburg to talk to a 32-year-old female friend of Beams, the friend became upset.

(The friend) almost immediately asked if Sunny was OK and also if she was missing before beginning to cry, said the affidavit.

When officers checked out Boehmes home in the 600 block of South Haworth Avenue, they found Beams sport utility vehicle parked outside. Detective James Weddle is quoted in the affidavit as finding an empty box of garbage bags inside a trash can.

Sitting next to the box was what appeared to be a womans shoe. On the right side of the shoe, near the bottom, there was a red stain that appeared to be consistent with that of blood, the affidavit said.

Weddle got a judge to sign off on a search warrant and police found the body of Beams wrapped in a blanket in a bedroom. She had apparent trauma to her head/face and the ax lay alongside her.

Detectives then interviewed several of Boehmes friends who all made incriminating statements about the defendant.

One 29-year-old woman is quoted as telling police Boehme had said I finally killed her, while a 31-year-old man said a mutual acquaintance told him that Daniel had admitted to killing Helena with an ax. Another friend said Daniel asked him to dig a hole for him because he thought he had done something to Helena.

Police had found and arrested Boehme by Jan. 31. A check of his court records show he was sentenced to five years in prison in June of 1990 after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot blocked a deal the Chicago Park District made with an Italian American group to allow a Christopher Columbus statue to be displayed in a parade and made obscene remarks aimed at government lawyers during a contentious meeting, a high-ranking lawyer alleged in a lawsuit filed this week.

The lawsuit, filed by former Chicago Park District deputy general counsel George Smyrniotis against the city and Lightfoot, is closely related to another case brought by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans against the Park District after Lightfoot removed Columbus statues from the city.

In his lawsuit, Smyrniotis alleges he was told by Timothy King, then the districts top lawyer, and then-superintendent Michael Kelly that they wanted the lawsuit over the statues settled as soon as possible.

Smyrniotis alleges he then worked with lawyers for the Italian Americans to make a deal. As part of negotiations, the group wanted to display the Columbus statue in its annual Columbus parade last fall and proposed putting the statue last in the parade and covered until the end, according to Smyrniotis lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday.

King approved the request, according to the suit, because the Park District thought it would generate goodwill with the Italian Americans.

Park District lawyers and the Italian Americans group were also negotiating a deal to remove the statue from the city permanently.

When Lightfoot learned about the plan, Smyrniotis alleges in his lawsuit, she threatened to pull the permit for the parade and ordered Park District officials to attend a hastily called Zoom meeting.

At the meeting, Smyrniotis alleges, Lightfoot proceeded to berate and defame the lawyers and asked them, Where did you go to law school? Did you even go to law school? Do you even have a law license?

Lightfoot told them that they had to submit their pleadings to a city lawyer for approval and were told not to do a f------ thing with that statue without my approval.

Get that f------ statue back before noon tomorrow or I am going to have you fired, Lightfoot said, according to the complaint.

Lightfoot also made obscene comments to Smyrniotis and King, according to the lawsuit, which alleges she called them d---- and asked, What the f--- were you thinking?

You make some kind of secret agreement with Italians. ... You are out there stroking your d---- over the Columbus statue, I am trying to keep Chicago police officers from being shot and you are trying to get them shot, Lightfoot said, according to the complaint. My d--- is bigger than yours and the Italians, I have the biggest d--- in Chicago.

Smyrniotis asserts the alleged comments defamed him by imputing that he lacked the ability to perform his job duties. He resigned from the Park District last month, according to the lawsuit. King has also since left the Park District.

In response to a request for a statement, a Law Department spokeswoman said, The city has not yet been served with a complaint and will have no further comment as the matter is now in litigation.

The lawsuit by Smyrniotis is just the latest fallout over Lightfoots July 2020 decision to remove Columbus statues from Chicagos public places.

The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Park District last July asserting that the district violated a deal signed in 1973 to display the Columbus statue in Little Italy when it took down the statue in summer 2020.

Lightfoot has said she ordered the removal of Columbus statues after activists forcibly attempted to remove the prominent statue of Columbus in Grant Park, leading to violent clashes between police and protesters.

Nearly a week later, Lightfoot took down Columbus statues in Grant Park and Little Italy. Lightfoot later removed a lesser-known statue in the South Chicago neighborhood.

Enrico Mirabelli, attorney for the Italian Americans, said he believes Smyrniotis allegations strengthen his case.

Presuming the mayor has been accurately quoted, her comments give proof to the claim that she has wrongfully interfered with my clients contract with the Chicago Park District in a degree that is unprecedented, Mirabelli said.

Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, said hes literally outraged that someone in her position would ever use words like that to refer to any group of individuals.

When will it end with the disrespect? Onesti said, referring to the mayors alleged comments as grotesque.

Columbus has been condemned by activists around the country who point to the Italian explorers mistreatment of Indigenous people after he landed in the Americas in 1492.

Many Italian Americans prize the statues of the explorer as an expression of their mainstream American identity.

Lightfoot initially resisted calls to take down Columbus statues. Comparing the debate over Columbus statues to the same argument over monuments to Confederate Army figures being removed in other cities, Lightfoot said she favors acting to not try to erase history, but to embrace it full-on.

But she ordered the removals after the unrest at Grant Park.

That lawsuit claims that a Columbus statue committee paid the Park District more than $10,000 in 1973 for the purpose of maintaining in perpetuity the Columbus statue.

Initially, the lawsuit did not name Lightfoot or Chicago as defendants but the Italian Americans committee recently argued that the mayor should be added because of her actions ordering the statues removal, which a judge granted. It also alleges that she has continued to interfere with the contract.

The Italian Americans group has in court filings sought depositions of King and Smyrniotis, the park districts lawyers, which the city and have park district have argued is premature.

After Lightfoot removed the Columbus statues, she created a review process for controversial city monuments that she said would be part of a racial healing and historical reckoning project.

But more than a year and a half later, the citys monuments commission has yet to issue its final report and recommendations, leaving the conversation in a state of limbo even though it was originally supposed to be done by December 2020.

City officials have said they expect the committee to finish its work in the first quarter of 2022.

Last February, the mayors commission on monuments flagged statues of Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and William McKinley, as well as a Benjamin Franklin statue, a police memorial tied to the Haymarket Riot and a statue of Leif Erikson at Humboldt Park, as potentially problematic, but did not make final recommendations about what should happen.

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DECATUR  Ash Wednesday is a solemn day, the beginning of the Lenten season for Christians.

It doesn't seem right to say happy Lent, said the Rev. Rob Goodwin at St. Paul's Lutheran Church at the noontime Ash Wednesday service. Lent is a time of reflection and repentance, a time of preparation and time for focusing on the sorrow we have for the wrongs we've done.

Lent is a 40-day period, excluding Sundays, prior to Easter. The 40 days are based on the 40 days of temptation Jesus underwent prior to beginning his earthly ministry, during which he fasted. Christians often give up a favorite thing for Lent.

We refrain from something to remind us of Christ's sacrifice, Goodwin said. Forty days is just long enough to learn something new, to change habits. Instead of thinking about 'getting through' it, think of it as a journey.

An alternative, he said, is to add something: read through a book of the Bible, spend more time in prayer daily, make a conscious effort to be kinder and more like Jesus.

For Catholics, Pope Francis suggested offering their Lenten sacrifice and devotions in honor of the people of Ukraine and as a prayer for peace there.

Some Christian churches include the imposition of ashes in the Ash Wednesday service. The pastor draws a cross on the foreheads of parishioners and quotes Genesis 3:19: For you are dust and to dust you shall return. At St. Paul's on Wednesday, the Rev. Mark Gearig conducted the imposition of ashes, followed by personal absolution of sins by the Rev. Bill Grueninger, while senior pastor Goodwin and an elder distributed Communion. Usually the congregation makes a group confession and the pastor pronounces absolution to the entire congregation at once prior to Communion.

Ashes, Goodwin said in his sermon, have always been a sign of repentance. Wearing ashes on the forehead reminds the believer that life on Earth is temporary, but faith provides the hope for the future provided by Christ's death and resurrection and eternal life in heaven.

It's a great day to start reflection on the way life has been, said member Greg Florian. I look at me as a person, this gives me hope for something this world can't take away. This really puts me into that frame of mind. With all the things that have gone on, with wars and COVID and all that, this provides a deep reminder that we have something other than this world.

Contact Valerie Wells at (217) 421-7982. Follow her on Twitter: @modgirlreporter

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Invest now or pay much more later  that was the message former President Donald Trumps homelessness czar had on homelessness in cities lik
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Partly cloudy with late night showers or thunderstorms. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy with late night showers or thunderstorms. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn.  Ballad Health System unveiled its first capital campaign Thursday, a $30 million effort to expand Niswonger Childrens Hospital.

The campaign has already raised $18.5 million with Bristolians J.D. and Lorraine Nicewonder and their Nicewonder Family Foundation providing the kickoff donation of $7 million. That is the second largest donation in hospital history, Ballad CEO Alan Levine said Thursday during a news conference.

The project will add three floors to the existing childrens hospital and include space for a Regional Center for Perinatal and Neonatal Care, a Regional Center for Pediatric Specialties and an expanded neonatal intensive care unit planned for the top floor.

You dont find childrens hospitals like this in rural regions. You just dont, Levine said. The only reason this childrens hospital happened is because there was a vision and a commitment by a health system to say, were going to do this, were going to invest in it, and were going to sustain it.

The first $7 million we got for this project in Johnson City was from a family in Bristol because they recognized the value of Niswonger Childrens Hospital, and the Niswonger Childrens Network, Levine said. The second big commitment we got was from Eastman Credit Union in Kingsport for $1 million. This is a truly regional effort to rally behind something that means something to everybody in this region.

Lisa Carter, president of Ballads southern market and CEO of the childrens hospital said this expansion will help Niswonger raise its level of service to children in the community.

I believe this will elevate the care thats provided for the children of our region, Carter said in announcing the Hope Rising campaign. People rally around this hospital, so we want to ensure we have the best facilities and the best programs here for the children of our region.

Across the four-state region, 200,000 children can benefit from care provided by the hospital. In 2021 alone, Niswonger Childrens Hospital served more than 18,000 children from four states.

We are having a three-floor vertical expansion that will create a new space for perinatal and neonatal care and a regional center for pediatric specialties, Carter said. We will have the newest neonatal intensive care unit in the states of Virginia and Tennessee with private rooms. Thats something weve heard repeatedly we need space for families to be with their baby, to be able to bond with that baby and be able to take care of that baby  not only parents, but siblings and grandparents. Were hopeful to open visitations at some point to get families back in the building.

Scott Niswonger of Greeneville, who gave the initial gift to establish the hospital more than a decade ago, joked he would be sure to thank his cousins in Bristol. On Thursday, he announced a $1 million gift to kick off the public portion of the campaign.

Nicky and I are thrilled to be part of this initiative and campaign, and I hope others will join us, Niswonger said. No matter the size, every donation makes a big difference. Each gift is an investment in life-saving care and support services to give every child the opportunity they deserve.

While much of the $30 million will be spent on the expansion, some will be used to fund outreach programs that are part of the Niswonger Childrens Network, Levine said.

The programs include the pediatric emergency department and the center for women and babies at Indian Path Community Hospital in Kingsport, childrens resource center in Abingdon, telehealth services, the Child Life therapy program and Strong Future program in Greeneville.

Ballad Healths board has already committed $13 million to this project. The commitments from the Nicewonder family, Eastman Credit Union and now the Niswonger family gave us the critical mass we needed to go public with the campaign, Levine said. Were going to start. Weve begun the design phase, and were going to begin work on it. This campaign will continue. Ballad Health is committed to this getting done100% of the funds (donated) go to the project. We do not divert any funds for administrative use.

Governors Bill Lee of Tennessee and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, applauded the plans with Lee sending a video message.

These efforts speak to the work of the Ballad Health team, the special nature of Niswonger Childrens Hospital and the Niswonger Childrens Network. As we continue to serve the regions most vulnerable, I encourage you to do the same by taking the opportunity to invest in Tennessees children, Gov. Lee said via video.

Youngkin sent a message of support, saying the campaign would address the pressing needs of children in this region and improving the way families living in Southwest Virginia receive care both inside and outside of the hospital environment.

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Russia went to war against the Ukrainian government last week. Seeking territorial gains, Vladimir Putin has shown what he always has been; a bully of mammoth proportions.

Europe has not seen a buildup like this since World War II. It was 84 years ago when the big leaders of Europe appeased Nazi Germany and part of Czechoslovakia was taken for German living space. Putin is using a similar argument to invade the Ukraine; citing the need to expand into territory which, in his view, should be Russian anyway.

This war, even if it ends quickly, is a test for Western democracies. Over 30 years ago, just before the fall of the Soviet Union, Francis Fukuyama wrote his famous essay arguing the End of History. His thesis heralded the success of western democratic nations. Yet, today, the western countries, members of NATO, and the United Nations have much to prove in mitigating this new war in Europe. As the world has become more global, these nations and organizations need to continue what they are already doing: finding creative ways to thwart Putins intentions. Their effectiveness in this hour will show the world if they can be strong or if new solutions for the future may need to be called for.

Sanctions can be good. But there needs to be more. The world community needs to be strict and outspoken enough to enforce their words with deeds. Every avenue of assault against Russia should be explored.

Something the World War II generation did not possess but peoples have now is social media. At present, the Ukrainian people and their supporters are absolutely winning the conflict in that theater of war. There have been marches, protests, and prayer vigils in many countries in full support of the people in their invaded territory. These events have been published all over applications which have not only shown the brutality and struggles of war, but especially the unrighteousness of the Russian cause. The world has been moved by the resiliency and the resolve of the Ukrainian people in combating Russia. People with familial and political ties to Ukraine have been speaking out all over the world. Voices of protest and support are immediately being heard.

Here at home, Republicans opposed to President Joe Biden should be cautious. Instead of criticizing the president, it would be helpful for these politicians to stand shoulder to shoulder with him in solidarity against Putin and his actions in the Ukraine. Certainly, the opposition party has the challenge to hold the president accountable for his actions, but when he is working to end a war and protect a people, it is wise to put the other details of politics aside and support his leadership.

This war has the capacity to adjust geopolitics, and the United States has a role to play in such a possible reordering. From an economic and foreign policy perspective, the appearance of strength and unity from the countrys politicians is paramount in helping the Ukraine and our allies.

One thing many have seen over the last week is the near absence of statesmen and women. Each crucial hour brings great leaders to the forefront. We are in the midst of such a moment. Who will eventually emerge to be the face of the movement to articulate what transpires on this current global stage? Although historians can look to the deeds and plain talk of a great statesmen, for example, Winston Churchill, it is time for a new era of statesmen and women. It is possible these modern people of principle will be revealed first on social media.

The American people are praying for Ukraine. Its tenacity, led by its president, should be an amazing encouragement to the rest of us. We should support these people during this time and after by donating blood, sending food and material, and helping to rebuild their shattered worlds at the appropriate time. There are other ways to help, too, like economic boycotts and supporting American workers temporarily hurt by sanctions placed on Russian materials.

Clearly, Russia needs to be called out and sanctioned, even if it hurts American consumers for a time. Perhaps the rest of us may come to understand the bitter way the World War II generation navigated their time. In experiencing the need to sacrifice, we may learn we do not always need each material product we have to make ends meet. And in some ways, we may come to understand how other people in the world survive.

It is unfortunate to need a war to show us this. Of course, the first priority and concern is supporting the people of Ukraine and working for peace and justice for those affected by war.

The lesson of history is most wars are long and brutal slogs. Let us hope and pray this one is not.

Brent Tomberlin is a social studies instructor at South Caldwell High School and Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute. Email him at coachtomberlin@gmail.com .
" " Abigail Adams was the first second and second first lady of the United States. National Gallery of Art Washington/Wikimedia/(CC BY 2.0)

While her husband, John Adams, served as the second president of the United States, Abigail Adams solidified plenty of firsts of her own.

She was the first woman to serve as second lady of the United States when John became the first vice president in 1797. She was the first woman to live in the White House (or the president's house as it was then known) in 1800. And in 1824, six years after her death, her son John Quincy Adams was elected president, making her the first woman whose husband and son both attained the highest elected office in the land. (Barbara Bush was the second.)

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Who Was Abigail Adams?

But before Abigail Adams became a president's wife or mother, she was simply Abigail Smith. She was born Nov. 11, 1744, in Weymouth, Massachusetts, to William Smith, a Congregationalist minister and Elizabeth Quincy Smith, the daughter of John Quincy, a member of the colonial governor's council and colonel of the militia. That lineage was important to Adams' social and intellectual development.

Thanks to her maternal grandfather's involvement in colonial government  he held the post of Speaker of the Massachusetts Assembly for 40 years  Adams grew up understanding government and with a keen interest in public service. And while she wasn't formally educated at school, she was taught to read and write at home and had access to an extensive family library that included books on law, philosophy, history and the classics.

In 1764, when she was 19 years old, she married John Adams, a young Harvard graduate preparing to practice law. They were married in her family home, but soon left to live on a farm  Old House at Peace field  in Braintree near Boston where John Adams set up his practice.

Just one year later the babies started coming. The Adams' had three sons and two daughters: Abigail "Nabby" Adams (1765-1813), John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), Susanna Adams (1768-1770), Charles Adams (1770-1800) and Thomas Boylston Adams (1772-1832). They also had a stillborn daughter, Elizabeth, in 1777.

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Adams as a 'Founding Mother'

Adams was much more than a wife and mother. Owing to John's extensive travels  his legal practice and travels through the circuit courts in the Boston region; participation in the Continental Convention in Philadelphia; and multiple diplomatic assignments abroad  it fell to Adams to manage the day-to-day operations of the farm and other family business affairs. Because the Adams' marriage was a partnership of the minds as much as it was of the heart, John's faith in her abilities was absolute.

How do we know? John and Abigail were avid correspondents  between them they wrote more than 1,100 letters. These letters provide a glimpse into, not only their great affection for each other and their life during the 18th century, but also a behind-the-scenes look at building the United States.

It's also fair to say that Adams was at the very heart of the family's political dynasty. We talked to Sara Martin, editor-in-chief of the Adams Papers at the Massachusetts Historical Society about this memorable "Founding Mother." Martin says Adams managed her household practically and resourcefully, but just saying she was remarkable isn't enough.

"She thought about investing in financial securities," Martin says. "She wanted to (and did) invest in stocks and bonds where her husband believed real estate was the better way to go. I think sharp is a good word to describe her. She was intelligent, but she had that ability in her writing to pull ideas together."

Adams would downplay her influence on her husband, both in letters to him and others. She once wrote to John, "I never pretended to the weight they ascribe to me." John's later critics called her "The Old Woman" and frequently said they wished she'd been present in Philadelphia to temper his presidential decision-making.

But protestations aside, it's clear Adams was influential to her husband's professional success, providing him with essential intelligence as she carved out a unique place of her own in the history of the United States.

"She served as a really important conduit of information for John," Martin says. "John and Abigail are separated for months at a time and she is able to send him information, both what's going on militarily, but also the popular sentiment on the ground as it pertains to the idea of independence. I think that is a very important role that can be easily overlooked because it's not a single action. It takes the cumulative reading of the exchange of correspondence to tease that out."

" " Abigail and John Adams were prolific letter writers during their lifetimes. Today their letters survive as a remarkable archive about their life, the Revolutionary War, politics and even women's rights at the time. Public Domain

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'Remember the Ladies'

One of her most memorable letters to John was written March 31, 1776, when he was toiling away in Philadelphia at the Continental Congress, and she was feeling the privation of war back on the farm in Braintree.

She made her voice heard writing the following to John:

I long to hear that you have declared an independency  and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have not voice, or representation.

Adams chose her words intentionally.

"She is speaking very particularly about 'husbands,'" says Martin. "Her language is conscious there and that's because of the legal constructs of the time. Married women had fewer legal rights. They weren't lowest on the list because enslaved people were much further down, but married women had very little legal standing."

Does this mean Adams was a feminist? Martin says that depends on the definition.

"She certainly advocated for more equal footing and a lot of how that takes shape for her in her correspondence is through women's education," she adds. "[Adams] felt the lack of it because she didn't go to school. Even though she was an incredibly well-read, well-educated woman for her time, she felt the disadvantage."

Later in 1776, Adams wrote what Martin says is one of her favorite quotes:

'If we mean to have heroes, statesmen and philosophers, we should have learned women.'

"That's because of women's position in society," Martin says. "They're the ones raising the next generation of citizens, and therefore those should be educated as well."

" " The Old House at Peace field was built in 1731 and became the residence of the Adams family for four generations, from 1788 to 1927. National Park Service

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From First Lady to Private Citizen

When John was elected president in March 1797, Adams served as first lady. They lived first in Philadelphia (the temporary capital), then moved to Washington, D.C.

"She was an active participant in John Adams' executive period," Martin says. "Abigail had social responsibilities but she also worked to influence public opinion, to support her husband's policies. She actively worked to combat the press and what she considered misinformation in the press."

But throughout John's one term presidency, Martin says, you read in her correspondence a desire to be out of the spotlight.

"[Adams] says she would be happy to retire," says Martin. "She believed in duty to country as well and also saw herself having a role in that. I think that's the thing that is sometimes missed when we're talking about the founding generation. Both John and Abigail at times talk about both sharing in this arduous journey within public life and during the presidency or both of them retiring from public life."

That time finally came after Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams for the presidency in 1800. That allowed the couple to return to Peace field, and focus on their large family and the farm. And though they remained interested in politics, they kept to themselves.

Adams died at her home in 1818 at age 73. She was buried at the First Unitarian Church in Quincy, Massachusetts. Her eldest son, John Quincy Adams, became the nation's sixth president six years later. Some of her most famous letters were published in 1848, giving her another first  the first published book attributed to a former first lady.

Now That's Interesting In 1776, John Adams wrote to Abigail Adams saying that he'd bought a "folio book," a leather binder in which to save his letters and he suggested she do the same. He wanted to preserve their correspondence for their family. He later urged his son, John Quincy, to keep a personal journal, which he famously did, as well. John Adams told his family, "Whatever you write, preserve." Thanks to his advice, the United States has a remarkable archive of this remarkable family.
" " "Head of Medusa," showing a gory head of live snakes, was painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1618. Imagno/Getty Images

The snake-haired image of Medusa was ubiquitous in ancient Greece. Her grotesque visage  wide eyes, gnashing tongue, sharp teeth and, most famously, hissing snakes for hair  adorned temple roofs, military shields and even the bottom of drinking vessels to deliver a jolt of surprise with the last gulp of wine.

But if you read the Medusa myths closely, they reveal a complex portrait of a "monster" who is as much a victim as a victimizer, explains Spyros Syropoulos, a professor of ancient Greek literature in the Department of Mediterranean Studies at the University of the Aegean in Greece. Medusa was once a beautiful young woman, but she was raped by Poseidon and punished by Athena to become a monstrous Gorgon whose very gaze turned men to stone.

As the ultimate cruelty, Medusa's severed head was brandished by her tormentor Athena as a weapon and object of fear. The ancient Greeks themselves used the terrifying image of Medusa's head, called a gorgoneion, as a protective charm.

"When we think of Medusa, we think of the head only," says Syropoulos, author of "A Bestiary of Monsters in Greek Mythology." "The severed head becomes much more important than the blameless girl, Medusa."

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Multiple Versions of the Medusa Myth

As with much of Greek mythology, there are several versions of Medusa's origin story. The oldest myths cast her as a monster from birth, while the later stories describe an innocent young maiden punished for the sins of the gods.

According to the Greek poet Hesiod, writing in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.E., Medusa was one of three sisters known as the Gorgons born to the primeval gods Ceto and Phorcys, who were mother and son. Medusa's fate was "a sad one," wrote Hesiod, because she was mortal while her sisters Sthenno and Euryale were ageless and lived forever.

"There's something monstrous and unfair in that Medusa's the only mortal," says Syropoulos. "Not to mention that she was born from a 'monstrous' relationship."

Writing a century after Hesiod, Greek poet Stasinus of Cyprus described Medusa and her Gorgon sisters as "fearful monsters who lived in Sarpedon, a rocky island in deep-eddying Oceanus." The word Gorgon comes from the Greek gorgos meaning "terrible." Greek playwright Aeschylus, writing in the fifth century B.C.E., filled in the details of the Gorgons' horrific appearance: "three winged sisters, the snake-haired Gorgons, loathed of mankind, whom no one of mortal kind shall look upon and still draw breath."

Later stories doubled down on the unfairness of Medusa's fate. The Roman poet Ovid, writing around the time of Christ (first century C.E.), said that Medusa wasn't a monster at first, but a maiden with "lovely hair" who caught the eye of lustful Poseidon, god of the sea. Poseidon raped Medusa in the Temple of Athena, and the goddess of wisdom and war was so angry that she transformed Medusa's flowing hair into "loathsome snakes."

"Instead of punishing the god, Athena punished the mortal, which was unfair," says Syropoulos. "But that's how the gods behaved in Greek mythology  petty, vindictive and cruel."

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Perseus and Medusa

Medusa's most famous appearance in Greek mythology is as the feared monster in the heroic story of Perseus. In order to free his mother, Perseus was sent to kill Medusa, the winged Gorgon who could petrify mortals (literally turn them to stone) with a single look. Armed with gifts from the gods, including a mirror-like shield that allowed him to gaze upon Medusa unharmed, Perseus chopped off Medusa's head.

" " This famous bronze statue, carved by Benvenuto Cellini in 1554, is titled "Perseus holding the head of Medusa." It is on display in Florence, Italy. fotofojanini/Getty Images

Even after she was dead, Medusa's head was used as a weapon. Perseus unveiled it to petrify his mother's captor and then delivered Medusa's head to Athena, who attached the gorgoneion to her shield to terrify her enemies.

"Medusa was returned to the goddess who had made her into a monster, and then became an unwilling victimizer herself," says Syropoulos. "There's never-ending violence in this story, a perpetuation of evil and wickedness. But there's much more wickedness in the goddess Athena than in the blameless girl, Medusa."

In Greek art, Athena and other gods often carry shields adorned with the protective image of Medusa. The colossal statue known as Athena Parthenos, once the centerpiece of the Parthenon, depicted Athena with two gorgoneia, one on her shield and another on her breastplate. That type of protective talisman is called "apotropaic," which explains why Medusa's image is found on everything from ancient funeral jars to the roof tiles of temples, where she scared off evil spirits (similar to gargoyles on medieval cathedrals).

" " The head of Medusa is depicted on this classic Greek gorgoneion or protective talisman from the fourth century B.C.E. Ancient Greeks thought her face could ward off evil spirits. shakko/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 3.0

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Myth and Monstrosity in Ancient Greece

Today, we view Greek mythology as entertaining stories of fictional gods, goddesses, heroes and monsters, but the ancient Greeks saw myth as true stories from a distant past.

"They couldn't put a date on it, but the ancient Greeks didn't doubt that something real had taken place 'once upon a time,'" says Syropoulos. "Nobody doubted that Hercules went to the underworld and brought back the three-headed dog, Cerberus, or that Jason went to the other side and retrieved the Golden Fleece."

To the Greeks, monsters weren't seen as inherently evil or ugly. A monster was any creature that transgressed human perception, including the beautiful, winged horse Pegasus (born from Medusa's blood after her beheading by Perseus). In Greek culture, the world was composed of complementary dualities  day and night, Mount Olympus and Hades  and both good and evil could exist at the same time, even within the gods.

Perhaps no character from Greek myth personified that dual nature better than the "monster" Medusa.

"She's beautiful and grotesque," says Syropoulos. "We feel repulsion, but also compassion. She's a victim and a victimizer. She's mortal, but her image lives on forever. This is what made it impossible for centuries of artists and poets to ignore her."

Now That's Cool Depictions of Medusa are unique in Greek art because she's one of the only figures to stare directly at the viewer with a "confrontational" and "unflinching outward gaze," according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
" " The landmark Suleymaniye Mosque is the largest mosque in Istanbul and was built on the order of Sultan Suleiman (Suleiman the Magnificent) during the Ottoman Empire. Izzet Keribar/Getty Images

The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest superpowers and longest-lived dynasties in world history. At its height, the Islamic empire extended far beyond modern-day Turkey  from Egypt and Northern Africa through the Middle East, Greece, the Balkans (Bulgaria, Romania, etc.), and right up to the gates of Vienna, Austria.

In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire was not only a dominant military force, but a diverse and multicultural society. The glory wouldn't last, however, and after centuries of political crises, the Ottoman Empire was finally dismantled after World War I.

So, what led to its downfall? First, let's go back to its beginnings.

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It All Started with Osman

Osman Gazi is known as the father of the Ottoman dynasty, the first in a long line of military leaders and sultans who came to rule the Ottoman Empire for six centuries. In fact, the word Ottoman in English derives from the Italian pronunciation of Osman's name.

Osman was born in 1258 in the Anatolian town of Sogut (in modern-day Turkey). He led one of many small Islamic principalities in the region at the time, but Osman wasn't satisfied with a provincial kingdom. He raised an army of fierce frontier warriors known as Ghazis and marched against Byzantine strongholds in Asia Minor.

According to Ottoman lore, Osman had a dream in which all the known world was unified under Ottoman rule, symbolized by the canopy of a massive tree rising from his body and covering the world. This vision, first published 150 years after Osman's death, provided divine authority for the Ottoman conquests to come, explained historian Caroline Finkel in "Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire."

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The Gunpowder Empire

In 1453, Sultan Mehmed II, aka Mehmed the Conqueror, laid siege to the greatly weakened Byzantine capital of Constantinople. Although its population had dwindled, the fabled city still had its impenetrable walls. But the Ottomans came prepared with a new type of weaponry: cannons.

"The Ottomans were some of the first to employ artillery on a mass scale in the 15th century," says Chris Gratien, a history professor at the University of Virginia and co-creator of the Ottoman History Podcast. Mehmed bombarded the fortified city walls for weeks before his army broke through, making Constantinople (later Istanbul) the new Ottoman capital, which it would remain for over four centuries.

By unseating the Byzantine Empire, Sultan Mehmed could claim his place in the Roman imperial tradition. It's at this moment, historians believe, that the Ottoman Empire was born.

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A Multicultural Caliphate

The Ottomans and most of their functionaries were Muslim, but the sultans and the ruling elite were strategic and pragmatic about the role of religion in their ever-expanding empire.

For conquests of predominantly Muslim regions like Egypt, the Ottomans established themselves as the true caliphate without completely erasing their Muslim subjects' existing political structure. Non-Muslim communities throughout the Mediterranean governed much of their own affairs under the Ottomans, as Christians and Jews were considered "protected people" in the Islamic political tradition.

Gratien says that the Ottomans were able to successfully govern and maintain such an extensive land empire not only through military might but "a combination of cooption and compromise."

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The Golden Age of the Ottoman Empire

In the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire reached its territorial and political apex under the 46-year rule of Suleiman I, better known as Suleiman the Magnificent, who was intent on making his Mediterranean kingdom a European superpower.

" " A map of the Ottoman Empire showing its expansion from 1481 to 1683. Andre Koehne/CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia

Militarily, this was the "period of peak Ottoman dominance," says Gratien. Suleiman commanded an elite professional fighting force known as the Janissaries. The fighters were taken by force from Christian families as youth, educated and trained as soldiers and made to convert to Islam. Fearless in battle, the Janissaries were also accompanied by some of the world's first military bands.

Suleiman's reign also coincided with a period of great wealth for the Ottoman Empire, which controlled some of the most productive agricultural land (Egypt) and most trafficked trade routes in Europe and the Mediterranean.

But Gratien says that the Age of Suleiman was about more than just power and money; it was also about justice. In Turkish, Suleiman's nickname was Kanuni  "the lawgiver"  and he sought to project the image of a just ruler in the Islamic tradition. In larger towns across the empire, citizens could take their disputes to local Islamic courts, the records of which are still around today. Not just Muslims, but Christians and Jews. And not just men, but women.

"These were places where women could go claim their rights in cases of inheritance or divorce, for example," says Gratien.

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Roxelana and the 'Sultanate of Women'

A fascinating and somewhat overlooked figure in Ottoman history is Roxelana, the wife of Suleiman the Magnificent. As historian Leslie Peirce showed in his book "Empress of the East: How a European Slave Girl Became Queen of the Ottoman Empire," Roxelana, known as Hurrem Sultan in Turkish, ushered in a new age of female political power in the palace, sometimes known as the "Sultanate of Women."

Roxelana was a non-Muslim kidnapped by slavers at 13 and eventually sold into the sultan's harem. According to Ottoman royal tradition, the sultan would stop sleeping with a concubine once she bore him a male heir. But Suleiman stuck with Roxelana, who bore him a total of six children and became one of his closest confidantes and political aides  and perhaps most shockingly, his wife.

Thanks to Roxelana's example, the imperial harem took on a new role as an influential political body, and generations of Ottoman women ruled alongside their sultan husbands and sons.

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Military Decline and Internal Reforms

In 1683, the Ottomans tried for a second time to conquer Vienna but were repulsed by an unlikely alliance of the Hapsburg Dynasty, the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Not only did the Ottomans fail to capture Vienna, but they ended up losing Hungary and other territory in the ensuing war.

The once unbeatable Ottoman fighters suffered loss after loss throughout the 18th and 19th centuries as more Ottoman territories declared independence or were snatched up by neighboring powers like Russia.

But Gratien says that while the Ottoman Empire shrunk in size, it also centralized its government and become more involved in the lives of its citizens. It raised more taxes and opened public schools and hospitals. The economy and population density grew rapidly in the 19th century even as the military suffered painful losses. The Ottoman Empire also became the destination for millions of Muslim immigrants and refugees from former Ottoman lands and neighboring regions.

"Large-scale immigration is associated with places like the United States in the 19th century, but people don't think of the Ottoman Empire as something that was also growing and dynamic during that time," says Gratien.

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The Rise of the 'Young Turks'

In the late 19th century, the Ottoman Empire experimented with a constitutional monarchy and an elected parliament, but that came to end in 1878 when Sultan Abdulhamid II dissolved the democratic institutions and ushered in 30 years of autocratic rule.

Abdulhamid's hardline approach sowed the seeds of revolution, and the leading Ottoman opposition group was the Committee of Union and Progress party (CUP), also known as the "Young Turks." Though its leaders were Turkish nationalists, the CUP formed a coalition of ethnoreligious groups, including Armenians, Jews, Arabs, Greeks and Albanians.

The Young Turks wanted to restore the constitution, limit the monarchy and reestablish the greatness of the empire. Their victory in the 1908 revolution was widely celebrated as a win for liberty, equality, and Ottoman brotherhood. But the revolution quickly soured as factions split and more ardent nationalists consolidated what became increasingly authoritarian rule.

Coinciding with this internal turmoil was the First Balkan War in 1912, in which the Ottomans lost their remaining European territory in Albania and Macedonia. And as World War I approached, the militarily weakened Ottomans threw their fate in with Germany, who they hoped would protect them from their bitter enemy Russia.

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The Armenian Genocide  The Empire's Final Shameful Chapter

With the ultranationalist wing of the Young Turks in charge, the Ottoman government initiated a plan to deport and resettle millions of ethnic Greeks and Armenians, groups whose loyalty to the crumbling empire was in question.

Under the cover of "security concerns," the Ottoman government ordered the arrest of notable Armenian politicians and intellectuals on April 24, 1915, a day known as Red Sunday. What followed was the forced deportation of more than a million Armenian citizens, including death marches across the desert to Syria and alleged massacres by soldiers, irregulars, and other armed groups in the region. In all, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians (out of 2 million in the Ottoman Empire) were killed between 1915 and 1923, according to the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

" " Members of the local Armenian community in Berlin demonstrate for Turkey's recognition of the Armenian Genocide on its 100th anniversary on April 25, 2015. Turkey vehemently objects to the use of the term 'genocide' in reference to the deaths of the estimated 1.5 million Armenians who were killed by Ottoman Turks in the massacre beginning a century ago to the day. Adam Berry/Getty Images

Most scholars and historians agree that what happened to the Ottoman Armenians constitutes ethnic cleansing and genocide, but Turkey and a number of its allies still refuse to call it by that name.

Defeat in World War I was the final death blow to the Ottoman Empire, but the sultanate wasn't officially dissolved until 1922, when the Turkish nationalist resistance leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk rose to power and established a secular republic. Under his decades-long, one-party rule, Ataturk tried to erase Ottoman institutions and cultural symbols, brought in Western legal codes and laid the foundation for modern Turkey.

Now That's Cool You can thank the Ottoman Empire for popularizing both coffee and coffeehouses way back in the 16th century.
" " This tea and coffee service, although unmarked, has been attributed to the Philadelphia silversmith Christian Wiltberger. It belonged to Eleanor Parke (Nelly) Custis (17791852), granddaughter of Martha Washington. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Whether it's a piece of jewelry or your grandmother's antique tea set, an object deemed "real" silver might not in fact be 100 percent silver. Although nearly pure silver exists  about 99.9 percent is possible  pure silver is significantly less useful on its own than when it is mixed with another metal. The closer to pure silver gets, the softer it gets too. In fact, you could easily bend 99.9 percent pure silver with your hands.

Because malleability is usually not what consumers are looking for in a fork or a necklace, metalsmiths have been creating silver alloys for centuries, instead. The formula that has been the standard for real silver for more than half a millennium, at least according to Britain, is what has become known as sterling silver.

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What Is Sterling Silver?

Sterling silver is a mixture of 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent another metal  typically copper  according to Steve Nelson, owner, Nelson & Nelson Antiques in Manhattan. The addition of the copper hardens soft silver, so it can be both thin and durable. Zinc and nickel may also be used to make sterling silver. And while it may seem that adding one of these could diminish silver's shine, sterling silver is known for its bright, white-gray look.

"The color of sterling is very good," Nelson says. "Older pieces are going to have a patina on them. It develops over time [into] a softer color." The patina is actually a lot of micro-scratches, but to the naked eye, they display as a softer appearance. Thanks to the addition of copper or another metal, silver can last indefinitely.

Consider the rare silver petal-lobed stem cup from the Ming Dynasty, which spanned the 14th through 17th centuries. Or the George III sterling silver sweetmeat dishes from the late 18th century.

" " This pair of miniature tapersticks by British silversmith David Clayton dates to ca. 172030. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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History of Sterling Silver

If there is no question about sterling silver's ability to last, there may be one about how the specific 92.5 percent formula became the standard or how it came to be called sterling.

By about the 12th century in England, silver coins were called "Easterlings," a word later abbreviated to "sterling." In 1300, King Edward I made the definition official by declaring that sterling silver had to be 92.5 percent pure silver and should be marked by "guardians of the craft."

So the Brits formed the Goldsmith's Company to control silver and hallmarks  basically to standardize sterling. They did it because artisans at the time were crafting silver objects and declaring they met a certain percentage, when in fact they did not, Nelson explains.

"They were making substandard silver," he says. Nelson says that in the early days of the Goldsmith's Company, the late Middle Ages, if a smith put a sterling standard mark on a piece that wasn't at least 92.5 percent silver, they could be put to death. Today, the Goldsmith's Company is one of the oldest guilds in London, after receiving its royal charter in 1327. (They don't put silversmiths to death anymore, though.)

That didn't mean that all silver being produced during that time maxed out at 92.5 percent. Other formulas were possible, like 950 silver  that's 95 percent  but items with a higher percentage of silver had to be thicker and heavier to make them strong enough.

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Sterling Silver Hallmarks

Knowing whether your silver is sterling, something purer or not quite up to snuff is easy enough in theory. Just look for the hallmark. These were added in Britain and later around the world. They will be marked somewhere on the piece, typically the bottom.

If the sterling silver was made in the United States, look for the word "sterling" or "925." But English  and French hallmarks  get more complicated.

The English started noting sterling standard about 500 years ago, Nelson explains. And the hallmarks don't just denote sterling-ness, they also detail where and when the silver was made. For example, a lion's head hallmark symbolizes that the sterling is English, but where it was made is noted with other animals or symbols.

For instance, sterling marked with a leopard head hallmark was made in London, while pieces with an anchor mark would have been produced in Birmingham, England. Each year was assigned a different letter, too, and when it was time to repeat the alphabet, a new font was used. Maker's marks began as other symbols but shifted to the maker's initials in the 17th century.

French silver was made in 950 and 800 versions  that's 95 percent or 80 percent silver  and is marked accordingly. A Minerva head with a No. 1 would identify a piece as 950, while the No. 2 showed it to be of the lesser quality, according to Nelson.

But those are just a couple of the examples. Other countries from Denmark to China put their own marks on silver, whether it's sterling or not. The process of learning and understanding the myriad silver marks might last longer than the silver itself.

" " This sterling silver fruit knife made by William Needham shows several different hallmarks and a maker's mark. (From left) The first mark is for the assay office, which tests for the silver's purity. The lion passant mark shows it is 92.5 percent silver. The final mark is a date letter, which tells when it was assayed and is likely close to the date the knife was made. Next to these are the initials WN for William Needham, or the maker's mark. Beeches Vintage

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How Much Is Sterling Worth?

With so much variety of sterling on the market, the values vary considerably. But Nelson says when it comes to antiques, typically English silver is more valuable. In fact, there's not a lot of antique American sterling on the market because before 1860, most of the silver made in the U.S. was 90 percent, which would disqualify it as sterling.

Nicknamed "coin silver," this alloy was necessitated because Americans did not have a consistent source of silver. In order to craft silver objects, the smiths melted existing objects, including coins, that were 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, and made something new.

Even less valuable is that silver tea set your grandmother told you was sterling but is actually silver plate. Plating is covering a material with a thin coating of another. In the case of silver plating, that would often be copper with a thin coat of silver. And guess what? Silver plated items come with a whole other set of hallmarks.

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What Is Made of Sterling Silver?

Many of the items that were traditionally made from sterling silver still are. That might mean household items like centerpieces, candlesticks, trays, and jewelry and watches. You can also find sterling silver on modern dog collars. Of course, silverware got its name from its relationship with silver  both sterling and plated  although today most of us dine with less valuable flatware.

"They may be a different style because over time the styles changed," says Nelson. Nevertheless, today's sterling silver suits more decorative purposes than some historic uses.

Another place you'll find silver today is in electronics, although it's not sterling, but the pure 99.9 percent kind. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, in 2013, 35 percent of silver in the United States was used for electronics and electrical purposes.

And sorry to disappoint, but you won't be able to melt your coins for a new silver necklace because after 1964, even 90 percent silver was no longer used for coins, save a short run of half dollars.

" " Sterling silver jewelry is hugely popular and looks great when mounted with turquoise stones. Reid Dalland/Shutterstock

To keep sterling silver looking like the 18th-century day it was smelt, use a soft polishing cloth on pieces that are not tarnished. Otherwise, clean it with a silver polish paste and sponge or rag, and then rinse with warm water to dissolve any remaining paste from the decorative areas.

Do this every few months or whenever you notice it starting to yellow, advises Nelson. It should be easy to clean if it's yellow, but if you let it go black, you'll need to use more elbow grease.

Now That's Interesting How can you tell if your silver is sterling or silver plated? The best way would be to get it evaluated, but you can test it at home first to see whether it's magnetic (silver should not be) and if it gets cold quickly (silver should).
By Marianne Hanson, Associate Professor of International Relations, The University of Queensland

Russian forces in Ukraine may have used thermobaric weapons and cluster bombs, according to reports from the Ukraine government and human rights groups.

If true, this represents an escalation in brutality that should alarm us all.

While cluster munitions are banned by international convention, thermobaric munitions  also known as fuel-air explosive devices, or vacuum bombs  are not explicitly prohibited for use against military targets.

These devastating devices, which create an oxygen-eating fireball followed by a deadly shockwave, are far more powerful than most other conventional weapons.

What are thermobaric weapons?

Thermobaric weapons are generally deployed as rockets or bombs, and they work by releasing fuel and explosive charges. Different fuels can be used, including toxic powdered metals and organic matter containing oxidant.

The explosive charge disperses a large cloud of fuel which then ignites in contact with the oxygen in the surrounding air. This creates a high-temperature fireball and a massive shockwave that literally sucks the air out of any living being in the vicinity.

Thermobaric bombs are devastating and effective in urban areas or open conditions, and can penetrate bunkers and other underground locations, starving the occupants of oxygen. There is very little that can protect humans and other life forms from their blast and incendiary effects.

A 1990 CIA report, cited by Human Rights Watch, noted the effects of a thermobaric explosion in a confined space:

Those near the ignition point are obliterated. Those at the fringe are likely to suffer many internal, thus invisible injuries, including burst eardrums and crushed inner ear organs, severe concussions, ruptured lungs and internal organs, and possibly blindness.

A history of horror

Crude versions of thermobaric weapons were developed by Germany during World War Two. Western states, as well as the Soviet Union and latterly Russia, have used them since the 1960s.

The Soviet Union is believed to have used a thermobaric weapon against China during the Sino-Soviet conflict of 1969, and in Afghanistan as part of its takeover of that country in 1979. Moscow also used them in Chechnya, and has reportedly provided them to separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The United States has used these weapons in Vietnam and in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Why some weapons are banned, even in war

Although thermobaric weapons are not yet unequivocally banned, there are several points that argue against their development and use.

International humanitarian law stipulates what is and is not permissible during warfare. There has long been an understanding that even wars have their limits: while some weapons are considered legal, others are not, precisely because they violate key principles of humanitarian law.

A new report from Human Rights Watch makes it clear the Russian invasion of Ukraine is illegal. It draws on the Geneva Conventions to define the illegitimacy of Moscows actions, including its use or potential use of particular weapons.





Read more:

International law says Putin's war against Ukraine is illegal. Does that matter?





The use of weapons in indiscriminate attacks  those that cannot distinguish between combatants and civilians - is forbidden by the Geneva Conventions.

A thermobaric weapon might be targeted specifically at military installations and personnel, but its effects cannot be contained to one area. In all likelihood, many civilians would be killed if such bombs were used in any city.

Using explosive weapons in populated areas would result in indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. Aerial bombs, even if aimed at military objectives, pose a grave threat to civilians because of their wide blast radius.

Unnecessary suffering

Efforts to ban these weapons have not yet produced a clear prohibition. The 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (commonly called the Inhumane Weapons Convention) addresses incendiary weapons, but states have managed to avoid an explicit ban on thermobaric bombs.

In addition to the impacts on civilians, thermobaric bombs would cause superfluous injury and unnecessary suffering. Under international humanitarian law, they should not be used.

There is a point at which  even if a war is deemed legitimate or just  violence must not involve weapons that are excessively cruel or inhumane.

If a weapon is likely to prolong the agony of soldiers (or civilians) or result in superfluous and unacceptable injuries, theoretically its use is not permitted. Thermobaric weapons clearly seem to meet this definition.

Cluster bombs and nuclear weapons

It is not only thermobaric weapons that cause us concern in the current war.

Ukraines government and human rights groups say Russia has also used cluster munitions. These are bombs or rockets that release a cluster of smaller bomblets over a wide area.

Cluster munitions were banned under an international convention in 2008. Russia has not signed (nor has the US, China or India), but until now it has largely respected the conventions provisions.

Perhaps of greatest concern, however, is Moscows nuclear weapons arsenal. President Vladimir Putin has hinted strongly that he would potentially be willing to use them, putting Russian nuclear forces on high alert and warning that countries which interfere in the invasion will face consequences you have never seen.





Read more:

As Putin puts nuclear forces on high alert, here are 5 genuine nuclear dangers for us all





Russia has around 6,000 nuclear weapons and an escalation of conflict could result in their use  either deliberately or inadvertently during the fog of war.

Putin is not the only one to have made threats like this. The US holds around 5,500 nuclear weapons of its own, and its nuclear policy promises nuclear devastation to opponents.

Even the British and French resort to nuclear pressure, and former US president Donald Trump, when threatening North Korea, used similar language. But Putins statement goes beyond even these threats.





Read more:

The nuclear weapons ban treaty is groundbreaking, even if the nuclear powers haven't signed





It is these very real dangers that led 122 states at the United Nations to vote in favour of developing the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2017.

The war in Ukraine is the latest reminder that we must act to eliminate thermobaric, cluster, and nuclear weapons, under strict international control. The stakes are simply too high to allow these dangers to remain.

Marianne Hanson has previously received funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the University of Queensland to conduct research on weapons and international law. In a voluntary capacity, she is currently Co-Chair of ICAN Australia (the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons).

Originally published in The Conversation.
UNIVERSITY CITY  UNC Charlotte has been selected as a university partner in Amazons Career Choice program. This program provides Amazons hourly employees access to fully funded tuition for any of UNC Charlottes 171 bachelors degree programs in 77 areas of study, including degree completion programs designed specifically for working adults in the School of Professional Studies.

As Amazons select university partner in this region, we provide accessible, affordable, quality higher education to help upskill the local workforce and meet North Carolinas evolving employment needs, said UNC Charlotte Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber. Charlotte is uniquely positioned to provide flexible higher education options that meet the demands of todays working adults and drive even more economic growth, opportunity and success.

This partnership also helps strengthen a growing, vibrant city, according to Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles.

UNC Charlotte and Amazon both contribute significantly to the economic vitality of our city, said Lyles. We are fortunate that these two powerhouses are partnering together in efforts to train, educate and expand the workforce in the Charlotte region and North Carolina.

Students transferring to UNC Charlotte from Amazons community college partners  including Central Piedmont, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and Wake Technical Community College  have the opportunity to continue to receive Amazons employee tuition benefit. This applies to the 49erNext co-admission program for students earning an associate degree and to the 49er Finish program for former UNC Charlotte students who have not completed a degree. Amazon employees who are currently enrolled at UNC Charlotte also can apply to receive free tuition through this program.

Career Choice is part of Amazons Upskilling 2025 pledge  a $1.2 billion commitment to upskill more than 300,000 Amazon employees by 2025.

Were looking forward to UNC Charlotte coming on board as an education partner for Career Choice, adding to the hundreds of best-in-class offerings available to our employees, said Tammy Thieman, global program lead of Amazons Career Choice program. Were committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether thats with us or elsewhere. We have intentionally cultivated a partner network of third-party educators and employers committed to providing excellent education, job placement resources, and continuous improvements to the experience. Today, over 50,000 Amazon employees around the world have already participated in Career Choice and weve seen firsthand how it can transform their lives.
France has seized a yacht owned by Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, the French finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

Sechin is the CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft. The European Union sanctioned Sechin earlier this week, describing him as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "most trusted and closest advisors, as well as his personal friend."

The yacht, named "Amore Vero"  or "True Love" in Italian  arrived at the French Mediterranean port of La Ciotat in January. It was scheduled to leave the port on April 1.

"Thank you to the French customs officers who are enforcing the European Union's sanctions against those close to the Russian government," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a tweet.

Sechin was deputy prime minister of Russia from 2008 until 2012. The European Union said his connections to Putin are "long and deep," with the two men maintaining daily contact.

Earlier this week, Le Maire announced that France has set up a task force to complete a census of financial assets and luxury goods owned by Russian personalities targeted by EU sanctions.

BP said on Sunday that it would exit its 19.75% stake in Rosneft and give up two seats on the company's board.

***

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(Adnkronos) - "Andro al confine polacco con l'Ucraina". A quanto apprende l'AdnKronos e quanto avrebbe annunciato Matteo Salvini ai suoi parlamentari, nel corso della riunione di questa mattina al teatro Umberto, nel cuore di Roma. Ieri il leader della Lega, nel corso di una conferenza stampa alla Camera, aveva fatto sapere che era allo studio l'ipotesi di una trasferta nella zona di guerra, per "frapporsi tra le bombe e il popolo, tra il popolo e i missili", auspicando un marcia della pace, "magari lanciata dal Santo Padre".

Nellincontro con i parlamentar, Salvini ha evidenziato che "lurgenza e fermare il conflitto. Dobbiamo fare di tutto per fermare la guerra. La pace non e mai fuori moda". Lobiettivo del leader della Lega e "organizzare unaccoglienza efficace delle famiglie ucraine con particolare riferimento a quelle con bimbi anche in eta scolare", come rende noto il Carroccio. "Dobbiamo garantire scuola, cure, casa e assistenza alle famiglie che stanno arrivando con particolare riferimento ai bimbi" ha precisato ai parlamentari. Anche per questo, Salvini incontrera in mattinata lambasciatore dellUcraina a Roma.
CHARLESTON  Born and raised as a Catholic, Rachel Roman said it's been a while since she has celebrated Mass and thought attending an Ash Wednesday service could be a way to readjust.

"I haven't been the greatest Catholic, but I figured I would start going back to church since it's right in my backyard," said Roman, who is a sophomore communications major at Eastern Illinois University. "It was humbling and I felt a warmth that I haven't felt in a really long time."

Lent is a 40-day period, excluding Sundays, prior to Easter. The 40 days are based on the 40 days of temptation Jesus underwent prior to beginning his ministry, during which he fasted.

Christians often give up habits and certain vices for Lent as a sign of self denial and "turning away from our sinful habits," said Fr. Braden Maher, the chaplain at the Newman Catholic Center.

"The beginning of Lent is marked by ashes which is a sign of self denial," Maher said. "The significance of Ash Wednesday is that it's a visible way of starting this season, which we pray is filled with people's prayers, fasting and almsgiving to turn back to the Lord."

For Catholics, Pope Francis suggested offering their Lenten sacrifice and devotions in honor of the people of Ukraine and as a prayer for peace there.

Although most people are familiar with the ashes being placed on their forehead in the shape of the cross, Maher said it's an "American anomaly" that does not exist anywhere else because the ashes are primarily placed on the crown of an individuals head.

When Catholics are first baptized, they are anointed with the sacred Chrism, or holy oil, on the crown of their head and the ashes on Ash Wednesday is sign that covers or obscures the mark of baptism as a symbol of confusion of their own identity as Christians, Maher said.

Maher said placing ashes on the crown of people's heads was first done last year as a way to mitigate space amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and this year it was adopted into their normal practices.

"It's a reminder that our true dignity is that of members of the body of Christ following after the Lord who is priest, prophet and king in our own vocations and how we bring about Christ's presence into the world," Maher said.

Campus Minister Catherine Porter said Wednesday's reading from the book of the prophet Joel had a passage that read "rend your hearts and not your garments" which is about fasting, praying and giving arms, but also about self-renewal and uniting ones-self to become closer to Jesus.

During this time and throughout the year, Porter said the center helps students find religion in Christianity as well as teaching them to pray, answering questions about faith and mentor them one on one.

"It's about uniting myself more to the Lord," Porter said. "But really, at the end of the day, it's really about serving the Lord and helping engage students in their own journey."

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The governor's office on Wednesday released the following statement after former state House Speaker Michael Madigan was indicted.

"An indictment of this magnitude is a condemnation of a system infected with promises of pay-to-play, and the era of corruption and self-dealing among Illinois politicians must end. The conduct alleged in this indictment is deplorable and a stark violation of the publics trust. Michael Madigan must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

Ultimately, every person in elected office is responsible for doing the right thing  and not lining their own pockets. I am fully committed to eradicate the scourge of corruption from our political system, and todays indictment is an important step in cleaning up Illinois. I have faith that our justice system will help restore the publics trust in government.

When I ran for office, I made clear that I would be beholden to no one, and that I would serve the best interests of the people of Illinois. I have upheld that vow. For the past three years, my administration has made clear that such abuses will not be tolerated, and weve tightened our ethics laws. I will continue to work with the General Assembly to restore the publics trust."

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Two recent bulletins place progressive outrage about voting rights in interesting perspective.



Item No. 1: The latest "Pew Center on the States Report" found 24 million invalid voter registrations and nearly 2 million dead people still on U.S. voter rolls.



Item No. 2: South Carolina has sued theU.S. Department of Justiceas a result of the DOJ's decision to block the state from requiring voters to show government-issued identification in order to vote.



For many of us, this juxtaposition is a head scratcher. One might think the "powers that be" would focus on fixes to broken election systems around the country. Yet in South Carolina, the full power of the federal government is aligned against a state for having the temerity to require a reliable source of identification prior to exercising our most fundamental right. The government's rationale? Such a requirement is discriminatory against minority voters who may not possess the requisite documents. Justice may need more lawyers to handle its forthcoming workload, however. Fifteen states have passed photo identification laws over the past year, and the Supreme Court has recently upheld the constitutionality of a similar law in Indiana.



The issue has hit home enough with me that I wrote about it in my new book, where I recount how my seasonal allergies necessitate periodic visits to the local drugstore for Claritin D. My familiar face and name do not secure a pass from having to produce Maryland photo identification, however. (It seems a certain ingredient in this form of the medication can be used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.) Accordingly, I dutifully produce my driver's license. No big deal, you might say. A rational explanation for an ever-so-slight imposition.



Yet, on Election Day in Maryland and 19 other states, the experience is reversed; every time I produce that same Maryland driver's license to poll watchers, I am assured that no such requirement is imposed by the state. A rational takeaway: Our state and federal government value the regulation of my over-the-counter allergy medicine far more than the exercise of the most important individual right possessed by an American citizen.



Some excuse these mixed-up priorities on the basis that there are potential voters (mostly poor) who truly do not possess valid photo identification. Interestingly, this justification is offered during a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to live in the United States without some form of reliable ID. And there is no shortage of documents that pass muster under state photo ID laws: driver's licenses, passports, naturalization papers and student IDs, to name a few.



There are also options for the few who do not possess acceptable identification. Photo ID states typically allow provisional voting, so any potential voter can complete a ballot by supplying an acceptable form of identification before the election is certified. In South Carolina, the Department of Motor Vehicles will issue a free photo identification card to anyone who wishes to vote.



Religious freedom is also protected in photo ID states: Those with religious objections to being photographed need only sign an affidavit setting forth the reason they do not possess a photo ID.



As the debate over photo identification and voting rights rages in courts and state legislatures, it is illuminating that the proponents of "anything goes" voting fail to account for the interest of minorities in a free and fair electoral process that only counts legal votes. Voting rights are about access, transparency and accuracy  requirements that have not always been guaranteed to African-Americans and other minorities.



Ballot security concerns are heightened in so-called sanctuary states, where undocumented aliens are encouraged to live and work. It is a source of local embarrassment that Maryland and a few of its subdivisions have chosen this course. This "welcome wagon" for illegal immigrants may reflect a majoritarian view in progressive Maryland; nevertheless, it makes the realization of free and fair elections far more difficult.



The simple task of producing reliable photo identification at the polls should be a no-brainer. Every illegal vote cast and counted degrades our democracy. Lax immigration enforcement only magnifies the problem. Many of us in Maryland's significant political minority wish the state of South Carolina well in its battle against a misguided federal government.



Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s column appears Sundays. The former Maryland governor and member of Congress is a partner at the law firm King & Spalding and the author of "Turn this Car Around," a book about national politics. His email is ehrlichcolumn@gmail.com.
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The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem brings The Drowsy Chaperone, a musical-within-a-play, to the Hanesbrands Theatre starting Friday. The award-winning show, with a book written by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, pokes loving fun at the American musical styles of the 1920s.

First produced in Canada in 1998, the Broadway version of Chaperone arrived in New York in 2006. It won five Tony Awards and a number of other awards in New York and London.

The story opens in a middle-aged mans apartment, where he drops the needle on the cast recording of his favorite 1928 musical. Suddenly, the story and its cast of characters comes to life around him.

The cast of the imaginary story provides flamboyant characters: two lovers trying to complete their wedding, a bumbling best man, a theater producer with challenges, a not-very-bright hostess, a misguided Don Juan type and an intoxicated (drowsy) chaperone. Played for comedy and like the sometimes-bombastic 20s stage shows, The Drowsy Chaperone is a light, fluffy comedy interrupted from time to time by a more modern era.

Chad Edwards, who has acted in and directed multiple plays with The Little Theatre in the past, brings prior experience with this particular musical to his direction.

I fell in love with this musical when I first saw it during its national tour, Edwards said. Its one of those shows where you can turn your brain off at the door and just relax and enjoy.

Then, in 2013, I played Man in Chair in the Kernersville Little Theatre production, he said. Its so much fun, has colorful characters, and the comedy can be fast-paced and over-the-top.

Edwards artistic team includes Maggie Gallagher (music direction) and Katie Jo Icenhower (choreography).

The cast of The Drowsy Chaperone includes Matthew Cravey, Bill Davis, Izaah Gray-Jones, Sarah Jedrey, Sarah Jenkins and Sally Meehan. Philip Powell, Seph Schonekas, Heidi Shafer, Miles Stanley, Colton Widener and Dave Wils are joined by ensemble members Shelly Cobb, Logan Cox, Miriam Davie, Anna Laventure and Amy Polce to fill out the onstage team.

Kira Arrington plays the bride-to-be, Janet Van de Graaf, who arrives at the wedding site with the appropriate person in tow for an unmarried woman: a chaperone who also likes her cocktails. Dianne Paukstelis plays the drowsy chaperone.

Arrington was enticed to audition, she said, because one, no one ever does the show, and two, the role I was trying out for fits perfectly into this stage of my life. She knew the show reasonably well before auditions, as she had seen it three times, listened to the cast recording in her car, and dreamed of playing this role.

Paukstelis, meanwhile, has theater experience from when she lived in Kansas, but is new to the Triad. She, too, knew the musical before auditions.

Comedy is my favorite type of theater, she said. I knew that I really wanted to portray Beatrice Stockwell, The Drowsy Chaperone. Its a lot of fun to inhabit the life of this crazy, over-the-top, ultra-confident woman every night.

Paukstelis feels that the show has many high points, but I do think that everyone will love the sexy strangers romantic serenade of the chaperone, she said. I have a really hard time keeping a straight face during rehearsals  its hilarious.

Arrington has been tested by the necessary hard work at rehearsals.

I knew the Janet character was going to kick my butt, and boy, has she, she said. Janet doesnt have a vast amount of stage time, but what she does have, she makes sure you remember her. Honestly, the physical exertion of rehearsal each night with her numbers has been the biggest challenge.

Rehearsals have been so much fun with the casts energy and creativity, director Edwards said. I continue to laugh out loud at different things they discover every night.

The Drowsy Chaperone is a love letter to the musicals of the 1920s, Edwards said. Its a rollicking show that also has a big heart. Its also the Little Theatres first musical in two years and, I believe, the perfect cure for all that is going on in the world.
Forsyth County commissioners may find themselves divided Thursday as they tackle big spending decisions on an anti-gang effort by the sheriffs office and assistance for an arts community devastated by COVID-19.

Commissioner Don Martin and Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough accused each other of disrespect in a recent briefing session of the county board, as they clashed over how many deputies the sheriff needs to start an anti-gang program that will work in cooperation with Winston-Salem and Kernersville law enforcement.

As a result, commissioners will have two options on the spending: a $2.2 million request that would pay for six deputies, two supervisors and an office assistant, and a pared-down proposal that hires only the six deputies and comes in at $1.5 million.

Either way, the money would come from the $74 million the county is getting under the federal American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA.

ARPA would also pay for support the county plans to give to the arts community through the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.

On that issue, the question could be whether to give the arts $2.75 million, or a larger $4.5 million amount that emerged from discussion last week.

Both the arts and sheriffs office spending are among a laundry list of ARPA appropriations that the county is expected to pass on Thursday. The spending could total $14 million to $17 million from the countys ARPA pile, depending on how arts and law enforcement spending pan out.

The dustup between Martin and Kimbrough came on Feb. 24, after a previous meeting in which Martin had challenged Kimbrough to bring statistics to justify spending $2.2 million for nine positions in what is being called a Juvenile Intervention and Investigation Team that would work on the problem of gang violence.

Martin and Kimbroughs chief deputy, Rocky Joyner, had developed an alternate plan to start smaller and spend $1.5 million, mostly by cutting out supervisory duties that Martin felt could be handled by the Winston-Salem police members of the joint effort.

Kimbrough brought a lot of statistics about crime and gangs to the Feb. 24 meeting, but Martin maintained that the numbers could not support any fixed appropriation. Kimbrough responded by saying that the numbers, plus his professional judgment as a law enforcement officer, spelled support for his stance.

Respect

The conversation went downhill from there: Kimbrough said he wanted respect, after Martin interrupted him, and Martin said the sheriff disrespected him by claiming his request represented, as Martin put it, a magic number of hires.

Nobody knows what the answer is to solving this problem, and how many people it will take, Martin said.

Kimbrough said his proposal was not a magic solution, but that it represented what he needs to get his program off the ground.

A little later, Commissioner Fleming El-Amin told the sheriff that while he thinks the commissioners need to fully debate matters, Im a little bit insulted when someone of your stature comes in with a recommendation, and you are challenged to the degree that you have been challenged today.

El-Amin said he supports the sheriffs plan 100%, and got backing from Commissioner Gloria Whisenhunt as well:

My whole idea of supporting this is because I want the schools safer, she said. And I think they will be safer if you can cut back on gang activity.

Arts impact

The Arts Council says it needs $5.5 million to help the arts recover here, after the COVID-19 pandemic greatly crippled the efforts of artists to bring their work before the public.

As recent discussion on the county board showed, the Arts Council is asking both the county and Winston-Salem to split the amount needed for their effort.

But on Feb. 24, board Chairman Dave Plyler said he is worried that if the city does not fund half of the Arts Council request, the group could suffer as a result.

We like to refer to this community as the City of the Arts, Plyler said. This could be a great year for the Arts Council or a disastrous year for the Arts Council. If the city says no, the Arts Council has a real serious problem.

The city is following a different timetable and procedure for distributing its share of ARPA money, but city officials say the Arts Council and other groups wanting money will have to wait until mid-March for the beginning of a formal application process.

The Arts Council envisions using the ARPA money to help some 40 organizations and 100 individual artists. The group anticipates providing 45 workshops for professional development that would help 1,000 arts administrators, and 45 workshops for individual artists that would reach over 800 artists.

County Manager Dudley Watts said options for the county commissioners could include giving the Arts Council more money later on, if the group doesnt get what it needs for the city.

Another option on the table for consideration Thursday will be to increase the countys donation to $4.5 million.

Lets leave it as it is, Martin told other commissioners during discussion, noting that it isnt clear how much the city will give or how much the Arts Council may raise during annual fundraising.

El-Amin said the arts helped him in life by getting him through high school. He talked about how in the 10th grade he was in a group of students who went around the state putting on plays.

It is immeasurable in terms of its value, he said.

Meanwhile, a smaller request for funding, from Neighbors Hands for food distribution, has two funding choices as well for commissioners. The program has requested $350,000, but El-Amin is advocating only $200,000, saying that the county should not pay for the entire request.

Thursdays round of county ARPA spending looks to be bigger than the last, which designated some $11 million for spending.

Some of the larger appropriations expected to win approval include: $2.5 million for Greater Winston-Salem Inc., for a workforce development hub opening career pathways; $1.5 million for Cure Violence, a program that aims to curb violence by training citizens to work in their communities to defuse tense situations; $1 million to Experiment in Self-Reliance and the S.G. Atkins Community Development Corp., for business assistance; $3.3 million to Imprints Cares, for a Ready to School program for very young children; and $865,000 to United Health Centers for community health in underserved areas.

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Now that weve entered March and temperatures are starting to moderate, many of us will be grateful for the relief from high heating-oil bills  for a while.

But like the man who couldnt repair his roof when it was raining, but didnt want to when it stopped  because it wasnt raining  we shouldnt let our attention waver from the fact that the price of oil and gas will go through uncontrollable fluctuations for as long as theyre in use. Thats one among many reasons we should be doing everything we can to move to renewable energy  in our homes, offices and vehicles.

Despite the snow days we welcomed this winter, average daily temperatures statewide and for the Triad in December, January and February were about 3 degrees above normal, the Journals John Deem reported earlier this week, relying on information from the National Weather Service and preliminary data from the National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville. Thats in keeping with what weve come to expect as more carbon in the atmosphere triggers more extremes in temperatures.

While winter temperatures are rising fastest, continued year-round warming is expected, according to the North Carolina Climate Science Report, authored by 15 North Carolina climate scientists.

Indeed, every indication is that the problem of climate change is getting worse  and climate scientists are running out of ways to get the point across without sounding hysterical.

A new UN climate report released Monday, to which more than 200 climate scientists contributed, is even more troublesome than previous reports, calling global warming a threat to human well-being and planetary health. Among other findings, the report says that half of the worlds population is highly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis and if we dont act now, parts of several nations may become uninhabitable  either because theyll be underwater or because theyll be too hot for people to work outdoors.

More people are going to die each year from heat waves, air pollution, starvation  and diseases, the report says.

So if you dont like COVID restrictions 

And its already happening. Climate change is killing people, co-author Helen Adams of Kings College London said.

The report also notes  as if we need to be told  that misinformation and political divisions in North America have blunted the solutions we need to implement.

In the midst of this existential crisis, the last thing we should do is drill for more oil. In the long run, cheaper gas at the pump wont save us from disaster. In fact, in the long run, it will make matters worse.

The situation can look hopeless. But even if we cant stop rising temperatures entirely, we can mitigate its effects and save lives. Every 10th of a degree matters, and everything we do can have a positive effect  if we work together.

But individual volunteer efforts alone wont save us. Like it or not, regulation is required.

That shouldnt be surprising, considering that this is a global problem.

A case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday is likely to have serious consequences. Jacob Roth, arguing on behalf of The North America Coal Corp., wants the court to eliminate the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants, which produce nearly 20% of the electricity in the U.S.

The agency is asking questions like: Should we phase out the coal industry? Should we build more solar farms in this country? Should we restrict how consumers use electricity in order to bring down emissions? Roth said. Those are not the types of questions we expect the agency to be answering.

The court has ruled before that these are the types of questions the agency should be answering. In 2007, the court ruled that the EPA has the power to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act of 1970.

But the court has changed.

Nevertheless, as Justice Sonia Sotomayor reminded her colleagues, This agency is doing greenhouse gas regulation. This is in, you know, exactly in its wheelhouse.

We appreciate the individual liberties inherent in the Constitution. And we appreciate that many are opposed to government regulatory authority as a matter of strongly held principle.

But the Constitution shouldnt be a suicide pact that hands our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness over to commercial interests that would in the long run harm us. Its the American peoples air  not the coal industrys.

The court is expected to deliver a verdict before June. We hope the verdict is beneficial  and we hope it doesnt arrive too late.
For the second time in just a few months, residents of Waterford Estates are expressing opposition to a proposed apartment complex in their neighborhood.

Aristos Apartments wants to build a 505-unit complex at approximately 98th Street and Boathouse Road, which is a few blocks north of the intersection of 98th and O streets. The plan also includes 48,000 square feet of commercial space on the site, which is roughly 24 acres.

Ann Post, an attorney representing the developer, said plans are for a "luxury, resort-style apartment community" that would have ample green space and parking.

Aristos is currently building an apartment complex near 40th Street and Yankee Hill Road, and Post said plans are for a similar development at Waterford Estates.

Construction of the project would likely not begin until 2024, and it would be built in three to four phases, Post said, with full buildout likely taking 8-10 years.

The apartment complex is the second to be proposed in the past few months in the area, which currently contains only single-family homes and town homes.

Residents showed up at City Council meetings in January to oppose a 462-unit apartment complex proposed near 105th and O streets.

The council approved a special permit for that complex, and residents have threatened to go to court.

Regarding the Aristos proposal, only one neighbor testified Wednesday, although about two dozen people sent emails in opposition to the Planning Commission.

Most of the complaints focused on the potential for additional traffic, although people also mentioned concerns about potential declines in property values and the height of the proposed apartment buildings. Some simply said they don't think apartments are appropriate in the neighborhood.

Travis Suckstorf, the one person who testified Wednesday, lives across the street from the proposed development and said he's concerned about people living in upper-floor apartments being able to see into his home, calling it "incredibly intrusive."

He said that when he built his house, he was told the land where the apartment complex is proposed was going to be commercial development, such as retail stores.

The neighbors' concerns did not sway members of the Planning Commission, who voted unanimously to approve both a zoning change and a use permit for the project.

Commissioner Tracy Corr said she's been "taken aback" by the strong opposition to apartments expressed at recent meetings.

"A successful development has all housing types," she said.

Neighbors will get another chance to air their concerns when the plan goes to the City Council in a few weeks.

Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.

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A 20-year-old Lincoln man has been charged with three felony sex crimes after he allegedly lied about his age while befriending, then sexually assaulting, two teenage girls in Nebraska, according to court records.

Emanuel Chavez was charged in late February with felony enticement and two counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor after he allegedly communicated with three teens in the Lincoln and Omaha area between August and February, according to court filings.

In an affidavit for a search warrant, LPD Investigator Jacob McCord wrote that a 13-year-old girl told police that she and Chavez had previously electronically "dated" in the spring of 2021, when Chavez lived in Tennessee.

The girl said Chavez, who told her he was 18, messaged her in August and said he had moved to Lincoln. The girl disclosed that Chavez had picked her up from her house and sexually assaulted her on two separate occasions, filming it once, according to the affidavit.

A 14-year-old Lincoln girl told investigators that she had also met Chavez via social media, and that he had told her he was 16.

The girl said Chavez had met her parents sometime last fall before taking her to his apartment and sexually assaulting her, according to the affidavit.

A third girl, 13, told police that Chavez had sent her sexually explicit photos on multiple occasions after he had told her he was 16.

Chavez was arrested Feb. 25 and taken to the Lancaster County Jail, where he is being held on a $200,000 percentage bond. He would have to pay $20,000 to be released.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley

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Lincoln police officers will be anonymously surveyed by an independent agency this month as a part of an assessment of the department's policies and workplace culture, according to a city news release.

Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird first ordered the assessment of LPD in February 2021, as the department was searching for its next police chief in the wake of Jeff Bliemeister's resignation and as the city faced a civil lawsuit from former Officer Sarah Williams, who alleged a toxic culture toward women within the department.

Now  after two additional lawsuits have been filed alleging discriminatory practices within the department, with at least one more lawsuit pending  LPD employees will have the opportunity to complete an anonymous survey about their experiences within the department.

The city tabbed 21st Century Policing Solutions, a national firm made up of a collective of veteran police chiefs, justice scholars and civil rights lawyers, to administer the survey as a part of the firm's broader assessment of the department, which is already underway.

The firm's assessment of LPD wasn't made public until Wednesday's announcement of the survey.

A spokeswoman with the city said the survey's results would be made public, but a timeline for when the assessment might finish is unavailable. Lincoln will pay the firm up to $110,000 to assess the department, the spokeswoman said.

As an organization, we should never shy away from ongoing evaluation and criticism, as well as praise for who we are, Police Chief Teresa Ewins wrote in a message to LPD employees, according to the news release.

In the message, Ewins said she fully supports the firm's survey and encouraged department employees to participate in the process, which will not collect identifying information from participants.

The survey comes after Williams, who was paid $65,000 in a settlement with the city, implored Lincoln's City Council to intervene in what her suit described as "pervasive discrimination of female officers" at LPD.

At a City Council meeting in December, Williams, who now works for the Omaha Police Department, she said she felt like her lawsuit didn't accomplish anything because nothing changed within the department.

The survey and assessment are the first public acknowledgement of a city response. The department has increasingly been embroiled in allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation since Ewins was sworn in as chief Aug. 30  though most allegations predate her arrival in Lincoln.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley

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Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group talk with Chief Advisor Billy Boniface in the parking lot of the Harford County Administration building as the group makes their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Perryman residents marched through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday afternoon to show their continued opposition to the mega-warehouse development slated to be built on the Mitchell property on Perryman Peninsula.

A few dozen residents gathered at MaGerks Pub around 4:30 p.m. and walked to the Harford County Administration Building, where they snapped photos out front with teal and yellow signs reading, No More Warehouses, Protect Perryman Peninsula and Wheres Barry Ghostman? A police officer in the building came to the door as the group left.

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What were wanting to do is bring people outside of Perryman in to understand, because [the project] doesnt just affect the residents of Perryman, said Perryman resident and civil engineer Stacy Stone.

The Harford County Council introduced a bill Feb. 15 that would impose a development moratorium in Perryman after residents had complained about the warehouse project for several weeks at council meetings. A public hearing on the bill is scheduled for March 15.

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Stone and other residents noted that 30% percent of the countys drinking water comes from the Perryman Well Field, as noted in a Maryland Department of the Environment assessment from 2000. They also drew attention to the projects potential impact on Chesapeake Bay.

The environmental impacts of having this much more paved surface area running off into the Bush River and then into the Chesapeake Bay is very, very concerning to us, Stone said.

Harford County Climate Action member Pamela Dehmer attended the protest, although shes not a Perryman resident. She noted the situation in Perryman is similar to the the proposal for a business park near the Abingdon Woods development, a project the environmental group has opposed.

The issue is very similar, Dehmer said. Its about large warehouses next to residential areas, which we feel is a zoning issue that wed like the county to take a look at.

Perryman coalition organizers say County Executive Barry Glassman has not responded to their concerns.

Cindy Mumby, the countys director of government and community relations, said that the county executives role is to apply the laws impartially to the Mitchell property development, just like he would with any other development project.

She said she has answered questions from the Perryman coalition directly, and that Glassmans office is remaining transparent by posting documents related to the project on the county website. She said that Glassman is not meeting with either side of the issue.

Although the Tuesday event was a last-minute thing, the coalition plans to have a bigger event March 15, ahead of the moratorium bills public hearing, said group member Ron Stuchinski.

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All this time were putting into this is volunteer, Stuchinski said. None of us are getting paid. Were just standing up for our community. Were trying to save what we have.

The Aegis: Top stories Weekdays Daily highlights from Harford County's number one source for local news. >

Stuchinski spent three hours Sunday making a dozen signs for the march.

The group marched for about an hour, stopping to take pictures at other places like Frederick Ward Associates, the civil engineering firm overseeing the Mitchell development construction, and the county sheriffs office. Several drivers passing by slowed to read the signs  some honking in support, others occasionally heckling the group.

Toward the end of their march, the group returned to the Harford County Administration Building and encountered Billy Boniface, Glassmans chief adviser. Residents again raised concerns about the project. Bonfiace repeatedly said it was going through the process.

Leigh Maddox described Bonifaces reaction as vanilla.

Were hoping for better from our county, she said.

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Though residents remain concerned about the project, some, like Paul Fallace, noted that the fight has brought neighbors together.

In a divided nation, its been a very unifying force, Fallace said. Its been a very bright spot.

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Ron Stuchinski, center, uses a megaphone as he and fellow members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Paul Fallace and fellow members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group talk with Chief Advisor Billy Boniface in the parking lot of the Harford County Administration building as the group makes their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
Two more Lincoln Police officers are leaving  one fired and one resigning  after internal affairs investigations that followed reports of sexual harassment and discrimination within the department.

Officer Sara Khalil, who was with LPD since 2013, had been on leave for a knee injury since September.

And Officer Erin Spilker, who sued in January alleging sexual harassment, discrimination and insufficient investigation of complaints, has resigned effective March 21.

They are among 12 to leave or be fired from LPD since Dec. 1.

In a departmentwide email Friday about Khalil's firing, Police Chief Teresa Ewins said she "remains committed to the principles of transparency in sharing information ... regarding issues affecting our police department but balanced by the need for privacy in personnel matters."

She then went on to describe in detail how Khalil had briefly returned to light duty before going back on leave after reporting that job tasks exceeded her physical abilities due to the injury.

Ewins said the city's Risk Management team notified her in early February they were investigating Khalil's claims for benefits and had determined she had provided false information in submitting claims for worker's compensation and other benefits.

An internal affairs investigation that followed  one of at least half a dozen involving officers who have complained about sexual discrimination or harassment or who have supported the women who have  found the same.

Ewins said a video showed Khalil, who also is a Jiu-Jitsu instructor, participating in martial arts activities "that far exceeded the limitations she reported."

"Integrity and honesty are fundamental attributes required of anyone in law enforcement, and based on that, I made the difficult decision to terminate Sara's employment due to these serious violations of city and department policy and Nebraska state law," she said.

Lincoln City Attorney Yohance Christie didn't return a message asking if he would be filing charges.

In an email to the Journal Star, Khalil's attorney, Kelly Brandon, said she adamantly denies Ewins assertions about her termination.

"LPD has spent far more time investigating many of our clients than it ever did investigating their concerns. It seems they care more about circling the wagons than improving things for female officers at LPD. The citizens of Lincoln have unfortunately lost the service of several exceptional officers, Brandon said.

Officer Sarah Williams, the first to sue the city alleging a toxic workplace for women in December 2020, left LPD for a job with the Omaha Police Department.

Since then, LPD has fired Sgt. Angela Sands and Officer Laura Oliphant and in February suspended Officer Luke Bonkiewicz for 30 days. And Spilker resigned.

Officer Melissa Ripley, who filed suit in April 2021, remains the only one represented by Brandon who is not yet facing disciplinary actions or fired.

The pending lawsuits, in addition to one by Williams that the city paid $65,000 to settle in December, alleged a hostile work environment for women at LPD and what little was done about it over several years.

Last year, in a video filmed as part of an LPD recruitment effort, Khalil, who grew up in Pakistan and came to Lincoln at the age of 12, said she had wanted to be an "American cop" since she was 6.

"Even the people that I arrest, I do my best to try to get to know them and find out where they came from, why they are where they are. And I always ask them if there is anything I can do to help them to change their path and get on a better life," she said in the video.

Khalil had worked as a defensive tactics instructor at LPD since 2014 and taught ground defense for new recruits.

In the email to staff, Ewins acknowledged that Khalil had alleged discrimination against LPD but said that didn't "absolve her or any member from following policy and the high ethical standards required of this profession."

And she said her decision to terminate Khalil had nothing to do with any allegations she has made. Ewins said she encourages and supports people to bring forward concerns and collaborate with her on improving the department.

On Wednesday afternoon, the city announced an independent assessment has begun at LPD to give all employees an opportunity to complete an anonymous survey about their experiences and perspectives on operations.

It was the first publicly visible step the city has taken to address the allegations since they started popping up more than a year ago.

Andrew Wegley and Margaret Reist contributed to this report.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSpilger

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Incoming Lincoln Public Schools superintendent Paul Gausman would make $324,000 a year under a proposed three-year contract unveiled Thursday.

The Lincoln Board of Education is set to vote on the contract at its meeting Tuesday.

The board selected Gausman, the superintendent of Sioux City Community Schools in Iowa since 2008, to be the Lincoln district's next leader last month.

Under terms of the agreement, Gausman would earn a base salary of $324,000 in the 2022-23 school year, part of a $383,591 compensation package that includes retirement, social security and Medicare contributions by the district. LPS will also pay the premium on a $250,000 life insurance policy.

It appears Gausman would be the highest-paid superintendent in Nebraska. Omaha Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Logan is set to make just more than $313,000 in base salary this year, while Grand Island Superintendent Tawana Grover's annual salary is $285,587.

Outgoing LPS Superintendent Steve Joel is set to make $334,515 in his final year, part of a $391,638 compensation package. In Sioux City, Gausman currently makes $248,646 as part of a $351,999 compensation package, the Sioux City Journal reported.

Gausman will receive the same amount of paid time off  including 24 vacation days annually  as other LPS administrators. His contract, however, does not set out an amount of days for outside consulting and professional work that Joel had under his current contract.

The Lincoln Board of Education will also vote on a separate transition agreement with Gausman, which will compensate him for moving expenses and any time spent working in the district before he officially starts work July 1.

Under that proposal, the district would pay Gausman $980 a day, plus reimbursement for travel, lodging and meals. LPS would also pay Gausman $125 an hour for any work for the district performed remotely.

Gausman, a 55-year-old Fremont native, is a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate and kicked off his career in Lincoln, first as a student teacher at Lincoln Southeast High School, then as a teacher and band director at Lincoln Northeast.

Contact the writer at zhammack@journalstar.com or 402-473-7225. On Twitter @zach_hammack

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In whats turning out to be an unusual election cycle in Lancaster County this year, Pam Dingman is an outlier as the only unopposed candidate.

When Tuesday's filing deadline passed, Dingman, a Republican seeking a third term as Lancaster County Engineer, was the only candidate facing no challengers. She was appointed in 2013 and elected the next year.

The primary is May 10. All county offices are partisan so one candidate from each party will advance.

The three county commissioner incumbents seeking election this year  Sean Flowerday to District 1 in southwest Lancaster County, Deb Schorr to District 3 in southeastern Lancaster County and Rick Vest to District 5 in northeast Lancaster County  all face opponents, though only Schorr, who is seeking a sixth term, faces a primary contest.

Schorr, a Republican and the longest-serving commissioner, is being challenged by two Republicans: Matthew Schulte, a former Lincoln Board of Education member and executive director of Youth for Christ/Campus Life, and Travis Filing, the village chairman and mayor of Panama.

Vest, a Democrat, faces a challenge by Jason Krueger, a Republican from Lincoln who ran for Lincoln Airport Authority last year; and Cameron Hall, a Republican from Lincoln, is running for Flowerday's seat.

Also facing a primary challenge is Lancaster County Public Defender Joe Nigro, a Democrat and longtime public defender seeking his third term to lead the office. Kristi Egger, a Democrat who retired after 32 years as a public defender in the office, also is seeking election to the top job. Trevin Preble, a Republican and criminal, family and bankruptcy attorney in Lincoln, also filed as a candidate.

Two state senators who are being term-limited out of office this year are seeking election to county offices.

Adam Morfeld, a Democrat, is challenging Republican incumbent Pat Condon to be Lancaster County Attorney. Morfeld, who is finishing his second term as a state senator, founded and directs the nonprofit Civic Nebraska.

Republican party officials had challenged Morfeld's eligibility to run for the office, but a district court judge ruled in his favor Wednesday.

Condon, a longtime deputy county attorney, was appointed to lead the office in 2018 after Joe Kelly was appointed U.S. Attorney for Nebraska. He ran unopposed later that year.

Matt Hansen, a Democrat who has represented northeast Lincoln in the Legislature since 2014, is running for Lancaster County clerk, as is Kris Beckenbach, a Republican who has worked in business, health care and education.

Dan Nolte, a Democrat who served four terms as Lancaster County Clerk, decided not to run for that office again and instead is challenging Rob Ogden to be Lancaster County Assessor and register of deeds.

Ogden, a Republican running for his second term, worked in the assessors office for 22 years and was chief deputy when longtime assessor Norm Agena retired.

A longtime city ombudsman, Lin Quenzer, a Democrat, is challenging Republican incumbent Troy Hawk for clerk of the district court.

Sheriff Terry Wagner, a Republican seeking his eighth term, faces two challengers for the first time since he was first elected in 1994.

Johnny Jay Pitts Jr., a Democrat and Lincoln Airport Authority officer and former sheriffs deputy and Lincoln police officer, is seeking the office, as is Conan Thomas, a Libertarian. Thomas led an unsuccessful recall effort against five Norris School Board members over the mask mandate last year.

Finally, Lancaster County Treasurer Rachel Garver, a Democrat seeking a second term, has two Republican challengers: Jasmine Gibson and Tracy Refior, both of Lincoln. Gibson is a title clerk in the treasurers office and Refior ran an unsuccessful bid for Lincoln Airport Authority last year.

He and Krueger, the small-business owner challenging county Commissioner Rick Vest, both opposed an airport terminal expansion and got involved in a public spat after Nick Cusick, who was chairman of the board, asked Krueger to drop out and endorse the top-two vote-getters to ensure Refior didnt get elected. Krueger didn't drop out, nor did he win the election.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSreist

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The question of whether state Sen. Adam Morfeld is eligible to run for Lancaster County Attorney isnt settled yet.

Attorneys for the state and local Republican Party on Thursday appealed this week's Lancaster County District Court ruling that sided with the county election commissioner in finding that Morfeld met the statutory requirements for his name to appear on the May 10 primary ballot.

The Nebraska Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday.

The time frame for a decision is short: State law requires a decision reversing the election commissioners finding by March 16.

Lancaster County District Court Judge Kevin McManaman ruled this week that the GOP attorneys failed to prove Morfeld has not practiced law in a constant, daily or routine manner.

The state and local GOP originally raised the question in an objection filed with the election commissioner, arguing Morfeld doesnt meet the requirement in state law that he has actively practiced law for at least the last two years. Election Commissioner Dave Shively denied the objection and said Morfeld could be on the ballot.

That led to the district court lawsuit, and now the hearing before the Supreme Court.

At issue is whether Morfelds work as executive director of his nonprofit Civic Nebraska, as co-chair of a group trying to get the medical marijuana issue on the ballot and as a member of the Legislatures Judiciary Committee fits the statutory requirement.

Morfelds attorney argues the definition should be liberally interpreted; GOP attorneys say the court should follow attorney practice and bar admission rules enacted by the Supreme Court, a threshold they say Morfeld doesnt meet.

Morfeld is challenging incumbent Pat Condon, a Republican and longtime deputy county attorney appointed to replace Joe Kelly when he became U.S. Attorney for Nebraska. Condon ran unopposed in 2018.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7226 or mreist@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSreist

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A sixth agricultural industry giant has sued AltEn in federal court, alleging the practices of the ethanol plant near Mead violated an agreement that pesticide-treated seed would be handled properly.

Bayer sued AltEn and several other companies owned by Tanner Shaw in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, including Mead Cattle, which was sold to a Texas feed yard operator last year.

The third federal lawsuit against the now-defunct ethanol plant comes a week after the other five members of the AltEn Facility Response Group  Syngenta, Corteva, AgReliant, Beck's Superior Hybrids and Winfield Solutions  also sued.

A spokeswoman for Bayer told the Journal Star the company opted to take "any legal action they believe is appropriate on their own timeline."

Bayer's complaint reiterates many of the claims made by the lawsuits filed by the other members of the response group that AltEn violated its agreement with Bayer, which it paid $25 per ton for discard seed.

The complaint also sheds more light on Bayer's interactions with the company, particularly after a frozen pipe burst on a 4 million-gallon tank at AltEn in February 2021, releasing a slurry of manure and pesticide-contaminated byproducts downstream.

Bayer, according to a spokeswoman and the lawsuit, "dedicated significant resources to the emergency cleanup."

After arriving on site at the request of both the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, Bayer's role expanded from a consult role to leading the cleanup.

Court documents indicate Bayer spent $1.5 million to draw down the levels in overflowing lagoons and to create new berms to control stormwater runoff.

In March 2021, Bayer requested AltEn notify its insurance carrier of its claims for work done  the agreement obligated AltEn to carry $2 million in general liability insurance and $1 million in excess coverage  but says AltEn "misrepresented that it, not Bayer, had paid for the February and March 2021 expenses."

The seed industry giant also accused AltEn of interfering with the insurance carrier's attempts to investigate and resolve the claim.

An attorney for AltEn declined to comment.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS

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A former workers lawsuit against Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillens company, Pillen Family Farms, was dismissed Wednesday at the agreement of both parties, court documents show.

Luis Lucar, a former employee of the pork production company owned by Pillen, brought the suit in U.S. District Court last July.

Lucar, who was born in Peru, alleged he was fired from his job as a human resource specialist for refusing to participate in activities he alleged were illegal, including hiring undocumented workers, changing names on documents so employees could avoid paying taxes and child-support payments, falsifying government and insurance documents, and improperly classifying employees as contract labor to avoid taxes and other payments.

He was hired in 2012, according to the complaint. From about 2015 through his firing, the suit reads, he repeatedly complained about, reported and refused to participate in the alleged illegal activities. He also reported that personnel were discriminating against employees, it says, and that he himself had been discriminated against and was retaliated against for not participating in the illegal conduct.

The complaint alleged that Lucar experienced further discrimination and retaliation and then was fired in 2019 because of an inability to work with our team.

A federal judge had previously rejected attempts by the attorneys for Pillen Family Farms to have Lucars complaint dismissed. However, documents show that the parties agreed to dismiss all claims Wednesday and that each would pay its own attorneys fees and costs.

The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning Lucar cant file the same claim again in that court.

A spokesperson for the Pillen campaign Wednesday confirmed that the case was dismissed but said the campaign had no comment.

Pillen, a University of Nebraska regent, is considered one of the front-runners in the Republican primary race for governor and counts Gov. Pete Ricketts and the Nebraska Farm Bureau among his supporters.

Lucars lawyer, Kathleen Neary of Lincoln, had previously said the case had substantial merit that a jury needs to hear.

But Pillens campaign had called the allegations completely baseless and false, calling Lucar a disgruntled former employee terminated for poor performance and an anti-conservative, pro-illegal immigration activist.

Reached Wednesday, Neary said only that the lawsuit was dismissed.

The lawsuit also mentioned that Lucar filed administrative charges with the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, and that the charge was still pending as of last July. Ben Watson, a unit director at NEOC, said Wednesday that it doesnt confirm the existence of investigations or provide information on cases to anyone whos not a party to the case.

When the Omaha World-Herald asked Neary about the NEOC charge, she repeated, The lawsuit was dismissed. Thank you for the call, and hung up.

The companys lawyer, Tara Tesmer Paulson, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

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The latest mask mandate put in place after the omicron variant caused COVID cases to spike in Lincoln was allowed to expire a week earlier than anticipated.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department reinstated the indoor mask requirement on Jan. 14, and lifted it on Feb. 18 after infections and hospitalizations fell.

A bill (LB859) from Sen. Rob Clements heard by the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday took aim at the local health department's ability to take action in the future without approval from the state.

The measure highlighted the divide between those who felt the mandate was an overreach and those who say it helped save lives during the pandemic.

The Elmwood senator, who now represents a portion of Lancaster County after redistricting, said there was no strong evidence or data that supports allowing Lincoln or Lancaster County to create their own (directed health measure) apart from the state.

He also added the DHMs issued in Lincoln in 2020 and 2021 also created inconsistencies in the statewide approach to battling COVID, encroached on individuals personal liberty and led to an unequal playing field for businesses.

Its become clear to me that during a pandemic of an airborne virus that it would be best dealt with on a statewide level, he told the Health and Human Services Committee.

Dr. Gary Anthone, Nebraskas chief medical officer, testified in support of LB859, saying the ability of one county to create its own policies separate from the state led to confusion among people traveling between different public health jurisdictions.

Viruses do not recognize county lines, which is why it is critical we use a statewide approach, Anthone said, adding the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services would be able to provide more consistency from Omaha to the Panhandle.

Anthone, responding to a question from Omaha Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, said he was not aware of any data demonstrating a difference in health outcomes between jurisdictions where masks were required and where they werent.

But Abbie Fougeron of Nebraska Pulmonary Specialties, speaking on behalf of physicians, nurse practitioners and other front-line health care workers, contradicted Anthones claim, saying there was data to show Lancaster County fared better than other areas of the state.

Data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control show there have been 132 COVID-related deaths per 100,000 people in Lancaster County; 187 deaths per 100,000 people in Douglas County; and 205 deaths per 100,000 people in greater Nebraska, Fougeron told the committee.

She also said the DHMs enacted by the local health department were made in consultation with medical professionals, and said requiring the county to get approval from the state would require it to navigate a bureaucratic and politicized process.

Supporters of Clements bill disputed there was any evidence to show masks work, and said the steps taken by the health department instead led to greater physical, mental and emotional health issues for some.

Mary Hilton of Lincoln said LB859 would put (Lancaster County) under the protection of the Department of Health and Human Services.

We residents of Lincoln and Lancaster County need to be rescued and treated like the rest of the citizens of Nebraska, she said.

Others took aim at what they called an overreach of government that came without any evidence that the masks worked.

Jack Riggins, a radio host, said the bill would correct a "governance issue" that would have never been highlighted without COVID and compared mask mandates to Nazi Germany and forced genital mutilation.

The difference between Lancaster County and the state's other public health jurisdictions is a wrinkle in state law few people were aware of before the coronavirus pandemic arrived in 2020 and the issue of mandating masks became politicized.

City officials have argued that Lincoln's health department, which has existed since 1889, predates the state law recognizing health departments, granting it more authority to act when public health is at risk.

And since 1997, a provision has existed in state law allowing cities to form joint health departments with counties of more than 200,000 people  a category tailored to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department.

Throughout the pandemic, Gov. Pete Ricketts has opposed mask mandates and encouraged legal action against one imposed in Omaha during the omicron surge.

In other jurisdictions, city councils or other elected boards approved mandates.

Director Pat Lopez said the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department has issued directed health measures independent from the state for other issues that have arisen locally: a hepatitis outbreak at a local restaurant, an H1N1 vaccination clinic, and the Monkeypox, to name a few.

"You probably did not hear about most of these diseases because they were able to be taken care of with rapid action at the local level," Lopez said.

Compared with 700 other counties with similar demographics, Lancaster County -- which has recorded 424 deaths due to COVID -- was in the lowest 10% for death rates, she added.

County Commissioner Rick Vest said the ability to tailor a local response should be replicated elsewhere.

LB859 mistakenly treats the (health department) as an exception that needs to be corrected rather than a model to be emulated, Vest said. This Legislature relied on guidance from the local health department to ensure the work of the people could be accomplished during the pandemic.

Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg questioned the two decision-makers -- Anthone and Lopez -- about the decision-making process for issuing directed health measures on a statewide or a local basis.

To Anthone, Williams said there was a belief that the decision to issue a health measure at the state level was political in nature, and asked the chief medical officer how those decisions were made.

"It's definitely based on medical evidence -- not political -- but what we think is best for the community," Anthone said.

"The people who are making the decision are all medical in nature then?" Williams asked.

"They are not," Anthone replied.

"So there are elected officials, I'll say who are political in nature, that are involved in making that decision?" Williams asked again.

"Yes, there are," Anthone said.

Williams put a similar line of questioning to Lopez, asking if she took direction on decisions from Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird.

The mayor does not provide any input or sway into what the decision is, Lopez said.

Has the mayor ever directed you to do anything? Williams asked.

Absolutely not, Lopez responded.

The committee did not take any action on LB859 on Wednesday, the 35th day of the 60-day legislative session. Most committees will conclude hearings this week.

Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS

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Ukrainian refugees who have made it to Germany are now safe but have no idea what to do next.
CALEDONIA  A semitrailer carrying 10 crushed vehicles tipped over because it was going too fast as it entered a roundabout Thursday morning.

The roundabout at the intersection of highways 38 and K was shut down for more than 3 hours Thursday morning as a result. The scene was cleared at 10 a.m.

Mount Pleasant-based Floyds Towing removed the truck from the scene.

The crushed vehicles had been in what Caledonia Police Sgt. Jim Gardiner described as like an empty bucket on the semitruck. The truck was taking the crushed vehicles to be recycled.

But then the semi entered the roundabout too fast and tipped over.

The truck driver was taken to the hospital but was able to walk after the crash, Gardiner said.

In addition to the Caledonia Police Department, the Mount Pleasant Police Department, Wisconsin State Patrol and Department of Natural Resources also responded to the scene. Gardiner said that the DNR confirmed no gas, oil or other contaminants entered the nearby Hoods Creek waterway.

Meanwhile, a Facebook post from the CPD concludes: I would like to remind everyone that stopping your car or driving slow to take pictures at accident scenes is not only illegal, but unsafe and dangerous.

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TOWN OF WATERFORD  Legal experts say a town attorney might have created a violation of Wisconsins open meetings law by polling Waterford Town Board members privately about filling a vacant seat on the board.

Two weeks before the matter was decided publicly on Feb. 14, attorney Michael Dubis emailed Town Board members and asked if they would support holding a special election rather than making an appointment to fill the vacancy.

I need to know if you approve, Dubis wrote. If you do, just send me a reply by email: Sounds good to me. 

Wisconsins open meetings law requires local elected officials to discuss public business in public meetings where taxpayers and the rest of the public can watch and listen. It prohibits private communication intended to reach decisions out of the public view, including through emails.

Dubis defended the private exchange with Town Board members, which allowed him at the Feb. 14 meeting to declare a deadlock before any votes were cast on filling the board vacancy.

We didnt do anything wrong here, he said later in a telephone interview.

But experts on the open meetings law say the private email exchange, in which Dubis received responses from three of the four remaining board members, could have constituted a walking quorum violation of the law.

The term quorum refers to the minimum number of people on any government body necessary to hold a meeting. A walking quorum occurs when enough elected officials participate in a series of private meetings or exchanges  including through an intermediary  with the intent of deciding public business in private.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice defines a walking quorum as a series of gatherings among separate groups of members of a governmental body, each less than quorum size, who agree, tacitly or explicitly, to act uniformly in sufficient number to reach a quorum.

Experts say the Waterford Town Board deliberations conducted through the attorneys private email exchange was, at best, a risky move that put board members in jeopardy of violating the law.

Kathleen Culver, an associate professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Wisconsin, said the town attorneys email solicitation appears to have set up a walking quorum of the five-member Town Board.

It does sound that way, she said.

The open meetings law is designed to assure public access to government decision-making, Culver said, and it violates the spirit of the law, if not worse, for elected officials to try reaching an agreement where nobody from the public can watch and listen.

Government should not be looking for ways to circumvent public access, she said.

Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, agreed that the private discussion through the town attorneys email was probably not a good idea.

The town board members should remember that they are supposed to deliberate in public, not via email, Lueders said.

Tom Kamenick, president of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, a law firm dedicated to open government, said emails about how to vote on future government business are a likely walking quorum violation.

Deliberation and decision-making must be done in a public meeting, Kamenick said.

Repeat

A similar situation occurred last year with the Burlington Area School Board after state officials released a scathing report on racism in Burlington schools. The report came out on a Friday, and the school board president the following Monday delivered a response from the board  even though no board meeting had occurred over the weekend. School district records later revealed a number of emails and private conversations among board members and school district administrators.

In the Town of Waterford, board members were trying to fill a vacancy that had occurred when one supervisor, Nick Draskovich, resigned his seat in December. Some of the remaining board members wanted to appoint a replacement, but others wanted to wait until an election could be held.

Specifics

Town taxpayers pay about $35,000 a year for legal services, which includes both Dubis and an attorney handling municipal court.

Dubis sought to orchestrate a compromise with a Jan. 31 email to board members, proposing that they agree to a special election in November to fill the vacancy.

To all town supervisors and the town clerk, he began. I believe I have an idea that hopefully will satisfy all of you.

While nothing in the open meetings law prohibits an attorney from communicating privately with elected officials, experts say Dubis risked setting up a walking quorum by asking board members to respond privately with how they would vote on his proposal.

Coincidentally, supervisors quizzing applicants for the appointment at a previous public meeting in mid-January asked each candidate if they understood the term walking quorum.

Enacted in 1975, the open meetings law states: All meetings of all state and local governmental bodies shall be publicly held in places reasonably accessible to members of the public and shall be open to all citizens at all times unless otherwise expressly provided by law.

The penalty for violating the law is a civil fine of up to $300.

In his email, Dubis cautioned town board members not to discuss the board vacancy among themselves  which also could violate the law  but then he directed them to send me a reply by email. Supervisor Teri Jendusa-Nicolai responded by email, and Supervisors Dale Gauerke and Tim Szeklinski responded by telephone. Town Chairman Tom Hincz was the only one who did not reply.

The vote

When the board convened in public Feb. 14 to discuss the matter, Dubis declared a deadlock before any vote was cast. In referring to his private polling of board members by email, he announced how Jendusa-Nicolai, Gauerke and Szeklinski had each voted in his private poll on the question of holding a special election.

Im telling you what I heard for the votes already, he told the board.

The exchange raised eyebrows among some onlookers.

Robert Ulander, one of the applicants for the board vacancy who now is running for Town Board in this springs regular election, posted on his blog that he believed an improper walking quorum had occurred.

Ulander said in an interview that it blew my mind to see how the matter was handled.

I think it comes very close to the line  if it doesnt cross over, he said.

The board ended up appointing Douglas Schwartz, with supervisors tied 2-2 and Town Clerk Tina Mayer casting a vote to break the tie in favor of the appointment.

Gauerke, the only board member available for comment, said he would not second-guess the process. Not only was the private exchange initiated by the town attorney, Gauerke said, but Dubis did not attempt to steer the vote in any direction.

I dont know that that really  in my mind anyway  would be a violation, he said.

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It was also during this time that a lady by the name of Margaret "Margy" Love was promoting my aggressive use of executive clemency power. A Democrat, Ms. Love had been pardon attorney for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton in the Justice Department until the infamous Bill Clinton/Mark Rich pardon (she opposed it) led to her resignation. She returned to private practice and established a successful pardons practice in Washington, D.C. It was during this time that our well-publicized criminal justice reform program caught her eye to a degree that she wrote, "It appears that the only two incumbent chief executives who approach their pardoning responsibilities with any amount of proper respect are Governor Robert Ehrlich of Maryland and President Josiah Bartlett of The West Wing," a reference to actor Martin Sheen's character on NBC's hit drama.
SOMERS  The University of Wisconsin-Parkside honored Tommy Thompson Tuesday afternoon for his dedication to the public university system and leadership, especially during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and attempts by some Republican legislators to take more control over the states public colleges.

Thompson, the former four-term Wisconsin governor who also served as U.S. secretary of health and human services and has been interim president of the University of Wisconsin System since July 2020, announced last month that he will step down on March 18 after guiding the system of more than 180,000 students through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thompson has spent the last few weeks visiting each of the 13 UW System schools while simultaneously mulling a gubernatorial bid. While wearing a Ranger green shirt Tuesday, Thompson said Parkside holds a special place in his heart.

Parkside is a gem, and I dont think people in Kenosha and Racine know the beauty and the value that this campus gives to their communities, Thompson said. This campus is turning out the leaders of Kenosha and Racine counties for the future  and all over the state. I couldnt be happier to be here. I love coming back here. Theres an excitement about being on this campus. Everybody is friendly. Everybody wants to do it. Its all about the students.

Thompson said he owes his professional success to the UW System. The 80-year-old was born into a poor family and raised in the small City of Elroy in Juneau County before deciding to enroll at UW-Madison to study law  at a time when that was more affordable.

Students laughed at me when I moved in because I didnt have a suitcase. All I had were my belongings in a grocery bag, he said. I tell you that story because I love this university system. How could anybody that poor, that naive, that afraid to speak, be able to accomplish what Ive been able to accomplish? The University of Wisconsin, the system, gave me the opportunity. Gave me the opportunity to unlock what was inside of me and allowed me to serve the great people of this wonderful state we call home.

Honored by university

The Parkside Alumni Association on Tuesday presented Thompson with lifetime honorary alumni status. Chancellor Debbie Ford also presented him with a rendering of a bronze plaque that will eventually be installed at the school thanking him for his leadership.

Man of the moment, a tireless champion, collaborative leader, and one of the finest public servants for Wisconsin, the nation and the University of Wisconsin System. Thank you for your brilliant leadership, unwavering support and outstanding stewardship, advocating for continued investment in student success at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and throughout the UW System, Ford read from the plaque.

You stepped up and accepted the challenge of guiding UW-Parkside and the UW System through a global pandemic, when others might have shied away, ensuring that UW-Parkside and the UW System continue to be drivers of opportunity, providing quality affordable and vital access to a UW education for all students regardless of age, gender, race, occupation, cultural background or family status. With much gratitude and appreciation, we honor your service.

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Angered over COVID-19 mandates, distrust of Joe Biden's win in the 2020 presidential election and what he sees as overreaches of government authority, a Republican is looking to unseat Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in a rare Republican primary in District 63. And the challenger is situating himself with those who have gone beyond Vos to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Adam Steen officially announced his campaign for the state Assembly Monday at Fred's, 596 N. Pine St., Burlington.

I'm running for office because I believe that we need real change in Wisconsin. I'm not a career politician, I'm a regular guy who's fed up with the way things are and wants to make a difference, Steen said in a statement coinciding with his campaign announcement.

He has support from those who question Bidens 2020 election win, including GOP gubernatorial candidate/state Rep. Tim Ramthun, who has tried to have Wisconsin pull back its 10 electoral votes cast for Biden despite that not being legal, and Republican lieutenant governor candidate Jonathan Wichmann.

"Help us #TossVos and end the corruption in Madison. Wisconsin, this is our chance to drain the swamp in 2022 so lets make it happen," Wichmann said in a Facebook post supporting Steen, using the hashtag that has been used by some on both the right and the left as separate rallying cries to show opposition to the de facto leader of elected Republicans in Wisconsin.

District 63 includes most of Racine County outside of the City of Racine. Vos, a Burlington native who now lives in Rochester, has represented District 63 since 2005.

A new challenger has entered the arena

Steen would still be a longshot to defeat Vos in a primary, but he may figure to have a better chance than any Democrat in unseating the de facto leader of Republicans in the state Legislature.

In four contested elections since 2012, Democrats have never been within 16 points of unseating Vos.

However, if Steen or someone else in his position could generate enough support from the far right within the 63rd District, Vos could be eliminated before Democrats ever have a chance to challenge him in a final vote.

The Aug. 9 election primary in District 63 could become a test of the strength of election conspiracy theories among Republican voters.

Vos isnt afraid of losing his seat. He noted in a Monday evening phone interview that the last time he had a challenger in the Republican primary, when he was challenged by Bryn Biemeck in 2014, Vos still won 89.5% of the vote.

Fully questioning Biden's election win could be a winner among conservative voters.

Polling from YouGov, conducted in December 2021 after Biden had been in the Oval Office for more than 10 months, found that while the majority (58%) of Americans believe Biden's win was legitimate:

Just 6% of Republicans believe it was "definitely legitimate,"

Another 15% of Republicans say his win was "probably legitimate,"

25% say it was "probably not legitimate," and

46% say it was "definitely not legitimate."

As such, if Steen or another Republican could pull off an upset in the primary, a real test could follow:

Would voters in southeast Wisconsin pick a conservative newcomer who doubts the integrity of a presidential election that has withstood multiple recounts and legal challenges?

Or would a majority of voters in a historically conservative district vote for a Democrat who has not gone so far to an extreme in doubting the integrity of the American electoral system?

After the Aug. 9 primary, the final election is scheduled for Nov. 8. The November election is expected to have a relatively high turnout as it coincides with statewide elections for governor, attorney general, treasurer and secretary of state. However, no Democrats have yet entered the race.

Vos said Monday: "I have been the leader in making sure Gov. (Tony) Evers liberal agenda dead on arrival  I'm now the one who's most stopping Tony Evers ... I am a conservative who gets things done. Not a conservative who gets angry and just stomps his foot."

Vos accused Steen of running on a lot of vagueries. The last thing we need are people who want to be in office just to be in office."

What's in a name? Adam Steens full name is Kevin Adam Steen. But his fathers name was also Kevin, so he said he has gone as Adam his whole life. He will appear as Adam Steen on ballots.

Steen, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2018 in a Republican primary that was won by Bryan Steil, said he was at least partially inspired to run by Donald Trump. Both Vos and Steen are vocal Trump supporters.

The Republican Party is in a transition, Steen said in a Tuesday morning phone interview. "There is a large shift that I guess started with, or was propagated by, Donald Trump."

The new guy

Steen's website, steenforus.us, includes three videos, only one of which was created by his campaign.

In his campaign announcement video, Steen says I grew up on a farm in Indiana. My parents were in the housing industry, so when we werent bailing hay or hauling blocks, we were cleaning up a job site. He continues speaking about attending Maranatha Baptist University in Watertown, moving to Horicon and becoming a welder at John Deere before attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he met his wife, with whom he has two daughters. He earned a degree in biological systems engineering from UW-Madison in 2009 and told The Journal Times he now lives in Rochester.

The Steen and Vos homes are less than a mile apart.

The second video on Steens website was of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos appearance at a Racine meeting of H.O.T. Government, a group that has repeatedly questioned the 2020 presidential election results and railed against COVID-related mandates. H.O.T. Government has shown its support for Steen.

The third video is the 84-minute production from Liberty First, made up primarily of a speech by Krisanne Hall, a self-described Constitutionalist attorney who has fought vaccine mandates. It opens with Hall saying: We've had an undisciplined government for decades. And they dont like it that were now waking up. They dont like it that were now demanding to be heard. And weve raised a spoiled brat representative government that needs to be taken to the woodshed," claims Steen shows he agrees with.

Hall's video, titled Noncompliant Movie, encourages Christian Americans to resist what are perceived to be unjust government actions. In that video, Hall argues that most federal agencies  from the Federal Communications Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Education and the FBI  are unconstitutional because they are not explicitly laid out in the U.S. Constitution or by an amendment.

Distrust

Vos has struggled to situate himself as a somewhat moderate questioner of the 2020 election.

He told a reporter in December "we'll never know" how much voter fraud occurred in the 2020 election, despite the confirmed cases being in line with prior years. But Vos also has not publicly entertained the idea of having Wisconsin try to revoke its electoral votes that were cast for Biden, leading to rebuke from some on the right  namely Ramthun, with whom Vos is now publicly feuding.

On Tuesday, Michael Gableman  the former state Supreme Court justice who is leading the taxpayer-funded probe of the 2020 election that Vos authorized  encouraged the Legislature to look into revoking the states electoral votes more than 14 months after the fact. Attorneys have said that revocation of the electoral votes is impossible and has been since they were counted on Jan. 6, 2021.

Steen says he is running for normal people who feel ignored by career politicians; Vos has been in county or state elected office continually since 1994. Steen said he will serve no more than three terms, arguing that its impossible to still be in touch with what constituents after working in politics for too long.

I always say, 'politics' is made up of two words: 'poly,' which is many, and 'tics,' which are bloodsuckers, Steen said. "The detriment to conservatism is a lack of engagement."

Regarding the election, Steen says he wants to see a full forensic audit like what was attempted in Arizona. That supposed audit  conducted by the inexperienced Cyber Ninjas firm, which is now permanently closed  uncovered no evidence of widespread fraud.

What actually happened to that ballot once it goes through that scanner?  No one has actually taken the time to review the evidence, Steen claimed, a claim election officials in Wisconsin have repeatedly refuted. They, the people, want to know.

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WATERFORD  The balloons of summer are coming back.

After a three-year hiatus, Waterford Balloonfest is returning this summer to treat onlookers to a spectacular show of hot-air balloons rising over the village.

The show was a summertime favorite for eight years before ceasing in 2019.

The Waterford Union High School District is rising to the occasion to organize a one-day Balloonfest event scheduled for July 16. The festival will return to its previous location at Evergreen Elementary School.

High School Superintendent Lucas Francois said he and other school officials are excited to be reviving such a popular event.

Waterford had something special, Francois said. It should be a great day.

The balloons again will be organized by WindDancer Balloon Promotions LLC, based in Waukesha.

Company owner Ken Walter said he expects about 10 hot-air balloons  each the size of a 7-story building  to ascend into the clouds over Waterford.

Walter said he and the other balloonists always enjoyed Balloonfest, and they were thrilled to hear from Francois that the event was back.

Waterford is a great area to fly, Walter said. The community is always very responsive. Its a fun community.

Starting in 2011, Balloonfest was organized by the local chamber of commerce and held throughout a weekend on the grounds at Evergreen Elementary School, 817 W. Main St.

Construction work on Main Street canceled the festival in 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic forced another cancellation the following year and in 2021. Meanwhile, balloonists found a new home for a similar event in the Waukesha County community of Mukwonago.

Francois said he learned that the Mukwonago event was canceled, and he immediately moved to bring it back to Waterford.

Tanya Maney, executive director of the Explore Waterford business and tourism group, said her organization is offering to help with the revived festival.

Balloonfest has always been a memorable event, Maney said. Bringing Balloonfest back has generated a lot of excitement, in and out of the community.

Details are still being worked out, but Francois said the one-day event will include the main attraction  a public exhibition of hot-air balloons  plus some added kid-friendly activities.

Organizing the event will cost about $3,000, but Francois said the school district expects to recoup its costs through sponsorships and parking revenue. Anyone interested in helping with a sponsorship can contact the school district.

In future years, Francois hopes to expand the balloon exhibition, returning to its three-day format. Talks are also underway about combining it with the Celebrate Waterford summer street festival.

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A generic drug company involving SSM Health and UnityPoint Health plans to make insulin at significantly lower prices than brand-name versions of the drug taken by many people with diabetes, the company said Thursday.

Civica, a Utah-based company formed in 2018, was co-founded by SSM Health, which owns St. Marys Hospital in Madison and many other facilities and services in Wisconsin. St. Louis-based SSM Health is a governing member of Civica. Iowa-based UnityPoint Health, which owns Meriter Hospital in Madison, is a founding member.

Civica said it will produce three types of insulin  glargine, lispro and aspart  interchangeable with the available brand names Lantus, Humalog and Novolog, respectively. The company will co-develop and manufacture the drug products, complete the clinical trials and apply for federal approval.

The drugs will be available in vials and prefilled pens, Civica said. The recommended consumer price will be no more than $30 per vial and no more than $55 for a box of five pen cartridges, considerably lower than prices charged to uninsured patients today.

Diabetes is arguably Americas most expensive chronic condition, and it is heartbreaking that millions of people are rationing their care and putting their lives at risk because they can no longer afford insulin, Dan Liljenquist, Civica board chair, said in a statement. Through mission-driven partnerships, we are choosing to create a new market reality where no one is forced to ration essential diabetes medications.

Civicas business model is rooted in civic responsibility and stewardship for all people, said Carter Dredge, SSM Healths lead futurist.

Civica provides about 60 generic sterile injectable medicines to more than 55 hospital systems that include more than 1,500 hospitals and a third of licensed hospital beds in the country. Among its earlier products are antibiotics and the blood thinner heparin.

The company is building a manufacturing facility in Petersburg, Virginia, that will be the future home of Civica Insulin. For the three insulin biosimilars, or generic biologic drugs, Civica has entered into a co-development and commercial agreement with GeneSys Biologics, based in Hyderabad, India.

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a split decision Thursday to adopt Democratic Gov. Tony Evers least change proposal for the states 10-year legislative and congressional district maps  boundaries that would maintain Republican majorities in the Legislature but likely prevent them from claiming a veto-proof supermajority.

The states high court issued a 4-3 ruling in favor of maps proposed last year by Evers, with conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn, a regular swing vote on the court, siding with liberal justices Rebecca Dallet, Ann Walsh Bradley and Jill Karofsky in the ruling.

The ruling comes months after Hagedorn and the courts conservatives ruled that they would follow a least change approach from the current maps, which are considered some of the most gerrymandered in the nation.

In a statement following the courts ruling, Evers said, The maps I submitted to the Court that were selected today are a vast improvement from the gerrymandered maps Wisconsin has had for the last decade and the even more gerrymandered Republican maps that I vetoed last year.

Asked about the courts decision, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he was still analyzing it.

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, criticized Evers for coming up with new maps without a public input process.

The majority of justices concluded that maps proposed by the governor most align with the least change approach.

No other proposal comes close, Hagedorn wrote on the matter of core retention of districts. The Governors proposed Senate and Assembly maps produce less overall change than other submissions.

With regard to congressional districts, Evers maps move a little over 324,000 people into new districts  about 60,000 fewer than the next closest map, which was drawn by congressional Republicans.

Conservative justices Rebecca Bradley, Patience Roggensack and Annette Ziegler dissented, with Ziegler writing that the majoritys opinion demonstrates a complete lack of regard for the Wisconsin Constitution and the Equal Protection Clause.

The majoritys decision to select Governor Tony Evers maps is an exercise of judicial activism, untethered to evidence, precedent, the Wisconsin Constitution, and basic principles of equal protection, Ziegler wrote.

Evers set up the court battle over the states next decennial maps when he vetoed GOP-drawn boundaries in mid-November. The governor had championed boundaries drawn by the Peoples Maps Commission, but those maps failed to get universal support among legislative Democrats, with some criticizing the boundaries for potentially diminishing Black and Hispanic representation in the Legislature.

New maps

After the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of a least change approach, Evers submitted new maps that made fewer changes than the Republican proposal, while also slightly reducing the projected Republican advantage in the Legislature.

The new maps hand Democrats a marginal win, but they still keep many districts impenetrable for the party, UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said.

I think it tells us what the politics of the state Legislature are going to be like for the next decade, Burden said.

Democrats expressed some relief at the decision.

Thanks to Governor Evers and Justice Hagedorn, Wisconsin will have fairer maps, said Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley, D-Mason. My Democratic colleagues and I will continue to fight for nonpartisan redistricting, but fair-minded people can breathe a little easier knowing the Supreme Court has rejected the Republicans efforts to stack the deck.

Advocates for nonpartisan district lines said the courts decision to follow a least-change approach made it near impossible to undo gerrymandered districts drawn a decade ago, the first time in decades the maps were drawn by a single party without a courts intervention.

Let me be clear: this fight is still far from over, and those who worked to rig these maps will be held accountable for ignoring the Constitution and the law and for ruling against the people of Wisconsin in implementing a least-changes map that continues the gerrymander, Fair Elections project director Sachin Chheda said in a statement.

The partisan maps adopted today, which intentionally disenfranchise a majority of Wisconsin residents, are an unfair and poor outcome in this case and pose a serious threat to representative democracy in our state, Chheda said. Its deeply upsetting that early in this case, extreme, activist, right-wing judges ignored the law and the Constitution to rig the process to maintain their Partys grip on power.

By applying the average of six statewide elections since 2016, Evers new maps would elect 44 Democrats and 55 Republicans in the Assembly, and 13 Democrats and 20 Republicans in the Senate. In Congress, Republicans would maintain five seats to Democrats three, according to Evers office.

Republicans currently hold a 61-38 majority in the Assembly and a 21-12 majority in the Senate. Five of the states eight congressional districts are held by Republicans.

Over the next 10 years, under the Governors maps adopted today, the people of Wisconsin will have a renewed chance for competitive elections and for their will to be reflected by their elected officials, Chris Walloch, executive director of liberal advocacy group A Better Wisconsin Together, said in a statement.

Core problem

UW-La Crosse political science assistant professor Anthony Chergosky said the courts ruling doesnt resolve the Democratic Partys core problem of voters clustered in urban areas while Republican voters are spread throughout the state, but it does raise the stakes going into Evers reelection.

His veto pen will remain powerful should he get reelected because this map really makes it hard for Republicans to achieve their long-held goal of attaining a veto-proof majority, Chergosky said.

Chergosky added that the maps will still give the Republican Party a comfortable but not overwhelming majority in the Legislature.

The Supreme Courts decision may not be the final word on the matter. Advocates for nonpartisan maps could try to take the matter to a pending case before the U.S. Supreme Court that was filed by Democrats. Whether the federal court takes up the case likely hinges on whether the maps chosen by the state Supreme Court comply with requirements in federal law, such as the Voting Rights Act.

Roggensack criticized the majoritys opinion, accusing the justices of engaging in racial gerrymandering contrary to the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.

It is my hope that the United States Supreme Court will be asked to review Wisconsins unwarranted racial gerrymander, which clearly does not survive strict scrutiny, Roggensack wrote.

The Legislature must redraw political lines every decade based on the latest population figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2011, Republicans, working in secretive conditions, drew maps that packed Democratic voters into lopsided districts and spread out rural and suburban Republicans into districts with solid, but narrower, majorities. The maps allowed the GOP to hold more than 60% of legislative seats, even when Democrats won all statewide elections in 2018.

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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.

Vote

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Mainland medical experts, Hong Kong health authorities exchange views on combating COVID-19

Xinhua) 08:17, March 03, 2022

HONG KONG, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A team of mainland health experts led by Liang Wannian, head of the COVID-19 response expert panel under China's National Health Commission, on Wednesday visited the Center for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

The team met and exchanged views with representatives of the Department of Health and the Hospital Authority.

During the meeting, they had an in-depth discussion on the COVID-19 situation in Hong Kong and analyzed relevant statistics. The challenges posed by Hong Kong's fifth coronavirus wave as well as the mainland experience in tackling the virus were also elaborated.

Director of Health of the HKSAR government Ronald Lam expressed gratitude to the central government for its extensive and swift support to the HKSAR, and thanked the expert team for their visit and valuable advice offered on Hong Kong's anti-epidemic work.

The CHP will continue its exchange with the expert delegation in exploring and intensifying the strategies and measures to control the fifth wave of the epidemic.

Three teams of medical experts from the mainland have arrived in Hong Kong to work with the HKSAR government in fighting the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

Hong Kong reported 55,353 new COVID-19 cases and 117 deaths on Wednesday, official data showed.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
President Obama's defensiveness on the world stage. Despite the president's soaring rhetoric, goodwill tours and grandiose intentions, the world remains a messy place. This is not the president's fault  merely a reminder that evil people with bad intent have always been around. But why does the president regularly headline America's warts when discussing American foreign policy aims and goals? Just last month, Mr. Obama felt obliged to cite racial tensions in Ferguson, Mo., during his widely anticipated United Nations speech regarding the elevation of ISIS from JV to varsity status  varsity killers that is. Such ill-conceived attempts to mitigate the reappearance of the American military on the world stage are misplaced as the "Leader of the Free World" places American lives in harm's way. America's myriad sins are certainly appropriate debate fodder  just not when young Americans are waging war in order that others (predominantly Muslims) can live.
The Vernon County Censor

March 1, 1922

100 years ago

Boy Runs Into Auto

What might easily have been a fatal accident occurred this morning near the filling station when Ike Morris little boy dropped off a bob sled, turned and ran into a car driven by Conrad Allness. Mr. Allness was driving very slowly and stopped immediately, the boy knocking out a couple of teeth as he came in contact with the car. The practice of boys riding on bobs is very dangerous because of the prevalence of cars.

The ice storm just naturally took the Censor editors trees into camp, and the first man who calls can have the wood for clearing them away.

Eat your Sunday chicken dinner at the Grill.

Work is going along smoothly on the temple. Plastering is all completed, and the concrete floors are being laid. The ornamental plasterers have commenced their work and it certainly is showing up splendidly.

The first of March has been somewhat of a lion of a day  fairly cold, a bit of sunshine now and them, a slobber of snow and the wind shifting from northwest to northeast and back again. On the whole, the winter has been a severe one, and no one will complain if the month of March lives up to the old saying of going out like a lamb.

The tipping of a load of hay on the East Decker street hill last Friday made as pretty a runaway as one would want to see. The load was left there, and the team straddled the white way post at the Brown Music Co. Corner and left the bob sled there.

The Vernon County Censor

Feb. 27, 1947

75 years ago

The Viroqua Chapter of Future Farmers of America is holding its annual Parent and Son Banquet at the Church of Christ on Tuesday evening, March 4. George M. Briggs, Agronomist from the College of Agriculture at Madison, will be the main speaker. Addresses will also be made by FFA students and their fathers. Several songs will be sung by the FFA quartet, composed of Harry Bolstad, Alston Raaum, Roger Peterson and Lavern Smith.

About 400 voluntary campaign solicitors will on Saturday officially launch the Vernon County Red Cross Chapters campaign for funds to finance the local and national programs of the organization in 1947, J. H. Wheelock, county chairman of the Roll Call, announced today. The only source of income that the organization has is from the voluntary contributions of our people in purchasing memberships.

Four meetings, at which tobacco growing will be discussed, will be held in Vernon county next week. With the good prices that have been received for the 1946 crop, there is likely to be a further increase in tobacco acreage in Vernon county.

The American Legion is planning to hold its annual dinner dance the evening of March 12. Cards will also be played. Members of the Legion and Auxiliary with their partners will be guests.

The Vernon County Broadcaster-Censor

March 2, 1972

50 years ago

The fund for a new Fair Building was raised by $500 this week when Mr. and Mrs. Orbec Sherry gave that amount to help provide for a new structure.

The Viroqua Housing Authoritys 50-unit senior citizen structure and 30-units of low-income housing were granted tentative approval Tuesday.

Chaplain (Major) Norman P. Forde of the Aberdeen Proving Ground Chaplain Office has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Fourth Oak Leaf Cluster for meritorious achievement in connection with military operations against a hostile force while serving with the 34th General Support Group in Vietnam. The Chaplain is a native of Viroqua.

A new sewage treatment facility was assured March 2 for the Village of Readstown.

Obituaries: Guy T. Smith (75) Pleasant Ridge; Florence Parr Pierce (83) Stark Township; Mrs. Christine Sophie Hanson (89) Viroqua; Mrs. Thad ( Alzina) Alexander (79) Readstown.

The Vernon County Broadcaster

Feb. 27, 1997

25 years ago

Girl Scouts are celebrating their 85th anniversary. All Girl Scout alumni are invited to participate in this celebration on March 2 at Heileman Hall in La Crosse, Wisconsin from 1-4 p.m.

Jason Welch won the Division Sectional title at Wisconsin Dells to earn his second trip to the WIAA State Tournament. Viroquas other entry was Wayne Primmer at 275, where he met state champion, Joe Wang of Platteville, who has been undefeated for the past two years. Primmer was pinned by Wang, as were both of his other opponents. Wayne ends an outstanding freshman season with 21 wins and a trip to Sectionals.

The Viroqua City Council approved its first license for class A liquor sales in over 30 years. The council approved a liquor license application for Jubilee Foods by a 7-2 vote, ending a three-month debate on the issue.

John Young of Soldiers Grove has been chosen to receive the Wisconsin Community Action Program Associations (WISCAP) Exceptional Board Member Award for service to his community and Coulee Region Community Action Program.

The De Soto High School Challenge team pulled off a close one last week defeating Eau Claire Regis Feb. 4 to get into the final four of the locally televised tri-state brain game competition. Members of the team include: Jeremy Johnson, Luke Jambois, Nick Levendoski and Chris Crusan. De Soto will be competing again Feb. 25 against Red Wing.

Ad specials at Jubilee this week include: ground chuck $1.29/lb., Dole fresh lettuce 38 cents each, pork Boston butt roast $ 1.08/lb., IGA ice cream 1/2 gal. 2/$3.00 with coupon and Swiss Valley cream cheese 8 oz. 2/$1.29.

The Vernon County Broadcaster

March 1, 2012

10 years ago

Vernon Square Cinema has upgraded all three of its theaters to digital production and has turned one into a 3-D (three dimensional) theater. Now an additional tower speaker has been added in each theater and the sound is picked up from the digital cartridge, or hard drive that stores the film.

On Saturday, March 10, more than 300 young musicians with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) will enliven the Wisconsin winter with performances of both classical and contemporary works. Ephraim Sutherland of Viroqua will perform with the Philharmonic Orchestra, which will present its concert at 4 p.m., March 10.

The Vernon County Cattlemen Association has scheduled their Build Better Beef Twilight meeting on Monday, March 5. This years host again will be Howard White of rural Westby.

An open house will be held for Arlene Johnsons 90th birthday on Saturday, March 10.

Vernon County Historical Society  by Bonnie Sterling, Donna Halverson, Linda Zube, Denise Kirchoff and Nancy Bekkedal

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The second of three defendants in a major methamphetamine bust in La Crosse County has been bound over for trial.

La Crosse County Circuit Court Judge Scott Horne found probable cause to advance the case of Emmanuel Flores Sauceda, 39, Hudson, during a preliminary hearing Thursday. He faces a single felony count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.

Flores Sauceda appeared remotely from the St. Croix County Jail, where hes being held after his Feb. 7 arrest for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and maintaining a drug trafficking place. Both are felonies.

Flores Sauceda, who pleaded not guilty, was arrested Jan. 20 in La Crosse, along with Armando Lara Nieto, 49, Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, and Juventino Lara Plancarte, 53, Los Angeles, after La Crosse police reportedly found nearly 11 pounds of methamphetamine in their possession.

Attorney Chris Zachar represented Flores Sauceda. During questioning of La Crosse Police Department drug investigator James Mancuso, Zachar said Flores Sauceda was unaware that drugs were inside the vehicle. He said Flores Sauceda had only recently met Lara Plancarte, who had served a nine-year federal prison sentence for drug trafficking and had recently returned from Mexico after being deported.

Mancuso testified that police officers were conducting surveillance on northside La Crosse hotels where suspected drug activity was taking place and that a vehicle driven by Lara Nieto was making long, suspicious stops at a hotel and fast food restaurant. Mancuso said the vehicle was later pulled over by a Wisconsin State Patrol officer on Interstate 90 for an illegally tinted windshield. He said Lara Nieto looked like he saw a ghost after making eye contact with the officer.

Mancuso said Flores Sauceda denied knowing about the drugs but that Lara Plancarte told police that everybody knew why they were coming to La Crosse. Under questioning from Zachar, Mancuso testified that Lara Plancarte sought leniency for implicating the other two.

Zachar asked Mancuso whether Flores Saucedas fingerprints or DNA were linked to the drugs seized. Mancuso said that has yet to be determined.

Mancuso, under questioning from assistant La Crosse County District Attorney Danielle Kranz, gave details of Flores Saucedas Feb. 7 arrest in Hudson. Mancuso said 297 grams (10.5 ounces) were found in the apartment where Flores Sauceda lived. Zachar questioned Mancuso about the location of the drugs and got Mancuso to confirm that no drugs or cash were found in Flores Saucedas bedroom.

Flores Sauceda is being in the St. Croix County Jail on a $25,000 cash bond. He has an arraignment in St. Croix County set for March 10.

Flores Sauceda was released from the La Crosse County Jail after posting a $25,000 cash bond. Zachar said he will move to have the bond returned to the family members who posted it.

Multiple family members put a lot on the line for this bond, Zachar said.

Lara Plancarte was bound over for trial during a Feb. 25 preliminary hearing and has an arraignment set for March 4. Lara Nietos preliminary hearing is also scheduled for March 4.

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MADISON  UW-La Crosse students will join dozens of undergraduates from all UW campuses Wednesday, March 9, when they display and discuss their research findings at the state Capitol.

The outstanding undergraduate student researchers and their faculty advisers will showcase their work when Research in the Rotunda returns to mark the 18th annual event from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda. UW System President Tommy Thompson will give brief remarks at noon. It is free and open to the public.

Research in the Rotunda is sponsored by Kwik Trip, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the Wisconsin Technology Council, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, and the UW-Milwaukee Research Foundation. The event is supported by the Wisconsin Department of Administration and the UW-Madison Memorial Union.

The UWL students and their projects include:

Kassidy Leannais

, Franklin, Wisconsin, Sociology Department, How Political Efficacy Impacts Support for Redistributive Policies, the study aims to find the potential correlation between political efficacy and support for government intervention of wealth inequality.

Lauren Brewer,

Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Archaeology and Anthropology Department, Collaborative Archaeological Analysis of Early 20th Century Tourism in Red Cliff, Wisconsin, the project investigates the roles of the local Indigenous community in early tourism and its overall impact on the history of Red Cliff, which is of interest to modern tribal members.

Mason Faldet

, Waupaca, Wisconsin, Mathematics and Statistics Department, Thickening the Figure-Eight Knot, the project uses topology, a field of math often referred to as rubber sheet geometry, to study three-dimensional spaces and objects contained within them.

Halle Pavelski

, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Microbiology Department, Determination of HPIV3 M Protein Regions Involved in Assembly and Release of Virus Particles, the project aims to aid in developing antivirals for human parainfluenza virus III (HPIV3) that can cause lower respiratory tract infections such as pneumonia, croup and bronchiolitis  the leading cause of death in children under five.

Hunter Charles,

Spring Valley, Wisconsin, Microbiology Department, Development of Yeast-coated Beads for the Inactivation of Tulane Virus, a Human Norovirus Surrogate, in Water, the project aims to evaluate the efficacy of beads coated with yeast using chitosan or zein as the binding agent in inactivating Tulane virus, a surrogate for human norovirus, in water.

Annie Panico,

Downers Grove, Illinois, Biology Department, The Effects of Nitrate Exposure on Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the project addresses whether drinking water that contains excess nitrate leads to cancer.

Sara Duffy, Greenville, Wisconsin, Biology Department, Examining the Neurobehavioral Toxicity of the Emerging Contaminant Imidacloprid, the project addresses the impact of an insecticide on fish development.

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In partnership with Weber Health Logistics and the School District of Onalaska, the free clinics will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 12, and Saturday, April 5, at Weber Health Logistics, 333 Front St. The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines will be available, including booster doses for those eligible.
After eight months and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, an investigation into the 2020 election delivered key recommendations that have been adamantly opposed by the probes chief overseer, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman suggested the Legislature decertify the 2020 results, which experts and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have described as a legal and constitutional impossibility  and something Vos has staunchly opposed, despite growing pressure from far-right conservatives.

Whats more, Gableman called for the elimination and dismantling of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission, based largely on guidance the agency provided in 2020 to not send poll workers to nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vos, who has allocated $676,000 in taxpayer money to Gablemans effort, also has opposed dismantling the agency he was a key player in creating less than seven years ago.

Gableman is Vos Frankensteins monster, said Matthew Rothschild, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. The speaker, after having hired Gableman, is unable to control Gableman and he is running all over the field and trampling on our democracy  so much so that even Robin Vos doesnt agree with his far-right fringe comments about letting the Legislature decertify the elections and basically canceling out everybodys vote.

Vos, R-Rochester, who did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, issued a terse statement hours after Gablemans presentation thanking the former justice for his work while also criticizing the legal challenges filed against Gablemans many subpoenas, which have led to delays in the now eight-month review. Vos did not comment on Gablemans recommendations.

I think Vos does owe an explanation  both on decertification and on the Wisconsin Elections Commission  as to whether or not he agrees with Gableman, and if he doesnt, why is he continuing to hand Gableman taxpayer money to perpetuate ideas that Vos has already said cant happen or shouldnt happen, said Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, who sits on the Assembly elections committee.

Gableman said on Tuesday he believes he still has a legally enforceable contract with the state, but added he and Vos continue to negotiate an extension to the agreement that expired at the end of December. He said a new contract could come with modifications, but did not provide specifics and suggested that he would continue to conduct the review even without a new contract.

Convenient place

Speaking in a Twitter Spaces panel discussion on Gablemans review on Wednesday, UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said the ongoing review could end up paying off for Vos down the road.

It lets him demonstrate to the base of his party that, as (former President Donald Trump) continues to weigh in on these things, that he is seriously questioning the irregularities that people have raised about the election, Burden said. But it also gives him some distance from it. If the Gableman project goes off the rails, he can say, It went off the rails or It went too far.

Maybe by design or maybe by luck, I think it puts Vos in a convenient place that he can either embrace it or reject it depending on where it goes or sort of do both simultaneously depending on the audience, Burden said.

Vos stance on the 2020 election has drawn ridicule from some within the party who want him to push harder on efforts to overturn the presidential election with some party activists calling to toss Vos. Late last month, Burlington resident Adam Steen, a Republican, launched a primary challenge against Vos for the 63rd Assembly District.

We The People cannot expect any different than the status quo from the current leaders that are entrenched in Madison, Steen said in a statement. It is time to send actual representatives to the Capital to stand up for the rights of We The People.

Agency scrutinized

Like many Republicans, Vos has criticized the state Elections Commission for how it administered the 2020 election, going so far as to call for the resignation of the agencys nonpartisan administrator Meagan Wolfe. He has also said he believes five of the six members on the bipartisan commission should probably be charged with crimes for instructing clerks that they did not need to send poll workers into nursing homes.

However, Vos told The Associated Press earlier this year he opposes the call by some Republicans to dissolve the commission, which GOP lawmakers and former Gov. Scott Walker created in 2016 to replace the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, which had been investigating Republican campaigns for coordinating with outside groups during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections.

This idea that we need to blow up the entire system? I just dont see that, Vos said at the time. I do not favor some kind of a radical change to how the elections commission operates.

Vos opposition to decertifying the election has been more pronounced.

I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and I am never going to break that, Vos said in a Feb. 18 interview with WISN. It is unconstitutional for us to try to decertify the election. It is impossible, it cannot happen. I dont know how many times I have to say that.

There are some who believe  theres one who believes  that we somehow have the right (to withdraw electoral votes) even though every lawyer that we have worked with in Wisconsin says we cannot undo the 2020 elections, Vos said in January in reference to efforts by Rep. Timothy Ramthun, R-Campbellsport.

A recount and court decisions have affirmed that President Joe Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. A review by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau found no evidence of widespread fraud and multiple court rulings have also found no evidence of irregularities.

More pushback

Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, who is not seeking reelection this fall, has repeatedly pushed back against claims that the Legislature can overturn an election.

I can guarantee that I will not be part of any effort, and will do everything possible to stop any effort, to put politicians in charge of deciding who wins or loses elections, Steineke, R-Kaukauna, tweeted Tuesday in response to Gablemans report.

Gableman wrote in the report that his intention is not to challenge the states certification, but an appendix in the document does sketch how that might be done. Legislative attorneys and the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau have repeatedly said the Legislature cannot challenge the certification of a presidential election, but Gableman wrote that logic is defective.

Gableman alleges that, if violations of election laws are found, then the decision of which set of electors to certify (or decertify) devolves back upon the Wisconsin Legislature, where the plenary power to select electors was initially reposed.

Sen. Kathy Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, a former county clerk who chairs the Senate elections committee and is also not running for reelection, described any effort to decertify an election as futile.

If youre going to decertify elections because of administrative malfeasance or breaking the law, then you cant just decertify the presidential election. I would suggest you would have to decertify all of the candidates on that ballot, Bernier said. That might require common sense and logic. Im not sure everyone has that these days.

Rather than dismantle the elections commission, Bernier said she plans to soon introduce a bill that would add a seventh, nonpartisan seat to the six-member elections commission to eliminate 3-3 split votes, which increased last year and blocked clear guidance to local election officials trying to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vos said earlier this year he opposes such a measure, adding that the idea that you can find this mythical, unicorn nonpartisan person, is specious at best.

State Journal reporter Alexander Shur contributed to this report.

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TITLE: The Girl They Left Behind

AUTHOR: Roxanne Veletzos

Romania joined Nazi Germany in the invasion of Russia! The Legionnaires had disbanded after the Bucharest Massacre, but now they were back on the streets in Lasi with full support of the army. Thousands of Jews left Romania having bought their freedom with cash and agreements between Israel and Romania with help of the U.S. Joint Distribution Committee. Payments were as high as $50,000, depending on age, education, and profession.

Anton, at the age of 7, learned to take care of himself and was responsible for carrying water from the well, feed the chicken, mop floors and made his own breakfast. In his free time he roamed the nearby hills. Where were his parent since he had so much responsibility? Did he have siblings? Just before his 10th birthday there was an uprising among the peasants that took his fathers life. Two months later his mother passes away. How? What would Anton do now? What job was offered to Anton? And by whom?

Anton kept his childhood a secret from everyone including his wife. What would have happened if she knew? Anton had to sign over his store and all other belongings. The family lived in a commune, and Anton took on low paying jobs such as sweeping sidewalks, selling lottery tickets, and unloading delivery trucks. Would life improve? When? Winter was harsh with no lights, no hot water or no soap. Furniture had to be burned so they would have some heat.

Schools closed, bombings continued, and destruction everywhere. Hospitals were full of wounded soldiers and no room for sick or injured civilians. What happened to Natalia and Victor who were children that Anton cared and provided for? Why was Anton in prison? After 10 years Anton and Natalia meet in a New York restaurant. Was that planned ? Was it by chance? What was there to say after all this time? Who helped Natalia get to the United States? What was in store for her there? When the war ended in 1948 in Bucharest what was life like for the people still living there?

Becky Stakston is an avid reader from Westby.

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In a move that will send a companys profits to community programs, S. Dale High and his family have transferred their shares of High Industries to the High Foundation, the organizations announced Wednesday.

This means the foundation will receive the profits as well as control of the East Lampeter Township-based company. It will send more than $5 million annually to the foundation for programs that address poverty and build up communities where the multi-state company does business including Lancaster County, central Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio and Florida.

High contributed about $2.5 million to the foundation annually. With ownership transferred to the foundation, it will receive in profits more than double the annual contribution. High had $570 million in revenue in 2021, the company said.

This is the creation of a new kind of company, said High, 80, in a video played at a press conference Wednesday, where High Foundation has become the major shareholder and the community is the recipient of the profits of High Industries moving forward. This allows our coworkers the satisfaction of knowing that the profits they help generate will go back into the community. So, every day when they are building value, they are building it for the community.

The new structure means the charitable foundation becomes the majority shareholder of High Industries. The company will maintain its own board. Profits from the business will return to the foundation and essentially will be managed, grown and distributed into the community.

Pedro Rivera, president of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, commended the announcement. He said the college has had a long and fruitful relationship with the High Foundation that includes scholarships ensuring students complete their degrees and building labs and classrooms with equipment and state-of-the-art technology that will better prepare them for the workforce.

High Foundation is already one of the largest private foundations in central Pennsylvania. The most recent IRS Form 990 filing available for High Foundation from 2019 shows $60.7 million in total assets. It was formed in 1980 by High, and is funded by the High family, owners of the High companies  High Industries, High Real Estate Group and their affiliates. Highs father, Sanford, began the Lancaster-based firm in 1931 with the founding of High Welding, which became High Steel Structures.

The High companies have about 1,900 employees  two-thirds of whom are employed in Lancaster County. The High companies are a group of Lancaster-based, family-owned firms headed by High Industries and High Real Estate Group. The businesses are involved in steel, concrete, real estate, construction, hotels, transportation, air quality and safety consulting, and other fields.

High companies are one of the countys biggest employers as the umbrella firm for High Industries and High Real Estate Group.

High Real Estate Group is still owned by the High family, said company spokesman Dave Nicholas. It is being evaluated for possible transfer to the foundation.

After the new ownership structure was announced to High Industries employees on Wednesday, workers were offered the opportunity to direct $100 each in foundation money to a local organization of their choice, said Mike Shirk, CEO of the High companies. He said that the offer realized $150,000 that is headed directly to community organizations.

The High Foundation investments will be disbursed through major partnerships and collaborations, grants, scholarships for High co-workers and the High Foundation Fund at Lancaster County Community Foundation.

In addition to Highs involvement in Thaddeus Stevens, the foundation has also supported the Water Street Mission, Lancaster Conservancy, Fulton Theatre, Historic Rock Ford and Assets Lancaster. High Foundation has been a presenting sponsor of Extraordinary Give, the Lancaster County Community Foundations one-day fall giving extravaganza that last year raised $13.4 million.

The announcement on Wednesday comes several months after the High Foundation made a $65 million donation to Lancaster County Community Foundation. It is a donor-advised fund, which means the foundation directs its spending. The community foundation reported $141 million in net assets in its audited financial statements in 2020.

In an interview after the announcement, High said the transfer of the company to the foundation has been several years in the works, ironing out the legal and logistical matters.

He said creating a company that directly benefits the community had long been a guiding principle.

His daughter, Suzanne High, who is vice chair of the foundation, said the family wholly supported the move as a continuation of her fathers transformative and innovative leadership.

Robin Stauffer, executive director of the foundation, said the new structure emboldens the foundation for greater impact. Also, additional trustees have been added to the foundation board and committees created so the foundation can be scaled to handle the growth that will occur with the new financial structure.
Two people have been temporarily displaced after their East Donegal Township home was damaged by fire Tuesday afternoon, according to the Maytown Fire Department.

The fire broke out in a single-story ranch-style home in the 100 block of Endslow Road sometime around noon, said Deputy Fire Chief Dan Houseal. Nearly two dozen firefighter units from Lancaster and York counties were called to the scene after a passerby noticed heavy smoke billowing from either end of the residence at 12:13 p.m.

Firefighters were able to control the blaze after about 30 minutes, with most of the fire damage being limited to the floor and attic.

We were able to have a rapid response and get there quickly and get an excellent knock on it, Houseal said. The fire departments and mutual aid departments did a great job and were able to pretty much contain (the fire) to one side of the house.

Neither of the two residents were present at the time of the blaze. No one was injured during the incident.

Houseal estimated the residence sustained between $150,000 and $175,000 in damage, though it remains structurally sound and can be rebuilt. The two residents have been in contact with an insurance company to acquire contractors to begin repairing the damage.

The residents have since made temporary living arrangements with family, Houseal said.

A state police fire marshal is now investigating the cause and origin of the blaze.
To stand in prayerful solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they struggle against the invading Russian armed forces, Hope Episcopal Church, 2425 Mountain Road, Penn Township, on Tuesday started lighting the outside of the church with gold and blue lights, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, according to the Rev. Bradley Lodge Mattson, pastor of the church. The church's outreach committee has given $2,000 in aid to Episcopal Relief & Development, the Episcopal denomination organization that's coordinating relief for the people of Ukraine. The church plans to continue to light up the outside of the building from dusk to dawn until there's a resolution for Ukraine.

Close
Fibs and worse: Finally, the president has been flat out wrong about too many important issues: Bashar Assad faced no consequences for chemical weapons use in Syria, notwithstanding Mr. Obama's "red line"; Vladimir Putin rejected a "reset" in bilateral relations; Lois Lerner's IRS shenanigans amounted to far more than a "smidgen" of corruption; Obamacare failed to generate "$2,500 per family savings"; the stimulus did not produce "shovel ready jobs"; the Free Syrian Army was not merely "pharmacists and farmers"; ISIS was never the "JV"; six million Americans could not "keep their health plan and doctor"; al-Qaida was never "on the run"; the "tide of war" was far from "receding"; the White House did indeed rewrite Benghazi "talking points"; and Fort Hood was never about "workplace violence".
Columbia Borough police

THEFT

COLUMBIA: A wallet was stolen from the inside of an unlocked vehicle parked in the 1000 block of Spruce Street sometime during the night of Feb. 27-28, police said.

COLUMBIA: A catalytic converter was stolen off of a vehicle parked near Ninth and Locust streets sometime before1:14 p.m. on Feb. 28, police said.

East Cocalico Township police

DUI

EAST COCALICO TWP.: Trevor E. Smith, 30, of Lancaster, was charged with two counts of driving under the influence after striking a guardrail in the first block of Denver Road at 11:45 p.m. on Feb. 25, police said. Smith had a BAC of 0.218%, police said.

FIREARMS VIOLATION

EAST COCALICO TWP.: Jason Lee Stanley, 43, of Denver, was charged with discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure after firing a gun into the floor on the second floor of an apartment, causing the projectile to go into the ground-floor apartment underneath, in the first block of West Church Street around 8:50 p.m. on Oct. 26, police said. The ground floor apartment was occupied, but no one was injured, police said.

THEFT

EAST COCALICO TWP.: Cody William Beiler, 22, of Ephrata, was charged with retail theft after stealing $272.57 worth of merchandise from Redners Quick Shoppe at 1304 North Reading Road at 3:05 p.m. on Feb. 24, police said.

East Lampeter Township police

THEFT

EAST LAMPETER TWP.: Teray Shanon Hansley, 30, of Lancaster, was charged with retail theft after under-ringing $195 worth of clothing at a self-checkout register at a Walmart at 2034 Lincoln Highway East around 6 p.m. on Feb. 26, police said.

Manor Township police

THEFT

MANOR TWP.: Multiple vehicles parked near Kent Road, Joseph Road and Ramsgate Lane were broken into during the early morning hours of March 1, police said. Two unidentified men in dark clothing were seen on Kent Road around 4:10 a.m., police said.

Pequea Township police

THEFT

PEQUEA TWP.: Multiple vehicles on Howard Drive, Carriage House Drive, Cobblestone Drive, Stonehouse Bend and Utley Place were entered sometime around 5 a.m. Feb. 27, police said.

Susquehanna Regional police

DUI

EAST DONEGAL TWP.: Cory L. Hummel, 38, address unknown, was charged with driving under the influence after striking a barn in the 2400 block of Donegal Springs Road at 5:41 p.m. on Dec. 12, police said. Hummel was drunk at the time, police said.

EAST DONEGAL TWP.: John Charles Miller, 23, address unknown, was charged with driving under the influence after losing control of his vehicle and rolling over in the 1200 block of Donegal Springs Road at 3:33 a.m. on Jan. 15, police said. Miller was drunk at the time, police said.

EAST DONEGAL TWP.: Austin Michael Flowers, 25, address unknown, was charged with driving under the influence after losing control at a curve and rolling over multiple times in a field near Route 772 and Rock Point Road at 2:25 a.m. on Jan. 27, police said. Flowers, who was drunk at the time, was seen speeding westbound along Route 772 near Union School Road just before the crash, police said.
Sheriff deputies and clerical staff across county government will receive retention bonuses and hourly wage increases as a result of seven months of negotiations between their union and county leaders.

The Lancaster County commissioners approved a new round of sign-on and retention bonuses and a two-year contract with the union that represents court-related clerical staff and sheriff deputies at its meeting on Wednesday. This is the third time in recent months the commissioners have approved bonuses and pay raises to help address the countys more than 300 job openings.

Sheriff deputies, who are tasked with keeping county government buildings like the courthouse safe, will get a $2.25 wage increase, raising the starting pay to $20.51. All deputies will receive another wage increase of $1.75 per hour in 2023, setting new deputies up to receive a starting wage of $22.26 next year.

In addition to the hourly wage increases, sheriff deputies will be eligible for retention bonuses of up to $12,500. New employees hired this year will be eligible for a $7,500 sign-on bonus, set to be paid in three installments in March, July and January 2023. Sheriff deputies who have been employed by the county for five years or less are eligible for a $7,500 retention bonus, those with five to 10 years are eligible for $10,000, and those with 10 or more years and lieutenants can get the maximum retention bonus of $12,500.

The county will use approximately $600,000 of its $108 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to fund the retention and sign-on bonuses, like it has for its bonuses for prison and Children & Youth staff.

Public safety positions like the prison, sheriff deputies are among the most critical the county has, and theyre among the most difficult right now to fill for multiple reasons, Commissioner Josh Parsons said during Tuesdays work session, adding that he supported giving these employees raises and retention bonuses.

The sheriffs office struggled to retain employees prior to the pandemic; these hiring issues have been emphasized by the national worker shortage the country is experiencing today.

Staffing shortages in the sheriffs office, clerk of courts and across magisterial district courts were the subject of a letter President Judge David Ashworth sent to the county commissioners in November, warning that court security and operations were at risk. This led to a public political feud between Ashworth and the GOP commissioners, in which both parties criticized the other for playing politics with the safety and security of county government.

Clerical staff across several offices will get a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour, or a 4.75% wage increase  whichever is greater  due to an agreement signed by the county commissioners on Wednesday. As part of the approved two-year contract, clerical staff will get another 4.5% increase next year, said Larry George, the countys chief clerk, during Tuesdays meeting.

Sheriff Chris Leppler thanked the commissioners and county staff at their weekly voting meeting on Wednesday for reaching an agreement with the sheriff deputies and clerical staff union, the Laborers International Union of North America Local 1310.

You only need to turn on the TV these days to see its a challenging time for law enforcement, Leppler said.
When: Warwick School District School board meeting, Feb. 15.

What happened: The board held a moment of silence in memory of Libby Miller, the Warwick fifth grader who died in a car accident on Feb. 9.

District grieves: The board and those attending the meeting remembered the 10-year-old, whose mother, Brooke Lobaugh, is a language arts teacher at Warwick Middle School. Superintendent April Hershey said that the school district was grieving the loss of the John R. Bonfield student, who had brightened the lives of so many. She added that counselors are available at each school to talk with students and staff members who may need support.

Resignations: The Warwick School District honored Ryan Axe, who resigned from his position in January as director of secondary education for the Warwick School District. Axe was appointed as superintendent of the Manheim Central School District on Jan. 24. At the Warwick School Board meeting, Dr. Hershey presented Axe with a red and black vase made by Warwick High School artist and teacher Nate Nixdorf. Other resignations include Juliet Ashton, coordinator of student services, effective on March 30; Tracey Barrell, learning support teacher at Warwick Middle School; and Jackie Yanchocik, public relations and marketing coordinator for the district. The board also approved the retirement of Lynn Bare as a special programs assistant at Warwick Middle School.

Emotional Support Program: The board approved the Emotional Support Program at Warwick High School that had been presented by Ashton at the Feb. 1 committee of the whole meeting. Ashton had reported that the proposed programming offers a way to continue to improve services to students. She also noted that work immersion programs would be Warwicks next area of focus.

New SRO: The board approved the appointment of Peter Sheppard as school security officer at the Warwick School District. Sheppard will be replacing officer Ken Wolfe, who retired in December 2021, effective at the end of the 2021-22 school year. Sheppard has been a police officer with Ephrata Borough.

Equity definition: The board approved two board policies in the first reading, with one relating to federal fiscal compliance and the other to educational equity. In early January, the board had responded to a request to define the word equity, with board members offering their definitions. At that meeting, the board settled on one of nine possible definitions of equity  Equity in education is defined as every student, no exceptions, having access to the resources and rigor they need at the right moment in their education  but would later abandoned that definition in favor of one used by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. At a Feb. 1 meeting of the board, it was suggested board member Leslie Penkunas, along with several administrative people, that the district go back to the definition of equity as stated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, in which Equity in education is defined as every student having access to the resources and rigor they need at the right moment in their education across race, gender, ethnicity, language, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, family background and/or family income.

Decision: While the board ultimately approved as a first reading the Pennsylvania Department of Educations definition, there was some controversy. Board member Leslie Penkunas said she felt strongly that the wording should follow state guidelines because it made it clear that equity should apply to all students across all categories. Assistant Superintendent Melanie Calender explained that the state definition made it clear that the school district needed to meet the needs of all students in all categories. When asked if education should apply to each child or to each group, Calender responded, Its both.

Other business: The board approved the appointment of Scott Landis as a member of the Finance & Legal Committee.
THE ISSUE: The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission wants to crack down on problems caused by nighttime bowfishing, which has become extremely popular on the lower Susquehanna River in recent years, outdoors writer P.J. Reilly reported in the Sunday LNP | LancasterOnline. According to agency officials, most complaints about bowfishing in Pennsylvania come from the South-Central Region, which includes Lancaster and York counties under the Fish and Boat Commissions division of the state. Reilly reported that the lower Susquehanna  particularly from Washington Boro north to Harrisburg  is one of the most popular areas in Pennsylvania for bowfishing, and there are lots of homes and camps along the river in that stretch.

Weve always thought of fishing as a peaceful, almost contemplative, activity that allows us to enjoy nature while trying to catch dinner.

Nighttime bowfishing is a different kettle of fish, clearly.

Bowfishing is exactly what is sounds like: Its hunting fish with a bow and arrow. (Under state law, bowfishing is limited to the taking of carp, suckers and catfish.)

As LNP | LancasterOnline outdoors columnist Ad Crable explained in a 2010 article, bowfishing is like stalking a deer but its a fish. Its like trying to land a big-game fish but with a bow rigged with a fishing reel.

Its an amalgam of hunting and fishing that some people find addictive, Crable noted.

Its also become a headache for people who live in homes along the lower Susquehanna River.

The biggest complaint law enforcement receives is the number of houses being lit up from this activity, Col. Clyde Warner, director of the state Fish and Boat Commissions Bureau of Law Enforcement, told P.J. Reilly.

Another common complaint: excessive noise from the generators that power the special lights used for bowfishing.

As Reilly explained, Boats specially outfitted for bowfishing have a series of lights mounted to the sides and front to illuminate the water around the boat where anglers shoot arrows at fish. To power those lights, boat operators often employ gas-powered generators, which can be noisy.

Noise and light make for unpleasant nights.

If we lived in a home along the lower Susquehanna, wed be annoyed by nighttime noise and lights, too. Especially if we had young children and/or dogs.

So we applaud the Fish and Boat Commission for granting preliminary approval to three new rules targeting bowfishing.

Reilly laid out the new rules under consideration:

 The first rule would make bowfishing, spearing and gigging illegal on all special regulation trout waters, such as those classified as Catch and Release All Tackle, Delayed Harvest Artificial Lures Only and Trophy Trout All Tackle, among others. (We admit that we read this first as giggling, and were momentarily confused.)

In Lancaster County, those waters would be the Catch-and-Release, Fly-Fishing Only sections of Donegal Creek and West Branch Octoraro Creek.

The aim of this rule, Reilly noted, would be to minimize conflicts between bow anglers and trout anglers on waters designated especially for trout fishing.

This makes sense.

 The second rule would prohibit the use of generators with a noise level that exceeds 90 decibels while bowfishing on boats.

Noise pollution can be unpleasant and disruptive, no matter where it comes from.

 The third proposed rule would declare, under the section of state law that addresses bowfishing gear, that it is unlawful to shine a light from any kind of watercraft directly on any occupied building or boat.

As Reilly pointed out, existing law already states that its illegal to use docking lights while underway, except when docking and the boat is traveling at slow, no wake speed and is within 100 feet of approaching a dock, a mooring buoy or the shoreline.

Under the law, he noted, a spotlight is defined as a docking light.

But the Fish and Boat Commission wants to highlight illegal light-shining under the section of rules pertaining to bowfishing.

Ideally, boats with lights specially rigged for bowfishing only shine light downward, Reilly explained. But sometimes they cast light horizontally across the water. And sometimes, anglers simply shine spotlights on the areas where they are looking for fish.

According to Reillys reporting, some commissioners are concerned that adding a new lights rule to bowfishing regulations could create the impression that shining lights on a house is legal as long as you arent bowfishing.

So the wording may need to be adjusted before a final vote, which could happen when the commissioners meet in late April.

The commissioners said they want to gather public comment on whats proposed, and we think this is smart  and, frankly, should be part of any rule-writing process in government.

We imagine many homeowners who reside along the Susquehanna were drawn to riverfront living by its peaceful pleasures, and so are annoyed at having to deal with disruptions. We would be, too.

According to previous LNP | LancasterOnline reporting, bowfishing also has generated complaints because irresponsible bowfishers illegally dumped wounded fish along the river, leaving the fish to rot; responsible bowfishers complained, too.

We would hope that fish arent killed and then unlawfully dumped. We would hope that edible fish would be eaten, not wasted. If anglers want to bowfish, they should do it in a way that allows them to peacefully coexist with other people.

If bowfishing is to be done ethically, it needs to be regulated. Kudos to the state Fish and Boat Commission for seeking to tighten the rules.
At the Dec. 21 Elizabethtown Area school board meeting, board member Danielle Lindemuth said this about quarantining unvaccinated students whove been exposed to COVID-19: We are discriminating against students who cant get a vaccine or students who ethically will not take the vaccine, and we are putting a little star on their chest.

I believe that this was an obvious Holocaust comparison, and its appalling.

Quarantines are inconvenient and burdensome, especially for parents and guardians without access to child care who cannot afford to miss work. But seemingly comparing a 10-day quarantine to the systematic genocide of 6 million Jewish people is offensive and wrong.

LNP | LancasterOnline reported last year that a white supremacist group met secretly in Lancaster County in 2020 (Hidden in plain sight, Oct. 31, 2021). In January, four people were taken hostage at a synagogue in Texas  another hateful act of violence against Jewish people.

It may be difficult to understand how personal and terrifying these events are for our Jewish neighbors, but it should not be difficult to understand how different these events are from having to experience a short quarantine.

Lindemuth presumably ran for school board because she wants to be a community leader. Good leaders accept responsibility and own their mistakes. But Lindemuth has not apologized, even after hearing from her Jewish neighbors.

Our Jewish neighbors deserve an apology from Lindemuth. In the meantime, community leaders and leaders of other churches in the Elizabethtown area should denounce these remarks. Strong communities stand up together against hate and ignorance.

Rachel Rank

Conoy Township
Bass Talks Public Safety, Housing, and Policing at Virtual Community Forum

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Mayoral candidate, Karen Bass talks with community leaders and activists about her proposal to address homelessness, gentrification, and city services

Mayoral candidate, Karen Bass met with more than 50 African American citizens of Los Angeles to outline her agenda regarding several hot-button issues affecting the Black community.

The Rev. Kelvin Sauls organized the virtual forum that he billed as a courageous conversation to align community concerns with the campaign platform. During the 90-minute session, Bass listened, responded and committed to more meetings to learn whats on the minds of the people, as well as share her intentions if she is elected mayor in June 2022.

We also wanted to facilitate mutual learning between the candidate and the community to explore common ground and higher ground in strategies for prevention and intervention to police and community violence, Sauls said.

Our purpose was to leverage our collective thinking to advance the holistic health, wellness, and safety of our communities, he added. A longtime community organizer, Sauls was previously the pastor of Holman United Methodist and is the co-convener of Clergy for Black Lives.

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Serving as the moderator, Sauls opened the conversation, asking Bass to elaborate on her public statements to approach homelessness as a public safety and health crisis. Specifically, he requested the candidate to explain how her strategy would treat unhoused people with humanity, effectively and with dignity.

I believe this is a crisis that is an emergency and should be dealt with like it is an earthquake. I think the mayor and federal government should declare a state of emergency. When you do that, you can turn on the spigot for resources, replied Bass.

I do believe people should be off the streets immediately and to be housed right away. I think there are categories of people to be housed, whether it is due to mental illness, substance abuse, former foster youth, veterans, economically unhoused  all those reasons need to be dealt with and have different strategies. We have to address why people are unhoused to begin with, she insisted.

The candidate also urged that the structural causes of homelessness be addressed, which include profound income inequality. As a result, housing in Los Angeles has become unaffordable for large segments of the citys population.

In her opinion, Bass said, We have to address the root causes and we have to come up with temporary housing that preserves dignity. The shelters are gone. The only real solution is permanent housing, but I dont want to wait [for it] because people are dying on the streets every single day.

Melina Abdullah, co-founder of Black Lives Matter  L.A., inquired about the public safety plan recently issued by Bass. Expressing the importance of budgeting funds dedicated to housing, Abdullah conveyed her disappointment that the document failed to allocate money for things that we know actually make communities safe such as mental health assistance and afterschool programs.

The public safety plan that you issued was the exact opposite of what we were expecting from someone like you who has been in the community many years, said Abdullah.

It feels like youre capitulating to LAPPL (Los Angeles Police Protective League) and other police interests. [Your plan] is not the progressive Karen Bass. We need you to be moral and ethical [in] saying we are going to fund the things that make the communities safe.

Making similar comments, Pastor Cue Jn Marie of Skid Rows Church Without Walls said, We dont want any more of our money going towards law enforcement. In my 15 years on skid row, it doesnt seem like things have gotten better. The policies youre bringing forth seem to me like a replay of the 1990s.

Bass answered that she anticipated that many people would not like her public safety plan, but strongly believed that she needed to address the increase in crime that has occurred over the past year.

Im worried that the uptick in crime is going to be used to wipe out reforms that we spent decades fighting for. I believe that there is plenty of money in this country and in this city and the only way to address it is to focus on prevention and intervention, she stressed and added that the plan actually contains three parts. She said that the second section will emphasize prevention and intervention strategies, and the final part will focus on policing.

Linking policing, housing and public safety, Sheila Bates insisted, Housing is public safety. Were discussing it like its a separate issue.

Police are not public safety. Poor houseless neighbors are often victims of police violence. Police take up 50% of the Citys budget, stated Bates. Its taking valuable resources from the very issue of houselessness.

Agreeing with Bates viewpoint about housing being public safety, Bass said she worked to ensure the funding in Proposition H was earmarked for housing for foster youth. Also, regarding housing, the candidate mentioned that traditionally Black districts are facing gentrification, corporate takeovers, and what Bass described as predators coming in essentially stealing housing from our neighbors. Regarding that situation, she said her goal is help people retain their homes.

People lose them for many reasons and one way is because of predators, especially on elderly folks. They prey on them, asking them to make corrections or offer them loans, and then they wind up stealing their homes. Order number one is to help people stay in their homes and repair their homes without getting bad loans, said Bass.

She also noted that the next document she plans to release will highlight services including strategies to prevent crime, projects to help children avoid gangs, and funding to hire former gang members to lead intervention programs for youth.

I also commit to forming a Development Department in the Mayors Office, where Im going to hire staff to look for money because there is tons of money in this city and country, but theres no mechanism in City Hall to go after money, said the candidate.

I want to invest in community-based programs. Its often viewed that the county does services, but theres nothing to stop the City from providing services. Im going to commit to raise the money that is needed to make sure that community-based programs that are providing services have the resources that they need, added Bass. In addition, she vowed to review the Peoples Budget developed by BLM-LA.

Closing commenters reiterated previous remarks about reduced focus on policing in Black and Brown neighborhoods, increasing housing options for the homeless, deploying more efforts to clean neighborhoods, defeating poverty, establishing participatory budgeting and emphasizing more youth programs.

At the conclusion of the event, Bass thanked all attendees for participating and said she was looking forward to more conversations in the future.

Saul said, The vitality and viability of our democracy depends on these constructive engagements. When we listen and see each other, we can boldly broaden our circle of concern and compassion to realize a more just and fair Los Angeles grounded in the safety, dignity and prosperity of all Angelenos!
Culturally, a profound leftward shift on marijuana, gay marriage, immigration and access to birth control is most apparent among young people. Here, the Democrats' "war on women" campaign has prompted numerous GOP candidates to support over-the-counter birth control (a sensible position, in my view). Alas, Republicans are still charged with the gender offense if free birth control is not added to the program (not so sure this one has similarly caught on). Regardless, it's clear that America is more secular and progressive in the new millennium. That the foregoing successes have reduced the political effectiveness of the "Religious Right" is without question. Indeed, the vitriol that was previously reserved for religious conservatives is now redirected toward fiscal conservatives  the tea party.
Black Women, Legal Scholars Praise Ketanji Brown Jacksons SCOTUS Nomination

Americans around the country, including legal scholars and Black women, are praising President Joe Bidens announcement last week nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, Jackson would make history as the first Black woman and the first former federal public defender to serve as a Supreme Court justice.

For too long, our government, our courts havent looked like America, Biden said at the White House, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Judge Jackson.

I believe that we should have a court that reflects the full talents and greatness of our nation with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications and that will inspire all young people to believe that they can one day serve our country at the highest level, Biden said.

Jackson, 51, currently sits on the District of Columbia (D.C.) Court of Appeals and has broad judicial, academic and practical legal experience. She was three times confirmed by the Senate, twice unanimously, when picked to serve on the U.S. Sentencing Commission and when appointed by President Barack Obama to be on the D.C. Federal District Court.

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In her acceptance speech, Jackson revealed that she shares a birthday with Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman appointed to serve as a federal judge.

Today, I proudly stand on Judge Motleys shoulders, sharing not only her birthday, but also her steadfast and courageous commitment to equal justice under law, Jackson said.

Judge Motley  her life and career  has been a true inspiration to me, as I have pursued this professional path, she explained. And if Im fortunate enough to be confirmed as the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, I can only hope that my life and career, my love of this country and the Constitution, and my commitment to upholding the rule of law, and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded, will inspire future generations of Americans.

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is an outstanding nominee, said Danielle Holley-Walker, dean and professor at the Howard University School of Law, whose alumni include Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Holley-Walker said a noteworthy aspect of Jacksons background is that she has devoted most of her career to serving the public. As a federal public defender, Jackson represented defendants on appeal who did not have the means to pay for a lawyer and worked to identify errors that occurred during their trials.

I think one of the most important things for those of us who are interested in issues of justice and equality is that she served as a public defender, and she would not only be the first Black woman on the Supreme Court. She would also be the first public defender to ever serve on the Supreme Court, she added.

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Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1970 and grew up in Florida with her parents who are both graduates of HBCUs. After graduating from Harvard, Jackson clerked for three federal jurists, including retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.

Later, she began representing clients in criminal and civil appellate matters at Goodwin Procter LLP, appearing before the Supreme Court in the case McGuire v. Reilly. In this case, she represented Massachusetts reproductive rights groups, arguing that the state law prohibiting anti-abortion protesters from harassing people seeking reproductive health care should be upheld.

During her seven years as a district judge, Jackson issued several rulings on topics like federal environmental law, employment discrimination and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The most notable one included Committee on the Judiciary v. McGahn, in which she ruled that Don McGahn, the former White House counsel to President Donald Trump, was required to testify before the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 election.

Jackson was involved in the case against Trumps efforts to block the release of documents related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. A federal district judge in Washington rejected Trumps request to block the disclosure of the documents, and the D.C. Circuit, in an opinion by Judge Patricia Millett that Jackson joined, upheld that ruling.

Bidens announcement came nearly a month after Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement and two years to the day Biden pledged to appoint a Black woman as the next Supreme Court justice.

Im looking forward to making sure theres a Black woman on the Supreme Court to make sure we in fact get everyone represented, Biden said during the South Carolina primary in February 2020.

Bidens selection of Jackson gives him a chance to deliver on this campaign promise to Black voters, who were crucial to his election win. In fact, 86% of Black women voters supported prioritizing such a nomination, according to a poll by Change Research and Higher Heights for America, an organization that describes itself aa a political home for Black women and allies to organize.

Biden met with at least three potential Supreme Court nominees, all of whom are Black women, before choosing Jackson. They included Leondra Kruger who sits on the California Supreme Court, and J. Michelle Childs, who sits on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

There were lots of exceptionally qualified capable women to choose from, but Bidens selection of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson demonstrates that theres no need for Americas highest court to be off limits to Black women anymore, said strategist and political commentator Donna Brazile, who is the Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair in Public Policy at Howard University.

Jotaka Eaddy, founder of #WinWithBlackWomen (WWBW), shared similar sentiments. With this nomination, President Biden and Vice President Harris will once again elevate a woman, and in this case, a Black woman, to a position that has long been covered by a cement ceiling, Eaddy said in a statement. Today that ceiling is shattered into a million pieces.

Known for making a significant impact on the historic election of the nations first Black woman Vice President, #WinWithBlackWomen also stated that it will work to ensure that Judge Jackson receives a fair and expeditious confirmation process. WWBW is a collective of Black women leaders from public and private sectors committed to advancing and uplifting Black women, families and communities.

Though Jacksons appointment would be historic, it will not change the ideological makeup of a Supreme Court that has a majority of conservative justices.

Weve only had seven justices in the entire history of the U.S. Supreme Court who have not been White men, Holley-Walker explained. So, I think its both an incredible day for our country, specifically for Black women, and also to have such a highly qualified nominee. We hope to see her confirmed in the way that is represented in terms of her credentials.

Howard law professor Alice Martin Thomas also sees Jackson as a highly qualified nominee who will be a fair judge.

I believe shes a tenacious personality, Thomas said. I believe she will not shrink. And shes going to have to stand up against a torrent of negativity and ugliness that weve all had to deal with.  She is more than capable and able of doing it graciously

She will advance her point of view. And shell be fair. Thats all we can ask of a judge. Im also glad shes young. She has her whole life in front of her, Thomas concluded.

Nyah Marshall is a reporter and regional bureau chief for HUNewsService.com.
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science Introduce over 22 HBCUs to Over 300 LAUSD Students

The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) campus showcased over 22 explore representatives from various historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) on Tuesday, February 15.

The National College Resource Foundations Caravan Tour parked on the South Lawn of CDU; located at 1731 E. 120th St., Lomita, California. In collaboration with the tour, the CDU campus organized over 22 representatives from different HBCUs to over 300 LAUSD students

Leadership in attendance included Vanessa Riggins, Executive Director of Enrollment Management of Charles R. Drew University, Dr. Theresa Price, CEO of National College Resources Foundation and various HBCU representatives were present.

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Students were encouraged to apply and consider the opportunity of being accepted to the HBCU of their choice during the event. Scholarships were awarded to eligible students at the expo. The HBCU National College Resources Foundation Caravan Tour collaborated with Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science to make this possible.

Academic centers in attendance included: Manual Arts, Crenshaw Highschool, King Drew Highschool, Foshay Learning Center, and Maya Angelou Highschool.

The National College Resource Foundations Caravan Tour brought over 22 members from various HBCUs to meet over 300 LAUSD students. Their purpose is to reduce high school dropout rates and boost college enrolment among underprivileged, underrepresented, at-risk, low-resource, homeless, and foster kids.

CDU is a historically black graduate university and minority-serving medical and health sciences residing in Watts. As a private university, CDU is dedicated to developing professionals of various medical practices. They establish a balance of social justice and reducing inequalities for marginalized populations through highlighting the significance in clinical service and civic engagement. CDU often leads the march in eradicating health disparities, with a focus on cancer, diabetes, cardiometabolic disease.

This nonprofit- based university has managed to graduate upwards of 600 practitioners, more than 1,270 allied health professionals, and more than 1,700 other medical experts in the five decades since its implementation in 1966. They also trained over 2,700 medical specialists through its sponsorships and residency programs.

Vanessa Riggins, Executive Director of Enrollment Management released the following statement about the event, Now more than ever, it is extremely important for Charles R.Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) to bridge the gap between high school students and HBCUs.

The Executive Director of Enrollment Management continued, As a Historically Black Graduate Institution whose mission is to produce minority healthcare professional leaders, students of color are statistically more successful in becoming a STEM graduate at an HBCU rather than if they were to attend a predominantly white institution. With lower tuition rates, scholarship, and opportunities of community engagement, HBCUs offer additional support and cultural awareness that ultimately increases the success for our students.

Riggins closed by stating, CDU was the ideal location to host this event, considering that CDU is the 2nd most diverse university in the nation in terms of staff and faculty, plus, as a federally designated Historically Black Graduate Institution (HBGI) we are the only historically Black option west of Texas.

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CDU is a historically Black graduate institution, that looks to serve the collective community. As an academic house dedicated to medical sciences, they are located at 1731 E. 120th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90059.

Young people of color need to connect and expand within their academic journey. For Black students, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) provide an opportunity to merge culture with education. It encourages youth to have a limitless mindset. Charles R. Drew University of Medicine (CDU) created a space for over 300 students from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), to explore their options in attending a HBCU while seeing all that they have to offer.
Dismantling the House that Racism Has Built: Reflections on Black History Month

February is once again, as every year, the month when this country celebrates Black History Month. And once again my thoughts immediately fall short of being celebratory as they are overshadowed by the reality that it is the only time this nation acknowledges how critical the African-American has been and continues to be to this countrys development.

I reflect on what has become a recurring theme in my thoughts about African-American life and that is the fact that the genius and talent, the contributions and impact we have had and have on this nation, cannot be contained in even 12 months of Black history and definitely cannot be fully appreciated except within the context of the racism that is at the core of the American experience i.e., an authentic American history.

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These thoughts are accompanied by feelings of frustration, disappointment, and resident anger at what is, in most cases, proforma recognition of a few African-American historical figures with the dominant theme being the I Have A Dream speech of Dr. King with a focus on him as a dreamer/visionary.

Without a study of Dr. King in the larger context of this countrys racism, the fact that his activism and critique of this nations social inequities were the cause of the bullet that killed him is minimized.

During this historical moment, when the continued power of racism to define the reality of African-Americans remains; when the discussion of race has been ignited by incidents such as the George Floyd killing by police which has Whites buying books about racism in numbers never seen before; when the Black Lives Matter Movement has nationwide momentum and is intergenerational and interracial: when Critical Race Theory is being used as a weapon to further dilute/ban educational curriculum that speaks authentically of the centrality of the African American contribution to America; when protecting hard-won voting rights cannot find majority support in the Congress of this nation; and when efforts are already in place to restrict voting access to marginalized communities, the reality that the power of racism as a systemic problem continues to define our society, is difficult and dangerous to ignore.

Frederick Douglas, a prominent African-American historical figure, wisely said, Power concedes nothing without a struggle, it never did and it never will. The study of this mans life is instructive on many levels but in this historical moment, it supports and nurtures the commitment to activism so needed to meet the racist forces amplified both overtly and covertly during the Obama Presidency and unleashed with fury during and in the aftermath of the Trump Presidency.

Politics has played a pivotal role thus far in addressing some of the inequities fostered and nurtured by racism, but politics does not address racism at its root, the reality that racism is central to maintaining the power of those who continue to benefit from it, intentionally or not. Only by a reconstructed education can we proceed down a path that can weaken the hold that racism has on this nation.

What this requires is the courage and commitment to confronting the seeds of racism as revealed in an authentic American history, an authenticity that clearly reveals the structural nature of racism and thus provides the foundation for attacking and weakening it.

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This requires no less than a complete overall of the history and literature curriculum in this country K-12. Black History Month and Cesar Chavez Day, holidays that too many Whites view as being primarily for Blacks and Browns, are not sufficient as a corrective. Rather, Black history, Brown history, and the history of Indigenous populations must be studied as central to American history with an authentic perspective that reveals how Whites benefitted and continue to benefit from their embrace of racism, whether overtly or covertly.

Who better to lead in the development of a rewritten curriculum that provides access to the real America and provides a foundation for deconstructing the worldview that racism nurtures, than intellectuals of all races and ethnicities, many of whom are currently teaching in or affiliated with Ethnic Studies departments and those who have made the reconstruction of American history their lifes work?

History thus reconstructed, with the enhancement literature can contribute, would provide the insights to address and dismantle, substantively, the house that racism has built. It is of course an awesome task but dismantling a system of racism that has existed since the beginnings of what we now know as America requires no less than a full commitment to fundamental change.

Dr. Barbara Rhodes is a professor emeritus at California State University, Northridge.
Frederick Douglass in Five Speeches Now on HBO

It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. Frederick Douglass

No truer words have been said, and this is just one example of the continued power of Frederick Douglass and his words, which is explored in the new HBO documentary  Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches.

Its a blow to our nation that there are certain states that are working, hard, to remove African American history from being taught in schools. Thats not saying much  its saying absolutely, everything about the state of race relationships in this country.

I would suggest that Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches is not only screened in every junior high school and high school classroom in America, but I would add and challenge every single Christian church in America, and beyond. This act of unity would be a victory for historical truth, healing, enlightenment, and education.

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Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.  Frederick Douglass

Directed by Julia Marchesi with a swift-running time of 58 minutes and currently playing on HBO and HBO Max, this work is inspired by David Blights Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches and pulls no punches choosing, instead, to present the facts in a very straightforward manner.

This absolutely highlights the continued relevance and importance of his collected works. Its beautiful to watch, thanks to the lush illustrations and graphics of Douglass, which help us go back in time and journey with Douglass, who become one of the most photographed figures of the 19th century.

To bring his thoughts to life, the director challenges various cast members to the task of telling Douglass truth. Marchesi deftly weaves these performances with interviews of historians such as Henry Louis Gates Jr., Keidrick Roy, and Blight, all of whom provide invaluable context.

Without a struggle, there can be no progress.  Frederick Douglass.

Theres so much rich material to pull from, and Marchesi has Andre Holland reading from Douglass autobiographies, giving Denzel Whitaker, Colman Domingo, Jonathan Majors, Jeffrey Wright, and Nicole Beharie each turns interpreting excerpts from speeches where each thespian, sans costumes or sets, bring their own style to the task.

To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.  Frederick Douglass.

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Lets focus on the word suppress and lean into whats happening as it relates to the vote in our timeline. And it was Douglass who made it clear that Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave, and in one episode, actor Holland recalls how, when he was about 12, the wife of the slave owner, Hugh Auld, taught him to read (which, was illegal) and when he found out stopped those lessons reminding her that it was against the law to teach a slave to read.

The slave owner believed that once an African American slave understood that he was a human being, and deserving of the same rights as any other human being, he would become unmanageable and of no financial value to his master.

Its that understanding that knowledge was a vital key to changing his position in life that altered his life. These words sank deep into my heart and called into existence an entirely new train of thought, Douglass wrote. From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.

The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers   Douglass wrote and he taught himself how to read by trading pieces of bread for reading materials.

The documentary smartly continues to move along a linear timeline, detailing how Douglass escaped slavery by jumping on a train out of Baltimore holding borrowed documents and eventually settling in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In this new city he attended a convention that was organized by passionate abolitionists in Nantucket  and encouraged to speak out about his experience as a slave, he accepted their invitation and never looked back.

There is no denying that Douglass used his experience and natural ability to make a persons heart stir to bring attention to the injustice.

From his own words: My friends, I have come to tell you something about slavery. What I know of it, as I felt it. When I came North, I was astonished to find the abolitionists knew so much about [slavery], they were acquainted with its deadly effects  but although they can tell you its history  they cannot speak as I can, from experience. They cannot refer you to a back covered with scars, as I can 

Amen. Understanding Douglasss value, the Massachusetts anti-slavery coalition hired him, placing him on the speaking circuit where he told his story cemented his reputation as an insider to one of mankinds greatest evils. His first autobiography was published in 1845.

Surely, the pressures on Douglass shoulders were significant and the doc touches on his two marriages and how he dealt with depression. Imagine  what it must have been for this runaway slave to become, unquestionably, the most famous African American man in the world by the middle of the 19th century.

In July 1852, Douglass delivered one of his most famous speeches, titled, What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, N.Y. Many supporters have said that this speech would be marked as a masterpiece of the entire abolitionist movement.

Kudos to the directors decision to let the words from this speech spill from actress Nicole Beharies mouth. The speech cleverly begins by praising the Founding Fathers as brave revolutionaries, but then segues (hard) into the ugly truth and condemns the horrors of slavery, which he lays out with shocking detail.

No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck. Frederick Douglass.

There are many reasons that make Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches so entertaining and its a gift to watch Jeffrey Wright and Colman Domingo breathe life into Douglass journey through slavery, the Civil War, and historic first meeting at the White House with President Lincoln where he arrived (1863) without an appointment.

Perhaps Douglass was the living embodiment of the truth will set you free because his fame kept growing and he even appeared on the cover of Harpers magazine (1870s ).

Jeffrey Wright as Douglass, delivering Lessons of the Hour in 1894 makes a mark in an already brilliant documentary.

Ten out of ten. Its amazing and inspiring that you can still hear Frederick Douglass words  still alive  and still inspiring and driving generations.
GOP Looks to Discourage Race Theory, Help Right-Wing Talkers

Republican legislators are setting their sights on the University of Wisconsin System, scheduling votes Tuesday on contentious bills that look destined for vetoes but will give the GOP talking points on the campaign trail heading into the November election.

The proposals would discourage the teaching of so-called critical race theory; eliminate legal immunity for campus administrators who interfere with freedom of speech; allow students to swap diversity courses for a class on the U.S. Constitution; and guarantee students would get housing and meal plan fees back if campuses close.

No groups had registered in support of the bills as of Friday. Opponents include the American Civil Liberties Union, UW-Madison faculty and the National Association of Social Workers.

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Heres a closer look at the bills:

CRITICAL RACE THEORY

This bill would prohibit UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System leaders from allowing instructors to teach critical race theory, a term for a scholarly movement developed in the 1970s that focuses on the legacy of slavery, racism and discrimination in U.S. history and modern society.

The Assembly universities committee amended the bill in December to remove the prohibition on teaching the concepts, tweaking the language to say instructors cant force students to affirm, adopt or adhere to any of the elements of critical race theory. The amendment imposes a 5% reduction in state aid for any violator institution.

While it is important that our institutions remain committed to teaching history, no student or campus employee should be told to hate themselves, the bills chief Assembly sponsor, Rep. Rick Gundrum said in written remarks to the Senate universities committee this month.

UW System Interim Vice President for University Relations Jeff Buhrandt countered in his own written remarks that healthy debates about contentious ideas and historical context shouldnt be limited at the college level.

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The bill is up in both the Assembly and Senate on Tuesday.

The proposal is part of a broader national GOP push to block critical race theory instruction ahead of this years midterm elections. Oklahoma and Texas have banned critical race theory concepts from public schools. Kansas lawmakers are considering similar legislation. So are legislators in Ohio.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

This proposal would eliminate legal immunity for UW and technical college administrators who deprive anyone of their freedom of expression. The move would allow people to sue administrators who bar conservative speakers on their campuses.

Republicans have long maintained that liberal-leaning colleges discourage or dont allow speakers with conservative viewpoints to appear on campus and permit left-leaning students to shout them down when they do visit.

UW-Madison officials said in written comments that they support free speech. They said the bill is problematic because employees acting in good faith to protect public safety at events could get sued.

The bill is scheduled for votes in both houses Tuesday.

DIVERSITY CLASSES

The legislation would allow UW System students who are required to take a course in diversity or ethnic studies as part of their general education courses to take a class on the U.S. Constitution instead.

Forcing students to complete classes that view racial and cultural conflict through only one specific lens will not achieve the stated objective, the measures chief Senate sponsor, Duey Stroebel, said in written remarks to the Senate universities committee this month. By contrast, Americas founding documents show the great aspiration for equality and opportunity for all, alongside where America fell short of its aspirations.

UW-Stevens Point Associate Dean of General Education and Honors Shanny Luft submitted written remarks saying the bill would leave students less prepared to work in diverse environments.

Both houses were expected to vote on the bill Tuesday.

HOUSING AND MEAL FEES

The bill would require all UW institutions to return housing and meal fees on a prorated basis to students who cant access the campus for more than a week. Getting barred from campus for misconduct wouldnt qualify a student for a return.

UW campuses closed in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic seized the country. According to a fiscal estimate from UW System, schools refunded $62 million in room and board fees to students then.

The Assembly was set to vote on the bill Tuesday. The measure was not on the Senates agenda for the day.

DO THESE BILLS HAVE A CHANCE?

The measures would appear to have a good chance of passing both the Assembly and the Senate. But Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, a former state schools superintendent who served on the UW Board of Regents, will almost certainly veto all of them.
Haynes Moves Ministry from Pulpit to Streets to Political Suites

The Rev. Dr. Frederick Haynes, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church, a 12,000+ congregation in Dallas, Texas, urges believers to combat voting suppression efforts occurring throughout the nation

As the U.S. observed Black History Month, African Americans contributions were saluted on a daily basis. Although March is here, Rev. Dr. Frederick Douglass Haynes believes that its our mission to continue to focus on the accomplishments of people of color.

Internationally known as the visionary pastor of the 12,000-member Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, Haynes aims to keep Black achievements at the forefront of nations conscious, particularly in the area of voting rights.

The hard-fought battles during the mid-20th century to secure the vote for Black people are in danger of being rolled back. Stringent laws passed by state legislatures in many Southern states are making it more difficult for ethnic and economic minorities to cast a ballot.

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But, Haynes is determined to fight against these new measures by educating African Americans about the importance of voter registration with the goal of compelling believers to act. Describing his mission as an extension of his call to preach, hes taking the ministry from the sanctuary to the streets to the political suites. Its all encompassing.

Maintaining the right to vote is especially important in light of the mid-term elections, which will occur in the U.S. in late 2022 and early 2023. If Black people do not vote or are prevented from voting, Haynes said Congressional seats and judicial appointments would be affected.

The midterm election could result in the disenfranchisement of Black voters and it will show up next year in the number of Democratic Congressional representatives. Also, judicial appointments and Supreme Court appointments can be blocked by the same people who engage in voting suppression tactics, explained the pastor.

Not only do we have states like Texas putting up barriers to voting, but you also have states not making it easier to vote. Until we make voting as easy as possible for everyone, what happens in Texas can have an impact in California. If they will lie in Texas, theyll spread the lie in California, insisted Haynes; referring to the falsehood promoted by right-wing Republicans that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

To help stop the lie, Haynes recommended instructing the electorate about everything connected to the issue of voting. And the teaching must begin immediately.

We literally have to use this time to self-educate ourselves  not just about the issues, but how democracy works, and in terms of the power of the vote. We have to make [voting education] a part of our churches, fraternities, sororities and organizations, he said.

We have to incorporate the study of government back into all that we do, so that we are teaching truth as opposed to allowing ignorance to order our steps. We must do everything in our power to not just engage in voting registration, but also in voting education.

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And to those who argue for a separation between church affairs and worldly issues, Haynes cited Psalms 24:1. It reads, The earth is the Lords and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (KJV)

Stressing that everything belongs to God, the senior pastor responded, My faith never divorces my religion from my reality or my politics from piety or the social from the spiritual. They all go together. I have a responsibility to speak to the whole of our experience. Jesus was not only in the sanctuary, He was in the streets.

Haynes will take his voting education message to the streets as well, beyond sanctuaries to cities and towns around the nation. In fact, he considers his role as expanding the commemoration of Black History Month beyond February and he invites all African Americans to join him in the effort.

Its very important that we not settle for celebrating history, but be inspired to make history. I think its very important to study that we are the descendants of brilliant, amazing game changers that bring flavor and soul to everything in the world itself and that this country has become, he noted.

But, lets make a commitment to make history. We owe it to not only our heritage, but to our future. We need to make the future brighter and better. We have a responsibility to make a difference and to make an impact!
Howard gets $2M grant to digitize Black newspaper archive

Howard University has received a $2 million donation to digitize a major collection of Black newspaper archives in hopes of making it more broadly available to researchers and the public.

The Black Press Archives, dating to the 1970s, contains over 2,000 newspaper titles from the U.S. and countries in Africa and the Caribbean. It includes well-known U.S. papers like the Chicago Defender and New York Amsterdam News as well as publications in French, Xhosa and Kiswahili.

But most of the collection has been inaccessible to the public, with only a small percentage of materials microfilmed and the physical copies fragile, said Benjamin Talton, director of Howards Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, which houses the archives.

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Once digitized, Howards Black Press Archive will be the largest, most diverse, and the worlds most accessible Black newspaper database, he said in an email.

The Center for Journalism & Democracy at Howard, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C., helped get the grant from the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, which supports social justice causes in journalism and the arts.

Its important to have access to the Black papers to have a better sense of the past, said Pulitzer winner and New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, who founded the journalism center to increase diversity in the industry.

We will be able to go back and look at these archives and these newspapers and the way the Black press was covering the world and have a greater understanding of who we are as a society, who we were back then and who we are now, she said. Right now, we really are only getting a very narrow part of the story, and that is the part of the story told through power and through the ruling class.
LAUSD Supt. Carvalho Issues 100-Day Plan to Expand High-Quality Academic Opportunities

With confidence and determination, Alberto Carvalho, the newly appointed L.A. Unified superintendent, released his 100-day plan to begin improving aspects of the nations largest school district and expand high-quality academic opportunities for students.

Carvalhos proposal contains four key components- learn, assess, communicate and act, which will lay the foundation for a forthcoming Strategic Plan to meet students needs over the next four years. Engaging these elements, he stated with conviction, should produce tangible results.

Explaining more about the plan, Carvalho said, It is focused through a lens of equity that recognizes a lot of students have been in crisis during the pandemic. If we have to be honest, we have to recognize they were already in crisis prior to the pandemic. They were in a social and emotional crisis, an economic crisis with many of them facing disabilities, parents who are overworked and not being able to provide the academic support that kids need.

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This plan seeks to inspire a new period of action that will turn these conditions into opportunities guided by core beliefs such as equity, empowerment and excellence, said the superintendent.

The plan kicks off immediately with Carvalho visiting neighborhoods around the city to get input from parents and stakeholders detailing the changes they would like to see implemented. Comments from school administrators, teaching staff and support personnel will be solicited as well.

I will be in the community  all zip codes and all communities  representing all races and all ethnicities, all walks of life and economic strata in our community to listen, learn and hear attentively the lived experiences of our students, the perspective of parents, perspective of the business community  to hear the good, the bad and indifferent, he insisted.

As a result of these conversations, we will deploy acceleration of learning opportunities, communicate back to the community and really take swift action to assign the greater support and budget to the community of students who have the greatest need.

Carvalho expects 50% of the plan to result in programs, initiatives and resources being initiated during the time period. Also, a report will issued at the 50-day benchmark as well as at the end of the 100 days. He also aims to create focus groups, advisory boards, task forces and committees comprised of a wide spectrum of community members encompassing parent groups, faith-based organizations, social justice activists.

Some of the elements of the plan include academies to help parents and guardians navigate the school system and better advocate for their children, safeguarding children from a security perspective as they travel to-and-form school, and enhancing options for young people affected by food insecurity issues.

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Stressing that he wants to extend early education opportunities for students in needy communities, Carvalho recognized, You cannot do this without reducing class sizes in the highest need schools, bringing families into the conversation, exposing student  particularly in underserved communities  to the greater repertoire of arts and programming, addressing Black student achievement and the levels of math, literacy and graduation rates, and adjusting the existing plan to the current reality.

School Board members were optimistic about Carvalhos plan and pledged their support.

Superintendent Carvalhos 100-Day Plan lays out an ambitious agenda, rooted in the voices of our community, toward realizing the promise of equitable and excellent public schools for all kids in Los Angeles, Board President Kelly Gonez said.

His plan will take the critical steps to evaluate the state of our district and build a collaborative vision of success to meet immediate challenges and long-term goals.

We look forward to the release of Superintendent Carvalhos 100-Day Plan as he lays out the roadmap for his vision to lead our District, Board Member Dr. George J. McKenna III said.

The 100-Day Plan can be viewed online at achieve.lausd.net/100dayplan.
Op-Ed: Time to Hold Corporate Giants Like McKinsey Accountable for Opioid Crisis

OxyContin helped ignite the new heroin market that expanded as prescription pain pills spread coast to coast. Before OC, opioids came mixed with acetaminophen to lessen the chance of abuseUntil OxyContin. It came with no abuse deterrent and took patients up to high daily doses very quickly. Source

Then once people are cut off from their prescriptions, they look to buy on the street. Now with fentanyl more and more prevalent, the addiction from opioids has cost too many people their lives.

Fentanyl-laced deaths are in the news daily, and I know families impacted by opioid addiction and tragic loss of life from fentanyl fueled deaths. However, with all of this tragedy, we have yet to see the corporations responsible for this epidemic be held in full account.

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Make no mistake brothers and sisters  the opioid and fentanyl epidemic impacting our communities is not an accident. It was planned and marketed to us by companies making millions off of our suffering.

The beginning of this crisis was fueled by a decision by Purdue Pharma to market Oxycontin despite their full knowledge that their drug was highly addictive and killing people. Purdue pled guilty to three criminal counts and paid more than $8.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties. They acknowledged that they knowingly and intentionally conspired and agreed with others to aid and abet doctors dispensing medication without a legitimate medical purpose.

However, who has not admitted wrongdoing or been adequately held accountable is a company who consults for Big Oil, Big Tobacco, and Big Pharma, and created the strategy to Turbo-Charge Oxycontin sales for Purdue is McKinsey & Company.

This consulting firm made a lump settlement of $600 million to 49 states, Washington D.C. and five US territories with no admission of wrongdoing. To put it into context this is just a drop in the bucket for McKinsey whose profits are around $11 billion every year. And how much relief will we see of the $600 million spread across the entire country  maybe nothing.

Currently there are more than 130 local jurisdictions that have also filed lawsuits against McKinsey including some counties in California. One such lawsuit made more than 200 assertions of fault against McKinsey conspiring with Purdue Pharma stating, a partnership that resulted in aggressive promotion for the demand and sale of OxyContin through illegal and false messaging Purdues owners  the Sackler family  still engaged McKinsey to maximize sales. In fact, when the agreement concluded in 2013 the organizations launched Project Turbocharge, a marketing strategy that tripled sales through suggesting higher dosages and lobbying doctors and pharmacies most likely to over prescribe opiates to patients. Source

Furthermore this past November 2021, the Chairwoman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent a letter to McKinsey & Company, stating: Over the last decade, McKinsey & Companyone of the largest consulting companies in the world and a major U.S. government contractorhas engaged in a pattern of conduct that raises serious concerns about its business practices, conflicts of interest, and management standards. The companys support for drug companies pushing addictive opioid painkillers and raising prices for life-saving medications, even as McKinsey also advised the federal agency regulating their conduct, may have had a significant negative impact on Americans health. McKinseys investments through an internal hedge fundincluding in companies benefiting from opioid salesalso raise significant concerns about conflicts of interest.

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It is time to hold McKinsey accountable for its actions that were clearly focused on profits over what is right and the result is millions of deaths.

We ask our Los Angeles elected officials to review whether there are any contracts being paid by us, the residents, to McKinsey for government services and ask whether such a company should be partnered with our governments.

We also ask that we stand for the counties that have filed lawsuits against McKinsey for their rights to pursue justice for their communities.

It is time to stand up for the bad actors of corporate America and make sure they are held accountable for the devastation that resulted in those decisions that focused only on getting rich men richer.

Pastor William D. Smart Jr is the president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Southern California.
The police are offering the station's parking lot and its lobby as a "safe zone" for increasingly common Internet sales between strangers. An on-duty officer will even stand by your shoulder if you like. And, if you are concerned that the item for purchase might be stolen, the police can check serial numbers or databases.
Some School Systems Pause Diversity Programs and Pushback

Conservative takeovers of local school boards have already altered lessons on race and social injustice in many classrooms. Now some districts are finding their broader efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion are also being challenged.

As her Colorado school districts equity director, Alexis Knox-Miller thought the work she and a volunteer team were doing was on solid ground, especially with an audit in hand that detailed where the district was falling short in making sure all students had the same opportunities.

But in December, Knox-Miller reluctantly disbanded the equity leadership team after more than a year of meetings. New conservative members had won a majority on the school board after voicing doubts about the work, and she worried the efforts might not lead anywhere.

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The new board says it will take up the issue in the spring.

Around the time that the equity audit was being released, I realized that the tide had changed around diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, Knox-Miller said. People were conflating the definition of equity with critical race theory, and the absurd accusations that we were teaching critical race theory in classrooms to kindergartners began.

Since issues of diversity, equity and inclusion can thread their way through every part of a school system _ including recruitment, services and equipment _ the debate carries implications for hiring and spending.

In some districts, proposals aimed at making schools more welcoming places for students from diverse backgrounds have been reversed as a result of turnover on school boards, while work elsewhere faces a chill from acrimonious debate around topics that have been mislabeled as critical race theory.

School administrators say critical race theory, a scholarly theory that centers on the idea that racism is systemic in the nations institutions, is not taught in K-12 schools. But that has done little to sway opponents who assert that school systems are misspending money, perpetuating divisions and shaming white children by pursuing initiatives they view as critical race theory in disguise.

In a fraught political climate that already had escalated fights about pandemic mask and vaccine requirements, divisions are taking a toll, said Dan Domenech, executive director of the School Superintendents Association.

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Even in districts that arent threatened as much, theyre thinking twice about what they say and what they do and how they go about doing it because it is having a chilling effect on the whole equity, diversity and inclusion movement, Domenech said.

Colorado Springs School District 11, a large and diverse system of 26,000 students where Knox-Miller works, was the first in its area to adopt a formal equity policy, unanimously approving it May 27, 2020, two days after the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota sparked national reflection on race and social justice issues in and out of schools.

The policy acknowledged gaps in achievement and opportunities among marginalized student groups and recognized the impact of systemic inequities on teaching and learning.

Part of Knox-Millers work involved commissioning an audit by the American Institutes for Research. It found that schools with high concentrations of special education students, English language learners, students living in poverty and students of color were scoring measurably below other schools.

Critics questioned the findings and the way they were presented, at a series of public meetings called equity cafes that some said limited full discussions. Conservative candidates set their sights on the school board, with three winning seats in the November election.

Knox-Miller saw no choice but to stand down.

Board President Parth Melpakam said by email that the new board had yet to discuss the issue but plans to at a work session in the spring.

The D11 BOE remains committed to assuring educational equity by providing the support and resources every child needs to develop their full academic potential, he said.

In Pennridge, Pennsylvania, the school districts diversity, equity and inclusion initiative was put on hold last year after it became a flashpoint in debates that touched also on COVID-19 safety protocols, including mask mandates.

Democrat Adrienne King, who helped design the plan, ran for a seat on the school board and lost in November. Five Republicans won after running against the initiative, which they had called divisive. The programs future remains unclear while a new committee considers it.

The districts diversity, equity and inclusion guidebook, no longer visible on the districts website, proposed ways to recruit diverse job candidates and improve training for teachers and encouraged lessons that invite students to reflect on their own culture and history.

The initiative could have helped prevent unnecessarily painful experiences, King said, like when a white second grader, without meaning to hurt anyones feelings, called Kings daughter, who is Black, a slave after learning about Frederick Douglass.

In a second grade mind, it was just, Oh, I learned this new fact. Youre Black, Frederick Douglass was Black. You must be a slave, she said.

Neither the boards president nor school administrators responded to requests for comment.

The Arlington, Virginia-based group Parents Defending Education is critical of diversity, equity and inclusion programming, citing on its website a goal of fighting indoctrination in the classroom. It tracks examples of what it views as inappropriate activities, such as an educator training session in Missouri that included discussion of microagressions and implicit bias.

What they have become are Trojan horses for all of these divisive programs that push really illiberal ideas like segregated groups based on race, privilege walks, privilege bingo, said Asra Nomani, the organizations vice president for strategy and investigations.

In Southlake, Texas, the newly elected conservative majority on the Carroll Independent School Districts board killed a proposed cultural competency action plan in December and disbanded the suburban Dallas districts diversity council as part of a legal settlement.

The plan had been in the works since a 2018 video showed students in the mostly white district chanting a racial slur at a party after the schools homecoming celebration. A second video of students using the slur emerged in 2019.

We dont have a racism problem in Southlake. If children behave improperly, then they should be disciplined, Tim OHare, founder of a political action committee formed to fund conservative candidates and defeat the plan, told The Texan.

Still, many other initiatives continue as planned.

An equity program that schools in Clayton County, Georgia, undertook more than a year ago was designed to keep politics and emotions out of it, Superintendent Morcease Beasley said. A task force has undertaken a deep dive into the districts programming that will use data to drive policy changes.

Equity is not about emotions. Equity is about what the data tells us and ensuring that we allow the data to inform our decisions, he said. Thats what equity is about. Where are the needs? Who needs the resources? What do they need?
The Oshun Question and Quest: Uplifting Women, Ourselves and the World

To pause in praise and meditate on the awesome meaning and measure of African women in this special month rightly returns us to a sankofa conversation with our history and culture.

Indeed, the essential and ongoing conversation with our history is at the same time a continuing conversation with our culture, a constant search for ever more expansive and enriching ways to be African women and men in the world.

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And so, whenever there is a holiday or holy day, we are to turn to our culture to ask what is its essential message and meaning. And how do we use it to uplift the lives of the masses of our people and ourselves, as well as the world?

Thus, at this time of Black History Month II  Women Focus  we should think about the sacred teachings of our ancestors concerning women and their meaning to us and the world. We should think about the joy they bring, the hardships they suffer, the hope they have, and the struggle they wage to be free and fulfilled, to find and hold fast to meaning and good in their lives and to create, extract and enjoy good in the world.

And we should, as men and women, embrace each other in love and struggle and commit ourselves in persistent practice to a life of dignity and decency, security and peace and to the end of deprivation and domestic, communal and societal violence.

For we know that so many Africans and other women and people of the world lack rightful access to the goods they need and deserve. We know also that the vulnerable are routinely made victims, the poor are preyed on with repulsive regularity, and the ill and aged are often assigned a convenient corner in which to waste away and die.

We know, too, the undeserved and ongoing added suffering of those considered to be the wrong color by the racist and colorless cretins and globalizing criminals who ravage and try to rule this world. And we know there is no real remedy or repair for the ills and ruin, the disease and damage in the world except the relentless struggle for the good, the right and the possible.

We talk so easily about our love and respect for women  our mothers, wives, little girls, lovers and other real and ideal versions. And we, this month and always, rightfully praise them for the good they have done and do.

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But, the question is what will we dare dream and do for and with them. What will we do to satisfy the needs, end the pain, stop the pillage and plant good and beautiful things that grow and expand the mind, nourish the body, elevate the spirit and provide space for the love and care we all long for?

In the Kawaida Ifa ethical tradition, there is this principle and practice we call, asking the Oshun question. It is, according to the Odu Ifa (248:1), a question asked at the beginning of creation by Olodumare, Lord of Heaven and Earth, to the male orisha (divine beings) who returned to heaven without completing the task given them.

Olodumare had sent male and female orisha in the world to make it a good world and had given them the ashe, the power and ability, to do the good they wanted and willed. But, the male orisha excluded the one female among them and attempted to complete their common tasks without her. So, they failed and returned to report their failure.

The first question Olodumare asked them is, What about Oshun, the one female among you? And he also asked them, Did you give her due respect? They responded that they did not give her the respect she was due.

Then, Olodumare told them to return and give Oshun due respect and all their work would succeed. The Odu says, They returned to earth and they began to give due respect to Oshun. Then, all their deliberations and efforts began to go right.

The importance of this sacred teaching is apparent on several levels. First, the composition of the workforce sent is 400 male orisha and one female orisha.

One can read this in two waysas an indication that the issue is woman/female whether one or 1,000. And also the lesson is that the ashe of one who is right is greater than the power of those who are numerous and wrong. Secondly, the teaching is about the very work of creation of the world, and thus essential to how we understand both its foundation and functioning.
The Proud Family: Louder And Prouder

Happy to share that 2022 has given us something to cheer about and for those of us that loved The Proud Family, its a bonus that the groundbreaking animated series has returned with The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, on Disney+.

Thank you, Executive Producers, Bruce W. Smith, and Ralph Farquhar.

Created by Smith and executive produced by Smith and Farquhar, The Proud Family aired on Disney Channel from 2001-2005.

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It seems like yesterday when The Proud Family debuted boldly introducing us to one of TVs first animated African American families.

The excellence was spread over 52 episodes and a TV movie before the series ended leaving us wondering what would become of the fiesty middle-schooler Penny Proud (voiced by Kyla Pratt), her strict and loving parents Oscar and Trudy (Tommy Davidson and Paula Jai Parker), quick-witted grandmother Suga Mama (Jo Marie Payton) and infant twin siblings, BeBe and CeCe.

Fast forward to 2022 for The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, a revival with 10 episodes now playing on Disney+ thats filled with sparkling dialogue and packed with words and colorful colloquialisms most African-American households know very, very, very well.

What is a plus is how the directors insert an important part of our culture, like Kwanzaa celebrations and a Black History Month where they give the flowers to women like Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to Congress, and Bessie Coleman.

The revival, which is Smith and Farquhars baby, still has that original fire and flavor with those necessary updates for a younger generation that just hits different.

And the music still runs through the series, hitting all the right notes, with the theme song, performed by Solange Knowles and Destinys Child, wrapped in a 2022 makeover  and this time, the version is sung by the newcomer Joyce Wrice.

Penny and her friends are officially in their teens, and dealing with all of the things that come with that transformative period, including body changes, raging hormones, and social snafus.

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Keeping it fresh, and funky new characters have joined the core cast including the former reality TV star EJ Johnson who voices Pennys gender-fluid friend Michael. And a same-sex couple, Barry and Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins (Zachary Quinto and Billy Porter), who have moved into the neighborhood with their adopted teenagers: son Francis (Artist Dubose, the rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie) and daughter Maya (Keke Palmer), a determined activist who serves as Pennys new nemesis.

The original The Proud Family ended their run in 2005 and its the persistence of Smith and Farquhar that brought it back.

Hes been telling everyone with ears that From the moment we stopped doing the original version, we had been campaigning to bring it back, Farquhar said, adding. We werent quite sure why we ever even stopped.

Now the innovative, creative, and determined Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar have since signed a multi-year overall deal with Disney to produce animated and live-action series and movies to showcase and develop projects for emerging and diverse talent.

To learn more, visit https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/show/the-proud-family-louder-and-prouder
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The European Space Agency says the launch of a joint Europe-Russia mission to Mars this year is now very unlikely because of sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine.

The European Union and many other nations and groups have placed restrictive measures on Russia for invading Ukraine.

The space agency said after a meeting Monday that it was examining the effects of sanctions on its cooperation with Russias Roscosmos space agency.

The agency said in a statement, The sanctions and the wider context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely, for the Europe-Russia ExoMars vehicle mission.

The mission had already faced delays caused by the coronavirus outbreak and technical problems.

It was then set to launch in September 2022 from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan using a Russian rocket.

Delaying a launch often means waiting months or years until the next time the planets placement in space makes a launch possible.

The goal of the ExoMars mission is to put Europes first vehicle, called a rover, on the red planet. The rover will help scientists investigate whether there has ever been life on Mars. It is extremely difficult to put a vehicle on the red planet. A test rover launched in 2016 crash-landed on the planet.

On February 26, Roscosmos said it was pulling its workers from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Several European satellites have been launched with Russian rockets from there, and more were planned over the coming year.

French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier in February that Europe needs a stronger space policy. While Europe has its own rockets to put satellites around the planet, it needs its Russian and American partners to send astronauts into space.

International Space Station

Kathy Lueders is the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) head of space operations. She said on Monday that the agency is operating the International Space Station with Russian support and input, as usual. She added that flight control teams are still communicating, training and working together.

Obviously, we understand the global situation, where it is, but as a joint team, these teams are operating together, Lueders said.

The United States and Russia are the main operators of the space station. It is a partnership of five space agencies. Four Americans, two Russians and a German are currently at the station.

Weve operated in these (kinds) of situations before and both sides always operated very professionally, Lueders said.

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is planned to return to Earth at the end of March with two Russians in a Russian spacecraft called a Soyuz capsule. Lueders said that plan is still set to happen.

Russian spacecraft had been the only way to and from space between 2011 and 2020. NASAs spacecraft, called shuttles, were retired in 2011. SpaceXs first crew flight launched in 2020.

Im Gregory Stachel.

Frank Jordans reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English with additional material from Reuters.

__________________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

mission  n. a flight by an aircraft or spacecraft to perform a specific task

sanctions  n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country or by not allowing economic aid for that country

context  n. the situation in which something happens: the group of conditions that exist where and when something happens

obviously  adv. used to emphasize that you are talking about something that is easy to see, understand, or recognize

global  adj. involving the entire world

spacecraft  n. a vehicle that is used for travel in outer space

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Large technology companies have taken steps to restrict Russias state media from using social media to spread misinformation about its invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, people are using technology to inform and assist people affected by the conflict.

Google announced this week it was blocking YouTube channels in Europe belonging to Russias government-connected companies RT and Sputnik. RT is an international television network and Sputnik is a news agency.

Googles move came after the European Union (EU) banned RT and Sputnik. EU officials accused Russia of using its state media companies to spread propaganda and misinformation.

In addition, the hugely popular video service TikTok canceled the accounts for RT and Sputnik in Europe.

Meta also announced it was blocking RT and Sputnik on its Facebook and Instagram services across the EU. In the United States, RT and other state media companies remain active on Facebook.

Meta also said it had identified and taken down a network of pro-Russian groups for organizing misinformation campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. The company said it took the action because the network had violated a policy that bars users from creating false accounts and news sites.

Meta, Microsoft and Googles parent company Alphabet have also taken measures to restrict Russian state media from making money from advertising on their services.

Twitter announced it had started adding warning labels to tweets from media linked to the Russian government. Twitter also said it would not suggest or direct users to Russian-connected websites in its search system.

Meta has denied requests from Ukrainian officials to remove access to its services in Russia. Company officials said such a move would prevent Russian citizens from using Facebook and Instagram to learn about the conflict, voice opinions and organize protests.

Metas vice president for global affairs, Nick Clegg, wrote in a message on Twitter: We believe turning off our services would silence important expression at a crucial time.

Alphabet also announced it had turned off some of its Google Maps tools in Ukraine that provide information on live traffic conditions and movements of people. The company said the action was taken to protect local communities.

In Ukraine, TikTok users have used the service to publish information about Russias invasion. Images and video shared on TikTok have included neighborhoods hit by missiles, empty food stores and long lines at gas stations.

TikTok user Marta Vasyuta told Reuters she had put content on the service to help inform people around the world about the serious situation that Ukrainians face.

One of Vasyuta's videos showed what appeared to be a missile in the sky with the message, "Kyiv 4:23 am." The video had received more than 138,000 comments by Wednesday. Some users expressed disbelief. Others offered messages of support. One user wrote: "Never thought I would get WAR updates on TikTok."

In an effort to keep Ukraine online, SpaceX chief Elon Musk said the company's Starlink satellite service had been activated in Ukraine. Starlink provides high-speed internet to areas that do not have it. So far, there has not been evidence of widespread internet outages across Ukraine.

Shortly after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, social media users living in surrounding countries began setting up online networks to support refugees. Thousands of people joined the networks, offering homes, money and transportation to Ukrainians fleeing their country.

Ukraine's government has used cryptocurrency to raise money for its war effort, Reuters news agency reported. The operation has brought in at least $13 million after appeals for donations of bitcoin and other digital currencies. The countrys Ministry of Digital Transformation said the money would be used to help destroy as (many) Russian soldiers as possible."

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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Quiz - How Is Technology Affecting the War in Ukraine? Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

label  v. to describe the qualities of someone or something

access  n. the right or chance to use of look at something

global  adj. relating to the whole world

crucial  adj. extremely important or necessary

update  n. new information

cryptocurrency  n. a digital currency produced by a public network, rather than a government
Alaskas Yukon River has faced major salmon shortages in recent years. The shortages are blamed on warming waters.

Officials say record-high temperatures last year killed most salmon in the 3,200-kilometer river before the fish were able to reproduce.

The losses led both Alaska and Canada to halt their salmon harvests in 2021 in order to make sure that enough fish survived to reproduce for another year. The situation caused local officials to send emergency fish shipments to communities along the river that depend on salmon for food.

Scientists have mostly blamed the problems on a series of heat waves in the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean from 2014 to 2019. The warm ocean waters affected salmon living in the sea before they returned to their spawning grounds.

The collapsed Yukon River salmon harvests caused major financial losses to private fishing companies in the area. The die-offs also hurt native communities, which traditionally store the fish as a year-round food supply.

In 2020, fishing companies on the Yukon River earned a combined $51,480. By comparison, they earned $2.5 million in 2019 and $4.67 million in 2018.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Commerce declared a disaster for Yukon River fishing for 2020 and 2021, making federal aid money available.

Alaska has sent emergency fish shipments to areas affected by the salmon shortages. The shipments came from more productive fisheries in the southwestern fishing community of Bristol Bay and other areas.

While the heat waves have passed, their effects have not, said fisheries scientist Katie Howard. She is with Alaskas Department of Fish and Game. Were still seeing the residual effects, Howard told a state legislative group earlier this month.

Climate change may also be affecting what the salmon are eating. Fishing experts say young salmon are likely filling up on nutrient-poor food like jellyfish because warmer waters drive away healthier organisms they normally feed on.

In my opinion, the salmon are starving with climate change, said Brooke Woods. She is with the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission in the Athabascan village of Rampart.

The effects of climate change on freshwater environments have also been studied. Vanessa von Biela is a U.S. Geological Survey research biologist who looked at the rivers, streams and lakes where salmon spend early and late periods of the lives. Her team found that Chinook salmon show heat stress at temperatures above 18 degrees Celsius. They start dying above 20 Celsius.

In the past, Alaskan Yukon water temperatures stayed between 12 and 16 Celsius. But in 2019, temperatures on the Alaskan side were above 18 degrees Celsius for 44 straight days, a recent study found.

The effects of warming waters can be reduced by climate-driven glacier runoff, which brings cooler water into rivers and streams. But scientists still expect salmon to begin slowly moving to new areas within Alaska.

Salmon will find a way, said biologist von Biela. But it is going to be hard for communities that are in places where there might not be salmon anymore."

Im Bryan Lynn.

Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

spawn  v. when animals release or deposit eggs

residual  adj. remaining or left over

stream  n. a small river

stress  n. great worry or emotional difficulty

glacier  n. a large mass of ice that moves very slowly, usually down a hill or valley
New research shows that the cost of raising a child in China is nearly seven times its GDP per capita, far more than in the United States and Japan.

GDP, or gross domestic product, is the measure of the total value of goods and services in a country. GDP per capita is a measure resulting from GDP divided by the size of a nations total population.

The high cost of child-raising is one more difficulty Chinese policymakers face as they try to deal with quickly decreasing birth rates.

Experts warn China's aging population will put pressure on its health and social security systems. A decrease in workers could also severely limit growth for the world's second largest economy in the coming years.

New policies permit families to have as many as three children. But China's birth rate dropped to 7.52 births per 1,000 people in 2021. That is the lowest since the National Bureau of Statistics began recording the information in 1949.

The high costs of raising a child have caused officials in China to place restrictions on the private tutoring industry. Some areas have been giving couples money for having a second or third child.

The average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 in China in 2019 was 485,000 yuan for a first child. That is 6.9 times China's GDP per capita that year. That information comes from a recent report from the YuWa Population Research Institute in Beijing.

China ranks second highest among the 13 countries included in the study. The country is behind only South Korea, which has the lowest birth rate in the world. The United States number, based on 2015 data, is at 4.11 times GDP per capita. Japan stands at 4.26, based on data from 2010.

Child raising costs are even higher in China's major cities, reaching more than 1 million yuan in Shanghai and 969,000 yuan in Beijing. Birth rates in the two cities are even lower than the national average.

YuWa warned the decreasing birth rate would "profoundly affect" China's economic growth potential, its ability to create and its welfare problems.

The study found that China would need to spend at least 5 percent of its yearly GDP to provide reasons for couples to have more children. That would include education funding, special housing loan rates and tax breaks. Other considerations include equal time for mothers and fathers to be away from their jobs and the building of more childcare centers.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Reuters news service.

___________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

tutoring  n. teaching or guiding, usually individually in a special subject or for a particular purpose

profoundly  adv. in a way that has a very great effect on somebody/something
Burn season has officially started in Linn County and is set to run through June 15, according to a news release from the Albany Fire Department.
Oregon Health Authority provided details of a local COVID-19-related death in an update Wednesday, March 2.

A 61-year-old Linn County man tested positive Feb. 8 and died Feb. 27. The location of his death and presence of underlying conditions are being confirmed.

OHA reported four new COVID-19-related deaths, pushing the states death toll to 6,652 since the pandemic began. This is drastic reduction since the omicron variant's surge in January. There were 696 new confirmed and presumptive cases, bringing the state total to 695,323.

Linn County on Wednesday added 44 virus cases for a total of 26,019. Benton County had 25 new cases, bringing its total to 14,817. The COVID-19 death toll stands at 231 in Linn County and 62 in Benton County.

Hospitalizations: As of Wednesday, there were 424 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Oregon, 36 fewer than the last report. Seventy-one are occupying intensive care unit beds, three fewer than yesterday. Forty-six patients were on ventilators, according to OHA statistics.

Of 655 adult ICU beds statewide, 99 are unoccupied, a 15% availability rate, and 319 of 4,270available adult non-ICU beds are unoccupied, a 7% availability.

Staffing limitations are not captured in OHA data and may further limit bed capacity. The numbers do not reflect admissions per day or lengths of hospital stays.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Corvallis Gazette-Times.

The region that includes Linn, Benton, Marion, Polk, Lincoln and Yamhill counties has nine adult ICU beds available (9%) and 23 adult non-ICU beds available (3%).

Vaccinations: OHA reported 6,044 new doses of coronavirus vaccinations were added to the state immunization registry on Tuesday. More than 3.1 million people have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and more than 2.8 million people have completed a vaccine series. The seven-day running average is now 3,649 doses per day.

Nationally: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 42,129 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, making the U.S. case total more than 78.9 million. There were 1,898 new deaths recorded Wednesday, bringing the countrys death total to 950,112, according to the CDC.

Cody Mann covers Benton County and the cities of Corvallis and Philomath. He can be contacted at 541-812-6113 or Cody.Mann@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter via @News_Mann_.

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For starters, because Republicans enjoy inflated representation in both the Senate (because they hold more small-state seats) and House (thanks to the combined effects of strategic gerrymandering and highly-clustered Democratic voters), the party has avoided learning to connect with non-white voters, upon whom few GOP senators or representatives rely to maintain their offices. This disconnect is evident in one House member's claim that most Mexican immigrants have "calves the size of cantaloupes" from smuggling "75 pounds of marijuana" across the border, or another member's speech a dozen years ago to a white supremacist group.
WEDNESDAY, March 2, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Can the size of a blood pressure cuff throw off your reading?

Yes, claims a new study that found an ill-fitting blood pressure cuff could make the difference between being accurately diagnosed with high blood pressure or not.

Blood pressure cuffs come in different sizes, and guidelines say health care providers should use the cuff that best fits a patient's arm. In reality, though, many offices and clinics use one "regular"-size cuff for all adults.

In the new study, researchers wanted to see how well that works. The answer was, not very.

They found that when they used a regular-size cuff on patients with larger arms, it often produced measurements that were far from accurate.

Among patients with "extra-large" arms, the cuff overestimated systolic blood pressure (the top number in a reading) by an average of 20 points.

That could easily move a person with normal or mildly elevated blood pressure into "high" territory, said researcher Dr. Tammy Brady, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

"I don't think we expected it to make that big of a difference," she said. "Up to 20 [points] is pretty striking."

In fact, the study found, 39% of study participants were misdiagnosed with high blood pressure because of an undersized cuff.

On the other hand, loose cuffing underestimated blood pressure in adults with smaller arms. When those patients had their reading taken with a regular-size cuff, it trimmed 4 points from their systolic pressure, on average.

While that was less dramatic than the effect of a tight cuff, it still made a significant difference: Loose cuffs, the study found, would have missed high blood pressure in 22% of study participants.

"It's likely that many clinicians don't know how important this is," Brady noted.

Dr. Willie Lawrence, chair of the American Heart Association's National Hypertension Control Initiative Advisory Committee, agreed.

Accurately measuring blood pressure, both in health care settings and at home, is "fundamental," Lawrence said. And that takes specific steps, which include using the proper cuff size.

"People still don't understand how important that is," Lawrence said.

He said the new findings "provide very valuable information for all of us who manage blood pressure."

Brady presented the results Tuesday at an AHA conference being held in Chicago and online. Studies released at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The findings are based on 165 adults who had their blood pressure measured using a regular-size cuff and, for those with larger or smaller arms, a cuff that actually fit.

Of the participants, 39 had an "extra-large" arm circumference, between 16 and 22 inches. When their blood pressure was taken with a cuff that fit, the average systolic reading was 124 mm Hg -- below the cutoff for diagnosing high blood pressure.

But when a regular size cuff was used, that number jumped to 144 mm Hg -- which is considered stage 2 high blood pressure.

The opposite was true for people with a small arm circumference of about 8 to 10 inches. When their blood pressure was measured with a regular cuff, the systolic reading averaged 119 mm Hg. With a correctly fitted cuff, that increased to 123 mm Hg.

Systolic blood pressure is considered "elevated" when it goes above 120 mm Hg, while a number between 130 and 139 mm Hg is considered stage 1 high blood pressure.

Cuff size is just as important for home blood pressure monitoring, both Brady and Lawrence said.

Some home monitors come with a cuff that fits a wider range of arm sizes, Brady said. There are also monitors with extra-large cuffs -- though, Brady noted, they can cost much more than other devices.

Cuff size is not the only concern, though. Brady said that people using home monitors need to be aware of positioning (sitting upright, feet on the floor, arm supported at chest level) and timing (taking measurements after using the bathroom, and after sitting quietly for five minutes).

"Everyone needs to recognize how important these steps are," Brady said.

Lawrence recommended that patients bring their home monitor to their next doctor's appointment, to make sure they are using it correctly and getting accurate readings.

More information

The American Heart Association explains how to use home blood pressure monitors.

SOURCES: Tammy Brady, MD, PhD, associate professor, pediatrics, and vice chair, clinical research, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore; Willie Lawrence, MD, medical director, Center for Better Health and Cardiovascular Wellness, Spectrum Health Lakeland, Benton Harbor, Mich., and chair, National Hypertension Control Initiative Advisory Committee, American Heart Association, Dallas; American Heart Association's Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference 2022, Chicago, presentation, March 1, 2022

Originally published on consumer.healthday.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.
LINCOLN  The Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) is advising poultry owners to protect their flocks against avian influenza by closely monitoring their birds for signs of the disease and by maintaining strict biosecurity practices. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is very contagious and can cause severe illness and/or sudden death in domestic birds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed HPAI in commercial and/or backyard flocks in Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New York and Virginia. To date, the virus has not been found in Nebraska.

While we have not seen HPAI in Nebraska since 2015, protecting the health of poultry in the state is a top priority, said State Veterinarian Dr. Roger Dudley. Its important for poultry owners to know about this disease, take the necessary steps to help prevent its spread, and protect Nebraskas poultry industry.

As part of existing avian influenza response plans, NDA is working alongside federal and state partners to monitor for the disease in commercial poultry operations, backyard poultry flocks, live bird markets and in migratory wild bird populations.

Symptoms of HPAI in poultry include: a decrease in water consumption; lack of energy and appetite; decreased egg production or soft-shelled, misshapen eggs; nasal discharge, coughing, sneezing; incoordination; and diarrhea. HPAI can also cause sudden death in birds even if they arent showing any other symptoms. HPAI can survive for weeks in contaminated environments.

Dudley is asking Nebraska poultry producers, large and small, to monitor their flocks for symptoms of HPAI, review and maintain their biosecurity activities, and notify NDA immediately if they suspect any problems. Bird owners should report unusual bird deaths or sick birds to NDA at 800-831-0550 or 402-471-2351, or through USDA at 866-536-7593.

Enhanced biosecurity helps prevent the introduction and spread of viruses and diseases including HPAI. NDA and USDA have resources available to help poultry owners step up their biosecurity efforts.

Know the warning signs of infectious bird diseases like HPAI. Be on the lookout for unusual signs of behavior, severe illness and/or sudden deaths.

Restrict access to your property and poultry.

Keep it clean. Wear clean clothes, scrub boots/shoes with disinfectant and wash hands thoroughly before and after contact with your flock.

If you, your employees or family have been on other farms, or other places where there is livestock and/or poultry, clean and disinfect your vehicle tires and equipment before returning home.

Dont share equipment, tools, or other supplies with other livestock or poultry owners.

In addition to practicing good biosecurity, all bird owners should prevent contact between their birds and wild birds, making sure wild birds cannot access domestic poultrys feed and water sources.

Report sick birds immediately to: NDA at 800-831-0550 or 402-471-2351; the USDA at 866-536-7593; or your veterinarian. Early detection is important to prevent the spread of disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk to people getting HPAI infections from birds is low. No human cases of avian influenza viruses have been detected in the United States.

All poultry entering Nebraska must be accompanied by a VS form 9-3 or Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI, or health certificate). If you are considering moving an animal into Nebraska from an affected state, please call 402-471-2351 to learn more. Nebraska poultry owners wanting to ship poultry out of state should consult the state veterinarians of the destination states for import requirements.

For more information about avian influenza, visit NDAs website at https://nda.nebraska.gov/animal/avian/index.html or the USDAs website https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/. Additional information on biosecurity for backyard flocks can be found at http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov.
Polish Immigration to Texas

Texas early offered a new home to many Central Europeans. Beyond the significant populations of Germans and Czechs, many early immigrants also came from Poland, specifically from Upper Silesia near Opole. From the 18th century up to World War I, Poland was partitioned among its neighbors Russia, Prussia, and Austria. In the early 19th century Prussian Silesia's experience with poverty, high taxes, forced conscription, food shortages due to the Crimean War, a potato blight, and a great flood in the summer of 1854 led many to seek a better life elsewhere.

The first permanent Polish settlement in the United States was founded in Texas. Polish immigrants followed Father Leopold Moczygemba, born in 1824 in the Upper Silesian village of Puznica. Moczygemba's own path to Texas led through Franciscan monasteries in Osimo, Italy, and Ludwigshafen, Germany. In 1852, the first bishop of the Texas Diocese of Galveston, Jean-Marie Odin, visited Europe and brought priests to the United States. Among them the Silesian Moczygemba was to provide missionary service to German settlers in New Braunfels. During this work he conceived a plan to bring other Silesians to Texas for socioeconomic opportunities. Letters he sent home spurred interest and a sense of urgency for moving to the New World, culminating in the first 150 immigrants' departure. Moving to a promised land, they sold everything and left nothing but memories.

These first Silesians set sail in October 1854 from Bremen in the Weser , which reached Galveston Harbor on December 3. From there they headed to San Antonio via Indianola. Father Moczygemba met the new arrivals on December 21. Though a small group of the Polish settlers remained in the nearby town of Bandera hoping for better opportunities, most accompanied the Father to found Panna Maria, Texas, on an uncultivated plateau in Karnes County. So began the first Polish settlement in America. With the ebb and flow of Polish immigration further communities soon sprang up, including Cestohowa, Kosciusko, Pawelekville, Falls City, and St. Hedwig, this latter ultimately the second largest. These villages later organized around the Catholic Diocese of San Antonio, founded in 1874. To their east the founding of New Waverly in Walker County in 1867 signaled the beginning of the East Texas Polish communities of the Diocese of Galveston.

The initial impressions of the new Panna Maria residents disappointed  nothing but open space with tall grass and scattered oak trees. Nonetheless, many provided their families both sustenance and income tilling their own land, while others found work as laborers with Americans. But life in Texas remained difficult. Early on floods, drought, and hailstorms wreaked havoc among the farming communities. These struggles and repeated bouts of disease ingrained a profound homesickness. Though the Silesians generally kept to themselves, disputes occasionally arose with Texas Germans over language use in churches and schools. The Polish language formed a pillar of identity and cohesion, maintaining its presence in many churches; in schools  the first, St. Joseph School in Panna Maria, was founded in 1866  and in a newspaper, Nowiny Texaskie (Texas News), published from 19131920 in San Antonio.

Today, the Polish language in Texas is disappearing. With the advent of World War I, social discrimination from nativist groups increased toward the immigrants and their language. The Great Depression drove many from their communities and dispersed them throughout the countryside seeking opportunity. Teaching of Polish declined in schools. After World War II a range of factors hastened the process of Americanization, continuing to this day. Yet many of these communities persist. Each year all over Texas descendants of these immigrants meet to celebrate their heritage, especially during the holidays. Drawing on this enduring spirit, now is the time to discover and learn about this fascinating part of Texas cultural and linguistic history.
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It's fair to describe him as a moderate Republican or perhaps more correctly a business-wing Republican  if only because no hard-right conservative Republican can really expect to win the state's governorship, even if running against a very weak campaign and opponent, as Mr. Hogan did last year in the form of outgoing Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown. Throughout the 2014 campaign, Mr. Hogan shrewdly pledged to accept the status quo on issues like abortion and gay marriage as effectively "settled" questions in this mostly liberal state and to instead focus his attentions on taxes and budgeting.
Desmond Oriakhogba (University of Venda) & Gloria Adeola-Adedipe (Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies) have posted Posthumous Control of Copyright, Its Limitations and the Public Interest ((2021) 8(2) Journal of Comparative Law in Africa 32-63) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

Conducted as a desk research, this paper examines the interface between copyright and succession laws, the notion of testamentary freedom, its limitation and justification for its restriction. It draws on this examination to discuss the freedom of authors to dispose their copyright under testate and intestate arrangements and posthumously control the use of their works under the Nigerian Copyright Act. Following this, the paper identifies and examines relevant provisions of the Copyright Act that can limit authors capacity to posthumously control the use of their works in Nigeria. The paper contends that authors liberty to transfer their copyright by testamentary disposition or operation of law and control the use of their works posthumously without public interest friendly limitations can create imbalance within the copyright system. It addresses the issues of whether the public interest objectives may be achieved through the limitation in the extant Copyright Act, especially given the propensity for copyright misuse by authors in death as well as during their lifetime; and what policy options may align the public interest with authors posthumous control of copyright. In resolving these questions, the paper draws from instances of copyright misuse in USA and South Africa and situates them within the Nigerian context to shed light on the issues discussed.
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Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Coaxed away from home by a Middleton mans threats against her family, a 13-year-old girl from Milwaukee who was missing for more than two weeks last summer told police the mans repeated threats also kept her from leaving him to go home, until police used her phone to track her to the mans address, according to court documents.

A criminal complaint states the eighth-grader said she met Andrew M. Stoltz, 24, on Facebook, where they both belonged to a group in which people posted and commented on memes, funny pictures augmented with text that get passed around the internet. He commented on an item that she had posted, she told authorities.

From there, she said she went from chatting with him to blocking him from contacting her to agreeing to leave home with him. But she went with him, she said, because he warned that if she didnt he would cut the fingertips off members of her family and force her to watch, according to the complaint, filed Wednesday in Dane County Circuit Court.

The complaint charged Stoltz with repeated sexual assault of a child, attempted sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, causing a child to view harmful material and intimidation of a victim, along with 19 counts of felony bail jumping.

Even without the bail jumping charges, Stoltz faces well over 100 years of combined prison and extended supervision if convicted.

On Aug. 31, Stoltz was charged with misdemeanor criminal damage to property for damaging the girls phone while at his house, but the complaint in that case did not address any alleged sexual assaults or explain in depth the circumstances of the girls arrival in Middleton.

A court commissioner on Wednesday signed a warrant authorizing Stolzs arrest on the charges. Stoltz also faces charges in three other pending criminal cases that include criminal damage to property, second-degree sexual assault of an intoxicated person and causing a minor to view sexual activity.

Meeting online

According to the complaint:

The girl told a forensic interviewer in Milwaukee that she met Stoltz online on July 4, and after about a week or two of contact, he said he wanted to meet her. When she told him no, he began berating her until she agreed to meet. They talked at a park in Whitefish Bay on July 28, she said, then he started begging her to come stay with him.

She said Stoltz told her if she didnt come he would harm her family by cutting off their fingertips as she watched, so she packed her bags and told her brother she was going to Wisconsin Dells. She said she was afraid of Stoltz, but didnt tell Stoltz that.

She said Stolz told her to pack for 10 days, but after picking her up in his dads vehicle he told her she was going to stay with him forever.

More threats

Stoltz kept her from leaving, she said, by repeating threats against her family. One time, she left his house, went to a park nearby and called her mother to say she was coming home. Stoltz called her repeatedly, she said, telling her that if she didnt go back to his fathers house he was going to crash his car into a wall. She said she didnt want to be responsible for his death, so she told him where she was and he picked her up.

On the way home, he would not stop speeding until she agreed never to do that again, the girl said.

She said Stoltz would also get upset when she called a friend, and one time cracked the back of her phone because he was upset she was calling her family. She said she was lying to her family about where she was so her family would not find out what kind of guy Stoltz was, and to keep her family safe.

Rape alleged

The first or second day at his home, she said, Stoltz raped her and did so on several other occasions as well. She said she had tried to tell him she was not ready, but he pressured her into sex. She said that before they met, he had also sent her photos of his genitals and pressured her to reciprocate, but she blocked his messages.

Later, however, she created a Facebook account that she used only to talk to him. She told police in Middleton that Stoltz was initially under the impression she was 19 and learned she was 13 when he drove her to his home from Milwaukee.

Police in Milwaukee eventually used location data from Snapchat to narrow down the girls location to an area in the 3300 block of High Road in Middleton. At one point, the girl had sent a friend a photo of a middle-aged man who lived at Stoltzs home. The man looked familiar to an officer in Middleton, who was able to identify him as the owner of a home on High Road.

Contacted in San Diego, the man said he had received a call from his son, Stoltz, who said police were surrounding the home. The man said he had seen the girl at his home before he left for San Diego.

As police waited outside the home, the garage door opened long enough for the girl to leave, then closed before officers could contact Stoltz, who was inside the garage.

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SURING  A superintendent of a Wisconsin school district who is accused of illegally confining six female students has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Suring Public Schools superintendent Kelly Casper was charged with false imprisonment after the students said she asked them to take off some of their clothes in a high school bathroom in searches for vaping devices Jan. 17 and 18.

At a school board meeting Wednesday night in Suring, about 50 miles north of Green Bay, that was attended by dozens of parents, students and others, many spoke in favor of removing Casper from her job as the district's top administrator.

Jamie Barke, of Hobart, told the board that more students will be left unprotected if it didnt take any action. Her comments were met with a standing ovation from several in the bleachers.

You all have allowed a predator in your school system and now we say enough is enough, Barke said. I say predator because she has done this before.

Casper, 51, said the searches were her first at Suring, but that she had previously searched students an estimated 20 times while with the Coleman School District, her previous employer.

Court documents do not list an attorney for Casper. She is charged with six counts of false imprisonment. If convicted, she could face a maximum penalty of six years in prison on each count. Casper's initial court appearance is set for March 23.
A former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice examining the 2020 election in battleground Wisconsin laid out his interim findings this week and recommended that legislators should consider decertifying the states presidential result  a move attorneys have said is illegal.

But many of Michael Gablemans claims have already been dismissed by courts or rejected by the states bipartisan Elections Commission. Gableman, who was hired by the Assemblys top Republican, acknowledged that he had voted for Donald Trump and had called the election stolen before he was ever appointed to look into it.

Heres a look at some of the claims from his presentation to lawmakers on Tuesday and in the report.

Drop boxes

GABLEMAN: Wisconsin election officials widespread use of absentee ballot drop boxes violated Wisconsin law.

THE FACTS: Wisconsin law is silent on absentee ballot boxes. The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission before the 2020 election provided guidance to local election clerks who run elections, telling them that ballot boxes can be put wherever they want. Wisconsins top elections official testified last year that at least 528 drop boxes were used by more than 430 communities in the 2020 presidential election.

Both Republicans and Democrats supported the widespread use of ballot boxes in the past. However, after Trumps loss in Wisconsin, his supporters questioned the legality of the Elections Commissions guidance.

A judge in January said ballot boxes located outside of election clerks offices are illegal because nothing in state law allowed the Elections Commission to issue that guidance to clerks. The case is currently pending before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Elections Commission last month rescinded its guidance, in keeping with the lower courts ruling.

Nursing homes

GABLEMAN, claiming that the Wisconsin Elections Commission broke the law by directing municipal clerks not to dispatch voting assistants to nursing homes, which led to mentally unfit residents casting ballots: The Wisconsin Elections Commission unlawfully directed clerks to violate rules which are in place to protect nursing home residents.

THE FACTS: Its more complicated than that.

State law does require local election clerks to send so-called special voting deputies to nursing homes to give residents an opportunity to vote. After trying to make two visits, the deputies can mail absentee ballots to the residents instead.

But early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Wisconsin Elections Commission made its decision, the state was under a safer-at-home order and nursing homes were severely limiting who could come into their facilities, often not even allowing immediate family members inside.

The Elections Commission, split evenly among Republicans and Democrats, in March 2020 voted unanimously that poll workers could not be sent into nursing homes. The commission voted 5-1 in two follow-up votes extending the order through the November 2020 election before rescinding it in March 2021. Instead of sending in voting deputies, the commission directed clerks to mail absentee ballots to nursing home residents who had requested them.

State election commissioners have defended their move, saying they were trying to ensure nursing home residents could vote by sending absentee ballots instead of voting assistants who may not have been allowed to enter.

The nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau determined that the commission broke the law by not sending in the voting assistants.

A Racine County sheriff last year argued that the Elections Commission members who voted not to send in the helpers should be charged with felonies, but the district attorney declined to bring charges, saying she did not have jurisdiction. Attorney General Josh Kaul  a Democrat  has also declined to pursue charges.

Gablemans claim that mentally unfit nursing home residents voted is also questionable. Under Wisconsin law, only a judge can declare someone as incompetent to vote. Nursing home residents retain their right to vote even if they are under the guardianship of a relative.

Gableman played videos of attorney Erick Kardaal interviewing several people who he said had voted but who struggled to respond to basic questions.

Ann Jacobs, the Democratic chair of the Elections Commission, said the videos were misleading because people dont have to answer questions in order to vote.

Gableman claimed to have vetted 64 nursing homes in three counties and determined that 100% of registered voters there voted, but his report provided no documentation to back up the allegation. The Elections Commission was reviewing claims made in the report, said spokesperson Riley Vetterkind.

Private funding

GABLEMAN: The Mark Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civic Lifes gift of $8.8 million to the cities of Milwaukee, Madison, Racine, Kenosha and Green Bay to help run elections violates the Wisconsin law prohibiting election bribery.

THE FACTS: Three lawsuits arguing that the grant funding was illegal under state law have been rejected and a law firm hired by the state Elections Commission also determined there was no wrongdoing.

U.S. District Judge William Griesbach, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, refused to block the grant money in October 2020 under a lawsuit filed by Kaardal on behalf of the Wisconsin Voters Alliance, in conjunction with the conservative Thomas More Society.

The judge said then that there was nothing in state law that can be fairly construed as prohibiting the defendant Cities from accepting funds from CTCL.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on an appeal of that case that those who brought the lawsuit failed to identify any laws that would prohibit the grants.

Kaardal again raised the issue in a federal lawsuit he filed in Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Wisconsin Voters Alliance, two Wisconsin Republican state lawmakers and others. That lawsuit sought to let state lawmakers in Wisconsin and other states allocate their Electoral College votes.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, appointed by President Barack Obama, dismissed the lawsuit and referred Kaardal to a court committee for discipline just for bringing the case. Kaardal has appealed that.

In a third case, the Wisconsin Voters Alliance represented by Kaardal asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn the election results for several reasons, including the grants. The court refused to take the case.

Decertification

GABLEMAN, citing alleged voting irregularities and election administration grants awarded to Democratic-majority cities: The Legislature ought to take a very hard look at the option of decertification of the 2020 Wisconsin presidential election.

THE FACTS: Attorneys say thats illegal, and lawmakers say they wont do it.

Nonpartisan attorneys who work for the Legislature told lawmakers in both November 2020 after Trumps loss and again a year later that decertification was not legal. Republican legislative leaders have repeatedly cited those memos as reasons why they will not pursue any attempt to reverse awarding the states 10 electoral votes to Biden, who won the state by just under 21,000 votes.

The Assembly has also repeatedly rejected a resolution from Rep. Timothy Ramthun, R-Campbellsport, a candidate for governor, to decertify the vote. Even as Gableman was making his presentation, Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, tweeted that the move was unconstitutional and would not be considered by lawmakers. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who hired Gableman, has also previously rejected calls to decertify the election. And even Gableman, in his own report, said the move would not remove Biden from office.
A Dane County judge on Wednesday ruled that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman arbitrarily and capriciously denied or delayed access to public records related to the GOP-ordered review of the states 2020 election.

Circuit Court Judge Frank Remington ordered Vos and Gableman, who has been allocated $676,000 in taxpayer funds for the one-party review, to release the records, which were requested last year by liberal watchdog group American Oversight. Remington put enforcement on the ruling on hold until after a hearing on the case scheduled for Tuesday.

(The Office of Special Counsel), Robin Vos, and the assembly each arbitrarily and capriciously denied or delayed access to records, Remington wrote in the ruling.

Remington ruled that Gableman had no basis for withholding the public records, which the former state Supreme Court justice requested to keep secret as they pertained to strategic information to our investigation, according to court documents.

In sum, (the Office of Special Counsels) decision at the time of its denial of access was to send a three-sentence, misspelled, summary rejection email, Remington wrote. This is the sort of unconsidered and irrational conduct deserving of punitive damages.

Remington ordered the three parties to each pay $1,000 in damages to American Oversight and cover the groups legal fees, with those penalties on hold pending next weeks hearing. Those fees could very well fall on taxpayers and Remingtons ruling is likely to be appealed.

Speaker Vos and Michael Gableman have done everything in their power to avoid running a transparent investigation, American Oversight senior adviser Melanie Sloan said in a statement.

Their claims of seriousness and non-partisanship have been belied by their actions from the outset. The courts ruling is clear: Wisconsin law gives the public the right to see these records. We look forward to the (Office of Special Counsels) prompt compliance.

The case is one of three lawsuits filed by American Oversight against Gableman, Vos, his attorney Steve Fawcett and Assembly Chief Clerk Ted Blazel.

The records, which have also been requested by several news outlets including the Wisconsin State Journal, pertain to Gablemans ongoing review of the 2020 election, which focuses on a number of things including election administration, guidance from the Wisconsin Elections Commission and private election grants provided to cities to administer the presidential election during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gableman provided an update on his review Tuesday, including a 136-page interim report on the 2020 election. During a three-hour presentation, Gableman suggested the Legislature consider decertifying the states presidential election results  something legal experts and legislative attorneys say is a legal and constitutional impossibility.

Gableman also called for the elimination and dismantling of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission after it instructed clerks in 2020 that they did not need to send poll workers into nursing homes to assist with absentee voting after many were turned away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vos, who hired Gableman last year to conduct the review, has opposed both proposals in the past. Gableman said Tuesday he plans to continue carrying out the review, though negotiations with Vos continue over an extended contract. His previous contract with the state expired at the end of December.

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The state's Interagency Council on Homelessness has released a new report with a series of recommendations to address a daunting challenge made worse by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The 44-page "Welcoming Wisconsin Home" action plan for 2021-2023 proposes to address stark racial inequities in homelessness, invest more in the shelter subsidy program and other initiatives, improve housing access and increase housing stability, better use data, and expand partnerships.

The action plan recommends investing some of the $70 million-plus Gov. Tony Evers proposed for shelters, affordable housing, services and programs for the homeless in his 2021-23 budget that was largely rejected by the Legislature's Joint Committee on Finance.

Having safe, stable housing is the first step of not only keeping our neighbors safe and healthy but is also key in ensuring our state's continued economic recovery, strengthening our communities, and ensuring kids, families and workers can be successful, Evers said in a statement. We must make strategic investments and work together to build the sort of future we want for our communities and our state, and these recommendations will work to make that future a reality.

In Dane County alone, the most recent data shows 85 families and 618 individuals on waiting lists for housing, said Torrie Kopp Mueller, continuum of care coordinator for the Dane County Homeless Services Consortium.

Statewide, Blacks are almost 11 times as likely as white, non-Latino Wisconsinites to experience homelessness. Multiracial Wisconsinites and American Indians in Wisconsin are about six times as likely to experience homelessness. Latinos are 2.2 times as likely, the new action plan says.

"Ending racial disparities in homelessness systems and housing markets is crucial to ending homelessness as we know it in Wisconsin," the action plan says.

Too many Wisconsinites live with the threat of homelessness daily, interagency council executive director Michael Basford said. We must face the challenges of homelessness head-on, and this report outlines our current reality as well as clear steps we can follow to make a difference.

Welcome arms

The action plan was applauded by advocates for the homeless.

The Wisconsin Community Action Program Association "is extremely pleased with Gov. Evers forwarding a comprehensive state plan to fight homelessness; a plan which recognizes housing as a human right," said Brad Paul, executive director of the statewide association for the state's 16 Community Action Agencies and two single-purpose agencies with statewide focus: the Foundation for Rural Housing and United Migrant Opportunities Services.

"It is especially encouraging to see such attention to the issue from the executive branch of state government," he said. "My hope is that we will see an equal commitment by the Legislature."

"With statewide housing costs showing significant increases, however, I am concerned that there is not enough overall investment in permanent affordable housing for low- and extremely low-income households," he said.

A brief history

Shortly after the interagency council's creation in 2017, it began work to prepare a plan and outline priorities to address homelessness and housing insecurity in Wisconsin.

In late 2018, the council released a statewide action plan for 2019-2022, which included funding initiatives, legislation, and collaborative efforts. In 2019, the council worked to implement recommendations, but in 2020 it directed efforts toward pandemic response and addressing emerging and imminent needs.

"Many agencies had more people to serve as a result of several factors from the pandemic and subsequent economic downturn," Basford said. "Emergency shelters had to change the way they operated, and some had to temporarily close. And the impacts led to increases in unsheltered homelessness."

Starting in 2020, the council, which is chaired by Evers, reviewed the existing homelessness plan and prepared a new action plan for 2021-2023 to address factors underscored by the pandemic and bring recommendations as part of the state's pandemic and economic recovery efforts.

Up to date

The new report outlines the current state of homelessness in Wisconsin, how the pandemic has brought about new challenges and exacerbated long-standing ones, and steps that the Evers administration has taken to address housing availability and affordability, as well as financial stability and economic recovery for residents, including support for rent and utilities.

"I shudder to think what would have happened had we not received the tens of millions of dollars for funding homelessness programming, or the hundreds of millions of dollars for emergency rental assistance that kept tens of thousands of Wisconsin households out of eviction court and out of the homelessness system," Basford said.

"Despite everything that happened in the last three years, I remain hopeful that we can find partners on the other side of the aisle who are interested in working together to end homelessness," he said. "The pandemic highlighted the needs of the most vulnerable in our state and what we were able to demonstrate through the federal investments was what can be done to help them."

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Maybe the issue would not have figured so prominently on Mr. Hogan's mind if not for his family's tragedy, but so what? Governors lead best when they move low-salience or dormant issues to the forefront of the state agenda, and Mr. Hogan should be commended for doing so, whatever his reasons.
The United Way of Dane Countys first fundraising drive in the Madison area collected $67,674, according to a front-page Wisconsin State Journal report on Oct. 1, 1922.

August Cornelius Larson, a Madison banker who chaired the effort, thanked his army of coworkers for their zeal, and he praised the public for its generosity.

The great throng of workers who had sought donations across the community for three days disbanded tired, but happy, according to the article.

State Journal editorials soon followed, championing the cause of the Community Union, as the local United Way was originally called. An editorial on Dec. 30, 1923, praised the groups professional and broad effort to pull people together to help the less fortunate, the young and wayward.

The milk of human kindness flowed throughout its proceedings, the editorial declared.

It was vastly better than the old hit-or-miss, overlapping, unscientific method of permitting a large number of unassociated, often untrained and sometimes unreliable groups to stumble over each other in their annual myriad of movements and causes.

Fast-forward a century, and the United Way of Dane County is celebrating its 100th birthday at 5 p.m. tonight at the Orpheum Theater in Madison.

A lot has changed over the years. Instead of passing a hat at parades or going door to door to collect donations, the United Way seeks support through hundreds of employers and tens of thousands of individuals at work and online. And instead of focusing solely on the immediate needs of struggling people, it strives to address the root causes behind suffering, using research and data to inform its programming decisions.

The United Ways Schools of Hope tutoring program, for example, has helped 96,000 students improve at reading and math in area schools, thanks to more than 21,000 trained and mostly volunteer tutors over the last quarter century. (The State Journal and WISC-TV (Ch. 3) began Schools of Hope as a civic journalism project in 1995.)

IF YOU GO To register for tonight's celebration at 5 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater, 216 State St., Madison, go to www.unitedwaydanecounty.org.

The United Way and its many partners help house, protect, employ, treat and encourage tens of thousands of adults, children and families in our area. Just as important, they track their progress, and change what theyre doing if it isnt working.

American Family Insurance just provide quite a birthday gift to the local United Way: $5 million in help it fund another century of work. Other big and small donors are joining the cause. You should, too, at go.madison.com/unitedway. Giving what you can will help ensure this kind-hearted and smart organization carries on its work with as much impact as possible.

The United Way of Dane County has raised $528 million for our community since 1922. More than 20,000 individuals and 500 businesses provided $18.1 million during its 2021 fundraiser alone. Most of the money goes in a coordinated way to 850 nonprofits, including 112 programs and 52 local agencies.

But more work lies ahead, and the organization faces increasing competition for dollars from worthy causes.

If you cant make it to tonights century celebration, show your appreciation by pledging a gift or donate your time at go.madison.com/GetInvolved. Either way, youll be helping to ensure this superb social service organization continues to make Madison and Dane County a better place to live for everyone.

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
TWIN FALLS  A caller reported seeing a parachute floating in the Snake River on Tuesday, sending multiple agencies to rescue the BASE jumper, the sheriffs office spokesperson said Wednesday.

The caller stated she did not see a person in the water, just a chute, Lori Stewart with the Twin Falls County Sheriffs Office told the Times-News.

The call came in at about 2 p.m., Stewart said. County deputies, Magic Valley Paramedics and Twin Falls Fire Department responded to the Perrine Bridge.

Deputies stood at the top of the canyon watching the water and looking for witnesses, while a deputy retrieved the sheriffs office boat.

Neither St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center nor St. Lukes Jerome reported any recent injuries at the time, Stewart said.

As the search continued a witness told officers he saw an adult male climb out of the canyon, get into a vehicle and drive off, she said. The witness said the man needed help getting out of the canyon and appeared to be injured.

At 2:30 p.m., the BASE jumper arrived at the emergency department at St. Lukes Magic Valley.

The sheriffs office urges folks to inform SIRCOMM if they no longer need emergency services.

Personnel from multiple agencies responded to this incident, taking valued resources from other calls, Stewart said. With a phone call from the injured party, one deputy could have retrieved the chute from the water without tying up other first responders.

Please call SIRCOMM 735-1911 or Twin Falls City Dispatch at 208-735-4357 or 3-1-1 from a cellphone to report an incident.

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BOISE  Four days after Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin appeared virtually at a political conference organized by a white nationalist  an event featuring speakers known for making antisemitic and other hateful comments  Gov. Brad Little and the Idaho Republican Party issued statements condemning racism and white supremacy Tuesday.

It is extremely unfortunate anyone in elected office in Idaho must make statements like these, Little wrote in posts on Facebook and Twitter. But let me be clear  I fully reject racism in all its forms.

Littles office did not immediately respond Tuesday as to the timing of the governors comments or respond to a question about whether they were directly referring to McGeachin, who was not mentioned by name in his statement. McGeachin is running for governor in the May primary election, where she is likely to face off against Little, who has not announced a reelection campaign but has been fundraising.

Idahos Republican Party chairman, Tom Luna, also issued a statement condemning hatred and bigotry. The partys release referenced Lieutenant Governor McGeachins participation in this event.

White supremacy, antisemitism, bigotry, and neo-Nazism are reprehensible and have no place in the Idaho Republican Party, Luna said. The promotion of hatred, bigotry, or the anti-American values of Russia is fundamentally incompatible with our shared conservative ideals and values.

On Monday, the Idaho Democratic Party sent a letter to the state GOP asking the party to condemn McGeachins participation in the event, saying anything less was complicity.

On Friday evening, McGeachin addressed the America First Political Action Conference, a gathering positioned as an alternative to the more well-known Conservative Political Action Conference. The annual AFPAC, as it is referred to, is organized by Nick Fuentes, a well-known white nationalist who attended the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Congratulations on your third annual event, and keep up the good work fighting for our country, McGeachin said in her video appearance, which was recorded. I thank you all for your efforts, I thank you for joining our efforts, and together we will fight to make Idaho great again.

Fuentes is a frequent political commentator and livestreamer who has previously said that women should not vote, according to The Guardian; avowed his support for the U.S. preserving its white demographic core; and called transgenderism and same-sex marriage deviancy. He has suggested that the Holocaust did not happen, and accused a conservative political blogger of work(ing) for Jews.

At Fridays conference, Fuentes asked the crowd to applaud Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday.

Now theyre going on about Russia and Vladimir Putin is Hitler  they say thats not a good thing, he said, according to The Washington Post.

Some attendees responded with a chant of Putin! Putin!

McGeachin released a statement Saturday afternoon saying she has never supported identity politics or other discriminatory views.

In an interview with KTVB on Monday, McGeachin said she does not know who Fuentes is, and looked him up online only after the conference had occurred.

Ive never met him, she said.

She added, (The media) do(es) this to conservatives all the time. ... Any time there is any kind of affiliation with anybody at any time on any stage, that were all guilty by association, and its not appropriate.

Other speakers at Fridays conference made antisemitic and racist statements, according to media reports.

One speaker, Andrew Torba, the CEO of a social media company, told attendees that God Rebukes the Synagogue of Satan, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Another speaker, Jesse Lee Peterson, said, I may not know your country, but I know Black people, and their hearts are filled with evil, according to the ADL.

The Associated Press defines white nationalists as those who believe in enhanced legal rights or protections for white people, or advocate for a separate territory for white people. The AP defines white supremacists as those who believe white people are superior and that suppression of other ethnic groups is legitimate.

Call for McGeachins resignation

A recently formed political action committee called for McGeachins resignation on Saturday.

In a statement, the group, Take Back Idaho, said McGeachins participation in AFPAC shows that she is openly courting the most extreme fringes of society  including QAnon conspiracy theorists, January 6 insurrectionists, white nationalists and Holocaust deniers  on a national stage.

Shes unfit to hold her current office, the group added.

On Sunday, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, dubbed two far-right members of Congress who spoke at AFPAC  Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, and Paul Gosar, R-Arizona  morons.

I have to think anybody that would sit down with white nationalists and speak at their conference was certainly missing a few IQ points, he told CNN.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, also condemned white supremacy on Monday, while U.S. Rep Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, called the appearance of members of Congress at the event unacceptable.

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BOISE  Idaho lawmakers on Wednesday voted to introduce legislation seeking to dump investments in Russia following that nations invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine is a nightmare and a disaster right now, said Democratic Rep. John Gannon, one of the sponsors of the legislation. Bullying by Russia has become a war for no reason, and this war has been condemned by the world.

The House State Affairs Committee voted to introduce a resolution affecting the $3.2 billion Endowment Fund.

Those investments are managed by the Endowment Fund Investment Board, mainly for public schools. About 28% of the fund is invested in international and global stock.

Chris Anton, the boards investment manager, said Wednesday that the state sold $1.2 million of Russian investments Wednesday and has $1.7 million remaining invested in Russian debt that the country has frozen, making a sale impossible for now.

Overall, our exposure is almost nothing compared to the size of the fund, Anton told The Associated Press in an interview.

The board also manages about $1 billion for the state insurance fund, a workers compensation fund. Anton said the only Russian investment there was a roughly $300,000 bond in a Russian oil company that the state also sold on Wednesday.

The measure that lawmakers brought involving the Endowment Fund is simply a resolution encouraging the Endowment Fund Investment Board to dump Russian investments as lawmakers have no control over the board.

Anton said financial managers have already made those moves, but wont be able to get rid of the $1.7 million in Russian debt holdings until the Russian government lifts its freeze on selling off investments.

The second measure is a bill concerning the states public employee retirement system, called the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho. Such a bill if it became law could require divestment in Russia.

Gannon said the states retirement system has about $7 million invested in Russia involving Russian currency and bonds, with much of that held in Russia. Gannon said Russia has frozen those assets, making it difficult for Idaho officials to take action.

The two measures include language asking the Endowment Fund Investment Board and retirement system officials to detail investments in Russia within seven days.

Republican Rep. Bruce Skaug, a co-sponsor of the two pieces of legislation, said his son-in-law is from Ukraine and has family and friends engaged in the fighting against soldiers sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Skaug said those relatives and friends have sent them graphic images from the invasion.

Its personal to me because its family now, Skaug said in a phone interview. Also, Idaho should have no investments supporting a petty dictator, and Putin is a petty dictator who happens to be in charge of a powerful country.

The Idaho House of Representatives on Wednesday also unanimously passed a resolution condemning Russia.

Republican House Speaker Scott Bedke and Democratic House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel issued a statement condemning the invasion and encouraging support for Ukraine.

State-operated liquor stores in Idaho have stopped selling Russian-made vodka.

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TWIN FALLS  Magic Valley residents filled Interstate 84 overpasses to greet part of the Freedom Convoy as it passed through Wednesday evening.

At Kimberly Exit 182, nearly 100 people gathered with American flags and signs supporting truckers. Idaho State Police and Jerome County Sheriffs deputies showed up to help direct traffic and keep people safe.

Part of the larger national American Freedom Convoy, the group is heading to Washington, D.C.

Hansen resident Eileen Turner brought her 91-year-old mother to witness the convoy.

America is why we are here, Turner said. Not the politics.

She traveled from Mountain Home to Twin Falls Wednesday and said there were people on every overpass and along the sides of the highway. Most people seemed to be pro-America and Turner saw few people protesting the current administration, she said.

I feel like the anti-stuff defeats the purpose, she said. You have to respect the other people because we are still covered, freedom of speech, from our Constitution.

Many convoys have formed across the U.S., some in response to Canadian protests. In Canada, trucker protests in January gridlocked Ottawa, the national capital.

Hannah Adams said she attended to support truckers. Her husband, Andrew, used to be a trucker and it was a hard job requiring personal sacrifices.

We forget this part of the industry, Adams said. Its a reminder to treat truckers like they are needed and not an afterthought.

Adams, who works for First Baptist Church in Twin Falls, said she was glad to see the community coming out to show their support. She hoped the event will inspire people to show gratitude for the men and women who are in the trucking industry.

Its people who move America, she said. You dont get a product that doesnt come on a truck.

Although the convoy started as a way to protest COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, Adams thinks it has turned into something more important.

People expect it to be all this political stuff but people are out here with their kids, she said. It demonstrates that our community is bigger than that.

Everyone participating was respectful and cooperated with law enforcement, she said. While waiting for the convoy, two young boys started picking up trash along the side of the overpass.

This is reminding America what America is about, Adams said. Its about knowing your neighbor.

Buhl resident Tiffany Hindman told the Times-News she supports the convoy and hopes they can help change the direction the U.S. is headed.

I feel like the convoy has grown so much more than just about mask mandates or vaccine mandate into something that is just standing up for freedoms in this country that we are all in jeopardy of losing, Hindman said.

Although she is not directly associated with the convoy, Hindman posted on local Facebook groups to help direct residents where to safely watch the convoy.

People commented on one of the posts saying political content was not allowed in that particular group. Hindman agreed with another commenter who said freedom isnt political.

Everybody, whether youre Republican or Democrat, should want freedom. Everyone should want to have freedom of speech, she said. Everybody should want to have all these freedoms that the Constitution allows us.

PHOTOS: Supporting the Freedom Convoy Citizens show their support for the Freedom Convoy at the I-84 overpass in Eden.

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Editors note: This column first ran Dec. 18, 2014, in the Times-News and at Magicvalley.com.

Walter E. Scotty Scott, later known as Death Valley Scotty, left his home in Kentucky at the age of 11. Scotty joined his brothers Lynn and George in Idaho in 1883.

George was a cook for cattle crews and lived at the mouth of Rock Creek Canyon at the base of the South Hills. Lynn was a horseman and made his home in Hagerman.

At age 16, Scotty joined Buffalo Bill Codys Wild West Show as a stunt rider. He toured the U.S. and Europe with the show from 1888 to 1900 when he married Ella Josephine Milius in New York City. Scotty and Jack, as he called his wife, moved to Cripple Creek, Colorado, where he tried unsuccessfully to start a gold mine.

Scotty soon conned a wealthy New York businessman into backing a fictitious gold mine operation. The businessman invested more than $5,000  equal to $120,000 today  in the mine, but never received any ore. Eventually, Scotty traveled to New York with a bag supposedly containing $12,000 in gold dust.

When he reached his destination, Scotty claimed the bag had been stolen. Newspapers picked up the story and Scotty began a spree of self-promoting ventures.

In 1905, Scotty made a name for himself by breaking the cross-country speed record in a train known as the Scott Special consisting of an engine, baggage car, sleeper and dining car. He left Los Angeles on July 9, and arrived in Chicago less than 45 hours later, breaking an earlier record of 53 hours. Once again, photos of Scotty were splashed across the front pages of national newspapers.

Over the years, Scotty continued to con more investors in gold mine schemes and used many ruses to evade investigators. In 1906, Scotty played himself in a Seattle theater production about his life. He was arrested on various charges of fraud after the play finished but was eventually released on a technicality.

Scotty upped the ante in his game and leased a mine in the Humboldt Mountains as a front to fence high-grade ore he stole from other mines.

In 1912, he announced that he had sold his mine for $12 million. His creditors sued Scotty after he made this claim and he ended up in jail.

Scotty managed to remain friends with investor Albert Johnson, who had dropped thousands of dollars into his schemes. Johnson purchased several ranches in Death Valley, California, setting up Scotty for life.

Johnson built a castle in Death Valley for a vacation home, but Scotty claimed it as his own. It is known as Scottys Castle.

Scotty died in 1954 and is buried on the grounds of Scottys Castle in Death Valley National Park.

Mychel Matthews reports on rural issues for the Times-News. If you have a question about something that may have historical significance, email Matthews at mmatthews@magicvalley.com.

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Nadia Kriger of Martinsville thought she had become 100% American, leaving her Ukrainian heritage behind  until Russias invasion flooded her with concern from the homeland she left over 25 years ago.

When she was just 14, in 1990, Krigers family moved from Ukraine to Virginia Beach after facing large amounts of religious persecution for most of her life, she said. That was because both her mother and she were devout Christians  publicly  in a Communist country.

At that time, Ukraine was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and religion was very much forbidden, she said.

Kriger said that society was more accepting of Catholicism among the older people, but being Pentecostal, which her mother was  though in Ukraine Pentecostal was considered a form of the Baptist religion  was considered worse than being a devil worshipper.

Kriger said that, while living in Lviv, Ukraine, she remembered refusing to say an oath in her third-grade classroom that was a pledge to live like Lenin lived, referring to Vladimir Lenin, the head of the former Communist Soviet Union. That refusal led to a visit to the principals office, where she continued to stand her ground and not say the pledge.

The principal then grabbed her by the ear and dragged her a mile and a half home, only next to yell at her mother for allowing such behavior. The family was even threatened with starvation because the government was a main source of food for people.

Her reasoning behind her childhood refusal, she said, was that after two years of watching her mother be a Christian, she also had accepted Christ at an early age.

The worst religious persecution, though, came from home, Kriger said: While her mother had developed a religious belief, her father had not, and greatly disapproved of it.

A large memory of her time in Ukraine, Kriger said, was of her mother crying over her religious beliefs not being accepted. Her extended family largely ostracized her immediate family, and even Krigers godmother refused to speak to her.

Her mothers older sister  though she eventually converted  even told Krigers father that all things were permissible to rehabilitate her mother, said Kriger.

Kriger also said that the atmosphere in Ukraine, because of Communism, wasnt exactly neighborly. People often reported others to the government and were very aware of when other people had more because they learned to live within that system created by Communism.

Making a home

Because of the way she experienced Ukraine when she lived there, Kriger said, she was surprised at how emotional the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made her feel and has been in shock at how it is affecting her.

In 1988, when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was in power, he met with American president Ronald Reagan and entered into talks about giving persecuted Ukrainian residents the chance to leave, she said. That allowed Kriger and her family to start the process of leaving for America, which required trips to the embassy in Moscow.

Because of difficulties in dealing with officials, it took Krigers family two years of the process to finally be able to leave Ukraine.

World Vision International, a Christian humanitarian aid organization, got them a home and family to stay with in the United States. However, the Kriger familys assigned host family fell through, leaving the Krigers stranded at LaGuardia Airport in New York for several days, she said.

However, little did they know it then, but God had a better plan, she said.

When they finally arrived in their new apartment in Virginia Beach on Dec. 31, 1990, and saw the space that was originally prepared for the other family, it was as if it was us that they were waiting for, she said.

Their new American home even was stocked with just the right toys and clothes.

Humble beginnings

Kriger and her husband, Mark Sells, have three children: Nikolas, 16, Katelyn, 9, and Viktoria, 7.

She has a bachelors degree in international studies from Old Dominion University and a masters degree in national security from the American Military University. She worked in an American embassy in Moscow for 18 months and was a linguist in military intelligence for the army for eight years.

She loved the work, she said, but left the military because its scheduling was not compatible with military life.

She had to rebrand herself after leaving the army, so she got a masters degree in education because her son liked the idea of her being a teacher, she said.

The Kriger-Sells family came to Martinsville in 2013 when he took a job with Sovah Health as a nurse practitioner. He now works at GoDocs in Danville. Having always been a city girl, she was weary of small-town life at first, but the area later grew on her, she said.

She taught English as a Second Language at Bassett High School before the pandemic, and is now an English teacher at Westover Christian Academy in Danville, which her children attend.

Kriger said that though she misses working in the army, she has no regrets about where she has ended up in life. She and her husband both came from equally humble beginnings she said, and this led to them working hard to give their own children things that they never had.

Kriger had not even a ping of some sort of regret about leaving Ukraine, she said: After so long in America and her proud service in the army, she identifies very strongly as an American and very little with the part of her life that took place in Ukraine.

Thus, she was surprised how hard the impact of hearing about the Russian invasion of Ukraine hit her, she said.

Im barely Ukrainian. That part of my life has been so suppressed and pushed back that I barely identify as one. When I read the news and saw the pictures, it felt like death, it felt like 9/11 felt, and 9/11 felt like when my brother died, she said.

She clearly remembers one day after the attack happened, she said, because she heard from her daughter, Katelyn, that they were praying for Ukraine over a map in her classroom. Kriger later saw a post on Facebook from her daughters teacher, Jenni Sunderland, with a picture of the children praying in class at Westover Christian Academy.

Kriger said that what hurts the most about this entire situation is the comparison between her past in Ukraine and the situation there now.

A different Ukraine

When her family was leaving, Kriger said that it felt like funeral with all her relatives watching them leave knowing that they would likely never see them again. Her family left in Ukraine saw them leaving right on the brink of freedom from Communism.

For her to now see that freedom threatened once again makes Kriger feel helpless all over again, she said.

Kriger still has friends and family back in Ukraine; one friend she met in America through working for the army, Lyuba Ovsienko; and many cousins as well. She said she has been fortunate enough to go back and visit since her move to America because of work and missions trips, while her immediate family have not.

Kriger said she knows that America has provided significant aid and humanitarian efforts as well, but that more needed to be done.

Its not just Ukraine. We will be next if we dont do something there and the power shifts in Europe. We will be next, she said.

Kriger also spoke about how many Americans take their freedom for granted.

We havent seen anything yet and we already complain, she said. She also added that the people who complain about losing freedom in America have no idea what losing freedom even means, and they wont until they are under the control of a tyrant.

Overall, Kriger said, she is proud of how the people of Ukraine are making a stand for their nation and being passionate about it, showing what a hardcore group of people she comes from.

Monique Holland writes for the Martinsville Bulletin. She can be reached at mholland@martinsvillebulletin.com.
Local prices of wheat has increased by EGP 1,000 ($63) in the six days following the Russia-Ukraine war, reports say.

Egypt is the world largest wheat importer and consumer with 11 million tons imported. The Arab country locally produces 9 million ton per annum.

Ezzat Aziz, official at the Cairo Chamber of Commerces agricultural crops and grain division, Arab Finance reports, told local media Al Borsa News that wheat prices reached EGP 6,700 per ton.

Aziz also indicated that the hike in wheat prices pressured prices of byproducts like flour, which spiraled up around EGP 1,500 to record EGP 7,700 per ton, Arab Finance adds.

The country is currently facing a shortage of wheat after the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) cancelled two tenders for buying wheat due to increased prices amid the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

It is the second cancellation since Feb. 24 when Russia launched the invasion of its neighbor.

Russia and Ukraine control more than a quarter of global wheat exports.
Let me be perfectly clear: The vast majority of people who use chat forums, post comments on Internet sites or play video games online are having fun, participating in public discourse and harming nobody. But the sad truth is that, for all its power to foster commerce and connect us socially, the Internet is also home to repulsive and menacing forms of intimidation directed at both sexes. Its shadowy corners are safe havens for misogynists and other vile people.
Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba has just been sworn in as president of the transitional government and is calling for a general audit of the public administration. These controls will concern public contracts, the acquisition of goods and services and public works.

During his swearing-in ceremony on February 16, he promised to give a new dynamic to the fight against corruption. President Paul-Henri Damiba has asked the comptroller general to investigate the management of state-owned companies, public establishments and similar institutions, with the aim of detecting possible financial fraud. The focus will be on contracts and public works, acquisitions of goods, mission expenses, travel, fuel and donations.

These operations are in the spirit of what President Paul-Henri Damiba had announced, that is, to clean up the public administration and make it more ethical, said a source close to the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration.

Since Monday, control agents have been visiting workers in several public services. They came around 7am and stayed until 8:30am, said a worker from the Ministry of Industrial Development and Trade. It was for these controllers to check the punctuality and the effective presence of agents at their posts. All agents who came to the service beyond 8:30 were considered absent, said the official.
The public prosecutors office called Wednesday for five years in prison against the current mayor of Dakar, Barthelemy Dias, on appeal for the death of a man shot dead in 2011 in a context of political violence.

The appeal trial of Barthelemy Dias, which has been postponed several times in recent years, was highly anticipated because of its political implications. Dias, a fierce opponent of the government, took up the prominent post of mayor of the capital on February 17 on behalf of a national coalition led by Ousmane Sonko, a declared contender for the 2024 presidential election.

I am being prosecuted for political reasons, not for judicial reasons, Mr. Dias repeated on the stand.

A five-year sentence would seriously compromise his political career. It would raise fears of a violent reaction from his supporters.

Before him, two other opponents of President Macky Sall, the former mayor of Dakar Khalifa Sall (no relation) and the former minister Karim Wade, son of former president, have seen their careers interrupted by legal troubles in recent years. Ousmane Sonko, meanwhile, has been under investigation for alleged rape since 2021. All cry conspiracy hatched by the power. The government defends itself from any instrumentalization of justice.

Mr. Dias, 47, tried with a dozen others at the time, had been sentenced in 2017 to two years in prison, including six months firm, for fatal blow delivered in 2011 to Ndiaga Diouf, a wrestler described by the opposition as a nervous member of the regime.
A South African judge has cleared the way for Prince Misuzulu to be crowned the next Zulu king, but has suspended the execution of his fathers disputed will.

King Goodwill Zwelithini died in March 2021 at the age of 72, after 50 years of rule, leaving behind six wives and at least 28 children.

Named regent in his will, his third wife and favorite, Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini, appointed her son, Misuzulu Zulu, 47, to succeed to the throne. The regent died suddenly a month after her husband and king. The sons coronation has not yet taken place.

The kings first wife, Queen Sibongile Dlamini, challenged the appointment of the new ruler in court, claiming to be the only legitimate wife since she was the only one to have been civilly married to the ruler. The other women, mistresses according to her, were only united to the king by a traditional marriage.

Two of her daughters, Princesses Ntombizosuthu and Ntandoyenkosi, were involved in her complaint to prevent Misuzulus coronation until the will was verified. They dispute its validity, claiming that one signature, according to a graphologist, is false.

Justice Isaac Madondo said Queen Sibongiles motion was premature and dismissed the princesses request to prevent the coronation. No one else claims the throne, the judge said. He is the undisputed successor to the throne.

In court in Pietermaritzburg (southeast), the capital of the Zulu country, the angry queen had also claimed half of the royal estate in January.

A powerless king with moral influence over more than 11 million Zulus  the largest ethnic group in South Africa, accounting for more than a fifth of the population  Goodwill Zwelithini owned thousands of hectares of land, properties and several palaces.

The judge has suspended the execution of the will that was to divide the kings large fortune, to allow the courts to examine and decide on the matter shortly.
Five people, including a sub-prefect and a mayor, were killed Wednesday after their vehicle was blown up by an explosive device in Cameroons English-speaking southwest, which is in the midst of a bloody separatist conflict.

The convoy of the sub-prefect was the target of an attack by secessionists who placed explosives on the axis between Ekondo-Titi and Bekora, in the South West region, said a gendarmerie officer on condition of anonymity.

Among the victims were the sub-prefect, the mayor of Ekondo-Titi, a gendarme, a local official of the ruling party and the sub-prefects driver, said a member of the local administration.

The attack and death of the sub-prefect and the mayor were also confirmed by an official of the Ministry of Communication.

The North-West and South-West are mainly populated by the English-speaking minority of Cameroon, a country with a French-speaking majority and ruled with an iron fist for nearly 40 years by President Paul Biya, 89.

For the past five years, after the crackdown on peaceful protests accusing Yaounde of ostracizing anglophones, armed separatists and the military have clashed in a deadly conflict that has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced about a million, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank.

The army and separatist groups are regularly accused by NGOs of abuses against civilians.
A new agreement in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy raises the amount the Sackler family must pay in order to have immunity from future civil claims.

The Sackler family will pay up to $6 billion to address damage linked to the US opioid crisis under an amended Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan following an agreement with holdout states, according to a court filing Thursday.

The deal raises the amount that the Sacklers, who own Purdue, must pay, but grants family members immunity from future claims in civil court.

A US bankruptcy judge still must approve the amended version after a US district judge in December struck down the first bankruptcy plan.

The prior agreement had won backing from 40 US states, but was rejected by nine states that argued the family should not receive immunity from future claims.

"This settlement is both significant and insufficient - constrained by the inadequacies of our federal bankruptcy code," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who had opposed the earlier accord.

"But Connecticut cannot stall this process indefinitely as victims and our sister states await a resolution. This settlement resolves our claims against Purdue and the Sacklers, but we are not done fighting for justice against the addiction industry and against our broken bankruptcy code."

The new agreementwhich does not affect potential criminal cases against the Sacklersrequires the family to pay $5.5 billion plus another $500 million following the sale of international operations.

Under the prior accord, the Sacklers would have paid $4.3 billion on top of $225 million previously paid to the US Justice Department.

The opioid addiction crisis has caused more than 500,000 overdose deaths in the United States over the past 20 years.

Purdue and other opioid makers have been accused of encouraging free-wheeling prescription of their products through aggressive marketing tactics while hiding how addictive the drugs are.

Facing an avalanche of litigation, Purdue last year pled guilty to three criminal charges over its marketing of the painkiller OxyContin.

'Sincerely regret' toll

Under the terms of the settlement with the states, the company would be sold by 2024 to be replaced by a new entity managed by a trust, and its involvement in selling opioid products would be restricted.

The Sacklers have consistently denied wrongdoing over the opioid epidemic, reiterating that stance in a statement included with the court filing.

"While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities," said a family statement.

In a filing outlining the agreement, the court-appointed mediator said the court should set aside "a substantial amount of time" during the approval hearing for commentary from opioid victims or their survivers that would be attended by Zoom by Sackler family members.

"It is the mediator's heartfelt belief that providing this opportunity for the victims and the obligation of the Sackler Families to participate in the approval hearing as the mediator has described would not only be an important part of the record of the proceedings held but would also, like the settlement reached in this mediation, serve the ends of justice," the mediator said.

Explore further Purdue Pharma owners up opioid settlement offer to $6 bn

 2022 AFP
This transmission electron microscopic (TEM) image depicts a number of round, Dengue virus particles that were revealed in this tissue specimen. Credit: CDC/ Frederick Murphy

Nearly three quarters of a million fewer global cases of dengue occurred in 2020, which could be linked to COVID-19 disruptions limiting human mobility and contact, according to a new study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Beijing Normal University and other international partners, funded by the Medical Research Council, analyzed the monthly dengue cases from the World Health Organization (WHO) Weekly reports between 2014 to 2020 from 23 countries16 in Latin America and seven in South East Asia, the main regions where dengue is endemic, as well as climate data on air temperature, relative humidity and precipitation.

They found a strong association between school closures and declines in non-residential trips, such as shopping or using public transport, due to COVID-19 and reduced risk of dengue transmission. This indicates that places such as schools and commonly visited public areas could be dengue transmission hot spots and play a key role in spreading the disease.

Further research is needed into how human movement behaviors (the places people visit, how long they spend there and with whom) impact dengue transmission risk. This could help decision makers decide if measures like contact tracing, testing or quarantine could help control the spread of the disease.

Dr. Oliver Brady, Associate Professor and MRC Fellow at LSHTM and study senior author, said: "Currently dengue control efforts are focused on or around the households of people who get sick. We now know that, in some countries, we should also be focusing measures on the locations they recently visited to reduce dengue transmission. For all the harm it has caused, this pandemic has given us an opportunity to inform new interventions and targeting strategies to prevent dengue."

Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the Aedes species of mosquitoes, which causes flu-like symptoms. It is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, and is most common in urban areas.

It is one of the only infectious diseases to show a sustained increase in cases each year, and the WHO now estimates that around half the world's population is at risk of contracting dengue.

Transmission is closely linked to the weather, surrounding environment and human mobility. It is also closely associated with the climate, with hot and humid tropical climates ideal for transmission. Dengue season in many countries occurs around June to September, when peaks in cases can cause overcrowding in hospitalsmuch like with COVID-19.

Dengue is only spread from mosquito to human and vice versa, and is not transmitted from humans to other humans. However, changes in people's movements and behavior may have an effect on transmission, for example through reduced exposure to mosquitoes or fewer opportunities for infected people to go out and about and pass on the virus to uninfected mosquitoes present there. COVID-19 and the restrictions on human movement that were imposed during the pandemic therefore provide a unique opportunity to explore how human movement and behavior contribute to dengue transmission.

Dengue case numbers suddenly began to decline in April 2020 in many countries, following the introduction of public health and social measures targeting the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting change in human movement and shift to more time spent in residential places. In 2020, dengue cases decreased by 40.2% in Latin America and 58.4% in South East Asia, with just over two million cases recorded in the Americas and South East Asia in 2020.

However, unraveling the impacts of COVID-19 disruption is complex as 2019 saw the largest global dengue outbreak in history, with more than 5.2 million cases recorded in the Americas and South East Asia region. This led to high levels of immunity which would also be expected to reduce dengue cases in 2020.

Dr. Brady added: "Before this study, we didn't know whether COVID-19 disruption could increase or decrease the global burden of dengue. While we could assume reduction in human movement would reduce the virus transmission, it would also disrupt the mosquito control measures already in place. This disruption may result in long-term impacts on dengue cases which might not be evident until the next epidemic."

The research team looked at two different measures of COVID-19 related disruptionpublic health and social measures, such as school and public transport closure, stay-at-home requirements, gathering restrictions; and human movement behavior through time spent at residential and public locations. They also accounted for the different strengths of restrictions in lockdowns in different countries around the world.

By combining all this data and analyzing trends, they were able to show that reduced time spent in public areas was closely associated with reduced dengue risk.

Nine out of 11 countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the Philippines saw a complete suppression of their 2020 dengue season, with other countries experiencing a much reduced season. In countries where the COVID-19 restriction measures began at the peak of dengue season, there was a sharper than expected decline in cases, despite above average incidence being recorded earlier in the year.

This decrease in cases could also be attributed to reduced rates in people seeking treatment, a higher potential for misdiagnosis and reduced availability for laboratory testing for dengue could result in misdiagnosis. However, some countries such as Sri Lanka predicted this could be a problem at the start of the pandemic, so undertook outreach work to encourage people to get diagnosed and seek treatment. Despite this, there was no change in rates of severe cases and deaths reported, suggesting the reduction in treatment seeking was not the cause for the reduction in cases.

A better understanding of how treatment-seeking behaviors change during an epidemic is needed, as access to care and rapid diagnostics change in order to fully assess and interpret the change in case numbers. The team emphasizes the need for longer term, more routine measurement of the prevalence of dengue within each population.

Although overall cases declined in 2020, Peru and Singapore reported worse than average dengue incidence in 2020. This could have occurred due to the unpredictable natural year-to-year variation in dengue incidence that occurs due to, for example, the emergence of different dengue virus variants, or could hint at the greater role being bitten by mosquitoes at home plays in spreading dengue in these countries.

As the climate recorded in 2020 was similar to the average climate of the last six years, the researchers did not find an association between climate and the reduction in dengue risk during 2020.

The researchers note that it remains to be seen how many of the estimated 0.72 million cases were truly averted, or just delayed until later years as human movement returns to pre-COVID levels and say it's key to continue monitoring dengue trends in 2022 and beyond.

The researchers acknowledge the limitations of this study, including lack of data on the different types of dengue, which can drive outbreaks, and the potential changes in dengue reporting resulting from COVID-19 disruptions.

More information: Measuring the effects of COVID-19-related disruption on dengue transmission in southeast Asia and Latin America: a statistical modelling study, Lancet Infectious Diseases (2022). Journal information: Lancet Infectious Diseases Measuring the effects of COVID-19-related disruption on dengue transmission in southeast Asia and Latin America: a statistical modelling study,(2022). www.thelancet.com/journals/lan  (22)00025-1/fulltext
Figure 1. Comparison of ERSP and ITPC between control subjects and 22q11.2 deletion carriers. The top plots in panel A are time-frequency plots displaying the average pre- and poststimulus event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) in control subjects and deletion carriers, and the top plots in panel B display intertrial phase coherence (ITPC) amplitude in control subjects and deletion carriers. The outlined dotted boxes highlight the time window of statistically significant group differences in gamma and theta power. At the bottom, panel A shows significant delta ERSP and panel B shows significant delta ITPC, with t-values for statistically significant differences in theta and gamma band. Topographical maps display the clusters of electrodes showing statistically significant differences in the gamma and theta bands represented in the time-frequency plots. Power values are expressed in percent. Credit: American Journal of Psychiatry (2022). DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.21020190

Communication between brain areas is crucial for the brain to correctly process sensory signals and adopt an appropriate behavioral response. Yet, dysfunctions in these communication pathways could be strongly correlated with the onset of schizophrenia. For the first time, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, within the framework of the Synapsy National Centre of Competence in Research, has succeeded in demonstrating this phenomenon in human beings. By carrying out analyses of the brain activity of children, adolescents and young adults with a genetic risk of the disease, the research team has demonstrated that a reduction in the activation of gamma waves, that are known for their role in the proper transmission of information in the brain, was correlated with the emergence of psychotic symptoms even before full-blown disorders appear. This work, published in theAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, makes it possible to envisage a very early diagnosis.

In the mammalian brain, the electrical activity of neurons responds to oscillatory rhythms that can be detected by electroencephalography. The coordinated activation of these different waves, which governs, for example, the processing of sensory inputs or the consolidation of memories, enables the brain to function correctly. "We suspected that gamma waves, the highest frequency of the brain rhythms, play a decisive role in the development of schizophrenia symptoms," say Stephan Eliez, professor in the Department of Psychiatry, and Christoph Michel, professor in the Department of Basic Neuroscience, who co-directed the research. "However, we still had to confirm that this impaired synchronization of neural communication pathways observed in mice does indeed exist in humans."

Genetic predisposition

People with a chromosomal microdeletion 22q11 have a 25 to 30% risk of developing schizophrenia in adulthood. "They are therefore a particularly relevant at-risk population for studying the cerebral development of this disease," says Valentina Mancini, a doctoral student in Stephan Eliez's laboratory and the first author of this study. People with schizophrenia often suffer from reduced capacity to process auditory information; in order to detect any disturbance in brain communication, the scientists therefore measured gamma wave activation following an auditory stimulus in 22q11 patients of all ages, compared with people without this microdeletion.

"Children and adolescents at genetic risk of schizophrenic disorders but without visible symptoms showed the same patterns of gamma wave disruption as patients actually suffering from the disease," explains Vincent Rochas, a scientific collaborator in Christoph Michel's laboratory. In addition, a linear growth of the gamma-band oscillations was observed in people with no genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, showing a progressive maturation of communication between the cerebral areas during development. "However, this maturation is absent in 22q11 patients, whatever their age, suggesting an abnormal development of circuits underlying neural oscillations in adolescence," stresses Valentina Mancini.

Intervening as early as possible

The research team also identified a strong correlation between the gamma-band activation deficit and the severity of psychotic symptoms, such as auditory hallucinations, thus confirming the existence of a neurobiological progression of the disease. "Our results confirm that this dysfunction appears very early," the authors emphasize. "We now want to identify the best time during the child's development to intervene in relation to this pathological shift."

Moreover, studies on mice show that targeted neuroleptic treatments succeed in correcting neural dysfunctions; in addition, the gamma-band impairments identified here could be restored using techniques of non-invasive neurostimulation targeting the affected brain regions, thus opening the way to completely new therapeutic perspectives for treating an often devastating disease.

Explore further Auditory hallucinations rooted in aberrant brain connectivity

More information: Valentina Mancini et al, Aberrant Developmental Patterns of Gamma-Band Response and Long-Range Communication Disruption in Youths With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome, American Journal of Psychiatry (2022). Journal information: American Journal of Psychiatry Valentina Mancini et al, Aberrant Developmental Patterns of Gamma-Band Response and Long-Range Communication Disruption in Youths With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome,(2022). DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.21020190
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Following years of growing vaccine opposition and several outbreaks of measlesa vaccine-preventable diseaseFacebook established in 2019 its first policy to stop the spread of misinformation about vaccines. Researchers at the George Washington University wondered if the new policies actually worked to stop the spread of misinformation. Jiayan Gu, Ph.D. student along with Lorien Abroms, Professor of Prevention and Community Health and their colleagues created a new paradigm for evaluation of the policy. The team found that Facebook's policy did reduce people's interactions with vaccine misinformation.

"There is a growing consensus that health misinformation on social media platforms presents a critical challenge for public health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic," Abroms said. "While new policies by social media companies are an important first step to stopping the spread of misinformation, it is also necessary to rigorously evaluate these policies to ensure they are effective."

Gu, Abroms and their team identified l72 anti- and pro-vaccine Facebook Pages and collected posts from these Pages six months before and after the policy went into effect. The study found that Facebook's March 2019 vaccine misinformation policy moderately curtailed the number of "likes" of anti- vaccine content on Pages on its platform.

Gu and her colleagues conclude that social media companies can take measures to limit the popularity of anti-vaccine content on its platform.

"This research is a good first step in developing a process to evaluate the effectiveness of social media policies that are created to stop the spread of misinformation," Gu said. "We are excited to continue this work and grow our understanding of how social media policy interventions can positively change online information sharing ecosystems."

The study is funded by the GW Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics (IDDP), which launched in 2019 with the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. IDDP's mission is to help the public, journalists and policy makers understand digital media's influence on public dialogue and opinion, and to develop sound solutions to disinformation and other ills that arise in these spaces.

The study, "The Impact of Facebook's Vaccine Misinformation Policy on User Endorsements of Vaccine Content: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis" was published on March 2 in Vaccine.

More information: Jiayan Gu et al, The impact of Facebook's vaccine misinformation policy on user endorsements of vaccine content: An interrupted time series analysis, Vaccine (2022). Journal information: Vaccine Jiayan Gu et al, The impact of Facebook's vaccine misinformation policy on user endorsements of vaccine content: An interrupted time series analysis,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.02.062
Beta cells (green) produce the hormone insulin. Credit: Masur / Wikimedia Commons

Insulin is a vital hormone produced by pancreatic beta cells. Type 1 diabetes is caused by the destruction of these cells, which results in patients having to replace the lost insulin with multiple daily injections.

Insulin secretion can be restored in diabetic patients by transplanting beta cells isolated from the pancreas of a brain dead organ donor. However, this treatment has not been widely introduced, since cells from at least two donors are needed to cure one diabetic.

For a long time, attempts have been made to produce functional beta cells from stem cells, which could make this treatment increasingly common. However, the beta cells produced from stem cells have so far been immature, with poorly regulated insulin secretion. This may be a partial explanation for why no breakthroughs have been achieved in the clinical trials based on immature cells ongoing in the United States.

A research group headed by Professor Timo Otonkoski at the University of Helsinki, has carried out pioneering efforts to optimize the functionality of pancreatic cells produced from stem cells.

In a recently published extensive article, the group has demonstrated, for the first time, that stem cells can form cells that closely mimic normal pancreatic islets, in terms of both structure and function.

The article was published in the Nature Biotechnology journal and it has been mainly funded by the Academy of Finland Center of Excellence MetaStem.

"In our study, insulin secretion was regulated as usual in cells, and the cells responded to changes in the glucose level even better than the pancreatic islets isolated from organ donors that were used as controls," says Vaino Lithovius, a member of the research group.

The most comprehensive survey of beta cell function

The researchers demonstrated the function of stem cellderived beta cells in both cell cultures and mice studies. In the latter, the researchers demonstrated that stem cellderived beta cells transplanted into mice started effectively managing the glucose metabolism of the mice.

"Blood glucose levels are higher in mice than in humans, roughly 810 millimolar. After the cell transplantation, the level decreased to that seen in humans, roughly 45 millimolar. It remained at this level, proving that the stem cellderived transplant was capable of regulating blood glucose levels in mice," says researcher Jonna Saarimaki-Vire, who was responsible for the cell transplantation.

The survey of beta cell function now published is the most comprehensive in the field: in addition to insulin secretion, the researchers investigated the functionality of systems that regulate insulin secretion, including metabolism and ion channels, also connecting the findings to gene expression occurring during development.

"Our study will help further improve the production of stem cell islets, which will make it easier to utilize them in disease modeling and cell therapies," Timo Otonkoski says.

"I believe the international scholarly community values our efforts to validate stem cell islets as tools for diabetes research and cell therapies," says Professor Anders Tengholm from Uppsala University, who contributed to the study.

Explore further Boosting function and survival of stem cell-derived pancreatic cells by genetic engineering

More information: Diego Balboa et al, Functional, metabolic and transcriptional maturation of stem cell derived beta cells, Nature Biotechnology (2021). Journal information: Nature Biotechnology Diego Balboa et al, Functional, metabolic and transcriptional maturation of stem cell derived beta cells,(2021). DOI: 10.1101/2021.03.31.437748
Fig. 1: Diazepam alters dendritic spine density and dynamics in vivo. Credit: Nature Neuroscience (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01013-9

Benzodiazepines are effective and widely used drugs for treating states of anxiety and sleep disorders. While short-term treatments are considered safe, their long-term intake can lead to physical dependence and, particularly in the case of older people, to cognitive impairments. The mechanisms by which benzodiazepines trigger these changes had previously been unknown. Researchers led by Jochen Herms and Mario Dorostkar from LMU's Center for Neuropathology and Prion Research and the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) have now been able to demonstrate in an animal model that the active ingredient leads to the loss of neural connections in the brain.

A key role is played by immune cells of the brain known as microglia. Benzodiazepines bind to a specific protein, the translocator protein (TSPO), on the surface of cell organelles of the microglia. This binding activates the microglia, which then degrade and recycle synapsesthat is, the connections between nerve cells. Experiments carried out by the scientists showed that the synapse loss in mice that had received a daily sleep-inducing dose of the benzodiazepine diazepam for several weeks led to cognitive impairments.

"It was known that microglia play an important role in eliminating synapses both during brain development and in neurodegenerative diseases," say Dr. Yuan Shi and Mochen Cui, co-authors of the study. "But what really surprised us was that such well-researched drugs as benzodiazepines influence this process." When diazepam treatment was discontinued, the effect persisted for some time, but was ultimately reversible.

In the opinion of the researchers, the study could have effects on how sleep disorders and anxiety are treated in people at risk of dementia. "Drugs that are known to have no binding affinity to TSPO should be preferred where possible," say the authors.

More information: Yuan Shi et al, Long-term diazepam treatment enhances microglial spine engulfment and impairs cognitive performance via the mitochondrial 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO), Nature Neuroscience (2022). Journal information: Nature Neuroscience Yuan Shi et al, Long-term diazepam treatment enhances microglial spine engulfment and impairs cognitive performance via the mitochondrial 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO),(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41593-022-01013-9
Conservatives may not want to hear it, but the crowded right side of the GOP field again opens a path for a self-styled moderate like Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio or New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to run up the middle and capture the nomination. The first two hold the promise of delivering the Sunshine State's 29 crucial electoral votes, and Mr. Christie might be able to put states in the solidly blue Northeast like his own New Jersey into play. And remember: The votes of moderate Republicans in blue states count toward the nomination, too.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The female genital tract is naturally colonized by mixed communities of bacteria, known as the vaginal microbiome. When these communities are dominated by species such as Lactobacillus crispatus, they provide important protective functions in genital health. But overgrowth of certain other bacterial species is linked to a condition known as bacterial vaginosis (BV). BV affects nearly 30% of women around the world, carrying increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, andin pregnant individualspremature birth. Unfortunately, current antibiotic-based treatments for BV are poorly effective with high rates of recurrence.

One reason for BV recurrence may be that treatment often causes the microbiome to become dominated by a species called Lactobacillus iners instead of by L. crispatus. In a paper published this week in Nature Microbiology, researchers at the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Massachursetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard and colleagues show that L. iners has unique nutritional requirements that distinguish it from L. crispatus, potentially allowing it to be targeted using novel therapeutic strategies.

"L. iners is the most abundant and common vaginal bacterial species worldwide, but it is poorly studied because scientists have had difficulty growing it in lab under conditions used to culture species like L. crispatus," explains Seth Bloom, MD, Ph.D., an Instructor in the Infectious Diseases division at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who was lead author on the study. Bloom and colleagues found that adding the amino acid cysteine to standard Lactobacillus culture media allowed them to grow L. iners strains from samples collected from U.S. and South African women.

Surprisingly, when the researchers analyzed a novel collection of more than 1,200 vaginal Lactobacillus genomes from more than 300 women across four continents, they found that none of the species were able to make their own cysteine. This finding was confirmed in experiments conducted with Ben Woolston, Ph.D., and Emily Balskus, Ph.D., at the Harvard Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The team therefore hypothesized that all vaginal Lactobacillus species require external cysteine sources. They measured cysteine concentrations in vaginal fluid samples from South African women with high rates of BV, finding that higher vaginal cysteine levels were linked to Lactobacillus-dominant microbiomes while BV was associated with low cysteine levels.

"The results suggested all vaginal lactobacilli acquire cysteine from their environment, but L. iners's ability to do so was more limited than other species," says Bloom. "Indeed, when we looked at the genomes, we saw that all species except L. iners had multiple systems that are predicted to transport cysteine or its oxidized form, cystine." The team therefore tested effects of compounds known to inhibit cystine uptake, finding that cystine uptake inhibitors selectively blocked growth of L. iners in the lab, but not other Lactobacillus species.

"These findings were exciting because they suggested a way to improve BV treatment by blocking L. iners growth in favor of more health-associated species like L. crispatus," explains co-author Nomfuneko Mafunda, an MPH candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who contributed to this study while working as a technician at the Ragon Institute. To test this idea, Bloom and Mafunda constructed mixed bacterial communities including L. iners, L. crispatus, and various BV-associated bacteria in the laboratory. They then treated the communities with an antibiotic commonly used for BV therapy, with a cystine uptake inhibitor, or a combination of the two. Their results showed that the combination allowed L. crispatus to outcompete other species more effectively than the antibiotic alone.

The researchers believe these results suggest a path to better therapies. "One reason it's been difficult to develop effective BV treatments is that we haven't had the correct tools to study the vaginal microbiome in the lab," says Doug Kwon, MD, Ph.D., Ragon core member and senior author on the study. "Here, developing the right tool to cultivate L. iners in the lab immediately translated into an important finding that will hopefully lead to improved therapies for BV."

The team emphasizes that several important questions remain. It isn't yet clear how L. iners takes up cysteine from its environment, and more potent versions of the inhibitors may need to be developed before the strategy can be used to treat patients. Even so, the study is a promising step forward for this common but difficult-to-treat condition.

Study co-authors include: Seth M. Bloom, Nomfuneko A. Mafunda, Benjamin M. Woolston, Matthew R. Hayward, Josephine F. Frempong, Aaron B. Abai, Jiawu Xu, Alissa J. Mitchell, Xavier Westergaard, Fatima A. Hussain, Nondumiso Xulu, Mary Dong, Krista L. Dong, Thandeka Gumbi, F. Xolisile Ceasar, Justin K. Rice, Namit Choksi, Nasreen Ismail, Thumbi Ndung'u, Musie S. Ghebremichael, David A. Relman, Emily P. Balskus, Caroline M. Mitchell, and Douglas S. Kwon.

Explore further Vaginal microbes influence whether mucus can trap HIV virus

More information: Seth M. Bloom et al, Cysteine dependence of Lactobacillus iners is a potential therapeutic target for vaginal microbiota modulation, Nature Microbiology (2022). Journal information: Nature Microbiology Seth M. Bloom et al, Cysteine dependence of Lactobacillus iners is a potential therapeutic target for vaginal microbiota modulation,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01070-7
A deer grazes in an Ontario forest. Credit: Ali Kazal photo/Unsplash

A team of researchers from Dalhousie and other Canadian organizations has discovered what could be the first link between a case of COVID-19 in deer and humans, suggesting in a new paper that the virus can be transmitted from wildlife to people.

Finlay Maguire, a data scientist and assistant professor in Dal's Faculty of Computer Science and Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, participated in the national research project that has been monitoring the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in animals.

The paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed and is published on the online preprint server bioRxiv, explains that while there is evidence of spillover of the COVID-19 virus from humans to white-tailed deer there has not yet been any clear finding of such transmission from deer to people.

"In terms of this specific lineage, it is not highly concerning as of now. We haven't detected any additional related human cases and experimental work suggests that current mRNA vaccines would be effective at protecting against this lineage," says Dr. Maguire.

"However, the general evolutionary scenario this represents is of concern: SARS-CoV-2 viruses undergoing extensive evolution within animal populations and then transmitting back to humans."

New lineage

The multidisciplinary team, made up of researchers from several universities, federal, and provincial government agencies, identified a new and highly divergent lineage of SARS-CoV-2 that has 76 mutations, including 37 previously associated with animal hosts. Of those, 23 were not previously reported in deer.

Analysis also revealed an epidemiologically linked human case from the same region of Ontario during the same sampling period.

"Together, our findings represent the first evidence of a highly divergent lineage of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer and of deer-to-human transmission," the authors state.

The discovery is significant since scientists have been keeping a close eye on wild animal populations to determine whether they could generate new variants or harbor the current SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The team analyzed samples from hundreds of deer killed by hunters in Ontario in 2021. They compared the pattern of mutations in virus from the deer and a person who had been in contact with deer in the area, finding strong similarities. They also used those patterns to try and recreate the "family tree" of these viruses, which tells them the virus they found in a human is likely recently descended from a deer SARS-CoV-2 virus.

By sequencing this virus, they also found signs that suggest it has been spreading and evolving within deer for the last one to two years. And, that is had a very different genetic profile from the omicron and delta variants.

Contact with humans

Scientists have long known that SARS-CoV-2 can infect a large range of mammals and likely first originated within animal populations, with research pointing to a market in Wuhan, China, as the origin of the coronavirus pandemic. New studies recently found that the virus was likely present in live animals sold in a seafood market in late 2019 and infected people working or shopping there.

SARS-CoV-2 has been identified in wild white-tailed deer across North America. This is potentially a problem as there are a lot of deer, they move around a lot and they have a lot of contact with humans and other animals, says Dr. Maguire.

"This means if SARS-CoV-2 is able to stably spread within deer and transmit back to humans it could represent a difficult-to-control source of new variants."

"Our findings likely represent the latest hop of the virus between animals and humans: from animals into humans during the original Wuhan event(s), back into animals such as mink and deer around 2020, then this latest transmission from deer to a human."

Dr. Maguire says the findings point to the need for greater monitoring and study of viruses in wild animal populations, saying "the limited amount of work looking at SARS-CoV-2 in animals means there is a lot of missing information about the specifics of how, when, and why these transitions occur or their impact on human health."

The Public Health Agency of Canada is advising "people who hunt, trap or work closely with or handle wildlife to take precautions to prevent the potential spread of the virus." It states on its website that there has been one case of suspected deer-to-human transmission, adding that it appears to be an isolated case and that animal-to-human transmission is likely very uncommon.

Explore further Canada confirms first COVID cases in wildlife

More information: Bradley Pickering et al, Highly divergent white-tailed deer SARS-CoV-2 with potential deer-to-human transmission (2022). Bradley Pickering et al, Highly divergent white-tailed deer SARS-CoV-2 with potential deer-to-human transmission (2022). DOI: 10.1101/2022.02.22.481551
A new report recommends screening be introduced for lung and prostate cancers, and that existing programmes for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer be improved. Such changes across Europe will detect more cancers, earlier. Credit:  Stokkete, Shutterstock

Don't underestimate the lifesaving ability of cancer screening. For lung cancer and prostate cancer, screening is recommended across the EU, based on the most up-to-date evidence. Also, existing cervical, breast and colorectal cancer screening programs can be improved, according to an expert report to the European Commission.

In 2020, 2.7 million citizens in the European Union were diagnosed with cancer, and 1.3 million people lost their lives to cancer. Most EU countries now screen for cervical cancer, breast cancer and colorectal cancer. But the new scientific advice supports updating screening advice for all Member States. Earlier diagnosis saves lives.

"There is no process to detect lung cancer early right now," said Professor Harry de Koning, cancer scientist at Erasmus MC in the Netherlands. "Lung cancer is simply detected by symptoms." Unfortunately, if a person has a persistent cough or blood from the lungs the cancer is likely advanced, with little chance of a cure.

A new report recommends screening be introduced for lung and prostate cancers, and that existing programs for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer be improved. Such changes across Europe will detect more cancers, earlier.

Earlier detection is a game changer. Low-dose CT scanning can pick out 85 to 90% of lung cancers four years earlier. If you find the cancer early enough, advised Prof. de Koning, robotic surgery with small incisions can remove just part of a patient's lung and cure the disease.

Perhaps the biggest change is that there is now strong scientific evidence for introducing lung screening with computer tomography (CT) scanning for current and ex-smokers. This could have the biggest impact in terms of lives saved.

A lung cancer screen will also give doctors an opportunity to talk to tobacco smokers about quitting, and screening can save the lives of those who quit many years ago. "Even those who stopped smoking 30 to 40 years ago, unfortunately, are still at risk of lung cancer," explained Prof. de Koning, who was involved in expert discussions on screening.

The approach to screening will vary between countries and regions, said Dr. Eva Kondorosi, a biochemist and research professor at the Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. She is also a member of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the European Commission who helped lead the assessment. "There is so much difference in consumption of cigarettes and also incidence of lung cancer," she noted, that countries will need to devise their own programs.

"Population-based screenings are major tools to help detecting cancer early, which in turn gives the best chances of survival," said Dr. Kondrosi in support of the Scientific Opinion released on 2 March.

Another recommendation, drawn up by the Scientific Advice Mechanism of the EU, is to screen for prostate cancer using blood tests. Though controversial in the past, a test based on detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein produced by the prostate gland, is highly effective in identifying men who would benefit from further magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning tests.

Knowing who to screen is important, as a positive test in men aged over 80 years of age is not helpful. But it is hugely beneficial to younger men. Like lung cancer, symptoms of prostate cancer only come when the disease is at a late stage. "That's why you need to do these tests earlier, to find it earlier," said Prof. de Koning, who co-chaired the expert group.

Existing screens

When evidence changes, medical advice should change. Until recently, most breast cancer screening programs in Europe began in women aged 50 or so. The advice now is that mammography screening should begin in women in their mid to late 40s, and that an MRI scan should be considered for women with dense breast tissue.

It is normal for some women, perhaps 10%, to have especially dense breast tissue. But this makes cancer difficult to detect using mammographs. "A big trial we ran in the Netherlands showed the value of MRI screening in these women," said Prof. de Koning, reported here. Putting extra resources into MRI scans should save lives and money, according to the expert group.

Another improvement is to move away from smear tests, where cells are examined for signs of cervical cancer under a microscope. A more effective approach is to test for the presence of human papilloma virus (HPV) strains linked to cervical cancer. "Cervical cancer is rare without an HPV infection," said Prof, Koning. "HPV testing is more sensitive and more effective than Pap smears."

If HPV is detected, then a woman would need further tests. But testing for the virus can exclude those who are not at risk. Eventually, it is hoped that HPV vaccines will almost eliminate this cancer.

A fifth recommendation is for colorectal cancer screening. This involves transitioning towards the fecal immunochemical test, as well as adjusting what constitutes a positive test and the frequency of testing by age, sex and previous test results. "In many countries, you can now do this test yourself and post it back to the laboratory," said Prof. Koning. "And it's a better test."

Saving lives

The expert group also looked at a range of other cancers to see if screening was justified. There was not sufficient evidence to support screening for oesophageal, pancreatic or ovarian cancer. "There was a big trial for ovarian cancer and it simply didn't manage to find ovarian cancer earlier," said Prof. de Koning, which is unfortunate, since ovarian cancer is often fatal.

Experts hope that in future blood tests will be able to identify tell-tale signs of these cancers. Dr. Kondorosi notes that pancreatic cancer is difficult to recognize and often fatal within a few months of being diagnosed. "If we can learn how to screen for it, this would save a lot of lives," she adds. There is a clinical trial looking at a blood test for this cancer and guidance might change in a year or two, she notes.

Screening for gastric cancer was also considered, but Europe-wide action was not recommended. "The incidence rate is different between countries [for gastric cancer]," said Dr. Kondorosi. "It was so much higher in Baltic countries and in Portugal." In these countries, screening for the bacterial infection Helicobacter pyloria major cause of gastric cancercould be considered, especially because this infection can quite easily be treated, added Dr. Kondorosi.

The recommendations came after a review of scientific studies and clinical trials and discussions among dozens of top experts at three separate workshops, as well as patient groups.

Dr. Kondorosi said that almost all Member States run screening programs for breast, colorectal and cervical cancer, but that in some countries, participation could be better. She hopes that the official guidance will assist countries in introducing improvements and saving lives.

The overall economic impact of cancer in Europe is estimated to vault 100 billion each year. Lives lost to cancer will rise by more than 24% by 2035, it is estimated, making it the leading cause of death in the EU.

Prof. de Koning has been involved in evaluating cancer screening for almost three decades. He is optimistic that new screening advice, such as for lung cancer, and changes to existing cancer screening will prevent many cancer deaths when widely adopted by EU members.

Explore further Why Black women need to be screened for cervical cancer

More information: Improving Cancer Screening in the European Union: Improving Cancer Screening in the European Union: sapea.info/wp-content/uploads/  screening-report.pdf
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

An analysis of health data for nearly 312,400 current drinkers suggests consuming alcohol, most notably wine, with meals is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference 2022.

"The effects of alcohol consumption on health have been described as a double-edged sword because of its apparent abilities to cut deeply in either directionharmful or helpful, depending on how it is consumed," said study author Hao Ma, M.D., Ph.D., a biostatistical analyst at the Tulane University Obesity Research Center in New Orleans. "Previous studies have focused on how much people drink and have had mixed results. Very few studies have focused on other drinking details, such as the timing of alcohol intake."

Alcohol consumption is linked to short- and long-term health risks, including motor vehicle crashes, violence, sexual risk behaviors, high blood pressure, obesity, stroke, breast cancer, liver disease, depression, suicide, accidents, alcohol abuse and alcoholism. These health risks increase as the amount of alcohol an individual drinks increases. For some cancers and other health conditions, the risk increases even at very low levels of alcohol consumptionless than one drink daily.

The American Heart Association and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that adults who do not drink alcohol should not start. Among those who drink alcohol regularly, they should talk with their doctors about the benefits and risks of consuming alcohol in moderation. Some people should not drink at all, including women who are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, people under the age of 21 and people with certain health conditions.

A key for those who already drink alcohol is moderation. Moderate drinking is defined as one glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage daily for women and up to two glasses daily for men. That works out to be up to 14 grams, or about 150 ml, of wine a day for women and up to 28 grams, or about 300 ml, of wine daily for men, according to Ma.

"Clinical trials have also found that moderate drinking may have some health benefits, including on glucose metabolism. However, it remains unclear whether glucose metabolism benefits translate into a reduction of type 2 diabetes," he said. "In our study, we sought to determine if the association between alcohol intake and risk of type 2 diabetes might differ by the timing of alcohol intake with respect to meals."

In this study researchers specifically examined the effect moderate drinking may have related to new-onset type 2 diabetes among all study participants over about 11 years (between 2006 and 2010). Data was reviewed for nearly 312,400 adults from the UK Biobank who self-reported themselves as regular alcohol drinkers. The participants did not have diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or cancer at the time of study enrollment. People who reduced their alcohol consumption due to illness, doctor's advice or pregnancy were excluded from the study. The average age of participants was about 56 years, slightly more than half of the adults were women and 95% were white adults.

The analysis found:

During an average of nearly 11 years of follow-up, about 8,600 of the adults in the study developed type 2 diabetes.

Consuming alcohol with meals was associated with a 14% lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared to consuming alcohol without eating food.

The potential benefit of moderate drinking on type 2 diabetes risk was evident only among the people who drank alcohol during meals, although the specific time of meals was not collected in this study.

The beneficial association between alcohol drinking with meals and type 2 diabetes was most common among the participants who drank wine vs. other types of alcohol.

Consuming wine, beer and liquor had different associations with type 2 diabetes risk. While a higher amount of wine intake was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, a higher amount of beer or liquor was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

"The message from this study is that drinking moderate amounts of wine with meals may prevent type 2 diabetes if you do not have another health condition that may be negatively affected by moderate alcohol consumption, and in consultation with your doctor," Ma said.

Despite the findings of this robust analysis of healthy drinkers, the relationship between alcohol consumption and new-onset type 2 diabetes remains controversial, according to Robert H. Eckel, M.D., FAHA, a past president (2005-2006) of the American Heart Association, who was not involved in the study.

"These data suggest that it's not the alcohol with meals but other ingredients in wine, perhaps antioxidants, that may be the factor in potentially reducing new-onset type 2 diabetes. While the type of wine, red versus white, needs to be defined, and validation of these findings and mechanisms of benefit are needed, the results suggest that if you are consuming alcohol with meals, wine may be a better choice," said Eckel, professor of medicine, emeritus in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes and the Division of Cardiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

A study limitation is that most of those participating were self-reported white adults and of European descent. It is unknown whether the findings can be generalized to other populations.

Co-authors are Xuan Wang, M.D., Ph.D.; Xiang Li, M.D., Ph.D.; Yoriko Heianza, Ph.D.; and Lu Qi, M.D., Ph.D., FAHA.

Explore further New study finds 14 units of alcohol a week still harmful to health

More information: This preliminary research was presented at the American Heart Association's This preliminary research was presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Conference 2022
WEDNESDAY, March 2, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- A new "test to treat" plan will be a key part of a revamped national strategy to return the country to normal, President Joe Biden announced during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night.

The new testing initiative would provide Americans with new antiviral medications as soon as they learn they are infected, Biden said during his speech.

The White House has been working on a new COVID-19 response strategy, which unnamed officials told The New York Times would be introduced on Wednesday. The sweeping plan would include developing new vaccines and treatments while coming up with ways to keep schools and businesses open even if new variants surface and surge.

The "test to treat" concept appears to be a centerpiece of the new strategy. Under the program, Biden said, Americans could get tested for COVID-19 at a pharmacy and, if they are positive, "receive antiviral pills on the spot at no cost." Although the pills, made by Pfizer, have been relatively scarce since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved them late last year, Biden said in his speech that "Pfizer is working overtime to get us one million pills this month and more than double that next month."

The initiative will also include educating the public about the availability of new antiviral treatments and the importance of taking them as soon as symptoms start, an official told The Times. The federal government will also distribute antiviral pills directly to long-term care facilities.

Furthermore, top federal health officials have been poring over a 136-page blueprint from outside experts whose recommendations include stronger air filtration systems in public buildings, billions of dollars in research, and a major upgrade to the nation's public health system.

"I cannot promise a new variant won't come," Biden said. "But I can promise you we'll do everything within our power to be ready if it does."

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THURSDAY, March 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- About 2 million adults worldwide undergo heart surgery each year, and checking blood levels of a certain protein could help assess their risk of death within 30 days, a new study shows.

Blood tests to check levels of troponin (a type of protein found in heart muscle) have long been used to evaluate the risk of death and serious complications after heart attack, but the tests are not commonly done after heart surgery.

This new study found that elevated troponin levels were associated with an increased risk of death after heart bypass or open heart surgery.

"This study is a landmark for the health teams taking care of patients after cardiac surgery," said study co-author Andre Lamy, a professor of surgery at McMaster University in Canada.

"For the first time, we have a marker that is fast and reliable for the monitoring of these patients after cardiac surgery," Lamy said in a university news release.

This study included nearly 16,000 adult heart surgery patients, average age 63, in 12 countries. By 30 days after surgery, more than 2% of patients had died, and about 3% had experienced a major vascular complication, such as heart attack, stroke or a life-threatening blood clot.

The patients' troponin levels were measured before and daily for the first few days after surgery.

"We found that the levels of troponin associated with an increased risk of death within 30 days were substantially higher  200 to 500 times the normal value  than troponin levels that surgical teams are currently told defines the risk of a patient having one of the most common complications after heart surgery  myocardial injury, a heart muscle injury associated with increased deaths," said lead study author P.J. Devereaux. He's a senior scientist at McMaster and a cardiologist at Hamilton Health Sciences.

The study was published March 2 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

More information

There's more on heart surgery at the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

SOURCE: McMaster University, news release, March 2, 2022

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THURSDAY, March 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Folks tussling with lousy sleep often turn to the sidewalk or the treadmill or the bike, figuring that aerobic exercise will earn them a few more minutes of solid snoozing.

They might be better off hefting some weights, a new study argues.

Resistance exercise appears to be better than aerobic workouts as a way to improve your 40 winks if you're having problems sleeping, researchers reported Thursday at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.

For study participants who had been unable to regularly get at least seven hours of sleep, weight training added an average 40 minutes of shuteye, said lead researcher Angelique Brellenthin, an assistant professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University.

By comparison, aerobic exercise increased sleep time by 23 minutes for another group with similar sleep problems, Brellenthin said.

"Basically, resistance exercise almost doubled the amount of additional sleep duration they got as a result of being part of this study," she said.

Between 30% and 50% of adults report having poor quality sleep, and more than a third regularly get less than seven hours, researchers said in background notes.

Poor sleep isn't just an annoyance -- it's a health hazard. Bad sleep increases your overall risk of death by 24%, and your risk of heart-related death by 42%, researchers said.

It's been known for some time that aerobic exercise can improve sleep, but few studies have looked at whether weight training could provide the same sort of benefits, Brellenthin said.

So she and her colleagues analyzed data from a study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health looking at the way exercise can improve health. As part of the study, participants were asked about their sleep.

The study included 386 people who were randomly assigned to one of four groups -- an aerobic exercise team, a resistance training team, a combined aerobic/resistance exercise squad, and a control group assigned no exercise.

Aerobics folks could sweat it out on a treadmill, a bicycle or an elliptical, while the weight training group was asked to complete a full circuit on 12 resistance machines that worked all the major muscle groups, researchers said.

All were asked to work out for an hour three times a week, for a full year. Researchers evaluated their health at six months and one year.

Exercise didn't make much difference to people who already slept well, Brellenthin said.

"The people who were already good sleepers at baseline, the entire study didn't really do much to further improve their sleep," she said.

But any exercise helped improve bad sleep, and resistance exercise most of all. The poor sleepers in the combined exercise group had their sleep improve by about 17 minutes.

Why might strength training promote better sleep?

One possible explanation, Brellenthin said, is that weight lifting promotes release of hormones that support muscle growth.

"Maybe resistance exercise is a way to stimulate or reinvigorate those types of hormones that have been more broadly associated with better, deeper sleep," she said.

Another possibility involves a theory that sleep is a time the body takes to restore and repair itself, Brellenthin said. Vigorous weight training is meant to create lots of tiny muscle tears that, when repaired, lead to bigger and stronger muscles.

"When you work out on 12 different resistance exercise machines that stimulate all major muscles of the body, that's a pretty powerful body-wide stimulus that might be sending a strong signal to the brain -- hey, this person needs to undergo some major restorative processes tonight, let's make sure they sleep and sleep deeply," Brellenthin said.

The findings are "novel and intriguing," said Pamela Lutsey, an associate professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis.

"Clearly, there are benefits to both resistance training and aerobic exercise, and both are recommended in the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans," she said. "Aerobic exercise often gets the most attention, but resistance training is an important part of those recommendations as well."

Lutsey, who wasn't part of the study, said more research would be needed to find out if one or the other is better in terms of improving sleep quality.

Findings presented at medical meetings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

Johns Hopkins has more about exercising for better sleep.

SOURCES: Angelique Brellenthin, PhD, MS, assistant professor, kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames; Pamela Lutsey, PhD, MPH, associate professor, epidemiology and community health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis; American Heart Association meeting, Chicago, presentation, March 3, 2022

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THURSDAY, March 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Each year, RSV sends as many as 58,000 kids under age 5 to U.S. hospitals, but a vaccine in development may dramatically reduce the risk for severe illness.

RSV, short for Respiratory Syncytial Virus, typically circulates in fall, winter and spring, causing congestion, runny nose, fever, cough and sore throat. But it can lead to lung infections in some babies, including preemies and those with underlying medical conditions.

Right now, the only available way to prevent RSV is an injection medicine called palivizumab, which requires five shots for season-long protection. Palivizumab is only approved for infants who are at high risk for severe RSV.

But things may be about to change.

One shot of a monoclonal antibody called nirsevimab could protect all infants against RSV for the entire season, according to a pair of studies published March 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Nirsevimab, a long-acting monoclonal antibody, is under development by Sanofi and AstraZeneca. (Palivizumab is also a monoclonal antibody, but its protection doesn't last as long as nirsevimab, so more doses are needed.)

"As a pediatrician and neonatologist, I have seen many babies become very ill and require hospitalization with RSV, and should nirsevimab become widely available, I would advise parents to strongly consider the injection prior to RSV season," said Dr. Jennifer Kurtz, director of pediatrics and neonatology at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in Queens, N.Y.

"Nirsevimab is a safe and effective injection to prevent RSV in both healthy babies, and those who are more medically vulnerable," said Kurtz, who reviewed the new studies.

While RSV produces only cold symptoms in some infants, others arent as lucky, she said.

"RSV can cause difficulties with breathing in babies and children," Kurtz said. "Older infants who are hospitalized with RSV may face an increased risk of developing asthma or chronic wheezing later on in childhood."

In one study of 1,490 healthy newborns, nirsevimab was 74.5% effective against lower respiratory tract infections caused by RSV that required medical attention.

In all, 1.2% of infants who received the investigational shot needed medical attention for RSV, compared with 5% of those who received a placebo, the phase 3 clinical trial data showed.

"These exciting data show that nirsevimab has the potential to offer RSV protection for all infants, which would be a paradigm shift in the approach to this disease," said study author Dr. William Muller. He's the scientific director of clinical and community trials at Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, and spoke in a hospital news release.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration usually requires a phase 3 clinical trial before approving a new medication.

In the other study, a phase 2/3 trial found that one shot of nirsevimab was as safe as palivizumab for infants who were born premature or with heart or lung disease.

Dr. Shabir Madhi, a co-author of that study, said the new drug "provides the opportunity of protecting infants, including high-risk groups such as those born prematurely, with chronic lung or congenital heart disease, against the leading cause of hospitalization for lower respiratory tract infections among infants globally."

Madhi is a professor of vaccinology at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.

This is "a major leap from the only other current prophylaxis against RSV, which needs to be given monthly throughout the course of the RSV season," Madhi said.

Nirsevimab could be substantially less costly and easier to administer, he said.

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics offers more information on RSV and how to treat it.

SOURCES: Jennifer Kurtz, DO, director, pediatrics-neonatology, Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, Queens, N.Y.; Shabir Madhi, MBBCh, PhD, dean of faculty of health sciences and professor, vaccinology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, news release, March 2, 2022; New England Journal of Medicine, March 3, 2022

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THURSDAY, March 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Telemedicine was widely used by Americans with multiple sclerosis (MS) during the pandemic, and many were happy with the results, a new study finds.

"The findings suggest that telehealth services were well liked during the pandemic. Because many individuals with MS have physical disability that may make travel more difficult, temporary expansions of telehealth coverage should be made permanent after the pandemic in order to expand access and reduce health care disparities," said lead author Michelle Chen. She is a core member of Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, and neurology instructor at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.

MS is a chronic and progressive neurological disorder and the leading cause of non-injury-related disability among young and middle-aged adults.

People with MS require regular medical care, so health care providers were concerned about how medical facility closures and social distancing measures during the early stages of the pandemic would affect the health of their MS patients.

For the study, the researchers used online survey data collected between September and October 2020 to assess rates of health care disruptions  such as missing or canceling appointments and experiencing delays  and the use of telehealth for medical and mental health care of people with and without MS.

Rates of telehealth appointments were nearly twice as high as in-person visits for medical care and more than five times higher than in-person visits for mental health care, the investigators found.

And, according to the study published online recently in the journal Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, people with MS were more likely to use telehealth services than people without MS.

"The current study significantly contributes to our understanding of health care utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic," study corresponding author Helen Genova, a research assistant professor at Rutgers University-New Jersey Medical School, said in a Rutgers news release.

More information

For more on MS, go to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

SOURCE: Rutgers University, news release, March 1, 2022

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The share of female state legislators steadily rose from the 1970s through the mid-1990s, when the numbers began to level off. There are many potential reasons for this recent stagnation, most of which have nothing to do with district magnitude. Studies show that the inability to elect women to office has to more to do with "pipeline" issues like the failure to encourage, fund and support women to run for office or even become involved in politics in the first place. No structural change can solve these problems that stem from political socialization that signals to women and even girls that politics is a man's world.
Snapshot of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

Xinhua) 08:21, March 03, 2022

People get information of electronic devices at the Oppo stand at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

A woman tries VR glasses at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

A man tries VR HaptX gloves and glasses at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

Visitors watch an immersive 360 holographic show at Barcelona Looks Up stand at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

People watch a demo of Boston Dynamics SPOT at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

People walk past Samsung's pavilion at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

A visitor is seen at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

A man experiences a driving simulator at Dell stand at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

Visitors watch an immersive 360 holographic show at Barcelona Looks Up stand at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

A man wears a VR HaptX Gloves and glasses at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, March 2, 2022. The 2022 edition of the Mobile World Congress opened its doors on Feb. 28, for a four-day event that is expected to host between 40,000 and 60,000 people. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Everybody knows the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Ft. Sumter, and many recall that South Carolina was the first to secede. But before that, in November 1860, the first formal call to secede and form what became the Confederacy was issued on what's known as Secession Hill in Abbeville, a small town in the western part of South Carolina. So fervent was South Carolina's devotion to slavery that the state actually threatened to secede from the Confederacy when the other 10 Confederate states refused to join South Carolina's call to begin importing slaves more than a half-century after the Constitution's original, 1808 deadline.
A 20-year-old man accused of barging into an apartment in Butte and trying to sexually assault a 68-year-old woman will spend at least two more weeks in jail before he is arraigned.

Tyrone David Daniely was set for an initial hearing Wednesday and appeared via video from jail, but he would not waive his right to appear in court with his attorney, Victor Bunitsky, who was appearing by Zoom from another location.

Daniely, who is listed as homeless in court records, is charged with aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated sexual intercourse without consent.

Defendants have been appearing for court mostly via video  from jail or other places if theyve posted bond  ever since COVID hit in March 2020. But they have a right to appear in court in person if they want.

Most waive that right so court proceedings can be held without delay, but in a rare occurrence, Daniely would not do that. District Court Judge Robert Whelan postponed the first hearing, which usually entails initial pleas, so Bunitsky and his client can appear in court together.

Prosecutors say Daniely pushed his way into an apartment at Silver Bow Homes on Dec. 23, pushed a woman to the floor, grabbed her by the throat and tried to force oral sex.

When police arrived, they found the door open and the woman on the floor crying hysterically. She told officers he had me by the throat and was going to rape me.

She said she was able to break free and Daniely took off. Police quickly found and arrested him. He remains in jail with bond set at $100,000.

The attempted aggravated sexual intercourse charge carries a minimum 10-year sentence upon conviction with a maximum of 100 years. Aggravated burglary is punishable by up to 40 years in prison.

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A man accused of waving a machete and breaking things in a house while threatening two people inside will soon be in custody of state prison officials.

District Judge Robert Whelan sentenced 30-year-old Brendan Lee White to five years with the Montana Department of Corrections on Wednesday and recommended he take part in a prison program for chemical dependency.

He was initially charged with assault with a weapon and misdemeanor theft and criminal mischief, but in an agreement with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to felony criminal endangerment. It carries a maximum 10-year prison term, compared to 20 years for assault with a weapon.

White appeared via video from jail and told Whelan he was pleased with the plea deal and sentence.

I need to get my things on track, he said. Im happy with this and happy the way things are looking.

A man told police that White was homeless so he let him stay in the basement of his house one night. The next day, this past Jan. 12, he started talking about his girlfriend breaking up with him and became angry.

According to prosecutors, White pulled out a machete and began waving it around. He started breaking things, threatened to kill the man and a woman and said he would burn the house down. He also told the woman he would sell her to the sex trade for $5,000.

White violated probation terms in a previous case with the machete incident but the sentence covers both cases. He was given 187 days credit for time served in both cases and it will be subtracted from his five-year sentence.

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Not long after Butte-Silver Bow commissioners settled a months-long debate over fireworks, another one began.

This time, it lasted 11 minutes.

Thats how long it took commissioners on Wednesday night to snuff out a proposal from a group of residents to move the annual July 3 fireworks show from the M on Big Butte to the Bell Diamond Mineyard.

With the discussions Ive had with people, even after this was only in the newspaper a day or so ago, they overwhelmingly, more than any event that Ive ever dealt with in the years I have been on here, state that they dont want it moved, said Commissioner Jim Fisher.

After a little discussion and a motion by Commissioner Bill Andersen to delay action so the council could get more input on the proposal, Fisher said they should kill it then and there.

Theres no need to kick this thing around, he said. The public has spoken, and you know what theyre telling us? Do your job commissioners, deny that communication. So do your job commissioners and deny this communication.

And with that, they did, on a 10-1 vote.

Andersen was the no vote and Commissioner Cindi Shaw did not vote because she was presiding over the meeting in place of Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher, who was absent.

In such cases, the chair only votes to break ties.

Shaw had recommended going into the meeting that the issue be delayed a week so the council could get more input, and said she would have sided with Andersen if she could have voted. But it would have only made it a 10-2 tally.

The fireworks show has been staged from the M for more than four decades, although one reader of a Montana Standard story about the proposal on Tuesday said it goes much further back.

A group of eight residents, including former commissioners Mike Sheehy and Ristine Hall, had proposed the change. Moving the launch site eastward to the Bell Diamond would make the fireworks visible to all of Butte and pay homage to Buttes mining past, they said.

But most importantly, Sheehy said, it would be safer.

In the forty-plus years that our city has enjoyed fireworks off the M, plants, trees and grasses have made a great comeback on the hill, Sheehy wrote in a letter to council. As such, many residents have growing concerns about the fire danger associated with the fireworks.

Butte-Silver Bow Fire Chief Zach Osborne told the Standard this week that any major fireworks show presents fire concerns, no matter where the launch site is. The Big Butte near Montana Tech was no exception.

We do have multiple fires every year on that hillside during the show, Osborne said. That hillside gets little spot fires, but luckily, weve been able to put those fires out fairly fast before they spread. If it happened to be a windy night, it would be basically a different story.

Sheehy spoke briefly to commissioners before the vote.

Im kind of a nervous Nellie about everything. I grew up Irish, Catholic and drunk, so you know, I worry all that time about things, he said, laughing. But you know, really, I want everyone to remember that theres been a lot of fires out there and the forest has grown and the grass is knee high.

Butte-Silver Bow owns the Big Butte and the Bell Diamond Mineyard, but for many years now, Town Pump has sponsored the July 3 fireworks show.

Kitty Brilliant, in an online post to the Standards story on Tuesday, said she was 78 and grew up on West Woolman Street.

The fireworks were set off from the top of Big Butte since I was a kid. Just so you know, she wrote.

Commissioners already made one change to fireworks tradition this year when they reduced a 12-day window for selling and lighting fireworks around the Fourth of July to eight days. That debate lasted nearly eight months.

Fisher urged commissioners to bypass yet another fireworks debate this time.

Im a firm believer that we shouldnt be trying to fix things that arent broken, he said.

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Montana State University Billings administrators will consider renaming McMullen Hall after a historian discovered quotes that the building's namesake, Lynn Banks McMullen, made in the 1930s sympathizing with Nazi Germany.

MSUB Chancellor Stefani Hicswa has formed a task force to review the statements from McMullen, and submit a recommendation to her office, according to the university.

A recommendation from the university to rename the building would ultimately need to be brought before the Board of Regents for consideration, wrote MSUB Director of Communications and Marketing Maureen Brakke.

Built in 1935, McMullen Hall was the first structure at what was then Eastern Montana Normal School. McMullen, born in Indiana in 1875, earned a doctorate from the Teachers College at Columbia University and was named the first president of Eastern Montana State Normal in 1927. He died in 1963, and is buried in Polson.

In contemporary newspaper clippings provided by the university, McMullen is quoted as lauding Hitlers campaign to sterilize those deemed by the dictator's regime as inferior. Articles that ran in the Billings Gazette and the Missoulian in 1935 summarized a speech that McMullen gave to a class graduating from a Colorado college. He told graduates the Nazi policy of sterilizing the unfit will do more to benefit Germany over the next 50 years than the past 85 years of public education has benefited the United States.

Sterilization, rendering a person incapable of having children, was a product of the eugenics movement that gained a foothold in the United States in the late 19th century and later in Germany as the Nazis came to power. Guided by a perversion of medicine and anthropology that denigrated ethnic minorities and those with physical or mental disabilities as a genetic threat, state legislatures implemented compulsory sterilization laws during the first half of the 1900s.

Those laws resulted in the state-sponsored sterilization of more than 60,000 people in the United States, according to information published by the University of Vermont. The university produced a database in 2011 tracking sterilizations across the nation. In Montana, 256 people were sterilized by the states eugenics program from 1923 to 1954. The university noted in its database that its still unclear how many Indigenous women were sterilized during this time period.

The eugenics programs in America preceded those of Nazi Germany, in which approximately 350,000 people were sterilized. Sterilization served as a precursor to euthanasia, the genocide of 11 million European Jews, Roma, communists, gays and lesbians and all others who didnt suit the warped ideal of a "master race."

America has been the melting pot, McMullen is quoted as saying in 1935, Undoubtedly she has received many fine citizens from the Old World. But she has also been the sewer for its dregs. The upper classes have always paid some attention to breedingOn the other hand the procreation of the unfit has been promiscuous and prolific.

McMullen did not specify who comprised those fine citizens, upper classes or dregs in any of the articles provided to the Gazette.

The articles were brought to the universitys attention by Casey Pallister, a researcher and historian at Montana State University. Pallister, a PhD candidate, is currently working on a dissertation regarding the eugenics program in Montana. He discovered the information about McMullen through his research, he told the Gazette, and contacted Hicswa, asking about her thoughts on renaming the building.

Chancellor Hicswa then sent the documents to the MSUB History Department, who both verified the documents and produced more evidence of McMullens speech. Hicswa then moved to form the task force to produce a recommendation for the Montana University Systems Board of Regents.

The task force will be made up of MSUB staff, faculty and students, Brakke said. Although the names of the task force members have yet to be released, she said they will include an MSUB historian, scientist, pre-med student and a medical ethicist. Brakke could not say when the task force would complete its recommendation, but she expected it to reach the chancellor in the near future.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we want to be very intentional and deliberate about this process, Hicswa wrote in a message sent to the campus community.

The decision on the part of MSUBs chancellor to consider renaming the building is part of a nationwide reckoning of racism on college campuses. The spring, the University of Southern California will dedicate one of its buildings as the Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Center for International and Public Affairs. The Apsaalooke historian and war heros name will replace that of a former USC presidents who was also a staunch supporter of eugenics throughout his career.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated to more clearly credit the MSU doctoral student that unearthed McMullen's quotes.

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DES MOINES  Iowa workers will see a gradual reduction in the state income tax on their paychecks over the next five years, thanks to legislat
Local officials were notified Tuesday of a confirmed positive case of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Pottawattamie County.

The virus had infected a non-commercial, backyard flock of chickens and ducks in a rural part of the county and resulted in the death of several chickens, according to Pottawattamie County Emergency Management. The site is not part of the commercial food supply chain and, according to the Centers for Disease Control, poses a low risk of transmission to humans.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the situation at the identified site was contained and being monitored, according to the agency. There were no concerns related to human health, and no other sites had been identified as having an exposure at that time.

Officials from Emergency Management, Pottawattamie County Public Health and the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office were briefed by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship on Tuesday, a press release from Emergency Management stated. IDALS has worked directly with the site to mitigate potential spread of the virus and will continue to monitor the site and area. The Iowa Department of Public Health and PCPH will monitor the individuals who were in contact with the flock to rule out any potential of bird-to-human transmission regarding this case. The CDC reports that there have been no detected human cases from this type of bird flu in the United States.

Local, state and federal plans developed to respond to these kinds of incidents are being implemented, and there is no immediate public health or food-related safety concern at this time, said Doug Reed, director of Emergency Management.

IDALS is the lead agency for HPAI and other foreign animal disease responses, the press release stated. Local officials will provide support to the state-led event, as needed or requested.

Domestic poultry with highly pathogenic avian influenza may display the following symptoms, according to IDALS:

Severe lethargy

Severe difficulty breathing

Blood-tinged discharge from eyes or beak

Unfeathered skin appearing blue on the head, comb and wattle (and snood in turkeys)

Swollen combs, wattle or shanks

Decreased food and water intake

Decreased egg production

Deformed or shell-less eggs

Sudden death

A lab test is needed to identify avian influenza. Anyone who suspects that birds they are caring for have bird flu should contact a federal or state animal health official immediately.

Bird flu usually does not infect people. However, rare cases in people have been reported, according to IDALS. Infected birds shed the virus in their saliva, mucous and feces. Human infections can happen when enough virus gets into a persons eyes, nose or mouth or is inhaled. This is why everyone should practice proper biosecurity when around birds.

For more information on avian influenza in people, contact the Iowa Department of Public Health or visit idph.iowa.gov.

Poultry producers, residents with backyard poultry or bird flocks and the public can find more information, updates and resources at https://pcema-ia.org/hpai.

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Mirror Trading Internationals liquidators have offered to demonstrate good faith to victims of the alleged pyramid scheme by paying a portion of their claims.

In exchange, those who want to take the deal must withdraw their opposition to the liquidators application to have the court declare Mirror Trading International (MTI) an unlawful scheme.

According to the court order, which MyBroadband has seen, the deal is conditional on the High Court finding that the business of MTI was conducted illegally.

Victims who have not opposed the application to declare MTI a pyramid scheme can also take up the deal.

The liquidators stated that this deal is available to all true losers of MTI  those who did not withdraw more than the rand value they put into the scheme.

This is an important detail, as MTI took deposits in bitcoin. However, the bitcoin value must be converted to rand using Lunos exchange rate at the time of the deposit and withdrawal for the purposes of the deal.

Mirror Trading International was a network marketing scam that claimed to offer automated bitcoin-based trading services  initially in forex and later in cryptocurrency derivatives.

MTI made headlines in September 2020 after MyBroadband exposed the inner workings of the scheme, thanks to a data leak from a group calling itself Anonymous ZA.

The scheme collapsed at the end of 2020 after CEO and founder Johann Steynberg skipped the country, disappearing in Brazil.

Steynberg was arrested in Brazil a year after he disappeared, on 29 December 2021, after allegedly presenting fake identification to law enforcement officers.

Chainalysis named MTI the biggest cryptocurrency scam of 2020.

Court documents gave the last estimate of the funds that flowed through MTI as 29,421.03379 bitcoin  over R20 billion at current exchange rates.

However, a source with knowledge of the case told MyBroadband that the latest analysis shows that more than 46,000 bitcoin (R31.3 billion) flowed through the scheme.

With the help of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, the liquidators managed to reclaim 1,281 bitcoin in early 2021 from Belize-based brokerage FXChoice.

They immediately sold the cryptocurrency and ended up getting a favourable rate, liquidating it for around R1.1 billion.

The same amount of bitcoin would fetch around R870 million at todays exchange rates.

The deal  20c in the rand

While the liquidators have yet to accept any victims claims at a creditors meeting, MyBroadband understands that there have been R355 million in claims previously submitted to the Master of the Court.

MyBroadband had heard from several people in court on Wednesday, when this deal was hatched, that the liquidators will pay the victims an initial dividend of 20c in the rand.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the liquidators said they made the deal with a group of net-losers and specifically a controversial group called GetaQuid, represented by JC Kriel.

GetaQuid says it represents 15,000 investors, according to the liquidators.

The settlement with the groups of creditors is welcomed by the liquidators and seen as very constructive steps towards finalising one main area of the administration of the estate, namely the processing of claims of true losers, who are entitled to a dividend as soon as possible, the liquidators stated.

MyBroadband spoke to GetaQuids legal representative Ruann Kruger and asked why the deal wasnt for 100% of the claims.

Kruger explained that the liquidators would first verify claims against the MTI database in their possession.

Verified claims go to a provisional liquidation distribution account, after which they will receive an interim dividend, likely somewhere between 10% and 30% of the claimed amount.

They dont want to pay out too much to the first claims, and then theres nothing left for claims that come in later, Kruger said.

He said that the liquidators have committed to expediting claims as much as possible and will meet every few months to approve further payments.

MTI victims should be aware that GetaQuid charges a fee for its services and that it is not necessary to go through them to use this deal.

Kruger said it was not unusual for class action groups to ask members to contribute to help cover its expenses.

The liquidators said they would shortly upload a written consent which investors are encouraged to download, sign and submit together with their claim.

MTI pyramid scheme hearing delayed  again

The application to have MTI declared an unlawful scheme was postponed to 29 April 2022.

According to the liquidators, this was the fault of MTI 50% shareholder Clynton Marks.

They stated that Marks had inundated the court by filing voluminous papers during the week  and had done the same on several previous occasions.

It is interesting that the liquidators single out Marks, as they had responded to at least two thick stacks of papers in the past week  an affidavit from Henry Honiball, and a supplementary affidavit from Marks.

Both filings were well over 200 pages. Honiball also filed a supplementary affidavit of 87 pages.

Mr Clynton Marks still opposes the application of the liquidators to declare MTI an unlawful scheme and alleges that he does so as the protector of creditors of the scheme, the liquidators stated.

This is, of course, false: he is one of the biggest winners in the scheme, and his agenda is simply to try and avoid a day of reckoning in terms of paying back and having to testify further.

The liquidators said their Cape Town legal team worked non-stop to respond to his late and irregular filed papers. Some of this work lasted until the evening before court on Wednesday.

The liquidators have no doubt that the agenda behind the late filings was simply to place the liquidators and the court in an impossible position to deal with all the papers in the short time available.

Marks denied the accusations in a statement sent by his wife, Cheri.

The statements by the liquidators are both untrue and defamatory, and we will not be commenting on this matter in the media, they said.
A new Little Ivy Preschool location is headed to the city of Napa following recent approval from the citys Planning Commission, and will potentially provide relief to parents searching for child care amid Napas chronic short supply.

The commissioners unanimously approved a use permit for the preschool and childcare center, planned for a residential building at 4035 Linda Vista Ave., at a meeting last month. Commission members acknowledged public comments from several neighbors concerned about how the business would negatively affect neighborhood traffic, but spoke to the local need for childcare, particularly at a time when many childcare centers have shut down.

According to Register reporting from July 2021, the Napa County community maintained one child care slot for every four children before the pandemic and had lost at least 118 child care slots since January 2020. Alex Myers, the owner of Little Ivy Childcare LLC, said at the meeting that the total lost childcare slots since the beginning of the pandemic now exceeds 200 in Napa County.

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He added that Napa hasnt really gained more childcare providers during the pandemic, in part because its a tightly regulated industry with specific requirements for staffing and space per child, which he said makes running a childcare business a tightrope.

The staff, they have to be educated at a secondary education level; they have strict background check requirements, immunization requirements; and its hard to find staff right now, Myers said. And its really a challenge to balance the need for adequate space for the children and paying staff a reasonable wage and keeping tuition affordable, even though those other costs are getting higher while finding a space that can carry a sufficient enrollment capacity to overcome that substantial overhead.

But the importance of childcare has been brought to the forefront of peoples minds during the COVID-19 pandemic, Myers said, when everybody sort of realized: 'without childcare, we cant go to work.'

And even if youre working from home, trying to work from home with a 3-year-old pulling on your leg is a real uphill battle, Myers said. So the need is super strong. And the need is so strong in Napa because of staffing (difficulties) and the cost of living.

The existing Little Ivy Preschool location, at 2201 Pine St., opened in 2018. Myers said that space  which Little Ivy leases from the Napa Christian School  is licensed for 45 children, from ages 2 through 5, and offers a structured play-based curriculum, which means daily activities are self-directed by the children, within an educational framework of options.

The new location is planned to operate in much the same way as the existing location, though it will serve up to 60 children, from ages 18 months through 5 years old. The preschool will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, with extended hours of 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for parents who need additional daycare, according to the project description.

Myers added that care for children under 2 years old, which the new center will offer, is extra difficult to find in Napa because staffing requirements are even more stringent.

New Napa preschool is a labor of love When Napa husband and wife Alex and Leslie Myers couldnt find the right child care center for their son, the couple decided to make a bold bu

The location, he said, is also a great fit for a preschool because of the lack of other sources of childcare in the neighborhood and because the building allows Little Ivy enough room to meet various space requirements.

This site is really sort of a Goldilocks site for us between the size of the outdoor space, the size of the indoor space, and the lack of sufficient full-time care in the immediate area, Myers said. Linda Vista is a neighborhood connector street; it has churches and a community center; its really an ideal type of street to locate a child care center on.

Some public commenters praised the effort to add a new childcare center to the area. Several others said they didnt support the project because of the impact it may have on neighborhood traffic.

Cynthia Rowe, a neighbor, said she appreciates what Myers is doing for Napa, but that shes seen a tremendous uptick in local traffic in the three years shes lived in her house, and she doesnt want to see even more.

There is obviously a need for childcare on the west end of Napa, Rowe said. However, I just think that this particular location is going to drastically increase traffic.

Sabina Correa, a psychologist and board chair of Community Resources for Children, said, however, that its imperative that Napa has more providers willing to open up and provide childcare slots. She added childcare in Napa has long been an enormous issue.

I think it was something very behind-the-scenes, but now has affected almost everybody on some level  whether you have employees who are not able to come to work because of childcare, you cant hire employees because of childcare, or youre a family member trying to access childcare, Correa said. Its completely essential for our community. Without childcare, working parents are unable to work.

The commissioners asked Myers several questions about the traffic situation. Myers said one benefit of the location is out that the property has a horseshoe driveway that takes cars off the street, and is proposing enough parking on-site parking  eight spots  for its entire staff. Drop-off, he said, will probably occur for about an hour and a half, in two- to three-minute segments.

Additionally, Myers said, he didnt expect to see 60 vehicles show up to the preschool twice a day for pick up and drop off, given that Little Ivy will most likely enroll lower than that number because of turnover, because theres sometimes multiple children per vehicle and because some families would potentially be able to walk their children to the preschool.

But those drop-offs and pickups will also be metered out, he said, meaning that no more than 10 vehicles will be scheduled to show up during 15-minute windows. Myers also said the commission shouldnt be worried about the preschool growing at the Linda Vista location because theres not really room to do so.

Were asking right now for the whole enchilada, Myers said. Theres not really space here to grow and if we were going to continue to grow we would probably seek another location. Thats why were seeking another location now.

Several commissioners said the project seemed well thought out, and that they wanted to see it succeed.

As a soon-to-be father, it is very difficult to find childcare, especially for that younger age gap, so I applaud you for continuing to do the work that you do, said commissioner Ricky Hurtado.

Commissioner Beverly Shotwell said she knows increased traffic might result from the project, but she doesnt believe there will be too much of an impact. Given that, the benefits of approving the childcare center far outweigh the potential negatives, she said.

Commissioner Bob Massaro said hes lived a block and a half from a public elementary school for the past 20 years and has experienced drop-offs and pickups every single day. For him, he said, thats just part of the neighborhood, and he likes having the kids around.

He said he supported the project because, aside from climate change, the low availability of child care is one of the most prominent challenges facing Napa.

There are two specific things that are challenging the fabric of our economy, Massaro said. "Number one is the lack of housing thats affordable. Number two is the lack of childcare.

Commissioner Paul Kelley said he sympathized with the neighbor complaints, but that any daycare proposal in a residential neighborhood would likely receive similar challenges.

The current location is great because its on sort of a campus facility and one would anticipate the occupant load, Kelley said. Its become challenging to sort of put the load in residential neighborhoods. However, having said that, it seems like its challenging no matter where you try to put a daycare. And I know that weve looked at various proposed daycares with the Planning Commission over the years and its always been a challenge.

You can reach Edward Booth at (707) 256-2213.

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Rev. Alvin Hathaway, of Union Baptist Church in Baltimore has been deeply involved in efforts to will redevelop the historic Henry Highland Garnet School (PS 103) where Justice Thurgood Marshall attended elementary school in West Baltimore. (Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun). (Kenneth K. Lam)

Baltimores challenges are well-documented. From sky-high crime rates to a lack of access to quality education, jobs, housing and health care, far too many of our brothers and sisters in Baltimore are in despair and seek any sign that gives them a reason to hope and to dream of a better tomorrow.

Our city is at a crossroads culturally. The accomplishments, struggles and personalities of prior years are fading. A new generation and future generations are emerging without an understanding and appreciation of who participated in the advancement of our culture and the obstacles they had to overcome.

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As a pastor and a native Baltimorean, Im blessed to stand with one foot in the past and one foot in the future. The history and culture of the largest African American Historical District in America is in my memory, having lived as a child in the 1200 block of Druid Hill Avenue, the planned site for the Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center. To be housed in the former P.S. 103, the center is to make the rich culture of this historical community come alive for future generations (Thurgood Marshalls education began at this West Baltimore school. Its set to get new life as a community center, Feb. 21, 2020).

Persons will come and learn about the cultural contribution of legal giants Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Clarence Mitchell Jr., Juanita Jackson Mitchell, Milton B. Allen and so many others who had legal offices in this community. It will be the responsibility of the Judge Alexander Williams Center for Education, Justice and Ethics to make that cultural history come alive and to inspire future generations of the careers and possibilities in the legal field.

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Persons from this community made outstanding contributions in the cultural arena of music and arts. It was a vital leg of the Chitlin Circuit. Every musical personality or artistic talent of note frequented this community. The Billie Holiday Liberation Arts Project will expand upon that cultural legacy and expose this and future generations to the richness of our cultural heritage in the fields of art and music and the historic interpretation of historic artifacts.

In partnership with BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and the Project TAKE Off program, the Center will teach future generations about the cultural contributions African Americans made to the field of aviation and provide them with practical skills to learn about careers in airport management and aviation.

It will also offer spaces that provide visitors the opportunity to learn of the contributions of Thurgood Marshall, including in a classroom restored to its original design, thereby transporting them back in time. The Center will also commemorate the life and career of the late U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings including displays featuring recordings of his booming voice reminding visitors, You are better than this!

Among others to be featured by the Center is Walter Sondheim, who served as the president of the citys school board in 1954 and moved to desegregate the Baltimore City Public School System, the first school district south of the Mason Dixon line to do so.

By lifting up these heroes of the past, we are giving those with little hope reason to dream and to strive for a better future. We can learn much from the past. What better place to do so than historic P.S. 103, the future home of the Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center.

Alvin C. Hathaway Sr., Baltimore

The writer is president of the Beloved Community Services Corporation and pastor emeritus of Union Baptist Church.

Add your voice: Respond to this piece or other Sun content by submitting your own letter.
Napa Police announced the recovery of about $4,000 worth of goods stolen Tuesday from the Kohls department store in downtown Napa, as well as the arrests of three Richmond women in connection with the theft.

Amunique Felicia Webb, 22; Johnetta Lanelle Hutson, 22; and Willeta Renetaylor Fleming, 21, were detained at about 1:16 p.m. by American Canyon Police, according to Napa Police Sgt. Brett Muratori. All three were booked into the Napa County jail on suspicion of felony theft and criminal conspiracy.

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Napa officers earlier were sent to the Kohls at 1116 First St. after reports of a theft from the store, and a vehicle description and license plate number were broadcast to officers, Muratori said in an email. Later, American Canyon officers saw the vehicle on southbound Highway 29 and stopped Hutson, who police said was driving.

Police searched the vehicle and found the stolen merchandise, most of which still had sales tags and anti-theft devices still attached, according to Muratori, who described Webb and Fleming as the women who entered Kohls to steal the merchandise.

All of the merchandise was recovered and returned to Kohls, police reported.

In addition to the theft and conspiracy allegations, Hutson and Webb also faced felony warrants, according to Muratori  Hutson for robbery in Contra Costa County and Webb for theft and conspiracy in San Mateo County.
The state Fair Political Practices Commission has a role to play in the tangled tale of Walt Ranch and potential conflict-of-interest allegations some citizens have made involving Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza.

Whether that role includes a formal investigation as of Thursday morning remained to be seen.

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Pedroza says he believes he has no conflict of interest. The citizens say he appears to have one that he failed to disclose. Both parties are waiting to see how the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) responds.

FPPC spokesperson Jay Wierenga said eight complaints were filed in February involving Pedroza. The agency provided copies to the Napa Valley Register.

All allege Pedroza has a conflict of interest regarding a complicated land purchase deal next to Walt Ranch involving Pedrozas family. Pedroza voted on a Walt Ranch issue on Dec. 14, but recused himself from a Feb. 8 final vote after citizens discovered the land deal and made it public.

A key issue confronting the FPPC is how close a tie Pedroza himself has to a land deal he said involves his in-laws who want to create a vineyard.

A county decision favoring Walt Ranch vineyard development could conceivably affect adjacent property values. In addition, this particular adjacent property has the potential to provide Walt Ranch with access from Atlas Peak Road, which some opponents fear could allow estate home development of Walt Ranch.

Bound up in all of this is an ascendant Napa County elected official  Pedroza is chairperson of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which oversees regional transportation money and policies.

Also at the heart is Walt Ranch, bought in 2005 by Craig and Kathryn Hall of HALL Wines for vineyard development. It has become one of Napa County's more controversial projects in recent years, sparking debate over creating new vineyards in the mountainous watersheds.

The FPPC is charged with overseeing the Political Reform Act that regulates campaign financing, conflict of interests, and other topics. California created the commission and act in 1974 after the Watergate scandal.

In the Pedroza matter, the FPPCs enforcement division must decide if the complaints warrant an investigation that could include using subpoena power.

A review is done on all complaints to determine merit, that is, is there enough information, facts, evidence included to indicate a POTENTIAL violation of the Act or if the action is even part of the Acts jurisdiction, FPPC spokesperson Wierenga said by email.

Pedroza, like those filing the complaints, as of mid-week was waiting to see what happens next.

We provided information to the FPPC, and were responding to the complaints," he said.

Wierenga said the FPPC takes a few days to a few weeks to review a complaint. If a complaint is dismissed, thats it unless someone submits new information to review.

If the FPPC decides to investigate, the goal is to be both timely and thorough, he said. The average time for an investigation is 141 days, but thats a combination of simple, minor cases and serious, complex cases.

Theres no clock ticking with an end timer, he said.

If the FPPC finds Act violations, it can take actions ranging from issuing a warning letter to issuing fines of up to $5,000 per violation. It cannot remove an elected official from office.

Pedroza on Feb. 7 asked the FPPC for informal guidance on the potential conflict-of-interest matter. In an email, he told the agency that his father-in-law was the sole member of Vinedos AP, LLC, which brought property next to Walt Ranch on May 28, 2021.

The Act doesnt allow public officials to participate in decisions that could affect their financial interests. An in-law is not considered part of immediate family, FPPC senior counsel Erika Boyd responded by email on Feb. 8.

Based on the facts provided, and barring any other financial interests not identified below, you do not have a financial conflict of interest under the Act based on your father-in-laws ownership of adjacent land, Boyd wrote.

But Pedroza in his guidance request didnt mention what he later told the Napa Valley Register  that he was a member of Vinedos from Jan. 29 to Nov. 1 to help with financing and that he used his house as a personal guarantee for Vinedos financing.

Nor did he mention several matters brought up in the complaints, such as using his home address as a mailing address for Vinedos and signing Vinedos checks on Dec. 10 to pay property tax for the Vinedos land next to Walt Ranch.

The Feb. 8 email by Boyd said the guidance rendered is not a final FPPC decision and does not constitute legal advice.

Pedroza on Feb. 14 said he would seek a formal advice letter from the FPPC. That involves submitting sufficient information for FPPC attorneys to conduct a complete legal analysis. An advice letter can provide immunity from FPPC enforcement actions.

But the FPPC apparently won't provide a formal advice letter, given Pedroza cast a vote involving Walt Ranch greenhouse gas emission mitigations on Dec. 14.

Our Legal Division does not give advice at all on past actions, Wierenga said by email. We dont go back and say something WAS okay or WAS not okay. The Legal Division only gives formal advice on upcoming actions.

Meanwhile, the local group Napa Vision 2050 has asked the county Board of Supervisors to launch a county investigation into the Pedroza conflict-of-interest allegations using an outside law firm. Two members made the request at Tuesdays Board of Supervisors meeting.

Napa Vision 2050 wasn't the only one to ask the Board to launch an investigation. Among the others was resident Beth Nelsen, whose research uncovered the Vinedos matter, also asked the Board of Supervisors to launch an external investigation.

Board of Supervisors Chairperson Ryan Gregory on Thursday said he's waiting to see what the FPPC does.

"If they do an investigation, it's going to be the most thorough and external investigation we can possibly get," Gregory said. "If they don't, it's another story and well see what happens.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com.

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California prison officials at a Southern California prison delayed investigating staff misconduct complaints, resulting in many investigations passing the deadline for disciplinary action against those staff members, according to a new report by the Office of the Inspector General.

The report, which evaluated the staff misconduct inquiry process at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County, cited four key concerns with the process.

The facility has been the subject of a lawsuit by several disabled inmates, in a class-action suit that's come to be known as the Armstrong case, "in which disabled incarcerated persons and parolees alleged that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (the department) violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in its treatment and handling of incarcerated persons and parolees," according to the report.

In response to the case, the department assembled a team to address the allegations. The investigators, managed by the department's Office of Internal Affairs, completed staff misconduct inquiry cases that looked into the allegations of misconduct.

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The inspector general's report found that in addition to the department officials delaying completing their investigations, the report also found that the quality of investigators' work was poor "due to deficient interviews, improper or inadequate evidence collection and inaccurate or incomplete inquiry report submission," according to a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders written by Inspector General Amarik Singh.

The report also pointed out that investigators on several occasions compromised the confidentiality of several of the inquiry cases, such as by conducting interviews in non-confidential locations or revealing confidential information to witnesses or subjects of the cases.

The report cites an example of an incarcerated person who reported a staff complaint to a prison sergeant.

"Afterward, an officer looked at the incarcerated person as he returned to his cell and allegedly said to another officer, 'Snitches get stitches, don't they?' The second officer allegedly laughed," according to the report.

Finally, the report alleged that the prison warden made several inappropriate decisions regarding cases under investigation, "including decisions not supported by the evidence, decisions for cases in which he did not fully review the evidence, and decisions for cases in which he was not an impartial decision-maker," wrote Singh.

In response to the OIG report, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Dana Simas issued the following response:

"We appreciate the OIG's report, and emphasize that at that time the allegations came to light, CDCR did not have a standardized process for conducting inquiries into allegations brought forward outside of the grievance process. We have taken aggressive steps since then to address many of these issues, including the implementation of regulations for a new and improved staff misconduct investigations process in January 2022, installing more than 1,000 fixed and 800 body-worn cameras at the institution, and increasing supervisory staffing as well as additional training at the institution. Our goal is to ensure increased accountability, fidelity and trust into our investigations process, and we look forward to continuing to work with the OIG and our stakeholders on this issue."

The report found that of 257 staff misconduct inquiry cases reviewed between August 2020 and July 2021, the department processed and resolved 256 of them. Out of those, the warden found a "reasonable belief of staff misconduct" in just 20 of those cases, with just one case resulting in sustained misconduct allegations, according to the report.

"The officers in that case received letters of instruction, which are not disciplinary action, but instead a form of corrective action. Therefore, as of the publication date of this report, the department has not formally disciplined staff members relative to any of the staff allegations submitted by the disabled incarcerated persons pertaining to this project," according to the report.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
On Oct. 28, a Petaluma resident sent two emails to Mayor Teresa Barrett, alerting her to recent news reports she had seen about a local man who was generating a vast amount of derogatory, primarily antisemitic content through his Goyim Defense League network.

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"I am quite concerned that this hate filled man is a ticking time bomb and am wondering if he is being monitored in Petaluma?" she wrote to Barrett in a message she has since shared with The Press Democrat. "Are the police and city council aware that we have a Nazi hate group being nationalized all over the United States right from Petaluma?"

The woman never heard back from Barrett  until last week, when the mayor replied to a follow-up email in the wake of revelations that Jon Minadeo II's media brand, Goyim TV, was credited for antisemitic flyers recently distributed in neighborhoods around the Bay Area, including in Napa, on Feb. 24.

In that response, Barrett apologized for not recalling Minadeo's name when she was interviewed about him by The Press Democrat, and explained she receives hundreds of emails and letters.

"I also hope you are aware that without the actual evidence we cannot do more than be aware of him and condemn ALL acts of hate, no matter who is the source," Barrett wrote.

The resident, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of being targeted by Minadeo, wishes her local elected leader had taken notice earlier. But most observers agree with Barrett's assertion that local authorities have limited ability to counter hate speech in their midst.

"Dealing with an individual bigot is difficult," said Phyllis Gerstenfeld, professor and chair of criminal justice at Cal State Stanislaus. "One option is to make their presence as uncomfortable for them as possible  legally  by making it clear that they're not welcome and that nobody shares their views."

More tangible censure can be trickier, Gerstenfeld said, because of the chasm that exists between "hate speech" and "hate crime." Only the latter is easily actionable.

"In general, it's a crime if the speech is likely to incite violence," said Gerstenfeld, who responded to Press Democrat questions by email because she is out of the country. "The line here is really fuzzy. For example, writing 'I wish all Jews would be killed' is probably protected speech; writing 'Everyone should pick up a gun right now and kill Jews' is probably not. And of course there's a gray area in between."

Minadeo has built a media persona in that gray area, allowing him to operate with impunity thus far.

In his most recent video recorded for his streaming channel Goyim TV, published Dec. 21, he makes a point of telling viewers not to advocate violence. But as he talks into the camera, the left side of the screen rotates through T-shirts he is hawking, including one that commends Adolph Hitler by proclaiming, "The Austrian painter was right." The right edge of the screen is a crawl of viewer comments, many of them a celebration of murder.

"who wants to kill jew (right now)," one reads.

"gas every f**king one of these filthy pedovore rat Jews," says another.

"CLIP THIS F**KING RETARD," offers one more as Minadeo chats with a guest who disagrees with him.

Minadeo might not be openly calling for genocide, but he has created a platform that serves as a convenient breeding ground for its discussion. And messages of hate, many argue, can spark acts of brutality when received by an angry and in some cases unstable audience.

"I believe that even absent calls to violence, this content can be very dangerous in that it reinforces biases and makes other bigots feel as if their feelings are endorsed," Gerstenfeld said in her email. "We know that in at least some cases (i.e., the Oklahoma City bombing), violent extremists have been at least partly inspired by what they've read."

Some feel that may have been the case when members of the Goyim Defense League hung a banner over a major highway in Austin, Texas, reading "Vax the Jews" on Oct. 26. Minadeo downplays the coronavirus and calls its vaccines a Jewish moneymaking conspiracy.

Five days later, someone started a fire at Congregation Beth Israel, a temple perhaps 5 miles from where the banner had been draped.

Several Texas news outlets drew a connection between the two events.

On Nov. 10, criminal investigators with the Austin Fire Department arrested Franklin Barrett Sechriest, 18, and charged him with arson.

Despite a pervasive threatening atmosphere, jurisdictions have found it hard to confront hate. A Napa Police sergeant told The Press Democrat last week there was nothing his department could do about flyers like those left in the neighborhood adjacent to the Congregation Beth Shalom synagogue last week.

Petaluma Police Chief Ken Savano said much the same thing.

"Hate in any form is deplorable and not welcome in our community, but there no criminal recourse for hate speech not related to a crime," Savano wrote in an email Wednesday.

The Sacramento County District Attorney's office took a more forceful stance after Nicholas Sherman left antisemitic propaganda at homes and an elementary school in Carmichael on Oct. 4.

They charged Sherman, who is affiliated with the Aryan Nations hate group, with a felony count of desecrating a religious symbol, because he had taped several flyers to a menorah outside the Shalom Le Israel synagogue.

Prosecutors there also filed a dozen misdemeanor counts against Sherman on the lesser-known charge of "terrorism by symbol." His flyers had included a Nazi swastika, which prosecutors argued fit a California statute meant to deter the use of symbols like nooses and burning crosses to strike fear into citizens.

Sherman pleaded guilty to the felony and one of the misdemeanors on Wednesday, and received 180 days in county jail and two years of probation.

The recent Goyim TV flyers did not include swastikas, however. It isn't clear if the "terrorism by symbol" standard would apply. The Sacramento County DA's office did not respond to a request for clarification.

There is no direct evidence that Minadeo is personally distributing the flyers, which are readily available via messaging apps.

One tactic that does seem to work against hate speech is civil law. Gerstenfeld noted several examples, such as lawsuits against the KKK and one of its grand wizards, Tom Metzger. The Southern Poverty Law Center sued both of them in separate cases  the KKK in 1987, and Metzger in 1990. The latter, over the murder of Black college student and father Mulugeta Seraw, bankrupted Metzger's organization, White Aryan Resistance.

Gerstenfeld also mentioned a case from her own Cal State Stanislaus campus.

Last November, former student Nathan Damigo was ruled partly responsible for organizing the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that erupted into violence, leaving 32-year-old Heather Heyer dead. A federal judge order him to pay $500,000.

Outside the legal system, communities are left with mostly symbolic acts to fight hate speech. Such was the case last weekend in Danville, where the nonprofit group Interfaith of the San Ramon Valley organized a march in response to Goyim TV flyers distributed there. In a rally at the Danville Library to cap the march, mayor Newell Arnerich read a proclamation titled "United Against Hate."

Rabbi Ted Feldman of B'nai Israel Jewish Center in Petaluma said he was planning to contact city council members there, hoping for a response to Minadeo with "a little more oomph to it, as far as antisemitism." Feldman was quick to add that the Petaluma Police Department has been very supportive when troubling events have emerged in the past.

Few would discourage civic demonstrations of solidarity. But in the end, they may be flimsy comfort to anyone who feels truly endangered by a hate purveyor down the street.

Michele Samson, president of Congregation Shir Shalom in Sonoma, knows that feeling, and she is convinced malevolent words can translate into acts of violence.

"When you have hate, there are people who hate deeper than others," Samson said. "And with that hate, unfortunately, sometimes comes a lot of danger. As president, I'm constantly looking out the door, looking out the window. It's terrible."

Congregation Shir Shalom is reviewing its safety protocols to be better prepared for the possibility of a violent attack, Samson said. The other day, she found herself watching an older member of the synagogue during a service.

"Her name is Ruth. She's sweet as hell," Samson said. "And I'm thinking, Can I lift her up to go through the window if necessary? I'm honestly thinking, If I throw her out the window, will she survive? Can you believe it?"

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The 30,000-year-old Paleolithic figurine of Venus from Willendorf is one of the most representative examples of ancient human art in Europe.

The height of the figurine, found in 1908, is 11 centimeters. It was made from oolite, a stone that does not exist and has never been in what is now Austria.

However, scientists using the latest research methods managed to find out where the standard of femininity of the Stone Age originates from, according to the Archeology News Network portal.

Scientists led by anthropologist Gerhard Weber from the University of Vienna and two geologists, as well as historian from the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, conducted a tomographic study of the figurine.

The task of scientists was to find out where the oolite from which Venus is made comes from and, possibly, to suggest how the material got to the territory of Willendorf.

Usually the figures of Paleolithic Venuses were made from ivory or the bones of other animals; stone was rarely used for this purpose. However, the oolite turned out to be a more advantageous material from an artistic point of view.

Tomographic analysis showed that this material is heterogeneous, since it has different density and composition. Inside the figurine were several fossilized remains of shells and large, dense areas called limonites. Most of the material is porous and very easy to process.

Thanks to the analysis of fossilized shells, scientists were able to find out that this stone could have formed only in northern Italy during the Jurassic period. All other deposits of oolite known in Europe were formed much later, in the Miocene.

The material mined in the southern part of the Alps has come a long way to the Danube. Given the pace of migration and the peculiarities of the settlement of people in Europe at that time, experts believe that this journey could last for several generations of people.

However, there is another version of the origin of the material for the Willendorf Venus. Similar deposits of oolites are located in the east of Ukraine, more than 1.5 thousand kilometers from the place where the figurine was found.
The American wellness company Paceline has released an unusual bank card Visa Signature Paceline, which will reward its owners for physical activity, according to Zdnet. So, for example, the basic cashback for this card is 1.5%, but it can be doubled if you spend at least 150 minutes in training per week.

The intensity of training is attached to the client's account using a special application and a smart watch that can record a person's physical activity. These include Paceline Apple Watch, Garmin or Fitbit. The company does not report support for devices from other brands.

Paceline does not impose restrictions on the types of training for Visa Signature Paceline customers. It is enough for the company that the client has an increased heart rate for at least 150 minutes a week.
Former US President Donald Trump condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a holocaust Wednesday, but would not denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching the military operation that has been targeting civilian areas with ferocious rocket attacks, the New York Post reported.

During an appearance on Fox Business Networks Mornings with Maria, host Maria Bartiromo asked the one-time commander-in-chief to comment on how he thought President Biden should respond to Putins possible crimes against humanity.

Were watching a holocaust. Were watching something that Ive never seen before, the way that theyre going to go intheyre blowing up buildings with children, with women, with professions, with peoplethink of just people, Trump responded. Theyre blowing up indiscriminately, theyre just shooting massive missiles and rockets into these buildings and everybody is dying.

The numbers are far worse than what youre seeing on television.  Many people are dying and were allowing this to happen, he added.

Bartiromo, referring to Trumps description last month of Putin as savvy and smart, asked the 45th president of the US if he would still afford the Russian leader respect at this time.

They have to stop killing these people, he answered. Theyre killing all these people, and they have to stop it. And they have to stop it now. But they dont respect the United States. So the United States is, I dont know, theyre not doing anything about it.

This is a holocaust. This is a horrible thing thats happening, youre witnessing. I mean, youre seeing it on television every night, added Trump, who did not mention Putin by name.

https://nypost.com/2022/03/02/trump-calls-ukraine-invasion-a-holocaust-but-doesnt-condemn-putin/
The UN GA voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calling for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.

At an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly, 141 out of 193 member states voted for the resolution, 35 abstained and five voted against.

Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Russia and Syria voted against the resolution. Abstentions included China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, South Africa, Nicaragua, CAR, India.

Turkey voted in favour. Azerbaijan did not participate in the vote.

The resolution, which was co-sponsored by 94 countries, said the UN deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. It demanded that the Russian Federation immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces.

The resolution is not legally binding, but is an expression of the views of the UN membership, aimed at increasing pressure on Moscow and its ally, Belarus.

After the vote, China's permanent representative to the UN, Zhang Jun, said the resolution did not take into account the history and complexity of the situation, TASS reported.
Denmark, Finland support European Commission proposal on Russian oil sanctions

Bulgaria to seek exemption from EU proposed Russian oil embargo

Biden says he is ready for additional sanctions against Russia

Switzerland braces for serious power shortage

Uruguay freezes ambassador appointment to Ankara after Cavusoglu's gesture

Czech Republic to seek exemption from proposed EU embargo on Russian oil imports

Charles Michel on the likelihood of Moldova's EU membership

Resistance Movement actions to resume tomorrow early morning

Elon Musk is invited to UK Parliament for buying Twitter

Disobedience march reaches France Square, rally starts

US crude oil shipments to Europe hit highest level in April

NEWS.am digest: Large-scale protests being held in Armenia to demand PMs resignation

Armenia Defense Minister meets with Georgian PM

UK bans imposes sanctions on 63 individuals and organizations in Russia

EU plan to completely ban Russian crude oil threatens Hungary's energy security

EU interested in expanding energy cooperation with Azerbaijan

Germany: Gradual EU ban on Russian oil imports could lead to 'supply disruptions'

Opposition demonstration reaches government residences

Aliyev insists so-called Zangezur corridor 'is already a reality'

Slovakia seeks exemption from EU oil embargo for three years

Defense Ministers of Armenia and Georgia sign cooperation program for 2022

Romanian President approves entry of Stryker Brigade and US fighter squadron into country

Dollar goes up, euro also rises in Armenia

EU studying possibility of providing military assistance to Moldova

Public demand for Nikol Pashinyan's resignation

Opposition supporters move toward Armenian parliament building

EU envoys can not agree on Russian oil

Armenia Security Council chief briefs Georgia PM on Karabakh conflict settlement process

Armenia deputy police chief says law enforcement has right detain MPs

Large-scale opposition rally starts in central Yerevan

Many teenagers in New Zealand are illiterate

AFP: EU proposes to impose sanctions on Patriarch Kirill

Arestovich says Israel could supply Ukraine with weapons Azerbaijan used in Karabakh war

Parliament speaker threatens Armenian opposition, clergy

Armenia opposition MP: Ex-President Serzh Sargsyan will not hold office in new government

Beijing closes over 60 subway stations due to COVID-19 outbreak

Bayramov, Roquefeuil discuss Azerbaijan-Armenia relations normalization process

Armenia FM meets with US National Democratic Institute president

Armenia ruling force MP: Opposition will not achieve its goal

Armenia 2nd president Robert Kocharyans son blocking road with citizens in Yerevan

Oklahoma bans almost all abortions

Number of children in Japan falls to record low

Karabakh President meets with of Free Homeland-UCA parliamentary faction members

Armenian judge waves Artsakh flag at Ironman Triathlon (PHOTOS)

There is still lot to do in 'October 27' case, says Armenia Prosecutor General

Ambassador Wiktorin to finance minister: EU ready to continue providing assistance to Armenia government

Armenia Prosecutor General admits there are difficulties in investigation of 'March 1' criminal case

Copper price is stable

3 COVID-19 new cases confirmed in Armenia

American Armenian youth hold protest rally outside Armenia embassy in Washington

Japan protests against North Korean missile

Gold is getting cheaper

U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialogue issues joint statement

Newspaper: Armenia Patrol Guard Service head to be summoned to Investigative Committee to give explanation

Armenia parliament regular sittings continue

Newspaper: Armenia opposition members falling into National Security Service trap by opening links

Civil disobedience protests resume in Yerevan

Earthquake shakes Armenia-Georgia border zone

Microsoft urges to abandon Internet Explorer

Mark Milley: Potential for significant international conflict between great powers is increasing

EU: Poland fines in rule of law dispute now top $170 million

Putin and Lukashenko discuss ongoing situation

Greece and Bulgaria say new LNG terminal will help reduce dependence on Russia

German vice chancellor calls for rapid construction of LNG terminals

Rally of Resistance Movement takes place in France Square

Robert Kocharyan takes part in opposition march

Mario Draghi calls on EU to abandon requirement of unanimity in making foreign policy decisions

Finland and Sweden not yet decided whether to join NATO

Croatian president uses veto power to block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO

Slovakia will seek exemption from the EU embargo on Russian oil imports

NEWS.am digest: Blinken meets Mirzoyan in US, people detained during protests in Yerevan

Turkish Foreign Ministry on meeting of special envoys in Vienna

Opposition rally in central Yerevan starts with Sirusho's performance

Italy to face serious issues in winter if Russian gas supplies are cut off now

Johnson announces new military aid to Ukraine in amount of 300 million euros

Resistance Movement rally on France Square in Yerevan

EU hopes to adopt sixth round of sanctions against Russia at next EU Council meeting

Peaceful rallies of disobedience held in Spitak

Spain extends OVID-19 entry restrictions

Vayk joins demand for Nikol Pashinyan's resignation

Putin and Macron discuss Ukraine

Citizens demanding Pashinyan's resignation block road from Vayots Dzor to Yerevan

Peaceful rallies of disobedience held in Vanadzor demanding PM's resignation

Citizens demanding Pashinyan's resignation block Gyumri-Yerevan highway

Sirusho: Today I will join our compatriots in France Square

Third meeting of Armenia and Turkey special representatives held in Vienna

Dollar rises slightly after long decline, euro also goes up in Armenia

Civil disobedience actions in regions: Yerevan-Goris highway blocked

Azerbaijan settling occupied Armenian Hadrut, Shushi cities of Artsakh

New colors and new services: Team Telecom Armenia completes rebranding

Armenia legislature speaker receives France-Armenia Friendship Group delegation

France senator: We are leaving for Armenia with Senate group

Putin signs decree on economic measures against unfriendly countries

Armenia legislature speaker: Authorities have repeatedly proposed dialogue to opposition

Backpack action of protest being held outside Armenia parliament (PHOTOS)

Armenia defense ministry: Azerbaijan MOD statement does not correspond to reality

Armenia defense minister receives Kansas National Guard delegation

Armenia Police: Yerevan-Sevan motorway reopened

Ned Price: Mirzoyan-Blinken meeting will launch US-Armenia strategic dialogue

Mirzoyan, Nuland discuss Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement process
Anne Arundel County will receive an estimated $30 million over the next 18 years after participating in a national settlement agreement with manufacturers and distributors of opioids, the county announced Thursday.

The city of Annapolis will also receive an estimated $1.2 million as part of the settlement, according to City Manager David Jarrell.

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The settlement money from opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and the three largest distributors of the drug  Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen  will go toward the efforts to battle opioid addiction among residents, according to a news release Thursday. Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen distribute 85 to 90% of all drugs in the country, said Deputy County Attorney Hamilton Tyler. Johnson & Johnson manufactures opioids Duragesic and Nucynta.

Ive had a lot of conservations with my peers across the region about whether this is a good settlement or not and if we should take it, and I believe it is, County Executive Steuart Pittman said. Im really looking forward to having that revenue coming from these companies who clearly deliberately profited off of destroying peoples lives.

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Pittman said the county is planning on making the money available to nonprofits that work on opioid addiction including some at Crownsville Hospital Center such as Hope House Treatment Center, Gaudenzia and Pascal Crisis Stabilization Center. He also hopes to channel some of the money into the countys crisis response team and safe stations  police and fire stations where residents can get addiction treatment.

Anne Arundel County was hit pretty hard with the opioid pandemic, Tyler said. Police calls were way up. Fire calls were way up. People were suffering, more importantly. It just needed to be addressed.

Tyler said the legal team hoped to get more money but also wanted to ensure getting it as soon as possible.

People are suffering now, and weve been in this litigation for over four years now, and were litigating against very well-heeled companies, Tyler said.

The settlement money going to Annapolis will go toward city programs such as Naptown AntiDope to continue fighting the opioid epidemic, , Mayor Gavin Buckley said.

The opioid epidemic has devastated communities, and Annapolis wasnt immune to it. The over-prescribing of pain pills and all sorts of things really took its toll, Buckley said. Its nice to see some kind of settlement. It wont return all the lives that were ruined by it, but it will help.

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Anne Arundel County, along with national law firm Motely Rice, was the first Maryland jurisdiction to file a lawsuit against the major opioid manufacturers and distributors including Purdue Pharma which makes OxyContin, Johnson & Johnson, the three big distributors mentioned in the settlement, and Walgreens and Rite Aid in January 2018.

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The Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, announced Thursday it will pay around $6 billion into a settlement fund, in which Maryland is involved.

The Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen settlement money with be given to the state of Maryland to be allocated to the participating jurisdictions. Money will be distributed based on population, impact of the opioid crisis and the existing level of health-related funding in the county or city.

The three distributors involved in the case will make the first payments in April and subsequent payments over the course of 18 years, with Johnson & Johnson beginning in July and distributing payments over the next nine years.

Maryland will receive a maximum total of $395 million from the parties. The county is expected to receive between a $29 million and $31 million share of this based on demographic data of the county, according to the news release.

The larger national settlement agreement is for $5 billion from Johnson & Johnson and $21 billion from the three distributors.

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Were happy with what were getting, Pittman said. Im happy with it.
Toyota said it will shut down its only plant in Russia and suspend car supplies to the country, citing "supply chain disruptions" over the Ukraine crisis, AFP reported.

The company said that its plant in St. Petersburg produced about 80,000 cars last year, mostly for the Russian market, which is only a small part of the 10.5 million cars produced by the Japanese company worldwide.

Toyota Motor Russia will stop production at its plant in St. Petersburg from March 4 and will suspend the import of cars until further notice due to supply chain failures, the company said in a statement.

The plant in St. Petersburg employs about 2,600 people, a Toyota spokesman told AFP, confirming that supply disruptions were linked to the conflict.

Toyota has no factories in Ukraine, but sales in the country were suspended on February 24.
Vahagn Khachaturyanthe only candidate for the vacant position of the President of Armenia, the serving Minister of High-Tech Industry, and the former mayor of the capital Yerevanwas not elected President of Armenia in the first round of respective elections in the National Assembly (NA).

The chair of the NA Counting Commission, Narek Babayan, stated Thursday that 69 MPs took part in the respective voting Wednesday, there were no invalid ballots, and Khachaturyan received 69 votes in favor and none against. But it was necessary to get 81 votes to be elected in the first round.

The two opposition factions in parliament have not nominated a presidential candidate and announced that they will not partake in the NA election of the new President.

According to the Armenian Constitution, at least two-thirds of the total number of votes of the MPs, or 81 votes in favor, are needed to elect the new President of Armenia in the first roundbut the NA ruling majority faction has only 71 seats. In the second round, however, the President is elected by three-fifths of the lawmakersin this case, by 65 votes in favor, and therefore the votes of the majority faction legislators should be enough this time.

To note, on January 23, Armen Sarkissian had announced his resignation as President of Armenia.
Japan will freeze the assets of four more Russian banks, bringing the total number of banks subject to such sanctions by Tokyo to seven, said Minister of Finance Shun'ichi Suzuki, Reuters reported.

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida approved the decision to freeze the assets of VTB Bank, Sovcombank, Novikombank and Otkritie, the Finance Ministry document says. The freezing of bank assets will come into force on 2 April.

The assets freeze also targets dozens of people, including Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus.

Japan will firmly implement sanctions along with other members of the G7, Suzuki said.

The decision was made after the government announced the freezing of assets of the Russian state-owned Promsvyazbank and Vnesheconombank, as well as the Central Bank of Russia.
Google and a trade association of about 300 French newspapers have reached a new agreement on publishing rights, Reuters reports.

The deal means talks that began in September about how much to pay newspapers for their content to appear in Google's search results have come to fruition.

Google and the French publishing lobby said in January they had agreed to a copyright agreement that would pay news publishers for content online for the first time in Europe, paving the way for individual licensing agreements.

The latest agreement sets out the principles under which Google will enter into individual license agreements and remuneration terms with members of the Alliance, the statement said.
A General Assembly ethics committee found that Sen. Ed Reilly broke with the standards of the body when he told a constituent he was planning to pull a bill on which they both had worked because she donated to his opponents campaign.

The constituent, Pam Jeter, received word of the decision Tuesday in a letter from the General Assemblys Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics. The committee sent a letter of education and advice to the senator, then dismissed the complaint after deciding further proceedings were not necessary.

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Reilly declined to comment on the matter.

The General Assemblys Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics said in this letter that Sen. Ed Reilly broke with the standards of the body when he told a constituent he was planning to pull a bill on which they both had worked because she donated to his opponent.

Jeter said she had been working on Senate Bill 43 with the Republican senator, who represents District 33, since early 2019, when she reached out to him about an issue in her community. Her Olde Severna Park neighborhood is bisected by Route 648. There are crosswalks to help pedestrians get from one side of the neighborhood to the other, but theyre unsafe, Jeter said.

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Theres always traffic and cars are speeding and theres no really good signage. And theres zero speed enforcement, Jeter said. People have been hit by cars by that crosswalk, or a car will come to a stop and the car behind them cant stop in time so they end up rear-ending.

Reilly, Jeter and a few neighbors starting working on the bill, which would authorize the placement of speed cameras in the area on Route 648 between Hoyle Lane and Cypress Creek Road. It wasnt what Jeter and the neighbors were hoping for, which was flashing lights, but it was something, Jeter said.

Jeter and the neighbors testified to the Judicial Proceedings Committee on Jan. 18 and got positive feedback from the legislators. Her neighbor, Wendy Widmann, recalled an experience for the committee when she was hit by a car and knocked onto the road while biking across one of the crosswalks.

A few days after the presentation, Jeter got a call from Reilly.

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He was like, Good job presenting, but I want to let you know that Im going to pull the bill,  Jeter said. I was looking through my campaign finance records and noticed that youre supporting my opponent and so why would I work for you if youre actively working against me?  Then he hung up on her, she said.

Jeter gave two donations to Democrat Dawn Giles campaign, one for $200 on Jan. 2 and one for $100 on Jan. 4 on behalf of her mother-in-law, who had computer issues when she tried to donate herself. Reilly, Gile and Republican Stacie MacDonald are all running for the District 33 Senate seat.

Jeter was shocked by Reillys response, she said, assuming hed wanted to work on the bill for the sake of public safety and to help his constituents, no matter their political activity.

I thought no senator should be expecting their constituents to donate to their campaign for support, Jeter said.

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She emailed the Judicial Proceedings Committee members telling them about the call. They did not respond, she said. She then filed an official complaint with the ethics committee on Jan. 25, which was reviewed Feb. 21.

Ultimately, Reilly didnt pull the bill. It was heard by the Judicial Proceedings Committee Jan. 18 and received an unfavorable vote Feb. 4 by an 8-3 margin. Reilly is not on the committee and did not vote on the matter. Because of the unfavorable vote, the bill was killed and will not move forward.

There was just a lot of energy that went into this and for it to implode this way ... Jeter said. I just couldnt even believe it.
During the special operation, the Russian troops have rendered the reserve technological radio and television center in Kyiv inoperative. This was announced by the Russian defense ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, Gazeta reports.

According to him, the security services of Ukraine used this radio and television center for "psychological operations against Russia," and no civilians were affected during the shelling.

Konashenkov added that "the city of Balakleya was liberated from [Ukrainian] nationalist battalions," the Russian Armed Forces took control of the cities of Chistopoliye, Novopoltavsk, and Zhovtnevoye, and brought the front line closer to the military units of the "Donetsk People's Republic."

According to him, the "Luhansk People's Republic" military units, with the fire support of the Russian Armed Forces, continued their offensive operations and reached the northern outskirts of Krasny Liman-Privoliye-Severodonetsk; the advance was 4 kilometers.

As per the Russian defense ministry spokesman, the armed forces of the "Donetsk People's Republic" have tightened their grip around the city of Mariupol and taken control of the settlements of Vinogradnoye, Sartaka, and Vodyanoye.

Konashenkov said that since the beginning of the special operation, the Russian army has hit 1,612 Ukrainian military facilities. In addition, 62 Ukrainian military planes, 606 tanks and some other armored vehicles, 67 volley fire rockets, and several other military equipment were destroyed.
Azerbaijani media have disseminated a new statement by the countrys defense ministry, which leveled new accusations against Armenia on Thursday morning.

The statement says that, On March 2, from 8:50pm to 9:16pm, units of the Armenian Armed Forces firedwith weapons of various diametersfrom the positions at Chinarli settlement in Tovuzghalin region, at Azerbaijani army positions in Kokhanab and Esrik Jirdahan settlements in Tovuz region. There are no losses of personnel and equipment of the Azerbaijani army. Currently the situation in those directions is stable.

The Armenian Ministry of Defense has not yet responded to these accusations.

It is noteworthy that this is not the first time that the Azerbaijani side uses its own place names, calling Armenias Tavush Province "Tovuzghalin region." This is done for a long-term goal, in order to present territorial ambitions for that region in the future.
Hungary will not veto European Union sanctions against Russia, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

This week, Hungary joined the initiative of eight EU leaders to start talks on Ukraine's membership, but Hungary, a NATO member, has banned the transit of weapons to Ukraine through its territory.

In an interview with the news site mandiner.hu, Orban added that Hungary's relations with Russia were balanced and fair until very recently, but that has now changed.

He said there was no reason to sever energy ties with Russia, including a 12.5 billion deal with Russia's Rosatom to expand the Hungarian Paks nuclear power plant, which accounts for about half of its electricity.

Last year, Hungary signed a new long-term gas import agreement with Russia to import 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year along routes that bypass Ukraine.

Orban also said that Europe needs a strong military and defense industry as it can no longer rely solely on the United States for its security.
The State Department retracted a cable to US diplomats instructing them to inform counterparts in India and the United Arab Emirates that their stance of neutrality on Ukraine puts them into the Russian camp, Axios reported.

The retraction of the strongly worded cable indicates either a technological error or a political dispute within the US government involving two key allies.

Diplomatic cables are typically circulated through the relevant parties at the State Department and are vetted by numerous officials before they are cleared for transmission to embassies. These are the main ways to bring decisions and instructions on the domestic policy of states to diplomats abroad.

On Monday, the cable was sent to US embassies in nearly 50 countries represented on the UN Human Rights Council, but was withdrawn on Tuesday afternoon.

Axios, who saw the telegram fragments, contacted the State Department for comment this morning.

The wording mentioned was never intended to be verified and the cable was issued in error, so it has been retracted, a State Department spokesman said.

The cable, which is considered confidential but not classified, invited US diplomats to use explicit language to try to convince India and the UAE to change their position.

Continuing calls for dialogue, as you did in the Security Council, is not a position of neutrality; it puts you in the camp of Russia, the aggressor in this conflict, the draft abstract in the telegram, a template for conversations with Indian and Emirati diplomats, says.

Both countries are major partners of the US.

India is a key ally in the US effort to counter China. The UAE is an active player in the Persian Gulf, an oil supplier and recipient of billions of dollars of US defense and military assistance.

On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution - supported by 141 countries - condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine. India abstained; The UAE voted in favor.

India, the UAE and China abstained last week on a US-sponsored Security Council resolution condemning Moscow's "aggression". As a result, Russia vetoed it. The UAE's decision to abstain was largely driven by disappointment over the US response to the Abu Dhabi attack six weeks earlier.
Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby and States Attorney Marilyn Mosby were nearly one year delinquent in paying their water bill before settling their balance Tuesday amid scrutiny, city records show.

The city power couple paid off the $907 balance Tuesday after their unpaid bill came to light Monday, according to city billing records. The couples meter was last read in late January, and they were billed in early February, the records show.

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Before Tuesday, the Mosbys last payment for their Reservoir Hill home was March 30, 2021, for approximately $134, according to the city. The online news site Baltimore Brew first reported the Mosbys unpaid water bill.

Neither Nick Mosby nor his spokeswoman responded to requests for comment. Marilyn Mosby declined to comment through her spokeswoman at the States Attorneys Office.

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Jennifer Combs, spokesperson for the citys Department of Public Works, said the agency doesnt comment or disclose information about individual water bills without the customers consent, though details such as payment status and amount owed for individual properties can be looked up online.

The delinquent bills are the latest financial issue to emerge for the embattled couple whose finances have been investigated by various entities for more than a year. Marilyn Mosby currently faces federal charges of perjury and making false statements on loan applications to buy a pair of properties in Florida.

Prosecutors have accused Mosby of falsely claiming to have suffered financial hardship because of the coronavirus pandemic in order to obtain penalty-free early withdrawals from her retirement savings account under the federal CARES Act.

The two-term states attorney used the two withdrawals, totaling about $81,000, to make down payments on the Florida properties, according to her indictment. Prosecutors say she failed to disclose a federal tax debt on a mortgage application and claimed an eight-bedroom house near Orlando would be a second home when she had already arranged for it to be a rental.

Nick Mosby has not been charged, however, the indictment against his wife was the culmination of a probe into both of their finances.

Federal investigators sought records from the couple including tax returns, bank statements, credit card statements, loan documents and canceled checks. Campaign treasurers for both were subpoenaed as were records tracing back to 2014, some related to the Mosbys private travel and consulting businesses.

In late 2020, the Sun reported that a $45,000 federal tax lien had been placed against the Mosbys. Court records show the couple repaid the debt in July.

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Marilyn Mosbys lawyers have asked a judge to dismiss the indictment against her, arguing that her indictment was exclusively the result of prosecutorial animosity. They attached to the motion a range of supporting documents, including excerpts from an affidavit by Nick Mosby referenced in a Feb. 18, 2021, letter from Marilyn Mosbys lawyers at the time.

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In that document, Nick Mosby attested he was solely responsible for filing the couples joint federal income taxes from 2014 to 2018. He said his wife reviewed the taxes only to confirm her income.

The Mosbys make more than $364,000 collectively each year.

In the affidavit, Nick Mosby stated he did not inform his wife of a withdrawal he took from his 401(k) and the resulting tax liability, as well as ensuing installment payment plans he established with the Internal Revenue Service. Unpaid taxes as a result of the withdrawal eventually led to the lien against the couples property.

The Mosbys unpaid water bills placed the couple in the company of an unknown number of city residents who are also delinquent on their water accounts. An audit released earlier this year showed the city has made little effort in the past to collect on delinquent customers. According to the audit, Baltimore was unable to provide records of how much city customers were billed compared to how much was collected.

The audit also showed city officials failed to monitor their own monthly reports detailing customer accounts overdue 30 days or longer. Late notices were not sent to customers with overdue bills and accounts are not referred to the citys Law Department or collections agencies if overdue, according to the audit.

Asked Monday about the couples unpaid water bills, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said I am pleased with the work that [Department of Public Works] Director [Jason] Mitchell has done on water bill collections. As we go forward, we look forward to addressing all of the outstanding issues.
The inauguration of the President shall take place ten days after his election by the National Assembly (NA); a special NA session will be convened for that. Hakob Arshakyan, deputy speaker and currently acting speaker of the NA, stated this after the announcement of the results of the secret ballot at the NA session Thursday, and the election of the new President of Armenia.

The final decision on the day of the aforesaid special session and the inauguration of the newly elected President will be made by the NA Counciland by discussing the relevant proposal of the NA speaker.

Vahagn Khachaturyan, who was elected President of Armenia Thursday, delivered an address from the rostrum of the parliament, and thanked the countrys ruling party for the trust shown in him.

"Probably, I am not yet able to fully realize the importance of this moment and all the responsibility entrusted to me. But I sense my responsibility," Khachaturyan added.
The West is hatching plans for a nuclear war, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

According to him, NATO and Ukraine are hatching a plan to unleash a real war, a nuclear war, against Russia.

Lavrov noted that nuclear war is in the minds of the West, not the Russians, stressing that the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons by the Russian Federation are described in military doctrine, RIA Novosti reports.

We dont have any escalation there for the sake of de-escalation, as Western analysts are trying to impute to us. But the talk about nuclear war is now underway, Lavrov said.

He urged journalists to pay attention to the politicians who spoke about this. Lavrov stressed that at first such statements were made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and then by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"Everyone understands that the third world can only be nuclear. But I draw your attention to the fact that it is in the head of Western politicians that a nuclear war is constantly spinning, and not in the head of Russians. Therefore, I assure you that we will not allow this provocation to make us lose balance, but if a real war is unleashed against us, then those who hatch such plans, and, in my opinion, they are hatched, should probably think about it," he said.

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry assured that Moscow cannot allow the threat of a direct attack on Russia to come from Ukrainian territory.

According to him, the United States today subjugated Europe, as Napoleon and Hitler tried to do in their time, TASS reports.
British satellite company OneWeb is suspending all launches from the Russian Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after Roscosmos demanded guarantees that its satellites would not be used for military purposes, Reuters reported.

The British government, which owns a stake in OneWeb, has said it supports the decision.

In the light of Russias illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we are reviewing our participation in all further projects related to cooperation with Russia, the government said.

The Soyuz rocket with 36 OneWeb satellites was supposed to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos demanded guarantees that they would not be used for military purposes.
A humanitarian disaster is looming in Kiev, Mariupol, Kharkov and Sumy, the chief of the Russian National Defense Management Center Mikhail Mizintsev said.

According to him, a catastrophic humanitarian situation is developing practically on the entire territory of Ukraine, TASS reported.

As he said, the reasons for the emergency meeting are the already overdue humanitarian disaster in Mariupol, a city with a population of half a million, and an emerging humanitarian disaster in Kiev with a population of about 3 million people, Kharkov with a population of up to 1.5 million people, Sumy with up to 300,000 people, as well as in a number of other localities.

The Russian Defence Ministry called on the UN, the OSCE and other international organizations to respond to violations of humanitarian law in Ukraine.

He also added that the Russian military would hand over 315 tonnes of food and medicine to residents of Kherson, Sumy and Kharkov regions on 3 March. Over the past 24 hours, seven settlements in Kherson and Kharkov regions have already received 52 tonnes of humanitarian aid, Mizintsev said.
From left, siblings Anastasia, 10, Jacob, 9, and Mihai Miclean, 7, and their parents join several hundred gathered at Lawyers Mall for a prayer vigil for Ukraine. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and state lawmakers gathered on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis on Wednesday night to hold a vigil for Ukraine.

The dome of the historic Maryland State House was colored with blue and yellow lights, the colors of Ukraines flag.

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Lighting the dome tonight shows how regardless of what side of the aisle we stand on individually, collectively we are unified under our core values of freedom and liberty, Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones said.

Hogan announced Monday that Maryland has dissolved a sister-state relationship with Russias Leningrad region in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

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Maryland lawmakers are scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday with the states pension system to better understand the systems current investments, federal requirements and potential steps for divestment from Russia.
Ukrainian citizen of Armenian origin was killed Wednesday as a result of the ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine.

The incident took place in the city of Kherson, where heated battles have been going on for the last few days.

Kherson, as Russia announced Wednesday, has completely passed under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.

The head of the Armenian community of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Norik Gevorgyan, informed Armenian News-NEWS.am about this incident, but did not say the name of this Armenian man. According to Gevorgyan, this Armenian had died near his place of residence while evacuating his relatives, but it is not clear under what circumstances he was killed

The death of this Armenian man was confirmed also by the Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson, Vahan Hunanyan, in a conversation with Armenian News-NEWS.ambut he, too, did not reveal the identity of this Armenian man.
An inventory is being carried out of all kinds of problems and risks for us related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The Minister of Economy of Armenia, Vahan Kerobyan, stated this at a press briefing Thursday.

According to him, some of these problems and risks will become a reality for Armenia. He noted that there are different positions within the Armenian government with respect to the amount of the countrys exports to Russia. Some expect a 40-percent decline, whereas those who do not agree with that base their respective view on the problems of cargo transportation to Russia.

"It means that the demand will increase significantly, especially in terms of essential goods, which will affect Armenia's processing industry. We mainly export foodstuff to Russia," Kerobyan said, reminding that in 2021, Armenias exports to Russia has amounted to about $800 million.

The economy minister assured that the Armenian authorities will do their best so that the countrys exports to Russia do not suffer, and make efforts to diversify Armenias sales marketsfor example, to Iran, China, Arab countries.

"In the closed part of the government session, the economic scenarios of the development of events and our likely steps to counteract will be discussed. A platform is being created where we must operatively discuss the situation. There are many uncertainties ahead," Vahan Kerobyan concluded.
The UK will not be able to impose sanctions on Roman Abramovich and other Russian 'oligarchs' for weeks or months, if at all, because the government has failed to provide reasonable grounds for including businessmen on the sanctions list, The Times reported.

The Foreign Office and the National Crime Agency have failed to prove that there are reasonable grounds to sanction the most prominent oligarchs because they have struggled to tie their finances to the Putin regime. .

The NCA is just one of the agencies involved in providing evidence or information about whether someone should be sanctioned.

This is not only our task, his spokesman said.

British lawmakers are increasingly calling for sanctions against Abramovich, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he could not comment on individual cases when asked why the Russian billionaire businessman was not targeted.
Kosovo's parliament has approved a resolution calling on the government to start talks on NATO membership, Reuters reports.

"Kosovo's parliament asks the government to take all necessary steps, in coordination with international partners, to submit the request for NATO membership, European Union, Council of Europe and other international organisations," says the resolution, backed by 94 votes in the 120-seat parliament.

The Serbian minority MPs boycotted the session.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said his cabinet will apply for NATO membership by first joining the Partnership for Peace program, which encourages bilateral cooperation with non-NATO countries.

Deputies, holding banners with Ukrainian flags reading "We stand with Ukraine," also voted to condemn Russia's invasion.
The European Union is about to receive membership applications from Georgia and Moldova, Reuters reported quoting an EU official.

The official said applications should be submitted in the near future.

The two countries already participate in EU programs, but a membership request would be a major development in their relationship with the 27-nation bloc.

Any membership application and review is a process that takes many years and requires fundamental policy adjustments, ranging from trade to rule of law measures and anti-corruption commitments.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the topic of Ukraine in another phone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the Kremlin press service reported on Thursday.

"A frank exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine continued," the statement said.

"The Russian president drew attention to the fact that Emmanuel Macron's address did not say a word about the Ukrainian leadership's sabotage of the Minsk agreements for seven years, or that Western countries and France itself had done exactly nothing to force Kiev to implement them," the Kremlin said in a statement.

Additionally, the press service of the Russian president noted, "the long-term genocide against civilians in Donbas, which has resulted in numerous human casualties and forced hundreds of thousands of people to seek asylum in Russia, has been hushed up".

The Russian president also called on his French counterpart to take part in ensuring the safe evacuation of foreigners from Ukraine.

"The Russian side has confirmed its readiness to cooperate with foreign partners in order to solve humanitarian problems," the Russian president's press service reported. According to its data, Putin called on the French president to join efforts to ensure the safe evacuation of foreign nationals from Ukraine. The Russian head of state mentioned in particular the large group of Indian students in Kharkov, who are essentially being held hostage by Ukrainian security forces.

"Emmanuel Macron promised to carry out appropriate work with the Kiev leadership," the Kremlin noted.

"It was particularly emphasised that during the special operation, which is going according to plan, the Russian armed forces are doing everything possible to preserve the lives of civilians," the Kremlin stressed. "High-precision weapons are being used to destroy exclusively military infrastructure. Allegations about the rocket attacks and bombardment of Kiev and other Ukrainian cities do not correspond to reality and are elements of an anti-Russian disinformation campaign," the Russian presidential press service said.
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of top news as of 03.03.22:

The Minister of High-Tech Industry Vahagn Khachaturyan has been elected the new President of Armenia in the parliaments second attempt.

He was the only presidential candidate nominated by the ruling party.

Accordingly, 71 MPs took part in the respective voting, and all of them voted in favor.

To note, however, solely the ruling majority Civil Contract Faction in parliament voted.

The two opposition factions in parliament boycotted the elections.

According to the Armenian Constitution, at least two-thirds of the total number of votes of the MPs, or 81 votes in favor, are needed to elect the new president in the first round  but the parliament ruling majority faction has only 71 seats.

In the second round, however, the president is elected by three-fifths of the lawmakersin this case, by 65 votes in favor.

Ex-president Armen Sarkissian had announced his resignation back in January citing lack of powers.

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonyan have congratulated Vahagn Khachaturyan on elections. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has also sent a congratulatory message to Kachaturyan.

The second round of Russian-Ukrainian talks kicked off Thursday noon in Belarus Brest region. The first round talks concluded with no result Monday evening.

Head of the Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky today noted that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations decided together to hold second talks in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

"The Russian military provided a security corridor for the Ukrainian delegation," Medinsky said.

Before talks, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and then with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The conversation with Putin, which lasted an hour and a half, is already the third in a row since the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis.

Meanwhile, Russian FM Sergy Lavrov noted that NATO and Ukraine are hatching a plan to unleash a real nuclear war against Russia.

The incident took place in the city of Kherson, where heated battles have been going on for the last few days. Kherson, as Russia announced Wednesday, has completely passed under the control of Russia.

Military actions are in full swing in Ukraine.

The Russian troops rendered the reserve technological radio and television center in Kyiv inoperative, said Russian defense ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov.

According to him, the security services of Ukraine used this radio and television center for "psychological operations against Russia," and no civilians were affected during the shelling.

Meanwhile, an advance team from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague has left for Ukraine to begin investigating possible war crimes, the ICC chief prosecutor told Reuters.

The UN GA voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calling for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops.

At an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly, 141 out of 193 member states voted for the resolution, 35 abstained, including Armenia, and five voted against.

Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Russia and Syria voted against the resolution.

Turkey voted in favor. While Azerbaijan did not participate in the vote.

Meanwhile, the whole world continues to impose new sanctions on Russia.

The World Bank announced the termination of all programs in Russia and Belarus, citing "military actions against the people of Ukraine."

The United States, in turn, in coordination with allies and partners, imposes additional sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

The EU has imposed several packages of sanctions on Russia, including a ban on exports to Russia of certain refining technologies from Europe, which makes it difficult and expensive to modernize Russian refineries. European Commissioner said the EU sanctions on Russia will gradually hit Moscow's oil revenues

Russia, in turn, reacted to sanctions and noted that they stopped supplying the US with rocket engines.

Moscow will also stop cooperating with Berlin on joint experiments on the Russian segment of the ISS and will conduct them independently.

The American dollars (USD) exchange rate against the Armenian dram (AMD) comprised AMD 496.48/$1 in Armenia on Thursday; this is up by AMD 7.12 from Wednesday, according to the official website of the Armenian Central Bank.

The exchange rate for one euro was AMD 550.40 (up by AMD 7.21), while the rate of one Russian ruble made up AMD 4.26 (down by AMD 0.31) in the country.

The World Health Organization said the number of new cases of coronavirus reported worldwide fell by 16% last week, indicating a monthly decline in the number of COVID-19 infections.

In its weekly pandemic report, the WHO said deaths have fallen by 10%, continuing the decline in deaths first seen last week.

The WHO said more than 10 million new cases and about 60,000 deaths have been reported worldwide.

The omicron variant remains dominant worldwide, the WHO added. None of the other worrying variants, including beta, gamma, lambda or mu, have been reported in the past month, although the WHO has said there are problems with surveillance in many countries.

Armenian officially confirmed COVID-19 cases have declined from nearly 1,000 cases to 200-300, while the total number has exceeded 420,000 cases.

The death toll in Armenia has reached 8,505.

Almost 2,000,000 COVID-19 vaccination doses have been given in Armenia, while over 870,000 people are fully vaccinated.

"After 95 international games, hard work, unprecedented ups and downs, I decided to stop playing for the Armenian national team, he said in a statement.

Mkhitaryan noted that in the coming years, he will be fully focused on his club career.
The United States will regret the failure of the Iranian nuclear deal, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Tehran's spokesman noted that Iran's strategy of active resistance has already resulted in a victory over Washington's policy of maximum pressure.

"If Vienna talks do not lead to a good deal, current US administration will feel defeated in near future due to lack of timely use of diplomatic opportunities," Shamkhani said.

Representatives from Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, the European Union and the United States are participating in the talks to work out an agreement under which Iran will give up further nuclear weapons development.
The Ukrainian parliament has passed a law approving President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's decree on general mobilization, RBC-Ukraine reported, with reference to the Facebook of the Verkhovna Rada.

A number of other laws were also passed today.

It is reported that today the plenary session adopted 14 laws and one resolution. The last document concerns an appeal to the UN, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Red Cross, the European Parliament and other organisations, parliaments and governments of other states in connection with the need to protect the civilian population of Ukraine from Russian invasion.

Laws passed today:

Law on approval of the decree of the President of Ukraine "On general mobilization" (reg. 7113);

Law on approval of the decree of the President of Ukraine "On the use of the armed forces of Ukraine and other military formations" (reg. 7115);

Law on amendments to certain legislative acts (on ensuring the liability of persons who carried out collaborative activities) (reg.  5143);

Law on amendments to certain legislative acts (regarding the establishment of criminal liability for collaborative activities) (reg. 5144);

Law on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine (on the prohibition of production and distribution of information products aimed at promoting the actions of the aggressor state) (reg. 5101);

Law on amendments to certain legislative acts of Ukraine (on strengthening criminal liability for the production and distribution of prohibited information products) (reg. 5101);

Law on amendments to the criminal procedure code of Ukraine and other legislative acts of Ukraine concerning additional regulation of ensuring the activities of law enforcement bodies in complicated martial law (reg. 7118);

Law of Ukraine "On amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the judiciary and the status of judges" on changing the jurisdiction of courts (reg. 7117);

Law of Ukraine "On amendments to the Criminal code of Ukraine to strengthen responsibility for crimes against the fundamentals of national security of Ukraine in the conditions of martial law" (reg. 7116);

Law of Ukraine "On ensuring the participation of civilians in defense of Ukraine" (reg. 7120);

Law on the protection of interests of those who supply reports and other documents during martial law or war (reg. 127121);

Law on basic principles of compulsory seizure in Ukraine of objects of property rights of the Russian Federation and its residents (register 7122);

Law on amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine on strengthening liability for marauding (reg. 7124);

Law on amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other legislative acts of Ukraine regarding peculiarities of taxation and reporting during martial law (reg.  7125).
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin hinted at the possibility of taking control over "all of Ukraine," BFMTV reported, citing the press service of the Elysee Palace.

According to Macron, Putin expressed "great determination" to continue the special operation in case Ukraine does not accept Russia's conditions.

"Russia's ambition is to take over all of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin's military goals have not changed," the Elysee Palace reported.

Macron said after talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the situation in Ukraine could worsen. According to a BFMTV source, the French leader is "pessimistic".

The source said that the president of the republic expected that the worst was yet to come, given that nothing Putin said was encouraging.
The White House said Thursday it intends to ask Congress for more than $32 billion to help Ukraine in its standoff with Russia and for additional measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Voice of America reported.

The Biden administration will allocate $10 billion of this amount for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. 22.5 billion dollars will be used for the elimination and prevention of COVID-19.

According to a statement by Acting Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young, the proposed appropriations are to be part of the budget bill to fund the US government, which is expected to be passed by 11 March.

"Given the rapidly evolving situation in Ukraine, I anticipate that additional needs may arise over time," Young warned lawmakers.

Young stressed the urgent need to assist Ukraine and US allies in Central Europe in the situation of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

She explained that the funds would be used to train the Ukrainian military, protect the Ukrainian electricity system, strengthen cyber defences and additional sanctions against the Kremlin.
In the movie Oceans 8, thieves use a 3D printer to make a copy of a precious necklace so they can swap it for the real one.

Can that feat actually be done with todays 3D technology?

Vanessa Rodriguez, head of the University of Miami Libraries Creative Studio and librarian associate professor, will seek to answer that question during an upcoming virtual discussion, 3D Scanning and Printing Explained With Ocean 8s Future Technology. The virtual session will be held on March 9 at 3 p.m.

Sometimes it is easier to explain concepts if people can relate to it, she said, explaining why she chose to highlight the movie in her talk.

Rodriguez heads Creative Studio, a multimedia lab with locations on the first floor of both the Otto G. Richter Library and Weeks Music Library, which helps students and staff members gain the tools to create multimedia projects. The studio offers classes on various software, including Adobe and Canva.

Now, because of a partnership with several other universities, the number of online courses has increased. The studio has partnered with library makerspaces at multiple southeastern universities to form a new community called SEMLSoutheastern Multimedia Librariesthat supports teaching and learning in the fields of audio production, 3D rendering, animation, graphic design, desktop publishing, and more.

Vanessa Rodriguez works with a 3D printer in the Creative Studio

The universities participating are the University of Miami, Clemson University, North Carolina State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

The partnership will allow University students to take virtual classes offered by all the universities.

Since we [the universities] were all on Zoom because of the pandemic and we can have sessions with 300 people, it made sense to allow each others students and staff members to attend our sessions, Rodriguez said.

Sign up for courses offered by the SEML partnership. Creative studio sessions are meant to introduce a user to the essentials of the software.

Besides offering classes, the studio lets students borrow equipment so they can create their projects. These include cameras, video cameras, screens, lights, tripods, microphones, and VR headsets. The studio also has an Ultramaker 3 3D printer.

Anyone interested in music can also use the Creative Studio at the Weeks Music Library that includes specialized software for music. The equipment available for loan from that library is more specialized and includes keyboards. In addition, two recording studios are available to all students and staff.

For those with an interest in projects utilizing virtual and augmented reality, the XR Community Lab on the third floor of the Richter Library can be a great resource. Assistance is available for faculty members who are interested in having their students experience VR and AR technology during their courses.

Visit Creative Studio for more information.
Company sets targets to support sustainable use of space, achieve carbon NetZero, increase diversity and inclusion, and empower communities by solving critical human needs

LUXEMBOURG -- (BUSINESS WIRE) --

SES S.A., the leader in global content connectivity solutions, has today published its 2021 Annual Report which includes a new Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda and an ambitious set of ESG targets. The revised ESG strategy reflects the outcome of a comprehensive materiality assessment that was conducted during 2021, involving extensive stakeholder outreach.

The SES Horizon strategy is where sustainable space meets sustainable Earth and focuses on four key pillars  ensuring the secure and sustainable use of space; bold climate action, including a commitment to carbon NetZero by no later than 2050; increasing diversity and inclusion in the industry, starting with SES; and using our global content connectivity solutions to meet critical human needs.

With our Horizon strategy, we have laid out a purposeful ESG agenda aligned with our business strategy, focusing on four key areas of utmost importance to SES, said Steve Collar, CEO of SES. Making a difference is a clear ambition of everyone at SES, and this new ESG agenda demonstrates that we possess both the tools and the conviction to help make the world a better place for all.

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About SES

SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on earth by distributing the highest quality video content and providing seamless connectivity around the world. As the leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES operates the worlds only multi-orbit constellation of satellites with the unique combination of global coverage and high performance, including the commercially-proven, low-latency Medium Earth Orbit O3b system. By leveraging a vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES is able to deliver high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in the air, and is a trusted partner to the worlds leading telecommunications companies, mobile network operators, governments, connectivity and cloud service providers, broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SESs video network carries 8,400 channels and has an unparalleled reach of over 355 million households, delivering managed media services for both linear and non-linear content. The company is listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG). Further information is available at: www.ses.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220302005696/en/

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suzanne.ong@ses.com
With the recent gains, Bitcoin now has a higher market cap than the rapidly-declining Russian currency ruble.

Bitcoin has a market cap of approximately $835 billion while the ruble has a market cap of around $626 billion.

The crypto market was last at $2 trillion in August 2021.

In the last week since the Russia-Ukraine war started, Bitcoin has jumped nearly 14 per cent and ethereum 12 per cent, according to CoinGecko data.

Terra's LUNA token had a stratospheric rise, climbing nearly 70 per cent during the last week, and is now trading at approximately $94.

Solana's SOL and other layer 1 tokens like Avalanche's AVAX and Polkadot's DOT also responded well, reports CoinDesk.

Similar to volatility, Bitcoin's trading volume across major exchanges reached the highest level since the December 5 price crash, according to CoinDesk data.

Earlier, the global crypto market lost nearly 10 per cent of its value as Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday. Over $200 billion worth of its global market value was wiped out.

The most-hit cryptocurrencies were Ethereum, Cardano, Avalanche, and Polkadot, along with Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.

Some traders, however, expected the price bounce to be short-lived amid geopolitical uncertainty.

--IANS na/vd

( 237 Words)

2022-03-02-21:12:04 (IANS)
The top brass of the Mizoram Rural Bank (MRB), one of the top performers among the 43 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) in India, have met Mizoram Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati at the Raj Bhavan and apprised him about the performance of the bank and its future missions. The MRB delegation was led by its Chairman Vadde Jaya Chandra and General Manager C. Ramdinsanga. While appreciating the progress and success of MRB, the Governor expressed his concern that most of the people in the state are still unaware about the various social security schemes that are freely available and are being implemented through the banks. According to an official statement, the Governor requested the bank officials to concentrate on creating awareness about schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, an accident insurance scheme that provides one year of accidental death and disability coverage. Kambhampati also mentioned other Central government welfare schemes that are not being availed by the people of Mizoram due to poor awareness campaigns. The Governor urged all the banks in Mizoram to double their efforts in financial literacy and education of the beneficiaries on Central government's welfare schemes and advised the bank officials to rope in the assistance of NGOs, including the Young Mizo Association and churches in this regard. According to the MRB officials, the bank has 97 branches across 11 districts in Mizoram, having over nine lakh accounts (75 per cent) in the mountainous state with a population of around 12 lakh. The bank reported Rs 38.55 crore net profit in the 2020-21 financial year, which is the second highest among all RRBs in the northeast region after the Tripura Gramin Bank, its officials claimed. A senior MRB official said that till January this year, the credit-deposit ratio of the bank stood at 58.39 per cent. The market share of MRB in the total deposits in Mizoram for 2020-21 stood at 29.88 per cent, and in the same period, the market share of MRB to the total advances in the state stood at 33.86 per cent. The MRB is also the best performing bank in Mizoram in terms of social security schemes, as per the ranking of the State Level Bankers' Committee. The MRB has also prepared its vision 2023 to establish 300 customer service points. For adoption of one village in each of the 11 districts of the state to achieve 100 per cent financial inclusion, 11 villages have already been adopted in Phase 1, and under the Model Village Scheme Phase II, another 11 villages would be adopted. --IANS sc/arm ( 440 Words) 2022-03-02-22:08:02 (IANS)
Russia's key state bank has revealed that it will pull out of the European Union's financial markets, citing threats to the safety of employees and its branches in the wake of Moscow's attack on Ukraine. In a statement on Wednesday, Sberbank announced that the decision had been made as a result of its subsidiary banks facing "an abnormal outflow of funds". The financial giant also claimed that its employees and branches were under threat, RT reported. "Due to the instruction of Russia's Central Bank, Sberbank (Russia) will not be able to supply liquidity to its European subsidiaries," the notice read, after the institution took measures to preserve its foreign currency. However, it offered reassurances that its subsidiary banks had "a high level of capital and quality of assets", and that customer deposits were "insured in line with local legislation". The departure of Russia's largest lender from the EU does not impact its business in Switzerland, which it said is continuing to operate normally, as it has "a sufficient level of capital and assets to continue its activities", RT reported. Sberbank had been operational in a number of EU member states, including Germany, Austria, Croatia, and Hungary, and boasted European assets worth over $14.4bn at the end of 2020. --IANS san/ ( 225 Words) 2022-03-02-22:32:05 (IANS)
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Thursday announced a manufacturing joint venture of its subsidiary Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Limited (RSBVL) with a leading integrated manufacturing solutions company Sanmina Corporation (Sanmina) through investment in its existing Indian entity. RSBVL will hold a 50.1 per cent equity stake in the joint venture entity with Sanmina owning the remaining 49.9 per cent, as per a joint press statement. The joint venture will create a world-class electronic manufacturing hub in India, in line with the Prime Minister's "Make in India" vision, the statement said. The partnership is said to leverage Sanmina's 40 years of advanced manufacturing experience and Reliance's expertise and leadership in the Indian business ecosystem. The day-to-day business will continue to be managed by Sanmina's existing management team in Chennai, which will be seamless from an employee and customer perspective. "RSBVL will achieve this ownership primarily through an investment of up to Rs 1,670 crore in new shares in Sanmina's existing Indian entity, while Sanmina will contribute to its existing contract manufacturing business," the statement said. As a result of the investment, the joint venture will be capitalized with over USD 200 million of cash to fund growth. Akash Ambani, the Director of Reliance Jio, said, "We are delighted to work with Sanmina to access the significant market opportunity for high-tech manufacturing in India. For both growth and security, it is essential for India to be more self-reliant in electronics manufacturing in Telecom, IT, Data Centers, Cloud, 5G, New Energy and other industries as we chart our path in the new digital economy. Through this partnership we plan to boost innovation and talent in India, meeting both Indian and global demand." "We are excited to partner with Reliance to build the premier integrated manufacturing solutions company in India," stated Jure Sola, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sanmina. "This joint venture will service both domestic and export markets and represents a major milestone in the Indian government's 'Make in India' initiative," Sola added. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close no later than September 2022. (ANI)
New Delhi [India], March 3 (ANI/SRV): With the latest reports showing a downward trend in the debt collection and recovery rate for the banks and financial institutions, lenders are continuing to face major financial losses. Along with the institutional money lenders and banks, the firms engaging in credit-based B2B transactions are also widely falling prey to the rising issue of debt recovery. Kenstone Capital Pvt Ltd., one of the leading and most reliable financial consultants specialized in debt collection and recovery of the nation, has gradually emerged as the new one-stop solution for the debt collection issues faced by the B2B businesses and institutional financiers. A report by Atradius reveals that around 60 per cent of the B2B purchases are made through credit, and the numbers have significantly increased over time. Another report by Nexa Collections serves as a solid insight that the odds of successfully recovering debt on the due date is 98 per cent, which gradually falls with the course of time. The successful recovery rate of B2B debts further declines to 58 per cent in 6 months, 27 per cent in a year, and finally to 14 per cent in two years. The process of B2B debt collection is an entirely different process, in contrast to the B2C debt collection. Since the B2B debt collection activities will be having a direct impact on the cash flow and working capital of the business, the same needs to be approached with more care and caution. The businesses vouch for first-party collection where no third-party debt collecting agencies will play a part. Once the business cannot recover the due amount within the specified span of time, it is advised to approach a third-party specialist to take over the B2B debt collection process. In this way, the businesses can completely focus their time, effort, and resources on their core activities, while the third-party agents will handle the entire B2B debt collection process for the firm. From the recovery of bad debts to engaging in the legal collection process, the third-party agents will take part in issuing a demand for payment letters, conducting the investigative work, and if needed, filing the lawsuit against the debtor on behalf of the company. The role played by Kenstone Capital in mitigating and minimizing the risks and successfully maximizing the returns is nothing short of pivotal. Within a really short span of time, the firm has assisted hundreds of companies in collecting and recovering their B2B debts which they even considered as losses. Kenstone Capital has a highly efficient and tactical system in place to assist the clients with the technical and other financial aspects regarding the transaction. The rising number of B2B credit sales based on invoices always prevails as an unavoidable risk factor in the business. Kenstone Capital mitigates the risk by taking the responsibility of cashing the invoice upon the end of the credit term on behalf of the business as the first stage. From the words of Nikhil Shetty, Director of Client Relations at Kenstone Capital Pvt Ltd says, "Besides assisting our clients in the collection of debts and other associated services, we aim to ensure maximum quality and professionalism to be exhibited in our operations. Apart from simply being a part of the debt collection industry, we eye to become the face of the industry by giving it a much-needed remodelling". All the risks associated with the collection of invoices, even if they are turned into bad debts, will be held by Kenstone Capital in the whole process. The team of collection agents will be handling the responsibility of retrieving the amount due and recovering the bad debts as the second stage of the process. If the due amount is not recovered even after the second stage, Kenstone Capital has a dedicated team of lawyers to move towards the legal collection procedures. The firm will be handling the whole legal procedure and even file a suit against the debtor in case the funds remain unpaid even at the end of the third stage. Kenstone Capital, therefore completely relieves the businesses from the unnecessary headaches revolving around the collection of B2B debts and the more hectic procedures that follow. They offer businesses top-to-bottom assistance in these areas and guarantee the return of the maximum plausible amount even in the scenarios of extreme uncertainty. Moreover, the services of Kenstone Capital can be characterized by transparent pricing policies, which are followed by one of the lowest minimum collection balance requirement policies set by the firm. In addition to the B2B debt collection and recovery services, Kenstone Capital also provides its clients with credit repairing services too. The pandemic has severely damaged the credit cum CIBIL score of a number of firms which can be rightfully fixed and restored with expert assistance from Kenstone. From the words of K Karunakar Shetty, Founder of Kenstone Capital Pvt Ltd., "The pandemic has been a core reason behind many B2B firms and other financial institutions facing unfair losses and making failures in repayment of dues. Our resolute team of experts from Kenstone Capital is equipped with all the expertise and technical resources to make sure that your company gets the best possible returns from the due debts. Our services will save a significant amount of time, expertise, and resources for you, which can be redirected towards a more rewarding purpose". Kenstone Capital, established in 2018, has achieved significant growth in a very short span of time. With the level of expertise they are providing, that too at a highly affordable market rate, the company is expected to grow further and deeper into the domestic and international markets. Kenstone Capital has a presence in 28 cities across India and is an expert at B2B debt collection. To know more, visit: www.kenstonecapital.in This story is provided by SRV Media. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 3 (ANI/PNN): Dr Manish Doshi, managing director and CEO of the Surat-based Concept Medical Group of companies, was honoured by Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan with the 'Champions of Change Award Telangana' for his outstanding work in the field of healthcare over the years on February 25. The other awardees of Champion of Change Award Telangana were Saina Nehwal from sports, Kajal Agarwal, Allu Arvind, Konidela Ram Charan Teja and Rashmika Mandanna from films, M Mahender Reddy, IPS, Director General of Police, Telangana, G Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism, Telangana and KT Rama Rao, Minister of State for Urban development The Champions of Change Award Telangana, organised by Interactive Forum on Indian Economy (IFIE), a Non-Profit Company recognised by the Government of India, at Hyderabad is aimed at honouring those doing exemplary work in the fields of social welfare, culture, education, health care, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, special contribution in aspirational districts, corona warriors and for the national unity. Former Chief Justice of India, Justice KG Balakrishnan heads the eminent jury to select the Champions of change awardees in the country. "The entire Concept Medical family applauds the commendable and consistent efforts of Dr Manish Doshi who has led from the front to bring positive change for the betterment in the field of healthcare in the country," said Parth Doshi, chief marketing officer, Concept Medical Group. Concept Medical is a research-oriented organization that works to develop ground-breaking and innovative medical devices. With a mission "Converting concepts into reality" Concept Medical delivers medical devices which address the unmet clinical needs in the cardiovascular and peripheral interventional field. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
The Income Tax Department said on Thursday it has conducted search and seizure operations on certain contractors executing contracts of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a prominent person and their close associates in Mumbai. In all, more than 35 premises in Mumbai have been covered during the search operation, according to a statement released by the Union Finance Ministry. The raids were conducted on February 25. "During the search operation, undisclosed cash of Rs 2 crore and jewellery of Rs 1.5 crore have been seized so far. Further investigations are in progress," the Finance Ministry said. During the course of the search operation, numerous incriminating documents, loose sheets and digital evidence have been found and seized. The evidence seized strongly indicates a close nexus between these contractors and the said person. Particulars of about 3 dozen immovable properties, whose value could be more than Rs 130 crore, have also been detected. It includes properties acquired either in their name or their associates or benamidars. Evidence of their involvement in international hawala transactions and routing of the ill-gotten money to certain foreign jurisdictions have also been recovered. Loose sheets and excel files with details of unaccounted cash receipts and payments aggregating to several crore have also been found and seized, which have not been recorded in the regular books of account. "In the case of contractors, the seized documents reveal the modus-operandi adopted by them for large-scale suppression of taxable income by inflating their expenses. For this purpose, the prominent recourse is over-invoicing of sub-contract expenses through a maze of entities and by claiming non-genuine expenses," the Finance Ministry said. Certain instances show that cash has been taken out from these entities and the same has been utilized for obtaining undue favours for awarding of contracts and also for making unaccounted payments for investments in properties. The preliminary investigation indicates that these contractors have evaded income to the extent of Rs 200 crore on account of the above malpractices, it added. (ANI)
New Delhi [India], March 3 (ANI/ATK): Unified Brainz celebrated the 3rd anniversary of its international magazine - Passion Vista with most eminent personalities from the globe in its exclusive edition "The Global Icon 2021" which was launched virtually on 31st January 2022. This spectacular event witnessed not only powerful personalities but also leading visionaries from different walks of life. Dr Dawkins Brown was one of the leading personalities to get felicitated for his visionary ideas and success. From Accounting and Tax Planning to HR, Management and IT Consulting, the dynamic Dr Dawkins Brown is globally acknowledged as a one-stop shop for all your business needs. As the Founder and Executive Chairman of Dawgen Global, an integrated multidisciplinary professional service firm, Dr Brown is responsible for the strategic guidance and strategy execution of several entities within the Dawgen Global Group, which boasts premium clients from across the world. Dr Brown's experiential learning began in 1989 after he graduated from Kingston College and was offered a summer job at the Jamaica Library Service in Kingston, thanks to the efforts of his Religious Education Teacher (Mrs Hoo-Sang). While at the Jamaica Library Service, he developed a liking for accounting. He finally decided to study part-time and register for a 2-year certificate course in Business Studies at the University of West Indies and pursue the prestigious ACCA Qualifications via the Mature Entry Route (MER). After completing ACCA Level 1 and the certificate in Business Studies from UWI, Dawkins wanted to gain experience in the field of accounting. In 1993, he accepted a position at Lee Clark Chang (EY Associate Firm in Jamaica) as a Trainee Auditor. The burning desire and aspiration of becoming a Chartered Accountant kept him focused even in strenuous times. "My father died in October 1997, just before my 26th birthday and the December sitting for my final ACCA papers. I know he would have been proud to see my name printed as a graduate, and my mother needed something to cheer her up in the months to come. Thus failure was not an option," recalls Dawkins. Having progressed quickly through the ACCA exams, Dawkins was soon transferred to EY Jamaica (now BDO) as a Management Consultant. In 1998 when the ACCA December 1997 results were published, he became a Chartered Accountant at age 26! In September 1998, he accepted a position as financial controller at a petroleum distribution and marketing company. The experience was excellent and he was able to add significant value to the entity and other affiliated entities by applying skills learnt during his time at EY Jamaica. Having worked closely with the Managing Director and the owner of the petroleum marketing company, his entrepreneurial desire started to take shape. In 2001, Dawkins and his brother established an accounting school (Corporate Business Institute), and on September 2, 2002, he established an accounting firm named Dawgen. Dawgen Chartered Accountants commenced with Dawkins as the only employee. Since then it has grown tremendously. It has represented several international associations and networks, and most recently operated the Crowe Global brand in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Skilled with the ability to precisely judge a market and trends, Dawkins realised that audit and accounting professions were changing rapidly. After a strategic review, he decided it was time to own and operate a global integrated multidisciplinary professional service firm. Hence, Dawgen Global was incorporated in 2018. The firm in Jamaica (Crowe Jamaica) was rebranded as Dawgen Global, providing a wide range of services including Audit, Advisory, Tax, Legal and Risk, with a team of 105 employees. As an inspirational leader himself, Dawkins is a member of several professional bodies including: Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica, member of Chartered Management Institute (CMI), member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), member of Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) member of American Planning Association (APA) and member of Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS). He earned his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the field of Accounting, Finance and Management from Rushmore University, and is a leading lecturer in Financial Strategy, Audit, International Financial Reporting Standards and Taxation at certain tertiary institutions in Jamaica. Dawkins is clear that his mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with passion, compassion, humor, and style. To know more about the international brand checkout www.passionvista.com or to nominate for upcoming projects email at info@passionvista.com This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
New Delhi [India], March 3 (ANI/ATK): Unified Brainz celebrated 3rd anniversary of its international magazine - Passion Vista with most eminent personalities from the globe in its exclusive edition "The Global Icon 2021" which was launched virtually on 31st January 2022. This spectacular event witnessed not only powerful personalities but also leading visionaries from different walks of life. A visionary entrepreneur, Shawnte Mckinnon became a part of the event to share her experiences and inspiring journey. At a time when professionals across the globe were struggling to stay afloat in the face of the pandemic, the dynamic Shawnte Mckinnon had a landmark year. 2021 saw her being recognised in Yahoo Finance, The New York Finance, and the Global News Daily, among many others. She was awarded and recognized amongst international royal dignitaries and global government diplomats as the 'Best Entrepreneur of the Year' by H.E. Denisa Gokovi and the Hoinser Magazine of Albania. She graced K.I.S.H. Magazine's Billboard feature as one of the 'Top Ten Global Influencers on the rise in Philadelphia, PA in 2021'. And she was appointed 'Goodwill Ambassador for Human Rights and Peace' by the Hoinser Group during the year as well. "I've always had an affinity for people and numbers. I worked for an organization that had been in a four-year deficit. I was able to pull the organization out of the deficit within a year of working with them. This helped me realize that I had a knack of helping businesses to develop strategies that would overcome economic challenges," shares Shawnte, Founder cum CEO of the McKinnon Strategic Consulting Group. The McKinnon Strategic Consulting Group is a business finance company that specializes in the needs of a diverse portfolio of clients. As an accomplished and focused Operations and Finance Executive with 15 years+ experience in consulting international million-dollar organizations, Shawnte has a proven track record to improve operations, generate business growth, and maximize profits through achievements in plan design, loss prevention, finance management, internal controls, and productivity and efficiency improvements. But that's not all, for this versatile Boss Lady is also a Minister, Author, Media personality, and a U.S. Air Force Veteran! In addition, she holds an MBA from the Jack Welch Management Institute. Not one to ever give up, Shawnte tells us how pain propelled her towards her purpose in life. "Life has a way of throwing curveballs and I've had my fair share of them. Some were very difficult to recover from, but I don't believe in giving up. I believe that if I open my eyes and I'm breathing, there's an opportunity to get back up from what tried to knock me down," she says. Speaking about the foremost challenge she faced, Shawnte recalls, "The challenge I faced initially was garnering buy-in. Anytime one embarks on a new journey, it challenges the 'status quo'. Any time you introduce change, the culture will fight against you. It takes grit, steadfastness, and belief in what you stand for, to overcome this. Additionally, hard work builds integrity. People do business with those they know, like, and trust so hard work helps to achieve the characteristics of a successful leader." As an inspiring women's leader herself, we ask Shawnte what makes a good leader, to which she replies, "The definition of leadership for me is leading by example. A good leader rolls up their sleeves and gets into the thick of it with their team. A good leader births good leaders. This is necessary in our ever-evolving world. Teach today what others will lead with tomorrow. You will not always be in the lead so be mindful of your successor and be mindful of the fact that you will have a successor." Sage advice from a smart woman. Life is not always fair and easy for a female in the corporate world, even for one as strong and savvy as Shawnte. When the going got tough, what inspired her to keep going? "God has been my inspiration. If I had it my way, things would probably look quite different from the path I'm on today. My pains, setbacks, and triumphs have inspired me. I use it to inspire and teach others. My goal is to help impart my lessons to others to make their path a lot easier than the road I've had to travel if you will," says Shawnte, the 'altruistic' entrepreneur. To know more about the international brand checkout www.passionvista.com or to nominate for upcoming projects email at info@passionvista.com This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
The Income Tax Department said on Thursday it has detected suppression of income of Rs 400 crore during a raid conducted at various premises linked to a multinational telecom group. "The ultimate shareholding of the group lies with a foreign entity of a neighbouring country. The searches, which were spread across Delhi, Gurugram, and Bengaluru covered the main business premises and also the residential premises of the key office bearers," according to an official statement released by the Ministry of Finance. Although the company's name is not mentioned in the statement released by the Union Finance Ministry, the official sources said the concerned company is Chinese telecom firm Huawei. The search and seizure operations by the Income Tax Department were conducted on February 15, 2022. In a statement released on February 16 Huawei had confirmed about the raids. "We have been informed of the visit of the Income Tax team to our office and also of their meeting with some personnel," the company had said in the statement. According to the Finance Ministry, the search action has revealed that the group has made inflated payments against receipt of technical services from its related parties outside India. "The assessee company could not justify the genuineness of obtaining of such alleged technical services in lieu of which payment has been made as also the basis of determination of consideration for the same. The expenses debited by the assessee company towards receipt of such services are to the tune of Rs 129 crore over a period of five years," it said. Evidence gathered and statements recorded during the search also revealed that one of the group entities engaged in providing software development services, has been disclosing lower net margins from the related parties, by claiming its operation to be of low-end nature. "However, the evidences collected during the investigation indicated that this entity has been rendering significant services/ operations of high-end nature. On this aspect, suppression of income of Rs. 400 crore has been detected," the Finance Ministry said. The search action has further revealed that the group has manipulated its books of account to reduce its taxable income in India through creation of various provisions for expenses, such as provisions for obsolescence, provisions for warranty, doubtful debts/ loans & advances etc., which have little or no scientific/financial rationale. According to the Finance Ministry, during the investigation, the group has failed to provide any substantial and appropriate justification for such claims. During the search, it was found that, the assessee group has debited more than Rs 350 crore in its books of account in recent financial years towards royalty to its related party. Such expenses have been incurred for the use of brand and technical know-how related intangibles. During the search, the group has failed to substantiate receipt of any such services/technical know-how, or the basis of quantification of royalty rate for such claim. Consequently, the rendering of services and such royalty payments become highly questionable and prima facie, disallowable as business expenses as per extant Income Tax law. (ANI)
New Delhi [India], March 3 (ANI/Target Media): Many such initiators in the society have the power to bring change in the life of people around them by their imagination and courage and that too, exploring new frontiers, they have the power to impact the lives of common people with their trailblazing ideas. In order to recognize the work of those eminent personalities, Times applaud organized an extravagant Trendsetter 2022 award ceremony at Raj Bhavan Mumbai, and the awardees were felicitated by none other than the Governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari. Among the honored list was 68-year-old, Dr Govind Dalvi, a retired administrative officer (civilian Gazetted officer) from Defence services was presented the award for meritorious contribution for serving selflessly in national defence services and later on improving life of people by building positive energy amongst them after his retirement. Dr Dalvi work on the lines of a social reformer and work selflessly for the masses. At this age also the man works happily and tirelessly for 18 hours to improve positive energy amongst the people. Always leading from the front, Dr Dalvi journey is quite inspirational. He joined the armed forces in 1976 as a clerk the Armoured Corps Records and worked there dedicatedly for 38 years. Later on, he was superannuated as an Administrative officer on 2014. He was Awarded with the Commendation Card for his exemplary loyalty, duty, diligence and perseverance, by General officer Commanding in Chief Southern Command, Pune. After retirement Govind Dalvi got inclined towards the teachings of Satguru Shri Wamanrao Pai, the founder of the innovative philosophy- Jeevan vidya. Govind Dalvi dedicatedly follows the Vipassana Meditation of Bhagwan Budha, Mudra Dhyan, Manashakti Meditation, Pranayam and yoga. He was recently felicitated by Doctorate in philosophy (Honoris Causa) in the specialized area of Administration by Commonwealth Vocational University, kingdom of Tonga, in 2021. Following on the teachings of Shri Wamanrao Pai, Dr Govind Viswanath Dalvi always motivate others to live happily. He makes others understand his Guru's philosophy that 'you are the architect of your destiny.' Times applaud is a notable digital portal in India always highlights inspiring achievements of many role models and their unique ideas to its readers through their creative stories& write-ups. Their vision is to uplift and motivates the country's youth by reading and learning from inspirational leaders worldwide, especially those who have risen from rags to rich. Times applaud also demonstrates its commitment to expressing its gratitude to everyone who works tirelessly for society. This story is provided by Target Media. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Target Media)
New Delhi [India], March 3 (ANI/TPT): Amwoodo Eco-Products Pvt., proprietary brand, Dencrus launches its new collection of bamboo toothbrushes from upcycled aluminum beverage cans. These toothbrushes head is made from Bamboo and the bristles are plant-based made from Castor bean oil, which makes the bamboo toothbrush 100 per cent biodegradable. The brand has been working in the sector of sustainability for the past three years, owing to the same ideology of producing sustainable products both the things used in the brush are eco-friendly. 'Bamboo heads' used in the toothbrush are made from Blumeana Bamboo, which can be used for three months and then can be sent for composting. As a result, the company believes it can readily be used as a plastic substitute. Blumeana is one of the fastest-growing plants, growing up to a meter per day and producing 35 per cent more oxygen than ordinary trees while being completely biodegradable. The latter one is the 'Aluminium handles', which are crafted from upcycled beverage cans that will last a generation and can be recycled endlessly. Talking about why people should choose sustainable products over plastic, the Co-founder, Sourav Dey stated, "I believe that many people might be aware of the increasing need for more environmentally friendly products all across the world. However, not everyone is aware of how to make eco-friendly products and why an ecologically conscious manufacturing process is required. Plastic is something that is found anywhere and everywhere from our homes, offices, and pretty much everywhere else. In fact, researchers estimate that we've produced more plastic in the last ten years than we did in the previous century. We also discard 50 per cent of the plastic we do use after only one usage. This means that millions of straws, plastic bags, and utensils wind up in landfills and oceans every day, harming species and damaging the environment. One of the most effective methods to combat this issue is to replace and change out some of the plastic things we already buy." The company also has many oral care products in lines such as toothpaste in jars, toothpaste tablets, teeth whitening kits, and many more. Dencrus is working towards the rising concerns about the world's most pressing environmental issues that have evolved from a basic inconvenience into major and small movements in countries all over the world. https://www.dencrus.com/ This story is provided by TPT. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/TPT)
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 3 (ANI/ATK): To inspire climate action from the youth, Earth Day Network, the world's largest environmental movement, launched IDEAS: Inspiring Dialogues for Environmental Action. IDEAS: Inspiring Dialogues for Environmental Action 2022 was organised by the Earth Day Network in collaboration with Gujarat Youth Forum, UNICEF, YuWaah and Elixir Foundation on February 28, 2022. The IDEAS series is part of Earth Day's flagship campaign titled My Future My Voice, which brings together young environmental leaders from across the globe with the aim to provide them with a platform to share tried and tested techniques to help Restore Our Earth. Climate change is the most significant crisis of our time. No part of the globe remains immune to the rising temperatures, natural disasters, weather irregularities, environmental degradation, and food insecurity, all brought about by changes in our climate. The cost of ignoring climate change is too high. There needs to be collective action to reverse the harm done to our planet. The event opened with an inaugural session kicked off by Karuna Singh, Regional Director, Earth Day Network, Asia who welcomed the audience by setting the context, "Youth are the most powerful in stopping adverse climate change. It is difficult for us to see the effect of climate on each one of us, and the youth are the best to help stop it." She welcomed the esteemed guest for the evening, Jagdish Vishwakarma (Panchal), Minister of State, Forest and Environment, Climate Change Department, Government of Gujarat. Speaking on the occasion, he stated, "Whatever ideas the youth have, we want to hear from you. In order to make sure innovative thinking surpasses the challenge upon us." His keynote speech was followed by a special address by Tom White, Chief, Emergency & Disaster Risk Reduction, UNICEF. White shared his insights on the impact of climate change, "The threat is not only increasing in both the frequency and magnitude of climate-related shock, but equally in the geographical spread of the natural disaster." The dialogue session of the program focused on 'Innovative ways to reconnect youth with nature' and hosted an interesting dialogue with diverse stakeholders. The session was moderated by Madhish Parikh, Convenor at Gujarat Youth Forum and a Youth Ambassador at Earth Day Network. The first speaker, Luis Alberto Camargo, Founder & Director, Organization for Environmental Education and Protection, shared his insights on climate education, "In order to build a culture of care and to inspire climate action among each one of us, climate education plays a fundamental role where we all must integrate our actions into sync with our ecology." Followed by this, Elizabeth Gulugulu, Environmental Scientist & Climate, Change Activist, Zimbabwe addressed the audience" An educated community is an empowered community, and an empowered community is resilient." Shyam Dave, WASH Specialist, UNICEF also shared key insights with us regarding his work, "The small step that can be taken is to teach children about the actions that are needed and integrate the basic information on climate and environment in their curriculum to educate them and make aware about the emerging challenges." Representing the Government of Gujarat, Shwetal Shah, Technical Advisor, Climate Change Department, Government of Gujarat shed light on their work and added, "Youth engagement is highly required in order to amplify advocacy on the subject. It also helps us bridge urbanization and sustainable living". Speaking on the importance of international cooperation, Peter Cook, the British Deputy High Commissioner, Gujarat and Rajasthan, shared that "Young generation can bring together people to fight against climate change across the globe by more such dialogues. It can only be achieved through a behavioral change amongst us all, in order to lead towards climate progress." The session concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Manav Sumara, Program Manager at Gujarat Youth Forum as he stressed upon the key takeaways of the day and urged the young audience to partake in Climate Action to contribute to our planet. Event Links: Watch the Inaugural Session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmPas7VL1fM Watch the Dialogue Session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yDdmk6Qu-4 To inspire climate action from the youth, Earth Day Network, the world's largest environmental movement, launched IDEAS: Inspiring Dialogues for Environmental Action. This series is part of Earth Day's flagship campaign - My Future My Voice, which brings together young environmental leaders from across the globe with the aim to provide them with a platform to share tried and tested techniques to help Restore Our Earth. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], March 3 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Panasonic Life Solutions India (PLSIND) in association with FIAT India Automobiles Limited announced the commissioning of a 6 MWp rooftop solar plant in Ranjangaon, Pune, Maharashtra. The project aims to contribute towards environmental sustainability and support India's energy transition goals. The energy produced from this plant will be utilized for in-house captive consumption. Dinesh Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. said, "The commissioning of the prestigious 6 MWp solar plant is another major achievement for us, despite the global pandemic. Our focus remains on providing sustainable solutions to corporates with our expertise in turn-key solar installation and maintenance services. This will boost the momentum towards achieving the energy transition goals for India. Through our global proficiency in the renewable energy space, we will continue to strengthen our network and facilitate further expansion and growth in this space." The state-of-the-art designed solar rooftop project has been installed on multiple roofs within the factory premises using high efficiency 445 Wp Half cut Mono PERC Solar modules of 'Anchor by Panasonic' and high efficiency 110 kW string inverters. This plant will help generate approx. 91 lakhs kWh of solar energy annually and assist in eliminating almost 8,500 tons of CO2 emissions. Speaking about the joint initiative, Rakesh Baweja - Senior Vice President, from FIAT said, "We are happy to associate with Panasonic Life Solutions India in an endeavor to promote green energy shift in our manufacturing processes. Today, we have about 18% of green energy being utilized at our plant, and we intend to increase it up to 35%-40% of our total energy requirement. We aim to enhance our sustainability efforts by utilizing more green energy resources in our manufacturing operations. We commend the PLSIND team's adherence to meticulousness and best practices at each stage of the project and overall support extended to set up this 6 MWp roof-top solar plant successfully." The plant is also equipped with zero power export to ensure that no energy is injected to the grid. Thereby, utilizing 100% of the solar energy capacity within the plant premises. PLSIND will also be looking at the operations and maintenance of the plant to monitor energy generation and to ensure maximum output from the solar plant. To know more about Panasonic Life Solutions India Solar Business: At PLSIND, we have been contributing to India's solar energy business since 2015 and have installed 100+ MWp projects till date. The company delivers end-to-end solar solutions in the form of solar modules, solar inverters, and solar streetlights. Also, PLSIND's solar engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services include rooftop and ground-mounted solar installations. It recently installed a one-of-its kind 10 MWp, agrovoltaics, ground-mount project in association with a leading solar project developer company. Similarly, we aim at deploying our solar energy solutions across enterprises to drive the common agenda for clean energy in India. The larger goal is to contribute to the overall "Aatmanirbhar Bharat" mission and help achieve India's carbon neutrality goals. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], March 3 (ANI/PNN): The NASSCOM Centre of Excellence (CoE), Gandhinagar, the digital India initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology and Government of Gujarat, launched the Smart Manufacturing Forum, an initiative to help MSMEs adopt Industry 4.0 solutions. The 'Smart Manufacturing Forum' will help manufacturing enterprises with an annual turnover of less than Rs. 1,000 crore to start, scale, and sustain the adoption of Industry 4.0 solutions that can aid in optimizing operations, maximizing capacity utilization, and building a resilient supply chain. The forum will provide support in three verticals, viz. Skill & Capability building, Handholding for Digital Journey, and Branding & Market Reach. The manufacturers will also get 24x7 accesses to smart manufacturing competency centre, a virtual platform to help them improve efficiency, productivity, and safety in plants by experiencing end-to-end smart manufacturing solutions. "Disparity in tech adoption has increased as large enterprises have accelerated their pace while MSMEs still face the challenges of Awareness, Accessibility and Affordability. The Smart Manufacturing Forum has been launched with an aim to enable MSMEs to kickstart their digital journey and become future-ready. The Forum will be a closed group of 100-150 forward-looking manufacturing enterprises working with us to build digital talent and implement low-cost and easy to deploy solutions from startups. Our focus will be on helping MSMEs enhance productivity, boost efficiency, and become globally competitive," said Amit Saluja, Senior Director & Centre Head - NASSCOM CoE, Gandhinagar. The Smart Manufacturing Forum was launched at the third edition of UDYAM 4.0 Nayi Disha (Digital Innovation Solutions Helping Atmanirbharta) in the presence of more than 150 leaders from the manufacturing community and founders of deep-tech startups. Addressing the participants, Sachin Gusia (IRS), Managing Director, Gujarat Informatics Limited, said, "MSMEs face numerous challenges in technology adoption. I congratulate NASSCOM CoE for the launch of Smart Manufacturing Forum, as it will help in maximising adoption of technology by MSMEs and lead them towards smart manufacturing." "Gujarat being an industrial state has large number of MSMEs. The support of the government of Gujarat is going to be the lighthouse for the adoption of technology by more MSMEs in the state. The Digital Manufacturing Champions Program, government's IT policies and thriving startup ecosystem are key enablers for providing smart manufacturing push to MSMEs in the state," he added. The Skill & Capacity support will be in the form of opportunities for learning and skill-building about Industry 4.0 for employees across all the levels of the organization, as well as quarterly interactive workshops for leaders, monthly sessions for managers and the workforce to make them future-ready. The Handholding for Digital Journey will happen through digital maturity assessment, design thinking workshops to build a technology roadmap and solution implementation. Through Branding & Market Reach, enterprises who implement the solution will get showcased as smart manufacturer and their success stories will get promoted at the national level. MSMEs looking for guidance on technology adoption can get more details about Smart Manufacturing Forum by writing to SmartManufacturing@nasscom.in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXOgE707iSs This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN)
New Delhi [India], March 3 (ANI/ATK): Unified Brainz celebrated the third anniversary of its international magazine - Passion Vista with most eminent personalities from the globe in its exclusive edition "The Global Icon 2021" which was launched virtually on 31st January 2022. This spectacular event witnessed not only powerful personalities but also leading visionaries from different walks of life. An exemplary achiever in all things Digital, Dr Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes received The Global Icons 2021 awards for being one of the world's top digital innovators. She's also a globalist, ethics board advisor, angel investor, educator, and a thought leader and speaker. Currently she serves as CEO at Softhread, Chief Innovation Officer for GBA Global, Senator and Secretary General for WBAF, Chief Quality and Innovation Officer at Pediatrix, and a Forbes Business Council member. Throughout her career, Ingrid has held several leadership and executive board positions within the corporate, academic and non-profit healthcare arena, by driving all quality and innovation initiatives such as Telehealth, Blockchain, AI, Genomics, Precision Medicine, Population Health, Medical Simulation, and Value Based Care. "My current business portfolio revolves around emerging technologies and involves several domains that are key drivers for our global business ecosystem: education, digital transformation, innovation, technology deployment for smart cities developments, digital ethics, and investments. All my corporate and not for profit endeavours aim to be purposeful and align with the attainment of UN SDGs," says Ingrid, an international Digital Technology Ambassador. Based in Miami, USA, Ingrid is the Founder & CEO of the Institute for Science, Entrepreneurship and Investments, as well as the Founder & CEO, RevExpo Consulting. She goes on to add, "We are currently engaged, completing or planning several global initiatives that revolve around digital ethics, deploying emerging technologies, increasing women empowerment and involvement in emerging technologies, and increasing ESG-awareness and monitoring, facilitating attainment of UN SDGs and deployment of smart cities globally. We are proud of the opportunity to collaborate with several international organizations that promote financial inclusion, social justice, and growing the digital economy such as WBAF, GBA and GCPIT. Additionally, it has been a privilege to share my expertise as an expert for the EU Blockchain Forum Observatory, Women in AI and Partners in Digital Health Institute." For someone who is a forerunner in the digital innovation space, it is hard to believe that Ingrid grew up without any technology at all (She saw her first computer at age 21). She became a Chief Innovation Officer and passionate Digital Advocate almost three decades later. Ingrid received her medical degree in Europe from the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania. She graduated from New York's Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, earning Board certifications in General and Child Psychiatry. Complementing her academic and clinical career, she earned an Executive Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami, with specialty certification in Health Sector Management and Policy. In addition to being a global healthcare futurist, she is also a Faculty Member of the WBAF Business School, Division of Entrepreneurship, and teaching the Executive MBA Business Technology Course at the UM Business School. Dr Ingrid Vasiliu - Feltes holds executive certifications from several Universities: Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy, and Blockchain Technology and Business Innovation from MIT Sloan; Finance, Negotiation and Bioethics from Harvard; and Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Stanford. A brilliant speaker and thought leader, Ingrid has addressed and inspired hundreds of women across the globe. Some of her notable awards include: WBAF World Excellence Award-Social Entrepreneurship 2021 Top 20 Global Leaders in Digital Twins Technologies Top 50 Global Ecosystem Leaders Top 100 Visionary In Education Award 2021 Top 100 Global Women in Leadership Award 2021 A confident woman like Ingrid inspires other women to the aspiration and hope to do more and be more. Who inspired Ingrid to strive for more? "On a personal level, my grandmother instilled in me a strong work ethic, personal discipline, and desire to succeed against all odds. From a professional perspective, I have a few key role models that have served as inspiration for my career, from Marie Curie to Christine Laguarde or Jacinda Ardern, all of whom showcase a great balance of knowledge, passion and power," sums up the admirable Dr Ingrid Vasiliu-Feltes. To know more about the international brand checkout www.passionvista.com or to nominate for upcoming projects email at info@passionvista.com This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
The interim dividend declared by the company works out to 73 per cent of the paid-up share capital of Rs 183.28 crore.

Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director, BDL, presented the cheque for Rs 100.24 crore, being the interim dividend pertaining to the Government of India shareholding in BDL, to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the national capital on Thursday.

Sanjay Jaju, Additional Secretary (Defence Production), Ministry of Defence and N Srinivasulu, Director (Finance), BDL, Commodore TN Kaul (Retd), Executive Director (Mktg), BDL were present on the occasion.

BDL, a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Defence, holds an impressive order book position of Rs 11,400 crore net as of today, according to a Ministry of Defence release.

"To further enhance the order book position of the company, BDL has signed several contracts during the current financial year. More orders are being expected by the company, as approvals are at various stages in the Ministry of Defence," it said.

BDL also plans to sign several MoUs with various companies during Defexpo - 2022 scheduled to be held in Gujarat this month.

To ensure timely delivery of work orders, the Company has augmented its production capabilities. Modernization of existing facilities is being taken up aggressively to supply futuristic weapons to the Indian Armed Forces, the release said.

In addition to the domestic market, BDL is looking up to foreign customers to consolidate its order book and become a global exporter of weapon systems. (ANI)
Dubai [UAE], March 3 (ANI/NewsVoir): The 'Food, Agriculture and Livelihood fortnight' at the Indian Pavilion in EXPO2020 Dubai concluded yesterday with the sector highlighting India's investment-friendly policies, growth opportunities and showcasing country's core strengths across different areas of Agriculture and allied sectors to the global investors. At the India Pavilion, the theme of 'Food, Agriculture and Livelihood' was represented by celebrating the diversity of Indian Agriculture under four major sub-sectors: Millets, Horticulture, Organic and Food Basket of the World (dairy, poultry & fisheries). The stories shared through the sub-sectors also covered Food Processing & Cooperation, which are also pillars for future growth. Starting on 17th February 2022, the fortnight was inaugurated by Dr Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare along with Smt. Shubha Thakur, Joint Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The inaugural ceremony also included the opening of the Millets Food Festival along with introductory conversations amongst the Government & Private sector. The inaugural delegation invited audience to participate in seminars/conferences, roundtable meetings and country-level meetings scheduled during this period, to interact with government delegation, businesses, and entrepreneurs from across the globe. A high-level inaugural delegation, comprising of senior officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW), Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying (MoFAHD), Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Ministry of Cooperation (MoCoop), was chaired by Dr. Likhi. The delegation also included representation from the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) and several food, hospitality and farm companies. In addition to the excellent display at the Indian Pavilion, senior level delegation from India added required enthusiasm and acceleration by participating in meetings with senior officials and investors from Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Morocco & Myanmar. The participants explored areas of cooperation in agriculture, rural development, fisheries & the seafood sector, in order to boost exports and strengthen the trade relations. The UAE is a significant market for agricultural produce from India, the inaugural delegation interacted with key officials from the prominent companies like Al Dahra, Grand Hypermarket, Lulu Hypermarket, RNZ enterprises, Choithram group, Aqua Bridge, Sharaf Group, Jaleel holdings, DP World, Transworld etc. The delegation participated in 8 G2G meetings, 20 G2B Meetings, 63 B2B meetings and visited several country pavilions, during the fortnight. In line with the recent declaration of the year 2023 as the 'International Year of Millets' by the United Nations General Assembly, India's advantage as a major Millet producer was highlighted during the expo. Millets production not only supports small farm holders but also contributes towards achieving food safety and nutrition as a whole. A seminar on Millets was conducted to highlight India's potential and tremendous opportunities of this sub-sector, for stakeholders across the Millets value chain including processing & export. The second delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture was led by P.K. Swain, Additional Secretary, Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary and Smt. Chhavi Jha, Joint Secretary, from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, presided over the activities and events planned to showcase Emerging technologies, Organic & Horticulture sectors. Given the current scenario of Indian agriculture, technological innovations and advancements will determine the parameters of success. Hence, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare hosted a seminar on 'Emerging Technologies in Farm Machinery, Digitization & Opportunities for Entrepreneurships'. The seminar focused on showcasing the innovative and relevant technological interventions that will impact the overall productivity and competitiveness of India's farm sector through farm mechanization, digitization and entrepreneurship development. The seminar organized on the subject 'Indian Organic and Horticulture Sector-Moving Up the Value Chain', further emphasized on the progress made in these sub-sectors to improve quality and access high-value markets. The seminar attracted participation from the government & private sector and business houses expressed interest to increase export/import volumes in this segment. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) had several engagements at the Dubai Expo from the 28th of February to the 2nd of March, Shri. Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, DAHD, GoI virtually connected with the heads of prominent companies like Al Dahra and the Lulu Group to apprise them of the various opportunities and schemes that they could explore within India's dairy, livestock, and animal feed sectors. The objective of such engagements is to one attract more investments in India's dairying and livestock infrastructure so that there are higher profit margins and more jobs created within India, and secondly it also seeks to promote Indian exports to countries within the Middle East and beyond. Thus, the Secretary DAHD shone the spotlight on the major steps taken towards enhancing traceability, adopting technology, and encouraging startups in the country's animal husbandry and dairy sector. As a next step, the Invest India team will conduct market research, location analysis, and assist the interested companies with their India entry plans. India's food processing sector in India is being increasingly seen as a potential source for driving the rural economy and thereby increasing the farmers' income. The future of Agri & Food Processing Industry has been anticipated to potentially attract USD 33 bn investments and generate employment for 9 mn people by 2024. India has a tremendous platform to cater to its domestic demand as well as explore export markets. In order to harness this immense potential, Kuntal Sensarma, Economic Advisor, to the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) led conversations with key stakeholders to foster business collaborations for the sector, which will not only increase overall processing percentage but also contribute to reducing post-harvest losses. The Fisheries sector plays an important role in the Indian Economy providing principal livelihood support and employment to more than 14 million people. India is bestowed with more than 2500 fish species with 75% of them being marine species. Fisheries sector has registered more than double growth in past 5 years from 4.9% in 2012-13 to 11.9% in 2017-18. 50+ different types of fish and shellfish products are being exported from India to 75 countries around the world. Major import markets for India are China, South-East Asia, USA, EU, Japan and Middle East. Frozen shrimp is the key contributor to India's export basket. The immense potential of fisheries sector was further highlighted by Mr I.A. Siddiqui, Additional Commissioner, Department of Fisheries, during the meetings and discussions with delegates from other participating countries at the EXPO2020. With a vision to set up 50,000 new start-ups, 500 new incubators and 100 new innovation zones by 2024, India has made significant progress. The start-up India eco-system has so far recognized more than 63,000 start-ups and India is home to total of 89 unicorns so far. To help connect with the global start-up ecosystem, Start-up India has launched bridges with 13 countries (Brazil, Sweden, Russia, Portugal, UK, Finland, Netherlands, Singapore, Israel, Japan, Canada, Croatia, and South Korea) that provides a soft-landing platform and aid in promoting cross-collaboration. At the EXPO2020, the Start-up India ecosystem presented 25 startups from agriculture, food processing, dairy, animal husbandry, Fishery and Poultry sub-sectors. Parallelly, the design and conduct of "Elevate" pitching sessions, outside India Pavilion, has provided an opportunity to India start-ups for pitching their business ideas to global investors and attract investments. As a result of the carefully designed schedule and active participation of senior government officials over the two weeks' time period, prominent business groups like Al Dahra, DP World, Grand Hypermarket, LuLu amongst others have expressed keen interest in the Indian market. During the meetings, business possibilities in upcoming markets like North-Eastern (NE) States of India, attracted special attention. Overall, India's active participation during the EXPO2020 at Dubai is expected to yield beneficial relationships and partnerships across various sub-sectors, eventually bringing more visibility for the country on global platforms. Dignitaries participated Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, MoFAH (Virtual), Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Shri P.K. Swain, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Smt. Shubha Thakur, Joint Secretary Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Smt. Chhavi Jha, Joint Secretary, MoAFW, Mr Kuntal Sensarma, Economic Adviser (MoFPI), Mr I.A. Siddiqui, Additional Commissioner, Department of Fisheries, Mr Sanjay Kr. Singh, Deputy Secretary, MoFPI, Dr. JP Dhongre, Marketing Officer (MoFPI), Mr T.R. Kesavan, Chairman FICCI National Agriculture Committee and Group President, TAFE Ltd., Mr. Srinivas Kuchibhotla, Partner-Agri Practice, KPMG India, Mr. Antony Cherukara, CEO, VST Tilers Tractors, Mr Harsh Aggarwal, M/S NeerX Technovation, Mr Ben Varghese Mathew, Ninjacart, Dr Shankar Goenka, MD, WOW GO Green, Mr Brighu Ravi, Head of International Business, Tracex, Mr Pranav Tiwari, CTO, Nurture Farm, Ms Kirti Meghnani, Head Retail Procurement, Choithrams & Mr Abbas Khan, General Manager, Grand Hypermarkets among others. To know more about India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit: Website - www.indiaexpo2020.com/ Facebook - www.facebook.com/indiaatexpo2020/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/indiaatexpo2020/ Twitter - twitter.com/IndiaExpo2020?s=09 LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/company/india-expo-2020/?viewAsMember=true YouTube - www.youtube.com/channel/UC6uOcYsc4g_JWMfS_Dz4Fhg/featured Koo - www.kooapp.com/profile/IndiaExpo2020 To know more about EXPO2020 Dubai, please visit - www.expo2020dubai.com/en. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
Brenham, TX (77834)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening. Scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Marking the special occasion, Urmila took to Twitter and shared a throwback love-filled picture with Mohsin from their visit to Punjab.

"Picture of day after our wedding 6yrs ago when we visited the place we both find extremely spiritual n soulful Harmandir Sahib, Golden temple to seek blessings(Pic from local dhaba: stopover for kulche-chhole n lassi) Happy Anniversary my love.#marriageanniversary," she captioned the image.

Urmila's husband, too, penned a heartfelt post to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

"Today as we celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary, I just want to 'Thank You' for everything you did to make our marriage happy. Love you so much," he wrote on Instagram.

Mohsin Akhtar Mir is a Kashmir-based businessman. The two got married in 2016 in a low-key ceremony. (ANI)
When it comes to playing Marvel's god of chaos, Hollywood actor Tom Hiddleston has said he sees himself as a "temporary torchbearer". According to Variety, the comments were made by Hiddleston on Wednesday evening during a panel discussion about Disney Plus' original series 'Loki' hosted by the Royal Television Society. Hiddleston was joined on stage in London by his co-star Sophia Di Martino, who portrayed Sylvie, series writer Michael Waldron and director Kate Herron [who appeared via Zoom.] "I'm a temporary torchbearer," Hiddleston said of sharing the character with Di Martino as well as Richard E. Grant and an alligator, all of whom were Loki variants, in the series. He added, "I've always thought that. It's a great role. It's an archetype, the trickster god, the agent of chaos. I'm just here interpreting that for the time being. Loki has been here for centuries and will be here for centuries more and I'm just stepping into that silhouette for now." These comments from Hiddleston come as the first tranche of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) faces, including that of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, have hung up their superhero suits post the release of 'Avengers: Endgame' in 2019. Hiddleston, who has now been playing Loki for over a decade, explained that he was drawn to making the eponymous limited series due to the show's themes of identity and acceptance. "This idea of somehow the [Time Variance Authority] confronting Loki with the shape-shifting nature of his identity and asking him 'Who are you?' I found it a new avenue to explore with this character I've been playing for a while. It felt original. It didn't feel like we were repeating," Hiddleston said. 'Loki', which revolves around time travel, even touches on more erudite topics such as philosophy and psychology. "Michael [Waldron] and I were having breakfast a couple of years ago when [he'd] written that first pilot and found ourselves talking about psychoanalytic theory and repetition compulsion and [the question of] can you ever change? Is it possible for people to change? Even if you do will people accept that you've changed? Is it possible to know yourself entirely?" Hiddleston recalled. In a wide-ranging talk, Hiddleston, Di Martino, Waldron and Herron discussed various aspects of the series, which will be returning for a second season. "You've got to test the fences," Waldron, who has also written the forthcoming 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness', said of some of the show's wackier elements (such as the afore-mentioned Loki alligator). Waldron also revealed that the series' dialogue-heavy structure was "me testing the fences. That could have easily been another laser armadillo situation." As per Variety, in Waldron's eyes, the extended dialogue made sense for the character. "One of Loki's superpowers is his ability to talk his way out of any situation, talk his way into any situation. You want to watch Superman fly, so I wanted to watch Loki talk." (ANI)
"Chris and Annabelle have broken up," an insider told Us Weekly on Wednesday, adding that the actors "haven't been together for a few months now."

The two actors first sparked romance rumours in March 2018, when they were seen together at London's Heathrow Airport. That April, they were spotted at a dinner event in Malibu. A source said at the time that they appeared "very comfortable together."

The pair then confirmed their relationship months later while holding hands on a walk in London in July. They were seen vacationing on a yacht in Italy with Pine's parents that August, reported People magazine.

While they kept a low profile, the two had often been seen on walks in New York and Los Angeles since. They spent time self-isolating together during the pandemic as well.

Wallis is known for starring alongside Tom Cruise in the 2017 remake of 'The Mummy', plus the 'Conjuring' spin-off horror movie 'Annabelle'. She also stars as Zora on the 'Star Trek: Discovery' television series -- and Pine famously played Capt. Kirk in three 'Star Trek' movies, with a fourth one in the works.

Wallis previously dated Coldplay frontman Chris Martin from 2014 to 2016. Pine was last linked to Icelandic model Iris Bjork Johannesdottir from 2014 to early 2015. (ANI)
American TV host Wendy Williams' ex-husband Kevin Hunter is suing Debmar-Mercury, the producer and distributor of 'The Wendy Williams Show', for wrongful termination. In court documents obtained by People magazine, Hunter filed a lawsuit against Debmar-Mercury for wrongfully terminating him from his longtime role as executive producer on 'The Wendy Williams Show'. The complaint claimed that he was fired "on the basis of his marital status, which is barred by the New York City Human Rights Law." According to the lawsuit, Hunter, whose role on the syndicated series began in 2007, received a notice from Debmar-Mercury founder Ira Bernstein informing him that his firing was "effective immediately." Hunter also claimed that his employment status changed days after Williams' 2019 divorce filing. "The termination of Plaintiff was based strictly upon Plaintiff's marital status and his impending divorce to the Show's host, ignoring all of the contributions that Plaintiff made to make the Show a success," the filing stated. "As a result of Defendants' aforesaid actions and the breach of their agreement with Hunter, the Defendants have been unjustly enriched from Plaintiff's Executive Producer contributions to the Show, as well as enduring Product Integrations engagements Plaintiff has brought to the Show and that the Show has retained," the filing continued. Hunter's lawsuit also highlighted the upcoming changes coming to the talk show. Williams' ongoing health issues have prevented her from returning to host her eponymous series, resulting in a series of all-star guest hosts taking over in her absence. After it was announced that 'The Wendy Williams Show' is ending after its current season, frequent guest host Sherri Shepherd was tapped for her own series, 'Sherri', that will take over Williams' show's time slot. Citing published reports, Hunter's complaint stated "many of the elements" he "helped conceptualize and the product integrations he created" for Williams' show will be incorporated into Shepherd's new series. "Even though The Wendy Williams Show will be over, Defendants will continue to be unjustly enriched by Plaintiff's initial work including his initial concepts created for the Show and Plaintiff's product integration agreements," the document stated. Hunter also claimed Williams' show "never recovered" after his firing, and the production company "underestimated [his] value" to the program. Additionally, the filing declared Hunter "was an integral part of the inner workings of the Show and Debmar was unable to fill the absence of Plaintiff's departure." Hunter claimed that Debmar-Mercury has, therefore, "breached their foregoing agreements" with Hunter by firing him, failing to properly remove his executive producer credit and stopping payments of commissions that are "rightfully payable to him under the Product Integrations Agreement." As a result, Hunter seeks "compensatory, punitive damages, an award of costs, interest and attorney's fees, and such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper." As per the court documents, Hunter claimed that he has suffered roughly USD 7 million to USD 10 million in "economic loss" as a result of his firing. Like Hunter, Williams has been entangled in a legal battle of her own. She recently sued her bank, Wells Fargo, after they "denied [her] any access, whether online or otherwise, to her financial accounts, assets, and statements," which has prevented her from obtaining "several million dollars." According to the court filing, the action is tied to the advice of Williams' former financial advisor, Lori Schiller, that Williams "was of unsound mind". (ANI)
It's been almost a week that the tension between Russia and Ukraine has been going on. While several celebrities have shared their opinions on the ongoing crisis, music icon Madonna also used her social media power to amplify the voice of the victims. Taking to her Instagram stories, Madonna shared a video showing the rampant destruction in Ukraine. Sharing the video, Madonna wrote, "Stop the Devastation of The Ukraine. STOP. PUTIN No More War!" Other celebrities including Mark Ruffalo, Ashton Kutcher among several other stars have also shown their support for Ukraine on social media. For the unversed, last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to "consequences they have never seen." (ANI)
Model Shanna Moakler, mother of three, has announced that she is pregnant. The former Playmate confirmed to People Magazine that she is expecting a fourth child. The announcement comes just days after her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Rondeau, was arrested for felony domestic violence. "I took a pregnancy test and it is positive," Moakler, 46, said in a statement. "This has been a very difficult week, but I'm taking everything day by day." Last Thursday, People Magazine confirmed that Rondeau, 28, was taken into custody at 7:40 am in the Los Angeles area. He had been charged with felony domestic violence, and his bail was set at USD 50,000. The arrest came shortly after Rondeau posted an aggressive video on social media, alleging that Moakler had cheated on him and spent the night at her neighbour's house. The video, which was shared by TMZ, showed an angry Rondeau talking about what allegedly happened between him and Moakler the night prior. Rondeau made derogatory comments about Moakler in the video and claimed that their relationship is over. He also said that he was not drinking or using drugs at the time. Moakler later spoke out about the incident and confirmed in a statement to People Magazine via her representative that she was doing "okay." "I wanted to let everybody know that I'm okay and thank you for your love and support," a rep for the 'Celebrity Big Brother' star stated. "I'm surrounded by my family and friends." Following his release from jail, Rondeau took to social media to speak out, claiming he was "so disappointed and sad" to see "the truth" get twisted. "Today was one of the most heartbreaking days of my life," the model wrote on his Instagram Story. "To my family and friends, I just want you to know I love you so so much. You know I'd never lay a hand on another woman. My mother is my angel and my best friend. She raised me right." Moakler and Rondeau had been in an on-again, off-again relationship since 2020. Last July, People Magazine confirmed the couple had parted ways. However, the two rekindled their romance months later. Before dating Rondeau, Moakler was married to Travis Barker from 2004-2008, with whom she shares Alabama and son Landon, 18. She shares daughter Atiana, 22, with boxer De La Hoya, whom she was engaged with from 1998 to 2000. (ANI)
The economic sanctions imposed by the US on Russia amid ongoing conflict with Ukraine are expected to slow down the production of Russia's Sputnik vaccines in India. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), promoter of vaccine, is Russia's sovereign wealth fund and investor in Sputnik coronavirus vaccines, is among the sanctioned. India is the second largest manufacturer of the vaccines after Russia and also the largest market for the vaccines. The RDIF has partnered with Serum Institute of India, Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, and other Indian pharmaceutical companies to manufacture vaccines in India. Indian companies had planned to produce at least 1,152 million doses of Sputnik V per year. However, the blocking of certain Russian banks' access to the SWIFT international payment system may hamper the process of payments which, in turn, can lower down the production in India. Meanwhile, the RDIF has said that it and its international partners believe that only diplomacy can end this conflict and save human lives. "From day one, the Russian Direct Investment Fund has been focused on people and improving their quality of life. RDIF helped protect millions of people in over 70 countries through its humanitarian mission to fight coronavirus infection. RDIF supports restoration of peace and hopes negotiations between representatives of Russia and Ukraine are successful. RDIF and its international partners believe that only diplomacy can end this conflict and save human lives," it said. "Sputnik is manufactured in India by Hetero and Serum Institute of India and distributed by Dr. Reddy's Labs. So the supply across India should not suffer. However the sale so far has been very modest (just 1.2 million out of the 1.8 billion doses of vaccine administered so far). How the sanctions will impact Sputnik's sales in 29 countries where it has been approved is yet to be seen. The approvals from WHO for Sputnik V will surely take longer or even may not come depending on how strongly does WHO come down on the invasion," Pavan Choudary, Chairman, Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) told IANS. Sputnik V has been authorised in 71 countries with a total population of over 4 billion people. --IANS avr/vd ( 376 Words) 2022-03-02-22:28:01 (IANS)
As part of efforts to reach out to parents whose children are still stuck in Ukraine amid heightened tensions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed that local officials including tehsildar, collector or even ministers should get in touch with these families to give them assurance of full support of the government during trying times. Officials said that Prime Minister has given instructions that families whose members are still in Ukraine amid heightened tensions due to the conflict situation should be contacted by a representative of the government. "To calm down anxious parents of those students who are still stuck in Ukraine, there are instructions from the Prime Minister that these families may be contacted by a representative of the government from the tehsildar, to the collector to even ministers to make sure that the families do not feel alone or feel any distress during trying times," an official said. There are heightened tensions due to Russia's military action in Ukraine. The officials said the Prime Minister has also instructed that any issues faced by these families must be addressed immediately. They said the move was a strong message of support and part of an approach "to take governance to the doorstep of the citizens". They also said the Prime Minister has asked his entire team to have "an all hands on the deck approach" as far as the evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine is concerned. From sending multiple evacuation flights to countries around Ukraine to get Indians, especially students out, four ministers in the Modi government have also been sent to four different countries to help speed up the evacuation process. Citing instances, officials said SDM of Sikandrabad Rakesh Kumar visited the house of Mukul Goel, a student in Ukraine, and met his father Amit Goel. Amit Kumar was told that their son is safe and staying in the hotel in Romania. Narender Kumar, City Magistrate, Charkhi Dadri visited the family of Mohnish Vats. The family was told that Vats has taken a train from Ukraine to Slovakia. Deputy Commissioner Bongaigaon MS Lakshmi Priya visited the family of a stranded student Swastik Raj, son of Birendra Prasad Gupta in Bongaigaon city in Assam. Swastik Raj is a student of Kyiv medical university, Ukraine, and has safely reached the Indian Embassy in Hungary. In the last four days, more than five meetings have been held by Prime Minister focusing on Operation Ganga to bring each and every Indian citizen back to the country from conflict-ridden Ukraine. The officials said the Prime Minister has made clear that evacuation remains the biggest priority and the concerns of the family remain the topmost concern of the government. (ANI)
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Wednesday approved the proposal for continuation of the seven existing programmes under the umbrella scheme 'Relief and Rehabilitation of Migrants and Repatriates' till March 31, 2026 with a total outlay of Rs 1,452 crore. The approval will ensure that assistance under the umbrella scheme continues to reach beneficiaries through MHA. The scheme enables migrants and repatriates, who have suffered on account of displacement, to earn a reasonable income and to facilitate their inclusion in mainstream economic activities. These schemes provide economic relief to the displaced families of Pakistan Occupied Areas of Jammu and Kashmir and Chhamb, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, Brus lodged in relief camps in Tripura and to enhance relief to 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims. With these schemes, the financial assistance and other facilities will be continued to provide economic reliefs to the families of affected civilian victims of terrorist violence including militancy, insurgency, communal, Left Wing Extremism violence and cross border firing and victims of mine and IED blasts on Indian Territory while the 'grants-in-aid' to the Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC), the officials of the MHA said. Besides, the government is also providing 'Grants-in-Aid' to the government of West Bengal for infrastructure development in 51 erstwhile Bangladeshi enclaves in India, situated in Cooch Behar District and for resettlement of 922 returnees from erstwhile Indian enclaves in Bangladesh, the officials added. With an aim to modernize and upgrade Immigration and Visa services, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on February 25, approved the continuation of the Immigration Visa Foreigners Registration Tracking (IVFRT) Scheme till March 31, 2026, with a financial outlay of Rs 1,364.88 crore. Considering the significance of necessary infrastructures at borders with the neighbouring countries, the MHA on February 21, this year also extended the Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM) scheme till March 31, 2026 with an outlay of Rs 13,020 crore. --IANS ams/skp/ ( 327 Words) 2022-03-02-20:34:03 (IANS)
However, the Prime Minister has not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin yet on the safe passage of Indian nationals stranded in the conflict zones, as per the Ministry of External Affairs.

If the Prime Minister talks to the Russian President, it will be informed, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in response to a question.

Modi has spoken to his Romanian and Slovak counterparts and thanked them for their country's assistance in evacuating Indian citizens from Ukraine over the past few days.

He particularly appreciated Romania's gesture to allow Indian citizens from Ukraine into the country without visas, and for permitting special evacuation flights from India.

"The Prime Minister has been speaking to the leaders of many countries. We will share with you whenever such talks take place," Bagchi said.

--IANS miz/arm

( 167 Words)

2022-03-02-20:38:04 (IANS)
China concerned for safety of Ukraine's nuclear facilities: Chinese envoy

Xinhua) 08:44, March 03, 2022

VIENNA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna Wang Qun on Wednesday expressed concerns for the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine.

China supports the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in performing its duties in accordance with its mandate, Wang said at a meeting convened by the IAEA Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

"Nuclear safety and security are responsibilities of sovereign states," the Chinese envoy said. "The issue of Ukraine's nuclear safety and security should be addressed through existing procedures."

He urged relevant parties to earnestly perform their duties on this issue and called for the IAEA to provide necessary assistance in strict accordance with its mandate.

"Relevant parties should act prudently to avoid unintended nuclear safety and security accidents, and the IAEA should properly handle the issue of nuclear safeguards in Ukraine in consideration of the country's security situation," he added.

He also urged relevant parties to respect the independence and authority of the IAEA and avoid politicizing the agency's affairs.

China will continue to closely monitor the developments in Ukraine and support all efforts conducive to de-escalation and political settlement, Wang said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Morgan Young sees first hand how students who have common cultural bonds with their teachers connect better with education and flourish in the classroom.

It is really difficult to find texts that have positive Black male archetypes, but even if you dont have the text, if you have the teachers that are positive Black male role models, that is helpful, said Young, a Hilltop Elementary School teacher.

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Young says increasing the diversity of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools workforce allows students to see themselves in the professionals with whom they are working and learning every day.

Hilltop Elementary School fifth grade teacher Morgan Young was a past participant in the AACPS annual Teacher Diversity Job Fair, which is being held again this coming Saturday. (Paul W. Gillespie/Capital Gazette)

To work toward the strategic goal of recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce that will raise student engagement and achievement, Anne Arundel schools will hold a virtual Teacher Diversity Job Fair Saturday to connect with future educators.

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About 200 candidates came to the virtual event last year, said Shineaca McKenzie, workforce diversity specialist. This years event will again will be virtual and is aimed at bringing in more job candidates from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups, men interested in elementary or early childhood education, and those with backgrounds in math, science or other hard-to-fill subject areas.

We want our students to have role models, and we also want the district to represent the world well, she said.

Enrollment figures from fall of 2021 show that 49% of AACPS students are white, 22% are Black, 19% are Hispanic, 4% are Asian, 6% are two or more races and less than 1% are American Indian or Pacific Islander.

Of the 6,069 county schoolteachers working in October of 2021, 84.4% were white, 7.8% were Black and 7.8% were a race other than Black or white, according to a report published by the Maryland State Department of Education.

McKenzie said it is important for all students to encounter a variety of people, as they will outside the classroom in the real world.

In addition to this job fair, AACPS is recruiting teachers from Puerto Rico to address the need for more Spanish speakers. The school system is also looking for career-changers who are interested in education.

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Job fair participants will have the chance to meet educators from every school in the system.

I really was able to see a lot of different schools, a lot of different administrations and really figure out whose mission and vision aligned with my philosophy as a teacher, Young said.

Ultimately, that place was Hilltop Elementary School in Ferndale.

I was really looking for an administration that had a strong affinity toward equity and using equitable practices within instruction. I also came from an arts integration school, and that is part of my internal methodology and vision as a teacher, Young said.

Having a diverse teaching staff is important because it will help students learn, she said.

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Its easier for them to communicate with us, which means that its easier for them to retain the information that they need to be academically successful, she said.

It also fosters productive collaboration with co-workers, as colleagues share perspectives unique to their lived experience, fifth-grade teacher Keyona Rollins said. She was also recruited through the Teacher Diversity Job Fair.

Were able to provide a different perspective that they might not have, Rollins said.

The event will run online Saturday, with virtual booths for each school. Registration is closed, but more details can be found on the AACPS website.
Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday emphasized the need for revisiting our history textbooks with an Indian perspective in order to instil a sense of pride in our glorious cultural heritage among the younger generation. Addressing the 75th anniversary celebrations of Sir C R Reddy Educational Institutions at Eluru in Andhra Pradesh, he reminded the students that India was once known as a 'Vishwa Guru' and called upon them to revisit our roots and protect and preserve our traditions and culture. Emphasizing the need to re-establish ourselves, he urged everyone to strive hard to develop India into a powerful country that is free from hunger and corruption with no discrimination against anybody. "Everything cannot be left to the government alone, rather, individuals, industry, philanthropists and civil society - all must come together to bring about the desired change," he said. Stressing the need for value based education, the Vice President said that education should be treated as a mission for the promotion of the nation. Highlighting the role of a 'Guru' in Indian tradition, he asked the students to always remember the contribution of their teachers in their lives. Talking about ethics in politics, Naidu urged the people to select and elect their representatives on the basis of 4Cs -- Character, Calibre, Conduct and Capacity to strengthen democracy, and discourage the other 4Cs "caste, cash, community and criminality. Praising the National Education Policy (NEP-2020) for its focus on education in the mother tongue, he noted that one must learn as many languages as possible, but primacy should be given to build a strong foundation in the mother tongue. Underscoring the need to transform teaching methodologies to make universities thriving hubs of knowledge and innovation, he appealed to all the states and educational institutions to implement NEP-2020 in letter and spirit. Sharing his success mantra with the students, the Vice President emphasized the need for dedication, perseverance, hard work, discipline, self-belief and a strong will to achieve excellence and reach one's goal. "Please remember that be it studies or sports, a champion is not made in a day," he added. He also urged educational institutions to give equal importance to studies, sports, co-curricular and recreational activities and the young students should follow the spirit of service in line with the age old Indian philosophy of 'share & care'. Recalling the contribution of Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy, the distinguished educationist and the then Vice-Chancellor, Andhra University, the Vice President said that people will forever remain grateful to him for his work in furthering the cause of education in Andhra Pradesh. He also lauded Sir CR Reddy for his efforts to ensure education for all sections of the society and urged the youth to take inspiration from his life and build an India that will be free from every type of discrimination. --IANS ams/bg ( 482 Words) 2022-03-02-20:48:02 (IANS)
Chairman of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council advisory committee and chief of TIPRA Motha, Pradyot Kishore Debbarman on Wednesday claimed that violence became an integral part of Tripura's political culture due to the prolonged Left rule. "Violence is a communist culture. Once something becomes a part and parcel of the culture it remains no matter what party is at the helm of affairs now. The way caste violence is a part of the culture in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, political violence has evolved in Tripura and West Bengal as the Left ruled these states for a long period of time," he said. Debbarman was addressing a press conference at Rajanadar here in Agartala. His party, TIPRA Motha has emerged as a strong political force in the tribal-dominated parts of Tripura has announced a public meeting to be organized at Swami Vivekananda stadium, Agartala. "We are organizing a public meeting at Swami Vivekananda stadium to convey a message to the central government. We are demanding constitutional solutions for our demand for Greater Tipraland. Through the rally we shall also place the demand of early elections in the Village Committees that have expired long back," he pointed out. Debbarman also threatened to move the High Court if the polls are not declared immediately. "We shall wait for another week," he added.According to Debbarman, the state government is treating the TTAADC as a stepchild and the flow of funds was not adequate for the smooth functioning of the administration. "We want to put light to the real picture. TTAADC areas cover 75 per cent of the geographical area of the state while the funding patterns for these areas are shocking. If compared with the state, only 10 per cent of government money is spent for the people living in TTAADC which is really unfortunate," said Debbarman. He also reacted to the wide range of allegations he evoked of being communal or anti-Bengali. "I am not against anyone. We shall move ahead with our goal and other communities will live here peacefully. We are not speaking against anyone, we are speaking for ourselves," he pointed out. The royal scion also explained as to how the TTAADC is bereft of adequate funds and said that the government of India must pay attention to their demands. On Union Home Minister Amit Shah's Tripura visit, he said, "I am open for talks. If the Government of India wants to talk to us, we shall certainly join the table of talks. But, there will be no backchannel talks. Everything will be done in front of the public". TIPRA or Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance was formed two months before the TTAADC elections and bagged an absolute majority in the polls. (ANI)
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Wednesday sent relief material to Ukraine. "The India's disaster mitigation force has provided relief material including blankets, sleeping mats, and solar study lamps etc for the people of Ukraine", the Ministry of Home Affairs said. The officials in the MHA further said that these relief materials were sent through a flight that left for Poland on Wednesday morning and another on an Indian Air Force (IAF) transport aircraft C17 that left for Romania in the afternoon. They also said that they will send more relief materials if directed by the government. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, it was estimated that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the initial advisories were issued. Fights under Operation Ganga have been increased and during the last 24 hours, six flights have landed in India taking the total number of flights to 15. Out of these, eight flights were from Bucharest, five from Budapest and two from Rzeszow. Union Minister Gen V.K. Singh on Wednesday visited the Budomierz on the Poland-Ukraine border and met the stranded Indian students and distributed food and water to them. These students will be facilitated entry to Poland soon and will be sent to India. Singh who visited Budomierz on Poland-Ukrain border to take stock of the situation on the border along with India's Ambassador to Poland, Nagma Mallick as the Indian authorities have planned to evacuate the stranded Indian nationals from Western Ukraine. The officials of the Indian Embassy in Warsaw (Poland) have identified a new entry point at Poland border for the Indian nationals stuck in western Ukraine. Meanwhile, other Union Minister and Special Envoy Kiren Rijiju has reached Kosice airport near the Ukraine border in Slovakia to oversee the evacuation of stranded Indians. --IANS ams/skp/ ( 311 Words) 2022-03-02-21:08:02 (IANS)
Congress MP from Punjab, Manish Tewari on Wednesday questioned the state leaders for doing nothing for the students stranded in Ukraine. He said, "I am appalled, great leaders of @INCPunjab Congress are nowhere to be seen/heard when thousands of our children are in jeopardy. Is it only Punjab MPs who have to do heavy lifting?" He asked where are leaders like Charanjit Singh Channi, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sunil Jakhar and Harish Chaudhary and said, -- is power is be all and end all to them? "Reason to be in public life is public service. Elections are not beginning and end of Politics. Can't you see the videos, hear the cries of our children? Is this your Punjab Model? I hang my head in shame at your sheer callousness. Wake up gentleman, there is a life beyond elections," he added. The MP from Punjab called upon Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi and requested her to sensitise the government about need to further augment and reinforce evacuation efforts of Indian nationals stuck in war zones in Ukraine especially our kids in Kharkiv -- far from the western borders of Ukraine. Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla informed that 1,100 of our children are stuck at Kharkiv railway station. Ukrainians are not allowing them to board trains out of Kharkiv. They are prioritising their own citizens in evacuation. They need urgent help, he said. --IANS miz/skp/ ( 245 Words) 2022-03-02-21:20:04 (IANS)
Police sources said militants shot Muhammad Yaqoob Dar in Kulpora Srandoo village of Kulgam.

"He sustained several injuries. He was rushed to district hospital Kulgam where doctors declared him dead on arrival," a source said.

Sources added that the area has been cordoned off for searches.

--IANS sq/vd

( 76 Words)

2022-03-02-21:38:02 (IANS)
Reiterating his claim that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has his roots in Bihar, state Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy on Wednesday alleged that Telangana has become slave in the hands of a group of IAS and IPS officers of Bihar origin. He told a news conference that the Chief Minister appointed IAS and IPS officer of Bihar origin on key posts and entrusted each of them 6-8 departments to, what he called "loot the state". Revanth Reddy, who is also a member of Parliament, said that while hundreds of people of Telangana laid down lives for separate state, local officials were totally ignored in appointments. He said this had caused heartburn among those who actively participated in Telangana movement. He claimed that the appointment of officials from Bihar posed a grave danger to the very identity of Telangana. Reddy alleged that Chief Minister appointed Somesh Kumar to the post of Chief Secretary though the latter was not eligible for the top post. He said IPS officer Anjani Kumar was made Director General of Police by sending the incumbent DGP on leave. Noting IAS officials Rajat Kumar, Arvind Kumar, Jayesh Ranjan and Sandeep Kumar Sultania, who all hail from Bihar, were each holding charge of several key departments, he asked how the Chief Minister found only these officials eligible among 157 IAS officers and 139 IPS officers in the state. Revanth Reddy alleged that Chief Minister KCR had colluded with what he called the 'Bihar gang' for wrongdoings. He claimed that Somesh Kumar was rewarded with the post of Chief Secretary for deleting 30 lakh voters from the list of voters when he was the Commissioner of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The Congress leader also claimed that Dharani portal was together developed by the Chief Minister and Somesh Kumar to allow irregularities in land administration so that those close to the TRS government get thousands of acres of land. He blamed the 'flawed' system for the killing of two realtors in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The Congress leader referred to Bihar minister Sanjay Kumar Jha's statement criticising him for stating that KCR has roots in Bihar. "This shows how deep are his roots in Bihar," said Revanth Reddy. He claimed that KCR in an interview had revealed that his ancestors had come from Bihar. Reacting to reports that KCR has hired the services of political strategist Prashant Kishor, the Congress leader said this was another proof of 'Bihar gang' conspiring to loot Telangana. --IANS ms/vd ( 428 Words) 2022-03-02-22:08:04 (IANS)
The 15th edition of Jaipur Literature Festival, to be held at Hotel Clarks Amber here from March 5 to 14, will focus on Ukraine-Russia conflict, climate change, new world order, along with art, travel and history, among others. Addressing a press conference here, Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director at Teamwork Arts, said, "We are delighted to be back on-ground with the Jaipur Literature Festival weaving its magic again. This year's programme celebrates the diversity of literature and offers a wide range of topics, including the Ukraine-Russia conflict, climate change, new world order, art of fiction, poetic imagination, travel, science, history etc." The 15th edition will also feature 15 Indian languages and have specific sessions on Rajasthani heritage and culture, he added. State Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh said, "I am delighted that the Jaipur Literature Festival is returning on-ground in the Pink City. I believe that the Festival will provide an exceptional platform for both Indian and global authors and thought leaders to engage and strengthen our literary heritage and culture. "I look forward to warmly welcoming all the authors, speakers, artists, musicians and visitors to Jaipur and the state of Rajasthan for the Festival." Apurv Kumar, Managing Director, Clarks Group of Hotels, the venue for the offline event, said, "We are indeed privileged that the 15th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival is being held at Hotel Clarks Amer. It is quite well-known that Clarks has always been associated with this mega literary event. "We used to host the evening music stages. This time both the literary sessions as well the Jaipur Music Stage in the evening will be held here. It is only appropriate to point out that this festival is one of the biggest events in the state and to my mind, it is a great tourism event. A large number of visitors from India as well as other countries come for this iconic festival." The Festival will showcase a variety of sessions exhibiting the dialects of Rajasthan-centric literature. At one session, poet and litterateur Chandra Prakash Deval will discuss languages, literature, poetry and music of the desert state with writer and poet Anukrti Upadhyay. The rich oral, linguistic and literary traditions of Rajasthan find their voice in a variety of dialects, although Rajasthani still awaits official recognition in the schedule of Indian languages. Rajasthan has long been a dynamic cultural centre and home to prestigious art forms. At a session on the treasures at the Jaipur Court, author Vandana Bhandari and historian Giles Tillotson will be in conversation with historian Rima Hooja to discuss the magnificent treasures commissioned and collected over centuries by the Jaipur Court. A panel discussion will be held with historians Yashaswini Chandra and Rima Hooja, discussing the powerful warrior king Maharana Pratap and his legendary horse Chetak. Together they will explore the legend of the resilient pair. --IANS arc/arm ( 489 Words) 2022-03-02-22:22:03 (IANS)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on phone on Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the situation in Ukraine, and sought safge passage for Indians in the country. The two leaders reviewed the situation, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck, and discussed the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from the conflict areas, an MEA statement said. This came as the Indian Embassy in Ukraine asked all Indians in Kharkiv to leave the city by any means, including on foot, by 6 p.m. (local time). The MEA said that around 17,000 Indian nationals have left the war-torn country since the Indian Embassy in Ukraine issued its advisory. MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the Embassy in Kyiv has been asked to set up a temporary office in Lviv to facilitate border crossing into neighbouring European countries by Indian nationals. He also said that a mechanism has been established for issuing emergency certificates to those who lost their Indian passports. "A substantial segment of our embassy team is now at Lviv for this purpose. Location of the other segment of the embassy team is dynamic," he added. "We are exploring options to reach eastern Ukraine to assist the evacuation of citizens who are stuck there. We are seeing if our teams can reach there, it's not easy because the route is not open all the time," the spokesperson said. --IANS miz/vd ( 250 Words) 2022-03-02-22:50:04 (IANS)
Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday accused the opposition parties of resorting to negative politics to defame his government during the recently-concluded panchayat polls. "You all know how the opposition spread false information during the panchayat polls. They have spread fabricated stories to defame my government and indulged in negative politics. However, the people of Odisha have not given them any importance," he said, while addressing party MPs, MLAs, district presidents and observers through videoconferencing mode this evening. "As the urban local body elections are nearing, they (opposition) will again spread such misinformation against the BJD government," he said, adding: "It is the duty of each and every worker of our party to expose the opposition before the public." About the BJD's ideology and development works taken for urban areas, Patnaik said: "We believe in positive politics. Transformative governance and empowerment of people is the hallmark of BJD. A lot of development works have been taken up for the urban areas, which should be highlighted during the campaigning for urban poll." He told the BJD leaders to take the developmental programmes to the people and counter the negative politics of the opposition, while thanking party workers for their hard work during the panchayat elections and people of the state for reposing confidence in his party. Stating his party's victory in the rural poll has created a new record in the democratic elections, Patnaik said the people across the state have supported the BJD, which would continue to encourage it to work for their welfare. "In a democracy, the people's voice is supreme and their verdict in all the panchayats is clear and unambiguous," he added. The BJD has won 766 out of 852 zilla parishad (ZP) seats in the rural poll and is in a comfortable position to grab the ZP President chair in all 30 districts. --IANS bbm/vd ( 330 Words) 2022-03-02-23:26:04 (IANS)
Around 150 aircraft including Rafale fighter jets will participate in the Vayu Shakti exercise and will demonstrate their fighting skills in the sky.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest in the IAF exercise.

Earlier, this exercise of the IAF took place in 2019.

The IAF conducts firepower demonstration once in three years which is participated by helicopters, fighters, transports, force enablers and support systems. This time, out of 150 aircraft, 109 fighter aircraft including Rafale are going to participate in this exercise. The Air Force has completed preparations for this exercise.

Vice Chief Marshal Sandeep Singh said that in the exercise, fighter aircraft including Jaguar, Rafale, Sukhoi-30, MIG-29, light combat aircraft Tejas, MIG-21 Bison, Hawk 32, M200 will be included. He further said other aircraft like Globe Master C-17 and C-130J Hercules, Chinoque and Mi 17 V5, Mi 35 and Apache will also participate in the exercise. The capabilities of the Akash missile system and Spyder missile system will also be showcased.

The first such demonstration was held by the IAF on July 21, 1953, at the Tilpat range in New Delhi.

Tilpat witnessed the last demonstration of the exercise on March 18, 1989, as the event was later moved to Pokharan. (ANI)
Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby won approval Wednesday to hire a consultant to assist the City Council with Baltimores redistricting process as the city awaits the mayors own redistricting proposal.

The City Council will spend $33,750 to retain the Virginia-based company CensusChannel to assist with compiling the citys demographic information and producing several maps based on the data, according to the contract.

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While many communities across Maryland already are considering redistricting plans following the nations 2020 census, Baltimores charter does not require the mayor to submit a plan until 2024, when the citys next municipal election is held.

James Bentley, spokesman for Mayor Brandon Scott, said the mayor will submit his plan by the statutorily required deadline. Bentley declined to answer further questions on the contract.

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Baltimores charter says the mayor is required to submit a redistricting plan to the City Council following each census by the first day of February in the next municipal election year. The council then can adopt or amend the mayors plan, or choose to adopt another plan, the charter says.

If no plan has been adopted by the council within 60 days of the mayors plan presentation, the mayors plan takes effect, according to the charter.

Additionally, the charter requires officials to consider equality of population, contiguous territory, compactness, natural boundaries, existing council district lines and standards set by the U.S. Supreme Court when making redistricting decisions.

Since 2002, Baltimore has had 14 council districts. The council president, the boards 15th member, is elected citywide.

Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. >

The contract with CensusChannel was approved Wednesday by the citys Board of Estimates, which includes Scott and Mosby as well as Jim Shea, the citys solicitor, Jason Mitchell, head of the Department of Public Works, and Comptroller Bill Henry. Mosby abstained from the vote, and the measure was not discussed by the board.

According to the boards agenda, CensusChannel will assist in evaluating the citys redistricting plan with independent, expert data.

The City Council and City Council President desire to begin this process as expeditiously as possible, the agenda states.

Mosbys spokeswoman did not respond to questions about the scope of the work CensusChannel is expected to perform on the City Councils behalf.

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An appendix attached to the citys contract with the company states that CensusChannel will compile information about the citys current boundaries as well as demographic data. That information will be used to analyze changes in district populations and draw several versions of corresponding maps, the appendix states.

The company will identify communities of interest and work with a local designated entity to gather suggestions for those communities of interest, according to the contract.

Baltimores charter states that no member of the City Council can be required to vacate their office due to a change in boundary lines made during a members term, so long as the member remains a Baltimore resident. In elections following the adoption of a new redistricting plan, members of the City Council are required to be residents of their districts since the preceding July.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a post-budget webinar on 'Make in India for the World' on Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said on Wednesday. In line with the vision of PM Modi to make India a global hub for the manufacturing, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry is organising a post-budget webinar on "Make in India for the World" on March 3, the Ministry said in a statement. The Union Budget 2022 has laid down a roadmap for India@100 with manufacturing as one of the key drivers of growth and employment generation. The webinar will include discussions on a paradigm shift in manufacturing in India, realising the trillion-dollar goal in Exports and also on MSMEs as a growth engine for the economy. "The objective of the webinar is to sustain the momentum of Union Budget 2022 by synergizing efforts with all stakeholders on various initiatives taken for boosting manufacturing, increasing exports and strengthening the MSMEs," the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said. "By leveraging stakeholders' expertise and experience, an Action Plan for the Industry's way forward and monitoring framework for effective implementation of growth reforms in areas of manufacturing, exports and MSMEs will be finalised," it added. The Prime Minister will deliver a special address to all participants on the vision of 'Make in India for the World,' and its convergence with Union Budget 2022 and the expectations from the webinar. Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal is scheduled to deliver concluding remarks at the event. (ANI)
Telangana Congress MLC T Jeevan Reddy on Wednesday said that ignoring the Governor's address at the budget session is not a fight between TRS and BJP but it is a matter related to Constitution. He said it does not matter if Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao likes or dislikes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but constitutional practice cannot be disregarded. Earlier, Finance Minister Harish Rao argued that there are precedents of holding a budget session of Assembly or Parliament without Governor or President's address when the previous session is not prorogued. They pointed out that the ensuing session is a continuation of the session held in September-October last year. Briefing mediapersons, Reddy said "It does not matter if the last session is prorogued or not but the budget session needs to be started with the Governor's address. It is the constitutional responsibility of the government to present the budget and the Governor address the house. The Telangana Chief Minister failed miserably on several fronts, so to escape embarrassment, Governor speech was avoided." Referring to Article 176 of the Constitution and rule 70 of the state assembly, Reddy said assembly sessions every year have to start with the Governor's address. "Harish Rao's comments are surprising and he should know this. Is this the reason why he (KCR) wanted to change the Constitution and said that as per the Constitution the regional parties have to function? Telangana was also formed because of the Indian Constitution." (ANI)
The Air India Express special flight departed from the Romanian capital Bucharest on Wednesday.

MoS Railways Raosaheb Patil Danve received the passengers on their arrival at Mumbai airport. He also interacted with the Indian citizens repatriated from Ukraine.

"Indian Railways have deployed a help desk. Any student who wants a train reservation to their respective native place can do so at the airport itself," said Danve.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland.

"Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. Includes IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3000 Indian nationals," tweeted Jaishankar.

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.

The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials.For the past few days, the Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia.

The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies. (ANI)
As the sixth phase for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections begins on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to voters to exercise their franchise. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi requested all to participate in the polls by voting and said that in a democracy, every vote counts. "The festival of democracy in Uttar Pradesh has entered its sixth phase today. It is my humble request to all the voters that they must participate in this festival with their votes. Every single vote of yours (is) the power of democracy!" he tweeted. Union Minister Amit Shah also appealed to voters to vote enthusiastically so to choose a dynast and corruption-free government in the state. In his tweet in Hindi, Shah said, "Today is the sixth phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh. I appeal to all the voters that only a strong government free from corruption and dynast can take Uttar Pradesh forward on the path of progress. Therefore, vote diligently to keep the state at the forefront of development." Polling for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cast his vote at Primary School Gorakhnath Kanya Nagar Kshetra, in Gorakhpur. Polling is being held for 57 Assembly constituencies spread across 10 districts including Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, and Kushinagar among others. A total of 2,14,62,816 electorates including 1,14,63,113 males, 99,98,383 females and 1,320 third genders are expected to exercise their right to franchise to decide the fate of 676 candidates. With 676 candidates in the fray in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tops the chart of the prominent faces of this phase. The Chief Minister is contesting the polls from Gorakhpur Urban. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has pitted Khwaja Shamsuddin while Samajwadi Party (SP) has fielded Subhavati Shukla, who is the wife of late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Meanwhile, Congress' Chetna Pandey will also fight against Adityanath. Besides Adityanath, prominent faces in this phase are state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu, who is contesting from Tamkuhi Raj seat, Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit as minister to join the Samajwadi Party and is contesting from Fazilnagar seat, and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary, who is contesting from Bansdih seat. Congress' Ajay Kumar Lallu is facing BSP's Sanjay Gupta and SP's Udaynarayan Gupta on Tamkuhi Raj seat. SP's Swami Prasad Maurya will contest from Fazilnagar seat against BJP candidate Surendra Singh Kushwaha, the son of incumbent BJP MLA Ganga Singh Kushwaha. Maurya will face BSP's Ilyas Ansari, Congress' Sunil Singh and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Harish Chandra Yadav. SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is facing Congress' Puneet Pathak on Bansdih seat. Puneet's grandfather, Bachha Pathak is a former vice president of the state Congress. His grandfather had been an MLA from Bansdih for eleven terms between 1967 and 1996 and was also a minister in the UP government. SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary also faces Nishad Party's Ketki Singh and BSP's Manti Rajbhar. Polling for the seventh phase, which will be the last phase, will be held on March 7. The counting of votes will be done on March 10. (ANI)
As per the details provided by a senior officer of the GRP, "We became suspicious of the movement of the four passengers namely Hasmukh Lal Jain, Suresh Sahadev Kharey, Mahesh Bhonsale and Deepak Patel in the Konark Express from Mumbai to Bhubaneshwar. On checking their luggage, we found they were carrying 32 kg of gold jewellery worth Rs 16 crore."

During interrogation, they failed to produce valid GST documents and as a result, they were held. Further investigation is underway, added the officer. (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday cast his vote in Gorakhpur in the sixth phase polling for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win over 80 per cent of seats in the state. Adityanath is contesting the polls from the Gorakhpur Urban Assembly seat. After casting the vote, the Chief Minister appealed to the electorate to vote on the issues of development and security. Addressing the media, he said, "I hope people will vote in large numbers. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the BJP will set a record in the poll victory by winning a large number of seats. We will win over 80 per cent of the seats in the state." "Vote for development and security, vote for the BJP," he added. Earlier in the day, Adityanath said the UP Assembly elections have reached the decisive stage. Each vote for the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party will help UP in becoming India's number one economy. He said that it is time to decide between the BJP and terror-supporting people in an apparent swipe at the Samajwadi Party (SP) after one of the relatives of a convict in the Ahmedabad serial bomb blast case was seen on the campaign trails with the party chief Akhilesh Yadav. "Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections have reached the decisive stage. You have seen developmental projects in the last five years, be it the inauguration of AIIMS to Kushinagar International Airport. It is time to decide between us and terror-supporting people. Each of your votes will make Uttar Pradesh India's Number one economy," Adityanath said. Adityanath offered prayers at Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur before the commencement of the polling for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on Thursday morning. Polling for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm. Polling is being held for 57 Assembly constituencies spread across 10 districts, including Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, and Kushinagar among others. A total of 2,14,62,816 electorates, including 1,14,63,113 males, 99,98,383 females, and 1,320 third genders, are expected to exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 676 candidates. With 676 candidates in the fray in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is among the prominent candidates. Polling for the seventh phase, which will be the last, will be held on March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
Third Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft carrying 208 Indian citizens from Ukraine landed at Hindon airbase near Delhi from Rzeszow in Poland on Thursday. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt received the Indian citizens on their arrival and interacted with them. While talking to ANI, students said that they brought pets along with them. "I have brought my friend's dog with me from Ukraine. Many people who had dogs left them behind in Ukraine but I brought back this dog along with me", said Zahid, a student rescued from Ukraine. Gautam, who has brought back his pet cat from Ukraine, said the cat had been with him for the last four months. He further said that the cat had stayed with him in the bunker. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued orders to the Air Force to pitch in the rescue operations to augment the level of Operation Ganga. Notably, the American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are the most capable of flying long distances with around 400 passengers. The C-17 transport aircraft had helped in a big way in evacuating citizens and officials from Kabul when the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced Americans to exit from there. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. "Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland, including IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3,000 Indian nationals," tweeted Jaishankar. A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials. For the past few days, the Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue.Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help Ukraine with military weapons. The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies. (ANI)
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt on Thursday said that Operation Ganga is progressing successfully and that four Union Ministers are taking care of every aspect of evacuation operations in different neighbouring countries of Ukraine. He received the Indian nationals rescued from Ukraine and who arrived by the Fourth Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft at Hindon airbase near Delhi. "I welcome you all on your safe return to our motherland... Prime Minister Modi himself is monitoring all developments, " Bhatt told the Indian nationals on the flight. While talking to ANI, Bhatt said, "We are taking care of every student returning from Ukraine. Our four Union Ministers are taking care of every aspect of evacuation operations in different neighbouring countries of Ukraine. Operation Ganga is progressing successfully." Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued orders to the Air Force to pitch in the rescue operations to augment the level of Operation Ganga. Notably, the American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are the most capable of flying to long distances with around 400 passengers. The C-17 transport aircraft had helped in a big way to evacuate citizens and officials from Kabul when the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced Americans to exit from there. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. "Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland, including IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3,000 Indian nationals," tweeted Jaishankar. A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials. For the past few days, the Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue.Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia. The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies. (ANI)
The flights to Kochi will depart from Delhi at 9.30, 15.30 and 18.30, informed Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Twitter.

Bus services have also been arranged from Kochi Airport to Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod.

Non-resident Keralites affairs (NORKA) teams, including women officials, have been deployed at all four airports in the state to help the Ukraine returnees.

"The state government has arranged three flights to bring back students arriving at Delhi (airport) from Ukraine today. Bus services will be arranged from Kochi Airport to Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod. NORKA teams deployed in all four airports in the state to help Ukraine returnees," CMO said in a statement.

"Today GoK (Kerala government) has arranged 3 chartered flights for our students repatriated from #Ukraine. The flights to Kochi will depart from Delhi at 0930,1530 & 1830. Buses have been arranged to Trivandrum and Kasargod. NORKA teams, including women officials are all set to receive the students," Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted on Thursday.

Special flights have been pressed in action to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga'.

Jaishankar on Wednesday tweeted, "Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. Includes IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3000 Indian nationals."

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under 'Operation Ganga' were scaled up to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. (ANI)
Amid the growing tension between Ukraine and Russia, evacuated Indian nationals from the war-torn country have refused to leave their pets behind. An Indian national Gautam who was rescued from Ukraine's capital Kyiv arrived in India along with his cat. He came by the third Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft early on Thursday. The pet cat was part of Gautam's journey from Ukraine to India. The pet has been with him for four months. The cat stayed with him in the bunker and crossed Poland along with him. Talking to ANI, Gaurav said, "This cat has been with me for the past four months. It stayed with me in the bunker, and then we crossed into Poland together. Another evacuee Zahid brought his friend's dog along with him from Ukraine. "I have brought my friend's dog with me from Ukraine. Many people who had dogs left them behind in Ukraine, but I brought this dog along with me," he told ANI. Earlier on Tuesday, the Government of India issued a memorandum facilitating "a one-time relaxation measure" for bringing back pet dogs and cats along with stranded Indians who are being evacuated from war-hit Ukraine. The step by the Indian government came after an appeal from the 'People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)'. A viral video was posted on social media by Rishabh Kaushik, a final-year undergraduate student of software engineering at the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics in Ukraine, in which he could be seen saying that he is not going to leave behind his dog 'Malibu' in Ukraine. He added that he tried contacting the Indian authorities so that he could take his dog with him but they repeatedly asked for documents. PETA wrote to Parshottam Rupala, Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy to press for allowing the Indians to take their pets along with in the flights. Third Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft carrying 208 Indian citizens from Ukraine landed at Hindon airbase near Delhi from Rzeszow in Poland on Thursday. Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt received the Indian citizens on their arrival and interacted with them. (ANI)
A 19-year-old man was arrested in Atlanta in February on murder and gun charges for his alleged role in a deadly 2021 East Baltimore shooting, police announced Wednesday.

Police say James Darroll Smith of Baltimore shot and killed Dwayne Edmonds, 32, last June inside a convenience store in the 2500 block of Orleans St. after the pair were arguing about a cellphone.

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Smith is charged with first-degree murder and gun crimes, according to court records. The Maryland Office of the Public Defender, who is representing him, did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday. Smith was denied bail.

Police recovered four 9mm shell casings from the sidewalk in front of the convenience store, according to court records. Detectives reviewed surveillance footage and interviewed witnesses to identify Smith.

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A warrant for Smiths arrest was issued in November, and police say he was arrested Feb. 3 in Atlanta before being sent back to Baltimore.
Global aerospace firm Airbus will be displaying its comprehensive range of defence and space capabilities at DefExpo 2022, India's flagship defence exhibition, to be held in Gujarat's Gandhinagar from March 10 to 14. In a press statement, the firm informed that scale models of the versatile A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft as well as the multi-role AS565 MBe (Panther) and H225M helicopters will be displayed among other products and services at the Airbus booth in Hall 12, Stand R10 and R11. "The company, with a strong legacy of working with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and its commercial arm NewSpace India Ltd, will also display its extensive space systems portfolio, including its range of EO satellites that can serve the requirements of the Indian armed forces," they said. Airbus, as per the press release, is actively supporting the modernisation goals of the Indian armed forces and remains committed to making India meet the ambition of an 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (Self-reliant India). "Airbus' commitment to building a robust indigenous military-industrial complex is demonstrated by the offer to set up the complete production capability for the Panther helicopter in India in partnership with the Mahindra group," the release read. In 2021, India formalised the acquisition of 56 Airbus C295 aircraft to replace the Indian Air Force (IAF) legacy AVRO fleet, opening the doors to the first 'Make in India' aircraft manufacturing in the private sector. "Airbus is walking the talk on 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'. Our C295 programme is a shining example of the transformational partnership and collaboration between the private and public sectors as well as MSMEs. We hope to replicate this win-win model to unlock the full value chain for helicopter manufacturing in India," said Remi Maillard, President and MD, Airbus India and South Asia."As a company, Airbus brings a convincing track record of developing industrial partners in India, and we have demonstrated this in pioneering the growth of the country's commercial aviation industrial ecosystem," he said. At Gandhinagar, the Airbus will also display a model of the Eurostar 3000 satellite and an interactive digital presentation of the S950 optical and S850 radar. DefExpo-2022 is Asia's largest exhibition on land, naval, and homeland security systems which will showcase India's defence manufacturing capabilities and includes participation from the world's top defence manufacturing companies. This 12th edition is being held in the capital of Gujarat, Gandhinagar from March 10-14 this year and the Defence Ministry said that it is the "biggest ever so far." DefExpo-2022 will be held in hybrid format, with stalls in both physical and virtual realms to ensure greater engagement as the exhibitors will be able to cater to both physical and virtual attendees. The exhibition is being planned in a three-venue format - exhibition at the Helipad Exhibition Center (HEC); Events and Seminars at the Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Center (MMCEC) and live demonstration for the public at Sabarmati Riverfront. Safety protocols as instituted by Health Ministry will be ensured and followed. (ANI)
Boeing will feature its range of advanced defence capabilities for India at DefExpo 2022 being held later this year. It will include the F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III, F-15EX, P-8I, AH-64E Apache, and the CH-47F Chinook. DefExpo-2022 is Asia's largest exhibition on land, naval, and homeland security systems which will showcase India's defence manufacturing capabilities and includes participation from the world's top defence manufacturing companies. This 12th edition is being held in the capital of Gujarat, Gandhinagar from March 10-14 this year and the Defence Ministry said that it is the "biggest ever so far." At the DefExpo-2022, Boeing will outline its investments in services infrastructure, building of local capabilities, workforce training and partnerships in India that are aimed at ensuring the Indian armed forces are always mission-ready, and operate their assets at peak condition. Boeing's exhibit at Hall 8, U.S. Pavilion, Stall 8R.28 28 with the theme 'Digitally Advanced. Simply and Efficiently Produced. Intelligently Supported' will display advanced defence capabilities on offer to the Indian armed forces, highlight partnerships on existing defence programs with the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, and share details about the strategic investments the company has made in India's aerospace and defence ecosystem. "India is at the front and centre of significant opportunities for Boeing with our proven portfolio of products and services, offering unmatched operational capabilities to India's defence forces across the entire mission spectrum and through their product lifecycle," said Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India in an official statement. "We are confident about the long-term growth potential of India's defence sector and are committed to supporting and enabling its progress," he added. As per an official statement from Boeing, during DefExpo, they will showcase the advanced multi-role capabilities of the F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III as the best choice to meet the Indian Navy's carrier-borne fighter jet requirement. "Visitors will be able to experience virtually, flying the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III on a simulator, and learn more about its ability to conduct a wide range of missions, carrier-based aviation, and superior capabilities. The company will also be highlighting its portfolio of products and services that can help India meet their current and future requirements for national security, including the F-15EX, P-8I, CH-47F (I) Chinook, AH-64E Apache, KC-46, and growth in training, sustainment, and performance-based logistics solutions," it read. (ANI)
Accusing the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of trying to shield minorities welfare minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis termed the state government "Dawood samarpit (surrendered to fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim)" demanding his resignation. Malik was arrested in February by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money laundering case linked with the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. Seeking Malik's resignation, the BJP held a protest in the premises of the Vidhan Sabha amid the ongoing annual Budget session of the state. Speaking to media persons here, Fadnavis said, "Why does the government not want to take his resignation? This is a 'Dawood samarpit', 'Dawood sharan' government. This government is coming together to save people who keep relations with Dawood. That's why we've started protests and we demand that his resignation be taken immediately." Emphasizing that Malik is not accused in a "small matter", Fadnavis said it is "surprising" that the state government has not yet taken his resignation. "For the first time in Maharashtra, a minister (Nawab Malik) is behind bars but his resignation hasn't been taken. This is unexpected. He hasn't been jailed for a small matter, he's accused of dealing with family of Dawood Ibrahim," the BJP leader said. The Bombay High Court is scheduled to hear the petition filed by Malik seeking quashing of the case registered against him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) which is probing money laundering case in connection with links with the underworld don. State Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said that at present Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is of the view that there's no need "to take Nawab Malik's resignation." (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Thursday said that it sympathised with the students stuck in Ukraine due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine but can't direct Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war. "We sympathize with the students, we are feeling very bad. On social media, I saw some videos saying what is CJI doing. Can I give directions to President of Russia to stop the war?," said Chief Justice of India NV Ramana. It said, "What do you expect the Court to do? The government is already doing something." After senior advocate AM Dar mentioned the matter for evacuation of stranded Indian medical students on the Ukraine border, Chief Justice said he will seek the assistance of the Attorney General of India KK Venugopal on the issue. When Venugopal appeared before the bench, CJI said, "Mr AG there is an issue here before us. This is urgent mentioning regarding Indians stuck in Moldova, Romania." CJI told Venugopal that students have approached the apex court and we can't say no to them. "Mr AG please use your good offices. Please look and see if you can help," said the bench and sent the copy of the petition to AG, and requested him to help the students. Attorney General said a Union minister is in Romania to oversee the expeditious evacuation of students crossing over from Ukraine. It is strange when Ukraine is allowing crossing over of citizens and others to neighbouring countries, students are complaining of being not allowed to cross over, Venugopal added. Petitioner claimed that over 250 students stranded in Ukrain were stuck and trapped, looking for hope towards the government, not India. Advocate Dar said "Students studying in Odessa National Medical University, Ukraine are at the Romanian border and no flights are being operated. Only Poland and Hungary have flights. They are stranded in -7 degrees without food and water." The plea filed by student Fathima Ahana has sought direction to the government "to secure permission to cross the checkpoint in Moldova from Ukraine en route to Romania for boarding the Air India evacuation flight, and to immediately take effective diplomatic steps and measures for the evacuation of the Petitioner including other stranded students from Ukraine." (ANI)
Earlier on September 3, 2018, Sophia allegedly raised slogans against the BJP government on a Chennai-Tuticorin flight. She also got into a verbal spat with Soundararajan who was also on the same flight and later allegedly with the police, who were stationed at the Tuticorin airport.

Soundararajan had also lodged a complaint and Sophia was later detained for interrogation. However, the police released the girl on unconditional bail.

The Tamil Nadu BJP president claimed that the girl belonged to some organization and was tutored to misbehave with the BJP leaders. (ANI)
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who attended the meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament on External Affairs to discuss the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis, said that the evacuation process of Indians from Ukraine was started late but it should be the priority of the government now, sources said. The meeting was held at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. As per sources, the Wayanad MP raised the issue of China and Pakistan getting closer to Russia. However, he emphasized that the priority is to evacuate Indian students from Ukraine at present. "Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of China and Pakistan getting closer to Russia but he said that the priority is to evacuate students from Ukraine right now. Congress leader said that we were late in reaction and advisories were confusing," sources said. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the committee of Parliament meeting amid the ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine. He gave a presentation about the evacuation process and the current situation. Giving a clarification on the "late reaction" of the government and "advisories were confusing" statements of the Congress leader, sources stated that Jaishankar responded, saying "students had doubts about their academic position and Ukrainian government was giving assurance on the situation." Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi raised the issue of the Poland Ambassador calling her tweet "fake" and was retweeted by the MEA handle. Other MPs in the meeting supported her and condemned the act, sources said. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who was also present in the meeting expressed gratitude to Jaishankar over "comprehensive briefing" and "candid responses." Taking to Twitter, Tharoor said, "Excellent meeting of the Consultative Committee on External Affairs this morning on #Ukraine. My thanks to [?]@DrSJaishankar[?] & his colleagues for a comprehensive briefing & candid responses to our questions &concerns. This is the spirit in which foreign policy should be run." After the meeting, Jaishankar said that a "good discussion on the strategic and humanitarian aspects of the issue" was done. "Just completed an MEA consultative committee meeting on developments in Ukraine. A good discussion on the strategic and humanitarian aspects of the issue. The Strong and unanimous message of support for efforts to bring back all Indians from Ukraine," he tweeted. "A national consensus on the importance of dialogue and diplomacy. Thank all members for their participation," he added. The Indian government has been ramping up its efforts to evacuate its citizen from Ukraine. Special flights have been arranged under 'Operation Ganga'. Meanwhile, a total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under 'Operation Ganga' have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra government and State Election Commission (SEC) not to act upon the interim report of Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (SBCC ) which recommended a grant of 27 per cent OBC quota in local bodies election and reiterated that election be held without OBC reservation. A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar refused to accept the interim report observing that it was prepared without empirical study and research. It directed the Maharashtra government and the State Election Commission to not act upon the interim report. The Maharashtra government while approaching the top court said that the SBCC has granted the clearance for restoring the 27 percent quota for other backward classes (OBC) in local bodies across the state, and it now required a nod from the top court to reserve seats for OBC in local body elections. Maharashtra government, in its application, said that on February 5, the SBCC gave its recommendation allowing the state government to go ahead with the implementation. Pursuant to the SBCC report Maharashtra approached the apex court seeking permission to implement OBC quota in the remaining local body polls in terms of the recommendation of the Commission. On January 19, the top court had directed the state government to submit data on OBCs to the SBCC to examine its correctness and make recommendations on their representation in elections for the local bodies. The top court had also directed the SBCC to submit the interim report to the authorities concerned in two weeks of receiving information from the state government. On December 15, 2021, the top court had directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to de-notify the 27 percent seats reserved for OBC and re-issue them under the general category for the local body elections. It had asked State Election Commission to renotify the 27 percent OBC constituencies as general seats for local body polls and resume the election process along with the remaining 73 percent. On December 6, the bench had stayed the 27 percent reservation for the OBC in the local body elections of Maharashtra until further orders. It had observed that 27 percent of OBC Quota could not have been implemented without setting up a Commission and without collecting data regarding the inadequacy of representation local government wise. The bench in its order today recorded, "The report itself mentions that the same is being prepared in absence of empirical study and research by the Commission. Having failed to do so, the Commission should not have filed the interim report. As a result, it is not possible to permit any authority, much less the State Election Commission, to act upon the recommendations made in the said report. For the time being, we don't intend to dilate on the correctness of each of the observations made by the commission in the interim report. We, however, direct all concerned not to act upon the interim report as submitted." After Supreme Court's directions on the OBC quota, the Maharashtra government called a cabinet meeting at 1 pm to discuss the further steps. (ANI)
Congress leader Michael Lobo, who contested from Calangute, on Thursday, rejected the rumours that BJP's top leaders are in contact with him and stated that Congress will stake claim to form the government on 10th March by 5 pm if the results are out by 3 pm, said a press release. Lobo on Thursday addressed a press conference in Panaji and said that the BJP is master in spreading rumours and hence, nobody should believe such rumours. Former Chief Minister and Senior leader Digambar Kamat, GPCC President Girish Chodankar, former ZP member Moreno Rebelllo and Vice President Altino Gomes were present on the occasion. Lobo said rumour has been spread before results are out. "People of Goa know who is spreading this rumour. Don't fall prey to such rumours. Nobody will leave the Congress party. Let BJP try any pressurizing tactics also by using the Enforcement Director and other agencies. We all are united and will not leave the Congress party." He said. "We will give a stable government by staking a claim to form a government by 5 pm, if the results are out by 3 pm. BJP will be in opposition and we are confident about it." He said. Lobo said that the other party leaders are in contact with Congress. "They are not interested in supporting the BJP. Not a single independent MLA or MG Party will go close to BJP as this regional party was backstabbed by BJP. Nobody trusts them now." He said. "Even Sudin Dhavalikar and Deepak Dhavalikar will not go with BJP as they were backstabbed twice by BJP," he said. Lobo said that the people of Goa will be happy from 10th March as they will get another liberation, now from BJP. Lobo also said that the Congress Party and Congress Legislative Party will decide about the Chief Minister's post. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing for next week of the contempt case against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who was found guilty in a contempt case for withholding information from the court. The matter was listed before the bench of Justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha. The top court had held Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the court's order and sought his presence before it on various occasions. On February 10, the Supreme Court granted the last opportunity of two weeks to Mallya to personally present or through counsel in the contempt case against him and if he fails to do so the court will take the matter to a logical conclusion. The apex court had accepted the contentions of amicus curiae and senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, who was assisting the court in the matter, that on the issue of quantum of sentence Mallya is given the last opportunity to make his stand in the case. "In his (Gupta) submission matter may be adjourned for a short time with an expression that this would be a final opportunity and in case he chooses to not remain personally present or advance submissions through counsel, the court may proceed further with the matter. Going by submissions... we adjourn for two weeks. Respondent contemnor is at liberty to act in directions of November 30, 2021 order failing which matter shall be taken to logical conclusion and proceeded further," the bench had stated in its order. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had clarified that it's not the government of India's stand that something confidential is going on in the case in the United Kingdom but it is what government has been informed by the UK that there is something going on which can't be shared. Last year, the top court while saying that it has waited "long enough" and cannot "wait longer now" for Mallya to get extradited from the United Kingdom to India, decided to go ahead with the hearing on quantum of punishment in the contempt case against him. Earlier, Solicitor General appearing for Ministry of External Affairs had furnished a document of Deputy Secretary (Extradition) Ministry of External Affairs, to which the bench had said the proceedings for extradition of Mallya to India from the United Kingdom has attained finality but certain "confidential proceedings" are pending in the UK, details of which are not known. Centre had also said that Mallya has already exhausted all his avenues of appeal in UK. On the previous occasion, the Centre had informed the top court that legal complexities in the United Kingdom are preventing the extradition of fugitive Mallya, but the government of India is making all efforts and doing its best to extradite him. The Centre had further said that extradition of Mallya was ordered by the highest court of the United Kingdom but it has not been put into effect. The government had said it's not aware of the "secret' ongoing proceedings in the UK which is delaying Mallya's extradition. The apex court had dismissed a plea filed by Mallya seeking a review of its May 2017 order holding him guilty of contempt. Mallya is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines and is presently in the United Kingdom. The Supreme Court had issued its May 9, 2017, order on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), claiming he had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders. Earlier, the apex court had asked Mallya about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of money to his children. At that time, the top court was dealing with pleas of lending banks seeking contempt action and a direction to Mallya to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo to the banks respectively. The banks had then accused Mallya of concealing the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in flagrant violation of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court. (ANI)
As per information received by IAF, the first four C-17 aircraft under Operation Ganga evacuated a total of 798 Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Hungary, and Poland.

"First four IAF C-17 aircraft under #OperationGanga evacuated 798 Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Hungary & Poland. They also supplied 9.7 tons of relief material," IAF officials said.

Notably, the American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are the most capable of flying long distances with around 400 passengers. The C-17 transport aircraft had helped in a big way in evacuating citizens and officials from Kabul when the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced Americans to exit from there.

For the past few days, the Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help Ukraine with military weapons.

The US, Canada, and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies. (ANI)
The Carroll County Sheriffs Office this week made a second arrest connected to a suspicious death investigation in Mount Airy from November.

Marlon Yony Hernandez Rivera, 31, of Prince Georges County, was arrested Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio and is awaiting extradition to Carroll County. He is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence or any felony, in connection with the death of Henry Diaz-Diaz, 27, of Prince Georges County.

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On Jan. 24 police arrested Carlos Orlando Ventura, 38, of the 2100 block of Charlestown Place, Hyattsville, charged him with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence or any felony, in connection with the same case.

The Carroll County Sheriffs Office responded Nov. 6 to the 2200 block of Flag Marsh Road in Mount Airy for the report of a deceased person. The body of Diaz-Diaz was located near a wooded area on the property of an unoccupied home. Police said the victim had a single gunshot wound.
Tikait also took part in the lunch hosted by KCR in Delhi and was received by MLC Kavitha. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP J Santosh Kumar was also present in the meeting.

According to sources, Chief Minister KCR is reportedly trying to hold talks with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal about an alliance of parties opposing both BJP and Congress.

KCR also met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar last month. He had earlier got in touch with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.

Further, sources added, "CM KCR is also keen to meet Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders."

The series of meetings came after KCR gave a call to Opposition parties to unite against BJP.Shiv Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana' last month said the meeting will expedite the process of political unity at the national level against the BJP.

Telangana Chief Minister had earlier hit out at the BJP and said that it should be "expelled" from the country or else the country will be "ruined". He also called for political forces to come together to "oust" the BJP from power. (ANI)
State election in-charge and Union Minister Prahlad Joshi will attend the meeting. All the state MPs, district presidents, candidates, and in-charges will attend the meeting.

Giving information about the meeting, BJP state media in-charge Manveer Singh Chouhan said, "A preparatory meeting has been ensured for the counting of votes to be held on March 10 at Hotel Pacific at 11 am on March 7."

Chouhan said that all the MPs, state officials, district presidents, assembly candidates, and assembly in-charges have been invited to the meeting.

Notably, the polling in Uttarakhand took place for the 70-seat Assembly on February 14. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
These students shared their experiences with him.

The students were from Varanasi as well as other parts of Uttar Pradesh.

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.

In a bid to further scale up the evacuation efforts, the government has deployed 80 flights under 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate stranded Indians from Ukraine.

The government has also roped in more than two dozen Ministers to monitor evacuation missions without any hiccups, sources told ANI on Thursday.

By March 10, a total of 80 flights will be pressed into service to evacuate the stranded Indians. These flights belong to the fleet of Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Spice Jet, Vistara, Go Air, and also planes from the Air Force.

The Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue in the last few days.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. (ANI)
According to the ministry, the Indian evacuees landed in Delhi on a special Indigo flight.

Indian citizens from Ukraine have been brought back to their motherland under the Government's Operation Ganga, said the ministry.

Welcoming all the returnees, the Union Minister said that the Union Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to ensuring the repatriation of all Indians from Ukraine. He also assured the students that their friends and colleagues will also be evacuated soon.

Post coming back to India and meeting with their families, students expressed gratitude towards the Union Government. A young student on the flight remarked, with tears of joy, the safe evacuation from a war strife country is no miracle, and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi made it possible.

Indigo flight had taken off from the Istanbul International Airport, at 10.35 p.m. (IST) on Wednesday and reached New Delhi at 8.31 a.m. today.

Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, and SpiceJet have joined the Operation Ganga mission operating multiple flights from Ukraine's neighboring countries to Delhi and Mumbai. (ANI)
Stating that COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in mortality prevention has been measured, the Union Health Ministry informed on Thursday that one dose is 98.9 per cent effective and if both doses are administered then its efficacy increases to 99.3 per cent. The Health Ministry added that unvaccinated individuals account for 92 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in 2022. Addressing a press conference today, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr Balram Bhargava said, "Vaccine effectiveness in mortality prevention has been measured. The first dose is responsible for 98.9 per cent vaccine effectiveness and if both doses are given then it is 99.3 per cent effective." The Health Ministry mentioned that India witnessed a considerably lower number of COVID-19 deaths due to vaccine development, rapid deployment, acceptance, wide coverage. "74 per cent of adolescents aged 15-18 years have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 39 per cent of the population has been administered with both doses. India witnessed a considerably lower number of COVID-19 deaths due to vaccine development, rapid deployment, acceptance, wide coverage. Unvaccinated individuals account for 92 per cent of COVID-19 deaths in 2022," he said. Meanwhile, the ministry earlier today informed that India reported 6,561 new COVID-19 cases and 142 deaths in the last 24 hours. According to the ministry's health bulletin, the active caseload stands at 77,152 and it comprises 0.18 per cent of total infections. The total recoveries stand at 14,947 in the last 24 hours increasing it to 4,23,53,620. The recovery rate is at 98.62 per cent. The daily positivity rate is 0.96 per cent and the weekly positivity rate is 0.99 per cent in the country. As many as 178.02 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the Nationwide vaccination drive. With 8.82 samples collected in the last 24 hours, the tally crossed 77 crores in the country. (ANI)
Veteran BJP leader Tathagatha Roy on Thursday took a jibe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying that Banerjee is having "Prime Ministerial illusions" which is why she is "interfering in international issues". "West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is having Prime Ministerial illusions that's why she is interfering in an international issue which is none of her business," said Former Tripura Governor and BJP leader Tathagatha Roy while speaking exclusively to ANI. Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday blamed the Centre for delaying the evacuation of Indian students from war-torn Ukraine. She said delayed evacuation is neglect and crime. Roy further said, "I am not surprised but it rather reminds me of a situation-- a year back during the pandemic, she hit out at the Central government for not taking adequate steps and measures despite the Centre knowing of the second and third COVID-19 waves. In the same way, now Mamata Banerjee said why the Central Government did not take any steps earlier to rescue students stuck in Ukraine despite PM Narendra Modi knowing about Russia's Ukraine invasion from beforehand. She says anything she feels like." According to Roy, Mamata is making 'weird' statement. "The way she is targetting the Governor when the Governor himself is asking as to where he has gone wrong. She has no answer", stated Roy. Speaking on Mamata Banerjee shown black flag in Varanasi, Roy said, "It is the right of the people to express their anger. There is nothing wrong if the workers have shown her black flag in Varanasi." Mamata Banerjee was shown black flags amid chants of "Jai Sri Ram" in Varanasi on Wednesday when she was on the way to take part in Ganga Aarti. When asked about the downfall of BJP in Bengal, Roy held both the TMC and BJP responsible for it. He said, " That what is happening in Bengal, can't call it election results. Booth rigging and goons are been used to win the election. On the other hand, BJP's downfall in Bengal began after the State Assembly election and its continuing. They (BJP) didn't take any steps to correct their mistakes except for changing the State President." Roy further added, "During the Bengal polls, those who were in charge of Bengal, only enjoyed a good time in five-star hotels and ticket distribution was another backdrop where only 'pretty faces' were given a chance to contest and the old party workers were left out from the list." (ANI)
"On constant persuasion and CI OPs conducted by Charaideo District Police, 12th Assam Rifles and 149 CRPF unit posted in the district, the below mentioned ULFA(I) cadre have surrendered with Arms and Ammunitions at Office of the Superintendent of Police, Charaideo", stated the Assam police on Thursday.

The apprehended ULFA-I member is Nilutpol Tamuli alias Jagaran Asom.

He deposited one 7.62mm MQ81 assault rifle, three magazines, 148 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 25.700 kg of RDX, added Sudhakara Singh. (ANI)
Special PMLA court on Thursday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik till March 7 in connection with Dawood Ibrahim money laundering case. Defence lawyer Amit Desai hitting out at the ED, argued in the court that the agency has said today that the "terror funding" by the Minister to Haseena Parkar was Rs 5 lakh as against Rs 55 lakh in the first application, which was due to a "typing error". "On the front page of today's remand application, it is written that it is a continuation of the previous remand application. The last time the ED told the court that there was a connection between Nawab Malik and the underworld gang. It was said that he had an active involvement in terror funding," he said. "It was called a terror fund by accusing him of funding Haseena Parkar Rs 55 lakh. But today ED says that last time Rs 55 lakh was a typing mistake and it is only Rs 5 lakh, but on the basis of this application, he was sent to ED's custody," the lawyer said. He said that the matter has been challenged in the High Court and it is only in the hand of the court to decide if Malik should be granted bail or not. Notably, High Court would hear Malik's plea on March 7, the day on which his ED remand comes to an end and he would be produced again in the PMLA court. "We have challenged this matter in the High Court also. On reading the remand application, what I had said at the time of the last hearing is proving to be true. Now it is only in the hands of the court whether he should be granted bail or not," he said. Prosecution lawyer, Anil Singh, putting forward his arguments in the court said that due to Malik's deteriorating health and his hospitalization, the ED was unable to conduct the inquiry and custody was needed. "Nawab Malik had to be hospitalized for some time due to deteriorating health amid ED custody, due to which a complete inquiry could not be done. Six days remand was sought by ED. No inquiry could be held till February 28. There are statements of many people in this matter who have connections with Dawood's sister, brother and other people. One accused is also in jail. We have recorded the statements of some other people in this matter," he said. He said the statement of Haseena Parkar's son and an accused currently in jail has been submitted to the court. "We have submitted the statement of Haseena Parkar's son to the court. Besides this, the statements of the accused, who is in jail, have also been submitted. In the money laundering case, along with the interrogation of many people, the information and investigation of the transactions are yet to be done," Singh said. "Due to ill health, the entire inquiry could not be done. The new information that has come further has to be investigated. So six days of custody are needed," the lawyer added. Earlier in February, the ED conducted raids at the residence of Dawood Ibrahim's sister Haseena Parkar in Mumbai in connection with the money laundering case. Searches were carried out by the ED at several places linked to people associated with the underworld in Mumbai, informed sources said. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded the resignation of the Malik but the Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA-- comprising Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP) government has rejected the demand. (ANI)
In a breakaway session of the post-budget webinar on Technology-Enabled Development, the Experts discussed ways for transforming India through geospatial knowledge and infrastructure, informed the Ministry of Science and Technology on Thursday. The webinar was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Data generation and data governance are crucial components of geospatial technologies, and effective collaboration between government, academia, and industry is needed for them. The government is removing all restrictions to resolve the issues for better outreach of the data. Once the data is made accessible, its potential is immense to provide solutions in numerous sectors. In order to effectively implement all these, trained manpower is necessary at all levels," said Dr. Kiran Kumar, former Secretary, Department of Space and former Chairman, ISRO, at the breakaway session titled 'Transforming India through geospatial knowledge and infrastructure: the need for national geospatial policy', led by the Department of Science and Technology (DST). "We need to have mechanisms in which the government and industry can work as partners; validations can be given to the solutions provided by the industry, and we need the right people with the right skills who can take these initiatives forward. The Budget 2022 discussed the data collection and its accessibility, and this needs to be leveraged," Dr. Kumar added at the webinar on 2nd March 2022. The webinar titled "Technology-enabled development" was organized by Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) along with several scientific ministries and departments of the Government of India. Dr. Shanthanu Bhatawdekar, Director, EOA & DMS Program Office, ISRO, highlighted that the government should share domain expertise in this area with the private for deeper penetration of the technologies. He also underlined the need for ministries, line departments, and the geospatial industry to work in unison. "We need a road map for geospatial R&D system, technology generation, education, data sharing, encouraging academic startups, and we need to leapfrog to meet the global benchmark," said Dr. Bharat Lohani, Professor, IIT Kanpur. He also emphasized the need for data standardization and unification. Dr. Prakash Chauhan, Director, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun stressed on enhancing the reach of geo-spatial data in terms of user specifications to be used in different sectors. "In India, there exist different mechanisms for the generation of data and their availability. A proper channel of updating those data and collating the data is necessary. Besides, we need to create a localized ecosystem to harness the IT capabilities of the country and localized data for creating a foundation for the development of Geo-spatial Technologies. ISRO has created a data set, and it needs to be disseminated through cloud-based services," he added. Drawing on current geopolitical scenarios, Mr. Rakesh Verma, Chairman, MapMyIndia, underlined the increasing necessity to develop indigenous technologies and disseminate them to the users to minimize the dependency on foreign entities. He said that there is no dearth of talent in India, and hence the Geospatial industry could be Atmanirbhar with such resources. "We need to develop indigenous software and hardware by supporting indigenous companies, and this would require creating industrial capacity, incubators, mobilizing capital, some of which may be in the form of geospatial industrial development fund, public-private partnerships, international competitiveness, local manufacturing, and finally a sound industrial strategy for manifold growth," said Sanjay Kumar, CEO, Geospatial World. Abhilasha Purwar, Founder and CEO, Blue Sky Analytics, highlighted ways in which the geospatial data can make India a leader in climate action and discussions by incorporating satellite intelligence and data into the climate discussions. The final recommendations included leveraging human capital to develop products and solutions using geospatial data, the introduction of new courses at UG and PG level in Geo-informatics, standardization of professional services provided by surveyors and GIS professionals through industry-led certification. Final recommendations also included research emphasis in areas like high-resolution Geospatial datasets. The recommendations also involved encouraging local cloud services, improvement of public procurement by way of quality RFP documents, developing expertise in evaluating and certifying tender works as per laid out specification, moving beyond tenders to collaborate with industry, leveraging government data and technology of the industry to build revenue models, improvement in capital availability to start ups and other businesses, geospatial investment fund, geospatial industry development strategy as well as sectoral development plans. (ANI)
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will organise its annual three-day All India Representatives Meeting in Gujarat's Karnavati (Ahmedabad) from March 11 to 13, which will be attended by its chief Mohan Bhagwat and other senior leaders. An official statement by RSS on Thursday said the leaders will discuss the expansion of the organization and programs to be held in the centenary year of the Sangh. "This meeting is important for taking decisions. During the meeting, plans and decisions for coming years will be finalised and previous year's activities will also be deliberated on. The expansion plans of the Sangh, the Sangh Shiksha Varg and the current situation would also be discussed," said RSS media and publicity head Sunil Ambekar in the statement. Ambedkar said the meeting will be conducted following all COVID-19 protocols. "The meeting will also be attended by Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat, Sarkaryavah Dattatreya Hosabale, Sahsarkaryavah Manmohan Vaidya among other leaders," Ambekar said. He said affiliated organizations and workers have been asked to prepare a plan at the district level which would be discussed at this meeting. The Sangh's expansion in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Northeast, Tamil Nadu and hilly areas will also be deliberated on. Notably, the meeting will begin on March 11, a day after the declaration of results of Assembly elections 2022 in five states including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. The RSS will mark 100 years of its establishment in 2025. (ANI)
As the countys COVID-19 case rates continue to decline, only one new death was attributed to the coronavirus this week in Carroll County, according to the health department. The COVID-19 positivity rate reached 4.69% this week, and the county is considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be at low COVID-19 community level.

COVID-19 Community Levels are a new tool to help communities decide what prevention steps to take based on the latest data, according to the CDC. Levels can be low, medium or high and are determined by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.

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Low community level means people living in Carroll County should stay up-to-date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if they have symptoms, according to the CDC.

The overall COVID-19 case count in Carroll County is now at 21,044, according to Carroll County Health Department data.

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Carroll County Public Schools reported Wednesday 67 positive COVID-19 cases among students and staff this week, the lowest number of cases reported in schools this school year. All cases were in students; zero staff cases were reported.

As of Friday, face coverings became optional inside Carroll County Public Schools buildings and on school buses.

Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. >

The school system also reported 31 people in quarantine this week, which is the lowest number of people in quarantine during this school year, according to the dashboard. Quarantine data reflect the number of individuals required to quarantine because they are a close contact to a positive COVID-19 case. The quarantine data do not reflect individuals in quarantine because they are COVID positive.

This is the seventh consecutive week that overall case numbers have declined, after peaking at 1,313 cases reported for the week ending Jan. 12.

This week, Eldersburg had the most positive cases among elementary schools with six. Among middle schools, the highest number of cases was at Sykesville, which reported five. Manchester Valley had the most positive cases among high schools with four.

The Carroll County Health Department offers COVID testing at 290 S. Center St., Westminster. For updated information, visit cchd.maryland.gov/covidtesting or call 410-876-4848.

The health department also hosts vaccination clinics at Carroll Community College for residents age 5 and older. Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccinations for COVID-19 are available. Walk-in vaccinations are available. Registration is at https://cchd.maryland.gov/registration-links/.

In partnership with the health department, the Carroll County Public Library system has been distributing free COVID-19 home-test kits at branches and its headquarters. Those interested should check the library website at https://library.carr.org or call 410-386-4488 for current distribution details.

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Test kits also may be requested through the federal government online at covidtests.gov. One set of four tests is available per mailing address. If an individual tests positive for COVID-19 with an at-home test kit, the Maryland Department of Health is asking for results to be submitted to covidlink.maryland.gov/selfreport.
Slamming the BJP-led Goa government over the alleged illegal construction in the Old Goa heritage zone, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Taleigao candidate for Goa Assembly polls, Cecille Rodrigues said that it has been 100 days since the citizens have been protesting but there is no action on the ground by the authorities. His remarks came as AAP leaders on Wednesday, joined the citizens' protest at Old Goa, marking 100 days of the hunger strike against the illegal construction in the Old Goa heritage zone. AAP candidates Cecille Rodrigues, Cruz Silva, and Lincoln Vaz led the large group of AAP members including Roque Mascarenhas, Gerson Gomes, Sarfaraz Shaikh, and others. "It has been 100 days since the citizens' protest is going on. If the Govt wanted, they could have taken action within 24 hours. but there is no action on the ground by the authorities despite a demolition order, as everyone seems to be involved. I appeal to the people of Goa to keep up the pressure until our heritage site is restored," said Rodrigues. AAP General Secretary (Minority Cell) Gerson Gomes also stated that the party has been with the protestors on this issue right from day one stating that most other parties seem to be in cahoots with the ruling party due to pressure from the Centre, Gomes reiterated the AAP's commitment and assured that when the AAP Govt is formed after the assembly election results on March 10, one of the first tasks would be to take action on the demolition order against the illegal structure. Velim candidate Cruz Silva stated it is urgent that members of all political parties should unite as Goans, and ensure that the structure is demolished at the earliest. It may be recalled that AAP leader Amit Palekar had undertaken a fast-unto-death on this issue a few months ago. (ANI)
The Chief Minister will attend the roadshow of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Varanasi tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also hold a roadshow in Varanasi on Friday, ahead of the seventh phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Giving details of PM Modi's roadshow, regional Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Mahesh Chandra Srivastava said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold roadshow from Maldahiya to Vishwanath Dham. At Vishwanath Dham, the roadshow will conclude."

After offering prayers at Vishwanath Dham Temple, PM Modi will garland the statue of Madan Mohan Malviya located at BHU Gate.

Polling for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections concluded today.

Polling for the seventh phase, which will be the last, will be held on March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
As per the information, Rao and Soren will distribute compensation amounts in the form of cheques to the kin of farmers who died during the farmers' protests against the three farm laws.

Earlier today, Rao held a meeting with Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Singh Tikait in Delhi. He also met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar last month. He had earlier got in touch with his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin.

Further, sources added, "CM KCR is also keen to meet Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and other leaders."

The series of meetings came after KCR gave a call to Opposition parties to unite against BJP.Shiv Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana' last month said the meeting will expedite the process of political unity at the national level against the BJP.

Telangana Chief Minister had earlier hit out at the BJP and said that it should be "expelled" from the country or else the country will be "ruined". He had also called for political forces to come together to "oust" the BJP from power. (ANI)
Students who were filled will joy after landing in their home state Uttar Pradesh's capital city Varanasi expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government for their safe evacuation amid the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with students who returned to India from Ukraine, in Varanasi today. "We were losing hope when our flights got canceled for returning to India. But when the Indian embassy and government started evacuation efforts, we regained our hopes and finally reached India safely. All thanks to the Indian government and PM Modi for helping us," a student said. Another student who reached Varanasi today also said, "Indian government has provided us with a lot of facilities. We did not face any problems while returning from Ukraine. A lot of students have reached here and many will reach in the coming days. Thank you Modi sir for saving our lives." "Indian government saved our lives. I would like to thank our government for saving us. I am sure that all the nationals will reach home safely," a student said. "When Russia started military operations on February 24, we felt that we will never be able to reach India back. We literally felt our death on our heads for the two days. We are proud of our government, country, and Prime Minister. It's an honour for us to be born in this country," another student. One more student present there said, "My parents were taking your (PM Modi) name after god because they knew that you are the only one who can save us and bring us back from Ukraine safely. I can't even express how thankful we all are to you." PM Modi also said that the Indian government is safely evacuating the nationals despite numerous difficulties faced by them. "I know that you all have faced a lot of difficulties at this early age in Ukraine and that too alone. But we are safely evacuating the nationals despite so many problems there," PM Modi said. A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. In a bid to further scale up the evacuation efforts, the government has deployed 80 flights under 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate stranded Indians from Ukraine. The government has also roped in more than two dozen Ministers to monitor evacuation missions without any hiccups, sources told ANI on Thursday. By March 10, a total of 80 flights will be pressed into service to evacuate the stranded Indians. These flights belong to the fleet of Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Spice Jet, Vistara, Go Air, and also planes from the Air Force. The Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue in the last few days.Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. (ANI)
Amid Russia's ongoing military operation in Ukraine, the Odisha government nominated four special representatives to coordinate and ensure smooth evacuation of students from the war-hit country. "Owing to the crisis prevailing in Ukraine, a number of people especially students from Odisha are still stranded in the war-prone Ukraine and need to be evacuated. Also, the number of students/citizens from Odisha have crossed over to neighboring countries like Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia from where they are being evacuated by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India by Special flights," said the official statement issued by the Odisha government. It further said, "Government of Odisha has decided to nominate the following special representatives to the countries mentioned alongside to coordinate with the Resident Commissioners and the respective countries and to ensure smooth evacuation of students/NRO's from Ukraine, especially from border location with neighboring countries." The special representatives are Vikramaditya, Arushi Ray, Baishali Mohanty and Anurag Pattanaik. Vikramaditya is the vice-president of KIIT University and KISS University (International Relations). He will coordinate with from Poland. Arushi Ray, senior TDPS officer, GLDC, UNHCR to coordinate with Hungary. Baishali Mohanty, UN Policy Officer, WFP, Rome to coordinate with Romania. Anurag Pattanaik, based in Hungary, Consultant will coordinate with Slovakia. The statement from Odisha Chief Secretary also said that the Resident Commissioner's Office, New Delhi will be the nodal office for the purpose. (ANI)
An advocate of US e-commerce giant Amazon on Thursday proposed before the Supreme Court to have informal dialogue with the Future Group to settle the ongoing dispute between the parties amicably. Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Amazon told a bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana that the parties hold informal talks without mediators in order to arrive at an amicable solution to put the multifarious legal dispute to rest. "Let us have a conversation. We can't allow the spinners wheel to continue, with four different proceedings. Please consider. We must at least discuss, and see what is the best possibility. Let us put our heads together and find a solution," Subramanium told the bench also comprising Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli. On the submission of Amazon's counsel, the bench responded, "We are always supportive of solving things amicably." Senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for Future Retail said that while he has no problem with the idea of amicably solving the dispute if Amazon wanted to have a conversation they could have called the promoters of the Future Group. "You also have to cooperate," said the bench to Salve. Salve replied, "Let me assure, nobody is winning this battle. The Amazon God has to come down to talk to us lesser mortals." The bench then adjourned the case for 10 days to enable the parties to have an informal dialogue to solve the Amazon- Future dispute amicably. The apex court was hearing Amazon's appeal against the Delhi High Court order staying arbitration proceedings between the e-commerce giant and Future group. US-based e-commerce giant Amazon.com NV Investment Holdings LLC, and FRL are embroiled in a legal fight over FRL's Rs 24,713 crore merger deal with Reliance Retail Amazon has been opposing the Future group decision to go ahead with the merger deal of FRL with Reliance Retail. It got the Emergency Award of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) in its favour which restrained Future group from going ahead with the merger deal. (ANI)
The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said that any decision on the mixing and matching of the booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines will be taken based on science. Addressing a press conference today on the COVID-19 situation in the country, NITI Aayog Member (Health) VK Paul said, "Research on mixing and matching of booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines is underway. Further decision will be taken based on the research." "Some studies are ongoing. Those are being constantly reviewed in the NTAGI system and even otherwise, in the 'science system', because those studies are specific to the vaccination programme of our nation," he said. The health ministry highlighted that a decision on this issue will be based on the results of studies. A decision would be guided by the new information, new science and knowledge, he said. Earlier, AIG Hospitals along with a team of researchers from the Asian Healthcare Foundation said that the mixed vaccines of Covaxin and Covishield are at least four times higher in antibody response than the same-vaccine group. "We found that when the first and second doses are of different vaccines, the antibody response is four times higher compared to two doses of the same vaccine," said the study conducted by AIG Hospitals and Asian Healthcare Foundation. Paul also spoke about the Corbevax vaccine and said, "It will find a way in the national vaccination programme as an order has been placed and delivered for a certain quantity." "As Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) has been given for general adult population and also for children, we assure that the data has been seen by the drug regulator," he said. He said, "We have placed an order of a certain quantity which has been delivered. This vaccine will find its way to the national COVID-19 vaccination programme. But, how best to use it, when to use it....well in time to be used before the expiry date-- These decisions will follow based on scientific considerations and the overall approach of our vaccination programme which focuses on systematic approach with the most-needy and high priority groups." Corbevax is a two-dose vaccine administered intramuscularly and can be stored at 2 degrees Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 178.26 crore (1,78,26,22,997) today. More than 21 lakh (21,99,122) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm today, the health ministry said. More than 2.03 crore (2,03,60,743) precaution doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries (HCWs, FLWs and over 60 years) for COVID vaccination have been administered so far. (ANI)
A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused Bharatiya Janata Party of showing black flags to her amid the chants of "Jai Sri Ram" in Varanasi, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday gave her a befitting reply and asked, "Is she the same Mamata Banerjee who used to call BJP leader goons". He also accused Banerjee of supporting Rohingya Muslims, and terrorists. Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "Why the people of Uttar Pradesh will not be angry with her? She always supports Rohingya Muslims and terrorists and still claims that there is no one who can throw out the Rohingyas from the country." "They killed the democracy, even Mamata Banerjee herself is the killer of democracy. Jai Shri Ram's chatting irritates her," he added. Banerjee was shown black flags amid chants of "Jai Sri Ram" in Varanasi on Wednesday when she was on her way to take part in 'Ganga Aarti.' Reacting over the situation, the chief minister, earlier in the day, sat on the stairs of the Dashashwamedh Ghat to watch 'Ganga Aarti' in an apparent protest against the showing of the black flag to her. Even while the organizers requested her to sit on a chair, Banerjee continued to sit on the stairs. "I am not scared. I am not a coward. I am a fighter. I faced thrashings and bullets several times in my life. But I never bowed down. The BJP workers yesterday stopped my car while on my way to Ghat from the airport. They hit my car with sticks and asked me to go back. But I have realized that the BJP's loss is imminent in UP," Banerjee added. (ANI)
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Thursday met two Tripura students who had reached the state safely on Thursday from conflict-ridden Ukraine. Both the medical students who were studying in different cities crossed the borders in their personal capacity and later they got government help in returning home from Romania and Slovakia respectively. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb felicitated both the students at his official chamber and hailed Prime Minister Modi for his efforts to evacuate the Indian students stranded in different cities of Ukraine. Deb said, "I extend my sincere thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his concerted efforts to bring Indian students back. A lot of students are still stuck and I feel the Central government will certainly ensure their safe return as soon as possible". He said, two Tripura students Megha Trivedi and Jasmine Debbarma have landed here in Agartala and straight from the airport they have come here. "I have talked to Kiren Rijiju who is now on the Ukraine borders and overseeing the evacuation process. This is an unprecedented situation and there is no possibility of entering the war-torn territory for a rescue operation. This is the only way, the central government has kept a close watch and many ministers are now camping at Ukraine borders to supervise and fast-track the evacuation process", Deb added. On being asked what could be the possible number of Tripura students now stuck in a hostile situation like war, Deb said, "See, we don't have any exact figure as there is no prior permission required from the state government for studying abroad. Helpline numbers are available on the internet and whoever is contacting us, we are trying to help them." Later speaking to the media persons, Megha Trivedi a fourth-year student from Vinnitsa Medical University recounted the horrific sites that they had witnessed at the war zone. She said that the Indian Embassy in Ukraine miserably failed to extend any support to the students at the hours of uncertainty and fear. On the other hand, Jasmine Debbarma said, "I feel very good today. When I was in Ukraine, it was like total uncertainty. There is no place like home. I want to urge the government of India to arrange a safe passage for hundreds of my friends and batch-mates''. Earlier, the Prime Minister said that the entire government machinery is working round the clock to ensure that all Indian nationals there are safe and secure. The government also informed that the first consignment of relief supplies to Ukraine to deal with the humanitarian situation on Ukraine's borders has been despatched. On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities escalating the ongoing tensions between the two countries. Ukraine gained independence in 1991 after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Earlier in February, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that special military operations are being launched "to protect" the people in the Donbas region. He also warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to "consequences". Leaders from a number of countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine. (ANI)
Amid India's ongoing "Operation Ganga" to bring back the stranded citizens from Ukraine, 299 out of a total of 878 Delhi students have reached the national capital till today evening, said the Delhi government on Thursday. The Delhi government is sending its officials to meet the families of students stranded in Ukraine. District and subdivision level officers and teachers have also been engaged in this work. Delhi government officials and employees have spoken to the families of 624 out of the total 878 students, while the government officials and employees have physically reached out to 606 of these families. These officers and employees have been ordered to visit the students who have returned from Ukraine or meet the families of the students who have not returned yet and inform them about the safety of their children, said the government. Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that a total of 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the first travel advisory was issued by the Indian Embassy in Kyiv. As many as 18 flights are scheduled for the next 24 hours including three IAF C-17 and other commercials flights like Air India, Indigo, Spice jet, Go first and Go Air, said MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, speaking at the special briefing on Operation Ganga, to bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine amid Russia's military operation. (ANI)
Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group talk with Chief Advisor Billy Boniface in the parking lot of the Harford County Administration building as the group makes their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Perryman residents marched through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday afternoon to show their continued opposition to the mega-warehouse development slated to be built on the Mitchell property on Perryman Peninsula.

A few dozen residents gathered at MaGerks Pub around 4:30 p.m. and walked to the Harford County Administration Building, where they snapped photos out front with teal and yellow signs reading, No More Warehouses, Protect Perryman Peninsula and Wheres Barry Ghostman? A police officer in the building came to the door as the group left.

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What were wanting to do is bring people outside of Perryman in to understand, because [the project] doesnt just affect the residents of Perryman, said Perryman resident and civil engineer Stacy Stone.

The Harford County Council introduced a bill Feb. 15 that would impose a development moratorium in Perryman after residents had complained about the warehouse project for several weeks at council meetings. A public hearing on the bill is scheduled for March 15.

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Stone and other residents noted that 30% percent of the countys drinking water comes from the Perryman Well Field, as noted in a Maryland Department of the Environment assessment from 2000. They also drew attention to the projects potential impact on Chesapeake Bay.

The environmental impacts of having this much more paved surface area running off into the Bush River and then into the Chesapeake Bay is very, very concerning to us, Stone said.

Harford County Climate Action member Pamela Dehmer attended the protest, although shes not a Perryman resident. She noted the situation in Perryman is similar to the the proposal for a business park near the Abingdon Woods development, a project the environmental group has opposed.

The issue is very similar, Dehmer said. Its about large warehouses next to residential areas, which we feel is a zoning issue that wed like the county to take a look at.

Perryman coalition organizers say County Executive Barry Glassman has not responded to their concerns.

Cindy Mumby, the countys director of government and community relations, said that the county executives role is to apply the laws impartially to the Mitchell property development, just like he would with any other development project.

She said she has answered questions from the Perryman coalition directly, and that Glassmans office is remaining transparent by posting documents related to the project on the county website. She said that Glassman is not meeting with either side of the issue.

Although the Tuesday event was a last-minute thing, the coalition plans to have a bigger event March 15, ahead of the moratorium bills public hearing, said group member Ron Stuchinski.

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All this time were putting into this is volunteer, Stuchinski said. None of us are getting paid. Were just standing up for our community. Were trying to save what we have.

Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. >

Stuchinski spent three hours Sunday making a dozen signs for the march.

The group marched for about an hour, stopping to take pictures at other places like Frederick Ward Associates, the civil engineering firm overseeing the Mitchell development construction, and the county sheriffs office. Several drivers passing by slowed to read the signs  some honking in support, others occasionally heckling the group.

Toward the end of their march, the group returned to the Harford County Administration Building and encountered Billy Boniface, Glassmans chief adviser. Residents again raised concerns about the project. Bonfiace repeatedly said it was going through the process.

Leigh Maddox described Bonifaces reaction as vanilla.

Were hoping for better from our county, she said.

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Though residents remain concerned about the project, some, like Paul Fallace, noted that the fight has brought neighbors together.

In a divided nation, its been a very unifying force, Fallace said. Its been a very bright spot.

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Ron Stuchinski, center, uses a megaphone as he and fellow members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Paul Fallace and fellow members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group make their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)

Members of the Protect Perryman Peninsula group talk with Chief Advisor Billy Boniface in the parking lot of the Harford County Administration building as the group makes their way through the streets of downtown Bel Air Tuesday March 1, 2022 to help make their cause known before attending Tuesday evening's Harford County Council meeting. (Matt Button / The Aegis/Baltimore Sun Media)
Explaining their ordeal, the Medical students from Karnataka said that they had walked over 30 km from Kharkiv to reach a secure place.

The Chief Minister assured the students of all the help and efforts by the State government to bring them home safely.

"Karnataka government is in constant contact with the External Affairs Ministry officials. We will extend all the cooperation for your safe return. Concerted efforts are on in this regard," CM Bommai said.

The Chief Minister spoke with many students including Gagan Gowda, a student from Bengaluru. Food and Civil Supplies minister K Gopalaiah too was present during the interaction.

On Thursday, under Operation Ganga, 104 students from Karnataka came back to India from Ukraine. Overall, 190 Kannadigas returned from the war-torn country, since February 27.

"A 24/7 centralised call centre at SEOC, reaching out to all relatives and parents of thestranded students and updating of the latest measures undertaken and building theconfidence of safe return of their wards. The Central call centre has spoken to more than497 families. 30 District call centres do the same functions as a centralized call centre for their districts. District administration physical reach-out:- The database of stranded students have been circulated to the districts," stated the Karnataka government on Thursday.

"The District administration has made special teams reach out to parents, explaining the measures taken by the GoI, GoK and evacuation methodology and, more importantly, talking about confidence-building measures. The Districts have reached 335 families till now and called up 425 families till now," it added. (ANI)
Sources in the government said that the Air Force is taking all precautions and not sending its American-origin C-17 aircraft and would instead deploy the Russian-origin Ilyushin-76 for the evacuation mission from Russia.

"Indian Air Force is deploying Russian-origin Ilyushin-76 heavy-lift transport aircraft to Russia to bring back Indian citizens returning from Ukraine. India is not deploying American-origin C-17 planes for the mission," Government sources told ANI.

The Il-76 is expected to get clearance for take off shortly, the sources said.

The sources said that a number of Indian students from Ukraine are moving into the Russian territory from the Ukrainian side with assistance from the Indian government.

In the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia and America are on different sides and there is a possibility that Russians may not like the presence of American origin planes in their airspace.

India has, so far, deployed only C-17s and commercial planes to bring back citizens from Poland, Romania and Hungary to evacuate citizens returning from there. (ANI)
Exerting the last stride for the last two phases of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda on Thursday visited the electorally crucial city of Varanasi and offered prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple and Kaal Bhairav temple. The BJP president was accompanied by state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to the Kaal Bhairav temple and by Union Minister Ramdas Athawale to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Varanasi is slated to go to the polls on March 7 in the last phase of the polls. During his visit, Nadda addressed the "enlightened conference" and said that it is the equal responsibility of the "enlightened society" in building a better society. "Today I had the privilege of participating in the enlightened conference in Varanasi and speaking my mind. As much as the government has the responsibility of building a better society, it is equally the responsibility of the enlightened society and it is a matter of happiness that the enlightened class of Kashi is understanding this responsibility very well," Nadda tweeted roughly translated from Hindi. Leaders across political lines have put their last foot for the campaign in the last few remaining days of the campaign to gain the last edge in the Assembly elections. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi is also staying put in Varanasi in her 4-day visit to the city. Varanasi district comprises of Pindra, Ajagara, Shivpur, Rohaniya, Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Varanasi Cantt, and Sevapuri Assembly seats. There are a total of 8 seats in Varanasi out of which the BJP holds a strong position on 6 of them. However, this does not seem to be the case with the remaining two seats. One is Varanasi South on which BJP's Culture Minister Neelkanth Tiwari is contesting opposite Samajwadi Party's Kishan Dixit, head priest of Mrityunjay Mahadev. Another is Cantt where the BJP has fielded Saurabh Srivastava opposite SP's Pooja Yadav. The counting of the votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
MoreAs per Google's recently released Android 13 developer preview, Google may give you more granular control over your LED flash on the back of the phone.

There are two APIs associated with the new feature - one gives information about the brightness of the LED flash and the other one controls the actual brightness, according to GSM Arena.

It will be up to OEMs to tap on those APIs and let users control the brightness from 1 to as high as the hardware allows.

As per the outlet, not every phone will support the said feature, probably due to hardware limitations.

For now, some Samsung handsets allow users to dim the LED flash as well as iPhones. (ANI)
The Supreme Court on Thursday said a three-judge bench will hear the dispute between the Central and the Delhi governments in connection with the control over administrative services in the capital. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Delhi government, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana that his client is a government but it cannot transfer officers. "I want to appoint a Health Secretary, but I cannot do that as LG's intervention is required," he said. Citing issues with discipline, he emphasised: "I am a government...I cannot appoint or transfer officers." The Central government counsel submitted before the bench, also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli, that this matter should be referred to a Constitution bench. The bench replied that referring the matter to the Constitution bench was not necessary. "We don't think it is required... 3-Judge Bench will hear the matter," it said. The top court also issued notice on the Delhi government plea challenging the constitutional validity of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021. The Delhi government claimed that the Act increased the powers of the Lt Governor over the elected government. It has been claimed that law gives sweeping powers to LG by declaring him to be the "Government of Delhi". The top court directed the Central government to file a counter affidavit and scheduled the matter for hearing after four weeks. A two-judge bench, headed by Justice A.K. Sikri and comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan, in February 2019, delivered a split verdict on the question of powers of the Delhi government and the Centre over services and referred the matter to a 3-judge bench. Justice Bhushan held that the Delhi government had no power over 'services', while Justice Sikri, took the middle path. The Delhi government had contended that the Centre had excluded the elected government in the capital from exercising any administrative control over the officers. The government further argued that officers are continuing to act on the orders of the central government through the Lt Governor. Justice Sikri concluded that files on the transfers and postings of officers in the rank of Secretary, Head of Department and Joint Secretary could be directly submitted to the Lt Governor. Justice Bhushan, however, said Entry 41 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, dealing with 'State Public Services,' was outside the purview of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Justice Sikri said for DANICS (Delhi Andamans Nicobar Islands Civil Service) cadre, the files could be processed through the Council of Ministers led by the Chief Minister to the L-G. He had said the situation in Delhi was "peculiar". The February 2019 judgment followed a Constitution Bench verdict in July 2018, where the bench held that Lt Governor was bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers of the National Capital Territory government. --IANS ss/vd ( 498 Words) 2022-03-03-19:04:03 (IANS)
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said that tractors would not be included in the Central government's policy to ban diesel and petrol vehicles older than 10 and 15 years, respectively, in the National Capital Region (NCR). "Talks will be held with the Central government and some way would be found to resolve this issue. Last time also we had got tractors excluded from the NGT policy," he told the media here. Responding to a question regarding students stuck in Ukraine, the Chief Minister said even today nine students belonging to the state reached the Mumbai airport. "Arrangements have been made to give air travel tickets from Mumbai to Delhi to them along with a cash of Rs 1,000 on behalf of the state government. Besides, help desks have been set up in Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh, and Faridabad." The Chief Minister said all Deputy Commissioners have been directed to contact families of students struck in Ukraine at a personal level. Faridabad Divisional Commissioner has been made the nodal officer. He said about 150 students are still stranded in Ukraine and efforts are being made to bring them back. --IANS vg/vd ( 206 Words) 2022-03-03-19:18:03 (IANS)
Students stuck in war-torn Ukraine have almost "run out" of food and essentials. An Indian medical student, Faisal, sent a video to IANS narrating his ordeal in the north-eastern city of Sumy in Ukraine. In the video, he said that around 500 Indian students are stuck in Sumy, which is 350 km from Kiev. "We ran out of rice and flour. I went to buy flour, salt, potatoes and other basic items but all the department stores here are empty," he said. The local authorities have imposed a curfew in the area and the students here are in touch with the Indian Embassy. Faisal, who is from Bihar's Motihari, said that the students are forced to drink soda water and tap water as there is scarcity of potable water, due to which "they could contract typhoid". Another student from Sumy, Manas said that students are scared amidst the constant sound of gunfire. "We are students of Sumy University. All the students are stuck in the war zone. We call the Indian embassy daily and get the same reply - 'to wait'. Other students who were in the western part (of Ukraine) have left for India, only we, the students of Sumy, are left. I urge the Indian government to evacuate us," he said. The students are presently residing in Sumy University's building. Manas said that the embassy has warned them not to go out as a student was killed in the firing. "Everyday we hear the siren three to four times and we all rush to the shelters." "There is no source of water and food. Other students have reached India and students in Sumy have been left, this triggers more panic among us," he asserted. --IANS atk/shs/bg ( 303 Words) 2022-03-03-20:00:04 (IANS)
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao will visit Jharkhand on Friday to provide financial assistance to the families of two soldiers who were killed in Galwan valley clashes along the Chinese border. Rao will hand over cheques of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the two soldiers. KCR will meet his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren at Ranchi. The Telangana government had earlier extended support to the family of Col Santosh who was laid down in the Galwan Valley clashes. Col Santosh belonged to the state of Telangana. Chief Minister Rao then announced that the state government would extend help to 19 Army personnel who lost their lives in the Galwan Valley clash in 2020. (ANI)
A team of mathematicians from the University of Nottingham found that renewable energy, which feeds into the main power grid could destabilize the system and potentially cause power failures. The study was published in the journal, 'Science Advances'. Mathematicians used data from smart meters to track how grid composition changes over time and found resilience varies over the course of a day and that high uptake of solar panels can leave the grid more susceptible to failure. Domestic renewable energy generation is growing rapidly with just over one million small-scale solar Photo-Voltaic(PV) systems in the UK. These small-scale, renewable generators are low-output and intermittent and often distributed across and embedded within power grids in large numbers. Household generation forms a key component of the integration of renewable and includes the 'feed-in tariff' which pays the producer for supplying their stored power back upstream to the grid. This supply of power was unpredictable with generators coming on and offline intermittently and households adopting the role of consumers or producers as daily and seasonal usage and meteorological conditions vary. These fluctuations can put the grid at risk of system failures. Oliver Smith, a researcher at the University of Nottingham who led the study, explained, "The increasing proliferation of small, intermittent renewable power sources is causing a rapid change in the structure and composition of the power grid. Indeed, the grid's effective structure can change over the course of a day as consumers and small-scale generators come on- and off-line. Using data from smart meters in UK households we tracked how grid composition varies over time. We then used a dynamical model to assess how these changes impact the resilience of power grids to catastrophic failures. We found that resilience varies over the course of a day and that a high uptake of solar panels can leave the grid more susceptible to failure." The first part of the research investigated the theory around changing the proportion and size of generators by modelling a system using many small-scale generators and in all cases it showed that the grid should be more robust than if using one power source. However, when the real-world smart meter data was incorporated the researchers found that the reality for a network with many small-scale generators operating at different times means the grid doesn't reach optimum levels for this resilience to be achieved leaving it susceptible to failures. The researchers found that renewable energy stored in household batteries is used only to minimise household power costs and does little to minimise the risk of network failure. They recommended that the supply of power from these batteries should be scheduled to also optimise for power grid resilience. Oliver continued, "The main problem is the amount of fluctuation there is in small-scale renewable energy supply. A cost-effective way to overcome this would be to intelligently schedule the release of stored PV energy from household batteries at specified times. This would provide much greater control and reduce the risk of system failures." (ANI)
Ehsan said that the amount of humanitarian aid in this province is small compared to other provinces, reported local media.

He said that aid officials and local Taliban officials are discriminating and distributing aid to their relatives and not reaching out to deserving people, added local media.

Since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the situation in Afghanistan is critical and millions of people are suffering from hunger and food crisis.

More than 24 million people in Afghanistan require lifesaving assistance, which is a staggering 30 per cent increase since 2021, said United Nations.

The economy in Afghanistan has been collapsing, leading to mass starvation that is, in turn, creating an enormous and destabilizing new wave of refugees -- and raising a clear need for extensive spending on humanitarian relief. (ANI)
A judge decried an arsenal of weapons found by police in a Glen Burnie mans home in the aftermath of a drug trafficking investigation stemming from a suspicious package shipped across state lines into Maryland.

Police wrote in charging papers that they found two handguns, a shotgun, an assault rifle and several high-capacity magazines, as well as gun parts and kits to build more firearms, in a Glen Burnie home last week after following a package that had been flagged by postal investigators when a drug-sniffing dog caught whiff of drugs in the box.

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When investigators opened the package while it was in transit from Mesa, Arizona to Elkridge, it contained Nike shoes and blue capsules containing fentanyl, the charging papers say. But when Ibrahim Aboozar, 32, picked it up in Elkridge and brought it to his home in Glen Burnie, it contained a GPS tracking device planted by police, who proceeded to search his home and seize the weapons as well as more pills, cocaine and psychedelic drugs, charging papers say.

Aboozar, who previously lived in Arizona, understands the gravity of concern in the case, his lawyer, Warren Alperstein, said at Aboozars bail review, noting his client had a steady job and there were no victims involved in the case.

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Anne Arundel County District Judge John P. McKenna ordered for Aboozar to be held without bail pending a trial date, citing the weapons found in his home.

Its unbelievable, the amount of firepower in the home, McKenna said. Theres only one reason to have those guns, and thats to shoot people.

Aboozar faces 23 total charges, including importing controlled substances into the state, and numerous drug distribution and gun possession offenses.

In an unrelated case stemming from a postal investigation, a 47-year-old Hanover man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to drug and firearms offenses, acknowledging that he and fellow conspirators distributed what prosecutors described as a massive amount of narcotics.

Federal prosecutors said in a court filing that Dwight Antonio Pitts, 47, of Hanover, and his co-conspirators were responsibly for supplying the Baltimore-Washington Area with huge amounts of deadly narcotics.

Investigators had caught mail containing two kilograms of fentanyl and two kilograms of cocaine destined for Pitts apartment in Maryland, and later watched CCTV footage from Los Angeles-area post offices previous packages, finding he and his accomplices had mailed 121 packages from California to Maryland after obtaining large quantities of drugs.

Pitts also possessed numerous loaded firearms in the locations that he used to receive, process, and distribute the drugs, prosecutors said.
Russia has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that its military forces have taken control of the territory around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Wednesday. In an official letter to the Director General dated March 1, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the International Organizations in Vienna also said personnel at the plant continued their "work on providing nuclear safety and monitoring radiation in normal mode of operation. The radiation levels remain normal." Earlier on March 1, Ukraine informed the IAEA that all its nuclear power plants remained under the control of the national operator. In an update this morning, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) said it maintained communications with the country's nuclear facilities and that the NPPs continued to operate normally. The Zaporizhzhia plant is the largest of Ukraine's NPP sites with six out of the country's 15 nuclear energy reactors. In a letter addressed to the Director General and received on March 1, the Acting Chief State Inspector of SNRIU has requested IAEA to provide immediate assistance in coordinating activities in relation to the safety of the Chornobyl NPP and other nuclear facilities. The Director General will be holding consultations and maintain contacts in order to address this request. The Director General has repeatedly stressed that any military or other action that could threaten the safety or security of Ukraine's nuclear power plants must be avoided. He also said that operating staff must be able to fulfil their safety and security duties and have the capacity to make decisions free of undue pressure. The IAEA continues to closely monitor developments in Ukraine, with a special focus on the safety and security of its nuclear power reactors. The IAEA remains in constant contact with its counterpart and will continue to provide regular updates on the situation in Ukraine. --IANS san/skp/ ( 333 Words) 2022-03-02-20:42:03 (IANS)
"China and Russia will continue to carry out normal trade cooperation following the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit," he said, RT reported.

According to the spokesman, China's position is to oppose any "illegally imposed" unilateral sanctions, believing that "sanctions are not an effective solution to solve problems".

During an earlier press conference, the spokesman had stated that China's stance on the conflict in Ukraine has not changed.

Replying to a question about humanitarian aid, he said China is "ready to play a constructive role in easing the situation in Ukraine".

Speaking on Monday at an emergency UN session, China's permanent representative Zhang Jun said that it's possible to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine through direct dialogue and negotiations, RT reported.

Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping issued a joint declaration calling for a halt to NATO expansion, which Moscow was opposed to and has tried to mitigate through obtaining security guarantees from the US-led military bloc.

--IANS san/arm

( 205 Words)

2022-03-02-20:50:04 (IANS)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Belgium, Poland, Moldova, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia from March 3 to 8 amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. "The trip continues extensive consultations and coordination with our NATO Allies and European partners about the Russian Federation's continued premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war against Ukraine," Blinken said in a statement. According to the statement, Blinken will begin his trip in Brussels, Belgium where he will participate in a NATO Foreign Ministerial, meet with EU counterparts, participate in a G7 Ministerial Meeting, and hold additional meetings with partners to discuss the global response to Russia's invasion, including Allies' and partners' continued coordination on imposing massive consequences and severe economic costs on Russia. Blinken will then travel to Poland on March 5, where he will meet Polish leaders, including Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, to discuss further security assistance in the face of Russia's continued aggression and unprovoked attack on Ukraine. The US Secretary of State will then travel to Chisinau, Moldova to meet with President Maia Sandu, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, and Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu. During his stop, the Secretary will discuss support for Moldova's efforts to receive and assist refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as US support for Moldova's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, read the statement. Blinken will then travel to Vilnius, Lithuania on March 6 to meet with President Gitanas Nauseda, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, and Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. On March 7, the US Secretary of State will travel to Riga, Latvia, to meet with President Egils Levits, Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, and Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics. He will travel to Tallinn, Estonia, on March 8 to meet with President Alar Karis, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, and Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets. During all three stops, he will discuss joint efforts to support Ukraine, strengthen NATO's deterrence and defense, promote democracy and human rights, and pursue deeper economic and energy cooperation with our Baltic Allies, the statement said. (ANI)
Russian ship groups are deployed in the Black Sea operational area, which includes the Odessa region. This was reported by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The military noted that in the area of Odessa and the Gulf, the invaders are preparing for a naval landing operation. Their ships line up on the high seas in order to land soldiers on the Black Sea coast in the future, NV reported. It is also known that the Russian forces demanded that the civilian vessel HELT, which sailed under the flag of Panama to Chornomorsk, enter the dangerous zone of the Black Sea. This ship was supposed to become a human shield between the defenders of Ukraine and the Russian forces, the report said. According to eyewitnesses, enemy ships can be seen from the shore with the naked eye. Journalist and transport expert Alexander Velmozhko tried to recognise them by their silhouettes. In his opinion, this is a project 1135 patrol ship and a small anti-submarine project 1124. However, he does not exclude that there are other enemy ships from another point on the coast or further along the horizon. "They hold defiantly in the territorial waters of Ukraine," Velmozhko noted and added that "these ships are clearly visible, but they do not have missile weapons and are outdated as combat units". --IANS san/d ( 234 Words) 2022-03-02-21:02:05 (IANS)
The Foreign Ministry had earlier announced that it was engaged in the evacuation of approximately 40 Sri Lankan nationals, including two students, via the Ukraine-Poland border.

The efforts have been facilitated by the Sri Lanka Embassies in Warsaw (Poland) and Ankara (Turkey), which are concurrently accredited to Ukraine.

The Foreign Ministry is also monitoring the status of Sri Lankan nationals in countries which share land borders with Ukraine.

After Russia launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, the Foreign Ministry had instructed the Sri Lankan Embassy in Ankara, which is concurrently accredited to Kiev, to take appropriate measures to coordinate the safe passage of the remaining Sri Lankans in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry had also announced that the Sri Lankan Embassy in Moscow, which is concurrently accredited to Belarus, is continuing to be in contact with the approximately 1,600 Sri Lankan nationals, including 1,556 students studying in over eight universities and higher education institutes in Belarus.

"Sri Lanka's Ambassador in Moscow is in direct contact with the relevant university authorities, student and parent groups, as well as other concerned institutions in Belarus, with regard to the safety and welfare of the Sri Lankan students," the Foreign Ministry stated.

--IANS sfl/arm

( 238 Words)

2022-03-02-21:06:06 (IANS)
"Vladimir Putin discussed the special military operation to protect Donbas with Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett," President of Russia tweeted.

Earlier, Putin said special military operations are being launched "to protect" the people in the Donbas region.

Putin also warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to "consequences".

Leaders from a number of countries including the UK, the US, Canada and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in the Donbas region.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

In response to Russia's actions, the US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. (ANI)
Several options are being considered, including a potential shelling of border points by saboteurs wearing Ukrainian army uniforms, missile strikes on Belarusian cities, and blowing up the oil refinery in Mozyr, in Gomel Oblast, the Ukraine Security Service sources said, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

There are also reports that unknown persons in Kherson on buses are urging people through a loudspeaker to take to the streets, allegedly to get free bread.

Henadiy Laguta, Head of Kherson Regional State Administration, on said right now in the city, unidentified people in Kherson are on buses urging people through a loudspeaker to go outside. They do this under the guise of distributing free bread.

"I would like to inform you that the regional and local authorities do not carry out such actions. It could be provocation by the invaders."

Russian military equipment is in front of the regional state administration building in Kherson, and the railway station and seaport are under the control of the Russians, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

--IANS san/

( 211 Words)

2022-03-02-22:30:07 (IANS)
Ukraine's Permanent Representative to UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said at the General Assembly Emergency Session, "Ukraine regrets that a student from India became an example of this challenge by the Russian armed forces and we offer our deepest sympathies to India and the relatives of the student.

"The Ukrainian and foreign citizens have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine."

Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, a 21-year-old student from Karnataka at the Kharkiv National Medical University, was killed on Tuesday.

There were an estimated 18,000 Indian students in Ukraine and some have gone to Hungary, Poland, Romania and Moldova.

Several thousand Indian citizens have been evacuated from those countries to India under "Operation Ganga" launched by the Indian government.

Russia's Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenza, however, denied that Russian forces were shelling civilian areas.

Belarus' Permanent Representative alleged that 100 Indian students who tried to enter Poland were beaten by that country's security forces and sent back.

--IANS al/arm

( 201 Words)

2022-03-02-23:10:03 (IANS)
"The World Bank Group has not approved any new loans to or investments in Russia since 2014. There has also been no new lending approved to Belarus since mid-2020," the international financial institution said in a statement.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and hostilities against the people of Ukraine, the World Bank Group has stopped all its programs in Russia and Belarus with immediate effect, the statement added.

Meanwhile, World Bank on Tuesday announced that it is preparing a USD 3 billion support package for Ukraine in the coming months, while the IMF also is preparing to provide emergency assistance to the country.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia.

The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. (ANI)
"Partnership with Pakistan is key to progress on regional security, trade and investment, the climate crisis, and human rights," said the US state department following the confirmation.

Blome, who is currently the US Ambassador to Tunisia, has served US diplomatic missions in Kabul, Jerusalem, Cairo, Baghdad and Kuwait.

Earlier, Blome after his nomination for the US Ambassador-designate to Pakistan had said that he will push Islamabad to target all terrorist groups without distinction.

"If confirmed, I will press Pakistan to target all terrorist groups without distinction," said Blome. (ANI)
Ukainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the press in the town of Bucha, northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, on April 4, 2022. (Ronaldo Schemidt/Getty-AFP)

KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces battled for control of a crucial energy-producing city in Ukraines south on Thursday and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea, as Ukrainian leaders called on citizens to rise up and wage guerrilla war against the invaders.

The fighting at Enerhodar, a city on the Dnieper River that accounts for about one-quarter of the countrys power generation, came as the another round of talks between the two sides yielded what Ukraine said was a tentative agreement with Russia to set up safe corridors inside the country for evacuating citizens and delivering humanitarian aid.

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The mayor of Enerhodar, the site of the biggest nuclear plant in Europe, said Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the citys outskirts. Video showed flames and clouds of black smoke rising above the city of over 50,000, with people streaming away from the inferno, past wrecked cars, as sirens wailed.

Moscows ground advance on Ukraines capital in the north has apparently stalled, with a huge armored column outside Kyiv at a standstill. And stiffer than expected resistance from the outmanned, outgunned Ukrainians has staved off the swift victory that Russia may have expected.

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A top Russian officer, Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, commander of an airborne division, was killed in the fighting earlier this week, an officers organization in Russia reported.

But the Russians have brought their superior firepower to bear in the past few days, launching missile and artillery attacks on civilian areas and making significant gains on the ground in the south as part of an effort to sever the countrys connection to the Black and Azov seas.

Cutting Ukraines access to the coastline would deal a crippling blow to the countrys economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor stretching from its border, across Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, and all the way west to Romania.

The Russians announced the capture of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the vital Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea, plunging it into darkness, isolation and fear. Electricity and phone service were largely down, and homes and shops faced food and water shortages.

Without phone connections, medics did not know where to take the wounded.

A building burns after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in neighboring Belarus. But the two sides appeared to have little common ground going into the meeting, and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine that it must quickly accept the Kremlins demand for its demilitarization and declare itself neutral, formally renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron that he was determined to press on with his attack until the end, according to Macrons office.

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After the latest talks ended, a member of Ukraines delegation, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reported the tentative agreement to allow cease-fires in areas designated safe corridors.

Despite a profusion of evidence of civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure by the Russian military, some of it documented by The Associated Press, Putin decried what he called an anti-Russian disinformation campaign and insisted that Moscow uses only precision weapons to exclusively destroy military infrastructure.

Putin claimed that the Russian military had already offered safe corridors for civilians to flee but asserted without evidence that Ukrainian neo-Nazis were preventing people from leaving and using them as human shields.

He also hailed Russian soldiers as heroes in a video call with U.N. Security Council members, and ordered additional payments to families of men killed or wounded in action.

Ukrainians still in the country faced another grim day. In Kyiv, snow gave way to a cold, gray drizzle, as long lines formed outside the few pharmacies and bakeries that remain open.

New shelling was reported in the northern city of Chernihiv, where emergency officials said at least 22 civilians had been killed in a Russian bombardment of a residential area.

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Families with children fled via muddy and snowy roads in the eastern region of Donetsk, while military strikes on the village of Yakovlivka near the eastern city of Kharkiv destroyed 30 homes, leaving three dead and seven wounded, according to emergency authorities.

Serhii, father of teenager Iliya, cries on his son's lifeless body lying on a stretcher at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 2, 2022. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

Ukrainian authorities called on the people to defend their homeland against Putins forces by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear. In recent days, authorities have issued weapons to civilians and taught them how to make Molotov cocktails.

Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card and this is what we can do best in the world, Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiy Arestovich said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

In a video address to the nation, Zelenskyy praised his countrys resistance.

The Russians will have no peace here. They will have no food, he said. They will have not one quiet moment.

In just seven days of fighting, over 1 million people, or more than 2% of Ukraines population, has been driven out of the country, according to the tally the U.N. refugee agency released to The Associated Press.

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The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, with about 1.4 million people. Residents desperate to escape falling shells and bombs crowded the railroad station and squeezed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

At least 227 civilians have been killed and 525 wounded, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, though it acknowledged that is a vast undercount, and Ukraine earlier said more than 2,000 civilians have died. The figures could not be independently verified.

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Meanwhile, a senior U.S. defense official said the immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 16 miles from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last few days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

Ukrainian officials said their missile-defense systems have parried numerous Russian attacks, though some missiles have clearly made it through. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions heard overnight in the capital were Russian missiles being shot down.

From Kherson, Russian troops appeared to roll toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding center to the west. The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, said big convoys of Russian troops were advancing on the city.

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A group of Russian amphibious landing vessels also headed toward the port of Odesa, farther west, the Ukrainian military said.

Russia reported its military casualties Wednesday for the first time in the war, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine insisted Russias losses are many times higher but did not disclose its own military casualties.

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine; Chernov from Mariupol, Ukraine. Sergei Grits in Odesa, Ukraine; Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Lynn Berry, Robert Burns and Eric Tucker in Washington; Edith M. Lederer and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations; and other AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
Russia is responsible for the "devastating abuses of human rights and the international humanitarian crisis" unfolding in Ukraine, said US President Joe Biden on Thursday (local time). Biden's remarks came after the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) vote condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine. As per a statement released by White House, terming Russia's military operation in Ukraine "unprovoked, unjustified, and unconscionable war", Biden said that the Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly convened by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the first time in 40 years demonstrates the "extent of global outrage at Russia's horrific assault on a sovereign neighbour and showcased unprecedented global unity". "An overwhelming majority of nations around the world condemn Putin's war. An overwhelming majority of nations recognize that Putin is not only attacking Ukraine but also attacking the very foundations of global peace and security--and everything the United Nations stands for. And an overwhelming majority of the world recognizes that if we do not stand up to Putin's Russia, it will only inflict further chaos and aggression on the world. Russia stood isolated, with the support of only four brutal, authoritarian states," said Biden, adding that the vote lays bare Putin's isolation and holds Belarus accountable for its unacceptable involvement in this war. The US President said that the world is rejecting Russia's lies. "We can all see what is happening in Ukraine with our own eyes. Russia is responsible for the devastating abuses of human rights and the international humanitarian crisis that we are watching in Ukraine in real-time. There is no room for excuses or equivocation. Russia is to blame," he stated. Asserting that the United Nations was founded to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war", Biden said that "we must hold Russia accountable for its actions and demonstrate that freedom always triumphs over tyranny." Meanwhile, voting results displayed on screens at the UN General Assembly showed that 141 nations voted in favour of the move and five nations were against it, with 35 countries abstaining. The UNGA overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As the results were placed on the screen in the chamber, a rare standing ovation occurred, UNGA statement said. However, refuting allegations of attacking civilian infrastructures, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said that Moscow is not carrying out strikes on civilians and civilian facilities. (ANI)
The Biden administration is looking whether to apply or waive sanctions on India for its purchase of the S-400 Triumf missile defence system from Russia, under Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), said US diplomat Donald Lu said on Wednesday (local time). Lu's remarks came as India drew criticism from US lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, at a hearing on the "US relationship with India" for being among 35 nations that abstained Wednesday from a UN vote to rebuke Russia's invasion. A concern that stood out repeatedly in the hearing was the India-US defence security cooperation and whether India would be sanctioned for its purchase of the S-400 Triumf missile defence system from Russia, under CAATSA. Lu said that the Biden administration is yet to decide on applying sanctions on India under CAATSA. "What I can say is that India is a really important security partner of ours now and that we value moving forward that partnership," he said. As the US strengthens its ties with India as a pivotal regional counterweight to China, the Biden administration has delayed enforcement of a law ordering sanctions on India for trading with Russia. India has been the largest importer of Russian arms since 2016. Lu informed the Sun panel that India had recently cancelled orders of Russian MiG-29 fighter aircraft, helicopters and anti-tank weapons, and he projected that the new sanctions would motivate other countries to do likewise. He told lawmakers it is unlikely Russia will be able to make new sales or provide maintenance to customers for existing systems. "My view is that it's going to be very hard for anyone to buy major weapon systems from Moscow in the coming months and years, given sweeping financial sanctions that the administration, with the support of Congress has levelled...I would guess that India is one of those countries worried about that," Lu added. Notably, voting results displayed on screens at the UN General Assembly showed that 141 nations voted in favour of the move condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and five nations were against it, with 35 countries, including India, abstaining. (ANI)
Of the new local cases, 28 were reported in Guangdong, seven in Inner Mongolia, four in Hubei, three each in Jilin and Shanghai, two in Guangxi and one each in Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Yunnan, Xinhua reported citing the commission's daily report.

As many as 160 imported COVID-19 cases were reported in the past 24 hours, according to the commission.

No deaths from COVID-19 were reported on Wednesday.

A total of five new suspected cases, all arriving from outside the mainland, were reported in Shanghai, the news agency reported citing the commission. (ANI)
The government on Thursday said that the Indian embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with its stranded citizens, adding that it has not received any reports of students being held hostage in the war-hit country. The government's remarks came in response to media queries after the claims of the Russian embassy in India on Wednesday that the Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield. Refuting the reports of Indian students being held hostage, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed that many students left Kharkiv yesterday with the cooperation of Ukrainian authorities. "We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested for the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for evacuating students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country," he added. Bagchi further said that the MEA has been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region, including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, and expressed gratitude towards Ukrainian authorities for their help in the evacuation of Indians. "A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days. We appreciate the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible. We thank Ukraine's western neighbours for receiving Indian nationals and accomodating them while they waited for flights to take them back home," he stated. Notably, the Russian embassy in India on Wednesday wrote in a tweet, "According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russia. Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities." However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a tweet, said that the country has established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine as the tensions between Moscow and Kyiv rages on. Meanwhile, a total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under 'Operation Ganga' have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials. (ANI)
Seoul [South Korea], March 3 (ANI/Sputnik): South Korea is trying to leave its companies excluded from the exports sanctions against Russia that are not about strategic materials and are discussing the issue with the United States, media reported on Thursday. According to the Yonhap news agency, South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo is currently on a visit to the United States where he hoped to reach an agreement on the issue with Washington. The US Department of Commerce introduced the so-called Foreign-Produced Direct Product (FDPR) regulation toward Russia, according to which companies from third countries that are using US technologies for producing goods must get a special permit to export these goods to a nation under sanctions. Unlike many other countries allied with the United States, South Korea introduced exports control only on strategic materials while other trade options with Russia would be a subject to the talks with Washington. Last week, Russia launched a special operation after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested assistance to defend themselves from ongoing attacks by the Ukrainian troops. The Western countries have strongly condemned the Russian military operation and boosted the sanctions pressure on Moscow. (ANI/Sputnik)
"Air raid alert in Kyiv. Residents should go to the nearest shelter," tweeted The Kyiv Independent.

As per the publication, many other cities were alerted for air raids like - Mykolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv.

"Air raid alerts in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv and Chernihiv Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa, The Kyiv Independent tweeted.

Meanwhile, a building of the military faculty of Sumy State University in Ukraine's northeastern city Sumy was shelled this morning by Russian force.

"A building of the military faculty of Sumy State University in Ukraine's northeastern city Sumy was shelled this morning by Russian forces," reported Head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration Dmytro Zhyvytsky.

India on Wednesday abstained from voting against Russia at United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday at the 11th emergency special session and fourth plenary meeting on the ongoing Russian military operations in Ukraine.

Voting results displayed on screens at the UN General Assembly showed that 141 nations voted in favour of the move and five nations were against it, with 35 countries abstaining.

The UNGA overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As the results were placed on the screen in the chamber, a rare standing ovation occurred, UNGA statement said.

However, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said that Moscow is not carrying out strikes on civilians and civilian facilities.

Also, Russian President Vladimir Putin is being accused of committing war crimes by Ukraine's leaders and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

As per the UN, more than 8,70,000 people have fled Ukraine since the fighting started last week, and that number could soon hit 1 million. (ANI)
The Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan are not only treated like pariahs in their life but also desecrated, dug up and humiliated after their death. The recent incident of Punjab Police destroying about 50 tombstones in an Ahmadiyya cemetery has once again brought to light the deep-rooted disdain for minority communities in the state of Pakistan, reported Islam Khabar. The reason for destroying and damaging the cemetery was the use of Quranic verses on some of them. Some local Sunnis had complained to the police about the same, which according to Pakistani law, was a criminal offence. Although leading human rights groups in Pakistan have condemned the act, the state has chosen to remain silent and complicit, reported Islam Khabar. Numbering close to four million, Ahmadiyya has been deprived in Pakistan, over a year, about 150 graves of Ahmadiyya have been desecrated in Pakistan. Most of these desecrations are caused by local administrations who argue that Ahmadiyyas were at fault for using Islamic symbols. The graves were desecrated in the Hafizabad district of Punjab on February 4 and 5, 2022. This is not the first time Ahmadiyya graves have been desecrated. Earlier, (June 6, 2021) when a grave for a deceased Ahmadiyya woman was being dug up in Sheikhupura district, Punjab, a mob of local Sunni Muslims tried to prevent the burial, reported Islam Khabar. Pakistani Constitution forbids the Ahmadiyya community from using Islamic signs and symbols. While there is hardly any official record of such desecrations, details maintained by the Ahmadiyya community show 39 Ahmadiyya corpses getting exhumed and 69 burials denied from 1984 to 2018. Over the years, Ahmadiyyas have become the most hated and humiliated Muslim sect in Pakistan. Thousands have been attacked by mobs and scores have fled the country. By law, they cannot call the azan, cannot use Islamic terms and titles, read Islamic texts for prayers, name their places of worship 'masjid' and greet people in the Islamic manner. All these are acts punishable with three years in jail and a fine. (ANI)
"The main body of the large Russian column advancing on Kyiv remains over 30km from the centre of the city having been delayed by staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion. The column has made little discernible progress in over three days," tweeted the UK Ministry of Defence.

Despite heavy Russian shelling, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol remain in Ukrainian hands.

Some Russian forces have entered the city of Kherson but the military situation remains unclear, said the update.

The Russian defence ministry has said that 498 Russian soldiers have already been killed and 1,597 wounded in Putin's war, said the UK Ministry of Defence statement.

The actual number of those killed and wounded will almost certainly be considerably higher and will continue to rise, added the statement.

Ukraine's capital city Kyiv on Thursday woke up with air raid alerts. The residents were advised to take shelter in safe houses.

"Air raid alert in Kyiv. Residents should go to the nearest shelter," tweeted The Kyiv Independent.

As per the publication, many other cities were alerted for air raids like - Mykolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv.

"Air raid alerts in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv and Chernihiv Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa, The Kyiv Independent tweeted. (ANI)
The "draconian" media law amendments passed by the Imran Khan government as an ordinance is drawing widespread criticism in Pakistan as it seeks to place fetters on the constitutional rights of citizens, local media reported. The Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) amendment ordinance makes it a criminal act to slander any organisation, institution set up by the government, further increasing the punishment of three years imprisonment for guilty to five years, The News International reported. Calling it an intentional attempt to suppress free expression, Amnesty International has severely criticized the law. Also, Human Rights Watch has asked the government to revoke the law which violates the basic rights of people, including journalists. Notably, the opposition parties, Joint Action Committee (JAC) set up by media bodies and the judiciary in Pakistan stand united against the Imran Khan government's flagrant attempt to stifle the voice of dissent. The Islamabad High Court, while hearing a petition against the PECA amendment ordinance, observed that Imran Khan might have been misled by his advisers when briefed about the law as per the speech he delivered to the nation on Monday evening where he said the amendment was made to fight the "filth of child pornography and harassment of women", reported the Dawn newspaper. While this seems a deliberate attempt to defend Imran Khan who is well aware of the consequences of the "draconian" law, the very observation of the court that the premier might have been misled shows its antagonism to the law. The amendment to PECA demonstrated that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has given up its pretence of allowing parliamentary discussion by relying on presidential ordinances to bulldoze laws violating fundamental rights, The News International reported. The malevolent intentions behind the PECA amendment are clearly demonstrated by PTI ministers' regular speeches in support of it and their verbal attacks on journalists. Imran Khan's speech on Monday night where he singled out a media group for its criticism of the government, implying that the media in Pakistan deals in 'fake news', shows his intolerance to media criticism. PECA ordinance is a black law through which the government wants to gag journalists and society at large, the Pakistani newspaper reported adding that states, where citizens are unable to express themselves freely, are called fascist. (ANI)
After Russia started a military operation in Ukraine, the experts fear that China too might flex muscles over Taiwan and the South China Sea. The experts have also advised US President Joe Biden to prepare for future tensions. US strategy for containing the Soviet Union in Europe after World War II was anchored in NATO's military power. But today's Indo-Pacific strategy is anchored in hopes and intentions and lacks an identifiable hard-power component, said Husain Haqqani, the Director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute and Aparna Pande, the Director of the Hudson Institute's Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia, writing in Foreign Policy. The document speaks of "modernized alliances; flexible partnerships, including an empowered ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations], a leading India, a strong and reliable [Quadrilateral Security Dialogue], and an engaged Europe; economic partnership; new US defence, diplomatic, development, and foreign-assistance resources; sustained focus on and commitment to the region at all levels of the US government." But it lacks specifics and does not take into account the greater interdependence between China and the economies of ASEAN and the so-called Quad countries. Given that interdependence, US partners in Asia are less likely to fully support the kinds of sanctions that have been imposed on Russia, said Haqqani and Pande. China is the United States' peer competitor, not a partner, and Chinese President Xi Jinping could create a showdown just as Putin has over Ukraine. Also, the Biden administration has not publicly outlined how it intends to get US allies and partners--Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, and the ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam)--to stand up to China, given that all of them benefit from being China's economic partners. In dealing with Putin, Washington turned to its NATO allies, but there is no clear US plan for building alliances in the Indo-Pacific, said Haqqani and Pande. Moreover, the Quad grouping of the United States, India, Japan, and Australia as a "premier regional grouping" that will deliver on a variety of issues: health care, critical and emerging technologies, supply chain cooperation, joint technological cooperation, green shipping networks, and high-standard infrastructure. It is unclear how focusing on these subject areas would deter China from bullying other countries or from acting as if Asia is its sphere of influence, said Haqqani and Pande. Similar is the case with the Biden administration's Indo-Pacific economic framework, which is part of the Indo-Pacific strategy document. The economic framework is referred to as a "multilateral partnership" that will deal with labour laws, data flows, environmental standards, and supply chains. A realistic US strategy for the Indo-Pacific would involve building India and Australia's naval capabilities as well as encouraging an increase in India, Australia, and Japan's military budgets. Instead of relying on existing instruments for financing the acquisition of military equipment by allies, special arrangements similar to the World War II-era Lend-Lease program should be considered. This would allow the United States to supply weapons, warships, and aircraft to Asian partners willing to stand up to China without being constricted by solely commercial considerations, said Haqqani and Pande. (ANI)
Anne Arundel County will receive an estimated $30 million over the next 18 years after participating in a national settlement agreement with manufacturers and distributors of opioids, the county announced Thursday.

The city of Annapolis will also receive an estimated $1.2 million as part of the settlement, according to City Manager David Jarrell.

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The settlement money from opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson and the three largest distributors of the drug  Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen  will go toward the efforts to battle opioid addiction among residents, according to a news release Thursday. Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen distribute 85 to 90% of all drugs in the country, said Deputy County Attorney Hamilton Tyler. Johnson & Johnson manufactures opioids Duragesic and Nucynta.

Ive had a lot of conservations with my peers across the region about whether this is a good settlement or not and if we should take it, and I believe it is, County Executive Steuart Pittman said. Im really looking forward to having that revenue coming from these companies who clearly deliberately profited off of destroying peoples lives.

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Pittman said the county is planning on making the money available to nonprofits that work on opioid addiction including some at Crownsville Hospital Center such as Hope House Treatment Center, Gaudenzia and Pascal Crisis Stabilization Center. He also hopes to channel some of the money into the countys crisis response team and safe stations  police and fire stations where residents can get addiction treatment.

Anne Arundel County was hit pretty hard with the opioid pandemic, Tyler said. Police calls were way up. Fire calls were way up. People were suffering, more importantly. It just needed to be addressed.

Tyler said the legal team hoped to get more money but also wanted to ensure getting it as soon as possible.

People are suffering now, and weve been in this litigation for over four years now, and were litigating against very well-heeled companies, Tyler said.

The settlement money going to Annapolis will go toward city programs such as Naptown AntiDope to continue fighting the opioid epidemic, , Mayor Gavin Buckley said.

The opioid epidemic has devastated communities, and Annapolis wasnt immune to it. The over-prescribing of pain pills and all sorts of things really took its toll, Buckley said. Its nice to see some kind of settlement. It wont return all the lives that were ruined by it, but it will help.

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Anne Arundel County, along with national law firm Motely Rice, was the first Maryland jurisdiction to file a lawsuit against the major opioid manufacturers and distributors including Purdue Pharma which makes OxyContin, Johnson & Johnson, the three big distributors mentioned in the settlement, and Walgreens and Rite Aid in January 2018.

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The Sackler family, which owns Purdue Pharma, announced Thursday it will pay around $6 billion into a settlement fund, in which Maryland is involved.

The Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen settlement money with be given to the state of Maryland to be allocated to the participating jurisdictions. Money will be distributed based on population, impact of the opioid crisis and the existing level of health-related funding in the county or city.

The three distributors involved in the case will make the first payments in April and subsequent payments over the course of 18 years, with Johnson & Johnson beginning in July and distributing payments over the next nine years.

Maryland will receive a maximum total of $395 million from the parties. The county is expected to receive between a $29 million and $31 million share of this based on demographic data of the county, according to the news release.

The larger national settlement agreement is for $5 billion from Johnson & Johnson and $21 billion from the three distributors.

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Were happy with what were getting, Pittman said. Im happy with it.
Afghan border security personnel continued their aggressive attitude, cross border violations and disregard of mutually agreed and established procedures along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Durand Line, local media reported. The aggressive attitude continues even after the Pakistan authorities on February 25 conveyed to Kabul that their Military Liaison Officers were present at Kabul and Border Coordination Centers at Torkham and Chaman, reported local media. They were posted to provide military to military links and facilitate day to day coordination, management of border issues and provision of cross border support. According to the Pakistani side, these actions by Afghan security personnel against Pakistan Military were against the spirit of mutually agreed SOPs and cooperation mechanisms, reported local media. Islamabad had already suggested to the Afghan authorities to resolve all border alignment issues through the formulation of a Joint Committee and requested to stop construction in contentious areas/divided villages till the resolution of the issues, but no response had apparently been received from the Afghan side. On their part, Afghan authorities have expressed concern over recent violations of Afghan air space and firing with heavy weapons on Afghan security force by the Pakistani Army, reported the local media. They have underscored that Pakistani reconnaissance aircraft/drones violated Afghan airspace during Jan-Feb, 2022, and patrolled in the areas along the Durand line. Border tensions have risen since the Taliban's return to power last year, with Pakistan alleging terrorist groups are planning attacks from Afghan soil. The Taliban deny harbouring Pakistani terrorists and are also infuriated by a fence Islamabad is erecting along their 2,700-kilometre (1,600-mile) border, drawn up in colonial times and known as the Durand Line, reported The Frontier Post. Differences between the Taliban and Pakistan continue to persist over the issue of the Durand Line and bilateral relations between Pakistan and the Taliban are turning hostile over the issue of Durand Line and cross-border "terror activities" of groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against Islamabad. Pakistan intends to bring the tribal areas near the Durand Line under its control and complete its Durand barbed wire fencing. Following deadly attacks on Pakistani troops, the Pakistani military has launched an operation along the Durand Line near Afghanistan. Notably, the Taliban have not accepted the Durand Line as the 'official' boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan. (ANI)
"The enemy does not go unpunished. Artillerymen of the Joint Forces / Joint Forces Operation. Inflict heavy fire damage, destroying columns and clusters of Russian occupation troops. Ukraine's artillery is working as clearly, precisely, and effectively as ever," tweeted the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukraine's capital city Kyiv on Thursday woke up with air raid alerts. The residents were advised to take shelter in safe houses.

"Air raid alert in Kyiv. Residents should go to the nearest shelter," tweeted The Kyiv Independent.

"Air raid alerts in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv and Chernihiv Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa, The Kyiv Independent tweeted.

Meanwhile, a building of the military faculty of Sumy State University in Ukraine's northeastern city Sumy was shelled this morning by Russian force.

The mayor of the southern city of Kherson indicated it had fallen on Wednesday, saying Ukrainian forces had left. This follows several days of heavy fighting, with Russian forces surrounding the strategically significant city north of the Crimean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, Russian forces moving towards Ukraine's capital, including a large military convoy, "remain stalled," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. The troops could be "regrouping," or facing challenges such as supply shortages and Ukrainian resistance.

A large Russian military convoy stretching over 30 km was delayed on Thursday due to staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion said the latest UK defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.

"The main body of the large Russian column advancing on Kyiv remains over 30km from the centre of the city having been delayed by staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion. The column has made little discernible progress in over three days," tweeted the UK Ministry of Defence. (ANI)
Pakistan skipped the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) emergency session called to discuss the Ukraine crisis. Pakistan is already grappling with a severe economic crisis and amidst this, it is in a dilemma as it has to consider its relations with the US and EU, as well as not jeopardising ties with Russia while the pressure in the days to come will mount, especially if the crisis drags on, the Dawn reported. Representatives of foreign missions in Pakistan, mostly belonging to the Western camp, have called on this country to condemn the Russian invasion in a joint letter. Pakistan will have to carefully and intelligently navigate the choppy waters ahead by condemning the aggression, while at the same time refusing to be drawn into bloc politics as geopolitical changes occur with incredible swiftness. Pakistan abstained at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday in the 11th emergency special session and fourth plenary meeting on the ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres termed this "escalating violence ... totally unacceptable". Pakistan abstained from voting, so did India, however, India made sure to participate in the UNGA discussions, reported Dawn. However, apart from this, it is also Pakistan's responsibility to condemn 'the invasion' of a sovereign country. The country should be calling for a cessation of hostilities. Prime Minister Imran Khan has mentioned the Ukraine crisis during his address to the nation on Monday night. He displayed his intent to import Russian wheat and gas, thus implying that this country should not get on Moscow's wrong side. It is necessary to maintain and balance political, strategic and economic relations. However, any country's moral imperatives cannot be forgotten, reported the newspaper. Members of the Western bloc have responded to the Russian invasion with schemes to isolate Moscow from the international order. Pakistan, on the other hand, will have to navigate these choppy waters cautiously. (ANI)
In the latest State of the Union Address, US President Joe Biden announced a slew of reforms and measures with a promise to improve the lives of millions of Americans. The economic vision as envisaged by the Biden administration in his speech encapsulated many diverse aspects ranging from the need to 'Make in America', jobs creation for millions of Americans, safe drinking water, access to affordable health facilities, double America's clean energy production in solar and wind, and so on. While the US is trying to build a renewed economic vision, the Indian Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already been treading this economic journey for the past 8 years now. India is already on the path of promoting Ease of Doing Business, reducing compliance burden and minimizing government interference. Biden promised, "Every American has clean water to drink at home and at school, provide affordable high-speed internet for every American--urban, suburban, rural, and tribal community." In India, launched with the aim of 'Har Ghar Jal', the Jal Jeevan Mission has brought about a huge difference in the lives of the people. Nearly six crore rural households have been provided tap water connections despite the constraints imposed by the pandemic. In India, the biggest projects to modernize digital and physical infrastructure got unprecedented momentum in the Corona times itself. More than 6 lakh villages in the country are connected with optical fibre. An investment of USD 1.3 trillion is being made, especially on connectivity infrastructure. The cost of internet connectivity and the price of smartphones in India today are among the cheapest in the world. India is also working with great pace on 5G mobile connectivity, which will open doors to new opportunities. India's efforts on semiconductors will significantly benefit our start-up ecosystem. Biden's speech laid emphasis on the need to "Invest in America. Educate Americans. Grow the workforce. Build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down. Buy American: buy American products to support American jobs." He even said that "We will buy American to make sure everything from the deck of an aircraft carrier to the steel on highway guardrails is made in America. The rebirth of pride comes from stamping products 'Made In America' and the revitalization of American manufacturing." India is already moving ahead with the spirit of Make in India, Make for the world. Along with telecom, insurance, defence, aerospace, there are limitless possibilities offered by India in this regard. While following the path of self-reliance, India's focus is not only on easing the processes but also on incentivizing investment and production. With this approach, today, Production-Linked Incentive schemes worth USD 26 billion have been implemented in 14 sectors. The USD 10 billion incentive plan to roll out the fab, chip and display industry is a testament to our commitment to making the global supply chain smooth. Biden reiterated, "Let's provide investments and tax credits to weatherize your homes and businesses to be energy efficient and you get a tax credit, double America's clean energy production in solar, wind, and so much more, lower the price of electric vehicles." Climate change is a major challenge confronting the whole world at present. India has emerged as a responsible global voice on the subject. Today, India is at number four in the world in installed renewable energy capacity. India's non-fossil fuel energy has increased by more than 25pc in the last 7 years and now it has reached 40 pc of our energy mix. Passengers numbering more than the entire population of the world, travel by Indian Railways every year. This huge railway system has set itself a target of making itself 'Net Zero' by 2030. This initiative alone will lead to a reduction of 60 million tonnes of emissions annually. Similarly, our massive LED bulb campaign is reducing emissions by 40 million tonnes annually. Along with this, India has also given institutional solutions to cooperate with the world at the international level. As a revolutionary step in solar power, India initiated the International Solar Alliance. We have created a Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure for climate adaptation. This is a sensitive and vital initiative to save crores of lives. India has also taken the initiative of "Green Grid Initiative: One Sun, One World, One Grid" with the global community. Biden also said, "If we want to go forward, not backward, we must protect access to health care. Preserve a woman's right to choose. And let's continue to advance maternal health care in America." Health facilities are now easily accessible to the common people because of the responsive policies of the government. In India, more than 80,000 health and wellness centres and crores of Ayushman Bharat cards have helped the poor immensely in getting treatment. The government has reduced the cost of treatment by providing affordable medicines through more than 8,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras. 'Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission' is an important step in providing easy and accessible health services. Biden in his speech announced, "We're going to have an infrastructure decade. We'll create good jobs for millions of Americans, modernizing roads, airports, ports, and waterways all across America". India has also launched the Gati Shakti National Master Plan to bring every stakeholder on the same platform for promoting development. Under this National Master Plan, work will be done on infrastructure planning, development and implementation in an integrated manner. This will give a new impetus to seamless connectivity and movement of Goods, People and Services. Biden called for "increasing the productive capacity of our economy for building a better America." He highlighted the need to boost the startup culture to bring new-age innovations in the world. Since 2016, more than 60,000 new start-ups have been established in 56 different sectors in India and more than six lakh jobs have been created by these start-ups. (ANI)
Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday (local time) said that the huge evacuation process consisting of large numbers of students requires a high level of intervention and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has delegated four senior ministers to successfully complete the Operation Ganga. Rijiju, who is currently in Slovakia as a part of Operation Ganga, interacted with Indian students there and assured them that the government is ensuring their safe return to India. Rijiju, while interacting with the students who were evacuated from Ukraine to Kosice in Slovakia, said that there is a large number of Indian nationals to be looked after. "This is not a normal time. To evacuate such large numbers of students as soon as possible requires a high level of intervention. The Prime Minister desired that the senior ministers should themselves lead the delegation. We will ensure that you reach Delhi as soon as possible," the minister said. Elaborating on the procedure, he said that the students will be sent to Delhi in batches and the first batch will depart today in the evening. Earlier in the day, the Union Minister had said that he will not leave the place till the last fellow citizen is safely evacuated from the crisis-torn country. Rijiju is one of the four 'special envoys' deployed by the Government of India to oversee the evacuation process of Indian nationals in Ukraine's neighbouring countries under Operation Ganga. He reached the Slovakian city of Kosice on Wednesday. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. The Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue in the last few days. Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. (ANI)
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday said that eight flights will arrive here in Bucharest (local time) to evacuate around 1800 Indian nationals. "Today 8 flights will arrive in Bucharest and will take around 1800 citizens to India. Yesterday 6 flights carrying around 1300 citizens left from Bucharest. Now I am going to border point Siret. There are 1000 students in Siret," said Scindia in Romania. The Union Minister said on Friday four flights will reach Suceava and will evacuate around 1000 students back to India. "Suceava is a nearby airport to Siret. So two IndiGo flights are coming to Suceava and will take around 450 students back to India. Tomorrow four flights will come to Suceava and will carry 900- 1000 students," he added. Earlier in the day, Scindia in a tweet said that 3,726 Indians will be brought back home on Thursday by 19 flights from Bucharest, Suceava, Kosice, Budapest, and Rzeszow. "Under Operation Ganga, 3726 Indians will be brought back home today on eight flights from Bucharest, two flights from Suceava, one flight from Kosice, five flights from Budapest, and three flights from Rzeszow," tweeted Scindia. Meanwhile, the students who were evacuated from Ukraine and arrived at Delhi airport on Thursday thanked the Indian government for rescuing them. Notably, the American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are the most capable of flying to long distances with around 400 passengers. The C-17 transport aircraft had helped in a big way to evacuate citizens and officials from Kabul when the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced Americans to exit from there. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine. For the past few days, the Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue. Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. (ANI)
The bill was submitted by four senators of the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) in the Senate.

A joint statement issued by 12 members of the GB Legislative Assembly, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam condemned the move of the senators and announced their decision to oppose it, reported Dawn.

The statement said a meeting of the parliamentary committee on the Gilgit-Baltistan provisional province draft was held in Islamabad on Monday. It said any move without consulting the Gilgit-Baltistan people would be resisted.

"The bill submitted by BAP members in the Senate in a dramatic way is not acceptable," it said.

They said that any draft bill other than the one prepared by elected members of GB would not be accepted.

The Gilgit-Baltistan lawmakers announced the decision to boycott work on the preparation of the draft till the withdrawal of the bill submitted by BAP senators, reported Dawn. (ANI)
Three more IAF C-17 aircraft have taken off for Romania, Hungary and Poland today. Taking to Twitter, the Indian Air Force said, "First four #IAF C-17 aircraft under #OperationGanga evacuated 798 Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Hungary & Poland. They also supplied 9.7 tons relief material."

Third Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft carrying 208 Indian citizens from Ukraine landed at Hindon airbase near Delhi from Rzeszow in Poland on Thursday.

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt received the Indian citizens on their arrival and interacted with them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued orders to the Air Force to pitch in the rescue operations to augment the level of Operation Ganga.Notably, the American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are the most capable of flying long distances with around 400 passengers.

The C-17 transport aircraft had helped in a big way in evacuating citizens and officials from Kabul when the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced Americans to exit from there. (ANI)
Chinese government has issued orders for the closure of 160 organizations devoted to researching traditional Uyghur culture and to the teaching of foreign languages with an aim to eradicate the culture of Uyghurs. Kasimjan Abdurehim, who founded the Atlan Vocational Training School of Uyghurs says, "This policy of elimination the Chinese government is carrying out -- or, in its own words, this 'war on terror -- is a war against the Uyghurs," reported Radio Free Asia. Kasimjan now lives in the United States and revealed that the campaign against Uyghurs started 4 years ago. "This is proof," he added. "We can see the cancellation, the elimination, of these Uyghur-run schools and organizations on the list as one small piece of evidence that the policies of the Chinese government continue to operate at ever-new highs." The Civil Affairs Bureau of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) issues notice on February 22 that states ''revocation of registration certificates and seals of the legal representatives of social organizations," according to Chinese media reports published and information on the websites of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps and the Urumqi municipal government. The list of 160 organizations to be shut down also includes the Uyghur Classical Literature and Muqam Research Association, Dolan Farmer Painters' Association, Atlan Vocational Training School, Intil Language School and Miraj Vocational Training School, reported Radio Free Asia. Kasimjan said that most of the organizations included in the list are founded by Uyghurs. He said new Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Ma Xingrui will follow the same path as previous Chinese leaders in the region concerning the repression of the Uyghurs. The Chinese government is also trying to eliminate the cultural relics of Uyghurs including the targeting of Uyghur muqam, a musical mode and set of melodic formulas that guide improvisation and composition in Uyghur music, and other repertoires in countries across Europe. The European Uyghur Ensemble has performed Uyghur muqam. Ensemble members denounced the closure of the Muqam Research Society as "one piece of clear evidence of the ongoing elimination of Uyghur culture." "Now, I've heard this news that they have shut down this great research society," Abbas said. "I'm really shocked to hear this. How can they look at something so important and just eliminate it?" (ANI)
Amid a big jump in international market prices coupled with the harsh winter season, some parts of North China are suffering from a shortage of natural gas. Ma Chenchen, writing in YICAI Global said that residents of Weinan city in northwestern Shaanxi province were sent a letter of apology by the city's natural gas company on February 25 saying that demand had surged due to heavy snowfall and a drop in temperatures earlier that month, causing some customers to have no gas during peak hours. Places in Hebei province, which neighbours Beijing, had interrupted supply in the beginning and middle of last month, the Chinese government posted on its website. Gas companies are also under great pressure as the price of liquid natural gas has jumped 25 per cent over the past week and 75 per cent over the past month to CNY8,383 (USD1,328) a ton, or CNY6 (USD0.95) per cubic meter, according to the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange. Most gas companies pen long-term supply contracts with fixed purchase prices and amounts with suppliers, an industry insider told YICAI Global. Although gas firms sometimes need to buy gas at market prices when actual demand is greater than the contracted supply, such a huge gap in prices makes them less willing to take part in auctions, leading to a supply shortfall. "This round of hikes in natural gas prices is similar to last year's rise in coal prices which led to coal-burning electric power plants unable to afford to buy coal and many shut down or severely cut operations leading to a national power shortage," Feng Yongsheng, associate researcher at the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told YICAI Global. The difference between the two incidents is that China's dependence on coal imports is very low, whereas for natural gas it stands at over 40 per cent, making it difficult for government agencies to find solutions to guarantee supply and stabilize prices, Feng said. (ANI)
A General Assembly ethics committee found that Sen. Ed Reilly broke with the standards of the body when he told a constituent he was planning to pull a bill on which they both had worked because she donated to his opponents campaign.

The constituent, Pam Jeter, received word of the decision Tuesday in a letter from the General Assemblys Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics. The committee sent a letter of education and advice to the senator, then dismissed the complaint after deciding further proceedings were not necessary.

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Reilly declined to comment on the matter.

The General Assemblys Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics said in this letter that Sen. Ed Reilly broke with the standards of the body when he told a constituent he was planning to pull a bill on which they both had worked because she donated to his opponent.

Jeter said she had been working on Senate Bill 43 with the Republican senator, who represents District 33, since early 2019, when she reached out to him about an issue in her community. Her Olde Severna Park neighborhood is bisected by Route 648. There are crosswalks to help pedestrians get from one side of the neighborhood to the other, but theyre unsafe, Jeter said.

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Theres always traffic and cars are speeding and theres no really good signage. And theres zero speed enforcement, Jeter said. People have been hit by cars by that crosswalk, or a car will come to a stop and the car behind them cant stop in time so they end up rear-ending.

Reilly, Jeter and a few neighbors starting working on the bill, which would authorize the placement of speed cameras in the area on Route 648 between Hoyle Lane and Cypress Creek Road. It wasnt what Jeter and the neighbors were hoping for, which was flashing lights, but it was something, Jeter said.

Jeter and the neighbors testified to the Judicial Proceedings Committee on Jan. 18 and got positive feedback from the legislators. Her neighbor, Wendy Widmann, recalled an experience for the committee when she was hit by a car and knocked onto the road while biking across one of the crosswalks.

A few days after the presentation, Jeter got a call from Reilly.

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He was like, Good job presenting, but I want to let you know that Im going to pull the bill,  Jeter said. I was looking through my campaign finance records and noticed that youre supporting my opponent and so why would I work for you if youre actively working against me?  Then he hung up on her, she said.

Jeter gave two donations to Democrat Dawn Giles campaign, one for $200 on Jan. 2 and one for $100 on Jan. 4 on behalf of her mother-in-law, who had computer issues when she tried to donate herself. Reilly, Gile and Republican Stacie MacDonald are all running for the District 33 Senate seat.

Jeter was shocked by Reillys response, she said, assuming hed wanted to work on the bill for the sake of public safety and to help his constituents, no matter their political activity.

I thought no senator should be expecting their constituents to donate to their campaign for support, Jeter said.

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She emailed the Judicial Proceedings Committee members telling them about the call. They did not respond, she said. She then filed an official complaint with the ethics committee on Jan. 25, which was reviewed Feb. 21.

Ultimately, Reilly didnt pull the bill. It was heard by the Judicial Proceedings Committee Jan. 18 and received an unfavorable vote Feb. 4 by an 8-3 margin. Reilly is not on the committee and did not vote on the matter. Because of the unfavorable vote, the bill was killed and will not move forward.

There was just a lot of energy that went into this and for it to implode this way ... Jeter said. I just couldnt even believe it.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that a total of 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the first travel advisory was issued by the Indian Embassy in Kyiv. As many as 18 flights are scheduled for the next 24 hours including three IAF C-17 and other commercials flights like Air India, Indigo, Spice jet, Go first and Go Air, said MEA official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, speaking at the special briefing on Operation Ganga, to bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine amid Russia's military operation. "A total of 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since our first advisory was released. 30 flights under Operation Ganga have brought back 6,400 Indians from Ukraine so far. In the next 24 hours, 18 flights have been scheduled," he said. He further said that a total of 30 flights are part of Operation Ganga till now and around 6,400 Indian Citizens have safely landed in India. "We are closely following development in Eastern Ukraine, Kharkiv. We are currently looking at transport options to shift Indians to Western Ukraine," he said. Bagchi said that the government will further step up efforts to bring all Indian nationals back to India at the earliest. "This increased number of flights reflects the large number of Indians who have crossed over from Ukraine and are now in the neighbouring countries. We will further step up efforts to bring all these Indian nationals back to India at the earliest," he added. Highlighting the efforts of the government in the evacuation process, he said that the Government of India is in touch with Ukraine and Russian authorities to speed up evacuation. "We are scheduling more flights and a large number of Indians will be back home in the next 2-3 days. I would like to appreciate the Ukrainian government and the neighbouring countries for hosting our people and providing support in evacuating them," Bagchi added. (ANI)
He made the call on Tuesday after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) took up foreign funding case. Speaking at a press conference after the hearing, Babar said after over seven years since the foreign funding case was registered, facts based on documents requisitioned through the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reveal billions of rupees and millions of dollars of illegal PTI funding, reported Dawn.

He said these documents revealed that the PTI chairman had consistently submitted false and fake annual certificates from 2009 to 2013 before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

The false certificates concealed billions of rupees and millions of dollars of illegal funding received from foreign companies and foreign citizens, including people from India.

According to the report submitted before the ECP based on documents requisitioned through the SBP, the PTI received prohibited/foreign funding or funding without source and details that includes USD 7,322,678 (over seven million dollars that includes over 2.1 million dollars from one offshore company alone and illegal funding from 349 foreign companies, 88 individuals of foreign origin), reported Dawn.

The illegal money received in cash or cheques in Rs 852,023,076 includes Rs 25.61 million collected in cash in the PTI chairman's office. In addition, in GBP 94,616 and 27,260 euros were received from prohibited/foreign sources.

The facts concealed from the ECP by the PTI included concealment of dozens of bank accounts maintained in Pakistan and abroad, the report said. (ANI)
Afghanistan's former Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Nargis Nehan suggested that leniency towards the Taliban would be perilous as it could embolden fundamentalist groups elsewhere to stage similar takeovers. Speaking at an interview with European Foundation for South Asian Studies' Director Junaid Qureshi, Nargis Nehan who now lives in Norway as a political refugee said, the 'new' Taliban were even more dangerous than the 'old' Taliban as they held political grudges against democratic elements in contemporary Afghanistan, including media outlets, political activists, and former members of the security forces. At the same time, this new version of the Taliban is a lot more fragmented, including lack traditional chain of command that would allow the Taliban regime to coherently develop and implement policy throughout Afghanistan, she said. Describing her personal life, Nehan outlined that she belonged to a non-political family background. After her family fled to Pakistan during the Afghan-Soviet War, Nehan began attending school in Pakistan and later obtained a job in an international organization active in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban regime. From 2002 onwards, she worked in a variety of humanitarian positions in Afghanistan before entering the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance. In 2010, Nehan left the public sector and founded the NGO Equality for Peace and Democracy before returning to governmental affairs in 2014 in an advisory role for Afghanistan's then-President Ashraf Ghani. Nehan remains actively engaged in finding solutions to the problems in Afghanistan. Now based in Norway, she was invited to the recent talks between Western and Taliban officials held in Oslo but refused to attend on the grounds that the Taliban never really bought into political negotiations in the past. She outlined that she did not oppose negotiations with the Taliban per se but that talks should be held based on the Taliban fulfilling predetermined conditions. If these conditions were not communicated or upheld, she suggested, negotiations merely legitimized and emboldened the Taliban and its tactics of holding the Afghan population hostage. In 2017, Nehan was appointed Minister of Mines and Petroleum, a position from which she resigned in 2019 after the Taliban and the United States began engaging in bilateral peace talks that excluded the Ghani government. Within the public sector, Nehan narrated, she faced discrimination by equals and higher-ups, further motivating her to focus on the advocacy of female rights outside of the public sector. She was critical of the State-building enterprise that Afghan governments engaged in between 2001 and 2021. Adopting a highly centralized constitution and political system that did not devolve political power to Afghanistan's various political and ethnic groups, she argued, was a major shortcoming of the Republic's post-Taliban political order that further allowed the Taliban to capitalize on opportunistic elements in the Afghan population. She contended that the responsibility for Afghanistan's (renewed) fall to the Taliban lay with both internal and external actors. On the one hand, government-internal corruption and conflict rendered the government incapable of successfully offering the Afghan population an alternative vision for the future by failing to develop functioning public institutions and national security forces. Corruption and issues associated with centralization were so endemic that they paralyzed the Afghan State and ultimately facilitated the government's collapse. At the same time, a host of regional and extra-regional actors, ranging from Iran and Pakistan to the United States, are responsible for using Afghanistan as a staging ground for proxy wars and ideological conflicts. She rejected corruption allegations against her. These allegations, she suggested, were false and had been raised as a reaction to her highlighting corruption and sexual harassment within the administration. In regard to former President Ghani, Nehan contended that Ghani was more driven by the desire to establish and hold onto political power than by the financial gains his position would produce. As time went on, however, President Ghani was said to become increasingly reliant on a network of corrupt affiliates that would shore up political support for his regime while extracting funds from the government. Turning to the current situation in the country, Nehan argued that extrajudicial killings and incarcerations had once again become pervasive. The hope that pressure from the international community would produce a more moderate form of the Taliban has turned out to be futile. Regarding the Taliban's treatment of women, she highlighted that violence against women was present outside of the ranks of the Taliban as well and that the Taliban, in particular, was shaped by a lack of exposure to empowered women, normalization of violence following decades of civil war that has isolated Afghanistan from female rights gains elsewhere, and the patriarchal norms that continue to shape Afghan society. Anxious to not lose control over Afghanistan, the contemporary Taliban has not officially announced the oppression of girls and women as it did between 1996 and 2001, also in order to project a more positive image to the international community. Despite this, Nehan emphasized, that atrocities continue; although social media has helped to create some coverage, restricted media access to parts of the country has also limited information concerning the Taliban's conduct. The discrimination of women, she argued, was more associated with the cultural norms of the patriarchal system than the Islamic belief as such. Indeed, the Taliban has increasingly referred to their interpretations of Afghan culture rather than Islamic scriptures as a justification for their marginalization of women. She remarked that Afghanistan's social fabric has been severely shaped by decades of conflict and the influx of arms and foreign ideologies. For Nehan, this external element in Afghanistan illustrates that a resolution of the conflict in the country must involve both Iran and Pakistan, especially as the Taliban takeover has also empowered the Pakistani Taliban. The interconnectedness of militancy in the region may motivate attempts to develop regional responses to shared security threats in the coming years and decades, she said. In the future, Nehan concluded, the Taliban will struggle to accommodate domestic demands for a more inclusive political order within their political ideology. She predicted that the country is moving towards a renewed civil war between the Taliban and other non-State actors that are backed by foreign powers. Some of these actors, she argued, will seek to engage Afghan women, and enhanced competition between groups may make women in Afghanistan key to generating political support for the respective groups, allowing Afghan women to extract sociopolitical concessions. She said, for the Taliban, the internal influence of the Haqqani Network is likely to limit the extent to which the group can make concessions on women's rights. Lastly, Nehan spoke about the international dimension of the conflict in Afghanistan; the Western withdrawal has limited American and European capacity to shape developments in the country. If militancy is not contained, migration issues will be exacerbated. The United States, Nehan proposed, has to once again play an important role in Afghanistan, for instance by empowering civil society actors that can put pressure on the Taliban to create a more inclusive government. (ANI)
The new industrial 'amnesty' package announced by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan may legalise corruption. This would be the third amnesty package being offered to those who may be trying to legalise their ill-gotten wealth, reported Dawn. Khan made this announcement in Lahore, a day after announcing a dramatic cut in fuel and electricity rates. It allows investors to put their money into new industries, no questions asked, reported Dawn. According to the summary moved by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), seeking the promulgation of the ordinance titled: 'Ordinance for amendments in the income tax ordinance, 2001 via income tax (amendment) ordinance, 2022', the package will render investors immune from disclosing the source of their money upon the payment of 5 per cent tax of the total amount. The government is yet to clarify whether or not it discussed this move in detail with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and obtained their go-ahead before making the announcement, reported Dawn. Under the package, if eligible non-resident and resident Pakistani individuals repatriate their declared foreign assets into Pakistan for investment into the industrial sector, they would be entitled to 100 per cent tax credit for the next five years. Commenting on the package, Dr Sajid Amin Javed of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) said the fate of the amnesty scheme announced for the industry could be like the previous ones announced by this and preceding governments, reported Dawn. "I don't see it being good for the economy, as people in Pakistan generally think that another amnesty scheme would come after this one. That is why they don't join such schemes despite being offered a very low tax percentage," he explained. "I see this package as a political move and nothing more," he feared. (ANI)
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that the total number of Indians waiting to cross Ukraine's Western borders have reduced. Speaking at the special briefing on Operation Ganga, to bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine amid Russia's military operation, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "A large number of students have left Kharkiv after we issued an advisory yesterday. The total number of Indians waiting to cross Ukraine's Western borders have reduced." He further said that after the urgent advisory issued 1000 Indian nationals have reached Pesochin. MEA Spokesperson said that Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla spoke to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine on the modalities of evacuation. "Crowd on the Western borders continues to fluctuate. We discussed the movement at the border with Poland yesterday. The movement was smooth but early morning it was clogged so some students took more time. As I just came in I was given a report that the situation has improved there," he added. Highlighting the situation, he informed that the movement has been steady and progressive across the Hungarian, Slovak and Romanian borders adding that the Embassy in Lviv is coordinating the evacuation process and student coordinators are also helping. "Some in Kharkiv have also left from the train. There has been a fresh outbreak of violence in Kharkiv today which makes our job much more difficult. This is a dynamic situation. In touch with Ukrainian and Russian authorities to look at the modalities on how we can evacuate from Kharkiv and Sumy," said Bagchi. Giving details of the Indian nationals stuck in Kharkiv, Bagchi said, "Registration of 20,000 Indian nationals was done initially, but there were many who did not get themselves registered. We estimate a few hundred citizens still remain in Kharkiv. Our priority is to take students out safely in whatever mode of transport possible." Bagchi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also had a telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday and spoke on the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from conflict areas in Ukraine. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also held a telephonic conversation with European Union on high Representative of Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Joseph Borrell, French Foreign Minister and Foreign Minister of Estonia, he added. (ANI)
In the 117th Meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC) comprising of Indus Commissioners of India and Pakistan, the Indian side underscored that all its projects are fully compliant with the provisions of the Treaty and provided technical details in support of its position. The meeting was held from March 1-3 in Islamabad, Pakistan. It was agreed to hold the next meeting of the PIC in New Delhi on mutually convenient dates. During the meeting, technical discussions were held regarding ongoing projects including Pakal Dul, Kiru and Lower Kalnai. The Commission discussed the exchange of hydrological and flood data. Both sides discussed the issue of the Fazilka drain, and Pakistan assured that all necessary actions will continue to be taken to ensure the free flow of the Fazilka drain into the river Sutlej. The meeting was held in a cordial manner. Both the Commissioners reaffirmed their commitment to interact more frequently in an attempt to resolve issues through bilateral discussions under the Treaty. The Indian delegation was led by PK Saxena, the Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters. Under the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty (Treaty), signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, the two Commissioners are required to meet at least once every year, alternately in India and Pakistan. The last meeting of the PIC was held from March 23-24, 2021 in New Delhi. (ANI)
Ambassador of France to India, Emmanuel Lenain on Thursday said that North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has no plans to integrate Ukraine into the organization. In an exclusive interview with ANI, the French envoy said, "There are no NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, no plan to integrate Ukraine into NATO. So, it's pure cold-blood aggression from a non-democratic country against a democracy. You have to call a spade a spade. Is it going to die soon? What I see is escalation right now." Regarding French and NATO's allies' help to Ukraine, he said, "We are helping Ukraine a lot. All the countries in Europe have decided to send equipment, weapons in addition to humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. We are also providing a lot of political support." Lenain also said that in record time, unprecedented sanctions against Russia were adopted after Moscow started its military operations in Ukraine. "In record time, we have been able to adopt unprecedented sanctions against Russia, its banking institutions, against the so-called oligarchs who are supporting the regime and it seems that the sanctions are starting to bite, in particular, the slump in the rate of the currency," said Lenain. He lamented over the loss of lives in the conflict, he said, "We are very preoccupied. Civilians dying from the conflict, hundreds of thousands of refugees leaving the country. It's not a usual conflict between two countries, it's aggression without provocation of any sort." The crisis between Ukraine and Russia deepened in January 2021, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed the US President Joe Biden to let Ukraine enter NATO. Russia stated that its troops' deployment is in response to NATO's steady eastward expansion and argued that it aimed at protecting its own security considerations. However, the US ruled out changing NATO's "open-door policy" which means NATO would continue to induct more members. The US also said that it would continue to offer training and weapons to Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21 signed a decree recognizing the independence of breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk. In the early hours of February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in the Donbas region of Ukraine after the recognition of Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent identities. (ANI)
The International Energy Agency (IEA) unveiled on Thursday a 10-point plan to reduce the dependence of Europe on Russia's gas supplies, including the use of renewable energy sources and turning to other suppliers. "The IEA's 10-Point Plan to Reduce the European Union's Reliance on Russian Natural Gas includes a range of complementary actions that can be taken in the coming months, such as turning more to other suppliers, drawing on other energy resources and accelerating efforts to provide consumers, businesses and industry with means to use clean and efficient alternatives to natural gas," the agency said in a statement, reported Sputnik. The first two points of the document propose to abandon the conclusion of new contracts with Russia for gas supplies and replace them with alternative gas sources. "Reducing reliance on Russian gas will not be simple, requiring a concerted and sustained policy effort across multiple sectors, alongside strong international dialogue on energy markets and security," the report said. The IEA believes that implementing the measures this year "could bring down gas imports from Russia by over one-third, with additional temporary options to deepen these cuts to well over half while still lowering emissions." "A suite of measures in our 10-Point Plan ... could result in the EU's annual call on Russian gas imports falling by more than 50 bcm [billion cubic meter] within one year - a reduction of over one-third. These figures take into account the need for additional refilling of European gas storage facilities in 2022 after low Russian supplies helped drive these storage levels to unusually low levels," the report said, reported Sputnik. There is also a possibility for Europe to go even "further and faster to limit near-term reliance on Russian gas, although these would mean a slower near-term pace of EU emissions reductions," the document said. (ANI)
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that the Indian Embassy in Kyiv is not shut but a significant part of the Embassy had moved to Lviv. "Embassy is not shut in Kyiv. A team of the Embassy in Kyiv was asked to move to Lviv. We have an office now functioning in Lviv. We were trying to see if the other part of the team of the Embassy in Kyiv can move to the Eastern side of the country but it is a dynamic process so I do not know exactly where they are. The embassy is fully functional," said MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, while speaking at the special briefing on Operation Ganga, to bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine amid Russia's military operation. However, a building of the military facility of Sumy State University in Ukraine's northeastern city Sumy was shelled this morning by Russian force. The mayor of the southern city of Kherson indicated it had fallen on Wednesday, saying Ukrainian forces had left. This follows several days of heavy fighting, with Russian forces surrounding the strategically significant city north of the Crimean Peninsula. Meanwhile, Russian forces moving towards Ukraine's capital, including a large military convoy, "remain stalled," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. The troops could be "regrouping," or facing challenges such as supply shortages and Ukrainian resistance. A large Russian military convoy stretching over 30 km was delayed on Thursday due to staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion said the latest UK defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine. (ANI)
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said that the Government of India is in constant touch with the Ukrainian authorities to bring back the mortal remains of an Indian national who died in Kharkiv shelling. Speaking at the special briefing on Operation Ganga, to bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine amid Russia's military operation, Bagchi said, "Two Indians died in Ukraine in completely different circumstances. We have contacted the Ukrainian Embassy and are putting efforts to bring Naveen's dead body back to India." He further said that his body is in hospital and it will be brought to India after the completion of certain formalities. On March 1, Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, a medical student, had lost his life amid Russian shelling on Kharkiv. MEA Spokesperson said that Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla spoke to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine on the same issue. In the telephonic conversation, the issue was raised and the Ukrainian authorities have assured of full cooperation. "As it is a war-like situation, however, we are trying to work in these difficult times and we are constantly in touch with the authorities so that mortal remains can be brought out," he added while replying to a question on any conversation going at the diplomatic level with the Ukrainian government for the release of mortal remains of Naveen. Another Indian student Chandan Jindal had died in West-Central Ukraine because of natural causes. Meanwhile, Russian forces moving towards Ukraine's capital, including a large military convoy, "remain stalled," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. The troops could be "regrouping," or facing challenges such as supply shortages and Ukrainian resistance. A large Russian military convoy stretching over 30 km was delayed on Thursday due to staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion said the latest UK defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine. (ANI)
Chinese, Iranian FMs hold phone talks

Xinhua) 08:50, March 03, 2022

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone conversation at request with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Wednesday.

Iran has been firmly committed to promoting the Iran-China comprehensive strategic partnership, said Abdollahian, adding that the two sides should further consolidate political mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation and implement the comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries.

Iran stands ready to work closely with the Chinese side and fully supports China in hosting a successful third meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries, Abdollahian said.

For his part, Wang said China is willing to work with Iran to promote pragmatic cooperation in various sectors and deepen the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership in accordance with the important consensus reached by the two heads of state.

China will host the third meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries when the time is appropriate, so as to give full play to the strengths of Afghanistan's neighbors, highlight their characteristics and play a positive role in Afghanistan's enduring peace and stability, Wang said.

Abdollahian briefed on the latest progress of the resumption of negotiations on the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear issue, noting that relevant parties have reached consensuses on most issues, saying that Iran has made active efforts to this end and hopes that all parties will attach great importance to and address Iran's legitimate concerns.

Iran appreciates the constructive role China has played in the Iranian nuclear issue, and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with China to jointly achieve results in the negotiations, Abdollahian said.

Noting that Iran's nuclear talks have reached their final hurdle, Wang said all parties should attach great importance to the settlement of the remaining issues, show flexibility to each other, seek reasonable solutions, make political decisions and bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion.

China will continue to uphold justice and firmly advance the political and diplomatic settlement process of the Iranian nuclear issue, the Chinese foreign minister noted.

The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on the Ukraine issue.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Amid heightened tensions due to Russia's military actions in Ukraine, French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain on Thursday said that India is the largest democracy in the world and its voice matters. "India's voice is very important. It's the largest democracy in the world. India aspires to an even larger responsibility in the international fora. My country is a strong supporter of India getting a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. India is a voice that is heard in the world," Lenain said in an inclusive interview with ANI. He referred to India's statements in which it had stressed the "importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations". "We really count on the largest democracy in the world. India has made statements on respect for territorial integrity which are very welcome," the French envoy said. India and 34 other countries on Wednesday abstained from a UN General Assembly resolution that censured Russia over its military actions against Ukraine. India had earlier abstained from the UN Security Council procedural vote to call for a General Assembly session on the Ukraine crisis. India along with China and UAE had last week abstained from a US-sponsored resolution against Russia's military actions in Ukraine. Moscow used its veto against the resolution. Lenain said India shares a good relationship with Russia and it "must bring Moscow to the discussion table". He said New Delhi should support the humanitarian resolution in the upcoming UN Security Council meeting. "Nobody should say what India should do. As the crisis is deepening, support from India would be very welcome because India's voice matters," said Lenain. (ANI)
French Ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain said India shares a good relationship with Russia and it "must bring Moscow to the discussion table". Talking about India's stand on voting in UNGA, Lenain said, "India is a strong country. India has strategic autonomy. We respect India to make its own decision according to its interests and principles so nobody should say what India should do. That is first. Support from India will be very welcomed because India's voice matters." Lenain, replying to the question on India's humanitarian aid said, "I am sure Indian authorities are first trying to protect their citizens. For any government, this is the first priority. We hope once this issue is solved India's concern will expand to all the civilians in Ukraine also. Indian authorities told Russia to call on ceasefire and talks." India and 34 other countries on Wednesday abstained from a UN General Assembly resolution that censured Russia over its military actions against Ukraine. India had earlier abstained from the UN Security Council procedural vote to call for a General Assembly session on the Ukraine crisis. "Door is not closed and we have adopted united EU position on sanctions. We expect as much support as we can to the next step which is the resolution of the humanitarian assistance. It is going to be very important. This is not a fight, the war between two countries, or East and West. It is a fight for principles and countries from Asia, Singapore adopted sanctions. Most of the world is appalled by this aggression. I am sure you have seen the result of the resolution that was voted yesterday, 141 voted against Russia and it is an unusually strong message," he added. India along with China and UAE had last week abstained from a US-sponsored resolution against Russia's military actions in Ukraine. Moscow used its veto against the resolution. Ambassador said that the primary call is on the cessation of hostility so that the population can be protected and we can stop the 'bloodshed'. "This is wake up call. The world is becoming more and more dangerous," he added. Speaking on the defence positions of countries he stated, "Countries in Europe are raising their defence budget, Germany have also raised their defence budget recently. India is also diversifying its weapons procurement and producing more weapons in India, on both counts you know you can rely on friends." (ANI)
"There is a total of three tranches of aid went to Poland, including one tranche went yesterday morning. The Fourth tranche reached Romania consists of medicines, medical equipment, relief materials etc," said MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, speaking at the special briefing on Operation Ganga, to bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine amid Russia's military operation.

India on Tuesday sent the first tranche of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine through Poland.

The consignment comprised medicines, medical equipment and other relief material.

As per MEA sources, two tonnes of humanitarian aid including tents, blankets, surgical gloves, protective eye gear, water storage tanks, sleeping mats, tarpaulin and medicines have been sent to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russian forces moving towards Ukraine's capital, including a large military convoy, "remain stalled," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. The troops could be "regrouping," or facing challenges such as supply shortages and Ukrainian resistance.

A large Russian military convoy stretching over 30 km was delayed on Thursday due to staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion said the latest UK defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine. (ANI)
According to the Northern Territorial Defense Forces, there is no military infrastructure in the nearby area, only several schools, kindergartens, and a hospital.

Ukraine's capital city Kyiv on Thursday woke up with air raid alerts. The residents were advised to take shelter in safe houses.

A building of the military faculty of Sumy State University in Ukraine's northeastern city Sumy was shelled this morning by Russian force.

"A building of the military faculty of Sumy State University in Ukraine's northeastern city Sumy was shelled this morning by Russian forces," reported Head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration Dmytro Zhyvytsky.

Meanwhile, Russian forces moving towards Ukraine's capital, including a large military convoy, "remain stalled," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. The troops could be "regrouping," or facing challenges such as supply shortages and Ukrainian resistance.

A large Russian military convoy stretching over 30 km was delayed on Thursday due to staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion said the latest UK defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. (ANI)
Taking to Twitter, Belarus MFA said, "Second round of Russia-Ukraine talks kicks off in Belarus." According to Sputnik, the Ukrainian delegation flew to the meeting point from Poland by helicopter.

Ukraine's Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper Tuesday, citing Ukrainian diplomatic sources said that during the first round on Monday, the Russian delegation conveyed Moscow's demand to enshrine Ukraine's non-bloc status at the parliamentary level and hold a referendum.

Among other conditions reportedly voiced by Moscow was Kyiv's recognition of the Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics within the borders of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, as well as the 'denazification' of Ukraine.

During the first talks, Russia and Ukraine identified some priority topics on which they have outlined certain decisions, adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said after the talks.

Head of Russian delegation after talks said "we found issues where we can expect to agree."

The Russian delegation, in the first talks, was headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said the key "issue of the negotiations is an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from the territory of Ukraine," reported Sputnik. (ANI)
Diplomats from the United States and members of other European Union member nations on Thursday evening held a vigil at Bauddhanath Stupa against Russia over the Ukraine crisis. The diplomats stood over the dome of the Bauddhanath Stupa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Nepali capital Kathmandu lighting butter-fed lamps and observing a minute of silence for those who lost lives in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. "Today's event is in solidarity with the people of Ukraine after Putin invaded Ukraine in what is unprovoked, unnecessary brutal war. The diplomatic community here in Kathmandu wanted to gather support for the sovereignty, territory and people of Ukraine and to say that this war needs to end. We have US ambassador here, ambassadors from several different missions, the honorary consulate of Ukraine gathered here today," Andie De Arment, Spokesperson at US Embassy in Kathmandu told ANI. The event which was held on Thursday evening witnessed diplomats lighting candles and observing a moment of silence for those who have lost their lives in the week since the crisis began. Consulate of Ukraine Kiran Vaidya and Ambassadors from Switzerland, Finland, United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Australia, Norway, Germany, Korea, Japan and the Director of the International Labor Organization were among those joining the peace ceremony. Tensions have grown recently in Ukraine after Russia's intervention which has entered the 8th day on Thursday. Many of the Western nations already have imposed sanctions on Russia as a result of the latest move while the NATO alliance also has beefed up military might overseeing the adverse situation. (ANI)
French President Emmanuel Macron believes that "the worst is yet to come" in Ukraine after a telephonic conversation with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Thursday, said an aide to the French leader. Putin held a 90-minute talk with Macron who appeared intent on seizing "the whole" of the country, reported the Moscow Times quoting the aide. An aide to the French leader said, "There was nothing in what President Putin told us that should reassure us. He showed great determination to continue the operation," reported the Moscow Times. He added that Putin "wanted to seize control of the whole of Ukraine. He will, in his own words, carry out his operation to 'de-Nazify' Ukraine to the end." "You can understand the extent to which these words are shocking and unacceptable and the president told him that it was lies," the aide said. When Macron talked to Putin for avoiding civilian casualties and allowing humanitarian access, the aide said, "President Putin replied that he was in favour but without making any commitments." "President Putin has a way of talking that is very neutral and very clinical. He sometimes shows signs of impatience, but fundamentally there were no open signs of tensions during the exchanges," the aide added, reported the Moscow Times. (ANI)
Taking to Twitter, She wrote, "Solidarity with Baloch students camping outside National Press Club in the freezing cold demanding the release of a disappeared student, Hafeez Baloch, and end intimidation of Baloch students on campuses. Our young people need political solutions to their problems, not repression."

Islamabad Police on Tuesday clashed with Baloch students protesting for the release of missing students. According to students, plain-clothed officials snatched their mobile phones and dismantled the protest camp, reported local media.Students activists claim that the peaceful protesters were unnecessarily manhandled and beaten by the Police.

As per the latest development till Tuesday, the Baloch students had blocked the main road in Islamabad, reported local media.

Balochistan's Human Development Index (HDI) ranks below 0.40 as compared to the other provinces of Pakistan that lie above 0.50. Within Pakistan, Balochistan lags far behind other provinces and 15 out of Pakistan's least-developed districts are in Balochistan.

Meanwhile, enforced disappearances and arbitrary killings of Balochs have also become a new 'normal in the region'. (ANI)
Danilov further said, "this northern region bordering Russia saw heavy fighting throughout the war."

Ukraine's capital city Kyiv on Thursday woke up with air raid alerts. The residents were advised to take shelter in safe houses.

A building of the military faculty of Sumy State University in Ukraine's northeastern city Sumy was shelled this morning by Russian force.

"A building of the military faculty of Sumy State University in Ukraine's northeastern city Sumy was shelled this morning by Russian forces," reported Head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration Dmytro Zhyvytsky.

Meanwhile, Russian forces moving towards Ukraine's capital, including a large military convoy, "remain stalled," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. The troops could be "regrouping," or facing challenges such as supply shortages and Ukrainian resistance.

A large Russian military convoy stretching over 30 km was delayed on Thursday due to staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion said the latest UK defence intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. (ANI)
Amid Russia's ongoing military operations in Ukraine, UNESCO on Thursday (local time) demanded that the Russian Federation immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine. UNESCO in a statement following the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution said that it is working to assess damage across its spheres of competence (notably education, culture, heritage and information) and to implement emergency support actions. "Following the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Resolution on Aggression against Ukraine, and in light of the devastating escalation of violence, UNESCO is deeply concerned by developments in Ukraine and is working to assess damage across its spheres of competence (notably education, culture, heritage and information) and to implement emergency support actions," it said. The UNGA Resolution reaffirms the paramount importance of the UN Charter and commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, and it demands "that the Russian Federation immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine." Director-General Audrey Azoulay fully concurs with the opening remarks made by the Secretary-General at the Special Session of the General Assembly, during which he said that "this escalating violence -- which is resulting in civilian deaths, including children - is totally unacceptable." In addition, she calls for the "protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage, which bears witness to the country's rich history, and includes its seven World Heritage sites - notably located in Lviv and Kyiv; the cities of Odessa and Kharkiv, members of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network; its national archives, some of which feature in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register; and its sites commemorating the tragedy of the Holocaust." "We must safeguard this cultural heritage, as a testimony of the past but also as a vector of peace for the future, which the international community has a duty to protect and preserve for future generations. It is also to protect the future that educational institutions must be considered sanctuaries," said Azoulay. Consistent with its mandate, UNESCO demands the immediate cessation of attacks on civilian facilities, such as schools, universities, memorial sites, cultural and communication infrastructures, and deplores civilian casualties, including students, teachers, artists, scientists and journalists. These include women and children, girls especially, disproportionately impacted by the conflict and displacement. In the field of education, Resolution 2601 adopted in 2021 by the UN Security Council states that UN Member States are to "prevent attacks and threats of attacks against schools and ensure the protection of schools and civilians connected with schools, including children and teachers during armed conflict as well as in post-conflict phases". The General Assembly Resolution of 2 March expresses grave concern at reports of attacks on civilian facilities including schools. In this regard, UNESCO strongly condemns attacks against education facilities, with the damaging of at least seven institutions in the past week, including the attack on 2 March on Karazin Kharkiv National University. The nationwide closure of schools and education facilities has affected the entire school-aged population -- 6 million students between 3 and 17 years old, and more than 1.5 million enrolled in higher education institutions. The escalation of violence hampers the protective role of education, and the impact may be far-reaching including in neighbouring countries. In the field of culture, UNESCO underlines the obligations of international humanitarian law, notably the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two (1954 and 1999) Protocols, to refrain from inflicting damage to cultural property, and condemns all attacks and damage to cultural heritage in all its forms in Ukraine. UNESCO calls also for the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2347. In this respect, UNESCO is gravely concerned with the damages incurred by the city of Kharkiv, UNESCO Creative City for Music, and the historic centre of Chernihiv, on Ukraine's World Heritage Tentative List. UNESCO deeply regrets reports of damage to the works of the celebrated Ukrainian artist, Maria Primachenko, with whose anniversary UNESCO was associated in 2009. UNESCO condemns also the attack that affected the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial, the site of one of the largest mass shootings of Jews during World War II, and calls for the respect of historic sites, whose value for education and remembrance is irreplaceable. In order to prevent attacks, UNESCO, in close coordination with the Ukrainian authorities, is working to mark as quickly as possible key historic monuments and sites across Ukraine with the distinctive emblem of the 1954 Hague Convention, an internationally recognised signal for the protection of cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict. In addition, UNESCO has approached the Ukrainian authorities with a view to organising a meeting with museum directors across the country to help them respond to urgent needs for safeguarding museum collections and cultural property. In cooperation with UNITAR/UNOSAT, UNESCO will be monitoring the damages incurred by cultural sites through satellite imagery analysis. In the field of access to information and freedom of expression, UNESCO recalls its previous statement underlining obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 2222 to protect media professionals and associated personnel. It further notes, as in the same resolution, "media equipment and installations constitute civilian objects, and in this respect shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals, unless they are military objectives". In this respect, UNESCO is deeply concerned about reports of the targeting of media infrastructure, including the shelling of Kyiv's main television tower on 1 March 2022, with multiple reported fatalities, including at least one media worker, as well as cases of violence against journalists and attempts to restrict access to the Internet. In a conflict situation, free and independent media are critical for ensuring civilians have access to potentially life-saving information and debunking disinformation and rumours. At the request of a group of Member States, the UNESCO Executive Board will hold a Special Session on 15 March "to examine the impact and consequences of the current situation in Ukraine in all aspects of UNESCO's mandate". (ANI)
The Prime Minister emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy.

US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also took part in the summit meeting, the first since the leaders of four Quad countries held a summit in September last year in Washington.

The virtual meeting was held amid Russia's military action in Ukraine.

A PMO statement said that the leaders discussed other topical issues, including the situation in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific Islands.

PM Modi reiterated the importance "of adhering to the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity".

The Prime Minister underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

He called for concrete and practical forms of cooperation within the Quad, in areas like Humanitarian and Disaster Relief, debt sustainability, supply chains, clean energy, connectivity, and capacity-building.

"Developments in Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, including its humanitarian implications. The Prime Minister emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy," the statement said.

The meeting reviewed the progress on Quad initiatives since the September 2021 Quad Summit.

The leaders agreed on accelerating cooperation, with an objective to achieve concrete outcomes by the summit in Japan later this year.

The leaders agreed to stay in touch and to work towards an ambitious agenda for the forthcoming Leaders' Summit in Japan.

The Western countries have imposed sanctions against Russia following its military action.

(ANI)
Amid Russia's ongoing military operations in Ukraine, Polish nationals told Team ANI on Thursday that Poland strongly stands with Ukraine in this time of conflict and they are putting up three flags: Of the European Union, their country Poland, and Ukraine. Team ANI is reporting from Poland and other areas. Many hotels in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, were waving three flags. ANI asked them whether the third flag is always used or is being used just now. A hotel representative told ANI, "Poland stands in solidarity with Ukraine." Near the Warsaw airport in Poland, several taxis also carried Ukrainian flags to show support for Ukraine. The Poland Embassy in India (Delhi) has started to hashtag on Twitter, "Solidarity with Ukraine and Stand With Ukraine." "Polish diplomats, employees of Polish Embassy and Polish Institute in New Delhi united with the people and government of Ukraine brutally attacked by Russia," Poland embassy tweeted. The Poland Embassy in India has already announced that Poland is providing maximum support to Ukraine in the fight against Russia's aggression. Poland's envoy to India Adam Burakowski had earlier told ANI that, "Poland is supplying weapons and other humanitarian aid to Ukraine and maximum support in every way to Ukraine," he told ANI. Thousands of Indian students are currently stranded in different parts of Poland near the border area. The Indian Embassy in Poland with Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation General VK Singh are expediting the process of evacuation of Indian students and citizens who have somehow escaped from Ukraine. India has deployed IAF's C-17 aircraft for the evacuation of Indians from Poland and it will continue in the coming days. (ANI)
Around 3,000 Indians have returned to the country in 15 flights under Operation Ganga from countries neighbouring Ukraine in the last 24 hours. It is estimated that around 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the initial advisories were issued. This includes some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously. Tensions have escalated in the region due to Russia's military action against Ukraine. The MEA Control Room, as well as the Control Centres operated by Indian embassies, continues to operate on 24x7 basis. The MEA Control Room has attended to 10,137 calls and 7,934 emails till Thursday afternoon. Flights have increased under Operation Ganga. So far 6,400 Indians have returned in 30 flights including the 15 flights that have landed in India in the last 24 hours. As many as 18 flights are scheduled over the next 24 hours, many of which are already en route. Of these 3 would be IAF C-17 flights. Other flights are by Air India, Indigo, Spice Jet and GoAir. In terms of departure points, there will be seven flights from Bucharest, five from Budapest, three from Rzeszow, one from Kosice. In addition, a new location has been identified near the Romanian border, the city of Suceava, from where two flights will be operated. This will obviate the need for students to go all the way to Bucharest once they cross into Romania. Humanitarian aid in form of medicines, medical equipment, tents, blankets, solar lamps and other material for Ukraine has reached neighbouring countries. The first three tranches have reached Poland, and a fourth has reached Romania. (ANI)
"There is a solution only for the organization of humanitarian corridors," Advisor to the Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak said on Twitter.

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who is also the head of the Russian delegation, said the two sides discussed military issues, humanitarian issues, and a future political settlement of the conflict.

"We have thoroughly discussed three points - military, international and humanitarian, and the third one is an issue of a future political regulation of the conflict. Both positions are clear and written down. ...Russian and Ukrainian defense ministries agreed on providing humanitarian corridors for civilians and on a possible temporary ceasefire in areas where evacuation is happening," Medinsky told media, as quoted by CNN.

He said that creating humanitarian corridors is "substantial progress."

Russia's TASS news agency reported earlier Thursday that the second round of talks has ended.

Podoliak told a media briefing that the third round of peace negotiations may take place soon. (ANI)
The United States is imposing full blocking sanctions on Russian "oligarchs" and other persons, including President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov in response to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, the White House said on Thursday. "Full blocking sanctions on an expansive new list of Russian elites and their family members who enable Putin: ... Boris Rotenberg (his wife Karina, and his sons Roman and Boris), Arkady Rotenberg (His sons Pavel and Igor and daughter Liliya), ..., Igor Shuvalov (His five companies, his wife Olga, his son Evgeny and his company and jet, and his daughter Maria and her company), ..., Dmitry Peskov, President Putin's press secretary," the White House said in a press release. The White House said that full blocking sanctions have also been imposed on Nikolai Tokarev, Sergey Chemezov, Yevgeniy Prigozhin, and Alisher Usmanov. "Imposing Visa Restrictions on 19 Russian Oligarchs, their 47 Family Members and Close Associates: Today the Department of State is announcing a new visa restriction policy to restrict the issuance of visas to certain Russian oligarchs, their family members, and close associates," the White House said. The statement added said these oligarchs are known to direct, authorize, fund, significantly support, or carry out malign activities in support of Russia's destabilizing foreign policy. "In an initial action under this policy, we have taken steps to place visa restrictions on 19 oligarchs and 47 family members and close associates." Separately in a tweet, US President Joe Biden said the United States has banned the travel of more than 50 Russian oligarchs, their families, and close associates. "In my State of the Union Address, I said the United States is going after the crimes of Russian oligarchs. Today, we're adding dozens of names to the list -- and banning travel to America by more than 50 Russian oligarchs, their families, and close associates," Biden tweeted. The US and Europe have launched a series of sanctions against Russia in response to the large scale military conflict in Ukraine. These sanctions will prevent Moscow from accessing its hundreds of billions of dollars of reserves worldwide and cut short its state revenues from oil and natural gas. (ANI)
This come two days after Ukraine said it was seeking fast-track membership to the bloc.

Georgia Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said that the former Soviet republic of Georgia has formally signed an application for membership into the EU.

"It is a historic day for Georgia -- we are signing an Application for EU Membership on behalf of the country. Application for EU Membership is yet another milestone on the path of European integration of Georgia -- it is a stage, which turns a new page in our history and continues the effort of our ancestors, which is aimed at the accession of Georgia into a common European family," he said.

Aside from Georgia, Moldova has also officially applied for membership in the EU.

On Thursday, Moldova's President Maia Sandu said that the country had signed "a request to join the European Union".

"We want to live in peace, prosperity, be part of the free world," she was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera. "While some decisions take time, others must be made quickly and decisively, and taking advantage of the opportunities that come with a changing world."

Both Moldova's and Georgia's bid to forge closer ties with the West have long perturbed Russia.

Moldova shares a roughly 1,200-kilometer border with Ukraine. Meanwhile, Georgia has a nearly 900-km-long border with southern Russia.

Both these countries have signed Association Agreements with the EU "on economic integration and political approximation" and free trade, Radio Free Europe reported.

As Russia continue to advance near Kyiv, Ukrainian officials have asked for swift entry into the EU. (ANI)
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VILNIUS, March 3 (Reuters) - Britain said on Thursday that legal threats would not prevent it sanctioning Russian oligarchs, adding that London had a further list of businessmen who could be designated after Russia invaded Ukraine.

"Legal threats will have no impact on our ability to sanction oligarchs," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told Reuters while on a visit to Lithuania. "There is nowhere for any of [President Vladimir] Putin's cronies to hide."

"We are absolutely determined to sanction Russian oligarchs," Truss said. "We have a further list we are working through."

"We have put in place the toughest package of sanctions in the British history including bank freezes, freezes on central bank and export controls, and we will do more," Truss said.

Truss said a Group of Seven meeting of finance ministers on Friday would discuss further sanctions on Russia.

(Reporting by Andrius Sytas; writing by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by William James)
Henry Ashley was a 24-year-old father who had plans to get a new home with his wife, she told news outlets.

But the Georgia security guards life was cut short when he was shot on the job last month, according to the DeKalb County Police Department.

I hope they got what they wanted, taking a husband, a son, a father, a brother, so young, Ashleys wife, Kyla Rushton, told WSB-TV. We were planning on buying a house this summer. This was our first time we were able to do this and it all got ripped away in a matter of moments.

Now, officials say theyve arrested a suspect in the Atlanta-area homicide case. A 16-year-old  who wasnt identified in a March 3 news release  has been charged with murder and burglary.

Four other suspects are also wanted in the shooting, which was reported in Stonecrest at about 11 p.m. Feb. 19. Ashley was working at a car dealership on Mall Parkway when officials said he investigated an alert about a suspicious person and came into contact with five people, according to police and WXIA.

Moments after the encounter, Mr. Ashley was shot while he was in his marked work vehicle, officials said in a news release. Mr. Ashley was transported to a local hospital, where he later died.

Ashley leaves behind his wife and a 4-year-old son, according to his obituary and news outlets.

The teen was among several people caught on surveillance footage, according to officials. The suspects reportedly left the dealership in a gray car.

As police continue to search for clues, Crime Stoppers has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests. Anyone with tips is urged to call officers at 770-724-7850 or Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477.

I want to thank the community for its assistance during this investigation, Mirtha Ramos, the DeKalb County police chief, said in a news release. This arrest is another example of what happens when the community and police work together.

24-year-old who survived cancer fatally shot when he discovers break-in, GA friends say

Angry driver pulls up to man and shoots, sending him to hospital, Georgia cops say
(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is using its logistics capability to get supplies to those in need and cybersecurity expertise to help governments and companies as part of its support for Ukraine, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said on Twitter on Wednesday.

"Amazon stands with the people of Ukraine, and will continue to help," Jassy said, following Russia's invasion that Moscow has called a "special operation." Amazon, which earlier this week pledged to donate up to $10 million for humanitarian efforts, is the latest company to mobilize in offering aid.

(Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Palo Alto, Calif; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
By Engen Tham and Julie Zhu

(Reuters) - Top Chinese banks are rushing to ensure they can maintain business ties with Russian clients without running afoul of a barrage of Western sanctions, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Western nations are tightening an economic noose around Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, shutting its banks from the SWIFT global financial network and pushing global firms to dump billions in investment.

While the Chinese banking regulator said this week the country would not join the West's sanctions on Russia, some of its banks have stopped issuing dollar-denominated letters of credit for purchases of physical commodities, sources have said.

And now, executives at some leading Chinese banks are exploring alternative payment systems as well as the possibility of passing some of their business to small domestically focused peers to avoid getting caught in secondary sanctions, said two bankers with knowledge of the matter.

Secondary sanctions are restrictions that apply to entities that conduct U.S. dollar business with the underlying sanctioned entity. An entity seen to be violating such sanctions faces the risk of being cut off from sources of U.S. dollar liquidity.

"The sanctions don't apply directly to us and we can loan to Russian entities  but is it wise? Do we approve that loan to that one entity? It's not the best thing to do at the moment, is it?" said an executive at a Chinese-led development bank.

"The internal perception is that if the sanctions get worse regarding SWIFT, we can find ways around it," said the executive, who did not want to be identified.

A potential "workaround" is for smaller local Chinese banks to work on transactions that larger peers with overseas business interest have to steer clear of, said a banker at one of the top four state-owned Chinese lender, who also declined to be named.

The executive said his bank had stopped issuing dollar-denominated credit letters for purchases of Russian commodities, but also that he had not seen any impact on yuan-denominated transactions between China and Russia yet.

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Big Chinese banks that have business and branches overseas might become very cautious, as Washington and its allies can sanction operations in the Western markets in the event of violations, said Wang Yongli, a former board member of SWIFT.

"Smaller (Chinese) banks that don't have much presence overseas might dare do so as you cannot come to China to sanction them," Wang, who is also a former executive director of Bank of China, said on a call with investors on Wednesday.

All bank sources Reuters spoke to for this story declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

NAVIGATING SANCTIONS

China is Russia's biggest trade partner, buying a third of Russia's crude oil exports in 2020 and supplying it with manufactured products from cell phones and computers to toys and clothing.

However, analysts say the exposure of China's big four state-owned banks to Russia is limited.

Among them, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd is one of the biggest Chinese banks in Russia and the first to provide yuan clearing services there. But even its local business accounted for less than 1% of its total assets as of end-June 2021, according to its semi-annual report.

Amid the sanctions, some Russian firms are scrambling to open accounts with Chinese banks as they look to make greater use of the yuan for trade, sources say.

So far, China does not appear to be helping Russia evade Western financial sanctions on Moscow, but doing so would "do profound damage" to China's reputation, a senior Biden Administration official said on Saturday.

Investment bank Natixis said Western economies were less likely to continue to "engage wholeheartedly" in China's financial sector if Russia looks at it as a solution to its sanctions.

Some branches of overseas Chinese lenders took immediate action to adhere to sanctions -- Bank of China's Singapore operation has stopped financing deals involving Russian oil and companies.

At others, where sanctions have a less direct impact, internal meetings are being held on the new risks and finding an alternative to SWIFT, though some bankers admit there is currently no feasible replacement.

While there was work in progress to develop an alternative messaging system to SWIFT, it was not yet fully operational, Natixis' Alicia Garcia Herrero and Junyu Tan wrote in the report.

On the issue of whether Russia could effectively use China's own Cross-Border Interbank Payment System to bypass sanctions, Natixis said the Chinese system was illiquid and the number of foreign institutions linked to it remained limited.

(Reporting by Engen Tham and Julie Zhu; additional reporting by Zoey Zhang; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Sam Holmes)
By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump appears unlikely to face federal criminal charges for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss despite a U.S. congressional committee's court filing accusing him of illegal conduct, according to legal experts.

"I'm not sure the Justice Department is even investigating this criminally," said Ankush Khardori, a former trial lawyer for the Justice Department's anti-fraud unit. "That's the open question."

Republican businessman-turned-politican Trump may have committed multiple felonies in his effort to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden, a House of Representatives investigative committee stated in a court filing on Wednesday. The Democratic-led committee was formed to investigate last year's Capitol attack by a mob of Trump supporters who tried to block formal congressional certification of Biden's victory.

The committee lacks the power to bring criminal charges on its own. But the filing suggests that later this year it will formally urge the Justice Department to carry out a criminal investigation of Trump - a step known as a "criminal referral," said University of Minnesota law professor Alan Rozenshtein, a former Justice Department national security lawyer.

Rozenshtein called the filing "a preview for a criminal referral," adding: "It would be strange for the committee to take this step and then pull its punches."

The committee said in the filing that Trump potentially engaged in conspiracy to defraud the United States and may have obstructed an official proceeding.

Trump in a statement on Thursday accused the committee of being politically motivated and trying to prevent him from running for president again.

Justice Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The committee revealed the findings in a legal brief arguing that it should be allowed access to thousands of emails sent by John Eastman, a lawyer who advised Trump on a plan to try to invalidate election results in key states. Eastman sued the committee in December, seeking to block a subpoena requesting that he turn over the emails.

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While the filing is a major development, Garland has long appeared hesitant to charge Trump, and the committee's latest revelations may not change the attorney general's thinking, Rozenshtein said.

'NIGHTMARE SCENARIO'

"We've seen Garland proceed very cautiously - to the chagrin of many Democrats," said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

"It would be a monumental thing for our nation if the Justice Department charged a former president with a crime of undermining our democracy," Levinson added. "There could be a lot of evidence, but the Justice Department is not going to do it unless they have crossed every 't' and dotted every 'i.'"

A "nightmare scenario" for Garland would be charging Trump and then failing to secure a conviction, Rozenshtein said.

"If you are going to prosecute a politician, especially someone like Trump, you want to do it on the strongest possible grounds," Rozenshtein said.

The Justice Department is investigating the Capitol riot and has charged about 750 people in connection with the violence.

"We will follows the facts wherever they lead," Garland said in a January speech marking the anniversary of the attack, adding that he "remains committed to holding all Jan. 6 perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law."

Asked in February if the department had any concerns about bringing charges against a former president, Garland said he could not answer a hypothetical question and would not talk about whether or not it has ongoing investigations.

There is little indication that the department is focusing on Trump's inner circle, Khardori said.

"All the public indicators suggest there is not a concerted investigation into this part of what went into January 6 - the non-violent machinations," Khardori added.

Trump and his allies have made false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.

Khardori said it appears that the Justice Department is letting prosecutors at the state level and congressional investigators take the lead in investigating Trump's efforts to stay in power.

Under U.S. law, crimes such as fraud and conspiracy require proof of criminal intent - known as "mens rea," or a guilty mind. Demonstrating that Trump had such intent may be difficult, according to Rozenshtein.

"That doesn't mean that Trump can't be held liable, but it does add an interesting wrinkle that any prosecutor would need to think through," Rozenshtein said.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe in Washington; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Will Dunham and Scott Malone)
Eddie Hearn has said that Anthony Joshua will give Oleksandr Usyk the time he needs to defend his country after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Usyk has returned to his homeland from London, pausing negotiations over a rematch with Joshua.

The two-weight world champion won the pairs first meeting last September, causing the British boxer to trigger his rematch clause.

A deal that would have seen Joshua step aside and allow Usyk to take on Tyson Fury in a unification match collapsed, and Hearn says all are keen for the rematch to go ahead.

A fight date in late spring or early summer had reportedly been targeted for the rematch, but promoter Hearn says that the need to give Usyk the time and respect he needs while the conflict in Ukraine continues.

We obviously respect Oleksandr Usyk and our thoughts are with everybody in Ukraine, Hearn said to Fight Hub TV. Well give him the time that he needs and we dont know how long thats gonna take.

The only fight [Anthony Joshua] wants is Oleksandr Usyk, so we dont want that obligation for the rematch to disappear, we dont want to get out of it, hes already turned down a lot of money to get out of it  AJs got no interest.

If weve got to have an interim belt whilst we wait for Oleksandr Usyk thats something well look at as well but we want the Oleksandr Usyk fight and well give him the time and respect that he needs.

Usyk has said that he has no fear in returning to fight for Ukraine.

The 35-year-old was born in Simferopol, the Crimean capital that was annexed by Russia in 2014.
One of the agents investigating Suzanne Morphews death in 2020 said arresting Barry Morphew was premature.
Christopher Nolan was issued a warning by the makers of Robert Pattinsons new Batman film.

The filmmaker directed the Dark Knight trilogy, which started with Batman Begins in 2005 and ended with The Dark Knight Rises in 2012.

After several pandemic-related delays, The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, is released in cinemas tomorrow (4 March).

In it, Pattinson plays the lead character and is joined in the cast alongside Colin Farrell (the Penguin), Paul Dano (the Riddler) and Zoe Kravitz (Catwoman).

Ahead of its release, the team behind the film said they were adamant The Batman would be even better than Nolans trilogy.

Ive said this to Chris Nolan directly, producer Dylan Clark told Empire, revealing that he light-heartedly told the director: Look, were trying to be the best Batman ever made, and were going to try to beat you.

Speaking about the film, Clark added: Matt is interested in pushing this character to his emotional depths and shaking him to his core,

Explaining how his film differs with previous iterations, Reeves said: Weve seen a lot of great stories about Bruce Wayne witnessing his parents murder and then trying to find a way to cope with that by perfecting himself into Batman. But I wanted to do a story where hes already been through the origins and does not yet really know exactly how to be Batman.

Robert Pattinson in The Batman (Warner Baros Pictures)

He described the film as a year two story in reference to the superheros Year One comic book story arc, which was created by Frank Miller.

It was revealed last year that Nolan warned Zack Snyder off from ever watching Joss Whedons theatrical version of Justice League.

The latest issue of Empire will be available to buy on Thursday (23 December  you can pre-order a copy here.

The Batman will be released on 4 March 2022.
By Ted Hesson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden will grant temporary deportation relief and work permits to tens of thousands of Ukrainians who are already in the United States but unable to return to Ukraine due to the military conflict with Russia, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Thursday.

The move will allow Ukrainians in the United States as of March 1 to remain and work legally for a period of 18 months, DHS said, after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in one of the biggest attacks on a European state since World War Two. An estimated 75,000 Ukrainians would be eligible to apply for the program, DHS said.

Biden assailed Russian President Vladimir Putin, barred Russian flights from American airspace on Tuesday in a State of the Union speech dominated by the crisis in Ukraine.

Ukrainians will be granted deportation relief and access to work permits under a program known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The program gives immigrants who cannot return to their countries safely due to extraordinary circumstances such as violent conflict or natural disasters the ability to stay and work in the United States legally for a defined period of time.

"Russias premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence, and Ukrainians forced to seek refuge in other countries," Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a written statement.

Earlier in the day on Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that it had paused deportation flights to Ukraine due to the "ongoing humanitarian crisis."

More than 1 million Ukrainians have fled and started to arrive in neighboring central European countries since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what Moscow calls a "special operation."

(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 02: U.S. President Joe Biden, with ashes on his forehead in honor of Ash Wednesday, speaks to reporters before boarding Marine One with First Lady Jill Biden on the South Lawn of the White House on March 02, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Bidens are spending the day in Superior, Wisconsin, with cabinet members where they will give remarks on the bipartisan infrastructure legislation.

President Joe Biden, the nation's second Roman Catholic president marked the first day of Lent on Wednesday with ashes on his forehead in the sign of a cross, and with a mention that he'd give up something cherished for Lent.

Biden told reporters he had given up ice cream  a known favorite  and other sweets.

The president, who turns 80 this year, observed Ash Wednesday at the White House before jetting off to the Midwest. A frequent churchgoer, he also observed Ash Wednesday last year as president.

Midwest trip: Biden touts infrastructure in Wisconsin a day after his State of the Union address

And in 2010, when Biden was vice president, a British TV host mistook his forehead ashes as a bruise.

John F. Kennedy was America's first Catholic president.

On Wednesday, Biden prayed for Ukraine as he received ashes, endorsing Pope Francis call for fasting and prayer to seek Gods intervention to stop Russias invasion of Ukraine.

I think hes right," Biden told reporters. "I was with the cardinal this morning. He came over and he gave me ashes. We both prayed for that, for the people of Ukraine."

The Associated Press contributed.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Biden marks Ash Wednesday, gives up ice cream for Lent
The Biden administration vowed Wednesday to do anything in its power to counter the state of Texas investigations into cases of parents and doctors who enable gender transition surgeries and hormone treatment for children.

In response to Texas initiative, the Department of Homeland security released guidance for state child welfare agencies, guidance on patient privacy, and encouraged parties who believe theyve been discriminated against on the basis of gender identity to file a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights.

In its statement condemning Texas action, which comes on the heels of Governor Greg Abbotts official characterization of transgender surgeries as child abuse, the Biden administration called it a cynical and dangerous campaign targeting transgender children and their parents and government overreach at its worst.

Its retaliatory efforts, the White House noted, will make clear that rather than weaponizing child protective services against loving families, child welfare agencies should instead expand access to gender-affirming care for transgender children.

At the heart of the Biden administrations complaint is a recent Abbott order that directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to probe doctors and parents who enable hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and sex reassignment procedures for children. Abbott had warned that such procedures can cause irreversible damage to children who undergo them, including sterilization, mastectomies, removals of otherwise health body parts, and administration of puberty-blocking drugs or supraphysiologic doses of testosterone or estrogen.

Texas law imposes reporting requirements upon all licensed professionals who have direct contact with children who may be subject to such abuse, including doctors, nurses, and teachers, and provides criminal penalties for failure to report such child abuse, Abbott confirmed last month.

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union and its Texas chapter sued the DFPS seeking to block the agencys investigations on the grounds that Abbotts order violated state law, exceeded his constitutional authority, and infringed on the rights of transgender youth and their parents.

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A Texas judge granted the plaintiffs in the case a limited temporary restraining order on Wednesday stopping the DFPS from investigating the parents of a 16-year-old transgender teen, as well as a licensed psychologist, for alleged child abuse. The lawsuit was brought by the teens mother, who works at the Texas DFPS, and the psychologist, who has objected to the reporting requirement, arguing that it will force her into compromising her confidential relationship with clients.

More from National Review
A growing bipartisan group of lawmakers released legislation on Thursday that would block imports of Russian oil despite President Joe Biden's opposition to cutting off the shipments, setting up a potential standoff over how to ratchet up punishments against Moscow for its war on Ukraine.

Lead co-sponsors Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said they would take the blame for a jump in gasoline prices that would likely follow a move to restrict supply from Russia, one of the world's top energy producers.

If there was a poll being taken and they said, Joe, would you pay 10 cents more per gallon to support the people of Ukraine and stop the support of Russia? I would gladly pay 10 cents more per gallon, Manchin said at a press conference.

Manchin knocked the White House for opposing the halt on imports of Russian oil based on fears it would further raise pump prices. Crude oil prices touched their highest level since 2008 early on Thursday, and the average retail gasoline price jumped 7 cents overnight to $3.73 a gallon, up $1 from a year ago.

They are so wrong, Manchin said, calling White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki irresponsible for reiterating that the White House doesnt back a ban on Russian oil.

At Thursday's White House briefing, Psaki told reporters that we dont have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy, and that would raise prices at the gas pump for the American people.

Despite the continued White House resistance to a U.S. oil embargo, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said this morning that she backs the growing push to ban Russian oil.

"Im all for that. Ban it, Pelosi said.



It was a notable endorsement from a party leader at a time when the price at the gas pump has become one of Democrats most visible political weaknesses. Biden and his party are battling the highest inflation levels in decades, with the midterm election just eight months away.

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Manchin and Murkowskis bipartisan effort is gaining momentum and stands apart from other partisan bills targeting different aspects of Russian energy. Their bill has a total of 18 co-sponsors, nine from each party, ranging from liberal Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) to GOP hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Graham said Thursday that targeting Russian energy would do more to deter President Vladimir Putin than any single thing I can think of given his regime's dependence on oil and gas revenues.

What I hope will happen over time is the world will follow our lead, Graham said. If you hit him in the oil and gas sector of his economy, he will fail.

Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) have introduced a matching House version of the bill.

Bill supporters noted that even as they hope other countries will introduce their own bans, the U.S. prohibition would only affect a small slice of the global energy market. U.S. imports of Russian crude and petroleum products dropped sharply over the course of last year as the industry shifted to other sources amid rising tensions in Europe. December's import total of 405,000 barrels per day was about half the volume recorded in August, according to the DOE's Energy Information Administration.

Europe relies much more heavily on Russias supply, purchasing more than 2.5 million barrels per day, or about half the country's exports. The EU also gets nearly 40 percent of its gas from Russia. It is not considering stopping those shipments.

It needs to be reinforced that our legislation is not a global ban on Russian oil and gas, Murkowski said.

Still, the tightening financial sanctions on Moscow were taking their toll on Russian oil shipments, with traders around the globe declining to take delivery. Prices for at least one type of Russian oil were quoted at $27 a barrel below prevailing crude oil prices.

The market is shrinking, Manchin added. "There are very few people buying Russian production. We are not disrupting the world distribution.

Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.
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
MEDYKA, on the Ukraine-Poland border  For the second time in less than a decade, Europe is on the front lines of a major refugee crisis and facing chaotic scenes of dislocation, impassable crowds, overflowing trains and a seemingly endless supply of vulnerable and exhausted women, children and older adults carrying all they can to temporary destinations and unknown futures.

"Bombs, bombs, bombs" is how 6-year-old Damir Khrdsova, newly arrived in Poland, described his five-day journey by car from southeastern Ukraine. One bridge he crossed was destroyed 10 minutes after his grandparents crossed it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, which began a week ago, has unleashed this nightmarish moment in a country that only a few weeks ago was largely shrugging off the likelihood of a full-scale assault by Moscow.

Now, as Russian paratroopers lay siege to Ukraine's cities, air-raid sirens sound day and night and Putin's shelling and bombing attacks in civilian areas seem poised to intensify, more than 1 million Ukrainians and other nationals have fled to neighboring countries such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The UNHCR has warned the situation may become Europe's largest refugee crisis this century, surpassing the 1.3 million people who traveled to the continent to request asylum in 2015 as conflicts raged in the Middle East.

Then, like now, the personal stories of those fleeing are filled with anguish: Families torn apart. Daughters having to choose between saving their parents or their own children. Kids clutching blankets and teddy bears and wearing expressions that suggest they aren't sure if they're on their way to the park or a destination half a world away.

"I really don't know what we're going to do now. We have little money and no place to stay," Viktoria Bondareva, 31, said Wednesday, minutes after she stepped off a train in Przemysl, a small city in eastern Poland that has become a kind of staging post for those fleeing fighting that is now raging in Ukraine's north, east and south.

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Traveling with Bondareva was her daughter, 3, and son, 9. The 3-year-old's Peppa Pig-themed backpack was mostly filled with food. There was little time to grab clothes when they left Nikopol, about 375 miles southeast of Kyiv. They evacuated as fighting erupted a few days ago on Nikopol's outskirts. The kids' father stayed behind to help defend the city.

IS PUTIN COMMITTING WAR CRIMES?: Likely, but calling him out is unlikely to stop him, observers say

Przemysl train station, which serves a population of about 60,000, was awash with confused, tired and anxious arrivals from all corners of Ukraine.

Mothers and children slept on cots, clinging to each other, while other children played. Some women could be seen crying as they rushed back and forth along the main platform or shuffled among waiting rooms.

Many arrivals were greeted by volunteers from aid organizations who gave out bags of bread and ladled mushroom soup into small bowls. Some travelers carried small dogs wrapped in blankets or zipped up into their coats.

Look at my juice! I have two juices! a 5-year-old boy named Nic exclaimed to his father, who declined to give the familys surname out of concern for their safety.

Oleksii, the boy's father, is a financier who fled Ukraine's capital Tuesday with his wife, Nic and their two other children, ages 6 and 13. Before leaving, they sheltered in the bathroom of their home on the outskirts of the city, as they saw the fire and flare from rockets fly right over them.

After settling his wife and children with Ukrainian friends who live in Poland, Oleksii intends to return to Kyiv to help the Ukrainian resistance. He has no military training but plans to help the war effort other ways.

RUSSIA BOGGED DOWN: Poor planning, low troop morale and a fierce Ukrainian resistance has slowed Russian invasion

Olena Lozhechnikova, 44, had to choose between her mother and daughter.

"I had to leave my mother behind," she said tearing up as she reflected on her wrenching decision. Her 74-year-old mother stayed behind in Kryvyi Rih in southern Ukraine.

Lozhechnikova's daughter Ksenia is 11. She stared off into the distance and sucked on a lollipop as her mother spoke with USA TODAY. Her mother said Ksenia had been crying because of all the upheaval, and she herself couldn't think straight, didn't know what would happen to the apartment she left behind and had no idea what they would do next.

Late Wednesday, illustrating the chaos, there was a brief panic as Polish police initially said a baby and a 4-year-old who had just arrived in Ukraine had gone missing at Przemysl train station, halting all trains. It turned out to be a false alarm.

A customs agent helps Anatoly Scherbak after crossing into Medyka, Poland from Ukraine, Wednesday March 2, 2022.

'I am in Poland now but my mind is back home'

By the end of 2016, more than 5 million refugees and economic migrants reached European shores after undertaking perilous journeys from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries fragmented by war and persecution, according to the UNHCR.

Many linger in camps in Turkey. Others were absorbed into European economies and beyond. Some died along the way or were returned, either forcibly or on their own accord. Then, countries such as Poland and Hungary, whose governments have won support through anti-immigration policies, were among those nations most resistant to opening their borders to refugees from war zones in predominantly Muslim-majority countries.

A NEW EUROPE?: Some countries wanted to stay neutral: How Russia's invasion has quickly reshaped Europe

One family from Afghanistan who had been seeking asylum in Ukraine following the August takeover by the Taliban was forced to flee that adopted homeland when Russia's invasion began. They were denied entry into Poland at the border several times over the past few days, despite assurances from Polish authorities that people fleeing Ukraine would be let in, no matter where they are from. They got in Wednesday on the third try.

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine has intensified, what started as a trickle of Ukrainian refugees grew to a steady stream and now risks turning into a flood. The U.N. has appealed for $2 billion for a relief operation that it estimates could see 4 million or more Ukrainians pour into neighboring countries in eastern Europe.

"In the cities and streets of Ukraine today, innocent civilians are bearing witness to our Age of Impunity," said David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee aid organization.

"The fact that 1 million refugees have already been forced to flee is a grim testament to barbaric military tactics taking aim at homes and hospitals.

"It's very painful for all Ukrainians to understand what is happening right now," said Violeta Khrdsova, 30, who son Damir told USA TODAY about the "bombs" he saw on his escape ride from Ukraine. "Physically I am in Poland now but my mind is back home."

'I can't hide behind the children and my wife'

Inside Ukraine there have been reports of desperate scenes at train stations as large crowds try to force their way onto trains leaving the country. Fathers wiping away tears as they say goodbye to small children they are not sure they will ever see again. Long lines of cars have formed on Ukraine's side of the border, with wait times in freezing weather varying from several hours to three days, according to border guards.

At the main border crossing between Poland and Ukraine on Wednesday, the atmosphere was somewhat low-key. Volunteers handed out sandwiches. A motley crew of lesser-known humanitarian aid organizations huddled in tents where they collected clothes and shoes.

One Polish man carried a tray of hot coffees to cars waiting in line to get into Ukraine. Sitting nearby in his black sedan, Maksym Loukianetz, a Ukrainian living in Poland, was heading home to fight after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week called for men from his country and around Europe to join the Ukrainian army.

"See, what has been going on? Who will defend the country? he said. I will. I can't hide behind the children and my wife. I have to go."

Elsewhere, piles of trash with discarded food and blankets lined the ditch along the road. Polish volunteers began picking it up and putting it into trash bags. One entrepreneur, thinking he spotted a gap in the market, was selling dog and cat food.

Guards milled about. Assembled media stood around filming the horizon, themselves and the handful of people who crossed the border on foot into Poland over a period of about three hours.

Olga and Anatoly Scherbak, an elderly couple, were among those making the journey.

Olga, a 75-year-old college music teacher, was more talkative than her husband. He worked for years at the International Red Cross in Kyiv. Amid the Russian assault, he called his old employer, reintroduced himself, and asked if the group could help the couple evacuate.

Five minutes later, Olga said, they were rolling toward the border in a bus, on their way to live with a son in Estonia.

How did they feel about leaving everything behind?

"What can we feel?" she said. "We have lived in Kyiv all our lives."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harrowing stories of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russian invasion
Jacque Mena comforts her five-year-old daughter Dahiana as she receives her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Esperanza Health Centers medical clinic in the 4700 block of South California Avenue, March 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

First, many called it simply the coronavirus, then COVID or COVID-19.

Now, we are keeping track of descriptors like alpha, beta and gamma, the variants of COVID-19. The World Health Organization created this Greek naming system to make them easier to publicly discuss.

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The Illinois Department of Public Health lists COVID-19 variants of concern. Their recent data from Feb. 27 shows omicron has steadily taken over delta as the most common variant, making up 100% of tracked cases in Illinois by the end of February. As of December 2021, the health department no longer includes alpha, beta and gamma in their variants of concern data.

Viruses are constantly changing through mutation, which results in new variants, something scientists expect to monitor.

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The state health department notes that scientists are still working to learn more about the characteristics of these variants, such as whether they could cause more severe illness and how vaccines might protect against them.

[ Illinois follows CDC recommendation that people wear masks indoors in coronavirus hot spots  which right now doesnt include most of Chicago area ]

The variants listed by IDPH seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, according to the health department, which may lead to more cases of the virus.

A woman in personal protective equipment prepares to administer a COVID-19 test in Denver, Colorado, on June 4, 2021. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does have a category for variants of high consequence, which it categorizes as demonstrated failure of diagnostics and a significant reduction in vaccine effectiveness or disproportionately high number of breakthrough cases. So far, no variant has reached this level.

[ Illinois coronavirus graphs: Daily data updates on COVID-19 deaths, cases and tests ]

Still unknown is how widely the variants have spread, and how disease symptoms might differ with these new variants.

You can monitor the World Health Organizations regularly updated list of variants here.

Below, weve collected information on what you should know, listing each variant by its Greek name.

Alpha

First identified in the United Kingdom, and later found in the U.S. in December 2020, alpha is considered a variant of concern by the CDC, which noted it might have increased severity based on hospitalization and fatality rates.

Beta

First identified in South Africa, this was detected in the U.S. at the end of January 2021. This was also considered a variant of concern by the CDC.

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Delta

First noted in India before being detected in the U.S. in March 2021, the CDC noted this previous variant of concerns increased transmissibility.

Delta plus

Whats been referred to as delta plus has been reportedly detected in South Korea, India and the United States, and some believe it may be more transmissible than the original delta variant. Also known as AY.1, it was included under the World Health Organizations list of variants of concern.

Gamma

Brazil was the first place this was detected, and it has also been recorded in Japan. The CDC considered the gamma a variant of concern; it was first detected in the U.S. in January 2021.

Epsilon

The CDC listed the Epsilon variant, which includes multiple mutations, as a variant of interest.

Eta

The World Health Organization and CDC defined this as a variant of interest and noted it has been documented in multiple countries.

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Iota

The WHO and CDC considered this a variant of interest. It was documented earliest in the U.S.; according to the CDC, the first detection was in New York.

Kappa

This was also a variant of interest according to the WHO and CDC, with its earliest documentation in India in October 2020.

Lambda

Initially spreading in Peru in December 2020, the lambda variant has so far been found in states including Texas and South Carolina. It is considered a variant of interest by the World Health Organization.

Mu

Initially documented in Colombia in January 2021, the World Health Organization added this as a variant of interest on Aug. 30. The agency wrote in this report that Mu has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape.

Omicron

Omicron was classified as a variant of concern on Nov. 30, 2021, in the U.S., based on the detection of cases in multiple countries and transmission and replacement of the delta variant in South Africa. It is now the dominant strain in the U.S. and in Illinois. Heres what to know about the subvariant some people have referred to as stealth omicron.

abowen@chicagotribune.com
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is not being held back from imposing sanctions on individuals in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday, in response to reports that London was struggling with legal demands.

"We're not being held back from introducing sanctions, in fact we've introduced the largest ever package of economic sanctions ever placed on a G20 country. We've gone further and faster than we've ever gone before," he told reporters.

"Of course ... we keep under constant review whether or not we can do more to allow us to go even faster," he said, adding that for sanctions on individuals, the government had to make sure they had a solid legal case before imposing them.

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill and Elizabeth Piper; editing by William James)
Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote California's three large pension systems Monday in asking them to impose sanctions on further Russian investments in the state. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants California to join other states in piling on Russia for waging war against peaceful neighbor Ukraine.

First, the fact that Newsom is following other governors into action seems strange. He always takes great pride in being first and incessantly boasts about it.

Second, in firing shots at a target as Newsom is asking and other states are already doing, theres invariably the risk of a ricochet that wounds you.

If were hurt, too, is it worth it? And how much will it injure Russia anyway?

As for not being the first, so what? Its not nearly as important or impressive as Newsom seems to think.

What were told from the start in my business is: Get it first, but first get it right. Newsom sometimes falls short on the second part.

Concerning the financial blows being thrown at Russia, its prudent to ask whether taking a swipe at bully President Vladimir Putin is liable to hurt us as much or more than the target.

We already know that worldwide economic sanctions against Russia are driving prices up at the gas pump.

But in this situation, when Ukrainian women and children are fleeing for their lives, boys are being educated in how to resist the Russian army with Molotov cocktails and grandmothers are wielding AK-47s against tanks, were morally obligated to at least use our financial might as a weapon against the enemies of freedom.

Russias brazen and lawless military assault on Ukraine demands our support for the Ukrainian people and exacting an immediate and severe cost upon the Russian government in response to its continuing aggression, Newsom wrote to Californias three large pension systems Monday in asking them to impose sanctions.

California has a unique and powerful position of influence given the states substantial global investment portfolio.

Newsom reported that CalPERS  the California Public Employees Retirement System  holds roughly $480 billion in assets. Its the largest public pension fund in the nation. The second largest is CalSTRS  the California State Teachers Retirement System. It holds $320 billion. And the University of California Retirement System has $170 billion.

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This combined amount, $970 billion, is equivalent to 60% of Russias entire gross domestic product last year, the governor wrote.

Thats nearly $1 trillion, but Im not sure how relevant it is.

As of Monday, only $1.5 billion of it was invested in various Russian stocks, real estate and private equity, Newsom said.

But on Wednesday, I was informed by Newsoms state finance department that those pension investments had plummeted in value by at least 25% in two days.

So, unlike several legislators and some governors, Newsom is advising caution and playing it safe. Hes not asking the pension systems to dump their Russian investments  to divest  at prices far below what they originally paid.

Hes merely asking that they not pour any more pension funds into Russian stuff  and restrain from succumbing to the investors temptation to buy low and later sell high. Assuming there ever is a Russian high again after how Putin has sabotaged his country.

Some buyers will actually see this as an opportunity to buy more Russian stock, says Laura Tyson, a UC Berkeley business professor, Cabinet member in the Clinton White House and co-chair of Newsoms Council of Economic Advisors. They may value profit over principle. But it would be very high risk.

Were not going to be buying, says California Chief Deputy Finance Director Gayle Miller. Were not going to put any more money into Russia at all. Thats what the governor is advising.

But were not saying, Sell what weve got at a fire sale to line the pockets of oligarchs.

That would hurt the pension funds.

Their economy is bleeding and were helping to prevent a transfusion, says finance department spokesman H.D. Palmer.

So, the governor isnt suggesting traditional divestment, as some legislators and other governors have.

Legislators  presumably without thinking very deeply  plan to push a divestment bill. It would require the pension funds to unload their Russian holdings at a big loss.

State Controller Betty Yee opposes that idea.

Unrealistic calls for immediate divestment will not divorce us from our fiduciary duty to protect the retirement income security of California state employees and teachers, she said in a statement.

Divestment is one particular form of sanction, Tyson says. The evidence over time suggests its not a very effective sanction. Its more of an expression against a country. But the economic penalty is not as effective as all the things were doing in this nation and many others.

California had one successful experience with divestment in the 1980s, led by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian. Torn by South African apartheid and its violence, he joined Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown in enacting divestiture legislation that helped bring down the bigoted white regime.

California is signaling to the government of South Africa, and indeed to the world itself, that a great and free people are not going to fall silent to racism and brutal oppression, Deukmejian said in signing the bill.

Miller was 10 in 1984 when her family left South Africa and settled in Irvine. They were active in the anti-apartheid movement.

My parents sewed gold coins into their coats to get money out of the country, she recalls. There was no other way.

Newsom wants California  home to the worlds fifth-largest economy  to join President Biden and the rest of the free world in cutting off the flow of money to brute Russia.

He wasnt the first this time, but he got it right.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The sometimes wretched state of American nursing home care grabbed the national spotlight in 2020 when COVID-19 swept through facilities across the country, starting with the Seattle nursing home where nearly 40 people died and many more became seriously ill.

Now President Joe Biden is proposing to act. And hes not waiting for Congress to give its approval.

During Tuesday nights State of the Union address, Biden formally announced a new initiative to regulate nursing homes more aggressively. The main goals are to make sure all facilities have enough staff and to shore up the care workforce while publicizing more information about nursing home operations and finances  something that, Biden says, is essential at a time when investors are acquiring so many facilities.

As Wall Street firms take over more nursing homes, quality in those homes has gone down and costs have gone up, Biden said Tuesday. That ends on my watch.

The initiative hasnt gotten a ton of attention outside of the trade media for health care, which isnt surprising given everything else in the news and the fact that discussion of Bidens domestic agenda continues to focus mostly on Democratic efforts to pass components of their Build Back Better agenda.

It is ... the most important set of changes proposed in nursing home care since the 1987 nursing home law.Toby Edelman, Center for Medicare Advocacy

But with those initiatives languishing, as leaders negotiate with holdout Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) over a possible deal, regulatory action offers a surer way forward. And though there is only so much that Biden can accomplish on his own, experts and advocates who follow the nursing home industry say his initiative could offer the most far-reaching reforms of nursing homes in decades, going back to a landmark Ronald Reagan-era law that created the first national standards for care.

It is, without question, the most important set of changes proposed in nursing home care since the 1987 nursing home law, Toby Edelman, senior attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, told HuffPost.

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Why Advocates Are Thrilled

Its not hard to see why these advocates are so enthusiastic. The pandemic exposed problems they have been screaming about for decades, such as high rates of bed sores and infections, not to mention reports of neglect and abuse.

Sometimes those calls led to action  as they did in 2015, when the Obama administration announced it would be stepping up oversight of nursing homes through a combination of stricter safety requirements, more frequent inspections and more training for workers. But the Trump administration reversed many of those changes and cut back on penalties as part of its broader agenda to reduce regulations affecting the health care industry.

One provision of Bidens agenda seeks to restore the Obama-era enforcement reforms. Another swath of Bidens proposals would require the gathering and publication of more information about exactly who owns and manages nursing homes and how they manage their finances.

We cannot meet additional staffing requirements ... when we dont have the resources to compete against other employers.Mark Parkinson, American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living

A primary target of these transparency efforts are the private equity firms whose stake in the nursing home business increased from $5 billion in 2000 to $100 billion in 2018, according to an analysis from the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Advocates worry that the equity firms and other for-profit owners are underfunding care in order to line their pockets, given academicstudieslinking for-profit status to poor quality and investigative articlesspotlightingpoor care and safety lapses at such facilities.

But proving the relationship between profits and care is difficult without detailed financial information, and that information is hard to get because owners have gotten adept at disguising their transactions and management through layers of corporate intermediaries. Simply making that information more widely available could make a big difference, according to advocates like Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long-Term Care Community Coalition.

You have a much more sophisticated corporate environment than you did 35 years ago, Mollot told HuffPost. There are forensic accountants and attorneys who have spent a lot of time connecting the dots here and there, but we dont have a national system in place to really know whats going on.

Why Advocates Are Especially Happy About Staff Ratios

A promise to improve staffing levels may be the most concrete and consequential part of Bidens plan.

Research has repeatedly linked lower staffing levels to substandard care, although all it takes to grasp the relationship is a visit to a facility where harried workers are shuttling among needy residents. Under those conditions, its difficult if not impossible for staff to keep up with recommended routines  including hand washing, which, in a nursing home environment, can dramatically increase the spread of disease.

The list of domestic policy plans President Joe Biden touted in Tuesday's State of the Union address included a major new initiative to improve the quality of care in nursing homes. (Photo: Saul Loeb/Pool via Getty Images)

Thats a big problem in normal times and an even bigger one during a pandemic, which is why one 2020 study of Connecticut nursing homes found that facilities with fewer employees had higher rates of death from COVID-19.

Especially at a time of increasing acuity, with residents getting needier and needier, facilities are not sufficiently staffed, and the pandemic has only magnified that, David Grabowski, professor of health policy at Harvard Medical School, told HuffPost.

Two decades ago, a federally commissioned study of nursing homes recommended setting minimum staff requirements that would mean, roughly speaking, that every resident got at least four hours of individualized attention from qualified staffers per day. The federal government never acted on it, andresearch from the Long-Term Care Community Coalition suggests that roughly three-quarters of nursing homes wouldnt hit that threshold today.

You have a much more sophisticated corporate environment than you did 35 years ago.Richard Mollot, Long-Term Care Community Coalition.

Under Bidens plan, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would have one year to reexamine the issue and then create a staffing requirement, as some states have since done on their own. Although Biden has not specified what the standard will be, advocates and researchers noted that the language of the initiative the White House published in advance of the State of the Union address is stronger than a similarly designed legislative proposal that appeared in several versions of the Build Back Better legislation.

This looks like an attempt to do through regulation what they may not be able to get done through legislation, and it seems to go a bit farther, too, MaryBeth Musumeci, a long-term care expert at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, told HuffPost.

Why The Nursing Home Industry Isnt Thrilled At All

To meet a new staffing requirement, nursing homes would have to spend more money on wages for their workers, especially now that they are competing for labor with retailers, restaurants and other employers offering even higher pay. The national trade group representing long-term care facilities says that would be a big problem because facilities are already maxed out and dont have enough money to cover extra expenses.

We would love to hire more nurses and nurse aides to support the increasing needs of our residents, Mark Parkinson, president of the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, said in a written response to the Biden proposal. However, we cannot meet additional staffing requirements when we cant find people to fill the open positions nor when we dont have the resources to compete against other employers.

Nursing home operators are also wary of more regulations that mean new steps to show compliance, whether its filling out forms or taking time to chaperone inspectors. Operators say many of those rules dont actually lead to better quality care.

Facilities are not sufficiently staffed, and the pandemic has only magnified that.David Grabowski, Harvard Medical School

Some advocates and researchers are skeptical of industry arguments. They say theres already plenty of money sloshing around in the system and that many facilities could easily afford higher wages if only they didnt have owners extracting as much profit.

Others think the industry arguments about underfunding have more merit, pointing to the notoriously low payments from Medicaid, the joint federal-state program that is the primary funder of nursing home care in the U.S. They agree that regulations can force operators to devote more of their revenue to cover wages, but they think ultimately it would take a substantial increase in federal funding to pay for the kind of high-quality care most Americans would want for themselves or their loved ones.

One place where the two camps agree is on the importance of what happens next. So far, the agenda is simply a set of promises that the White House distributed electronically. As administration officials translate those proposals into actual regulations and rules, they will come under pressure from industry lobbyists to keep the new standards weak.

Historically, those lobbyists have won more battles than theyve lost, thanks in part to the many lawmakers and officials with whom they have influence. But with such a clear and prominent call to action by the president and the still-increasing tally of 200,000 COVID deaths in long-term care facilities, the chances of meaningful action would seem to be as strong as theyve been in a long while.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
The yacht 'Graceful' of Russian President Vladimir Putin is moored at the port of Sochi, Russia, 13 July 2015. Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images

Bipartisan lawmakers are gearing up to introduce a bill to seize Russian elites' assets, including yachts.

The "Yachts for Ukraine" Act would sell off those assets and use the cash to provide aid to Ukraine.

Legislators on both sides of the aisle told Insider they'd support the measure.

Lawmakers are gearing up to introduce a new bill that would seize Russian elites' yachts and assets, further intensifying the US' economic sanctions on Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.

The "Yachts for Ukraine" Act would permit authorities to seize any property held by Russian elites in the US that is valued above $5 million. That includes bank accounts, real estate, and the superyachts that have become synonymous with Russia's billionaire class.

The bill, which is led by Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski of New Jersey and Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, would also allow the US to sell the seized assets and use the cash to aid Ukraine. Funds from such sales could be used on post-conflict reconstruction in Ukraine, humanitarian support, weapons for Ukraine's armed forces, provisions for refugees, and technology goods. Cash could also be diverted to humanitarian assistance for Russians, "including democracy and human rights programming and monitoring," according to the bill.

Authority provided by the bill would last for two years after its passage, giving President Joe Biden prolonged power over Russian oligarchs parking their wealth in the US.

The idea could gain further bipartisan traction in Congress. Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington said she was "absolutely" on board.

"I just think it's important to allow for them to feel the consequence and the cost of what Vladimir Putin has done with violent aggression in Ukraine," Jayapal, chair of the House Progressive Caucus, told Insider.

"I think it's a good idea to seize assets of those close to Putin," Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio told Insider. "Other countries are doing it, including Germany yesterday. If Germany is doing it, that must mean everybody is doing it."

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Western countries have been piling sanctions on Russia

Western sanctions have been growing increasingly intense, causing the value of Russia's ruble to plummet and setting the country up for a potential recession within months. President Vladimir Putin himself has been directly sanctioned by the US, EU, and UK  a more symbolic condemnation.

Some of those sanctions have indeed reportedly targeted yachts. Forbes reported that Germany seized a $600 million mega-yacht belonging to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov. Other yachts belonging to Russian billionaires have sailed to smoother waters, with at least five either traveling around or parked in the Maldives  which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US  according to Reuters.

At least 10 Russian oligarchs have been targeted by US sanctions, and the EU has also sanctioned some oligarchs and businessmen. Some of the oligarchs in the EU's crosshairs have pushed back, with businessman Mikhail Fridman telling Reuters that "sanctions are groundless and unfair."

These Russian-owned yachts must be in the US' territorial waters in order for the US to seize them, Benjamin Maltby, partner at UK-based Keystone Law who specializes in superyacht and luxury asset law, told Insider. But considering that the White House already forewarned of these sanctions in a Tweet last week, he said that Russian owners could try to make a run for Russia itself.

Consider those who have already traveled to the Seychelles and Maldives. "Safe spaces are going to be few and far between," Maltby said. He thinks these small island nations may not to want be seen colluding with Russian oligarchs to defeat sanctions and could choose to take action following the US' sanctions.

Biden hinted at the US's seizure plans during his first formal State of the Union address on Tuesday. The president said the US would join much of Europe in wresting control of Russian yachts, luxury apartments, and private jets.

"We are coming for your ill-begotten gains," he added in comments directed at Russian oligarchs.

Other measures aim to weaken Russia's ability to finance its invasion. The US and European allies on Monday cut Russia's central bank off from accessing foreign-denominated reserves, essentially freezing some $630 billion in Russian funds held internationally. The move also forces Putin and the Kremlin to find new partners for bolstering the ruble's value.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Mar. 2A Maine Department of Health and Human Services call center in Wilton will stay where it is for another year after local lawmakers lobbied against consolidating the jobs to a location an hour away, according to emails.

Health Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew told staff the lease on the Wilton building where roughly 45 employees work would continue based on the landlord's commitment to fixing problems with the space. Issues include repairing security doors and fixing ventilation in the building.

The development is a victory for the Franklin County legislative delegation, which has been communicating with Gov. Janet Mills' administration about how a planned move to bring the jobs to Lewiston would burden employees with a long commute. The closure plans were aired publicly last month.

The center opened in 2019 shortly after Barclays left the region, taking 200 jobs with it. Sen. Russell Black, R-Wilton, Rep. Randall Hall, R-Wilton and Rep. Scott Landry, D-Farmington were informed of the development on Wednesday, according to emails.

"This decision reflects the Administration's goal of continuing to support the economy in rural Maine as well as its commitment to providing safe, sufficient workspace for its workers," Lambrew said in an email.

Not all jobs may remain at the center during the pandemic. Lambrew told staff a "handful" of vacant positions at the center will move to Lewiston due to crowding concerns. The department will evaluate whether to continue the lease in the same location next year.

Lambrew thanked employees for their work last week, noting the call center's original mission of answering questions about expanded Medicaid also grew to conduct contact tracing and case notification during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The news was cheered by members of both parties. Black, who prepared legislation aiming to block the closure, said it was an example of the state's willingness to protect rural workers.

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Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford and Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, thanked the department for moving swiftly on the issue, saying Black's bill to keep the center open  which Jackson moved to table last week after a dispute with the Republican senator  would have taken longer and caused grief for employees.

The real credit should go to state employees who advocated for each other, said Jeff McCabe, a former House majority leader who is now a spokesperson for the state employees' union.

"We saw members become leaders and take collective action in their own hands to save jobs," he said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story gave Jeff McCabe an incorrect position.
(Reuters) - Credit Suisse has named Saad Rawra as its head of clean-energy technology banking and Canadian head of diversified industries group to help drive the Swiss bank's growing global energy tech franchise, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

Rawra will be based in Toronto and report to Credit Suisse Canada CEO Ron Lloyd and Robert Santangelo, the co-head of global energy and infrastructure banking. Rawra returns to the Swiss bank after spending the past three years with National Bank Financial as the head of cleantech, the memo said.

In his new role, Rawra will be responsible for advancing Credit Suisse's Canadian platform to help drive its "rapidly growing Global Energy Tech franchise," according to the memo.

He has worked on deals including Brookfield's $4.6 billion purchase of Westinghouse and $13.2 billion buyout of Power Solutions, as well as Bombardier's sale of its Aerostructures business for $1.2 billion.

A Credit Suisse spokesperson confirmed the content of the memo.

(Reporting by Shariq Khan in Bengaluru)
Good morning, Oak Park and River Forest! I'm happy to bring you a quick guide to today's local news.

First, today's weather: Mainly cloudy and much colder. High: 32 Low: 31.

Attention, top law firms! We're now offering sponsorship opportunities for local firms interested in building lasting connections with clients in Oak Park-River Forest. Click here to learn more.

Here are the top 5 stories today in Oak Park-River Forest:

1. A CTA Green Line passenger was caught on surveillance video smashing 14 train windows with a hammer on Feb. 26, according to an Oak Park Police Department report. The vandal left more than $5,500 in damage. (OPPD)

2. Health director Theresa Chapple-McGruder was quoted in an Atlantic article Wednesday about the CDCs new COVID-19 guidelines, which she says puts the most vulnerable at higher risk. It is public healths job to protect everybody, not just those people who are vaccinated, not just those people who are healthy, she said. (The Atlantic)

3. The Oak Park sustainability incubator led to arguments among village board members at this weeks meeting. Stacey Sheridan of the Wednesday Journal reports tension between Village President Vicki Scaman and trustee Ravi Parakkat upstaged the actual project. (Wednesday Journal)

4. District 97 will require masks until March 17, superintendents announced this week. Masks will remain highly recommended in school buildings after that date. (D97)

5. Oak Park author Jessamine Chan appeared on the Today show plaza Wednesday morning in honor of Read Across America Day. Her best-selling novel The School for Good Mothers was Jenna Bush Hagers January pick for her national book club. (Today)

From our sponsor:

Hey Oak Park-River Forest, are you looking to buy a house, refinance or just explore your options? Check out the new Patch Mortgage Center for all your home financing needs!

Today in Oak Park-River Forest:

The Batman opens at Lake Theatre . (3 p.m.)

Learn to grow you own food with a presentation from Oak Park nonprofit Deep Roots Project . (6 p.m.)

Catch vinyl night at Beer Shop. (7 p.m.)

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From my notebook:

The Oak Park Health Department will host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic today at Cheney Mansion . Additional clinics are set for March 10 and March 15. ( VOP )

Dominican University received a $1.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to help build a network of campus ministries. ( Chicago Catholic )

Dr. Ngozi Ezike will step down March 14 after three years as head of the Illinois Department of Public Health. ( Patch )

The Oak Park Public Library is celebrating Womens History Month with virtual events, a scavenger hunt and women-centric book selections. ( OPPL )

Tickets are on sale for this weekends productions of Sister Act at OPRF and Matilda at Trinity. (OPRF/Trinity)

More from our sponsors  thanks for supporting local news!

Featured businesses:

Events:

First Saturday Evanston Art Events (March 5)

Handel Week Festival III, O Be Joyful! The Chandos Anthems (March 6)

International Womens Day Concert Extravaganza (March 8)

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Loving the Oak Park-River Forest Daily? Here are all the ways you can get more involved:

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Send me a news tip or suggestion at georgi.presecky@patch.com

Thanks for reading! 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
In an exclusive interview with Lester Holt, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says Russias invasion of Ukraine underscores the relevance of NATO. Austin says he cant confirm reports of Russian troops walking away from the fight, but calls reports of soldiers' remains being left behind disappointing and disgusting.
Its Wednesday, Chicago!

With plenty of caveats  including the somber reminder that, mask mandates or not, the pandemic isnt over  weve got a get-back-out there vibe going today.

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Maybe its because of the woes in the world that we intuitively seek out creatives and their work, which offer not only a balm, but also a chance to reflect on our own call to action during a time of unrest.

So were scanning the Tribune Food teams picks for the 2022 Food Awards. And studying the lineup for The Hideouts SXSW showcase, which makes a triumphant return this weekend after a pandemic hiatus. Were celebrating that Pam Adlons Better Things returned to the small screen, albeit for a final season, and that TimeLine Theatre Companys powerful production of Relentless will get a new downtown run on an even bigger Chicago stage.

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More on those events, plus theater, music and movie reviews below.

See you next week.

 Lisa Donovan, deputy senior editor

Kasama chefs and owners Tim Flores and Genie Kwon at their chicago restaurant on, Feb. 17, 2022. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

Whether its some of the citys best barbecue or an Asian food wonderland in the form of a food court, the Tribunes Food team wants to celebrate the best food this city has to offer, in all its forms.

Our annual Critics Choice Food Awards are back and (pardon the hubris) better than ever. But youve also got a say in awarding the best and boldest food in Chicagoland with the Tribune Readers Choice Food Awards. Nominations for your favorite new restaurants, bars, pizza and more are open through March 11, then come back to vote for the finalists starting March 16.

The Hideout bar Tuesday, March 5, 2019. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

Although the pandemic is far from over, the return of The Hideouts annual SXSW showcase this weekend is a sign that a literal and metaphorical spring looms.

The showcase, on hiatus for the past two years, has become a way to introduce local audiences to the artists who would make their journey down to the famed Texas music festival. Tribune music critic Britt Julious has more as indie rock and folk band Half Gringa and perennial Hideout favorites Jon Langford and others prepare to take the stage.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Zoe Kravitz, left, and Robert Pattinson in a scene from "The Batman." (Jonathan Olley/AP)

With the solemn, intensely realized atmosphere he brought to the recent Planet of the Apes films, director and co-writer Matt Reeves delivers a Batman reboot that includes a ticked-off Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson), a compelling Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as The Penguin, an elusive psycho-Riddler (Paul Dano) and nearly three hours of Gotham grimness and arresting cinema.

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Tribune critic Michael Phillips says its the best Batman film since Dark Knight.

Sticky date cake from Armitage Alehouse ($12.00) (Nick Kindelsperger / Chicago Tribune)

Armitage Alehouse is an escape from reality, transporting diners from Chicagos Lincoln Park to a 1926 London pub, Tribune critic Nick Kindelsperger writes.

In that way, Brendan Sodikoff has created one of the loveliest rooms in Chicago. It would be a new Chicago darling, Kindelsperger writes, if it werent for the Anglo-Indian menus more than a few misfires.

Wai Yim, Kasey Foster, John Gregorio and Christiana Clark in Mary Zimmermans "The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci" at the Goodman Theatre. (Liz Lauren )

Chicago playwright Mary Zimmermans The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, has returned to the stage.

Now on at the Goodman Theatre, it remains a remarkable piece of art, Tribune critic Chris Jones writes. He notes that Zimmerman has found a way to theatricalize the elliptical jottings of the famed Renaissance artist, a series of eccentric, first-draft musings that even the author claimed had no innate cohesion.

Pamela Adlon stars as Sam Fox, a single mom and actor in Los Angeles who is a character loosely based on herself in "Better Things." (Pamela Littky/FX)

Tribune critic Nina Metz talks to Emmy-winning actor, writer and director Pamela Adlon, whose FX series Better Things wraps this season.

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With a resume that includes voicing Bobby Hill on King of the Hill, the brash, filthy-mouthed Marcy Runkle on Californication and other roles, Adlon says shes had plenty of cringey professional moments, including early in her career when a director loudly called out her pit stains as she was shooting a scene.

Food writer and TV personality Steve Dolinsky visits Labriola in Chicago Monday June 6, 2016. This Labriola also has a Stans Donuts inside, a donut shop that the owner brought to Chicago from California. (Nancy Stone/ Chicago Tribune) (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

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Steve Dolinsky is adding a new chapter to his Chicago pizza bona fides, critic Nick Kindelsperger writes.

When hes not producing food segments, currently for NBC 5, hes been focusing most of his attention on pizza in recent years, writing Pizza City, USA and The Ultimate Chicago Pizza Guide, while running the Pizza City, USA pizza tour and hosting the Pizza City podcast. Now he can add a pizza festival to his resume with a two-day event this summer.

Barbara Gaines, here in Sept. 2015, is the founder and longtime artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater. She will step down from her position soon, likely at the end of 2022. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Barbara Gaines will exit her position as artistic director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the company she founded some 36 years ago. Her departure is the latest entry in a stunning ledger of artistic departures in Chicago theater over the past year, Tribune critic Chris Jones writes.

By the time Gaines exits, likely at the end of 2022, almost all of the major Chicago-area theaters will have new artistic leadership from the pre-pandemic era, including Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and Writers Theatre.

The Adler Planetarium down Solidarity Drive on June 18, 2020. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

After being closed for almost two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Adler Planetarium has announced plans to fully reopen Friday, following in the footsteps of various other Chicago museums and institutions.

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Jamila Woods performs at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago's Union Park on Sept. 11, 2021. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Ellie Goulding, Kali Uchis, Kim Petras, Liz Phair and Monica will be among the acts to perform at the inaugural Versa, a festival featuring music, comedians and more.

Dubbed as the biggest women-led and women-powered festival, Versa will take place at Lincoln Parks South Fields on June 11-12, Britt Julious writes for the Tribune. Read more about the performers  including one of Chicagos own.
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That didnt take long.

A South Dakota Democrat who announced plans to run for Congress on Wednesday dropped out a day later, after his old Twitter posts came to light and raised eyebrowsand then somein the prairie state.

Ryan Ryder, who planned to challenge GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson, emailed a statement announcing he was leaving the race after a single day. He apologized for the posts, which included fantasizing about creating a cartoon video of killing Johnsons family, another one wishing Jan. 6, 2021, rioters had gotten their hands on the Republican congressman, and a third alluding to his masturbating to a photo of Gov. Kristi Noem.

Its the latest bizarro setback for a state Democratic Party that has found itself in the wilderness in recent years.

On Nov. 17, 2021, Ryderwhose LinkedIn describes him as a dad and attorneytweeted a post suggesting he might create an animated video of him murdering Johnsons family.

Ryder also criticized Johnson, a Republican in his second term, for describing the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol as a dark day while also saying he would not vote to impeach President Donald Trump.

The Republican Knives Are Out for South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem

You are a complete and utter fraud, Ryder tweeted. Its too bad that the Trump rioters that you continue to support didnt get you that day.

Ryder also commented on a tweet showing Gov. Kristi Noem in a typical pose: carrying a flag while riding a horse. He criticized her spokesman, Ian Fury, for posting it, sarcastically saying it was something he could masturbate to while believing any load of crap he throws my way.

By Wednesday night, Ryder had deleted his Twitter account. But at first, South Dakota Democratic Party Executive Director Berk Ehrmantraut said the party still supported Ryder.

Ryans lifetime of service and commitment to his community speaks louder than some poorly-worded tweets, Ehrmantraut said. I expect Ryan to be the Democratic nominee for Congress.

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By Thursday afternoon, the state party had reversed itself.

The South Dakota Democratic Party has determined it is not appropriate for Mr. Ryder to continue in this race and requested that he end his candidacy, which he has agreed to, Ehrmantraut said in a statement posted on the party website

These statements from Mr. Ryder do not live up to the values of the South Dakota Democratic Party, and we do not support this type of language, said SDDP Chair Randy Seiler.

For its part, South Dakota Republican Party Chair Dan Lederman said Ryder was a contemptible candidate and the SDDP was wrong to support him in the first place.

If he is going to run for office, Ryder needs to figure out which of his faces hes going to be talking out of, Lederman said in a statement to Dakota News Now. The one which says he is not interested in personal attacks or mudslinging, or the one which says it was too bad rioters didnt get Dusty Johnson on January 6th.

On Thursday afternoon, Ryder dropped out and apologized for the posts.

I am withdrawing my candidacy for US House of Representatives. he said in an email to reporters.

While tweets I have made in the past were a poor attempt at sarcastic humor, I recognize that they appear to cross a line. I regret that I chose to express myself that way. I apologize specifically to the state party and anyone else for whom these tweets reflected badly.

He declined to speak to The Daily Beast when reached for comment.

Thank you, but not today, Ryder said in an email. For the moment, please rely on my email statement and the SDDP press release.

Johnsons communication director, Jasmine Kent, said the congressman had no comment.

His tweets speak for themselves, Kent told The Daily Beast.

South Dakota Democrats last won a statewide race in 2008. Noem unseated Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in 2010. When Noem left Congress after four terms to run for governor in 2018, Johnson, a former chief of staff to Gov. Dennis Daugaard and Public Utilities Commission member, ran for and won the states lone congressional seat.

South Dakota State University political science associate professor David L. Wiltse was surprised to learn of the one-day campaign and its sudden collapse.

Lets face it, South Dakota Democrats cannot put up much of a challenge to any state politician, especially one as popular as Johnson, Wiltse said. They simply have a small bench. This particular case is just gross. But it shows how farcical some of these challengers are. For this, and other matters of character, social media should harm peoples campaigns should they run. No one is immune from their past.

Wiltse said Ryders exit further revealed the firm hold the GOP has on the Mount Rushmore states politics.

South Dakota is a de facto single-party state, Wiltse said. And the out party is going to suffer for it.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is fundraising off a recent viral video depicting the Republican governor bluntly asking a group of high school students to take off their masks ahead of a public event, which drew outrage among Democrats.

In a Thursday campaign email attempting to spur donations before the truth is silenced, DeSantis blasted the corrupt and biased legacy media for chastising him over his claims that masks are political theater. The DeSantis campaign also created a hype video over his controversial brief scolding of high school students that slams Democrats like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Stacey Abrams for going maskless at public events.

While in Tampa, I told a group of students masks were ridiculous, and they didnt have to wear them if they didnt want to, the email reads. Predictably, the leftist propagandists in our media had a meltdown and called me a bully for allowing children to breathe fresh air.

DeSantis, who is running for reelection this November against a field of Democratic challengers, has been a leading voice against Covid-19 restrictions and mandates for masks, vaccinations and vaccine passports. The Republican governor outlawed Floridas schools from passing local mask mandates for students, sparking a protracted battle with some of the states largest school districts and the Biden administration over the issue.



DeSantis supporters praised him for speaking out against masking students, something that has been a flashpoint issue for schools in Florida and beyond, while Democrats try to paint him as a callous leader for how he addressed the Tampa students at a press conference on Wednesday.

Ron doesnt realize its not about the masks, its about him being an asshole, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat vying to become governor, wrote in a tweet.

DeSantis, though, defended his actions by pointing to recent events with Democrats, this weeks State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Lets not forget that just 36 hours ago, Joe Biden and the radical Democrat hypocrites were parading around the Capitol without masks, and without so much as a peep from the corporate press, but suddenly permitting children to unmask is unacceptable, the campaign email reads.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misspelled Stacey Abrams' first name.
Joey King and her beau Steven Piet just took their relationship to the next level when they got engaged (!) on February 2, 2022.

The news came after the couple took a romantic vacation to the waterfalls of Costa Rica and of course, Joey and Steven both posted sentimental messages on Instagram to commemorate and announce their engagement.

The Kissing Booth star shared a carousel of photos with her fiance as well as a close-up shot of her gorgeous oval-shaped ring.

Joey King and her beau Steven Piet just took their relationship to the next level when they got engaged (!) on February 2, 2022. The news came after the couple took a romantic vacation to the waterfalls of Costa Rica and of course, Joey and Steven both posted sentimental messages on Instagram to commemorate and announce their engagement. The Kissing Booth star shared a carousel of photos with her fiance as well as a close-up shot of her gorgeous oval-shaped ring.

"I never knew happiness could be so powerful that it can take the air from your lungs, overwhelming every part of you that you cant help but feel your eyes well from the undeniable joy. I never knew that a person's presence and heart could feel like a real home. I never knew love could be so unquestionably beautiful. I never knew until you," the 22-year-old actress wrote in her caption. "The date was 2/2/22 when you asked me to marry you and made me the luckiest lady alive. I love you more than an Instagram caption could ever do justice. Hanging out with you forever sounds like a real dream, so let's do it."

Steven also made his own Instagram post where he echoed her sentiments in his caption. "The weather was less than perfect. Cold. Windy. Perfectly imperfect to ask my best friend to spend a lifetime together. A lifetime of incredibly safe and vulnerable conversations. Holding hands on silent cab rides home, exhausted from great food and red wine. And oh, the laughter. The uncontrollable laughter. You've unlocked a dimension of love in me that I never knew existed," he wrote. Might I add that he picked a *perfectly* unique ring for his bride-to-be? Because he truly nailed it.



According to a report by Us Weekly, Joey's ring was designed by Brooklyn-based jewelry company Mociun. Joey's ring appears to be a custom design as it isn't included in Mociun's selections on their website, which has prices ranging from $1,465 to $94,100. While the couple hasn't made any official statements about the price of Joey's exact ring, jewelry designer Mark Broumand exclusively told Seventeen how elements of the elegant design factor into the cost. He estimates that Joey's custom design would cost around $120,000.

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"Joeys ring appears to feature a super elongated oval cut diamond, sometimes referred to as a 'moval' as it combines the long ratio of a marquise cut diamond and the rounded edges of an oval. It looks to be approximately 3 carats facing horizontally. It is set in a split shank design with a larger epaulette cut diamond and numerous baguette cut diamonds that lead down to two dark color stones," Mark told Seventeen. "This design is especially modern and edgy and one of the most creative concepts you will see. Oval-shaped diamonds with modern settings are popular with celebrities now as seen on Ariana Grande, Simone Biles, and Kourtney Kardashian."

If the ring lives up to its hype, I can't even imagine the wedding ceremony these two will have.

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CalPERS offices in Sacramento (Carl Costas / For The Times)

The reprehensible war Russia launched in Ukraine last week has quickly brought into focus the interconnectedness of our globalized economy. A cocktail sipped in Los Angeles might be mixed with Russian vodka. A fill-up at an Irvine gas pump could hand money to a Russian oil company. A monthly pension check for a retired firefighter in Riverside may include dividends from investments in Russian companies.

Vladimir Putins unprovoked attack on a sovereign democratic nation has many Americans considering cutting these and other economic ties to Russia. Boycotting vodka might not do much to influence Putin (j ust 1.2% of vodka imported to the U.S. comes from Russia), but we support the spirit of companies, government leaders and individuals seeking ways to use their dollars to show solidarity with Ukraine  even if some are more symbolic than substantive.

More effective and potentially more influential will be decisions that involve big money, such as the actions taken by leading oil companies BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil to dump investments in Russian oil and gas projects. The same would be true for California, the world's fifth-largest economy, in divesting from Russia.

This week Gov. Gavin Newsom and a bipartisan chorus of state lawmakers are calling for California's three major pension funds  CalPERS, CalSTRS and the University of California  to dissolve their collective $1.5 billion in investments in Russian entities. They include stock in multinational corporations, private equity and real estate investments, and debt. Other states are considering directing their public pension funds to divest from Russian holdings, but none would have the impact of California.

Russia's aggression is one of the rare cases in which there is a clear moral imperative to call for divestment. All too often, California's lawmakers have sought to use the $469-billion might of CalPERS and the state's other public pension funds to make political statements against particular issues, such as the Dakota Access pipeline or private corrections companies.

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Public pension funds have a responsibility not to support evil, corrupt or destructive forces that do more harm than good. Thats true for products, like tobacco and firearms, as well as government regimes. The decision by pension funds and U.S. companies to divest from South Africa in the late 1970s and 1980s, for example, helped raise awareness about apartheid, which in turn led to its demise.

Nevertheless, divestment is more complicated than simply withdrawing money from an account and should not be undertaken lightly. Some retirement systems hoping to divest from Russia have already found they cant sell their stocks because of disruptions to Russias central bank. Pension funds that manage to divest from Russia will probably sell at a significant loss, which has negative impacts for retirees and taxpayers.

Another potential complication is that such action against a foreign nation can make it harder for the federal government to negotiate an end to sanctions in the future. The Obama administration ran into this problem when negotiating the end of sanctions with Iran, because the federal government could not make promises on behalf of states (including California) that had divested. Though many states structured their penalties against Iran to expire when the U.S. lifted federal sanctions, others continued their economic restrictions .

But it is the right thing to do. We think that the possible complications are surmountable, and that Newsom and lawmakers can craft a thoughtful plan to divest from Russia that will not delay the federal governments negotiations toward peace, when that time comes.

The U.S. government was right to impose economic sanctions on Russia, coordinate with European allies and send Ukraine weapons and other military equipment to help it defend itself from Russian attacks. And it's understandable that all Americans would want to do what they can do to show support for Ukraine, even if it's just choosing tequila over vodka. But California can and should do more than just show moral support by yanking our dollars away from Russia.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The claims filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the Rapides Parish School Board are headed for mediation, according to an activist working on their behalf.

Norris Guillot Jr., the Alexandria native who now is a Dallas-based community and civil rights activist and equal employment opportunity advocate, attended Wednesday's monthly meeting of the Rapides Parish School Board.

Norris Guillot Jr., shown here (right) at a December 2021 Rapides Parish School Board meeting, said claims he has filed against the district with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are heading to mediation.

While Guillot didn't address the board, he said he had been notified recently that seven previous claims he filed in December 2021 on behalf of district employees were moving into mediation.

The Town Talk left a message with the school district's attorney to verify that the claims had moved to mediation but the request was not answered before the newspaper's deadline.

Guillot also said he was planning to file another EEOC complaint on behalf of another employee who previously met with the board in executive session regarding a personnel matter.

Complaints surface: Rapides School Board approves new contract for Superintendent Jeff Powell

More on complaints: Activist calls for resignations of Rapides Schools Superintendent Powell, 2 others

Additional complaint filed: White Rapides School Board employee claims discrimination by Black boss

Unfounded complaint: Investigation finds Rapides School Board member lives in correct district

The previous complaints alleged discrimination based on race, as well as retaliation. One complaint is from visually impaired employee who claims the district refused to provide necessary equipment needed to do his job.

Most of the employees are Black, but one is white. The Black employees have claimed they are being forced to work two different jobs, but only are being paid for one.

The complaint from the white employee alleges that her Black boss has made racist statements against whites in front of staff and students.

Guillot previously called for the resignations of Superintendent Jeff Powell, Finance Director Liz Domite and Human Resources Director Naomi Jones-Belvin.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Rapides School employees' EEOC claims going to mediation, activist says
STORY: With the Russian invasion of Ukraine intensifying, the number of incoming refugees have been increasing daily.

Police and volunteers now greet the trains on the platform, telling those who have no one meeting them what to do from there.

One volunteer told Reuters that thousands of Berlin residents are showing up with signs to offer people a place to stay. Many of these signs are multilingual, while others carry drawings of how many people can be hosted, to overcome any language barriers.

Volunteer groups have set up a reception area on the lower levels of the station with tables of food and supplies, a seating area, and medical provisions.

One woman who had fled Kyiv said she hoped she was finally in a safe place now, while an international student from Cameroon said he had to walk 30 miles in the freezing cold to the border because trains and buses were refusing men on board.

Along with rallying from numerous charitable organisations, German Rail has waived all ticket fees for people coming from Poland while Berlin's public transport system has said Ukrainians can travel free.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is calling for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Thursday.

"This war needs to stop now. I call for an immediate ceasefire. I call for immediate establishment of humanitarian corridors," Borrell wrote on Twitter.

Borrell added the bloc is standing by Moldova, which is hosting more than 20,000 refugee children fleeing the war.

(Reporting by Marine Strauss @StraussMarine; Editing by Alison Williams)
By Aditi Shah and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - MG Motor India, which is owned by China's SAIC Motor, plans to raise funds to develop its Indian electric mobility business, three sources told Reuters, as Chinese investments face increased scrutiny by the government in New Delhi.

MG Motor India may try to sell a stake of between 10% and 30% and is looking at options including issuing new shares or diluting SAIC's holding, one of the sources familiar with the plans said, adding that it may even create a separate unit for its electric vehicle (EV) business in India.

The company is talking to private equity funds which are increasingly interested in investing in the fast-growing electric vehicle market, two of the sources said, as countries shift their economies away from fossil fuels.

"Everyone is buying into the EV story because it gives investors an ESG bet, and MG is trying to pitch itself as an EV play," the first source told Reuters.

MG Motor India has yet to finalise how much money it plans to raise, which will depend on the valuation of the Indian business and its growth plans, the sources, who asked to remain anonymous because the talks are private.

It plans to use the funds to ramp up production, introduce new EVs and expand its charging network, the first source said.

MG Motor India declined to comment on the plans.

SAIC also declined to comment, but said it is confident that MG Motor India will break even next year.

It also said it already has a wide portfolio of new energy vehicles (NEVs), which include electric, hybrid and fuel cell cars, which MG can choose from to sell in India.

"The local government is concerned about the environment and wants to promote NEVs so our Indian company's goal is also in that direction, even to go 100% on NEVs," a representative from SAIC's public relations department told Reuters.

Despite government subsidies, sales of electric cars in India make up less than 1% of the total mainly due to the high cost of EVs and insufficient charging infrastructure.

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India's EV market is dominated by domestic carmaker Tata Motors, which raised $1 billion from TPG last year for its EV business.

Meanwhile, Tesla Inc wants New Delhi to reduce import tariffs on EVs, which are as high as 100%, so it can bring in cars for sale at an affordable level.

TRAFFIC JAM

MG Motor India's fund raising plans come as New Delhi has sought to limit investments from Beijing after a 2020 clash between soldiers from the two countries on their disputed Himalayan border.

Investment proposals worth more than $2 billion from China, including from SAIC, are awaiting Indian government approval.

SAIC said its business has not been impacted and that its investment proposal "is being processed".

MG entered India in 2019 with plans to invest about $650 million. It currently sells four models including the ZS EV, and has partnered with companies including Tata Power and Fortum, a European energy company, to set up charging stations.

It has hired an Indian law firm and a transaction adviser for the fund raising, the second source said.

Delays in raising capital from SAIC, supply chain disruptions and semiconductor shortages have prevented MG Motor India's from ramping up production, a fourth source said.

The Chinese automaker sold about 3,500 cars a month on average in India in 2021, giving it a market share of around 1%, industry data showed.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Lemonade never goes out of style. But in the alcohol world, its having a moment.

In recent years, a flurry of lemonade-flavored  and just as important, lemonade-branded beverages has emerged: Truly Lemonade hard seltzer. Bud Light Lemonade. Vizzy Lemonade. Natty Daddy Lemonade.

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This summer, two of Chicagos largest breweries will wage a particularly interesting boozy lemonade battle: Goose Islands 312 Lemonade Shandy versus Revolution Brewings Freedom Lemonade.

Freedom Lemonade was released in January, while 312 Lemonade Shandy debuted last year to strong early local returns.

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At heart, theyre both takes on lemonade beer, though via different approaches.

[ Readers Choice Food Awards: Nominate your favorite Chicago restaurants, breweries, cocktails and more ]

The starkest difference is in the base beers: 312 Lemonade Shandy is built on Goose Islands 312 Urban Wheat Ale, honoring the shandy tradition popular across much of Europe of combining beer and lemonade.

Freedom Lemonade employs the lightly sour base in Revolutions series of fruity-sour Freedom beers, which includes Freedom of Speach (peach sour ale), Freedom of Expression (strawberry rhubarb) and Freedom of Assembly (blueberry ginger).

Both beers are low alcohol  4.2% for 312 Lemonade Shandy and 4.5% for Freedom Lemonade  and meant to be bright, refreshing summer sippers.

Adding a lemon version to Revolutions Freedom series was a no brainer, Chief Strategy Officer Doug Veliky said. Employing the word lemonade offers a world of opportunity.

A lot of people might have their first Revolution sour (beer) be Freedom Lemonade because its something they understand, he said. Thats the big opportunity here: to bring people into the category with this familiar term.

Brewmaster Jim Cibak said the beer got far more tweaks than the average new Revolution brew. The trick, he said, was layering the right balance of lemon flavor, tartness, sweetness and aroma.

We wanted to really have lemon integrated into the finished product rather than make a regular lager or ale with a dosing of a little lemon at the end, Cibak said. We wanted to make it seem like a true lemonade beer.

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[ Critics Choice Food Awards: Chicagos best new restaurant, barbecue and more winners for 2022 ]

Revolution does so with three additions of lemon flavor blended into the base beer  lemon concentrate, a blend of lemon extracts (mostly for aromatics) and a lemon simple syrup for sweetness. A 12-ounce can has 170 calories and 12 grams of sugar, the brewery says.

Revolution is so bullish about Freedom Lemonade that its already envisioning extensions: mint lemonade, raspberry lemonade, an Arnold Palmer version with tea and limeade.

Lemon is just a flavor that resonates with a lot of people, Cibak said. And lemonade hearkens back to childhood. Everyone has been exposed to it at some point.

Goose Island has already begun extending 312 Lemonade Shandy, introducing 312 Lemonade Grapefruit Shandy and 312 Strawberry Lemonade Shandy this year in mixed 12-packs.

Goose Island declined to answer questions about 312 Lemonade Shandy, including the process behind it, where it is made or nutritional information.

It did, however, release a statement saying the beer is 312 Urban Wheat Ale with bright lemon flavor added. According to filings with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, it appears 312 Lemonade Shandy was initially made in Chicago at Goose Island, but is now made at an Anheuser-Busch brewery in Baldwinsville, New York.

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And which Chicago lemonade beer will reign supreme this summer?

Well, Goose Island wins on price  a 15-pack of 312 Lemonade Shandy ($12.99 at Binnys Beverage Depot) maps out to about half the cost of a six-pack of Freedom Lemonade ($9.99)  but thats no surprise. Anheuser-Busch became the nations largest brewery in part by undercutting competitors on price.

Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. >

As for the taste, I attempted a blind kitchen counter tasting that wound up not so blind. The beers look so different, it was easy to tell which was which. 312 Lemonade Shandy is hazy like a wheat beer should be; Freedom Lemonade has only a light haze.

While both are easy to drink  as a lemonade beer should be  Freedom Lemonade is the clear stand out. My wife and her mother, both drafted into tasting duty, agreed. One interesting note: My wifes mother is no beer fan. Shes a white wine drinker. But she was quite content to sip Freedom Lemonade. Not so much for 312 Lemonade Shandy.

312 Lemonade Shandy has a bright, appealing aroma, but is uneven on the palate: A too-sweet finish strays from its lemon underpinning, winding into notes of vanilla and cotton candy. Theres also a surprising lingering bitterness working against it. (312 Grapefruit Lemonade Shandy skews a bit sweet but has an authentic grapefruit flavor I enjoyed, and which mingles far better with the bitterness; its my favorite of the series. 312 Strawberry Lemonade Shandy is a cloying mess.)

Freedom Lemonade is far more refined in its construction. From a backyard cooler, its unlikely anyone  from hard seltzer drinkers to hardened India pale ale drinkers to my mother-in-law  would turn it down. It tastes like a unified whole, like something built from the ground up meant to echo actual lemonade. The lemon character is the star. The beer base sits in support.

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Freedom Lemonades aroma is earthier and more intricate than 312 Lemonade Shandy, with notes of lemon pith and zest in addition to bright citrus. The flavor comes across as deep and well integrated between what we expect from lemonade: citrus, sweetness and tartness.

Well see if this is a fleeting moment of attention for lemonade-flavored beer in the U.S. or something lasting. Either way, it will be interesting to see where Revolution takes Freedom Lemonade from here. Im already looking forward to the Freedom Arnold Palmer.

jbnoel@chicagotribune.com
Yahoo News explains. See the latest.

LONDON  As a result of Russias invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. has sent thousands of troops to Europe. Even before the attack, President Biden escalated the U.S. military presence in Poland, which shares a key land border with Ukraine.

In February alone, 12,000 U.S.-based forces were sent to Europe.

But how many American soldiers are in Europe? According to a U.S. Department of Defense assessment in late February, the total is about 90,000, including some soldiers transferred from European bases to be closer to Russia and Ukraine.

In particular, Biden directed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to mobilize forces to the Baltic republics, Poland and Ukraines southeastern flank, the Defense Department said. Austin ordered 800 soldiers from Italy to relocate to the Baltic region and 1,000 soldiers from Germany to Romania. Officials said the move is only temporary.

These additional personnel are being repositioned to reassure our NATO allies, deter any potential aggression against NATO member states, and train with host-nation forces, a senior U.S. official said in the Defense Department release.

U.S. soldiers and military vehicles at a temporary military base for U.S. troops established at Arlamow Airport in Poland on Feb. 24. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Both the U.S. and its allies have repeatedly stressed that their troops are not being sent to directly battle Russian troops in Ukraine, though NATO countries and others have been sending military supplies to the Ukrainians in an attempt to bolster their defense.

Thats a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another, Biden told NBC News last month when asked about fighting Russia.

The U.S. clearly hopes Russia sees that same risk if the Kremlin succeeds in conquering Ukraine and looks to attack any NATO countries that were once part of the Soviet empire. The Baltic countries  Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia  as well as Poland, Hungary and Romania, all of which border either Russia or Ukraine, are on edge.

But military deployments to deter potential Russian aggression are not new. For decades after World War II, the U.S. maintained large military bases in Europe during the Cold War, in which Washington and Moscow threatened each other with atomic annihilation in a protracted game of nuclear brinkmanship.

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And its not just troops. During the Cold War, the U.S. had more than 2,500 nuclear warheads in Europe, but after the Soviet Union crumbled, more than three decades ago  forming states like Ukraine  that number rapidly decreased. The U.S. has 12 Air Force bases stretching from the United Kingdom to Turkey. U.S. Navy bases are also dotted around the continent, and NATO fleets are patrolling the Mediterranean Sea during the Ukrainian conflict.

As Russian attacks continue to rage, Ukraine is also looking for financial and humanitarian aid. On Feb. 27, the Biden administration, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department, announced it would provide an additional $54 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

This additional assistance will support our partners to provide critically needed health care, safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene supplies, and protection for vulnerable children, USAID said in a statement. It added, This includes critical emergency health supplies to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of people, as well as emergency food assistance to meet the immediate needs of 125,000 people.

Since the Russian conflict in Ukraine began in 2014, the U.S. has provided nearly $405 million in humanitarian aid.

Where are Russian forces attacking Ukraine? Check out this explainer from Yahoo Immersive to find out.
WASHINGTON (AP)  For days, a massive Russian military convoy has sat, largely stalled about 15 miles (25 kilometers) outside Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, which is believed to be the central target of Moscow's war.

Eight days into the war, the expanse of Russian supply trucks, troops and weapons has been plagued with fuel and food shortages and logistical challenges, including weather and mud. Ukrainian troops have managed to attack and incapacitate some vehicles at the front, creating a traffic jam, but the Russians have largely shielded the convoy from attack by air, according to Western officials and analysts.

The convoy's lack of measurable progress has triggered questions about the short- and long-term implications and what it says about Russia's war planning. But will it affect the war's outcome?

Mason Clark, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, says the convoy saga may be emblematic of shortcomings in the Russian army, which is relatively inexperienced in the execution of large-scale operations that combine air, ground and naval forces. But it is unlikely to prevent Russia from prevailing against the outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian defenders.

Eventually the Russians will be able to quite simply wear down Ukrainian forces, and take Kyiv, Clark said.

A look at what's known about the convoy:

WHERE IS IT AND WHAT HAS HAPPENED?

The convoy, which stretches for as much as 65 kilometers (40 miles) from near Prybisk in the north to the southern end near the Antonov airport, was moving steadily south at the onset of the war. But this week, progress appeared to all but stop.

Reports immediately centered on fuel and food shortages. And, a senior U.S. defense official said Ukrainian troops have been targeting the convoy with ground fire, including shoulder-fired Javelin anti-tank missiles provided by Western countries. The most significant impact of those attacks is that they struck vehicles at the front of the convoy, essentially creating a roadblock.

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In addition, the muddy ground has made it difficult for the Russians to go off-road to make more progress along other routes. Photos and videos show vehicles stuck in the mud.

John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said U.S. officials assess that the convoy, as well as the broader Russian thrust toward Kyiv from the north, is largely stalled. He said the Russians appear to be regrouping and reassessing the reasons for their slow progress, and how to make up for lost time. He said they likely did not anticipate such problems or the extent of the Ukrainian resistance.

A SITTING DUCK?

The most frequent question has been why doesn't the Ukraine military decimate it, as it sits on the highways.

Such a long string of military vehicles in relatively open terrain would normally be vulnerable to air attack. But any Ukrainian attacks on the convoy may be limited because officials believe it contains air defense systems and may be shielded by screening forces to ward off ground attackers.

While the Ukrainian military has hit vehicles in the front and in other sporadic locations, it is likely too risky to put manned aircraft in the area to take it out with larger weapons, which also could be met with defensive strikes. And Ukraine's military has been focused on defending the major cities that are under siege and in danger of being overtaken.

DOES THIS SIGNAL SERIOUS PROBLEMS FOR RUSSIA'S OFFENSIVE?

U.S. officials caution against any sweeping conclusions that the convoy problem signals a debilitating setback for the Russians. While it clearly has stalled the Russian assault on Kyiv for now, officials believe Russia has so much military combat power in Ukraine that it will adjust, compensate and overcome such setbacks.

Observers say Russia has clearly been frustrated by persistent logistical and supply problems, with troops running out of food and vehicles running out of fuel.

Clark said some portion of the fuel-truck segment of the convoy ran low on fuel, ironically, which tells you the state of Russian logistics on this line of advance.

It is also possible, officials say, that part of the reason for the stalled progress is that Russian commanders are deliberately pausing to reassess and reset, allowing time to get more supplies at the ready before beginning a further advance on Kyiv.

Observers also note that in other places  largely in the south  Russian troops are having more success. They announced the capture of the southern city of Kherson, a vital Black Sea port of 280,000, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed the takeover of the government headquarters there. And they were gaining ground in their effort to move into Mariupol. a strategic port on the Azov Sea.

Still, the extent  and days-long length  of the convoy's problems do raise larger issues about whether the Russians adequately prepared for the attack, despite positioning troops around Ukraine for months before actually moving in. A critical  and many would say No. 1  tenet for any ground campaign is to ensure that troops have the supplies, weapons and basics such as food, water and fuel, they need to move forward to their objective.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke for 90 minutes with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who told him that military operations in Ukraine are going according to plan," an official in the French presidents office said.

But, Russia's inability to keep its troops supplied has raised eyebrows in the Pentagon, where officials note that it has been years since Moscow's military has been involved in this type of ground war. And they say it's hard to tell if this was a failure to properly plan or a collapse in the Russian military's execution of the plan.

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Follow the APs coverage of the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
PROVIDENCE  Gov. Dan McKee didn't campaign to be governor, didn't have long to prepare for the job and didn't get to party at a fancy ball after his inauguration.

His first year in office was dominated by talk of needles, face masks, mandates, emergency powers and truckloads of federal money.

Entering year two on Wednesday, McKee spent part of his 365th day in office doing one of the things he promised to do when predecessor Gina Raimondo would leave for Washington: channel relief dollars to small businesses that have suffered during the pandemic.

In this case, it is $8 million in grants to tourism and hospitality businesses, including arts organizations.

Dan McKee is sworn in as governor by Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea at the Rhode Island State House last March.

McKee's year-one anniversary roughly coincides with the launch of his reelection campaign and the accomplishments he celebrated Wednesday largely form the basis of his campaign platform.

"It has been an intense experience, clearly coming in at an uncertain time, getting a budget prepared and managing that budget to a $600-million surplus," McKee told reporters Thursday about his first year. "The most important thing we did were the shots in the arms. We came in with virtually the lowest vaccination rate in the country and now we are the top vaccinated state in the country."

RI governor's race: Gov. Dan McKee launches reelection campaign

Highlights of Gov. McKee's first year

Vaccination: In the last two weeks, McKee has touted the state's highest-in-the-nation vaccination rate.

When McKee took over for Raimondo last March, COVID vaccine supplies were still limited and national policy debate focused on how to distribute doses as fairly as possible as fast as possible.

McKee made "getting shots in arms" his top priority and a year later 81% of residents are considered fully vaccinated, the highest rate in the country, according to the New York Times. The state says 95% of residents have received at least one shot, tied for the highest rate with New Hampshire.

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Business aid: Before becoming governor, McKee called on Raimondo to provide money for small businesses.

And early last April, just as vaccines were becoming widely available, McKee launched the first of what would turn out to be a series of federal grant programs for small business.

He also pushed to lift state mask orders faster than some of his public-health advisers preferred, partially to help the economy recover.

2030 Plan: Knowing the state was going to receive $1.1 billion in largely unrestricted federal cash, McKee held a statewide listening tour to gather ideas on how to spend it and produced a 2030 plan laying out a long-term vision.

Lowlights of the governor's first year

Testing: With COVID infections low late last summer, McKee ramped down state-run testing sites just as the omicron wave was in the mail.

When cases skyrocketed around Thanksgiving, residents faced long lines for tests or paid through the nose to buy at-home tests.

Resignations: McKee inherited much of his cabinet from Raimondo and didn't have the benefit of a full four-year term ahead of him to recruit his own team.

He brought over some of his staff from the lieutenant governor's office and allies from his hometown of Cumberland, such as initial chief of staff Tony Silva.

But by last summer, Silva was embroiled in a controversy over whether he had used his position to try to get a permit to build a house on property with wetlands.

McKee defended him for weeks, but by August Silva resigned.

Other top aides have avoided the appearance of impropriety, but stepped down to pursue other opportunities, often with hints that they weren't excited about the administration's direction.

That's left a number of agencies with interim leaders, including the Departments of Health, Human Services, Children Youth & Family and Environmental Management.

Education: McKee's plan for "municipal education offices" based on what he had in Cumberland hasn't taken off, at least so far. And he came under scrutiny when a campaign donor played a role in awarding consulting contracts for the plan.

panderson@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7384

On Twitter: @PatrickAnderso_

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Gov. Dan McKee reflects on first year in office COVID, budget surplus
SOUTHPORT  Firefighters are trying to suppress a 20-acre blaze that has ignited one structure and threatens several more in the Southport community of unincorporated Bay County.

According to a late Wednesday afternoon press release from the Florida Forest Service, firefighters from the Chipola Forestry Center have responded to the fire in the East Callaway Heights area.

Florida Forest Service firefighters are battling a 20-acre blaze in unincorporated Southport in Bay County.

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There are currently 10 tractor/plow units on scene or en route to the fire. So far, suppression efforts have been difficult because the fire is burning in an area with many downed trees left after Hurricane Michael hit more than three years ago.

Besides the heavy equipment, one helicopter, one fixed-wing aircraft and a significant number of other resources from cooperating fire departments are being used, the press release states.

As evening sets, winds will calm and humidity will rise, which should help moderate fire behavior, the press release states. But current conditions are prime for wildfire activity as the region is abnormally dry and a tremendous amount of trees and debris remain scattered on the ground from the hurricane.

Residents throughout the area are urged to be extremely cautious with any outdoor fires and have a plan should a wildfire occur. For more information on wildfire preparedness, please visit www.BeWildfireReadyFL.com.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Florida Forest Service firefighters battling 20-acre Bay County blaze




Florida's state House on Wednesday passed a measure to create a state climate resilience office, with only a single nay vote against the move.

The bill would require the state to develop a resilience strategy for its highways as well as a list of other resilience projects, with a list of priorities and cost estimates. It would also create a central database of sites such as hospitals, utility headquarters and airports at direct risk from rising sea levels.

A bill with similar provisions is pending in Florida's Senate, unanimously passing out of the chamber's Environment and Appropriations committees earlier this year.

State Rep. Anthoni Sabatini (R) was the only vote against the House bill, with the remaining 114 members backing the measure.

However, the chamber's Republican majority voted down an amendment that would require the state's resilience officer to factor in root causes of climate change. The primary driver of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

State Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera (R), the sponsor of the bill, said such amendments would be "toxic politics," according to The Tampa Bay Times.

State Rep. Ben Diamond (D), who voted for the bill in its final form, criticized it as overly reactive without addressing those root causes, saying on the House floor that "only erecting walls to protect highways to mitigate against flooding is like putting a band-aid on a broken bone."

"There's two sides to this problem: There's protecting our communities and making our communities more resilient to the issues of flooding and sea level rise, but then there's also stopping the causes of those problems in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, in terms of reducing our carbon emissions," Diamond told WUSF Public Media.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)  A judge on Thursday sentenced a Florida man to death for fatally shooting an Orlando police officer while he was on the run for killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend.

Jurors in November found Markeith Loyd, 46, guilty in the January 2017 death of Lt. Debra Clayton, and unanimously recommended a death sentence during a hearing in December. Circuit Judge Leticia Marques announced her decision during a brief hearing Thursday morning.

Loyd is already serving a life sentence for killing Sade Dixon, his former girlfriend, a month before Clayton was killed.

Loyd was on the run for killing Dixon when a shopper at a Walmart spotted him Jan. 9, 2017. Prosecutors said the shopper notified Clayton, who was also at the store, and she attempted to stop him. Clayton, 42, was killed during a shootout with Loyd outside the store.

Although nothing can undo the heartache created by the defendants heinous actions, we hope that this brings solace to our community, knowing a dangerous murderer will face the highest penalty provided by the law, Orlando police Chief Orlando Rolon said in a statement.

During the trial, prosecutors said the fatal shot was fired as Loyd stood over Clayton in the parking lot. She was shot four times.

She was a sergeant at the time of the shooting, but was promoted posthumously.

During multiple hearings since the shooting, Loyd claimed he fired at Clayton in self-defense. His attorneys said he was insane at the time after becoming convinced the police were trying to kill him.

His mental health has been a key issue since his arrest, with the judge finally ruling last week that he was competent to continue with the sentencing hearing.

Clinical psychologist Xavier Amador testified that Loyd suffers from the delusional belief he is a slave whom his slave masters  the judge and prosecutors  are intent on killing, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Another psychiatrist, Jeffrey Danziger, testified that Loyd cant effectively work with his defense team.

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Loyd also claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot Dixon and her brother, who was injured, a month before Clayton was killed.

The defense team also said Loyd suffered brain damage when officers beat and kicked him in the face as he crawled from under a home where he'd been hiding during a massive weeklong manhunt after Clayton was killed. Loyd lost his eye in the beating and the officers were later cleared of any wrongdoing.

Another wrinkle in the case came in 2019 when then- Florida Gov. Rick Scott reassigned the case from then-State Attorney Aramis Ayala after she sparked outrage in the law enforcement community by saying she would not seek the death penalty against Loyd.

Ayala said at the time that capital punishment had been unevenly applied, was not a deterrent for serious crimes and that she would not seek it in any case  a stance she had not publicly expressed during her campaign for the position.

Ayala announced Wednesday that she is running for Florida attorney general as a Democrat.

The Loyd case has been winding its way through the court system for years, with Loyd sometimes representing himself and lashing out in the courtroom.

All these families have suffered. Debra Claytons family has suffered. Sade Dixons family has suffered. All because of the evil actions of Markeith Loyd, Orange County Sheriff Mina told reporters outside the courthouse. ... And now its time for Markeith Loyd to suffer.

Quincy Morris, a cousin of Clayton, told WKMG the outcome is what God wanted it to be.

Now she can rest in peace, Morris added.
So Im reading The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas, Gal Beckermans excellent new book on the modest roots of massive sea changes, and the butterfly effect-like flutter of a parlor game forms in my head. I make leaps of logic that, though overly tidy, are compelling.

For instance, if Filippo Marinetti, the ringleader of the Futurist activists in early 20th century Italy  a guy who resembled a silent movie villain about to tie a woman to the railroad tracks  had not written war-hungry, scorched-earth manifestos, if his ideas had not influenced Benito Mussolini, there might not have been the momentum for fascism in Italy. This means, leaping ahead, there might not be that Roman column near Soldier Field, gifted to Chicago by Mussolini, to honor Italo Balbos transatlantic flight during, its plaque insists, the 11th year of the Fascist Era.

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Or who knows? Marinetti or not, there might still be a Balbo Monument.

After all, fascism is very 2022.

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But then, Beckerman isnt interested in the outcomes, but the seeds that blossom into forests, for better or worse. He is all about the process, the incubation, the minor means to major ends. Or as he puts it, the oil in the gears of idea production.

History and hindsight aside, our end results are rarely predictable.

The Quiet Before looks at the percolations of many disparate movements  from #MeToo, suffrage and Soviet glasnost to the decline of colonialism in Africa and the recent explosion of white nationalism in the United States  though on that last one, Beckerman nods at the irony of how Saul Alinskys writings applied. Alinsky, the influential Chicago community organizer, has had his methods linked to liberals and conservatives as ideologically different as Barack Obama and the Tea Party movement. Alinsky saw revolution as three acts; in the first two, revolution is muttered, people talk, then the future gains its shape. Alinsky saw the failure of many movements in a rush to the third act, to confrontation for confrontations sake. Beckerman writes how enthusiasm for the Unite the Right rally in Virginia in 2017 gained traction on websites like The Daily Stormer and the chat platform Discord, and noted how Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin saw the teachings of Jew Saul Alinsky as a lesson for white supremacy.

The Quiet Before: On the Unexpected Origins of Radical Ideas by Gal Beckerman. (Penguin)

Except they didnt take Alinsky quite enough to heart, and as Beckerman explains, their impatience to create a Charlottesville-like coming-out event led to even larger counter protests and the eventual splintering of their Discord and Daily Stormer communities.

Not that it destroyed the movement itself.

Beckerman is not trying to explain how the world changes. Hes interested in the ether that fuels the change, the whispering that grows into large-scale movements. More often than not, this ether is underground. Manifestos, letters, newspaper columns  stuff. But also social media posts, email chains. Anything nurtured outside the mainstream that chips away at authority. It always begins, Beckerman writes, with a group of people talking. But then talking soon takes the form of the riot grrrl zines of the early 90s (precursors to the #MeToo movement), or the Facebook page We Are All Khaled Said that used the brutality of Egyptian security forces to build an Arab Spring.

Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, I noticed an uptick of videos on TikTok of ordinary citizens confronting Russian soldiers in the streets, not debating but cursing, often shouting at them to turn back, to go away.

Regardless of what happens, its an alternate, inspiring vision of wartime rarely seen.

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Thats the ether, too.

Among the joys of The Quiet Before is how it reframes the seeming flotsam of everyday communication as tacitly subversive. While reading, I noticed a pile of comics at my side that, each in its own way, illustrated Beckermans point, too. Come Over Come Over is a new reissue of cartoonist (and MacArthur Fellow) Lynda Barrys Ernie Pooks Comeek strips for the Chicago Reader, circa 1989, but now the anger and insecurity of her 14-year old Maybonne reads like the early groundwork for contemporary feelings about class, sexual harassment, depression. You picture the pimpled, awkward middle-schooler having an Instagram account these days in which she presents herself as proudly pimpled, sweaty and awkward, mocking the unreality of lifestyle influencers.

Similarly, its hard to even skim Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit, a new Marvel series by the South Side novelist Samira Ahmed, about Kamala Khan, a Muslim teenage superhero, without being reminded of how quietly influential superhero culture has been for cultural representation in general. And not just name-checking underrepresented communities, but working underrepresented traditions into pop culture. If you want to popularize an idea, the most popular genre of the day is a smart start. Im reminded of critic Manny Farbers celebrated termite art, what he called works that burrowed beneath the listless status quo and immersed itself, taking the form of B movies, cheap TV and so-called low art, leaving room for the unexpected.

Critical race theory?

Twenty years before opportunistic politicians and angry school board meetings, one of the most mainstream looks at systemic racism was the piercing 2003 Marvel comic Captain America: Truth, a seven-issue series (reissued last month after decades of obscurity) that told the story of the Black Captain America who pioneered the job of the better-known captain, Steve Rogers. Written by Robert Morales (who died in 2013) and drawn by Kyle Baker, it draws on the writing of W.E.B Du Bois, discussions of Chicagos Red Summer of 1919, war cliches and, most pointedly, the Tuskegee experiments  in which Black Alabama sharecroppers with syphilis went intentionally untreated for decades. Truth reframes that as a U.S. military attempt to create a super soldier, using a battalion of Black soldiers as fodder. Most die, but one, Isaiah Bradley, goes on to fight Hitler, and become a prototypical Captain America (and Black folk legend), only to be abandoned by a government uneasy about a Black superhero in stars and stripes.

If that sounds familiar, its plot was incorporated into some of the better episodes of the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, in which a Black Captain America (played by Anthony Mackie) learns about a Black super soldier kept silent for decades.

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Quietly, before the shouting, the fictional Isaiah Bradley was doing the heavy lifting that many flesh and blood Americans still find too radical, but therein lies one of the knowing, bittersweet contradictions to The Quiet Before. All this whispering tends to go unheard.

Until, one day, its deafening.

cborrelli@chicagotribune.com
Kurt Spivey

MARTINSVILLE  A former police chief for the city of Martinsville has filed a lawsuit against the city alleging he is owed more than $26,000 in unused compensation time, vacation time and sick days.

Kurt Spivey filed his tort claims notice "for the city's refusal to pay him unpaid and promised benefit wages," according to a complaint for damages filed Feb. 8 in Morgan County Circuit Court.

Mayor Kenny Costin chose Spivey to lead the department shortly before taking office on Jan. 1, 2020.

Spivey's arrival came following a troubled year for the department. In January 2019, former Martinsville Police Chief Matt Long was placed on leave following a state investigation into unearned overtime pay. Long is scheduled to plead guilty in April to charges of theft and official misconduct.

Others are reading: Former Mooresville business owner sentenced in theft case after guilty plea.

Prior to arriving in Martinsville, Spivey had served for 24 years in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, where he worked street patrols and later joined the vice unit to investigate the criminal underworld.

He sought to put an end to the "leadership carousel" at the Martinsville Police Department, which had gone through about 10 police chiefs in the previous 12 years.

His tenure was ultimately brief, however, and his reasons for leaving were not shared publicly.

Mooresville eyesore: Town council gets update on downtown building.

Following his resignation on Jan. 29, 2021, Spivey was told he was owed around $35,000 in accrued benefits, according to the complaint. On Feb. 12, 2021, he was paid an installment of $8,868 and was informed by a city employee that there would be another check on Feb. 26 that year; however, he never received another check, the complaint reads.

In June, Spivey requested payment of the balance of his unpaid wages. The city attorney responded by asking for documentation supporting his request, according to the complaint.

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Spivey argues that the documentation "was already in the possession of the City as evidenced by the City's first installment payment" in February 2021.

Spivey is being represented by Indianapolis attorney Tae Sture.

A checkered past: 2-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr. races into Martinsville for book signing.

On Thursday, the city filed a motion for an extension, requesting the court give it until April 8 to file a response.

When asked if the city planned to work out an agreement with Spivey, city attorney Dale Coffey said the city does not comment on pending litigation.

Contact reporter Peter Blanchard at 765-346-2942 or pblanchard@reporter-times.com. Follow him on Twitter @peterlblanchard.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Kurt Spivey, former Martinsville PD chief, files lawsuit against city
OCALA, Fla. (AP)  A former Florida postal worker whose mail delivery route included the prominent retirement community of The Villages was convicted Wednesday of stealing mail for cash and gift cards.

Miranda Delee Farleigh, 25, of Ocklawaha, pleaded guilty in Ocala federal court to a count of possessing stolen mail, according to court records. She faces up to five years in prison. A sentencing date wasn't immediately set.

According to court records, Farleigh worked as a contract employee of the U.S. Postal Service delivering mail for the Lady Lake Post Office. Farleighs route included mail delivery services to postal stations in The Villages, a large retirement community northwest of Orlando.

Farleighs supervisor discovered several tubs and bags of mail in Farleighs possession that had been unlawfully opened in November, prosecutors said. They added that when confronted, Farleigh admitted to law enforcement that she had been opening outgoing mail in Lake and Sumter counties for a month with the intent to steal money and gift cards to support her heroin addiction.

Officials said Farleigh rifled through approximately 4,000 pieces of mail.
WORCESTER  The last of three men convicted for their roles in a November 2018 drug deal at a city storage facility for nearly a kilo of cocaine was sentenced Wednesday in federal court.

Melvin Burgos, who was a 33-year-old living in Spencer at the time of the deal, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to two years of supervised release, electronic court records show.

Burgos and another man, Julio Rivera, were arrested in separate cars following a drug deal at a city self-storage facility in November 2018, authorities have said.

Federal agents, in an investigation that included wiretaps and surveillance, have said they watched as the two men met up at the facility and left shortly afterward.

Burgos was pulled over with about 900 grams of cocaine in his vehicle, authorities said, while police found a cellphone broken in two pieces inside Riveras SUV.

Burgos pleaded guilty to conspiracy and possession charges of 500 or more grams of cocaine in August 2019, but awaited sentencing while Rivera contested his charge of selling 500 or more grams of cocaine.

Rivera took his case to a federal jury in Worcester, which convicted him of the charge last September following a three-day trial. Rivera was sentenced to five years in prison and four years of supervised release in December, prosecutors said.

A third man authorities alleged facilitated the deal from Puerto Rico, William Torres, was sentenced to five years in prison in February 2021 after pleading guilty to associated charges.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Former Spencer man caught with near-kilo of cocaine outside storage facility sentenced
Former UFC champion Cain Velasquez was charged with attempted murder and multiple other gun assault charges Wednesday after he allegedly shot a man accused of molesting his relative earlier this week.

Velasquez, 39, made an appearance in court Wednesday for the first time since the shooting on Monday afternoon. His arraignment, per The Mercury News, was postponed until Monday. He will remain in jail until a bail hearing that is also set for Monday.

According to prosecutors, Velasquez allegedly followed Harry Goulartes parents on their way to pick him up to obtain an electronic monitoring device on Monday afternoon in Morgan Hill, California. Goularte was charged in a separate molestation case just days before after he allegedly molested one of Velasquezs underage relatives.

After following them for some time, Velasquez shot once at Goularte, prosecutors said. Velasquez then allegedly rammed his vehicle into theirs after a more aggressive chase and then shot several more times, hitting Goulartes stepfather in the arm and torso. Velasquez then allegedly fled the scene.

That chase went on for about 11 miles.

Cain Velasquez, center, is photographed with his attorney during his arraignment hearing on an attempted murder charge on Wednesday in San Jose, California. (Aric Crabb/MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images)

D.A.: There is no legitimate claim of self defense under the law

Goularte, 43, was arraigned Friday and charged with a single count of a lewd and lascivious act with a child under the age of 14.

Velasquezs relative, who is younger than 10, apparently told police that Goularte took him into a bathroom at the home daycare center that his mother runs and touched his genitals, according to ESPN. This apparently happened 100 times, and Goularte told the child not to tell anybody. The child reportedly told police that he saw other children go into the bathroom with Goularte, too.

Goularte was granted supervised release after this arrest, and has denied any wrongdoing.

Velasquez did not speak at the hearing Wednesday, per the report, but there were several supporters there to back him up.

Although there may be some people who really understand the motivations of the defendant in this case, [Velasquezs] actions on Feb. 28 were very reckless, deputy district attorney Aaron French said after the hearing, via The Mercury News. What he did was fire off a firearm during rush hour while there were many people on the roads. His conduct put countless innocent bystanders and innocent people within that vehicle in a lot of danger.

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There is no legitimate claim of self defense under the law.

Velasquez is a former two-time heavyweight champion. He hasnt fought since 2019, when he was knocked out by Frances Ngannou in 26 seconds.
PARIS (Reuters) - The French government on Thursday advised French citizens to leave Russia where possible, in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Tassilo Hummel and Nicolas Delame; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
BERLIN (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Thursday they have indicted a Russian man accused of organising the killing of a Chechen dissident living in Germany on behalf of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

Valid D., a member of the Chechen security apparatus, had procured a gun, ammunition and silencer and scouted the residence of the Kadyrov critic, where he was living with his brother, also a critic, in summer 2020, prosecutors said.

Valid D., whose full name is withheld from publication under German privacy law, denies the prosecutors' allegations, his defence attorney was cited by Der Spiegel magazine as saying.

Valid travelled between Germany and Chechnya to accompany an alleged assassin, who was also part of the Chechen security aparatus, prosecutors said in a statement.

After arriving in Germany, the two had practiced shooting with the intended weapon and scouted the dissident's residence in December 2020 before Valid was arrested on Jan. 1, 2021, preventing the attack from being carried out.

He is indicted on charges of agreeing to commit murder, preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state and violating weapons law, according to prosecutors.

The intended victim and his brother advocate on social media for an independent Chechnya, said prosecutors, who added that the victim's killing was also meant to silence his brother.

The prosecutors' statement offered no information about the pending trial.

(Reporting by Miranda Murray; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
Gov. John Bel Edwards has until March 14 to veto redistricting maps the Legislature approved last week, but waiting until the last minute could give lawmakers the convenience of attempting an override during their regular session, which also begins March 14.

Voter advocacy and civil rights groups are calling on Edwards, a Democrat, to reject many of the maps that will determine Louisianas political boundaries for the next decade. With Republicans in the majority, legislators endorsed new maps that maintain the status quo of white control of the Legislature, state school board and five of Louisianas six congressional seats.

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Edwards has said the new maps should reflect increases in the states Black and minority population. After lawmakers adjourned their redistricting session Feb. 18, the governor shared his concerns that several of the maps do not fulfill that moral and legal requirement.

The Louisiana Constitution gives the governor 20 days after he receives a bill to sign it into law or return it to the Legislature with a veto message. His third option, one that is seldom used, is to do nothing and allow the proposal to become law by default.

When the Legislature receives a veto message while not in session, Secretary of the Senate Yolanda Dixon said she then has two days to mail out ballots to every lawmaker asking whether they want to convene for a separate veto override session. If they vote in favor, the Constitution holds that the veto session must be held on the fortieth day following final adjournment of the most recent session.

According to legislative staffers, that 40-day period could be counted from Feb. 18, when the redistricting session adjourned. That would put the veto session at the end of March  in the middle of the regular session  so an alternative option could be 40 days following the adjournment of the regular session, pushing the veto session to mid-July.

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Sen. Mike Fesi (front, right), R-Houma, and other Louisiana legislators discuss a redistricting map Feb. 18 at the state Capitol. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)

I cant imagine theyre going to wait until 40 days after the regular session to deal with this, said Peter Robins-Brown, policy director of Louisiana Progress, one of the groups that pushed for more minority representation through redistricting.

One possible solution staffers are exploring is to adjust the regular session schedule by allowing lawmakers to adjourn for a few days at the end of March to handle the veto override and then reconvene to finish the regular session. Things could get more complicated if Edwards vetoes an unrelated bill after the regular session and lawmakers decide they want to override it, staff members said. In that case, the Legislature would have to return to Baton Rouge for a mid-July veto session anyway.

Its a scheduling quagmire the Legislature has never seen before and one they may not have to face if Edwards decides to use most or all of the 20 days afforded to him by the veto deadline. If the governor returns a vetoed map within two days of the March 14 regular session, lawmakers can attempt an override vote at any point during that session. It would be placed on the House and Senate calendars alongside other legislation being considered, Dixon said.

Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, who chaired the Senate redistricting committee, said she would 100% push for a veto override if Edwards rejects any of the maps. Any override attempts would likely take place during the regular session, she added.

Matthew Block, the governors executive counsel, said he was not aware of the timeline that Dixon explained. The governor does not have any strategic plans to deliver vetoes on a date that would create more obstacles for a legislative override, he said.

Regardless of gubernatorial vetoes, lawmakers and political insiders expect the courts will have the final word on Louisianas maps.

Democrats and voter rights groups grew hopeful when a federal court ordered the Alabama Legislature to redraw a congressional map that  like the map Louisiana lawmakers passed  failed to adequately represent its minority population. However, the right-leaning U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay on the decision, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh explaining in his opinion that Alabama lawmakers would not have enough time to redraw the map before its next election.

The Supreme Court, which has issued rulings that trim back parts of the Voting Rights Act in recent years, said it would consider the merits of the Alabama case later. Thats not likely to happen until after the November elections, which will decide the balance of power in Congress.

With the Supreme Courts Alabama decision in mind, many in Louisiana are keeping an eye on how much time any vetoes and subsequent overrides might take before lawsuits work their way through the courts in Louisiana.

Regardless of how long, Robins-Brown said the governor should focus on the best outcome for all residents of Louisiana.

The longer the veto and potential veto-override process goes on, the longer it will take to get to the litigation process, he said. But I dont think that should be a concern for Gov. Edwards. His primary focus should be doing what he thinks is right, especially since the Supreme Court, in their ruling on the Alabama case, made it clear that theyre not in a hurry to rule on the merits of these VRA cases.

 The Louisiana Illuminator is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization driven by its mission to cast light on how decisions are made in Baton Rouge and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians, particularly those who are poor or otherwise marginalized.

This article originally appeared on The Courier: When will Gov. John Bel Edwards veto Louisiana's redistricting maps?
Marking its return to Chicago after a two-year absence, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was like a phoenix rising from the ashes  a hopeful sign that dance fans might be witnessing a light at the end of this pandemic tunnel.

To be sure, Aileys Ash Wednesday opening at the Auditorium Theatre was hardly the first sign of life for dance. It is symbolic, however, with Ailey having been the last major Chicago dance event before the 2020 shutdowns. Sitting in the Auditoriums golden-hued, velvety seats two years ago, I was oblivious about what was to come. It would be another week before Governor J.B. Pritzker would announce that large performance venues must close. Naively, I figured I would be back in those seats by June, at the latest.

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Ailey returns to its Chicago home at the Auditorium  an annual stop on the companys national tour for more than 50 years (apart from 2021, of course) with three dynamite programs aimed at demonstrating the depth and breadth of their repertoire: Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon boast a concert of all-Ailey classics, celebrating the founder of this storied dance company. Alvin Ailey is also the subject of Rennie Harris dynamic two-act ballet Lazarus, last seen here in 2019 and shown twice throughout the weekend. Opening night was dedicated to current artistic director Robert Battle with an evening showcasing his choreographic oeuvre. That program repeats Saturday.

Sarah Daley Perdomo and Yannick Lebrun in Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's "Revelations." (Paul Kolnik / HANDOUT)

Battle became the artistic director in July 2011. He is just the third person to hold that position in more than 60 years of Aileys existence. Unlike his predecessor, Judith Jamison, Battle does not have an Ailey dance lineage. The Miami native was a longtime dancer for David Parsons before starting his own company, Battleworks. Battles 10 years leading the Ailey company have demonstrated his expertise in navigating both legacy and currency.

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Some of Battles numerous choreographies for this company (including several of those presented here), date well before he was appointed artistic director. While Ailey is a vehicle for this brilliant choreographer to continue to create, it has been clear all along that Aileys legacy reigns supreme. (Case in point: This all-Battle evening ended, as all Ailey shows do, with Alvin Aileys Revelations.)

Battles choreographic sandbox looks to be heavily influenced by his Parsons background, and by jazz music and dance (never clearer than with his For Four, a brand-new ditty set to exuberant music by Wynton Marsalis). Above all, though, Battle is a curious and highly musical artist. He dissects every syllable of Ella Fitzgeralds feverishly fast scat, Air Mail Special, for his duet Ella, and every sollukattu of Sheila Chandras equally lively Speaking in Tongues II for another solo, Takademe, expertly danced by Kanji Segawa.

The evening aptly exhibits Battles range, perhaps best seen by contrasting In/Side and Ella. The former, set to Nina Simones soulful Wild is The Wind, features dancer Yannick Lebrun portraying a tortured soul yearning to get out  from what and to where is not abundantly clear, but definitely does not matter here. Lebruns long-limbed extensions and relative reckless abandon gobble up that whole, big stage. After several curtain calls, Ghrai DeVore-Stokes and Renaldo Maurice took us somewhere entirely different with Ellas unabashed jauntiness peppered with hints of Lindy Hop and soft-shoe.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing Robert Battle's excerpt from "Love Stories." (Paul Kolnik / HANDOUT)

And yet, Battles aesthetic is not always a natural fit for this company. On occasion, his pieces feel like fitting a square peg in a round hole. The opener, Mass, is one example, although midway through many of the dancers had shaken most of the cobwebs off and settled into this extraordinary liturgy. The dancers, 16 in all, flit sideways, on tiptoes, into and out of a gorgeous waterfall of light (by Burke Wilmore). They wear silky garbs with hands clutched at the center of the chest like a church choir  a motif that returns in various forms throughout the piece. Cascading canons move those robes every which way, creating a glorious visual effect. But this piece  one of Battles best  really snapped into place for me with its powerful unison phrase clustered at center-center, with dancer Jeroboam Bozeman as the de facto leader of these passionate parishioners, his robe accented by a large black cross extending from his shoulder to his ankle.

Bozeman and Jacqueline Green dance Unfold, an equally impassioned (if ever-so-slightly sardonic?) duet to opera music, while Battles final group work of the night, an excerpt from his 2004 piece Love Stories, is straight-up groove. On first glimpsing dancer Michael Jackson Jr. as he poked in and out of the wings in costumer Susan Hilfertys fabulous yellow jumpsuit, this piece grabbed me, helped in no small part by Stevie Wonders boogey-oogey rendition of Fingertips 1 and 2. Jackson would eventually be joined by nine others  all jumpsuited  for a pastiche of jazzy, soulful moves that tug at the diasporic roots of Aileys modern dance.

Quite honestly, the evening could have ended there. Watching Aileys evergreen closer for the umpteenth time, it crossed my mind that Revelations might not have the same impact  like a really good song youve heard one too many times. But then Chicago native Vernard Gilmore took his place alone in the middle of the stage for I Wanna Be Ready, as hes done night after night for nearly 25 years, and at that moment, if only for a moment, all was right with the world.

Review: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

When: Through March 6

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Where: Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive

Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Tickets: $48-$112 at 312-341-2310 and auditoriumtheatre.org
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary has evacuated 32 people from its embassy in Kyiv, including the Hungarian ambassador, two journalists, 10 South African and 10 Nigerian nationals, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Thursday.

He said the evacuated embassy staff and foreign nationals crossed over into Hungary overnight.

(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs and Anita Komuves; Editing by Alison Williams)
By Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog's Board of Governors backed a resolution on Thursday that "deplores" Russia's invasion of Ukraine and urges it to let Ukraine control all its nuclear facilities, diplomats said.

Russia, which with China voted against the resolution, said it was based on "politically motivated lies and mistakes".

The resolution was passed at an emergency meeting of the 35-nation Board called by Canada and Poland on Ukraine's behalf. Its language echoed a resolution backed by the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.

It urges Moscow to "immediately cease all actions against, and at, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and any other nuclear facility in Ukraine, in order for the competent Ukrainian authorities to preserve or promptly regain full control".

Russia has seized the spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste facilities next to the now defunct power plant at Chernobyl, site of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Russian troops have also seized the area around the biggest of Ukraine's four power plants at Zaporizhzhya, north of the Crimean peninsula.

It is the first time war has broken out in a country with such a large and established nuclear programme, the IAEA says.

Twenty-six countries backed the resolution, diplomats said. Five nations - Pakistan, India, South Africa, Senegal and Vietnam - abstained. Mexico and Burundi were absent.

"The #IAEA BoG resolution on nuclear security in #Ukraine contains intentional politically motivated lies and mistakes," Russia's envoy to the IAEA, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Twitter.

"Russia is requested 'to cease all actions against nuclear facilities'. We asked 3 times to provide concrete facts in this regard. Total silence in response," he said.

The vote comes amid negotiations on reviving Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, in which Russia is an important player.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; editing by Jason Neely and Gareth Jones)
A Sandpoint mans second-degree murder conviction in the death of a 26-year-old has been vacated by the Idaho Supreme Court. He will likely face a retrial.

Michael McDermott, 50, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with 10 years fixed, in Bonner County District Court in December 2019, according to the opinion released by the states highest court. McDermott would have been eligible for parole in July 2030, according to online records from the Idaho Department of Correction.

McDermott appealed his conviction  not because he didnt kill Robert Waholi, of Sandpoint, but because he says he acted in self-defense.

In an opinion published Tuesday, the states highest court set aside the second-degree murder conviction because the district court gave an additional definition of the term malice, which rendered McDermotts trial unfair.

The jury heard two definitions of malice, with one stating it can be expressed or implied, and another saying it was just the intentional doing of a wrongful act.

Therefore, we cannot conclude it is clear beyond a reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have found McDermott guilty of second-degree murder absent the erroneous instruction, according to the document.

In March 2019, McDermott went to his ex-girlfriends RV in the hopes of obtaining methamphetamine, according to court documents. When McDermott found Waholi inside his former girlfriends home, he slammed her head  twice  in her front door, which caused her to fall, court records show.

McDermott exited the RV, but then Waholi came out carrying a large double-edged ax. McDermott shot Waholi, killing him.

During the jury trial, McDermott testified that everything happened in seconds and that he thought (Waholi) was going to chop him with an ax. He said Waholi was an immediate threat and he thought he was going to die, according to court documents.

Waholi was reported missing by his family two days after the shooting, and his body was found a few days after by authorities in a rural area south of Sandpoint, KREM reported.

If no one files a petition, the case will go back to Bonner County District Court for a retrial. The Bonner County Prosecutors Office could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The opinion will not be finalized until late March, according to Idaho Appellate Rule 38. During that period the state can ask the Idaho Supreme Court to bring the case for reconsideration or rehear the case. The attorney generals office could also appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
After decades operating in the shadow of Michael Madigan, Illinois Democrats on Wednesday sought to distance themselves from the longtime House speaker and state party chairman after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, even as Gov. J.B. Pritzkers office acknowledged the governor had spoken with investigators working the case.

The racketeering and bribery allegations come at the start of an election year in which Pritzker seeks a second term and his fellow Democrats seek to hold on to the supermajorities in the House and Senate that Madigan and his political organization helped build through their ground-level campaign work and control of legislative mapmaking.

Republicans, who have long cast Madigan as the villain in their political campaigns, looked to capitalize on Wednesdays long-anticipated indictment as they seek a greater voice in Springfield.

Pritzker spoke with federal investigators virtually for an hour last month from his home, spokeswoman Emily Bittner said in a statement.

Federal law enforcement informed the governor that he was only a witness, and the governor agreed to their request to speak to them about his experiences with and knowledge of Mike Madigan, Bittner said. He answered every question they posed and we encourage you to ask federal authorities for any additional details that they are willing to provide.

U.S. Attorney John Lausch said Wednesday that there is no allegation of any wrongdoing against Pritzker.

Shortly after the charges were made public, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who chairs the county Democratic Party, called on Madigan to step down from his sole remaining public position: committeeman for Chicagos 13th Ward, his longtime power base on the Southwest Side.

Our political organizations should not double as criminal enterprises, Preckwinkle said in a statement.

News of the impending charges broke as Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for an event at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Wednesday afternoon to promote President Joe Bidens economic agenda.

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Neither Pritzker nor Lightfoot mentioned Madigan by name in response to reporters questions, which came before the indictment was handed down, but the mayor, drawing on her years as a federal prosecutor, said U.S. Attorney John Lauschs office will have built its case carefully.

This is a kind of case, if this is in fact true, of such incredible significance  somebody who has really shaped Illinois politics for 40 years, dominated almost every aspect of life, from a political standpoint, from a legislative standpoint  you better have a tight case because youre going to take the shot, youre not going to want to miss, Lightfoot said.

Pritzker, who has sought to distance himself from Madigan despite the former speakers role in helping achieve some of the major legislative accomplishments of the governors first year in office, repeated a well-worn refrain about the need to root out corruption wherever it exists in government.

Its why weve passed and Ive signed ethics reforms in the state of Illinois, Pritzker said.

After the charges became public, Pritzker issued a more strongly worded statement, calling the charges a condemnation of a system infected with promises of pay-to-play.

The era of corruption and self-dealing among Illinois politicians must end, Pritzker said. The conduct alleged in this indictment is deplorable and a stark violation of the publics trust. Michael Madigan must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

The changes to state ethics laws Pritzker has signed have been largely panned by good-government groups as weak responses to the states pervasive public corruption. That includes a measure last year that prompted the resignation of the legislatures top watchdog.

Pritzker downplayed the part Madigan played in advancing proposals that will play a prominent role in the governors reelection bid this year, including a minimum-wage increase, legalization of marijuana and a $45 billion statewide construction program.

The legislation that Ive gotten passed over the course of the last three years, for the most part has gotten overwhelming support, sometimes bipartisan, overwhelming support, Pritzker said. So look, I attribute that to running a campaign thats about issues, convincing people who live in the districts of the people who voted for it, that they ought to vote for it.

In Springfield, House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, who long sparred with Madigan, said Wednesday may be the darkest day in Illinois government history.

This is not just an indictment against Michael Madigan, Durkin said, but its an indictment against the Democrat Party of Illinois that he ran for decades. It also starts at the top with Gov. Pritzker, who was elected with the full force and backing of Michael Madigan.

Those words foreshadowing the GOPs campaign strategy were echoed by the five Republicans vying to challenge Pritzker in November.

Even though Madigan was deposed from state government more than a year ago, the indictment served as a way to resurrect his name and seek to make it synonymous with Democratic corruption.

Republican candidates seeking to challenge Pritzker in November assailed Madigan for presiding over a culture of corruption at the Statehouse and pledged to fight for tough ethics reforms if elected.

Its time we put a stop to the Pritzker-Madigan corruption that has been plaguing this state for decades, and the only way we can do that is to change our government from within and get rid of the politicians like J.B. Pritzker who continues enabling the Mike Madigans of the world, said Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, one of the five GOP governor candidates.

Another, state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, vowed to root out corruption if elected.

If we truly want to restore integrity to the Illinois government, we must elect new leaders who will stand up and demand accountability, Bailey said.

Cryptocurrency venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg, on Twitter, labeled Madigan as the very face of Illinois corruption.

Former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo, a former military prosecutor, accused Pritzker of failing to stand up to Madigans corruption.

No amount of revisionist history gives the governor the right to clutch his pearls now, Schimpf said. My hope is that this is the dawn of a new day in Illinois.

Madigans successor, House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch of Hillside, was left to defend his leadership of a special committee in 2020 that was charged with investigating whether Madigan had engaged in conduct unbecoming of a lawmaker and shouldve faced ejection from the House.

I said all along during the course of that process that I thought there was a more appropriate forum to deal with the things that we have been hearing in the public domain, and I thought that forum was the United States Attorneys Office, Welch told reporters outside his Capitol office. The United States Attorneys Office has all the resources that it needs to properly and thoroughly investigate allegations of corruption. I knew that all along.

And we said that it was proper for United States Attorney John Lausch to be the one to conduct an investigation. Not a legislative committee. And what we have learned today was that, indeed, they did their job and they have brought an indictment of our former speaker.

Welch said the chamber under his leadership must now focus on restoring trust. He touted the naming of a new legislative inspector general and other efforts during his last 13 months as House speaker in being open, accessible, and transparent.

I think here in the last 13 months, if you speak to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Ive done it my way. The Chris Welch way. The only way I know how, Welch said. And its a new day in Springfield.

The beginning of the end for Madigan as speaker came when a group of 19 House Democrats publicly opposed giving him another term, denying him the majority he needed among his partys members.

One of the 19 House members praised news of the indictment.

It definitely feels like this wouldve been a distraction had he been speaker right now, said state Rep. Margaret Croke, a first-term Chicago Democrat.

Everything that I think weve done in this past two years now is not going to be tainted with that ... with an old speaker, she said. And were looking at a new day, and I think thats really exciting, right, because otherwise I think we would be looking at another two years with this cloud over us and everything we do here.

Jeremy Gorner reported from Springfield. Tribune reporter Alice Yin contributed

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
Times Now

An Indian TV news debate on the Ukraine crisis went wildly off the rails this week when anchor Rahul Shivshankar yelled at a guest for nearly two minutes straight until discovering it was the wrong guy.

Shivshankar, the controversial moderator of India Upfront, a debate program on English-language news channel Times Now, brought on Bohdan Nahaylo of the Kyiv Post, a Ukrainian English-language newspaper, and Daniel McAdams, executive director of the paleo-libertarian Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

In the segment, which has since gone viral in a cropped clip on social media, Shivshankar apparently believed he was addressing McAdams about Americas lack of direct military involvement in Ukraine. The shows production crew had placed the wrong on-air titles for the two guests, making it appear that Nahaylo was actually McAdams.

With the anchor telling McAdams to take a bit of a chill pill and relax, Nahaylowho appeared on the show from Ukraineretorts that he wont because my country is at war, prompting Shivshankar to launch into a grandstanding tirade meant to rebuke his American guest.

Mr. McAdams, if you are so concerned about Ukrainians, get off the fence and send your forces and put boots on the ground, the India Upfront host shouted. Dont lecture us here in India, okay? I am not gonna hear your lecture. And if you have [real] problems, then go tell the U.S. president Mr. Biden who flashes his fancy credentials!

Craziest 2 minutes of TV news ever, with opposing guests on the Ukraine war hosted by Indian TV. the ending is a MUST watch. pic.twitter.com/1USI8bjHif  Sk Boz, PhD  (@skbozphd) March 3, 2022

At this point, a crosstalk shouting match ensued with Nahaylo firing back at the increasingly irate Shivshankar. Eventually, the real McAdams can be heard saying I am not even talking. Unfortunately for Shivshankar, he didnt hear him and continued to shout down the entirely wrong McAdams.

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After the host ranted at Nahaylo about the Afghanistan war and Americas colonial agenda in Africa and elsewhere, he once again demanded the Ukrainian editor, whom he wrongly believed to be McAdams, to shut up and be quiet.

Dont sit here and lecture us, Mr. McAdams. We shut him down, the anchor huffed, signaling to the control room to cut off Nahaylos mic.

Eventually the real McAdams interjected: Im not talking! Its the other guy whos talking. I havent been able to say a word.

Absolutely. The man has gone completely ballistic, and if he feels so strongly, he should go and fight alongside Ukrainians who are being killed, a completely oblivious Shivshankar responded, still believing McAdams was Nahaylo and vice versa.

Dear host, I have not said a word yet. I dont know why youre yelling at me, McAdams replied.

But I am not yelling at you, I am talking about Mr. McAdams, the anchor insisted, finally resulting in his American guest bursting his bubble.

I am Mr. McAdams, the Ron Paul acolyte shot back. I am Mr. McAdams and I havent said a word, so stop yelling at me!

Merely uttering I got that confused, a deflated Shivshankar owned up to his humiliating on-air mistake.

In a statement to Clarion Indias Zafar Aafaq, McAdams called the whole segment a comedy of errors and that he could only hear the host yelling and screaming at the person he thought was me during the unfortunate exchange.

I was pretty pissed off yesterday about the whole thing, but with this clip you have sent to me I find it hilarious, he added.

Time Now did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Firefighters work to contain a fire at the Economy Department building of Karazin Kharkiv National University, allegedly hit during recent shelling by Russia, in Kharkiv on March 2, 2022. SERGEY BOBOK/AFP via Getty Images

The International Criminal Court has begun investigating alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

As of Wednesday, 39 nations had requested such an investigation.

"Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced," the ICC's top prosecutor said.

The International Criminal Court announced Wednesday that it is launching an investigation into potential war crimes in Ukraine.

Karim A.A. Khan, the ICC's top prosecutor, first announced his intent to open an investigation on February 28, just days after Russia launched its invasion.

In a statement, he said his office had since received referrals for such an investigation from 39 nations that are a part of the ICC, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

"I have notified the ICC Presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations," Khan said. "Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced."

Khan said the investigation would consider offenses committed since November 2013, "thereby encompassing within its scope any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person."

Amnesty International has described Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a "crime of aggression" under international law, saying it had already resulted in "indiscriminate strikes on residential areas, medical institutions, social infrastructure and other civilian objects."

US lawmakers urged investigation

The United States is not a member of the ICC, nor are Russia or Ukraine. Nevertheless, lawmakers such as US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from North Carolina, had urged the court to investigate Russia's actions, introducing a Senate resolution to that effect this week.

Speaking to Insider earlier on Wednesday, Graham  who in 2015 threatened to cut off aid to Palestinians if they filed a claim against Israel at the ICC  said the international body made sense for prosecuting any offenses in Ukraine.

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"This court doesn't make sense when it comes to America or Israel," he said Wednesday. "It makes perfect sense when it comes to places where there is no rule of law."

Former US President Bill Clinton in 2000 signed the treaty creating the ICC but it was never ratified by the Senate. His successor, George W. Bush, formally withdrew from the agreement.

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com

Read the original article on Business Insider
With the premiere of the documentary Lucy and Desi directed by Amy Poehler on Amazon, the streaming platform is home now to three projects about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It joins the release this past fall of the embarrassingly bad biopic from Aaron Sorkin (Being the Ricardos starring Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem) and, on the other end of the spectrum, the wonderfully complex and compelling 1993 documentary Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie, made by the couples daughter, Lucie Arnaz.

Of the three films, Poehlers effort falls somewhere in the middle, at once superfluous but sincere in its efforts to celebrate and also understand the duo who would change television forever, but had a famously difficult marriage as well, which would end, after two decades together, in 1960. Poehler (who last directed the YA girl power anthem Moxie for Netflix) is entirely off-camera for this effort and you can understand, with her extensive career as a comedic performer  as well as a celebrity marriage of her own, to Will Arnett, which also ended in divorce  why she might have a natural affinity for Balls story.

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But the relationship at the films center remains a combustible mystery.

This image released by Amazon shows Lucille Ball, left, and Desi Arnaz in a photo from the documentary "Lucy and Desi." (Library of Congress/AP)

Lucie Arnaz was interviewed for Poehlers documentary (shes identified here by her married name, Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill) and her observations seem to have mellowed in the years since she made her own film. Or maybe thats because of the questions Poehler chose to ask or the decisions she made in editing. Either way, the project glosses over the surface, compared with A Home Movie, which is compassionate but straightforward about the nuances and human flaws of the couple in question. Arnaz Luckinbill is a recognizable actor in her own right (her 2003 episode of Law & Order as a steely cosmetics mogul remains one of the shows best) and she has an unfussy way of communicating that feels like a personality trait she picked up from both parents.

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Where the 1993 documentary is rooted in footage from grainy home movies (much of it shot in the decade before Arnaz Luckinbill was born), Poehlers Lucy and Desi relies on old cassettes. My parents had these tapes, these audiotapes that they kept, Arnaz Luckinbill tells her. Why did they make these tapes? For whom? We never learn the back story; the tapes (which serve as voice-over narration in the film) are discussed briefly at the top of Lucy and Desi and then never mentioned again. A lot is much clearer to me now, Arnaz Luckinbill says but theres no follow up to that, either. What is clearer? Considering she made her own film nearly 30 years ago and has been thinking about her parents dynamic for much of her life, this is a real oversight on Poehlers part.

What the new documentary offers are the occasional details that often arent part of the lore, including Balls experiences as head of their studio, Desilu Productions. It was a role she took on after their divorce, when Ball bought out Arnazs shares and became president. But it wasnt a job she relished. We see footage of her behind the scenes talking with two male colleagues, hashing out a problem with lighting and shadows. It looks like a typical workplace back-and-forth, of people huddled together, brows furrowed. And then one of the men decides hes had enough of her questions: I dont know how to light a scene without lights. Period. Ball has her arms crossed, and when he says this her eyes dart in a flicker of annoyance: No, Im not asking that, she says firmly as she walks away, disgusted by his passive-aggressive comment. Im not suggesting that. Shes the head of the studio and this is how her employee is talking to her, with open sarcasm. When referring to this period in her life, Carol Burnett recalls that Ball once told her: Kid, thats when they put the s on the end of my last name.

Poehler also pauses to let us consider the startling invasion of privacy the pair experienced when Ball took a pregnancy test. Apparently, gossip columnist Walter Winchell had a spy in the lab and broke the news on his radio show that she was indeed pregnant before even the couple were informed themselves. This story comes up briefly in Arnaz Luckinbills film as well (we see Ball making a joke of it in later years), but Poehler takes a moment to underscore just how galling and violating Winchells behavior actually was.

Desi Arnaz licking the face of his wife Lucille Ball in the television series I Love Lucy. (CBS/Getty Images)

Even so, watching Lucy and Desi, youre left with so many unanswered questions about the texture of their marriage. What did it look like behind closed doors  the good times and the bad and everything in between?

For a better sense of who they were, together and individually, 1993s A Home Movie remains the one to watch. It reveals all kinds of interesting dynamics, showcasing Arnazs innate gregariousness in a way that I Love Lucy never could, but also Balls adoration mixed with insecurity. In an inverse of their repartee on the show, he was the life of the party at home, whereas she mostly played it straight. At the studio, his brilliant instincts for business and comedy were matched by her diligence for rehearsal and hard work. They were such a thrilling combination of personalities, but forever struggling to find balance. Their desire for a close-knit family eluded them too; they worked long hours and when they got home, Ball in particular had trouble disengaging her thoughts from work. Even their extended families were thorny; his parents could be demanding, and her mother (who wasnt around much when she was a child) merely tolerated Arnaz, calling him an ethnic epithet behind his back. The interviews Arnaz Luckinbill includes (with friends and colleagues) flesh out just how complicated things really were: The couple was dazzling! But their marriage was difficult. They had so much fun together until ultimately they didnt. Also: I never saw your mother play with you, one of Balls old friends says. There was a lot of love there. Eventually considerable professional success. But also a good deal of regret and unhappiness.

There was Balls discombobulated childhood, as well as Arnazs disrupted teenage years when his family, stripped of their wealth and influence, fled Cuba for the United States. But I have yet to see a film try to contextualize Arnazs fame as a white Cuban man who introduced the conga  with its specifically Afro-Cuban origins  to the U.S. Years earlier, his father, as mayor of Santiago de Cuba, had in fact banned the conga in their hometown, calling it one of those scientifically inexplicable regressions toward a dark past. Was Arnazs later embrace of the conga an act of defiance? Or something opportunistic, along the lines of cultural appropriation? Thats a knot worth unraveling.

Poehlers film only glancingly acknowledges Arnazs alcoholism, and it does not address Balls tendency to withdraw and her growing feelings of bitterness. In 1993, Arnaz Luckinbill seemed more willing to let some uncomfortable truths come out, if only because it painted a more complicated and human picture of her parents beyond the fame and glamour and buoyant exuberance generated by I Love Lucy.

TV is always a fantasy, though, and nobody knows that better than a kid raised in Hollywood.

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These were people trying desperately to be a family, she says in the earlier film, and there are no perfect families out there. There arent. And the fact that were haunted by The Donna Reed Show and Father Knows Best is not a reason to expect your family to be like that, because nobodys is.

Lucy and Desi  2.5 stars (out of 4)

Where to watch: Amazon Prime

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in 1953. ( FPG/Getty Images)

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic

nmetz@chicagotribune.com

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Roman Abramovich is worth $13.5 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Chris Brunskill Ltd / Contributor / Getty Images

Israel's Holocaust museum asked the US not to sanction a Russian oligarch ahead of the invasion of Ukraine.

In a joint letter to the US envoy in Israel, the Yad Vashem's chairman vouched for Roman Abramovich, saying he is one of its top donors.

The letter also said that sanctions on Abramovich would be unfair to the Jewish world.

Last month, Israel's Holocaust Memorial Museum, a chief rabbi, and several Israeli charities and organizations asked the US to avoid sanctioning Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, The Times of Israel reported on Sunday.

Dani Dayan, chairman of the Yad Vashem museum, had signed a joint letter addressed to Tom Nides, the US ambassador to Israel, saying that Abramovich is the "second-largest private donor" to the museum, per the outlet.

The letter was dated February 6, per The Times, less than three weeks before Russian President Vladimir Putin declared an assault on Ukraine, but after news emerged that the US was drafting a list of targets to sanction in answer to potential aggression from Moscow.

As of Thursday morning, Abramovich, an Israeli-Russian billionaire with close political ties to Putin, has not been placed on the list of oligarchs targeted by Western sanctions.

However, the oligarch has reportedly been trying to sell off the English Premier League Team Chelsea FC and property in London ahead of a possible new tranche of financial penalties aimed at him.

The letter praised Abramovich for what The Times described as "investments, philanthropy, and significant contributions to Israel."

It also said that sanctioning Abramovich would be unfair and negatively impact Israel and the Jewish world, The Times reported.

"Mr. Abramovich has contributed to worthy causes for more than a decade," Dayan said in the letter, according to The Washington Post. "As far as I know, Mr. Abramovich doesn't have any links to Mr. Putin."

It is not immediately clear how Dayn assessed Abramovich's relationship with the Russian leader.

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Abramovich had been one of Putin's earliest supporters as the latter rose to power in the late 1990s. He recommended Putin to then-President Boris Yeltsin and even reportedly bought him a $50 million yacht, The Guardian reported in 2018.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) speaks as billionaire and businessman Roman Abramovich (left) looks on during 2016 a meeting with top businessmen in Sochi, Russia. Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Abramovich, who's worth $13.5 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, has donated more than $500 million to Israeli and Jewish causes, The Times wrote.

Two weeks after the letter was sent, he made an unspecified "eight-figure donation" to the Yad Vashem museum, The Times previously reported.

On February 22, Yad Vashem announced that it was entering a "strategic partnership" with Abramovich that would "expand and bolster Yad Vashem's research activities, at a time when Holocaust distortion, denial and politicization are rising alarmingly worldwide."

Yad Vashem did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

In response to the invasion of Ukraine, the US and other Western countries have hammered Russia's economy by imposing heavy sanctions that have also targeted oligarchs in Putin's inner circle.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Kimberly Guilfoyle gives an address to the Republican National Convention on August 24, 2020 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The January 6 committee just issued a subpoena for former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle.

The subpoena comes after Guilfoyle backed out of a previous meeting with the committee.

Chairman Thompson says they want to know more about her conversations with Trump on January 6.

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol issued a subpoena for Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, advisor to former President Donald Trump, and Donald Trump Jr.'s fiancee.

The subpoena, which requires that Guilfoyle turn over records and sit for testimony before the committee, comes after Guilfoyle backed out of a prior meeting with the committee after, according to her, "members notorious for leaking information appeared" without her prior knowledge.

The committee had already obtained her phone records through subpoenas to communications companies.

In a statement, committee chairman Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi explained that the committee wanted information from Guilfoyle about her conversations with President Trump on the day of the Capitol riot, as well as fundraising for the rally on the ellipse.

"Ms. Guilfoyle met with Donald Trump inside the White House, spoke at the rally that took place before the riot on January 6th, and apparently played a key role organizing and raising funds for that event," said chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson in a statement. "Because Ms. Guilfoyle backed out of her original commitment to provide a voluntary interview, we are issuing today's subpoena that will compel her to testify. We expect her to comply with the law and cooperate."

January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) March 3, 2022

The news comes just one day after the committee said it had evidence that Trump broke several laws in the course of his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, including trying to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiring to defraud the United States, and engaging in common law fraud.

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In his subpoena letter to Guilfoyle, Thompson said Guilfoyle had not been cooperative with the committee and rebutted her prior claims of being misled by staff.

"Though you professed to want to cooperate, you produced only 110 pages in response to 14 document requests, and you refused to proceed with your scheduled transcribed interview on February 25, 2022, claiming you had not been previously informed that Select Committee Members could observe and participate," said Thompson. "Staff had in fact communicated to your attorneys that Members could be present, but nevertheless offered to reschedule the interview. You declined."

The letter also emphasized Guilfoyle's statements on the day of the riot, noting that she told a crowd of Trump supporters gathered on the Ellipse that "we will not allow the liberals and the Democrats to steal our dream or steal our elections" while telling others before her speech to "have the courage to do the right thing. Fight!"

Guilfoyle has until March 11 to turn over documents to the committee, while the subpoena requires that she sit for a deposition on March 15.

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Maki Shiraki and Jamie Freed

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Airlines Co Ltd and ANA Holdings Inc cancelled all flights to and from Europe on Thursday and cancelled or rerouted flights on Friday as well, citing safety concerns following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

ANA also started to cancel some flights due to run on Saturday.

The airlines, which normally use Russian airspace for their Europe flights, join a growing number of carriers that have cancelled or rerouted flights between Europe and north Asia in the wake of the crisis.

"We are continuously monitoring the situation, but given the present situation in Ukraine and the different risks, we have decided to cancel flights," a JAL spokesperson told Reuters.

ANA Cargo's website said the suspension of flights was due to the "high possibility of its operations not being able to overfly Russia due to the current Ukraine situation."

Airlines from the European Union and Canada have been banned from Russian airspace in response to their curbs on Russian airlines, but Japan has not made a similar announcement to date.

ANA and JAL operate about 60 flights per week through Russian airspace between Tokyo and London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Helsinki, according to a spokesperson for flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

Finnair, which had initially cancelled its Tokyo flights after losing access to Russian airspace, said on Wednesday it would resume four weekly Helsinki-Tokyo flights with a new route and a flight time of 13 hours, up from around 9.5 hours previously.

Longer routes by airlines will add to fuel costs and reduce the amount of cargo that can be carried in a tight market for air freight that is exacerbating pandemic-related disruptions in global supply chains.

Korean Air Lines was still flying over Russian airspace on Thursday, according to Reuters monitoring of FlightRadar24, but Taiwanese carriers are now avoiding Russian airspace and are flying over China and central Asia.

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Both JAL and ANA cancelled eight flights each carrier had scheduled for Friday. The impacted routes included those to London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Helsinki.

A Tokyo-Brussels flight due to carry vaccines on the return leg will be routed over central Asia, ANA said.

Japan Airlines said it planned to reroute one of its London flights on Friday heading eastward over Alaska, Greenland and Iceland rather than flying the usual westbound route over Russia. The flight will not require a fuel stop.

It cancelled flights to and from Helsinki, Frankfurt, Paris on Friday as well as a second London flight.

(Reporting by Maki Shiraki in Tokyo and Jamie Freed in Sydney; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Sakura Murakami and Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Edwina Gibbs, Kim Coghill and Susan Fenton)
Mar. 3At 2:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, Morgan County Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell denied a motion by Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson requesting notice of any hearings in which a previously extradited defendant may be released from jail.

The DA's motion focused on the case of Christopher Mark Sherwood, 46, who is under indictment for first-degree theft for allegedly stealing a 2002 Dodge truck in 2019. In the motion filed Tuesday, Anderson complained that his office and the Morgan County Sheriff's Office have had to extradite Sherwood from other states three times, yet on three occasions Howell has released the defendant from jail on his own recognizance. Howell most recently released Sherwood on Feb. 21.

"It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever for this defendant to have been released from custody, especially on his own recognizance, when he has failed to appear for arraignment on two prior occasions and has been extradited on three prior occasions," Anderson wrote in the motion.

In the order denying the motion, Howell said she initially converted Sherwood's $2,500 bond to a recognizance bond  meaning the defendant was to be released without posting a monetary bond  on May 17, 2020, after determining he had been jailed almost three months due to his indigency. The defendant, Howell wrote, "was homeless, resided primarily out of state, and traveled out of state for work when he could find work."

Howell also noted that the DA's office "did not indict this Defendant for over one year following the (July 7, 2019) offense date, and given the current trial settings and number of pending cases, this case would not be set for trial for at least eight months," during which time Sherwood would have remained in jail due to his inability to post bond.

She said Anderson's request that the court notify the DA's office of hearings in which a previously extradited defendant could be released was impractical because the court receives no record of extraditions. If the DA's office wants to receive such notice, Howell wrote, it should "file a motion in each case where a defendant is extradited, requesting a hearing on bond."

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Howell's order noted that while Sherwood missed previous arraignments, he did appear at a Feb. 22 arraignment.

Sherwood's trial is scheduled for Oct. 17. He is currently out of jail and resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, according to court records. First-degree theft is a Class B felony with a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.

 eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435. Twitter @DD_Fleischauer.
PROVIDENCE  Lawyers argued Thursday about the level of danger posed by a jailed crypto-currency investor and prolific gun-buyer who has wanted to go home to his upscale Burrillville house since his recent arrest.

Ronald Andruchuk, who was arrested last week, is accused of illegally possessing guns as a substance abuser.

His "demonstrated zeal" for acquiring guns, his reckless storing and shooting of firearms on his woodsy 11-acre property and his suspected drug use are among the reasons he needs to stay locked up at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, according to a prosecutor.

Andruchuk's lawyer argues that his client is presumed innocent and has cooperated with authorities in the past, and that it's possible to let him out of jail without endangering the public.

Shots fired: Burrillville crypto-currency investor found with hundreds of guns

Last week, federal agents seized more than 200 guns and a flame-thrower from Andruchuk's home on Tarkiln Road, where his extensive gunfire had disturbed neighbors and concerned Burrillville police, says a prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Hebert.

The Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls.

The seizure, following a string of shots-fired incidents, was part of an investigation that delved into Andruchuk's hiding of two guns and cocaine in the ceiling of a Massachusetts retail store, and his substance-abuse history,

Hebert is challenging notions, expressed by a magistrate judge last week, that the system can rely on electronic monitoring and other measures to keep Andruchuk away from guns while allowing him to go home.

She argued that Andruchuk's wife has shown "enabling behavior" and that Andruchuk's abilities with a computer make it easy for him to rearm.

"He is smart," she said. "He is well-educated. He is internet-savvy."

Situation reminiscent of past mass shootings

U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell Jr. described Andruchuk's mass procurement of guns "mind-boggling" and wondered why Burrillville police did not detain him based on the safety risk that prosecutors say he posed.

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The circumstances, he said, remind of him of mass shootings where the system has missed opportunities to protect the public.

'Terrified neighbors': Burrillville man charged over arsenal in home remains jailed

"You can't help but get that out of your head," he told Andruchuk's lawyer, Kevin Fitzgerald.

"I'm being really up front with you," he said. "That's where my head is right now."

Fitzgerald told McConnell that Andruchuk's amassing of guns last year was the activity of a collector and not a harbinger of any planned future violence.

Rhode Island Supreme Court: It will decide if wiretap evidence against biker gang was wrongly suppressed

He mentioned that one person he's aware of believes that Andruchuck's activities in Burrillville wouldn't cause anyone to bat an eyelash in Montana.

"But it's not ..." McConnell said.

'It's a lot to analyze'

Fitzgerald and Hebert contested the scene inside the house: Fitzgerald said guns were kept in a locked basement and were not lying around everywhere, and a gun found on the ground outside was one that Andruchuk had wielded when police arrived on the scene.

Hebert said 42 guns were in a bedroom suite and a flamethrower was in the kitchen.

McConnell, who received the arguments via video teleconference, said he would need time to consider the arguments, particularly Fitzgerald's points, which were not preceded by any written filings.

He promised Andruchuk that he would make a decision as soon as he can and will follow the law. Andruchuk nodded.

"It's a lot to analyze," McConnell said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Ronald Andruchuk, accused of illegally having 200 guns, requests bail
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, speaks to reporters in Washington on June 24, 2021. AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

A judge has dismissed Mike Lindell's appeal to get Dominion's defamation lawsuit against him tossed.

Lindell had appealed a ruling stating that the $1.3 billion lawsuit against him should proceed.

Lindell told Insider that he plans to bring new claims against Dominion, and launch a class-action lawsuit against all voting technology companies.

A judge has dismissed MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell's latest attempt to get voting technology company Dominion's $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against him thrown out.

In a judgment filed on Tuesday, District Judge Carl J. Nichols denied Lindell's appeal to have Dominion's defamation claims dismissed. Instead, the judge wrote that litigation against MyPillow would continue.

Per the filing, Nichols wrote that MyPillow "has not made a serious argument that a court is required, at the motion to dismiss stage in a defamation case, to consider and weigh factual materials outside the pleadings and relied on by the defendant."

The judge also wrote that the questions raised by Lindell's team were "far from exceptional."

Dominion sued Lindell and his pillow company in February 2021, alleging that he damaged them when he pushed false conspiracy theories about the election-technology company's role in the 2020 election.

Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell  both lawyers linked to former President Donald Trump  were also sued at the same time for touting baseless theories that the election was stolen from Trump for President Joe Biden.

Nichols previously denied motions from Lindell, Powell, and Giuliani to dismiss the lawsuits and consolidated the three separate lawsuits into one case that will move to trial in tandem.

However, Lindell's lawyers have dodged meetings for Dominion's defamation lawsuit and refused to hand over discovery material. Lindell told Insider in January that his team was waiting to see if their appeal would be successful before participating in these meetings.

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In February, Dominion and Lindell's legal teams said that they have no intention of settling their cases.

Lindell is also facing a defamation lawsuit from voting company Smartmatic, which has alleged that Lindell is "crazy like a fox" and accused him of "intentionally (stoking) the fires of xenophobia and party divide for the noble purpose of selling his pillows."

For his part, Lindell has countersued Dominion, its public-relations company Hamilton Place Strategies, and Smartmatic.

When asked about his appeal's dismissal, Lindell told Insider that he was planning to move ahead with his fight against Dominion and other election technology companies.

"Here's the thing  we're bringing all the evidence that they did not preserve evidence," Lindell said. He also accused Dominion of "deleting" records from the 2020 election.

Lindell added that he has been working on a class-action lawsuit for over five months, claiming that he has amassed testimonies from "hundreds" of county clerks and commissioners against "all" the voting technology companies  including Dominion and Smartmatic.

He added that the lawsuit would likely be filed within the next two weeks and that wants to get "more and more plaintiffs" added to it. Lindell also expressed hope that election technology company ES&S would sue him, too.

"All of them, they're all defective products. It's like having bad brakes on a car, that's defective," Lindell said. "When you purchase these machines, these people that purchase them in the states and counties, the machines didn't do what they were supposed to do."

Nichols ordered that the defamation lawsuit lodged by Dominion against Lindell, Giuliani, and Powell proceed in full, per a separate filing on Tuesday. Initial disclosures are set to be exchanged on March 25, with discovery scheduled for completion by January 12, 2023.

Read the original article on Business Insider
PLYMOUTH  Jurors on Wednesday were shown a redacted version of a police interview with a Rockland man hours after his arrest in the 2018 slaying of his estranged wife in Marshfield.

During the interview, the suspect, Allen Warner, 51, rambled about his own medical issues and problems he had with Shana Warner, 48, of Marshfield, whom he called his "so-called wife." The video was part of the prosecutor's case against Allen Warner, who is facing a first-degree murder charge in the brutal killing.

Prior trial coverage: Allen Warner, accused of killing his estranged wife in Marshfield, stands trial

More: Murder suspect's mother, crime scene investigators testify against him in murder trial

He complained about money issues with Shana, and said she gave him a perceived lice problem that long plagued him.

"It never seems to end," Warner said.

Allen Warner is interviewed by police on Sept. 25, 2018. In the video of the interview, which was incorrectly dated by police, Warner talks about his estranged wife, whom he is accused of killing. The video was shown to jurors in Allen Warner's murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court on March 2, 2022.

Warner also told police that he had "a rage" within himself.

Warner is accused of killing Shana Warner and leaving her for dead near the intersection of Main Street and Old Main Street Extension in Marshfield. Police said Shana was dragged behind her car, which Allen Warner had jumped in and drove it off the road. She was then dragged behind the car, beaten, stabbed and shot, police said.

Warner was arrested the next day in Whitman. Police say he dropped off the sedan, owned by his mother, at a friend's house and then stole a truck before a Whitman police officer spotted him the day after the the slaying.

Murder suspect Allen Warner watches a State Police video of the scene of the slaying of his wife, Shana Warner, whom he is accused of killing in Marshfield. The video was shown in Plymouth Superior Court on March 2, 2022.

The jury Wednesday also heard from a host of State Police crime scene specialists who worked on the case. Jennifer Montgomery, a DNA analyst, told jurors she confirmed the blood found at the scene belonged to Shana Warner.

Jurors were also shown video of the crime scene taken by State Police. The video had no sound and the courtroom was silent as jurors, Shana Warner's family and her boyfriend at the time of her death, John Tallent, watched.

Quincy: Video: 'Saving by Shaving' in Quincy

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Courts & Trials: Trial for former Mashpee Wampanoag Chairman Cedric Cromwell set for April

The trial began last week. Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Thursday after hearing closing arguments in the morning.

Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Kramer, left, shows evidence to State Trooper Patrick McNamara during the murder trial of Allen Warner in Plymouth Superior Court on March 2, 2022.

In addition to murder, Allen Warner faces charges of kidnapping, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a loaded firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, larceny of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene with property damage.

This story was updated to correct the police characterization of the attack.Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with a Patriot Ledger subscription. Here is our latest offer.

Joe Difazio can be reached at jdifazio@patriotledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @jldifazio.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Jurors shown Allen Warner's first interview with police during trial
Kentucky Rep. Danny Bentley made comments about Jewish women and the Holocaust during a debate Wednesday over anti-abortion legislation, quickly drawing condemnation from several members of the Jewish community who raised serious concerns with what he said.

Bentley, a Republican and pharmacist from Russell, later apologized for his comments Wednesday night, saying he "meant absolutely no harm."

As state representatives debated an omnibus anti-abortion bill Wednesday afternoon, Bentley spoke about the medication abortions the legislation would restrict and invoked Jews and the Holocaust as he made claims about the origins of one such medication, which members of the Jewish community quickly denounced as both false and antisemitic.

Thomas Massie: Kentucky congressman 1 of 3 to vote against resolution supporting Ukraine. Here's why

Bentley falsely said RU-486, or Mifepristone, one of two pills taken to induce abortion, was developed during World War II and was called Zyklon B, the gas that killed millions of Jews in the Holocaust.

He added that the person who developed (it) was a Jew.

Referring to an earlier floor amendment that attempted to allow Jewish women to be exempt from the abortion restrictions in the bill  with the Democrat who filed it, Rep. Mary Lou Marzian of Louisville, saying the faith does not believe life begins at conception  Bentley then opined on his perception of the sexual habits of Jewish women, since we brought up the Hebrew family today.

Did you know that a Jewish woman has less cancer of the cervix than any other race in this country or this world? Bentley asked. And why is that? Because the Jewish women only have one sex partner They don't have multiple sex partners. To say that the Jewish people approve of this drug now is wrong.

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Referring to the company that made RU-486 and again referring to the Holocaust, Bentley further asked: Why would they do it? Because they're making money on it.

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No one responded to Bentley's comments during the abortion debate that lasted about two hours.

Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, a physician and the only Jewish member of the legislature, listened to Bentleys speech and was outraged by both the falsehoods and the fact that people of her religion were even a subject.

While the person who developed RU-486 was Jewish, she noted that this occurred in the 1980s.

The first clinical trials on this drug has nothing to do with World War II (and) has nothing to do with the Holocaust, Berg said. That the developer was indeed of Jewish descent... what difference does that make? And why is that being brought up on the floor?

Kentucky Rep. Danny Bentley, R-Russell

Bentley apologized for his comments in a statement provided Wednesday night to The Courier Journal.

"I meant absolutely no harm in my comments today and sincerely apologize for any they caused. Last week we received a heartbreakingly sad reminder that anti-Semitism still exists in our society and I apologize if my comments today caused similar pain or any doubt that I stand with the Jewish Community against hatred," he said. "My intention was to speak as a pharmacist to the history of RU-486 and respond to a proposed amendment. I clearly should have been more sensitive with my comments."

The American Jewish Committee  along with the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the National Council of Jewish Women's Louisville Section  condemned Bentley's comments in a statement Wednesday night.

"On Wednesday, during a hearing on womens reproductive choice, Rep. Danny Bentley went on a bizarre, anti-Semitic rant that included outlandish claims about the sex lives of Jewish women and the outrageous assertion that Jews created the abortion pill during the Holocaust to profit financially," they said. "We call on all elected officials and community partners to forcefully denounce anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, especially when they emanate from officials elected to serve the people of the Commonwealth."

"We urge the leadership of the Kentucky House and Senate to accept our offer to provide anti-Semitism training to all members of the Kentucky General Assembly and their staff," they continued. "We acknowledge Rep. Bentley's apology however, words matter and leadership matters."

You may be interested: Let teachers use these documents to correct the lie that slavery didn't cause US Civil War

Soon after Bentley made his controversial comments on the House floor Wednesday afternoon, the Jewish Federation of Louisville's president and CEO, Sara Klein Wagner, said Bentley's comments once again show "words matter."

She expressed concern about Bentley's speech and said it sounds like he was trying to give a historical lesson  but that lesson was false. She also said it's concerning he was able to continue making these comments, unabated, without pushback on the House floor from other legislators.

"I think it goes back to the fact that words matter. Speaking up when you hear words and comments that make no sense, that can lead to bigger problems and be hurtful," she said.

Bentley's controversial comments during Wednesday's legislative debate came the week after two other GOP lawmakers, Rep. Walker Thomas and Sen. Rick Girdler, said the antisemitic phrase "Jew them down" during a legislative committee meeting, for which they later apologized. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported both men apologized.

His speech also came mere days after various lawmakers in the Kentucky House of Representatives received an anonymously sent, antisemitic email the chamber's top Republican and Democratic leaders said was "as false as it was disgusting."

Kentucky government: Kentucky lawmakers push conspiracy theories, debunked claims during COVID special session

Wagner said the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the American Jewish Committee reached out to House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, and Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, last week and offered to provide training to legislators about understanding and combating antisemitism.

She said the training is designed to expose people of varied backgrounds to what constitutes antisemitic language and tropes and how those things put Jewish people at risk.

Angela Billings, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Senate Republicans, told The Courier Journal Wednesday night that the Senate leadership will add cultural sensitivity training on antisemitism alongside of other training state senators receive annually.

Wagner noted that the anonymously sent, antisemitic email House lawmakers received last week was deeply concerning.

The Jewish Federation of Louisville and American Jewish Committee jointly denounced it in a statement Friday, saying it was filled with antisemitic claims about American Jews dominating the Atlantic slave trade and promoted the antisemitic views of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has a well-documented history of such rhetoric.

Berg noted she personally received the email in question and has still received no personal apology from the lawmakers who used the antisemitic "Jew them down" slur in committee. She said the last week has been very disheartening."

Houston, we have a problem," she added.

Thomas Massie: Thomas Massie shares supposed Voltaire quote. Its real source: A reported neo-Nazi

Osborne and House Minority Floor Leader Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, sent out a statement Monday condemning the antisemitic email lawmakers received and said they're working with legislative staff to ensure lawmakers and employees are "much less likely to see this type of bigotry."

"Kentucky was the first state to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism, and a core component of that resolution is denouncing hatred whenever and wherever it happens," they said. "This is one of those times."

Honi Marleen Goldman, a multigenerational Jewish member of the Louisville community, sent an email to Osborne Wednesday calling Bentley's remarks during the anti-abortion bill debate "anti-Semitic, inflammatory and filled with hate speech."

"I implore you to have his words officially stricken from the House record," Goldman said.

The Kentucky Democratic Party issued a press release Thursday morning saying the legislature's Republican majority "has an antisemitism problem," with chairman Colmon Elridge stating the three episodes in eight days "is not an anomaly its an appalling pattern, but Republican leaders are tolerating this hateful rhetoric with their silence and inaction."

At a previously scheduled press conference later that morning to urge "civility" in the discourse on public education issues, Republican state Sen. Danny Carroll rejected the KDP's statement as "ridiculous," with he and Senate President Pro Tempore David Givens both saying there is absolutely "no antisemitism" in the Senate GOP caucus.

Referring to Girdler's slur last week, Carroll said the senator could not feel any worse about that."

"There was no intention," Carroll said. It was a term that he had just heard all his life. It was improper, he knows it was, and he's taking responsibility for that."

Carroll added his caucus is very supportive of Israel," having been very vocal and forthcoming many times with resolutions supporting them.

Reporter Deborah Yetter contributed to this story. Morgan Watkins is The Courier Journal's chief political reporter. Contact her at mwatkins@courierjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter: @morganwatkins26.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky lawmaker invokes Holocaust, Jewish women sex life in speech
The promotion and protection of human rights is a common cause of all countries

08:57, March 03, 2022 By He Yin ( People's Daily

The high-level segment of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council kicked off on Feb. 28. When the world is still facing the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic, deteriorating poverty and inequality, as well as challenges against the global human rights cause, all countries must make joint efforts to better promote and protect human rights,

Two girls play in an agricultural park in Chengjiang township, southwest China's Chongqing municipality, Feb. 12, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Qin Tingfu)

China will continue to steadfastly pursue a human rights development path that meets the trend of times and suits its national conditions. While achieving historic progress in the cause of human rights at home, the country has taken an active part in global human rights governance, making Chinese contributions and providing Chinese schemes.

Respecting and protecting human rights is an unremitting pursuit of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The 100-year history of the CPC is a history of the Party uniting and leading the Chinese people to strive for, respect, safeguard and develop human rights. China's tremendous transformation from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong is a process when the country has continuously ensured the Chinese people's right to life, right to development and other basic human rights.

Having built a moderately prosperous society in all respects, China has brought about a historic resolution to the problem of extreme poverty, providing a solid material foundation for protecting and developing human rights.

When responding to COVID-19, China has put peoples interests first, with a belief that nothing is more precious than peoples lives. It has protected the lives and health of the Chinese people to the maximum extent possible.

China is the only major country in the world that has formulated and implemented action plans on human rights for four consecutive terms. There is increasing awareness in the international community that China is acting as true champions of human rights.

Human rights are historical, concrete and realistic, and cannot be detached from the context of countries' different social and political conditions, history and cultural traditions.

China has made historic achievements in human rights, because it adheres to the leadership of the CPC and the principal status of the people, proceeds from reality, takes the rights to subsistence and development as its primary and basic human rights, protects human rights according to law, and actively participates in global human rights governance. These are major characteristics of China's human rights development, and also valuable experiences gained by the country.

Senior citizens dance at a nursing home in Yichun, east China's Jiangxi province, Feb. 24, 2022. (People's Daily Online/Zhou Liang)

Since June 2017, the resolution proposed by China entitled The Contribution of Development to the Enjoyment of All Human Rights has been adopted by the UN Human Rights Council for three times, which fully indicates the wide international recognition received by China for its experiences in human rights development.

Without development, there would be no human rights to speak of, nor could the rights enjoyed by the people be sustainable. The right to development is an inalienable human right, which is affirmed by the UN Declaration on the Right to Development.

On promoting global human rights governance, China acts as an positive contributor to common development. It believes that long-term world development cannot be sustained if some countries get wealthier at the expense of others that are kept poor and backward. Only common development of countries makes a more prosperous world.

China has proposed and implemented the jointly building of the Belt and Road to enhance international development cooperation and share development results with other countries. It also actively pursues South-South Cooperation, offering assistance for other developing countries within its capability with no political strings attached and helping other developing countries, especially the least developed ones, eliminate poverty. Besides, the country has proposed the Global Development Initiative to accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is constantly contributing its wisdom and schemes to the development of the international human rights cause.

In judging whether human rights are upheld in a country, one cannot use other countries standards, still less apply double standards or use human rights as a political tool to interfere in the affairs of other countries. On promoting global human rights governance, China acts as a firm defender of equity and justice. It steadfastly promotes greater democracy and rule of law in international relations, follows true multilateralism, and steers global human rights governance toward greater fairness, equity and inclusiveness.

Tourists take a bamboo raft on a wetland park in Jinhu county, Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu province, Feb. 26, 2022. (People's Daily Online/He Jinghua)

China is ready to engage in human rights exchanges and cooperation with all countries on the basis of equality and mutual respect, nevertheless, it does not accept self-styled "lecturers" on human rights and rejects stoking bloc confrontation in the name of human rights.

Making voices of justice at the UN Human Rights Council together with other developing countries, China firmly opposes the U.S. and the West interfering in other countries' domestic affairs in the name of the so-called "human rights," which is of significant importance for the healthy development of the international human rights cause.

The realization of human rights is a common pursuit of mankind, and the promotion and protection of human rights a common cause of all countries. China is willing to work with all relevant parties to promote the shared human values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, promote the healthy development of the international human rights cause, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Visitors to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition took in the view of the Court of Honor from the roof of the Manufacturers Building. (C.D. Arnold photo courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago)

The citys latest marketing campaign, Chicago Not in Chicago, is an effort to show potential visitors how other cities have benefited from Chicago-born innovations such as the skyscraper and house music, an electronic-driven dance genre pioneered by Chicago disc jockeys. In one TV ad, the point is driven home through a clip of a tour guide acknowledging New Yorks various debts to Chicago as a double-decker bus passes along Manhattans streets.

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The goal is to compel viewers living elsewhere to quickly develop a desire to buy airline tickets to OHare International Airport and book rooms at a Loop hotel.

Critics might note that a less expensive response would be for those intrigued by the commercials to simply experience those wonders that originated in Chicago in places closer to their hometown. On top of that, some of Chicagos celebrated achievements are no longer viewable in the city. When passing New Yorks packinghouse district, for example, the tour bus guide pays homage to Chicagos Union Stockyards. They vanished in 1971.

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The story of Chicagos efforts to put its best foot forward begins on the morrow of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. With 17,000 buildings destroyed and 100,000 residents homeless, Chicago had to rebuild quickly  a feat rival cites gloatingly doubted could be pulled off.

William Kerfoot erected the first building in the burnt district after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. He put a sign out front saying: All gone but wife, children and energy. (Chicago History Museum)

A New Orleans newspaper predicted: Chicago will be like the Carthage of old, referring to a long-vanished ancient city. Its glory will be of the past, not the present.

Yet in the midst of the disaster, some Chicagoans displayed a remarkable resilience. Merchants set up shop on the rubble of their stores. A real estate dealer pounded a sign into the ashes: All gone but wife, children and energy.

Hoping to communicate Chicagos resiliency to Eastern bankers and workers, William Bross hopped aboard the first available train. The co-owner of the Tribune was a font of rhetoric and he deployed it freely in a speech to the New York Chamber of Commerce.

Go to Chicago now! he declaimed. Young men hurry there! Old men send your sons! Women send your husbands! You will never again have such a chance to make money.

William Bross, a staunch abolitionist, was lieutenant governor of Illinois from 1865 to 1869 and an early editor for the Chicago Tribune in 1858. He was president of the Tribune company at the time of his death in 1890. (Chicago Tribune archive)

As a mark of his salesmanship, carpenters and stonemasons headed to Chicago. But to some ears, Bross pitch sounded like the stump speech of a windbag politician: long on purple prose, short on facts.

Because of such overblown hype, Bross hometown became known as the Windy City. Only later was the nickname attributed to the winds off Lake Michigan. Outsiders considered verbosity a telltale Chicago foible. Chicagoans assumed it was a politicians inherent style.

In the 1870s, Tribune headlines characterized City Council sessions as a Windy Debate or a Windy Discussion.

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The Windy City became the put-down of choice when Chicago mounted a full-throated campaign to host a Worlds Fair on the 400th anniversary of Columbus discovery of America.

The U.S. had scarcely announced the celebration when Chicago began lobbying Congress and Washingtons diplomatic corps. Chicago executed a flank movement on other candidates for the worlds fair by opening headquarters here today, a Tribune dispatch reported on Oct. 15, 1889.

Why, every express package that comes East from Chicago is labeled in large letters Worlds Fair at Chicago in 1892, a New York congressman told the New York Herald. Every congressman has been deluged with papers filled with the Worlds Fair in Chicago to the extent of a column or more daily.

Columbian Exposition crowds were so huge at times that trains, such as this one on Cottage Grove Avenue, carried an overflow of passengers on the roofs of cars. (Chicago Tribune)

New York was caught flat-footed, and the stakes were high. The worlds fair would attract myriad visitors and pump big bucks into the host citys economy. So New Yorks partisans belittled Chicago in a blistering counterattack that only alienated other cities.

The Baltimore American reported: Every feature of Chicagos political, economic, moral and domestic life is distorted for the purpose of creating the impression that the city is not a fit place to hold the Fair.

The Toledo Blade fired the coup de grace: New York has made fuss enough for a dozen Worlds Fairs. Chicago is no longer entitled to the name Windy City.

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When Chicago got the fair, one New York newspaper acknowledged Gothams self-destruction:

Perhaps we failed to realize that Chicago itself is one of the miracles of civilization  an eighth wonder of the world, wrote the New York Tribune. Probably many were not aware of mechanical facilities which made feasible what only a few years ago would have been impossible.

Indeed, in the decades since the Great Chicago Fire, a frontier outpost had become an industrial giant. Its meteoric growth  from 298,977 residents in 1870 to 1,099,850 in 1890  was in itself a tourist attraction. Some visitors published their impressions, preselling Chicagos Worlds Fair pitch. Even those put off by factories that belched smoke recognized such nuisances as a sign of a booming economy.

No place in the United States has attracted more attention or been more closely watched than Pullman, the Times of London wrote in 1887. It is the extension of the broadest philanthropy to the working man, based upon the strictest business principles.

Workers walk through the main gate at the Pullman Company in 1893. (Newberry Library )

British tourists who put George Pullmans factory town on their must-see list could scarcely guess it would be wracked by a bitter strike in 1894, a year after Chicagos Worlds Fair closed.

Postponed a year because of construction delays, the fair was a public relations bonanza. Many of its 27 million visitors raved about Chicago.

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Those who come here will wonder how, in less than 50 years, that is, in less than a mans lifetime, it has been possible to transform a swamp, producing only a sort of wild onion, into a powerful and flourishing city, marveled F. E. Bruwaert, a French travel writer.

Chicagos second Worlds Fair was a riskier business. Years of planning for a Century of Progress celebration of the citys centennial were interrupted by the stock market crash of Oct. 24, 1929.

While New York financiers were trying to stabilize Wall Street, Rufus Dawes, president of the exposition, could assure Chicagos architects that money was on hand to carry out their plans for the exposition.

A poster from Chicago's World's Fair, the Century of Progress in 1933. (Chicago Tribune archive)

But Chicagos image had been tarnished by the newspaper fodder of Prohibition-era gang wars.

Would tourists be drawn to the city of Al Capone?

Fortunately President Herbert Hoover endorsed the Century of Progress and appointed a U.S. attorney in Chicago who declared war on crime in a speech at the Union League Club.

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He predicted that by the time of the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair this city will be the most law abiding in the country, the Tribune reported.

Capone was indicted and Chicago freed to argue that its fair wouldnt be mobbed up or a casualty of the Depression, but a herald of better times. Its exposition focused on science and technology, underscoring their economic potential.

The Tribune spread the message by distributing windshield stickers advertising, Come to the Words Fair, to interstate truckers. Loop parking lots placed them on cars, and the combination of words and shtick turned the trick.

Vintage Chicago Tribune Weekly The Vintage Tribune newsletter is a deep dive into the Chicago Tribune's archives featuring photos and stories about the people, places and events that shape the city's past, present and future. >

A Century of Progress, biggest single enterprise undertaken by private industry during the depression, will open its doors for business next Saturday, the Tribune proclaimed on May 21, 1933.

People eat on the roof of the German American restaurant with a view of the Chicago skyline in 1933 at the Century of Progress World's Fair. (L.D. Coleman/Chicago Tribune)

It was a resounding success. President Franklin Roosevelt wanted the fair held over for another year, a sentiment echoed in letters from Tribune readers. Many, many people who have been hit by the Depression could not get here this year, and they are now getting on their feet and can come next year, and they want to see it, wrote W.H. Allen, upon returning from the West Coast.

Reopened in 1934, the fair drew 48,469, 227 visitors in all.

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After that, Chicago lost its moxie. Bids for a third Worlds Fair and the 2016 Olympics were duds. Its current tourism campaign begs for deciphering. It lacks the fiery rhetoric of Bross 1871 pitch. Or the fierce competitiveness of the Columbian Expositions partisans.

Perhaps Chicago Not in Chicago is like a Zen masters enigmatic teaching: aimed at provoking audiences to explore hidden layers of meaning.

Join our Chicagoland history Facebook group for more from Chicagos past.

rgrossman@chicagotribune.com
A 23-year-old Kingston man is accused of gathering chemicals to make incendiary devices after a family member turned over parts of a journal in which he expressed Neo Nazi ideation and made references to Black people by the n-word.

Alexander David Friend was charged Thursday in Kitsap County Superior Court with two counts of unlawful possession of an incendiary device, which are felonies.

He pleaded not guilty Thursday afternoon.

Friend was arrested Wednesday morning. Kitsap County Sheriff's Office deputies investigating the case were joined by troopers from the Washington State Patrol and agents from the FBI and ATF.

A prosecutor told Judge Sally Olsen that Friend appeared to be "radicalizing" and that "law enforcement was able to intervene before something bad happened."

Olsen set Friend's bail at $125,000, citing "the serious nature of the allegations and the potential of harm to the public."

Friend's attorney, Lance Hester, declined to comment, saying at this time his attorneys know little about the "depth and breath" of the investigation.

Law enforcement officers were first notified Feb. 19 of the chemicals Friend had allegedly been stockpiling at his parents' house on the 24000 block of Norman Road NE when a family member found his journal, photographed pages and called 911, according to court documents.

The family member said they had noticed what appeared to be Friends growing anger against the government and people of color and believed he may have been planning "an active shooter situation or attack," according to court documents.

More: What the hate crime verdicts in Ahmaud Arbery's death say about justice and race in America

The family member also told investigators Friend had been "micro-dosing" LSD  where a person takes small amounts of the hallucinogenic substance  and had shown more volatility after a relationship with a girlfriend ended.

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Photos of the journal, which were described in court documents, showed chemical formulas, and one entry attributed to Friend said his family was being brainwashed by cable news networks CNN and MSNBC.

The whole system needs to burn, the entry said. Power stations need to be attacked, Seattle needs to have its importation infrastructure destroyed. Railroad lines need to be shredded. Destroy the substations in majority-Black districts, let the (n-words) burn it all down. F___ these subhuman abominations.

Officers allegedly found explosive chemicals during a search of an outbuilding on his parents' property.

In December an FBI agent interviewed Friend, a deputy wrote in court documents, during which Friend denied being affiliated with Neo-Nazi idealization but admitted to trying to use a 3D printer to manufacture firearm parts.

The family member said Friend had attended the University of Washington, but dropped out in December.

An August 2018 post from the University of Washington fraternity Kappa Sigma said Friend was a sophomore majoring in biochemistry.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Man charged with stockpiling incendiary devices for domestic attack
Many questions remain after a shooting at a Sacramento County church killed five people, including the gunman, his three daughters, and a chaperone supervising a visit between them. The shooting happened Monday around 5:05 p.m. at The Church in Sacramento, located along Wyda Way in the Arden area. Officials said a church worker who was upstairs heard gunshots and went outside to call dispatchers with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office said the father shot and killed his children and the chaperone present before turning the gun on himself. Since then, we are learning more details about the victims, the gunman and what domestic violence advocates have to say about what usually leads to strained and oftentimes dangerous relationships.
Supporters of a bill requiring individuals convicted of domestic violence to surrender their firearms to law enforcement, a measure that failed in a House committee last year, are trying again on the Senate side.

The bill, presented Wednesday in the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee would require domestic violence offenders to hand over any firearms and concealed carry permits within 24 hours of conviction. If an individual did not, law enforcement would be sent to their home to confiscate the firearms.

Kansas law already bans domestic violence offenders and those with protection orders against them from having firearms. But the law, passed in 2018, has no real enforcement mechanism. If police believe that a domestic abuser is armed, they can only confiscate weapons with a court order or a warrant.

Survivors of domestic violence and advocates for their safety urged lawmakers to consider passing the legislation this time, arguing that it would provide immediate and long-term protection.

(This bill) provides a really unique opportunity that we dont often see in legislation to enact a law that would directly affect survivors in a sense that it could immediately save lives, said Lindsie Ford, an attorney for the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence during committee testimony.

Removing firearms from someone who has been adjudicated to be a threat to members of their family, to their spouse, to their children, removes a danger of long-term potentially lethality.

But the bill met with much the same opposition from law enforcement representatives that it received last year. They said confiscation could place an officer on shaky legal ground and possibly in harms way.





If they dont show up within that 24 hours to relinquish their weapon, theyre not voluntarily doing it at that point, said Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easer during committee testimony. And so, at that point, law enforcement will go out, but because we have a relinquishment order  we dont have a search warrant  and because were talking about search and seizure, at that point, (a relinquishment order) does not allow us to go into that house if that person says, Youre not coming into my house.

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Opponents also said requiring police departments to hold an individuals firearm would add an additional burden to law enforcement, which is already responsible for storing firearms that are confiscated as evidence in crimes.

It would also be be costly for law enforcement officers to maintain the weapons in the same condition they were received, something required of them under law, said Ed Klumpp a lobbyist for the Kansas Chiefs of Police Association and Kansas Peace Officers Association.

Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat who is a co-sponsor of the bill, said she wanted to work with members of law enforcement to put together a bill that everyone could agree on.

We need to get the conversation started because for over three years we have had some form of this type of bill in the House as well as the Senate and weve not been able to get a hearing, Holscher said. So the conversation needs to be started so hopefully we can get people to the table to come up with some solutions, because this is a problem that needs to be addressed.

With what we know there are known individuals out there that are in high risk situations. We need to address these situations and come up with solutions before more people get hurt.
Ukrainian firefighters look at fragments of a downed aircraft seen in in Kyiv, Ukraine





Lawmakers are calling on House leadership to keep members in session this week to take action on emergency funding legislation to provide military aid and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Reps. August Pfluger (R-Texas), Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) and J. Luis Correa (D-Calif.) made the request in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Wednesday. The House was scheduled to leave for the weekend on Thursday.

"Although we are heartbroken by these images, we have watched the Ukrainian people stand resiliently against this act of aggression. These people are taking a stand for freedom, boldly demonstrating that freedom is worth fighting for," they wrote. "Members of this body must show the world that this nation will always stand firmly with our allies and strategic partners in their time of need."

"For these reasons, we implore you to keep the House in session so that this body can debate and vote as expeditiously as possible on a standalone supplemental package that will provide vital military aid and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine," they continued. "By working together to craft this standalone package, we can send a clear message to the world that our nation will not tolerate tyranny in any form."

The Hill has reached out to the offices of Pelosi and McCarthy for comment.

As a practical matter, the timing of the vote on the new Ukraine aid is largely inconsequential. The Biden administration is already sending aid in all forms to Ukraine - military and humanitarian - and the additional allocations will simply go to backfill those coffers.

"The president is already moving though his executive authority to send weapons and to send humanitarian aid," said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. "A lot of this money is going to be backfilling what we've already done, and then there will be more going forward."

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Pelosi offered another reason that remaining in session this weekend wouldn't expedite the process: The legislation, she said, will require "four or five days" to draft, once a deal is reached.

"And then we take it up at the beginning of next week," she told reporters Wednesday.

Still, the letter sends a political message that lawmakers are fighting hard to help Ukraine defend itself, even as Russian forces sit north of Kyiv, apparently poised to pounce on the Ukrainian capital.

The letter comes as the White House has called on Congress to authorize $10 billion in humanitarian, economic and security assistance for Ukraine and allies in central Europe in response to Russia's invasion.

Of those funds, $4.8 billion would go toward the Pentagon for military assistance, and $5 billion would be allocated to the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to aid to Ukraine and other allies in central Europe.
That the historical Buddha was a dark-skinned African was a major point stressed in the "Blacks in Buddhism" lecture hosted by American Universal Medicine.

The panelists were Dr. K.A. Shakoor, center, andFrom left. Kane Barr, Dr. K.A. Shakoor, Juan Carlos-Diaz and Pastor Drake Cromer-Moore of The First Christian Church participate in the "Blacks in Buddhism" lecture held via Zoom on Thursday.

"Buddhism has a lot of misunderstandings in general, but most importantly in the Black community," said Dr. K.A. Shakoor, a doctor of acupuncture and Oriental medicine, one of the panelists along with Kane Barr, a member of Shambhala Buddhism.

The lecture was held via Zoom on Thursday, and Juan Carlos-Diaz and Pastor Drake Cromer-Moore of The First Christian Church were the moderators during the panel discussion.

Some historians and scholars both have stated the historical Buddha was a Black African, Shakoor said.

Some historians acknowledge that Buddhism was practiced in Ancient Egypt, Meroe, and Kush (Norhern Sudan) two years before King Ashoka who reigned in 274 to 236 BC, Shakoor said.

King Ashoka was a Dravidian emperor who sent Buddhist emissaries to the Nile civilizations, Shakoor said.

The word Buddha means to be supremely intelligent, mentally woke, in the know and to have total mental clarity," Shakoor said, adding that Buddhism is a mind science and not a religion.

"Our ancestors were supremely intelligent based off of over 50,000 years of civilization until they were conquered and the culture usurped by European tribes and the people enslaved or placed in a low caste system," Shakoor said.

The Black community needs to know more about Buddhism and its history, Shakoor said.

"The purpose of the lecture was to inform and educate our people to the richness in the Buddhist philosophy to understand that Buddhism is a mind science," Shakoor said. "Buddhists do not worship Buddha or statues. The pictures and statues represent states of mind and famous enlightened personalities of all genders."

A person can have a faith or do not have a faith and practice the mind principles of Buddhism, Shakoor said.

"With the high murder and suicide rates in our community, especially among our younger sisters and brothers, to learn and institute the simple but effective practice of mindfulness can be another useful tool in stabilizing wellness in our community, especially since our ancestors devised this method," Shakoor said.

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Practicing mindfulness helps people stay calm in chaotic situations, Barr said.

"When someone is distraught, having mindfulness will allow you to give compassion to the person speaking and yourself at the same time," Barr said.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: That the historical Buddha was a dark-skinned African was a major point stressed in a "Blacks in Buddhism" lecture hosted by American Univ
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Lubbock grand jurors this week indicted a 33-year-old man accused of robbing, abducting and killing a woman two years ago.

Brandon Cruz is charged with capital murder, which carries a punishment of the death penalty or life in prison without parole.

Cruz is accused in the 2019 slaying of Sandy Cervantes, who was initially reported missing in February 2020.

He had been held at the Lubbock County Detention Center since July 2019, when he was arrested in connection with a series of unrelated armed robberies.

Meanwhile, in April 2020, the Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit and the Lubbock Police Department Forensic Investigation Unit responded to Hockley County to help the sheriff's office there investigate human remains in an abounded house.

In October of that year, Lubbock police officials issued a public statement seeking help finding Cervantes.

A witness called police in response to the news of Cervantes' disappearance, saying he remembered helping her get gas in June of 2019 when two armed men robbed him and locked him in the trunk of his vehicle. He said that, while in the trunk, he heard what he believe was the men forcing Cervantes in a vehicle and driving away, according to an arrest warrant.

The man said the robbers took his wallet, which contained his girlfriend's credit card.

Four days later, Cervantes' Saturn Vue was found engulfed in flames in the 1000 block of Cesar E. Chavez Drive. The vehicle was largely destroyed by the fire, the warrant states. Two days before, her purse was found in a dumpster in Abernathy.

Cruz was identified as a suspect in that case while they were investigating him for the aggravated robberies. During the investigation, police searched Cruz's apartment and found the witness' girlfriend's credit card.

Cruz reportedly admitted to abducting Cervantes but said he let her go.

However, another witness told investigators she learned from Cruz's co-defendant in the robbery case that he and Cruz shot Cervantes, the warrant states.

Cruz remains held at the Lubbock County Detention Center. His bond is set at $500,000 on the capital murder charge.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Capital murder indictment returned in Sandy Cervantes Lubbock slaying
MAPLEWOOD, NJ  Maplewood's Board of Health voted Tuesday night to drop the town's indoor mask mandate, effective immediately.

The township announced the changes on its website Wednesday evening.

"At the March 1 meeting of the Maplewood Board of Health, Township Committee members voted unanimously in favor of adopting Health Officer Candice Davenports recommendations for updated COVID-19 protocol," the town noted.

The changes, effective immediately, include:



Lifting the township-wide mask mandate for inside buildings.

Lifting proof of vaccine or negative test requirements for township events.

However, mask mandates remain in effect for the township's jitney commuter service in accordance with federal transportation guidelines.

And for now, mask mandates remain inside the schools. READ MORE: Maplewood Parents Fight School Mask Mandate



In making her recommendation, Davenport cited low COVID transmission in Essex County, low COVID case numbers within the township (128 in February, down from 1,364 in January), and updated CDC guidance on indoor masking, the town said.

Also, vaccination rates within the township are high (over 90 percent for residents 12 and over).

Town officials noted that businesses still had the right to request that customers wear a mask, and people can still wear masks if they feel it helps them.

"Any businesses within the Township who wish to maintain a mask mandate for their employees and/or customers are welcome to do so," the town said. "Further, individuals are encouraged to monitor their own comfort and risk levels with the virus and mask accordingly."

The town had reinstated an indoor mask mandate for businesses and town buildings and events in late December, as COVID numbers were spiking after the holidays. READ MORE: Indoor Mask Mandate Approved For Maplewood Businesses, Buildings

And officials in the South Orange-Maplewood School District announced last month that they'd continue the district-wide mask mandate past March 7, although a parent group attended two school board meetings in the last week to urge a "mask optional" policy. READ MORE: Parents Fight Mask Mandate In South Orange-Maplewood Schools

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The CDC recently moved Essex County into its "low" category for COVID activity levels. READ MORE: NJ Moves Essex County To 'Low' COVID Activity Level

Cases have started to come down in North Jersey since spiking in late December and January after the holidays.

Maplewood Numbers



In Maplewood there have been a total of 46 deaths of residents to the virus since the pandemic started. South Orange has lost 21 residents with the virus.



Children are less likely to get seriously ill with COVID than adults. However, the CDC has called children losing a parent to COVID a "hidden pandemic."



And parents and children have experienced long COVID, as one North Jersey mom shared last year.

The state of New Jersey is urging parents to talk to their own pediatrician about the right safety measures for their child.

People can get information about Essex County testing, vaccines, and boosters here.

In America, more than 951,000 people have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic. The daily death rate is highest right now in these states.

Sign up for a free 6 a.m. Patch email newsletter for Maplewood or your town here. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

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This article originally appeared on the Maplewood Patch
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had stern words Thursday for two of the most right-wing members of her chamber after their outbursts during President Joe Bidens State of the Union.

I agree with what Sen. Lindsey Graham said, Shut up. Thats what he said to them. They should just shut up, the California Democrat told reporters about the conspicuous interruptions by GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert during Tuesdays address.

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The first incident took place as Biden was talking about immigration on the southern border. Greene, a Georgia freshman and member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, stood up and began chanting, Build the wall! Build the wall! in reference to the border wall former President Donald Trump began building during his administration.

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., left, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., right, scream "Build the Wall" as President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Washington. (Evelyn Hockstein/AP)

The second incident happened as Biden began to discuss how his son Beau, who died of cancer, was among many veterans who may have suffered from toxic exposure to military burn pits used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan. Beau Biden, a U.S. Army major, died in 2015.

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A cancer that put them in a flag-draped coffin, Biden started to say, when Boebert yelled, You put them in. Thirteen of them!

Boebert, a freshman from Colorado, said her comments were made in defense of the 13 service members who were killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last August.

In the chamber, the comment drew an outpouring of boos from Democrats, adding a note of political division to an address that received several moments of robust bipartisan applause. The television cameras were focused on Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, when the heckling occurred. He was caught on camera mumbling what appeared to be shut up under his breath in response.

Boebert responded to Pelosis Thursday comments and said: I will not shut up' about what she called Bidens failure in Afghanistan and the 13 heroes we lost because of it.

The incidents were just the latest breach of decorum for a presidential address, an annual event where unruly behavior by lawmakers has become more frequent. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson shouted you lie! at President Barack Obama during a joint speech to Congress in 2009. Eleven years later, Pelosi ripped up a copy of Trumps speech while standing behind him.
People take part in a military exercise for civilians conducted by members of the Georgian National Legion paramilitary volunteer unit amid threat of Russian invasion in Kyiv, Ukraine February 4, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko

People from around Europe and the US are planning to travel to Ukraine and fight Russian forces.

Two British veterans said they plan to join the Georgian National Legion, which has been fighting separatists in the Donbas.

"If I was to die, you can either die doing something like this, which is the right thing to be doing," one British veteran told Insider. "Or you can die potentially like an old man who can't even wipe their own ass and doesn't even know who they are."

Before Joseph Lister left his home in Sussex Thursday, he left letters for his family.

As with any war, there's a good chance you won't come back.

While the United Kingdom has backed Ukraine against Russia's invasion with sanctions and aid, it hasn't sent in troops. So Lister decided to go and defend Ukraine on his own. He couldn't just sit around and expect everyone else to do it, he reasoned.

"Well, everyone's afraid of dying aren't they?" Lister told Insider. "But, realistically, if I was to die, you can either die doing something like this, which is the right thing to be doing. Or you can die potentially like an old man who can't even wipe their own ass and doesn't even know who they are."

Lister is one of the thousands of people who have told authorities in Ukraine that they plan to help with humanitarian aid and take up arms against the Russian invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the formation of the Ukrainian foreign legion  officially called the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine  shortly after Russia's invasion of the country in February.

"Every friend of Ukraine who wants to join Ukraine in defending the country, please come over," Zelensky announced at a press conference. "We will give you weapons."

Conscripts, including Lister, are also looking to help refugees fleeing the country and get food and other supplies to people who need it. The European Union estimated this week that 4 million people are expected to leave the country. Millions more living in Ukraine face challenges getting medical support, food, and other crucial services.

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George, another British national, working in security risk operations and living in Gloucester, told Insider he's also planning to join the fight in Ukraine. A veteran of the UK army with 12 years of experience in armed forces "operating around the globe," he said he knows around 20 people personally who are planning to fight, and started an online group of internationals planning to ward off Russian forces.

His whole family has served in militaries, he said, so he thinks they'll understand when they see the letters he left.

"It's not a very nice conversation to have," said George, who asked Insider to withhold his real name because he hasn't yet told his family about his planned departure to Ukraine this weekend. "So most people are leaving letters for the families so that when you go, you can say 'I've left a letter here,' and then everything will be there for them."

Civilians in Ukraine have taken up arms and had some success pushing back against Moscow's forces. International support from experienced fighters, George told Insider, would help turn the tides.

"They're sending Russians in that are 18, 20 years old with not a lot of experience," he said. "Most of us going out there are harder veterans that know what they're doing, so we can make a real difference out there."

How to fight in another country's war

Joining the military of another country's army is not exactly easy. The last time a wave of fighters from around the world spilled into a conflict came during the Syrian Civil War. They included radical Islamists, like Jihadi John, believed to be Mohammed Emwazi, a Kurdish-British national famous for beheading American journalists and British aid workers in ISIS propaganda videos, who was killed in a US airstrike. And there were those who fought with forces aligned with the west, like Brace Belden, the leftist California native who fought with the Kurdish People's Defense Units and tweeted about it using the handle @PissPigGrandad, who now co-hosts a podcast about Jeffrey Epstein.

On February 27, Ukraine's foreign minister told foreigners to contact their local Ukrainian diplomatic missions for instructions on how to join. When UK foreign secretary Liz Truss announced that she'd support British nationals fighting in Ukraine, Lister, George, and other fighters took that as permission to take up arms.

"Since the UK parliament has said that we'll back anyone that goes, that's kind of like the UK government giving anyone a green light to go and help," George told Insider.

A protester holds a placard during the demonstration. Thousands of Ukrainians and their supporters gathered at Trafalgar Square to protest Russian invasion of Ukraine. They demanded the World to support and help Ukrainians to fight against the Russian troops. Hesther Ng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

It's not clear if everyone will join Ukraine's new legion. Details about it remain scarce. Instructions given at the Ukrainian embassy in Britain, viewed by Insider, told potential conscripts to fill out a form online, book a flight to Poland, and then receive further instructions there. Ukrainian officials haven't said who will lead the group, what kind of training they will receive, and how many years fighters will be expected to serve.

But there is already another battalion fighting Russians in Ukraine that accepts foreign fighters. The Georgian National Legion, founded in 2014 by mostly Georgian nationals, has a contract with the Ukrainian government and has fought Russia-backed separatist forces in the Donbas region. For years, it has accepted international volunteers, and both George and Lister indicated they were likely to join the group rather than Ukraine's new legion until they get more information.

Mamuka Mamulashvili, the founder and leader of the Georgian Legion, told Insider that, before Putin's invasion, the group had around 250 fighters. In the past week, he said, thousands of more people have sent messages to him on WhatsApp and other channels in the past week telling him they planned to join the fight.

"We have a reputation of a good unit, a good battalion, professional. So they're trying to reach us," he said.

An instructor shows a young woman how to use a grenade during a training with members of the Georgian Legion, a paramilitary unit formed mainly by ethnic Georgian volunteers to fight against Russian forces in Ukraine in 2014, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

He said around 1,000 more people planned to join from Georgia, 150 from the United Kingdom, and 50 from the United States. (This week, the government of Georgia blocked a group of 400 fighters from joining the legion, according to Vice.) The battalion, Mamulashvili said, could easily absorb new foreigners because it's composed of relatively small groups and already has a process in place for taking newcomers from different backgrounds. He said at the time of his interview with Insider Tuesday that he had not slept in four days, so busy was he drawing up defense plans and responding to people interested in joining.

Dibs on the CamelBak

In the group George formed, on the encrypted messaging app Signal, people have traded tips about how to join the fight. In messages viewed by Insider, they've debated whether to join the Georgian Legion, the new Ukrainian foreign legion, or to simply hang around in cities and work with underground fighters.

The group has more than 250 people so far, from everywhere between the Netherlands to Greece, per the users' phone number country codes, with a smattering of people from the United States. Most people who talked about their plans said they would fly or drive to Poland, and then cross the border into Ukraine from there. Body armor seems to be sold out everywhere in Poland, several people said, so the general advice was to bring some from home.

"Lol, imagine you have a pair of $40,000 Nods, and the TSA just confiscates it," joked one American, referring to night-vision goggles, who groaned that he couldn't fly over immediately because his passport had expired.

But would airlines allow body armor on board? What kind of guns would they be given in Ukraine? Could they get dibs on another person's Camelbak hydration pack if they died in combat? Would Verizon cell service still work? ("You can buy sim cards at some gas stations," one American veteran living in Ukraine advised.)

People in the Signal group also talked about their family members getting upset. One person, with an Australian country code, said his wife tried to persuade him she was pregnant so he wouldn't leave.

People take part in a military exercise for civilians conducted by members of the Georgian National Legion paramilitary volunteer unit amid threat of Russian invasion in Kyiv, Ukraine February 4, 2022. REUTERS/Serhii Nuzhnenko

For years, Mamulashvili has used his group to train civilians across Ukraine to learn how to handle arms and protect themselves from gunfire. Zelensky, according to Mamulashvili, should have simply designated his group as the international legion instead of creating a new one under a different commander. He believed that would happen eventually.

"All the foreigners anyways are coming to Georgia Legion and not to some other place," he said. "So whether the government wants it or not they have to say we are the international legion because we are the international legion."

Mamulashvili founded the Georgian Legion in 2014, and has been fighting against Moscow's expansion in wars since he was 14, beginning with the separatist war in Georgia's Abkhazia region. He said that witnessing the resolve of Ukrainian civilians has made him prouder to fight alongside them.

"I see now, the guy is really hard. They could not break him," he said, referring to Zelensky. "I'm very skeptical about politicians generally. And I did not expect that this guy has the iron, or nerves, let's say."

The fighters don't all have personal ties to Ukraine, but they see the resistance against Russian forces as a moral imperative. If Putin could invade a sovereign country and get away with it, they say, it's unlikely he'd stop there.

"If Russia takes over Ukraine, where's their next stop? What is their endpoint? Are they gonna move into Europe? Are they gonna come knocking on our doors next?" George asked. "It has to be stopped."

For veterans like himself, he said, he's not too worried about death.

"I've been to multiple war zones before," George said. "A lot of people think that they're on extra time anyway, from where they've been."

Lister told Insider he hopes his family looks at his decision and understands that going to Ukraine was the right thing to do.

"Maybe one day my son can look at this and know that I actually did something instead of doing nothing," he said.

Joshua Zitser contributed reporting.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Melinda French Gates says she is open to dating again after her divorce from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

The philanthropist, 57, reflected on her divorce from Bill Gates, 66, during a CBS Mornings interview with Gayle King. French Gates said that she looks forward to this new chapter in all areas of her life, including dating.

When asked by King if she is open to falling in love again, French Gates answered with a nod and a smile that she is definitely open to dating.

I hope that happens for me again, she said. Im dipping my toe in that water a little bit, adding that the dating pool is very interesting at this point.

Why not? French Gates said.

The former couple finalised their divorce in August 2021 after 27 years of marriage. French Gates revealed in the wide-ranging interview that the separation came after she could no longer trust what we had. Bill Gates had previously admitted to his infidelity during their marriage. French Gates also claimed that her ex-husbands friendship with child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein contributed to their divorce. However, it was not just one thing that led to their separation.

It wasnt one moment or one specific thing that happened, French Gates said. There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realised it just wasnt healthy and I couldnt trust what we had.

However, the billionaire philanthropist is excited for what the future holds.

I started on this journey of healing and I feel like Im starting to get to the other side, and I do feel like Im turning a page in the chapter now, French Gates said. I mean, its 2022 and Im actually really excited about whats to come in life ahead for me.
A boy with his hands on his ears. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

SINGAPORE  A prominent member of a Catholic order accused of committing sexual acts with underaged teenage boys indicated on Thursday (3 March) that he will be pleading guilty.

The man in his 60s was handed two counts of having carnal intercourse against the order of nature and two counts of committing an indecent act with the boys between 2005 and 2007.

The victims were aged between 14 and 16 at the time of the alleged offences, which were committed at a location near the boys school.

He is expected to plead guilty on 5 April.

Due to a gag order, the names of the school, alleged victims and the accused, as well as his occupation, cannot be reported. The man is Singaporean and according to his lawyer Edmond Pereira, had returned from overseas where he resided for over 12 years to address the matter.

If convicted of voluntarily having carnal intercourse against the order of nature, the man faces a jail term of up to 10 years, and a fine.

If convicted of committing an indecent act with a young person, he may be jailed up to two years, and/or fined up to $5,000 on a first conviction.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
The New Mexico Secretary of State's Office, Attorney General's Office and Lieutenant Governor's Office advised Otero County voters to be cautious about sharing personal information, after all three agencies received complaints about the ongoing canvass of the 2020 election by New Mexico Audit Force canvassers.

"This activity has caught many Otero County residents off guard as they are being

approached at their doorsteps by New Mexico Audit Force canvassers who are not

employed by Otero County, yet who are claiming to be representatives of the county," a joint press release from the New Mexico Secretary of State and New Mexico Attorney General's offices states.

The exact number of complaints was unavailable, officials said, as all three offices had received individual ones.

Related: State Auditor opens inquiry of Otero County contract to audit 2020 election

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said in a press conference Wednesday that many complaints were received after a TikTok video was published in which a volunteer canvasser identified themselves as working for Otero County.

Erin Clements of the New Mexico Audit Force assured Otero County Commissioners Jan. 13 that canvassers would identify their employer only as New Mexico Audit Force, "and not mention the county at all."

Otero County contracted EchoMail  and in turn New Mexico Audit Force which manages the volunteers  to complete an independent review of the 2020 General Election in January via a $49,750 contract .

More: Otero County to spend $49,750 on 2020 election audit

Vote Here signs at the Otero County Fairgrounds on November 2, 2021. Voter Convenience Centers in Otero County opened at 7 a.m. on November 2, 2021 for Election Day voting in the 2021 local elections.

Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes said the County was unsure of where the list of voters being used by canvassers originated.

"They did not receive it from my office, the County Clerk's Office, they did not receive it from the Secretary of State's Office, they did not receive it from the Republican Party. We're unaware of where it came from," she said.

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Holmes said the Otero County Clerk's Office is no way connected to the audit being carried out by New Mexico Audit Force volunteers.

Holmes was against the county embarking on the audit, clarifying that elections in New Mexico already undergo three audits.

"The first audit's done by my office, the second audit is done by the Secretary of State's Office and the third audit is done by an independent accounting group that the State hires (to audit) the whole state," Holmes said.

Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes smiles as ballot boxes come in for the count in the 2021 Local Election on November 2, 2021.

Toulouse Oliver called the audit by New Mexico Audit Force less of an independent review, since an independent review was done shortly after Election Night 2020, and more of a "vigilante audit."

"There's nothing that is legitimate about this process, in my point of view," Toulouse Oliver said during the news conference.

"We're very hopeful that this will stay a limited experience. It's really unfortunate that it is happening at all."

Want to see more local news coverage? Why not subscribe? Click here to subscribe.

The New Mexico Attorney General's Office set up a hotline to report voter harassment and/or intimidation during the ongoing door-to-door canvass. The hotline is 1-844-255-9210 or complaints can be filed online on the New Mexico Attorney General's website nmag.gov.

How We Protect Your Vote

Voters reminded of privacy rights

The New Mexico Secretary of State's Office and New Mexico Attorney General's Office released a list of things voters should know about ballot privacy and their own voter information.

Who you vote for on your ballot is secret. No one, not even election administrators, can tell what your ballot choices were in any election.

Through limited publicly-available voter data, it is possible to tell your party affiliation (or lack thereof) and if you voted in a particular election. This data can only be obtained by certain groups, like academic organizations and political parties. The New Mexico Audit Force is not one of these specified groups and has not obtained New Mexico voter data from our office. But, again, your specific ballot choices are always secret.

You are not required (nor can you be compelled) to provide information about who you voted for, why you voted, any personal information, or what your voting experience was like to anyone.

You are not required to participate in this audit or provide any information unless you choose to do so.

New Mexicos county clerks and Secretary of State already have mandatory vote count verification and election audit procedures in place after every election to ensure the accuracy of election results.

New Mexico also uses 100% paper ballots in every election and voting machines are never connected to the internet.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Otero County voters warned about risk to their private information
By Garba Muhammad

KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) - At least 200 gunmen were killed in the past three days in Nigeria's central-northern state of Niger during a security operation to clear armed gangs from the area, a state commissioner said on Thursday.

Gunmen have terrorised citizens in the north and northwest of the country and have gained notoriety for kidnapping hundreds of students and villagers for ransom and killing dozens.

The Niger regional commissioner in charge of internal security, Emmanuel Umar, said some leaders of the armed gangs, known locally as bandits, were among those killed during an operation led by the army and volunteers from local vigilante groups and community leaders.

In a statement, Umar said 60 motorbikes, which the gangs use to raid villages, weapons and cattle, were recovered from gunmen operating from camps deep inside the vast forests in the state.

An army spokesman did not immediately respond to questions.

At least four Nigerian security personnel were killed when their patrol vehicle detonated a landmine in Niger last month, and gunmen killed an unknown number of people.

Niger regional authorities said last year that Islamist militants had established a presence in one locality for the first time. Last month, President Muhammadu Buhari said the military had begun a major offensive against militants there.

(Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Mark Heinrich)
Russian anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova alleges that the five children and their two mothers were detained at the Presnensky police station. Sergei Fadeichev\TASS via Getty Images

Five children were detained in Moscow while laying flowers at the Ukrainian embassy, a local professor said.

Photos and a video posted by the professor show the kids behind bars and one girl weeping.

The anthropologist later wrote that the children were released but could face a court trial.

Moscow police on Tuesday detained five children  aged between seven and 11  and two mothers who tried to lay flowers at the Ukrainian embassy, according to a Russian professor.

Photos posted on Facebook by anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova appear to show some of the children sitting in a police van and later being held behind bars. It is unclear how Arkhipova is related to the detained parties.

In one of the photos posted, a young girl is seen sitting next to a uniformed officer's workstation. One of the children is also seen holding a handwritten sign that says "No to War" in Russian.

A video posted by Arkhipova also shows a young girl weeping inside a jail cell.

Arkhipova wrote that the children and their mothers  Ekaterina Zavizion and Olga Alter  were being held at the Presnensky district police station.

She alleged that police shouted at the children's parents, took away their mobile phones, and threatened to remove their custody of the children.

"Right now, we need the help of the community, help of journalists and human rights activists," wrote Arkhipova, who holds professorships at the Russian State University for the Humanities and the Russian School of Economics, according to the Wilson Center.

In an update to her post, Arkhipova alleged that all of the detainees had been set free, and are set to face a court trial.

Both the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and Arkhipova did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Human rights project OVD-Info tweeted a video that the organization said was taken during the arrest. A child's screams can be heard in the footage.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also tweeted the photos of the children, writing that Russian President Vladimir Putin "is at war with children."

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"This is how scared the man is," Kuleba added in his tweet.

Russia's Investigative Committee warned citizens last week not to take part in "unauthorized" protests that are "associated with the tense foreign political situation," Insider's Natalie Musumeci reported.

OVD-info, the human rights website, says at least 7,624 people have been detained in Russia as of Wednesday evening for "anti-war action."

One week ago, Putin announced a military offensive against Ukraine, baselessly claiming that the operation was meant to "demilitarize and de-Nazify" the country.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The origins of the bizarre object are being investigated (YouTube/Asahi Shimbun)

Researchers in Japan have begun tests on a 300 year-old mermaid mummy to try and trace its origin.

The bizarre-looking object, which may have been produced as an item for export to Europe, is believed to date from the early 1700s.

It measures 30 centimetres-long and, with a tail and hands raised to its screaming face.

It has been preserved in a box at a temple in Okayama prefecture, in the southern part of Japans Honshu island, but until now its exact origins have remained unknown.

The mummified object, which appears to have nails and teeth, hair on its head and scales on its lower body, has been sent for a CT scan at the veterinary hospital of Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts.

Japans Asahi Shimbun newspaper said the box it was found in contained a note claiming the item had been caught in a fishing net in the Pacific Ocean at some point between 1736 and 1741.

The dried mermaid was said to have been kept by a family and then passed to another before it was eventually acquired by a temple, which put it on display some four decades ago.

The object has undergone a CT scan to determine its origins (YouTube/Asahi Shimbun)

Hiroshi Kinoshita, of the Okayama Folklore Society, found the object while studying Kiyoaki Sato, a Japanese natural historian who researched mysterious creatures.

He said he did not believe it was a real mermaid, but may instead have been made for export to Europe or for special events in Japan.

However, until recently, detailed examination of its origins has not taken place.

Now, scientists will analyse the antiseptic treatment used to preserve the mummy in such good condition as well as carrying out a DNA study to determine what the object might be made from.

Mummified mermaids are thought to have been used as objects of worship in Japan over the period.

The head priest at the temple said: We have worshipped it, hoping that it would help alleviate the coronavirus pandemic even if only slightly. I hope the research project can leave records for future generations.

The results of the report are due to be published in the autumn.

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Half-human, half-fish creatures have long existed in folklore, with magical figures having appeared in cave paintings 30,000 years ago, while the ancient Greek epic poet Homer also wrote of them in The Odyssey.

However no evidence of aquatic humanoids, as they are also known, has ever been found

According to Royal Musuems Greenwich, which manages the National Maritime Musuem, in some cultures, the mermaid signifies life and fertility within the ocean. In others, she embodies the destructive nature of the water, luring sailors to their deaths  serving as an omen for storms, unruly seas and disaster.
TAMPA, Fla.  A visibly annoyed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admonished a group of students for wearing face masks at an indoor news conference Wednesday, saying it was time to stop what he called this COVID theater.

DeSantis, a fierce opponent of virus mask and vaccine mandates, approached the students and asked them to remove their masks as they awaited the Republican governor at the news conference at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

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You do not have to wear those masks. I mean, please take them off. Honestly, its not doing anything. Weve got to stop with this COVID theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous, he said, letting out an audible sigh and shaking his head.

DeSantis is running for reelection and is considered to be a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate. His opposition to masks and vaccines has drawn national attention, and his administration has banned mask mandates in schools.

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DeSantis office did not immediately return an email seeking comment. His spokeswoman, Christina Pushaw, has tweeted defenses of the governors comments, writing I mean, someone had to say it, after 2 years of propaganda that terrified and manipulated young people. Breathe free, feel safe and be happy.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gestures during a news conference after announcing a $20 million dollar program to create cybersecurity opportunities through the Florida Center for Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida March 2, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (Chris O'Meara/AP)

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention late last month eased its masking guidelines, though is still recommending masks indoors in areas it considers high risk. Hillsborough County, where the college is located, is deemed high risk by the CDC.

The incident drew criticism of DeSantis over social media. U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Florida Democrat, tweeted, Shame on you, Governor DeSantis, for berating students who choose to wear masks and for calling the ongoing #COVID pandemic theater.
Nashville elected officials and school leaders are expressing concerns about the projected funding increase Metro might see under the state's proposed new funding formula, even as many questions remain about the proposal unveiled last week.

Metro Nashville Public Schools is only set to receive about $12.6 million in additional state money, according to documents the Tennessee Department of Education sent to Director of Schools Adrienne Battle and city leaders.

Though the state projects the district's overall funding to increase by more than $47 million from fiscal year 2023 to fiscal year 2024, the local contribution from Davidson County itself is also expected to increase under state projections.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper took his concerns to Twitter Wednesday.

Mayor John Cooper, seen here in September, is worried about Nashville's share of state education funding under a proposed new plan from the Lee administration.

"While I am appreciative of the states increased investment in education across Tennessee, I am dismayed that Nashvilles share of funding will decline under the new formula," Cooper said. "We are set to receive about $12.6 million in additional state funding, far less than other cities in Tennessee. Our children, teachers, and taxpayers deserve to receive their fair share from the state."

New funding pitch: Gov. Bill Lee unveils new school funding formula aimed at focusing money directly on students

Legislative approval: Tennessee lawmakers eye the road ahead for Gov. Bill Lee's education funding overhaul

The new proposed funding formula, called the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement, was unveiled by Gov. Bill Lee and Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn last week.

The formula provides $6,860 per student as well as additional funding for certain groups of students, such as those with unique learning needs or who are considered economically disadvantaged.

In some cases, depending on a student's individual needs, per pupil spending could rise to more than $10,000.

The state also says it will provide additional direct funding, including $500 per student for a literacy initiative directed at students in grades K-3, $500 per student for fourth-grade tutoring programs, as well as performance bonuses for students testing at or above grade-level in third grade reading or achieving high scores on the ACT.

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In his proposed budget, Lee also allocated $750 million in additional funding to K-12 education  predicated on lawmakers approving the new legislation  for the new formula but some district leaders are critical of their share of the increase.

"It appears that the second-largest school district in Tennessee, accounting for more than 8% of public school students, will receive less than 2% of the $750 million investment next year," Battle said in a statement. "We hope that lawmakers and state officials will understand the disparity in this and find ways to ensure Nashvilles students receive a fairer share of state revenues dedicated towards K-12 education.

Metro Schools Director Adrienne Battle stands in the hallways of John Overton High School, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, her alma mater

Senate Minority Leader Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, questions the proposal and argues it appears to be bad not just for Nashville, but "for everybody."

"Fundamentally, this plan looks bad for everybody. In the current formula, the biggest variable is teachers. In the Governors proposed formula, the biggest variable is the legislature itself. And thats bad news for parents and for local property taxes everywhere," Yarbro said in a text message.

"Nashville will see the downsides earlier than most places, but that really shows the formula doesnt even do what the Governor says itll do. In what universe can a funding formula that theoretically directs resources to low-income students send so little to low-income students in the States capital city."

How funding could your district receive?: See how Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's new funding formula could impact school district funding

Students who are defined as economically disadvantaged would receive $6,860 in base funding plus an additional $1,715 per pupil (base plus a 25% weight) under the new formula.

More than 33% of Davidson County students are considered economically disadvantaged, though the district ranks 34th when it comes to economically-disadvantaged students when compared with the state's other 146 school districts, state officials said.

Nashville school board member Gini Pupo-Walker said she was surprised "and a little confused" by the district's drop in economically disadvantaged student enrollment.

Pupo-Walker, who is also the state director for The Education Trust in Tennessee, which has helped inform and advocate for the student-based funding formula, said she also has more questions about the proposed formula. Those questions include how the base funding amount was calculated, what ratios such as student-to-teacher or school counselor per number of students it takes into account and how dollars will be allocated for English language learners or students with disabilities at the local level.

But many of those details from the state remain slim for lawmakers, school leaders, the media and the public.

The state has not released the definitions for the 10 unique learning needs it needs to allocate funding, even in district projections, or explained how it calculated or came up with the $6,860 per-student base funding amount.

Information released last week by the state education department appeared to show that districts with stable enrollment will see a range of increases based on student needs identified in the formula, ranging at the district level from less than 1% for one district to 34%, but those projections include local funding matches.

A handful of districts could see less funding under the new formula because of enrollment declines, but Schwinn said other money would be available to ensure those districts do not see a net loss in funding for the first five years of the new formula.

Davidson TISA Estimate by USA TODAY Network on Scribd

Metro Nashville Public Schools has previously received additional funding through the current formula's safety net, according to education department spokesperson Brian Blackley.

For fiscal year 2022, Metro Schools received an additional $22.7 million under the Basic Education Program's safety net, Blackley said in an email.

"That means that every child in the state could have received $22.70 more in funding, but that money was diverted to fund MNPS' declining enrollment. That's not fair and we are changing that," he said in a statement.

"Under TISA, MNPS students are projected to receive more than 40M additional dollars for their education. While MNPS is also expected to contribute more towards those efforts, that amount is still far less than their maintenance of effort - meaning no increase to local taxes," Blackley added.

Stay up-to-date on Tennessee's top education news by signing up for our new weekly newsletter, School Zone. Sign up here.

Want to read more stories like this? A subscription to one of our Tennessee publications gets you unlimited access to all the latest news throughout the entire USA TODAY Network.

Meghan Mangrum covers education for the USA TODAY Network  Tennessee. Contact her at mmangrum@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville leaders 'dismayed,' question share of funding in Tennessee's new education plan
A former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting of another carriers husband  a killing that stemmed from a long-running feud between two female postal workers.

After a three-day trial last week, a jury in Newport News Circuit Court deliberated for less than an hour before finding Tashara Mone Jackson, 31, guilty in the April 2021 slaying of Salahud-Din Ibn Sal Shabazz.

Shabazz  lone among the group in not working for the Postal Service  was shot and killed just after 2 a.m. April 7 in the front doorway of his Menchville area home.

Prosecutors said Jackson wasnt the shooter, but enlisted another Postal Service carrier, Jeremy Todd Pettway, 41, to go with her to the Shabazz household early that morning.

Jacksons conviction follows last years mistrial in the case against Pettway.

The slaying, prosecutors asserted, stemmed from a long-running feud Jackson had with Shabazzs wife, mail carrier Jacqueline Jacquie Shabazz.

There were several workplace issues between the two women, with Jacquie Shabazz acknowledging on the stand at trial that she had been having an extramarital relationship with another Postal Service mail carrier whose wife was close friends with Jackson.

A string of incidents between the two women escalated in March 2021, when Jackson and Jacquie Shabazz exchanged words outside a Newport News nail salon. Shabazz admitted to slashing Jacksons tires as she was getting her nails done.

A few days later, Jacquie Shabazzs vehicle was vandalized in her driveway when the family was out of town. Her SUV was spray-painted, its tires slashed, and an object stuffed into the gas tank.

When the Shabazzes came home, they learned Jackson would attend a party at Harpoon Larrys restaurant on April 6, and went to confront her. Witnesses said Sal Shabazz pointed a Taser at others to keep them at bay while his wife and Jackson fought in the parking lot. Jackson would tell police later that Sal Shabazz also kicked her during the altercation.

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Following the fight, Jacquie Shabazz and the couples four daughters went to a York County motel for the night for their safety. Sal Shabazz  who was intoxicated at the time  decided to stay home.

Jacquie Shabazz testified she was talking on the phone with her husband when he got a knock on the door about 2 a.m. When he went to answer, she said, she heard a brief exchange, followed by gunfire.

Shabazz was found dead just inside his front door, with four cartridge casings found on the floor nearby.

His family said he was a U.S. Army veteran who worked as a forklift operator at a local warehouse. He was the father of four daughters with Jacquie Shabazz, and has an older son in Indiana from a prior relationship.

At last weeks trial, Senior Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Andrea Booden and Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Jacqueline Donner contended that Jackson had picked up Pettway, then drove to the Shabazzes home to retaliate for the restaurant fight.

Police detective Trevor Buchanan showed the jury an extensive video presentation in which he superimposed cellphone tracking data from Jacksons and Pettways phones onto a satellite map.

The tracking data showed the two phones came together near Pettways home. Video surveillance from traffic cameras in the area showed what appears to be Jacksons SUV on Jefferson Avenue, headed in the direction of Menchville.

Buchanan combined that with Ring home security footage that shows a shadowy figure leaving the SUV and walking toward the Shabazzes house. The SUV then fled the area with its lights out.

Pettways and Jacksons cellphones lost network connection at the same time, with prosecutors saying they turned them off to cover their tracks.

In the days following the shooting, Jackson texted Pettway that he was there for her when no one else was, and you didnt hesitate. When he texted back that he was the protector, Jackson replied they were Bonnie and Clyde forever.

Pettway later texted Jackson that police had searched his house but didnt find his gun. He said he got rid of it by giving it to a female mail carrier friend. Police later found the handgun under that womans bed.

Prosecutors said Jackson, not Pettway, had issues with the Shabazzes, and that she was clearly involved in the crime.

Those text messages showed that she knew what had happened, that she knew what was going to happen, and was fully participating in it, Booden said.

It was significant, the prosecutor said, that Jackson referred to herself and Pettway as Bonnie and Clyde  the infamous criminal couple that committed robberies and killed several police officers and others during the Great Depression.

We are criminal actors together, Booden said the reference meant. Were doing this together.

But Jacksons attorney, Timothy Clancy, said his client was an accessory after the fact  helping Pettway get away  but that she wasnt involved in the slaying.

Wheres the evidence that my client agreed ahead of time that Pettway was going to have a weapon and go out and kill Sal Shabazz? Clancy said he asked the jury. Isnt it just as likely they were going out to vandalize the car again?

Though Pettway clearly carried out the killing, Clancy said, all Jackson did was help him afterward. Thats accessory after the fact, he said.

But the 12-member jury sided with the prosecution  taking only 50 minutes to find Jackson guilty on the first-degree murder and murder conspiracy counts. She faces up to life in prison at her sentencing in June.

A trial against Pettway in November  featuring much of the same evidence  ended in a hung jury on the murder and gun charges, though he was found guilty of conspiracy. He has a new trial slated for early April.

Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com
GRAND FORKS  U.S. General Services Administration has awarded funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which North Dakota says will, "modernize" the land port of entry in Dunseith, North Dakota.

According to a report, the $3.4 billion in funding is estimated to support nearly 6,000 annual jobs over the next 8 years as well as add $3.23 billion in total labor income across the United States. The funding will also contribute an additional $4.5 billion to the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for state, local, and federal governments.

"The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs act is bringing more than just traditional dollars for roads, highways, and bridges," North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer said. "This funding for our land port of entry in Dunseith is a boon for North Dakota and for the country to strengthen supply chains and enhance security and jobs."

About the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is a $1.2 trillion bill, which includes:

$413.5 billion for roads, highways, and bridges including $2 billion for North Dakota.

50% increase over the next five years in contract authority for the North Dakota Department of Transportation ($125 million more per year above current levels).

$225 million is set aside for North Dakota to improve and upgrade bridge infrastructure.

$66 billion for passenger and freight rail which is in addition to Senate Commerce Committees $78 billion Surface Transportation Investment Act which the committee passed earlier this year with strong bipartisan support.

$65 billion for broadband grants to states for the expansion of broadband infrastructure.

$47.2 billion for cybersecurity and flood and drought mitigation.

$18 billion for carbon capture technology and reliable, emission-free nuclear power.

$16 billion for ports and waterways.

$11 billion for highway safety programs and pipeline repair.

$2 billion grant program set aside for rural communities.

A new apprenticeship program to allow 18-year-olds with Commercial Drivers Licenses to drive across state lines, which will help address the severe shortage of truck drivers and requisite supply chain problems.

According to the bill, it also includes methods for paying for the increased spending without raising taxes on the American people, including repurposing $210 billion in funds previously authorized for COVID-19 relief.

This article originally appeared on Devils Lake Journal: State Land Port awarded funding from bipartisan infrastructure law
Former President Donald Trump promised his supporters an impenetrable border wall between the United States and Mexico. Instead, the $15 billion wall was reportedly breached thousands of times in areas where it was completed, and the smugglers who cut through it were able to do so with cheap power tools available in retail stores.

Unpublished data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection obtained via the Freedom of Information Act showed that Mexican smugglers cut through the wall 3,272 times over three years, according to The Washington Post. In some cases, they replaced the areas they cut with tinted putty, essentially creating secret passages.

You have to look really closely to see it, one source told the newspaper.

A new report found that former President Donald Trump's border wall was breached thousands of times with

The incidents cited by the Post referred to cases where the wall had been cut. But it was also breached in other ways. One report last year found some smugglers were building effective ladders with about $5 worth of material. In another famous case from 2020, a stiff wind knocked over a segment.

Trump repeatedly promised to build a big beautiful wall across the southern border that Mexico would pay for.

Mexico did not pay for it. U.S. taxpayers did.

President Joe Biden has since suspended wall construction and said he would be returning the $2 billion Trump diverted from the Pentagon budget for the project.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
Brent crude oil briefly touched $119.30 before later retreating slightly, its highest level since March 2012. Photo: Jani Sipila/Greenpeace/ Handout via Reuters

Brent crude oil (BZ=F), the international benchmark, climbed to over $119 (89) a barrel to a 10-year high on Thursday as the war in Ukraine continued to stoke supply concerns.

It briefly touched $119.30, its highest level since March 2012, before later retreating slightly meaning Brent has gained $20 in just a week since Russian troops pushed into Ukraine.

West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) was also trading above $115 on the day, its highest since 2008.

It comes as the US has targeted Russias oil refining sector with sanctions, with the possibility that its oil and gas exports will be next on the list.

Earlier this week, the US, along with Japan and other major consumer nations, agreed to release 60 million barrels from their stockpiles in an attempt to stabilise global energy markets.

Oil prices climbed to a 10-year high on Thursday. Chart: Yahoo Finance UK

However, Russias key role as an exporter of oil and gas is driving more chaos in energy markets, while the region's importance for other key commodities means panic is spreading through markets.

After the US and Saudi Arabia, Russia is the third largest oil producer globally, and is also the world's largest natural gas exporter.

With OPEC+ refusing to respond to the sharp spike in oil prices by sticking to its 400,000 barrels per day increase in output in March and with the market unfazed by the IEAs global crude reserve release, the geopolitical tensions look set to push oil prices higher with Brent crude on track to breach $120 or even $125 as the next major resistance hurdles, Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said.

Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak, who attended the OPEC+ talks on Wednesday, said he hoped oil market volatility would ease and that Russian output was expected to reach pre-pandemic levels in May.

Read more: What Ukraine invasion means for consumer prices in the UK

Meanwhile, benchmark European natural gas prices jumped as much as 20% to 198 per megawatt-hour on Thursday.

The Dutch April gas futures contract has gained more than 12% to 186 per megawatt hour, setting a new record, while the UK equivalent is also approaching the record high hit at the end of last year.

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It is currently 8.3% higher at 426.9p per therm, not far from the all-time high of around 450p in December.

UK drivers are now facing record petrol and diesel prices amid soaring oil prices. February marked the fourth month of rising fuel prices with petrol and diesel both shooting up by 4.5p a litre to new record highs, according to RAC.

Read more: Petrol and diesel prices: How cost of fuelling up car at the pump is rising

Energy analysts warn prices could even reach 1.60 a litre causing yet more pain for motorists with no end in sight.

"February was undoubtedly a shocking month for drivers. A rise of 4.5p in any month is bad enough but when it takes pump prices to record levels, its bound to hurt households across the UK," said RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams.

"Motorists are having to endure successive months of rising prices and, sadly, it doesnt look as though February will be the last."

Watch: Why are gas prices rising?
By Anna Mehler Paperny

TORONTO (Reuters) - A three-week occupation of the center of Canada's capital last month resulted in part from police underestimating anti-government protesters by assuming they would leave within days, according to police sources and police leadership testimony.

That miscalculation was compounded by a reluctance to crack down on the demonstrators once they had become entrenched in downtown Ottawa, partly out of fear of escalation, a police source and multiple observers told Reuters.

The protesters initially rallied opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers, but the blockade became a demonstration against government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Police in riot gear using pepper spray and stun grenades cleared the "Freedom Convoy" participants from Ottawa the weekend of Feb. 20, days after Trudeau invoked unprecedented emergency powers.

"What they did ... they could have done on the first weekend. Their authorities were there, all along," said a source with knowledge of Ottawa Police operations who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss them.

Two days before the convoy drove into town, Ottawa's Police Services Board held a special meeting where police leadership repeatedly told their civilian oversight board they expected the convoy to leave two days after their expected arrival, according to a video recording of the meeting.

Deputy Chief Trish Ferguson told the meeting police were "well placed" in terms of resources and they had built-in "surge capacity" to deal with the protests.

Ottawa Police declined to comment on whether there was a failure in leadership, citing a review into police response to the "unlawful demonstration," and did not immediately respond to a question about whether they had the authority needed to clear the protesters when they first arrived.

In a police services board meeting before police cleared the occupation, interim chief Steve Bell said he thought the police response had been "adequate and effective."

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"I wouldn't agree it's been a colossal failure of intelligence," Bell told the board. He would not say what advice led police to allow the vehicles downtown in the first place.

He acknowledged that police need to improve their intelligence gathering.

"We have to look at other, better ways to collect better, more timely information."

The protests paralyzed downtown Ottawa. As they dug in, then-Police Chief Peter Sloly called for almost 2,000 additional officers from provincial and federal forces.

What residents called a permissive police attitude may have stemmed in part from a lack of respect for Sloly, who was unpopular among his rank-and-file, or from fear of riling up hostile protesters, two city councillors and two criminologists said.

"Once it got to the point that the protest bedded in ... officers might think, 'We were put in this by bad management,'" said University of Ottawa criminologist Michael Kempa, who studies policing.

"What has been described as ineffective leadership has led to low officer engagement. Low officer engagement has further eroded that leadership."

But the police source said officers followed orders.

"In any large demonstration, they await a command decision. And that command decision comes from the executive level," he said. Ottawa police officers felt caught between a hands-off leadership approach and public anger at perceived inaction, the source added.

Sloly, who stepped down last month amid widespread dissatisfaction with police response, could not be reached for comment.

Sloly was an outsider who became Ottawa police chief in 2019 promising reform in part by repairing relationships with Black communities. He took flak from the police union when he suggested in September 2020 that systemic racism existed in the ranks.

Sloly "didn't have a chance" to win over his officers, said Eli El-Chantiry, a councillor and police services board member.

El-Chantiry was not on the board when he first spoke with Reuters but is now its chair after its previous chair was ousted.

Bell, the interim police chief, was asked at a board meeting last month, before the convoy was cleared, why the police response had been "inadequate" and whether officers were supporting the convoy, something he said they are investigating.

Ottawa Police would not tell Reuters how many officers are being investigated for complicity with the convoy.

Three members of the board resigned this week following reports one of them had attended the protests, although El-Chantiry said the member did so the first weekend and informed the board chair about it. The former member said he would issue a statement.

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by Alistair Bell)
The International Paralympic Committee said Thursday that competitors from Russia and Belarus "will no longer be allowed to participate" in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The IPC had announced Wednesday that athletes from the two countries would be allowed to compete but only as "neutrals" under the Paralympic flag. The Winter Paralympics start Saturday, with the opening ceremonies on Friday.

"At the IPC we are very firm believers that sport and politics should not mix," IPC president Andrew Parsons said in a statement. "However, by no fault of its own, the war has now come to these Games." He added that an "overwhelming number of members" had informed the IPC their countries would not compete if Russia and Belarus do.

"Ensuring the safety and security of athletes is of paramount importance to us and the situation in the athlete villages is escalating and has now become untenable," Parsons said. Russia had 71 athletes ready to compete and Belarus, 12. "To the para-athletes from the impacted countries, we are very sorry that you are affected by the decisions your governments took last week in breaching the Olympic Truce," he added. "You are victims of your governments' actions."

The IPC is just the latest organization to exclude Russian and Belarusian competitors due to their invasion of Ukraine. The International Cat Federation joined the list Wednesday.

The Federation Internationale Feline said in a statement it is "shocked and horrified that the army of the Russian Federation invaded the Republic of Ukraine and started a war," and on top of all the death and destruction, "our Ukrainian fellow feline fanciers are desperately trying to take care of their cats and other animals in these trying circumstances." In response, FIFe said, "no cat bred in Russia may be imported and registered in any FIFe pedigree book outside Russia," and "no cat belonging to exhibitors living in Russia may be entered at any FIFe show outside Russia."

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"The board of FIFe feels it cannot just witness these atrocities and do nothing," the cat federation said. The restrictions are valid until May 31 "and will be reviewed as and when necessary."

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The West is going after Russian oligarchs' luxury yachts. A Ukrainian yacht mechanic got there first.

U.S. and Britain reportedly believe the Ukraine war could last 10-20 years, become a Russian quagmire

Belarusian president displays map suggesting Putin plans to attack Moldova
Ukainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the press in the town of Bucha, northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, on April 4, 2022. (Ronaldo Schemidt/Getty-AFP)

KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces battled for control of a crucial energy-producing city in Ukraines south on Thursday and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea, as Ukrainian leaders called on citizens to rise up and wage guerrilla war against the invaders.

The fighting at Enerhodar, a city on the Dnieper River that accounts for about one-quarter of the countrys power generation, came as the another round of talks between the two sides yielded what Ukraine said was a tentative agreement with Russia to set up safe corridors inside the country for evacuating citizens and delivering humanitarian aid.

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The mayor of Enerhodar, the site of the biggest nuclear plant in Europe, said Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the citys outskirts. Video showed flames and clouds of black smoke rising above the city of over 50,000, with people streaming away from the inferno, past wrecked cars, as sirens wailed.

Moscows ground advance on Ukraines capital in the north has apparently stalled, with a huge armored column outside Kyiv at a standstill. And stiffer than expected resistance from the outmanned, outgunned Ukrainians has staved off the swift victory that Russia may have expected.

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A top Russian officer, Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, commander of an airborne division, was killed in the fighting earlier this week, an officers organization in Russia reported.

But the Russians have brought their superior firepower to bear in the past few days, launching missile and artillery attacks on civilian areas and making significant gains on the ground in the south as part of an effort to sever the countrys connection to the Black and Azov seas.

Cutting Ukraines access to the coastline would deal a crippling blow to the countrys economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor stretching from its border, across Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, and all the way west to Romania.

The Russians announced the capture of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the vital Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea, plunging it into darkness, isolation and fear. Electricity and phone service were largely down, and homes and shops faced food and water shortages.

Without phone connections, medics did not know where to take the wounded.

A building burns after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in neighboring Belarus. But the two sides appeared to have little common ground going into the meeting, and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine that it must quickly accept the Kremlins demand for its demilitarization and declare itself neutral, formally renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron that he was determined to press on with his attack until the end, according to Macrons office.

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After the latest talks ended, a member of Ukraines delegation, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reported the tentative agreement to allow cease-fires in areas designated safe corridors.

Despite a profusion of evidence of civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure by the Russian military, some of it documented by The Associated Press, Putin decried what he called an anti-Russian disinformation campaign and insisted that Moscow uses only precision weapons to exclusively destroy military infrastructure.

Putin claimed that the Russian military had already offered safe corridors for civilians to flee but asserted without evidence that Ukrainian neo-Nazis were preventing people from leaving and using them as human shields.

He also hailed Russian soldiers as heroes in a video call with U.N. Security Council members, and ordered additional payments to families of men killed or wounded in action.

Ukrainians still in the country faced another grim day. In Kyiv, snow gave way to a cold, gray drizzle, as long lines formed outside the few pharmacies and bakeries that remain open.

New shelling was reported in the northern city of Chernihiv, where emergency officials said at least 22 civilians had been killed in a Russian bombardment of a residential area.

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Families with children fled via muddy and snowy roads in the eastern region of Donetsk, while military strikes on the village of Yakovlivka near the eastern city of Kharkiv destroyed 30 homes, leaving three dead and seven wounded, according to emergency authorities.

Serhii, father of teenager Iliya, cries on his son's lifeless body lying on a stretcher at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 2, 2022. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

Ukrainian authorities called on the people to defend their homeland against Putins forces by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear. In recent days, authorities have issued weapons to civilians and taught them how to make Molotov cocktails.

Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card and this is what we can do best in the world, Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiy Arestovich said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

In a video address to the nation, Zelenskyy praised his countrys resistance.

The Russians will have no peace here. They will have no food, he said. They will have not one quiet moment.

In just seven days of fighting, over 1 million people, or more than 2% of Ukraines population, has been driven out of the country, according to the tally the U.N. refugee agency released to The Associated Press.

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The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, with about 1.4 million people. Residents desperate to escape falling shells and bombs crowded the railroad station and squeezed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

At least 227 civilians have been killed and 525 wounded, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, though it acknowledged that is a vast undercount, and Ukraine earlier said more than 2,000 civilians have died. The figures could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. defense official said the immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 16 miles from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last few days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

Ukrainian officials said their missile-defense systems have parried numerous Russian attacks, though some missiles have clearly made it through. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions heard overnight in the capital were Russian missiles being shot down.

From Kherson, Russian troops appeared to roll toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding center to the west. The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, said big convoys of Russian troops were advancing on the city.

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A group of Russian amphibious landing vessels also headed toward the port of Odesa, farther west, the Ukrainian military said.

Russia reported its military casualties Wednesday for the first time in the war, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine insisted Russias losses are many times higher but did not disclose its own military casualties.

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine; Chernov from Mariupol, Ukraine. Sergei Grits in Odesa, Ukraine; Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Lynn Berry, Robert Burns and Eric Tucker in Washington; Edith M. Lederer and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations; and other AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
A PG&E helicopter flies 300 feet above power lines in 2019. (Michael Macor / San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was cited after using a massive "heli-saw," consisting of eight whirring blades suspended from a helicopter, to trim trees without warning in a San Mateo County park this winter.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection issued the utility giant a notice of violation dated Dec. 16, 2021, for carrying out the work without permission along a transmission line in Wunderlich Park.

It's one of 17 such violations Cal Fire's San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit has issued to PG&E and its contractors since October 2020 for not complying with the state public resources code, said Richard Sampson, a Cal Fire forest practice inspector who is leading an investigation of the utility.

During an inspection Dec. 15, Sampson observed "numerous" branches with 2- to 8-inch circumferences that were severed by the aerial saw and allowed to fall from 150 feet above, according to the violation notice.

"No trail or area closures had been placed or signs put out to keep the public out of the area, as would have been the case if the County knew about the operation," Sampson wrote in the notice.

PG&E admitted its contractor mistakenly extended the aerial saws use several hundred feet into Wunderlich Park while it was being used on adjacent private property, but it denied it put anyone in danger. Only limbs were pruned; no trees were cut down, said Deanna Contreras, a spokesperson for PG&E.

"Ground crews both preceded and followed the route (and were in constant communication with the pilot) of the aerial saw, so there were no safety issues related to the pruning within the park property, nor was the public in danger at any time," Contreras said in an email.

Moreover, she said, ensuring that trees don't touch power lines "is essential to maintaining safe, reliable electric service."

A tree that fell into one of PG&E's power lines west of Cresta Dam sparked the massive Dixie fire last year, ultimately searing more than 960,000 acres in five Northern California counties as it burned clear across the Sierra Nevada, state investigators found.

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PG&E touted the heli-saw in an early February news release as a new vegetation management tool to lower wildfire risk. In the release, written by Contreras, the saw is described as "a safe and efficient way to prune trees" in hard-to-reach areas, such as snowy or muddy areas that could be difficult to access in a vehicle.

"An aircraft on your property with a big dangling piece of machinery is kind of scary right off the bat," a man wearing a bright safety vest says in a video embedded in the release. "However, this is by far the safest and complete treatment that you could have to fully clear a right-of-way."

PG&E, Contreras said, is aware of issues raised by Cal Fire and San Mateo County Parks over vegetation maintenance work conducted on a transmission-line corridor that falls within Wunderlich, as well as Huddart Park in Woodside.

The utility is drafting a response to both agencies, she said.

However, a larger fight may be brewing.

Sampson said Tuesday that the utility could face civil or criminal charges for repeated violations in the region related to timber operation and fire tool rules. He said he drafted a case report detailing the violations, which is under review.

It's an escalation from the notice of violations, which Sampson said are considered the lowest level of enforcement.

The case report, he said, could turn into a civil penalties case or be referred to the district attorney or attorney general.

Contreras said the utility is in talks with Cal Fire and other state authorities to address "the conflicts that exist between PG&Es state and federal obligations to perform and complete its required wildfire safety work and CAL Fires belief that we need to obtain a harvest document or utility right-of-way exemption permit in order to do so."

The utility's top concern, she said, is that obtaining the permits would often "actually prohibit or delay" its ability to perform wildfire mitigation work, such as vegetation clearance.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Plainclothes police officers shot and killed a 12-year-old in Philadelphia on Tuesday as he ran away, according to officials.

The incident began when a group of four officers in an unmarked car working a gun investigation saw Thomas Siderio, Jr, 12, who they said was visibly armed, and another teen, standing on a street corner around 7pm.

When officers turned on their emergency lights, they said they heard gunfire and a projectile hit the squad car, shattering the back window and lodging in the passenger seat headrest.

One of the officers, who havent been named publicly, got out of the car and began firing at Siderio as he fled, hitting him in the back and chest. The boy was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead shortly after. One officer, injured by flying glass, was hospitalised but is in stable condition.

Last night, a young child with a gun in their hands purposely fired a weapon at our officers and by miracle, none of the officers suffered life-threatening injuries, Philadelphia police commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a Wednesday statement. However, the life of a young man was cut tragically short, and we should all be questioning how we as a society have failed him and so many other young people like him.

Police havent definitely determined if Siderio was indeed the person who fired at the car, but they recovered a semi-automatic 9mm pistol with a laser sight from the scene of the shooting that had previously been reported stolen.

Philadelphia police defended the rationale behind shooting a fleeing child in the back, with deputy commissioner Benjamin Naish telling reporters during a briefing on Wednesday just because Siderio was running, it doesnt mean that he wasnt continuing to be a threat to the officers.

All four officers involved in the shooting have been put on administrative leave while an internal investigation into the incident proceeds.

Little is known about the youth who was killed, but a police bulletin from 2020 reports a missing child named Thomas Siderio.

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Residents were shocked at the shooting in their quiet neighbourhood.

Ill never get that kids face out of my head, Maureen Flocco told the Philadelphia Inquirer .

Last year, Philadelphia police officers shot seven people, killing four of them, according to city data .
MARAWI, Philippines (AP)  Philippine troops killed at least seven Muslim insurgents aligned with the Islamic State group in a recent offensive in the south and recovered 45 heavy firearms and several bombs and land mines that were to be used in future attacks, military officials said Thursday.

About 60 Muslim militants were in the remote camp near Maguing in Lanao del Sur province when it was attacked Tuesday by fighter jets and army forces, military officials said. It was not immediately clear whether their leader, Abu Zacariah, was among those killed or managed to escape. One soldier was killed and five others were wounded in the fighting, the officials said.

Zacariah has been implicated in past attacks and bombings and is suspected of being the newly designated leader of the Islamic State group in Southeast Asia, said army infantry brigade commander Brig. Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo II, who oversaw Tuesdays offensive.

Two factions of the militant group Daulah Islamiyah, linked to the Islamic State group, appear to have merged and camped near Maguing in January. At the time, some power transmission towers in the region were bombed in attacks claimed by the Islamic State group, prompting the military to intensify its surveillance and prepare for an offensive, Cuerpo said.

The troops were ready to attack but they assessed it would be difficult to storm the encampment, which was protected by heavy weapons, Cuerpo told reporters. He said that prompted him to first launch airstrikes against the insurgents.

Air force fighter jets dropped a dozen bombs, then army troops launched a ground attack and overran the camp. The insurgents fled in different directions and were pursued by troops, military officials said.

The military denied reports that the troops encountered guerrillas belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest Muslim rebel group which signed a peace pact with the government in 2014 and is now helping govern a Muslim autonomous region in the south.

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Wed like to assure our partners in the MILF that we respect the peace accord, military spokesman Col. Ramon Zagala said. We are on track and were only targeting the peace spoilers.

Daulah Islamiyah members were involved in the 2017 siege of Marawi, a southern Islamic city where hundreds of militants waving Islamic State group-style black flags occupied commercial buildings and villages and took hostages. Filipino troops, backed by U.S. and Australian surveillance aircraft, quelled the five-month siege, which left about 1,200 people dead  mostly militants  and destroyed the mosque-studded citys commercial center and outlying residential communities.

The military has been launching offensives against small armed groups allied with the militants who laid siege on Marawi, including the Abu Sayyaf, which has been blacklisted by the U.S. and the Philippines for past bombings, ransom kidnappings and beheadings in the south of the largely Roman Catholic country.
Mar. 3HAVERHILL  Police said they charged two male cousins with assault after one of them drove into the other after he was assaulted with a knife.

David Lopez, 43, 78 Lafayette Square, Apt. 3, was charged with assault to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a knife), operating under the influence of liquor, and driving an uninsured and unregistered motor vehicle.

Lopez' cousin, Freddie Anthony Cordero Jr., 40, of 1454 Broadway, Unit 3, was charged with assault to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a vehicle) assault and battery, and reckless operation of a motor vehicle. According to police, he drove the vehicle into his cousin Lopez.

Both men were arraigned on the charges Monday in Haverhill District Court. Assistant District Attorney John DePaulo said Lopez initiated the incident.

"He went to Cordero's home looking for trouble and has a history of causing trouble with the family," DePaulo said. "All of these people are related."

DePaulo said a third victim from Friday's incident is also a relative.

"Lopez has a history of alcohol abuse and probably some mental illness factors also," DePaulo said. "He's been a thorn in the side of this family."

DePaulo asked that Lopez' bail be revoked on a pending case from last September in which police said he stabbed Cordero's brother, noting Lopez had been released on various conditions, including that he remain drug and alcohol free with random screens.

Archilla revoked Lopez' bail and ordered him held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing Thursday via Zoom. Lopez had been held by police without bail since his arrest last Friday.

Archilla released Cordero on the $25,000 cash bail he'd posted after his arrest on Friday. Cordero is due back in court on March 24 for a probable cause hearing.

According to a police report, on Friday, Feb. 25, at 2:11 p.m., police were dispatched to Ayers Village, where they found a Ford Explorer parked sideways across the street in front of 8 South Crystal St. Officers found Lopez on the ground near the front, driver's side tire and what looked like blood in the snow near him.

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Police said Cordero, who was bleeding from a laceration to the left side of his face, was standing over Lopez, screaming and pointing a finger at him. Police found a third man, a 21-year-old male who they said is related to the two men, inside Cordero's home and suffering from non life-threatening lacerations to his chest and abdomen.

Cordero told police his wife had called him to return home as Lopez was drunk and demanding to see him and that she and their two children were in fear.

Cordero told police that he doesn't allow his cousin Lopez at his home as he's always causing trouble and that he has mental health issues, according to the police report.

He told police that when he arrived at his home with his 21-year-old male relative, Lopez was in a Ford Explorer and that when he approached the Explorer, Lopez lunged at him with a knife, cutting his face, the report said. Cordero said Lopez then assaulted the 21-year-old male with a knife so in attempt to stop the attack, he got into Lopez' Ford Explorer and drove it into Lopez, according to the police report.

Police said an odor of alcohol emanated from Lopez.

Cordero refused medical treatment while Lopez and the 21-year-old male were transported to local hospitals.
By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis will visit South Sudan in July, the Vatican said on Thursday, making a trip he has repeatedly had to delay because of security concerns in a country still emerging from a post-independence civil war.

July will mark the 11th anniversary of South Sudan's secession from Sudan. Civil war erupted two years later in 2013, causing 400,000 deaths. The two main sides signed a peace deal in 2018 but hunger and deadly clashes are still common across the country.

The Vatican said Francis will be in South Sudan July 5-7 after visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo July 2-5 on the same trip. In South Sudan, he will visit the capital, Juba, and in the DRC he will visit Kinshasa and Goma.

Though the 2018 peace deal in South Sudan halted the worst violence of that war, analysts say there are several unresolved issues, such as stalled reunification of the national army, that could plunge the country back into widespread conflict.

The pope has wanted to visit predominantly Christian South Sudan for years but each time planning for a trip began it had to be postponed because of the unstable situation.

In 2019 Francis hosted South Sudan's opposing leaders at a Vatican retreat where he knelt and kissed their feet as he urged them not to return to conflict.

A report published last month by the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank, urged East African leaders to press President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, to resume negotiations on the issues that could spark more fighting.

Though the capital Juba is firmly under control of the Kiir-led government and no clashes between rival security factions have recently been reported there, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) frequently reports on incidents of fighting and crimes against civilians in many parts of the country.

This week, UNMISS and the UN Human Rights Office published a report on the deaths of more than 400 civilians during fighting last year between two rebel groups in Tambura County, Western Equatoria State.

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In the DRC, security is not expected to be an issue in Kinshasa but it may be in Goma, which is in the restive eastern region.

Italy's ambassador, his bodyguard and driver were killed in an ambush north of Goma last year.

The government has declared a state of siege and placed some provinces under martial law to tackle armed groups carrying out attacks in the region. They include Islamic State-linked ADF.

Congo and Uganda are currently carrying out a joint military operation combat them.

(Additional reporting by Maggie Fick In Nairobi and Bate Felix in Kinshasha; Editing by Alison Williams, Mark Heinrich and Pritha Sarkar)
Eyeing each other warily across negotiating tables, U.S. and Russian diplomats never much trusted each other. Yet even during the Cold War, they hashed out agreements on the biggest issues of the day.

Now the fierce, mutual hostility over Russias invasion of Ukraine raises a critical question: Is U.S.-Russian diplomacy effectively dead?

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The answer is crucial for reasons that go far beyond the Ukraine war and the immediate interests of both nations.

The United States and Russia have been at the center of almost every item on the global agenda, including arms control, space cooperation, cybersecurity and climate change. Progress on those issues and more, such as Arctic policy and maritime and aviation safety, largely depend on the two giants finding common ground.

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U.S. President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at the 'Villa la Grange', June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. Prospects for meaningful diplomacy between the United States and Russia on any number of fronts are grim as the two countries are locked in their worst confrontation since the Soviet-era Cuban Missile Crisis over Russias invasion of Ukraine. (Patrick Semansky/AP)

There hasnt been a total breakdown in diplomatic ties. For the moment at least, embassies remain open in both capitals despite a festering but unrelated diplomatic spat that has seen the two sides expel dozens of diplomats since 2017. And both Russia and the United States are involved in negotiations about reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, now underway in Vienna.

The hotline  communication channels aimed at preventing a nuclear conflict  remains in place.

But aside from the Vienna talks, the most recent significant communication between the two sides appears to have been the U.S. notification to Russia on Monday that it would expel 12 Russians from the United Nations on espionage grounds.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose spokesman last week accused the Russians of engaging in diplomatic kabuki theater, said the door to diplomacy remains open but only narrowly and only if Moscow halts its military offensive.

What weve seen repeatedly is that Russia goes through the pretense of diplomacy to distract and continue on its aggressive path, Blinken told reporters Wednesday.

If we determine that there are areas that its in our interest to continue to pursue that may involve some engagement for Russia, well continue to pursue that, he said, adding however that were not going to let Russia dictate in any way whats in our interests and how to pursue it.

At the highest level, President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin have not spoken since a roughly hourlong phone call on Feb. 12, in which Biden told Putin that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would produce widespread human suffering and diminish Russias standing. Twelve days later, Russia invaded.

The last contact between the nations top diplomats  Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov  occurred on the eve of the invasion. On Feb. 23, Blinken wrote to Lavrov to say he was canceling a scheduled meeting in Geneva the next day because he did not believe it would be productive. Lavrov replied with a cursory note blaming any lack of productiveness on inflexible American positions, according to U.S. officials.

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Other than that, the last publicly acknowledged contact may have been the U.S. informing Russia on Feb. 23 that it was expelling the No. 2 at its embassy in Washington in retaliation for Russias expulsion of the U.S. deputy ambassador from Moscow in mid-February.

The dearth of contact, apart from angry statements delivered by both sides at the United Nations, is problematic.

Generally one should preserve the ability to talk, and at the end of the day one usually finds ways to do what needs to be done, said Ronald Neumann, the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy and a former three-time U.S. ambassador. Russia wont be isolated forever, but right now there is a need to send them a message. We cant wink at them extinguishing a sovereign country.

Neumann noted that even during the Cuban missile crisis in the 1960s there were secret contacts, often involving intermediaries, despite bluster from both Washington and Moscow, and eventually there was a peaceful resolution. Cooler heads, he said, should prevail eventually as the impact of the lack of diplomacy becomes clearer.

We, too, will pay a price for isolating Russia, he said. But right now that appears to be a price that we should pay (because) we dont want to give the Russians a free hand.

With a wide-ranging list of potential areas of cooperation, the Biden administration has sought to ensure that not all contacts are banned. It has barred most U.S. diplomats from formal interactions with their Russian counterparts overseas, but the State Department said Tuesday that U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan has been in touch with counterparts in Moscow in recent days.

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The exemptions to barred contacts include not just the Iran talks but discussions with Russia at most international forums like the United Nations. They also include direct talks with Moscow on consular issues, which for the United States means primarily the fate of at least two Americans detained on what Washington says are specious espionage charges.

For Russia, though, the appearance of diplomacy remains. Even as Russian troops have pressed their offensive deeper into Ukraine amid international outrage and increasing international isolation, Lavrov has sought to continue business as usual, talking about arms control in remarks to a U.N. disarmament conference in Geneva on Tuesday.

He spoke via video link after several EU nations barred him from flying there because of a European ban on Russian planes, part of bruising sanctions against Moscow. Lavrov berated the EU members for their refusal to respect the right to freedom of movement, which is a fundamental human right.

After repeating a litany of accusations against Ukraine and the West for moves he said were threatening Russias security, Lavrov spoke about Moscows readiness to continue the talks on arms control and European security  a statement that rang hollow as the war in Ukraine made such negotiations irrelevant.

He denounced what he called NATOs policy to contain Russia and its refusal to meet Moscows demand to keep Ukraine out of NATO and roll back alliance military deployments in Eastern Europe.

I am once again urging the United States, its allies and clients to unfailingly honor their obligations not to strengthen their own security at the expense of others, Lavrov said. Obviously, this would help improve the military-political situation in the Euro-Atlantic region and create prerequisites for making headway on the entire range of matters in the field of arms control, including possible work on new agreements.

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Isachenkov reported from Moscow.
The 25-year-old man shot and injured by a Boise Police officer last week display(ed) and/or threaten(ed) to use a firearm prior to the officer firing his weapon, according to documents obtained by the Idaho Statesman.

Jonathan Manee was charged with aggravated assault on certain law enforcement personnel and the use of a firearm during the commission of crime, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Ada County Prosecutors Office.

The Statesman requested the body camera footage and police reports regarding the shooting, but the request was denied by the Boise Police Department, which cited multiple reasons, including the investigation still being open and personal information.

On Feb. 22, Manee was seen blocking the road on Fairview Avenue between North Liberty and North Hartman streets with a vehicle, and he was attempting to flag down other drivers, according to witnesses.

Police responded at 9:46 a.m. After a brief interaction, an officer who had arrived  identified as Cody Evans, a 15-year police veteran  shot and wounded the man, according to police.

This is the first confirmation that Manee was in possession of gun since the shooting; police previously had said that he had a deadly weapon. Multiple requests for comment by the Statesman to confirm what kind of weapon Manee possessed resulted in no specific remarks on that matter by BPD.

The incident is under investigation by the Critical Incident Task Force, with the Ada County Sheriffs Office as the lead agency. This is a routine procedure. Evans also was placed on paid leave, which is standard procedure.

This was the first shooting involving Boise Police in 2022. The department was involved in five shootings in 2021.

Manees bond has been set at $200,000, according to online court records. And as of Thursday he was still in custody at the Ada County Jail, those records showed.

His next court appearance is at 8:30 a.m. March 11, according to online records.
Federal prosecutors are seeking to grant immunity to a juror who failed to disclose his past sexual abuse victimization during the jury selection process for Ghislaine Maxwells trial on six charges connected to the sexual trafficking of minors.

The Maxwell juror is scheduled to testify at a hearing next week on whether he deliberately lied about his past, omitting mention of being abused to win a spot on the jury. At stake in the end is whether Maxwell, Jeffrey Epsteins longtime companion and alleged fellow sex trafficker, should be granted a new trial because of the omission.

Giving the man, referred to as juror 50, immunity would free him to provide answers that might otherwise earn him a perjury charge.

The juror spoke publicly about his past victimization after Maxwells conviction Dec. 29, 2021, on five of the six counts, including sexual trafficking of a minor. He said he discussed the matter during deliberations, potentially helping nudge fellow jurors in the direction of a guilty verdict.

The problem was that during jury selection he did not disclose that facet of his past. Maxwells lawyers took notice, and suggested that their client deserved a new trial.

This courtroom sketch shows Judge Alison Nathan reading the guilty verdict against Ghislaine Maxwell.

The jurors attorney, Todd Spodek, had indicated in a letter filed to the court Tuesday that he planned to invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination at the March 8 hearing. The prosecutors indicated in a subsequent letter that they are seeking internal approval to grant the juror immunity. Maxwells team filed a letter Wednesday seeking more information from the jurors lawyer about why he planned to invoke the Fifth Amendment and more information from prosecutors about their willingness to grant the juror immunity.

Legal experts say the development improves Maxwells chances of winning a new trial, though its in no way a foregone conclusion.

Before I thought that their chances were less than 50%, now theyve got at least a 50-50 shot, said David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor and partner at the law firm Jones Walker.

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All potential jurors were required to complete a 20-page questionnaire, under the penalty of perjury, that asked about a variety of life experiences, including whether they, a family member or friend had been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse or sexual assault. The jurors completed questionnaire, which was released publicly last week, shows that he had answered no to that question.

In press interviews afterward, he said he discussed his experiences with other jurors to explain why the memories of abuse victims are sometimes imprecise.

In ordering the hearing, Judge Alison Nathan said it would focus narrowly on whether the juror had misled the court.

The potential impropriety that warrants a hearing is not that someone with a history of sexual abuse may have served on the jury. Rather, it is Juror 50s potential failure to respond truthfully to questions during the jury selection process that asked for such material information so that any potential bias could be explored, she wrote.

Maxwells conviction could mean decades behind bars if it is upheld. Maxwell was accused of recruiting and grooming four girls to be abused by her ex-boyfriend, Epstein. He died in federal custody in August 2019, one month after being arrested on sex charges related to his alleged abuse of numerous young women and girls. The trial showed how Maxwell had recruited victims to be abused at Epsteins mansions in New York and Palm Beach, as well as at his ranch in New Mexico and her home in London.

Members of the media line the sidewalk outside the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse Tuesday evening, Dec. 21, 2021, as day two of jury deliberations in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial came to a close. The jury will continue deliberating the case Wednesday morning.

Epstein escaped harsh penalties when he was investigated for abusing girls at his Palm Beach mansion more than a decade before. The controversial plea deal he struck with South Florida federal prosecutors allowed him to ultimately serve 13 months in a county jail and plead guilty to two state solicitation charges, one involving a minor. That plea was the subject of the Miami Heralds 2018 Perversion of Justice series.

Maxwells lawyers argued in filings made public last week that they would have sought to have the juror disqualified had they known about his sexual abuse history. Federal prosecutors countered that eight jurors who indicated past victimization had been allowed to advance in the jury pool.

While Maxwells lawyers argued that the juror was biased based on his behavior after the trial, including social media posts in response to one of the victims who testified at the trial, prosecutors pointed to his statements in news reports that he had entered the trial with an open mind.

Veteran Miami defense attorney Joel Hirschhorn said he doesnt think federal prosecutors took the question of seeking immunity for the juror lightly, but that they likely deemed the value of pursuing a case against him to be far less than the value of trying to uphold the Maxwell verdict.

Her case is far more important than any one individual jurors failure to be honest, he said.

Weinstein also said that if the juror were not granted immunity, it could bolster Maxwells case if the verdict was upheld and she sought to appeal it.
(Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

The White House announced a new wave of sanctions targeting Russian elites, oligarchs, and their families Thursday, in an attempt to further isolate Russia from international travel and financial systems as Russia wages war in Ukraine.

The sanctions go after high profile targets in Russia, including Russian President Vladimir Putins spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who the White House called out for amplifying and spreading Putins propaganda, and Yevgeniy Prigozhin, or Putins chef, who has stood at the helm of Russias Internet Research Agency, Russias troll army that has worked to interfere in U.S. elections for years. Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who had his yacht so-called Dilbar seized by Germany on Wednesday, is also sanctioned.

The sanctions also target people working for large Russian firms that are providing support for Russias invasion in Ukraine.

These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people, and some have elevated their family members into high-ranking positions, a release from the White House says of the sanctioned individuals. Others sit atop Russias largest companies and are responsible for providing the resources necessary to support Putins invasion of Ukraine. These individuals and their family members will be cut off from the U.S. financial system, their assets in the United States will be frozen and their property will be blocked from use.

The Biden administration is also going after seven Russian entities and 26 Russia and Ukraine-based individuals that have been working to spread Russian disinformation about Russias attack on Ukraine.

The Department of Justice will be using information on the oligarchs sanctioned for criminal prosecutions and seizure of assets, according to the White House.

Treasury is committed to holding Russian elites to account for their support of President Putins war of choice, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen said of the sanctions. Today, across the U.S. government and in coordination with partners and allies, we are demonstrating our commitment to impose massive costs on Putins closest confidants and their family members and freeze their assets in response to the brutal attack on Ukraine.

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The news comes as Russia continues to shell cities throughout Ukraine, and a day after Russia has appeared to successfully capture the port city of Kherson. French President Emmanuel Macron said he expects the worst is yet to come after speaking with Putin Thursday in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to deescalate.

The United States, the European Union, and other allies have been imposing crippling sanctions targeting Putin cronies and Putin himself in recent days in an attempt to dissuade Putin from continuing his assault in Ukraine. The United Kingdom also announced additional sanctions Thursday in an attempt to cut off oligarchs from mansions in the U.K. worth tens of millions, including on Usmanov and on former Russian deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov.

Terrifying Putin Phone Call Warns Worst Is Yet to Come

Sanctioning Usmanov and Shuvalov sends a clear message that we will hit oligarchs and individuals closely associated with the Putin regime and his barbarous war, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said. We wont stop here. Our aim is to cripple the Russian economy and starve Putins war machine.

Some of the Biden administrations sanctions impose visa restrictions on Russian elites and their families, including 19 oligarchs and 47 family members and close associates.

What were talking about here is seizing their assets, seizing their yachts and making it harder for them to send, you know, their children to colleges and universities in the West, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday. These are significant steps that will impact the people who are closely around President Putin.

Others impacted in the Biden administrations sanctions Thursday include Shuvalov, Nikolai Tokarev, the president of pipeline company Transneft; Boris Rotenberg, who co-owns SGM Group, a pipeline construction firm, and his brother, billionaire Arkady Rotenberg; and Sergei Chemezov, CEO of state-owned conglomerate and former KGB.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine has forced the Pentagon to rework its long-term defense plans just as it was set to release them to the public.

The Biden administration is delaying and revisiting its National Defense Strategy, the blueprint for how the Pentagon will meet immediate and long-term security challenges, as the U.S. and its allies scramble to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the threat Moscow poses to Eastern European countries.

Though the administration will continue to view China as its No. 1 threat, people familiar with the process say the Ukraine crisis will mean a larger emphasis on Russia in the strategy.

Theyre rewriting it to include more of a flavor of Russia and the rest of the world as a result of what's happening in Ukraine, said Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies who has consulted with the Pentagon on the strategy.

The previous version had been very China-centric, and they're rewriting it to be a little more global, while still seeing China as the pacing challenge, Cancian added.

When asked for comment, a DoD official told POLITICO that the strategy, initially expected to be rolled out in February, has been delayed and its release date has yet to be determined.

I wouldnt expect that they would do a wholesale rewrite here, said one congressional staffer who asked to speak anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the process. But it's undeniable that the security situation in Europe has been fundamentally altered in a way that we haven't seen in decades. The NDS is going to have to reflect that.

The public should still expect the strategy to be released ahead of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins posture hearings on Capitol Hill sometime this spring, said a person familiar with the process who was not authorized to speak on the record.

Those hearings typically occur after the administrations budget request has been submitted.

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The last National Defense Strategy was released in 2018, and was one of the most significant documents to come out of the Pentagon in years. It shifted the focus from wars in the Middle East to near-peer competitors China and Russia, and influenced everything from budgets to programs to training.

The strategy signaled the Pentagons long-sought shift from those grinding insurgencies to what was thought to be a more traditional competition of industrial powerhouses matching fighter planes and ship hulls. But budgets have struggled to keep up with the military's plans, leading to a more unsteady modernization effort than many had hoped. Vladimir Putins lunge into Ukraine with no clearly articulated endgame has further confused the situation, adding an element of unpredictability into what was shaping up to be a relatively ordered competition between great powers.

The latest course correction was on full display Tuesday during President Joe Bidens first State of the Union address. The president devoted the initial portion of his speech to the crisis  framing the conflict as a battle between democracy and autocracy. The commander in chief praised the resolve of Ukrainians, touted efforts by the U.S. and NATO to bolster Ukraine and isolate Moscow and vowed even stiffer punishment for Putin and the Russian economy.



China, by contrast, was referenced only twice by Biden. Both mentions dealt with economic competition rather than military threats posed by Beijing.

The National Defense Strategy has been in the works throughout Bidens first year in office, along with a broader National Security Strategy and a Nuclear Posture Review.

The defense strategy will inform the administrations upcoming Pentagon budget. But Russias incursion likely delays everything as the administration grapples with the implications, one former official said.

You have an unprecedented war of choice that hasn't happened since the end of World War II and you're gonna put an NDS out like it didn't happen? the former official said. It should delay it.

Members of Congress have been pressing the Pentagon to prioritize numerous planks in the strategy and are anxious to see the Defense Departments long-term vision, but top lawmakers concede theyll be waiting even longer.

It was supposed to come out in the next week or two. I'm hearing that that's going to be delayed. I'm not hearing by how much, House Armed Services Chair Adam Smith (D-Wash.) told POLITICO. Smith said the delay largely stemmed from the Ukraine crisis, adding, There might be other reasons, but that one is enough.

Russias invasion of Ukraine and the looming threat to NATOs eastern front means the calculus for policymakers has changed, he added.

There is a strong push to confront what is a very very large threat, and this has certainly shifted all of that, Smith said. So yes, it's going to cause rethinking, and that rethinking is going to be based on the straightforward premise that Russia is an even bigger problem than we thought they were."

Beyond the strategy, the crisis in Eastern Europe is forcing the Pentagon to reassess other plans as well, a senior Pentagon official told lawmakers Tuesday. The U.S. has deployed thousands more troops to Germany and Poland in recent weeks, a significant boost meant to deter Russia and reassure NATO.

Assistant Secretary for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities Mara Karlin told the House Armed Services Committee that, while Austins Global Posture Review  released late last year  determined that U.S. troop levels in Europe were about right, the Pentagon would need to reexamine it.

We recognize this dynamic situation now requires us to give it another fine-toothed look to see what's necessary to ensure that we've got deterrence of Russia and that we can absolutely 150 percent say that NATO is safe and secure, Karlin told lawmakers. So we're looking at what sort of troop presence  whether it's rotational or permanent  is necessary given this current security environment.



Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) predicted the Pentagon strategy would need to juggle a strong presence in Europe as a hedge against Russia while meeting the long-term challenge of China.

I presume they will have to take into consideration the behavior of Putin, Reed told POLITICO. I still believe that they will cite China as the pacing threat because of the long-term economic growth potential and because of the things they're doing.

The defense strategy  along with the nuclear review, 30-year shipbuilding plan, and other long-term defense plans  will play a major role in the administrations Pentagon budget request after the Biden administrations first spending plan kept many top programs, such as efforts to overhaul and expand the nuclear arsenal, on autopilot.

The White House and Congress are already eyeing more military funding to help counter Russia and reassure NATO, on top of a $25 billion boost to the Pentagon budget lawmakers have endorsed for this fiscal year.

The administration has requested $6.4 billion for Ukraine, $3.5 billion of which would go toward Pentagon coffers to finance extra troop deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. The request, which also includes nearly $3 billion for security and humanitarian assistance, is likely to be tacked onto a full-year funding package that must pass by next week.

Congress, seeing the shifting landscape in Europe, could approve even more money than the White House sought. Some lawmakers have estimated an emergency aid package could top $10 billion.

Defense contractors such as General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies hope to see language in the appropriations supplemental on how the U.S. will replenish its anti-aircraft and anti-tank missile arsenal, said two industry sources who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss internal deliberations.

The U.S. separately approved a $350 million package of weapons and equipment for Ukraine, which includes Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. Hundreds of these weapons have been flown into Poland for delivery to Ukrainian forces in recent days. Other European countries have pushed military aid to Ukraine to help repel the Russian invasion, including a large package of anti-armor and anti-aircraft weapons from Germany, in a reversal of longstanding policy.

My perception of what has happened is the security order has changed and it's probably going to be changed for decades, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said in Tuesday's hearing.

For some observers, the crisis drives home the Pentagon's emphasis on great power competition that focuses on matching military advances made by Beijing and Moscow.

I personally think it sort of cements what we've been saying for a long time, that the center of gravity is shifting from fighting terrorists to great power competition, said Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.). Everyone had been very China-focused, and it's impossible to ignore that we can't put Russia to the side. So I think it will reflect A) that great power competition is still the most important thing, and B) that Russia is still part of it.

Slotkin, who was a senior official in the Pentagon policy shop during the Obama administration, expressed confidence that policymakers can adapt the strategy to the unfolding crisis.

As someone who was in the office of the SecDef, it's a big-ass place, and they can walk and chew gum over there, Slotkin said. And the folks who do kind of regional policy, crisis response and obviously coordination on military operations tend to be different than some of the wonkier folks who do the strategy, plans and force development. So I think they'll be able to pull that off.
Ukrainian soldiers talk as they stand near their weapons at a frontline, as the Russian invasion hits one week (Getty)

Here's what you need to know on 3 March.

This article was updated at 6pm

Putin claims invasion going to plan Russian president Vladimir Putin made a televised address on Thursday afternoon, saying Moscow's military operations in Ukraine were going according to plan, and praising its soldiers as heroes.

Putin made a series of unsubstantiated allegations against Ukrainian forces, including that they were holding foreign citizens hostage and using human shields. Read more (Sky News)

Negotiators meet again Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met for the second time on Thursday, but failed to come to an agreement. A Ukrainian negotiator said ceasefire talks with had not yielded the results Kyiv hoped for, but the sides had discussed humanitarian corridors and agreed to speak again.

"To our great regret, we did not get the results we were counting on," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said. The first talks on Monday broke down without a resolution.

Paralympic ban Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from competing in the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, as the two nations become further ostracised from the international community. The International Paralympic Committee apologised to the athletes affected, telling them: "You are victims of your governments actions."

Formula One also tightened its stance on Russia, cancelling its contract with the Russian Grand Prix, stopping any races happening there for the foreseeable future. Read more (Yahoo News UK)

Russian and Belarussian athletes have been banned from participating in the Winter Paralympics in Beijing. (Getty Images)

Putin makes his first gain Putin's forces have claimed to have taken control of their first Ukrainian city on Wednesday evening, the strategically important Black Sea port of Kherson. Russian tanks rolled in and Ukrainians were told to remain in their homes.

The capital city of Kyiv has remained under Ukrainian control, with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy stating on Thursday that defence lines were holding against the Russian attack.

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He added: "We have nothing to lose but our own freedom." A 40-mile-long convoy of 15,000 Russian soldiers has stalled in its approach to the city, reportedly over supply issues. Read more (Reuters)

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Ukrainian defence lines were holding against the Russian attack. (Getty)

Cities are being bombarded by Russian missiles. (Getty)

Nuclear war 'not in the heads of Russians' Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that using nuclear weapons is "not in the heads of Russians" and blamed the West for stoking fears of nuclear war. Speaking in a virtual news conference in Moscow, Lavrov insisted Russia was trying to "stop any more violence" in Ukraine. Despite widespread damage and shelling of civilian buildings, Lavrov insisted Russian forces were under "very strict order to use weapons only against military infrastructure". Read more (Sky News)

Nato 'has blood on its hands' The Ukrainian deputy president claimed Nato had "blood on its hands" due to its refusal to agree to a no-fly zone. Ukraine has repeatedly asked for a no-fly zone to be implemented, but Nato has said no, due to fears it would further escalate global tensions. Speaking to the World Tonight on BBC Radio 4, Olha Stefanishyna said "it is inhumane knowing that the civilian population and kids will be killed by not taking this decision".

"The blood of those civilians  including the mother and father of two kids who were born just yesterday and only today lost their parents in a shelling  is not only on Russian hands."
A high-ranking Russian general has been killed during fighting in Ukraine, in what experts say will be a bitter blow for Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Andrei Sukhovetsky was the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division and a deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army, and by far the most senior Russian figure to have died in the conflict so far.

A military source said Maj Gen Sukhovetsky had been killed by a sniper.

Mr Putin confirmed that a general had been killed in a speech updating the Russian people on the progress of the conflict, eight days into the deadly invasion.

Maj Gen Sukhovetskys death, which was confirmed by a local officers organisation in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia, will be seen as another sign Mr Putins war effort is not going to plan.

He was a respected paratrooper, practised in missions in hostile territory, and reportedly had been decorated for his role in the annexation of Crimea.

Sergey Chipilev, a deputy of the Combat Brotherhood Russian veterans group, wrote on social media: With great pain, we learned the tragic news of the death of our friend, Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, on the territory of Ukraine during the special operation. We express our deepest condolences to his family.

Russian newspaper Pravda, which also reported his death, said Mr Sukhovetsky graduated from the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School in 1995, having started as a platoon commander before rising to chief of staff of the Guards airborne assault unit.

Christo Grozev, executive director of investigative journalism website Bellingcat, tweeted that confirmation of his death would be a major demotivator for the Russian army.

Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky (Alamy Stock Photo)

Maj Gen Sukhovetsky, 47, had steadily risen through the military ranks to take a series of leadership positions, and he took part in Russias military campaign in Syria.

Russia claims 498 of its soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and another 1,597 have been wounded.

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However, British officials say the actual number of those killed and wounded will almost certainly be considerably higher and will continue to rise.

Help the children of Ukraine by donating to our Refugees Welcome campaign

The UN human rights office says at least 227 civilians have been killed and 525 wounded in Ukraine since the start of the invasion a week ago. Ukraines state emergency service has said more than 2,000 civilians have died.

A member of Ukraines delegation sent to talks with the Russians said both sides had agreed to establish corridors for civilians to safely leave combat zones.

The corridors will include cease-fires along the path, said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Humanitarian supplies could be delivered though the corridors, which were the Ukrainians main demand heading into their second round of negotiations in Belarus.Mr Putin also announced the safe zones.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered.

To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.
Veteran Chicago police narcotics Sgt. Cassandra Williams said the backlash she faced was almost immediate after she told several colleagues that her commanding officer had her and other officers guard his block in the Bridgeport neighborhood during the civil unrest in Chicago in May 2020.

For starters, Williams said she was taken off active investigations and put on desk duty before her boss, Jason Brown, reassigned her to be a relief sergeant, meaning she would fill in for sick or vacationing sergeants in the unit, despite having the second-most seniority in the unit.

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In a civil lawsuit filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court, the 31-year police veteran said she has endured a toxic workplace, being either ignored or openly mocked since she filed a formal complaint with the city inspector generals office and spoke with the Tribune in June 2021.

Since confirming to Brown that she had spoken with other officers about her detail to his block, Williams has endured a death of a thousand cuts form of retaliation, she said in the suit filed by attorney Thomas Needham. The suit seeks unspecified damages and attorneys fees.

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Cassandra Cole-Williams, a CPD narcotics Sgt. whose team was deployed for 7 days to protect her supervisor's house in the Bridgeport neighborhood during looting, photographed on June 7, 2021. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Since being made a relief sergeant, she hasnt been sent to brief Superintendent David Brown on the units cases, according to the suit. She was switched from a day shift to nights. Her office space was taken away, leaving her with no desk and files she has to store in the trunk of her car, the suit said.

She received a written reprimand for being absent without permission  a disciplinary move that was later overturned by a deputy chief, according to the suit.

There were also other smaller incidents in which she felt targeted. Several times, routine paperwork Williams turned in would mysteriously vanish, requiring her to complete the paperwork a second time.

Its been going on ever since the (Tribune) article came out. It will make me second-guess myself, Williams told the Tribune after the suit was filed Tuesday.

Brown and the city are named as defendants in the suit that asks a court to find that Brown violated Williams right to speak about the detail and unfairly punished her, and that the city violated whistleblower laws by turning a blind eye to Browns treatment of Williams.

The 20-page suit calls Browns alleged actions a textbook example of internal retaliation, making numerous references to the so-called code of silence, the unwritten rule whereby police officers defend one another and ostracize those who speak out. The suit quotes a 2015 speech by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel acknowledging the existence of a thin blue line that has the tendency to ignore, deny or in some cases cover up the bad actions of a colleague or colleagues.

The City has not yet been served with a complaint and will have no further comment as the matter is now in litigation, a spokeswoman with the citys Law Department told the Tribune in an email.

Williams suit arose out of months of ill-treatment after Williams filed a complaint with the citys inspector general and publicly alleged to the Tribune that Brown  then a narcotics lieutenant but acting commander of the unit  assigned her and a team of officers to his street after a neighbor had reported seeing two men who had gotten out of their car and appeared to be taking video or photographs of Browns house, she said.

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That article noted Williams conflicted view on protecting a boss home on a quiet block for several days while Black and brown neighborhoods were looted in a round of unrest that broke out in Chicago and several other cities following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Williams said things began to change between her and Brown, now the commander, in October 2020 after he confronted her about telling other officers about her detail to his block and told her to stop telling people.

From there, Williams said she found herself an outcast within the unit, with Brown either ignoring her at staff meetings, or allowing colleagues to use vulgar language referring to her.

Such public treatment, Williams said, can be detrimental in a tight-knit unit where respect and camaraderie are essential. She recalled an incident at a staff meeting where she said Brown turned his head away from her while she was speaking and wouldnt talk directly to her.

He just looked away. He didnt even look at me, Williams recalled. That kind of stuff breeds ... and if people see him treating other officers  and if the lieutenants see him treating me this way  then how do you expect them to treat me?

Williams suit is the third to be filed alleging retaliation by Brown against subordinate officers. In November 2021, Xavier Chism sued Brown and another officer who did an improper background check on Chism, and said his career was thwarted after he complained to Internal Affairs.

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In September 2021, Marc Vanek filed a suit claiming Brown retaliated against him after he similarly complained to the inspector generals office. Vanek was removed as head of the departments Internet Narcotics Enforcement Team and instead detailed to working midnight shifts as a patrol sergeant in the Harrison police district on the West Side.

Williams said she was left no choice but to file a suit after more than a year as a relief sergeant and continued hits to her reputation as she entered her 19th year as a sergeant.

After this lawsuit is filed, I hope the way we treat each other on the inside should change, she said. At the same time, the department is directing officers to go out into the community (to) engage and build partnerships. How can we go out and successfully build partnerships on the outside if the inside is where the problem is not being addressed?

wlee@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @Midnoircowboy
There are few subjects on which most Democrats and Republicans agree, but Russias unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has created at least two sources of bipartisan consensus: that Russia should be punished for its actions and that the Wests ability to do so effectively is hamstrung by Europes dependence on Russian gas and oil.

As soon as the conversation pivots to what to do about that dependence, however, the answer splits along the usual partisan lines, with Republicans and the oil and gas industry calling for more U.S. production of fossil fuels, and environmentalists and Democrats arguing that the war demonstrates the need to immediately transition to cleaner sources of energy such as wind and solar power.

On Wednesday, two Republican senators, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, sent President Biden a letter outlining steps he could take to boost U.S. oil and gas production. Joe Biden has given up the best defense we had against Putins evil vision for the world  energy independence, Blackburn said. We need to make America energy independent again. Its time to divest from Russian energy and stop funding Putins war, and reauthorize the Keystone Pipeline.

The route of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline lies idle through a farmer's field near Oyen, Alberta, Canada. (Todd Korol/Reuters)

In response, some Democrats have said that not only would building new fossil fuel infrastructure like the Keystone XL oil pipeline worsen climate change, it would have little if any effect on U.S. energy independence. Even if the U.S. produces more than it consumes, if it remains a large consumer of oil and gas it is vulnerable to price spikes caused by foreign supply disruptions.

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., told The Hill this week that instead of trying to produce more fossil fuels, Congress should pass Bidens Build Back Better proposal to invest in deploying clean energy, electric vehicles and energy efficiency improvements. If we make our vehicles more efficient, if we make our homes more efficient  that reduces the need for oil and gas regardless of the source, Casten said.

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Countering Russian aggression toward its neighbors is not the only thing thats at stake in this debate, as the effort to prevent catastrophic climate change may hinge on how the Western democracies  which produce a disproportionately large share of the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change  respond to the current crisis.

A Ukrainian militiaman helps a child across a bridge destroyed by artillery on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in order to keep global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius or more above preindustrial levels  the marker that scientists say is necessary to avoid massive disasters such as the inundation of major cities  carbon emissions must decline by 45 percent by 2030. But current national commitments have the world on pace to actually increase emissions by 14 percent in this decade. Depending on how nations react to the war, that huge gap between what science says should be done and what humanity is actually doing could be narrowed or widened.

Germany, for instance, has moved up its target date for eliminating fossil fuels from its energy portfolio from 2040 to 2035. But Germanys decision  made in the wake of the 2011 meltdown at Japans Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant  to shutter its nuclear power plants by 2022 makes it hard for the country to swiftly cut back on gas imports.

The United States and its allies have imposed economic sanctions on Russia, but they have not committed to stop buying Russian fossil fuels. Sanctioning those industries would strengthen the Wests hand and weaken Russias, but Europe needs to keep its lights on, its cars running and its furnaces boiling.

A liquefied natural gas plant in the village of Prigorodnoye, Russia. (Sergei Krasnoukhov/Tass via Getty Images)

Environmental activists have also condemned the invasion while arguing that fossil fuels are part of the underlying problem. This war is inherently linked to fossil fuel dependency, and Putins power is very much tied to the fossil fuel industry  which, on the other hand, has led to the climate crisis, Dominika Lasota, a Warsaw-based climate justice activist with the youth group Fridays for Future, told Yahoo News. Fridays for Future organized demonstrations against the war in cities around the world on Thursday. We also want to make a strong mark on the fact that fossil fuels are endangering life on the planet, be it through the climate crisis or conflicts like this, Lasota said.

In the short term, however, theres not much that can be done to replace a dependence on Russian oil with renewable energy, since any measure to rebalance Europes energy portfolio will require years of building up the infrastructure  whether its liquefied natural gas export terminals in the United States or wind turbines in Austria.

Its not so simple to just say, OK, overnight, now were going to suddenly switch and no longer going to be dependent on natural gas from Russia, or fossil fuels in general, Pete Ogden, vice president for energy, climate and the environment at the U.N. Foundation, told Yahoo News. Right now, youre seeing that vulnerability exposed and there not being easy, short-term fixes to that problem.

Ogden, like other environmental experts, believes the Russia-Ukraine war should encourage other countries to transition as quickly as possible to electrified transportation and clean generation of electricity to avoid being subject to the whims of a dictator who wields fossil fuels as a weapon.

Wind turbines in the Styrian Alps, Austria. (Lisi Niesner/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

We see this all the time: Oil prices go up, and until we actually have made the transition [from] internal combustion vehicles into electric vehicles, were not going to have easy alternatives when prices spike, whether due to supply disruption or just market volatility, Ogden said. Clearly, the path to greater energy security in the long term is to transition away from fossil fuel dependence. And thats not just true for the Europeans.

But the fossil fuel industry and its allies in the Republican Party argue that if the Biden administration deregulated oil and gas production, it would strengthen the Wests hand in dealing with Putin. Last week, American Petroleum Institute president Mike Sommers wrote a blog post complaining that the administration continues to block U.S. energy production. API, a trade association of gas and oil companies, called for the federal government to expand oil and gas drilling on federal land, streamline the permitting process for new natural gas pipelines and open more offshore areas to drilling.

At a time of geopolitical strife, America should deploy its ample energy abundance  not restrict it, Sommers wrote.

You talk about weakness on the part of Joe Biden. He comes to office, and what does he do? He shuts down American energy production and greenlights Russian energy production, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said on the same day at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Is it any wonder that Vladimir Putin feels emboldened to do whatever he wants to do?

In fact, U.S. oil and gas production remains at or near record highs, and has not dropped since Biden took office. Bidens proposals to curtail federal fossil fuel leasing have not yet had any effect on production, and less than one-quarter of gas and oil production happens on federal lands and waters.

The pier at Dominion's Cove Point liquefied natural gas plant on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay in 2014. (Timothy Gardner/Reuters)

Meanwhile, the IPCCs latest report  a frightening litany of harmful effects on humans that climate change is already having or soon will have if no action is taken  was released Monday morning, but media coverage was muted by the intense focus on Russia and Ukraine.

On Thursday, a coalition of moderates from both parties, including Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, introduced a bill that would ban U.S. imports of Russian oil. Green New Deal author Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., has an alternative bill that would do the same but also develop a strategy to prioritize clean energy.

American fossil fuel companies helped fuel Putins despicable war on Ukraine to the tune of billions, propping up the oil-garchs and cronies that keep him in power, Markey said in a statement. There is no separating Russian oil from the corruption and human rights abuses of the Putin regime."

Biden has, however, been notably less vocal about climate change in recent weeks. As attention has shifted toward Ukraine, he hasnt made the connection between the conflict and fossil fuel dependence that Casten and environmental activists have. In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Biden mentioned climate change only in passing, and not in reference to the war.

In the address, he announced that the U.S. will release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, with another 30 billion barrels to be released by 30 other countries, to stabilize oil prices.

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre warned that cutting off Russian oil imports could worsen an ongoing oil price spike.

We dont have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy, she told reporters traveling on Air Force One on Wednesday. That would raise prices at the gas pump for Americans."

Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, echoed that concern in an interview with NBC News on Wednesday. The president last night was trying to insulate the American citizen, the American consumer, from suffering too much, said Beyer. And I think the fear from the White House ... is that if you cut off Russian oil, you could make people suffer too much and you could weaken our resolve to be a strong supporter of Ukraine.

President Biden delivering the State of the Union address on Tuesday. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)

The reluctance to change long-term U.S. energy policy in response to the current crisis in Ukraine is understandable, since neither passing Build Back Better nor approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline will actually change the outcome in Ukraine, nor will a U.S. boycott of Russian oil, since Russia can still sell its oil elsewhere. Whats really at stake isnt the Wests leverage against Russia in 2022, its the worlds dependence on fossil fuel producers in the coming years, because selling new fossil fuel leases or approving new pipelines locks in future fossil fuel development. Conversely, beginning the process of permitting and purchasing the means of producing energy from sources like wind and sun would ensure a cleaner energy portfolio in the latter half of this decade.

And so, ironically, the energy policy responses to this sudden crisis wont likely make a difference to the fate of Ukraine but could have an enormous impact on the fate of the Earth.

At the end of the day, the idea that were going to find energy independence at the bottom of an oil barrel is not credible, Ogden of the U.N. Foundation said.

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Global temperatures are on the rise and have been for decades. Step inside the data and see the magnitude of climate change.
Salma Hayek is adding a first-of-its-kind award to her resume.

Hayek is the inaugural recipient of IMDbs Icon STARmeter Award, commemorating her decades of memorable movie and TV roles, the organization announced Thursday.

This award means so much to me because for so long, women in the entertainment industry were underrecognized for our performances, contributions to filmmaking, and power to draw audiences to theaters, Hayek said in a statement.

While there has been progress, particularly in the last few years, this Womens History Month, Im reflecting on the work that is still to be done as we continue moving towards gender parity.

The honor comes on the heels of a big year for the Mexican-born Hayek, who starred as the superhero Ajak in the Marvel movie Eternals and portrayed Pina in the fashion-focused drama House of Gucci.

IMDb regularly celebrates actors who receive more than 200 million monthly viewers with STARmeter Awards, but Hayeks icon honor was created in conjunction with the online movie databases 20th anniversary.

Hayek, 55, earned her lone Oscar nomination in 2003 for her portrayal of painter Frida Kahlo in the biopic Frida, and won an Emmy the following year for her directing work on the TV film The Maldonado Miracle.

All of us at IMDb and IMDbPro are excited to honor Salma Hayek Pinault with our first-ever IMDb Icon STARmeter Award, in recognition of her groundbreaking creative career and the indelible mark she has made on the entertainment industry, Matt Kumin, the head of IMDbPro, said Thursday, using the actress married name.
By Marwa Rashad, Samia Nakhoul and Ghaida Ghantous

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince says he simply doesn't care whether Joe Biden misunderstands him.

The prince is instead looking to his oil power to deliver his goals, according to sources familiar with Riyadh's thinking: recognition from the American president that he's the real ruler of the kingdom and a stronger hand in the costly Yemen war.

That's one reason why Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is resisting U.S. pressure to pump more crude to lower the price of oil that has surged since Russia attacked Ukraine, besides keeping Riyadh's oil pact with Moscow alive, the sources said.

"The Saudis have demands too, before they meet any of the U.S. requests. The Yemen file and the recognition of the crown prince as the de facto ruler are on top of these," one of the sources familiar with Saudi government thinking told Reuters.

Traditionally strong ties between Riyadh and Washington were shaken when Biden released a U.S. intelligence report implicating Prince Mohammed in the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and ended U.S. support for offensive operations in Riyadh's costly war against Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen.

So far, Biden has refused to speak to Prince Mohammed directly, saying 86-year-old King Salman is his counterpart - even though the young prince effectively runs the kingdom and had a close relationship with Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.

In an interview with The Atlantic published on Thursday, Prince Mohammed said his aim was to strengthen Riyadh's long, historical relationship with Washington, but he was not concerned about whether Biden misunderstood him.

"Simply, I do not care," the crown prince was quoted as saying. "It's up to him to think about the interests of America."

The Saudi authorities did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Prince Mohammed, who is known as MbS, denies any involvement in Khashoggi's death.

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Riyadh has repeatedly stressed the strength of its strategic partnership with the United States and that its oil policy is based on a commitment to market stability and supply security driven by market fundamentals.

ONLY CARD TO PLAY

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia have been unwinding historic output cuts they instated in 2020 to boost prices after the coronavirus pandemic caused an unprecedented fall in global demand.

But since Russian troops moved into Ukraine last week and the West hit Moscow with stringent sanctions, oil prices have surged to the highest since 2012 on concerns about disruptions to supply, with little global spare capacity to pump more crude.

Washington would like the producer alliance, known as OPEC+, to increase output faster than it has been doing since August but only a few countries have spare capacity, including de facto OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The U.S. State Department's special envoy for energy affairs, Amos Hochstein, flew to Riyadh last month for talks about managing the potential impact on oil markets if Russia were to invade Ukraine - which it did a week later.

"MbS's only card is oil policy to press the Americans to give him what he wants, which is recognition and weapons for Yemen," said a second source familiar with Saudi thinking.

On Wednesday, the OPEC+ alliance stuck to its long-standing plans for gradual increases in output of 400,000 barrels per day each month, rather than boosting supply faster.

"Saudi Arabia ... has sought not to be seen acting against Russian interests. In doing so, the kingdom could kill two birds with one stone: keep the door open to Moscow and give President Joe Biden some payback for his refusal to engage with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman," wrote James Dorsey, a senior fellow at National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute.

In a sign of his eagerness to be part of the conversation with Washington, Prince Mohammed cancelled a trip to China for the Winter Olympics to ensure he was at his father's side when Biden called King Salman bin Abdulaziz on Feb. 9, three sources told Reuters.

In the call, which covered energy, Iran and Yemen, the king spoke about maintaining market stability and emphasised the need to maintain the OPEC+ pact, state media said.

"The situation is still as is - counterpart to counterpart - but given how the U.S. is in a difficult situation now, they might compromise," said one Riyadh-based diplomat, adding that Prince Mohammed wanted official U.S. recognition and Washington's support in Riyadh's seven-year Yemen campaign.

Asked for comment, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said: "While energy and security issues are important policy considerations for both countries, we will not discuss the details of our private diplomatic engagements."

"As we have noted publicly, we have held discussions with Saudi Arabia on a collaborative approach to managing potential market pressures stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

TRYING TO STAY NEUTRAL

The sources and analysts said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states could not afford to remain neutral between their Western allies and Russia for long, and would ultimately choose the region's security guarantor America - especially given the risk of secondary sanctions over Ukraine.

But for now, Riyadh and other Gulf oil producers may get away with a neutral stance that allows OPEC+ to continue to function, a senior oil industry source said.

The last time the producers pact unravelled, Riyadh and Moscow became embroiled in a price war and all-out battle for market share that caused oil prices to plummet, ultimately hurting OPEC and U.S. oil producers alike.

Other OPEC producers also say the surge in prices is being driven by geopolitical tension, rather than market fundamentals, and the potential return of Iran to the market if a deal is reached to revive its nuclear agreement needs to be taken into account when determining oil output levels.

"The feedback that we got from the Saudis is that they see the OPEC+ agreement with Russia as a long-term commitment and they are not ready yet to endanger that cooperation ... while making it clear that they stand with the West when it comes to security cooperation," said a Western diplomat in Riyadh.

"They are trying to stay neutral as far as possible, but now that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin has gone for a full invasion, they may no longer have that luxury."

WITH US OR AGAINST US

Gulf states also have business and geopolitical interests with Russia, whose president stood by the crown prince when Western leaders shunned him in the uproar over Khashoggi's killing at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

But it was the West that sent troops to liberate Kuwait in the 1990-1991 Gulf War and defended Riyadh when late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.

And Riyadh and other Gulf states still rely on the American security umbrella even as they move to diversify defence partners due to a perception that U.S. commitment is waning.

"The United States is committed to advancing Saudi defenses," the U.S. State Department spokesperson said. "We also have a robust dialogue on helping Saudi Arabia improve its ability to defend its territory against security threats from Yemen and elsewhere in the region."

Dorsey said the problem for Gulf leaders was that Ukraine could potentially open a Pandora's Box in which major powers either side of the divide invoke former U.S. President George W. Bush's post 9/11 maxim: "You're either with us or against us."

In The Atlantic article, the crown prince hinted that if relations were to sour with Washington, others countries such as China would be more than ready to step in.

"Where is the potential in the world today?" he said. "It's in Saudi Arabia. And if you want to miss it, I believe other people in the East are going to be super happy."

(Reporting by Samia Nakhoul and Ghaida Ghantous in Dubai, Marwa Rashad in London, Aziz El Yaakoubi in Riyadh and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Editing by David Clarke)
A school tutor was arrested for sending pornography to a minor, the Fresno County Sheriffs Office said Thursday.

An employee for College of the Sequoias and Tulare Joint Union High School, 27-year-old Aaron Scott was arrested Wednesday after he was interviewed by detectives from the Central Valley Internet Crimes Against Children, investigators said.

While reviewing her childs text messages, a woman saw that Scoot had sent pornography to the minor, according to investigators. The childs age was not immediately public.

Scott, who lives in Tulare, was booked into the Fresno County Jail on suspicion of felony distributing child sexual abuse material to a minor, according to the sheriffs office.

His bail was set at $5,000, and he has since posted bond and been released from jail, a news release said.

Both of his employers have placed him on administrative leave, according to a news release.

Due to the patterns of behavior in this case, it is possible that there are other victims out there who have not reported Jones illegal activity, a news release said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Ericka Rascon at 559-600-8144 or Valley Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867 or www.valleycrimestoppers.org.
A male Russian Blue cat seen at the GCCF 100 Year Celebration Show in Kenilworth, England, on August 14, 2021. Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images

Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, users of China's Twitter-like Weibo platform have been fixated on Russian cats.

On Wednesday, the hashtag "Russian cats are banned" went viral on Weibo.

The trending topic concerns the banning of Russian cats from international cat shows.

As the world bears witness to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, social media users in China have been fixated on an unlikely topic  Russian cats.

The search term "Russian cats are banned" went viral on China's Twitter-like Weibo on Wednesday, receiving more than 118 million views in 24 hours. The trending topic also spawned close to 170,000 topic threads overnight.

At the heart of all the furor is the Federation Internationale Feline's (FiFe) decision to ban Russian cats from participating in international cat shows.

In a statement on Tuesday, the FiFe board said it was "shocked and horrified" by the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine and highlighted the "destruction and chaos caused by this unprecedented act of aggression."

Fife  a federation of cat fancier organizations and member of the World Cat Congress  also banned any cat bred in Russia from being registered in any FiFe pedigree book outside of the country. The group also banned all cats belonging to Russian exhibitors from being entered in any cat fancier competitions.

"The Board of FIFe feels it cannot just witness these atrocities and do nothing," wrote the organization in its statement.

In response, Chinese web users on Weibo expressed their disapproval of the ban.

"Even cats, dogs, chickens, pigs, and geese, have nationalities? Even cockroaches and bugs have national allegiances? This is thought of by the West!" wrote another Weibo commenter.

"This organization is using a ban on cats as a demonstration of its integrity when it's doing evil!" read another comment in the topic thread.

According to reporting from Newsweek, some Russian cat breeds rank among the world's most expensive. Siberian cats, for instance, can cost around $1,000 to $2,000, while Russian Blues and Peterbald cats can fetch up to $3,000.

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China has walked a fine line after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, refusing to condemn Russia for its military assault. However, Chinese tech companies have been divided in their response to the invasion.

Insider's live blog of the Russian invasion of Ukraine is covering developments as they happen.

Read the original article on Insider
The city of Charleston, South Carolina is set to open one of the countrys most highly anticipated cultural institutions. The property will hold the history of Americas ugliest secret, a wharf that imprisoned hundreds of thousands of Black people who were mostly stolen from the coastline of Africa.

Mock up of International African American Museum (Credit: Iammuseum.org)

The International African American Museum, located at the Gadsdens Wharf on the Charleston Harbor, has been under construction since 2019, and is set to open its doors to the public in late 2022.

It holds a significant amount of importance because, according to the Charleston County Public Library, in 1758, Captain Christopher Gadsden purchased land on the Cooper River that his father once owned.

He eventually used this site on the east side of the Charleston peninsula and along the rivers waterfront as a port for other seabound vessels. Within a month of his buying the land, the area was known for slave auctions. People would buy human cargo, right alongside pine wood and bushels of oyster shells.

Though on December 1, 1774, South Carolina voted to stop importing Africans, historians assert that Gadsdens wharf continued to receive the captives, all the way up to (and beyond) December 1803, when the laws reopened the slave trade.

According to the Smithsonian, nearly half of all enslaved Africans brought to the United States of America came through Charlestons Gadsdens Wharf, adding to why the national institution named the new museum one of its most anticipated museums to open this year.

One of the attractions to the new museum is that it will store never-before-told stories from African people, enslaved and free, who populated South Carolinas Lowcountry. The museum also will feature historic figures and events that outline the substantial role that Americas eighth state played in the transatlantic slave trade.

Dr. Tonya Matthews, the museums president/CEO, said that the work that she is doing to get the museum open and to share the history with the masses is a weighty privilege. She shared with the Daniel Island News that currently, they have more than $100 million in donations and 20,000 charter members already associated with the museum.

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The Ford Foundation donated three times to the cause, contributing almost a whopping $1 million. The latest donation of $500,000 will go to the IAAMs first year of operation, funding expenses and activities such as exhibit installations, programming, genealogy workshops and Gullah storytelling programs.

The year 2021 brought in some hefty donations from corporations and private donors. Bank of America committed $500,000 in November 2021, billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave an undisclosed gift last summer and Sony Corp. made a donation of $1.7 million worth of audiovisual products to the museum.

In 2022, the institution received a grant of $1 million from the Yawkey Foundation for the operations and installation and development of the Gullah Geechee exhibition gallery in its inaugural year.

However, the largest single pledge came from the Lilly Endowment in 2017.

The private foundation, through its efforts to improve the publics understanding of religion, gave a $10 million lead grant to the museum to help build its capacity to incorporate religion into its interpretations of American life and establish relationships with and develop programs for churches and other faith-based organizations.

More news from our partners:

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  Sri Lankas president has dismissed two more Cabinet ministers after they publicly criticized the governments handling of the economy, which they said is causing severe hardships for people.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa sacked Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila and Industries Minister Wimal Weerawansa, the president's office said Thursday.

A total of three Cabinet ministers have now been ousted for criticizing the government's economic policies.

Both Gammapila and Weerawansa played key roles in bringing Rajapaksa to power and are now part of a group of about 30 lawmakers in the governing alliance that are urging the government to change economic course.

The country has a severe foreign exchange shortage because of a sharp decline in foreign tourists and exports due to the pandemic and heavy debt obligations for infrastructure projects.

The lack of dollars to pay for imports has resulted in shortages of essential products such as milk power, medicine and fuel. Dwindling fuel stocks have forced daily 7 1/2-hour power cuts because generators can't be operated.

There are long queues at gasoline stations and vehicles are stranded on roads because their tanks have run dry. Fishermen are demanding fuel to operate their boats and farmers are unable to run harvesting machines.

Gammanpila publicized the foreign exchange shortages and blamed the government for not prioritizing imports of medicine and fuel. Weerawansa said authorities were giving priority to projects like building highways while ignoring the immediate needs of the people.
Former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak departs the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on March 7, 2019 with his lawyer Michael Monico, right foreground, after he pleaded guilty to a federal tax evasion charge stemming from millions of dollars in payments he received from the state's massive settlement with tobacco companies in the 1990s. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

A federal judge Thursday denied a bid by former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak to be released early from prison, saying Vrdolyak already got a sentencing break due to his age and poor health and has only served about one-fifth of his 18-month term.

Vrdolyak, 84, reported to federal medical prison in Rochester, Minnesota, on Nov. 30 to begin serving his sentence for a tax-related conviction stemming from millions of dollars in legal fees he and a colleague reaped in the states massive settlement with the tobacco companies in the 1990s.

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In January, just a few weeks after his arrival, Vrdolyaks attorneys filed an emergency petition asking U.S. District Judge Robert Dow to order his release, citing the former aldermans advanced age, rapidly declining health and susceptibility the surging omicron variant of COVID-19.

Prosecutors objected, saying that Vrdolyak was receiving top-notch medical care in prison and that efforts to win release, which began with a request to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons the day after he reported, showed a remarkable display of white collar criminal privilege.

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The government has no doubt that prison life is tough on the defendant and his family, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu wrote in a filing in January. But time in prison is not meant to be a walk in the park.

In his four-page order issued Wednesday, Dow denied Vrdolyaks request, writing that he had served less than 20% of his total sentence that was already reduced because of the same age and health factors.

True, (Vrdolyak) is older and perhaps more vulnerable than he was at the time of sentencing, but (his) doctors forecast those predictable developments and the court considered them in imposing a below-guidelines sentence, Dow said.

The judge said medical reports he reviewed showed Vrdolyak was receiving excellent medical care while in prison. He also noted that Vrdolyak would be eligible to petition the Bureau of Prisons for release to home confinement once hes completed 25% of his sentence, which would be in about a month.

In their motion for compassionate release, Vrdolyaks lawyers said the former politician suffers from dementia and was immediately placed in solitary confinement when he reported to prison, which led to some harrowing and emotional turmoil including disorientation and uncontrollable crying.

So stark has it been that Mr. Vrdolyaks grasp of reality seems to have been severed, the motion stated, citing a report from a medical expert who examined the former alderman.

Dow had initially delayed Vrdolyaks prison term until vaccines were widely available. In ordering him to report to the Rochester facility in November, Dow said hes been in communication with prison officials, who assured him they are comfortable that their institution  can accept (Vrdolyak) and provide any medical care that he needs.

Vrdolyak pleaded guilty in March 2019 to a tax charge alleging he obstructed an IRS investigation into payments to and from his friend and associate Daniel Soso related to the states $9.3 billion settlement with tobacco companies in the late 1990s.

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In asking for prison time, prosecutors said Vrdolyak had been paid at least $12 million in fees stemming from the settlement even though he did no legal work on the case and hid his involvement from the Illinois attorney general.

Vrdolyaks lawyers argued that his cut from the tobacco deal was a legitimately earned consulting fee paid by a law firm that had sought his expertise and assistance.

In sentencing Vrdolyak in 2020, Dow said he was not taking the tobacco litigation windfall into consideration.

Soso, 70, a lawyer and former Chicago cop, pleaded guilty in 2019 to one count of income tax evasion for failing to report more than $3 million in income in the deal. He was sentenced in March 2020 to 2 years in prison.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Mar. 3Coffee lovers in Hamilton may be getting another option for places to get a beverage: It was announced Thursday that Starbucks has submitted plans for building a store in the city.

Images shared on Facebook by Vice Mayor Michael Ryan show an artist's rendering for the national coffee chain to be located at 105 N. Erie Blvd., a 1.25-acre parcel owned by Ed and Karen Larkin, according to the Butler County Auditor's Office. The Larkins own the Rose Automotive land across the street.

The plan is to construct a 2,265-square-foot Starbucks with a drive-thru, which is projected to cost $1 million, according to documents submitted to the city's planning department by Compton Addy Commercial Real Estate. The plans show the proposed building oriented on the northern end of the site, nearest to Walgreens at the corner of Ohio 4 and High Street.

The plans were submitted to the city's building department, and the land is zoned as Business Planned Development, or BPD, and will need to be reviewed by the planning commission. There is not, as of Thursday, a timeline for the project, according to the city.

MJM Architects are set to design the building, according to the submitted documents.

If the plans are accepted and the project comes to fruition, this coffee shop will be the third in a couple of blocks of that area: The Fringe Coffee Shop at 918 High St. is just around the corner, and Biggby Coffee is as well, on the opposite side of the road from The Fringe at 1055 High St.

Across the High Main Bridge is True West, a coffee shop at 313 Main St. that has become a staple for coffee drinkers in Hamilton. Several other restaurants along High, Main and Erie offer coffee, signaling that Hamilton is increasingly a popular place to grab a cup.
Mar. 3Severe mental illness used to dominate Eric Smith's life.

He had a history of refusing treatment for his bipolar and schizoaffective disorders, and he repeatedly ended up hospitalized or in jail.

But then, roughly a decade ago, Smith was court ordered into assisted outpatient treatment in Texas, where he regularly met with a judge who monitored the progress of his treatment.

"I would very, very easily be dead or still caught in the criminal justice system," he said. "Definitely not where I'm at now."

He's now a champion of the program and will testify before Maryland lawmakers next week in favor of a proposed Frederick County pilot program.

Two Frederick County legislators  Sen. Michael Hough (R) and Del. Karen Lewis Young (D)  are seeking to change that with a bill to form this pilot program.

"We have a mental health pandemic that's big  bigger than the coronavirus pandemic," Lewis Young said. "And it's going to get worse."

Assisted outpatient treatment has reduced rates of hospitalization, arrest and incarceration in states where it's been implemented, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center, a Virginia-based organization for which Smith testifies.

Maryland is one of just three states without a law allowing assisted outpatient treatment, according to the Schizophrenia and Psychosis Action Alliance.

The legislators on Friday received support from fellow Frederick County state lawmakers for the proposal as it heads to a Senate committee hearing Tuesday and a House hearing Wednesday. And Smith has an idea of what the state's pilot program should look like.

"A successful program in Maryland will look like what I've experienced," Smith said.

In hearings for his court-ordered treatment program, Smith didn't sit in a traditional courtroom. Rather, he met in a small conference room with members of his treatment team and a judge.

His treatment team and judge knew when to consider his input, such as granting his request for new medication if a side effect, like clouded thinking or rapid weight gain, became too severe, he said.

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But when he was in psychosis and disconnected from reality  he asked for a medication change so the government could no longer listen to his thoughts  his treatment team would recognize that his medications, or another part of his treatment, needed to change.

Nearly all participants in assisted outpatient treatment have been previously hospitalized, and most have schizophrenia or severe bipolar disorder.

Roughly half have a history of refusing to seek treatment or take medication due to symptoms of anosognosia, which, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center, impairs a person's ability to understand or perceive their illness.

"This is a program designed not for just the average person with severe mental illness but for the subset who have demonstrated that they have great difficulty adhering to treatment when it's made available to them," said Brian Stettin, policy director for the Treatment Advocacy Center. "They wind up stuck in this revolving door of coming into hospitals and jailed again and again."

When a psychiatric patient is discharged from a hospital, they may work with doctors on a treatment plan to prevent relapse. Stettin said that in his experience, recommendations for assisted outpatient treatment were included as part of the discharge process for patients with a history of not adhering to treatment.

Stettin, who will also testify next week in favor of the Frederick County pilot program, helped oversee the implementation of New York's assisted outpatient treatment statute  known as "Kendra's Law"  when he was the state's assistant attorney general. He said such treatment plans have been especially effective because of the presence of a judge, known as the "black robe effect."

Under assisted outpatient treatment, a judge orders someone with severe mental illness to a roughly yearlong treatment program and closely monitors their progress.

People tend to take their treatment plans seriously when they come from a judge, Stettin said, and the programs are effective when a patient feels that a judge is invested in their health and in helping them achieve life goals beyond treatment.

On more than one occasion, a judge used their authority to get Smith his medications after pharmacy hours to prevent relapse during his treatment. The judge also connected Smith with a university advisor toward the end of his treatment so he could resume his education.

Smith now has an undergraduate degree in psychology, graduating magna cum laude from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and has finished his master's in social work at the same school, earning a 4.0 GPA.

"The layer of accountability for the judge, not only did it prevent me from going without meds on multiple occasions, but it also helped me move forward on a path where I can tell you about this personal success where I'm at right now," Smith said.

Though people who qualify for assisted outpatient treatment comprise just half of one percent of a state's population, they're among the most at risk to be hospitalized, homeless or jailed, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center.

Despite making up just a handful of cases locally, those with severe mental illness require an intensive amount of support and can easily accumulate more than $100,000 in medical expenses per year, said Andrea Walker, director of the Frederick County Health Department's Behavioral Health Services division.

Walker said Frederick County has a network of mental health care resources that collaborate regularly, which is made easy because the county has just one hospital system.

"Now that we are going into Year 3 of the pandemic and we're learning to deal with that at the same time, I think it's the perfect time to start adding new tools to our system of care," Walker said.

A workgroup in the county's Behavioral Health Services division will determine specific criteria for who would be eligible for assisted outpatient treatment if the state bill passes, though Walker said the program will be used as a last resort for people with severe mental illness.

For a judge to order someone into assisted outpatient treatment, a local health department, law enforcement agency or person 18 or older with an interest in their welfare, such as a family member, may have to write a petition to the court. And a psychiatrist who's recently examined this person may have to sign off on the petition, according to the state proposal.

In Frederick County, petitions could come from the county Health Department, which has personnel working in the emergency department at the local hospital, or from county law enforcement, which is normally responsible for transporting people to emergency psychological evaluations to determine if they need to be hospitalized.

Assisted outpatient treatment is a civil commitment, so if someone continues to refuse treatment, they'll likely end up back before a judge, Hough said.

Smith was ordered to assisted outpatient treatment three times between 2009 and 2012. When he was in need of treatment after completing his first and second court orders, his treatment team relied on a judge's authority to quickly return him to inpatient care.

Supporters of assisted outpatient treatment say the approach lessens the burden on emergency rooms, psychiatric wards and prisons to care for people with severe mental illness by intervening before the problem becomes an emergency situation.

Opponents, however, have argued that court ordering treatment infringes on people's civil liberties and raises "significant constitutional concerns."

"The bill to establish an involuntary outpatient program in Frederick County (SB 807/HB 1017) would subject people who do not meet the legal standard for hospitalization to forced treatment," Melissa Rothstein, policy and development director for the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, said in an email.

Smith, though, said the most involuntary and coercive thing he's experienced wasn't handed down by a judge. Rather, it his unmanaged mental illnesses.

"There is not a chance I would ever want to go back to that, but if you talk to me at that time, during the anosognosia, I didn't believe I was ill, so I didn't want to seek treatment," Smith said. "And that's a component that I think isn't fully grasped by opposition."

Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a terrorism detainees claim that allowing two former CIA contractors to cooperate with an investigation of his torture overseas by the U.S. would not violate official secrets.

The decision came in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Abu Zubaydah, who was transferred to the custody of the Defense Department in 2006 and moved to the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he remains.

Zubaydah sought to find out more about his treatment, including where he was held and what was done to him before he arrived in Cuba. The CIA captured him in Pakistan 20 years ago, believing he was a high-ranking figure in al Qaeda  a notion the CIA later concluded was wrong, according to a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee study.

His lawyers said he was held at several secret locations overseas, known as black sites, where during interrogations he was repeatedly waterboarded, slapped and slammed into walls, crammed into a small box, and deprived of sleep for days at a time.

Image: Abu Zubaydah (via AP file)

A European court concluded that one of those black sites was in Poland. To help pursue legal claims against current or former Polish officials who he says were complicit in his detention and treatment at a black site in Poland, he sought access to two former CIA contractors, James Mitchell and John Jessen, who devised and helped carry out the torture program.

But both the Trump and Biden administrations moved to block Abu Zubaydahs efforts to get their testimony, arguing that some information about his treatment remains a state secret, including the names of the countries where CIA black sites were located.

The Supreme Court agreed, by a vote of 7-2.

The Government here has provided a reasonable explanation of why Mitchell and Jessens confirmation or denial of the information Zubaydah seeks could significantly harm national security interests, even if that information has already been made public through unofficial sources, said Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the majority.

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The Court condones neither terrorism nor torture, but in this case we are required to decide only a narrow evidentiary dispute.

Justice Elena Kagan agreed that the state secrets privilege prevents Abu Zubaydah from pursuing his current request, but she said the case should have been sent back to the lower courts to examine whether his request could be narrowed.

Former CIA Director Mike Pompeo said in a court declaration that the agency sought help from foreign governments with a pledge to keep any clandestine cooperation with the CIA a secret. Maintaining the confidentiality is critical to the CIAs ability to convince foreign intelligence services to work with us.

Abu Zubaydahs lawyer, David Klein, had argued that the location of the CIAs black sites is no longer a secret. The European Court of Human Rights determined that he was moved to Poland in December 2002 and held there for nine months, citing an interview with Polands former president, who said officials agreed to let the CIA operate there but denied knowing about any torture.

The Supreme Courts two dissenters, Neil Gorsuch and Sonia Sotomayor, agreed.

There comes a point where we should not be ignorant as judges of what we know to be true as citizens, Gorsuch wrote.

This case takes us well past that point," he continued. "Zubaydah seeks information about his torture at the hands of the CIA. The events in question took place two decades ago. They have long been declassified. Official reports have been published, books written, and movies made about them."

We know already that our government treated Zubaydah brutally  more than 80 waterboarding sessions, hundreds of hours of live burial, and what it calls rectal rehydration," Gorsuch added. "Further evidence along the same lines may lie in the governments vaults. But as embarrassing as these facts may be, there is no state secret here. This courts duty is to the rule of law and the search for truth. We should not let shame obscure our vision.




The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 8-1 that Kentucky's Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron, may defend an abortion restriction that lower courts struck down as unconstitutional.

The case was procedural in nature and did not directly address the legality of Kentucky's now-defunct, GOP-backed abortion law, which would effectively ban after 15 weeks the most common abortion method used in the second trimester of pregnancy.

In their Thursday ruling, the majority held that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) should be allowed to step in and defend the restrictive abortion law after the state's Democratic governor declined to do so. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a solo dissent.

The case arose after a messy collision between electoral politics and a government's legal position in a contentious court fight raised the question of who had the legal right to represent Kentucky's interests in court.

The dispute began when EMW Women's Surgical Center - Kentucky's only abortion clinic - and two of its doctors sued on the grounds that the law, House Bill 454, placed an unconstitutional burden on abortion access.

A federal judge in Louisville struck down the law in 2019, prompting an appeal from the state's then-Republican-led administration. That ruling was affirmed the next year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

But while the appeal was pending, Kentucky voters in 2019 elected Democrat Andy Beshear as governor, whose administration later dropped the case. That same election saw Kentucky voters elect Cameron, a Republican, as attorney general.

The Supreme Court's Thursday decision reversed the 6th Circuit's refusal to let Cameron step in to defend the abortion restriction, H.B. 454, on appeal.

"The Sixth Circuit panel failed to account for the strength of the Kentucky attorney general's interest in taking up the defense of HB 454," Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority.

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The ruling returns the case to the 6th Circuit, where Cameron is expected to intervene.

In a separate case this term, the Supreme Court is weighing a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and poses a direct challenge to the court's landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which recognized a constitutional right to abortion up to around 24 weeks.

Updated at 12:27 p.m.
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen bestowed a presidential honour on former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday for his contribution to boosting relations with the island, as China's government lambasted his record as "despicable".

China placed sanctions on Pompeo when he left office at the end of the Trump presidency last year, angered by his repeated criticism, especially of its ruling Communist Party, and support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

Meeting Pompeo at the presidential office in Taipei, Tsai thanked him for his long-time support for Taiwan.

"A visit from such a good friend as Secretary Pompeo attests to the strong Taiwan-U.S. friendship," she said.

Tsai bestowed on him the Order of the Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon, one of Taiwan's top honours. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is a previous recipient.

Pompeo, wearing a mask with U.S. and Taiwanese flags emblazoned upon it, said he was proud of his achievements while in office to try and normalise relations with Taiwan, including sending U.S. officials to visit.

"It is not provocative to say that one demands freedom. Indeed to walk away from these things demonstrate the absence of resolve," he said.

China put sanctions on "lying and cheating" Pompeo and 27 other top Trump-era officials as President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

Asked about his trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: "The relevant actions from Pompeo are despicable and inevitably a futile effort".

China's top newspaper, the party's official People's Daily, weighed in with a commentary earlier on Thursday, calling Pompeo an "extremely notorious" anti-China politician who "took pride in lying and deceit" while in office.

The Donald Trump administration gave strong backing to Taiwan, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, including high-profile arms sales and visits by top U.S. officials.

China has stepped up its military and diplomatic pressure against Taiwan over the past two years, seeking to force the island to accept its sovereignty. Taiwan's democratically elected government says it wants peace but will defend itself if attacked, and that only the island's people have the right to decide their future.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell, Robert Birsel)
More than 100 teens streamed out of Lakewood High School just after noon Thursday, waving rainbow-colored signs and chanting We want our rights!

They were skipping class or lunch to take a stand against the so-called dont say gay bill moving through the Florida Legislature. Theirs was part of a coordinated statewide student walkout that started with a tweet from a Flagler County student activist and quickly spread to dozens of schools. Participation appeared to be widespread in Tampa Bay, with walkouts reported at many high schools.

I feel that we have to take our time out of our day to talk about it, said Nicole Bundy, a Lakewood junior who helped coordinate her schools demonstration along 54th Avenue S in St. Petersburg. It shouldnt have to be a problem. We shouldnt have to say its OK to be gay.

But thats the position the teens said they felt placed in by the legislation (HB 1557), which is awaiting action on the Senate floor. They object to the language that prohibits instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade, or in other grades if its deemed not to be age-appropriate.

They said they understand the proposal, also known as the Parental Rights in Education bill, doesnt literally ban anyone from saying the word gay, and that it contains provisions attempting to give parents more control over what their children learn in school.

But the bill supporters need to understand the bill is definitely to silence young LGBTQ kids, said Campbell Paquette, another Lakewood junior who helped put together the walkout there.

Like many others, she worried that the wording about age-appropriateness could lead to adults and children coming to believe its not appropriate to discuss issues relating to gender identity and sexual orientation.

At Hillsborough High in Tampa, IB psychology teacher Francis, who uses one name, was among the first to leave the school in a parade that reached the flagpole, then pooled around the front lawn and into the surrounding walkways.

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Francis watched and shot video as students waved rainbow flags and a poster or two, at times chanting gay lives matter and GSA, which stands for Gender Sexuality Alliance. The walkout, which attracted about 250 students, received no resistance from Hillsborough High administrators, and the students met their expectations. They were orderly and upbeat, and they were back in their classrooms within 20 minutes.

It makes me feel very good about this school, said GSA chapter president Kevin Vondruska, 17. We have an inclusive environment where people are not afraid to be themselves.

But Vondruska, who is gay, said he worries about students in less accepting environments. With the passage of HB 1557, he said, Im afraid that people might be afraid to come out because they might not have support at home. So if they cant have that support at school, it can lead to increased rates of suicide. Thats who were trying to protect.

At Gibbs High in St. Petersburg, senior Abbie Garretson put together her schools walkout, which drew dozens of students to the campus courtyard for speeches and cheers. She said she feared the legislation would force teachers to walk the line between appropriate and not appropriate, so they wont talk about it at all.

As a queer teen with two moms, Garretson said, she doesnt want young children like herself to grow up feeling that their lives dont matter or their families are somehow wrong. She found it ironic that students are advocating for more education, including for the people who are backing the bill.

The last time students conducted a widespread walkout from their classes came in 2018, after the school shooting massacre in Parkland. Their goal was to hold a moment of silence for the lost lives, and to advocate for security and peacefulness.

At the time, some schools threatened to discipline students for leaving their classes. This time around, school officials across the Tampa Bay area worked with students to allow the activities, though they sent out instructions on matters such as length and location of the events.

I support students. Thats my job, said Lakewood principal Erin Savage, who watched her students from the sidewalk and told them when it was time to go back inside.

Teens at River Ridge High in New Port Richey said they postponed their walkout until Monday, to be sure they had backing from their principal. River Ridge junior Isa Cacciavillani said they wanted to hold a protest to raise awareness about how many people could be negatively affected by the legislation.

I struggle immensely with being queer in a very anti-gay space and have experienced an array of slurs, Cacciavillani said in an email. My main goal is to show queer youth that they are not alone like I was during my upbringing.

Such understanding is much needed, said Nicole Crane, co-president of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Wiregrass Ranch High in Wesley Chapel. Crane said via email the schools protest was marred by mockery toward the LGBTQ community there.

It just really showed how queer voices are overlooked and silenced, which is exactly what this dont say gay bill is doing, said Crane, who called coming out a struggle. It is also crucial that we prioritize students with safe spaces and these bills compromise this. Some students depend on their days at school and this will only take away the very few spaces they have.

Walkouts also took place at Blake, Robinson and Hillsborough high schools in Hillsborough County, and at Fivay, Gulf, Mitchell and Wesley Chapel high schools in Pasco County, among others. The organizers said they were enthusiastic about the large turnouts, and hopeful they might make a difference.

I feel like we can definitely move on from here, Lakewood junior Bundy said. This is just the beginning.

  

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TAMPA  Tampa City Council members on Thursday approved delaying a discussion of the controversial City Center project for two weeks, but repeated requests for Mayor Jane Castors staff to appear publicly to defend the bidding process for the $108 million municipal services center.

Its unclear if that will occur.

Castors spokesperson, Adam Smith, didnt respond when asked if the mayors staff would comply with a written request by council chairperson Orlando Gudes for city staff to appear on March 17. Gudes wants to hear the administration present its case that it acted legally in awarding a contract for the project and to address concerns by Black community leaders that the East Tampa complex will be built with the help of minority-owned companies.

Instead, Smith issued a statement:

The bottom line is this project unanimously approved by city council members is terrific for workforce development, for East Tampa and the whole city. The City Attorneys Office was clear about litigation risks, and we have an obligation to protect taxpayers, Smiths statement read.

On Wednesday, Gudes said city staff needed to appear in person to discuss the project at 2515 E Hanna Ave that was awarded to DPR, a national construction firm with a local office. He said he wants to know why the project was not rebid even after its scope increased from $10 million to at least $108 million since it was first awarded in 2015.

Gudes memo was a reaction to one penned by city attorney Gina Grimes the day before. In that memo, Grimes informed council members that they should avoid discussing the DPR contract at the risk of facing litigation and that staff would not appear in person to discuss or answer questions about the project.

At Thursdays meeting, council member John Dingfelder said he supported moving ahead with the DPR contract, but asked Castors legal department not to tie the councils hands by advising it to avoid a discussion. He said he still has questions about whether the company was going to abide by the citys apprenticeship ordinance and meet women and minority business participation goals.

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Council member Bill Carlson said he and his colleagues werent elected to make anyone politically happy. He said it was the City Councils duty to scrutinize issues like the City Center project.

Its our responsibility to ask questions, Carlson said.

When Carlson started to discuss Grimes memo, City Council attorney Martin Shelby attempted to cut him off, saying he shouldnt discuss an item that had already been continued until the next meeting.

Shelbys behavior drew a sharp rebuke from Gudes, who scolded him by saying he shouldnt be worried about making friends with the administration and wanted to make it crystal clear that Shelby worked for council members, not the administration.

He told Shelby not to worry about political fallout although Gudes didnt elaborate on what that may be  and to provide council members with his best legal advice.

Shelby agreed.
By Panu Wongcha-um and Jiraporn Kuhakan

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Far-off Thailand might not seem an obvious place for recruits to Ukraine's efforts to raise an international volunteer force to defend against Russia's invasion.

But for former Thai Air Force conscript turned political activist Chanaphong "Ball" Phongpai, the cause is a natural fit for members of the pro-democracy movement that emerged in 2020 to protest a military-backed government in the Southeast Asian country.

Chanaphong, 28, said he felt upset for the Ukrainian people, particularly after reports of Russian attacks on civilians.

"I have been involved in demanding democracy in my country ... and opposing tyranny," Chanaphong told Reuters in an interview.

"They (Ukrainians) are also fighting for democracy and is now invaded by a superpower and a tyrant, so I asked myself what I can do for them," he said.

Chanaphong and five friends visited the Ukrainian embassy in Bangkok on Wednesday and met with a staff member there after registering on a site gathering information on potential recruits.

In a single day this week, a Thai-language online group gathered more than 2,000 names of people interested in volunteering for Ukraine, the group's organiser told Reuters.

The Ukrainian embassy in Bangkok did not reply to a request for details from Reuters.

But the staff member who met with Chanaphong's group, who asked that she not be named, said that officials are considering applicants who need to submit online documents, including proof of military training and a clean criminal record.

The staff member also asked potential volunteers to apply by email, not call or visit the embassy.

After completing his mandatory Thai military service, Chanaphong worked as a private security consultant. He said his training from two years in the air force could help the Ukrainians evacuate civilians, guard areas and secure supply lines.

"Other men and I have some basics weapons training, so I think I might be useful to help save the Ukrainians from this crisis," he said.

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His more recent experiences in clashing with Thai riot police during anti-government protests could also be useful.

"We need to switch from holding bottle bombs to holding guns," he said.

Thai government spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek said that there is no law preventing Thai citizens from joining foreign volunteer forces but that people should consider the potential grave danger as Russian forces pound Ukrainian cities with heavy weapons.

Thailand was among 141 countries at the United Nations General Assembly that voted on Wednesday to reprimand Russia for invading Ukraine and demand that Moscow stop fighting and withdraw its military forces. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has otherwise maintained a neutral stance since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24.

It is not clear whether Chanaphong or his friends will be accepted into the Ukraine "international legion", but they already begun to prepare.

This week, he's been upping his usual running regimen to make sure he is in peak physical condition.

"We fight for democracy here. They fight for their democracy there," he said. "We are like friends. Its the same feeling, the same ideology."

(Writing by Panu Wongcha-um. Editing by Kay Johnson and Gerry Doyle)
Nearly a year after her most recent attempt to go to OHare International Airport, the woman known as the serial stowaway pleaded guilty in two felony cases Thursday.

Marilyn Hartman was sentenced to 18 months in prison for a 2019 criminal trespass at OHare and two years in prison for leaving her electronic monitoring host site to head for the airport last year.

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However, given the lengthy time she spent awaiting trial on an ankle bracelet and in Cook County Jail, she will be eligible for release from custody nearly as soon as she is booked.

Serial stowaway: 22 airport incidents involving Marilyn Hartman 

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I have struggled with depression and medication management all of my life, I have experienced homelessness, Hartman told Judge Peggy Chiampas in court Thursday. Despite the setbacks, therapy provided an excellent vehicle to examine underlying issues that led me to breaking the law.

Hartmans attorney, Assistant Public Defender Parle Roe-Taylor, told the Tribune after court that while Hartman has enough credit to be eligible for release almost immediately, it is unclear when she would be processed out, given the uncertainty around some of the Illinois Department of Corrections procedures in the COVID-19 era.

Hartman does not have a place to return to, meaning IDOC will be responsible for finding her a place to live upon release. Chiampas has requested that they find her a place that provides appropriate mental health services, Roe-Taylor said.

I think that the criminal justice system is not equipped to deal with people like Ms. Hartman, Roe-Taylor said. This is a difficult situation, you know that she is 70 years old, she is nonviolent ... I hope that people can see that as an opportunity that she needs to restart her life.

Marilyn Hartman was charged with escape from electronic monitoring after being arrested March 16, 2021, near OHare International Airport. (Cook County Sheriff's Office)

Hartman got the serial stowaway moniker after gaining national notoriety for attempting to sneak into airports and onto flights around the country. Perhaps the most serious recent case came in January 2018, when she boarded a jet and flew to Londons Heathrow Airport without a ticket.

She was on probation for that case in 2019 when she tried to pass an OHare security checkpoint without identification or travel documents, prosecutors said.

She was in custody awaiting trial on the 2019 case but released in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns at the jail. She stayed at A Safe Haven, a residential facility, and had not made any attempts to go to an airport until March 2021, when her pretrial ankle monitor tracked her to the OHare CTA Blue Line station.

In court Thursday, Hartman echoed a claim made by Assistant Public Defender Andrea Lubelfeld during her bond hearing last year: that her relapse was triggered when WBBM-Ch.-2 aired their interview with her without her knowledge.

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Reached by phone Thursday, the anchor whose interview with Hartman aired just before her trip to OHare declined to be quoted, but pointed to the stations comments last year that Hartmans consent to be interviewed and recorded was on tape.

Hartman was on the brink of another plea deal a year ago, before her most recent arrest. Prosecutors had agreed to recommend a sentence of probation, but Chiampas said she would not agree to any deal that didnt include jail time.

A few months later, her attorney tried to get her into Cook Countys mental health court program, which would mean she would avoid prison time, but Hartman was not admitted into that program.

mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
Picture taken on July 1, 2019 shows the so-called "Tinder swindler" (L) as he is expelled from the city of Athens, Greece. Getty Images/AFP/TORE KRISTIANSEN

"The Tinder Swindler" is accused of spending $2 million on private planes by the real Leviev family.

Shimon Hayut, who went by the alias Simon Leviev, said he was the son of billionaire Lev Leviev.

Leviev's daughter appeared on Access Hollywood Wednesday to share why the family is suing Hayut.

The man at the center of "The Tinder Swindler" documentary is accused of spending $2 million "just on private jets" by the real Leviev family.

Shimon Hayut, the subject of Netflix's viral doc "The Tinder Swindler," went by the alias Simon Leviev and said he was the son of billionaire Russian-Israeli diamond mogul, Lev Leviev.

On Monday, the real Leviev family filed a private criminal complaint against Hayut. In court documents filed in Tel Aviv and obtained by People magazine, the lawsuit says that "for a long time, he [Hayut] has been making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones)."

Chagit Leviev-Sofiev, the real daughter of the diamond mogul, appeared on Access Hollywood Wednesday, revealing how Hayut has affected her family and their business reputation.

"We've been contacted by several charter companies, brokers for yachts, for private planes, private jets," she began. "These companies were trying to collect debt  debt that Shimon left behind  and Shimon said that his family, his company is going to pay for all of it."

However, Hayut has no relations or connections to the Leviev family.

Leviev-Sofiev added that Hayut has been using the family name for "at least" five years now. A day before the Netflix documentary premiered on February 2, she added that "a person from the UK called us and said that our brother offered him a very sketchy deal."

After they asked which brother had offered them the deal, the person said: Simon.

"And we told him Simon is not a family member," Leviev-Sofiev continued. "So the guy has been using our name relentlessly."

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According to Leviev-Sofiev, the family's business has also received backlash on social media and via email due to being affiliated with "The Tinder Swindler" documentary. Yet, she emphasized on Access Hollywood that "people still don't understand that we're just as much a victim here."

Insider reached out to a rep for Hayut but didn't immediately hear back. However, a rep told Access Hollywood in a statement that "Simon believes the family is just trying to insert themselves in the narrative of publicity after the show's success."

As previously reported by Insider's Gabi Stevenson, Hayut denied the accusations, which were made in the documentary, that he defrauded three women out of thousands of dollars.

"I was just a single guy who wanted to meet some girls on Tinder," Hayut said during an exclusive interview with Inside Edition.

"The Tinder Swindler" is available now on Netflix.

Read the original article on Insider
Tom Parker has confirmed he will miss the start of The Wanteds reunion tour to undergo treatment for brain cancer.

The singer, who is having private treatment for his condition in Spain, said that due to logistical changes he wont be able to make the beginning of the tour on 3 March.

Parker confirmed the news on his Instagram, writing: It was only meant to last 20 days but due to a couple of logistical changes with tests and results it wont be complete until the end of the week now which has delayed our journey home.

He added: Im obviously gutted that Ill be missing the first few shows but as Im sure you will understand, I have to complete my treatment cycle.

Despite being in a different country to the rest of his bandmates, Parker also confirmed he had been participating in rehearsals via Zoom: Ive been zooming into rehearsals all week and I know that the show will be incredible and that my boys will hold the fort until Im back. Cant wait to see you all very soon, hope you all enjoy the show.

Parker was initially diagnosed with a brain tumour in October 2020 and doctors gave him a prognosis of 12-18 months to live, but he was given a lifetime by undergoing experimental treatments in Spain that are not available on the NHS.

His cancer is now deemed to be stable following a significant reduction in its size.

The Wanteds tour starts tonight (3 March) in Glasgow and runs until 17 March in Liverpool. They will be visiting various other British cities such as Birmingham, Nottingham and Liverpool.
Ukraine is asking Xbox and PlayStation to block Russian accounts. Christian Petersen / Staff

Ukraine's vice prime minister asked Xbox and PlayStation to block Russian gamers' accounts.

He appealed to the wider gaming industry, asking for an esports contest ban for Russian players.

He said this would "motivate the citizens of Russia" to oppose the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine's vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, sent an open letter asking Xbox and PlayStation to block Russian and Belarusian players in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The letter, which was published on Federov's Twitter account, was addressed to "all game development companies" but he specifically tagged PlayStation and Xbox.

Russia launched its military attack on Ukraine last Thursday. Belarus is a longtime ally of Russia.

Fedorov's letter asked companies to stop Russian and Belarusian esports players from participating in international competitions.

"We are sure that such actions will motivate the citizens of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression," Fedorov wrote.

Neither PlayStation nor Xbox immediately replied when contacted by Insider outside of normal working hours about Federov's appeal.

Esports company ESL announced on Wednesday it would ban esports teams with "apparent ties to the Russian government," saying it had already ruled out two teams.

Federov's letter to the gaming industry closely resembles another letter he sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook asking that the company suspend its services in Russia.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Donald Trump is not an incumbent. But Republican leaders will have to decide if they're going to treat the most influential member of their party that way should he announce a third presidential bid.

If Trump decides to run, the Republican National Committee, state and county chairs, and fundraisers will be left to determine whether the leader of their party  who isnt currently president  should, in fact, be treated as an incumbent president. Trumps popularity, his influence on the base, and yes, the fact that hes the last Republican president to hold office will make structuring an equitable primary complicated.

"I mean, we do see him as an incumbent, Republican Indian River County Chair Jay Kramer told BuzzFeed News. The county, Floridas seventh wealthiest (and among the top 5% wealthiest per capita in the nation), encompasses Vero Beach and attracts an affluent donor base. I mean, you know, Trump, for the most part when it comes to fundraising, I mean, we can't say no to the guy," he added.

This problem isnt isolated to Trumps home state. If he runs  and he has consistently suggested he will, including at CPAC last weekend  Republican officials nationwide will have to navigate the first Republican presidential campaign from a former president in more than a century. The RNC continuing to pay a portion of Trumps legal fees a year after he left office indicates how close Trump and the Republican brand remain. But this week, the RNC told BuzzFeed News each 2024 presidential candidate would have equal access to its resources, including a $350 million voter file database the organization has been cultivating since 2012.

We will remain neutral, an RNC spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Trump did not comment on the party's posture for this story.

Republican chairs in Iowa and New Hampshire are in a particularly complicated position, as their first-in-the-nation status weighs heavily on their processs fairness. As it stands, Iowa holds the first caucus in the election cycle. New Hampshire follows with the first primary.

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I've already made the public statement: The Iowa Republican Party is neutral, Iowa State Chair Jeff Kaufmann told BuzzFeed News during a phone interview. Now does that mean I'm not going to stand up for the former president and his policies? Absolutely, I will. I will, you know, speak and introduce him and say wonderful things at a Trump rally, but at the same time, I spent an entire day with Tom Cotton going up and down the Mississippi River.

Some party officials BuzzFeed News spoke with described the problems of neutrality and incumbency as unusual with a lot of moving parts  complications that parties have not faced much since the 1970s, given the low number of two-term presidents. For instance, if Trump were to declare and there was only one other candidate who is not actively campaigning, that would be a different situation than a more traditional field of several senators or governors campaigning in the early states.

For New Hampshire chair Stephen Stepanek, who dubbed his states primary season the Woodstock for political junkies, fairness means everyone is given a level playing field even if they are relatively unknown and not well-funded. He said he expects all candidates to participate in the states famous dinners that draw voters to more intimate settings, much like the time he said he saw George W. Bush with 30 other people in a firehouse in Milford, New Hampshire.

Stepanek said Trump will be given the respect of the former president and expects certain accommodations will be made because of Secret Service protection for him. But other than that, he will be treated as any other candidate for the Republican nomination here in New Hampshire.

Still, some members of the RNC recognize that there are people in the organization who could favor Trump. And even though hes not the president, Republicans who oppose Trump risk a public chastising from the former president or, at best, a passive scolding from a fellow colleague.

I have been advocating for fairness, fairness all along, New Hampshire RNC member Juliana Bergeron told BuzzFeed News. Bergeron was one of a minority of RNC members who voted against censuring Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger last month during the RNC winter meeting in Salt Lake City. And I've been told by a couple of other members on the RNC that you know, the way I voted on a couple of things, that the president won't like that. My question was: Which president?

You know, it was one thing for Trump to have that kind of control when he was the incumbent, but now he's not the incumbent, Bergeron added. So we have to welcome every single candidate who wants to come to New Hampshire and be fair.

In Alabama, which has been one of the states to vote on the packed early primary Super Tuesday, fairness for the party means equal access to any events and potential promotional items the state party sponsors.

Obviously, Alabama has a special relationship with Donald Trump, Alabama GOP Chair John Wahl told BuzzFeed News. People in Alabama love him. I think he would easily win our primary, but we would treat  the Republican Party  would treat all candidates equally in the primary.

More on this
The Russian navy's missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov sails off for an exercise in the Arctic on January 26, 2022. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Two cargo ships were hit by explosions near Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Navy has accused the Russian Navy of using civilian vessels as a "human shield."

The NATO Shipping Center has warned of a "high risk of collateral damage" in the Black Sea.

Two cargo ships were hit by explosives off the coast of Ukraine on Thursday.

The Ukrainian Navy has accused the Russian Black Sea Fleet of using civilian vessels  including the Estonian-owned ship, the MV Helt,  as a "human shield" to obscure the movements of the Russian navy, according to a report from The New York Times. The MV Helt sank on Thursday following an explosion.

The Ukrainian Navy said that the Russians had threatened to fire on the MV Helt if it did not enter the war zone and compared the Russian's actions to "21st-century piracy," The Times and The Jerusalem Post reported.

Maritime Bulletin reported that the tactic could help Russian ships evade radar detection. As of Thursday morning, the ship's Automatic Identification System (AIS) had not been damaged and MarineTraffic recorded the ship just over a dozen nautical miles off the port of Odessa.

Igor Ilves, the managing director of the Vista Shipping Agency, told Reuters that two crew members were in a life raft at sea and four more had yet to be accounted for. He added that the vessel may have struck a mine. Vista Shipping Agency did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.

"It's a big problem  nobody can help them," Ilves told Reuters. "The Ukrainians cannot go to sea because it is under Russian control."

The ship was not the first civilian vessel to be impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The MV Helt sank just hours after a Bangladeshi vessel, the Banglar Samriddhi, was hit by a missile or bomb at a port in Olvia, according to Bloomberg. The publication reported that the unidentified missile killed an engineer on board.

The ship had been stranded at the port with 29 crew members following the Russian invasion, Bloomberg reported. Pijush Dutta, executive director of Bangladesh Shipping Corp, told the news outlet that "it was not clear which side fired the missile."

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Since, videos have appeared on social media, showing Banglar Samriddhi crew members asking for help.

"We have no power supply. Emergency generator power supply is running. We are on the verge of death. We have not been rescued yet. Please save us," a crewmember said, according to Reuter's retelling of a video.

Ukraine's largest port has been closed since Russia launched its attack on Thursday. The NATO Shipping Center has warned that there is "a high risk of collateral damage on civilian shipping in the northwestern part of the Black Sea," including cyberattacks and mines.

Russia's invasion has heavily impacted cargo ships that traverse the Black Sea  a key route for oil and bulk food exports. Since Thursday, several ships have been fired upon or detained. Many shipping companies have rerouted their vessels as a result.

Read the original article on Business Insider
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Katanga Johnson

(Reuters) - Activist investors including Carl Icahn say a U.S. proposal that would require them to disclose 5% stakes in companies days sooner than current rules could make it unprofitable for them to build the large positions they need for successful campaigns.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed the new rule last month in a push to reduce the information advantages that the $18 trillion private funds industry has over retail investors.

The rule would halve to five days the time investors have to disclose when they have bought at least 5% of a public company. That news often causes the stock to jump as activists like Icahn, Starboard Value and Elliott Management announce they will leverage the stake to push for changes, like selling businesses or adding board members.

Because activists spend millions of dollars on research and legal fees, they say they often need 7% to 9% of a target's stock to make campaigns viable. With the shorter reporting window, accumulating that many shares could be too costly to be profitable.

The long-term impact of the SEC proposal, activists said, would be to reduce the number of such campaigns, weakening an important force for holding companies accountable to shareholders and making the best use of their capital, which benefits all investors.

"This is a sad day for many American businesses, which need to replace incompetent chief executives rather than entrench them," said Icahn, one of the industry's most successful activist investors with a net worth of more than $16 billion.

Icahn, 86, has waged battles at corporate giants from Apple to Occidental Petroleum and has recently taken on McDonald's over how it sources pork and the treatment of pigs. Since 2011, he has invested his own personal fortune.

While Icahn said the rule won't hurt him much because he doesn't need outside money, its potential to dampen returns will be painful for activists who must court outside investors.

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The rule is subject to consultation and could come into effect later in the year if finalized by SEC commissioners.

"This is a step backwards for shareholder governance without any discernible benefit to the market," said one prominent activist hedge fund manager.

SEC chair Gary Gensler, though, said activists currently have too long to benefit from material non-public information.

Other investors should know sooner when an activist has targeted a company, especially since the evidence on whether activists create long-term value is inconclusive, critics said.

Ty Gellasch, head of Washington-based group Healthy Markets, said activists do play a "critical" role in pushing for change but was skeptical the rule would seriously harm them.

Likewise, Jim Rossman who defends corporations against activists as co-head of capital markets advisory at Lazard, said the 5% hurdle is not "magic." "Good ideas are valuable in themselves even if an activist owns a smaller stake," he said.

WRONG MESSAGE?

Still, other investors said the proposal sends the wrong message. As passive index-tracking has allowed most investors to disengage from corporate boards, the market needs more investors willing to spend the time and money ferreting out information and identifying undervalued companies.

With just $195 billion in assets, according to research firm Insightia, activists are already a tiny fraction of the market.

"Fewer investors than ever are actually doing the work of analyzing companies and holding underperforming boards and CEOs accountable," said Rob Collins, executive director of the Council for Investor Rights and Corporate Accountability.

"The SEC should be encouraging engaged shareholders to use their rights and their voices to push for value-creative change, not making their jobs more difficult."

(Reporting by Katanga Johnson in Washington and Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston; Editing by Michelle Price and Cynthia Osterman)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The United States called on India on Wednesday to distance itself from Russia, its main arms supplier, after the invasion of Ukraine, which New Delhi has yet to condemn.

New U.S. sanctions on Russian banks will make it harder for countries to buy major defence equipment from Moscow, a U.S. diplomat said, though no decision had been reached on Washington granting a waiver to New Delhi to take delivery of Russian surface-to-air missiles under an earlier contract.

India signed a $5.5 billion deal with Russia in 2018 to buy five of its S400 missile systems, initial supplies of which started late last year despite a U.S. law aimed at deterring countries from buying Russian military hardware.

The United States this week placed more restrictions on Moscow including the bank sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine last week.

"It is going to be very hard for any country in the globe to buy major weapon systems from Russia because of the sweeping sanctions now placed on Russian banks," Donald Lu, assistant U.S. secretary of state for South Asian affairs, told a U.S. senate subcommittee.

Lu also said U.S. officials have held talks with India to "underscore the importance of a collective response condemning Russias invasion". India is the only major U.S. ally that has declined to publicly criticise Moscow, though it has called for an end to violence.

Asked by senators if the Ukraine crisis had changed the administration's position on a waiver for India, he said:

"I am not able to prejudge the decisions of the president or the secretary on the waiver issue or on the sanction issue, or whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine will bear on that decision," Lu said.

"What I can say is that India is a really important security partner of ours now, and that we value that partnership. Moving forward, I hope that part of what happens with the extreme criticism that Russia has faced is that India will find it is now time to further distance itself from Russia."

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India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia is India's main arms supplier, though since 2011 New Delhi has reduced its imports from Moscow by 53% and raised purchases from the United States.

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Kim Coghill)
Former Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan departs from his lawyers' office, March 9, 2022, after making his first virtual court appearance for his indictment. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

At its core, the alleged bribery scheme involving ex-Speaker Michael Madigan and utility giant Commonwealth Edison is an alarmingly familiar lesson on how often-cozy relationships between business leaders and politicians can catch the attention of federal prosecutors.

Like so many federal corruption probes before it, the case is replete with powerful political characters, bit players, well-connected lobbyists and big-business clout.

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Unlike the investigations that felled two consecutive Illinois governors: Operation Safe Road and Operation Board Games, the ComEd bribery investigation has no official nickname, but still it has reverberated across the states political landscape.

Former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan arrives to his office in Chicago Oct. 18, 2021. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Then came something of a political earthquake on Wednesday, when federal prosecutors returned a grand jury indictment charging Madigan and longtime confidant Michael McClain with racketeering conspiracy alleging an array of corrupt endeavors, including the ComEd bribery scheme.

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The 22-count indictment, which alleged Madigans elected office and political operation were a criminal enterprise that provided personal financial rewards for him and his associates, had been anticipated for more than a year and half amid reports of FBI raids and wiretaps involving some of Madigans most trusted associates.

The first big shoe dropped in July 2020, when ComEd admitted in court that it gave contracts, law business and jobs requiring little or no work to friends and political allies of Madigan in hopes that he would look favorably upon the companys Springfield agenda, which started scoring a string of big wins in the General Assembly in 2011.

Major indictments followed, including charges against McClain, a former legislator and lobbyist, well as Madigans former chief of staff, Democratic legislators, and ComEd executives, lobbyists and consultants.

The far-reaching bribes-for-favors investigation, along with lingering fallout from multiple #MeToo outrages among his allies, eventually weakened the speakers once-unassailable political status and eventually cost him the top job in the House.

The 106-page indictment returned Wednesday, meanwhile, outlines new examples of how Madigan was allegedly aware of  and at times personally participated in  the ComEd scheme.

Among them, according to the charges, was a May 2018 phone call in which Madigan allegedly instructed McClain to talk to then-ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore about giving a lucrative consulting contract to retiring 23rd Ward Ald. Michael Zalewski, a longtime Madigan ally. In the same conversation, Madigan also told McClain to go forward with the appointment of former McPier CEO Juan Ochoa to ComEds board, the indictment alleged..

Around the same time, Madigan also talked to McClain by phone about working to kill a 2018 bill in the House that would have imposed more restrictive requirements on retail electric suppliers, legislation that ComEd opposed, according to the indictment.

Defense lawyers have previously argued that there was no quid pro quo arrangement between Madigan and the utility and that actions described in the indictment were routine practice that falls well within the bounds of legal political horse-trading.

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Madigans attorneys on Wednesday blasted the indictment as baseless.

Mr. Madigan vehemently rejects the notion that he was involved in criminal activity  before, during or after his long career as a public servant, attorneys Sheldon Zenner and Gil Soffer said in a statement. The governments overreach in charging him with these alleged crimes is groundless, and we intend to prevail in court.

But prosecutors had alleged that not only did the co-conspirators know that what they were doing was illegal, it was enormously successful, with ComEd receiving at least $150 million in legislative benefits over the length of the scheme.

Over and over, the utility appeased Madigans requests  often mediated by McClain  ranging from Ochoas appointment to the ComEd board of directors to giving students in the speakers 13th Ward power base a hefty batch of internships each summer, according to prosecutors.

Meanwhile, ComEds legislative victories stacked up, including a massive smart-grid system designed to improve service and a formula-rate-making plan in 2011 that critics charged was too lucrative for the company.

In 2013, the legislature endorsed a trio of accounting techniques that helped ComEds bottom line despite opposition from the Illinois Commerce Commission. And in 2016, the company won support for a consumer subsidy for some of its nuclear power plants and the thousands of jobs that went with them.

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But the companys alleged scheme began to unravel in 2019 with a series of FBI raids. ComEd agreed in July 2020 to pay a $200 million fine in a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. attorneys office that required them to cooperate for three years in exchange for bribery charges being dropped.

Two months later, ex-ComEd Vice President Fidel Marquez pleaded guilty to bribery and revealed hed been cooperating with the government, recording conversations with McClain and others along the way, court records show.

In November 2020, a federal grand jury brought an indictment against McClain, Pramaggiore, former lobbyist John Hooker and Jay Doherty, the longtime head of the City Club of Chicago whod worked for years as a ComEd consultant.

City Club of Chicago President Jay Doherty listens to Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis speak during a meeting May 23, 2017, at Maggianos Little Italy in Chicago. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)

Another longtime member of Madigans inner circle, Tim Mapes, ousted by the speaker in a 2018 sexual harassment controversy, was indicted in May 2021 on perjury and obstruction of justice charges over allegedly lying to a federal grand jury investigating the ongoing ComEd fallout. He has pleaded not guilty.

Two former Democratic Chicago lawmakers who later worked on ComEd matters, Rep. Eddie Acevedo and Sen. Annazette Collins, were indicted on tax counts that arose from the ComEd scandal.

Acevedo has pleaded guilty. Collins has pleaded not guilty.

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A plethora of Madigan allies  and even some former political foes  have played cameos in the ComEd investigation but have not been charged.

They include clout-heavy attorney Victor Reyes of Reyes Kurson, who was allegedly hired by ComEd early in the scheme in an effort to please Madigan.

Also included were Madigans former 13th Ward Ald. Frank Olivo, and former Cook County Recorder of Deeds Ed Moody, a legendary door knocker in Madigans political operation. Documents have tied both of them to ComEd jobs.

Zalewski, who first turned up in the investigation when his house was raided in May 2019, wound up landing a consulting contract with ComEd that paid $5,000 a month, according to the charges.

And Ochoa, a onetime political nemesis of Madigan, was appointed to ComEds board at the speakers request, a part-time position that paid $78,000 a year, according to the indictment.

At the center of the sprawling probe is McClain, a former House lawmaker from Quincy who served with Madigan in the 1970s and 1980s and then became a contract lobbyist for ComEd and many other top-shelf clients. The Tribune first reported the feds raided his house in Quincy in May 2019.

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Lobbyist Mike McClain, center, appears outside House Speaker Michael Madigan's office at the state Capitol in Springfield May 25, 2012. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

McClain often sat on a bench outside the wooden doors of the speakers 3rd floor Capitol suite. He would hold court for former legislators and Madigan staffers who left state government to become lobbyists for companies that relished their connections with the man who ran the House for a nationwide record 36 years.

One of the speakers frequent dinner companions, McClain had Madigans ear and helped him with campaign strategy and political fundraising. McClain even sent out fundraising pitches to political friends that he called the most trusted of the trusted.

Before the November 2018 election, McClain pulled their names from a magic Excel sheet filled with political pals and urged them to give to a secret project for House Democrats and HIMSELF, an affectionate Irish term he used to identify the speaker. That election gave the speaker his all-time biggest Democratic majority, a 74-44 political edge over Republicans.

McClain also created a firestorm when he rounded up current and former ComEd lobbyists to send more than $30,000 in checks to Kevin Quinn, a onetime Madigan worker ousted over his own sexual harassment allegations in 2018.

Bank records obtained by the Tribune showed they started cutting the checks to Quinn in September 2018, the same month Madigan wrote an op-ed in the Tribune vowing that he had made it a personal mission to take this issue head-on and correct past mistakes.

A Madigan spokeswoman said the speaker was not involved in the effort to help Quinn, who is the brother of 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn, Madigans field general.

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The Tribune would later learn that the feds had recorded McClains telephone conversations, though it was unclear how much interaction caught on the wiretap included the famously cautious Madigan.

Pramaggiore abruptly resigned in October 2020, less than a week after ComEd and parent company Exelon acknowledged they had received a second federal subpoena in the burgeoning probe.

Anne Pramaggiore, ComEd's chief executive, shown here in 2013, received the "Woman of Achievement" award in 2012 at a Gold Coast cocktail reception supported by $10,000 from the utility's ratepayers. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)

Long viewed as a star in the corporate world, Pramaggiore left after having been elevated to CEO of Exelon Utilities. The indictment shocked business leaders.

When Pramaggiore first ascended to CEO of ComEd in 2009, the company elevated Hooker, the chief lobbyist, to executive vice president for legislative and external affairs.

Hooker lobbied the legislature for years, building relationships with lawmakers and spreading around ComEd goodies so frequently that, as one insider said, his arrival at the Capitol on session days was like a visit from Santa Claus.

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After retiring from ComEd, Hooker remained in action for a while as a lobbyist subcontracted to work on ComEd issues for a lobbying group whose star is Michael Kasper, the onetime top House lawyer under the speaker and longtime attorney for the Illinois Democratic Party that Madigan led.

John Hooker during his confirmation as chairman of the Chicago Housing Authority Sept. 24, 2015. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

In 2016, Hooker chaired a group that successfully sued to keep off the ballot a proposal to overhaul the once-a-decade process in which Illinois lawmakers redraw the district boundaries for legislators, a process that Madigan had used deftly to build up record Democratic majorities in the House and Senate.

It was the same year that Exelon first convinced the legislature to approve a financial package that helped save some of the companys nuclear plants and the jobs that went with them.

In addition to his indictment, Doherty made headlines as a result of the Tribune obtaining a series of emails to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, telling her as the ComEd investigation was ramping up that ComEd duped him. I was an innocent bystander, he texted the mayor, saying he knew nothing about the utilitys alleged efforts to bribe then-Speaker Madigan.

The Mapes indictment is unusual because he was charged with perjury after he received immunity, an arrangement where he simply had to tell the truth to the prosecutions satisfaction.

Tim Mapes, former House Speaker Michael Madigan's chief of staff, at the state Capitol in Springfield June 30, 2015. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

Mapes spent decades as Madigans chief of staff, served as executive director of the Madigan-run Democratic Party of Illinois and later became clerk of the Illinois House, giving him a trio of positions all aimed at pushing the Madigan agenda.

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Mapes allegedly lied to grand jurors when he said he had no knowledge that McClain had communicated with two unnamed state representatives in 2018 on behalf of Madigan. Sources identified the Democratic lawmakers as Rep. Bob Rita of Blue Island and former Rep. Lou Lang of Skokie. Neither of them have been charged in the case.

Since his ouster in 2018, Mapes has received more than $400,000 in pension payments.

NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn was identified in Wednesdays indictment as individual 13W-1. That individual is Frank Olivo, who served as 13th Ward alderman until 2011.

rlong@chicagotribune.com

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
KYIV (Reuters) - The Ukrainian military said on Thursday it believed that Belarusian troops have already received the order to cross Ukrainian border.

Ukraine has said Russia is using Belarusian territory for missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and Minsk allowed Russian troops to enter Ukrainian territory.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Toby Chopra)
(Reuters) - Ukraine needs humanitarian corridors supported by bodies such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the wake of Russia's invasion, an adviser to Ukraine's presidential office said on Thursday.

"The villages and towns where Russian troops' columns are stationed immediately turn into places of looting, robbery, murder," Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

"We need humanitarian corridors - food, medicine, ambulance, evacuation. We need active help of international organizations, including #OSCE. Enough talking."

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
LVIV (Reuters) - At least nine people have been killed and four wounded after a Russian air strike hit two schools and private houses in Ukraine's Chernihiv region on Thursday, governor Viacheslav Chaus said in an online post.

"Rescue work is ongoing. According to the state emergency services, there are for now nine people killed and four wounded," he said.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Editing by Jon Boyle; Writing by Alessandra Prentice)
Ukrainian Army soldiers pose for a photo as they gather to celebrate a Day of Unity in Odessa, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. Emilio Morenatti/AP

Ukrainian officials say 3,000 Americans have applied to join a new international legion in the fight against Russia.

Several hundred volunteers have already arrived in Ukraine, according to a Military Times report.

For Americans, it's perfectly legal to volunteer, but officials warned those without combat experience may not be wanted.

Ukraine has received more than 3,000 applications for US citizens who want to join the fight against Russia, according to defense official at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington D.C..

Several hundred volunteers have already arrived in Ukraine, the official told Military Times. He said the applicants include many veterans but could not specify how many.

On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the formation of an International Legion for foreigners who want to go and fight against Russia.

Video: Ukrainian family turns basement into shelter

"Anyone who wants to join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and fight side by side with the Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals," the statement on the presidential website said.

The UK's foreign secretary Liz Truss said on Sunday that she supported British individuals who want to go and fight in Ukraine.

"The people of Ukraine are fighting for freedom and democracy, not just for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe," she said.

While there seems to be a high level of enthusiasm, Ukrainian officials told Military Times they're looking for volunteers with combat experience who would require little training. To join the newly formed International Legion, volunteers must have "documents confirming military service or work with law enforcement agencies and participation in combat."

"We do not want to send people who are not trained, but at the same time, people can provide medical help. Or some can analyze mass media if they do not wish to fight," the embassy official told Military Times.

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Joining the International Legion is legal for Americans in most circumstances. "A person's service in the armed forces of a foreign country may not constitute a violation of U.S. law," according to US State Department webpage on foreign military service.

However, if "someone has been recruited or hired in the United States," that could be a violation of the law. Ukrainian officials say they are not hiring anyone and are only opening the door for volunteers that wish to help.

Read the original article on Business Insider
STORY: "More sanctions imposed, faster peace restored," Bornyakov said of his ministry's campaign, wearing a hoodie and sitting in front of Ukrainian flags.

Software giant Oracle responded within three hours on Wednesday to a tweet from Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation calling on it to stop doing business in Russia.

Oracle did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Ukraine has sought help from about 50 companies since Russia's invasion began last week, Bornyakov said. The outreach, which has included tweets from Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, has helped bring the besieged country Starlink internet satellites from entrepreneur Elon Musk's SpaceX and new restrictions on Russian state media by YouTube and other social media services.
Illarion Pavliuk and his friend, Ivan, stand in front of Illarion's wall in his apartment outside of Kyiv. He says it is his "favorite wall" because it has all the paintings and drawings and art work of his four kids over the years.

USA TODAY Opinion will be presenting the story of Illarion Pavliuk, a renowned Ukrainian writer, documentary filmmaker and journalist. Through his own words, we will offer the story of how he went from father of four to one of the many citizens in Ukraine who have decided to fight back against the Russian invasion.

Today we offer the third and fourth installments. We communicate through the Telegram app that has become popular in Ukraine.

On the way to Kyiv

Illarion Pavliuk's third dispatch is from Brovary, Ukraine. He is about seven kilometers outside Kyiv, the capital. He is driving, so the audio is much harder to hear than the first two dispatches. He explains that he needs to get to Kyiv because he still has an apartment there with equipment from his military service in 2015, during Russia's invasion and annexation of Crimea. So, he and his friend need to go get his equipment and then meet up with the commander of their 2015 battalion.

It's 3 a.m. on Feb. 28th when Pavliuk sends his next audio message. It is shorter than the first two. He is, after all, on his way to war.

"Here are a few details of our plan so you can better understand. A problem for me is that the details are classified ... we need to go to Kyiv by ourselves to meet our commander who knows what we can do, who we are, and work together with him. We want to be (of) as much use as we can. The other issue we have is that I used to live in the town of Brovary, next to Kyiv, and we just moved to Ivano-Frankivsk (in western Ukraine). I (still) have some specialized equipment from when I was in the military and specialized weapons from my military job. So, I have to go first and grab them, and second, I need to go to my commander who is in Kyiv. But I cannot cross the Dnieper River inside Kyiv. So, we need to go to Brovary, grab the stuff and go..."

'What we are fighting for'

Pavliuk's fourth dispatch is from his apartment in Brovary, a suburb of Kyiv. He sends me a selfie with Ivan, his friend and brother in arms. They are standing in front of a peach-colored wall plastered with the artwork of children, his four children.

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He is emotional and has to stop and take breaths during the recording; he is fighting back tears as he tells me how it feels to come back to the place you lived for 15 years with your family and see that it has been invaded. He tells me, "That photo I sent to you, this is what we are fighting for."

'We saw corpses'

"Today I came back, to my house in Brovary. Just an ordinary apartment. This is my flat where I used to live the last 15 years. We moved to western Ukraine just seven months ago. This photo is me and Ivan in front of my favorite wall."

At this point his voice almost breaks with emotion.

"... with pictures of my children."

"It is incredibly tough to see home like this. Your town, everything around, is surrounded by checkpoints and soldiers and you see your house. We saw corpses, corpses covered with something; enemy corpses. It means that not long ago, like an hour before, there was fighting. Because Russians are trying to get their reconnaissance and diversion unit inside the city ... I would never before believe that war will come to my town of Brovary! When we bought our flat there, you know, it was a town of young mommies. Every minute you just glance on any street you will see a couple of mothers with their children or little babies. So many twins were there.

And it is incredible to feel like the enemy came into your town. It is like somebody entered your house, your kitchen, trying to kill you. It's tough. (emotional) But anyway, this is my motivation to understand what I am doing here.

That photo I sent to you, this is what we are fighting for."

Illarion Pavliuk is an author, screenwriter, and producer of over ten documentaries and films, and served as a member of the jury for the 2011 Emmy Awards. In 2015, Illarion served as an intelligence volunteer in the war in eastern Ukraine.

Carli Pierson is an attorney, former professor of human rights, writer and member of USA TODAY's Editorial Board. You can follow her on Twitter: @CarliPiersonEsq

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine war diary: A father heads to Kyiv to fight Russian forces
As the pandemic wore on, Kayode Martin felt stuck.

Hed graduated virtually, a high school senior when COVID-19 arrived in Chicago. A year later, in 2021, he was working at a store but struggling to find a routine that felt on good footing.

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When his grandfather told him about a construction training program at the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, he applied. During the intake process, a social worker there also suggested counseling, and the 19-year-old was connected with therapy. A year later, he looks forward to the weekly Monday morning appointments.

I actually never really thought about going to a therapist, he said. I kept a lot of my emotions bottled up inside. Now, he said, I feel more relaxed. I feel more in touch with myself.

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Martin is one of the Illinois residents who reached out for help during the pandemic with an immediate need  housing help, groceries  and were also connected with a therapist. During the pandemic, many Chicago organizations began rethinking how to provide mental health help as the virus swept into the city and many were left for the first time feeling in need amid the psychological rubble of upended lives.

Weve seen a lot of people seeming overwhelmed, said Jennie Hull, chief program officer for Lakeview Pantry services such as food distribution and mental health programs. Especially if youre going through that for the first time  I dont even know where to turn, what services are available to me?

People seek help for many reasons. A single mom goes to a food pantry for groceries but might need counseling after domestic violence. A single 30-something who recently lost his job and part of his identity, reaches out for employment assistance. A family seeks a child care subsidy and while in line, the children hit each other. All these are examples of people with an immediate need who may also need mental health support.

And many might not even realize these needs.

The pandemic created a mental health crisis in the U.S. By fall 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had released findings showing Americans were facing increased symptoms of anxiety and depression; nearly half reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition. Already destroying normalcy everywhere  schools, child care, travel, family reunions  COVID-19 added excruciating hardships, shuttering businesses and heightening unemployment. In December, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said young people were facing devastating mental health challenges; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked and offered tips on stress and coping regarding COVID-19.

People who are in crisis might know they need food, or housing  tangible needs  but not realize they are also struggling mentally. This posed a challenge for agencies that try to help them. When people are in crisis, how do you carve out space for them to evaluate and address their well being?

During the fiscal year ending March 31, Lakeview Pantry served 8,742 people new to the organization. As the group received people for short-term needs such as groceries, employees ramped up efforts to connect people to longer-term needs such as counseling. Similarly, other organizations offering temporary housing, rent relief and food assistance began rethinking how to reach and help people during the pandemic.

How do you assess mental health?

One main question is how to assess if someone needs mental support. This can be a delicate process, involving sensitive questions or careful conversations. Different groups approach this in different ways.

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The majority of people arent coming in asking for counseling, said Joan Liautaud, chief clinical officer at Heartland Alliance Health.

Instead, people arrive for immediate needs such as housing, or workers encounter them at places such as homeless encampments. Initial conversations deal with basic needs, but Liautaud said they assume everyone they encounter has some level of trauma.

If you live outside youre more likely to be exposed to violence, a victim of violence, probably using substances to cope, exposed to the elements, loss of family, loss of home, loss of identity, she said, all that sort of stuff which we know causes trauma.

Heartland and other groups have extensive intake processes, often done by social workers, including questions such as asking about poor appetite, or thoughts they would be better off dead. They also employ people from the community with experiences that reflect those of the people theyll be reaching out to.

When you meet someone whos more like you, and theyve walked this road of recovery, it also communicates hope, Liautaud said. Its personification of hope that this persons done it. This persons real. I can do it too.

At the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, people arrive for multiple reasons, from programs to child care subsidy. Because of this, said Peggy McGuire, director of child and family development, the staffers are cognizant of translating both various needs and meeting them beyond what they arrived for.

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When youre in chaos or crisis, you dont see everything around you, you only see, I need food today,  McGuire said.

Recently a mom called the YWCA, worried about her daughter smoking marijuana. The mother was connected with a parent-mentor specialist in Bensenville, and they were able to also refer the family to mental health services after hearing more about their situation.

Dominique Moore, 25, came to the YWCA after hearing about the job-training programs. It was May 2020, and she was feeling shaken by seeing jobs evaporate.

I felt very hopeless when the pandemic started, because I had seen a decrease in employment, she said.

Moore was also pregnant and through the job-training program she was connected to a program for new moms. While there, after several conversations included the possibility of therapists, she began seeing one. But it took multiple instances of someone she knew bringing it up.

If you dont have trust, you dont have anything, Moore said. I said, OK yes, Im going to do it. Sometimes people need to be at their own pace. Now, she finds the weekly therapy sessions so wholesome, and so healing. The program shes in offers seven free sessions.

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Challenges are often interconnected. A lack of safe and affordable housing can be a barrier to substance abuse recovery, for example, or someone seeking work experiences anxiety. How do you manage your stress and anxiety while youre looking for work, while youre feeling like, I have to get this job? Hull said.

In fall 2020, Lakeview Pantry received a city health department grant to hire more full-time therapists. The $240,000 they receive each year for three years goes to pay the salaries of three full-time therapists and part of two other salaries for employees who offer counseling. The grants are part of the citys Building a Network of Trauma-Informed Centers of Care project, which was launched in October 2020 and funded 32 community-based mental health organizations to expand services regardless of peoples ability to pay.

Employees know to look for signs of mental distress.

Someone might start talking to a case manager and say, Im really stressed about my relationship, or, I have trouble sleeping, Hull said. Or they may even come out and say, I need a therapist. Im depressed. 

Illinois faces crisis in shortage of behavioral health workers

But even if people want to help, they cant always help immediately.

Illinois is facing a shortage of behavioral care workers that even before the pandemic, legislators were trying to address.

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In a December 2019 report, the Illinois Behavioral Health Workforce Education Center noted Kaiser Family Foundation data showing only 23% of Illinoisans mental health needs could be met with the workforce in place at that time; wait times were as long as six months. It cited accounts from Illinois counseling centers having trouble finding applicants or filling vacancies.

The Illinois Department of Human Services calls the shortage a crisis. Although the Kaiser Family Foundation data remains similar, showing 24% of mental health needs can be met, advocates and officials say the pandemic made it more difficult for people to access therapy because of shortages and by adding pressure to safety net services.

We are losing staff and people are fried. We can refer to systems all day long, but if theres nobody working there, its all just a pipe dream, McGuire said. I have never seen a disappearance of people in the helping profession like we do now.

Advocates note that communities of color are disproportionately affected by both COVID-19 and the mental impact of events such as the George Floyd protests.

Its kind of like all the issues we saw before, but on steroids, Hull said. If you had anxiety before, your anxietys worse. If you had depression before, your depressions worse. Relationship issues, youre stuck at home with your partner.

Although the state requires Medicaid to pay for mental health services, people who have private insurance or the ability to pay out of pocket have an easier time accessing help. This might leave people with the option of waiting months or seeking help in extreme cases such as hospitalization. People who do not have Medicaid, or do not have availability to meet a counselor when one is available, face much longer waits.

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A bill in the state legislature would increase payments to mental health providers, which its supporters say would help with retention. Advocates say that if the state reimbursed providers more under Medicaid than they do now, it would help retain more therapists, reduce turnover and offer incentive for more behavioral health providers to see more clients.

Emily Moen, vice president for marketing at Thresholds, which offers substance abuse treatment and youth services, said community providers have sliding scales available, for example for those who are in the country illegally or dont meet income requirements for Medicaid. The real problem is staffing shortages and inadequate rates that mean expanding services is almost impossible to meet demand, she said.

To assess the workforce issues, the Illinois Department of Human Services announced a student loan repayment program with applications opening in summer for community-based mental health services  including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and professional counselors  in rural and underserved areas. The department and the Illinois Board of Higher Education are also investing $6 million to develop an Illinois Behavioral Health Workforce Center, which will be housed at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and the University of Illinois at Chicago to research shortages and boosting the workforce.

Getting innovative about meeting people where they are

In the meantime, groups are getting creative about how to help people.

At the Inner-City Muslim Action Network, which offers health services, housing and job training, they started what director of behavioral health Natali Rehman calls brief therapy  a four-session series with the first as assessment and the next three to stabilize someone. The network also offers group therapy on topics such as grief or stress management for those unable to immediately connect with a therapist. The wait list is now at four months; it was nine months in previous months of the pandemic, Rehman said.

Kayode Martin during a group session, March 2, 2022, with case manager Rafiq Green at an Inner-City Muslim Action Network facility in Chicago. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

We figured if youre having housing insecurity, Im pretty sure theres other things you need assistance with, Rehman said. You can imagine an individual whos on the verge of being evicted or on the verge of not being able to put food on the table, what does that do to your social, emotional well-being?

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Group therapy is something that many organizations are expanding. Before the pandemic, the YWCA offered about 15 workshops, now it has nearly 40. Its a way to reach more people at once, and may be a setting some people are more comfortable in.

We have to be creative and innovative, Rehman added. The need is just so high within the community that to just sit back and do nothing, its a huge disservice.

During the pandemic, hearing about changing needs, the Inner-City Muslim Action Network created new programs its Food and Wellness Center in Englewood offers essentials from food to face masks. All employees there are trained to look for signs of trauma; clinicians and interns are from diverse backgrounds and provide services in Spanish and Arabic. Signs of mental health challenges can include someone seeming down or hopeless, saying theyve had trouble sleeping, that theyve felt like a failure or have let themselves or their family down. All of these are things that could prompt someone to suggest meeting with a therapist. Many providers use a questionnaire that asks people to rank how often they may feel this way.

We dont want to put a Band-Aid by saying, Heres a box of food and go about your way,  Rehman said.

Martin is part of the Green ReEntry program, which helps people learn skills such as construction. Through this, he attends group sessions that approach topics, including substance abuse or how to handle difficult situations, in addition to his weekly meetings with a therapist.

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Its a blessing, it really is, he said. A lot of people dont actually get therapy for free, and I get mine every Monday.

Martin and his therapist discuss school and emotions. I was never really used to talking about how I felt, things of that nature, he said. They really like cracked the shell.

At Turning Point, to provide an immediate place other than emergency rooms for adults in crisis, there is a Living Room and Resource Center, which offers in-person, walk-in and remote services. Last January, Turning Point expanded services to 365 days a year. Therapists are available from noon to 8 p.m. during the day and through the crisis team 24/7 at 847-933-0051.

The Living Room is staffed by therapists and peer counselors, called recovery support specialists, who complete Illinois Department of Human Services trainings.

Theyre taught to look for different signs like depression, anxiety, things like loss of appetite, said Noy Frial-Lopez, chief clinical officer at Turning Point.

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Heartland operates drop-in centers where people can come and grab a cup of coffee. With a sometimes transient population, Liautaud said they try to keep tabs on people as they wait, either visiting where they last were or getting in touch with people who may know them. She emphasized that however people are finding help, being open to it is in itself something to laud. Its brave to trust a stranger offering assistance, she said.

I think the fact that people come through the door is amazing, Liautaud said.

Not everyone wants to meet with a counselor

Of course, not everyone says yes. For anyone, therapy can seem overwhelming. People feel intimidated by the thought of telling their life story to a stranger. What if they dont like the person? What if they cant spare the time to go? Telehealth offers flexibility, but many remain hesitant. For some, stigma remains; others are simply too overwhelmed to consider an appointment.

On the flip side, many said the pandemic has normalized mental health struggles.

People feel like, yeah this is a really stressful time, it would make sense that I should talk to someone during this time, Hull said.

Word-of-mouth can sometimes be most effective.

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During the pandemic, a 58-year-old Chicago woman who did not want her name used discussing previous trauma, told friends and even people she encountered on the CTA about Lakeview Pantry. Having gone there since a traumatic event affected her ability to work years ago, she often tells strangers about the groceries. She also posted messages in her neighborhood social media group about their free counseling.

Many she talked to said they werent bad enough off to need any help, she said.

People would have never thought they needed a food pantry, she said. People say, Oh no, we dont need it that bad, we need to leave it for the other people who need it more than we do. 

She tells people its self care, its family care to ask for help. And that goes for counseling too. She knew that for people like her, already experiencing things such as anxiety, the pandemic created extra grief and stress.

It turns up the volume on whatevers already there, she said.

For Martin, several months of therapy helped him open up to others in his life, like his mother. He feels stable, not so stuck.

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I feel like Im evolving now, he said.

abowen@chicagotribune.com

Chicago Tribune is part of the Mental Health Parity Collaborative, a group of newsrooms that are covering challenges and solutions to accessing mental health care in the U.S. The partners on this project include The Carter Center, The Center for Public Integrity, and newsrooms in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
LVIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's parliament on Thursday approved a bill to allow the seizure of assets or property in Ukraine owned by Russia or Russian citizens due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Under the law, the government can suggest which assets to confiscate to the Security Council, which must then give its approval for their transfer to state ownership.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Alison Williams)
The United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, with China abstaining from the vote and again refusing to denounce President Vladimir Putin's military action.

"We are facing a tragedy for Ukraine, but also a major regional crisis with potentially disastrous implications for us all," UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, the first of three days of debate.

The special emergency session was just the 11th in the UN's history - a rare procedural move that lets the body take up a resolution on matters of war and peace when the UN Security Council is unable to come to a unanimous consensus on its own.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

The finally tally on the resolution was 141 in favour, five opposed and 35 abstentions.

The vote came as international outrage continues to grow over Russia's invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, which has already killed thousands of civilians, including children, and sent more than 600,000 refugees fleeing the country.

Russia, as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, has the right to veto any resolution taken up by the panel, and it did just that last Friday, when the Security Council tried unsuccessfully to condemn the war in Ukraine but was blocked by the Russian delegate.

The country has faced growing diplomatic isolation throughout the week. On Tuesday, diplomats from 40 countries walked out of the UN Human Rights Council during a speech by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

China abstained from Friday's vote condemning the war, and again abstained from the Security Council's vote on Sunday on whether to open the special emergency session of the General Assembly the next day.

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Ukraine's representative to the UN warned the General Assembly on Monday that Putin's decision to invade a neighbouring country unprovoked had clear parallels to the beginnings of World War II more than 80 years ago.

"Everyone in this hall and everyone in the world knows that Russia and Russia alone started this invasion, now facilitated by Belarus," said Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian envoy.

Many of the Russian troops have poured into Ukrainian territory from across the Belarusian border, and the US and its allies have targeted both countries with crippling economic sanctions in response. Over the weekend, Putin put his nuclear forces on high alert.

Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, holds up a copy of the Charter of the United Nations handbook as he speaks during a special session of the General Assembly on Wednesday. Photo: Getty Images/AFP alt=Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, holds up a copy of the Charter of the United Nations handbook as he speaks during a special session of the General Assembly on Wednesday. Photo: Getty Images/AFP>

"If he wants to kill himself, he doesn't need to use a nuclear arsenal. He has to do what the guy in Berlin did in a bunker in May 1945," Kyslytsya said, referring to Adolf Hitler's death by suicide near the end of the second world war.

"This war was not provoked," Kyslytsya said. "It was chosen by someone who is right now sitting in the bunker. We know what happened to the person who sat in the bunker in Berlin in May 1945."

Countries from as far afield as Ghana, Panama and Singapore joined Ukraine in speaking out against Moscow for starting a destabilising and potentially catastrophic war in Europe.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, urged Russian soldiers in Ukraine to stop fighting and get out of the country.

"I say: Your leaders are lying to you," she said on Wednesday. "Do not commit war crimes. Do everything you can to put down your weapons and leave Ukraine."

China was one of the few outliers in the room after three days of speeches, again refusing to condemn Russia's violation of Ukrainian territory despite years of rhetoric from Beijing about the inviolability and sanctity of each country's sovereignty.

On Wednesday, China's foreign ministry confirmed the country's first casualty in the war - a Chinese citizen shot while trying to flee the country. Ukraine's UN ambassador made explicit reference to the wounded Chinese national in a second speech on Wednesday.

Zhang Jun, China's representative to the UN, channelled Russian arguments in his speech by denouncing a "Cold War mentality based on bloc confrontation" - a reference to Nato - and calling for "properly addressing the legitimate security concerns of all parties, including Russia".

"Ukraine should serve as a bridge of communication between East and West, rather than a front line of a major power rivalry," he said on Monday.

Russia spoke immediately after Ukraine in the opening hours of the debate, and said its invasion was the fault of Ukraine and its backers in the US and Europe.

"I wish to state that the Russian Federation did not begin these hostilities," said Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian ambassador to the UN. "The hostilities were unleashed by Ukraine against its own residents ... and Russia is seeking to end this war."

Vasily Nebenzya is Russia's ambassador to the United Nations. Photo: AFP alt=Vasily Nebenzya is Russia's ambassador to the United Nations. Photo: AFP>

Before Russia's invasion last week, Putin had tried to claim that Ukraine was essentially not a real country and had no right to sovereignty.

Ukraine's UN ambassador, Kyslytsya, tried to turn that argument around, asking his fellow delegates if any of them had ever actually voted to allow the current government of the Russian Federation into the UN after the collapse of the Soviet Union 30 years ago.

"Putin has done everything to deligitimize the Russian presence in the United Nations," he said. "But I wonder if the Russian presence in the United Nations has ever been legitimate.

"I'll leave you with that, and think about it when you listen to the Russian delegate."

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
When COVID-19 sent Yale students home in March 2020, I was determined to make the most of it. I kept in touch with my college friends over Zoom. I discovered the game of CATAN and played it online religiously with buddies from high school. My club tennis team even made a chain of videos, whereby everyone would receive a tennis ball from the previous video and then hit it to the person in the next video. While nothing could come close to the in-person college experience, I was doing my best to make it work.

I was relieved to hear that there would be an in-person option for the fall 2020 semester. I loved living in my residential college for my first two years at Yale, and didnt want to change that for my junior year.

Toxic, arbitrary COVID restrictions

But the fall semester was an immense disappointment. I simply didn't grow, socially or academically.

Given that all informal social gatherings were limited to 10 people and extracurriculars were remote, it was difficult to meet new people. While my professors made Herculean efforts to teach over Zoom, I found it impossible to engage deeply with my studies when it was virtual. And with gyms closed, working out was not the same. So with dim prospects for new friends, new learning and physical self-improvement, my personal growth had stalled.

Is there a chance Ukraine wins?: Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wes Clark answers.

I was also shaken by Yales restrictions. I didnt like the signs encouraging students to report COVID violations to an anonymous hotline. I didnt like it when a student decided to record me as I was throwing a football in a courtyard unmasked. I didnt like that signs were posted everywhere telling us to electronically swipe into buildings individually  that way, the university could track our every movement. And I especially didnt like it when two Public Health Coordinators entered a friends suite unannounced  while recording us with a phone  to make sure we were not breaking the capacity rules.

Story continues

Jack Barker in Minneapolis, Minn., in July 2021.

Moreover, I began to feel increasingly isolated in my viewpoints. Few people seemed disturbed by the surveillance state like I was. Most of my peers saw it as justified, given the risk that COVID-19 posed. And when I questioned issues such as the efficacy of cloth masks, the origins of the virus or the value of natural immunity, even my friends would laugh at me for contradicting the experts.

So when the fall 2020 semester ended, I decided that enough was enough. I took a semester off in the spring of 2021, working as a ski lift operator in Utah.

It's OK not to be OK: Erasing stigma of mental illness is a big step toward healing.

I was anxious upon arrival for the fall 2021 semester. Despite near-universal vaccination, Yale insisted on again forcing students to sign a Community Compact that included capacity restrictions on social events and mandatory masking while indoors. But these rules were so obviously hypocritical  dining halls were open, and had hundreds of people socializing unmasked  that students chose to ignore them when they could. Social life on weekends was normal. It finally felt like the tide had turned.

Yale University in New Haven, Conn. on Feb. 12, 2019.

If fall 2021 was one step forward, though, the omicron surge took us two steps back. Over winter break, the administration announced that the first two weeks of classes for the spring 2022 semester would be online. Dining halls would be grab-and-go. We were told to avoid dining off-campus (even if it was outdoors), and extracurricular gatherings were to be held remotely.

We are done with the nonsense

Now, the frustration has become virtually universal. Students have done everything the university has told us to do. We have been repeatedly quarantined and regularly tested. We have worn masks. We got fully vaxxed. Then we were required to get boosted. Given all weve been through, its not surprising that the vast majority of students I know supports rolling back the restrictions.

Personally, I was especially indignant after visiting my grandpas nursing home over winter break. He and his octogenarian peers are less locked down than the Yale student body.

Princeton student forced to quarantine: Spending Christmas weekend alone with COVID made me hope next year goes better

If Yale continues to reimpose restrictions every time a new variant causes cases to spike, the Yale community might never return to normal. It already scares me to know that my class is the only class that has the institutional memory of a complete year of normal campus life. Many Yale traditions  such as Spring Fling, the Yale Symphony Orchestras Halloween Concert and shopping period  may never be fully experienced again.

Yale must come to understand that public health entails far more than just COVID. It means the general well-being of the community, including our mental health and personal growth. The United Kingdom and several Scandinavian countries recently realized that we must learn to live with COVID as if it is endemic. Consequently, leaders there announced that they are done and are lifting virtually all restrictions.

Yale needs to do the same.

Jack Barker is a senior at Yale University majoring in Economics and English.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID-19 restrictions: Yale students frustrated with the university
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP)  They had barely a week to prepare  getting medical screenings, making sure bills would be paid, arranging for relatives to care for children and pets  before marching with rucksacks and rifles onto a plane bound for Germany.

Its been very hectic and stressful, but overall its worked out, Army Staff Sgt. Ricora Jackson said Wednesday as she waited with dozens of fellow soldiers to board a chartered flight at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah.

They're among 3,800 troops from the 1st Armored Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, based at nearby Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia, ordered to deploy quickly and bolster U.S. forces in Europe after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In all, the Pentagon has ordered about 12,000 service members from various U.S. bases to Europe, with a couple of thousand more already stationed abroad shifting to other European countries.

The soldiers' mission overseas is to train alongside military units of NATO allies in a display of force aimed at deterring further aggression by Russia. It's not that different from the role the brigade played last year during a scheduled rotation in South Korea.

But Jackson, a 22-year-old tank gunner from Pensacola, Florida, said this deployment feels different. Although U.S. forces aren't intervening in Ukraine, that war has increased tensions in neighboring NATO countries.

Im a little nervous, but its OK," Jackson said.

Maj. Gen. Charles Costanza, the 3rd Infantry's commander, said the rapid deployment has had a mixed impact on morale within the brigade, which had been in the midst of training.

Younger, single soldiers, he said, have been excited to embark on their first mission overseas. But more experienced soldiers with families, used to a routine deployment calendar with plenty of time to prepare, have felt the disruption more.

They were in the field shooting gunnery when we got the official word that it was time for them to go, Costanza said. "You have a lot of them married, or with a new baby, and it's their first time to really do a no-notice deployment.

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Costanza said soldiers and their families were told to expect the deployment to last six months, which could be extended  or perhaps shortened  depending on developments in Ukraine.

There is no intent to have any U.S. service member fight in Ukraine," Costanza said. "And they know that.

For Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Cooner, departing for Germany means leaving his three daughters  ages 7, 5 and 3  just a few months after he returned home from South Korea.

A 35-year-old tank crewman and platoon leader from Fort Myers, Florida, Cooner said he's trying to keep the 15 soldiers under his command focused on the day-to-day training mission without dwelling on the invasion and war that prompted it.

Something Ive preached to my soldiers about, when we talk about stress and being able to control stress, is to focus on the things that are in our sphere of control," Cooner said.

Sgt. 1st Class Crystal Allen, who works in logistics, and her husband, a soldier assigned to a different battalion in the 1st Brigade, were also leaving two children at home.

The married soldiers' son and daughter had been picked up by Allen's mother to stay with her in Kentucky while their parents deployed.

Im very honest with the kids and I dont lie," said Allen, 35. "I tell them exactly what Im going over to do and they acknowledge it. I tell them where Im going. And I pitch it to them like, 'Hey, you get to go stay with Nanny for a little bit.' And thats good enough for them.

Likewise, Cpl. Christian Morris' in-laws were looking after two dogs belonging to him and his wife, an Army medic who's also headed to Germany.

The 21-year-old soldier from Bend, Oregon, who serves in a supply unit, said he'll be glad to have his spouse nearby, though they won't be living together while deployed.

Itll just be, 'Hey, you want to go grab something to eat if we have the chance?'" Morris said. Thatll be about the most interaction well be realistically allowed to have.
Happy Nation. Happy Nation

Victoria's Secret is launching a new underwear brand, called Happy Nation, for pre-teen shoppers.

The company said it will share more details about its launch in April.

Happy Nation is part of Victoria's Secret's major turnaround effort.

Victoria's Secret is launching a new underwear brand for pre-teen shoppers.

The lingerie giant announced in its fourth-quarter earnings release after market close on Wednesday that it plans to launch an online-only brand, Happy Nation.

The brand will consist of first bras, panties, and comfortable apparel for pre-teen-aged shoppers. The company said it will share more details about its launch in April, though it has teased what the brand will look like on a new website.

Victoria's Secret has been taking major steps to turn around its brand image after years of criticism and sliding sales. The company was accused of ostracizing female customers with its risque ads, racy runway shows, and over-sexualized lingerie and because of this, lost market share to more body-positive brands such as American Eagle's Aerie.

Happy Nation is part of the company's turnaround effort and bid to appeal to younger shoppers and parents who are buying underwear and clothing on their behalf.

In the past, mothers of teenage shoppers complained on social media that the risque marketing in Victoria's Secret stores was offensive to these young customers who were shopping its teen-centric Pink brand.

The company has since made major changes to its stores, replacing the racy images that previously adorned the walls for more body-positive ad campaigns.

The brand has also shifted focus toward more comfortable styles of underwear. Most recently, launching its newest underwear collection, Love Cloud, which promises to offer women "all-day comfort."

These changes, alongside its new brand image, seem to be paying off. After several years of sliding sales, the company has started to see sales growth pick up again. Same-store sales were up 3% versus 2020 for the year ending January 2022.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Mar. 3A recent legal advisory opinion related to a Vigo County School Corp. consolidation committee represents a "shift" in the office's thinking, but it should be respected, an attorney for the school board told the board.

In that opinion, Public Access Counselor Luke Britt said the school district acted "contrary to the Open Door law" when it authorized a committee to operate behind closed doors and take official action on public business  the future of Meadows Elementary  outside of a public meeting.

Jonathan Mayes, school board legal counsel, discussed the opinion during Monday night's school board meeting.

The advisory opinion "represents a shift in the office's thinking. .... We welcome this new guidance from the office. The public access counselor plays an important role, even though it's not a legally binding decision. It's a decision that school boards and public entities around the state respect and follow and seek to adhere to," said Mayes, who is with Bose, McKinney and Evans.

The public access counselor also indicated there was an updated handbook forthcoming with the new interpretation, he said.

Britt indicated Wednesday the online handbook has been updated.

Board president Stacy Killion asked if the board had to reconsider the Meadows decision because of the advisory opinion. According to Mayes, Britt doesn't say that anywhere in the decision "and it's not legally required because of the (advisory opinion)."

Board member Rosemarie Scott said, "I think we should give this a lot of weight and a lot of respect. Public access is so important. He is counseling us that we did something wrong."

At issue was whether a committee appointed by school district administration is a governing body subject to the Open Door Law.

Britt said his office has been interpreting the access statutes more liberally when it involves committees appointed by school executives/administrators. The interpretation in the past has been that only committees directly appointed by the school board or its presiding officer were subject to the Open Door Law.

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In January, Britt stated, "Based on the way the law is written, both a school board or the administration can create a governing body that is subject to the Open Door Law. It's fact-specific and depends on a number of factors but the ODL contemplates either. That's often overlooked because only the school board committee statute has been litigated."

Britt says his goal this past year "has been to revise my office's take on that." In 2021, "This office has issued several published opinions clarifying the prior erroneous guidance," Britt said in his advisory opinion.

While the school district says it will follow the new guidance by issuing notices of any consolidation committee meetings, "The consolidation committee will be meeting in closed sessions as permitted by Indiana's Open Door Law," according to the district's initial response to the opinion.

The law does allow school consolidation to be discussed in closed session for discussion of strategy with respect to "school consolidation. However all such strategy discussions must be necessary for competitive or bargaining reasons," the law reads.

During the meeting, board members asked several questions related to the advisory opinion.

"We look forward to receiving that updated handbook incorporating hopefully this new guidance and incorporating that in to future practices for the school corporation," Mayes said.

The advisory opinion is not legally binding, Mayes said. Also, Britt indicated the new interpretation of the law is inconsistent with some of his earlier decisions in the role of public access counselor, Mayes said.

No court opinion has changed that provision of the law, Mayes said.

"It would be [Luke Britt's] interpretation of the law. It is something to be respected; it is not legally binding," Mayes said.

Courts, for example, if there is litigation, "don't defer to the public access counselor legal analysis in any way. But it should be respected by school boards and public entities around the state," Mayes said.

During public comment, Meadows parent Brian C. Payne pointed out that while the law does allow a closed session for school consolidation, the laws also says it must be for "discussion of strategy," and the strategy discussion "must be necessary for competitive or bargaining reasons."

He questioned what competitive or bargaining reasons required the school consolidation meetings to take place behind closed doors.

Britt has provided advisory opinions in 2021 with the new guidance, Payne said; Payne suggested that one of the reasons districts have legal counsel is to get the latest, up-to-date interpretations of the law.

"I can think of nothing more important to this board than an accurate and current understanding of the Open Door Law," Payne said.

After the meeting, Superintendent Rob Haworth responded, "We have, as long as I've been here , tried to do everything we can possibly do to be transparent," so the advisory opinion "does sting a little bit."

He also pointed out that the PAC handbook had not been updated since 2017.

Haworth also said the only thing the district should have done differently to comply with the law was to post notice of consolidation committee meetings.

In an earlier interview, Britt indicated that while governing bodies can discuss school consolidation in closed session for specified reasons, not everything can be done in closed session, particularly as the committee is "galvanizing its recommendation to the school board."

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.
Ecological bank in China increases peoples income while promoting better development of forest resources

09:06, March 03, 2022 By Yan Ke, Liu Xiaoyu ( People's Daily

Since 2018, Nanping city, east Chinas Fujian province, has piloted a project in Shunchang county in the city to explore ecological bank, an innovative model that integrates scattered and fragmented forest resources and puts them under the control of state-owned forest farm for better utilization and development through specialized operations.

Photo shows Shunchang Forest Ecological Operation Center, an ecological bank in Shunchang county, Nanping city, east Chinas Fujian province. (Photo/Minbei ribao, a Nanping-based daily newspaper.)

Under the model, forest farmers are free to choose the ways in which they entitle the state-owned forest farm to the rights to manage, use, and develop their tree plots. They can become shareholders of the state-owned forest farm, rent their forest resources out to the farm, entrust the farm with the management and development of their resources, or simply transfer the ownership right of their trees and the contract and management rights of forest land to the farm.

Shunchang county is rich in forest resources, with 2.5 million mu (166,667 hectares) of forest land and a forest cover of 80.34 percent.

The ecological bank enables local forest farmers to deposit forest resources just like putting money into a bank account, and then earn guaranteed returns as well as dividends during the forest harvesting period, said Zhao Gangyuan, an executive with the state-owned forest farm in Shunchang.

Xiao Shuchang, a resident in Jixia village, Shunchang county, became a shareholder of the forest farm last year. I deposited 26 mu of forests in the ecological bank last year. During the contractual period, I can get 1,800 yuan ($285) of dividends per mu of forest in advance and 80 percent of the profits from the forest lands with a production capacity of more than 10 cubic meters of wood per mu during the harvesting period, which means an increase of over one hundred thousand yuan in my income, he said.

Since he deposited the 26 mu of forests in the special bank, Xiao has raised several hundred chickens in his forests, and his wife has also found odd jobs at a nearby industrial park, which brought the family a combined income of over 30,000 yuan by February this year. Im full of hopes of a better life, Xiao said.

Farmers pick bamboo fungi in a forest in Shunchang county, Nanping city, east Chinas Fujian province. (Photo/Minbei ribao, a Nanping-based daily newspaper.)

Starting from 2020, the first batch of contracts and management rights of forest land transferred by villagers in Jixia to the state-owned forest farm gradually expired. With the consent of farmers, the village deposited its 2,636 mu of collective forests in the ecological bank, allowing shareholders to enjoy guaranteed returns as well as dividends during the logging season.

As of the end of 2021, a total of 81,500 mu of forest land in Shunchang county had been incorporated into the state-owned forest farm, benefiting 2,510 farmer households and increasing the income of farmers by 594 million yuan.

Meanwhile, centered around its state-owned forest farm, Shunchang established a government-funded forest tenure guarantee company to provide financing guarantee services for forest-related enterprises, village collective ventures and individual forest farmers.

The forest tenure guarantee company has guaranteed 305 million yuan of loans, saving more than 15 million yuan in financing costs for forest farmers, according to Zhou Cuixia, an executive with the company.

Photo shows a wetland park in Zhenghe county, Nanping city, east Chinas Fujian province. (Peoples Daily Online/Chen Changcun)

In the future, the county will integrate more scattered ecological resources and establish a natural resource asset operation and management platform to promote the diversified development of the forestry industry.

The idea and operational mode of the ecological bank, while building a platform for farmers to turn forest resources into assets, can solve a multitude of problems, including the lack of rural labor force, idle forest resources, low forest management efficiency, and single forest management mode.

Through the integration of scattered resources and platform-based operations, the innovative model ensures the effective exploitation of forest resources, laying an underpinning for realizing ecological industrialization and promoting the high-quality development of forestry industry.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Workers remove the Christopher Columbus statue from Chicago's Grant Park during the early morning hours of July 24, 2020. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot blocked a deal the Chicago Park District made with an Italian American group to allow a Christopher Columbus statue to be displayed in a parade and made obscene remarks aimed at government lawyers during a contentious meeting, a high-ranking lawyer alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The lawsuit, filed by former Chicago Park District deputy general counsel George Smyrniotis against the city and Lightfoot, is closely related to another case brought by the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans against the Park District after Lightfoot removed Columbus statues from the city.

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[Update] Mayor Lori Lightfoot blasts lawsuit alleging offensive comments, says she has no animus toward Italians 

In his lawsuit, Smyrniotis alleges he was told by Timothy King, then the districts top lawyer, and then-superintendent Michael Kelly that they wanted the lawsuit over the statues settled as soon as possible.

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Smyrniotis alleges he then worked with lawyers for the Italian Americans to make a deal. As part of negotiations, the group wanted to display the Columbus statue in its annual Columbus parade last fall and proposed putting the statue last in the parade and covered until the end, according to Smyrniotis lawsuit.

King approved the request, according to the suit, because the Park District thought it would generate goodwill with the Italian Americans.

Park District lawyers and the Italian Americans group were also negotiating a deal to remove the statue from the city permanently.

When Lightfoot learned about the plan, Smyrniotis alleges in his lawsuit, she threatened to pull the permit for the parade and ordered Park District officials to attend a hastily called Zoom meeting.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot at a City Council meeting on Feb. 23. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

At the meeting, Smyrniotis alleges, Lightfoot proceeded to berate and defame the lawyers and asked them, Where did you go to law school? Did you even go to law school? Do you even have a law license?

Lightfoot told them that they had to submit their pleadings to a city lawyer for approval and were told not to do a f------ thing with that statue without my approval.

Get that f------ statue back before noon tomorrow or I am going to have you fired, Lightfoot said, according to the complaint.

Lightfoot also made obscene comments to Smyrniotis and King, according to the lawsuit, which alleges she called them d---- and asked, What the f--- were you thinking?

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You make some kind of secret agreement with Italians. ... You are out there stroking your d---- over the Columbus statue, I am trying to keep Chicago police officers from being shot and you are trying to get them shot, Lightfoot said, according to the complaint. My d--- is bigger than yours and the Italians, I have the biggest d--- in Chicago.

Smyrniotis asserts the alleged comments defamed him by imputing that he lacked the ability to perform his job duties. He resigned from the Park District last month, according to the lawsuit. King has also since left the Park District.

In response to a request for a statement, a Law Department spokeswoman said, The city has not yet been served with a complaint and will have no further comment as the matter is now in litigation.

The lawsuit by Smyrniotis is just the latest fallout over Lightfoots July 2020 decision to remove Columbus statues from Chicagos public places.

The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Park District last July asserting that the district violated a deal signed in 1973 to display the Columbus statue in Little Italy when it took down the statue in Summer 2020.

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Lightfoot has said she ordered the removal of Columbus statues after activists forcibly attempted to remove the prominent statue of Columbus in Grant Park, leading to violent clashes between police and protesters.

Nearly a week later, Lightfoot took down Columbus statues in Grant Park and Little Italy. Lightfoot later removed a lesser-known statue in the South Chicago neighborhood.

Enrico Mirabelli, attorney for the Italian Americans, said he believes Smyrniotis allegations strengthen his case.

Presuming the mayor has been accurately quoted, her comments give proof to the claim that she has wrongfully interfered with my clients contract with the Chicago Park District in a degree that is unprecedented, Mirabelli said.

Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, said hes literally outraged that someone in her position would ever use words like that to refer to any group of individuals.

When will it end with the disrespect? Onesti said, referring to the mayors alleged comments as grotesque.

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Columbus has been condemned by activists around the country who point to the Italian explorers mistreatment of Indigenous people after he landed in the Americas in 1492.

Many Italian Americans prize the statues of the explorer as an expression of their mainstream American identity.

Lightfoot initially resisted calls to take down Columbus statues. Comparing the debate over Columbus statues to the same argument over monuments to Confederate Army figures being removed in other cities, Lightfoot said she favors acting to not try to erase history, but to embrace it full-on.

But she ordered the removals after the unrest at Grant Park.

That lawsuit claims that a Columbus statue committee paid the Park District more than $10,000 in 1973 for the purpose of maintaining in perpetuity the Columbus statue.

Initially, the lawsuit did not name Lightfoot or Chicago as defendants but the Italian Americans committee recently argued that the mayor should be added because of her actions ordering the statues removal, which a judge granted. It also alleges that she has continued to interfere with the contract.

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The Italian Americans group has in court filings sought depositions of King and Smyrniotis, the park districts lawyers, which the city and have park district have argued is premature.

After Lightfoot removed the Columbus statues, she created a review process for controversial city monuments that she said would be part of a racial healing and historical reckoning project.

But more than a year and a half later, the citys monuments commission has yet to issue its final report and recommendations, leaving the conversation in a state of limbo even though it was originally supposed to be done by December 2020.

City officials have said they expect the committee to finish its work in the first quarter of 2022.

Last February, the mayors commission on monuments flagged statues of Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and William McKinley, as well as a Benjamin Franklin statue, a police memorial tied to the Haymarket Riot and a statue of Leif Erikson at Humboldt Park, as potentially problematic, but did not make final recommendations about what should happen.

gpratt@chicagotribune.com
We want a Downtown El Paso arena!

I read that the city of El Paso was soliciting a request for information (RFI) for a revised "multicultural and performing arts center" or "arena" in Duranguito. Such a shame that they let pundits like Max Grossman get the best of them.

I, for one, will stand up and say, "We don't want this revised version, city of El Paso! We want an arena!" I can only imagine the horrible look and feel of putting a new re-envisioned venue and incorporating those old decrepit buildings into it. Please, don't do that, city of El Paso, please keep fighting to bulldoze that whole area. You are listening to the fight of one man with billions (not his money) backing him. Listen to us, the other 99% of the city that actually want to see this neighborhood bulldozed and be rebooted with a new facility.

Juan Ortiz

East El Paso

More: Grossman's attorneys say city of El Paso hasn't opened talks to settle Duranguito fight

The fenced-off Duranguito neighborhood in El Paso is shown on March 19, 2021.

Nice try, voting streak intact

When early voting began a few weeks ago, I noticed I did not receive my mail-in ballot. With great relief, I signed on for absentee voting due to disability and age over a year ago. After calling the County Elections Office (who were great), I discovered that my permanent status was taken away with the recent legislation, and I now have to apply each year.

Perhaps my disability will go away (it won't), but I can't change my age, so what "danger" do I present? I risked my health and possibly life by voting in person todayso nice try governor and state legislature. I have not missed an election since 1972, and my streak is intact. The majority in Austin should be ashamed of themselves.

Todd Daugherty

West El Paso

Voting rights in Texas: Beto O'Rourke releases book, explores history of voting rights in Texas

Commissioners ruining a good thing

Leave it to El Paso County Commissioners to try and ruin a good thing by getting their own study of Interstate 10 through Downtown.

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First of all, Reimagine I-10 is not your project county commissioners, so why are you trying to meddle in it? Im sure you dont like outside organizations meddling in your projects, so why would you interfere? Secondly, they are taking the research of one man? Anyone can argue their side of an issue, so to say that this project will get derailed by the testimony and research of one individual is highly unlikely. Lastly, Im saying this is directly to TxDOT; please dont cave to these naysayers; keep going with this project. We all know its needed and will help our community.

Jesse Gutierrez

East El Paso

Analyst to El Paso County officials:Expanding I-10 Downtown won't solve congestion

Bidens appeasement has empowered Putin

In President Joe Bidens first year of presidency, he has encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin to restore the Soviet Union. Bidens foreign policy, national energy policy, and domestic policy, which focused on social programs at the expense of our military and national security, showed weakness and vulnerability.

The above can be encapsulated in Bidens decision to end the Keystone Pipeline, suspending drilling on federal land, including offshore, suspending sanctions on and reopening the Nord Stream Pipeline, and finally, the consequences of the Afghanistan withdrawal and debacle.

All the above gave Putin the incentive and confidence to invade Ukraine. As a result, we are seeing the worst war in Europe since 1945.

For that matter, the Biden administration has been largely responsible, and certainly complicit, for creating three international humanitarian crises in his first year: 1. the southern border crises, 2. the crises in Afghanistan where approximately half the population is facing starvation and malnutrition, and 3. in Ukraine where millions are fleeing the country.

President Biden may now go down in history as the Neville Chamberlain of the 21st century.

David E. Pena

Kern Place

More: 'Texas stands with the people of Ukraine': Greg Abbott, Beto O'Rourke George W. Bush condemn Putin's invasion

Enough about EP Water

Why do people care so much about where El Paso Water moves to? I see it in these opinion sections every week. You all dont have anything better to talk about? Is that the main issue that is facing our community? I genuinely dont understand it. Theyre never going to listen to you. They dont listen to anyone but John Balliew; if he doesnt want to move, that means they arent moving. So just stop commenting about it.

Isaac Tarin

East El Paso

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: We want a Downtown El Paso arena, bulldoze Duranguito!: Opinion
As student mental health continues to be an issue all across the country, the Hopeful Futures Campaign evaluated states on their school mental health policies.

In the 2022 report card, Vermont ranked near best for the impact of mental health issues on Vermont youth, but showed specific areas of need where state guidance could be stronger.

"The report found that Vermont has achieved substantial progress on mental health education, however, the state has no required well-being checks, which are important to help identify students who may be struggling and need support," the report concluded.

How are Vermont students doing?

The report card pulled in data from the State of Mental Health in America report from November 2021 that was based on a national survey. The State of Mental Health in America report ranked Vermont number one in the U.S. in 2019, 2020 and 2021. In 2022, the state was ranked fourth.

Tracking the toll: How has the pandemic affected Vermonters' health? A new study offers insight

Junior Townes DeGroot shares his thoughts at a meeting of the Students for Healthy Decisions group at U-32 Middle & High School. The school club is part of the statewide Getting to 'Y' program which has teens defining problem areas and proposing solutions to issues facing their student population based on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey results.

Of the 96,000 kindergarten through 12th grade students in Vermont, notable statistics included:

7,000 experienced a major depressive episode in the past year.

3,000 of those who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year did not receive treatment.

5,000 experienced a severe depressive episode in the past year.

3,000 with a severe depressive episode in the past year received some consistent treatment.

2,326 special needs students identified as having an emotional disturbance.

2,000 youth with Substance Use Disorder in the past year.

How strong are Vermont's policies on student mental health?

The Hopeful Futures Campaign report card evaluated state-level educational policies regarding student mental health in eight key areas.

In mental health education, the state was graded as having achieved substantial progress. In the three areas of school mental health professionals, healthy school climate and skills for life success, the report said the state had achieved some progress.

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Behind bars: 'Disturbing' study results find litany of mental health issues at Vermont prison

The report gave Vermont the grade of little or no progress for school-family-community partnerships, teacher and staff training, funding supports and well-being checks.

The Hopeful Futures Campaign evaluated Vermont's school mental policies in a report that came out in Feb. 2022.

How could Vermont improve its policies?

Mental health professionals: Some of Vermont's ratios were wider than recommended.

Vermont had one school psychologist for every 1,496 students. The recommended ratio was 1:500.

Vermont had one school social worker for every 1,265 students. The recommended ratio was 1:250.

Vermont had one school counselor for every 191 students, which did meet the recommended ratio of 1:250.

The report recommended Vermont invest in school psychologists and school social workers, including through telehealth partnerships and workforce programs that incentivize careers in mental health.

The good fight: Vermont-born music group marks 10 years fighting 'stigma' of mental illness

School-family-community partnerships: The report found state statutes and policies failed to address parent and family engagement. It recommended that rather than encourage districts to adopt policies, the state could require it and establish partnerships between districts and community mental health providers.

Teacher and staff training: The report found no required training in mental health, substance use and suicide prevention. The report recommended the state make regular trainings in those areas a requirement as well as make teacher and staff aware of school and community-based services and resources.

Funding supports: The state's Medicaid program didn't cover school-based mental health services, the report found. However, Vermont's Success Beyond Six program

allowed schools to contract with a designated mental health agency which could bill Medicaid for services to students. The report recommended expanding Medicaid billing to include school mental health services including covering services delivered by school psychologists, social workers and school counselors.

Sharon Koller, Coordinator for the Getting to Y program, helps U-32 Middle and High School students brainstorm ways to help their peers with issues they face.

Help wanted: Study finds Vermont leads the nation in job openings per person

Well-being: The report found no required well-being checks and recommended an annual check for all students and staff in K-12 schools.

Healthy school climate: Vermont was shown to have made strides in anti-bullying policy as well as alternatives to exclusionary discipline (suspensions). The report showed opportunities to enact legislation to collect annual school climate surveys and state-level anti-discrimination policies, permitting excused absences for mental health concerns, and requiring age-appropriate suicide prevention education for students.

Skills for life success: This category evaluated how the state goes about teaching students about responsible decision-making, relationship skills and self-management. The report found the state had adopted standards in life skills for kindergarten through third grade, but suggested extending the requirement for all grades.

Mental health education: Vermont received the highest rating available for this category due to state policies requiring health education to address mental health, including understanding depression and the signs of suicide risk.

View the full report at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1exCftDPhZ8bhCZgvoIktLGPcPKM6GzvY/view. Vermont's evaluation is on pages 203 to 206.

Contact reporter April Barton at abarton@freepressmedia.com or 802-660-1854. Follow her on Twitter @aprildbarton.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: How Vermont fared on "Americas School Mental Health Report Card"
The Biden administration reiterated Wednesday that the U.S. has no plans to add Russian oil and gas exports to the growing list of punitive sanctions enacted after Russia invaded Ukraine. At least not yet.

"We don't have a strategic interest in reducing global supply of energy," which "would raise prices at the gas pump for Americans," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. If Russia heightens aggressions against Ukraine, "it's very much on the table," Press Secretary Jen Psaki told MSNBC, but "we're not trying to hurt ourselves, we're trying to hurt President Putin and the Russian economy." When asked about banning Russian oil Wednesday, President Biden said, "Nothing is off the table."

But oil and gas futures still hit multi-year highs on Wednesday and early Thursday. With or without a formal blockade, "traders are struggling to sell Russian oil, even at a discount, because of the new difficulties in shipping and payments amid its invasion of Ukraine," BBC News reports. Nearly 70 percent of Russian crude oil exports don't have a buyer, British consultancy Energy Aspects said, and oil trader Trafigura could not seem to sell Russian crude at an $18.60-per-barrel discount. Trafigura isn't alone.

The U.S. may say they aren't blocking Russian oil, "but global financial institutions are doing the heavy lifting and blanket banning anything with Russia written on the documentation," OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley told Reuters. "I think as long as the West holds its nerve, oil will still go higher."

OPEC decided Wednesday not to raise oil production quotas higher than planned due to the Ukraine invasion, so oil and gas prices will likely rise higher in the U.S. But the U.S. imports no Russian gas and little Russian oil, while Europe is much more dependent on Russian fuel and faces much higher price hikes.

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Russia's government really depends on oil and gas revenue, though. Republicans, who have been hammering Biden on inflation and high gas prices, have been the most vocal in calling for Biden to shut off the Russian spigot and ramp up U.S. production.

The White House is focused on lowering America's total oil and gas dependence, but the U.S. actually increased drilling since Biden took office, and gas production and liquefied natural gas exports grew over the past year, The Associated Press reports. "Our ability to export liquefied natural gas to Europe is limited, because our export facilities are already operating at capacity."

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U.S. and Britain reportedly believe the Ukraine war could last 10-20 years, become a Russian quagmire

Belarusian president displays map suggesting Putin plans to attack Moldova
Authorities are searching for a man in connection with an auto theft case that happened around 3:10 p.m. Tuesday in the 500 block of East Pawnee.

Police allege that Kevin Robertson, 51, of Wichita, was involved in the theft of a womans gray Pontiac Grand Prix from a parking lot that had her 11-month-old infant inside, police spokesperson Charley Davidson said.

The woman contacted two off-duty officers in the area who began searching for the vehicle. Officers later found the car with the infant unharmed in the 1400 block of South Emporia.

Investigators later learned of Robertsons involvement in the theft, a police news release read.

Robertson is on parole through the Kansas Department of Corrections, Davidson said.
Winter strikes back! Arctic air plunges south across Central Canada

Hope springs eternal this time of year, and for good reason! Earlier sunrises and later sunsets are quite noticeable with a few minutes of daylight added with each passing day. Also, seasonal temperatures are rapidly climbing, gaining roughly 2 degrees per week across much of Canada.

Visit our Complete Guide to Spring 2022 for an in-depth look at the Spring Forecast, tips to plan for it and much more!

However, when it comes to early spring weather, sometimes our optimism gets ahead of reality, and it is necessary to remind ourselves that the month that follows February is March (not May) and March is generally not a warm month across Canada.

The next couple of weeks will strongly illustrate that point.

CROSS-POLAR FLOW SENDS COLD AIR INTO CENTRAL CANADA

As we head into the second week of March, a strong blocking pattern will develop over Alaska. This is a classic cold weather set-up, as this pattern floods central Canada with air straight out of the Arctic, and in this case straight out of Siberia.

NAT CrossPolar

While it wont be nearly as cold as what we saw at times earlier in the winter, temperatures will be much colder than normal for early/mid-March. This Arctic air will plunge south deep into the central United States and spread east into the Great Lakes region.

The graphic below is a model forecast for temperature anomalies for next week (March 7-11). The various shades of blue, green, and violet highlight the widespread colder-than-normal temperatures.

March1

Meanwhile, very mild weather across the eastern United States will continue to make attempts at surging north across the border into southern Ontario, southern Quebec, and into the Maritimes.

This clash in contrasting temperatures from the Great Lakes to the Maritimes will give us an active pattern with changeable temperatures and the potential for messy and wintry systems.

Stormtrack

The exact track of individual storms will be the key to which places will see primarily snow, ice, or rain (or all of the above), but it is too soon to tell you exactly what you will see from each system. However, if you live in this region you will want to stay current on the changeable and active weather.

Story continues

CHILLY PATTERN CONTINUES INTO THE SECOND HALF OF MARCH

This pattern is expected to persist well into the third week of March, but the focus of the coldest air is expected to shift east, resulting in colder temperatures for Ontario and Quebec and into Atlantic Canada with a risk for significant snow events.

However, the one way that we could escape seeing substantial snow totals is if the storm track gets pushed so far south that the heavy snow stays south of the U.S. border.

The map below is a model forecast for the third week of March.

March2

The widespread cold air may well be overdone in this model forecast as we think that milder Pacific air will start to spread back into western Canada as we progress through the third week of March. However, this illustrates well that winter isnt finished with us yet with widespread colder-than-normal temperatures expected for mid-March.

This pattern is expected to slowly break down as we head into the final 10 days of March

So, while spring will test our patience during the next few weeks, dont lose hope  warmer weather will come! The days are getting longer, and the sun angle is getting higher in the sky with each passing day  that is something we can definitely count on. While it is still March, May is coming!

What can you expect heading into spring? Check out The Weather Networks spring forecast and prepare for whatever heads your way.
The Wisconsin Rapids Water Works and Lighting Commission building Feb. 21. In the wake of Wausau learning all of its water wells had unsafe levels of PFAS chemicals, Wisconsin Rapids is testing its own wells again.

WISCONSIN RAPIDS  The city will conduct new testing for a group of cancer-linked chemicals in light of widespread contamination in 50 Wisconsin cities, including Wausau, after finding trace amounts last year.

Wisconsin Rapids Water Works and Light Commission water technician Adam Breunig said the utility voluntarily tested its water in May 2021 amid growing concerns about PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. PFAS are known as "forever chemicals" because they never break down once absorbed into the human body.

The tests showed trace amounts of the two most studied chemicals in the PFAS family of chemicals: 0.843 parts per trillion for PFOA and 1.87 parts per trillion for PFOS. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources-recommended safety levels for those chemicals is 20 parts per trillion.

RELATED: Wisconsin Natural Resources Board passes PFAS standards in drinking and surface waters but leave groundwater unregulated

RELATED: Drinking water in all of Wausau's municipal wells test above the recommended state standards for PFAS known as 'forever chemicals'

Steve Elmore, program director of the DNR's drinking water and groundwater bureau, said people should feel safe drinking city water with PFAS at such low levels.

The comments come amid growing concern about the presence of PFAS in drinking water supplies. Last month, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reported all municipal drinking water wells in Wausau tested above state-recommended health standards of 20 parts per trillion.

The wells in Wausau showed PFAS amounts between 23 and 48 parts per trillion, prompting the city to provide bottled water to some residents as a short-term solution. The DNR identified Wausau as one of 50 communities in the state struggling with PFAS contamination. Other cities include Eau Claire, Rib Mountain, Madison, Milwaukee and Manitowoc.

In response to the contamination in Wausau, Breunig said the Wisconsin Rapids utility will voluntarily test its water again to verify last year's results. The testing last year was also voluntary and conducted by Crandon Northern Lake Service.

Story continues

"However back in early 2021 we started hearing about this new compound and decided to be proactive and contacted our testing laboratory about performing this voluntary test," Breunig said in an email.

He said the utility expects results back in the next month.

The research on PFAS keeps growing

The PFAS family includes more than 4,700 different types of chemicals that have been used and manufactured in the U.S. since the 1940s. Historically, these chemicals were used in nonstick products, firefighting foam, stain-resistant furniture and carpets and more. Limited findings show PFAS in humans has been linked to cancer, thyroid hormone disruption, low infant birth weights and effects on the immune system.

Last week, the state Natural Resources Board decided to leave PFAS groundwater levels unregulated and set drinking water standards for surface water at 70 parts per trillion. The DNR recommended the standards be set at 20 parts per trillion. Had the board approved the DNR's recommended standards, municipalities in the state would have been required to lower the level of PFAS in their water supplies.

Next year, municipalities larger than 10,000 residents will begin a new round of mandatory testing through U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for unregulated chemicals in water supplies. Part of this multi-year schedule of testing called Third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule.

The upcoming round of testing features the ability for labs to detect lower levels, as well as a wider array, of PFAS-family chemicals. The testing will detect PFOA and PFOS at 4 parts per trillion and screen for an additional 27 other types of PFAS chemicals, according to the EPA's website.

"As detection limits are lowered and we have more robust methods for analyzing for PFAS, its a good idea to keep for testing PFAS," Elmore said.

Laura Schulte of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this story.

Contact reporter Alan Hovorka at 715-345-2252 or ahovorka@gannett.com Follow him on Twitter at @ajhovorka.

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wisconsin Rapids to retest water for PFAS after concerns in Wausau
STORY: Women in Cuba are defying taboos on tattoos

Location: HAVANA, CUBA

Body art has been stigmatized here for decades

Erias is the first group to openly promote the practice

Tattoo Artist, Lili Aguero, saying:

Tattoos in Cuba are no longer taboo, its something all young people have. Everyone wants one, everyone wants tattoos.

Erias was founded in 2021 and has nearly 200 members

Photographer and Erias Cofounder, Ariam Arrieta, saying:

Unlike just three years ago, today we can say that women are getting tattooed here on a daily basis. Three years ago, I think, tattoos didn't have such a strong influence in Cuba, even more so here in La Havana, which is the country's capital. There wasn't any. Someone doing it would say, if I get a tattoo, it cannot show. Now we see it more and more.

Tattoo Artist, Amanda Santana, saying:

There is a legal vacuum regarding tattoos in Cuba. You dont pay for a license, it is not legal, but its not illegal either. All tattoo artists use the internet to promote ourselves. I have my Instagram page, contact with my clients online I tattoo.

Erias Member, Marian Leyva, saying:

For me, Erias was like being born. I use the word birth because I was so shy, couldn't express all my feelings, and couldn't tell the world how I felt about tattoos. My self-esteem increased, as did everything.
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, for decades the most powerful politician in the state, was indicted on federal racketeering charges alleging his elected office and political operation were a criminal enterprise that provided personal financial rewards for him and his associates.

A week after he was charged in a bombshell corruption indictment, Madigan, 79, was arraigned in a telephone hearing in U.S. District Court.

The 22-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury comes after a yearslong federal investigation and alleges Madigan participated in an array of bribery and extortion schemes from 2011 to 2019 aimed at using the power of his office for personal gain.

Also charged in the indictment was Madigans longtime confidant, Michael McClain, a former state legislator and lobbyist who is facing separate charges alleging he orchestrated an alleged bribery scheme by Commonwealth Edison.

That same alleged scheme forms the backbone of the indictment, outlining a plan by the utility giant to pay thousands of dollars to lobbyists favored by Madigan in order to win his influence over legislation the company wanted passed in Springfield.

Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons.

Heres what to know about the latest in the high-profile political corruption case.

Ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan, long the states most powerful politician, indicted on federal racketeering charges

Michael Madigan arrives at his West Lawn home on Wednesday afternoon before it was announced he was indicted on federal racketeering charges. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

The long-awaited charges punctuate a stunning downfall for Madigan, the longest serving leader of any legislative chamber in the nation who held an ironclad grip on the state legislature as well as the Democratic Party and its political spoils. He was dethroned as speaker in early 2021 as the investigation swirled around him, and soon after resigned the House seat hed held since 1971.

Both Madigan and his attorneys denied the allegations in written statements Wednesday and said they intended to fight them in court.

>>> Read more here

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Democrats seek to distance themselves from Michael Madigan as Gov. J.B. Pritzker acknowledges meeting with feds during investigation

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Feb. 9, 2022. Pritzkers office acknowledged Wednesday that the governor had spoken with investigators working the case that resulted in the indictment of longtime House speaker Michael Madigan. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

After decades operating Madigans shadow, Illinois Democrats on Wednesday sought to distance themselves from the longtime House speaker and state party chairman, even as Gov. J.B. Pritzkers office acknowledged the governor had spoken with investigators working the case.

The racketeering and bribery allegations come at the start of an election year in which Pritzker seeks a second term and his fellow Democrats seek to hold on to the supermajorities in the House and Senate that Madigan and his political organization helped build through their ground-level campaign work and control of legislative mapmaking.

>>> Read more here

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Michael Madigan case a study of how Illinois cozy politics morphs into alleged crime

House Speaker Michael Madigan congratulates Gov. J.B. Pritzker after his first budget address at Springfield, Feb. 20, 2019. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

At its core, the alleged bribery scheme involving ex-Speaker Madigan and utility giant Commonwealth Edison is an alarmingly familiar lesson on how often-cozy relationships between business leaders and politicians can catch the attention of federal prosecutors.

Like so many federal corruption probes before it, the case is replete with powerful political characters, bit players, well-connected lobbyists and big-business clout.

>>> Read more here

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Read Michael Madigans indictment on federal racketeering charges

U.S. Attorney John Lausch announces the indictment of Michael Madigan, former speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago on March 2, 2022. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Madigan was indicted on federal racketeering charges alleging an array of bribery schemes aimed at using the power of his office for personal gain. Read the indictment below.

>>> Read more here

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Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan pleads not guilty to federal racketeering charges in corruption case

Former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan arrives to his office in Chicago on Oct. 18, 2021. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

A week after he was charged in a bombshell corruption indictment, Madigan was arraigned in a telephone hearing in U.S. District Court on allegations he ran his elected office and political operation as a criminal enterprise that provided personal financial rewards for him and his associates.

>>> Read more here

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Michael Madigan, under oath: Exclusive video shows reclusive former speaker opening up about ward politics, campaigns and Bruce Rauner

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan walks out in the 2nd floor level of an outdoor patio at his Chicago, Friday, March 3, 2022. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Michael Madigan had largely disappeared from public view after being ousted as House speaker and resigning both his seat and chairmanship of the Illinois Democratic Party a little more than a year ago.

But a video recording of a deposition Madigan gave in a lawsuit unrelated to the ComEd bribery scandal that ultimately ended his reign and forms the backbone of the federal indictment provides a lengthy and insightful look at the famously terse and reclusive politician in action.

>>> Read more here

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Famously shrewd, Michael Madigan has been indicted. But what did he actually say on tape?

House Speaker Michael Madigan, left, stands with Senate President Don Harmon while Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his first State of the State speech before a joint session of the Illinois House and Senate at the State Capitol in Springfield Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

The long-awaited racketeering indictment of Michael Madigan runs some 106 pages, but anyone looking for a quote directly from the former House speakers mouth will have to wade through more than half the document before finding one.

On May 16, 2018, Madigan called his longtime confidant Michael McClain and told him go forward with a plan to have former McPier boss Juan Ochoa appointed to the Commonwealth Edison board of directors, according to the indictment filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

>>> Read more here

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Attorney for ex-Speaker Michael Madigan says millions and millions of documents to be reviewed over next few months

Lobbyist Mike McClain in the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, May 6, 2010. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

An attorney for former House Speaker Michael Madigan said Friday his team will need to review millions and millions of documents over the next several months before deciding on any pretrial motions to be filed in the bombshell racketeering case.

The comment came during a brief status hearing before U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey, the first since Madigan and his longtime confidant, Michael McClain, were charged in an indictment with a yearslong corruption scheme that allegedly leveraged Madigans elected office and political power for personal gain.

>>> Read more here

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Michael Madigan asked Ald. Solis to get son insurance business from Pilsen non-profit

Former Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan departs from his lawyers' office March 9, 2022, after making his first virtual court appearance for his indictment. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

In August 2018, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan asked then-Ald. Daniel Solis to help steer insurance business to Madigans own son during a meeting about the aldermans potential appointment to a lucrative state board position, the Tribune has confirmed.

Madigans pitch, which was secretly recorded by Solis, was mentioned in passing in the blockbuster 22-count racketeering indictment filed against Madigan. According to the document, after the discussion about Solis possible board appointment, Madigan asked the alderman to help a relative of Madigan and the relatives employer obtain business from Organization B, a Chicago-based community group.

Sources have told the Tribune that the relative was Andrew Madigan, the ex-speakers only son, who is an an executive for Alliant Mesirow Insurance. Organization B named in the indictment is The Resurrection Project, a Pilsen-based group thats received millions of dollars in state funds and political donations from Solis ward organization and other Chicago politicians over the years.

>>> Read more here

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Michael Madigans indictment: How he pushed for allies to get ComEd jobs and his own daughters legislation was killed.

Speaker Mike Madigan confers with legislators on his bench behind the Speaker's podium in the House chambers in the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Thursday, April 29, 2010. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Nearly four years ago, legislation that aimed to help low-income electricity customers was making its way to the floor of an Illinois House chamber tightly controlled by its longtime speaker, Michael Madigan.

The bills main advocate: Madigans daughter, then-Attorney General Lisa Madigan. One of its primary opponents: Commonwealth Edison, the states largest electric utility.

By the time the Illinois General Assemblys spring session was over, ComEd won  because, according to federal prosecutors, Michael Madigan paved the way.

In what may be one of the most intriguing chapters of the federal indictment filed earlier this month against ex-Speaker Madigan, prosecutors alleged he greenlighted efforts to kill his own daughters legislation as he pressed ComEd to give jobs to two political allies.

>>> Read more here

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Federal judge dismisses case that alleged Michael Madigan and Ald. Marty Quinn violated opponents civil rights

David Krupa seen here at his attorney's office in Skokie on Dec. 6, 2018. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Despite allegations of using dirty tricks, 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn beat the college kid again  this time in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger this week dismissed a lawsuit brought by David Krupa, who as a 19-year-old DePaul University student ran an upstart campaign for alderman in 2019 but lost. Krupa in the lawsuit accused Quinn and then-Speaker Michael Madigan of violating his civil rights following the aldermans overly aggressive efforts to keep Krupa off the ballot and defeat him.

>>> Read more here

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Portion of grand jury testimony by former Madigan chief of staff Tim Mapes to be made public in obstruction case

House Speaker Michael Midgan's chief of staff Tim Mapes at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield on June 30, 2015. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the unsealing of a court filing containing excerpts of grand jury testimony by Tim Mapes, the former chief of staff to House Speaker Michael Madigan who was indicted last year on obstruction of justice charges.

The order by U.S. District Judge John Lee came after Mapes attorney, Andrew Porter, filed a motion to dismiss under seal last week out of an abundance of caution, since grand jury testimony typically is kept secret.

>>> Read more here

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Michael Madigans former chief of staff was interviewed by FBI as far back as 2019, lawyer reveals in unsealed filing

Tim Mapes, former chief Of staff to Michael Madigan, in the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, May 7, 2010. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Michael Madigan was still the most powerful politician in the state when two FBI agents went to Springfield in 2019 and asked his former chief of staff to sit down for coffee, according to a court filing unsealed Wednesday.

Two years later, a memo that the former Madigan staffer, Tim Mapes, wrote to himself about the unusual meeting was shown to him during questioning before a federal grand jury, where Mapes had been granted immunity in exchange for his sworn testimony about his former boss, the filing stated.

>>> Read more here

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FBI acquires transcript of Michael Madigan deposition and the ex-speaker answering questions under oath in civil case

Then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is sworn-in at the start of a September 2018 deposition in a federal lawsuit filed by Jason Gonzales, a Democratic challenger for Madigans House seat in 2016 who charged the speaker and his operatives planted two extra candidates on the primary ballot to draw votes away from Gonzales. (Obtained by the Tribune)

The FBI has acquired sworn depositions that indicted ex-Speaker Michael Madigan and his former chief of staff gave more than three years ago in a lawsuit accusing Madigans campaign organization of propping up sham candidates.

The move represents a new development in the sweeping federal racketeering case federal authorities filed last month against Madigan. Federal authorities made the request for the transcripts last month, attorney Anthony Peraica said, only days after the Chicago Tribune posted a video of the Madigan deposition, the only one Madigan said he ever gave.

>>> Read more here
NEWARK, NJ  It wasnt long ago that University Hospital was so overwhelmed with coronavirus cases that an 85-person medical team from the U.S. Army was dispatched to help it cope with the chaos. But things have changed since April 2020 at the busy Newark hospital, which reported a major landmark on Thursday: zero patients with active COVID-19.

That was the word from CEO Shereef Elnahal, the former commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health, who tweeted the update along with a message of hope.

Huge milestone for our health care heroes, and the patients and families we serve, he wrote. Lets keep this going as long as possible.

The hospital recently got another assist from the U.S. military during the omicron surge; doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital bid farewell to 25 military medical support team members last week. Read More: Military COVID Staff Applauded As They Leave Newark Hospital

Elnahals announcement came on the same day as another major coronavirus milestone in Newark: the lifting of the citys indoor mask mandate.

New Jerseys largest city is "trending in the right direction" when it comes to coronavirus transmission, Newark officials said Wednesday. Read More: NJ Moves Essex County To 'Low' COVID Activity Level

The Department of Health and Community Wellness has been tracking COVID-19 in Newark, and reports that its test positivity rate between Feb. 21 and Feb. 27 was 1.57 percent, which is progressively lower than prior weeks.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Sign up for Patch email newsletters. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Dont forget to visit the Patch Newark Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on the Newark Patch
Russias invasion of Ukraine has been at the forefront of news and conversation over the past week, and Ukraine native Andrew Moroz, teaching and vision pastor at Lynchburgs nondenominational Gospel Community Church, has followed developments with hope and anxiety.

Born in 1986 in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, Moroz moved to upstate New York with his parents in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The family immigrated for opportunities to build a better life, Moroz said. Ukraine, at the time just emerging as its own nation, had limited economic opportunities for its citizens as it worked to find its footing as a democracy and build itself up, forcing many citizens to leave their homeland to sustain themselves.

Moroz has many aunts, uncles, and cousins living in and around Kyiv, which now is one of the most turbulent areas in the present conflict.

Im watching images of places that are being bombed  theyre places that Ive been, that Ive explored, Ive spent time with my family, Moroz said.

Pulling up a photo on his tablet taken a few years ago in Kyivs city center during a family visit, Moroz showed a beautiful, lively, peaceful place.

This was the Ukraine we experienced, Moroz said. Free, fun, especially in the summers, full of culture. Lots of people. Its very European in that way, but this place looks entirely different right now.

Three years ago, Moroz and his wife took their children to Ukraine for the first time so they could get to know their cultural background and extended family. Now ages nine, seven, and four, the childrens parents are trying to explain the reality of what is happening and how it might affect their family as they learn to cope and process it together.

A photo of a family reunion in Ukraine several years ago showed smiling faces, people of all ages gathered together outdoors under a sunny sky.

Swiping to a second photo, Moroz showed an image he recently received from a family friend unable to escape. Almost two dozen people huddled in a basement, sheltering from air strikes, listening to sirens and the sounds of violence outside as Russian and Ukrainian forces clash.

Theyve been there now for about four days, I think. Their kids are my kids age, Moroz said Monday. It really breaks my heart to see them experience this.

In the days leading up to Russias invasion of Ukraine, Moroz had hoped any conflict would stay limited to a couple of states in the eastern portion of Ukraine, where things already had been in turmoil. A full-scale invasion of the entire country, he said, was a shock.

I think Ukrainians are surprised at how far Putin took it. I dont think theyre surprised he attacked, Moroz said.

Some villages surrounding larger cities, even if they are not being shelled, are being pillaged of food and fuel by Russian troops, according to reports Moroz has heard.

When this first started, the Russian Federation didnt really pay a lot of attention to the villages, so they were relatively safe. The last couple days, though, as the conflict is moving forward, were hearing reports of them pillaging in these villages, he said Monday. People dont realize that. Its not a harmless, Were just going to do a strategic military strike. Real people are affected.

One family member was on their way to the border of Poland as Moroz spoke with The News & Advance on Monday, hoping to escape safely into one of the neighboring countries that is welcoming Ukrainian refugees.

The days and nights since the invasion are filled with as much anxiety as there is hope.

I go to bed every night restless, and I wake up at night, and I dare not open my phone, because Im not sure if Ukraine is still a nation, Moroz said.

There is great pain in watching his home nation struggle so valiantly, Moroz said  and he wrestles with a sense of survivors guilt.

In some way, [Im] feeling guilty that Im not over there, that Im not able to tangibly help, he said. So thats hard to know that theyre suffering, and not being able to join them in that.

Moroz is not idle, however. He and his family channel their efforts into supporting the Ukrainian people however they can, and strive to encourage their friends and family as they communicate daily.

What I can do is advocate. What I can do is tell the story. I can relate live information, and help filter it through the grid of what others are hearing from other media sources. We can pray; were doing that. We can lead others to pray and share the story, he said.

Last Sunday, Feb. 27, Morozs congregation did just that. He snapped a photo of the prayer time and sent it to his friends and relatives in Ukraine. Seeing that others cared enough to take time out of their normal routine to pray for them and their country provided encouragement for which Morozs connections expressed gratitude.

The invasion has been hard on multiple sides, Moroz added. An important distinction he made is the Russian government, not the Russian people, is the problem.

Ive been telling people along the way, the Russian people are not a threat. Theyre good people, he said. Ukrainians have had good relationships with Russian people throughout different parts of history. Theres not animosity towards the people themselves. Theres animosity toward the regime, and toward what that stands for.

Some reports indicate many Russian soldiers did not know they were about to invade a peaceful neighbor. They were told they were engaging in a military training exercise, and suddenly found themselves in a foreign country, told to target civilians, among other orders. The New York Times recently reported the Pentagon said some Russian soldiers have been surrendering en masse, or sabotaging their own military vehicles to avoid fighting.

Moroz spoke of these reports as well, though he emphasized he was not always certain what was propaganda and what was factual about these reports.

In many ways, watching the conflict and the unwavering resolve of the Ukrainian people in the face of seemingly hopeless odds is as inspiring as it is heartbreaking.

To me, its just confirmed what I always knew. Ukrainians, they have a way of finding resources; they have a way of making things work that shouldnt work, Moroz said. I think it goes back to making much of little. Historically and culturally, thats just the way theyve had to operate: making more of the little they have. That gives me such hope for the future. Imagine what they could do if they were actually appropriately resourced. Imagine the way they could impact the globe, if they were appropriately resourced, if people didnt have to leave Ukraine to find other places to flourish like my family did in the early 90s.

This war, while tragic, is an opportunity for Ukraine to solidify itself as a democracy, Moroz added, and he believes the nation is doing just that.

Even if the worst happens, and Ukraines government falls, Moroz said Ukrainians will not submit to a puppet government. As in the Orange Revolution of 2004-2005, when Ukrainians stood up for  and in some cases, died for  democracy as their young government faced pressure from Russia to adopt a regime like Russias, Moroz believes there would be drawn-out conflict, with fighting in the streets. That is why defense in this moment is critical, he said.

To support Ukraine from afar, Moroz offered several suggestions for those with a burden to help.

Urging representatives and senators to do more to aid Ukraine and keep the conversation going is important, he said.

Being ambassadors of truth is another key way to help, by sharing factual, accurate information from Kyiv and Ukraine as a whole. News sources such as The Kyiv Independent and certain Ukraine-based journalists such as Victor Tregubov, who can be found on Twitter, are news sources Moroz recommended as reliable. Media literacy and discernment, especially in the face of Russias reputation for expertise in misinformation, are crucial to be mindful of.

Supporting nationally known aid organizations is another opportunity to assist.

Perhaps one of the most important ways to show support, Moroz said, is communicating empathy to those who are hurting.

I hope other people can enter into that pain with us, and Im finding that generally, people are willing to do that here. You dont have to be Ukrainian to feel the pain, Moroz said. We should care. And we should all consider how we could help.

Ukrainians continued holding their ground Tuesday as international leaders further strategized ways to aid the nation.

During a moment of quiet, one of Morozs Ukraine friends messaged him: ...we quickly climbed out of the basement to cook, eat, wash the children, and myself! What a joy to wash your head, brush your teeth, we all do as soldiers, very quickly, at any moment you have to run to the shelter! Our city is surrounded when Im writing.

Pain still is deep, as shown in a message from a relative: I dont know why politicians look from the outside at how people are being killed in the heart of Europe, how Ukraine is being killed in front of the whole world???

The sender of this message added how grateful they were for the outpouring of support and prayer from people around the world.

I admire the participation of people in our grief, in my personal grief, the sender wrote, before having to sign off to conserve phone battery. I need to pray for my soldiers, for my country, for my president.

Moroz emphasized he is not a military strategist or politician, but being born and raised in Ukraine and staying connected with his homeland and family there gave him insights and perspective to offer as he works to keep the Ukraine conversation going. He hopes to see world leaders do more to assist Ukraine in this pivotal moment.

Its a story that has to be told, and we have to rally, Moroz said. Im not an international leader. Im a local church leader. But there are people that are international leaders that have more authority, more power, and more influence, and the more people like us talk about this stuff, the more they hear about it. The more pressure and empathy they begin to experience. And I think both is appropriate. We want them to feel empathy, and we want them to have a little pressure. This is urgent.

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Japan Airlines Co Ltd and ANA Holdings Inc said they would cancel all flights to and from Europe on Thursday, citing concerns about safety due to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The airlines, which normally use Russian airspace for their Europe flights, join a growing number of carriers that have cancelled or rerouted flights between Europe and north Asia in the wake of the crisis.

We are continuously monitoring the situation, but given the present situation in Ukraine and the different risks, we have decided to cancel flights, a JAL spokesperson told Reuters.

ANA Cargos website said the suspension of flights was due to the high possibility of its operations not being able to overfly Russia due to the current Ukraine situation.

Airlines from the European Union and Canada have been banned from Russian airspace in response to their curbs on Russian airlines, but Japan has not made a similar announcement to date.

ANA and JAL operate about 60 flights per week through Russian airspace between Tokyo and London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Helsinki, according to a spokesperson for flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
What the world needs now is the empathy it takes to live in a small town, says Producer Jenny Bicks. Small towns represent what we all should be aiming for.

Thats why she and Paul Feig, a former producer of The Office, created Welcome to Flatch, a mockumentary about life in a small town.

Theres a real honesty to the comedy in the Midwest, Feig says. Were much less tolerant of things that feel fake to us.

In the series, actor Sam Straley and comedian Holmes (she goes by one name) play Shrub and Kelly, cousins who are trying to make the most of life in Flatch. Theyre always looking for the next thing that can make them rich and theyre not afraid to poke fun at authority.

Straley, who grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Holmes, who grew up in Omaha, are well aware of the mindset.

If you drive 15 minutes out of (Cincinnati), youll find yourself in a Flatch, Straley says. I think theres a real beauty in small towns that I think our series explores in a really nice way.

Adds Holmes: I would go to summer camps in different places and people would say, Oh, do you play with cows every day? And Id say, Not really, but I have met a few. I feel grateful for it because you get creative with how you learn to have fun.

Midwestern roots

Many others in the cast have Midwestern roots as well.

Seann William Scott, who plays the town minister, was born in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. Aya Cash, who plays his ex-girlfriend, went to school in Minneapolis, and Justin Linville, who plays Shrubs friend Mickey, grew up on a military base just outside Box Elder, South Dakota.

Theres not so much to do, but we just tried to make the most out of what we did have, Linville says.

For the series (which is based on the British comedy This Country), Feig and Bicks encouraged their actors to improvise.

When you have actors who are great on the fly, you can catch things super quickly, says Bicks. You dont do a lighting setup for half an hour and then turn around and do another lighting setup. Everything moves more quickly, so the comedy flows much more clearly.

Holmes says doing improv for four years helped prepare her for Flatch. Having the camera feels like you have an audience there, she says. The Office has always been this huge inspiration for me. Working with Paul and Jenny to do a docucomedy was really just a dream of mine.

Straley says the format adds another character to the story, which is the documentary crew.

'Office' appeal

Like The Office, Flatch has those confessional moments where characters address situations directly to the camera. It takes some time to get used to, the actors say, but quickly theyre in the fold and ready to try more.

While Scott says he never thought of himself as a minister, my mom definitely could. When I said, Im playing Father Joe, shes like, Amen. Finally. Thank you, Jesus.

Used to less sedate characters, Scott says he enjoys playing someone whos just trying to keep it together. But I definitely should never be a pastor, ever.

Because there are so many characters in Welcome to Flatch, episodes can focus on different combinations of residents. They join forces at town festivals and dance classes and show it takes more than a village to make a village.

If were not representing the world on screen the way that it actually is in real life, then weve completely failed, Feig says. Even in all our scouting, the smallest town wed go through, there was diversity there. We just wanted this to be very inclusive in a very honest way.
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Chinese novelist Liu Zhenyun's work, I Did Not Kill My Husband, which was published in 2012, follows a woman, Li Xuelian, who lives in rural China and spends over 20 years earning back society's respect after her former husband tarnished her reputation.



When Liu was told that the novel was going to be adapted into a comedy, he was intrigued.

"The line between comedy and tragedy is blurry. Li Xuelian's story is sad, apparently, but it's a great story for a comedy. A good comedy makes you laugh even as you despair," says Liu.

Directed by Ding Yiteng and produced by Drum Tower West Theater, a private theater located in the capital's downtown, the play, also titled I Did Not Kill My Husband, is going to tour nationwide from the weekend through June.

On Friday and Saturday, it will be staged in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, as the opening show for the Women Arts Festival of Guangzhou Grand Theater. Then it will go to other Chinese cities, including Nanjing in Jiangsu province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, Shanghai and Beijing.

Liu, a winner of China's top literary prize, the Mao Dun Literature Award, says the novel was his first attempt to write from a female perspective. Known for his humor and keen observations, Liu describes the protagonist as "persistent and patient".

"No one listens to her and she just keeps on telling people her story. It's a woman's campaign to restore her honor after a divorce and false charges of sexual misdeeds made by her ex-husband," says Liu.

In 2016, the novel was adapted into a movie directed by Feng Xiaogang. Liu served as the scriptwriter for the movie, but didn't take up the position for the stage adaptation, instead passing the baton to scriptwriter Zhuo Bieling.

"I stayed loyal to the novel and kept 80 percent of the original lines," says Zhuo. "I came to watch rehearsals every day and the cast kept on inspiring me to be creative. I cannot remember how many times I've revised the script."

Liu says: "It's great to have a female scriptwriter adapt the novel into a play. From the few scenes I've watched during the rehearsals, I can tell that she is loyal to my novel, yet also bold while adapting it."

The novelist is also impressed by the director's creativity. Ding, 30, worked with Eugenio Barba, one of Europe's leading directors, at the globally acclaimed Odin Teatret in Denmark in 2015. He is also an actor, who made his debut in 2012 in the Chinese play, To Live, directed by Meng Jinghui.

In 2016, Ding made his directorial debut by adapting the classic tale, Dou E Yuan, by Guan Hanqing, a prominent playwright and poet of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), into a Chinese play. He not only directed the play but also filled the leading role of Dou E, a woman, who is wrongly convicted of murder by a corrupt court official.

"There are some connections between Li Xuelian and Dou E.Both are women who have been badly treated," says Ding. "The story of Li Xuelian is full of satire, so I turned it into a comedy, which seems a little crazy."

Ding combines a variety of elements in the play, such as Peking Opera-a 200-year-old traditional Chinese art form-and hip-hop dance. He has gathered a group of young male actors, who perform different roles, such as the people gossiping about Li and the indifferent officials that Li consults in a bid to restore her reputation.

Chinese actress Zhang Xinyi, who is known for her roles in movies and TV dramas, will play the role of Li.

"Li Xuelian is my first experience of acting in a play, which excites me very much," says Zhang, 40, who graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 2004, with a major in acting. She adds that she watched lots of plays during her university years.

"By the time I graduated, I had to make a living by acting in TV dramas and movies, because there were fewer opportunities to act in theaters," says Zhang. "It's like a longtime wish for me to act in a play in the theater, which has now been fulfilled.

"The struggle of the woman is beyond my imagination, since I have never experienced the betrayal of a husband and the mocking of people around me. The play's unique sense of humor makes the character's sadness even greater," she says.

It's not the first time that Drum Tower West Theater has adapted one of Liu's novels into a play. According to Li Yangduo, the theater's founder and owner, it also adapted Liu's novel, Someone to Talk To, into a play, which premiered in 2018.

"His words are simple but they will linger in your memory long after you have finished watching," says Li Yangduo.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted, this Wednesday, a resolution on the situation between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The Kingdom of Morocco has decided not to participate in the vote on this resolution, says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement, calling for the continuation and intensification of dialogue and negotiation.

The UNGA voted for the resolution that condemned Russias military offensive in Ukraine.

Moroccos non-participation cannot be the subject of any interpretation in relation to its principled position regarding the situation between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, as reaffirmed in the statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, on February 26.

Morocco continues to follow with concern and worry the evolution of the situation between Russia and Ukraine. The Kingdom regrets the military escalation which has, unfortunately, to date, resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths and thousands of injuries and which has caused human suffering. This situation impacts, also, all the populations and States of the region and beyond, the Ministry says in the statement.

Morocco reaffirms its strong attachment to the respect for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and national unity of all the Member States of the United Nations.

Morocco recalls that, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the Members of the Organization must settle their disputes by peaceful means and according to the principles of international law, in order to preserve peace and security in the world, the statement adds.

The Kingdom, which has always endeavored to promote the non-use of force to settle disputes between States, calls for the continuation and intensification of dialogue and negotiation between the parties to end this conflict and encourages all initiatives and actions to this end.

Furthermore, and in response to the appeal of the UN Secretary General, the Kingdom of Morocco has decided to grant a financial contribution to the humanitarian efforts of the United Nations and neighboring countries, the statement said.
The Russian tourism federation has revealed that Russian holidaymakers are expected in Tunisia amid growing international condemnation of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The federation, according to Russian TV (RT), said that Tunisian Tourism Minister Moez Belhassan expressed the North African countrys keenness to welcome Russian tourists adding that Tunis is not planning to impose any restrictions on Russia.

Russia is facing blanket of sanctions imposed on it by western countries over the ongoing war in Ukraine. Tunisia Wednesday voted in favor of a UN resolution asking Moscow to end the military operation. 141 countries supported the resolution while Belarus, Syria, Eritrea, and North Korea voted against, and 34 other countries abstained.

Tunisia has entered into deal with the Russian tourism federation to relaunch its tourism industry that was almost flattened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Libyas new Prime Minister is expected to be sworn in this Thursday before the House of Representatives (HoR), the countrys state legislature, after winning confidence vote from the house members.

The former Interior Minister said on Twitter that his team which was validated on Tuesday will also take oath.

The Presidency of the House of Representatives invited members of the High Council of State (HCS), the Presidential Council, international and local observers, and journalists, and we hope for their attendance and participation, he added.

The Tobruk-based HoR last month picked Bashagha to replace interim Premier Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh whose mandate, the parliament said, came to an end on Dec.24 after the country failed to organize UN-backed presidential elections.

Dbeibeh has rejected his removal and threatened anyone who would try to flash out his cabinet members.

Chairman of the High Council of State Khaled Al-Mishri has joined Dbeibeh in rejecting Bashaghas choice as Prime Minister and his cabinet. Both Dbeibeh and Al-Mishri according to the council have refused to acknowledge to the new government.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has disrupted commodities market sending prices skyrocketing at a context the world is struggling to recover from the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Moroccos sovereign Mohammed VI had- prior to the outbreak of this war- urged the government to take concrete measures to foster Moroccos self-sufficiency on the strategic areas of health, energy, the industry and food, in a move that is now vindicated by the market turbulences triggered by the inter-state conflict in the Black sea region.

In a speech marking the opening of the parliament in October, King Mohammed VI urged the executive to set up an integrated national system to manage the strategic reserve stock of essential goods and products, especially in the areas of food, health and energyin order to enhance the countrys strategic security.

The war in Ukraine has led to a surge in wheat and gas prices to unprecedented levels while barrel prices exceeded 110 dollars.

Russia and Ukraine control 18% and 7% of the worlds soft wheat output, the essential staple food for Moroccans.

The Kings call to build strategic reserves in essential goods is all the more important in this global context marked by an acute uncertainty as to the outcome of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine.

Morocco, from the other hand, controls the worlds largest phosphates reserves and has a buoyant fertilizers industry, key to global food security.

It has also revised upwards its renewable energy goals to over 52% by 2025 to ease dependence on energy imports and its weight on state budget.
Third-grade students at Jefferson Elementary School in North Platte have the opportunity to watch rainbow trout go from eggs to fingerlings to juveniles right in front of their eyes, thanks to the Trout in the Classroom program.

A partnership between the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the Nebraska Environmental Trust and the Nebraska Trout Unlimited Chapter 710, the program provides schools with not only trout eggs, but also curriculum and technical assistance throughout the year.

Missy Palacios, third grade teacher, said she applied for the grant and the students are excited about the things they are learning from the project. Mendi Roehrs third grade class is also participating, and student teacher Paul Sorvino is helping with the project as well.

In addition to learning about the trouts life cycle, the program also teaches the students about Nebraska habitats like wetlands, cool water streams and watersheds. They also learn about the role humans play in ecosystems.

In a near disaster, the students said Palacios turned off the water cooler one day because it was too loud and she forgot to turn it back on at the end of the day.

The water temperature rose overnight and some of the eggs hatched early, said Ethan Savage, one of Palacios students.

While none of the fish died, Palacios said the students learned a valuable lesson: Water temperature affects what happens in the tank. In this case, it didnt cause any harm, Palacios said.

Throughout the project, they have learned the warmer the water, the faster the fish grow, and what those stages of growth are.

They start out as an egg, then they become alvein, then fry, then juveniles and then adults, Ethan said.

Temperature isnt the only thing that can impact the trout.

We have to test the water, said third-grader Isabella Musil. We test it for pH, high range pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

The students are excited about the culmination of the program in a couple of months.

In a couple months, Palacios said both the students and the fish will take a bus ride to Fort Kearny State Historical Park.

In May, were going to release the fish for Game and Parks and when we release the fish, were going to go to Kearney, said Gabe Everhart.

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Allied Market Research

Focus on installation of public access defibrillator (PAD) by the public and private organizations, development of advanced defibrillator devices, and increase in incidence of cardiac diseases drive the growth of the global defibrillator market. The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the purchasing capacities of hospitals, specifically small-scale hospitals, due to shift in focus toward buying resources to take care of patients infected with Covid-19. This led to canceled or postponed defibrillator deals.

Portland, OR, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global defibrillator market generated $13.16 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach $24.60 billion by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 6.6% from 2021 to 2030. The report offers a detailed analysis of changing market trends, top segments, key investment pockets, value chain, regional landscape, and competitive scenario.

Focus on installation of public access defibrillator (PAD) by the public and private organizations, development of advanced defibrillator devices, and increase in incidence of cardiac diseases drive the growth of the global defibrillator market. Moreover, rise in adoption of technologically advanced defibrillator devices and rise in demand for quality medical care supplement the growth. However, surge in pricing pressure on market players restrains the market growth. On the other hand, advancements in the next-generation external defibrillators to improve safety and effectiveness present new opportunities in the coming years.

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Covid-19 Scenario:

The Covid-19 pandemic impacted the purchasing capacities of hospitals, specifically small-scale hospitals, due to shift in focus toward buying resources to take care of patients infected with Covid-19. This led to canceled or postponed deals for defibrillators.

Many public and private organizations stopped or postponed the activities of installation of defibrillators at public places due to possibility of cross-contamination and lockdown measures implemented by governments.





Story continues

Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Defibrillators Market- https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/1434?reqfor=covid

The report offers detailed segmentation of the global defibrillator market based on product, end user, and region.

Based on product, the implantable defibrillators segment accounted for the highest share in 2020, contributing to more than half of the total share, and is projected to continue its lead position during the forecast period. However, the external defibrillators segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR of 7.0% from 2021 to 2030.

Based on end user, the hospital segment held the highest share in 2020, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total share of the global defibrillator market, and is projected to continue its leadership status during the forecast period. However, the alternative care segment is estimated to manifest the fastest CAGR of 8.8% from 2021 to 2030.

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Based on region, North America contributed to the highest share in 2020, accounting for around two-fifths of the total market share, and is expected to continue its dominance in terms of revenue by 2030. However, Asia-Pacific is estimated to portray the largest CAGR of 8.2% during the forecast period.

Leading players of the global defibrillator market analyzed in the research include Asahi Kasei Corporation, Biotronik SE & Co. KG, Stryker Corporation, Philips Healthcare, Boston Scientific Corporation, Medtronic plc, LivaNova PLC, Nihon Kohden Corporation, Cardiac Science Corporation, and St. Jude Medical, Inc.

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China will work with all parties to deepen South-South cooperation and jointly promote sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas under the global development initiative, a Chinese agricultural official has said.

Tang Renjian, minister of agriculture and rural affairs, made the remarks at a high-level international event titled "Strengthening South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Global Agricultural Development." The event was held Monday by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the context of the recent launch of Phase III of the China-FAO South-South Cooperation (SSC) Program.

"South-South and Triangular Cooperation is one of the key channels to address the challenges posed by global hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and inequality," said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu in his opening remarks.

Tang noted that China believes in a shared future for humanity and looks forward to working with the FAO and other partners to strengthen exchanges and deepen cooperation, contributing to the mission of fighting hunger and alleviating poverty.

The China-FAO SSC Program began in 2009 when a 30-million-U.S. dollar China-FAO trust fund was established to conduct technical cooperation among countries in the Global South. The program includes sharing knowledge, skills, and successful initiatives in specific areas, such as agricultural development, and addressing the impacts of the climate crisis.

China contributed a new 50 million U.S. dollars for Phase II in 2015. Following the recent signature of the General Agreement of the Trust Fund (Phase III) between the government of China and the FAO in 2021, an additional 50-million-U.S. dollar fund was injected to support Phase III.

FAO-China SSC projects currently operate in 20 countries, including Uganda and Sri Lanka, and have deployed over 1,000 experts to countries in the Global South.
The City of Opelika has made plans to construct a roundabout and to make improvements to railroad crossings at Airport Road and Anderson Road.

Roundabout

The Opelika City Council approved a resolution at Tuesdays meeting for the engineering firm AECOM Technical Services from Birmingham to design a roundabout at the intersection of North 28th Street, Cunningham Drive and First Avenue.

This project will also include the realignment of North 28th Street, which will create a straight path to Cunningham Drive.

City Engineer Scott Parker said the roundabout will be built after the realignment is completed. This realignment will extend the road from Shady Park to the intersection of Cunningham Drive and First Avenue.

Parker said the roundabout should handle the increased traffic in the area and will improve the traffic flow through Pepperell Mill Village Historic District and the surrounding areas.

It will be a single lane roundabout and will include a grass island, a curb and gutter and a sidewalk and multi-use path.

According to AECOM, the project will be constructed under traffic and no detour is anticipated.

Parker said AECOM proposed they would design a construction phase in which they would not require a detour but will allow traffic to flow at all times during the construction.

There is not a timeline for the construction process yet, but Parker estimates it will take four to six months for the engineering firm to design it and estimates construction to start in the fall.

Parker thinks the construction will also take another four to six months until its completed.

The cost for this project is estimated to be $86,041, which will come from the unassigned fund balance.

Railroad

The Opelika City Council also approved a resolution to upgrade the railroad crossing located on Airport Road.

Parker said the City has been working for quite a while on a roadway extension project which would extend Veterans Parkway to intersect Pepperell Parkway.

The plan is to extend the road to the south and southwest and Parker said its designed to cross the railroad track at the same location where Airport Road crosses the track.

We anticipate that Veterans Parkway will be a higher volume, higher traveled roadway than Airport, so we proposed to CSX that we would redesign the railroad crossing to be wider and smoother, Parker said.

The tracks and the railroad right-of-way at the Airport railroad crossing is owned by CSX Transportation Inc., a Virginia corporation, and the City requested permission to use the right-of-way to complete the upgrades.

The City will also install the required crossing warning signs, lights and gates.

Parker said there is not a timeframe for this project yet, but he hopes to start it sometime this year.

Opelika also plans to make railroad crossing safety improvements at Anderson Road, which includes the installment of an upgraded warning device.

The project agreement is between the City of Opelika and the Alabama Department of Transportation and the total cost of $322,695 will be paid for by federal funds.

Opelika will have full ownership and responsibility to maintain the devices.
Auburn University and Fort Benning have agreed to an $18 million, 10-year environmental services partnership.

Starting in April, Auburn Universitys Department of Risk Management & Safety will manage environmental services at Fort Benning by helping the post manage hazardous waste, water and air and by providing other environmental education and training services.

Our goal is to help them create more efficient processes and improved coordination of personnel, on-site inspections and tracking of materials, said Chris OGwynn, executive director of Risk Management & Safety at the university.

Guests from Fort Benning and members of Auburn University met for lunch on Wednesday in the Devall Ballroom on Auburns campus to listen to remarks from those who established the partnership and to witness the signing of the contract.

OGwynn said this partnership was a collaborative effort that began in 2021 with discussions between the two organizations.

He said its the first of its kind between the university and the Army.

Edward Thomas Jr., College of Science and Mathematics Interim Dean and Professor, was tasked with leading the effort to establish this agreement.

Thomas said after months of hard work and meetings and hours of Zoom calls, he believes theyve built a foundation of mutual trust and respect.

We are deeply honored to support the men and women who do the hard work every day to defend this nation and secure the freedoms that we enjoy, Thomas said.

Retired Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, 38-year U.S. Army veteran and executive vice president of Auburn University, said when this idea was first brought to him, he thought about his military service and wondered if the university really wanted to get in the middle of this.

The answer is yes, he said. I think we bring a lot to the table as a university. It certainly goes about bringing about the efficiencies, I think, for the U.S. military. I think it makes a great collaborative space.

Burgess said he sees this partnership as logical and hopes it will be a win-win situation for everyone involved.

This partnership will also provide research benefits for the university including the faculty, staff and students and will provide the opportunity to streamline operations, maximize efficacy and partner with a major land-grant institution, according to a release from the university.

Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe said Fort Benning trains about 62,000 soldiers a year, does more high-risk training than anywhere else in the Department of Defense, has about 600 classrooms, is located on 182,000 acres of land and trains officers from 105 nations around the world.

More than half the world comes to Fort Benning for some element of education or training every year, Donahoe said.

Because of what tanks, artillery and mortars do to the landscape, Donahoe said, the long-term goal is to maintain the quality of the land and make sure its environmentally safe.

One of the great things that our military installations do for us and our country is we actually preserve the land that we were given in trust, Donahoe said.

Besides preserving, maintaining and improving the land where they can, Donahoe said they also work to protect the population of wildlife.

With the red-headed woodpecker that we had on the installation, we protect that bird. We know exactly where those are and we train away from them, he said.

Donahoe said this agreement with Auburn will dramatically increase Fort Bennings ability to manage environmental resources cost effectively.

Burgess added that it will also be a benefit to the University because of the opportunity for professors and students to apply scientific knowledge.

Auburn University and Fort Benning say they are looking forward to the partnership.
Staff Writer

Brad Hundt came to the Observer-Reporter in 1998 after stints at newspapers in Georgia and Michigan. He serves as editorial page editor, and has covered the arts and entertainment and worked as a municipal beat reporter.
i dont want to hear about the husband

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This cross-stitch sampler gold

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Who wants to hear about either of them tbh

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my wife and i re-enact the ASMR version of this fight and whisper-scream this at each other

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I dont really like what this is implying. Not having ED says more about his overall health than how hot his wife is.

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agreed. there's nothing wrong with requiring assistance in any way; it doesn't make anyone less of a person or less deserving or capable of giving sexual pleasure

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Hes not implying that.



He just said that hes encountered other couples whove been married 10+ years whove had issues with their sex life

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Good for them.

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We need to bring back shame.

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I hate Lisa Rinna, but I agree with her idea of camping. Though I'm not quite as bougie as to have much thought about what room in The Four Seasons I'm in.

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Is he trying to make the point that his wife is hot, ergo he doesnt have ED? Thats not how it works, my dude! I also hate it when people do the whole I/my partner has never had ED! No little blue pill needed here!. It just feels shamey and gross.

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he's kind of hot for an elderly dude but I still don't wanna hear about his fully functioning penis

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Own it Harry Hamlin!

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Once upon a time ago Harry Hamlin was the hot young one in an age gap romance with Ursula Andress, I think. He's come a long way, I guess.

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Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ

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Only 25, seems like 50. They are like old school.

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I, too, aspire to be a horny old goat at age 70. Good for them.

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hmmm no thank you

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Matt Rosendale from Montana who has the unique distinction of no one knew who he was until this vote.



lmao the accuracy



also does MT only get one congressperson? I can't remember. If so... imagine being a Montanan and THAT guy being your sole rep in the House. Yikes.

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scathing

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They have just one. After the mid-terms they will get another one because after the 2020 census they got more people. A bunched moved from CA & other West Coast states after Covid hit.

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So dumb bc CAs population grew still just slower 

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Kherson is now controlled by the Russians. But, I don't necessarily see that as a major blow to Ukraine because now Russia will have to keep hold of the city.

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I hope they end up having to waste a lot of resources trying to hold the city and that Ukrainian civilians don't lose their lives defending their homes there.

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Yeah, I remember Ukrainians lost a city and then got it back, so it doesn't really have to mean they are starting to lose or something.

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I was watching ABC Evening News tonight and they did a little segment on some civilians who are ripping up fabric into strips and weaving them into camo tarps and like whoa. I was so impressed by the ingenuity and the ways in which civilians are finding any way they can to help.



Anyway, hope someone slips some polonium in Putin's tea because that's probably the best shot we have at ending this quickly.

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I wonder what's going to be the breaking point for the oligarchs/richest military personnel.

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I have no idea. But I hope that the US and other nations seizing their assets and the sanctions freezing accounts and making it hard to do business wears on them real fast...

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That report left me speechless, it really put things in perspective to see these women working so frantically and methodically. Their strength is incredible and admirable, I wish they didnt have to go through this.

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Lol ruh oh

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thats hot

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Not me starting my mob wives rewatch today and then seeing your username lol

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what does it mean seized. I mean, I kow they took it from him. But what happens to the yacht now?

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Hope they continue tgoing afetr the rich ones with no loopholes so their leader will be more inconvenient to them than ever before.

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Strip it for parts!

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Whats the point of having a yacht?

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Just for extra information, Usmanov's wife is Irina Viner, the scary lady with the fancy hats who is in charge of Russian rhythmic gymnastics. She's a monster, just look at all the documentaries about her on youtube.



Usmanov himself was in charge of the international fencing federation but he just got booted from his position. I don't know anything about fencing so if I got anything wrong I apologize.

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this is praxis

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i hope they seize all those oligarch-owned luxury apartments in nyc and turn them into housing for houseless families

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What does Kherson falling to Russia mean? Like in practice. How does it look tomorrow compared to yesterday?



Like what exactly happens?

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From what I've read, it's a strategic point that would allow the Russians to advance through the central southern part of Ukraine, helping them move up/advance from the southern part of Kyiv. I'm not a general so like idk what it would mean in the large-scale operation, but it just means they've gained another "footing" along a good point in southern-central Ukraine.

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There are no Ukrainian troops left the and the Mayor is working with a Russian commander(?) to establish a pacified government.

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oooh i see

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as an aside: all those tweets and articles talking about how weird putin's big ass table is, but to me it just seems that keeping that distance between himself and his generals/cabinet during briefings is a way to prevent possible assassination atempts, or at least make it more difficult. that's the level of paranoia he's at, i think.

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Hes doing it with people like Orban who is a strong ally I think maybe the pandemic has made him more paranoid about people getting close.

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Didn't Orban denounce the invasion?



Edited at 2022-03-03 03:23 am (UTC)

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I think I read he's like a major germaphobe especially since covid but I could be wrong.



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I bet it also makes him feel powerful like a tsar

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One female store owner in Kyiv to CNN: "I'm not scared anymore. I know Ukraine will win. The two things a Ukrainian woman needs to know is how to make borscht and Molotovs."  Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) March 3, 2022

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she continued "...and I'm all outta beets"

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It's when they mix them up that dinner becomes really fun.

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and i trust them with both

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God damn. Ukranian people don't fuck around.

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I need a Yacht Cops show where they seize oligarchs' yachts.

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It could be a Below Deck spinoff

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Just no Captain Sandy or whatever that chick's name was who had the chef bf she got Hannah fired over, I beg of you!

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Reno 911's next movie

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Hosted by Rory Gilmore

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im so thankful for these posts, i check them all day at work while im watching the news. i probably shouldnt be so immersed in whats going on, but its hard not to be.

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do you care as much as when the US attacks sovereign nations or is that sort of concern reserved for nations with white majorities only?

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of course i do. im not saying the us is innocent of war crimes or anything else. what an odd comment.

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you say like there hasn't been threats of nuclear war if people try to stop them from invading. coming in to troll instead of taking what's going on seriously.



whataboutisms right now that are doing nothing at all for any of the nations the US has caused extreme harm to nor the people of Ukraine and/or the rest of the world who would also suffer greatly from the use of nuclear weapons.

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Read the room ffs.

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lol mess

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did you know that whataboutism is a soviet propaganda tactic?

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I feel like there wasn't much news today about progress. I just kind of get scared that they are getting impatient and will start bombing civillians even more and just be more cruel.

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I also read that the Kremlin delegates indicated they were ready to go back to negotiation talks tonight (Wednesday) but then nothing came of it?! I didnt include it in the writeup because I couldnt find anything else about it.



*and what are they really negotiating because the only viable solution is Russia leaves and pays damages to Ukraine to rebuild what was bombed and reparations to those wounded and families who lost loved ones.

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I think I saw something about Ukrainians not agreeing to talks, because Russia keeps starting new bombing attacks at that time. They did that during the last one.



Edited at 2022-03-03 03:53 am (UTC)

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Theyre already bombing civilians. They will destroy the whole Ukraine.

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I'm genuinely curious what Putin thinks the long term results of this will be. Let's say Russia wins, Zelensky surrenders/gets assassinated, and the Putin stooge becomes President. Ukrainians aren't going to stand for that and are going to resist, which means Russia will have to stay in Ukraine and occupy it. If that happens, I would see Russia continuing to be a global pariah and things won't get better for them.



I'm sure the obvious answer is that Putin doesn't care about any of these things because he wants to become an emperor, but you would think he cares about self-preservation because there will come a point that someone has enough and takes him out.

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Pretty much. It's like, why do this now?

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I think Putin's lost the thread at this point. I think the pandemic isolated him more than he was, and that gave him some delusions of grandeur, and those have now turned into pipe dreams. I don't see how he stays in power at this point, unless I guess he maybe goes the North Korea route, but I just truly don't know.

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North Korea is a much smaller area to control. I think the largeness of Russia and Ukraine and any other countries Putin invades will be too big for him to maintain control over.

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I dont think he plans to put a president in, he plans to be the said president. I think the theories that he wants to take all the countries that used to be a part of the USSR and rule over it all (and then some) make the most sense to me and I think there is just enough ego there for him to think he can do it vs thinking about self preservation. Self preservation for him is probably succeeding.

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I mean the thing not to forget is that Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe, with the addition of Belarus, he would have land mass control and accessibility to the rest of the continent just based on borders.

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He overestimated a lot, it seems. Maybe the yes-people around him were afraid to tell him a lot of the truth like in what state the army really is or that his plans are not as simple as he thinks they are. Pretty sure he wanted to connect Ukraine to Russia and rule over both and not expected countries to actually sanction and oppose him this hard (and if he only tried to take part of Ukraine they probably wouldn't), so whatever he expected is not really that possible right now.

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This is how Ive felt. I think maybe it Ukraine had fallen in a day or two, the resistance wouldnt have been as strong, but its been a WEEK. And their fighting spirit seems to grow with everyday. And if something happens to Zelensky their resistance will get any stronger. Thats why Russia will never win - because Ukrainians will never allow themselves to be ruled by Russia.



But at this point, Putin cant a pull out because hell look weak and he cant have that. His ego wont allow it. So this only ends when someone takes him out I fear. But I hear an oligarch who Putin tried to have killed/kidnapped has put a bounty on his head and to some to a lot of Ukraine, 1 million USD looks very nice right now.

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I don't see how Russia wins long term in any way. Who is ever going to invest in Russia again?

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I dont think that Putin wants to occupy Ukraine. It would mean a lot of money which hes already losing now. The war is costing him $20 billion per day.

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This has all been so crazy to see. And it's making me worried about China. I have felt so much relief or maybe happiness, I don't know the word for it, at seeing the strength and resilience of Ukraine's citizens.

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I haven't heard a lot of people bring up China unless they were attempting to deflect or minimize what Russia is doing. I wish I could just add a signature to every comment I make though that says "that's just what I know, might not be a fact".

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Really? What does talking about China deflect or minimize about Russia?



I'm not trying to be snarky at all, just genuinely curious, since all the talk I see related to China is discussing worries over Taiwan.



Edited at 2022-03-03 03:33 am (UTC)

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why are you worried about us?

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The UN General Assembly voted 141-5 to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine, calling for a full military withdrawal



AAAAANNNNNDDDDD?! The UN is so frustrating most of the time.

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A freight train loaded with anti-COVID-19 supplies in 18 containers left Shenzhen on Wednesday for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), amid the central authorities' efforts to help Hong Kong combat COVID-19.

The Shenzhen-Hong Kong freight train runs once a day at the current stage, and its frequency may be increased according to the needs of Hong Kong.

Wednesday's train, departing at around 11:40 a.m. with around 50 tonnes of medical supplies, arrived in Hong Kong after about 40 minutes.

The goods include 1.1 million COVID-19 virus test kits and 20,000 pieces of protective clothing and other medical supplies. The materials will be distributed to the anti-epidemic front on the same day.

The move marks the resumption of railway transportation of mainland supplies to Hong Kong, 15 years after the decades-old regular service of sending fresh food to Hong Kong by rolling stock ended amid the rapid development of highway transportation.

"Today, we witness a freight train coming to Hong Kong from the mainland again," said Chief Executive of HKSAR Carrie Lam, who greeted the arrival of the train. "It signifies that the central government's assistance to Hong Kong in the fight against the epidemic is comprehensive, strong and fast."

Lam also expressed heartfelt thanks to the central government for the comprehensive assistance on behalf of the government and citizens of the HKSAR.

Waterborne transportation from Guangdong to Hong Kong was opened recently, and it is operating smoothly. Anti-virus materials can now be sent from the mainland to the HKSAR by land, water and railway.
i dont have the words for how terrible this is. shameful.

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Thank you so much for making this post, OP. People calling this misinformation or anti-Ukrainian propaganda can eat a bag of dicks, tbh.



Edited at 2022-03-03 04:02 pm (UTC)

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I would like to echo this sentiment on both counts.

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Not trying to call out anyone because I wanna give the benefit of the doubt, but I saw users here claiming this was Russian propaganda and it boiled my blood. smh



Edited at 2022-03-03 05:45 pm (UTC)

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yeah i saw people claim it was a psy op in the other post and just... cmon guys

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You're welcome.



I weep for Ukrainians and cheer them on. I followed the news all week and yet only learned about this today. I was so shocked. It's just not being reported much.

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I had this american dude who I matched on bumble freak out on me bc I posted on my IG stories about this and called me names and here I quote him



"i've been to ukraine many times and with black people. No issues. You are sharing Russian propaganda as they genocide Ukraine. Don't be an asshole"



"But please share hate of Ukrainian people. Maybe you have a low IQ"



"Ukraine doesn't have race issue. fuck off idiot"



"Ukrainian people are being genociyded (sic) asshole. And you want to make it about black people. Don't forget to make it about gay people too"



here I blocked here obviously......... I was NEVER against Ukraine. I mainly posted about the racism and videos of poc being pushed out of the trains.





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how did you match him on bumble omg. hes a sociopath. dodged a bullet!

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ikr? he even said "unfollow me pls" and I was like GLADLY



lmao





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Sadly, his disgusting outlook isn't an outlier. So many similar instances where people react this exact way to anyone that dares bring this issue up.

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Traveling to Ukraine and living in Ukraine are two completely different things. The two arguments can exist, jfc.

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Jfc what an idiot. You can condemn the invasion of Ukraine and the racism people are facing there at the same time. What is with this black and white thinking.

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I've had people who couldn't tell you Belarus is a country last week try to tell me as the child of Ukrainian, Belarussian, and Polish people that I don't know what I'm talking about and me acknowledging my own cousins falling into white nationalism is me supporting Putin?!? Imperialism is complete and total poison, I feel like the Olympics happening right before this turned this war into a 1980s meme.

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I hope you reported him so they ban him!

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So much to unpack here but good that you blocked him.



Racism is an issue in our region, this person clearly knows nothing about the discrimination POC face here.

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Telling them to walk...I have no words.



Good to see the world always has time and room for antiblackness.

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Theyre not very accepting of anyone over there.

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this is absolutely disgusting

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Anyone wishing to leave, should be able to leave. Even in humanitarian crises, people do so well to show theyre racist. Were welcoming Ukrainian refugees (as we well should) with open arms, but laughed when Afghans were desperate to leave just last summer...



Edited at 2022-03-03 04:12 pm (UTC)

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I really don't feel like I have the words to express it, but the double standard this past week has been depressingly unsurprising.





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Yes. It's not surprising but still depressing to see.

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Ya...it's like, I don't wanna be callous towards what's going on but my ancestral homeland is constantly under attack and nobody cares, so many other non-white/non-European people are struggling with the same thing and apparently it doesn't matter because the world doesn't think the people of that group matter. There is absolutely a social hierarchy that gets enacted regarding human suffering and genocide, and it's disgusting

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Depressingly undurprising is the perfect summary

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I hope this makes Europeans think long and hard about the "Oh we're not racist ~over here" rhetoric so many believe. They probably won't, but this can't be ignored.

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Are you talking about a whole continent? Something what happens there wouldnt happen in other countries.

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I can easily believe racism happens across various countries on any continent because it does. World history has a lot about that.



Not saying every single person on the continent of Europe is racist, but let's not pretend it isn't a problem.



Edited at 2022-03-03 04:23 pm (UTC)

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Which European country is the one with no racism?

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Um yes? Literally every country in Europe has racism in it.

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Europe has massive problems with racism, but unlike in the US, we like pushing them under the rug and pretending there's no problem. And no, this isn't just a Eastern European issue.



Edited at 2022-03-03 04:26 pm (UTC)

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Well the replies to this comment truly displayed some strong denial.



Hate crimes stats are on the rise but lol ~they don't say it to your face.

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As an european poc I can tell you that the racism here is insane, but they go on and on about how civilised the EU is as if the legacy of colonialism which founded it is meaningless and left no marks.

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Awful, but not surprising, considering it's Eastern Europe. I hope that everyone who wants to is able to leave safely.

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hearing about this and hearing reporters openly admitting they care more about the plight of Ukrainians because they're white on live news has made me feel terrible as a black child of immigrants



like humanity and compassion doesn't matter for nonwhite people





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This is such a huge crisis as it is but the way it also unearthed such a blatant display of white exceptionalism is something I was not at all prepared for especially considering all that we have seen and been through the last three years.



Edited at 2022-03-03 06:05 pm (UTC)

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I have seen videos of indian students being beaten by ukrainian soldiers and made to walk and wait in the cold as well. The indian government remains silent and unwilling to help and so these students are left on their own with no help. One indian politician tweeted about the students at the polish border and the polish ambassador to india told her she is spreading fake news and to cut it out. No one is talking about these students in the media. White pain will always be prioritized in the media.

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I'm sad but not surprised. The only time I have ever been called a Paki was in Eastern Europe. Tbh before that I didn't even know that pejorative existed outside the UK.



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I have been called paki in canada several times throughout my life. Its never gets less shocking no matter how unsurprised I am at racism if that makes sense. Sorry that happened to you.

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As a Punjabi woman that breaks my heart. :(



My heart hurts for Ukraine as well, but I've had to side-eye the media and even the way western govts react solely to white pain vs. all the brown and Black people they've bombed elsewhere.

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@tomiwabaz Why is it that when someone of colour speaks on something that impacts them a non person of colour offers an alternative view? #ukraine #racism #theystillhavetimeforracism #fyp  original sound - Tfrances&8



Edited at 2022-03-03 04:33 pm (UTC) ww3 breaking out and white ppl still find the time to be racist  absolutely appalling but not surprising

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My brother's friend is a Nigerian woman who left Ukraine for Poland two days ago and the things she shared are awful. She had immense trouble boarding a train and when she finally did she was being harassed by Ukrainian women. There is not a single country in Europe that is not anti black and anti brown people, don't let nobody tell you otherwise lol. There is always time for racism, even during war.

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Now that I think of it, especially in war cause people care more about themselves when in volatile situations. Im glad she was able to leave and hope shes in a safer more loving space. I dont really have proper words for how heartbreaking it is that even while fleeing war you are isolated like that as a black or brown person.

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The impact of the Russia/Ukraine crisis is growing, as big oil companies that had entered into various deals with Russian oil companies are now looking to withdraw. These actions will lead to collateral damage in the weeks and months to come, as production losses from the moves inevitably pile up, rendering an already-tight oil market constrained by years of under-investment in new reserves even less capable of meeting rising global demand. BP was the first major Western oil firm to announce it would cancel Russian-based business ventures, warning investors last Sunday that it would incur 1st-quarter impairment charges of as much as $25 billion. The British oil company, formerly one of the real giants of the industry, purchased a 19.75% stake in Russian-controlled Rosneft. BPs Rosneft holdings currently account for 50% of its oil reserves and a third of its global oil production. An interesting facet of those holdings is that BP does not actually own interests in production, but instead benefits as a result of a dividend paid by Rosneft. That dividend amounted to $640 million in 2021.

The holdings are currently valued at $14 billion, but BP is also encumbered by a reported $11 billion in foreign exchange losses, according to the Wall Street Journal. Later in the week, Bloomberg reported that BP was considering selling its interest back to Rosneft at a highly-discounted price. Regardless of the final nature of the exit, the loss of these assets constitutes a big hit on a company that is already greatly diminished by the estimated losses of $80 to $100 billion resulting from the 2011 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The other British major, Shell, followed on Monday with its own announcement of an exit from its various Russia-connected ventures. Those holdings include the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, for which Shell contributed 10% of the 9.5 billion construction costs in the form of a loan. They also include a 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin 2 LNG plant, which is 50% owned and operated by Gazprom.

"We are shocked by the loss of life in Ukraine, which we deplore, resulting from a senseless act of military aggression which threatens European security," Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said in a release.

Shell also warned that its exit from its Russian investments would result in an impairment that some estimate to be as high as $3 billion.

ExxonMobil said on Tuesday that it would exit Russian projects and investments it values at $4 billion. Exxon currently operates large oil and gas production facilities at Sakhalin Island as part of a consortium that includes Rosneft. The operations there are also the site of a proposed multi-billion-dollar LNG export facility. Obviously, Exxons departure puts the future of that facility in doubt.

"ExxonMobil supports the people of Ukraine as they seek to defend their freedom and determine their own future as a nation. We deplore Russia's military action that violates the territorial integrity of Ukraine and endangers its people," the company said in a statement.

Related: Ukraine War Could Wipe Out 1 Million Bpd In Local Oil Demand

In an interview with CNBC Tuesday, Chevron CEO Michael Wirth did not commit his company to pulling out of its Russia-related investments, which are comparatively small to its competitors. "A number of other companies had to take very difficult decisions. We have very little exposure to Russia as a company, but these are very difficult decisions to be made," he told CNBC.

Norwegian major Equinor also said this week that it would start the process of canceling its comparatively small investments in Russian oil production, which currently amounts to about 30,000 barrels of production daily.

At the end of the day, all investments in Russias oil and gas sector by western companies over the last three decades must now be considered at risk. These major companies and others have provided Russia-based projects with infusions of much-needed capital and helped to enable that country to raise its national oil production to as high as 11 million barrels of oil per day.

The flight of that capital, combined with western sanctions that have steadily increased in their severity over the last two weeks, promise to strain Russias ability to maintain such high production levels and continue to meet its commitments under the OPEC+ agreement. That is a strain that an already-tight global market for crude  which saw Brent crude top $115 per barrel in early Thursday trading  can ill-afford.

Just one more of many reasons to believe that crude prices still have nowhere to go but up from here.

By David Blackmon for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
To survive without Russian gas in the long term, however, is a much more complex problem and one that will require improvisation.

According to Wood Mackenzie, European gas storage is back in the five-year range and the continent could go without Russian gas next winter.

Russias invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the need for Europe to improve its energy security by reducing its reliance on Russian gas.

Russias invasion of Ukraine threw Europes dependence on Russian natural gas into sharp relief. The European Union is drafting measures to reduce its reliance on Russian energy, while various European countries, including the biggest economy, Germany, are revising their strategic energy policies, aiming to reduce their energy security vulnerability.

It was this vulnerability that has stopped the EU, the U.S., and allies from slapping sanctions on Russian energy exports (for now). Europe receives some one-third of its natural gas from Russia, but the dependence varies among EU members. Germany is 50-percent reliant on Russian gas, and Italy imports 40 percent of its gas needs from Russia. Southwest European countries Spain and Portugal do not import any Russian gas, but southeast European countries and Russias neighbors to the west, Estonia and Finland, are 100 percent or nearly 100 percent dependent on Moscow for their natural gas supply.

As the war in Ukraine threatens to cut off Russian gas supplyeither in the form of sanctions or a Putin retaliation to sanctionsEurope realized that ensuring energy security would mean weaning itself off Russian deliveries in the quickest way possible, even at a high economic price.

Ensuring gas for next winter should not be a problem, analysts and the European Commission say. The question is, what will Europe do for the winter after thatand all the following winters in the long termif it wants to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and not shape its security or sanctions policy in fear of being cut off from its largest source of gas.

This winter is nearly at its end, and European gas in storage is back to the five-year range. With restocking during the summer, Europe could go without Russian gas next winter, according to Wood Mackenzie.

From record lows at the start of winter, storage levels have now re-enter[ed] their five-year range, albeit on the lower side, and are on track to be in a more comfortable position by the end of March, Kateryna Filippenko, principal analyst, Europe gas research, at WoodMac, said.

Related: Oil Spikes To $112 As Russian Crude Becomes Toxic

It is our current assessment that the EU can get through this winter safely. At the moment, gas flows from East to West continue, LNG deliveries to the EU have increased significantly, and the weather forecast is favourable. The use of gas from storage has slowed down and we are still around 30% of storage capacity filled, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said on Monday.

EU member states need to collectively ensure a certain level of gas storage in their regions and to conclude solidarity agreements to send gas where its most needed, Simson said.

The war against Ukraine is not only a watershed moment for the security architecture in Europe, but for our energy system as well. It has made our vulnerability painfully clear. We cannot let any third country destabilise our energy markets or influence our energy choices, the commissioner said.

The European Union can manage without Russian gas next winter, but must be united in taking difficult decisions, accepting that in many cases it wont have enough time for perfect solutions, analysts at European think tank Bruegel wrote in an analysis this week.

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany announced it was changing course in order to eliminate our dependence on imports from individual energy suppliers, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday. Germany will build two LNG import facilities, at Brunsbuettel and Wilhelmshaven, and look to speed up the installation of renewable energy capacity to have 100-percent renewable power generation by 2035.

For Europe, managing without Russian gas will require improvisation and entrepreneurial spirit, analysts at Bruegel say.

The main message is: if the EU is forced or willing to bear the cost, it should be possible to replace Russian gas already for next winter without economic activity being devastated, people freezing, or electricity supply being disrupted, they noted.

But on the ground, dozens of regulations will have to be revised, usual procedures and operations revisited, a lot of money quickly spent and hard decisions taken. In many cases time will be too short for perfect answers.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The European benchmark natural gas price surged on Thursday morning to hit a new record-high for a second consecutive day, trading at the equivalent of $360 per barrel oil, as concerns over the disruption of Russian gas supply mount.

The gas price at the Dutch TTF hub, the benchmark gas price for Europe, jumped early on Thursday in Amsterdam to trade at $221 (199.99 euro) per MWh, which was a new all-time high. This beat Wednesdays record of $215 (194 euro) per megawatt-hour.

The new record from Thursday morning means that natural gas was trading at what was around $360 per barrel of oil equivalent, Javier Blas, energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg, noted.

Another fierce price jump struck the European gas market yesterday. On the leading European TTF gas hub, the front month contract has now jumped 60% over the course of a week, as the market tries to digest the consequences of the Nord Stream 2 failure and the possibility of no Russian gas to Europe during the coming years, analysts at Energi Danmark wrote in a morning note on Thursday, forecasting the uptrend to continue today.

In afternoon trade on Thursday, the TTF gas price dropped from the record in the morning, but prices are still much higher than last week.

The market is very volatile as traders are anticipating political decisions and disruptions, a gas trader told Reuters.

The market is increasingly apprehensive about a potential disruption to natural gas supplybe it additional sanctions targeting Russias energy, a possible Russian retaliation to sanctions by halting pipeline supply, or a direct hit on a pipeline carrying gas from Russia via Ukraine.

Not to mention the consequences of a possible further tightening of sanctions, the war is already causing damage to Ukraine gas facilities, analysts at Engies EnergyScan analytical service said on Thursday.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Rumors that a deal on Iran's nuclear activities could be signed within 72 hours sent oil prices lower on Thursday morning after Brent and WTI had hit nine and 11-year highs, respectively, in earlier trade.

"I have received definitive news that within the next 72 hours the nuclear deal will be signed in Vienna. Even if it might take a couple of days more or so, what appears to be certain is that the deal will be reached. #Iran's #oil is returning to the market under golden circumstances," Iranian energy journalist Reza Zandi tweeted on Thursday.

Traders reacted to the possibility that Iran could soon add barrels to the market, which is very tight, with few buyers willing to take Russian crude after Putin invaded Ukraine.

Earlier on Thursday, as of early morning trade in Europe, WTI Crude had jumped by 5.16% to $116.44, the highest level since 2011, while Brent Crude had rallied by 5.89% at $119.77, the highest since 2013.

As of 9:40 a.m. ET, WTI Crude was down 1.19% at $109.38, and Brent Crude traded down 0.45% at $112.32 after rumors of an Iranian nuclear deal emerged.

The Iran nuclear talks are in their final critical stage, and negotiators are looking to "finish the job."

At the end of last month, sources closely connected to the current negotiations between the 'P5+1' group of nations (U.S., UK, France, China, and Russia, plus Germany) and Iran exclusively spoken to by OilPrice.com, the mechanism to achieve this  a new iteration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)  is "tantalizingly close to being done," Simon Watkins reported early this week.

If Iran and the U.S. return to the so-called nuclear deal, the U.S. is set to ultimately remove the sanctions on Iranian oil exports. These additional barrels from Iranestimated at around 1.3 million bpdwould be sorely needed on the market, where few buyers dare touch Russian cargoes right now. Still, a return from Iran cannot replace the loss of Russian oil, analysts say.

"While some remain transfixed with the idea that an Iran agreement will provide much needed relief (from rising oil prices), we again caution that the deal is still not done and the sums entailed would simply be too small to backfill a major Russian disruption," RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft wrote in a note cited by Reuters on Thursday.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

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The war in Ukraine is pushing most commodities higher, and coal is no exception. Bloomberg reported this week that the coal prices are reaching new record highs, with the Australia Newcastle benchmark hitting $446 per ton on Wednesday.

The daily increase for the benchmark amounted to $140.55 per ton, which was pushed the price to the highest since 2008.

In Asia, benchmark coal prices surged by 46 percent to a record. The region is the largest consumer of the dirtiest fossil fuel. Chinese buyers, in particular, have run into difficulties securing financing for Russian coal purchases because of state banks' wariness of U.S. and European sanctions against Russia's financial sector.

Russia is the world's third-largest exporter of coal.

"Most banks have stopped issuing letters of credit after the SWIFT sanctions. As almost all contracts are dollar-denominated, we have no other way to make the payment," one China commodity dealer told Reuters.

Some traders are in talks with Russian coal exporters to pay for the cargos in yuan, the Reuters report noted. "We're waiting for their response, but trades have been put on hold for now," one trader told the news agency.

Russian coal is especially important for China after it effectively banned imports from Australia amid a trade spat between the two countries. Europe, on the other hand, is seeking alternative suppliers of coal, just as it is seeking alternative suppliers of oil and, most importantly, gas.

This is a big opportunity for Australia, the Australian Financial Review wrote this week. The country is one of the biggest coal exporters in the world, and with the Chinese ban, it would only be too happy to tap new markets for its commodity.

"I would expect energy prices would continue to rise with that sort of conflict underway, the knock-on effect for us is the fact there are countries that would normally buy Russian coal that won't buy Russian coal at the moment," said David Moult, chief executive of Yancoal, a Chinese majority-owned Australian miner.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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The European Union could reduce its reliance on Russian natural gas by more than one-third within a year by turning to other suppliers and using other energy sources, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday.

The IEA unveiled A 10-Point Plan to Reduce the European Unions Reliance on Russian Natural Gas, which includes replacing Russian supply with gas from other sources, such as more pipeline gas from Norway and Azerbaijan and increased LNG intake. The EU could also introduce minimum gas storage obligations to enhance market resilience and support regional coordination of gas storage levels and access. Accelerating wind and solar power capacity deployment is also part of the IEAs plan, as is maximizing generation from existing low-emission sources such as bioenergy and nuclear.

The agency was among the many voices in the industry to blame Russia for the energy crisis in Europe earlier this winter before Russia invaded Ukraine last week.

Low natural gas deliveries from Russia appear to have artificially tightened the European gas market, the IEAs Executive Director Fatih Birol said in January, adding that energy systems face significant risks by relying too much on one supplier for a key energy source.

We see strong elements of artificial tightness in European gas markets, which appears to be due to the behaviour of Russias state-controlled gas supplier, Birol wrote in a LinkedIn post in January.

Per IEA estimates in its report today, the EU imported 155 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia in 2021, which accounted for around 45 percent of EU gas imports and nearly 40 percent of its total gas consumption.

Nobody is under any illusions anymore. Russias use of its natural gas resources as an economic and political weapon show Europe needs to act quickly to be ready to face considerable uncertainty over Russian gas supplies next winter, Birol said in a statement today.

Ensuring gas for Europe for next winter should not be a problem, analysts and the European Commission say, but long-term, the EU will need unity, change of regulations, and improvisation in its efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Italy has halted its share of the financing for the Arctic LNG 2 project, as Western companies and countries continue to sell their stakes in Russian energy projects, even absent of energy-related sanctions.

Tankers carrying Russian LNG to Europe have changed course, oil majors such as Shell, BP, and Exxon have pulled out of Russian oil projects at great expense, and now, Italy has suspended its financing for the Arctic LNG 2 project, owned by Russian gas producer Novatek.

The project, estimated at $21 billion, is just one of the many projects that is losing foreign backing, even though Russias energy exports have thus far been exempt from sanctions. Italy, fearing more sanctions, is now rethinking its loan to the project, which some estimate at $560 million. Italy had only recently decided to help finance the project. The loan for the project had not yet been dispersed.

The agreement to finance part of the project, however, remains intact.

The latest move highlights just how much of a pariah Russia has become on the world stage after its invasion of Ukraine, and could put a damper on some of Russias energy projects.

Arctic LNG 2 was destined to be up and running by 2023, reaching full capacity by 2026. Arctic LNG 2 is expected to produce 20 million tonnes of LNG annually.

In addition to Russias Novatek, Arctic LNG 2 shareholders include TotalEnergies, CNPC, CNOOC, and Japan Arctic LNG. TotalEnergies, with a 10% stake, is one European oil major that has not decided to quit its Russian operations.

The Arctic LNG 2 project was already controversial even before Russias invasion of Ukraine, with the European Parliament stating that it was concerned about EU members support of the project because it was not compatible with climate targets.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Unregulated crypto firms in the UK are facing calls to close loopholes which allow Russians to evade sanctions.



Industry body Crypto UK said it is engaged in discussions with the Treasury and MPs about the possible use of digital assets to evade economic sanctions. In a letter, Crypto UK urged unregulated firms not to become a loophole for sanctioned Russians and to freeze or block illicit transactions.

As many of you know, we have a two-tier system in the UK where only 34 crypto companies hold a licence from the FCA covering anti-money laundering, wrote Ian Taylor, the head of Crypto UK.

A further 150 companies are unregulated and under no obligation to comply with sanctions measures. We would urge unregulated members to take action to ensure your platforms do not become a loophole for sanctioned Russians, he continued.

The comments come after Ukraines vice prime minister called on crypto exchanges to block Russian and Belarusian users.

I am asking all major crypto exchanges to block addresses of Russian users, wrote Mykhailo Fedorov on Sunday. Its crucial to freeze not only the addresses linked to Russian and Belarusian politicians but also to sabotage ordinary users.

The worlds largest crypto exchanges, including Binance and Kraken, have resisted calls for a blanket ban on Russian users, but have signaled their support for sanctions targeting individuals.

The UKs financial regulator and Treasury are piling pressure on crypto firms in the UK to ensure that sanctions are enforced. The FCA told City A.M. it has written to crypto firms spelling out their responsibilities when it comes to enforcing sanctions and the Treasury is working with government departments and multinational partners to clamp down on the use of crypto to evade sanctions.|



By CityAM

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Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest oil exporter, could raise its official selling prices for Asia for April to the highest differentials to benchmarks on record, as buyers scramble to secure additional crude from the Middle East amid toxic Russian cargoes after Putins invasion of Ukraine.

The Saudis are expected to raise significantly their official selling prices (OSPs), and Arab Lightthe Kingdoms flagship gradecould see its price for Asia next month at as much as $4.50 per barrel over the Oman/Dubai average, which would be a record high differential, three of five refining sources in Asia said in a Reuters poll on Wednesday. The expected Arab Light price would be $1.70 per barrel more than the price at which the grade is selling to Asia in March.

Saudi Arabia generally sets the pricing trends of the other major Middle Eastern oil producers, and it usually sets the OSPs of its crude for the following month around the fifth of each month, typically after the monthly OPEC+ meeting.

This months meeting on March 2 didnt result in any surprises and the OPEC+ group rubberstamped another modest 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) increase in its collective oil production for April, despite soaring oil prices after a key member of the pact, non-OPEC producer Russia, invaded Ukraine.

The expectation of a sharp increase in Saudi oil prices reflect the rallying Dubai/Oman prices, off which Middle Easts crude for Asia is priced, and the exceptionally tight market for Asian buyers, many of which are now seeking extra volumes from the Middle East  despite oils rally to over a decade-high  as they are wary of touching barrels from Russia. Crude from Russia, the key Saudi ally in the OPEC+ pact, has become increasingly toxic for buyers globally after Russias invasion of Ukraine was met with harsh banking sanctions for Russian banks.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Personal data breach has become a source of crimes involving telecom and internet fraud in China, the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said Wednesday.

Procuratorates across the country prosecuted over 9,800 people for breaching personal data in 2021, a 64-percent increase from 2020, according to data released by the top procuratorate.

Procuratorates last year prosecuted over 500 people working in industries such as telecom, banking, insurance and real estate, who were found to have been involved in personal data breaches, the SPP said.

About 40,000 people involved in telecom and internet fraud cases were also prosecuted in 2021, the SPP added, noting that the fraudulent activities were committed mainly under the pretense of personal finance and investment, dating and online shopping.
President Joe Biden took the White House press corps' annual gala as an opportunity to make light of the criticism he has faced in his 15 months in office. He also aimed a few barbs at his predecessor and the Republican Party. The White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night ended a two-year pandemic-related hiatus even as the threat of COVID-19 loomed. Biden cracked, Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year. Now that would really have been a real coup. Biden also said he was happy to be with the only group of Americans with a lower approval rating than he has.
21st Century Business Herald:

Since the RCEP took effect on Jan. 1, trade between China and ASEAN countries has been growing rapidly.

How does the MOFCOM view their further cooperation, and what are MOFCOM's following considerations and arrangements? Thank you!

Sheng Qiuping:

Thank you for your questions. China and ASEAN countries have been old neighbors, good friends, and good partners as they enjoy unique geographical proximity, cultural affinity, and complementary advantages. The year 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China- ASEAN dialogue relationship. Over the past three decades, China-ASEAN cooperation has seen remarkable progress, and the China-ASEAN economic relationship achieved leapfrog development. Last year, trade and economic cooperation between the two sides maintained good momentum, showing strong resilience and huge potential.

First, trade has further expanded. Since 2009, China has remained ASEAN's largest trade partner for 13 consecutive years. Last year, the trade volume hit a new record, reaching 878.2 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 14.5% of China's total foreign trade. The ASEAN has been China's largest trade partner for two consecutive years, with the trade structure being continuously improved and the industrial and supply chains being connected more closely.

Second, the two-way investment has been booming. As of the end of 2021, the China-ASEAN two-way investment registered about 300 billion U.S. dollars. A large batch of projects has been brought forward under their joint efforts. Industrial parks are one of the highlights. Chinese enterprises have established economic and trade cooperation zones in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and other ASEAN countries, which has played an important role in local industry development. Good examples for such cooperation include the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park; the China-Malaysia Cooperation on the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" (specifically China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park and Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park); the China-Indonesia Cooperation on the "Two Countries, Twin Parks" (specifically the Yuanhong Investment Zone in Fuqing; Fujian Province as the Chinese park; and the Bintan Industrial Estate, the Aviarna Industrial Estate, and the Grand Batang City (collectively known as the Indonesian park).

Third, connectivity has been increasingly strengthened. The two sides have advanced the docking of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 and boosted connectivity. Means of cooperation have been innovated, and a batch of infrastructure projects covering railway, highroad, ports, airports, bridges, and electricity grids have been advanced or completed. The China-Laos Railway started operation and the China-Singapore connectivity project, dubbed the "New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor," have seen remarkable progress.

Fourth, regional economic integration has been accelerated. As you have mentioned, the RCEP took effect on Jan. 1, as scheduled, through the joint efforts of China and ASEAN countries. On the same day, the China-Cambodia Free Trade Agreement also came into force. The two sides have also agreed to upgrade the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area to a higher level so as to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

In November last year, President Xi Jinping announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN leaders at the ASEAN-China Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations, which is a new milestone in the history of China-ASEAN relations. Standing at a new historical starting point, we will work with the ASEAN to fully implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both sides, push China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation to a new level, and build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.

First, we will deepen trade and investment cooperation. President Xi Jinping announced at the summit that China will import $150 billion of agricultural products from ASEAN in the next five years. We will actively promote the implementation by making good use of exhibition platforms such as the China International Import Expo and the China-ASEAN Expo and expanding the import of agricultural products and other high-quality products from ASEAN. We will better meet domestic needs through these efforts. In terms of investment cooperation, we will focus on expanding cooperation in new fields such as combating COVID-19, digital economy, green and low-carbon growth, promoting successful cooperation models, and jointly building demonstration parks for economic and trade innovation and development.

Second, we will strengthen the connections between industrial chains and supply chains. We will work with all parties to successfully hold the ASEAN Plus China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (10+3) forum for cooperation on industrial and supply chains, jointly respond to the new situation and challenges of the global industrial chain and supply chains, and promote the coordination, innovation and sustainable development of the regional industrial chain and supply chains. Furthermore, we will continue to encourage the construction of new land-sea corridors and play a supporting role in interconnection, economic and trade cooperation, and industrial and supply chains.

Third, we will improve the institutional arrangements for economic and trade development. We will work with ASEAN and other parties to implement the RCEP well and promote the agreement to enter into force in more countries. We will expedite follow-up talks to complete the upgrading of the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement within this year. We will actively promote the third version of the joint feasibility study of the ASEANChina Free Trade Area, expand cooperation in new fields such as the digital economy, strive to start negotiations as soon as possible, and cooperate with ASEAN to build a more inclusive, modern, comprehensive and mutually beneficial free trade agreement.

In conclusion, in the new year, the MOFCOM will continue to deepen China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation and promote the building of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future. Thank you.
Omahas Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge will be lit blue and yellow this weekend in support of Ukraine.

The bridge, which spans the Missouri River and connects Omaha to Council Bluffs, will join landmarks in cities across the world that have taken on the colors of Ukraines flag.

The yellow and blue lights of Omahas bridge will illuminate an anti-war rally planned at the bridge Saturday.

Organized by Omaha resident Nataliya Lys, the rally will begin at 7 p.m. and is open to all who wish to support each other and Ukraine, Lys said.

Lys emigrated from Ukraine 18 years ago. Her brother and his family still reside there.

Theyre in western Ukraine. Its relatively safe over there for now, but its still very stressful, very hard, Lys said. The emergency sirens still go on all the time. Everyone is super scared and worried.

Lys was one of multiple people to request that the city light the bridge in blue and yellow.

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said in a statement Wednesday that the people of Ukraine are demonstrating great strength in defending their country against Russia.

We join the growing voices around the world to recognize and support Ukraines independence, Stothert said.

Thursday marks one week since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Fighting continued to intensify even as the U.N. General Assembly voted Wednesday to demand that Russia stop its offensive and immediately withdraw all troops, with world powers and tiny island states alike condemning Moscow. The vote was 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions.

This report includes material from the Associated Press.

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A Lincoln man who fatally shot his estranged wifes new boyfriend in Omahas Capitol District was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.

Marlon Miranda Jr., 28, was found guilty in December of first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. On Thursday, Douglas County District Judge Duane Dougherty sentenced Miranda to life in prison on the murder charge and 45 to 50 years on the firearm charge.

On June 13, 2020, Miranda was at Epoca Cantina, in the Capitol District near 12th and Davenport Streets, to celebrate his friends birthday. Also present: his estranged wife, Sharon Miranda, from whom he had been separated since July 2019, and her boyfriend of a few months, 26-year-old Jose Santos Parra Juarez.

Sharon Miranda testified at Marlon Mirandas trial that he was aggressive that night and angry when both she and a cousin refused his request to dance.

Later, Sharon Miranda and Juarez could be seen smooching at a table. After the house lights had gone up and bargoers were leaving, Sharon Miranda got up to go to the restroom. Marlon Miranda walked over to Juarez and acted like he was whispering in his ear. When Juarez leaned over, Miranda grabbed him by the neck and twisted. The two struggled to the ground. After security intervened, Juarez emerged with a bloody face and a ripped shirt.

After the bar owner and security kicked Marlon Miranda out of the bar, he went to get a gun from his car and returned, speed walking toward Sharon Miranda and Juarez, who had left the bar by then.

Marlon Miranda got in Juarezs face. A prosecutor said Miranda reached around Sharon and shot Juarez in the left ribs, the bullet passing through his torso. Miranda then fired five more times, mostly to Juarezs torso. Witnesses described Miranda standing over Juarez and shooting him in the neck.

Miranda then turned toward his ex-wife, grabbed her hair and pointed a gun at her. Off-duty Bellevue Police Sgt. John Stuck, who was working security in the area, arrived and saw a gunman slamming a womans head against the brick wall of a parking garage. A gun was in the mans right hand, angled toward the woman.

Stuck fired nine shots at Miranda, hitting him twice and saving Sharon Mirandas life.

Jurors in December deliberated for less than an hour before finding Marlon Miranda guilty.

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The discovery of a highly infectious bird flu in a backyard flock in Pottawattamie County has prompted the Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium to indefinitely close its aviary and lock the rest of its birds indoors.

The USDA on Wednesday announced that the virus had been found in a flock in Iowa and one in Connecticut.

Samples from the ill Iowa birds were examined by the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which confirmed the virus. The Iowa location

has been quarantined and birds there will be euthanized. (Similar actions were taken in Connecticut.) None of the meat from the birds will enter the food system, according to the USDA.

This form of bird flu is highly contagious and deadly among domestic birds, including chickens and turkeys. It is not as deadly to wild birds, according to the USDA.

One route of spread is through the feces of wild birds. Another route is through lack of strict hygiene by humans that work with birds. Other pathways are under investigation.

The first U.S. case of the so-called Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, HPAI, in a backyard flock was Feb. 19 in New York, according to the USDA. Since then, it has been discovered in a handful of flocks in Maine, Delaware, Michigan and now Connecticut and Iowa.

Dr. Sarah Woodhouse, director of animal health at Henry Doorly Zoo, instituted several changes there on Wednesday. The goal, she said, was to lessen the chances of the zoo's birds becoming infected.

In a memo to zoo staff, Woodhouse said 45 birds from a backyard flock in Iowa had died from the virus. The flock, she said, was located about 20 miles east of Offutt Air Force Base.

"This means that there are very likely HPAI-infected (avian flu) wild birds in our air space, and we need to take immediate action to prevent our birds from becoming infected," she wrote the staff in a memo.

The zoo is closing the aviary to reduce the likelihood of foot traffic carrying infected feces in from the outside. The birds in the aviary will remain there because they cannot be moved. That means they remain susceptible to infection from visiting wild birds.

The zoo has locked inside any birds with indoor pens, she said.

Strict sanitation protocols also have been put in place. Staff is to wear special boots and sanitize them before stepping into a bird enclosure. Food and other treats are to be sanitized. And there is to be no interchange of tools, food or treats between bird enclosures. If one group of birds becomes ill, the zoo hopes to prevent the rest from becoming ill.

Woodhouse also advised that staff who have birds at home, especially chickens, consider keeping them inside.

Additionally, she asked that staff not wear clothing into the zoo that could be contaminated, including clothing worn while hunting waterfowl.

She also asked that any staff who hunts, goes birding or has chickens at home not wear clothing from home into the zoo.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture on Wednesday advised poultry owners to amp up their hygiene practices and monitor their flocks for signs of avian flu.

So far, the virus has not been detected in Nebraska. The last time it was found here was in the outbreak of 2015.

Symptoms of the virus include lethargy, lack of appetite or interest in water, decreased egg production, nasal discharge, coughing, sneezing and diarrhea. The virus can cause sudden death in birds even if they don't have symptoms. And it can survive in the environment for weeks, according to the state.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk of people getting infected by birds is low.

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Phoenix TV:

My question is for Mr. Wang. Despite multiple challenges last year, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Europe was taken up a notch. How do you evaluate the current economic and trade relations between China and Europe, and what are your expectations for the future? Thank you.

Wang Wentao:

Thank you for your question on the current state and outlook.

China and the EU are two major independent forces globally with broad strategic consensus and shared interests. We are significant economic and trade partners who complement each other and conduct mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation. In 2021, despite the complex and severe situation, economic and trade cooperation between China and the EU continued a momentum of rapid growth.

Statistically speaking, both the "quantity" and "quality" of bilateral trade have improved. In terms of "quantity," the trade volume between China and the EU has exceeded $800 billion, hitting a record high. China remains the largest trading partner of the EU, and the EU is China's second-largest trading partner. In terms of "quality," the bilateral trade structure has been continuously optimized, and the growth rate of trade in aerospace, biology, optoelectronics, electronics, materials, and other fields has exceeded 30%. In 2021, the agreement between China and the EU on geographical indications took effect. China-Europe freight train trips hit about 1,000 by month and 10,000 by year. Last year, a record 15000 China-Europe freight train trips were made, up 22% from the previous year.

Steady progress has been made in two-way trade. The two-way trade between China and the EU has exceeded $270 billion, and there are sound investments and cooperation in the fields such as finance, vaccine research and development, new energy, electric vehicles, and logistics. China's investment in the EU increased, bucking the trend. According to a European Union Chamber of Commerce survey in China, 60% of the surveyed companies plan to expand their business in China. Nearly half of the surveyed companies' profits in China are higher than the global average. In October last year, I met with the president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. He told me that many companies were optimistic about the Chinese market and China's future prospects and expressed willingness to continue to increase investment in relevant fields.

Meanwhile, economic and trade exchanges have been deepened. Mechanisms for exchanges at all levels, including the China-EU High-level Economic and Trade Dialogue, continue to play a role, and cooperation platforms between local governments and enterprises have become more complete. For example, the 2nd China-Central and Eastern European (CEEC) Countries Expo was successfully held. Four hundred twenty-five companies from CEEC countries participated in the expo, and 7.46 billion yuan of intentional purchases with CEEC were made. In addition, some EU companies actively participated in the 4th China International Import Expo (CIIE). The number of exhibitors, exhibition area, and intentional deals from EU companies accounted for more than one-third. Ireland was the guest country of honor for the China International Fair for Investment and Trade last year. This year, France will be the guest country of honor for the China International Consumer Products Expo this year.

President Xi Jinping pointed out that the two sides should stay committed to the comprehensive strategic partnership and the principle of mutual respect and mutual benefit, so as to ensure consistent, sound, and steady development of China-EU relations. We believe that China's development is an opportunity for the EU, not a challenge, nor a "threat," as some have claimed. We think that China-EU cooperation outweighs the competition. Of course, we also agree that the history, culture, social system, and development stage between China and Europe are different. Therefore, it is not surprising that some differences and divergence of views exist.. However, the two sides can promote healthy competition by strengthening communication. China and the EU are partners rather than rivals.

In the future, we are willing to work with the EU to implement the important consensuses reached by leaders of the two sides, firmly maintain the direction and underlying principle of China-EU economic and trade relations from a strategic perspective, synergize the Belt and Road Initiative with the EU's Global Gateway strategy, expand areas of cooperation, and deepen cooperative mechanisms. The two sides can advance pragmatic cooperation in various fields such as epidemic prevention and control, green development, digitization, finance, and technology, advance the process of ratification and entry into force of the China-EU investment treaty, and inject stability and positive energy into the China-EU relationship.

We can strengthen coordination and cooperation under multilateral frameworks such as the G20, UN, and WTO, promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, uphold the WTO-centered multilateral trading regime, and jointly promote the WTO reform in moving in the right direction. We should uphold openness and inclusiveness, reject the zero-sum mentality, oppose protectionism, and deepen market opening-up. We can strengthen cooperation between China and the EU as well as in third-party markets so as to contribute to the economic development of both sides and promote the economic recovery and stability of the whole world. Thank you.
LINCOLN  Both critics and supporters of Nebraskas election system panned a proposal Wednesday that would require voters to send identification documents with mail-in ballots.

Even those who testified in support of Legislative Bill 1181 called it just a start in dealing with concerns about the security and integrity of those ballots.

Its a Band-Aid, said Jennifer Hicks. This isnt going to solve the problems we have with our elections.

The bill and other election-related measures have been introduced despite repeated assurances from the states top election official that his office has found no evidence supporting allegations of fraud in the 2020 election.

LB 1181 was originally introduced by State Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte. Sen. John Lowe of Kearney picked up the measure after Groene resigned. Lowe said he took on the bill to keep discussion about election issues alive.

We need to find a way to work together to ease the fears of the citizens, he said.

Lowe said LB 1181 proposes an idea that could make voters feel more comfortable with mail-in ballots without creating significant barriers to using that option.

Under the bill, the envelopes used for mail-in ballots would be required to have a separate, sealable pouch on the outside. Voters would have to use the pouch to provide a copy of some identification document.

Identification options could include a drivers license or state identification card or a bank statement, paycheck, utility bill or other government document dated within 60 days that includes the same name and address listed on the voter registration rolls.

The options would be similar to the documentation required when a person first registers to vote. Nebraska does not require identification for in-person voting.

Doug Kagan, representing Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom, supported the measure, saying there is a growing concern about fraud with mail-in ballots, also called absentee or early ballots. A handful of other states have passed laws increasing voter ID requirements for such ballots.

Others said they supported the bill but argued that the identification documents allowed under it would not be adequate to secure the ballots.

Lorenzo Ortega III, speaking for the Nebraska Voter Accuracy Project, said voters should be required to provide proof of United States citizenship.

He said a drivers license would not be enough to do that, since noncitizens can obtain licenses, and suggested a passport as an alternative. Asked about the cost of a passport, he said: Its a high cost to live in this country, Im sorry.

Tracy Overstreet, the Hall County election commissioner, opposed the bill for several reasons, including the potential cost of the envelopes required.

She said she had been unable to find envelopes with sealable pouches and her usual envelope supplier had questioned whether they would meet postal regulations. She said that getting copies could pose a barrier to some people who do not own copiers.

Scout Richters with ACLU of Nebraska said the proposal would make it harder for Nebraskans to vote without any documented evidence of the kind of fraud it is targeting.

Theres nothing more fundamental to our democracy than the right to vote, she said.

Some opposed the bill because they said it did not do enough. Shawn Smith with Cause of America argued that the best way to ensure election integrity would be to require in-person voting except for those in the military or with verified disabilities.

The measure was among three heard by the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee Wednesday that seek to address some peoples lack of trust in elections.

The other two are LB 1123, which would prohibit the counting of any ballot until the polls close on Election Day, and LB 1121, which would require the Secretary of State to inspect all vote counting machines to ensure they could not be hacked.

Secretary of State Bob Evnen told the committee Wednesday that his office has investigated every concern that has been brought to them and found no evidence to confirm the allegations.

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A former workers lawsuit against Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillens company, Pillen Family Farms, was dismissed Wednesday at the agreement of both parties, court documents show.

Luis Lucar, a former employee of the pork production company owned by Pillen, brought the suit in U.S. District Court last July.

Lucar, who was born in Peru, alleged he was fired from his job as a human resource specialist for refusing to participate in activities he alleged were illegal, including hiring undocumented workers, changing names on documents so employees could avoid paying taxes and child support payments, falsifying government and insurance documents, and improperly classifying employees as contract labor to avoid taxes and other payments.

He was hired in 2012, according to the complaint. From about 2015 through his firing, it reads, he repeatedly complained about, reported and refused to participate in the alleged illegal activities. He also reported that personnel were discriminating against employees, it says, and that he himself had been discriminated against and was retaliated against for not participating in the illegal conduct.

The complaint alleged that Lucar experienced further discrimination and retaliation and then was fired in 2019 because of an inability to work with our team.

A federal judge had previously rejected attempts by the attorneys for Pillen Family Farms to have Lucars complaint dismissed. However, documents show that the parties agreed to dismiss all claims on Wednesday and that each would pay its own attorneys fees and costs.

The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning Lucar cant file the same claim again in that court.

A spokesperson for the Pillen campaign on Wednesday confirmed that the case was dismissed but said the campaign had no comment.

Pillen, a University of Nebraska regent, is considered one of the front-runners in the Republican primary race for governor and counts Gov. Pete Ricketts and the Nebraska Farm Bureau among his supporters.

Lucars lawyer, Kathleen Neary of Lincoln, had previously said the case had substantial merit that a jury needs to hear.

But Pillens campaign had called the allegations completely baseless and false, calling Lucar a disgruntled former employee terminated for poor performance and an anti-conservative, pro-illegal immigration activist.

Reached Wednesday, Neary said only that the lawsuit was dismissed.

The lawsuit also mentioned that Lucar filed administrative charges with the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, and that the charge was still pending as of last July. Ben Watson, a unit director at NEOC, said Wednesday that it doesnt confirm the existence of investigations or provide information on cases to anyone whos not a party to the case.

When The World-Herald asked Neary about the NEOC charge, she repeated, The lawsuit was dismissed. Thank you for the call, and hung up the phone.

The companys lawyer, Tara Tesmer Paulson, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

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Nebraska state veterinarian Roger Dudley said Thursday that hes very concerned at news that the high pathogenic avian flu has been discovered in a poultry flock in Pottawattamie County in Iowa.

The USDA on Wednesday announced that the virus had been found in a flock in Iowa and one in Connecticut.

Samples from the ill Iowa birds were examined by the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which confirmed the virus. The Iowa location has been quarantined and birds there will be euthanized. (Similar actions were taken in Connecticut.) None of the meat from the birds will enter the food system, according to the USDA.

This form of bird flu is highly contagious and deadly among domestic birds, including chickens and turkeys. It is not as deadly to wild birds, according to the USDA.

The last time the extremely infectious and fatal pathogen reached Nebraska in 2015, 5 million chickens were killed or died in the state and 50 million nationwide.

It tells us our domestic poultry is being threatened, Dudley said of the outbreak just across the Missouri River.

The discovery prompted the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium to indefinitely close its aviary and lock the rest of its birds indoors.

Dr. Sarah Woodhouse, director of animal health at Henry Doorly Zoo, instituted several changes there on Wednesday. The goal, she said, was to lessen the chances of the zoos birds becoming infected.

In a memo to zoo staff, Woodhouse said 45 birds from a backyard flock in Iowa had died from the virus. The flock, she said, was located about 20 miles east of Offutt Air Force Base.

This means that there are very likely HPAI-infected (avian flu) wild birds in our air space, and we need to take immediate action to prevent our birds from becoming infected, she wrote the staff in a memo.

The zoo has locked inside any birds with indoor pens, she said. Strict sanitation protocols also have been put in place. Staff is to wear special boots and sanitize them before stepping into a bird enclosure. Food and other treats are to be sanitized. And there is to be no interchange of tools, food or treats between bird enclosures. If one group of birds becomes ill, the zoo hopes to prevent the rest from becoming ill.

Woodhouse also advised that staff who have birds at home, especially chickens, consider keeping them inside.

Dudley, who works for the Nebraska Department of Agriculture, said chicken owners should take steps to protect their flocks. Keep poultry isolated from wild waterfowl and human visitors as much as possible.

Kathy Garvey, who lives south of Plattsmouth, is doing exactly that. She has 16 chickens and four ducks.

I dont want people walking in there with any kind of footwear that could be around any contaminated areas, she said. At this point, Im not planning on bringing in any new chicks, just because they would be that mild threat.

Sarah Jenkins, who has four chickens in South Omaha, said shell be creating an area to wash off her footwear so she doesnt track infected feces into her property.

Its deadly for chickens, she said. I think its scary.

Dudley said this is different from the low pathogenic avian flu that arrives annually and is based in North America.

This more deadly version began circulating in Europe and Asia about 18 months ago. It was first identified in the United States in some harvested wild birds on the east coast in January and has been moving west.

The virus is spreading with waterfowl during the migration, he said. The waterfowl get infected, but they dont get sick and die. So they continue to spread the virus.

He said the flu will continue to be a threat until the spring migration is over and then decline as long as it hasnt spread through the millions of chickens in Nebraska.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the risk to people getting HPAI infections from birds is low. No human cases of avian influenza viruses have been detected in the United States.

Omaha veterinarian Michael Bosilevac, a chicken expert, said the flu basically causes pneumonia. A chickens eyes will get swollen, and their combs and feet turn purple. Sometimes there are no symptoms and the first sign of the disease is that a hen may stop laying eggs.

They dont get enough oxygen and die, he said. We just get flocks completely wiped out.

Millions of chickens are also raised commercially in Nebraska, and Dudley said continuing to practice established biosecurity guidelines is crucial.

Just like a backyard producer, a car can drive over droppings and take it to their farm, Dudley said. Or they can go for a walk in the park and take it home on their shoes. The virus will stay on those surfaces for hours at a time.

Jenkins said people might think shes being too concerned about the flu, but she wants to keep her flock protected.

I dont want them to get sick because they are my kids, she said.

High pathogenic avian flu What is it? A high pathogenic flu carried by wild birds, especially migratory wildfowl. Why is it so dangerous? Its very contagious for chickens and other poultry and has a high mortality rate. What are symptoms? A decrease in water consumption; lack of energy and appetite; decreased egg production or soft-shelled, misshapen eggs; nasal discharge, coughing, sneezing; incoordination; and diarrhea. HPAI can also cause sudden death in birds even if they aren't showing any other symptoms. Some bids have purple combs and feet. Does it only affect chickens? No, it can also infect turkeys, ducks and geese How do you protect your flock? Restrict access to your property and poultry; wear clean clothes, scrub boots/shoes with disinfectant and wash hands thoroughly before and after contact with your flock; don't share equipment, tools, or other supplies with other livestock or poultry owners. Bird owners should prevent contact between their birds and wild birds, making sure wild birds cannot access domestic poultry's feed and water sources. What should you do if you find a dead or sick bird? Contact your veterinarian, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture at 1-800-831-0550 or 1-402-471-2351 or the USDA sick birdline, 1-800-536-7593.

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Marjie Ducey Marjie is a writer for The World-Heralds special sections and specialty publications, including Inspired Living Omaha, Wedding Essentials and Momaha Magazine. Follow her on Twitter @mduceyOWH. Phone: 402-444-1034. Follow Marjie Ducey 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
Two more Lincoln police officers are leaving  one fired and one resigning  after internal affairs investigations that followed reports of sexual harassment and discrimination within the department.

Officer Sara Khalil, who was with the Police Department since 2013, had been on leave for a knee injury since September.

Officer Erin Spilker, who sued in January alleging sexual harassment, discrimination and insufficient investigation of complaints, has resigned effective March 21.

They are among 12 to leave or be fired from the department since Dec. 1.

In a departmentwide email Friday about Khalils firing, Police Chief Teresa Ewins said she remains committed to the principles of transparency in sharing information ... regarding issues affecting our police department but balanced by the need for privacy in personnel matters.

She then went on to describe in detail how Khalil had briefly returned to light duty before going back on leave after reporting that job tasks exceeded her physical abilities due to the injury.

Ewins said the citys risk management team notified her in early February that it was investigating Khalils claims for benefits and had determined that she had provided false information in submitting claims for workers compensation and other benefits.

An internal affairs investigation that followed  one of at least half a dozen involving officers who have complained about sexual discrimination or harassment or who have supported the women who have  found the same.

Ewins said a video showed Khalil, who also is a jiu-jitsu instructor, participating in martial arts activities that far exceeded the limitations she reported.

Integrity and honesty are fundamental attributes required of anyone in law enforcement, and based on that, I made the difficult decision to terminate Saras employment due to these serious violations of city and department policy and Nebraska state law, she said.

Lincoln City Attorney Yohance Christie didnt return a message asking if he would be filing charges.

In an email, Khalils attorney, Kelly Brandon, said she adamantly denies Ewins assertions about her termination.

LPD has spent far more time investigating many of our clients than it ever did investigating their concerns. It seems they care more about circling the wagons than improving things for female officers at LPD. The citizens of Lincoln have unfortunately lost the service of several exceptional officers, Brandon said.Officer Sarah Williams, the first to sue the city alleging a toxic workplace for women in December 2020, left the Lincoln department for a job with the Omaha Police Department.

Since then, the Lincoln department has fired Sgt. Angela Sands and Officer Laura Oliphant and in February suspended Officer Luke Bonkiewicz for 30 days. Spilker resigned.

Officer Melissa Ripley, who filed suit in April 2021, remains the only one represented by Brandon who is not yet facing disciplinary actions or been fired.

The pending lawsuits, in addition to one by Williams that the city paid $65,000 to settle in December, alleged a hostile work environment for women at the Lincoln department and what little was done about it over several years.

Last year, in a video filmed as part of an Lincoln police recruitment effort, Khalil, who grew up in Pakistan and came to Lincoln at age 12, said she had wanted to be an American cop since she was 6.

Even the people that I arrest, I do my best to try to get to know them and find out where they came from, why they are where they are. And I always ask them if there is anything I can do to help them to change their path and get on a better life, she said in the video.Khalil had worked as a defensive tactics instructor at the Lincoln Police Department since 2014 and taught ground defense for new recruits.

In the email to staff, Ewins acknowledged that Khalil had alleged discrimination against the department but said that didnt absolve her or any member from following policy and the high ethical standards required of this profession.

She said her decision to terminate Khalil had nothing to do with any allegations she has made. Ewins said she encourages and supports people to bring forward concerns and collaborate with her on improving the department.

On Wednesday afternoon, the city announced an independent assessment has begun at the Lincoln Police Department to give all employees an opportunity to complete an anonymous survey about their experiences and perspectives on operations.
Caring for seniors

Every day, more than 20,000 people receive care in one of Nebraskas nearly 500 nursing homes and assisted living communities. These facilities are hubs of activity and health care for residents and their families; collectively employ 30,000 Nebraskans; and positively influence local economies.

Those who work in a nursing home or assisted living community have chosen the most selfless of professions. They come to work each day to nobly care for our most vulnerable citizens.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll, and it can be seen in the growing number of staffing shortages within these settings. January 2022 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates nursing homes and assisted living communities have experienced the greatest loss of employees among all health care sectors since the start of the pandemic.

The senior population growth (i.e., Silver Tsunami), skyrocketing costs related to COVID-19 response (e.g., personal protective equipment, staffing agencies, testing equipment, supplies, additional staffing to conduct visitor screening), caregiver burnout, and chronic underfunding have all played a role in creating this crisis.

We must now ask the question, Who will care for Nebraskas seniors? It is time to prioritize Nebraskas nursing home and assisted living community residents.

We turn to you and our states policymakers to help us in this fight by ensuring Nebraskas nursing homes and assisted living communities have the resources needed to provide the high-quality care our seniors deserve, in the communities they call home.

Chances are high you know someone who has needed or may one day need the services of a nursing home or assisted living community. Please contact your Nebraska senator and express your concerns related to this crisis. If you have a heart for service, please consider working in a Nebraska nursing home or assisted living community. You are needed.

District Chairs, Nebraska Nursing Facility Association/Nebraska Assisted Living Association

Civilized actions

Civilized countries do not bully and invade border countries with military might. Civilized persons do not consider that uncivilized action as genius.

Jim Day, Omaha

Russian invasion

Russian Premier Putin, may be doing a virtual redo of the Cuban Missile Crisis, with Ukraine being the target. Hopefully, the next 13 days will provide a different, but similar peaceful result as nearly 60 years ago. Hopefully, cooler heads in Russia will persuade Putin of the errors of his ways. I kept thinking he was making up for the mistakes made 60 years ago, but Lord only knows why he truly has acted in Nazi-like fashion.

Let us pray for and support the Ukrainians who are defending their countrys democratic independent republic from autocratic dictatorial imperialism. For they show they care in sharing the same small planet, breathing the same air as we all do. They also cherish their countrys and childrens future. For they also realize freedom can be mortally fleeting as we are.

Philip OBrien, Omaha

Mutual plans

It came as a shock to me that Mutual of Omaha is asking for a huge amount of tax increment financing for their proposed building downtown (Feb. 26). Just joking. As one of the most profitable companies in America, if not the world, Mutual hardly needs the publics help with our tax dollars in building anything.

The entire enterprise seems not well thought out and rushed. Kind of like more of a public relations effort to stave off opposition to the Dale Clark Library demolition than a serious proposal. Most of Mutuals employees want to work remotely. What workers that do remain at their current location will only be moving a couple miles east; they wont be new jobs.

Their proposed skyscraper comes with 2,200 parking stalls financed by the taxpayers. What is the purpose for a streetcar system then?

If CEO James Blackledge wanted to change the image of Mutual of Omaha from an admired company to a company loathed by Omahans, this would be a good start.

Ricky Fulton, Omaha

Candidate questions

I would like to hear more from our gubernatorial candidates about the plans for some of the issues plaguing Nebraska.

Gun violence has increased in Nebraska during the pandemic. Will some of the candidates brandishing their hunting guns decrease that number?

More than 2,000 college graduates have left the state every year for over a decade? What plans do the candidates have to reverse that trend  called our brain drain?

A couple of the candidates have cried out with disdain the chaos at the border and the cost to our state of the undocumented immigrants. Twenty four percent of the immigrants in Nebraska are college graduates and provide along with other immigrants 6% of our states revenue. That amount outweighs what it costs our state in revenue to educate and provide essential supports.

Many of the Republican contenders seem to be concerned with the liberals in Washington. What role did any political position play when it comes to the housing crisis, the almost million who have died in the U.S. from the virus, the nursing and teacher shortage, or the brain drain? There is need for a new type of prison and some additional space. More than 80% of those in prison will return to our towns and cities. Will a $230 million prison help prepare them for re-entry? These are the issues I want to hear the candidates discuss. Our candidates will need liberals and conservatives to resolve the above.

Carol E. Richart, Omaha

Pillen ad

My wife and viewed with astonishment the Jim Pillen for Governor TV advertisement. What possible content filter would have allowed this strong-armed, threatening ad to air on any responsible network (over and over again)? I daresay had his face been that of a Black man or any other minority, the ad would never had been carried. After speaking disdainfully about Present Biden and Dr. Fauci, he blatantly cocks his shotgun and assures the viewer that he will handle things the Nebraska way. We agree with Helen Jordons pulse letter (Feb. 2) when we assure Mr. Pillen that we too are Nebraskans and we want no part of his dangerous campaign.

Peter and Pam Parkert, Omaha
Unusually early record-high temperatures on Wednesday ushered in more than a gorgeous afternoon.

A large brush fire along Interstate 80 in the Omaha metro area backed up traffic and kept firefighters and law enforcement busy. No injuries were reported.

The record warmth was noteworthy for how early it occurred in the year, said Taylor Nicolaisen, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley.

Omahas high was 79 degrees Wednesday, breaking the previous record of 76 degrees set in 1992, he said. Lincoln reached 81 degrees, breaking its record of 79 degrees set in 1904.

This is very early, Nicolaisen said, pointing to Lincoln. In only two previous years since record-keeping began in 1877 in Lincoln has the high crested 80 degrees this early in the year, he said. The prior years were 1972 and 1992.

This weeks warmth isnt lasting. A cold front that moved through Wednesday night is expected to shave about 30 degrees off the daytime high on Thursday. Highs in the Omaha metro are forecast around 50 degrees.

Temperatures bounce back up Friday and then drop again over the weekend as storm system moves in.

Nicolaisen suggested people monitor the weekend forecast. For now, Iowa is in the bulls-eye for supercell storms that could bring damaging hail and winds on Saturday, he said.

Omaha is expected to receive light rain Saturday, but could also get some thunder and bluster, Nicolaisen said.

Wednesdays warm, dry and breezy weather was conducive to a high fire danger, Nicolaisen said.

The I-80 brush fire was reported at about 2:45 p.m. along the eastbound lanes near the 84th Street exit.

By the time firefighters had it under control, it had expanded west to the 96th Street area and possibly beyond. It also was reported to have jumped the railroad tracks that run parallel and south of I-80.

Smoke filled the air along the Interstate, including as far west as Interstate 680.

About an hour after the fire was first reported, a crash occurred on southbound Interstate 680, near the I-80 interchange. The cause of that crash wasnt immediately available, but traffic was bogged down in the area. No one was seriously injured, according to a 911 dispatcher.

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NORMAL  Illinois State University announced Wednesday it plans to require masks in even fewer locations starting March 21.

As of this week, masks are no longer required at some indoor locations on campus, including residence halls and dining facilities. Masks are still required in classrooms, laboratories, clinical settings, on public transportation and where required by contracts with guest speakers and performers.

The new guidelines going into effect March 21 will allow people to go without masks in classrooms and laboratories. The other restrictions  clinical settings like health services, public transportation and where required in guest contracts  will still be in place.

Professors will also be able to ask people to wear their masks in classrooms. The school asked people to respect requests to wear masks in private offices and dorms.

Contact Connor Wood at (309)820-3240. Follow Connor on Twitter: @connorkwood

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NORMAL  The driver of a McLean County Unit 5 school bus was ticketed Wednesday afternoon after hitting a parked vehicle, Normal police said.

Normal Police Department Sgt. Brad Underwood said dispatchers received report of the crash at 3:09 p.m. Wednesday. He said it happened on Briarwood Avenue about 75 feet south of Maple Place.

Underwood said a McLean County Unit 5 school bus was pulling over to the side of the road when it sideswiped another vehicle.

A McLean County Unit 5 spokesperson said students were on board when it happened.

No injuries were reported as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, said the police sergeant. He added the driver was cited for improper lane usage.

This is at least the second collision involving a school bus this year in Normal: one First Student staff member was hurt and a sedan was totaled Jan 14.

Farther back, on Oct. 29, 2021, one person was killed in a crash involving a school bus on North Main Street in Normal.

An earlier version of this article falsely stated which employee was hurt in a crash this January in Normal. This version has been corrected.

Contact Brendan Denison at (309) 820-3238. Follow Brendan Denison on Twitter: @BrendanDenison

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CHICAGO  A Chicago girl was critically wounded when she was shot in the head while sitting in her car following a celebration of her 12th birthday, police said.

The girl was in the passenger's seat of a car driven by a family member in the city's West Englewood neighborhood on Tuesday night when one of the bullets fired by three gunmen at another vehicle struck her in the back of the head, according to police.

No arrests have been made.

At a press briefing Wednesday, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown called it a "heinous, reckless senseless" shooting involving rival gangs. Brown would not elaborate, but vowed to go after those responsible.

"The full brunt of every resource we have will bear down on the gang responsible for this," he said.

The girl was taken to a hospital, where she remained in critical condition Wednesday, according to community activist Andrew Holmes, who has been talking to family members.

The shooting comes amid an increase in gun violence in the city. Last year, 797 homicides occurred in Chicago  more than any single year in the last quarter century.

According to a WBBM-TV analysis of data obtained through an open records request, at least 276 children ages 16 and younger were shot in the city in 2021. Forty-three of those victims were younger than 13.

Chicago recorded 92 homicides in the first two months of this year  one more than during the same period of 2021.

That includes the January shooting of 8-year-old Melissa Ortega, who was crossing the street with her mom in the Little Village neighborhood when she was killed. Police say a man was aiming at a rival gang member who flashed gang signs. Two arrests have been made in that shooting.

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SPRINGFIELD  Longtime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on 22 counts for allegedly using his position as the top House Democrat to solicit personal financial rewards for himself and his associates, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Northern District of Illinois.

The former leader of the Democratic Party served as Illinois House speaker for all but two years from 1983 until his unseating in January 2021. Throughout that time he was widely viewed as a more powerful political force than anyone in the state, including its governors.

Now, Madigan, 79, is accused of nearly a decade of running a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigans political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates, according to a news release from the Chicago-area U.S. attorneys office.

The indictment alleges a long-term, multifaceted scheme to use public positions for unlawful gain, including no-show or low-show jobs for Madigan's political workers and private gain for Madigan himself, U.S. Attorney John Lausch, whose office led the investigation, said at a news conference. The schemes describe involvement of a leader of state government, one of his close confidantes, top management of a large public utility, consultants and others.

Madigans longtime confidante, Michael McClain, whose home was raided by the FBI in May 2019 in what was one of the first public acts of a long-running federal investigation, was also named in the indictment.

McClain, who was at one time a lobbyist for utility giant Commonwealth Edison, carried out illegal activities at Madigans behest, according to Lauschs office.

Madigan, widely known as the states most careful politician, famously avoided use of electronic communications such as email and cellphones.

Laush did not directly answer a question as to whether wiretaps were used in investigating the ex-speaker.

We use all the investigative tools that we canThose aren't spelled out specifically in the indictment, he said. But what you do have are words that are used in conversations. You do have words that are used in documents or on emails that are spelled out throughout the indictment. And that's the core of our evidence in this case. It's the words that are spoken by people. It is the things that show up on documents, and those are the things that actually formed the basis for the charges that we brought.

It was July 2020 when Lauschs office first made clear that Madigan was the subject of investigative activity without mentioning the former speaker by name.

At that time, the the Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives and the longest serving member of the House of Representatives was named as Public Official A in a deferred prosecution agreement in which utility giant Commonwealth Edison admitted to a yearslong bribery scheme.

While the name Michael Madigan didnt appear in the 38-page DPA, the court document made clear that ComEds bribery scheme involved hiring close associates of the former speaker to win his support for legislation that was favorable to the company.

In May 2021, Madigans former chief of staff, Tim Mapes, was indicted on obstruction of justice and lying under oath charges.

Now, Madigans name appears atop a 106-page indictment, along with McClains, charging the ex-speaker with 22 counts that include racketeering and wire fraud charges, counts which by themselves could lead to up to 20 years in prison, Lausch said.

According to the indictment, Madigan also used his position as committeeman for Chicagos 13th Ward, chairman of both the Illinois Democratic Party and the 13th Ward Democratic Organization, and position at the Chicago law firm of Madigan & Getzendanner to further the goals of the criminal enterprise.

The U.S. attorneys announcement that public corruption charges would be forthcoming hit inboxes just before 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. While a news conference was scheduled for 4:30 p.m. to announce the charges, Chicago media began reporting Madigan would be the subject of the indictments just before 3 p.m.

News quickly circulated throughout the Illinois State Capitol, where the House was in session but the Senate was not. House business adjourned at about 4 p.m.

Republicans were all smiles as they left the floor knowing their longtime antagonist was the subject of the latest investigative bombshell.

While some Democrats avoided the news media, new House Speaker, Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, held an impromptu news conference outside his offices, and a group of 19 House Democrats who refused to support Madigans reelection as speaker in January 2021 met with members of the news media as well.

House Republicans held their own news conference in the Capitols media room, calling it a dark day in the history of Illinois politics.

This indictment is the most sweeping public corruption charge and case to hit Illinois in decades, said House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs. The depth of this corruption that's alleged in the indictment is truly breathtaking. But this is not just an indictment against Michael Madigan. But it's an indictment against the Democrat Party of Illinois that he ran for decades.

Madigan first arrived in Springfield in 1970 as a delegate to the constitutional convention that drafted the states current constitution. That same year, he was elected to the Illinois House from what is now the 22nd District on Chicagos Southwest side.

He was first elected speaker in 1983 and served in that post for all but two years in the 1990s until January 2021, the longest tenure of any legislative leader in U.S. history. He resigned his House seat in February 2021 and later stepped down as Democratic Party leader.

Throughout the recent controversy and investigative activity that led to his indictment, Madigan has fiercely denied wrongdoing.

In July 2020, after being named in the ComEd court documents, Madigan said in a statement he accepted subpoenas to his office but denied wrongdoing.

He will cooperate and respond to those requests for documents, which he believes will clearly demonstrate that he has done nothing criminal or improper, according to the statement distributed by Maura Possley of the BoycePossley firm at the time.

The speaker has never helped someone find a job with the expectation that the person would not be asked to perform work by their employer, nor did he ever expect to provide anything to a prospective employer if it should choose to hire a person he recommended. He has never made a legislative decision with improper motives and has engaged in no wrongdoing here. Any claim to the contrary is unfounded, Possley said in the emailed statement.

Republicans in the General Assembly tried unsuccessfully to use evidence outlined in the ComEd documents to begin proceedings to oust him in 2020. The investigative committee in charge of deciding whether to bring a formal complaint, led by Welch, a Madigan loyalist who is now House speaker, deadlocked on the question.

While he wasnt ousted by the committee, when the House met to choose its new speaker for the General Assembly beginning in 2021, Madigan failed to gain the requisite support in his caucus for another term.

Democrats ultimately decided on Welch as his replacement from a handful of challengers.

On Wednesday after the indictment, Welch began his public remarks by addressing his role as the chair of that committee.

Let me begin by first saying that, as the former chair of the Special Investigating Committee, I said all along, during the course of that process, that I thought that there was a more appropriate forum to deal with the things that we had been hearing in the public domain, he said in a news conference outside his Capitol office. And I thought that forum was the United States Attorney's Office. The United States Attorney's Office has all the resources that it needs to properly and thoroughly investigate allegations of corruption. I knew that all along.

Welch said the House has passed ethics reforms since he became speaker and hired a new legislative inspector general. He said he believed he led the investigating committee openly, honestly and fairly.

And we're going to continue to do that, he said. And I think here in the last 13 months, you can speak to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle. I've done it my way. The Chris Welch way. The only way I know how. And it's a new day in Springfield.

Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego, one of the first Democratic challengers to announce her bid to unseat Madigan as speaker toward the end of 2020, held her own news conference on the Capitol rotunda.

She said she made up her mind to challenge Madigan when he was named Public Official A in the ComEd document. She said the justice system will do what it has to do when Madigan has his day in court.

I was honored to build and to be a part of a coalition of 19 individuals that did not support him, Kifowit said. The Democratic Party put Illinois first when we voted in a new speaker, when we voted in Emanuel Chris Welch as our speaker of this General Assembly.

The other 18 House Democrats who stood against Madigan joined Kifowit for a Capitol news conference late Wednesday as well.

The possibility that this day was coming and would distract us from our work on behalf of the people we serve was top of mind for many of us as we took this position, even as we faced intense pressure to maintain the status quo, Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, said at the news conference.

Gov. JB Pritzker called the indictment a condemnation of a system infected with promises of pay-to-play.

The era of corruption and self-dealing among Illinois politicians must end, he said in the statement. The conduct alleged in this indictment is deplorable and a stark violation of the publics trust. Michael Madigan must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

The governor called the indictment an important step to cleaning up Illinois and said he has faith in the justice system.

When I ran for office, I made clear that I would be beholden to no one, and that I would serve the best interests of the people of Illinois, he said. I have upheld that vow. For the past three years, my administration has made clear that such abuses will not be tolerated, and weve tightened our ethics laws. I will continue to work with the General Assembly to restore the publics trust.

U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, who was chosen as Madigans successor as the states Democratic Party of Illinois chair, urged Madigan to step down as a state central committeeman from the 3rd Congressional District.

The DPI is committed to building a party that is more transparent, more diverse, and more inclusive in everything we do, she said in a statement. Todays announcement is a stark reminder that elected leaders must hold themselves to the highest ethical standards. We will observe the legal process as it unfolds, but there can be no tolerance of anyone guilty of violating the public trust.

Senate President Don Harmon issued a short statement calling the allegations disturbing.

I have confidence in our system of justice. Like everyone else, I will be watching to see how this unfolds, he said.

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CHICAGO  Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, for decades the most powerful politician in the state, was indicted Wednesday on federal racketeering charges alleging his elected office and political operation were a criminal enterprise that provided personal financial rewards for him and his associates.

The 22-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury comes after a yearslong federal investigation and alleges Madigan participated in an array of bribery and extortion schemes from 2011 to 2019 aimed at using the power of his office for personal gain.

The long-awaited charges punctuate a stunning downfall for Madigan, the longest-serving leader of any legislative chamber in the nation, who held an ironclad grip on the state legislature as well as the Democratic Party and its political spoils. He was dethroned as speaker in early 2021 as the investigation swirled around him, and soon after resigned the House seat hed held since 1971.

Both Madigan and his attorneys denied the allegations in written statements Wednesday and said they intended to fight them in court.

Also charged in the indictment was Madigans longtime confidant, Michael McClain, a former state legislator and lobbyist who is facing separate charges alleging he orchestrated an alleged bribery scheme by Commonwealth Edison.

That same alleged scheme forms the backbone of the indictment returned Wednesday, outlining a plan by the utility giant to pay thousands of dollars to lobbyists favored by Madigan in order to win his influence over legislation the company wanted passed in Springfield.

The indictment also accused Madigan of illegally soliciting business for his private property tax law firm during discussions to turn a state-owned parcel of land in Chinatown into a commercial development.

Though the land deal never was consummated, its been a source of continued interest for federal investigators, who in 2020 subpoenaed Madigans office for records and communications hed had with key players.

Then-Ald. Daniel Solis, who was secretly cooperating with the investigation, recorded numerous conversations with Madigan as part of the Chinatown land probe, including one where the speaker told Solis he was looking for a colleague to sponsor a House bill approving the land sale.

I have to find out about who would be the proponent in the House, Madigan allegedly told Solis in the March 2018 conversation. We gotta find the appropriate person for that. I have to think it through.

The indictment also alleged that Madigan met with then Gov-elect J.B. Pritzker in December 2018 in part to discuss a lucrative state board position for Solis, ostensibly as a reward for helping Madigan win law business.

Before that meeting, Solis allegedly recorded Madigan telling him the speakers communication with Pritzker did not need to be in writing, according to the indictment. I can just verbally tell him, Madigan allegedly said.

His office issued a statement Wednesday saying Pritzker does not recall Madigan ever asking him to consider Solis for any position and that the administration has no record of the alleged recommendation.

A spokesperson for Pritzker also revealed the governor was informed by federal law enforcement that he was only a witness in the investigation, and that he agreed to a voluntary interview in his home in late February.

Pritzker spoke to investigators for about an hour about his experiences with and knowledge of Mike Madigan and that he was pleased to cooperate and provide information.

Both Madigan, 79, of Chicagos Southwest Side, and McClain, 74, of downstate Quincy, were scheduled to be arraigned on the charges March 9 before U.S. District Judge Robert Blakey.

It was unclear as of Wednesday evening whether that hearing would be conducted in person or by telephone under the courthouses COVID-19 protocols.

In addition to the criminal charges, the indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation against both Madigan and McClain seeking $2.8 million in alleged ill-gotten gains.

At a news conference Wednesday at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, U.S. Attorney John Lausch said the indictment was yet another sign of the states seemingly intractable issue of public corruption.

Unfortunately, this type of criminal conduct drastically undermines the publics confidence in our government, Lausch said. Simply put, its not a good thing.

In his written statement Wednesday, Madigan said he never engaged in any criminal activity and that prosecutors were attempting to criminalize legal political actions such as job recommendations.

That is not illegal, and these other charges are equally unfounded, the statement read. Throughout my 50 years as a public servant, I worked to address the needs of my constituents, always keeping in mind the high standards required and the trust the public placed in me. I adamantly deny these accusations and look back proudly on my time as an elected official, serving the people of Illinois.

His criminal defense lawyers, Sheldon Zenner and Gil Soffer, said in their own statement the charges were baseless overreach by prosecutors and that the evidence would prove so in court.

McClains attorney, Patrick Cotter, said in a statement that the government for years has been trying to force him to cooperate in its quest against Madigan and that the latest charges are nothing more than a continued attempt to pressure him to do prosecutors bidding.

He remains innocent of the recycled and new charges in this latest indictment, Cotter said. He will never testify falsely about himself or anyone, no matter how many indictments are brought against him. We will fight to prove his innocence.

A major focus of the indictment is what prosecutors call the Madigan Enterprise, an ongoing arrangement with Madigan, McClain, the speakers 13th Ward Democratic organization, Madigans chairmanship of the state Democratic Party and his property tax appeals firm, Madigan and Getzendanner.

The purpose of the enterprise was to exercise, preserve and enhance Madigans political power and financial well-being, reward his political allies and workers financially for their loyalty and to generate income for members and associates through illegal activities.

The indictment alleges the illegal acts ranged from Madigan using his vast power as speaker, including his ability to virtually pass or block legislation, to reward friends and political allies.

The indictment was the culmination of a long-running federal probe of Madigan that broke wide open in summer 2020, when prosecutors identified him as Public Official A in bribery charges against ComEd.

Four people, including McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, former lobbyist John Hooker, and Jay Doherty, a consultant and longtime leader of the City Club of Chicago, were charged that November with bribery conspiracy and are awaiting trial. A fifth, former ComEd Vice President Fidel Marquez, has pleaded guilty to his role and is cooperating with investigators.

In bringing new charges against McClain, the U.S. attorneys office seems to be putting the squeeze on him to cooperate. If he doesnt, hell be left simultaneously fighting both the racketeering case and separate ComEd bribery case, which is set for trial in September.

By indicting Madigan, a famously shrewd tactician who rarely used email or cellphones, the U.S. attorneys office in Chicago has reached the apex of the states political food chain, even in the pantheon of Illinois political figures whove gone down on corruption charges before him.

Four Illinois governors went to prison during Madigans five decades in Springfield  one for crimes after leaving office and three others for misdeeds while serving as public officials. Madigan even held the gavel in the House when Illinois, for the first time, impeached a governor, Democrat Rod Blagojevich.

But none of those politicians had the staying power of Madigan, who used patronage jobs and other perks to build an army of foot soldiers sent to work campaigns on key legislative seats that reinforced Madigans position. His stature, in turn, brought him considerable personal wealth by helping land clients at his law firm, which handles high-dollar property tax appeals on some of Chicagos biggest buildings.

The investigation into Madigan had already taken a toll, with waning political support forcing Madigan to give up the speakers gavel in January 2021, followed by his abrupt resignation weeks later from the legislative seat hed held since 1971.

The probe came on the heels of another bombshell case  the racketeering indictment against Chicago Ald. Edward Burke, who like Madigan represented one of the last vestiges of Chicago machine politics.

Just two weeks before Burke was indicted for alleged corruption at City Hall, federal agents in May 2019 quietly executed search warrants on McClains home, as well as the homes of Madigan allies Kevin Quinn and Chicago Ald. Mike Zalewski.

The first public hint of the burgeoning probe came the next month when the Chicago Tribune reported that Quinns South Side home had been raided. Over the next several months it became clear that federal prosecutors were interested in money flowing from ComEd lobbyists to operatives in Madigans vast political operation. In November, the Tribune reported McClains cellphone had been tapped by the FBI.

In July 2020, the U.S. attorneys office announced it had charged ComEd with bribery as part of a deferred prosecution agreement that called on the company to pay a record $200 million fine and cooperate in exchange for charges being dropped after three years.

ComEd has cooperated fully with the investigation, been transparent with customers, and implemented comprehensive ethics and compliance reforms to ensure that the unacceptable conduct outlined in the agreement never happens again, ComEd spokeswoman Shannon Breymaier said in a statement.

Four months after the ComEd charges were announced, prosecutors charged McClain, whose friendship with Madigan dates to when they served in the House in the 1970s and early 1980s and who later, as a lobbyist, was one of the only people in the General Assembly to have consistent access to the speaker on a broad range of issues.

In May 2021, chief of staff Timothy Mapes, another key member of his inner circle, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying to a federal grand jury about Madigans relationship with McClain as well as other matters involving the ComEd scheme.

In addition to a goal of financial gain, the indictment returned Wednesday alleged Madigan as part of the criminal enterprise used his speakership to mete out punishment, such as taking away staff if a lawmaker didnt go along with the speakers wishes.

One previously highlighted example of Madigan and McClain protecting the speakers interests came in 2016, when McClain allegedly interceded with Pramaggiore to restore legal work that ComEd sought to cut back from the law firm of Victor Reyes, a Madigan operative in the Hispanic community. Reyes has not been charged.

The Madigan push to re-up the Reyes law firms ComEd contract allegedly came in connection with the companys desire to reward the speaker for the promotion and passage of major legislation in 2016 to get consumers to underwrite costs of two power plants.

ComEd allegedly looked the other way when some of Madigans choices for internships for students coming out of the 13th Ward didnt hit a minimum grade-point average, according to the indictment. The company at times waived the requirements for the Madigan internships, the indictment alleged.

The indictment alleged code-names were used when speaking about Madigan. Prosecutors formally said people in the conspiracy referred to Madigan as our friend or a friend of ours rather than using Madigans actual name.

The Tribune had previously reported McClain referenced Madigan with another cozy nickname: Himself.

The indictment also describes how Madigan allegedly gave ComEd a heads-up in April 2018 about legislation that they may want to oppose. He allegedly made the move around the time he was pressing to put Juan Ochoa, the former chief of McPier, into a slot on the board of directors of ComEd, a company regulated by the state.

On May 2, 2018, McClain allegedly informed Madigan of ComEds resistance to Ochoas appointment, and Madigan instructed McClain that they continue to support Ochoa, who was only identified as Individual BM-1 in the indictment.

The indictment described a series of calls in which McClain talked individually to Madigan, Pramaggiore and Hooker, noting in some that Madigan first warned of the potentially adverse legislation, that he pressed for Ochoas appointment and that he gave McClain permission to kill the bill.

The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Greg Harris, a Chicago Democrat who was an assistant majority leader soon to become majority leader, a trusted member of Madigans leadership team.

The bill would have made a series of changes to the state public utilities act, including a requirement that some retail electric suppliers submit rate information every year to the Illinois Commerce Commission and the attorney general as well as assorted other provisions.

Harris, who later served as Madigans majority leader, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Beyond the board of director job, the indictment also alleged McClain worked with ComEd officials to steer payments to other Madigan allies.

In December 2018, McClain informed an unidentified intermediary of Madigans decision to terminate payments to one person and instructed the intermediary to make it falsely appear that a remaining payment was simply a holiday bonus even though the person had performed little or no work, according to the indictment.

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CHICAGO  The challenge of determining the number of people who are homeless has become even more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates say.

Living under bridges, behind buildings or in remote wooded areas, or staying temporarily with friends or family, people who have no permanent home can become nearly invisible.

People like David Sorenson, a 60-year-old veteran, went uncounted despite being without a home on and off in Chicagos suburbs for a couple of years before getting back on his feet.

So when government estimates show that the number of people experiencing homelessness in Illinois dropped 15% in 2021, and fell 16% in Chicago, housing advocates expressed some skepticism about the results. The counts, conducted by volunteers and fed to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, are used to allocate federal funding.

Advocates caution the latest numbers are not comparable to before the COVID-19 pandemic and question the accuracy of the national point-in-time estimate, which is based on hit-or-miss tallies that typically occur one night a year.

The count from January 2021, the most recent one made public, was different from other years because it allowed for sampling a few areas rather than canvassing entire cities. It was also affected by COVID-19 distancing requirements that restricted many shelters to about half their normal capacity. That meant that many people who normally would have been counted at shelters  who make up more than two-thirds of the homeless count  scattered to temporary housing or on the street, making them difficult to find.

Federal aid and a moratorium on evictions also may have prevented homelessness, advocates said, before those measures expired last summer.

In Chicago, the point-in-time count in January 2021 found about 4,500 people. Black people made up 73%, compared with white people at about 13% and Latinos at 12%, though the three groups make up roughly equal parts of the citys population.

Even in the years leading up to the pandemic, the point-in-time count in Chicago fell slowly but steadily, from about 6,800 in 2015 to about 5,300 in 2019  a 22% drop. Poverty rates among Black and Hispanic people dropped significantly in that time as well.

The most recent decrease suggests that extra funding prompted by COVID-19, such as $43 billion for housing in the American Rescue Plan, had a positive impact, HUD spokeswoman Andrea Roebker said.

Locally, Sam Carlson, manager of research and outreach for the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, wasnt sure how much the encouraging numbers reflected poor people leaving poverty or leaving the city altogether. Drawing from several sources, including public school counts of homeless students and people who use homeless services, the coalition estimated about 58,000 homeless people in Chicago in its last count in 2019.

The challenge finding homeless people was evident recently in McHenry County, where volunteers tried to find people on a night following a snowstorm, when temperatures plunged to the single digits. Checking at train stations, behind stores and in wooded areas, they found just four people on the street, plus 13 temporarily at hotels, and six seeking homeless services, organizer Sam Tenuto said.

The services were offered at the Empower Shower, held twice a month at Willow Creek Church in Crystal Lake. In addition to offering hot showers, the event provides clothing, a laundry room, a hot lunch, camping gear, drug addiction services, and reentry help for people getting out of prison. Manager Julie Davis called it a great place to have community and be with people who love them.

Sorenson came to the shower to do laundry, and shared his story of how he went through a rehab program that he said not only helped him find a home, but with classes on anger management and other coping skills, helped him get back into civilization.

Yet even facilities for people who are homeless come and go. While the Old Firehouse Assistant Center for homeless people in Woodstock closed in 2019, and churches stopped housing PADS overnight shelters during the pandemic, the Pioneer Center for Human Services opened a permanent overnight shelter in the city of McHenry.

The countys waiting list for government-subsidized homes has been closed for two years. Illustrating the disconnect that sometimes occurs between homeless people and government bureaucracies, one man recently found out he was eligible for an apartment after five years of waiting, but he had lost his phone and missed the 10-day window to claim it. He was hoping to get paperwork to get an extension, but without his own transportation, suddenly had to pay $60 for a car to rush to the necessary agencies.

Another significant change during the pandemic has been in programs to use hotel rooms as temporary shelter for at-risk people. Some counties, like McHenry County, had to curtail the program due to its cost. Chicago was scheduled to end its program at Hotel Julian downtown Friday, while transitioning to other hotels, shelters or housing.

The Chicago Department of Family and Support Services found that housing people temporarily in hotel rooms led to better health and wellness outcomes, spokesman Joe Dutra said. City officials are trying to focus on getting more people into noncongregate and permanent housing and plan to spend $100 million on the effort.

Despite the decreases in homeless estimates, advocates warn that the end of the eviction moratorium may mean a coming wave of people on the street. The Lawyers Committee for Better Housing and Loyola University recently estimated as many as 21,000 evictions may come in the first month they are restored  more than in a typical year. The moratorium ended last summer, but advocates say it takes a long time to complete the eviction process.

Megan Bennett, outreach and community case manager for the McHenry County Housing Authority, said many people lost jobs due to COVID-19 closures. Emergency federal funding helped them keep or find homes, but may be dwindling. Whether the people who are homeless get counted or not, she said, We know theyre out there.

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After decades operating in the shadow of Michael Madigan, Illinois Democrats on Wednesday sought to distance themselves from the longtime House speaker and state party chairman after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, even as Gov. J.B. Pritzkers office acknowledged the governor had spoken with investigators working the case.

The racketeering and bribery allegations come at the start of an election year in which Pritzker seeks a second term and his fellow Democrats seek to hold on to the supermajorities in the House and Senate that Madigan and his political organization helped build through their ground-level campaign work and control of legislative mapmaking.

Republicans, who have long cast Madigan as the villain in their political campaigns, looked to capitalize on Wednesdays long-anticipated indictment as they seek a greater voice in Springfield.

Pritzker spoke with federal investigators virtually for an hour last month from his home, spokeswoman Emily Bittner said in a statement.

Federal law enforcement informed the governor that he was only a witness, and the governor agreed to their request to speak to them about his experiences with and knowledge of Mike Madigan, Bittner said. He answered every question they posed and we encourage you to ask federal authorities for any additional details that they are willing to provide.

U.S. Attorney John Lausch said Wednesday that there is no allegation of wrongdoing against Pritzker.

Shortly after the charges against Madigan were made public, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who chairs the county Democratic Party, called on Madigan to step down as committeeman for Chicagos 13th Ward, his longtime power base on the Southwest Side.

Our political organizations should not double as criminal enterprises, Preckwinkle said in a statement.

Madigan also is state central committeeman in the 3rd Congressional District. Madigans successor as state party chair, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly of Matteson, urged him to resign from that post.

News of the impending charges broke as Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot joined U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for an event at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Wednesday afternoon to promote President Joe Bidens economic agenda.

Neither Pritzker nor Lightfoot mentioned Madigan by name in response to reporters questions, which came before the indictment was handed down, but the mayor, drawing on her years as a federal prosecutor, said U.S. Attorney John Lauschs office will have built its case carefully.

This is a kind of case, if this is in fact true, of such incredible significance  somebody who has really shaped Illinois politics for 40 years, dominated almost every aspect of life, from a political standpoint, from a legislative standpoint  you better have a tight case because youre going to take the shot, youre not going to want to miss, Lightfoot said.

Pritzker, who has sought to distance himself from Madigan despite the former speakers role in helping achieve some of the major legislative accomplishments of the governors first year in office, repeated a well-worn refrain about the need to root out corruption wherever it exists in government.

Its why weve passed and Ive signed ethics reforms in the state of Illinois, Pritzker said.

After the charges became public, Pritzker issued a more strongly worded statement, calling the charges a condemnation of a system infected with promises of pay-to-play.

The era of corruption and self-dealing among Illinois politicians must end, Pritzker said. The conduct alleged in this indictment is deplorable and a stark violation of the publics trust. Michael Madigan must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

The changes to state ethics laws Pritzker has signed have been largely panned by good-government groups as weak responses to the states pervasive public corruption. That includes a measure last year that prompted the resignation of the legislatures top watchdog.

Pritzker downplayed the part Madigan played in advancing proposals that will play a prominent role in the governors reelection bid this year, including a minimum-wage increase, legalization of marijuana and a $45 billion statewide construction program.

The legislation that Ive gotten passed over the course of the last three years, for the most part has gotten overwhelming support, sometimes bipartisan, overwhelming support, Pritzker said. So look, I attribute that to running a campaign thats about issues, convincing people who live in the districts of the people who voted for it, that they ought to vote for it.

In Springfield, House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs, who long sparred with Madigan, said Wednesday may be the darkest day in Illinois government history.

This is not just an indictment against Michael Madigan, Durkin said, but its an indictment against the Democrat Party of Illinois that he ran for decades. It also starts at the top with Gov. Pritzker, who was elected with the full force and backing of Michael Madigan.

Those words foreshadowing the GOPs campaign strategy were echoed by the five Republicans vying to challenge Pritzker in November.

Even though Madigan was deposed from state government more than a year ago, the indictment served as a way to resurrect his name and seek to make it synonymous with Democratic corruption.

Republican candidates seeking to challenge Pritzker assailed Madigan for presiding over a culture of corruption at the state Capitol and pledged to fight for tough ethics reforms if elected.

Its time we put a stop to the Pritzker-Madigan corruption that has been plaguing this state for decades, and the only way we can do that is to change our government from within and get rid of the politicians like J.B. Pritzker who continues enabling the Mike Madigans of the world, said Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, one of the five GOP governor candidates.

Another, state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia, vowed to root out corruption if elected.

If we truly want to restore integrity to the Illinois government, we must elect new leaders who will stand up and demand accountability, Bailey said.

Cryptocurrency venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan of Petersburg, on Twitter, labeled Madigan as the very face of Illinois corruption.

Former state Sen. Paul Schimpf of Waterloo, a former military prosecutor, accused Pritzker of failing to stand up to Madigans corruption.

No amount of revisionist history gives the governor the right to clutch his pearls now, Schimpf said. My hope is that this is the dawn of a new day in Illinois.

Madigans successor, Democratic House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch of Hillside, was left to defend his leadership of a special committee in 2020 that was charged with investigating whether Madigan had engaged in conduct unbecoming of a lawmaker and shouldve faced ejection from the House.

I said all along during the course of that process that I thought there was a more appropriate forum to deal with the things that we have been hearing in the public domain, and I thought that forum was the United States attorneys office, Welch told reporters outside his Capitol office. The United States attorneys office has all the resources that it needs to properly and thoroughly investigate allegations of corruption. I knew that all along.

And we said that it was proper for United States Attorney John Lausch to be the one to conduct an investigation. Not a legislative committee. And what we have learned today was that, indeed, they did their job and they have brought an indictment of our former speaker.

Welch said the chamber under his leadership must now focus on restoring trust. He touted the naming of a new legislative inspector general and other efforts during his last 13 months as House speaker in being open, accessible and transparent.

I think here in the last 13 months, if you speak to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Ive done it my way. The Chris Welch way. The only way I know how, Welch said. And its a new day in Springfield.

The beginning of the end for Madigan as speaker came when a group of 19 House Democrats publicly opposed giving him another term, denying him the majority he needed among his partys members.

One of the first to speak out was Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago, who on Wednesday said those who stood against Madigan knew that our chamber, our state and our party deserved better leadership and the unfolding corruption scandal would only continue erode public confidence in our work.

The first thing you do when you get cancer is you cut out the cancer, then you treat what happened afterward, Cassidy said.

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CHICAGO  Michael Madigan, the former speaker of the Illinois House and for decades one of the nations most powerful legislators, was charged with a nearly $3 million racketeering and bribery indictment Wednesday, becoming the most prominent politician swept up in a federal investigation of entrenched government corruption in the state.

Madigan, 79, is charged in the 22-count indictment with racketeering conspiracy, using interstate facilities in aid of bribery, wire fraud and attempted extortion.

Madigan, who resigned from the Legislature a year ago, was the longest-serving state House speaker in modern U.S. history and was nicknamed the Velvet Hammer for his insistence on strict party discipline. A procession of senior Illinois politicians, including three governors, was charged during his tenure, but politicians long believed the savvy Madigan would never be among them.

The 106-page indictment alleges Madigan used not just his role as speaker, but various positions of power to further his alleged criminal enterprise, including his chairmanship of the Illinois Democratic Party. It also accuses Madigan of reaping the benefits of private legal work illegally steered to his law firm, including from firms with matters before the state or the city of Chicago.

It refers to the alleged, decade-long conspiracy as The Madigan Enterprise," saying its purpose was to preserve and to enhance Madigans political power and financial well-being and to reward Madigans political allies, including by using his stranglehold over the legislative process.

Madigans law firm said Wednesday there was no comment from him or the office.

The indictment puts the value of the alleged schemes, in bribes and illegal transactions, at at least $2.8 million.

The filing includes alleged communications in which Madigan appeared agree to pay-to-play proposals.

In one instance in 2018, Madigan met with an unnamed Chicago alderman asked Madigan for help in landing a state board appointment that paid $100,000 a year in exchange for sending legal work in the alderman's ward to Madigan's law firm.

Just leave it in my hands, Madigan told him, according to the indictment.

In 2020, the Chicago Democrat was implicated in a long-running bribery scheme involving the state's largest electric utility, ComEd, a key focus of Wednesday's filing. Court filings at the time didn't name Madigan directly but made it clear he was the person in documents referred to as Public Official A."

The indictment names Michael F. McClain, Madigan's close friend, as a co-defendant. It alleges they arranged for businesses including ComEd to make payments to Madigans associates for their loyalty to Madigan.

McClain served with Madigan in the House in the 1970s and early 1980s before becoming a lobbyist. One of his clients was ComEd.

According to the new indictment, McClain in 2016 sent an email pressuring two associates to resolve a dispute over a legal bill Madigan would want paid.

I just do not understand why we have to spend valuable minutes on items like this when we know it will provoke a reaction from our Friend, McClain wrote, referring to Madigan, the indictment alleges.

ComEd admitted in earlier court filings that it secured jobs and contracts for associates of Public Official A from 2011 to 2019 for favorable treatment in regulatory rules impacting the utility. ComEd agreed in August 2020 to pay $200 million in a settlement to defer prosecution, though that agreement did not preclude criminal charges against any individual.

McClain, 74, of Quincy, is charged with racketeering conspiracy and using interstate facilities for bribery and wire fraud.

Arraignments dates for Madigan and McClain have not been set.

The federal complaint came after more than half a dozen Democrats  including Madigan's longtime chief of staff  were charged with crimes or had their offices and homes raided by federal agents.

As speaker, the ever-confident Madigan tended to shrug off the political scandal of the day. A spokeswoman for Madigan in 2020 denied the ComEd-related allegations and said Madigan would cooperate with the investigation that will "clearly demonstrate that he has done nothing criminal or improper.

That wasn't good enough for his House Democratic caucus, many of whom weren't born when Madigan was first inaugurated in 1971. Despite his determination to win a 19th term as speaker in January last year, support peeled away and he was unable to garner the 60 votes needed to retain the gavel. Relegated to the rank and file of the 118-member House, he resigned his seat in the Legislature and as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois in February 2021.

Madigan, the son of a Chicago precinct captain, became House speaker in 1983. He was a throwback to the style of machine politics for which Illinois was once famous, especially during the 22-year mayoral reign of Chicagos Richard Daley, when patronage and party connections controlled who was hired and which projects were built.

Madigan wielded power through stern control of his caucus and meticulous knowledge of legislation, determining which bills received hearings and which quietly died. His loyalists received choice legislative assignments and campaign cash. He controlled the drawing of district boundaries after a census.

Madigans former chief of staff, Timothy Mapes, was indicted in May for lying under oath to a federal grand jury investigating ComEd. The indictment said Mapes was granted immunity to testify and that his words or evidence couldn't be used against him in a criminal case unless he committed perjury.

Four others were indicted in November on charges accusing them of orchestrating a bribery scheme with ComEd.

Former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez pleaded guilty to bribery in September and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

Madigan held the gavel in the House for all but two years from 1983 to 2021, driving the political agenda regardless of which party controlled the governors office or the other legislative body. He served through the terms of seven governors. One, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, complained that Madigan, not he, was in charge of the state.

His power base was a middle-class district near Midway International Airport on Chicago's Southwest Side, where his loyalists, many on government payrolls, reliably turned out to canvass neighborhoods and register voters. With an eight-figure campaign fund, he could pick and choose Democratic candidates across Illinois to run for office and finance their races. The Chicago Tribune in 2014 found more than 400 current and retired state and local government workers with campaign ties to Madigan. Madigans daughter, Lisa, served as Illinois attorney general from 2003 to 2019.

Pay-to-play allegations were raised against Madigan, but he denied them and none resulted in criminal charges. In 2013, the head of Chicago's Metra Rail transit system claimed after being forced out that Madigan pressured him to give jobs and raises to political favorites.

Madigan has a reputation for spurning the media and rarely speaking in public. But when reporters asked in 2019 if he was an investigative target, Madigan said, Im not a target of anything."

As scrutiny of Madigan intensified, he also wrote a letter to House colleagues, denying wrongdoing or personal knowledge of any bribery scheme. He has said he never expected someone to be hired for a job in exchange for an action he took. Helping people find jobs," he said, "is not a crime.

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Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine last week happened to coincide with my reading of David McCulloughs Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Harry S. Truman, our 33rd president. Clearly, Russia has been a problem for a long time.

Near the end of World War II, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill struggled to convince Josef Stalin to comply with previous agreements about the shape of the post-war world. With his troops deployed in Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary and elsewhere, Stalin saw expansionist opportunities for the Soviet Union, and he was determined to take advantage of them.

In the late 40s, President Truman confronted few problems that caused him more anxiety and frustration than the U.S.S.R., and few projects took more of his energy than finding ways to prevent its expansion. Truman, a plain-spoken Missourian, said the Russians were like people from across the tracks whose manners were very bad.

For the next four decades, world politics revolved around the Wests resistance to the spread of communism and the Soviet Unions determination to expand its hegemony, especially in Eastern Europe.

An economic interpretation of this conflict sees a battle between communism and free enterprise, but its more than that. Roosevelt and Truman recognized that the Soviet system had no tolerance for the things that Americans value most: democracy, free elections, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, self-determination, a right to privacy.

Stalin and the Soviet Union were to be resisted. He was an autocrat who maintained power with coercive secret police, gulags, torture and terror. In the 1930s, Stalin, in an effort to subdue Ukraine, engineered a famine that resulted in the deaths of 4 million Ukrainians.

The U.S. has its faults. We are not perfect. But we were always on the right side of this struggle between democracy and autocracy. Fortunately, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Alas, it is trying to make a comeback, in the person of Vladimir Putin.

In 1946, President Truman said that lasting peace depended on the three great powers  Britain, Russia and the U.S. Further, the great powers must also have the confidence of the smaller nations. Russia hasnt the confidence of the small nations, nor has Britain. We have.

At present the mantle for resistance against autocracy has fallen upon the shoulders of one of those smaller nations, Ukraine. Unfortunately, Ukraines young President Volodymyr Zelenskyy got a rocky introduction to modern American democracy. He can be forgiven if he got the impression that President Donald Trump was conditioning military aid to Ukraine on Zelenskyys cooperation in an investigation of one of Trumps political rivals.

And while Zelenskyy courageously leads the resistance to Putin, our still-popular ex-president finds so much to admire in Putin that Russian state television is running subtitled clips of him praising the Russian autocrat.

Further, our commitment to democracy does not include a willingness to provide American troops to fight the Russians over Ukraine. In lieu of troops, the U.S. and its European partners are applying increasingly rigorous sanctions. But the sanctions are largely half-measures, applied carefully out of concern for the European and American economies. Few think that sanctions will stop Putin and, indeed, they have not.

So while Ukrainian patriots and heroes are taking to the streets to fight for what we believe in, Biden must gingerly inform Americans that the war in Ukraine may cost us at the pump. How many times have we heard that phrase during this crisis?

Still, withholding U.S. troops is probably the right decision at this point. But autocrats like Putin rarely respond to soft power. Force is the only language they understand.

War is a great evil, but its not the worst evil. Sometimes only force can prevent fear, misery, hunger, torture, genocide, totalitarianism. If history is any guide, pure pacifism is unrealistic. Peace is rarely achieved through diplomacy and sanctions.

The crisis in Ukraine is a test of our commitment and will to maintain democracy. May we show as much resolve as the Ukrainians.

As President Truman put it, I want peace and Im willing to fight for it.

John M. Crisp is an op-ed columnist for Tribune News Service

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Goodbye, Ukraine.

That poor, corrupt and undemocratic Eastern European country is in the process of being beaten into submission and conquered by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

It should surprise no one. Putin has been telling us for months, and showing us for weeks by encircling Ukraine with 150,000 Russian soldiers, what he was going to do. Now Putins doing it  and theres nothing we can do about it.

This is the kind of stuff that happens when there is a weak leader in the White House.

The invasion of eastern Ukraine proves that of the two countries, the United States and Russia, only one has a strong leader  and its not the U.S. Returning all or part of Ukraine and its 42 million people to Russian control is a part of Putins decades-old dream of rebuilding as much as he could of the former Soviet Empire before hes dead.

Two American presidents  Obama and now Biden  have done their best to make Putins dream a reality. When Putin bit off Crimea from the territory of Ukraine in 2014 the Obama administration did virtually nothing.

Now it looks like if he feels like it, he might decide to just swallow up the whole country, which is 78 percent ethnic Ukrainian and 17 percent Russian.

The KGB Thug has played a high-stakes geopolitical poker game with Biden while the world watched  and he won by default. Its too late now for the weak and inept Biden administration to do anything but hold press conferences and complain.

Imposing strict financial sanctions on Russia next week will not make Putin pull out his tanks and soldiers. Were not going to go to thermonuclear war with Russia over the sovereignty of Ukraine, nor should we. And the spineless European Union isnt going to be anything more than a spectator to a Russian land grab that has been inevitable for more than a decade.

Ukraine may prove to be too big, too poor and too full of Ukrainians willing to fight and die in a guerrilla war for Russias feeble economy to digest in the long run. But for now, thanks to the Biden administrations one-two punch of weakness and incompetence, Ukraine is now Putins to do with what he wants.

Hes been waiting for a weakling like Biden to occupy the White House and he has not let the opportunity pass him by. Hes 73. He knows hes personally running out of time to Make Russia Great Again. He also knew that he had only a four-year window to make his dream a reality.

He had to MRGA before Biden  or his inevitable successor, the even more clueless Kamala Harris  was replaced by a competent president with a spine. The fact is, no matter what you think of Donald Trump  and people know I dont think very highly of him  the invasion of Ukraine would have never happened under Trump and certainly not under Ronald Reagan.

Michael Reagan is a columnist for Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

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100 years ago

March 3, 1922: The University of Illinois has applied for a radiophone license with the federal government. If the license comes through, the U of I will be able to broadcast its bands music over a thousand-mile radius. Other programming will include lectures, graduations, etc.

75 years ago

March 3, 1947: Two notable deaths in the community include James Gray and Judge Horace Baker of El Paso. Baker was a former El Paso mayor, active in both civic life and public service. Gray, of Bloomington, started Gray Electrical Co. which is now Gray-Trimble Electric.

50 years ago

March 3, 1972: Conservation officials in western Illinois are gathering a posse to hunt down cougars and kill them. Their action follows numerous sightings and complaints that cats are eating farmers livestock. Cougars are not protected by Illinois law and can be killed anytime.

25 years ago

March 3, 1997: Phil Jordan has run a service station at 1200 South Main for 40 years. He began as a part timer while he was a freshman at U High. Eventually owner Meredith White died. But he had to wait until he was 21  in April of 1957  to actually buy the station and run it himself.

Compiled by Jack Keefe; jkeefe@coldwellhomes.com.
Mr. John Ampontuah Kumah, Deputy Minister for Finance, has denied claims that the electronic transaction levy (e-levy) is going to be used by government as collateral to access additional loans.



It is not true that the government is going to collateralize e-levy and all that, we are going to have enough revenues to be able to properly deal with the countrys development challenges, for example, to pay contractors working on our roads, he stated.



Speaking to journalists in Kumasi, Mr Kumah described those assertions as lies and malicious propaganda being peddled by people opposed to the introduction of the levy to create disaffection for the government.



The Deputy Minister said the e-levy was an innovative fiscal policy to help generate adequate local revenue to prosecute the development agenda of the country.



He said the government needed sustainable revenue generation measures to get funds to construct roads, build schools, hospitals, bridges and others, to help bridge the huge infrastructural gap.



Mr Kumah, therefore, called on Ghanaians to support the e-levy to help the government embark on massive road construction and other infrastructural development in the country.



The e-levy seeks to impose a 1.75 per cent levy on some electronic transactions such as mobile money transfers from accounts on one same Electronic Money Issuers (EMI), Mobile Money transfers from accounts on one EMI to a recipient on another EMI and transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts.



Also transfers from mobile money accounts to bank accounts and bank transfers originating from a bank account belonging to an individual will also attract the levy.



However, the announcement of the policy in the 2022 budget by the Finance Minister, had met stiff opposition, especially from the Minority in Parliament, and other groups and individuals.



They argue that the new tax policy if allowed to be implemented will bring untold hardships on Ghanaians who are already suffering severe economic hardships.





Source: GNA









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A 19-year-old student of Keta Business College will spend the next 30 months behind bars for leveraging on the nude photos of a supposed lover to defraud the latter.



The convict, Obed Dzorgbenyui Adehe, disguised himself as a female nurse from the Ho Technical University on Facebook and succeeded in defrauding his victim.



Online relationship



Adehes victim - also male and a Ghanaian based in the United Kingdom (UK), who at the time thought Adehe was female, exchanged contacts and started an online relationship with the convict.



According to state prosecutors, in the course of the relationship, Adehe secretly recorded the nakedness of the victim during a WhatsApp video call.



First demand



Adehe later contacted the victim with another phone number requesting him to pay an amount of $833.33 in Bitcoin in order to delete the video he had already published on social media.



The prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Fuseini Yakubu told the Accra Circuit Court where Adehe was arraigned that out of fear, the victim paid GH5,020 in two tranches.



The first amount, GH2,000 was paid on April 24 last year and the second, GH 3,020 was paid on April 27 via an MTN mobile number.



More demands



Not satisfied, Adehe again threatened the victim to buy him an iPhone 11 Pro, else he will publish the nude video.



It was after this demand that the victim decided to muster the courage to report the case to the Cybercrime Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department in Accra.



This led to the arrest of Adehe at Tema and his iPhone XR phone used in communicating with the complainant was retrieved for forensic examination.



Adehe charged



On September 16 last year, Adehe was arraigned at the court presided over by Ms Ellen Ofei-Ayeh.



He was charged with three counts of sharing intimate images without consent, sexual extortion and defrauding by false pretence.



He however pleaded guilty to the charge of defrauding by false presence while denying the charge of sharing intimate images without consent and sexual extortion.



The prosecution later decided to withdraw the charge of sharing intimate images without consent and sexual extortion after he had pleaded guilty to the charge of defrauding by false pretence.



Adehe convicted



The court, therefore, convicted Adehe on his own plea. He was then sentenced to two years, six months in jail in hard labour.



Other cases



This is not the first time a student is being sentenced for this criminal act.



In May 2020, the Accra Circuit Court sentenced a 24-year-old student of the Assin Fosu College of Education, to three years in prison in hard labour.



Francis Aggrey, who is currently serving his jail term, was convicted after threatening to circulate nude videos and pictures of his lover, a policewoman, and succeeded in extorting GH1,500 from her.



Prior to that, the Kaneshie District Court had sentenced a self-styled photo editor, Richmond Clement Kobina Abegya, to 30 days in prison.



The 33-year-old posted nude videos of his female friend online and used it to extort money from her.



As part of the sentence, he was asked to also pay a fine of GH4,800 for his criminal act.

Source: graphiconline.com









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The Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, has warned Ghanaians, especially businessmen to be wary of an emerging force in online businesses.

She said internet fraud was soaring and people needed to do a lot of background checks before venturing into such transactions.



The former head of the CID Unit of the Ghana Police Service has subsequently launched a campaign to clamp down on such miscreants and protect individual businesses.



Details of the measures to track the perpetrators are under wraps but she insisted EOCO was working with various security agencies, the Telcos and the Attorney General's office to fish such characters out.



COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah gave the advice in Kumasi on Friday as part of her regional tour to solicit support with other government agencies to fight crime.



In the company of Mrs Aba Jacqueline Opoku, the Acting Deputy Executive Director (Intelligence and Monitoring) as well as the Ashanti regional boss of EOCO, Joseph Atta, the COP Maame Tiwaa called on the regional police commander, DCOP Afful Boakye Yiadom and the regional head of the AG's office, Ernest Ayeh.



She said the online scammers vary their modus operandi from time to time which called for vigilance.



Education



Subsequently, she has launched a nationwide educational programme in schools and churches to drum home the campaign.



"Funny enough, most of these online businesses are not registered with the relevant bodies including the Registrar's Department.



"I will suggest that before investing with such online traders, a little bit of background check will help," she said.



While rolling out measures to deal with the fraudsters, she said a lot was being done to prevent them from occurring.



"Because if we don't prevent it from happening especially those who are lured with huge investment returns, will turnaround to blame government first and then mount pressure to recover their investment," she said.



Police command



At the regional police command, COP Maame Tiwaa recommended information sharing among the state actors, especially the security organisations.



"No information should be considered as trivial because it is when we piece them together that we are able to arrive at a credible conclusion," she said.



She commended the police force for the support so far but called for greater collaboration to fight intellectual crime.



AG



At the AG's office, she suggested that the regional state attorneys got involved in the investigation of cases "from scratch" to help present a credible docket to track such miscreants.



COP Maame Tiwaa said in most cases the state attorneys are brought in at the final stages where a lot of gaps have been identified creating credibility problems.



She called for the speedy resolution of such cases to help bring the perpetrators to book.



The Executive Director suggested that rather than transferring such cases to Accra, they should be handled at the regional AG's level to fast track trials.



The Regional Police Commander, DCOP Mr Afful Boakye Yiadom and the Regional Head of the AG's office, Ernest Ayeh, pledged their support to help fight and stamp out the menace.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
A rural market project at Otu-Kwadjo in the Nsawam Adoagyiri Constituency in the Eastern Region, which was supposed to have been funded and executed with petroleum revenue, does not exist at the specified community.

It is in spite of information made available to the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) that the project has been fully completed at Otu-Kwadjo.



The cost of the project, which includes a storage facility and mechanised boreholes, is GH920,354; out of which GH190,707 was sourced from the annual budget funding amount (ABFA).



The contract was awarded through the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives (MSDI) to Basham Company Limited (BCL) on January 29, 2019 and was expected to be completed after six months.



Project inspection



However, an inspection by PIAC to Otu-Kwadjo on Friday, February 11 showed that a project of such nature did not exist in the community; the market, storage and boreholes were not found.





The only borehole project found in that community, the residents said, was built through community efforts several years ago before the MSDI contract was awarded.



Officials of the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly, who joined the inspection, suggested that perhaps it was not Otu-Kwadjo as provided by MoF rather another community called Kojo Electoral Area in the same municipality.



Consequently, the PIAC inspection team visited the Kojo Electoral Area where a market project with similar description was found, yet without boreholes, toilet facilities or electricity.



The project, which has been reported to be fully completed and handed over, had an empty water tank mounted, the sheds were not occupied, yet those allocated were redeveloping them to suit their needs.



Lack of involvement



Speaking to the Daily Graphic, a member of PIAC, Alhaji Suleman Anderson, who led a delegation, expressed worry about the lack of involvement of communities and beneficiary institutions in the project selection and/or implementation, making tracking and demand for accountability difficult.



We took pains to go to Otu-Kwadjo. When we went there, we could not trace any project of such nature, we could not find the market or boreholes.



What we have found with regards to the market project at Otu-Kwadjo or Kojo Electoral Area is disappointing and we think that going forward the government in siting project anywhere must liaise with the municipality or the district assembly to properly assess their needs and also make them part of the process when awarding the contract so that they can be part of the supervision.



The situation where the project is ongoing and the supervisor sits in the city, has no idea of what is happening on the ground and yet sits in his office and certified that the project has been done and handed over must stop, he said.



According to him, that was not appropriate for proper development and for value for money on projects funded by the government.



And so, we think the government must revisit the processes of awarding contracts and change it for the better.



We do not think this type of contract should be awarded from Accra, where people in the localities or the beneficiaries have no idea, he said.



Alhaji Anderson said the PIAC would send a special report to the Presidency and Parliament to inform them officially on the discrepancies in the market project at Otu-Kwadjo and Kojo Electoral Area.



Decline comment



Efforts by the paper to speak with officials of the assembly were unsuccessful as municipal officers who accompanied the team on the inspection tour declined to comment on the issue.



Project lacks amenities



The Assembly Member of Kojo Electoral Area, Mr Albert Aboagye Tano, in an interview with the paper, said the residents were not informed that the market project was built with funds from the flagship one million per constituency initiative of the government.









Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Meet new mainland squad to beef up Hong Kong's epidemic fight: 38 meat processing specialists

Xinhua) 09:19, March 03, 2022

HONG KONG, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland has already sent epidemiologists, isolation facility builders, and virus testers to support Hong Kong's ongoing fight against a raging wave of COVID-19 infections. Now, the legion has a new squad -- 38 meat processing specialists.

They arrived in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Wednesday and will pick up the slack to kickstart the normal supply of pork and beef to the local residents after virus' outbreaks forced the shutdown of Hong Kong's two major slaughterhouses on Feb. 25.

The team consists of experienced practitioners from Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanning, and Xilingol League -- regions in all four directions of the Chinese mainland.

They are expected to be stationed in Hong Kong for two months inside a closed loop, said Ng Fung Hong, a top food distributor and slaughterhouse operator in Hong Kong.

The suspension of butcher service has already weighed on Hong Kong's supply of fresh meat. Ng Fung Hong said the 38 specialists, who have volunteered to join the task force, will get down to work once Hong Kong's food watchdog gives the go-ahead.

Zhou Guoming, the team leader, said he came well-prepared and has got support from both his company and family.

"With my skills, I feel honored to do something practical for the people of Hong Kong, so that they can take home fresh meat as soon as possible," Zhou said.

On the last day of February, the supply of fresh food from the mainland to the HKSAR largely returned to the normal level.

On Feb. 28, about 2,100 tonnes of vegetables were transported from the mainland to Hong Kong by land and water, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the daily average vegetable supplies in the previous year. The supply of chilled meat from the mainland has been recently maintained at a higher level than usual, reaching about 1.4 times the daily average amount on Monday, official data showed.

As part of the Chinese central authorities' efforts to help Hong Kong combat COVID-19, a train carrying goods from the mainland arrived in the HKSAR on Wednesday.

The freight train loaded with anti-epidemic supplies in 18 containers came from Shenzhen. The goods include 1.1 million COVID-19 virus test kits, 20,000 pieces of protective clothing and other medical supplies. The supplies will be distributed to the anti-epidemic front on the same day.

The Shenzhen-Hong Kong freight train service is planned to run once a day at the current stage, and more times daily possibly according to the needs of Hong Kong. A single train trip takes 35 minutes.

The move also marked the resumption of railway transport of mainland supplies to Hong Kong, 15 years after the decades-old regular service of sending fresh food to Hong Kong by rolling stock ended amid the rapid development of highway transportation.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Ghana has been advised to adopt Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) approach to increase agriculture production, ensure food security, and build climate resilience.



The African continent has also been encouraged to diversify the sector to ensure food sufficiency.



A latest report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on climate science indicates that there are some major transformative steps needed to be taken to address the vulnerability climate change poses to the agricultural sector.



According to the report by the IPCCs Working Group II on climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, agriculture production on the continent slowed by 34 percent.



Commenting on the Findings, Dr Shaibu Baanni Azumah, an Agriculture Economist, told the Ghana News Agency that climate change impacts, which had been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, were real in Ghana and the whole of Africa and had dire implications on food systems and the economies too.



African leaders, he noted, had not prioritized measures to ameliorate the impact of climate vulnerability.



We are not food secured because we are not self-sufficient in the production and consumption of maize and rice for instance, which are very important food commodities for most countries.



Climate change impacts is also having a toll and playing a major role in it, he said.



As we speak in Ghana, we have a deficit of more than 50 percent in terms of rice production alone. What that means is that, in terms of our consumption pattern, we can only take care of about 40 percent.



About 60 percent of the population will not have it. So, we must either import or we try to find ways by which we can produce to make up for this deficit.



He said although CSA had been captured under Ghanas updated Nationally Determined Contribution, it was yet to be implemented under its flagship project -Planting for Food and Jobs.



Dr Azumah proposed to the government to invest in the production and distribution of improved seeds, intensification and scientific approaches where nature-based solutions, such as the use of agriculture byproducts, often discarded, to be used to produce organic compost to improve soil fertility.



For instance, global prices of chemical fertilizer have increased between 2020 and now, and because of the surge of COVID-19, our ability to integrate organic fertilizer will reduce the cost and strengthen our fragile soils, especially in the northern part of Ghana, he said.







Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The South African high court has rejected an attempt to prevent the coronation of Misuzulu KaZwelithini as Zulu king, saying he is undisputedly considered to be the heir to the throne.



The Zulu nation has been without a leader for almost a year after the death of King Goodwill Zwelithini.



His wife, and interim regent, Queen Mantfombi Dlamini died shortly after him which has led to an ongoing dispute over succession and inheritance.



Before her death, she appointed her son, Prince Misuzulu KaZwelithini, a move some royal family members disagreed with.



In addition to the ruling that the coronation of Prince Misuzulu can go ahead, Justice Isaac Madondo also dismissed a claim by the first of the kings six wives, for 50% of the estate.



Two of the kings daughters had submitted a claim that their fathers will was forged, which would have meant that Prince Misuzulu should not become king.



Judge Madondo allowed that claim to continue but said that the prince was appointed as heir in his mothers will, not his fathers, and so his appointment is still valid.



So, the amaZulu will finally have a king again, barring any new disputes.

Source: BBC









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The delegation of the European Union (EU) to Kenya has denied reports of discrimination against Africans levelled at member states bordering Ukraine.



More than 200 Kenyans were stranded in Ukraine due to Russia's invasion, a press release from the bloc stated.



"The EU regrets the incorrect and skewed media reporting on this issue that has repeatedly appeared in various Kenyan outlets and social media, and calls for careful verification of the facts," the press release said.



"Given that in some cases deliberate disinformation is being spread, the EU Embassies present in Kenya are ready to provide accurate data," it continued.



Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania have granted unrestricted access to those fleeing the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine, including Kenyans, the delegation said.



"Contrary to some media reports, those Kenyans who have arrived at the borders have been assisted and allowed to enter safely into EU Member States," the statement continued.



Numerous African students in Ukraine have shared stories of being blocked by Ukrainian security agents from leaving the country. Ukraine is not a member of the EU.



The African Union has condemned the reports of discrimination.



The EU mission to Kenya said that out of 350,000 refugees who crossed into Poland between the 24th and the 28th of February, there were "7 721 Africans, including 88 Kenyans".



It added that an extra 4,150 people from 40 African countries have crossed into Slovakia in the last four days

Source: BBC









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Some people online have expressed anger after footage emerged of a group of Nigerian governors' wives celebrating the first lady's birthday, apparently in Dubai.



Aisha Buhari's birthday was on 17 February, when she turned 51, but the video has only just emerged. It is not clear when it was filmed.



A group of women, who local media say are wives of local politicians, can be seen carrying a large box and flowers, while singing Happy Birthday To You. There is also a cameraman in the background.



Some people have questioned how the attendees paid for their travel to Dubai.



"How many of them would have embarked on this trip with their personal funds?" one critical tweeter questioned.



Others felt it was tone deaf for the women to travel to celebrate the first lady's birthday, when the country is facing so many problems.



"So much insensitivity truly sad", one person wrote.



"No fuel in Nigeria for the common man but Aisha and her husband can enjoy life outside of Nigeria while citizens suffer!" the journalist Jackson Ude wrote.



The footage does not show if President Muhammadu Buhari himself was present.



The BBC has contacted the authorities for comment but they have not yet responded.





Moment Governors' Wives Visited Aisha Buhari With Cake, Flowers In Dubai



Although, the First Lady Aisha Buhari's birthday was last month, and a quiet one, video has surfaced of how some governors' wives recently visited her in Dubai to mark it. pic.twitter.com/SWczffqTcU  Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) March 2, 2022

Source: BBC









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Founder of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams has cautioned about the complacency in protecting and consolidating Ghanas current peace.



In a sermon on February 27, 2022, the 'Papa' as he is also referred to, tasked politicians and members of the security agencies to pay attention to the signs on the wall and not dare or ignore them.



At the tail end of his second sermon, the Archbishop referenced the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict to make his point about how coming events always cast their shadows but only for those who look out for the relevant signs and take action.



This war in Ukraine and Europe, it just didnt happen overnight; the signs were on the wall; the signs have been on the wall for some time now, and, if you study history carefully, youll see the signs on the wall.



But, for whatever reason, people become very complacent and people get to a point where they lose the appetite to fight and they are so much into themselves and secure. that they ignore the interests of others.



He cautioned: Thats why we must wake up for Ghana here  this country, because there are signs on the wall; there are signs. Theres a parable in Twi that, A gale of wind precedes a rainfall.



 I pray that we will not ignore the signs. I pray that the church and our political leaders shall not ignore the signs. I pray that well rise to the occasion and well reverse the signs on the wall because things dont just happen, he stressed.



The Bible says: Beware, when they say, peace, peace, then cometh sudden destruction like a woman in travail. Dont be fooled. Ghana, we havent seen war before. Ask Sierra Leoneans and Liberians. Ask people from Ethiopia and other countries of Africa; theyll tell you what war is like.



His comments come amid rising conversations about coups in the sub-region and the possibility of the same in Ghana.



A day after his sermon, Prof Raymond Atuguba of the University of Ghanas Law School spoke about the connection between economic hardships and how that could possibly trigger a coup.



Proponents for and against his views continue to share perspectives on whether or not a coup was possible given the democratic trajectory Ghana has been on under the 1992 Fourth Republican Constitution.



Relevant portion starts from 58th minute mark till the end









Source: ghanaweb.com









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Dr Charles Kwowe Nyaaba, Head of Programmes and Advocacy, Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), says the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the economic sanctions on Russia are likely to worsen fertilizer shortage in the country.



The situation, he said, would adversely affect agriculture production if the government failed to take urgent contingency plans to secure enough fertiliser for farmers.



We are foreseeing that the fertilizer shortage we experienced in 2021 is likely to escalate this year because already the subsidised fertiliser price for the 25kg which was GH53.00 in 2021 is GH160.00 today. We know that most countries where fertilizer is manufactured get their natural gas from Russia and those countries have already placed economic bans on Russia, which means that the situation is going to be worse, he stressed.



Dr Nyaaba expressed these concerns in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of a gender sensitization workshop organized by PFAG with support from the International Budget Partnership for women peasant farmers in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region.



In 2021, as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many fertilizer producing countries like China and Russia could not produce at full capacity, forcing the international market price to increase with a heavy toll on food production and the implementation of the governments Planting for Food and Jobs programme, he said.



Dr Nyaaba noted that most of the farmers under the fertilizer subsidy programme were vulnerable such as women, youth and persons with disability and the government needed to pay fertilizer import companies to enable them to secure enough fertilizer before the heat of the sanctions were felt.



Government needs to encourage companies which are producing organic fertilizer to increase production because we need to start shifting from inorganic fertilizer to organic fertilizer because of the benefits and this will also afford farmers alternatives in case we are unable to get the inorganic fertilizer, he said.



He said apart from the government needing to put measures in place to support farmers to adopt composting as means of fertilizing farms, farmers needed to produce local crops which did not need much fertilizer to ensure good yields.



We need to begin to promote our own staple foods such as millet, guinea corn, sorghum, groundnuts, yam, cassava, frafra potato, plantain, nuts among others, these crops do not require too much fertilizer, he added.





Source: GNA









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Letshego Africa, with a presence in 11 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, is supporting the growth of its regional strategy by creating three sub-regional hubs to host talent, regional operations and specialist digital expertise  these hubs being Botswana, Kenya and Ghana.



The inclusive finance organisation acquired the Ghana business in 2017, and has since transitioned the operations to the Letshego brand, committing further investment into digitalisation, systems and expansion of products for the benefit of individuals and small and micro-entrepreneurs across Ghana.



Letshego recognises Ghana as a valuable source of talent for the Group, with their latest regional appointment being Mr Ato Okyir as Group Head of New Ventures (Technology Innovation).



Prior to joining Letshego, Ato Okyir was the Chief Information Officer for Standard Chartered Ghana, starting his expansive technology-focused career in 1993. Ato brings fifteen years of banking technology experience from across the continent. As the Chief Information Officer for Standard Chartered, he maintained the Banks technology infrastructure capability and supported business activities across all business segments. He also assured compliance oversight for all country and Standard Chartered Group policies, statutory regulations, local banking laws, anti-money laundering regulations and industry practices.



Marking the appointment, Andrew Okai, the Groups Chief Executive added Ghana is one of our largest profit-generating centres, so it makes sense that we leverage the regional expertise and talent available locally, not only for the benefit of our local business and subsidiary, but also for the Group as a whole. Letshego recognises that cultural diversity in a pan-African organisation is an asset and an advantage  we are delighted to have Ato join our regional family. His digital and tech experience will prove invaluable as we achieve our ambition to be a leading digital-first, inclusive finance organisation across the continent.



Letshego Africa recently announced its Transformation Strategy, which includes a tactical roadmap to achieve its 2025 ambitions and vision to be a world-class retail financial services organisation, spurred by digitalisation along with strategic investment into empowering and growing regional talent. In 2021, Letshego rolled out the LetsGo Digital Mall, an online platform that enables customers easy access to solutions and services, across multiple digital channels, including web, USSD, whatsapp and mobile.



Commenting on his new appointment, Ato Okyir, Group Head of New Ventures for Technology Innovation, added, Letshego is a well-established Africa brand that is on an exciting transformation trajectory into digital. I am delighted with the opportunity to bring my own skills and experience to support a regional organisation that has such a dynamic vision to achieve sustainable growth and impact across so many sub Saharan markets.



Letshego Ghana, a subsidiary of Letshego Group, has more than demonstrated its strategic and potential value to the Group with a cumulative aggregated growth of 600% over the last 5 years, more than tripling its proportion of profit before tax in the same period.



Letshego Ghana



In Ghana, Letshego employs over 500 local nationals, with the business led by seasoned Ghanaian banker, Arnold Parker, Country CEO of Letshego Ghana. Letshego expanded into Ghana in 2017 through the acquisition of afb Ghana. Since the acquisition and under Arnolds leadership, Letshego has diversified the entitys product portfolio with the addition of MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprise) loans, retail and corporate deposits, as well as opening two new outlets to compliment the brands national, omni-channel network.



Speaking on the value of Ghana in Letshegos regional footprint, Arnold Parker noted that Ghana is proving to be a valued talent pool for regional companies across diverse sectors. He added that Letshego is one of many regional entities that invest and support Ghanas growth potential, while gaining benefit from the passion and expertise of its people. The Ghana team remain proud to be a part of a Group that is committed to supporting inclusive finance initiatives, supporting sustainable business and growth of communities in Ghana, and across our continent.



Letshego Ghana posted record national performance for 2020, more than doubling its profit before tax year on year to GHS40 million (USDXmillion).



Letshego Africa

Letshego Holdings Ltd (Letshego Group) is a truly African multinational organisation, headquartered and listed in Botswana and focused on delivering inclusive finance solutions to underserved populations across its 11 sub Saharan Africa footprint.



With a staff compliment of over 3,000  including both direct and indirect sales agents - and more than four hundred thousand customers, Letshego is synonymous with leveraging innovation and technology to improve the lives of individuals who have limited access to traditional financial services.



The Letshego Group is a truly African multinational, first opening its doors in Botswana more than 21 years ago by offering loans to government employees. Today the Group has over 3,000 employees comprising more than 21 nationalities, and supports public and private sector individual customers, as well as micro and small entrepreneurs. Letshego has operations in 11 sub Saharan African markets.

Letshego Holdings Limited (the group holding company) is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange, with a subsequent listings including a subsidiary listing on the Namibian stock exchange, and bond listings on both the Ghana and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges.



In 2022, Letshego celebrates 24 years of supporting regional communities, making strong progress with the launch of its Transformational Strategy in September 2020, towards the Groups vision to be a world class retail financial services organisation, improving the lives of mass and middle market individuals and micro and small entrepreneurs. For more info visit www.letshego.com



ATO OKYIR, Letshegos Group Head of IT and Digital Ventures  Biography

Mr. J. Ato Okyir is the former Chief Information Officer for Standard Chartered Ghana, starting his expansive career in Technology in 1993. He brings on board fifteen years of Banking Technology Experience from across the Continent.



As the Chief Information Officer for Standard Chartered, he maintained the Banks Technology infrastructure capability and supported the business activities across Business segments. He also ensured total compliance with all Country and Group policies, statutory regulations, local banking laws, anti-money laundering regulations, and industry practices.



Before that, he led the companys Country Technology Management in Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia, Cameroon, Cote DIvoire, and Sierra Leone. He was responsible for developing, implementing, and delivering the Group Technology Strategy for the Cluster.



Mr. Okyir played a pivotal role in Standard Chartereds Business Process Reengineering and custody business integration as the Archway Project Manager - Infrastructure for Africa. He covered Kenya, Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, and Mauritius.



He has also led Technology Risk Management and IT Security for Standard Chartered Bank in West and Central Africa. He successfully and effectively managed Information Technology risk and security controls to ensure Data Integrity, Data availability, confidentiality, and consistency of Standard Chartered databases and transaction processing systems.



Before joining Standard Chartered, he held various Information Technology roles at other companies, including Digitronix Systems, LeasAfric Ghana Limited, Agricultural Development Bank, and Electricity Company of Ghana.



Ato Okyir holds an MSc in Project Management from the University of Salford in the United Kingdom and a Post Graduate Diploma in Information Systems from Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom.

He has also undergone Professional training in Strategic & Scenario Planning in Accra, Business Management Programme (BMP) in Singapore, Talent Acceleration in the United Arab Emirates, and AWS & Microsoft Azure Cloud Practitioner by Skillsoft. He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), the British Computer Society (BCS), and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA).



A Champion of Creativity and Innovation, and an effective communicator, Ato Okyir marries emotional intelligence and his passion for Technology to achieve positive results. He loves restoring vintage cars, long road trips, and sharing his life learnings with the younger generations.









Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The frequent use of earpieces and headphones on high volumes for prolonged periods can cause gradual or instant hearing loss.



Mrs Rhoda Binney, a Principal Nursing Officer, Ear, Throat and Nose (ENT) at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, has said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA).



She said it was, therefore, necessary for people who used earpieces to take breaks in between and keep the volume of the gadget and the earpiece below 60 percent.



Mrs Binney said the consistent exposure to loud sounds could cause hearing loss, especially when the sound level was above 80 decibels.



If the normal volume of hearing around us is more than 70 decibels, it causes an effect on our hearing, because the loud noise damages the hair cells in the inner ear that picks sound to the brain for interpretation.



As Ghana joins the world to observe World Hearing Day (WHD) today, March 03, she encouraged the public to visit the hospitals to have their ear checked because ENT care was under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).



World Hearing Day is celebrated on March 3 every year to share information and promote actions towards the prevention of hearing loss and improved hearing care.



To hear for life, listen with care is the theme for this years World Hearing Day.



For this year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) called on governments, industry partners and civil society to raise awareness for and implement evidence-based standards that would promote safe listening.



The Principal Nursing Officer also urged the public to avoid inserting foreign objects like cotton buds, pen tops, feathers, match sticks, Bobbie pins and broomsticks in the ear because they could damage the eardrum and cause hearing loss.







Source: GNA









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The Government of Ghana is employing the application of digital technology to stimulate the growth and transformation of the Ghanaian economy, and, thereby, help ensure that every Ghanaian derives maximum benefit from this process, Communication and Digitalization Minister, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has said.



According to her, the Akufo-Addo led government for the past five years has taken the necessary digital decisions that have provided the necessary results to stimulate the economy on several levels adding that, the future outcome would be to enhance coordination, and provide significant benefits to citizens.



For Ghana, we are intensifying our digital transformation drive with the ultimate goal of improving lives pursuant to the Sustainable Development Goals and we can only do this by ensuring that the required frameworks are in place. The Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization is playing a pivotal role in the development of a robust framework to support the digitalization of the economy in a manner that benefits every citizen.



But we are mindful of the fact that we cannot do it alone and have to build systems that are capable of being linked up to those developed by our neighbors. We are building fiber to our borders and are active in continental initiatives such as the Smart Africa Alliance. We are also determined to make the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) work, clear in our minds that digital technology holds the key to uniting our fragmented and uncoordinated trade infrastructure and systems on the continent she made this known at the Global Standards Symposium (GSS-20) organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) which happened in Geneva in Switzerland.



Digital ESG Platforms



She further explained government is working tirelessly to ensure that Ghana and its neighboring countries successfully ensure the establishment of the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) digital platform.5



This she says would help to serve as standards that are incorporated by socially-conscious5 investors to evaluate the sustainability and societal impacts of investments in5 companies across the Africa continent.



In addition, she underscored the need for such digital advancement, explaining it would enable purpose-driven companies and organizations to address the challenges and opportunities presented by the wholesale shift in how value is defined, measured and shared across the value chain.



In Ghana, we have decided not to be naive about the political economy of all these powerful shifts. Whilst we acknowledge the power of digital-enabled ESG standards to create a fairer, more prosperous, world, we also know that in the past we have, as a country and a continent, been marginalized in the creation of similar systems, such as the internet.



She added, We believe that our best bet is to partner with our continental neighbours to establish our own digital ESG platforms and networks. We are building systems that speak to our unique reality in the quest to build a fairer, more prosperous, continent. Ghana is a pioneer in the adoption of the AfCFTA Caravan platform, and its supply chain digitization derivative known as ProPer  the Proof of Origin and Product Electronic Registries.



The Global Standards Symposium (GSS) provided a high-level forum for discussion and coordination which was opened to both ITUmembers and non-members.



This years edition was chaired by H.E. MsNeleLeosk, Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonia.



The theme for the Symposium was International standards to enable the digital transformation and achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A former Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Inusah Fuseini says all past Speakers of Parliament have at a point in time during deliberations in the House or outside of Parliament, been accused of being unfair to the opposition party.



He said the current Speaker, Alban Bagbin is not different from his predecessors and should therefore not be perturbed by accusations of bias from the majority.



Every speaker has his personal bias," he said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show "Ghana Montie."



Inusah Fuseini was discussing Alban Bagbin's claims that he cant be neutral but he will be impartial as a Speaker.



He explained how possible it is to be an impartial Speaker saying "he (Bagbin) has to take a firm stance on issues as and when they come before the House."



Bagbin on Tuesday, March 1, 2022, revealed that he is not the first Speaker to exhibit both traits under the Fourth Republic. He referred to the first Speaker under the republic as his mentor in exhibiting impartiality and non-neutrality at the same time.



However, Mr Fuseini said the trend of speakers not being neutral in the august house is a norm.



He cannot be neutral but he should be fair, he noted.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/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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Johnson Asiedu Nketia, General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress has accused the government of deliberately targeting him for financial persecution.



The man popularly referred to as General Mosquito alleged that the government had deliberately set out to cripple him financially by running his businesses aground.



He disclosed on Starr Chat on Accra-based Starr FM, March 2, 2022; that his four blockmaking factories are suffering because of the failure of the government to honour financial obligations to contractors he works with.



Asked about life in opposition being hell, he responded: As far as I am concerned, I wouldnt say life (in opposition) is hell that much because as a General Secretary, my life doesnt change whether we are in government or we are in opposition.



The only area where I think it hurts is where there is a deliberate effort by a ruling government to destroy your business with the thinking that when you are weak financially, you will come begging them.



My businesses have been destroyed. Everybody knows me to be into blockmaking, and all four block factories I was operating, none of them is functioning properly now. One is limping, as for the three I have stopped production completely, he revealed.



He recounted an instance with a District Assembly in Dodowa, where he supplied pavement blocs to a contractor, who had been given assurances of payment by the Assembly after a pressing task was discharged.



General Mosquito said his factory supplied blocks for a project that has been completed and commissioned but the Assembly has refused to pay the contractor so I remain unpaid. So, all the money that I should be using to buy material is locked up. It is deliberate.



He added that the deliberate nature of the incident is because funding for the project was from a secured source and the Assembly had expressly committed to pay prior to supply.



Asiedu Nketia said he has reported to two local government ministers but nothing has happened yet.



He stressed: I dont have the appetite to take them to court yet.





Source: ghanaweb.com









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The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has called for a strong partnership between the media and the legislature to strengthen the countrys democracy and help meet the aspirations of Ghanaians.



The current architecture of parliaments membership is novel, and I believe of extreme interest to you. It is such that it can elevate our democratic practices and procedures to an entirely new level, or act as a block to our forward march. It calls for new approaches, attitudes and culture, which some are failing to see, he stated.



Mr Bagbin made the call when he held a media dialogue with selected journalists in Accra last Tuesday.



In the current times that we find ourselves, I believe the media and the legislature remain sources of hope and optimism for many Ghanaians. The media have played a key role in Ghanas political and economic evolution since independence. Your contribution to Ghanas socio-economic development is immense, he stressed.



Parliaments resolve



Mr Bagbin said the eighth Parliament was determined to make the most impact yet on the lives of the citizenry, despite the daunting challenges that a hung parliament came with.



He explained that a viable democracy depended on a strong parliament, strong constitutional bodies, collaboration and consensus-building, and a deliberate effort to carry the citizens along the journey of the work of parliament.



He gave an assurance that Parliament, in the current arrangement, would not shirk its responsibility to exercise its oversight role over the executive.



We are an important cog in the wheel of checks and balances when it comes to Ghanas governance structure and we are determined not to shirk that responsibility. My focus this year is to ensure that institutions of state, including parliament and the executive, are held accountable for their acts of commission and omission, particularly those that have implications for the national purse, he stated.



Citizens perspectives



Mr Bagbin said one state institution that represented the hopes and aspirations of Ghanaians when it came to democracy was Parliament.



There is in Ghana today a general disappointment in politics and in the political elite. Despite the level of despondency when it comes to politics, it seems the citizens still retain some hope in the ability of the legislature to rescue the situation.



We have not done too well, with all the scuffles in parliament and with some of the agreements we arrive at, but still, there is some hope in us among the electorate, he said.



That, Mr Bagbin said, made it imperative for the media and the legislature to improve citizens participation in the work of the House.



It will require a strong partnership with the media and civil society groups, and also through direct engagement with the citizenry. We believe we are up to that task.





Source: graphiconline.com









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Dean of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana, Professor Kofi Agyekum, has criticized the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) for bypassing institutions in the country to seek help in an international entity, the Commonwealth of Nations.



The NDC has petitioned Commonwealth to monitor the human rights situation in Ghana as well as what they say is criminal persecution of its members.



General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who announced this at a press conference Monday, February 28, said it was necessary to send the petition due to the "harassment, criminal persecution and human rights violations" against some NDC leading members including their National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.



"There are some practices that are not in accordance with good governance and the principles of the Commonwealth so we have petitioned them to take the appropriate action," he added.



He further went on to cite the case of the Republic v Stephen Kwabena Opuni and two others, saying the Judge, Justice Clemence Honyenuga, hearing the case, made some pronouncements which "in any fair legal system would warrant his recusal from the case on the ground of real likelihood or appearance of bias".



General Mosquito as he is popularly called also made reference to the case involving the Republic vrs Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and Anthony Kwaku Boahen and the Republic Vrs Cassiel Ato Forson among others as examples of the criminal persecution of NDC members saying, "the conduct of the government of Ghana in this matter has been dreadful leaving no doubt the government is bent on a conviction regardless of the quality of the evidence".



"This is a brazen abuse of power by the government," Mr Asiedu Nketia added.



Prof. Kofi Agyekum, also known as 'Opanyin Agyekum' contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo' said: "in traditional form of governance we go according to hierarchies . . . there are steps and protocols in handling issues; you don't just get up and go to the top. When that happens we disrespect state institutions . . . meanwhile, there are others who hold Ghana in high regard. We don't need this especially when our economy is facing challenges."



He further pleaded with the opposition party to "withdraw the case and believe in the country's court system".



Watch video below





Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com









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Marriott Bonvoy On Wheels, the innovative food delivery and takeaway service from Marriott International, is gearing up for a pop up food truck fiesta as a series of stylish food trucks and traditional carts roll up at Boat Avenue in Laguna Phuket on 11 March 2022.

All the local residents and travelers will be invited to savor a fantastic array of flavors, including casual, handheld dishes and delicious drinks freshly prepared to order by Marriotts expert chefs and served straight over the counter. Giving guests a glimpse of tantalizing taste of what lies ahead.

At the event, the diners will be able to grab cheeky R bao buns from the sleek Bun Bar. At the same time, the Mexican Trailer is the place to go for chicken quesadillas, and the BBQ Smoker will specialize in succulent smoked meats, beef brisket and pork ribs.

The traditional Thai-style Street Grill will offer barbecued skewers, the Crispy Cart is the perfect place for fish & chips, chicken wings and cheesy & bacon curly fries, and the Plant Based trailer is a haven of mouth-watering meat-free masterpieces.

The Coconut Bar, a bright motorcycle and sidecar, will serve coconut-inspired cocktails, while a cute Ice-Cream Cart will present homemade gelato, and a Fresh Fruit counter will be slicing up tropical fruits, served with homemade ice cream. Finally, for guests seeking grown-up refreshments, the Gin & Tonic stall will be mixing cool drinks and bubbles, while the Brew Bar will be offering draught beer and a signature mixed nuts.

If you missed the event on Friday, we have you covered. Gather with friends and family join the colorful pop-ups at Marriotts hotels and resorts in Phuket and Khao Lak throughout the year of 2022! These Marriott Bonvoy on Wheels trucks will be pulling up at Marriotts hotels and resorts, check it out!

When we launched Marriott Bonvoy on Wheels, our aim was to bring Marriotts world-class restaurant dishes into peoples homes. Now, were flipping this concept around by bringing the best street food to our hotels! The food truck trend has taken off all around the world, and Thai food carts are always popular among locals and visitors alike. We cant wait to roll out our food truck fiesta in 2022, said Jakob Helgen, Area Vice President  Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia & Myanmar, Marriott International.

To learn more about Marrott Bonvoy on Wheels, the takeaway and home delivery service from Marriott International in Thailand, please visit https://marriottbonvoyasia.com/R+B/local-discount/Marriott-Bonvoy-on-Wheels-Thailand.
Academic Freedom Index, global and regional averages, 1960-2021 (right-hand side: population-weighted). Credit: FAU;V-Dem

Academic freedom is a universal human right. Yet, the 2022-release of the Academic Freedom Index (AFI) reveals that almost two out of five people worldwide live in countries where academic freedom has declined substantially during the past ten years. Countries with substantial declines in academic freedom include for example Brazil, Cameroon, India, Russia, Thailand, and the USA.

The AFI is the result of an international collaboration involving more than 2050 country experts worldwide, coordinated by researchers at the University of Gothenburg's V-Dem Institute and the Institute of Political Science. The German Volkswagen Foundation is funding the project for a total of five years.

Two out of five people worldwide affected

This year's AFI Update shows that academic freedom has decreased substantially compared to 2011 in nineteen countries and territories, and improved only in two. The declines affect 37% of the world's population, thus nearly two in five people worldwide.

Brazil, Hong Kong, India, and Turkey saw the greatest declines in academic freedom between 2011 and 2021. Notably, the deteriorations now also affect countries with a comparatively high level of academic freedom. For example, scholars and universities in Mexico, Poland, the USA, and the UK experience increasing limitations of academic freedom. Germany, on the other hand, received the highest AFI score in this year's assessment.

Dr. Georg Schutte, Secretary General of the Volkswagen Foundation, stresses that "academic freedom is a highly valued public good to which the Foundation is explicitly committed. It is a prerequisite for good science. We support the Index because it makes an important contribution to generating more knowledge about academic freedom, its mechanisms and effect worldwide."

International data collection for five indicators

The AFI provides data on academic freedom worldwide for the period from 1900 to 2021. The index rests on assessments by more than 2,050 country experts from around the world (academics who usually live in the country that they assess). These experts' assessments are aggregated using a statistical model developed by the international V-Dem project team for its larger democracy dataset.

The AFI itself is composed of five indicators, namely the freedom to research and teach; the freedom of academic exchange and dissemination; the institutional autonomy of universities; campus integrity; and the freedom of academic and cultural expression.

Open access and visualization

The detailed data that make up the AFI 1900-2021 are available open access to facilitate further studies. Easy to use visualization tools are available for anyone interested, and can be consulted by university administrations, research funders and policy makers.

Explore further More than two-thirds of UK social scientists warn their academic freedom is under threat
A juvenile harp seal resting on the ice in the Gulf of St Lawrence, Canada. Credit: James Grecian

Young harp seals diving for the first time can adapt their behavior depending on local environmental conditions, according to new research at the University of St Andrews.

Using miniaturized computers developed and built by the Sea Mammal Research Unit Instrumentation group at the University of St Andrews, scientists tracked the first migrations made by harp seal pups from breeding areas in north-eastern Canada and the Greenland Sea.

The pups traveled up to 3500km north into Baffin Bay, the northern Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean using migration routes similar to those previously recorded for adult harp seals.

The devices used by the scientists also recorded how the dive behavior of the seal pups developed as they began to forage.

This research, published in Royal Society Open Science, revealed an interesting difference. Diving behavior was similar for both populations over the first 25 days, likely due to the seals developing the ability to hold their breath and dive to depth for extended periods.

However, animals tagged in the Greenland Sea went on to perform shorter and shallower dives and were more closely associated with sea ice than animals tagged in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

Lead author Dr. James Grecian of the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews says that "the young harp seals we tracked in the Greenland Sea had access to sea ice for several months after they were born, and so learnt to dive around the ice edge."

"In contrast, the ice in the Gulf of Lawrence retreated much earlier and, rather than chase after it, the seals born there learnt to dive in a more ice-free environment."

"These differences in how much the two populations associated with the ice edge and their diving depths suggest a degree of flexibility in early life foraging behavior."

However, despite the ability to dive in a more ice-free environment, the seals still rely on the sea ice as a safe place to give birth and raise their young.

The Arctic is changing at an unprecedented rate, and experts from the University of St Andrews have been working to understand the impacts of these changes on the animals that inhabit this fragile ecosystem.

Harp seals rely on Arctic sea ice. They breed on the ice and forage around the ice edge, migrating thousands of kilometers to follow the ice as it retreats north over the summer. This makes them vulnerable to sea ice loss due to climate change.

They need thick ice floes that can withstand late winter storms, high winds, and waves. Global warming is impacting the formation of sea ice and reducing the stability of the ice as somewhere safe to breed.

Dr. Grecian added that "harp seal pups are weaned when they are just ten to 12 days old."

"After this time, the pups are left by their mothers and must fend for themselves. This means they need to learn quickly how to forage and make their first migrations as the ice breaks up on their own."

"Understanding how these behaviors develop provides an insight into how these animals may adapt to an ice-free Arctic."

Explore further Young Weddell seals need to practice navigating before hunting

More information: W. James Grecian et al, Environmental drivers of population-level variation in the migratory and diving ontogeny of an Arctic top predator, Royal Society Open Science (2022). Journal information: Royal Society Open Science W. James Grecian et al, Environmental drivers of population-level variation in the migratory and diving ontogeny of an Arctic top predator,(2022). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211042
Australia's emergency services ordered 200,000 people on Thursday to flee from the path of a wild storm that has killed 13 people in a week of record-setting east coast floods.

Australia's emergency services Thursday ordered 200,000 people to flee from the path of a wild storm that has killed 13 people in a week of record-setting east coast floods, but the city of Sydney escaped the worst of the deluge.

Authorities issued severe rain and wind warnings for a 400-kilometre (250-mile) stretch of the coast as water levels rose rapidlyincluding in suburbs around Sydney, Australia's largest city and home to five million people.

The unpredictable storm front has crawled southwards along the east coast from Queensland to New South Wales, creating havoc as rivers and reservoirs broke their banks with water swamping homes up to their roofs.

A low-pressure system sat off the coast hundreds of kilometres north of Sydney, dumping the heaviest rain in that area and sparing the city from a feared downpour, said meteorologist Ben Domensino of Weatherzone.

"Sydney escaped the heaviest falls today," he told AFP, predicting that the storm would weaken by Friday.

The Warragamba Dam in southwestern Sydney, which supplies 80 percent of the city's water, has been spilling over since the early hours of Wednesday.

The forecast of peak overflow at the dam was downgraded by nearly half on Thursday because rainfall in the dam's catchment areas was less than had been predicted.

Australia's emergency services ordered 200,000 people on Thursday to flee from the path of a wild storm that has killed 13 people in a week of record-setting east coast floods.

'Unpredictable'

Major floods are still under way in some areas west of Sydney along the Hawkesbury and Nepean riverswhich snakes across the city's suburbssaid a spokeswoman for the New South Wales bureau of meteorology.

"That's a system that is very big and it will take a while for it to ease off," she warned.

In the historic town of Windsorwhere many of Australia's oldest surviving European buildings arePaul Caleo joined other locals watching the Hawkesbury River rise above the local bridge, cutting off access to homes and farms.

Across the submerged bridge, an almost 120-year-old home stood alone on high ground surrounded by floodwaters.

"The river by its very nature is unpredictable," Caleo said.

Along Sydney's historic harbour, Taronga Zoo prepared for an influx of injured wildlife from torrential rainfall and flooding.

Major floods are still underway in some areas west of Sydney along the Hawkesbury River.

The first fear was for young wildlife, small animals - including echidnas and bandicoots - and birds unable to escape surging floodwaters.

Heavy downpours can make birds' feathers so waterlogged they are unable to fly, a spokeswoman told AFP.

As the floodwaters recede, concern will turn to the animals living in fresh water, including platypuses.

New South Wales' emergency services said more than 70 evacuation orders were still in force across the state.

"Many people are waking up today to see much of our state underwater," New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said earlier in the day.

"If you are subject to one of those evacuation orders, please get out," he told a news conference, explaining that the evacuation orders affected 200,000 people.

'We will be with you'

Scientists say climate change is making Australia's floods, bushfires, cyclones and droughts more frequent and more intense.

The unpredictable storm front has crawled southwards along the east coast from Queensland to New South Wales, creating havoc as rivers and reservoirs broke their banks.

"Australia is at the forefront of severe climate change," said environmental expert Hilary Bambrick of the Queensland University of Technology.

"Temperatures are rising faster in Australia than the global average, and higher temperatures mean the atmosphere holds more moisture, meaning rainfall events are becoming more extreme."

Across New South Wales, flood levels have climbed to the highest level in decades during the flooding disaster.

In towns such as Lismore in the state's northeast, which is now cleaning up as flood waters retreat, people had clambered onto their rooftops, sometimes waiting many hours to be rescued from rising waters.

New South Wales said it was sending an extra 400 personnel to that region to help people on the "very, very long road" to cleaning up and recovering.

"Many people today in the Northern Rivers and over the last 24 hours have returned home, and they have returned home to devastating scenes," state premier Perrottet said. "My message is we will be with you."

Explore further Australians flee floods as toll rises to 12, Sydney on alert

 2022 AFP
Indri-Indri is the largest living species of lemurs and are found around the mine. They are classified as Critically Endangered in the IUCN red list. Credit: Sebastien Desbureaux

Ambatovy mine, a major contributor to Madagascar's economy and a company which positioned itself as a leader in sustainable mining, is on track to deliver 'No Net Loss' of the unique forest habitat destroyed by the mine.

Increasingly infrastructure projects are required to deliver 'No Net Loss' in biodiversity; often using a controversial approach known as biodiversity offsetting. Despite the proliferation of such schemes, there are vanishingly few independent evaluations. New research led by Bangor University and published in Nature Sustainability, is one of the first fully independent, and most robust, impact evaluations of a biodiversity offset conducted to date. The study, focused on a high-profile mine in Madagascar, suggests that the offsets are on track to deliver 'No Net Loss' of the unique forest habitat destroyed by the mine.

"Ambatovy aims to conserve forest, by slowing deforestation driven by small-scale agriculture elsewhere, to offset the forest they have cleared at the mine site," describes Katie Devenish (Ph.D. student at Bangor University and lead author of the study). "Our analysis suggests that they have already saved nearly as much forest as was lost at the mine site. We estimate that No Net Loss of forest was achieved by the end of 2021."

Professor Julia Jones from Bangor University adds: "Low-income countries like Madagascar desperately need the economic development which commercial mining can bring. There are many important caveats to our findings, but it is certainly encouraging that Ambatovy's economic contributions to Madagascar (tens of millions of dollars a year), seem to have been made whilst minimizing trade-offs with the island's precious remaining forest habitat."

The forests around the Ambatovy mine are home to incredible biodiversity. Credit: Sebastien Desbureaux

The research uses state-of-the-art approaches to evaluate the impact of the mine's strategy to achieve 'No Net Loss' of forests as Dr. Sebastien Desbureaux, from the Center for Environmental EconomicsMontpellier, explains: "Robust evaluations of biodiversity offsets are very rare. There are over 12,000 biodiversity offsets worldwide, and less than 0.05% have been evaluated. Evaluations are hard to do as they involve comparing observed outcomes to what would have happened without the intervention. This counterfactual scenario is obviously difficult to estimate. We explored more than 100 alternative ways of running our analysis and the results are clear."

Professor Simon Willcock, from Rothamsted Research & Bangor University, explains why the analysis has limitations: "Whilst we can confidently show that the deforestation associated with the mine has likely been compensated for, we cannot capture impacts on species. It is also important to note that there may have been a cost to local people of the improved forest protection. We must also consider what happens when the company pulls out of the area (expected between 2040 and 2050) as without ongoing protection and restoration of the mine site, which is a very difficult task, Ambatovy's claims to No Net Loss might be threatened."

Professor Jones adds: "Despite global commitments, tropical forests continue to disappear rapidly. Biodiversity offsetting of the type studied in this research cannot resolve this. In fact, the approach only makes sense if there is ongoing deforestation in the wider landscape, which sadly is the case. However, given this ongoing destruction, this result lends strong support to requirements that mines, and other major developments, should do their bit by investing in conservation efforts. This case study shows that it can pay off."

Professor Simon Willcock concludes: "Global infrastructure development is not set to slow anytime soon. Finding policies to effectively reconcile such development with the need to conserve habitats and species is vital to avoid further exacerbating the ecological and climate emergency. It is all very well to introduce policies aiming to avoid biodiversity impacts from development but we need to look critically at whether or not they are delivering."

Explore further A less-contentious alternative to biodiversity offsetting

More information: Katie Devenish, On track to achieve no net loss of forest at Madagascar's biggest mine, Nature Sustainability (2022). www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00850-7 Journal information: Nature Sustainability Katie Devenish, On track to achieve no net loss of forest at Madagascar's biggest mine,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-022-00850-7
A subset of corals showing healthy coloration at the beginning of the heat-stress assay following either the laboratory control or variable temperature treatment. Photos such as this were taken daily in order to track the progression of bleaching during the heat-stress assay. Credit: Amanda Kirkland

A new study led by researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science found that corals that underwent a stressful temperature treatment in the laboratory for 90 days were more tolerant to increased water temperatures.

These findings offer coral restoration scientists with a new approach to potentially increase the success rate of planting nursery-raised staghorn coral onto degraded reefs as climate change continues to warm ocean temperatures, resulting in more frequent coral bleaching events. Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) has died off throughout South Florida and the Caribbean, and is listed as "threatened" on the Endangered Species Act.

While previous "stress-hardening" experiments on corals have utilized exposures to short-term temperatures, the UM Rosenstiel School team assessed the effect of a long-term, variable treatment where temperatures reached a stressful level for a brief period of time, twice per day.

"This 'training' regime is akin to an athlete preparing for a race," said the study's lead author Allyson DeMerlis, a Ph.D. student at the UM Rosenstiel School. "We were able to demonstrate that this temperature treatment can boost the corals' stamina to heat stress."

To conduct the experiment, DeMerlis and scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and UM's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, collected coral fragments from six distinct genetic individuals of Caribbean staghorn coral from the UM Rosenstiel School's Rescue a Reef coral nursery and randomly assigned them to one of three groups: (1) field control, (2) laboratory control, and (3) variable temperature treatment. The laboratory control and variable temperature-treated corals were subjected to a three-month treatment period where the laboratory controls were kept at a constant 28 degrees Celsius while the variable temperature regime corals were subjected to fluctuating temperatures between 28 to 31 degrees Celsius, twice daily for three months.

The scientists then measured bleaching progression photographically as well as the number of days that a coral endured thermal stress before bleaching. They found that the variable temperature treatment significantly improved coral endurance in thermal stress, on the order of several days, in comparison to the untreated corals. In addition, they found that untreated corals were more likely to quickly succumb to disease-like signs of tissue loss.

Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) maintained in an aquarium in the Experimental Reef Laboratory. Credit: Allyson DeMerlis,

The findings demonstrate the benefit of using a variable temperature treatment in the laboratory setting for maintaining staghorn coral over the traditional static temperatures. This may be translated in the field for restoration practitioners, specifically for identifying locations where their coral nurseries and outplanting sites can be exposed to more fluctuating temperatures.

"We have unfortunately reached the point where active intervention and restoration are necessary to ensure that valuable coral reefs are able to persist for generations to come," said Ian Enochs, senior author of the study and a coral scientist at NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems Division. "We want to increase the efficiency and efficacy of these efforts, and ultimately ensure that the corals that are placed back out on a reef have the greatest chance of enduring the stressful conditions they will face in the future."

"Our findings bring a glimmer of hope to the uncertain future of corals, as we identified a treatment in which we can enhance their tolerance to heat stress," said DeMerlis.

The study, titled "Pre-exposure to a variable temperature treatment improves the response of Acropora cervicornis to acute thermal stress," was published Feb. 23 in the journal Coral Reefs.

Explore further First large-scale census of coral heat tolerance published

More information: Allyson DeMerlis et al, Pre-exposure to a variable temperature treatment improves the response of Acropora cervicornis to acute thermal stress, Coral Reefs (2022). Journal information: Coral Reefs Allyson DeMerlis et al, Pre-exposure to a variable temperature treatment improves the response of Acropora cervicornis to acute thermal stress,(2022). DOI: 10.1007/s00338-022-02232-z
In this Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 file photo, Businesses are surrounded by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey, in Humble, Texas. Extreme weather is becoming more common, and that's just one of the warnings for the Gulf of Mexico region in a United Nations report released this week. Credit: AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File

Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain on parts of the Texas coast in 2017. Then in 2020, ferocious winds from Hurricane Laura destroyed homes across coastal Louisiana. Hurricane Ida hit in 2021, leaving the entire city of New Orleans without power for days.

Such extreme weather is becoming more common, and that's just one of the warnings for the Gulf of Mexico region in a United Nations report released this week. The devastating effects of climate change in the region also include rising seas, collapsing fisheries and toxic tides, even if humanity somehow manages to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era.

"The hurricanes that we get, there's a higher probability that they can bloom up into major hurricanes," Louisiana's state climatologist Barry Keim said, agreeing with the report's details on more dangerous weather.

The report, an "atlas of human suffering," details numerous ways in which climate change will affect the gulf. From Texas to Florida, which has the second longest coastline of any state, the entire U.S. Gulf coast is under serious threat from rising seas as the planet's polar ice caps melt, the U.N. report says.

The region, home to major oil and gas production in Texas and Louisiana and tourist destinations in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, tends to be conservative politically, and its mostly Republican leaders have stressed adaption to climate changehigher roads, sea walls, preventing saltwater intrusionmore than broad efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or promote cleaner energy.

For example, the Republican-led Florida House of Representatives refused on Tuesday to add clean-energy measures to a plan to bolster the state against sea level rise and flooding. The bill's sponsor, GOP Rep. Demi Busatta Cabrera of the Miami area, said her aim is to do "what we can fix today."

Democratic Rep. Ben Diamond, who is running for a St. Petersburg-area congressional seat, was disappointed lawmakers didn't do more.

Improved climate change resiliency is good, he said, but "then there's also stopping the causes of those problems in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, in terms of reducing our carbon emissions." The Florida House bill does not get into that.

In this Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 file photo, People evacuate a neighborhood in west Houston inundated by floodwaters after a release from nearby Addicks Reservoir when it reached capacity due to Tropical Storm Harvey, in Houston, Texas. Extreme weather is becoming more common, and that's just one of the warnings for the Gulf of Mexico region in a United Nations report released this week. Credit: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File

People considering 30-year mortgages are already looking for homes and commercial buildings that pose lower flood risks. One study cited by the U.N. says the trend is evident in Florida's Miami-Dade County, where some buyers are shying away from expensive waterfront homes.

In Miami Beach, streets already flood on sunny days, especially during the so-called King Tides, and the report says the Tampa Bay area, surrounded by shallow seas, and is considered one of the most vulnerable places in the nation for storm surges.

Sea level rise poses an existential threat to much of Louisiana, because so much of the Mississippi River delta has been sinking due to human interventions. The loss of sediment from leveeing the river and saltwater intrusion caused by coastal oil and gas development are two big culprits, Keim noted.

"South Louisiana is probably the most vulnerable place to climate change in the United States," Keim said.

Other parts of the Gulf face different problems, the report warns. Tourism and fishing industries depend on thriving habitats off the coasts of Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula, but coral reefs are bleaching due to "warming ocean waters interacting with non-climate stressors." In Florida alone, the decline of the reefs could translate into $24 billion to $55 billion in economic losses by 2100, the report said.

The report details efforts in the region to adapt to climate change. Miami-Dade released a strategic sea level rise response plan in 2021 that calls for adapting infrastructure, elevating roads, building on higher ground and expanding waterfront parks and canals.

The city of Miami Beach has already spent more than $500 million installing pumps to flush water off the island, with no guarantees that this will keep the tourists' feet dry. The city of Miami is spending potentially billions of dollars to keep the ocean at bay and limit saltwater intrusion into freshwater supplies.

"The most common question I get asked is whether Miami is going to be here in 50 years, whether it's going to be here in 100 years," Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said at a recent news conference. "This is the beginning of having a comprehensive plan to answer that question in the affirmative."

In this Friday, Oct. 12, 2018 file photo, Hector Morales sits on a debris pile near his home which was destroyed by hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla. Extreme weather is becoming more common, and that's just one of the warnings for the Gulf of Mexico region in a United Nations report released this week. Credit: AP Photo/David Goldman, File

In Louisiana, the state's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has a plan with "very specific projects," the U.N. report said, such as dredging to replenish wetlands and rebuilding barrier islands damaged by storms.

Alex Kolker, an associate professor of coastal geology at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium in Cocodrie, noted that on Feb. 1, Louisiana also announced a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

Outbreaks of red tide, which are natural toxic organisms originally noticed by the Spanish explorers, have become more frequent and more deadly because of warmer air and water, experts say.

The increasing outbreaks kill more fish and sea life and harm the tourist industry with smelly fish-strewn beaches, poor fishing and the possibility of harms to human health, especially among people with asthma or other lung conditions.

From 2017 to 2019, according to a University of Florida study, tourism sectors lost $184 million in revenue because of red tide. The warmer water also fosters algae blooms, caused by pollution from agricultural, urban and other sources, that are getting worse along Florida's coasts, contributing to the lack of seagrass that has led to a record die-off of manatees in the past year. The state resorted to feeding one group of starving manatees romaine lettuce instead.

"You can't just go out and plant a bunch of seagrass," said Tom Reinert, regional director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

___

This story was first published on March 3, 2022. It was updated on March 7, 2022, to correct that Florida has the second longest coastline of any state, not the longest.

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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A Greek photographer is taking his compatriots on a journey to China, with online tours organized by the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation in the port of Piraeus.

From Feb 16 until April 11, amateur photographer and environmentalist Nikos Stantzos will act as an online tour guide for Beijing and its outskirts, as well as the ancient capitals and the country's borders. Stantzos will give five presentations for Greek people, called "Traveling to China," which are free of charge.

Stantzos lived in Beijing from 2012 to 2017, working for a German company as an expert in energy, renewables and climate change. He has taken more than 20,000 photos in China, and found the time to tidy up his archive during the pandemic. He decided to share his pictures and experiences to show his people the lesser-known side of a country he has grown to love.

Stantzos has traveled to over 20 Chinese provinces to date, and is planning more adventures in the future, he told Xinhua in a recent online interview. Speaking from Singapore, where he is now based, he said:

"Beijing, when I moved in 2012, was a city that was just basking in the glory of the 2008 (Summer) Olympics. That was definitely a high point for the city. Because of my work there, I had to travel extensively all over China ... That gave me an exposure to how variable and how amazing basically China is."

He was also impressed by the organization of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

"I think that these Olympic Games show a China that it is more, if you like, confident and relaxed, compared with the first Olympics (2008)," he told Xinhua.

"The Chinese did an amazing job to reuse a lot of the facilities. For example, the water tube that became the ice tube ... I thought that was a very good symbolism of how we can actually reuse facilities," he said.

Stantzos' main motivation for the "Traveling to China" series was to contribute to understanding between the East and West. He wanted to show the China he saw and experienced, which is very different from what is sometimes being reported by mainstream Western media, he explained.

"My message is that you have to go out and find out China with your own eyes ... go there with an open mind and I guarantee you you're going to like it or at least you're going to find a lot of things you like," he said.

Konstantinos Mazarakis Ainian, General Director of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, was happy to see the strong interest Greeks showed for China during the first presentation.

"What impressed us is that the approximately 600 viewers who started watching the series at the beginning of the first episode did not decrease until the end," he told Xinhua, adding that viewers had bombarded Stantzos with questions.

The foundation, which is a cultural and educational organization promoting Greek letters and historical and nautical research, has a close partnership with Tsinghua University in Beijing, as well as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

"We thought that an important parameter that can bring China closer to Greece is for the average Greek to get to know China in a non-academic way, as a tourist. So we arranged and organized this series of five trips to China that I believe gives ... a complete picture of China as it is today, highlighting culture, history, way of life," he explained.

"Traveling to China" is presented within the framework of the Center for China Studies, which was established two years ago at the Foundation in collaboration with CASS, to enhance bilateral cultural relations, promote Chinese culture in Greece, and produce scientific work in the fields of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

New study results by a research team at the University of Cologne show that future teachers increasingly want to use computer games in the classroom. The study identifies particularly relevant aspects that should be addressed in teacher training programs in order to support this intention. The study results have been published in the British Journal of Educational Technology.

Computer games play a major role in the lives and media use of children and adolescents people. However, current school teaching rarely takes this medium into account. The future generation of teachers currently being trained at universities could change this. "In our current study, we focused on the teachers of tomorrow and how they can be better prepared to employ computer games in the classroom because computer games have great potential for teaching," said Marco Ruth from the University of Cologne's Psychology Department.

In previous studies, the authors had already shown that as a learning tool in the classroom, computer games can support students' skills development. They also found that after using computer games in class, students can reflect critically and constructively on their experiences with the medium. Based on this, the researchers surveyed 402 teacher trainees from German-speaking universities online about their intention to integrate computer games as learning tools and as an object of reflection in their future school lessons. The team examined 21 personal characteristics, including perceived effectiveness of computer games, knowledge about computer games, and fear of using computer games in the classroom. "Above all, the perceived effectiveness of computer games and perceived connections of computer games to curricula play a central role in the intention of teacher trainees to actually want to use them in school lessons," Professor Kai Kaspar explained.

The current survey also revealed differences between the scenarios in which computer games are used: "If teacher trainees want to use computer games to promote the competencies of students, they pay particular attention to their own fear of using computer games and the extent to which people important to them think they should use computer games," explained Marco Ruth. "If, on the other hand, they want to use computer games for media-critical discussions, the focus was instead on the effort involved for them."

Since computer games are currently rarely included as a relevant medium in teacher training programs, the researchers recommend that, above all, insights into the effectiveness of computer games and their relevance to curricula should be included in teacher training programs. Likewise, teacher trainees should be aware of potential pitfalls in practical implementation and be able to deal with them ,so that teaching competencies with computer games are promoted in the long term. "This would require not only adjustments to the curriculum of the teacher training program, but also further support services and research findings so that teachers in their later school practice know exactly when and how they can use computer games effectively in the classroom," said Professor Kaspar.

Explore further Netflix enters deal to acquire Finland's Next Games

More information: Marco Ruth et al, Teaching with digital games: How intentions to adopt digital gamebased learning are related to personal characteristics of preservice teachers, British Journal of Educational Technology (2022). Marco Ruth et al, Teaching with digital games: How intentions to adopt digital gamebased learning are related to personal characteristics of preservice teachers,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/bjet.13201
Fountain Valley. Credit: University of California - Berkeley

More than three-quarters (77.7%) of residential land in the housing-starved greater Los Angeles region is reserved for single-family homes, a new analysis by UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI) finds, creating a barrier to low-income people from accessing high-opportunity neighborhoods.

According to the study, the average amount of total land (including commercial areas and parks) exclusively reserved for single-family housing in the region is 40.67%. In contrast, only 11.8% of total land is available for denser, multi-family developments.

The investigation released Wednesday of 191 cities in six counties (Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura) also found that as the proportion of a neighborhood's single-family-only zoning increased, so did its white and Asian populations, while the Latino population significantly decreased.

The region's percentage of Black residents also declines as the percentage of single-family-only zoned areas increases.

The findings are consistent with a 2020 study of the San Francisco Bay Area produced by the same research team, which found that 85% of residential land in the San Francisco Bay Area was exclusively reserved for single-family-only housing and that communities with more restrictive zoning were whiter and wealthier.

"This study is damning evidence that low-density zoning in the Los Angeles region powerfully excludes people on the basis of race and class, said Stephen Menendian, the study's co-author and assistant director of OBI. "And, as we can see from the longitudinal data, is the principal mechanism for hoarding resources in ways that shape life outcomes."

Among the findings in the study, titled, "Single-Family Zoning in Greater Los Angeles," the researchers discovered that home prices are more than twice as high in neighborhoods that are at least 90% single-family-only zoned (median value of $811,492) compared to those that are less than 10% single-family-only zoned ($405,875).

It also found better educational outcomes in terms of math proficiency, high school graduation rates, and college degrees in more exclusionary communities, as well as better environmental health conditions, such as air quality and exposure to lead.

There is also a clear positive correlation between a child's neighborhood zoning and how much money they earn as an adult. Specifically, children born into families with incomes at the 75th percentile who grew up in communities with nearly 100% single-family zoning ended up making more than $10,000 per year as adults than children born into families at the same income level but living in communities with 25% or less single-family zoning.

The researchers also calculated the probability that children from different racial groups would make it to the top 20% of the income distribution as adults based on the degree of restrictive zoning in their community.

The results were unsettling for Black children in particular, who have the lowest rate of upward economic mobility among all children. It found that Black children had less than a 10% chance of making it to the top income quintile as adults except when raised in jurisdictions with near 100% single-family-only zoning.

The study emerges less than two years after OBI published a similar analysis of exclusionary zoning in the San Francisco Bay Area which led some cities, including Berkeley, to adopt resolutions that would loosen zoning laws.

It also comes in the midst of a national conversation on the role of zoning in perpetuating structural racism. OBI has since continued its investigation into zoning, and last year began tracking zoning reform efforts taking place across the country.

"We're also not claiming that zoning reform alone will solve the problems of unequal life outcomes associated with racial and class segregation or affordable housing," said Samir Gambhir, report co-author and OBI program manager. "But it is unlikely we can ever make substantial progress in these areas without first rethinking exclusionary zoning."

This study is unique in that it relied on original, laboriously constructed local zoning maps (191 in all) rather than using survey data or other imprecise shortcuts to calculate zoning. As a result, the study is accompanied by a repository of searchable zoning maps for every city in the region.

The maps offer a stark visualization of the overwhelming prevalence of single-family zoning, with nearly all the maps blotted in pink representing exclusionary jurisdictions with only patches of blue representing multi-family or other types of residential zones.

To address the harmful consequences of anti-density zoning for residents of the region, the report singles out 13 cities it identified as most in need of reform based on several factors, including the percentage of single-family zoning, affordable housing production, proximity to job centers, and community resources.

The cities identified as most in need of reform, according to the analysis, include Bradbury, La Habra Heights, Rolling Hills, Villa Park, La Canada Flintridge, Walnut, Moorpark, Chino Hills, Diamond Bar, Rolling Hills Estates, La Mirada, Glendora, and Cerritos.

"These are far from the only cities that have work to do to open up their communities to affordable and multi-family housing, but they can at least provide a starting point," said Chih-Wei Hsu, co-author of the report.

More information: Single-Family Zoning in Greater Los Angeles. Single-Family Zoning in Greater Los Angeles. belonging.berkeley.edu/single-  -greater-los-angeles
A GoPro camera shows moon jellies below the water in Sinclair Inlet on August 25, 2021. Moon jellies tend to aggregate in protected bays. New research suggests that when populations spike the moon jellies can consume a significant amount of the zooplankton in those waters. Credit: University of Washington

Swarms of jellies have been seen more frequently in Puget Sound over the past several decades, and some biologists speculate these fast-growing jellyfish will do especially well in the warmer oceans of the future.

Moon jellies, or Aurelia labiata, are unique among the various jellyfish species inhabiting Puget Sound in that they form vast blooms. When populations spike, they can take over a single baycreating a dramatic sight.

University of Washington-led research suggests moon jellies are feasting on zooplankton, the various tiny animals that drift with the currents, in the bays they inhabit. This could affect other hungry marine life, like juvenile salmon or herringespecially if predictions are correct and climate change will favor fast-growing jellyfish.

The team, which included researchers at Highline College, Western Washington University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, presented this work March 2 as a poster at the Ocean Sciences Meeting.

"These aggregations can contain thousands to millions of individuals, and they can cover a broad range of space," said lead author Haila Schultz, a UW graduate student in oceanography. "It's kind of really amazing to see these aggregations when you run into them, oftentimes in protected bays."

Team member Correigh Greene at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center has studied jellyfish in Puget Sound for more than a decade. Many species are becoming more common, he's found, thriving in the warmer water seen in 2015 and expected in the future.

A view of the oceans surface on August 25, 2021, in Sinclair Inlet shows a pack of moon jellies during the sampling cruise. Other types of jellyfish, like lions mane or egg-yolk jellyfish, also have population spikes in summer but dont congregate in a single area like moon jellies. Credit: Haila Schultz/University of Washington

"Why are the jellyfish increasing? And if the moon jellies are increasing, what are their impacts on the ecosystem in Puget Sound?" asks Julie Keister, a UW professor of oceanography.

Through field sampling and lab experiments, the new study suggests that population blooms of moon jellies could have significant local effects on the base of the marine food web.

The team took water samples from Quartermaster Harbor on Vashon Island and Sinclair Inlet, south of Bremerton, during moon jelly population spikes late each summer of 2019, 2020 and 2021. In collaboration with the Squaxin Tribe, they also sampled water at two South Puget Sound hotspots for moon jellies: Budd and Eld inlets.

Water samples taken during moon jelly population spikes in Quartermaster Harbor and Sinclair Inlet during the last three summers showed that levels of zooplanktonespecially copepodswere dramatically lower inside the moon jelly aggregations. The average copepod densities were as much as 73% lower within aggregations than in other parts of the bay.

"This strongly suggests to us that the moon jellies are feeding on the copepods inside the aggregations, depleting their populations," Schultz said.

The team also conducted an experiment at Highline College's MAST Center in the summers of 2019 and 2020. They placed different numbers of moon jellies in 10 large tanks filled with local seawater and zooplankton. When researchers measured the zooplankton levels two hours later, the copepod levels had dropped by as much as 75% in the tank containing the most moon jellies.

"When we pair those two results, we get an idea that the jellyfish in Puget Sound are able to eat a lot of copepods, and that they might be altering the zooplankton population in these embayments," Keister said. "We don't have any rates yet for the field, but from what we observed in the experiments, the moon jellies are clearly preying on those copepods at a very fast rate."

The researchers are still analyzing their data. Eventually they hope to establish the moon jellies' feeding rates and incorporate that into an ecosystem model of Puget Sound that predicts how various populations will fare depending on the environmental conditions.
The extensive reach of monetary sanctions tentacles in the sociological world. Credit: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2022.8.2.01

A five-year, eight-state study of monetary sanctionsthe fines and fees people are sentenced to for everything from a traffic citation to court costs following a felony convictionreveals the devastating consequences for the people involved, within a system that perpetuates racial and social injustice.

The study, led by Alexes Harris, professor of sociology at the University of Washington, involved a team of student and faculty researchers from around the country, including Karin Martin, assistant professor of public policy at the UW Evans School. The work was published online in January as a double volume of related articles in The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences.

The project, Harris said, taught the research team and potentially, decision-makers and the general public, a lot about monetary sanctions. Legal fines and fees, or LFOs, have vast ramifications for people's lives, from their ability to attain and build wealth, to their employment and housing stability, their health and wellness, even their ability to participate in public life through driving and voting. These prohibitions and limitations, then, can impact people's families, and even entire neighborhoods.

Harris sat down with UW News to discuss the scope of the project, and what comes next.

What do people generally get wrong, or simply not understand, about this issue?

Many people think, "They did the crime, they have to do the time," and see fines and fees as a way to "hold people accountable." However, what many people do not realize is that most people convicted of offending are sentenced to an array of punishments. Upon conviction, people are regularly sentenced to jail or prison and typically receive community supervision (probation) after their release. They also may have mandated community service hours, classes and treatment; they may lose the right to drive and vote; and they have convictions on their records that impact housing, education loans and access, and employment prospects.

On top of all of these serious consequences, people receive monetary sanctions. Across the nation, people who are convicted in municipal and felony courts are getting plenty of punishment and are being held accountable. The added punishment of monetary sanctions serves as a disparate punishment for people who are poorthe penal debt creates a longer period of punishment and a more intense strain on their lives and that of their children and families.

Describe how this work seemed to open up new lines of research, such as on the emotional impacts of legal financial obligations, and the impacts of LFOs on specific populations, such as women and Native Americans.

Our five years of data collection and analysis gave us further insight into the nuanced ways the punishment of monetary sanctions affects people. In our interview data we examined how the punishment of fines and fees, and the related tethering to the criminal legal system (via warrants, mandated court appearances and re-incarceration), created health stressors. People palpably described how their inability to pay off fines and fees generated chronic and acute moments of anxiety, stress and even depression.

We also examined how fines and fees might go beyond just individuals and their families. Using court data from Washington state, we were able to map out the amount of fiscal penalties sentenced per person within a given census tract (neighborhood). We were able to identify, in one of the articles in the new volume, what we term as "debtors' blocks," neighborhoods that carry a high monetary sanction debt burden per capita. These debtor's blocks tended to be non-white neighborhoods and those with higher poverty, and had an average higher rate of monetary sanctions than communities that were more affluent and those with larger numbers of white residents. This analysis also found a longitudinal association between a neighborhood's increase in poverty and the amount of fiscal penalties to which the residents had been sentenced. That is, it appears that monetary sanctions exacerbate a community's poverty level, and this was especially true for communities of color.

Credit: University of Washington

In a related analysis, one that focused on court sentencing data from Minnesota, the authors found that Native Americans were subject to among the largest overall legal financial obligations in criminal court and carried the largest average LFO debt loads relative to other racial and ethnic groups in Minnesota, particularly when residing close to tribal lands. They also found that monetary sanctions exacerbated existing poverty and spatial isolation in rural areas.

Moving forward I am interested in better understanding the outcome from policy reform. We have seen a national movement that attempts to assuage the harms related to monetary sanctions. I have a new study where I am examining how policy reforms have impacted individuals sentenced to fines and feesboth in the amounts of relief they have been given across counties and also in regaining their right to drive.

How did this study provide new opportunities for collaboration and student scholarship?

This five-year study and funding from Arnold Ventures was an amazing opportunity to invite senior and junior academics to develop a multi-state research team. I call it my Dream Team. It was also a great way to have graduate and undergraduate students join the team, engage in research development, data collection and analysis. One of my aims with this project was to increase the number of scholars interested in researching the system of monetary sanctions. Another goal was to create a team environment for younger scholars (both scholars without tenure and graduate students) to have the opportunity to conduct research on a large team, gain hands-on experience, and publish with senior academics. At the end of five years, we had over 50 scholars engage in data collection, analysis and write-up. To date, we have over 36 peer-reviewed publications and reports from our project, with more under review and in development. Almost all of these papers involved a mix of graduate students and professors, or were solely graduate student partnerships created within our team.

Your research points to the way LFOs perpetuate racial and social injustice, through governments that have come to depend on the revenue. What are some possible solutions?

Our research over the past five years suggests several policy changes that would help ensure that people convicted of violating the law are held accountable to a reasonable punishment without excessive penalties.

First, we suggest that state legislators should reduce the scope of monetary sanctions by reducing or eliminating jurisdictional reliance on the funding from those sanctions. States should also eliminate the use of private agencies for debt collection, surveillance and data management.

Second, we argue that state legislatures, through policy and courts in practice, should eliminate arbitrary and excessive monetary sanctions. To do so, judges should be mandated to evaluate, at sentencing, current ability to pay, with clear guidelines. Courts should also evaluate the definition and guidelines used to assess behavior constituting "willful nonpayment."

Third, states should enact legislation that would decouple unpaid fines and fees from other institutions. For example, states should eliminate the practice of suspending driver's licenses of people who are unable to pay their fines and fees. Similarly, states should allow people to exercise their right to vote even if they still owe monetary sanctions.

Finally, state courts should mandate that jurisdictions make data accessible and transparent on monetary sanctions to the public, defendants, and policymakers.

These reformstangible changes state legislatures and state courts could imposewould provide better protections for people who are poor from the system of monetary sanctions. I think it is important to outline incremental policy reform that would give relief to people who are currently entangled in the criminal legal system. That said, I do argue, based on 14 years of research on this topic, that a system of monetary sanctions can never be "just" within a society with so much racial and economic inequality. To begin to address the injustice of the criminal legal system in America, the system of monetary sanctions should be abolished.

Explore further Counties that rely on the courts for revenue sentence more women to incarceration
View from the archaeological site Arapouco towards the Sado Valley, Portugal. Credit: Rita Peyroteo-Stjerna

Mummification of the dead probably was more common in prehistory than previously known. This discovery was made at the hunter-gatherer burial sites in the Sado Valley in Portugal, dating to 8,000 years ago. A new study, headed by archaeologists at Uppsala University and Linnaeus University in Sweden and University of Lisbon in Portugal, presents new evidence for pre-burial treatments, such as desiccation through mummification, which has not been suggested for the European Mesolithic before. The results are now published in the European Journal of Archaeology.

Until now, the oldest cases of intentional mummification were known from the Chinchorro hunter-gatherers living in the coastal region of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile with examples of mummified bodies buried in shell middens around 7,000 years ago still preserving soft tissue. However, most surviving mummies worldwide are more recent, dating between a few hundred years and 4,000 years old.

Mummification in prehistory is a challenging topic for researchers because it is difficult to detect if a body was preserved through mummification when soft tissue is no longer visible. An additional difficulty is the lack of written reports for these early periods. Unlike bone, finding soft tissue in archaeological sites is rare due to issues of preservation, and without it, it is difficult to recognize if the remains have been curated soon after death. This is particularly challenging in temperate and wetter climates, such as in most of Europe, where soft tissues and fabrics do not normally survive in archaeological sites.

Using recently discovered photographs of the skeletal remains of thirteen individuals excavated in the 1960s in the Sado Valley Mesolithic shell middens in Portugal, the researchers were able to reconstruct the positions in which the bodies were buried, providing a unique opportunity to learn more about mortuary rituals taking place 8,000 years ago.

Researcher Rita Peyroteo Stjerna at the National Museum of Archaeology, Lisbon, working with the Mesolithic skeletons excavated in the 1950s-1960s at the Sado Valley, Portugal. Credit: Jose Paulo Ruas

The study combined the approach of archaeothanatology with human decomposition experiments. Archaeothanatology is an approach used by archaeologists to document and analyze human remains in archaeological sites that combines observations of the spatial distribution of the bones in the grave with knowledge about how the human body decomposes after death. Archaeologists can then reconstruct how the dead body was handled after death and buried, even if several millennia have passed. In this study, the archaeothanatology was also informed by results from human decomposition experiments on mummification and burial at the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility at Texas State University.

Based on the results from the experiments, an observable signature for a mummy could be proposed that combines several observations: a hyperflexion of the limbs, an absence of disarticulation in significant parts of the skeleton, and a rapid infilling of sediment around the bones. These were all clearly present in at least one of the burials in this study. The analysis showed that some bodies were buried in extremely flexed positions with the legs flexed at the knees and placed in front of the chest.

During decomposition, the bones usually become disarticulated at weak joints, such as at the feet, but in these cases, the articulations were maintained. The researchers propose that this pattern of hyperflexion and lack of disarticulation could be explained if the body was not placed in the grave as a fresh cadaver, but in a desiccated state as a mummied corpse. Desiccation not only maintains some of these otherwise weak articulations, but also allows for a strong flexion of the body since the range of movement increases when the volume of soft tissue is smaller. Because the bodies were desiccated before burial, there is very little or no sediment present between the bones and the articulations are maintained by the continuous infilling of the surrounding soil supporting the bones and preventing the collapse of the articulations.

The researchers suggest that the observed patterns could be the product of a guided natural mummification process. The manipulation of the body during mummification would have taken place over an extended period of time, during which the body gradually would become desiccated to maintain its bodily integrity, and simultaneously contracted by trussing with rope or bandages to compress it into a desired position. When the process was finished, the body would have been easier to transport (being more contracted and significantly lighter than the fresh cadaver) while ensuring that it was buried while retaining its appearance and anatomical integrity.

If mummification in Europe was older than previously known, a range of insights relating to the mortuary practices of Mesolithic communities arises, including a central concern for maintaining the integrity of the body and its physical transformation from a cadaver to a curated mummy. These practices would also underscore the significance of the burial places and the importance of bringing the dead to these locations in a manner that contained and protected the body, following principles that were culturally regulated, highlighting the significance of both the body and the burial place in Mesolithic Portugal 8,000 years ago.

Explore further 350-year-old remains found in a Stone Age site in Portugal

More information: Rita Peyroteo-Stjerna et al, Mummification in the Mesolithic: New Approaches to Old Photo Documentation Reveal Previously Unknown Mortuary Practices in the Sado Valley, Portugal, European Journal of Archaeology (2022). Rita Peyroteo-Stjerna et al, Mummification in the Mesolithic: New Approaches to Old Photo Documentation Reveal Previously Unknown Mortuary Practices in the Sado Valley, Portugal,(2022). DOI: 10.1017/eaa.2022.3
Due to a regular surface structure on the mussel "Adamussium colbecki" ice adheres to it only very weakly and can be easily washed away by currents. Credit: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research

Antarctic waters have conditions in which objects and living creatures can freeze even under water. This is a major problem for marine travel in polar regions. So-called supercooled water has a temperature just below the freezing point. Due to the high salt content, water in Antarctica has a freezing point of about -1.9 C, but is about 0.05 C colder. The smallest disturbances such as grains of sand or surfaces can cause this supercooled water to freezewith sometimes fatal consequences for creatures that cannot survive frozen.

The Antarctic scallop "Adamussium colbecki" resists this, as chemist Konrad Meister knows. Meister is a professor at the University of Alaska and heads a research group in Mischa Bonn's department at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz. During an expedition in Antarctica, divers drew his attention to the scallop with the efficient ice protection mechanism. "Our divers reported that they had never observed large-scale ice on the surface of this native scallop species," Meister says.

The international research team, consisting of members of several MPI-P research groups as well as the University of Oregon, suspects that the scallop species developed a special surface structure during evolution that protects it from icing. While scallops in warmer regions have disordered or smooth shell surfaces, the Antarctic species has a microscopic, very regular structure.

The microscope reveals small ridges that run in a radiating pattern on their shell. These ridges ensure that water freezes preferentially there. If the freezing process continues, a continuous layer of ice forms, resting only on the ridges. Due to the low adhesion between ice and shell, the smallest underwater flow can therefore wash off the ice again and the scallop does not freeze.

In addition to microscope studies, the research team also conducted icing experiments with the Antarctic and with a scallop from warmer regions. It was found that far less force is needed to remove the ice layer on the Antarctic scallop than for the other species.

"It is exciting how evolution has obviously given this scallop an advantage," says Konrad Meister. "New technological applications based on the principle of bionics are conceivable from the knowledge of the ice-free shell. For example, non-icing surfaces could be highly interesting for polar shipping."

The researchers have now published their research in the journal Communications Biology.

Explore further Insects in freezing regions have a protein that acts like antifreeze

More information: William S. Y. Wong et al, Cryofouling avoidance in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki, Communications Biology (2022). Journal information: Communications Biology William S. Y. Wong et al, Cryofouling avoidance in the Antarctic scallop Adamussium colbecki,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03023-6
Credit: Murdoch University

Murdoch University researchers have welcomed a baby turtle into the world this week as part of an important incubation research project aiming to save the iconic Southwestern snake-necked turtles at Bibra Lake from dwindling population numbers.

The project, in collaboration with the City of Cockburn, aims to bump up turtle numbers across Perth's southern suburbs through the development of restocking programs for the vulnerable species (Chelodina oblongaprev. C. colliei).

Leading the research is Murdoch University Honors student April Sturm who has been on a quest to find out if different temperature and moisture regimes affect hatching success and hatchling traits.

Ms. Sturm said the emergence of the new hatchling is an exciting, major milestone to protect the reptiles, and it will be used to help track the species movements. "These hatchlings will be now used to monitor habitat use and survival after release, which will also help us understand how we can better protect them."

Ms. Sturm's efforts follow on from Murdoch University Ph.D. student Anthony Santoro's Honors project in 2017 which indicated that overall abundances of turtle populations were declining, and juvenile turtles were missing from most urban wetlands.

Anthony said his research suggested that predators, including the invasive fox and native ravens were destroying most nests, and are likely one of the major causes for the lack of juveniles in Perth's turtle populations. "While the Murdoch University and City of Cockburn Turtle Tracker citizen science program and invasive predator control were helping to protect nests around Bibra Lake, we also wanted to start learning about incubating eggs, so we could supplement the natural population with hatchlings," he said

To assist researchers, collect data and protect this vulnerable species, the public is urged to log any sightings of turtles via the free TurtleSAT app available to download via Google Play and the App Store.

Staff and volunteers from the City of Cockburn have been using the app for several years to log sightings of turtles and nests.

If you find a baby turtle on the move across Cockburn's lakes, wetlands and footpaths, City of Cockburn Environmental Education Officer Rafeena Boyle encourages the community to give it a helping hand. "If you notice a baby turtle struggling as it embarks on the perilous journey from its nest to their freshwater home, help by moving it to the water's edge."

Pro Vice Chancellor of the Harry Butler Institute Professor Simon McKirdy said the project is imperative to ensure the conservation management of the vulnerable Southwestern snake-necked turtle. "On World Wildlife Day, it's fitting we acknowledge the wonderful research from the Harry Butler Institute that aims to resolve the dwindling numbers of the iconic Southwestern snake-necked turtles.

"Our collaboration with the City of Cockburn has been vital to this research, leading to a possible solution for restoration of the threatened species. We now encourage the community to get involved by logging any sightings of turtles through the free TurtleSAT app and helping misplaced turtles back to their freshwater home."

Explore further Thousands of turtles lay eggs on Nicaraguan coast
Contributions to curvature of the modern human spine. Wedging of the vertebral bodies and intervertebral discs results in thoracic kypohsis and lumbar lordosis. Credit: Scott Williams, NYU's Department of Anthropology.

Examining the spines of Neandertals, an extinct human relative, may explain back-related ailments experienced by humans today, a team of anthropologists has concluded in a new comparative study.

The analysis centers on the spine's curvature, which is caused, in part, by a wedging, or angling, of vertebrae and the intervertebral discsthe softer material between the vertebrae.

"Neandertals are not distinct from modern humans in lumbar wedging and therefore likely possessed curved lower backs like we do," explains Scott Williams, an associate professor in New York University's Department of Anthropology and one of the authors of the paper, which appears in the journal PNAS Nexus. "However, over time, specifically after the onset of industrialization in the late 19th century, we see increased wedging in the lower back bones of today's humansa change that may relate to higher instances of back pain, and other afflictions, in postindustrial societies."

Neandertals have long been thought to have a different posture than modern humans.

"A good part of this perspective derives from the wedging of Neandertals' lumbar, or lower, vertebraetheir spines in this region curve less than those of modern humans studied in the U.S. or Europe," explains Williams.

However, much of this view was based on an analysis of modern humans beginning in the late 19th centurywell after the onset of industrialization, which significantly altered our daily lives. Furniture, for instance, became more widely available and desk jobs more prevalentboth of which encouraged sitting and, with it, changes in posture. These changes were coupled with a reduction in high-activity occupations, such as agriculture. In addition, specific afflictions became associated with working conditions that elicit poor posture.

"Past research has shown that higher rates of low back pain are associated with urban areas and especially in 'enclosed workshop' settings where employees maintain tedious and painful work postures, such as constantly sitting on stools in a forward leaning position," Williams observes.

Lower back bones of a Neandertal (Kebara 2 specimen; left) and a post-industrial modern human (right) demonstrating differences in wedging and curvature of the lower back. Credit: Scott Williams, NYU's Department of Anthropology.

In other words, by examining spines from humans who lived in the post-industrial era, past researchers may have mistakenly concluded that spine formation is due to evolutionary development rather than changed living and working conditions.

To address this possibility, Williams and his colleagues examined both pre-industrial and post-industrial spines of male and female modern humans from around the worlda sample that included more than 300 spines, totaling more than 1,600 vertebraealong with samples of Neandertal spines.

Overall, they found that spines in post-industrial people showed more lumbar wedging than did those in pre-industrial people. Moreover, Neandertals' spines were significantly different from those in post-industrial people but not from pre-industrial people. Notably, the scientists found no differences linked to geography within samples from the same era.

"A pre-industrial vs. post-industrial lifestyle is the important factor," explains Williams, who acknowledges that because lower back curvature is made up of soft tissues (i.e., intervertebral discs), not just bones, it cannot be ascertained that Neandertals' lumbar lordosis differed from modern humans.

"The bones are often all that is preserved in fossils, so it's all we have to work with," he adds.

Nonetheless, the distinctions in spine formation between pre-industrial and post-industrial humans offer new insights into back conditions facing many today.

"Diminished physical activity levels, bad posture, and the use of furniture, among other changes in lifestyle that accompanied industrialization, resulted, over time, in inadequate soft tissue structures to support lumbar lordosis during development," Williams says. "To compensate, our lower-back bones have taken on more wedging than our pre-industrial and Neandertal predecessors, potentially contributing to the frequency of lower back pain we find in post-industrial societies."

The study also included researchers from the University of Johannesburg, Texas A&M University, the New York Institute of Technology, Arizona State University, and Chaffey College, along with Monica Alivez, an NYU doctoral student, and Saul Shukman, an NYU undergraduate student.

More information: Scott A Williams et al, Inferring lumbar lordosis in Neandertals and other hominins, PNAS Nexus (2022). Scott A Williams et al, Inferring lumbar lordosis in Neandertals and other hominins,(2022). DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgab005
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A new study conducted at the University of Turku, Finland, does not support the assumption that grandparents would always participate more in a grandchild's life during difficult circumstances.

The adverse experiences faced by the grandchildren and their families can decrease the grandparents' support such as the amount of child care or monetary support they provide. A new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences shows that support given by paternal grandparents decreases more than that given by maternal grandparents. Only maternal grandmothers' support stays on the same level as the adverse experiences increase.

These adverse early life experiences may include e.g. economic struggles of the child's family, parents' divorce or substance abuse problems, or violence, injury, or sickness faced by the grandchild. The research focused on the combined effects of the adverse experiences instead of individual experiences. This study did not examine cases where the child's primary caretaker was one of the grandparents.

"Previous social scientific research has often assumed that grandparents will invest more in a grandchild's life in response to adverse life events in the child's family. However, our results do not support this assumption," says Senior Researcher Samuli Helle from the University of Turku.

According to the study, a grandchild's future prospects for successful reproduction may impact the grandparents' willingness to offer them support: adverse experiences in childhood may reduce the child's future prospects for doing in well in life and producing successful offspring. Currently, it is unclear how strongly present such effects are in humans, and there is need for further research on the subject.

Maternal grandmothers most supportive

Previous research has shown that maternal grandparents, particularly maternal grandmothers, support a grandchild's family more than paternal grandparents.

"The significance of maternal grandmothers appears to persist even when grandchildren's living circumstances worsen," says Helle.

The new study is based on data from a survey which was responded by English and Welsh adolescents aged 1116 years.

The study is part the NetResilience consortium of the Strategic Research Council (SRC) of the Academy of Finland and the Inequalities, Interventions and New Welfare State Flagship INVEST, which focuses on reducing social inequality and reforming the welfare state. INVEST aims at providing Finland and other societies with a new model of welfare state that is more equal and economically, demographically and socially more sustainable. INVEST is an Academy of Finland Flagship and a joint initiative of the University of Turku and the Institute for Health and Welfare THL.

The research article "Matrilateral bias of grandparental investment in grandchildren persists despite the grandchildren's adverse early life experiences" has been published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Explore further The impact of relatedness on grandmothers' desire to care for their grandchildren

More information: Samuli Helle et al, Matrilateral bias of grandparental investment in grandchildren persists despite the grandchildren's adverse early life experiences, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Samuli Helle et al, Matrilateral bias of grandparental investment in grandchildren persists despite the grandchildren's adverse early life experiences,(2022). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2574
Examples of healed trauma in the Sima de los Hueso skull collection. Credit: Sala et al., 2022, Javier TruebaMadrid Scientific Films

Nohemi Sala, a researcher at the Centro Nacional de Investigacion sobre la Evolucion Humana (CENIEH), has just published a paper in the journal The Anatomical Recordthat catalogs the modifications to the largest known collection of skulls and jaws in the whole of human paleontology, found at the Sima de los Huesos site (Atapuerca, Burgos), and including processes before death (antemortem), at moments close to death (perimortem), and after death (postmortem), for about twenty individuals.

This collection consists of more than 2,000 fragments that have been recovered progressively every summer for more than thirty years, during the excavation campaigns in the Sierra de Atapuerca. The fragments are then fitted together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

"So far, we have 20 individuals represented by their skulls and jaws of the 29 we estimate on the basis of the dentition. This huge number of specimens has made studying the forensic taphonomy of a fossil population possible, something that would be unthinkable outside the walls of this chamber in Burgos," says Sala.

Taphonomy is the paleontological discipline that analyzes fossils to find out what happened to the individuals between their death and the moment of excavation. "By looking at points such as marks and fractures in the fossils, we can decipher processes, as though we were conducting an autopsy," says the lead author of this study, which is part of a special journal issue dedicated to the Sima de los Huesos.

Lesions in life

A total of 57 cranial lesions with signs of healing have been documented in 20 individuals at the Sima de los Huesos, which means that these injuries definitely happened before death. These lesions of circular morphology, which affect the cranial vault in nearly all the individuals (17 of the 20 specimens), have been interpreted as blunt force traumas that caused depression of the bone in the different skull regions.

An analysis of the incidence of these blows was conducted at the population level, and it was found that they affect individuals of all ages and sexes, and so there is no specific preferential group in this fossil population. These data indicate that this group was exposed to generalized episodes leading to nonfatal impacts in the cranial region.

It was also possible to verify the presence of a new individual with perimortem cranial fractures, meaning that the injury took place at a moment close to death. This means that there are now nine individuals with evidence of cranial traumas that could have been lethal. One of the best-known cases is that of skull 17, published some years ago in the journal PLOS ONE.

Cases of violence

However, the most striking point of the analysis is that, of the nine individuals with perimortem traumas, six had penetrating fractures (circular holes of a similar size) in the left nuchal region. This pattern is so recurrent that it leaves little room for interpretation. The location is not what would be expected for accidental traumas, and is more compatible with intentional lesions, so these injuries are interpreted as possible cases of violence, just as with skull 17.

Finally, postmortem modifications were documented and it was possible to show that, following these individuals' deaths, only alterations characteristic of cave interior environments were produced: fracturing due to sediment pressure and precipitation of minerals (calcite and oxides of iron and manganese). No marks attesting to long-distance transport of the remains inside the cavity have been documented. "We can interpret this to mean that the skeletons arrived at the cave complete, and shortly after death," says Sala.

Explore further Lethal wounds on skull may indicate 430,000-year-old murder

More information: Nohemi Sala et al, Taphonomicforensic analysis of the hominin skulls from the Sima de los Huesos, The Anatomical Record (2022). Journal information: PLoS ONE Nohemi Sala et al, Taphonomicforensic analysis of the hominin skulls from the Sima de los Huesos,(2022). DOI: 10.1002/ar.24883

Provided by CENIEH
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The Russian delegation has arrived at the site where the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected to take place, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, said Wednesday.

The Ukrainian side is expected to arrive tomorrow morning, and both sides are expected to meet in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on the Belarus-Poland border, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing the official.

Medinsky said Russia and Ukraine agreed upon the location for the second round of talks together, adding that Russia's military has established a safe corridor to allow the Ukrainian delegation to move through Ukrainian territory.

The possibility of a ceasefire would be discussed during the talks, among other things, according to Medinsky.

Russia and Ukraine concluded their first round of negotiations in Belarus on Monday with no clear breakthrough.
Fall armyworm. Credit: Julio Cesar Garcia from Pixabay

Scientists have developed a new technology that could control the devastating fall armyworm crop pest by releasing genetically controlled males that suppress populations as subsequent offspring cannot survive, a study says.

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, which was detected in Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time in 2016, could lead to one-third maize yield losses in some countries and up to US$6.3 billion loss annually, according to the study published in the journal BMC Biotechnology.

The gene technology developed by Oxitec, a UK-based biotechnology company that genetically modifies insects to assist in insect control, enables production of male-only cohorts of the friendly fall armyworm that when released into farmer fields will mate with pest female fall armyworms, and their female offspring cannot survive, resulting in fewer pests on the crops and therefore less damage.

"Crop pests continue to spread disease and devastate food production. Current management of these pests is highly reliant on just few tools, many of which have off-target ecological impacts, are vulnerable to resistance developing in the pest population, and are often limited in their effectiveness," says Kelly Matzen, a co-author of the study, and Oxitec's chief technology officer.

"There is, therefore, an urgent need for new pest management options that offer greater effectiveness and sustainability, and a lighter environmental footprint," Matzen adds.

The pest is native to the Americas but has since spread rapidly across Africa, Australia, India and South-East Asia.

An initial three-year research phase, according to Matzen, enabled the early development of the friendly fall armyworm, and testing the competitiveness of the genetically modified male-only cohorts of the pest against wild-type males.

"We are continuing the work and the current research phase is focused on conducting product development trials and product stewardship activities, conducting field trials in Brazil, and piloting scale-up of the technology," she explains.

"For now, our focus with fall armyworm is on assessing the performance of the friendly fall armyworm in Brazil. When we have completed further product development, we will explore how we can make the product available to farmers in other regions."

Improving control of fall armyworm could improve harvests for local farmers and protect their livelihoods, and has the potential to improve food security through the availability of corn grain for countries around the world, the study says.

But Ivan Rwomushana, a senior scientist and an invasive species management specialist based at the regional center for Africa of CABI, the parent organization of SciDev.Net, says that it will be difficult to deploy the Oxitec technology in Sub-Saharan Africa without the support of governments.

"The technology is so sophisticated for a farmer to understand, and also one cannot stop the self-limiting male pests from flying to the neighbors' fields, making it hard to deal with the anti-genetically modified crowd who don't want it," Rwomushana tells SciDev.Net.

There are also regulatory issues, he adds, that have to be navigated to comply with the biosafety laws of each country the technology could be deployed in.

He explains, "This might even be harder for a self-limiting fall armyworm that is known to be a good flier. If a country like Kenya approved, and the insects were deployed in Western Kenya, what is to stop them from moving to Uganda, where the biosafety laws might be more stringent?

"I think there is still more research needed and this technology is still far off from field use."

Explore further Opportunities for natural enemy to fight devastating fall armyworm

Provided by SciDev.Net
Adam Story, 41, has been charged with the felonies of predatory sexual assault against a child and first-degree rape and a misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child, according to a news release from the Washington County Sheriffs Office. An arrest was made after an investigation led the Sheriffs Office to believe that Story had sexual contact with a child between 2020 and 2022, police said.
LAKE GEORGE  The Lake George Association has named a new director of development.

Tyra (Lundgren) MacGuffie is joining the LGA after four years as the director of advancement for a premier ski academy in Vermont. She oversaw a $7 million capital campaign for the development of a world-class training and race venue, a news release stated.

MacGuffie graduated from Glens Falls High School in 1985 and grew up spending summers on Lake George at a camp passed down through generations in her family since 1950.

She said Lake George has always been close to her heart despite living out of state for years.

I am thrilled to join the LGA at a time when it is poised for tremendous growth and a significant acceleration of its lake-protection capabilities, MacGuffie said. I am excited to be a part of an organization that has a mission I am passionate about, in a community that I respect and care for deeply, and where I feel I can make a significant contribution. LGA President Eric Siy says its MacGuffies love for the lake that will help her excel in this position.

Every time you talk with her, Tyras love of Lake George is as clear as the lake itself.

Its a love she shares with the LGAs leading supporters and partners, and I look forward to working with her to take our development program to new levels of success as now needed for the sustainable protection of our Lake, Siy said in a news release.

Jana DeCamilla is a staff writer who covers Moreau, Queensbury, and Lake George. She can be reached at 518-742-3272 or jdecamilla@poststar.com.

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QUEENSBURY  A plea deal was offered Wednesday in the case of a Saranac Lake man who, police say, drove the wrong way on the Northway while intoxicated, causing a crash that killed two people on Sept. 3.

Dennis M. Ford, 65, was offered a deal in which he would serve an indeterminate prison sentence of 7 to 21 years for a guilty plea to a felony charge of aggravated vehicular homicide. He would also face a determinate prison sentence of seven years, followed by three years of post-release supervision, for a violent felony charge of second-degree assault.

Those sentences would run concurrently to one another.

Police said Ford was driving his 2017 Mini Countryman north while in the southbound lane on the Northway in Chester at about 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, when he crashed head-on with a 2004 Volvo XC70 traveling south.

The two passengers in the Volvo were pronounced dead at the scene. They were identified as Matthew G. Huff, 27, of Westfield, New Jersey, and Kerry OReilly, 31, of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The driver Lauren Huff, 31, was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington by helicopter after the accident, according to police.

Ford was airlifted to Albany Medical Center following the accident.

As a part of the plea, Ford would also be obligated to pay a surcharge of $325 or restitution if it is being sought in the case. He would also be required to submit a DNA sample and pay a $50 DNA fee.

The plea deal offer came about during a conference for Fords case that took place on Monday, according to Judge Robert Smith. He mentioned discussions of license sanctions for Ford, which could include an ignition interlock device.

Smith indicated that could be discussed further, but First Assistant District Attorney Matthew Burin, who is representing the prosecution in this case, said that it was his understanding that license sanctions and use of an ignition interlock device would be required as a result of the current offer.

Smith said that the prosecution agreed to extend the offer until March 16 at 9:30 a.m. to allow Ford to discuss the matter further with his attorney, Brian Pilatzke, first assistant public defender with Warren County.

Thats going to give you and Mr. Pilatzke a couple of more weeks to talk about that proposed offer to see if that is acceptable to you, Smith said.

Smith stated that Ford would be able to submit a counteroffer for the prosecution to consider as well, but through his conversations with the prosecution he feels that the current offer is their firm offer.

Burin said that while he feels the offer is fair for this case, the prosecution is willing to listen to any counterproposal and take it into consideration.

There are outstanding motions that Smith said he needs to consider and issue a decision. While not going into more details on those motions, he said he will have a decision ready for Fords March 16 court appearance.

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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LAKE GEORGE  The Mezzaluna Restaurant will sponsor a chicken Parmesan dinner to benefit the Lake George Alumni Association on Friday. Lake George alumni will be handing out chicken Parmesan dinners curbside in front of the restaurant at 157 Canada St. in the village of Lake George.

For a $20 donation to the associations Paypal account, a dinner complete with chicken, pasta, roll and side salad can be picked up between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on March 4. Additional dinners may be purchased for $20 a piece. Pre-orders are required through lgalumni.com.

Sally Hawley, president of the association and a 1980 graduate said the Italian restaurant, is run by fellow Lake George locals, Tony and Robin Chiaravalle, who are longtime supporters of the group.

Thanks to the generosity of alumni, like Tony and Robin and their Mezzaluna Restaurant sponsoring our first annual chicken Parmesan dinner fundraiser, we will continue to award student scholarships every year and support special projects like the current effort to restore our historic high school sign on Canada Street, Hawley shared.

She credits local community members and businesses for helping the association continue to give back.

The Lake George Alumni Association has a long history of supporting Lake George alumni, students and our schools through contributions from association members, members of our community and local businesses, she said.

Jana DeCamilla is a staff writer who covers Moreau, Queensbury, and Lake George. She can be reached at 518-742-3272 or jdecamilla@poststar.com.

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LAKE GEORGE  Serhii Bolilyi joined Zoom from his friends parents house in the countryside, three hours from his home in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

He has been there since his friends picked him up on Feb. 24, as Russia began to invade the city.

I dont have a car or any other transportation to leave the city, so my friends grabbed me and took me to their parents house, almost in the center of the Ukraine. Its much safer in the countryside away from any military or airborne attacks, Bolilyi said.

He said he has family still in the city he checks in with every day. His daily routine now consists of reaching out to family and friends a couple times a day to ask if they are safe.

My family members are in a bunker in Kyiv. Some days they tell me they hear gunshots or explosions outside, he shared.

At 27, he is struggling most with ideas of the future.

This shouldnt be happening in our times, you know. You live and make plans and now there are no plans, there are no dreams, Bolilyi said.

He was once a J-1 term student working over the summer at the busy resorts and restaurants in the village of Lake George. While in the states, he befriended Anthony Merrill, project manager at the Fort William Henry Hotel and Conference Center.

Merrill said he met a number of students from the Ukraine from 2013 to 2015 and remained in touch with many via social media.

He said it was hard to meet these young people and not form a friendship with them.

I used to offer to show them around the area. One year we took a trip to Niagara Falls and one to Howe Caverns. Its hard for them because most are working two jobs so I tried to show them some of what we had to see, he said.

He was so intrigued by the culture of the students he planned multiple trips to the Ukraine.

Merrill went to Ukraine to visit former J-1 student Pavlo Zasiadko.

One night we went to his grandmothers house for dinner and the food just kept coming. She wanted to make sure I had a good time there. All the people in Ukraine were like that, whether they knew Pavlo or not, they welcomed me, Merrill recalled.

He has been checking in with Zasiadko since the warfare began.

Pavlo and his wife Dasha left the city and traveled to her parents house in the countryside when the attacks began, he said. That was last week, but on Tuesday his wife and the women and children in her family left for Poland. They are now refugees there in a converted warehouse or office building. But my friend and the men cannot leave, all men 18 to 60 are prohibited from crossing the border.

Zasiadkos parents and little sister are still in Berdyansk, a larger city in the Ukraine that is now occupied by Russian troops, according to Merrill.

Ive seen videos from that city of citizens protesting the Russian occupancy in the main square, so it is a little more peaceful there, he said.

Merrill said Zasiadko is tech-savvy and has been trying to post real-time accounts of what is really happening to combat the Russian propaganda he says is being promoted online.

Jaqueline Nash, bartender at 10 McGillis Public House, said J-1 students are the motivation behind the restaurants fundraiser for Ukrainian refugees on Saturday.

She said they are the reason some of the businesses in the village are able to operate during the busy summer season.

Whats going on in Ukraine in enough to warrant some support, but here in Lake George we heavily depend on the visitor visa students. They work crazy hours at two to three jobs, a lot of places couldnt survive without them, Nash said.

After the recent events in Ukraine, Nash asked the chef and owner of the restaurant, Jason Travis, if they could find a way to help.

Travis decided to join the efforts of world-renowned chef Jose Andres and his nonprofit organization, World Central Kitchen, in the #chefsforukraine initiative in which donations support efforts to feed refugees fleeing Ukraine.

The restaurant has links to the fundraiser with ways to donate online on their social media pages.

From noon to midnight on Saturday, 10 McGillis will match a portion of the donations made to the refugee fund in the restaurant.

Nash said she is happy to see her efforts gain traction to support friends in need.

Whether you work in Lake George or you visit, its impossible not to meet and become friends with one of them during their time here, she said. We utilize them so much. If there was ever time they needed our support, its now.

Jana DeCamilla is a staff writer who covers Moreau, Queensbury, and Lake George. She can be reached at 518-742-3272 or jdecamilla@poststar.com.

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Warren County Health Services reported 11 new COVID cases on Wednesday, five of which are from positive at-home results.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate has dropped to 4.1% from 4.6% as of Wednesday, according to Warren County Health Services.

However, according to state data, that rate is at 3.7%.

There have been a total of 63 cases over the last five days reported in the county.

The county reported a total of seven COVID patients hospitalized, which is down one from Tuesdays report, five of who are vaccinated.

Wednesdays report also shows that no one in the county is critically ill from COVID.

Since April 2020, there have been 120 people who have died from COVID in the county, with the most recent death reported on Tuesday, according to Warren County Health Services.

Glens Falls Hospital reported 11 total cases with COVID in-house, with one patient in the ICU, according to Ray Agnew, spokesperson for the hospital.

Washington County

Washington Countys Department of Public Health has not released a new report since Tuesday.

According to state data, there were eight new COVID cases out of 259 administered tests reported on Wednesday.

The county reported a total of 30 active COVID cases on Tuesday, two of which are hospitalized.

These cases include positive results from at-home COVID tests, including other tests processed through a lab or an official testing site.

According to state data, the seven-day rolling positivity rate for the county is 4.0%.

The county reported the death on Tuesday of an 80-year-old hospital patient, who was vaccinated.

As of Tuesday, there have been a total of 85 COVID-related deaths in Washington County.

Saratoga County

There are 39 new positive cases out of 703 administered tests as of Wednesday, according to state data.

According to the Saratoga County Department of Public Health, there have been 235 positive COVID results in the last seven days in the county.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate is 3.5% according to county data.

The county has reported a total of 318 cumulative deaths due to COVID.

There are currently 19 county residents who are hospitalized, according to the county.

Capital Region/statewide

According to Warren County data, there are 138 COVID patients throughout Capital Region hospitals, six more than Tuesdays report.

The number of patients admitted to Capital Region hospitals has been on a sharp decline since December and January, when that number had reached over 400.

Compared to the rest of the country, New York state has a higher percentage of its population that are fully vaccinated, according to Saratoga County data.

On Wednesday, there have been 2,124 new COVID cases out of a total of 129,162 administered tests statewide, according to state data.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate for the state is 1.8%.

Drew Wardle is a reporter for The Post-Star. You can contact him at 518-681-7343 or email him at dwardle@poststar.com

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Warren County Health Services reported 11 new COVID cases on Thursday, three of which are from positive at-home results.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate has dropped even further from the last couple of reports, down to 3.7%.

There have been a total of 65 cases over the last five days reported in the county.

The county reported a total of seven COVID patients hospitalized, five of which are vaccinated and one of those five are boosted.

Thursdays report also shows that no one in the county is critically ill from COVID.

Glens Falls Hospital reported 11 total cases with COVID in-house, with one patient in the ICU, unchanged since Wednesdays report.

Health Services reported that the county has hit the 80% mark for residents with at least one vaccine dose as of Wednesday, with 88.9% of those reported to be 18 years of age and over with at least one dose.

The percentage of county residents who are fully vaccinated is 75%.

Washington County

Washington Countys Department of Public Health has not released a new report since Tuesday.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate for the county is still at 4.0%.

The county reported a total of 30 active COVID cases on Tuesday, two of which are hospitalized.

These cases include positive results from at-home COVID tests, including other tests processed through a lab or an official testing site.

According to state data, there were eight new COVID cases out of 259 administered tests reported on Wednesday.

As of Tuesday there have been a total of 85 COVID-related deaths in Washington County, including the most recent death of an 80-year-old hospital patient reported on Tuesday.

Saratoga County

According to county data as of Thursday, there were 238 positive COVID results in the last seven days in the county, which is three more than Wednesdays report.

The county has a total of 118 active COVID cases as of Thursday, according to the Saratoga County Department of Public Services.

As of Thursday, the number of county residents who are hospitalized due to COVID has decreased from 19 to 16, according to county data.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate for the county has increased slightly to 3.6%, up 0.1% from Wednesdays report.

Capital Region/Statewide

According to Warren County data, there are 130 COVID patients throughout Capital Region hospitals, eight fewer than Wednesdays report.

Compared to the rest of the country, New York state has a higher percentage of its population that are fully vaccinated, according to Saratoga County data.

The number of patients admitted to Capital Region hospitals has been on a sharp decline since December and January, when that number had reached over 400.

The seven-day rolling positivity rate for the state is 1.8%.

Drew Wardle is a reporter for The Post-Star. You can contact him at 518-681-7343 or email him at dwardle@poststar.com.

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GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Dr. Brian K. Bridges will be the keynote speaker at the Stockton University commencement ceremony on May 13 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

The Stockton Board of Trustees on Feb. 23 approved an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree for Bridges, which will be presented at commencement.

In its resolution, the board noted that Dr. Bridges exemplifies a commitment to public service through the promotion of equitable access to higher education, as well as promoting resiliency in higher education institutions amidst the pandemic.

Bridges has served as New Jerseys Secretary of Higher Education since November 2020. He previously served as vice president of Research and Member Engagement at the United Negro College Fund in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Bridges has been a champion of expanding access to high education to under-served and under-represented students, a goal we, at Stockton, have also embraced, Stockton President Harvey Kesselman said. We are delighted that he accepted our invitation to speak at commencement.

The trustees also approved an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree for Jon F. Hanson, founder of The Hampshire Companies, and chairman of the Board of the Atlantic City Development Corporation (ACDevco), which developed the Gateway Project in Atlantic City that includes the Stockton Atlantic City campus. Hanson is also chairman of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Jon Hanson has been a crucial partner in the effort to bring Stockton to Atlantic City and diversify its economy, Kesselman said.

Stockton will return to Boardwalk Hall for commencement after two years of ceremonies on the Galloway campus to accommodate COVID-19 pandemic precautions. The university will host two ceremonies, at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The ceremony includes students who graduated in summer or fall of 2021 and the spring of 2022.

It is my distinct honor to join the Stockton community in celebrating the extraordinary achievements of our students, many of whom have overcome tremendous adversity to cross the graduation stage this spring, Bridges said. I look forward to imparting the lessons learned throughout my educational and professional career on to the next generation of scholars and leaders.

More information about commencement is on the Stockton website at Stockton.edu/commencement.

At the board meeting, the Galloway Township Council presented Stockton with a proclamation in recognition of its 50th anniversary. The first class at then Stockton State College began classes in fall 1971 at the Mayflower Hotel in Atlantic City while the Galloway campus construction was completed. Students moved to Galloway in January 1972.
 Flash

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a phone conversation at request with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Wednesday.



Iran has been firmly committed to promoting the Iran-China comprehensive strategic partnership, said Abdollahian, adding that the two sides should further consolidate political mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation and implement the comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries.

Iran stands ready to work closely with the Chinese side and fully supports China in hosting a successful third meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries, Abdollahian said.

For his part, Wang said China is willing to work with Iran to promote pragmatic cooperation in various sectors and deepen the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership in accordance with the important consensus reached by the two heads of state.

China will host the third meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries when the time is appropriate, so as to give full play to the strengths of Afghanistan's neighbors, highlight their characteristics and play a positive role in Afghanistan's enduring peace and stability, Wang said.

Abdollahian briefed on the latest progress of the resumption of negotiations on the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear issue, noting that relevant parties have reached consensuses on most issues, saying that Iran has made active efforts to this end and hopes that all parties will attach great importance to and address Iran's legitimate concerns.

Iran appreciates the constructive role China has played in the Iranian nuclear issue, and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with China to jointly achieve results in the negotiations, Abdollahian said.

Noting that Iran's nuclear talks have reached their final hurdle, Wang said all parties should attach great importance to the settlement of the remaining issues, show flexibility to each other, seek reasonable solutions, make political decisions and bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion.

China will continue to uphold justice and firmly advance the political and diplomatic settlement process of the Iranian nuclear issue, the Chinese foreign minister noted.

The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on the Ukraine issue.
NORTHFIELD  Attorneys Suzanne Holz Meola, Terri A. Hiles and Richard W. Gaeckle have been named partners Petro Cohen, P.C., law firm, senior partner Frank Petro announced. Recognized as a leading workers compensation, personal injury and Social Security disability law firm in New Jersey, Petro Cohen has been based in Northfield for more than 20 years with offices also in Cherry Hill, Cape May Court House and Hamilton.

We are proud to recognize these three outstanding lawyers as new partners and congratulate them on the well-deserved promotion, said Petro. Suzanne, Terri, and Rich each have a long history of excellence in service to our clients, the Bar and our South Jersey community.

Suzanne Holz Meola heads the Social Security Disability Department at Petro Cohen with more than 30 years of legal experience. She also handles workers compensation claims for the firm. Holz Meola graduated cum laude from Mount St. Marys College in 1986 with a bachelors degree and received a Juris Doctor degree from Dickinson School of Law of Pennsylvania State University in 1989. As part of her legal education, Holz Meola assisted in providing free legal services to victims of domestic abuse at a local legal clinic. She was admitted to the New Jersey State Bar in 1989, the U. S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in 1989 and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in 1992.

Prior to joining Petro Cohen PC in June of 2004, Holz-Meola was a partner at a private-practice law firm handling personal injury, workers compensation and Social Security Disability claims for more than 10 years. She is active in several legal associations including the Monmouth County Bar Association, the NJ Bar Association, and the Justice James H. Coleman Jr. New Jersey Workers Compensation American Inn of Court. Holz Meola currently resides in Monmouth County with her husband and daughter.

Terri A. Hiles focus is on workers compensation claims with more than 25 years of legal experience. Her practice at Petro Cohen includes all areas of workers compensation, including traumatic injury and occupational exposure claims. Hiles earned her bachelors degree from West Virginia University in 1993 and her Juris Doctor degree from Widener University in 1997. She was admitted to the New Jersey State Bar in 1998 and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in 1999. Additionally, Hiles is a member of the Atlantic County Bar Association, the Justice James H. Coleman Jr. New Jersey Workers Compensation American Inn of Court and the New Jersey Association for Justice.

Prior to joining Petro Cohen in 2012, Hiles worked as assistant county counsel for Atlantic County for more than 11 years where her primary focus was workers compensation claims. She has been a resident of Atlantic County. She currently resides in Egg Harbor Township with her husband and teenage son.

Richard W. Gaeckle has 20 years of litigation and trial experience. As part of the Personal Injury team, Gaeckle handles matters on behalf of those injured as a result of the fault of another. A graduate of St. Peters College and New York Law School, Gaeckle entered private practice with a specific concentration in construction law. He served as the co-chair of the Construction Section of the New Jersey Bar Association and was a frequent lecturer at Rutgers University School of Engineering.

Gaeckle volunteered to provide pro bono representation for homeowners affected by Hurricane Sandy in the Rebuilding Union Beach Project. He is an active member of the Atlantic County and Cape May County bar associations. A native of South Jersey, Gaeckle grew up in Cape May County and currently lives in Galloway Township with his wife and children.
BRIDGETON  An inmate at the Cumberland County jail died of an apparent suicide Tuesday, county spokesperson Jody Hirata said.

The county Prosecutors Office was notified after the inmate died, Hirata said Thursday.

Correctional officers found the inmate, an unidentified 54-year-old man, unresponsive in his cell. First aid was rendered on the man but was unsuccessful, Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae said in a news release.

The man is believed to have committed suicide, but an autopsy and further tests will be performed to determine a precise cause of death, Webb-McRae said.

The New Jersey Attorney Generals Office is also investigating the death.

Local officials are currently pondering the future of the jail after a plan to close the facility and ship inmates to Atlantic County was derailed when that countys commissioners voted not to expand their jail.

Contact Eric Conklin: 609-272-7261 econklin@pressofac.com Twitter @ACPressConklin

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BRIDGETON  Police are investigating a robbery that happened Tuesday afternoon in an apartment on Washington Street.

Officers were called to the 100 block of East Commerce Street at 4:39 p.m. An unidentified male victim said he went to a home on Washington to meet an unidentified female to loan her money, police said in a news release.

While at the home, the man was grabbed and thrown inside a random apartment by another unidentified man, who scoured the victim's pockets and stole his wallet and two identification cards. The wallet had $900 inside when it was stolen, police said.

The victim was uninjured, police said.

Police described the suspect as a tall, skinny Hispanic man wearing a beige shirt and shorts.

Anyone with information can call Detective Chris Zanni at 856-451-0033 or visit bpd.tips. All information shared is anonymous.

Contact Eric Conklin: 609-272-7261 econklin@pressofac.com Twitter @ACPressConklin

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MAYS LANDING  Democrats argued at a redistricting meeting Wednesday that Atlantic City and Pleasantville should no longer be in the same district for choosing Atlantic County commissioners.

Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman said splitting the two cities would create two competitive districts for minority representation, where only one now exists.

It would also create two districts in which the Democratic Party has an advantage, his numbers showed.

Currently, District 1 is overwhelmingly Democratic, while District 2 is largely Republican.

Republican Chairman Keith Davis, by contrast, argued Atlantic City and Pleasantville must stay in the same district to keep a minority majority district in the county.

If the two municipalities are split, Davis said, neither resulting district would meet the 50% minority threshold needed to have a minority majority district.

Suleiman disagreed, saying District 1 would remain 61% minority. The two acknowledged early in the meeting they were using different sets of data, with Davis focusing on citizen voting age population and Suleiman on all voting age population.

The county has five districts for which each elects one representative to the Atlantic County Board of Commissioners, and also elects four at-large members.

Looking at election results, Suleiman said the current Democratic African American commissioner representing the 1st District, Ernest Coursey, has run unopposed two of the past three elections and won with almost 70% of the vote in 2019, showing the district is improperly packed with minority voters.

He called that voter dilution, since minority voters are so concentrated their candidate wins with a greater number of votes than needed.

We need to unpack it to allow a greater participation of the minority community (countywide), Suleiman said, particularly because the Hispanic population has grown countywide.

The Latino population has grown so dramatically in Pleasantville it is now the dominant ethnic group there, Suleiman said. Yet there are no Latino commissioners.

The Democratic map would group Atlantic City with the Downbeach communities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport; and Pleasantville with the Mainland communities of Northfield, Linwood and Somers Point as well as Absecon.

That map has the support of several prominent Democrats including Coursey, Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr., Pleasantville Mayor Judy Ward and Atlantic City Councilman Kaleem Shabazz, who signed a letter of support along with Suleiman and redistricting commission member Thelma Witherspoon.

The Republican map would continue to group Atlantic City and Pleasantville in the 1st District and the Downbeach communities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport with the Mainland communities of Northfield, Linwood and Somers Point in the 2nd District.

It also would add a section of Egg Harbor Township to the 2nd, since the 3rd has grown so much that it has become too large under state law.

The two presented their maps of proposed boundaries and data to back them up Wednesday afternoon at a meeting of the Atlantic County Commissioner Redistricting Commission, held at the Atlantic County Criminal Court building.

Davis said only Districts 2 and 3 need to be redrawn, as the county population has remained remarkably stable overall from the 2010 Census to the 2020 Census.

New legislative district map may shore up GOP in South Jersey State Sen. Vince Polistina is happy with the new state legislative district map, which inclu

Those two districts had population changes that require some adjustment to keep all districts of similar size (within 5% of each other).

District 2 has lost population and so needs its territory enlarged.

And District 3, currently covering Hamilton Township and part of Egg Harbor Township, has grown too big in population and so must give up some territory.

Davis also said the Democratic map changes districts for far more voters compared to the Republican map.

Our map impacts 3,700 voters, thats it, in those two districts, Davis said, to minimize impact and insure continuity in how elections are run.

The Democratic map, Davis said, affects over 44,000 voters from last years election  more than half the number of people who participated in the gubernatorial election of last year.

Voting maps at all levels are redrawn every 10 years after the national Census, in response to new population and demographic data.

A vote on which map to accept must come by March 7 under state law.

The four-member commission earlier requested that state Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner appoint a fifth tie-breaking member.

Rabner appointed as the tiebreaker Georgia M. Curio, a former Superior Court judge and assignment judge for Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.

Atlantic County is one of just three counties in the state that have voting districts for county office. The others are Essex and Hudson counties. All others elect their county commissioners at large, according to Suleiman.

For more information visit atlantic-county.org/redistricting.

REPORTER: Michelle Brunetti Post 609-841-2895 mpost@pressofac.com

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An "alarming" 92% of schools in Atlantic County have had lead in at least one or more of their tap water systems, according to a report released Wednesday by the Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center and the Black Church Center for Justice and Equality.

Representatives of the two groups planned to discuss their findings during a news conference Wednesday morning. Among the report's findings were that Pleasantville and Galloway Township schools registered lead detection in all 13 buildings in both districts.

The testing data, accessed through the New Jersey Department of Education website, was collected from water samples from 66 of 72 schools in all 25 Atlantic County school districts, where at least 43,000 students use the school's water faucets and fountains daily.

The six schools not tested were part of the Hammonton and Buena Regional school districts, due to unavailable public information kept on a Google Drive, according to the study.

"We wanted to shine a light on South Jersey and Atlantic County while also focusi.ng on the communities that our partners, the Black Church Center, has an active presence in," said Doug O'Malley, the state director of Environment New Jersey

The study states that lead is to be considered toxic even at the lowest levels, but the American Academy of Pediatrics says, "lead in schools' drinking water should not exceed one part per billionth."

"Notably high levels of lead were 695 ppb at Roland Rogers School in Galloway Township and 229 ppb at Washington Avenue School in Pleasantville, among others," according to the study.

Out of the 619 faucets and fountains tested in the two school districts, lead was detected in 44.9% of the Pleasantville school district's water taps, with Galloway water revealing lead in 45.63% of the township's taps.

Almost half, 45.4%, of all faucets and fountains in all Pleasantville and Galloway schools contained lead, with four schools having more than half of their taps contaminated with lead.

Pleasantvilles North Main Street School had the highest percentage of contamination of water taps, with 72.73% contaminated.

The study notes that fixing the lead contamination in the area is feasible with the more than $100 million Atlantic County schools have received from American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding.

The study said a new federal infrastructure investment law could also help area schools and districts with their lead issues since $200 million in funding from the plan will be used for schools to conduct lead reduction efforts.

As of Sept. 15, Pleasantville schools have been awarded more than $11 million in ARP ESSER funding, while Galloway schools have received more than $5 million.

The study notes that schools can fix the lead contamination issue by replacing all fountains and hydrating stations with lead-certified filters, shutting off taps and simply taking the lead out of the water to ensure safe drinking water for Atlantic County schools.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Selena Vazquez: 609-272-7225 svazquez@pressofac.com

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A Davenport aerospace defense contractor supplier plans to hire replacements for striking workers as contract negotiations break down.

Representatives from striking International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 388 said Thursday that talks with Davenport's Eaton-Cobham Mission Systems had stalled.

"The union and representatives from Eaton met on Tuesday and Wednesday in efforts to resolve the strike at Mission Systems Division of Davenport," John Herrig, directing business representative for District 6 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said. "Although several passes were made each day and parties discussed all the sticking points which have resulted in this strike action, the parties have not been able to reach a tentative agreement."

Herrig said the company's latest proposals changed somewhat in structure  from a three-year to a five-year agreement  while the rest of the proposed terms remained largely unchanged.

The union argues wage increases proposed by Eaton-Cobham "are dwarfed by the cost of living and takeaways in health care and retirement are unacceptable to or membership," Herrig said.

In a statement issued Thursday, Eaton Aerospace senior manager of global communications and marketing Katie Kennedy said the company "has proposed dates to continue bargaining."

Kennedy also confirmed Eaton-Cobham planned to hire replacements for striking workers.

"Given the complexity of our products and the time it takes to train new hires, we will begin taking the necessary steps to hire permanent replacement workers to ensure we can continue to fulfill our customer commitments," Kennedy wrote in an email. "It's not a decision we make lightly, and our goal remains to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement with the Union."

Herrig said he planned to spend part of Thursday evening talking to Local 388 members on the picket line.

More than 400 Eaton-Cobham union employees represented by IAMAW Local 388 and Machinist Union Local 1191 hit the picket line just after midnight on Friday, Feb. 18, after more than 98% of the membership voted down a proposed three-year contract from the company.

Eaton, a multinational power management company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, announced June 1 that it had completed its purchase of Cobham Mission Systems, described as a leading manufacturer of air-to-air refueling, life-support, fuel inerting, space propulsion and missile actuation systems, primarily for defense markets. Cobham has a workforce of approximately 2,000 people and manufacturing facilities in the United States and United Kingdom.

Eaton purchased Cobham for $2.83 billion, including $130 million in tax benefits.

According to the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, the Eaton-Cobham plant employs 950 people, not all of whom are union members.

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A final charge was the result of Goins lying to a Diplomatic Security agent when he claimed he did not have the minor's cell phone number, then lying again when he told the agent the minor voluntarily entered a bathroom with him.

Mike Vondran, spokesperson for the Davenport School District, said Thursday that he was not able to immediately confirm whether Goins had been permanently dismissed.
The Davenport man critically injured during a fire Sunday at the old YMCA building in Davenport has died.

Firefighters were called about 1:39 p.m. for a report of a fire at the building, which is at 606 W. 2nd St. When they arrived, firefighters found a person at a window. Smoke was coming from the window.

That person was 59-year-old Gordon Dobbs, according to the Davenport Fire Department in the release, which was issued Thursday.

Firefighters rescued Dobbs, who was badly hurt, from the building, and he was initially hospitalized at Genesis Medical Center East, Davenport, before being sent to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, according to the release.

Firefighters also found and extinguished the fire causing the smoke, the release states.

The release did not state the type of injuries Dobbs suffered, when he died, or provide any possible causes of death.

It stated an autopsy is planned for this week and the circumstances surrounding the fire are still under investigation, the release states.

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Georgia will officially apply for the European Union (EU) membership on Thursday, the ruling Georgian Dream party chairman Irakli Kobakhidze said on Wednesday.

At a special briefing in Tbilisi, Kobakhidze stated that the government of Georgia, led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, was already in preparing an application for EU candidate status.

Given a general political context and a new reality, the application for EU candidate status will be officially submitted to the EU structures on behalf of the Georgian government on Thursday, he added.

The ruling Georgian Dream party chairman called on the EU structures to consider the application on an urgent basis and to make a decision on granting Georgia the status of EU candidate.
John F. Kennedy may have written Profiles in Courage but Ukraines Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown us what courage looks like. The Ukrainian presidents stand against Russias onslaught is a reminder that true leadership at its core is a performance that inspires and rallies. Such performances become the basis of legend.

Too often we think of performance in negative terms, as something fake or insincere. This is unfortunate. Performance is how a person behaves  or, more accurately, how they choose to behave in certain situations. Performance reveals character (or lack thereof) because it is fundamentally about choice.

There are compelling examples of leadership performance in American history: George W. Bush with a bullhorn in hand in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks; the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. marching down streets as racists hurl epithets and bricks; Indigenous women, men and children standing up to and fighting settlers attempting to evict them from their ancestral lands.

There are also distressing moments when performance reveals the many lacks of a person: lack of substance, lack of ethics, lack of morality. Think of politicians who chose (and still choose) to lie to their constituents rather than accept the results of a fair, free election. The folks, who are now grandparents and great grandparents, who hurled racist epithets at Black schoolchildren seeking an education during the civil rights era. Adolf Hitler hiding in a bunker.

As a cultural historian, I write and lecture about the role of performance in everyday life. I focus on how people, including leaders, act in our society. I have chronicled a range of these brave acts. U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush wearing a hoodie on the House floor to call attention to the killing of Trayvon Martin; Muhammad Ali refusing to take a single step in a draft ceremony in protest of the Vietnam War; and innumerable people taking to the streets to declare that Black Lives Matter are a few examples.

There is a growing number of scholars who write about these performances of everyday life. Influenced by the writings of sociologist Erving Goffman, anthropologist Victor Turner, philosopher Michel de Certeau among others, they center the theater of social action. For nearly a decade, Paige McGinley has been writing about how civil rights leaders rehearsed their demonstrations in advance of protests at Woolworths lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Diana Taylor has brilliantly written about the activism of the mothers of the disappeared during Argentinas Dirty War. Theres even a handbook, The Oxford Handbook of Politics and Performance, which chronicles everything from picket lines to presidential posture (how JFK managed his bad back).

What is unique about Zelenskyy, the former actor who became president of the second-largest country in Europe, is his keen understanding of the power of performance. He knows that his visibility matters. His refusal to leave his country is significant. He is aware that his voice resonates across and beyond his country. His words to the U.S.  The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride  just might be the coolest line ever spoken by a president.

The world is finally  after unconscionable delay  responding to Zelenskyys plea. It is a response inspired by his performance.

What makes Zelenskyys stand, his words, his very being so effective is their sincerity. Weve all seen presidents remove their ties, roll up their sleeves and grab a beer to project a common man vibe. Those enactments often ring hollow. In contrast, Ukraines leader stands apart. There is a clarity of purpose in which he seems prepared not only to stand alongside but also to die for his people.

We are also witnessing a performance of martyrdom. We have seen this before. MLK telling his listeners, I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. Or Todd Beamer on United Airlines Flight 93 declaring, Lets roll.

These performances become the stuff of legend. More often than not, we encounter them as fiction. Theres Harrison Ford combating terrorists in the film Air Force One: Get off my plane! There is also painter Emanuel Leutzes 1851 imagining of George Washington upright on a boat, confidently crossing the Delaware to battle the British. It is rare to see such actions  cinematic in scale  occurring in our everyday world.

There are tremendous profiles of courage by Black, brown and Indigenous leaders throughout history that still await the spotlight. History tends to be written by the victor  as were witnessing with the ongoing efforts to recast the U.S. Capitol insurrection as legitimate and peaceful political discourse. The stands of leaders against colonizing forces need to be rediscovered and told.

Zelenskyy reminds us of the power of performance and the importance of the principled stand. President Ronald Reagan, a former actor, stood up to Soviet aggression and skillfully communicated to the world at large. Zelenskyy has claimed this mantle with more gusto and far worse odds.

He is David facing Goliath. His performance will become legend.

Harvey Young is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Boston University. His research focuses on performance and the experience of race. 2022 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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A Bettendorf man was arrested in connection with a methamphetamine trafficking investigation, police said.

Shaun David Powell, 40, is charged with one count of possession with the intent to deliver more than 5 grams of methamphetamine. The charge is a Class B felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 25 years.

Powell also is charged with one count each of violating Iowas drug tax stamp law and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Both of those charges are Class D felonies that carry prison sentences of five years.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Bettendorf Police Sgt. Joshua Paul, at 12:56 p.m. Tuesday, Paul received information that Powell was selling methamphetamine and that he had a firearm.

During surveillance on Powells home, Paul saw Powell leave his residence, place a black pouch in the trunk of his Chevrolet Camaro and drive away. The Camaro did not have a license plate.

Powells driving privileges have been suspended in Iowa, according to the affidavit.

Paul initiated a traffic stop. When asked to exit the vehicle, Powell got out and a handgun dropped from either his waistband or his sweatshirt pocket. The gun turned out to be a Heritage Manufacturing Stealth Shadow C-4200 .40-caliber handgun. Powell admitted that he traded a heater for the firearm from Facebook Marketplace.

During a search of Powell officers seized 3.12 grams of methamphetamine and a meth pipe.

In the trunk of Powells Camaro, officers seized 7.07 grams of meth, a digital scale and $270 in cash.

A search warrant was served at Powells home where officers located another 1.1 grams of meth.

The total amount of methamphetamine seized came to 11.29 grams. Police have said that the normal dose of meth is one-tenth of a gram, meaning Powell had 112.9 doses of meth to sell.

Powell was booked into the Scott County Jail on Tuesday.

During Powell's first appearance on the charges Wednesday in Scott County District Court, Magistrate Ryan Beckenbaugh set Powells bond at $25,000, cash only, and scheduled a preliminary hearing on the charges for March 11.

On March 22, 2004, Powell was arrested in Rock Island County on weapons charges. Those charges were dismissed in April 2004, as federal authorities took over the case.

Powell pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm. On March 3, 2005, U.S. District Judge Joe McDade sentenced Powell to 37 months, or three years and one month, in federal prison to be followed by three years on supervised release.

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A Bettendorf man has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison on charges that he produced and possessed child pornography.

Justin Treanton, 37, was sentenced Monday, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the federal Southern District of Iowa. His 30-year sentence for the charge of producing child pornography is to be served consecutively with his 20-year sentence on the possession charge.

Upon completion of the sentence, Treanton would have to be on supervised release for the rest of his life and register as a sex offender, the release states.

The investigation began after an under-cover police officer in New Zealand was sent child pornography, the release states.

Authorities contend the images the officer received were traced to Treanton  who produced them and further investigation uncovered more child pornography on his cellular telephone, the release states.

The Department of Homeland Security, Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations, the Scott County Sheriffs Office and Bettendorf Police Department all took part in the investigation.

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A Maquoketa man accused of stealing nearly $300,000 from his employer is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to a theft charge as part of a plea agreement in the case.

Authorities contend Dwayne A. Rupp, 59, stole about $290,036 from LPW-I Inc., according to previous reporting and court records. LPW-I is a Davenport-based machinery movement and installation company. Rupp is also accused of spending LPW-I funds on machinery for his personal use.

Rupp is scheduled to be sentenced on May 25 on a charge of first-degree theft, according to Scott County court records. Rupp entered into a plea agreement with the Scott County Attorneys Office in February.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors will dismiss a charge of ongoing criminal conduct-unlawful activity, court records state.

Rupp was accused of stealing the money through various schemes that involved Fastenal, an industrial supplier, according to court records and previous reporting. These acts were alleged to have happened sometime between 2013 and 2018.

LPW-1 is also suing Rupp, Fastenal and Dustin Lightner, who was identified in the suit as Fastenals general manager at the times the thefts were carried out, according to court records and previous reporting.

Criminal charges have not been filed against Lightner in relation to the LPW-1 case, according to court records.

The court records concerning Rupps plea state the lawsuit is scheduled for trial in August and attempts at restitution will be made via that proceeding.

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Davenport police have arrested a man in connection with a shots-fired incident that occurred in July of 2020 in the 500 block of East 7th Street.

Samuel Isaac Berryman, 21, of Davenport is charged with one count of intimidation with a dangerous weapon. The charge is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

Berryman also is charged with going armed with intent, a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years, and carrying weapons, an aggravated misdemeanor that carries a prison sentence of two years.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Officer Joel Griffin, at 11:32 a.m. Thursday, July 9, 2020, Davenport officers were sent to 516 E. 7th St., for a report of shots fired.

Berryman was involved in a fight with the victim in front of the residence. Berryman stated he was going to shoot "all you mother (expletive). Im going to kill you all," according to the affidavits.

Berryman then left in a silver SUV and circled the block. He stopped in front of the house and fired at least two rounds at the victim, according to the affidavit. No one was hit.

After firing the two shots, Berryman circled the block again. He then fired several rounds into the windshield of the victims vehicle.

An arrest warrant for Berryman was issued Aug. 20, 2020. He was arrested Tuesday.

During a first appearance Wednesday in Scott County District Court, Magistrate Ryan Beckenbaugh scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for March 11.

Berryman was being held Thursday night in the Scott County Jail on a cash-only bond of $10,000.

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A Scott County probationer has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

During a sentencing hearing Monday in U.S. District Court, Davenport, District Chief Judge Stephanie Rose also ordered Marshall Eugene Popp, 31, of Davenport, to serve three years on supervised release once he completes his prison sentence.

Popp will receive credit for the time he served in custody awaiting trial and sentencing.

There is no parole in the federal system.

Popp was arrested by Davenport Police on March 25, 2021, for being a felon in possession of a handgun and misdemeanor possession of methamphetamine.

Scott County prosecutors added a third count against Popp for being a convicted domestic abuse offender in possession of a firearm.

According to the arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Officer Robert Myers, Popp was in possession of a loaded .22-caliber Ruger pistol. The weapon had one bullet in the chamber and six bullets in the magazine.

At the time of his arrest on the gun and drug charges, Popp was on probation in Scott County after pleading guilty to misdemeanor domestic abuse and second-degree criminal mischief, the latter charge being a Class D felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of five years. He was sentenced to two years on supervised probation in the cases during a hearing March 3, 2020, in Scott County District Court.

Federal authorities took over the gun charge on July 22. Popp pleaded guilty to the charge on Nov. 1.

A probation revocation hearing on the Scott County convictions is scheduled for March 14 in district court.

Popps criminal history in Scott County dates back to 2014 when on May 27 of that year he was arrested on a charge of first-degree arson, a Class B felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 25 years.

According to police, Popp set a fire in the bathroom at Lumpys Bar and Grill, 1509 Harrison St., about 11 p.m. April 4, while several people were in the building.

Popp pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree arson, a Class C felony that carries 10 years. During a sentencing hearing March 18, 2015, District Court Judge Tom Reidel sentenced Popp to serve three years on supervised probation. He completed that probation on Feb. 19, 2018.

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CHICAGO - Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez expects that the school district  the largest in the state to still require masks indoors  will move to a mask optional model for all students and staff in the near future, according to a memo he sent to principals this week.

We understand that this will be a major adjustment for our school communities, and we are committed to providing you with all the support you need during this transition, Martinez wrote. We will provide you with materials shortly, including communications to be shared with your families and staff and more details about how we will operationalize this change in schools.

The district released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying more details about the move to a mask-optional policy will be shared early next week.

The Chicago Board of Education just last week reaffirmed CPS universal mask mandate, which is part of the safety agreement the district forged with the Chicago Teachers Union in January after a bitter dispute that led to five days of canceled classes. Board members cited student vaccination rates that vary widely between CPS schools as a reason to keep the mandate in place.

CTU reiterated its support for CPS mask mandate in a Wednesday letter to members that asked them to weigh in on face coverings and other COVID-19 protocols as we look past spring break and toward the end of the school year. Spring break runs April 11 to 15.

Polling has overwhelmingly shown that mask mandates are still supported by parents and many throughout the U.S., and we stand behind that support, especially with an unvaccinated prekindergarten population and low vaccination rates in many vulnerable school communities, CTU President Jesse Sharkey said in the letter. We also know student and parent concerns best because these are the families we work with daily, so we will continue to organize and fight on their behalf.

CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates released a statement later Wednesday saying that while the COVID-19 situation has improved in the last month, we also understand that schools are congregate settings, and less than 25% of students in many South and West side schools are vaccinated. Unfortunately, CEO Martinez neglected to venture into those communities to alleviate concerns today. Still, our agreement with the district sets the table for equity and safety for all, and well continue to advance COVID mitigations that help keep Black and brown children and families safe.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the end of the statewide school mask mandate Friday in light of new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many districts had already opted to go mask-optional after litigation challenging the mask mandate scored some legal victories last month.

Downstate attorney Tom DeVore  who is representing Chicago parents who filed a lawsuit against Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health, arguing the CPS mask mandate violates their students due process rights  said Wednesday he was not surprised to learn about Martinezs memo to building principals.

DeVore and a CPS representative are expected to appear before Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow on March 10 regarding DeVores request for a temporary restraining order to halt the CPS mask and quarantine mandate for the students of parents who filed the lawsuit.

Within hours of the judge calling a hearing for next week, Martinez announces CPS will be making a change to mask optional, so you need to ask yourself, is that a coincidence, or not? DeVore said.

CPS has been running in circles, and now, they know its over, and will have to make the change, DeVore said. This has always been about the children, and CPS needs to accept that and deal with the union.

Nancy Griffin, a co-founder of the Chicago Parents Collective, which has been pushing CPS to move to a mask optional policy, said in a statement that given the new federal guidance, and Pritzkers lifting of the school mask mandate, CPS needs to follow suit.

When will this citys children be able to experience a normal school day without the need for politics and negotiations? Why cant the district and union just do what is right for the children? Griffin said.

Other parents rallied in support of the mask mandate outside City Hall on Monday, saying the district has a responsibility to protect its most vulnerable population. Data obtained by the Tribune last week shows some West and South side elementary schools have just over 5% of their students fully vaccinated, while student vaccination rates at some North Side schools approach 90%.

Troy LaRaviere, president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, chided CPS leadership for not soliciting principal opinions on the mask mandate.

No group of educators knows as much about running schools as principals. Yet the experience and views of principals are routinely disregarded by district management when it comes to making policy or offering solutions that impact the schools and students under our care, LaRaviere said in a statement that also promoted state legislation that would allow Chicago principals to unionize.

This is what happens when district leadership is more concerned about optics and politics than about creating effective policies that benefit schools and students.

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CHICAGO - A grand jury declined to indict a Chicago police officer who was accused of punching a handcuffed suspect who had been shot Christmas Eve outside a Near West Side police station, prosecutors said.

Officer Christopher Hillas, 43, was charged Feb. 16 with the felonies of aggravated battery on a public way and official misconduct, but a grand jury returned a decision of no bill for the indictment, which dismisses the charges against Hillas. On Monday, his case was dropped based on the grand jurys finding, the states attorneys office said in a statement.

Hillas has been a Chicago police officer since 2016, and he surrendered to the bureau of internal affairs the same day as the charges, the Police department said.

Hillas was relieved of his police powers Dec. 31 and the matter was turned over to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, according to the Police Department.

During Hillas bond hearing, Assistant States Attorney Lynn McCarthy said on Dec. 24, police were at the 12th District station when they saw the suspect with a handgun. As officers approached, he fired the weapon at them, McCarthy said.

That prompted officers to return fire, McCarthy said, and the man was shot twice.

McCarthy said after a brief pursuit, the suspect surrendered and was placed in handcuffs and escorted to a squad car for transport to a hospital.

As they approached, Hillas opened the rear door of the squad car and told the suspect: Here, I got you man, according to McCarthy.

Hillas then began a search of the man from his waist to his feet, McCarthy said, as hed been told the suspects weapon had not been found yet. Hillas then stood up slightly and punched him four times in the groin area, McCarthy said, adding that the suspect had not made any verbal or physical threats.

Attorney Tim Grace, who represented the officer, asserted that Hillas believed the suspect hit him first.

Hillas was in a vulnerable position, with his head near the suspects knees, elbow and stomach, Grace said. He rose very quickly thinking the suspect was going to hit him and at that point, he and another officer head-butted each other, but Hillas though it was the suspect.

While the search was deliberate and emotion was strong this was not a battery but an effort to remove a gun from an offender who had just attempted to murder two Chicago police officers, Grace said.

Grace objected to the judges restriction on guns for Hillas, a ruling the judge said she made in an effort to treat Hillas the same as any other defendant.

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CHICAGO  A suburban Chicago businessman has admitted to swindling two hospitals that had sought coveted protective face masks in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dennis W. Haggerty Jr. of Burr Ridge pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Chicago to wire fraud and money laundering charges. He now likely faces a sentence of about three years in prison and an order directing him to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution.

His sentencing is set for May 25.

Haggerty, 45, was first charged in a criminal complaint filed in November 2020. Prosecutors said Haggerty, the onetime president of the biotechnology company At Diagnostics Inc., cheated two large university hospitals in Chicago and Iowa City, Iowa.

Court records identify the hospitals as Northwestern Memorial Healthcare and University of Iowa Medical Center.

The hospitals allegedly ordered one million N95 face masks from At Diagnostics and, combined, paid more than $3 million for them, according to the complaint. The hospitals deposited the money into a bank account that was supposedly the company's but was controlled only by Haggerty.

He allegedly used some of the money for his personal benefit, including on credit cards, two Maseratis and a Range Rover.

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BLOOMINGTON  U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Wednesday met virtually with the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council to discuss infrastructure priorities.

"During their conversation, Durbin spoke about the increased federal funding coming to Illinois from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that will be put toward infrastructure projects in the area," Durbin's office said in a statement.

The act, which President Joe Biden signed in November, will bring Illinois $3.8 billion over the next five years in addition to $14 billion already planned.

The American Rescue Plan also allocated $13 billion to Bloomington, $10 million to Normal and $33 million to McLean County.

Durbin and the Council also talked about Heartland Community Colleges Advanced Manufacturing Training Academy, which is seeking federal funding through the rescue plan's Economic Adjustment Assistance Program. Durbin previously visited the Academys Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage training facilities.

With the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Laws funding, we can begin to map out a new era of infrastructure in Illinois. It was great to speak with Bloomington-Normal leaders today to discuss how to put this funding to good use, said Durbin. From improving our regional infrastructure to leading the electric vehicle revolution, Central Illinois is ready for the challenge.

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One hundred students from ten council-run primary schools in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, will benefit from scholarships under the China-Zimbabwe Friendship Scholarship to cover their tuition fees.



The scholarship program, which was officially launched Wednesday in Harare, is facilitated by the China Africa Economic and Culture Exchange and Research Centre (CAECERC) with support from Chinese enterprises in Zimbabwe.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, where some of the beneficiaries were handed their funds, Stellah Gunje, the representative of heads of council primary schools in Harare, expressed gratitude to the Chinese for the kind gesture.

"Underprivileged learners or students in selected council schools have something to smile about. It is a dream come true for those students," she said.

Acting Harare Mayor Stewart Mutizwa said the program resonates with the city council's quest to provide affordable education to all students.

"There is no doubt that this gesture will motivate and encourage many students to work harder so that they can be part of this program," he said.

The program will also be expanded to benefit other council and government schools across the country.

In addition to providing funding to primary school students, the China-Zimbabwe Friendship Scholarship is already providing assistance to university students. Thirty students from three state universities in Zimbabwe have so far benefited from the scholarship program.

Steve Zhao, director of CAECERC, said the scholarship program is part of Chinese firms' community social responsibility, claiming the program was mooted after the realization that pandemic-induced economic challenges have seen many parents from poor backgrounds failing to raise funds to send children to school.

China has been supporting Zimbabwe's education sector since the southern African country attained independence in 1980. It has provided more than 100 scholarships to Zimbabwean students each year through the Chinese Government Scholarship, Confucius Institute Scholarship, various provincial government scholarships as well as scholarships funded by Chinese enterprises in Zimbabwe.

Through CAECERC, Zhao has facilitated and promoted various cultural exchange programs between Zimbabwe and China that include bringing Chinese students and scholars to Zimbabwe as well as sending Zimbabwean students and scholars to China.
GREENWOOD, Miss.  A Mississippi county has approved contracts for a sculptor to make and install a bronze statue of Emmett Till, the Black teenager whose 1955 lynching became a catalyst for the civil rights movement.

Leflore County supervisors voted on the contracts Monday, about seven months after they initially agreed that the county would have a statue of Till, the Greenwood Commonwealth reported.

Installation is expected by about Oct. 1 at Rail Spike Park in Greenwood.

The Justice Department announced in December that it was ending its investigation into the killing of Till. The 14-year-old from Chicago was visiting relatives in the Mississippi Delta when he was abducted, tortured and shot after witnesses said he whistled at a white woman in a rural grocery store in Money. The small community is in Leflore County, about 10 miles north of Greenwood.

Till's mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open-casket funeral in Chicago, and Jet magazine published photos of his brutalized body. Those horrific images galvanized civil rights activists.

Leflore County's two contracts are with the Utah-based company Big Statues, run by sculptor Matt Glenn. The first contract says Leflore County will pay $110,900 for making and shipping the statue. The second contract says the county will pay $5,640 for installation.

Mississippi has dozens of statues of Confederate soldiers at county courthouses, but it has few statues of Black historical figures.

State Sen. David Jordan of Greenwood secured $150,000 from the state last year to pay for the statue. A few weeks after Till was killed, Jordan attended the trial of Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, the two white men who were charged. An all-white jury acquitted them.

The Justice Department reopened an investigation of Till's killing after a 2017 book quoted Carolyn Bryant Donham, who was married to Roy Bryant in 1955, as saying she lied when she claimed Till grabbed her and made sexual advances while she was working in the store. Relatives have publicly denied that Donham, who is in her 80s, recanted her allegations about Till.

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Pennington County will receive an unknown amount from a $26 billion multi-district opioid settlement with Johnson and Johnson and three major distributors, the county announced Wednesday.

The county is the only governmental subdivision in South Dakota that joined the federal lawsuit, according to the press release. The settlement includes AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson, and a bankruptcy resolution concerning Purdue Pharma.

The settlement will be paid out over 18 years. It is not, however, enough to cover the incurred expenses for states, counties and cities, the release said.

According to the release, the settlement will be paid over 18 years because the immediate impact of paying the full amount at one time would be "disruptive to the ongoing businesses of the defendants, which are important in the general distribution and supplying of pharmacy and medical devices." The release states it's also because distributions are more in line with ongoing assistance from governmental subdivisions.

The money will flow into two channels in South Dakota. One will be through the state Attorney General's claims, which is how the state participated generally in the settlement. That money will be controlled by legislation and appears in House Bill 1038. According to the release, the funds will be divided 70% to the state and 30% to participating local government subdivisions based on the opioid negotiation class model.

Senate Judiciary unanimously passed the bill Tuesday. The bill establishes an opioid abatement end remediation fund that allows deposits from settlements, gifts and donations, and interest earned on money in the fund.

The second channel will have funds going directly to the participating subdivisions.

According to the release, all funds will be used for abatement and dedicated to addiction treatment and prevention. There will be no distribution to victims or any of their families. All of the funds will be directed toward services and the assistance needed for the county to deal with "adverse ramifications flowing out of opioid victims."

Funds could arrive in April, but "this may be overly optimistic," the release states.

All attorneys' fees for participating entities in the lawsuit have been determined by the court and paid through a trustee over seven years. The money directed to the county will not be subject to attorneys' fees.

 Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com 

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U.S. Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., have introduced legislation that would require the U.S. Forest Service to expedite issuing environmental decisions to increase timber production in the Black Hills.

The bill is called the Black Hills National Forest Protection and Jobs Preservation Act, and directs the forest service to "carry out vegetation management projects and timber production projects" in the Black Hills National Forest. The measure defines wood products as key pieces of critical infrastructure, mirroring a similar decision in 2020 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and as authorized under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill.

In a statement, Thune said he introduced the bill because timber production and vegetation management in the Black Hills National Forest are parts of proactive management that keep forests healthy.

It also supports the forest products industry, which generates revenues and supports jobs in rural communities," Thune said. "For more than 100 years, the Black Hills National Forest timber sale program has helped facilitate successful forest management, but I am concerned about the programs long-term viability if the region loses additional forest products infrastructure. This legislation would provide the Forest Service with resources to support everyones shared goal of maintaining forest health.

The harvesting of ponderosa pine trees, timber production and the overall health of the Black Hills National Forest has been under scrutiny for the past several years.

The USDA Forest Service Research and Development Rocky Mountain Research Station released a report in March 2021 in which scientists recommended a 50% to 60% reduction in timber production over the next several decades.

"Since 2000, the Black Hills National Forest (BHNF) has experienced several disturbances that have reduced standing live sawtimber volume which will affect future harvest levels," the report states. "We conducted a quantitative analysis to determine how mortality from these disturbances and potential growth rates will impact short-, mid-, and long-term sustainable sawtimber harvest levels of ponderosa pine on the BHNF."

The scientists made the recommendation following the mountain pine beetle infestation that lasted from 2000 through 2017, killing nearly 9 million ponderosa pine trees in the Black Hills National Forest. Additionally, wildfires burned more than 406,331 acres of land in the Black Hills between 2000 and 2017, although those fires only contributed 0.13% to 0.20% of total annual tree mortality.

"During the last 20 years, the increase in the extent and severity of wildfires burning the forests of the Black Hills in the 2000s and 2010s is reflected in the higher tree mortality rates," the report states.

That report immediately caused concern and job loss from companies that profit from timber harvesting, production and sales in the Black Hills National Forest. Neiman Enterprises closed their Hill City saw mill and eliminated 120 jobs and 12 contract crews. The company's owner, Jim Neiman, said he closed the mill because of the reduction in available timber.

The Hill City saw mill had been in operation for 53 years.

I never thought I would see the day when we would be out of options to keep all our facilities running," Neiman said at the time. "Lumber markets have been exceptionally high for the past year and have broken all-time record highs. The problem here is purely a lack of timber available for purchase in the Black Hills, and we rely on the Forest Service for approximately 80% of our supply.

Thune and Barrasso's bill would categorize the Black Hills National Forest and the Bighorn National Forest as "being very high priority for ecological restoration involving vegetation removal," expedite further environmental studies of the Black Hills National Forest, and provide $40 million in funding over four years to "carry out projects on the Bighorn National Forest, the Custer Gallatin National Forest and the Black Hills National Forest that will result in timber production."

The longstanding partnership between the Forest Service and local sawmills has been key to managing and protecting the Black Hills National Forest, Barrasso said. Our legislation will help ensure this decades-long partnership continues. It will also cut red tape to expedite projects to reduce fire hazards in the Black Hills and help make sure the forest and local economies continue to flourish for decades to come.

Thune and Barrasso's bill has support from the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Wyoming State Forestry Division.

Contact Nathan Thompson at nathan.thompson@rapidcityjournal.com.

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PIERRE | A Democratic candidate for South Dakotas lone congressional seat dropped out of the race Thursday after he acknowledged making inappropriate comments about Republican lawmakers in the past.

"I am withdrawing my candidacy for U.S. House of Representatives," Ryan Ryder said in an email to the Rapid City Journal. "While tweets I have made in the past were a poor attempt at sarcastic humor, I recognize that they appear to cross a line. I regret that I chose to express myself that way. I apologize specifically to the state party and anyone else for whom these tweets reflected badly."

The South Dakota Democratic Party said in a news release that it asked Ryder to withdraw from the race.

The South Dakota Democratic Party has determined it is not appropriate for Mr. Ryder to continue in this race and requested that he end his candidacy, which he has agreed to, said Executive Director Berk Ehrmantraut.

These statements from Mr. Ryder do not live up to the values of the South Dakota Democratic Party, and we do not support this type of language, said SDDP Chair Randy Seiler.

Ryder is an Air Force veteran and lawyer from Black Hawk was the only Democrat running for the seat held by Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson.

In one of his tweets, Ryder suggested that he should make an animated video of Johnsons family getting killed.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Ryder said the tweet was meant as sarcasm and was in response to Johnsons vote in November against censuring Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar for a violent cartoon video that depicted killing a character that looked like New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Ryder previously told the AP that he was a frustrated citizen who wanted an explanation and answers from Johnson and other politicians. He has deactivated his personal Twitter account. He said his tweets were inappropriate and certainly not professional, but Im hoping it leads to more transparency and answers from our elected officials."

Dakota News Now reported that many of Ryders tweets over the last several years expressed a dislike for South Dakota Republican politicians. In one tweet, he joked about performing sexual acts to a picture of Gov. Kristi Noem.

Democratic state Rep. Jamie Smith, who is running for governor, distanced himself from Ryder on Thursday, saying he didn't know him or support him.

I do not condone them in any way, shape or form," he said of the tweets. It's not how I treat people. It's not what I do.

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To those Two Cents commenters who are quick to compare living in South Dakota to living in Russia, remember that in Russia you would not be permitted to so constantly criticize Gov. Noem or this state.

If you live in South Dakota and do not like our conservative values leave our wonderful state and return to your liberal state from which you left for a reason.

On Tuesday night, the Republican governor of Iowa responded to Biden's State of the Union speech by stating that Republican governors are cutting taxes in their states. So why hasn't our Republican governor reduced taxes here?

South Dakota trusts likely house a lot of Russian investment. Gov. Noem needs to explore freezing these assets.

Sen. Helene Duhamel shows contempt for the 58.5% of Pennington County voters who supported legalization of recreational marijuana. They knew exactly what they were voting for, and she could have respected that decision to legalize, regulate and tax a drug that has been on the black market for too long.

Its time to reel in GF&P. They have too much control and no one but the governor to limit their power.

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A state advisory council is being asked to help clean up the language and narrow definitions for a statute that provides free either-sex elk permits to landowners in return for granting public access to hunters.

The program caused a stir last fall after participation jumped from two landowners to 15 following changes by the Montana Legislature. Overwhelmed by the sudden interest and hesitant to deny any requests, the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks asked the Fish and Wildlife Commission to sign off on the agreements, two of which were awarded after the rifle season had already begun.

We have rules right now that functionally dont work for the program, said Hope Stockwell, chief of Montana Parks and Outdoor Recreation Division, during a Feb. 23 meeting of the Private Land/Public Wildlife Council.

454s

As an example, she said one rule requires the agreements  known as 454s because the initial legislation was contained in House Bill 454  to come to the commission for approval at a different time than when FWP staff is talking to landowners about access agreements.

The advisory group meets again in May. Stockwell said by then the agency should have more concrete proposals for members to consider. Suggestions to rewrite the statute may first be delivered to the Environmental Quality Council for consideration and feedback, she said, before going to the Legislature.

Do not feel beholden to what the current rules say, Stockwell told the group. We have the opportunity to really start from scratch and redesign them to make them more functional for the program.

Questions

Stockwell identified several questions she would like the council members to address. These include:

Defining the phrase in the statute that says the agreements are for wildlife management purposes. What does that mean? Does it only apply to areas where elk are over population objectives? Should bull elk be included for harvest or only cows?

The words may issue in the statute seems to imply discretion on the part of the department. Should the sideboards be changed for who qualifies? Right now the program is limited to those who own 2,500 acres or more, unless otherwise determined by the department.

The landowner must allow free public access, but does that extend to both archery and rifle seasons? Much of the take this year supposedly occurred during the cow elk shoulder season, which runs after the general rifle hunt ends.

The ratio of three hunters allowed for every one tag issued to the landowner was what seemed to spark an increase in interest in the program this past hunting season. Prior to that, it was a ratio of four to one. There are also questions about how the public hunters are chosen and what the proper method for that is.

Should the department award the free landowner tags only in areas where elk are over population objectives or over objectives by a certain percentage?

Should the total number of free licenses be limited? Right now the department can limit the number, but there is no criteria.

Landowners who participate in the Block Management Program can also qualify for the free tags. Should that continue?

Without clarity on these issues, last year FWP moved all proposals forward, Stockwell said. FWP attorney Becky Dockter said the agency doesnt want to treat people differently. As the statute is written, however, FWP was in the position of having to pick and choose for reasons not yet written down.

Report

FWP will compile a report on this past seasons 454 program to provide to the commission. The document will record the number of participants, how many animals they killed and gauge the landowners and hunters satisfaction with the program.

Mark Taylor, a Helena attorney who helped facilitate 454 agreements with seven landowners, provided PL/PW with information he compiled. The letter stated all of the hunters were Montana residents and the average bull elk shot scored between 335 and 350 by Boone and Crockett standards.

This fact should hopefully put to rest any notion that hunters were going to be forced to shoot management/rag horn bulls, Taylor wrote.

He said cow elk hunters on the seven ranches killed more than 300 elk, many of them assisted by ranch managers and employees, mostly in the shoulder season.

To improve the program, Taylor recommended FWP do a better job of finding and scheduling hunters and set firm dates for the approval process. Stockwell said this year applications for the program will be accepted June 1-30 for review with approval by the commission in August.

Divisions

Members of PL/PW seem divided on the program, with landowners and outfitters seeing it as positive without any changes, rewarding landowners for providing access and wildlife habitat.

Bears Paw Mountain-area landowner Rich Roth said he participated in the program but added that it seemed like landowners were being painted as the bad guys if they also outfitted their property. Yet he also suggested his outfitter be given tags to hand out to nonresident clients to ensure more elk are killed.

I want the animals harvested, he said.

Bozeman outfitter Paul Ellis said the public needed to stop bashing landowners.

Landowners are allowing a lot of people in and not getting much in return, echoed Eric Albus, a Hinsdale outfitter and farmer/rancher.

Jordan outfitter and rancher Rod Paschke said conservation groups wouldnt be happy until they had access to all private land.

Forsyth sportsman Drew Steinberger took issue with Paschkes comment, saying a lot of the public concern was due to a lack of transparency by FWP. FWP attorney Dockter said the agency took criticism from hunters, landowners and outfitters.

Retired federal biologist Dale Tribby, of Miles City, said hes heard complaints about the number of tags handed out, which hunters were selected and whether or not they were chosen randomly.

Marcus Strange, of the Montana Wildlife Federation, said his group has always supported the 454 program but his members are concerned about equity and transparency. He said the group isnt interested in reopening old wounds between landowners and hunters and would rather work to bring them together.

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An American Truckers Freedom Convoy passed through western Montana on Wednesday, making a stop at the Wye truck stop off I-90 near Missoula.

Roughly 100 people gathered on the street corners bordering the TA Travel Center to show support for the convoy.

Attendees said they were there to support American and Canadian truckers, claiming vaccine and mask mandates encroach on their freedoms. Many were carrying American and Dont Tread on Me flags and assorted paraphernalia in support of former President Donald Trump.

Signs and flags also displayed the slogan Lets Go Brandon, a popular phrase thats a slight at President Joe Biden.

Truck drivers started trickling into the rest stop in the early afternoon and circled around the streets, honking in support of the event. Organizers handed out free lunches to the truckers who passed through.

The convoy was one of several that are part of a national movement protesting COVID-19 health orders, including vaccine requirements and face covering mandates, around the country. U.S. convoys have been organized online and modeled on the recent Canadian truckers' protests that shut down U.S.-Canadian border crossings and besieged the streets of the capital, Ottawa, for weeks. The convoys all have different starting points, departure dates and routes.

This convoy, specifically referred to as the "Northwest Route," was passing through Montana on Wednesday, with plans to stop in Belgrade and Billings on its way across the country.

Several rally participants said they have family members who are or have been truckers on U.S. highways.

Dave Eutsler, a Darby resident and candidate for Ravalli County Commission, is the son of a trucker.

Im out here to support them. They do a service to us that most people dont even realize, Eutsler said, adding he thinks people should have the choice to get vaccinated and wear a mask, but that they shouldnt be mandated.

Event organizer Cindy Johnson echoed Eutsler, saying she and the truckers stand for freedom.

"We should have the freedom to make our own choices, whether we want to wear a mask or don't want to, whether we want to get vaxxed or whether we don't want to," she said.

There are no city- or county-wide mask or vaccination mandates in Montana. Many counties in the state are still considered to be high risk for COVID-19 infections, according to the CDC website. These are areas where the use of face coverings is still encouraged.

Vaccines and booster shots were highly effective during the omicron surge in preventing COVID-19 associated emergency department visits, urgent care encounters and hospitalizations, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Alexandra Sasha Fendrick speaks with great pride and affection when she talks about being from Russia.

She talks about the country she grew up in, about her daughter, granddaughter and other relatives who live there now, and about the times she goes back to visit.

But, Fendrick, who is executive director of WorldMontana, a Helena-based group that promotes citizen diplomacy and interpersonal relationships, hesitates to talk about current world events, saying she is staying out of the political arena.

Its a hard topic for me, she said of Russia invading the Ukraine, adding she watches the news and has had trouble finding the truth.

I have focused on people, she said. People are suffering.

WorldMontana, based on the Carroll College campus, is a member of Global Ties U.S. (formerly National Council for International Visitors) based in Washington, D.C. It is one of 95 U.S., nonprofit centers dedicated to promoting global understanding through citizen diplomacy.

She said there is a small population of Helena that is Russian or Ukrainian, estimating there are about eight folks in each group.

We have had good relations with each other, she said. But now we feel the tension.

We should not mix politics and people, she said. Russians living in Helena are not enemies."

We need to find ways to collaborate, to respect each other and tolerate each other, Fendrick said.

She said her stepfather was Ukrainian, noting that many Russians are mixtures from many of the republics. She also said she has visited Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.

WorldMontana connects emerging leaders from other countries with their Montana counterparts. The eight-day visits include visitors staying at the homes of Montana residents, dinners and cultural activities.

Last year WorldMontana hosted 157 people from 57 countries.

I am so happy to have this job, Fendrick, who has been with WorldMontana since 2016, said.

Fendrick comes from Novosibirsk, the largest city in Western Siberia of 2 million people in the Russian Federation, the WorldMontana website states. She earned a masters degree in education and served as an educator, then a vice principal of a 1,500-student large secondary school. Later she went to Moscow and worked for British Petroleum as an administrative coordinator for one of the largest oil and gas development projects for BP in Siberia. She earned her second masters degree in business management in Moscow.

She and her husband, Daryl, came to Helena in 2011.

Fendrick said she talks to her 83-year-old mother in Moscow every day. She said her mother is the core of the family. She said her granddaughter, Miraslava, who was born in Helena and calls her "Babushka Sasha," visits in the summer and considers Helena one of her homes.

"I like that she understands that the world is open for her," Fendrick said.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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Whether youre looking to reupholster your favorite chair, update your draperies or make over an entire room, u-fab interiors makes it a snap.

The Richmond custom fabric and fabrication shop does it all. The companys expert upholsterers can make used furniture sparkle again, and its skilled seamstresses can stitch up the dazzling window treatment of your choice.

We make pillows, cushions, draperies, Roman shades  just about everything people use to decorate their homes that is made of fabric, we do, owner Travis Hamilton said.

When it comes to reupholstering, We do everything from modern sofa sectionals to antiques from the 1800s to mid-century pieces, he said.

For those planning to decorate a new house or refurbish an existing room or rooms, u-fab offers design consultation to make the process a breeze. One of their interior decorators will guide the entire process, with pleasing results.

Were one of the few companies in the country  not to mention locally  that does so many different things and offers so much in-house service, Hamilton said. Were a one-stop shop.

The shop is located at 7921 W. Broad St., Richmond, Virginia. The company also has a satellite showroom at 2171 Ivy Road, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Fabrication work includes reupholstery, pillows, cushions, draperies and Roman shades. We take the fabric, and we make it something, Hamilton said.

Furniture as well as fabrics

u-fab is best known for its bold prints, trendy fabrics, quality work and top-notch service. Some dont realize u-fab also offers high-end furniture that customers can customize with fabrics of their choice.

u-fab partners with great family-held furniture companies in North Carolina to offer high-quality furniture our customers can customize with different fabrics and options, Hamilton said.

The partnership with furniture manufacturers such as Wesley Hall, LEE Industries, and Younger Furniture allows u-fab to create custom upholstered furniture. We do a lot of special order custom furniture where you can specify cushion size, depth, and maybe your arm type, Hamilton added. You can get something thats uniquely yours with the fabrics, details, and trimmings.

u-fab also carries a lot of one-of-a-kind pieces like large cabinets, tables, and shelves that are unique pieces theyre not going to see all over the place, he said.

u-fab craftsmen build custom ottomans and headboards on-site, Hamilton said. You can pretty much bring in a picture and well build  within constructural reason, Hamilton said.

Hamilton and a former co-worker started u-fab 13 years ago after losing their jobs

The company went out of business just as the recession hit in 07-08, he said. We started u-fab because we needed jobs. Hamilton bought out his partner years ago and is now sole owner of u-fab.

u-fab started off as a tiny little fabric store with a little workroom, he said. Six years ago the company moved to its current location, a 20,000-square-foot showroom with a workshop and warehouse on-site.

You can follow the company on Facebook for ideas, specials and news.

See a virtual tour of u-fabs showroom.
The solider arrested while driving an armored military vehicle through the streets of Richmond in June 2018 was arrested again for a separate crime in February, according to Richmond police.

Joshua Yabut, 33, of Richmond was arrested on Feb. 22 around 12 a.m. near the 2700 block of West Grace Street.

Police and medical personnel were responding to a woman in medical distress. Police said Yabut was also at the scene continuously disrupting medics from performing their job.

Yabut was given several warnings to leave the area but persisted in his behavior and was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, police said.

After Yabuts 65-mile joyride from Fort Pickett to downtown Richmond, he was charged with eluding police, unauthorized use of vehicle and driving while intoxicated.

The episode earned him local fame and the nickname Tank Man, although the vehicle he took wasnt technically a tank.

In August 2019, he entered pleas in Nottoway County Circuit Court of not guilty by reason of insanity of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and violating the terms of his bond. After being treated at Central State Hospital, he was granted a conditional release in January 2020.
 Flash

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Thursday stressed the need to keep a cool head in security policy decisions amid the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis.

"In the midst of an acute crisis, it is particularly important to keep a cool head and to assess the impact of past and possible future changes on our security carefully," said the President's Office in a statement.

While saying that the Finnish security environment was undergoing rapid and drastic changes, Niinisto stressed he fully understands the concerns felt by Finns and the need to react to the situation.

The statement came after his meeting on Wednesday with political party leaders, the Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, leaders of the Parliament and the chairs of the Defence and the Foreign Affairs Committees.

On Tuesday, parliamentary parties met to discuss Ukraine and Finland's possible NATO membership, which no party has endorsed except the conservative National Coalition, reported local media.

A poll commissioned by the national broadcaster Yle found that most Finns supported the country's application for NATO membership.
Richmond City Councilwoman Stephanie Lynch is proposing to reserve one-third of casino tax revenue for city schools if voters approve plans for the $600 million project this fall  after it was narrowly rejected in November.

The resolution, which the City Council will review Monday, calls on the mayors administration to create a special fund for a big slice of the $30 million that city officials and developers say the One Casino and Resort in South Richmond would generate in annual tax revenue.

Lynch said she hopes that earmarking the money can help Richmond Public Schools, particularly as it is poised to lose at least $7 million in state funding next year due to waning student enrollment and surging property values  two metrics that state officials use to determine funding for school divisions. Lynch and other critics of the so-called Local Composite Index formula say it fails to properly account for poverty and public properties that are exempt from local real estate taxes.

The casino project still faces hurdles, however, as state lawmakers could decide to block Richmond from holding another referendum this fall.

Some officials in the nearby city of Petersburg  with the support of state Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond  are seeking permission from the General Assembly to hold their own casino referendum. A Senate committee last month rejected legislation to let Petersburg hold a casino referendum, but a provision in the Senates proposed state budget would block Richmond from holding a second referendum to allow time for a Petersburg casino study.

Lynch is not the only Richmond city official seeking to make a casino more appealing to voters.

Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and several council members have called for a 2-cent reduction on the citys real estate tax rate ($1.20 per $100 of assessed value) if voters approve plans for the One Casino and Resort. Lynch has said she is opposed to the tax cut, saying it would give up money thats badly needed for schools and public services.
As negotiations begin on a two-year state budget, a House of Delegates subcommittee has killed a bill to accelerate the deadline for Richmond to complete a $1.3 billion project to end periodic sewage overflows into the James River.

The Chesapeake subcommittee voted 5-4 on Monday to kill Senate Bill 354, introduced by Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George. The vote could make it easier for House budget negotiators to defend their proposal to cut more than $100 million that then-Gov. Ralph Northam had included in his parting budget for combined-sewer overflow cleanups in three cities, including Richmond.

The House budget would cut in half the amount of money that Northam had provided from the American Rescue Plan Act for projects in Richmond and Lynchburg, and eliminate funding for Alexandria entirely. Under the House budget proposal, Richmond would receive $50 million instead of $100 million.

House Appropriations Chairman Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, said Thursday that funding to end combined-sewer overflows probably will come up in budget talks that begin this week between the House and Senate, which is protecting all of the money that Northam provided for the projects in the three cities.

Knight isnt a member of the subcommittee that killed the bill, but he said the concern was that a proposal to accelerate the timeline for completing the project from 2035 to 2030 wasnt feasible, regardless of funding.

They did not have the bandwidth to accelerate it but so fast, he said of the city.

Richmond spokesman Jim Nolan said the city is working hard to meet the 2035 deadline that the General Assembly set two years ago and remains our commitment.

Work completed in 2021 to expand wet weather treatment capacity at the wastewater plant has improved water quality in the James River by reducing combined overflow volumes by an average of 25%, or 400 million gallons per year, going forward, Nolan said Thursday.

Many challenges  financial, technical and construction  lay ahead, but the prioritization of this work by the city cannot be questioned.

Senate Republicans had pushed for the tighter deadline with strong support from Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who had used the issue of continued pollution of the James from sewage-tainted overflows as an issue against Democrats in his campaign against former Gov. Terry McAuliffe last fall. Richmond is a heavily Democratic city whose mayor, Levar Stoney, is a close political ally of McAuliffe.

In his Jan. 17 State of the Commonwealth address, Youngkin pledged to end the dumping of raw sewage in the James River once and for all.

Mondays subcommittee vote split along party lines, with two Republicans absent, but Chair Rob Bloxom, R-Accomack, one of six budget negotiators for the House, cast the decisive vote against Stuarts bill.

An old problem

The overflows are an old problem, dating to the late 19th century, when Richmond built a wastewater system of sewer pipes that carry sewage from homes and businesses as well as stormwater that washes off city streets. The system drains 19 square miles of the city and adjoining Henrico County, including downtown and the state Capitol, so the sewers overflow periodically during heavy rains.

Richmond has spent more than $315 million over the past 50 years to capture an estimated 91% of the overflows. The system currently discharges about 2 billion gallons of combined stormwater and sewage each year during heavy rains that overwhelm its capacity.

The city said it would need at least $1 billion in federal and state aid to completely end the overflows, which would require construction of up to five big tunnels beneath the riverbed and use of an abandoned quarry or other massive basin to hold the wastewater until it can be treated. Richmond has agreed to match $150 million in state funding, but says it lacks the capacity to take on additional debt.

The Senate had amended Stuarts bill to provide a waiver of the 2030 deadline if Richmond were unable to find the funding to pay for the project, which otherwise would cause a big increase in wastewater rates that are already among the highest in Virginia in a city where almost one-quarter of the residents are poor.
A Democratic-controlled Senate panel on Thursday advanced legislation banning discrimination in the admissions process at the states governors schools, weakening a more expansive proposal by the GOP that sought race-blind admissions but signaling dissatisfaction with new policies to bring more racial diversity to the schools.

Four Democrats joined the Republicans to back legislation that says simply that the schools admissions process cant discriminate on the basis of race and other criteria. Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, who authored the language, said it would be up to the courts to define exactly what constitutes discrimination, but added that it was an important statement for the Virginia legislature to make.

Del. Glenn Davis, R-Virginia Beach, introduced House Bill 127, which Gov. Glenn Youngkin backed. Davis bill took aim at efforts to boost the number of Black and Hispanic students at the states governors schools, where they are underrepresented. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax County recently overhauled its admissions process , prompting criticism that the policy discriminated against Asian American applicants, who at the time made up more than two-thirds of students at the school.

A federal judge ruled against the school district last week, calling the new policy an unlawful attempt at racial balancing. The Fairfax school district said it will appeal the decision.

Were not going to discriminate based on race in governors school admissions. Period, full stop. And Im going to let the courts kind of work out what that means. And theyre doing that right now, Petersen said.

Richmonds Maggie L. Walker Governors School has struggled with a lack of racial diversity. The admissions rate for Black students at the school in the past two decades is about 5%, nearly four times lower than the rate for white students, a Richmond Times-Dispatch investigation found.

The bill approved by the Senate panel on Thursday also requires that middle schools eligible to send students to a governors school offer coursework that is rigorous enough to prepare students to be admitted. Petersen said the bill would make the pipeline stronger, broader and more acceptable.

The bill originally introduced by Davis would have banned seeking information about an applicants race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin, and called for acceptance decisions to be made blind as to an applicants identity.

The bill as proposed drew opposition from the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia Schools Boards Association, and alumni from Thomas Jefferson and Maggie L. Walker governors schools.

On Thursday, Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, who voted against the bill, said the new process at Thomas Jefferson in Fairfax was designed to ensure that all students who have an aptitude or a passion for STEM in particular  have the opportunity to come to the school and to succeed.

Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, who also opposed the measure, said simply off the microphone: If we want to go ahead and go back to 1950-something  Im good. Im good.

Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax; Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax; and Sen. Lynwood Lewis, D-Accomack, joined Petersen in backing the amended bill.

Lab schools, officers

Some of Youngkins other education priorities advanced through the Senate panel on Thursday, albeit not as the administration had intended.

The panel advanced Davis House Bill 346 to expand the number of public schools operated by higher education institutions, but the panel advanced a Senate version that would leave the schools to rely on private funding to operate.

The panel also advanced House Bill 873, sponsored by Del. Karen Greenhalgh, R-Virginia Beach, which originally called for school boards to hire at least one law enforcement officer per school.

The panel amended the bill to simply require the local police chief to designate and train an officer to serve as the law enforcement liaison for any schools without a stationed officer.

The panel rejected House Bill 787 from Del. Dave LaRock, R-Loudoun, that would have made it illegal for schools to teach, among other things, that an individual, by virtue of the individuals race or sex, is inherently racist. The bill is similar, but more expansive, to the divisive concepts bills the administration backed that failed earlier in the session.

The panel also rejected House Bill 1093 that would have weakened a requirement that public school teachers be evaluated on cultural competency.

On another bill of note, the education and health panel voted 10-5 to defeat Greenhalghs House Bill 212 that would have required a woman to sign a form confirming informed consent before an abortion is performed. Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, voted with nine Democrats to defeat the measure.
Two Democratic senators joined Republicans on Wednesday to advance GOP legislation that would close off public access to inactive police files in Virginia.

The debate over the bill, sponsored by Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, has been muddled with misinformation and unanswered questions. That continued Wednesday, when a state senator who voted for the bill in committee later said he believed he was doing so to prevent photos of dead victims from being released publicly. Current law already prohibits that.

Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, and Sen. John Bell, D-Loudoun, joined Republicans on the Senates General Laws and Technology Committee to advance the bill to the full Senate. The bill passed on a vote of 9-5, with one abstention.

The bill would essentially undo a 2021 law that opened up inactive police files to the public. For years, the Virginia Freedom of Information Act allowed police and prosecutors to withhold all records in their discretion, even in cases that are closed and where release of records wouldnt jeopardize any prosecution.

The 2021 change said police needed to release records in closed cases, while preventing release of certain things, like information about confidential sources or photos of a victim.

The issue of victim photos became a centerpiece of Bells new legislation. Parents of two murder victims testified that they worried media companies, under the 2021 law, would obtain records about the cases of their slain daughters, release of which would further traumatize their families.

A media company made a FOIA request to Albemarle police in one of the cases last year, but police and the county wont say if they provided any records or not. Either way, photos of the victim or records that would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy couldnt currently be released under the law.

Some lawmakers appear to have been under the impression that photos of victims either have been released under the 2021 law or could be. But neither Bell nor the Virginia Association of Commonwealths Attorneys provided any evidence while the bill was debated this year that such photos had been released.

And some lawmakers didnt seem to understand that the current law doesnt allow photos of victims to be released.

We do want to protect victims as much as we can. We dont want those pictures out on the internet, Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George, said during the hearing Wednesday.

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, corrected him: I just want to be clear that there are no pictures of the victims that would be on the internet under any circumstance.

Thats not true, Stuart said.

But Ebbin is correct.

Current law says: No photographic, audio, video, or other record depicting a victim or allowing for a victim to be readily identified ... shall be released except to a victim or the victims immediate family if the victim is deceased.

Asked by the Richmond Times-Dispatch after the hearing if he believed current law would allow police to release photos of a victim, Stuart said he did.

I thought there were things that could go on the internet. I will go back and look at it again. Perhaps I misunderstood.

When told that current law did not allow it, Stuart said, Thats not what I thought.

Stuart is a member of the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, which usually studies legislation related to changes in the states public records law. The council did not study Bells legislation.

Among misinformation that came out, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children sent senators a letter Monday misrepresenting current law and falsely saying Bells bill would prevent release of victim photos.

Bells legislation, should it become law, limits release of inactive police records to immediate families of victims, or lawyers working on post-conviction work.

The Virginia Press Association, the nonprofit Virginia Coalition for Open Government and the University of Virginia Law School Innocence Project were among those opposing the bill on Wednesday.
The Texas baritone voice sounded as deep and smooth as ever on the Zoom call.

Clay Walker was asked how hes doing with multiple sclerosis, which can have devastating effects on the voice. He turned the webcam around to show what looked like a stained glass window.

See that right there, he said, laughing. I go in there every day. Im a sinner. Im not a saint. But praying is a big part of my life. Im not proselytizing to anybody, just admitting whats helped me. I wouldnt be on this call right now if it wasnt for the good Lord above and a miracle, because the kind of MS I was diagnosed with [in 1996], and the amount of lesions on my brainstem, theres not a doctor in America that would have given me more than two to four years to live.

In fact, the religiously faithful might say its a miracle that Walker and Tracy Lawrence  who also suffered a major scare early in his career  are even alive today, much less touring together. The two Texas-born troubadours, major-label megastars in the 90s, appear at Berglund Performing Arts Theatre on Friday.

Walker was in his early 20s when he was discovered in a Beaumont, Texas, area bar. He went on to chart four platinum albums and six number one singles, including Live Until I Die, Dreaming With My Eyes Open, and This Woman And This Man.

His latest release is titled Texas to Tennessee.

Its been the theme of my life since I got in the music business, going back and forth, Texas to Tennessee, Walker said from his home in Santa Fe (pronounced fee), Tennessee. My wife and I have a home there and a home here and we do a lot of back and forth, but its really about the journey between the two of us. That journey is what built our friendship and our marriage.

The album was produced by Michael Knox [along with Jaron Boyer] and the one thing he wanted to capture in this album, he says, Its got to be all about you. I know youve recorded a lot of songs and youve put your heart and soul into them, but this album has to be 100 percent every song authentic Clay Walker, what youve lived, not just things you know about.

The title cut and Cowboy Loves A Woman, both co-written with Jennifer Hanson and Mark Nesler, are the key tracks on the 10-song album.

I am a cowboy, Walker said. I grew up ranching, its been in my family for hundreds of years. Theres a romanticism about cowboy life. That song  my dad always taught me to treat a lady with a lot of respect. Both of those songs you talked about were aimed right at my wife.

Cowboy with its airy mix and pedal steel creates an expansive setting for a message of mature commitment:

With a heart as big as a blue Montana sky/And a faith as deep as a canyon stretches wide /When he finds the right place to hang his hat, hes yours forever, just like that/This is the way a cowboy loves a woman

The style of Cowboy recalls a previous album cut, I Cant Forget Her.

I played that song for the two songwriters, and I said, I want to capture that western feel, Walker said. Sometimes you dont hook it, sometimes you dont capture it, but we actually did on this one.

Like Walker, Tracy Lawrence suffered a potentially life-threatening setback in his 20s that might have ended his career.

Born in northeast Texas and raised in Arkansas, Lawrence was an unknown in 1990, when he arrived in Nashville. In a business where many struggle for decades and few reach the top, Lawrence hit it very big very fast.

It was an amazing time in my life, he said on a Zoom call from an office in Nashville. I had a showcase in January [1991] at the Bluebird Cafe, which is where I met all the executives from Atlantic Records. I cut that first album [Sticks and Stones] in May of 91 so, youre basically talking just a few months.

Just as the rollercoaster was gearing up, it nearly crashed. On May 31, 1991, after finishing the vocals for Sticks and Stones, Lawrence and a female friend were accosted by three men in downtown Nashville. Lawrence fought back, allowing his friend to escape, but was shot four times.

To be right there at the point where youre looking at all your dreams coming true, all that stuff starting, and to realize it could be taken away from you really quickly, it was very frustrating, and I had a lot of anger. I pushed myself too hard to get back because I knew if I didnt, somebody else would get my slot and it might be gone for good. And so I started touring before I should have and it caught up with me.

When you go through any kind of traumatic experience, I think its something that you need to talk to somebody about. It makes a huge difference.

Lawrence eventually sought counseling to help process his anger.

The title cut was released in fall 1991 and went to number one in January 1992, beginning a run of hit singles including eight chart-toppers.

Lawrences latest project is the three-album set Hindsight 2020.

We decided that three different packages with ten songs on each one would celebrate the recognition of thirty years in the business, he said. Volume one, Stairway to Heaven Highway to Hell, released in April 2021, is a straight-down-the-road traditional country record with nine of the 10 tracks self-penned.

The second album has five remakes and five new cuts, including the title track, Price Of Fame, featuring Eddie Montgomery.

A thousand miles on a lonely road/Chasing a song on the radio/Takin a chance before the chance is gone/Grab a shooting star, do your best to hang on, cause/Price of fames an expensive thing

You know, I missed a lot of things with my kids, he said. I have two daughters. Both of them grew up doing competition dance. I made most of the nationals  but I missed a lot of dance competitions, missed a lot of time with the family.

But thats what we do, we tour. We get a lot of enjoyment out of what we do and I cant say I havent enjoyed my career. Ive loved every minute of it. The good, the bad, all of it. The heavy workload. Its what Ive dreamed of doing since I was a little kid. But the family  they didnt ask to be here, they didnt ask for this life. Its been something weve had to work through over the years.

The third and last Hindsight volume was released in January. Im gonna do one or two [new] songs in the set; Im not gonna beat people up with it. Obviously I still have to do Time Marches On, Paint Me A Birmingham, Sticks and Stones.

Lawrence and Walker did four shows together in 2021. When we do Find Out Who Your Friends Are, its pretty special, Walker said, because Tracy helped me early on in my career, something Ill never forget. Were not best friends, but were great friends.

Walker said he wanted people to know its me and Tracy onstage together. I would never have dreamed it could work that well. It has been magical.
The National Park Service will hold two online meetings this month to gather input on how to best manage use of the heavily visited Triple Crown of Appalachian Trail hiking in the Roanoke Valley  Dragons Tooth, McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs.

The Park Service announced Monday it will hold virtual meetings at 5:30 p.m. March 9 and 10:30 a.m. March 17 about the Triple Crown management plan.

The Appalachian Trail is a vertical national park that stretches 2,190 miles from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy manages the trail with the National Park Service, in collaboration with regional volunteer groups, such as the Roanoke Appalachiain Trail Club.

The three heavily visited beauty spots of the Triple Crown are all above the Catawba Valley, and all have prompted perennial concerns about overcrowded parking lots, safety at road crossings and negative impacts on the natural environment from so much foot traffic.

We are thrilled that so many visitors are enjoying this section of the AT. We have also noticed and heard from our stakeholders that there are real concerns about overcrowding that we want to address so that the Trail continues to be an accessible, enjoyable, and sustainable resource for the region now and into the future, said Wendy Janssen, superintendent of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. In order to develop our plan for the future of this section of trail, the AT partners will take a look at strategies for managing high levels of visitor use.

The study will examine the feasibility of hiker shuttles, modifying or adding campsites, actively managing parking and rerouting trail sections.

To comment online, visit https://parkplanning.nps.gov/APPAVUM.

Heres how to participate in the virtual meetings:

March 9, 5:30 p.m., Virtual meeting

Join by internet: https://doitalent.zoomgov.com/j/1616663147, Meeting ID: 161 666 3147, Passcode: 466890

Or join by phone: 1-646-828-7666 US (New York), Meeting ID: 161 666 3147, Passcode: 466890

March 17, 10:30 a.m., Virtual meeting

Join by internet: https://doitalent.zoomgov.com/j/1619235175, Meeting ID: 161 923 5175, Passcode: 708055

Or join by phone: 1-646-828-7666, Meeting ID: 161 923 5175, Passcode: 708055
The biggest drawback to writing a biweekly commentary is that a lot can happen in two weeks. Sometimes by the time I have the opportunity to address a topic, its already well out of the headlines. Still, even if its less than timely, I had to take the opportunity to pay tribute to a departed friend, who knew all about headlines and deadlines, and one who greatly influenced my love of the local past.

George Andrew Kegley died two weeks ago yesterday, a true loss to the Roanoke community and to the cause of local history and preservation. I knew George for some 20 years, and worked with him on many a project. I dont know that I  or anyone else  ever met someone more dedicated to preserving the local past, and my respect for him grew through the years.

George was a writer and editor for this paper for years, but I knew him mainly in circles drawn by the local past, not current events. I never asked him what got him so interested in regional history, but perhaps it was his wonderful wife Louise, who was no less than a Fishburn. Local history buffs will immediately grasp the significance of that name.

George was a stalwart with the Historical Society of Western Virginia, where he served as director emeritus and edited its journal since 1968. I was privileged to write a few things for him on occasion. If George Kegley made a suggestion, I listened, grateful for the edits. If he liked something Id researched and written, I considered it a high compliment.

George told me once he was a member of no less than six historical societies, and I bet he was undercounting. He helped start the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, and was an early director of the Virginia History Federation (now the Virginia Association of Museums), as well as the Western Virginia Land Trust. True to form, he placed a preservation easement on the lovely historic property that he and Louise called home. I got to visit him there once. Some of my party wandered around to admire his house and the pristine views. But I was fixated on his library, and he took time to comment on some of the books he found most useful in his research.

Yet none of this work with the past touches on his volunteerism that improved countless lives in the present: Roanoke Area Ministries, Meals on Wheels, the Red Cross.

I was never around George without learning something interesting. It was in 2007 that I got to carpool with George to some out-of-town meeting or another. I dont recall the purpose of the meeting, but I certainly remember the drive. That year was, of course, the 400th Anniversary of the settlement at Jamestown. George told me about visiting Jamestown in 1957, the 350th, along with his uncle, F.B. Kegley (local historians and genealogists will recognize that name as the author of the epic 1938 tome Kegleys Virginia Frontier.). On that trip, F.B. described to George his visit to Jamestown in 1907 for Virginias 300th birthday. And there I was, in the age of satellite dishes and cellphones, transported back in time a full century, basking in the recollections of two groundbreaking historians of our corner of Virginia.

I usually try not to mourn the departure of a friend like George Kegley. Rather, I give thanks that my life coincided in history with his, that I was blessed enough to exist at the same time as he did.

This has been a fairly personal column already, but allow me to close on another personal note. This piece marks 15 years that Ive been filling this biweekly space on your op-ed page. Back in March 2007 the Roanoke Times put out a call for four community columnists, to hammer out 750 words on various subjects, receiving only a token stipend for the effort. I was immediately intrigued, and on a whim I applied. There were four of us at first, but the others eventually found better things to do. For reasons I occasionally ponder, Ive kept it up for a decade-and-a-half, and have usually found it an enjoyable experience. So for the privilege, I thank you, the readers out there, whether you agree or disagree with my ramblings.

In my very first column I wrote that I hope that my sporadic musings in this space will contribute to the public discourse. I still hope Ive accomplished something like that.

Long is a historian, writer and educator from Salem.
TOKYO  A musical revolution in Jamaica has a connection with a bouncy rhythm from a portable electronic keyboard that's the brainchild of a Japanese woman.

The pattern that resonates in the 1985 reggae hit by Wayne Smith, "Under Mi Sleng Teng," came from Casiotone MT-40, which went on sale in 1981. It was the first product Hiroko Okuda worked on after joining the Tokyo-based company behind G-Shock watches.

"It's really like my first child, and the child turned out so well it's outright moving," said Okuda, honored as "the mother of Sleng Teng" among the hard-core reggae aficionados.

Sleng Teng is a form of digital Jamaican music that began in the mid-1980s, part of the rich repertoire of the disco-like genre called "dancehall." No one contests the key role played by artists like Smith and King Jammy, as well as the humble, battery-operated, $150 MT-40.

One of the rhythm patterns Okuda created called "rock" on the MT-40 evolved into "Sleng Teng riddim."

As legend goes, Noel Davey, the Grammy-winning keyboard player for the Marley Brothers, got an MT-40 from a friend, who picked it up in California. Before, Davey was blowing into a Melodica portable keyboard for that sound.

Davey was toying around with the MT-40 and chanced upon the beat that's in Smith's megahit "Under Mi Sleng Teng."

And the rest is history, so to speak.

"You don't plan," Davey said, when asked about that moment.

There are so many buttons on the MT-40, he was "fooling around," found it, lost it, then had to look for it and found it again.

"It was a searching process," he said from Kingston, Jamaica.

The power of reggae comes from its healing effect, like "therapy," being a music for the poor, for those moving up against apartheid, for the people, he said.

Davey, who has never been to Japan, said he would like to meet Okuda. The two share something in common  just as he feels he has never been properly credited for his role in the history of reggae, he stressed Okuda deserves credit for the Casio instrument.

That groove went on to inspire much of subsequent reggae, distinctly heard in works by Sugar Minott, Ibo Cooper, Gregory Isaacs and Dennis Brown.

Michael "Megahbass" Fletcher, a musician in Jamaica, said repetitive music isn't inferior.

"It has its place," he said, demonstrating Sleng Teng on his bass. "A good song is a good song."

Fletcher said other keyboards were also used to play Sleng Teng, such as Casio CZ-101 and Yamaha DX100, from Casio's Japanese rival.

"Sleng Teng will never die," said Fletcher, who has performed or produced songs for Shaggy, Maxi Priest and Alborosie.

Okuda, whose graduation thesis at Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo was on reggae, was among the first recruits at Casio Computer Co. assigned to work on musical instruments, then a new sector for the company.

The company didn't have very many musicians, and she was the one with background in world music. Okuda had immersed herself in reggae in the late 1970s, including going to Bob Marley's concerts in Japan.

Okuda worked out six kinds of rhythms for the MT-40, including samba, swing and waltz, creating a bass line and a beat.

She also created two licks called "fill ins" to be played between sections of a song  or at the start of a song, as it is in "Under Mi Sleng Teng."

For the prototype, she initially had an even more brash punk-rock-like rhythm called "avant garde." The managers killed it as "too crazy."

At least the "rock" pattern got approved, Okuda recalled with a laugh.

Casio's main business was calculators, not keyboards, and so Okuda's invention didn't make much of a wave at her company. Okuda said she was usually among a handful of women in a room filled with men.

"I was a pioneer in so many places, and there were Japan's old ways everywhere I went. I had to put up a fight each time," she said.

She was never promoted to managerial positions, and never chosen for a business trip abroad. She has not traveled to Jamaica, or anywhere else except for China.

When asked if she has any advice for working women, Okuda pointed out having a special skill tends to help. She also has an extremely supportive husband, who took on much of the child-care responsibilities.

That definitely helped, she said.

The family shares a love for music, and music is always playing in their house. When they were younger, Okuda did feel a bit sad when her daughter and son would see her off at the door, singing, "Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's work she loves to go," to the tune in Walt Disney's "Snow White." These days, they joke maybe she'll win the Nobel for the MT-40.

A more recent Casio technology Okuda has worked on is Music Tapestry, which translates music being played into a fluid visual image on the computer. Flowers float and swirl in time to the notes. Circles, squares and triangles dance about on the screen. Its sale date is undecided.

She doubts any of the reggae musicians know she is behind the MT-40. And how her MT-40 became part of such great music is nothing short of "a miracle," she said.

"If I can ever meet them, I just want to express my deep gratitude. I want to tell them thank you so much for finding the rhythm and for using it," she told The Associated Press.

Casio still sells keyboards. The CT-S1000V, set to go on sale in March, turns words into vocaloid-like singing. The smaller portable versions come with dozens of preset rhythms.

In the 2010 model, the rock pattern was called "MT-40 riddim" in honor of where it all began.
DARLINGTON, S.C.  As part of the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR, Darlington Raceway and Mahindra ROXOR partner on the title sponsorship of the spring NASCAR Xfinity Series race May 7. The official name of the Xfinity Series race will be the Mahindra ROXOR 200.

Mahindras American-assembled ROXOR is one of the toughest off-road vehicles ever made, so we are proud to welcome them as a partner at the track Too Tough To Tame, said Kerry Tharp, Darlington Raceway president. There are brands that align with who we are as a track and the globally recognized Mahindra is one of those brands. We look forward to the future stars of the Xfinity Series showcasing their skill in the Mahindra ROXOR 200 as part of the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR.

The new Mahindra ROXOR, a side-by-side unlike any other, is a workhorse. Since the launch in November 2021, the off-road vehicle is proving to be a popular alternative to conventional, plastic-bodied, light-duty SXSs that arent built to endure the rigors of heavy-duty, everyday work. The ROXOR is strong and durable with a steel body, boxed steel frame, Mahindra turbo diesel engine, and beltless, heavy-duty transmission.

ROXOR is in an off-road category of its own  bringing a whole new definition of tough to people who like to work hard and play hard, said Viren Popli, president and CEO, Mahindra Automotive North America and Mahindra Ag North America. Its the same DNA that has made Mahindra Tractors successful over the past 27 years  so what better partnership could there be than with Darlington Raceway, a track thats Too Tough To Tame.

Mahindra Ag North America is an anchor sponsor for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) and its No. 14 NASCAR Cup Series team and driver Chase Briscoe. The multiyear partnership with the championship-winning NASCAR team co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and industrialist Gene Haas features Mahindra Tractors, a brand of Mahindra Ag North America, on Briscoes No. 14 Ford Mustang. The red-and-black No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang will showcase a throwback paint scheme in the Darlington 400 Cup race May 8.

NASCAR, Stewart-Haas Racing, and Mahindras shared values form a strong platform for us to connect with existing and potential customers. Our partnerships with Darlington Raceway and SHR provide an opportunity to tell our story to the wide audience of NASCAR fans who enjoy the outdoors and working their land, said Popli.
FLORENCE, S.C.  STEM rock star Dr. Christine Mann Darden will make a virtual visit to the Pee Dee Monday and Tuesday in recognition of Womens History Month sponsored by the Minerva Center Foundation and its collaborating partners

Darden is a Congressional Gold Medalist, Aerospace Engineer and featured researcher in the New York Times bestseller, Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race (2018) by Margo Lee Shetterly.

As an American mathematician, data analyst, and aeronautical engineer, she devoted much of her 40-year career to advancing the field of aerodynamics at NASA, including the research of supersonic flight and sonic booms. After nearly four decades of service, Darden retired from the NASA Langley Research Center, as a member of Senior Executive Service.

Monday, Darden will be the featured speaker and lecturer in a Zoom presentation which will also have an audience of STEM educators from Florence One Schools, Darlington Schools, Florence-Darlington Technical College and the Governors School for Science and Mathematics. A replay of this session will be available for educators at 11 a.m., noon, and 1 p.m.

We are excited about Dr. Dardens virtual visit to our community, said Jeanette Glenn, chairperson of Minerva Center Foundations Board of Directors. Our purpose in engaging her is to promote cultural awareness of the significant historical contributions she made in the creation of our countrys aerospace program and to encourage, as well as nurture an appreciation of STEM in post-high school students, secondary students and the community at-large in the Florence and Darlington areas.

Darden also is scheduled to participate in a virtual presented by Francis Marion University African American Faculty and Staff Coalition in the Chapman Auditorium from 7-9 p.m. Monday. The public is invited to attend.

Darden will discuss her professional journey which led her to NASA and beyond. The program will feature a multimedia presentation with a moderator entertaining questions for Darden from the audience. COVID-19 protocols will be in place and a mask required.

Dardens STEM will also virtually interact with students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels March 8.

Through the reading of the childrens edition of Hidden Figures, Dr. Darden will make her influence known among our young learners, said Glenn. At the middle-level, Dr. Darden will interact with eighth-grade students, some of whom are currently reading the young readers edition of Hidden Figures as they study the Civil Rights Movement. She will also be engaged with high school students who are taking STEM-track program courses such as Computer Programming and Aerospace Engineering.

Because of the generosity and support from business and community contributors, we are able to provide students, teachers, and corporations that employ professionals who work in the STEM field a rare opportunity to have this experience hearing directly from Dr. Darden, said Glenn.

Partnering with the Minerva Center Foundation are Francis Marion University, the FMU African American Faculty and Staff Coalition, Florence-Darlington Technical College, Florence 1 Schools, Darlington County School District and the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.

Recordings for all sessions will be available for viewing on the following websites: hhtps://www.fmarion.edu/aafsc/; www.f1s.org; www.dcsdschools.org; www.minervacenterfoundation.com.

For more information about Dardens visit to the Florence area or to support this effort, contact Jeannette Glenn (minervacenterfoundation@gmail.com).
 Rounding up some reviews of SCOTUS argument in appeals by doctors convicted of opioid drug dealing | Main | Lots of remarkable new CCRC posts highlighting "The Many Roads From Reentry to Reintegration" 

March 3, 2022

Prison Policy Initiative releases "new toolkit for advocates working to end mass incarceration"

Regular readers are familiar with my regular postings about the great work by Prison Policy Initiative on many topics related to prison policies and broader criminal justice practices. This is another such post flagging this PPI post noting its new "toolkit" sharing tips and lessons "learned over two decades of using data, visuals, and narratives to expose the harms of mass incarceration." Here is how the post starts with links from the original:

were launching our new Advocacy Toolkit, a collection of guides and training materials that advocates can use to strengthen their campaigns to end mass incarceration. The toolkit builds on lessons weve learned from our two decades of work to improve our criminal legal system. It provides skills-based guides on accessing public records, securing and organizing data, crafting persuasive narratives, and creating impactful visuals. It also includes issue-based guides on protecting in-person visits in prisons and jails, opposing jail expansion, and ending prison gerrymandering. We plan to add additional resources in the future. Our new advocacy department created this toolkit as part of our expanded effort to support the people and groups on the ground doing the hard work to end mass incarceration. While most advocacy departments organize campaigns, mobilize volunteers, and pressure decision-makers for change, ours is a bit different. Were not looking to replicate the amazing work that thousands of people and hundreds of organizations are already doing to reform the criminal legal system. Instead, as a research organization known for using data visualizations and easy-to-understand narratives, our advocacy work aims to help these organizations leverage our expertise to strengthen their campaigns.

March 3, 2022 at 10:28 AM | Permalink

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 Will the US Supreme Court be interested in any issues being pressed by Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof? | Main | Prison Policy Initiative releases "new toolkit for advocates working to end mass incarceration" 

March 2, 2022

Rounding up some reviews of SCOTUS argument in appeals by doctors convicted of opioid drug dealing

As previewed in this prior post, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in two cases on Tuesday morning, Ruan v. United States and Kahn v. United States, which explored the proper legal standards when the federal government looks to prosecute doctors as drug dealers. I have a chance to listen to part of the argument, and it was both fascinating and frustrating for all sorts of reasons  e.g., the regular use of speeding laws as a hypothetical to explore mens rea standards for a statute in which Congress expressly requires a person to act "knowingly or intentionally" struck me as deeply misguided. The transcript is available here, and here is a round-up of some review of the argument:

From the AP, "Justices seem to favor docs convicted in pain pill schemes"

From the Courthouse News Service, "Justices grapple with drug charges for pill-mill doctors"

From The Hill, "Supreme Court grapples with drug-dealing convictions for opioid prescribers"

From Reuters, "U.S. Supreme Court mulls 'pill mill' doctors' opioid convictions"

From SCOTUSblog, "In opioids pill mill case, justices grapple with physician intent"

From the portion of the oral argument that I was able to listed to, I came away with a sense that the doctor defendants have a reasonable chance of prevailing.

March 2, 2022 at 05:46 PM | Permalink

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I am peculiarly interested in these cases because they offer salvation (by way of a Petition for a Writ of Error Coram Nobis) for my friend, Ali Sawaf, a former Kentucky urologist who was convicted in 2001 of being a "Script Doctor" in the Eastern District of Kentucky and sentenced to serve 20 years [the statutory maximum sentence under 21 U.S. Code section 841(b)(1)(C)]. Following 5 years of litigation and a successful appeal to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Dr. Sawaf was granted a Habeas Corpus immediate release, after serving 13.5 years in prison. His case was bizarre in many respects. It was the first Federal criminal trial for the District Judge [who had just been confirmed by the Senate], for the AUSA and for Defense Counsel (who was only 3 years out of law school). A critical mistake was made when the Government presented no evidence concerning drug quantity at sentencing. Instead, the prosecutor asked the Judge to extrapolate from the testimony of the Governments expert witness at trial. He had testified that he had reviewed a sample of 50 patient files out of more than 2,000 total files, and found no support for the narcotics prescriptions written in those 50 files. The Judge unConstitutionally extrapolated to every pill of narcotics written for all 2,000+ patients for determining drug quantity at sentencing. This led to a pill count so large that Dr. Sawaf received the 20 year maximum sentence. His young defense lawyer failed to object to preserve the error and failed to raise it in the initial direct appeal. Ultimately, Dr. Sawaf ended up with 3 direct appeals to the 6th Circuit. His second appeal was summarily reversed and remanded for re-sentencing because the Judge refused to permit Sawaf to allocute at his second sentencing hearing. Ultimately, Habeas Corpus was granted based upon ineffective assistance of counsel at plea bargaining. In telling Sawaf to turn down the Government's 41-month plea bargain offer, defense counsel failed to provide Sawaf of any estimate of the maximum sentence he might be facing if he went to trial and lost (which is what happened). After turning down a 41-month plea offer based upon the advice of counsel, Sawaf was shocked to receive 20 years following conviction at trial.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Mar 3, 2022 12:46:24 PM

Jim Gormley --

Many aspects to that interesting story. The one that most struck me is this: We are often lectured that plea bargaining is an oppressive prosecutorial tool to coerce defendants and swell the "carcereal state." In the case you discuss, the court concluded that defense counsel was a dunce for NOT urging his client to take the government's offer.

Kinda looks like government-sponsored plea deals are the essence of evil -- except when they aren't.

Posted by: Bill Otis | Mar 3, 2022 1:40:40 PM

@Bill Otis: I don't see any contradiction there. Even if this plea deal was a good one, the defendant can't be expected to evaluate it if his counsel never told him the risk of going to trial.

Posted by: Marc Shepherd | Mar 4, 2022 7:40:10 AM

Bill Otis -- Dr Ali Sawaf's young defense lawyer (3 years out of law school and trying his first ever Federal criminal case), Russell Alred, was a DUNCE! Curiously, in finding ineffective assistance of counsel at plea bargaining, the Sixth Circuit's opinion never mentions Alred's name. After Dr. Sawaf was convicted, Sawaf's daughter-in-law, Stephanie Sawaf, who is both an attorney (she practiced as a Ky. state public defender) and a physician, visited Mr. Alred at his office to inquire how much time Dr. Sawaf might be facing at sentencing. Mr. Alred responded that he was uncertain, since he had not yet received his newly-ordered copy of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manuel in the mail. Thus, it became clear that at the time Alred had advised Sawaf not to take the Government's plea offer (because he thought he could get an acquittal based upon entrapment by undercover police officers), Alred did not even own the book he might have consulted to give Sawaf an estimate of the length of sentence that he might face if he went to trial and was convicted. Three years later, Alred (then 6 years out of law school) became the Circuit Judge of Harlan County, Kentucky, where he also ran amuck. Ultimately, he was removed from office as a Judge by the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission and the Kentucky Supreme Court. You can read the 63-page long opinion in Russell D. Alred v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Judicial Conduct Commission, which is published in the S.W.3d Reporter. It is also obscene that it took 5 years to litigate Dr. Sawaf's habeas corpus motion (2255), when the ultimate outcome was quite clear under existing 6th Circuit precedents. District Court Judge Karen Caldwell sat on the 2255 Motion for more than 3 years, before ruling against him. It took Judge Caldwell more than 7 months after the evidentiary hearing for Judge Caldwell to prepare and enter a written order. It took more than a year to get Judge Caldwell reversed on appeal to the 6th Circuit. Even after she had been ordered by the 6th Circuit to grant Dr. Sawaf a habeas corpus remedy, Caldwell refused to grant Dr. Sawaf a bond, so that he could walk out of prison in Memphis and voluntarily come to Court in Lexington to be re-sentenced to "time served". Judge Caldwell avoided us appealing her bond decision by simply not ruling upon the Bond Motion between June 30and September 23 (re-sentencing). She kept Dr. Sawaf in custody as long as possible, because he had embarrassed her at the 6th Circuit. Even after Sawaf was told by the Judge that he was "free to go" after re-sentencing, the U.S. Marshals told Sawaf that he could not leave the Courthouse in his green BOP jumpsuit that he had come to court in. I had to take his family to WalMart to buy him an entire suit of clothes (including underwear and shoes), so that the U.S. Marshals would finally let him leave the Courthouse in September 2014.

Posted by: Jim Gormley | Mar 7, 2022 10:48:29 AM

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Temasek is among investors including Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank that are investing US$120 million into the New Forests Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2. (FILE PHOTO: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

By Matthew Burgess

(Bloomberg)  Singapore state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd is backing a new southeast Asian forestry fund as the city-state looks to increase a carbon tax on its biggest emitters.

Temasek is among investors including Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank that are investing US$120 million into the New Forests Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2, according to Sydney-based New Forests Chief Executive David Brand. He anticipates an annualised return of between 14% and 18% over its 10-year life.

The investment comes as Singapore plans to ratchet up the tax it charges on green-house gas pollution to S$25 (74 cents) a ton from S$5 when it was first implemented by 2024. New Forests, founded in 2005, is a nature-based real assets manager with about A$7.7 billion (US$5.6 billion) in assets including timber plantations and conservation areas that restore the ecosystem.

Investors around the world are increasing focus on environmental factors amid the rise in temperatures and calls from shareholders to more quickly address their roles in financing climate change.

Read More: Temasek Defends Green Goals After Backing Singapore Polluters

In an interview, Brand said the fund will hunt higher value hardwood timber assets, such as teak, that can be used for furniture and flooring, rubber trees for wood and latex production as well as eucalyptus for veneer or composite building materials. Its the firms second fund to target southeast Asian forestry assets.

Further Capital Raise

After closing the first round of funding, New Forests expects to raise additional capital for the new fund with an aim of reaching US$300 million this year. Investors in the initial phase included sovereign wealth funds and corporates from countries including Australia, Europe, Japan, Singapore and the U.S.

While not a core part of its operation, the manager can issue carbon credits on its forestry assets that have positive climate impact, he said.

There is a facility within the fund that some of the investors can actually buy the carbon units, Brand said.

 2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Crazy, was Jurgen Klopps take on talk of Liverpool winning an unprecedented quadruple, yet crazy remains possible. The Carabao Cup winners advanced into the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time under Klopp with their 11th successive win in all competitions.

Norwich went unexpectedly close to forcing extra time but found little consolation in losing to Liverpool for the fourth time this season.

Related: Southamptons Armando Broja ensures FA Cup fifth-round win over West Ham

The Carabao Cup aftershow party was more complicated than it should have been. Liverpool were comfortably in the ascendency courtesy of a Takumi Minamino brace, the Japan international underlining how strength in depth has supported Klopps team on all fronts this season, until Lukas Rupps goal brought late anxiety to Anfield.

Liverpool had to fight to bring it over the line, their manager admitted. And thats just fine.

Klopp explained: We had to make 10 changes because of playing 120 minutes and a 40-minute penalty shootout on Sunday. It was an exhausting night mentally and physically and we needed to make changes to have a chance tonight. It was a tough game but we expected that.

Jordan Henderson was the only survivor from Sundays starting lineup against Chelsea. James Milner made his 50th FA Cup appearance and demonstrated his value to Liverpool yet again by stepping in at right-back.

Liverpool controlled the tie with Curtis Jones curling an early shot on to the top of Tim Kruls crossbar. Dean Smiths team threatened sporadically in the first half. Teemu Pukki had a decent opening after a sharp turn and run by Przemyslaw Placheta but dragged his shot wide of Alisson and the far post.

Lukas Rupp scores for Norwich to give his side a lifeline but it was not enough. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Norwich had defended with discipline and organisation but were undone when Liverpool switched play swiftly from right to left through Henderson and Jones. Kostas Tsimikas chipped a cross into a crowded penalty area where Diogo Jota dummied for Divock Origi, who showed neat control and the awareness to pick out the unmarked Minamino. The Japan international could not and did not miss, beating Krul with a powerful close-range finish. It was the 750th goal of Klopps 360-game Liverpool reign.

Story continues

Minamino claimed his and Liverpools second when Klopps masters of the set piece struck again, albeit with the aid of Ben Gibson. The Norwich captain got his head to a corner from Tsimikas but succeeded in glancing it on to the Liverpool forward. Minamino, again unmarked, had time to take the ball down before beating Krul with a precision shot that swerved from the outside of his right boot and in off the inside of the near post.

The Liverpool goalscorer was an unused substitute at Wembley but has made an impressive contribution to both domestic cup runs. Minamino scored four goals in Liverpools victorious Carabao Cup campaign, including the vital stoppage-time equaliser against Leicester in the quarter-final, and also scored in the FA Cup fourth round win over Cardiff. He may get a second bite at Wembley on Liverpools current form. Taki was a massive part of the run to the Carabao Cup final and that he didnt play in the final would have been hard on him, said Klopp. But when he looks back he has just won the Carabao Cup for Liverpool and thats a really good thing. The two goals were great but all the rest he did tonight was top class.

Related: Southamptons Armando Broja ensures FA Cup fifth-round win over West Ham

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain almost maintained Liverpools record of scoring three in every game against Norwich this season when, having wriggled his way into space outside the area, his low shot cannoned off the foot of a post. Klopp had replaced Jones with Harvey Elliott at the interval after the midfielder had a slight thigh problem.

Smith was also forced into a substitution when Placheta fell awkwardly over the advertising hoardings at the end of the first half after a tussle with Tsimikas. The winger required lengthy treatment during the interval. His replacement, Josh Sargent, had an excellent chance to inject hope into Norwichs night but, diving to meet a deep cross from Dimitris Giannoulis, the USA international headed wastefully wide.

Related: Lukaku caps Chelsea comeback after Luton threaten to deepen turmoil

The second half was an otherwise pedestrian affair until Rupp suddenly threw Norwich a lifeline. Sargents run and pass through central midfield created the opening and, with Joe Gomez backing off, Rupp swept a finish past Alisson from 20 yards.

The substitute Jonathan Rowe was close to equalising with five minutes left when he broke away from Milner only for Alisson to tip away his rising drive towards the top corner.

We had to ask serious questions as we didnt want this game to run away from us at 2-0, the Norwich manager reflected. We made some changes, we wanted to be aggressive and be on the front foot and make a cup tie of it. Weve had four or five good chances and its very rare you can say that against Liverpool. We had to put in a display for the 1,200 who came here for an 8.15pm kick-off and wont be getting home until the early hours.
Photograph: Caroline Brehman/AP

Van Taylor acknowledges horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain and abruptly halts bid for third congressional term





A Texas Republican congressman apologized and dropped his bid for re-election on Wednesday, after revelations of an affair with a British woman who was once married to an Islamic State leader.

Related: Experience: I was married to an Islamic State leader

Van Taylor, who was bidding for a third term in the US House of Representatives, said: About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life.

In September 2020, Tania Joya spoke to the Guardian. She described her early life in London and how in the early 2000s she met and married John Georgelas, a convert to Islam from Plano, Texas, who eventually took her and their children to Syria.

John played an essential part in establishing the caliphate and was a leading propagandist for Islamic State, helping to groom other westerners, Joya wrote, adding that after she left Syria, she found out that he had died, most likely during US bombing in 2017.

Taylor, a Harvard graduate and former US marine, was elected in the Texas third congressional district in 2018. Joya told the Dallas Morning News she met him through her work with former jihadists.

Joya, who now lives in Plano, north of Dallas, also told the paper Taylor gave her $5,000 as their nine-month affair wound down, and that she eventually told another Republican candidate about her relationship with the congressman.

She said: All I wanted was for Suzanne Harp to just say, Hey, I know your little scandal with Tania Joya  would you like to resign before we embarrass you? But it didnt happen like that.

Harp  the conservative, pro-Trump, America First candidate, according to her website  orchestrated coverage of the affair on rightwing sites, the Morning News reported.

Story continues

Then on Monday, the night before the primary, Harp attacked Taylor for behavior she called shocking  disturbing and unbecoming of a sitting US representative.

Taylors vote fell, leaving him facing a runoff with the second-placed candidate, Keith Self, that he will not now contest.

In an email quoted by the Morning News, Taylor told supporters: Today I am announcing I will not continue my campaign to seek re-election to Congress.

I want to apologise for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters. For months, Anne and I have been working to repair the scars left by my actions. I am unworthy, but eternally thankful for her love and forgiveness.
  8% 88 B 6 5  5% 28.8%   8% 18.04%  59 1.41% 2%6% 1.05F1 22 950  4388.4 4257 22.560 2.5%20215    I710   6190  II 40 59 18  1.1%  818
Under that proposal, the district would pay Gausman $980 a day, plus reimbursement for travel, lodging and meals. LPS would also pay Gausman $125 an hour for any work for the district performed remotely.

Gausman, a 55-year-old Fremont native, is a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate and kicked off his career in Lincoln, first as a student teacher at Lincoln Southeast High School, then as a teacher and band director at Lincoln Northeast.
SIOUX CITY  Woodbury County supervisors clashed Tuesday on whether to support an Iowa House bill that would allow county boards of supervisors to directly set pay for themselves and other elected county officials.

Supervisors, elected officials and other county employees spoke for and against supporting the bill, which would allow counties to dissolve Iowa's compensation boards. Each year, the compensation boards, comprised of local residents appointed by the elected officials, recommend salaries for supervisors and the county sheriffs, attorneys, auditors, treasurers and reporters.

Under existing law, the compensation board recommends pay adjustments to the board of supervisors, who have the option of approving the package or increasing or decreasing pay for all the officials by the same percentage.

The House bill, HF2430, would give county supervisors the option of doing away with compensation boards. Supporters of the bill argued it would give supervisors more flexibility when setting county budgets, while those opposed claimed it would give supervisors too much power.

Supervisor Jeremy Taylor asked the board to pass a resolution in support of the House bill and distribute it to each member of the state House and Senate Local Government committees. Supervisor Justin Wright joined Taylor in voting for the measure, which failed by a 3-2 vote, with Rocky De Witt, Keith Radig and Matthew Ung opposed.

Taylor said the compensation board is antiquated and unfair. He said the board currently looks at single factors such as comparable positions based on population and not current economic conditions.

This year, the compensation board recommended a 31.35 percent raise for first-term Sheriff Chad Sheehan, a 13 percent raise for Attorney P.J. Jennings and nine percent increases for Auditor Pat Gill and Treasurer Tina Bertrand.

Compensation Board Chair Douglas Phillips attributed the pay raise for Sheehan to provisions in "Back the Blue," a bill signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in June that requires compensation boards to set sheriff salaries based on police chief salaries in cities with comparable populations.

Phillips said the board reviewed data for similar sized counties in Iowa and found Jennings was significantly underpaid. Gill and Bertrands increases were calculated with a 7 percent cost of living increase and 2 percent raise.

Taylor has voiced concerns with the recommended raises repeatedly throughout the budget process.

De Witt had objections to the resolution written by Taylor. He said the compensation should remain for transparency and prevent supervisors from weaponizing salaries.

I cant support this resolution, not even a little, De Witt said.

Gill said the House bill would effectively make himself and the other courthouse department heads employees of the board of supervisors.

It strips elected officials of their autonomy, he said.

Sheehan agreed, saying it will be the responsibility of elected officials to please the five kings that sit up here every year.

Tony Wingert of the Sheriffs Office said he has seen supervisors in the past weaponize their position against former sheriffs and retaliated when the sheriffs did not do what was asked.

Taylor and Wright said they do not believe people would weaponize the salaries. Wright contended there would be extensive media coverage and potentially litigation if that did happen, and voters would oust supervisors who engaged in such behavior.

Sheehan and Gill cited then-Gov. Terry Branstad cutting then-Workers Compensation Commissioner Chris Godfreys salary by 30 percent after he refused to resign.

Godfrey, of Sioux City, sued and a jury awarded him $1.5 million in damages, but the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the verdict, ruling that Branstad did not illegally discriminate or retaliate against Godfrey because of his sexual orientation.

Taylor also said he would support a Senate study bill that would require county compensation boards to consider the economic health of the county, state, and country when determining its compensation recommendation to the board of supervisors, as well as requiring documentation of how compensation recommendations were determined.

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Nominations will be made online by teachers, counselors, parents, adult friends of the nominee. The parents/guardians of the nominees will be provided with a Young Ambassador parent form link that will need to be completed and submitted in order for the nominee's name to be placed in competition. From the nominations, 20 students will be selected to be mentored by members of the Sioux City Mayor's Youth Commission. The 20 students selected will receive a free Young Ambassadors T-shirt and public recognition at 7 p.m. on Sept. 12 in the Council Chambers on City Hall's fifth floor.
SIOUX CITY -- Continued dry conditions to the north and west of Sioux City have caused officials to lower the forecast for runoff into the Missouri River.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday said runoff into the river's basin above Sioux City, already predicted to be below normal for 2022, is now expected to be lower than initially forecast. After February saw lower-than-average runoff, the corps lowered the runoff forecast for this year from 21.7 million acre-feet to 20.4 MAF. , 79% of the normal 25.8 MAF.

"The runoff in February was less than predicted, and we expect the lower-than-average runoff to continue in the coming months," John Remus, chief of the corps Missouri River Basin Water Management Division, said in a news release. "The snow accumulation in both the plains and the mountains continues to be below average, and the soil moisture remains very low compared to normal."

February runoff was 0.9 million acre-feet, 78% of average, mainly due to the lack of snow accumulation and dry soil conditions, the corps said.

The 2022 forecast would be an improvement from the 15.2 MAF of runoff in 2021, the 10th lowest total in 123 years of record keeping.

Mountain snowpack that melts and feeds the Missouri River and its tributaries in the late spring and early summer is currently 80% to 82% of average. About 80% of the snowpack typically accumulates by this time.

Storage in the river's six reservoirs currently totals 48.1 MAF, 8 MAF below the system's flood control storage zone, which begins at 56.1 MAF and extends to 67.7 MAF, leaving extra room to store runoff from snowmelt and spring rains.

Releases from Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, South Dakota, continue at the winter release rate of 12,000 cubic feet per second and will be adjusted beginning in mid March to provide water flow support for navigation downstream.

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SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- South Sioux City has received an Arbor Day Foundation grant to support a free tree giveaway for residents.

The city said in a statement that the planting of these trees in city-owned right-of-ways will help to ensure shady, scenic and healthier neighborhoods, while conserving energy. Residents will be responsible for planting and watering their trees.

Those interested in receiving a tree can send their name, address and phone number to SSCgrants@southsiouxcity.org or mail it to Gene Maffit, Parks Director, 1615 1st Ave., South Sioux City, NE 68776 or call the Rec Department at 402-494-7535.

City staff will contact residents about picking up their trees in late spring.

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Chinese ambassador, Kyrgyz parliament speaker discuss ties, legislative cooperation

Xinhua) 09:28, March 03, 2022

Kyrgyz Parliament Speaker Talant Mamytov (R) shakes hands with Chinese Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Du Dewen in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, March 1, 2022. During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on strengthening China-Kyrgyzstan relations and cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries. (Chinese Embassy to Kyrgyzstan/Handout via Xinhua)

BISHKEK, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz Parliament Speaker Talant Mamytov on Tuesday held a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Du Dewen, in which the two sides exchanged views on strengthening China-Kyrgyzstan relations and cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries.

During the meeting, Mamytov congratulated China on its successful hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"Kyrgyzstan and China are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners. Kyrgyzstan has always valued its good neighborly and friendly relations with China," he said, expressing gratitude to China for it all-round assistance to Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan is ready to work closely with China to implement the agreements reached by the two heads of state, Mamytov noted.

The Kyrgyz parliament is ready to strengthen and raise the level of cooperation with the National People's Congress of China, as well as make a positive contribution to the strengthening and development of Kyrgyzstan-China friendly relations, Mamytov added.

For her part, Du congratulated Mamytov on his election as speaker of the parliament of Kyrgyzstan, and spoke highly of the development of bilateral relations over the past 30 years and the achievements in the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Du noted that the exchange of experience and cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries is an important part of China-Kyrgyzstan relations, adding that the National People's Congress of China maintains a long-standing relationship of friendly cooperation with the Kyrgyz parliament, which plays an important role in the development of bilateral relations.

The Chinese diplomat expressed her hope that the legislatures of the two countries will continue to strengthen exchanges and the traditional friendship between the peoples, and jointly advance bilateral relations to new levels.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
BUFFALO, N.Y.  Police removed a JetBlue pilot from the cockpit of a plane about to depart Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Wednesday morning who had a blood-alcohol level more than four times the legal limit for pilots, a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority spokesperson said.

The pilot was "removed from his duties," the airline said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

James Clifton, 52, of Orlando, was passing through security when Transportation Security Administration agents noticed he may have been impaired, the NFTA spokesperson said.

NFTA police were contacted and removed Clifton from the cockpit of the plane headed for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Police administered a Breathalyzer test and Clifton registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.17%.

According to Federal Aviation Administration brochure called "Alcohol and Flying: A Deadly Combination," a pilot or other airline employee "who performs a safety-sensitive function" would be removed from performing their duties if they have a blood or breath alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more. That is half the legal limit for driving in the United States. Pilots also are not allowed to drink any alcohol within eight hours of acting or attempting to act as a crew member.

Clifton was taken into police custody. Federal authorities were notified and Clifton was released to JetBlue security.

He may face federal charges, the NFTA said.

Derek Dombrowski, manager of corporate communications for JetBlue Airways, emailed a statement following the disclosure of the incident:

"The safety of JetBlues customers and crewmembers is our first priority. We adhere to all DOT rules and requirements concerning alcohol at all times and have a very strict zero tolerance internal alcohol policy. We are aware of the incident that occurred this morning in Buffalo and are cooperating fully with law enforcement. We are also conducting our own internal investigation. The crewmember involved has been removed from his duties.

***

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NASCAR owner and Hall of Famer Richard Childress told Fox News yesterday that he will donate a million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine forces fighting off the Russian invasion.

Childress said during an interview on Fox & Friends with Brian Kilmeade and Joey Jones that he heard Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say he didnt want out, he needed ammunition.

Childress said he contacted his good friend Fred Wagenhals, chairman of AMMO, Inc.

Childress said he told Wagenhals, Fred, weve got to help these people. They need ammunition and he stepped right up.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Childress is a former NASCAR driver and now owner of Childress Racing. After he retired from driving, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt signed on with his team. Earnhardt died in a crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, 2001. Childress was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2016.

Childress told Kilmeade yesterday, This is a wake-up call for America, why we have our second amendment. ... Its terrible to see the lives that are being lost over there. I felt that with AMMo we were doing the right thing and we are going to get that ammunition as quick as we can to them.

Childress said they are working with a private company to get the ammunition to the Ukrainians.

***

PHOTO GALLERY

2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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The footage is jarring.

A 12-year-old student with Asperger's syndrome in Sioux City, Iowa, sits on a packed bus when one of his peers jabs a pencil into his neck, telling him to move. Another student turns around in his seat and punches the boy. Then, a boy sitting across the aisle bashes the student's head into a seat.

Filmmakers had captured the scene while working on the 2011 documentary, "Bully," which followed five students across the U.S.  including in Sioux City  to put a face to a growing epidemic of violence in schools.

Paul Gausman, the Sioux City superintendent, and board members had agreed to open their district up to crews filming the documentary, which was later screened in thousands of theaters  from Iowa to across the world.

"There were so many screenings," said Cindy Waitt, one of the film's executive producers and the director of the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention. "I think it woke up school districts  really opened eyes all over the country."

The film wasn't without its critics, and Sioux City later put into place additional anti-bullying supports, like cameras on school buses.

But the fact that Gausman was willing to open up his district, to not cover up a problem that affects nearly every school, is a testament to his leadership, said Waitt.

That made the news Tuesday that Gausman would be leaving Sioux City to be the next superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools bittersweet for Waitt, who considers him a friend.

"Paul is a leader that can see an issue and say, 'Let's do something about this,'" Waitt said.

Waitt worked with Gausman to expand a mentor-based, anti-bullying program that was piloted in a Sioux City high school over 20 years ago and later spread to other schools across Iowa. Researchers found the program, which pairs high school students with freshmen to teach them the importance of being a helpful bystander when someone is bullied, helped decrease the number of violent incidents in schools.

Waitt expects Gausman to bring that expertise in tackling bullying and school violence to Lincoln.

"I think it will be really fun to see the kind of things he'll do in Lincoln, and I think he's certainly up to the task," she said.

When Gausman leaves for Lincoln this summer, he'll be closing a chapter at a school district where he's served as superintendent for 14 years.

On Tuesday, the Lincoln Board of Education unanimously chose the 55-year-old Fremont native over three other finalists to replace Steve Joel as superintendent. Gausman graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a bachelor's in music education and got his career started in Lincoln as a teacher in Lincoln Northeast's music department.

Jeremy Saint, former president of the Sioux City school board, said he always had a good experience working with Gausman.

One of his strengths, Saint said, was building consensus around needed changes, such as construction projects, consolidating schools and redrawing attendance areas, which can often spark controversy.

"But in all those times of decision-making processes, Paul was really good at identifying the stakeholders and really getting people engaged in the process very early, so there would not end up being the controversies or the fights you would expect with those issues," said Saint, who served four years on the board starting in 2017.

He said Gausman built a strong team around him in Sioux City, and would expect him to surround himself with "good voices and good ideas" in Lincoln.

Sioux City board president and businessman Dan Greenwell, a frequent critic of Gausman and the district, declined to comment on his relationship with Gausman in a phone call Wednesday but said he wished him the best.

We are grateful for (his) 14 years of service to the Sioux City Community School District. During his tenure, the District has celebrated many academic achievements, Greenwell said in a statement to the Sioux City Journal.

As the new superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools, Gausman has an opportunity to return to the place where his career first began. On behalf of the board, I congratulate Dr. Gausman on this new career endeavor.

Greenwell has often clashed with Gausman, first as a parent watchdog and as a member of the board since being elected in 2019.

Greenwell has been outspoken about a number of issues, including the budget, standardized test scores and administrative salaries, according to the Sioux City Journal.

In 2018, the newspaper reported that Greenwell challenged Gausman to publicly release his dissertation, claiming Gausman had justified some of his decisions by citing the document.

And in 2017, Greenwell brought forward concerns at a board meeting and through emails on behalf of John Chalstrom, the district's former finance director, who alleged Gausman of fostering a hostile workplace environment.

According to a Sioux City Journal report, Chalstrom accused Gausman of threatening his job if he shared alternative budget proposals with board members outside official meetings.

Gausman denied the allegations, and an internal investigation resulted in no disciplinary action.

The Lincoln Board of Education could approve a contract with Gausman as early as its meeting on March 8. The board will then likely approve a transition agreement to compensate Gausman for any time he spends working in Lincoln before officially taking over on July 1.

Gausman's current annual salary in Sioux City is $248,646, part of a $351,999 total compensation package. Joel, who's last day is June 30, is set to make $334,515 this school year, part of a $391,638 total compensation package.

Contact the writer at zhammack@journalstar.com or 402-473-7225. On Twitter @zach_hammack

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Russias war in Ukraine is intensifying. The United States and most of the other western powers have condemned Russia for invading Ukraine, joining together to implement massive sanctions that are only beginning to crush the Russian economy.

Many of us are watching this horrifying war from afar and wondering how we can help ordinary Ukrainian people whose homes, cities and lives are being destroyed before our eyes.

In times of humanitarian crises like this, acts of compassion and generosity can make a huge difference. There are dozens of organizations working directly in Ukraine, or active in nations that border on Ukraine, to provide aid to Ukrainian refugees.

If youre looking to support people affected by the war in Ukraine, consider donating money directly to the following organizations.

How to Donate to Organizations in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Red Cross

The Red Cross is often on the frontlines of war serving to help those affected by armed conflict. The Ukrainian Red Cross is currently assisting people inside the country by aiding evacuations and providing shelter, food and basic necessities.

World Central Kitchen

World Central Kitchen (WCK), established in 2010, is an organization that deploys chefs directly to disaster areas to provide hot meals to those in need. WCK is currently working in Ukraine and along its borders in neighboring countries.

GlobalGiving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund

GlobalGiving is raising funds to support locally-led organizations throughout Ukraine. Any donations to the fund will provide essentials for refugees, health, psychological and support and access to education and economic assistance.

Vostok SOS

Vostok SOS is a Ukraine-based non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to assisting areas of conflict within Ukraine. The organization is currently accepting donations to help aid local people, evacuate the vulnerable and provide trauma support after shelling.

Voices of Children

Created in 2015, the Voices of Children Foundation has been providing psychological support to children affected by war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine through art therapy, video storytelling, mobile psychologists and more. Now, the organization is working to support children across the country with emergency psychological assistance and assisting in the evacuation process.

Media Support

Donating directly toward the media in Ukraine can help fight against Russian misinformation and keep Ukrainians informed of the latest developments. A GoFundMe has been launched by various organizations to help keep Ukraines media outlets running during the war.

How to Support Ukrainian Refugees

The United Nations refugee agency reported on Tuesday that 660,000 Ukrainians have fled the country due to the war. Many have fled to neighboring countries including Poland, Hungary, Moldova and Romania.

Many refugees will be in dire need of basic supplies, food and resources as theyre now forced to rebuild their lives. You can donate to the following organizations to help them do this.

The International Rescue Committee

The International Rescue Committee is a longstanding organization that provides resources to those fleeing countries in crisis, including providing cash assistance, medical treatment and more. The organization is currently on the ground in both Poland and Ukraine to provide support to those who have had to flee their homes.

The Polish Red Cross

As of Feb. 28, most of the Ukrainian refugees have crossed into the countrys eastern neighbor, Poland. The Polish Red Cross has provided humanitarian reception points at Ukrainian-Polish borders to assist those entering with humanitarian aid and medical support.

Donate to the Polish Red Cross. (Note: the website is in Polish, but most browsers have an option to translate pages into English. Donations will be made in local Polish currency, zloty, and will be converted according to your cards current exchange rate. See here for bank transfer donations.)

Malteser International

Malteser International is the humanitarian relief agency of the Sovereign Order of Malta and is currently involved in relief efforts for Ukraine. The organization is providing food, shelter, emergency medical care and more both within Ukraine and neighboring countries. You can donate specifically to its efforts in Ukraine on the donation page.

***

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How much worse can it get? he asked.

We had been discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and what it could mean for the future. He was concerned not just about the economy but also about global instability and the prospects for increased conflict in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He had no confidence in America as a positive force for good in the world.

And why should he? American self-confidence is at an all-time low. We lack trust in our government, our financial institutions, our businesses and our universities. We lack trust in each other. It seems impossible to get a majority opinion on any direction we should take as a country. If we cannot lead ourselves, how can we expect to lead anyone else?

Whats more, we dont even seem to like ourselves. We know that from the stories we tell, which rarely are about the many good things people are doing. We love to talk about fellow Americans worst behavior, and when we focus exclusively on bad behavior, it soon comes to seem as if that is all there is.

When I mentioned to a few people recently that I would be flying to Oklahoma, the first thing they told me was the news they had just heard about yet another unruly airline passenger having to be restrained.

According to the FAA, 2021 set a record for unruly behavior by airline passengers, with 5,981 incidents. That seems like a lot of bad behavior, but one should keep in mind that there are about 42,000 domestic flights carrying 2.6 million passengers each day. So even last year, with a record amount of bad behavior, ruly passengers outnumbered unruly passengers by a ratio of 944,255,000 to 1. Put another way, 1 out of about every 2,500 flights has a passenger who misbehaves badly enough to be reported.

My flight was uneventful. The people I encountered were invariably kind and helpful. It was early in the morning, so the TSA agents were a little bleary-eyed but cheerful. There was a long line at the airport coffee shop, but the people waiting were patient, and the baristas quick and efficient. As I was boarding the plane, the man ahead of me set his own bags down to help an elderly woman lift her carry-on bag into the overhead compartment. When I arrived at my destination, a young woman at the car rental counter greeted me with a twinkle in her eye (and most likely a smile behind her mask). Thats the way it was during the entire trip. People were, as usual, friendly and polite.

I would love to see this as a news headline: Ruly passenger helps stranger with luggage. Of course, a story like that would not be news, because it happens all the time. But that is the point: Good behavior is the norm. We know that because most of us witness it every day.

The real story to be told about unruly airline passengers is not that there are so many more of them recently, it is that they dont get away with it. Other passengers and well-trained flight attendants dont let them. If there is one thing that can unite people into a common purpose, its a bully who is out of control.

The moral lesson is this: When large numbers of people share expectations about acceptable behavior, those behaviors are increased. For the most part, people in our country treat each other with courtesy and respect in public places. The greatest danger is not that more bullies will suddenly show up. The greatest danger is that we might begin thinking bad behavior is the norm, and we quit standing up to it.

Countries are the same way. In the days since Russia invaded Ukraine, we witnessed democratically minded people coming together to stand up to bad behavior. Russian President Vladimir Putin is a bully. He always has been. But our own lack of self-confidence and the loss of trust in democratic institutions has emboldened him. That seems to be shifting now.

Democracy succeeds only on the basis of trust and collaboration. Without free people willingly coming together to insist on shared norms of acceptable behavior, the powerful individual can seize control.

For too long, America has been suffering from the problem of self-misrepresentation, believing the worst stories about itself and neglecting to tell the best stories.

We need to tell the good stories because that is how we keep our hope alive. It is how we encourage each other to keep going. It is how we remind each other that it takes all of us to keep the bullies in check.

Sometimes I like to start my classes by asking students to share a story of something good they witnessed during the past few days. Everybody has those stories, but until we share them, they seem disconnected and isolated, too insignificant to make a difference. But when a room full of people all share stories of goodness, an amazing thing happens: hope is restored; spirits are lifted; confidence is reclaimed.

Take time this week to share your own stories of goodness with people around you. Let them know this is what America looks like. It is the goodness and integrity of everyday people that makes a democracy strong. Right now, the world needs reminders of the virtues of democracy. America needs to remind itself of its own goodness.

Richard Kyte is director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis., and co-host of The Ethical Life podcast.

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Orange City Arts will present "Irish Trio: Socks in the Frying Pan" at the Prairie Wind Event Center, 908 Eighth St. S.E., Orange City, Iowa at 7:30 p.m. March 16.

Socks in the Frying Pan are a multi award-winning trio from County Clare, Ireland. their dynamic vocal harmonies, virtuosic musical abilities and onstage wit have captivated audiences from around the world.

This youthful trio blends Irish traditional melodies with their own personal flair. it has gained them critical acclaim and accolades, including "New Band of the Year" by the Irish Music Association.

Seating is limited. Tickets are now available at orangecityarts.net or at the door the day of the concert.

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'THE BATMAN' (PG-13 for some strong and disturbing content, drug content, strong language and some suggestive material)

When the Riddler, a sadistic serial killer, begins murdering key political figures in Gotham, Batman is forced to investigate the city's hidden corruption and question his family's involvement.

'ASKING FOR IT' (Rated R for disturbing and violent content, sexual material, nudity and language throughout)

After a small town waitress is sexually assaulted after a date with her old friend she befriends a mysterious stranger who introducers her to an all femme gang.

'HUDA'S SALON' (Rated R for disturbing violent content and graphic nudity)

A woman whose visit to a hair salon turns into a nightmare when she is blackmailed by its owner.

'THE PINK CLOUD' (Rated R for sexual content/nudity and some language and brief drug use)

After a toxic and mysterious pink cloud appeared, Giovana finds herself stuck in a flat with a man she just met, changing her life in a way she never expected.

NEW DVD RELEASES FOR THE WEEK

'Belfast'

'Demonic'

'Run & Gun'

'The Pilot: A Battle for Survival'

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Annoyed

You've got loads of company in believing women default to "mea culpa" while men are all "mea do no wronga."

And sure, as you note, I did show that women apologize more often than men  both when they realize they've wronged somebody and in situations where an apology is beyond ridiculous: "I'm sorry, but could you pass the salt?" Women likewise use more hinty, tentative language ("I hate to bother you") and "whimperatives," linguist Jerrold Sadock's term for direct orders  like "Stop yelling at me!"  meeked-up into questions: "Would you mind not yelling at me?" (Answer  at 90 decibels: "WELL, YEAH, I WOULD!")

Women don't hide what they're saying behind a bunch of verbal bramble because they're weak. Female indirectness seems to have evolved to help ancestral mamas (and mamas-to-be) avert conflict and avoid retaliation and physical harm. A beatdown could easily break their reproductive "machinery" or jeopardize their ability to feed and care for babies they'd had  making it "goodbye forever!" for their genes.

Because, right now in 2022, our minds are powered by antique, ancestral-era psychology, we women are still "programmed" to be mealymouths  despite how, these days, we can neatly take out any club-wielding brute with a well-aimed Hello Kitty-embossed Smith & Wesson.

However, the fact that men apologize less frequently doesn't mean they are less willing to apologize when they've wronged somebody. As social psychologist Karina Schumann put it in her research on sex differences in "apology behavior": "Despite wide acceptance of the stereotype that women apologize more readily than men" ("more readily" being the important nuance), "there is little ... evidence to support this bias."

Schumann had male and female undergrads keep a diary for 12 days and log each time they apologized to someone  as well as each time they or someone else did something they felt called for an apology. There were four categories of offenses: failed obligations (like showing up late), inconveniences (calling a wrong number), physical offenses (denting a borrowed car), and "relational" offenses (hurtful interpersonal behavior like lying, cheating, or putting the toilet paper roll on "backward").

Schumann did find that the women apologized more than the men. But don't gloat just yet!

Women also reported doing more things they felt called for an apology. So, you could say, "Awww...see, they care more about how their behavior affects others!" However, the women also found more of others' behaviors objectionable and apology-worthy.

Men, on the other hand, showed more of a "whatever, dude" attitude about much of the stuff women found offensive. This attitude was reflected in research by psychologist Joyce Benenson on men's and women's issues with their college roommates. The women found their roommates much more obnoxious than the men found theirs: messier and louder, as well as smellier and more disgusting ("which is hard to believe," writes Benenson, "as usually men care less than women about ... hygiene").

Schumann's results suggest that "women offer more apologies than men do" (and are more likely to see an apology as necessary) "because women have a lower threshold for what constitutes offensive behavior." This brings us to Schumann's stereotype-debunking finding: "Men were no less willing than women were to apologize for their behavior once they categorized it as offensive." And guess what: "Their apologies were similarly effusive."

Male-female differences in perception can lead to ugly misunderstandings. "For example," Schumann notes, "If women perceive offenses that their male romantic partners do not notice, women might interpret an absence of an apology as evidence that their partners are indifferent to their well-being" (rather than the natural result of leaving a man to guess what he's done). "Similarly, men may regard their female partners as overly sensitive." However, the real issue seems to be that "men and women unwittingly disagree at an earlier stage in the process: identifying whether or not a transgression has even occurred."
Leslie Werden would be more than happy to entertain any "gentleman callers." First, she needs to get a handle on her Mississippi accent.

"It's the hardest thing for me," she said, mid-rehearsal. "A Southern accent doesn't come naturally for me."

Werden was playing the role of faded Southern belle Amanda Wingfield in Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie."

Long considered a classic work of the American stage, the curtain will rise on "The Glass Menagerie" Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5. Performances will continue from March 10 - 13, and March 17 -20 at Lamb Arts Regional Theatre, 417 Market St.

A play with strong autobiographical elements to Tennessee Williams, "The Glass Menagerie" revolves around embittered wannabe poet Tom, his emotionally fragile sister Laura and histrionic mother Amanda, who struggles to raise her family in St. Louis of the 1930s.

"By necessity, Amanda's life revolves around her family," Werden explained. "That's because her options for survival are very limited. Women of that era weren't thought to be breadwinners and the future of Amanda's family rested on landing a gentleman caller to save the day."

That is, if Tom Wingfield's $65-a-month job at the box factory doesn't keep the family solvent.

"Tom feels frustrated by his going-nowhere job," explained Tom's portrayer Brian Hamman. "While he does love his family, Tom also feels burdened by his family and would do anything to escape."

On the other hand, Laura Wingfield's world is even smaller than her brother's or her mother's.

Suffering from a crippling inferiority complex, Laura has created a fictional kingdom consisting of glass figurines which allow her to cope when things get too intense.

"Laura is, literally, the keeper of the glass menagerie," actress Liz Paz said. "This is her safe place."

According to director Russ Wooley, Laura isn't the only character who chooses to live in a parallel universe.

"Tennessee Williams was very smart when he called this a 'memory' play," Wooley said. "Through the character of Tom, he said this a story based upon recollections that have not happened precisely as presented."

Keeping with this fuzzy reality, Lamb's highly stylized staging of "The Glass Menagerie" is reflected in its sets which are separated by platforms, creating a play-within-a-play effect.

"The family is scraping by, but just barely," Wooley said. "When they are talking to one another, the family isn't always saying what they mean."

This distinction was especially challenging for Paz, whose portrayal of an introverted girl runs counter to the actor's natural exuberance.

"It isn't easy playing someone like Laura," she said. "By isolating herself, Laura knows she'll be safe."

At least, Tom can escape his reality through the movies.

"Tom is a frustrated writer but he is also a stand-in for Tennessee Williams," Hamman said. "The play is seen through his eyes and he is the one who is providing the point-of-view."

Wooley said it is this point-of-view that keeps "The Glass Menagerie" relevant, generation after generation.

After premiering in Chicago in 1944, "The Glass Menagerie" moved to Broadway, where it became Williams' first successful play.

While Williams scored subsequent hits with "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and "Sweet Bird of Youth," Wooley said the tug-of-war between art and obligation makes "The Glass Menagerie" a classic.

"It is a relatable show and that doesn't change," he said. "Plus it is is a beautifully written play and some of the dialogue is absolutely poetic."

It is the often poetic dialogue that will sometime trip up Werden.

"Amanda, by design, is supposed to be over-the-top," Werden said. "By showing that she really does love her children and wants what is best for them keeps Amanda grounded."

Well, that is until the next gentleman caller comes a-courtin.'

"Amanda is very much a product of her time," Werden said. "A woman could only go so far without a man in her life."

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At a tense moment in Drive My Carthe movie that has taken Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi from a darling of the festival circuit to a four-time Oscar nominee, including for Best Picture and Best Directorone of the movies main characters, himself a director, faces an incipient rebellion from his cast. Hes staging a multilingual theatrical production of Anton Chekhovs Uncle Vanya, and as the actors struggle to divine his intentions during the latest in a series of table reads, he instructs them to simply focus on the words in front of them. We are not robots, the actress playing Sonya rebels. How are we supposed to do better if we dont know what you want? You dont have to do better, the director replies. Just read the text.

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That exchange, a version of which also appears in Hamaguchis Asako I & II, is as close to a mission statement as this unassuming master gets. His movies, four of which are now available for streaming in the U.S., vary widely in subject and tonefrom a sprawling melodrama about middle-aged women to a sci-fi short in which a virus has returned society to the pre-internet erabut they share an understanding that emotion doesnt have to be present on the screen to be felt by the viewer. Hamaguchis characters are often driven to despair, but they rarely shed so much as a tearalthough its probably no accident that his international breakthrough is the exception to that rule. Although his movies are not all as long as the three-hour Drive My Carboth Asako I & II and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy come in at a tidy two hours, while Happy Hour is longer than those movies combinedthey all move at a similarly measured pace, letting us settle into the journey rather than focus on where its headed. The world seems to stand still, whether were living through a moment in real time or jumping forward by years, and when it starts up again, were not quite where we started.

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Heres a brief guide to the Hamaguchi movies you can watch at home.

Drive My Car

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Loosely based on a trio of Haruki Murakami stories from the collection Men Without Women, Drive My Car has been racking up awards since its Cannes debut last year, including Best Picture honors from the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the National Society of Film Criticsthe first time that trifecta has been achieved by a movie thats not in English. The story centers on Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), a theater director channeling the grief of his wifes sudden death into a production of Uncle Vanya, but as much as the movie is suffused with melancholy, theres a subtle playfulness to it, too, most succinctly illustrated by the fact that the opening credits roll 40 minutes in. Kafukus process, in which the actorsa multilingual bunch who all perform in their native tongues, including Korean sign languageread the play over and over until the words have been incorporated into their bodies, mirrors Hamaguchis own, as well as his interest in blurring the lines between fiction and documentary. Theres plenty of drama in Drive My Car, and not just Chekhov, as Kafuku comes to terms with the idea that his marriage died long before his wife did. But Hamaguchis dedication to letting the storys revelations develop through sometimes elliptical conversations rather than forcing them to the surface gives them a unique, slow-burning power, and he understands as few filmmakers do how the front half of a car can be the most intimate of spaces, part traveling confessional and part time machine.

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Where to watch: Drive My Car is in theaters, is available to rent for $5.99, and as of March 2, just began streaming on HBO Max.

Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

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As noteworthy as Drive My Cars many achievements have been, its not even the only great movie Hamaguchi released in 2021. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is as succinct as its pandemic-era twin is sprawling, a series of three short stories loosely united around the themes of, to quote its Japanese title, chance and imagination. Compressed into 40-minute arcs, the movies segments highlight Hamaguchis facility with knotty romances and erotic tension, especially when its expressed in words. (His characters like sex, but they like talking about sex even more.) Each story is full of enough surprises that I wont risk spoiling their plots, except to say that theyre mostly built around intense two-person conversations of the kind Hamaguchi excels at staging, and none of them end up where you think they will.

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Where to watch: Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy is available for digital rental and purchase, and on Blu-ray from Film Movement.

Asako I & II

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A recurring theme in Hamaguchis movies is the way the ghosts of past relationships can haunt us long after theyre over, sometimes outlasting by years the romances they represent. That idea finds its most literal expression in this 2018 movie, whose title character falls madly in love with a mysterious drifter, has her heart broken by his abrupt departure, and then takes up years later with a man who looks exactly like him. Of this quartet of Hamaguchis, Asako I & II is the one where the reserved acting style he favors least well serves the story. As Asako, Erika Karata is enigmatic verging on blank, staring into the middle distance when shes meant to be falling in love at first sight. (Imagine Jules and Jims Jeanne Moreau drained of her fiery impetuousness.) But as the plot unfurls, the inward-turned nature of the performance also takes on new layers. Its as if shes been coasting through years of her life, to the point shes forgotten what real feelings are like. An early shot shows Asako and her drifter boyfriend splayed out across a road in the aftermath of a motorcycle crash, their faces placid as they stare, unharmed, into each others eyes. But they havent avoided the impact entirely; it just takes a while to catch up with their bodies.

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Where to watch: Asako I & II is available for digital rental and purchase, and with a subscription to the Criterion Channel, Mubi, Hoopla, and Kanopy. Grasshopper Films Blu-ray and DVD include an interview with Hamaguchi and his short film Like Nothing Happened.

Happy Hour

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The movie that first brought Hamaguchi to international acclaim is both a breakthrough and an anomaly. After making a trilogy of documentaries about the impact of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japans Tohoku region in 2011, Hamaguchi felt ambivalent about returning to the contrivances of fiction. So he spent months staging improvisational workshops with nonprofessional actors and developing a story about four Kobe women in their late 30s coming to terms with the state of their lives. The resulting 2015 movie stretches over five hours, but for a film of that duration, its uniquely uninterested in its own length. Hamaguchi never tries to awe you with patience-expanding sequences or make you bend under its cumulative weight. If anything, Happy Hour feels light on its feet, its length arising organically out of the situations it depicts. (By the time in its fifth hour a character steps up to read a short story shes written, you know youre going to hear the whole thing.) One sequence, in which three of the characters take part in a Sunday afternoon workshop organized around the idea of listening to your center and share a drink afterward, takes almost an hour on its own, but it went by so quickly and was so engrossing I found myself staying up past midnight just to see how things turned out.

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Unlike Drive My Car, which benefits from the sustained viewing most easily achieved in a theater, Happy Hour can be dipped into and out of almost at will. Its the rare movie that deserves to be called novelistic, not because its epic in scope but because it functions through the patient accumulation of detail rather than through building up narrative momentum or juxtaposing events. Thats a way of saying not to let its length scare you off, but also that once you start watching, it becomes a moot point.

Where to watch: Happy Hour is available for rental and purchase through digital retailers, although its arbitrarily split into three parts. You can also stream it for free with ad breaks through Pluto TV, and with a subscription to the Criterion Channel. (Note to the thrifty cinephile: A month of the Criterion Channel costs less than renting all three parts of Happy Hour.) Kimstims Blu-ray and DVD include interviews outlining the films unique production process.
This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy.

(Editors note: This post also appears on Verfassungsblog.)

The European Union (EU) and its member states are reportedly considering offering asylum to Russian deserters. They and other states around the world have a legal obligation to do precisely that. Soldiers who flee punishment for refusing to fight in aggressive wars are properly understood as refugees under international law.

It is now widely recognized that the Russian Federation, with the assistance of Belarus, has initiated and is waging an aggressive war against Ukraine. The action puts both states in clear violation of article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, the keystone of the contemporary legal order. Waging aggressive war is also a violation of the highest norms and a customary international crime, as articulated in the judgments of the International Military Tribunals at Nuremberg and Tokyo in the 1940s, the repeated consensus affirmation of the UN General Assembly, the 2017 agreement of the 123 States Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the domestic criminal codes of a number of states, including Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Experts disagree about the precise boundaries of the crime, but this war does not test those boundaries. It implicates almost every act of aggression listed in the General Assembly and ICC Statute definitions, and its illegal character, gravity, and scale are unambiguous. Russia has advanced no credible justification for its actions.

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Article 1(A)(2) of the UN 1951 Refugee Convention, as updated by its 1967 Protocol, recognizes as refugees those who, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, [are] outside the country of [their] nationality and [are] unable or, owing to such fear, [are] unwilling to avail [themselves] of the protection of that country. Importantly, as articulated in the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status, this includes those who face punishment for desertion or draft-evasion when the type of military action in which they refuse to participate is condemned by the international community as contrary to basic rules of human conduct. This is understood to cover those who face punishment at home for having refused to perpetrate international crimes or other violations of international law implicating the basic rules of human conduct. Clarifying the scope of this principle, European Union Council Directive 2011/95 specifies that those facing prosecution for refusing to commit aggression (referenced in this context as a crime against peace) qualify as refugees.

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Because criminal liability for aggression has generally been understood to attach only to leaders, there has been some ambiguity as to whether these refugee protections attach to lower-level troops and officials who refuse to participate in aggressive wars. The far better interpretation is that they do. To dismiss resisting troops claim to refugee status on the grounds that they are too far removed from the macro wrong of aggression to warrant protection from the burden of participating in it would be to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the crime. Aggressions wrongfulness inheres in the fact that it entails the widespread infliction of death, destruction, and human suffering without legal justification. That is why even legitimate territorial grievances may not be solved by the use of armed force. As the UN Human Rights Committee recognized in 2018, all killing inflicted in the course of an aggressive war constitutes a violation of the right to life. This is true even when the aggressor forces comply meticulously with international humanitarian lawa standard that does not appear to have been met in the early days of this conflict. What is more, whether the armed conflict is contrary to the basic rules of human conduct should not be turned into a test about criminality. A grave breach of the UN Charter through a war of conquest like Russias actions in Ukraine is of the moral and legal character for which the refugee protections were built. It is immaterial who exactly has criminal liability for launching the war.

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Recognizing the wrongfulness of the killing and violence inflicted in an aggressive war entails recognizing the burden of inflicting those wrongs on members of the armed forces compelled to carry it out, and accordingly triggers the protected status of those who face punishment for refusing to do it. They deserve protection no less than those who refuse to participate in genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes. States who grant that protection would act pursuant to their duty to protect lives and to oppose widespread or systematic attacks on the right to life, including acts of aggression.

In addition to communicating clearly that they will recognize Russian deserters as refugees, with full status as such under international law, states should also cooperate in sharing the responsibility of facilitating that protection. Article 41(1) of the International Law Commissions Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts identifies states obligation to cooperate to bring to an end through lawful means any serious breach of a jus cogens rule. Cooperating to facilitate the safe exit of those with the courage to refuse to kill, harm, and destroy in the service of an illegal end would undermine Russias aggressive campaign and thus contribute to realizing that obligation. Denying such refugee protections could qualify as rendering aid or assistance to Russias aggression in violation of Article 41(2).

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It might be thought that granting asylum to deserting Russian troops would conflict with the requirements of the Prisoner of War Convention, at least insofar as those troops fall into the hands of Ukraine or any other adverse party in the armed conflict. Geneva Convention III provides in article 7 that Prisoners of War may in no circumstances renounce in part or in entirety the rights secured to them by the present Convention and in article 118 that they are to be released and repatriated without delay after the cessation of active hostilities. As noted in the ICRCs 2020 Commentary to the Conventions, Articles 7 and 118 of the Third Convention, if interpreted and applied according to the letter, could mean that a prisoner of war may not refuse to be repatriated. The Commentary clarifies, however, that this is the one area in which there is an exception to an absolutist application of article 7, emphasizing that prisoners of war must be permitted to make an individual decision as to whether they wish to be repatriated, an exception which has existed for as long as the Third Convention has been in force and which is intrinsically linked with the principle of non-refoulement, as enshrined in human rights and refugee law. Indeed, the principle of voluntary repatriation and the related exception to the non-renunciation rule has long been reflected in state practice and in the determinations of multiple legal authorities.

When troops lay down their weapons and refuse to use them to prosecute an illegal war, they take significant personal risk to do the right thing by the laws own lights. States have a collective duty to protect them in that endeavor.

More From Just Security:

The Intl Criminal Courts Ukraine Investigation: A Test Case for User-Generated Evidence

A Simulated Presidents Daily Brief on Putin and Ukraine
Do we all owe Mitt Romney an apology? To cut to the chase: No, we do not. But a lot of people think we do, so its worth delving deep into the question. Whats at stake isnt merely the reputation of a senator but our understanding of the nature and aims of modern Russia.

Back during his presidential campaign in March of 2012, Romney, who would become that years Republican candidate, said in a CNN interview, Russia is, without question, our No. 1 geopolitical foe. President Barack Obama, in one of their debates, poked merciless fun at Romney for his comment. The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back, Obama chortled, because the Cold Wars been over for 20 years.

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Now, as Russia invades Ukraine with unrelenting savagery, many commentatorsat CNN, Politico, the Atlantic, and elsewheresay that Romney was right. In a recent interview with the Atlantic, Romney said of his critics from 10 years ago, Its hard for me to believe that they didnt realize that I was right at the time, because it was so obvious.

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But Romney wasnt right at all. In fact, Obamas policy to reset relations with Russiasigned in March 2009 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovwas a resounding success, at least for a few years. Some results:

 In July 2009, Russias president at the time, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a release allowing U.S. planes to fly troops and military supplies through Russian airspace on their way to Afghanistan. More than 12,000 flights, including the transport of more than 35,000 troops and one-third of the fuel used by U.S. military vehicles, went through this route.

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 In March 2010, Obama and Medvedev signed the New START, a treaty lowering the number of each sides nuclear weapons and putting in place on-site inspection procedures that were tighter than those of any previous accord.

 In September 2010, Medvedev banned the sale of advanced S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran. Russia had signed a deal to sell Iran five batteries of these missiles, at a cost of $800 million. Medvedev even refunded the $166 million that Iran had paid as an advance deposit. This was a hugely important decision. Iran was building up its nuclear program. If the U.S. or Israel had decided to bomb the nuclear facilities, those S-300 missiles could have shot down the attacking airplanes. The cancellation drove home Irans vulnerability and convinced Tehrans leaders to negotiate the Iran nuclear deal.

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 Also in 2010, Russia (and China) approved a U.S.-sponsored resolution at the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Irananother step that eventually brought Tehran to the negotiating table.

 Russia was also heavily involved in formulating, and voting in favor of, U.N. sanctions against North Korea for violating a ban on ballistic missile testing.

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During this time, Medvedev also joined the U.S. and other countries in anti-piracy patrols off the coast of Somalia. He also participated in efforts to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons, working to dispose of 76 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and plutonium from eight countries.

In his 2012 CNN interview, Romney explained his characterization of Russia as our No. 1 geopolitical foe by saying, They fight every cause for the worlds worst actorsand referred specifically to Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria. In his recent Atlantic interview, he said, They were opposing us at the U.N. whenever a critical measure came forward. Both statements were simply untrue.

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The fact is, quite apart from partisan bickering or revisionist history about the wisdom of Romney, the U.S. and Russia shared vital interests on a number of issuesand acted together to advance those interests, at least for a while. Medvedev and other Kremlin officials were also genuinely keen to bring Russia into the global economyto diversify its economy beyond commodities like oil and gas, build up its tech sector, and expand its tradewhich motivated them to build better relations with America and Europe.

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Then things changed. Most importantly, Vladimir Putin was elected Russian president in May 2012 (two months after Romneys CNN interview). Hed been president before, from 2000 to 2008, then stepped aside to become prime minister during Medvedevs term. (Putin was still in charge, but he allowed Medvedev a lot of leeway.) Putin was spurred to take back full control because, from his point of view, Medvedev was meshing with the West too much.

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The decisive act came when Medvedev abstained on a U.N. Security Council vote to authorize a no-fly resolution over Libya. Putin would have vetoed the measure. Medvedev had assurances from his Western friends that they would not overthrow Libyas leader, Moammar Gadhafi, one of Russias few stalwart allies.

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When Gadhafi was ousted and then killed by Western-backed rebels, that was too much for Putin. He decided to run for president again; Medvedev stepped aside to become prime minister, which from that point devolved into a ceremonial role. (He is now deputy of Putins security council and has defended the invasion of Ukraine with startling venom and vigor.)

The decline in U.S.-Russian relations began soon after Putins return. A former KGB officer who viewed the breakup of the Soviet Union as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, Putin had long seethed with resentment toward the U.S. for its Cold War victory and for its expansion of NATO in the wake of that triumph. When he returned to full power, Russia was still too weak for him to do anything about these grudges. But as the economy improved thanks to higher oil prices, and as he lavished more of the budget on new weapons for his military, Putin decided to actto stake his political legacy on the most audacious, atrocious gamble that Europe had seen in decades.

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The aggression against Ukraine is Putins doing. It is not a logical extension of Russian actions or policies in the spring of 2012.

True, even during those halcyon few years when Medvedev was eager to strike deals with the West, Russia and the U.S. had their differences. Russias 2008 invasion of the former republic of Georgia, to support the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, still gnawed (as Obamas White House acknowledged in a fact sheet on the benefits of his reset policy). Russias alliances with Syria, Cuba, and Venezuela were in fact nuisances.

But Russia was barely a geopolitical antagonist, much less Americas No. 1 foe. To borrow from the title of his old campaign book, Mitt Romney deserves no apology.
On Tuesday, Slate covered the disorienting effect of Russias Ukraine invasion on pundits whod rolled their eyes at the idea that Russia would invade Ukraine or that Americans would care if it did. Misreading a situation that badly can mess with your head, not that Id know anything about such an experience.

On the other hand, there are some people who seem to have been thrown off by reading the crisis correctly and predicting the consensus reaction to itof having believed an invasion was imminent and that the U.S. should lead the international community in defending Ukraine in order to prevent a humanitarian disaster and protect the democratic freedom of its people.

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To wit, NBC News foreign correspondent Richard Engel:

Perhaps the biggest risk-calculation/moral dilemma of the war so far. A massive Russian convoy is abt 30 miles from Kyiv. The US/NATO could likely destroy it. But that would be direct involvement against Russia and risk, everything. Does the West watch in silence as it rolls?  Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) February 28, 2022

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Engel is pretending to ask a neutral question. But really hes loading up one side of the argument with the image of the West watching sadly in silence as Kyiv is crushed. As he kind of alludes to, NATO destroying the convoy would mean fighting an all-out war against Russiaan idea so historically catastrophic that theres an aphorism about it in The Princess Bride. (Engel, despite working for one of the news entities that takes pride in considering itself objective and nonpartisan, was also recently seen campaigning for the U.S. to stay in Afghanistan.)

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Here is more perverse cheerleading:

There are no more innocent neutral Russians anymore. Everyone has to make a choice support or oppose this war. The only way to end this war is if 100,000s, not thousands, protest against this senseless war. Putin cant arrest you all!  Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 2, 2022

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McFaul, a frequent MSNBC guest, was the ambassador to Russia for two years under President Barack Obama. As a diplomat, one might expect him to be more diplomatic about the effort to get another countrys population behind a certain position, rather than just writing on social media that he will consider them complicit in a violation of international law if they dont risk being beaten and jailed by their authoritarian regime.

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He later deleted and sort of apologized for the tweet, but did so in a 15-message thread in which he quoted at some length the criticism of white civil rights moderates in Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter From Birmingham Jail. His analogy is that the Russian citizens who havent taken a public position on Vladimir Putin are like the 1950s moderates whom King criticized for wanting to make civil rights changes incrementally. This would make McFaul (and other regime-change advocates inside and outside of Russia) the situations MLK.

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Speaking of regimes, here is Benjamin Wittes, a Brookings Institution fellow, Atlantic magazine contributor, and, again, a frequent MSNBC guest:

Regime change: Russia.  Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) February 27, 2022

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Wittes, too, later qualified that statement a bit after some pushback from critics including the Intercepts Murtaza Hussain, who noted that calling for Putin to be deposed would be a serious escalation of the U.S. confrontation with Russia, and would amount to an announcement to someone with control of nuclear weapons that he was fighting for his political survival and, potentially, own life. (Wittes says hes not suggesting regime change should be the policy of the U.S. government.)

This one requires more explanation:

Now wondering if the Russians didn't actually get their narrative from Mearshimer et al. Moscow needed to say West was responsible for Russian invasions (Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, Ukraine), and not their own greed and imperialism. American academics provided the narrative.  Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) March 1, 2022

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Applebaum is a longtime foreign policy journalist, now at the Atlantic, who once wrote for Slate. She is also a frequent MSNBC guest. Mearshimer is John Mearsheimer, a political scientist who has argued for years that the U.S. and NATO were provoking a confrontation by expanding their sphere of influence east toward Russia.

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This is Russias argument as well, and Applebaum is speculating, in a way that implies some disloyalty, that Russia got the idea from an article Mearsheimer wrote in 2014. But according to multiple accounts, the argument that NATO expansion would provoke Russia was in circulation in U.S. national security circles as early as the late 1990s. Also, the other side provoked us is what every country that launches a war says, right? And what every person who starts a fight says? Did Russia really need a crack team of researchers reading political science journals to come up with that one?

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It goes on. Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, whos come to prominence by voting to impeach and investigate Donald Trump over Jan. 6, recently retweeted a claim about Putins allegedly low likelihood of using nuclear weapons that was made by British fantasist Louise Mensch, who is famous for having reported in 2017 that Steve Bannon was in imminent danger of being executed for espionage and that the marshal of the Supreme Court was beginning impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump. (The marshal of the Supreme Court is a real person, but their job is handling security at the actual Supreme Court; in the American system of government, the judicial branch does not impeach presidents or lead any prosecution. Trump was also not impeached until late 2019. Bannon lives to this day.) Kinzinger is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the idea of Louise Mensch influencing U.S. policy at any level is a bit concerning.

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Whats going on here? The perverse incentives of cable news and social media begin to explain it, I think. Being on TV makes you feel important, and getting retweets and likes online makes you feel important as well. Over the course of the Trump administration, MSNBC became the channel of anti-Trump partisanship, collecting respected figures from various law enforcement, national security, and journalistic institutions into a coalition. Those people, whatever expertise and judgment theyd previously accumulated, may have increasingly begun communicating only with one another and with their audiences. They also had one single goal, which came to feel like a holy crusade: getting rid of Donald Trump. Amid the frenzy, perhaps their standards of sourcing and skepticism have eroded.

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They also never really got rid of Trump, which brings us to the second element at play. A lot of the figures who were upset about Trump were members of the U.S. national security and foreign policy establishment who were offended by his relationship with Russia. They tended to be people who also still believe in a Cold War, preIraq war vision of America as a global Superman that comes out of the sky to save lives and protect human rights. Theyve likely felt beleaguered for the last decade-plus not only by Trump, but by the failure of their broader ambitions as the U.S.s chaotic, extremely costly occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq have given rise to anti-interventionist movements on both the right and left.

But with the Ukraine crisis, theyre getting their revenge on Trump (via Putin) and isolationism at the same time. This is the best their worldview has looked since the 90s, and its making them a little nuts. We can only hope they dont ride this hot streak all the way into a nuclear apocalypse!
From the very beginning of the Russian invasion, scenes of Ukrainian resistance have captivated international audiences. Photos and videos of civilians digging trenches, patching uniforms, and taking up arms have come to define the conflict, and showcase the Ukrainian peoples fighting spirit.

Nothing has proved quite as arresting as images of Ukrainian women, bitterly angry in their defiance. On social media, a video circulated of an older woman confronting Russian soldiers, handing them sunflower seeds so that flowers would bloom on the land when you die here. On CNN, a grandmother in a suburb of Kyiv showed off the Molotov cocktails she was making with instructions she found on Google. Let these Russian shits come here, the woman said. We are ready to greet them.

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But Ukrainian womens resistance isnt limited to the civilian realm.

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Women make up around 10 percent of the Ukrainian armed forces, according to the Christian Science Monitor. Those who are serving in combat positions won that right, officially, only in 2016.

Two years earlier, when Russian-backed separatists launched a terrorist campaign, women took up arms and scrambled to the fight. They worked as snipers and combat medics and soldiers to defend their homes in a time of crisis. But because the military did not officially employ women in those positions, they were never listed in military records as snipers and combat medics and soldiers.

Instead, records referred to them as seamstresses, or cooks, or cleaners. When these women left the military, they had fought the same fight as the men and carried the same emotional scarsbut received no recognition, no commensurate support.

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Its a situation that was depictedand, in part, corrected bya documentary from a group of sociologists and activists who called themselves Invisible Battalion. The documentary, which came out in 2017 and is also called Invisible Battalion, profiled six female soldiers and veterans who fought in the Ukrainian military and had yet to be officially recognized for it.

It shows some of the women in the trenches in Donbas, in southeastern Ukraine, and some preparing other soldiers for combat or waiting anxiously for their next deployment. Other women in the film are shown grappling with lingering trauma in their lives after service. Many of those followed by the documentary feel a powerful kinship with the men they fought alongside; they want access to military careers and benefits and to argue for their rightful place in history.

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The documentary begins with the almost cartoonishly tough Yulia Paievska, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed paramedic. In one early scene, she sits grim-faced in a chair in a blown-out building, cigarette in hand. She asks another female soldier to shave her head, leaving one blonde streak at the top. Some women were born to be on the front line, she says. In the units, they dont have to prove anything, since its immediately clear what theyre worth.

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We also meet 38-year-old Yulia Matvienko, a sniper who hides her dyed-red hair in a camo balaclava, who in another life was an economist with two children. Who says, with bitterness, that she cannot afford to cry for the men who died. Who was listed on paperwork as a medical assistant.

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Theres 38-year-old Olena Bilozerska, another sniper, who posts on Facebook about the third anniversary of her first combat operation. Who in her previous life was a poet and journalist, who was also never officially enlisted.

Also, 46-year-old Oksana Yakubova, cut off from her family by her PTSD, seen anxiously braving the crowds in the metro as she heads to her job as the chief economist at the Finance Ministry of Ukraine.

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And finally, 29-year-old Andriana Susak, a combatant who liberated a number of occupied towns in her year of active duty, who left the war only after becoming five months pregnant, and who was listed in official documents as the head of the sewing and fixing team for military equipment.

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Over the course of the documentary, the women exhibit many different strains of courage. The snipers Yulia Matvienko and Olena Bilozerska both stay cool during military operations. Bilozerska, a hardened combatant who, with her husband, saved up for two years to buy a rifle, at one point calls a loved one and casually asks about Eurovision, while bullets fly just beyond her shelter. But some of the less physically imposing women display a different kind of steely toughness, paired with a sense of loss.

Dariia Zubenko, a cheerful 30-year-old creative goofball and self-described nonconformist who worked as a fire dancer and musician, recalls giving up her artist life to join the war at her door. We were challenging pop music and the same tired tunes that were all over the place, she says. My priorities have changed, I dont know. After 2014 to 2015, I lost interest in almost any kind of activity that wasnt connected to current events. She adds, After all these events, I stopped being creative and inspired.

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Several of the women in the documentary started in the military as volunteers, bound by nothing but determination. In an article for the Christian Science Monitor from Feb. 23, Bilozerska credited the volunteer forces with allowing her and other women to find a place in the military culture. In the volunteer battalions, every fighter is free, Bilozerska said. Every commander knew, that if he has a female fighter who wants to fight on the front line and he doesnt allow it, he will lose a very motivated fighter, and she will go to another unit. If a girl or a woman wants to fight, she will fight.

The 2014 war in Donbas forced the Ukrainian military to confront a reality it has to face again today: It cannot afford to discriminate.

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The difference is that this time, women have a formal path to serving in a combat role in the military. In 2015, the Invisible Battalion activist unit displayed portraits of female combatants at the Ukrainian parliament and ministry of defense. Two years later, it released the documentary and took it on tour around Ukraine and to film festivals around the world. That year, the Ukrainian armed forces opened 62 combat positions up to women, finally registering them as official soldiers and granting them the appropriate protections and benefits for their work. (According to the Invisible Battalion group, there are still many positions off limits to women.)

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The documentary wasnt just about activism within Ukraine; it was a vehicle for exposing Russian propaganda. With this documentary we want to remind the world that it is not a civil war in Ukraine, Maria Berlinska, the films producer, said at a showing of the documentary in 2017. It is the Russian occupation. It is much better and easier to show this on the example of women because the world is already accustomed to the boys in military gear.

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The documentary ends with the story of the petite and serious-faced Susak, a 29-year-old veteran, as she heads to Kyivs military museum, where her wartime possessions had been put on display. Perhaps more than the other stories, Susaks shows the toll of war on family life in some Ukrainian communities. A former shock trooper, Susak speaks about how her grandmother was deported to Siberia for having a brother in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. When I realized I was pregnant, that was one of the most difficult moments, because I still had war, explosions, and shock attacks on my mind, she said. I was on the front line until the fifth month of pregnancy.

As she plays with her young child and makes pierogies with her grandmother, she laments the idea that one day, her son will be taught about the wars casualty numbers in a cold, impersonal way. She then shows the filmmaker a video from her hard drive, of her setting out to fight along with a unit of men. Hours later, she says, the entire unit was wiped out.

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But as the documentary heads to the credits, the camera lingers on a bus stop, where a banner adorned with Susaks face declares her a hero of Ukrainepart of a publicity campaign launched after a tentative cease-fire in Donbas in 2015. Today, Susak is referenced in newspaper articles by her military rank.

Susak is now the leader of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement, a group that spun off from Invisible Battalion in 2017. The group, made of female veterans, also advocated for both support and recognition of female veterans and soldiers. The next year, in 2018, a law passed in Ukraine ensuring them equal rights in the military.

It was, as the documentary showed, a victory tempered by a deeper sadness: These women won recognition for the horrors they experienced in a war that will not, it seems, be behind them anytime soon.
Abu Zubaydah isnt asking for much. Although the U.S. government has never charged him with a crime, it has detained him for two decades on the belief that he is a terrorist. Before transferring Zubaydah to Guantanamo in 2006, the government tortured him at two different black sites in Thailand and Poland. Today, Polish prosecutors are investigating whether to bring charges against the perpetrators of these abuses, and theyve asked Zubaydah to submit evidence. He now seeks depositions and documents that would confirm his inhumane treatment in Polandinformation thats already been disclosed by unofficial sources.

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On Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected his request in a disappointing but unsurprising 72 vote. Only Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by Sonia Sotomayor, dissented in full, criticizing his colleagues for acquiescing to the cover-up of Americas crimes. This pairing is not as strange as it might seem. Both justices are often skeptical of state power, especially when the government tries to deprive someone of liberty without due process. Both, too, are wary of official efforts to conceal the workings of government from the public. In U.S. v. Zubaydah, these concerns drove Gorsuch and Sotomayor to reject executive privilege over information about Zubaydahs torture. It is distressing that they wound up in dissent. But the courts unusual split reveals a great deal about fractures within both the conservative and liberal blocs.

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Like so many of the United States worst human rights abuses in modern history, the illegal persecution of Zubaydah can be traced back to 9/11. In the wake of the attacks, intelligence officials concluded that Zubaydah was a senior al-Qaida lieutenantan allegation that remains tenuous and disputed. He was captured in March 2002 and transferred to a black site in Thailand called Detention Site Green. (The facility was run by Gina Haspel, who later served as Donald Trumps CIA director.) According to the Senate Torture Report, two CIA contractors, James Mitchell and John Jessen, then tortured Zubaydah. As Gorsuch described the experience:

They waterboarded Zubaydah at least 80 times, simulated live burials in coffins for hundreds of hours, and performed rectal exams designed to establish total control over the detainee. Six days into his ordeal, Zubaydah was sobbing, twitching, and hyperventilating. During one waterboarding session, Zubaydah became completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth. He became so compliant that he would prepare for waterboarding at the snap of a finger.

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Although Mitchell and Jessen concluded that Zubaydah possessed no useful information, the CIA directed them to continue torturing him for two weeks, just to be sure.

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In December 2002, the government transported Zubaydah to a Polish black site, Detention Site Blue. The Council of Europe confirmed the existence of this site in 2007; former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski confirmed it in 2012; and the European Court of Human Rights confirmed it in 2014, while also finding that Zubaydah was tortured there. Mitchell has published a book and appeared in a documentary detailing the torture of detainees at Detention Site Blue. Mitchell and Jessen have repeatedly testified about their work in Poland. Yet the U.S. government refuses to acknowledge the existence of this black site, let alone the horrors inflicted there. So when Zubaydah subpoenaed Mitchell and Jessen to aid Polands probe, the executive branch stepped in, declaring that such information was shielded by the state secrets privilege.

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This privilege stands for the principle that the executive has an inherent constitutional authority to withhold clandestine information that implicates national security or foreign affairs. No one suggests it is absolute, but no one seems to understand its limits, either. On Thursday, seven justices declared that the CIA had put forth legitimate reasons to conceal the information that Zubaydah seekschiefly, that it would hinder intelligence cooperation with other nations. They also held that Zubaydah had not convincingly proved that he needs the subpoenaed materials to help Polands investigation. So they threw out the whole case, declaring that, whatever the precise contours of the privilege, it clearly applies here.

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But the majority split badly on its rationale. Justice Stephen Breyer, joined by John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrettapplied a fairly deferential test with some minimal scrutiny of the governments claims. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Sam Alito, argued for a rubber stamp any time the president raises the state secrets privilege. Justice Elena Kagan agreed that the government should win this round, but argued that Zubaydah should have another chance to file a narrower request.

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It fell upon Gorsuch to clear away the analytical fog by explaining whats really going on here: The government is not worried about alienating international allies; it is worried about humiliating itself, along with myriad current and former officials, by confessing to its torture program. That concern, however, is not sufficient grounds for the privilege. As Gorsuch noted, the president shares power over foreign affairs with Congress, and Congress may authorize the judiciary to hear cases involving international relations. Here, Congress did just that, passing a law that lets federal courts order discovery to aid foreign proceedings, including criminal investigations conducted before formal accusation. Polands probe fits the bill perfectly. And so, Gorsuch wrote, the Constitution requires the courts to apply independent judgment and uphold the ancient right to every mans evidence.

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There is another principle just beneath this analysis: the notion that, as Gorsuch put it, there comes a point where we should not be ignorant as judges of what we know to be true as citizens. Everyone knows that the government wants this suit dismissed because it hopes to impede the Polish criminal investigation and avoid (or at least delay) further embarrassment for past misdeeds. He continued:

The facts are hard to face. We know already that our government treated Zubaydah brutallymore than 80 waterboarding sessions, hundreds of hours of live burial, and what it calls rectal rehydration. Further evidence along the same lines may lie in the governments vaults. But as embarrassing as these facts may be, there is no state secret here. This Courts duty is to the rule of law and the search for truth. We should not let shame obscure our vision.

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Obviously, Gorsuchs standard is far less deferential than the majoritys, reflecting a profound suspicion of unchecked state power. It is unfortunate that the justice applies this suspicion inconsistently, shrugging at restrictions on bodily autonomy, voting rights, and immigration. In fairness, though, he has also often sided with criminal defendants in important cases. Gorsuch and Sotomayor have repeatedly teamed up to demand stricter enforcement of constitutional protections for the accused, including the right to a jury trial, the right to confront a witness, and the right against unreasonable searches.

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The two also foreshadowed their dissent in Zubaydah last November when they dissented from the courts refusal to take up a case involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. This court, in Gorsuchs words, evaluates extensive surveillance programs that carry profound implications for Americans privacy and their rights to speak and associate freely. Yet its proceedings and decisions are kept secret. The ACLU alleged that this concealment violates the First Amendment right of public access to government proceedings. Gorsuchs dissentjoined solely by Sotomayorhighlighted the executives long history of ignoring legal limitations on its surveillance activities, using secrecy to obscure unlawful spying.

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This case presents questions about the right of public access to Article III judicial proceedings of grave national importance, he wrote. If these matters are not worthy of our time, what is?

Its fascinating to see how these two justices civil libertarianism sets them apart from each wing of the court. In style and substance, Gorsuchs opinion in Zubaydah could not be more different from Thomas, even though the two justices are frequently in agreement. While Gorsuch began with a focus on the detainees horrific torture, Thomas fixated on the accusation against him. Abu Zubaydah is a terrorist, Thomas announcedan allegation unproven in the courts, where Zubaydah hasnt even been charged, let alone indicted and convicted. Thomas law-and-order, tough-on-terror posture contrasts sharply with Gorsuchs evident disgust with the CIA and its enablers. Breyers opinion similarly illustrates an irreconcilable disagreement with Sotomayor over the appropriate level of deference to grant the government. It harks back to their sharp split in Utah v. Strieff, a 2016 decision in which Breyer cast the decisive vote to allow evidence produced by an illegal search. Sotomayors impassioned and celebrated dissent highlighted systemic police violence against racial minorities, accusing Breyer and the conservatives of dismissing their plight.

None of these distinctions matters to Zubaydah or the 38 other men currently held at Guantanamo. The Supreme Court has never followed through on its promise to extend real rights to these detainees. Zubaydah is just the latest in a long line of injustices inflicted on the forever wars permanent prisoners. At least this time, two justices did not feign ignorance of what we all know to be true.
This article is part of the Free Speech Project , a collaboration between Future Tense and the Tech, Law, & Security Program at American University Washington College of Law that examines the ways technology is influencing how we think about speech.

Many of the worlds most popular platforms and services have sought to stymie Russias information operations and propaganda amid its illegal invasion of Ukraine. Meta, Google, Twitter, TikTok, and others have de-platformed, de-monetized, and de-amplified Russian state media and official channels, making them official participants in the information war that they largely refused to wade into in the months and years leading up to the war on Ukraine.

Apple joined in by removing RT and Sputnik from its App Store outside of Russia and went a step further and stopped all product sales and Apple Pay services in the country, a move that will undoubtedly affect ordinary Russians far more than the ruling class. Netflix has refused to carry Russian channels, and Warner Bros. and Disney have nixed upcoming movie releases in the country. Ukraine has encouraged this and recently asked Xbox and Sony to block Russian and Belarusian accounts and prevent gamers and teams from participating in or hosting esports events.

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But Ukraine wants to go even further by kicking Russia off the internet.

On Monday, Ukraines Ministry of Digital Transformation sent a letter to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, the body that oversees the domain system that forms the backbone of the open web. The letter asks ICANN to shut down Russian-administered domain names (think .RU, .SU, and .) and root servers in the country; to revoke Russias control of its top-level domain name system root servers; and to revoke the digital signatures that authenticate domain names. This is all a bit technical, but it basically means that the part of the internet run by Russia would not work. Most Russians wont be able to access their email or apps, search the web, or access local websites because they resolve using the country-level domain. It would also create substantial security risks for anyone trying to navigate to one of those sites.

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The domain name system, or DNS, is like the internets phone book, allowing anyone to type in a web address and get to the right place without having to figure out the corresponding string of numbers. The ability to authenticate a site is a crucial part of combating disinformation by preventing tampering and impersonationwhich means that if you tried to get to novayagazeta.ru (the website of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose editor Dmitry Muratov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021), you either would be stuck or could be directed to a spoofed site. The letter claims that these measures will help users seek for reliable information in alternative domain zones, preventing propaganda and disinformation.

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But it would do the opposite, shutting down some 5 million domainsincluding those belonging to local news outlets, nongovernmental organizations, and civic groupsand potentially kicking much of the country offline. While it wouldnt be a full-scale internet shutdown, this is basically like kicking Russia off the internet, according to Ephraim Kenyanito, a senior program officer at Article 19 whose work focuses on DNS and censorship. (Disclosure: Im the U.S. adviser for Article 19.) Local businesses, news outlets, and civil society would have to scramble to find new hosting services, which could be difficult given the increasing pressure to deny services to Russians. Government ministries of health would be taken offline, including information on COVID. Basically it would prevent Russians from accessing information, and it would do disproportionate harm, says Kenyanito.

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Shutting down .RU could mean silencing Novaya Gazeta and scores of other independent publications. This would further worsen access to reliable news in the country, given that Russias media regulator blocked access to the websites of independent broadcasters Echo of Moscow and Dozhd TV and forced them off air on Monday.

Disconnecting the Russian internet would make it more difficult for people in the country, some of whom vocally and at great risk oppose the war, to express themselves and provide an alternative narrative to Putins propaganda machine.

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Moscow has industrialized the art of propaganda, disinformation, and trolling while designing sophisticated strategies for modern information warfare. The internet and digital communications are fundamental to Putins repertoire of repression and manipulation, but cutting off access to the entire country punishes the Russian people and could stifle any domestic efforts to oppose and organize against the war or the regime. If ICANN had pulled the plug on the internet in Egypt or Syria, what would have become of the Arab Spring uprisings and the ability of reformers on the ground to counteract the official narrative (even if their ultimate success remained unrealized)?

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ICANN rejected the request from Ukraines deputy prime minister in a letter Wednesday, writing that, as an independent technical organization, ICANN has been built to ensure that the Internet works, not for its coordination role to be used to stop it from working. President and CEO Goran Marby said ICANN did not have the ability to revoke security certificates and that such intervention in the country-code top-level domain system would have devastating and permanent effects on the trust and utility of this global system.

Complying with Ukraines request would also set a dangerous precedent that could lead to the irreparable fragmentation of the global internet and further entrench Russias own efforts to create a national intranet known as Runet.

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Indeed, Russia has prepared for the possibility of being cut off from the World Wide Web. In 2019, it adopted a sovereign internet law to create a local network, including the creation of a national DNS that would be disconnected from the global internet and perpetuate the fragmentation that China, Iran, and other countries that want to control all information within their borders seek. A test last summer showed the viability of this approach. The neutrality of information and communication infrastructure is essential to maintaining the open, interoperable architecture of the internet. And ensuring the neutrality of the entity charged with making sure the architecture works is just as important.

Complying with Ukraines request would also risk further undermining decades of often mind-numbing work to develop global internet policy and accountability mechanisms that aim to be apolitical and inclusive of actors beyond just states or governments.

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If ICANN were to comply with the request, it would amount to institutional suicide, as internet governance scholar Milton Mueller put it, forcing it to regulate speech and become mired in the content moderation debate.

The foundation of this global public good is already being stress-tested. Moscow has restricted access to Facebook and Twitter. Meta, Google, and TikTok have cut off access to Russian state-owned media in the European Union at the behest of EU officials. Much of this makes sense. Its true that social media companies often wait too long before cracking down on bad state actors. The Taliban and the military junta in Myanmar were allowed to use U.S. tech platforms as part of their violent strategies to retake power. Leaders in Iran, Turkey, and Egypt have been permitted to use these same platforms for information operations aimed at stamping out political opposition and dismantling democracy. And President Donald Trump was allowed to use his perch on Twitter and microtargeting on Facebook to foment an insurrection. Some were eventually de-platformed, provoking disagreements and proposals to strip platforms of their authority to moderate content.

Still, it is better for geopolitics and content moderation (or censorship, depending on your stance) to remain at the application level rather than risk further undermining an open, interoperable internet. Weaponizing the technical standards that make the internet work, as Ukraine requests, would lead to further fragmentation along national borders and political interests, turning the growing specter of the splinternet into a foregone conclusion.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
On Saturday, Ukraines official Twitter account put out a call for financial aid as Russia pummeled it with artillery for the third day in a row. Stand with the people of Ukraine, it wrote. Now accepting cryptocurrency donations. Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT, followed by wallet addresses where the country could accept peoples digital coins.

Naturally, a Twitter call for crypto aroused skepticism. Hours after Ukraines tweet, major blockchain network Ethereums co-founder Vitalik Buterin took to the social platform urging people not to send their crypto to the addresses listed without verification. There have been *a lot* of hacks alongside this invasion, he wrote in a since-deleted tweet. This info environment is as hostile as it gets, exercise extreme vigilance.

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Warnings like these, however, were dwarfed by the number of tweets in which people pledged their crypto to the embattled country. (Some of them may have been sent by bots, judging by the slew of numbers at the end of their Twitter handles, but many were real people or groups eager to donate.)

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We support you. A drop in the ocean, but hopefully it can help. #PrayForUkraine pic.twitter.com/OvbIt88BxM  0xMartin.eth (@0xmartineth) February 26, 2022

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Watching this unfold in real time on Twitter alongside images of Russias brutal attacks in Ukraine was, to say the least, surreal. Cryptowhich so many have long viewed as magic internet money, digital play currency for gambling, or a Ponzi schemewas suddenly being solicited by a nation at war to aid in its relief efforts. For all the derision, cryptocurrencydecentralized, non-state-backed digital currencies whose transactions are easily traceable on blockchain networkshad potentially come into its ultimate use case of enabling fast, borderless transactions from around the globe when the regular banking system wouldnt cut it.

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Adding to the surrealness was the enthusiastic involvement of crypto Twitter, the social hub for talk about Web3 (a blockchain-based version of the internet not controlled by tech giants like Google and Facebook) and nonfungible tokens (one-of-a-kind digital tokens tied to artworks or collectibles). Normally a nonserious social bubble eschewing political talk in favor of good vibes (youd never know there was an ongoing pandemic if your only media consumption was NFT Twitter, for instance), this online community got a wake-up call in the form of Ukraines request for their favorite tender. Several big-name NFT artists and collectors donated works worth upward of $1 million to the country, while others quickly assembled to raise funds through collaborative projects.

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The whole Vanguards treasury of Censored now goes to human rights.



670 ETH - 1,875,906 USDhttps://t.co/4akaAZOCRi



 https://t.co/ddsejqFQf8  Pak (@muratpak) February 26, 2022

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All of this raises some important questions. First, how is Ukraine going to effectively use the cryptocurrency its receiving? Whos in charge of these allegedly government-controlled wallets? Logistically, how will they turn cryptocurrency into much needed supplies and services? And who are the people from all over the world who feel compelled to send their personal crypto to the country, and why are they doing it?

First, its critical to heed the warnings of those who cry scammer when it comes to any entity seeking crypto donations on Twitter, not to mention address the downsides of cryptocurrency donations.

Vancouver-based Jagdeep Sidhu, chief technology officer at Blockchain Foundry Inc., did just that, noting to Slate via Twitter DM that donating crypto precludes the ability to write off donations when filing taxes, since donors are sending their funds to digital wallets, not a registered nonprofit. He also tweeted his reservations about sending crypto directly to the wallets Ukraine posted on Twitter, elaborating to Slate, Centralized businesses are much more capable to determine accurate ways to donate.  Twitter has been hacked many times.

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Ukraines Twitter account wasnt the only one to tweet out its donation addresses, however. Mykhailo Fedorov, the vice prime minister of Ukraine and minister of digital transformation, shared the same wallet addresses on the social platform. Slate reached out to Ukraines Ministry of Digital Transformations press contact, who confirmed that the wallets shared on Twitter were set up by Crypto Fund of Ukraine that was created by Kyiv-based crypto exchange Kuna.

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The Crypto Fund, they added in a quote attributed to Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Oleksandr Bornyakov, is collecting, holding, and exchanging the crypto into fiat: The Crypto Fund literally operates as a crypto bank for the government to fund the Ukrainian Armed Forces against Russian invasion. With this money the Crypto Fund of Ukraine has bought thermal imagers, drones, heat vision goggles and other military equipment needed for the Ukrainian defenders.

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Another donation effort, Aid for Ukraine, aims to turn cryptocurrency into U.S. dollars to spend in the country with the help of U.S.-based exchange FTX (whose name graces the Miami Heat arena). Started by Anatoly Yakovenko, the co-founder of blockchain network Solana, and Sergey Vasylchuk, CEO of crypto staking service Everstake, (both Ukrainian) the fund aims to build a bridge between the crypto enthusiasts who want to support the Ukraine, with a crypto exchange [that] also wants to support Ukraine, Vasylchuk tells Slate.

The Solana team helped set up smart contracts for the cryptocurrency donations, while Vasylchuk reached out to contacts in the Ukrainian government hed established while assisting in their creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (a digital coin pegged to the countrys fiat), including staff at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, he says. The plan is to convert the funds crypto to USD through FTX, and send those dollars directly to Ukraines central bank. Vasylchuk says they plan to do this within a few days

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So far, the fund has raised more than $1.4 million that could go to the military, civilians, or other recipients in UkraineVasylchuk is more focused on the technical aspects of the donation process, so he isnt sure. What he does feel confident in is the countrys central bank, which he says can guarantee that this money will be used in the proper way.

As for the regular citizens sending their hard-won crypto to Ukraine, many cite their ability to easily and directly contribute to a cause that otherwise feels so out of their hands. As a friend of mine who donated what little ETH he had to Ukraines wallets said, It felt like the only way I could contribute.

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Arjus Dashi, whos based in Italy and sent SOL (the cryptocurrency of the Solana blockchain) to Ukraine, tells Slate, So far the worst war we have ever had here was World War II. Im born in 1991, so for me it was lived only through history books and imagination. The least I can do is help in some way. As for donating via crypto, Its fast  and very cheap. He donated directly to the SOL address shared by Fedorov on Twitter.

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Other crypto holders took their efforts a step further. Seeing the news about what was happening in Ukraine, my first instinct was to ask myself, is that outside of my niche? says self-described good-for-nothing [NFT] influencer Andrew Wang, 23, because I talk about NFTs, joking about monkeys and cat pictures all day.

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On Feb. 24, he tweeted asking whether Web3 or NFTs could do something about what was going on in Ukraine. In addition to the responses virtually laughing in his face and calling him a crypto bro, he found shared interest from his global, extremely online community. He teamed up with other NFT creators and enthusiasts Satvik Sethi, Giovanni Gussen, Vitaliy Raskalov, and Aleksandra Artamonovskaja, and in a matter of hours, they attracted several big-name NFT artists to participate in a project now called RELI3F. (The 3 is a nod to Web3.)

In total, 37 artists selling their work as NFTs contributed to a collection released on Friday. The pieces sold out almost immediately, initially raising $1 million, half of which was split among three funds: Come Back Alive, which supports the Ukrainian armed forces; local Ukrainian media outlets vetted by English language journal the Kyiv Independent; and volunteer paramedic organization Hospitallers. (The RELI3F team is waiting to see what Ukraine might need next before donating the rest.)

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One of the artists who participated, U.S.-based Emily Tompkins, donated a piece she describes as a commentary on my grandfather fleeing fascism. She sees crypto as a solid way to share funds with a country under attack, particularly after seeing on the news people in Ukraine wait for hours to access cash-depleted ATMsthey need liquidity rapidly, she says.

London-based digital art curator Artamonovskaja was wondering what she could possibly do to help the situation in Ukraine when she came across Wangs tweet and got in touch. Born in Ukraine, she says she was able to connect with a government official she knew from the country to help her figure out where RELI3F could donate, along with other Ukrainian artists, four of whom she brought into the project.

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One, Julia Beliaeva, was still in Kyiv with her young child when she donated her NFT artwork. She requested aid from the team to help her escape, so they transferred 1.77 ETH to USD (then more than $5,000) and sent that directly to Beliaevas bank account, so she could use it while making the roughly six-hour car trip to neighboring Moldova.

If you ask Wang, this all happened because of the tools of Web3, which extend beyond cryptocurrency. They include the smart contracts used to facilitate NFT sales, the multisignature wallets that ensure no single member of a project can abscond with their raised funds, blockchains that allow anyone with internet access to see where a funds crypto ends up, and the international community thats already engaging in this decentralized space. These are tools the Web3 diehards deeply believe in, and they were frankly excited to get to use them for public good.

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When people think of NFTs and cryptocurrency, they often think of the scammy hype cycle, in which creators heavily promote an NFT or crypto project to get more and more people to buy in. This ideally increases the NFTs or coins perceived value, so that the creators can get rich. RELI3F and other crypto holders donating to Ukraine seem to be harnessing the power of that model for humanitarian reasons, instead.

A lot of us in crypto  try to stay away from politics. We always talk about good vibes, and WAGMIWere All Gonna Make It, Wang says, referring to the idea of mutual financial success in the NFT community. But seeing what was happening in Ukraine changed that for him. Its real life, and you cant run away from it  seeing that crypto donations were being made [to Ukraine], it felt like a good moment to mobilize.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Major BSCs not expected to move services out of Slovakia this year.

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The Czech Republic is only twice as large as Slovakia when it comes to population, but the sector of shared service and business service centres is three times larger. This indicates that the potential of Slovakia has not been fully used. Increased engagement not only of the government but also municipalities and self-governing regions will certainly help advance Slovakias competitiveness and attractiveness in this industry, says Peter Rusinak, coordinator of the Business Service Center Forum industry association running under AmCham.

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He perceives the shared service and business service centres as indicators of the potential of the country. Shared services are really a great example of how the national economy could really turn into something modern and fresh, dynamic and innovation driven.

Why did the BSCF first emerge?

The forum was created based on the demand of respective companies. Approximately 10-12 mostly American companies approached us in 2014. They needed an organisation to communicate their issues and interests, like the automotive, electrotechnical and construction sectors. Since all those companies were members of AmCham, it made sense to join forces with the chamber.

What share of the sector do you represent?

Quite a large share, above 92 percent of the headcount in the sector. There are approximately 65 business centres in Slovakia, employing roughly 39,000 to 40,000 people. Of these, 35 companies employing approximately 36,000 people in total, including all the big players on the market, are members of BSCF.

What problems do BSCs address to AmCham the most?

Our mission is to raise awareness of the sector in Slovakia and help further its growth. We provide three main types of services for companies. We share information from the sector about best practices and solutions for problems companies might have, functioning as a network. Then theres our interaction with universities and secondary schools to improve the employability of graduates. Last is our branch of policy and advocacy, through which we communicate with local authorities, public offices, and governmental bodies about legislation and the happenings in the public sector as well as streamline our CSR activities.
The currently valid law somewhat discourages people from joining foreign armies.

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The call of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to people across the globe willing to join Ukrainians in their fight against Russia has evoked a response in Slovakia.

Some individuals already started examining the options to gain permission to join the army. Even though it is legally possible to participate in battles in another countrys territory, it takes weeks or even months to receive permission. Moreover, it is not sure the person will eventually obtain it.
EC President thanks Slovakia for helping Ukrainians fleeing the war. More than 79,000 refugees have crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border since the war started.

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Good evening. Catch up on the main news of the day in less than five minutes with the Thursday, March 3 edition of Today in Slovakia.

Slovaks could join the war in Ukraine, but the permission process is difficult

Illustrative stock photo (Source: AP/SITA)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on people across the globe to join Ukrainians in their fight against Russia.

His call has evoked a response in Slovakia, too, but for Slovaks who would be willing to join the fight, the options are not straightforward.

Even though it is legally possible to participate in battles in another countrys territory, it takes weeks or even months to receive permission. Moreover, it is not guaranteed that those who apply will eventually obtain it.

The law on military service allows for the granting of such an exception. A volunteer first needs to address the district authority. Subsequently, the request is assessed by the Interior Ministry, and then the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Eventually, the request is sent to the head of state, which can either approve or dismiss the request.

Monument of Soviet soldiers painted blue and yellow

Slavin monument coloured in blue and yellow (Source: TASR)

The police have launched an investigation after an anonymous perpetrator painted Slavin, a memorial and military cemetery for fallen Soviet troops in Bratislava, blue and yellow.

These colours represent the Ukrainian flag.

The Russian Embassy in Bratislava was outraged by the incident and has demanded the restoration of the monument to its original form.

In response, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that Slavin being painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag is a call of Slovak citizens on Russia to end this nonsense war.

The ministry also asked the Slovak public to honour and acknowledge the friendly Russian citizens devoted to democracy and peace.

On the other hand, the ministry told the Russian Embassy in Bratislava to perceive reality.

And the [reality] is large civic solidarity with Ukraine, which was groundlessly attacked by the Russian Federation. Besides breaching international law, the Russian Federation has also trampled on the memory of Ukrainians who fought side by side with Russians for freedom in 1945, the ministry noted, as quoted by TASR.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Bratislava Matus Vallo and the Bratislava Old Town borough denounced the vandalism. They called on people to focus on supporting and helping people fleeing from war.

Some of us feel powerless and we feel urged to do something," Vallo said. "But painting Slavin is not going to help anyone.

More on war in Ukraine

Ursula von der Leyen and Eduard Heger meeting in Bratislava on March 3. (Source: TASR)

EC President Ursula von der Leyen visited Slovakia and thanked the country's people for helping Ukrainians fleeing the war . She also emphasised that it is important now that processes at the borders are simplified and that Ukrainians are treated equally throughout the EU so they can stay in the country or continue to other countries. The EU will offer 500 million more to assist refugees.

. She also emphasised that it is important now that processes at the borders are simplified and that Ukrainians are treated equally throughout the EU so they can stay in the country or continue to other countries. The EU will offer 500 million more to assist refugees. 500 applicants who speak the Ukrainian language at a C2 level applied on the biggest job-ad portal, Profesia, in February 2022 . This level of language is comparable to that of a native speaker. Compared to the same period last year, this is an increase of about 130 percent.

. This level of language is comparable to that of a native speaker. Compared to the same period last year, this is an increase of about 130 percent. Every refugee from Ukraine is guaranteed standard emergency care in Slovakia. This applies to asylum seekers, those who have applied for temporary shelter, as well as people who are just passing through the country, said Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky (OLaNO).

This applies to asylum seekers, those who have applied for temporary shelter, as well as people who are just passing through the country, said Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky (OLaNO). 38 countries including Slovakia have submitted the situation in Ukraine to The Hague for investigation over suspicions of war crimes committed by the Russian Federation.

over suspicions of war crimes committed by the Russian Federation. If the influx of refugees from Ukraine increases, Austria is ready to help Slovakia. Aid to Ukraine and solidarity with the people driven from their homes by the war must be a priority and a joint effort, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova stated after a phone call with her Austrian counterpart, Alexander Van der Bellen.

Aid to Ukraine and solidarity with the people driven from their homes by the war must be a priority and a joint effort, Slovak President Zuzana Caputova stated after a phone call with her Austrian counterpart, Alexander Van der Bellen. As of March 3, 6:00, more than 79,000 people have crossed the Slovak-Ukrainian border; 767 people have asked for temporary protection and 126 have requested asylum , the Interior Ministry reported.

, the Interior Ministry reported. The Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava suspended all common activities with Russian universities and research institutions to show its objection to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

to show its objection to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Slovak operators will remove broadcasts of Russia Today and the Sputnik agency from their offers , said Culture Minister Natalia Milanova (OLaNO), referring to the EU's ordinance that has been valid since Wednesday evening.

, said Culture Minister Natalia Milanova (OLaNO), referring to the EU's ordinance that has been valid since Wednesday evening. Slovakia will withdraw from the International Investment Bank and the International Bank for Economic Cooperation, whose shareholders are the Russian Federation . Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria will also withdraw from both banks. The finance ministers of these countries agreed on this at the Ecofin meeting this week.

. Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria will also withdraw from both banks. The finance ministers of these countries agreed on this at the Ecofin meeting this week. Despite the ongoing invasion in Ukraine, the Slovak banking sector is providing all financial services in full. According to the National Bank of Slovakia, the current situation has not affected its functioning and smooth operation. At the same time, no Slovak financial institution is subject to international sanctions.

If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, please buy our online subscription. Until March 7, you can subscribe to spectator.sk for less than 10 cents a day (33.90)!

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Photo of the day

An artist who portrays well-known personalities used 600 non-functional phones to create a two-metre-high portrait of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs. It weighs 50 kilograms.

A portrait of Steve Jobs by Slovak artist Jozef Stancik. (Source: Mobilonline)

Feature story for today

The Bratislava region is statistically one of the richest regions in the European Union, but its prosperity remains on paper, not reflecting the real situation.

As a direct consequence, Bratislava and its vicinity qualifies only for a small portion of the EU funds package allocated for Slovakia.

Bratislava Region says it is not as rich as it appears, wants a bigger portion of EU funds Read more

In other news

11,462 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 20,218 PCR tests performed on Wednesday. The number of people in hospitals is 2,554; 44 more deaths were reported on Wednesday. The vaccination rate is at 51.23 percent, 2,817,538 people have received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.

out of 20,218 PCR tests performed on Wednesday. The number of people in hospitals is 2,554; 44 more deaths were reported on Wednesday. The vaccination rate is at 51.23 percent, 2,817,538 people have received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here. Slovakia will temporarily boost its presence in Operation EUFOR Althea . It plans to send 121 members of the Slovak Armed Forces to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim is to prevent the local security situation from deteriorating. Slovak troops are scheduled to stay there for 30 days, according to Martina Koval Kakascikova, a spokesperson for the Defence Ministry.

. It plans to send 121 members of the Slovak Armed Forces to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim is to prevent the local security situation from deteriorating. Slovak troops are scheduled to stay there for 30 days, according to Martina Koval Kakascikova, a spokesperson for the Defence Ministry. 10,492 people applied for a passport on March 2, which is a new record . "We have not recorded such a number of applications in our history; a similar record was set on May 23, 2012, when 7,773 citizens applied for documents," the police report said.

. "We have not recorded such a number of applications in our history; a similar record was set on May 23, 2012, when 7,773 citizens applied for documents," the police report said. Income tax returns for the year 2021 must be submitted by the end of March and taxes also must be paid by this deadline. Tax returns can be submitted electronically. To register, you need an electronic ID card with a chip or qualified electronic signature.

Do not miss on Spectator.sk today

The Vietnamese campaign for their rights: We belong here Read more

Slovakias potential for business centres still not fully tapped Read more

If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
Russia has trampled on the memory of the fallen, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in response.

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Part of the military monument Slavin, a Soviet war memorial in Bratislava, was painted blue and yellow.

The painted parts include the stairs and pillars of the monument, along with an area in front of it. The police wrote on Facebook that they have launched an investigation into this crime, which is classified as damaging someone else's property.

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Through this action, the perpetrator has caused damage of an unspecified amount as a place of reverence within the meaning of the provisions of the Criminal Code, 'enjoys protection under a special regulation, police spokesperson Michal Szeiff said. This will be the subject of further investigation.

Russian Embassy outraged

The Russian Embassy is outraged by the incident and has asked for the restoration of the monument. It stated that a reverential place was desecrated.
EC President Ursula von der Leyen discussed the situation at the borders with President Zuzana Caputova and PM Eduard Heger.

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President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen visited Slovakia on March 3 and met with both President Zuzana Caputova and PM Eduard Heger.

The EC president said that the EU stands with Slovakia and will help the country with funds and supplies to arrange help for Ukrainians fleeing the war.

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As the EU, we have conducted many steps to stop Russian aggression in Ukraine, including harsh sanctions that lower the ability of Russia to lead the war, Caputova wrote on Facebook. They will also touch us in a certain way because they will have economic consequences in the international space. But this is our price for freedom and for a safer Europe.

She added that the EU is taking other steps including decreasing its dependence on energy supplies from Russia.

The EC President appreciates the wave of solidarity of Slovak citizens.

Today, we can count on our solidarity with the support and help of the EU, she said.

PM Heger said that the world is united in the denouncement of Russian aggression and the war in Ukraine. He added that 141 countries have denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It is a huge signal that people, countries and their citizens in the 21st century want peace, he said.
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/6-january-panel-prepares-potential-criminal-charges-against-donald-trump--1093544673.html

6 January Panel Prepares Potential Criminal Charges Against Donald Trump

6 January Panel Prepares Potential Criminal Charges Against Donald Trump

The committee has been investigating whether the former president and his allies had any role in the massive protests in and around the Capitol on 6 January, which left five people dead. Several officials from the Trump administration were subpoenaed by the panel and the presidents daughter Ivanka was invited to participate in an interview.

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The US House Select Committee says there is enough evidence to conclude that former President Donald Trump and some of his allies conspired to commit fraud and obstruction by misleading the public about the results of the 2020 election. Donald Trump's representatives have not commented on the statement.In a motion submitted to the District Court for the Central District of California, the panel writes the evidence they obtained demonstrates that the businessman-turned-politician, conservative lawyer John Eastman, and other Trump allies, could potentially be charged with criminal violations, including conspiracy to defraud the public and obstruction an official proceeding in Congress.Commenting on the potential criminal charges the committee said it relied on the extensive and detailed accounts of Trump administration officials that had been made public as well as information from the interviews it held with more than 550 government officials, including Justice Department employees, top aides to Donald Trump, and others.The panel's court filing stems from a lawsuit filed by John Eastman. Eastman sued the committee after it subpoenaed him, requesting documents in his possession, including one where Eastman wrote to Donald Trump about how to overturn the results of the election with the help of Vice President Mike Pence. The memo, obtained by CNN, was released to the public last September.Since the US House Select Committee is a legislative committee it has no authority to charge Donald Trump and his allies, or anyone else with a crime. Yet, it can refer the case to the US Justice Department, which potentially can take up a case against the 45th president and officials from his administration.What Happened on 6 January 2021?The panel has been investigating whether Donald Trump and his allies had any role in the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021. The incident occurred in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, which Donald Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. However, the Republican refused to concede defeat and claimed that the vote was rigged by the Democrats and that he actually won the election.On 6 January, Congress convened to certify the results of the election, Donald Trump held a so-called "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington, DC, which was attended by thousands of his supporters.Addressing the crowd, Donald Trump and other speakers at the rally reiterated claims about the election being stolen. Trump also called on his audience to "march" on Congress.During the rally hundreds of supporters headed to the Capitol, with a large group of people storming into the building. Five protesters and a policeman were killed and more than a hundred law enforcement officers were injured as Trump supporters breached the building.Following the incident, the Democrats accused Trump of inciting an "insurrection" and introduced an impeachment article against him. The Republican POTUS became the first US president to be impeached twice.The four-day trial ended with lawmakers voting 57-43 to convict Trump, but he was acquitted because a two-thirds majority (67 votes) was needed. The president said he bore no responsibility for the deadly riots and dismissed the Democrats' decision to introduce an impeachment article against him as "ridiculous".

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https://sputniknews.com/20220303/biden-delivers-state-of-the-union-address-oil-markets-hit-multiple-records-1093535302.html

Biden Delivers State of the Union Address; Oil Markets Hit Multiple Records

Biden Delivers State of the Union Address; Oil Markets Hit Multiple Records

Western sanctions are starting to backfire as both oil and gas prices spike to multiple highs on unstable markets. 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

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the critical hour

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censorship

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radio

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Biden Delivers State of the Union Address; Oil Markets Hit Multiple Records Western sanctions are starting to backfire as both oil and gas prices spike to multiple highs on unstable markets.

Steve Poikonen, national organizer for Action4Assange, joins us to discuss the state of the union address. President Biden touted his economic accomplishments and spoke on his plans to pass critical legislative packages over the summer. Also, he spoke on the Ukraine crisis indicating that he viewed himself and America as the leaders of the world.Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor in economics and politics at St. Mary's College in California, joins us to discuss the economy. Western sanctions are starting to backfire as both oil and gas prices spike to multiple highs on unstable markets. Also, we discuss the future of these sanctions and whether the Western economic experts have a plan to mitigate the fallout.Niko House, political activist, independent journalist, and podcaster, joins us to discuss censorship. Caitlin Johnstone has a new article in which she playfully argues that "Defending Freedom and Democracy Sure Requires an Awful Lot of Censorship." She then makes the point that censorship thwarts both freedom and democracy.Scott Ritter, former UN weapon inspector in Iraq, joins us to discuss Ukrainian history. Ritter talks about the history of the formation of the land that is now called Ukraine and how that history affects the conflict today. Also, he gives his thoughts on the motivation and fostering party strategy of President Putin.Martin Sieff, senior fellow at the American University in Moscow, joins us to discuss the European Union's claims to provide fighter jets to Ukraine. We discuss the reasons for the claim and the absurdity of it given the facts on the ground, and the potential consequences if they were to attempt such a thing.James Carey, writer, activist, and podcaster, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Negotiations for the Iran deal may be coming to a close as some of the parties threaten to walk away.George Koo, journalist, social activist, and international business consultant, joins us to discuss China. President Biden continues to ramp up tensions with China as he sends a group of former officials to Taiwan. Also, China makes itself available to negotiate peace in the Ukraine crisis.Regis Tremblay, an American citizen living in Crimea, joins us to discuss the Ukraine crisis from Crimea. Regis gives us the perspective of Crimeans on the Ukrainian crisis. We compare the facts on the ground against the arguments made in Western media.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com

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the critical hour, crimea, china, censorship, taiwan, sotu, joe biden, , radio
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/bjp-congress-workers-clash-in-indias-manipur-ahead-of-second-phase-of-polls-1093555257.html

BJP, Congress Workers Clash in Indias Manipur Ahead of Second Phase of Polls

BJP, Congress Workers Clash in Indias Manipur Ahead of Second Phase of Polls

The first phase of polling on 28 February in Indias north-eastern state of Manipur was marred by incidents of violence. An explosion in Churachandpur district... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T12:57+0000

2022-03-03T12:57+0000

2022-03-03T15:57+0000

india

india

manipur

manipur

elections

elections

elections

politics

politics

politics

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Just a couple of days ahead of the second phase of state assembly elections in Indias Manipur, staffers working for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - which runs the state - and for the main opposition party, Congress, reportedly clashed in Kakching Khunou town.According to media reports, 13 vehicles, including eight two-wheelers, were damaged during the violence that broke out late on Wednesday night.Congress on Thursday accused the BJP government in Manipur of violating the code of conduct's rules about influencing elections, as around INR 170 million ($ 2,237,000) has been released to outlawed militant groups which are under a Suspension of Operation (SoO) order.The SoO order had been agreed in 2008 between the Federal Government, the United Peoples Front, and the Kuki National Organisation. Since then, the government has been extending the order.Talking to the media, former federal minister and Congress politician Jairam Ramesh alleged that the money had been released in two tranches. The first tranche was released on 1 February and the second was released on 1 March, he said.Ramesh, who is also the Congress observer in the state, claimed that his information came from a senior state government official.He also alleged that the release of payments mean that elections held in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts during the first phase of polling on 28 February were not free and fair.Assembly elections are underway in Manipur and the second phase is scheduled to take place on 5 March. The first phase of polling was held on 28 February.Out of a total of 60 assembly seats, polling for 38 seats took place on 28 February and polling for the remaining 22 seats is slated for 5 March. Votes will be counted on 10 March.However, the Manipur chief electoral officer, Rajesh Agrawal, issued a statement saying that 12 polling stations will face a re-election on 5 March.Re-elections in these polling stations was recommended because of information received and reported by Returning Officers, the statement said. The main reason for recommending re-election was because of damage to electronic voting machines (EVMs) by miscreants during and after the polls, the statement said.The polling stations facing re-election are: Sarouthel, New Keithelmanbi, Songsang, Maite, Tinsuong, Majuron Kuki, N.Chingphei, Khoirentak, Molsang, Leinom, Teikot and Maukot.Manipur, the tribal state in the north-east region of India, shares its border with Myanmar. It was declared a disturbed area by the federal Home Ministry under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in 1972.The AFSPA empowers security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without prior notice in the state.

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india, india, manipur, manipur, elections, elections, elections, politics, politics, politics, politics, congress, congress, indian national congress, bharatiya janata party (bjp)
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/evidence-of-40000-year-old-modern-culture-unearthed-in-china-archaeologists-say-1093549723.html

Evidence of 40,000-Year-Old Modern Culture Unearthed in China, Archaeologists Say

Evidence of 40,000-Year-Old Modern Culture Unearthed in China, Archaeologists Say

Eurasia saw the first archaic humans at least 2 million years ago, but scientists have been struggling to find out when anatomically modern beings began to... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T12:13+0000

2022-03-03T12:13+0000

2022-03-03T12:13+0000

tech

china

culture

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Modern humans - homo sapiens - could have been present in northern Asia by around 40,000 years ago, having replaced archaic populations across Eurasia, an international team of archaeologists revealed in a new study published in Nature.The evidence of a modern culture was discovered in the province of Xiamabei in northern China.The stone technology discovered in the Chinese province was cutting-edge for that time, as it would only spread broadly some 10,000 years later.Additionally, the Xiamabei site appears to be the earliest known ochre-processing feature, with tools like "a distinctive miniaturised lithic assemblage with bladelet-like tools bearing traces of hafting, and a bone tool". The scientific team admits that one important feature is still absent: bones. Since no bones were found in connection with the Xiamabei discoveries, they may be associated with other hominin types such as late Denisovans, or even the Neanderthals.But the unique qualities of the discoveries, along with the remains of modern humans being discovered in the area and proven to be related to the same period of time, the scientists tend to believe that the Xiamabei site also hosted homo sapiens.

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Daria Bedenko

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https://sputniknews.com/20220303/former-louisville-cop-acquitted-on-all-charges-stemming-from-fatal-raid-of-breonna-taylors-home-1093565727.html

Former Louisville Cop Acquitted on All Charges Stemming From Fatal Raid of Breonna Taylor's Home

Former Louisville Cop Acquitted on All Charges Stemming From Fatal Raid of Breonna Taylor's Home

Ex-officer Brett Hankison was acquitted on all three counts of felony wanton endangerment resulting from a botched police raid which wrongly killed Breonna... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T20:40+0000

2022-03-03T20:40+0000

2022-03-03T22:35+0000

breonna taylor

louisville police

raid

acquittal

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The former Louisville Metro Police Department detective was the only officer of three charged in connection with the March 12, 2020, shooting, although those charges were not related to Taylor's death. Instead, the only criminal charge to come out of the botched police raid was the wanton endangerment of Taylor's neighbors.On the sixth day of the trial, a jury deliberated for three hours and acquitted Hankison of all three charges, each of which carried a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The charges were not for the death of Taylor, but for endangering the couple who lived next door to Taylor and her boyfriend. The couple who lived next door included Cody Etherton, his pregnant girlfriend, and her five year-old child. They were woken up by police breaking down the door of Taylor's apartment next door. Etherton took the stand on the first day of the trial against Hankison, and described the danger he felt he was put in."So, this shot here I believe was the one that was inches away from hitting me," he testified, pointing to an image of a bullet hole which damaged a clock in his apartment. "One or two more inches and I would have been shot, which kind of upsets me because I think about it all the time. My son would have never got to meet me, I would have never got to meet my son," he added.Taylor and her boyfriend has been asleep in bed when they were woken by what they assumed was an intruder. Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend, used his legally-owned gun to fire a single shot which wounded Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly's leg. The non-fatal warning shot prompted white officers Mattingly, Myles Cosgrove, and Brett Hankison, who were not in uniform but wearing plain clothes during a narcotics investigation, to shoot 32 times into the dark, striking Taylor six times. Taylor was killed immediately. No drugs were found in Taylor's home.Similar to the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, Taylor's death stirred national outrage and prompted severe backlash and retaliation from the Black Lives Matter movement, and protests over no-knock warrants. The controversial police tactic was highly used between the 1990s and the 2000s, as an attempt to tackle the United States' so-called "war on drugs". You have to go back years to understand why we have no knocks, said Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association. They were developed as a tool, through courts, for the preservation of evidence... primarily crack cocaine. Thats no longer the case, and hasnt been for at least ten years. (We)ve been strongly teaching, advocating, for other alternatives.The Louisville Metro Council have subsequently passed an ordinance known as "Breonna's Law", which bans no-knock search warrants, in June 2020. The city of Louisville also agreed to pay Taylor's family $12 million in a settlement for her death.Currently, Oregon and Florida are the only states that prohibit the use of no-knock warrants.The two other officers involved in the raid, Mattingly and Cosgrove, asserted the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying. They did not face charges, according to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, because their use of force was justified after Taylor's boyfriend fired his gun.Hankison was fired in June 2020, Cosgrove was fired in January 2021, and Mattingly retired in April 2021. It is possible, however, that Mattingly and Cosgrove may be included in an ongoing federal investigation on the deadly raid.

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breonna taylor, louisville police, raid, acquittal
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/french-authorities-seize-yacht-believed-to-be-owned-by-rosnefts-igor-sechin-1093551469.html

French Authorities Seize Yacht Believed to Be Owned by Rosneft's Igor Sechin

French Authorities Seize Yacht Believed to Be Owned by Rosneft's Igor Sechin

Igor Sechin, the head of the Russian state-run energy company Rosneft, is among those sanctioned by the United States over Moscow's military operation in... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T13:06+0000

2022-03-03T13:06+0000

2022-03-03T13:06+0000

europe

france

rosneft

igor sechin

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French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has said that the country's authorities have seized a yacht that they say is linked to Igor Sechin.According to the statement, French customs seized the yacht "Amore Vero" in La Ciotat - a commune in the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region in southern France. The yacht was seized as part of the EU sanctions against Russia imposed in the wake of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine.French authorities say they seized the vessel overnight between 2 and 3 March. They also said the yacht is owned by a company that Igor Sechin, Rosneft's director, has been identified as the main shareholder.It was said that the yacht had arrived in La Ciotat on 3 January and was set to remain there until 1 April for repairs.The check of the 280-foot yacht took several hours. According to the French authorities, the yacht was preparting to cast off before the check - a move that was deemed as an attempt to breach the western sanctions imposed on Sechin and many other Russian people and entities.The US and the EU slapped sanctions on Russia in the wake of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine. Among those on the US sanctions list, aside from Sechin, are Russia's Sergei Ivanov, Nikolai Patrushev, and their adult children.Amid the wave of anti-Russian sanctions, several countries in the West said they are considering seizing the assets of Russian oligarchs. Le Maire said that the French authorities are seeking to seize all of the assets of those under EU sanctions. The United Kingdom, according to the Financial Times, is also planning to seize the property of the sanctioned oligarchs. The United States has since launched a new task force called KleptoCapture aimed at tracing and seizing the assets of those under anti-Russian sanctions.

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europe, france, rosneft, igor sechin
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/hindu-godman-demands-boycott-of-muslim-vendors-days-after-bajrang-dal-group-members-murder-1093536711.html

Hindu Godman Demands Boycott of Muslim Vendors Days After 'Bajrang Dal' Group Member's Murder

Hindu Godman Demands Boycott of Muslim Vendors Days After 'Bajrang Dal' Group Member's Murder

Harsha, a 26-year-old member of the Hindu organisation Bajrang Dal, was stabbed to death on 20 February in Shivamogga, Karnataka. The organisation's activists... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T11:42+0000

2022-03-03T11:42+0000

2022-03-03T11:42+0000

india

india

karnataka state

karnataka

hindus

hinduism

muslim

muslim

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A video has surfaced on social media in which a self-proclaimed Godman in the Indian state of Karnataka is seen making a public call to Hindus to boycott Muslim businesses and not to buy any products from them. In the video that later went viral, actor-turned-Godman Rishikumar Swami, can be seen clad in a saffron robe. Surrounded by a handful of people, he takes an oath at the deceased Harsha's memorial service in the local Kannada language, demanding a boycott of Muslim products.According to reports in the Indian media, he's also using derogatory terms to describe the Muslim community."...You have chopped our boy into pieces...We will take 10 heads for one head of our guy. The Hindu community will not rest...", said Rishikumar Swami while speaking at the memorial service.In January, Rishikumar Swami was arrested for demanding the demolition of a mosque in the Srirangapatna area of the state. But this time police are yet to register an official complaint against him.The killing of Hindu group member Harsha took place amid an ongoing row over hijabs in Karnataka. It started in January after a group of hijab-wearing Muslim girls were barred from entering their classroom at a pre-university college. Soon, it led to protests in different parts of the state.Meanwhile, some media reports said that the Bajrang Dal worker was killed for allegedly posting anti-hijab posts on Facebook. However, police have denied the reports and arrested ten people for Harsha's murder.Police have said that Harsha's death is a case of rivalry between two local gangs  Hindutva and Muslim gangs. It has refuted the allegation of any Muslim organisations being involved.

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india, india, karnataka state, karnataka, hindus, hinduism, muslim, muslim
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/india-explores-alternative-means-to-continue-trade-with-russia-despite-western-sanctions-1093546396.html

India Explores Alternative Means to Continue Trade With Russia Despite Western Sanctions

India Explores Alternative Means to Continue Trade With Russia Despite Western Sanctions

Trade between India and Russia stood at more than $10 billion in 2021. As the US and its allies announced sanctions against Russian financial institutions... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T12:58+0000

2022-03-03T12:58+0000

2022-03-03T12:58+0000

situation in ukraine

india

russian exporters

export

russia

piyush goyal

fertilizer

petroleum

oil

sanctions

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The Indian government has begun exploring various ways it can help its exporters continue trading with sanctions-hit Russia. India's Commerce and Trade Ministry has given assurances to exporters dealing with Russia, and sources told Sputnik that the Reserve Bank of India - the country's central bank - has been questioning Indian banks about their transactions with Russian lenders and how to avert sanctions.The government official said that exporters are looking forward to trading in national currencies as sanctions imposed by the US and its allies made dollar transactions difficult. Exporters have advised the government to channel payments through third-party countries which welcome Russian and Indian banks.India's UCO Bank based in Kolkata city is likely to be used as a financial institution to make payments of Russian orders. The small state-owned bank has been used as the payment bank for Iranian products, including oil, since 2012 when the US imposed severe sanctions on Tehran because of the latter's nuclear programme. The bank has limited exposure to the West and easily avoids sanctions.On Wednesday, Russia's ambassador-designate to New Delhi, Denis Alipov, said that the bilateral trade would largely depend on the readiness of "Indian partners" to continue with the engagement.Government sources in New Delhi said that the two countries had devised a mechanism in 2020 to carry out transactions with Russia. New Delhi paid for the S-400 deal in national currencies to avoid sanctions.The fertiliser ministry called a meeting of industry representatives on Friday to discuss various options for unhindered materials supplies from Russia and Belarus.The commerce and industry ministry is also keeping an eye on shipping containers for transportation as the three biggest firms announced a temporary suspension of cargo shipments to and from Russia over safety concerns.Swiss-headquartered MSC introduced "a temporary stoppage on all cargo bookings to or from Russia, covering all access areas including the Baltics, Black Sea and Far-East Russia" from 1 March.Denmark's Maersk firm also stopped all container shipping to and from Russia. However, it agreed to continue delivering foodstuffs and medical and humanitarian supplies.After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched special military operations at the request of the people's republics of the Donbass region, the US and some of its allies slapped sanctions on certain Russian lenders.The balance of bilateral trade is in Russia's favour: Russia exports commodities each year to India worth around $7 billion whereas India's annual exports to Russia are approximately $4 billion.

https://sputniknews.com/20220211/india-russia-can-use-digital-currencies-to-avoid-possible-us-sanctions-over-ukraine-says-expert-1092711088.html

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Rishikesh Kumar https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e4/08/04/1080055820_0:0:388:389_100x100_80_0_0_40018ee210946d65d49ffba4f4c008e1.jpg

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india, russian exporters, export, russia, piyush goyal, fertilizer, petroleum, oil, sanctions, reserve bank of india (rbi), narendra modi, vladimir putin, ukraine
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/israeli-ynet-reporter-disproves-kievs-claim-russia-bombed-site-of-nazi-massacre-1093553166.html

Israeli Ynet Reporter Disproves Kievs Claim Russia Bombed Site of Nazi Massacre

Israeli Ynet Reporter Disproves Kievs Claim Russia Bombed Site of Nazi Massacre

Nazi invaders, aided by Ukrainian nationalist collaborators, murdered some 34,000 of Kiev's pre-war Jewish population and 70,000 others at the Babi Yar ravine... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T14:57+0000

2022-03-03T14:57+0000

2022-03-03T15:07+0000

situation in ukraine

ukraine

russia

babi yar

kiev

nazi

israel

jews

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An Israeli journalist has visited the site of a WWII massacre of Kiev's Jews  and debunked government claims Russia bombed the memorial.Ron Ben Yishai, the Ukraine correspondent for news site Ynet, went to Babi Yar in Kiev on Wednesday to investigate Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky's accusation  widely repeated in Western media  for himself.The reporter said that three missiles launched by Russian aircraft had hit the communications and television tower complex, about 300 metres (330 yards) from the modern monument and a kilometre (0.6 miles) from the original.Russia's Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued a public warning to Kiev authorities and residents that it intended to hit the tower and nearby facilities of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the 72nd Centre for Information and Psychological Operations (PSO), who it said was carrying out cyber-attacks against Russia."In order to thwart informational attacks against Russia, [Russian forces] will strike technological objects of the SBU and the 72nd Main PSO Center in Kiev. We urge Ukrainian citizens involved by Ukrainian nationalists in provocations against Russia, as well as Kiev residents living near relay stations, to leave their homes", the MoD said.In one of the most infamous Nazi atrocities of the Second World War, occupying German forces rounded up 34,000 Jews  referred to in public orders by the Ukrainian slur zhid  and marched them to the ravine, located on the outskirts of the city at the time.There they were massacred on September 29 and 30 1941, and buried in mass graves at the bottom of the valley. The Ukrainian Auxiliary Police and other local collaborators with the Nazi regime assisted in the pogrom. The current government in Kiev nowadays reveres Ukrainian nationalist Nazi collaborators such as Stepan Bandera as heroes.Over the following months, around 70,000 more residents of the city were arrested, taken to the site, executed and buried in the mass grave. In August and September 1942, the Nazis forced hundreds of Soviet prisoners of war to disinter the bodies of the murdered and burn them on huge funeral pyres. After they were made to build a final pyre for themselves, the soldiers tried to escape, but only around a dozen survived the hail of German machine-gun fire.In 2015, extremist supporters of the previous year's pro-NATO and European Union coup in Kiev threatened to destroy the Babi Yar monument.

https://sputniknews.com/20220301/israeli-citizen-trying-to-flee-ukraine-killed-by-kiev-forces-1093472083.html

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ukraine, russia, babi yar, kiev, nazi, israel, jews
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/lavrov-says-has-no-doubt-solution-to-situation-in-ukraine-will-be-found-russian-demands-are-minimal-1093543292.html

Lavrov Says Has No Doubt Solution to Situation in Ukraine Will Be Found, Russian Demands Are Minimal

Lavrov Says Has No Doubt Solution to Situation in Ukraine Will Be Found, Russian Demands Are Minimal

Russia launched a special operation on 24 February with the goals of demilitarising and "de-Nazifying" Ukraine following Kiev's failure to resolve the conflict... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T09:21+0000

2022-03-03T09:21+0000

2022-03-03T11:52+0000

russia

ukraine

sergei lavrov

situation in ukraine

europe

nato

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has expressed confidence that a solution to the Ukrainian crisis will be found and noted that Moscow's demands are "minimal". He added that Russia can't allow Ukraine to pose a threat to the country's security.The top diplomat further said that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will occur and are scheduled to take place on 3 March. The minister added that Russia is ready to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and the whole of Europe as well during these talks.Lavrov said that the Ukrainian delegation promised to lay out its position during the upcoming round of negotiations. He noted, however, that Kiev is not acting independently in the negotiations.The diplomat noted that the West does not have the goal of ensuring Ukraine's security based on the balance of interests with Russia. The only thing the West is interested in is to "demonise" Russia, Lavrov elaborated.On Dialogue With NATOThe foreign minister expressed confidence that plans for waging war against Russia are being prepared. Lavrov warned that a Third World War will be a nuclear confrontation.Lavrov said he believes the hysteria around Ukraine in the West will eventually pass and that a dialogue between Moscow and NATO will be restarted. The diplomat added that the Kremlin is ready for it.The minister further said that the world "hears Russia but it's hard to say if it is listening". He expressed the belief that the majority understands what he means but are "forced to abide by harsh dictates".Assessments of Russian Special Operation are 'Premature'The Russian FM also cautioned against making any assessments about the special operation that Russia launched in Ukraine on 24 February, noting that it would be "premature" to do so. Lavrov said that the operation is still going on and that its goals remain unchanged: the removal of all weapons endangering Russia, the de-nazification of the country, and ensuring Russian security by Ukraine staying out of NATO.The minister went on to say that neo-nazism is thriving in Ukraine and that it affects not only the Russian, but also the Jewish population in the country. Lavrov stressed that neo-Nazis even engage in physical violence, including in Donbass.He added that "true murderers" are fighting for Kiev and stressed that Ukrainian nationalist battalions in Donbass act like marauders and robbers. Lavrov also warned about the provocations they are planning in Mariupol.

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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

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russia, ukraine, sergei lavrov, europe, nato
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/leningrad-region-to-provide-maximum-backing-for-exports-to-middle-east-1093549929.html

Leningrad Region to Provide Maximum Backing for Exports to Middle East

Leningrad Region to Provide Maximum Backing for Exports to Middle East

St. Petersburg (Sputnik)  The Leningrad Region's Export Support Centre is ready to provide maximum support to regional businesses in entering the Middle East... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T12:01+0000

2022-03-03T12:01+0000

2022-03-03T12:02+0000

russia

exports

middle east

russian export center jsc (rec)

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Dmitry Yalov, deputy chairman of the Leningrad Region government, chairman of the Committee on Economic Development and Investment Activity, announced the support measures at a meeting of the region's entrepreneurs and representatives of the business communities of Middle East countries. According to him, the Middle East is a feasible destination for exports from the Leningrad Region at the moment.This is a region where our goods are already in demand, where there is economic growth and new niches are appearing. Our businesses have experience of working with these countries, including last year's business mission to the UAE, which resulted in each participant settling for cooperation with foreign partners and even the first deliveries of their products. The Export Support Centre of the Leningrad Region is ready to provide maximum support to businesses in entering this key market - from product design to obtaining foreign certificates, the committee chairman said.The meeting Export Opportunities to the Middle East was attended by the trade representative of the Russian Federation in the United Arab Emirates, representatives of the UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office in Bahrain, the Special Economic Zones in Egypt, and head of the Representative Office of the Russian Export Centre JSC in the UAE. All of them presented opportunities for the development of foreign economic activities in the Middle East. In particular, the United Arab Emirates is considered a major hub for accessing markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. During the discussion, the experts named five promising areas for exports from Russia, such as oil and gas equipment, food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and IT solutions, the Leningrad Region administration's press service added.Leningrad Region companies were interested in the specifics of working in the markets of Saudi Arabia and Iran, what chemical products are currently in demand in the Middle East, and if they could find partners willing to work on a 100 percent advance payment basis.Last November, a three-day business mission to the United Arab Emirates brought new contracts to Leningrad Region enterprises. International meetings and business missions for entrepreneurs are organised as part of the regional project Systemic Development Measures for International Cooperation and Export of the International cooperation and export federal project, adopted by the Russian President's May Decree, the press service said.

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russia, exports, middle east, russian export center jsc (rec)
Russian Media Watchdog Restricts Access to Meduza, Radio Liberty, BBC News Russian

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor has restricted access to media outlets Meduza, Radio Liberty (both recognized as foreign agents in Russia), and the BBC Russian Service, according to the watchdogs registry.

The reason for the restriction is Article 15.3 of the Law on Information, Information Technologies and Information Protection, the watchdog said. The outlets were included in the register of Internet resources "containing calls for mass riots, extremism and participation in illegal mass actions," it added.
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/moscow-region-businesses-participate-in-arts-and-crafts-trade-fair-in-paris-1093550677.html

Moscow Region Businesses Participate in Arts and Crafts Trade Fair in Paris

Moscow Region Businesses Participate in Arts and Crafts Trade Fair in Paris

Moscow (Sputnik)  Seven enterprises from the Moscow Region are taking part in the "Art of Living Russian" arts and crafts trade fair in Paris, the Committee... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T12:12+0000

2022-03-03T12:12+0000

2022-03-03T12:12+0000

moscow

paris

arts

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Seven companies of folk arts and crafts of the Moscow Region took part in the trade fair. The participants included Dulevsky Porcelain Production Cooperative, Verbilki Porcelain Factory, Fedoskino Factory of Miniature Painting, Zhostovo Decorative Painting Factory, Pavlovo Posad Shawl Manufactory, Gzhel Porcelain Factory, Gzhel Association CJSC, the committee said.The Art of Living Russian Exhibition is dedicated to the Year of the Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia and will run until 4 March. As many as 19 Russian companies presented their products, the press release added.

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moscow, paris, arts
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/moscows-relations-with-west-will-recover-from-record-low-russian-diplomat-believes-1093544132.html

Moscow's Relations With West Will Recover From Record Low, Russian Diplomat Believes

Moscow's Relations With West Will Recover From Record Low, Russian Diplomat Believes

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Relations of Russia with the US and the West, in general, will rebound from the current record low, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T09:42+0000

2022-03-03T09:42+0000

2022-03-03T10:15+0000

situation in ukraine

russia

sergey ryabkov

west

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"I am sure that we will push off from this bottom and begin to even out relations. This requires the political will of the West, primarily from the United States," Ryabkov said.At the same time, the diplomat noted that the relations will no longer be the same, adding that Russia and the West can start to move towards "something new."Moscow is currently working on mitigating the damage from the sanctions imposed by the US and the EU in the wake of Russia's operation in Ukraine, the official said."We warn our opponents, our adversaries, against escalation. We do not escalate [the situation] ourselves," he added.

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russia, sergey ryabkov, west
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/mr-olympia-here-i-go-biden-works-out-every-day-before-coming-to-office-says-wh-chief-of-staff-1093549617.html

Mr Olympia, Here I Go: Biden Works Out Every Day Before Coming to Office, Says WH Chief of Staff

Mr Olympia, Here I Go: Biden Works Out Every Day Before Coming to Office, Says WH Chief of Staff

The Democrats multiple gaffes, during which he froze while answering questions, he mixed up countries or forgot the names of his officials, prompted rumours and concerns about Bidens fitness and resulted in calls to undergo cognitive test. In late 2021, POTUS underwent a medical test, which showed that he is fit to run the country.

2022-03-03T13:37+0000

2022-03-03T13:37+0000

2022-03-03T13:37+0000

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US President Joe Biden works out every day before coming to the Oval office and is in great mental and physical health, the White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain has said in an interview with the Economic Club of Washington. Klain said that although Biden, 79, is the oldest president in the history of the United States, age doesnt hold him back.Klain also commented on Bidens performance in office, saying that "there is a lot of confidence" in POTUS. "I hear from people all around the country - Democrats and Republicans - that they're very glad he's the person in the Oval Office right now," Klain said.However, opinion polls appear to suggest otherwise: a survey conducted by ABC News/Washington Post showed that only 37 percent of respondents approve of Joe Bidens performance, and 55 percent disapprove of it. Experts attribute the sharp fall in approval (from above 50 percent when the Democrat started his term) to the botched withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan last summer, vaccine mandates for federal workers and his economic policy.The widespread discussions over Joe Bidens health started last March when he stumbled on the stairs of Air Force One three times. Bidens numerous gaffes, during which he forgot or mixed up names of his officials and froze while answering questions, have prompted concerns about his mental health. His most recent blunders came while talking about the US campaign in Afghanistan when he called the country first Ukraine and then Iraq.A poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports last summer, showed that 52 percent of respondents were "not confident" that Biden was physically and mentally up to the job.Earlier this month, a group of Republican lawmakers led by Congressman Ronny Jackson sent a letter to POTUS, his physician and chief medical adviser, saying that Biden needs to undergo a cognitive test. Jackson, himself a physician, previously said that the Democrat will resign before his term ends or face the 25th amendment, which is invoked when a president dies, resigns, or is deemed unfit for office.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220303/norwegian-mayor-decries-arms-help-to-ukraine-amid-russia-special-op-1093538467.html

Norwegian Mayor Decries Arms Help to Ukraine Amid Russia Special Op

Norwegian Mayor Decries Arms Help to Ukraine Amid Russia Special Op

According to Oslo University researcher Cecilie Hellestveit, Norwegian arms assistance to Ukraine, which was reproached by the mayor of the municipality that... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T06:52+0000

2022-03-03T06:52+0000

2022-03-03T07:05+0000

situation in ukraine

ukraine

news

scandinavia

norway

russia

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Sr-Varanger Mayor Lena Bergeng of the Labour Party has decried her country's decision to send arms to Ukraine amid a Russian special operation there, arguing that her party comrades in parliament should have said no.Since 1944, when the Red Army liberated Kirkenes from the Nazis, Sr-Varanger that borders Russia's Murmansk Oblast, has cultivated a good neighbourly relationship with the Soviet Union and later Russia.According to Bergeng, sending arms means "getting involved in a completely different way".Local residents have in recent years enjoyed close cross-border relations with Russians, with trade and services booming  to the point of Kirkenes sometimes being referred to as "Little Russia" due to signs in Cyrillic for Russians' convenience. According to Bergeng, stifled trade would make life difficult for many local inhabitants.Earlier this week, the Norwegian government decided to donate up to 2,000 M72 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, as fellow Nordic countries also expressed their desire to help. Even the US and its allies have promised to ramp up military assistance and lethal aid to Ukraine.Cecilie Hellestveit, a researcher at the Institute of International Law at the University of Oslo, argued that the Norwegian arms delivery technically makes the country a co-belligerent. She referred to the Hague Convention of 1907 on neutrality, which means not supporting either side in an armed conflict.Russia's Special Operation in UkraineOn 24 February, Russia launched a special military operation, offering protection to the republics of Donbass it had formally recognised earlier that week. Moscow has made it clear that it harbours no occupation plans and that the operation's goal is to protect the civilians of Donbass from genocide and demilitarise and "de-Nazify" Ukraine. Only Ukrainian military infrastructure is being targeted with high-precision weapons.In response, the West, including the US, the UK, the EU, and others, imposed comprehensive sanctions against Russia, shut their airspace to Russian aircraft and sanctioned a number of Russian banks and officials.The West has furthermore ramped up its censorship campaign against Russian foreign-language media, shutting down websites and broadcasts, and blocking or otherwise limiting access to Sputnik and RT on a number of social media platforms.After an initial round of negotiations in Belarus, a second round is slated for 3 March. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said he was ready to "talk with" his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

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Igor Kuznetsov

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Igor Kuznetsov

ukraine, news, scandinavia, norway, russia
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/putin-nationalists-foreign-mercenaries-in-ukraine-use-civilians-as-human-shield-1093560887.html

Putin: Special Op in Ukraine Going According to Plan

Putin: Special Op in Ukraine Going According to Plan

On Thursday, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that the West has increased the dispatch of contract soldiers from private military... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T16:58+0000

2022-03-03T16:58+0000

2022-03-04T05:43+0000

russia

ukraine

situation in ukraine

vladimir putin

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The military operation in Ukraine is going according to plan, and all tasks are being implemented "successfully", Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his address to the Russian Security Council.Putin also said that nationalists and foreign mercenaries in Ukraine are using civilians as human shields. They have not kept their promise to remove heavy military equipment from residential areas, he continued.Foreigners Held HostageThe Russian president additionally said that foreign citizens are being held hostage in Ukraine: among them are some 3,179 citizens of India.But the way "neo-Nazis treat their own citizens" is even worse, according to him, as Russian soldiers have witnessed residents of apartment buildings being "herded into the middle floors of buildings", while in the lower floors "they break through windows and walls, put up heavy equipment there". Machine guns and snipers are being placed on roofs and on the upper floors of buildings, the president said.Still, Russian troops "have provided corridors in all collision zones without exception, provided transport so that civilians, foreign citizens have the opportunity to go to a safe place" - something that "nationalists do not allow to be done", Putin stated.Putin's address came shortly after Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that the West has increased the dispatch of contract soldiers from private military companies to Ukraine, with the US military intelligence launching a massive campaign to recruit PMC contractors for Ukraine.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, stated that Ukraine expects some 16,000 foreign mercenaries to come and fight for the country. According to estimations from the Russian Defence Ministry, 200 Croatian mercenaries have already arrived in Ukraine, with the UK, Denmark, Latvia, and Poland also giving the green light to sending mercenaries there. Konashenkov said that foreign soldiers who are already in Ukraine "commit sabotage and raids on Russian convoys of equipment and material supplies, as well as aircraft covering them".

https://sputniknews.com/20220303/us-military-intel-launched-large-scale-campaign-to-recruit-pmc-contractors-for-ukraine--russian-mod-1093555001.html

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russia, ukraine, vladimir putin
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/russia-reportedly-refuses-to-be-observer-at-nato-cold-response-drills-1093563536.html

Russia Reportedly Refuses to Be Observer at NATO Cold Response Drills

Russia Reportedly Refuses to Be Observer at NATO Cold Response Drills

MURMANSK (Sputnik) - Russia refused to be an observer at NATO Cold Response drills in Norway, the Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported on Thursday. 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T18:21+0000

2022-03-03T18:21+0000

2022-03-03T18:21+0000

russia

nato

drills

norway

cold response

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Russia was invited as an observer, but its representatives refused to come to the upcoming NATO drills in Norway, according to the broadcaster.Russia notified Norway that it will not participate, Lieutenant General Yngve Odlo, chief of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, said, as quoted by the broadcaster, adding that "we respect this decision."Cold Response is a Norwegian-led military exercise held in northern Norway every other year. The next exercise is scheduled for March and April 2022 and the military activity will mainly take place in several parts of Norway. This year, the exercise will focus on operations conducted by amphibious and air mobile forces.As of March 2022, a total of 27 nations and approximately 30,000 troops are signed up for the exercise.

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russia, nato, drills, norway, cold response
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/russian-defence-ministry-explains-meaning-of-letters-on-military-equipment-1093537783.html

Russian MoD Explains Meaning of Letters on Military Equipment Used in Special Op in Ukraine

Russian MoD Explains Meaning of Letters on Military Equipment Used in Special Op in Ukraine

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a special operation in Ukraine, which he said is aimed at "denazifying and demilitarising" Kiev, as well as protecting the residents of two breakaway regions, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

2022-03-03T07:50+0000

2022-03-03T07:50+0000

2022-03-03T07:55+0000

russia

ukraine

vladimir putin

russian ministry of defense

volodymyr zelensky

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Since pictures and videos of Russian equipment in the Donbass region appeared online, many netizens have been puzzled about the meaning of letters seen on Russia's military hardware. The Russian Defence Ministry has since posted a statement on social media explaining what the enigmatic letters mean.Z is "for victory", V means "strength in truth" and "the task will be completed".What the letter O stands for has not yet been specified although several outlets previously speculated that this is how military equipment from Belarus is designated. The ministry did not explain the meaning of the letters X and A either. Earlier, it was reported that the residents of some Russian regions had started painting the letter Z on their vehicles in support of the special operation in Ukraine.The operation was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 24 February and according to the Russian head of state is aimed at protecting the residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, which announced their independence from Kiev in 2014. LPR and DPR requested help from Moscow after Kiev escalated attacks on the republics. Amid the standoff, the LPR and DPR ordered the evacuation of the civilian population to Russia.President Putin also said that the special operation is aimed at "denazifying and demilitarising" Ukraine.For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Putin's statement about Nazis being present in Ukraine and described the special operation as a "full-scale invasion". Western nations sided with Kiev, condemning Russia's actions and imposing the harshest sanctions on Moscow to date. The Kremlin has accused the West of turning a blind eye to war crimes committed by Kiev in Donbass.

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russia, ukraine, vladimir putin, russian ministry of defense, volodymyr zelensky
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/scientists-try-to-solve-mystery-of-why-some-individuals-dont-get-covid-19-1093558656.html

Scientists Try to Solve Mystery of Why Some Individuals Dont Get COVID-19

Scientists Try to Solve Mystery of Why Some Individuals Dont Get COVID-19

Researchers say cracking this puzzle will be an ultimate game-changer for the pandemic and will end it as identifying mechanisms that prevent infection could lead to the development of drugs, which will protect people from COVID.

2022-03-03T16:56+0000

2022-03-03T16:56+0000

2022-03-03T16:56+0000

science

covid-19

pandemic

coronavirus

infection

studies

doctors

trials

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Can one maintain social distancing, wear masks, use sanitiser, avoid public events, and still get COVID-19, while others do not follow safety rules, attend large events, hug and kiss people, and then all the same not get the disease? How is this possible? Scientists around the world are trying to solve this mystery.One potential reason is that some people could be genetically resistant to COVID-19. Such resistance has been displayed in individuals to different diseases, such as malaria or HIV. Professor Andras Spaan at the Rockefeller University in New York believes that those who are resistant to COVID-19 do not have the receptor used by the coronavirus pathogen to enter cells.Professor Spaan says it is unlikely that that the majority of those who avoided getting infected with the disease are genetically resistant, rather they have some partial immune protection. This was the case with Phoebe Garrett from England. The 22-year-old participated in trials last year, which saw researchers trying to infect people with COVID-19. Among other things, individuals dripped the live virus into their noses and pegged their nostrils shut for several hours. Phoebe didnt catch the disease.However, in January, the young woman was infected with Omicron, a strain of COVID-19 that doctors say is more infectious than other variants and is capable of evading vaccines.During the trials, Garrett was not the only person who didn't get the coronavirus. Of the 34 who were exposed to the virus, 16 failed to develop an infection, although half of the participants transiently tested for low levels of COVID-19.According to Professor Christopher Chiu at Imperial College London, who led the study, this can be explained with the immune system of those individuals quickly shutting down embryonic infection.Still another possible reason why some individuals are resistant to COVID-19 is that their bodies can shake off the disease before it establishes a permanent presence in body. Dr Leo Swadling at University College London monitored a group of doctors who were regularly exposed to COVID-19 patients, but never tested positive or developed antibodies.Blood tests revealed that around 15 percent of healthcare workers had T-cells that react against the disease, plus other markers of viral infection.

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science, covid-19, pandemic, coronavirus, infection, studies, doctors, trials
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/social-media-questions-bruise-on-joe-bidens-forehead-but-it-appears-to-have-explanation-1093555098.html

Social Media Questions 'Bruise' on Joe Biden's Forehead, But It Appears to Have Explanation

Social Media Questions 'Bruise' on Joe Biden's Forehead, But It Appears to Have Explanation

The actual story behind what many have mistaken for a bruise on Joe Biden's forehead is in fact related to the Catholic tradition of Ash Wednesday - the day... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T16:21+0000

2022-03-03T16:21+0000

2022-03-03T16:21+0000

us

joe biden

ash

catholic

social media

viral

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Some people noticed that US President Joe Biden had what seemed like a "bruise" on his forehead on Wednesday, with social media users swiftly offering many theories on its origin.The "bruise" drew the attention of several users when the president was delivering his State of the Union address and when he was speaking to the press on Wednesday.Several users suggested that it was an "old person bruise", while others wondered why "nothing has been said about that"."Why is no one mentioning the big black bruise on President Biden's forehead?" one Twitter user asked, while another one wondered: "Did he face plant or did he walk into something?"However, the explanation was quite simple: Biden, a Catholic, paid tribute to the tradition of Ash Wednesday - the day that kicks off Lent, when believers receive the sign of the cross on their heads in ashes.According to Catholic tradition, the ashes come from palms that were burned during the preceding year's Palm Sunday.This is not the first time people suspect that Biden got hurt, while he was in fact following Catholic tradition. In 2010, UK reporter Kay Burley even had to apologise when she mistook the Ash Wednesday mark on then-Vice President Joe Bidens forehead for "a large bruise".

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Daria Bedenko

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us, joe biden, ash, catholic, social media, viral
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/sudanese-military-gov-reaffirms-no-problem-with-opening-russian-naval-base-in-red-sea-port-1093564422.html

Sudanese Military Gov Reaffirms No Problem With Opening Russian Naval Base in Red Sea Port

Sudanese Military Gov Reaffirms No Problem With Opening Russian Naval Base in Red Sea Port

The US has long operated a major military base out of Djibouti, which occupies a strategic position at the mouth of the Red Sea, but in recent years Washington... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T19:19+0000

2022-03-03T19:19+0000

2022-03-03T19:21+0000

sudan

africa

red sea

naval base

russia

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Defense leaders in Khartoum have reaffirmed their willingness to host a Russian naval base in Port Sudan, a strategic port in the Red Sea. A deal agreed to in 2019 was put on hold after Sudans longtime military ruler, Omar al-Bashir, was overthrown in a popular revolution months later.Hemedti is the deputy head of Sudans ruling council and commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. His Tuesday comments followed his return from a trip to Moscow to discuss the issue with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev.Talks on establishing the naval facility have been held since 2017, but after Bashirs overthrow in the April 2019 revolution, the deal was put on hold. Last year, the Sovereign Council, which ruled Sudan after Bashirs overthrow, proposed adding military and economic aid to the deal. A deal was reportedly agreed to in November 2020, but it has continued to be revised, including on central issues such as the location of the base.The Sovereign Council has since been dissolved by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the military junta that seized power in Sudan in October 2021.Port Sudan is Sudans largest coastal city, sitting about halfway from the mouth of the Red Sea to the Suez Canal, which connects to the Mediterranean Sea. Its also a short distance from Jeddah, a major Saudi port. Aside from several facilities in former Soviet republics, Russias only overseas naval base is in Tartus, Syria, a 1,200-mile transit from Port Sudan.The waterway is one of the worlds great trade arteries, handling more than $1.8 trillion in trade traffic annually - a value that is expected to triple by 2050, according to the Fletcher School at Tufts University. Other nations also maintain military facilities in the Red Sea, including China and the United States, both of which have bases in Djibouti.Countries such as Mali and the Central African Republic have discussed or agreed to military cooperation of various sorts with Moscow, including military training, after years of relying on French and European Union specialists yielded few positive results.The US has postured against the expansion of Russias relationships with African nations, claiming that Moscow has sent private military contractors to perform security work, but the Russian government has denied accusations of a connection to mercenary groups and said that as long as they follow Russian laws, the activities of private companies are none of their business.A more recent complication for negotiations is the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia by Western powers in response to the launching of a special military operation in Ukraine last week. The incursion is aimed at removing the potential for NATO to use the country as a base from which to attack Russia, or from which reported neo-Nazi groups can continue to wage war against Russian-speaking minorities in the Donbass region.

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sudan, africa, red sea, naval base, russia
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/sweden-claims-four-russian-warplanes-violated-its-airspace-1093541438.html

Sweden Claims Four Russian Warplanes Violated Its Airspace

Sweden Claims Four Russian Warplanes Violated Its Airspace

The violation was claimed to have occurred over the formerly demilitarised Baltic island of Gotland, where joint Swedish-Finnish drills are currently being... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T08:13+0000

2022-03-03T08:13+0000

2022-03-03T08:13+0000

baltic sea

news

military & intelligence

russia

finland

sweden

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Four Russian planes violated Swedish airspace on Wednesday, the Swedish Armed Forces have claimed.According to the Swedish military, the incident involved two Russian Su-27 fighter jets and two Su-24 bombers. The alleged violation occurred over the sea east of Gotland, and was short-lived.In response, the Swedish Air Force scrambled a Jas 39 Gripen and documented the incident with photographs, a statement from the Swedish military claimed."Based on the current situation, we take the incident very seriously. It is unprofessional and irresponsible behaviour on the part of Russia", Air Defence Chief Carl-Johan Edstrom said.According to Edstrom, it shows "good preparedness" on Sweden's part. Sweden ensured its territorial integrity and has full control of the situation, Edstrom said.The alleged violation occurred on the same day as Sweden and Finland were carrying out a joint air and naval exercise on the formerly demilitarised island of Gotland. The Swedish side called the drill a "renewed focus on partnership with Finland".Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist called the purported Russian violation "completely unacceptable" and "extra serious" due to the current security situation. Earlier this week, Swedish Supreme Commander Micael Byden ventured that Sweden's security policy has deteriorated.In mid-December, the Swedish authorities decided to deploy armoured vehicles and extra military personnel to patrol the streets on the island of Gotland due to "Russia's activities in the region".Moscow has repeatedly stressed that all flights by Russian aircraft were and are being carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace over neutral waters, without violating the borders of other states.

baltic sea

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2022

Igor Kuznetsov

Igor Kuznetsov

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Igor Kuznetsov

baltic sea, news, military & intelligence, russia, finland, sweden
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/top-german-diplomat-calls-for-end-of-discrimination-of-russians-belarusians-in-germany-1093558599.html

Top German Diplomat Calls for End of Discrimination of Russians, Belarusians in Germany

Top German Diplomat Calls for End of Discrimination of Russians, Belarusians in Germany

BERLIN (Sputnik)  The discrimination of Russians and Belarusians who are currently in Germany in the wake of the Russian operation in Ukraine must end, German... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T16:13+0000

2022-03-03T16:13+0000

2022-03-03T16:15+0000

situation in ukraine

germany

ukraine

russia

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"The war in Ukraine is Putin's war. Anyone hostile to Belarusians or Russians in Germany attacks not only our fellow citizens but also the basic principles of our coexistence. We stick together. We are stronger than hate," Baerbock tweeted.On Wednesday, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said that she would appeal to the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, concerning harassment of Russian nationals living abroad.

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germany, ukraine, russia
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/trump-claims-china-readying-post-olympic-taiwan-grab-as-pompeo-us-delegation-meet-taipei-officials-1093536256.html

Trump Claims China Readying Post-Olympic Taiwan Grab as Pompeo, US Delegation Meet Taipei Officials

Trump Claims China Readying Post-Olympic Taiwan Grab as Pompeo, US Delegation Meet Taipei Officials

Last month, former US President Donald Trump claimed that China would follow Russias Donbass claims by mobilizing its own forces to invade the Republic of... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T04:10+0000

2022-03-03T04:10+0000

2022-03-03T04:11+0000

us

taiwan

trump

china

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Taiwan is next, former US President Donald Trump proclaimed in a Wednesday morning interview with Maria Bartiromo, host of Fox Business Mornings With Maria.Such a move will be carried out sooner, rather than later, according to the one-term 45th president of the US, who claimed Beijing is seeing how stupid the United States is run."He additionally proclaimed that this is Chinas time to conduct an offensive against Taiwan, particularly because Beijing has observed how incompetent Washington has become.[Xi] saw the way that we left Afghanistan like a surrender and left $85 billion and death behind and left American citizens there that are still trying to get out, Trump said. This is his opportunity to do what he wants to do, which is ... he's wanted to do that, and China's wanted to do that for decades.Trump expressed similar views during a February broadcast of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. The former US president has also maintained that such a move would not have occurred under his administration.The former US presidents reiterated claim comes alongside continued US efforts to support the state, with Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang proclaiming on Tuesday that the importance of Taiwan-US relations was exemplified with same-day visit from members of a US delegation, as well as Mike Mullen, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.Responding to the dispatch of US officials to Taiwan, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has since declared that Beijing remains firmly determined and resolved to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.Mullen is expected to hold a series of meetings this week with President Tsai Ing-wen and a number of high-ranking Taiwanese officials.Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also arrived in Taiwan this week ahead of planned discussions with President Tsai Ing-wen. Pompeo is among the 28 Trump-era officials sanctioned after US President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.It is wonderful to be here. I've been looking forward to coming to visit with the people of Taiwan for a very long time, Pompeo told members of the press at the airport in Taiwan, as reported by Reuters.The visit comes just days after the guided-missile destroyer Ralph Johnson conducted a reported routine freedom of navigation transit through the Taiwan Strait. China panned the destroyers movement as provocative, while the 7th Fleet emphasized the transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.While both Beijing and Washington recognize Taiwan as part of China, concerns have been raised regarding a possible mainland response to the islands recent decision to support US-led anti-Russian sanctions and remove Russian banks from the global SWIFT financial messaging network. Beijing has previously spoken out against the imposition of such unilateral sanctions over the situation in Ukraine.

https://sputniknews.com/20220223/china-is-gonna-be-next-trump-claims-xi-ready-to-seize-taiwan-after-moscows-donbass-recognition-1093311716.html

https://sputniknews.com/20220301/china-accuses-us-taiwan-delegation-of-undermining-peace-stability-says-support-efforts-in-vain-1093496294.html

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Evan Craighead

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us, taiwan, trump, china
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/us-charges-tv-producer-john-hanick-with-violations-of-crimea-sanctions---justice-dept-1093566451.html

US Charges TV Producer John Hanick With Violations of Crimea Sanctions - Justice Dept.

US Charges TV Producer John Hanick With Violations of Crimea Sanctions - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US prosecutors charged American citizen John Hanick for violating Crimea-related sanctions for his work as a television producer for... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T21:08+0000

2022-03-03T21:08+0000

2022-03-03T21:07+0000

extradition

arrest

sanctions

london

us

charges

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"JOHN HANICK, a/k/a 'Jack Hanick,' a United States citizen, is charged with violations of United States sanctions and false statements in connection with his years-long work for the sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev," the Justice Department said in a press release.The release said Hanick was arrested on February 3 in London and will be extradited. It further noted that development marked the "first-ever criminal indictment charging a violation of United States sanctions" stemming from 2014 sanctions."As alleged in the indictment, the Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev was previously sanctioned for threatening Ukraine and providing financial support to the Donetsk separatist region," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Departments National Security Division in a statement accompanying the release. The US government designated Malofeyev in December 2014 under Crimea-related sanctions, the release said.Hanick faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, the release said.

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extradition, arrest, sanctions, london, us, charges
https://sputniknews.com/20220303/us-senators-name-anti-russia-sanctions-bill-after-ukrainian-nazi-collaborator-slogan-heroiam-slava-1093534783.html

US Senators Name Anti-Russia Sanctions Bill After Ukrainian Nazi Collaborator Slogan Heroiam Slava

US Senators Name Anti-Russia Sanctions Bill After Ukrainian Nazi Collaborator Slogan Heroiam Slava

A number of modern neo-Nazi groups have claimed to be the political heirs of the historically important Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), including... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

2022-03-03T00:15+0000

2022-03-03T00:15+0000

2022-03-03T00:17+0000

situation in ukraine

ukraine

us sanctions

marco rubio

neo-nazi

nazi collaborators

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/102126/30/1021263098_0:64:3083:1798_1920x0_80_0_0_08dab8e04accf15eef69c1a36d907479.jpg

Republican US Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced on Wednesday that they were introducing a new bill to further sanction Russia by targeting state-owned enterprises.The bill is called the Halting Enrichment of Russian Oligarchs and Industry Allies of Moscows Schemes to Leverage its Abject Villainy Abroad Act, an unwieldy title the acronym for which is HEROIAM SLAVA, a Ukrainian nationalist phrase that translates to Glory to the Heroes.Heroiam Slava has been uttered numerous times in recent days by Western leaders seeking to show support for Kiev following Russias launching of a special military operation in Ukraine, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. However, its not just some bog-standard slogan evoking national pride - its long been a rallying cry of some of Ukraines most far-right groups, including those who collaborated with the Nazi invasion and aided in the Holocaust.Any Ally Against CommunismThe slogan first arose in the 1920s, when the Legion of Ukrainian Nationalists, a predecessor to the OUN, adopted it as a response to the cry Slava Ukraini (Glory to Ukraine), according to US state media outlet Radio Svoboda. The right-wing nationalist group was formed in Czechoslovakia to resist socialism in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (UkSSR), which in 1922 formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) as a founding member republic.In 1929, the OUN was formed in Vienna when the Legion merged with several other far-right groups. Theres an expression in Germany from this period that says "if someone sits down with 11 Nazis, there are a dozen Nazis at the table," and this situation was no different. When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the OUN declared an independent Ukrainian state and pledged its allegiance to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.However, this relationship was at times uneasy, as the Ukrainians wanted to collaborate with the Nazis but not give up statehood. For example, OUN leader Stepan Bandera was placed under house arrest by the Gestapo and later held in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp before being released in 1944 to fight the advancing Soviet Red Army. The OUN also fought both Soviet and Nazi troops for a time, before switching to solely fight the Soviets in 1944, welcoming Nazi German aid to their forces.The Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the OUN military wing, collaborated with the Nazi massacres in the Holocaust and carried out its own massacres, including most notoriously the killing of 60,000 Volhynian Poles in 1943 and 1944, but also pogroms against Jewish communities, such as in Lvov in 1941.During the period of Nazi collaboration, Slava Ukraini/ Slava Heroiam was said accompanied by a Roman salute, i.e. the full-arm Nazi salute, according to Deutsche Welle. The slogan was banned in the Soviet Union, as were all forms of fascist ideology and expressions of racial hatred.After the Red Army liberated Ukraine from Nazi occupation, the OUN/UIA continued its guerrilla and terrorist war against the Soviets until a combination of counterinsurgency operations and extensive government investment in rebuilding the region weakened them and they were defeated by 1948. Some went underground, but others fled to the west, including OUN co-founder Mykola Lebed, who was given shelter by the CIA, for whom Lebed gathered intelligence on the Soviet Union through a front group called Prolog Research Corporation.A CIA report declassified in 2007 revealed that Prolog, as a research arm of the OUN-formed Ukrainian Supreme Liberation Council (UHVR), publish[ed] periodicals and select books and pamphlets which seek to exploit and increase nationalist and other dissident tendencies in the Soviet Ukraine.During the early years of its association with the CIA, ZP/UHVR re-established communications with resistance forces in the Ukraine [] in its distribution operations, Prolog has utilized the services of Ukrainian emigres in various countries who are sympathetic to the ZP/UHVR. Since the Fifties, Ukrainian collaborators in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia have infiltrated a great amount of Prolog material into the USSR  Prolog has been more able than other CIA assets to ferret out and approach dissident Soviet Ukrainians in the USSR.Post-Soviet ResurgenceAfter the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991, the slogans Slava Ukraini and Slava Heroiam again gained popularity with nationalists. During a 1995 visit to Kiev, then-US President Bill Clinton uttered the phrase. It gained more popularity after the US-backed coup in 2014, in which far-right nationalists stormed the Verkhovna Rada and overthrew President Vyktor Yanukovych after he rejected an EU association deal that would have forced large loans on Kiev.In 2018, then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko made it the official greeting of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and later of its national police as well.On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Col. Maksym Marchenko to be the new head of the Odessa Administration, according to the Kyiv Post. Marchenko was once commander of one of the neo-Nazi army formations that fought Russian separatists in the Donbass, the Aidar Batallion, which was accused of war crimes in the Donbass in an Amnesty International report in September 2014.

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https://sputniknews.com/20220303/yes-sherlock-psaki-mocked-after-spotting-biden-related-pattern-in-russian-invasions-of-ukraine-1093544571.html

Yes, Sherlock: Psaki Mocked After Spotting Biden-Related 'Pattern' in 'Russian Invasions' of Ukraine

Yes, Sherlock: Psaki Mocked After Spotting Biden-Related 'Pattern' in 'Russian Invasions' of Ukraine

US comments on the situation in Ukraine have been abundant with gaffes and mistakes. President Joe Biden has already called Ukrainians "the Iranian people"... 03.03.2022, Sputnik International

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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has noticed a "pattern" when it comes to the Russian "invasions" of Ukraine, and this pattern appears to do nothing good for her own boss, President Joe Biden. "I was at the State Department, the president was the vice president the last time Russia invaded Ukraine", Psaki told CNN Wednesday. "This is a pattern of horror from this president... President Putin and from the cronies around him".Despite Psaki quickly clarifying exactly which president she was talking about, netizens quickly began mocking her for connecting the "Russian invasions of Ukraine" with Joe Biden serving as a top US government official."This guy only seems to invade other countries while my boss is in office", blogger Jim Treacher giggled on Twitter.The blogger was not the only one to mock how Jen Psaki "finally revealed the truth". Some noted that Psaki's "self-own" was shedding light on something that "we all agree on".Recent days have been quite challenging for Biden administration officials when it comes to commenting on the Ukraine crisis. During his State of the Union address, US President Joe Biden happened to call Ukrainians "the Iranian people". His vice president, Kamala Harris, also recently also discovered herself in the crosshairs of online critics after she tried to explain the situation in Ukraine in "layman's terms", when she may have simplified it a tad too much.

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Fans may have noticed something different when tuning in to the MGM Northfield Park broadcast this week, as the Home of the Flying Turns transitioned to a high-definition broadcast.

With the addition of high definition, simulcast outlets worldwide which are equipped to receive the improved signal will be able to show the new upgrade.

With one of the largest simulcast networks in harness racing and the upgrade to HD, this shows our commitment to providing the best racing experience for our viewers, commented director of racing operations David Bianconi. We are very proud to take MGM Northfield Park to the next level.

Those wishing to watch the races can visit their favourite ADW, subscribe to Racetrack Television Network, or view replays the morning after a live racing card. The free live signal that had been offered at www.northfieldpark.com will no longer be available.

MGM Northfield Park hosts live racing action year-round in Northeast Ohio and currently races on Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 6 p.m.

(MGM Northfield Park)
In elementaries across the Panhandle, state and nation, students celebrated one of the most looked-forward-to days of the school year: Read Across America day.

The Read Across America program began in 1998 when the National Education Association (NEA) decided to host what would become the nations largest celebration of reading. It started as a single-day celebration on March 2, which is Dr. Seuss birthday.

However, Read Across America has since grown into a year-long initiative by NEA that does not affiliate itself with just one book or publisher.

Students need books that provide both windows and mirrors if we are going to create more readers, writers, and people who feel included and recognized, and who understand that the world is far richer than just their experiences alone, NEA states on its Read Across America FAQ web page. NEA recognizes the need to work with a more diverse array of organizations and publishers to fulfill this need, and the Read Across America brand is now one that is independent of any one particular book, publisher, or character.

Still, the majority of celebrations often take place on March 2 and include various Seuss-related activities.

Locally, elementary schools are taking the entire first week of March to celebrate reading. Many are hosting dress up days throughout the week and reading similarly themed books.

At Lake Minatare, grades partnered up for fun Dr. Seuss activities like drawing Cat in the Hat, doing crossword puzzles and, of course, reading. The older grades partnered with the younger grades to read them stories while they all snuggled into their pajamas for pajama day.

Lake Minatare librarian and paraeducator Nancy Marez said celebrating Dr. Seuss in conjunction with Read Across America is important because his material opened the door to reading for a lot of young people, including her own children. His literature gets children excited about reading, she said.

Thats why so many students look forward to Read Across America day and week, according to Geil kindergarten teacher Bethany Jolliffe.

For many of the students, this is the best week of the year, she said. They love seeing their teachers and peers dress up in silly ways and read silly stories. They also get so wrapped up in the fun of the week that they forget they are learning.

The fun that Geil Elementary had on Read Across America day included different centers of literacy, math and science activities with themes from different Dr. Seuss stories.

Thats how Minatare Elementary approached the day as well, but with a twist: student council planned, organized and hosted all the themed activities, which included green eggs and ham, STEM architectural stacking and making oobleck.

We went into the sixth grade room and then we just brainstormed, fifth grade student council member Israeli Calihua said. We just looked some (ideas) up. We had some from last year like green eggs and ham and the Seuss mystery. We didnt have the oobleck or the steam challenge or the cup stacking.

On top of planning the fun day of activities, the student council, which is made up of fifth and sixth graders, also went into the classrooms every other day of the week to read to their peers. They were often joined by new Minatare Police Chief Jared Shepard as well.

Hes been reading to the kids all week, and even the sixth graders have enjoyed that, which sixth graders are a tough crowd to please, sixth grade teacher and student council sponsor Julie Lacy said. But, theyve really enjoyed having him in there.

Lacy said that thanks to events like Read Across America, students are more open to reading, giving them a better chance at learning down the road.

I tell my kids every day, the more you read, the more youre going to know, she said. I just feel reading is something, no matter what, you really need that, and encouraging it this week and seeing (that) they love being read to  even the sixth graders  and being able to encourage positive reading experiences  I think is huge.

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GERING  Gering Councilman and mayoral candidate Ben Backus has been appointed to the state of Nebraskas E911 advisory board. The board is made up of appointees from a variety of professional and political positions per state statute. Backus will be serving in the municipal elected slot.

The E911 advisory board advises the public service commission on the implementation, development and administration of the states enhanced 911 wireless service. The board also provides recommendations on funding, surcharges and regulations.

A friend contacted me about serving on this board because my professional experience in telecommunications and political experience on Scotts Bluff countys advisory board made me an ideal fit, Backus said. Im fortunate that I am able, personally and professionally, to volunteer for state boards that are under-represented by people from western Nebraska due to the constraints of meeting in Lincoln.

Backus first meeting will be May 18. His term will run for 6 years.

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Classes at Jackson Memorial Elementary School have been canceled for Thursday after a fire at the school Wednesday afternoon.

Barren Springs Fire Chief Josh Stitt said the fire started in the boiler/hot water room near the cafeteria and that it appears to have started where the vent stack that comes off of the hot water heater and runs up through the roof to allow steam to vent.

That vent got hot and caused the fire, he said.

Wythe County schools dismissed at noon on Wednesday, so students were not in the building when someone at the school placed the 911 call about 1:30 p.m. When firefighters arrived, the smoke stack was on fire and there was heavy smoke coming from the vent cap on the roof on the parking lot side of the building.

Staff members, teachers and administrators had evacuated the building before firefighters arrived. No one was injured in the incident.

Stitt estimated damage to the hot water heater, vent system and roof to be about $45,000.

Fire departments from Max Meadows, Wytheville and Hillsville assisted, along with members of the Lead Mines Rescue Squad.

The fire chief said the cause appears to be accidental and there was no negligence on anyones behalf.

To reach reporter Millie Rothrock, call 276-228-6611, ext. 573, or email mrothrock@wythenews.com
A litter of 10 puppies and their mom are resting easy today after being rescued from an abandoned house in Rural Retreat.

The pregnant black lab-mix had been hanging around the Klockner Plant for several weeks. Construction workers at the plant fed it during their breaks and reported it to animal control several times, but by the time officers arrived, the dog had moved on.

Wednesday morning, workers still worried about her safety and that of her puppies, held the mama dog until Animal Control Officer Sharon Dauley arrived. Dauley said it was obvious that the dog had given birth and was producing milk.

There was no way I could take her in as a stray because she had puppies that needed to be fed, Dauley said.

A construction worker told Dauley that the dog usually came from the East Buck Avenue area, so Dauley drove the dog there, where a neighbor pointed out that the dog often went in and out of the basement of an abandoned house. The neighbor added that previously, the dog had a litter of puppies in the homes crawl space.

So, Dauley called Rural Retreat Police Chief Derek Breedlove and Town Manager Jason Childers in to help. The three of them went under the house, but couldnt get through an opening in a wall, so they called in reinforcements: the Rural Retreat Fire Department.

They called in a bunch of guys, Dauley said. They got in, but couldnt find the puppies. So, the search party looked in a nearby shed and inside the house, but no luck.

Then, after everyone cleared the house, Dauley walked the mama dog to the house, and let her off her leash.

I want to help you, she said to the dog. But you have to take me to your puppies.

Perhaps understanding, the dog led Dauley up the stairs and to a crawl space that led to the attic. There, Dauley heard the whimpers of hungry puppies. She shined her flashlight into the space and there they were: 10 puppies about one week old, eight black and two brown. Right away, the mama dog ran to them and started nursing her babies.

Dauley called for the firefighters and handed the puppies off to them, one by one.

It was a great and happy ending, she said. All of the puppies seem healthy; the mom might have a few health issues. We took her to the vet to be examined.

Dauley said the person found to be responsible for the dogs signed them over to the county.

On Thursday, the pups and their mother will be taken to Knine Rescue, an animal rescue in Maryland, where they will stay for eight weeks until they can be adopted. Then, the mama dog will be spade and adopted.

Dauley said that Wythe County did not have the means or facilities to care for a mother dog and 10 newborn puppies. Knine Rescue specializes in rescuing and finding fosters for mother dogs with puppies.

Local rescue organization Rescue & RemEMBER arranged for the dogs to be taken to Maryland. Dauley thanked Breedlove, the RRFD and town officials for their help.

Anyone interested in adopting any of the dogs should contact Knine Rescue Inc. on Facebook.

To reach reporter Millie Rothrock, call 276-228-6611, ext. 573, or email mrothrock@wythenews.com.
A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper has been arrested for a second time in a week after being accused of violating an order of protection and threatening to kill a person.

Nicholas Collins, who serves as a trooper, was first arrested Feb. 20, according to the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office. He was charged with violating an order of protection and vandalism.

A person, whose name has been redacted in police reports, told deputies Collins had been served an order of protection Feb. 19 and was ordered to stay away from the persons property.

At 3:05 a.m. Feb. 20, Collins was accused of going onto the persons property and destroying items. A report says Collins could be seen running down the driveway and into his vehicle. The person said they noticed wires to a security camera were cut and air was leaking from a vehicles tires. Collins is accused of damaging the vehicles tires.

One of the victims said Collins had made threats to kill them, according to the redacted police report. They also said they were in fear of their lives, due to those threats.

Deputies were able to located Collins driving on state Route 75 and took him into custody. The report says deputies located a loaded gun with Collins.

Collins was arraigned in court and made bond Thursday morning.

On Thursday evening, deputies were called to speak with the person again, according to a SCSO news release issued Friday.

Upon speaking to the victim, it was determined Collins contacted the person and was in violation of the active order of protection in Washington County, Tennessee. The order of protection specifically prohibits Collins from contacting the protected party, the release states.

Following Thursdays alleged encounter, an arrest warrant was obtained for Collins in reference to violating the order of protection. Washington County, Tennessee, deputies and the Jonesborough Police Department went to Collins home and arrested him on the warrant, the SCSO said. The WCSO then met and turned Collins over to Sullivan County deputies.

Collins, who has been placed on paid leave, was arraigned Friday morning on the new charge. He is now being held in jail with no bond until a March court date.
An investigation led by the Longview Police Street Crime Unit seized nearly $50,000 worth of suspected fentanyl pills on Sunday.

Longview resident Steven Johnson, 41, was arrested in the joint operation between the Longview Police and the Cowlitz Wahkiakum Narcotics Task Force. According to police, Johnson had been previously suspected of trafficking large amounts of drugs from California to southwest Washington.

Longview police said that while Johnson was contacted, Kelso Police Officer Sarah Brent and the canine Blue detected drugs in Johnson's vehicle. After obtaining a search warrant, police found a quarter ounce of methamphetamine and 5,000 pills that were labeled as oxycodone but believed to actually be fentanyl.

Longview Police Captain Branden McNew said the street unit commonly worked with the larger task force on drug cases to receive more manpower and untangle the connections between different players in the local drug scene.

"We want to make sure if we're investigating something, we talk with them so we know what they know and we don't end up interfering with them," McNew said.

Oxycodone and fentanyl are both synthetic opioids, but fentanyl is several times more potent and potentially fatal.

The police are waiting for lab results to confirm that the pills are actually fentanyl. McNew said the experiences of the task force and the Street Crimes Unit were the reason they believe the pills were fake.

"Those pills are being seen a lot in our area right now, so the Street Crimes Unit is running into the counterfeit pills quite often. There has also been some independent confirmation," McNew said.

Johnson was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. McNew said there was limited other information that could be shared about the case to avoid compromising any related investigations that may be going on.

This was the second arrest the Street Crimes Unit made in February involving fentanyl disguised as other pills. On February 1, Longview Police arrested Kyle Carriker on suspicion of drug possession that included fake oxycodone pills, heroin and meth.

McNew said that he hoped people who abuse fentanyl pills will reach out to the county's substance abuse treatment providers for help with recovery.

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WOODLAND  A location of a regional coffee chain donated more than $1,000 to the Woodland Public Schools food pantry as part of a long-running campaign to help local food banks.

A dollar was donated to the Woodland Public Schools Family Community Resource Center's food pantry for every purchase made Feb. 18 at the Dutch Bros off Beechwood Street in Woodland, reports the company. A total of $1,103.40 was donated.

The schools' resource center includes a food pantry for Woodland Public Schools students. The center also provides free backpacks and supplies for local students, and assistance with affordable housing and employment for families.

School counselors and social workers refer families.

Our goal is to connect the under-resourced families we serve with the organizations offering help in Clark and Cowlitz counties," food bank coordinator Gabby Meador said in a press release from WPS.

Dutch Bros launched a canned food drive in 2007, and moved to donating money to food banks in 2016.

We are so grateful that Dutch Bros found our program worthy for their Dutch Luv campaign," Meador said.

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Except for some shelling on the first day of the Ukraine war, the city of Dnipro and the church that my friend Peter pastors in Central Ukraine had not yet come under direct Russian attack as of Wednesday.

Still, they are under siege.

Sandbags are piled high in front of storefronts. Anti-tank steel hedgehogs are deployed in the streets. Air-raid sirens blare several times a day, prompting everyone in the church to take cover in the buildings spacious bomb shelter, constructed during the 1950s nuclear scare days.

On Tuesday, the church sheltered nearly 70 evacuees, including 19 shell-shocked residents of Kharkiv, where civilian targets came under attack this week. As the group left for Dnipro, normally a two-hour drive, they saw a massive mushroom cloud from a bomb or missile attack rise nearly a half-mile high. The group arrived in Dnipro eight hours later, delayed by bomb damage, refugee traffic and Ukrainian checkpoints. The next day they planned to try to leave the country.

The whole thing  it looks totally surreal, Peter told me in a Zoom meeting Tuesday.

Ukrainians and their army are more unified than ever, Peter said, but they fear the unknown and how long the war will last. Refugees, like those the church hosted from Kharkiv, are headed somewhere, (but) they dont know where.

Ive known Peter for 33 years. We met during my 1989 visit to Kharkov, as Kharkiv was known before the fall of the Soviet Union led to Ukraines long-sought independence in 1991. Peter consented to use of his real name for this story, but Ive withheld it to protect him, his wife and family.

In the years since then, Peter divorced, earned his degree, found faith and remarried. He and his wife are co-pastors of a non-denominational Pentecostal church they founded in Dnipro, an industrial city located about 125 miles southeast of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.

He is shocked and saddened by the ruin of his native city, where he still has cousins and friends. Kharkiv, Ukraines second largest city, is not totally destroyed. But it wasnt totally destroyed in World War II, either. Now its going to be a different place from what we knew.

Peter sees the war in spiritual terms.

I thought that the spirit of Communism was dead, he said. Now I see I was wrong. It is a spirit, no matter how mystical that sounds. It is a bloodthirsty spiritual being that has (Russian President Vladimir) Putin as a vessel.

Putin, a former KGB colonel during Russias communist era, launched the war Feb. 24 after building up forces on the Russia/Ukraine border. Despite warnings from western nations and his many American friends, Peter said he didnt expect Putin would carry through with the attack, thinking that he was just flexing Russias military muscle for strategic leverage.

Its not logical for Putin to wage the war, he said. Its a mystery. The price of restoring the old Soviet Union (the alleged aim of the attack on Ukraine) is too high a price (for Russia) to pay.

Dnipro has not yet been under direct attack except for missile strikes aimed at city infrastructure on day one of the war. But people who live in high-rise apartment buildings fear for their safety because they would be the most vulnerable if Russia attacks civilian targets, as it has in Kharkiv and Kyiv. The church is sheltering and feeding 47 such residents. It expanded its kitchen and has taken donations of mattresses and bedding.

The attack has united Ukrainians as never before, Peter said. Upon visiting the two church members who had volunteered for the territorial defense forces, he was filled with joy.

I saw at least 100 individuals who are local rednecks who would usually just drink beer and do nothing, and all of them came to dig trenches to defend their city.  The morale of the nation is extremely high. The morale of the army is extremely high.

Peter is wresting with an age-old question of faith. If God is omnipotent, why does he allow bad things like wars to take place? And there are questions of safety and leadership that arise from the fact that Peter might be a target for arrest. He noted that many non-Russian Orthodox ministers were imprisoned after Putin-backed militants seized the Ukrainian Donbas region in 2014.

I am not pointing fingers at God, Peter said.

Later, he added: This is not a test of my relationship with God. It challenges my work. What will I do (if the nation falls to the Russians)? Will I pack my bags and leave? If I just think about the safety of me and my family I would leave (now). But I think I have to be here for the church and the community. If the church takes a hike, what hope is there for the people in my city?

He said he is usually an optimist and an emotionally stable guy. But today my emotions have been up and down, like a rollercoaster.

Peter said Ukrainians are thrilled with Western resolve to impose economic sanctions on Russia, but he fears Western military intervention would lead to World War III. And hes not optimistic that Russias people will pressure Putin to end the conflict. The population is too brainwashed and fearful of Putin, whom Peter likened to Stalin.

He hopes for peace soon, but he says the matter is in Russias hands.

We have a saying: If Ukraine stops fighting, Russia will win and there will be no Ukraine. If Russia stops fighting, there would be no war.

Andre Stepankowsky retired in August 2020 after a 41-year career as a reporter and city editor at The Daily News. He has won or shared in many prestigious journalism awards, including the staffs 1981 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Mount St. Helens.

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Shortly after the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Longviews Three Rivers Christian School began raising money and awareness to aid a group of four teen centers in the country.

Three Rivers Superintendent Erin Hart and other school leaders launched a fundraiser effort Feb. 24 for the non-governmental organization Young Life Ukraine. Over the course of a few days, the school community raised $15,000 to be provided directly to the NGO.

Three Rivers first got connected with Young Life Ukraine in spring 2019 for one of Three Rivers regular international expeditions. The school group flew in through Kyiv and spent the majority of their time in Lviv and Chernivtsi, a city near the southern borders with Romania and Moldova.

On social media theres been about 30 people that I keep in touch with, said Bobbie Jo Gushman, a Three Rivers graduate who was on the Ukraine trip during her senior year. I cant imagine having family over there or what it feels like to have those even closer connections.

Young Life Ukraine is a local subset of the Young Life Former Soviet Union, a church-backed group of teen centers and clubs which has been operating for 30 years in Russia and other countries across eastern Europe.

Staff and students at Three Rivers became especially close to Yana Reviuk, a young woman who served as the translator between the two groups of students. Hart and other leaders at the school sponsored Yanas visa so she could come to Kelso and teach at Three Rivers for the fall semester in 2019.

Yana lived with Hart while she was working at the school and visited Gushman and other Three Rivers graduates across the country. Hart was invited to attend Yanas wedding last year. Although she was unable to make the trip, Hart has one of the wedding photos on display in her home.

There were all these families we had that wanted to do something because these are real people. Yana was in their kids classroom cracking jokes, and it broadens the perspective when there are people that you know over there, Hart said.

People from Three Rivers were regularly in touch with Yana and others in the month leading up to Russias invasion. Hart said shed made an offer to Yana and her husband to come to the U.S. in early February but they wanted to stay in the Ukraine.

Its their home and they dont want to let it go or lose it to invaders, Hart said.

Their communications have continued since the war began. As the Young Life buildings were changed into food and support centers for fleeing Ukrainians, Three Rivers quickly launched the fundraiser to support them. At least one of the four centers reportedly was turned into a makeshift bomb shelter, based on recent Instagram posts.

The fundraiser ended at noon Monday because Hart wanted to make sure they could get the money directly to Young Life without running into any technological hurdles. Hart said the donations were able to make it through this week and they werent sure what the future holds for other fundraisers or aid that could be sent to the increasingly war-torn nation.

In the last update to Young Life Ukraines website Wednesday, the group said all their staff is safe but we have received reports of loss of life from family and the greater Young Life Ukraine community.

Theyre so motivated by their faith to stay and fight and serve whoever they can over there. Seeing how emboldened they are in the face of severe hardship... its kind of mind-boggling, Gushman said.

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If a massive asteroid is heading for the Earth, the only way to avert global destruction might be to 'pulverize it', says a NASA awardee.

Space can seem like a beautiful painting with stars twinkling and celestial bodies floating around against an immense black background. But a closer look will tell you how terrifying it can truly be. With millions of asteroids and comets rushing in random directions at a great speed, it is a scary place for our planet Earth to be in. It is almost like being in the middle of a war with bullets and rockets flying around everywhere. How long can it truly be before one hits? And are we just playing a waiting game of when an asteroid finally does strike? Remember, an asteroid killed of all the dinosaurs. Instead of waiting, NASA awardee Philip Lubin says it is time to take the fight to the asteroid. He said, just Pulverize It.

Professor Lubin is a scientist from the University of California Santa Barbara who is developing an innovative model called PI-Terminal Defense for Humanity, where the PI stands for Pulverize It. Lubin believes that in the event that an asteroid heads for the Earth on a short notice, much like the recent Leonardo DiCaprio movie Dont Look Up highlighted, the only way to protect humans would be to blow the asteroid up into small pieces. And as shocking as it may sound, NASA has found this idea worth investing in.

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Lubin showcased his idea at the 2021 Planetary Defense Conference and was awarded with a funding grant at the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. The idea is now part of NASAs Phase One program of NIAC, highlighting that the space agency must have seen some viability and sustainability of the model. The NIAC program is a NASA initiative to foster and promote ideas that are visionary and can transform future NASA missions.

Lubins model of planetary defense also aligns pretty closely with the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), a department in NASA that solely focuses on observing potentially hazardous asteroids and finding solutions for a possible asteroid strike to earth. The PI-Terminal Defense for Humanity model could be a great match for that department.

The need for advanced research and coming up with strong solutions against asteroid strike om Earth has become a necessity. There have been many incidents in the past that indicate this should not be taken lightly. From the Tunguska event and Chelyabinsk meteor strike in Russia to close events in the past 2 years like meteor explosions in Turkey and Pittsburgh, USA, highlight that the next big asteroid hit could just be around the corner.
NASA is tracking a giant asteroid measuring as much as 1.2 km heading for Earth. The space rock is travelling at 36,800mph

A giant asteroid of up to 1.2 kilometers or 4,265 feet in diameter is heading towards earth, NASA asteroid tracker has revealed. The asteroid, named 138971 (2001 CB21), is expected to make its close pass to earth on March 4 at approximately 8am. It is estimated to travel at over 36,800 miles per hour. The asteroid is classified as "potentially hazardous" by NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) due to its proximity to Earth, which is less than 7.5 million km. However, it doesnt seem to be posing any danger to Earth.

While the asteroid has been dubbed potentially hazardous by NASA, it will actually be around over a million miles away, which is more than 12 times farther than the moons distance from Earth and this has made astronomers announce that theres nothing to worry about. However, having said that, NASA will keep a close watch as asteroids can change course as they travel through space due to various reasons. At that speed, even a small change can alter the course of an asteroid enough to make it a major worry for Earth. Also, though it might appear farther for us but on cosmic scale, this kind of a distance is not considered as being big in any way.

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As a point of reference to the true scale of this asteroids size, experts at NASA are claiming that the object is four times the size of the tallest building in Western Europe, The Shard in London, which stands at 310 meters high.

While the asteroid wont directly affect earth, aspiring sky-watchers and amateur astronomers can see the object approach online. This rare event will be livestreamed online by astrophysicist and founder of The Virtual Telescope Project, Gianluca Masi from the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Italy. Those willing to watch this event can do so from 3pm on March 4, 2022.

Earlier, on January 30, an image of the 2001 CB21 was captured via an Earth-based telescope by Masi. At that time, it was more than 21.5 million miles away from Earth. As per the report, 2001 CB21 makes an orbit around the sun once every 384 days, which is almost similar to Earth's own orbital period. Its large size makes it bigger than around 97 percent of known asteroids, however, its small compared to large asteroids, very roughly comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge.
Sotheby's Chief Executive Officer Charles Stewart, seen during his keynote address at the MWC, says the world of traditional art is steadily embracing technology.

Sotheby's auction house is almost three centuries old but its top brass want to embrace the cutting edge of technology and all of its buzzwordsmetaverse, NFT and crypto among them.

"The reason Sotheby's has existed for 277 years is because we have a history of embracing innovation and so NFTs is no different," Charles Stewart, the firm's American chief executive, tells AFP in an interview.

He is talking about non-fungible tokens, the ubiquitous digital objects that are linked to pieces of art or other items, some of which the ancient auction house has sold for millions of dollars over the past year.

And even better for Stewart's business, he says there is plenty of cross-pollination between the old and new art worlds.

"The traditional art world is hearing a lot about NFTs. Many don't understand it. Some have embraced it. But there's absolutely a curiosity," he says on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

"The same is true the other way around. (For) a lot of young technology investorsin particular founders, entrepreneursNFTs has been a gateway into the broader art market."

By way of example, crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun shelled out more than $70 million at Sotheby's for a work by Swiss-born 20th artist Alberto Giacometti last year.

Over at rival auction house Christie's, a collector paid a similar amount for an NFT by a US artist known as Beeple.

'Explosion of interest'

Opinions on the merits of NFT art vary wildly.

The most famous collectionsBored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunksfeature cartoon images replicated 10,000 times with algorithm-generated variations.

They are often pilloried for blocky graphics or tacky animation style.

Also, those who buy NFTs do not get a physical product, rather they receive a verified entry on a blockchainessentially a piece of computer code.

The value comes from the supposed rarity or fame of the object, often driven by celebrity endorsements.

Stewart is unruffled by such criticismsSotheby's has sold both CryptoPunks and Bored Apes for millions of dollarsand he expects the market to continue to boom.

"This year we're seeing the overall NFT market could be $40 or $50 billion," he says.

For comparison, the traditional art market raised around $50 billion in total last year.

"It was only a year ago that NFTs burst onto our collective awareness and consciousness, and you've seen an explosion in interest since then," he says.

But Stewart says there is more to the NFT trade than hard cash.

"We're not looking at it so much as a specific dollar or euro amount as we are just the engagement of an audience," he says.

"Whether the prices rise or fall, if the interest is there, if the engagement is there, if new creators are connecting with audiences through NFTs and crypto, that's an important trend that we're going to invest behind."

Explore further Pricey pixels: Why people spend fortunes on NFT art

 2022 AFP
UNSW academics Professor Sanjay Jha and Professor Salil Kanhere say cyber warfare is a growing threat. Credit: Shutterstock

Bolstering cybersecurity is becoming ever more important as nation states wage war in new and complex arenas.

That is the view of two UNSW academics in the wake of a wave of online attacks linked to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.

As well as the use of tanks and bombs and soldiers on the battlefield, countries are now also waging war in cyberspace in order to weaken their enemies, most notably by targeting crucial infrastructure such as power and communications systems.

For example, in recent days and weeks Ukraine has accused Russian hackers of launching massive denial of service attacks on their government agencies, banks and the defense sector.

The United States government also claims Russia breached the networks of multiple defense contractors and gained sensitive information about weapons-development communications infrastructure.

And back in 2015, a series of power outages across Ukraine were allegedly caused by military hackers in the Russian GRU (Intelligence Agency) Main Center for Special Technologies.

CIA Triad

"Cyber warfare has become a tool by nation states to attack other countries," says Professor Sanjay Jha, deputy director of the UNSW Institute for Cybersecurity (IFCYBER).

"In the modern digital world, by attacking a computer server in the network of some critical piece of infrastructure, you can potentially take down an entire power system and with that, you could paralyze large parts of the economy.

"Other targets might be the banking system or a server that deals with communications systems so these system become unavailable to legitimate users.

"In cybersecurity any system needs to maintain confidentiality, integrity and availability, aka the "CIA Triad."

"Availability is actually very important, and attackers can affect that by launching what is known as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack where they just bog down a system with junk data that it has to process.

"Nowadays attackers can draft 20, 30, 50 or 100s of servers all over the world sending packets of information and maybe wasting 99 percent of the server's time dealing with it.

"Just like in conventional conflict, each party wants to maximize the amount of damage and discomfort to the target."

Ukrainian armored personnel carriers preparing to defend against military Russian invasion in 2022. But the European country has also had to fend off a series of cyber attacks allegedly ordered by the Kremlin. Credit: Shutterstock

Professor Salil Kanhere, another cybersecurity expert from UNSW's School of Computer Science and Engineering, says finding and then fixing vulnerabilities in computer programs or software is one of the most crucial ways to defend against attacks by state-sponsored hackers and others.

In December 2021, for example, news started to spread of an exploitation in Log4j, a software library that records a wide variety of otherwise mundane information in a vast number of computer systems.

It became clear that attacks on Log4j could allow hackers to submit their own code into the targeted computer and potentially steal information or even take control of the affected system.

"This particular vulnerability was really bad because Log4j software is used in a wide variety of consumer and enterprise services, websites, and applications," says Professor Kanhere.

"The question then becomes, do organizations have the resources to quickly act on the attacks and fix the vulnerability. The big players, and government agencies, will be able to but small-medium enterprises possibly can't react very fast, which means those systems are still vulnerable to attacks.

"What attackers then do is scan the internet, trying to find a system that still has this weakness and then exploit it.

"The major problem is that computer systems nowadays are so complex and intertwined that if attackers find one weak link somewhere, that is enough to gain access into critical systems and steal data or launch further attacks."

Social engineering

On top of all that, cyber attacks can also be cleverly targeted not only at computers themselves but also by the humans who use them.

Phishing attacks can trick users into giving out sensitive information that then compromises security and allows nefarious access into systems.

"Some of the phishing nowadays is so sophisticated," says Prof. Jha. "So much so that even a fairly educated cybersecurity person may be tricked.

"There are also social engineering tactics where people are manipulated into clicking something that then allows an attacker to install malware, or ransomware, or steal information."

In times of war, such as the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, Prof. Kanhere says gaining access to information has the potential to have a huge impact on the success or failure of actual military attacks.

Discovering battle plans, potential maneuvers of troops and equipment, or hacking into secure communications systems used by soldiers and their command could help win wars in the modern age.

"In the past a lot of that information would have been on paper, but now it is all digitized and therefore may be vulnerable," Prof. Kanhere says.

"If you can extract that information then it could certainly give you the upper hand militarily. Traditional wars were fought on land, air, and sea. But now we also have space and cyberspace as the fourth and fifth battlegrounds that are emerging."

And that means that all major governments around the world, not just the Russians, are likely to have cyber experts on hand to play their part in the way 21st-century conflicts are now fought.

"The specific details about that are bordering on national intelligence which I'm not an expert on, but it's not surprising to think that given the importance of information technology and the potential to disrupt networks, that would be a very obvious choice for militaristic efforts," Prof. Jha says.

"It would be reasonable to conclude that all governments, not just Russia, have some sort of cyber units placed in different organizations with the capability of launching offensives if needed."

In terms of bolstering cybersecurity, the UNSW academics say it is a constant game of cat-and-mouse as countries try to secure their systems and fix vulnerabilities faster than the hackers can exploit them.

Artificial intelligence

Prof. Jha is currently conducting research, funded by Cybersecurity CRC, that aims to help develop tools to identify potential security issues in Australia's Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) that links a range of electrical power industries.

He is also involved in work to improve artificial intelligence models that can identify patterns of cyber attacks and predict future risks using a range of internal and external intelligence.

Prof. Kanhere, meanwhile, is researching the use of machine learning to design network protocol fuzzing tools, which can automatically find vulnerabilities and attack strategies in network routing protocols that are critical to the functioning of the internet.

"The general advice is for systems to be patched to make sure they are secure and for networks to be configured so they can handle any denial-of-service attacks by doing some early detection," says Prof. Jha.

"There is a lot of development in artificial intelligence and machine learning, plus software looking at vulnerability detection.

"But as our dependency on computers keeps increasing, these problems and these attacks are not going to go away. As quickly as we come up with a solution, the bad guys are thinking of another way to attack.

"Now that these vulnerabilities can be exploited during warfare, it's becoming absolutely important that we pay a lot attention to cybersecurity going forward."
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

One available position, 1,000 applications. More and more large companies are using artificial intelligence (AI) to increase efficiency in human resources, in particular when looking to recruit suitable staff. One area where chatbots can prove useful is to give prospective candidates an initial impression of what the job will entail and to help them assess how well suited they actually are for the position.

A three-year project at Friedrich-Alexander-Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg (FAU) on the topic of "Artificial intelligence, chatbots and recruitment" investigated the relationship between humans and machines in human resources, gaining valuable insights into different topics such as the ethical aspects of these digital systems and the extent to which people are willing to accept them.

Researchers at the Endowed Chair of Digitalization in Business and Society at FAU carried out interviews with potential users and stakeholders in the area of human resources as well as with experts in the field of AI. The team of researchers from Nuremberg led by Prof. Dr. Sven Laumer have now summarized their results in a report that is of both practical and academic relevance.

The researchers believe that chatbots are dialogue systems that are suited for making processes in the area of human resources more efficient, but raise their concerns that chatbots need to become more intelligent and capable of responding to users in a more individual manner. Even though algorithms can help human resources departments come to a decision, recruiters still tend to be skeptical about relying entirely on data.

The study indicated that users prefer humans over machines when it comes to sensitive matters concerning personal data or when making recommendations that are of relevance to the future. Another interesting finding was that AI is more widely accepted if decisions are seen as being fair. Bearing this in mind, the researchers developed and tested a multi-dimensional fairness model. The study also suggested that applicants tend to regard companies that offer digital recruitment as innovative and attractive potential employers.

However, one aspect that must still be addressed is the active avoidance of discrimination. It is often the case that discriminatory features (such as demographic characteristics) are applied in models that are used as the basis for generating recommendations. This underlines the importance of a high degree of transparency, which would in turn increase the accountability of AI-assisted recruitment.
SpaceX's Elon Musk provides an update on Starship, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, near Brownsville, Texas. Musk is daring the United Auto Workers union to hold an organizing vote at Tesla's factory in Fremont, Calif. On Twitter Wednesday, March 2, 2022, Musk wrote that he invited the union to hold a vote at its convenience and that Tesla would do nothing to stop it. Credit: Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald via AP, File

Elon Musk is inviting the United Auto Workers union to hold an organizing vote at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California.

On Twitter Wednesday, Musk wrote that he invited the union to hold a vote at its convenience. "Tesla will do nothing to stop them," he wrote.

The UAW wouldn't comment Thursday but spokesman Brian Rothenberg pointed out that Tesla is fighting a U.S. National Labor Relations Board ruling from last year that found the company and Musk engaged in unfair labor practices in 2018, partly because of his tweets.

Musk's recent tweets seem to defy the NLRB ruling, and are part of an escalating fight between Musk and federal regulatory agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Musk's Wednesday tweet about the union came in response to one from Gene Simmons, the front man for the rock band Kiss, who was supporting Musk in a twitter spat with President Joe Biden over electric vehicle manufacturing.

Biden had tweeted on Tuesday about Ford and General Motors spending a total of $18 billion to create 15,000 jobs building electric vehicles. Musk replied that Tesla had created over 50,000 U.S. jobs building electric vehicles and is investing more than GM and Ford combined.

Simmons wrote that Musk had a "solid point" and questioned if Biden avoids mentioning Tesla because the company isn't unionized. Unions have strongly supported Biden, and the UAW endorsed him in 2020.

Musk and his fan base have been upset with the president, who rarely mentions Tesla when he talks about electric vehicles and has left Musk off the invite list for electric vehicle events at the White House. Biden has long favored "good paying union jobs," and workers at Tesla's plants are not represented by a union.

Gene Simmons responds to a reporter's question after he watched the departure of President Donald Trump on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 16, 2019 On Twitter Wednesday, March 2, 2022, Elon Musk wrote that he invited the union to hold a vote at its convenience. "Tesla will do nothing to stop them," he wrote. Musk's tweet about the union came in response to one from Gene Simmons, the front man for the rock band Kiss, who was supporting Musk in a twitter spat with President Joe Biden over electric vehicle manufacturing.Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File

A year ago, the labor relations board found that in a May 20, 2018 tweet, Musk unlawfully threatened employees with loss of stock options if they chose to be represented by the United Auto Workers union.

Board members ordered Tesla to make Musk delete the tweet and stop threatening employees with loss of benefits for supporting a labor organization.

Tesla also was required to post a notice addressing unfair labor practices at the 10,000-worker Fremont plant, and post a notice dealing with the tweet at all its facilities nationwide.

In April of 2021, Tesla appealed the NLRB ruling to a federal appeals court in New Orleans.

Among other things, the lengthy March 2021 NLRB ruling also ordered Tesla to reinstate an employee who was fired for union-organizing activity and to give him back pay.

Musk tweeted on May of 2018: "Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare."

The NLRB declined comment on Thursday.

Last month, California regulators sued Tesla Inc. alleging the electric car maker has been discriminating against Black employees who have been likened to monkeys and slaves at Fremont factory.

Explore further Elon Musk probed in US over stock trades: report

 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Call it the electric T-shirt. Or, as the researchers at the University of California San Diego have dubbed it, the "wearable microgrid."

Whatever its nickname, the long-sleeve shirt designed by the brainiacs at the Jacobs School of Engineering can harvest and store energy while the wearer is moving or exercising. The school's nanoengineers anticipate that someday the prototype will be refined to the point where electronic devices like cellphones won't have to rely on the electric grid for power but can run on the articles of clothing people wear every day.

And, perhaps, generate power that's literally at the tips of our fingers.

"What we want to achieve in the end is to have a system where you don't need to think about charging anymore," said Lu Yin, a nanoengineering Ph.D. student who has worked closely with Joseph Wang, director of the Center for Wearable Sensors at UC San Diego.

The shirt collects, or harvests, energy from the human body that can be stored and then used to power small electronics, such as an LCD wristwatch.

Biofuel cells that are powered by the sweat produced by the wearer are located inside the shirt at the chest. On the shirt's forearms and torso, triboelectric generators harvest energy as the user walks or jogs. At the same time, supercapacitors placed on the shirt's chest temporarily store the energy and then discharge it to power devices.

It sounds like the prototype would be bulky and awkward to wear but it's lightweight, flexible and not affected by bending, folding or crumpling. The shirt can be washed in water, as long as no detergent is used.

The energy generated by the swinging of the user's arms while running or walking works on the same principle as static electricity.

"It's very energy efficient and very suitable for these low-energy, low-power applications," Yin said, adding that the shirt's design is unique in terms of its functionalities.

The idea for the shirt was inspired by microgrids that have the ability to run independent of the electric grid.

Portable and wearable electronics, such as smartwatches, have grown in popularity. Combined with the near-universal adoption of personal computers, iPhones and other devices, there's a concerted effort to find alternative energy sources to run them all.

Self-powered technology envisions devices that can operate on their own, without relying on an external energy supply. Such a transition would reduce the need for the countless number of batteries that currently power our gadgets, not to mention the impact such an adaptation would have on potentially reducing energy demand on an increasingly strained electric system.

"I think mainly the (research and development) still lies on how to perfect the energy harvesting part," Yin said. "What we demonstrated is energy harvesting up to a few hundred microwatts. We want that to be increased, maybe tenfold, and we're getting there."

The key will be scaling up the technology. The UC San Diego shirt is not yet powerful enough to run, say, a cellphone.

But Yin sees the shirt as a way to provide "smart sensing" to monitor things such as the wearer's heart rate and oxygen levels. "We are also working on wearable blood pressure monitoring," he said.

Private companies in the activewear sector have expressed interest in the UC San Diego research. Yin sees another practical application for the shirtgenerating luminescence for joggers who run at night.

"We are very optimistic about the whole trend of wearable electronics, especially the integration of these energy storage devices with energy harvesters," Yin said. "We see a roadmap for future development."

In related research, UC San Diego engineers have developed a thin, flexible strip that can be wrapped around the fingertip like a Band-Aid. The wearable device can generate small amounts of electricity when a person's finger sweats, or when the finger is pressed.

Touted as the first of its kind, the device is about 1 centimeter square, or less than half an inch. A padding of carbon foam electrodes absorbs sweat and converts it into electrical energy.

You wouldn't think that your finger perspires very much but "what we figured out is that on the fingertip, the sweat rate is much higher compared to other parts of the body," Yin said. "That's why we have so many grooves on the finger because it contains hundreds of sweat glands along each groove."

Electrodes equipped with enzymes trigger chemical reactions between lactate and oxygen molecules in sweat to generate electricity. As the wearer sweats on the strip, electrical energy gets stored in a small capacitor and can be discharged to devices when needed.

"The level of power we're generating is in terms of best case, maybe hundreds of microwatts per finger," Yin said. "It's still some distance away from powering a cellphone."

The UC San Diego researchers had a subject wear the device on one fingertip while performing sedentary activities. After 10 hours of sleep, the device collected almost 400 millijoules of energyenough to power an electronic wristwatch for 24 hours. One hour of typing and clicking on a mouse saw the device collect almost 30 millijoules.

Though the fingertip device and the "electric T-shirt" represent two different studies, UC San Diego nanoengineers think of their wearables research as an integrated effort.

"We are definitely moving towards the next generation of electronics," Yin said. "We envision it to be more flexible, more conformable to the human body, to be more durable and eventually self-sustainable. That's the eventual goal we want to get to."

2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Over the past few days, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has captivated the attention of the world. But in addition to fighting with troops on the ground, the nation is also defending itself on another front, from cyberattack.

This "war within a war" is another strategy used by Russia to disrupt and disable life in Ukraine and increase that nation's vulnerability. But the attacks aren't confined just to two nations. The ripple effects can be seen around the world. In fact, Ukrainian leaders have asked international cyber experts to help them create an "IT Army'' to protect it from harm.

Professor Stephen Fitzgerald of the Operations and Information Management Department at the School of Business has closely monitored the cyber threats in Ukraine. He says the attacks and counterattacks are something the U.S., too, should follow closely.

What role have cyberattacks played in the assault in Ukraine?

Similar to the Colonial Pipeline attack targeting U.S. fuel infrastructure, many of the attacks are made with the intent to cripple the Ukrainian war effort by sabotaging communications, agriculture, commerce, supply lines, machinery, finance and energy.

It is hard to say how easy infiltration is; it depends on the system and the attack. But it is worth noting that the attacks being launched are quite sophisticated, and we can't overlook the inherent power imbalance between the two countries playing a role.

In response, many companies and nations have sanctioned Russia's access and assets online.

Additionally, capable groups and vigilantes from all over the world, including the infamous hacktivists of Anonymous, have come to the defense of Ukraine by attacking Russia back. Claiming credit for multiple attacks, the collective has disabled a Russian news site, and released emails and passwords from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

While this impressive effort seems like a win, we must remain cognizant that we are only getting a tiny fraction of the picture. Leaked passwords are useless once published, and the RT news site appears to be back up and running. We continue to gather as much information as we can on the cyber war being raged, but the truly devastating or dangerous attacks we may never know about. As a part of the outbreak of war, cyberattacks have occurred in shocking speed.

How is Ukraine responding to this cyber assault?

To aid in their cyber defense, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has posted a Tweet asking for volunteers to fight on the digital front, solidifying the conflict as a 21st century war. It has been said that future wars will not be fought on the ground, but online. While this is not the present case, we may be witnessing the first formalized iterations of such future conflicts.

Traditionally, cyberwarfare has been an unspoken constant, with governments claiming plausible deniability or pointing the finger at criminal organizations who inhabit their country as they posture against one another. It has historically been hard to prove a nation state's culpability in cyberattacks, but now that there is open warfare in Europe, there is no need to be clandestine and both sides can attack and defend with their full capabilities.

How will this online war impact the United States?

This is a tough question to answer because there is currently so much uncertainty. While the U.S. is physically distant from the fighting, cyberwarfare is not constrained by distance. Some say President Biden has been pressured to take action on Russia, many of which include cyber attacks of our own to disrupt Russian internet connectivity, electrical power, and transportation.

Of course, this invites a retaliatory effort from our historic adversary which should give officials appropriate pause. It is completely reasonable to expect that whatever we can do to Russia, they can do to us. The U.S. does not want open cyber conflict with Russia and an actual cyber attack from the U.S. is almost completely off the table from what is being discussed, according to the White House.

This back and forth highlights just how tricky the situation is and how hard it is to pin down reliable information. One concern that we can cite for certain is the idea that the software programs used in these attacks could spill over or cause collateral damage based on their design.

How vulnerable is the U.S. to similar attacks?

It is unlikely that individual Americans will be targeted by attacks, but if we were to see conflict we would likely see attacks that target valuable infrastructure or specific corporations.

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has made a point to warn Americans about some of the malware we have seen coming out of the conflict, and have taken on the mantra "Shields Up" to describe our nation's cyber defense posture.

"While there are no specific or credible cyber threats to the U.S. homeland at this time, Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which has involved cyber-attacks on Ukrainian government and critical infrastructure organizations, may impact organizations both within and beyond the region, particularly in the wake of sanctions imposed by the United States and our Allies. Every organizationlarge and smallmust be prepared to respond to disruptive cyber activity," CISA said in a statement.

In the meantime CISA has published a page describing some of the steps and resources individuals and companies can use to protect themselves from any sort of online shrapnel. As with all cybersecurity risks, the best thing we can do is to proactively prepare and have a plan if we are to be attacked.

How might the international community address these aggressions?

Microsoft, which has for some time called for the creation of a new Geneva Convention pact governing cyberspace, is now suggesting that some cyberattacks on Ukraine could be considered war crimes under existing international laws. This is certainly something the international community will need to address at some point in the near future. Although international cyberlaw is in its infancy, it will need to quickly mature as the international community deals with the ongoing wartime cyberattacks.


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As I read Don Tomlinsons column (Eagle, March 1), three points come to mind:

1) Tomlinson seems resentful from his time as a journalism teacher at A&M. The department was treated as a dumping ground for students who had no academic home and he was eventually fired from the university.

Under the description of the conditions given by Tomlinson, he painted a picture that the degree program was not up to the standards required by Texas A&M. A&M President M. Katherine Banks is reopening the journalism department, and according to the plans and vision, it will be a first-class academic program.

This should make any alum happy  a professional and rigorous journalism major will be established at Texas A&M to educate future students.

2) I have to take issue with the argument that The Batt is self sufficient. It is not. When The Batt pays for rent, utilities, equipment/repair costs, insurance, material supplies, fees for accountants, transportation costs, operational costs, salaries for an adviser, etc., then you can say it is self sufficient.

Every parent of a college student has this discussion with his or her children. They think they are on their own when they really arent. There is a big safety net provided by the university that is being used by The Batt to operate.

3) Tomlinson does not explain why The Batt only prints once a week. Id also argue there is no infringement on anyones First Amendment rights, but thats a different argument. Was it a financial decision or a low-demand issue (which is the most likely answer) to print once a week?

Obviously, I read a paper because that is how I saw Tomlinsons column. But many of my friends, my children and my friends children do not.

My children will never pay for a print copy of anything. They are a part of a majority of consumers who prefer digital versions over print. The demand for a hard copy is being replaced by a digital product. Billions of dollars are being spent on line for these products.

The price of a subscription to The Eagle has doubled since I moved to College Station 15 years ago because demand is down and it still needs to pay its bills. I pay for a subscription because I like to read the local news and sports.

President Banks is correct that future students need to be well-versed in the digital medium because that is where most of them will be working for the duration of their journalistic careers.

Tomlinson and The Batt supporters should be celebrating the fact journalism will be making a comeback at Texas A&M.

I for one welcome the addition of Aggie journalists in the public square in our state. They have been absent for far too long.

Wendy Letendre lives in College Station.
Claims that Hall County Commissioner Scott Sorensen inappropriately handled bids for newly purchased motor graders in December are unfounded, said Hall County Attorney Marty Klein at Tuesdays Board of Commissioners meeting.

On Nov. 23, the board approved purchasing three new motor graders, costing roughly $244,000 each, though it was not the lowest bid.

Sorensen recommended the bid to the board and after, acting in capacity as the interim head of the countys Roads Department, approved the purchase order.

An anonymous letter was sent to Hall County Sheriffs Office and Hall County Attorneys Office, among others, asking for an investigation into the matter.

On the advice of the Nebraska Attorney Generals Office, Klein said, an investigation was launched.

The investigation was completed by the Nebraska State Patrol, and not by any Hall County officials.

Klein expressed to the board Tuesday that the way the matter has been handled has caused him great frustration and great disappointment.

I didnt talk to Mr. Sorensen throughout this entire investigation, and it killed me. Im angry now having to even think about this, he said.

Klein described its results succinctly: insufficient evidence and unfounded.

Whatever was reported, let me be clear: it was unfounded, Klein emphasized. If someone has the concern to bring an anonymous letter up in the future, Im not going to take it forward, Im going to take it right to this board and say, What do you want me to do with this?

He added, I think its chicken *&^#, quite frankly.

Klein further dismissed the claims as just a bunch of bunk.

Im disappointed with the people who bought into the rumors such that I had to hear them, he said.

Commissioner Butch Hurst commended Klein.

I was a police officer for over 40 years, and I guarantee 99.99% of the time we would not investigate an anonymous complaint, especially one that is so out-there as this one was, he said.

Commissioner Karen Bredthauer, who co-serves on roads department committee, defended Sorensen, explaining that she was witness to the discussions about the bids.

I know from firsthand there was nothing done illegally or even intentionally illegally, so Im very happy, Marty, that you did an investigation and his name is cleared, he said.

Sorensen was conciliatory.

Going forward, for the anonymous individual, I would welcome them to approach me, call me, come here. Id shake their hand, he said. I feel theres a huge communication barrier here because when I made my recommendation on the graders I withheld some comments, if you will, that probably would have probably tarnished the reputation of other equipment dealers and I wanted to keep that out of this boardroom.

He added, I think thats why some people thought my recommendation was suspicious, but I stand by it and wouldnt have done a thing different.

The history of this matter before the Hall County Board of Commissioners has been recounted in this timeline, which can be confirmed with the recordings of the commission meetings that are available on the Hall County website.

Nov. 23

Scott Sorensen, as interim department head, made the recommendation to the Hall County Board of Commissioners to go with the state bid for three motor graders, with a five-year warranty, at a cost of $244,507 per year for next three years.

The figure is based on the trade-in for the three machines being replaced, said Sorensen.

Following his research, Sorensens recommended Murphy Tractor (John Deere), which was a larger product and cost more, over Road Builders (Komatsu), which had the lowest bid and a higher trade-in and met county specifications.

Sorensen defended the cost difference of roughly $11,000, saying Murphy Tractor had a better value long-term.

They both came under budget. We did budget $250,000 for these after trade-in, he said. It fits my numbers and I would ask the board to think farther than the next three years.

Commissioner Gary Quandt voiced concerns about the bid process.

We asked people to bid, and then we dont really look at the low bid? he said.

The board approved the motion with a 6-1 vote.

Dec. 7

Quandt brought to the boards attention that he had received a lot of phone calls about the boards decision and how the bids were handled. Quandt said he was bothered that financing specifically wasnt included in the motion.

Commissioner Jane Richardson asked why it wasnt brought up in the previous weeks meeting, when the bids were approved.

I think this is very unnecessary and uncalled for, she said. Im not sure whats behind it, but this is unnecessary.

Sorensen explained his decision further, saying the lower bid was two sizes smaller than the one the board approved and again called it a better value.

Dec. 21

Tony Randone of Road Builders Machinery addressed the board, wanting to know why, if they were the lowest, qualified competitive bidder, how did we not win the bid?

Randone noted that they have done business with Hall County before, and the county owns some Komatsu equipment.

Then-Commission Chair Pam Lancaster explained, What was bid was what the county asked for. We went with something that was not on the bid.

Sorensen noted that the accepted bid, though larger, met the countys minimum specifications and the bid was ultimately cheaper per machine.

Quandt disclosed he had voted against the purchase on Nov. 23 and spoke against the boards decision.

This has got a smell to me and Im not liking it. Addressing Sorensen, he said, Are you friends with someone ...?

His remarks were interrupted by Lancaster.

Sorensen, in response, said, Full disclosure, Ive got friends who work for almost every one of these implement dealers.

Tony, Ive got friends who work in your service department. Garys comment, me having a friend over at Murphys Tractors? You bet, he said. If we couldnt do business just because we have friends working for other companies, the state of Nebraska would not be able to function.

Sorensen added, I do not have a controlling interest in Murphy Tractor or any implement dealer.

Jan. 4

Quandt reiterated that he still believes what weve done is wrong," and advocated for the project tto be re-bid and done right.

When we started out we thought it was going to be $11,000 difference between each of the graders, it turned out to be another $14,000 on top of that ... and the numbers continue to change, he said. In the past our bidding process hasnt been expanded as much as what Id like to, and we finally got it to where we are, and we get people that bid, and then we dont look at them.

He added, Its almost like were prejudice, whether were green or yellow or red when it comes to our equipment.

Assistant County Attorney Sarah Carstensen explained how the bids were considered.

(Murphy) submitted a bid that was based on a state bid, but because our bid specs were different from what the state bid had, what I understood they did, on their end, was take their state bid information and modify it to meet our bid specs and submitted a bid, she said.

It became a second bid from Murphy, considered the same day and meeting the county specs, Cartensen confirmed.

Unlike the state, the county is not required to take the lowest bid.

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A class of kindergartners paid as much rapt attention Wednesday as a class of kindergartners can to Shoemaker Elementarys guest reader - Miss Nebraska 2021 Morgan Holen.

With every page, students at Shoemaker learned how important it is  and how good it feels  to fill others buckets, thanks to Holens favorite book, How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer.

Holen said she knew it would be the perfect book to read Wednesday, which was Read Across America Day. It talks about how students can fill each others buckets by being kind to one another. This is a great way to introduce looking for peoples talents as opposed to looking for what theyre not good at. And its a great way to translate that information for a younger generation.

Shoemaker Principal Lee Wolfe said the school planned some activities for students in relation to Holens book selection. (Students) got to write little droplets to put in someones bucket. Some kids wrote one to me. A lot of kids were writing to their parents or a friend.

Even the youngest of Shoemakers students got in on the bucket-filling, Wolfe said. A lot of students in the younger grades said they would make sure to go home and hug their dad because they helped them so much. They were going to do little things to fill peoples buckets and sometimes that can make a huge difference.

Holen seemed to be in her element.

I love being around bucket fillers, Holen said with a smile.

It seems Holen knows quite a bit about filling buckets herself. She traveled to Grand Island to read to each elementary grade at Shoemaker. I reached out to the school, she said. I knew it was Read Across America Week and wanted to get into as many schools as possible. So luckily, our schedules matched up and I was able to make the trip from Omaha to Grand Island (today).

When he heard from Holen, Wolfe conferred with staff members on the schools Read Across America and social-emotional learning teams, he said. Weve not really brought in speakers here a whole lot with the COVID pandemic the last few years. It sounded like a very reasonable, affordable opportunity to read a great book that would encourage kindness and making others feel good about themselves.

The staff members gave the green light with the star power likely being a major factor. The name and the title resonate with people, Wolfe said.

Holen said engagements like Wednesdays are something she enjoys. I love interacting with kids and all of the different grade levels, Holen said after reading to the kindergarteners. Students are so curious and they always have entertaining questions.

In addition to storytime, Holen told the classes a little bit about herself with a slide presentation of photos, and shared what Miss Nebraska is all about.

Holen also had a lunch date with some Shoemaker girls, arranged by Wolfe.

I asked her to sit with a group of girls in grades three, four and five, Wolfe explained. We chose a lottery system kind of deal to eat lunch with Miss Nebraska.

Nine lucky young ladies got to lunch with Holden. Wolfe said he wanted the moment to be special. I really hope that they remember it for a long time, he said. They were just glowing  more than they already do. Their conversations were really special, and she gave a little autographed picture to each of them.

Still, as Holens favorite read indicates, you dont have to wear a sparkling crown to make a difference.

Jessica Votipka is the education reporter at the Grand Island Independent. She can be reached at 308-381-5420.

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The University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced plans to develop the Small Meat Processing Plant of the Future during a roundtable discussion during the weekend at the Nebraska Association of Meat Processors annual convention in Grand Island.

The Small Plant of the Future will be a multi-disciplinary center to strengthen the meat industry in the region, said Clint Krehbiel, head of UNLs Animal Science department during the roundtable.

He said the plant, which will be located alongside existing UNL Animal Science facilities, will serve as a regional processing hub for local cattle producers, as well as a prototype for other small and very small facilities.

As part of the initiative, Krehbiel said UNL will look at making equipment upgrades to the Loeffel harvest and processing facility on East Campus, hire and train staff members to maintain regular slaughter operations, and establish a suite of resources available to those looking to set up or expand small processing operations. The project is structured to have a multiplying effect across the region.

He said that the COVID-19 pandemic illuminated issues that small meat processors had faced for years, including the insufficient capacity of small processors to keep up with rising demand, barriers to implementing new technologies and widespread workforce shortages. The Small Plant of the Future aims to address those issues.

At the Grand Island roundtable, multiple processors raised the issue of labor and staffing challenges.

To help strengthen the workforce, the Small Plant of the Future will include a set of workforce development programs, including an internship program that will pair meat science students with small meat processing businesses across the state, Krehbiel said.

He said UNL continues to look at other ways to integrate both degree and non-degree programs into its Small Plant initiative. This may include training programs including workshops for employees new to the meat processing industry, partnerships with community colleges, continuing education opportunities for more experienced meat processors, and more.

UNL has been a leader in meat science for over 100 years, Krehbiel said. We want to be part of the solution.

Representatives from USDAs Agricultural Marketing Service and Food Safety and Inspection Services were present at the roundtable; USDA Rural Development personnel joined remotely.

The event came just two days after the USDA announced it was making available $215 million in grants and other support to expand meat and poultry processing options, strengthen the food supply chain, and create jobs and economic opportunities in rural areas. Krehbiel said UNL hopes to look to this program as one potential source of funds; other fundraising efforts for the plant already are underway. The Small Plant of the Future concept comes at a time when the University has already committed millions to building and expanding existing UNL food facilities, including the Food Processing Center and the Feedlot Innovation Center, said Mike Boehm, NU vice president and Harlan Vice Chancellor for UNLs Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The Small Plant of the Future is a natural extension of what weve been building at a time when the industry is in dire need, Boehm said. The Small Plant of the Future is a dream initiative for a land-grant institution like UNL  one that marries academic programs with hands-on application and deep community partnerships that strengthen the regions economy.

Chad Lottman, who attended the roundtable, said the discussion on workforce development caught his attention. Lottman and his wife, Courtney, own Landmark Snacks in Beatrice, which produces meat sticks and other processed snack foods and employs around 200 people. Prior to starting that business, the Lottmans ran C&C Processing, a small meat locker in Diller. Processors of all sizes are struggling to find reliable, qualified employees, he said.

We need a skilled workforce, he said,

Lottman said an internship program in particular would be valuable to his business, which already employs several UNL graduates in its food safety division. For smaller processors, he said, help implementing new software programs and other technologies would be invaluable.

For the small processor, thats difficult.

Krehbiel said he anticipated that some workforce development programs could be in place by fall of 2022, with the addition of more programming and facility improvements incrementally during the next several years.

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Expert Viewpoint

4 Steps to Improve Outcomes With an Online Literacy Platform for Young ESL Learners

Second grade is a transition year for the English language learners at our school district. Its the point where students transition to using English fully, and its something that we support across 30 different campuses, each of which serves about 600 students.

We have four elementary coordinators who oversee about eight different campuses each. In 2021, most of that oversight happened virtually due to the pandemic, when about 90% of students were learning remotely.

During that period, we wanted to make sure that those students were getting the right reading skill opportunities to practice, not only with a teacher when they weren't remote, but also using a program that was going to reinforce those skills.

To achieve this goal, our team of elementary coordinators worked with the curriculum instruction department to secure the funds needed to rollout an initial implementation of the Lexia Core5 Reading adaptive blended learning program.

4 Steps to Success

Here are four steps we took to make sure we were getting the most out of our new platform:

1. Test out the platform first.

With a special emphasis on the 3,000 second-grade students who were reaching their reading milestones, our district began using the platform for the 2019-20 school year with those students. Its important to note that 1,549 of those 3,000 third-grade students were emergent bilingual learners. We wanted to try out the program first and see what kind of impact it could make.

After receiving virtual training on their new reading platform right around the time that COVID-19 emerged, our reading intervention teachers and language acquisition aides identified which students needed the highest level of intervention. They then assembled a small-group instruction approach based on Lexias online and downloadable teacher resources.

2. Leverage individualized learning.

One of our elementary coordinators really likes how the platform is very individualized and built up from the childs own starting point. The literacy platform provides different levels of support, said Pearl Sanchez. If a student is having a difficult time with short vowels, the literacy program will scaffold so that he or she can be successful in that lesson before moving up into the next one.

3. Track and report on the progress.

For the remainder of the school year, we continued with our literacy intervention  using the program for 60 minutes per week, with individual campuses choosing how they wanted to allocate that time. The districts four coordinators regularly met with the language acquisition aides to review the programs comprehensive usage reports and performance data for each campus. We made sure that the kids were logging in and retained data at the campus level for usage and performance. We also provided the district leadership team with the data from the beginning, middle and end of the year.

4. Grow it from there.

The results were consistently positive. Even during remote learning about 65% of students were logging into and using the reading intervention platform. That to us was phenomenal, because 90% of our students were learning virtually at the time. We also saw that 65% of those that used the program advanced at least one or more grade level.

When we tested students at the end of the school year, they had completed an average of 17 skills  up from five at the beginning of the year. Because of the data that we shared with the district administrators; the decision was made to do a districtwide implementation across all grade levels for the 2021-22 year. Thats 18,441 PreK5th grade students benefitting from our literacy program.

District leaders were particularly impressed with the gains made by second grade students who were working hard to acquire a new language, with most of them speaking Spanish at home. We credit our choice of an adaptive blended learning program with helping us achieve our goals in supporting these students in their successes.
Paris, TX (75460)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low 66F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low 66F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
MARION  Surveillance photos of the suspect in the People's National Bank robbery in Marion on Tuesday have been released.

At 10:49 a.m. an unidentified person entered the People's National Bank on 17th Street in Marion and robbed it at gunpoint, police said.

The suspect fled eastbound from the bank on foot.

The suspect then entered a tan 2004-2012 Chevrolet Colorado single cab pickup which had previously been parked in a nearby parking lot, police said.

The suspect then drove eastbound on 17th Street towards I-57 and evaded capture by police.

The suspect vehicle is damaged in several areas, and these damages together make the suspect vehicle unique, according to police.

The Marion Police Department knows one of you will be able to recognize this vehicle and help us bring this investigation to a successful conclusion, police said.

The suspect made off with an undisclosed amount of currency from the bank, police said.

The individual was described by police as wearing a dark hoodie, black pants, a white full-face mask and gloves.

The suspect is of a medium to stocky build and approximately 5 feet and 9 inches tall, police said.

The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information on the suspect or the suspect vehicle can contact the Marion Police Department at 618-993-2124 and enter extension 1206 to reach Detective Maria Dwyer.

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WASHINGTON  A half-dozen U.S. lobbying firms severed ties with Russian-linked businesses over the past week, a dramatic pullback for an industry that often has few qualms about representing controversial interests.

The rush offers a measure of the potency of the Biden administrations new sanctions, which were levied after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last week. They make it difficult, if not outright illegal, for U.S. companies to do business with Russia-based ones.

Firms including McLarty Associates, BGR Group and Venable LLP abruptly canceled arrangements that have collectively yielded millions of dollars in lobbying fees in recent years, records show. Among their former clients are investors and operators for the now-canceled Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was supposed to deliver Russian gas to Germany, as well as Russian state-controlled banks and others.

Thus far, its reversed the normal order of business when war breaks out, which often spurs foreign governments to enlist Washington-based firms to lobby the U.S. government, a review of lobbying records shows.

These lobbying firms and lobbyists were pulling in huge amounts of money, said Craig Holman, a registered lobbyist for the good government group Public Citizen, who closely tracks the industry. I really have a hard time believing that they suddenly became altruistic once Russia invaded Ukraine."

Holman said a more likely scenario was that the firms were lobbying on behalf of the sectors, industries and projects that were covered by the sanctions, and thus required to cease their work.

It's difficult to assess just how many Russian companies or Russian-linked companies are still being represented by U.S. lobbyists. But the recent exodus suggests that the Ukraine invasion may have made representing the country's interests too toxic even for an industry that has in the past welcomed payment from defense companies, despots and rebel groups.

In 2019, for example, a Libyan general seeking to consolidate his power in the North African country spent $2 million hiring a Texas-based firm to forge closer relations with the U.S.

Many of the Russian-linked companies that were dropped were involved in the Nord Stream 2 project, a completed undersea pipeline that would bypass Ukraine to send Russian gas supplies to Europe via Germany. The opening of the pipeline, which would have given Russia tremendous leverage by making it an even larger energy supplier to Europe, was suspended by Germany after last week's invasion, leading the U.S. to issue sanctions against the company operating it.

McLarty quickly dropped five European energy companies that were investors in the project, which have paid the firm at least $3.4 million in fees since 2017, records show.

For months, Republicans in the Senate have railed against the pipeline and sought sanctions on businesses involved in the project. But the effort, including legislation sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., went nowhere because it was opposed by President Joe Biden as well as Senate Democrats, who hold the majority.

Lobbying records indicate McLarty lobbied Congress and the executive branch to protect and further the companys interest in the debate over natural gas as an element of European energy security.

We felt the honorable thing to do in the aftermath of the Russian invasion was to support U.S. policy and withdraw from the pipeline project, Richard Burt, who leads a wing of McLarty focused on foreign interests, wrote in an email. Burt had donated $14,000 to Bidens 2020 election efforts, record show.

The firms BGR Group and Roberti Global also dropped the pipeline project's construction and operating company, Nord Stream 2 AG. The company is controlled by a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom, whose fuel sales support the Russian government budget.

A representative of Roberti Global, which has collected at least $9.8 million in lobbying fees from Nord Stream 2 AG, did not respond to a request for comment.

BGR President Jeffrey H. Birnbaum said in an email that his firm, which has collected at least $1.5 million in lobbying fees from Nord Stream 2 AG, ended its relationship to be in "compliance with economic and trade sanctions announced by the U.S. government.

Firms representing Russian banks also dropped clients. That includes Sberbank and VTB, Russias two largest state-run banks, which were targeted last week by sanctions aimed at limiting their businesses internationally.

Venable LLP last week dropped an affiliate of Sberbank. The firm has collected at least $800,000 in lobbying fees and closely tracked legislation in Congress of interest to Russia, including economic sanctions issues and a bill called the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act.

The two lobbyists who worked on the account, Gregory M. Gill and D. Edward Wilson, did not respond to requests for comment.

The firm Sidley Austin also ended its roughly seven-year relationship as a registered foreign agent for VTB last Friday. The firm, which has represented the bank since 2015, was on a $40,000-a-month retainer and typically collected about $360,000 or more a year in fees from the company. The firm provided government strategies counsel" and lobbying directed toward the U.S. Congress" as well as the White House regarding the imposition of sanctions by the U.S. government on Russian-affiliated banks," according to Justice Department filings.

A representative of Sidley Austin did not respond to a request for comment.

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SPRINGFIELD  A bill meant to stem nutrient pollution resulting from farm runoff has met opposition from a formidable foe  the Illinois Farm Bureau  as negotiations on a final package continue.

Nutrient loss is one of the most serious pollution threats in the country, creating a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, poisoning local lakes and streams and causing serious health problems for people and domesticated animals.

The state aimed to reduce nitrates and nitrogen by 15% and phosphorus by 25% by 2025, but the latest Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy Implementation Report showed that nutrient loss increased by 13% and phosphorus losses increased by 35%, compared with a baseline period from 1980 to 1996.

The bill, Senate Bill 3471, was introduced in January, but was amended in early February, changing substantively from its original form that funded a program incentivizing the planting of cover crops by offering discounts on crop insurance.

The amended bill creates the Healthy Soils and Watershed Initiative that would be administered by the Department of Agriculture in cooperation with the states soil and water conservation districts, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and the University of Illinois Extension program.

The Department of Agriculture would create guidelines to help with soil and water conservation districts to create a plan and establish funding levels with measureable, cost-effective and technically achievable goals to reduce nutrient loss.

The Initiative would then produce a study every two years, beginning in 2023, outlining efforts to combat nutrient loss and their overall effectiveness. It would also measure the overall picture of nutrient loss and whether the state was moving towards goals set out in the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy.

Supporters say the bill creates a baseline to gauge the scope of the problem and identify appropriate spending limits and strategies that work, and it also provides accountability to taxpayers.

The information collected by the agencies would also make it easier to obtain federal monies set aside to combat nutrient loss, said Maxwell Webster, Midwest Policy Manager for America Farmland Trust, a proponent of the bill.

The Illinois Farm Bureau voiced opposition to the bill in committee hearing because they say it is duplicative, complicated and bureaucratic.

The Farm Bureau said the bill put various state and federal agencies, authorities, and programs under one umbrella, making it difficult to implement. Adding provisions to already existing laws, like the Soil and Water Conservation Act, would make the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategies less confusing and eliminate bureaucracy, said Lauren Lurkins, Director of Environmental Policy for the Illinois Farm Bureau.

We believe that the current NLRS program is moving us in the direction of protecting the environment and helping farmers better manage their land and resources, Lurkins wrote in an email. SB 3471 has some great ideas in the proposed language, but does it in a way that is awkward and duplicative. We feel that there are many laws in place that can be changed to include the goals that this bill lays out in a more efficient and workable format.

The Farm Bureau also voiced its opposition to mandates, stating that voluntary implementation will make the programs more palatable to farmers.

The bill is not designed to increase regulation and it does not create additional mandates. It is focused on making sure the state maximizes existing resources and successfully attracts additional investment from the federal government, Webster said.

Mandates are not the answer to this problem. Farmers are our greatest stewards of the land and the focus needs to be on getting more resources in their hands to implement conservation practices, Webster said. Thats why this bill seeks to update our existing voluntary conservation programs so that they are more responsive to the needs of farmers and the goals of the nutrient loss reduction strategy while also addressing emerging challenges like climate change.

The bill states the initiative shall promote voluntary and incentive-based conservation efforts. No part of this act shall be used to impose mandates or require practice adoption.

The original bill proposed an increase in funding for nutrient loss reduction policies over the next 10 years from $10 million to more than $25 million in 2027, extending through 2032, but that language was removed in the latest Senate amendment.

The original bill would also have expanded the eligible uses for the Partners for Conservation Fund, including funding the Fall Covers for Spring Savings Program. But that language was also stripped from the bill in Senate Amendment 1.

The funding mechanism of that program will now be spread out across IDOA, IDNR and IEPA in wider appropriation discussions, but the funding request for the cover crop program is the same as in the last bill.

We look forward to working with Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, and the other stakeholders of this legislation to work out all the technicalities of the legislation, Lurkins said.

Advocates for the bill said they are hopeful it will be able to move when the Senate returns next week, as the deadline for its passage was extended to March 11.

It passed the Senate Agriculture Committee on an 8-6 vote last month, with only Democratic support. Committee chair Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, was the lone Democrat to oppose the bill in committee, joining Republicans in voting against it.

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A woman needed medical treatment after she was allegedly hit with a pipe by a family member.

Bobby Oneal Eidson, 68, 506 Judyville Road, Norway, is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. He was taken into custody on Wednesday.

The woman told deputies she went to Eidson's house shortly before 10 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24 to check on him, according to an Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office incident report.

The woman said he became irate and called her a name.

He then allegedly struck her several times on left side of her head with a pipe, according to an arrest warrant.

The woman was transported to the Regional Medical Center by Orangeburg County Emergency Medical Services.

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A second T&D Region resident has died tragically in New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

Brandon Bovain, 33, of Orangeburg, was shot to death on Friday night, according to NOLA.com.

Although the Orleans Parish Coroners Office hasnt responded to requests for official identification, the mans relatives told the website that the homicide victim was Bovain, the father of a 3-year-old son.

Bovain arrived at a Chef Menteur Highway hotel with his girlfriend and younger brother on Friday, the website said. Bovain went to his vehicle to retrieve a cellphone they needed to complete the check-in process at the motel.

As Bovain was looking for the cellphone in the car, people in two separate cars in the parking lot began shooting at each other. One of the bullets struck and killed Bovain, NOLA.com reported.

The New Orleans Police Department reported Seventh District officers responded to a shooting call at 9:06 p.m.

Upon arrival, officers located an unresponsive male victim on scene having sustained a gunshot wound. The victim was transported via EMS to a local hospital, where he was later declared deceased, Aaron E. Looney of the NOPD said.

Investigators are currently in the process of gathering evidence and information to identify the person(s) responsible, Looney said in a press notice.

Ciaya Jordan Whetstone of Bamberg, a junior at the University of New Orleans, went to the Carnival parades on Friday, Feb. 18.

She later went out with friends, and then to her boyfriends home, according to NOLA.com. Friends said she used a ride-share app to go home and check on her dog.

New Orleans Police Department Sgt. P. Gaines said Whetstone was deceased when someone dropped her off at a hospital.

If anyone has information about these cases, they are asked to call Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD

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China launches campaign against women, child trafficking

Xinhua) 09:39, March 03, 2022

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Public Security has decided to launch a 10-month special operation to crack down on the abduction and trafficking of women and children starting from March 1 amid efforts to protect these groups more.

Special efforts should identify women and child vagrants and beggars and those who are mentally challenged or have verbal and hearing disabilities, a statement issued by the ministry said Wednesday after a teleconference to launch the operation.

The operation should be a primary task of the year, and new cases related to trafficking should be investigated and solved quickly. Long-pending cases should see no efforts spared, said the ministry.

It called for resolute efforts to wipe out the basis for trafficking-related crimes and establish and improve a working mechanism to integrate prevention, crackdown, rescue, and settlement.

The police should work with communities and other authorities to visit families, welfare houses, and other relevant units to go through clues related to the infringement on women's and children's rights and interests and spot trafficking crime clues in time.

The police should also mobilize the public to report suspicions. They should also speedily check the DNA of those suspected of being abducted and those searching for their relatives, said the statement.

Despite the ministry's efforts in recent years, the situation concerning trafficking crimes is still tough, with the soil for such crimes yet to be eradicated and many long-pending cases unsolved, the ministry said.

Public security organs around the country will continue to fulfill their duties and make sure the campaign will make its impact and be effective, said the ministry.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
The 23-year-old man charged in Fridays deadly collision remains hospitalized, S.C. Department of Public Safety Director of Public Affairs Sherri Iacobelli said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the state trooper who pursued him is on administrative duty, she said.

The crash claimed the lives of Zeleria Simpson of Charleston, an S.C. State University graduate, and Shemyia T. Riley of Greenville. Riley was a student at the university.

Three other S.C. State University students were injured, including Fuquan Mekhi C. Hills of Greenville.

Hills is facing two charges each of failure to stop for blue lights resulting in death and felony DUI resulting in death, according to S.C. Highway Patrol Sgt. Sonny Collins.

Hes also charged with one count each of failure to stop for blue lights resulting in great bodily injury, felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, unlawful possession of a firearm and open container of alcohol.

Hills was allegedly driving a 2015 Hyundai Sonata at an estimated speed of 110 to 125 miles per hour, Lexington County Sheriffs Department Capt. Adam Myrick said.

Iacobelli said SCDPS isnt charging anyone else in the crash.

Collins alleged the crash occurred after a trooper noticed the Sonata traveling at a high rate of speed on U.S Highway 21 bypass in Orangeburg at 1 a.m. Friday.

The trooper attempted a traffic stop for that offense. When the driver failed to stop for blue lights after making several turns in an attempt to elude law enforcement, the driver of that 2015 Hyundai Sonata collided with a 2009 Mercury Milan at the intersection of S.C. Highway 33 and S.C. Highway 178, Collins claimed.

The Milan was driven by Simpson and she was the only occupant in the car, Myrick said.

Highway Patrol Cpl. Leon C. Porter, of Troop Seven, was the trooper pursuing the Sonata, Iacobelli said.

Hes currently on administrative duty.

All pursuits and use of force incidents are reviewed by the departments Office of Professional Responsibility, and as such this case is being reviewed by OPR to determine if all policies and procedures were followed. While the case is under review by the department, the trooper has been placed on administrative duty, which is left to the discretion of the department following critical incidents and is not considered disciplinary action, Iacobelli explained.

Porter has been working as a South Carolina trooper since July 2011, according to records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act from the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy.

He also previously worked for the S.C. State University Police Department, the Columbia Police Department, the Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office and the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety.

Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell asked the Lexington County Sheriffs Department to investigate the crash because of a state law involving agencies that work the same area.

Contact the writer: mbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD

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The Wyoming House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would reduce the severance tax on coal from 7% to 6.5%.

Its a fair change, because theres a 7% severance tax on coal, and its only 6% on natural gas and oil, Rep. Tim Hallinan, R-Campbell County, told the House ahead of the vote. And theyre the chief competitors for coal. So if we want to give coal a fair shake, we should lower their severance tax.

Over the last decade, the 1% difference amounted to $250 million more in taxes paid by the coal industry, Hallinan said.

That is not a small figure, he said. The companies that suffered throughout this time period, and some of them went bankrupt and went under, they couldve had $250 million, possibly, to survive this rough time theyve been through.

Hallinan warned that the current economic strain on Wyomings coal companies could bring the industry to an end.

Fourth attempt at coal tax cut finally survives committee Rep. Tim Hallinan has been trying for six years to bring down the tax on coal. This year's bill is the most successful to date.

Opponents of House Bill 105 argued that reducing the severance tax wouldnt do much to help the multi-state and international companies operating Wyomings biggest mines, and would instead cost the state an estimated $10 million per year, primarily from the general fund.

I think we all understand that its not based on the tax rate, its based on market demand, on whether coal is dug out of the ground, said Rep. Mike Yin, D-Teton County. Why are we giving $10 million away?

Rep. Jim Roscoe, I-Lincoln, Sublette and Teton counties and a member of the House Revenue Committee, voted against the bill in committee. He later proposed an amendment that would require coal companies severance savings to stay in Wyoming or otherwise be used to support the states coal industry.

When we lower our severance tax, the money leaves Wyoming, Roscoe said Tuesday. Were appropriating money out of our state. The largest operator in Wyoming has mines in seven different states and also major operations in Australia.

Roscoe withdrew the amendment ahead of the third reading of the bill.

House Bill 105 passed the House by a margin of 40-19 and was referred to the Senate Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee.

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The nuclear developer planning a demonstration facility at Kemmerers coal-fired power plant has been working for months with the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee to streamline the approval process. An amended version of the arrangement passed the Wyoming House of Representatives 45-14 on Tuesday.

House Bill 131 would adjust existing statute to accommodate developments in the advanced nuclear sector and limit the permitting authority of the Industrial Siting Council to keep from stepping on the toes of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The Kemmerer project must be operational by 2028 to qualify for a $2 billion Department of Energy grant. TerraPower has said the bill will help to prevent the project from running into regulatory roadblocks.

We support, broadly, what this legislation is attempting to do, and we think that itll allow us to keep our project on schedule in Lincoln County, Jeff Navin, TerraPowers director of external affairs, told the House minerals committee on Feb. 18.

The bill would also remove a restriction barring the temporary storage of nuclear waste before a permanent repository has been built, and would require developers to report expected state benefits, such as job creation, to the Department of Environmental Quality.

In addition, the bill addresses taxation. Wyoming statute levies a $5-per-megawatt production tax on nuclear power plants  though none currently exist in the state  with a narrow exemption for test or demonstration small modular reactors, under which TerraPowers facility wouldnt qualify.

TerraPower asked the minerals committee to expand that definition. It did: The version of the bill introduced in the House exempted test and demonstration advanced reactors, defined as an improvement over nuclear reactors placed in service before January 1, 2021, from taxation. Then the minerals committee, concerned about Wyomings attractiveness to nuclear developers, voted to exempt all advanced reactors  demonstration and otherwise  from taxation.

Rep. Trey Sherwood, D-Laramie, proposed an amendment in committee that would have ended the tax exemption in 2035. It failed. She tried again in the House ahead of the third reading, this time adding a tax exemption after 2035 for facilities using at least 80% U.S. uranium. Most uranium used in the U.S. is imported, but most of the uranium produced domestically is mined in Wyoming.

This amendment provides the industry time to get up and running while tying a metric to the tax exemption, Sherwood said. I ask you to encourage energy development that adds value to our existing industries.

Several lawmakers voiced concerns about whether nuclear plants will be able to source the more highly enriched fuel they require  which is not produced commercially in the U.S.  from domestic producers in the next 13 years.

I dont think it does what its intended to do, said Rep. Donald Burkhart Jr., R-Carbon County. This wont create any taxes for Wyoming. It wont help Wyoming. It may hurt both.

After some debate, the amendment was adopted by a vote of 30-26.

A second amendment proposed by Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Natrona County, which wouldve barred advanced nuclear plants from sourcing highly enriched fuel from Russia, the worlds primary commercial source, failed 25-35.

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The case of a Casper man shot and killed by police in 2018 will return to a lower court, after an appeals judge ruled Wednesday that police did not use excessive force.

Douglas Oneyear was walking down 15th Street on Caspers east side on Feb. 25, 2018, carrying a toy sword. Officers were responding to reports of him threatening a gas station employee nearby, and thought he could be carrying a crowbar.

According to court filings, police stopped Oneyear and ordered him to drop the sword, but he continued walking towards them. About 12 seconds after the first order, video cited in the filings shows, the first shots were fired.

In June, a U.S. District Court judge ruled in favor of Casper police officers Jonathan Schlager and Cody Meyers, dismissing the federal case and finding the officers acted appropriately in response to Mr. Oneyears conduct and did not violate his constitutional rights.

Since the cases wrongful death claim must be decided by a state court, itll head back to Natrona Countys seventh district on that count only.

That judge also found the officers were protected by qualified immunity. The case, he found, did not meet the requirements to overcome that doctrine, which protects officers acting reasonably while on duty.

Because of the sword, which the officers did not know was a toy, they also believed he was armed. Court documents state Schlager feared for his life, and Meyers said he thought Oneyear was aggressive and walking out of anger.

Linda Lennen, Oneyears mother, filed an appeal in the 10th Circuit in July. In addition to the wrongful death claim, Lennen has maintained that the Casper Police Department did not properly train its officers in use of less-than-lethal force.

Were not down on the police in this case, we support the police fully, Lennens attorney Todd Hambrick said Wednesday. Its just when they make a mistake and it hurts individuals, they have to be called out on it, otherwise theres no accountability.

Two of the judges in the 10th Circuit ruling agreed with the district courts decision, finding the officers acted reasonably given the circumstances and did not violate Oneyears constitutional rights. Because he was ordered to drop the sword four times and continued to move towards the officers, the court ruled, he demonstrated an intent to aggressively and quickly close in on them.

A third judge also affirmed the district courts decision, but said that the officers may have violated Oneyears constitutional rights  or at least that a reasonable jury could conclude as much.

Officer Schlager was at least partially responsible for creating the situation warranting the use of deadly force by not maintaining a safe time, distance, and/or cover, the concurring decision states.

That judge, Vanessa Rossman, also cited Oneyears long history of mental health issues, including schizoaffective disorder, but said that the officers had no way of knowing that background.

Officer Schlager knew, before he used deadly force, that Mr. Oneyear was distraught or otherwise irrational. Rossman said. (He) faced a rapidly developing situation, but the foreseeable consequence of his approach should have been obvious: if the suspect did not immediately stop as directed, then Officer Schlager would have to shoot him.

Rossman also wrote that a reasonable juror watching the dash camera footage from that night may conclude that Oneyear was not advancing in a threatening way.

The state case, which has been on hold during the appeals process, is set to resume in a month. Hambrick said they will attempt to seek a jury trial in Natrona County.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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Wyoming Food for Thought is looking for food donations to keep local kids fed during the spring break season.

The annual City Wide Food Drive aims to serve 36,000 meals to a thousand children in the Casper area. It kicked off Feb. 21 and lasts until March 25, according to an announcement from the anti-hunger group.

You can drop off food at these local businesses:

Great Harvest Bread Company, located at 428 S. Durbin St.;

Reliant Federal Credit Union, located at 4015 Plaza Dr. and 777 Landmark Dr.;

Grant Street Grocery, located at 815 S. Grant Ave.;

wyOMing Yoga, located at 235 W. First St.;

Hideaway Liquor and Lounge, located at 211 Riverview Ave. in Mills.

You can also bring donations to two Casper car dealerships: Whites Mountain Motors and Greiner Ford. Theyre competing to see who can fill up a truck with donations first, according to the announcement.

Two real estate agencies, Michelle Trost-Hall Real Estate Team and Michael Houck Real Estate Team, are also locking horns for the food drive. The realtors will donate a case of food for each property they sell this month.

If your organization or business wants to be a donation site, get in touch with Wyoming Food for Thought at info@wyfftp.org or 307-337-1703 .

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A longtime Casper transit contractor is suing the city, alleging it breached their contract and violated constitutional rights by seizing records and property last year before terminating their agreement.

The suit, filed by the Casper Area Transportation Coalition (CATC) on Tuesday in federal court, alleges that Casper officials accused the agency of double-dipping into CARES relief money and other government funding. According to the suit, CATC leaders say the city was at fault for failing to tell them they couldnt seek other money once CARES kicked in to cover 100% of their costs.

CATC operated fixed-route and on-demand bus services in Casper, Mills and Evansville for 39 years before the city announced it was terminating their contract and taking over operations in April of last year, the suit states.

According to the complaint, CATC representatives were told in January 2021 that the city would be conducting an audit of their finances, based on direction from the state. The agencys director, John Jones, and its bookkeeper were placed on administrative leave.

City officials and two police officers, the suit states, then went to the CATC office to collect documents, bank information and keys. According to CATC, city officials also changed the locks to the office and directed the IT department to shut the agency out of its computer system as well.

Attorney Judith Studer said that her review of city emails and body camera footage from that day indicate that the city had coordinated to shut everything down at once.

Since the office was leased from the city, the suit says, the search was a breach of their contract that gave CATC the right to use the space without interference of the City. CATC also alleges the city breached their contract for IT services by denying the agency access to the servers during business hours.

Technically they own the property, but it was not done in good faith, Studer said. There was no legal basis to go in and take things.

The suit further alleges the search violated the agencys Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights against improper search and seizure without a warrant or subpoena.

A city accountant performed a report  not an audit, CATC emphasizes  of the agencys finances after obtaining the documents, and according to the suit found that CATC should not have collected other money since the city was payrolling all of their expenses.

CATC board president Louis Grunewald said Wednesday that the city maintains CATC owes them more than $400,000  but according to CATC, its the city that owes the agency around $100,000. Grunewald said the agency also has smaller debts from Mills and Evansville.

The suit alleges the accountant did not talk with anyone from CATC in completing the report.

According to the suit, the city said that revenue from bus fares should have offset the amount of CARES Act money CATC received from the city  but never reduced the CARES payments based on reported fares.

The (fiscal year 2020) contract states the fares belong to CATC, the suit states. Upon learning of the Citys mistake, CATC offered to return the funds improperly paid by the City. The City Manager ignored the offer.

Grunewald said that the city was also using federal grant money that CATC received for rural transportation to fund its local match for urban transit grants from the FTA or WYDOT, which the suit alleges may violate the terms of those grants.

In April, City Manager Carter Napier told the Star-Tribune that the city communicated with CATC about the audit, but did not engage them in conversations about voiding the contract. Napier and other city officials declined to comment on Wednesday, citing pending litigation.

According to the complaint, the Wyoming Department of Transportation and other funders stopped communicating with CATC once the city cracked down. Grunewald said that the board, which still meets, is working on a plan to offer rides to nonprofit clients in the area, first by reimbursing them for Casper bus rides or cab fare from the money CATC still has in the bank.

The suit states that since the city took over, CATC has heard bus riders complain of late buses, missed rides and higher fares. Casper Community Development Director Liz Becher said in a text Wednesday that prices for tickets are exactly the same as they have always been, and that service has not decreased.

Studer said that CATC had filed a claim with the city in September, standard practice under Wyoming law for those taking issue with government actions. There was no response from the city, she said on Wednesday.

CATC is requesting a jury trial in the matter, according to the initial filing.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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Residents in the city of Rawlins were being told Thursday to boil their drinking water after the municipal water system lost pressure due to a string of problems.

The southern Wyoming communitys water system experienced three issues at the same time, according to an announcement posted on the city website. The system was receiving a reduced flow of water when in town water breaks drained the reserve supply. On top of that, the city was experiencing a pump issue at its water treatment plant.

This led to a loss of pressure in the distribution system, which may cause back-pressure, back-siphonage, or a net movement of water from outside the pipe to the inside through cracks, breaks, or joints in the distribution system that are common in all water systems, the announcement states Such a system failure carries with it a high potential that fecal contamination or other disease-causing organisms could enter the distribution system.

These conditions may pose an imminent and substantial health endangerment to persons served by the system.

Residents were being asked to conserve water when possible. The city also asked people to look after neighbors and those who are vulnerable.

The city said its fire trucks had full tanks for firefighting purposes. Raw water was being provided to the local hospital, nursing home and other critical areas for toilet flushing.

Residents were being advised to boil water for at least three minutes or use bottled water for drinking, brushing teeth, washing dishes and other household activities. The city planned to make bottled water available to residents in critical need after 6 p.m. Thursday at the Carbon County Fairgrounds Multiplex.

Those who cant travel can call 307-328-7777 for water delivery.

Joshua Wolfson is the editor of the Casper Star-Tribune. Find him on Twitter @joshwolfson.

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SMALL business owners in three Caribbean countries will get the opportunity to showcase how their enterprises are transforming their communities, and themselves, due to support from the social enterprise, Nudge Caribbean.

The opportunity comes tomorrow, at an event called Nudge Now, which is being organised by Nudge Caribbean, which was founded by Anya Ayoung-Chee, design strategist and social entrepreneur, and Julie Avey, Massy Groups senior vice president of People and Culture.
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 
PHOENIX  Arizona schools have not lived up to the 2018 promise to increase teacher pay by 20% by the 2020-2021 school year.

A new report by the state Auditor Generals Office found statewide average salaries are up 16.5%, or $7,977 a year. Only 87 of the 205 school districts hit or exceeded the 20% figure.

The 20% pay raise was based on a promise made by Gov. Doug Ducey following weeks of protests and walkout threats by teachers after the governors initial budget proposed a 1% increase.

Auditor General Lindsey Perry said there are various possibilities about why actual spending fell short.

One, she said, is that the funds were distributed to districts based on the number of students and not how much money each district would need to increase its average pay by 20%.

Some districts may have received less money than needed to meet the goal, and others may have received more, the report said. There was no requirement that districts had to spend this money on teacher salaries, it added.

Closely related is what Perry called changes in teacher population.

For example, most districts that had a decrease in average teacher salary also had a decrease in average years of teacher experience, she said. Put more simply, if districts replaced higher paid, experienced teachers with lower paid new teachers, the total average salary decreased.

The annual report also measures the percentage of each dollar given to schools that winds up in what is classified as instruction.

For the last full school year, that rose a bit, to 55.3%, up four-tenths of a point. That compares with 53.5% statewide when the percentage hit bottom in 2016.

But Perry noted the figure is still below the 57.7% it was when her agency started doing this annual report in 2001.

The instruction figure does not paint the whole picture of spending effectively going into the classroom, however.

Student support, consisting of counselors, audiologists, speech pathologists, nurses, social workers and attendance services, ate up another 9.1% of every dollar.

There was also 5.8% for instructional support, defined as librarians, teacher training, curriculum development and instruction-related technology services. That brought what Perry considers total classroom spending up to 70.2% versus 69.3% the prior year.

Whats left is 10.4% for administration, including superintendents, principals, business managers and other staff who do everything from accounting to payroll.

Schools also spent an average of 11.7% on building maintenance, equipment repair and the costs to heat and cool buildings.

There also was 4.0% for food service and 3.7% for the cost of operating the school bus fleet.

On that last point, Perry said the pandemic had some effect.

She said some districts continued to transport students, but with much lower ridership. Others did not transport any students at all but instead used bus routes to drop off meals and homework packets to students, she said.

The report also found that the average class size dropped from 18 to 17 students, a possible side effect of lower student attendance during the pandemic.

Overall, Perry said, the number of students in public schools dropped by about 50,000 or 6% from the prior year, which is the largest year-to-year change in students attending since 2011.

That decline also affected what each school district collected, as state aid is based on attendance. But Perry said districts benefited from a large influx of COVID-relief dollars.

Perry said her auditors identified a number of inefficient practices that exist at some schools.

One of the largest is operating schools far below designed capacity and maintaining excess space. She also said some districts spent more than necessary on non-instructional staffing, either employing too many people or paying employees for hours not worked.

By the numbers: Tucson area Information on how selected districts spent their money and other factors, including four-year change in average teacher pay and average years of teachers' experience. District / % 2021 money in instruction / 2020 / avg class size / avg teacher pay / 4 yr chg / avg yrs exp Statewide / 55.3% / 54.9% / 17.0 / $56,349 / 11.9 Amphitheater Unified / 53.4% / 52.9% / 13.6 / $48,863 / 13.1% / 12.6 Catalina Foothills Unified / 58.4% / 55.3% / 17.1 / $53,786 / 31.5% / 11.8 Flowing Wells Unified / 57.5% / 56.5% / 16.8 / $52,697 / 18.2% / 10.8 Marana Unified / 56.4% / 55.4% / 16.3 / $53,096 / 17.7% / 12.6 Sahuarita Unified / 58.2% / 57.8% / 16.2 / $54,212 / 18.5% / 11.2 Sunnyside Unified / 55.1% / 52.7% / 17.9 / $53,538 / 15.1% / 12.4 Tanque Verde Unified / 57.6% / 60.5% / 16.7 / $46,698 / 20.3% / 15.1 Tucson Unified / 53.3% / 53.2% / 14.0 / $48,487 / 3.6% / 12.9 Vail Unified / 53.6% / 54.1% / 19.2 / $47,963 / 16.7% / 9.5 NR = Not reported Source: Arizona Auditor General's Office

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The First Christian Church hosted an Ashes-to-Go drive-thru event in the parking lot on Ash Wednesday. Minister Ailsa Guardiola Gonzalez says she reminds people that humans are imperfect and that God's grace and forgiveness is always offered. Ash Wednesday signifies the start of Lent. The drive-thru was canceled last year because of COVID-19 but started at least six years before the pandemic.
KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces battled for control of a crucial energy-producing city in Ukraine's south on Thursday and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea, as Ukrainian leaders called on citizens to rise up and wage guerrilla war against the invaders.

The fighting at Enerhodar, a city on the Dnieper River that accounts for about one-quarter of the country's power generation, came as another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors inside Ukraine to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.

The mayor of Enerhodar, the site of the biggest nuclear plant in Europe, said Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the city's outskirts. Video showed flames and clouds of black smoke rising above the city of over 50,000, with people streaming away from the inferno, past wrecked cars, as sirens wailed.

Moscow's ground advance on Ukraine's capital in the north has apparently stalled, with a huge armored column at a standstill outside Kyiv. And stiffer-than-expected resistance from the outmanned, outgunned Ukrainians has staved off the swift victory that Russia may have expected.

A top Russian officer, Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, commander of an airborne division, was killed in the fighting earlier this week, an officers organization in Russia reported.

But the Russians have brought their superior firepower to bear in the past few days, launching hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites around the country and making significant gains on the ground in the south as part of an effort to sever Ukraine's connection to the Black and Azov seas.

Cutting its access to the coastline would deal a crippling blow to its economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, seized by Moscow in 2014.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military matters, said Russia's seizure of Crimea gave it a logistical advantage in that part of the country, with shorter supply lines that smoothed the offensive there.

The Russians announced the capture of the southern city of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the vital Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea, plunging it into darkness, knocking out most phone service and raising the prospect of food and water shortages. Without phone connections, medics did not know where to take the wounded.

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in neighboring Belarus. But the two sides had little common ground going into the meeting, and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine that it must quickly accept the Kremlin's demand for its "demilitarization" and declare itself neutral, renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron he was determined to press on with his attack "until the end," according to Macron's office.

After the latest talks ended, both delegations said that they had tentatively agreed to allow cease-fires in areas designated safe corridors, and that the two sides would seek to work out the details quickly. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said a third round of talks would also be held early next week.

Despite a profusion of evidence of civilian casualties and destruction of property by the Russian military, some of it documented by The Associated Press, Putin decried what he called an "anti-Russian disinformation campaign" and insisted that Moscow uses "only precision weapons to exclusively destroy military infrastructure."

Putin claimed that the Russian military had already offered safe corridors for civilians to flee but asserted without evidence that Ukrainian "neo-Nazis" were preventing people from leaving and were using them as human shields.

He also hailed Russian soldiers as heroes in a video call with U.N. Security Council members, and ordered additional payments to families of men killed or wounded.

The fighting has sent more than 1 million people fleeing Ukraine, by the U.N.'s count. Ukrainians still in the country faced another grim day. In Kyiv, snow gave way to a cold, gray drizzle, as long lines formed outside the few pharmacies and bakeries that remain open.

More shelling was reported in the northern city of Chernihiv, where emergency officials said at least 33 civilians had been killed and 18 wounded in a Russian bombardment of a residential area. The search for more victims in the rubble was suspended because of renewed shelling.

Families with children fled via muddy and snowy roads in the eastern region of Donetsk, while military strikes on the village of Yakovlivka near the eastern city of Kharkiv destroyed 30 homes, leaving three people dead and seven wounded, according to emergency authorities.

Ukrainian authorities called on the people to defend their homeland by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear. In recent days, authorities have issued weapons to civilians and taught them how to make Molotov cocktails.

"Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card and this is what we can do best in the world," Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiy Arestovich said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

In a video address to the nation, Zelenskyy praised his country's resistance.

The Russians "will have no peace here. They will have no food," he said. "They will have not one quiet moment."

The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, with about 1.4 million people. Residents desperate to escape falling shells and bombs crowded the railroad station and squeezed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

At least 227 civilians have been killed and 525 wounded, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, though it acknowledged that is a vast undercount, and Ukraine said more than 2,000 civilians have died. The figures could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, the U.S. defense official said the immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles still appeared to be stalled roughly 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Kyiv and had made no real progress in days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

Russia has fired more than 480 missiles in the invasion, according to the U.S. defense official. Ukrainian officials said their missile-defense systems have parried numerous attacks, though some missiles have clearly made it through. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions heard overnight in the capital were Russian missiles being shot down.

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PHOENIX  A House panel approved legislation Wednesday that could give foes of voter-proposed initiatives a new legal tool to keep them from getting to the ballot.

Senate Bill 1094 would spell out that petition circulators would be required to either:

Read, out loud, the 300-word description that accompanies all initiatives, when asking a voter to sign it.

Or allow voters the time to read it to themselves before signing. But there is nothing in the proposal to say how long that should be.

Sen. J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, who wrote the measure, said its designed to ensure that people are informed about what they are being asked to sign.

This is to make sure that what is communicated to the folks who are asking to sign petitions is accurate, he told the Government and Elections Committee. And by accurate, Mesnard said that means the official, legally required summary as opposed to whatever version the circulator can otherwise state to convince somebody, and then theyd be totally wrong or lying or distorting or whatever.

Thats important, he said, because whatever is approved at the ballot cannot be altered by the Legislature.

Obviously, it is high stakes, Mesnard said.

Rep. Sarah Liguori, D-Phoenix, said she sees this as just another bid by the Republican-controlled Legislature to erect new hurdles in the paths of citizens proposing their own laws. Among those are new registration requirements for paid circulators, restrictions on how they are paid, and disqualifying any signatures a circulator collected if that person does not respond to a subpoena by someone challenging the measure.

This year alone GOP lawmakers have proposed two other measures, one to require initiative circulators to get signatures in each of the states 30 legislative districts; and another to say an initiative cannot become law unless 60% of voters approving it.

Rep. Diego Sierra, D-Avondale, chided Republicans for trying to make the process more difficult. He pointed out that the Arizona Constitution specifically gives citizens the right to craft their own laws independently of the Legislature.

This is our citizens ability to be the counteracting force to the bad laws that we are passing here, Sierra said.

This should be the golden age of citizen activism, he said. But here we are, wallowing in pettiness and spite.

Rep. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, said initiative circulators dont always tell the truth.

He said he was approached last week by someone asking him to sign a proposal that would outlaw dark money in campaigns and require that the true source of all funds be disclosed. Hoffman said when he asked the circulator who was behind the petition drive, the person responded the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

That is not true. The actual name of the group is Voters Right to Know. And the commission is, in fact, a government agency that cannot get involved in politics.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said he has personally heard petition circulators outright lying about what the petition is about.

Sen. Kelli Butler, D-Paradise Valley, said the legislation Mesnard proposes essentially presumes that people who are approached to sign petitions, or those who seek out petition circulators, are unaware of the issue. She said it forces those who are aware to go through this process of having someone take the time to read the summary to them or have to read it themselves.

Judith Simons, who told lawmakers she has circulated petitions, said people sometimes do say they are ready to sign immediately. For some, she said, its a belief that, regardless of the issue, they just like the idea of putting issues on the ballot for voters to get the last word.

And thats the point: Signing a petition is just to get the proposition on the ballot, Simons said. Once it qualifies, she noted, there are several months before the election when voters get a chance to learn more about it and decide how they want to vote.

Butler worried the measure could open the door to legal challenges. She envisioned a situation where people can tell on someone, say they saw someone sign a petition who did not take the time to read it, and have that used by initiative foes to try to have those signatures disqualified.

Hoffman had a different take. We want an informed citizenry, he said. We want people who are signing petitions to be informed about what theyre signing.

He also said there is an incentive for paid circulators to get people to sign.

That incentive, however, is not what it once was.

Lawmakers several years ago voted to ban the practice of paying circulators based on the number of signatures they gather. Circulators can still be paid on an hourly basis.

The 7-6 party-line vote by the Republican-controlled committee sends the measure to the full House. It already cleared the Senate with only Republicans in support.

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PHOENIX  A Senate panel voted Thursday to allow more people in Arizona to carry guns into more places.

On a party-line vote, with Republicans in the majority, the Judiciary Committee approved permitting loaded weapons on school campuses as long as they remain in a vehicle.

Backers of HB 2414 say that its designed to ensure that parents driving on to school grounds to pick up their kids dont have to first stop and unload their weapons. Michael Infanzon, lobbyist for the Arizona Citizens Defense League, said most accidents occur when people load and unload their weapons.

That carried no weight with Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Glendale.

If you cant keep your gun from discharging by doing something as simple as loading and unloading it, you shouldnt be carrying a gun, he said. And the last place you should be carrying a gun is on a school campus.

But the measure, which already has been approved by the House, involves more than just a parent driving into the parking lot. As worded, it also permits adults to stash their weapons in cars parked on campuses provided the vehicle is locked and the weapon is out of sight.

Separately, and by the same 5-3 party-line vote, the committee said anyone with a state permit to carry a concealed weapon can bring it into any government building and ignore any no firearms signs on the door.

HB 2316 has built-in exceptions for places like schools and courts.

It would allow cities, counties and state agencies to keep guns out  but only if each and every door had a metal detector and a security guard to ensure that no one is armed. And even then, they also would have to have lockers for people to store their weapons.

There are places that guns really dont belong, ranging from the treasurers office to the administrative building where the county supervisors meet, Todd Madeksza, lobbyist for Coconino County, said. The option of keeping them gun-free zones with equipment and staffing is not an answer, he added, estimating it would take about $2 million to purchase the necessary equipment to cover all doors.

And that, said Madeksza assumes that the county could recruit the people to staff each of them.

We are having trouble right now even recruiting sheriffs deputies, he told lawmakers.

But Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, who crafted the measure, said its foolish to assume that, absent some screening, that people honor what are supposed to be gun-free buildings.

A 6-by-6 sign on the front door that says no weapons is half-effective, he said.

It certainly stops people who are law-abiding from bringing their weapons in, Kavanagh said. But the people who are not law-abiding bring their weapons in, creating a situation where you have good people unarmed and bad people armed.

The common theme of both measures is the question of the balance of the First Amendment right of people to carry a weapon in self-defense versus the risks to others.

That was underlined by Lauren Snyder of the Arizona Libertarian Party, who testified in favor of both measures. She told lawmakers about her experience as a victim of sexual assault and domestic violence who now carries a gun.

I refuse to be a victim again, she said.

Lawmakers agreed years ago to allow guns in vehicles on campus provided they are not loaded.

Daniel Reid, Western regional director of the National Rifle Association, said all HB 2414 does is remove that condition so that parents who are going to pick up, drop off their kids do not have to deviate from their route.

But legal questions remain.

One of the most significant is the Gun-Free School Zones Act, approved by Congress in 1990. It prohibits unauthorized individuals from having a loaded or unsecured firearm within in school zone and nonprivate property within 1,000 feet of them.

Reid, however, pointed to an exception: if the person with the weapon is licensed to do so by the state in which the school zone is located and if law enforcement authorities verify that the individual is qualified under the law to receive the license.

Only thing is, HB 2414 would grant that right to have that loaded weapon to everyone, not just those who have a state-issued concealed-carry permit. And that could subject the proposal to legal challenges  and the unlicensed people who bring their guns onto campuses to federal charges.

Cheryl Todd said that as as wife, a mother and a grandmother, she wants that ability to bring a loaded weapon onto campus.

It impacts me every single day when I go and pick up my granddaughter from school, said Todd, the Arizona coordinator for the DC Project, an organization of women that advocates for gun rights.

The fact that I am left defenseless every day at the same time and the same location, these are the kinds of patterns that predators look for, Todd said.

She had similar arguments in favor of HB 2316.

A woman with small female children conducting business in any public building or public event where predators know that I will be left needlessly defenseless due to wrongheaded laws is to give predators every conceivable advantage to endanger me and my family, Todd told lawmakers.

Dana Allmond, testifying on behalf of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, had a different take. She said it would allow weapons into places like events in public spaces for children, libraries and community centers. Nor was she persuaded by the fact that this exception to the ban on guns in public facilities would apply only to those with a permit to carry a concealed weapon. She said it is very easy for anyone 21 and older to get one.

In the end, lawmakers voted according to their beliefs about whether more people with guns makes Arizona a safer place.

Whos going to stop a bad guy? asked Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City. Hopefully, a good guy with a gun.

And Borrelli cited the war in Ukraine to make his point.

What were witnessing right now on the world stage is a great example of making sure that the citizenry has access to weapons to defend themselves, he said.

Quezada, however, said the numbers dont support the good guy with a gun philosophy.

In 2018, for every justifiable homicide with a gun, there were 34 gun homicides, he said. There were 82 gun suicides and there were two unintentional gun deaths.

And Sen. Lupe Contreras, D-Avondale, said the desire of people to arm themselves everywhere is based on paranoia.

You cant run around scared all the time, he said. And Contreras rejected the contention that more armed people is a good thing.

I dont feel that a room full of people, everyone with a gun, is going to make me feel safer, he said, saying there are some pretty crazy people out there. And you just dont know which one is losing their mind.

But Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, responded that she does not want to have to worry or run around scared.

When I go to a building that says its a gun-free zone, that is a beacon for a void of safety, she said.

Both measures now need approval of the full Senate.

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PHOENIX  Parents who think their kids need a bit of an academic boost can begin signing up this coming week to send them to summer camp.

But, for the most part, it wont be the kind of place with boating and archery. Instead, its designed to help them catch up with what they may have missed due to the pandemic.

The focus, Gov. Doug Ducey said Wednesday, will be on reading, math and American civics.

This couldnt come at a more pressing time, he said.

Last year just 38% of our students passed the statewide English language arts test, the governor said. And only 31% passed the math test.

Ducey said, though, this eight-week program will be more than kids parked at their desks.

This is truly a camp, with activities, games, peer learning and so much more to look forward to, he said.

Former state schools chief Lisa Graham Keegan, whom Ducey tapped to run the program, said some of these will be operated at public schools, with teachers paid extra to staff the operations. But she also said that the state is looking to partner with other organizations, like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who can offer programs that include the necessary academics as well as something more to keep kids interested and engaged.

And theres something else she said is important after all of the remote learning.

This is the time to reengage, Keegan said.

Our children deserve experiences that reconnect them with the joys of learning, she continued. And they need to be able to be with their friends as themselves personally and not as avatars.

All of this will be free.

Ducey said he has set aside $100 million of federal COVID relief funds, enough, he said, for about 250,000 students to enroll in these eight-week programs. And he promised to find additional dollars if the demand is higher.

Keegan said parents actually will be presented with multiple options from which to choose, giving them an opportunity to select a program they believe is best suited for their children.

Or more than one.

Keegan said she anticipates some organizations wanting to provide shorter and more intense training, such as a four-week course in math. That provides the opportunity to enroll in a second program for the balance of the session.

And they will be tailored to individual needs.

Enrollment is open to students as young as those just entering kindergarten this year. And Keegan said even high school seniors who dont get all the credits they need to graduate will find programs.

She also said that the schools and other organizations that are selected to offer the programs will provide transportation.

But there is one restriction: The program is open only to students in traditional public and charter schools. Youngsters in private or parochial schools are ineligible.

The first step, she said, is doing outreach. Keegan promised a lot of promotion, including working with schools to ensure their students  and their parents  are aware of the option.

There is one other issue: finding qualified teachers to staff the programs in a state where schools have had a hard time filling vacancies.

That is the biggest issue for all of our schools, Keegan said.

Arizona schools have been facing a teacher shortage for years.

Keegan said she is looking to attract teachers at job fairs as well as going to teacher organizations. And she said that students in teacher preparatory programs also could be used.

She said, though, that there will be compensation for teachers willing to give up some of their summer vacations.

Ducey said theres one other benefit of the program. He said it could give a break to parents who, in many cases, had to stay home while schools were closed.

For those with the option of remote work, they balanced being a full-time parent with having a full-time job, the governor said. In some cases, he said, they had to juggle two or three jobs.

But not everyone was fortunate enough to have the option of remote work, Ducey said. Many of them had to step away from their job, prioritize their children and stay home to care for the kids.

Summer school Enrollment was set to start early this month. Go to https://azontrack.com/ for more information.

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The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

Twice in the past month, the Arizona Daily Star has published photos in the paper of the protests in Nepal against the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) contract. Yet, there is never any additional information or an explanation of why these protests are taking place.

On Feb. 28, a photo caption alluded to conditions that are not acceptable. But what are these conditions? What is so important that some people are taking to the streets in Kathmandu to oppose a $500 million aid package (the largest the country will have ever received)?

As a former aid program volunteer to Nepal, let me try to provide some background and perspective on events in Nepal. First, Nepal asked for this grant in order to reduce poverty and grow the economy in Nepal by providing jobs and improved infrastructure. Second, we must understand that Nepal borders China, and such a small country must always be aware of the potential influence of its powerful neighbor to the north.

Third, the MCC program is part of the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy, which seeks to counter Chinese influence in the region. Although it is not military in nature, the implication has been made that acceptance brings Nepal into this strategy. This is a sticking point.

Fourth, in addition, the terms of the contract state that Nepalese laws and their constitution will be superseded by the MCC agreement. In other words, if there is a dispute about the agreement as it is implemented, U.S. laws trump Nepalese laws and their constitution.

As a result, Maoist factions of the ruling coalition have insisted on attaching a 12-point interpretative declaration to the agreement, signaling in clear terms that Nepalese laws will take precedence, not U.S. laws. Moreover, these factions have included statements that Nepal can terminate the agreement if there is anything that goes against their national interests.

The ruling government finally accepted the terms of the interpretative declaration and approved the MCC contract on Sunday  right before the U.S.-imposed deadline of Feb. 28. Had the Nepalese Cabinet not accepted the declaration, and the Nepal Parliament ratified the MCC contract, the agreement was set to be canceled by the U.S. government.

China has watched this process closely and stated that international development projects should follow the principle of mutual respect and equal treatment, as well as respect the sovereignty of the country concerned. This is what opposition elements have been asking for from the MCC contract.

Nepal wants to be able to exercise self-determination in its future development. We should respect that desire in all countries, especially these days with the events taking place in Ukraine.

Kirk A. Astroth is a retired professor at the University of Arizona and has been a volunteer with aid programs in Nepal, with Winrock International, as well as Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, and Nicaragua. He was award the Presidential Service Award in 2015 by President Obama for his work in Nepal.

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Hatch Early Mood Food officially opened its first area location Monday in Jenks, at 161 S. Riverfront Drive.

Hatch is one of the restaurants of Provision Concepts, an Oklahoma City-based hospitality company that has created a number of restaurants, most in the Oklahoma City area. Its first foray into the Tulsa market, Sidecar Barley & Wine Bar, opened on Cherry Street in October.

Hatchs menu includes a number of variations on such breakfast favorites as eggs Benedict and pancakes, as well as omelets, breakfast sandwiches and more, as well as sandwiches, salads and soups.

Hours are 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 918-209-5800, hatchearlymoodfood.com.

Boston Deli Thursday special

The Boston Deli, 6231 E. 61st St., will offer up a new spin on roast pork as the entree for its Thursday Chefs Special this month.

A pork loin flavored with Fuji apples, apricot jam, thyme and Gruyere cheese will be pinwheeled, grilled on the restaurants Hasty Bake charcoal grills, and served with a cider raisin sauce.

Accompanying the pork will be polenta flavored with poblano peppers and smoked cheddar cheese, grilled asparagus and mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese, bacon, lemon zest, and then baked.

Dessert will be creme brulee with a candied apricot crust.

Cost is $23 per person; wine and beer pairings are available. The special is served from 5 to 8 p.m. each Thursday in March, and reservations are required. 918-492-4745, thebostondeli.com.

Ti Amo hosts Barolo wine dinner

Wines from Beni di Batasiolo, one of the most prestigious wineries in the Piedmont region of Italy, will be featured at a special dinner, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 10, at Ti Amo Ristorante Italiano, 6024 S. Sheridan Road.

Four of the five courses will be paired with a Barolo wine, beginning with an appetizer of duck liver pate, followed by a caprese salad. The pasta course will be pappardelle in a creme mushroom sauce, and the entree is osso bucco with risotto.

Dessert, accompanied by house-made limoncello, will be sfogliatelle, a filled flaky pastry.

Cost is $125 per person, and reservations are required. 918-499-1919, tiamotulsa.com.

Tulsa ranked No. 3

The website Apartment Advisors recently posted its list of the Top 10 Foodie Cities for Renters in the United States, and Tulsa ranked No. 3 on the list.

Only Louisville, Kentucky, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, ranked higher on this list, which was determined by the number of restaurants per capita with at least a four-star rating on Yelp, diversity of restaurant cuisine, access to food halls and specialty markets, the proximity of dining options to popular rental neighborhoods, and median rent prices as compared to median household incomes for each city.

Tulsa was praised for its new generation of creative chefs and restaurateurs...taking advantage of the regions agrarian bounty to inform their modern menus.

It also cites the recent James Beard Award nominations by several Tulsa-area chefs, as well as the Mother Road Market, the Tulsa Farmers Market, and the citys iconic BBQ and steakhouses.

The remainder of the top 10 are: Portland, Oregon; Columbus, Ohio; Kansas City, Missouri; Indianapolis; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Jacksonville, Florida; and Raleigh, North Carolina. apartmentadvisor.com.

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The Quapaw Nation is asserting jurisdiction over all domestic violence cases against Native Americans that occur within its reservation, whether the offenders are Native American or not, the nation announced Wednesday.

The Quapaw Nation Business Committee, the governing body of the Quapaw Nation, unanimously approved a law exercising special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians, which Quapaw Nation Chairman Joseph Byrd said is especially important when considering the plague of missing and murdered indigenous people in Indian Country.

This is our nation, and we have a duty to protect its citizens, especially those most vulnerable, Byrd said in a press release. We are exercising our inherent sovereign authority necessary to combat domestic violence in our reservation, a problem that has plagued tribal communities since European contact.

The Quapaw Nation Reservation and jurisdiction was affirmed in October by an Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruling that applied the U.S. Supreme Courts McGirt decision to the tribe.

The special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction follows the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013, the nation said in the news release. These laws provide the Quapaw Nation Court with the authority to administer heightened sentencing and higher fines for non-Indian perpetrators involved in domestic violence, dating violence, or violations of a protective order.

The domestic violence jurisdiction announcement follows cross-deputization agreements with seven law enforcement agencies within the Quapaw Nation, based in Ottawa County. The agreements allow local law enforcement to respond and assist Quapaw Nation marshals.

I applaud Quapaw Nation leadership for taking these crucial steps to expand their public safety programs and cross-deputize local agencies, which will allow everyone to work together and provide public safety services to communities whether you are a tribal citizen or not, said Charles Addington, chief marshal.

The Quapaw Nation Marshal Service was established in 2010 and recently expanded to include patrol officers, school resource officers, special investigators, captains and a chief marshal, totaling 24 law enforcement officers.

The Quapaw Nations Ki-ho-ta Center, erected in 2019, houses the recently expanded Quapaw Nation Courts, which includes a tribal court administrator, court clerk, chief judge, associate judge, prosecutor, special prosecutor, public defender, and court personnel.
OKLAHOMA CITY  The 2022 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year is Rebecka Peterson from Union Public Schools in Tulsa.

Peterson is a math teacher at Union High School for grades 10-12. She teaches pre-calculus and Advanced Placement calculus.

The new teacher of the year was announced Thursday at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

I truly believe a free and high- quality education is the bedrock of our democracy and teachers are at the heart of that, said Peterson, who shared that she is of Swedish-Iranian descent. She has taught for 13 years, including the past 10 at Union.

I am an immigrant to the United States, and I get to teach children just like me. Our diversity is our strength.

Peterson will remain in her classroom for the rest of the school year. Then, during the 2022-23 school year, she will travel throughout Oklahoma as a full-time ambassador for teachers, encouraging others to enter and remain in the profession.

Even among this stellar group of statewide nominees, I can think of no one who so epitomizes the qualities of teaching excellence, said Union Superintendent Kirt Hartzler. In every interaction with students, she shows great care and a generosity of spirit that is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Rebecka is a testament to the power of public school teaching, and we are extremely proud of her.

Peterson was recently named one of six state-level finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the highest recognition a K-12 mathematics or science teacher can receive in the United States.

She earned a bachelors degree in mathematics from Oklahoma Wesleyan University and a masters degree in mathematics from the University of South Dakota.

Area Oklahoma Teacher of the Year finalists were Shannon Altom, English teacher at Bixby High School; Lauren Vandever, reading teacher at Bristow Middle School; Cindy Johnson, math teacher at Collinsville High School; Shelley Self, art teacher at Coweta High School; Emily Freise, speech language pathologist at Tahlequahs Greenwood Elementary School; and Donna Ross, who teaches fourth grade at Tulsas McKinley Elementary School.

The Oklahoma Teacher of the Year program is coordinated through the office of Oklahomas State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Joy Hofmeister, and is part of the National Teacher of the Year Program sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the ING Foundation.

Rebeckas success in the classroom can be measured not only through the achievements of her students but through the professional growth of the colleagues she inspires as well, Hofmeister said Thursday.

In addition to recruiting and mentoring, she leads through collaboration. Rebeckas enthusiasm and encouragement have motivated countless other teachers to strive to overcome the challenges of the pandemic and continue providing exemplary instruction to Oklahoma students.

All finalists were first named Teacher of the Year in their respective districts and then selected for the state-level competition by a panel of educators, lawmakers and civic leaders who reviewed their applications.

A state selection committee reviews finalists applications and videos of their classroom teaching and conducts finalist interviews to recommend the winner to the state superintendent.

Teachers in the running from elsewhere in the state were Tina Dewey, Choctaw/Nicoma Park Public Schools; Kerry Ingersoll, Bethel Public Schools; Juan Renteria Jr., Norman Public Schools; Kortni Torralba, Moore Public Schools; and Sheila Treadwell, Snyder Public Schools.

Watch short videos of all the finalists in their classrooms at bit.ly/22OKTOY.

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The city of Tulsa will host another naturalization ceremony Thursday at the Cox Business Convention Center. One hundred immigrants  each with his or her own story  will raise their hands and swear allegiance to the United States of America.

Nader Dawood remembers a similar moment well. He participated in the first city-hosted naturalization ceremony in 2019, at City Hall.

It was an amazing experience, Dawood said. It was a very welcoming atmosphere.

Dawood was 11 years old when his uncle in Tulsa applied for a family reunion visa to bring him to America.

Thirteen years later, in 2014, he and the rest of his family  mom, dad and brother  packed up what they could and left behind their lives in Cairo, Egypt.

Dawood said the answer to the obvious question  Why leave the only life youve known to come to a country you dont know?  is easy.

If you compare, definitely, the standard of living, the standard of education, the standard of society, liberty, opportunities, there is going to be a huge gap in comparison between both countries, Dawood said. And its not to say that the other country is not working on it, but at the same time, it is much better right here.

So, for us,  we wanted something to be fair. We wanted opportunities, and we wanted somewhere that we could live in a free, calm, social life where we can apply our skills.

"That is what we're looking for, and I am not saying that the decision was very easy. It wasnt, to be honest.

Now 33, Dawood describes his life in Tulsa as amazing. He is married with one daughter and has another on the way. He no longer works three jobs  as a clerk, a cashier and a translator  like he did his first year in the city. And he calls his colleagues at City National Bank & Trust, where he is an assistant vice president and district manager, his co-workers and his friends.

They really care about their people, I like to say, Dawood said. A great company.

He could have remained in the country permanently with the green card he received upon arrival in America. But he said he always intended to apply for citizenship.

You come here, and you are presented with certain resources. It is a country that treated you very, very well. Its a country that gave you all the opportunities and the resources that you need, Dawood said. Why would you not want to become a citizen?

Citizenship affords people the opportunity to live the fullest possible lives in America, Dawood said, and empowers them to participate in all aspects of society, including voting.

I will tell you this right now: When I was back in Egypt, maybe I voted once. I dont know, just once, because I knew that my vote wont make a difference, Dawood said. But here I really know that it would.

His transition into American life was made easier by the fact that his middle-class parents sent him and his brother to a private school in Cairo, where classes were taught in English, he said.

He is grateful for the growing number of programs the city of Tulsa and others are offering to new arrivals and said they are key to immigrants success.

When immigrants are here, they want to do better, Dawood said.

Thursdays naturalization ceremony put on by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will be the 22nd hosted by the city, and Mayor G.T. Bynum has been at every one.

Honestly, every single one is moving, Bynum said. Every time I go to one I leave it just on a high about our community and our country.

Bynum has made welcoming legal immigrants to Tulsa a priority of his administration, going so far as to establish a New Tulsans Initiative.

He said he decided to have the city begin hosting citizenship ceremonies after learning that immigrants to Tulsa often had to go to Oklahoma City to take that final step to becoming citizens.

After Thursdays ceremony, more than 700 people will have participated in naturalization ceremonies hosted by the city.

I am mindful that when somebody risks that much out of belief in our city and comes here, I want Tulsa to live up to the expectation that they had, Bynum said. And for the rest of their lives, these folks, when they see City Hall, they are not going to think about their water bill or the mayor and the City Council.

They are going to think about becoming United States citizens in that building, and I love that.

Dawood could not be happier to be here  and the same goes for the other 20 or so members of his family, all from his mothers side, living in Tulsa.

Not that there havent been adjustments. As a child growing up in a teeming city of more than 20 million people, Dawoods impression of America was heavily influenced by Hollywood movies.

Then his plane touched down in Tulsa.

What we saw on the movies was the big cities, New York, California, Dawood said. That is the idea that I had in mind, and then I came here. And Im looking at Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Im asking my uncle, like, where are the big buildings?

And he was like, Nader, we are not in a big city. We are in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is more relaxed.

It took me a while before I got used to it.

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A peaceful gathering in solidarity with Ukraine will be held at John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park in Tulsa on Saturday to call on Oklahomas elected officials to speak out and take action on Russias violent invasion of Ukraine.

Participants will rally at the park, at 321 N. Detroit Ave., from 2-4 p.m., according to organizer Emily DelGrosso.

(Russian President Vladimir) Putins unilateral invasion of Ukraine threatens not just the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government, but also Ukraines sovereignty and right to self-determination, DelGrosso said in a news release announcing the event.

Russian troops have not taken Kyiv because (Ukraine) President Zelensky, other members of the government and military, and Ukrainian civilians are fighting back. They are fighting to protect themselves, their children, and their country from the aggression of a dangerous autocrat. They are truly fighting for democracy.

Our congressional delegation should be speaking strong words in support of our ally and taking concrete actions to provide immediate aid beyond additional funding, she said.

DelGrosso is calling on U.S. Reps. Tom Cole, Stephanie Bice, Markwayne Mullin, Kevin Hern and Frank Lucas, as well as Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford, to denounce the propaganda coming from some far-right media outlets and some political leaders referring to Putin as someone to be admired.

She also asks the states congressional delegation to push for Ukraine to receive the maximum possible military support including weapons, ammunition, and anti-aircraft systems and advocate for the establishment of a missile shield over Ukraine to counter Russian air assaults.

Attendees may bring posters, and poster-making supplies will be available at the event.

DelGrosso said the event will be peaceful and that no violence or related behavior will be tolerated.

Another peaceful rally for Ukraine was held in downtown Tulsa last Sunday.

Featured video:
The city of Tulsa will host another naturalization ceremony Thursday at the Cox Business Convention Center. One hundred immigrants  each with his or her own story  will raise their hands and swear allegiance to the United States of America.

Nader Dawood remembers a similar moment well. He participated in the first city-hosted naturalization ceremony in 2019, at City Hall.

It was an amazing experience, Dawood said. It was a very welcoming atmosphere.

Dawood was 11 years old when his uncle in Tulsa applied for a family reunion visa to bring him to America.

Thirteen years later, in 2014, he and the rest of his family  mom, dad and brother  packed up what they could and left behind their lives in Cairo, Egypt.

Dawood said the answer to the obvious question  Why leave the only life youve known to come to a country you dont know?  is easy.

If you compare, definitely, the standard of living, the standard of education, the standard of society, liberty, opportunities, there is going to be a huge gap in comparison between both countries, Dawood said. And its not to say that the other country is not working on it, but at the same time, it is much better right here.

So, for us,  we wanted something to be fair. We wanted opportunities, and we wanted somewhere that we could live in a free, calm, social life where we can apply our skills.

"That is what we're looking for, and I am not saying that the decision was very easy. It wasnt, to be honest.

Now 33, Dawood describes his life in Tulsa as amazing. He is married with one daughter and has another on the way. He no longer works three jobs  as a clerk, a cashier and a translator  like he did his first year in the city. And he calls his colleagues at City National Bank & Trust, where he is an assistant vice president and district manager, his co-workers and his friends.

They really care about their people, I like to say, Dawood said. A great company.

He could have remained in the country permanently with the green card he received upon arrival in America. But he said he always intended to apply for citizenship.

You come here, and you are presented with certain resources. It is a country that treated you very, very well. Its a country that gave you all the opportunities and the resources that you need, Dawood said. Why would you not want to become a citizen?

Citizenship affords people the opportunity to live the fullest possible lives in America, Dawood said, and empowers them to participate in all aspects of society, including voting.

I will tell you this right now: When I was back in Egypt, maybe I voted once. I dont know, just once, because I knew that my vote wont make a difference, Dawood said. But here I really know that it would.

His transition into American life was made easier by the fact that his middle-class parents sent him and his brother to a private school in Cairo, where classes were taught in English, he said.

He is grateful for the growing number of programs the city of Tulsa and others are offering to new arrivals and said they are key to immigrants success.

When immigrants are here, they want to do better, Dawood said.

Thursdays naturalization ceremony put on by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will be the 22nd hosted by the city, and Mayor G.T. Bynum has been at every one.

Honestly, every single one is moving, Bynum said. Every time I go to one I leave it just on a high about our community and our country.

Bynum has made welcoming legal immigrants to Tulsa a priority of his administration, going so far as to establish a New Tulsans Initiative.

He said he decided to have the city begin hosting citizenship ceremonies after learning that immigrants to Tulsa often had to go to Oklahoma City to take that final step to becoming citizens.

After Thursdays ceremony, more than 700 people will have participated in naturalization ceremonies hosted by the city.

I am mindful that when somebody risks that much out of belief in our city and comes here, I want Tulsa to live up to the expectation that they had, Bynum said. And for the rest of their lives, these folks, when they see City Hall, they are not going to think about their water bill or the mayor and the City Council.

They are going to think about becoming United States citizens in that building, and I love that.

Dawood could not be happier to be here  and the same goes for the other 20 or so members of his family, all from his mothers side, living in Tulsa.

Not that there havent been adjustments. As a child growing up in a teeming city of more than 20 million people, Dawoods impression of America was heavily influenced by Hollywood movies.

Then his plane touched down in Tulsa.

What we saw on the movies was the big cities, New York, California, Dawood said. That is the idea that I had in mind, and then I came here. And Im looking at Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Im asking my uncle, like, where are the big buildings?

And he was like, Nader, we are not in a big city. We are in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is more relaxed.

It took me a while before I got used to it.

Tulsa World Newsroom: Why Church Studio opening matters

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Two defendants in unrelated fraud cases were sentenced Wednesday in Tulsa federal court.

Adewale Matthew Abel, 51, was sentenced to no prison time but three years of supervision by the U.S. Probation Office, while Carol A. Broyles, 49, faces a two-year, three-month prison term, according to court records.

Abel, formerly of Tulsa, admitted May 6 to making a false statement to a financial institution as part of a scheme to obtain a $300,000 forgivable loan from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, established to aid small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abel falsely claimed on a PPP loan application submitted in May 2020 that he employed 20 people, was in business on Feb. 15, 2020 and had a $120,000 payroll, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Tulsa.

As part of his plea agreement, Abel will pay $300,000 in restitution to Stride Bank in Tulsa.

Abel admitted to being part of a trio who together sought bogus PPP loans early in the pandemic.

Olusola Ojo, 43, of Owasso was found guilty in Tulsa federal court in November of two counts of bank fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Ojo is scheduled to be sentenced April 1.

The third person, Ibanga Etuk, was sentenced to serve four years in prison after pleading guilty to crimes linked to his part in the scheme. Etuks wife, Teosha Etuk, also admitted to taking part in the scheme and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison.

Abel said in his written plea: I knowingly and willfully conspired with Ibanga Etuk and Olusola Ojo to create the false list of employees that I used for my PPP application 

Broyles, formerly of Tulsa, admitted Nov. 3 in Tulsa federal court to making $429,732 in unauthorized payments to herself while she was an office manager at Electronic Assembly Corp. in Tulsa.

Broyles attributed the embezzlement from the company to a casino gambling addiction, according to a sentencing memorandum submitted on her behalf.

Broyles had requested that the judge sentence her to five years of probation rather than the prison term called for under federal sentencing guidelines of 27 months to 33 months.

She will also serve three years of post-custody supervision by the U.S. Probation Office.

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Researchers think DNA is the best chance for the case known for now as "burial 27" to be the first conclusively identified victim of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

In a project update Wednesday with reporters, University of Oklahoma archaeologist Kary Stackelbeck expressed optimism the team's efforts could possibly have "successfully located the first victim of the massacre" after a young Black man was exhumed with two bullets from a potter's field corner of Oaklawn Cemetery.

But they might never get an answer for certain, said Phoebe Stubblefield, a forensic anthropologist and member of the research team.

"We have to do more investigation to connect the individuals to the circumstances of their death," she said Wednesday. "It's not enough to just exhume them and find they have been killed."

The work will take months with no guarantee of success, Stubblefield said, noting all the samples from Oaklawn sent off for analysis present difficult challenges for extracting DNA.

If DNA can be extracted from the specimens sent to Utah Cold Case Coalition Intermountain Forensics, researchers hope it will help them find modern families related to named individuals from newspaper accounts and death certificates.

"That will be conclusive for me," Stubblefield said of the confidence in connecting an unmarked burial to a Tulsa Race Massacre slaying. "Because that will set the circumstances of 'Oh, you have a family member that was in Tulsa.'  It will depend on how well-documented individual family genealogies are."

She said that's one of the hurdles, that it's not enough for modern families to "have their DNA out there"  it has to be connected to actual relatives.

For those with family ties to the massacre who want to help researchers, Utah Cold Case Coalition Intermountain Forensics can assist. Email info@intermountainforensics.com with the subject line 1921 Graves" to find out how to participate.

"Some families will probably get genealogies out of this project from tracing relatives out of this investigation," Stubblefield said.

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With nearly half of those recovering from the infection suffering fatigue and memory problems, no one should still on the fence about whether vaccines can help, Dr. Dale Bratzler says.
The route to clemency that spared convicted killer Julius Jones from execution last November would no longer be possible under legislation narrowly advanced from an Oklahoma House of Representatives committee on Wednesday.

House Bill 3903, by Rep. John Pfeiffer, R-Orlando, would expressly forbid the state Pardon and Parole Board from recommending clemency for death-row inmates except for leniency and mercy, and then only to the extent that a death sentence may be commuted to life without parole.

The bill passed the Judiciary-Criminal Committee only after Speaker Pro Tem Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, was summoned to break a 5-5 tie.

The bill stems from the Pardon and Parole Boards unusual and some say unprecedented decision to hear arguments that Jones is innocent of the 1999 murder of Edmond businessman Paul Howell. The board then recommended that Gov. Kevin Stitt commute Jones sentence to life with the possibility of parole.

Stitt ultimately chose life without parole.

Pfeiffer argued Wednesday that decisions on guilt and innocence should be made by the courts, not the Pardon and Parole Board.

What the Pardon and Parole Board is not there to do, and has never been there to do, is to make determinations based on guilt or innocence, Pfeiffer said. Thats for the courts to decide.

Pfeiffer and Assistant Attorney General Caroline Hunt said Pardon and Parole Board hearings do not follow the same evidentiary standards as courts and should not be able to effectively overturn court decisions.

Opponents of the bill said it will eliminate a final form of relief for wrongfully convicted death-row inmates.

Pfeiffer disagreed, saying inmates could still appeal to the courts on the basis of new evidence.

Other bills advancing from Wednesdays packed committee agendas include:

HB 4388, by Hilbert, which would allocate $20 million from state lottery proceeds to an enhanced pay program for senior teachers. Lottery proceeds already go mostly to education, but Hilbert said most of the $20 million would be like new money because of a sharp rise recently in lottery revenue.

HB 3635, by Rep. Mark Lepak, R-Claremore, which would establish a series of triggers that could theoretically phase out the states income tax in as little as 10 years. Income taxes are one of the states two leading sources of revenue.

HB 3734, by Rep. Scott Fetgatter, R-Okmulgee, which would restructure the process for acquiring medical marijuana business licenses. It would require additional information from applicants and impose what amounts to a six-month waiting period for the issuance of a permanent license.

HB 4154, by Rep. Regina Goodwin, D-Tulsa, which would revamp the Tulsa Reconciliation and Education Trust Fund Scholarship to prioritize descendants of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

HB 3475, by Rep. Jim Grego, R-Talihina, which would allow public officials to reject open records requests deemed excessive or duplicative.

HB 3890, by Rep. Tammy Townley, R-Ardmore, which would designate the Bible the official state book.

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OKLAHOMA CITY  State Sen. Marty Quinn announced Wednesday that he is running for Oklahomas 2nd District seat in Congress.

U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., who holds that seat now, has announced he is running for the U.S. Senate post held by Jim Inhofe, who is retiring in January.

Quinn, R-Claremore, is the first to publicly announce his intention to run for Mullins seat in the House. It is his first attempt at a congressional seat.

Quinn, 62, is term-limited out of the Oklahoma Legislature, having served in both chambers.

Ive used my decades of business experience to help lead Oklahomas economic turnaround while serving in the state legislature, Quinn said. The approach was simple. Use the same conservative values our small businesses and families use to live within their means. As a result, Oklahoma is thriving.

Quinn said he will need to raise more than $1 million for his congressional campaign.

First elected to the Oklahoma House in 2010, he won the Senate seat in 2014 and was reelected in 2018.

Quinn and his wife of 37 years, Kelley Quinn, have two children, Lynsay and Tyler. Marty Quinn serves as a deacon at the Blue Starr Church of Christ in Claremore.

He graduated from Dierks (Arkansas) High school in 1977. For 39 years, he worked for Shelter Insurance. He sold his agency in 2021.

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COVID-19 hospitalizations in Oklahoma are approaching the relative low period experienced after the delta variant surge and before omicron took off like wildfire.

The states recent three-day average of COVID hospitalizations of 529 is 76% below the record 2,243 reported Jan. 28 but still 33% above the fall nadir of 399. The lowest hospitalization average in 2021 was 106 on June 10.

Dr. Dale Bratzler, the University of Oklahomas chief COVID officer, said hospitals are in much better shape but cautioned that because people delay care during surges, people are likely to begin showing up at hospitals with more advanced diseases to address.

I think were going to kind of be digging out of this for quite some time, Bratzler said.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Tulsa County hospitals has dropped to 157, according to the states latest three-day average released Wednesday. That average is down 30% from 223 a week ago and 49% from 310 two weeks ago.

Tulsa Countys record is 548 COVID inpatients reported Jan. 29.

Tulsa Health Department Director Bruce Dart said he spoke with hospital leaders Monday. All are feeling much better about the situation now, he said, although staffing shortages remain because of the pandemics huge toll on health care workers.

There definitely are staffing issues or capacity issues, Dart said. So while its great that the percentage of COVID-19 cases has dramatically dropped, were still challenged by those staffing issues, and its going to take some time to get past that.

Oklahomas weekly new case rate is 112 per 100,000 residents, which is still considered a high rate of transmission by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The omicron wave peak and overall record was 2,086 weekly cases per 100,000 Oklahomans, reported Jan. 24.

The current rate is nearly identical to the rate a year ago  123 per 100,000  but still well above the lowest mark of 2021: 15 per 100,000 reported May 26.

The states case rate ranks 33rd in the U.S. and is below the national rate of 144, according to federal data.

Tulsa Countys weekly seven-day average of new cases was 97 on Wednesday, which is similar to 92 a week earlier but much less than 224 from two weeks ago. The countys record was 1,802, reported Jan. 26.

Bratzler said its clear that more and more people are going out into public without wearing masks.

So mitigation efforts must shift some focus to identifying individuals most at risk for complications of COVID-19, he said, and educate them on how to best protect themselves  such as wearing high-grade medical masks in public settings.

He noted that ages 65 and older, immunosuppressed, diabetes, kidney disease, neurologic disease, cardiac disease, pulmonary disease and chronic liver disease are each risk factors for complications from the virus.

I dont know if I can say yet that COVID is endemic, but I do think we have to learn how to live with COVID-19, Bratzler said.

He emphasized that very effective treatments exist now to help keep patients out of the hospital or from developing complications.

Those include two oral antiviral pills, two monoclonal antibodies, sometimes convalescent plasma and remdesivir, he said.

While not every doctor routinely makes these referrals, I think its very important that people understand that there are options available, Bratzler said. Theyre becoming more available now.  People need to seek those out if they get sick.

Get a test done as quickly as possible, and if its positive, these treatments need to be started quick.

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OKLAHOMA CITY  A Senate panel on Wednesday passed a measure that would let tax dollars follow a student to a private school.

Senate Bill 1647, by Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, passed by vote of 12-8 and heads to the Senate floor.

The measure last month narrowly passed the Senate Education Committee by a vote of 8-7.

It is dubbed the Oklahoma Empowerment Act.

The panel adopted measures to change the bill from its original version.

Treat put a financial cap in the bill. It would apply to a family of four making up to $154,000, he said.

The measure would apply to public schools and private schools. Treat removed a section of the bill that would apply to those who home-schooled students.

Money would come out of the state aid formula, Treat said.

Treat said he would not move the measure forward if lawmakers could not find money to offset the cost to public education.

The measure would cover a number of expenses, such as tuition, school uniforms, textbooks and fees for transportation, Treat said.

The measure provides for 10% of the accounts to be audited annually, Treat said.

Sen. J.J. Dossett, D-Owasso, questioned the fairness of the measure because more private schools are found in urban areas than rural areas.

Treat said it was a false narrative to say there are no options, although there are fewer.

There are plenty of churches and others that provide schooling, Treat said.

Dossett also said he was confused why the state would put tax dollars into schools and families that dont need it right now and have already made up their mind to send a child to private school.

Treat said some who send their children to private school rely on support from relatives and others to cover the cost.

Sen. Julia Kirt, D-Oklahoma City, said the measure opens the door very wide to who could provide the education services.

When we talk about public money for education, we have to have expectations for what that is going to do for kids, Kirt said. This opens the door for taking advantage of these state funds in private ways with very minimal accountability.

This is fiscally irresponsible. This is reckless policy.

Treat told committee members he knew this would be a tough vote.

Our kids deserve it, Treat said. Our future deserves it. Every child in Oklahoma deserves the same quality education my kids get at Deer Creek Public Schools.

Treat said a lot of students would benefit immensely from the measure.

This is not going to be a tremendous percentage of the student body, Treat said. The vast majority of our kids remain in public school.

Gov. Kevin Stitt went on social media to praise the passage of the measure.

Momentum for school choice is building! he tweeted. Thank you to those who voted to put parents in charge of their childs education, not government-controlled systems.

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Low-cost Vietnamese airline Vietjet Air has announced it will operate a free repatriation flight for Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine, departing from Warsaw, Poland, potentially on Sunday.

Vietjet Air CEO Dinh Viet Phuong said the airline decided to run the flight after considering different options to repatriate Vietnamese citizens currently in Ukraine, where the Russia-Ukraine military confrontation has been ongoing since February 24.

The service will be the first of its kind from a Vietnamese airline during the current crisis in Ukraine.

The carrier on Wednesday sent its flight plan to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Transport, the Government Office, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV), and Vietnams representative agencies in Ukraine, Poland, and Russia.

Vietjet hopes the flight will help Vietnamese citizens safely leave Ukraine, Phuong said.

"We expect the flight to depart on March 6," he added.

With that date quickly approaching, the carrier has requested that all relevant ministries and agencies provide it with any assistance necessary to make the flight a success.

On February 26, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh issued a dispatch asking the transport ministry to instruct Vietnamese airlines to create plans to transport Vietnamese citizens and their families in Ukraine back to Vietnam.

Besides Vietjet, Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways have all prepared repatriation plans for flights from Warsaw, Poland; Bucharest, Romania; Budapest, Hungary; Bratislava, Slovakia; Moscow, Russia; and Minsk, Belarus, the CAAV said.

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Pfizer Inc is expected to provide around 10 million courses of its highly effective COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid to low- and middle-income countries this year, according to an official with the Global Fund, a healthcare NGO working to buy the pills from the drugmaker.

The Fund's head of strategy for policy, Harley Feldbaum, said Pfizer had committed to at least that many doses and could increase shipments later if organizations involved show they are able to distribute the pills well, noting most will be available toward the end of the year.

"That's obviously not enough or sufficient" to meet the need in those countries, said Feldbaum, during an online meeting of non-government organizations (NGOs), activists and academics hosted by influential consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

It is unclear whether there is funding available globally to buy the pills and pay for the infrastructure necessary to distribute them.

Pfizer has said it will charge less for the drug in lower income countries, but has not disclosed a price. For wealthy countries, it said it plans to charge around $700 per treatment course - though its U.S. deal priced Paxlovid at $530.

"We are working with the ACT-A partnership on supply of Paxlovid for low- and lower middle-income countries as part of our commitment to equitable access for the COVID-19 oral treatment," Pfizer spokesperson Kit Longley said in a statement without providing details.

The Global Fund is part of the Access to COVID-19 Accelerator partnership (ACT-A), an effort by governments and NGOs like the World Health Organization to procure tests, treatments, and vaccines for lower income countries.

Pfizer has said it plans to produce at least 120 million courses of the two-drug treatment this year. That falls well short of the company's estimate of the 2022 market for antiviral pills of 250 million people globally.

Paxlovid is expected to be a key tool in treating COVID-19 after it reduced hospitalizations in high-risk patients by around 90% in a clinical trial. The results were significantly better than those from a clinical trial of Merck Inc's rival oral antiviral molnupiravir.

Pfizer has signed contracts for close to 30 million courses already, almost entirely to high income countries, according to Knowledge Ecology International. The United States has secured 20 million courses of the drug.

Last month, Pfizer said it expects at least $22 billion in sales of Paxlovid this year, based only on currently signed contracts, noting that the figure could climb much higher as more deals are signed.

The 10 million treatment courses destined for lower-income countries is "nowhere near enough," Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen's Access to Medicines program, said in an email.

"Indeed it's a frustratingly small portion of a frighteningly scarce supply that fails to learn from the lives lost and the moral catastrophe of vaccine inequity over the past year," he said, referring to early COVID vaccine supplies that were scooped up by richer nations.

Pfizer has agreed allow generic drugmakers to produce versions of Paxlovid for 95 low- and middle-income countries through a deal with international public health group Medicines Patent Pool (MPP).

But Pfizer and MPP do not expect any of the generic drugmakers to be able to manufacture significant supply of the drug by year end.

MPP expects to announce in mid-March which generic drugmakers have signed agreements to produce the treatment.
About 460 Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine have so far been evacuated to neighboring countries against the backdrop of a military conflict between Ukraine and Russia, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The foreign ministrys citizen protection team has been coordinating with Vietnamese representative agencies in Ukraine and neighboring countries to evacuate Vietnamese citizens from conflict areas.

As of Wednesday afternoon, most Vietnamese citizens who had been living in Kyiv and Odessa, as well as hundreds of others who had been living Kharkiv, have been moved to nearby nations.

Among them, 140 moved to Warsaw, Poland; 70 headed to Romania; and about 30 went to Hungary.

Approximately 220 others traveled to Moldova and are preparing to depart for Romania.

Vietnamese representative agencies have been assisting the citizens in completing the necessary procedures for their entry and transit.

They have also been coordinating with local authorities and Vietnamese peoples associations in the host countries to provide temporary accommodations and essential items for the evacuated citizens.

The foreign ministry and relevant authorities have submitted an evacuation plan to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and will coordinate with airlines to arrange repatriation flights under an appropriate road map.

In a dispatch issued on Saturday, PM Chinh directed designated agencies to coordinate in protecting and moving all Vietnamese citizens and legal entities away from Ukrainian areas being affected by the ongoing tension.

Around 7,000 Vietnamese are living in Ukraine, mainly in Kharkiv, Odessa, and Kyiv, the dispatched noted.

During the United Nations General Assemblys emergency special session on Ukraine on Tuesday, Vietnam affirmed its consistent stance on settling international disputes by peaceful means and in accordance with international law, as well as calling for dialogue and protection of civilians.

Russia began attacking Ukraine on February 24, saying it wanted to demilitarize and denazify the neighboring country.

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Police officers discovered on Wednesday nearly 500 metric tons of oil of unknown origin after inspecting two ships and a barge in Ho Chi Minh City.

The inspection was carried out by officers under the Ministry of Public Security, in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Public Security, the General Department of Customs, and border guard officers, along a section of the Saigon River in Phu Thuan Ward, District 7.

The officers examined two ships and one barge belonging to Phuc Tho Petroleum Transport and Trade Company and discovered almost 500 metric tons of fuel oil and diesel oil.

The firm was unable to present papers proving the origin of the oil, invoices, and other related documents.

Police determined that Phuc Tho Company had violated regulations on petroleum business operations and that their activities showed signs of smuggling.

The Ministry of Public Security is working with the anti-smuggling division under the General Department of Customs and the Ho Chi Minh City Public Security Department to further investigate the case.

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On International Womens Day iwonder, screens Nasrin, the inspiring story of one womans fight for freedom, equality and justice inside one of the worlds most strictly controlled states.

Narrated by Olivia Colman, and secretly filmed in Iran by women and men who risked arrest, this film follows the life and work of renowned human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, and the efforts of Irans remarkably resilient womens rights movement.

iwonder CEO, James Bridges, says of the film: Its a privilege to be able to mark this years International Womens Day with the launch of such a powerful and important film, drawing attention to Nasrin Sotoudeh as a source of inspiration to women and men around the world. Her difficult journey is a testament to both the irrepressible spirit of strong women who refuse to be oppressed, and the continuing need for further progress in womens rights globally, so that stories like hers need not be repeated.

In the courts and on the streets, Nasrin has long fought for the rights of women, children, LGBTQ, religious minorities, journalists, artists, and those facing the death penalty. She was arrested in June 2018 and sentenced to 38 years in prison, plus 148 lashes, though even from prison, she continues to challenge the authorities.

Featuring acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, journalist Ann Curry, exiled womens rights activist Mansoureh Shojaee, and Nasrins equally courageous husband Reza Khandan, Nasrin is a film that demands attention.

Tuesday 8th March on iwonder.
A Q+A audience member was last night asked to leave the studio by host Stan Grant in an extraordinary live television moment.

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis, an Honours Student in Spanish and Latin American Studies at the University of Melbourne, asked a question around media coverage of the war in Ukraine.

As someone who comes from the Russian community here in Australia, Ive been pretty outraged by the narrative depicted by our media, with Ukraine as the good guy and Russia as the bad guy. Believe it or not, there are a lot of Russians here and around the world that support what Putins doing in Ukraine, myself included, he said.

Since 2014, the Ukraine has besieged the Russian populations in Donetsk and Luhansk unprovoked, killing an estimated 13,000 people

Thats a lie. Thats a lie, another audience member interjected.

Can I finish? My question is  where was your outpouring of grief and concern for those thousands of mostly Russians? Gillies-Lekakis asked the panel.

Stan Grant immediately fact-checked him on his proposition saying, I think we need to point out that the United Nations has pointed out there is 13,000 killed since the conflict began in 2014. So we need to be very clear on that.

Stan gives a #qanda audience member the flick. pic.twitter.com/UdPXhSekq4  Tyson Whelan (@tyson_whelan) March 3, 2022

But 10 minutes later a visibly shaken Grant returned to the questioner.

Something has been bothering me, I have to admit, since we had Sashas question earlier about Russia, and its been playing on my mind. Sasha, people here have been talking about family who are suffering and people who are dying. I understand you wanted to ask your question about  is there some reasoning for this? But you supported whats happening, hearing that people are dying. Can I just say  Im just not comfortable with you being here. Could you please leave? Grant asked.

As some members of the audience applauded Grant continued, You can ask a question, but we cannot advocate violence. I should have asked you to leave then. Its been playing on my mind. I wanted to have a proper conversation about these things, but I have to ask you to leave. Im really sorry.

Im sorry for that. These things happen. Its live television, you think about these things. Its really been troubling me that we can have a conversation and we can look at where the arguments are we can try to look at the sides of the argument. But we cant have that, and Im sorry. It should have happened earlier.

On social media the moment divided viewers of the show.

Q+A screens its audience members, especially those who ask questions and all are given guidance by producers prior to the show.

Executive producer Erin Vincent recently told TV Tonight, We have pretty strict processes to make sure that people are who they say they are. We do ID checks when they come through the doors of our studios and we do background checks.

At the end of the show Stan Grant said, We cant have anyone who is sanctioning, supporting, violence and killing of people. So Im sorry for the disruption. It was not a vetted question. It was a rogue question. Its not good.

ABC has been contacted for comment.

Updated: Facebook statement by Sasha Gillies-Lekakis

I would just like to say that, following my appearance on QandA on 03/03/2022, I am aware that there has been a lot of controversy surrounding certain statements I made and the position I took regarding the Russia-Ukraine situation. I am unequivocally against war and the loss of any lives, be they Ukrainian, Russian, or any other, and want to be clear that I made no statements indicating anything to the contrary  I made no direct statement sanctioning violence or conflict.

I was hoping to make the point that I support Putins grievances regarding the breaking of the Minsk Peace Agreement by the Ukraine, and the ensuing loss of life, particularly in the Russian-populated areas of the Donbas. My question, furthermore, sought to question why these Russian deaths were seemingly less important compared to Ukrainian casualties in our media coverage, and whether the panelists thought there was any hypocrisy in their positions as a result. This is reflected in my question as published on the QandA website. Unfortunately, I was unable to fully finish asking my question nor clarify myself despite trying, and so believe that my words were misrepresented and incomplete. The region has a long and complex history involving many peoples and the only way lasting peace can be achieved is through fostering genuine understanding and empathy on all sides. Such understandings cannot be achieved by creating simplistic media narratives of good and evil or, for that matter, by deliberately misrepresenting others or denying them a chance to speak and be part of the discussion. I would like to say that I had no intention whatsoever of offending anyone, and so would like to sincerely apologise for any distress my comments may have caused. I would like to note that, following my departure from the QandA studio, Stan Grant made the claim that my question was unvetted. I would like to state that this simply is not true. I submitted my question to the QandA team via their online submission portal, was told to edit my question via email, and then once again in the studio, shortly before the program began. The only addition I made to my question when actually delivering it was my reference to the Azhov Battalion (7-8 words roughly), and some sentences were left out towards the end as I was interrupted. If this small change to my question amounts to it being rogue, as was claimed, once again I apologise. However, I find this difficult to reconcile with the fact that other guests were given the chance to speak at length, off-script, on the Russia-Ukraine situation, including the first guest questioner. Given that I made changes in line with the ABCs request, I find Mr. Grants statements following my departure, and the fact that I was asked to leave the program, disappointing and unprofessional. I am genuinely sorry that things took the turn they did, as previously mentioned. However, at the same time, an acknowledgement of the ABCs questionable conduct would also be appreciated  if my question was not appropriate for the show after being vetted and edited, I wonder why I was invited at all. Sasha Gillies-Lekakis

ABC statement:

The point of Q+A is to bring together people with a range of widely divergent views and create a forum where they can have a civil and productive discussion despite their differences. Controversial opinions are inevitable, but they are also challenged by the host, panellists and audience.

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis did not ask the question that he had agreed and what he said instead contained major inaccuracies. He was asked to finish his question and the issue was aired in the panel discussion.

As the program developed, Stan Grant, a highly experienced presenter of live TV, was aware that other audience members were distressed. After careful consideration he decided the best course of action was for Mr Gillies-Lekakis to leave the studio, which was live-to-air. The ABC fully supports his judgment and handling of this situation.
Jo Lee Ferguson wishes she kept her maiden name - Hammer - because it was perfect for a reporter. Shes a local girl who loves writing about her hometown. She and LNJ Managing Editor Randy Ferguson have two children and a crazy husky.

Follow Jo Lee Ferguson 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
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky calls on the citizens of Belarus to make the right choice in the country's referendum and be "Belarus, not Russia."

"In the war that is going on now, you are not on the same side with us. Alas. From your territory, the troops of the Russian Federation launch rockets into Ukraine. Our children are being killed from your territory, our houses are being destroyed, they are trying to blow up everything that has been built over decades  and, by the way, not only by us, but also by our fathers, our grandfathers. And all this is also a de facto referendum for you, Belarusians. You decide who you are. You decide who to be. How will you look into the eyes of your children, how will you look into the eyes of each other, your neighbors. And we are your neighbors. We are Ukrainians. Be Belarus, not Russia! You are making this choice right now. Today," Zelensky said in a video address to the citizens of Belarus on Sunday.
Euronext

Strategic partnership agreement between Euronext Securities and Spafid in issuer services

Milan  3 March 2022  Euronext Securities Milan (Monte Titoli) and Spafid today announce the agreement for a strategic partnership whereby:

i) Euronext Securities Milan will acquire the General Meetings, Designated Representative, and Shareholders Registers activities of Spafid, solutions trusted by approximately 200 clients, and

ii) Euronext Securities Milan and Spafid will establish a closer cooperation aimed at mutually support the development of their respective core businesses.

For Euronext Securities, the acquisition is an important step to further develop local added-value services to issuers, and to deliver on Euronext Securities ambition to converge issuers services across all its locations  now spanning across Denmark, Norway, Portugal and Italy.

Spafid will focus on its core business of advisory and consultancy tailormade services built around human talent and superior client relationship, while benefitting from a closer cooperation with Euronext.

The activities of Spafid acquired by Euronext securities Milan cover:

General Meetings: the full logistic management of Italian issuers general meetings;

Designated Representative: proxy voting management;

Shareholders Registers: management of shareholders' register and other financial instruments register on their behalf.





Euronext Securities is already providing similar services in Denmark and Norway, and this acquisition marks an important milestone of the Euronext Growth for Impact 2024 strategy, to pan-Europeanise and scale up Euronext Securities, and specifically to expand added-value services towards financial institutions and issuers across all its locations. In Italy, the integration of these activities in Euronext Securities Milan provides clients with the benefit of a comprehensive and end-to-end management of the entire shareholder process.

Spafid is a leading player in the Italian wealth management space, offering fiduciary, trustee family offices services to a wide range of clients and will continue to focus and expand on its core advisory and consultancy business in the Corporate services space.

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Mauro Dognini, CEO of Euronext Securities Milan, said: The development of services related to the management of shareholders meetings and proxy voting, and the shareholders register is a perfect fit for Euronext Securities Milans offering to Italian issuers, in particular for listed companies. Over the years Spafid has developed a solid business and an efficient service for its customers and we endeavour to improve the service level by dedicating the utmost attention to the needs of new customers.

Paolo Cappugi, CEO of Spafid, said: The markets need for shareholder register book-keeping activities and assistance in staging annual general meetings is set to change and develop in the future in terms of the technology and operating systems used. As a result of this sale, Spafid will be able to further specialise in the pure, high value-added operational advisory and consultancy services already provided to listed companies and those at the listing phase. Euronext, with its cutting-edge technology platforms developed on a European scale, will be able to further enhance the quality of the service provided to companies by Spafid. Through this co-operation, Spafid and Euronext are well positioned to become leading market players, accompanying companies in the process of listing with best-in-class services consistent with their respective specializations and strategic missions.

Notes to Editors:

1 The transaction is subject to the completion of the information and union consultation procedure. The closing is expected in Q2 2022.

Contacts Euronext Contact Mediobanca Italy Press office Italypressoffice@euronext.com Media Relations media.relations@mediobanca.com

About Euronext

Euronext is the leading pan-European market infrastructure, connecting European economies to global capital markets, to accelerate innovation and sustainable growth. It operates regulated exchanges in Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal. With close to 2,000 listed equity issuers and around 6.9 trillion in market capitalisation as of end December 2021, it has an unmatched blue chip franchise and a strong diverse domestic and international client base. Euronext operates regulated and transparent equity and derivatives markets, one of Europes leading electronic fixed income trading markets and is the largest centre for debt and funds listings in the world. Its total product offering includes Equities, FX, Exchange Traded Funds, Warrants & Certificates, Bonds, Derivatives, Commodities and Indices. The Group provides a multi-asset clearing house through Euronext Clearing, and custody and settlement services through Euronext Securities central securities depositories in Denmark, Italy, Norway and Portugal. Euronext also leverages its expertise in running markets by providing technology and managed services to third parties. In addition to its main regulated market, it also operates a number of junior markets, simplifying access to listing for SMEs.

For the latest news, go to euronext.com or follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/euronext) and LinkedIn (linkedin.com/euronext).

About Spafid

Spafid is the Mediobanca Groups historical fiduciary company, registered with the Bank of Italy as required under ex-Article 106 of the Italian Banking Act. For decades it has provided top quality corporate services to a large number of institutions and in more recent years has further expanded to fiduciary management of high net worth individual wealth. The Mediobanca group is a premier specialized financial group offering Wealth Management, Consumer Banking and Corporate & Investment Banking services. Its impeccable reputation in Italy is the result of nearly eight decades of success driven by a responsible and sustainable approach to business and services that meet the highest standards of excellence.

Disclaimer

This press release is for information purposes only: it is not a recommendation to engage in investment activities and is provided as is, without representation or warranty of any kind. While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the content, Euronext does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Euronext will not be held liable for any loss or damages of any nature ensuing from using, trusting or acting on information provided. No information set out or referred to in this publication may be regarded as creating any right or obligation. The creation of rights and obligations in respect of financial products that are traded on the exchanges operated by Euronexts subsidiaries shall depend solely on the applicable rules of the market operator. All proprietary rights and interest in or connected with this publication shall vest in Euronext. This press release speaks only as of this date. Euronext refers to Euronext N.V. and its affiliates. Information regarding trademarks and intellectual property rights of Euronext is available at www.euronext.com/terms-use.

 2022, Euronext N.V. - All rights reserved.

The Euronext Group processes your personal data in order to provide you with information about Euronext (the "Purpose"). With regard to the processing of this personal data, Euronext will comply with its obligations under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and Council of 27 April 2016 (General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR), and any applicable national laws, rules and regulations implementing the GDPR, as provided in its privacy statement available at: www.euronext.com/privacy-policy. In accordance with the applicable legislation you have rights with regard to the processing of your personal data: for more information on your rights, please refer to: www.euronext.com/data_subjects_rights_request_information. To make a request regarding the processing of your data or to unsubscribe from this press release service, please use our data subject request form at connect2.euronext.com/form/data-subjects-rights-request or email our Data Protection Officer at dpo@euronext.com.





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Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov referenced Napoleon, Hitler, Hollywood's battle between "absolute evil and absolute good" and Ukraine's "neo-Nazi" regime as he made his latest attempt to justify his country's invasion.

Speaking during a virtual news conference in Moscow, Mr Lavrov insisted that Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine was an effort to "de-militarise and de-Nazify and to stop any more violence".

More than 2,000 civilians are estimated to have so far died in a week of Russian military aggression against Ukraine.

But Mr Lavrov contended that the Russian army had a "very strict order to use weapons only against military infrastructure".

And he defended Moscow's launching of its war machine against its neighbour as a means of allowing Ukrainians "to make their own choices".

Ukraine-Russia news live: Blasts light up sky in Kyiv as refugee count passes a million

Lavrov compares US to 'Napoleon and Hitler'

"Napoleon and Hitler, they had the objective to have the whole of Europe under their control," the 71-year-old said, according to a translator, as he continued the Kremlin's attacks on NATO.

"Now Americans have got Europe under their control. And we see the situation has really demonstrated what role the EU is playing in the context of the global situation.

"They are just fulfilling a role. So we see, like in Hollywood, there is absolute evil and absolute good and this is unfortunate."

Mr Lavrov claimed "the hysteria" would end and "our partners will settle down, calm down after a while" as he predicted Russia would "sit down to negotiate".

But he added this must be "only on one absolute condition that there has to be equal positions, equal parties negotiating".

Nuclear war 'not in the heads of Russians'

Russian President Vladimir Putin this week ordered his country's nuclear deterrent forces to be put on high alert and has previously threatened the West with "consequences greater than any you have faced in history" if other nations intervened in Ukraine.

Story continues

Mr Lavrov, however, suggested that nuclear war was "not in the heads of the Russians" and blamed fears of an escalated conflict on "statements of the Western politicians".

He accused France's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian of "trying to be like a peacock" and claimed UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss had stated she was "prepared for the conflict between Russia and NATO".

In response to a US journalist's question, he added: "I'd like to point out the statements of your president, [Joe] Biden, when replying to a question whether there was an alternative to these sanctions from hell.

"He said the only alternative is World War Three. And everyone had the sense it can only be nuclear war."

Mr Lavrov warned Western leaders that if they "begin a real war against us then they need to think carefully, the people who harbour those plans - and they do harbour those plans".

Nazis 'flourishing' in Ukraine

The Russian foreign minister dismissed a characterisation of his own leader, Mr Putin, acting in isolation from other Russian politicians and Kremlin officials as "Western propaganda".

He also repeated Moscow's unsubstantiated but common reference to Ukraine being led by a "neo-Nazi regime".

Mr Lavrov spoke just two days after a Russian missile attack hit a Holocaust memorial in Kyiv, which commemorates the site of one of the largest mass killings of Jews by the Nazis in the Second World War.

And, when challenged about Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy's status as the first Jewish president of Ukraine, Mr Lavrov said: "It's very difficult for me to explain how Zelenskyy can be chairman in a society where Nazis are flourishing.

"They are marching openly, they are marching with torches."

The Russian foreign minister also described Ukrainian forces as "marauders" who "use civilians as human shields" and claimed "Nazi battalions" were among their number.

"Europe and the US are trying to close down any media from Russia who cover what is happening in Ukraine, how the special military operation is developing and how Ukrainian army - especially Nazi battalions - are behaving towards their civilians," Mr Lavrov added.

"They are literally robbing civilians as they retreat in Donbas, for example."

Foreign minister challenged over schoolgirl's death

Asked if he was preparing a defence for a potential war crimes trial over his and Mr Putin's actions in Ukraine, Mr Lavrov - who has been personally targeted by Western sanctions - referred to the term "collateral damage" being "invented by our Western partners" in Iraq and Libya.

Challenged about having the blood of Polina on his hands - a Ukrainian schoolgirl of nine or ten said to have been shot as Russian forces opened fire on her family's car - Mr Lavrov dismissed the line of questioning as "games" and "like a talk show".
Mikolaitis Denies Memukuls Amazing Super MILLION$ Comeback

March 03 2022 Matthew Pitt Editor

Dominykas Mikolaitis sat down at the GGPoker Super MILLION$ final table with a colossal chip lead, one so vast that his stack contained almost twice as many chips as anyone else. Unsurprisingly, Mikolaitis walked away with the title of champion and with the $428,624 top prize in tow, but it was almost a completely different story.

You see, Mikolaitis navigated his way to the heads-up stage of this $10,300 tournament here he found himself up against "Memukul" of Austria. Memukuls stack at the final table was a mere 517,616 or 10.4 big blinds. Compare that to Mikolaitis 7,330,865 (146.6 big blinds) final table stack and you can see why it was surprising to see the Austrian at the business end of the event.

Heres how the final table went down.

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Super MILLION$ Season 2 Episode 32 Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Dominykas Mikolaitis Poland $428,624 2 Memukul Austria $330,514 3 Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer Austria $254,861 4 Andras Nemeth Hungary $196,525 5 Stephen Chidwick Austria $151,541 6 Dalton "morgota" Hobold Brazil $116,854 7 Yuri Dzieivelevski Brazil $90,107 8 Pandora-box Hong Kong $69,482 9 Weiran Pu China $53,578

Stephen Chidwick was another short stack when the final table action commenced. However, he doubled through Mikolaitis with ace-king versus ace-queen. "Memukul" then won a coinflip with jack-ten versus Andras Nemeths pocket sevens to climb to a shade under 1.1 million chips, but he still had plenty of work to do.

Weiran Pu was the first of the nine finalists to bow out. Pu saw Nemeth make it 132,000 from the button and decided to three-bet all-in for 532,700 from the small blind with ace-six. Nemeth called with king-queen and won the hand courtesy of improving to two pair by the river.

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Hong Kongs "Pandora-box" was the next player out of the door, crashing out in eighth-place for a $69,482 addition to their bankroll. Their exit hand began with a raise to 126,000 with ace-king from the hijack, Mikolaitis three-bet to 354,000 on the button with ace-four, which Pandora-box called. Pandora-box check-called a tiny 150,000 continuation-bet on the king-high flop, leading to a deuce on the turn, which gave Mikolaitis a gutshot draw to a wheel. Pandora-box check-called a 288,000 bet on the turn, and the river came a five, gifting Mikolaitis his unlikely straight. Pandora-box checked again and called off their 1,021,218 stack when Mikolaitis set them all-in.

Ace-king was not kind to Yuri Dzivielevski either because his lost to the ace-seven of Mikolaitis. Dzivielevski min-raised to 120,000 on the button with ace-king, and Mikolaitis called in the big blind with ace-seven. Both players checked the queen-seven-four flop, leading to an ace on the turn. Mikolaitis check-raised a 241,875 bet to 600,000, and Dzivielevski called. A jack on the river was greeted by a shove from Mikolaitis, and Dzivielevski called off his stack, which was essentially a pot-sized bet.

Dzivielevskis fellow Brazilian, Dalton "morgota" Hobold was the next out of the door and was the first finalist to reel in a six-figure haul. Hobold had less than ten big blinds when Dzivielevski crashed out and only eight big blinds when he three-bet shoved with pocket jacks from the big blind after Manuel "OPPikachu" Fischer opened in the cutoff. Fischer called with ace-six, spiked an ace on the flop and reduced the player count by one.

The final five became four when Chidwick ran out of steam. Mikolaitis min-raised to 140,000 from under the gun with ace-nine and instantly called when Chidwick ripped in his 642,125 stack on the button with ace-eight. Both player paired their kicker on the flop but Chidwick was still behind. No help arrived on the turn or river, and the United Kingdoms biggest poker winner fell by the wayside.

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Two-time Super MILLION$ champion Andras Nemeth was the next player heading to the showers. Nemeth was down to 11 big blinds when he three-bet shoved his ace-four of clubs over the top of small blind raise from Memukul. The latter called and showed a pair of nines in the hole, which held on a double-paired board.

Heads-up was set soon after when Fischer busted. Fischer had only a few hands early lost a massive coinflip with pocket nines against the ace-jack of Memukul. He lost the rest of his stack, all 12 big blinds to the same player when his ace-trey failed to get there against king-five in a battle of the blinds.

Mikolaitis held a lead of more than two-to-one going into heads-up against the player who started the evening with a shade over ten bigs. Memukul almost drew level at one stage, but the epic comeback was not meant to be.

The final hand took place at the 100,000/200,000/25,000a level, and saw Memukul limp for 200,000 before calling all-in for 2,703,592 when Mikolaitis set him all-in. It was ace-jack for Memukul against the dominated ace-five, but Mikolaitis turned a wheel to take down the latest edition of the Super MILLION$.
Actors Kit Harington, David Tennant and Adrian Lester will appear on TV and radio channels supporting an urgent Ukraine humanitarian campaign launched on Thursday.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched the appeal to raise funds to help people fleeing the conflict after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion a week ago.

Trigger Point star Lester, 53, appeared in a film which aired on the BBC following its news programme on Thursday evening.

In the appeal, he said: Its been a horrific week for the people of Ukraine.

We have watched on our screens the air strikes, shelling and bombardment take their toll on men, women and children.

People are queueing at borders, hungry, exhausted, often separated from loved ones, many bring only what they can carry and are unequipped to face freezing temperatures.

Others still in Ukraine have had to leave home to take shelter from the bombardment, living under curfew with little chance to buy food or get cash.

Leaving everything behind, people are fleeing conflict in Ukraine. They need shelter, food and water. @DecAppeal member charities are appealing for funds to help those in need. pic.twitter.com/f068N9fVd9  BBC (@BBC) March 3, 2022

Many homes are now destroyed or unsafe to live in. It is estimated if this situation continues more than seven million Ukrainians could be displaced.

It is easy to feel powerless in the face of so much catastrophic human need, but you can help.

Lester added that many of the charities involved in the DEC were already working in Ukraine or neighbouring countries, preparing to scale up their operations.

Harington, best known for playing Jon Snow in HBO fantasy series Games Of Thrones, will also appear on ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky supporting the campaign.

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The Disasters Emergency Committee has launched an urgent appeal to help people fleeing conflict in Ukraine. #UkraineAppeal The UK Government will match pound-for-pound up to 20 million donated by the public to this appeal. #UKAidMatch Donate now: https://t.co/JRCP8NYvdB pic.twitter.com/APlGs0TJuc  DEC (@decappeal) March 3, 2022

Tennant, 50, who played Doctor Who between 2005 and 2010, will be voicing an appeal which will be broadcast on the radio.

As violence continues to rage across Ukraine, more than one million people have left their homes and sought refuge in neighbouring European Countries, according to the latest figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo this week predicted it would be the biggest refugee crisis this century as people continued to cross borders into Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova.

The joint fundraising appeal brings together 15 UK aid charities to help raise funds which will be distributed to charities responding on the ground, providing people with food, water and shelter.

Many thanks to Her Majesty The Queen for continuing to support the Disasters Emergency Committee and for making a generous donation to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. @RoyalFamily #UkraineAppeal  DEC (@decappeal) March 3, 2022

On Twitter, the DEC thanked the Queen for making a generous donation to support the humanitarian appeal.

On Thursday, Saleh Saeed, chief executive of the DEC, said: I could never have envisaged launching a humanitarian appeal in the heart of Europe in 2022.

But tragically, thats exactly where we find ourselves.

The last time we launched an appeal in Europe was for Kosovo, more than 20 years ago.

We thought never again. We were wrong.

Every pound donated by the UK public will be matched by the Government through its Aid Match scheme, up to the value of 20 million.
KUNMING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The China-Laos Railway, a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, has boosted regional connectivity and economic cooperation since it started operation three months ago.

As of Thursday, the railway has handled more than 350 international freight trains which transported over 250,000 tonnes of cargo, according to the China Railway Kunming Group Co., Ltd.

Driven by the increasing demand for transportation, the types of goods have expanded from fertilizers, fodder and vegetables at the beginning to electronic products, monocrystalline silicon, daily necessities and communication equipment, said Xu Chao, deputy general manager of the Kunming branch of China United International Rail Containers Co., Ltd.

In order to better serve train operation and improve efficiency, local authorities have coordinated efforts between epidemic control and transportation service, and facilitated the customs clearance at ports.

"Our train service has become more diversified, from traditional international cargo trains to Lancang-Mekong Express and cold chain trains," Xu said, adding that the Lancang-Mekong Express only takes 26 hours from Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, to the Laotian capital Vientiane.

Opening to traffic on Dec. 3, 2021, the China-Laos Railway runs over 1,000 km and links Kunming with Vientiane. It is the first overseas railway jointly constructed and operated by the two countries.

International trade companies are among those who benefit from the railway. Laos is embracing modern logistics services including road-rail combined transport and one-stop customs clearance, which improves the timeliness of cargo transportation and largely reduces costs, said Wang Lijun, chairman of Haofeng International Transport Co., Ltd, a Chinese joint venture rooted in Laos for over a decade.

Wang said the development of his company has entered into the fast lane, with business growing rapidly.

"The China-Laos Railway saves us about 30 percent of logistics cost from Kunming to Vientiane. The rail transport is more punctual and can reduce damages to the goods," said Yang Jie from Shanghai Rencheng Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. "We are more confident to expand Southeast Asian market."

"The launch of the railway has not only promoted economic development along the route but also accelerated the construction of the China-Laos Economic Corridor and the community of a shared future between the two sides," said Ma Yong, head of the institute of Southeast Asian studies under the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences.

As the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement entered into force in January, the destinations of international freight via China-Laos Railway have been expanded to more countries and regions including Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia. 
Every industry in McLennan County would benefit from a $23 million job training center Texas State Technical College hopes to open for students and non-students needing specialized training, TSTC officials said.

TSTC officials joined Kris Collins, the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerces industry recruiter, in touting such a center before McLennan County commissioners Tuesday, after delivering the message recently to Waco City Council.

Pushing the project from drawing board to groundbreaking would require funding commitments. TSTC suggests the city of Waco, McLennan County and the school provide seed money, pledging one-third the estimated cost each, said Jeff Kilgore, TSTC-Waco vice chancellor and chief academic officer.

Envisioned is a 40,000- to 60,000-square-foot training center on one of two sites under consideration, both owned by the Waco Industrial Foundation and located in the Texas Central Park industrial zone. The center would be filled with tools and equipment valued at $2 million to $4 million, and annual operational costs would run $1 million to $1.5 million, Kilgore said. Proponents are pushing to open in late 2023.

Discussions about a training center began at least eight years ago, said Curtis Cleveland, a retired executive with Central Texas Iron Works, former chamber industry recruiter and now a member of the TSTC Board of Regents.

I was there with my CTIW hat on, looking for ways to train welders, Cleveland said. The need has grown to where we need a larger center to help train for all the new jobs coming to Waco. Who will benefit? Look at the directory of the Waco industrial park. Every industry there stands to benefit. Every new industry announced the past two years could benefit.

The proposed time frame would encompass new plants specializing in galvanizing treatment, making aluminum cans, producing insulation and building modular homes. SpaceX also has plans to spend $150 million on a new plant to produce rocket engines, complementing its existing plant for testing rocket engines.

This will become a TSTC training center, and we will fulfill all operational and maintenance needs, Cleveland said. Were building in the middle of the industrial park because thats where the jobs are. You can go there for your training and use the same transportation to get to work.

Kilgore said curriculum will target employer needs in pneumatics, hydraulics, electrical, motor controls and project logic control. Participants can take courses to earn a certificate, non-credit courses and boot camps, which will provide intensive, targeted training for eight to 12 weeks, Kilgore said.

Not only will the center design programs, it will pursue the unemployed and under-employed who may stand to gain. Then there is the issue of money, Kilgore said. Some participants may pay tuition, while others may get costs covered by employers. Since TSTC is involved, the state may provide grants, and local businesses may provide scholarships, he said.

McLennan County Judge Scott Felton said industrial prospects the city and county are courting increasingly inquire about workforce training.

Were seeing more and more companies using robotics, which requires skilled operators and skilled maintenance people, Felton said. As people within a company are upskilled, as they learn more about technology and accepting responsibility, that opens up positions on the lower end. We have GWAMA. This is the next step to further enhance our workforce.

GWAMA is the Greater Waco Advanced Manufacturing Academy, a Waco Independent School District program that offers technical and manufacturing training to high school students and is open to any district within a 60 mile radius.

Felton mentioned the county issuing bonds to fund its portion of the centers initial costs, with local banks possibly agreeing to purchase them.

Precinct 2 County Commissioner Pat Miller said she views creating the center as a most rewarding use of public funds. She said the county shares responsibility for ensuring the communitys economic stability.

Miller said Tom Luce, former assistant secretary of education under President George W. Bush, said during a conference she attended that only 32% of Texas high school graduates receive a postsecondary degree within six years. But 71% of all jobs in Texas will require a postsecondary degree by 2036.

That is concerning and an issue that should be given attention as McLennan County continues to recruit new businesses into our county, especially those businesses that utilize skilled workers, Miller said.

She said the center could bridge the gap between industrial technological advancements, and businesses need for skilled employees, and those who may have faced pressures to immediately enter the workforce after high school.

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New tallies in Tuesdays primary elections narrowed the gap between Republican contenders for the new Texas House District 13 seat, leading the trailing candidate to consider a recount request.

Election Day counts finished Wednesday showed Angelia Orr of Hill County leading Dennis Wilson of Limestone County by 411 votes. Orr had 9,984 votes or 51.1% of the total, while Wilson had 9,573, or 48.9%, tight enough to merit a closer examination, Wilson said.

Were certainly looking at that, Wilson said. Were going to let the dust settle first and there are some things we want to look at.

McLennan County Elections Administrator Jared Goldsmith said he had not received a recount request late Wednesday afternoon.

Orr, 52, an Itasca resident and former Hill County District Clerk, was leading the 66-year-old retired lawman and former Limestone County sheriff hours after voting centers closed in the new House district, which takes in eastern McLennan County and six other counties. But results arriving later from McLennan County and Limestone County shrank the gap between the two candidates.

House District 13 was created by the Texas Legislature during redistricting after the 2020 census. The new district encompasses the eastern part of McLennan County south of West, 60,600 residents of East Waco, parts of South Waco and Baylor University. The remainder of the district includes Bosque, Hill, Falls, Limestone, Freestone and Leon counties.

Orrs strong showing in Hill and Bosque Counties offset Wilsons turnout in Limestone County, and she also won a majority in Freestone County. In addition to Limestone County, Wilson took the majority of votes in Falls, Leon and McLennan counties. In McLennan County, Wilson had 1,125 votes to Orrs 848.

Orr did not return a call for comment Thursday on the election, while Wilson said the result was the only disappointment.

Actually, I expected to win, Wilson said. Im very proud of the race I ran. It was a very professional race with a lot of footwork and work by friends.

If Orrs victory stands, she will face Democratic candidate and Marlin City Manager Cedric Davis in the Nov. 2 general election. Davis had 2,424 votes, or 73.1% of the total, to Cuevas Peacocks 892 votes, or 26.9%.

Voting machines

A combination of new state voting laws and dated McLennan County voting machines delayed election reporting Tuesday, said Goldsmith, the countys elections administrator. Only 14 of 34 vote centers had been reported until just before midnight, when the number rose to 33. Numbers from the 34th voting center, at the Waco Multipurpose Center at 1020 Elm Ave., were delayed because of an electronics issue and were not reported until Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

Goldsmith warned before the election that reporting could be delayed by about 90 minutes because of Texas new voting laws, which require poll workers to print out tally reports from each machine onsite after the polls close. In the past the printing could be done after the equipment was returned to the elections office on Washington Avenue.

The machines McLennan County uses cannot print a summary report but have to print every result for every contest, which can take 1.5 hours to print, Goldsmith said. He said he hopes the county can buy new machines that will make the process faster, but they may not be in place by the November general election.

Goldsmith and local party leaders last summer asked McLennan County commissioners for about $3.5 million for about 660 new machines to replace machines that were then 16 years old. Goldsmith said at the time that the purchase in the 2021-22 budget could allow the machines to be in service by November 2022.

But county commissioners said that timeline was not viable, making it unlikely that the machines could be in place before 2023.

Goldsmith said voting machine results for the May 7 school and city elections should require less time to print out because there are fewer races.

New election laws regarding ID requirements for mail-in ballots also created more work for county election workers, who had to flag mail ballot applications that had any missing or incorrect data and contact applicants to make the corrections.

Goldsmith said he does not yet have a cumulative count of flagged applications, but the number of unresolved application issues hovered between 100 and 200 on a daily basis.

It definitely increased the workload, he said. We were constantly trying to get in contact with voters who didnt fill out their ballot by mail correctly. A lot of people put the wrong number on their envelope or would put their drivers license number instead of the last four digits of their Social Security number.

The primaries had a voter turnout of 28,347 voters, or 18.9% of 150,026 registered voters in McLennan County. That is an increase over the 2018 midterm primaries that drew 23,752 voters, or 17.7% of registered voters, and the 2014 midterm primaries that drew 13,689 voters, or 10.9% of registered voters.

Managing editor J.B. Smith contributed to this report.

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Deanie Bishop Parrish, a Waco resident born in Florida who earned her wings flying missions during World War II, died Thursday, one day before family and friends were to celebrate her 100th birthday.

Parrish was fond of saying, With Gods help, nothing is impossible, and her life exemplified that belief, daughter Nancy Parrish said by phone. The family plans a private service Friday, but mementos and videos of her remarkable life can be viewed at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home.

Parrish was born in a boxcar parked at DeFuniak Springs, Florida, in 1922, later working as a bookkeeper, bank teller and movie ticket-taker, taking flying lessons in her spare time. The outbreak of World War II sent her packing to Houston, where she flew with the Civil Air Patrol and saw her life change in 1943. She heard about the newly created Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASPs, passed her tests in Fort Worth and trained in Sweetwater.

Her exploits in the air became the stuff of legend, Nancy Parrish said. She met her husband, the late William Allison Parrish, as each engaged in target practice while aloft. She pulled a windsock behind her B-26 twin-engine bomber that Parrishs B-24 gunners sprayed with machine gun fire. Nancy said her future mom and dad met face-to-face following the drill. They hit it off, and married in June 1946, her mom becoming an Air Force wife, sort of.

Nancy Parrish said her mom never ceased to blaze her own trail.

She crisscrossed the country, delivering motivational speeches and spreading the word about the WASPs, who despite their heroism were not formally recognized for their actions during World War II until much later. They were classified as civilians, not military, though they were the first women in history to fly Americas military aircraft. They served at 120 Army air bases and Army air fields nationwide after their seven-month training regimen. Their service freed their male counterparts to fly combat missions.

A total of 38 WASPs lost their lives during flights, including an engineering test pilot who crashed at Waco Army Air Field in July 1944. Nancy Parrish said planes taken out of service were put through their paces by WASPs following repairs and before men could return to the cockpit. That was what happened in Waco, where investigations showed the planes tail assembly malfunctioned.

Nancy Parrish said her dad was her mothers biggest fan.

He was shot down and survived, but hed be the first one standing up, applauding, Parrish said. I can remember the ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, when mom was asked to accept the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor.

About 200 women who served as WASPs were there to receive the award, The Associated Press reported at the time.

Parrish said her mom and dad moved to Waco in 1981 to be near their grandchildren. Her father died in 1993. She said her mother remained strong and in relatively good health despite her advancing age. She had had a bout with COVID-19, but seemingly had recovered nicely. Friends and fans from around the country had been sending cards and letters.

I called her Friday to wish her a happy birthday, and Nancy told me her mom had passed, said longtime friend Kristi Beckman, a retired Air Force veteran who calls Parrish her greatest influence in choosing a career path.

Parrish said her mom lived a full life, accompanying her on excursions to interview other WASPs, and to video record their thoughts. She said Baylor University sanctioned the project and provided equipment.

We werent looking for skeletons. We just had a wonderful time, Nancy Parrish said.

That good time was spread over 24 years.

Baylor suggested we interview a WASP living in Texas, and mom said, No, if we interview one, we need to interview them all, Nancy Parrish said.

Her mother was among 1,102 pilots trained as WASPs.

The mom-and-daughter team were able to locate about 100.

Parrish said condolences and birthday wishes continue to arrive, some mailed before her mother died. She said they lighten the load, all things considered.

She lived 99 years and 364 days, Parrish said of her mother. She had a wonderful life. She just ran out of strength.

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TEHRAN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran is "fully prepared" to restore its oil production and exports to the levels prior to the imposition of U.S. sanctions in 2018, Iran's minister of petroleum said on Thursday.

Javad Owji made the remarks when he inaugurated a number of gas projects in the Mahshahr port city of Iran's southwestern Khuzestan Province.

"Iran is ready to increase its production and exports to the level before November 2018," Owji said regarding the prospect of U.S. sanctions removal against Iran's energy sector as a result of a possible deal between Iran and world powers in Vienna of Austria.

"Iran is technically and operationally able to stabilize its export share in the world market after the lifting of sanctions," he was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. 
Election day has come and gone, but it remains unclear how many Texans were unable to vote after trying to cast ballots by mail under new Republican laws restricting that voting option.

In the first test of new voting rules passed last year, the votes of several thousand Texans remain in jeopardy because they failed to comply with stricter ID requirements for voting by mail. Some frustrated voters had to overcome multiple hurdles to correct mistakes in time for their votes to be counted. Others gave up on voting absentee altogether.

The scale of disenfranchisement will not be known for at least another week, as voters still have time to cure ballots that were found defective because they did not include newly required ID numbers. But in various counties, the percentage of ballots being rejected has ballooned well beyond previous rejection rates. Because of Texas strict eligibility criteria for voting by mail, older voters and voters with disabilities will be the most affected.

People have said this law was enacted to stop voter fraud, but honestly we've just seen voters who are qualified have to do the process twice, sometimes three times. Sometimes they quit, said Lisa Wise, the elections administrator for El Paso County, where more than 1,000 ballots have been initially rejected.

Heading into primary election day Tuesday, counties reported initial rejection rates anywhere between 8% to 30%, with the ID requirements tripping up a significant share of voters in counties large and midsize, red and blue.

By contrast, less than 2% of mail-in ballots were rejected in the 2018 primary election, according to data from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The count of ballots marked for rejection because of the ID rules in Harris County alone  11,135 as of Feb. 28  easily surpassed the total number of ballots rejected statewide  roughly 9,400  in 2018. The number of faulty ballots in Harris may still grow as late-arriving mail-in ballots are processed this week.

For weeks, elections officials across the state have been delivering the news of rejected applications to vote by mail, and then rejected ballots, to voters who flunked new state rules that require them to provide their drivers license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Those numbers must then match the information on a voters records.

The requirement repeatedly thwarted Pam Gaskin from even obtaining a mail-in ballot. A longtime absentee voter, her first application was rejected after the 74-year-old resident of Fort Bend County downloaded an outdated application from the countys website that didnt include the new ID field.

Her second application was rejected even though she included her drivers license number  the first ID number voters are instructed to provide  because the county only had her Social Security number on file. Thats the ID she used when she first registered to vote 46 years ago. Gaskin told the county worker who informed her of her rejection that she couldnt recall what she had for dinner the night before, much less what number she had put down on her original voter registration.

I know how to vote. I know the rules of voting, Gaskin said. This is not making anything secure. This is just making it hard, and I think the Legislature has done political malpractice quite frankly on the citizens of Texas.

Gaskin was among the several thousands of voters whose applications were rejected earlier this year. Some voters faced mismatch issues like Gaskin, but in many cases voters didnt provide any ID information at all.

An early wave of rejected requests sent voting advocates and county election officials into a scramble, trying to get out word of the new requirements even as faulty applications were already on their way to county offices. Concerns the requirements would lead to a spike in rejected ballots, on which voters also had to provide the ID numbers, reached top state officials. That included Texas Secretary of State John Scott, the states chief elections officer, who on a Feb. 10 virtual town hall admitted he was worried mail-in voters would leave off the new ID information on completed ballots.

Thats the part of this that is my biggest concern going forward as we get into the election cycle, Scott said.

By then, his concern had already come to fruition. Earlier in the day, Harris County had reported they had flagged more than 1,000 mail-in ballots  40% of the mail-in ballots returned up to that point  to be sent back to voters because they lacked an ID number. During the town hall, Fort Bend elections administrator John Oldham said about half of the 500 ballots returned to his county up to then were missing ID numbers.

We hope that number will go down, but I fear that it wont, Oldham said.

The number of rejected ballots would only continue to grow. Even counties that saw few rejections among applications began to grapple with high rates of faulty ballots. Under the states new rules, officials cannot accept ballots without the ID information on the return envelopes containing the ballot. If there was enough time for the voter to send back a corrected envelope, officials were required to mail them back.

As in-person early voting began, county election officials said some voters started surrendering their mail-in ballots, opting to vote in person instead for fear of being disenfranchised. In Bexar County, officials said they saw an increase in curbside voting among voters who had been unable to get through the new ID requirements.

Other voters didnt have that option. Once officials determine theres not enough time to mail back faulty ballots, voters instead must visit their county elections office in person to correct the issue or use the states new online ballot tracker to verify the missing information.

For Elva Roy, the correction process required a 60-mile drive round-trip from her Arlington home to the elections office in Tarrant County.

The 76-year-old retiree had been forewarned about the new rules so she made sure to include both ID numbers when she returned her mail-in ballot. But last Tuesday, the county called to inform her that, like many other voters, she had missed the ID field under the flap of her envelope where the numbers were supposed to go.

Ive voted by mail a lot of times, Roy said. There's never been an issue before.

The ID rules are part of a far-reaching voting law passed last year by Texas Republicans who pursued new restrictions on voting and further tightened election rules under the mantle of election integrity, despite no evidence of widespread irregularities. Throughout that monthslong legislative push, voting rights advocates, Democrats and local officials cautioned that the changes risked disenfranchising the people whose votes lawmakers claimed they wanted to safeguard. That included specific warnings about fallout that could come from the new ID requirements.

State Sen. Bryan Hughes, the Mineola Republican who authored the law, often said the new measures were aimed at wrongdoers trying to subvert the system and not at individual voters. His defense of the legislation  echoed by Republican leaders including Gov. Greg Abbott  was marked by a refrain that it would make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.

Hughes office and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who backed him while presiding over the Senate, did not respond to requests for comment about the rejection issues. A spokesperson for the governors office directed questions about high rejection rates to the Texas secretary of state.

Abbotts office previously blamed local election administrators for issues with rejected applications, even though at the time a significant portion of the rejections had come because voters seemed unaware of the new requirements.

Breakdowns in mail-in voting have proven the most frustrating aspect of the Republicans voting law in its first test during a low-turnout election, exasperating both voters foiled by the rule changes and election workers processing their requests to vote by mail.

The timeline for implementing the new ID requirements was short, with new applications to vote by mail starting to come in just a month after the law went into effect and before local election officials were fully trained on how to handle rejections. The array of election changes contained in the law slowed the guidance locals expected from the Texas secretary of states office. And new restrictions on county election workers left little room for voter education.

The voting law also prohibits workers from soliciting requests for mail-in ballots from voters, which election administrators say has limited their outreach to voters about the new requirements.

Im concerned for my voters. This office's main goal is to serve our voters and in lots of ways it has not been able to happen with this bill, said Trudy Hancock, the elections administrator for Brazos County. Just because something looks good and sounds good on paper doesn't mean it's realistic or easy to implement.
Then as now, it began with lies.

On Sept. 1, 1939, Adolf Hitlers forces crossed the border into Poland. The German chancellor did so on the pretext that ethnic Germans were being persecuted. German operatives, disguised as Poles, even staged an attack on a German radio station, yelling anti-German threats into the microphone.

With that lie, the most devastating war in the history of the world began.

It is far too early to know how devastating this latest European war will turn out to be, how many will die, how many will be left homeless and stateless, how the repercussions will play out across the globe. There is, however, an ominous resonance in the lies from which it arose.

First, Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed he had no intention of invading Ukraine, even as he massed troops on that countrys border. Then he announced Russia would recognize two separatist regions. Finally, shortly before Russian ordnance began to pound the smaller country, he announced a military operation aimed at peacekeeping and denazification.

Now, as then, lies. And now, as then, what strikes you is not just the utter brazenness of them, but the threadbare flimsiness of them. Hitler, granted, put some work into his lie, but at the end of the day, was anyone really expected to believe that Poland, which had more horses than tanks, had suddenly decided to attack its heavily armed neighbor?

Putins lies are even shoddier. He would have us believe his forces were needed to keep the peace in a nation that was at peace and to evict Nazis from a nation whose democratically elected president is a Jew. These are the kinds of lies you tell when you dont care what anyone thinks. Their very shabbiness is an expression of contempt.

And the fact that Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, J.D. Vance, Steve Bannon and other denizens of the American right either lionize this liar  Savvy, Trump called him  or dismiss the suffering of his victims  I dont really care what happens to Ukraine, said Vance  is a clear, albeit superfluous indicator of just how broken our own country has become.

Like Putin, much of the right bears allegiance not to truth, much less to democracy, but rather to the brutish power of the strongman to do as he pleases, unfettered by such niceties. Thats what they very nearly imposed in 2016. It is what they promise in 2024. And if youre not frightened, youre not paying attention.

This moment has been a long time coming. A little more than a quarter century ago, a House speaker named Newt Gingrich declared politics war and an upstart cable network called Fox declared facts optional. It was called a conservative resurgence, but it was actually the foundation stone for the kingdom of lies our country has become.

No wonder Trump likes Putin and claims the feeling is mutual. Each recognizes himself in the other.

What they recognize, what they have in common, is that transactional disdain for the truth and, more to the point, for anyone naive enough to expect it. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented her Russian counterpart a red reset button, Russia accepted it, but kept right on being a thugocracy. TV pundits kept assuring us Trump was going to become presidential any second now, but to his last day, he remained a willful child. Now families seek refuge in Ukrainian subways, while Trump cheers their tormentor on.

Let no one be surprised.

What begins in lies tends to end in carnage.

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald. Readers may email him at lpitts@miamiherald.com.
Were now being left to choose our own risks when it comes to COVID-19, but its clear that many people still dont recognize the importance of fresh air. Some super-cautious people dont seem to realize how much danger can be mitigated by socializing outdoors or opening windows. Others seem not to understand how much risk persists indoors even when others are more than six feet away. One big ...
WATERLOO  A local screenprinter that supplies shirts to labor unions across the country is now starting to produce its own shirts as the number of American manufacturers continues to decline.

Image Pointe on Tuesday celebrated the launch of Dignity Apparel, located in a leased facility on Sheffield Avenue. The shirt-making shop is on the other side of U.S. Highway 218 from Image Pointes office at 1224 LaPorte Road.

The companys 10 employees recently completed their training and were making sweatshirts on sewing machines as people arrived for the grand opening event. The operation also includes cutting tables to prepare the fabric for sewing.

The production line is the first of four planned at Dignity Apparel. Another sweatshirt line is planned along with two that can make either T-shirts or long-sleeved shirts. Other styles of shirts could be made if it expands more in the future.

Josh Ruyle, the companies chief executive officer, spoke at the noon-hour gathering as employees and guests ate a meal.

We are so thrilled and we cannot wait to get at whats in front of us, he said before a ribbon cutting ceremony. Were full of hope, were full of faith, were full of optimism for what that means.

Mayor Quentin Hart also spoke during the event, praising the company for its decision to expand in Waterloo.

This is about building community one person at a time, he said. God bless you. Thank you for pouring back into this community.

Ruyle noted that we market and sell garments to labor unions, which want to purchase products made in the United States. Labor unions have always been the focus of Image Pointe  founded by Jeff and Pat Swartzendruber, Ruyles in-laws. In recent years, though, the American facilities where the company could get its supply have dwindled to less than 10.

In 1960, 95% of the garments that Americans wore were made in the U.S., Ruyle said As of 2009, that number is down to 2%.

He pointed to the ills of the industry in explaining why the company opened up its own shirt production facility to fill the gap in American manufacturers. A lot of shirt production has moved to China  which grows the cotton, produces the fabric and makes the shirts. But that industry uses forced labor from an oppressed Muslim minority group.

All of us have garments with cotton picked by slave labor in western China, said Ruyle.

With the help of production manager Miguel Garcia, Image Pointe decided to open its own operation in Waterloo. Garcia previously oversaw shirt production for a Chicago company that helped supply the Waterloo screenprinter before it was sold and started making other kinds of garments.

Ruyle said they anticipate adding another 25 employees by the end of the year as additional equipment arrives and production ramps up.

Jeff Swartzendruber said they hope to produce 25,000 sweatshirts and up to a half million T-shirts over the course of a year.

In finding employees for the shop, company leaders looked to immigrants who have settled in the Cedar Valley during recent years.

Ruyle said nine of the first 10 employees are from Waterloos Burmese community and eight were previously unemployed. He has found a lot of interest in working for Dignity Apparel among that community because the people need jobs. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he noted, 48% of Waterloos adult Burmese population was unemployed compared to 2% of all Iowans.

They are getting in touch with other area immigrant groups to fill future positions. We want this to be a place where people can find community, he noted.

As a company that supplies products to labor unions, Dignity Apparel is also unionized. Employees are represented by the Painters and Allied Trades, which represents Image Pointe staff.

If you really want to help people that are in poverty, the very best thing you can do is provide them with a job, Ruyle said. And labor unions, he added, help companies create not just jobs, but good jobs.

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South Africa: Decisive leadership needed in local govt: President Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa says councillors and local governments must address service delivery with urgency and to turn local government around.

The President was addressing the opening session of the sixth national conference of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) on Wednesday.

The conference is one of the biggest gatherings of all three spheres of government, civil society, business and other stakeholders in the country  bringing together officials from some 257 municipalities across the country.

Local government is where you can make the biggest difference in the lives of our people. Local government is the most important enabler of economic growth and development.

I have no doubt that each one of us understands the urgency of this moment. Let us turn adversity into opportunity. Let us turn local government around, President Ramaphosa said.

The president said although commendable progress has been made through the provision of water, sanitation and other basic services to communities, sustaining that improvement requires a concerted effort from each municipality and its leadership.

The task before us now is to consolidate these gains, to deepen them and ensure that we realise the aspirations of the South African people.

Municipalities are the first point of contact between government and the people. When there are local government failures, the effects are felt immediately and they are far-reaching, he said.

Municipal challenges

The President painted a picture of the challenges municipalities are facing while attempting to provide services to the communities they serve.

According to the President:

A government report shows that only 5% of the countrys municipalities are financially stable.

Other municipalities are in financial distress, with insufficient revenue to meet their expenses.

Some 64 municipalities are considered to be dysfunctional.

At least 31 municipalities are currently under administration.

This dysfunction is rooted in poor governance, weak institutional capacity, poor financial management, corruption and political instability. Many residents have lost faith in the ability of local government to meet their needs. So too have many investors.

The challenges in municipalities do not only affect the lives of communities. They damage both local economies and the South African economy. This need not be the case. We have the means to correct this problem, President Ramaphosa said.

He called on government leaders to up their game in order to correct failures and guide municipalities towards sustainability, efficiency and clean governance.

By providing reliable water supply, sanitation, energy and refuse services, and through road and infrastructure maintenance, local government enables our economy to grow and create employment.

As leaders across government, we have to work with all stakeholders in municipalities to deliver a better life to our communities. This calls for decisive leadership and accountability.

The President said corruption has no place in municipalities and called for accountability and transparency in municipal finances, while remembering that its not our money, we are managing the money on behalf of others.

Our people abhor corruption. They hate it because they know they do not benefit from corruption and only a few people benefit. It is important that we remove the notion of corruption by acting in the most transparent manner, right to the last cent.

We live in a different era. Our people no longer are accepting of poor performance. Theyve become wiser and more perceptive. So they want everything laid out correctly and truthfully, so our code then begins to speak to the level of performance that is required.

District Development Model

President Ramaphosa reiterated governments commitment to implementing the District Development Model (DDM), which is aimed at improving coordination between the three spheres of government and its social partners.

This, the President said, is helping to grow local economies, create jobs and deliver services better and faster.

Through this model, we aim to energise our entire system of cooperative governance, and bring coherence to planning and implementation.

Once it is fully operational, we will know at all times what is needed, where it is needed, how it will be done, by whom and exactly how much it will cost.

The President explained that as part of the DDM, the Cooperative Governance Department is drawing profiles for each district and metro, which highlight the challenges and opportunities in those communities.

These profiles will provide the basis for the One Plan of the metro or district, which is an intergovernmental plan.

Through these One Plans, we are forging innovative partnerships with communities, businesses and other stakeholders to improve and accelerate implementation of key development projects.

We are looking to the District Development Model to help put South Africa on a new path of socio-economic and spatial transformation.

I do believe that there is a great future for our local government, post the 2021 Local Government Elections. Whatever result they yielded, our people spoke. But having spoken they also  particularly those that did not go to vote  were saying: We are not satisfied with the performance that we have been receiving. We want you to up your game.

SALGA is the engine that can enable us to up our game. Through SALGA, the empowering process [and] the supportive process that it plays to our local government, I do firmly believe that if nothing else, the 2021 elections gave all of us a wake-up call that says: Wake up and smell the coffee but provide good services to us as the people, President Ramaphosa said.  SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-03-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China's electric automaker BYD witnesses dreams "being built" for China-U.S. cooperation

Xinhua) 09:40, March 03, 2022

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang visits BYD's manufacturing plant in Lancaster, Los Angeles County, the United States, March 1, 2022. (Xinhua)

In the past nine years, BYD has grown to become the largest battery electric bus manufacturer in North America, creating about 600 manufacturing jobs in Lancaster -- about 1,000 total U.S. jobs.

LOS ANGELES, March 2 (Xinhua) -- "We all have dreams. At BYD in Lancaster, you see how Chinese and Americans can help each other build our dreams, dreams for jobs, for a better future and for a greener world," Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang said on Tuesday.

Qin made the remarks during a visit to BYD's manufacturing plant in Lancaster, southern California, where he was joined by more than 300 cheerful American workers, who shared their personal stories and working experience for the Chinese leading new-energy vehicle manufacturer.

For Alfredo Lopez, a local worker and father of three, working at BYD makes it easier for him to have a better life.

Lopez and his wife have both been working at BYD's Lancaster plant for several years. He told Ambassador Qin that he has got many training opportunities since enrollment, and "feels great" to manufacture zero emission buses and tractors for major cities in the United States.

"We are making quality electric buses for the future," Lopez said, upbeat about the great potential in U.S.-China new energy cooperation.

Workers cheer as they pose for photos at the 300th BYD electric bus offline ceremony in Lancaster, Los Angeles County, the United States, April 3, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

New energy cooperation is an important part of U.S.-China cooperation, and the two countries should go hand-in-hand on climate goals, Lopez said.

Veteran worker Herbert Colato said Americans are a big beneficiary of BYD's comfortable, safe, and environmentally-friendly electric cars.

He said BYD has been committed to building an environmentally safe community, hoping that the company will create more jobs for locals, offer more training opportunities, and grow together with the city.

"BYD stands for Build Your Dreams. Being here seeing how employees are working and how green buses are being built, I can feel not only buses are being built, but also how dreams are being built," Qin told workers at the plant.

"Dreams are coming true," Qin noted.

When BYD opened its Lancaster manufacturing plant in 2013, it had a handful of employees working on 10 buses in a 106,000-square-foot (9,848-square-meter) building that once housed a motorhome manufacturing facility, according to the company.

Workers are seen at an electric bus factory of China's BYD in Lancaster, the United States, May 1, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

In the past nine years, BYD has grown to become the largest battery electric bus manufacturer in North America, creating about 600 manufacturing jobs in Lancaster -- about 1,000 total U.S. jobs, according to the company.

Since the delivery of its first U.S. battery electric bus in 2014, BYD has delivered all-electric buses to more than 60 customers in North America, and obtained orders for a total of about 1,000 units.

What happened when China and America were working together is "truly phenomenal," said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris. "We share goals, focus on the welfare of the world. Things are so much amazing about China and America when we come together."

He said it is worth noting that BYD has brought cheaper buses for operation, but also Lancaster is the only city in America whose air quality got better last year.

"That is the impact of China and America," Parris said.

BYD is demonstrating what China and the United States can do together to build dreams for better lives and a better world, Ambassador Qin said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)




TAKEO, Cambodia, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Wednesday inaugurated the China-funded expanded National Road No. 3 which links the capital Phnom Penh and the southwestern coastal province of Kampot.

The 134.8-km expanded road starting from Chom Chao roundabout in Phnom Penh's western suburb runs through Kandal, Kampong Speu and Takeo provinces.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian both addressed the inauguration ceremony, which was attended by nearly 1,000 people.

Hun Sen said the road is crucial to boosting economic and tourism development and that Kampot is the only province that produces salt for the kingdom.

The road was built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) at a cost of about 215 million U.S. dollars, and the project, which began in October 2018, was funded by the Chinese government.

Hun Sen praised the Chinese contractor for completing the project earlier than scheduled and thanked it for building the road in full compliance with technical standards.

Wang said National Road No. 3 is a key transportation artery for Cambodia, and expressed the belief that it will play a crucial role in boosting economy and tourism as well as improving the livelihoods of people along the route.

Its opening to traffic truly reflects the strong momentum and fruitful results of the China-Cambodia pragmatic cooperation, he said.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
WATERLOO  A Waterloo man sought on weapons charges in a 2021 fatal shooting has been returned to Iowa.

Marcus Robert Sykes, 26, was booked at the Linn County Jail in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday on a hold for the U.S. Marshals Service.

Waterloo police have been looking for Sykes for charges of felon on possession of a firearm in the investigation into the May 15, 2021, shooting death of 23-year-old Dayton Lee Matlock-Buss.

Matlock was found dead when police responded to a report of gunfire in the 1400 block of Grant Avenue. Two others were also injured in the shooting.

At the time of the shooting, Sykes was on supervised release after serving prison time for federal weapons charges from an April 2015 traffic stop. He allegedly disappeared following the Grant Avenue shooting, and federal authorities issued a warrant for violating supervised release.

Court records show that Sykes was detained in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Jan. 10.

He was returned to Iowa on Tuesday and appeared in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids on the warrant. A supervised release hearing is scheduled for later this month.

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WATERLOO-- The Hawkeye Community College Library is one of 200 libraries selected nationwide for the American Library Associations American Rescue Plan: Humanities Grants for Libraries opportunity, an emergency relief program to assist libraries that have been adversely affected by the pandemic.

The Hawkeye Library will use the grant funds to license a collection of audiobooks to support the Hawkeye Reads program and present poetry slams and pop-up poetry stations throughout the main campus and Hawkeye's Van G. Miller Adult Learning Center during National Poetry Month in April.

In addition, Hawkeye is partnering with University of Northern Iowa associate professor Francesca Soans to host a screening of Getting That Note Out on April 29 at 6:30 p.m. The short film celebrates the talents of Waterloo's own local blues legend, Etheleen Morehead Wright. Admission is free and open to the public.

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DIKE - Two North Iowa men have been arrested and face multiple charges relating to a series of burglaries that took place in Grundy County in January.

Authorities say Ryan Marek, 30, and Brandon Hufstedler, 36, both of Mason City, took part in numerous burglaries across the county, including attempts to remove ATMs at banks in Dike and a break-in at the Memorial Building in Reinbeck.

Marek was apprehended Monday in Garner by Hancock County sheriffs deputies on Grundy County warrants. His bond is set at $90,000.

And Hufstedler, who is presently being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail in Mason City on numerous felony charges for alleged thefts and parole violations, is awaiting transport.

Marek and Hufstedler each face charges of second-degree burglary, three counts of third-degree burglary, operation without owners consent, third-degree attempted burglary, second-degree criminal mischief, and possession of burglar tools.

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The friends were out catfishing when they came across the vehicle. They fear the man could have gotten hypothermia, or perished if his vehicle had reached the well-known Sans Souci Island wing dam.
No matter where youre based in the United States, the Army is offering its highest sign-on bonus in recent memory, according to Capt. Derek Swanson of the Northern Iowa Army Recruiting Company.

The $50,000 maximum for six-year enlistments was instated in early January after it had been previously capped at $40,000, he said.

Swanson said its to keep up with general competition in the marketplace and denied it has to do with recent recruitment numbers.

A recruit will receive at most $10,000 after completing basic training and advanced initial training. Afterwards, the upfront pay is deposited in annual increments over the length of the enlistment contract.

To be guaranteed the maximum of $50,000, a number of requirements must be satisfied, like job placement. An example is a person who signs up for a six-year enlistment as an Air and Missile Defense crewmember, he said.

That person starts at $40,000, and then additional bonuses are assessed afterwards, a higher one, for example, being added if you pick an earlier military ship date.

Swanson said other options incentivizing people to sign up for the Army include a two-year enlistment option, and having the opportunity to select the duty station of choice.

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WATERLOO  Some high-profile city landmarks and downtown businesses are lighting the way to Ukrainian solidarity this week.

Blue and yellow lights  the color of Ukraines national flag  could be seen beginning Tuesday night at the city-owned Riverloop Amphitheatre and the Waterloo Convention Center, as well as private businesses including Lincoln Savings Bank and Best Western Plus, according to Experience Waterloo in a Tuesday evening release.

Waterloo is a community proudly defined by our diversity, said Tavis Hall, executive director of Experience Waterloo, which coordinated the outdoor lighting. We are all proud to call Waterloo home  some with ties to other lands, often brought to the Cedar Valley by the unfortunate pain of war.

Though the city does not have a meaningful Ukrainian population, Waterloo is home to refugees who have previously escaped war over the decades, including sizable populations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We are proud of the businesses whove agreed to program their lighting to reflect our communitys solidarity and encourage other businesses to do the same, Hall added. We stand with the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom.

Other major cities around the world and in Iowa have similarly shown support through outdoor lighting in Ukraines national colors: Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie said three of his citys bridges would be lit up in blue and yellow for the next two weeks.

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DES MOINES  Gov. Kim Reynolds delivery of the Republican Partys response to Democratic President Joe Bidens State of the Union address received passing grades from a trio of experts on Iowa politics.

In roughly 15 minutes of remarks broadcast late Tuesday from Des Moines shortly after Bidens address, Reynolds delivered strong criticism of Biden and Democrats on foreign policy, the economy, crime and parental involvement in education.

Reynolds also touted her own efforts, along with Statehouse Republicans, to lower taxes and reopen schools and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Iowa political experts spoke not to the policy content of Reynolds remarks, but to her delivery of the Republican message to a national TV audience.

This is a nearly impossible task. Compared to all of the other responses Ive seen over the years, I thought Gov. Reynolds did a very nice job, said Rachel Paine Caufield, a political science professor at Drake University. It was clear, direct, poised, but not stiff. She appeared strong and principled, but also relatable.

Tim Hagle, a political science professor at the University of Iowa, said the out-of-power partys State of the Union response is a difficult assignment because the person is not technically responding to the address  the response is written well in advance of the presidents address  and because there is no live audience to energize the speaker.

In any case, Reynolds did a good job, Hagle said. Her delivery was good, with good variation and emphasis. She did have one spot where she glanced off camera, but aside from that did a good job of speaking to the viewers through the camera. She hit her points in a direct way and that did a good job of personalizing them for average voters who may not be engaged politically 24/7.

Dennis Goldford, a political science professor at Drake University, said Reynolds did an adequate job by pitching Republican talking points and avoiding big mistakes.

Those talking points could continue to be heard as the 2022 midterm elections progress and candidates ramp up their campaigns. Reynolds sharp words may be the template for other Republican candidates for office.

The midterm elections are important to Reynolds own political future: her first full, four-year term is coming to an end. She has not yet announced her re-election campaign, but is widely expected to run the November elections.

Reynolds did seem to lay out the Republican campaign issues and positions for 2022 in a way that was simply non-Trumpian rather than full-bore Trumpian, Goldford said, referring to former Republican President Donald Trump. Her points were standard Republican rather than MAGA meat.

Reynolds selection for giving the remarks and her focus on many national issues has political watchers wondering whether she has aspirations for federal office, be that a run for president, as a presidential candidates running mate, or for a lofty position in a Republican presidents administration.

She seemed to emphasize that she was happy and grateful to be the governor of Iowa, Hagle said. I certainly cant say if she has political ambitions beyond Iowa, but you never know when opportunity might come knocking.

The last Iowan to deliver the State of the Union response, Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst in 2015, shortly afterward was considered as a potential running mate to Trump.

Goldford, however, said the State of the Union response is not much of a political springboard.

I cant recall a SOTU response turning the speaker into a VP candidate, he said.

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TEHRAN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will visit Tehran on Saturday for talks on cooperating about issues related to ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in the Austrian capital of Vienna, official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.

During his upcoming visit, Grossi will meet with Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and other Iranian officials, according to the report.

Grossi's visit to Tehran is aimed at resolving some differences over Iran's nuclear program and other safeguards issues between Iran and the IAEA, the report added.

Iran and the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), are currently involved in negotiations in Vienna seeking to find ways to settle disputes about the revival of the JCPOA.

Iran signed the JCPOA with world powers in July 2015. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran, which prompted the latter to drop some of its nuclear commitments one year later and advance its halted nuclear programs. 
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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. &&
by Xinhua writer Guo Yage

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Milagre Abel Massingue was piloting a drone on his farm in Xai Xai city in southern Mozambique. He set up pre-mapped routes on his cell phone, and the drone started to spray pesticides accordingly.

The buzzing machine does farmwork more precisely and efficiently than the 44-year-old farmer could do alone. With the help of the China-developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), it could spray pesticides over about one hectare of farmland per hour, 25 times faster than manual operation.

While technological innovation nurtures modern agriculture, it has changed the life of Massingue and many other farmers on the Wanbao Mozambique rice farm. Through high-tech innovations such as the BDS, the farm has seen a 13.6-percent increase in crop yield in the last three years.

"I like what we have been doing here," said Massingue, a father of three, who has moved to a cement dwelling from a thatched roof house and sent his eldest son to college. "We are living a decent life because we managed to earn something through this project."

The Mozambican farm is just one of many projects in which China shares its technology with its worldwide partners to stimulate economic vitality. Rewards are reaped on both sides.

Over the past decade, China has stepped up technology innovation to power growth, both domestically and globally, practicing "Xiconomics," the economic philosophy of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The BDS eyes rapid development for various industrial applications in China. It is also used for land mapping, transportation, disaster relief and mitigation, precise agriculture, forestry and small ports in over 120 countries and regions.

The Chinese president has reiterated that innovation is the basis for the development of productive forces, said Diego Pautasso, visiting professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

"China's modernization is a case of great success in this direction, producing notable effects in improving people's living conditions," he said.

ECONOMIC ARTERY

About 150 km away from Beijing, a group of engineers use drones to patrol power grids of the ultra-high-voltage (UHV) substation in Baoding city over BDS-defined paths, similar to what Massingue has done on his farm.

The super grids transmitted electricity from a renewable energy farm, about 310 km away from Baoding, and powered the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The grids of UHV projects have greater transmission capacity over long distances and can significantly reduce power losses compared with ordinary power lines.

Using the world's most advanced power transmission technology, the UHV provides a solution to solving resource imbalances in China, the first country to fully grasp the technology and put it into commercial use. It sends excess electricity from China's resources-rich west to the more developed east.

As of 2020, the UHV power projects have delivered 2.1 trillion kWh of electricity since the first station was put into operation in 2009 in China. The technology has not only fostered new engines of economic growth but also helped the country fulfill its carbon commitments by increasing the transmission of electricity generated by green energy.

"China's economy has enjoyed rapid growth over the last few decades," said John McLean, chair of the Institute of Directors for the City of London. "To continue the growth and sustain the momentum, there has been a significant investment in scientific and technological innovation which will increase GDP (gross domestic product) and maintain China as the powerhouse for Asia."

For Xi, innovation should never be developed and applied behind closed doors. "Let the power of innovation drive us to upgrade our economic, energy and industrial structures, and make sure that a sound environment is there to buttress sustainable economic and social development worldwide," said the Chinese leader.

In Brazil, a country also abundant in energy but limited by unequal distribution, a UHV power transmission lane stretching from north to south has significantly met energy needs and enhanced efficiency.

With the help of China, it is delivering electricity to where it is most needed, like an artery of Brazil's economy, bringing benefits to 22 million Brazilians, or 10 percent of the country's population.

"China's cooperation with Brazil in terms of technology and innovation in a variety of sectors has already been helping the development of the Brazilian economy," said Jose Ricardo dos Santos Luz Junior, CEO of Sao Paulo-based company LIDE China.

PEOPLE-CENTERED APPROACH

During the past decade, the Chinese president has been championing a people-centered development philosophy to meet the people's ever-growing needs for a better life.

Innovation in energy transmission is an example of raising living standards. So too is China's flourishing digital economy.

In southwestern China, Guizhou province was once home to the country's biggest poverty-stricken population.

As China was pooling efforts to digitalize its economy, the province was determined to build a big-data industry utilizing its climate and geographical advantages.

Today, the province is among the regions with the most mega-data centers globally. In 2021, the digital economy contributed about 34 percent to Guizhou's GDP and helped lift 9.23 million people out of poverty.

Developing a digital economy is a strategic choice for grasping the new opportunities in the new round of revolution in science and technology and industrial transformation, Xi said when presiding over a study session of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee last year.

"The philosophy of President Xi Jinping about high-quality development through technology innovation can be already seen in China's move by investing a lot on research and development," Luz said.

In the Global Innovation Index, China moved up in the rankings from 14th in 2020 to 12th in 2021 among 132 economies. Regarding efforts to digitalize its economy, China has ranked second in the world for years, according to statistics from the Global Digital Economy Conference.

Meanwhile, with China's help, many developing countries have had their first taste of success in digital transformation with the development of e-commerce. Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, CEO of Africa's leading fintech platform operator M-Pesa Africa, said that secure, stable and innovative technology provided by Chinese companies has transformed millions of lives in Africa.

"As an example for myself, my family is 550 km from Nairobi. And it meant taking a whole day's journey to go and give my mother money every other time," Lopokoiyit said. The technology "changed it all and has been key in driving financial inclusion across the African continent."

From cooperation on soybean breeding with Thailand to collaboration with Europe on optical fibers, from providing communication services via satellite in Algeria to jointly exploring new perspectives on prevention and treatment of cancer in China's space station, China has been honoring its commitments to promoting common prosperity through cooperation on innovations that change the lives of people, like Massingue and Lopokoiyit.

Following Xi's vision for development featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared growth, China has grown its economy in a way that benefits its people and people around the world.

"These development concepts did not emerge from the ether," Xi said, "they came from the domestic and foreign experience of development, and from analysis of both domestic and foreign trends in development." 
Exactly what that standard looks like  or how facilities will be held accountable  are to be determined. Several aspects of Bidens proposed nursing home reforms will need to clear public comment periods and other regulatory processes or require congressional action to take effect.

But resident advocates praised the announcement. Not every issue gets mentioned in the State of the Union, said Rhonda Richards, AARPs senior legislative representative in government affairs. It is significant that the president is talking about this. His plan will take important steps to better protect seniors in nursing homes and includes key policies that AARP has been advocating on.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), told AARP in an interview that she has personally met with nursing home residents, with CNAs  with certified nursing assistants  as well as the industry and ombudsmen to really hear what is happening on the ground.

We have an ambitious agenda, Brooks-LaSure says. All of the things were doing are really focused on helping caregivers to be able to make better decisions if nursing home care is the right decision for their loved one.

Addressing staffing shortages

Nursing homes have recorded nearly 1 million COVID cases among residents and more than a million cases among staffers in the past two years, according to data from the CMS, which regulates the facilities along with state survey agencies. Even for staffers with mild symptoms, a positive test usually means at least a few days away from work. Huge numbers of certified nursing assistants, who generally make little more than minimum wage, have not received a COVID-19 booster shot.

Staffing is clearly the number one issue across the long-term care spectrum. Its huge, not just for nursing homes but for all health care facilities, says Mark Miller, Washington, D.C.s long-term care ombudsman and the president of the National Association of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Programs. Thats going to take a long time to build up, but that's the most significant piece to this.

While COVID deaths among residents have recently declined nationally as the omicron surge has waned, staffing shortages and cases among staff spiked in the four-week period ending Jan. 23, according to an AARP analysis of CMS data. Nearly 2 in 5 U.S. nursing homes reported a staffing shortage in that window.

In some states, the shortages were more dire. In Alaska, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming, more than 60 percent of facilities statewide reported a lack of staff.

A growing body of research has connected short-staffed facilities with more severe COVID outbreaks, so residents are potentially at greater risk of infection when there arent enough nurses and other staff to go around.

But nursing home operators have long pushed back on mandatory staffing minimums, saying the real issue is that there arent enough interested and qualified workers to go around.

We would love to hire more nurses and nurse aides to support the increasing needs of our residents, Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association, which represents more than 14,000 nursing homes and long-term care facilities, said in a statement. However, we cannot meet additional staffing requirements when we cant find people to fill the open positions, nor when we dont have the resources to compete against other employers.

Increasing fines, sanctions on substandard facilities

The White House proposal calls for increasing fines and penalties on facilities that fail to meet federal care standards, asking Congress to boost the limit on fines per infraction in some cases from $21,000 to $1 million.

The administration is also calling on Congress to significantly expand federal regulators ability to target bad actors  and to boost CMS funding by nearly 25 percent to $500 million annually for health and safety inspections of nursing homes. Under the White House proposal, regulators would be able to better track nursing home operators history of penalties and infractions.

When you get a Medicaid contract through CMS, theyre taken individually. Its not like youre looking at my past performance at other facilities that I owned, says Miller, who also works with AARPs Legal Counsel for the Elderly. This is really going to shine a light on that.

Among the White Houses other proposed nursing home reforms:

A new CMS database that will make it easier to track and compare the performance of facilities owned by the same company or owner

The ability for CMS to go after owners for wrongdoing, even if an individual facility shuts down

A phaseout of nursing home rooms with three or more residents in favor of single-occupancy rooms

Greater oversight of residents diagnoses and prescriptions, with a focus on anti-psychotic drugs

Continued funding and support for COVID-19 tests, vaccines and boosters in nursing homes

Miller describes the White Houses plan as the single most significant set of proposals Ive seen in 35 years. But he acknowledges that many of the proposals will require congressional action during a busy and contentious midterm election year. Some aspects of the proposal, like the staffing requirements, may be able to bypass Congress but will still take time to be implemented.

And some critics argue that they dont go far enough to address other issues like Medicaid reimbursement rates and worker compensation. Our system of enforcement shouldnt be based on punishment over improvement, Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of the LeadingAge association of nonprofit aging services and nursing home providers, said in a statement.

Andrew Soergel covers nursing homes and federal and state policy for AARP. He was previously a senior economics writer at U.S. News & World Report and was awarded an Economics of Aging and Work fellowship through the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago.
Walmart

NRF rank: 1

U.S. stores: 5,253 (including Sam's Club)

The companys most recent announcement on store safety, dated Dec. 1, reiterates a requirement imposed four months earlier that employees at Walmart and Sam's Club stores in areas rated by the CDC wear masks on duty. The nations largest retailer ended face-covering requirements for fully vaccinated customers in May.

Amazon



NRF rank: 2



U.S. stores: 523

Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market, the e-commerce giants biggest brick-and-mortar offshoot, mandates masks only for customers and team members in our stores with a local or state government mandate requiring them, according to updated guidance on its COVID-19 response page.

Kroger



NRF rank: 3

U.S. stores: 2,922

The countrys largest supermarket company, which includes Kroger, Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer and other chains, lifted its mask mandate for fully vaccinated customers on May 20. Face coverings are required for store employees. We strongly encourage all individuals, including those who are vaccinated, to wear a mask when in our stores and facilities," the company said in recently updating its mask policy.

Home Depot

NRF rank: 4

U.S. stores: 1,974

Citing the spread of the delta variant, the home-improvement giant reinstituted a mask requirement Aug. 2 for "all associates, contractors and vendors" at its U.S. stores. "Well ask customers to wear masks while in our stores and continue to offer masks to those who dont have one," the company said in an update on its COVID-19 response.

Costco



NRF rank: 5

U.S. stores: 548

The members-only warehouse club strongly recommends customers wear masks inside stores but requires it only where state or local face-covering mandates apply, according to a Dec. 29 update to its coronavirus response page. Costco lifted its its chainwide mask requirement in May 2021, a year after it became the first major national retailer to institute a mask rule.

Walgreens



NRF rank: 6

U.S. stores: 8,760

In August, the nation's biggest drugstore chain reinstated a mask requirement for all employees, regardless of vaccination status. The company encourages customers to mask up in stores but has not required it since May 2021.

Target



NRF rank: 7

U.S. stores: 1,897

The retailer dropped a mask mandate for store employees Feb. 21. As COVID-19 cases continue to decline across the country, Target will not require our U.S. team members or guests to wear masks, as local regulations allow, the company says on its updated coronavirus FAQs.

CVS



NRF rank: 8

U.S. stores: 9,813

The drugstore chain dropped mask rules for fully vaccinated patrons in May. Face coverings are required for employees and customers who are not fully vaccinated," the company says on its COVID-19 resource page.

Lowe's



NRF rank: 9

U.S. stores: 1,734

"Lowes associates are required to wear masks indoors at all U.S. locations and while working in a customers home or business  regardless of vaccination status,: the home-improvement chain said in an Aug. 2 update on its COVID-19 measures. "Stores will have signs encouraging customers to wear masks, and free masks will continue to be available for customers who request them.

Albertsons



NRF rank: 10

U.S. stores: 2,289

The parent company of Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and other grocery chains requires workers to mask up in stores in areas with substantial or high rates of COVID-19 transmission. Signage will be posted in-store to encourage our customers in these areas to follow the CDCs mask guidance, the company said in an Aug. 4 statement to AARP.

Apple Store



NRF rank: 11

U.S. stores: 271

Apple's FAQs on store policies state that masks "may be required for customers, depending on local mandates and conditions." Web pages for individual Apple Stores, accessible through the tech giants store locator, say whether masks are optional or mandatory for shoppers. Store staff are required to mask up.

Publix



NRF rank: 13

U.S. stores: 1,521

The supermarket chain does not mandate masks for shoppers. As of Feb. 14, fully vaccinated store employees can work mask-free unless required for their job duties or by a state or local order or ordinance, according to the companys updated coronavirus FAQs.

Best Buy



NRF rank: 14

U.S. stores: 975

The big-box electronics chain eliminated face-covering requirements for fully vaccinated customers and employees on May 18 but said it will continue to make masks available to any shopper or staffer who wants one.

Aldi



NRF rank: 15

U.S. stores: 2,619

The discount supermarket chain does not mandate masking for fully vaccinated people except as required by state or local regulations. We strongly encourage those who are not fully vaccinated to continue wearing a face covering to help protect others and keep our stores safe, the company says on its web page on store safety measures.

Dollar General



NRF rank: 16

U.S. stores: 17,348

Citing CDC guidance, the discount chain says on its COVID-19 response page that it will not require fully-vaccinated employees, customers and vendors to wear facial coverings or masks except as required by state or local orders. All others are encouraged to continue wearing face coverings."

H-E-B

NRF rank: 17

U.S. stores: 348

The Texas grocery chain made masking optional for fully vaccinated customers and workers June 9. The company kept a full face-covering requirement in place for three months after its home state's mask mandate ended in March.

TJX Companies



NRF rank: 18

U.S. stores: 3,264

TJX is the parent of T.J.Maxx and Marshalls, as well as outdoor store Sierra and home furnishings chain HomeGoods. Identical customer information pages on each brands website state that stores follow CDC guidance recommending that all unvaccinated individuals wear face coverings indoors, and that vaccinated individuals wear face coverings in areas with substantial or high transmission of COVID-19. Masks are mandatory for employees in most locations for the time being.

Dollar Tree

NRF rank: 19

U.S. stores: 15,375

The discount retailer, which also operates the Family Dollar chain, does not explicitly state a mask policy on its coronavirus response page but says it is "following the latest guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," apparently ending a face-covering mandate for shoppers that had been in place since August 2020.

Meijer

NRF rank: 21

U.S. stores: 256

The Midwestern superstore chain dropped its mask requirement for fully vaccinated shoppers on May 17. "We ask all customers who are not fully vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine to wear a mask while they shop at our stores and maintain social distancing," the company says on its COVID-19 information page.

Wakefern (ShopRite)



NRF rank: 22

U.S. stores: 359

The corporate parent of northeastern supermarkets ShopRite, Price Rite and the Fresh Grocer recommends in its FAQs on store safety that all customers and store staff mask up in areas with substantial or high rates of COVID transmission. The company requires unvaccinated employees to wear face-coverings in all stores and requests that shoppers who are not fully inoculated against COVID do the same.

Macy's

NRF rank: 24

U.S. stores: 733

Masks are recommended but not required for vaccinated customers, according to the department store's page on COVID-19 safety procedures. Store employees are provided with company-issued cloth masks and "may be required to wear them at all times, or may do so by choice," depending on state and local rules.

AT&T

NRF rank: 25

U.S. stores: 1,880

Store rules follow local policies, according to the consumers section of the telecommunications giant's COVID-19 response page, which states, "In according with certain local mandates, masks are required to be worn by employees, customers and visitors in our stores and will be provided to customers who need them.

Rite Aid

NRF rank: 26

U.S. stores: 2,447

The pharmacy chain updated its face-covering policy July 4 to allow fully vaccinated shoppers and staffers to unmask in stores. "As a healthcare provider, we continue to ask unvaccinated individuals, particularly those receiving any direct care from our pharmacists, to continue to wear a face covering while in our stores," the company says on its page on COVID-19 protocols.
Elon Musk, seen here in Washington, D.C., on March 9, 2020, invites the United Auto Workers union to hold an organizing vote at Tesla.
Genesee County Land Bank, City of Flint work together to eliminate blighted homes in the city
The White House has asked lawmakers to approve $10 billion in lethal and humanitarian aid for Ukraine as part of a $32.5 billion emergency funding request sent to Capitol Hill.


Lilac Demonstration Plant being delivered to Kachi Project

Sydney, Mar 3, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Clean lithium developer Lake Resources NL ( ASX:LKE ) ( FRA:LK1 ) ( OTCMKTS:LLKKF ) confirms the modular demonstration plant designed and built by the engineering team at Lilac Solutions Inc, has been dispatched from California USA to the Kachi Project in Argentina.Lilac Solutions, Lake's technical partner, has assembled the ion exchange modules and supporting equipment for the demonstration plant within five 40 ft (12m) shipping containers.The modular design allows for a "plug and play" approach, once brine feed, power and reagents are connected. The demonstration plant will operate for around 3 to 4 months to produce lithium chloride (eluate) representing 2.5 tonnes of lithium carbonate. This will be converted into high purity battery quality lithium carbonate for potential offtakers and battery qualification later in the year. The demonstration plant operations on site will also inform final engineering design prior to construction of the commercial-scale project."Our technology is truly disruptive; we've taken ion exchange, a non-mining technology solution that is ubiquitous in the water treatment industry, and with cutting-edge innovations have created a unique technology for lithium extraction which we strongly believe will reduce operating costs and boost lithium recovery for production of lithium chemicals from the Kachi brines," Lilac's Chief Executive Officer, Dave Snydacker, said "Relative to conventional technology, our production process is lower cost and offers higher lithium recovery rates of 80-90 percent to produce battery quality lithium carbonate, while also protecting the local environment, including water resources."Our process is modular, produces high purity lithium, and can be ramped up quickly from pilot to commercial stages - our equity stake ensures a rapid commercialization of the Lilac technology at what is a globally significant lithium resource."We've worked extensively with this brine, generating the data needed for engineering studies, and it is a fantastic fit for the Lilac technology," he said.Meanwhile, test work at Lilac Solutions' facility in California continues to produce the data required for the Definitive Feasibility Study and lithium carbonation testwork continues at Hazen Research in Colorado."Both Lake and Lilac are very confident that the demonstration plant incorporating Lilac's proprietary ion exchange process will prove to investors and offtakers that it is scalable and functions well on site by successfully producing a high quality lithium product. Lake is well positioned to deliver a major project with consistent high quality product with substantial ESG benefits", Lake's Managing Director, Mr Steve Promnitz, said.*To view photographs, please visit:About Lake Resources NL

Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE) (OTCMKTS:LLKKF) is a clean lithium developer utilising clean, direct extraction technology for the development of sustainable, high purity lithium from its flagship Kachi Project, as well as three other lithium brine projects in Argentina. The projects are in a prime location within the Lithium Triangle, where 40% of the world's lithium is produced at the lowest cost.



This method will enable Lake Resources to be an efficient, responsibly-sourced, environmentally friendly and cost competitive supplier of high-purity lithium, which is readily scalable, and in demand from Tier 1 electric vehicle makers and battery makers.
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden is signaling an election year shift to the center, embracing a strategy he hopes will protect fragile Democratic majorities in Congress. But hes risking a revolt from key voices across his partys sprawling coalition.

In his first State of the Union address Tuesday night, the Democratic president embraced Republican calls to strengthen the nations southern border and barely mentioned climate change. He glossed over concerns about voting rights and spent little time heralding his historic decision to nominate the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. On domestic issues, he was perhaps most blunt in disavowing the push from some Black Lives Matter activists to defund the police.

The calculated messages, threaded through one of the most important speeches of Bidens young presidency, marked a clear effort to reset the political climate for Democrats. Polls suggest the party is losing support from almost every demographic at the outset of the 2022 campaign. But Bidens effort to stabilize the party could alienate the coalition of Black people, young people, progressives and independents who delivered him the presidency in 2020 and will be needed again this year.

His address intensified a debate inside the party about how best to proceed this year, with many veteran lawmakers embracing Bidens tone while younger, more progressive critics on the left warned he wasnt connecting with the Democrats most loyal voters.

There was particular frustration with Bidens declaration that the nations police need more funding, seen by some as a tone-deaf overture to white voters at the expense of millions of Black Americans still waiting for the president to deliver promised policing reforms almost two years after George Floyds murder.

Our party often, we target the white moderate, we target the white independent. And I get it, right. Those are the swing voters and we want to get them. But we continue to underestimate Black and brown people, said Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y. I liked 95% of the speech, maybe even 97%, but he missed an opportunity to bring Black voters in more and voters of color in more.

Beyond Washington, Melina Abdullah, a grassroots director for Black Lives Matter, was more frank in her criticism. Slapping down those on the left wanting to defund the police, Biden three times called for funding as Democrats and Republicans gave him a standing ovation.

Its appalling that he would say it, that he would repeat it, and he would say it with such exuberance, Abdullah said, warning of dire political consequences. They think we dont have a choice. Maybe we wont vote for Republicans, but we will stay home. And thats something that Democrats cant afford to have happen.

For now, the White House is betting that Democrats have more to gain by siding with voters in the middle who are worried about the nations rising crime rates than with those focused on police brutality. And public polling indicates that a significant portion of voters of color do support increased funding for law enforcement.

The third-ranking House Democrat, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, defended Bidens reach for the center.

I think he knows what the country needs, and he laid out exactly what we need to do to bring this country back together, Clyburn said.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., praised Bidens explicit opposition to calls for defunding the police: I think he spoke for all of us, Hoyer said.

He was trying to dispel what is a false scenario that the Republicans have tried to create since a couple of our members out of 223 or 4 said they were for defunding the police, he added. Democrats are not for defunding the police.

But some of the most prominent progressives in Congress insisted Biden wasnt speaking for them when it comes to policing.

Im not going to change how I feel, Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., said Wednesday. Im not going to stop saying defund the police at all.

Only 34% of Americans say the things Biden has done in office are good for Americans, according to a February AP-NORC poll. Nearly as many  29%  say hes been bad for Black Americans. Another 36% say hes been neither good nor bad.

Thats a decline from the first few months of his presidency, when 50% said in a poll in late April and early May that things he was doing were good for Black Americans.

As the midterm campaign begins, such tension within the Democratic Party is unlikely to subside. In a potential preview of whats to come, nine-term incumbent Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar failed to clear the 50% threshold in Tuesdays Democratic primary and will face progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros in a runoff election in May.

Despite an energized progressive wing, Democratic pollster Jeff Pollock suggested Bidens focus on the center is smart politics.

The data shows if there is softening in Bidens numbers, it is coming from the middle: centrist Republicans, centrist Democrats, independents who are in the middle, he said. And theyre also the ones who happen to swing the elections, including the midterms.

If Joe Biden is aiming things at the center, Im all for it, Pollock added.

Even under the best of conditions, history suggests that Bidens party is likely to lose its House and Senate majorities come November. If the Democratic Party cannot unify its disparate factions, the losses could be staggering.

And even as the Democratic strategists applauded Biden, younger African Americans and progressive activists said his strategy left them feeling angry and alienated.

John Paul Mejia, a spokesman for the Sunrise Movement, a national youth organization focused on climate change, criticized Biden for largely ignoring that issue and other priorities for young people including student loan debt.

Biden needs to have some respect for the people and issues that got him into power, he said.

And like other activists, Paul Mejia said he was most disturbed by Bidens call to fund the police. He called it absolutely disgusting.

I understand the messaging tactic there, he said. But I dont think Biden should be stabbing the backs of loads of organizers and activists who participated in the uprisings over the summer and got him into office.

___

Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report.

___

This story was first published on March 2, 2022. It was updated on March 3, 2022, to correct the name of a national youth organization focused on climate change. It is the Sunrise Movement, not the Sunrise Foundation.
MOGADISHU, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations' top relief official in Somalia on Thursday expressed concern about the recent hostilities in the Diinsoor region in Southwest Somalia forcing more than 17,400 people mostly women and children to flee their homes.

UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia Adam Abdelmoula said most of the displaced people, who are also affected by the ongoing drought emergency, arrived in several locations, including Baidoa, Bay region, Baardheere of Gedo region, and Banadir region.

"Parties to the conflict must ensure that humanitarian workers have unfettered access to all people in need of assistance," Abdelmoula said in a statement issued in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

The UN official said he was extremely concerned about the impact on civilians of the recent hostilities in Diinsoor, noting that humanitarian actors on the ground report that those affected are in urgent need of humanitarian and protection assistance.

He said almost 136,000 people are facing emergency levels of food insecurity in South West State but scaling up response is impeded by access and funding challenges.

"I wish to remind all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law and the principles of distinction, precaution, and proportionality in the use of force. I urge them to uphold these obligations including the protection of civilians," Abdelmoula said.

He said the situation is coming at a time when the country is facing the longest sequence of poor rainy seasons since 1981, with some regions experiencing extremely dry conditions, following the failure of the October-December 2021 rainy season.

According to the UN, about 4.3 million people are affected by the drought, of whom more than 554,000 have been displaced in search of food, water, and pasture. It warned that Somalia is staring at a potential catastrophe with the next rainy season not expected until April. 
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

A bumper sticker proclaiming vaccinated sparked a confrontation between two drivers that nearly ended with a different kind of shot Sunday.

Christina Blair of Rio Rancho is accused of accosting another driver over the sticker before pulling a gun on him in Northeast Albuquerque.

The 33-year-old is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the Feb. 27 incident. Blair has been booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center.

Neither her family nor her attorney could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Prosecutors have filed a motion to keep Blair  who reportedly works for a car dealership  behind bars until trial, calling her a dangerous person.

Blairs criminal history, according to online court records, includes four juvenile offenses that were all violent in nature. In 2007, she was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. The details of that case were unclear.

Blairs most recent brush with the law began with a bumper sticker.

Police responded around 5 p.m. to a Walgreens at Montgomery and Wyoming NE after a man reported being threatened by a woman with a gun, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. The man said he was driving in the area when a woman started to honk at him and yell obscenities regarding a bumper sticker he had.

Court records show the man tried to wave the woman  later identified as Blair  around him, but she followed him and threw a water bottle at his vehicle at a red light. The man told police he became frightened and accidentally reversed into Blairs vehicle trying to drive away.

The man said that, due to the crash, he pulled into the Walgreens to exchange insurance information, and an extremely irate Blair pulled out a gun and racked the slide, according to police. He told police he then backed away and called 911 in fear that she was going to shoot him.

The man showed a video of the incident to police where Blair can be seen pulling out a gun and loading the chamber. Police said Blair told them she began to honk at the man after she saw the mans vaccinated bumper sticker.

She said she threw a water bottle at his vehicle, he reversed into her and they got into an argument in the Walgreens parking lot, according to the complaint. Blair told police she pulled out a gun during the argument and was scared because the man blocked her exit.

Through the course of my investigation, I was able to determine that (Blair) did have an opportunity to leave  but instead overtly reached into her vehicle and retrieved a handgun threatening (the man), the officer wrote.
Over the past year, all five New Mexico Association of Food Banks members have been active participants in Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams Food, Farm and Hunger Initiative. For many months, the Governors Office executed its vision to lead a group that composed a variety of diverse stakeholders, including representation from urban and rural communities, agriculture entities, state government departments providing food assistance programs, legislators, nonprofits and countless others. Our food banks were honored and thankful to be a part of establishing the framework. The $24 million landmark budget investment  the Food, Farm and Hunger Initiative  is now on the governors desk for signature. Of that, $5.9 million will directly fund food assistance to New Mexicans across the state, including children, families and seniors.

On behalf of the people we serve and the 500 partners we work with, we want to send our sincerest gratitude to the Governors Office, the Department of Finance and Administration and the New Mexico Legislature for working on getting this critical initiative funded. This investment puts in motion our ability to provide expanded services to thousands of New Mexicans. It will help reduce the meal gap families in need face every month. It also puts the seeds or launch of a more comprehensive multi-year plan into motion.

As background about our work, we are five food banks that are members of the N.M. Association of Food Banks and provide millions of meals to New Mexicans experiencing hunger every year. Our food banks work closely together and through a statewide network of partners that include food pantries, meal programs, shelters, schools, senior centers, health care facilities, tribal communities and other high-need and rural organizations. That network of partners primarily receives food from our warehouses and then distributes it to those in need. Together, the five-member food banks serve the entire state  all 33 counties.

Before the pandemic started, New Mexico had some of the highest percentages of hunger in the U.S. The pandemic exacerbated hunger rates and showed all of us how close we are to being a senior, a family or a person in need. Still, today, all these months and years after the pandemic started, we meet people who never needed our services before. Its humbling to meet them. They represent New Mexicans of all walks of life.

There is once again hope the pandemic is perhaps waning for good, but we cannot let this feeling of hope blind us from the reality that, for many, poverty did not begin with the pandemic. Even when life for many of us returns to normal, families across New Mexico will still find themselves without access to the food they need.

Thanks to the Governors Office and the diligent work of our state legislative body, food banks and our statewide hunger-relief network have a little room to breathe. We are grateful for this funding and for extending our partnership with the state. It will help our organizations and partners keep our services elevated when hunger rates remain high.

To learn more about the food bank that serves your community, visit nmfoodbanks.org.

Members of the New Mexico Association of Food Banks include The Community Pantry, ECHO Food Bank, Roadrunner Food Bank, The Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico and The Food Depot.
The years-long overhaul of guardianships in New Mexico most recently has focused on rules related to emergency appointments of temporary guardians, a key source of weakness in the system of protecting vulnerable adults.

Recent high-profile cases have exposed how easily a persons liberties can be stripped away  and how difficult it can be for that person to reclaim some say in how their lives are arranged following an emergency intervention.

In two cases profiled by the Journal, temporary guardians were appointed for retirees in Las Cruces without the knowledge of their families. In each case, it took several years and thousands of dollars in legal fees for the womens sons to convince the judges in the cases to remove the corporate guardians and permit the sons to serve as guardians.

Lawmakers and the judiciary have been reforming New Mexicos adult guardianship system since 2018, after the Journal began an ongoing investigation. Critics complained the system was ripe for corruption given the power granted to court-appointed guardians and conservators. Some families of incapacitated adults contended they were barred or restricted by guardians from visiting their loved ones.

With federal criminal fraud indictments of principals of two major guardianship firms fueling the debate, lawmakers and the judiciary adopted numerous reforms aimed at transparency, accountability, family involvement and oversight. But temporary guardianships had not been tackled.

Changes for the better

To date a temporary guardian can be appointed by a judge without the alleged incapacitated person or their family being notified; they can be forced out of their homes, their bank accounts transferred and their property liquidated. And all this can occur before they ever appear before the judge, who would eventually evaluate the evidence and decide if, in fact, they needed a guardian.

Now, the Legislature has unanimously approved a bill requiring judges who approve a temporary guardianship to hold a hearing within 10 days to listen to the evidence. Currently, state law requires hearings to be held as soon as possible. But sometimes months elapse before a hearing, during which temporary guardians have had wide latitude to make life-altering changes on a protected persons behalf.

The measure still needs the approval of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, but she paved the way for the laws creation by adding its proposal to the list of bills to be considered during the recent short session. The governor (a lawyer who is also a caregiver for her mother) is sure to appreciate the protections afforded by tightening up of the emergency process.

Temporary guardians would be barred from liquidating the protected persons property or moving them out of their residences without express approval from the judge. There is no such prohibition in current law.

And families, even a friend or neighbor, would have standing to appear at the 10-day hearing and ask the judge to modify or dissolve the temporary guardianship.

One of the bills sponsors, state Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, told the Journal the bill is important because it requires for the first time that temporary guardians and conservators account for the decisions they make and the actions they take. A report must be filed with the judge in the case within 15 days of an appointment.

Temporary guardianships are meant to be a rare exception to the usual process of appointing a permanent guardian. Supreme Court Justice Shannon Bacon told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee there should be about eight temporary guardianships filed annually in the state. Instead there are more than 800.

The bills endorsement by the state AARP chapter and N.M. Guardianship Association is well earned. It increases oversight over the temporary guardian, establishes a firm timeline, requires a clear determination of a need for a guardian early and provides more opportunities for an allegedly incapacitated person to rebut allegations.

It will be tougher for the process to be abused once the governor signs this bill into law.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

New Mexico weekly COVID-19 hospital admissions have fallen 74% since late January when the state was in the throes of the highly contagious omicron variant.

On Wednesday, Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said hospitalization data will be one of the key metrics health officials use when it comes to managing the virus going forward, as opposed to earlier in the pandemic when daily case counts and the test positivity rate were major data points for state officials. Scrase said he doesnt expect the state to reimpose mask mandates or other public health orders to slow the spread of the virus.

Were realizing that hospitals is where we should be placing our focus and where we should be really watching our resources, Scrase said during a media briefing.

There were 111 COVID hospital admissions throughout the state in the past seven days, according to a state epidemiology report dated Feb. 28. That was down from 430 admissions in the week prior to the report dated Jan. 31.

As of Wednesday, a total of 236 people with COVID were hospitalized in New Mexico.

The state also reported 440 new cases and 16 more COVID-related deaths, pushing the toll to 6,939 since the start of the pandemic.

The deaths reported Wednesday included 11 recent deaths and five deaths that were more than 30 days old. Of those who died, nine were from Bernalillo County, including a man and woman in their 30s.

Scrase said the hospital self-assessment score  a 0-40 score tallied each week by the states Medical Advisory Team to describe how much pressure the states health system is facing  has dipped to its lowest level in months. For several months, hospitals have been in crisis, with the states health system scoring over a 32.5 out of 40.

This week, the Health Department reported a score of 19. The scoring sheet factors such things as patients being delayed, the size of the workforce and hospital capacity.

I have relied on  the hospital self-assessment graph, probably more than any other data point in the whole pandemic, for making decisions about crisis standards of care or other interventions, Scrase said.

Health officials nationwide are placing more emphasis on COVID hospital admissions and capacity.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance on when it is advising people wear masks indoors and take other precautions. The recommendation takes into account a countys weekly hospital admissions and the percentage of a communitys hospital beds that are filled with COVID patients, as well as new weekly cases.

Scrase said the state has no plans to use those metrics to impose public health orders on such things as mask mandates. For example, he said the state wont require people in counties with a high COVID level to wear masks in indoor public settings.

This week, 10 New Mexico counties recorded a high level of COVID, according to the CDC. They included Santa Fe, Sandoval and San Juan. Bernalillo County was at a medium level.

Scrase suggested using the data much like how one would use a weather forecast.

If you see a cold front coming in, you might bring a heavier jacket with you to work, Scrase said. If you see a surge in cases and hospitalizations in your community, you might decide  to wear a mask for the next one to two weeks.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

As local utilities struggle to manage equipment shortages and face possible summer blackouts, state regulators are reaching out to the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to help ensure emergency preparedness.

Pandemic-induced supply chain issues are severely straining the ability of most New Mexico utilities to acquire equipment needed to maintain their grids, raising the potential for rolling blackouts during such extreme weather events as a summer heat wave or a severe storm that damages infrastructure.

The state Public Regulation Commission ordered all local utilities late last year  and again in January  to report on their supply chain problems, the potential for those issues to disrupt electric service, and ways in which the PRC and other government entities can help manage the situation. The responses showed widespread difficulties across the state, especially among rural electric cooperatives, according to the PRC.

The PRC endorsed a letter on Wednesday it planned to send to Homeland Security summarizing the challenges and listing possible solutions, which would involve joint responses from other agencies.

According to local utility feedback to the PRC, electric companies are facing extraordinary lead times for supplies critical to daily operations, such as transformers, conductors and meters. One large electric cooperative told the PRC that, in some cases, suppliers have stopped taking orders for equipment, possibly impeding the ability to restore service to affected customers during a severe weather event.

Some state cooperatives are even being forced to consider a cessation of new service connections, either to preserve on-hand material or because of supply scarcities, the PRC said in its letter to Homeland Security.

Equipment prices have also climbed by up to 30%. And many suppliers now tend to sell scarce equipment to larger utility customers, rather than apportioning supplies among all utilities, aggravating the challenges for smaller companies, the New Mexico Rural Electric Cooperative Association told the PRC.

All of the above is just a sampling of the issues reported by New Mexico co-ops  and there is no end in sight, the PRC said.

New Mexico has 19 rural electric cooperatives serving about 211,000 customers around the state.

Such large investor-owned utilities as the Public Service Company of New Mexico are also facing major difficulties.

Some replacement materials are being impacted by a manufactured lead time growth of 60%, which can mean two or more months for some equipment and six months for other equipment such as wire and cable, said the PRC letter.

PNM, which in February had warned of possible rolling blackouts this summer, decided to postpone the shutdown at the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station through the summer, which alleviated concern about a widespread electric shortage. But PNM says it could still have problems in an extreme heat wave and that it faces more energy shortages in summer 2023. Thats because new solar facilities slated to replace some power from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona  which PNM will lose from January 2023  will also be delayed by supply chain issues.

In light of the foregoing, the commission finds it prudent to involve other agencies in finding solutions to these issues before they become even more problematic, the PRC wrote in its letter to Homeland Security.

In particular, the commission said it wants to develop joint responses, such as facilitating mutual utility support by sharing available equipment and materials, aggregating supply orders to make purchases more appealing to suppliers at lower prices, and coordinating efforts with neighboring states to assess needs and possibly pooling resources.

Homeland Security could help, especially in coordinating local emergency preparedness among municipal, county and state government, the PRC said.

Last week, Attorney General Hector Balderas also announced that his office is convening a new statewide Energy Security Investigation and Emergency Preparedness Task Force for an all-of-government effort to hammer out rapid-response plans to protect the public in case of blackouts or other energy system failures.

PRC Chairman Joseph Maestas said it was important to reach out to other government entities to address the situation.

As an agency, its our obligation to begin notifying external entities, Maestas told commissioners Wednesday.  It shows leadership and being proactive in sharing critical information on the impacts from supply chain disruptions. It presents some potential solutions that this agency cant necessarily move on, but other agencies can.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

A judge handed an 11-year prison sentence Wednesday to an Albuquerque man who pleaded guilty to killing a woman with an ax in 2019.

Jared Deaton-Ryan, 37, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the Aug. 17, 2019, killing of Patricia Esquibel, 43. The plea agreement had called for a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

State District Judge Alisa Hart said Deaton-Ryan had displayed intense and shocking violence toward Esquibel.

But Esquibel also had shown aggressive behavior that prompted Deaton-Ryan to call 911 during the confrontation, Hart said.

Deaton-Ryans attorney and family members described his yearslong struggle with mental illness and substance abuse during a sentencing hearing in January.

He was so lost that he had no control over his life, his mother, Karen Deaton, said. I could not make him get help.

Deaton-Ryan apologized to Esquibels family at the Jan. 27 hearing.

To the family of Patricia Esquibel, I am eternally sorry, he said. I was in such a bad state of mind when this happened.

The day of the killing, police responded to an open-line 911 call at a house in the 300 block of Gene NW, near Fourth and Montano, with sounds in the background of a violent dispute between a man and a woman.

Deaton-Ryan was found sitting in a pickup truck in the driveway wearing bloody clothes, according to a criminal complaint. Police followed a blood trail outside the house and found Esquibels body under a blanket with massive injuries to her face and head.

Police also found an ax fitted with a pipe handle in the bathtub that appeared to be covered with blood, the complaint said. Deaton-Ryan told police that Esquibel had stored some belongings at his house, the complaint said.

On the day of the killing, Esquibel claimed her shirts were missing and became angry, and that she ultimately pulled a knife and threatened him with the weapon, it said.
PHOENIX  A suspect has been arrested in the killing of three cousins from Mexico whose bodies were found in a vacant lot in Phoenix last month, police said Thursday.

Phoenix police Sgt. Philip Krynsky identified the suspect as Juan Vargas, 21.

A charging document released in the case Thursday said one of the three victims had suffered blunt force trauma to the head before being shot and had a ligature on his wrist, indicating he was tied up at some point.

The cousins were from the Mexican state of Oaxaca and had relatives in Wisconsin, Phoenix TV station ABC15 reported. The Mexican Consulate in Phoenix didnt respond immediately to a query about the case.

Vargas was booked on suspicion of first-degree murder during the commission of a crime, kidnapping, armed robbery with a deadly weapon and abandonment or concealment of a body, jail records said.

It wasnt clear whether Vargas had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Officers arrested Vargas after they found the 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe that belonged to one of the victims being driven by another man in Phoenix, the charging document said. It stated that the man driving the SUV reported he bought it for $2,500, far below market value, from two men he knew only as Jesus and Chuy.

Officers eventually connected the vehicle to Vargas. Cellphone records also traced one victims mobile phone being used before the killings at the address where Vargas lived east of downtown Phoenix, according to the charging document.

Police have identified the three who were killed as Herminio Perez Ramirez, 28; Isauro Martinez Dominguez, 21; and Abimael Jimenez Morenos, 16.
FRANKFURT, Germany  Europe is scrambling to reduce its dependence on Russia for energy and bracing for potential disruption to critical natural gas supplies as Russias war in Ukraine sends prices to new highs.

Natural gas prices hit a record Thursday for a second day in a row as restrictions on oil and gas were increasingly treated as a possibility on the eighth day of the war  whether through Western sanctions or Russian retaliation. That could mean even more pain to peoples wallets: Energy prices have been high for months because of low supplies, driving up the cost of everything from utility bills to groceries as businesses pass along their costs to customers.

Traders were factoring in the rising probability of sanctions on gas for each day the offensive continues, said Kaushal Ramesh, senior analyst at Rystad Energy.

The price of gas is 10 times what it was at the start of 2021. But it continues to flow through the major pipelines from Russia to Europe, including those through Ukraine, pipeline companies say.

To prepare for any cutoffs as the war intensifies and to reduce Russian reliance, countries are rounding up new supplies of liquefied natural gas  LNG  by ship. Theyre also speeding up plans for gas import terminals and pipelines that dont depend on Russia and talking about allowing coal-fired power plants to keep spewing climate-changing emissions for longer if it means energy independence.

Yet many of the measures will take months or, in the case of new pipelines and terminals, years. The long-term answer is rapidly building out renewable sources such as wind and solar. But for now, Europe is reliant on gas to heat homes, generate electricity and supply industries like fertilizer producers.

Europe, which gets almost 40% of its gas from Russia, is in a different situation than the U.S., which produces its own natural gas. Still, EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson says Europe has the tools to handle any Russian retaliation this winter while conceding a total cutoff would of course still be a challenge.

Germany is spending 1.5 billion euros ($1.66 billion) to buy more LNG. Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday proposed building two LNG import terminals, days after blocking the already-completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe.

European Union countries are working on setting up a strategic gas reserve and establishing storage requirements. Officials are urging countries to sign agreements to share gas in emergencies.

The EUs executive commission is set to unveil steps next week that governments can take. The Paris-based International Energy Agency said Thursday that Russian gas imports could be cut by one-third this year through steps including letting existing gas contracts with Russia expire, finding new supplies from partners such as Norway and Azerbaijan, imposing minimum storage requirements, maximizing use of remaining nuclear plants and offering cash support for vulnerable electricity customers.

Denmark has given the go-ahead for construction of a pipeline to bring Norwegian gas  another major source for Europe  to Poland after permission was suspended last year.

We are really busy catching up with the lost months, Sren Juul Larsen, chief project manager at Energinet. We have agreed with our contractors that they will deploy more machines and people for the task, so that we can set the pace and be finished as soon as possible.

Energinet plans for the Baltic Pipe to partially launch Oct. 1. and be fully operational Jan. 1 with capacity of up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas a year.

Weaning Europe completely off Russian gas by next winters heating season  if that becomes necessary  would be possible but painful, involving extra costs and possibly forced conservation, according to analysts at the Bruegel research institute in Brussels. Given record LNG shipments are already coming from places like the U.S., a total loss of Russian gas would leave Europe 10% to 15% short and facing potentially painful steps to reduce gas use, which would hit businesses first.

If the EU is forced or willing to bear the cost, it should be possible to replace Russian gas already for next winter without economic activity being devastated, people freezing or electricity supply being disrupted, they said.

So far, wide-ranging Western sanctions have spared gas and oil even as they targeted Russian banks and their ability to interact with Western financial systems. Specific exemptions were included for energy transactions. Officials say theyre trying to avoid hurting their own economies and consumers as they inflict pain in Russia.

But sanctions are indirectly hitting oil from Russia, the worlds No. 3 oil producer that sells 25% of Europes supply. Some oil buyers in recent days have shunned Russian crude, fearing that if sanctions were applied to Russian energy, their purchased oil could be rendered unusable.

Cargoes have already been rejected by European refiners in the market, because people are afraid sanctions might be coming, and so they dont want to be caught with some cargo they cant resell, said Amy Myers Jaffe, research professor and managing director of the Climate Policy Lab at Tufts University.

An energy cutoff imposed by Russia was long regarded as unlikely  particularly with gas  because it would cost Russia its biggest customers in Europe and some $300 million in revenue a day.

Russian officials have underlined that they have no intention of cutting off oil and gas and have stressed their role as reliable suppliers. Yet the conundrum remains: As Western countries cut off Russian banks off, Europe continues to support Russias government  and military  through energy purchases.

The U.S. is very open to sanctioning Russias energy and gas industry but is measuring that against potential costs to Americans, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

Were considering it. Its very much on the table, but we need to weigh what all of the impacts will be, she said Wednesday on MSNBC. Were not trying to hurt ourselves. Were trying to hurt President Putin and the Russian economy.

While Europe is vulnerable in the short term before it can build out renewables, its Russia that would lose long term from an embargo or cutoff.

A gas embargo would over several years lead to a slump of 2.9% in Russian economic output and a 0.1% gain for Germany, said trade expert Hendrik Mahlkow of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Any Russian threat to halt supplies would not be very credible, Mahlkow said.

___

Associated Press reporters Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark; Cathy Bussewitz in New York; and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed.
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden knows better than anyone the unexpected turns a Supreme Court nomination can take after it lands on Capitol Hill.

As the longtime chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden presided over two of the most contentious nominations in modern U.S. history and welcomed the defeat of one of them.

He steered several other candidates to confirmation but was confounded by allegations of sexual harassment against future Justice Clarence Thomas by law professor Anita Hill.

Biden has been involved in the process for so long that hes come full circle with Justice Stephen Breyer  from leading Breyers Senate confirmation hearing and voting to put him on the court to recently accepting Breyers retirement after 28 years on the bench and naming a replacement. Biden and Breyer also worked together when Breyer was the committees chief counsel.

We were joking with one another when he walked in, Biden said at Breyers retirement announcement in January. Did we ever think that he would have served decades on the court and Id be president of the United States on the day he came in to retire?

Biden developed his knowledge of the Supreme Court nomination process during his 36-year Senate career, particularly the 17 years he spent as chairman or vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which reviews every candidate for the federal judiciary.

White House officials highlighted that experience as Biden deliberated over a small group of candidates, ending with his nomination of federal judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson began meeting with senators this week.

Hes probably overseen or been engaged with more Supreme Court nominee processes than anyone in history, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

As vice president, Biden helped counsel President Barack Obama on his Supreme Court picks.

Obama picked him for experience in a number of areas, Ted Kaufman, a longtime member of Bidens inner circle, said in an interview. This is one of those areas.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a veteran Judiciary Committee member who served with Biden, said the president has a great appreciation of what senators must do, because hes done it.

After four years in the Senate, Biden was assigned to the Judiciary panel in 1977. He took part in confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominees Sandra Day OConnor in 1981 and Antonin Scalia in 1986, both nominated by President Ronald Reagan. He voted to put both on the court.

Biden also participated in the 1986 hearing to elevate Justice William Rehnquist to the position of chief justice of the United States. He voted against Rehnquist.

Biden became chairman in 1987, but he wanted more after 14 years in the Senate. That June, he announced his candidacy for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. Then Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell announced his retirement.

Just like that, Biden would preside over the first of five Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

To replace Powell, Reagan tapped Robert Bork, a conservative federal appeals court judge who would have shifted the ideological balance of the nine-member high court firmly to the right. Biden opposed the nomination, differing with Bork over his views on privacy and civil rights.

I knew enough about Bork to know it would be nearly impossible for him to convince me that he was right for the court, Biden wrote in his 2007 memoir.

He tried juggling the competing demands of his White House ambitions and preparing for Borks hearing. But after the campaign was engulfed by allegations that he had plagiarized in law school and had not credited a British lawmaker whose remarks he used in his own stump speech, Biden dropped out of the race to focus on keeping Bork off the court, he wrote.

After a contentious hearing that foreshadowed the intense scrutiny that would await future Supreme Court nominees, the committee forwarded Borks nomination to the full Senate with an unfavorable recommendation, effectively dooming the judge.

A bipartisan majority of senators had come to oppose Bork, who refused to withdraw and insisted on a floor vote. The Senate rejected him 58-42.

Biden said he felt sorry for Bork.

Theres a guy sitting at home whose whole life has been directed toward being on the Supreme Court, he told his Senate office staff after seeing they had champagne chilling on ice after the vote. Imagine how he feels when that last votes been tallied, when hes realized he lost.

Biden earned bipartisan praise for the way he handled the hearing; Bork quit being a judge and began giving speeches accusing the committee of mishandling his nomination.

Reagan eventually settled on federal appeals court judge Anthony M. Kennedy. Biden led Kennedys hearing before he sailed to Senate confirmation on a 97-0 vote in 1988.

Biden led the hearing for judge David Souter, nominated to the high court by Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1990, and was among senators voting 90-9 to confirm him.

But tensions flared the following year after Bush chose Thomas, a relatively new and conservative Black federal appeals court judge, to replace retiring justice Thurgood Marshall, a lawyer and civil rights activist who was the first Black person to sit on the Supreme Court.

Some had accused Bush of playing politics with the nomination by choosing Thomas, who was opposed by liberals. But some of Thomas critics didnt want to be seen as being too tough on a Black man.

Committee hearings opened in September 1991, focused on Thomas legal views. But by then, the Democratic committee staff had begun researching a tip that Thomas allegedly had sexually harassed women he had worked with before he became a judge.

Hill, who had worked with Thomas at the Education Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, had shared her story privately with the committee.

But after the explosive contents of her confidential statement leaked to the news media two days days before the Senate was expected to vote to confirm Thomas, Biden came under pressure to reopen the hearings so Hill could testify publicly. Thomas angrily denied her allegations, and Biden refused to allow other women who would have corroborated Hills claims to also testify in public.

The Senate confirmed Thomas by a vote of 52-48, with Biden against him.

Where Biden was praised for the Bork hearing, he was criticized over Thomas. Womens groups and women in Congress accused him of not treating Hills sexual harassment allegations seriously enough while Thomas denounced the process as a high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks.

Biden went on to chair confirmation hearings for Democratic Supreme Court nominees Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993 and Breyer in 1994. He voted to confirm both.

He was on the committee in 2005 but no longer chairman when now-Chief Justice John Roberts was confirmed to the court, and in 2006 when Samuel Alito became a justice. Both were nominated by Republican President George W. Bush. Biden voted against both.

Years later as he considered running for president a third time, Biden said he regretted his decision not to let the other women testify in public during Thomas hearing, as well as Hills treatment by the all-white-male committee.

Anita Hill was vilified when she came forward, by a lot of my colleagues, Biden said in 2018 during an interview on NBCs Today. I wish I could have done more to prevent those questions and the way they asked them.

Hill told The Associated Press in an interview last year for her new book that the hearings had harmed not only herself and her family, but also had hurt any people, any woman, any person who wants to come forward and complain about abuse.

In 2019, before announcing his candidacy for president, Biden telephoned Hill and apologized. Hill said the conversation left her feeling deeply unsatisfied.

___

Associated Press writer Jocelyn Noveck and AP New Researchers Rhonda Shafner and Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed to this report.
GENEVA  The U.N. refugee agency said Thursday that 1 million people have now fled Ukraine since Russias invasion less than a week ago, an exodus without precedent in this century for its speed.

The tally from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees amounts to more than 2% of Ukraines population  which the World Bank counted at 44 million at the end of 2020  on the move across borders in just seven days. The agency cautions that the outflows are far from finished: It has predicted that as many as 4 million people could eventually leave Ukraine, and even that projection could be revised upward.

In an email, UNHCR spokeswoman Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams wrote, Our data indicates we passed the 1M mark as of midnight in central Europe, based on counts collected by national authorities.

U.N. High Commissioner Filippo Grandi said in a statement: I have worked in refugee emergencies for almost 40 years, and rarely have I seen an exodus as rapid as this one.

Hour by hour, minute by minute, more people are fleeing the terrifying reality of violence. Countless have been displaced inside the country, said Grandi, who on Thursday was visiting Ukraine neighbor Romania, which has taken in tens of thousands of refugees. And unless there is an immediate end to the conflict, millions more are likely to be forced to flee Ukraine.

On Twitter, Grandi appealed for the guns to fall silent in Ukraine so humanitarian aid can reach millions more still inside the country.

Grandis comments testified to the desperation of Ukrainians as artillery fire, exploding mortar shells and gunfire echoed across the country, and the growing concerns across the U.N. system at agencies like the World Health Organization and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs  which launched an appeal for funds with UNHCR on Tuesday.

The day-by-day figures pointed to the dizzying speed of the evacuation: After more than 82,000 people left on the first day of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24, each day after that tallied at least 117,000 new refugees, hitting a peak of nearly 200,000 on Tuesday alone, based on the latest UNHCR count. Some longtime staffers accustomed to dealing with refugee crises said theyd never seen anything like this exodus.

Syria, whose civil war erupted in 2011, remains the country with the largest refugee outflows  nearly 5.7 million people, according to UNHCRs figures. But even at the swiftest rate of flight out of that country, in early 2013, it took at least three months for 1 million refugees to leave Syria.

Two years later, in 2015, hundreds of thousands of Syrian and other refugees who had mostly been in Turkey fled into Europe, prompting disarray in the European Union over its response and at times skirmishes and pushbacks at some national borders.

So far, U.N. officials and others have generally praised the response from Ukraines neighbors, who have opened homes, gymnasiums and other facilities to take in the new refugees.

UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said Wednesday that at this rate the outflows from Ukraine could make it the source of the biggest refugee crisis this century.

According to the latest figures on UNHCRs online data portal, which still showed 934,000 refugees early Thursday, more than half of the refugees from Ukraine had gone to neighboring Poland  over 505,000  and more than 116,000 had gone to Hungary to the south. Moldova had taken in more than 79,000 and 71,200 had gone to Slovakia.

Ghedini-Williams said the figures on the data portal reflected a count through mid-afternoon in Europe, but the agency had received estimates of additional arrivals through the rest of the day and into the evening.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
JUBA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- At least five civilians have been killed in Abara Boma, Magwi County in South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria following clashes between cattle herders and host community on Wednesday, a local government official said Thursday.

Louis Lobong Lojore, Eastern Equatoria governor said Abara Boma in Magwi County was attacked by the cattle herders from Jonglei state on Wednesday evening.

"Five people were killed, houses were burnt and a number of cattle stolen," Lobong said in a statement issued in Torit, the capital of Eastern Equatoria, located South of the country.

This comes after the cattle keepers' camp was attacked by raiders in Agoro, Magwi County on Feb. 27, leaving 20 people dead and more than 15 others injured.

The official called on the national authorities in Juba to intervene and contain the situation from further escalation.

Since 2019, South Sudan has been experiencing a surge in communal violence in Jonglei, Warrap and Lakes states mainly due to cattle rustling, child abduction and revenge killings. 
NEW DELHI  Indian student Abrar Sheikh has been waking up to the loud thuds of bombs that have pummeled Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border, for the last three days. When he hears the sounds of shelling, he rushes to a nearby bunker, praying the bombs dont find him.

On Tuesday, the blare of the bombs became louder. The food inside the bunker got scarcer and the cries of children inside grew.

At that moment, all I could think of was my family, Sheikh, 22, said by cellphone from the underground bunker on Wednesday, his voice thick with fear.

Sometimes the bunker goes all silent after we hear the sound of the bombs and I think, Is this it?' he said. At night we pull the curtains in our rooms to keep them dark, hoping Russian troops dont know we are inside.

Thousands of Indians studying in Ukraine have suddenly found themselves in the midst of the war after Russia invaded the country last week, with many hunkered inside bunkers and fearful of what lies ahead.

Pressure on the Indian government to pull out its citizens has intensified in recent days, especially after one student died in shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday. The government says about 17,000 out of an estimated 20,000 Indian citizens in Ukraine have left the country and that India is trying to evacuate the rest to nearby countries from where they can be flown back home. Many of those who remain stranded are in conflict areas such as Kharkiv and Sumy.

Sheikh, a medical student at Sumy State University, has been trying to leave the city for several days. But shelling by Russian forces has left him and about 500 other Indian students in the city trapped.

They are about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the Russian border. But they are hundreds of kilometers and at least 10 hours away from Ukraines western border, considered to be safer, where Indian officials have so far focused their evacuation efforts. Evacuation flights have taken off from countries bordering western Ukraine, such as Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, with more scheduled. A group of Indian Cabinet ministers has flown to these countries to help with rescue efforts.

But for those stuck in the eastern region, there appears no safe way out yet. India has sent a team from its embassy in Moscow to Belgorod, a Russian city close to the border with Ukraine, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said Tuesday. This team is in place and ready to see whatever we can do to extract our students and citizens from the Kharkiv and Sumy area, he said.

India has asked all its citizens to immediately leave Kharkiv after receiving information from Russia, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said. They have been advised to move to three safe zones about 15 kilometers (9 miles) away using any means, including on foot, he said. Bagchi did not describe the information provided by Russia.

In Sumy, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) from Kharkiv, an oil depot was reportedly bombed, railway tracks have been destroyed, and there is fighting in the streets, students said.

We cannot leave. We have no way of getting to the western part. There is no train or bus or any transport to take us there, said Chandra Reddy, 22, another medical student at Sumy State University.

Reddy said he was in touch with Indian authorities, who urged him to stay put for now.

He said he risked his life on Tuesday to go to a nearby grocery store, leaving the bunker where he has spent most of his time over the last six days. He quickly bought packets of rice, vegetables and fruit  enough to last a few days  before rushing back.

On the same day, Indian student Naveen S. Gyanagoudar was killed in Kharkiv when he left his bunker to go buy food.

When I heard that, it hit me that I had just done the same thing, that this can be me next, Reddy said.

Approximately 18,000 Indian students were in Ukraine, most of them studying medicine. The state-run universities are popular with Indian students for their high-quality education at affordable prices, and as an alternative to Indias overcrowded and competitive public universities.

Following the invasion last week, a number of Western and Asian countries slapped sanctions on Russia, but India sought to appear neutral. It has refrained from criticizing Russia or directly acknowledging Ukraines sovereignty, instead pushing for diplomacy and dialogue. On Wednesday, it abstained from voting on a U.N. General Assembly resolution demanding an immediate halt to Moscows attack on Ukraine  similarly, it abstained from voting on a U.N. Security Council resolution last week. Experts said the decision didnt signal support for Moscow, but reflected Indias historic partnership with Russia, a Cold War ally it continues to rely on for energy, weapons and support in conflicts with neighbors.

Stranded Indians have appealed for help on social media. In one video, a crying student begged the Indian government for assistance. Another showed dozens of students walking toward crowded borders where they waited for hours before being allowed into neighboring countries.

Such images have sparked sharp criticism of the governments rescue operation, with some, including opposition political leaders, saying India should have reacted sooner.

India issued an advisory on Feb. 15 telling those who didnt have essential work in Ukraine to consider leaving temporarily  four days after the United States urged all Americans to leave immediately.

Government officials have rejected the criticism. Many have rushed to New Delhis airport in recent days to welcome returning students with flowers.

Nimshim Zimik, who returned to India on Tuesday, said she spent a week in a basement in the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, ready with her luggage and essential documents. At night, she and her friends took turns sleeping.

But we could never really sleep knowing that a bomb could fall anytime on us, she said.

On Saturday, with no signs of help arriving, Zimik decided to leave the city.

She and 53 other students contacted a Ukrainian driver and left early in the morning. But the bus broke down midway, forcing them to walk almost 10 kilometers (6 miles) to the Romanian border.

She was finally evacuated in a special flight from Romania on Tuesday.

Its like a dream, she said. Arriving here feels like a very heavy load has been lifted off me.

___

Associated Press journalists Ashok Sharma and Chonchui Ngashangva contributed to this report.
HONOLULU  A well-known adage in Hawaiian, ola i ka wai, means water is life.

Native Hawaiians revere water in all its forms as the embodiment of one of the Hawaiian pantheons four principal gods.

The resource is so valuable that to have it in abundance means prosperity. The Hawaiian word for water  wai  is repeated in the word for wealth  waiwai.

So when the Navy confirmed petroleum from one of its fuel tank facilities had leaked into Pearl Harbors tap water, many Native Hawaiians were not just concerned, they were hurt and offended.

This has been the most egregious assault on a public trust resource in the history of Hawaii, said Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a former trustee of the Commission on Water Resource Management.

Nearly 6,000 people, mostly those living in military housing at or near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, got sick after petroleum-laced water came pouring out of their taps late last year. Residents worry fresh water for broader Oahu also is in danger because the aging tank system sits above an aquifer that provides drinking water to most of the island and has a history of leaks.

The Navy is working to address the problem. But many say it has deepened a distrust in the military that dates to at least 1893, when a group of American businessmen, with support from U.S. Marines, overthrew the Hawaiian kingdom. More recently, Native Hawaiians fought to stop target practice bombing on the island of Kahoolawe and at Makua Valley in west Oahu.

The military has a long history of poor stewardship of Hawaiis natural and cultural resources, Carmen Hulu Lindsey, chair of the board of trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, said in an email in response to questions. Time after time the people of Hawaii have been left to clean up after the military ravages our sacred lands  from unexploded ordnance and toxic waste to the loss of cultural and historic sites and endangered species  without even appropriating resources to finance these efforts.

For some, the water contamination was the last straw.

The crisis has shattered peoples trust in the military, said Kawenaulaokala Kapahua, a Native Hawaiian political science doctoral student and one of the activists pushing to shut down the tank facility.

I think this is really pushing people to the edge because we all need water to live, Kapahua said. And I think its a very scary thought for people that their children or their grandchildren may never be able to drink the water that comes out of the tap.

Navy officials seemed aware of the distrust when they testified to members of Congress in January.

I understand the deep connection that the people of Hawaii, particularly the Native Hawaiian community, have with the lands and waters of Hawaii, Rear Adm. Blake Converse, deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said while noting he lived in Hawaii off and on for more than eight years.

Rear Adm. John Korka, commander of Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, also noted his connection to the islands, sharing which church he worshipped in and the Catholic school his children attended while living in Hawaii. This is a personal issue for me, and Im sorry.

Using 2019 Census data, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs estimates that 3,439 Native Hawaiians across the United States serve in the armed forces, which is 0.8% of the total Native Hawaiian adult population in the U.S.

Many see value in the states relationship with the military, which also provides civilian jobs that are considered desirable alternatives to service work in the tourism industry.

Native Hawaiian Vietnam War veteran Shad Kane said he is troubled by the contaminated water, but it hasnt tested his faith in the military. His trusty pickup truck bears special Hawaii license plates indicating hes a combat veteran. He plans to transfer the plates to his new Toyota Tacoma.

Yes, Im bothered by that, but I also know the Navy has a greater responsibility, Kane said. The Navy wants to do the right thing.

The Navy hasnt determined how petroleum got in the water. Officials are investigating a theory that jet fuel spilled from a ruptured pipe last May and somehow entered a fire suppression system drain pipe. They suspect fuel then leaked from the second pipe Nov. 20, sending it into the drinking water well.

The Navy has been trying to clear petroleum from the contaminated well and pump it out of the aquifer. Officials are also flushing clean water through the Navys water system  which serves 93,000 people in military homes and offices in and around Pearl Harbor. In the meantime, the Navy put up affected military families in Waikiki hotels.

Beamer, the former water commission trustee, had been calling for the decommissioning of the tanks since 2014, when more than 27,000 gallons (102,200 liters) of fuel leaked from one of tanks.

The Navy promised us nothing like this would possibly happen, he recalled. They would never risk the lives of their own.  They drink out of the same aquifer.

After initially resisting, the Navy said in January it would comply with Hawaiis order to remove fuel from the tank facility, which is used to power many U.S. military ships and planes that patrol the Pacific Ocean. But in February, the Navy lodged an appeal in court.

Rear Adm. Tim Kott, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, said in a statement this week that Navy officials will continue to work with, listen to and learn from the Native Hawaiian community.

We know we have a lot of work ahead of us to gain the trust of the communities across the island, and in particular Native Hawaiians, he said. We will continue to work tirelessly to restore community trust and the safe drinking water of our families and neighbors.

U.S. Rep. Kaialii Kahele, a combat pilot who serves as an officer in the Hawaii National Guard, has invoked the Hawaiian word hewa, which can mean sinful or wrong, to describe the Navy water contamination. He has also called it crisis of astronomical proportions.

He traces his Native Hawaiian familys roots to a small fishing village near the southern tip of Hawaiis Big Island where theres no running water and residents rely on catching rain.

Elders instilled in him that every drop is precious.

All life originated through having healthy, fresh water, Kahele said.

___

Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.
TEL AVIV, Israel  Rights groups and observers say Russia is using cluster bombs in its invasion of Ukraine, a charge Moscow denies. If confirmed, deployment of the weapon, especially in crowded civilian areas, would usher in new humanitarian concerns in the conflict, Europes largest ground war in generations.

Proponents of banning cluster bombs say they kill indiscriminately and endanger civilians long after their use. From Syria and Yemen to the Balkans, Afghanistan and Southeast Asia, unexploded ordnance from cluster bombs continues to kill and maim people years or even decades after the munitions were fired.

Though many countries have joined a global convention limiting their use, cluster munitions are still used in conflict zones around the world.

Here is a closer look at the weapon and why its use sparks particular concern:

WHAT IS A CLUSTER BOMB?

Cluster bombs are weapons that open in the air, releasing submunitions, or bomblets, that are dispersed over a large area, intended to wreak destruction on multiple targets at once. Cluster bombs can be delivered by planes, artillery and missiles, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Beyond the initial harm caused by the munitions upon impact, bomblets have a high rate of failure to explode, up to 40% in some recent conflicts, according to the ICRC.

That leaves swaths of land dotted with bomblets that could explode. Return to normal life in those areas becomes hazardous, particularly in heavily populated areas. Some formerly war-torn countries spend years trying to clear unexploded cluster bomblets.

IS USING THEM A WAR CRIME?

Use of cluster bombs itself does not violate international law, but using them against civilians can be a violation. As in any strike, determining a war crime requires looking at whether the target was legitimate and if precautions were taken to avoid civilian casualties.

The part of international law where this starts playing (a role), though is indiscriminate attacks targeting civilians, Human Rights Watchs associate arms director Mark Hiznay told The Associated Press. So thats not necessarily related to the weapons, but the way the weapons are used.

A convention banning the use of cluster bombs has been joined by more than 120 countries who agreed not to use, produce, transfer or stockpile the weapons and to clear them after theyve been used.

Russia and Ukraine have not joined that convention. Neither has the United States.

WHERE HAVE THEY BEEN USED?

The bombs have been deployed in many recent conflicts.

Syrian government troops have often used cluster munitions  supplied by Russia  against opposition strongholds during that countrys civil war, frequently hitting civilian targets and infrastructure.

Israel has used cluster bombs in civilian areas in south Lebanon, including during the 1982 invasion that saw Israeli troops reach the capital Beirut.

During the monthlong 2006 war with Hezbollah, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations accused Israel of firing as many as 4 million cluster munitions into Lebanon. That has left unexploded ordnance that threatens Lebanese civilians to this day.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has been criticized for its use of cluster bombs in the war with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels that has ravaged the southern Arabian country.

In 2017, Yemen was the second deadliest country for cluster munitions after Syria, according to the U.N. Children have been killed or maimed long after the munitions originally fell, making it difficult to know the true toll.

The last large-scale American use of cluster bombs was during the 2003 Iraq invasion, according to the Pentagon. The U.S. initially considered cluster bombs an integral part of its arsenal during the invasion of Afghanistan that began in 2001, according to HRW. In the first three years, it is estimated the U.S.-led coalition dropped more than 1,500 cluster bombs in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Defense Department had been due by 2019 to stop use of any cluster munitions with a rate of unexploded ordnance greater than 1%. But the Trump Administration rolled back that policy, allowing commanders to approve use of such munitions.

Cluster munitions were also used in the Balkan wars in the 1990s. In the 1980s the Russians made heavy use of cluster bombs during its 10-year invasion of Afghanistan. As a result of decades of war, the Afghan countryside remains one of the heaviest mined countries in the world.

WHATS HAPPENING IN UKRAINE?

Russian forces have most definitely used cluster bombs in Ukraine, Human Rights Watchs Hiznay said.

He pointed to at least two instances: a missile attack that hit outside a hospital in the town of Vuhledar on the first day of the invasion last week. and another Monday on Ukraines second largest city, Kharkiv, with a population of 1.4 million.

Hiznay retweeted photos of what he said was unexploded 9N235 cluster submunitions scattered around in Kharkiv. Human Rights Watch said four people were killed in the Vuhledar strike.

Rights groups have said three people were killed after Russian cluster bombs hit near a pre-school in the northeastern city of Okhtyrka. The open-source intelligence group Bellingcat says that its researchers found cluster munitions in that strike as well as multiple cluster attacks in Kharkiv.

Amnesty International said Russian forces have a shameful record of using cluster munitions in populated areas.

Justin Bronk, a research fellow at Royal United Services Institute, a London defense think tank, said images of munitions parts recovered from residential areas of Kharkiv are concrete evidence that Russia is using cluster bombs.

Their use suggests the Russians are trying to break morale, inflict terror on the on the civilian population and the defenders in order to try and force a negotiation or just retreat, he said.

Russia denies using cluster munitions in Ukraine.

___

Associated Press writers Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, Zeina Karam in Beirut, Kathy Gannon in Islamabad, Pakistan and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.
Kyiv, bracing for a potentially catastrophic Russian attack, is the spiritual heart of Ukraine.

Among the sites at risk in the Ukrainian capital are the nations most sacred Orthodox shrines, dating back nearly 1,000 years to the dawn of Christianity in the region.

The sites, along with other landmark shrines in Kyiv, are religiously significant to both Ukrainian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox. They also stand as powerful symbols in the quarrel over whether the two groups are parts of a single people  as Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed  or are distinct but related Slavic nations.

The landmarks include the golden domed St. Sophias Cathedral and the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a sprawling underground and above-ground complex also known as the Monastery of the Caves. Others include the multi-towered St. Michaels Golden-Domed Monastery and St. Andrews Church.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces damaged another monument  Ukraines main Holocaust memorial, Babi Yar  prompting international condemnation.

What will be next if even Babi Yar (is hit) asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. What other military objects, NATO bases are threatening Russia? St. Sophias Cathedral, Lavra, Andrews Church?

There is no indication the Russians intentionally targeted Babi Yar. Nor is there any confirmation that the Russians plan to target any of the sacred sites in Kyiv. But civilian buildings have already been hit in other cities, and Kyivs major shrines sit in elevated locations that could leave them especially vulnerable.

Case in point: The Assumption Cathedral in Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, was damaged in the recent attacks, reportedly with stained-glass windows broken and other decorations damaged. The cathedral, which is under the Moscow-affiliated Orthodox church, was Kharkivs tallest building until sometime in the 21st century.

The risk is even greater in Kyiv.

Were talking about a very old city, said Jacob Lassin, a postdoctoral research scholar at the Arizona State Universitys Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies. The center part is densely packed. Even if youre trying to hit one thing, you could easily hit something else.

The symbolic value of the shrines is powerful even to people who dont share the religious faith they commemorate.

The idea that the main symbol that stood in your city for 1,000 years could be at risk or could be destroyed is very frightening, Lassin said.

The symbols matter not only to the Ukrainian people but to Putin, too. He justified the invasion with baseless claims he was countering neo-Nazism in Ukraine  this in a country with a Jewish president.

Babi Yar, a ravine in Kyiv, is where more than 33,000 Jews were killed within 48 hours in 1941 when the city was under Nazi occupation. The killing was carried out by SS troops along with local collaborators. It was one of the largest mass killings at a single location during World War II, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

It is at once an accursed and a sacred place, American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris said. Just last year, Zelenskyy took part in the inaugural ceremony of a memorial there.

Whether Kyivs Orthodox shrines come under direct attack or receive collateral damage, such an action would be a total refutation of another of Putins claims  to be defending Orthodox Ukrainians loyal to Moscows patriarch, Lassin said.

It would literally be destroying the main seat of Russian Orthodoxy according to his own rhetoric, Lassin said.

The shrines oldest parts date back to the medieval Kievan Rus kingdom, soon after its adoption of Christianity under Prince Vladimir in the 10th century. Putin has claimed the kingdom is the common ancestor of todays Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainians counter that theirs is a distinct nation now under fratricidal attack from its Slavic neighbor.

The cathedral and nearby monastic complex represent a masterpiece of human creative genius in both its architectural conception and its remarkable decoration, says a summary by UNESCO, which lists them as World Heritage Sites.

UNESCO on Thursday called for the protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage from attacks, including its religious shrines and Holocaust memorials.

St. Sophias, built under Prince Yaroslav the Wise in the 11th century, was modeled after the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the spiritual and architectural heart of medieval Orthodoxy. The Kyiv cathedral includes mosaics and frescoes as old as 1,000 years, and it was a model for later churches in the region, according to UNESCO.

The huge pantheon of Christian saints depicted in the cathedral has an unrivaled multiplicity among Byzantine monuments of that time, UNESCO says.

The Monastery of the Caves, including underground monastic cells, tombs of saints and above-ground churches built across nearly nine centuries, was hugely influential in spreading Orthodox Christianity, according to UNESCO.

Both complexes were endangered and at times damaged by centuries of warfare.

St. Sophias, sacred both to Ukraines two main rival Orthodox churches and to Catholics, is currently a museum and isnt normally used for religious services.

Two of the landmarks are associated with opposing sides in the schism within Ukrainian Orthodoxy.

The monastic complex is overseen by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is affiliated with the Orthodox patriarch of Moscow, though it has broad autonomy. St. Michaels is the base for the more nationalist Orthodox Church of Ukraine. But the Ukrainian leaders of both Orthodox groups have harshly criticized the Russian invasion.

If Kyivs landmarks are damaged or destroyed, could it potentially damage morale? Yes, Lassin said. Could it potentially galvanize people to be more united? Absolutely.  What I can say is the Ukrainian people are extremely resilient and are fighting back through all of this.

___

Associated Press reporter Jim Heintz in Kyiv contributed to this report.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
HELSINKI  Through the Cold War and the decades since, nothing could persuade Finns and Swedes that they would be better off joining NATO  until now.

Russias invasion of Ukraine has profoundly changed Europes security outlook, including for Nordic neutrals Finland and Sweden, where support for joining NATO has surged to record levels.

A poll commissioned by Finnish broadcaster YLE this week showed that, for the first time, more than 50% of Finns support joining the Western military alliance. In neighboring Sweden, a similar poll showed those in favor of NATO membership outnumber those against.

The unthinkable might start to become thinkable, tweeted former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, a proponent of NATO membership.

Neither country is going to join the alliance overnight. Support for NATO membership rises and falls, and theres no clear majority for joining in their parliaments.

But the signs of change since Russia began its invasion last week are unmistakable.

The attack on Ukraine prompted both Finland and Sweden to break with their policy of not providing arms to countries at war by sending assault rifles and anti-tank weapons to Kyiv. For Sweden, its the first time its offering military aid since 1939, when it assisted Finland against the Soviet Union.

Apparently sensing a shift among its Nordic neighbors, the Russian Foreign Ministry last week voiced concern about what it described as efforts by the United States and some of its allies to drag Finland and Sweden into NATO and warned that Moscow would be forced to take retaliatory measures if they joined the alliance.

The governments of Sweden and Finland retorted that they wont let Moscow dictate their security policy.

I want to be extremely clear: It is Sweden that itself and independently decides on our security policy line, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.

Finland has a conflict-ridden history with Russia, with which it shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border. Finns have taken part in dozens of wars against their eastern neighbor, for centuries as part of the Swedish Kingdom, and as an independent nation including two fought with the Soviet Union from 1939-40 and 1941-44.

In the postwar period, however, Finland pursued pragmatic political and economic ties with Moscow, remaining militarily nonaligned and a neutral buffer between East and West.

Sweden has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, choosing a path of peace after centuries of warfare with its neighbors.

Both countries put an end to traditional neutrality by joining the European Union in 1995 and deepening cooperation with NATO. However, a majority of people in both countries remained firmly against full membership in the alliance  until now.

The YLE poll showed 53% were in favor of Finland joining NATO, with only 28% against. The poll had an error margin of 2.5 percentage points and included 1,382 respondents interviewed Feb. 23 to 25. Russias invasion began on Feb. 24.

Its a very significant shift, said senior researcher Matti Pesu from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. Weve had a situation in the past 25-30 years where Finns opinions on NATO have been very stable. It seems to now to have changed completely.

While noting that its not possible to draw conclusions from a single poll, Pesu said no similar shift in public opinion occurred after Russias 2008 war with Georgia and the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, so this is an exception.

In Sweden, a late February poll commissioned by public broadcaster SVT found 41% of Swedes supported NATO membership and 35% opposed it, marking the first time that those in favor exceeded those against.

The Nordic duo, important partners for NATO in the Baltic Sea area where Russia has substantially increased its military maneuvers in the past decade, has strongly stressed that it is up to them alone to decide whether to join the military alliance.

In his New Years speech, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto pointedly said that Finlands room to maneuver and freedom of choice also include the possibility of military alignment and of applying for NATO membership, should we ourselves so decide.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted last week that for Helsinki and Stockholm this is a question of self-determination and the sovereign right to choose your own path and then potentially in the future, also to apply for NATO.

There are no set criteria for joining NATO, but aspiring candidates must meet certain political and other considerations. Many observers believe Finland and Sweden would qualify for fast-track entry into NATO without lengthy negotiations within months.

Though not members, Finland and Sweden closely cooperate with NATO, allowing, among other things, the alliances troops to exercise on their soil. Helsinki and Stockholm have also substantially intensified their bilateral defense cooperation in the past years, and both have secured close military cooperation with the U.S., Britain and neighboring NATO member Norway.

Niinistos office said Thursday that he would meet U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday to discuss Russias attack on Ukraine, the effects of the war on the European security order, and bilateral cooperation.

The Finnish head of state is one of the few Western leaders who has kept a regular dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin ever since Niinisto took office in 2012. Niinisto has a seemingly good rapport also with Biden and two leaders have maintained close contact throughout the Ukraine crisis.

In December, Biden called Niinisto and said he was pleased with Finlands decision to buy 64 Lockheed Martin F-35A stealth fighter jets to replace the countrys aging F-18 fighters. Biden said the move would pave the way for closer U.S.-Finnish military ties in future.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said this week that her Social Democratic Party would discuss possible NATO membership with other parties but didnt set a time frame. She said everyone agrees that the events of the past weeks have been a game-changer.

Together we see that the security situation has changed remarkably since Russia attacked Ukraine. It is a fact that we have to acknowledge, Marin said.

___ Associated Press writers Karl Ritter in Stockholm, and Lorne Cook in Brussels, contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Santa Fe County firefighters worked into the night Wednesday at the scene of a crash that left a police officer and civilian dead. Interstate 25 was shut down for hours as police investigated. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) Officers from several agencies escort the body of a Santa Fe Police officer who was killed pursuing a suspect on I-25 on Wednesday. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) Officers gather on I-25 as several agencies take part in a search for a suspect who was involved a kidnaping and high speed chase that resulted in a Santa Fe Police officer being killed Wednesday. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) Robert Duran Frank Lovato. (Courtesy of Mayor Louie Trujillo) A Santa Fe police officer and a motorist were killed Wednesday morning in multiple vehicle crashes while the officer was pursuing a kidnapping suspect. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) A Santa Fe County Sheriff's officer and other agencies are searching for a suspect who was involved a kidnaping and high speed chase that resulted in a Santa Fe Police officer being killed Wednesday. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) An FBI tactical team joins in the search for a suspect who was involved a kidnaping and high speed chase that resulted in a Santa Fe Police officer being killed Wednesday. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) An officer crosses I-25 as several agencies take part in a search for a suspect who was involved a kidnaping and high speed chase that resulted in a Santa Fe Police officer being killed. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal) Prev 1 of 9 Next

Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Frank Lovato, a husband, father and grandfather, served more than 20 years as a firefighter with the close-knit Las Vegas Fire Department before retiring in 2006.

On Wednesday late morning the 62-year-old was heading northbound on Interstate 25, just outside of Santa Fe, when he was killed in a multiple-vehicle crash involving a suspect fleeing police officers. The vehicles were headed the wrong way on the interstate.

Lovato and Santa Fe Police Department officer Robert Duran of Rio Rancho died at the scene. On Wednesday, a Santa Fe city official had mistakenly referred to the civilian who was killed as a female.

The suspect  who police said had kidnapped a woman at knifepoint and stole her car  fled the scene and was still at large. He has not been publicly identified.

The kidnapped woman was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries and released.

New Mexico State Police, which took over the investigation, said the events leading up to the crash were still under investigation by its uniform bureau and crash reconstruction unit.

NMSP does not believe that there is an ongoing threat to the public, said officer Ray Wilson, a State Police spokesman. State Police Investigators have been working diligently throughout the night and days since the incident to sort through evidence and witness statements to determine a sequence of events leading up to the incident.

Exact definition of a public servant

Lovato began his career with the Las Vegas Fire Department as an 18-year-old volunteer firefighter.

In 1983, at the age of 24, he was hired as a paid firefighter and worked his way up the ranks until he retired as an engineer in 2006, according to interim Fire Chief Steven Spann.

When the firefighters in our department and community speak of Engineer Lovato it becomes clear that he was an example for all of us on the true meaning of brotherhood in the fire service, Spann wrote in a news release. They describe him as selfless and down to earth and a great people person the exact definition of a public servant. He would always enjoy telling the crews stories any chance he got.

Spann said even after Lovato retired he never stopped being a firefighter and would come by, visit the crews and drink a cup of coffee.

Billy Montoya, who recently retired after serving as chief of the Las Vegas Fire Department for the past six years, said when he was a rookie in the early 2000s, he worked with Lovato.

He said Lovato was a mentor to him and others.

When I heard the bad news the first thing that popped into my head was we definitely lost a good person, Montoya said. He was always willing to help somebody, whether it be buying someone a meal, giving someone down on their luck a few bucks, whatever he could serve he always served.

Montoya said others from the fire department have been checking on Lovatos family and sending their condolences.

Two heroes were lost that day in that tragic event, he said.

The news of Lovatos death reverberated around Las Vegas. The Fire Department announced it would retire his badge number  27.

As the news rolls out into the community its shocking, Mayor Louie Trujillo said. This is very hard news for our community.

A devastating loss

Duran, 43, joined the Santa Fe Police Department as a cadet in 2015.

He leaves behind a wife and two teenage sons.

Duran, a patrol officer who also served as a member of the departments Emergency Response Team, was described by colleagues as well respected and loved.

We are devastated. There are no words to accurately describe the loss our department is feeling, to lose one of our own is heartbreaking, said interim Chief Paul Joye.

Durans family set up a GoFundMe to support his wife and sons. By Thursday afternoon it had already surpassed its $10,000 goal.

The site was set up by Durans niece, who said he was always the life of the party at every family gathering and was always there supporting his loved ones through their accomplishments.

He had always wanted to join law enforcement and when he finally did back in 2015, we were all so proud and happy for him for finally accomplishing his dream, the site said. My Uncle Robert always knew how to make everyone laugh and was such an amazing person to be around. We are all so grateful and lucky for the memories that he leaves us with.

The wrong way

Few new details were released about the kidnapping, the crash, the suspect or the search Thursday.

The incident started shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday when a woman was reportedly kidnapped and her car was stolen from the Rancho Vizcaya Apartments near St. Francis Drive and Interstate 25.

Officers spotted the car nearby and tried to stop it, but the suspect fled and got on Interstate 25, heading northbound in the southbound lanes. Then, between the Old Pecos Trail exit in Santa Fe and the Eldorado exit, police say the suspect began driving southbound in the northbound lanes.

The crash occurred at mile marker 286 and officials said several vehicles  including two Santa Fe patrol units, the white suspect vehicle, Lovatos pickup truck and a blue car  were involved.

The driver in the blue car was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Witnesses said the suspect fled on foot and was wearing a red shirt, black pants and a black jacket.

Wilson, the State Police spokesman, said during the investigation a BOLO (be on the look out) that was only supposed to be shared with law enforcement detailing a potential suspect was released on social media.

He said investigators contacted that person  Mark Thomas Lopez  and after a thorough investigation, he was ruled out as a suspect.

Since the BOLO was disseminated to law enforcement agencies across the state, it is unknown who posted it to social media, Wilson said.

To report tips

Police ask anyone with information about the suspect to call New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau Sgt. Andrew Jorgenson at 505-490-3871 or Agent Wyatt Harwell at 505-316-5254.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

Five weeks after suffering a stroke in New Mexico, U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan was greeted with a bipartisan standing ovation Thursday upon his return to the Senate.

Video posted online showed Lujan receiving the round of applause as he entered a meeting of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The 49-year-old hugged several of his colleagues and said he was teary eyed at moments throughout the day.

To everyone of you that sent me notes, that sent videos and all the prayers, it worked, Lujan said, his voice cracking slightly with emotion. Its good to be back, Ill tell you.

We love you Ben Ray and were glad youre with us today, Committee Chair Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., responded.

Lujan on Jan. 27 started to feel dizzy and checked himself into Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe. He was transferred to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where doctors determined he suffered a stroke in his cerebellum, and he underwent emergency surgery to ease swelling.

The cerebellum is in the rear of the brain and controls balance and muscle action and control.

It is the greatest honor of my life to represent New Mexico in the United States Congress, the Democratic senator said in a news release. Now, the Senate has several important matters on its docket  from confirming the first Black woman to the Supreme Court to lowering costs for working families  and I am pleased to be back to the business of legislating.

A couple of weeks after his stroke, the senator gave a briefing on social media with physicians involved in his care.

His health raised questions about the Democrats ability to pass the presidents agenda or approve his nominees as the Senate is narrowly divided between 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats who are joined by two independents. Senators arent allowed to proxy vote, so Lujans absence had an immediate effect.

Lujan voted to advance the presidents nominees for the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday. He also voted on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, according to his spokeswoman.

Lujan was elected to the Senate in 2020 and his term runs to 2027. Prior to that, he represented northern New Mexico for six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

I want to thank my constituents, my family, my staff, and my Senate colleagues for their continued love and support, he said. With this support and by Gods grace, I am back in the Senate and eager to get the job done for New Mexicans.
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

The man who police suspect briefly kidnapped three women, stole four vehicles and shot at bystanders in a crosstown crime spree early last week is the same man killed by law enforcement in Valencia County last Friday.

Authorities say 31-year-old Raphael Marquez led New Mexico State Police officers and Bernalillo County Sheriffs deputies on a chase in a maroon Ford pickup truck before they did a pursuit intervention technique and he crashed on the shoulder of Interstate 25.

Two BCSO SWAT team officers and a New Mexico State Police officer shot at Marquez, according to a news release. He was struck by gunfire and died at the scene.

State Police say Marquez was a person of interest in multiple homicides and had a violent criminal history.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said evidence connects Marquez to a Dec. 24 homicide, in which 33-year-old David Brown was found dead in a car on Ortiz, near Zuni and San Mateo SE. Its unclear whether Marquez might be connected to other homicides.

Marquez was charged with several counts of criminal damage to property, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, robbery, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and other crimes in last weeks spree.

It feels very violating

The spate of violence  from late Feb. 20 to early Feb. 21  launched a search for the suspect and a warrant was issued for Marquezs arrest four days later. Feb. 20 was Marquezs 31st birthday.

Around 1:30 a.m. on the 21st, Geoffrey Lamoni Sam and his wife were sound asleep when they woke up to a crash, first outside and then inside, their Northeast Albuquerque home.

In an interview with the Journal, Sam said he armed himself and ran out of their bedroom. The homes alarm was blaring. He yelled that he had a gun and the intruder responded with a bunch of vulgarities, and by firing a gun.

The Sams hid their three children  all under the age of 8  in a bedroom and called police, not knowing if the intruder was still in their home. Sam said officers entered the house about 45 minutes later.

It feels very violating to have someone enter your home, where you feel like youre safe, and to have my family be that close to danger is obviously very disturbing, Sam said. Fortunately, we were not injured, he knew we were armed. With Gods grace and his help, we were all safe.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Metropolitan Court, Marquez left behind a white Jeep he had stolen from a woman earlier in the night, and instead stole a white Honda Accord from the Sams house.

The Jeeps owner  a Spanish speaker in her 50s  later told detectives the suspect had entered her home before midnight. She said she had just finished taking a shower and he kidnapped her at gunpoint, using her own gun.

She said he drove around the interstates for about two hours before running out of gas in front of the Sams house. The woman said her kidnapper punched her several times in the stomach and threatened to kill her before entering the home.

When she heard a gunshot, the woman escaped and hid in bushes until officers arrived. She was taken to a hospital.

Over the next couple of hours, police say, Marquez kidnapped two sisters from a gas station in Southeast Albuquerque before letting them go near Interstate 25 and Rio Bravo. The sisters were able to flag down a deputy to get help.

Then, around 3:40 a.m., at a house near Uptown, Chris Ogden and his wife were startled awake by the sound of breaking glass and then by the silhouette of a man crossing past their bedroom door.

Ogden  who in an interview with the Journal described the incident as literally a nightmare  went to confront the intruder while his wife called 911. Not wearing his contacts made it hard for him to see.

Its the sounds of it  the sound of my wifes voice saying, Oh, my God, someones in the house,  Ive never heard such fear in her voice, Ogden said. That just keeps replaying in my head, the sound of the glass breaking, the sound of his voice, the way he was demanding car keys. He was yelling and breathing heavily.

Ogden said the intruder ran into the garage with his car keys, and then when he tried to follow, hit him on the hand with a beer growler. He said the dispatcher told his wife that the suspect had fired a gun earlier in the night and the two ran next door to a neighbors house until officers arrived.

Marquez stole the couples Toyota Prius, according to the affidavit. Officers saw it speeding through Louisiana and Constitution NE with its headlights off.

Officers tried to chase it, but it sped away, traveling the wrong direction on Interstate 40.

Several hours later, around 9 a.m., the Toyota was found crashed into a gate at a house.

Its been a week and a half, and Ogden said he and his wife still feel anxious.

Sometimes, well hear a strange noise and it will sort of send us into a panic, Ogden said. Then, it will be like, Oh, no that was just the garbage truck.'

The investigation

Detectives began interviewing victims, reviewing security camera footage and looking for evidence. The first kidnapped woman said the suspect told her his name was Raphael, and detectives narrowed in on Marquez.

They talked with Marquezs ex-girlfriend, who told them that, on the night in question, he had called her from an unknown number and it sounded as if there was a woman with him who was being choked or crying. According to the affidavit, Marquez told her he was being chased.

Detectives determined the phone number was from a phone that had been stolen from a commercial burglary where the first vehicle  a flatbed work truck  had been stolen.

Trista Perry  identified in the affidavit as Marquezs ex-girlfriend, but who told the Journal the two were married in Las Vegas, Nevada, a year ago  told detectives he called her the day after the crime spree, and asked her if she had seen the news and if they have any suspects. Detectives showed her security camera footage and she identified Marquez as Rafy, according to the affidavit.

On Feb. 25, a warrant was signed for Marquezs arrest.

Later that night, around 10:50 p.m., BCSO deputies told New Mexico State Police they were searching for him because he was wanted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a household member, was a person of interest in multiple homicides, and had a violent criminal history.

Marquez was seen heading southbound on Interstate 25 in a maroon Ford pick-up truck and State Police set up tire deflation devices. The truck drove over the devices and continued south.

A State Police officer found the truck and began to pursue it as it drove through Belen and the wrong way on Interstate 25. At some point, the officer used a pursuit intervention technique and the vehicle came to a stop after it rolled in the dirt shoulder.

BCSOs SWAT team and Belen Police Department officers arrived to help.

Officers gave the male driver numerous commands to exit the vehicle and surrender peacefully, according to a State Police news release. At some point during the encounter, two BCSO deputies, along with the New Mexico State Police officer, discharged their department-issued firearms toward the male subject.

State Police did not say whether Marquez was armed or what prompted them to shoot at him. Marquez was struck by gunfire at least once. Officers rendered aid, but he died at the scene.

We are thankful that New Mexico State Police officers and Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office deputies were not injured as they worked to apprehend this dangerous fugitive, APD Police Chief Harold Medina said in a statement. Raphael Marquez showed a total disregard for human life, including the lives of police officers.

He changed

Perry said an Albuquerque Police Department officer called her on Monday to tell her Marquez was dead.

She said they had been together for two years and, at first, he was very loving and caring, and exactly the kind of man she wanted to marry.

She said that changed after he spent a couple of months in jail and was released in November. Marquez pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining a motor vehicle and and he was put on supervised probation after his 18-month sentence was suspended.

He had been charged in that case, but released from jail when police say he stole a purse withA $3,000 in cash and $2,500 in property from a womans hotel room.

The burglary case was dismissed in October because the officer who was called to testify was on leave. The case was refiled the day of the crime spree.

Marquez was also wanted in two home burglaries toward the end of last year  on Dec. 22 and Dec. 30.

Perry said Marquez was using methamphetamine and she believes the allegations about his actions on the night of the crime spree are probably true.

I dont know what to really say about it, Perry said. I think he wasnt in the right state of mind when he did all that. He didnt realize what he was doing.

Perry said she has suspicions about other violent crimes he may also have been involved in.
WASHINGTON  Eyeing each other warily across negotiating tables, U.S. and Russian diplomats never much trusted each other. Yet even during the Cold War, they hashed out agreements on the biggest issues of the day.

Now the fierce, mutual hostility over Russias invasion of Ukraine raises a critical question: Is U.S.-Russian diplomacy effectively dead?

The answer is crucial for reasons that go far beyond the Ukraine war and the immediate interests of both nations.

The United States and Russia have been at the center of almost every item on the global agenda, including arms control, space cooperation, cybersecurity and climate change. Progress on those issues and more, such as Arctic policy and maritime and aviation safety, largely depend on the two giants finding common ground.

There hasnt been a total breakdown in diplomatic ties. For the moment at least, embassies remain open in both capitals despite a festering but unrelated diplomatic spat that has seen the two sides expel dozens of diplomats since 2017. And both Russia and the United States are involved in negotiations about reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, now underway in Vienna.

The well-known hotline communication channels aimed at preventing nuclear war remain in place. And the Pentagon has established a de-confliction line of direct communication with the Russian ministry of defense to avoid unintended Ukraine military incidents and escalation.

But aside from the Vienna talks, the most recent significant communication between the two sides appears to have been the U.S. notification to Russia on Monday that it would expel 12 Russians from the United Nations on espionage grounds.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose spokesman last week accused the Russians of engaging in diplomatic kabuki theater, said the door to diplomacy remains open but only narrowly and only if Moscow halts its military offensive.

What weve seen repeatedly is that Russia goes through the pretense of diplomacy to distract and continue on its aggressive path, Blinken told reporters Wednesday.

If we determine that there are areas that its in our interest to continue to pursue that may involve some engagement for Russia, well continue to pursue that, he said, adding however that were not going to let Russia dictate in any way whats in our interests and how to pursue it.

At the highest level, President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin have not spoken since a roughly hourlong phone call on Feb. 12, in which Biden told Putin that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would produce widespread human suffering and diminish Russias standing. Twelve days later, Russia invaded.

The last contact between the nations top diplomats  Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov  occurred on the eve of the invasion. On Feb. 23, Blinken wrote to Lavrov to say he was canceling a scheduled meeting in Geneva the next day because he did not believe it would be productive. Lavrov replied with a cursory note blaming any lack of productiveness on inflexible American positions, according to U.S. officials.

Other than that, the last publicly acknowledged contact may have been the U.S. informing Russia on Feb. 23 that it was expelling the No. 2 at its embassy in Washington in retaliation for Russias expulsion of the U.S. deputy ambassador from Moscow in mid-February.

The dearth of contact, apart from angry statements delivered by both sides at the United Nations, is problematic.

Generally one should preserve the ability to talk, and at the end of the day one usually finds ways to do what needs to be done, said Ronald Neumann, the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy and a former three-time U.S. ambassador. Russia wont be isolated forever, but right now there is a need to send them a message. We cant wink at them extinguishing a sovereign country.

Neumann noted that even during the Cuban missile crisis in the 1960s there were secret contacts, often involving intermediaries, despite bluster from both Washington and Moscow, and eventually there was a peaceful resolution. Cooler heads, he said, should prevail eventually as the impact of the lack of diplomacy becomes clearer.

We, too, will pay a price for isolating Russia, he said. But right now that appears to be a price that we should pay (because) we dont want to give the Russians a free hand.

With a wide-ranging list of potential areas of cooperation, the Biden administration has sought to ensure that not all contacts are banned. It has barred most U.S. diplomats from formal interactions with their Russian counterparts overseas, but the State Department said Tuesday that U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan has been in touch with counterparts in Moscow in recent days.

The exemptions to barred contacts include not just the Iran talks but discussions with Russia at most international forums like the United Nations. They also include direct talks with Moscow on consular issues, which for the United States means primarily the fate of at least two Americans detained on what Washington says are specious espionage charges.

For Russia, though, the appearance of diplomacy remains. Even as Russian troops have pressed their offensive deeper into Ukraine amid international outrage and increasing international isolation, Lavrov has sought to continue business as usual, talking about arms control in remarks to a U.N. disarmament conference in Geneva on Tuesday.

He spoke via video link after several EU nations barred him from flying there because of a European ban on Russian planes, part of bruising sanctions against Moscow. Lavrov berated the EU members for their refusal to respect the right to freedom of movement, which is a fundamental human right.

After repeating a litany of accusations against Ukraine and the West for moves he said were threatening Russias security, Lavrov spoke about Moscows readiness to continue the talks on arms control and European security  a statement that rang hollow as the war in Ukraine made such negotiations irrelevant.

He denounced what he called NATOs policy to contain Russia and its refusal to meet Moscows demand to keep Ukraine out of NATO and roll back alliance military deployments in Eastern Europe.

I am once again urging the United States, its allies and clients to unfailingly honor their obligations not to strengthen their own security at the expense of others, Lavrov said. Obviously, this would help improve the military-political situation in the Euro-Atlantic region and create prerequisites for making headway on the entire range of matters in the field of arms control, including possible work on new agreements.

___

Isachenkov reported from Moscow.
PRZEMYSL, Poland  It took Tatyana Pelykh and her 11-year-old son four days of travel and a wait of nearly 48 hours at the border crossing to escape their native Ukraine for Romania. There they found safety and a place to sleep, on the floor of a hotel conference room.

But Pelykh, a baker, says she still carries the terror of war inside her.

I feel that my body is here, but my heart and my soul are in Okhtyrka and Kharkiv, the cities in Ukraine where her parents and best friend remain hunkered down in basements and garages under Russian attack.

In just one week, Russias invasion of Ukraine has produced a refugee exodus so large that it almost matches the number of people who sought refuge in Europe in a whole year during the 2015 migration crisis.

The United Nations refugee agency said Thursday that 1 million people had fled Ukraine since Russias invasion, the swiftest exodus of refugees this century.

In 2015, hundreds of thousands of Syrians had fled their strife-torn country, which Russia also bombarded. Together with people escaping fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, they headed west, with thousands dying at sea trying to reach a continent where many didnt want them.

The arrival of about 1.3 million people sparked tensions among European partners, who squabbled over how many to accept, and bolstered far-right populists, some friendly to the Kremlin.

This time, as Russian forces inflict massive destruction on Ukraine, Europeans have united in extending a helping hand.

In one week, neighboring nations accepted more than 2% of Ukraines population of 44 million, according to the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR. The operation has gone relatively smoothly thanks to an enormous mobilization of volunteers who have gone to the borders to help.

The European Union decided Thursday to grant people fleeing Ukraine temporary protection and residency permits. EU Migration Commissioner Ylva Johansson said millions more were expected to move into the 27-nation bloc and would require shelter, schooling and work. The U.N. refugee agency predicted the war could produce up to 4 million refugees.

Meanwhile, Ukrainians and others who had been living in Ukraine continued to arrive in Polish, Hungarian, Slovakian, Romanian and Moldovan border towns.

Among them was Nadia Zuravka, a teenager who arrived Thursday in Przemysl, Poland, with her mother. They came from Ukraines second-largest city, Kharkiv, which is under bombardment. She said both her school and home had been hit by bombs, and her friends were all hiding in basements.

Everything of value to me has faced some kind of destruction, she said.

Poland, a neighboring Slavic nation where many Ukrainians have settled in recent years for work, has received the largest single group of refugees so far, with many being taken in by relatives or friends. Many refugees continue moving west to countries like Italy and Germany.

Volunteers and local authorities at border crossings meet exhausted people who have been traveling for days. They serve food or guide the newcomers to shelters; sometimes they take strangers into their own homes. Children arriving with cancer were evacuated to hospitals in Poland.

Pope Francis thanked Poland for its role in helping refugees, praising the countrys people for opening your borders, your hearts, the doors of your homes.

People from across Europe are helping too, even as they struggle with their own fears of what this dangerous new chapter holds for a continent that has faced so much bloodshed in past wars.

Luc Dedecker drove 1,650 kilometers (1,025 miles) from his home in Belgium to Przemysl, stopping only to sleep in his car. He was prepared to take strangers back to his place.

People need to be helped, he said. He also described a profound fear of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

For Poles, Russias attack on Ukraine evokes memories of their own countrys double invasion in 1939 by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The German invasion triggered World War II and a brutal five-year occupation that killed 6 million Poles, including 3 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

Scenes of destroyed Ukrainian cities today recall the look of Polish cities leveled by German bombardments during the war.

Some Poles described helping Ukrainians now as part of a struggle by the democratic West to defend their own liberty, since sheltering Ukrainian women and children frees men to fight at home.

We think that if Ukrainians fight and win, we will be safe. Now, we are not safe, said Bartosz Tomaszewski, a 28-year-old Pole in a yellow security vest that marked him as a volunteer.

He was guiding people coming off trains in Przemsyl, where he has traveled each day from his home in nearby Rzeszow.

Tomaszewski fears that if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fails to stop Putin, Poland could be next, along with the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Pelykh, the Ukrainian refugee in the Romanian border town of Siret, hopes people in Russia will read about this and think about what is happening now (in Ukraine). Its not photoshop, its not fairy tales. Its real, its real. Its in my town.

___

Brito reported from Siret Romania, Monika Scislowska in Warsaw and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
NEW DELHI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Delegations of India and Pakistan discussed issues under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) during a meeting of the Permanent Indus Commission (PIC), said the Indian Foreign Ministry.

The three-day meeting, which concluded on Thursday, was held in Pakistan's Islamabad, during which "technical discussions were held regarding on-going projects including Pakal Dul, Kiru and Lower Kalnai," according to a statement issued by the ministry.

The PIC, comprising of Indus commissioners of India and Pakistan, discussed "the exchange of hydrological and flood data," the statement said.

"Both the commissioners reaffirmed their commitment to interact more frequently in an attempt to resolve issues through bilateral discussions under the treaty," it added.

The PIC also agreed to hold the next meeting "in New Delhi on mutually convenient dates," it said.

Post-partition of the subcontinent water-sharing was a major problem between India and Pakistan. The issue was resolved with the arbitration of the World Bank and a settlement in the name of IWT was reached in 1960.

The agreement governs how the two countries use and share water resources.

Under the provisions of the IWT, the two commissioners are required to meet at least once every year, alternately in India and Pakistan. 
Copyright  2022 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  New Mexico will allocate about $25 million a year to a trust fund that supports affordable housing under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The legislation, Senate Bill 134, won bipartisan support in the legislative session that ended last month.

Every New Mexican deserves a safe, affordable and comfortable place to live, and this funding stream will make a real difference in the lives of New Mexicans, especially in rural areas of the state, Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The measure requires the state to set aside 2.5% of its severance tax bonding capacity for New Mexicos housing trust fund. Analysts for the Legislature estimate it will result in $24 million to $26 million flowing into the trust fund each year rather than going to other capital projects.

The trust fund is aimed at providing affordable housing, with an emphasis on helping people with low to moderate incomes.

The Mortgage Finance Authority, which administers the trust fund, reported to lawmakers this year that 118,000 households pay 30% or more of their income toward housing costs while another 101,000 pay 50% or more  a situation worsened by the pandemic.

Rent in Albuquerque grew nearly 19% over the last year, outpacing the nationwide increase, the agency said.

Median home sale prices in New Mexico climbed 57% in a five-year period, reaching $291,000 in November, the Mortgage Finance Authority said.

The sponsors of the bill  Sen. Nancy Rodriguez of Santa Fe and Rep. Nathan Small of Las Cruces, both Democrats  said it will have a ripple effect on the lives of families.

Access to affordable housing is an incredibly important factor in positively influencing an individual or familys stability, health and well-being, Rodriguez said.

Small said the money will go toward new construction, energy efficiency and rehabilitation that will make a world of difference for many lower and middle income families across our state.

The Senate passed the bill 37-3, and it won House approval on a 51-15 vote.

Severance tax bonds allow the state to borrow money and repay it with tax revenue from oil, gas or other material taken out of the ground.

The governor signed another measure Thursday that had won broad support in the Legislature  House Bill 135, which is intended to prevent the arbitrary removal of Native American children from their tribes and homes.

Children, Youth and Families Secretary Barbara Vigil said the bill is an unprecedented milestone towards preserving the important cultural connection of Indian children in our child welfare system.

Lujan Grisham has until Wednesday to act on bills passed in the final days of the session. Among the proposals awaiting action are the state budget, a crime package, expansion of a college scholarship program and tax cuts.
ZAHONY, Hungary  Some of the 1 million people who have fled Russias devastating war in Ukraine count among societys most vulnerable, unable to decide on their own to flee and needing careful assistance to make the journey to safety.

In the Hungarian town of Zahony on Wednesday, more than 200 Ukrainians with disabilities  residents of two care homes in Ukraines capital of Kyiv  disembarked into the cold wind on a train station platform after an arduous escape from the violence gripping Ukraine.

The refugees, many of them children, have serious mental and physical disabilities, and were evacuated from their care facilities once the Russian assault on the capital intensified.

It wasnt safe to stay there, there were rockets, they were shooting at Kyiv, said Larissa Leonidovna, the director of the Svyatoshinksy orphanage in Kyiv. We spent more than an hour underground during a bombing.

Russias intensifying attack on Ukraine has forced 1 million people to leave in what one U.N. official predicted could become Europes biggest refugee crisis this century.

The exodus tallied early Thursday by the U.N. refugee agency after one week of Russian fighting is without precedent in this century for its speed and amounted to more than 2% of Ukraines population.

More than half of the refugees  nearly 505,000  have gone to Poland, while more than 116,300 have entered Hungary and over 79,300 have crossed into Moldova, according to earlier figures. Another 71,000 have fled to Slovakia, and some 69,600 have gone to other European countries.

While many of those fleeing are able-bodied adults, choosing to brave long and sometimes dangerous journeys to bring themselves and their families to safety, others are at the mercy of their caregivers to deliver them out of danger.

These children need a lot of attention, they have illnesses and require special care, said Leonidovna, the director of the Kyiv orphanage.

Moving from the train in groups of 30, the children  also from the Darnytskyy orphanage in Kyiv  were escorted to buses waiting to take them to Opole, Poland, where they would be settled and receive further care.

There are 216 people altogether, the children along with their chaperones, said Viktoria Mikolayivna, deputy director of the Darnytskyy home.

Cold weather gripping Eastern Europe on Wednesday made conditions even harder for those fleeing into countries neighboring Ukraine.

At the border area of Palanca in southern Moldova, a country that shares a long border with Ukraine, temperatures hovered around freezing and a fresh blanket of snow covered the ground.

Mothers with young children came wrapped in blankets and clothing, but the cold weather has made an already desperate situation even worse.

Julia, a 32-year-old mother with a 3-year-old child, tried to calm her son who was burning with fever. She felt helpless, she said, but is proud that she made the decision to help her family.

Thank God that I can protect my family, but I didnt want to leave my country. But I had to find another way to protect my family, she told The Associated Press.

Braving snow and sub-freezing temperatures, thousands of refugees continued to flee Ukraine into neighboring Romania through the Siret border crossing.

Alina Onica, a 41-year-old Red Cross volunteer in Siret, said that the freezing weather and snow are only adding to the challenges and needs of the refugees being displaced by war.

It made it more difficult because many left their homes a couple of days ago, and all they had was the clothes on their backs, she said. They have been asking for gloves, hats, and blankets. Its a humanitarian crisis and were hoping it will end soon.

Nastya Kononchuk, who hopes to reach the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to wait out the war with her dog, said she is originally from the Black Sea city of Odesa but was living in Kyiv. Her husband drove her to the Romanian border, but then returned to joined Ukraines armed forces.

It was a very long road and very scary, she said of the journey, when she heard the thud of missiles all around. You dont understand, Is it ours or is it enemy?'

Maybe its okay that now we dont have children, she added. But we have our dog, it is our child.

Victoria Baibara, who left Kyiv two days ago with her 6-year-old son after witnessing escalating bombing in the capital, arrived in Romania on Wednesday and will travel to Istanbul to stay with friends, she said.

Its so hard, its hard for a child, we cant explain to him why we should leave our home, why we hear these bombs, the 29-year-old said. He is also very scared. I am also very scared.  Its so cold and it was hard to stay with a child in the snow.

Marya Unhuryan, from Chernivsti in western Ukraine, came by car to Siret with her 9-year-old daughter and other relatives, all women.

I feel a lot of pain.  Just pain. A lot of pain for my country and my people, she said. Shes 9 years old and she does not understand the situation. She just wants to eat pizza in Italy and go to Disney in France.



AP journalists Stephen McGrath and Renata Brito in Siret, Romania, and Helena Alves in Palanca, Moldova, contributed to this report.



Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
FLORENCE, Ariz.  Corrections officials say a chaplain was injured Thursday at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence in a prisoner assault.

The Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Re-entry said the chaplains injuries werent life-threatening.

The agency said the attack involved one prisoner and that a criminal investigation of the assault has begun.
Instagram Celebrity

The Ukrainian-born professional dancer is pictured sharing a warm embrace with his wife at the LAX after he opened up about his traumatic escape from his homeland amid Russia's invasion.

Mar 3, 2022

AceShowbiz - Maksim Chmerkovskiy has safely returned to the U.S. after he was briefly detained in Ukraine. The Ukrainian-born professional dancer had an emotional reunion with his wife Peta Murgatroyd upon his arrival in Los Angeles.

The 42-year-old pro dancer touched down in Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, March 2. In photos taken by paparazzi, the pair shared a long, sweet embrace in the airport terminal before walking out together.

Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Peta Murgatroyd emotionally reunite in L.A.

Maksim spoke to ET's Kevin Frazier at the airport, where he admitted, "I just don't want to resent peace somewhere else because of what I just saw, that's the reality. I don't know really what to say right this second."

He also spoke to photographers and reporters outside LAX. "The reason why Ukraine is standing right now is because of the Ukrainian people," the "Dancing with the Stars" alum said, explaining that this sort of conflict was something many had been expecting for years. "And the fact that the entire world is helping."

"Huge shout out to Poland, huge shout out to neighboring countries," he added. "The way I was treated through the whole process of leaving into Poland, I've just got to bow down to the Polish people."

Maksim then reflected on the global impact of the conflict. "If we don't get involved, this thing is going to go everywhere else. I think that in 2022, following this action, we have to completely rethink the way we do things as a planet," he explained. "There can never again be one person who can do something like this ever again. We have to have checks and balances globally, not just one country at a time."

Maksim previously fled from Ukraine to Poland after he was arrested in Kyiv amid Russia's invasion. He took a 23-hour train ride from Kyiv to Poland's capital, Warsaw. He shared in an Instagram video following his escape, "I'm scared, I'm confused, I'm terrified and I just lived through some s**t that I'm going to need a lot of therapy for."
WENN/Sheri Determan Celebrity

Sharing the complaint to social media, 'The Beautiful People' crooner promises to 'share more events of the past year' and lets 'the facts speak for themselves' after filing defamation lawsuit against his ex-fiancee.

Mar 3, 2022

AceShowbiz - Marilyn Manson is standing up for himself. "The Beautiful People" crooner has vowed to speak the truth and share more facts after he filed defamation lawsuit against Evan Rachel Wood over sexual abuse claims made by his ex-fiancee.

On Wednesday, March 2, the 53-year-old rockstar took to his social media accounts to share a link to the lawsuit he filed via his attorney Howard King against the "Westworld" actress. Along with the link, he wrote, "There will come a time when I can share more about the events of the past year." He then added, "Until then, I'm going to let the facts speak for themselves."

Marilyn, whose real name is Brian Warner, filed the complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court via his attorney Howard King on Wednesday morning, per TMZ. In it, he alleged that she "derailed his successful music, TV and film career" with "malicious falsehood" of the abuse allegations she made against him.

Marilyn sued Evan Rachel for conspiracy, defamation, emotional distress and "impersonation over the internet," according to the paperwork. In the complaint, he also accused the 34-year-old actress and her "romantic partner," artist Illma Gore, of recruiting and pressuring women into making allegations against him and impersonating FBI agents to further coerce the women by making them believe their families were in danger.

Marilyn also claimed that Evan Rachel and Illma created a fake email address to make it look as if he sent her "illicit pornography" and that the pair orchestrated a swatting incident at his Los Angeles home last month. The complaint further stated that the "Kajillionaire" actress and her girlfriend provided checklists and scripts listing specific acts of abuse for prospective accusers to claim against him, including that he filmed the sexual assault of a minor.

Marilyn is currently seeking unspecified damages in "an amount to be determined at trial." In a statement, his attorney Howard said that the complaint was filed in order to "stop a campaign of malicious and unjustified attacks" on the musician.

"Years after the end of Evan Rachel Wood's long-term relationship with Warner, she and her girlfriend Illma Gore recruited numerous women and convinced them to make false allegations against him," the statement read. "As part of their plot, Wood and Gore illegally forged a letter impersonating an actual FBI agent and falsely claiming that she was conducting a criminal investigation of Warner."

Howard added that Evan Rachel and Illma also used that fabricated FBI letter to trick HBO into distributing a one-sided documentary, "Phoenix Rising". The attorney also believed that the doc was premised on the existence of an entirely fictitious federal investigation.

"Even though HBO and the producers have been made aware of these serious acts of misconduct, they have thus far chosen to proceed without regard for the facts," said Howard. "But the evidence of wrongdoing by Wood and Gore is irrefutable and this legal action will hold them to account."

In the said doc, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, Evan Rachel claimed that Marilyn's "first crime" against her took place while filming the rocker's 2007 "Heart-Shaped Glasses" music video when she was 19 years old.

The "True Blood" alum insisted, "I was coerced into a commercial sex act under false pretenses." She went on saying, "That's when the first crime was committed against me. I was essentially raped on-camera."

Responding to the shocking allegations, Marilyn vehemently denied the claims via his lawyer Howard. The attorney stated that Evan Rachel's accusations were "brazen" and easily debunked as "there were multiple witnesses."
WENN Celebrity

Words are someone is arrested after breaking into the 'Eazy' rapper's Hidden Hills property, which is located just across the street from his ex Kim Kardashian's home.

Mar 3, 2022

AceShowbiz - Kanye West may need to tighten security for his recently-purchased house. Someone has reportedly broken into his Hidden Hills home, which is located just actress the street from his ex Kim Kardashian's house.

Sources tell The Blast that the break-in took place on Wednesday afternoon, March 2. The intruder allegedly got into the house and went on Instagram Live from inside the property to show off where he was, which was surely foolish to do.

According to the site, someone notified Ye of the break-in and he later reported it to police. Cops immediately responded to the call and were seen outside the house, but it's not clear if an arrest has been made.

The Yeezy designer is said to be safe as he was not home when the incident took place. The night before, he was spotted hanging out with Khloe Kardashian's ex-boyfriend Tristan Thompson in Miami.

Ye purchased the house for $4.5 million in December last year amid his long and messy divorce from Kim. At a Wednesday hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Steve Cochran granted the reality TV star's request of the dissolution of her marriage to the rapper. Thus, she was legally declared single.

The SKIMS founder was also allowed to legally change her name to Kim Kardashian, removing the rapper's last name West. Appearing at the hearing via video conference, she reportedly looked "happy."

When asked if she wanted to change her name back, the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" alum replied, "Yes." She also confirmed there was a breakdown in their marriage. "After the judge read the questions and told her she now has her single status back, Kim smiled," a so-called insider told Page Six.

Following the judge's order, Kanye's team released a statement clarifying several "mistruths" on the divorce. "Kanye's paperwork has always indicated that his problems with the divorce were only procedural," the message read.

"Moreover, he was always in support of the divorce only if Kim satisfied the procedural requirements to protect rights under the CA law - the same rights afforded to any litigant going through a divorce," it continued. "Today it was determined and addressed in court that Kim initially did not have the proper paperwork to get the bifurcation of the marital status."
Nobel Hygiene, Indias largest private manufacturer of disposable hygiene products, has announced the appointment of Lara Balsara to their board of directors.

Lara is the first woman independent director to be appointed to the companys board. She brings to the table her vast experience in the advertising and media planning industry and will add immense value to Nobel Hygienes brands across their media-intensive categories.

Kartik Johari, VP-Marketing & Commerce, Nobel Hygiene, says, We are glad to have Lara onboard with us. She is a legend in the media and advertising industry. Her insight and expertise will add great value to the company especially at a time when our brands are embarking on media intensive journeys. There is an emotional connect with her, tooNobel Hygiene was one of her first accounts that she reached out to as a media trainee during the beginning of her career at Madison. Our association has only grown stronger with time. Throughout the years, Madison has been a valued partner and we hope to deepen this relationship over the next phase of brand building.

Speaking on joining the board, Lara Balsara, says, My association with Nobel Hygiene started way back in 2005. I have seen the company and its various brands grow from strength to strength over the years. I am delighted to be a part of its Board. The categories that Nobel Hygiene operates in, come with their own set of very unique challenges. With the right mix of media and medium we can create an unbeatable combination that can take brand awareness to the next level. The sky is the limit.

She was inducted into the board of directors on 3rd February 2022.
Mamaearth, the fastest growing FMCG brand in India, launched its latest national television advertisement for their Ubtan Face Wash, featuring Samantha Ruth Prabhu. The TV Commercial highlights the goodness of natural ingredients in the Ubtan Face Wash giving #ShaadiWalaGlowEveryday, naturally.

With the promise of goodness inside all products, Mamaearth brings the best of nature and traditional recipes in hassle-free formulations. The film conceptualized by Korra Worldwide captures the essence of the brands unique proposition. Featuring Samantha Ruth Prabhu, the film is set up on the premise of a Haldi Ceremony happening before the wedding for the bride and groom. The film starts with the bride looking at herself in the mirror and admiring her glow from the ubtan at her Haldi ceremony. She comments saying that she could host multiple weddings, just to get this glow and radiance. Samantha interjects mocking her and questions, multiple weddings or Haldi ceremonies? To which her friend responds complimenting Samanthas glow and says that it seems like she hosts multiple Haldi ceremonies. Samantha responds confidently, that her Haldi ceremony happens every day with Mamaearth Ubtan Face Wash. Mamaearth's Ubtan face wash is a modern avatar of the traditional ubtan with the natural goodness of turmeric and saffron that help remove tan leaving behind radiant skin.

The film closes with the ingredient benefits of Mamearth Ubtan facewash in a no-toxin proposition giving the perfect #ShaadiWalaGlowEveryday.

Commenting on the campaign, Ghazal Alagh, Co-Founder and CIO at MamaEarth said Ubtan has been the secret recipe for glowing and radiant skin that has been passed on from generations, and the Haldi ceremony before the wedding is an extremely important event for every bride and groom. They mask themselves with the Haldi ubtan to look radiant and glowing on their big day. We have taken the traditional ubtan ingredients and created a hassle-free formula using them to give our consumers a product that will give them the Ubtan like glow, every day. Through this TV Commercial, we are trying to build synergies between the traditional Haldi ubtan and Mamaearth Ubtan face wash and we hope this thought resonates with our consumers and they come forward and choose #ShaadiWalaGlowEveryday, naturally with Mamaearth.

Commenting on the campaign Gaurav Nabh, Chief Executive Officer, Korra, said "We are proud to be part of MamaEarth's effort as it expands across geographies and focuses on leveraging regional celebrities to build a deeper consumer connect. Our latest work on MamaEarths new non-toxic Ubtan face wash features Samantha, one of the leading actresses in India. The film is canvased around the insight that the need to look your best is never felt more than on your wedding day and one regime closely linked to this occasion is the use of Ubtan to attain flawless glow. With this, we at Korra continue to work with MamaEarth to make it the personal care and wellness brand of choice for millennials across India & the world"

Commenting on the campaign Deepak Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, Korra added We have always believed in telling stories that cut across geographies. But with the new Ubtan glow product we realized that the need of the product remains the same, but the context should be a bit different for the South market. With Samantha on board, the new Ubtan glow film beautifully tells how easy it is to get the same wedding glow, every day in a cute slice of life situation which we all shall relate to.

The film is a 30 second TV commercial. Mamaearth has created another edit of 15 seconds to showcase the banter between the wedding attendees.

Mamaearth is a purpose-led brand that strongly believes in the principle of Goodness Inside and is committed to furthering the goodness through its products and initiatives. Mamaearth believes that goodness starts with the small choices each of us make every day! The brand continues to live up to its belief by using only the best of nature and no toxins or harmful chemicals in their products. They are also animal cruelty-free, plastic positive, and have launched the Plant Goodness promise last year. As part of this, the brand links every order made on their website to a tree they plant and is set to plant 1 million+ trees by 2025.

Mamaearth, the fastest growing FMCG brand in India, launched its latest national television advertisement for their Ubtan Face Wash, featuring Samantha Ruth Prabhu. The TV Commercial highlights the goodness of natural ingredients in the Ubtan Face Wash giving #ShaadiWalaGlowEveryday, naturally.

With the promise of goodness inside all products, Mamaearth brings the best of nature and traditional recipes in hassle-free formulations. The film conceptualized by Korra Worldwide captures the essence of the brands unique proposition. Featuring Samantha Ruth Prabhu, the film is set up on the premise of a Haldi Ceremony happening before the wedding for the bride and groom. The film starts with the bride looking at herself in the mirror and admiring her glow from the ubtan at her Haldi ceremony. She comments saying that she could host multiple weddings, just to get this glow and radiance. Samantha interjects mocking her and questions, multiple weddings or Haldi ceremonies? To which her friend responds complimenting Samanthas glow and says that it seems like she hosts multiple Haldi ceremonies. Samantha responds confidently, that her Haldi ceremony happens every day with Mamaearth Ubtan Face Wash. Mamaearth's Ubtan face wash is a modern avatar of the traditional ubtan with the natural goodness of turmeric and saffron that help remove tan leaving behind radiant skin.

The film closes with the ingredient benefits of Mamearth Ubtan facewash in a no-toxin proposition giving the perfect #ShaadiWalaGlowEveryday.

Commenting on the campaign, Ghazal Alagh, Co-Founder and CIO at MamaEarth said Ubtan has been the secret recipe for glowing and radiant skin that has been passed on from generations, and the Haldi ceremony before the wedding is an extremely important event for every bride and groom. They mask themselves with the Haldi ubtan to look radiant and glowing on their big day. We have taken the traditional ubtan ingredients and created a hassle-free formula using them to give our consumers a product that will give them the Ubtan like glow, every day. Through this TV Commercial, we are trying to build synergies between the traditional Haldi ubtan and Mamaearth Ubtan face wash and we hope this thought resonates with our consumers and they come forward and choose #ShaadiWalaGlowEveryday, naturally with Mamaearth.

Commenting on the campaign Gaurav Nabh, Chief Executive Officer, Korra, said "We are proud to be part of MamaEarth's effort as it expands across geographies and focuses on leveraging regional celebrities to build a deeper consumer connect. Our latest work on MamaEarths new non-toxic Ubtan face wash features Samantha, one of the leading actresses in India. The film is canvased around the insight that the need to look your best is never felt more than on your wedding day and one regime closely linked to this occasion is the use of Ubtan to attain flawless glow. With this, we at Korra continue to work with MamaEarth to make it the personal care and wellness brand of choice for millennials across India & the world"

Commenting on the campaign Deepak Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, Korra added We have always believed in telling stories that cut across geographies. But with the new Ubtan glow product we realized that the need of the product remains the same, but the context should be a bit different for the South market. With Samantha on board, the new Ubtan glow film beautifully tells how easy it is to get the same wedding glow, every day in a cute slice of life situation which we all shall relate to.

The film is a 30 second TV commercial. Mamaearth has created another edit of 15 seconds to showcase the banter between the wedding attendees.

Mamaearth is a purpose-led brand that strongly believes in the principle of Goodness Inside and is committed to furthering the goodness through its products and initiatives. Mamaearth believes that goodness starts with the small choices each of us make every day! The brand continues to live up to its belief by using only the best of nature and no toxins or harmful chemicals in their products. They are also animal cruelty-free, plastic positive, and have launched the Plant Goodness promise last year. As part of this, the brand links every order made on their website to a tree they plant and is set to plant 1 million+ trees by 2025.
Wakefit.co, Indias leading home and sleep solutions brand, announced the onboarding of popular actor Rashmika Mandanna as its first brand ambassador. Rashmika will be a part of Wakefit.cos upcoming campaigns. This will aid in the companys brand-building efforts in an evolving market and chart out its growth to become Indias leading home and sleep solutions company.

Wakefit.co has been synonymous with its mission to bring sleep into the consciousness of Indians. Since its foray into home solutions a couple of years ago, the brand has carved a niche for itself by providing premium quality home solution products such as sofas, study tables, wardrobes, bedside tables, TV units, shoe racks, bookshelves, and more at affordable prices. The company has bolstered its presence across India and now has 8 manufacturing facilities spread across Bengaluru, Delhi, and Jodhpur and 24 warehouses across India. The collaboration with actor Rashmika will strengthen the company's expansion plans and help penetrate deeper into unchartered waters across the country.

Speaking about the tie-up, Rashmika Mandanna said, I am thrilled to be representing Wakefit.co as their brand ambassador. The company has a great range of products in its portfolio that is classy, ergonomic, yet affordable. As a person who is constantly traveling for shoots, I come back home, to my comfort zone, at the end of a long and tiring day. Being affiliated with Wakefit.co and being a part of their growth will be an exciting journey that I will look forward to.

Rashmika Mandanna, 25, is a well-known Indian model and actress who started her career in the Kannada film industry. She eventually made her debut in the Telugu film industry where she instantly rose to fame. Dubbed as the National Crush of India, she has over 29 million followers on Instagram and is admired for her quirky style, positive energy, and ability to connect with her fans.

Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Co-founder and Director, Wakefit.co said We are excited to welcome Rashmika to the Wakefit family. As a young actress in the industry, Rashmika has shown immense talent, gaining popularity and the love of her audience from all around the country. At Wakefit.co, we aim to become one of Indias most loved brands for all things home, and I believe Rashmikas vibrant and versatile personality resonates with the brand that we are. Rashmika comes on board at a time when we are expanding our presence and operations in the country, and aiming to cross INR 1000 crore revenue in FY 2023.

Wakefit.co received its Series C funding in November 2021 and is utilizing the funds to facilitate Capex, expanding the supply chain while also solidifying its omnichannel presence.
Alton, IL (62002)

Today

Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
PHNOM PENH, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian and Malaysian armies vowed on Thursday to increase bilateral cooperation for mutual benefits, the Cambodian army said in a statement.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between Lt. General Hun Manet, deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and commander of the Royal Cambodian Army, and Malaysian Army Chief General Zamrose bin Mohd Zain, who arrived in Cambodia on Wednesday for a two-day visit.

The statement said that during the meeting, the two commanders expressed satisfaction with the fruitful results achieved in bilateral cooperation in the field of national defense, including on the training of Cambodian military personnel through the Malaysian Defense Cooperation Program (MDCP) since 2002.

"Regarding the bilateral cooperation at the army level, both sides greatly appreciated the results of this visit, which paves the way for more comprehensive and robust cooperative ties between the two armies," the statement said.

"Both sides discussed the mutually beneficial concepts and cooperative directions, including increasing bilateral cooperation, especially on human resource development and cybersecurity," it added.

They agreed to lift cooperation to a higher level, mulling over setting up a mechanism for army-to-army talks and expanding cooperation in other potential areas, according to the statement. 
Heres what the doctor associated with the clinic had to say:

Its full-day services that well be able to offer, including meals, he said. So, its a way that the families who have a child in the spectrum can lead full lives and know that their kids will be taken care of.

Sarah Smith, a board-certified behavior analyst, is Easterseals vice president for autism services . An ABA center is something that western Kentucky has needed for a long time, she said. As the rates of autism continue to increase, this is going to provide opportunities for families to get the services they need.

Carroll said that since insurance companies now have to cover that therapy, there is a funding stream available for the Paducah program.

It seems Kentucky now requires insurers to provide autism therapy to residents and that makes it a sustainable program.

Easterseals West Kentucky announced Friday that it would open an autism center in Paducah sometime this fall.

In America theyre just as excited about more kids with autism and the coverage shows it.

It didnt take long to see that these places are popping up across the country, and Im going to strike a balance between news reports from the U.S. and those from the U.K.

I havent seen that happening in the U.S. and for a while I wondered about that, but what I discovered is the American alternative: autism therapy centers.

For a very long time now Ive been posting stories from Britain on my site Loss of Brain Trust about how theyre continually building special schools and adding autism classrooms to mainstream schools everywhere while telling us about the increase in kids with complex needs and how delighted and excited everyone feels about it.

Dr. John Cecil, the medical director for Easterseals West Kentucky and a pediatrician, has been anticipating an autism center in Paducah for 40 years. When I started 40 years ago, 1 in 1,500 children had autism, so it was not very common, he said. Now, its 1 in 68, so we need help for those kids.

These ABA therapies are the only thing weve seen that can make a difference. Medications are not the answer, but the therapy has made a difference. Cecil said it would take about a year to make an appointment to see an autism specialist in Louisville or at Vanderbilt in Nashville.

The most important thing: What do you do with the children after theyve gotten the diagnosis? Youve got to have somewhere to help with that, so this is the answer.

Too bad this specialist doesnt know the rate of one in 68 is from 2014. The latest stat is a hefty one in 44 kids as of December 2021 with a lot worse numbers in individual states around the U.S. If the only thing weve seen that can make a difference is ABA, according to Dr. Cecil, were in big trouble.

Plymouth, MN: Feb 25, 2022, KSTP, Minneapolis: Sensory inclusion room now open at Plymouth community center

The City of Plymouth has a new space for people with sensory needs. There is a new room at the community center aimed at giving those folks a quiet place to go but still get out of the house.

Equipped with things like noise-canceling headphones, art installations and even different lighting, its now the first community center in the country to have a sensory room certified by the national nonprofit Kulture City  which specializes in sensory needs and accessibility.

Paul Pearson is the Recreation Supervisor with the City of Plymouth. He says by working with Kulture City, he found out one in six people have a sensory need like autism, PTSD or dementia.

We are very proud and we hope it leads to more sensory rooms and more inclusion, Pearson said.

One local nonprofit that specializes in autism awareness is thrilled to see this sensory room open, and they say its important for this to become the norm.

Sad to yes, this is the norm and its only going to get worse.

Autism is specifically talked about.

These accommodations are incredibly important to a huge part to our local community, said Ellie Wilson, Executive Director with the Autism Society of Minnesota.

Ellie Wilson is the Executive Director of the Autism Society of Minnesota and she says invisible disabilities are more common than people think.

According to a recent Centers for Disease Control study, one in 36 people in Minnesota qualify for an autism diagnosis.

Of course the one in 36 autism rate isnt really based on people. Its the rate among 8 year olds, but we just pretend were all in this together.

Pflugerville, TX: Feb 25, 2022, (TX) CommunityImpact.com: New restaurants, boutiques and clinics: 10 businesses now open or coming soon to Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto

In a community events update was the following item #4:

A new Behavioral Innovations clinic opened Feb. 1 at 701 FM 685, Ste. 420, Pflugerville. The autism treatment center uses applied behavior analysis to work with children on the autism spectrum to teach new skills, improve performance in already acquired skills, and decrease unwanted and challenging behaviors. 

Millersville, MD: Feb 25, 2022, Odenton-Severn, MD Patch: Verbal Beginnings Opens Autism Center In Millersville

A new autism center opened in Millersville. The facility will help children develop social skills and prepare for school.

"We are so excited to be helping even more kids in the Anne Arundel County region."

This is the third Verbal Beginnings location. The other two sites are in Columbia.

Dartmouth, MA: Feb 24, 2022, Dartmouth (MA) Week: Pacheco Autism Center brings special needs daycare to Dartmouth

Dartmouth families of children with autism and other special needs now have a new resource for childcare. The Pacheco Autism Center, located at 703 State Road North in Dartmouth, opened for the first time this week and will now begin offering one-on-one applied behavioral analysis and special needs daycare services from licensed therapists.

A lot of people go to work and theyve tried daycares but they just cant handle their kids, said owner Steve Pacheco.

Though the center just opened its doors, Pacheco said that he already has eight kids signed up  and about 60 more waitlisted.

But with so many kids on the waitlist, Pacheco said he is already thinking about expanding the business to new facilities. Theres a lot more of a need than I thought, he said.

San Antonio, TX: Feb 24, 2022, PRNews: (San Antonio) Little Spurs Autism Center Now Open

ABA therapy center, Little Spurs Autism Centers, opened the doors of its first location on February 15th. Now providing ABA therapy to children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the center can see children from 0-21 years old.

Costs for assessments and treatment are covered by most major health insurance plans. The Autism Center staff will help determine insurance eligibility and coverage.

"We are so excited to welcome clients to our center," Powell said,

"According to the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, ASD now affects 1 in every 44 children born in this U.S. and 10 years ago the rate was 1 in every 88 children.

Of course theres no explanation for the big jump in the rate. No one really cares; were so used to the numbers always going up.

Britain continues its downward trajectory, again, no one really knows or cares why it never stops.

Redbridge: Theyre looking to expand autism services.

We are working with local schools to ensure that needs are met more immediately. For example, in November 2021, Cabinet agreed to plans to expand Newbridge Special School by a further 21 places and for an autistic spectrum disorder additionally resourced provision to be opened at Caterham High School for 28 additional pupils.

Redbridge is under pressure to create extra spaces for children with special needs, with corporate director of appeal Adrian Loades stating that the boroughs capacity was full in 2020.

Also from Redbridge: Parents of children with special needs in Redbridge should not have to fight the system to get the right support, a government minister has said.

During a visit to the borough on February 21, minister for children and families Will Quince MP said he wanted to see more money downstream, to get children support earlier.

He said more money should be invested in getting parents help earlier on, to avoid councils having to pay more later.

A national review of SEND policies is due to be released three years after it was first announced, a wait that Mr Quince has admitted is too long.

According to a draft of the councils SEND strategy for the next three years, there is a higher than average need for speech and language therapy and level of children with learning difficulties in the borough.

Warrington: WARRINGTON North MP Charlotte Nichols and the Borough Councils Cabinet Member for Childrens Services, Sarah Hall, have written to the Education Secretary ahead of the publication of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Review, calling for a better deal for SEND children. 

Cllr. Hall added: Even before Covid, increased demand for high-cost specialist placements, the block on local authorities being able to build schools, shortages of SEN teachers, educational psychologists, occupational therapists, and specialist mental health provision  along with an overall increase in demand, acuity and insufficient funding  were creating the perfect storm. This must be addressed now.

Kent: Special needs pupils attending a Sevenoaks school may have to travel to another Kent borough for their studies.

Kent County Council (KCC) has unveiled 938,000 [$1.3M] plans to relocate from a nursery at Milestone Academy in New Ash Green to Cherry Orchard Primary Academy in Ebbsfleet Valley near Dartford. 

Ian Watts, KCC's north Kent's area education officer, has revealed a need to provide "cost-effective" solutions amid a rising demand for special school places this decade. 

If no further action is taken, KCC says it will be "extremely difficult" to provide sufficient special school places in the northern part of Kent.

Gloucester: Shire Hall chiefs have approved ambitious plans to recommission support centres for vulnerable children and families across Gloucestershire. Family hubs are centres which ensure families with children and young people aged up to 19 (or up to 25 years for children with special needs or disabilities) receive early help to overcome a range of difficulties and build stronger relationships.



It will address the needs of families with the youngest children and subsequent stages will cover progressively older children and their families. The maximum value of the contract over nine years is just under 34.5 million [$47M].

Edinburgh: The newly completed St Crispins [special] School will open to pupils on Wednesday just after the half term holiday. 

Headteacher Rhoda MacDougall told The Edinburgh Reporter everyone is looking forward to the adventure, now that most of the boxes have been unpacked.

The new 12 million [$16M] school has been designed by The City of Edinburgh Council completely in house from the overall architectural design by the councils in house architect to the interior design under the watchful and creative eye of Lesley McMillan. 

Signage is important at St Crispins as children with autism learn to exchange single pictures for the item or activity they want.

Our children have severe and complex additional support needs and the majority of our young people are on the autistic spectrum as well.

Peterborough: Work starts on 6.8m [$9.2M] expansion of Peterborough special school

The work at Heltwate School - which is a mixed, special school catering for pupils aged 5 to 19 with moderate to severe learning difficulties and additional medical needs - will see a range of facilities improved, and more space created. 

As part of the adopted SEND strategy, special schools are increasingly being asked to provide places for children with more complex needs.

Cllr Lynne Ayres, Peterborough City Council cabinet member for childrens services, education, skills and the university, said: I am delighted that work on the programme of essential improvements at Heltwate School has started.

The need for special school places in Peterborough is constantly increasing and it is our duty to provide appropriate and imaginative accommodation to enable these young people to thrive.

Wales: PROPOSALS are being drawn up for new facilities at Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn in Denbigh, which caters for pupils with Autism Spectrum Condition from the ages of 3-19.

The proposals could be part of the next wave of school investment projects through the Welsh Governments Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, previously the 21st Century Schools and Colleges Programme.

Im delighted to see work on our next phase of new school builds begin.

Sheffield: A new school for children with autism is set to open with a state of the art building in Sheffield later this year.

Nexus Multi Academy Trust  which has 11 academies across South Yorkshire  will run the school for Sheffield children aged seven to 16 diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder and related social, emotional and mental health needs.

The school will start with 60 pupils on its roll in September and aims to accommodate around 80 pupils within the next couple of years.

Lancashire:

400,000 [$543K] will create an additional Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) unit at a school, allowing parents more choice to choose a school closer to home and family.

Isle of Man: More teachers and support staff will be hired to support Isle of Man students with special education needs, the education minister has said.

About 2.7m [$3.7M] has been set aside in the latest government budget to increase specialist help available in schools.

Worcester: A CITY schools plan to build new classrooms for children with autism looks set to be backed by the council next week.

The proposal would see new a new detached, single-storey teaching facility built at Christopher Whitehead Language College in Bromwich Road specifically designed for pupils with autism....

The autism spokespeople in Minnesota are right about ONE THING: all this is now THE NORM.



Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism.
Sometimes timing is everything. Last weeks annual USDA Outlook conference was held just hours after Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

While Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and USDA Chief Economist Seth Meyer both mentioned the event, neither offered many comments on how the events overseas could impact agriculture in the United States in the coming months.

Instead, Vilsack focused on what he sees as a generally bright outlook for agriculture. Describing it as bright and strong and positive, he said there are challenges but they surmountable.

Vilsack talked about a variety of programs implemented by the Biden administration aimed at helping farmers or addressing climate issues.

On the issue of climate, Vilsack said were serious about this, and added that the goal would be to finance pilot projects that help set a base for future efforts. Industry is willing to pay for climate improvements in agriculture if agriculture is able to quantify those improvements.

This is an exciting opportunity, he said.

He also said renewable fuels are a part of that plan, especially as the industry develops things such as drop-in aviation fuel.

We see a bright, positive future for renewable fuel, he told the online audience for this years event.

And Vilsack talked about the importance of trade and about how nations around the world are starting to do more in-person trade missions as the COVID-19 pandemic starts to wane.

Overall, Meyer said the economic outlook for agriculture in 2022 is good, though probably not quite as good as it was in 2021, thanks to higher input costs. And those input costs certainly could be impacted by the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for example, is an exporter of fertilizer.

But the focus of the outlook conference was more on subjects such as supply and demand, climate or China than on the events of the day.

Meyer said the prospects for crops are generally good, thanks to solid domestic demand and continued strong exports. The livestock outlook is supported by the same trends, but farm income will likely slip a little bit due to rising input costs.

Russias incursions into Ukraine remain a key uncertainty, Meyer said, but he added that weather conditions will likely still be the most important factor in 2022.

Nathan Kauffman, vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said 2020 was a year that saw dramatic swings in farmer profitability due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 2021 was a very good year for farmers.

Looking forward is where the picture gets blurrier, he said.

But Kauffman said U.S. households enter 2022 in good shape and there is reason to be optimistic about both the general economy and the farm economy.

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Georgia House Speaker calls for responsible $1 billion income tax cut

Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder, file photo House Speaker David Ralston has pledged to pursue responsible tax relief, even as some statewide GOP candidates are campaigning on a pledge to completely eliminate the states income tax, which funds nearly half the state budget.

ATLANTA  Georgia House Republicans unveiled a $1 billion tax cut package on the same day their GOP colleagues approved the governors proposed $1.6 billion plan to send some of the states surplus revenues back to taxpayers.

Speaker David Ralston and the bills sponsor, state Rep. Shaw Blackmon, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, announced the plan at a press conference hours after they backed Gov. Brian Kemps one-time refund plan. The proposal faces a tight deadline to pass before a key deadline two weeks away.

Ralston pledged in January to pursue responsible tax relief even as some statewide GOP candidates are campaigning on a pledge to completely eliminate the states income tax, which funds nearly half the state budget. He said Tuesday such proposals would blow a catastrophic hole in the budget.

I know it doesnt fit on a bumper sticker quite as well, but I think it is the responsible way to do that, Ralston said of the House GOPs plan.

Blackmons bill would, however, toss out the graduated six-step income tax rate the state currently uses  and which now tops out at 5.75%  and replace it with a lowered and flattened 5.25% rate on all income.

The Bonaire Republican also said his proposal wraps many of the states existing exemptions into a higher $12,000-single and $24,000-married couple standard exemption. The higher exemption, he said, is intended to offset any tax increase on lower-income Georgians caused by the proposed flat tax.

We believe this tax cut will make us more competitive for wage earners at every income level, Blackmon said. This plan lowers the rate and significantly raises the standard exemption. Its simple, its fair, and it allows Georgians to keep more of their money.

State revenues have jumped in Georgia after an initial dip early in the pandemic when the economy was brought to a sudden standstill, leading lawmakers to pass budget cuts last summer.

Collections were up nearly 18% for the fiscal year as of last month. Last year, the state was left with billions in surplus revenues when the fiscal year ended June 30.

Gov. Brian Kemp has responded to those surging revenues with growing budgets, including a $30.2 billion spending plan for next year that is about $3 billion larger than this years budget as originally passed. The governor has packed into the budget costly salary hikes for teachers and state workers.

If passed, the proposed tax cuts announced would not take effect until 2024.

Ralston touted the proposal as the largest income tax cut in Georgia history. Lawmakers reduced the top rate from 6% to 5.75% in 2018 with plans to reduce it again in 2020 before the pandemic upended the economy.

Lawmakers came back last year and raised the standard deduction, resulting in a small tax break.

We believe as a core principle the government must live within its means, that there is no such thing as government money, but that it belongs to Georgia taxpayers, Ralston said.

Revenues have so far shown no sign of slowing, although the state economist did forecast in January that the growth could soon slow to more normal pace.

Kyle Wingfield, president and CEO of the conservative Georgia Public Policy Foundation, called the proposal a good next step toward lowering the income tax rate enough to compete regionally. He also called the states current six-bracket system needlessly complicated.

Were in a tough neighborhood when it comes to tax rates, Wingfield said. I think from a competitiveness standpoint, theres definitely a need to do something here.

Georgia is sandwiched between two states  Tennessee and Florida  with no income tax. North Carolina recently approved a gradual reduction of its rate, and South Carolina lawmakers are currently debating tax cut proposals.

We do believe theyre in a position to take another step, go farther than they originally planned to in 2018, and hopefully set the stage for some further cuts, Wingfield said. It makes sense in a lot of ways to take a series of smaller bites rather than one huge bite all at once.

But critics are already urging lawmakers to reconsider the proposed move to a flat tax. Danny Kanso, senior policy analyst with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, called the flat tax dangerous and warned it could dull the potential benefits of the rest of the proposal.

The recent volatility in Georgias revenue collections that only months ago forced billions in budget cuts demonstrates the necessity of preserving our states ability to fund health care and public education without overtaxing low- and middle-income families, who are disproportionately people of color, Kanso said. Lawmakers can improve the proposal and rebalance the tax code by rejecting the flat tax, eliminating and capping wasteful corporate subsidies offered through the tax code, such as the costly Film Tax Credit, pursuing commonsense revenue raisers  like lifting the tobacco tax to the national average  and adding a refundable Earned Income Tax Credit.

The tax cut plan will also likely encounter pushback from those who would like to see the state spend more of the money on services.

Rep. Josh McLaurin, a Sandy Springs Democrat, questioned why the state was returning $1.6 billion of revenue to taxpayers when state agencies are combating high employee turnover rates and other challenges.

Would you agree with me that currently our government does not have the money it needs to operate at a basic level and that this type of measure is giving away money that actually the government does need to function? said McLaurin, who voted against the bill.

That proposal, sponsored by the governors floor leader, Rep. John Bonner, a Fayetteville Republican, would send back $250 for single filers, $375 for head of household, and $500 for married couples filing jointly.

I would submit (that) the government would spend every dollar that they take out of the taxpayers hands, Bonner said in response. I think its important that when opportunities are available to us to return that money, we do that.

The bill cleared the House with a 148-18 vote Tuesday and goes to the Senate for consideration. This week, the House also unanimously approved a bill that would exempt up to $35,000 a year of military retirement income from the state income tax.
PHNOM PENH, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia attracted fixed-asset investment of 4.35 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, according to a report from the Council for the Development of Cambodia on Thursday.

China remained the first largest foreign investor to the southeast Asian nation, accounting for 53.4 percent of the kingdom's total investment last year, the report said.

It added that Cambodia received 2.32 billion dollars of investment from China last year, up 67 percent from 1.39 billion dollars in the year before.

The United States and Singapore were the second and third biggest investors to the kingdom last year, with their investment amounting to 163 million dollars and 121 million dollars, respectively, the report showed.

Speaking of the surge in Chinese investment to Cambodia, Heng Sokkung, secretary of state and spokesman for the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, said the Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership are the key factors encouraging more foreign investors, particularly the Chinese ones, to Cambodia.

"Also, the ironclad friendship and the bilateral cooperation under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative are the key driving force for growth in trade and investment between Cambodia and China," he told Xinhua. 
MOSCOW/KIEV, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A new round of talks between Russia and Ukraine is expected to take place Thursday morning in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on the Belarus-Poland border, as military activity continues in Ukraine.

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said the Russian delegation headed by him arrived at the negotiating site Wednesday evening.

The Ukrainian side is expected to arrive on Thursday morning, Medinsky said, adding that Russia and Ukraine agreed upon the location for the new round of talks.

Russia's military has established a safe corridor to allow the Ukrainian delegation to move through Ukrainian territory, he said.

The possibility of a ceasefire, among other things, would be discussed during the talks, according to the official.

However, David Arakhamia, parliamentary faction leader of the Party of Servant of the People in Ukraine, said on Facebook that "information that the talks will be held in Belovezhskaya Pushcha is not true. Indeed, the talks will take place, but in another venue. All details will be provided later," the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

The first round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine concluded on Monday with no clear breakthrough.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Facebook that Kiev was ready to negotiate, but would not comply with "Russian ultimatums."

Kuleba and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed new sanctions against Russia and a new supply of defensive weapons for Ukraine in a phone conversation on Wednesday.

Kuleba emphasized that Ukraine is committed to finding diplomatic ways for settling the conflict with Russia, but Kiev's allies must show unity in increasing pressure on Russia "until Moscow demonstrates its readiness for constructive negotiations."

On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin held several telephone conversations on the situation in Ukraine with foreign leaders, including Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that 498 Russian servicemen have been killed in the course of the "special military operation" in Ukraine, while around 3,700 Ukrainian servicemen have been injured and 2,870 others killed.

Earlier in the day, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said 1,502 Ukrainian military facilities have been destroyed in the Russian operation. 
Tyler Durdins recent article in Zero Hedge describes the incredible capacities of the FGM-148 Javelin, which is an American-made anti-tank weapon. The weapon has been nicknamed "St. Javelin." Its success is described in almost giddy terms, in ways teenagers talk about video games as they select weapons that will provide sure kill shots. Ukraine seems to provide an expedient and seemingly safe place for the United States and other countries to try out their most sophisticated weapons, including the Javelin.

One is reminded of the Spanish civil war. During that deadly internal struggle, Spain proved a useful testing ground for Italys and Germany's advanced weaponry and strategies. Among other things, the war proved to be both a proxy and a catalyst for the larger battles to come.

As Spain was during the 1930s, Ukraine is deeply divided internally, with the Eastern section oriented toward Russia and the Western section leaning toward Europe. Western nations seem to be interested in supplying advanced armaments to the West-leaning Ukrainians, much as Germany and Russia sent military hardware to their preferred political faction fighting in Spain.

Most importantly, as they were in pre-WWII Spain, the battles currently raging in Ukraine are indicators of massive struggles ahead as the world powers realign themselves into massive power blocs. The struggle augers realignment of the military and economic world order established after WWII and beyond.

Germany appears to be a few steps ahead in the ongoing global chess match.

As a chief player in the European arena, Germany may be using the crisis in Ukraine to its advantage, seizing the opportunity to rearm without attracting the suspicion or calumny of the world -- which it almost assuredly would if it acted solo and did not rearm under the EU umbrella.

It is doubtful Germany is rearming purely for the sake of NATO, which is presently disoriented because of the Biden administrations inability to lead. Germany also is probably not interested in bolstering the strength of the European Unions weaker and more vulnerable nations. But it may be interested in bolstering the strength of the European Unions structure in order to reinforce its already considerable strength in the EU, which has long toyed with the idea of establishing a military presence. In fact, the organization has more than hinted it wishes to develop a military presence free of the influence of the United States. Italy and France have welcomed the idea.

But there are reasons to consider Germany as the most influential nation in the EU.

Germany's contributions to the budget of the European Union consistently have been greater than any other member nation. Germany is the fourth-largest economy in the world and the largest economy in Europe. It has many natural resources and a fortuitous geographical location. Adding to its formidable economic and geographical advantages, especially after successful reunification dating from 1989, are the famed German discipline and engineering capacities, both of which are in no way diminished.

One can scarcely blame Germany for thinking about its national welfare in terms of its powerful position within the EU, especially in view of the erratic and feckless actions of the Biden administration.

The Biden administration has been humiliatingly revealed as good at posturing, but as being all sound and no fury. Despite his blustering affectations, Biden has been revealed as weak and irresolute.

Bidens dismal reputation is well earned in view of the disastrous events in Afghanistan and his confused and fragmented responses to the situation in Ukraine. He also has been preoccupied with domestic policies aimed at steering the United States in a leftward direction. His wrecking ball agenda for America and his erratic and disastrous foreign policy maneuvers have been met with serious resistance from a recalcitrant and increasingly irritable American public.

A more resolute Germany could see its powerful position in the EU as a vehicle for expanding its influence economically and militarily. By bolstering its military presence and increasing its already-dominant position in the EU, the EU could become a substitute for NATO. With NATO pushed to the side, the United States influence in Europe would be diminished, perhaps irrevocably.

In a recent interview on YouTube, Nigel Farage outlines the core problems for NATO presented by the crisis in Ukraine. He sees the EUs and NATOs unreasonable expansionism as having led to the crisis of 2014, in which the Ukrainian government collapsed. He adds that the European Union funded the revolution of 2014. There is, then, a reason Zelinskyy is pleading for entrance into the EU, as he is indebted to the organization.

Farage pointed out the fact that NATO had made promises not to expand. But it did expand, and Russia was provoked. No one listened to Russias concerns about having NATO and its missiles parked on what Putin called Russias front porch. He added that Russia has had historic concerns about having a buffer state in order to prevent invasions like those of Napoleon and Hitler. The West should have listened and guaranteed Ukraine would not become a NATO member. In brief, while Putins current actions are not justified, there are underlying reasons for the Russian response.

Farage believes that if the West does not defend NATO, the West is finished as a cohesive unit. NATO, he says, is nothing without America. Unfortunately, ever since the Afghanistan debacle, theres been a question, Does America want to lead the western world now or dont they?

His question is perfectly legitimate. The catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan left a vacuum and raised serious questions about Americas international leadership, including Americas leadership of NATO. Perhaps America doesnt want to lead the West, including Europe. But if it creates a power vacuum others will step in.

Germany may be stepping into the gap, using the EU as the organization as a platform from which it can lead Europe without resorting to NATO. Europe may become a cohesive unit without the United States.

Whatever Germanys continuing role in Europe and the EU, it is clear the post-WWII European order once dominated by the United States will continue to be challenged by Germany and the EU, which may become the alternative to NATO.

What seems clear is that Germany has once again taken center stage in Europe.

Europe may be forever changed.

Fay Voshell is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. Her thoughts have appeared in many online magazines. She may be reached at fvoshell@yahoo.com

Image: Henry Patrick Raleigh
Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, came out of his tent in full armor and challenged the Israelites to send a champion of their own to fight him in single combat. David without armor accepted the challenge and hurled a stone which hit Goliath in the forehead. Goliath fell to the ground and David cut off his head. Today, the contemporary David, Volodymyr Zelensky wants ammunition, not sticks, to fight, as his ancestors did at Masada, against the heavily armed dictator of modern aggressors.

David with the Head of Goliath by Abraham Bosse (1604-1676) Public domian

The Russian Philistine Vladimir Putin backed by full armor has ordered his army to invade a country led by a Jewish President, more lightly armed, in order to maintain peace. Beginning an unprovoked conflict, though refusing to admit he was ordering as invasion, Putin falsely accused Ukraine of being taken over by extremists and declared that the country, headed by a Jew, should be cleansed of the Nazis. President Zelensky recognized the implicit Nazi refence to himself, The enemy has designated me as target number one, and my family as target number two.

But Putin, macho image and all, a man who has virtually isolated himself at his absurd long diplomatic table, an aggressor protected by military security personnel has not read the biblical narrative recently or remembered its conclusion. The scorned, underestimated Ukrainian leader Zelensky, has been transformed into a new David, a modern hero, who is willing to respond to an unprovoked challenge. He embodies the aphorism of Nelson Mandela, I have learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid but he who conquers that fear.

Irrespective of the outcome of the fighting in Ukraine, the consequences should be pronounced in advance. Putin is a war criminal, and if alive, should be tried before a modern version of the Nuremberg trials, held under international law and the laws of war. The trial of Putin and relevant associates, should focus as in Nuremberg for commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and wars of aggression, indiscriminate bombing of cities, shelling peoples homes in violation of international treaties and agreements.

Putin and associates should be put on trial. At this moment it is not as obvious as in the Nazi case which who and which of his associates are to be accused of commission or approval of crimes, but obvious suspects are some leading figures in the FSB, and in the Russian army, and defense ministry. They include the general who appears to have organized the invasion of Ukraine, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council, former head of FSB, successor to KGB, who probably ordered the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006, Valery Gerasimov , head of the Russian army since 2012 and said to have interfered in U.S. presidential election in 2016, and Mikhail Mishustin prime minister, former tax police officer.

The parallel of Putin with the Nazi regime is more and more compelling. We may never know Putins real intentions, just as we still cannot understand why Adolf Hitler declared war on the U.S., but a few instances reveal Nazi like behavior. Putin has been responsible for bombing and rocket attacks against civilians, levelling cities to the ground, and atrocities.

In an event on March 1, 2022, one that is poignant, a Russian air strike on Kyiv hit and damaged the nearby famous memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The memory is painful of Babyn (Babi) Yar Ravine, one of the worst mass murder sites in the War, Europes largest mass grave due to the Holocaust where estimates are about 34,000 Jews were murdered by the SS and local collaborators. Victims of the Holocaust have in essence been killed for a second time. Zelenskys pertinent comment was, What is the point of saying never again for 80 years if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site as Babyn Yar?

Putin must be considered a criminal, one who probably has a similar secret list of those enemies to be eliminated. It is clear that he approved having a squad of 400 mercenaries, the Wagner Group, to kill President Zelensky and 23 others, including the Ukrainian prime minister, cabinet and others. Wagner is the secret sinister arm of the GRU military intelligence, whose founder and leader is Dmitry Utkin, former colonel in Spetsnaz, Russian special forces.

Ominously, the group took its name from Hitlers favorite composer. A ruthless organization, Wagner crushed the rebels against Assad in Syria in 2015. Now run by Yevgeny Prigozhin, crony and Putins chef, who has a contract as caterer for the Russian army. The Wagner Group tracks the Ukrainian leaders through Russian military equipment, mobile phones, and other tracking devices. It is technically a para-military organization, though closely connected with the Russian military and intelligence community, but its use allows Putin to escape attribution of its activities. Wagner took part in annexation of Crimea in 2014 and in the breakaway republics of Ukraine, and was involved in interfering in U.S. elections 2014-2018.

To the surprise of Putin, Volodymyr Zelenskys response to his threats, and refusal to leave the Ukraine, have metamorphosized the president into the worlds leading heroic man and the symbol of courage and strength. The Jewish Zelensky is aware of evil. His father was an academic, and his grandfather served in the Soviet infantry, and was a colonel in postwar Ukraine, but his great uncles and great grandfather perished in the Holocaust.

Zelensky now 44 years old had an acting and comedy career for twenty years. He became a star in a TV series, playing a history teacher who urges toleration and criticizes government corruption, in a political satire Servant of the People, 2015-2019, and paradoxically playing a fictional president. He played the voice of the Ukrainian Bear in the 2014 film starring Hugh Bonneville, eight years before he confronted the real Russian bear.

Videos just released show him dancing with a partner and winning in the first season of Strictly Come Dancing in 2006. He is an extraordinary attractive and dynamic figure, dressed in flamboyant outfits, pink suit, flared trousers, performing the paso doble, quickstep, waltz, blindfolded dance, in the completion. At that moment he exhibited more sex appeal than Justin Trudeau.

The contrast of personalities is striking. Zelensky, the marked man, the Jewish former comedian, defiant in his capital city, refusing to leave the country in spite of the threats of Wagner, is hunted by the macho Putin, who not only has a private military protection, but whose family is said to be hidden in a high tech bunker in an underground city in Siberia, designed to survive a nuclear war.

Putin, 69 years old, is today a pariah on the world stage. Tomorrow he should be tried in an international court of justice, the international criminal court, or a quasi- Nurnberg court and punished. The modern social media provides ample evidence of his crimes against people and property, crimes against humanity. Never Again must mean Never Again.

Correction: An earlier version of this post said "about 4,000" Jews were killed at Babi Yar. This has been corrected to read "about 34,000...."
The first twelve minutes of Joe Biden's State of the Union message was devoted to a strong statement of support for the people of Ukraine and a salute to their courage. It was, however, short on specifics of what the U.S. was prepared to do to help Ukraine to repel what is likely to be a massive assault on its civilian population.

In response to a question from Peter Doocy about the failure of sanctions to deter the Russian invasion, Jen Psaki more realistically reflects what the United States and its NATO partners are actually willing to do. At the end of the clip, she was quite clear that avoiding a direct military confrontation with a nuclear-armed Russia is our number one priority. In spite of all the praise of the heroism of the Ukrainian people, military support for them sufficient to defend their country, in either weapons or personnel, is not coming because it would risk a wider war with Russia.

The State of the Union address and the news that NATO halted Poland's offer to send military planes to Ukraine are hauntingly reminiscent of the church scene from the movie High Noon, which ends with the final decision of the town asking the sheriff to leave. Contrary to what some commentators are suggesting, it would be a mistake to believe that the elites in the United States and Europe are beating the drums for war. It is the images of the Ukrainian resistance and the defiance of its leaders, brought into homes all over the world, creating popular demands for more military assistance. People are responding to President Zelensky's statement "I don't need a ride, I need ammunition." Like the movie-goers viewing High Noon, much of the public sees the actions of Western leaders as cowardice rather than reasonable caution. The intense criticism of Putin, though justified, comes across as cowardice masquerading as virtue.

The NATO reaction to Russian actions toward Ukraine has consistently been a day late and a dollar short. Our reluctance to act decisively for the nine months before the invasion was interpreted by Putin as weakness. The humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan only confirmed Putin's assessment. The 80 billion dollars of military equipment abandoned to the Taliban would have been put to far better use in defense of Ukraine.

The doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) helped prevent nuclear weapons from ever being employed in the 80 years since their initial use in 1945. This gruesome game of chicken did not end in a nuclear holocaust because each side had to assume that the other side might actually use its nukes. With few exceptions, it deterred both sides in the Cold War from ever risking a direct military confrontation.

When asked about our failure to supply Ukraine with the weapons needed to deter the invasion, the Biden administration and its NATO partners have stressed they do not want to risk getting into a war with Russia. By going out of our way to assure Russia that we are afraid to risk a confrontation, we are in effect replacing MAD with a one-sided Singularly Assured Appeasement. When combined with denunciations of Putin, the policy, in essence, amounts to replacing "speak softly and carry a big stick" with "act weakly while carrying a big mouth"  which served only to embolden Putin.

The sanctions on Russia are indeed severe, and the Russians may eventually come to regret the invasion. Sadly, economic consequences do not seem likely to change the military situation on the ground and provide little more than moral support. However well-intended, the policies of NATO and the United States are likely to maximize our humiliation as we stand poised militarily on the borders of Ukraine, watching helplessly, as Russia slaughters that country's brave defenders.

Image: ChristianIS via Pixabay, Pixabay License.
TALLINN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Estonian President Alar Karis said on Thursday that he tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.

"I took a PCR COVID test yesterday that turned out to be positive," Karis wrote on his social media account.

"I will self-isolate until recovery, and will continue work virtually using e-Estonia solutions. I have mild cold-like symptoms, but I feel fine overall. I have been vaccinated three times. Stay healthy!" said Karis.

Karis said people he had been in contact with during the past few days had been informed of his positive PCR test result.

He called on people to "take care of yourselves, and follow all precautions to avoid being infected."

Karis took the oath of office as president of Estonia in October 2021. 
On Wednesday, the federal government filed a RICO claim against Michael Madigan, the former Illinois House speaker. The 106-page indictment accuses Madigan of engaging in bribery, extortion, and racketeering, all with an eye to maintaining Madigan's power and rewarding his political allies, workers, and associates, and to generate income for everyone involved in these criminal activities. Considering how powerful Madigan was, I'd like to say this strikes a devastating blow against corruption in Illinois politics, but no one would believe me if I said that.

Michael Madigan came up in Chicago's political ranks as a protege of Mayor Richard J. Daley and a friend of Daley's son, Richard M. Daley. In 1969, by the time he was 27, Madigan was a ward precinct committeeman, at which time (according to Wikipedia) he controlled the "most disciplined" ward organization in Chicago.

In 1970, Madigan was first elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, representing Chicago's 22nd District (the southwest side). He entered the Illinois General Assembly in 1971 and never left it. Madigan rose to the speakership in 1983, a position he occupied until 2021, except for the years 19951997, when Republicans briefly controlled the House. (Lee Daniels, a Republican, was the House speaker then. It's worth noting that Daniels has never been indicted.)



Image: Michael Madigan. YouTube screen grab.

Madigan, obviously, had a great deal of power in Illinois. You don't last as speaker for almost 30 years without being the dominant voice in state Democrat politics. He was an especially good friend to the labor unions, which donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to him over the years. Of the $670,559 he received in just the ten years between 2002 and 2012, here's where some of it came from:

Obviously, Madigan was all about power, which means he was all about patronage, which means he could easily be all about corruption  and that's what the indictment against him alleges:

MADIGAN was the leader of the enterprise, and used these positions to oversee, direct, and guide certain of the enterprise's illegal activities. Among other things, MADIGAN utilized his official positions as a Representative and Speaker: (i) to cause various businesses to employ, contract with, and make direct and indirect monetary payments to MADIGAN's political allies, political workers, and associates as a reward for and to promote their loyalty, association with, and work for MADIGAN, at times in 9 return for little or no legitimate work performed for the benefit of the businesses; and (ii) to solicit and receive from persons and parties having business with the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago, or otherwise subject to the authority and powers vested in MADIGAN and other public officials acting on MADIGAN's behalf, including Alderman A, bribes and unlawful personal financial advantage, including but not limited to fees arising from the retention of his law firm, Madigan & Getzendanner. MADIGAN utilized his positions as Democratic Committeeman for the Thirteenth Ward and Chairman of the Thirteenth Ward Democratic Organization to direct the activities of his political allies and political workers within the Thirteenth Ward, and to maintain his political power for purposes of ensuring his continued retention of his positions as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives and Speaker. MADIGAN utilized his position as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois to influence and garner loyalty from legislators by providing or withholding staff and funding to legislators and their campaigns. MADIGAN utilized his position as a partner in Madigan & Getzendanner to reap the benefits of private legal work unlawfully steered to his law firm. MADIGAN directed the activities of his close friend and associate, McCLAIN, who carried out illegal activity at MADIGAN's direction.

You caught that phrase "among other things," right? There were lots of other things, including meeting with J.B. Pritzker, right after the latter was elected governor, to get a corrupt Chicago alderman a lucrative position on a state board. (Pritzker is not named in the indictment.)

This video provides more information about the complaint, along with making the point that Madigan denies the charges against him:

Frankly, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone. Chicago and Illinois politics are both famously corrupt. What would have been surprising would have been learning that Madigan was clean as a whistle. Of course, it remains now for the federal government to make its case in court. If I were Madigan, and if I were guilty of even some of the things the government alleges, I might contemplate a plea bargain for a stay in a nice Club Fed. After all, that's where all the best Illinois and Chicago politicians hope to go once the law catches up with them.

For more information about Madigan's career, here's a detailed video (hat tip: Gateway Pundit).

Hat tip: Peter von Buol.
Whether Ron DeSantis runs for president in 2024 or 2028, he's going to get a lot of support from ordinary Americans. He's an effective administrator with a lot of common sense and a deep respect for individual liberty. These last two traits came through loud and clear when he attended an event at the University of South Florida (USF) and gave the masked high school students arrayed behind the podium some good news about masks: they don't work, and you don't need them. Leftists instantly accused him of yelling at the students. The beaming smile of the students who took DeSantis's advice put the lie to that claim.

The video, which has been viewed 11 million times as of this writing, is simple. DeSantis is heading to the podium at USF when he sees a group of high school students lined up against the back wall, behind where he'll stand. He swerves away from the podium and gives them some advice:

You do not have to wear those masks. (Laughter from the students.) Please, take them off. Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've gotta stop with this COVID theater. So, if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous.

Upon hearing those words, some of the students instantly strip off their masks, smiling as they do so:

Correction: I believe these students are in high school.



Hillsborough School District says some of their kids from Middleton HS in Tampa were involved in the presser, so I believe these are those students.  Evan Donovan (@EvanDonovan) March 2, 2022

The usual culprits on the left were instantly offended on the students' behalf. How dare the governor repeat to those students the CDC's own admission that the masks are useless? How dare he let them know that they have free will and can wear the masks or not, as they, not the government, prefer?

There was the following tweet from a Democrat group. I was going to point out the problems with that chart, but Scott McClellan got there before me. I'll add only that Florida has one of the oldest populations in America and that age is one of the primary indicators of a mortality risk associated with COVID. Also, COVID is not the only thing that kills people. So do suicide, untreated illnesses, substance abuse, and sheer despair:

Reminder arbitrarily choosing a time frame of data and comparing vastly different populations does not prove anything  Scott McClellan (@mcclells3) March 2, 2022

R.A. Salvatore (tweet below) spoke for many when he said it was "bullying/berating" for DeSantis to repeat the CDC's own guidance and give the students a choice  and then Salvatore went on to say, as if he were coming up with an original idea, that people should have a choice, which is exactly what DeSantis said. And if that preceding sentence confuses you, it should. The point with the left, always, is to reject anything a Republican says, especially if that Republican is DeSantis, even if the leftists actually agree with him:

Many disease experts are still wearing their masks and disagree with the new guidelines. DeSantis bullying/berating students who choose to wear their masks in horrible.



There are many people young and old who don't feel safe without a mask at this point. It's their choice!  R.A. Salvatore (@r_a_salvatore) March 2, 2022

Julie Kelly, as always, gets it right:

Many disease experts are still wearing their masks and disagree with the new guidelines. DeSantis bullying/berating students who choose to wear their masks in horrible.



There are many people young and old who don't feel safe without a mask at this point. It's their choice!  R.A. Salvatore (@r_a_salvatore) March 2, 2022

And then there was this bit of ignorance from a member of the public who seems unaware that viruses are about 1,000 times smaller than bacteria. The point of masks has been to keep wounds from getting infected from the larger bacteria that the masks actually block. Almost all masks are useless against viruses.

Theres scientific reason why all medical professionals wear masks during any medical procedure prior to COVID -19. Even dentists and hygienists. Those masks work to help not spread germs etc. Gators, cloth, etc. less effective but still some level of protection. China knows  Brother Theo (@BrotherTheo2) March 3, 2022

DeSantis is a leader. Compared to him, most Republicans are either RINOs or cowards, and most leftists, pardon me for saying so, are morons.

Image: Ron DeSantis speaking the truth about masks. Twitter screen grab.
Mississippi senator Roger Wicker may be the most dangerous officeholder in Washington. A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Wicker keeps publicly making proposals that would effectively have the United States at war with Russia. His latest proposal, as reported in the HuffPost and National Review Online, is for the United States and "a strong coalition of like-minded nations" to consider imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine. He is now the second member of Congress  joining GOP Representative Adam Kinzinger  to recommend the no-fly zone idea. Kinzinger recently suggested on social media that a no-fly zone over Ukraine would "give the heroic Ukrainians a fair fight."

Senator Wicker, according to the HuffPost, explained his support for the no-fly zone as follows: "Tens of thousands of women and children fleeing from Kyiv west have created a humanitarian situation that the international community needs to step in and be involved in." Previously, Senator Wicker suggested sending U.S. ground forces to Ukraine and said that in responding to Russian aggression in Ukraine that "nothing should be taken off the table," including a nuclear first strike.

Fortunately, both Wicker's colleagues in the Senate and the Biden administration swiftly distanced themselves from his proposal. But Wicker is in line to become the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee  and if the GOP takes back the Senate in 2023, he will likely chair the committee. (The current ranking GOP member of the committee, Senator James Inhofe, has announced his retirement.) It is doubtful that the GOP leader, Mitch McConnell, will do anything about this.

Have Senator Wicker and other war-mongers  yes, war-mongers  not learned from history? When a great power meddles in a regional war, as in 1914 in the Balkans, the war usually escalates and widens. In 1914, what German chancellor Otto von Bismarck once termed "some damned foolish thing in the Balkans" led to the cataclysm of the First World War. It is that analogy rather than "Munich" or the "domino theory" that should concern us the most.

Perhaps Senator Wicker's Mississippi constituents can send him packing in 2024 (when he is up for re-election). Until then, he should be moved to Senate committees where he can do less harm.

Image via Flickr, public domain.
"God was on the side of the nation that had the oil."

Prof. Wakimura, Tokyo Imperial University

Russia is one of the world's largest producers of petroleum, natural gas, and coal.

In Europe, despite decades of taxes on hydrocarbons, subsidies for green energy, and net-zero plans, hydrocarbons still supply 70% of E.U. energy. And Russia supplies the lion's share of this: 40% of E.U. gas, over 25% of their crude oil, and nearly half of their coal come from Russia.

Russia is also a big exporter of energy-dependent metals such as iron, steel, and aluminum and is the world's third-biggest producer of gold, the money for troubled times.

Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, was the birthplace of Russia twelve centuries ago, and many Ukrainians speak Russian and feel Russian. If Western hostility to Russia causes more Russian fuels and food to go east to China, Siberia, the Koreas, Japan, or Taiwan, there will be a mad scramble by Europeans to replace them.

Russia remembers defeating two European "Grand Armies"  both Napoleon and Hitler were beaten by cold weather and the lack of fuels and food. Napoleon's horses ran out of hay, Hitler's Panzers ran out of fuel, and both invaders faced starvation and frostbite.

"The war was decided by engines and octane."

Joseph Stalin

"Above all, petrol governed every movement."

Winston Churchill

Putin is unlikely to fear energy competition from Danish windmills, Spanish solar panels, or Australian ethanol. Russia is building gas pipelines while Biden and his green friends closed the Keystone XL pipeline (to deliver oil from Canada) and declined to renew U.S. gas drilling leases. The USA even became an importer of Russian crude oil and petroleum in 2021.

Russia has a huge landmass. It is the world's largest exporter of wheat and a big exporter of barley, corn, sunflower, and canola.

Anything that impacts Russia's exports of food or fuels will cause chaos in world energy and food markets.

Just one wicked winter may destroy Russia's enemies once again.

And if the two superpowers of Eurasia do decide that this is the time to enlarge their empires, we will not stop them with net-zero energy, wind power, battery-powered tanks, a biofuel navy, or submarines on the never-never.



Putin and Xi meet in 2018 (photo credit: kremlin.ru).

Viv Forbes is a science graduate with experience in coal, oil, and gas exploration and production. His first paid job was geological mapping in the Bowen/Surat Basin in Queensland, funded by the Australian government to assist the search for oil.

Food and Fuel for Thought :



Why Ukraine Matters to Russia:

https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-ukraine-matters-to-russia-so-much-52281

Germany turns back to coal and natural gas as millions of its solar panels are blanketed in snow and ice:

https://worldnewsera.com/news/startups/germanys-green-energy-failure-germany-turns-back-to-coal-and-natural-gas-as-millions-of-its-solar-panels-are-blanketed-in-snow-and-ice-tech-news-startup/

While the West went weak-Green, Russia became the 2nd largest gas supplier on Earth:https://joannenova.com.au/2022/02/green-weakness-enables-wars-punish-russia-by-burning-more-coal-gas-shale-and-nuclear-power/

Ukraine and Energy Realism:

https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-2-26-ukraine-and-energy-realism

Blood for Oil: The Quest for Fuel in World War II:

https://eiaonline.com/history/bloodforoil.htm

Russia, NATO, USA, and Europe:

https://www.globalresearch.ca/russia-us-your-aggression-stops-here/5771771

https://www.unz.com/article/the-land-where-history-died-part-1/
Like president, like spokesweasel.

Joe Biden has relied on Jen Psaki to articulate his gaffes and gibberings for him as White House spokeswoman, but now that she's a year into the clean-up, she, too, is starting to make gaffes as he does.

She made two yesterday, including:

Psaki says Biden didn't have the time last night to mention our 13 servicemembers killed in Afghanistan



pic.twitter.com/7Xtu7Ho5xW  Kyle Martinsen (@KyleMartinsen_) March 2, 2022

...which, on Twitter, called to mind that other time Joe Biden didn't have time for those 13 service members who died as a result of his failure to plan properly for the U.S. pull-out from Afghanistan.

According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, President Biden just didn't have the time.



Not the first time. https://t.co/KJ6qfRkw94 pic.twitter.com/HTnvY4KwbC  Gunnery Sergeant Jessie Jane Duff (@JessieJaneDuff) March 2, 2022

Seems old Joe has no time at all for these troops whose lives he's asked to give for their country, none whatsoever. It's quite a pattern for him.

Victory Girls has some excellent analysis of the backstory around that here.

And speaking of patterns, let's take a look at what Jen had to say about patterns and old Joe:

Jen Psaki: Biden "was the vice president the last time Russia invaded Ukraine, this is a pattern" pic.twitter.com/fFwbYLKyRi  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 2, 2022

It immediately called to mind something most Americans are already thinking, according to this poll  that the Russian attack on Ukraine would not have happened at all on President Trump's watch, because Trump scared Vladimir Putin. Such attacks happen only under Democrat presidents because Putin knows there's nothing to fear. Putin makes his imperial power-grabs only during their presidencies. As Legal Insurrection's Mary Chastain put it:

Psaki Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: Biden was Vice President the Last Time Russia Invaded Ukraine. This is a pattern Yes, its quite a pattern, Psaki. Quite a pattern indeed!

She notes:

Oh, sweet summer child. A lot of us remember. A lot of us remember you as the State Departments press secretary. A lot of us remember Obama putting Biden in charge of Americas role in helping Ukraine weed out corruption. A lot of us remember Bidens angelic son Hunter sitting on the Burisma board during that time. We remember this delightful photo of you with Putins Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Pink is not a flattering color on you, Psaki. Same for me as well. Lavrov is one of those cronies. Russia invaded eastern Ukraine and set up troops on the border. Russia annexed Crimea with a sham referendum. A few of us have never forgotten what happened in 2014. A few of us continued to read about Ukraines fight against Russia since 2014. This is one thing I hate about culture. No attention span. When something becomes static it loses its luster so the mainstream media drops it to the bottom of the barrel. The media doing that allows people like Biden and Psaki to act like Russias invasion of Ukraine is all brand new and happening because of Trump.

Both of these statements call to mind the many disgraces of the Biden presidency after its first year.

The first job of any public relations specialist, as Psaki is, is to make one's boss look good, to say, "look, over here," when a smoldering outhouse is stinking up the joint from over there. Psaki is doing the opposite of that, inadvertently calling to mind Joe Biden's many failures.

There must be a reason for this, and I'll offer one theory for why Psaki is suddenly making so many gaffes: there's no "over here" left anymore  Biden has turned everything he's touched to bilge, and Psaki simply can't avoid bringing up Biden's failures anymore because they are all over.

What a hideous job to have to clean up after that, and all one can think is that if Psaki has any brains at all, she might be subliminally at least thinking of getting out. Cleaning up Joe Biden's messes is a job for a super-janitor, and Psaki is simply getting sucked under by the mass of them. She's becoming as gaffe-y as he is, and it's a pattern.

Image: CNBC via YouTube screen shot.
Lately, Americans have been made aware of the problems with the revolving door criminal justice system that operates wherever Democrats have had a hand in drafting the laws. For example, the man who drove through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, killing six and injuring scores of others, had a lengthy rap sheet and almost no comparable prison time. The man who smeared a woman with his feces in the New York City subway is the same type of criminal. What makes him interesting is how he behaved in court for his arraignment and the result of that conduct.

Frank Abrokwa, 37, is accused of (and doesn't deny) smearing his feces all over a woman who was sitting waiting for a subway train:

Just before the attack, Abrokwa approached the victim and said, "Hey mami, how come you don't want to talk to me?," [Assistant DA] Phillips said. "The complainant did not engage with the defendant," the ADA said. "Instead of taking the lack of engagement in stride, the defendant responded with violence. He walked into a nearby idling subway car and defecated in a bag." "He then walked back to the complainant and repeatedly smashed the bag and left his feces in her face, head, neck, shoulders and back area. She had feces in her eyes, and hair. As he attacked, the defendant stated in sum and substance: 'Like this, b----?'" The victim used her bag to shield herself but suffered a small bleeding cut inside her lip, and a swollen and red forehead, Phillips said.

The victims' physical injuries, thankfully, seem minimal. I can't even imagine the psychological injuries. By the way, since she spoke through a translator, I'm willing to bet she was Asian.



Image: Abrokwa's feces attack. YouTube screen grab.

But what about Abrokwa? Well, as I'm sure you guessed, he has a rap sheet a mile long, spanning the period from 1999 to 2022:

Abrokwa has 22 prior unsealed arrests dating back to 1999, and dozens of sealed arrests, according to authorities and police sources. The busts include a Feb. 5 assault, when he slugged a Greyhound bus driver in the face at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, according to a criminal complaint and police sources. [snip] Abrokwa allegedly punched another victim, a 30-year-old man, multiple times in the head on Jan. 7 at the 125th Street 2 and 3 train station in Harlem, according to cops and court papers.

With that kind of record, you may well ask why Abrokwa is on the streets. The answer to that question can be summed up with his behavior immediately before and during his arraignment. (And that doesn't even include what he said when police, to their credit, apprehended him: "S--- happens. Haha. This is a s----- situation. Haha.")

When the assistant D.A. asked for a protective order for the woman he attacked, Abrokwa announced, "I don't know that b----."

That's bad, but worse was his approach to the judge herself. Abrokwa whined to his attorney about "being mistreated by the system," and the judge warned him to show some respect. Abrokwa snapped, "I'm being respectful. I'm talking to my attorney. You're talking to her. Not to me. F--- you, b----."

He should have instantly been locked up for contempt of court. Instead, after all that, the judge freed Abrokwa without bail because the state's bail reform laws held that he was not bail-eligible.

Abrokwa then walked out of court and within hours went up to a Jewish man and announced, "F------ Jew, I'm going to kill you," after which he spat on the man and tried to punch him. That statement, with nothing more, got him arrested for a hate crime. Perhaps that will get him locked up.

Abrokwa is the embodiment of revolving door justice. It doesn't matter what powers his engine, whether it be mental illness, substance abuse, sociopathy, or something else. A civilized society needs this man taken off the street, but our Democrat-run criminal justice system just spits him out over and over again.

I do not support vigilante justice because I believe in due process, but I can perfectly understand the impulse that had Libs of Tik Tok suggest that criminals in America's Democrat-run cities get the treatment Ukraine citizens meted out to looters:

Hear me out... we try this policy in Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles and NYC. pic.twitter.com/j9XHGzwqpF  Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) March 2, 2022

And just to give you a little idea about life in the New York subways, these are the people at least temporarily incapable of assault:
We have clear evidence of a major change in human circumstances in that during the past half-century, the most consequential leaders in the western world have been a former actor, a storekeepers daughter, a real-estate developer, and a standup comic.

Thats not the way it was previously. The great figures of the West of the early and mid-20th century  Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Churchill, to mention a few  were products of the upper class, groomed for leadership and expected to take the reins eventually. While its true that revolutionary upstarts from the working and middle classes such as Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin took over numerous countries worldwide, their impact was swiftly curtailed and they cant be called great in any real sense, each having slammed his country into a brick wall before he was finished.

It could be argued that the same processes are in operation with Reagan, Trump, Thatcher, and Zelenskyy. The mid-century social-nationalist tyrants (to use John Lukacs coinage) were products of completely decadent imperial systems no longer able to function in any meaningful sense. The same can be said for the western liberal democracies in the 21st century. (Ukraine can be considered an attempt to transplant such a governing system. Remember, it was Democrat political operatives who raced east following the Cold War to lecture the poor ignorant muzhiks on how to form a real democracy.) Like the totalitarian states, the liberal/left states were based on the same outmoded principle of privileged elites overseeing the benighted masses  though in this case, for their own good.

Each of our legends defied this system in his own way. Reagan and Thatcher, working almost alone, turned around nations that had been effectively run into the ground by top-down political structures. The UKs Labour governments, ably assisted by wet conservatives, had turned Great Britain into a basket case, while Americas newly radicalized elites had accomplished much the same across the pond. Donald Trump, for his part, was the first politician to challenge the new Uniparty, in which the interests of both Democrat and Republican, left-wing and conservative, reigned paramount over all else. And now we have Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is leading his people against a brutal attempt to revive not only a discredited system but an actual 19th-century imperial state.

Compare this to the behavior of the western elites, rushing from conference to conference to dither about nothing, collapsing before radical attempts to redefine reality itself, and putting all their efforts behind programs  Agenda 21, the Great Reset  that nobody asked for and that nobody will ever accept. This is the behavior of a class that has seen its day -- and knows it. There is, in fact, no comparison between the elites and the new, enlightened populism that is rising across the globe.

The new populists can be defeated, they can be cheated out of office, they can even be killed. But the principle for which they stand, that no man is born to be saddled and ridden by another man, is a permanent factor in human nature. It cannot be held back, and eventually, it will prevail.

Thats something to keep in mind these days when a funnyman from the steppes holds the sky suspended.

Image: Pixabay
When it comes to a surprise attack against another country, there are two schools of thought. First, you can attack with 100% of your military strength to subdue the country instantly. Call it the "ripping off the Band-Aid" or the "shock and awe" approach to conquest. Second, you can go in with some delicacy to see how much pushback you're going to get from the country before you commit your best troops, especially if you'd like to keep civilian casualties to a minimum. This second tactic, Colonel Douglas MacGregor told Tucker Carlson on Tuesday night, is what Putin opted to do:

Note, too, that MacGregor does not believe that Putin wants to swallow Ukraine whole. Instead, Putin has definite objectives in the eastern half of the country and has been planning his angle of attack for a long time.

Incidentally, I'm not saying MacGregor's take is the correct one. I've heard from other people with good strategic and tactical sense that it's crazy (as noted above) to creep into a country and probe its defenses. In this day and age, you'd better know the defenses going in and be prepared to overwhelm them.

Another person sent around an email noting that, while Putin supplies Europe and America with fuel (and will soon do so for China), within Russia itself, there are fuel shortages. Whether that's true or not, it certainly seems to be the case that the Russian convoy is suffering from food and fuel shortages. Given what happened to both Napoleon's and Hitler's troops in Russia, one would think Putin would have paid attention to the dictum often attributed to Napoleon that "an army marches on its stomach" (and, nowadays, on its fuel tanks) and would have made sure that his troops were properly equipped.

To add another dimension to the debate about what Putin was thinking when he crafted his military strategy, it's clear that the Russians are now upping their game and fighting more aggressively against Ukraine's population centers.

Frankly, from a military point of view, Colonel MacGregor's take on matters made sense to me, but I'd be lying to you if I said I had any special insights on the subject that make me worth listening to.

Image: Colonel Douglas MacGregor. YouTube screen grab.
Volodymyr Zelensky has taken to the streets to help defend his beloved homeland of Ukraine. Joe Biden, while vowing to fight Vladimir Putin with tough sanctions, retreated to his Delaware home, most likely to the comfortable basement hideaway that served him so well in his campaign to become the leader of the free world.

The despotic Putin sent four hundred mercenary thugs to Ukraine, their intent being to assassinate Zelensky. The courageous Ukrainian is undeterred. Biden's State Department offered the Ukrainian leader a route of escape. He answered in a tone unfamiliar to Biden and his entourage of sycophants: "I need ammunition, not a ride."

Leaders such as Zelensky are in short supply in today's world. The lineup of heads of state seems to consist of mainly two types  thugs such as Putin, Xi Jinping, and the little fat guy with the bad haircut in North Korea, versus a host of ineffective chief executives such as Biden and the various European sovereigns who would abandon their NATO responsibilities rather than be cut off from Russian oil.

Granted, Ukraine is not a NATO nation, but it did relinquish its sizable stockpile of nuclear weapons after the fall of the Soviet Union with the promise from many of those same NATO nations that it would be protected in case of a Russian attack. Those promises now sound hollow. Winston Churchill, who once trod the same European soil, would be appalled. When he vowed to "Never give up. Never, never, never!" he was not referring to giving up Russian petroleum.

Meanwhile, Putin is not content to be merely the guy who ended an unpopular vaudeville performance by yanking the offender offstage with a hook. Vlad the Invader wishes to place a C-4 charge on the tip of the hook with the detonator in his own hand. Zelensky, a former comedian, has committed the unforgivable sin, in Putin's mind, of suggesting that the Russian bare-chested leader is the real joke. For such an offense, nothing short of death will suffice.

When King George VI of Great Britain refused to leave the British Isles with his family during the siege of WWII, he provided the British and the rest of the free world a genuine profile in courage. He lived to celebrate victory. We can only hope and pray that Volodymyr Zelensky fares as well.

Image: Presidential Office of Ukraine.
Among my old Marxist contemporaries, I have noticed a transference  nearly always unacknowledged  of love for the old Soviet Union to today's Russian Federation. Accordingly, they have transferred much of their affection for Lenin to Putin.

Admiration for the Bolshevism of 1917 naturally entails jubilation at the downfall of the exploitative tsarist regime. The face  "snoot" is the appropriate term, say my acquaintances  of anti-Bolshevik resistance belonged at that time to General Anton Denikin (18721947). He commanded the White Army from 1918, fighting for the restoration of the Romanov Empire. Denikin blamed the Bolshevik revolution not on the enormous Youth Bulge of his homeland, but on its Jews. In 1920, he escaped to Belgium. In 1945, he emigrated to the USA.

Almost all my left-wing acquaintances are unaware that in 2009, Putin visited Denikin's grave in Moscow's Donskoi Monastery, to which Putin had had Denikin's body transported from Ann Arbor (Michigan) in October 2005. Like all officials of the former Soviet Union, Putin, the KGB man, had been brought up to hate the anti-Bolshevist Denikin. By laying a wreath on Denikin's memorial stone, however, the Kremlin leader finally turned his back on Lenin, and even more so on Yeltsin, to whom he owed his office.

The former had preserved the Russian Empire but had undermined it, Putin is convinced now, by granting autonomy to minorities. Only later, and only partially, did Russianness regain its old prerogatives. Then, however, Yeltsin, by preventing the Great Russian coup attempt of August 1991, stalled the revival of the empire. He finally dissolved it in December 1991, unconditionally distributing its territory to the old Soviet nationalities. To Putin, this was a tragedy. For him, communism did not go down with the Soviet Union. It never existed anyway. In truth, the Russian Empire, which had merely camouflaged itself with communist colors, went down.

On May 24, 2009, Putin told the Russian people, "Have you read Denikin's diaries? Do read [them], by all means!" Denikin wrote about Great Russia, growing out of the 16th-century Grand Duchy of Moscow, and Little Russia  that is, Ukraine. He believed that the two lands belonged indissolubly together, a union that must not be damaged by the granting of minority rights. That is why in 2009 Putin implored his compatriots: "Nobody should be allowed to meddle in relations between us. This has always been a matter for Russia itself!"

Out of 146 million inhabitants of the Russian Federation, only 116 million are actually Russian. Among 42 million Ukrainians, there are also only 7 million Russians. This profile is roughly equal to the demography  and also the economy  of Mexico (33 million children under 15 versus 26 million in Russia in 2020), which, however, cannot wipe out humanity with nuclear weapons. Right in Moscow, Alexander Sokurov  Russia's most respected intellectual and winner of the Golden Lion in Venice for his Faust film  reminded Putin in December 2021 that ethnic minorities within the Federation are afraid of Russians. If they want to leave, he said, they should be allowed to go. In reply, Putin  who adores Sukurov  warned the director harshly. He accused him of trying to shrink the Russian Empire to the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Putin made clear that his empire is not to become like the former empires of Western Europe. All the conquests of the tsars that are still under his power, he wants to keep forever.

Putin's first declaration of war on Ukraine was made almost thirteen years ago. It certainly stems from an amour folle that would rather take the life of the adored love than lose it to others. To some extent, this is understandable, because Russia has had less time to process the pain of separation than other imperialist countries. The empires of the Germans and Austrians went down as early as 1918. The Western Allies followed suit in 1970, and Portugal did not give up its empire until 1974. The Western left was always on the side of the rebelling colonies, most of which communicate in the same languages as the master countries.

The Muscovite empire, which did not sink until 1991, has not yet been seriously analyzed by its old Marxist defenders. Putin recognized its character as Russia, with all territories ever conquered in 2009 at the latest, and fell in love with it.

Perhaps 2022 will be the year in which Putin's left-wing admirers become frightened by the implications of their worship of Denikin, who used to be their devil up to 1991. By supporting Ukraine's independence, Marxist admirers of Putin can finally return to their anti-colonialist roots.

Gunnar Heinsohn (b. 1943) introduced the subject of war demography at the NATO Defense College (NDC/Rome) in 2011 and taught it until 2020.

Image: Vladimir Putin via Flickr, CC BY 3.0.
Attempts to challenge one-China principle doomed to fail: mainland spokesperson

Xinhua) 09:49, March 03, 2022

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The attempts of "Taiwan independence" separatists colluding with external forces to challenge the one-China principle are doomed to fail, a Chinese mainland spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks in response to a press inquiry regarding UN Resolution 2758, which was again targeted by Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority to challenge the one-China principle on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the issuance of the Shanghai Communique.

By turning a blind eye to the international law and basic norms governing international relations, the DPP authority aims to negate by any means possible the fact that Taiwan is part of China, seeking to excuse their advocacy of "Taiwan independence," Zhu said.

Although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have yet to be reunified, the sovereignty and territory of China have never been severed and the fact that the mainland and Taiwan belong to one and the same China has never changed, she added.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
In the past few months my wife and I have been travelling to towns across the Australian Outback. As we travel, we visit local churches for the purpose of making connections and encouraging the locals as they follow Christ.

On this trip we have noticed several troubling trends in the churches. But there is also a way that these can be turned around.

Pastor burnout

In a number of churches, it was clear that the pastors are burnt out. We are also told that in those states where there are regional chaplaincy programs, burnout is an issue for chaplains as well. Many of these men and women are suffering from mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual stress.

This is not surprising considering the issues that exist in the world today. It is especially difficult in regional towns as they have had to deal with floods, bush fires, drought, economic issues, and of course all of the fallout from the COVID crisis.

The problem is that the congregations bring all of this stress to these people of God, and those who are in pastoral care take it on themselves. The congregations are seeking answers but cannot find them. Many of the ministers are struggling to help because there is an even deeper and more troubling trend in the church affecting their ability to deal with problems.

Where is the scripture?

As we visit churches we have been disturbed at the lack of use of scriptures and the Bible during church services. Some places dont even encourage the congregation to bring their bibles to meetings.

Sermons are preached where perhaps one scripture is used, sometimes none, and often not even discussed. One church we visited built a sermon on clips from a Disney Pixar movie rather than using the Bible.

So, if the bible is not being used in church, how are the people being fed the spiritual food they need to grow in the Lord to be able to deal with the significant problems surrounding them?

The truth

Jesus said that He came to bear witness to the truth. (John chapter 18, verse 37) When we study the truth, we learn that the truth will make us free. (John chapter 8, verse 32) We also learn that the truth is the word of God as Jesus said;

Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. (John chapter 17, verse 17)

Understanding the truth is essential because when we understand the word of God, which is the word of truth, we gain insight to see us through any and all circumstances.

Consider the example of Jesus Christ Himself. When He was tempted in the wilderness for forty days, how did He overcome all of the tests that the devil threw at Him?

He answered EVERY temptation with the word of God and with scripture. In each test Jesus responded with scripture saying, It is written (see Matthew chapter 4, verses 1-11)

The armour of God

Remember also that we have been given the armour of God to help us face any and every situation. We must put on the whole armour of God, part of which is to be girded with the truth.

Also, to fight against the wiles of the devil just as Jesus did, we are given the sword of the Spirit.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians chapter 6, verse 17)

It is not the Holy Spirit that is the sword, but the word of God, which is the truth. But the spirit can only wield the sword when He is armed with the word of God.

And thats our job.

The task of all Christians

Our task in Christ Jesus is to be filled with the word of God. We need to be immersed in Gods word and to absorb it so that when we are put in testing situations, or under stress due to the issues mentioned above, we have the answers.

All of the issues of this life are answered by the truth of the word of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But we have to learn it to arm the Spirit who will wield the sword on our behalf.

Overcoming the troubling trends in the church

Many of Gods people are not being fed the word by their pastors and ministers in the church. And we are finding that those ministers have likewise not been fed by those who trained them.

As a consequence, they are falling and failing because it is only by knowing the truth of the word of God through studying the scriptures that we can face the issues of this life.

I urge everyone to get deep into their Bible studies and learn the truth. If you are not being fed from the scriptures in church, as we have seen recently, then seek for yourself. Read, study, meditate, and pray over the scriptures diligently and the Lord will open them up.

Get together with others to study the Bible too as you can all learn lessons from one another. And look to Jesus in all things. This is how we will overcome these troubling trends and grow to maturity in Jesus Christ.
(Image source from: edition.cnn.com)

Russian Minister hints of Third World War:- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed that the Third World War may take place and it would involve nuclear weapons as per the reports from RIA News. Russia declared war against Ukraine and it has been a week since the destruction started. Russia is in real danger as most of the countries of the globe have been opposing the military operation of Russia. A massive strike was staged by the Russian forces on the local government headquarters in Kharkiv, the second city after the capital Kyiv. At least ten people have been killed in the attacks in Kharkiv. Russia also staged an attack on the Kyiv main television tower and the incident killed five people.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the nation is ready for talks with Russia. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky also spoke to US President Joe Biden over the phone asking the top nation to control Russia before further damage happens. Volodymyr Zelensky also asked the EU to prove that the nation is a member revealing that Ukraine is alone and needs the support of the world. As per the official update, more than 6,77,000 people fled from Ukraine after the military operation commenced in the country. The World Bank yesterday announced that all the projects in Russia and Belarus are kept on hold.
High Court shocks AP government on Three Capital Row:- After Amaravati was named as the capital of the ruling TDP during the last regime, the current government had change of plans. YSRCP proposed three capital rule which was opposed badly all over. Several petitions are filed against the move of the government but YS Jagan and his team is keen to shift the capital to Vizag very soon. In a strong setback, the aP High Court today asked the government off Andhra Pradesh to follow the CRDA Act and ordered the government to develop Amaravati in six months as per the master plan. The Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra announced the verdict after a bunch of petitions are verified.

The AP High Court also asked the government not to shift any office from Amaravati and wanted the officials to operate from the capital. The High Court also asked the government to pay Rs 50,000 for the each petitioner. The court wanted the government to inform about the updates on a regular basis about the capital construction. Several farmers in Amaravati who donated their lands to the capital challenged the AP government's decision in the High Court. They have been protesting in Amaravati but the government was not bothered. More than 100 petitions are filed and the AP government now received a huge shock from the High Court.

(Video Source: NTV Telugu)
(Image source from: Deccanchronicle.com)

Plot to kill Telangana Minister Exposed:- Telangana cops busted out a plot that was planned to kill Telangana Excise Minister V Srinivas Goud and the deal was sealed for Rs 15 crores. Eight people have been arrested in relation with the case and two rifles have been seized. Cyberabad Police Commissioner Stephen Ravindra informed the same to the media last evening. The cops are investigating the angle of the supporters of BJP leaders DK Aruna and Jithendar Reddy's involvement in the case. The news saw light after a murder attempt happened on Farooq and Hyderali on February 25th in Suchitra junction. They were residing in Suchitra lodge and Nagarjuna, Vishwanath, Yadayya attacked the duo.

Farooq and Hyderali lodged complaints against them and the accused have been traced and arrested. During the investigation, the plot to kill Telangana Minister V Srinivas Goud was exposed. The other accused Raghavvendra Raju, Munnuru Ravi and Madhusudhan Raju flew to Vizag and then to New Delhi. They are arrested and brought back to Hyderabad. They have purchased pistols from Uttar Pradesh. The deal was fixed for Rs 15 crores. Responding about the issues, Jithendar Reddy and DK Aruna said that they are involved in the case and they revealed that they would approach the Telangana High Court soon.

(Video Source: ETV Telangana)
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Over 50,000 Australians, from every corner of our great country, from all walks of life, from varied ethnicities met in Canberra last Saturday 5 Feb, (although, if the MSM is your source of news, youd never know), to voice their opposition to vaccine mandates, and to ask for their jobs back.

Oh dear  I just saw the faces of our States Health bureaucrats burn white-hot with rage (how dare they).

Be that as it may, my heart swells with pride, when I tell you that leading the vanguard for Freedom are individual Christians, but sadly not one authorised representative of any major Australian Church Denomination turned up.

Rather ordinary Christians inspired by Biblical truth, and their compassion for our fellow Australians have entered the fray of the battle for justice. Ill tell you more about them later, but firstly we must consider those crazy anti-vaxers.

Crazy anti-vaxers

Whats wrong with these crazy anti-vaxers, dont they realise that the protection afforded under the constitution (Section 51) that proscribes the use of conscription (no jab, no job) with reference to experimental medical procedures is there for our Despots. oops I meant our honourable Politicians to trample over?

Fancy being so facile as to believe that we live in a democracy where the Constitution is upheld? Why are they fighting against the inevitable tide that will bring us to a glorious Marxist dystopia, led by Klaus Schwab, where well own nothing and well be happy? Im really struggling to understand their fervour to defend our constitutionally defined Freedom.

Boundless audacity

Out of the anarchic tumult of the unruly mob (according to the MSM) Captain Graham Hood emerged as the mobs leader. An ex-Qantas pilot and a Christian who refused to be jabbed. Second in charge is Paramedic John Latter, another Christian, then weve Tony Nikolic of AFL Solicitors and Riccardo Bosi both of whom are also Christians.

So at least four of the six leaders of the movement are Christians.

Whats going on here? Dont they realise that their Denominational Church leaders are the Governments patsies  oops, sorry I did it again, I meant loyal supporters. And therefore, they too should comply with all the unconstitutional, illegal and immoral health orders?

These extremists even had the audacity, on the invitation of the honourable Craig Kelly to present the peoples Parliament and our beloved Prime Minister (who refused to see them, I think he was busy criticising a Christian School for contending that gender is biologically determined, hmm  that could be in the Bible, I must check) with a List of Demands.

How dare they ask the Government:

1. To have their jobs back. Dont they realise that theyre unworthy, for not rolling up their sleeve?

2. To stop jabbing our children without parental consent (Oh Whats wrong with these people, we all know in a Marxist State, that children belong to the State)

3. To end the Government declared state of emergency. Goodness, they cant do that the media needs a crisis, in order to survive.

4. To end the vax mandates.

5. To cancel the imminent digital ID.

6. To open the borders. Oh No! this could ruin Mark McGowens plans to leave the Commonwealth, to set up his own fiefdom.

7. To allow scientists and doctors who have been hitherto silenced by AHPRA, now be allowed to speak to the serious and frequent vaccine injuries, without fear of deregistration. But surely, we cant allow this to happen, if the public learn how dangerous these mRNA vaccines are, then they wont have their boosters.

Please, let me allay your fears. Scomo just has taken measures to correct this. Hes put aside $60mil to deal with these misguided extremists (you know mum, dad, the kids and granny), which will be spent on re-educating them, so they no longer believe they have citizens rights under the constitution. Just like they do in Communist China, making it much easier for us to acculturate when Australia becomes part of greater China.

P.S. Dont worry about the $60,000,000, theyll just print some more.

Major church denominations are nowhere to be seen

Ive attended three rallies so far, and at all of them Ive seen Christians open them in prayer, Ive heard Christians speak to defend our freedom of choice.

Ive seen Christian show compassion and empathy to those who are now jobless and struggling to feed their families, punished for exercising their rights as citizens and Ive heard Captain Hoody (as hes affectionately known) say that they entered the stronghold of Satan (aka the Australian Parliament) in the name of Jesus Christ to bring justice to the oppressed.

Ive seen Jesus Christ honoured and proclaimed at these rallies by ordinary everyday Christians.

But I weep to tell you, that at these rallies (or anywhere else), Ive not seen one leader of a major Christian Denomination, express any empathy, offer any assistance or speak to defend the rights of our now disenfranchised fellow Australians, who are unemployable because of the unconstitutional Government mandates.

Nothing changes. Jesus operated outside of the broken religious system in his day. And sadly, as to be expected, Christians are compelled to do the same today.

If youve been moved by the injustice, which now envelopes our great nation, then I exhort you to join us, on 29th March, in Canberra for the Millions March Rally.

I hope to see you there.
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(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 3 - Italy is ready to do its bit to take in refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said on Thursday.

"Italy is used to handling situations, including emergencies, via its network of prefect's offices, the world of voluntary associations, the local councils," Lamorgese said on her way into a European Interior Affairs Council.

"We will address all the needs that arise.

"It is necessary to show Europe's solidarity. The number of refugees arriving in Europe is very high".

The first refugees started arriving in Italy at the weekend after Russian invaded Ukraine last week.

Italy can expected to receive some 800-900,000 refugees from the Ukraine war, the Italo-Ukraine cultural association told ANSA.

"Around 800-900,000 Ukrainian refugees are expected in Italy," said the association's Fabio Prevedello.

"It is an estimate based on the fact that the Ukrainians in Italy are around 250,000, that many relatives will seek to join them and that every Ukrainian family has an average of 2-3 children". (ANSA).


TUNIS - Collectif Creatif Tunis and Tfanen - Creative Tunisia have launched on Apple Store and Google Play an app to tour the Medina and downtown Tunis independently. Visitors will be able to tour on their own the network of streets in the heart of Tunis, declared a Uncesco world heritage site in 1979, only accompanied by a digital guide.

'Door Wahdek' (tour on your own) is an app that offers an alternative urban experience in the Medina. It is a project curated by a team of urban professionals and cultural producers who are part of the Medina's community and in a dynamic of digitalization of the city and its components. The idea is to reinvent street tours. This completes numerous initiatives shedding light on the Medina and the cultural heritage of Tunis.

The app offers a guided and alternative tour with the objective of emphasizing several sites that are known or little-known in the Medina of Tunis. Two self-guided tours of the Medina are scheduled on March 4-5. Visitors will be assisted by an expert to help the vast public interested in the application's use. The tours will include the tasting of typical dishes.

Tfanen-Creative Tunisia is a project to support the cultural sector launched in June 2016 and funded by the European Union as part of the Program of support of the cultural sector in Tunisia (Pact) of the Tunisian ministry of cultural affairs. The project is launched in collaboration with the network Eunic (National Cultural Institutes of the European Union), implemented by the British Council which aims to promote Tunisian cultural diversity and access to culture, at a local, national and international level, supporting freedom of expression and creation, in particular by young generations, and encouraging the professionalization of culture.
Libya: Bashagha files complaint against Dbeibah on airspace New premier accuses old PM of seeking to prevent swearing-in

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MARCH 3 - "The head of the Libyan government, Fathi Bashagha has lodged a complaint with the prosecutor general" against the cabinet of national unity of premier Abdel Hamid Dbeibah "due to information on the closure of the entire Libyan airspace to prevent the government team from going to Tobruk" and "take the constitutional oath". The report was published on the Facebook page of the "Libyan government of national stability" of which Bashagha is premier.



In the complaint, the parallel cabinet of Fathi Bashagha asked for the "death penalty" against Abdel Hamid Dbeibah for obstructing the action of his executive. "We have received reports according to which the former outgoing cabinet exploited its power, outside the law, to completely close Libyan airspace", an act "considered a 'clear violation of transportation rights', guaranteed by the Constitution and a 'violation of constitutional and political powers", according to the statement.



Article 204 of the Libyan criminal code provides for the "death penalty for anyone committing an act to prevent the head of State, or legislative authorities, or the government, in total or in part, from exercising their role or the powers conferred to them by law, even if this impediment is temporary", it was added. The complaint, dated yesterday, first highlights "the decision promulgated by the Libyan parliament to grant confidence to the Libyan government and the intention of ministers of travelling from Tripoli to Tobruk to be sworn in by parliament in its session" scheduled on Thursday.



Meanwhile, the new minister of the economy and trade of Bashagha's parallel government announced he was resigning because the session of parliament to grant confidence to the executive "was not transparent", according to the website of broadcaster "218". "The procedure was not taken into account and there was no coordination with the High Council of State" (Hsc), said the now former minister Gamal Salem Shabaan, motivating the decision and referring to the institutional balance to Tripoli of the parliament based in Tobruk. (ANSAmed).




Libya: foreign, culture ministers abducted, media During an attack on convoy from Misrata to Tobruk

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MARCH 3 - The Libyan ministers of foreign affairs, Hafed Gaddour - a former Libyan ambassador to Italy - and for foreign affairs, Salha Al Darawqui, were allegedly abducted while travelling from Misrata to Tobruk where a ceremony was scheduled on Thursday for the swearing in of the new government of Fathi Bashaga, several Libyan media outlets report. According to the reports, the convoy of cars taking them to Tobruk was involved in a shooting at around 7 am on Thursday, while Libyan airspace is reportedly closed for the time being.



A decision, that to close airspace, that Bashaga reported to general prosecutor Al Siddiq Al Sour - "we received information that the previous government, whose mandate has expired, took advantage of its authority, as there is no law to completely close Libyan airspace: this is a clear violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right of movement and an attack on constitutional and political authorities, which prevents them from exercising their duties and undertaking their role".



Bashaga recalled that the behavior of the outgoing government is "punishable under article 204 of the Libyan criminal code, which provides for the death penalty against anyone committing an act that prevents the head of State, the legislative authority or the government, overall or in part, to undertake their activity or to exercise powers that they have been legally granted, even if it is a temporary ban".



Behind the reported abduction of the foreign minister-designate - and perhaps of others - is allegedly an "armed group affiliated" with Libyan Premier Abdel Hamid "Dbeibah". The information of a Libyan media outlet, Abaadnews, was relaunched on Twitter by well-known German analyst Wolfram Lacher referring to former Libyan ambassador in Rome, Hafed Gaddur.



Gaddur, together with the rest of the Bashagha government, had received a vote of confidence from parliament the day before yesterday. The former diplomat, whose second name is also transliterated into "Gaddour" or "Kaddour", has had ties with Italy for decades, including as ambassador to Italy from 2006 to 2012. The diplomat, aged 63, has often been in Italy since graduating in Asian and African civilizations at the University La Sapienza in Rome. His curriculum states that he was a consul general in Palermo in 1990-2003, ambassador to the Vatican (2003-2006) and in San Marino (2008-2013). Born in Janzour, Gaddur is married and has three children. Among other things, he served as Libya's ambassador to the EU from 2019 until last year.



He was running for president in elections originally scheduled last December, which were postponed indefinitely. He is also connected to Italy as a board member of the Libyan Italian University, in the scientific council of the Libyan academy in Libya and has been granted the honor of great officer of the Italian Republic. (ANSAmed).




NAPLES - The Stati Generali del Mediterraneo organized by the Italian confederation of economic development CISE will be held in Naples starting on Friday through March 6. Six events are scheduled over three days of initiatives. They will take place at the Royal Palace of Naples and will be attended by representatives of Italy, Malta, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Morocco.

The event will be opened by Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi, with the participation of the minister for the South and social cohesion, Mara Carfagna, who will attend a working session called 'Special economic zones: opportunities for development".

"We want to promote and increase - explained the president of CISE and extraordinary commissioner of the government for ZES Campania, Giuseppe Romano - commercial exchanges between the countries of the Mediterranean, creating institutional synergy.

It is time to understand that the single realities of the Mediterranean must disregard different political connotations and they must not be considered as many units but rather different parts of one unit".
Stalemate on EU refugee agreement over non-Ukrainians Austria, Visegrad countries 'concerned'

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, MARCH 3 - An agreement is on standby at the justice and home affairs council on the directive for the temporary protection to be activated for the war in Ukraine. The Visegrad group and Austria have in fact expressed reservations on the concession of temporary protection to refugees who are not Ukrainian nationals. "Apart from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, many countries are concerned for this, including Austria: it doesn't make sense to include citizens of third countries", said Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner on the sidelines of the summit.



The council in Brussels will be attended remotely in the afternoon by Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastirski. If the agreement to welcome Ukrainian refugees is unanimous, divergences have emerged on non-Ukrainians who have stay permits in Ukraine and are also fleeing war. The directive of temporary protection proposed by the European Commission, which lasts a year that can be prolonged to two and has never been implemented so far, has criteria based on "zero discrimination". Countries at the table are looking for a compromise that, like indicated by the EU rotating president France, allows to implement the directive as soon as possible. (ANSAmed).




(di Rodolfo Calo)

CAIRO - The parallel government of Fathi Bashagha that is trying to replace the cabinet in power for a year in Libya led by Abdel Hamid Dbeibah has been sworn in by Parliament in Tobruk. However, the swearing-in ceremony occurred in a climate of chaos that has rocked Libya for the past 11 years: three ministers were reportedly seized by a pro-Dbeibah militia and airspace was reportedly blocked in order to try to prevent members of the government from reaching the eastern Libyan city.

Also blocked by the militia "Misrata Joint Operations Force" was the new minister for foreign affairs Hafed Gaddur, a diplomat with decades-long connections to Italy. He served, among other things, as Libyan ambassador in Rome between 2006 and 2012.

Abducted with him were the new culture minister, Salha Al Druqi, and the minister of technical education, Faraj Khaleil.

On Thursday afternoon, negotiations were ongoing for their release in a recurring event for Libyan political life.

Dbeibah also tried to prevent the swearing-in ceremony of the Libyan government of national stability by closing overnight, until 9 am, airspace over Tripoli and Misrata. Bashagha reportedly lodged a complaint over the alleged abuse, requesting the death penalty for his rival.

Launching a worrisome sign that a new clash between militias is feared in a country that has experienced three civil wars in less than a decade, the minister of defense of Dbeibah's government of national unity has ordered to "all units and military formations not to mobilize armed vehicleswithout the preventive authorization of the ministry", which announced orders to "react against any formation" moving without a permit.

Bashagha, in his swearing-in speech, promised that he will enter Tripoli "with the strength of the law" and "not with law of strength". His executive received confidence with a vote by show of hands on Tuesday with a procedure and intimidations against lawmakers that raised the concern of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Libya: UN stresses importance of preserving unity, stability Concern over vote of confidence not reportedly up to standard

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, MARCH 3 - The UN secretary general continues to closely follow developments in Libya, including the session of March 1 of the Chamber of Representatives, with which confidence was voted on the appointment of a new government, said spokesperson Stephane Dujarric. The spokesperson added that the "secretary general is concerned by the news according to which the vote in the Chamber of Representatives was not up to expected standards of transparency", also citing reported "intimidating acts before the session".



"The secretary general stresses the importance of preserving unity and stability conquered with difficulty since the signature of the Libyan ceasefire agreement in October 2020 and highlights the need to satisfy the aspirations of more than 2.8 million Libyans who registered to vote to choose their leaders through credible, transparent and inclusive elections based on a solid constitutional and legal framework".



The special advisor to the secretary general for Libya, Stephanie Williams, intends to invite as soon as possible a mixed committee of the Chamber of Representatives and the High Council of State to gather to establish a consensual constitutional base which can lead to national elections as soon as possible". "The secretary general invites all actors to abstain from undertaking any action that can undermine stability and deepen divisions in Libya". Today, a swearing in ceremony of the new government of Fathi Bashaga is scheduled in Torbuk.



(ANSAmed).




Ramai la curent cu ce se intampla in lume si cand stai pe Facebook . Urmareste pagina Stiri Externe !
Ireland will continue imposing sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Premier Micheal Martin chaired a ministerial meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss the latest situation.

All ministers present reiterated their full solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Micheal Martin (Brian Lawless/PA)

They also reportedly condemned the brutal invasion and called on Russia to withdraw immediately without further needless loss of life and devastation.

In view of the situation being very volatile with outcomes hard to predict, ministers agreed to develop a range of possible scenarios to inform policy consideration.

Ministers also agreed that Ireland will continue to work as part of the international community, particularly through the European Union and United Nations, to bring maximum pressure to bear on Russia and to support the Ukrainian people.

(PA Graphics)

They also pledged to continue to impose economic sanctions on Moscow as part of the most severe set of sanctions imposed by the EU and other international partners.

Departments and agencies are to work together to prepare for the possibility of significant numbers of Ukrainian refugees being offered protection in Ireland.

Arrangements are also to be made to co-ordinate offers of practical assistance across the country.
Explainer-Which international banks are exposed to Russia? FILE PHOTO: Logo of Raiffeisen Bank on top of building is seen behind statue of Soviet state founder Leninin Moscow

By Valentina Za

MILAN (Reuters) - The latest wave of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine has thrown the global banking industry deeper into turmoil, as Western countries try to squeeze Moscow's access to cash for its economy and international trade.

Some Russian banks are being excluded from the SWIFTinternational payments system and, other sanctionstarget the country's central bank to stop it from using itsforeign reserves.

The moves aim to undermine Moscow's ability to weather thewider economic sanctions but they also impact Western bankswhich are exposed to Russia's economy.

In Europe, Italian and French banks have the largest Russianexposure, representing just over $25 billion each at the end ofSeptember, followed by Austrian banks with $17.5 billion, datafrom the Bank of International Settlements show.

The exposure of U.S. banks totals $14.7 billion, accordingto BIS data.

Following are some of the banks with significant Russianexposure.

EUROPEAN BANKS

RAIFFEISEN BANK INTERNATIONAL (RBI)

RBI has operated in Russia since the collapse of the SovietUnion and its business there contributed almost a third to thegroup's net profit of 1.5 billion euros last year and represents 18% of consolidated equity.

The Austrian lender's Russian bank is the country's 10th-largest by assets, employing around 8,700 staff.

RBI's overall Russian exposure totalled 22.85 billion euros ,more than half relating to the corporate private sector, it saidin its 2021 results presentation.

Russia's central bank accounts for 8% of RBI's exposure tothe country, sovereign entities 4% and Russian banks 2%,based on the presentation.

The overall figure comprises 11.6 billion euros in customerloans (or 11.5% of group), more than 80% of which are in Russianroubles.

Cross-border exposure to Russia is only 1.6 billion euroswith no parent funding from Vienna. Raiffeisen also holds 2.2billion euros in loans to Ukrainian customers.

Provisions against losses cover 64.3% of RBI's impairedexposures in Russia.

RBI Chief Executive Johann Strobl told Reuters last weekthat the group's Russian subsidiary "had a very strong liquidityposition and (was) recording inflows."

SOCIETE GENERALE

Societe Generale, which controls Russian bank Rosbank, had18.6 billion euros of overall exposure to Russia at the end of last year - or 1.7% of the group total.

More than 80%, or 15.4 billion euros is held locally by Rosbank while cross-border exposure amounts to 3.2 billion euros, including 600 million euros in off-balance sheet items.

Societe Generale started doing business in Russia in 1872, left the country in 1917 and returned in 1973.

The French group's Russian activities in 2021 represented 2.7% of group net income.

The bank said on Thursday it could withstand an extreme scenario where its Russian business is confiscated, which would shave only half a percentage point off its core capital.

Of SocGen's Russian exposure, 41% is to the retail sector, and 31% to the corporate one. Exposure to Russian sovereign entities stands at 3.7 billion euros.

UNICREDIT

UniCredit's overall exposure to Russia totalled 14.2 billion euros as of mid-2021. That includes 8 billion euros in loans extended by its Russian arm.

The rest are off-balance sheet items and cross-borderloans mainly granted by UniCredit SpA towards large corporatesoutside of Russia.

The Italian bank's Russian subsidiary, AO UniCredit Bank, ranks as the country's 14th largest bank. Its 2.3 billion euros in equity accounts for 3.7% of the group's total.

A complete write-off of the Russian business would cost UniCredit around 1 billion euros, knocking 35 basis points off its core capital ratio.

UniCredit said last week its Russian franchise accounted foronly around 3% of group revenues and provisions covered 84% ofits non-performing exposures.

INTESA SANPAOLO

Italy's biggest bank has financed major investment projectsin Russia, such as the Blue Stream gas pipeline and the sale ofa stake in oil producer Rosneft. It handles more thanhalf of all commercial transactions between Italy and Russia.

Intesa's loan exposure to Russia was 5.57 billion euros atthe end of 2021, or 1.1% of the total.

Its subsidiaries in Russia and Ukraine have assets,respectively, of 1 billion euros and 300 million euros, whichtogether represent just 0.1% of the group's total assets.

Intesa said on Thursday it was conducting a strategic review of its Russian presence.

ING

The Dutch bank has around 4.5 billion euros in outstandingloans with Russian clients and around 600 million euros withclients in Ukraine, out of a total loan book worth more than 600billion euros.

U.S. BANKS

CITIGROUP INC

The U.S. bank said this week its total exposure to Russiaamounted to nearly $10 billion and it was working to bring it down.

Citigroup listed Russia as 21st among its top 25 countryexposures with $5.4 billion of loans, securities and fundingcommitments at end-2021 - 0.3% of overall exposures based on aregulatory filing.

On Monday, Citigroup gave more details, taking the count for"total third-party exposure" to $8.2 billion. That includes $1.0billion in cash at the Bank of Russia and other financialinstitutions and $1.8 billion of reverse repos.

Citigroup also said it has $1.6 billion of exposures toadditional Russian counterparties outside of its Russiansubsidiary that are not included in that $8.2 billion.

As a comparison, Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported ina filing last month $293 million in net exposure to Russia, aswell as a total of $414 million of market exposure as ofDecember 2021.

($1 = 0.9016 euros)

(Reporting by Valentina Za;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
(Reuters) - Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Thursday he was inviting labor union United Auto Workers (UAW) to hold a vote at the electric carmaker's California factory.

The announcement comes three months after the billionaire entrepreneur criticized the Biden administration and Democrats for a proposal to give union-made, U.S.-built electric vehicles an additional $4,500 tax incentive. Tesla and foreign automakers do not have unions at their U.S. factories.

Organizing a Tesla plant would be a major victory for the UAW, which has largely failed to win the backing of workers at foreign-owned automakers' or EV startups' assembly plants, many of which are in the U.S. South. Tesla also has a plant in Austin, Texas.

In his tweet on Thursday, Musk said the real challenge was the negative unemployment in Bay Area, and not compensating people well would make them leave as they have many offers.

"I'd like hereby to invite UAW to hold a union vote at their convenience. Tesla will do nothing to stop them," he said.

UAW did not have an immediate comment about Musk's tweet, but analysts said his actions over the past year do not match the rhetoric.

U.S. President Joe Biden has often praised the electric-vehicle (EV) efforts made by Detroit automakers General Motors Co and Ford Motor Co, even though they sell fewer EVs than Tesla.

Last month, Biden, whom Musk earlier this year compared to a "damp sock puppet," acknowledged Tesla's leadership role in making EVs after Musk repeatedly complained about being ignored. Last fall, Musk said Biden's EV policy appeared to be controlled by labor unions.

Musk has also faced the ire of U.S. National Labor Relations Board, which last year ruled the company violated U.S. labor law and ordered Tesla to direct him to delete a 2018 tweet saying employees would lose their stock options if they formed a union.

Tesla subsequently appealed the NLRB ruling with the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals and that case is still pending.

In the 2018 tweet, Musk wrote: Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.

The NLRB also directed Tesla to offer one former employee reinstatement as well as to rescind 2017 rules that prohibited distributing union literature in its parking lot on non-work time and rules that barred distributing union stickers, leaflets, and pamphlets without first obtaining permission.

Last November, 10 environmental and advocacy groups, including Sierra Club, Greenpeace and League of Conservation Voters, called on EV startup Rivian Automotive to work with labor groups to ensure a clean future and high-paying jobs, and to allow a union voting process in its plants.

Workers at Rivian's plant in Normal, Illinois, are not unionized. Rivian previously declined to comment on the subject and could not immediately be reached on Thursday following Musk's tweet.

(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit and Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Nick Zieminski)
In his State of the Union speech, President Biden called for Congress to pass a $15 minimum wage. Eyes rolled everywhere. Democrats, who have narrow majorities in both houses of Congress, tried to pass a $15 minimum wage last year. They didnt have the votes. They could have gotten the votes for raising the wage floor to $10 or $11, from the current $7.25. But that wasnt good enough for Sen. Bernie Sanders and other party liberals. So Democrats havent raised the minimum wage at all, even though they run Congress and this has been a party priority for years.

This all-or-nothing approach of Democratic liberals is the pathway to irrelevance. Most voters dont want the revolution Sanders and the so-called Squad keep agitating for. They want incremental change that will gradually improve what needs to be improved. If Democrats continue to demonstrate that they stand for big things but cant even get small things done, they deserve the whooping voters are likely to administer in the midterm elections, with Republicans poised to take control of the House and possibly the Senate.

The Democrats still have something to offer. Biden has rebranded his build back better plan as build a better America, which wont win any Clio awards but does open the door to a reboot. The original BBB flopped last year when Joe Manchin, the moderate Democratic Sen. from West Virginia, said he wouldnt support it. Manchin said the $2 trillion cost was too high and the financing mechanisms were too gimmicky. He also worried that a gusher of new federal spending would worsen inflation.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S, March 1, 2022. Saul Loeb/Pool via REUTERS

[Get Rick Newmans stories by email or follow him on Twitter.]

Liberal Democrats view Manchin as a turncoat, but hes a lot closer to mainstream opinion than Sanders or his House understudy, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. So Democrats would be wise to listen now that Manchin says he could support a limited version of BBB with a much smaller price tag.

After Bidens SOTU speech, Manchin outlined the way to a bill that would contain some of Bidens priorities and might be able to pass. Start, Manchin says, with changes to the 2017 Republican tax law that virtually all Democrats would support, such as raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 25% and undoing the tax cuts for high-income Americans. Hiking the corporate rate to 25% would raise $40 billion to $50 billion per year. Raising taxes on high-income Americans could generate another $30 billion per year.

Manchin also highlighted a Democratic bill that would allow the government to negotiate pharmaceutical prices with drug companies, which could save the government another $45 billion per year and lower drug prices for seniors. Those three provisions alone would yield well over $100 billion in new or found revenue to spend on other things.

Use half of that money to lower the deficit, Manchin says, and the rest to finance whatever programs Democrats consider most important. That might leave $50 billion per year to spend. Some examples of what that could buy:

Free pre-school for all 3- and 4-year-olds. Cost: About $20 billion per year

Two years of free community college for qualifying students. About $11 billion per year

Free child care for qualifying families: About $23 billion per year

Clean energy tax credits, to address climate change: About $40 billion per year

One priority for many Democrats, an extension of the child tax credit that expired in 2021, would be too costly to fund with just $50 billion in the kitty. That provision would cost at least $100 billion per year. But all these provisions can all be trimmed or modified to accommodate however much money is available. And Manchin might agree to devote less to deficit reduction and more to programs.

The Democrats would have to give up many things they want. Thats the point. Instead of a huge grab-bag of federalist intervention voters cant keep track of, theyd have to build their case to voters on a tight package of programs they feel are the most important. They wouldnt be able to remake society. Theyd just be able to improve it here and there.

The Bernie Sanders wing would have to postpone their revolution. But the Independent and centrist voters who sent Biden to the White House might appreciate the effort to fix what needs it most, while staying on budget. Or, Democrats could keep overplaying their hand with nothing to show for it and try to convince voters to sign up for a few more years of this.

Rick Newman is a columnist and author of four books, including "Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. You can also send confidential tips.

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Boris Johnson condemned abhorrent attacks on Ukraine as the UK fears Vladimir Putin will use even more indiscriminate violence against the countrys capital Kyiv and other key cities.

The Prime Minister spoke to Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky to share his disgust at Russian attacks and promised to do everything possible to support the Ukrainian people and their resistance, Downing Street said.

Coordinated actions with  Prime Minister @BorisJohnson. Reported on the course of  defense and the latest crimes of Russia against the civilian population. We are grateful for  continued significant assistance in combating aggression. Together with partners we defend !    (@ZelenskyyUa) March 2, 2022

Strikes that damaged the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial in Kyiv and the central square in Kharkiv have caused revulsion, and Western allies fear it is a sign of a shift in Russian tactics towards indiscriminate targeting of urban areas.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Vladimir Putin knows no limit and will seek to pummel cities in tactics reminiscent of medieval siege warfare.

Russian troops have entered Ukraines second city Kharkiv following days of intensive bombardment, but Mr Wallace said Mr Putins forces did not yet control it.

The Ministry of Defence said the latest intelligence suggested Russian forces had reportedly moved into the centre of Kherson in south Ukraine.

Artillery and air strikes have targeted built-up areas in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv.

But Mr Wallace said the advance of Russian forces continued to be slowed by a combination of overstretched logistics, poor morale and brave resistance by Ukrainian fighters.

(PA Graphics)

He told BBC Breakfast that none of the major cities have been taken control of.

There was huge amounts of low morale in the Russian forces, weve seen lots of surrenders.

However, he added: But that doesnt take away from the fact you have a very ruthless Russian armed forces leadership and a president who seems to know no limit to how much violence they will use to achieve their aims.

The lack of progress in meeting the aims of the invasion had led to a change in tactics, focusing on aerial and artillery bombardment of cities rather than the kind of lightning mobilised armoured advances originally envisaged by the Kremlin, Western military experts believe.

Mr Wallace told Sky News that meant a plan to carpet-bomb cities, indiscriminately in some cases and on BBC Radio 4s Today he warned Russian forces would pummel these cities with artillery and then hope to break the city.

The tactics had been used in Chechnya but Ukraine is a different proposition because of its size and population.

(PA Graphics)

Mr Wallace warned that an occupying force would face the kind of insurgency faced by the Soviets in Afghanistan or the UK and Western allies in Iraq.

Invading a country with overwhelming force is one thing, occupying a people of 44 million who dont want you in  it is a very different thing.

There could be years of resistance to a Russian occupation, he said.

The Defence Secretary again rejected calls for the UK and its allies to enforce a no-fly zone in the skies above Ukraine, because shooting down a Russian plane could trigger a Europe-wide conflict between Mr Putin and Nato.

A family fleeing the war in Ukraine reunite after crossing the border in Medyka, south-eastern Poland (AP)

A no-fly zone would also have to apply to Ukrainian jets, meaning they could not target Russian forces from the air, he added.

If you had a no-fly zone in Ukraine, the overwhelming scale of the Russian army would be able to drive around with impunity, which it cant at the moment.

But he said the UK had led the way in supplying surface-to-air weapons systems to Ukraine.

Latest Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/CeKxZDHRDk  Ministry of Defence  (@DefenceHQ) March 2, 2022

In other developments:

 Mr Johnson will face Prime Ministers Questions after returning from a trip to show support to Nato allies Poland and Estonia.

 Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has announced further sanctions on Russian financial institutions.

 The UN General Assembly will vote on Wednesday on a resolution demanding that Russia immediately stops using force against Ukraine and withdraws its military from the country.

 The UK has also imposed sanctions on Belarus over its role in the invasion.

 US President Joe Biden used his State of the Union address to announce the closure of US airspace to Russian flights.

 Russia said it would be ready for further peace talks with Ukraine later on Wednesday.

A Russian missile hits the Babyn Yar memorial park in Kyiv where thousands of Jews were murdered by Nazis. In case anyone bought Putins denazification objective, heres the stark staring proof of its sickening hollowness. pic.twitter.com/WmYw1WCXsI  Melinda Simmons (@MelSimmonsFCDO) March 1, 2022

A senior Western intelligence official estimated that more than 5,000 Russian soldiers had been captured or killed, while Ukraine has given no overall estimate of its military losses.

Mr Wallace said: We have definitely seen cases of very quick surrenders by Russian forces, we have seen lots of abandonment of incredible pieces of equipment.

The UN human rights office said on Tuesday it had recorded 136 civilian deaths including 13 children, but the real toll is believed to be far higher.

In the absence of direct military involvement, the response of the UK, US and European Union has been limited to providing support to Ukraine and imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russia.

In Washington, Mr Biden said: Putin is now isolated from the world more than he has ever been.

On Tuesday night the Foreign Office announced that sanctions were in force against Russias central bank and its sovereign wealth fund and its director.

Sberbank, Russias largest bank, which accounts for 35% of the financial sector, has also been prohibited from clearing sterling payments through the UKs financial system.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: We said Putin and those around him would pay the price for their unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine, and we are being true to our word.

Earlier on Tuesday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had announced a ban on Russian-linked ships  and oligarchs private yachts  from British ports.
The latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war:

GENEVA  The U.N. refugee agency says 1 million people have fled Ukraine since Russias invasion less than a week ago, an exodus without precedent in this century for its speed.

The tally from UNHCR amounts to more than 2 percent of Ukraines population on the move in under a week. The World Bank counted the population at 44 million at the end of 2020.

The U.N. agency has predicted that up to 4 million people could eventually leave Ukraine but cautioned that even that projection could be revised upward.

In an email, UNHCR spokesperson Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams wrote: Our data indicates we passed the 1M mark as of midnight in central Europe, based on counts collected by national authorities.

On Twitter, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, wrote: In just seven days we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine to neighboring countries.

Syria, whose civil war erupted in 2011, currently remains the country with the largest refugee outflows  at more than 5.6 million people, according to UNHCR figures. But even at the swiftest rate of flight by refugees out of Syria, in early 2013, it took at least three months for 1 million refugees to leave that country.

UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said Wednesday that at this rate the outflows from Ukraine could make it the source of the biggest refugee crisis this century.

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KYIV, Ukraine  In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an upbeat assessment of the war and called on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance.

We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy, he said. They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.

Zelenskyy didnt comment on whether the Russians have seized several cities, including Kherson.

If they went somewhere, then only temporarily. Well drive them out, he said.

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.

These are not warriors of a superpower," he said. "These are confused children who have been used.

He said the Russian death toll has reached about 9,000.

Ukraine doesnt want to be covered in bodies of soldiers," he said. "Go home.

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WASHINGTON  U.S. President Joe Biden is hailing Wednesdays vote by the United Nations General Assembly demanding an immediate halt to Moscows attack on Ukraine and the withdrawal of all Russian troops, saying it demonstrates the extent of global outrage at Russias horrific assault on a sovereign neighbor.

In a statement Wednesday evening, Biden said the U.N. vote recognizes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is attacking the very foundations of global peace and security  and everything the United Nations stands for.

The vote on the Aggression against Ukraine resolution was 141-5, with 35 abstentions.

Echoing his State of the Union address Tuesday, Biden said: Together, we must  and we will  hold Russia accountable for its actions. We will demonstrate that freedom always triumphs over tyranny.

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KHERSON, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys office says fighting is still occurring around the port city of Kherson, which Russian officials have said is in their complete control.

Zelenskyys office told The Associated Press that it could not comment on the situation there while the battle was still being waged.

But the mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow them to gather up the bodies from the streets.

I simply asked them not to shoot at people, Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said in a statement. We dont have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.

Kherson, a city of 300,000, is strategically located on the banks of the Dnieper River near where it flows into the Black Sea. If Russian troops take the city, they could unblock a water canal and restore water supplies to the Crimean Peninsula.

The battle in the Kherson region began last Thursday, the first day of the invasion, and by the next day the Russian forces were able to take a bridge that connects the city with territory on the western bank.

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SAVANNAH, Ga.  About 3,800 troops based at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia have been ordered to deploy quickly and bolster U.S. forces in Europe after Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Its been very hectic and stressful, but overall its worked out, Army Staff Sgt. Ricora Jackson said Wednesday as she waited with dozens of fellow soldiers to board a chartered flight at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. The soldiers are from the 1st Armored Brigade of the Armys 3rd Infantry Division.

In all, the Pentagon has ordered about 12,000 service members from various U.S. bases to Europe, with a couple of thousand more already stationed abroad shifting to other European countries.

The soldiers mission overseas is to train alongside military units of NATO allies in a display of force aimed at deterring further aggression by Russia.

Im a little nervous, but its OK, said Jackson, a 22-year-old tank gunner from Pensacola, Florida.

Asked what was making her nervous, she replied: Just about the unknown.

Maj. Gen. Charles Costanza, the 3rd Infantrys commander, said soldiers and their families were told to expect the deployment to last six months, though it could be extended or shortened depending on developments in Ukraine. There is no intent to have any U.S. service member fight in Ukraine, Costanza said. And they know that.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  The International Criminal Courts prosecutor opened an investigation Wednesday into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Ukraine dating back to 2013, but also covering the conflict sparked by Russias invasion.

Prosecutor Karim Khan said he launched the probe after 39 of the courts member states requested an investigation, a process known as a referral.

These referrals enable my Office to proceed with opening an investigation into the Situation in Ukraine from 21 November 2013 onwards, thereby encompassing within its scope any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person, Khan said in a statement.

Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced, he added.

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KHERSON, Ukraine  A Russian official says troops have taken the Ukrainian port city of Kherson  a claim that the Ukrainian military denies.

The city is under Russian soldiers' complete control, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday.

He said that the citys civilian infrastructure, essential facilities and transport are operating as usual and that there are no shortages of food or essential goods.

Konashenkov said talks between the Russian commanders, city administrations and regional authorities on how to maintain order in the city were underway Wednesday. The claims could not be immediately verified.

A senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that they have seen claims that the Russians have taken Kherson, but that the Ukrainian military is rejecting that claim.

Our view is that Kherson is very much a contested city at this point, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to make military assessments.

___

Associated Press Writer Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

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PARIS  French President Emmanuel Macron says Russian President Vladimir Putin chose war, but that he would continue his contacts with the Russian leader to try to stop the conflict and avoid its spread beyond Ukraines borders.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Macron hammered home that the consequences of the conflict will reverberate to France and other European countries, thrusting the continent into a new era.

Macrons 14-minute address was meant to apprise the French of what has happened and what he predicts the fallout will be. It was his second such address and comes days before Macron must by law declare his candidacy in French presidential elections in April.

After enumerating the unsuccessful efforts by Western powers to prevent the invasion, Macron said, It is, therefore, alone and in a deliberate way that by denying engagements taken before the international community, President Putin chose war.

The war in Ukraine marks a rupture, jolting Europeans into a new era that will force new, costly decisions in all spheres, from defense to energy, Macron warned.

The French president stressed that he wont abandon contacts with Russia. Macron has traveled to the Kremlin and had multiple telephone conversations with Putin, the latest on Monday, trying to facilitate an end to the Ukraine conflict.

I chose to stay in contact and will remain in contact as much as I can and as long as it is necessary with President Putin, to convince him to renounce arms, to aid as much as France can ... and prevent contagion and enlargement of the conflict as best we can, Macron said.

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GOTLAND, Sweden  Sweden says four Russian fighter jets violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday.

The four aircraft  two SU-27 and two SU-24 fighters  flew briefly over Swedish airspace east of the island of Gotland, according to a statement from the Swedish Armed Forces.

In light of the current situation we are very concerned about the incident, Swedish Air Force chief Carl-Johan Edstrom said. This is unprofessional and irresponsible behavior from the Russian side.

Swedish fighter jets were scrambled and took photos of the Russian jets, the statement said.

This shows that our readiness is good. We were in place to secure the territorial integrity and Swedish borders, Edstrom said. We have total control of the situation.

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WASHINGTON  The Pentagon announced that it is postponing a nuclear missile test launch scheduled for this week to avoid any possible misunderstanding in light of Russian President Vladimir Putins recent decision to put his nuclear forces on higher alert.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the decision to delay the test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was made by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. He said the U.S. would like to see Moscow reciprocate by taking the temperature down in the crisis over Ukraine.

Kirby said the U.S. did not put its nuclear forces on higher alert in response to Putins move, which the spokesman described as dangerous and unnecessary.

Austin is comfortable that the strategic deterrence posture that we have in place is up to the task of defending the homeland and our allies.

The United States usually performs about four test launches of Minuteman III missiles per year.

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ROME  Soccer great Andriy Shevchenko says people back in his homeland of Ukraine are helping each other fight for freedom because they believe its the right thing to do.

Shevchenko, who used to play for AC Milan and Chelsea, told Italian state TV in an interview aired Wednesday night that we want to be free, we want to have our land. His mother and sister are in Kyiv.

All are afraid, Shevchenko said. People are organizing themselves. Theyre helping each other. They believe they are doing the right thing in defending the country against Russias attack, he said.

At a match Tuesday night in Milans San Siro Stadium between AC Milan and Inter, Shevchenko, delivered a video message while draped in a Ukrainian flag.

What unites us must be stronger than what divides us, the former star forward said in the video. Pleading for peace, Shevchenko said: Lets all together stop this war.

___

KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian officials have reported a powerful explosion in Kyiv, between a central railway station and the Ibis hotel, an area near Ukraines Defense Ministry.

Ukrainian Railway Service said that thousands of women and children were being evacuated from the Southern Railway Station at the time of the strike. The building of the station suffered minor damage, and the train traffic continued. Officials said it was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.

Russian terrorists launched an air strike on the South Railway Station in Kyiv, where thousands of Ukrainian women and children are being evacuated, the national railway company said.

The Southern Railway station is one of two stations that make up the main passenger rail complex. The two stations are connected by an overhead corridor that crosses over about a dozen tracks.

The stations are about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the square that was the site of huge protests in 2014 and 2004.

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WASHINGTON  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week will visit six European countries, including the Baltic states and Moldova, which are on particular edge as Russia intensifies its war in Ukraine.

The State Department says Blinken will travel Thursday to Belgium for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers before heading to the Polish border with Ukraine to meet refugees, and then Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Poland and the three Baltics are members of NATO and fall under its Article 5 defense provisions, which means the allies are bound to defend them if they are attacked. Given their location immediately adjacent to Russia, they are believed to be at special risk should the Ukraine conflict spread.

Western-leaning Moldova is not a NATO member but has relations with the alliance and has long objected to the presence of Russian troops in the disputed territory of Transnistria.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine has picked up steam, most NATO members, including the Baltics, have steadily increased military and financial assistance to Kyiv even as Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of reprisals for any nation that interferes in what he calls a special military operation. Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has decried Russias escalation of attacks on crowded cities as a blatant terror campaign.

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WARSAW, Poland  An international organization made up only of democracies held an emergency meeting on Wednesday following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The Warsaw-based Community of Democracies said in a statement that its members at the gathering condemned Russias aggression and backed Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic aspirations of its people.

Romanias Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, whose country holds the communitys rotating presidency, called for continued support for Ukraines right to choose its own foreign policy and for more attention to be given to other places facing Russian pressure, including Moldova, Georgia and the Western Balkan region.

This seems to be the beginning of the most difficult period in generations. And this is the fight of our generation and a real test on our democracies, Aurescu said.

Thomas Garrett, the organizations secretary general, underlined that democracies worldwide must unequivocally show they stand with Ukraine.

A Ukrainian lawmaker in Kyiv addressed the political representatives. She called on Russia to stop bombing our towns and cities and appealed to the U.N., E.U., and other international organizations to help Ukraine obtain a ceasefire for humanitarian relief. The lawmaker was not identified for security reasons.

___

WASHINGTON  A senior U.S. defense official says the Russian convoy still appears to be stalled outside the city center of Kyiv, and has made no real progress in the last couple days.

The official on Wednesday said the convoy is still plagued with fuel and food shortages and logistical problems, as well as facing continued fierce resistance from Ukrainians.

He said there has been an increase in the number of missiles and artillery targeting the city, suggesting the Russians are trying to make a more aggressive move to try and take the city.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military assessments, said Russians have not been able to achieve air superiority and Ukrainian air defenses remain operable and their aircraft continue to fly.

The official said that about 82% of the Russian troops that had been arrayed around Ukraine are now inside the country  just a slight uptick over the last 24 hours, and that Russia has launched more than 450 missiles at various targets in the country.

In other areas of the country, the U.S. official said that the U.S. is seeing preliminary indications that Russian forces are going to try to move south towards Mariupol from Donetsk, in what appears to be an effort to encircle the city.

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Associated Press Writer Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

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BRUSSELS  European Union finance ministers on Wednesday convened for the second time in less than a week to weigh the likely impact on Europe of the full-scale Russian military assault on Ukraine, a country that borders the blocs eastern flank.

Policymakers are scrambling to recalculate economic projections made less than a month ago, when the European Commission  the EUs executive arm  predicted the blocs economic growth would slow from 5.3% last year to 4% this year and 2.8% in 2023.

Top European commissioners said on Wednesday those figures are too optimistic because the conflict in Ukraine will probably stoke rises in energy prices, financial-market turbulence, supply-chain bottlenecks and a weakening of consumer confidence.

We dont expect the recovery to be derailed completely but to be weakened, said European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni.

The gloomier outlook has also raised the prospect of a prolonged period of unrestrained spending by member countries to support their economies.

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ZAHONY, Hungary  Some of the nearly 1 million people who have fled Russias devastating war in Ukraine in recent days count among societys most vulnerable, unable to make the decision on their own to flee and requiring careful assistance to make the journey to safety.

At the train station in the Hungarian town of Zahony on Wednesday, more than 200 young Ukrainians with disabilities  residents of two orphanages in Ukraines capital of Kyiv  disembarked into the cold wind of the train platform after an arduous escape from the violence gripping Ukraine.

The refugees, most of them children with mental and physical disabilities, were evacuated from their care facilities once the Russian assault on the capital intensified.

It wasnt safe to stay there, there were rockets, they were shooting at Kyiv, said Larissa Leonidovna, the director of the Svyatoshinksy orphanage in Kyiv. We spent more than an hour underground during a bombing.

The U.N. refugee agency says more than 874,000 people have fled Ukraine since Russias invasion last week and the figure is rising exponentially, putting it on track to cross the 1 million mark on Wednesday.

Moving from the train in groups of 30, the children  also from the Darnytskyy orphanage in Kyiv  were escorted to buses waiting to take them to Opole, Poland, where they would be settled and receive further care

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WASHINGTON  The White House has announced additional sanctions against Russia and its ally Belarus, including extending export controls that target Russian oil refining and entities supporting the Russian and Belarusian militaries.

Among Wednesday's new measures are sanctions targeting 22 Russia defense entities that make combat aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles, electronic warfare systems, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles for Russias military.

The U.S. Commerce Department also announced additional export controls on oil and gas extraction equipment that would hurt Russias refining capacity over the long term.

The Biden administration, and Western allies, have largely stayed away from hitting the Russian energy sector to avoid causing tremors to the global supply of energy. The White House, however, said in a statement that U.S. and allies share a strong interest in degrading Russias status as a leading energy supplier over time.

The latest sanctions imposed on Wednesday include the U.S. closing off its air space to all Russian flights. President Joe Biden previewed that he would making the move in his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.

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JERUSALEM  Israels prime minister spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, shortly after a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Israeil officials said.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennetts office confirmed that the calls with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders took place but provided no further details.

Israel has close relations with both countries and has acted as an intermediary between the two countries.

Israeli media reported that that Zelenskyy repeated Ukraines request for Israeli military equipment, but that Bennett said Israel wouldnt give Ukraine anything that could potentially be used by the military. Bennetts office did not respond to requests for comment.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyys official Facebook page posted a Hebrew translation of his remarks, in which he called on all Jews of the world not to remain silent about Russias invasion.

Israel has largely refrained from taking actions to anger Moscow, in part because it relies on Russia for security coordination in neighboring Syria, where Russia maintains a military presence supporting President Bashar Assad, and where Israel frequently carries out airstrikes targeting Iranian forces and their Lebanese proxies.

Israel has denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine, but has also offered to act as broker for cease-fire talks.

In addition, Israels Foreign Ministry says it is weighing sending additional humanitarian aid to Ukraine, after having dispatched 100 tons of supplies this week. It says it is also evaluating the possibility of setting up a field hospital in Ukraine.

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LONDON  With the threat of financial sanctions looming, Chelseas Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirmed Wednesday he is trying to sell the Premier League club he turned into an elite trophy-winning machine with his lavish investment.

The speed of Abramovichs pending exit from Chelsea is striking as he was trying to instigate a plan this past weekend to relinquish some control in order to keep the club under his ownership.

But as Russias war on Ukraine entered a seventh day, pressure was growing on the British government to include him among the wealthy Russians to be targeted in sanctions.

In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the clubs sponsors and partners, Abramovich said in a statement.

Abramovich said he will not be asking to be repaid 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) in loans he has granted the club during 19 years of injecting cash to elevate the team into one of the most successful in Europe.

I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated, he said. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  A pretrial panel of International Criminal Court judges has been assigned to evaluate an upcoming request to open an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

The court took the procedural step Wednesday to be ready when Prosecutor Karim Khan files the request.

He announced his intention on Monday to launch an investigation dating back to 2013 but also including any new alleged crimes falling within the jurisdiction of my office that are committed by any party to the conflict that erupted following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

There have been widespread reports of Russian military strikes killing civilians in Ukraine.

The court says in a statement that the pretrial chamber will have to consider whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, upon examination of the Prosecutors request and the supporting material.

Canada and Lithuania have both said they plan to ask him to investigate alleged crimes in Ukraine. If they do, Khan can open an investigation without first seeking approval from judges.

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MOSCOW  A top aide for Russian President Vladimir Putin says Ukrainians are on their way to Belarus for talks that have been scheduled for Thursday.

As far as I know, the Ukrainian delegation has already departed from Kyiv, is en route ... Were expecting them tomorrow, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, told reporters Wednesday evening

According to Medinsky, the two sides agreed on the Brest region of Belarus, which borders Poland, as the site of the talks.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office confirmed to The Associated Press that the delegation is on its way, but gave no details on the time of the arrival.

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NEW DELHI  Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the second time in the past week as Moscow intensified its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin and Modi on Wednesday reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck, according to a statement from Arindam Bagchi, Indias External Affairs Ministry spokesperson. They discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas, Bagchi said.

The telephone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Putin came as the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution demanding that Russia stop war in Ukraine and withdraw all troops.

India last week had abstained from voting on a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that Russia cease its invasion of Ukraine. Russia vetoed the resolution while China and the United Arab Emirates also abstained.

Earlier in the day, India asked all its nationals to leave Ukraines second largest city of Kharkiv by Wednesday evening based on information received from Russia.

Bagchi also said nearly 17,000 Indian nationals, mostly students, out of an estimated 20,000, have left Ukraine. India is trying to evacuate the rest to nearby countries.

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NAIROBI, Kenya  The condemnation of Russias invasion of Ukraine has continued even at the United Nations Environment Assembly, where some delegates walked out on Wednesday when Russias representative began to speak.

The assembly also gave Ukraines representative a standing ovation.

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TIRANA, Albania The Albanian Football Federation has denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine and will offer shelter to Ukrainian players families.

The federation passed a resolution at its assembly on Wednesday in support of the Ukrainian people.

Stop to military violence and occupation! Stop to the war that brings only destruction and victims! Respect to Ukraines sovereignty! said that resolution.

The federation is in contact with its Ukraines counterpart to offer shelter to some players families in a sign of human support and solidarity.

A few days earlier Albanias government joined the wave of European opposition to playing any sports games against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Albania is among the few national teams in mens soccer with games scheduled against Russia in official competitions.

Albania was due to host Russia in Tirana on June 2 in the group stage of the UEFA Nations League competition.

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MOSCOW  The spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry says 498 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine and 1,597 more sustained wounds.

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov on Wednesday rejected reports about incalculable losses of the Russians as disinformation. It was the first time Russia has addressed the number of military casualties in Ukraine since the start of the invasion last Thursday. He assured that families of those killed are receiving all necessary assistance.

Konashenkov also said that neither conscripts, nor cadets have been involved in the operation in Ukraine, dismissing media reports alleging otherwise.

Konashenkov also said more than 2,870 Ukrainian troops have been killed and some 3,700 more sustained injuries, while 572 others have been captured by the Russians. Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the claim and it could not be immediately verified.

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Follow APs coverage of the tensions between Russia and Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
The latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war:

KHERSON, Ukraine  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys office says fighting is still occurring around the port city of Kherson, which Russian officials have said is in their complete control.

Zelenskyys office told The Associated Press that it could not comment on the situation there while the battle was still being waged.

But the mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow them to gather up the bodies from the streets.

I simply asked them not to shoot at people, Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said in a statement. We dont have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.

Kherson, a city of 300,000, is strategically located on the banks of the Dnieper River near where it flows into the Black Sea. If Russian troops take the city, they could unblock a water canal and restore water supplies to the Crimean Peninsula.

The battle in the Kherson region began last Thursday, the first day of the invasion, and by the next day the Russian forces were able to take a bridge that connects the city with territory on the western bank.

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SAVANNAH, Ga.  About 3,800 troops based at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia have been ordered to deploy quickly and bolster U.S. forces in Europe after Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Its been very hectic and stressful, but overall its worked out, Army Staff Sgt. Ricora Jackson said Wednesday as she waited with dozens of fellow soldiers to board a chartered flight at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. The soldiers are from the 1st Armored Brigade of the Armys 3rd Infantry Division.

In all, the Pentagon has ordered about 12,000 service members from various U.S. bases to Europe, with a couple of thousand more already stationed abroad shifting to other European countries.

The soldiers mission overseas is to train alongside military units of NATO allies in a display of force aimed at deterring further aggression by Russia.

Im a little nervous, but its OK, said Jackson, a 22-year-old tank gunner from Pensacola, Florida.

Asked what was making her nervous, she replied: Just about the unknown.

Maj. Gen. Charles Costanza, the 3rd Infantrys commander, said soldiers and their families were told to expect the deployment to last six months, though it could be extended or shortened depending on developments in Ukraine. There is no intent to have any U.S. service member fight in Ukraine, Costanza said. And they know that.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  The International Criminal Courts prosecutor opened an investigation Wednesday into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Ukraine dating back to 2013, but also covering the conflict sparked by Russias invasion.

Prosecutor Karim Khan said he launched the probe after 39 of the courts member states requested an investigation, a process known as a referral.

These referrals enable my Office to proceed with opening an investigation into the Situation in Ukraine from 21 November 2013 onwards, thereby encompassing within its scope any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person, Khan said in a statement.

Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced, he added.

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KHERSON, Ukraine  A Russian official says troops have taken the Ukrainian port city of Kherson  a claim that the Ukrainian military denies.

The city is under Russian soldiers' complete control, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday.

He said that the citys civilian infrastructure, essential facilities and transport are operating as usual and that there are no shortages of food or essential goods.

Konashenkov said talks between the Russian commanders, city administrations and regional authorities on how to maintain order in the city were underway Wednesday. The claims could not be immediately verified.

A senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that they have seen claims that the Russians have taken Kherson, but that the Ukrainian military is rejecting that claim.

Our view is that Kherson is very much a contested city at this point, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to make military assessments.

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Associated Press Writer Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

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PARIS  French President Emmanuel Macron says Russian President Vladimir Putin chose war, but that he would continue his contacts with the Russian leader to try to stop the conflict and avoid its spread beyond Ukraines borders.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Macron hammered home that the consequences of the conflict will reverberate to France and other European countries, thrusting the continent into a new era.

Macrons 14-minute address was meant to apprise the French of what has happened and what he predicts the fallout will be. It was his second such address and comes days before Macron must by law declare his candidacy in French presidential elections in April.

After enumerating the unsuccessful efforts by Western powers to prevent the invasion, Macron said, It is, therefore, alone and in a deliberate way that by denying engagements taken before the international community, President Putin chose war.

The war in Ukraine marks a rupture, jolting Europeans into a new era that will force new, costly decisions in all spheres, from defense to energy, Macron warned.

The French president stressed that he wont abandon contacts with Russia. Macron has traveled to the Kremlin and had multiple telephone conversations with Putin, the latest on Monday, trying to facilitate an end to the Ukraine conflict.

I chose to stay in contact and will remain in contact as much as I can and as long as it is necessary with President Putin, to convince him to renounce arms, to aid as much as France can ... and prevent contagion and enlargement of the conflict as best we can, Macron said.

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GOTLAND, Sweden  Sweden says four Russian fighter jets violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday.

The four aircraft  two SU-27 and two SU-24 fighters  flew briefly over Swedish airspace east of the island of Gotland, according to a statement from the Swedish Armed Forces.

In light of the current situation we are very concerned about the incident, Swedish Air Force chief Carl-Johan Edstrom said. This is unprofessional and irresponsible behavior from the Russian side.

Swedish fighter jets were scrambled and took photos of the Russian jets, the statement said.

This shows that our readiness is good. We were in place to secure the territorial integrity and Swedish borders, Edstrom said. We have total control of the situation.

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WASHINGTON  The Pentagon announced that it is postponing a nuclear missile test launch scheduled for this week to avoid any possible misunderstanding in light of Russian President Vladimir Putins recent decision to put his nuclear forces on higher alert.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the decision to delay the test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was made by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. He said the U.S. would like to see Moscow reciprocate by taking the temperature down in the crisis over Ukraine.

Kirby said the U.S. did not put its nuclear forces on higher alert in response to Putins move, which the spokesman described as dangerous and unnecessary.

Austin is comfortable that the strategic deterrence posture that we have in place is up to the task of defending the homeland and our allies.

The United States usually performs about four test launches of Minuteman III missiles per year.

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ROME  Soccer great Andriy Shevchenko says people back in his homeland of Ukraine are helping each other fight for freedom because they believe its the right thing to do.

Shevchenko, who used to play for AC Milan and Chelsea, told Italian state TV in an interview aired Wednesday night that we want to be free, we want to have our land. His mother and sister are in Kyiv.

All are afraid, Shevchenko said. People are organizing themselves. Theyre helping each other. They believe they are doing the right thing in defending the country against Russias attack, he said.

At a match Tuesday night in Milans San Siro Stadium between AC Milan and Inter, Shevchenko, delivered a video message while draped in a Ukrainian flag.

What unites us must be stronger than what divides us, the former star forward said in the video. Pleading for peace, Shevchenko said: Lets all together stop this war.

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KYIV, Ukraine  Ukrainian officials have reported a powerful explosion in Kyiv, between a central railway station and the Ibis hotel, an area near Ukraines Defense Ministry.

Ukrainian Railway Service said that thousands of women and children were being evacuated from the Southern Railway Station at the time of the strike. The building of the station suffered minor damage, and the train traffic continued. Officials said it was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties.

Russian terrorists launched an air strike on the South Railway Station in Kyiv, where thousands of Ukrainian women and children are being evacuated, the national railway company said.

The Southern Railway station is one of two stations that make up the main passenger rail complex. The two stations are connected by an overhead corridor that crosses over about a dozen tracks.

The stations are about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the square that was the site of huge protests in 2014 and 2004.

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WASHINGTON  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week will visit six European countries, including the Baltic states and Moldova, which are on particular edge as Russia intensifies its war in Ukraine.

The State Department says Blinken will travel Thursday to Belgium for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers before heading to the Polish border with Ukraine to meet refugees, and then Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Poland and the three Baltics are members of NATO and fall under its Article 5 defense provisions, which means the allies are bound to defend them if they are attacked. Given their location immediately adjacent to Russia, they are believed to be at special risk should the Ukraine conflict spread.

Western-leaning Moldova is not a NATO member but has relations with the alliance and has long objected to the presence of Russian troops in the disputed territory of Transnistria.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine has picked up steam, most NATO members, including the Baltics, have steadily increased military and financial assistance to Kyiv even as Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of reprisals for any nation that interferes in what he calls a special military operation. Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has decried Russias escalation of attacks on crowded cities as a blatant terror campaign.

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WARSAW, Poland  An international organization made up only of democracies held an emergency meeting on Wednesday following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The Warsaw-based Community of Democracies said in a statement that its members at the gathering condemned Russias aggression and backed Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic aspirations of its people.

Romanias Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, whose country holds the communitys rotating presidency, called for continued support for Ukraines right to choose its own foreign policy and for more attention to be given to other places facing Russian pressure, including Moldova, Georgia and the Western Balkan region.

This seems to be the beginning of the most difficult period in generations. And this is the fight of our generation and a real test on our democracies, Aurescu said.

Thomas Garrett, the organizations secretary general, underlined that democracies worldwide must unequivocally show they stand with Ukraine.

A Ukrainian lawmaker in Kyiv addressed the political representatives. She called on Russia to stop bombing our towns and cities and appealed to the U.N., E.U., and other international organizations to help Ukraine obtain a ceasefire for humanitarian relief. The lawmaker was not identified for security reasons.

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WASHINGTON  A senior U.S. defense official says the Russian convoy still appears to be stalled outside the city center of Kyiv, and has made no real progress in the last couple days.

The official on Wednesday said the convoy is still plagued with fuel and food shortages and logistical problems, as well as facing continued fierce resistance from Ukrainians.

He said there has been an increase in the number of missiles and artillery targeting the city, suggesting the Russians are trying to make a more aggressive move to try and take the city.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military assessments, said Russians have not been able to achieve air superiority and Ukrainian air defenses remain operable and their aircraft continue to fly.

The official said that about 82% of the Russian troops that had been arrayed around Ukraine are now inside the country  just a slight uptick over the last 24 hours, and that Russia has launched more than 450 missiles at various targets in the country.

In other areas of the country, the U.S. official said that the U.S. is seeing preliminary indications that Russian forces are going to try to move south towards Mariupol from Donetsk, in what appears to be an effort to encircle the city.

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Associated Press Writer Lolita Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

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BRUSSELS  European Union finance ministers on Wednesday convened for the second time in less than a week to weigh the likely impact on Europe of the full-scale Russian military assault on Ukraine, a country that borders the blocs eastern flank.

Policymakers are scrambling to recalculate economic projections made less than a month ago, when the European Commission  the EUs executive arm  predicted the blocs economic growth would slow from 5.3% last year to 4% this year and 2.8% in 2023.

Top European commissioners said on Wednesday those figures are too optimistic because the conflict in Ukraine will probably stoke rises in energy prices, financial-market turbulence, supply-chain bottlenecks and a weakening of consumer confidence.

We dont expect the recovery to be derailed completely but to be weakened, said European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni.

The gloomier outlook has also raised the prospect of a prolonged period of unrestrained spending by member countries to support their economies.

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ZAHONY, Hungary  Some of the nearly 1 million people who have fled Russias devastating war in Ukraine in recent days count among societys most vulnerable, unable to make the decision on their own to flee and requiring careful assistance to make the journey to safety.

At the train station in the Hungarian town of Zahony on Wednesday, more than 200 young Ukrainians with disabilities  residents of two orphanages in Ukraines capital of Kyiv  disembarked into the cold wind of the train platform after an arduous escape from the violence gripping Ukraine.

The refugees, most of them children with mental and physical disabilities, were evacuated from their care facilities once the Russian assault on the capital intensified.

It wasnt safe to stay there, there were rockets, they were shooting at Kyiv, said Larissa Leonidovna, the director of the Svyatoshinksy orphanage in Kyiv. We spent more than an hour underground during a bombing.

The U.N. refugee agency says more than 874,000 people have fled Ukraine since Russias invasion last week and the figure is rising exponentially, putting it on track to cross the 1 million mark on Wednesday.

Moving from the train in groups of 30, the children  also from the Darnytskyy orphanage in Kyiv  were escorted to buses waiting to take them to Opole, Poland, where they would be settled and receive further care

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WASHINGTON  The White House has announced additional sanctions against Russia and its ally Belarus, including extending export controls that target Russian oil refining and entities supporting the Russian and Belarusian militaries.

Among Wednesday's new measures are sanctions targeting 22 Russia defense entities that make combat aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles, electronic warfare systems, missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles for Russias military.

The U.S. Commerce Department also announced additional export controls on oil and gas extraction equipment that would hurt Russias refining capacity over the long term.

The Biden administration, and Western allies, have largely stayed away from hitting the Russian energy sector to avoid causing tremors to the global supply of energy. The White House, however, said in a statement that U.S. and allies share a strong interest in degrading Russias status as a leading energy supplier over time.

The latest sanctions imposed on Wednesday include the U.S. closing off its air space to all Russian flights. President Joe Biden previewed that he would making the move in his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening.

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JERUSALEM  Israels prime minister spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, shortly after a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Israeil officials said.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennetts office confirmed that the calls with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders took place but provided no further details.

Israel has close relations with both countries and has acted as an intermediary between the two countries.

Israeli media reported that that Zelenskyy repeated Ukraines request for Israeli military equipment, but that Bennett said Israel wouldnt give Ukraine anything that could potentially be used by the military. Bennetts office did not respond to requests for comment.

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyys official Facebook page posted a Hebrew translation of his remarks, in which he called on all Jews of the world not to remain silent about Russias invasion.

Israel has largely refrained from taking actions to anger Moscow, in part because it relies on Russia for security coordination in neighboring Syria, where Russia maintains a military presence supporting President Bashar Assad, and where Israel frequently carries out airstrikes targeting Iranian forces and their Lebanese proxies.

Israel has denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine, but has also offered to act as broker for cease-fire talks.

In addition, Israels Foreign Ministry says it is weighing sending additional humanitarian aid to Ukraine, after having dispatched 100 tons of supplies this week. It says it is also evaluating the possibility of setting up a field hospital in Ukraine.

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LONDON  With the threat of financial sanctions looming, Chelseas Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirmed Wednesday he is trying to sell the Premier League club he turned into an elite trophy-winning machine with his lavish investment.

The speed of Abramovichs pending exit from Chelsea is striking as he was trying to instigate a plan this past weekend to relinquish some control in order to keep the club under his ownership.

But as Russias war on Ukraine entered a seventh day, pressure was growing on the British government to include him among the wealthy Russians to be targeted in sanctions.

In the current situation, I have therefore taken the decision to sell the club, as I believe this is in the best interest of the club, the fans, the employees, as well as the clubs sponsors and partners, Abramovich said in a statement.

Abramovich said he will not be asking to be repaid 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion) in loans he has granted the club during 19 years of injecting cash to elevate the team into one of the most successful in Europe.

I have instructed my team to set up a charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated, he said. The foundation will be for the benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  A pretrial panel of International Criminal Court judges has been assigned to evaluate an upcoming request to open an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

The court took the procedural step Wednesday to be ready when Prosecutor Karim Khan files the request.

He announced his intention on Monday to launch an investigation dating back to 2013 but also including any new alleged crimes falling within the jurisdiction of my office that are committed by any party to the conflict that erupted following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

There have been widespread reports of Russian military strikes killing civilians in Ukraine.

The court says in a statement that the pretrial chamber will have to consider whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, upon examination of the Prosecutors request and the supporting material.

Canada and Lithuania have both said they plan to ask him to investigate alleged crimes in Ukraine. If they do, Khan can open an investigation without first seeking approval from judges.

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MOSCOW  A top aide for Russian President Vladimir Putin says Ukrainians are on their way to Belarus for talks that have been scheduled for Thursday.

As far as I know, the Ukrainian delegation has already departed from Kyiv, is en route ... Were expecting them tomorrow, Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, told reporters Wednesday evening

According to Medinsky, the two sides agreed on the Brest region of Belarus, which borders Poland, as the site of the talks.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office confirmed to The Associated Press that the delegation is on its way, but gave no details on the time of the arrival.

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NEW DELHI  Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the second time in the past week as Moscow intensified its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin and Modi on Wednesday reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck, according to a statement from Arindam Bagchi, Indias External Affairs Ministry spokesperson. They discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas, Bagchi said.

The telephone conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Putin came as the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution demanding that Russia stop war in Ukraine and withdraw all troops.

India last week had abstained from voting on a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that Russia cease its invasion of Ukraine. Russia vetoed the resolution while China and the United Arab Emirates also abstained.

Earlier in the day, India asked all its nationals to leave Ukraines second largest city of Kharkiv by Wednesday evening based on information received from Russia.

Bagchi also said nearly 17,000 Indian nationals, mostly students, out of an estimated 20,000, have left Ukraine. India is trying to evacuate the rest to nearby countries.

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NAIROBI, Kenya  The condemnation of Russias invasion of Ukraine has continued even at the United Nations Environment Assembly, where some delegates walked out on Wednesday when Russias representative began to speak.

The assembly also gave Ukraines representative a standing ovation.

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TIRANA, Albania The Albanian Football Federation has denounced Russias invasion of Ukraine and will offer shelter to Ukrainian players families.

The federation passed a resolution at its assembly on Wednesday in support of the Ukrainian people.

Stop to military violence and occupation! Stop to the war that brings only destruction and victims! Respect to Ukraines sovereignty! said that resolution.

The federation is in contact with its Ukraines counterpart to offer shelter to some players families in a sign of human support and solidarity.

A few days earlier Albanias government joined the wave of European opposition to playing any sports games against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Albania is among the few national teams in mens soccer with games scheduled against Russia in official competitions.

Albania was due to host Russia in Tirana on June 2 in the group stage of the UEFA Nations League competition.

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MOSCOW  The spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry says 498 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine and 1,597 more sustained wounds.

Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov on Wednesday rejected reports about incalculable losses of the Russians as disinformation. It was the first time Russia has addressed the number of military casualties in Ukraine since the start of the invasion last Thursday. He assured that families of those killed are receiving all necessary assistance.

Konashenkov also said that neither conscripts, nor cadets have been involved in the operation in Ukraine, dismissing media reports alleging otherwise.

Konashenkov also said more than 2,870 Ukrainian troops have been killed and some 3,700 more sustained injuries, while 572 others have been captured by the Russians. Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the claim and it could not be immediately verified.

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Follow APs coverage of the tensions between Russia and Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A helmet worn by aviator Amelia Earhart during a trans-Atlantic flight nearly a century ago fetched $825,000 Sunday, according to Texas-based Heritage Auctions.

Earhart was a passenger on that 1928 flight piloted by Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon, where she became the first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean. In 1932, the 34-year-old adventurer made history again by herself flying from Newfoundland, Canada, to Northern Ireland. No other female pilot had accomplished that feat. She disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during a 1937 flight.

American aviatrix Amelia Earhart poses for photos as she arrives in Southampton, England, after her transatlantic flight on the "Friendship" from Burry Point, Wales, June 26, 1928.





American aviatrix Amelia Earhart poses for photos as she arrives in Southampton, England, after her transatlantic flight on the "Friendship" from Burry Point, Wales, June 26, 1928.

The leather flight cap that sold to an unidentified bidder also comes with a story that includes a lost, but found twist. Minnesota man Anthony Twiggs, who sold the helmet, said he inherited it from his mother when died more than 20 years ago. She was part of a crowd in Cleveland, Ohio, that swarmed Earhart after the aviator completed a 1929 race that had begun in California. Earharts helmet came off amid the celebration and was recovered by a boy who gave it to Twiggs mother, who was a schoolgirl at the time.

Twiggs, 67, spent decades trying to prove his mothers recollection of events authenticated the helmet. Last fall, photo-matching technology showed that indeed the headgear belonged to Earhart.

He told the New York Times that his mom wasnt impressed by the boy who tried earning her affection by giving her the helmet hed acquired, though she was impressed by the artifact itself.

My mother kept it for Amelia, he said.

Earhart was declared dead in January of 1939. October marks the 100-year anniversary of her first aviation record, when she became the first woman to fly solo at an altitude above 14,000 feet.

With News Wire Services
Neighbours has announced it will cease production of the long-running Australian soap in June.

The future of the show had been in doubt after Channel 5 last month confirmed it would stop airing the show.

And on Thursday morning the shows Twitter account said: We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9,000 episodes broadcast we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June.

We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9000 episodes broadcast we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June. pic.twitter.com/YwlDZPb7zB  Neighbours (@neighbours) March 3, 2022

Following the loss of our key broadcast partner in the UK and despite an extensive search for alternative funding, we simply have no option but to rest the show.

To our amazing, loyal fans, we know this is a huge disappointment, as it is to all of us on the team. We thank you for all your messages and support and promise to end the show on an incredible high. From here on, we are celebrating Neighbours.

The daytime drama about the residents of Ramsay Street has been shown on UK television for more than 30 years and launched the careers of stars including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Margot Robbie.

Channel 5 said dropping the soap will allow funding to be diverted to original UK dramas.

Margot Robbie also had a role on the soap before her Hollywood career (PA)

The longest running drama series on Australian television, Neighbours initially launched on the countrys Seven network in 1985, but the channel axed it before Ten picked it up the following year and it became an international hit.

In Australia it has been shown on digital channel 10 Peach since 2011 and has been reliant on the UK broadcaster for funding.

Neighbours was shown on BBC One until 2008, when it moved to Channel 5.

It has featured a number of British guest stars in recent years, including Amanda Holden, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Ryan Thomas and Janet Street-Porter.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Stray bullets in separate shootings killed two people visiting New Orleans for the festivities leading up to Mardi Gras: a 15-year-old girl from Texas and a 33-year-old South Carolina man.

Heaven Nettles, of Houston, was standing in line at a food truck blocks from a parade route Saturday when gunfire killed her and two men also standing in the line, local news reports said.

The family comes down every year to visit family, friends and enjoy Carnival, her aunt Donna Nettles of New Orleans told WVUE-TV. Except (this time) Heaven is dead."

The coroners office identified the two men killed with Nettles as Donald Roberts Jr., 39, and Marvin Pepp. Coroners spokesman Jason Melancon said he could not verify hometowns for any of the three.

The coroners office has not released the name or home state of the man killed in a shooting Friday night. But relatives identified him as Brandon Bovain of Orangeburg, South Carolina, The Times-Picayune / The New Orleans Advocate reported.

Detectives told the family Bouvain was in his vehicle in a hotel parking lot when people in two other vehicles began shooting at each other, said Anthony Brown, one of Bovain's brothers, speaking with the newspaper.

Brandon was one of the happiest persons you could meet, and they took my heart away  man, they took my world away, he said.

All told, there were three shootings Friday in New Orleans, two on Saturday, and another on Monday and one early Wednesday, authorities said. None of the others was fatal.

Investigators do not believe the Texas teen or the South Carolina man were intended victims in the fatal shootings, police said in emails Wednesday to The Associated Press.

Bovain, a furniture deliverer, his girlfriend and one of his younger brothers had made a spur-of-the-moment decision to see Carnival, said another brother, James Bovain. He told the newspaper that the three apparently were checking in to their hotel at the time.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken speaks at a press briefing at the State Department on Jan. 7. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

With no end in sight to the Russian barrage on Ukraine, America's top diplomat used Wednesday to rally support for Ukrainians in the U.S. and abroad while painting dire images of the escalating ground war.

Saying "hundreds if not thousands" of Ukrainian civilians are believed to have been killed, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken announced yet another round of sanctions aimed at crippling Russia's aircraft makers and other defense-industry firms. The sanctions will also be applied to Russia's ally, Belarus.

Asked if Russia is deliberately attacking civilians, which would constitute a war crime, Blinken acknowledged the possibility.

"We've certainly seen in the past that one of Russia's methods of war is to be absolutely brutal in trying to cow the citizenry of a given country," he said at a State Department news conference. "And that includes, at the very least, indiscriminate targeting and potentially deliberate targeting as well."

He said the U.S. is documenting the cases, and the International Criminal Court has already suggested it would investigate possible war crimes.

"The numbers of civilians killed and wounded, the humanitarian consequences, will only grow in the days ahead," Blinken said.

In an unusual gesture of domestic diplomacy, Blinken spent his morning Wednesday at a religious center for Ukrainian immigrants, most of whom have relatives currently under siege by the Russian military.

He went to the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in the northeastern part of Washington, where both Catholic Christians and Orthodox Christians from the Ukrainian community came together to host him.

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine split from the Moscow Orthodox patriarchate in 2018, and priests at the Blinken meeting said Ukrainian Catholics and Orthodox have overcome religious difference and are united in advocating for the country.

President Putin made a horrific, terrible mistake, Blinken told a small group of priests, Ukrainian diplomats and ordinary parishioners seated in the pews at the church. Ukraine is inspiring the world, he assured them.

"In three decades, I cant think of a moment when the world has been so inspired. Blinken said. Good will triumph over evil. ... We will prevail.

Many in the group bore looks of quiet consternation, anxious about relatives back in Ukraine.

Father Robert Hitchens presided over a baptism earlier this week where the godmother had to participate remotely by video from a bomb shelter somewhere in Ukraine.

And then there was Father Andrii Chornopyskyi, a young Ukrainian Catholic priest who arrived in Washington about six months ago with his wife Ivanna and 3-year-old son to complete his theological studies. The couple's two sets of parents are trapped in Ukraine, desperately trying to stay safe.

In his news conference, Blinken described the more than $1 billion in military aid the U.S. has sent to Ukraine in the past year.

"We will freeze and seize their yachts, the private jets, their opulent estates in world capitals," he said, referring to Russian oligarchs and those in Putin's inner circle.

Blinken also said he was in "near daily" contact with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba,

On Thursday, Blinken travels to Moldova, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania  all nations that risk being threatened by Putin, he said. He will also go to Poland, where the bulk of several hundred thousand Ukrainian refugees have fled, and to Brussels to consult with representatives of the European Union and NATO.

"Russian officials continued to deny it right until the invasion began," Blinken said. "Seeing that duplicity and premeditated aggression play out exactly as we predicted has generated outrage and solidarity across Europe and around the world."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote California's three large pension systems Monday in asking them to impose sanctions on further Russian investments in the state. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants California to join other states in piling on Russia for waging war against peaceful neighbor Ukraine.

First, the fact that Newsom is following other governors into action seems strange. He always takes great pride in being first and incessantly boasts about it.

Second, in firing shots at a target as Newsom is asking and other states are already doing, theres invariably the risk of a ricochet that wounds you.

If were hurt, too, is it worth it? And how much will it injure Russia anyway?

As for not being the first, so what? Its not nearly as important or impressive as Newsom seems to think.

What were told from the start in my business is: Get it first, but first get it right. Newsom sometimes falls short on the second part.

Concerning the financial blows being thrown at Russia, its prudent to ask whether taking a swipe at bully President Vladimir Putin is liable to hurt us as much or more than the target.

We already know that worldwide economic sanctions against Russia are driving prices up at the gas pump.

But in this situation, when Ukrainian women and children are fleeing for their lives, boys are being educated in how to resist the Russian army with Molotov cocktails and grandmothers are wielding AK-47s against tanks, were morally obligated to at least use our financial might as a weapon against the enemies of freedom.

Russias brazen and lawless military assault on Ukraine demands our support for the Ukrainian people and exacting an immediate and severe cost upon the Russian government in response to its continuing aggression, Newsom wrote to Californias three large pension systems Monday in asking them to impose sanctions.

California has a unique and powerful position of influence given the states substantial global investment portfolio.

Newsom reported that CalPERS  the California Public Employees Retirement System  holds roughly $480 billion in assets. Its the largest public pension fund in the nation. The second largest is CalSTRS  the California State Teachers Retirement System. It holds $320 billion. And the University of California Retirement System has $170 billion.

This combined amount, $970 billion, is equivalent to 60% of Russias entire gross domestic product last year, the governor wrote.

Thats nearly $1 trillion, but Im not sure how relevant it is.

As of Monday, only $1.5 billion of it was invested in various Russian stocks, real estate and private equity, Newsom said.

But on Wednesday, I was informed by Newsoms state finance department that those pension investments had plummeted in value by at least 25% in two days.

So, unlike several legislators and some governors, Newsom is advising caution and playing it safe. Hes not asking the pension systems to dump their Russian investments  to divest  at prices far below what they originally paid.

Hes merely asking that they not pour any more pension funds into Russian stuff  and restrain from succumbing to the investors temptation to buy low and later sell high. Assuming there ever is a Russian high again after how Putin has sabotaged his country.

Some buyers will actually see this as an opportunity to buy more Russian stock, says Laura Tyson, a UC Berkeley business professor, Cabinet member in the Clinton White House and co-chair of Newsoms Council of Economic Advisors. They may value profit over principle. But it would be very high risk.

Were not going to be buying, says California Chief Deputy Finance Director Gayle Miller. Were not going to put any more money into Russia at all. Thats what the governor is advising.

But were not saying, Sell what weve got at a fire sale to line the pockets of oligarchs.

That would hurt the pension funds.

Their economy is bleeding and were helping to prevent a transfusion, says finance department spokesman H.D. Palmer.

So, the governor isnt suggesting traditional divestment, as some legislators and other governors have.

Legislators  presumably without thinking very deeply  plan to push a divestment bill. It would require the pension funds to unload their Russian holdings at a big loss.

State Controller Betty Yee opposes that idea.

Unrealistic calls for immediate divestment will not divorce us from our fiduciary duty to protect the retirement income security of California state employees and teachers, she said in a statement.

Divestment is one particular form of sanction, Tyson says. The evidence over time suggests its not a very effective sanction. Its more of an expression against a country. But the economic penalty is not as effective as all the things were doing in this nation and many others.

California had one successful experience with divestment in the 1980s, led by Republican Gov. George Deukmejian. Torn by South African apartheid and its violence, he joined Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown in enacting divestiture legislation that helped bring down the bigoted white regime.

California is signaling to the government of South Africa, and indeed to the world itself, that a great and free people are not going to fall silent to racism and brutal oppression, Deukmejian said in signing the bill.

Miller was 10 in 1984 when her family left South Africa and settled in Irvine. They were active in the anti-apartheid movement.

My parents sewed gold coins into their coats to get money out of the country, she recalls. There was no other way.

Newsom wants California  home to the worlds fifth-largest economy  to join President Biden and the rest of the free world in cutting off the flow of money to brute Russia.

He wasnt the first this time, but he got it right.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A resident of a homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles sits on the street in January. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

As California cities struggle to address a homelessness and mental health crisis on their streets, Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration on Thursday unveiled a proposal to push more people with severe psychiatric disorders and addiction issues into court-ordered care that includes medication and housing.

The proposal, which Newsom is calling the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court, is the state's latest effort to address one of California's greatest struggles, and a recognition that something more robust is needed to solve the problem. Newsom allocated $12 billion for homelessness in the state budget last year and proposed an additional $2 billion in his January financial blueprint.

But implementing a court-ordered response to mental illness and substance abuse disorders would accelerate the state's multipronged strategy to help thousands of people get much-needed services, while acknowledging that the current system is not working as it should.

"Rather than reforming in the margins a system that is foundationally and fundamentally broken, we are taking a new approach," Newsom said during a Thursday news conference. "We are offering a new strategy and new partnerships. But we are offering it in a way that we haven't in the past, and that's with resources."

Newsom said the new initiative would come with "unprecedented investments" that could total in the "billions and billions of dollars" over several years to set up the infrastructure and establish the workforce needed to accomplish the plan. He said CARE Court aims to address the urgency and magnitude of the homelessness crisis, and contains accountability provisions to ensure people follow the program.

"This is about accountability, but it is about compassion, and it's about recognizing the human condition," he said.

Sarah Dusseault, co-chair of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness in Los Angeles County, welcomed the announcement. Dusseault has worked in local government for years on solutions to homelessness, inspired by her experience advocating on behalf of her brother and navigating a system that has made it difficult for him to receive care for his schizophrenia.

"I'm incredibly excited about increased access to care," Dusseault said. "People get lost in the current system and we have to create accountability measures so that people don't get lost."

All of California's 58 counties would have to participate in the program through their civil courts, and local governments could face sanctions if they don't comply with its requirements. A person would not have to experience homelessness to participate in CARE Court, and families, clinicians, counties, behavioral health providers and first responders could all ask judges to implement a plan. To determine if someone qualifies for a CARE plan, a judge would have to order a clinical assessment.

Participants could include those who were just arrested and released, or are exiting a short-term involuntary hospital hold. A plan could be ordered to last for 12 months, with the possibility of a 12-month extension. If unsuccessful, a participant could instead be hospitalized or ordered into a conservatorship. Criminal cases that were paused while participants entered CARE Court could then resume if the plan didn't work.

Conservatorships, which are usually reserved for those with serious mental illnesses, hand legal decision-making power to someone else. The practice is highly controversial, and some critics argue that it unfairly strips people of their rights, while proponents claim it is often the best option for those experiencing crisis. The Newsom administration said CARE Court instead would emphasize "individualized interventions" through a "client-centered approach," and participants would have access to a public defender and a care team throughout the process.

On a Thursday call with reporters, administration officials said the new program aims to save lives and prevent incarceration and homelessness among the state's most vulnerable residents through a modernized approach that doesn't default to conservatorship.

"CARE Court is really not a replacement for conservatorship," said Jason Elliott, Newsom's top advisor on housing, adding that it is a "new tool."

Thursday's announcement deviates from what Newsom suggested during his January budget proposal when he hinted at "leaning into conservatorships" this year, though he offered few details at the time on what that could include.

Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's health and human services secretary, said the plan would help alleviate "one of the most heartbreaking, heart-wrenching and yet curable challenges that we face in our communities and on our streets."

"For a community, a population of individuals who lives in the shadows, lives often without voice, today is about lifting them up and prioritizing their needs," Ghaly said.

Jessica Cruz, executive director of the California chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said the proposal is something for which families have advocated for years.

"This is an opportunity for families who have been in so much pain and suffering for so many years, this gives us at least an opportunity to get the treatment our loved ones need," Cruz said. "This is an opportunity to save lives and heal families."

Cruz also said that the CARE Court framework not only presents an alternative to conservatorship, but would also give new hope to those who haven't had success with prior treatment.

"It's a different road for people, a different door that people can really open that has never been unlocked before," Cruz said.

Ghaly said the new program will focus on clinical services for people experiencing psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, along with treatment plans for substance abuse disorders. Another important element of the plan is providing housing services, Ghaly said.

In response to the announcement, however, the California State Assn. of Counties in a statement raised concerns with the proposal, including that it contains sanctions.

Building off of past collaborative successes between the state, counties and cities is important. Counties are all in to do our part to solve homelessness and rebuild behavioral health infrastructure. Sanctions are not the way to do it, Graham Knaus, the association's executive director, said in the statement.

The association also warned that behavioral health infrastructure has suffered from decades of insufficient funding. Though CARE Court would help a "narrow population," the association wrote, more housing and systemic change is needed, which means the program "will have limited success."

Though the plan so far is just a policy framework, the administration said it is working with the Legislature on a bill that would codify the proposal. Newsom also said CARE Court could be included in the budget, which would be the fastest way to implement it. The deadline to pass legislation is Aug. 31, but the Legislature approves the budget each year in June.

Elliott said it is imperative that lawmakers work quickly to pass legislation so the plan can become law.

"We don't have any time to waste here," Elliott said.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A Ukrainian child rests at the railway station in Przemysl after crossing the border at Medyka, Poland, on Wednesday. (Jonathan Alpeyrie / Bloomberg )

Oskar Broz stood in the Polish train station amid the tumult of anxious refugees, overwhelmed police officers and exhausted volunteers distributing hot food and drink.

The Warsaw train leaves at 2 a.m.! announced Broz, his words echoing in the sturdy walls of the Neoclassical structure. The train is free! You need no ticket! 2 a.m. to Warsaw!

Similar scenes repeat over and over these days at the central train station in Przemysl, a normally tranquil city in southeastern Poland that has become the major gateway for Ukrainian refugees fanning out across Europe.

As of Wednesday, more than a million people had fled Ukraine since Russia attacked last week, according to the United Nations, and the number was expected to keep climbing. About half headed to Poland, the U.N. said, while many others sought shelter in Ukraines other western neighbors  Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and other countries  and some moved to the Russian Federation.

Przemysl emerged as a principal focus of the ongoing exodus because it is the first major city to the west of Medyka, the busiest crossing point along the 300-mile Polish-Ukrainian border.

The city is part of Eastern Europes historic Galicia region, for centuries a battleground for invaders and empires from east and west. During World War II, Nazi forces occupied Przemysl and carried out mass killings in the citys once-thriving Jewish community.

Residents today describe Przemysl as a quiet, family-friendly place with a population of about 60,000 people. The war in Ukraine, how-ever, has transformed Przemysl once again in only a few days.

Each day, buses from the border deposit hundreds of people in the city, which now resembles a sprawling refugee metropolis.

Mainly, they are women and children. The Ukrainian government has banned the exit of men ages 18-60, urging them instead to join in the defense against Russia.

Many refugees initially arrive at the sprawling parking lot of a shopping center along a main drag. The site  run mostly by Polish volunteers and nongovernmental aid groups  offers tents to spend the night and free food, diapers, medical care and other goods and services, including SIM cards for cellphones. The effort is part of a huge and rapidly organized welcome for the refugees.

Our hearts go out to our brothers and sisters from Ukraine, said Grazyna Skotnicka, 62, who, along with other women from nearby rural towns, had prepared almost 80 gallons of chicken soup to hand out under the aegis of Caritas, the Roman Catholic aid group. This is who we Polish people are. Our hearts are caring.

People wait for a train at the station in Przemysl, Poland, on Wednesday. (Dan Kitwood / Getty Images)

The fact that President Vladimir Putin of Russia  Polands historical adversary  initiated the invasion into Ukraine has played into the warm reception afforded to those fleeing Ukraine.

Putin started this war, and these poor people are paying the price, said Piotr Bukowski, 67, a retired policeman who was helping to direct traffic in the parking lot as part of the volunteer effort. Seeing their plight brings me to tears.

Volunteers and officials have worked out an elaborate system to ensure that the refugees connect with relatives, friends or with families willing to put them up. Online chat groups convey offers of free lodging.

Volunteers offering rides await those arriving from the borders. As the buses pull up, drivers hoist cardboard signs with handwritten destinations, mostly in Poland but also elsewhere in Europe. The other day, volunteer drivers held up signs offering free lifts as far as Germany and the Netherlands. Bus drivers match the refugees destinations with the drivers.

Women, many with small children, gather around their luggage brought from Ukraine. The speed of events overwhelms some people.

I still cant believe this is happening today, in Europe, in the 21st century, said Katarina, 23, who, like many refugees interviewed, declined to give her last name, fearful for relatives still in Ukraine, including five brothers. One day it seemed everything was normal, then we were running out.

She and her sister, Yana, 25  and Yanas 2-year-old son, Andrusha  have found a place through social media with a family outside Krakow, nearly 130 miles to the west.

Katarina, like others, expressed hope that this would be a short war. I am Ukrainian; I plan to return soon. She said she expected her refugee status to last just two weeks.

Not quite so optimistic were Victoria Hepurna and her sister, Ena, who were on a crowded platform at the main train station, a few blocks from the parking lot. Each was accompanied by two children.

The women described a harrowing escape from their hometown, Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine.

After the invasion began, they said, they drove five hours at night to the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, occasionally switching off headlights in a bid to not attract attention. A three-day train odyssey brought them to Przemsyl.

They were now planning to board a train to Berlin, a place they had never been.

Someone said they would put us up, so we are on our way, Victoria Hepurna said. We are really not sure what it will be like, or how long it will take.

The 19th century station, featuring marble columns and paintings of pastoral scenes, was abuzz with activity. People hastened to platforms. Some slept on the floor. Others grabbed free hot drinks and sandwiches. A Red Cross station provided aid to the sick.

Among those at the station were significant numbers of foreign students  some from India, Pakistan and Nigeria  who had also fled Ukraine, where tens of thousands of foreigners study medicine, business and other subjects, attracted in part by moderate fees and living costs.

Some who fled to Poland complained of what they viewed as racist behavior by Ukrainian authorities, who, they said, made non-Ukrainians wait for hours at the border before allowing them to leave and prevented them from boarding buses, forcing them to walk in the cold across the international boundary to Poland.

The Ukrainians treated us terribly, said Ayodeji Edet, 27, a Nigerian who was among those waiting in the station, though he wasnt sure where he was headed.

Students interviewed said they had generally received better treatment once they crossed into Poland, though many had to wait for hours in the cold at the Polish border town of Medyka before being provided transport to Przemysl.

The Polish Embassy in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, issued a statement saying it was greatly saddened by allegations appearing on social media that some Nigerian nationals are denied entry to Poland from Ukraine.

Poland said it has waived visa requirements for Nigerians and others entering from Ukraine.

What will I do next? Im not sure. Maybe go back to Nigeria, Edet said. Really, what I am looking for now is some greener pasture.

Behind him, Broz  a Polish law professor who volunteered to help at the station  continued to announce departing trains. He encouraged everyone to get on board to reach locales elsewhere in Poland and Europe.

Przemysl is a small city, it really cannot handle so many refugees like this, said Broz, wearing an orange vest, like other volunteers. Yes, Przemysl is prepared to help people, but even that has limits. Hopefully, they will all find a place to be safe. We can only do so much here.

Special correspondents Liliana Nieto del Rio and Wiktor Bruchal contributed to this report.





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
As skirmishes broke out around Ukraines nuclear facilities, heated words were exchanged Wednesday during a meeting of the United Nations Environment Program between representatives of the warring countries, and a U.N. nuclear watchdog group warned the "unprecedented" nature of the fighting could lead to "severe consequences."

With worries already at an alarming level over Russian President Vladimir Putin putting his nuclear forces on high alert, a battle being waged in Ukraine for Europe's largest nuclear power plant is upping the anxiety over a possible calamity that would likely wreak havoc far beyond the boundaries of the war zone.

During a closing session with representatives of the U.N. Environment Program in Nairobi, delegates were given a chance to give final words and a Ukrainian representative took the opportunity to make a strong statement about what was happening in his country.

"Barbarians who pretended to be rescuers, right now attack our cities, destroy infrastructure, kill my fellow citizens and try to destroy everything," Andrii Pravendnyk, Ukraine's ambassador and permanent representative to the UNEP, told delegates.

MORE: Concerns mount over conflict in Chernobyl exclusion zone

Andrii Pravendnyk said Russian troops are trying to seize the country's nuclear power plants, adding, "Russia is conducting genocide against humanity."

"They say they've come to save Ukraine, but they are here to destroy my beautiful country," said Pravendnyk, who received a standing ovation at the end of his remarks.

PHOTO: A service member of pro-Russian troops in a uniform without insignia walks past a truck with the letter 'Z' painted on its tent top in the separatist-controlled settlement of Buhas (Bugas), Ukraine, March 1, 2022. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

Dmitry Maximychev, Russia's ambassador and permanent representative to the UNEP, responded that Ukraine's military forces have been attacking so-called pro-Russian "separatists" in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine for eight years without any protest from the international community.

"The war, which led to the death of 12,000 people in the east of the country, killed by the hands of Ukraine soldiers and neo-Nazi units," the Maximychev told the assembly, espousing claims the U.S. and its Western allies say are false and were concocted by the Kremlin as an excuse to invade Ukraine.

MORE: NATO's Article 5 could pull the US and its allies further into the Russia-Ukraine conflict

"You have just supported them, distinguished delegates. It's them that you were offering your ovation. We didn't begin that war," Maximychev said.

Fighting continued Wednesday at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in Enerhodar, Ukraine, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, both sides claimed.

The battle over the Zaporizhzhia plant prompted the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog group, to issue a warning over the "unprecedented" nature of this situation.

PHOTO: Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, speaks during his press conference after the extraordinary meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on March 2, 2022. (Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images)

Rafael Grossi, director-general of the IAEA, said he and members of the agency are "gravely concerned" that a military conflict is happening for the first time amid the facilities of a large, established nuclear power program.

During an emergency IAEA board of governors meeting, Grossi said an incident affecting nuclear facilities "could have severe consequences, aggravating human suffering and causing environmental harm" beyond Ukraine's borders.

MORE: Extremists harass minority refugees arriving in Poland from Ukraine, witnesses report

He said Russia informed the agency Tuesday that it had taken control of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant, but ABC News has not been able to independently confirm the report.

Last week, Russia seized control of the Chernobyl power plant, now shut down and sealed with a containment dome after an infamous disaster in April 1986.

Ukraine's nuclear regulatory agency SNRIU has requested "immediate assistance" from the IAEA to ensure the safety of Chernobyl and other nuclear facilities, Grossi said. He said the IAEA is assessing the request.

"Despite the extraordinary circumstances of an armed conflict causing increasing challenges and dangers, Ukraine's nuclear power plants are operating normally," Grossi said. "But while we may use expressions like 'normal operations' in a technical context, I want to emphasize there is nothing normal about the circumstances under which the professionals at Ukraine's four nuclear power plants are managing to keep the reactors that produce half of Ukraine's electricity working."

ABC News' Aaron Katersky reports:

Fighting around Ukraine's nuclear plants raises global concerns originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
OCALA, Fla. (AP)  A former Florida postal worker was convicted Wednesday of stealing mail for cash and gift cards.

Miranda Delee Farleigh, 25, of Ocklawaha, pleaded guilty in Ocala federal court to a count of possessing stolen mail, according to court records. She faces up to five years in prison. A sentencing date wasn't immediately set.

According to court records, Farleigh worked as a contract employee of the U.S. Postal Service delivering mail for the Lady Lake Post Office. Farleighs route included mail delivery services to postal stations in The Villages, a large retirement community northwest of Orlando.

Farleighs supervisor discovered several tubs and bags of mail in Farleighs possession that had been unlawfully opened in November, prosecutors said. They added that when confronted, Farleigh admitted to law enforcement that she had been opening outgoing mail in Lake and Sumter counties for a month with the intent to steal money and gift cards to support her heroin addiction.

Officials said Farleigh rifled through approximately 4,000 pieces of mail.
Lee Wilson, a suspected shooter on Feb. 26 at a hookah lounge in Las Vegas, talks to his attorney Josh Tomsheck during his court appearance at the Regional Justice Center as his attorney Josh Tomsheck, right, looks on Thursday, March 3, 2022, in Las Vegas. Wilson is accused of killing one man and injuring 13 people in a hookah lounge shooting during the weekend in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

LAS VEGAS (AP)  A man jailed on murder and attempted murder charges in a weekend shooting at a crowded hookah lounge that left one man dead and 13 people injured told a Las Vegas judge on Thursday that he was shot multiple times during the incident.

Lee Frank Wilson, 44, a prior felon with what the judge called a significant criminal history, remained seated in a wheelchair as he met for the first time with his court-appointed attorney, Joshua Tomsheck, for his arraignment on 13 felony charges.

Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure told Wilson that records showed he had been arrested 82 times since 1995 and convicted of at least nine felonies in cases including escape, being a felon in possession of a gun and killing or maiming an animal.

The judge noted that Wilson served prison time following his conviction in a 2019 shooting case.

The judge ordered Wilson held without bail ahead of a preliminary hearing of evidence March 21.

Tomsheck said he will file a written application for Wilson to be freed on bond.

Police have said additional arrests are expected in what authorities characterized as an exchange of gunfire involving multiple shooters about 3:15 a.m. Saturday during at a private party at the lounge a few blocks from the Las Vegas Strip.

Demetreus Beard, 33, was killed and police said two of the injured people were critically wounded. Authorities have not provided updates of the conditions of the injured.

A hookah is a water pipe used to smoke specially made and flavored tobacco.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine intensifies, children are experiencing devastating consequences of being caught up in the war zone.

At least seven children have been killed, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and several more have been injured during air strikes and blasts.

MORE: Ukrainian maternity hospital treating wounded soldiers as Russia conflict escalates

Dozens of children are hiding in bomb shelters, basements, metro stations and other underground areas while others have fled their homes for neighboring countries.

Psychologists and other experts say there are also mental health concerns these children face and that it's important they have as much structure as possible to keep a sense of stability in their lives.

And adults can better provide for their children by taking care of their own mental health needs.

PHOTO: Mothers tend to their babies that are receiving medical treatment in the bomb shelter of the paediatric ward of a hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 28, 2022. (Chris Mcgrath/Getty Images)

"Children are extremely vulnerable to insecurity, not only the physical trauma but the psychological trauma, and it can reverberate and have repercussions for a long time," Dr. Paul Wise, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, told ABC News.

Mental health risks for children in war zones

There are physical risks for children that come with living in war zones, such as breathing in smoke and ash from fires and blasts that can affect the nose and lungs. But there are also mental health risks.

Studies have shown that children and families living in or fleeing war regions have an increased risk of suffering from mental health problems.

"We've seen past war situations like what is happening in Ukraine, an increase in depression, anxiety," Dr. Monica Barreto, a clinical psychologist at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, told ABC News.

MORE: Ukrainian refugees may face humanitarian crisis, advocates say

And while not all children will be traumatized, they may react differently to the traumatic situations they're witnessing.

"Some children may be more agitated, they may be harder to calm down, just more unsettled," said Dr. Jack Shonkoff, director for the Center of the Developing Child at Harvard University. "Some children in these circumstances tend to be more withdrawn, they're not crying as much, they're not demanding much attention."

He continued, "Sometimes people might look at that and say, 'This child is managing pretty well.' Sometimes that's a sign of the things to worry about the most because these children are withdrawing, they're internalizing a lot of what's going on."

PHOTO: Families fleeing war-torn Ukraine wait to cross into Poland at the Korczowa crossing on March 2, 2022 near Korczowa, Poland. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Taking care of adults' needs helps children

Shonkoff, who is also a professor of child health and development, said one way to ensure a good outcome for children in a war zone is by making sure the adults are being taken care of too.

"The most important factor that determines how children are going to basically survive and go forward after a war experience is the nature of the adults who are caring for them," he said. "If the parents and the caregivers are significantly traumatized, they can't provide that sense of support. The adults' needs become critically important to protect the children."

He likens it to a safety presentation on a flight, when flight attendants tell passengers to secure their own oxygen masks before helping others.

MORE: Seizure of Chernobyl by Russian troops sparks health concerns for people near the nuclear plant

"That's not a way of saying you're more important than your child. It's a way of saying if you pass out, your child won't be OK," Shonkoff said.

As for babies, he explained they are highly attuned to what's going on and if adults are not engaging with them, it can hurt the babies' development.

"If the parent is so traumatized or depressed, they can't coo back, can't smile back. That signals danger to the brain even though the baby doesn't know what's going on. That can create excessive stress in the body, raise inflammation and blood pressure levels," Shonkoff said.

Wise adds that children look to adults not only for protection but also for how frightened they should be and "for understanding what's happening to them in a time of profound insecurity, and children will feel the best protected with a strong, coherent community life and family life."

Children need as much as structure as possible

The experts say it's important to make sure that children are provided structure as much as possible while living in war zones to help with their development and well-being.

Barreto mentioned videos she's seen online of Ukrainian families in bunkers trying to provide play and teachers trying to teach lessons.

PHOTO: Local militiaman Valery, 37, carries a child as he helps a fleeing family across a bridge destroyed by artillery, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, March 2. (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

"Children are no longer in school, they're no longer in a safe environment," she said. "Maintaining some of that structure can be very helpful and protective during these times."

Barreto added that the same recommendations apply for children in refugee camps, making sure they are set up with their families and that some time is provided so they can experience "normality" whether that is playtime or having lessons.

Mental health effects of Ukraine war zone on children originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, helps clean a homeless encampment alongside a freeway on Jan. 12, 2022, in San Diego. California's governor proposed a plan on Thursday, March 3, 2022, to force homeless people with severe mental health and addiction disorders into treatment. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California's governor proposed a plan Thursday to offer more services to homeless people with severe mental health and addiction disorders even if that means forcing some into care, a move that many advocates of homeless people oppose as a violation of civil rights.

The proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, would require all counties to set up a mental health branch in civil court and provide comprehensive and community-based treatment to those suffering from debilitating psychosis.

People would be obligated to accept the care or risk criminal charges, if those are pending, and if not, they would be subject to being held in psychiatric programs involuntarily or lengthier conservatorships in which the court appoints a person to make health decisions for someone who cannot.

One of the most heartbreaking, heart-wrenching and yet curable challenges that we face ... is how do we serve the needs of individuals who are the sickest of the sick? said Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, at a news briefing in advance of a press conference by Newsom.

He said he expects the program called Care Court to apply to 7,000 to 12,000 people in California, although not all have to be homeless. Family members and outreach workers could recommend a person for a court-mandated program, which the governor's office plans to boost with more money for psychologists, treatment beds and services. It would require legislative approval.

The money is there. The investment is there. The beds are coming, the units are coming online, said Jason Elliott, senior counselor to Newsom.

Newsom has made homelessness and housing a focus of his administration. Last year, the Legislature approved $12 billion for new housing and treatment beds for the homeless and this year Newsom has proposed an additional $2 billion, primarily to shelter people suffering from psychosis and behavioral health disorders.

It was not immediately clear how much the program might cost, although Newsom has proposed in his budget this year more money for mental health services. He has called distressing behavior on the streets heartbreaking and maddening and says residents are right to complain that government is not doing enough.

People with addiction issues or mental health disorders such as schizophrenia often pinball among various public agencies, namely hospitals, court and jail. There is no one place that manages the person's health, offering steady and safe housing combined with resource intensive care and California, like the rest of the country, suffers from a shortage of treatment beds.

Currently, Lauras Law in California allows for court-ordered outpatient treatment in certain conditions, but officials said its only been used for about 200 people in a state of nearly 40 million. Counties can also opt of the program.

San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, whose district includes the Castro neighborhood, is grateful the governor is trying something, but says there needs to be a major change in both the coordination of resources and a change in the way judges think.

We lack both the resources for this population and the laws to compel them into treatment, he said Thursday.

In San Francisco, a state law designed to get more people into conservatorships has resulted in just two people being forced into care, he said.

Some advocates for homeless people have objected to forced care, but Newsom told the San Francisco Chronicle it is past time to talk about civil rights when people who are clearly in distress are ranting in streets and frightening or even attacking others.

"Theres no compassion with people with their clothes off defecating and urinating in the middle of the streets, screaming and talking to themselves, said Newsom, a former mayor of San Francisco.

___

Har reported from Marin County.
Earlier this week, the International Olympic Committee recommended that all sporting organizations block the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competition, a direct response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

However, the International Paralympic Committee, organizers of the upcoming Paralympics, pointedly did not follow those recommendations, initially allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the upcoming Paralympics under a neutral banner.

Now, in response to widespread protest, the IPC has reversed course, and will not permit Russian or Belarusian Paralympians to participate in the Games.

The war has now come to these Games and behind the scenes many governments are having an influence on our cherished event, IPC president Andrew Parsons said Thursday, per AP. We were trying to protect the Games from war.

Despite the IOC's constant outward declarations, the Olympics and Paralympics are political theater of the highest degree. Athletes represent their countries, and if their countries are at war, the athletes bear the burden of taking responsibility for their homeland's actions. The Ukraine invasion has reportedly ratcheted up tensions inside the Beijing athletes' village to intolerable degrees.

We dont have reports of any specific incidents of aggression or anything like that, Parsons said. But it was a very, very volatile environment in the village. ... It was a very rapid escalation, which we did not think was going to happen. We did not think that entire delegations, or even teams within delegations, will withdraw, will boycott, will not participate.

Already, the Latvian curling team had vowed not to take the ice against Russia's team, and others had reportedly discussed leaving the Games entirely. A massive pullout from the event would threaten the Paralympics' entire viable operation.

To the Para athletes from the impacted countries, we are very sorry that you are affected by the decisions your governments took last week in breaching the Olympic Truce," Parsons said. "You are victims of your governments actions."

The IOC is likely to face legal action from the Russian and Belarusian delegations, which include 71 Russian and 12 Belarusian Paralympians.

The Russian Paralympic Committee blasted the IOC's decision, calling it "completely unfounded" and saying the decision implies that "the RPC and Russian para athletes appear as the perpetrators of the current political conflicts." The delegations will appeal the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which already heard at least two cases involving Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva during the Olympics.

We are currently in work to establish our legal position to file lawsuits on the protection of our athletes rights, against the discrimination of athletes based on their ethnicity and the use of sports as a tool of a political pressure, Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin said, per The Guardian. Todays decision of the International Paralympic Committee to bar our team is a blatant violation of athletes rights and a manipulation of the Olympic Charter and human lives values in pursuit of political goals.

The IOC now joins a growing list of athletic federations that have barred Russian athletes from participation. The international federations of hockey, soccer, basketball, track and field, biathlon, figure skating, skiing, volleyball, chess and other sports have blocked Russian athletes, while the NHL, NBA, UEFA, Formula 1 and other organizations have moved competitions out of Russia.

The Paralympics in Beijing are about to begin, but without Russian and Belarusian athletes. (Peter Cziborra/Reuters)

______

Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jaybusbee or contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., introduced a bill on Tuesday calling for strict limitations on no-knock warrants in drug-related investigations.

The bill, named for Amir Locke, would also ban "quick-knock" warrants, nighttime warrants, and the use of explosive devices, chemical weapons, and military grade firearms while warrants are carried out.

Locke, a Black Minnesota native, was 22 when he was fatally shot by Minneapolis SWAT officer Mark Hanneman during an early morning execution of a no-knock search warrant on Feb. 2.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has ruled the death of Locke, who was not named on the warrant, a homicide.

Hanneman has not been charged with any crime and is currently on paid administrative leave while the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigates the shooting.

PHOTO: Amir Locke's picture is seen during a heavy snowstorm at George Floyd Square in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Feb. 22, 2022. (Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

Outcry to ban no-knock warrants once again surged after Locke's death, leading to protests reminiscent of those immediately following the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in 2020. While Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey issued a moratorium on the request and execution of no-knock warrants in the city, concerned citizens and legislators have called for a more permanent solution.

MORE: Minneapolis Police Department faces growing outrage

MORE: Breonna Taylor raid trial: Neighbor testifies gunshots 'inches away from hitting me'

Neka Gray, Locke's aunt, asked that an end be put to no-knock warrants when a coalition of Black women and mothers met at Minneapolis City Hall to demand justice for Locke.

"Unfortunately, Amir won't benefit from it. But the next person will," Gray said. "And so what we're asking is that this no-knock warrant, that this policy that was put in place where it only affects people that look like me, people that look like Amir, people that look like many people that are standing behind me, we're just asking that that is changed."

Omar discussed her bill during a press call on Tuesday.

"The use of no-knock warrants has a deep-rooted history in division, racism and the criminalization of Black and brown people," she said. "This is yet another occurrence of police in Minneapolis utilizing tactics that deny human dignity," she added, referring to the events that led to Locke's death.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden supports the end of no-knock warrants in a press briefing last month following Locke's death.

"We have been engaging with, as you know, civil rights groups, a number of law enforcement groups. All agree on the need to reform the use of no-knock warrants," she said.

Psaki also spoke about a Department of Justice policy href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-announces-department-wide-policy-chokeholds-and-no-knock-entries" target="_blank">announced by United States Attorney General Merrick Garland in September that regulates federal use of chokeholds, carotid restraints, and no-knock warrants.

The policy states that "federal agents are generally required to "knock and announce" their identity, authority and purpose, and demand to enter before entry is made to execute a warrant in a private dwelling" before entering after a "reasonable amount of time". Exceptions may be made "in the most compelling circumstances."

MORE: Justice Dept. curtails agents' use of 'no-knock' warrants

PHOTO: President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress in the US Capitol's House Chamber, March 01, 2022, in Washington. (Win Mcnamee/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden briefly mentioned the Department of Justice's policy at the State of the Union, before calling for funding the police and drawing applause.

MORE: What to know about no-knock warrants, following Amir Locke's fatal shooting

The Locke family's legal team issued a statement on Tuesday in response to the proposed legislation:

"We join the Locke family in applauding U.S. Rep. Omar for introducing this critically important bill. There is no doubt that no-knock warrants are a tragic and devastating failure of policy  a policy that directly led to the deaths of Amir Locke, Breonna Taylor and countless other Black and Brown people throughout the country for the past several decades."

The statement said that while the "ultimate goal" is a ban on all no-knock warrants "it is a significant step forward."

"We implore other members of Congress to champion this life-saving cause and pass this legislation to protect the lives and safety of those they swore an oath to serve," it said.

ABC News' Sejal Govindarao contributed to this report.

Rep. Ilhan Omar introduces bill named for Amir Locke to curb no-knock warrants originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
FILE PHOTO: The Russian Embassy, as President Biden announces new sanctions on Russia, in Washington

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has decided to stop supplying rocket engines to the United States in retaliation for its sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, Dmitry Rogozin, head of the state space agency Roscosmos, said on Thursday.

"In a situation like this we can't supply the United States with our world's best rocket engines. Let them fly on something else, their broomsticks, I don't know what," Rogozin said on state Russian television.

According to Rogozin, Russia has delivered a total of 122 RD-180 engines to the U.S. since 1990s, of which 98 have been used to power Atlas launch vehicles.

Roscosmos will also stop servicing rocket engines it had previously delivered to the U.S., Rogozin said, adding that the U.S. still had 24 engines that would now be left without Russian technical assistance.

Russia has earlier said it was suspending cooperation with Europe on space launches from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana in response to Western sanctions over Ukraine.

Moscow has also demanded guarantees from British satellite company OneWeb that its satellites would not be used for military purposes. OneWeb, in which the British government has a stake, said on Thursday it was suspending all launches from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Rogozin said Russia would now focus on creating dual-purpose spacecraft in line with the needs of Roscosmos and the Defence Ministry.

(Reporting by Reuters)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., left, shakes hands with Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, right, at the beginning of their meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP)  Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is meeting with congressional leaders Wednesday, taking her first steps toward confirmation as Democratic senators and the White House push for a swift timeline.

Jackson met in the morning with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and afterward was going to see Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Later, she will visit with the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and the committee's top Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

As Schumer and Jackson sat down in the Capitol to talk, he told reporters that he was pleased President Joe Biden chose a nominee "with such amazing qualifications and breadth of experience.

Jackson, a federal appeals court judge, will make the customary rounds of Senate visits in the coming days as the committee prepares for hearings expected in mid-March. Democrats are hoping they can vote on her confirmation to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer by mid-April.

If confirmed, Jackson would be the first Black woman to serve as a justice in the courts 200-plus year history. Breyer has said he wont leave the bench until this summer, when the courts session is over, but Democrats are taking no chances in case there is any shift in a 50-50 Senate where Vice President Kamala Harris provides the deciding vote.

Biden cited Jackson's nomination and honored Breyer in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday evening.

One of our nations top legal minds, who will continue Justice Breyers legacy of excellence, he said of Jackson.

Jackson, 51, was confirmed last year as an appeals court judge in Washington after eight years on the district court. She once worked as one of Breyers law clerks and served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the agency that develops federal sentencing policy.

Biden said she was a consensus builder, noting her work as a private litigator and as a federal public defender, and that she comes from a family of public school educators and police officers.

In a 149-page questionnaire Jackson returned to the Senate committee this week, she disclosed that she was first contacted by the White House Jan. 30, three days after Breyer announced his retirement. Jackson, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, had long been seen as Bidens top candidate for the job, which he had promised would go to a Black woman.

Jackson met with Harris in a video call on Feb. 11 and then interviewed with Biden at the White House on Feb. 14, she says in the questionnaire. Biden called and offered her the nomination on Feb. 24, a day before he made his decision public.

The questionnaire provides the committee with a record of every job she has held and the decisions she has made in her nine years as a federal judge, as well as any recusals and potential conflicts of interest. Senators and staff will be able to vet that information much more quickly than they would have for other candidates since they just considered her last year for her current position.

Jackson's list of her most significant cases contains only one new entry from the appeals court, describing an opinion she wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel that came out in favor of labor unions.

Durbin said Monday hes still hoping to win some GOP votes for her confirmation, even though many Republicans have expressed skepticism that Jackson is too liberal. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina were the only Republicans who voted to confirm Jackson to the appeals court last year.

While Collins has appeared open to voting for Jackson again, Murkowski said in a statement last week that her previous vote did not mean she would be supportive this time.

Graham had pushed for a different candidate from his home state, federal Judge J. Michelle Childs, and expressed disappointment that she was not Bidens pick.
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday that she, Vice President William Lai and Premier Su Tseng-chang will each donate one month's salary to aid humanitarian relief efforts for Ukraine as it seeks to repel an invasion by Russia.

The war has generated widespread sympathy in Taiwan for Ukraine's people, due to the threat the island says it faces on a daily basis from giant neighbour China. Beijing views Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up its military pressure to assert those claims.

Tsai, whose government this week send its first batch of aid in the form of 27 tonnes of medical supplies, told a meeting of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party that the determination of Ukraine's people has moved the world and Taiwan's people too.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation".

The forces of global democracy supporting Ukraine are growing stronger, Tsai said.

"As a member of the global partners of democracy, Taiwan is not absent, and we fully support Ukraine."

The Foreign Ministry will provide details of a bank account set up by Taiwan's Relieve Disaster Association for Ukraine relief donations into which Tsai said she, Lai and Su will each donate a month's salary.

A person familiar with the situation told Reuters that Tsai as president receives around T$400,000 ($14,250) a month in pay.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said separately it has asked its de facto embassy in Warsaw, the Polish government and its "designated" non-government organisations to help distribute the funds to aid Ukrainian refugees.

Taiwan last week also announced it was joined Western-led sanctions on Russia, though its own trade with the country is minimal.

"I hope that our compatriots, as well as all our party partners in public office, can fully respond to this action and firmly express to the world that Taiwan stands with Ukraine, and Taiwan stands with democracy and freedom," Tsai said.

Taiwan is largely excluded from global organisations like the United Nations due to Chinese pressure, but aspires to show it is a responsible member of the international community despite its diplomatic isolation.

(Reporting by Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kenneth Maxwell)
Ukrainian officials under relentless attack from Russian forces have pleaded with President Joe Biden and members of NATO to impose a no-fly zone over significant parts of Ukraine.

It's been used effectively by the U.S. and its allies several times in conflicts around the world, but experts said imposing a no-fly zone in Ukraine against Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces and his nuclear arsenal could lead to military conflict between the U.S. and Russia.

In a statement to the news website Axios, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine "can beat the aggressor" if Western allies "do their part."

PHOTO: A Rafale fighter jet pilot inspects his aircraft prior to taking off for a daily NATO border watch mission sortie over Poland at the Mont-de-Marsan airbase, southwestern France, March 1, 2022. (Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images)

What is a no-fly zone?

A no-fly zone bans military aircraft over a designated airspace to protect civilian populations from aerial attack during times of war. Typically, an international organization such as NATO or a group of countries not involved in the fighting will assume the responsibility of policing the airspace to prevent the entry of any combat aircraft to ensure the safety of civilians.

Howard Stoffer, a professor of international affairs at the University of New Haven and a former State Department official, told ABC News that a no-fly zone over Ukraine would likely lead to a confrontation between U.S. and Russian jet fighters.

MORE: Fears of a growing refugee crisis in Europe loom amid Russias attack on Ukraine

"If someone's in the no-fly zone, you can't just chase them out, you have to shoot them down," Stoffer said.

PHOTO: A civilian trains to throw Molotov cocktails to defend the city, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, March 1, 2022. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters)

The United States has been involved in several conflicts in the past 30 years where no-fly zones were implemented.

In 2011, the United Nations Security Council voted to impose one over Libya to force an immediate ceasefire of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi's forces. In 1991, the United States and its coalition of allies established a no-fly zone in Iraq following the Gulf War. A no-fly zone was also established by NATO in 1993 over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

But Stoffer told ABC News that establishing no-fly zones in Iraq, Libya and the Balkans is no comparison to imposing one against Russia.

"First of all, they don't have nuclear weapons," Stoffer said. "Second of all, they didn't have air superiority."

'Not a good idea

The White House and NATO have ruled out imposing a no-fly zone in Ukraine, concluding it is not a good idea.

PHOTO: A toy plane sits among the rubble in the aftermath of an overnight shelling on Ukrainian military facilities in Brovary near Kyiv, Ukraine, March 1, 2022. (Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA via Shutterstock)

"It would essentially mean the U.S. military would be shooting down planes, Russian planes," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in an interview with MSNBC on Monday.

"That is definitely escalatory ... That is not something the president wants to do. Those are all the reasons why that's not a good idea."

Instead, the United States has provided hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons. Millions more in lethal aid has been sent by NATO and European Union countries, including Germany and France.

Some American lawmakers, however, are still pressing for the U.S. to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, took to Twitter on Friday and called on the United States to declare a no-fly zone to give Ukraine a "fair fight" against the Russians.

PHOTO: A man stands inside a crater in the aftermath of an overnight shelling on a military facility in Brovary near Kyiv, Ukraine, March 1, 2022. (Sergey Dolzhenko/EPA via Shutterstock)

"The fate of #Ukraine is being decided tonight, but also the fate of the west. Declare a #NoFlyZone over Ukraine at the invitation of their sovereign govt," Kinzinger tweeted.

Stoffer, who worked on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, said creating a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be one of the fastest ways to trigger a war with Russia.

1) The fate of #Ukraine is being decided tonight, but also the fate of the west. Declare a #NoFlyZone over Ukraine at the invitation of their sovereign govt. Disrupt Russias air ops to give the heroic Ukrainians a fair fight. Its now, or later.  Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) February 25, 2022

"The implications with war with Russia are we now have a madman in the Kremlin who is not saying things that sound like you would want to deal with. For example, he's rattling his nuclear weapons, saying they're on higher alert," he said

Stoffer added, "While we all hate what's going on in Ukraine now, it's very hard to sit back and say we have the means to stop this but do we really have the national commitment to go to war with Russia, and I don't think we do."

Why a Ukraine no-fly zone isn't an option: Experts originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2020, file photo, The TikTok app logo appears in Tokyo. State attorneys general have launched a nationwide investigation into TikTok and its possible harmful effects on young users mental health, widening government scrutiny of the wildly popular video platform. The investigation was announced Wednesday, March 2, 2022, by a number of states led by California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

WASHINGTON (AP)  State attorneys general have launched a nationwide investigation into TikTok and its possible harmful effects on young users mental health, widening government scrutiny of the wildly popular video platform.

The investigation was announced Wednesday by a number of states led by California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont.

U.S. lawmakers and federal regulators have criticized TikTok, citing practices and computer-driven promotion of content they say can endanger the physical and mental health of young users. The platform has an estimated 1 billion monthly users and is especially popular with teens and younger children.

Last month, Texas opened an investigation into TikToks alleged violations of childrens privacy and facilitation of human trafficking.

Our children are growing up in the age of social media  and many feel like they need to measure up to the filtered versions of reality that they see on their screens, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a news release. We know this takes a devastating toll on childrens mental health and well-being."

Bonta said the investigation aims determine if TikTok is violating the law in promoting its platform to young people.

Government officials and child-safety advocates maintain that TikToks computer algorithms pushing video content to users can promote eating disorders and even self-harm and suicide to young viewers.

TikTok has said it focuses on age-appropriate experiences, noting that some features, such as direct messaging, are not available to younger users.

We care deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community, and appreciate that the state attorneys general are focusing on the safety of younger users," the company said Wednesday. "We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens."

Early last year, after federal regulators ordered TikTok to disclose how its practices affect children and teenagers, the platform tightened its privacy practices for users under 18.

As its popularity has swelled, TikTok has come under a barrage of criticism from state officials, federal regulators, consumer advocates and lawmakers of both parties. Republicans have especially homed in on the companys ties to China. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.

TikTok threatens the safety, mental health and well-being of our kids, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, the senior Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said at a hearing Tuesday.
Not at all. It just seems like a lot of back-and-forth talk.

Yes. I'm growing very worried over what might happen.

If it keeps up, I might be a little more concerned.

I think there are much larger things to concern us as a country.

It's hard to tell; I can't take the leader of either country seriously.

Vote

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YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan congratulated Vahagn Khachaturyan on his election as President of Armenia, the PMs Office said.

Dear Mr. Khachaturyan,

I congratulate you on your election as President of the Republic of Armenia.

You are assuming the position of the President of the Republic in an important period for the future of Armenia when we are in a difficult period of regional and international challenges.

According to the Constitution of Armenia, the President of the Republic carries out supra-party activities and while conducting his powers he is guided exclusively by state and national interests.

Your rich biography and experience, high personal qualities inspire trust that you will be such while conducting the presidents powers and will contribute to increasing and balancing the efficiency of the work of legislative, executive and judicial branches.

Again accept, please, my congratulations and best wishes, Mr. President, the PM said in his congratulatory letter.




YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS. The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory letter to Vahagn Khachaturyan on his election as President of the Republic of Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports the Kremlin press service said.

"I am convinced that your activity in this high position will contribute to the further development of Russian-Armenian allied relations and the advancement of mutually beneficial Eurasian integration processes for the benefit of our brotherly peoples, for the benefit of regional security and stability," the Russian President said in his message.

On March 3, the National Assembly of Armenia elected Vahagn Khachaturyan President of the Republic of Armenia. 71 MPs took part in the second round of the presidential election, all of whom voted in favor.

In the first round of elections, Khachaturyan was not elected, 69 MPs voted for him, while 81 votes were needed. Thus, the second round of elections was held, in which 64 votes were enough to be elected.
YEREVAN, 3 MARCH, ARMENPESS. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia denies the rumors about the arrest of the plane in Yerevan. ARMENPRESS asked Vardan Chilingaryan, the head of the Railway, Water and Air Transport Policy Department of the Ministry, for clarification on the issue.

- Mr. Chilingaryan, there is information in the press that "a plane was arrested" in Yerevan. What is it about? Does that information correspond to reality?

- No, there is nothing like that. This information about the arrest or detention of the plane does not correspond to reality. Nothing like that has happened.

- In that case, will you clarify what it is about?

- The point is that a plane landed in Yerevan, which has document problems for future flight. Those problems are being clarified now. This is the whole thing.

"Sputnik Armenia" referring to "Aviatorshina" Telegram channel reported that one of the planes of S7 airline was detained in Yerevan.
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As perceptions supersede reality in how international affairs are played today, Ukraine has, as predicted, led to a huge propaganda campaign

Americans learnt the limits to their power from Vietnam to Afghanistan and umpteen wars in between. That lesson the Russians are learning in Ukraine now. A little optical illusion is involved here. Ostensibly, Ukrainian nationalism is retarding Russian progress but this obscures the massive support in weapons and cash from the United States and Britain. President Vladimir Putin is being hammered by the biggest propaganda campaign by the Western media. The big war is, in fact, being fought by the media.

The November 2004 Orange Revolution comprised many Western TV channels focused on the Kyiv maidan. The images created an illusion of a nationwide uprising. This time the cameras are all over Ukraine. The cheerleaders in Washington, London, and Brussels are egging on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with his cohorts, with clandestine advice and weapon tossed, all geared to blackball Mr Putin globally. By cheering this gory sport from the outside, Europe is boosting Ukrainian nationalism, of course, but also paving the way for millions of Ukrainians headed for Europe as refugees, but who will settle there. Social tensions between white and non-white immigrants in Europe is the story for the day after.

For clarity, lets start from the beginning. The moment I saw BBCs Lyse Doucet in Kyiv, before Russias invasion, my mind made the strangest connection with Corbett Park. The mahout hushes everyone on the howdah, puts his fingers on his lips and whispers, call ho rahi hai, which means monkeys on the highest branches are warning the jungle that a tiger is on the prowl. This is the surest signal that a tiger might be sighted. As soon as I saw Doucet, I knew the action would begin.

My experience of post-Soviet wars beginning with Desert Storm 1991 has followed a pattern: the rolling of war drums in the media was no guarantee military action would begin until Lyse Doucet, Wolf Blitzer, Christiane Amanpour, Nick Robertson, etc appeared on the scene. They appeared in Afghanistan, Iraq, any war involving Israel, Lebanon, Bosnia always thoroughly briefed by military intelligence. Fireworks were guaranteed.

In fact, all post-Soviet wars, mostly Western, were custom-made for TV. In the sole superpower moment, these wars were an amplification of the Anglo-American dominance. This became clear in Desert Storm: There were separate briefings for US and British journalists. Europeans, indeed all others, twiddled their thumbs on the periphery.

French President Francois Mitterrand was reluctant, till the last minute, to join the coalition of the willing drummed up by Margaret Thatcher the senior President George Bush. He sensed one of its purposes was to retain the Anglo-Saxon grip on global power. Redistribution of power, with a reunified Germany knocking at the door, looked imminent. There were questions about the need for Nato, now the Soviet Union was gone.

Desert Storm gave birth to the new information order, with the global media at its pinnacle, one that was to come into play even in Ukraine. From the terrace of Al Rasheed Hotel, CNNs Peter Arnett brought a war live into our drawing rooms, for the first time in history. This new power was put to considerable use in all the post-9/11 wars.

As perceptions supersede reality in how international affairs are played today, Ukraine has, as predicted, led to a huge propaganda campaign. The Western media has gone full throttle to demonise Mr Putin. He will be painted in the same lurid colours as Saddam Hussain  Hitler, thug, Satan, brute, gangster, whose oligarchs have to be emasculated.

The right-wing in the US Senate says a lot of irresponsible things which newspapers like the New York Times play down. Thats why columnist Thomas L. Friedman quoting these senators when they talk of President Joe Bidens dementia is unusual.

Otherwise, its an excellent column. The heading sums up the situation succinctly: This is Putins War. But America and Nato Arent Innocent Bystanders. Friedman ferrets out a priceless interview with one of the finest minds on strategy and foreign policy, George Kennan. These observations were made by Kennan in 1998 just when the Senate ratified Natos expansion eastward in violation of promises made to Russia.

I think its the beginning of a new Cold War. I think the Russians will gradually react quite adversely and it will affect their policies. I think it is a tragic mistake. There was no reason for this whatsoever. No one was threatening anybody else. This expansion would make the founding fathers of this country turn over in their graves.

What bothers me is how superficial and ill-informed the whole Senate debate was. I was particularly bothered by the references to Russia as a country dying to attack Western Europe.

Dont people understand? Our differences in the Cold War were with the Soviet Communist regime. And now we are turning our backs on the very people who mounted the greatest bloodless revolution in history to remove that Soviet regime. Russias democracy is as far advanced, if not farther, as any of these countries weve just signed up to defend from Russia. Of course, theres going to be a bad reaction from Russia, and then [Nato expanders] will say that we always told you that is how the Russians are but this is just wrong. How prescient Kennan was.

In normal times, Donald Trumps ringing applause for Vladimir Putins genius in the way the Russian strongman handled the crisis would be dismissed as a rant by an irresponsible politician. At the moment Mr Trumps ratings are rising just as Mr Bidens are diminishing. Mr Trump cannot be ignored.
Flights are being operated from Poland and Hungary and not from Romania, the lawyer told the bench

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to use his office in helping evacuate some Indian medical students stranded in war-ravaged Ukraine near the Romania border.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the submissions of a lawyer that several students are stuck near the Romanian border in freezing cold and the government is not running flights from Romania.

Flights are being operated from Poland and Hungary and not from Romania. The students, which also included many girls, are stuck without any facility, the lawyer told the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli.

"We have all sympathies with them. But what can the court do," the bench said.

It, however, asked the top law officer to consider extending help to the stranded students.

As per reports from Kyiv, Russia has stepped up its attack on Ukraine.
The Indian Air Force's first flight carrying 200 people from Bucharest landed at 1.30 am, with MoS for Defence Ajay Bhatt welcoming them

New Delhi: The IAF's three evacuation flights with 628 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow landed at the Hindon airbase here in the early hours of Thursday, sources said.

The Indian Air Force's first flight carrying 200 people from Bucharest landed at 1.30 am and Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt welcomed them at the airbase, they noted.

All three IAF flights were conducted using C-17 military transport aircraft, sources said.

India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.

The second evacuation flight of the IAF with 220 Indians from Budapest landed at the Hindon airbase on Thursday morning, sources mentioned.

A little while after the second, the IAF's third evacuation flight arrived at the airbase from Rzeszow with 208 Indians, they noted, adding the fourth flight is expected to arrive later in the morning.

Four Union ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals.

Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland.
A total of 676 candidates are in the fray in the sixth phase of the polling

Voters stand in a queue to cast their ballots outside a polling station in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections, in Allahabad. (Photo: AFP)

Lucknow: About 22 per cent voting was witnessed till 11 am in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on Thursday.

The voting started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Around 2.15 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.

The prominent faces among the 676 candidates contesting on 57 seats spread across 10 districts in this phase include Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban and state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj.

So far, voting for 292 of the 403 Assembly seats has been completed. The final phase of the elections on the remaining 54 seats will be held on March 7.

The districts where polling is being held on Thursday are Ambedkarnagar, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia.

In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 46 of the 57 seats.

Till 11 am there was 21.79 per cent polling, according to the Election Commission of India's Turnout app.

While Ambedkarnagar had 23.15 per cent voting, Ballia had 21.85 per cent, Balrampur 18.81 per cent, Basti 23.31 per cent, Deoria 19.64 per cent, Gorakhpur 21.7 per cent, Kushinagar 23.23 per cent, Mahrajganj 21.22 per cent, Sant Kabir Nagar 20.74 per cent and Siddharth Nagar 23.48 per cent.

Those who cast their votes in the morning included Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Basic Education Minister Satish Dwivedi, Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, minister Upendra Tiwari and former minister Narad Rai.

Interacting with reporters after casting his vote, the chief minister said the BJP will get 80 per cent votes and the rest 20 per cent will get divided among the opposition.

He also appealed to people to vote in large numbers.

The Samajwadi Party has pitted the wife of the late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Azad Samaj Party founder Chandrashekhar Azad is also contesting against the Uttar Pradesh chief minister from Gorakhpur Urban.

Swami Prasad Maurya, who was a minister in the Adityanath government and had quit the BJP to join the Samajwadi Party, is contesting from Fazilnagar.

The Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is contesting from Bansdih.

Many incumbent ministers' fate will also be decided in this phase.

They include Surya Pratap Shahi from Pathardeva, Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa, Jai Pratap Singh from Bansi, Shree Ram Chauhan from Khajani and Jai Prakash Nishad from Rudrapur.

The campaigning for this phase witnessed the political parties going for an all-out attack against each other.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the BJP's rivals by tagging them as dynasts, who he claimed can never make India capable or empower Uttar Pradesh.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi rebutted by saying that the BJP is only against her family, which did not bow down before it.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy of ending reservation and "selling" government entities to the private sector.
The Narendra Modi government must, as the Americans say, put their money where their mouth is

The developments in Ukraine are keeping Indians glued to their TV sets. Even Hindi television channels abandoned their coverage of the last phases of the endless Uttar Pradesh polls to concentrate on the war in Ukraine. Informed sources indicate that the BJP is upset as its electoral strategy, to recover ground lost in the first few phases, is getting derailed.

The Union governments concern, ever aware of public perceptions, has increased exponentially as some TV channels began carrying telephone interviews with students stuck in Ukrainian cities or border crossing-points, in western Ukraine, with Poland, Hungary and Romania. The news became grimmer when the death was reported of a student in Kharkiv, the second-largest city, which lies close to the Russian border.

The Opposition, naturally, jumped on the government, alleging delayed responses, lack of preparation and poor anticipation of how the situation developed. The facts are that when the Indian embassy in Kyiv issued the advisory on February 15, its language was still recommendatory, not definitive. Nine days still remained for the Russians to launch the offensive.

First, did the Indian government not take the warnings emanating from none less than US President Joe Biden seriously enough, that were repeated on the day of the advisory, that Russia was readying to attack? It was also known that on the pretext of a joint military exercise, Russia had moved a large number of its troops to Belarus, which nestles on Ukraines northern border. These continued to stay there even after the exercise ended.

Second, the external affairs ministry needed to have got its embassy in Kyiv to develop detailed contingency plans for students in that country. An important point emerging now is that students in many places were restrained by their universities from leaving due to the likely educational impact. A threat from the embassy that the university may be blacklisted for future recruitment would have settled the matter. It is possible the Ukrainian government too may have discouraged an exodus of foreigners as it causes panic among their population. Thus, the initial step should have been to send extra hands to Kyiv to deal with a possible crisis later.

Third, having sold Air India, the ticket tariff had to be settled at the very start. When the airline started scalping students with reportedly three times the normal charge, government was still in slumber. Many students would have ruled out travel to India as the amounts were beyond their budget. Belatedly, the government decided to pick up the ticket tab, but by then the crisis had turned into war.

Finally, there is the diplomatic dimension. Seeing that India has sat on the fence and abstained on two UN Security Council resolutions, did South Block worry that strongly urging students to leave may upset the Russians as that would have appeared like accepting Western charges against Vladimir Putin as the likely aggressor? Linked to this is the delay in having a detailed contingency plan for the best and worst-case scenarios. Missions have earlier done this, but critical to success is time and imagination. As with the 9/11 attacks on America in 2001, which was not an intelligence failure but rather a failure of imagination as no one linked Arabs learning to fly, which the FBI knew, with Al Qaeda whispers and the assassination of Ahmad Shah Masood.

The government was offering a rolling defence that evolves from day to day. It began with pro-BJP guests on television demonising Ukraine and the West as provoking Mr Putin with Natos expansion. But Ukraines application has been pending for years. Then came the charge that Ukraine was unhelpful to India after the 1998 nuclear tests. But the United States, Japan and Australia were even more scathing on that, even sanctioning India. Then why join the Quad with them?

Most of the retired military officers had a pro-Russia tilt, many having spent their careers working with the Soviets and their equipment. Also, it was argued that Chanakya would be happy at Indias pragmatism by being equidistant and neutral. But is that not what Jawaharlal Nehrus non-alignment was all about?

The last argument misses an important point. The cardinal principles on which the post-World War II security order and the United Nations was created. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter reads: All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, etc. It is preceded by Article 2(3), which lays down that all international disputes shall be settled by peaceful means. Its not clear which part of this Russia, a permanent and veto-wielding UN member, does not understand. President Putins claims flow from paranoia, a desire to turn back the pages of history and an anachronistic desire to recreate the Soviet Union.

This brings the issue of Indian votes. As the worlds largest democracy, albeit falling in global rankings of liberal democracies, how does failing to uphold the UN Charter square with Indias aspirations to be a UNSC permanent member? What was Indias quarrel with China over Doklam? Was it not that China was breaching Bhutanese sovereignty to access it? Is it not possible that China can use Russia-like pluck and revised history to lay claim to large parts of Nepal and march up to the Terai region?

The Narendra Modi government must, as the Americans say, put their money where their mouth is. Attending Democracy Summits while appeasing autocratic rulers plunging the world into chaos over dubious claims does not raise Indias prestige. It compromises it. If Germany can abandon the Nord Stream-II gas pipeline, Western oil giants write off their Russian investments and Europe unite against aggression, India also needs to stop holding its nose and breathe with them.
Today's headlines: dozens of arrests in Russia among those demonstrating against the war in Ukraine; Russian companies relocate to Armenia to escape sanctions, hundreds more are waiting; Armenian MPs donate blood for Ukrainian hospitals; an Indonesian priest who made an "invaluable" contribution to the development of liturgy has died at 84; new Israeli air raids in southern Syria.

CHINA - RUSSIA

Senior Chinese officials reportedly asked their Russian counterparts in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The New York Times reported that Beijing was already aware in principle of the Kremlin's plans to attack Kiev. The Chinese Embassy in the US speaks of "speculation" without foundation.

RUSSIA

The General Prosecutor's Office imposed limits on access to the websites of the historic radio station Ekho Moskvy and the TV channel Dozhd, for "systematic and tendentious dissemination of information with appeals to extremist activities, violence and false news". The reference is to the Russian military in the special operation in the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Dozens of arrests among peace demonstrators.

UKRAINE

In various cities of Ukraine invaded by the Russians, the population is complaining because the soldiers sent from Moscow are looting shops in search of food, entering with weapons and demanding everything they want at gunpoint. According to Kiev's counter-intelligence, the young soldiers only had a ration for three days. More than one million refugees have already fled since the invasion began.

ARMENIA

Several Russian companies are trying to relocate to other countries because of Western sanctions. The Minister of Economy of Yerevan Vaan Kerobyan reports that about ten big Russian companies have already moved to Armenia, hundreds more are trying to do the same.

GEORGIA

At least 65 members of parliament and many parliamentary staff in Tbilisi donated blood in aid of Ukraine, both majority and opposition representatives. The operation was led by the Georgian Institute of Haematology, according to the Novosti-Gruzja news agency. The blood will be brought to Ukraine by the International Red Cross.

TAIWAN

Several cities in Taiwan, including the capital Taipei, have experienced widespread power outages, caused by an accident at one of the island's most important power plants. Experts are working to repair the incident at the Xingda plant, while the national giant Taipower has activated alternative sources of energy to meet the need.

PAKISTAN

A bomb exploded near a police vehicle in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan, in the southwest. Three people died in the attack, including an officer and two civilians, at least 27 were injured, mostly bystanders. The explosion hit shops in the area, which caught fire. At the moment there are no claims, but the matrix seems to be that of the Pakistani Taliban.

INDONESIA

Indonesian Catholics are mourning the death of Fr Antonius Soetanto, a Jesuit priest famous in his homeland for composing religiously inspired music and songs. He died in a hospital in Semarang at the age of 84, following a stroke. For many, he was one of the leading figures of the local Church, having made an "invaluable" contribution to the liturgy.

SYRIA

Several explosions were reported overnight in southern Syria in a new air raid by Israeli fighter jets against army targets. A centre for monitoring and gathering information was also targeted. At the moment, there are no reports of casualties or injuries. Yesterday at the UN, the foreign minister denounced the attacks of recent weeks.
by Shafique Khokhar

On 2 March 2011, the Catholic politician was gunned by armed Taliban because of his fight in favour of minorities and against abuses under the countrys blasphemy legislation. His work is still an example of how rights can be respected in the country. During his visit to Pakistan, the archbishop of Canterbury paid tribute to the victims of the All Saints Church.

Lahore (AsiaNews)  Catholics, activists and ordinary citizens gathered yesterday to mark the 11th anniversary of the assassination by the Taliban of Shahbaz Clement Bhatti, Pakistans Federal Minister for Minority Affairs at the time.

Bhatti, a Catholic, was a leading advocate for human rights, the protection of religious minorities (Christian and non-Christian), and confessional harmony in the South Asian country.

He was killed execution style on 2 March 2011 as he made his way to work, ostensibly because of his political and humanitarian activity.

The minister's strenuous opposition to the abuses committed in the name of blasphemy legislation was one of the reasons for the murder.

During the memorial service, participants urged the Pakistani government to take all necessary measures to protect human rights, boost social cohesion, and fight extremism and terrorism.

Joseph Jansen, president of Voice for Justice, highlighted Bhattis work for equal rights and his tireless struggle for justice against discrimination and all forms of extremism.

Those who sought his death have not been eliminated, Jansen said, this despite the national plan to fight terrorism.

Bhatti renewed the battle against the way blasphemy legislation was abused and opposed lynching perpetrated in the name of religion.

For human rights activist Ashiknaz Khokhar, Minister Bhatti achieved several goals during his time in government, including greater representation for minorities in the Senate, a 5 per cent quota in public sector employment, and an annual national day for minorities on 11 August.

His memory is a legacy to be preserved and valued even today at the religious, political and social levels through interfaith dialogue and protection of rights.

For Asif Bastian, Bhatti was an "ambassador of interfaith harmony and human rights, and a symbol of the struggle for the rights of the downtrodden. He should be remembered as a voice for the voiceless.

His death left a void hard to fill, said Ilyas Samuel, while Carol Noreen hopes that his sacrifice can awake minds and move people to work together for the promotion of peace and justice.

Finally, Bishop Johnson Robert stressed that the best way to remember Bhatti is to redouble efforts to help Pakistan pull back from the abyss, confront extremism in all its forms, and restore Jinnah[*]'s vision of the country.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, who was on three-day official visits to Pakistan over the week-end, also issued an appeal against abuses committed in the name of blasphemy.

The head of the Church of England slammed the legislation for the way it is being misused to target non-Muslim minorities, including Christians and Hindus, who live under constant fear.

The prelate also condemned the attack on two Christian clergymen in Peshawar on 30 January (one of them died) and paid tribute to the victims of the attack against the All Saints Church, scene of a suicide bombing in September 2013 that left more than a hundred people dead.

[*] Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), founder of Pakistan.
by Steve Suwannarat

Bishop Francis, who chairs the Bishops Conference of the three countries and 11 dioceses, issued an appeal, urging all interested parties to put a stop to the madness of violence and war and come to the table of peace and justice. At the UN General Assembly, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei voted in favour of a resolution condemning Russias invasion.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews)  Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang (Malaysia), president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei, released a letter on Ash Wednesday, following the appeal for peace and reconciliation in Ukraine made by Pope Francis who urged the faithful to use the days of Lent to fast and pray for peace in the besieged European country and the world.

The letter, which calls for unity of purpose among local Catholics and Asian Churches and leaders, notes that the Catholic church in this region is deeply concerned over the war in Ukraine and its impact on global peace and justice, affecting the lives of peoples everywhere.

Although The history and causes of war may be complex, [. . .] wars in the long term do not benefit anyone, including us. On the contrary, it only brings destruction and leaves a trail of immense suffering and displacements.

The bishops go on to stress that mutual respect, recognition of differences between the parties and the integrity of countries are crucial to lasting peace and justice for mutual co-existence.

Hence, the Bishops' Conference, which includes 11 dioceses in three countries serving about 12 million members, calls upon Russia, Ukraine and all interested parties to put a stop to the madness of violence and war and come to the table of peace and justice.

This position largely reflects the attitude of the countries to which the bishops belong; at the UN General Assembly, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei voted to condemn Russias aggression against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Malaysia and especially Singapore are trying to repatriate their citizens from the war zone. On their own or through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), each country is also trying to promote mediation to avoid further suffering among the civilian population and stop the escalation of the conflict.
by Melani Manel Perera

Groups of people with disabilities organised a Walk on wheels in six districts of the country, meeting local officials. Organisers do not want handouts, only the possibility of being independent.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  March 1st was International Wheelchair Day; for the first time, the day was observed in Sri Lanka.

To celebrate it, the Association of Persons with Disabilities held a Walk on wheels in six districts of the country: Matara, Colombo, Kandy, Kurunegala, Puttalam and Moneragala.

The aim of the initiative was to raise awareness about public attitudes towards people on wheelchairs and send a message to the government.

About 8.7 per cent of the Sri Lankan population lives with some form of disability: 57 per cent are men and 43 per cent are women.

In 2007, 160 countries, including Sri Lanka, signed the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Fifteen years later, disabled Sri Lankans still complain that its provisions have not yet been implemented.

The Supreme Court upheld the lawfulness of the convention, but its has not yet been implemented, said Tikiri Kumara Jayawardana, head of the "Walk on the Wheels" tour, speaking to AsiaNews.

The problem is about accessibility. New buildings continue to be built in big cities, with washrooms still inaccessible to wheelchairs. You cannot take the bus or even go to the hospital.

Only those confined to a wheelchair can understand this situation, but society and the authorities show little or no sensitivity towards us.

Yashoda Jayaratne, 33, suffered spinal cord injuries after undergoing leukemia treatment.

We do not need special attention, only that the government implements what we need, she explained. People should put themselves in our position.

In Colombo, the Walk on wheels started from the Galle Face Green urban park and made its way to the President's House, where participants were met by the presidential secretary who accepted a letter with the groups requests and said that it would be handed to the president.

We do not want people with disabilities to rely on a welfare mindset," said Nisha Sharif, a group leader from Kandy district and chairperson of For Rights, we are organisation.

With the exception of people with complex disabilities and disabled seniors, we do not want to be limited to the Department of Social Services.

We ask for suitable levels of employment, a decent job, and the right to live as ordinary citizens without being a burden not only on society but also on ourselves.

In Sharifs view, the Sri Lankan government should pursue this, adding that, All the groups of the six districts met with their respective governors and local authorities. informing them of their situation.
by Emanuele Scimia

With a possible attack by Beijing in mind, Su Tseng-chang points to Ukrainians' resistance slowing down the Russian advance. Taipei is trying to reassure the population that the two situations are different. But doubts shroud the real will of the Taiwanese to oppose the Chinese.

Rome (AsiaNews) - The Taiwanese premier believes the Russian attack on Ukraine teaches that only a united country can resist a Chinese invasion. Su Tseng-chang's comments came yesterday during a meeting with a delegation of former US defense officials in which he underscored, with an eye on domestic politics, how the firm resistance of the Ukrainians is slowing the Russian advance.

Beijing considers Taiwan a "rebel province" and has never ruled out re-conquering it through the use of force. The island has been de facto independent from China since 1949; at that time Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists found refuge there after losing the civil war on the mainland to the communists, making it the heir to the Republic of China founded in 1912.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has condemned the armed action ordered by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine. Taipei also joined the US and its allies in punishing Moscow with economic and financial sanctions.

However, according to Marc Cheng, executive director of the EU Centre in Taipei, the authorities and people on the island have different perceptions and reactions to the ongoing war. Speaking to AsiaNews he says the Tsai administration largely avoids direct associations between the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and Taiwanese-Chinese relations, as this would have an impact on Taiwanese morale. "This is why," Cheng points out, "our government wants to strengthen its ability to deal with a 'cognitive war' [by Beijing]."

Retired rear admiral Chihlung Dan says the Tsai executive is trying to persuade citizens that Taiwan is not Ukraine, given its key role in the global supply chain - the reference is mainly to microchips, of which the island is the world's leading producer. Thanks to this condition, Taipei argues, in case of a Chinese invasion, the international community would directly come to its aid, something it did not do with Kiev.

Dan points out that the Taiwanese authorities also claim that they do not rely on outside help and that the country will put up a strong resistance to a Chinese invasion. This is a way to show that Taipei has the strength to respond to China's threats - knowing full well that without US support it could not survive Beijing's aggression.

While the islanders are reassured by the international support they have received from Ukraine, "they do not want to be trapped in the same situation", Cheng points out. He adds that those most concerned believe that sooner or later Taiwan will have to find an appropriate way of dealing with Communist China.

Regardless of the difference in views between the government and the population, Cheng says that according to polls, the majority of Taiwanese are ready to protect the island from a Chinese attack.

However, there are those who think that the Taiwanese will not have the courage to defend their country like the Ukrainians are defending theirs. Echoing the views expressed in the university forum Dcard, Fausto Chou, journalist and executive editor of Eat News, recounts that during his four months of compulsory military service, which ended not long ago, he asked his fellow soldiers what they would do in the event of war with China: 60% answered that they would surrender.

He is aware that the sample cannot be of scientific value, but he also added that the soldiers he spoke to largely said they had chosen a military career because they came from poor families. Chou notes that national military recruitment campaigns are based on slogans that call for "gains" and not "patriotism", which he says is the biggest problem for the Taiwanese army.

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by Guido Alberto Casanova

Gabriel Osaheni Aghedo has lived in Japan for 30 years. Islamic extremists threaten to kill him if he returns home, but the Japanese authorities refuse to recognise Nigeria as a high-risk country. This is why he cannot work and receive medical treatment in Japan. In 2020, only 47 asylum seekers or just 1 per cent had their application accepted.

Tokyo (AsiaNews)  Gabriel Osaheni Aghedo has lived in Japan for over 30 years, but his right to stay has not yet been recognised by Japanese authorities.

Aghedo, a Christian from Nigeria, first arrived in 1991 and his intentions were to live between the two countries; at least those were his plans until Nigerian Islamists threatened his life.

The group that later morphed into Boko Haram, now known across the world for its killings and kidnappings, issued a decree whereby a self-help book written by Aghedo violated teachings of the Quran. Soon enough, the threats became real.

Published in Japan and distributed in Nigeria through his sister, the book soon led to retaliation from extremists who resorted to violence to intimidate Aghedos sister and other members of his family, forcing them into hiding.

Boko Haram even sent a letter to his sister promising to kill Gabriel when he returns home. Yet, for Japanese authorities, Nigeria is a safe country for Gabriel Osaheni Aghedo and his past asylum requests were rejected on the grounds that he could go back without risk of persecution against his person.

As noted by Bitter Winter, a religious freedom and human rights website, Aghedo is a very active member in the community where he lives in Tokyo, involved in the outreach campaigns sponsored by the Church of St Ignatius to which he had belonged for many years.

Members of the community have launched an online petition to get the Japanese authorities to accept Aghedos latest application for refugee status.

The hearing at the regional immigration bureau in Tokyo was scheduled for 8 February, but had to be postponed due to the recent wave of COVID-19 infections.

Japan is known for its very tough laws in this matter. In 2020, 47 or only 1 per cent of applications for refugee status were accepted by Japanese authorities.

The Japanese government has been heavily criticised for its treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers, in some cases with tragic consequences.

Last March, a young undocumented immigrant from Sri Lanka died in a detention centre after the authorities did not allow her to go to hospital for exams.

The case had a great echo and the UNHCR began discussions with Japans Immigration Services Agency to improve the system, but there is still a long way to go.

Precisely for this reason, the petition by Aghedo's supporters urges the authorities, if they wont grant him refugee status, at least allow him to stay in the country on humanitarian grounds. This would enable him to work and get medical attention, to which he currently has no right.

At present, Aghedo is living in conditions of economic hardship since he lost the limited financial support provided by the Refugee Headquarters after the first ruling.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

It was the point of tension between Kiev and Moscow before the Russian attack. Since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine has garnered a true sense of natonal unity. Ukrainian army cleansed of out-of-control militias in Donbass. The Kremlin will not easily achieve victory.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The war is raging all over Ukraine, Russian troops are storming the big cities and heading for Kiev, to finally crush the Ukrainian capital with the entire leadership barricaded in led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyj. At this point the fate of the Donbass is of little concern, despite only a week ago being flagged as the critical point of confrontation between Russians and Ukrainians, while in reality it has always been a peripheral area used by the Russians as a pretext to justify the war and the invasion of the whole country.

The Donbass region has a certain symbolic value, because it harks back to the time of Russia's liberation from the Tatar yoke in 1380, when the prince of Moscow managed to achieve the first victory over the Asian invaders at the battle of Kulikovo, near the Don river. That is why Prince Dmitry was called "Donskoj", and the whole Don region has remained a sacred place symbolic of the courage and identity of Holy Russia rising as a nation called to save the whole world.

It is not surprising that such a mystical idea lies at the heart of the Russian offensive in the land of the decisive confrontation between East and West, from medieval times to the present day. Yet it seemed that this was a 'defensive operation' focused on the Donbass, tormented by eight years of 'hybrid war', and that Tsar Putin 'the Terrible' could be content to associate the republics of Lugansk and Donetsk with the annexed Crimea. It had already happened 14 years ago with Georgia's pro-Russian republics of Abkhazia and North Ossetia.

In Meduza, humanitarian activist Varvara Pakhomenko retraced the steps of these long years in the area of the mouth of the Don, where the Donets tributary, which gives its name to one of the two separatist republics, also flows. For eight years the hybrid war has alternated between moments of great tension and relatively quiet periods, and in February of this year everything seemed fairly stable, until Putin launched the campaign of "de-Nazification and de-Militarisation" of the region and the whole of Ukraine, as it is officially called by the Kremlin, which forbids the press from talking about "war" or "invasion".

The Russian recognition of the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk on 24 February, which coincided with the start of Moscow's offensive, has left all the inhabitants of the area rather perplexed: what borders did Putin and the Duma's proclamation refer to? For years, the two regions have been disputed between the local and Ukrainian authorities, who accuse each other of being 'occupiers'. It was clear that the uncertainty of the borders led directly to a widening of military action, even though no one, not even in the Donbass, was thinking of a total invasion.

Parkhomenko says he has worked with the Ukrainian military in recent years on behalf of various humanitarian organisations, with training in international humanitarian law and the defence of the peaceful population. "I have seen how this army has changed, it has become much more professional and motivated, and I don't think the Russians will easily come to victory," Varvara explains, "the whole Ukrainian army has rotated through the Donbass more than once."

Since 2017, the various volunteer battalions have been integrated into Ukraine's official armed forces, and a very sophisticated coordination system has been designed to prepare for the worst. The fighters who carried out spontaneous and out-of-control actions in the Donbass in recent years have been detained and called to account in court, and it does not seem likely that the Russians will actually succeed in taking control of the territory.

In these eight years Ukraine has learned to feel like a truly united nation, something that had not been possible in eight centuries of history, or even in the 20 years following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Donbass is a highly urbanised and advanced region; although pro-Russian sentiments prevail, it is by no means a foregone conclusion, however, that it will lie quietly in Mother Russia's embrace, as was the case with Crimea. The events of the war may come to a favourable conclusion for Moscow, but the lives of the Ukrainians will not be in their hands.
Liz Fitzgerald of Southington, left, and Paige Niver of Manchester, right, listen as Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, center, speaks at a news conference, Thursday, March 3, 2022, in Hartford, Conn. Fitzgerald lost two sons to opioids and Niver's daughter became addicted to opioids after getting prescribed OxyContin at 14 years old. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) (Jessica Hill/AP)

Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family will pay $6 billion in a nationwide settlement for the OxyContin makers role in the opioid epidemic, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced Thursday.

The deal will still force Stamford, Conn.-based Purdues dissolution or sale by 2024, and will ban the Sacklers from involvement in the opioid business both in the United States and abroad, Tong said.

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Purdue must also make public previously withheld documents, and the Sackler family is required to allow institutions such as buildings or scholarships to remove the family name.

The $6 billion, to be paid to the states over 18 years, is 40% more than a previous settlement agreement rejected on multiple grounds by Tong and other attorneys general, who argued that it didnt go far enough. Connecticut will receive about $95 million to be used for opioid treatment and prevention.

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That is a historic sum, but theres not enough money in the world to care for all the people who need it, Tong said, speaking from his State Office Building office in Hartford. And theres not enough justice in the world to make it right. There just isnt. And we have to acknowledge that.

Tong said he hopes the settlement, subject to approval of Judge Robert Drain in bankruptcy court, prompts the Sacklers to issue a fresh apology to victims for Purdues role in the opioid crisis.

Some of [the victims families] have lost so much that can never be recovered. And their suffering continues, Tong said.

In a statement, spokespeople for the Sacklers said the family was pleased to reach a settlement that will allow very substantial additional resources to reach people and communities in need.

While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities, the statement reads.

Tong was flanked by two mothers representing the thousands of Connecticut families who have been touched by the opioid epidemic, which he called the worst public health crisis in America, COVID notwithstanding.

Liz Fitzgerald, of Southington, lost her son, Kyle, in March 2013 after a nine-year battle with addiction that began with a prescription to OxyContin. One of her other sons, Matthew, died on Labor Day in 2017 from a fentanyl overdose.

Not any amount of money will ever be restitution for what theyve done, the damage the Sacklers have caused, Fitzgerald said. They just destroyed our lives.

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Paige Niver, of Manchester, said her daughter, then 14, was prescribed copious amounts of opioids following a bicycle accident. As the drugs effectiveness wore off, Niver said doctors told her to keep giving her daughter more. Her daughter is now in recovery after nine long years battling with addiction.

I think the parents knew something was wrong long before lots of people caught wind of it, and I never thought I would see any justice for it, Niver said.

Its not the outcome that we would always expect, but hopefully these monies will be put to good use to help fight, and help others who are suffering, Fitzgerald said.

Liz Fitzgerald of Southington and Paige Niver of Manchester embrace at the end of a news conference at Connecticut Attorney General William Tong's office, Thursday, March 3, 2022, in Hartford, Conn. Fitzgerald lost two sons to opioids and Niver's daughter became addicted to opioids after getting prescribed OxyContin at 14 years old. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill) (Jessica Hill/AP)

In December, a federal judge rejected a prior iteration of the settlement which would have released the Sacklers from facing future litigation in a process known as nonconsensual, nondebtor release.

That rejected agreement touched on a complicated and unresolved question within bankruptcy law: whether owners of a company can use bankruptcy settlements to shield themselves from future lawsuits, even if they are not themselves bankrupt.

Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Tong, along with a coalition of seven other states and the District of Columbia, previously argued that this does not and should not also apply to the Sacklers. The family withdrew over $10 billion from the company between 2008 and 2018, according to a court hearing.

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I still think thats wrong. Connecticut still thinks thats wrong, Tong said, later saying that he was still frustrated by some aspects of Thursdays agreement.

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Connecticut and the other states and District of Columbia agreed to drop their complaint related to these releases. However, Connecticut and others retain the right to speak to the issue if it is raised to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The settlement announced Thursday does not release members of the Sackler family from future criminal liability.

Tong made his stance on future criminal charges clear: I think people who are responsible should go to jail, he said Thursday.

Asked who among the company and the Sackler family should be held criminally responsible, Tong said he would leave that to the criminal authorities. Tong said he could not comment on whether there was an open criminal investigation into the Sacklers or Purdue.

State attorneys general reached a $26 billion agreement with four U.S. companies last week. Tongs office has now participated in negotiations with opioid companies that have resulted in more than $32 billion in settlement money, $400 million of which will flow to Connecticut.

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In the lobby outside Tongs office, after a round of emotional embraces, Fitzgerald joked that her boys always used to hate it when she would tell their stories to others. Now, thats changed. You go, mom. You go, mom she said.

Seamus McAvoy may be reached at smcavoy@courant.com


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ProColor Collision welcomes Javier Vargas as its new director of operations for California and surrounding states as of Jan. 24.

As the director of operations, Vargas will be responsible for providing direction and support for all operational components including financial profitability, growth and compliance for ProColor Collision franchisees. In addition, he will be accountable for process implementation and adherence to organizational standards as well as supporting processes with internal departments, national suppliers and vendors.

Javier will be our first point of contact for our ProColor Collision franchisees, said Steve Leal, president and CEO of Mondofix, Inc. dba Fix Network World. His extensive background in virtually all aspects of automotive repair operations including, production, sales and office functions, in compliance with industry standards and practices makes him an excellent fit for this position. We know our franchisees will enjoy working with him to help grow their businesses.

A respected builder and leader of customer-focused teams in the automotive and insurance industries, Vargas previous roles included providing operational expertise to an independent body shop; managing Service King Collision Repairs, Caliber Collision Center and Vanguard; as well as being an auto damage adjuster supervisor at GEICO Insurance and a collision center estimator at Mercedes Benz of San Diego.

Vargas will be based in San Diego, CA.

Source: ProColor Collision
'I was taken to court after driver claimed my DIY speed bump damaged her Audi'https://t.co/Bu6wETr49n  The Scottish Sun (@ScottishSun) March 1, 2022

The event happened a year ago in the remote village of Edgeworth, near Bolton, UK, and now we have a resolution to the case.Andrea Wilkinson, who is a 51-year-old woman, was angry with people whizzing on her street. So, on a faithful night, after drinking a couple of glasses for courage, she decided to take matters into her own hands.She took a few rocks and created her own DIY speed bump with them cobbled together, after repeated pleas for a 20-mph (roughly 30 kph) limit and speed bumps . After her little DIY project was done, she posted in a neighborhood group on social media, and received quite a lot of support from fellow locals.But, two days later, law firm worker Amy Leadbeater drove her Audi A1 Sportback into the stones at 25 mph (40 mph). Which turned into a legal battle, Wilkinson being accused of criminal damage.Leadbeater claimed to Burnley Magistrates Court that her collision with the improvised speed bump caused damage to her Audi. She initially paid 44.96 ($60) to have the Audi fixed. But that wasnt all, because her turbocharger had allegedly been wrecked in the collision, and had to pay a further 1,200 ($1,600) to fix it. Mrs. Wilkinson claimed she was exaggerating the extent of the damage and told the judge that it is impossible for that to be damaged like that."With a lot of luck, Mrs. Wilkinson was cleared of the charges, when the judge decided its unclear whether Ms. Leadbeaters Audi collided with the speedbump.Mrs. Wilkinson told The Sun : "This has made my life hell for the last 12 months. She added: "I've been cleared of any wrongdoing, so that's it."
This time, however, the error doesnt seem to be very widespread, pretty much because not a lot of people are likely using Android Auto in a way that could trigger the bug in the first place.Someone on Googles community forums explains they typically connect their mobile device to the cars Wi-Fi hotspot when getting behind the wheel. After Android Auto launches, however, the app automatically disables the mobile data usage for whatever reason, essentially leaving the smartphone without Internet access.This means apps like Waze and Spotify cant do their magic on Android Auto, and in the case of Google Maps, sticking with offline maps is pretty much the only option.The same glitch has already been confirmed by another user, but once again, its hard to tell at this point just how widespread the whole thing is, given not everybody connects the mobile device to a car hotspot.At this point, Google is yet to acknowledge the problem or at least confirm its looking into reports, so it remains to be seen how many people end up struggling with the same thing.In the meantime, no workaround seems to exist. On the other hand, if youre certain the problem was caused by a recent Android Auto update, the best way to go is to just downgrade the app to an earlier release. To do this, head over to this page and download the manual APK installer for an older version of Android Auto.This will allow you to go back to an earlier Android Auto build, therefore making it possible to tell if the latest update for the app is the one to blame or not. If it isnt, then the culprit could very well be the operating system itself, in which case Google is the only one that needs to find a fix.
A former East Hartford police officer who was fired after her arrest in a domestic violence case is suing the police chief and town in federal court, contending discrimination and unfair treatment because of her age and sex.

In the suit filed Tuesday, Lisa Freeman claims denial of due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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Freeman, 54, was terminated in 2020 after her arrest on since-dismissed charges of disorderly conduct and third-degree criminal mischief. The warrant for her arrest said her on-again, off-again boyfriend told police that she broke a window at his Bolton house on March 5 then took off. The unidentified man said Freeman had pounded on his door, but he did not answer as he didnt want any issues, the arrest warrant affidavit said.

The man said he and Freeman had been dating for about seven years through frequent breakups and reconciliations and he did not want to press charges, telling police that Freeman had broken things in the past and has been hauled away for it, the arrest warrant affidavit said.

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After the arrest, the police department put the 26-year veteran on administrative duty pending an internal investigation. She was terminated on April 27, 2020, for violation of department rules that say, No Officer shall engage in any personal conduct or act which, if brought to the attention of the public, could result in justified unfavorable criticism of that Officer or the Department. No Officer shall be involved personally in disturbances or Police incidents to his/her discredit.

The suit filed in U.S. District Court by attorney James Brewer called the rule vague and subject to bias. The complaint says the rule was maliciously, arbitrarily and disparately administered against plaintiff, listing similar charges against other East Hartford male officers who were not fired.

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Responding to a request for comment on the suit, police spokesman Lt. Josh Litwin noted that the state Department of Labor upheld Freemans firing last year.

Freeman joined the department on Jan. 18, 1994 and rose to become head of the internal affairs office. Late in 2007, she was demoted from lieutenant to officer and suspended for a week without pay after an internal investigation found she harassed a fellow officer and violated other department rules.

In February 2014, Freeman was arrested on charges of third-degree assault, second-degree criminal mischief and disorderly conduct for an incident that also happened in Bolton, police said at the time. She was accused of assaulting a man and damaging items in his home, police said. The disposition of the case could not be determined.

Regarding her firing, Freeman contends in the suit that Chief Scott Sansom initiated a false and dubious internal investigation against Plaintiff to use as a pretext to terminate her from her position. During the investigation, Lt. Joseph Ficacelli, also named as a defendant, purposely ignored or refused to consider exculpatory or exonerating information, omitted or misstated facts and information in order to find against the plaintiff, the suit says.

Freemans firing, the suit says, was based on impermissible considerations of her sex and age. She has suffered lost wages, health and pension time and benefits, humiliation, emotional mental upset, loss of enjoyment in life and anxiety and physical damages, including loss of sleep, headaches, and continued irreparable harm to her reputation, the complaint says.

Freeman seeks compensatory and punitive damages.

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Jesse Leavenworth can be reached at jleavenworth@courant.com
According to local reports, Clive Palmer recently finalized separate deals on two vintage vehicles: King Edward VIIIs Rolls-Royce, and Adolf Hitlers 1939 Mercedes-Benz 770K Grosser Offener Tourenwagen, aka the Super Mercedes. As you can imagine, its the latter collectible thats raising eyebrows among politicians and non-profit groups in native Australia, for several reasons.No word on how much Palmer must have paid for the Mercedes, but the last time it was offered at public auction , it failed to sell because it did not meet reserve, despite the highest $7 million bid. The report claimed that Palmer got it from a Russian collector after two years of negotiations and that he planned to make it the centerpiece of his upcoming museum of vintage rides. It would hold 600 items on rotation, with this historically-significant armored limo at the heart of it.As soon as news of the supposed acquisition spread, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews asked for an investigation into it, and whether Palmer had or planned to bring the vehicle into the country. Andrews suggested Palmer had skirted import and custom regulations, which prohibit the import of old vehicles with asbestos in them. Asbestos was widely used in brakes and engine parts, and those who bring in classic cars without replacing these parts face huge fines.Other objections to the supposed acquisition include the questionable ownership of a piece of Nazi memorabilia, as well as the display of one such item in a private collection, even if its a museum. Local media also suggests Palmer could have violated current sanctions against Russia, by purchasing the Mercedes limo from a Russian collector.Initially, Palmer refused to comment on the multi-million dollar mess he inadvertently created, which is understandable considering his recent hospitalization. After several attempts, a rep for Palmer told The Guardian that he didnt even buy Hitlers car, but refused to elaborate further. Talk about a storm in a thermos flask.
Weve seen quite a few reviews of the Molsheim hypercar, a millionaire who could be the reason behind the Autobahns no-speed-limit ban , and the occasional drag race. What we havent seen, correction, hadnt, was a quick drive to McDonald's, and if you had it on your bucket list, then you can finally delete it, and its all thanks to Mat Watson.The famous journo had another encounter with the Bugatti Chiron, this time in the Super Sport configuration , and since he had to do something fun for the YouTube channel, he decided to take it to McDonalds, in France. You see, such a video would normally be boring, but this is a multi-million dollar exotic that were talking about, and it is bigger than you probably think.See where this is going? Yep, the narrow road around the fast-food restaurant, which was very difficult to navigate, even with the cars nose sitting as far away from the ground as possible. The parking sensors were constantly beeping, and one man had his eyes on the curb, and the expensive wheels, side skirts, and bumpers, in order for the Chiron to drive away unscathed.Several butt-clenching moments later, the vehicle, which was smelling like French fries , left the drive-thru and headed to the highway to prove, once again, that it can rearrange its occupants organs at a hard push of the right pedal. And since the police was not involved after the 186+ mph (300+ kph) joy ride, we are going to assume that it took place in Germany. You can watch the whole adventure down below, but be warned, you might crave for a snack afterwards.
In some lines of business, profit comes from sheer scale. When manual labor is involved, it may be wiser to offer premium services and have clients interested in those services instead of working day-in, day-out with the lowest prices on the market. While the latter may be a strategy to get you going until you gather enough experience, doing this, in the long run, will hurt you and your business.As Tony explains in his video, it is easier for him to work with high-end clients , and even with picky customers, rather than with those who are shopping around for the best price. They will find someone to offer their services to them, do not worry, but Tony warns that people looking for the smallest price are the most difficult customers.It goes without saying that the conclusion comes from his personal experience, but it does replicate what other professionals in various fields have told us, as well as has told others in different contexts over the years. For example, independent workshops have often complained about others who attempt to offer lower prices just to attract more customers.With every reduction in price from the market average in an area or in a country, with the latter being applicable in smaller countries, the potential customer should lower their expectations instead of raising them. Instead, many expect premium services at discounted prices. Evidently, having a higher price means offering services that live up to it, and those who can afford to pay will expect them or may never return. Those who shop for prices may never return, though.Another idea that Tony has offered to those interested in starting a small business in the field of detailing is to get a dealership as a customer, especially one that sells luxury vehicles.Through such a client, you, the detailing professional, will get a constant flow of vehicles to clean to perfection, as well as potentially leave your contact information to their new owners, who might want to keep those vehicles as clean as possible for as long as they own them.The latter is the mantra that many of Tony's returning customers seem to have adhered to. Many want to know how to best protect their vehicle's shine and finish for the entire duration of their ownership. This will lead to a higher resale value, as well as the increased satisfaction of driving a vehicle that looks factory fresh.We salute Tony's openness for explaining parts of the detailing business that many have decided to keep for themselves. It is understandable, though, as lessons learned on your own in business are pricey, and some do not apply to others.
In 2018, Americas big car company decided to go small and bought Spin , an e-scooter business. It was the first time an automaker dove into a segment typically controlled by tech companies.The U.S. automaker is now selling that division to its European competitor. According to Ford, the merger will offer the scale required in the competitive micro-mobility sector, CNBC reported.Last year, Berlin-based e-scooter company Tier purchased bike-sharing platform Nextbike, and Vento Mobility, jumping to the top of the ladder as the largest service provider.Tier CEO Lawrence Leuschner said the German company is now the largest multimodal micro-mobility operator globally. The acquisition put them above U.S. rivals like Bird and Lime , operating a fleet of 250,000 units in 410 cities across the world.After acquiring Nextbike and Vento Mobility, Tier merged bicycles, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-mopeds, and cargo bikes under one roof. Aquiring Spin is a strategic plan for the German company to make head-way into the North American market.Spin isnt a big scooter company compared to rivals Bird and Lime. Therefore, merging with a multinational company like Tier offers it a competitive advantage. VP of new business at Ford, Frank Louis-Victor, said the U.S. automaker was looking forward to remaining as a strategic investor in Tier.Spin currently holds around 70 licenses to operate its e-scooters across the U.S. Tier hopes the merger will help increase its fleet to 300,000, spreading its wings across 500 cities in about 20 countries.The e-scooter segment is a big market in itself. With the growing number of automobiles and influx in cities, theres never been as much demand to get people from one point of town to the other with ease.
Un yacht appartenant a un oligarque russe a ete saisi.

Merci aux douaniers francais qui font respecter les sanctions de l'Union europeenne a l'encontre des proches du pouvoir russe. pic.twitter.com/AZVzmlet2P  Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) March 3, 2022

As a result of Russias violent invasion of Ukraine, the EU and NATO have been imposing numerous sanctions on Russia. And many of them are meant for the Russian oligarchs, who have been losing billions since the war began.Private estates, jets, and yachts are some of the most targeted expensive properties the entire world is looking for. Yesterday, we covered that several Russian oligarchs have started moving their assets to avoid seizing . And today, news broke out that Alisher Usmanovs Dilbar has been seized in Hamburg, Germany And Russian oil baron Igor Sechin was next. According to a letter tweeted by Minister of Economy, Finance and Recovery Bruno Le Maire, the authorities seized the Amore Vero (True Love) yacht in the port of La Ciotat on March 2, after a check that took several hours. The yacht had arrived in the south of France on January 3 and was supposed to remain there until April 1 while it was undergoing some repairs.The Minister thanked French customs officers for enforcing the European Unions sanctions against Russian oligarchs who are closely linked to President Vladimir Putin.Igor Sechin, CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft, who is a longtime ally of Putin, is now left without his $120 million superyacht.The vessel, previously known as St. Princess Olga, was built by Dutch shipbuilder Oceanco in the Netherlands and delivered in 2013. With a length of 280 ft (85.5 m), a beam of 46.5 ft (14.2 m), a draft of 13 ft (4.0 m), its powered by 2 MTU engines, which help it get to a top speed of 18.5 knots (21.2 mph/ 34 kph). The four-decker has enough space for 14 guests in seven cabins, including a master suite, two VIP rooms, three double, and one twin.
EV

If that sounds a bit cryptic, lets break that up for you. The Hyundai Motor CEO said at the 2022 CEO Investor Day event that his company is working on a new platform that will be called Integrated Modular Architecture, or IMA for short. Based on the E-GMP, it will allow Hyundai to present 11 new EVs and Genesis to sell another 6, leading their total offerings to 17 electric cars.Hyundai will sell three sedans, six SUVs, one light commercial vehicle, and one new type model. The company said the IONIQ 6 will be sold in 2022 and that the IONIQ 7 will arrive in 2024. Considering the IMA will be introduced in 2025, these IONIQ vehicles will still use the E-GMP. Genesis will have two passenger cars and four SUVs, one of them being the all-electric GV70, expected for 2022. From 2025 on, the luxury brand will only sell electric vehicles. Kia was obviously not included in the Hyundai Motor plans. Anyway, expected it to be around 10 new electric cars as well: most Hyundai models have a Kia equivalent.With these cars alone, Hyundai expects to sell about 1.87 million EVs per year by 2030, which would give it a globalmarket share of 7%. That means that Hyundai estimates the world will buy 26.71 million electric cars annually by the end of the decade. We wonder who will sell the other 24,84 million EVs.The IMA is crucial to understanding how Hyundai plans to get there. According to the Korean carmaker, it will use CTP (cell-to-pack), which suggests it will use prismatic cells and LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries. Volkswagen already announced that its unified cell will be prismatic and will have at least three different chemistries: LFP, high manganese, and high nickel. Solid-state cells are expected to join.According to Hyundai, the IMA will fit electric vehicles in all segments thanks to standardized chassis, battery packs, and motors (five types). It will have two derivates: eM, for passenger cars, and eS, for purpose-built vehicles. The eM will allow it to produce an A-segment EV with a single motor and a small battery pack up to a sporty one with at least two motors (some companies use four of them) and a large battery pack focused on a long range. Only the eM derivative will work at 800V: eS vehicles will work at 400V.Hyundai also has an eye on next-generation lithium batteries, such as solid-state cells. The Korean automaker expects to obtain them thanks to strategic alliances. Curiously, the company stated that it expects half of these cells to come from these alliances. If that is the case, Hyundai may be wondering about producing them on its own as well.Software is also something in which Hyundai plans to invest. OTA (over-the-air) updates should arrive to its vehicles, starting with one by the end of 2022 with the Genesis GV60 and will spread to all the Korean automaker's cars by 2025.
Since the debut of the V8-powered Urraco in 1970, Lamborghinis lineup had always included an entry-level model that rivaled similar offerings from the likes of Ferrari or Maserati. The Urraco morphed into the Silhouette in 1979 and two years later, the eight-cylinder torch was passed to the mid-engine Jalpa During the mid-1980s, the company was looking to revamp its entire lineup, and in addition to a successor for the flagship Countach, work began on designing a replacement for the Jalpa.As Project 132 (later christened Diablo) was beginning to take shape, engineers were also working on a smaller sibling codenamed P140. Designed by Bertones Marcello Gandini , the man behind the Miura or Countach, this new supercar was set to be the first Lamborghini to be fitted with a V10. Capable of 365 hp, the new 4.0-liter was created from scratch and mounted mid-ship.A prototype was completed by 1987, the year when the Italian brand was purchased by Chrysler. Even though the new owners continued to pour money into the P140 with plans to eventually mass produce it, the first Gulf War and the oil crisis that followed determined Chrysler to abandon the project in 1993 and sell Lamborghini to MegaTech a year later.With the Jalpa being discontinued in 1988 and the off-road LM002 facing the same fate in 1993, the companys only offering in 1994 was the V12-powered Diablo. MegaTech sought to change that by reviving the P140 project, but its design was deemed outdated, so Giorgetto Giugiaros Italdesign was commissioned to revamp it.The legendary stylist was responsible for the new bodywork which was a beautiful collection of soft curves that completely deviated from the wedge-themed design employed by Gandini on past Lamborghini models. Entirely built from carbon fiber , it donned headlights that were Giugiaros modern take on those found on the iconic Miura, a windshield shape that nodded to the Countach, and a rear spoiler inspired by that of the Diablo. The most interesting feature was the removable roof, which was designed to fit snuggly behind the seats.Unquestionably stunning from every angle, the body was complemented by an equally impressive interior. The curved dash was angled towards the driver, making every switch or button easily accessible, while the Recaro buckets were created with both comfort and safety in mind. Everything was upholstered in premium leather, with matching suede inserts found on the door panels and seats.Named Cala, which is derived from the Piedmontese dialect of Northern Italy and meant Look!, the eye-catching baby Lambo was built around the bonded aluminum monocoque of the P140. It also used the same V10 , but engineers tweaked it to produce around 395 hp.The fully functional car was finished in time for the 1995 Geneva Motor Show where it was met with a positive reaction. You can watch footage from the event in the YouTube video below posted by Caio_E82.Shortly after the show concluded, several automotive magazines were given the chance to test it and their reviews praised the crisp handling and smooth power delivery.Lamborghinis parent company was determined to start producing the gorgeous Cala, but financial difficulties postponed the process on several occasions. By 1998, the struggling MegaTech ended up selling the brand to the Volkswagen Group.While the Germans agreed that an entry-level model was paramount for the carmakers future, they decided to go in a different direction.Even though the Cala never made it into production, its exquisite design strengthened the relationship between the carmaker and Italdesign , inspiring Giorgetto Giugiaros son, Fabrizio, who created the initial sketches of the Gallardo in the early 2000s.Today, the breathtaking concept is just as fascinating as it was 27 years ago, and it can be admired at the Lamborghini Museum in Sant'Agata Bolognese.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

The airbag warning light was not illuminated either. The British automaker launched an investigation into this condition, then shuffled its feet until December 2021 when dealerships were instructed to check the connection.Approximately 300 vehicles have been inspected globally to date, and in January 2022, the company was informed of two vehicles with their connectors not fully engaged. Those GTs were followed by another one in February 2022, which is why the safety boffins decided on a field action.McLaren says that it doesnt know of any problems in the field. As for the aforementioned investigation, the Brits concluded that the most likely cause was operator error. But curiously enough, McLaren issued a process change in August 2021, adding a diagnostic to detect any potential error.A grand total of 421 vehicles are called back in the United States of America, namely 2019 to 2021 models produced between August 2019 and August 2021. McLaren hasnt provided a schedule for owner notification to theat the moment of reporting, yet owners are advised to contact the brands customer service.Not long now, authorized retailers in the U.S. will perform a resistance readout using the McLaren Diagnostic System to compare the drivers airbag resistance values against the correct tolerance limits. If the system finds anything wrong, the service tech will have to perform a check of the connector and tab after removing the drivers airbag. After that, a second reading of the resistance values will be performed according to McLaren.A supercar that doubles as a grand tourer despite its mid-engine layout, the GT indirectly replaces the 570GT with many 720S-sourced bits and pieces. The platform, suspension system, and twin-turbo V8 are derived from the more expensive sibling, along with the seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
According to Reuters, Mercedes-Benz is working with authorities in both United States and China to certify its Level 3 autonomous driving system. Known as Drive Pilot, this is operational on the S-Class and allows for hands-free driving in certain conditions and on specific roads.

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EV

This platform is also expected to enhance manufacturing synergies with the entire Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance and will form the basis for 15 all-new electric models by the end of this decade.The CMF-EV platform is a marvel of creative engineering; from providing exceptional living-room style space  longer cabin length to vehicle length  to accommodating our state-of-the-art e-4ORCE drivetrain technology, its versatility gives us the ability to push the boundaries of engineering and design capabilities, said Nissan exec Pierre Loing.CMF-EV is defined by technological innovation and the potential of its modularity, paving the way for the next exciting generation of electric vehicles from Nissan and our Alliance partners, he added.When it was first engineered, Nissan thought to give the CMF-platform a flat construction bed, with placeholders for electric motors positioned directly adjacent to the front and rear axles. Meanwhile, the battery packs were designed to be as slim as possible, forming a structural support system for the platform itself.Other clever packaging solutions include placing the air conditioning unit further forward to optimize the front and rear seating positions. The lack of a transmission tunnel certainly helped with that too.In terms of performance, the CMF-EV platform can accommodate multiple power unit and drivetrain specs, such as single-motor or dual-motor e-4ORCE configurations.As for the Nissan Ariya , its already available to pre-order in the UK, Norway and the Netherlands, with other European markets soon to follow. The Ariya is scheduled to arrive in European showrooms sometime this summer, with U.S. buyers likely having to wait until fall.
China-funded road connecting Cambodia's capital to coastal province inaugurated

Xinhua) 09:51, March 03, 2022

TAKEO, Cambodia, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Wednesday inaugurated the China-funded expanded National Road No. 3 which links the capital Phnom Penh and the southwestern coastal province of Kampot.

The 134.8-km expanded road starting from Chom Chao roundabout in Phnom Penh's western suburb runs through Kandal, Kampong Speu and Takeo provinces.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian both addressed the inauguration ceremony, which was attended by nearly 1,000 people.

Hun Sen said the road is crucial to boosting economic and tourism development and that Kampot is the only province that produces salt for the kingdom.

"This is another testament to the fruitful cooperation between Cambodia and China under the frameworks of the comprehensive strategic partnership, the ironclad friendship, and the community with a shared future between the two countries," he added.

"I hope that our people will benefit from this road," he said.

The road was built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) at a cost of about 215 million U.S. dollars, and the project, which began in October 2018, was funded by the Chinese government.

Hun Sen praised the Chinese contractor for completing the project earlier than scheduled and thanked it for building the road in full compliance with technical standards.

"Through Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian, I'd like to send my profound gratitude to the government and people of China for always financing key road and bridge projects in Cambodia, which are the key elements for socio-economic development," he said.

Wang said National Road No. 3 is a key transportation artery for Cambodia, and expressed the belief that it will play a crucial role in boosting economy and tourism as well as improving the livelihoods of people along the route.

Its opening to traffic truly reflects the strong momentum and fruitful results of the China-Cambodia pragmatic cooperation, he said.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the flows of people and goods, some major projects of bilateral cooperation have withstood the pressure from the pandemic and have been successfully completed on time and with high quality, he added.

"This not only reflects the resilience of the China-Cambodia mutually beneficial cooperation, but also shows strong vitality of the China- Cambodia community with a shared future," Wang said.

Local residents expressed their satisfaction with the national road. "Undoubtedly, this road will facilitate travel, transport of agricultural produce and other goods, and attract more tourists and investors to this coastal province," Thun Sokleng, a 43-year-old farmer in Kampong Speu province, told Xinhua.

"This road will reduce travel time and logistical costs, and that's good for doing businesses. I believe that this road will contribute to improving living conditions of the people in the areas along it," she said.

Another Kampong Speu resident, Tes Sarin, 68, said he is grateful to China for having provided a lot of assistance to Cambodia for the development in all sectors, especially in the infrastructure, with many roads and bridges built.

"We hope more Chinese tourists will come to Cambodia after COVID-19 is over," he added.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Start-up Avelo Airlines has started using autonomous sanitizing robots on its aircraft to stop the spread of COVID-19. ( Bruce Snyder / Avelo Airlines )

Startup Avelo Airlines, which has established its East Coast hub at Tweed-New Haven Airport, said Thursday it has begun using autonomous robots to disinfect aircraft cabins to guard against the spread of COVID-19.

Avelo said it is the first airline in the U.S. to use the robot manufactured by the Canadian manufacturer Aero HygenX that is designed to use ultraviolet light to sanitize passenger cabins.

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One of two Avelo Airlines 737 Next Gen, 147-seat, single cabin aircraft at Tweed-New Haven Airport. (Kenneth R. Gosselin / The Hartford Courant)

The introduction of the robot comes as a federal mandate requiring air travelers to wear masks is set to expire March 18. Federal health officials have not indicated whether the requirement will be extended.

But Avelo said the use of the robots, which started this week at Tweed-New Haven, was not connected to the future of the mask mandate.

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We have been in discussions with Aero HygenX for several months, Jim Olson, an Avelo spokesman, said. This investment was about making the daily manual disinfection we were already doing faster and more effective. The benefit extends well beyond Covid  the UVC light destroys 99.9% of all pathogens, including  but not limited to  COVID-19.

Olson said Avelo now has two of the robots, one at Tweed-New Haven and the other at its West Coast base in Los Angeles. In addition to cabins, the robot, called RAY, is used at the end of each day in galleys, lavatories, flight decks and terminal spaces.

News @3 Daily Catch up on the days top headlines sent directly to your inbox weekdays at 3 p.m >

Avelo declined to disclose the cost of the robots.

[ Low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines offers four, new nonstop routes outside of Florida from Tweed-New Haven ]

We are excited to be on the leading edge of helping to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses among the flying public, Andrew Levy, Avelos chairman and chief executive, said. RAY is safer, faster, more cost-effective and [a] more sustainable solution than the conventional chemical-based manual disinfection process used by most airlines.

The robot can be operated remotely by one flight crew member, far faster than manually-operated sanitizing equipment.

Avelo Airlines gets the traditional "water salute" as its first flight from Tweed-New Haven departs Thursday for Orlando. (Kenneth R. Gosselin / The Hartford Courant)

Bloomberg Businessweek reported that the Aero HygenX also has provided the robots to the Deutsche Lufthansa airline.

With no worldwide rules on sanitizing aircraft, airlines, Bloomberg reported, have adopted a patchwork of disinfecting measures, from spraying chemicals on surfaces to manually operated units that use ultraviolet light.

Avelo now offers service from Tweed-New Haven to six destinations in Florida and, in early May, will add service to Charleston and Myrtle Beach, S.C., Nashville and Savannah, Georgia.

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Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.
Because so many of us started working remotely overnight, the demand for electronics, such as laptops, tablets, webcams, and mobile phones, skyrocketed in a matter of days. Given all these devices come with an army of chips, their manufacturers increased their orders in an attempt to keep up with the demand.This has caused a sudden boom in the number of chip orders, essentially leading to a major disruption in the entire world, regardless of industry.However, the health issue isnt necessarily the one to blame, one of the worlds leading chipmakers says.Qualcomms chief executive Cristiano Amon explained at MWC in Barcelona that the chip shortage would have happened anyway, and its all because of the tech revolution thats happening in most industry sectors out there.In other words, given every little new product ends up using a chip, the demand for such technology has increased substantially, so it was just a matter of time until manufacturers ended up in the same place where they are today.Amon explains this is just a sign that semiconductors have become an essential piece of tech for the future of economies in every country and across every industry, and without a doubt, hes not wrong.The Qualcomm official went to praise the government plans supposed to help the production of chips, especially as they allow for existing players to boost their capacity while also giving smaller companies the opportunity to expand on this front.Amon says he believes the chip shortage would ease off substantially in the second half of this year, and this prediction aligns with his previous estimate the shortage would come to an end in 2022. In the meantime, the automotive market is still struggling with a very constrained chip supply, so fingers crossed for Amon to be right and see this chip nightmare over sooner rather than later.
A number of carmakers have announced measures for their local businesses, which range from the stop of production for those who do have facilities there, or the stop of sales for those who do not. Most of them have justified the decision as being a sort of protest against the countrys military actions.Not Toyota, though. The Japanese carmaker is the latest to announce such a move, but the official justification it gives has to do with supply chain disruptions. Toyota has one facility in Russia, in St. Petersburg, where it is assembling RAV4 and Camry models for the local market. Production there is scheduled to freeze on March 4.It also says it has stopped imports of vehicles, until further notice, but does not mention whether the 168 retail locations the carmaker is operating in the country will remain open and continue selling cars.Like everyone around the world, Toyota is watching the ongoing developments in Ukraine with great concern for the safety of people of Ukraine and hopes for a safe return to peace as soon as possible, the carmaker says.As a company with operations in Ukraine and Russia, our priority in dealing with this crisis is to ensure the safety of all our team members, retailer staff, and supply chain partners. We are also monitoring global developments and will make necessary decisions as required.Over in Ukraine, the Japanese have 37 locations where they conduct sales and aftersales operations. All have been closed since February 24, the day the war started. Operations in the rest of the world are not affected at the moment.
At London's Foreign Office where we've just become the first nation to pass a law involving a total BAN of ALL ships with ANY Russian connection whatsoever from entering British ports.



Please RT to encourage all countries to do the same in support of the people of #Ukraine ???????? pic.twitter.com/yjI9NRD6E3  Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) March 1, 2022

After the UK and the EU banned Russian aircraft from their skies last week, Britain took another bold step by becoming the first country to officially also ban Russian vessels. The announcement was made by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Tuesday, stating a total ban of all ships with any Russian connection. Following that decision, UK ports are now working on identifying and blocking these ships.According to Tim Morris, chief executive of trade association the UK Major Ports Group, identifying Russian-flagged vessels is not a difficult operation, but things get complicated when it comes to identifying ships that are owned or operated by companies with Russian interests.Morris told the BBC that the vessels that were already in UK ports have been packed up and sent away as fast as possible, while the ones that were on their way to British ports have either diverted their routes or anchored off until they decide what to do next.It's not just luxury private yachts that are forbidden from entering these ports, but also commercial ships, which inevitably led to some concerns regarding the transportation of essential supplies from Russia to the UK. According to the BBC, in 2020, the Eastern state was the UKs largest source of diesel, followed by the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.However, RACs (the Royal Automotive Club) fuel spokesman Simon Williams stated that the ban on ships is not likely to affect fuel prices because the diesel coming from Russia can be shipped to the UK by cargo companies in other countries. Plus, there are other suppliers that Britain can rely on. Its probably too early to tell what the exact impact that this recent ban will have, but the EU is likely to follow UKs decision soon.As far as Russian ships are concerned, this ban came along with the decision to seize the vessels of those with Russian interests. Alisher Usmanovs Dilbar has already been seized in Germany, and other superyachts will probably be next.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Back in December 2020, the company received field reports of C-HR vehicles that failed to detect the preceding vehicle when using the JDM-exclusive Traffic Movement Notification feature. Service technicians discovered that the beam axis for the radar sensor was out of specification.But more importantly, further investigation has revealed that radar sensors linked to the filed allegations were not initialized. Toyota subsequently contacted the supplier, Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH from Ingolstadt, to assist in the automakers investigation of the uninitialized radar sensor.Fast forward to April 2021, and thats when Toyota recovered a radar sensor from a Japanese market C-HR. Just like in the original field reports, that radar sensor wasnt initialized due to an incomplete beam axis adjustment.Many observations and much testing later, Toyota made the fateful decision to review the process for initializing the radar sensor. According to documents filed with the, Toyota found that the time for the radar sensor to complete the initialization process (in some cases reinitialization is potentially required) may be more than the time allotted during the cars production process.The automaker was able to replicate this scenario by turning the ignition off prematurely prior to completing the initialization process. Considering that an uninitialized radar sensor translates to safety features that dont work as intended, the company finally decided to recall the subcompact crossover.A grand total of 36,558 units are called back in the United States of America, C-HR vehicles produced between June 2020 and July 2021 for the 2021 model year. Known owners of the subject vehicles will be notified on April 11th, and service technicians have been instructed to properly initialize the radar sensor free of charge to the customer. Also known as a millimeter wave sensor, this piece of kit enables features that include adaptive cruise control, lane tracing assist, and the Pre-Collision System.
Precisely one week after the start of Russias violent invasion of Ukraine, EU and NATO sanctions against state-connected Russian oligarchs are going into effect. Superyachts, real estate, and private aircraft are targeted and will be seized by authorities outside of the Russian territory. The same oligarchs, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, have started moving assets even before the start of the war.Alisher Usmanov somehow missed the memo.With an estimated net worth of $14.3 billion, Usmanov is one of the richest and most influential Russian oligarchs, with holdings in oil, gas, and luxury real estate. He owns a small fleet of superyachts, with Dilbar as the crown jewel: a mammoth 512-foot (156-meter) construction by Lurssen, estimated at $600 million minimum. Dilbar is a record-breaker in many ways: it is the biggest motor yacht in the world by interior volume and tonnage and has the biggest pool ever installed on one. It is also among the most expensive ships ever built.As of today, Forbes reports, Dilbar is no longer Usmanovs property. The ship, which was launched in 2016 after nearly four and a half years of custom work, was in Hamburg undergoing refits. The Blohm and Voss shipyard, the same one that was refitting Putins Graceful, was overseeing the project. As a result of the German government freezing the asset, workers at the shipyard didnt show up for work on Wednesday. Blohm and Voss is yet to make an official comment on the situation.In early February, Putins Graceful superyacht fled Hamburg before completing construction. Unlike Usmanov, Putin anticipated the sanctions and made sure to get all his assets on Russian-friendly territory.
The 2022 Juke Hybrid looks identical to the standard model, at least from afar. Up close, Nissan did make a few changes to make the vehicle stand out. Apart from the hybrid badges, the most obvious change is the redesigned grille that features an active shutter that automatically adjusts according to cooling needs and reduces drag when possible.

Nissan Philippines no longer offers the Juke in the country, and it seems there are no plans for the second-generation model to arrive either. However, the introduction of the new Juke Hybrid in Europe makes us wish they still did. Thats because its perfect given the prices of fuel today.

To further reduce drag, Nissan gave it upgrades such as reshaped body cladding, a new wing, and a cover for the rear axle. A new set of 17- and 19-inch wheels round up the exterior makeover. According to the company, all the aforementioned changes increase aerodynamic efficiency and reduce drag.

Powering the Juke Hybrid is a 1.6-liter engine that produces 94 horsepower and 148 Nm torque. It is paired with an electric motor that provides an additional 49 horsepower 209 Nm torque. A second electric motor provided by Renault then works as a High-Voltage Starter Generator (HSG) together with an inverter and 1.2kWh water-cooled battery. Combined with a new gearbox, Nissan claims the powertrain is 25% more powerful than the standard engine and produces fewer emissions.

According to Nissan, the crossover can average 19.23 km/L and features an EV mode. Drivers can even reach speeds up to 55 km/h in pure EV mode, further enhancing fuel efficiency and perfect for urban settings.

Chances of the all-new Juke and the Juke Hybrid arriving in the Philippines are slim to none. However, we are still expecting the Kicks with e-Power to make its debut in the country. Its arrival was unofficially confirmed by the ASEAN NCAP in 2020. Thats unless Nissan has changed their minds.
New cars stand at an assembly line in the main company of Germany's carmaker BMW in Munich, southern Germany, on October 22, 2021. (Photo : CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP via Getty Images))

More carmakers are feeling the effects of Russia's deadly invasion of Ukraine, with German auto giants Volkswagen, Porsche, and BMW struggling to get wire harnesses from their suppliers in the region.

This part is vital in building cars as wire harnesses are needed to organize miles of vehicle cables. However, production of this part has been curtailed, with suppliers such as Leoni, Fujikura, and Nexans shutting down operations in Western Ukraine as the Russian attack intensifies.

Supply chain issues are already emerging because of this development, with delivery bottlenecks hitting some assembly plants of the world's second-biggest automaker Volkswagen. Porsche's luxury division has already suspended production at its plant in Leipzig, while rival carmaker BMW has also been affected by the short supply of the wire harnesses.

BMW endures delivery bottlenecks due to wire harness shortage

BMW issued a statement regarding the supply chain problems affecting the company, saying that interruptions to their production will occur due to supply bottlenecks. BMW added that they are in intensive discussions with their suppliers to address the said issue.

A wire harness is crucial to BMW and all carmakers as vehicles cannot be built without them. This set of parts is vital because a wire harness helps manufacturers bundle up to 5 kilometers of cables in the average car neatly. Without the wire harness, the car's construction is a complete mess.

Wire harness supplier Leoni issued a statement saying the company is scrambling to compensate for production losses that were triggered by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Leoni has two wire harness factories in Western Ukraine, with their plants in Stryi and Kolomyja, both facing production stoppages because of the conflict.

Leoni is not the only company doing wire harness business in Western Ukraine, with Germany's Prettl, SEBN, Kromberg & Schubert, Forschner, and Japan's Yazaki building a hefty production sector in this part of the world. A lower-cost, skilled workforce enticed these companies to set up wire harness production plants in Western Ukraine.

Also Read: Voyage Ends for Felicity Ace as Cargo Ship Carrying Porsche, Lamborghini, and Bentley Cars Sinks

Wire harness production is a key part of Ukraine's economy

Wire harnesses proved to be Ukraine's most critical automotive component that the country exported to the European Union back in 2020. Based on Comtrade data gathered by consultancy AlixPartners for that year, wire harnesses accounted for nearly 7 percent of all imports by the EU.

Figures from the Ukrainian government show that 22 automotive companies have invested more than $600 million in building 38 plants in the country. These firms, the bulk of which produce wire harnesses, employ over 60,000 Ukrainians.

The said plants are close to vehicle factories in Germany and the low-cost manufacturing facilities that German automakers, in particular, have built in the central European region. According to Sam Fiorani, the vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions, carmakers will need to find alternative solutions for the short- and mid-terms to address this issue which won't go away anytime soon.

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Visitors look at Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 Robotaxi electric car during a press preview of the Seoul Mobility Show at KINTEX exhibition hall in Goyang on November 25, 2021. (Photo : JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images)

Hyundai Motor Company is ramping up its electrification strategy, with the South Korean automaker planning to spend $16.1 billion (19.4 trillion won) for its EV business. The company is targeting annual sales of 1.87 million EVs by 2030.

That sales target for electric vehicles at the turn of the decade is a statement of intent by Hyundai that previously announced an EV sales target of 560,000 units by 2025. The company aims high, with Hyundai targeting a 7 percent market share in the overall global EV market by 2030.

Hyundai is boosting its electric fleet to achieve that goal, with the company planning to launch 17 new EV models by 2030. Eleven of those models will be for Hyundai, while the remaining six are for the carmaker's Genesis luxury brand.

Hyundai starts electric push with IONIQ 6

The majority of the new Hyundai EV models will be SUVs, with the South Korean carmaker releasing six such variants. Hyundai will also roll out three sedans, one light commercial vehicle, and one new type model for their packed EV lineup. Hyundai has already started selling the IONIQ 6 this year, with the IONIQ 7 soon to follow in 2024.

The EV lineup for the Genesis luxury brand consists of four SUVs and two passenger cars. Out of these vehicles, customers are eagerly awaiting the Electrified GV70, which Genesis will launch later this year. Genesis has set an ambitious target, saying that all of its newly launched models beginning in 2025 will be electrified.

Hyundai also announced that it would boost its BEV production capability in regions with a high demand for electric vehicles. Hyundai is considering building a new dedicated production facility for EVs to achieve that goal.

Hyundai is not stopping there as the company is also planning to introduce an Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA) in 2025 and pour in more investments to improve its battery technology. Hyundai has also earmarked around 12 trillion won to boost the firm's software competitiveness in autonomous driving and connectivity.

Also Read: Kia EV6 Makes Solid Debut in the U.S.; 2,125 Units Sold in February as Kia Sets Record Month for EV Sales

Hyundai accelerates transition to electrification

During Hyundai's Virtual Investor Day, CEO Jaehoon Chang said that the company is "successfully accelerating its transition to electrification" and becoming a "global leader in electric vehicles" despite challenges being thrown at them by the ongoing global chip shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Reuters.

Chang added that along with their seamless efforts to improve EV value, Hyundai Motor would continue to secure its business sustainability as a "Mobility Solutions Provider" through advanced technologies both in hardware and software.

Hyundai is planning to invest a total of $79.21 billion (95.5 trillion won) through 2030 for its car business, about 20 percent of which will be allocated to its EV business. That may be a huge amount, but it still pales compared to rival Toyota's investment for electrification by 2030. The Japanese automaker has allotted $69.43 billion (8 trillion yen) for its own EV project.

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The Biden administration will grant Ukrainians already in the U.S. a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation, shielding them from deportation for 18 months.

Why it matters: More than 1 million Ukrainians have already fled their country for shelter elsewhere in Europe. The designation follows bipartisan pressure on the administration to protect Ukrainians in the U.S. who might otherwise face deportation.

An estimated 30,000 Ukrainians in the U.S. are on temporary visas or do not have legal status, so they'll benefit from the designation, according to calculations by the Migration Policy Institute.

TPS will not only block their deportation but offer them work permits.

Overall, roughly 345,000 people born in Ukraine were living in the United States as of 2019.

The big picture: TPS is used when immigrant home countries cannot safely accept deportations. There are currently 12 countries with TPS designations, including Haiti, Somalia and Myanmar.

As of last May, there were around 320,000 people living in the U.S. under the policy.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced Wednesday an 18-month extension of the TPS designation for South Sudan, as well as a new TPS designation for Sudan.

What they're saying: Russias premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence, and Ukrainians forced to seek refuge in other countries, Mayorkas said.
Ukainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the press in the town of Bucha, northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, on April 4, 2022. (Ronaldo Schemidt/Getty-AFP)

KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces battled for control of a crucial energy-producing city in Ukraines south on Thursday and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea, as Ukrainian leaders called on citizens to rise up and wage guerrilla war against the invaders.

The fighting at Enerhodar, a city on the Dnieper River that accounts for about one-quarter of the countrys power generation, came as the another round of talks between the two sides yielded what Ukraine said was a tentative agreement with Russia to set up safe corridors inside the country for evacuating citizens and delivering humanitarian aid.

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The mayor of Enerhodar, the site of the biggest nuclear plant in Europe, said Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the citys outskirts. Video showed flames and clouds of black smoke rising above the city of over 50,000, with people streaming away from the inferno, past wrecked cars, as sirens wailed.

Moscows ground advance on Ukraines capital in the north has apparently stalled, with a huge armored column outside Kyiv at a standstill. And stiffer than expected resistance from the outmanned, outgunned Ukrainians has staved off the swift victory that Russia may have expected.

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A top Russian officer, Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, commander of an airborne division, was killed in the fighting earlier this week, an officers organization in Russia reported.

But the Russians have brought their superior firepower to bear in the past few days, launching missile and artillery attacks on civilian areas and making significant gains on the ground in the south as part of an effort to sever the countrys connection to the Black and Azov seas.

Cutting Ukraines access to the coastline would deal a crippling blow to the countrys economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor stretching from its border, across Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, and all the way west to Romania.

The Russians announced the capture of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the vital Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea, plunging it into darkness, isolation and fear. Electricity and phone service were largely down, and homes and shops faced food and water shortages.

Without phone connections, medics did not know where to take the wounded.

A building burns after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP)

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in neighboring Belarus. But the two sides appeared to have little common ground going into the meeting, and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine that it must quickly accept the Kremlins demand for its demilitarization and declare itself neutral, formally renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron that he was determined to press on with his attack until the end, according to Macrons office.

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After the latest talks ended, a member of Ukraines delegation, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reported the tentative agreement to allow cease-fires in areas designated safe corridors.

Despite a profusion of evidence of civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure by the Russian military, some of it documented by The Associated Press, Putin decried what he called an anti-Russian disinformation campaign and insisted that Moscow uses only precision weapons to exclusively destroy military infrastructure.

Putin claimed that the Russian military had already offered safe corridors for civilians to flee but asserted without evidence that Ukrainian neo-Nazis were preventing people from leaving and using them as human shields.

He also hailed Russian soldiers as heroes in a video call with U.N. Security Council members, and ordered additional payments to families of men killed or wounded in action.

Ukrainians still in the country faced another grim day. In Kyiv, snow gave way to a cold, gray drizzle, as long lines formed outside the few pharmacies and bakeries that remain open.

New shelling was reported in the northern city of Chernihiv, where emergency officials said at least 22 civilians had been killed in a Russian bombardment of a residential area.

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Families with children fled via muddy and snowy roads in the eastern region of Donetsk, while military strikes on the village of Yakovlivka near the eastern city of Kharkiv destroyed 30 homes, leaving three dead and seven wounded, according to emergency authorities.

Serhii, father of teenager Iliya, cries on his son's lifeless body lying on a stretcher at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 2, 2022. (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

Ukrainian authorities called on the people to defend their homeland against Putins forces by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear. In recent days, authorities have issued weapons to civilians and taught them how to make Molotov cocktails.

Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card and this is what we can do best in the world, Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiy Arestovich said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

In a video address to the nation, Zelenskyy praised his countrys resistance.

The Russians will have no peace here. They will have no food, he said. They will have not one quiet moment.

In just seven days of fighting, over 1 million people, or more than 2% of Ukraines population, has been driven out of the country, according to the tally the U.N. refugee agency released to The Associated Press.

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The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, with about 1.4 million people. Residents desperate to escape falling shells and bombs crowded the railroad station and squeezed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

At least 227 civilians have been killed and 525 wounded, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, though it acknowledged that is a vast undercount, and Ukraine earlier said more than 2,000 civilians have died. The figures could not be independently verified.

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Meanwhile, a senior U.S. defense official said the immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 16 miles from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last few days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

Ukrainian officials said their missile-defense systems have parried numerous Russian attacks, though some missiles have clearly made it through. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions heard overnight in the capital were Russian missiles being shot down.

From Kherson, Russian troops appeared to roll toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding center to the west. The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, said big convoys of Russian troops were advancing on the city.

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A group of Russian amphibious landing vessels also headed toward the port of Odesa, farther west, the Ukrainian military said.

Russia reported its military casualties Wednesday for the first time in the war, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine insisted Russias losses are many times higher but did not disclose its own military casualties.

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine; Chernov from Mariupol, Ukraine. Sergei Grits in Odesa, Ukraine; Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Lynn Berry, Robert Burns and Eric Tucker in Washington; Edith M. Lederer and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations; and other AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
At least half a million children have become refugees in the week since Russia began its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, according to UNICEF data released on Thursday.

The big picture: UNICEF warned that the the humanitarian crisis could soon become "one of Europes largest refugee crises since the Second World War." Overall, more than 1 million people have fled Ukraine in the last week, according to the UN refugee agency.

At least 17 children have been killed and 30 injured, UNICEF said, though the agency warned that these numbers only represent those it has been able to verify and it expected that the true number of child casualties is "far higher."

UNICEF said that "hundreds" of homes have been damaged or destroyed, and schools, orphanages and health centers have sustained "heavy damage."

"Hundreds of thousands" of Ukrainian people are unable to access safe drinking water because of damage to the country's water system infrastructure, and many cannot health care, the agency added.

The agency said it working with partners to help vulnerable children and families to provide "essential services including health, education, protection, water and sanitation."

It is also appealing to receive $276 million to help those inside Ukraine and an additional $73 million to assist kids in neighboring countries.

What they're saying: "The use of explosive weapons in cities could quickly turn this crisis into a catastrophe for Ukraines children, said Afshan Khan, UNICEFs regional director for Europe and Central Asia.

There are no armed operations of this scale that do not result in children being harmed. The consequences will be tragic," he added. "[T]he only way out of the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine is for the conflict to end."

Go deeper: The latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis
Costa Rica legalized medical marijuana Wednesday after a two-year debate, becoming the eleventh Latin American nation to take that step.

Why it matters: The decision aims to bring investments to the small Central American country and reduce the illegal market, which has been growing in the past few years.

Details: Costa Ricans interested in getting medical cannabis must get a permit by following guidelines that authorities said would be available by May.

The Costa Rican bill also makes growing hemp legal for industrial use, like textiles.

There's also a possibility Costa Rica may approve recreational marijuana use in the future, although a bill sitting in Congress since April hasn't gone anywhere.

Still, the top two candidates in an upcoming runoff for president say they support recreational marijuana.

Zoom out: Medical marijuana is legal in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay and Peru.

In 2013, Uruguay became the first country in the world to legalize recreational pot.

In Mexico, the Supreme Court ruled last year prohibition was unconstitutional. A bill legalizing cannabis for recreational purposes has already been approved by the lower House (a Senate vote is pending).

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The confrontation over gender-affirming care for transgender youth hit a boil this week as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doubled down on his call for state officials to investigate "transition care" for minors as "child abuse."

Driving the news: Even as Abbott's team called the issue a political "winner," major medical groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics condemned the stance, saying it trampled on the doctor-patient relationship and injected politics into medical care.

Why it matters: Research has demonstrated transgender kids are more prone to anxiety, depression, and suicide than their peers, adding a high degree of urgency to the issue, experts say.

State of play: Legislation to block gender-affirming care for minors was introduced in at least 21 states in the last year alone, according to the UCLA Williams Institute.

In Idaho, legislation was introduced in a state House committee last month to ban gender-affirming surgery on minors.

In Arkansas last year, lawmakers banned administering puberty blockers or hormones to transgender youth. The law is being challenged in court and has not taken effect.

Tennessee also banned "gender-confirming" care for minors last year.

The big picture: HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra released a statement Wednesday calling the Texas government's actions "unconscionable," saying "at HHS, we listen to medical experts and doctors, and they agree with us, that access to affirming care for transgender youth is essential and can be life-saving," he said.

Medical associations, such as the American Medical Association, have also urged governors to oppose such measures, saying trans and non-binary gender identities are "normal variations of human identity and expression."

Between the lines: The field of transgender healthcare is rapidly evolving. Doctors are divided, for instance, over whether teens should receive counseling before receiving care, such as hormones, the New York Times reported.

In the gender-affirming care model, the AAP says "pediatric providers offer developmentally appropriate care that is oriented toward understanding and appreciating the youth's gender experience."

"There are a lot of conversations" over time with the child, family and other clinicians, such as mental health professionals, to carefully assess the best way to proceed, Kathryn Melland Lowe, a pediatrician and a member of AAP's executive committee on LGBT health and wellness, told Axios.

For instance, if a child is distressed over body appearance and has begun puberty, a doctor may prescribe "puberty blockers" to pause sexual development in order to offer more time to consider the options.

If the patient, family and medical care team decide to move forward, the patient may be taken off the puberty blockers and prescribed hormones for sexual development that matches their identified gender, Lowe said. While surgery generally isn't recommended for kids, their doctor may find it appropriate based on the individual patient, she said.

Yes, but: As with any treatment, there are potential risks involved. For instance, there are some side effects that accompany the use of hormones and well as concerns for longer-term impacts such as infertility.

But, but, but: Those risks must be weighed against the risks of foregoing therapy, which can cause a great deal of mental distress and harm, Lowe said.

A study published in JAMA Network Open last week found rates of depression and suicidal thoughts dropped significantly among transgender or nonbinary teens within a year of receiving puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormones.

"I've seen a number of kids go on gender-affirming medications and truly just come to life and thrive and they can move on with their life. They aren't just stuck in their inner turmoil. Their inner gender now matches their physical body," Lowe said. "And that is supported in the research."

Editor's note: This story originally published on March 3.
At the request of the Biden administration, the Israeli government lobbied the United Arab Emirates to vote for a UN resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, after the UAE had abstained in a previous vote, U.S. and Israeli officials tell me.

Why it matters: Both countries initially sat on the fence, but Israel is now actively supporting the U.S. opposition to the invasion while the UAE ultimately voted to condemn it.

Flashback: When a resolution to condemn the invasion came before the UN Security Council last Friday, Israel refused to co-sponsor it (drawing a private rebuke from the U.S.) and the UAE, a member of the council, abstained despite U.S. pressure.

The UAE's decision to abstain was largely due to frustrations with what it saw as a slow U.S. response to the Houthi attack on Abu Dhabi six weeks earlier.

Israel, meanwhile, has balanced its response to the invasion with its security relationship with Russia over neighboring Syria.

When the resolution came before the full General Assembly on Wednesday, 141 countries voted for it while just 5 stood behind Russia.

Behind the scenes: U.S. officials were disappointed by the UAEs abstention last Friday and were concerned the Emiratis would abstain again on Wednesday. Senior U.S. officials decided to ask Israel for help.

Ahead of Wednesday's vote, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid approached his Emirati counterpart, Abdullah Bin Zayed, and told him that Israel believed voting to condemn Russia would be the right thing to do, a senior Israeli official told me.

Israeli officials also passed that same message through several other channels.

What they're saying: U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides thanked Israel publicly for its efforts without directly mentioning the UAE.
The U.S. State Department denounced the Russian government on Wednesday evening for cracking down on independent media coverage in Russia of the invasion of Ukraine  including threatening Voice of America.

Why it matters: Russia's Putin-dominated parliament will hold a special session this Friday "to consider a bill that would make 'unofficial' reporting on Russias further invasion of Ukraine punishable by up to 15 years in prison," per an emailed statement from State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

Officials in Russia warned VOA earlier Wednesday of its intention to block the outlet's Russian language news website "unless it removes coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine," the American broadcaster said.

The Russian government has also moved to shut down the Russian news outlets Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd, and Current Time's website, a joint production of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Driving the news: The Russian government's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, claims VOA's news site "contains false messages about terrorist attacks or other kind (sic) of information of public concern," according to a statement from the broadcaster.

"The media regulator demands that the VOA Russian service remove a news story from its site that provided factual reporting on the second day of the Russian invasion," per VOA.

"The article included widely reported facts regarding Russian bombardment of cities, a Russian claim to have captured an airport close to Kyiv, and statements from witnesses as well as reporters inside Ukraine."

Reality check: The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced on Wednesday he was immediately launching an investigation into allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed in Ukraine.

Context: The action follows a series of sanctions imposed on Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government by the U.S. and other countries over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

What they're saying: "Any attempts to interfere with the free flow of news and information are deeply troubling. We find this order to be in direct opposition to the values of all democratic societies," said acting VOA director Yolanda Lopez in a statement.

The bottom line: "Russia is engaged in an unprovoked war on Ukraine. At home, the Kremlin is engaged in a full assault on media freedom and the truth, and Moscows efforts to mislead and suppress the truth of the brutal invasion are intensifying," Price said.

"Russia's government is also throttling Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram platforms that tens of millions of Russias citizens rely on to access independent information and opinions and to connect with each other and the outside world," he added.

"These partial blockages further limit where and how Russian citizens can see and share evidence of the truth of Russia's invasion of Ukraine."

Go deeper: The latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis

Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Price.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations hinted Sunday that Russia could face accusations of war crimes before The Hague, where trials for the International Criminal Court are held.

What she's saying: "I think everything is on the table as we move forward," Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told CNN's "State of the Union" when asked if Russia could sit before the War Crimes Tribunals in the future.

The backdrop: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday called for The Hague to investigate Russian attacks he said "show signs of genocide."

Russia "deserves an international tribunal. We are documenting their crimes. And there would have been many more of these crimes if it hadn't been for our courageous defenders," Zelensky said, per a translation on CNN.

What they're saying: "We're holding the Russians accountable at every level," Thomas-Greenfield told CNN Sunday.

"They are the aggressors, and they have to be held accountable, whether it's in the United Nations or elsewhere, and all of that continues to be discussed and is on the table.

"As you know, we will be having a discussion in Geneva at the UN Human Rights Council, bringing Russia before the Human Rights Council as well. And there's another resolution that we're bringing before the General Assembly in a special emergency meeting that we're requesting tonight."

"So we're keeping the pressure up on the Russians."

Worth noting: U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Michael Carpenter on Sunday called on the international community to document "any possible war crimes it commits to ensure there is accountability."

Go deeper: The latest on the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Newly released satellite imagery underscores the destruction Russia's invasion has wrought on several Ukraine as the war enters its second week.

The big picture: In the Maxar Technologies images from this week, buildings and factories in residential areas of several towns and cities appear to be leveled.

The images reveal long lines of Ukrainians waiting for food at grocery stores in Chernihiv and Kyiv on Monday. Border crossings also seem to be jammed at multiple entry points along the borders with Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.

Context: Heavy cloud cover has prevented the release of any newer satellite imagery over the past two days and most of the images were taken last Monday.

A destroyed factory building west of Chernihiv, Ukraine, is shown in newly released satellite imagery. Photo: Maxar Technologies

Close-up images of destroyed military vehicles and houses in a residential area south of Antonov Airport. Photo: Maxar Technologies

Massive line of cars visible at Luzhanka immigration checkpoint along the Ukrainian-Hungarian border. Photo: Maxar Technologies

Satellite imagery shows Ukrainian residents in line at a supermarket in Chernihiv. Photo: Maxar Technologies

Go deeper: The latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis
Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) returned to the U.S. Senate on Thursday, a little over a month after suffering a stroke.

Driving the news: Lujan received a standing ovation during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, saying, "It's an absolute honor to be back."

"To everyone that sent me notes, that sent videos and all the prayers, it worked and it's good to be back, I'll tell you, I missed y'all," he added.

Catch up quick: Lujan suffered a stroke in January and was treated at the University of New Mexico Hospital.

Lujan's office said last month that the New Mexico senator was expected to make a full recovery and return "in just a few short weeks" to vote on President Biden's Supreme Court nominee.

Go deeper: Lujan to return to Senate in time to vote on Supreme Court pick
Russian forces stepped up their assault on major Ukrainian population centers on Friday, appearing to capture the strategic southern port city of Kherson and turning to siege tactics elsewhere in the face of fierce resistance.

The latest: Russian troops have seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the southeast after hours of shelling that resulted in Ukrainian deaths and sparked a since-extinguished fire nearby, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian forces of "nuclear terror."

Local officials and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog reported that the plant was secured, but Zelensky urged European leaders to "wake up" and stop Russia's military "before this becomes a nuclear disaster."

President Biden said after speaking with Zelensky over the phone that Russia should "cease its military activities" at the plant. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who also spoke with Zelensky, is seeking an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting in the coming hours over the shelling.

Meanwhile, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in a Friday intelligence update that the southeastern city of "Mariupol remains under Ukrainian control but has likely been encircled" by Russian forces. "The city's civilian infrastructure has been subjected to intense Russian strikes," the MoD added.

Local officials say the population is running out of electricity, heating and water, and the humanitarian situation is dire.

State of play: Russian forces in the south are seeking to cut off Ukraine's access to the sea, advancing toward the major port city of Mykolaiv after taking control of Kherson. A senior U.S. defense official said Russian troops in the south have not experienced the same logistical and supply issues that have held up the offensive near Kyiv.

The official told reporters Thursday that 90% of the Russian forces that had massed on the border were inside Ukraine, and that Russia has launched 480 missiles since the start of the invasion. Most of Ukraine's air and missile defense systems remain intact.

The head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency told Military Times that Ukrainian fighter jets have been striking the 40-mile Russian convoy outside of Kyiv, which U.S. and U.K. officials say remains "stalled" due to fuel and food shortages.

Data: The Institute for the Study of War with AEIs Critical Threats Project; Map: Jared Whalen/Axios

Zoom out: In a second round of peace talks near the Ukraine-Belarus border on Thursday, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations agreed to organize humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee, but made no progress toward ending the war, according to a Ukrainian official.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron during a 90-minute phone call Thursday that his goals  demilitarization and "denazification" of Ukraine  would be achieved no matter what, a Kremlin official said.

In a televised statement to his Security Council, Putin accused the Ukrainian military of using civilians and foreigners as human shields, in an apparent attempt to shift blame for the fast-growing civilian death toll from his invasion.

Putin said the family members of Russian troops killed in Ukraine would receive up to 7 million rubles ($65,000). He claimed, despite evidence to the contrary, that the invasion was going to plan and that Russia's forces "completely understand what they are fighting for."

The White House sent Congress a request on Thursday for $10 billion in additional humanitarian, security and economist assistance for Ukraine.

Destruction in Kharkiv. Photo: Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images

The big picture: The Russian plan to sprint to Kyiv and force a swift capitulation has faltered under stout Ukrainian resistance. But Russian forces are taking towns and cities, particularly in the south, intensifying their bombardments and continuing to funnel forces toward the capital.

Kharkiv, a Russian-speaking city of 1.4 million, has been under siege for days. Zelensky accused Russia of war crimes after Kharkiv's central square was destroyed in a missile strike.

The humanitarian situation in Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv and suburbs north of Kyiv under consistent Russian assault is growing increasingly dire.

What they're saying: In a Thursday video address, Zelensky called Ukraine "a nation that broke the enemy's plans in a week  plans that have been built for years, treacherously, deliberately, with hatred of our country, of our people, of any people who have heart and freedom."

Zelensky gives an address. Photo: Presidency of Ukraine handout via Getty Images

By the numbers: Ukraine's State Emergency Service said Wednesday that more than 2,000 civilians have been killed since Russia invaded on Feb. 24. Attacks on civilian areas have increased in the past 48 hours, but the casualty number is impossible to verify.

In its first acknowledgment of significant casualties, Russia's defense ministry announced Wednesday that 498 Russian troops had been killed and 1,597 injured. Ukraine has claimed its forces have killed more than 5,300 Russian troops. Neither figures have been independently verified.

A senior U.S. defense official declined to comment on the accuracy of the Russian figures, but said: "My advice to anyone would be to be extremely skeptical over any information the Russian Ministry of Defense puts out there."

At least 1 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries, the U.N. said Wednesday.

The EU is planning to allow Ukrainian refugees to live and work in the bloc for up to three years.

Ukrainian refugees apply for residency permits after arriving in Prague. Photo: Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images

In Russia, citizens are watching their savings deplete as the ruble crashes and losing access to everything from new iPhones to Disney films to flights to Europe. The Russian stock market remains closed but investors are desperate to get their money out.

Russian authorities have vowed to arrest anyone who protests, but there have still been significant gatherings in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

What else is happening: 141 countries voted in favor of a UN General Assembly resolution on Wednesday "deploring" Russia's aggression, while five voted against and 34 abstained.

Ukrainian authorities claimed they had foiled an assassination plot against Zelensky by a unit of elite Chechen special forces, in part thanks to tips from members of Russia's Federal Security Service who do not support the war. That claim could not be verified.

Zelensky is pushing for an accelerated acceptance into the European Union, which he said would be a signal that Europe accepted Ukraine as an equal member. It would also be an economic boon after the war.

He's also pleading with NATO for a no-fly zone, but that would force NATO to possibly shoot down Russian troops and risk a far wider conflict between nuclear powers.

Russian convoy north of Kyiv. Satellite image Photo: 2022 Maxar Technologies

Russian officials have made vague threats of a wider war.

Former President Dmitry Medvedev tweeted a warning that "in human history, economic wars quite often turned into real ones," while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that a third world war would turn into a nuclear war.

Putin has put Russias nuclear deterrence force on alert, citing the sanctions and "aggressive language" from the West.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled a ballistic missile test scheduled for this week "to demonstrate we are a responsible nuclear power" in response to Putin's actions.

The U.S. and European allies were scrambling to get weapons through Poland to the front while they still can. Moscow has said it will hold countries that supply weapons used on Russian troops responsible.

What to watch: With Russia closing in on Ukraines largest cities and employing aggressive tactics, such as the bombing of civilian areas, the danger to civilians is growing.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed in Ukraine since 2013.

With peace talks showing little likelihood of success, analysts and officials are considering what off-ramps might still be available.

Go deeper: The latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.
The Biden administration asked Israel three weeks ago if it could help mitigate possible natural gas shortages in Europe in anticipation of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, a senior Israeli official told me.

Why it matters: The U.S. outreach to Israel was part of a wider effort by the Biden administration to prepare for a scenario where a war in Ukraine could lead Russia to cut natural gas supply to Europe, which could cause a severe energy crisis.

State Department officials say a disruption in energy supplies transiting Ukraine would most acutely affect natural gas markets in Europe.

Driving the news: A senior Israeli official told me that several weeks ago, State Department officials approached the Israeli Ministry of Energy and asked if it would be possible to increase Israel's natural gas production.

The U.S. officials wanted to check the possibility that Israel could deliver more natural gas to Egypt in order to process it there to liquid natural gas and ship it to Europe, the Israeli official said.

The Israeli ministry asked Delek Group, an Israeli company that is a partner of the U.S. energy giant Chevron, if it could increase natural gas production, a source with direct knowledge told me.

State of play: The senior Israeli official said the move hasnt developed yet mostly because the amount of natural gas Israel can add to its current deliveries to Egypt is relatively small and wouldn't help much to address Europe's needs.

What they're saying: A State Department spokesperson told me that, in the context of the Ukraine crisis, the Biden administration is working with countries and companies around the world to ensure the security of energy supplies and to mitigate against price shocks that could affect the U.S. and global economies.
Officially, its not their fight. Their commander-in-chief insists hes not deploying troops to war-torn Ukraine, even as Russias military siege intensifies.

But to these Americans, freedom at home means nothing without freedom abroad, so they have signed up for another countrys war half a world away.

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Anything Dennis Diaz knows about Ukraine he read online or saw on television. He fought in Iraq. He fought in Afghanistan. But he fought under his flag. He had his nations blessing.

This time hes answering a different call.

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Im a Marine combat veteran, and not only that, but as Americans we dont accept people getting bullied, said Diaz, 39, an entrepreneur from Waterbury, Conn. Somebody as big as Russia coming in to conquer Ukraine, thats just wrong.

Diaz was outside the Ukrainian Consulate in Midtown responding to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys call on Sunday for the formation of an international legion to defend itself against Russian aggression.

Diaz was one of many American and Canadian soldiers volunteering for duty, even as their own governments sit this one out. Most, like Diaz, were inspired by Ukrainians fierce resistance.

Many believe their democratic rights will be threatened at home if they do nothing to stand up in Europe.

I have a lot of military experience, I did go to Iraq and Afghanistan, so now its time to go ahead and fight for whats right, he said.

I have some flight experience. Also I was field artillery in the Marine Corps. Also Ive got some experience driving tanks. Enough to be a valuable asset to Ukraine.

Also enlisting is Christian Gonzalez, 35, of Yonkers, who calls the decision to fight side-by-side with the Ukrainians a no brainer.

What separates Gonzalez from war veterans like Diaz is his level of military experience  he has none.

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Absolutely not. he said.

But what Gonzalez lacks in combat training, he makes up for in his commitment to right over wrong.

They have a bully thats bullying people around him, Gonzalez said of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Why not fight for a greater cause? Even if its just pulling people out of rubble. Even if its just aiding. Its history in the making.

Gonzalez said he cant watch this war unfold on the evening news and do nothing about it.

What are we going to do, just stay here and consume materialistic things? Gonzalez said.

Were in a crisis right now. I know it sounds cliche, but its true. Believe it or not, were United States citizens, but were going to get dragged into this. If were not already dragged into it, and its going to get worse. Its not going to get better. This guys got nuclear weapons.

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Staring down Russian soldiers wont be the hard part, Gonzalez said. The hard part will be telling his family.

They dont know yet, he said.

Frank Christianos family knows. And theyre not too happy with it.

They think Im crazy if I do go, said Christiano, 28, of Yorktown, Westchester County. Which is normal, to go into a war zone. But my decisions made. I want to go.

At Ukrainian embassies and consulates, would-be soldiers are signing up, even as the civilian death toll in Ukraine reaches more than 2,000 and the United Nations condemns the Kremlin.

In online groups, military veterans warned volunteers with no combat training they were heading into a showdown where inexperience could put themselves and others in danger.

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But that did not stop Andrew Bennett, 45, a union carpenter from Bayonne, who said he was moved to enlist by Zelenskyys emotional appeal.

Zelenskyy has asked every friend of Ukraine who wants to join Ukraine in defending the country to please come over, adding that they would be given weapons.

Everyone who is defending Ukraine is a hero, he said.

Bennett said he couldnt resist.

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Thereve been other conflicts that weve been made aware of over the last few years, but for some reason, this one is the most heart tugging, soul-moving thing, said Bennett, who has no military experience. If you can do something, you should do something. Im grateful for where I was born and raised, but you have to risk freedom for freedom.

Not all volunteers are looking for a fight. Some of the American enlistees are medics who want to help the wounded, or humanitarian workers who want to help the displaced.

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Thomas Harris appreciates their commitment. But he said hes ready for combat. The former Marine machine-gunner filled out his application and was told the military attache would be in contact within a couple of days. He said he still has his Kevlar armor from his time in the Marines. Harris said he considered joining the French Foreign Legion some time ago,

And then this happened, he said.

My dad was actually a Marine for 30 years, said Harris, 31, of Harlem. He doesnt like it at all, but he understands it. My mom is crying.

Diaz said his family is worried, too.

Theyre a little bit, I would say, scared, Diaz said. This is absolutely a major war. Theyre really scared that I actually might not come back. But that is a sacrifice I am willing to make to help the people in Ukraine. Theyre doing the best they can, but they need the help.
The Biden administration has asked the Israeli government to take steps to avoid further escalation and restore calm in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, Israeli and U.S. officials tell me.

Why it matters: Tensions over the potential expulsion of six Palestinian families from the neighborhood in favor of Jewish settlers helped spark the fighting in Gaza last May.

The Biden administration is concerned there could be further violence in Sheikh Jarrah ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.

Driving the news: Last Friday, a fire broke out at the home of Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah. They are the only Jewish family in that part of the neighborhood and their cars had been set on fire several times in the past.

Israeli police concluded that the fire was set intentionally and arrested two Palestinian suspects, while Palestinian residents of the neighborhood claimed the fire was the result of an electrical malfunction.

Itamar Ben Gvir, a Jewish supremacist member of the Israeli Knesset, moved his "office" to a tent in Sheikh Jarrah, claiming he would not budge until there was "security" for Jews. The tent is outside the home of a Palestinian family that has lived in Sheikh Jarrah since 1951 but faces expulsion, possibly in March.

Palestinians called Ben Gvir's arrival a "provocative move," and scuffles ensued. Israeli police intervened to separate Palestinians and Jewish settlers who clashed.

Tensions remain high, and Hamas has threatened to intervene if the "assaults against our compatriots" continue.

Context: Displaced Palestinians were settled in Sheikh Jarrah after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and have lived there ever since, but two Jewish associations have waged a lengthy legal battle in Israeli courts, arguing Jewish individuals owned the land prior to Israeli independence.

The Israeli law that allows citizens to reclaim land owned by Jewish individuals prior to 1948 does not afford the same rights to Arab individuals.

The events in Sheikh Jarrah follow several violent incidents in the occupied West Bank over the last two weeks.

The most serious took place in Nablus, where the Israeli military killed three Palestinians.

The Shin Bet security agency said the Palestinians, members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade militant group, were armed, and it accused them of carrying out recent shooting attacks against Israeli settlers.

The Palestinian Authority called the killings a "heinous crime."

Behind the scenes: U.S. ambassador to Israel Tom Nides has spoken in recent days to Israeli Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev and to officials in the Prime Ministers Office to ask them to de-escalate the situation, the Israeli and U.S. officials say.

Bar Lev told Nides that the escalation in Sheikh Jarrah cold spill over to the Gaza Strip, but that he is making every effort to prevent further escalation.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is also very concerned that provocations from Israeli politicians on the far-right and far-left could spark another round of violence, his aides told me.

What they're saying: Were following developments very closely in Sheikh Jarrah, both on the ground and here from Washington, and were deeply concerned by the events," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Monday.
The U.S. Department of Treasury announced new sanctions on Thursday against more Russian oligarchs and their family members and companies in retaliation for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Why it matters: Among those targeted are Alisher Usmanov, one of Russias wealthiest people, President Vladimir Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is wanted by the FBI for interfering in the 2016 election.

The new sanctions come after the Department of Justice announced the creation of a task force to freeze and seize the assets of Russian oligarchs who have aided Putin's invasion, according to the New York Times.

What they're saying: "These individuals have enriched themselves at the expense of the Russian people, and some have elevated their family members into high-ranking positions. Others sit atop Russias largest companies and are responsible for providing the resources necessary to support Putins invasion of Ukraine," the U.S. Treasury said.

"These individuals and their family members will be cut off from the U.S. financial system, their assets in the United States will be frozen and their property will be blocked from use," it added.

"The Department of Treasury will share financial intelligence and other evidence where appropriate with the Department of Justice to support criminal prosecutions and seizure of assets," it added.

The big picture: On top of financial sanctions against Russian elites, several other countries are also either drafting plans to seize property owned by Russian oligarchs linked to Putin or have already started.

France on Thursday seized a 280-foot yacht owned by Igor Sechin, CEO of Russia's massive state oil and gas company and a longtime close ally and adviser of Putin.

The Department of State also announced visa restrictions against 19 oligarchs and 47 of their family members and close associates.

"These oligarchs are known to direct, authorize, fund, significantly support, or carry out malign activities in support of Russias destabilizing foreign policy," the State Department said.

Go deeper:
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Wednesday he will immediately launch an investigation into allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed in Ukraine.

Why it matters: Ukraine has accused Russian forces of indiscriminately shelling civilian areas and exploiting the definition of "genocide" as a pretense to invade.

The launch of the inquiry could pave the way for participants in the conflict to potentially be tried at The Hague.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was able to expedite the launch of the inquiry following referrals from 39 countries.

The big picture: The timeline covered by the inquiry will stretch back to Nov. 21, 2013  the first day of the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine that ultimately led to the overthrow of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, and later Russia's interventions in Crimea and Donbas.

What they're saying: "[I]n its preliminary examination of the Situation in Ukraine, my Office had already found a reasonable basis to believe crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court had been committed, and had identified potential cases that would be admissible," Khan said in a statement.
Khachatrian, who was nominated for the post by the ruling Civil Contract party, will have largely ceremonial powers, just like his predecessor Armen Sarkissian. The latter unexpectedly resigned in late January, saying that during his nearly four-year presidency he has lacked necessary tools to influence political and socioeconomic developments in Armenia.

Khachatrian, 62, is an economist who had served as mayor of Yerevan from 1992-1996 during former President Levon Ter-Petrosians rule. He was a staunch political ally of Ter-Petrosian until agreeing to join Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians government last August.

The parliament controlled by Civil Contract needed two rounds of voting to elect Khachatrian for a seven-year term. His candidacy was backed by 71 members of the 107-seat National Assembly in the second round.

The opposition Hayastan and Pativ Unem alliances decided last month not to field their own presidential candidate, saying that they do not want to legitimize the process. In a joint statement, they said that Khachatrian is a partisan figure who does not correspond to constitutional provisions requiring the presidency to be a really neutral institution consolidating the society.

All parliament deputies representing the two blocs boycotted both secret ballots. Hayastans parliamentary leader, Seyran Ohanian, insisted on Wednesday that the new president will be an appendage to the executive branch.

Addressing the National Assembly before the votes, Khachatrian made clear that he will be helping the Armenian government implement its domestic and foreign policies. He specifically voiced support for the governments conciliatory policy towards Azerbaijan and Turkey.

We need to live in peace with our neighbors, he said.

Khachatrian stated at the same time that he will strive to represent not only Pashinians political team and ordinary supporters but also other strata of the Armenian society. Im sure that you dont want me to be only your president, he told pro-government lawmakers.

Pashinian said earlier that the new president must be in sync with his administration. He said there was a lack of such political harmony a year ago when the Armenian army top brass demanded his resignation over his handling of the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinian seemed to refer to former President Sarkissians reluctance to quickly rubber-stamp his decision to fire the countrys top general.

The prime minister was quick to congratulate Khachatrian on becoming president. He noted that Khachatrian is taking office at a time when Armenia is going through a difficult period of regional and international challenges.
Tovmasian filed the lawsuit two years ago during a standoff with Pashinian.

The latter alleged at the time that Tovmasian offered his services and cozied up to him following the 2018 Velvet Revolution. He said he rebuffed those overtures because he did not want to cooperate with representatives of the corrupt former regime. Tovmasian denied the claim as untrue and slanderous.

A court in Yerevan on Thursday ordered Pashinian to refute the claim. But it also refused to declare slanderous Pashinians 2020 allegation that Tovmasian had occupied the Constitutional Court as a result of fraud.

Pashinians lawyer, Gevorg Gyozalian, said his client will appeal against the ruling. Obviously, we dont think that was defamation, he told RFE/RLs Armenian Service.

Later in 2020, Pashinian and his political team succeeded in significantly changing the composition of the Constitutional Court through constitutional amendments controversially passed by the Armenian parliament.

The amendments called for the gradual resignation of seven of the courts nine justices, who were at odds with the government. Three of them had to resign with immediate effect. The amendments also required Tovmasian to quit as court chairman but remain a judge.

Tovmasian and the ousted judges consider their removal illegal and politically motivated. They asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to have them reinstated. The Strasbourg-based court has still not ruled on their appeal.

In January 2021, Pashinian lost a court battle with Gagik Khachatrian, a former finance minister arrested and prosecuted on corruption charges. A Yerevan court ordered Pashinian to apologize for his press secretarys claim that Khachatrian and his two sons had headed a corrupt mafia system.

The court also ruled that Pashinians office must pay 508,000 drams (over $1,000) in damages to cover the plaintiffs legal expenses. The office appealed that verdict.

Pashinian is currently also facing defamation lawsuits filed by about a dozen other individuals, including former President Robert Kocharian.
The resolution, approved late on Wednesday by 141 members of the 193-member body, demands that Russia immediately stop its war in Ukraine and withdraw all of its troops from Ukrainian territory.

Russia was joined by Belarus, which has served as a launch pad for Russian invasion forces, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria in voting against the non-binding resolution.

Thirty-five UN members abstained. They included China, India, Iran as well as Armenia and three other members of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization. Eleven other nations, including Azerbaijan, did not vote at all.

Armenia had repeatedly voted against UN General Assembly resolutions condemning Russias annexation of Crimea and upholding Ukrainian sovereignty over the Black Sea peninsula.

Last week, it also voted against the effective suspension of Russias membership in the Council of Europe. The decision was backed by 42 members of the Strasbourg-based organization. Armenia was the only member state that joined Russia in opposing it.

In what was the first official Armenian reaction to the Russian assault, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Wednesday that Yerevan is deeply saddened by the war in Ukraine. He expressed hope that fresh Russian-Ukrainian negotiations will produce results.

Russia has long been Armenias main military and political ally. The South Caucasus states dependence on Moscow for defense and security deepened further following the 2020 war with Azerbaijan.
Arianna Gordon of Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven chops strawberries for her team in the CT ProStart Invitational teen cooking challenge. (Susan Dunne)

More than 40 Connecticut high school students gathered Wednesday at Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford, to compete in the 16th annual CT ProStart Invitational, a contest that rewards the winning team with scholarships to culinary schools.

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Would the winner be one of Enfield Highs teams with seared lamb chops or their curry katsu? Windsor Highs pork tenderloin? Wilbur Cross Highs chicken breast with kalamata olive roulade? Fitch Highs pan-roasted Stonington monkfish?

The young chefs had to prepare, cook, plate and serve their three-course meals in 80 minutes, without electricity. All cooking was done on BTU burners, two burners per team.

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Its high-end foods, but on a camp stove. Its like glamping, said Madison Bohan, captain of one of the teams from Enfield.

Her team made arancini with prosciutto; lamb chops with duchess potatoes; and crepes with whipped cream, cheese filling, strawberries and chocolate.

The contest has two categories. Culinary teams meals were judged on taste, creativity, safety and sanitation. Restaurant management teams are judged on restaurant concept, menu, organization, layout and design, marketing and cost analysis.

Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven won the CT ProStart Invitational with a three-course dinner of pan-seared red snapper, chicken breast on Mediterranean couscous and a chocolate dessert. (Susan Dunne)

In the end, students at Wilbur Cross High in New Haven were the big winners. All members of its culinary team  Arianna Gordon, Daisy Lucero, Antonio Mandania, Natalie Quiroz and Christopher Ramirez  will be offered scholarships to Culinary Institute of America, Culinary Institute of Virginia or Louisiana Culinary Institute. Its management team  Charlotte Buterbaugh, Jailyn Delgado and Rosemarilyn Rodriguez  won first place, too.

The event is presented by Connecticut Restaurant Association (CRA) and its nonprofit arm, Connecticut Hospitality Educational Foundation (CHEF). It began in 2006 and was not held last year because of the pandemic.

Five Things You Need To Know Daily We're providing the latest coronavirus coverage in Connecticut each weekday morning. >

The first-place teams also advance to the National ProStart Invitational, to be held in Washington, D.C. on May 6 to 8. The winners of the national competition also will be offered scholarships to culinary schools.

Scott Dolch, president and CEO of CRA, called the ProStart program, which has 1,000 participants in high schools statewide, one of the most important things we do.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, its that weve got to get our workforce back, he said. This program is so important to where we need to go. These kids are learning skills they will take with then past high school.

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Aliah Acosta-Mercado, captain of the Windsor High team, called the contest a great learning experience.

This was our first year. We learned a lot that well bring back next time, she said.

The judges are among some of the states top chefs and restaurateurs, including Xavier Santiago from The Place 2 Be, Matt Storch from MATCH, Kristin Eddy from Millwrights and Scott Miller from DORO Restaurant Group.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
Federal prosecutors said that an East Hartford man was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday in a child sex trafficking case.

Joseph Pina, 24, was accused of conspiring with an associate in 2019 to recruit, entice and transport a 16-year-old girl to engage in commercial sex acts, according to federal authorities. Specifically, on Oct. 17, 2019, Pina, his associate Joel Lindsay and another individual picked up the minor victim and took her to a hotel in East Windsor.

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At the hotel, they took photographs of the minor victim and posted her photos on a website to advertise sexual services, according to federal authorities. Pina and Lindsay then arranged prostitution appointments involving the minor victim. The money was given to Lindsay, federal prosecutors said.

On Oct. 18, 2019, and the following two days, Pina and Lindsay posted more advertisements on a website and arranged prostitution appointments involving the minor victim at a hotel in Windsor Locks. The victim again gave all of the money to Lindsay. prosecutors said.

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The investigation further revealed that Pina and Lindsay engaged in sexual activity with the minor victim, even though they knew that she was under the age of 18. The minor victim also reported to investigators that Lindsay physically assaulted her, prosecutors said.

On Oct. 6, 2021, Pina pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor.

Pina, who had been released on bond, was remanded to custody at the conclusion of Wednesdays court proceeding.

On Oct. 15, 2021, Lindsay, also known as Joey Guapo, pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 13. Lindsay, a citizen of Jamaica, has been detained since arrest on Aug. 20, 2020, according to federal authorities.
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The Greater Beaumont Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday that President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Allen is resigning from his position.

Allen has served as President and CEO of the chamber since 2018.

"While I am looking forward to returning to my family in New Mexico, it has been an honor to work with the staff, board and partners in serving chamber members and the continued economic development of the community," Allen said in a Chamber Facebook post.

The Chamber's Executive Committee and Board of Directors will appoint an interim president and CEO and form a search committee.

Information about the transition will be released at a later date.

"We are grateful to Bill for his leadership and dedication," said Chamber Board Chair Josh Smith in the Facebook post. "He has been the architect of the tremendous progress the chamber has experienced. He inspired the creation of multiple programs and events for the benefit of members, including a comprehensive long-range plan based on a fiscally sound position. We wish Bill all the best in his new position in El Paso."

The post did not say what Allen will be doing next, and Chamber officials could not be reached for further comment.

olivia.malick@hearst.com

twitter.com/OliviaMalick
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The 2022 midterm primary elections brought out more Jefferson County voters than the two previous primaries.

Turnout for Tuesday's election, including early and mail-in ballots, hit nearly 20% of registered Jefferson County voters, for a total of 28,938 ballots cast.

Comparatively, for the 2020 primary election, nearly 8% of registered Jefferson County voters turned out to vote, while nearly 15% of registered voters turned out for the last midterm primary in 2018.

Tallies for Tuesday's votes came in later than in years past due to Senate Bill 1, which stipulates that poll workers must run the results tape for every machine at every polling location in Jefferson County after the polls have closed on election day, according to previous Enterprise reporting.

RELATED: LIVE: Southeast Texas Election Results

Early voting results were reported about a quarter after 7 p.m., but Election Day results from all 39 county voting centers weren't in until a little after 10:40 p.m.

The tapes that the poll workers now have to run are printouts from each voting machine tabulating the number of votes for each candidate and have to be printed from every machine in the morning, to prove that the tally is zero for every candidate, and again in the evening to get the count, according to previous Enterprise reporting.

We've never run them at the polling location, so our poll workers who are going to run them haven't done it before, interim Jefferson County clerk Laurie Leister told the Enterprise previously. It's kind of a new thing and it takes about an hour and a half to run these two tapes.

The election results produced two local run off races and thin margins of victory.

How Jefferson County voted in statewide races: Republican primaries Governor Greg Abbott (I)* -- 77.16%

Allen West -- 10.75%

Don Huffines -- 6.36%

Rick Perry** -- 2.35%

Chad Prather -- 2.19%

Kandy Kaye Horn -- 0.84%

Danny Harrison -- 0.24%

Paul Belew -- 0.12% Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (I)* -- 53.39%

Daniel Miller -- 14.02%

Trayce Bradford -- 5.01%

Aaron Sorrells -- 2.20%

Zach Vance -- 1.95%

Todd M. Bullis -- 1.28% Attorney General Ken Paxton (I)* -- 53.29%

George P. Bush -- 17.37%

Louie Gohmert -- 15.15%

Eva Guzman -- 14.19% Commissioner of the General Land Office Dawn Buckingham -- 44.98%

Don W. Minton -- 17.41%

Tim Westley -- 13.65%

Jon Spiers -- 9.15%

Victor Avila -- 4.89%

Weston Martinez -- 4.57%

Rufus Lopez -- 3.53%

Ben Armenta -- 1.84% Commissioner of Agriculture James White -- 58.34%

Sid Miller (I)* -- 35.55%

Carey A. Counsil -- 6.11% Democratic primaries Governor Beto O'Rourke -- 83.33%

Michael Cooper -- 12.72%

Joy Diaz -- 2.35%

Rich Wakeland -- 0.85%

Inocencio "Inno" Barrientez -- 0.76% Lieutenant Governor Carla Brailey -- 38.16%

Mike Collier -- 33.07%

Michelle Beckley -- 28.77% Attorney General Lee Merritt -- 26.99%

Rochelle Mercedes Garza -- 26.07%

Joe Jaworski -- 18.83%

Mike Fields -- 18.08%

S. "Tbone" Raynor -- 10.02% Commissioner of the General Land Office Michael Lange -- 43.28%

Sandragrace Martinez -- 21.51%

Jinny Suh -- 21.83%

Jay Kleberg -- 13.38% Commissioner of Agriculture Susan Hays -- 79.29%

Ed Ireson -- 20.71% *(I) stands for incumbent ** Not to be confused with former Governor Rick Perry. See More Collapse

RELATED: 5 key takeaways from Texas March 1 primary

United States Representative District 14

In the Democratic primary, Mikal Williams won by a slim margin against Eugene Howard with 50.25% of the votes.

Howard received 49.75% of the votes and under state law, can request a recount of the ballots, an option he said he and his team are weighing.

"We're assessing right now if we should do that; if it's worth the legal and financial burden to do it," he said.

As of press time, the Texas Secretary of State's elections office noted that 99% of polling places in the state were reporting, with all 254 counties reporting.

"(The results) are still a little tight but we're ahead and it looks like that's probably how it's going to stay, but we'll never know until the votes are counted," Williams said.

Should the outcome remain the same, Williams said his campaign's next step is to ramp up the race against incumbent Republican Randy Weber, who also won his primary.

RELATED: Voter Guide: U.S. Rep. District 14 - Democratic primary

"(We're going to) hold him accountable for the things he's done, or lack thereof, in Congress," Williams said. "We're all really just trying to propel our district forward into the 21st century and trying to fight for our district and get the necessary funding for projects for coastal protection."

Howard said he will continue to serve the community and fight for civil rights, no matter the outcome of the race.

"(I'm going to) continue to try to do what I can for voting rights and for the civil rights that are being eroded in front of us in real time," he said.

In the Republican primary, incumbent Weber won with 89.23% of the votes against Keith Casey and Ruben Landon Dante who received 7.93% and 2.84% of the votes, respectively.

RELATED: Voter Guide: U.S. Rep. District 14 - Republican primary

State Representative District 22

Democratic candidates Joseph Trahan and Christian "Manuel" Hayes are heading to a run off election.

When no candidate crosses the 50% threshold, the two candidates with the most votes move to a run off election.

Trahan received 48.47% of the votes and Hayes received 42.71% of the votes.

Trahan did not respond to requests for comment.

But Hayes said the results have re-energized him ahead of the run off.

"I went from being just a behind-the-scenes chief of staff, using my name, (Rep. Joe Deshotel's) name, my family's name and I'm in a run off, so I really can't ask for more, honestly," he said.

Hayes said for his run off campaign, he will continue to build on what he did during his initial campaign.

"I'm going to continue with coalition building with positive thoughts and trying to explain to people why I'm running -- because of my legislative experience and my deep understanding and knowledge of how the process actually works," he said.

Hayes hopes his primary campaign showed voters he's serious candidate who cares about the same issues as his community.

RELATED: Voter Guide: Texas Rep. District 22 - Democratic primary

Candidate Lisa Weber finished with 8.83% of the votes.

Though Weber did not make it to the run off, she said she is glad that she ran in the race.

"I'm a faith-filled woman," she said. "So, I was like, whether I win, (lose) or whether it was a run off, I was prepared to accept what it was."

Weber said she spoke to Trahan and Hayes Tuesday night and she's excited for their run off.

"I'm going to continue to advocate because that's what I do," she said. "I'm an educator and I do believe that the people of District 22 do deserve the advances of technology with the use of WiFi and broadband for educational purposes to be used as a tool in the classroom and in the homes."

The run off election will take place May 24.

The winner of that runoff will face Republican Jacorion Randle in the November general election.

Jefferson County Commissioner, Precinct 2

The Republican primary of the only primaried county commissioner's race also will go to a run off.

Cary Erickson led the votes with 34.72%, but Alex Rupp was close behind with 34.36% of the votes.

"I feel great, I'm in a run off," Erickson said. "I would like to have won it outright, but we knew that there was not a whole lot of chance of that happening. I'm happy to be in a run off."

Erickson said it will take more energy to get people back out to vote in the run off.

"I think run offs are always kind of a wild card because, in this case, you have the obviously disappointed voters for the candidate who's not in the run off, and then you're asking people to come out again to vote for you basically two months later, so it can be tricky," he said. "This is my first go 'round, so I'm hopeful that we can just get everybody back out again."

RELATED: Voter Guide: Jefferson Co. Precinct 2 commissioner - Republican primary

Rupp agreed that it would take extra effort to get people to vote in the run off but he feels good about Tuesday's results.

The third candidate, Shaun Miller, finished the race with 30.92% of the vote.

"(I'm) tired," he said. "It's been about a year now and (we) put a lot of work in and now it's over. So, I'm moving on to other things."

Now that the race is over for him, Miller said he's going to focus on work and his grandchildren.

The run off election also will take place May 24.

The winner will face Julia Rodriguez -- the only Democrat to run for the seat this cycle.

olivia.malick@hearst.com

twitter.com/OliviaMalick
Mr. Gerald, a 71-year old man from Unionville, has been seeing his primary care physician for years. Although proud of his good health, Mr. Gerald laments that he has never been weighed or examined on the table at these appointments.

That is because Mr. Gerald has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, requiring additional time, staff and equipment to ensure his safe transfer.

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I guess its just easier to do it in my wheelchair, he said. But I cant help but wonder if something gets missed.

When Mr. Gerald saw his specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation for a minor procedure, the doctor asked his aide, Mary, to lift him onto the exam table. I was so nervous, Mary said. I could have dropped him, but also hurt myself. Hes not too heavy, but its an awkward position for me to be in.

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Mr. Gerald is not alone. Over 55,000 adults in Connecticut have mobility disability, which is defined as serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs. In fact, mobility disability is the most common disability among adult Americans, affecting 1 in 7 people. More community members with mobility limitations have chimed in recently about their health care experiences.

Mr. Mosss doctor requests he bring another person to transfer him to the exam table, a requirement that is against the law.

Ms. Riders doctor deferred her mammogram and colonoscopy because her spina bifida made obtaining these screenings more complicated, even though she has a history of cancer in her family.

Ms. Bernards doctor sent her to the emergency room for radiographs rather than an imaging facility because of her quadriplegia. She spent significantly more money and time as a result.

I met Mr. Gerald during my second year of medical school when I became involved with the Citizens Coalition for Equal Access (CC=A), a grassroots disability advocacy group in Greater Hartford. CC=A members have significant disabilities, and many live in accessible housing designed for people with physical disabilities. I recognized that Mr. Gerald and others were receiving substandard care. When I rotated at different Connecticut hospitals during my third and fourth years of medical school, I witnessed the physical barriers.

Decades of studies show that people with disabilities have higher rates of preventable diseases and poorer health outcomes than the general population. These stark differences in health outcomes are not primarily caused by underlying disability, but rather by the differential treatment of people with disabilities within the health care system.

One of the most significant barriers is the lack of accessible medical diagnostic equipment (MDE), including exam tables, chairs, scales, lifts and imaging equipment.

Opinion Weekly Perspective on the week's biggest stories from the Courant's Opinion page >

In May 2021, the National Council on Disability, an independent federal advisory agency on disability policy, published a report on this issue. Although health care providers are required by law to ensure full and equal access to their services and facilities, the written law needs enforcement to truly take effect. The Affordable Care Act required the U.S. Access Board to issue accessibility standards for MDE. Those technical standards were published in 2017 but have yet to be enforced at the federal level. So they remain recommendations and not regulations with the law behind them. The only federal agency to act is the Veterans Health Association, which requires all equipment purchases to meet the standards for MDE.

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State Rep. Mike Demicco proposed a bill that would require MDE purchased by health care facilities meet or exceed those technical standards. That would effectively make Connecticut the first state to do so. I submitted public testimony in support of the bill, as did many members of CC=A. However, the bill was opposed by the Connecticut Hospital Association and Connecticut State Medical Society, both of whom cited logistical and financial barriers at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Expectedly, the bill died.

This year, disability activists from CC=A joined a newly formed group, which meets monthly and includes stakeholders from Connecticut health care systems, the Connecticut Hospital Association, the Connecticut State Medical Society and the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The working groups objectives are twofold: first, to include people with disabilities to increase awareness of their lived experiences in the health care system with respect to accessibility; second, to develop collaborative strategies to increase the prevalence and use of accessible MDE.

Rep. Demicco will propose a bill in the 2022 legislative session with input from the working group. The cost of change has already proved to be an obstacle, especially in COVID-19 times, but disability advocates know that change is wrought from hardship and never comes at the ideal moment.

As a physician-in-training, I aim to provide quality care to all of my patients, including patients like Mr. Gerald. People with disabilities deserve equal opportunity and dignity in all aspects of life, including medical care. Ensuring accessible MDE is a critical first step toward improving health care quality and access for people with disabilities.

Names have been changed to protect privacy.

Sandra Carpenter is a fourth-year medical student at UConn. She lives in Wethersfield.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

President Joe Biden plans on coming to Texas next week, visiting Fort Worth on Tuesday, March 8, to highlight support for military veterans, according to a report from the Dallas Morning News. Biden will only discuss supporting veterans as part of his Unity Agenda for the Nation, The White House detailed to the Morning News. The issue was one of the four areas of potential common ground the president highlighted in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, March 1.

On February 23, the First Lady of the United States Jill Biden visited Joint Base San Antonio Kelly Field to attend a tour and listening session at the Mays Cancer Center. The talk focused on cancer health disparities in the Latino community as part of the Cancer Moonshot initiative.
Incumbent Wayne Christian, chair of the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas in the state, is headed for a Republican primary runoff election against Sarah Stogner, an oil and gas attorney who posted a campaign ad of herself mostly naked atop an oil pump jack.

The crowded primary race for a seat on the Railroad Commission was too close to call late Tuesday night, but by Wednesday morning, 98.6% of the votes had been counted and Christian had secured 47.1% of the votes, falling short of the 50% needed to win the election outright. Stogner received 15.2% of the vote.

Christian and Stogner will face each other in a runoff election May 24. The winner will face Democrat Luke Warford, a former top staffer for the Texas Democratic Party, in the November general election. Warford is the only Democratic candidate.

The Railroad Commission, the oldest state agency, employs more than 800 people and has a budget of $144 million this year. The agency is governed by three board members elected statewide who serve staggered, six-year terms. Only one seat is up for election in 2022.

The campaign for Railroad Commission typically doesnt attract as much attention as other races, but this year was different.

Christian faced corruption allegations from some of his opponents after he voted  against the recommendation of Railroad Commission staff  to approve a permit for an oil field waste dump facility, then days later accepted a $100,000 campaign donation from the company that received the permit.

Another candidate, Marvin Sarge Summers, died in early February on the campaign trail when his vehicle collided with a tanker truck in Midland.

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The agencys regulatory power includes overseeing the natural gas system, a crucial element of the Texas power grid that failed last year during a winter freeze, leaving millions of people without power for days.

Stogner and Christians other opponents in the race  Dawayne Tipton, a former oil field roughneck who has worked various oil sector jobs including offshore drilling, and Tom Slocum Jr., an engineering consultant from the Houston area  all criticized Christian and the Railroad Commission for not being proactive before and during last years deadly winter freeze. They also criticized his response to the freeze.

While Christian did not win the race outright, he avoided a primary upset like the one in March 2020, when his colleague, former Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton, reelection in the Republican primary after raising $2.2 million. Sittons opponent, now-Commissioner Jim Wright, raised less than $13,000.

Christian faces an unusual opponent in the runoff election. Stogner did not accept campaign contributions and attracted much of the attention she has received after her seminude stunt.

The state established the Railroad Commission in 1891 to prevent monopolies in the oil industry. Eventually, the Legislature added oil and gas drilling permits, surface mining, natural gas utilities, and oil and gas pipelines to the agencys purview while moving regulation of railroads to the Texas Department of Transportation in 2005. The Railroad Commission also helps ensure that companies follow state and federal rules on safety and pollution.

The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans  and engages with them  about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Lincoln, NE (68508)

Today

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm this evening, then some lingering showers still possible overnight. Low 48F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm this evening, then some lingering showers still possible overnight. Low 48F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
The people of Myanmar may be in solidarity with their Ukrainian brethren, but they have every reason to be infuriated by the contrasting response from the international community to the crisis they face at home.

Western nations and key Asian allies responded within days to Russias invasion of Ukraine with tough sanctions and weapon supplies. The international reaction to the bloody military takeover in Myanmar one year ago has been half-hearted by comparison.

The citizens of Myanmar have been bravely resisting the military through civil disobedience and armed insurrection since a Feb. 1, 2021, coup. The exiled civilian administration, the National Unity Government, has also been quick to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine, while the junta, which counts Russia as one of its few international partners, has slovenly supported the invasion as an appropriate measure to preserve its (Russias) sovereignty.

And yet, the NUG, which enjoys a broad popular mandate to establish a federal democracy in Myanmar, is largely fighting on its own. It may still hold Myanmars seat in the United Nations, from which it voted to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but no governments formally recognize it, although some like the United States are increasing their engagement with it.

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on top junta leaders and family members, the militarys conglomerates, and crony corporations. Recent European Union sanctions have focused on the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, which is the key revenue earner for the junta.

But key international partners including Japan, South Korea, Australia and Singapore have imposed no sanctions. While the U.S. government quickly froze about $1 billion in Myanmars foreign reserves that was parked in the Federal Reserve, allies including Japan and Singapore refused to follow suit.

Some governments, such as the United States, have directed humanitarian aid away from the junta and towards the NUG, or affiliated civil society organizations. But the NUG has not gotten access to any of the frozen Myanmar assets abroad, nor have they been allowed to borrow against it. And unlike Ukraine, the NUG has not received lethal assistance.

All of this is in incredibly sharp contrast to how democratic nations are imposing a swath of crippling economic, banking, and travel sanctions on Russia. International actions have put more than 40 percent of Russias U.S. $630 billion beyond reach, propelling its economy into freefall.

Whats the Difference?

So whats the difference? Why have countries like Singapore and Australia that have refused to impose costs on Myanmar moved so quickly to sanction Russia? Why are states like Finland and Sweden jettisoning neutrality to arm Ukraine? Why are offshore banking centers such as Switzerland and Monaco moving to freeze the assets of Russian oligarchs?

The first reason is that Russia has invaded a sovereign state. By doing so, Russia has upended core principles of international law and the foundations of international peace and security.

Myanmar had a violent overthrow of a democratic government. The junta has clearly committed egregious war crimes, but its actions have been within Myanmars sovereign territory. It neighbors in Southeast Asia and other states can hide behind their avowed principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of states.

Second, there are very real concerns that the Ukraine conflict will escalate. Russia has threatened a wider war in Europe, and should they get bogged down in an insurgency in Ukraine, they could target NATO members who are supplying Ukraine with lethal assistance. Former members of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc states have every reason to fear Putins justifications for war.

Russias use of military force is also of different magnitude. While the Myanmar military has provoked outrage by torching hundreds of homes at a time, Russia has resorted to dropping thermobaric weapons and cluster munitions, leveling cities. Russia has even made veiled threats to use nuclear weapons.

Third, Myanmar is of marginal global importance. It was once a darling of much of the international community because of its brief period of democratization after decades of direct military rule. But it is otherwise strategically and economically insignificant in the eyes of most nations.

Compare with Ukraine, which is a key supplier of food to Europe, an industrial power, and an important supply route for energy. More to the point, and one of the reasons for President Vladimir Putins decision to invade, is that Ukraine was becoming even closer and more interdependent with Europe.

Fourth, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has won over the West through his leadership. While civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi may maintain broad support in Myanmar, she has discredited herself in the West because of her defense of the militarys ethnic cleansing of minority Rohingya Muslims. It is striking how little international sympathy there has been for her since the coup despite her prosecution in closed, kangaroo court trials.

Finally, there is a degree of racism. The West is quick to defend a fellow and easily identifiable Western state. In part, it speaks to diaspora politics in the West, given the presence of Ukrainian communities in the U.S. and across Europe, something Myanmar does not enjoy to the same extent.

What can the NUG learn from Ukraine?

The NUG has every reason to feel slighted, and should be cognizant that the situation in Ukraine is going to dominate international attention. But it does present some opportunities.

The United Nations recently reported that Russia and China remain the two most important arms suppliers to the junta since the coup. As Russian forces get bogged down in Ukraine and Moscow struggles to service its own needs for armaments and ammunition, middling clients such as Myanmar will be a low priority. That will force the Tatmadaw to become even more dependent on China, a country they distrust.

Even if Moscow were able to sell arms and ammunition to Myanmar, there are questions about how the junta could pay for it given international banking sanctions. The international community could also begin to impound ships that are caught violating sanctions against Russia.

Second, the Russian invasion has reinvigorated international support for the defense of democracy. Myanmars military leaders thought they could get away with their coup because democracy and the liberal international order were in retreat. That is no longer the case.

Ukraine has been able to remind its neighbors that the economic pains caused by the sanctions were worth it. The NUG has to do the same in Myanmar. We started to see this with Total and Chevrons divestments, but more has to be done.

Third, despite improvements in their messaging, the NUG could learn from the Ukrainian governments success in controlling the narrative. Their cyber operations, psy-ops, and other information campaigns have been effective in reaching Ukrainian, Russian and Western audiences.

Fourth, the International Criminal Court already announced investigations into Russian war crimes in Ukraine. That immediate response should terrify despots around the world, especially those waging war against civilian populations.

Finally, the NUG and citizens of Myanmar would be empowered by knowing that they are not the only ones fighting for their freedom. They too want to chart their own political and economic future, rather than be dictated to by a capricious tyrant.

Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or BenarNews.
Relatives of Bangladeshi sailor Hadisur Rahman Arif cry over his death in an explosion aboard a ship at a Ukrainian port, in his home district of Barguna in southern Bangladesh, March 3, 2022,

Twenty-eight Bangladeshi crewmembers have been evacuated from a cargo ship docked at a Ukrainian port that was hit by a bomb or missile late Wednesday, killing one, Dhakas envoy to Poland told BenarNews on Thursday.

The crew were currently in a safe home in Ukraine, and in good health, Ambassador Sultana Laila Hossain said.

It was not immediately clear whether Ukraine or Russia was responsible for the strike, or whether it was intentional, amid fierce fighting between the two sides a week after Russia launched its invasion of the neighboring former Soviet republic.

Today we have evacuated the 28 Bangladeshi crew and other staff from the ship Bangla Samriddhi to a safe home in Ukraine, some two kilometers away from the Olvia port. They are in good health, Hossain said.

We have sent the dead body to a mortuary in Ukraine, she said, referring to Hadisur Rahman Arif, the sailor who was killed in the blast.

Bangladesh does not have a mission in Ukraine and the embassy in Poland is in charge of bilateral relations with Ukraine.

Arif, who was a third engineer on the ship run by the state-owned Bangladesh Shipping Corp., was killed instantly when the ship was struck, Capt. Md. Mujibur Rahman, a deputy general manager of the company, told BenarNews on Thursday.

Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, state minister for shipping, told reporters Thursday that the government would comment on the incident after determining who was responsible for the attack.

He said the government had been working through diplomatic channels to get the sailors back to Bangladesh.

At the time of the blast  9 p.m. Wednesday in Bangladesh  Arif was on a video call with his younger brother Prince, who lives in a southern district of the South Asian country, his uncle, Masudur Rahman Forkan, told BenarNews.

Arif was in an open space of the ship talking to Prince  Suddenly, Prince heard a huge sound and the call snapped. Prince thought the call had dropped due to an internet connection problem, Forkan said.

But after a while, the captain of the ship called and informed [us] that the huge sound was of the blast that killed his brother.

Forkan said the state minister for shipping had assured him that his nephews body would be brought back to his village in the Betagi sub-district of the coastal Barguna district, some 290 kilometers from the capital Dhaka.

Forkan said Arifs father was a retired madrassa (religious school) teacher and Arif was the only earning member of the poor family.

His parents are old and sick. This attack has destroyed the whole family, Forkan said.

Tariqul Islam shows a picture on a phone of his brother, Hadisur Rahman Arif, who was killed aboard a ship at a Ukrainian port, in Barguna, southern Bangladesh, March 3, 2022. [BenarNews]

Flagrant violation

Capt. Rahman of the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation told BenarNews that the ship, the Bangla Samriddhi, had sailed from Mumbais port in India for Turkey on Jan. 16, and then left Turkey and reached Ukraine on Feb. 23, a day before Russia invaded Ukraine.

The ship was loading clay at Olvia and was supposed to head for an Italian port on Feb. 24, but was stranded at the Ukrainian port after Russia attacked its next-door neighbor.

After the blast, the crew members uploaded short SOS video clips asking for the Bangladesh government to immediately rescue them from the conflict zone.

Please save us  we are near death  please do something for us, Asiful Islam, a stranded crew member, said in one video message seen by BenarNews.

Shipping analysts called the incident a flagrant violation of international laws, which exempt commercial ships from attacks by conflicting parties.

Commodore Syed Ariful Islam, a former director general of the governments Department of Shipping, said Russia would primarily be blamed for the attack because it invaded Ukraine, although Moscow may point the finger at Kyiv.

Russia or any country can in no way carry out attacks on commercial ships. This is a flagrant violation of all international laws on war and seas, he told BenarNews.

According to the Geneva Convention, UNCLOS and other laws, commercial ships cannot be the target as they are not a part of the warring parties, said Commodore Islam. UNCLOS is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

A seaport is rated as one of the safest places. So this attack is really condemnable and regrettable, he added.

Md. Mazaharul Hoque Prodhan, a member of the parliamentary watchdog at the Ministry of Shipping, blamed the Bangladesh Shipping Corp. for the death of the Bangladeshi sailor in Ukraine.

The media has been circulating for months that Russia would invade Ukraine. Why did they send the ship to Ukraine? This is a senseless decision, I think, he told BenarNews.

Certainly, I will raise the issue at the next meeting of the standing committee to make the [Bangladesh] Shipping Corporation and the shipping ministry accountable, said Prodhan, a senior ruling party lawmaker.

Meanwhile, Reuters news agency reported that many shipping companies have halted sailings to affected Black Sea ports and other terminals in Ukraine, and that at least three commercial ships have been hit by projectiles since Feb. 24.
Bangladesh will carry on with completing its first nuclear energy plant being built by Russia and will not stop doing business with Moscow, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other officials said Thursday, despite many other nations imposing sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia is constructing as well as financing 90 percent of the total cost for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) in Pabna, a district in northwestern Bangladesh. In late 2017, the Russian state-run nuclear energy firm Rosatom began constructing the plant, which has a price-tag of nearly U.S. $13 billion, and is expected to finish it in mid-2023.

The work of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is progressing speedily and the government has a plan to install another nuclear power plant, Hasina said Thursday.

While the prime minister said the project remained a go, geopolitical analysts and economists told BenarNews that uncertainty over its implementation has increased after nations including the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada penalized Russias central bank and excluded some Russian banks from the SWIFT system. The system is a network used by banks to allow financial transactions across the globe.

A.H.M. Mustafa Kamal, Bangladeshs finance minister, said officials could look for alternative transaction options following the decision on SWIFT.

A currency swap could be one of the options, he said after approving a proposal to purchase 30,000 tons of potassium chloride fertilizer valued at $17.4 million (1.5 billion taka) from Russias Foreign Economic Corp.

That purchasing fertilizer from Russia was not a new thing. We will try to continue to import items from Russia, he said, adding that if Moscow failed to deliver, the government would explore alternative sources.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for Bangladeshs central bank, Md. Serajul Islam, said he expected Bangladesh to continue transactions with Russian banks not affected by the sanctions.

In addition, the Bangladesh Bank already sent a letter to the Finance Ministry to allow us to do a currency swap with the country to avoid SWIFT-related restrictions, he told BenarNews.

Peace-loving nation

After a National Economic Council meeting chaired by Hasina on Wednesday, Planning Minister M.A. Mannan said the construction of the nuclear plant would not be affected by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine because of a bilateral agreement with Moscow.

Bangladesh is against any war. The prime minister has clearly said we are a peace-loving country. We want peace, not war, Mannan told BenarNews.

Though they are fighting, both the countries are friends of Bangladesh. Ukraine is our friend. And Russia has been our friend for a long time. We always recognize the Russian role in our Liberation War, he said, referring to the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan that led to Bangladeshs birth as a nation.

He made the comments the same day Bangladesh abstained from voting on a United Nations General Assembly resolution, which condemned Russias aggression in Ukraine and demanded that Moscow immediately withdraw its troops from its neighbor next-door. As many as 141 U.N. member-states voted in favor, while five voted no and 35 abstained.

Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi media consultant representing Rosatom released a statement from the company to BenarNews without elaborating.

No disruption is foreseen in any of the commitments and work schedules in the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, it stated.

A Bangladeshi who is a worker on the project said he and other employees had always been paid on time for their work in constructing the plant, but many were now concerned about whether they would still receive a steady paycheck because of the Ukraine invasion.

Though the authorities assured us that payments would be done normally and the work environment is still normal at the project site, many workers are worried about the future, Md. Hasan Miazi told BenarNews.

Analysts concerns

If Russian President Vladimir Putin does not end the invasion or withdraw his forces from Ukraine soon, that could have a negative impact not only on the project in Bangladesh, according to a professor at Dhaka University.

Not only Bangladesh, but countries who have financial relations or projects with Russia all will be in trouble. This crisis will come into the fore within three months if the war does not stop, Delwar Hossain, a professor of international relations, told BenarNews.

As such mega-projects must be prepared for unexpected situations, the current conflict will not hamper it if the war ends immediately, he said.

Bangladesh could end up paying if the ongoing conflict brings an end to the construction project, another academic said.

Uncertainty over such mega-projects creates serious problems for countries like Bangladesh. Bangladesh would be bound to repay Russia the credit given for the project, Anu Muhammad, a professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University, told BenarNews.

Meanwhile, a security analyst expressed the need to move ahead cautiously.

Any wrong move in dealing with Russia can put Bangladesh under sanctions. So Bangladesh should be alert of every global development in the Russia-Ukraine issue, said Abdur Rashid, a retired major-general.
Members of the United Nations General Assembly vote on a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a special session of the assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, March 2, 2022.

A new ASEAN statement about the situation in Ukraine calls for a ceasefire without naming Russia or using the word invasion  in puzzling contrast to most of the blocs members supporting a strongly worded U.N. resolution that condemned Moscow the day before.

The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in the collective statement they issued on Thursday, said they were deeply troubled by the intensifying gravity of the situation resulting from the military hostilities in Ukraine.

We therefore, call for an immediate ceasefire or armistice and continuation of political dialogues that would lead to sustainable peace in Ukraine, the statement said.

We underline the importance of a ceasefire to create an enabling environment for negotiations to address the current crisis and avoid expanding suffering of innocent people.

By contrast, the U.N. General Assembly resolution deplored the aggression by Russia against Ukraine.

The General Assembly demands that the Russian Federation immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine and to refrain from any further unlawful threat or use of force against any member state, the resolution said.

It also demands that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, the resolution added.

General Assembly resolutions, though non-binding, have political heft and reflect international opinion. So the fact that 141 of the assembly's 193 member-nations supported the resolution means showed there is overwhelming support for Ukraine worldwide.

Syed Mohamad Hasrin Aidid, Malaysias ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during the 11th emergency special session of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Russias invasion of Ukraine, at U.N. headquarters in New York, March 1, 2022. [Reuters]

Statement on Ukraine invasion was weak

In Southeast Asia, too, there was similar overwhelming support for the former Soviet republic as eight of 10 ASEAN countries voted in favor of the forcefully worded U.N. resolution, even though the regional bloc itself issued what one political analyst called a weak statement.

Among the ASEAN member-states, Vietnam and Laos abstained from voting in favor of the resolution. In ASEAN, Vietnam has the strongest historical ties with Russia. Laos also has had a close relationship with what was the Soviet Union and has been expanding military ties with Russia.

But Southeast Asian nations such as Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, which individually did not condemn Russia, voted in favor of the strong U.N. resolution. The Myanmar ambassador to the U.N. was among those voting for the resolution, but he opposes Myanmars junta, which has voiced support for the Russian invasion.

In Thailand, apparently, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told the cabinet on Tuesday that the kingdom would be neutral in the Russia-Ukraine affair, because the longstanding relations between Thailand and Moscow must be factored in, a source told The Bangkok Post.

Therefore, not surprisingly, Thailands statement at the U.N. did not mention Russia or invasion, and yet Thailand did vote for the resolution condemning Russia.

But the statement by Suriya Chindawongse, permanent representative of Thailand to the U.N., said Thailand was gravely concerned with the worsening violence as a result of the use of military force in Ukraine.

Also, the kingdom has particular respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of states, and refraining from the use of force or threat of use of force against another state, he said.

Similarly, Malaysia, which had until two days ago not condemned Russia or even mentioned it by name in its statements at home, voted in favor of the U.N. resolution in New York, saying the principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states were sacrosanct to the country.

And yet, it also said that it had strong and close relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Cambodia, ASEANs chair this year, also had said at home that it was staying neutral, but voted for the U.N. resolution noting that its firm position was that U.N. member-states must respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of other member states.

ASEAN statement on Ukraine invasion was weak, as were most national responses apart from Singapore, Ben Bland, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney think-tank, said on Twitter.

On Monday, Singapore broke from ASEANs line by saying it would impose sanctions on Russia and suspend exports of items that could be used as weapons in Ukraine, as well as block some banking and financial transactions linked to Russia.

Analysts called the city-states move unprecedented.

As for ASEANs statements, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said on Twitter that their real value is [they] allow  its members to duck and hide, and avoid taking a stand on sensitive issues.
Indonesian military and police officers carry a bag with the body of a construction worker killed by separatist rebels in Papua province, Dec. 6, 2018.

In the deadliest attack by insurgents in Indonesias Papua region since 2018, separatist rebels killed eight workers who were repairing a telecommunications tower, security officials said Thursday.

The attack in Beoga, a district of Puncak regency, targeted employees working for PT Palapa Timur Telematika (PTT) who were repairing a tower belonging to the countrys largest cellular operator, Telkomsel, according to a spokesman for a joint police and military task force.

The attack took place on Wednesday, but only became known today, Ahmad Musthofa Kamal said in a statement. Eight PTT employees were killed by the armed criminal group.

A Papuan rebel group said its members had attacked and killed the workers.

Kamal said a worker discovered the bodies after arriving at the site on Thursday and phoned authorities. Security personnel had not yet been able to retrieve the victims bodies because of poor weather, Kamal said.

The Puncak police department has formed a team to assist in the evacuation process and conduct an investigation, he said, adding that investigators have footage from security cameras that captured the attack.

The attack in the region in Indonesias far east is reminiscent of one on Dec. 2, 2018, carried out by the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB). The rebels attacked workers who were building roads and bridges in Nduga regency as part of the Trans-Papua Highway project. They killed 20 people, including an Indonesian soldier.

At the time, the TPNPB said those killed were not civilian workers, but soldiers from the armys engineering detachment. The attack prompted the government to send troops to Papua.

The same group, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), claimed responsibility for Wednesdays attack.

We shot dead eight people. One person fell into a ravine when we shot him, so we dont know his fate, the TPNPB said in a statement that identified the victims by their names.

The statement urged the Indonesian government to immediately withdraw approval for a gold mine at the Wabu Block in Intan Jaya Regency, to close the massive Grasberg gold and copper mine operated by U.S.-based Freeport McMoRan, and resolve cases of human rights violations in Papua.

As long as the government continues to entertain the Wabu block and Freeport is still running, we will continue to fight and fight until the last drop of our blood, the TPNPB said.

Papua military command spokesman Col. Aqsha Erlangga said police would lead the investigation into Wednesdays killings.

The Papua police will hunt the killers. This is an extraordinary crime, Aqsha said in a statement.

Ambush

On Thursday, a soldier was injured in an ambush by about 15 armed separatist fighters in Beoga, about 15 km (9 miles) from the scene of Wednesdays killings in the district, Aqsha said.

Meanwhile, civilians apparently sought refuge at a church to escape fighting between rebels and security forces.

This afternoon, the displaced Beoga community gathered at Milawak 1 Church. Please help, read a message on the Facebook page of Info Beoga. The page posted photos showing children sitting on the churchs lawn.

Violence and tensions in the Papua region  made up of the provinces of Papua and West Papua  have intensified in recent years.

In 2019, more than 40 people were killed across the region after police raided a dorm in Surabaya, Java, and arrested dozens of Papuan students amid allegations they had disrespected the Indonesian flag. Video circulated of the armed police using racial slurs against the students.

Last year, the government designated separatist rebels as terrorists after insurgents ambushed and killed an army general who headed the regional branch of the National Intelligence Agency. The killing prompted President Joko Jokowi Widodo to order a crackdown.

The OPM has fought for independence for the mainly Christian region since the 1960s in the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation.

In 1963, Indonesian forces invaded Papua  like Indonesia, a former Dutch colony  and annexed the region that makes up the western half of New Guinea island.

Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a United Nations-sponsored vote, which locals and activists said was a sham because it involved only about 1,000 people. However, the U.N. accepted the result, which essentially endorsed Jakartas rule.
Lt. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr., head of the Western Mindanao Command (center), inspects a weapon recovered from a militant camp and part of a cache on display in Marawi, southern Philippines, March 3, 2022.

At least seven militants and a soldier have been killed in three days during a major military operation in the southern Philippines, officials said Thursday, as government forces pursue the alleged new regional leader of the Islamic State extremist group and his 50 followers.

In the city of Marawi on Thursday, the Philippine military displayed a cache of firearms recovered from the fighting since March 1 in a hinterland of Lanao del Sur province.

Among the weapons and munitions seized from the Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group militants were 45 high-powered firearms including shoulder-fired rocket launchers, bombs, and anti-personnel mines, said Lt. Gen. Alfredo Rosario Jr., head of Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom).

The operations resulted in the deaths of seven Daulah Islamiyah members and the recovery of several war materials, Rosario said using the local name for the Islamic State (IS) group.

All eight deaths, including the government soldier, were the result of ground combat, according to military officials. The soldier was killed on Tuesday, the first day of the fighting during which the military also carried out air strikes on a suspected militant camp in a hinterland village in Maguing town. The offensive was still ongoing as of late Thursday.

"Daulah Islamiyah" means "Islamic State" in the local language. Its membership comprises fighters from several Filipino militant factions, including the Maute Group, which had provided men and logistics during a five-month siege of Marawi by pro-IS fighters in 2017.

Rosario said a black IS flag and other propaganda materials were also recovered. This indicated that the group was actively recruiting new fighters to replenish their ranks after being driven out of Marawi, the provincial capital, in 2017, he said.

The military has identified the target of the offensive as the group led by to Abu Zacharia (also known as Jer Mimbantas and Faharudin Hadji Satar), who is believed to be the newly designated Islamic State emir for Southeast Asia.

Earlier in the week, the military said it launched the offensive because it suspected that Zacharia and up to 50 of his supporters were encamped in the hinterland area near Maguing.

According to the military, Zacharia was part of the Maute group that seized Marawi in 2017 but who escaped. Very little is known about him, except that he is a nephew of the late Alim Abdul Aziz Mimbantas, a former ranking leader in Lanao of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a former rebel group based in the southern Philippines.

Terrorism expert Rommel Banlaoi told BenarNews that Zacharia regards himself as the new rightful successor of Isnilon Hapilon. In 2017, Hapilon, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf militant group, was also the regional leader of IS when he led the siege of Marawi and was killed at the end of the five-month battle with government forces.

Zacharia is projecting himself as the new Hashim Salamat or the new Abdurajak Janjalani, Banlaoi said.

He was referring to the late Salamat, the charismatic foreign-trained founder of the MILF, and Janjalani, the mujahideen leader who, in the 1990s, founded the Abu Sayyaf Group after returning from fighting occupying Soviet forces in Afghanistan.

An anti-tank rocket seized from Filipino Islamic State militants is displayed with other recovered weapons in Marawi, southern Philippines, March 3, 2022. [Richel V. Umel/BenarNews]

Early Tuesday, the Philippine launched the assault on the Maute Group positions, with the air force carrying out what it claimed were precision bombing runs to allow the infantry to advance.

The military has described the hinterland outside Maguing as a sparsely populated area. It is about 37 km (33 miles) southeast of Marawi.

Early on during the operation, there were concerns that the aerial bombardments could have endangered villagers.

The former MILF separatist group, which now controls an autonomous region in the south, said Wednesday that the area where the fighting was taking place bordered one of its territories.

There were no immediate reports of any civilian casualties, it said, but the fighting had forced an undetermined number of villagers to flee out of fear of getting caught in the middle of the raids.

The MILF leadership had dispatched their men to join the military for an inspection of the battle site, Brig. Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo, commander of the 103rd Infantry Brigade, said Thursday.

Our partners from the MILF are with us in this fight against the Daulah Islamiyah here in Lanao del Sur. Their support is very much appreciated, Cuerpo said.

MILF, the largest among guerrilla organizations fighting for a separate Muslim state in the mainly Catholic Philippines, signed a peace agreement in 2014 with Manila after 17 years of conflict and negotiations.

Col. Ramon Zagala, the overall spokesman of the Philippine armed forces, also sought to assure the MILF that the government respected the peace accord it had signed with the government in 2014 and that the targeted enemies were actually peace spoilers.

Our enemy there are the members of the terrorist Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group. Its not the MILF that we engaged, Zagala told a radio interview.

Wed like to assure our partners in the MILF that we respect the peace accord. We are on track, and were merely targeting the peace spoilers, not them, said Zagala, who is based in Manila.

A BenarNews correspondent contributed to this report from Zamboanga City, southern Philippines.
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Cops and Courts Reporter

Amanda Burke is Cops and Courts Reporter for The Berkshire Eagle. An Ithaca, New York native, she previously worked at The Herald News of Fall River and the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise.
PITTSFIELD  Chilis Grill and Bar is on notice with the Licensing Board after a patron at the restaurant became belligerent and began fighting staff and other patrons during an incident in December.

The board voted unanimously during a show cause hearing last Monday to place a complaint filed by the Pittsfield Police Department against the restaurant on file for a year. The move essentially pauses the boards handling of the complaint and any sanctions for a year. If further complaints are levied against the restaurant the board will revisit the December complaint. If no further complaints arise, then the December complaint will be dismissed.

The complaint alleges that the restaurant served an intoxicated patron alcohol and allowed a disturbance to occur. Its the first complaint against the restaurant since the restaurant received its alcohol license in 2018.

Chili's opening in Pittsfield next month PITTSFIELD  A Chili's Grill and Bar will be open soon at Berkshire Crossing. The newly built eatery is scheduled to open in mid- to late December, said Kristen Moore, a spokesperson for 

I do think there were some things that werent done right, but I also see that there were a lot of things that you did take control over and not have that particular episode escalate, board member Kathy Amuso said.

About 5 p.m. Dec. 16, police responded to the Chilis on Hubbard Avenue, after reports of a male party fighting with multiple people at the same time. The man, who had left by the time police arrived, later was arrested by officers in the misdemeanor assault of an officer, assault of a family member, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Staff told the officers that the man  he was a regular at the bar  arrived that afternoon and was served two beers. The man was cut off and asked to leave after he began arguing with a friend at the bar.

Manager David Powell told the board that as he tried to calm the man down and walk him out, the man started to fight other guests in the restaurant who were celebrating his departure.

Police and Powell disagree over whether staff believed that the man already was intoxicated when he was served at the bar.

Boston-based attorney Andrew Upton, who represented the national restaurant chain, said that the man came in his work clothes and looked like hed just gotten off of a shift, so, staff didnt believe that he had been drinking before arriving to Chilis.

I know youre from Boston, but here in the Berkshires, people do stop in their work clothes to have a few drinks after work, Vice Chair Richard Stockwell said. He could have very easily started at noon someplace else and his last stop was at Chilis.

In Pittsfield, show cause hearings for serving intoxicated patrons are rare, with only about one or two incidents occurring in a typical year, according the the board clerk. The Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission reportedly recorded an increase in violations for serving intoxicated patrons after COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed, according to the same clerk.
PITTSFIELD  With a final design complete, the Department of Transportation soon will convene an online public hearing to brief travelers on construction work that will begin this year and wrap up in late 2023.

For commuters weary of a one-lane bridge, that means a different inconvenience, for a time. Construction on the Holmes Road bridge will result in a complete closing of the roads passage over the Housatonic Railroad tracks nearly 2 miles from Route 7.

The hearing starts at 6:30 p.m. March 9. To participate, people need to visit t.ly/wpoI to register.

The DOT previously updated its plans at a meeting in Pittsfield in August, when designs were one-quarter complete  and when residents, joined by their state senator, expressed frustration that a new bridge would not be complete until late 2023. That timetable hasn't changed.

The $3.4 million project will go out to bid this summer, the DOT says.

The road will be closed to all traffic, including pedestrians, in summer 2023. The planned detour route will steer travelers to Route 7, Crofut Street and Pomeroy Avenue. Another alternative route already being used by some is East New Lenox Road and New Lenox Road.

In a statement, the DOT said it has been working with the city of Pittsfield to plan for travel by emergency vehicles. During construction, before and after the bridges full closing, police officers will be present to help people continue to cross, even as some construction work proceeds.

The bridge was restricted to one lane in 2019, after an inspection found severely deteriorated beams on the east side of the 70-foot span.

Existing bridge supports will be rehabbed and reused, the DOT said. The existing overpass section will be replaced by new materials in virtually the same place.

Beyond the bridge itself, work will be done to 125 feet of road on the northeast side of the bridge and to 225 feet of road on the southwest side.
Paul Belogour, owner of Vermont News & Media, has employees based in Ukraine who work globally for his many businesses. Some of those employees are Eugene Sherbak, head of website development; Eugene Sidoronok, head of sales, in a Vermont Innovation Box T-shirt; Ilya Petrov, head of IT operations, Boston Unisoft Technologies; Ivan Sonin, head of software development; and Arsen Abovyan, head of technical support.
GREAT BARRINGTON  After years of rejection, the community got a shot of hope Wednesday that Monument Mountain Regional High School someday will get a new look, new labs  and a roof that doesnt leak.

Monument now is eligible to move toward obtaining state money for a new or renovated building, the Massachusetts School Building Authority announced Wednesday.

During the 270-day eligibility period, Berkshire Hills Regional School District officials will have to create a local school building committee that will work with the authority to determine the Districts financial and community readiness to enter the MSBA Capital Pipeline, agency officials said in a statement.

That will lead to a feasibility study of potential plans subject to approval by the authoritys board of directors.

This is a huge deal, said Berkshire Hills Regional School District Superintendent Peter Dillon, noting that 17 schools made the eligibility list and 47 schools were rejected in this round. Its a miracle. Its a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Youve heard people say, Communities are as good as their schools.

The announcement is a relief to school officials whose attempts to fix or rebuild Monument landed them on a decadelong roller-coaster ride of community discord over mounting school budgets and taxes, education and population shifts  all while trying to maintain an outdated, deteriorating remnant of the past and educate students in it.

The districts application said the building falls short in nearly all academic areas by not supporting modern learning. Automotive, horticulture, early childhood and culinary programs are in danger of losing accreditation and other support as a result.

Also, the building lacks a fire-suppression system. The list of problems goes on, and it includes systems installed in 1968.

This was the districts sixth application to the authority, two of which resulted in proposals to voters. Both times, in 2013 and 2015, Great Barrington voters sank the plans, mostly over the ensuing increase in that towns property taxes. Anger over Great Barringtons greater share of school costs than Stockbridge and West Stockbridge resulted in a deal to lower them in the future for construction projects, thus paving the way for approval of a high school overhaul.

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But, the authority rejected subsequent requests for money, citing concerns about the lack of buy-in from voters and the long list of other school districts competing statewide for School Building Authority money.

In the intervening years, costs have increased significantly. The 2015 proposal pegged the cost at $51.2 million for a renovation/addition, with the Massachusetts School Building Authority footing nearly half the bill.

By 2019, the calculus had changed. A group estimated that a potential 2023 renovation/addition project could cost $70 million to $96 million.

The district is continuing to work with the Southern Berkshire Regional School District on a plan to consolidate or at least share resources. It is unclear exactly how this will factor into the plans. Dillon said variables include projected enrollment, as well as the ongoing mission to expand vocational and technical education.

The district plans to build support and trust, and believes that its possible this time around.

Great Barrington today is very different than it was 10 years ago, Dillon said. Theres more growth and revenue, and I think our educational vision is much stronger now.

School Committee Chairman Stephen Bannon has been on this bumpy ride from the start.

Theres a long road ahead, he said, noting that the district still must win support from voters.

We have to keep our end of the bargain  we have to have the best school possible within a fairly tight economic picture, he said.

He said the committee had planned to overhaul Monument even if the MSBA rejected the committee. Now, the burden on taxpayers will be shared to some degree by the state. The other good news is that the debt for the new elementary and middle schools will be closed out next year. That should help.

I hope the towns will put that money aside for the high school, Bannon said.
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data.
In November 2016, Attorney General Maura Healey laid out her case for voting against against a ballot question that would legalize and tax marijuana in Massachusetts. Voters passed the proposal, with 52 percent in favor and 45 percent against.
Art works using AI technology on exhibition in Vancouver

Xinhua) 10:02, March 03, 2022

A woman looks at an art work created by using AI technology during the media preview of "The Imitation Game" exhibition at Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 2, 2022. The exhibition, which runs from March 5 until Oct. 23, 2022, reviews the art and cultural aspect by examining the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology as a medium in the production of modern art form. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A woman looks at an art work created by using AI and robotic technology during the media preview of "The Imitation Game" exhibition at Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 2, 2022. The exhibition, which runs from March 5 until Oct. 23, 2022, reviews the art and cultural aspect by examining the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology as a medium in the production of modern art form. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

People look at exhibits during the media preview of "The Imitation Game" exhibition at Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 2, 2022. The exhibition, which runs from March 5 until Oct. 23, 2022, reviews the art and cultural aspect by examining the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology as a medium in the production of modern art form. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

A visitor looks at art works created by using AI technology during the media preview of "The Imitation Game" exhibition at Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on March 2, 2022. The exhibition, which runs from March 5 until Oct. 23, 2022, reviews the art and cultural aspect by examining the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology as a medium in the production of modern art form. (Photo by Liang Sen/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
An F/A-18E Super Hornet of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 211, launches on an air policing patrol from the carrier USS Harry S. Truman. (Seaman Hunter Day/U.S. Navy)

Aircraft carriers got a shout-out in the Senate on Thursday, as Virginias Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner introduced a resolution to mark the centennial of those Navy mainstays.

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It acknowledges that, in a time of great power competition that the world has not seen for over 30 years, aircraft carriers will continue to be an absolutely vital strategic platform ... to ensure security and stability throughout the world, now and well into the future.

Carriers, the resolution said, are the cornerstone of the Navy.

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In recent years theres been occasional rumbling around Washington about whether the Navy needs so many of the nuclear carriers built at Newport News Shipbuilding  even, at one point, a short-lived suggestion from the Obama Administration not to undertake the multi-billion-dollar refueling and overhaul of USS George Washington that the yard has nearly completed. That would have in effect cut the size of the carrier fleet from 11 to 10.

In 2021, a Future Naval Force Study from the Pentagon said it might be worth thinking about reducing the fleet to as few as eight, while substituting as many as six light carriers.

The Virginia senators resolution noted that Norfolk Naval Shipyard workers built the Navys first carrier, USS Langley, by converting a Navy coal ship. The Langley was commissioned a century ago.

Now, the senators noted, there are more than 13,100 people and 2,450 companies in 48 states and more than 364 congressional districts contributing to building and maintaining carriers.

Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com
What Does it Mean That Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of God?

Understanding the meaning of Romans 8:39 brings us closer to understanding the amazing God we serve. Paul starts this verse with mentions of height and depth. The mention of height is important because Paul is referring to anything beyond the heavens. Christians usually believe there is nothing beyond heaven. We dont actually know, but Paul is covering all the bases. He is saying that if there is anything beyond heaven or space, it will not cause us to be separated from God.

Paul also includes depth in his writing, which has been referred to as death by many theologians. Pastors and teachers understand Paul to be reminding believers that death is not the end. Death is the lowest point on Earth, but the highest point in the life of a Christian. Death has been conquered because Jesus died on the cross. The war is won.

Paul was not discussing a New Testament thought. King David also understood this truth in the Old Testament before Christ had come. David had experienced the provision, protection, and love God had for him. He knew there was nothing that would keep God from loving him. His word in Psalms proves that.

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there (Psalm 139:8).

After Paul addresses height and depth, he speaks of anything else in creation. Nor anything else speaks of anything created new or different in the world. If another or different world is created, we are still protected by Gods love.

The second half of the verse discusses being separated from God. Paul is driving home the point that there is nothing that can separate us from God. Because God loved us so much  enough to send his beloved Son to die for us  nothing can get in the way of that love. That love is unconditional. That love is always there to be taken hold of if we only have faith.

Romans 8:39 is the climatic finale to this chapter of Romans. Paul has used these words to describe the love of God to the people. He has chosen his words wisely to let the Romans know that once they receive Christ as their Savior, nothing in their world would have the power to separate them from God. This verse is still true for believers today.

With Pauls encouragement, we can be sure that God is always with us. But what would it be like if we were separated from Him? To be separated from God would mean a life filled with hurt, pain, and fear. Christians experience those feelings from time to time, but we can cope and process them better. With Christ, we can continue moving forward because we have Christ to give these feelings too. When you are separated from God, your pain and hurt can drive you to unhealthy situations. Fear can change the decisions you make, and the hope of joy and happiness is diminished.

Photo credit: Crosscards.com
CALDWELL - Troopers with the Idaho State Police arrested a man on the roof of a Caldwell pizza restaurant on Wednesday after he crashed the stolen pickup he was driving and fled on foot.

Idaho State Police had received word from Oregon State Police that a man driving a stolen pickup was entering Idaho on eastbound Interstate 84. The pickup was reported stolen earlier on Wednesday from North Powder in Union County, Oregon.

An ISP Trooper on patrol in Canyon County spotted the pickup at approximately 10:18 a.m. The trooper attempted a traffic stop but the driver continued driving. Another trooper deployed spike strips that disabled the vehicle just west of Caldwell.

At South 10th Avenue in Caldwell, the pickup went down an embankment and crashed into a fence. The driver, 25-year-old Justin Jay Ransford of Montana, ran from the crash scene and toward a nearby pizza restaurant where he was able to climb onto the roof.

With the assistance of a ladder truck from the Caldwell Fire Department, officers with the Caldwell Police Department and ISP Troopers also accessed the building's roof and took the man into custody. Troopers booked him into the Canyon County Jail.

ISP dispatchers and Troopers were able to contact the owner of the pickup who says the personal items inside the truck, and the truck itself, are very meaningful to the family and they are happy the truck was located and will be returned.
GRANGEVILLE - On Thursday, March 10, the Idaho Fish & Game will host an information workshop on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) at the Senior Citizens Center (108 Grangeville Truck Rte) in Grangeville. This meeting will be open to the public.

Last year, Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was detected for the first time ever in Unit 14, within the Slate Creek Drainage. Since that time IDFG has been busy implementing measures developed in their 2021 Strategy for Chronic Wasting Disease plan.

The Idaho Fish & Game says this workshop will be the "first of many." Topics to be discussed will include: CWD Disease Information; Recent Aerial Surveys in Elk City zone; Statewide CWD Strategies; and follow up with recent CWD season proposals.

On the same day, IDFG staff will also be hosting a landowner meeting about CWD management from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at the Confluence Store (125 Hoots Ln) in Whitebird, ID.

Hunters and other interested parties can comment on proposed changes to the 2022 deer and elk seasons through March 13. Proposals are in response to the first-ever detection of Chronic Wasting Disease in Unit 14, as well as a recurrence of another disease that unexpectedly reduced whitetails herds in Clearwater Region. The commission is scheduled to decide on changes at its March 23-24 meeting at 600 S. Walnut St. in Boise.

Statewide, Fish and Game tested more than 2,500 animals for CWD in 2021. Since 1997, when the Fish and Game began testing for the disease, more than 20,000 animals have been sampled.

CWD is a neurological disease that affects deer, elk, moose and caribou. There is no practical live test for the disease, so only samples taken from dead animals can be used. Although new to Idaho, CWD is found in 29 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces, including neighboring states Montana, Wyoming and Utah.

For questions on these meeting or proposals, contact the Lewiston Fish and Game office at (208) 799-5010.
BOISE - On Thursday, Idaho Governor Brad Little kicked off Operation Esto Perpetua," a new strategy mentioned in his January 10 State of the State address that will serve to combat Idahos growing drug threat.

Meth and fentanyl are the most serious and growing drug threats in Idaho, and there is a direct tie to the loose border with Mexico," said Governor Little. "There is much more we can do to make Idahos communities safer. With Operation Esto Perpetua, we are bringing together law enforcement, lawmakers, cities, counties, tribes, families, and the public in new ways with one goal  to meaningfully reduce the flow of fentanyl and meth into the State of Idaho."

Governor Little says that the increasing availability of drugs  high supply, low price, and totally unpredictable potency  along with the impact on Idaho communities from abuse and crime related to drug abuse, present continuing threats to the health and safety of Idahoans.

Operation Esto Perpetua includes both a Law Enforcement Panel and a Citizens Action Group on Fentanyl. Over the next couple of months, the Citizens Action Group on Fentanyl will meet regularly throughout the state. They will hear from local law enforcement and members of the public about their loved ones experiences with fentanyl and meth. The Citizens Action Group will take input and comments from the public at each stop.

I encourage Idahoans to participate in the regional meetings coming up over the next two months and share their personal experiences with the Citizens Action Group on Fentanyl," said Little. "We need to hear from Idahoans about the impacts of fentanyl and meth in the lives of their loved ones."

More information about Operation Esto Perpetua and upcoming meetings is available at https://gov.idaho.gov/operation-esto-perpetua/.

The Law Enforcement Panel includes:

Col. Ked Wills of the Idaho State Police

Pocatello Chief of Police Roger Schei, representing the Idaho Chiefs of Police Association

Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue, representing the Idaho Sheriffs Association

Boise Police Detective Mike Miraglia, representing the Fraternal Order of the Police

Marianne King, director of the Governors Office of Drug Policy

Luke Malek, attorney and former prosecutor

The Citizens Action Group on Fentanyl includes:

Shoshone-Paiute Tribe Chairman Brian Thomas

Custer County Commissioner Wayne Butts

Coeur dAlene Mayor Jim Hammond

House Speaker Scott Bedke

Senator Abby Lee

Dana Kirkham, former mayor of Ammon, eastern Idaho mother

One other public member to be named

Luke Malek will chair the action group

To reinforce Idahos commitment to this effort, Governor Little is seeking $250,000 to carry out the objectives of Operation Esto Perpetua.

Last year, Governor Little sent a team of Idaho State Police troopers to the U.S.-Mexico border to assist the State of Arizona with their drug interdiction efforts, and they returned with better knowledge and intel to fight the drug battle here in Idaho.
HOODSPORT, WA - Hatchery crews at Hoodsport Hatchery in Mason County, Washington have identified a loss of more than 3.5 million chum salmon fry following extreme flooding that resulted in significant debris in the hatcherys water intake system.

According to the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, the incident coincided with an atmospheric river that prompted active flood warnings for the nearby Skokomish River. With standby hatchery staff responding to equipment alarms throughout the night, the debris ultimately resulted in inadequate flows to hatchery incubation trays.

The WDFW is analyzing the incident and says they will take appropriate actions to mitigate future incidents at Hoodsport Hatchery.

Our hatchery crews are deeply committed to the health and well-being of these fish and the fisheries they support, said Joe Coutu, WDFW hatchery operations manager for Hood Canal and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We are disappointed by this loss alongside anglers, tribal co-managers and communities that depend on fishing.

Hoodsport Hatchery is one of two other WDFW hatcheries that support Hood Canal chum production. This loss is estimated to have accounted for about 9 percent of planned Hood Canal chum salmon releases between WDFWs Hoodsport and McKernan hatcheries.

Surplus fry from McKernan Hatchery will backfill the loss.

The WDFW operates 80 hatcheries across Washington and raises about 48.4 million chum salmon fry annually. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife works to preserve, protect and perpetuate fish, wildlife and ecosystems while providing sustainable fish and wildlife recreational and commercial opportunities.
Bojangles, the fast food restaurant known for its chicken and biscuits, will open five new locations in Hampton Roads starting next year. (Courtesy of Bojangles)

Bojangles, known for its hand-breaded chicken and buttermilk biscuits, plans to expand in Hampton Roads.

Five Hampton Roads Bojangles restaurants are under new ownership and five more are planned starting in 2023.

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The Bojangles at 3927 Victory Blvd. in Portsmouth, 3605 Bridge Road in Suffolk, 7519 Tidewater Drive in Norfolk and 1948 Laskin and 3541 Holland Road in Virginia Beach were owned by Kerry and Justina Karali. The Karalis, a husband-and-wife team, became Bojangles franchise owners in January 2007.

They were great operators and innovators when it came to delivery, online ordering, curbside order ahead and anything digital, Jose Costa, Bojangles chief growth officer, said.

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Now the restaurants, featuring Southern fare with a modern twist, have switched hands and are owned by Yoshi Nakamura and Kirk Hartman with NAKA Capital Restaurant Group.

In addition to taking over the local restaurants, Nakamura and Hartman signed an agreement in December to open five other locations in the same cities as their existing locations.

Costa said they will all most likely be new builds, but conversions are also a possibility.

Each new restaurant will feature Bojangles biscuit theater, which showcases the master baker at work. Drive-thru customers can also watch the biscuits being made through a window.

All of the Karalis employees were kept on board. The new locations will bring an additional 300-plus jobs.

Founded and based in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 1977, Bojangles has just under 800 restaurants in 18 states throughout the U.S. and three in Honduras.

Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.com
In an illuminating conversation Wednesday, Bill spoke with former Senator Joe Lieberman about Putin's sanity and the possibility of a hot war involving the USA.

Enhance your life  become a Premium Member for complete access to the No Spin News and get a FREE COPY of Killing the Killers.
Report highlights available information on adaptation measures

poorer communities most affected by climate change

This is an important contribution to enhancing scientific understanding on climate change on the impacts, adaptation and vulnerability that must inform international policy in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP27 in Egypt in November 2022, the minister said.The assessment report, which was released on Monday, is the second in a series of reports to be adopted under the IPCC sixth assessment cycle. In March, the IPCC will release the next reports on dealing with mitigation of climate change, and finally, a synthesis report of the key findings of all three reports will be released later in the year.The scientific evidence is unequivocal. Climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss the brief, rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future, Creecy said.The report highlights and analyses information available, including a chapter on the African continent, further emphasising the vulnerability of all countries on the continent and the urgency of developing and implementing adaptation measures across the continent and in multiple sectors.The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment said African countries have already experienced widespread loss and damage as a result of human-induced climate change.Southern Africa is no different and is already facing loss of lives and impacts on human health, reduced economic growth, water shortages, reduced food production, biodiversity loss and adverse impacts on human settlements and infrastructure.The report makes clear that our development pathways must become more climate resilient - and that choices we make as a society now are critical. With increasing global warming, losses and damages will increase, and additional human and natural systems will reach adaptation limits, the department said.The report also emphasised that those most impacted by climate change are poorer communities.This means that equitable access to sustainable development is essential in our response to climate change. The IPCC report finds that climate change will increasingly undermine food security.At 2C warming by 2050, people in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Central and South America and on small islands are likely to experience food shortages, leading to malnutrition. This means that the ability to adapt and develop in a climate resilient manner is critical, for example, through adopting stress-tolerant crops and livestock, diversification on farms, the department said.The minister said South Africas response to climate change will be one of inclusive, equitable, climate compatible development as espoused in the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.In this regard, we will continue to work together with the Climate Commission to identify pathways for a Just Transition to a low carbon economy and climate resilient society by mid-century ... Creecy said.
The launch of the Institute for Futures Research (IFR) Future of Work in Agriculture 2035 report took place recently at the Grain Building in Pretoria to reveal which skills will be needed for a healthy industry in the future. Agbiz, in collaboration with Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and Agri SA, hosted the media launch, and the results of the report were explained by the researchers at the IFR at the Stellenbosch University Business School.

Source: Tim Mossholder via Unsplash

Research methodology

The four scenarios

Source: AgriOrbit | A summary of the four scenarios.

Theo Boshoff, CEO of Agbiz, opened the launch with a short overview of why the research needed to be done. He said in order for the agri industry to remain competitive, the industry must be able to adapt to the latest technology and the skills that will be needed in the future.He also highlighted the fact that the labour force in the agri industry is resilient and even remained relatively stable during the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns. Therefore, the future of the agri labour force must be equipped to remain equally resilient in future.Prof Andre Roux from the IFR explained the methodology behind the research that reveals four scenarios of what the agricultural employment environment could look like in 2035. These scenarios were determined with the help of various stakeholders. The first step was to confirm why this research needed to be done. This was done by hosting workshops, and it was determined that the purpose of the research was to help stimulate job creation in agri in the future.Stakeholders then assisted the researchers in identifying the forces that drive employment in the sector  for example, economics, politics and technology. This list of drivers of change were then grouped into two groups namely key certainties and key uncertainties. The scenarios were then constructed around the two most important key uncertainties, namely appropriate skills and learning agility, as well as the composition and structure of the market.Doris Viljoen, director of IFR, sketched scenarios about how the future of work in the agri industry could look in 2035. These scenarios are summarised below, but access the full report here for more information on the scenarios and the study.1.: In this scenario, the market structure is polarised. There are a few smaller players in the agri industry and larger players dominate. In addition, there are quite high levels of skills agility, but knowledge transfer is mostly taking place between established firms, and they use it to their own advantage to become even more powerful. There are very few job opportunities.2.: The market in this scenario is highly polarised and dominated by large players, but there are low levels of agility in learning new skills. Large international firms are making inroads in the sector. Most jobseekers do not have the required skills and skills agility within the sector is low, mostly because of low levels of knowledge sharing among market players. Large local firms did not prioritise knowledge creation to the same extent as international firms. There are little to no new job opportunities for the local labour force.3.: In this scenario, regulatory intervention led to the establishment and inclusion of large numbers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agri value chain. However, SMEs end up having a short lifespan; they are established as a result of the regulatory interventions, but struggle to survive because accessing and retaining people with appropriate skills are near impossible.4.: In the final scenario, there is successful development of additional production capacity. There is a rich market structure  one where there is a well-balanced mix of larger and smaller players. The industry has the appropriate skills and the learning environment is agile. There is expansion of the local agri supply chain and job creation is flourishing.Viljoen ended her talk by elaborating on what exactly these appropriate skills are. She said that the skills need for the future of work in the agri industry is a mixed bag. In short, the skills needed for a healthy agri industry consists of soft skills, natural science, systems thinking, technology integration and data management.
Following the completion of Cabinet processes and consultation with social partners, Employment and Labour Minister, Thulas Nxesi, has officially tabled the National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP) for public comment and engagement.

Protecting the rights of migrants and refugees

New laws proposed

only employ foreign nationals entitled to work in terms of the Immigration Act, the Refugees Act or any other provision;



ascertain the foreign national is entitled to work in the Republic in the relevant position;



satisfy themselves that there are no South Africans with the requisite skills to fill the vacancy;



prepare a skills transfer plan, where appropriate;



employ foreign nationals on the same terms as local workers; and



retain copies of relevant documentation.

The populations expectations regarding accessibility to work for South Africans, given worsening unemployment and a perception that undocumented foreigners are distorting labour market access;



South Africas labour market needs, in particular the need for critical skills not locally available;



The protection of migrant workers and their families, in accordance with international standards and guidelines; and



Regional integration and cooperation imperatives.

Nxesi called on all interested parties to engage with the policy and to provide their feedback.Addressing a media briefing on Monday, the Minister said for the first time in the history of South Africa, government has formulated a comprehensive NLMP.We have researched extensively and benchmarked internationally in search of policy based on best practice. It has become increasingly apparent, with the rapid expansion of international migration flows, that South Africa needs to develop appropriate policy effectively to manage this.Nxesi said South Africa is not immune to international migration trends, as well as attempts to exploit this for political gain.The proposed policy aims to achieve a balance across four areas. The first is to address South Africans expectations regarding access to work opportunities, given worsening unemployment and the perception that foreign nationals are distorting labour market access.The NLMP, together with proposed legislation, will introduce quotas on the total number of documented foreign nationals with work visas that can be employed in major economic sectors such as agriculture, hospitality and tourism, construction etc, Nxesi said.The NLMP will be complemented by small business intervention and enforcement of a list of sectors where foreign nationals cannot be allocated business visas. It also involves amendments to the Small Business Act to limit foreign nationals establishing SMMEs and trading in some sectors of the economy.The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) is also reviewing current legislation and strengthening the Border Management Authority to secure porous borders, and to allow for the orderly movement of people and other nationals through ports of entry only.From the side of my department, together with all relevant authorities, we are stepping up inspections to enforce existing labour and immigration legislation, Nxesi said.The DHA has released a list of scarce and critical skills in high demand to provide guidance to all institutions to prioritise education and training interventions in those areas.The list, Nxesi said, will be used as a last resort to allow foreign nationals in possession of the listed skills that the economy requires, and where job offers have been made, to be allocated work visas.Government will also impose various obligations on both the employer and the foreign national to transfer skills to locals, and permits will be limited to specific durations.South Africa is a signatory to international treaties and conventions governing the rights of migrants and refugees, the Minister said.All policies and interventions were developed within the ambit of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, and government will ensure the protection of migrant workers and their families, in accordance with international standards and guidelines, he said.Nxesi said South Africa will also implement these initiatives within the context of its regional integration and cooperation imperatives that have already been agreed to at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and African Union level.Nxesi said the National Labour Migration Policy goes hand in hand with a proposed Employment Services Amendment Bill, providing a policy framework and the legal basis to regulate the extent to which employers can employ foreign nationals in their establishments, while protecting the rights of migrants.The proposed amendments to the Employment Services Act (of 2014) aim to limit the extent to which employers can employ foreign nationals in possession of a valid work visa, and codifies the obligations of an employer engaging foreign workers to, amongst others:The proposed Amendment Bill lays out a framework that will enable the Minister to set quotas for the employment of foreign nationals.A quota may apply in respect of a sector of the economy, an occupational category or a geographical area. The Minister will establish a quota in a sector after consultation with the Employment Services Board and after considering public comments, Nxesi said.In summary, National Labour Migration policy aims to achieve a balance between the following:
Truck drivers affiliated to All Truck Drivers Forum and Allied South Africa (ATDF-ASA) hit their brakes on Monday to join a nationwide strike to demand that freight companies stop hiring immigrants.

Source: Joseph Chirume via GroundUp | Striking drivers forced trucks to pull over and park at the truck stops in Gqeberha on Monday.

In Gqeberha, ATDF-ASA members were seen patrolling major highways and roads, forcefully stopping some trucks. The drivers were instructed to park at the Citys three truck stops, namely, the Caltex Garage in Wells Estate, Swartkops Truck Stop and at the Deal Party.According to a memorandum circulating locally by ATDF-ASA, the striking South African drivers are also demanding a 15% wage increase. They accused the government of prioritising immigrant workers for permit renewals.ATDF-ASA said: The foreigners are given a grace period of one year to renew their work permits, but South Africans are required to stop working when their Public Drivers Permit (PDP) lapses and no grace period is given to renew their permits.On Monday, there were two long queues of stationary trucks at the Caltex Truck Inn.A striking South African driver, who asked not to be named, said that they are overworked and often penalised for taking time during trips to park off and rest. We only rest when our trucks are queuing during loading and unloading at depots. Our off days are very short. Foreign drivers accept any condition and are prepared to work for very low wages and under inhuman conditions, he said.A driver, who was among those stopped near the Caltex Truck Inn during the strike, said: This is very unfair. Im delivering bread to feed people, including school children and patients at hospitals. Protesting drivers should have allowed critical deliveries like food and medicine to proceed. Why cant they go to those companies employing undocumented foreigners and close their gates?CEO of the Road Freight Association (RFA) Gavin Kelly told GroundUp that this issue has been ongoing for four years. Its frustrating that the authorities have not put in place the proposals we made at the very beginning. To this day (they) are still fiddling with draft policies, said Kelly.What these agitators must understand is that there will be no sudden free jobs for all. Those wanting to drive will need to demonstrate their ability to drive safely and properly, he said.Kelly said the RFA has representation on the Council of the National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight and Logistics Industry (NBCRFLI). He accused the labour department of only inspecting companies registered with the NBCRFLI which are mostly compliant.Non-compliant companies employ undocumented foreigners whom they pay far less than what is required through the Main Collective Agreement. This places them in a position to undercut the companies that pay decent wages and required extra rates, operate safe vehicles and are generally far more reliable and professional, he said.In response to questions about the strike and some of the allegations, Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Transport spokesperson, Unathi Binqose, said they were aware of the drivers strike. Binqose referred our questions to the labour department. We continue to negotiate with drivers to open up the roads and avoid traffic disruptions.In a TV interview on Monday about the strike, Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi criticised the union and the actions of the striking drivers, calling it disruptive.Weve gone out of our way to make certain concessions for them. We are not sure what their agenda is. People have the right to demonstrate but not with violence. We are expecting them to make an input into the issue of quotas. We cant ban the employment of foreign nationals, we are trying to limit and control.On Tuesday, police spokesperson, Colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed that there were no further traffic disruptions and that no arrests were made during the strike on Monday.
Nadia Pryimak is a Ukrainian citizen who lives in South Africa. She starts every morning reading news and updates on the situation in her home country. Then she asks her sister, her cousin, or her nephew whether they are all still alive and okay.

Hundreds of students marched against Russias invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Liezl Human/GroundUp

I cannot sleep. I want to sleep. I am tired, says Pryimak.Pryimak joined a march of about 300 people in Stellenbosch on Tuesday evening to call for an end to the war in Ukraine, started by Russia on 24 February.A candle-lit vigil was held on the universitys campus and the march was joined by several Ukrainian expats. The Ukrainians sang their national anthem to the crowd while holding the national flag.Protestors also wore Ukrainian flags and carried placards that read: Peace for Ukraine; I stand with Ukraine and Putins a poes.Pryimak has been living in South Africa for 10 years. Previously she was a teacher in the Ukraine. Now, she is living in a nightmare, worrying about her family and friends constantly. She said she is also praying for their president and the army.She said the march and vigil was uplifting. You cant believe how much it means, she said. She said the people in Ukraine should know they have worldwide support. Its so far away.She said the Ukrainian community in South Africa has been following the war closely and updating people via social media. Now that we are involved, you dont think how scary it is, because youre doing something with your nation, she told GroundUp.Similarly, Hannah Zhukovina, who has been living in South Africa for ten years, said that the Ukrainian community in South Africa is currently doing everything it can to inform people about the conflict in Ukraine so people know what is actually going on.Originally from Kyiv, Zhukovina said that she is worried about her family. Every now and again you have to ask them, Are you ok and alive?I think, as Ukrainian, we all want to go back. But we want to go back and build our happy democratic country, without a war, and in peace, she said.The march was also joined by the Stellenbosch University (SU) Palestine Solidarity Forum, Amnesty SU, and United Nations Association of South Africa UCT.
Recently, Digify Africa won gold at the Smarties Awards for their innovative chatbot Naledi - a learning and skills development bot that users can access through WhatsApp.

Image supplied: Gavin Weale, founder and CEO of Digify Africa

Tell us a bit more about your work

Tell us a little more about Naledi - how does it work?

What influenced the inception of Naledi?

How do you think chatbots like Naledi can contribute to equal access to education in Africa?

Specifically, what challenges do you think using channels like WhatsApp can help overcome in terms of education and training?

What changes can chatbots and other new technology make to the education landscape, in your opinion?

What challenges have you faced with Naledi so far? How have you overcome these challenges?

What kind of future do you think this technology paves the way for?

We spoke to Gavin Weale, CEO of Digify Africa, to find out more about the chatbot and what this could mean for the future of learningDigify Africa is a non-profit company with a focus on digital skills for young people, but we have more recently been developing ways of getting learning material to young people at scale using WhatsApp. We now have an innovation team building interactive chatbots that can deliver our courses at a low cost via mobile handsets, meaning a very low barrier to entry and using a platform many people know how to use already, and have on their phones.Naledi was made in partnership and powered by Meta with the support of Techsys and Geekulcha. Naledi aims to create Facebook digital marketing pros and equips students with the skills they need to grow businesses and pursue a career in digital marketing - all directly from their phones.It offers content, quizzes, and study groups, as well as a layer of gamification through badges and leaderboards to encourage engagement.We are always looking for ways to help us amplify impact and we realised that leveraging WhatsApp as a learning solution can revolutionise the way we deliver digital skills across the continent.More people own mobile devices today than ever before - we are taking advantage of that to enable wider access to educational content for young people across the continent.Access to resources such as laptops and data is a challenge for many - mobile-based learning provides a great learning solution that can help us overcome some of the access barriers.We have seen the shift towards online, mobile-based learning will be a real game-changer that will add value to the education landscape.Our key challenge was how to deliver the best content to our learners. To do this, we created a playbook on best practices for creating content specifically for mobile and WhatsApp. We also developed our own WhatsApp CMS to be able to load courses of content easily at scale.The kind of future we hope to see is one where the digital divide is closed, and that people with limited access to data and technology can still access educational material to upskill themselves.With the explosion of e-learning as a method of delivering education during Covid, we need to make sure that young people in Africa don't get left behind and we hope that our work with chatbot learning can make a meaningful contribution to that challenge.
Jeanine holds a marketing degree from Tshwane University of Technology and has had a stellar 15-year career at New Media, where shes worked on a host of brands including Ackermans, AMC Networks, BBC, Mediclinic, Mercedes-Benz, Mr Delivery, MultiChoice, Plascon, Southern Sun, VISI, Vodacom and Woolworths. She was most recently Group account director on Eat Out and Food24 and acting head of Food since last November. Her exceptional leadership skills, strategic and creative mind, and natural affinity towards excellent client service were key in the decision to ask her to lead New Medias growth in the content solutions space.Jeanine says: Our client value proposition has evolved over the past two years. Driven by our acquisition of Swipe iX in 2020, weve grown our digital offering tremendously and, along with these increased abilities, our clients need us to be faster, more strategic and more focused on delivering solutions that show real ROI. This team is equipped to deliver just that, with specialists focused on what they do best, and a massive support base in the rest of the group for us to draw on. I am excited to charge into a new normal with our fantastic clients and the New Media team.New Media CEO Aileen Lamb says: Jeanines just about seen it all at New Media. She is well respected by her colleagues and is a creatively driven, commercially minded, collaborative leader. Jeanine also possesses a remarkable tenacity of spirit, which is incredibly inspiring. One of the things I respect the most about her is her unwavering commitment to leading with values. I couldnt think of anyone better to take the reins of our core content marketing and owned brands business.Alongside the companys world-class client content solutions, Story Station also produces the award-winning and very successful Eat Out Food24 and VISI brands, all of which have shown tremendous growth over the past financial year.Jeanine says: In 2022, Eat Out will re-launch the annual Eat Out Restaurant Awards and VISI will expand its successful supplements and growing e-commerce store, shop.visi.co.za . Applying the minds of the countrys top content marketers to our own titles allows New Media to leverage these powerful brands to really unlock value for our advertisers in new and exciting ways, while adding material value to audiences.The new Story Station at New Media will complement New Medias existing internal communications specialism, as well as its B2B marketing offering.
In the last few years, we've seen great innovation across various industries, breakthroughs for marginalised communities and a digital revolution that has impacted every aspect of our lives. Although these are milestones to be celebrated, there is still so much more that needs to be done when it comes to developing the presence of women in the technology and innovation space.

Kim Palmer

One woman who has dedicated her career to this cause, to the empowerment of youth and the promotion and upliftment of women in the ICT sector, is the award-winning founder of Cape Town based training organisation, On the Ball College (OTBC), Kim Palmer.Launched in September 2005, this renowned college has since become a household name in the ICT industry within the Western Cape. As a participant in the Innovator Trust ICT Incubation program, this black-female owned college has actively been involved in sharpening the minds of youth and created a much-needed space for women to interact through their ICT learnership offering, skills programmes and their annual Women in ICT Seminar.Women in ICT at present in South Africa account for less than 30% representation. Women need to see more role models, they need to have access to mentorship and be made aware of the careers that are available to them. The future is built on a foundation of digital skills and if women are not encouraged to grow these skills, they will be excluded and left behind, said Kim Palmer.For On the Ball College, the Innovator Trust have been one of those role models and a key partner to the promotion of continuous learning and development particularly for women such as Kim within the South African ICT sector. The benefit of being a part of an incubation program such as the one offered by the Innovator Trust, is that it provides support across the organisation and not just at the executive level, shares Kim. Executive leadership skills and operational expertise complemented by a mentor, a personal coach and a support team who are on-call and ready to assist suggests a incubation model tailored to guiding SMMEs beyond just profitability, to a state of sustainability. This is not a place of toxic affirmation so expect to be challenged. The values witnessed and why I would encourage participation in the program is the focus and professionalism, the detail and empathy experienced, the flexibility with our business and the exceptional support and belief in the vision and cause for On the Ball College, added Kim.Raising racial awareness, spotlighting cultural shifts, and creating platforms for marginalised voices only reflects part of the active interventions of On the Ball College. A unique value offering from the organisation is that theyve managed to unlock exclusive industry insights that have allowed its students to thrive, often surpassing industry peers. These triumphs are testament to the colleges study approach and material content that focus on both theoretical and practical applications.Each year, students are able to participate in ICT certificate programmes that range from NQF levels 4-6, providing beneficiaries with the opportunity to be accredited for future careers which include becoming a computer technician, network administrator, programmer, developer or business analyst.Beyond launching the careers of several successful individuals, Kim has found innovative ways to combine her wealth of knowledge from 21 years of experience in the ICT educational sector, with current emerging industry trends and tactfully apply it to the social-political environment in which the company now finds itself.While many institutions have battled to keep up with e-learning demands, Kim Palmer has proven that she is not only an industry veteran but a trailblazer too. To aid the transition from brick-and-mortar learning to online schooling, On the Ball College has readjusted its learning structures.We adapted and helped clients to adapt to the changing learning environment through adding devices like laptops or tablets to our course fees and learnership programmes. We included a work-from-home learning model to help our students be better prepared for remote working and become more adaptable to this way of working, said Palmer.
The Fighting Jamesons will play March 5 at The Vanguard in Hampton. (Tom Barbee)

When it comes to St. Patricks Day in Hampton Roads, The Fighting Jamesons come to mind for a Celtic celebration.

Theyve been playing the Shamrockin in Ghent for roughly a decade now. After the event was canceled the past two years because of COVID-19, the group is back with their signature Irish rock n roll this month.

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It will be playing at The Vanguard Brewpub and Distillery on March 5 and in Norfolk March 11 for the Shamrockin block party, which benefits the Hope House Foundation.

When the live gigs halted in March 2020, The Fighting Jamesons played a couple of private events but performed primarily for online crowds, streaming on social media from fiddler Jeff McLaughlins spare bedroom.

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These streams were among my favorite things weve ever done, McLaughlin said. We have friends all over the country, and these allowed us to connect with more of them at the same time than ever before.

But guitarist George Geo Bauman said that once they got back in front of a live audience, I feel it was a big motivator to get the gears turning again.

They began their first string of shows recently at Commonwealth Brewing Co. in Virginia Beach to usher in their busy St. Paddys Day season.

The band attributes its staying power of more than a decade to flexibility with each band mates life  marriage, kids, jobs, the usual  but also a fierce loyalty its fans have for the performers Irish heritage, Bauman said.

Weve been able to connect with great-grandfathers and grandmothers and their youngest family members and every generation in between, he said, and the love of that culture and the storytelling through music will always be passed down.

Many of the bands families immigrated to the United States during the early 1900s.

One of Baumans ancestors, Owney Madden, ran the famous Cotton Club and spent time in prison for manslaughter. Bauman said Maddens mug shot is the spitting image of his uncle Jimmy, Maddens nephew.

Madden was notorious enough to be featured in the prohibition-era HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

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Powers, Bauman and McLaughlin said Irish music was always playing in their homes growing up. McLaughlins father constantly spun Chieftains compact discs and McLaughlin looked up to fiddlers such as Eileen Ivers, Frankie Gavin and Natalie MacMaster when learning the instrument.

Whether it was someone playing an instrument or singing, or an old record player spinning a tune  music was a constant in the house, Powers said. Irish music has always made me happy.

Baumans mother played old Irish Union soldier songs that led him to more modern music from Flogging Molly, Shane MacGowan and Dropkick Murphys. However, Bauman said his biggest Irish cultural influence was movies  The Quiet Man with John Wayne played at least once a month in his house.

The group, however, uses the Irish style of music as a springboard to create new versions of traditional Celtic music and originals. The members appreciate all genres of music from classic rock to country to indie folk; metal has influenced Baumans guitar playing but he still enjoys learning country songs by artists like Jason Isbell and Drive-By Truckers.

All of us had and still have vastly varying music tastes, Bauman said, so it seemed natural and almost inevitable that we wanted to eventually evolve into what we are now.

The evolution continues as the band has begun working on its third full-length album, which they hope to have out this time next year.

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Beyond playing with some of their favorite musicians and traveling the country, McLaughlin said the most pleasant unexpected change over the years has been seeing audiences sing along with their songs.

That is humbling every time, and I never expected that wed experience it, McLaughlin said. There isnt a huge audience for this type of music, but the people who appreciate it dont just listen to it, they deeply identify with it.

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Reach Shannon Jay at shannonjay93@gmail.com

___

If you go

When: 8 p.m. March 5

Where: The Vanguard, 504 N. King St., Hampton

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Tickets: $10 to $25

Details: thevanguard757.com

Additional dates: March 11, Shamrockin in Ghent, Norfolk; March 12, Shamrock in the Burg, Williamsburg.
OUTER BANKS (L to R) MADELYN CLINE as SARAH CAMERON, RUDY PANKOW as JJ, JONATHAN DAVISS as POPE, CHASE STOKES as JOHN B and MADISON BAILEY as KIARA in episode 210 of OUTER BANKS Cr. JACKSON LEE DAVIS/NETFLIX  2021 (JACKSON LEE DAVIS/NETFLIX/JACKSON LEE DAVIS/NETFLIX)

Filming for the third season of the Netflix hit Outer Banks is under way in Charleston.

While the show is called Outer Banks  after the 100-mile long island chain in North Carolina  all three seasons have been filmed in South Carolina. Netflix originally did not want the series filmed in North Carolina due to the states so-called bathroom bill that required people to use public bathrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate.

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That law is off the books now, but Matt Storm, who heads the South Carolina Film Commission, said Outer Banks returned to Charleston because the show and crew were already established there.

The twin brothers behind the series, Josh and Jonah Pate, originally from Raeford, North Carolina, worked for about 20 years in Los Angeles and now live in Wilmington, North Carolina.

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Compared to South Carolina, North Carolina provides more financial incentives for the film industry  the number has fluctuated through the years from a high of $83 million to more recently $31 million.

South Carolina has about $16 million each year to offer to production companies, Storm said. The amount of incentives offered by the state is based on wages and what the production spends while in the state.

Wilmington also has EUE/Screen Gems Studios, a 43-acre lot where more than 400 feature films have been made since 1985.

The cast of Outer Banks announced season three with a Twitter film in December.

Outer Banks premiered in April 2020 and was ranked No. 1 on Netflix for the subsequent four weeks.

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The show is a teen adventure drama involving conflict between two groups, known as the Kooks and Pogues, the haves and have nots, set on an island after a hurricane.

The Pates have said the show was based on their time on Kiawah Island and the legend of Captain Kidds buried treasure.

A North Carolina man claimed in a lawsuit the show was based on his self-published book, but that went nowhere. A judge threw out the lawsuit.

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Another controversy, which Jonah Pate told Spectrum News 1 has never gone away, was a scene where the characters traveled on the North Carolina ferry from the coast to Chapel Hill, which in reality is some 250 miles inland.

A release date for season three has not been announced.

So far, a casting call for extras has not been announced. Both previous seasons employed extras.

The call is usually featured on TV Cast and Recruits Facebook page.
Imagine being filmed 24/7. Knowing someone is watching you the whole time, would your behaviors and decisions remain the same? When governments or tech companies promote smart cities projects, they talk about how having more data about us could make things better. What they dont talk about is the way having surveillance technologies embedded in our physical surroundings would change the way we behave and impact our fundamental rights and freedoms.

That matters, because these smart cities are no longer hypothetical. In Saudi Arabia and Egypt, they are the pet projects of dictators who seized power through coups. These dictators are leveraging the vision of future cities that integrate the latest technology  using sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), biometric surveillance, and artificial intelligence  to extend their power.

As we explore below, smart cities like Saudi Arabias city of NEOM and Egypts New Administrative Capital could soon turn from utopian to dystopian projects. Heres why smart cities are really surveillance cities  a dangerous tool for dictators.

What is a smart city?

While there is no standard definition, there are common criteria to define such cities. In brief, they are cities that use sensors, surveillance cameras, artificial intelligence, IoT technology, cloud computing, and other kinds of technology for the management of urban life.

Governments and private corporations use techno-optimist narratives to promote smart cities projects. To them, these cities are smart, safe, creative, sustainable, futuristic, or dream cities. Yet at their core, smart cities rely on the mass collection and processing of our personal data, typically carried out without our knowledge or consent. Regardless of the words being used, thats surveillance.

Case study: Saudi Arabias NEOM  the worlds first cognitive city

In 2017, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced the launch of his most emblematic and grandiose project, NEOM, as part of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030. It is a megacity the size of Belgium, stretching over 26,500 kilometers in the northwest of the country. It is estimated to cost $500 billion, and its first phase is scheduled for completion by 2025.

Reports describe the vision for NEOM as a city with flying taxis, cloud seeding to make rain in the desert, robot maids, dinosaur robots, glow-in-the-dark sand, a giant artificial moon, and state-of-the-art medical facilities. In this city, scientists would work to modify the human genome to make people stronger.

Other details make it clear the worlds first cognitive city will be fueled with data and intelligence to interact seamlessly with its population. The explicit goal is to fundamentally change how its citizens work, live, and play. To achieve this mission, every resident would be assigned a unique ID number, to integrate and process data collected from sources like heart-rate monitors, phones, facial recognition cameras, bank details, and thousands of IoT devices around the city.

Many civil society organizations rightly oppose digital identity programs because they raise serious human rights concerns, including regarding the lack of evidence for the benefits they are supposed to deliver, and how authorities plan to safeguard the rights and data of users. Hundreds of people have signed the #WhyID letter to international stakeholders seeking clarity on how their rights will be protected before pursuing the what, the how, the when, and the who of digital identity.

Case study: Egypts New Administrative Capital

In 2015, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi embarked on a smart city project in the north of Cairo. The New Administrative Capital is envisioned to become Egypts new government headquarters, housing ministries, administrative and financial institutions, and foreign embassies. Spread across 700 square kilometers, it is projected to harbor a population of 6.5 million people, offering a smart digital infrastructure and experience.

Promoted as an advanced technological oasis in the heart of Egypt, the city would let people use a one-stop-shop mobile app to pay bills or submit complaints or reports to city officials. Meanwhile the citys public spaces and streets would be outfitted with a network of 6,000 surveillance cameras, intended to monitor people and vehicles to manage traffic and report on any suspicious activities. Every 250 meters, the city would install a smart column with sensors, public Wi-Fi, surveillance cameras, and smart lighting. Some 12,000 sensors will manage lighting and track energy consumption.

This will reportedly be only one of 12 new smart cities projects in Egypt.

A dictators dream: how smart cities projects threaten human rights

What could go possibly wrong with two of the most repressive regimes in the MENA region collecting a staggering amount of data? Here are just a few of the threats people face:

Mass collection and processing of personal data

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have a track record of surveilling citizens, crushing dissent, and promoting intolerance for civil society work. This means that, even if a data protection law exists, it may not be effectively implemented or enforced. Saudi Arabias NEOM website mentions a commitment to respect the privacy laws it is subject to, but given the countrys poor human rights record and its use of surveillance technology  including the reported use of spyware against civil society and government spies infiltrating Twitter to get access to peoples personal data  it is fair to conclude the risk of the government misusing data is high.

Chilling effects and threats to free will  modification of our behavior

Your behavior changes when you know someone is watching you. Both Egyptian President Al-Sissi and Saudi Arabias Mohammed bin Salman actively muzzle dissenting voices. With mass surveillance built into a citys infrastructure, it is easy to foresee not only further silencing of critical opinions and self censorship but also changes in the actions people take.

Privacy is a precondition for the full enjoyment of every other basic freedom. When people make decisions under the threat of exposure, free will is drastically diminished. As Frank La Rue, the former U.N. special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, declared, state interference or intrusion in peoples private lives both directly and indirectly limit the free development and exchange of ideas.

The threat is not only the potential embarrassment of having your privacy violated and the details of your personal life exposed. In a repressive regime like the ones in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, state authorities could attempt to manipulate peoples data to control their citizens.

The end result of pervasive surveillance like this is citizens giving up on their political freedoms and their right to dissent because they know they could easily be recognized, pursued, harassed, or arrested. In such a context where surveillance is ubiquitous, self censorship becomes the norm and has a chilling effect on other freedoms such as the freedom of assembly and association.

Threats to peoples lives and livelihoods

In a dictatorship, a smart city is often a vanity project serving to promote a regime that lacks legitimacy. The real-life costs, livelihoods, and well-being of citizens is often not a priority. In Saudi Arabia, authorities have forcibly uprooted local communities and demolished peoples houses to make way for NEOM. Thousands have protested their relocation, but authorities have responded with extreme violence, even going so far as to execute a Saudi citizen, Abdulrahim Alhuwaity, who refused to leave. Others have been arrested simply for expressing their objections to the project.

Threats to cybersecurity

Finally, the collection of so much data increases the risk of potential cyberattacks, especially if the data are stored in a centralized manner. Given the broad scope of data collection these cities contemplate, an attacker could potentially gain access to highly sensitive information, including your unchangeable biometrics, and use the data for identity theft and other crimes. They could sell any other information that is valuable, such as your address or location, to data brokers or other criminals.

What the public can do to prevent pervasive surveillance

Theres no reason to accept ubiquitous surveillance as the norm, in the MENA region or anywhere else. We hope citizens, activists, journalists, and other members of civil society join the global #BanBS campaign to advocate for banning the use of biometric surveillance technologies in publicly accessible spaces. We also encourage you to join us in exposing the risks inherent in the development of smart (read: surveillance) cities. We must interrogate the purported benefits of digital identity programs, mass data collection, and pervasive surveillance, and advocate for a clear-eyed assessment of the human rights impact and consequences for the citizens. Its not too late to make a difference.
Virginia Beach  Patrick McBrayer reminisced recently about his first day at orientation years ago at Philadelphias Ritz-Carlton; he eventually became its executive sous chef and worked under Michelin star chef Eric Ripert.

During orientation, each person was asked to write down their favorite snack. McBrayer scribbled down bread and butter, which is his go-to when hes too busy. When the group returned from a break, McBrayer found a covered dish on his seat. It was bread and butter.

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That wowed me, he said, showing me customer service.

Thats what he and Catherine Cat Gettier intend with their new venture, Foodies-The Locals Market in Virginia Beach. It is a mix of a gourmet boutique, catering, culinary classes, to-go food, meal delivery and more.

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The pair met soon after McBrayer moved to the area from Philly in 2019. Gettiers company, Catherines Catering, made lunches for his sons school. McBrayer was looking for a commercial kitchen for nEAT, his meal delivery service. She introduced him to the commissary she used, and they worked there side-by-side.

Foodies-The Locals Market owner Patrick McBrayer works in the kitchen Thursday, Feb. 25, 2022. (Stephen M. Katz/The Virginian-Pilot)

The two hit it off.

We both have the same vision when it comes to the foundation of our food, McBrayer said. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, under the guidance of French chefs, while Gettier trained in Paris at the famed cooking school, La Varenne.

As they outgrew the rental kitchen, they decided to merge businesses and Foodies was born.

Gettier said that she had long dreamed of a food shop in the spirit of the Silver Palate, the seminal Manhattan gourmet store that introduced consumers to ingredients like arugula and raspberry vinegar beginning in 1977.

Of course, that was way before Patricks time, she said, with a laugh. Shes a baby boomer/Gen-X-cusper and hes a clear-cut millennial.

The business is called Foodies because its for people who not only love food but also the industry, McBrayer said.

They watch Chefs Table on Netflix.

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They are people who recognize the namesakes of brown bag-chic sandwiches such as the Jacques (ham and gruyere with roasted tomato and Dijon) and the Julia (tarragon chicken salad on a croissant). And those who will appreciate the time and technique, the stocks and mirepoix, that go into the ready-to-take-home-and-heat items, such as coq au vin and beef bourguignon.

Things that you usually go to a restaurant for, McBrayer said.

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Classes, from beginning to advanced, will culminate in a sit-down dinner in Foodies tasting room, an inviting space that can be reserved and is decorated with locally sourced, vintage farmhouse furniture.

The epicurean goods they sell  honey, hot sauces, coffee, dish towels inscribed with kitchen witticisms  come from nearby, too, as Foodies mission is to showcase the communitys artisanal talent. (McBrayer said that only the wood cutting boards come from outside Hampton Roads, from Pennsylvania where his brother-in-law makes them.)

Foodies features other local producers including Juggernaut Cookie Co. and Prosperity Kitchen, whose bread cushions their sandwiches.

Foodies is also available for chefs who dont have a brick-and-mortar kitchen to use for their events.

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We all need to come together and support each other, McBrayer said, because we all share a common goal in the food industry: making people happy.

1060 Lynnhaven Parkway, Suite 106, Virginia Beach. foodieslocalmarket.com; 757-301-2317. Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Reach Marisa A. Marsey at marseydining@aol.com
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Polish President Andrzej Duda on March 1, 2022. Photo by Janek Skarzynski/AFP via Getty Images

Even some of the most virulent foreign policy hawks youll ever meet have acknowledged that we are in the throes of the world's most dangerous moment since the Cuban Missile Crisis. The risk of wider escalation is extreme: it would only take one miscommunication or misjudgment to prompt a nuclear catastrophe, particularly with thousands of US troops maneuvering in the vicinity of an active war zone, with all the chaos and uncertainty that entails.

So heres one surefire route to such escalation: are NATO countries currently engaged in combat operations in Ukraine? Because the difficulty one encounters attempting to answer this question doesn't make for much in the way of optimism. At least if youd prefer to avoid World War III.

An obviously escalatory development came on Sunday night when Josep Borrell, the top security official for the European Union, announced the deployment of fighter jets to Ukraine. This was a jarring announcement, as its unclear what capacity the EU even had to do such an unprecedented thing. The details were also sketchy: which European countries in particular would be sending these fighter jets, and on what EU-related authority? Assuming the countries involved are also NATO members, how would this not amount to NATO engagement in open hostilities with Russia, potentially leading to the unfathomable war scenario which now seems to be in the cards?

Take a look at how the Ukrainian military is characterizing this process  the screenshot is from a verified Facebook account for the countrys Air Force:

Heres the exact wording of the question I submitted to a spokesperson for the EUs Foreign Affairs and Security Policy division, which presumably has jurisdiction over managing Borells fighter jet announcement: Could you please describe in greater detail where these EU deployments of fighter jets to Ukraine have originated from? And who is physically flying the jets into Ukraine?

And heres the response I got:

If you notice thats not a denial that the EU is currently involved in the deployment of fighter jets to Ukraine. Nor does the answer necessarily contradict the Ukraine militarys claim that combat tasks are being launched from Polish bases  which would be a gigantic escalation. If anything, its an intentionally cryptic statement that doesnt address what I asked at all.

So I subsequently asked Polands Ministry of Defense to confirm whether what the Ukrainian military is saying was true: are Polish bases really being used to launch combat tasks into the active war zone over the border? They provided no direct answer either, other than to refer me to a verbal statement made today by Andrzej Duda, the Polish President.

Duda held a meeting with top US / NATO military officials, and at a media appearance with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, was asked directly about the purported fighter jet plan. You have to look at Dudas words closely, and I wish I could understand what he said in the original Polish. But heres the official English translation: We are not sending any jets to Ukraine, that would open military interference in the Ukrainian conflict. We are not joining that conflict. NATO is not a party to that conflict we are not going to send any jets to the Ukrainian airspace.

Notice, however, thats not necessarily a denial of what the Ukrainian military said was happening. Duda claims that Poland would not send any jets to the Ukrainian airspace  but are they allowing their bases to be used as launch points for Ukrainian fighter jet missions? Its disturbingly unclear.

Instead, Dudas words seem consistent with statements from other NATO leaders that they do not intend to impose a No Fly Zone. But there are obvious potential avenues for escalation other than a full-fledged NFZ, which would essentially be an overt declaration of war on Russia. Because if Polish bases are being used to launch air attacks on Russian targets, it would mean a NATO country is directly facilitating warfare against Russia  whether or not any official No Fly Zone has been declared. And if Russia carries out a counter-attack, NATO  i.e., the US  is treaty-bound to defend Poland. In the State of the Union speech tonight, Joe Biden just reiterated his long-time assurance that the full force of the US military will be deployed in the event of any attack on a NATO member state. So, whats the deal?

The leaders of Slovakia and Bulgaria (both NATO countries) have also denied their involvement in sending fighter jets to Ukraine, but again, they did so in language that leaves open the possibility that something deeply escalatory is going on.

Two possible explanations:

The Ukraine military is outright lying when it says combat tasks are being launched from Polish bases, and theres nothing like that happening at all. This would not necessarily be surprising, as Ukraine is in a state of war, and its government agencies are engaged in an all-out propaganda campaign to advance their wartime interests. The EU was also lying or just blustering when it made the initial fighter jets announcement.

The Ukraine military was not lying, nor was the EU, and the leaders of Poland, Bulgaria, and Slovakia are now being forced to obfuscate their involvement in what would be an extreme escalation. Particularly Poland, which it was claimed is hosting the fighter jet missions. I have heard from people familiar with EU security policy who are deeply skeptical of these countries capacity to deploy fighter jets to Ukraine, let alone that that Ukrainian pilots are in any position to fly them. But its not impossible. No one should rule out anything out right now in the absence of verifiable fact.

Whatever the real story here, the ambiguity is highly worrisome. Stars and Stripes, the US militarys in-house newspaper, described the context as the US and its NATO allies ramp[ing] up military support for Ukraine while trying to avoid getting drawn into the war. Seems a bit paradoxical, dont you think? If you were trying to avoid getting drawn into a war, isnt ramping up military support the absolute last thing youd do?

Heres how Samuel Charap, a fairly cautious analyst at the RAND Corporation, characterized the current situation:

Weve arrived at a stage when avoiding escalation to a Russia-NATO conflict is going to take luck or effort. Existing guardrails are eroding by the day if not the hour.  Samuel Charap (@scharap) March 1, 2022

There seems to be a point at which the escalatory spiral is going to be out of anyones control. I dont know if were at that point yet; but an inability to get clear answers about whats happening is not a good sign.
Some of Dolly Trolleys sexualized dances can be seen in the following videos ( WARNING : Watch at your own risk):

Parents are outraged after drag queen burlesque performer Dolly Trolley was brought into a school and taught children between the ages of 5 and 9 a provocative dance routine.

My daughter said she felt weird and didnt like it. She said a lot of the teachers were pulling funny faces when Dolly came out in a very revealing short beaded dress and thigh-high black leather boots, one parent said to The Daily Mail. After the show, Dolly went around to the other year groups and read stories. Weve spoken to both our children and they both said their friends all thought it was weird and inappropriate for their age.

I have spoken to a few other parents. Only one I have spoken to was supportive. The others, including me, are all very unhappy with a few things. We were not warned that this was going to be happening. We have since looked Dolly up online and they have some very inappropriate  for children  content on their website and their social-media pages. Some of the images are very revealing and sexual. Essentially, they are an X-rated adult entertainer. How is this person a good role model for our kids? Why did the school purposely not tell us about this? Due to their online content, I feel that this is a safeguarding issue, the parent added.

Big League Politics has reported on times when supporters of drag queen story hour have been charged with child sex crimes:

A Milwaukee judge who serves as the President of an LGBTQ+ foundation in Wisconsin was arrested and charged with seven counts of possessing child pornography on Tuesday. Brett Blomme, an elected judge for Branch 5 of the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, is also the President and CEO of the Cream City Foundation.

The Cream City Foundation brags openly about organizing Drag Queen Story Hour events in Milwaukee on its website, sponsoring the practice in which impressionable youths are subjected to sexualized and cross-dressing drag queens.

Judge Blommes personal page on the Cream City Foundations website was purged within days following his arrest. Blomme appears to have been released from jail, with his Linkedin account also swiftly removed. The page attested to his connection with Cream City Foundation before being deleted.

An edited roster page on the Cream City Foundations website also profiles Blomme, describing him as a CEO and Past President of the organization.

Blomme had written articles about topics such as trans cultural competency training on Cream Citys website before the group deleted everything in the wake of his arrest.

The criminal complaint detailing the charges against Blomme alleges that he sent no less than 27 images and videos of child sexual abuse, using the messaging app Kik. In disturbing fashion, the complaint alleges that the abusive acts depicted in the material occurred in a Cottage Grove home owned by Blomme and his husband. The couple are the adoptive parents of two children.

On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Blomme from his duties pending the charges. A preliminary hearing is scheduled on May 27th, and the judge is yet to enter a plea.

The Wests descent into Sodom and Gomorrah is going full speed ahead. It will not change until people rise up and say no more.


If you are like most people in the western world, you are strongly rooting for one side or the other to win the war in Ukraine. But how did you decide which side to root for? Could it be possible that your opinions have been greatly shaped by mainstream news coverage of the conflict? I am going to share some things with you in this article that are deeply disturbing, and they are likely to alter how you view the war. But before I get into the details, I want to be very open about the fact that I do not consider either the Russians or the Ukrainians to be the good guys in this saga. The Russians repeatedly lied to us about their intentions, I am very upset that Vladimir Putin ordered this invasion, and I am entirely convinced that when push comes to shove the Russians will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons against the United States. Needless to say, I am not going to refer to anyone that is likely to nuke my country someday as the good guys.

Right now, the mainstream media is working tirelessly to frame the Ukrainians as the good guys, but that isnt true either.

For years, Ukraine has been crawling with gangs, militias and political organizations that are recognized internationally as being either Nazis or neo-Nazis. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Azov Special Operations Detachment. The following comes from Wikipedia

Even though the Ukrainian government knew that Azov was full of Nazis, it had absolutely no problem incorporating the unit into the main armed forces of the country in 2014.

In 2015, a reporter for USA Today interviewed a drill sergeant for the group that admitted that about half of the soldiers in Azov are Nazis

A drill sergeant who would identify himself only as Alex wore a patch depicting Thors Hammer, an ancient Norse symbol appropriated by neo-Nazis, according to the Anti-Defamation League. In an interview with USA TODAY, he admitted he is a Nazi and said with a laugh that no more than half his comrades are fellow Nazis. He said he supports strong leadership for Ukraine, like Germany during World War II, but opposes the Nazis genocide against Jews.

In recent years, Azov has recruited large numbers of neo-Nazis and white supremacists from the United States, Germany, the UK, Brazil, Sweden and elsewhere.

And now that Russia has invaded, neo-Nazis and white supremacists from all over the globe have been seeking to travel to Ukraine to join Azov and other paramilitary units. The following comes from the New York Times

Rita Katz, the director of SITE, said that numerous far-right white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups throughout Europe and North America had expressed an outpouring of support for Ukraine, including by seeking to join paramilitary units in battling Russia. The motivation to travel to Ukraine, she said, was to gain combat training. It was also ideologically-driven, she added, since these far right groups viewed the fight against Russia as a fight against communism, clinging to World War II historical narratives, and associating modern-day Russia and its president, Vladimir V. Putin, with the former Soviet Union.

Unfortunately, Nazis and neo-Nazis are not just on the fringes of Ukrainian society. One of the founders of Azov, Andriy Biletsky, went on to serve in Ukraines parliament

Post-Maidan Ukraine is the worlds only nation to have a neo-Nazi formation in its armed forces. The Azov Battalion was initially formed out of the neo-Nazi gang Patriot of Ukraine. Andriy Biletsky, the gangs leader who became Azovs commander, once wrote that Ukraines mission is to lead the White Races of the world in a final crusadeagainst the Semite-led Untermenschen. Biletsky is now a deputy in Ukraines parliament.

Another one of the founders of Azov, Andriy Parubiy, eventually became the speaker of Ukraines parliament

Speaker of Parliament Andriy Parubiy cofounded and led two neo-Nazi organizations: the Social-National Party of Ukraine (later renamed Svoboda), and Patriot of Ukraine, whose members would eventually form the core of Azov.

And another veteran of Azov, Vadim Troyan, became one of the most important law enforcement officials in the entire nation

The deputy minister of the Interiorwhich controls the National Policeis Vadim Troyan, a veteran of Azov and Patriot of Ukraine. In 2014, when Troyan was being considered for police chief of Kiev, Ukrainian Jewish leaders were appalled by his neo-Nazi background. Today, hes deputy of the department running US-trained law enforcement in the entire nation.

The reason why men like this could rise through the ranks is because countless other key Ukrainian figures see things the same way that they do.

Anti-semitism is absolutely rampant in Ukraine, and in recent years there has been an enormous surge of Nazi-inspired violence all over the country

The past three years saw an explosion of swastikas and SS runes on city streets, death threats, and vandalism of Holocaust memorials, Jewish centers, cemeteries, tombs, and places of worship, all of which led Israel to take the unusual step of publicly urging Kiev to address the epidemic. Public officials make anti-Semitic threats with no repercussions. These include: a security services general promising to eliminate the zhidi (a slur equivalent to kikes); a parliament deputy going off on an anti-Semitic rant on television; a far-right politician lamenting Hitler didnt finish off the Jews; and an ultranationalist leader vowing to cleanse Odessa of zhidi.

When the Russians say that the denazification of Ukraine is one of their goals, they make a legitimate point.

But the mainstream media is telling you that you must root for the Nazis and the neo-Nazis, and so I suppose that you dont have much of a choice.

Of course the mainstream media will never show you the Nazi symbols, the Nazi salutes or the rampant abuse of minority groups.

And now that the war has started, Facebook has apparently decided that it is now perfectly okay for their users to publicly praise Azov

FACEBOOK WILL TEMPORARILY allow its billions of users to praise the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi military unit previously banned from being freely discussed under the companys Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy, The Intercept has learned.

Once again, none of this means that I approve of Russias invasion of Ukraine, because I do not.

In fact, I have always been a very strong advocate for a diplomatic solution in the region.

But if you are going to root for the Ukrainians, you need to understand who you are rooting for.

What I have shared in this article is just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, most people in the western world will never hear about any of this because the mainstream media is keeping it very, very quiet.


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Glenn Youngkin gives the inaugural address after being sworn in as the 74th governor of Virginia on the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 15, 2022, in Richmond, Virginia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS)

A new poll finds Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin has a 50% approval rating about 1 months into his term.

But the Roanoke Colleges February 2022 Political Poll found less support for an executive order Youngkin implemented his first day in office  the ending of a statewide mask mandate in K-12 schools. The results demonstrate a partisan divide among Virginians, the surveys author said.

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While Youngkin maintains a 50% job approval rating and 51% approval of his pandemic handling, a slight majority disapproves of his executive actions that removed mask mandates in schools, said David Taylor, the director of Roanoke Colleges Institute for Public Opinion Research and author of the survey. By an almost 20-point margin, Virginians believe the authority to set mask mandates should be left with the school districts themselves and not with the governors office or state.

Youngkins second executive order, which repealed the statewide school mask mandate, aimed to give parents the ability to decide whether their children should wear masks in school. The poll found 46% of Virginians strongly or somewhat agree with the executive order, while 52% disagree. Approval is markedly higher (82%) among Republicans than among Democrats (21%) or independents (41%).

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As for who should set mask requirements, 56% of Virginians said local school districts should have the autonomy to create their own policies, while 37% said Youngkin or the state should set requirements.

The poll, released Tuesday, also found Virginians divided on the governors directive to remove the vaccine mandate for all state employees. Fifty-one percent strongly or somewhat agreed with Youngkins directive while 46% strongly or somewhat disagreed. Just over half (51%) of Virginians approve of Youngkins handling of the COVID-19 pandemic while 44% disapprove.

The Roanoke College poll surveyed 605 Virginia residents between Feb. 7-16. Of the respondents, 21% reported they are Hampton Roads residents.

The poll found Youngkins approval rating was slightly higher than an earlier poll conducted by Christopher Newport University. The State of the Commonwealth 2022 report, which was released Feb. 21, found mixed approval for Youngkin, with 41% of respondents saying they approve of the job the governor is doing and 43% indicating disapproval.

A spokesperson from the governors office said the 50% approval rating reported by Roanoke College is consistent with Youngkins winning margin in November.

Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news >

This poll shows that Governor Youngkins initiatives have received bipartisan support, said spokesperson Macaulay Porter. The governor will continue to hear directly from Virginians and is focused on delivering on his promises.

The Roanoke poll also asked respondents about the performance of other Republican elected officials, but found a good portion of Virginians didnt know enough about either Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears or Attorney General Jason Miyares to have an opinion. Both are former Hampton Roads delegates.

Earle-Sears holds a 30% favorable and 33% unfavorable rating. Thirty-five percent of respondents said they did not know enough about her to have formed an opinion. Similarly, Miyares has a 24% favorable and 34% unfavorable rating, with 41% of respondents unable to form an opinion.

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CNUs findings closely mirrored the Roanoke College poll when respondents were asked about vaccine requirements for state employees. Fifty percent of respondents were in favor of vaccine requirements for state employees and 48% were opposed.

On masking in public schools, CNU found that a majority of Virginia voters believe school mask requirements should be determined by health experts (56%) rather than left up to parents (41%).

The results of CNUs State of the Commonwealth 2022 poll are based on 701 interviews of registered Virginia voters, conducted between Jan. 26 and Feb. 15. Of those surveyed, 24% reported they are Hampton Roads residents.

Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com
Andrew Wheeler, who was tapped to serve as secretary of natural and historic resources, had been removed from the list before the measure passed the Democrat-controlled Senate in February. (Steve Helber/AP)

All of Gov. Glenn Youngkins Cabinet nominees secured final legislative approval Wednesday except for Andrew Wheeler, the former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator whose appointment has so far been blocked by Democrats.

Without debate, the Republican-controlled House of Delegates approved a resolution confirming Youngkins other nominees. Wheeler, who was tapped to serve as secretary of natural and historic resources, had been removed from the list before the measure passed the Democrat-controlled Senate in February.

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However, the vote isnt necessarily the end of the line for the fight, which has broadened to a partisan spat involving other appointments subject to legislative approval.

In retaliation for Wheelers rejection, House Republicans last month refused to confirm about a dozen people who had been appointed to various boards and commissions by the previous Democratic governor, Ralph Northam. They have also let expire the appointment of a Northam nominee to the powerful State Corporation Commission, which regulates railroads, public utilities, insurance and other business interests.

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With less than two weeks until lawmakers are scheduled to wrap up the years regular session, it remained unclear what else might be drawn into the back-and-forth or how it would be resolved.

Theres still a lot of things in play, Sen. Creigh Deeds said this week.

Deeds said his caucus had asked the Youngkin administration to restore the 11 Northam appointees who had been removed, suggesting that otherwise Senate Democrats would proceed to block Youngkins picks moving forward.

Now, there may be ways to get around that. There may be ways for us to discuss some of those things. So theres a whole lot of other ... appointments that were still in conversation about, he said.

Lawmakers still need to deal with judicial elections, including filling two spots on the Supreme Court of Virginia, in addition to negotiating the state budget and other bills heading to conference committees.

As for Wheeler, the governors spokeswoman said Youngkin sincerely hopes there is a path forward and remains open to further conversations.

Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news >

The General Assembly has until they adjourn sine die to reconsider their decision to reject the most qualified Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources in many years, spokeswoman Macaulay Porter wrote in an email.

The Virginia League of Conservation Voters urged Youngkin to find a suitable replacement.

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It was clear from the start that Andrew Wheeler was not a pragmatic pick to lead Virginias environmental agencies, Michael Town, the groups executive director, said in a statement. His record of working for corporate polluters and undermining environmental laws time after time made him unfit for this post, and we are glad the legislature, too, came to this conclusion.

Wheeler is an attorney and former coal lobbyist who led the EPA during the latter half of former President Donald Trumps administration, overseeing the rollbacks of environmental protections implemented under former President Barack Obama.

His critics have characterized his leadership of the agency as overly deferential to corporate interests and have accused him of downplaying the threats of climate change.

Wheeler has said his tenure as administrator was not covered fairly in the news media, and some of his former colleagues have defended his record and professionalism.

Absent securing approval for the Cabinet role, Youngkin could ask Wheeler to serve in his administration in another position.
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Seven countries that ring the North Pole have pulled back from the international body that seeks to build co-operation on the development of the Arctic in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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Seven countries that ring the North Pole have pulled back from the international body that seeks to build co-operation on the development of the Arctic in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Canada, the United States, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland announced Thursday that they won't participate in the work of the Arctic Council or attend any of its meetings until further notice. The only other member state is Russia, which currently leads the council.

"Our representatives will not travel to Russia for meetings of the Arctic Council," said a joint statement from the seven countries. "Additionally, our states are temporarily pausing participation in all meetings of the council and its subsidiary bodies."

The Arctic Council has been the main group fostering international co-operation in the Arctic since its founding in Ottawa in 1996. Although it doesn't have treaty-making powers, its work has led to important agreements on search and rescue, oil spill preparedness and scientific co-operation.

It's also an important international forum for northern Indigenous people, who are permanent participants at council meetings and take part in its debates.

The council's six working groups provide important research on the Arctic environment, its people and the sustainable development of its resources.

A spokeswoman for the council's secretariat in Tromso, Norway, said the council remains in operation, and it's too early to know what the withdrawal means for the body's scientific work.

The statement from the seven countries says the withdrawal is temporary, "pending consideration of the necessary modalities that can allow us to continue the Councils important work in view of the current circumstances."

 This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022.
DAUPHIN  More than a hundred people congregated in front of Dauphin City Hall Wednesday carrying signs that called for an end to Russias war against Ukraine.

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DAUPHIN  More than a hundred people congregated in front of Dauphin City Hall Wednesday carrying signs that called for an end to Russias war against Ukraine.

Dauphin Mayor Christian Laughland broke down in tears while speaking to the crowd, calling on the community to stand united with the country under attack during the Stand with Ukraine rally.

"Everyone wants to come together," Laughland said. "We cant really do much from a stopping-it perspective, but we can at least give support and show them that we are on their side and we want it all to stop."

The rally in support of Ukraine featured speakers including Laughland, Rural Municipality of Dauphin Reeve Stuart Geekie, Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier and other leaders in the community.

The feeling of despair in the community has been surging, Laughland said, as people watch the dangers of the conflict grow with each passing day. Ukrainian culture is part of Dauphin and as the war persists, community members have experienced shock, heartbreak and unity.

"The world is rallying around Ukraine. No one wants to see this, this is unacceptable and we all want it to end, and we dont want it to escalate any further," Laughland said.

The goal of the rally was to give an outlet to the public to express support for Ukrainians, said co-organizers Jann Sirski and Stephen Jaddock.

Sirski described the "atrocious attack by Russia" as placing the country under siege. She said the rally came together quickly, as the horrors of the war have rippled through the Dauphin community.

CHELSEA KEMP/THE BRANDON SUN The Canadian National Riding and Dancing Cossacks and Company attends the Stand with Ukraine rally in front of Dauphin City Hall Wednesday.

"We all have Ukrainian heritage, and even if not, we know people [who do]," Sirski said. "Ukraine has become such a victim of this aggression and so we just got together and said we had to do something."

There has been a feeling of disbelief and shock watching Russian troops advance in Ukraine.

"If youve got ties to Ukraine or your family came from there or you have friends and family there right now, you feel it in your bones, you feel it in your body, and its a terrible feeling about whats happening over there," Jaddock said.

Canadian National Riding and Dancing Cossacks and Company president Bryan Yakimishen and treasurer John Orisko said the community has been consumed by a feeling of worry and darkness since the conflict began.

It has been upsetting to witness Russian President Vladimir Putins attack on the country because for many in the community, their grandparents faced a similar situation of oppression which they fled to come to Canada.

"In this day and age, it shouldnt happen," Orisko said. "My children are just devastated. My daughter lived in Ukraine for a year. Shes got friends who are in very, very, very tough shape right now. Its just too close."

Orisko has been to Ukraine and described it as "walking around Dauphin."

Ukraine is a country of strength, Yakimishen said. The Dauphin-based Cossack group started almost 50 years ago to represent the Ukrainian Cossacks and keep the history and heritage of the freedom fighters alive.

"There is a saying in the Ukraine: Cossack blood will raise the nation," Orisko said.

Dauphin Mayor Christian Laughland speaks during the Stand with Ukraine rally in front of Dauphin City Hall Wednesday.

These beliefs have been ingrained in people and it remains a Cossack nation, Yakimishen said.

They both worry for the future of the world because the conflict does not only affect Ukraine.

After all, many community members still have family in Ukraine, said rally co-organizer Alyson Sometz.

"Dauphin has a strong Ukrainian presence, a strong Ukrainian culture thats resonated with all of us," Sometz said. "Were known for Canadas National Ukrainian Festival, weve got the riding and dancing Cossacks, weve got a Ukrainian bilingual school. Weve got a lot of things that are embedded in Ukrainian culture, and I think its important for those people who have that as their heritage [to] continue that on and maintain that sense of belonging."

While there has been a feeling of helplessness in the community, she hopes Wednesdays rally in front of city hall reminds people they are not alone during this difficult time.

They hope the war ends swiftly but until then, Ukrainians will continue to fight for their culture and beliefs, Yakimishen said.

"Ukraine is a nation that just wants to exist," he said.

"They just want to live their lives free and happy and raise their children in peace, and throughout history, thats all theyve been challenged for."

 ckemp@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp
The Navy has eased its rules on masks, saying they are no longer required indoors at Hampton Roads installations.

The decision covers Naval Station Norfolk; Naval Air Station Oceana; Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Naval Weapons Station Yorktown and Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads.

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The move comes after the Centers for Disease Control determined that the base and the surrounding area is in a low-risk area for community transmission of COVID-19.

All other health protection guidance remains in effect, however, the base said.

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These include rules on access to work spaces, permitted numbers of people in indoor facilities, physical distancing, travel and meetings.

Individuals have the option to still wear a mask regardless of the COVID-19 community level.

Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces shelled Europes largest nuclear plant early Friday, sparking a fire as they pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea.

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KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces shelled Europes largest nuclear plant early Friday, sparking a fire as they pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea.

Leading nuclear authorities were concerned  but not panicked  about the damage to the power station. The assault triggered phone calls between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders. The U.S. Department of Energy activated its nuclear incident response team as a precaution.

The attack on the eastern city of Enerhodar and its Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant unfolded as the invasion entered its second week and another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.

Nuclear plant spokesman Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television that shells were falling directly on the facility and had set fire to one of its six reactors. That reactor is under renovation and not operating, but there is nuclear fuel inside, he said.

Firefighters cannot get near the flames because they are being shot at, he said, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted a plea to the Russians to stop the assault and allow fire teams inside.

Residents carrying supplies walk back from the direction of Bucha, amid the debris of battle with Russian forces, on the outskirts of Irpin, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire, Tuz said in a video statement. There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe.

The assault renewed fears that the invasion could damage one of Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors and set off another emergency like the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the worlds worst nuclear disaster, which happened about 110 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tweeted that the Zaporizhzhia plants reactors were protected by robust containment structures and were being safely shut down.

In an emotional speech in the middle of the night, Zelenskyy said he feared an explosion that would be "the end for everyone. The end for Europe. The evacuation of Europe.

Only urgent action by Europe can stop the Russian troops," he said. "Do not allow the death of Europe from a catastrophe at a nuclear power station.

But most experts saw nothing to indicate an impending disaster.

Ambulance paramedics move a wounded in shelling civilian onto a stretcher to a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Russian forces have seized a strategic Ukrainian seaport and besieged another. Those moves are part of efforts to cut the country off from its coastline even as Moscow said Thursday it was ready for talks to end the fighting. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the fire had not affected essential equipment and that Ukraines nuclear regulator reported no change in radiation levels. The American Nuclear Society concurred, saying that the latest radiation levels remained within natural background levels.

The real threat to Ukrainian lives continues to be the violent invasion and bombing of their country, the group said in a statement.

Jon Wolfsthal, who served during the Obama administration as the senior director for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Security Council, said the plant's reactors have thick concrete containment domes that should protect them from tank and artillery fire.

But he too was concerned about a potential loss of power at the plant, which could imperil its ability to keep the nuclear fuel cool.

The mayor of Enerhodar said earlier that Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the citys outskirts. Video showed flames and black smoke rising above the city of more than 50,000, with people streaming past wrecked cars.

Prior to the shelling, the Ukrainian state atomic energy company reported that a Russian military column was heading toward the nuclear plant. Loud shots and rocket fire were heard late Thursday.

In this image taken from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the nation in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Many young men in athletic clothes and armed with Kalashnikovs have come into the city. They are breaking down doors and trying to get into the apartments of local residents, the statement from Energoatom said.

Later, a livestreamed security camera linked from the homepage of the Zaporizhzhia plant showed what appeared to be armored vehicles rolling into the facilitys parking lot and shining spotlights on the building where the camera was mounted.

Then there were what appeared to be muzzle flashes from vehicles, followed by nearly simultaneous explosions in surrounding buildings. Smoke rose into the frame and drifted away.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on the West to close the skies over the country's nuclear plants. "It is a question of the security of the whole world! he said in a statement.

The U.S. and NATO allies have ruled out creating a no-fly zone since the move would pit Russian and Western military forces against each other.

Vladimir Putins forces have brought their superior firepower to bear over the past few days, launching hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites around the country and making significant gains in the south.

A building is engulfed in flames after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. Russian forces have seized a strategic Ukrainian seaport and besieged another. Those moves are part of efforts to cut the country off from its coastline even as Moscow said Thursday it was ready for talks to end the fighting. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

The Russians announced the capture of the southern city of Kherson, a vital Black Sea port of 280,000, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed the takeover of the government headquarters there, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea. The battles have knocked out the city's electricity, heat and water systems, as well as most phone service, officials said. Food deliveries to the city were also cut.

Associated Press video from the port city showed the assault lighting up the darkening sky above deserted streets and medical teams treating civilians, including a 16-year-old boy inside a clinic who could not be saved. The child was playing soccer when he was wounded in the shelling, according to his father, who cradled the boys head on the gurney and cried.

Severing Ukraine's access to the Black and Azov seas would deal a crippling blow to its economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, seized by Moscow in 2014.

Overall, the outnumbered, outgunned Ukrainians have put up stiff resistance, staving off the swift victory that Russia appeared to have expected. But a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russias seizure of Crimea gave it a logistical advantage in that part of the country, with shorter supply lines that smoothed the offensive there.

Ukrainian leaders called on the people to defend their homeland by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear. In recent days, authorities have issued weapons to civilians and taught them how to make Molotov cocktails.

Women and children, fleeing from Ukraine, sleep at a makeshift shelter in the train station in Przemysl, Poland, Thursday, March 3, 2022. More than 1 million people have fled Ukraine following Russia's invasion in the swiftest refugee exodus in this century, the United Nations said Thursday. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card, and this is what we can do best in the world, Oleksiy Arestovich, an aide to Zelenskyy, said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in neighboring Belarus. But the two sides appeared far apart going into the meeting, and Putin warned Ukraine that it must quickly accept the Kremlin's demand for its demilitarization" and declare itself neutral, renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron he was determined to press on with his attack "until the end, according to Macron's office.

The two sides said that they tentatively agreed to allow cease-fires in areas designated safe corridors, and that they would seek to work out the necessary details quickly. A Zelenskyy adviser also said a third round of talks will be held early next week.

Despite a profusion of evidence of civilian casualties and destruction of property by the Russian military, Putin decried what he called an anti-Russian disinformation campaign and insisted that Moscow uses only precision weapons to exclusively destroy military infrastructure.

Putin claimed that the Russian military had already offered safe corridors for civilians to flee, but he asserted without evidence that Ukrainian neo-Nazis" were preventing people from leaving and were using them as human shields.

He also hailed Russian soldiers as heroes in a video call with members of Russia's Security Council, and ordered additional payments to families of men killed or wounded.

The Pentagon set up a direct communication link to Russia's Ministry of Defense earlier this week to avoid the possibility of a miscalculation sparking conflict between Moscow and Washington, according to a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the link had not been announced.

___

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Chernov reported from Mariupol, Ukraine. Sergei Grits in Odesa, Ukraine; Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; and other AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.

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Follow the APs coverage of the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Some JMU faculty have had to adjust to not only teaching during COVID-19. but also parenting school-age children at the same time. Married professors Tara Parsons and Lars Kristiansen; Leigh Nelson and Eric Fife; and one SCOM professor explained how they've grappled with pandemic changes and cancellations.
Caroline Lubert has been a math professor at JMU since 1999, and she focuses her research on acoustics, the mathematical study of sound waves. In her time at the university, Lubert has worked with students on various independent studies in an acoustics lab she assembled herself, and she's collaborated with NASA at Wallops Flight Facility.
Want to praise someone or get something off your chest? Darts and Pats is the place to do it.
A one-time Goldman Sachs banker has written an open letter to David Solomon calling on the Wall Street investment banks chief executive to exit Russia and re-locate staff from Moscow to stay on the right side of history.

Georgy Egorov, a former equity capital markets director who left Goldman Sachs for Swiss rival UBS in 2010, also criticised a message posted earlier this week by Solomon on social media for not condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

David Solomon, chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, is under pressure over the banks ongoing ties to Russia. Credit:Bloomberg

I was so proud, as a Goldman banker in Russia, to have worked on some of the largest transactions globally at the time - the largest bridge loan (Gazprom), the largest syndicated loan (Rosneft), one of the largest IPOs (VTB), Egorovs letter said.

Goldman Sachs on Thursday declined to comment on the letter, but a spokesman confirmed Egorov had worked at the bank.
The federal government has called on Australian superannuation funds to divest Russian assets, as the Kremlin intensifies its invasion of Ukraine.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Minister for Superannuation Jane Hume released a joint statement on Thursday evening calling on the $3.5 trillion super industry to sell Russian assets in light of the ongoing military conflict.

Major industry fund, Aware Super, on Monday said it had almost fully divested $50 million worth of Russian stocks. Other large industry and retail funds confirmed small exposures to Russia but said these were being reviewed.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Superannuation Minister Jane Hume have called on super funds to divest from Russia. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

AustralianSuper holds at least $230 million worth of Russian shares and $7 million worth of Russian bonds, according to its public register of assets, but has not responded to questions about whether it has any plans to divest.
With the sanctions and exclusion from the SWIFT global banking messaging service hitting about 80 per cent of Russias banking system and, literally overnight, causing a crisis within the system that authorities will struggle to respond to amid the freezing of Russias foreign exchange reserves, that probably means cashing out whatever assets they own outside Russia before they are tracked down by the Wests asset hunters. Denied access to conventional banking and finance networks, there has been considerable speculation that the oligarchs  and perhaps the Russian state itself  will look to crypto assets to hide and transfer whatever wealth they or the state can turn into cash. Were coming for you. Were coming for your yachts. Were coming for your jet. Were coming for your ledger. US deputy attorney Lisa Monaco It isnt necessarily straightforward, however, to turn physical assets into cash and then convert the cash into crypto assets without the transactions being traced, even though Russia has supposedly spent a lot of time looking at how to disguise crypto transactions in preparation for the (more conventional and narrow) sanctions it anticipated as the Wests reaction to the invasion. For a start, the on ramps and off ramps that link crypto transactions to the conventional financial system are visible.

For another, Western regulatory authorities, particularly US authorities, have demonstrated an increasing capacity to crack the supposed anonymity of digital transactions, evidenced by the recent arrest of a couple  and the seizure of $US3.6 billion of cryptocurrencies  for their alleged involvement in the laundering of $US4.5 billion stolen from the Bitfinex exchange in 2016. Loading The nature of blockchains means that transactions, even if the participants are anonymous, can be tracked in real time and the US has shown it can trace the chains of transactions to the ultimate beneficiaries. The regulators and their technologies have become more sophisticated as the market for crypto assets has exploded in the past couple of years. Moreover, the global market value of all crypto assets is only about $US1.92 trillion and the daily turnover around $US100 billion. Its not clear that thered be sufficient liquidity for the market to absorb a rush of Russian buying on the scale required to launder the amounts of cash that would be material to the oligarchs. Nor are cryptocurrencies large-scale media of exchange yet. The oligarchs could, perhaps, store some of their wealth in Bitcoin, but exchanging it for goods and services on a scale that would enable them to sustain their extravagant lifestyles would be problematic.

Regulators and legislators in the US and Europe are already moving to make it even tougher for crypto assets to be used to evade the sanctions, while widening the list of Russians on the sanctions list. The US, the European Union and the G-7  the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan  are all working on legislation to ensure companies providing crypto exchanges and services abide by the sanctions. They are also moving to beef up their enforcement of crypto activity. The major exchanges have said they will comply with the sanctions, although limiting their action to individuals and entities that are listed rather than to a blanket ban on Russian-related activity. The big crypto exchanges and investors understand that they are being drawn inexorably within regulatory nets similar to those that apply to more conventional financial assets and activity. They also understand that the mainstreaming of crypto assets and the shedding of the Wild West tag and anti-establishment reputation that will come with that regulation will help grow the sector and their own businesses. Its in their own interests to co-operate. The other obvious route for Russia and its kleptocracy to evade the sanctions is via China, laundering their funds through the yuan. China has been critical of the Western sanctions and has said it wont participate in them, resolving to maintain its normal trade and financial relationships with Russia.
Semiconductor manufacturers are warily eyeing global stocks of neon, xenon and palladium, necessary to manufacture their products. Makers of potato chips and cosmetics could face shortages of sunflower oil, the bulk of which is produced in Russia and Ukraine. And if the conflict is prolonged, it could threaten the summer wheat harvest, which flows into bread, pasta and packaged food for vast numbers of people, especially in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Food prices have already skyrocketed because of disruptions in the global supply chain, increasing the risk of social unrest in poorer countries. On Tuesday, the global shipping giant Maersk announced that it would temporarily suspend all shipments to and from Russia by ocean, air and rail, with the exception of food and medicine. Ocean Network Express, Hapag-Lloyd and MSC, the worlds other major ocean carriers, have announced similar suspensions. The war just makes the worldwide situation for commodities more dire, said Christopher F. Graham, a partner at White and Williams. Jennifer McKeown, head of global economics service at Capital Economics, said the global economy appeared relatively insulated from the conflict. But she said shortages of materials like palladium and xenon, used in semiconductor and auto production, could add to current difficulties for those industries. Semiconductor shortages have halted production at car plants and other facilities, fuelling price increases and weighing on sales.

That could add to the shortages that were already seeing, exacerbate those shortages, and end up causing further damage to global growth, she said. International companies are also trying to comply with sweeping financial sanctions and export controls imposed by Europe, the United States and a number of other countries that have clamped down on flows of goods and money in and out of Russia. In just a few days, Western governments moved to exclude certain Russian banks from using the SWIFT messaging system, limit the Russian central banks ability to prop up the rouble, cut off shipments of high-tech goods and freeze the global assets of Russian oligarchs. The Biden administration said the technology restrictions alone would stop about a fifth of Russian imports. But the impact on trade from the financial curbs is likely to be even larger, cutting off Russias imports from and exports to nearly all of its major trading partners, said Eswar Prasad, a professor of trade policy at Cornell University.

Even when trade flows may take place directly between Russia and its trading partners, the reality is that payments often have to go through a Western-dominated financial system, and usually have to go through a Western currency, he said. In a statement Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe and its allies were resolved to continue imposing massive costs on Russia and that disconnecting Russian banks from SWIFT would also halt Russian trade. Loading Cutting banks off will stop them from conducting most of their financial transactions worldwide and effectively block Russian exports and imports, she said. The economic consequences of these moves are not yet entirely clear. Russia accounts for less than 2 per cent of global domestic product, so the implications for other countries may be somewhat limited.

But for the Russian government and the economy, both of which are heavily dependent on trade to generate revenue, the impact could be catastrophic. Capitol Economics has estimated Russian gross domestic product could contract by 5 per cent this year, a change that in isolation would knock just 0.2 percentage points off global growth. Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capitol Economics, said financial sanctions were halting the trade of metals and agricultural commodities, likely exacerbating strains in global supply chains. Credit Suisse and Societe Generale have suspended financing for commodity trading with Russia, as has the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, she said. While the economic implications of the war and sweeping sanctions on Russia are not yet clear, many industries are bracing for a bad situation to get worse. There could be quite a bit of self-sanctioning going on. Obviously people are quite nervous about taking up contracts on Russian commodities when everything is so uncertain, Bain said. While governments havent released many specifics on what kind of trades will be allowed, she added, our understanding is that all trade apart from energy is being targeted.

The conflict may also ripple through some industries by disrupting the flight networks that companies use to deliver goods globally. Shipping ports around the Black Sea have closed, halting dozens of cargo vessels. But the more immediate effects are likely to be felt in air shipments between Asia and Europe, which now have to divert around Russian airspace, said Eytan Buchman, chief marketing officer of the Freightos Group, a digital freight booking platform. Already hit hard by the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war is exacerbating the worlds supply chain crisis. Credit:AP Western Europe and Russia have imposed reciprocal flight bans, bringing travel between the two regions to a halt. On Monday, Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said a US ban on Russian flights was not off the table. As shipping planes divert around Russian airspace, they will take longer and spend more on fuel, and they may opt for smaller and lighter loads as a result, Buchman said. Especially on the air cargo side, it will have a big impact.

Already, flights along major trade routes have slowed somewhat, according to an analysis by Flexport, a logistics company. Flights between New Delhi and London, for example, were about 8 per cent longer on average between Wednesday and Sunday than similar flights three months prior, data from Flightradar24, an aviation tracking firm, showed. Loading Longer trip times could create cascading delays and backlogs for industries that depend on airfreight, including electronics, semiconductors and fast fashion. So far, though, the effects of the flight bans have been limited. For passenger airlines, there were already relatively few tourists travelling between Europe and Asia, where many countries have strict coronavirus policies. Cargo carriers are nimble, said John Grant, a senior consultant with OAG, an aviation advisory and data firm. They can move with demand, so I suspect there will be limited immediate impact.
Its a story worthy of a Hollywood screenplay and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is just the guy to write it, direct and play the starring role.

Just a few weeks ago, it was Grohl who came up with the idea for Foo Fighters to fly to Australia and be the first international act to play a stadium show in two years.

Dave Grohls band Foo Fighters will be live and loud in Geelong tonight. Credit:Getty Images

A plan was quickly hatched to turn Grohls idea into reality and on Friday night, 30,000 people will descend on GMHBA Stadium at Kardinia Park in Geelong to soak up the live energy of one of the biggest rock bands on the planet.

It all happened in three weeks from phone call to encore, says Frontier Touring chief operating officer Dion Brant, who seized upon Grohls early morning brainwave and had the perfect location  Geelong  in mind.
There were scenes of confusion at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Thursday night when a section of the floor collapsed under the crowds feet during singer Genesis Owusus sold-out show.

Photos and videos of the incident show the centre of the theatres red carpeted floor had caved in under the weight of the crowd.

Scenes shortly after the floor at the Enmore Theatre collapsed on Thursday night.

Theres a real deep drop after that, so this is actually dangerous ... were going to have to reschedule the show, Owusu told the audience.
Salahud-Din Sal Ibn Shabazz, 39, was found shot to death in his Newport News home on April 7. (Photo courtesy of Amere Dozier)

Newport News  A former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier was convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting of another carriers husband  a killing that stemmed from a long-running feud between two female postal workers.

After a three-day trial last week, a jury in Newport News Circuit Court deliberated for less than an hour before finding Tashara Mone Jackson, 31, guilty in the April 2021 slaying of Salahud-Din Ibn Sal Shabazz.

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Shabazz  lone among the group in not working for the Postal Service  was shot and killed just after 2 a.m. April 7 in the front doorway of his Menchville area home.

Prosecutors said Jackson wasnt the shooter, but enlisted another Postal Service carrier, Jeremy Todd Pettway, 41, to go with her to the Shabazz household early that morning.

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Jacksons conviction follows last years mistrial in the case against Pettway.

The slaying, prosecutors asserted, stemmed from a long-running feud Jackson had with Shabazzs wife, mail carrier Jacqueline Jacquie Shabazz.

There were several workplace issues between the two women, with Jacquie Shabazz acknowledging on the stand at trial that she had been having an extramarital relationship with another Postal Service mail carrier whose wife was close friends with Jackson.

A string of incidents between the two women escalated in March 2021, when Jackson and Jacquie Shabazz exchanged words outside a Newport News nail salon. Shabazz admitted to slashing Jacksons tires as she was getting her nails done.

Tashara Jackson, a mail carrier charged with murder in the death of Sal Shabazz on April 7 in Newport News.

A few days later, Jacquie Shabazzs vehicle was vandalized in her driveway when the family was out of town. Her SUV was spray-painted, its tires slashed, and an object stuffed into the gas tank.

When the Shabazzes came home, they learned Jackson would attend a party at Harpoon Larrys restaurant on April 6, and went to confront her. Witnesses said Sal Shabazz pointed a Taser at others to keep them at bay while his wife and Jackson fought in the parking lot. Jackson would tell police later that Sal Shabazz also kicked her during the altercation.

Following the fight, Jacquie Shabazz and the couples four daughters went to a York County motel for the night for their safety. Sal Shabazz  who was intoxicated at the time  decided to stay home.

Jacquie Shabazz testified she was talking on the phone with her husband when he got a knock on the door about 2 a.m. When he went to answer, she said, she heard a brief exchange, followed by gunfire.

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Shabazz was found dead just inside his front door, with four cartridge casings found on the floor nearby.

His family said he was a U.S. Army veteran who worked as a forklift operator at a local warehouse. He was the father of four daughters with Jacquie Shabazz, and has an older son in Indiana from a prior relationship.

[ Slashed tires, spray-painted car and parking lot fight: Newport News Post Office feud turned deadly ]

At last weeks trial, Senior Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Andrea Booden and Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Jacqueline Donner contended that Jackson had picked up Pettway, then drove to the Shabazzes home to retaliate for the restaurant fight.

Police detective Trevor Buchanan showed the jury an extensive video presentation in which he superimposed cellphone tracking data from Jacksons and Pettways phones onto a satellite map.

The tracking data showed the two phones came together near Pettways home. Video surveillance from traffic cameras in the area showed what appears to be Jacksons SUV on Jefferson Avenue, headed in the direction of Menchville.

Buchanan combined that with Ring home security footage that shows a shadowy figure leaving the SUV and walking toward the Shabazzes house. The SUV then fled the area with its lights out.

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Pettways and Jacksons cellphones lost network connection at the same time, with prosecutors saying they turned them off to cover their tracks.

Police said Jeremy Pettway, 40, was charged with first degree murder, burglary, shooting into an occupied dwelling, as well as two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and conspiracy to commit a felony after an incident on April 7, 2021 in Newport News. (Courtesy of the Newport News Police Department)

In the days following the shooting, Jackson texted Pettway that he was there for her when no one else was, and you didnt hesitate. When he texted back that he was the protector, Jackson replied they were Bonnie and Clyde forever.

Pettway later texted Jackson that police had searched his house but didnt find his gun. He said he got rid of it by giving it to a female mail carrier friend. Police later found the handgun under that womans bed.

Prosecutors said Jackson, not Pettway, had issues with the Shabazzes, and that she was clearly involved in the crime.

Those text messages showed that she knew what had happened, that she knew what was going to happen, and was fully participating in it, Booden said.

It was significant, the prosecutor said, that Jackson referred to herself and Pettway as Bonnie and Clyde  the infamous criminal couple that committed robberies and killed several police officers and others during the Great Depression.

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We are criminal actors together, Booden said the reference meant. Were doing this together.

But Jacksons attorney, Timothy Clancy, said his client was an accessory after the fact  helping Pettway get away  but that she wasnt involved in the slaying.

Wheres the evidence that my client agreed ahead of time that Pettway was going to have a weapon and go out and kill Sal Shabazz? Clancy said he asked the jury. Isnt it just as likely they were going out to vandalize the car again?

Though Pettway clearly carried out the killing, Clancy said, all Jackson did was help him afterward. Thats accessory after the fact, he said.

But the 12-member jury sided with the prosecution  taking only 50 minutes to find Jackson guilty on the first-degree murder and murder conspiracy counts. She faces up to life in prison at her sentencing in June.

A trial against Pettway in November  featuring much of the same evidence  ended in a hung jury on the murder and gun charges, though he was found guilty of conspiracy. He has a new trial slated for early April.

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Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, pdujardin@dailypress.com
Australias longest-running TV drama, Neighbours, will come to an end in June after failing to find a British broadcaster partner to keep the program running.

We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9000 episodes broadcast we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June. Following the loss of our key broadcast partner in the UK and despite an extensive search for alternative funding, we simply have no option but to rest the show, the show announced on its social media channels.

To our amazing, loyal fans, we know this is a huge disappointment, as it is to all of us on the team. We thank you for all your messages and support and promise to end the show on an incredible high. From here on, we are celebrating Neighbours.
A federal government directive that the offshore environment regulator ignore the oil and gas sectors massive indirect emissions but consider its economic benefits could open decisions to legal challenge.

Resources minister Keith Pitt told the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority he expected it to only consider the direct emissions from projects it assessed as later indirect, or scope 3, emissions were managed by countries that bought Australian oil and gas.

Gas is good: Resources Minister Keith Pitt. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

In February, Mr Pitt wrote to NOPSEMA chief executive Stuart Smith listing his expectations of the independent regulator, which also included exercising its powers consistent with government policy and considering the economic and commercial environment.

Environmental Defenders Office managing climate lawyer Brendan Dobbie said Mr Pitts expectation on emissions conflicted with NOPSEMAs legal obligations.
During the US recession of 2001 beauty mogul Leonard Lauder created the Lipstick Index, using the sales of cosmetics in his family business Estee Lauder to determine how the economy was performing. More than 20 years later department store David Jones has turned to the High Heels Index, with the return of the stiletto a welcome sign that customers are seeking glamour and de-prioritising comfort, along with masks, after COVID-19 lockdowns.

High heels have been incredibly popular, says Bridget Veals, David Jones general manager of womenswear and accessories. When we saw that our customers were spending serious money on them after the lockdowns, we knew that things were looking brighter. Those brights spots are created at the checkout by boots and shoes north of $1500.

David Jones models Magnolia Maypuru and Victoria Lee deliver fashion optimism in Aje dresses and accessories and Dinosaur Designs jewellery at rehearsals for the David Jones runway show, opening the Melbourne Fashion Festival at the Queen Victoria Markets. Credit:Simon Schluter

Not surprisingly David Jones decided to put its highest foot forward on the runway for the opening show of the Melbourne Fashion Festival, with a smattering of sneakers and sandals for those with aesthetic acrophobia.

These were the types of 9.5 cm, narrow heels not usually worn between the fruit and vegetable aisles at the bustling Queen Victoria Market, where the show took place within sniffing distance of the hot jam doughnut van, tormenting models.
Sara Marie Stig was trusted to process out-of-pocket expense claims for cancer patients involved in clinical trials.

But it was in this administrative role at Chris OBrien Lifehouse she defrauded the inner-Sydney cancer treatment centre of almost a quarter of a million dollars, including by using the name of one patient who died.

Sara Marie Stig shields her face outside Downing Centre Local Court before she was sentenced and taken into custody. Credit:Flavio Brancaleone

Sentencing the 44-year-old in Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday to a maximum 30 months imprisonment, Magistrate David Price said nothing less than full-time custody was appropriate and the crime could not be condoned in any way, shape or form.

He said she had taken funds needed by a cancer research institute and that there must be a strong disincentive for people in positions of trust to take money from such organisations.
As heartbroken Lismore residents make their way back to whats left of their homes to begin a laborious flood recovery effort, the smiling faces of Sikh Volunteers Australia are greeting them with free, hot meals.

The Melbourne-based not-for-profit has become almost synonymous with natural disaster support, this time travelling for close to 34 hours to reach the flood-ravaged town in northern NSW.

Manpreet Singh, Gurkirapal Singh and Sukhwinder Kaur from Sikh Volunteers Australia in July 2020. Credit:Simon Schluter

After their long journey, the four sikhs - known as Sewadars - have set up in Goonellabah, in Lismores east, to provide much-needed relief to the devastated community by supplying thousands of their famous curries.

The Sikh community is part of the larger Australian community, that is why we help anyone without discrimination, Jaswinder Singh told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Prosecutors have decided former footballer Jarryd Hayne will face a third trial in the NSW District Court, after his sexual assault convictions were quashed on appeal last month.

Mr Hayne, 34, was jailed last year for at least three years and eight months over an incident in Newcastle in September 2018 in which he allegedly assaulted a 26-year-old woman with his hands and mouth and left her bleeding from the genitals.

Jarryd Hayne leaves Cooma Correctional Centre on February 15 after his sexual assault convictions were quashed. Credit:Janie Barrett

He was released from custody in February after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal quashed his convictions on two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and ordered a retrial.

In Sydneys Downing Centre District Court on Friday, prosecutor Adrian Dragicevic confirmed the Crown will be proceeding to a retrial.
Schools across NSW are locking toilets outside break times to clamp down on students vaping e-cigarettes, but families say restrictions are causing health and hygiene problems for students.

The Herald has heard from dozens of families with children at public, Catholic and independent schools about newly imposed toilet restrictions to deal mostly with vaping, but also vandalism.

NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell. Credit:James Alcock

It comes as NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell told budget estimates the use of e-cigarettes among young people was a growing concern, and she was working with NSW Health and other agencies on a whole-of-government response.

Ms Mitchell told the Herald this could include advertising, additional resources in schools and curated information for parents.
The war in Ukraine has sent Australias fossil-fuel export prices surging, as buyers in Europe and Asia scramble to reduce their exposure to Russia and look for alternative coal and gas supplies in the middle of a global energy crunch.

The benchmark price for high-quality coal in Asia surged 42 per cent this week to an unprecedented $US446 ($609) a tonne, while one-off cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) soared more than 40 per cent to a six-month high.

Thermal coal prices have surged to record highs since Russias invasion of Ukraine. Credit:Glenn Hunt

Despite the improving near-term outlook for Australian coal and gas, the fossil fuels long-term future is less certain and depends largely on how aggressively countries seek to decarbonise.

Russia supplies nearly 40 per cent of Europes natural gas needs, and 60 per cent of its thermal coal. While economic sanctions applied to Russia have so far excluded energy exports, financial restrictions on Russian banks are preventing some buyers from trading with Russian coal and gas suppliers.
A new attempt is under way to take a united stand against the Russian invasion of Ukraine among the Quad alliance between Australia, the United States, Japan and India in an urgent meeting of leaders that will also canvass the implications for Chinese claims over Taiwan.

Leaders from the four Quadrilateral Security Dialogue nations will discuss the crisis in an attempt to decide a common position hours after India abstained from a motion at the United Nations General Assembly that condemned the invasion and urged Russia to withdraw its troops without conditions.

The leaders of the Quad - Scott Morrison, Joe Biden, Narendra Modi and Fumio Kishida - are meeting overnight on Thursday, Australian time. Credit:Kate Geraghty, AP, Bloomberg

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will attend the online meeting from Kirribilli House in Sydney at 1am on Friday, the first leaders meeting of the group since a pact between Russia and China on February 4 and the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

An agreement between United States President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Morrison will be challenging when the Indian government relies on military supplies from Russia at a time of tension with China.
That figure is well above Mr Andrews assurances that the deal would cost $160 million over four years. The 2016 industrial agreement ran to 396 pages and was packed with various clauses and schedules. Paid firefighters were to be banned from simple tasks, including pumping air into tyres or changing wheels unless it was an emergency. At least seven paid firefighters would be needed on the scene of every incident, and volunteers would be prevented from issuing orders. The industrial dispute over the implementation of the deal has dogged the Andrews government for years. The Andrews government between 2014 and 2019 attempted to resolve a protracted dispute involving the pay and condition of firefighters and the fire services reform bill. These negotiations left unresolved questions about the role played personally by Mr Andrews, members of his government and other MPs as they dealt with militant union leader Peter Marshall.

It was revealed only weeks ago that Victorias anti-corruption commission was finalising its probe involving dealings between the United Firefighters Union and the state government. In its request for a Treasurers advance to release money from the governments contingency funds for the 2019-20 financial year, the MFB noted $50 million was needed for allowances, including emergency medical response allowance, after-hours disturbance allowance, annual skills maintenance and public holiday accrued leave and $6.3 million for capital costs for items including private vehicles for senior personnel. It also featured $2.3 million to cover expenses incurred in the previous year as the contingency funds requested in 2018-19 were based on estimates and were not enough to cover the actual costs. The total cost of paying private vehicles for senior personnel is unclear, but the document reveals it has cost at least $6.3 million. While senior public servants are often provided with cars, the number of employees in senior positions in Victorias fire service is much higher than at either Fire and Rescue NSW or Victoria Police.

Under each organisations enterprise agreement, commissioners, deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners and commanders receive a private vehicle that should not be used for emergencies or firefighting. There are 57 assistant commissioners in FRV compared with six in NSW and 16 in Victoria Police, and 237 commanders in FRV compared with 45 in NSW and 13 in Victoria Police. The union successfully negotiated as part of the new enterprise agreement to create more commander positions, and each senior employee would receive an off-road capacity, diesel-fuelled 4WD with bull bars, tinted windows and first-aid kits. Opposition Emergency Services spokesman Brad Battin with volunteer firefighters in 2016. Credit:Daniel Pockett The state government did not clarify the organisations annual budget, and budget papers do not delineate funding for MFB, CFA and Forest Fire Victoria.

But Mr Pallas and Mr Andrews had repeatedly told Parliament the cost of implementing the deal would be $160 million over four years, despite a leaked CFA document in 2016 revealing it could be in the order of at least $663 million. Although the document made it clear the figure was not final, it was consistent with the numbers that were previously put to the Fair Work Commission, Treasury officials and the office of the former emergency services minister, Jane Garrett. [The Department of Justice and Community Safety] advised DTF [Department of Treasury and Finance] that MFB has incurred significant costs in implementing the 2016 MFB EBA and has depleted their cash reserves, the Treasurers ministerial brief stated. In light of this, the minister is seeking an initial release of $20 million from contingency and will seek release of the remaining $38.867 million for 2019-20 and $46.502 million ongoing once MGB has provided additional information to verify the total costs incurred in implementing the [enterprise agreement]. The Treasurers office did not clarify whether the MFB provided further information or if the remaining contingency funds had been released, but in a statement, a spokesman said: This was not new funding  this was part of a previously planned and approved funding allocation that was held in contingency for costs associated with the MFB [enterprise agreement].

Loading Opposition emergency services spokesman Brad Battin said Mr Andrews had misled the community. Instead of wasting vital emergency services funding on political deals, this money should be used to protect Victorian lives, properties and communities, Mr Battin said. The fire services were out of money to pay staff, no wonder so many local stations cant upgrade their 30-year-old trucks putting communitys at risk. The United Firefighters Union was approached for comment.
Arlington Public Schools suspended John Stanton, 65, who made the comments during a middle school Spanish class Friday, The Washington Post reported. (smolaw11/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

ARLINGTON  A Virginia substitute teacher has been suspended after expressing approval of Russian President Vladimir Putins decision to invade Ukraine and urging students to read Russian propaganda outlets.

Arlington Public Schools suspended John Stanton, 65, who made the comments during a middle school Spanish class Friday, The Washington Post reported.

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Stanton said he offered an opposing viewpoint and told students to read as many news sources as possible, including Sputnik News, which the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency have declared a state-run propaganda machine.

The statement I think that got me was I said, I personally support the logic of Putin, and what I meant by that is, he made a rational decision from his perception, Stanton said.

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A schools spokesperson declined to discuss Stantons comments or employment status.

In an email to the school board, parents said Stantons comments, expressing support for Russia and asking if anyone hated Russia, amounted to advocacy of political positions, and Russian propaganda.

Officials notified Stanton that he was suspended because of an allegation of comments made to students during instructional hours regarding sensitive world events with Russia and Ukraine. Stanton said he doesnt plan to petition for reinstatement.

Stanton, whose resume lists roles as an American Enterprise Institute researcher and independent journalist, said he writes for outlets such as Pravda.
First, it is important to recognise the historical magnitude of the conflict in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has not just invaded, but also openly denied the legitimacy of Ukraines existence as an independent state. Russia is threatening Finland and Sweden with war, should they now also seek to join NATO. Comparisons between what we are seeing in Europe today and Czechoslovakia in 1938, or Poland in 1939, are not easily dismissed. This is how world wars begin. Loading Second, we are humbled by the realisation that we  as individuals and collectively  could and should have foreseen the challenges facing Ukraine and the international community today. Ever since Russias war with Georgia in 2008, there have been many voices in the international community who have warned of the dangers in Putins Russia. The international community, including ANU, continued its cooperation with Russia even as it first attacked Ukraine in 2014. Third, we are in lockstep with and inspired by the widespread measures, taken by governments and civil society across the world, to cut ties with Russia in the financial, economic, investment, trade and transport, cultural and sporting spheres.

Putin can only act as he does because he is enabled by active and passive complicity across large parts of Russias state and society. If we are to avoid further bloodshed and destruction on a catastrophic scale, we must collectively demonstrate to the Russian people the consequences of what Putins government is doing in their name. Our decision may not be much, indeed it seems tragically insufficient, but given the dangers of an ever-escalating conflict, it is what we can and should do now. When the history books are written about 2022 and the years that led to it, they will have chapters on sins of commission. But the chapters on the sins of omission  how the world let this happen  will be even longer. The immediate material effects of our stance will be small. We do not inflict harm, merely disappointment, inconvenience and, we hope, a degree of shame. But we will add to the global pressure on the Russian people to consider individual and collective responsibility for what is happening in their name.

Fourth, we fear that the worst of this conflict is ahead. Russias invasion so far was inept in many regards, and based on poor political and operational assumptions. But Russias army remains large and powerful, and will adapt. Russia has yet to use much of the devastating firepower of its artillery and air force. So if we do not cut ties now, then when? After the toll of dead, wounded and displaced reaches some greater obscenity? After all Ukraines cities lie in ruins? After Russia escalates the war by attacking further neighbours? Or never because what will be the point when it is too late? We are conscious that we could look at whether a university should react to international conflict in terms of scientific ideals not being soiled by political consideration. We could debate it in a utilitarian way about Australia supporting Europe so that it in turn might support us against security risks in the future. Or we could look narrowly through the prism of material consequences. Loading No doubt debates along those same lines were had in the 1930s in many countries and institutions. But in the end, the only thing that people remember, and the only thing that really mattered, was who stood on the right side of history, and who did not.
Yaryna Arieva can pinpoint the exact moment the ground slipped beneath her feet. Air raid sirens were wailing in her ears and she was kissing her new husband outside Kyivs golden-domed St Michaels Monastery.

The young couple had made a mad dash to the church on the banks of the Dnieper River to get married last Thursday, after Russian troops advanced into Ukraine and launched a co-ordinated attack on several major cities.

Ukrainian newlyweds Svyatoslav Fursin and Yarnya Arieva joined the fight to protect their country straight after their wedding last week.

That morning, Arieva had woken at 5.30am to the frantic footsteps of her upstairs neighbours preparing to flee and found panicked texts from her colleagues about the advance of enemy troops. The war has begun, one message read.

It wasnt until she was standing outside the church after the ceremony with her husband, 24-year-old Lviv software designer Svyatoslav Fursin, that the grim reality of war finally dawned on her.
A defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has taunted invading Russian forces, insisting their morale was crumbling even as Russian troops appeared to capture their first major Ukrainian city and made other important advances during a day of ferocious fighting.

After claiming victory in the strategically significant port city of Kherson, the Russian military was bearing down on several other Ukrainian cities overnight as it stepped up a devastating campaign of aerial bombardments.

The United Nations refugee agency said a million people had fled Ukraine in the week since Russia invaded - a figure it believes could eventually rise to 4 million or 10 per cent of the countrys population.

The United Nations estimates that a million people have fled Ukraine in the seven days since the invasion began. Credit:Getty

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his fellow Quad leaders - United States President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida - were due to discuss the Ukraine crisis at a surprise emergency meeting held overnight online.
Australian banks have announced they will offer to defer loan repayments for Queenslanders and NSW residents who have been affected by severe flooding.

Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh said as people affected by these terrible floods start the long, slow recovery, this will give some financial peace of mind.

The message from banks is clear: dont tough it out on your own, call your bank, they are ready to help, Bligh said.

Banks are offering loan deferral or reduced repayment arrangements for home, personal, and some business loans.

Bligh is encouraging customers to talk to their bank as soon as they can to find out what assistance is available to get them through this uncertain time.

Once the worst of the emergencies are over and the clean-ups begin, we want Australians who have been impacted to know their bank is ready with tailored support to assist as they recover.

ABA member banks offer different measures to help customers affected by natural disasters which can include a deferral of scheduled loan repayments on home, personal and some business loans up to three months.

Other measures include waiving fees and charges on term deposits, offering additional finance to cover cash flow shortages and debt consolidation.

ANZ general manager NSW Michael Wake (pictured) has provided an update on how ANZ customers in flood-affected areas can arrange assistance.

A lot of our branches in flood affected areas are closed, so our customers can go to our website Natural Disaster Support | ANZ and complete an assistance form which will be picked up immediately, Wake said. ANZ staff are contacting their commercial customers who are in flood-affected areas across Queensland and NSW. Alternatively, our customers can call the dedicated hardship number on 1800 149 549 for assistance.

Wake said ANZ understood the importance of assisting customers right now with what they need, but also implementing long-term planning which is what banks need to do during the recovery phase.

We want to assist our customers and the community to get back on their feet once the flooding has resided. We want to make sure we are not just there straight away, but for the long term as well. If you need assistance, please reach out through these means so we can assist as soon as possible.

All the major banks are offering loan deferrals and also other forms of assistance. Westpac has launched a $2 million fund to help small businesses that have been impacted by floods across Queensland and NSW. Small business customers who meet the eligibility criteria can apply for $3,000 in cash grants to assist with urgent expenses or repairs by contacting their banker or calling the Westpac support team.

NABs disaster relief package includes credit card and personal loan relief, waiving the establishment fee for restructuring business facilities and concessional loans to assist in repairs. It is also offering $1,000 grants for temporary accommodation, food and clothing and $1,000 business grants to cover the cost of damaged property, equipment and fencing, and stock loss.

CBA has donated $500,000 to the CanGive Flood Appeal and will be dollar matching donations to the appeal up to $500,000. It is also assisting customers in a number of other ways, including waiving fees and charges, providing temporary overdrafts and loan restructuring.
The number of new approved homes saw a dramatic fall of 27.9% to 12,916 in seasonally adjusted terms in January as the Omicron variant slowed administration processes, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Daniel Rossi, director of construction statistics at the ABS, said the value of total approved buildings went down 27.7% in January, driven by a 36.8% fall in the value of approved non-residential buildings.

Private sector house approvals also fell 17.5% in January, but were still 0.8% higher than pre-pandemic levels during the same month.

Total approvals plummeted across most states, rising only in Queensland at 0.5%. Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales took the biggest hits with drops of 35.5%, 29.2% and 25.9%, respectively. The results are a reminder for the government not to be too complacent about the post-pandemic recovery after Omicron, argued shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Weve had now five or six times where the treasurer has said the economys roaring again and that its all fine, Chalmers told ABC radio. Its why we need a genuine plan to get the economy growing and not just more of these billions of dollars of political patch-ups and waste and mismanagement that we currently see in the budget.

Last month, the ABS also reported that employees worked 159 million fewer hours in January than in December  a likely contributor to the fall in housing approvals due to the increased use of annual and sick leaves in the first two weeks of January.

However, Tom Devitt, economist at the Housing Industry Association (HIA), said the usual number of approvals is expected to return as the nation moves past the Omicron wave.

The absence of council workers, private certifiers and building business staff will have weighed on the ability to process approvals, Devitt said. There are no indications that home building activity is facing weak demand any time soon, despite temporary interruptions from the Omicron outbreak in January.
.com Inc and India's second-largest retailer have agreed to talks, seeking to resolve legal wrangles at the heart of a battle for supremacy in the country's vast retail sector.

In an unexpected move on Thursday, counsel Gopal Subramanium suggested at a Supreme Court hearing that the two sides negotiate, saying the "whirlpool" of disputes fought on multiple fronts had been dragging on for too long.

"All that I'm saying is let us at least have a conversation. We cannot allow the spinners' wheel to continue like this. Please consider this," Subramanium said.

"We must agree, discuss ... come face-to-face and discuss the best possibilities."

Counsel for agreed to the talks, saying "nobody is winning in this battle." The judges said the two sides can take 10 days to reach a possible solution.

has successfully stalled Future's $3.4 billion asset sale to Indian rival Reliance since 2020, accusing its business partner of violating certain contracts. Future denies any wrongdoing, but the U.S. firm's position has been backed by a Singapore arbitrator and Indian courts.

Amazon's olive branch comes just days after Reliance started seizing control of around 500 Future stores, rebranding them as their own outlets despite the ongoing legal disputes.

Reliance had previously transferred leases of some of Future's flagship supermarkets to its name, but allowed Future to still operate them. Reliance has now begun to take possession of the prized real estate after Future failed to make rental payments to it, sources say.

(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.)
US e-commerce giant has again proposed a dialogue with to end their legal battles, to which the Kishore Biyani-led retailer has agreed. The parties are in dispute on Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) acquiring . The has given both sides time until March 15 to explore a settlement.

During a hearing on Thursday, the court told the three parties  .com, Future Retail (FRL), and its promoter Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL) to find ways to reach a settlement.

The judges said the two sides could take 10 days to reach a solution. Senior lawyers Harish Salve, representing FRL, and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for FCPL, agreed to the proposal. Amazon, through counsel Gopal Subramanium, proposed talks with Future Retail. During a hearing before the Supreme Court, he said the whirlpool of litigation dragged too long.

We cannot let the spinners wheel to continue. At least have a conversation, Subramanium told the court.

Salve said: What stops from calling Mr Kishore Biyani and discussing. Let me assure you no one is winning in this battle. Amazon God has to come to the ground and speak to lesser mortals like us.

No one is winning. FRL, Reliance, and Amazon all have issues. I dont know why we need a court order for a dialogue.

Amazon has said it will not file any fresh proceedings against while talks are underway.

It raised concern about investor sentiment, given the delay in getting contractual obligations implemented even after having an injunction order. Amazons counsel said the investors in Adani and Reliance would also be worried.





ALSO READ: Future Retail shuts Big Bazaar as Reliance Industries plans takeover



Amazons offer for a dialogue is not something new and it is good that Future Group is evaluating the opportunity, said K Narasimhan, senior advocate, Madras High Court. This development can benefit both the brands but, more importantly, lift the spirits of employees and partners of FRL.

The issue between Amazon and Future goes back to August 2019, when Amazon acquired 49 per cent in FCPL, the promoter entity of FRL, for around Rs 1,500 crore. One year later, in August 2020, Future Group struck a $3.4-billion asset-sale deal with RIL.

In October 2020, Amazon sent legal notice to Future for doing the deal. It alleged it breached Futures agreement with Amazon. It cited its non-compete agreement with the Kishore Biyani-led chain. The deal specified any disputes would be arbitrated under the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) rules. The same month, October 2020, Amazon got a favourable ruling for its plea at the SIAC.

In November 2020, Future moved the Delhi High Court (HC) against Amazon, alleging interference by the US firm in the deal with RIL.

The battle is going on.

One should look at the statement made by Amazons counsel from the lens of worry. If Amazon cant get a contractual obligation fulfilled, then the situation is bleak for other foreign investors too, said K Giri, director, General Empower India, a think tank promoting corporate governance in the country.
on Thursday said it has committed a USD 150 million (about Rs 1,140 crore) loan for strengthening the infrastructure in the country in association with IPE Global, in the aftermath of the pandemic.

The continued threat of new variants has reinforced the need to boost investments and partnerships in the health sector.

has committed to strengthening India's infrastructure by signing an MoU with IPE Global for the SAMRIDH Blended Finance Facility, the bank said in a release.

"Under this partnership, will provide affordable finance of up to USD 150 million through SAMRIDH, to support health enterprises and innovators who would otherwise not have access to affordable debt financing," said the country's third largest private sector bank.

It said the ability to access loans will help them increase production and provide advanced health solutions to address COVID-19 along with other health emergencies, especially across the vulnerable communities of India from tier 2 and 3 cities.

SAMRIDH is an initiative supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

It leverages philanthropic capital and public sector resources, to offset barriers for commercial investments in small and medium health enterprises.

With this, SAMRIDH can scale up market solutions and innovations in the healthcare value chain, Axis Bank said.

Also, it will help supplement the manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceuticals, facility expansion of public and private hospitals, nursing homes, small clinics, laboratories, and warehouses.

"The healthcare segment has been a key focus area for Axis Bank and we have been supporting various entities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our partnership with SAMRIDH will enable the bank to extend the much-needed debt support to more entities that are working to strengthen India's healthcare infrastructure, in order to deal with the third wave of the pandemic and any other emerging healthcare challenges," said Subrat Mohanty, Group Executive Axis Bank Business Group, Axis Bank.

USAID/India Mission Director Veena Reddy said the private enterprise is a powerful force for lifting lives, strengthening communities, and accelerating sustainable development.

"Increasing access to affordable capital for small enterprises with solutions for greater reach will enable long-term impact. This new partnership between Axis Bank and SAMRIDH will further our joint efforts to provide innovative healthcare solutions to some of the most vulnerable people in India," Reddy said.

IPE Global is an international development consultancy group providing expert technical assistance in developing countries.

(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.)
By Aditi Shah and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India, which is owned by China's SAIC Motor, plans to raise funds to develop its Indian electric mobility business, three sources told Reuters, as Chinese investments face increased scrutiny by the government in New Delhi.

India may try to sell a stake of between 10% and 30% and is looking at options including issuing new shares or diluting SAIC's holding, one of the sources familiar with the plans said, adding that it may even create a separate unit for its electric vehicle (EV) business in India.

The company is talking to private equity funds which are increasingly interested in investing in the fast-growing electric vehicle market, two of the sources said, as countries shift their economies away from fossil fuels.

"Everyone is buying into the EV story because it gives investors an ESG bet, and MG is trying to pitch itself as an EV play," the first source told Reuters.

India has yet to finalise how much money it plans to raise, which will depend on the valuation of the Indian business and its growth plans, the sources, who asked to remain anonymous because the talks are private.

It plans to use the funds to ramp up production, introduce new EVs and expand its charging network, the first source said.

MG Motor India declined to comment on the plans.

SAIC also declined to comment, but said it is confident that MG Motor India will break even next year.

It also said it already has a wide portfolio of new energy vehicles (NEVs), which include electric, hybrid and fuel cell cars, which MG can choose from to sell in India.

"The local government is concerned about the environment and wants to promote NEVs so our Indian company's goal is also in that direction, even to go 100% on NEVs," a representative from SAIC's public relations department told Reuters.

Despite government subsidies, sales of electric cars in India make up less than 1% of the total mainly due to the high cost of EVs and insufficient charging infrastructure.

India's EV market is dominated by domestic carmaker Tata Motors, which raised $1 billion from TPG last year for its EV business.

Meanwhile, Tesla Inc wants New Delhi to reduce import tariffs on EVs, which are as high as 100%, so it can bring in cars for sale at an affordable level.

TRAFFIC JAM

MG Motor India's plans come as New Delhi has sought to limit investments from Beijing after a 2020 clash between soldiers from the two countries on their disputed Himalayan border.

Investment proposals worth more than $2 billion from China, including from SAIC, are awaiting Indian government approval.

SAIC said its business has not been impacted and that its investment proposal "is being processed".

MG entered India in 2019 with plans to invest about $650 million. It currently sells four models including the ZS EV, and has partnered with including Tata Power and Fortum, a European energy company, to set up charging stations.

It has hired an Indian law firm and a transaction adviser for the fund raising, the second source said.

Delays in raising capital from SAIC, supply chain disruptions and semiconductor shortages have prevented MG Motor India's from ramping up production, a fourth source said.

The Chinese automaker sold about 3,500 cars a month on average in India in 2021, giving it a market share of around 1%, industry data showed.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah and Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Alexander Smith)

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
People living with disabilities in Beijing create woolen bouquets for Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

People's Daily Online) 10:44, March 03, 2022

A workshop for cultural and creative products at Beijing Hope House, a rehabilitation center for people with spinal cord injuries, was assigned an unexpected task in late August last year  it was tasked with creating bouquets that will be presented to medalists at the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Photo shows Tang Zhanxin (C) and her team members. (Photo/China Womens News)

With support from the Beijing Disabled Persons Federation, the center was founded in 2014 by Tang Zhanxin, who lost the ability to walk after a tragic car accident.

When the federation revealed that our workshop was picked to create the bouquets for Beijing 2022, I felt very surprised and lucky, Tang said.

The bouquets are not made of fresh flowers, but of crocheted ones instead. These crocheted woolen bouquets will not wither and are produced with techniques listed as an intangible cultural heritage in China.

According to the original design, each bouquet features six types of flowers, including a rose that stands for friendship, a Chinese rose for perseverance, a lily of the valley for happiness, a hydrangea for unity, a laurel for victory, and an olive for peace. Tang suggested adding blue-colored calliopsis to the bouquets for the Paralympic Games, as calliopsis conveys the strength of persons living with disabilities. Her suggestion would later go on to be adopted.

Photo shows woolen bouquets for the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. (Photo/China Womens News)

However, its an arduous task for Tang, as she had to complete hundreds of bouquets in just a few months. Tang established a team of more than 150 people living with disabilities accompanied by their family members. At first, only several team members possessed the skills for crocheting the flowers, so they quickly got to work tutoring the others. In the end, Tangs team crafted 500 bouquets altogether.

It took us over 20,000 hours to complete the bouquets, as each bouquet needed 35 to 40 hours to craft. Its a challenge, but we finished our mission, Tang said.

She added that the challenge is also a good opportunity for her team. We proved that we can compete with commercial teams, she said.

Beijing Hope House has been committed to helping people with spinal cord injuries participate in social life just like normal people since its foundation. Tang introduced that the center helped 95 percent of the first batch of 50 disabled people live independently in their first year of operations. To date, the center has offered continued support for more than 800 people with spinal cord injuries.

The center has also helped people living with disabilities find jobs. Tang said that the center has a team of more than 120 disabled persons who provide services for China Mobile, a major telecommunications operator, and the team is highly praised by the companys clients. In recent years, the center has also offered vocational training to over 1,500 persons living with disabilities.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Workers trim cannabis plants that are close to harvest in a grow room at the Greenleaf Medical Cannabis facility in Richmond on June 17. (AP Photo/Steve Helber/FILE) (Steve Helber/AP)

Virginia had an extraordinary opportunity in recent years to make bold choices about marijuana. But lawmakers are poised yet again to squander it, a bipartisan failure that leaves Virginians in a cloud of uncertainty about the cultivation, sales and regulation of the drug.

A House subcommittee on Monday rejected a bill that would have allowed recreational marijuana sales to begin in September. That measure, already passed by the Senate, establishes a legal framework intended to bring order to a chaotic marketplace where cannabis is legal in theory more than in practice.

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Thanks to legislation approved by the General Assembly last year, it is no longer against state law for adults to grow four marijuana plants at home, to possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis for personal use or to gift up to 1 ounce to another adult.

But it remains against the law in Virginia to buy seeds, farm cannabis or legally purchase marijuana. Dispensaries are still not open to the general public, meaning individuals cannot buy products available to adults in several other states.

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Yes, marijuana is still banned under federal law. But Washington has done nothing to punish states, such as Colorado, California and Oregon, which legalized sales that accounted for a combined $3 billion in sales tax revenue last year.

Whats stopping Virginia? Well, its always something.

More than five years ago, James City County Republican Thomas K. Tommy Norment Jr., then the Senate majority leader, sent shockwaves across the commonwealth by calling for a thorough review of Virginia laws concerning pot and what changing them might mean.

I think its absolutely crazy that we continue to lock people up for possession of a modest amount of marijuana, Norment told the Norfolk City Council in 2016.

In 2017 Virginia lawmakers unanimously approved a medical program  only for epilepsy patients, only for cannabis oil. A study by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission followed, outlining options Virginia could pursue for legalization and the creation of a regulated marketplace.

When Democrats won control of the legislature in 2019  with Gov. Ralph Northam, a legalization proponent, in office  action on those proposals seemed inevitable. Lawmakers approved a bill in 2021 that allowed for home cultivation, individual possession and home use but delayed legal, regulated sales until 2024.

Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news >

Negotiations broke down over how to stand up a regulatory authority, handle some of the criminal components, such as record expungement, and social equity measures to ensure communities hit hardest by drug enforcement could share the benefits of legalization.

Inaction on these items left the commonwealth in limbo, where it remains. Republicans took control of the House last year and some in the newly minted majority pledged to see creation of a legal market accelerated, to begin this year.

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Instead, the House did nothing. It passed no bills of its own and said it would wait to see what the Democratic Senate did. A bill to begin legal sales in September passed the upper chamber, with bipartisan support, but died in the House on Monday.

House Speaker Todd Gilbert blamed Democrats for his chambers failure, tweeting, Virginia Democrats made a great big mess when they legalized marijuana without putting any regulatory or retail structure in place. We are left having to clean up their mess and we will not make it worse by rushing to fix it.

Virginia does not have to invent the wheel here. Other states have shown how to establish successful legal markets and collect hundreds of millions in tax revenue. And the JLARC study illuminates a path forward for the commonwealth.

As it stands, everyone involved in the cannabis industry, including consumers, as well as law enforcement, prosecutors, other government officials and those convicted of marijuana offenses would all be better served by a faster path to legal sales and, above all, clarity in the law.

Its a missed opportunity that Richmond has been unable, and now unwilling, to provide.
Former Motor chairman Carlos Ghosn, who was ousted from the company following his arrest in Japan, said on Thursday that its alliance partner Renault SA is struggling because of the Japanese automaker's lack of vision.

"I'm not very optimistic about the future of Nissan," Ghosn told reporters following the sentencing of former executive Greg Kelly.

Kelly on Thursday received a six-month suspended sentence from a Tokyo court for helping Ghosn hide income.

"And the future will say what role that will play, if any, in the automotive industry. But unfortunately they are bringing Renault and Mitsubishi into a trap," he said. Mitsubishi Motor is another alliance partner.

Ghosn said is plagued by wishful thinking and weak performance and was heading back to the way the company ran before 1999, when Ghosn took over to save Nissan from failure.

Ghosn is beyond the reach of Japanese prosecutors after fleeing to Lebanon in 2019 hidden in a box on a private jet. He is unable to leave without risking arrest.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; editing by Jason Neely)

(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 Thursday took note of the submission of US e-commerce major and adjourned by 10 days the hearing on its plea against the Delhi High Court's order staying the arbitration proceedings over Future Retail's merger deal with Reliance Retail, for exploring the possibility of resolving the dispute through dialogue.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the submissions of senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for Amazon, that there be no order from the Delhi High Court and the NCLAT and let us put our heads together for finding the solution.

He (Amazon's counsel) has not said mediation but we understand is ready for mediation. So you decide. If you want to talk to your client please do...ultimately it is up to you to take a call. We are simply adjourning the hearing by 10 days, said the bench which also comprised justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli.

Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Harish Salve, appearing for Future group, agreed to the proposal to resolve the dispute through dialogue but opposed the passing of a written order that the high court and the NCLAT will not pass any order in the meantime saying it was not necessary in view of the statements made by them.

We won't pass any orders, meanwhile you work out. Whatever is the gentleman understanding. It is better for you to see something, the bench said and deferred the hearing to March 15.

Salve said that he was agreeable to the suggestion as nobody is winning in this.

If you want to fight legally, you do and we will decide. But we only thought about the interests of the parties. You yourself said nobody is winning... Instead of saying they should pick up the phone and call. Why don't you facilitate that to happen, the bench told Salve, who said, Absolutely we will.

On February 23, the bench had asked and Future group to request the NCLAT to decide the plea challenging the revocation of sanction to the US e-commerce major for its deal with Future group's firm by the Competition Commission of India.

The suggestion was made by the bench while adjourning the hearing on Amazon's appeal against the January 5 order of the Delhi High Court staying the ongoing arbitration proceedings before an arbitral tribunal over Future Retail's Rs 24,500-crore merger deal with Reliance Retail.

On February 9, the apex court had issued notices to Future group firms on Amazon's plea against the January 5 order of the Delhi High Court staying the ongoing arbitration proceedings before the arbitral tribunal over Future Retail's merger deal with Reliance Retail.

It had sought responses from the Future group firms, FCPL and Ltd (FRL) and had said that it will hear the matter on February 23 without any adjournment.

The Delhi High Court on January 5 had stayed the Amazon-Future arbitration which is going on before a three-member arbitral tribunal over the latter's merger deal with Reliance.

Amazon and the Future Group have been locked in a legal tussle after the US e-commerce giant dragged the latter to arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) in October 2020.

The fresh plea, on which the apex court issued notice, has been filed by the US firm assailing the January 5 order of a division bench of the Delhi High Court staying the Amazon-Future arbitration.

The division bench of the high court had also stayed a single judge's January 4 order dismissing the Future Group's two pleas seeking a direction to the arbitration tribunal to decide on its application for terminating the arbitration proceedings before moving further.

The high court had said that there was a prima facie case in favour of FRL and FCPL and if a stay is not granted, it will cause an irreparable loss to them.

Amazon argued that FRL violated their contract by entering into a deal for the sale of its assets to billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail on a slump sale basis for Rs 24,500 crore.

In December last year, the Competition Commission of India suspended its over-two-year-old approval for Amazon's deal to acquire a 49-per cent stake in FCPL and FRL promoter, and also slapped a penalty of Rs 202 crore on the e-commerce major.

Amazon has been objecting to the sell-off plans, accusing Future Group of breaching its 2019 investment pact. Future Coupons was founded in 2008 and is engaged in the business of marketing and distribution of gift cards, loyalty cards and other reward programmes to corporate customers.

(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.)
(IOC), the country's top refiner and fuel retailer, will supply 12-13 fuel cargoes to to help the island nation facing an energy crisis, the Indian company said in a statement to Reuters.

IOC said it will supply gasoil, gasoline and jet fuel to over the next 4-5 months.

"The supplies shall be made under a $500 million line of credit extended by the government of India to for purchase of fuels," it said.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by David Goodman)

(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.)
Pinnacle Industries, which is among the 20 that got approval to launch electric vehicle manufacturing under the production-linked incentives scheme, will invest Rs 2,000 crore to set up EV manufacturing units in and Indore, according to a senior company official.

The Pune-based company, which has been into automotive seatings, interiors for speciality vehicles since 1996, has already set up an electric vehicle unit under the Eka label and has two bus models awaiting regulatory nods.

In September 2021, the government announced the PLI scheme for the auto sector, offering Rs 26,058 crore in incentives along with 12 other manufacturing sectors.

The scheme for the auto sector seeks to incentivise domestic manufacturing of high-value advanced automotive technology vehicles and products, and expects over the next five years the scheme to attract over Rs 42,500 crore in new investments, incremental production worth over Rs 2.3 lakh crore and generate over 7.5 lakh new jobs.

Last month, the government cleared 20 PLI applications out of 115 it received since the scheme was announced.

"We are one of the 20 successful applicants for the auto PLI scheme for the EV segment. We will be investing Rs 2,000 crore over the next five years to develop EV buses and build manufacturing units in and Pithampur near .

"The plants should be ready over the next 12-18 months, and we plan to invest Rs 2,000 crore into the EV business over the next five years," Pinnacle Industries and Eka CMD Sudhir Mehta told PTI.

He said the company's EV unit has already developed two buses (9 and 12 meters or 32-60 seaters category) and is awaiting homologation and other regulatory clearances which are expected over the next couple of months.

Mehta said these buses will be fully developed and built locally barring battery cells and motors, which will be imported from Chinese vendors.

A key feature of the Eka buses is that they are 10-15 per cent lighter than its rivals as they are built using stainless steel, he said.

The company already has a bus plant in Pithampur, where it has 40 acres and will set up another facility in Chakan in on a 15-acre plot, and also a proto facility at Bhosri near Pune.

Mehta said the funds for the EV play will come from internal accruals and debt apart from equity sale in Pinnacle Mobility Solutions, which is an EV subsidiary of the group. He is already in discussions with private equity players for equity raising, he said.

Mehta said he is talking to state road transport corporations for selling EV buses and he is looking at rolling out at least 1,000 buses in the first year.

Over the long term, Eka plans to design, manufacture and supply a complete range of electric vehicles, fuel cell electric vehicles, and alternative fuel vehicles, he said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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(RIL) said on Thursday that it has signed an agreement to set up a joint venture (JV) with Corp through an investment in the US-based companys Indian unit for building an electronics manufacturing hub in Chennai.

Reliance Strategic Business Ventures Ltd (RSBVL), an RIL subsidiary, will invest Rs 1,670 crore in new shares for a 50.1 per cent stake in the JV, and Sanmina, the worlds sixth largest electronics manufacturing services company (EMS), will own the rest. Thanks to the investment, the JV will be capitalised with $200 million of cash to fund its growth.

Reliances investment will initially help its plans to become a global player in selling 5G technology and telecom gear, and take on biggies like Ericsson and Nokia. has a plant in Chennai and is among the eligible for the Centres production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for telecom products and networks (which give incentives of 4-6 per cent on the production value).

The JV will be able to source Reliances own requirement for telecom electronics and gear as the company readies to roll out an all-India 5G network. Reliance also has a small investment in HFCL, from which it buys optic fibre and other products. HFCL is designing and making 5G radios and is another one of the domestic players eligible for the PLI scheme.

Apart from 5G, the JV will also get into other areas of technology such as cloud infrastructure and hyper-scale data centres.

With this JV, Reliance will become the second telecom operator to ally with an EMS player, as it looks at ways to reduce costs by participating in the governments 'Make in India' manufacturing campaign. Before this, Bharti Airtel set up a JV with the home-grown Dixon Technologies to manufacture telecom products with the arrangement for an 85 per cent buy-back in five years. This JV, too, is eligible for the PLI scheme.





Airtel has also got into a strategic tie-up with the Tatas for manufacturing both the 5G core and radio. The Tata Group, on the other hand, has bought a majority stake in Tejas Network, which is also eligible under the PLI scheme for telecom hardware production.

is not, of course, limited only to communications. It straddles numerous other industries and, hence, is a good fit with Reliances new strategic areas of growth. For instance, Sanmina is a key player in the green energy space and offers technology solutions, smart meters and electric car chargers. This sits well with RILs huge investments in the renewable energy space. The other areas in which the two JV partners will work together are automotive electronics, oil and gas, defence, aerospace and medical equipment and devices, amongst others.

The two companies, in a press release, said that they will create a manufacturing technology centre of excellence which will become an incubation centre for product development and hardware startup ecosystem. Currently, Sanmina SCI has revenues of $165 million (as on March 31, 2021), but expects to significantly grow the business in its 100-acre campus in Chennai.

The JV will also help Sanmina strengthen its position in India, where its global rivals are already present in a big way. The top three EMS players  Hon Hai (Foxconn), Pegatron and Wistron (all of them Taiwanese) have already tied up big deals with Apple Inc and other global mobile device makers like Xiaomi, Realme and Vivo to manufacture in India. Even US-based Jabil (which has a tie-up with Ericsson for manufacturing telecom gear) and Flex are very active in the country. However, Sanmina does not manufacture mobile devices, a key area of growth for the campaign.

Reliance has a contract manufacturing tie-up with the Tirupati-based Neolync to manufacture the Jio Phone Next.
Swedish music streaming giant has shut down its office in and removed content from state-backed media outlets RT and Sputnik.

joins several tech and media platforms who have blocked Russian state media outlets over Ukraine invasion.

The music streaming service said that it will continue to stream in Russia, a market it entered in July 2020 along with Ukraine and 10 other European countries.

"We think it's critically important to try to keep our service operational in to allow for the global flow of information," a spokesperson told Variety.

The platform, however, is also restricting the discoverability of content from other outlets affiliated with the Russian government.

"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the unprovoked attack on Ukraine," the Spotify spokesperson said.

"Our first priority over the past week has been the safety of our employees and to ensure that Spotify continues to serve as an important source of global and regional at a time when access to information is more important than ever."

Reports surfaced on Thursday that closing Spotify's Russian office means that the company will no longer be in compliance with the Russian laws, and can face restrictions and even total ban in the country.

Tech platforms including YouTube, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), and Twitter have all blocked RT and Sputnik accounts, with Apple and Google following suit in their respective app stores.

Meta has expanded a ban on Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik on Facebook and Instagram globally to stop the flow of misinformation as Russian forces make deeper inroads into Ukraine.

--IANS

na/vd

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Brent soars to $119, highest since May 2012, as US sanctions target Russia

US sanctions targeting Russian refineries, disruptions to shipping and a fall in U.S. crude stocks to multi-year lows kept oil prices racing on Thursday as Brent charged towards $120 a barrel, its highest in almost a decade.

futures rose as high as $119.84 a barrel, the highest since May 2012. The contract was at $119.78 a barrel, up $6.85, or 6.1%, by 0752 GMT. Read more

Reliance Nippon Life's Sunil Agrawal named CFO of LIC ahead of mega IPO

Ahead of its public listing, (LIC) has appointed Sunil Agrawal as the chief financial officer (CFO) of the corporation.

Prior to Agrawals appointment, Shubhangi Sanjay Soman was the executive director in charge of finance and accounting (F&A) at the corporation. The position of Executive director F&A has been changed to CFO as the corporation is preparing to get listed on the bourses. Read more

Eveready Batteries' Chairman, MD resign post open offer from Burman group

Batteries and flashlights maker India Ltd on Thursday said its Non-Executive Chairman Aditya Khaitan and Managing Director Amritanshu Khaitan have resigned following an open offer from the Burman group.

The Burman group, through various entities had on Monday made a Rs 604.76-crore open offer to acquire around 1.89 crore shares of Eveready Industries, representing 26 per cent of the expanded voting share capital, at a price of Rs 320 per share, payable in cash. Read more

once again proposes dialogue with Future Group to end legal battles

US e-commerce giant has once again proposed a dialogue with Future Group to end legal battles and Kishore Biyani-led retailer Future has agreed to arrive at a resolution. The Supreme Court has given both parties until March 15 to explore a settlement through negotiations.

During a hearing on Thursday, the Supreme Court told the three parties-- .com, Future Retail (FRL) and its promoter Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL--to find ways to reach a settlement. Senior lawyers Harish Salve, representing FRL and Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for FCPL, agreed to the proposal. Read more
Promoters of financially stressed telco  (Vi) have decided to invest in the firm after resisting the move for long. and Vodafone Group UK will pump in Rs 4,500 crore in Vi, according to a stock exchange announcement on Thursday. The board has also approved a proposal to raise Rs 10,000 crore via equity shares or debt instruments, making it a total of Rs 14,000-crore fund-raising to revive the struggling telco.

This will be the first equity infusion of funds in the company after Rs 25,000-crore rights issue in 2019 and indicates promoter commitment to the business. While Vodafone Group had earlier said it would make no further investments in India, Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had even indicated giving up the stake to the government or any financial entity to prevent the telco from going under.

The board has approved issuing 3.38 billion equity shares to the promoter group entities on a preferential basis. The shares will be issued at a price of Rs 13.30, a premium of 20 per cent over Thursdays closing price of Rs 11.08 on BSE. The company will seek shareholder approval on the proposals on March 26.

Vodafone Group and the Birlas hold 44.3 per cent and 27.7 per cent stake respectively in Vi.





The fundraising announcement comes a week after Vodafone Group announced its intent to exit Indus Towers. The firm has already sold 7.1 per cent stake and is looking for investors to sell the remaining 21 per cent holding.

Rival Bharti Airtel entered into an agreement with Vodafone plc to buy 4.7 per cent equity in Indus Towers, on the condition that the funds will be used to clear the tower companys dues.

Vi received a lifeline last September with the government clearing the telecom reforms package, providing a four-year moratorium on spectrum and adjusted gross revenue dues among other things.

In January, the company opted for conversion of interest on deferred spectrum and AGR dues into equity for the government. As per Vis estimate, interest with a net present value of around Rs 16,000 crore would be converted into equity, giving the government 35.8 per cent stake in the company. The proposal is under consideration of the government.

While the four-year moratorium will enable Vi to save around Rs 60,000 crore, fresh fund-raising will help it clear dues and make investments. As of September end, Vi had a gross debt of Rs 1.94 trillion comprising deferred spectrum obligation of Rs 1.08 trillion, AGR liability of Rs 63,400 crore and bank debt of Rs 22,770 crore.

An analyst with a domestic brokerage said the fund-raising announcement was on expected lines. However it will not make much difference as the amount will be used to clear past dues of Indus Towers. It is not growth capital, he said.
Telecom major Vodafone Idea's board on Thursday approved proposal to raise funds up to Rs 14,500 crore through various means, including Rs 4,500 crore from promoter entities.

The board approved issuance of up to 3.38 billion equity shares at issue price of Rs 13.30 per share, which aggregates to Rs 4,500 crore, to promoters on preferential basis.

"Issuance of upto 3.38 billion equity shares of face value of Rs 10 each at an issue price of Rs 13.30 per equity share (including a premium of Rs. 3.30 per equity share), which is at a 10% premium to the floor price of Rs 12.08 for an aggregate consideration of up to Rs 4,500 crore to Euro Pacific Securities Ltd. and Prime Metals Ltd. (Vodafone Group entities and promoters of the company), and Oriana Investments Pte. Ltd (Aditya Birla Group entity forming part of the promoter group)," the telco said in a stock exchange filing.

The board also approved issue of equity shares or securities convertible into equity shares, Global Depository Receipts, American Depository Receipts foreign currency convertible bonds, convertible debentures, warrants of up to Rs 10,000 crore in one or more tranches.

The board also approved convening of an extraordinary general meeting of the company on March 26.

Shares of (Vi) surged 6% to Rs 11.08 on the BSE on Thursday in an otherwise slippery market ahead of the board meeting. The stock of telecom services provider quoted higher for the fourth straight day, and has rallied 16% during the period. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 16.79 on December 10, 2021.

Bharti Airtel has recently decided to acquire an additional 4.7% stake in Indus Towers from Vodafone Group. The two signed an agreement on the condition that Vodafone will use the proceeds to invest in (Vi) and the latter will clear its pending dues with Indus Towers.

reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 7,230.9 crore in Q3FY22 as against a net loss of Rs 4,532.1 crore in Q3FY21. Revenue for the quarter was Rs 9,720 crore, a QoQ improvement of 3.3%, aided by several tariff interventions including the recent tariff hikes taken by all operators in November 2021.
The panel, Russia, Ukraine, and the Future of Global Order, was put together by the schools Global Research Institute. (Jonathon Gruenke)

A panel of William & Mary-affiliated experts gathered on the schools campus Tuesday evening for a discussion on Russias most recent invasion of Ukraine.

The panel, Russia, Ukraine, and the Future of Global Order, was put together by the schools Global Research Institute and tackled subjects such as the causes and consequences of Russian president Vladimir Putins decision to invade Ukraine, the long-term impacts and implications of the war and Russias history of disinformation campaigns.

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Moderator Mike Tierney, the director of the Global Research Institute, called the conflict a benchmark event that will shape what we teach and how we do research here and shape our lives in fundamental ways.

Three panelists  Steve Hanson, a government and vice provost for Academic and International Affairs; Amy Oakes, an associate government professor as well as the co-director of the Project on Peace and International Security; and Lincoln Zaleski, a W&M graduate who specializes in Russian influence through media and information operations  gave brief presentations and answered questions from a packed audience.

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Hanson, who called it the biggest war in Europe since World War II, discussed Putins motivations, which include the desire to rebuild the Russian empire, and pointed out how the echo chamber of the Russian autocracy led to an underestimation of both Ukraine and the Wests willingness and ability to fight back.

Though he noted that the most likely outcome is a win for Russia after a long and bloody conflict, Hanson also remarked on the possibility that Ukraines efforts at ousting Russian forces would be successful or that either high-ranking Russians or the Russian people could decide that enough is enough and fight back against Putin.

Oakes wasnt quite as optimistic as she took a look at the longterm implications of the conflict on the United States credibility as a global leader and at NATOs role as a pillar of liberal order.

The fear, Oakes said, is that if the war drags on and the sanctions continue, the American public, which is already not in the mood to sacrifice for the public good, might decide that the cost  higher gas prices, higher food prices  is too high. Oakes likened it to a game of chicken between the West and Russia, and said that the U.S. is the weak link.

In the moment of crisis were willing to put aside disagreements, Oakes said, but its not a foregone conclusion that that will continue beyond this crisis.

If Americans fail to withstand the effect of the sanctions, American credibility and foreign policy will suffer and will deal a huge blow to NATOs future influence, Oakes warned.

Sian Wilkerson, sian.wilkerson@pilotonline.com, 757-342-6616
As many as 579 people from are still stranded in war-torn while 299 people belonging to the capital have been brought back, officials in the city government said on Thursday.

Till evening, district authorities including district magistrates (DM) and sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) visited the residences of 606 students who have either been evacuated or are still stuck in the East European country, the officials said.

Families of 624 people have been contacted over the phone and offered help, they said.

In all, 878 people from were in Ukraine, the officials said citing a list handed to them by the Centre.

Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Thursday tweeted, The government is constantly in touch with the families of those stranded in . Delhi government will ensure travel arrangements of Delhi residents to their homes coming from at Hindon airport or Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Senior government officials on Thursday said that during the Delhi government's reach-out exercise, many students who returned hailed the Indian government's efforts in bringing them back.

They also talked about the difficulties in movement within Ukraine to reach the borders, lack of coordination and concerns of the students about their future, the officials said.

Our teams are personally meeting the families of students and assuring them all help. Efforts are being made by the government for their welfare. They are being told that Operation Ganga has been launched to bring back their family members safely to their homes, a senior government official told PTI.

We are in constant touch with the families of those still stranded in Ukraine. We are providing them with whatever help they need. We have put them in touch with other higher authorities engaged in the evacuation process and are also providing them with helpline numbers, a senior official of the south district administration told PTI requesting anonymity.

India began the evacuation of around 14,000 of its stranded citizens on February 26 after Russia's aggression against its neighbour.

(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.)
Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Thursday said 70 per cent of the adult population in the state is fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

There has not been any noticeable stress on Maharashtra's health infrastructure in the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which started around the third week of December 2021, due to the state's "pro-active role in pre-planning and vaccination drive", Koshyari said in his address to the state legislature's joint session on the first day of the budget session.

The speech copy was released by the Raj Bhavan after the governor left the Vidhan Bhavan without completing his address due to slogan-shouting by legislators.

Koshyari said close to 91 per cent of the adult population in the state has received at least one dose of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine and 70 per cent of the adult population is fully vaccinated.

More than 57 per cent of the children in the age group of 15 to 18 years have received the first dose of the vaccine.

The precautionary dose (booster dose) vaccination has also begun for health and front line workers and citizens above 60 years of age, the governor said.

"Though the state recorded about 10,50,000 new COVID-19 cases during December 2021 and January 2022, fatalities have been below 0.1 per cent," he pointed out.

The government has provided a one-time financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to children who lost both their parents during the pandemic, he said.

The governor noted that the Supreme Court, the Bombay High Court and the World Health Organisation have taken cognisance of the COVID-19 preventive measures of the state. Mumbai has become a role model for other cities.

(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.)
Unvaccinated individuals made up for 92 per cent of the total Covid deaths in January-February 2022, according to data shared by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Vaccination, the government said, has brought the country to a low phase encouraging opening up of schools, economic activity. The government, however, stressed that the threat of Omicron is not over yet.

Vaccines have protected the nation in the surge. We are in a vaccine-enabled low phase. It is rational to open schools, colleges, resorts, economic activities and normal affairs of society. But we should be intact and watchful of change in the behaviour of the virus, said V K Paul, member (health), NITI Aayog and chairman of the National Covid Task Force.

The study of vaccine effectiveness is based on the data of 944,709,598 individuals across various national databases such as CoWIN, ICMR testing, and India portal database.

Paul said the pandemic is not yet over and the country needs to be prepared.





The health ministry said the Covid cases and deaths were still rising in some countries, including Hong Kong, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, among others. In India, three states  Kerala, Maharashtra, and Mizoram  contribute to half of the total active Covid cases.

While globally the Omicron surge led to a peak almost 4.68 times the previous reported peak, the health ministry said not only the reported peak in India was much lower, but the consistent efforts also led to a steep decline in cases.

The ministry data shows India reported a sharper decline in deaths of 76.6 per cent as compared to the world  22.8 per cent in the past four weeks starting February 2.

India experienced a considerably lower number of deaths due to vaccine development, its rapid deployment, and acceptance and wide scale coverage, said Balram Bhargava, director general, ICMR.

The first dose of Covid-19 vaccine is 98.9 per cent effective in preventing mortality, while both doses are 99.3 per cent effective, he said.

While acknowledging the benefits of vaccination in keeping the fatalities low, the government said the jury is still out on whether the vaccines will be given on an annual basis to the people. No decision has been taken on mixing and matching for booster doses of vaccines yet as well.

Decisions on vaccination are to be seen in the light of our own vaccine interspersed with natural infection in surges. Studies are underway and being reviewed in the NTAGI system, Paul said.

So far, 74 per cent of adolescents between 15-18 years of age have been administered their first doses of Covid-19 vaccine and 39 per cent given both doses.

The government is also keeping a watch on mathematical models, including the recent IIT Kanpur study that predicts a fourth wave in July. We value the input. The scientific and mathematical underpinnings will be examined Decisions being based on just one projection would be unsafe for the society, Paul said.
US President will decide whether to apply or waive sanctions on India, one of America's key partners, under the CAATSA law for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia, a senior administration official has told lawmakers.

The US administration is required under a domestic law, Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to impose sanctions on any country that has significant transactions with Iran, North Korea or Russia.

CAATSA is a tough US law which authorises the administration to impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

Responding to a question on possible CAATSA sanctions on India, Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism on Wednesday that it was for the President Biden to decide whether to apply or waive sanctions on .

"I can assure you that the administration will follow the CAATSA law and fully implement that law and will consult with Congress as we move forward with any of them. What unfortunately I am not able to say is to prejudge the decisions of the President or the (Secretary of State) on the waiver issue or on the sanctions issue, or whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine will bear on that decision, he said.

Lu said that the Biden administration is yet to decide on applying sanctions on under CAATSA.

is a really important security partner of ours now. And that we value moving forward that partnership and I hope that part of what happens with the extreme criticism that Russia has faced is that India will find it's now time to further distances, Lu said.

The senior American diplomat said it is going to be very hard for any country to buy major weapon systems from Russia because of the sweeping sanctions now placed on Russian banks.

What we've seen from India in just the last few weeks, is the cancellation of MiG 29 orders, Russian helicopter orders and anti-tank weapon orders, Lu said.

Lu's remarks came as India faced flak from US lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats for choosing to abstain from a UN vote on Wednesday to rebuke Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A total of 141 nations voted in favour of the move condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and five nations were against it, with 35 countries, including India, abstaining.

The UNGA resolution was similar to the one circulated in the 15-nation Security Council last Friday, on which also India had abstained.

The UNSC resolution, which received 11 votes in favour and three abstentions, was blocked after permanent member Russia exercised its veto.

In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the then Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.

The US has already imposed sanctions on Turkey under the CAATSA for the purchase of a batch of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia.

Following the US sanctions on Turkey over the procurement of S-400 missile systems, there were apprehensions that Washington may impose similar punitive measures on India.

Russia has been one of India's key major suppliers of arms and ammunition.

(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 has given administrative approval and sanctioned an estimate of Rs 475 crore for its project of installing 600 LED screens across the city, a PWD circular said on Thursday.

According to officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), under the project large LED screens will be set up at 600 locations in different parts of the city that will display pollution data, health advisories, graphic films, information on government policies and social messages.

Officials said the project will be completed in a year's time from the estimate sanction.

The circular issued by the PWD said the project should be completed within the given timeframe.

"I am directed to convey administrative approval and estimate sanction as approved by the Expenditure Finance Committee on December 22, 2021 for the project of providing 600 LED screens at various locations in at an estimated cost of Rs 475.78 crore," PWD Special Secretary Shashi Kaushal said in a circular.

PWD officials said that these screens will be installed at prominent locations on PWD roads having ROW (right of way) 80 feet and above, intersections and T points of roads with ROW 80 feet or more, entry or exit of Metro station having heavy footfalls.

"Priority will be given to wider arterial roads with 100 to 200 feet ROW and having large traffic volume for maximum dissemination of the information," the official said.

He added that LED display screens will be of different sizes and shapes. These include portrait screen with unipole structure, landscape screen with single display, tri-side display and cluster monitors in rectangular shape, officials said.

Now that the administrative approval has been granted for the project, tenders will soon be floated, they said.

The selected concessionaire will be responsible for execution of the project along with comprehensive maintenance of these screens for seven years, they added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The High Court Thursday refused to stay the process of appointment of Managing Director of Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) while asking the Centre and government to respond to a plea seeking direction to fix a uniform age of 60 years for external and internal candidates applying for the post.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna issued notices to the and Centre, through the Ministries of Housing and Urban Affairs and Law and Justice, and granted time to the authorities to file response to the Public Interest Litigation.

The court, which listed the matter for further hearing on April 29, refused to stay the appointment procedure at this stage.

The petition challenged the Delhi government's February 10 notification calling for applications for the post, contending that it was arbitrary, irrational, unfair and contrary to the due procedure of the law.

Petitioner and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay sought to declare the upper age limit for the post of Managing Director shall be uniform, that is, 60 years and candidates who were eligible on the date of vacancy, that is, October 1, 2021, shall be eligible to apply for the post.

The notification states that the maximum age to apply for the post is 60 years for the internal candidates but it is 58 years for the rest of the candidates. Moreover, it considers employees of Lucknow Metro, Chennai Metro, etc, as outsider, which is arbitrary, irrational and a brazen violation of Articles 14, 16 and 21, the plea said.

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Hundreds of protesting state government employees Friday held a protest outside the Assembly in support of their demand of restoring the old .

The police tried to stop the protestors at different locations of Shimla but a large number of them managed to reach near the main gate of the Assembly at Kennedy chowk forcing the police to lock all the gates of the state Assembly.

The state government employees under the banner of New Karamchari Mahasangh (NPSKM) headed by its chief Pradeep Thakur raised slogans Old Pension-Old Pension, Purani Pension Bahal Karo (restore old pension) by holding tricolour in their hands.

The protestors also tried to cross the grill near the Kennedy chowk to enter the Assembly but Baddi Superintendent of Police (SP) Mohit Chawla and his team foiled their attempt to do so.

A municipal corporation fire engine was also deployed in front of the state Assembly to use it as a water cannon to disperse the protesters. The state director general of police (DGP) Sanjay Kundu was seen on the spot to monitor the security arrangements.

Earlier, the protesters across the state gathered at Tutu from where they reached at New Bus Stand crossing in the morning. From there, they tried to reach the state Assembly but the police stopped them at 103 railway crossing from where most of them reached at Chaura Maidan whereas several others arrived at Kennedy Chowk outside the main gate.

The NPSKM had started a 'padyatra', foot march, from Mandi on February 23 demanding restoring of the old and announced to gherao the state Assembly on March 3.

In the Assembly, the opposition Congress tried to raise the old pension scheme issue today but staged a walkout when they were not allowed to do so.

The state government has constituted a three-member committee headed by the chief secretary to consider the old pension scheme issue.

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Delhi Health Minister said on Thursday that governments should work to make healthcare free for all and not just a select few.

Addressing the CII Delhi State Annual Session 2021-22, the minister said the is working on the "largest healthcare expansion plan of the world" with the construction of 15,000 new beds, which will become functional in the next one and a half years.

He said governments should take care of both the taxpayers and the ones who cannot afford quality healthcare.

"Private hospitals should be a choice but not the only option and hence, governments should work to make healthcare free for all and not a select few,"



Jain said India follows the healthcare system of the US. "Despite spending a large part of its GDP (18 per cent) on healthcare, the outcomes of the American healthcare system are not good," the minister said.

"We should adopt best practices of the healthcare system of some European countries and even third-world countries like Cuba, and come up with our own unique healthcare model which is affordable and accessible," he said.

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The IAF's four evacuation flights with 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow landed at the here on Thursday morning, sources said.

The Indian Air Force's first flight carrying 200 people from Bucharest landed at 1.30 am and Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt welcomed them at the airbase, they noted.

All four flights were conducted using C-17 military transport aircraft, sources said.

India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.

The second evacuation flight of the with 210 Indians from Budapest landed at the on Thursday morning, sources mentioned.

A little while after the second, the IAF's third evacuation flight arrived at the airbase from Rzeszow with 208 Indians, they said, adding the fourth flight brought 180 Indians from Bucharest.

Four Union ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals.

Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland.

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India on Thursday sent the second shipment of 2,000 metric tonnes of wheat to via Pakistani land route as part of its humanitarian aid to Afghan people who have been reeling under food shortage.

India despatched the first consignment of 2,500 metric tonnes of wheat to through Pakistani on February 22 and it reached the Afghan city of Jalalabad on February 26. Fifty trucks carried the consignment.

"Second convoy of India's humanitarian assistance carrying 2000 MTs of wheat left Attari, Amritsar today for Jalalabad, Afghanistan," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted.

"This is part of India's commitment of 50,000 MTs of wheat for the Afghan people and will be distributed by @WFP_Afghanistan," he added.

India had sent a proposal to on October 7 seeking the transit facility to send 50,000 tonnes of wheat to the people of via and it received a positive response from Islamabad on November 24.

Following the Pakistani response, both sides were in touch to finalise the modalities for the transportation of the shipments.

Each of the bags was stamped with the text: "Gift from the people of India to the people of Afghanistan" in English, Pashto and Dari.

On February 12, the Indian government had signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Food Programme for the distribution of wheat within Afghanistan.

India has already supplied 500,000 doses of Covaxin vaccines and 13 tonnes of essential lifesaving medicines to Afghanistan.

India has been pitching for providing unimpeded humanitarian aid to Afghanistan to address the unfolding humanitarian crisis in the country.

India has not recognised the new regime in Afghanistan and has been pitching for the formation of a truly inclusive government in besides insisting that Afghan soil must not be used for any terrorist activities against any country.

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Lubbock, TX (79409)

Today

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 52F. SSW winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 52F. SSW winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 20 mph.
The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Thursday advised all Indian nationals in Kharkiv to fill up an online form on an urgent basis as the Russian onslaught on the eastern Ukrainian city continued.

The embassy on Wednesday had asked all its citizens stranded in Kharkiv to leave immediately for three safe zones that were in the range of up to 16 km from the city.

At a media briefing on Thursday evening, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said around 1,000 Indians have reached Pisochyn following the advisory by the embassy on Wednesday.

"All Indian Nationals who are in KHARKIV excluding PISOCHYN, please fill up details contained in the form on an urgent basis," the embassy said in an advisory on Thursday.

The details sought in the Google form are name, email, phone number, address in Kharkiv, passport number and additional people accompanying any Indian.

Bagchi said a few hundred Indians are believed to be still stuck in Kharkiv and that is closely following developments in the city along with the situation in other conflict zones in eastern Ukraine.

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More disturbing news is coming from war-torn Ukraine. The students stranded in the Kharkiv region have said that local Ukrainian authorities and the military are assaulting Indian students and pointing guns at them.

Harshitha, from the Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka, who is studying in Ukraine, is one of the students still stuck in Kharkiv. She spoke to the media about the ordeal they are facing.

She said that Indian students are not being allowed to board trains arranged to evacuate people from the region. "Indian students are being pushed out of trains, they are not allowed to board, if questioned they are being assaulted and guns are being pointed at them," she said.

"When the trains come to the platforms, the doors are locked. They allow only the Ukraninans to board the trains. Among Ukrainians also, children are boarded first, later their mothers and then other women and lastly the Ukrainian men are let in," she said.

She said the Indian students were not able to board the trains. They were being charged 100 to 200 dollars per head and even after paying, Indians were not being allowed. "We stayed in bunkers for five to six days. When we knew that the train was being arranged, we walked for 11 km. But, after reaching the train station we could not board two trains, one at 8 a.m. and another at 12.30 p.m.," she said.

"About 8 to 10 missiles were fired very close to the train station where I stood. Whenever Indians questioned them about not being allowed to board trains they pointed guns and threatened us. After missing trains, there was heavy firing and we came back to the shelter facility. Since yesterday there is no food and it is morning now and no one has told anything about this. Presently, we are staying in 2 to 3 hostel buildings. They have kept 4 people in one room," she said.

She said they have been trying to contact the embassy, but they are not getting through. "At the train station, the authorities are not beating Ukranians. Indians are tortured, Indians students in the train were pushed out and beaten up. There are many incidents where Indians were asked to leave bunkers. Ukraninans are telling Indian students that is not supporting them and why should they help them?" Harshitha said.

"We had to carry our bags containing our laptop, etc., and walk. We kept the Indian flag on our heads and kept running towards the railway station, but it was of no use. When we were returning, the missiles were fired and buildings destroyed. We have been asked not to switch on the light and not to venture out. Our snacks are running out. If we are not rescued now, it is going to be very difficult for us," she said.

Meanwhile, the family of medical student Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar, who was killed in Ukraine, is still waiting for news on his dead body.

Anish, who returned to safely explained that he returned from the West part of Ukraine. "Indian students, especially girl students, are awaiting evacuation at the eastern borders. They are braving snowfall without shelter. There are about 18,000 to 20,000 Indian students in Ukraine, only 6,000 have returned. Most of them are stuck in the Kharkiv and Kiev regions. The embassy is not receiving calls, they need urgent help," he said.

--IANS

mka/dpb

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Prime Minister on Thursday said is the need of the hour and appealed to the industry to reduce dependence on imports and boost domestic manufacturing.

He urged the industry to take challenges and make efforts to cut imports of goods that can be manufactured in India.

"Today, the world is looking at India as a manufacturing powerhouse," Modi said while addressing DPIIT's webinar on ' for the World'.

The Prime Minister added that the industry will have to maintain global standards and compete globally and it is not acceptable that a country like India ends up merely as a market.

He said that the Budget has many significant provisions for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and .

He pointed towards supply chain disruptions during the pandemic and other uncertainties to underline the critical importance of Make in India.

Positive factors like demographic dividend of young and talented population, democratic setup, and natural resources "encourage us to move towards Make in India with determination", he said.

The Prime Minister asked the captains of the manufacturing sector to pick up some areas and work to remove foreign dependence on them.

Referring to his call for 'zero defect-zero effect' manufacturing, Modi said Indian products should not have any defect at all and in this competitive world, quality is the key.

"Aatmanirbharta is all the more important if we see from the prism of security," he said, adding that manufacturing accounts for 15 per cent of India's GDP, but there are infinite possibilities for Make in India and "we should work with full strength to create a robust manufacturing base in India".

The Prime Minister also cited the examples of new demands and opportunities in sectors like semiconductors and electric vehicles where manufacturers should move with a sense of removing dependencies on foreign sources.

Similarly, areas like steel and medical equipment need to be focussed for indigenous manufacturing, he added.

He also pointed out the difference between the availability of a product and the availability of made-in-India products in the market.

Modi expressed his dismay that many foreign products are supplied for India's various festivals, which can be easily provided by local manufacturers.

The ambit of 'vocal for local' goes well beyond buying 'diyas' on Diwali and the private sector should push the factors of 'vocal for local' and Aatmanirbhar Bharat in their marketing and branding efforts, the Prime Minister said.

Take pride in the products your company makes and instil this sense of pride in your Indian customers as well. For this, some common branding can also be considered," he stated.

Modi also highlighted the need to find new destinations for the local products while exhorting the private sector to enhance spending on R&D and diversify and upgrade their product portfolio.

The demand for millets is increasing in the world. By studying the world markets, we should prepare our mills in advance for maximum production and packaging, he said, adding that new possibilities are there due to the opening up of areas like mining, coal and defence sectors and the industry should prepare a new strategy.

Further, he said that reforms in the Special Economic Zone Act will provide a boost for exports.

Talking about reducing compliances, he said Common Spice Form and Single Window System are examples where the industry is feeling the government's development-friendly approach at every step.

The Make in India campaign is the need of 21st century India, and it gives an opportunity to show our potential, Modi said, adding that "we should work with full force to build a robust manufacturing base".

India has to become self-reliant in the semiconductor segment as there is no choice and this sector has brought huge opportunities for Make in India and it is the need also for the country's security, he noted.

Citing an example of iron ore, he said that the country would not gain anything from exporting raw materials.

"Manufacturers should see that the dependence of the country on the outside is minimised," he said.

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Tourists can now recharge their metro smart cards from Tourism App which also contain fare and route details, officials said on Thursday.

Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) officials said that the mobile application will also be useful for foreign tourists and for those who are not well versed with the online modes of metro recharge options or fare and route details.

We strive to give tourists from all over the world the best experience in Delhi. So with the help of Delhi Tourism App's metro recharge feature now tourists can plan their complete journey with one app. This feature enables users to enhance their tourism experience by providing them hassle free facility of recharging their metro cards through the app while exploring Delhi's tourist hotspots, a senior DTTDC official told PTI, requesting anonymity.

To avail the facility, the user will have to visit Travel within Delhi' section of the app and then select Metro' and then click on the recharge tab. The app will then redirect the user to the Rail Corporation website for smart card recharge.

Officials said that the new feature is a very useful as many foreign tourists who come to visit Delhi or even the Indian tourists from other cities are not aware of Delhi's public transport system and its ticketing and recharge facility.

"So if they download Delhi Tourism App they will not have to stand in queue or go through the hassle of searching other online recharge options, the official added.

Delhi Tourism Department's mobile application was launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on World Tourism Day on September 27 last year. 'Dekho Meri Dilli' is the tagline of the app.

The app provides many user friendly features to make tourism and travel experience in Delhi a bliss as it provides all the information ranging from tourist hotspots, popular local cuisines and market places to heritage walks through a single click, the officials said.

They said the app is unique in nature as small audio and video files of a particular tourist destination have also been embedded to give the traveller a sneak peek into the tourist spot.

It allows tourists to see key highlights of any monument or other tourist location without even going there.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Thursday said that 3,726 Indians will be brought back home on Thursday by 19 flights from Bucharest, Suceava, Kosice, Budapest, and Rzeszow.

"Under Operation Ganga, 3726 Indians will be brought back home today on eight flights from Bucharest, two flights from Suceava, one flight from Kosice, five flights from Budapest, and three flights from Rzeszow," tweeted Scindia.

Meanwhile, the students who were evacuated from Ukraine and arrived at Delhi airport on Thursday thanked the Indian government for rescuing them.

"Indian govt took prompt action to evacuate the stranded Indian students in Ukraine. Proud to be an Indian. Indian students stranded in Kyiv and Kharkiv need to be evacuated as soon as possible," said the Indian student.

An Indian student Ujjala Gupta who received a warm welcome from her parents and relatives upon her safe return to the country from war-torn Ukraine told ANI, "I request the government to bring back the students stuck in Kyiv and Kharkiv as the situation there is serious. I appreciate the efforts of our government to evacuate all Indians from Ukraine."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued orders to the Air Force to pitch in the rescue operations to augment the 'Operation Ganga'.

Notably, the American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are the most capable of flying to long distances with around 400 passengers. The C-17 transport aircraft had helped in a big way to evacuate citizens and officials from Kabul when the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced Americans to exit from there.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland.

"Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland, including IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3,000 Indian nationals," tweeted Jaishankar.

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.

The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of in Kyiv previously.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials.

For the past few days, the Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue.Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia.

The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies.

(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.)
Nearly 17,000 Indians have been evacuated from to safe places in neighbouring countries since the Government of India began issuing advisories and will be brought back in tranches as Indian Air Force planes, as well as commercial airlines, have been pressed into service with more than seven flights a day between Ukraines neighbours and India.

The Civil Aviation Ministry said India has till now brought back 6,998 people on special flights  including the ones operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF)  since February 22.

Most students are now out of the conflicttorn Kharkiv and in a nearby city, Pisochyn, but the government still does not have a clear idea of how many are stuck in Kharkiv as not all Indians have registered with the Embassy. However, Bagchi exuded confidence as he said every Indian will be brought out, whether they have registered or not. Around 1,000 Indians were taken out of Kharkiv on Thursday. The Indian side is in touch with both Ukrainian and Russian authorities to evacuate Indians from both Kharkiv and Sumy, said Bagchi.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla also spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart on the evacuation of . Russia has readied 130 buses to evacuate stranded Indians and other foreigners from Kharkov and Sumy cities to Russias Belgorod Region, said Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev of the Russian military.

Mizintsev said places for temporary accommodation have been set up at checkpoints. Evacuees will be provided hot meals and transported to Belgorod for their departure by air, including via Russian military airplanes, he added.





ALSO READ: What is Operation Ganga?

The Kremlin had claimed that some were taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces and were using them as human shields. The Ukrainians responded by urgently calling on India, Pakistan, and China whose students have become hostages, asking Russia to open a humanitarian passage to other Ukrainian cities. The Ministry of External Affairs said it had not received any report of a hostage situation regarding in Kharkiv. In fact, New Delhi requested Ukrainians to arrange special trains for taking students out from the city and neighbouring areas. We are in continuous touch with Indians in . We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv, said Bagchi.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar addressed a meeting of the Consultative Committee on External Affairs where Members of Parliament (MPs) across party lines offered support to the government on the evacuation effort although many Opposition parties have criticised the governments sluggish efforts to get students out of . It was a good meeting. We are all united. Foreign minister S Jaishankar, who addressed the briefing, tweeted about a strong and unanimous message of support.

The 21-member committee is headed by Jaishankar, who made the presentation along with Shringla. Nine MPs from six political parties attended the meeting. Shiv Senas Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi, who has been questioning the government on the problems faced by Indian students in Ukraine, was also present.

Rahul Gandhi has been vocal on Twitter about the evacuation efforts and the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who he said, was missing in action.

After an Indian student was killed in shelling at Ukraines Kharkiv on Tuesday, he tweeted: To avert further tragedy, the government must share how many students have been evacuated, how many are still stranded in Ukraine, and a region-wise detailed evacuation plan.



ALSO READ: Govt launches Operation Ganga to rescue Indians stuck in Ukraine

But on Thursday, appreciation for the government came from unexpected quarters. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted after the meeting: Excellent meeting of the Consultative Committee on External Affairs on Thursday morning on Ukraine offensive. My thanks to Dr S Jaishankar and his colleagues for a comprehensive briefing and candid responses to our questions and concerns. This is the spirit in which foreign policy should be run.

However, Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already written to Modi, offering unconditional support for the government's efforts to bring back Indians from Ukraine.

The Congress had taken a diplomatic stance on the United Nations (UN) vote, in line with that of the government. The Congress, while expressing its anguish, is of the considered view that the international community must work together for cessation of armed conflict and early restoration of peace to save human lives and further aggravation of the crisis, read a statement from the party.

Earlier this week, India abstained from voting at the UN Security Council on a US-sponsored resolution that deplored in strongest terms Russias aggression against Ukraine.
More than 7,400 Indians are expected to be brought back to India from Ukraine's neighbouring countries on special flights in the next two days, the said on Thursday.

Indian carriers -- Air India Express, Air India, SpiceJet, IndiGo, Vistara and Go First -- are expected to operate a total of 17 flights on Friday, the ministry's statement noted.

India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.

"The number of civilian flights is being scaled up further, and more than 7,400 people are expected to be brought through special flights in next two days," the ministry's statement mentioned.

It stated that 3,500 people are expected to be brought back to India on Friday and over 3,900 on Saturday.

The ministry said India has till now brought back 6,998 people on special flights -- including the ones operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) -- since February 22.

It noted that 13 evacuation flights -- 10 by Indian carriers and three by the IAF -- are scheduled to return to India on Thursday.

Four Union ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals.

Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister on Thursday blamed previous governments for a large number of Indian students going abroad to pursue medical education and asserted that his dispensation has been working to augment the number of medical colleges so that students can enrol themselves within the country.

In an interaction with students from different parts of Uttar Pradesh who have returned from the war-hit Ukraine, Modi also empathised with those students and their families who have expressed their anger, even at him, after facing hardships in Ukraine.

"I think it is natural for them to feel angry in this crisis," he said, adding that they have been facing hardships and braving cold.

The government has launched "Operation Ganga" to evacuate Indian citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine which has been attacked by Russia.

When they are no longer agitated and begin to understand the magnitude of the exercise, they will show their affection as well, the prime minister said, as many students expressed their thanks to him and lauded his government for rescuing them when they had lost all hope.

A strong India is the answer to these troubles, Modi said, expressing his sympathies with the students who, he added, had to go through such an experience at a young age.

"If medical education policies were right earlier, then you would not have to go abroad," he said, adding that no parents want their children to go overseas at such a young age.

His government is working to correct the past mistakes, he added.

There were 300 to 400 medical colleges earlier, and they now number nearly 700, Modi said. The number of seats they offer has now gone up to 1.5 lakh from earlier 80,000-90,000, he said.

"My effort is that every district has one medical college. Probably, there will be more doctors produced in 10 years than the last 70 years," he said.

This will be a big thing as young students would not have to travel abroad, and their families would not have to under such stress, he added.

Speaking to the students, Modi said everyone should keep doing something for the country.

"You had to undergo such an experience in life at such a young age in a distant place alone. I can imagine the mental state you would have been through. Now we are able to evacuate people properly," he said.

The students shared their experiences with Modi, who is on a tour of the state as part of the BJP's campaign for the ongoing assembly polls.

Modi represents Varanasi constituency in Lok Sabha.

Sharing their experience, some students said they had left all hopes after Russia launched an attack on Ukraine and could not have returned without support from the government.

Some other students said they faced no difficulties and received adequate facilities from the Indian embassy there.

"After the attack began, it seemed I will not be able to return and saw death from close quarters. I am proud of being an Indian and you as prime minister," a student said, adding that the display of Indian flag on their windows and buses ensured that Russian forces let them go without causing any problem.

Another student conveyed his family's gratitude to the prime minister, saying they believed only he can do something after he was stranded in Ukraine. "You were being remembered only next to God," he said.

Even students of some other countries also used Indian flag to get smooth passage from the Russian army, one 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.)
One hundred and thirty buses are ready to evacuate stranded Indian students and other foreigners from war-torn Ukraine's Kharkov and Sumy cities to Russia's Belgorod Region, a top Russian military general said on Thursday.

The remarks by Russian Defence Control Center head Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the safe evacuation of Indians from the conflict areas in Ukraine.

Approximately 8,000 Indians, mainly students, are stranded in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said on Tuesday.

"A total of 130 comfortable buses are ready to depart to Kharkov and Sumy from the Nekhoteyevka and Sudzha checkpoints in the Belgorod Region since 6 AM today in order to Rescue Indian students and citizens of other foreign states,Russian Defence Control Center head Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev was quoted as saying by the state-owned TASS news agency.

Mizintsev said that places for temporary accommodation and rest have been set up at the checkpoints.

The refugees will be provided with hot meals; mobile clinics have also been set up there with a stockpile of medicine, he said.

"The evacuees will be then transported to the city of Belgorod for subsequent departure to their homeland by air, including via Russian military airplanes, the General said.

On Thursday, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in New Delhi said has been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova for evacuation of Indians from Ukraine.

has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut down since February 24 when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation in Ukraine.

had asked to facilitate the safe passage of Indians from various conflict zones after the killing of an Indian student in shelling in Kharkiv (Kharkov) on Tuesday.

(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.)
Three more Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 aircraft have taken off for Romania, Hungary, and Poland on Thursday to evacuate the stranded Indian nationals amid the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

As per information received by IAF, the first four C-17 aircraft under Operation Ganga evacuated a total of 798 Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Hungary, and Poland.

"First four IAF C-17 aircraft under #OperationGanga evacuated 798 Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Hungary & Poland. They also supplied 9.7 tons of relief material," IAF officials said.

Notably, the American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are the most capable of flying long distances with around 400 passengers. The C-17 transport aircraft had helped in a big way in evacuating citizens and officials from Kabul when the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced Americans to exit from there.

For the past few days, the Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help Ukraine with military weapons.

The US, Canada, and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies.

(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.)
India on Thursday said it was primarily focusing on the evacuation of its nationals from the besieged city of Kharkiv and other conflict zones in eastern amid increasing Russian military offensive in the region.

At a media briefing, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi said around 1,000 Indians reached Pisochyn from Kharkiv following the urgent advisory issued by the Indian embassy in on Wednesday.

"We estimate that a few hundred people still remain in Kharkiv despite our advisory," Bagchi said, adding that "unfortunately" there has been a fresh outbreak of violence in the city on Thursday.

The spokesperson said India has been in constant touch with Russia and to ensure a safe passage of the stranded Indians from the conflict zones in eastern Ukraine.

Bagchi said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla spoke to the Ukrainian deputy foreign minister late last night and sought cooperation in the safe evacuation of the stranded Indians from the conflict zones in eastern Ukraine including their exit from Kharkiv by trains.

"We are closely following developments in Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities in eastern Ukraine. As you know, yesterday, we issued an advisory for all Indians to leave the city (Kharkiv) by 6 pm local time. Pursuant to this a large number of students left and are currently in the nearby city of Pisochyn," he said.

"We estimate this number to be 1,000 people there. We are currently looking at the transportation option to move them to western Ukraine or southern Ukraine...," he said.

In an urgent advisory, the Indian embassy in Ukraine on Wednesday asked the Indians to reach the Ukrainian towns of Pisochyn (11 km), Babai (12 km) and Bezlyudivka (16 km) by 6 pm local time (9:30 pm IST) even on foot.

Bagchi said some Indians were able to leave the city on the train on Wednesday and that there was no information on Indians reaching Babai and Bezlyudivka.

"We understand that trains are running from there and people who could not walk to Pisocyn actually took the trains," he said.

Bagchi said leaving Kharkiv will be the best option.

"Unfortunately there has been a fresh outbreak of violence in Kharkiv today which always makes our job difficult...It is a dynamic situation. I want to emphasise that we are in touch with Ukrainian and Russian authorities to examine the modalities on how we can evacuate them from Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities," Bagchi said.

Asked about the Russian defence ministry offering to evacuate Indians on its own military transport planes, Bagchi did not give a direct reply but said the main focus has been to take out the citizens from the conflict zones.

"There has been no movement towards the Russian border as conflict is going on that side," he said.

The Russian defence minister on Wednesday said its armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens including sending them "home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes".

Bagchi also said that a significant part of the Indian embassy staff in Kyiv left for Lviv along western Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation of Indians while another was asked to go to eastern Ukraine.

He said the officials have not reached eastern Ukraine yet. "I do not have an exact understanding about where are they."



In a related development, the Indian embassy in Ukraine on Thursday advised all Indian nationals in Kharkiv to fill up an online form on an urgent basis.

"All Indian Nationals who are in KHARKIV excluding PISOCHYN, please fill up details contained in the form on an urgent basis," the embassy said in an advisory.

The details sought in the Google form are name, email, phone number, address in Kharkiv, passport number and additional people accompanying any Indian.

(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 Thursday asked to use his office in helping evacuate some Indian medical students stranded in war-ravaged near the Romania border.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the submissions of a lawyer that several students are stuck near the Romanian border in freezing cold and the government is not running flights from Romania.

Flights are being operated from Poland and Hungary and not from Romania. The students, which also included many girls, are stuck without any facility, the lawyer told the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli.

"We have all sympathies with them. But what can the court do," the bench said.

It, however, asked the top law officer to consider extending help to the stranded students.

As per reports from Kyiv, Russia has stepped up its attack on .

(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 Thursday dismissed the Loop Telecom plea seeking a refund of Rs 1454.94 crore paid by it as entry fees for 2G licences for 21 service areas.

A bench of Justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Vikram Nath dismissed the petition filed by Loop Telecom and Trading Limited.

"We have come to the conclusion that there is no merit in the appeals. The appeals are accordingly dismissed," the court said.

Loop Telecom has claimed a refund of Rs 1454.94 crore representing the entry fee (together with interest) paid by it for 2G licences for 21 service areas. Following the judgment of the top court in the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) versus Union of India case, 2G licences granted by the central government, including to the appellant, were quashed.

The appellant Loop Telecom had filed a petition before the TDSAT raising the issue of a refund of the entry fee, on the ground that it had been exonerated by the Special Judge, CBI. By a judgment of December 21, 2017, the appellant Loop Telecom was acquitted of criminal charges by the Special Judge.

The TDSAT, with its judgement of December 11, 2018, had dismissed the Second Telecom Petition noting that the appellant had made a second attempt for claiming the same relief which had been sought earlier in the First Telecom Petition.

The said that the acquittal of the promoters of the appellant Loop Telecom of these criminal charges does not efface or obliterate the findings which are contained in the final judgment of the top Court in CPIL matter relating to 2G licences.

The top court on Thursday said that it has come to the conclusion that the appellant was in part delicto with DoT and the then officials of the Union government.

"The appellant (Loop Telecom) was the beneficiary of the --First Come First Serve policy which was intended to favour a group of private bidding entities at the cost of the public exchequer. The contention of the appellant that it was exculpated from any wrongdoing by the judgment of this Court in CPIL .....(supra) is patently erroneous," the Court said.

"The need for an open and transparent bidding process for the allocation of natural resources was substituted by a process which was designed to confer unlawful benefits on a group of selected bidders by which the appellant benefitted. The appellant has tried to obviate these findings by relying on its acquittal by the Special Judge, CBI," the Court said.

"It is important to note that the criminal trial before the Special Judge, CBI was limited to the question as to whether the promoters of the appellant had cheated the DoT by providing a false representation of its compliance with Clause 8 of the UASL Guidelines since it was allegedly being controlled by the Essar group. The Special Judge, CBI acquitted the promoters of the appellant since the prosecution was unable to prove that: (i) officers of DoT considered the representation of the appellant to be false; (ii) the appellant was engaged in a sham transaction, or (iii) the appellant was actually controlled by the Essar group, " the Court said.

"Hence, the acquittal of the promoters of the appellant of these criminal charges does not efface or obliterate the findings which are contained in the final judgment of this Court in CPIL (supra), " the court said.

"In any event, such a course of action before the TDSAT was clearly in the teeth of the judgment of this Court in CPIL (supra), " it added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As war rages on in Ukraine, India on Thursday bolstered efforts to evacuate its citizens from the strife-torn country, with four IAF aircraft bringing back 798 people and more than 7,400 Indians expected to return home to safety over the next two days, officials said.

An implacable Russia, which is pressing ahead with its bombardment of key Ukrainian cities, while rejecting calls by the international community for cessation of hostilities, bared a softer side, saying it is ready to send 130 buses to evacuate stranded Indian students and other foreigners from Ukraine's battle-scarred Kharkiv and Sumy cities to its Belgorod region.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), meanwhile, said evacuation efforts from Ukraine have gathered pace, with about 1,000 Indians having left Kharkiv for nearby Pisochyn pursuant to its advisory a day ago.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing the Indian side is in touch with both Ukrainian and Russian authorities to examine the modalities of how Indians can be evacuated from Kharkiv and Sumy, where many students have taken shelter in basements of apartment buildings and bomb shelters to escape shelling and missile barrages fired by the Russian military.

A young medical student Naveen SG from Karnataka was killed in one such shelling on Tuesday when he ventured out to buy food for himself and fellow students, who cowered inside a shelter in freezing cold, running out of supplies.

"We are closely following the developments in Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities in eastern Ukraine. As you know yesterday we issued an advisory for Indians in Kharkiv to leave the city by 6 PM local time. Pursuant to this a large number of students have left Kharkiv and are currently in nearby Pisochyn. We estimate this number to be around 1,000," he said.

"We are currently looking at transportation options to move them from there to western Ukraine or southern Ukraine depending on the transportation options," Bagchi said.

In a glimmer of hope for Indians trapped in Ukraine's bleak landscape with crumbling buildings and flashes of light from missiles whistling across the sky, a top Russian military general said his country was ready with 130 buses to help them exit the battle zone through its borders.

The remarks by Russian Defence Control Center head Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed the safe evacuation of Indians.

Approximately 8,000 Indians, mainly students, are stranded in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had said on Tuesday.

"A total of 130 comfortable buses are ready to depart to Kharkov (Kharkiv) and Sumy from the Nekhoteyevka and Sudzha checkpoints in the Belgorod Region since 6 AM today in order to Rescue Indian students and citizens of other foreign states, Colonel-General Mizintsev was quoted as saying by the state-owned TASS news agency.

Mizintsev said that places for temporary accommodation and rest have been set up at the checkpoints.

"The evacuees will be then transported to the city of Belgorod for subsequent departure to their homeland by air, including via Russian military airplanes, the General said.

During their telephonic conversation on Wednesday, President Putin assured Prime Minister Modi that is making every effort to help Indian nationals leave Ukraine safely, the Kremlin said.

"Putin emphasised that every necessary instruction has been issued, and the Russian service members are doing their utmost to ensure the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from the zone of hostilities and their return home, it said.

"In particular, is doing its best to organize the urgent evacuation of a group of Indian students from Kharkov via a humanitarian corridor by the shortest route to Russia, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Arindam Bagchi said in New Delhi India has been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova for evacuation of Indians from Ukraine.

Bagchi said 18 flights have been scheduled for next 24 hours to bring back Indian nationals from Ukraine.

A total of about 18,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since our first advisory was released, he said.

India has been evacuating its citizens by special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 when Putin ordered the launch of military offensive in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Ministry said more than 7,400 Indians are expected to be brought back home from Ukraine's neighbouring countries on special flights over the next two days.

Indian carriers -- Air India Express, Air India, SpiceJet, IndiGo, Vistara and Go First -- are expected to operate a total of 17 flights on Friday, a ministry statement said.

"The number of civilian flights is being scaled up further, and more than 7,400 people are expected to be brought through special flights in next two days," it said, adding 3,500 people are expected to be brought back on Friday and over 3,900 on Saturday.

The ministry said India has so far brought back 6,998 people on special flights -- including those operated by the Indian Air Force (IAF) -- since February 22.

It noted that 13 evacuation flights -- 10 by Indian carriers and three by the IAF -- were scheduled to return to India on Thursday.

Four Union ministers are in countries neighbouring Ukraine to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals.

Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia in Romania, Kiren Rijiju in Slovakia and V K Singh in Poland.

Earlier in the day, four C-17 Indian Air Force transport aircraft brought back 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow.

(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.)
Telecom Minister and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General Houlin Zhao signed a pact virtually on Thursday to establish an area office and innovation centre of the telecom body in New Delhi.

The setting up of the area office will provide greater access and engagement to India and South Asian countries in global policy and standard formation in the field of telecommunication.

"Today, the Government of India and ITU signed an agreement for setting up an area office and innovation centre for telecommunications for the entire south Asian region.

"This area office will provide opportunities for our start-ups and talents to develop and contribute more to telecom technology and make sure that our specific needs are reflected in the standards which are set up for telecommunications technologies," Vaishnaw told reporters after the signing ceremony.

India was a founding member of ITU when it was formed more than one-and-a-half century ago in 1865 as the International Telegraph Union but this is the first time that ITU is opening in the South Asia region with India as the host country.

"This is our dream to have our new offices everywhere in the world but over the past two decades, we could not do it. After a long time, we are opening an area office," Zhao said.

International Telegraph Union was renamed as International Telecommunication Union in 1932 and became a specialised agency of the in 1947.

The ITU Area Office and Innovation Centre of ITU at New Delhi is expected to be operational by mid-2022 and serve South Asian countries namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India.

The host country agreement provides the legal and financial framework for the establishment and operations of the area office.

The office will also have an innovation centre, which is expected to give impetus to research and development in telecommunication technologies in South Asia.

"Creation of Indian patents and finding their place in global standards is important. The ITU office will provide platforms to Indian companies for higher engagement in the development of global standards," Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman said.

The innovation centre will provide opportunities to academics, start-ups and SMEs to showcase their innovation on a global stage. With the signing of the Host Country Agreement, the Area Office and the Innovation Centre is expected to be operational by mid-2022.

In India's capital, the new office will implement ITU initiatives and provide technical assistance and policy guidance on information and communication technologies (ICTs) to ITU member states across South Asia. The office will be funded by the Indian government.

ITU-APT foundation of India President Bharat Bhatia, who attended the ceremony in Geneva, said the agreement is a major milestone in the long-awaited finalisation of the setting up of the India office.

He said the ITU area office in New Delhi will help more active participation of Indian and South Asian ICT professionals in the activities of the ITU to support the faster spread of digital technologies across South Asia and to bridge the digital divide.

(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.)
India is considering guarantees of lenders' letters of credit and soft loans for exporters hit by a cash squeeze following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions imposed on Moscow, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Indian banks are scrambling after bills for imports from Russia have started bouncing and payments for exports have been stuck.

A government official, who declined to be named because the discussions were not public, said Indian exporters are owed about $500 million from Russia and the government may guarantee banks' letters of credit or loans to help ease the crunch.

"Letters of credit is the most likely option," the official said.

A senior banker familiar with the developments said "letter of credit or some form of bank guarantees can be given, so that trade settlement is not hampered. We are looking into it".

The finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

CHEAP LOANS

The government is also looking at having state-owned banks lend to exporters at reduced rates or provide funds to them directly up to the amount of pending payments from Russia and Ukraine.

The official said the decisions could be taken in a couple of weeks.

The banking source said then the central bank could follow up and "find solutions to how bilateral trades can be settled." India exported $3.33 billion worth of goods to Russia in 2021, mainly pharmaceutical products, tea and coffee, while imports totalled $6.9 billion, including defence goods, mineral resources, fertilizers, metals and precious stones.

"We will first look to ease the pain of Indian exporters.

Import settlement issue resolution could take some time," the government official said.

India, which has deep trade and defence ties with Russia, has avoided criticising its long-standing arms supplier publicly and urged both sides to cease hostilities instead, causing frustration among its other allies including the United States.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
While the Department of Commerce has recommended the proposal, an announcement is likely to be made by the finance ministry after further deliberations between the Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Financial Services. The finance ministry will take a call on how to peg the two currencies, a senior government official told Business Standard. In the past, the two ...

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India's sunflower plunged 54% in February from the prior month as shipments from the Black Sea region were hit after Russia invaded Ukraine, while palm fell 15% because of higher prices, four dealers told Reuters.

February's lower imports could force India, the world's biggest importer of edible oil, to step up overseas buying of palm oil and soyoil in March, boosting prices already hovering near records. In February 140,000 tonnes of sunflower oil landed in India, down from 307,684 tonnes in January, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.

"Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, vessel loading was slow in the Black Sea region due to the tension," said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage and consultancy.

Ukraine and Russia account for more than 90% of India's imports of sunflower oil.

Even in March, India's sunflower would be less than 140,000 tonnes as loading has stopped in both nations, said Sudhakar Desai, president of the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers' Association.

"Only a few vessels that left before the war will reach India this month," Desai added.

The Solvent Extractors' Association of India, a trade body based in the commercial capital of Mumbai, is likely to publish February's import figure in mid-March.

India's palm oil imports in February fell to 470,000 tonnes, while soyoil imports dropped 5.5% to 370,000 tonnes, dealers said. Palm oil imports fell in February because of higher prices and since it was short month, said Govindbhai Patel, managing director of trading firm G.G. Patel & Nikhil Research Co.

Total imports of vegetable oil in February fell 22% from January to 980,000 tonnes, dealers said. Imports could rebound to 1.1 million tonnes in March as more palm oil vessels are likely to land this month, Patel said.

India buys palm oil from top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, and mainly imports soyoil from Argentina and Brazil.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid ongoing geopolitical tensions, Prime Minister said on Thursday that Make in India was the need of the hour, and called upon India Inc to make efforts to reduce the import of goods that can be manufactured in the country.

Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) is all the more important if we see from the prism of national security," Modi said, speaking at a post-Budget webinar on Make in India.

He said manufacturers should move with a sense of removing dependencies on foreign sources in sectors such as semiconductors and electric vehicles. Similarly, there is a need to be focussed on indigenous manufacturing in areas such as steel and medical equipment. Today, the world is looking at India as a manufacturing powerhouse, Modi said.

If raw materials go out of any country and it imports manufactured goods made from them, this situation will be a loss-making dealWe should work hard to build a robust manufacturing base in India. We have to promote Make in India in what is needed in the country today, he said.

Modis statement comes against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, which has rattled global supply chains. In the recent past, a raging Covid-19 pandemic had disrupted supply chains, making it imperative for nations to work towards becoming self-reliant.





ALSO READ: PM Modi calls for return to path of dialogue, diplomacy on Ukraine crisis

The prime minister also highlighted the need to find new destinations for local products, and urged the private sector to enhance spending on research and development, and diversify and upgrade their product portfolios. He also pointed out the new possibilities, with the opening up of areas like mining, coal and defence. You will have to maintain global standards and you will also have to compete globally, he said.

Modi also sought industrys suggestions to speed up the implementation of the production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes.

The impact of the continuous reforms that have taken place one after the other is visible. For example, in the PLI for large-scale electronics manufacturing, we crossed Rs 1-trillion production by December 2021. Many of our PLI schemes are currently at a very critical stage of implementation, he added.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, who also addressed the webinar, said the world today wants to emulate the India story regarding self-reliance as other countries are also talking about programmes similar to Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Goyal also shared his five-point vision for manufacturing and promoting exports, which includes taking the manufacturing sectors contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) to 25 per cent from 14 per cent now, increase global trade to 10 per cent of economy, become top three nations in services exports, support small businesses to aid foreign trade, and create 10 innovation centres.
HYDERABAD: Series of 'kidnappings' in Mahbubnagar recently seems to have raised political heat in the state. As many as nine persons went missing from Mahbubnagar over the past week. Interestingly, all these missing persons are linked to filing cases against minister V. Srinivas Goud, who represents Mahbubnagar Assembly seat, in courts and with Election Commission (EC) stating that the minister had resorted to tampering with his election affidavit on EC website. A few others who went missing were fighting against the alleged land encroachments and other irregularities committed by the minister and his family members.

These kidnappings even spread to Delhi when four staffers of former Mahbubnagar MP and BJP leader A.P. Jithender Reddy were abducted on Wednesday. Curiously, these kidnappings happened when Goud was in Delhi. The minister accompanied Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to Delhi on February 28 and staying there since then.

The kidnap was captured on CCTV cameras installed at Jithender Reddy's house in Delhi. Based on a complaint from Reddy's PA, the Delhi police started investigations. The kidnap victims included Reddys driver in Delhi Thapa and Munnuru Ravi from Mahbubnagar, who had moved the court as well as the EC alleging Goud had fabricated his election affidavit.

Opposition parties are strongly demanding sacking of Goud from the Cabinet, holding him responsible for these kidnappings with the help of the police, misusing his position as minister.

BJP national vice president D.K. Aruna, who hails from Mahbubnagar district, said, "It's shocking that the minister is misusing police force and using them for kidnappings. Enquiries with the family members of kidnapped persons clearly revealed that the SOT (special

operation team) of police have abducted them. Their arrests were not shown for days. Later, false cases were fabricated against them saying that police took them into custody for hatching a conspiracy to kill the minister and his brother. All this is done to bring pressure on victims to withdraw cases against the minister."

Aruna alleged that the minister and his family members were indulging in large scale encroachment of government and private lands in Mahbubnagar and whoever questioned them was being assaulted and implicated in false cases. She said the BJP was organising a huge protest programme on March 8 in Mahbubnagar against the misdeeds of Goud and his family members.

It all started from February 23 when one Nagaraju was abducted. Later, two persons, Viswanath and Yadaiah, went missing on February 24. Later, Amarender Raju, Anwar, Kishan Pawar, Varada Bhaskar, Sridhar, Mahesh Yadav, Sudhakar, Venkatesh, Srinivas Raju and Madhusudhan Raju were abducted. Raghavendra Raju also went missing.

Later, the police filed FIR against Nagaraju, Vishwanath, Yadaiah and Raghavendra Raju. Raghavendra Raju had earlier filed a case in Delhi High Court and also with the EC against Goud on tampering with election affidavit.

Meanwhile, TPCC chief A. Revanth Reddy demanded dismissal of Srinivas Goud from the Cabinet. "The fact that the kidnappings happened in Delhi when Goud is staying with the Chief Minister in Delhi proves that Goud has CM's backing in his illegal dealings. If not, the Chief Minister should immediately sack him from his Cabinet and order an inquiry into the issue," Reddy said.

However, Srinivas Goud was not available for comment.
Diplomats of countries such as the US, the UK, and Italy showed their interest in attending the sixth edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) scheduled to be held on April 20 and 21, the state government said on Thursday.

Ambassadors of Argentina, Consul Generals from the US, the UK, Japan, Italy, Australia, Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand in West Bengal and Honorary Consuls from several other countries attended an interactive meeting at the state secretariat chaired by Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi during the day.

"Ambassadors who joined the meeting showed keen interest to attend BGBS 2022 and also indicated to join as partner countries for BGBS 2022," a statement issued by the government said.

Diplomats of Italy, Netherlands, Paraguay, Kenya, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malaysia, Morocco and Slovenia also joined the session virtually.

"Focus sectors include infrastructure, service sector including education and health, tourism, industries including MSME, agri and allied sector, international trade, IT & ITes, mining, oil and gas," the statement said.

Principal chief advisor to the chief minister and former finance minister Dr Amit Mitra was also virtually present at the interactive meeting, organised by the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Limited (WBIDC) and FICCI.

WBIDC chairman Rajiva Sinha too attended the meeting.

(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.)
Describing herself as a "fighter", West Bengal Chief Minister on Thursday alleged that she was attacked by workers after she arrived for campaigning in Uttar Pradesh in support of the .

"I was coming from the airport yesterday and going to the (Dashashwamedh) ghat. Midway, some workers, who have nothing in their brain except violence, stopped my vehicle. They hit my car, pushed me and told me to go back," Banerjee claimed.

"It was then that I thought, they are going out (of power). They are completely gone, their defeat is imminent," the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief said.

Banerjee said she was in Uttar Pradesh for a political meeting and wondered why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was so bothered about it.

"I am not a coward, I am a fighter. I have fought for a long time. The CPM attacked me in the past, I was attacked with sticks and shots were fired at me several times in the past. But I never bowed down," she added.

Banerjee said when "abuses were being hurled" at her on Wednesday, she got down from the car and stood silent for some time to see what the attackers could do.

"I wanted to see what you can do. How much strength you have. But you are a coward. I saw it and thanked them. They attacked my car, pushed me. I said thank you because I knew the message is clear that the is losing, why else attack me," she claimed.

I am not scared. I am not a coward. I am a fighter. I faced thrashings & bullets several times in my life. But I never bowed down. Yesterday when they were surrounding me, I got down from my car & faced them to see what they can do. They are cowards: WB CM pic.twitter.com/aOXnYA5zO4  ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 3, 2022

She said if her coming to Uttar Pradesh once can ensure BJP's defeat, she would come to the state a thousand times.

"It's not so easy, Khela hoga," Banerjee said, referring to the Hindi variation of the Bangla phrase which was the poll anthem of the TMC in West Bengal elections last year in which it defeated the BJP.

(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.)
Campaigning for the in Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, West Bengal Chief Minister on Thursday said if Akhilesh Yadav's alliance wins the state elections, then the Narendra Modi government can also be toppled in 2024.

The Trinamool Congress supremo, who described herself as a "fighter", also alleged she was attacked by BJP workers on Wednesday after she arrived for campaigning in Varanasi, PM Modi's parliamentary constituency, in support of the SP.

"I was coming from the airport yesterday and going to the (Dashashwamedh) ghat. Midway, some BJP workers, who have nothing in their brain except violence, stopped my vehicle. They hit my car, pushed me and told me to go back," Banerjee claimed.

"It was then that I thought, they are going out (of power). They are completely gone, their defeat is imminent," the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief said.

Banerjee said she was in Uttar Pradesh for a political meeting and wondered why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was so bothered about it.

"I am not a coward, I am a fighter. I have fought for a long time. The CPM attacked me in the past, I was attacked with sticks and shots were fired at me several times in the past. But I never bowed down," she added.

Banerjee said when "abuses were being hurled" at her on Wednesday, she got down from the car and stood silent for some time to see what the attackers could do.

"I wanted to see what you can do. How much strength you have. But you are a coward. I saw it and thanked them. They attacked my car, pushed me. I said thank you because I knew the message is clear that the BJP is losing, why else attack me," she claimed.

Banerjee claimed that the alliance led by Yadav is set for win in the Uttar Pradesh polls and whole country was against the BJP.

"I have information that and his alliance is winning," she said, and called on the people to change and topple the Yogi Adityanath government.

"We also have the courage to fight. BJP, you can see the whole country is against you. All youth, mothers and sisters of country are against you."



"If you can make the alliance of Akhilesh win, then in 2024 the Narendra Modi government will not be there," she said.

"We also love the country, we all sing songs in praise of the country. We bow down to the country, to Varanasi, India," Banerjee said, breaking into a couplet "Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab humare dil mein hai, dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil me hai".

Banerjee said if her coming to Uttar Pradesh once can ensure BJP's defeat, she would come to the state a thousand times.

"It's not so easy, Khela hoga," Banerjee said, referring to the Hindi variation of the Bangla phrase which was the poll anthem of the TMC in West Bengal elections last year in which it defeated the BJP.

She also slammed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath over the attack on her, and said he was "insulting" the seer community.

"Don't do this hooliganism with me Yogi ji. You show yourself to be a big seer but what is a seer? A seer is someone who commands respect. You are not a seer you are insulting the seers," she said.

"If you (people) want to ensure victory of Akhilesh and the alliance, I say 'Ek Dhakka Aur Do'," Banerjee said.

Hitting out at BJP workers who protested her coming to Uttar Pradesh, Banerjee said why can't she come to the state and its cities like Varanasi, Ayodhya, Allahabad, Mathura, Lakhimpur Kheri and also visit the Kumbh Mela.

"So many people from UP visit Ganga Sagar. So many from UP live in our Bengal. Ask them, how good they all are. You are here mocking me," the West Bengal chief minister said.

She also slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 3 last year in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed and son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra is a key accused.

"There was a farmers' movement in Lakhimpur. You mowed them down under a vehicle. I have been involved in farmers movement but here a minister's son killed the farmers but what did you do? What action did you take? Don't the farmers have any respect," Banerjee said.

She hit out at the BJP government over forming the anti-Romeo squad, saying the groups unnecessarily harass young boys and girls.

Banerjee accused the BJP of committing "many sins" and said the party talks about temples, Hindu-Muslim during elections.

"I have no objection to Jai Siya Ram slogan. But what you do is that you do not mention Sita Mata, and say Jai Shri Ram. It's not Jai Shri Ram, it's Jai Siya Ram. I don't need to be lectured on this as I worship Durga ji and Lord Ram also worshipped her," the TMC supremo said.

She also chanted shlokas in praise of Goddess Durga and said she goes to temples, mosques, gurudwaras, church and observed festivals across faiths.

"That is how we become full Indian," she remarked.

Banerjee accused the BJP of selling country's assets and properties in the name of ushering in "achche din".

She said she respects cow but in the name of saving the bovine, the government has caused trouble to the poor and farmers.

She also slammed the BJP over handling of the pandemic, recalling how bodies were found abandoned in the Ganga.

"It was the West Bengal government which did the funeral with full respect of the bodies that were abandoned during the pandemic in UP," she claimed.

Banerjee called on the people to vote for SP-led alliance to oust the BJP from power, saying "Yogi is Yogi only of name, he is a bhogi."



On the employment issues, she questioned why the youth of Uttar Pradesh were migrating to other states for work.

She said her government in West Bengal has launched several public welfare schemes but "nothing has happened in Uttar Pradesh" under the BJP government.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Thursday alleged the Opposition is trying to divide society for votes at a time when India needs to be strong to deal with "serious challenges" the world faces.

The possible reference to the war in Ukraine came during a poll meeting during which Modi also said the BJP's victory in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh election is necessary to ensure the state's journey on the path of development does not stop.

"The time is coming up with serious challenges for the whole world. So your vote is making India strong to deal with these challenges. On one hand, there are those who are busy dividing society for votes even at such times, while on the other side there are BJP and our allies who are devoting themselves wholeheartedly in the development of the country," he said.

Taking a jibe at the opposition, he said that dynasts who only try to fill their 'tijori' (vault) can never fulfill the dreams of the poor. He claimed that voting in the state so far has confirmed the victory of the BJP alliance.

In the sixth phase of polling being held on Thursday, votes are being cast in favour of the BJP, the prime minister told the meeting.

"The BJP's victory in the assembly elections is necessary because Uttar Pradesh is moving on the path of development and it should not stop now," Modi said. "We have to ensure that the victory of the BJP is as grand as it was in 2017."



Terming the previous Samajwadi Party government "mafiawadi" (those who help mafia elements), Modi said a BJP government was needed in the state to ensure Jaunpur is "mafia-free".

Attacking the previous Akhilesh Yadav government, the PM said, "Pariwarwadis' (dynasts) can never fulfill the dreams of the poor. The way of these 'mafiawadis' to run the government is to loot Uttar Pradesh and crush the dreams of the poor. They never see your pain, your trouble."



Referring to SP president Yadav, Modi said he used to send letters to the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister from Delhi, telling him time and again that the Indian government is giving money and you can build houses for the poor".

But they didn't care about the life of the poor, the PM alleged



"They had only one job to do -- fill their vault from wherever they got chance. They knew that Modi will ask for the account of money he is sending from Delhi and they will be caught. So they did not worry about the poor," he said.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana only one house was sanctioned in Jaunpur when Yadav was in power in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said, adding that in 2017 when the BJP government came, 30,000 houses were sanctioned here and 15,000 of them have already been completed.

Referring to encephalitis, a deadly disease that used to spread in the Purvanchal (east UP) region, he alleged dynasts left the Purvanchal to suffer the havoc of encephalitis



But now a network of medical colleges is being created there, he said, adding the government taken "a very big decision" to reduce the fees for half of the seats in private medical colleges to bring them at par with that in government medical colleges.

"These dynasts had left the people of Purvanchal on their own. These people had tried their best to divide Uttar Pradesh on caste lines, but the people of the state understood their designs and stood unitedly today. The reason is clear --Niyat, Niti, Nishtha and Netritva' (intention, policy, loyalty and leadership)," he said.

The BJP's policy is that whatever schemes are made, they should reach every beneficiary and without middlemen.

He alleged that the people who are accused of burning the houses of Dalit families in Bhadethi village of Jaunpur are being blessed by the dynasts. "So the poor, downtrodden and backward classes need to be very careful with such people."



On the Covid pandemic, the PM said, "Our government stood with you sincerely during the pandemic. We sent money directly to the account of the poor. When the poor, Dalit and backward families needed ration, we also started the scheme of giving free ration to all."



He said that Covid vaccine was needed to protect everyone from coronavirus. "So, we started a free vaccination campaign."



Modi also attacked the Opposition on their stand on Covid vaccine.

"The people of UP can never forget these people who were involved in a conspiracy to defame India's vaccine. These people were working to make this crisis more serious. The people of the state have wiped them out in every phase of voting," he said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Election Commission has ordered repoll in 12 polling stations of five assembly constituencies in where polling was held on February 28.

A statement issued by Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Agarwal said the repoll will be held on March 5.

The polling stations where repoll will be held are in Khundrakpam, Saitu , Thanlon, Henglep and Churachandpur assembly constituencies.

Repoll in these polling stations was recommended based on the facts information received and reported by respective Returning Officers, the statement said.

The main reason for consideration of repolling was due to damage of EVMs by miscreants during and after the poll, the statement said.

The polling stations going for repoll include Sarouthel, New Keithelmanbi, Songsang, Maite, Tinsuong, Majuron Kuki, N Chingphei, Khoirentak, Molsang, Leinom, Teikot and Maukot.

The first phase of assembly to 38 assembly seats was held on February 28 while the second phase covering 22 constituencies is scheduled on March 5.

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On the day of the polling for the sixth phase of the Assembly polls, Chief Minister said the elections have reached the decisive stage and each vote to ruling Bharatiya Janta Party is a step towards making the state India's number 1 economy.

said that it is time to decide between us and terror-supporting people.

" Assembly elections have reached the decisive stage. You have seen developmental projects in the last five years, be it from AIIMS inauguration to Kushinagar International Airport. It is time to decide between us and terror-supporting people. Each of your votes will make India's No 1 economy," .

Adityanath offered prayers at Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur before the beginning of the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

The polling for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will be held on Thursday.

The voting will begin at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm. Polling will be held for 57 Assembly constituencies spread across 10 districts including Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar and Siddharthnagar.

A total of 2,14,62,816 electorates including 1,14,63,113 males, 99,98,383 females and 1,320 third genders are expected to exercise their right to franchise to decide the fate of 676 candidates.

With 676 candidates in the fray in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Chief Minister tops the chart of the prominent faces of this phase. The Chief Minister is contesting the polls from Gorakhpur Urban. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has pitted Khwaja Shamsuddin while Samajwadi Party (SP) has fielded Subhavati Shukla, who is the wife of late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Meanwhile, Congress' Chetna Pandey will also fight against Adityanath.

Besides Adityanath, prominent faces in this phase are state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu, who is contesting from Tamkuhi Raj seat, Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit as minister to join the Samajwadi Party and is contesting from Fazilnagar seat, and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary, who is contesting from Bansdih seat.

Congress' Ajay Kumar Lallu is facing BSP's Sanjay Gupta and SP's Udaynarayan Gupta on Tamkuhi Raj seat.

SP's Swami Prasad Maurya will contest from Fazilnagar seat against BJP candidate Surendra Singh Kushwaha, the son of incumbent BJP MLA Ganga Singh Kushwaha. Maurya will face BSP's Ilyas Ansari, Congress' Sunil Singh and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Harish Chandra Yadav.

SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is facing Congress' Puneet Pathak on Bansdih seat. Puneet's grandfather, Bachha Pathak is a former vice president of the state Congress. His grandfather had been an MLA from Bansdih for seven terms between 1967 and 1996 and was also a minister in the UP government.

SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary also faces Nishad Party's Ketki Singh and BSP's Manti Rajbhar.

Polling for the seventh phase, which will be the last phase, will be held on March 7. The counting of votes will be done 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.)
About 47 per cent voting was recorded till 3 pm in the sixth phase of the Assembly polls on Thursday.

The prominent faces among the 676 candidates for 57 seats spread across 10 districts in this phase include Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban and state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj.

The voting started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Around 2.15 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.

So far, voting for 292 of the 403 Assembly seats has been completed. The final phase of the elections on the remaining 54 seats will be held on March 7.

The districts where polling is being held on Thursday are Ambedkarnagar, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia.

In the 2017 Assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won 46 of the 57 seats.

There was about 46.70 per cent polling till 3 pm, according to the Election Commission of India's Turnout app.

Additional Chief Election Officer (ACEO), BDR Tiwari said polling was going on peacefully in the state.

While Ambedkarnagar had 52.42 per cent voting, Ballia had 46.50 per cent, Balrampur 42.51 per cent, Basti 46.30 per cent, Deoria 45.37 per cent, Gorakhpur 46.46 per cent, Kushinagar 48.55 per cent, Mahrajganj 47.59 per cent, Sant Kabir Nagar 44.62 per cent and Siddharth Nagar 45.60 per cent.

Those who cast their votes in the morning included Chief Minister Adityanath, Basic Education Minister Satish Dwivedi, Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, minister Upendra Tiwari and former minister Narad Rai.

Interacting with reporters after casting his vote, the chief minister said the BJP will get 80 per cent votes and the rest 20 per cent will get divided among the Opposition. He also appealed to the people to vote in large numbers.

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has pitted the wife of the late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Azad Samaj Party founder Chandrashekhar Azad is also contesting against the chief minister from Gorakhpur Urban.

Swami Prasad Maurya, who was a minister in the Adityanath government and had quit the BJP to join the SP, is contesting from Fazilnagar.

The Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly and SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is contesting from Bansdih.

Many incumbent ministers' fate will also be decided in this phase.

They include Surya Pratap Shahi from Pathardeva, Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa, Jai Pratap Singh from Bansi, Shree Ram Chauhan from Khajani and Jai Prakash Nishad from Rudrapur.

The campaigning for this phase witnessed the political parties going for an all-out attack against each other.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the BJP's rivals by tagging them as dynasts, who he claimed can never make India capable or empower .

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi rebutted by saying the BJP is only against her family, which did not bow down before it.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy of ending reservation and "selling" government entities to the private sector.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
As the sixth phase for the Assembly elections begins on Thursday, Prime Minister appealed to voters to exercise their franchise.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi requested all to participate in the polls by voting and said that in a democracy, every vote counts.

"The festival of democracy in has entered its sixth phase today. It is my humble request to all the voters that they must participate in this festival with their votes. Every single vote of yours (is) the power of democracy!" he tweeted.

Union Minister also appealed to voters to vote enthusiastically so to choose a dynast and corruption-free government in the state.

In his tweet in Hindi, Shah said, "Today is the sixth phase of polling in . I appeal to all the voters that only a strong government free from corruption and dynast can take Uttar Pradesh forward on the path of progress. Therefore, vote diligently to keep the state at the forefront of development."

Polling for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began at 7 am today and will continue till 6 pm.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cast his vote at Primary School Gorakhnath Kanya Nagar Kshetra, in Gorakhpur.

Polling is being held for 57 Assembly constituencies spread across 10 districts including Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, and Kushinagar among others.

A total of 2,14,62,816 electorates including 1,14,63,113 males, 99,98,383 females and 1,320 third genders are expected to exercise their right to franchise to decide the fate of 676 candidates.

With 676 candidates in the fray in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tops the chart of the prominent faces of this phase. The Chief Minister is contesting the polls from Gorakhpur Urban. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has pitted Khwaja Shamsuddin while Samajwadi Party (SP) has fielded Subhavati Shukla, who is the wife of late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Meanwhile, Congress' Chetna Pandey will also fight against Adityanath.

Besides Adityanath, prominent faces in this phase are state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu, who is contesting from Tamkuhi Raj seat, Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit as minister to join the Samajwadi Party and is contesting from Fazilnagar seat, and Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary, who is contesting from Bansdih seat.

Congress' Ajay Kumar Lallu is facing BSP's Sanjay Gupta and SP's Udaynarayan Gupta on Tamkuhi Raj seat.

SP's Swami Prasad Maurya will contest from Fazilnagar seat against BJP candidate Surendra Singh Kushwaha, the son of incumbent BJP MLA Ganga Singh Kushwaha. Maurya will face BSP's Ilyas Ansari, Congress' Sunil Singh and Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Harish Chandra Yadav.

SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is facing Congress' Puneet Pathak on Bansdih seat. Puneet's grandfather, Bachha Pathak is a former vice president of the state Congress. His grandfather had been an MLA from Bansdih for eleven terms between 1967 and 1996 and was also a minister in the UP government. SP leader Ram Govind Chaudhary also faces Nishad Party's Ketki Singh and BSP's Manti Rajbhar.

Polling for the seventh phase, which will be the last phase, will be held on March 7. The counting of votes will be done 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.)
China-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Thursday put on hold all its projects in and its ally Belarus, a significant move amid the heightening crisis in .

The bank's decision was regarded as noteworthy considering that is its third-largest shareholder. India is the second-largest shareholder after China.

Former RBI Governor Urjit Patel is the Vice President for Investment Operations of Beijing headquartered .

The bank is headed by former Chinese Vice Minister for Finance, Jin Liqun.

Besides being the second-largest shareholder India is also AIIB's biggest beneficiary by obtaining USD 6.7 billion funding for 28 projects.

"Our Bank is actively monitoring the situation and assessing its impact on AIIB's operations and our members' economies" as the war unfolded, a press release posted on the bank's website said.

"We, the Management, will do our utmost to safeguard the financial integrity of AIIB, against the backdrop of the evolving economic and financial situation," it said.

"Under these circumstances, and in the best interests of the Bank, Management has decided that all activities relating to and Belarus are on hold and under review," the release said.

The bank has financed several projects in Russia and Belarus.

Explaining its decision to put the projects in Russia on hold, the said it is a multilateral organisation created by an treaty, and adherence to law lies at the very core of our institution".

" Management believes that multilateralism provides the best framework for countries to cooperate in dealing with common challenges and supporting development," it said.

"As the war in unfolds, AIIB extends its thoughts and sympathy to everyone affected. Our hearts go out to all who are suffering," it said.

"AIIB stands ready to extend financing flexibly and quickly and support members who have been adversely impacted by the war, directly or indirectly," the release said.

"Economic spillover from commodity price shocks, financial market volatility and other factors may adversely impact our members' economic situation. We will work closely with our partner multilateral organisations to provide any needed support expeditiously," it said.

On Wednesday, the World Bank announced that it will stop all its programmes in Russia and Belarus with "immediate effect" in response to Moscow's military operations in Ukraine and "hostilities" against the people of the war-torn country.

On February 24, Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine, three days after Moscow recognised Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

The decision comes as a large number of countries, organisations and businesses are severing ties and have imposed sanctions on Russia over the country's invasion of Ukraine, and with Belarus for its support and cooperation with Moscow.

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Amaravati: In a setback to the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government, the AP High Court on Thursday said that the state government should follow the CRDA Act and ordered it to develop Amaravati as the capital, as per the master plan, within six months.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra in its final verdict on a batch of petitions filed challenging the acts on decentralisation and repeal of AP CRDA on Thursday, said that the state legislature had no competence to make any legislation on the states capital and directed the state government not to shift any office from the present capital city Amaravati.

The court also asked the state government to pay Rs 50,000 to the petitioners.

The court also directed the state government to inform it on a regular basis over the implementation of its order on developing the capital city Amaravati.

The proposed formation of three capitals by the state government was challenged by the farmers of Amaravati, the present capital region.

The farmers claimed that the government had entered into agreements with them for offering their land under the Land Pooling Scheme (LPS), promising to develop a new capital.

The YSRCP government decided to make three capitals in different cities in order to ensure development in all parts of the state. It proposed administrative capital in Visakhapatnam, judicial capital in Kurnool and the legislative capital in Amaravati but it failed to materialise due to filing of numerous petitions in the High Court.

The High Court constituted a full bench comprising Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Nainala Jayasurya to hear more than 100 petitions filed by the farmers of Amaravati challenging the YSRCP governments decision to form three capitals.

It may be recalled that all these petitions against the two Bills  AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions and AP Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) Repeal Bills 2020  were first heard by a High Court bench headed by the Chief Justice J.K. Maheswari. The hearings ended abruptly with the transfer of Justice Maheswari to Sikkim.

Later, Justice Goswami, who took over from Justice Maheswari, announced in March that a new bench would conduct fresh hearings.

The new bench was supposed to hear the cases afresh from May 3, 2021 and the Advocate Heneral requested that the cases be heard at the earliest.

However, on May 2, 2021, the High Court deferred its decision to hear the cases afresh to August 23 on the ground that it was not in a position to take up regular hearing of any cases in the wake of growing number of Coronavirus cases.
The Russian defence ministry on Wednesday said its armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of Indian citizens from the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

An official of the Russian embassy in India shared the details of the Russian defence ministry's briefing.

At a media briefing in Moscow, the ministry also alleged that the Ukrainian authorities are "forcibly keeping" a group of in Kharkiv against their wishes to go to Belgorod.

When asked, Ukrainian Ambassador to India Igor Polikha strongly rubbished the allegations and said Ukraine, which is "bleeding", is helping the foreign students stranded in the country.

"We did our best to mitigate the issue of students trying to cross the western borders amid huge crowds of refugees and this issue is basically solved. As far as I know, the first batch of Indians has already left Kharkiv towards the western border," he said.

According to the details shared by the Russian official, the Russian defence ministry also claimed that the Ukrainian authorities have offered the students that they can exit through the country's border with Poland.

It said the route to the Polish border has areas of active hostilities.

As fighting intensified in Kharkiv, India asked its nationals on Wednesday to leave the second-largest Ukrainian city urgently to three nearby places "even on foot", while promised to create "humanitarian corridors" for the evacuation of Indians from the conflict zones.

The Russian defence ministry said its armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens.

"According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of in Kharkiv who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod," according to the Russian defence ministry.

Belgorod is a bordering region in and is not very far from Kharkiv, according to an official. A team from the Indian embassy in Moscow has already reached Belgorod for any possible evacuation of Indians from Kharkiv.

The ministry said the Russian side is ready to send the students back home from Russian territory by its own military transport planes or Indian aircraft, adding that it will depend on what the Indian side proposes to do.

India had asked to facilitate the safe passage of Indians from various conflict zones after the killing of an Indian student in shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday.

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was fully open to vaccinated travellers after Western on Thursday became the last state to lift border restrictions.

Western Australia, which covers one third of the nation's land area, closed its borders to most international and interstate travellers in 2020 to slow the spread of COVID-19.

But the state lifted restrictions on Thursday four months after began its staged reopening of quarantine-free travel and more than week after all vaccinated tourists became eligible for visas.

Perth's airport was the scene of emotional reunions as the first of a scheduled 22 domestic flights and five international flights began arriving on Thursday.

Western had successfully stopped the local spread of the throughout the pandemic by contract tracing and isolating carriers until the highly contagious omicron variant arrived this year.

The state now reports more than 1,000 new infections every day.

Australia is now finally back together, Qantas Airways chief executive Alan Joyce said. This day has been a long time coming."



On Wednesday, 61 deaths from COVID-19 were reported across Australia. None was reported that day in Western Australia, Tasmania or the Australian Capital Territory.

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The Australian government is helping importing nations find alternatives to for supplies by connecting them with local producers, a government spokesperson said on Thursday, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine made buyers look elsewhere.



Australia's top independent producer, Whitehaven , and New Hope Group said they have been approached to supply countries, including Poland, which have traditionally relied on Russian . Poland is looking to stop buying coal from and has been pressing the European Union to do the same.



"The Australian government is facilitating access to Australian thermal coal producers to interested parties as they seek alternative supplies from Russia," a spokesperson for Resources Minister Keith Pitt said.



Poland wants to impose an embargo on Russian coal for its invasion of Ukraine, while other coal buyers are looking for alternatives in preparation for potential sanctions against Russian energy exports, industry sources said. "Australia's coal producers have indicated they are willing to help our friends and allies if they can," Pitt's spokesman said. The government's effort was first reported by The Australian newspaper.

Glencore Plc declined to comment and Yancoal was not immediately available for comment. Coal supply is extremely tight at the moment, partly due to flooding and labor issues at mines in Australia, which means local producers would be hard-pressed to fill any supply gap in Europe in the near term.



"New Hope Groups high quality coals are in high demand in existing markets, however, the Group will examine the opportunities for supply to European markets," New Hope's spokesperson said. In a sign of how tight the market is, coal prices for loading at Newcastle - the world's biggest coal port on Australia's east coast - rocketed to a record $440 a tonne on Wednesday, a five-fold jump from a year ago.

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US President Joe Biden's administration is seeking $32.5 billion in additional funding from Congress to aid Ukraine and to bolster the US COVID response, US media reports said on Thursday.

The White House is seeking $10 billion in emergency military and humanitarian aid to assist Ukraine after Russia invaded last week, the Washington Post reported. Those funds would help train Ukraine's military, protect its electrical grid, boost its cyberdefenses and enforce sanctions, it said, citing two people familiar with the matter.

That is $3.6 billion more that the White House sought on Feb. 25, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces invaded neighboring Ukraine.

Another $22.5 billion would go toward shoring up the nation's pandemic response as part of the shift toward managing COVID-19 long-term and preparing for any potential new variants and spikes in cases, the Post said, also citing a letter from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget sent to U.S. lawmakers it had obtained.

The White House will officially ask Congress for the additional funding later on Thursday, it added. The Punchbowl News media outlet also reported on the planned funding request.

Representatives for the White House did not respond to a request for comment on the reports.

OMB Acting Director Shalanda Young cited "an immediate need" for the aid to assist Ukraine and other Central European allies, and asked that the total $32.5 billion request be included in Congress' larger spending bill to fund the U.S. government expected to come by March 11, the letter posted online by Punchbowl showed.

Lawmakers had passed a so-called stopgap spending bill to fund federal agencies through next Friday and must pass another measure by then to avert to government shutdown.

Biden's fellow Democrats control both chamber of Congress.

While there has been large bipartisan support for the Ukrainian aid, Republicans have balked at additional funds to fight the novel coronavirus, with 36 conservative U.S. senators on Wednesday demanding a full accounting of the money authorised so far before considering any more federal funds.

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A Western intelligence report said senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, The New York Times reported citing senior Biden administration officials and a European official.

The report indicates that senior Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about "Russia's war plans or intentions before the invasion started last week".

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing before the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

Moscow and Beijing issued a 5,000-word statement at the time declaring that their partnership had "no limits," denouncing NATO enlargement and asserting that they would establish a new global order with true "democracy," The NYT reported.

held the closing ceremony of the Olympics on February 20. The next day, Putin ordered more Russian troops to enter an insurgent-controlled area of eastern after state television broadcast a meeting between him and his national security council and a long speech in which he said should be a part of rather than existing as a country, said the NYT report.

Early on February 24, the Russian military began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including carrying out attacks on Ukrainian cities with ballistic missiles, artillery shells and tank units.

and have been strengthening their economic, diplomatic and military ties for years. Xi and Putin met 37 times as national leaders before their discussions in Beijing ahead of the Olympics, The NYT reproted.

It further said that the ambitious joint statement that the two nations issued during that meeting alarmed American and European officials, especially because it was the first time had explicitly sided with on issues concerning NATO and European security.

Since the tensions between Ukraine and Russia rages on, Chinese officials have consistently aligned with Russia. They have expressed support for Russia's concerns about NATO and said Russian and Ukrainian officials should have negotiations.

Spokespeople for the Chinese Foreign Ministry have refused to call Russia's actions an "invasion" and blamed the United States for inflaming tensions around Ukraine, The NYT reported.

According to the NYT report, Chinese officials have also criticized the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and European nations.

American and European officials are watching China closely to see whether it will help Russia evade sanctions.

Before the invasion, Beijing and Moscow announced a 30-year contract for China to buy gas through a new pipeline. China has also lifted restrictions on the import of Russian wheat. But U.S. officials expect the large Chinese state-owned banks to avoid openly violating the sanctions on Russia for fear of jeopardizing their own global commercial activities, The NYT reported.

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has called on Russia and Ukraine to ensure the safety of Ukraine's nuclear facilities, as fears mount over a potential environmental disaster amid an intensifying military offensive by Russia in the former Soviet state.

Addressing an emergency meeting of the Atomic Energy Agency's top officials in Vienna on Wednesday, China's envoy Wang Qun said that hopes that the relevant parties will act cautiously to avoid causing "man-made nuclear safety and security incidents.

is concerned about the safety, security and safeguards of nuclear facilities in Ukraine, Wang told the UN nuclear watchdog's board of governors, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted a Chinese statement in UN.

Without naming Russia or Ukraine, Wang urged the two countries to work to ensure the safety of nuclear facilities.

The IAEA should also take full consideration of the security situation in Ukraine in accordance with its mandate and properly address the issue of security protection in Ukraine, Wang added.

Ukraine's nuclear energy development started in the Soviet era, with the construction of the Chernobyl power plant near the capital Kyiv in the 1970s.

Also in 2013 China has signed a joint statement with Ukraine saying that the Chinese government will provide security to Kyiv promising if Ukraine is invaded using nuclear weapons or threatened by such invasion.

Asked will China take measures to protect Ukraine's security as per its assurances as Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country's nuclear forces to stay on high alert, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told media briefing here on Thursday that according to documents such as statements made by states and the UN Security Council Resolution 984, nuclear-weapon states give security assurances to Ukraine and other non-nuclear-weapon states.

The security assurances have clear limitations on the content and are triggered under specific conditions, he said.

On the Ukraine issue, the pressing task now is for all sides to remain calm and exercise restraint, deescalate the situation and promote the political settlement, he said.

Ukraine, which became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, is now heavily dependent on nuclear energy, with 15 working reactors at four sites that generate about half of its electricity, the Post report said.

Concerns over the security of these nuclear facilities have been intensifying since Russian armed forces last Thursday captured the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant the site of a deadly and environmentally damaging reactor accident in 1986 hours after President Putin ordered a military operation in neighbouring Ukraine.

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is all set to commence its key annual Parliament season amid the global turmoil over the crisis and the impending leadership overhaul later this year as Chinese President is geared up to begin an unprecedented third term at the end of his 10-year tenure this year.

China's annual Parliament season lasting over two weeks' sessions of the national legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC) and the advisory body Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will begin from Friday.

The CPPCC, which has 2,200 members mostly nominated by the ruling Communist Party of (CPC) will begin its session on Friday, while NPC with a membership of 2,951 will commence its session from Saturday.

For over two weeks, the NPC, referred as the rubber stamp parliament for its routine approval of policies of the CPC, will transact annual legislative work including approving the work report to be submitted by Premier Li Keqiang in which would outline its annual economic performance and announce new defence outlay besides other economic initiatives.

The significance of the two sessions this year is that this is the final year of the 2nd five-year tenure of Chinese President .

While all his predecessors retired after two five-year tenures, Xi is widely expected to continue in power perhaps for life.

His unprecedented third-term was expected to be formally conferred by the once-in-a-five-year CPC Congress to be held in next few months as a key party Plenum meet last year formally endorsed his continuation.

He is now equated with Party's founder Mao Zedong who held reins of power until his death in 1976.

While Xi, who heads the party, the military and Presidency is set to remain in power, the composition of the government was expected to change as most of his associates, including Premier Li, may be replaced under the two-tenure norm.

The two sessions were being held in the backdrop of Russia's military action on which had created a global political crisis not seen in recent times testing China's close ties with .

Also, Beijing is also faced with major political and trade onslaught from the US, European Union and their allies over a host of issues including human rights violations in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.

The global attention was also fixated on Taiwan, which fears an impending military action from China as the Chinese military ratcheted up tensions conducting hundreds of air raids into Taiwan's air defence zone.

Ahead of the two sessions, China on Thursday launched a blistering attack on American democracy, saying that the US uses democracy as a pretext to serve its own interests.

Guo Weimin, spokesperson of CPPCC, in his customary press conference ahead of the Friday's session said "democracy is diverse in its forms, and is not a patent held by a few countries."



China claims itself as People's Democracy.

The purposes for the United States to convene the so-called "Summit for Democracy" are to suppress others, divide the world while maintaining its hegemony, Guo said while answering a question.

"The democratic systems of countries should be chosen independently by their own peoples based on national conditions."



Guo criticised some Western countries for imposing their democratic systems on other countries through "colour revolutions," which have caused serious disasters.

He also hailed China's "whole-process people's democracy" and the roles the CPPCC has played in facilitating scientific and democratic decision-making through consultation, oversight, participation, and cooperation.

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There has been an "evolution" in some of India's public positions on Russia, a senior Biden administration official has told US lawmakers, hoping that New Delhi would further distance itself from Moscow after its invasion of .

On February 24, Russian forces unleashed an attack on on President Vladimir Putin's orders. and said Wednesday that they were prepared to hold talks for the second time since the Russian invasion of its neighbour.

We can already see an evolution in some of India's public positions, Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism during a hearing on Wednesday on US- relationship.

Referring to the very fact that abstained from the UN Security Council vote on Russia, Lu underscored the statements made by India's Permanent Representatives at the United Nations.

We have seen a number of abstentions. We have seen this interesting evolution just in the past couple of days. So, as you have seen yesterday, the Indian government said it would send a humanitarian airlift of humanitarian supplies from to Ukraine.

That's important. That's a request that's coming from Ukraine's leadership, he said.

Second, in a UN session, it called for all states to abide by the UN Charter to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states. That wasn't a criticism of Russia, but a very clear reference to Russia's violation of the UN Charter, in violation of Ukrainian sovereignty. So, we're making small steps, he said in response to a question.

We work every day to make sure that we're trying to close the gap between where we are and where our Indian partners are, Lu said.

The American diplomat who had earlier served in India and Central Asia as well said he knows a lot about the Indian students in Ukraine.

What they're facing not only the dangers from falling Russian bombs but the sense that they're having a hard time getting out because of perceived lack of wellness now in Ukraine, he said.

And then, India has maintained that it wants not to take either side because it wants to be a partner that's trying to work towards a diplomatic solution. We have seen them make the right phone calls that suggest they are serious about that. Unfortunately, they have not yet been effective in doing so, Lu said.

India, he said, has focused on two things when trying to explain its position on .

One that continues to want to leave on the table the possibility of a diplomatic resolution of this conflict. As we have said, that looks more and more unlikely as the Russian troops continue to pound civilian targets in Ukraine, but this remains, their public position remains what we hear from them in private, he said.

The second thing that they emphasise is India has 18,000 students still in Ukraine and they are trying to work with both the Government of Ukraine and with the Government of to safeguard those well, Lu said.

On Tuesday, India said approximately 8,000 Indians, mainly students, are still stranded in Ukraine and efforts are on to evacuate all of them.

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Russia's financial markets have been thrown into turmoil by sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.



The invasion has triggered a flurry of credit rating moves and dire warnings about the impact on Russia's . S&P lowered Russia's rating to junk status last week.



It also prompted index providers FTSE Russell and MSCI to announce on Wednesday that they will remove Russian equities from all their indexes, after a top MSCI executive earlier this week called Russia's stock market "uninvestable".



FTSE Russell said the decision will be effective from March 7, while MSCI said its decision will be implemented in one step across all MSCI indexes as of the close on March 9. MSCI said it is also reclassifying MSCI Indexes from emerging markets to standalone markets status.



has a weighting of 3.24% in MSCI's emerging market benchmark and a weighting of around 30 basis points in the index provider's global benchmark .



The Institute of Finance predicts a double-digit contraction in economic growth this year.



Fitch downgraded to "B" from "BBB" and placed the country's ratings on "rating watch negative". Moody's, which last week had flagged the possibility of a downgrade, also cut the country's rating by six notches, to B3 from Baa3.



Fitch said the only other precedent to such a large six-notch downgrade on a single sovereign entity was South Korea in 1997.

"The severity of sanctions in response to Russia's military invasion of has heightened macro-financial stability risks, represents a huge shock to Russia's credit fundamentals and could undermine its willingness to service government debt," Fitch said in a report.



Fitch said that U.S. and EU sanctions prohibiting any transactions with the Central Bank of Russia would have a "much larger impact on Russia's credit fundamentals than any previous sanctions," rendering much of Russia's reserves unusable for FX intervention.



"The sanctions could also weigh on Russia's willingness to repay debt," Fitch warned. "President Putin's response to put nuclear forces on high alert appears to diminish the prospect of him changing course on to the degree required to reverse rapidly tightening sanctions."



Fitch said it expects further ratcheting up of sanctions on Russian banks.



Moody's said on Thursday the scope and severity of the sanctions "have gone beyond Moody's initial expectations and will have material credit implications." The sanctions imposed by Western countries will also markedly weaken Russia's GDP growth potential relative to the ratings agency's previous assessment of 1.6%, Fitch said.



"In this case, the sanctions-driven frozen/falling assets tail-wagged the ratings dog," analysts at Mizuho wrote. They added that "ratings and benchmark risks revealed may compound further capital exodus as benchmark funds are forced to liquidate rather than hold."



Sanctions imposed on Russia have significantly increased the chance of the country's defaulting on its dollar and other international market government debt, analysts at JPMorgan and elsewhere said on Wednesday.



Russia has responded to the sanctions with a range of measures to shore up its economic defenses and retaliate against Western restrictions. It hiked its main lending rate to 20%, banned Russian brokers from selling securities held by foreigners, ordered exporting companies to buttress the rouble, and said it would stop foreign investors selling assets.



The government also plans to tap its National Wealth Fund (NWF), a rainy day cushion, to help counter sanctions.



(Reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru and Megan Davies in New York; Additional reporting by Andrew Galbraith in Shanghai and Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore; Editing by Leslie Adler and Stephen Coates)

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Hours after had abstained on a UN General Assembly vote on Ukraine, an influential Republican Senator has cautioned that it would be "foolish" to harm bilateral ties because of it.

During a Senate panel hearing on relations with on Wednesday where India's abstention, the fourth on a UN vote relating to Ukraine, was highlighted, Indiana Senator Todd Young said: "It would be foolish and deeply short-sighted for the to harm our relationship with over what is occurring in Ukraine".

He and other senators at the hearing stressed India's importance to the US because of its strategic position and the size of its population and economy.

Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, who was testifying at the hearing on US relations with India, said that India's position on has been "evolving" and that there has been a backlash in India against after an Indian student was killed in Russian shelling.

He mentioned India airlifting humanitarian supplies to and its call at the UN "for all states to abide by the UN Charter to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states", which he said was a very clear reference to Russia's violations.

Lu said that Washington has tried to leverage New Delhi's relationship with Moscow "to try to call for a Russian withdraw and ceasefire" and Prime Minister Modi has "called both President Vladimir Putin and President (Volodymyr) Zelensky to call for an end to the fighting".

He said that the US had been "relentlessly conducting very serious, high-level dialogue" with India on .

President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials have been in touch with their Indian counterparts, and in the past 24 hours he had himself had contacted Indian officials, including Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

Asked by Democrat Chris Van Halen about what was External Affairs Minister S. Jaishanker's reason for abstention when Blinken spoke to him, Lu said that he wanted to leave open possibilities of a diplomatic solution and that he was concerned about the fate of 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and was working with both Ukraine and to protect them.

Several of the senators on the panel expressed concern over India's abstention on UN votes on Ukraine.

"At a time when democracies are closing ranks to condemn Russia's invasion (it) is troubling to say the least to see India, the world's largest democracy, sitting on the sidelines," said Democrat Chris Murphy, who heads the panel that held the hearing, the Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism.

Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen said: "India should be on notice that this is a time when to stand up for its values."

But Republican Senator Ted Cruz blamed the Biden administration for India's abstention.

"Past year under the Biden administration, relations with India have worsened significantly, as was manifested, among other things in their latest abstention in the United Nations on the issue of and Ukraine."

He said that it was due to the Biden administration changing the priority of the Quad that is made up of India, the US, Japan and Australia from countering China to issues like climate change and development.

Lu took issue with that characterisation and said that at the Quad foreign ministers' meeting in Melbourne, countering China was on the agenda along with Covid and other issues.

But he said that "one of the key ways that we will help our Indian partners to become more aligned with the world's position towards condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine is by making sure we continue to talk about the Russia-China axis. This is critical in terms of India's interests".

On questions whether India would be sanctioned under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), Lu said that it was still under consideration and that he did not want to "prejudge the decisions of the President or the Secretary on the waiver issue or on the sanction issue, or whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine will bear on that decision".

India's purchase of the Russian Triumf S-400 missile defence system makes India vulnerable to sanctions under CAATSA.

Lu, however, said that it would be difficult for India to continue to buy Russian equipment because of the financial sanction imposed by the US and its allies on that country restricting its ability to receive payments.

India has already cancelled its orders for Russian MiG 29 jets, helicopters and anti-tank weapons, he said.

"Since 2011, India has reduced its arms imports from Russia by 53 per cent and increased its defence purchases from the and other partners, as well as increasing its own domestic production capability.

"Over the last 22 years, US defence sales to India have grown to over $20 billion, and India is considering purchasing six additional P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft for $2.1 billion," Lu added.

Family planning and abortion rights are a major item on the Democratic Party agenda and Shaheen appeared to be belabouring under stereotypes of India when she asked Lu about "access to family planning" in India asserting that "it's struggled to make modern contraception available countrywide to families".

Lu did not have a ready answer for her and said he would get back to her.

Unlike in the US where abortions are still a matter of political polarisation and states are imposing restrictions on it, it is legal throughout India and is not a major political issue, while the total fertility rate -- the average number of children born to a woman -- has fallen to two, which is below the replacement rate of 2.2, portending a population implosion.

"We need to be a little careful about being too preachy these days," the panel's chair, Democrat Chris Murphy noted earlier while asking about improving the health of India's "big, thriving but still young democracy".

"We've got a lot of work to do here at home to strengthen American democracy."

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

--IANS

al/ksk/

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Vijayawada: Chief Minister Jagan has decided to send the states representatives to Poland and Hungary to bring back the students from war-hit Ukraine. He asked officials to do the needful for their travel to the region.

The AP representatives will assist officials of the external affairs ministry and to bring back the stranded AP people to India safely. The state has collected the details of students and handed these over to the visiting state representatives.

The details of 680 stranded students have been given to the officials of the external affairs ministry. The state has organised the data of the students studying in various universities in Ukraine through the Ukrainian embassy, the IB stamping office and various private educational consultancies.

On the other hand, based on the data, revenue officials and tahsildars have visited the houses of the stranded students and gathered complete information about the students from the 13 districts.

Of the 680 stranded students, 75 have returned to their home towns safely till Wednesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Ukraine has issued an urgent advisory requesting all its citizens to leave Kharkiv immediately and reach the settlements of Pesochin, Babaye and Bezlyudovka.

The government asked stranded people to leave eastern Ukraine areas with immediate effect and to go to western areas by train and other available transport. It also asked the stranded people to reach West Ukraine from East Ukraine even by walk.

The central government took steps to repatriate the stranded students to India safely through the Operation Ganga project. The Centre deployed special flights for safe repatriation of the students and, till Wednesday, as many as 2,500 Indians were evacuated from Ukraine.
The Criminal Court prosecutor has launched an investigation that could target senior officials believed responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide amid a rising civilian death toll and widespread destruction of property during Russia's invasion of .

ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan announced the probe late Wednesday night after dozens of the court's member states asked him to take action.

An investigation by the Criminal Court into Russia's barbaric acts is urgently needed and it is right that those responsible are held to account, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said. The U.K. will work closely with allies to ensure justice is done.

After informing the court's judges of his decision to open an investigation that covers all sides in the conflict, Khan said: Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service has said that more than 2,000 civilians have died since the Russian invasion, a claim that was impossible to verify.

There also have been reports of the use by Russian troops of cluster bombs, with a preschool and a hospital both reportedly hit.

President Vladimir Putin's military machine is targeting civilians indiscriminately and tearing through towns across Ukraine, Truss said.

Rights groups on Thursday welcomed the nations' request for an investigation.

The request for an ICC investigation reflects the growing alarm among countries about the escalating atrocities and human rights crisis that has gripped Ukraine, said Balkees Jarrah, interim justice director at Human Rights Watch. These governments are making clear that serious crimes will not be tolerated and that the court has an essential role to play in ensuring justice.

The court already has conducted a preliminary probe into crimes linked to the violent suppression of pro-European protests in Kyiv in 2013-2014 by a pro- Ukrainian administration and allegations of crimes in the Crimean Peninsula, which annexed in 2014, and eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has backed rebels since 2014. It found a broad range of conduct constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the court have been committed in Ukraine, Khan's predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, said at the time.

Those findings also will be included in Khan's investigation.

Putin and his military top brass could potentially face charges for ordering attacks that breach the laws of war, said Marieke de Hoon, assistant professor of international criminal law at the University of Amsterdam.

"The ICC is created to circumvent Putin's head of state immunity in foreign courts," De Hoon said. The ICC can now continue its investigation, open cases and issue arrest warrants.

But she also noted the ICC can only put a suspect on trial in The Hague if they are arrested. The court doesn't have a police force to detain suspects and relies on international cooperation to enforce its arrest warrants. Under ICC rules, suspects can't by tried in their absence.

How armies are allowed to act during military conflicts is governed by what is known as international humanitarian law, the aim of which is to protect civilians and rein in the use of force.

"That means that a certain category of people so-called combatants, who distinguish themselves from civilians and are engaged in the armed conflict can use force but only against military targets and then only when those are necessary, and only with proportional means, said De Hoon.

To be classed as crimes against humanity, attacks have to be part of what the ICC's founding treaty, the Rome Statute, calls a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.

The use of munitions such as cluster bombs also likely will, if confirmed, qualify as war crimes because of their indiscriminate nature.

It's impossible with those types of weapons to distinguish between military targets and civilians, De Hoon said.

While Khan has now opened an investigation, he most likely won't be able to send investigators into to collect evidence and speak to witnesses while war is still raging.

It is hard to investigate on the ground now, De Hoon said. But there are a lot of open source investigations possible, using for instance satellite images and social media posts. Other states can also share the evidence they collect with the ICC.

The ICC was set up in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The crime of aggression, which can't be investigated in because neither nor Ukraine is a member of the court, was added later. The ICC is a court of last resort, taking on cases when national authorities are unwilling or unable to prosecute.

Over the past 20 years, its prosecutors have filed charges against military and government leaders in several countries, but it hasn't managed to bring many to justice.

One of the first suspects charged by the court was Joseph Kony, a Ugandan warlord who leads the cult-like Lord's Resistance Army rebel group. An international arrest warrant for Kony was issued in 2005 but he remains at large.

Another high profile fugitive is ousted Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, who still hasn't been handed to the ICC despite arrest warrants dating back to 2009 and 2010 for allegedly ordering atrocities in the Darfur region.

As Khan launched the court's latest investigation, he put combatants and their leaders on notice that he is watching them.

With an active investigation now underway, I repeat my call to all those engaged in hostilities in Ukraine to adhere strictly to the applicable rules of international humanitarian law, he said. No individual in the Ukraine situation has a license to commit crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

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The Criminal Court (ICC) has started an investigation into the Russian activities in Ukraine, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said.

"I have notified the ICC Presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations in the Situation. Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced," Khan said in a statement.

He added that the ICC would focus on the organization's key objective: ensuring accountability for crimes under the court's jurisdiction.

Last week, launched a special operation after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested assistance to defend themselves from ongoing attacks by the Ukrainian troops. The Western countries have strongly condemned the Russian military operation and boosted the sanctions pressure on Moscow.

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Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield, claimed Russian Embassy in India on Wednesday (local time).

This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in Kharkiv and discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas.

"According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for . Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities," in India wrote in a tweet.

"According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkov who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod," the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Defence said during the briefing.

"In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place," he said.

He further said that Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens and send them home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes, as the Indian side proposed to do.

However, has reacted to Russia's allegations and called on the Russian Federation to "immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy so that they can arrange the evacuation of the civilian population, including foreign students, to safer Ukrainian cities".

"There are students from India, Pakistan, China and other counties who cannot leave because of the indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on residential areas and civilian infrastructure," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that the Ukrainian government stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy.

"The Government of stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy should commit to a ceasefire. Attempting to arrange evacuations through cities that are being subjected to Russian bombing and missile strikes is extremely dangerous," read the statement.

Ukraine demanded Moscow to allow the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities.

"We urgently call on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities," said Ukraine's Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a tweet, said that the country has established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine as the tensions between Moscow and Kyiv rages on.

"We have established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine because of Russia's invasion. +380934185684 We are working intensively to ensure their safety & speed up their passage. Russia must stop its aggression which affects us all," he tweeted.

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Israel's prime minister is calling on world leaders to get Russia and Ukraine out of the battlefield and to the negotiating table after a week of fighting.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke in English on Thursday at a cyber tech conference in Tel Aviv, less than a day after he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

maintains good relations with both countries. It has condemned Russia's invasion and sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but the same time has avoided taking a stance that might anger Moscow. Russia and cooperate on military operations in Syria.

Bennett said of the situation in Ukraine that things are looking bad on the ground right now, but it's important to understand that if world leaders don't act quickly it can get much worse.

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Co Ltd and ANA Holdings Inc said they would cancel all flights to and from on Thursday, citing concerns about safety due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.



The airlines, which normally use Russian airspace for their flights, join a growing number of carriers that have cancelled or rerouted flights between and north Asia in the wake of the crisis. "We are continuously monitoring the situation, but given the present situation in Ukraine and the different risks, we have decided to cancel flights," a JAL spokesperson told Reuters.



ANA Cargo's website said the suspension of flights was due to the "high possibility of its operations not being able to overfly Russia due to the current Ukraine situation." from the European Union and Canada have been banned from Russian airspace in response to their curbs on Russian airlines, but has not made a similar announcement to date.



ANA and JAL operate about 60 flights per week through Russian airspace between Tokyo and London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Helsinki, according to a spokesperson for flight tracking website FlightRadar24. Finnair, which had initially cancelled its Tokyo flights after losing access to Russian airspace, said on Wednesday it would resume four weekly Helsinki-Tokyo flights with a new route and a flight time of 13 hours, up from around 9.5 hours previously.



Longer routes by will add to fuel costs and lower the amount of cargo that can be carried in a tight market for air freight that is exacerbating pandemic-related issues in the global supply chain. Korean Air Lines was still flying over Russian airspace on Thursday, according to Reuters monitoring of FlightRadar24, but Taiwanese carriers are now avoiding Russian airspace and are flying over China and central Asia.

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Seeking to comprehensively overhaul the and L-1 visa programmes, a bipartisan group of influential senators have introduced a legislation in the US Senate, which they argued will protect American workers and crack down on foreign outsourcing companies that exploit these popular visa programmes to deprive qualified Americans of high-skilled jobs.

The visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The visa programme is the most sought-after work visa among foreign professionals, including Indians. The L-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa for the purpose of work in L-1 status. It is valid for a relatively short amount of time.

The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act will reduce fraud and abuse, provide protections for American workers and visa holders, and require more transparency in the recruitment of foreign workers, the senators said.

Introduced by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Tommy Tuberville, Sherrod Brown, Bill Hagerty, and Bernie Sanders.

The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act will require US Citizenship and Immigration Services to prioritise for the first time the annual allocation of H-1B visas. The new system would ensure that the best and brightest STEM advanced degree students educated in the United States receive preference for an H-1B visa, and also prioritise other US advanced degree holders, those being paid a high wage, and those with valuable skills.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

The legislation explicitly prohibits the replacement of American workers by H-1B or L-1 visa holders and clarifies that the working conditions of similarly employed American workers may not be adversely affected by the hiring of an H-1B worker, including H-1B workers who have been placed by another employer at the American worker's worksite, a media release said.

Reforming the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes is a critical component to fixing America's broken immigration system, Durbin said. For years, outsourcing companies have used legal loopholes to displace qualified American workers, exploit foreign workers, and facilitate the outsourcing of American jobs. Our legislation would fix these broken programmes, protect workers, and put an end to these abuses, he said.

Congress created the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes to complement America's high-skilled workforce, not replace it. Unfortunately, some companies are trying to exploit the programmes by cutting American workers for cheaper labour. We need programmes dedicated to putting American workers first, Grassley said.

When skilled foreign workers are needed to meet the demands of our labour market, we must also ensure that visa applicants who honed their skills at American colleges and universities are a priority over the importation of more foreign workers. Our bill takes steps to ensure that the programmes work for Americans and skilled foreign workers alike, he added.

According to the senators, the legislation will target outsourcing companies that import large numbers of H-1B and L-1 workers for temporary training purposes only to send the workers back to their home countries to do the same job.

Specifically, the bill would prohibit companies with more than 50 employees, of which at least half are H-1B or L-1 holders, from hiring additional H-1B employees. The bill gives the US Department of Labor enhanced authority to review, investigate, and audit employer compliance with programme requirements, as well as to penalise fraudulent or abusive conduct.

It requires the production of extensive statistical data about the H-1B and L-1 programmes, including wage data, worker education levels, place of employment, and gender.

In addition, the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act includes several reforms of the L-1 visa programme, including the establishment of a wage floor for L-1 workers; authority for the US Department of Homeland Security to investigate, audit, and enforce compliance with the L-1 programme requirements; assurance that intra-company transfers occur between legitimate branches of a company and do not involve shell facilities; and a change to the definition of specialized knowledge to ensure that L-1 visas are reserved only for truly key personnel, the media release said.

This legislation will crackdown on the manipulation of existing vulnerabilities to ensure employers prioritize the American worker before considering any high-skilled foreign applicants. If we are going to get our economy back up and running, we need to do it correctly and that begins with utilizing the talent we have here at home first and foremost, said Senator Tuberville.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Monday announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa US advanced degree exemption, known as the master's cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2022.

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A senior official says that in the wake of Ukraine's formal application this week to join the bloc, bids for entry are also expected imminently from Moldova and Georgia.

The two eastern European countries are already part of EU outreach programmes, but a membership request would be a major development in their relations with the 27-nation bloc.

Any membership application and consideration is a process that would take many years and involve fundamental political adjustments, ranging from trade, to rule of law measures and anti-corruption commitments.

The EU official who spoke Thursday asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of recent geopolitical developments after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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Streaming giant will no longer come up with Russian content.

Due to Russia's military operations in Ukraine, has decided to pause all future projects and acquisitions from President Vladimir Putin-led country, Variety reported.

The streamer had four Russian originals in the pipeline, including a crime thriller series directed by Dasha Zhuk which was shooting and has been put on hold. The 1990's set series was Netflix's second original series filming in Russia, following 'Anna K which wrapped last year.'

The service was launched in the country just over a year ago and is believed to have about 1 million subscribers.

Prior to Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. announced their decision of halting the theatrical releases of their projects in .

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has reportedly put on hold all future projects and acquisitions from amid its invasion of Ukraine.

According to Variety, the streaming service had four Russian originals in the pipeline, including a crime thriller series directed by Dasha Zhuk, which was shooting and has been postponed.

The 1990's set series was Netflix's second original series filming in Russia, following Anna K which wrapped last year.

A source close to said the company was assessing the impact of current events.

On Monday, The Walt Disney Company announced it will be pausing all theatrical releases in Russia, including Pixar's Turning Red, set to premiere there on March 10. A few hours after the announcement, Warner Bros halted the release of The Batman in the country.

has also been barred from major festivals and award shows. The Cannes Film Festival announced on Tuesday that it will not welcome any Russian delegations or attendees with ties to the government.

Switzerland's Locarno Film Festival, however, announced it would show Russian films at the upcoming edition in August.

Russia's intensifying attack on Ukraine has forced hundreds of thousands to leave the country in the last six days in what one UN official predicted could become Europe's biggest refugee crisis this century.

Last Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in eastern Ukraine, claiming it is intended to protect civilians.

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climbed to almost $120 a barrel on Thursday, their highest in nearly a decade, as sanctions disrupted Russian oil sales but the rally lost some of its fizz on rising prospects for an Iran nuclear deal that could add extra supplies.

Benchmark Brent rose to $119.84 a barrel, the highest since 2012, with additional support coming from data showing U.S. crude stockpiles had hit multi-year lows. By 1416 GMT, it had slipped back to $112.75 a barrel.

Brent has jumped by more than a third in the past month. The contract's six-month spread hit a record high of more than $21 a barrel, indicating very tight supplies.

U.S. crude hit $116.57, its peak since 2008, before retreating to $109.66.

Prices slid in early U.S. trading, after an Iranian reporter tweeted of a breakthrough in talks to revive an Iran nuclear deal that could see Iranian barrels come back into the market.

The head of the Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Iranian nuclear activity, visits Iran on Saturday - another move seen as raising prospects for a deal.

"We again caution that the deal is still not done and the sums entailed would simply be too small to backfill a major Russian disruption," RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft said.

spiked earlier on Thursday after a fresh round of U.S. sanctions on the Russian oil refining sector, raising concerns that oil and gas exports might be next.

Russia, which competes with Saudi Arabia for the title of biggest crude and refined oil products exporter, ships more than 7 million barrels per day (bpd), with about half going to Europe.

Washington and its Western allies have imposed sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, but the measures have so far stopped short of targeting Russian oil and gas exports.

But traders are still wary of becoming entangled in sanctions. At least 10 tankers failed to find buyers on Wednesday, market sources said. "We expect that Russian oil exports will plunge by 1 million bpd from the indirect impact of sanctions and voluntary actions by companies," said Rystad Energy Chief Executive Jarand Rystad.

" are likely to continue to climb a potentially beyond $130 per barrel."

Australia's ANZ raised its short-term price target to $125.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and their allies, a group known as OPEC+, stuck to an existing plan for a gradual output rise of 400,000 bpd a month when they met on Wednesday, snubbing consumer calls for more.

U.S. oil inventories continued to fall. Tanks at the key Cushing crude hub in Oklahoma were at their lowest since 2018, while U.S. strategic reserves dropped to their lowest in nearly 20 years.

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Visakhapatanam: The Indian Embassy in Ukraine on Wednesday started its first evacuation measures with support of Russia at the high-risk war zone Kharkiv.

Though it brought much relief among the parents and their kin who were able to leave the city by the deadline of 6pm there as put by the embassy, many Indians were left helpless in Kharkiv to meet the deadline.

They faced problems of improper communication, failure to catch trains on time, defunct communication network including the phones, the students in touch with Deccan Chronicle said over Whatsapp calls and messages.

Meanwhile, the Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipovs said on Wednesday that his country is creating a corridor for secure passage of those returning to India. The Indian Embassy in Ukraine issued an advisory in the afternoon, urging all the Indians at Kharkiv to immediately vacate the place by 6pm.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle from Kharkiv, KNMU student Prasad Nampally said, We see the shelling of paratroops everywhere in Kharkiv. We may miss many. I left my pet dog Tyson. I left it with a heavy heart outside of the train while I am boarding it, which was the last train of the day.

Srinivas, the father of an MBBS girl student at Kharkiv National Medical University, said the family waited for this day since the beginning of the war on February 24.

We have no sleep and food here like my daughter at Kharkiv. A friends son reached home from Ukraine by special flights because he was from a non-risk part of Ukraine. Kharkivs position was different. There was non-stop bombardment for the past four days and the Indian governments help did not reach her till Tuesday, Srinivas told DC.

TeamSOSIndia, a Telegram group played an effective role in communicating with every Indian struck in Kharkiv and in helping them out of the city within the deadline of 6pm Ukraine time, as was set by the embassy.

The government suggested Indians at Kharkiv to reach nearby Pesochin, Babaye, or Bezlyudovka, which were less than 12 km towards the Russian border from Kharkiv.
Prime Minister will on Thursday participate in a virtual meeting of the leaders along with US President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of Japan and Australia.

The Ministry of External Affairs said the leaders will exchange views and assessments about important developments in the Indo-Pacific.

"Prime Minister will participate along with President of USA Joseph R Biden, Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison, and Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida in a Leaders' virtual meeting on March 3," it said in a statement.

The leaders held an in-person summit in Washington in September last year.

"The leaders will have an opportunity to continue their dialogue after the September 2021 Summit in Washington DC. They will exchange views and assessments about important developments in the Indo-Pacific," the MEA said.

"The Quad leaders will also review ongoing efforts to implement the Leaders' initiatives announced as part of the Quad's contemporary and positive agenda," it said.

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Russias long-term foreign debt rating was downgraded by Moodys and Fitch, as Russian army tanks rolled into Kherson, the first major city to fall since Moscow invaded a week ago. Despite the global pressure to back off, President Vladimir Putin told French leader Emmanuel Macron on Thursday that would achieve the goals of its military intervention in whatever happens, the Kremlin said.

In southern Ukraine, Kherson, the strategic port city of 290,000 people near the Black Sea came under siege as Russian forces pressed ahead with their offensive across major urban centres.

Moodys cut Russias ratings to B3 from Baa3, with the ratings company saying there may be further cuts. The scope and severity of the sanctions announced to date have gone beyond Moodys initial expectations and will have material credit implications, it said in a statement. Fitch lowered to B from BBB and placed the rating on negative watch on Wednesday, citing weakening external and public finances, slowing growth, elevated domestic and geopolitical risk and the potential for further sanctions. Russias credit rating was cut six levels to junk by Fitch.

As the war entered its second week, Russian forces pressed ahead with their offensive in , firing missiles at Kyiv overnight. An amphibious landing of marines took Ukraines second Azov Sea port Berdyansk and may have pressed on to join with Russian and pro- separatist troops pushing west to encircle and lay siege to the southern city of Mariupol. That city of more than 500,000 was under heavy bombardment again on Thursday. Constant attacks over the past 24 hours have cut off water and power supply.

But Britains defence ministry said in an intelligence update that the main body of the large Russian column advancing on Kyiv remained over 30 km from the centre of the city having been delayed by staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion.

More action took place in the financial world. MSCI and FTSE Russell said they were cutting Russian equities from widely-tracked indices, while the London Stock Exchange suspended dozens of Russian depositary receipts from trading, isolating the stocks from a large segment of the investment-fund industry.

An overwhelming majority of market participants see the Russian market as uninvestable and its securities will be removed from emerging markets indexes effective March 9, MSCI said.

The Russian state, meanwhile, is set to fail to pay foreign bondholders a coupon due on a bond for the first time since 1998, the Wall Street Journal reported. The holders of a ruble-denominated government bond maturing in 2024 were meant to receive payment on Thursday for a coupon due the previous day. Investors in Europe that own this bond saidthey hadt received it or any notifications that it was on its way, the report said.

Russias National Settlement Depository reported that the Ministry of Finance sent the interest payment, as usual.

In normal times, the depository would then transfer it to the accounts of bondholders with payment scheduled for delivery the following day. But due to Russias retaliation to Western sanctions, the money was stuck in jammed financial infrastructure, creating the conditions for Russias first potential default in over two decades.

Putting a figure to its casualties, Russias defence ministry on Wednesday said that 498 Russian soldiers had died in and another 1,597 had been wounded since the beginning of Moscows military operation there, Russias RIA news agency reported.

In the US, President Joe Bidens administration was seeking $32.5 billion in additional funding from Congress to aid Ukraine and bolster the US Covid response. It was seeking $10 billion to help train Ukraines military, protect its electrical grid, boost its cyberdefences and enforce sanctions, the Washington Post reported. Another $22.5 billion would go toward shoring up the nations pandemic response.
New Delhi, March 3: has coined a four-point formula that would keep out NATO, the western military alliance, out of most of the territories that were once a part of the former Soviet Union.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov stressed on Tuesday during a video address to the Conference on Disarmament that Moscow was seeking legally binding security guarantees from members. These security guarantees were of 'fundamental importance' to ensure peace in the region.

'[Our] Western colleagues have not yet shown any willingness to provide with long-term legally binding security guaranteesi For us, achieving these objectives is of fundamental importance,' Lavrov asserted.

The minister pointed out that must, first, abandon the 'Bucharest formula' that the grouping had adopted during its 2008 Bucharest summit. The Bucharest formula envisions inclusion of and Georgia in the US-led military bloc. 'Western countries should refrain from establishing military facilities on the territory of former USSR states that are not members of the alliance, including the use of their infrastructure for conducting any military activity.'

Significantly, Lavrov implied that the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which have already joined NATO, but were part of the USSR after World War II, are not on Moscow's military radar.

Second, must follow the NATO- Founding Act of 1997 which froze the grouping's military capabilities, including strike [capabilities], and NATO infrastructure to that year, Lavrov said.

Russian President has spelled out two other conditions for hostilities to end in . Putin has made it plain that must adopt a position of political 'neutrality', implying that Kiev should legally commit that it would not become a part of any military alliance. Besides, the Russians want that the Ukrainian establishment must undergo de-Nazification.

The Russian President was apparently referring to events of 2014 when neo-Nazis played a critical role in toppling an elected pro-Russian government following the Maidan Square 'revolution'.

One such neo-Nazi group is the Azov Regiment. The unit is part of the National Guard of Ukraine, based in Mariupol, in the Azov Sea coastal region. All its members are contract combatants, drawn from 22 countries. These 'volunteer battalions' have been engaged with much of the fighting against pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com)

--indianarrative

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Russian space agency has refused to launch UK's three dozen OneWeb Internet satellites unless its demands are met, in response to sanctions over its invasion into .

OneWeb's 36 satellites were scheduled, to take off on top of a Russian Soyuz rocket on March 5, were rolled out to the pad at the Russian-controlled Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Space.com reported.

After the roll out Roscosmos Director-General Dmitry Rogozin in a tweet on Wednesday said that the agency will not launch the satellites as planned if the company does not guarantee that the craft will not be used for military purposes.

Further, the agency demanded that the government, a primary shareholder in OneWeb, remove its investment in the company as another condition for launch.

If these demands are not met by 1.30 pm EST (12.00 a.m. IST) on Friday, Roscosmos will remove the Soyuz 2.1b rocket carrying the satellites from the launch pad, the report said.

"There's no negotiation on OneWeb: the Government is not selling its share. We are in touch with other shareholders to discuss next steps," Member of Parliament Kwasi Kwarteng, who serves as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said on Twitter.

The Russian demands come amidst the nation's invasion of Ukraine, an action that has been vehemently condemned by many countries around the world, including the US and UK. Such condemnation has included new economic sanctions, imposed by the US and other nations.

Roscosmos has been cutting ties with some of its long-time partners, citing the sanctions as rationale.

Roscosmos announced on February 26 that it will no longer collaborate with the European Space Agency at the European spaceport in French Guiana, on the north coast of South America.

The ultimatum comes as blow as OneWeb thought the launch would still take place even amid the Russian invasion

"I've been at this since last Thursday, taking it day by day by day," Chris McLaughlin, chief of government, regulatory, and engagement at OneWeb, was quotedA as saying to The Verge,

He added that he was "encouraged specifically by Rogozin's tweets that they were looking forward to launching. And something changed."

Roscosmos claims that delaying the launch "will cause no economic damage" because the rocket had already been built and paid for, according to Russia's state press organization TASS.A

The OneWeb satellites will also remain at the launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan "until the situation is resolved," the space organisation claims.

Roscosmos said if this rocket is not used to launch OneWeb's satellites, then it will be used for another flight, the report said.

--IANS

rvt/dpb

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Russian President told French leader on Thursday that would achieve the goals of its military intervention in Ukraine whatever happens, the Kremlin said.

In a statement issued after the French and Russian presidents spoke by phone, the Kremlin made clear its goals included the demilitarisation and neutrality of Ukraine.

Any attempts by Kyiv to delay negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials would result in Moscow adding more items to a list of demands it has already set out, it said.

" outlined in detail the fundamental approaches and conditions in the context of negotiations with representatives of Kyiv. It was confirmed that, first of all, we are talking about the demilitarisation and neutral status of Ukraine, so that a threat to the Russian Federation will never emanate from its territory," the statement said.

"It was emphasised that the tasks of the special military operation will be fulfilled in any event, and attempts to gain time by dragging out negotiations will only lead to additional demands on Kiev in our negotiating position." The statement said Russia's "special operation" in Ukraine was going "according to plan". It said reports that Russian forces were bombarding Kyiv were part of an "anti- disinformation campaign", and that Russian forces were doing all they could to protect civilians.

calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday promised Ukrainians that damage to infrastructure inflicted by invading Russian forces would be repaired and that would foot the bill.

We will restore every house, every street, every city and we say to Russia: learn the word of reparations and contributions. You will reimburse us for everything you did against our state, against every Ukrainian in full, Zelenskyy said in a video statement.

Russian troops were carrying out acts tantamount to war crimes and perpetrators need to be held accountable, Ukraines first deputy foreign minister Emine Dzhaparova told an urgent debate at the UN Human Rights Councilsaid on Thursday.

Gennady Gatilov, Russias ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, denounced the criminal regime in Kyiv and accused the United States and European Union of supplying lethal weapons.
Russia's partly state-owned diamond mining company has assured the gem and jewellery industry here that the firm will fulfil all its obligations to their clients in any part of the world, said on Thursday.

Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Chairman Colin Shah said India directly imports around 10 per cent of Alrosa's total rough diamond output.

However, most Russian diamonds end up in India for cutting and polishing after passing through trading centres.

He said the Russia- war has led to US sanctions on Russia, and this "might affect" the Indian diamond business.

Indian diamond companies might face difficulties in making payments for rough diamonds sourced from as has been banned from the SWIFT financial network, he said.

He added that delayed payments are expected to impact rough supplies by 2-3 weeks, resulting in scarcity of rough from Russian allocations.

"However, has received a letter from dated February 28 stating that it is ready to address the concerns related to day-to-day operations due to the US restrictions imposed on ALROSA last week," Shah said.

The letter also states that ALROSA's settlements with foreign partners continue as usual as there are no restrictions on the company's transactions in dollars, euros or other currencies and diverse banking partners, allowing the company to operate normally without any delays, he added.

"ALROSA has assured that they are running their business as usual and they have all the necessary resources to ensure normal operation in the current circumstances. They will be fulfilling all their obligations to their clients in any part of the world," he said.

The chairman also said direct payment in the Russian rouble is possible where the clients have relations with Russian banks in India or if their bankers can have an arrangement with those banks, provided they are not on the SWIFT ban list.

"However, payment in rouble is not a viable option due to volatility and illiquidity in the exchange market," he said.

India's diamond industry is fully import-dependent, and any shortage in rough would have a severe impact on manufacturing activity and employment in the sector, he said.

When asked about the advantage of the rupee-rouble trade between India and Russia, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director-General Ajay Sahai said the as dollar trade is possible through all the banks, trading in local currency may be limited to few banks only.

"Moreover, once the sanctions are imposed, the local currency trading may only be limited to permissible products (not like dollar, which covers all products) as even nominated banks may not deal in sanction products," Sahai said.

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The Ukrainian Defence Ministry on Thursday announced that Russian ships and rocket boats were approaching the country's third largest city of Odessa located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea.

"In the waters of the Black Sea, we are observing a landing detachment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, consisting of four large landing ships accompanied by three rocket boats, advancing towards Odessa," the Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry also claimed that Ukraine's Armed Forces have neutralised a Russian landing operation near the town of Balovne, the Ukrainska Pravda reported.

On Wednesday, the Forces deployed anti-aircraft missiles to destroy three Russian planes and two helicopters.

While Wednesday night passed peacefully for several regions of Ukraine, on Thursday continued to attack Kharkiv, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

The Mayor of Kherson city claimed early Thursday morning that Russian forces have seized the city.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, Ukrainian troops have continued to defend Chernihiv and Nizhyn, but the situation in the Vyshhorod area just outside of Kiev is tense.

The night in the Donetsk region was difficult, but Mariupol held.

Meanwhile, Volnovakha is close to a humanitarian crisis as the Russian forces have refused to guarantee safe passage for humanitarian aid.

The Ukrainian Catholic University addressed the Pope with a request for assistance in creating a "humanitarian corridor".

In the Kharkiv region, attacked the Shevchenko plant and more residential buildings, including in the Izium district, throughout the night.

--IANS

ksk/

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likely suffered another failed launch of a satellite-carrying rocket while attempting to reinvigorate a programme criticised by the West, even as Tehran faces last-minute negotiations with world powers to save its tattered nuclear deal in Vienna.

Satellite images from Maxar Technologies seen by The Associated Press show scorch marks at a launch pad at Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's rural Semnan province on Sunday.

A rocket stand on the pad appears scorched and damaged, with vehicles surrounding it. An object, possibly part of the gantry, sits near it.

Successful launches typically don't damage rocket gantries because they are lowered prior to takeoff.

also usually immediately trumpets launches that reach space on its state-run television channels, and it has a history of not acknowledging failed attempts.

Separate images from Planet Labs PBC suggest the attempted launch likely occurred sometime after Friday. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. military's Space Command did not detect a launch over the weekend, said Army Lt. Col. Csar Santiago, a Pentagon spokesperson. That suggests the rocket never left the launch pad.

The rocket involved appears to have been Iran's Zuljanah vehicle, said Jeffrey Lewis, an expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of Studies who first noticed the attempted launch with colleagues.

The gantry apparently damaged resembled another that was previously used in a successful launch last year of a Zuljanah, named after a horse of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and a key figure in the Shiite faith who was massacred with his fighters at Karbala in the 7th century.

It remains unclear what could have caused the blast. The first two stages of a Zuljanah are solid fuel, but its final stage is liquid and would have needed to be fueled on the launch pad, Lewis said.

This just looks like it got interrupted, like something exploded, Lewis told the AP.

Over the past decade, has sent several short-lived satellites into orbit and in 2013 launched a monkey into space.

The programme has seen recent troubles, however. There have been five failed launches in a row for the Simorgh program, another satellite-carrying rocket. A separate fire at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in February 2019 also killed three researchers, authorities said at the time.

The launch pad used in the latest launch remains scarred from an explosion in August 2019 that even drew the attention of then-President Donald Trump. He later tweeted what appeared to be a classified surveillance image of the launch failure.

The successive failures raised suspicion of outside interference in Iran's program, something Trump himself hinted at by tweeting at the time that the US was not involved in the catastrophic accident.

There's been no evidence offered, however, to show foul play in any of the failures, and space launches remain challenging even for the world's most-successful programmes.

Meanwhile, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in April 2020 revealed its own secret space program by successfully launching a satellite into orbit.

The head of the US Space Command later dismissed the satellite as a tumbling webcam in space that wouldn't provide Iran vital intelligence though it showed Tehran's ability to successfully get into orbit.

This launch, however, comes as Western diplomats warn time is ticking down to restore Iran's nuclear deal with world powers, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Trump unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018, setting the stage for years of tensions and mysterious attacks across the wider Mideast.

President Joe Biden, however, did not mention Iran in his State of the Union speech that largely focused on the Russian war on Ukraine.

The US has alleged Iran's satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and has called on Tehran to undertake no activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Iran, which long has said it does not seek nuclear weapons, previously maintained that its satellite launches and rocket tests do not have a military component.

US intelligence agencies and the Atomic Energy Agency say Iran abandoned an organized military nuclear programme in 2003.

Today, Tehran enriches uranium up to 60% purity a short technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90% and far greater than the nuclear deal's 3.67% cap.

Its stockpile of enriched uranium also continues to grow and inspectors face challenges in monitoring its advances.

While Iran's former President Hassan Rouhani dialed back the country's space programme for fears of alienating the West, new hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi has instead focused on jumpstarting the programme.

Iran has a series of satellites it plans to launch and Iran's Supreme Council of Space recently met for the first time in 11 years.

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Sri Lanka's was facing "mounting challenges" with public debt reaching "unsustainable levels", the has said, calling for urgent reforms in the island nation's as it is facing the worst economic crisis.

is currently reeling under a severe foreign exchange crisis with falling reserves and the government is unable to foot the bill for essential .

has been hit hard by COVID-19. On the eve of the pandemic, the country was highly vulnerable to external shocks owing to inadequate external buffers and high risks to public debt sustainability, exacerbated by the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in 2019 and major policy changes including large tax cuts at late 2019," the Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a release after global lender's executive board's consultative meeting held on February 25.

Despite the ongoing economic recovery, Directors noted that the country faces mounting challenges, including public debt that has risen to unsustainable levels, low reserves, and persistently large financing needs in the coming years, the release said.

The has also called for urgent reforms to the island's .

Directors emphasised the need for an ambitious fiscal consolidation that is based on high-quality revenue measures. Noting Sri Lanka's low tax-to-GDP ratio, they saw scope for raising income tax and VAT rates and minimising exemptions, complemented with revenue administration reform.

The bleak picture of the local economy has come in at a time when the government here is coming under increased pressure to seek an bailout as the island's foreign reserves have hit a critical low.

The government has steadfastly refused to resort to the IMF even in the backdrop of the ongoing energy and power crisis and shortages of almost all essentials and medicine.

The power generation has been hit by the foreign exchange crisis as fuel to operate thermal power plants are in short supply. The power regulators have warned of five to six hours a day of rolling power cuts over the next few days.

Instead of the IMF, the government went into seeking economic packages from India which materialised in mid-January affording a temporary reprieve.

A further billion-dollar facility from India is currently being awaited to meet the urgent importation needs of essentials.

In January, India announced a USD 900 million loan to to build up its depleted foreign reserves and for food imports, amid a shortage of almost all essential commodities in the country.

Last month, an agreement to grant Sri Lanka a credit line of USD 500 million for fuel purchases was also sealed which was part of the immediate economic relief package.

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Visakhapatanam: During emergencies such as the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, the state and central governments scurry around to get details as to how many Indians might be caught in the crossfire. They hardly maintain records even in the age of computerized data that can be availed at the touch of a button.

Both Delhi and states start gathering such data only after the worst has happened, as was the case now with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was in the coming for weeks of constant US alerts. The Indian diplomatic mission at Kyiv was caught napping and so did the Indian establishment back home.

Despite the nation having a passport stamping system, there is no collation of data as to how many Indians are in any specific country at a given time. When something happens, embassies themselves are caught unawares.

It would also appear that there exists a communication gap between the overseas education consultancies and the Indian government. Last year, the Centre announced the launch of a Global Indian Student Portal by 2022, but there has been no progress on this count yet.

B Satyannarayana, father of an MBBS student stuck in the war-hit nation, said, I wonder what the government was doing all these years. My daughter went to Ukraine three years ago for her medicine course. Now, the government does not know how many Indian students went to Ukraine for studies. This looks very strange to me.

Another parent, a PSU employee at Seethammadhara in the city said, We furnished almost all details right from the passport to the personal phone numbers of my son and our contact details to the educational consultants. They got the clearance for the passage of my son to his destination abroad. The government does not maintain any such details and they are now seeking out the information for evacuation.

In the case of the AP government, it opened an emergency helpline linked to the AP Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRTS) for Andhra natives stuck in Ukraine after the war started and asked the people to register their names for help.

A professor of Andhra University said, Forget about the government, even local authorities like the police do not have data on how many foreigners are in the city here and on what purpose they have been in the city. This is so even though hotels report to the police every time a foreigner checks in. There is no effort to keep the data ready for a sudden analysis, though.

It was in reply to a question in parliament last year that the government said a Global Indian Student Portal would be launched to help the students abroad. The matter was not pursued, the professor noted.

Around 11 lakh Indian students are admitted to educational institutions across the globe as per estimates provided by an education consultancy. Indian embassies do not even know how many Indians work or live in their territories. There have been complaints that the embassy in Kyiv failed to rise to the expectations of the stranded students in Ukraine, except for the issue of some advisories to start with, but caught up later with some help for their exit from the country.
Despite domestic and criticism, the regime in have continued their house-to-house searches in after the "clearing operation" was launched a week ago aimed at tightening in the capital city.

The operation, led by Deputy Minister of Defense Mullah Fazal Mazloom, is being conducted by joint forces of the Ministries of Defence and Interior, as well as the Intelligence Department, reports TOLO News.

A commander in Kabul's Police District 10 has claimed that "weapons, government vehicles, military uniforms have been seized. We have raided some places which were the sanctuaries of kidnappers".

But the searches have been condemned by Afghan citizens and the community.

Relatives of Mustafa Kazimi, a former MP who was killed in a suicide bombing in 2007 in Baghlan, said that the forces mistreated them while raiding their house, TOLO News reported.

According to the family, the forces also seized several private vehicles.

Meanwhile, several officials and human rights watchdogs reacted to the house-to-house searches and called for an immediate end to it.

Besides Kabul, there were reports of similar searches being conducted in Baghlan province on Wednesday.

--IANS

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(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.)
CEO has invited the United Auto Workers (UAW) to hold a union vote at the factory, stating that "will do nothing to stop" the voting process.

According to the auto-tech website Electrek, it is the latest in a years-long saga between the UAW and Tesla, in which Tesla has been found to violate labour laws in unfairly cracking down on the union organisation.

Tesla's workforce is non-union, unlike the "Big Three" American automakers -- GM, Ford, and Chrysler (now part of Stellantis). But Tesla's main plant in Fremont, California, was previously the "NUMMI" plant, a joint venture between GM and Toyota, which used UAW union labour.

The UAW has wanted to unionise Tesla for some time now, particularly given the plant's union past. There was a significant push from UAW in 2017-2018, but union efforts have not got particularly far as of now.

Today's invitation from Musk seems like a change in tune, but he has extended similar invitations before. In 2018, he said that Tesla employees could "vote union tomorrow if they wanted," but that this would result in their needing to give up stock options and pay union dues for "nothing," the report said.

This communication was found to violate the US labour laws and the National Labour Relations Board ordered Musk to delete it. They also ordered Tesla to offer compensation for lost wages to a union organiser, Richard Ortiz, who the company illegally fired. A federal judge noted 12 company actions that violated US labour laws.

More recently, Tesla has come under fire from California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing for alleged systemic mistreatment of factory employees, and last year was ordered to pay a $137 million judgment to an ex-worker due to a pattern of racial abuse he experienced when working there.

In each of these cases, the management was found unreceptive to concerns by the individual employees in question - whereas a union representative might have offered a second chance for those concerns to be heard.

Now, Musk suggested that the real reason unionisation efforts have not gotten far is due to high levels of employee compensation by Tesla -- a natural outgrowth of the hot job market in the San Francisco Bay Area. He also claimed that "Tesla factory compensation is the highest in the industry".

--IANS

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(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 Tokyo court gave Greg Kelly, a former American executive at Motor charged with underreporting his boss Carlos Ghosn's pay, a 6-month suspended sentence.

The verdict announced Thursday will allow Kelly to return to the US immediately.

Kelly was arrested in November 2018 at the same time as Ghosn, former chairman and head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Both have insisted they are innocent, arguing that the money at the centre of the charges was never paid or decided.

The judge found Kelly not guilty of some counts but guilty of charges for one year only. His sentence was suspended for three years.

The trial began in September 2020, with Ghosn absent after he jumped bail in late 2019, hiding in a box for music instruments on a private jet. He fled to Lebanon, which has no extradition treaty with Japan, and has been writing books and making movies about the ordeal after his arrest.

Kelly and his legal team, headed by Yoichi Kitamura, argued during the trial at Tokyo District Court that Kelly was searching for legal ways to pay Ghosn to stop him from leaving for a competitor.

Prosecutors had asked that Kelly be sentenced to two years in prison. They alleged Ghosn, Kelly and Motor Co. underreported Ghosn's compensation by 9 billion yen ($78 million) in filings over eight years through 2018.

During the trial, the prosecution presented as evidence various documents calculating Ghosn's so-called deferred compensation. Nissan pled guilty and paid a 200 million yen ($1.7 million) fine.

Ghosn was a superstar at Nissan, which he headed for nearly 20 years. French alliance partner Renault SA sent him to lead a turnaround of its near-bankrupt alliance partner. His downfall was sudden, with Nissan officials who had been close to him accusing him of amassing power for personal gain and planning a merger of Nissan with Renault.

Renault owns 43% of Nissan, while Nissan, which makes the Leaf electric car and Infiniti luxury models, owns 15% of Renault. Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, owns 34% of smaller Japanese automaker Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Motor. The French government owns 15% of Renault.

Japanese executives tend to be paid far less than their American counterparts, an important factor in the trial. Disclosure of high executive pay became required in in 2010, and what was disclosed for Ghosn, at about $9.5 million even without the deferred compensation, had raised eyebrows.

Kelly has been out on bail and living with his wife in a Tokyo apartment. U.S. Ambassador to Rahm Emanuel recently expressed support for Kelly, saying he hoped Kelly could soon be reunited with his grandchildren in the U.S.

I am now here as a representative of the United States, and Mr. Kelly is a citizen of the United States, and this comes with the obligations as the ambassador of the United States to advocate on his behalf, Emanuel said.

Kelly was hired by Nissan's US division in 1988, more than a decade before Ghosn arrived at Nissan, and became a representative director in 2012, the first American on Nissan's board. He worked mostly in legal counsel and human resources.

Separately, two Americans extradited from the US to on charges of smuggling Ghosn out of Japan were found guilty in July 2021. Michael Taylor was sentenced to two years in prison, while his son Peter was sentenced to one year and eight months.

The conviction rate in Japanese criminal trials exceeds 99%.

(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 soon give the green light to bilateral trade between and India in their national currencies to avoid any trade disruptions, multiple people aware of the matter said. While the Department of Commerce has recommended the proposal, an announcement is likely to be made by the finance ministry after further deliberations between the Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Financial Services.

India abstained in the 193-member UN General Assembly on a resolution that strongly deplored Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the third abstention in less than a week by the country in the world body on resolutions on the escalating crisis between Moscow and Kyiv. The General Assembly on Wednesday voted to reaffirm its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of within its internationally recognised borders and "deplores in the strongest terms Russia's aggression against .

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Russian negotiators in talks with say another round of talks will likely be held shortly.

Vladimir Medinsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin's adviser who led the Russian delegation in the talks Thursday in Belarus near the Polish border, said the parties' positions are absolutely clear, they are written down point by point, including issues related to a political settlement of the conflict.

He added without elaboration that mutual understanding was found on part of them.

He confirmed that and reached a tentative agreement to create safe corridors for civilians to exit besieged cities and observe local cease-fires in areas where they will be created.

Leonid Slutsky, a senior Russian lawmaker who was part of the Russian delegation in talks, said that the details of safe corridors will need to be worked out quickly.

He said that the next round of talks could lead to agreements, some of which would need to be ratified by Russian and Ukrainian parliaments.

(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 half-dozen US lobbying firms severed ties with Russian-linked businesses over the past week, a dramatic pullback for an industry that often has few qualms about representing controversial interests.

The rush offers a measure of the potency of the Biden administration's new sanctions, which were levied after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of last week.

They make it difficult, if not outright illegal, for US companies to do business with Russia-based ones.

Firms including McLarty Associates, BGR Group and Venable LLP abruptly cancelled arrangements that have collectively yielded millions of dollars in lobbying fees in recent years, records show.

Among their former clients are investors and operators for the now-cancelled Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was supposed to deliver Russian gas to Germany, as well as Russian state-controlled banks and others.

Thus far, it's reversed the normal order of business when war breaks out, which often spurs foreign governments to enlist Washington-based firms to lobby the US government, a review of lobbying records shows.

These lobbying firms and lobbyists were pulling in huge amounts of money, said Craig Holman, a registered lobbyist for the good government group Public Citizen, who closely tracks the industry.

I really have a hard time believing that they suddenly became altruistic once invaded ."



Holman said a more likely scenario was that the firms were lobbying on behalf of the sectors, industries and projects that were covered by the sanctions, and thus required to cease their work.

It's difficult to assess just how many Russian companies or Russian-linked companies are still being represented by US lobbyists.

But the recent exodus suggests that the invasion may have made representing the country's interests too toxic even for an industry that has in the past welcomed payment from defense companies, despots and rebel groups.

In 2019, for example, a Libyan general seeking to consolidate his power in the North African country spent $2 million hiring a Texas-based firm to forge closer relations with the U.S.

Many of the Russian-linked companies that were dropped were involved in the Nord Stream 2 project, a completed undersea pipeline that would bypass Ukraine to send Russian gas supplies to Europe via Germany.

The opening of the pipeline, which would have given tremendous leverage by making it an even larger energy supplier to Europe, was suspended by Germany after last week's invasion, leading the US to issue sanctions against the company operating it.

McLarty quickly dropped five European energy companies that were investors in the project, which have paid the firm at least $3.4 million in fees since 2017, records show.

For months, Republicans in the Senate have railed against the pipeline and sought sanctions on businesses involved in the project.

But the effort, including legislation sponsored by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., went nowhere because it was opposed by President Joe Biden as well as Senate Democrats, who hold the majority.

Lobbying records indicate McLarty lobbied Congress and the executive branch to protect and further the company's interest in the debate over natural gas as an element of European energy security.

We felt the honourable thing to do in the aftermath of the Russian invasion was to support US policy and withdraw from the pipeline project, Richard Burt, who leads a wing of McLarty focused on foreign interests, wrote in an email.

Burt had donated $14,000 to Biden's 2020 election efforts, record show.

The firms BGR Group and Roberti Global also dropped the pipeline project's construction and operating company, Nord Stream 2 AG.

The company is controlled by a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom, whose fuel sales support the Russian government budget.

A representative of Roberti Global, which has collected at least $9.8 million in lobbying fees from Nord Stream 2 AG, did not respond to a request for comment.

BGR President Jeffrey H. Birnbaum said in an email that his firm, which has collected at least $1.5 million in lobbying fees from Nord Stream 2 AG, ended its relationship to be in "compliance with economic and trade sanctions announced by the U.S. government.

Firms representing Russian banks also dropped clients. That includes Sberbank and VTB, Russia's two largest state-run banks, which were targeted last week by sanctions aimed at limiting their businesses internationally.

Venable LLP last week dropped an affiliate of Sberbank.

The firm has collected at least $800,000 in lobbying fees and closely tracked legislation in Congress of interest to Russia, including economic sanctions issues and a bill called the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act.

The two lobbyists who worked on the account, Gregory M. Gill and D. Edward Wilson, did not respond to requests for comment.

The firm Sidley Austin also ended its roughly seven-year relationship as a registered foreign agent for VTB last Friday.

The firm, which has represented the bank since 2015, was on a $40,000 a month retainer and typically collected about $360,000 or more a year in fees from the company.

The firm provided government strategies counsel" and lobbying directed toward the US Congress" as well as the White House regarding the imposition of sanctions by the US government on Russian-affiliated banks," according to Justice Department filings.

A representative of Sidley Austin did not respond to a request for comment.

Mercury Public Affairs, LLC similarly dumped clients. Late last week the firm filed paperwork with the Justice Department to end its status as a foreign agent working on behalf of Sovcombank PJSC, as well as the metal and energy producer EN+ Group, which collectively paid the firm $100,000 a month on retainer.

A Mercury representative did not respond to a request for comment.

Filings state the firm provided strategic consulting and government relations services, including outreach to US Government officials.

(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.)
In his latest video message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the citizens of his country to keep up the fight against as Moscow's invasion of Kiev has entered its seventh day.

In the video posted on Facebook late Wednesday night, the President says: "Every occupier should know: they will receive a fierce rebuff from the Ukrainians.

"We are a nation that broke the enemy's plans in a week... But we stopped them."

Addressing the citizens from an undisclosed location, Zelensky said the Russian servicemen who have been captured in "do not know why they are here", and that the "enemy soldiers are fleeing back to Russia", the BBC reported.

He called the troops "confused children" being "used" by their leaders in .

The President thanked the citizens in the cities of Konotop, Bashtanka, Energodar and Melitopol, who he claimed had blocked roads to prevent the Russian troops from entering.

Just hours after Zelensky video address, Kiev was reportedly hit by at least four explosions on Thursday morning, the BBC said.

Of the four blasts, two reported reportedly went off in the city centre, and the two others near a metro station.

Air raid sirens were heard in the capital city following the explosions.

Also on Thursday morning, Mayor Igor Kolykhaev of Kherson, a key port city in southern Ukraine,claimed that Russian troops have seized control, making it the first major city to be taken by since it began its invasion on February 24.

In a Facebook post, Kolykhaev said that Russian forces were now in control of Kherson and that the troops had forced their way into the city council building and imposed a curfew on residents, the BBC reported.

He further said that there were no Ukrainian forces in the city, which is located on the banks of the Dnieper River and has a population of over 280,000 people.

Meanwhile in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, Russian shells continued to fall, reportedly killing and wounding dozens of civilians, while troops have also surrounded Mariupol, another strategic port city.

Since the assault began a week ago, has claimed that more than 2,000 civilians have died, while the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said that the conflict has also led to some 1 million people to flee the country.

The UNHCR has predicted the conflict will leave some 12 million people internally displaced and in need of relief.

Meanwhile, has for the first time admitted that 498 of its troops were killed, with 1,597 injured.

--IANS

ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UN special envoy for said Wednesday the community hasn't done enough to revive the country's as it heads toward a point of irreversibility, while the US said it is the responsibility of the ruling to create the conditions for economic stability.

The envoy, Deborah Lyons, told the UN Security Council that is nearing a tipping point that will see more businesses close, more people unemployed and falling into poverty.

Afghanistan's long-troubled has been in a tailspin since the takeover Aug. 15 as US and NATO forces were in the final stages of their chaotic withdrawal from the country after 20 years.

Nearly 80% of the previous government's budget came from the community.

That money, now cut off, financed hospitals, schools, factories and government ministries. Desperation for basic necessities has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and health care shortages, drought and malnutrition.

Lyons welcomed a US Treasury decision to issue a general license aimed at facilitating commercial and financial activity and allowing work with all governing institutions, with restrictions on individuals facing sanctions. But she said challenges remain, including weak demand without foreign development aid, restrictions on payments and constraints on the central bank.

Lyons said the UN political mission she heads has taken all conceivable measures to inject liquidity into the economy," including physically importing cash.

And it is seeking to establish a temporary humanitarian exchange facility to scale up aid efforts that would provide access to US dollars to legitimate businesses so they can import goods.

US deputy ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said the onus" is on the to restore economic stability.

The US wants Afghanistan's central bank to take on normal activities, he said, but it's not up to us.

He noted President Joe Biden's executive order of Feb. 11 to free $7 billion in Afghan assets now frozen in the US, splitting the money between humanitarian aid for and a fund for victims of the Sept. 11 terror attack that killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

No money will be immediately released, and DeLaurentis said no decision has been made on how the funds for Afghanistan relief will eventually be used, saying that will require wide consultations.

Aside from that money, the United States remains the largest donor to the UN's humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, contributing $308 million so far this year.

DeLaurentis urged donors to contribute generously at an upcoming conference to address Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis.

Russia's deputy UN ambassador, Anna Evstigneeva, criticised the 20-year US mission in Afghanistan as having left the country worse off.

She welcomed the humanitarian pledging conference but said it wasn't enough to ensure lasting post-conflict recovery in Afghanistan.

With a paralysed banking system and wide unemployment, the people of Afghanistan remain on the edge of subsistence, even ready to sell their own children, to say nothing of human organs, Evstigneeva said.

She said some countries are trying to postpone the release of assets and put it on the back burner, pointing to Biden's executive order, which she said appears to be nothing less than a mockery.

The attempt to make the innocent people of Afghanistan responsible for this tragedy looks immoral, the Russian envoy said.

A key factor in the Afghan financial crisis is the refusal of the U.S. and its allies to recognise the Taliban.

DeLaurentis acknowledged the economic and humanitarian problems plaguing Afghanistan but said the root was the Taliban's decision to seek power by force, rather than through negotiation.

Our attention to Afghanistan's immense humanitarian and economic needs cannot distract us from continuing to demand that women, girls, and members of minority groups be fully able to enjoy their rights and participate in political, economic and social life in Afghanistan, he said.

With public schools scheduled to reopen throughout Afghanistan this month, DeLaurentis said the United States will be watching carefully to see if girls and women are able to access education at all levels, as the Taliban have publicly committed.

Evstigneeva said the Taliban have demonstrated readiness to establish constructive interaction with the international community, pointing to efforts to address political, socioeconomic, humanitarian and human rights problems and a decree ordering measures to uphold the rights of women.

She said Russia still notes the Taliban's unmet promises, including having all major ethnic and political forces be part of the government.

Lyon said the UN political mission has tried to act as a bridge-builder with the Taliban, saying that we do not believe we can truly assist the Afghan people without working with the de facto authorities.

(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.)
Washington [US], March 3 (ANI): After claimed that is using as human shields, the US Department of State on Wednesday (local time) said that they have not seen any verified report of such incidents and these activities are commonly used in Russian disinformation.

"We have seen no verified reports of these incidents, and these types of reports about using civilians as human shields are commonly used in Russian disinformation," a US Department of State spokesperson told ANI.

Earlier, Russian Embassy in India claimed that have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield.

"According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for . Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities," in India wrote in a tweet.

However, has reacted to Russia's allegations and said that "Russians had taken hostage students from India, Pakistan, China and other countries".

"We called on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy so that they can arrange the evacuation of the civilian population, including foreign students, to safer Ukrainian cities"," said Ukraine's Foreign Ministry in a statement.

demanded Moscow to allow the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities.

"We urgently call on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities," the statement said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine earlier today launched an emergency hotline for foreign students wishing to leave Ukraine because of the Russian invasion, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said.

"We have established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine because of Russia's invasion. +380934185684. We are working intensively to ensure their safety and speed up their passage. Russia must stop its aggression which affects us all," Kuleba said on Twitter on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Russian Envoy to UN Vasily Nebenzya has repeatedly said that nationalists in Ukraine are using civilians as human shields.

(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.)
They had barely a week to prepare getting medical screenings, making sure bills would be paid, arranging for relatives to care for children and pets before marching with rucksacks and rifles onto a plane bound for Germany.

It's been very hectic and stressful, but overall it's worked out, Army Staff Sgt. Ricora Jackson said Wednesday as she waited with dozens of fellow soldiers to board a chartered flight at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah.

They're among 3,800 troops from the 1st Armoured Brigade of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, based at nearby Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia, ordered to deploy quickly and bolster US forces in after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In all, the Pentagon has ordered about 12,000 service members from various US bases to Europe, with a couple of thousand more already stationed abroad shifting to other European countries.

The soldiers' mission overseas is to train alongside military units of NATO allies in a display of force aimed at deterring further aggression by Russia.

It's not that different from the role the brigade played last year during a scheduled rotation in South Korea.

But Jackson, a 22-year-old tank gunner from Pensacola, Florida, said this deployment feels different.

Although US forces aren't intervening in Ukraine, that war has increased tensions in neighbouring NATO countries.

I'm a little nervous, but it's OK," Jackson said.

Maj. Gen. Charles Costanza, the 3rd Infantry's commander, said the rapid deployment has had a mixed impact on morale within the brigade, which had been in the midst of training.

Younger, single soldiers, he said, have been excited to embark on their first mission overseas. But more experienced soldiers with families, used to a routine deployment calendar with plenty of time to prepare, have felt the disruption more.

They were in the field shooting gunnery when we got the official word that it was time for them to go, Costanza said.

"You have a lot of them married, or with a new baby, and it's their first time to really do a no-notice deployment.

Costanza said soldiers and their families were told to expect the deployment to last six months, which could be extended or perhaps shortened depending on developments in Ukraine.

There is no intent to have any US service member fight in Ukraine," Costanza said.

"And they know that.

For Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Cooner, departing for Germany means leaving his three daughters ages 7, 5 and 3 just a few months after he returned home from South Korea.

A 35-year-old tank crewman and platoon leader from Fort Myers, Florida, Cooner said he's trying to keep the 15 soldiers under his command focused on the day-to-day training mission without dwelling on the invasion and war that prompted it.

Something I've preached to my soldiers about, when we talk about stress and being able to control stress, is to focus on the things that are in our sphere of control," Cooner said.

Sgt. 1st Class Crystal Allen, who works in logistics, and her husband, a soldier assigned to a different battalion in the 1st Brigade, were also leaving two children at home.

The married soldiers' son and daughter had been picked up by Allen's mother to stay with her in Kentucky while their parents deployed.

I'm very honest with the kids and I don't lie," said Allen, 35. "I tell them exactly what I'm going over to do and they acknowledge it. I tell them where I'm going. And I pitch it to them like, 'Hey, you get to go stay with Nanny for a little bit.' And that's good enough for them.

Likewise, Cpl. Christian Morris' in-laws were looking after two dogs belonging to him and his wife, an Army medic who's also headed to Germany.

The 21-year-old soldier from Bend, Oregon, who serves in a supply unit, said he'll be glad to have his spouse nearby, though they won't be living together while deployed.

It'll just be, 'Hey, you want to go grab something to eat if we have the chance?'" Morris said. That'll be about the most interaction we'll be realistically allowed to have.

(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: Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and discussed the situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, where many Indian students are stuck amid Russia ramping up its military offensive on Ukraine's key locations.

An official statement said the two leaders discussed the safe evacuation of the Indians from the conflict areas in Ukraine and reviewed the situation, especially in Kharkiv.

India asked Russia to facilitate the safe passage of Indians from various conflict zones after the killing of an Indian student in shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday.

At a media briefing, Russian Ambassador-designate Denis Alipov said his country is working "intensely" to create a "humanitarian corridor" for a safe passage to Russian territory of the Indians stuck in Kharkiv, Sumy and other conflict zones in Ukraine.

The Modi-Putin telephonic conversation, the second between them in six days, came amid mounting concerns in India over the safety of the Indian students in Kharkiv that has been witnessing increasing fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

"The leaders reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck. They discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas," the statement said.

India asked its nationals on Wednesday to leave Kharkiv urgently to three nearby places "even on foot".

Modi held another high-level meeting on the Ukraine crisis on Wednesday night as the four Union ministers sent to Ukraine's neighbouring countries coordinated the stepped-up rescue efforts with the deployment of planes by the Indian Air Force (IAF).

In an urgent advisory, the Indian embassy in Ukraine asked the Indians to reach the Ukrainian towns of Pesochyn, 11 km from Kharkiv, Babai (12 km) and Bezlydivka (16 km) by 6 pm local time (9:30 pm IST).

The advisory came amid Russia stepping up its attacks on key Ukrainian cities and a day after an Indian medical student died in shelling in Kharkiv.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing that the Indian embassy has asked the Indians to leave Kharkiv immediately on the basis of information from the Russian side.

"The students who cannot find vehicles or buses and are in railway station can proceed on foot to Pesochyn, Babai and Bezlydivka," the advisory, the second of the day, said.

It is learnt that the Russian side has informed India about the possible increase in intensity in fighting in Kharkiv and suggested that all Indians should leave the city.

While the first advisory was put out on Twitter at around 1:40 pm (5 pm IST), the second one was issued at around 2:40 pm (6 pm IST).

Bagchi said India is also exploring the option of reaching the eastern parts of Ukraine to help in the evacuation of its citizens, but added that it is not easy as the route is not open at all times.

Separately, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the "deteriorating" situation in Ukraine with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his Estonian counterpart Eva-Maria Liimets.

Alipov said Russia is working "intensely" to create a "humanitarian corridor" for a safe passage to Russian territory of the Indians stuck in the conflict zones in Ukraine.

"We have received an Indian request for the emergency evacuation of all those stuck there (Ukraine) to the Russian territory and we are now actively working on the ways and means to launch an operation to provide the humanitarian corridors so that people have the secure passage to safety to the Russian territory," he said.

Alipov said Russia is in touch with Indian authorities on the issue of Indians stuck in Kharkiv, Sumy and in the areas northeast of Ukraine.

He hoped that the humanitarian corridors will be put in place "as soon as possible".

As India shored up efforts to evacuate its citizens, four C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the IAF with approximately 800 evacuees from Ukraine are slated to land at the Hindon airbase on Thursday, sources said.

On Wednesday morning, a C-17 aircraft left for Romania carrying humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Bagchi said the cities in eastern Ukraine remain areas of concern and that some Indian students were able to board trains out of Kharkiv on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

He said there has been a sharp increase in the number of Indians who have left Ukraine in the recent past.

"We now estimate that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine's borders since our advisories were issued. This of course includes some Indians who had not registered with the embassy earlier," he added.

Earlier, the MEA had said 20,000 Indians were in Ukraine when India had issued the first advisory in mid-February.

Bagchi said the number of flights under "Operation Ganga" has increased sharply and that six flights landed in India in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 15.

He said the total number of Indians who have returned on board these flights is 3,352. Of them, 1,796 were evacuated through Romania, 430 through Poland and 1,126 through Hungary.

Modi has held a series of meetings since Sunday to spearhead India's efforts to safely bring back its nationals, asserting that this is his government's top priority.

Meanwhile, an Indian national -- Chandan Jindal -- died in Ukraine due to natural causes. He was in a hospital for the last few days after suffering an ischemic stroke.

'Leave Kharkiv now, even if on foot': India advisory to citizens

India asked all its citizens to immediately leave Kharkiv  the other city that is expected to fall soon to Russian forces after Kyiv was attacked on Tuesday. In an urgent advisory issued on Wednesday, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine asked all Indians to leave Kharkiv without any delay for their safety and security and proceed to Pesochin  nearly 11 kilometres farther, Babaye (12km) and Bezlyudovka (16 km in Belgorod, Russia) as soon as possible by foot or through any vehicle available.

The Embassy said under all circumstances Indians should reach these settlements by 6 pm Ukrainian time even as Indians said leaving the area in the absence of vehicles was nearly impossible and alleged they were not being allowed in trains. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Mr Arindam Bagchi said the advisory is based on the Russian inputs. "We have not chosen the time," he said.

Kharkiv, a city near the Russian border, has been facing intense shelling for the last couple of days now leaving close to two dozen civilians dead including an Indian student. It is expected that the Russians will be trying to capture the city tonight. Foreign Secretary Harsh V. Shringla had spoken to the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors in India demanding urgent safe passage for Indian nationals who are still in Kharkiv and cities in other conflict zones. The Russian ambassador-designate to India Mr Denis Alipov said on Wednesday in New Delhi that the Russian government is constantly in touch with the Indian side to provide safe passage to Indian nationals.

We are in touch with the Indian authorities with regard to its citizens currently in Kharkiv, Sumy in the areas in the north-east of Ukraine. We will do our utmost to keep Indians up to date on what is happening. India has requested an emergency exit of its citizens. We are working to protect civilian life and to provide humanitarian corridors so that stranded Indians have a safe passage. Hopefully, it will happen in the very near future and Indian nationals will be safe and sound on Russian territory, Mr Alipov said. He assured Russia will do everything to safeguard against any civilian casualties. Mr Alipov added that Russia will investigate the death of the Indian student.

However, the students in Kharkiv and other parts of Ukraine had a different tale of struggle to tell. My daughter with 1000 other Indian students are stuck at Pivdennyi Vokzal Railway station. Ukrainians soldiers are threatening to shoot if they try to board the train. A missile blasted near the station by the Russian fighter, said one parent. Students alleged that trains were not letting Indians in. However, it was later mentioned that the male students helped girls board the train first and leave the area as they waited to take the next train. The Indian said there arent enough bunkers too for them to take shelter.

Those students who cannot find vehicles or buses and are at the railway station can walk to Pisochyn which is 10 km away. For those who are closer to Babaye and Bezlyudovka can proceed to these locations, the embassy said.

One Dr Ishaan Kaul sent out an SOS: Please help. I am stuck in Nova Astrakhan Luhansk Oblast with my wife and daughter . Here Russians have captured the territory. I am unable to leave from here. I have been trying to contact the embassy for many days but no one responds. I need help to move out of here please respond.
The on Wednesday (local time) has stopped all its programs in and Belarus with "immediate effect" in response to Moscow's military operations in .

"The Group has not approved any new loans to or investments in since 2014. There has also been no new lending approved to Belarus since mid-2020," the international financial institution said in a statement.

Following the Russian invasion of and hostilities against the people of Ukraine, the Group has stopped all its programs in and Belarus with immediate effect, the statement added.

Meanwhile, World Bank on Tuesday announced that it is preparing a USD 3 billion support package for in the coming months, while the IMF also is preparing to provide emergency assistance to the country.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow.

These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia.

The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders.

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Shares of sugar companies were buzzing on the bourses on Thursday, with most of the frontline stocks trading higher by up to 8 per cent on the BSE on higher ethanol demand due to rising oil prices.

Individually, Balrampur Chini Mills, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Triveni Engineering, Shree Renuka Sugars, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries and Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries rallied between 5 per cent and 8 per cent in the intra-day trade. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.25 per cent at 55,605 points at 10:05 AM.

"With the expected production of 31.5 million tonnes, consumption of 27 million tonnes & expected exports of 6.0 - 6.5 million tonnes, sugar inventories at the end of September 2022 would be closer to 6.7 million tonnes, which would perk up sugar prices to Rs 37 /kg," according to ICICI Securities. Industry wide sugar exports to the tune of 4.5 million tonnes have already been contracted.

The sugar industry is on the cusp of a mega transformation and has emerged as a potent driver of clean energy, driving India's shift to renewable energy faster than ever. Ethanol demand should grow at a 15 per cent CAGR over FY22-30E driven by the government's mandate of 20 per cent ethanol-blending in petrol, the brokerage added.

Further, higher diversion of cane towards ethanol will solve the problem of surplus sugar inventory and reduce business volatility. Improved profitability and reduced working capital will ensure superior cash flows, which along with the improvement in RoE/RoCE, would lead to sector re-rating, analyst at Systematix Shares and Stocks (India) Limited said in a sector report.

The Indian ethanol market was valued at $2.5 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow to $16.5 billion by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 19 per cent. By 2030, ethanol demand is expected to rise to 15.7 billion litres, of which 11.7 billion litres will be required for blending at 20 per cent and the remaining 4 billion litres for non-fuel purposes.

"OMCs have started 11 per cent blending wherever ethanol is available. Further, the government has directed the automobile industry to launch flex-fuel cars, consuming up to 85 per cent ethanol. In such a scenario, ethanol consumption will triple, and the ethanol industry will grow to USD 40-45bn. The capacity needs to increase 3x over FY22-30E to meet the rising demand, necessitating a capital investment of around $10 billion," the brokerage firm said.
L&T Technology Services rose 2.19% to Rs 4641.05 after the company announced that it has been recognized as a Global Preferred Engineering Supplier for European multi-national aerospace major Airbus.

Under the EMES3 (Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering and Services Strategic Suppliers) program, the Airbus Group has awarded a multi-year contract to L&T Technology Services (LTTS). The engagement covers all Airbus divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates.

LTTS has been a strategic supplier with Airbus global and its India subsidiary for more than a decade, providing engineering services across verticals like engineering, avionics and digital.

The IT solutions provider has scaled up operations across Airbus' key geographic locations including Toulouse (France), which is poised to become the main R&D Centre of Excellence (CoE), serving LTTS' wide aerospace customer portfolio, along with LTTS' strong talent pool of 17,000+ engineers operating out of India and leveraging conventional and digital expertise.

LTTS' offerings to the aerospace sector encompass a wide spectrum of services including aero structure & systems design, manufacturing engineering, avionics and software development, aero engine design, ATM solutions and airlines & MRO solutions engulfed by its digital solution portfolio which caters to all phases of the aircraft lifecycle.

Amit Chadha, CEO and managing director at L&T Technology Services said, "Airbus Group is our esteemed customer with whom we have had a decade-long relationship which is further strengthened by our selection as an EMES3 supplier. We are delighted to be selected and look forward to #EngineeringTheChange for Airbus and its ecosystem. The latest empanelment is a true reflection of LTTS being a focused technology organization with a strong engineering DNA stemming from the parent L&T group."

LTTS is a listed subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro focused on Engineering and R&D (ER&D) services. It offers consultancy, design, development and testing services across the product and process development life cycle.

On a consolidated basis, LTTS reported 8.14% rise in net profit to Rs 249.60 crore on 4.96% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 1,687.50 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q2 FY22.

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Wipro: The IT major announced the launch of its Cloud Car platform, which will be unveiled during the Engineering the Cloud Car Ecosystem panel at MWC Barcelona.

Vedanta: The mining major has declared third interim dividend for the fiscal year 2021-22 of Rs 13 per equity share. The record date for the purpose of payment of dividend is 10 March 2022.

UPL: The agri-chemicals major has announced its board has approved the proposal to buy back fully paid-up equity shares from shareholders (other than the promoters, the promoters group and persons in control of the company), for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 1,100 crore, the maximum buyback size. The company's board has proposed share buyback plan at Rs 875 per share.

Max Financial Services: Subsidiary Max Life Insurance Company has incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary Max Life Pension Fund Management.

Swan Energy: A meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on 05 March 2022 to consider and approve preferential issue of shares and other business matters.

Hind Rectifiers: The company has secured orders of Rs. 57.32 crores in the month of February 2022.

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A flight from Budapest carrying 183 Indians stranded in landed in Mumbai Thursday, an official said.

An infant was among the passengers, the official said.

Union minister Raosaheb Danve welcomed passengers of the third evacuation flight from Budapest to Mumbai, as soon as the Air India Express Flight IX 1202 landed here around 5.30 am.

I have been asked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to welcome you. There were around 17,000 Indians, including students, stranded there (in Ukraine) and the PM started Operation Ganga to evacuate them, Danve said, interacting with passengers, many of them students, inside the aircraft.

Around four to five thousand Indians have been brought home so far and the operation will continue to bring back those still stranded there to the country, the minister said.

An Air India Express flight carrying 182 Indians from had landed in Mumbai from the Romanian capital Bucharest on Tuesday morning.

That was the second evacuation flight operated to Mumbai from Bucharest to bring back Indians from war-ravaged since February 27.

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Leader of Opposition on Thursday alleged that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was devoted to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, a key conspirator in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

Speaking to reporters on the premises of Vidhan Bhavan here, Fadnavis claimed that there were enough documents to prove state minister Nawab Malik's links with Dawood.

The MVA government is devoted to . There are enough documents to prove Nawab Malik's links with Dawood," Fadnavis alleged, stating that the BJP will not let the budget session function till Malik is removed from the cabinet.

The BJP has been demanding the ouster of state Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the activities of Dawood and his aides. The government is overtly sympathetic to the people who attacked Mumbai. I wonder if the Shiv Sena, despite being in power, is going soft on those who entered into some land deal with the Mumbai blasts accused, the former chief minister claimed.

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Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi president on Thursday said he is ready to enter into an alliance with any party except the and .

Ambedkar was talking to reporters during a visit to Maharashtra's Nanded for a party meeting.

"We have told the Shiv Sena that if they decide to contest elections separately, then we are ready to go with them. We are ready to enter into an alliance with any party except the and BJP," the VBA chief said.

Speaking about state Minister Nawab Malik's arrest in a money laundering case, Ambedkar said such allegations have surfaced against ministers earlier as well.

"Malik should resign and ensure that the case is dispose off in five to six months," he said.

Ambedkar also criticised the Central government over its Operation Ganga to evacuate Indians stranded in war-hit Ukraine.

"Other countries evacuated their citizens from Ukraine early. India didn't do that and now it has launched the operation. Now, Indians have lost lives there, who is responsible for the loss?" he said.

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Prime Minister on Thursday called for a return to the path of dialogue and diplomacy to defuse the crisis in Ukraine as he and other leaders discussed the Russian military offensive in the eastern European country and the humanitarian implications of it.

A joint readout released by the White House said US President Joe Biden, Modi, Australian PM Scott Morrison and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida discussed in the virtual format the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine besides assessing its "broader implications".

But it did not mention Russia or its military aggression.

Going by the joint readout and the comments by the leaders, it appeared that there were divergent views on the crisis in Ukraine triggered by Russia's military offensive.

"The leaders discussed the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications," the joint readout said.

"They agreed to stand up a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will enable the to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific and provide a channel for communication as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine," it said.

It said the Quad Leaders agreed to meet in person in Tokyo in the coming months.





ALSO READ: 'Make in India' more crucial from prism of national security: PM Modi

An Indian statement said, "Developments in Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, including its humanitarian implications. The prime minister emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy." It said Modi underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its "core objective" of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and that he also reiterated the importance of adhering to the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"The meeting reviewed the progress on Quad initiatives since the September 2021 Quad Summit. The leaders agreed on accelerating cooperation, with an objective to achieve concrete outcomes by the summit in Japan later this year," it said.

Though the joint readout did not directly refer to the Russian military offensive, Japanese PM Kishida's office quoted him as saying that "unilateral changes to the status quo by force or coercion like the recent Russian aggression against Ukraine are also unacceptable in the Indo-Pacific region".

"I met with my fellow Quad leaders Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Prime Minister Kishida Fumio about Russia's ongoing attack on Ukraine and our commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity around the world, including in the Indo-Pacific," Biden tweeted.

Earlier, the White House said the meeting has been convened to discuss the "war against" Ukraine and its implications for the Indo-Pacific. The joint readout said the meeting was convened to reaffirm the commitment of the leaders to a free and open Indo-Pacific, in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected and countries are "free from military, economic, and political coercion".

It said the leaders reaffirmed their dedication to the Quad as a mechanism to promote regional stability and prosperity.

In a tweet, Modi described the meeting as "productive".

Participated in a productive virtual Quad Leaders' meeting today with @POTUS @JoeBiden, PM @ScottMorrisonMP and @JPN_PMO Kishida. Reaffirmed our shared commitment to ensuring security, safety and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific," he said.

It said Modi underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

"He called for concrete and practical forms of cooperation within the Quad, in areas like humanitarian and disaster relief, debt sustainability, supply chains, clean energy, connectivity and capacity-building," it said.

The leaders also discussed other topical issues, including the situation in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific Islands.

"The leaders agreed to stay in touch and to work towards an ambitious agenda for the forthcoming Leaders' Summit in Japan," the statement said.

In March last year, Biden hosted the first-ever summit of the Quad leaders in the virtual format that was followed by an in-person summit in Washington in September for which Prime Minister Modi had travelled to the US.

The Quad has been focusing on cooperation in areas such as producing vaccines, connectivity projects, facilitating the mobility of students and looking at promoting startups and technology collaboration.

The foreign ministers of the Quad grouping held extensive talks in Melbourne last month.

The Quad has been focusing on cooperation in areas such as producing vaccines, connectivity projects, facilitating the mobility of students, and looking at promoting startups and technology collaboration.

The Quad vaccine partnership was announced in March last year with an aim to deliver 100 crore doses of vaccines to the Indo-Pacific region by the end of 2022.

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In response to Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Swedish audio streaming platform has closed its offices in the Vladimir Putin-led country "indefinitely."

As per Variety, the company has restricted the discoverability of Russian state-affiliated content on the audio service. It has also removed all content from Kremlin-backed outlets RT and Sputnik from Spotify's platform.

"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the unprovoked attack on . Our first priority over the past week has been the safety of our employees and to ensure that continues to serve as an important source of global and regional news at a time when access to information is more important than ever," the Spotify's representative said.

is also working on a humanitarian level. The company is "matching employee donations two-to-one to support local humanitarian efforts in amid the Russian attack."

"We are exploring additional steps that we can take and will continue to do what is in the best interest of our employees and our listeners," the company spokesperson said.

Spotify launched its service in and in July 2020.

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U.S. human rights situation in 2021: Indulging in racial discrimination in U.S. exacerbates social injustice

People's Daily Online) 11:06, March 03, 2022

American politicians manipulation of racial issue has fueled greater xenophobia in the U.S., which continues to spread across the country. (Cartoon by Lu Lingxing)

In 2021, the human rights situation in the U.S., a country that already has a notorious record, worsened. On Feb. 28, 2022, China issued The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2021.

According to the report, the virus of deeply-entrenched racism in the U.S. has continued spreading alongside the novel coronavirus, with anti-Asian hate crimes happening more and more frequently, discrimination against Muslim communities increasing steadily, and the racial persecution of indigenous populations still remaining acute, issues that together have led to a widening of economic divides and growing racial inequality.

Asian Americans face increasingly severe discrimination and violent attacks. As a result of American politicians manipulation of racial issue, the number of attacks targeting Asian Americans and individuals of Asians descent has drastically increased. According to a report published on Nov. 18, 2021, by the national coalition to Stop Asian American and Pacific Islander Hate, from March 19, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021, a total of 10,370 hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islander people were reported to the organization, and a majority of the incidents took place in spaces open to the public like public streets and businesses.

On March 16, 2021, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, a white male, wielded a deadly firearm as he perpetrated attacks at three Asian-owned spas in Atlanta, Georgia in the U.S., killing eight people. Six of the victims were Asian women.

On Jan. 28, 2021, an 84-year-old man from Thailand was deliberately knocked down to the ground in San Francisco, California in the U.S., and then later died from the injuries he suffered.

On April 23, 2021, Ma Yaopan, a 61-year-old Chinese man, was attacked from behind and shoved to the ground on a street in New York City, New York State in the U.S. He then was repeatedly kicked in the head, which caused severe trauma leading to facial fractures. After eight months in a coma, the man eventually died in the hospital.

On Nov. 17, 2021, three Chinese high school students were violently assaulted on a subway train on their way home from their school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the U.S. It was clear that they were picked on because they were Asian, said a local police officer.

On April 3, 2021, a report in the New York Times documented more than 110 anti-Asian incidents over the past year that had clear evidence of racial hatred. Over the last year, in an unrelenting series of episodes with clear racial animus, people of Asian descent have been pushed, beaten, kicked, spit on and called slurs. Homes and businesses have been vandalized, said the report. And that was just the tip of the iceberg of racist and racially motivated attacks on Asians living, working and studying in the U.S.

Related:

U.S. human rights situation in 2021: American people pay heavy price for U.S. governments manipulation of COVID-19 prevention and control

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The top court had held Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing for next week of the contempt case against fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya who was found guilty in a contempt case for withholding information from the court.

The matter was listed before the bench of Justices UU Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat and PS Narasimha.

The top court had held Mallya guilty of contempt of court for transferring USD 40 million to his children in violation of the court's order and sought his presence before it on various occasions.

On February 10, the Supreme Court granted the last opportunity of two weeks to Mallya to personally present or through counsel in the contempt case against him and if he fails to do so the court will take the matter to a logical conclusion.

The apex court had accepted the contentions of amicus curiae and senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, who was assisting the court in the matter, that on the issue of quantum of sentence Mallya is given the last opportunity to make his stand in the case.

"In his (Gupta) submission matter may be adjourned for a short time with an expression that this would be a final opportunity and in case he chooses to not remain personally present or advance submissions through counsel, the court may proceed further with the matter. Going by submissions... we adjourn for two weeks. Respondent contemnor is at liberty to act in directions of November 30, 2021 order failing which matter shall be taken to logical conclusion and proceeded further," the bench had stated in its order.

During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had clarified that it's not the government of India's stand that something confidential is going on in the case in the United Kingdom but it is what government has been informed by the UK that there is something going on which can't be shared.

Last year, the top court while saying that it has waited "long enough" and cannot "wait longer now" for Mallya to get extradited from the United Kingdom to India, decided to go ahead with the hearing on quantum of punishment in the contempt case against him.

Earlier, Solicitor General appearing for Ministry of External Affairs had furnished a document of Deputy Secretary (Extradition) Ministry of External Affairs, to which the bench had said the proceedings for extradition of Mallya to India from the United Kingdom has attained finality but certain "confidential proceedings" are pending in the UK, details of which are not known.

Centre had also said that Mallya has already exhausted all his avenues of appeal in UK.

On the previous occasion, the Centre had informed the top court that legal complexities in the United Kingdom are preventing the extradition of fugitive Mallya, but the government of India is making all efforts and doing its best to extradite him.

The Centre had further said that extradition of Mallya was ordered by the highest court of the United Kingdom but it has not been put into effect. The government had said it's not aware of the "secret' ongoing proceedings in the UK which is delaying Mallya's extradition.

The apex court had dismissed a plea filed by Mallya seeking a review of its May 2017 order holding him guilty of contempt.

Mallya is an accused in a bank loan default case of over Rs 9,000 crore involving his defunct Kingfisher Airlines and is presently in the United Kingdom.

The Supreme Court had issued its May 9, 2017, order on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI), claiming he had allegedly transferred USD 40 million received from British firm Diageo to his children in "flagrant violation" of various judicial orders.

Earlier, the apex court had asked Mallya about the "truthfulness" of his disclosure of assets and the transfer of money to his children.

At that time, the top court was dealing with pleas of lending banks seeking contempt action and a direction to Mallya to deposit USD 40 million received from offshore firm Diageo to the banks respectively.

The banks had then accused Mallya of concealing the facts and diverted the money to his son Siddharth Mallya and daughters Leanna Mallya and Tanya Mallya in flagrant violation of the orders passed by the Karnataka High Court.
New Delhi [India], March 3 (ANI/SRV): What A Sandwich, one of the prominent quick food service formats specializing in submarine sandwiches and salads with a desi-touch, has grown its presence across 65 centres in India. With presence in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and among other Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, What A Sandwich brings nutritious, delicious and affordable submarine sandwiches, cheesy paninis and wraps, burgers, salads, pav burgers, sliced sandwich, fries, etc in vegetarian and non-vegetarian options for selection.

Modeled on delivery kitchen or cloud kitchen format featuring no dine-in space but only licensed commercial food production facilities, What A Sandwich combines the winning formula of low rental cost, minimized labour cost and operating volumes to bring pocket-friendly aspirational meals. The brand is replicating its success with their franchise partners, and offering them the opportunity to operate a quick food restaurant, with minimal operating cost.

Hussain J. Lokhandwala, Founder, What A Sandwich said,"What A sandwich has been my vision for the last 15 years. In a market filled with pizzas, burgers, rolls and biryani, we wanted to bring something different by having a desi equivalent of an international giant in the Submarine Sandwich space. In the pandemic year 2020 when restaurants were shutting down, we grew exponentially in the cloud kitchen space. In the next year, we reached another milestone when we breached state boundaries and became a national player with as many as 50+ delivery kitchens. In 2022 our vision is to take the count to 100 kitchens and break into international markets. The one thing that we are proud of is every What A Sandwich kitchen that opens up, creates an eco system of its own."

He added, "Every cloud kitchen that opens up creates job opportunities, income earning opportunities for the Franchisee; our vendors get business; our online aggregators get business, their delivery riders get to earn and so do our advertising partners. Every cloud kitchen of ours is an eco system of its own."

Through this disruptive model, franchisees can seek second income opportunity and function independently by operating from their own home, at their own time without investing in equipment or engaging in delivery hassles. Be it housewife, student or working professional looking for a supplementary income; anyone keen to fulfill their dream of running a commercial restaurant or eatery can partake in What A Sandwich's franchise.

Furthermore, the easy and simplified menu requires assembling of products with no cooking; thereby eliminating the need for chefs, managers and skilled set labour. What A Sandwich offers labour services, including 2 days of training to new recruits for a smooth start. In addition, the brand has tie-ups with prominent national players as bread partner, sauce partner and protein partner and sets up supply chain logistics to ensure fresh materials for franchisee within the city. Hence, franchisee need not worry of procurement of materials.

In addition, franchisee get the opportunity to operate a multi brand kitchen featuring premium products (Italian Panini Sandwiches & wraps) from Hero, to mid-level items (submarine sandwiches and salads) from What A Sandwich or bulk orders (Indo-Western fusion Pav based burgers) from Pav Man. This results in higher sales and reach out to a bigger market share at a reduced operating cost with low risks of failure.

Anil Mahajan, Franchise Owner, What A Sandwich said, " I had taken the franchise opportunity in 2020 in Mumbai only because I loved the idea to generate an income opportunity right from my home. The training provided by the company allows me to operate on my own without any chef or labour. Also material procurement is easy, with just push of a button i get the material delivered in 24 hours at my doorstep. This has truly helped me to create a second income source, without any heavy investment or working capital expense. A revolutionary idea for creating income right from home."

What A Sandwich offers a franchise investment model beginning from 1.75 Lacs with a host of benefits and features including lucrative return on investment.

Started in 2013, What A Sandwich has won several awards and accolades, including winning the 'Iconic Sandwich' category by Times Food Delivery Icons Pune in August 2021 and Times Food Delivery Icons Mumbai in September 2021.

To know more, visit: (https://what-a-sandwich.in/)

Or Call: +91 8999-33-10-55/ +91 8411-88-41-19

This story is provided by SRV Media. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/SRV)

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As Indias daily coronavirus cases dipped below the 15,000 mark, the Director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Randeep Guleria, said the country is currently witnessing the tail of the third wave and Covid-19 will gradually become endemic. On March 11, 2020, the had declared Covid-19 outbreak a global pandemic after a rapid increase in the number of cases outside China. Covid-19 was an in China before it turned into a global pandemic. So let us now understand the differences between an and a pandemic and when a disease is considered to be endemic. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes an as an often sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease above what is normally expected in that population in a specific geographical area. Outbreak carries the same definition but is used for a more limited geographic area. An epidemic may result from a change in the virulence of a particular pathogen. For example, a virus becomes more contagious after mutation. Diseases that are newly introduced into a certain area can also cause epidemics An epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread over several countries or continents is called a pandemic. The declares a pandemic when the spread of a disease is exponential. The deciding factor for a disease to be called a pandemic is not its severity but the extent to which it has spread.

Pandemics can claim millions of lives and ravage economies. It is usually caused by new pathogens and these could be zoonotic in nature, transmitting from animals to humans.

Such new pathogens or viruses infect people easily and spread person to person in an efficient and sustained way. Because the virus is new to humans, very few people will have immunity against the pandemic virus, and a vaccine might not be widely available.

Past pandemics include AIDS, 2009 swine flu pandemic and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

Meanwhile, a disease is said to be endemic when it shows a constant presence within a geographic area. The amount of a particular disease that is usually present in a community is referred to as the baseline or endemic level of the disease.

For instance, Malaria is considered endemic in certain countries. WHO has predicted that coronavirus could become an endemic virus.

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Even as the Indian government scrambled all its resources and sent four ministers to evacuate thousands of students from Ukraine, the crisis has put a spotlight on the condition of the medical system in the country.

In 2019, India had a doctor-population ratio of 1:1456 against the WHO standards of 1:1000. Besides, they are distributed unevenly between urban and rural areas, with the urban to rural doctor density ratio being 3.8:1.

Driven by high fees and a shortage of seats, 20,000 to 25,000 Indian students reportedly go abroad to study medicine every year. Russia, Ukraine, China, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan are among the most popular destinations.

While in government colleges cost between 60,000 rupees and 2.5 lakh rupees for the entire programme, it can cost anywhere up to 1.5 crore rupees in private colleges.

About 15.44 lakh candidates had appeared for the national-level medical entrance exam NEET last year, of the 16.14 lakh who registered.

Of them, 8.70 lakh candidates had qualified. But this does not mean all of them would get to do MBBS since India had just 88,120 MBBS seats spread across some 590 medical colleges as of December 2021. Just over half of these seats are in government colleges where the fees are affordable.

So some of the seven lakh aspirants who have been left out despite qualifying NEET look for options in foreign countries. In countries like China, Philippines and Russia, medical costs between 20-45 lakh rupees.

The reason for the high fees is the amount that is required to build the infrastructure to set up a private medical college. Narayana Health Chairman Dr Devi Shetyy wrote in a column in 2019 that it costs about Rs 450 crore and five years to build a government medical college, and thereafter costs about Rs 150 crore for annual maintenance.

Every medical college approved for MBBS admissions should have 23 notified departments, attached teaching hospital, skills laboratory, museums and hostels for students and interns.

At the time of application, institutions with intakes of up to 150 MBBS students annually should have a fully functional hospital with 300 beds that has been operational for at least two years.

Colleges with annual intake of up to 150 students must have an air-conditioned central library of at least 1,000 square metres and 1% of the minimum books prescribed must be journals. These are just some of the mandated infrastructure requirements to start a medical college.

In November 2020, the National Medical Commission removed the minimum land requirement of 20 acres for general areas and 10 acres for metro cities.

Every year, lakhs of students leave the country in search of quality . And their parents spend thousands of crores on their pursuit. So the crisis in Ukraine should serve as a wake-up call for the government and it should also take a cue from the country, which has made quality education affordable.
Huawei has recently signed the contract with SEPCOIII at Global Digital Power Summit 2021 in Dubai for a 1300 MWh off-grid battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Saudi Arabia, currently the worlds largest of its kind. Photo: Huawei

(Nikkei Asia)  Chinese telecommunications hardware provider Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. has turned to solar power and energy storage projects as its smartphone business struggles under U.S. sanctions, but the companys ability to return to growth remains uncertain.

Digitalization and carbon neutrality are two of the world's hottest topics, Huawei Deputy Chairman Guo Ping said Tuesday in an online speech at the MWC Barcelona mobile tech expo, stressing the need to consider the new dimension of carbon reduction.
Whats new: Chinas chief banking regulator warned that a too dramatic correction in the property sector could damage the economy and said a smooth transition would be more desirable.

Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, told reporters at a briefing Wednesday that recent property price adjustments and changes in the structure of demand are for the financial sector by reversing a bubble momentum in real estate financing.
Whats new: Chinas foreign ministry confirmed Thursday that a Chinese citizen was shot while evacuating Ukraine on March 1, but added that the injured person is out of danger for the time being.

The Chinese embassy in Ukraine immediately contacted the person to provide assistance, said Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for Chinese foreign ministry during a press conference. No further details of the incident were provided, though Wang said the embassy will continue to monitor the situation.
Short-distance rural tourism grew more popular in Chinas capital during this years Labor Day holiday amid curbs on travel to control the pandemic. Bookings for hotels and homestays outside urban areas started earlier than usual for this years five-day national holiday, with volumes climbing since April 10. Despite Covid control measures, most scenic spots in suburban areas remain open, though visitors are required to present negative Covid-19 test results to enter

May 04, 2022 03:50 PM
The AP government has rescheduled Intermediate exams in order to avoid a clash of the dates with JEE Main exams. (Representational Photo:PTI)

VIJAYAWADA: The AP government has rescheduled Intermediate exams in order to avoid a clash of the dates with JEE Main exams.

Education minister Audimulapu Suresh announced a new schedule. He said Intermediate exams will be held after completion of JEE Mains from April 22 to May 12. Students, worried over the clash of exams, had urged the government to reconsider the exam schedule.

Minister Suresh conducted a meeting with officials of the education department regarding the clash of Inter exams with JEE Mains and revised the schedule.

Addressing a press meet here on Thursday, he said JEE Mains is scheduled from April 16 to 21 and Intermediate exams from April 8 to 28, which resulted in a clash between the two exams. These exams will now start only after the completion of JEE Mains -- from April 22 to May 12.

The Board of Intermediate Education secretary Seshagiribabu said nearly 10 lakh students are appearing for Intermediate first and second-year exams in AP. Theory exams will be held in 1400 centers and practical exams in 975 centers.

REVISED first year Intermediate exams schedule from 9 am to 12 noon:

22 April: Second language paper-1.

25 April: English paper-1.

27 April: Mathematics paper-1 A, Botany paper-1 and Civics paper-1.

29 April: Mathematics paper-1 B, Zoology paper-1 and History paper-1.

2 May : Physics paper-1 and Economics paper-1.

6 May: Chemistry paper-1, Commerce paper-1, Sociology paper-1 and fine arts/music paper-1.

9 May: Public administration paper-1, Logic paper-1, Bridge course mathematics paper-1 (for BPC students).

11 May: Modern language paper-1 and Geography paper-1.

REVISED second-year Intermediate exams schedule from 9 am to 12 noon:

23 April: Second language paper-2.

26 April: English paper-2.

28 April: Mathematics paper-2 A, Botany paper-2 and Civics paper-2.

30 April: Mathematics paper-2 B, Zoology paper-2 and History paper-2.

5 May: Physics paper-2 and Economics paper-2.

7 May: Chemistry paper-2, Commerce paper-2, Sociology paper-2 and fine arts/music paper-2.

10 May: Public administration paper-2, Logic paper-2, Bridge course mathematics paper-2 (for BPC students).

12 May: Modern language paper-2 and Geography paper-2.

* The Ethics and Human Values Examination is proposed to be conducted on 7 March from 10 am to 1 pm. The Environmental Education Examination will be held on March 9 from 10 to 1 pm and practical examinations will be conducted from 11to 31 March from 9 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 5 pm every day including Sundays.
New Delhi: A plea concerning the protection of two bird species, including the Great Indian Bustard, was mentioned before the Supreme Court on Thursday.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana agreed to list it.

One counsel appearing before the bench urged the court to list the matter concerning the Great Indian Bustard before a three-judge bench as the matter has been listed before a two-judge bench.

The counsel also apprised the court that the matter was heard earlier before a three-judge bench.

Earlier, a three-judge bench had directed the concerned authorities to convert the overhead cables into underground powerlines.

The court's order had come on a plea seeking to protect two species of birds including the Great Indian Bustard.

According to the petition, the existence of overhead power lines is stated to have become a hazard due to which the said species of birds on collision are getting killed.

One application had also sought interim directions to Rajasthan and Gujarat to ensure predator-proof fencing, controlled grazing in the enclosure development and not to permit installation of overhead power lines.

The court had noted the petitioners being environmentalists, sought to protect the rare birds which are dwindling in number.

It was also contended that the GIB is one of the heaviest flying birds in the world and has disappeared from 90 per cent of the habitat except in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat which is to be protected.

According to the petitioners, overhead power lines are the biggest threat to the survival of the GIBs.
Support for Ukrainian Patients with Cancer and Caregivers

More than 179,000 newly diagnosed patients with cancer are among the Ukrainian people suffering from Russia's unprovoked aggression. Disruptions to cancer treatment pose a grave risk to their very survival. As a global organization, the American Cancer Society stands in solidarity with all Ukrainians.

The American Cancer Society provides support that includes in-language written resources, and a Volunteer Corps of Clinicians to offer guidance to people with cancer and their families in collaboration with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center - Jefferson Health.
News at 4Cs

Cape Cod Community College Announces Return to In-Person Commencement at the Melody Tent & Keynote Speaker, Netflix Co-Founder Marc Randolph

For the first time since 2019, the graduates of Cape Cod Community College will have the opportunity to celebrate their Commencement live and in-person at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis. With COVID-19 moving the ceremony online for the past two years, this years Commencement ceremony will return to the Melody Tent on May 25, 2022.

To mark the return to the Melody Tent, the College has also announced Marc Randolph, the co-founder and first Chief Executive Officer of Netflix, as this years keynote speaker.

This is an event more than two years in the making. We cant wait to recognize our stellar graduates in person, altogether as a College community, said John Cox, President of Cape Cod Community College. Its fitting that a monumental return be matched by a very significant keynote speaker in Marc Randolph. Mr. Randolph is one of the most influential entrepreneurs of the modern age, and knows a thing or two about disrupting the norm and persevering through challenging times. We are very excited that hell be joining us on May 25 at the Melody Tent.

Randolph is best known for being one of the two co-founders of Netflix, though his career as an entrepreneur spans more than four decades. Hes the founder of more than half a dozen other successful start-ups, a mentor to scores of early-stage entrepreneurs, and an investor in numerous successful tech ventures. He is also the author of the internally best-selling memoir, That Will Never Work  The Birth of Netflix and The Amazing Life of an Idea, and the host of the top-10 That Will Never Work podcast. He is also one of the starts of Entrepreneur Magazines Elevator Pitch web series. Currently, Randolph is the co-founder of the analytics software company Looker Data.

The Cape Cod Melody Tent is the longtime home of the Colleges Commencement ceremony, as well as their Nursing and Dental Hygiene pinning ceremonies. For the past two years, in response to the pandemic, the College has shifted Commencement to a virtual format, streaming live on YouTube. This years return to the Melody Tent will include multiple safety precautions, including mask mandates for attendees.

Further details about Commencement, including further information on safety protocols and guests, will be announced late in the Spring semester.
Voters stand in a queue to cast their ballots outside a polling station in the ongoing Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections, in Allahabad. (Photo: AFP)

Lucknow: About 22 per cent voting was witnessed till 11 am in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on Thursday.

The voting started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Around 2.15 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.

The prominent faces among the 676 candidates contesting on 57 seats spread across 10 districts in this phase include Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban and state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj.

So far, voting for 292 of the 403 Assembly seats has been completed. The final phase of the elections on the remaining 54 seats will be held on March 7.

The districts where polling is being held on Thursday are Ambedkarnagar, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia.

In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 46 of the 57 seats.

Till 11 am there was 21.79 per cent polling, according to the Election Commission of India's Turnout app.

While Ambedkarnagar had 23.15 per cent voting, Ballia had 21.85 per cent, Balrampur 18.81 per cent, Basti 23.31 per cent, Deoria 19.64 per cent, Gorakhpur 21.7 per cent, Kushinagar 23.23 per cent, Mahrajganj 21.22 per cent, Sant Kabir Nagar 20.74 per cent and Siddharth Nagar 23.48 per cent.

Those who cast their votes in the morning included Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Basic Education Minister Satish Dwivedi, Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, minister Upendra Tiwari and former minister Narad Rai.

Interacting with reporters after casting his vote, the chief minister said the BJP will get 80 per cent votes and the rest 20 per cent will get divided among the opposition.

He also appealed to people to vote in large numbers.

The Samajwadi Party has pitted the wife of the late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Azad Samaj Party founder Chandrashekhar Azad is also contesting against the Uttar Pradesh chief minister from Gorakhpur Urban.

Swami Prasad Maurya, who was a minister in the Adityanath government and had quit the BJP to join the Samajwadi Party, is contesting from Fazilnagar.

The Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary is contesting from Bansdih.

Many incumbent ministers' fate will also be decided in this phase.

They include Surya Pratap Shahi from Pathardeva, Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa, Jai Pratap Singh from Bansi, Shree Ram Chauhan from Khajani and Jai Prakash Nishad from Rudrapur.

The campaigning for this phase witnessed the political parties going for an all-out attack against each other.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the BJP's rivals by tagging them as dynasts, who he claimed can never make India capable or empower Uttar Pradesh.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi rebutted by saying that the BJP is only against her family, which did not bow down before it.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy of ending reservation and "selling" government entities to the private sector.
In what seems to be a regular occurrence at this point, Mazda has announced a product stoppage anew at their Japanese factories this May.
NCDOT will soon start a project to repair a failure of a wetlands storm drainage system the N.C. Coastal Federation built off Highway 24 in Cape Carteret in 2015. The collapse of a dike between the two wetlands ponds led to siltation and other problems in Deer Creek. (Brad Rich photo)
Aquiles Faustino, right, a safety specialist at Fleet Readiness Center East, speaks with Samuel Foreman, an electrical equipment repairer at FRC East, during a safety site survey. FRC East closed out calendar year 2021 with the lowest number of Occupational Safety and Health Administration recordable mishaps in the depots history. (Joe Andes, Fleet Readiness Center East Public Affairs photo)
People stand in queue to cast their votes during the sixth phase of Uttar Pradesh state legislative assembly elections in Gorakhpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo)

Lucknow: More than 55 per cent voting was recorded in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls on Thursday.

The prominent faces among the 676 candidates for 57 seats spread across 10 districts in this phase included Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban and state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj.

According to tentative figures updated at 7 pm, 55.79 per cent polling was recorded. In 2017 assembly polls, the turnout was 56.47 per cent in these 57 seats.

The final tally will be released by the poll authorities later, officials said.

With this, voting for 349 of the total 403 assembly seats has been completed. The final phase of polling in the remaining 54 seats will be held on March 7.

Around 2.15 crore people were eligible to vote in this phase. The voting started at 7 am and continued till 6 pm.

The districts where polling was held on Thursday were Ambedkarnagar, Balrampur, Siddharth Nagar, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria and Ballia.

In the 2017 assembly polls, the BJP had won 46 of the 57 seats.

Till 5 pm there was about 53.31 per cent polling, according to the Election Commission of India's Turnout app.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) BDR Tiwari said that polling was held peacefully in the state.

According to the Home department, Ambedkarnagar recorded 62.66 per cent voting, Ballia had 52.01 per cent, Balrampur 48.90 per cent, Basti 57.20 per cent, Deoria 56 per cent, Gorakhpur 58.89 per cent, Kushinagar 59 per cent, Mahrajganj 59.5 per cent, Sant Kabir Nagar 52.20 per cent and Siddharth Nagar 51.60 per cent as per the reports received till 7 pm.

Those who cast their votes in the morning included Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Basic Education Minister Satish Dwivedi, Leader of Opposition Ram Govind Chowdhury, Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, minister Upendra Tiwari and former minister Narad Rai.

Interacting with reporters after casting his vote, the chief minister said the BJP will get 80 per cent votes and the rest 20 per cent will get divided among the opposition.

The Samajwadi Party pitted the wife of the late Upendra Dutt Shukla, a former BJP leader, against Adityanath. Azad Samaj Party founder Chandrashekhar Azad also contested against the chief minister from Gorakhpur seat.

Swami Prasad Maurya, who was a minister in the Adityanath government and had quit the BJP to join the Samajwadi Party, contested from Fazilnagar where polling was held on Thursday, besides Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind Chaudhary from Bansdih.

The ministers whose electoral fortunes were sealed in the voting machines in this phase included Surya Pratap Shahi from Pathardeva, Satish Chandra Dwivedi from Itwa, Jai Pratap Singh from Bansi, Shree Ram Chauhan from Khajani and Jai Prakash Nishad from Rudrapur. The campaigning for this phase had witnessed the political parties going for an all-out attack against each other.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the BJP's rivals by tagging them as dynasts, who he claimed can never make India capable or empower Uttar Pradesh and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had rebutted by saying the BJP is only against her family, which did not bow down before it.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in his electioneering had accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy of ending reservation and selling government entities to the private sector.
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Chance of a shower or two during the evening, followed by partly cloudy skies overnight. Low 42F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Chance of a shower or two during the evening, followed by partly cloudy skies overnight. Low 42F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
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Photo: The Canadian Press Tamara Lich.

UPDATE 3:15 p.m.

Tamara Lich, one of the most prominent organizers of the Ottawa convoy that gridlocked the city's streets for over three weeks, says the judge who denied her bail was biased against her cause and has asked the court to review the decision.



Lich was arrested Feb. 17 and charged with counselling mischief, the day before police moved in to disperse crowds in downtown Ottawa using powers invoked under the federal Emergencies Act.



Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois denied Lich bail on Feb. 22, having deemed the convoy organizer a risk to reoffend. In her decision at the time, Bourgeois said she felt Lich was obstinate and disingenuous in her responses to the court, and that her detention was "necessary for the protection and safety of the public."



In court Wednesday, Lich's lawyer filed an affidavit on her behalf that said had she known Bourgeois was a Liberal candidate in the 2011 federal election, she would have asked the justice to recuse herself from the case.



"Had I had that information beforehand, I would have felt uncomfortable with the situation," Lich told the court Wednesday.



She spent the majority of the hearing sitting up straight in the accused dock with her hands folded in her lap, her blond hair in a high bun and a mask over her face.



While protests in downtown Ottawa were mainly aimed at COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates, demonstrators also took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party with profane flags and slogans.



Lich's lawyer, Diane Magas, also argued that Bourgeois repeatedly referred to the impact of the protest on "our community" in her decision to keep Lich in jail.



"If a justice feels impacted in our community, in her community, in my submission she should not sit. There should be an out of town judge," Magas told the court.



Fellow protest organizer Chris Barber, who travelled by convoy from Alberta to Ottawa with Lich, was arrested the same day as her and charged with mischief, counselling to commit mischief, to disobey a court order and to obstruct police.



He was granted bail on Feb. 18 by the same justice who initially ordered Lich to remain in custody.



Crown counsel Moiz Karimjee said the allegation against Bourgeois is "frivolous," and suggested that Lich lied when she said she would have asked for another judge.



"Really? When the day before, the judge released her friend Mr. Barber?" Karimjee asked the court. "That allegation has no merit whatsoever, and indicates that Ms. Lich is capable of lying under oath."



Wednesday's bail review hearing was delayed slightly as hundreds of spectators attempted to log into the video conference carrying the proceedings, and flooded the chat with messages of support.



Lich has been described as the public face of the protest. One of the lawyers assisting the demonstrators called Lich the spark that lit this fire and the leader of this organization at a news conference less than one week into the Ottawa protest.



Lich led the GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $10 million for the so-called Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, before the website pulled the plug on the campaign and refunded donations, citing local political leaders' concerns the demonstration had become an "occupation."



In order to reopen Lich's bail hearing, the judge would have to find Bourgeois made an "error in law" or that the circumstances have changed.



Magas said Bourgeois made an error when she said Lich was a danger to the public, as Lich advocated for peaceful protest and has not been charged with a violent offence.



"There's been no suggestions of violence, intimidation, threats, destruction of property of any sorts by Ms. Lich, or even her encouraging such activities," Magas said.



The Crown argued there have been no errors made, and the circumstances surrounding Lich's bail application have not changed.



Karimjee said to release Lich into the community would send the message that people can "flagrantly breach the rule of law, show no respect, no genuine respect for the law."



A decision is expected Monday.



Other key figures in the Ottawa protest, Pat King and Tyson George Billings, were denied bail for charges related to their role in the protests over the risk they would reoffend.



Lich has been ordered not to have any contact with King, Barber, or other fellow organizers Benjamin Dichter, and Daniel Bulford, who was arrested but released without charges.

ORIGINAL 10:55 a.m.

Tamara Lich, one of the most prominent organizers of the Ottawa convoy that gridlocked the city's streets for nearly a month, is seeking bail again, after a judge ordered her to remain in jail last week.



Lich was arrested Feb. 17 and charged with counselling mischief, the day before police moved in to disperse crowds in downtown Ottawa using powers invoked under the federal Emergencies Act.



Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois denied Lich bail on Feb. 22, having deemed the convoy organizer a risk to reoffend.



In court today, Lich's lawyer filed an affidavit on her behalf that says had she known Bourgeois was a Liberal candidate in the 2011 federal election, she would have asked the justice to recuse herself from the case.



While protests in downtown Ottawa were mainly aimed at COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates, demonstrators also took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party with profane flags and slogans.



The bail review hearing was delayed slightly as hundreds of spectators attempted to log into the video conference carrying the proceedings, and flooded the chat with messages of support for Lich.
Photo: Nicholas Johansen

According to Merriam-Websters online dictionary, tire has multiple definitions.

The intransitive verb means to become weary. When used as a transitive verb, the word means either to exhaust or greatly decrease the physical strength of or to wear out the patience of.

All three definitions are appropriate for recent and current events.

We tire of the pandemic and its disruption. Getting through the pandemic and the stop-go of the public-health restrictions tires us. The protests tire us, too. Residents are losing patience with weekend groups of trucks and other vehicles circling, (drivers) yelling and sounding their horns, and travelling farther afield to make their feelings known.

Tire, the noun, is also relevant. It refers to a rubber cushion that fits around a wheel (as of an automobile) and usually contains compressed air or a metal hoop forming the tread of a wheel. The trucks, trailers, tractors and other vehicles driving by protesters travelled on tires to Ottawa, to border crossings and provincial legislature precincts across Canada and past the hospitals in Vancouver and here.

We can particularly relate to the adjectival form of tire. Merriam-Webster defines tired as drained of strength and energy; fatigued often to the point of exhaustion and obviously worn by hard use.

Were tired of COVID. Were tired of COVID restrictions. Were tired of COVID affecting our lives and killing our loved ones.

Were tired of the unpredictability of the unpredictable virus, its unpredictable mutations, and their unpredictable effects on our daily lives  work, school and home life.

Parents are really tired. Theyre tired of not knowing whether Junior will be sent home from school for a week because of an in-school outbreak. Theyre tired of having to juggle on-again-off-again at-home schooling with their own remote-from-home-office work. Single parents started the pandemic tired of treading water. Now, theyre tired of barely managing to keep their heads above water.

Business owners, bar managers, gym owners and restaurant people are tired of the hits to their income and their employment and of having to struggle to hire people, and then of having to let them go on short notice.

Doctors and nurses are tired of the wear and high pressure of dealing with COVID and people ill with COVID in hospital wards. They are so tired, theyre leaving their positions and their professions  and who can blame them?

This unfortunately means theyre leaving their colleagues to pick up slack in a system that already had little slack. And that leaves our health-care system  and all of us  less able to deal with current, future and emerging health emergencies and concerns.

Were tired of hearing about COVID. Im tired of writing about it, and Im sure youre tired of reading about it.

Im tired. Youre tired. With so many voices shouting and honking displeasure, dissatisfaction and disagreement, we might all agree were all tired.

A related word is tiresome (adjective  wearisome; tedious).

The public health measures have been that. So have the recent honking parades.

Health-care professionals and officials, as well as the researchers and technicians who have spent the past two years working to understand this virus and find ways to protect our communities from its worst effects, find tiresome the constant streams and amplification of ignorance about misinformation related to all aspects of the pandemic.

I find hearing Canadian protesters declare ignorance of the country they live in when they claim rights under the 'First Amendment' tiresome. And concerning.

We can blame it on Hollywood exports, but our own education system is failing if Canadian citizens dont understand where the boundaries lie between this country and the one to the south.

Monique Keiran is a columnist with the Time Colonist newspaper in Victoria. This column first appeared in the Times Colonist.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Prince Albert Police Service

An Indigenous woman in Saskatchewan wants police officers fired over their response to a domestic dispute in which she says she was detained and her 13-month-old son left with a man accused of killing him.

No mother should ever have to go through this. No mother should have to feel this pain," Kyla Frenchman said in a statement Wednesday. "He was such a happy baby who was always smiling."

The Prince Albert Police Service responded to Frenchman's home on the morning of Feb. 10.

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, speaking on Frenchman's behalf, alleges officers racially profiled her and accused her of being drunk. It says they detained her and left the toddler with his father.

"They locked her up, lied, and said she was drunk when she was not. This is criminal negligence that would be disgusting in any country," federation vice-chief Dutch Lerat said in Saskatoon. "They didn't care about the safety of the First Nations baby."

Kaij Brass was subsequently charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tanner Brass. He was arrested after police received a phone call and returned to the home about five hours after their first visit.

The federation, which represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan, said police didn't do a welfare check on Tanner or bring in the Ministry of Social Services.

Federation Chief Bobby Cameron said Frenchman made the initial 911 call because she was fearful for their safety.

"When Kyla put the call in, it was clear, she said (to police) 'my baby'. They get to the residence and detain her. Again she said 'my baby.' In the cop car, she said 'my baby' and in the cells, she said 'my baby,'" Cameron said.

Frenchman, the federation and other Indigenous groups are calling for the officers involved in the initial response to be fired, along with Prince Albert police Chief Jonathan Bergen.

Cameron, who accused officers of being racist against Indigenous peoples, wants Saskatchewan's Ministry of Policing to investigate the Prince Albert Police Service.

"The officers would have taken the utmost care and attention if that baby was white, but we're First Nation and we're being subjected to horrendous, ignorant behaviour from these types of officers," Cameron said.

"We're angry. And we expect and demand justice and immediate change and immediate results."

The Saskatchewan Public Complaints Commission is investigating how police responded to the call. Bergen requested the investigation.

"The message is received loud and clear, and we are acknowledging we have much work to do to build back the trust and confidence of the community that we serve," Bergen said Wednesday.

He said the two officers who responded to the family dispute were junior members with less than five years experience combined.

Both remain in their roles and, pending completion of the investigation, it will be decided if discipline is necessary, Bergen said.

Since the toddler's death, Bergen has appointed a new inspector to oversee the service's patrol section.

He said that before the change, the inspector on duty was responsible for managing multiple areas, including the patrol division, police detention and custody.

"As we look at inter-partner violence and our response as a police service to it, we know there's a number of areas we can improve," Bergen said. "That's where we're focusing on with the immediate structure change that has occurred."

The FSIN has called for changes at the Prince Albert police since last year following the deaths of three Indigenous men in custody.

Thunderchild First Nation Chief James Snakeskin said the toddler's death has affected many other First Nations.

"This is plain racism and its hard to see this childs life was lost because of that," he said in a statement. "This has traumatized many people and its sad to know things like this are still happening.
Photo: BC Ferries The Salish Heron during sea trials in Poland in November 2021.

The Salish Heron is scheduled to moor at Ogden Point on Thursday, marking the end of its 10,400-nautical-mile journey from Europe.

Built in Gdansk, Poland, the vessel set sail on Dec. 22. The ferry, which travelled through the Panama Canal, stopped last month in Manzanillo, Mexico, for fuel and provisions.

It will be inspected at Ogden Point before heading to B.C. Ferries fleet maintenance facility in Richmond. While it's there, a striking image of a heron, designed by Penelakut First Nation artist Maynard Johnny Jr., will be applied to the vessel.

The Salish Heron is set to serve the southern Gulf Islands, including routes between Swartz Bay and Pender, Saturna, Mayne and Galiano islands, starting this summer.

It is the fourth and final Salish-class ferry built by Remontowa in Gdansk. The total cost for all four was $292 million.

The vessels showcase Indigenous art and run on liquefied natural gas. The hull design creates a very small wake and the electric propulsion and structural design ensure a quiet ride, said B.C. Ferries.

The vessels are 351 feet long and can carry up to 138 vehicles and 600 passengers and crew.
Photo: wikimedia commons Vladimir Putin - Visit to Russia Today

It took a war for Canadian telecoms to drop a Russian government propaganda outlet from their channel menus

But a human rights group that advocates for journalists and lawyers in China is hoping that the federal regulator will end the authorization for two channels acting as Chinese Communist Party mouthpieces.

Bell, Rogers, Shaw and Telus each voluntarily pulled the English-language RT America after Russia invaded Ukraine. On March 1, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez commended them and said that the Liberal government is asking the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission to fast-track a hearing process that could ban RT for good. Disinformation has no place on Canadian airwaves, Rodriguez Tweeted.

CRTC spokeswoman Isabella Maestri said the agency has received complaints from citizens about 2005-launched RT. The channel is still available via live streaming services and on its own website.

Safeguard Defenders campaign director Laura Harth called RTs removal by Canadian telecoms a very interesting development to see, especially in this time of information warfare when authoritarian regimes are using modern media to spread disinformation and enforce their image in democratic countries.

We hope that the same will go with regard to China, we hope that the lesson we can learn from the atrocities happening now in Ukraine, Harth said in an interview from Rome.

Safeguard Defenders complained to the CRTC in December 2019 about Mandarin-language CCTV-4 and English language CGTN with evidence they aired dozens of forced confessions of prisoners from 2013 to 2019. It called the content abusive and harmful, and typical of CCTVs mode of operation and broadcast.

Safeguard Defenders director Peter Dahlin was himself detained for 23 days on trumped-up charges of endangering national security in early 2016 while running the China Action NGO. The Swede was released after a forced, false confession on state TV.

In January, Safeguard Defenders learned that the CRTC had demanded state parent company China International Communications Co. explain why CCTV-4 and CGTN should remain available on Canadian TV. A letter provided by the CRTC media relations office showed secretary general Claude Doucet threatened removal from the list of non-Canadian programming services authorized for distribution.

If the allegations contained in Safeguard Defenders complaint are true, the distribution of such content in Canada is antithetical to the policy objectives of the [Broadcasting] Act and does not serve the public interest in any way, Doucet wrote.

The services qualified for carriage in Canada in 2006 and 2012, respectively. In his letter, Doucet reminded CCTV-4 that when it was authorized, the Commission made it clear that removal of a non-Canadian service from the list is a remedy that it will be prepared to exercise should content aired on the service be contrary to Canadian broadcasting policy.

Maestri said that the Beijing company was granted a two-month extension from the original Jan. 31 deadline, but had not yet replied in a substantive manner.

In the U.K., regulator Ofcom ruled in early 2021 in favour of Safeguard Defenders and withdrew CGTNs licence. It also issued issued 450,000 (or CAD$763,000) in fines for multiple violations.

Bell was the only telecom to respond to a query, but it only did so to confirm that it had withdrawn RT on Feb. 27. It did not answer questions about CCTV-4 and CGTN.

Harth said that with RT gone from the Canadian telecoms, there is a concern that the Chinese government services will act as proxies for Russias government. They have a strategic alliance and marriage of convenience, she said.

Some of CCTV-4s programming airs elsewhere, such as the CCTV China World News twice-daily on the Shaw Multicultural Channel. The channel also carries newscasts from Taiwans FTV, The Epoch Times Hong Kong Express and NTD News Vancouver.

Canadas spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, reported in late 2020 that China, Russia and Iran were to blame for spreading pandemic-related disinformation in Canada about the source of COVID-19 and its remedies.

A 2021 CSIS report warned of the foreign influence tactics used by states hostile to Canadian values. These include: human intelligence operations, the use of state-sponsored or foreign influenced media, and the use of sophisticated cyber tools.

The goals of using traditional media and social media platforms, CSIS said, are to deliver foreign influence campaigns to change voter opinions, sway politicians choices, alter government relations and to sow confusion and distrust in Canadian democratic processes and institutions.
Photo: Darren Stone, Times Colonist

The provinces public-sector pension fund says it has begun to divest its holdings in Russian companies in light of that countrys war on Ukraine.

On Tuesday, B.C. Investment Management Corporation (BCI) issued a statement saying it is actively working to sell the remaining Russian securities from its clients portfolios.

BCI has not only been working to sell the Russian shares in our clients portfolios but also to have Russia removed from all global and emerging market indices, said Gordon J. Fyfe, BCIs chief executive officer and chief investment officer. We dont normally comment publicly on our investment activities, however given the egregious actions of Russia it is important to make an exception.

BCI started selling its holdings in Russian securities prior to the invasion, it said, but trading in these securities has now ground to a halt, given international sanctions, trading restrictions and Russias ban on foreigners selling Russian securities. Regardless we will continue to work to sell the $107 million in Russian stock that remains.

BCI manages nearly $200 billion in assets, mainly on behalf of 12 public-sector pension plans, including the Public Service Pension Plan, the Municipal Pension Plan, the Teachers Pension Plan, the College Pension Plan, and the WorkSafeBC pension plan representing almost 700,000 British Columbians.

BCI holdings included more than $450 million in Russian-owned companies in 2021, including $103.9 million in shares in the state-owned bank Sberbank and $83.85 million, $32.2 million and $19.16 million in Russian energy giants Lukoil, Rosneft Oil and Gazprom respectively. The Russian companies include diamonds, metals and mining, oil and gas, energy, food, finance, and gold.

An online petition quotes members saying they dont want to be bankrolling [Vladimir] Putins regime and fossil fuels. They say divesting from the Russian companies now will not hurt the bottom line for pension-plan clients, given these companies make up just 0.25 per cent of BCIs overall $200-billion assets portfolio.

There is zero justification, moral or financial, for continuing to hold shares in Russian companies, many of which are now subject to international sanctions. In line with Canadas actions, and in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, BCI should do its part, the petition says.

Premier John Horgan said in question period on Monday his government would not invest in these Russian companies but BCI is independent of government.

This is something we would want them to act upon, Horgan said. But we would not want to interfere in a fund that is designed to protect trustees and pensioners. They have a board to make those decisions and we are hopeful they will.

The B.C. Liberals continued on Tuesday to demand that BCI divest its holdings in Russian companies, saying provinces like Quebec and Alberta are already doing so.

British Columbians, in times like these, expect the premier to act quickly, said official opposition leader Shirley Bond. We may be a small jurisdiction but it is important that we do absolutely everything we can and this is something that this minister and this premier can and should do.

In response to questions from Bond, Finance Minister Selina Robinson said that as finance minister, she is legislatively prohibited from being involved in investment decisions. Alberta has different legislation, she said, adding, however, weve heard from BCI Management Corporation that they are taking action, they are engaging with their members, with their clients.

Robinson said the province continues to identify ways to make its voice heard globally on Russias illegal incursion into Ukraine, including looking into land-ownership records related to Russian oligarchs, so we can make sure we are doing everything that we can to bring to bear on this situation.

On Tuesday, Alberta Investment Management Corporation, AIMCo, said it will divest all Russian holdings in response to the invasion of Ukraine and ensuing humanitarian crisis.

Albertas investment manager said its decision reflects risk to the underlying value of the respective companies.

We have a fiduciary obligation to our clients to act in their best interests and we believe this decision aligns with our investment objectives, policies, and prudent investment of capital, said AIMCo.

At market close on Feb. 28, AIMCo had less than $99 million in direct and indirect exposure to Russian securities, accounting for 0.06 per cent of AIMCos more than $160 billion in assets under management and 0.16 per cent of the entire $48.7 billion Public Equities portfolio.

AIMCo also commits that it will not purchase Russian assets during the conflict or while financial sanctions are being applied to Russia or its leaders.
A family arrive at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, Wednesday, March 2, 2022, after fleeing from the Ukraine. (AP/Markus Schreiber)

KYIV: The number of people sent fleeing Ukraine by Russias invasion topped 1 million on Wednesday, the swiftest refugee exodus this century, the United Nations said, as Russian forces kept up their bombardment of the countrys second-biggest city, Kharkiv, and laid siege to two strategic seaports.

The tally from the U.N. refugee agency released to The Associated Press amounts to more than 2 percent of Ukraines population being forced out of the country in less than a week. The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, where residents desperate to get away from falling shells and bombs crowded the citys train station and tried to press onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

In a videotaped address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance. He vowed that the invaders would have not one quiet moment and described Russian soldiers as confused children who have been used.

Moscows isolation deepened when most of the world lined up against it at the United Nations to demand it withdraw from Ukraine. And the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes.

With fighting going on on multiple fronts across the country, Britains Defense Ministry said Mariupol, a large city on the Azov Sea, was encircled by Russian forces, while the status of another vital port, Kherson, a Black Sea shipbuilding city of 280,000, remained unclear.

Russian President Vladimir Putins forces claimed to have taken complete control of Kherson, which would make it the biggest city to fall yet in the invasion. But a senior U.S. defense official disputed that.

Our view is that Kherson is very much a contested city, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Zelenskyys office told the AP that it could not comment on the situation in Kherson while the fighting was still going on.

But the mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow crews to gather up the bodies from the streets.

I simply asked them not to shoot at people, he said in a statement. We dont have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said the attacks there had been relentless.

We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop, he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Russia reported its military casualties for the first time since the invasion began last week, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine did not disclose its own military losses but said more than 2,000 civilians have died, a claim that could not be independently verified.

In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Zelenskyy praised his countrys resistance.

We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy, he said. They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.

These are not warriors of a superpower, he said. These are confused children who have been used.

Meanwhile, the senior U.S. defense official said an immense column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last couple of days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said. Western officials warn that Russias far stronger military is likely to adapt quickly.

On the far edges of Kyiv, volunteers well into their 60s manned a checkpoint to try to block the Russian advance.

In my old age, I had to take up arms, said Andrey Goncharuk, 68. He said the fighters needed more weapons, but well kill the enemy and take their weapons.

Around Ukraine, others crowded into train stations, carrying children wrapped in blankets and dragging wheeled suitcases into new lives as refugees.

In an email, U.N. refugee agency spokesperson Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams told the AP that the latest data indicates the refugee count surpassed 1 million as of midnight in central Europe, based on figures collected by national authorities.

Shabia Mantoo, another spokesperson for the agency, said Wednesday that at this rate the exodus from Ukraine could make it the source of the biggest refugee crisis this century.

A large explosion shook central Kyiv on Wednesday night in what the presidents office said was a missile strike near the capital citys southern railway station. There was no immediate word on any deaths or injuries. Thousands of Ukrainians have been fleeing the city through the sprawling railway complex.

Russian forces pounded Kharkiv, Ukraines biggest city after Kyiv, with about 1.5 million people, in another round of aerial attacks that shattered buildings and lit up the skyline with flames. At least 21 people were killed and 112 injured over the past day, said Oleg Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration.

Several Russian planes were shot down over Kharkiv, according to Oleksiy Arestovich, a top adviser to Zelenskyy.

Kharkiv today is the Stalingrad of the 21st century, Arestovich said, invoking what is considered one of the most heroic episodes in Russian history, the five-month defense of the city from the Nazis during World War II.

From his basement bunker, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov told the BBC: The city is united and we shall stand fast.

Russian attacks, many with missiles, blew the roof off Kharkivs five-story regional police building and set the top floor on fire, and also hit the intelligence headquarters and a university building, according to officials and videos and photos released by Ukraines State Emergency Service. Officials said residential buildings were also hit, but gave no details.

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warned that the fighting poses a danger to Ukraines 15 nuclear reactors.

Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency noted that the war is the first time a military conflict is happening amid the facilities of a large, established nuclear power program, and he said he is gravely concerned.

Russia already has seized control of the decommissioned Chernobyl power plant, the scene in 1986 of the worlds worst nuclear disaster.

In New York, the U.N. General Assembly voted to demand that Russia stop its offensive and immediately withdraw all troops, with world powers and tiny island states alike condemning Moscow. The vote was 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions.

Assembly resolutions arent legally binding but can reflect and influence world opinion.

The vote came after the 193-member assembly convened its first emergency session since 1997. The only countries to vote with Russia were Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea. Cuba spoke in Moscows defense but ultimately abstained.

Ukraines U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Russian forces have come to the Ukrainian soil, not only to kill some of us ... they have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist. He added: The crimes are so barbaric that it is difficult to comprehend.

Russia ramped up its rhetoric. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reminded the world about the countrys vast nuclear arsenal when he said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that a third world war could only be nuclear.

In the northern city of Chernihiv, two cruise missiles hit a hospital, according to the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency, which quoted the health administration chief, Serhiy Pivovar, as saying authorities were working to determine the casualty toll.
Photo: The Canadian Press Local militiamen help an old woman crossing a bridge destroyed by artillery, as she tries to flee, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2. 2022. Russian forces have escalated their attacks on crowded cities in what Ukraine's leader called a blatant campaign of terror. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Emilio Morenatti

Canada's ambassador to the United Nations says a no-fly zone to protect Ukrainians from Russian aerial bombardment would need a buy-in from the Russians themselves to have any meaningful effect.

Bob Rae said a no-fly zone "is obviously a wonderful thing if it happens, but it requires a degree of consensus that simply doesn't exist in this situation."

Rae was speaking in an interview from New York earlier this week as calls intensified for NATO to close the skies above Ukraine to Russian war planes and helicopters.

On Wednesday, the Russian aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities continued, killing scores of civilians and forcing an estimated 870,000 people to flood into other European countries as refugees. The carnage continued one day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued the latest of many pleas for a no-fly zone, this time in a television interview with NBC from what looked like a secure bunker somewhere in Kyiv.

"As far as a no-fly zone is concerned it would have helped a lot. This is not about dragging NATO countries into war. The truth is everyone has long since been dragged into war and definitely not by Ukraine, but by Russia  a large-scale war is going on," Zelenskyy said in subtitled Ukrainian, clad in a green T-shirt and showing a few days of beard growth.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainians were ready to fight, but they could not fight alone. He said that is why a no-fly zone to close the sky" is necessary.

The United States, Britain and Canada have ruled out a no-fly zone as too provocative because it would essentially lead to an all-out air war between NATO forces and Russia. Defence Minister Anita Anand said Tuesday that "putting in place a no-fly zone would be a severe escalation on the part of NATO and it is not on the table at the current time."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also raised the stakes by saying his military's nuclear arsenal is now on alert.

That has not stopped some high-profile Canadians from taking to the airwaves and social media to push for a no-fly zone, including the former Canadian defence chief, retired general Rick Hillier, and former Conservative cabinet minister Chris Alexander, who also served as a senior UN representative in Afghanistan.

No-fly zones have been enforced in the past with great success, said Rae, pointing to the landmark effort in 1991 in the skies over northern Iraq to protect Kurds from a genocidal regime in Baghdad ruled by the dictator Saddam Hussein.

The United States, Britain and France patrolled the skies over northern Iraq, which kept Hussein's war planes on the ground and left Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to wage a ground war for the survival of their people without having to endure hellfire from above.

"It's important to remember that the successful no-fly zones have been carried out successfully because no one challenged the power of the country that was providing the air cover," said Rae.

"For example, the Kurds in northern Iraq, the no-fly zone that was put in place  was allowed to be maintained, because it was respected by Hussein, was respected by the Russians, respected by the Chinese, respected by the Saudis, respected by everybody."

That simply is not the case today in Ukraine, said Rae.

"One has to recognize what the risks of that would be," he said.

On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly, in its first emergency session since 1997, voted by a wide margin to call on Russia to stop its attack and bring home its troops. The vote was 141 to 5 with 35 countries abstaining, and was non-binding but reflected widespread world condemnation. Cuba, a popular vacation spot for Canadian sunseekers, was one of the handful of countries that voted with Russia.

Meanwhile, negotiators from Ukraine and Russia were preparing to meet Thursday for the second time to find a way to end the war, but there was no sign either side would be able to find common ground.

In his recent televised interview, Zelenskyy questioned how meaningful talks could be held with Russia while his people were being bombed.

Russia's bombardment on Ukraine has included cluster bombs, a cruel weapon that has been banned under a UN convention that neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed. Cluster bombs are munitions that arbitrarily scatter tiny bomblets and have a decades-long reputation for maiming and killing civilians, including children.

Some bomblets can lie unexploded for years, if not decades, and they have created generations of amputees in Asia and the Middle East, especially among children who are drawn to the often brightly coloured but deadly submunitions.

Mines Action Canada, which advocated for the international treaty to ban cluster bombs, denounced their use by the Russians on Wednesday, saying their use has resulted in civilian casualties in multiple Ukrainian cities, and follows Russian use of the weapon in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and 2015 and in Syria in 2015.

"Shopping mall parking lots, city streets and residential areas are now contaminated with unexploded submunitions. Canada can take action to help Ukrainian communities affected by cluster munitions by funding humanitarian mine action operators to carry out risk education and eventually clearance operations," Paul Hannon, the organization's executive director, said in a statement.

"Risk education, which warns people about dangerous explosive remnants of war like submunitions, is an urgent need as most civilians in Ukrainian cities have never seen these weapons before. These life-saving messages can be shared during the conflict through social media, radio and television so there is no time to waste."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Zelenskyy Wednesday to express solidarity and extend further support to the people in Ukraine.

A readout of their call said Trudeau commended Zelenskyys "outstanding bravery and front-line leadership, calling it inspirational for Canadians and people around the world."

Earlier Wednesday, Trudeau said he thinks Putin has been surprised by the strength and unity of Western sanctions against him and his country.

Trudeau said Putin likely never imagined that Germany would freeze its lucrative Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia or decide to send anti-tank weapons and surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine.

"For Germany to cancel Nord Stream, to talk about shipping weapons  to Ukraine? These are things that I think have definitely taken aback the Russian system because we are so united in standing up, not just for Ukraine, but for the principles of democracy that matter so much."

The decision to provide weapons marked a historic shift in German military policy that has its roots in consigning its Second World War aggression against Europe to the dustbin of history.

Trudeau echoed what Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday  that future sanctions against Russian business interests in Canada could cause some economic "collateral damage" domestically.

He said he may look at compensating some businesses but added that allies in Europe will feel the economic effects of sanctions much more than Canada.
Photo: The Canadian Press he control tower at Yellowknife Airport Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2001. The Northwest Territories infrastructure minister says a plane carrying Russian nationals on its way to the High Arctic landed in Yellowknife Tuesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Stoody

The Northwest Territories' infrastructure minister says a plane carrying Russian nationals on its way to the High Arctic was grounded Tuesday in Yellowknife.

Diane Archie told the legislature Wednesday that the plane appeared to be on its way to Resolute, Nunavut, with people who were planning to take an overland expedition in a large all-terrain utility vehicle.

Canada closed its airspace to Russian-owned or operated aircraft on Sunday following President Vladimir Putin's attack on Ukraine.

Archie says federal authorities were informed of the landing and it was being investigated by Transport Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency.

Transport Canada said in a statement late Wednesday that the charter aircraft that landed in Yellowknife was carrying two Russian foreign nationals.

Transport Canada says it will review whether there has been any violation of the recently announced notice prohibiting Russian aircraft that are owned, charted, or certified from operating in Canadian airspace.

"Potential consequences and enforcement actions will be determined based on the facts," Transport Canada said in an email.

"We can tell you that all travellers arriving in Canada are subject to strict screening measures and must demonstrate they meet the requirements to enter the country."
Photo: The Associated Press

Around 500,000 people in Sydney and its surrounds had by Thursday been told to evacuate or prepare to flee floodwaters as torrential rain lashed an extraordinarily long stretch of the Australian east coast.

Rivers were rising in Australias most populous city, home to 5 million, with New South Wales' State Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke warning of treacherous weather conditions over the next 24 hours.

Australias Bureau of Meteorology warned of life-threatening flash flooding and damaging winds with peak gusts in excess of 90 kilometers (56 miles) an hour.

Major flooding was expected along several rivers in and around Sydney. Dozens of suburbs were on high alert.

The State Emergency Service issued evacuation orders to 200,000 residents and evacuation warnings had been sent to another 300,000.

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet urged residents to take the orders seriously.

We do believe that things will get worse before they get better," Perrottet said.

Minor flood warnings were also issued for coastal communities as far as 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Sydney.

Floodwaters were also rising in Brisbane, Australias third-most populous city 730 kilometers (450 miles) north of Sydney, as severe thunder storms struck.

Hailstones 5 to 6 centimeters (2 inches) wide pounded the town of Inglewood, 270 kilometers (170 miles) southwest of Brisbane, early Thursday, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Extraordinarily heavy rain brought flash floods to the Queensland state coast 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of the capital Brisbane last week and a south-moving low-pressure system had since brought the rain south of Sydney.

The flooding has claimed 14 lives in Queensland and neighboring New South Wales since Feb. 22, when the body of a 63-year-old woman was recovered from a submerged car at Belli Park, north of Brisbane.

In New South Wales, a 54-year-old man was found Friday in a submerged SUV in Matcham, 90 kilometers (50 miles) north of Sydney.

Most recently, a man in his 70s was found in his flooded apartment Wednesday in Lismore, New South Wales. Four people died in the town of 28,000.

Several Brisbane suburbs remain flooded after the river that snakes through the city center peaked on Monday.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Assistant Commissioner John Cawcutt said hundreds of people were calling for help in Brisbane  home to 2.6 million people  and its surrounds with heavy rain causing flash flooding.

Weve got high winds and of course weve got the potential for flash flooding because of the already sodden ground out there, Cawcutt told Nine Network television.

Because of the saturation, creeks are rising very, very quickly  drains, stormwater areas, water is bubbling up from below ground so its right across Brisbane, Cawcutt added.

He described the dangerous weather extending north of Brisbane and south of Sydney as an enormous event.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Laura Boekel said thunderstorms brought the chance of more flooding, extending 450 kilometers (280 miles) north from Brisbane to Bundaberg during the next day or two.

This is a very dangerous and potentially life-threatening situation for southeast Queensland, Boekel said.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The anger and widespread distrust of media, governments and health authorities that fuelled the recent convoy protests in Ottawa are here to stay and will have a long-term impact on Canadian politics, say experts who monitor extremism and the far-right.

So will the convoy organizers, some of whom espouse far-right, extremist views, they said.

"This is something that we can't ignore," Kurt Phillips, a board member with the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, said in a recent interview. "We can recognize this as a problem here and deal with it ... or we could do what we did before and stick our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist until we have another blow-up."

Billed as the "Freedom Convoy 2022," the demonstration began Jan. 28 as transport trucks and thousands of people converged on Parliament Hill and took over downtown Ottawa for about three weeks, ultimately prompting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke the federal Emergencies Act. Arrests began Feb. 17, and by the end of the following day, police charged more than 100 people with various offences.

Participants said their movement was largely in opposition to the country's COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.

Amarnath Amarasingam, an assistant professor at Queen's University's school of religion and senior fellow with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, said the vast majority of convoy participants were not extremists, adding that he doesn't think it's fair to categorize the entire demonstration as a far-right rally.

"I think the organizers are definitely far-right and definitely extremist, but the movement is a bit more eclectic and broader than that," he said in a recent interview.

Organizers and frontmen included Pat King, who has been on the radar of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network for some time. He's also seen in a video posted to Twitter in 2019 saying there is an "endgame" to "depopulate the Anglo-Saxon race."

King was arrested Feb. 18 and charged with several offences, including counselling to commit mischief. Last Friday, he was denied bail. Neither King nor his lawyer, Cal Rosemond, responded to a request for comment.

Another convoy organizer, Benjamin Dichter, is reported by the Toronto Star to have told a 2019 People's Party of Canada convention that, "Islamist entryism and the adaptation of political Islam is rotting away at our society like syphilis." He objected on Twitter to being called extremist when asked for comment, and he didn't respond to an interview request.

Dichter made an appearance on the popular Fox News show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Jan. 27, and King became a kind of celebrity during the convoy demonstration, with protestors stopping to high five him and take selfies, Amarasingam said. King also appeared on Fox News's business channel, Fox Business, as a "co-founder" of the convoy.

"I think that convoy really boosted the profile of a lot of these people and made them celebrities across Canada," Amarasingam said. "We might start to see them organize a bit more formally or just continue as a grassroots right-wing populist movement that will have a voice in Canadian politics in some form or another."

Overall, Amarasingam said the convoy protests resulted in a "maturing and mainstreaming" of a right-wing Canadian populist movement similar to the Tea Party in the United States, which emerged in 2009. "It's much more about this groundswell of support for this 'people' against the 'elite' [narrative] and all that entails," he said.

Phillips is the founder of the Anti-Racist Canada website, where he tracked Canadian far-right movements for over a decade. He said he hopes the involvement and amplification of far-right influencers in the convoy protests serves as a wake-up call for the country to start taking the politics of these people seriously.

Canada has long punched above its weight when it comes to producing home-grown far-right influencers, Phillips said, pointing as an example to the Proud Boys, who were listed by the federal Liberal government as a terrorist organization following the January assault on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

"My big worry is now that this has slowed down ... are we going to go back and pretend it doesn't exist?" he asked. "If we do that it's going to continue to fester and grow."

David Hofmann, an associate professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick who studies extremism, says he has no doubt Canadian far-right groups saw the convoy as a success.

"There's energy," he said in a recent interview. Buoying that energy, he said, is a growing public tolerance for symbols and attitudes of hate and extremism.

"What we need to do as Canadians is push back, and push back in a non-violent way," Hofmann said. "We need to ... make it clear that this type of hateful rhetoric, these types of viewpoints are not acceptable here in Canada or elsewhere. And what it takes is individual Canadians stepping up."
Photo: The Canadian Press

Seven countries that ring the Arctic have pulled out of the international body that oversees its use and development in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Canada, the United States, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have announced they won't participate in the work of the Arctic Council or attend any of its meetings until further notice.

The Arctic Council is currently led by Russia.

The council is the main international body that brings together all northern nations to discuss environment and development issues.

It also includes Indigenous groups as permanent participants.

The organization was founded in Ottawa in 1996.
The Kelowna Peace Group will participate in a Canada-wide Day of Action on Sunday, March 6, at 1 p.m. at the Sails sculpture (at the foot of Bernard Avenue downtown).

Horrified by recent escalation of violence in Ukraine, the Kelowna Peace Group calls on all peace activists, to meet at The Sails near City Park to walk with us; to raise our voices along with a number of Canadian peace organizations, including Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, World Beyond War and the Canadian Peace Congress calling for a ceasefire and negotiations, not war and terror.

While we condemn the Russian invasion, we reject Canada, the U.S. and NATOs role in creating conditions for armed conflict in Ukraine. Canada has been a party to escalating the crisis by sending lethal aid to Ukraine, imposing warlike sanctions on Russia and promoting NATO membership for Ukraine.

Our great leaders have put all our lives in danger of nuclear war to gain some geopolitical advantage and fossil fuel market share.

People of all countries must unite to reject war and nuclear weapons. We need all our resources to care for our earthly environment.

Mark Haley, member, Kelowna Peace Group
Photo: The Canadian Press A woman and her child come out of a station in Mlyny, near the Korczowa border crossing, in Poland, Thursday.

Ukrainian churches and aid groups in Canada are raising funds and collecting donated items to support those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Darcia Moskaluk-Rutkay, a director at St. Demetrius Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Toronto, says the secretaries at her church are collecting funds before directing them to Ukrainians through an aid organization called the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and the Canadian Red Cross.

She says people of Ukrainian descent in Canada feel a duty to help those who've had to leave their homes because of the war.

The Canada-Ukraine Foundation says it had raised $4 million by Monday and delivered $500,000 of that to provide food packages, medicine and shelter.

Anna Dombrovska, the project officer for Ukraine at the Catholic Near East Welfare Association in Ottawa, says her organization had started raising money for Ukraine before the Russian attack that began last week.

She says the association has received $160,000 in donations and the funds will be sent to the organization's local partners in Ukraine and neighboring countries to support those who are suffering from the war.

Pastor Volodymyr Yanishevsky of the St. Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Toronto says a group of volunteers at his church are collecting material donations including clothing, hygiene products and non-perishable food items to send to those fleeing their homes.

He says Ukrainian Canadians are praying for their loved ones and other Ukrainians, and are trying to help them in any possible way.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a statement Thursday that 1 million people have fled Ukraine in seven days since the Russian invasion started on Feb. 24.
Photo: The Canadian Press

UPDATE 12:57 p.m.

A lawyer for British Columbia's former clerk of the legislative assembly says the Crown has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his client is guilty of any crimes.

Gavin Cameron says two people still stand by their decisions on Craig James receiving a retirement benefit of $258,000, and two others followed policy in approving his travel expense claims.

James has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud over $5,000 and three counts of breach of trust by a public officer based on allegations of misspending stemming from his time serving as clerk between 2011 and 2018.

Cameron has told a B.C. Supreme Court judge that James did not have corrupt or improper motives and some decisions involving finances were made based on subjective views in the absence of a clear, written policy.

However, he says the Crown has latched on to the term "protocol" to try and prove its case against James, who resigned three years ago after being suspended in 2018 when the RCMP began investigating.

Cameron also says there is no evidence suggesting a document is fraudulent in connection with an expense claim for a suit James bought in the United Kingdom before the possible modernization of the attire worn in the legislature.

ORIGINAL 10:07 a.m.

A lawyer for B.C.s former clerk of the legislative assembly has accused special prosecutors and witnesses of rewriting history in his criminal trial.

Gavin Cameron presented defence arguments Wednesday in the B.C. Supreme Court trial of Craig James, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of breach of trust.

He told Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes that the case has been under pressure from the public spotlight after former Speaker Darryl Plecas embarked on a crusade to find wrongdoing.

Plecas published a report in 2019 detailing allegations of misspending at the legislature months after James was placed on administrative leave amid an RCMP investigation.

Its scarce to find a matter which has received more public notoriety than this one  with reportage, multiple investigations, multiple interviews  in this province, Cameron said.

Crown prosecutors have said the case rests on three main areas: Jamess claim to a $258,000 retirement allowance; his role in the purchase and storage of a wood splitter and trailer; and his personal expense claims.

They have argued that James used his position, which they likened to the CEO of the legislature, to take advantage of weaknesses in policy to enrich himself.

However, Cameron argued that a guilty verdict could only be supported with proof of corruption and theres no evidence of that.

James was transparent with each of his claims, which were overseen by multiple responsible individuals who raised only a handful of questions over half a decade and never lodged a complaint, Cameron said.

When a problem was identified, he tried to fix it. James immediately changed his conduct after he was told alcohol was an inappropriate gift and wrote a personal cheque to reimburse an ineligible expense claim for a taxi fare, Cameron said.

Camerons defence colleague, Kevin Westell, said James inherited a broken system when he was named clerk in 2011 but he did what he could to fill the gaps, including forming an audit working group and inviting members of the auditor generals office to join meetings.

By 2017, he said, 33 of 36 serious issued identified by the auditor generals office had been rectified.



And the decision to award James a retirement benefit was that of the Speaker of the day, not James, Cameron said.

It was only after Plecas went on a crusade and threatened staff that concerns were raised, Cameron alleged.

Plecas brought the initial complaint against James to the RCMP, provided them with documents, and carried on his own investigation in parallel to the Mounties, he said.

Although Cameron said he did not believe any witness would be intentionally dishonest, he urged the judge to take their testimony with significant caution.

In my submission, a culture of fear reigned, he said.

He pointed to testimony from one legislative employee who told the court that Plecas and his special adviser Alan Mullen screamed at him like a dog and told him he was either with them or against them in the investigation.

Randall Ennis, who was acting sergeant-at-arms in 2018, said the incident occurred after he told the pair he believed the acting clerk should be informed of the RCMP investigation.

Even those who felt they didnt have to consciously tailor their evidence had it unconsciously tailored for them. Mr. Plecas wrote a highly publicized report containing inflammatory and demonstrably false allegations, Cameron said.

Cameron accused Crown prosecutors of overstating their case against James, which he said isnt backed up with sufficient evidence.

The evidence showed that reasonable and legitimate people acting within reasonable administrative frameworks considered the matters carried on in the open by Mr. James and never once suggested there was fraud or crime, he said.

The worst that can be said of Mr. James is that hes guilty of bureaucratic ineptitude. Thats not a crime.
Photo: Contributed

A shortage of industrial real estate and soaring demand will drive the average price of industrial land in Metro Vancouver to more than $7 million this year, according to a national study of the commercial real estate market by CBRE, released on March 1.

The lack of industrial land across Vancouver has driven significant land price growth in recent years and this trend is expected to continue going forward. The markets average land price figure is expected to increase by 17.5 per cent and reach a new record $7.05 million per acre in 2022, the 2022 Canada Real Estate Market Outlook states.

Development will also be pushed further afield to submarkets such as Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Maple Ridge, and Mission, according to CBRE, a leading commercial real estate agency.

Metro Vancouver demand, driven largely by e-commerce and logistics requirements, will cause the industrial market to tighten further in 2022, CBRE forecasts.

Development has ramped up considerably, but 79.2 per cent of the record 9.4 million square feet that is under construction in Metro Vancouver had already been pre-leased as of year-end 2021, the report notes.

The continued supply-demand imbalance is forecast to drive vacancy rates to new lows of 0.7 per cent, while lease rates are expected to increase upwards of 13.5 per cent in 2022.

For strata industrial sales, the average price per square foot is forecast to reach $590 this year, up from $390 per square foot just two years ago.

The CBRE land price projections appear right on the money.

On January 12, CBREs Vancouver office sold an 8.9-acre industrial site ay 9800 Van Horne Way, Richmond, for $60.5 million, or $6.73 million per acre.

The most recent major sale of an industrial property, announced March 2, was the transaction of 13.9 acres at 7233 Progress Way, Delta, for $82.68 million, the equivalent of $5.94 million per acre.

Toyota Canada, the vendor, sold the site, which includes 267,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space, to developer Beedie in an off-market, bid-process deal through JLL Canada, Vancouver. JLL brokers were executive vice-president Bruno Fiorvento and vice-president Baktash Kasra.

Toyota will vacate the Tilbury Industrial Park site in the second quarter of this year, according to JLL.
Open letter to B.C. Premier John Horgan:

Many of us are sick and tired of your (government's) continued tax increases in this province. Increasing costs on natural gas appliances to try and force residents to spend more on electric appliances is a sham.

Is it that you need to increase electricity use to justify your Site C debacle? Remove the tax and let British Columbians decide how to live their lives. Further to your electric vehicle rebates, the NDP (government) has decided to use hardworking British Columbian's tax dollars to subsidize people to buy electric.

There is one however, thousands of B.C. residents live in condominiums, or rent apartments, own townhomes and work in office towers where there is no ability to charge an electric vehicle. So you are favouring all the McMillionaires who own homes and further subsidize them with my tax dollars to pay 60% to incentivize them to convert to heat pumps and give them thousands of dollars in rebates to buy electric cars while penalizing those who need to replace their appliances if they don't buy electric.

Before giving away all my hard earned tax dollars, your government needs to be fair to all British Columbians, not just your voter base in Vancouver and Victoria. Start by installing EV charging stations in every apartment, condo and office building in the province. Then, offer rebates on EV cars to even the playing field for (all) residents in this province.

On a last note.It is apparent your government enjoys the fuel price increase. It plays right into your playbookmake fuel prices so unaffordable through taxes and supply (caused by your lack of support) that the EV playing field becomes more palatable.

I voted NDP for the first time in the last (provincial) election, but never again. This NDP government is a financial train wreck.

Michael Laurin
Horn Lake may crack down on residents parking on both sides of the street in residential areas like Somerset Drive.
Photo: Contributed Liz Fitzgerald of Southington and Paige Niver of Manchester embrace at the end of a news conference at Connecticut Attorney General William Tong's office, Thursday, March 3, 2022.

Purdue Pharma reached a nationwide settlement Thursday over its role in the opioid crisis, with the Sackler family members who own the company boosting their cash contribution to as much as $6 billion in a deal intended to staunch a flood of lawsuits facing the maker of OxyContin.

The deal follows an earlier settlement that had been appealed by eight states and the District of Columbia. They agreed to sign on after the Sacklers kicked in more cash and accepted other terms. In exchange, the family would be protected from civil lawsuits.

In all, the plan could be worth more than $10 billion over time. It calls for members of the Sackler family to give up control of the Stamford, Connecticut-based company so it can be turned into a new entity with profits used to fight the crisis. The deal would not shield members of the family from criminal charges, although theres no indication any are forthcoming.

Sackler family members have not unequivocally offered an apology but issued a statement of regret about the toll of OxyContin, its signature painkiller, which users learned could be manipulated to produce quick highs. Purdue Pharma had promoted its use for a broad range of pain issues for which doctors previously had shied away from prescribing opioids.

"While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities, said the statement from the Sackler family.

Under the settlement, victims also are to have a forum in court, by videoconference scheduled for March 9, to address some of the Sacklers. Thats something they have not been able to do previously in a public setting.

The settlement is outlined in a report filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York, and must be approved by the judge. It was hammered out with attorneys general from the eight states  California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington  and D.C. who had opposed the earlier one, arguing that it did not properly hold Sackler family members accountable.

Several parents whose children became addicted to opioids said they were ambivalent  glad that more money will be available for addiction treatment, but upset that the Sacklers will remain wealthy and escape more accountability.

Connecticut's Paige Niver, whose daughter became addicted following a bicycle accident when she was 14 and remains in recovery about 13 years later, said she didn't want other families to endure what hers did.

As a mother, I did what the doctor told me to do and I just kept giving them to her. And when they were starting to have kind of a lesser effect, they say, Oh, then you need to give her more. And thats exactly what I did, she said at a news conference Thursday with her state's attorney general.

I never thought Id see any justice for it, so the money will do so much good  fund as much treatment and prevention as possible, Niver said.

Ed Bisch, whose 18-year-old son died of an overdose 20 years ago, is glad states pushed Sackler family members to pay more. Still, he called the settlement a horrible deal because so many parents who buried loved ones wont see money, while the Sacklers retain their wealth.

Guess what? They still made billions and billions of dollars, said Bisch, of Westampton, New Jersey. Without any jail time, where is the deterrent? Weve lost two generations to their greed.

Individual victims and their survivors are to share a $750 million fund, a key provision not found in other opioid settlements. About 149,000 people made claims in advance and could qualify for shares from the fund.

That amount is unchanged in the new plan, but states will be able to create funds they can use to compensate victims beyond that, if they choose.

Other new provisions include an agreement from Sackler family members that they wont fight when institutions attempt to take their names off buildings funded by the familys support. And additional company documents are to be made public.

Most of the the money is to flow to state and local governments, Native American tribes, and some hospitals, with the requirement that it be used to battle an opioid crisis that has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades.

Were pleased with the settlement achieved in mediation, under which all of the additional settlement funds will be used for opioid abatement programs, overdose rescue medicines, and victims," Purdue Pharma said in a statement issued separately from the family's. "With this mediation result, we continue on track to proceed through the appeals process on an expedited schedule, and we hope to swiftly deliver these resources.

Kentucky and Oklahoma are not part of the deal because they both reached previous settlements with Purdue.

Purdue, the originator of time-release versions of powerful prescription painkillers, is the highest-profile company out of many that have faced lawsuits over the crisis. It has twice pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to its business practices around OxyContin.

The latest announcement follows another landmark settlement late last week, when drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three distributors finalized a settlement that will send $26 billion over time to virtually every state and local governments throughout the U.S.

There are two key differences between the the latest Purdue settlement and the previous one struck last year. The Sacklers cash contribution has gone up by at least $1.2 billion, and state attorneys general and the District of Columbia have now agreed.

The money is to begin flowing after Purdue, which is to be renamed Knoa Pharma, emerges from bankruptcy. It's not clear when that will be. The last payment under the settlement is not scheduled to be made until 2039.

Last year, the eight states and D.C. refused to sign on, and then most of them appealed after the deal was approved by the bankruptcy judge.

In December, a U.S. district judge sided with the nine holdouts. The judge, Colleen McMahon, rejected the settlement with a finding that bankruptcy judges lack the authority to grant legal protection to people who dont themselves file for bankruptcy when some parties disagree.

Purdue appealed that decision, which, if left standing, could have scuttled a common method of reaching settlements in sweeping, complicated lawsuits.

The attorneys general who have signed on are dropping from the main legal battle but are still free to write briefs to tell courts not to allow the protections for people who do not file for bankruptcy themselves.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has repeatedly said he has felt a special obligation to be aggressive in the case because Purdue is headquartered in the state. He expressed some disappointment Thursday with the final settlement, even though he said it was 40% more than the previous one.

I wanted more. I still want more. But I took it as far as I could take it," he said during a news conference. "If we were to continue, we would do it alone and that is untenable.

The new settlement requires approval from U.S Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain. Appeals related to the previous version of the plan could continue moving through the court system.
Yanceyville, NC (27379)

Today

Clear to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds light and variable.
The virus that causes COVID-19 respects no borders and doesnt discriminate between countries with a lot or limited resources. All countries had to step up and meet the high demand on laboratories that comes with increased testing due to the pandemic. Laboratories are at the core of any countrys ability to prevent, identify, and respond to COVID-19, HIV, TB, malaria, Ebola, and other infectious diseases.

With CDCs support and investment in SLMTAexternal icon  short for Strengthening Laboratory Management Toward Accreditation  laboratories in many low- and middle-income countries are keeping up with the increased demand.

In Central America and Mozambique, SLMTA laboratories conduct 100% of PCR testing of COVID-19 samples taken from the nose or mouth. PCR stands for polymerase chain reaction. A PCR test is the most commonly used test that can detect the virus that causes COVID-19.

Most public health facilities in Angola, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Cambodia, and Vietnam that collect or process COVID-19 samples at a public laboratory benefit from the SLMTA program by receiving training, mentorship, or quality assurance support from SLMTA-trained personnel.

What is SLMTA external icon ?

SLMTA is an international laboratory improvement program designed for countries with limited resources.

It provides a learn by doing curriculum with hands-on experience through a series of short courses and work-based improvement projects supported by on-site visits and mentoring. The program teaches laboratory managers how to use available resources to improve how their laboratories run.
Discussion

This report provides findings from v-safe and VAERS data collected during the first 711 weeks of administration of homologous Pfizer-BioNTech booster doses to persons aged 1217 years, during which time approximately 2.8 million booster doses were administered. Among adolescents, reports to v-safe and VAERS after receipt of a booster dose were generally similar to those previously described after a primary series dose, reinforcing that vaccination among this population is safe (4,5). Health care providers, parents, and adolescents should be advised that local and systemic reactions are expected among adolescents after Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccination and that serious adverse events are rare.

Reports to v-safe after receipt of a booster dose in an adolescent were generally similar to those previously described for persons aged 18 years who received a homologous booster dose of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (6,7); however, reactions among adolescents were reported to v-safe with equal or slightly higher frequency after receipt of a booster dose than after dose 2. Reactions reported after both dose 2 and booster dose vaccination were mostly mild to moderate in severity. Most were reported the day after vaccination. Inability to attend school was more frequently reported after a booster dose than after dose 2; however, for many in this age group, receipt of dose 2 occurred during a period of remote learning or summer vacation, which might have affected reporting. Hospitalization in the week after booster dose vaccination was reported for one adolescent with new onset migraine; whether hospitalization was the result of COVID-19 vaccination could not be determined.

Most (91.6%) reports to VAERS for adolescents after a Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose were nonserious and generally similar to those reported for this age group after primary series vaccination (4). The most common adverse events reported to VAERS in this age group were administration errors and events, including dizziness, related to syncope, a vasovagal response to vaccination that is common among adolescents after any vaccination (8). Most reports of administration errors mentioned that no adverse event was associated with receipt of an incorrect dose.

Among the 64 VAERS reports of myocarditis, a rare adverse event that has been associated with mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines (3), after Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose vaccination among adolescents, 32 cases were confirmed at the time of this report. The reporting rate of confirmed cases of myocarditis among adolescent boys after Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose vaccination (11.4 per 1 million doses administered) was lower than for dose 2 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination for boys aged 1215 years (70.7 per 1 million doses administered) or 1617 years (105.9 per 1 million doses administered) (3). CDC will follow up on myocarditis reports at 36 months after onset to assess health and functional status.

The findings in this report are subject to at least four limitations. First, v-safe is a voluntary program; therefore, data might not be representative of the vaccinated population. Second, it is possible that vaccinees who experience an adverse event could be more likely to respond to v-safe surveys. Third, as a passive surveillance system, VAERS is subject to reporting biases and underreporting, especially of nonserious events (2). Finally, assessment of myocarditis reports to VAERS is ongoing, and counts are subject to change.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that all persons aged 12 years receive a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine 5 months after the second dose of the mRNA vaccine primary series (9). Preliminary safety findings for booster doses among adolescents are generally similar to those reported after a primary series in this age group. Health care providers, parents, and adolescents should be advised that local and systemic reactions are expected among adolescents after homologous Pfizer-BioNTech booster vaccination, and that serious adverse events are rare. CDC and FDA will continue to monitor vaccine safety and will provide updates as needed to guide COVID-19 vaccination recommendations.
Discussion

In a multistate analysis of 39,217 ED and UC encounters with COVID-19like illness among nonimmunocompromised patients aged 517 years through January 29, 2022, estimates of Pfizer-BioNTech VE against COVID-19associated ED and UC encounters varied by time since vaccination and by predominant circulating SARS-CoV-2 variant. Among adolescents aged 1217 years during the full study period including pre-Delta, Delta, and Omicron predominant periods, 2-dose VE estimates were higher (76%83%) 14149 days after receipt of a second dose, and significantly lower (38%46%) at 150 days postvaccination. However, a third vaccine dose restored VE against COVID-19associated ED or UC encounters to 86% among adolescents aged 1617 years. Among children aged 511 years during the full study period, VE of 2 doses (1467 days earlier) against COVID-19associated ED or UC encounters was 46%, which was significantly lower than overall estimates for adolescents aged 1217 years. However, most encounters among children aged 511 years occurred during Omicron predominance, when VE significantly declined for adolescents aged 1217 years. During Omicron predominance, VE of a second dose received 14149 days earlier was 45% and 34% for adolescents aged 1215 and 1617 years, respectively, suggesting that the lower VE observed among children aged 511 years was likely driven by the predominant variant rather than differences in VE across age groups. During Omicron predominance, there was no evidence of protection for adolescents aged 1217 years from 2 doses received 150 days earlier; however, a third vaccine restored VE to 81% among adolescents aged 1617 years.

Receipt of 2 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses in persons aged 1217 years provided a high level of protection (>90%) against COVID-19associated hospitalizations within 149 days of receipt of the second dose. VE point estimates for second dose received 150 days earlier were 73% to 88%; however, differences by time since vaccination were not statistically significant. Additional data are needed to better understand duration of protection against COVID-19associated hospitalization in adolescents aged 1217 years, the protection from 3 doses, and the level of protection among children aged 511 years.

These findings are consistent with previously published data showing high effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine among adolescents before Omicron became the predominant variant (46), and with data from adults demonstrating relatively higher protection against more severe outcomes (7). These findings are also consistent with data showing a decline in mRNA VE over time since receipt of the second dose among adolescents and adults (810). The findings in this report also align with studies among adults that report lower VEs during Omicron variant predominance (9,10) and an increase in VE after receipt of a third vaccine dose (9,10).

The findings in this report are subject to at least six limitations. First, comparison of VE estimates between age groups should be made with caution because of differences in the timing of vaccine availability and predominant variants when the vaccine became available to different age groups. Second, statistical power for estimating VE against COVID-19associated hospitalizations was limited, resulting in wide CIs for some groups, particularly children aged 511 years. Third, among adolescents aged 1617, the estimated 3-dose VE was based on a relatively short period after vaccination. Fourth, despite adjustments to balance the differences between unvaccinated and vaccinated persons, unmeasured and residual confounding (e.g., mask use and physical distancing) might have biased the estimates. Fifth, genetic characterization of patients viruses was not available, and Delta and Omicron predominance periods were based on surveillance data. Finally, although the facilities in this study serve heterogeneous populations in 10 states, the findings might not be generalizable to the U.S. population.

This report provides real-world evidence of protection by the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19associated ED and UC encounters and hospitalizations among children and adolescents aged 517 years and supports the role of third (booster) doses in maintaining high levels of VE in the setting of Omicron predominance. All eligible children and adolescents should remain up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccinations, including a booster dose for those aged 1217 years.
Egypt sees 151% cement export surge in 2021

ICR Newsroom By 03 March 2022

Cement exports from Egypt are up 151 per cent YoY in 2021 to US$456m from US$182m in 2020, according to a recent report by the Export Council for Building Materials, Refractory and Metallurgy Industries.



The increase in exports was driven by a higher demand for Egyptian cement, said Medhat Stefanos, chairman of the cement division of the Federation of Egyptian Industries. In addition, domestic producers are focussing on expanding their market to Africa.

Published under
AfriSam hosts annual budget breakdown event

03 March 2022

Speaking at AfriSams recent National Budget Breakdown function, an annual event now in its fifth year, Dr Azar Jammine, director and chief economist of Econometrix, gave a thumbs up to the 2022 budget, saying it was highly satisfactory with no harm.

Howeverm he cautioned that servicing the national debt was becoming increasingly onerous and now accounted for 14 per cent of government expenditure. He also expressed the view that there was nothing in the budget "to make one believe sustainable growth will improve forthwith."

Trevor Manuel, who served as South Africas Minister of Finance from 1996 to 2009, provided valuable and insightful commentary, based on his intimate knowledge and experience. Reviewing the global economy, Jammine said it had grown by 5.9 per cent in 2021 with the IMF predicting that this figure would fall to four per cent in 2022 and 3.8 per cent in 2023. By contrast, South Africa had shown 4.6 per cent growth in 2021, well below the global average, with the IMF forecasting that this would drop to 1.9 per cent in 2022 and a paltry 1.4 per cent, the lowest of any major economy, in 2023.

Turning to some of the specifics of the South African economy, Jammine said construction had been the weakest sector of the economy over the past decade and now accounted for just 2.5 per cent of GDP. This was due to gross capital formation in South Africa having declined, as a percentage of GDP, from 19 per cent around 2014 to the current 13 per cent.

Concluding his presentation on a positive note, Jammine said the construction industry could receive a big boost from an increase in infrastructural spending. He noted that 51 well-defined projects worth ZAR340bn (US$22.18m) had been identified in the 2020 Economic Recovery and Construction Plan and that the project pipeline has since been expanded to include an additional 55 projects worth ZAR595bn.

This amounted to a grand total of ZAR935bn representing 126 per cent of total annual fixed investment. He said that if all, or even just some, of these projects were implemented it would be a game changer for the industry and a major boost to the economy, with growth increasing by as much as two per cent a year.

Published under
Buena Vista, CO (81211)

Today

Some passing clouds. Low around 30F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Some passing clouds. Low around 30F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Danville City leaders get ready to breathe new life into the old mill village; Danville leaders ready to weigh proposal to provide real estate tax help to elderly and disabled; Danville native taking his place in Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
A man on Foust Street told police that a black Ford Explorer pulled into his driveway. He said a white male got out of the car and then went and jumped the fence of his neighbor's yard. He said he told the man that he was calling the police, and the man ran back to his car and left the scene prior to police arrival. Officers were unable to make contact with the residents at the neighbor's house. Officers attempted to locate the vehicle, but were unable to find it.

* * *

A field technician for AT&T told police that when he arrived at 90 W 28th St., he discovered

someone had stolen two grounding bars (worth $350). He said he had not been at this location since November, so it is unclear when the theft occurred. There is no suspect information.

* * *

A man called police and said he located his stolen trailer at a residence on Upshaw Drive. He said his trailer was stolen from Catoosa County on Friday, and he reported it to the Sheriff's Office

He said his trailer was a roll-off and provided the VIN number. He said someone at the address on Upshaw Drive was attempting to sell a trailer and he believes it is his stolen trailer. Police checked, but were unable to verify if the trailer was stolen. Police contacted the Catoosa County Sheriff's Office and spoke with a detective, who confirmed the trailer was stolen. Police made contact with the resident on Upshaw Drive, who said someone dropped off the trailer last night and he noticed it this morning. The owner of the trailer took possession of it and left the scene without further incident. Police contacted NCIC and had the trailer removed.

* * *

An employee of the Red Roof Inn, 7014 Shallowford Road, told police they found a firearm in room 110. He said the person who rented the room had left and they were unable to reach him. Police took possession of the firearm and turned it in to Property, releasable to the owner.

* * *

An employee at the U-Haul, 1725 Chickamauga Loop, told police that one of the trailers had been stolen. He said he does not know exactly when or who stole the trailer. He provided police with all of the trailer information and said that he would like to prosecute. The trailer was entered into NCIC.

* * *

A man on South Beech Street showed police a hole in the rear driver's side door of his vehicle which appeared to have been caused by a bullet. He did not see what happened to cause the damage to his vehicle.

* * *

A man on East Brainerd Road told police that sometime after 4 a.m. that morning someone stole both of his Glock firearms from his 2022 Atlas. He said he may have failed to lock his vehicle, as he found no damage. Both were added to NCIC.

* * *

A man told police he was traveling north on Highway 153 when a rock flew off a J.B. Hunt truck and cracked his windshield. The man made contact with J.B. Hunt, who said they would handle between the company and driver. Police made a report for possible insurance use.

* * *



Police responded to Big Lots, 3901 Hixson Pike, for a potential shoplifting. Police detained a man and a woman. Through investigation, police determined no theft occurred. Both of them were trespassed from the property.

* * *

Police initiated a traffic stop at the 6800 block of Lee Highway on a dark-colored Tahoe for

improper registration. The driver told police it was his grandmother's car and he was unaware that the tag was unregistered. Police ran the vehicle, the driver, and the passenger through NCIC with no return. Police gave the driver a warning.

* * *

Police responded to a hold up alarm at the Mapco, 2727 Rossville Blvd. One of the employees told police that it was an accidental press because she was stuck inside the freezer and thought the button would release the door. There were no signs of distress from either Mapco employee.
Pat Robertson, who once graduated from McCallie School, is notably described as an American media mogul, televangelist, political commentator, former Republican presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister.

The son of a Virginia Senator, Pat attended boarding school on Chattanoogas Missionary Ridge during the World War II years (1940-1946) and today, at age 91, he claims Russias invasion of the Ukraine might all fit into Biblical End Times prophecy.

On Monday, Pat made a special appearance on religious The 700 Club  which he founded  and opened by reading from the Bible.

The following is a loose transcript of what Pat chose from the Bible and shared with a national television audience in a rare appearance. He explained Ezekiel was a prophet who is believed to have written the  Book of Ezekiel, and the prophets belief was that one day all the nations will come together and rise up against Israel.

Pat Robertson believes this weeks Russian invasion might be a precursor to what would be Armageddon

* * *

EZEKIEL 38: 1-6: Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, 'This is what the Lord God says: Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. So I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them magnificently dressed, a great contingent with shield and buckler, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with buckler and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops many peoples with you.'"

* * *

Referring to a map showing the location of Ukraine, Robertson pointed to a "choke point" between Bulgaria, Turkey, and Greece and why Russia might eventually be aiming to control that point.

He continued reading from Ezekiel 38.

* * *

EZEKIEL 38: 18-22. "It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," declares Lord God, "That my fury will mount up in my anger. In my zeal and in my blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will certainly be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all the crawling things that crawl on the earth, and all mankind who are on the face of the earth will shake at my presence; and the mountains will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him on all my mountains," declares the Lord God. "Every man's sword will be against his brother. With plague and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone."

* * *

Robertson also showed a map explaining which biblical names correspond to the modern-day countries.

* -- Gomer = Ukraine

* -- Rosh = Russia

* -- Magog = Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan

* -- Persia = Iran

* -- Togarmah and Tubal = Turkey and Syria

* -- Put = Libya

* -- Cush = North Sudan and Egypt

"North Sudan is so-called Cush," Robertson said. "All of those troops there are going to be coming against Israel in the latter days. And God says, 'I am going to take care of it.'"

"But is Putin insane?" Robertson asked ... "Well, yes and no. Because he is being driven to move against Israel because God says 'I'm going to put hooks in your jaws and I'm going to bring you down on them.' Now you get the picture."

Robertson said Putin and Turkish President Erdogan's troops will one day work together to make up a tremendous army in the latter days.

"And I think you can say, 'Well, Putin is out of his mind,' and yes, maybe so. But at the same time, he's being compelled by God," CBN's founder said. "He went into Ukraine, but that wasn't his goal. His goal was to move against Israel ultimately. And he will link up with Turkey across the little (land) bridge, and they will come together. And then, you look down into North Sudan, you've got a Muslim country down there, and there they all are. Persia, of course, is Iran."

"And there is the land that is set up in Ezekiel 38 and you see how Ukraine is key because you see the land bridge between Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. And all of that area is going to be mobilized against Israel in the latter days. And God says, 'I am going to deal with it,'" Robertson said.

"So you can look at your map. You can read your newspapers. You can listen to your news. But know of a fact that God is bringing to pass what he prophesied years ago through his servant Ezekiel," he explained. "And you read it in the 38th passage of Ezekiel, one through six, it's all there. And God is getting ready to do something amazing and that will be fulfilled."

Robertson told The 700 Club viewers on Monday to "Read your Bible because it's coming to pass."

* * *

royexum@aol.com
The Transportation Security Administration discovered a loaded firearm at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport (CHA) security checkpoint this morning.

At approximately 6 a.m., a loaded Ruger .380 caliber handgun was detected in a passengers carry-on bag. TSA immediately alerted airport police, who took possession of the bag and escorted the passenger out of the checkpoint area.

While firearms may be transported in checked baggage (provided they are declared to the airline, in a proper carrying case and unloaded), they are prohibited in carry-on bags.

Officials said, "Security is the first concern of the TSA, and having these items in bags that are traveling with you on the aircraft is dangerous to other travelers and can be easily mistaken as an intentional attempt to bring a prohibited item onto an aircraft."

Passengers must remember they are responsible for the contents of bags and our advice is they thoroughly inspect all personal belongings to make sure there are no illegal or prohibited items before coming to the airport, said Steve Wood, TSA Federal Security director for Tennessee.

This is the third firearm detected by TSA officers at CHA security checkpoints in 2022. A total of 24 were detected there last year.

In addition to potential criminal charges, passengers who bring firearms to a checkpoint face civil penalties from TSA: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/civil-enforcement

For more information about TSA prohibited items, please follow these links: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/all

https://www.tsa.gov/travel/transporting-firearms-and-ammunition
The Salvation Army has pivoted programs across Europe to focus on providing food, water, clothes, blankets, self-care items, shelter and emotional and spiritual care to those who are displaced and in need of assistance in Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Russia  where over 60,000 people are already displaced in the southern part of the country.Locally, The Salvation Army in Cleveland and other local groups have been in touch with Cleveland native and volunteer Mike Hall to help support his efforts on the ground in Ukraine.Hes an independent consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice and responsible for training the Ukrainian police force, but Mr. Halls responsibilities have changed drastically in the last couple weeks, officials said.Police are fighting alongside the military, but theyre also taking calls for service on their 102 system, which is like our 911 system, said Mr. Hall in a Skype interview on Wednesday. They average about 700 calls per day in Kyiv, but now its about 7,000 calls per day. Theyre the first responders, so were trying to equip them with all kinds of medical supplies so they can help their citizens and each other.In response to this massive need, Mr. Hall created an Amazon list with first-aid essentials, hand sanitizer, batteries, food items and other important tools like night vision goggles and prepaid SIM cards to support police officers and other personnel across Ukraine.All items purchased through this list will be delivered to the Bradley County Sheriffs Office. Items can also be purchased elsewhere and delivered to the Sheriffs Office at 2290 Blythe Ave SE or The Salvation Armys Chattanooga Area Command at 822 McCallie Ave.The Salvation Army in Cleveland, of which Mr. Hall is a longtime volunteer and supporter, is also assisting with storage, shipping and other logistics surrounding these donations.The Salvation Army is thankful for Halls longstanding support and admires his efforts to help, said Major Mark Smith, The Salvation Army of Greater Chattanoogas area commander. We hope his actions motivate people to give to The Salvation Armys disaster relief efforts as we anticipate a prolonged need in Ukraine.Mr. Hall stated that with no clear end to this crisis in sight, large amounts of each requested item will be necessary. He also encourages people to send letters of support with their donations.If we can all join our efforts together, we can make a huge difference, said Mr. Hall. The letters of support and prayers go a long way. They need to hear that we support them and believe in their independence  that gives them a boost.Mr. Hall once worked for the Bradley County Sheriffs Office, served as a youth and worship pastor at Mt. Olive Church of God and is the former director of Tennessees 10th Judicial District Drugs and Violent Crimes Task Force.Donations to The Salvation Armys disaster relief efforts can be made here or by texting UKRAINE and the amount you wish to donate to 52000.Mr. Halls Amazon list can be found here
A 64-year-old Dalton woman has been found guilty by a Whitfield County jury in a stabbing case.

Pamela Lee Cooper, of 143 Santa Fe Trail, was convicted on Thursday of family violence aggravated assault (two counts), family violence aggravated battery, possession of a knife during the commission of a crime, and family violence battery.

Superior Court Judge Scott Minter presided over the trial and scheduled sentencing for April 8.

Ms. Cooper faces up to 20 years in prison for each charge of family violence aggravated assault and family violence aggravated battery plus an additional five years for the weapon charge and up to 12 months on the family violence battery.

She had bonded out after her original arrest on May 23, 2020 but was rearrested in October of last year for violating a family violence order and has been in custody since that arrest. She will remain in custody pending sentencing.

The states case was presented by Assistant District Attorney Meg Deitz Parker. The defendant was represented by Dalton attorneys Steve Williams and Sam Sanders.

The jury was selected on Monday at the Dalton Convention Center due to ongoing renovations at the courthouse. The trial began at the Courthouse on Tuesday and concluded on Wednesday afternoon.

Asst. DA Parker presented more than 65 exhibits and called eight witnesses during the trial including Detective Dewayne Holmes of the Whitfield County Sheriffs Office who had led the investigation.

The states case focused on Ms. Coopers actions towards her boyfriend of over 40 years which occurred on May 23, 2020. The evidence presented showed that she had struck her boyfriend in the back of the head with a glass ash tray and stabbed him in the stomach with a filet knife. The evidence presented included recordings of both parties statements, photographs of the victims injuries, and testimony regarding Ms. Coopers prior act of attacking her boyfriend with a knife in 1988. The state also presented photographs of Ms. Cooper from the morning after the assault on May 23, 2020, photographs of the crime scene, and jail calls made by Ms. Cooper instructing family members to tell the victim to stay out of state.

The victim was not cooperative with the prosecution and was not under subpoena heading into jury selection. The Court had previously granted a motion filed by Asst. DA Parker to allow the victims prior statements, over a defense hearsay objection, because of evidence that the defendant herself was responsible for the victims unavailability. However, in spite of having no contact with the District Attorneys Office about the trial or court dates, the victim appeared at the Dalton Convention Center on Monday, was spotted by Asst. DA Parker and served with a subpoena before he left the building. He remained uncooperative however, recanting his prior statements against Ms. Cooper from the witness stand. The jury deliberated for almost three hours starting Wednesday afternoon and concluding Thursday morning with the verdict of guilty on all counts.

Asst. DA Parker stated, This case shows the complexity of domestic violence that our team in the Domestic Violence Unit sees every day. Unaddressed violence in an intimate relationship will continue to escalate which leads to law enforcement becoming involved. Once law enforcement becomes involved, we frequently face issues from the defendants family or the victim themselves not wanting to cooperate once the violence has ended. But there comes a time when there is no denying that a relationship is out of control and something has to be done. This relationship was out of control and the jury made the right call by finding Coopers actions were not justified. Detective Holmes and the Whitfield County Sheriffs Office deputies who responded to the scene did an excellent job in their work to document the scene and what they found to help the jury reach their verdict.

The Domestic Violence Unit within the District Attorneys Office was established under former District Attorney Kermit McManus in 1997 in order to provide additional resources for investigating cases that are typically very challenging to prosecute. The unit is funded in part by a federal Violence Against Women Act grant as well as by local funds provided by Whitfield County. The unit also works closely with the Domestic Violence Accountability Court presided over by Judge Cindy Morris and with the Northwest Georgia Family Crisis Center and with law enforcement and other agencies dedicated to protecting victims and ended domestic violence.
Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz and Andrew Freiberg, who is Circuit Court judge for Bradley, McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties, could be headed for the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.

The Governors Council for Judicial Appointments met Thursday to consider seven applicants for the two imminent vacancies on the Court of Criminal Appeals Eastern Section.

After holding a public hearing and conducting public interviews, the Council selected the following applicants:

Andrew Freiberg

Thomas Greenholtz

Kyle Hixson

Tracy Jenkins

The Council has forwarded these four names to Governor Bill Lee for his consideration.

These two vacancies were created by the decisions of the Honorable Norma McGee Ogle and the Honorable D. Kelly Thomas, Jr. not to file declarations of candidacy for retention in the August 2022 election.
New TV drama Bel-Air reimagines the memorable 90s sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air characters into more serious and modern adaptations. Actor Will Smith helped develop the series, and his former rap partner and co-star DJ Jazzy Jeff recently called it his favorite show ever. What is the release date for Bel-Air Season 1 Episode 6, and what time does it air on Peacock?

Bel-Air cast Jimmy Akingbola, Cassandra Freeman, Morgan Cooper, Simone Joy Jones, Jabari Banks, Jordan L. Jones, and Coco Jones | Amy Sussman/WireImage/Getty Images

After the 2022 Super Bowl aired on Feb. 13, Peacock released the first three episodes of its new drama series, Bel-Air. Even though viewers got their first taste of the show on a Sunday, new episodes are released on Thursdays.

As a result, episode 4s Canvass dropped on Feb. 17, with episode 5s PA to LA premiering on Feb. 24.

RELATED: Bel-Air Season 1 Tracklist: All the Songs Featured in Episode 5, PA to LA

Bel-Air Season 1 Episode 6 will air tomorrow, March 3, on Peacock after midnight EST. Titled The Strength to Smile, the upcoming chapter will feature the Banks supporting Carltons ex, Lisa, by hosting a memorial for her mother.

The remaining episodes will premiere every Thursday on Peacock, currently without a scheduled break. Bel-Air Season 1 will include 10 episodes, with the finale airing on March 31.

Recap of Bel-Air Season 1 Episode 5

During episode 5, Will Smith (Jabari Banks) welcomed his best friend from back home, Tray (SteVonte Hart), to the mansion for a visit. However, Tray and later his mother Vy (April Parker Jones) make it clear they expect the teenager to return to Philadelphia now that drug dealer Rashad Denton (Eazy the Block Captain) is dead.

Feeling out of place during a dinner for Hilarys (Coco Jones) new influencer housemates, Tray drank too much and drunkenly told Carlton (Olly Sholotan) the true story behind Wills sudden relocation to Bel-Air, upsetting the middle Banks child.

The new Bel Air spin-off giving a shoutout to Burna boy is the best thing Ive seen all day. pic.twitter.com/TYGLBjoi7A  Ludy (@ajiboolaa) February 17, 2022

However, Hilary recorded the dinner for content, and a conversation caught between Uncle Phil and one of her new roommates earned the district attorney favor.

He unknowingly began losing support when he announced his backing for defunding the police. When it becomes clear that Will has no interest in returning to Philadelphia soon, Tray decides to end his trip early.

What might happen during The Strength to Smile

According to the summary description, the upcoming episode will follow the Banks family as they host a memorial for Carltons ex, Lisa (Simone Joy Jones).

However, Will has to swallow the disappointment he felt after finding out Lisas father is a police chief. Additionally, Carlton will probably have to put away his lingering romantic feelings as she recently rejected his advances.

Bel air is my new show. And I'm shipping Jazz and Hillary. Need it! #BelAir pic.twitter.com/cgpQZydonc  YesHomo (@KennyAlphaOmega) February 26, 2022

There are also several storylines that will likely continue, including Hilarys journey to the influencer house and possible romance with Jazz (Jordan L. Jones), Uncle Phils road to the district attorneys office, Carltons seeming growing hostility toward his cousin, Ashley (Akira Akbar) and her sexuality, Geoffreys (Jimmy Akingbola) involvement with Rashads death, and Aunt Vivian (Cassandra Freeman) as she ponders returning to the art industry.

Bel-Air is streaming on Peacock.

RELATED: Bel-Air Season 1 Tracklist: All the Songs Featured in Episode 4, Canvass
In 2018, police in Philadelphia got a call about an unusual crime. Roughly $50,000 worth of bugs had been stolen from the Philadelphia Insectarium, a museum dedicated to teaching people about these much-maligned (but ecologically important) invertebrates. The case is the subject of IMDbTVs entertaining and twisty new docuseries Bug Out. It premieres March 4 on Amazons free streaming service.

Bug Out will keep audiences guessing

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Over the course of four briskly-paced episodes (each clocks in at about 35 minutes), Bug Out tries to unravel the truth behind a surprisingly complicated mystery that generated headlines all around the country (as well as some jokes from Jimmy Kimmel).

The star of the show is John Cambridge, the enthusiastic young CEO of the Insectarium. Initially brought in to breathe some life into the moribund museum, he ended up taking over the whole show. That earns him the ire of founder Steve Kanya, who created the Insectarium in the early 90s to promote his exterminating business. For his part, Cambridge memorably dismisses his former boss as a tremendous ding-a-ling of a human and suggests getting rid of him was the only way the museum could survive.

As the c onflict between Kanya and Cambridge suggests, all is not as it seems at this family-friendly attraction. Cambridge and the others running the museum seem, at best, in over their heads. And as police begin to investigate the theft, they uncover no shortage of possible culprits, many on the inside. Suspects include Kanya, disgruntled staff members, and a former employee already on the Department of Fish and Wildlifes radar for illegally importing insects. At one point, theres a detour to Mexico and a hint that cartels involved in the tarantula trade could be behind the theft. As the story unfolds, viewers might think they have a handle on who committed the crime. But a twist in the last episode turns everything on its head.

The docuseries shines a light on an unusual subculture

John Cambridge in Bug Out | Courtesy of IMDb TV

First-time director Ben Feldman proves himself more than capable behind the camera as he introduces viewers to the strange subculture of bug enthusiasts. The heist is the hook, but the look at the seedy underbelly of the insect trade is fascinating.

Bugs are big business. Rare specimens can go for hundreds of dollars on the black market, as an Australian smuggler explains in a candid interview. While the average person might treat insects as an annoyance, theyre extremely attractive to obsessive collectors, who will do whatever it takes to get their hands on unusual species. That is where the black market gets rather nefarious, one interviewee explains.

But law enforcement takes these insect-related crimes seriously. If you commit a wildlife crime, we will come after you. And we will put you in jail, one Fish & Wildlife agent declares. He later recounts how he nabbed a major Japanese smuggler by posing as a potential fence  and possible romantic prospect. The man is apprehended when he travels to the U.S. to collect his money, and perhaps have a liaison with the agent.

Viewers will get caught in the shows web

Bug Out | Courtesy of IMDb TV

Refreshingly, Bug Out avoids the tendency of many recent docuseries to stretch their stories out over eight or 10 episodes. Instead, its basically a long-ish feature cut into four parts and is easily digested in an evenings binge-watch session. Fans of documentaries featuring unusual (and bloodless) crimes and quirky characters, such as Fyre Fraud, will easily find themselves caught in its web.

Bug Out is streaming on IMDbTV beginning March 4.

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Ina Garten makes a hearty fresh crab and pea risotto dish that may become a comfort food staple in your cooking rotation. The Barefoot Contessa stars recipe is easy and hearty  a dish she calls and incredibly comforting one pot meal.

Ina Garten | Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images

Ina Garten makes an easy seafood risotto recipe

Garten demonstrated how to make the easy recipe on an episode of Barefoot Contessa featuring seafood comfort foods. She called her crab and pea risotto recipe an incredibly comforting one pot meal.

Im starting with a can of seafood stock and some really good crab meat and Im gonna use both in a one pot dinner thats frankly as comforting to make as it is to eat, she explained.

The Food Network host started by simmering seafood stock in one pot. In a Dutch oven pot, she melted butter and olive oil, then added fennel, shallots, and poblano peppers. You want this risotto to have great flavor, she explained.

Garten noted how flavorful the poblano peppers are. Theyre kind of warm. Theyre not really, really hot and its just kind of a little kick, she explained. You dont want boring risotto.

She sauteed the mixture for 5 minutes, then added garlic and cooked everyting for another minute. Then Garten added crushed red pepper flakes and saffron. Saffrons critical for risotto. I dont know what it is about saffron but I really miss it when its not in risotto, the Barefoot Contessa star said. Its just go a heat, its got this really subtle flavor but its really important.

Garten shared the key to making perfect risotto

Garten added thyme leaves and Italian arborio rice to the pot and explained the process for making the risotto recipe.

And this is the key. You want to stir it and make sure each grain of rice is coated with butter, she explained.

Arborio rice really has the right amount of starchiness for risotto, Garten continued. Its got a creaminess when youre done that really is perfect for this dish.

Garten added white wine and cooked the rice until the wine evaporated.

Next, a little bit of a process, she explained. Add stock, stir, and repeat.

Garten stirred the rice for 5 minutes, added a half-cup of stock, stirred it, and once the stock was almost completely absorbed, added more stock. She kept repeating the process until the rice was al dente, about 25 minutes.

The Barefoot Contessa star adds creaminess to the rice dish

Garten stirred creme fraiche into the rice for a little richness and seasoned it with salt and pepper. She added lump crab meat in big pieces. Its a little more expensive, but its really worth it, she said.

The Barefoot Contessa star added frozen defrosted peas. Frozen peas are really pretty good and theyre already blanched, she explained, so its a timesaver when compared to fresh peas.

The key to this is just make sure that the rice is cooked through. Its not mushy, its al dente, and theres still a lot of creaminess in this sauce, Garten shared. And see how its not thick? Its really creamy. She added fresh chives and lemon zest to finish the dish.

After taking a taste, Garten pointed out how flavorful the recipe is. This is one big bowl of comfort, she noted.

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.

RELATED: Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten Has an Easy Way to Cook Perfect Shrimp
Audiences stuck at home in the early days of the pandemic couldnt get enough of Tiger King, Netflixs truth-is-stranger-than-fiction docuseries that chronicled the epic feud between two big cat enthusiasts, Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin. The series gleefully leaned into its storys most bizarre moments, turned its stars into caricatures, and in hindsight, was more exploitative than insightful. Now, theres Joe vs. Carole, Peacocks new scripted series that offers a more thoughtful  though far less binge-able  take on the whole messy saga.

Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell star in Joe vs. Carole

RELATED: Carole Baskin Still Fears for Her Life Even With Tiger King Joe Exotic in Prison

Joe vs. Carole arrives at a time when interest in the Tiger King phenomenon has waned considerably. A Netflix sequel released last fall was met with a collective shrug, and a spinoff series about Doc Antle was basically ignored. Joe vs. Carole has a top-tier cast, including Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin and John Cameron Mitchell as Joe Exotic. But its hard to imagine that many people were eagerly waiting for another spin on the pairs ugly feud, which ended with Exotic behind bars after convictions on murder-for-hire and animal cruelty charges.

This eight-episode series from showrunner and writer Etan Frankel is based on the Wondery podcast Joe Exotic: Tiger King. It traces the origins of Carole and Joes rivalry, which begins when big cat rescuer Carole decides shes going to shut down Joes animal shows and roadside zoo. It also dives into Joe and Caroles troubled, complicated pasts in an attempt to illuminate how they ended up locked in such a bitter battle. Along the way, it asks viewers to reconsider their assumptions about each person.

A feud between two wounded outsiders

Let's go behind the scenes: The cast of #JOEvsCAROLE is taking you through filming the infamous feud. pic.twitter.com/hEnahfpcQJ  Peacock (@peacockTV) February 23, 2022

Both Joe and Carole are wounded outsiders who find sanctuary in the world of big cats. Shes a thrice-married survivor of domestic abuse; hes a gay man from Oklahoma who once attempted suicide by driving his car off a bridge. Given their difficult pasts, its no surprise that when they feel threatened, the claws come out.

Joe vs. Carole has a wealth of empathy for its two main characters, though it also shines a light on their considerable flaws. Early on, Carole has an opportunity to resolve her legal battle with Joe in a way that almost guarantees hell have to shut down his operation. But she doesnt take it, because theres a slim chance his zoo might survive the financial hit. By digging in her heels, she escalates the conflict. Joe has a genuine love for his animals and a willingness to take in human strays. But his desire for fame (and revenge) end up destroying all hes built.

John Cameron Mitchell disappears into his character

John Cameron Mitchell in Joe vs. Carole | Mark Taylor/Peacock

As Carole, a bewigged McKinnon sometimes feels like she wandered over from the SNL set. Her performance is all wide eyes and jutting chin. Shes best in Joe vs. Caroles more subtle moments, such as a flashback where she launches a potato at her first husbands head after he belittles her as she cooks dinner. In close-ups, we see her reaction as he hurls insults, followed by a look of genuine fear as she realizes how hes likely to respond to her attempt to fight back.

Mitchell disappears more fully into his role. His Joe morphs from a shy, baby-faced young man wandering the halls of a rehab center after his car accident to the over-the-top showman who decides hiring a hitman to kill a rival hes never met will save his business. In between, we see his deep grief over the death of his first husband Brian from AIDS, an event barely touched on in Tiger King. Here, its a tragedy that unmoors Joe and starts him down his path to ruin. But the series sidesteps the issue of how he treated his animals. It also asks viewers to sympathize with a man who planned to have a woman murdered.

Joe vs. Carole is a mix of campy comedy and serious drama

Joe vs. Carole is crowded with colorful secondary characters, including Caroles mild-mannered and endlessly supportive husband Howard (Kyle MacLachlan) and Joes other husbands  John Finlay (Sam Keeley), Travis Maldonado (Nat Wolff), and Dillon Passage (Tom Rodgers). The various oddballs who live and work at Joes GW Zoo also appear, including down-on-his-luck TV producer Rick Kirkham (a solid but underused William Fichtner), Jeff Lowe (Dean Winters), and zookeeper John Reinke (Brian van Holt).

These supporting players come and go without much explanation, with the exception of Travis. He takes center stage in the episode focused on his untimely death and which frames his story as a fairy-tale gone sour. A voiceover from Wolff bookends that episode, a random stylistic choice that somehow feels out of place here. Joe vs. Carole lurches from one bizarre moment to the next, often recreating scenes audiences have already seen play out in Tiger King, such as Joes three-way wedding to Travis and John. The show awkwardly straddles the line between campy comedy and serious drama in a way that doesnt really land.

Try as it might, Joe vs. Carole cant quite cover up the fact that an impulse to gawk at weirdos drove much of the initial interest in the pairs feud. The result is an uneven, tonally inconsistent series that makes a valiant effort to humanize the real people at the heart of this strange story. But at this point, its not clear why anyone should care.

Joe vs. Carole is streaming on Peacock beginning March 3.

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John Wayne had an eye for what he felt would work with his casual acting style. He wasnt afraid to turn down projects that he didnt feel connected with. However, Wayne initially didnt see himself fitting in on Red River, even though he called it one of the best stories he ever heard of. Fortunately, the legendary actor ultimately agreed to sign onto the project.

John Wayne played Thomas Dunson in Red River

L-R: John Wayne as Thomas Dunson and Montgomery Clift as Matt Garth | Bettmann/Getty Images

Red River follows a headstrong man named Thomas Dunson (Wayne). He starts a Texas cattle ranch that begins thriving but not without some help. Thomas loyal trailhand named Groot (Walter Brennan), his protoge, Matt Garth (Montgomery Clift), and an orphan that Thomas welcomed with open arms.

Thomas needs money as a result of the economic impact of the Civil War. He and Matt lead a cattle drive to Missouri. They hope to get a better price there, but the journey isnt as smooth as they initially thought. Thomas and Matt dont see eye-to-eye, as they begin to butt heads on the long journey to Missouri.

John Wayne called the story one of the best hed ever heard, but he didnt want to play an old man

John Wayne & Walter Brennan in a promotional shot for Red River Do you know how many movies the two appeared in together? #JohnWayneTrivia pic.twitter.com/YBYrf2SVRT  John Wayne Official (@JohnDukeWayne) May 20, 2018

John Farkis Not Thinkin  Just Rememberin  The Making of John Waynes The Alamo explores Waynes extraordinary life. His career experienced a series of ups and downs, involving film projects with varied success. However, Red River director Howard Hawks originally wanted Gary Cooper or Cary Grant to star in the lead role. Cooper thought the role was too violent and Grant didnt want second billing. As a result, Wayne was hired on Red River.

However, Wayne didnt initially want to star in the lead role because Thomas was a lot older than the actor was in real life. However, Hawks had some choice words to try and convince him to sign onto the project.

I never showed Wayne the screenplay, Hawks said. I just told him the story and he thought it was one of the best hed ever heard, but he said, I dont want to play an old man. I said, Duke, youre going to be one pretty soon, so why not get some practice? He said, How the hell am I gonna play one? I was about 50 then, so I said, Just watch me getting up. Thats the way to play it.

Hawks brought in Walter Brennan to show Wayne how to play an older man for his role in Red River. However, the actor ultimately went with a totally different way to play the character.

Brennan showed me how to walk like a tottery old man, Wayne said. I went home that night and thought of all the old cattlemen I knew when I was a kid. I was raised in the West. I rode a horse to school. And none of the outdoors-men were tottery.

However, Wayne ultimately brought an erect and domineering performance to the role instead.

Red River earned 2 Oscar nominations

"Red River," directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift, premiered on this date in 1948. pic.twitter.com/vt5Agc163G  Bruce Boxleitner (@boxleitnerbruce) August 26, 2014

Wayne ultimately predicted that Red River would be a successful movie. It earned $4.5 million against a $2.7 million budget. Additionally, Red River made it all the way to the Oscars. It earned nominations for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story and Best Film Editing. However, the film lost out to The Search and The Naked City, respectively.

However, Red River remains one of the most iconic Western movies of all time. The movie is sitting at a 100% critics score and an 87% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praise the film for delivering everything that a moviegoer could possibly want from a Western.

RELATED: John Wayne Turned Down Steven Spielbergs 1941: Dont Joke About World War II
Josh Duggar is facing up to 20 years in prison. His wife, Anna Duggar, is looking at the prospect of raising their seven children alone, inside a warehouse on the Duggar family property. Apparently, that wasnt always the plan. Before the infamous arrest, Josh and Anna had plans to move into a sprawling property. They sold the home just months before Josh Duggars trial. So, did the profits go toward his defense?

Josh Duggar was arrested in April 2021 on two child pornography charges

Federal marshals arrested Josh Duggar and two child pornography charges in April 2021. In May 2021, Josh was released into the care of a chaperone to await trial. In December 2021, a jury found him guilty of both counts.

Josh Duggar | Washington County Sheriffs Office via Getty Images

Josh was remanded to a local correctional facility following the guilty verdict to await sentencing. He is set to be sentenced by Judge Timothy L. Brooks on April 5. Once sentenced, Josh will likely be moved to a federal facility to serve whatever sentence is handed down. While he faces up to 20 years behind bars, several legal experts suspect hell likely receive between 8 and 12 years behind bars.

There is more to the story: https://t.co/edtFkD0dVi  Anna Duggar (@Anna_Duggar) February 3, 2022

What Anna will choose to do once that happens is unknown. For now, it appears that the mother of seven is still living on the Duggar familys acreage in Springdale, Arkansas, and standing by her husband. On February 3, Anna returned to social media. She shared a link to an appeal filed by Joshs legal team, claiming there was more to the story. She was subsequently dragged by Duggar family followers. Anna has not posted since.

Josh and Anna Duggar sold their dream home ahead of the arrest

Since Joshs April 2021 arrest, Duggar family followers have debated how he paid for his defense. Josh, who ran a car lot in Arkansas until the November 2019 raid, didnt appear to have a viable income stream for more than a year before his arrest. While Duggar family critics largely assumed Jim Bob Duggar footed the bill for his sons legal troubles, that might not be the case.

Anna Duggar and Josh Duggar pose during the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference | Kris Connor/Getty Images

According to the U.S. Sun, Josh and Anna Duggar put their dream property on the market in September 2020, several months before his arrest. The property was originally listed for $799,000. A year later, Anna unloaded the home for $450,000. Was the cash used to fund his legal defense? It is entirely possible. After all, the couple did let the property go for far less than it was reportedly worth, which suggests there was some urgency in the sale.

Its also possible that Jim Bob did pay the legal fees. Some followers think the family patriarch is holding on to any profit from the home sale to keep Anna and her seven children afloat while Josh serves his prison term, whatever that term may be.

Why did Josh and Anna sell the property so far below their asking price?

Duggar family followers learned of the home through audio clips from Joshs interview with federal agents. In the clips obtained by the U.S. Sun, Josh told federal agents that he was working on a housing project and spent some of his time at the property and some of his time back at the Duggar family compound.

If Josh was working on the property before his arrest, he didnt get very far. Pictures from Zillow show an expansive but incredibly rundown home. The house might have had several bedrooms, a ton of square footage, and plenty of outdoor space, but it also required a complete remodel. The extensive work needed on the homes indoor pool would have cost them thousands alone.

So why did the couple sell? Simply put, they likely couldnt afford to remodel the home, fund Joshs defense, and ensure the family was taken care of when he was convicted. Selling the house at such a steep discount didnt leave them a ton of profit, but they still walked away with more than they originally paid. According to property records, Josh and Anna purchased the home in 2019 for $257,077.

RELATED: Josh Duggars Trial: Official Sentencing Date Announced
Love Is Blind Season 2 cast member Deepti Vempati defends her co-star, Danielle Ruhl, after being mocked for her mental health issues. Deepti reminds fans to be understanding of one other.

Deepti, Love Is Blind Season 2 | Netflix

Danielle has a panic attack in Mexico with Nick

Back in episode 5 of Love Is Blind Season 2, the couples meet each other for the first time in Mexico. However, Danielle stayed back at the hotel because she wasnt feeling well. When Nick came back, she revealed that she was panicked the entire time.

Nick Thompson and Danielle Ruhl, Love Is Blind Season 2 | Netflix

She told him she was worried about her trust issues getting in the way. She said, I had three hours to sit here and not do anything but be in my head.

Danielle revealed, I sat in the closet. I locked the door. I shut this, and I sat in the closet and cried.

Later in the episode, Danielle opened up to Nick about her issues regarding her anxiety. She said, Im scared that youll think that how Ive been acting is how Im gonna act for the rest of our lives, and its not. Its not like that. I just had a panic attack.

Deepti defends Danielle

On March 1, Deepti posted photos of her and her co-star Danielle. Deepti wrote, She is such a caring, empathetic, funny, lyrical and down to earth human.

She revealed that she and Danielle have become best friends since the show has wrapped. She reveals, We bonded over our love for music, The Office, blow-up guitars, our insecurities, our anxieties, and our love for others. Check out the Instagram post below:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CalQrcWLoXi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

She wrote, I have seen a lot of hate and negative comments, and it saddens me. Mental health is an important subject and I will not pretend to know everything about it.

The post continues, But, one thing is for sure  when you are trying to heal and grow, having a healthy environment is necessary. Lets uplift each other and be understanding of the journeys we all have decided to take. Please be compassionate and kind!

Danielle responds to Deeptis encouragement

Deeptis encouragement resonated with many people. Many Love Is Blind stars and fans commented on the post, including Danielle herself. She commented, The most beautiful soul on the inside and out. Feel so lucky to know you, and be soul sistas. Learn more and more from u every day. Such a light in everyones life. 

Danielle Ruhl Love Is Blind Season 2 | Netflix

Even Nick, Danielles husband, commented on the post. He wrote, Beautiful post from you @lifewithdeeps! I always appreciate the support you give everyone and love your friendship with @dnellruhl

Whether or not Danielle and Nick work out, its clear that she and Deepti have a connection that will last. Love Is Blind reunion episode drops March 4 on Netflix.

RELATED: Love Is Blind: Lauren Speed Talks Favorite Season 2 Couple on Her Netflix Podcast
Owen Wilson made the rounds supporting his role as Jennifer Lopezs romantic foil in 2022s Marry Me. The movie marks Wilsons first after taking a four-year break between 2017 and 2021. During one marketing stop, he was prompted to reminisce about his early days as part of a comedy group that defined Hollywood comedies for a few years: the Frat Pack. But he didnt recognize the name.

Frat Pack member Owen Wilson barely knows what the Frat Pack is

(L-R) Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, and Owen Wilson attend the Press Conference ahead of the Paris Fan Screening of the Paramount Pictures film Zoolander No. 2 at Hotel Plaza Athenee on January 29, 2016 in Paris, France. | Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images For Paramount

Wilson answered questions about himself in a Wired Autocomplete Interview. The actor reads off a question about him being in a fraternity. He scoffs at the possibility. I didnt graduate from college, Wilson says.

Someone offscreen follows up by questioning Wilsons participation in the Frat Pack during his early ascent to offbeat comedy stardom. Wilson confirms that he was in that crew but didnt correctly identify the name.

He thinks the Frat Pack refers to the group headlined by the likes of Rob Lowe and Emilio Estevez in the 1980s, aka the Brat Pack. Both nicknames were themselves references to the Rat Pack, which consisted of 1950s icons Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. With that much rhyming involved, its an easy mistake to make, even for members of either circle.

Who else is in the Frat Pack?

The Frat Pack moniker originated from a USA Today article from 2004. The story lists the groups principal members as Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Owen and Luke Wilson, and Vince Vaughn. Other comedic stars like John C. Reilly, Steve Carell, Leslie Mann, Paul Rudd, and David Koechner are considered supporting members.

The Frat Pack never appeared in a movie in totality. (Though Anchorman got close, with Owen Wilson the only holdout.) But their collective work led to many of the most celebrated comedy movies of the early 2000s: Meet the Parents, Zoolander, Old School, Wedding Crashers, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby are just some of the hits that came out of their filmography. Their reign led into the Judd Apatow era, who became the dominant voice of mainstream Hollywood comedy, frequently working with members of the Frat Pack while also minting new stars.

Wilson was in enough of the movies to be a member of the Frat Pack. Still, his career is arguably more defined by his association with another artistic movement that gave him his big break in the industry.

How Wilson created an acting career while at college

As an aspiring youngster in Texas, Wilson was not a big fan of school. He was expelled from St. Marks School of Texas in the tenth grade and eventually went to a military academy in New Mexico.

He later attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he met a young Wes Anderson in a playwriting class. The two hit it off and joined forces to write the short film version of Bottle Rocket, which became the first full-length movie either of them had made. Bottle Rocket was not financially successful, but it earned enough critical acclaim to get them noticed embark on their careers in filmmaking.

Wilson and Anderson have been constant collaborators ever since. Wilson appears onscreen in every Anderson movie except Moonrise Kingdom and Isle of Dogs. He also co-wrote Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. Making it in the creative arts is as much about luck as it is talent, but Wilsons good taste helped him greatly in becoming a successful actor.

RELATED: How Many Kids Does Owen Wilson Have? Has He Ever Been Married?
Many Sister Wives fans have wondered why Kody Brown moved his family from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Flagstaff, Arizona. Heres everything we know about why the Browns moved locations.

Kody Brown during a scene from TLCs Sister Wives | TLC/YouTube

The Brown familys homes in a cul-de-sac in Las Vegas

After Kody married Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, they lived together in one large home in Lehi, Utah. However, when Utah criminalized polygamy in 2011, they fled to Las Vegas.

The move to Las Vegas was also essential, as they added Robyn Brown to the family as the fourth wife and needed more room. In Las Vegas, they found four homes in a cul-de-sac, allowing the family to be close together but still have their own homes.

Why did Kody move his wife and his family to Flagstaff?

In earlier Sister Wives seasons, Kody revealed that they would be moving to Flagstaff, Arizona. What made the familys patriarch decide to up and move his entire family to a different state?

The sudden move left the family paying the mortgages of the four brand-new Las Vega homes empty before they could put them on the market. Janelle had to stay back and try her best to sell them while the rest of the family went on to Flagstaff. Christine had mentioned that the move left the family financially drowning as they struggled to sell the homes.

Which begs the question, why did Kody move his entire family to Flagstaff? They told the media that they wanted a slower lifestyle in Arizona. Robyn mentioned that they wanted to move the family out of Las Vegas. She said, So we started worrying a lot more about what the kids are getting exposed to.

Sister Wives fans have their theories

However, fans believe that there are other reasons why the Browns moved out of Vegas. Robyns eldest son, Dayton Brown, started college in Flagstaff, Northern Arizona University, on a scholarship at the time of the move.

Many fans have a hard time believing that Daytons scholarship didnt have anything to do with why they moved. One fan wrote to Robyn via Twitter, You know whats incredibly sad and weird, Robyn? Forcing a million kids and 3 other grown women to sell their beloved homes and move across the country because Dayton is starting college in Flagstaff.

Many fans find it too coincidental that the entire family moved from Las Vegas to Flagstaff on a whim. Considering all of the Brown family is back in Utah, it is still a mystery why they decided to settle down in Flagstaff.

RELATED: Sister Wives Fans Spot Clues That Janelle Brown May Have Already Split From Kody Brown
Alexander Skargsard went from filming the extravagance of Succession to the grittiness of The Northman. However, he doesnt regret the experience, even despite having a really difficult time on the set. Skarsgard explained how he was shackled and dragged through the mud on the film set of The Northman. His co-star, Anya Taylor-Joy, echoes his story with her own horrors.

The Northman actor Alexander Skarsgard plays Amleth

Alexander Skarsgard as Amleth | Aidan Monaghan/Focus Features

The Witch and The Lighthouse filmmaker Robert Eggers wrote and directed The Northman alongside co-writer Sjon. The action-packed movie intends to ground audiences within its world in Iceland during the 10th century. The Northman follows a Nordic prince named Amleth (Skarsgard). Hes seeking revenge after his uncle kills his father.

Skarsgard leads The Northman in the lead role. He intends to take his rightful seat on the throne, although it wont be so easy. Amleth will undoubtedly have to make choices between love for his family and violence toward his enemies. The original story supposedly inspired William Shakespeares Hamlet.

Alexander Skarsgard was shackled and dragged through the mud in a difficult, yet rewarding experience

Total Film interviewed The Northman actor Skarsgard about his experience filming The Northman. He talked about the serious difficulties in getting through it, but he also called it rewarding. Eggers appears to really put his actors through the wringer, but the finished product always proves to be worth all of the pain.

It was physically and mentally the most difficult job Ive ever had, but also the most rewarding, Skarsgard said. The days were really long and hard, and we were out in the mud, and up on these mountaintops with the wind and the cold.

Skarsgard continued: The week prior, I was working on the television show Succession, on which I play a tech billionaire in a villa on Lake Como. So I literally went from playing one of the richest dudes on the planet in a crazy, beautiful villa, surrounded by yachts and helicopters and luxury, and got on a plane and flew to Iceland to get shackled and dragged through the mud. It was definitely a waking-up moment and a humbling experience.

The Northman co-star Anya Taylor-Joy squeaked out for help in the freezing mud

Heres a first look at Alexander Skarsgard, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke and Nicole Kidman in Robert Eggers Viking revenge thriller The Northman pic.twitter.com/DXfNcoJsys  Little White Lies (@LWLies) December 20, 2021

However, Skarsgard wasnt the only actor who had difficulty getting through The Northman. His co-star, Taylor-Joy, also had a particularly hard time getting through some of the sets conditions. Eggers called her a trooper to Total Film.

Im not a complainer, and Rob and Jarin know that, but there was one day when the mud was up to my knees, and it had frozen overnight, and Im barefoot, Taylor-Joy said. It had got to a point where I think just squeaked out, Please! And they were like, Oh, OK, its bad. Its really bad. We need to get this done. If Anyas saying, Can we please roll? I cant stand here any longer  

Taylor-Joy looks back on the authenticity of the film. The experience on the set reflects back to drawing out the best possible performances from these actors.

Because of the authenticity that were bringing to it, in terms of the costume, in terms of the landscape  we dont have to imagine much, Taylor-Joy said. You can just inhabit. You can just exist. Youre not on a stage where the director is saying, Hey, remember, its really bloody cold.

Taylor-Joy concluded: It gives you a real appreciation as to how tough these people were. Because nothing about this life is easy. There is no cushy going home and watching a movie while youre all toasty, eating dinner. No, its pretty miserable all of the time.

The Northman hits theaters on April 22.

RELATED: The Northman: Alexander Skarsgard Was So Exhausted That You Want to Cry After Working With Director Robert Eggers
Liquid crystals could soon be produced more efficiently and in a more environmentally friendly way. A new process has been developed by researchers at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) in Germany, Bangalore University in India and Cairo University in Egypt. Compared to conventional methods, it is faster, more energy-efficient and promises a high yield as the team reports in the "Journal of Molecular Liquids". Liquid crystals are used in most smartphone, tablet and computer displays.

The production of liquid crystals is a complex process with many intermediate steps. "Often it requires various solvents and expensive catalysts," says Dr Mohamed Alaasar, a chemist at MLU. The team from Germany, India and Egypt was looking for a way to simplify the process and make it more environmentally friendly. The idea: instead of the chemical reactions taking place one after the other, certain steps could be combined in a so-called multicomponent reaction in which several substances react directly with one another.

The team developed an approach for producing liquid crystals which does not require environmentally harmful solvents and relies on cheaper catalysts. "We were able to achieve a yield of about 90 per cent. This means that most of the chemicals are used in the process and relatively few residues are produced," explains Alaasar. This saves energy and ultimately also money. At room temperature the newly created liquid crystals are in a nematic phase - a special arrangement of molecules used in most liquid crystal displays or LCDs.

So far, the researchers have only tested their new process in the laboratory. However, Alaasar is confident that it could also be implemented on an industrial scale. "However, manufacturers would have to rebuild parts of their manufacturing. This has not happened in the past with other promising materials," says the scientist. However, consumers started valuing sustainability and more environmentally friendly products of the last years. That could be an additional argument in favour for the new approach.
Jurassic Parking - Traffic was halted along West Aero Road on Wednesday morning as Freedom Convoy 2022 trucks passed through the area. For story, see Page 8.

WEST SPOKANE  Hundreds of area residents lined up with flags and signs in hand behind the Freedom Convoy 2022 in parking lots along Aero Road to show support for the truckers heading to Washington D.C. in protest of COVID mandates. Parking spots went extinct quickly as area drivers filled in the lot.

The group arrived late-night on March 1 and left the following day at 8:30 a.m., heading east toward Idaho. The convoy's next planned stop is Missoula, Montana.

Residents and participants echoed similar concerns over mask and vaccine mandates and showed up in support of personal and individual freedoms.

Matthew O. Stephens Angie Seubert rushed down to the Geiger overpass to show her support for the convoy heading east on I-90 Wednesday morning.

"My wife and I are former public defenders from Kootenai County. We tried to fight the COVID mandates through the court system, and they wouldn't allow us. So effectively, our voices were silenced," said Air Force Veteran Jason Lambert. "Since we were silenced, we are going to go to Washington D.C. and have our voices heard.

"Since the suit and tie didn't work, I'm going to dress in a dinosaur suit and I have a bullhorn to make a peaceful statement."

While some supporters plan on driving the entire way with the convoy, other people offer donations to help the convoy continue along the way.

"Today, we drove over from western Washington to bring some money that we raised in a fundraiser, which was about $4,000," said Sara Jones, who follows the convoy as far as Idaho. "We brought that along with food and goods donations to the truckers because they are fighting for our freedoms. So we needed to support them, and that's the way we knew how to do it."
Family members of missing and slain Native Americans gathered to watch New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sign legislation during a ceremony in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. The measures will help to coordinate efforts among law enforcement and prosecutors, improve data collection, make resources more accessible to victims' families and boost awareness of the issue.
Chickasha, OK (73018)

Today

Scattered strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 58F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Scattered strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 58F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
U.S. misappropriation of Afghan assets inhumane: Chinese envoy

Xinhua) 13:00, March 03, 2022

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. misappropriation of frozen Afghan assets while the Asian country is facing an avalanche of hunger and poverty is inhumane, said a Chinese envoy on Wednesday.

Against the backdrop of such a grim humanitarian and economic situation, the U.S. government decided last month to divert 7 billion U.S. dollars in frozen Afghan assets for other purposes, which triggered widespread protests across Afghanistan, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Noting that those assets belong to the Afghan people and the sovereign state of Afghanistan, Zhang stressed that the practice of arbitrarily handling other countries' overseas assets under U.S. domestic law has no precedent. It is not only an infringement on Afghanistan's sovereignty and property, but also a serious contravention of international law, he said.

The envoy pointed out that those funds are the only few available assets owned by Afghanistan, playing a crucial part in the stability and development of the country. For the Afghan people, those assets are their life-saving money and their hope for survival. When Afghans need them the most, the ruthless deeds of freezing and misappropriation have inflicted "secondary damage" on them and that are completely against the due spirit of morality and justice.

What the United States has done is illegal, unreasonable and inhumane, he said, noting that China once again calls on related countries to immediately and unconditionally return those assets in full to the Afghan people, instead of making things worse. Moreover, the United States should stop applying double standards on humanitarian issues, Zhang added.

Afghanistan has going through a lot of trials and tribulations, and is now standing at a crucial stage of reconstruction. The country is working hard to improve its political structure, restore order in production and livelihood, and actively carry out foreign exchanges and cooperation. There is a good trend that more and more countries are engaging with the Afghan interim government in various forms, he said.

The international community should continue to adhere to the "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" principle, step up engagement with the Taliban in an equitable, rational and pragmatic approach, and patiently guide the Taliban to respond to the expectations of the international community. Only in this way can Afghanistan gradually achieve lasting peace and stability and eliminate the breeding ground of terrorism. Afghan women and children can thus achieve better development, Zhang said.

As a friendly neighbor, China has always been committed to supporting the peaceful and stable development of Afghanistan. China will work closely with countries in the region, actively participate in various Afghan-related multilateral mechanisms, and promote coordinated actions by all parties to create synergy and help Afghanistan walk on a path of sound development, he said.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
We are now a full week into open war with Russia. Of course, Russia has been warring against Ukraine since 2014, but this is an unprecedented phase. Still, its amazing how quickly one gets used to the mundane realities of war.

On day one, the news of other cities being bombed caused great anxiety in the city of Svitlovodsk, where my family and I live. Of course, the fact that the news woke us up before dawn and was very unexpected made it much worse. The intent to cause panic seemed planned.

Now, on day seven, the adrenaline has worn off. We are used to the 8 p.m. curfew and sitting in a dark apartment at night. We find ourselves ignoring some of the air raid sirensespecially the ones in the middle of the night, since were so exhausted. Weve also learned that not every siren means a bomb might drop on our heads.

But whenever we do head to the bomb shelter, my family and I take the opportunity to share the hope of Christ with our neighbors.

Bomb shelter ministry is, I must admit, not a ministry profile I thought Id ever have. And yet, we are already seeing how fruitful its been. Our neighbors have heard more about Christ, heard more Scripture, and been led in more prayer in the last week than most of them probably have in their lives.

In addition to the Our Father prayer, Ive taken to reading various Psalms with thema particularly fitting book for us in Ukraine, as David often cries out amid being hunted by his enemies.

One of our neighbors is the equivalent of our building superintendent. The other night in the bomb shelter, she said with tears in her eyes how thankful she was to have neighbors like us. She said she cant understand where we came from. We got to remind her that if there is something different, it is only because of the hope Christ gives us.

Ive also gotten questions down there about how to read the Bible properly. The grandpa who asked me got a crash course on the Christocentricity of Scripture! It has often been the case that we stay down there discussing matters of faith long after the sirens have stopped.

Despite significant time spent in the bomb shelter during air raids, our city has so far avoided any actual bombing. The practical reasons include its smaller size (population of 45,000) and lack of strategic targets nearby. This, along with the fact that we are at a crossroads in the country, has made Svitlovodsk a refugee destinationthat and Gods providence.

The brutal bombing of civilian targets in Kharkiv, Ukraines second largest city, has led to another wave of refugees over the last 24 hours. Previously the targets had been mostly military. This meant that our church welcomed 16 more refugees tonight, 10 in our building and 6 with a family from our church.

One of the young fathers of the families who stayed in our church is into Hindu spirituality and had a lot of great questions about Christianity. I ended up talking with him about what makes the gospel different than other religions (i.e., grace) for nearly an hour. I think he came to see Christianity in a new light. We exchanged numbers to stay in contact as they head further west in the coming days.

This is the case with most refugees who make it this far. We are just an inn for weary travelers on the way. But we hope to serve them and help them experience the love and peace of Christ, even if only for a few hours. It is not our job to force them into faithan evangelistic approach that rarely produces good results. Rather, we will play whatever role God grants us: to plant a seed, to wateror to harvest when ready. He is the one who brings the fruit in his time, and we can rest in that.

All these stories should remind us of a vital truth: that Gods victory is always subversive. Whatever the Enemy intends for evil, God always takes and uses for good. This means the more the Enemy rages, he only brings his own destruction closer. God turns the Enemys weapons against him, just as David did with Goliaths swordand what Christ ultimately did in his death on the cross.

When the Enemy thought he finally had Jesus right where he wanted him, it turned out he was dealing his own death blow. Our Lord overcame by using the Enemys own weapons against him. We take comfort in thatespecially as Ukraine faces an enemy who rages, both in the Devil who loves to steal, kill and destroy and in those pseudokings who are the Devils pawns.

I believe both will shortly find themselves overthrown by Gods wonderfully ironic victory. But in the meantime, we covet your prayers.

Pray for the many refugees we are expecting over the next days, particularly from Kharkiv. Pray that we will serve them well and show them the love of Christ and that God would open doors. Pray for God to provide for all of them.

Pray for strength and wisdom amid so many needs. Everyone is scrambling around the clock and not getting enough sleep. Please pray for the ministry team in our church. Pray that I might use every invitation for interviews, articles, podcasts, and more to glorify the one who is our rock and refuge.

Pray for my friends who were mentioned above to come to know the beauty of the gospel in their lives.

Pray for Gods subversive victory to come swiftly against the tyrant terrorizing our country. Pray for God to be glorified in humbling the pride of man.

Benjamin Morrison is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Svitlovodsk, Ukraine, which is raising support for refugees. He is an American missionary veteran of 20 years, and he and his Ukrainian wife have two children.

[ This article is also available in espanol, Portugues, , and . ]
In one picture, dozens of pale-skinned cattle lie dead or dying in the baking heat. In another, a cow with its bones visible beneath its skin drinks from a green plastic bowl of water supplied by its owner.

The situation is heartbreaking and painful, said Yishak Yohanes Dera, president of the South Ethiopia Synod of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (Place of Jesus).

As the senior official of one of Ethiopias leading Protestant churches, with more than 10 million members, Dera is appealing for help to prevent starvation in four of countrys low-lying regions. They are in the grip of a devastating drought.

He is talking to aid agencies, faith-based organizations, and government bodies, asking them to come to Borena and save the lives of our people.

The church, which is part of the World Lutheran Federation and has associations with the Missouri Synod Lutherans and the Reformed Church in America, has dispatched its humanitarian and development organization to work in the Borena Zone, in the Oromia Region. This is one of the worst-affected areas.

In Borena alone, 420,000 people urgently need food aid, Dera said, while more than 400 schools have no water, and most of the children have left.

The situation is expected to worsen, he told CT. During this lean period, more animals are expected to die. This may push many children, women, and old-aged people into famine and unexpected death.

More than 90 percent of the 1.2 million people in Borena live off their flocks of sheep, cattle, goats, and camels. The loss of water leads to loss of livestock, and loss of livestock to loss of livelihood.

World Vision reported last June that across six countries in East Africa, more than seven million people are on the edge of starvation in a crisis caused by climate change, COVID-19, and ongoing military conflicts.

In Oromia and the neighboring Somali Region, UNICEF reported in February that nearly a quarter of a million children are malnourished, and that 6.8 million people across the four affected regionsOromia; Somali; Afar; and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Regionwould need humanitarian assistance by mid-March.

UNICEF warned that children were at risk of contracting diarrhea, a major cause of death among children under five, from drinking contaminated water.

As humans it is so sad to see such a disaster, said Wondimu Wallelu, an official from the Ethiopian Evangelical Churchs Development and Social Services Commission who is working to deliver aid in Borena. On the other hand, it is pleasing to have opportunities to reach these communities through aid from our partners.

The commission has received a grant for 23.5 million birr (about $470,000) from the German protestant church aid agency, Bread for the World, to help feed people in Borena. The money will be used for food for children and breastfeeding women, fodder for livestock, and to rehabilitate wells that have dried up.

But the needs are massive, and hard to fill, for both humans and animals.

More than 240,000 animals have died from starvation across southern Ethiopia in recent months, and more than two million bales of hay are needed to keep the survivors alive.

The churchs humanitarian organization and the 16 other aid agencies operating in Borena are currently only able to supply about 154,000, according to Wallelu.

Oromia, which is the home province of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, is familiar with natural calamities, including outbreaks of locusts, invasive thorn scrub that takes over pastures, and drought. But lately, the frequency and intensity of the droughts has been increasing, Wallelu explained.

Back in the 19th and 20th centuries, droughts occurred once in every eight years, and the impact was relatively insignificant, he said. Very recently, drought has been occurring every two years.

This is not unexpected. The US Agency of International Development analyzed trends in Ethiopia a decade ago and found that substantial warming across the entire country has exacerbated the dryness. If trends continued, the US government said, warming will intensify the impacts of droughts.

Borenas Christians are praying and encouraging one another and sharing what they have. Districts that still have grazing available invite neighbors to bring their livestock, Ethiopian Evangelical Church leaders said.

In the Killenso Parish, for instance, a Turkuma congregation is hosting 10 families and their 300 cattle from a neighboring district.

In Yavelo town, congregants collected 120,000 birr ($2,341) during a single Sunday service to help with relief efforts.

These are the small fragments of hope in a desperate and much wider regional climate crisis that is also gripping parts of neighboring Somalia and Kenya.

In mid-February, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's director for emergencies and resilience, Rein Paulsen, said the lower-than-expected rains from October to December had placed the entire Horn of Africa on the brink of catastrophe.

Forecasts for the next rainy season, from March to May, are not hopeful. If there is another drought, that will be regions worst dry spell in 40 years, according to the UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and one of the worst climate-induced emergencies seen in the Horn of Africa, the agency said last month.

In Ethiopia, the drought is compounding other domestic problems that include a war in the northern Tigray region that has displaced more than two million people.

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church works there too, and in the neighboring Amhara region, to help internally displaced people, according to Abeya Wakwaya, a commissioner for the churchs humanitarian organization.

He said the church was originally founded more than a century ago to preach the gospel and meet the material needs of people in Ethiopia. In the 1970s, the church adopted a mission statement committing to serve the whole person. In these dry days, however, it is hard to keep body and soul together.

In the midst of ethnic conflict, war, and more climate crisis on the horizon, though, the Christians believe that mission is more important than ever.

We have to be exemplary, Wakwaya said, to show its possible to help each other.

[ This article is also available in Francais. ]
Ukrainian evangelicals have had enough.

Battered by a week of war, they have heard numerous prayers for peace uttered by their Russian colleagues. But they did not hear condemnation.

Your unions have congratulated Putin, giving thanks for freedom of belief, said Taras Dyatlik, the Overseas Council regional director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The time has come to make use of that freedom.

As Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, and other cities have suffered missile strikes, the United Nations reports the death of more than 200 civilians. Ukraines State Emergency Service reports more than 2,000. The military casualties are disputed, with both nations claiming thousands of fatalities among the others ranks.

But rather than focusing on the numbers, Dyatlik, who coordinates a regional network of dozens of Protestant seminaries, turned to the Bible.

Remember Mordechai and Esther, he wrote March 1 in an open letter. Do not be like Jehoshaphat, who entered into an alliance with Ahab, and was silent when God spoke through the prophet Micaiah.

Dyatlik accused his Russian colleagues of buying into national rhetoricfirst in 2014, when Russian-backed forces invaded the eastern region of Donbasand again today. But begging on my knees, he leveraged his reputation with the heads of Russias evangelical unionswhile acknowledging their difficult reality.

You fear prison, he said. [But] do not be faithful to Putin. Be faithful to the body of Christ.

Recently passed amendments to the Russian criminal code establish up to a 15-year prison sentence for fake claims about the violence in Ukraine, as authorities crack down on Russians who call the military operation a war.

Discrediting the armed forces can now result in three years in prison; calling for anti-war rallies could merit five years. Based on level of severity, such actions by Christians and other Russian citizens risk fines and compulsory labor.

Dyatlik was not the only one frustrated. But instead of drawing from Scripture, his colleague Valerii Antoniuk appealed to history.

Where are your Bonhoeffers, where are your Barths? asked the head of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. Your silence now is the blood and tears of Ukrainian children, mothers, and soldiersthat is on your hands.

Pavel Kuznetsov, meanwhile, simply wants the correct word usedlaw or no law.

Many believers in Russia are praying about the situation in Ukraine. The situation is called WAR, the pastor of Word of Life church in Boyarka, 15 miles southwest of Kyiv, wrote on Facebook. And when you pray again, tell God its war, and we are being killed here.

As of publication, more than 300 Russian evangelicals had reportedly received the message.

The time has come when each of us must call things by their real names, while we still have a chance to escape punishment from above, and prevent the collapse of our country, stated an open letter signed by a group of Russian pastors and other Protestant leaders. We call on the authorities of our country to stop this senseless bloodshed!

Their message was also biblical.

It quoted Jeremiah 18:78, that the nation that turns from its evil ways will be spared.

It referenced Cain committing the sin of fratricide against his brother Abel.

And it called for their nation to implement the words of Jesus: Put your sword back in its place  for all who draw the sword will die by the sword (Matt. 26:52).

Dyatlik received the statement with great joybut also fervent prayer.

They literally are risking their lives, he said. But they show their love to the Lord and his body: we are one in the Spirit.

The open letter is available on the website of Mirt Publishing House, a small evangelical publisher in St. Petersburg, and is signed by mostly Russian Baptists and Pentecostals affiliated with churches or seminaries in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and more than 40 other cities.

[Editors note: The petition was closed after gathering 400 signatures within two days.]

This is an extraordinarily courageous step compared to evangelical timidity previously under Putin, said Mark Elliott, editor emeritus of East-West Church Report, a journal focused on explaining Eurasian Christianity to Christians in the West for 29 years. I am amazed and heartened that these brave people are defending Ukraine. They will suffer for this unless Putin is dethroned. Lord have mercy.

The letter is not a typical reaction by Russian Protestants. Staying away from politics has been their primary stance for decades, said Andrey Shirin, a Russia-born Baptist seminary professor in Virginia. They have been routinely accused by Soviet authorities of being anti-government. In response, they said they were believers, not politicians.

Many Russian Protestants are maintaining this stance in the current conflict, he said. But some desire greater social involvement, and the tragedy developing in Ukraine has struck a raw nerve.

One cosigner, however, pushed back against the expectation that all Russian Christians must do likewise.

Alexey Markevich, one of nine Russian Protestants to officially sign the letter before it was circulated publicly, said not everyone needs to be a Bonhoeffer.

The churchs first calling is the proclamation of Gods Word  [and] this proclamation happens in many different ways: pastors preach, theologians write, philanthropists give out bread, people weep with those who weep, activists take to the square, he said. It is important for each of us to see our calling and fulfill it honestly before God, serving him and people.

Moreover, Bonhoeffer and other famous figures who struggled against evil, while models of faithfulness in themselves, do not directly apply to the demands Ukrainians are making of Russians today.

Their examples are important and relevant to us, said Markevich. But [they did not go] out to picket, and [Bonhoeffer] did not conduct any public activity.

It would be difficult to achieve results through such actions, in his view. Evangelicals in Russia have no political influence to stop the war, whether they write letters or fill the city squares. Some will still try, as Markevich said he has done since 2014. But true power lies elsewhere.

War can be stopped by God, he said. Thats why we cry out to him.

Though with less risk but still significant ecclesial cost, some Moscow-affiliated Orthodox priests in Ukraine are calling on their local bishops to disavow Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church.

This unprecedented  wrenching tragedy that has been ignited by the malignant conspiracy and malicious inaction of a person whom we cannot recognize as our patriarch, stated 10 priests in the Cherkasy diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), 120 miles southeast of Kyiv, in a joint statement.

We demand the severance of all relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, and the restoration of eucharistic communication with the ecumenical patriarch.

In 2019, the Istanbul-based ecumenical patriarch of the Orthodox Church, Bartholomew I, recognized the national independence of the breakaway Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). Many parishes in Ukraine rejected this and chose to remain under the Moscow patriarchate, as has been historic precedent. (Exact figures for OCU- and UOC-affiliated churches in Ukraine are difficult to determine.)

But now bombed by Russian forces, the ten priests addressed their letter to Metropolitan Onufriy, the UOC leader, and demanded that their local bishop break ties with Kirill.

They also were biblical, referencing Esther and Proverbs 24, which oblige the believer to not pretend ignorance but to rescue those who are facing death.

We will find the strength to stand not with weak-minded people, they stated, but with Christ, who is our true pastor, father, and protector, to whom be the honor and glory for all time. Amen.

Their action was followed by the UOC priests of Lviv, which became the first diocese to unanimously call to break with Moscow.

Today the masks are off. It is obvious to everyone that behind the words about brotherly love and the creation of a single spiritual space of the Russian world was a man-made desire to bury and ignore the free and God-loving Ukrainian people, they said in their statement, comparing Putin to the biblical Cain.

Staying in prayerful and eucharistic unity with the Moscow Patriarchate  makes the UOC faithful look like enemy collaborators, and traitors.

The world sees a similar reality.

The United Nations General Assembly voted 1415, with 35 abstentions, to condemn Russia and call for an end to hostilities. Only Belarus, Syria, North Korea, and Eritrea joined Russia in opposing the measure.

Sergei Ryakhovsky, head of the Russian Union of Christians of Evangelical Faith, one of the two largest Pentecostal associations in the country, was quoted in Vzglyad, an online Russian newspaper, as praying for the Russian military operationPutins preferred terminologyto end by Easter on April 24, as well as noting John the Baptists defense of soldiers.

Any Christian of any denomination is against violence, he said, according to the Vzglyad article. But at the same time I understand that peace is achieved by different methods, including force, as in this situation.

Ryakhovsky later denounced the interview as fake in an Instagram story post. Dear brothers and sisters, if in the near future you will read in the press my quotes about Ukraine, know that they are fake, he posted Friday.

Many analysts are predicting a drawn-out conflict.

Most likely, the occupiers will only increase their efforts, destroying our country and lives, said Roman Soloviy, director of the Eastern European Institute of Theology in Lviv. Therefore, we cannot give up.  Amid chaos, pain, and death, we must remain Gods instruments of comfort, help, and hope.

And some of that has now come from Russia, even as its government has moved to censor its media. Liberal news sources Dozhd and Ekho Moskvi were recently shuttered. But some evangelical leaders continue to speak.

No political interest or goal can justify the deaths of innocent people, the open letter stated. War destroys not only Ukraine, but also Russiaits people, economy, morality, and future.

Editors note: This article was updated on Friday, March 4, to note Sergei Ryakhovskys Instagram statement that his interview in Vzglyad is fake.

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Iran acquits 9 Christian converts of 'acting against national security' in 'landmark decision'

An Iranian appeals court has acquitted nine Christian converts serving five-year prison sentences on charges of acting against national security for their participation in house churches, a ruling dubbed a landmark decision by Open Doors USA.

The human rights watchdog Article 18 reports that Branch 34 of the Tehran Court of Appeal issued the ruling Monday following an order last November by the Islamic Republics Supreme Court for the lower court to review the convictions.

In addition to acting against national security, the nine converts were charged with promoting Zionist Christianity. The accused include Abdolreza (Matthias) Ali-Haghnejad, Shahrooz Eslamdoust, Behnam Akhlaghi, Babak Hosseinzadeh, Mehdi Khatibi, Khalil Dehghanpour, Hossein Kadivar, Kamal Naamanian and Mohammad Vafadar.

Judges Seyed Ali Asghar Kamali and Akbar Johari found insufficient evidence the accused acted against national security, arguing that Christians are taught to live in obedience, submission and support of the authorities.

Article 18 Advocacy Director Mansour Borji said the courts decision was unlike any other of its type that he has seen. He said in a statement that the judges have gone to considerable length to explain their verdict, listing nine different reasons based on the constitution, judicial principles, legal provisions and Islamic tradition.

These judges have now found that the initial ruling that caused some of these Christians to spend over two and a half years of their lives in prison was legally unjustifiable, Borji said. Meanwhile, at least a dozen others, including one of the nine involved [in] this case, are still in prison or enforced internal exile following their own convictions on similar charges.

Open Doors USA, an organization that monitors persecution in over 60 countries, called the ruling a landmark decision for Iranian Christians. Open Doors ranks Iran as the ninth-worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution and has warned for years about the regimes crackdown on Muslim converts to Christianity and prosecution of underground churches.

Since 2005, the group says, there have been concerted efforts to prevent Muslim converts from gathering in worship, with some facing up to 10 years in jail.

In the broader picture, if these trials eventually set the believers free for good, the precedent can be used as a stepping stone to free many more people who have been imprisoned under the same faulty charges, an Open Doors report states.

While the decision for these nine Christians is a monumental first step for Christians in Iran, there is still a long way to go for this ruling and the reasoning behind it to take effect across the board.

The courts decision received praise from U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Chair Nadine Maenza.

"We are pleased by the #Tehran Court of Appeals' acquittal of 9 Christians. #Iran's courts correctly determined that peacefully practicing Christianity does not threaten Iran's national security, Maenza said in a statement shared on Twitter.

The nine Christians were conditionally released in late December, pending the review of their cases. However, one (Abdolreza Ali-Haghnejad) was imprisoned again this year on another charge related to his faith. Two others (Behnam Akhlaghi and Babak Hosseinzadeh) are also facing new charges.

The re-imprisonment as well as the new charges reveals an inconsistency in treatment of future cases, Open Doors warns.

The nine Christian converts were initially arrested during raids on homes and house churches between January and February 2019. They were sentenced that October.

According to Article 18, five were imprisoned in July 2019 because they couldnt meet the high demand for bail. The four others began serving their sentences in June 2020.

While the hope that the acquittals would inspire similar action for other Christians prosecuted for their faith, a petition from convert Nasser Navad Gol-Tapeh for a rehearing in his case was denied last month.

The 60-year-old was convicted of acting against national security and imprisoned in 2018. He has penned appeal letters asking courts how his involvement in a house church threatened national security.

Article 18 notes that Branch 9 of the Supreme Court had agreed to hear his case in January. However, his appeal for a retrial was dismissed in February, a decision that wasnt announced until this week.

The U.S. State Department labels Iran as a country of particular concern for engaging in egregious violations of religious liberty.
New Museum of the Bible exhibit features Shroud of Turin: 'First viral image'

WASHINGTON  The Museum of the Bible has unveiled a Shroud of Turin exhibit that features a full-size replica of the cloth that some believe Jesus Christ was buried in and what one museum official referred to as the first viral image.

The fifth floor of the museum features an exhibit titled The Mystery of Faith: The Shroud of Turin through July 31. The exhibit includes a full-size replica of the Shroud of Turin, which, as a description of the exhibit explains, bears a faint, yellowed image of a naked, crucified man and is believed by millions of Christians to be the burial cloth of Jesus of Nazareth.

Throughout this high-tech, interactive exhibit, visitors will explore how this cloth connects to the Gospels and has become one of the most immediately recognizable images of any figure from the Bible, said Jeffrey Kloha, the chief curatorial officer at the Museum of the Bible, in a statement shared with The Christian Post. Though the Shroud itself does not leave Turin, it has been featured on magazine covers, in documentaries, and even in Hollywood films. This exhibition explores the fascination and faith inspired by this cloth.

According to Brian Hyland, curator of medieval manuscripts at the Museum of the Bible, Two papal quotes frame the exhibition, which reveals how the Shroud mirrors the Gospels. Specifically, Pope John Paul II called the Shroud a mirror of the Gospel and Pope Benedict XVI called it an icon, suggesting that it is best viewed with the eyes of faith.

Three days before the exhibits grand opening last weekend, museum leadership hosted a preview event for the media. Kloha discussed how the exhibit was planned to open last year and then COVID happened. He described the exhibit's delayed opening due to the coronavirus pandemic as appropriate because the Shroud has always been connected to times of stress and danger and been a source of comfort all the way back to the Black Plague.

Kloha characterized the Shroud as the first viral image because of its popularity throughout history as well as the most famous image and familiar image of any person from the Bible. As noted in the exhibit, Since 1578, the Shroud has remained in Turin, a northern Italian city controlled by the House of Savoy, a high-ranking noble family. Hyland likened the exhibit to a medieval cathedral before praising it for allowing visitors to have a more intimate experience with the Shroud than they would if they were to visit the actual Shroud in Turin.

If you go to Turin to see the Shroud, youre going to wait in line and youre going to see it for maybe a minute to two minutes, he said. Here, you can get up close and you can really take a long, hard look at the image of  a man who has been brutally tortured, scourged, pierced, crucified and all of this should remind you of the Gospel stories, remind you of the stories of how Jesus suffered and died for love of us.

As Hyland explained, Weve got sections dealing with the history of the Shroud and the science of the Shroud and scattered throughout this exhibit are eight different interactive devices. Visitors will have a chance to see how the Shroud aligned over the body and flip through a so-called magic book that tells the amazing somewhat strange story of how the Shroud first appeared.

The magic book appears just like a regular book at first glance, but when visitors flip the pages, sensors activate animated videos that chronicle the events of the Shrouds earliest days. The exhibit also contains a selfie station so you can explore what it means when we talk about positive and negative images. The selfie station enables visitors to take a picture of themselves and have both a negative and positive version of the image sent to their email account.

The exhibit details the Shrouds role throughout history and includes a lesson about radiocarbon dating, which scientists used to help determine the age of the Shroud. After testing a small portion of the Shroud in the late 20th century, scientists determined that it dated to between AD 1260 and 1390.

Additionally, the exhibit outlines how the Shroud of Turin has changed hands over the years. While the Shroud remained in the hands of the Savoy family for over 400 years, it was willed to the papacy in 1983 upon the death of the former king of Italy, Umberto II. The exhibit also features an interactive timeline providing a detailed history of the Shroud.

Throughout history, the Shroud has survived multiple disasters. As indicated on the interactive timeline, On December 4, 1532, a fire broke out at the church in Chambery [France], where the Shroud was kept. Intense flames surrounded the silver reliquary. The priest needed the help of a blacksmith to rescue the Shroud. He broke the box open, but not before a drop of molten silver burned through one corner of the folded cloth. Two years after the fire, the Poor Clare nuns patched the Shroud.

The triangular patches remained in place until a restoration in 2002 removed them to sustain the integrity of the cloths fibers, the timeline continued. Visitors can obtain more information about the Shroud by touching sensors on an interactive version of the cloth, which highlights the significance of the burn marks and contains Bible verses related to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Fla. Pastor Willy Rice to be nominated for SBC president, says 'faith family' is all he's ever known

A day after Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton announced he would break tradition and not seek reelection following his first year in office, Florida Pastor Willy Rice is set to be nominated for the position at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting this June in Anaheim, California.

Rice, the pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater who delivered the convention sermon at the 2021 annual meeting last June, is expected to be nominated by his friend Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist in North Carolina.

Pressley made his intention known to Baptist Press, SBCs official news service, which publicized his plan in a report Wednesday.

Willy Rice represents who Southern Baptists are at their best, Pressley told Baptist Press. He loves Southern Baptists, believes in Southern Baptists, and has demonstrated at every level of our convention his ability to lead Southern Baptists.

In addition to his role as pastor of the multi-campus Calvary Church, Rice is a trustee for SBCs North American Mission Board and served as president of the Florida Baptist Convention from 2006 to 2008. He also served as president of the SBC Pastors Conference in 2015 and other leadership roles.

In a statement to The Christian Post Thursday, Rice said he is making himself available to messengers to be considered for the role after much prayer and a keen awareness of the multiple challenges facing Americas largest Protestant denomination.

As the current SBC president, Litton was elected last June after defeating Georgia Pastor Mike Stone in a runoff vote. He had vowed to build bridges, not walls. Since his election, the SBC continued to wrestle fiercely with many issues, including racism and sexual abuse. Less than two weeks into his presidency, Litton was accused of plagiarism.

Our Southern Baptist Convention faces a pivotal period with numerous challenges from within and without. This moment calls for grace and truth, for convictional leadership rooted in Christ-like character, Rice told CP.

Whether that description can be applied to me is a verdict that will be left to God and others. I am at peace with that. Yet, sensing the need of this moment, after the encouragement of respected friends and possessing a settled peace, I intend to allow my name to be nominated by my friend Clint Pressley.

Rice, who is a married father of three with several grandchildren, said that while the SBC's unity is facing very real threats, it can't be maintained at the expense of doctrinal conviction. He also made it clear that if he is elected, he intends to properly address the sexual abuse crisis roiling the denomination.

We must respond with transparency, courage, and, as necessary, deep contrition to the sexual abuse crisis. God is watching and so is our mission field, he said. We cannot dodge or obfuscate our responsibilities at this moment. We are all awaiting the Guidepost report and the report of the Sexual Abuse Task Force. I am hopeful that it will provide us a way forward, but it will be important that our leaders accept this challenge head-on in a way that restores trust and confidence and treats people everywhere with the dignity and respect they deserve.



Rice said he doesnt view the SBC through its global apparatus but the thousands of churches whose work in the field holds up the denomination.

I was born into a Southern Baptist family, and this faith family is all I have ever known. I love it. For me, it was never about conventions and entities, famous pastors, and brilliant academicians; it was always about my local church, he wrote in the statement. It was about the ordinary people who discipled me in the faith and lived out before me what it meant to be a Christ-follower. Only later did I learn about the global apparatus of our convention, and later still did I come to love and appreciate all of our cooperative ministries. I still do.

For me, the Southern Baptist Convention is and has always been about thousands of churches, most of whom you have never heard of, who minister faithfully in their contexts, he added.

It is about thousands of pastors and tens of thousands of congregational leaders and volunteers, most of whom labor in relative obscurity but do so faithfully as unto the Lord, he continued. It is for them that I pray our convention can return to a place of health. I pray for a time to heal, and for that reason, I consent to this step of faith wholly trusting God with the outcome and will be satisfied in Him regardless of what that outcome may be.

Read Willy Rices full statement below:
Military observations of the Russian invasion

Russian President Vladimir Putin surprised many around the world last week by invading Ukraine from multiple directions. Of particular concern, from the southern border of Belarus straight towards the nearby Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. Having served in mechanized, light (including Ranger Training) infantry, with operational deployments over a 30-year infantry officer career, I would like to offer the following observations about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

We saw rocket and air attacks against various targets throughout Ukraine. Previously, Putin had followed the Gerasimov Doctrine, which involved making strategic gains with nonmilitary means...supplemented by military means of a concealed character, according to namesake and Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov. The ground invasion was anything but concealed military means and constituted naked aggression. The primary thrust of the attack was with armored and mechanized forces.

Putin has wanted to invade Ukraine to install a pro-Russian administration for many years. Since the 2014 Color Revolution in Ukraine, resulting in a Ukrainian administration much less aligned with Russian interests, Putin has signaled this desire directly and indirectly. Shortly after this Color Revolution, Russia bloodlessly seized Crimea from Ukraine and then openly supported Russian separatists in the Eastern Donbass region. Still, Putin perceived the costs of an actual invasion of Ukraine as outweighing the gains.

Unfortunately, deterrence has failed after the catastrophically botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Deterrence comes from the perception that gains of a certain course of action will not be worth the costs. Just over a month after the botched withdrawal, Reuters reported the following about Putins perceptions of that failure: The United States' involvement in Afghanistan has led to tragedy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, one week before Russia is due to host the Taliban in Moscow. Hosting the Taliban and making other such pronouncements of perceived American weakness showed the change in Putins thinking after Afghanistan. Putin believed the United States would react similarly to what he saw with Afghanistan, and invading Ukraine became worth the cost he foresaw from Biden. Additionally, Putin saw America move from an oil surplus to dependence on Russian oil under Biden, further lessening deterrence.

At the operational and tactical levels, the invasion has shown a number of problems with the Russian military. The terrain of Ukraine, particularly in winter, lends toward using armored and mechanized as happened. A major challenge of armored/mech forces is the substantial level of fuel required, along with ammunition, parts, and other supplies. Among seasoned military leaders, theres an old refrain, Amateurs talk operations, and professionals talk logistics. Logistics becomes the greatest challenge and the show-stopper, particularly as operations can only succeed with proper logistics. I found this quite true in my experience with mechanized infantry and armor. Planning and capabilities are critical.

Based on the size of the respective militaries, Russian should have seized Kyiv and toppled the Ukrainian government within days of the start of the invasion. Russia is the second most powerful military in the world (in terms of capabilities) and Ukraine is ranked at only twenty-two according to Global Firepower. Russia spent $61.7 billion on its military (2020), and has a total military of 850,000 personnel, while Ukraine's is only 250,000. Russia dwarfs Ukraine in airpower, with 4100 aircraft to Ukraines 318. These same levels of imbalance exist with most other weapons platforms, like tanks. Russia quickly fired over 250 ballistic and cruise missiles at targets throughout Ukraine at the start. Seizing urban areas, like Kyiv, can be quite difficult, as cities require high numbers of troops and give an advantage to defenders. Still, a rapid Russian assault was meant to quickly overwhelm and bring capitulation before becoming bogged down.

Despite their overwhelming advantages, the Russian advance has stalled. Part of the answer appears to be stiff Ukrainian resistance, but the main problem seems to be logistics. Multiple reports have appeared about Russian armor stopping due to lack of fuel, not only because of the lack of resupply but Russian vehicles moving out from Belarus without being topped off. As Philip G. Wasielewski and Seth Jones of The Center for Strategic and International Studies have reported, Russian army logistics forces are not designed for large-scale ground offensives far from railroads. Beyond that structural problem, logistics planning was substandard. According to The Jerusalem Post: After four days of heavy fighting and hundreds of kilometers of driving, Russian forces must resupply (ammunition and personnel) and refuel. An American official said on Saturday that Russian leaders are 'increasingly frustrated' with how the invasion has gone so far and according to the British Defense Ministry, 'the speed of the Russian advance has temporarily slowed likely as a result of acute logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance.'"

We praise Ukraines resistance against the Russian onslaught, but we have a duty to learn from these lessons. After the horrendous withdrawal from Afghanistan, we held nobody accountable and that was wrong. Adversaries like Russia and China watched, as they also watched us lose energy independence. Its time to take a closer look at adversary logistical capabilities and understand potential weaknesses. We should also look to our own ability to conduct large-scale conventional operations successfully, something we havent faced for many years. The world is a tough and dangerous place, and we must get tougher and stronger.
Christians, don't buy investment products based on a religious shame sell

In Mark's Gospel Jesus' disciples are confronted about not washing their hands before eating after coming from the marketplace.

"And the Pharisees and some of the scribeshad seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed." Mark 7

We see later that the issue was not just lack of washing, but specifically after coming from the marketplace. "and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves".

The word translated as "impure" is "koine", literally "common". In other words, the charge is not literally that those who were failing to wash their hands had actually touched something impure, such as a dead body, the charge is that they were touching things in common with other people. That is, simply being in the marketplace rendered one in need of cleansing whether or not there was actually any evidence of contamination.

The pharisaical reasoning was that in the marketplace one might touch something impure with the hands, and then bring that impurity from the marketplace to the dinner table. If one had touched something impure, then that impurity attached itself to the hands, and then the impurity transferred to the food when it was touched. When the defiled food was eaten, the man was also defiled. To avoid all this, hand washing was necessary.

This reasoning also demanded the washing of cups, pots and other housewares (which Mark describes with the Greek word we translate as "baptize"). The washing of hands is done in a manner that some translations render as "carefully", but literally it means with "fists". What does it mean to cleanse with fists? Translators in the past have struggled with that. That's because Christians were often not familiar with Jewish ritual practices. Rabbis such as Daniel Boyarin have pointed out that Mark's account matches Jewish ritual practices of handwashing and further suggests that Mark may well be making a point about the combative posture of the ritual (our word pugnacious is related to the same Greek word used by Mark for the manner of washing). In other words, Jesus' critics were washing "with fists" and baptizing their food implements to cleanse away the impurity of the marketplace.

Jesus did not nibble around the edges of the Pharisees' flawed thinking: he cut to the heart of the problem. Their understanding of holiness was backwards, "there is nothing outside the man which going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man." In other words, we do not pick up defilement from the marketplace. If we are defiled, it is something we took into the marketplace with us, not something we picked up there. We are not rendered sinful by those with whom we associate, including those with whom we conduct commerce.

This pharisaical approach can be found in the modern Church in numerous places, including in the marketing of religious investment funds that are sold based on the idea that investing in the marketplace in general is sinful, and the solution is to buy funds which are cleansed of such sinful associations. Recently I spoke at a conference of Christian financial professionals and discussed Jesus' teaching in Mark 7 about the nature of holiness. I was approached afterward by someone who works for a company that sells investments which practice sin-screening. He claimed that those who do not invest this way are "participating in sin". I noticed that while we were chatting he held his iPhone in his hand, but he argued against Christians owning Apple stock: since people can download pornography on their iPhones Apple investors have benefited from sin and therefore are participating in it. I asked him why it is wrong for me to own Apple stock, but not for him to own an Apple product. He argued that that stock ownership is participating in the sin. But is it really participating in sin to own Apple stock, but not the phone? Buying a stock provides no direct benefit to the company but buying a phone does. Apple advertises its phones, not its stock, because sales of phones are revenues for the company and sales of stock are not. Buying stock in public markets is almost always a matter of paying the previous owner of the stock, not paying the company, but revenues from the sale of products actually make the activities of a company possible. Porn-downloading apps, book selling apps which discriminate against certain religious views, a corporate culture which supports legislation that weakens religious liberty: these things are done with the proceeds of iPhones, Mac computers and various apps, they are not financed through stock ownership.

Please don't misunderstand: there is nothing morally wrong with owning an iPhone (though there is definitely something morally wrong with downloading pornography on one), because it's not a sin to do business with sinners. There is no need to cleanse your hands from holding one, because the sins of others that we deal with in the marketplace do not transfer to us and we are not defiled by ingesting the benefits we get there.

For whatever reason, this young man feels no remorse at buying and using an iPhone, at organizing his life around it so thoroughly that he holds it in his hand even as he tells me I am sinning if I own stocks in the company which makes and sells it. Of course, a cynic might notice that getting through life without owning any technology that comes from companies which dont align with our values is a significant sacrifice of convenience, but that using moral shame to sell religiously themed investment products, and charging fees to do so, does not involve a sacrifice. Quite to the contrary, it is a rapidly growing market niche.

The theological presuppositions that lie at the root of shaming investors for not cleansing their portfolio are the same as those used to attack Jesus in Mark 7. Both use legalism to monetize religious guilt. There are right ways to promote screened products: as Paul taught in the controversy over meat sacrificed to idols, people should follow their consciences. If they believe that eating meat sacrificed to idols, or owning stock in alcohol distillers, is sinful, then they should abstain. Christian investment managers can and do become easers of guilt, freeing people from burdens of conscience by offering products that allow Christians to exclude companies that are a stumbling block to them. But Christian investment sellers should be removers of stumbling blocks not manufacturers of stumbling blocks. Investment professionals can remove burdens of guilt, or they can bind burdens of guilt to the backs of ordinary Christians and then turn around and charge them to remove those burdens.

Interestingly, we see the early church take a different approach to the marketplace. "So he (Paul) was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present." (Acts 17) Paul, perhaps because of his earlier captivity to legalism, seemed to deeply grasp Jesus' message about true holiness. Whereas his former colleagues the Pharisees were offended by people mixing in the marketplace even in predominately Jewish Capernaum where there was some change that someone might have mixed with a defiled person, Paul mixed freely with everyone in the marketplace of the debased Pagan city of Athens, a den of idolatry. What was in Paul, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, came out of him and transformed that society, in some ways laying the foundation for Western Civilization. He did it not by retreating into a Christian ghetto, but by engaging in a marketplace filled with all types of different sinners, because where sin aboundeth, grace aboundeth more.
'Determined to fulfill Christ's mission': Museum of the Bible event honors Frederick Douglass' legacy

WASHINGTON  Notable African American civil rights activist Frederick Douglass did not see people as black or white, but rather made in the image of God, according to a professional historical impersonator who has devoted his life to bringing the legacies of famed civil rights activists back to life.

Jeremiah Dew of South Carolina, known for his One Voice: A Black History Narrative performances, gave a presentation at the Museum of the Bible last Thursday as a part of the six-part Black History Month series titled The Bibles Impact on the Abolition Movement.

In a presentation titled Meet and Greet Frederick Douglass, Dew impersonated Douglass, spoke about his legacy and how the famed abolitionist might view the current racial climate in America.

Douglass life showed that he was doing his part to look beyond the surface. This is 1880. This is not 1980. So I think that deep down, Frederick Douglass didnt see himself as a black person. He saw everyone as people, not black or white, but made in the image of God, Dew said.

Douglass would have seen equality as a must for all people. He lived in an era where separate but equal became the law the year he died.

Dew, who earned a college degree in mass communication in 2007 and started his organization One Voice Show that same year, has entertained over 3 million people with his impersonation of black historical figures. He said that he read Douglass first autobiography over a decade ago, which changed his perspective on slavery forever.

Reading Douglass first of three autobiographies, Dew said, opened his eyes to the details surrounding the traumas that blacks faced through slavery. It motivated him to pursue performance and theater to bring black historical figures like Douglass back to life in a theatrical way.

I was always pretty good at falling asleep on the textbook in junior high, so reading the autobiography helped me. And now years later as I impersonate figures like Frederick Douglass, its impactful for listeners to help them understand in new ways the emotions behind the printed work of Frederick Douglass first autobiography, Dew told The Christian Post following his performance.

Dew hopes that the audience would understand more about how Douglass handled racism, division and discrimination through his viewpoint that all people should be equal.

It wasnt that Douglass was trying to lower people down to a certain level. Douglass saw everyone as created by God, and he believed that everyone should have equal opportunity to the American ideal life. And that wasnt happening, so he had to speak about it, he said.

Douglass was the first black man to show up to the womens suffrage events. He was a feminist. He wrote on womens suffrage. He was born enslaved, and he moved beyond. It wasnt just a black thing for him.

Douglass was born into slavery around 1818 on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. However, he was fortunate enough to escape slavery and went on to become a licensed preacher with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and national leader of the abolitionist movement. He was well-known for his anti-slavery speeches and writings and his support for the womens sufferage movement.

Dew said that he believed that if Douglass were alive today, he wouldnt agree with the current state of the global Church when it comes to the social division that often occurs among Christians on Sunday mornings.

Douglass was mixed race. His second wife was white. He would have fit in well in this day and age. But, back then, he didnt fit in, said Dew.

Dew said that Douglass would have probably approved of multiethnic church environments based on his marital status to a white woman.

Based on the way Douglass lived in his second marriage, I think Douglass would have been comfortable with diverse churches. His family was of mixed-race and his associations were of mixed-race within his Christian ministry, Dew said.

Himself married to a white woman and the father of three mixed-race children, Dew said that skin color is not something he strives to focus on in his household.

In my home, the kids are kind of like me and kind of like her. Something more needs to happen, other than just looking at each other based on color. The culture of our home has nothing to do with color, Dew said of his family.

Dew said that Douglass not only agreed with diversity in the church setting, but Douglass also believed in the teachings of Jesus.

Douglass was a big fan of Jesus. But, Douglass was not a fan of the people who claimed Christianity at that time in America, Dew said.

Jesus in the New Testament had a passion for compassion through saving people who were sick and lost. Douglass wanted to save the sheep that was lost. He wanted to get his family out of slavery.  Like, let [my] people go.

Douglass was determined to fulfill the mission of Christ, he added. Jesus did many things, and He not only tried to save people from a spiritual demise; but also from a practical sense in the community, in the same way that Douglas wanted to help others.

Dew believes Douglass would have possibly agreed with Martin Luther King Jr.s statement calling for church integration, calling the 11 a.m. hour on Sunday mornings one of the most segregated hours in Christian America.

He said Douglass would also have noticed that issues with racial barriers within the Church are deep down spiritual matters, which call for all Christians to have more connection to God and more community with brothers and sisters in Christ of all races.

Douglass would not say much different than MLK, because if Douglass were here today, he would have seen people calling themselves Christians and not behaving in the spirit of the Scripture, Dew said.

Aside from Douglass legacy leaving something for Christians to ponder, Dew said that Douglass life could teach Americans how to approach history and historical figures.

People often think that all these historic figures are lumped into big groups. People will often say: everyone white back then was racist or everyone who was black was against XYZ, and its not a healthy way to look at things, Dew explained.

We need to realize that people arent all coming from the same places [and] not everyone agreed on the same things back then and now. ... I believe my impersonation performance [today] was helpful to viewers because it wasnt a debate. But it gave the audience a chance to just watch and listen and learn that way.

Event host Yolanda Henry told CP that the Museum of the Bible plans on holding more impersonation performances for Juneteenth (June 19), which became a federal holiday last year.

In order to have people be engaged, they have to understand the culture and how the Bible impacted these black historical figures, Henry said.

I think we are excited with how todays impersonation event went. Each week our audiences have grown. We had a great number today. And we are very pleased with the outcome. And we hope to continue to build and expand in the years to come.

Throughout February, the museum held discussions honoring the contributions of the Slave Bible, Harriet Tubman, King, Harpers Weekly and others.
Emmy-winning actor Kelsey Grammer to portray Pastor Chuck Smith in Jesus Revolution film

Actor Kelsey Grammer, known for his role in the popular sitcom Fraiser, is headed to the pulpit for his new role in Jesus Revolution, an upcoming film inspired by the true story of the national spiritual awakening that swept Southern California in the early 1970s.

Along with Grammer, a five-time Emmy winner, the film stars The Chosens Jonathan Roumie, Joel Courtney (Super 8), Kimberly Williams-Paisley (According to Jim), Anna Grace Barlow and Nicholas Cirillo. Others listed in the cast include Ally Ioannides, Julia Campbell, Nic Bishop and Jolie Jenkins.

In the 1970s, young Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) sets out to redefine truth through all means of liberation, and instead, meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie street preacher, Reads the film synopsis. Laurie and Frisbee, along with Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer), open the doors of Smiths languishing church to an unexpected revival by way of rock and roll, newfound love, and a twist of faith leading to aJesus Revolution that changed the world.

In a statement to The Christian Post, Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship based in Riverside who has held evangelistic crusade events at stadiums across the country for over 30 years, expressed his excitement over the film.

This film is not primarily about Chuck Smith, Lonnie Frisbee, Cathe Laurie, or me. Its about how Jesus moved and sent a spiritual awakening in our lives that is still being felt today, Laurie said.

I am honored to have such a talented, venerated cast and crew tell this story that is so near to my heart and changed my life and our country for eternity. The Jesus Movement was the last great American spiritual awakening. Some historians have said it was the greatest revival of all time. Now, Im praying for another in our time.

Grammer will portray Pastor Smith of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, Lauries mentor. The minister famously opened his church to all seekers and was instrumental in launching one of the largest spiritual revivals in the United States.

Jesus has been a profound influence in my life. I am proud to be a part of this film, Grammar shared in a statement with CP.

Jesus Revolution is a Kingdom Story film in collaboration with Lionsgate. It will be directed by filmmakers Jon Erwin (I Can Only Imagine, American Underdog) and Brent McCorkle and produced by Kevin Downes. The film was written by Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn.

In a past statement, the Erwin Brothers said the films content is timely today.

This is a fascinating true story about how young people gravitated toward a spiritual movement that erupted during a time that our country was being torn apart and couldnt be more divided, the Erwin Brothers said. Its themes are just as timely and topical today as they were in the late 60s.

Jon Erwin added that though the movie is set in a very specific time and place, the theme of finding a deeper meaning to life, in the midst of a fractured and broken world, is timeless.

In his iconic performances, Kelsey has a proven ability to connect with audiences in a real, vulnerable way, which will make him a tremendous presence in this film, he added.

Filming for Jesus Revolution begins in March 2022 in Mobile, Ala., and then Los Angeles in April.
American missionary returns home after fleeing Russian invasion of Ukraine

After being startled from his sleep by the rattling and shaking of his apartment as explosions erupted, Alabama Pastor Mark Posey said that he knew he had a choice to make last Friday: flee from Ukraine or face potential death.

As a minister of the Winfield Church of Christ, Posey had been in Ukraine for nearly a month doing mission work. For the last 30 years, he has traveled back and forth from the U.S. to Ukraine. He was scheduled to return home on a flight out of Kyiv, but Russias invasion of its neighboring country caused plans to change.

Upon hearing the erupting noises of warfare stemming from Russias invasion of its neighboring country, Posey said during a press conference Tuesday upon his return to the United States that he knew he had no other option but to take the full-day journey west from the southeast of Kyiv to the Polish border on that frigid morning.

As Posey traveled by bus, he was the only American on board. He remembers the bus passed by thousands of Ukrainian men, women and children who were walking to the border in an attempt to escape the devastation of war-stricken areas.

After making it to the Polish border, Posey said he could leave the country on Tuesday because he had his American passport.

After a long international journey, Posey said he is grateful to be reunited with his loved ones. However, his heart remains with the Ukrainian people.

After traveling most of the day across the breadth of Ukraine, it did not prepare me for what I saw: thousands and thousands of Ukrainians walking to the boarder. Many had abandoned their vehicles; older men and women, mothers and their children, and it was cold, described Posey in a Facebook post.

Not far outside of Lviv, the bus stopped.  And I purchased all the water, pirozhki, and vareniki I could carry. It could take days to cross, I didnt know and I needed to be prepared. However, at the border when the bus stopped because of heavy traffic, I asked to exit the bus. Reluctantly, the driver allowed, Posey continued in his post.

After leaving the bus, Posey said he gave away all his water and food to Ukrainian mothers, children and the elderly.

As they responded  (Thank You!), I was reminded once again: countries and borders must not divide us. We must promote mankind; a vitally important word. We cannot be consumed by petty differences, Posey wrote.

We must be united on the common ground of faith, hope and love. We must be Christlike. So, not only should we sing, but we must live the words of the old song - And theyll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, he added.

Around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, when Posey arrived at the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport, he was seen engaging in a group hug with his wife and other loved ones.

When asked by reporters how it feels to be back in the U.S., Posey said: Better than anything.

Its great to go anywhere, but the best part about going somewhere is coming home, and thats the best feeling right now, Posey said.

My heart is still in Ukraine. The people are hurting, theyre suffering, theyre scared, and were going to continue to help them. We love them and we want to emphasize humanity, mankind, and were going to continue to do that, he added.

The pastor urges people to pray for Ukraine.

Theyre great people, and they need our help, and so we are just going to keep on reaching out to them as they would do for us if we were in their shoes, Posey said.

Thank God for the good old U.S.A. Its a wonderful thing, he added.

Posey said his interactions with Ukrainians during his escape from the Eastern European country were life-changing.

The Ukrainians that rode with him on the bus, he said, helped him along the way when all of the men were pulled off of the bus to check passports and ages.

It has been fantastic to live in the hearts and the minds. And the hugs of the Ukrainian people is something that [Ill] always remember, Posey said.

They rallied around me, helped me, communicated, made sure that I understood what was being said, [and] they were very adamant about protecting me.

The pastor said he would be telling a lie if he said he didnt experience fear on his journey.

I have been scared for the last month. ... Especially when you wake up early in the morning to explosions in the city, and you know that there are bombs going off and people are in harms way, he said. So that really sobers your mind to considering you might need to be heading home.

He said his life changed on a dime.

I went the breadth of the country all the way to the Polish border, and thank God I was able to get in because so many people did not, he recalled.

Posey is grateful for his American passport, which he said played a significant role in his ability to leave Ukraine before many others.

A U.S. passport is a very powerful tool, and I was so proud to have it, but there were many who spent many nights in the cold without food or water, and they wanted to do the same thing that I was able to do with that wonderful tool of a U.S. passport, he said.

I will always be thankful for that. But, to see the thousands of people trying to escape, knowing that I had a free ticket out was a very good feeling for me, but I shed a lot of tears because I could go, but they couldnt. And that made me resolve more in my heart to help my fellow human beings, and Im going to continue to do that.

Posey said his experience in Ukraine was sobering and tugged at my heartstrings. And he said some of what he witnessed  such as families being separated  are things he hopes he will never have to see again in his lifetime.

Well, [my faith] has been tested to the limits. And I pray, and I feel as though it has been strengthened. The best way to strengthen something is to put it to the test, put it in fire, Posey said.

I felt like I have gone through the fire.  And understanding that He has provided specifically for me and all of this has just lifted me so high, encouraged me, and I want to make sure that other people feel and experience that same thing.
Museum of the Bible releases first in-house film production, special exhibits to celebrate Easter

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The Museum of the Bible unveiled its Holy Week celebration, which includes its first in-house film production, special exhibits and performances to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

The Christian faith hinges on the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the museum, which opened in the nation's capital in 2017, seeks to display the hope and history of Easter this season.

Charlotte Clay, the Museum of the Bibles media relations manager, told The Christian Post in a Tuesday interview how the museums new documentary, The History of Easter, shows the significance of Easters impact worldwide.

For Christians, of course, nothing is more impactful than the resurrection of Jesus, but Easter is such a significant event that it caused much of the world to rearrange their calendar (A.D. and B.C.) , Clay said. The event led more than a third of the world to call themselves Christian. So we take a look at the timeline, how Easter is tied to the lunar cycle and is connected with  the emergence from winter to spring, darkness to light, and how it corresponds with Passover and the Spring Equinox.

Filmed in Israel, Italy and at the museum, the documentary explores the history, traditions, origins and global impact of Easter. It also includes a reenactment of the original Easter through Jesus passion week leading up to His death and resurrection.

The film dives into Easter traditions  such as painting eggs and the Easter Bunny  to understand where they originated and how people celebrate around the world.

For those belonging to Christian, Catholic and Orthodox traditions, the resurrection of Jesus defines history and human life, Museum of the Bible CEO Harry Hargrave said in a statement. This documentary will engage viewers with a compelling exploration of the history of Easter. Through delving into the Bible and the Resurrection, not only Easter but the human condition may be better understood.

Despite the loss suffered in the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Clay said the film also seeks to share a message of hope to everyone through the Easter story, especially during the second Easter of the pandemic.

The documentary is our way of sharing about Easter with anyone anywhere in the world, especially during this time, Clay said.

She said she hopes people will come away from the film with a renewed perspective in knowing theres always hope and spring out of winter despite difficult times.

While we face another Easter amidst the pandemic, we hold onto the hope of better times to come, CEO of Museum of the Bible Harry Hargrave said in a statement. For many, Easter provides the greatest hope to humanity across time and place. We wish to share this sense of hopefulness with our guests.

The History of Easter, the documentary hosted by award-winning Christian musician and actor Matthew West, will air on Trinity Broadcasting Network Thursday at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., as well as Saturday at 2 p.m.

It will also be available to view on YouTube and the Museum of the Bibles website.

The film marks the museums first in-house production and is just one aspect of the Museum of the Bibles Easter week events.

Musician John Sweet will perform in the museums Grand Hall on Easter Sunday. Interactive storytelling of Easters history will take place in the afternoon from Friday to Sunday of Easter weekend.

Museum guests can walk through Jesus final steps on the Via Dolorosa before crucifixion through the 14 stations of Gib Singletons Stations of the Cross exhibit. The museum also offers a new interactive Education Station where families can create a stained-glass window.

A virtual "Lunch and Learn" with Director of Scholars Initiative Daniel Stevens was held on Wednesday to discuss the development of the Easter holiday.

The museum includes over 4,000 years of history to display the Bibles ongoing and transformative impact in the world.

Admission is free for National Guard members through Easter Sunday.
Iran releases Christian convert imprisoned for membership in evangelistic group

Authorities in Iran have released a 37-year-old Iranian Christian convert four months early after he tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report.

Majidreza Souzanchi, who was arrested in 2017 for his association with a house church and being involved in evangelism, was released from Tehran Greater Prison on April 8, about four months before he was to be released after he contracted COVID-19 in that prison, International Christian Response reported on Friday.

In April 2018, Judge Ahmed Mashallah at Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced the convert to five years in prison  the maximum possible sentence for the charges he faced, which were membership of evangelistic groups and conducting evangelism, Article 18, a United Kingdom-based watchdog group that promotes religious freedom and tolerance for Christians in Iran, previously reported.

In December 2018, Judge Hassan Babaei at Branch 54 of the Tehran Regional Court of Appeals reduced Souzanchis sentencing to two years. However, he was also accused of theft  a charge he denies  and sentenced to two additional years.

After serving the sentence related to Christianity, Souzanchi was transferred from Evin Prison to Tehran Greater Prison to serve the sentence for theft.

He was arrested and sentenced alongside a 19-year-old woman, Fatemeh Mohammadi, who was sentenced to six months in prison for membership of an evangelical group. She was released after sentencing as she had served her time in the womens ward of Evin Prison.

Christians in Iran witnessed an unprecedented wave of raids on house churches toward the end of 2018 in which more than 100 Christians were arrested, according to Article 18. Most of them were released after a few hours after they wrote down details of their Christian activities and were ordered to have no more contact with other Christians.

Last January, a 21-year-old Iranian Christian convert, Fatemeh Mohammadi, who prefers to go by the name Mary since her spiritual conversion, was arrested during an anti-government protest in Tehran.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency reported that Mary was detained near Azadi Square in Tehran, where protests occurred after the Iranian military shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane and killed 176 people. She published a series of tweets on the day she was arrested, saying that the Iranian people faced soft repression in Iran as the regime creates false beliefs through selective coverage of the news.

The Iranian government uses Articles 489, 499 and 500 of the countrys Penal Code to prosecute Christians for their peaceful religious activities. The country has consistently been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for egregious violations of religious freedom.
Jimmy Evans says imperfect Christians will be raptured, calls evolution 'satanic'

Pastor Jimmy Evans, the founder of the multi-campus Trinity Fellowship Church in Texas, preached a guest sermon on the End Times at Ed Youngs Fellowship Church on Sunday. He touched on the rapture and issued strong words against the teaching of evolution.

Evans Feb. 27 sermon is titled The Right Side of the Levee. The author and spiritual leader, who co-founded the organization MarriageToday and led the television ministry program The Overcoming Life, told an audience that salvation is a gift from God for people who accept Jesus in their lives.

Accepting Christ, he said, is the only qualification that is needed to be saved when the period of tribulation begins on earth.

Jesus came to redeem us. When we were dead in our trespasses, He loved us. Isnt that wonderful? Even when we were against Him, He was for us. And [the Bible] says: By grace, you have been saved through faith, he said. Its a free gift. You cant earn salvation.

We all have issues, and when Jesus comes, well all be imperfect, he added. If you know Jesus, youre going to get raptured. If you know Jesus, youre going to Heaven, the 67-year-old pastor said halfway through his sermon.

Earlier in his sermon, Evans said that Christians cant fully understand the implications of what is happening in the world today and its relation to the End Times until they know who [they] are in God.

He warned against teachings on evolution, which he argues goes against what is written in the Bible.

Evolution  this hideous satanic teaching  teaches us and our children that we came from an accident, we came from nowhere, were going nowhere, our lives are just meaningless [and] were just animals, Evans explained.

There was the goo, and then the zoo and then me and you.  And were teaching an entire generation those lies. I heard someone say one time, Its no surprise that children act like animals when theyre taught thats all they are, Evans continued.

You were made in the image of God, and you are Gods family. You came from God, He lives inside of you and youre going to God, he added.

Evans said that the first two chapters and the last two chapters of the Bible say that God created mankind in His image to live with Him in paradise.

Were going to live in the presence of God. ... Were His eternal family. The only thing that God gets out of all the pain Hes been through, Evans proclaimed.

No ones been through as much pain as God. The death of Jesus proves that. The only thing He gets is you, and Hes good with that. Thats how valuable you are to God, he said.

The pastor said that Christians often struggle with the idea that God loves them despite their flaws.

Its hard to process because we know ourselves. We know of all the dumb things that we do, he said. Let me give you an example here. Toddlers,  theyre precious. Theyre incredible. But when you get right down to it, theyre pretty disgusting little creatures.

[Toddlers] produce hideous odors.  Their hands are sticky and greasy, and they put them on you, and you know theyre ill-mannered and disobedient. And they jump up in your lap, and in spite of all of their issues, you just adore them. ... And the question is: how can you love someone like that?

The reason why parents can love their toddlers is because theyre yours, Evans said.

Its not whats on them; its whats in them, he said. Its not what they do; its who they are. Well, how can God love us so much in spite of our issues? Its because we came from Him.

Evans said that Psalm 139 describes how God created humans by knitting them in their mothers wombs.

You werent a blob. You were a child of God. You are a divine product of a divine process. Youre not an accident. Youre not an afterthought. You are the creation of almighty God, he said. God adores you more than any human parent has ever loved a child.

He cited Matthew 7:11: If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him.

God could have made us robots. We could have been programmed by God to worship Him and serve Him and love Him. But, theres no value in the love of a robot, Evans stated. They have no choice. You dont praise your washer because it washes. ... You dont praise your vacuum because it sucks. They have to. Theres no value in that.

During the final days, the earth will go through a seven-year tribulation period which will be Hell on earth and the worst seven years in human history, Evans said. Before the tribulation, he said those who know Jesus will be taken up in the clouds to be with Jesus.

He warned that there are about 8 billion people in the world today, but only 2 billion identify as Christians. However, he stressed that he thinks hundreds of millions of people will be saved during the tribulation.

The rapture of the Church  when we disappear  it will be the greatest evangelistic event in the history of the world. And a lot of people will get saved, Evans said.

And most of them will get killed by the Antichrist or die in the judgments. Three-fourths of the earths population dies during the tribulation. And so, you say, why would anyone reject Jesus? Evans asked.

He said Jesus answered the question in John 3: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. ... He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.

He said humans have a choice to make. Either come into the light where morals and behaviors can be scrutinized by the King of Kings, or to stay in darkness.

The kingdom of Satan is a kingdom of rebellion, lawlessness and darkness, where men dont want their behaviors scrutinized. They dont want a higher authority, he said.

One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. ... But for some, it will be too late because they rejected Him and are going to Hell.

As the sermon concluded, Evans said that Christians should not be afraid of the End Times but should be careful not to let Satan make them question their salvation.

Dont stop living your life. If you believe that Jesus is coming back soon, build a house, get a degree [and] get your education. Plan like Jesus isnt coming back for 100 years, but live like Hes coming back today, the preacher advised.

The worst thing you can do is just get paralyzed and start [saying], Jesus come, and just be worthless. We have a lot to do until Jesus comes. Live your life, pray for direction from God, and do what you believe God is telling you to do with life, he added. But, Ill tell you this: Jesus is going to be on time. And the main thing is for us to be ready.
Museum of the Bible unveils Magna Carta exhibit, highlights influence on Americas founding documents

WASHINGTON  The Museum of the Bible is set to unveil a Magna Carta exhibit Friday, which will examine the role of the church and the Bible in the formulation of the centuries-old document.

On June 22, the Museum of the Bible announced that it would be debuting a major new exhibit called Magna Carta: Tyranny. Justice. Liberty. The exhibit, a partnership between the Museum of the Bible and Hawkwood International, will be on display on the museum's fifth floor from July 2 to Jan. 2, 2022.

As noted in the Museum of the Bible's statement announcing the exhibit, The Magna Carta is widely considered a major inspiration for the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the British Human Rights Act.

The exhibit will feature an original 1217 Magna Carta, one of only four in existence, as well as the Kings Writ, an initial agreement between Englands most powerful barons and King John to restore their ancient liberties.

The exhibit illustrates how The king and rebel barons gathered at the ancient site of Runnymede, where a treaty in the form of a charter was crafted over several days in June 1215. However, John, described as a tyrant in the exhibit, quickly broke the promises in the Kings Writ and the Magna Carta did not come to fruition until 1217, after King John died.

Prior to the exhibits opening, a press preview was held for the media. At the event, Jeffrey Kloha, chief curational officer of the Museum of the Bible, elaborated on how the Museum of the Bibles Magna Carta exhibit advances its mission as a global, innovative, educational institution whose purpose is to invite all people to engage in the transformative power of the Bible.

Kloha explained that the exhibit is designed to highlight the role of the church and the Bible in the background of Magna Carta, specifically noting that the first clause features a religious freedom element to the Magna Carta that actually guarantees the liberty of the English Church.

In a statement issued last week, Kloha predicted that In Magna Carta: Tyranny. Justice. Liberty, visitors will encounter these early, foundational documents in an interactive and engaging exhibit. Additionally, he said, They will leave with a greater understanding of the relevance of the Magna Carta, the enduring importance of the rights that developed from it, and the central role played by the church and the Christian faith in its creation and longevity.

Luke Purcer, the CEO of Hawkwood International, recalled how he first conceived the idea of a Magna Carta exhibit after putting together the worlds first music performance at Stonehenge and asking what do we do next immediately thereafter.

Citing a desire to create an engaging, interesting experience around something that is culturally and historically significant, Purcer said he thought of the Magna Carta and worked to put together the exhibit in collaboration with the Hereford Cathedral, where the 1217 Magna Carta and the Kings Writ previously resided, from there.

Purcer stressed that there is no such thing as the Magna Carta, and that between 20 and 25 Magna Cartas have been issued over time, beginning with the 1217 Magna Carta. He asserted that in 1217, a new document was issued alongside a second charter, which was a little bit smaller than the first one, so the first one was called the big charter, magna charter. The other document became known as the Charter of the Forest.

As part of its effort to explore the medieval world, the context of the creation of the Magna Carta and the personalities involved, the exhibition includes additional historic documents from a period of over 500 years. One such artifact is the Codex Valmadonna, a liturgical Torah written in 1189, which is the only surviving dated Hebrew text from England prior to King Edward Is expulsion of the Jews in 1290.

The exhibit also includes an illuminated New Testament dating back to 1215 and a Magna Carta issued by King Edward I in 1300 accompanied by its corresponding Charter of the Forest. The existence of the 1300 Magna Carta was unknown until five years ago, and it was also viewed by Thomas Paine, an influential figure in the American Revolution, while he still lived in England.

A portion of the exhibit titled The Road to Liberty highlights the 1217 Magna Cartas influence on the founding documents of the United States: As the Constitution was drafted, core concepts from Magna Carta were considered essential components. The rule of law, due process and habeas corpus represent important continuities between English and American legal traditions. Magna Cartas legacy is reflected most clearly in the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution ratified in 1791.

In addition to featuring pictures of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights obtained from the National Archives, the exhibit contains hard copies of the Journal of the Proceedings of the Continental Congress from 1774, shortly before the American Revolution, as well as Thomas Paines pamphlet Common Sense, which rebuked the tyranny of the English monarchy and is credited with pushing colonists to openly call for independence.

Additionally, the exhibit highlighted the role of Stephen Langton, appointed by Pope Innocent III to serve as archbishop of Canterbury, in crafting the Magna Carta. While Innocent appointed Langton to that post in 1207, King John refused to recognize his legitimacy.

As noted in the exhibit, Langton was a leading figure in the opposition to King John that eventually led to Magna Carta, and he may have been responsible for writing some [of] the charters clauses. Langton argued that God had not intended for the world to be ruled by kings, who could be tempted to rule oppressively and outside the law and frequently criticized the avarice  of modern kings who collect treasure not in order that they may sustain necessity but to satiate their cupidity.
Trump wins CPAC 2024 presidential straw poll; DeSantis places a distant 2nd place

Former President Donald Trump won the Conservative Political Action Conferences presidential straw poll over the weekend, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis placing a distant second.

Attendees of one of the largest annual conservative political conferences, this year held in Orlando, Florida, were asked to participate in the straw poll through an official CPAC app on their mobile devices. The polling was conducted by the Alexandria, Virginia-based firm McLaughlin & Associates.

Out of a survey of 2,574 CPAC attendees released Sunday, 59% said they would vote for Trump in their 2024 state Republican primary if held in the present day.

DeSantis placed second with 28% of respondents, while former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo placed a distant third with 2% of the vote.

Several notable conservative figures received 1% support in the straw poll, including former Vice President Mike Pence, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

The survey also asked respondents to select which candidate they would support if Trump were not an option for the 2024 Republican primary. DeSantis received 61% support, while both Pompeo and Donald Trump Jr. finished with 6% support. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Cruz and Noem each received 3% support.

In another question, respondents were asked if Trump ran for president again in 2024 if they would support or oppose him for the Republican nomination.

The straw poll found that 85% of respondents would support Trump if he ran again as president, while 11% said they would oppose him, and 4% were unsure.

Any questions? tweeted Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich, touting the straw poll results. President Trump continues to grow the conservative MAGA movement, which includes growing his political dominance.

Brittany Bernstein of The National Review cautioned that the CPAC straw poll has not been a reliable indicator of future presidential prospects in the past.

Senator Mitt Romney of Utah won the straw poll in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2012, while [U.S. Senator Rand Paul] won the poll in 2014, 2015, and 2016, wrote Bernstein.

At last Julys CPAC conference held in Dallas, Texas, Trump won the straw poll with 70% of the vote, followed by DeSantis with 21%. Again, several others got 1% or less.

Both Trump and DeSantis spoke at CPAC this year in Orlando, with Trump all but overtly announcing that he was running for president in 2024.

During his remarks, Trump spoke of conservatives sleeping giant, who he believed would help propel Republicans to victory later this year and in the 2024 presidential election.

When we win, we will defeat this corrupt political establishment, we will save our Republic, and we will restore constitutional government of, by, and for the people, he said.

The Washington swamp knows we are coming to break their grip on power forever. That is why they are so desperate to stop us. They will go to any lengths.

In his CPAC speech, DeSantis claimed that Democrats want to marginalize the conservative half of the country so they will be powerless to resist their ideological aims.

The woke is the new religion of the Left, and this is what they have in mind, stated DeSantis. Thats why they want CRT [critical race theory] because they want to divide the country. Thats why they remove statues of Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt, take George Washingtons name off schools.

They want to delegitimize our founding institutions, and they want to replace that with their left-wing ideology as the foundational principles of our modern-day society.
Pastors call to police after 2 church members die same way leads to conviction for double murder

Years after a Missouri pastor called police about two members of the same family dying in a short time span, a court convicted the wife and mother of the deceased of killing them by antifreeze poisoning. However, she now claims in a media interview she is innocent.

Diane Staudte was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 2018. The conviction came years after Jeff Sippy, the former pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Springfield, Missouri, made an anonymous call to police about the death of Staudtes husband and son, followed by the hospitalization of her daughter.

"I shared that I am a pastor and I have a family who has experienced two deaths in a short proximity of time and has another family member in ICU," Sippy said in Friday's episode of ABC's "20/20."

"I've never had two family members die in the same type of situations ever. I believe these were circumstances that needed to be investigated," he added.

Staudte's husband, 61-year-old Mark Staudte, a musician, died on Easter Sunday in 2012. His death came two days after his bandmates noticed he was slurring his words and his skin appeared yellow, the media outlet said, adding that there was a ring of blood around his mouth at the time of his death.

Five months later, Staudte's son, Shaun, died after suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Then, in 2013, her eldest daughter, Sarah, was admitted to the ICU with a brain bleed and organ failure. She was taken to the hospital by her mother and her sister, Rachel. Thats when doctors suspected that poisoning could be the cause.

There was nothing in me that believed that it was of a natural cause, Sippy was quoted as saying. I didnt believe that he died of a stroke. A heart attack. Or in his sleep. I just didnt. Theres nothing scientific. Theres nothing professional about my observation. But my first words were, No way. He did not just die.

After Springfield Police Department Detective Neal McAmis interrogated Diane Staudte and her daughter, Rachel, the duo admitted to mixing antifreeze into her childrens Coca-Cola and husbands Gatorade, ABC News said.

Though she recovered from the poisoning, Sarah Staudte has sustained permanent damage with lifelong effects. She is now in assisted living.

Staudte, a nurse who was described as "an active member of her church and the breadwinner for her family of six," later told police she felt "trapped" in an unhappy life, she hated her husband, found her son to be "worse than a pest" and was upset that her daughter Sarah was "nosy" and didn't have a job.

She said she researched online how to kill someone with antifreeze, a product she believed would be hard for medical examiners to detect.

Rachel Staudte told police her mother first brought up the idea and she went along with it. Diane and Rachel Staudte each pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in 2016. In 2018, Diane Staudte was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Rachel received two life terms with the possibility of parole after 42-and-a-half years.

However, Staudte is now maintaining her innocence, and recently told ABC News that theres more to that than what people know.

Mark was with some people that are very dangerous  people have disappeared, she said. Im saying somebody probably came in and gave him something.

She claimed her husband struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, but that she was not the one to poison him.

But McAmis dismissed her claims, adding: There is nothing whatsoever to show that anybody was involved in this case other than those mentioned already. Diane and Rachel ... the ones that killed their family.
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Boris Johnson says Ukrainians fleeing warzone can join family in UK

As tensions remain high with Russias invading troops and tanks driving deeper into Ukraine, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday that Ukrainians fleeing the invasion will be welcomed into the country if they have family in Britain.

The U.K. will not turn our backs in Ukraines hour of need, Johnson said in a statement, announcing that visa restrictions are being eased for Ukrainians who have immediate family in Britain, Reuters reported.

The prime minister also said at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Mayfair, London, Sunday night that the U.K. would be very generous toward Ukrainian refugees, The Telegraph reported.

Speaking to a group of Ukrainians at the Cathedral of the Holy Family, Johnson promised a system that would allow people to enter the country due to fear of persecution, to reunite with family or other purposes.

Family members eligible to apply for these visas are a spouse or civil partner, an unmarried partner of at least two years, children younger than 18, a parent if their child is younger than 18, and adult relatives who are carers, according to the BBC.

In response, Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, criticized the announcement as woefully inadequate, according to The Guardian.

Johnson also announced that the U.K. would send over $53 million (40 million) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, including medical supplies to support those fleeing the invasion.

We are providing all the economic and military support we can to help those Ukrainians risking everything to protect their country, he was quoted as saying.

European Union ministers on Sunday night went ahead of the U.K., promising to accept Ukrainian refugees for up to three years, without asking them to apply for asylum, the BBC added.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian delegations met Monday on Ukraines border with Belarus, although its not known if the talks yielded any positive result, The Associated Press reported, adding that explosions and gunfire did appear to have subsided around Kyiv.

In Kyiv on Monday, residents were allowed to come out of bomb shelters and homes to buy groceries for the first time since a curfew was imposed Saturday, the newswire said.

Also in the Kyiv region, Russian forces burned down the Ivankiv Museum of Local History, which housed valuable artwork by the Ukrainian folk artist Maria Prymachenko, the Kyiv Independent reported Monday.

While the actual civilian death toll remains unclear, Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky said at least 16 children were among the dead.

Ukraines health minister had announced Saturday that at least 198 civilians, including three children, had been killed by Russian soldiers.

While millions of residents in Ukraine have left their homes since the invasion began last Thursday, more than 500,000 people have fled the country, a U.N. official was quoted as saying Monday.

Experts have warned that a prolonged war could displace millions of Ukrainians, leading to a large-scale humanitarian crisis.

Also on Monday, Zelensky called on the EU to enable Ukraine to join the political and economic union, according to the media outlet. We are asking the European Union to immediately accede Ukraine by special procedure, he said in a video address.

Putin has ordered Russia's nuclear deterrent forces to be on high alert in response to financial sanctions imposed on Russian banks by European nations following the invasion.

In a meeting with his top officials on Sunday, Putin ordered his defense minister and the chief of the military's general staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a "special regime of combat duty" in response to what he claimed were "aggressive statements" by NATO members and financial sanctions that block some Russian banks from the Swift global payments system, according to The Telegraph.

This came as Ukrainian forces continued to fiercely resist invading Russian troops on the fourth day of fighting.

Ukraines U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya tweeted Saturday that he had appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross to facilitate repatriation of thousands of bodies of Russian soldiers killed during its invasion of Ukraine, with an accompanying chart claiming 3,500 Russian troops had been killed, The AP reported.

The number has since grown to 5,300, according to Kyiv Independent. These numbers have not been verified, however.

As the war rages, U.S.-based Christian groups, including Slavic Gospel Association, Samaritan's Purse and World Help, are supporting churches in Ukraine to provide aid.

President Joe Biden on Friday night signed an order authorizing the U.S. to send up to $600 million to Ukraine  up to $350 million in military aid and $250 million for overall assistance.

Earlier on Friday, Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, used its veto power to block a resolution condemning its invasion. The vote at the U.N.s headquarters in New York City was 11 in favor, one against, and three abstentions, including China and India.
Age of enlightenment: an introduction to early Japanese Buddhist art

The acceptance of the religion by the imperial court in the 6th century led to a flowering of devotional sculpture and painting that lasted for centuries

By the time Buddhism arrived in Japan it was already a mature belief system, with an almost 1,000-year history. The religion originated in India in around the 5th century BC and spread north across Asia, via the silk routes, to China and Korea. During the late 6th century it was adopted by the Japanese imperial court. Buddhist art was made predominantly for the monasteries and temples that soon appeared across Japan thanks to the patronage of the emperor.

Open a larger version of this image Chushi Fanqi (Soseki Bonki, China, 1296-1370), Calligraphy - Farewell. Hanging scroll; ink on paper. 10 x 24  in (27.6 x 61.5 cm). Estimate: $180,000-250,000. Offered in Japanese and Korean Art Including the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg on 22 March at Christies in New York

Early Japanese Buddhist art is usually divided into three periods: from the arrival of the faith to the highly refined art of the Heian period (7941184); the more ascetic Kamakura period (11851333), during the reign of the first shoguns; and the Muromachi period (13351573). What forms does it take? Over the centuries, thousands of statues and sculptures were made for temples and monasteries. Paintings, often executed in ink on silk, were also hung up for ceremonies or rituals, while scrolls with more secular themes began to appear in the later Kamakura period. The main subject, of course, was the Buddha and stories from his life, though images of other deities or guardians were also produced in large numbers. There is a wide variety of topics and styles, especially in painting, says Julia Meech, the editor of Impressions: The Journal of the Japanese Art Society of America. They range from simple paintings of Buddhist sages in ink on paper, where the interest is in the brushwork, to temple paintings on silk with gold leaf. Often, paintings combine elements of calligraphy, such as excerpts from religious texts, with images. In the later Heian and early Kamakura periods chanting the name of the deities depicted was believed to generate a karmic link between the worshipper and the object of devotion.

Open a larger version of this image Anonymous, Amida Triad, late 13th century. Hanging scroll; ink, colour, gold and silver on silk. 31 x 16 in (81 x 42.5 cm). Estimate: $400,000-500,000. Offered in Japanese and Korean Art Including the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg on 22 March at Christies in New York

Who were the artists? Earlier artists did not sign their work, but by the Kamakura period some sculptors and their workshops can be identified, such as the famous Kei school in Nara  which was briefly the Japanese capital in the eighth century. The sculptors Kaikei (active 1183-1223) and Unkei (c.1150-1233) were its most celebrated pupils.

Open a larger version of this image Attributed to Unkei (d. 1223), A highly important wood sculpture of Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana), Kamakura period (1190s). 26 in (66.1 cm) high. Sold for $14,377,000 on 18 March 2008 at Christies in New York. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons under a Public Domain license

Several monks signed their paintings. One of them was Gyokuen Bonpo (c.1348-1420), a Zen monk who introduced sparse depictions of plants, often orchids, and nature into his works.

Open a larger version of this image Gyokuen Bonpo (ca. 1348 - After 1420), Orchids and Rock. Hanging scroll; ink on paper. 28 x 12 in (72.6 x 34 cm). Estimate: $200,000-300,000. Offered in Japanese and Korean Art Including the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg on 22 March at Christies in New York

What distinguishes Japanese Buddhist art? Apart from variations in the figures depicted, different materials were used to create works across Asia, particularly sculpture. While Chinese artists tended to use stone, and Indian and Nepalese craftsmen created works in bronze, Japanese sculptors often favoured carved and painted wood. During the Heian period wooden sculptures were usually carved out of a single tree trunk, often Japanese cypress (hinoki). By the later Kamakura period they were being assembled from several pieces of wood, a technique called yosegi-zukuri that allowed for more complex compositions as well as greater depth of carving. Wood allowed more subtle lines compared with stone or bronze casting. Which works are most desirable? The most sought-after works of early Japanese Buddhist art date from the Heian period, but they are extremely rare and seldom appear on the market. Landscapes painted at this time often represent an idealised vision of the Pure Land of the West, sometimes showing the descent of Amida, a version of the Buddha who ruled this paradise. The Pure Land strand of the religion took root in Japan, and such paintings remained popular well into the 13th and 14th centuries.

Open a larger version of this image Anonymous, Amida Nyorai (Amitabha) in Welcoming Descent with the Boddhisattvas Kannon and Seishi, 14th Century. Hanging scroll; silk embroidery and human hair. 23 x 11 in (58.4 x 28.9 cm). Estimate: $100,000-150,000. Offered in Japanese and Korean Art Including the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg on 22 March at Christies in New York

The refined forms of the Heian period were gradually replaced during the Kamakura period by a more sober aesthetic, in response to the emergence of the militaristic shoguns and the warrior samurai caste. This period also saw the emergence of portraiture, especially of monks, which are highly desirable. The Buddhist monk Myoe (1173-1232) wrote: When you think about an object carved from wood or drawn in a picture as if it were a living being, then it is a living being. How to start collecting Beginners often focus on collecting fragments from early Buddhist sculptures and paintings, or complete compositions from the later Edo period (16151867), which are easier to find and more affordable. Most popular are images of hands or flowers, especially the lotus, which is full of symbolic meaning in Buddhism.

Open a larger version of this image Anonymous, Miroku Bosatsu (Bodhisattva Maitreya) in Welcoming Descent, late 13th-early 14th century. Hanging scroll; ink, colour, gold and gold leaf on silk. 33 x 14  in (84.8 x 35.9 cm). Estimate: $300,000-400,000. Offered in Japanese and Korean Art Including the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg on 22 March at Christies in New York

Meech says she also highly recommends that collectors look at Edo period Buddhist art, which has been overlooked. The quality is high, and pieces are more likely to be available at auction. Be careful of quality Fakes can be an issue. More recent artists often imitated the work of earlier masters, so it is important to buy from recognised experts who know the difference. Pieces need to be checked for condition. The incense burned in temples sometimes damaged the surface of paintings, while inks made from vegetable dyes fade over time. Why collect? The high artistic quality of early Japanese Buddhist art has wide appeal, even for those without an in-depth knowledge of the subject. It appeals to many people because of the subtlety of its forms and the mastery with which figures and nature are depicted.

Open a larger version of this image Anonymous, Tenjin Visiting China, dated 1430. Hanging scroll; ink, colour, gold and gold leaf on paper. 34 x 14  in (88.3 x 36.5 cm). Estimate: $200,000-250,000. Offered in Japanese and Korean Art Including the Collection of David and Nayda Utterberg on 22 March at Christies in New York

Meech says: In Japan, the patina, colour and texture of the wooden sculptures, as well as the delicacy of carving, make them particularly desirable. For Western buyers, Japanese art also tends to be more easily available than works from China  there are fewer issues with export permits, for example. Where can I learn more? The easiest way to see early Buddhist Japanese art is to visit the country. There are extensive collections in Tokyo and Nara, and many examples in ancient temples.

Open a larger version of this image Daibutsu, the Great Buddha in Todai-ji temple, Nara, Japan. Photo credit: Tuul and Bruno Morandi / Alamy Stock Photo
With coronavirus cases beginning to wane and mask mandates lifting, a major Silicon Valley-based tech company gave a date for when employees need to return to the office.

Google told employees Wednesday that its voluntary-work-from-home period, which has been in place for two years ago, will end April 4, a company spokesperson told SFGATE.

Employees in the San Francisco Bay Area and some of its other offices in the U.S., U.K. and Asia Pacific will be required to come to work in person three times a week. Employees can have two days of remote work.

"We plan to use the month of March to help employees transition to their new routines and then aim to be fully functional in our hybrid working approach by April 4," Google said.

Employees entering physical work spaces are required to be vaccinated "because it's one of the most important ways we can keep our workforce safe and keep our services running," Google said.

Unvaccinated employees with approved accommodations to be onsite will be required to follow specific protocols, including testing regularly and wearing a mask.

The company said last year that it would introduce a hybrid model when it asked employees to return in person.

"I do think people get a better balance in a three/two model," CEO Sundar Pichai, said at The Wall Street Journal's Tech Live conference in October, Business Insider reported.

An email sent to employees in the San Francisco Bay Area said "advances in prevention and treatment, the steady decline in cases we continue to see and the improved safety measures we have implemented ... now mean we can officially begin the transition to the hybrid work week," Reuters reported.

The email from John Casey, Googles vice president of global benefits, said amenities such as cafes, restaurants, massages and shuttles are reopening at Google offices.

Google was one of the first tech companies to send its employees home and the two-year period of remote work led many people to move their homes. More than 14,000 Google workers transferred to a new location or went fully remote during the pandemic, with 85% of applications approved, a company spokesperson said.

Last months, Salesforce announced it would lure employees away from Zoom and back to in-person meetings at a new new campus in the the Santa Cruz Mountains. Trailblazer Ranch in Scotts Valley is opening in March for onboarding, trainings, skills building, talent development and generally to connect with colleagues in person.

SF-based Twitter has said their work-from-home policies will continue indefinitely.
A new way to satisfy your caffeine craving is coming to the Nutmeg State.

Aroma Joe's, a coffee chain with locations throughout New England, is preparing to open its first Connecticut location in Bristol on April 4.

The store, located at 1235 Farmington Ave., will have both drive-thru and walk-up windows for quick and convenient ordering.

"Bristol is a great city," owner Mark MacGregor said. "There's great people involved and there's a lot of people here who seem to be excited about the brand. I've been really fortunate to work with the actual city of Bristol, they've been nothing but supportive."

Bringing Aroma Joe's to his now-hometown of Bristol is even more special for MacGregor, having grown up in the same town in New Hampshire that Aroma Joe's was founded.

Aroma Joe's started in 2000 in Rochester by four cousins with a passion for coffee and bringing positivity to each customer, according to the company's website.

"Right when I was going into high school was when it started to get popular within the area and really gain some traction, so ever since then I've always wanted to be involved in it," he said.

MacGregor, along with his partners Henry Laughlin and Clayton Prugh, chose Bristol as Connecticut's flagship location not only because of the proximity, but also for the sense of community and enthusiasm Bristol residents share.

"When I had the opportunity to bring it to Connecticut, it's something that always excited me and something that I was passionate about," MacGregor said. "It's really exciting for me to actually make that same community impact in Connecticut, within Bristol and throughout various other locations coming up that I experienced growing up with the brand."

The menu features classic cups of coffee, hot or iced, customizable with 14 different specialty flavor infusions. Aroma Joe's also has its own signature 'Rush' energy drink to pair with any combination of flavors, including cherry, green apple, blue raspberry and more.

But the franchise doesn't stop at just coffee and energy drinks.

Aroma Joe's prides itself on community involvement and positively impacting the people it serves.

"Everyone in Aroma Joe's believes in giving back to the actual community," MacGregor said. "Working with the Rotary Club, trying to get involved in as many community events as possible; that's something that's a high priority for us as well."

While Bristol will be the first location in the Nutmeg State, MacGregor says it won't be the last.

"It's going to be really exciting to go from a place where Aroma Joe's isn't really well known to, hopefully in 10 years, we become a household name and a brand just like a Dunkin' Donuts and a Starbucks."
Texas politicians have recently courted bitcoin miners to stake their claim in the state, despite the industrys high energy usage one year after the failures across the state's grid. The state is home to seven large mining companies and 20 smaller ones, according to Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council.

Bratcher said some of the companies have been around for many years now, such as Riot Blockchain and Rhodium Enterprises, but most have come to the state within the last 24 months.

Despite the paradox of inviting these energy-consuming businesses to the state, Bratcher said he believes the influx of cryptocurrency miners could actually help the states energy grid.

It seems a little counterintuitive at first, Bratcher said.

In addition to inviting bitcoin miners to the state, the Texas Legislature passed multiple bills in 2021 relating to cryptocurrency. For example, HB 1576 created a working group on blockchain matters within the state, while HB 4474 defined what virtual currency is and how security interests in cryptocurrency can be perfected.

While Texas politicians are hoping the state will become a crypto leader, as Gov. Abbott tweeted, others believe it could pose a risk. Alex de Vries, a researcher at the School of Business and Economics at the Vrije University Amsterdam, said he believes bitcoin mining is unsustainable because of the large amount of energy it uses.

This is a huge risk in Texas as well because the grid isnt known for its stability, de Vries said.

What is bitcoin?

Before diving deeper into the energy component of cryptocurrencies and crypto mining, it's important to first take a look at these digital currencies more generally. Bitcoin is a type of virtual currency, otherwise known as a cryptocurrency. It is decentralized, meaning its not run by banks or governments and instead relies on peer-to-peer transactions.

Bitcoin mining involves solving heavily coded algorithms in order to create a virtual piece of paper that has monetary value, said Hagen Kim, a professor of finance at Texas A&M University. Bitcoin mining is essentially having a computer guess a number until it solves the problem so it can add a new block to the bitcoin blockchain, said de Vries.

Its not as simple as it seems, though. There are 2.9 million specialized hardware devices worldwide that perform 160 quintillion guesses per second in order to create this virtual currency, according to research de Vries contributed to. Additionally, the bitcoin code ensures that there is only one correct guess every 10 minutes.

Theyre just playing a game of guess the number, de Vries said.

The guessing is open source, so others can see the code and verify its authenticity, allowing people to trust the value of the bitcoin in the same way someone might trust the value of the U.S. dollar because its backed by the U.S. government, Kim said.

Kim said bitcoin has grown in popularity in recent years, but not yet to the point where one could use bitcoin to purchase groceries. However, Kim said people have bought and invested in bitcoin because of its potential to partially or completely replace the current banking system.

Youre essentially creating a potential U.S. dollar to compete with the U.S. dollar, Kim said.

Energy consumption of bitcoin

Flipping the switch on these computers to solve a series of equations requires energy and lots of it. In May 2021, bitcoin mining consumed 16 gigawatts of electricity, de Vries research shows. As of August 2021, 75% of that electricity came from nuclear, natural gas, coal or oil sources, according to the research.

De Vries research estimates the global carbon footprint of bitcoin mining to be 65.4 megatonnes of CO2, almost 10 megatonnes more than the entire country of Greece in 2019.

The total energy consumption to mine bitcoin is directly related to the value of bitcoin, de Vries said. As the value of bitcoin rises, it becomes more profitable to mine the currency, so more energy is used to do so.

Moreso, bitcoin miners are using less renewable sources of power than before, making the industry even less sustainable, de Vries said. Many bitcoin miners were based in China and had access to the countrys large swaths of hydroelectric power before it banned the industry in June 2021 due to its environmental impacts.

Because of that, the share of renewable energy sources that powered bitcoin mining fell from 41.6% in 2020 to just over 25% in August 2021, de Vries research shows.

The priority wasnt getting renewable energy, it was getting their business up and running again, de Vries said.

Impact on Texas

Texas has the third-highest estimated carbon footprint in the U.S. related to bitcoin mining, behind Georgia and Kentucky, de Vries research shows. The estimated 2.3 megatonnes of CO2 emissions produced annually to mine bitcoins in the state is greater than the countries of Germany, Ireland, Iran and Canadas bitcoin-related emissions.

Kim said bitcoin mining companies have been attracted to Texas because the state can provide the companies with cheap power and because of the area's less-regulated business environment.

If the price of energy is cheaper, it provides incentives for the crypto miners to move to, Kim said. Texas is going to be one of the places where the electricity is going to be cheaper.

Bratcher said bitcoin mining companies coming to Texas is beneficial to the state since it adds tax revenue and creates hundreds of jobs, especially in rural areas where many of these companies move to. Bratcher brought up the town of Rockdale, located between Austin and College Station and home to mining companies Riot Blockchain and Bitdeer.

It goes from a dying town to a bustling town, Bratcher said. Its almost like when oil was discovered near a town.

Despite concerns about how bitcoin miners high energy consumption will affect Texas electrical grid, Bratcher said the companies work with the Energy Reliability Council of Texas, which manages 90% of the states power load, to maximize the states power.

Bratcher said the miners can use energy created by ERCOT during the times where the supply exceeds the demand while also being able to shut down operation during peak usage or emergencies. The companies can sell back that energy to ERCOT, Bratcher said, giving the miners an incentive to shut down during those times.

Bitcoin miners come in and act as an incentive to create more generation capacity but they can turn off within 5 seconds, Bratcher said.

ERCOT did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

While deals like these provide companies an incentive to relocate to Texas, de Vries said it doesnt ultimately fix the states problems with its power grid. De Vries said it is still a risk for the state to continue incentivizing bitcoin mining companies to come to Texas.

The problem is the more of these deals made, the further you increase demand on the grid, the more often you are going to have a crisis situation, de Vries said.
After reintroducing flights at Bush Intercontinental Airport in 2021, Southwest Airlines is now moving to expand its footprint at Hobby Airport with the help of a $20 million boost approved by Houston City Council on Wednesday.

The Texas-based airline will construct seven new gates at Hobby's west concourse, an estimated $250 million undertaking that will take roughly five years to complete. Six of the gates will be used exclusively by Southwest for domestic flights, while the seventh gate will be available for other carriers to use at the discretion of the Houston Airport System.

In the meantime, the city is providing $20 million for Southwest and the Houston Airport System to plan and design the new gates. Once that phase is done, Southwest and the airport system will return to city council with a final cost of construction. Southwest will front funding the expansion, although the city will reimburse the airline for the cost through rent paid by tenants that use the west concourse.

"[Southwest has] many options when it comes to future growth across their network," said Jim Szczesniak, chief operating officer for Houston Airports. "We are very excited that they are committed to expanding at Hobby Airport, the first and only 5-Star rated airport in North America, according to Skytrax."

Dan Landson, spokesperson for Southwest Airlines, was equally as optimistic about the airline's future at Hobby.

"While we are in the very early stages of the project, we appreciate the ongoing support from the city of Houston, and the team at [Houston Airport System], as we embark on this next phase in our more than 50 year partnership," Landson said.

The plan harkens back to a similar, more controversial expansion by Southwest Airlines at Hobby Airport in 2012.

Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle

At the time, Southwest Airlines asked the city for permission to build five new international gates, the first of their kind at Hobby, to the protest of United Airlines, which dominated international travel in Houston at Bush Intercontinental Airport. When Southwest Airlines won approval from city council, United Airlines laid off about 1,300 workers. United still operates heavily out of Bush.

This year's decision went off without as much controversy, although a last-minute oddball inquiry from at-large Council Member Michael Kubosh on Wednesday almost delayed the vote providing $20 million for the first stage of the project.

"I've looked at this gate expansion project," Kubosh said during the council meeting. "One of the things I'm concerned about, when I fly into Hobby and it's midnight or after, we don't have anybody to move the gate. We're sitting there on the tarmac for 30 minutes. It's very frustrating to have 100-and-something people sitting on a tarmac that's been delayed on a flight coming into Houston. There's something wrong there."

Kubosh placed a "tag" on the vote, which meant it would be pushed back another week. But about 35 minutes after placing the tag, after council had moved on to other matters on the agenda, he removed it.

"It seems like the only way I can get some things done is to say it publicly," Kubosh said, explaining that at some point during the 35 minutes between his comments a Southwest Airlines representative assured him their gates would be operational even after midnight. "She works with Southwest Airlines, and she's assured me she's going to make sure those gates are open when we fly in late. I guess I'm going to have to tell her when I'm flying in."

Ultimately, council members unanimously approved the $20 million expenditure. Szczesniak, the COO of Houston Airports System, said the authorization and eventual completion of the project is a significant win for the city and its airborne travelers.

"Increased gate capacity accommodates current and future growth at Hobby and increases the overall airport capacity," Szczesniak said. "As air travel demand ramps up, we continue to press forward to maximize the guest experience. We are truly elated with this addition."

There is currently no clear timeline for completion.
Dont panic. The Code 3 rubs and sauces you use to enhance your steaks and hot dogs aren't going anywhere.

Whats changing is the name of the barbecue supply store Code 3 owners operate along Main Street in Collinsville. In fact, its their hometown thats going to get some love in the rebranding because Code 3 Barbecue Supply has officially become Collinsville Barbecue Supply.

Co-owner Mike Radosevich said the change comes from efforts to keep the Code 3 name associated with the rubs, spices and barbecue sauce portion of the business, but also pride for the Collinsville community.

Our motto, our mission, what we do with the community we wanted to be more personal and let people know how much we truly do love the support from our community, the award winning barbecuer said. Were trying to be leaders in this industry. And in order to be a leader in our industry, we need to bring people with us through our success. What youre going to find with Collinsville Barbecue Supply is that we are for everybody in our industry to do big things and be very successful.

The supply store rebrand, both in Collinsville and online, is just the beginning of many things to come from the owners this year. In April they will debut Crank It Up Grills which will offer patrons custom fabrication and a variety of grilling options.

The majority of barbecue supply stores dont have world-class pit masters running them, or premium chefs. Thats what separates us from a majority of all the barbecue supply stores from the United States, Radosevich said. We are so fully involved within the industry and the professional cooking arena  thats why people travel so many miles to come see us.

Chef and barbecue expert Josh Milson will run the operation as the store manager.

Its kind of a dream in itself. I come from a long history of many hours and late, late nights working in the food industry, he said. Ive been working in kitchens since I was about 16, so being able to switch gears, but yet still find just a different outlet in the culinary world through barbecue has just been amazing.

Josh is a one-of-a-kind human being. If anybody is lucky enough to meet a Josh Milson in their life, theyre going to connect themselves to them, Radosevich said. The energy he brings to the table is very infectious and very genuine, and thats really tough to find in the world right now.

The team and products have won several awards with top customer go-getters Patriot Sauce, both in an original and spicy recipe, and the Grunt Rub, a combination of sea salt, garlic, pepper and other spices.

Yet, Collinsville Barbecue Supply under Milsons watch is going to be more than a place to get everything one needs to cook out in the backyard. He plans on it being an educational experience too, both in-store and online, through videos and podcasts.

Im all about education. Its something I loved back in culinary school, its something I brought with me through the years working in restaurants, bringing on new employees, teaching them the ropes, Milson said. And here in the barbecue world, its another great outlet and opportunity to continue that great education.

One thing I love about the experience coming here is its not just about the sale. We work hard to make sure everyone has the best possible experience, he added. Whether somebody is brand new, its their first grill, first time lighting up charcoal, we want everyone to go home feeling like theyre going to rock out any cook they want to take on. Thats what I love.

Its that approach that has Radosevich making sure the business is a pillar in the Collinsville community.

Our whole mantra as a business is to do as much as we can for the community," Radosevich said. "Whether it is a clothing drive for Unit 10, whether it is assisting local charities or the food pantry behind our building, we want to inspire businesses of all sizes in our communities to follow suit and help give back."

And as for the direction business is going?

The name change is just ground level of a very, very tall ladder, Milson said.

Code 3 rubs can be found nationwide and internationally in Australia.
Ask anyone who keeps up with the El Paso medical community about Dr. Richard Lange, and theyll have a lot of good things to say about the tra
Texas is launching an $842 million fund aimed at helping homeowners avoid foreclosure caused by the COVID-19 pandemic  a year after U.S. lawmakers approved the funds.

The program  called the Texas Homeowner Assistance Fund  is aimed at homeowners who have struggled to pay their mortgage, property taxes, home insurance and home-related fees because of economic hardships caused by the pandemic. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, the state agency that oversees the program, began taking applications this week.

We take the financial hardships of our fellow Texans very seriously, Bobby Wilkinson, TDHCA executive director, said in a statement.

It took Texas nearly a year to get the program off the ground  slower than it took many other states. President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill, last March  which set aside more than $10 billion to intended to help homeowners stay in their homes.

Twenty-five states including California and New York got their programs up and running before Texas, according to the National Council of State Housing Agencies. Ten states including Texas have run pilot programs. To date, Texas has distributed about $5 million to more than 600 households to help homeowners make mortgage payments through two pilot programs, according to TDHCA.

That money could have helped struggling homeowners a lot sooner, said Amir Befroui, an attorney who oversees the Foreclosure Prevention Project at the nonprofit Lone Star Legal Aid. He attributed the pace to a lack of urgency from TDHCA.

For example, Befroui said, the funds could have helped a client of his  an East Texas woman in her 80s  avoid foreclosure. The woman holds a reverse mortgage on her home near Longview, which requires borrowers to stay up to date on their insurance and property taxes. But after her husband died, she fell behind on those payments  and the lender foreclosed on her home.

If this money had been rolled out at any point in 2021, I could have saved the house, Befroui said.

The program required "extensive planning with outside stakeholders and analysis" before Treasury approved TDHCA's plan, agency spokeswoman Kristina Tirloni said.

The Treasury Department issued guidelines for state-level homeowner assistance programs last April  and TDHCA aimed to send its plan to Treasury by the end of September after getting public input on the program, according to the agencys website. The states plan received federal approval in January and launched "a little more than 30 days later," Tirloni said.

Homeowners have to prove they suffered financial hardship caused by the pandemic in order to qualify for assistance. The program will cover up to $40,000 in overdue mortgage payments  and as much as $25,000 for overdue payments on property taxes, property insurance and fees demanded by homeowners or condominium associations. The agency projects the program could assist between 55,000 and 70,000 households.

The new program signals a shift at TDHCA from assisting renters hit hard by the pandemic to helping homeowners. The agency stopped taking applications for its federally funded rent relief program in November, citing dwindling funds.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
Alliance for Women in Media Foun/Getty Images for Alliance for Wo

NBC journalist Morgan Radford quickly learned how much Texans love H-E-B while reporting on the Texas primary in McAllen on Tuesday, March 1. In her Instagram story, she mentioned how she previously called our beloved grocery store HEB (one word) instead of (H-E-B).

Radford said her co-worker Aaron Franco, a Texas native and NBC field producer, corrected her pronunciation while she visited the store in McAllen. She added how everyone in the city was so nice to her.
A week-long dispute over who will redraw Houston's city council districts came to a head Wednesday when Mayor Sylvester Turner and Council Member Mike Knox traded jabs during the final vote.

A split-vote council ultimately decided to pay Houston-based law firm Thompson and Horton LLP upwards of $1.6 million to draft new boundaries for the city's 11 council districts based on census data gathered in 2020. While only about $250,000 will go toward the actual creation of the new maps, the city will use the remaining funds to retain the firm's services in case of possible legal challenges.

To help with the workload, Thompson & Horton enlisted assistance from Dallas-based law firm West and Associates, whose principal partner is Royce Westa Democrat state senator with political ties to Turner.

During discussions at both Wednesdays council meeting and a council meeting that took place Feb. 23, Knox protested West's inclusion in the deal and claimed it gave the appearance that the firms could gerrymander the city's nonpartisan districts. When the expenditure was set for a vote at the Feb. 23 meeting, Knox put a "tag" on the decision that delayed the vote for a week.

When the issue was reintroduced Wednesday, Knox asked that the vote be delayed again and dug into the mayor.

"In this case, the appearance of cronyism is overwhelming and the smell of it is distasteful," Knox said of West's inclusion in the deal. "It's an added extra layer of partisan politics that we need to avoid."

Discussion on the issue begins at 1:07:25 in this video of the meeting. Knox's remarks on the appearance of cronyism begins around the 1:16:25 mark.

"Appearance is reality in the minds of many of our citizens," Knox said. "What they look to us to do as a city body is to be interested not in a partisan political motive or a partisan political idea, they look at us to lead the city that's in the best interest of the citizens of Houston."

Turner waited until after the council's vote to directly address Knox's comments, calling them "below the belt" and defending the firm's right to choose partners in the deal.

"There have been a lot of cheap shots since I've been mayor," Turner said. "Council Member Knox, I work with you time and time again. I thought your comments were below the belt, and I want you to know that. We are not drawing Democrat or Republican districts. Since I've been mayor, I know every single district here I've treated the same, whether those districts voted for me or not."

Knox's request to further delay the vote was voted down. Council members eventually passed the ordinance to hire Thompson & Horton in an 11-4 vote. Knox, District A Council Member Amy Peck, District G Council Member Mary Nan Huffman and at-large Council Member Michael Kubosh voted against.

During the council meeting last week and on Wednesday, Turner warned of a "slippery slope" if the city council started telling its contractors who to work with. When the city contracts with a company for work or services, the chosen contractor sometimes outsources portions of the project to other entities with the funds originally received from the city. In this case, Thompson & Horton is considered the prime contractor while West & Associates is a subcontractor.

About 24 percent of the $1.6 milliona little more than $400,000will go to West's firm. The group was chosen in alignment with the city's pledge to work with minority and/or women-owned businesses.

Thao Nguyen, San Antonio Express-News / Contributor

In his response, Turner said that Knox wanting to pick and choose which firm was subcontracted by Thompson and Horton was itself a path to cronyism.

"I don't care what reason you come up with, because somebody will come up with their reason," Turner said. "You choose this one. The next council member will choose [another] reason. When you start dealing with [subcontractors], you're on a slippery slope to bad policy and cronyism when you go down that road."

In the meeting, Knox agreed that council shouldn't routinely pick and choose which companies a prime contractor chooses as a subcontractor.

"There are always exceptions to the rule, and this is the exception," Knox said. "There's no real reason why we couldn't use another firm, a law firm who's not connected with a partner who is a sitting senator in the Texas Legislature. We're poking ourselves in our own eye here ... The mayor, in this case, has worked with the guy for 26 years in the Texas Legislature and has actually supported his run for ... senate."

The firms will spend the next few years drafting proposed districts and working back-and-forth with the city and residents on the maps before they are adopted ahead of the 2024 general election.
U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, has decided to end his reelection campaign after he was forced into a primary runoff amid 11th-hour allegations of infidelity.

Taylor made the stunning announcement Wednesday, hours after he finished his five-way primary with 49% of the vote, just missing the cutoff for winning the primary outright. The runner-up was former Collin County Judge Keith Self, who is now likely to become the next congressman for the 3rd District.

"About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world," Taylor wrote in an email to supporters. "I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life. I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters."

The day before the primary, the conservative outlet Breitbart News posted a story that Taylor had had a monthslong affair with a Plano woman, Tania Joya, who he had paid $5,000 to keep quiet. The publication reported that she provided it a phone screen shot purporting to be communications with Taylor and a bank record showing that she deposited $5,000 into her account. The Texas Tribune has not been able to independently verify the report.

Taylor is married with three children.

Joya is known as a former jihadist who was once married to a commander for the Islamic State. Tabloids have referred to her as ISIS bride.

Efforts to reach Joya were not immediately successful Wednesday.

Taylor has until March 16 to remove his name from the runoff ballot, which he plans to do, according to a spokesperson. After he does that, Self is automatically the Republican nominee for the district. There is a Democratic nominee for the seat, Sandeep Srivastava, but they face long odds after the district was redrawn last year to favor Republicans.

Taylor, a former state senator, was first elected in 2018 to represent the 3rd Congressional District in the Dallas suburbs. His four primary challengers on Tuesday criticized his vote last year for a commission to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Self got 27% behind Taylor in the primary Tuesday. He was followed by Suzanne Harp at 21%, and the two remaining challengers were in the low single digits.

In his email to supporters, Taylor said he spoke with Self about his decision to end his campaign, "and I wish him the best as he seeks to become the next congressman for this district."

Self, who served three terms as county judge starting in 2007, ran against Taylor as someone who "lost his way" and "went Washington." He criticized Taylor for voting to certify the 2020 election results and vowed support for a "full forensic audit" of the election in Texas.

All the challengers focused on Taylor's 2021 vote for a proposed bipartisan, independent commission to probe the events of Jan. 6, when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol. The commission never became law, but Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi later formed a select committee on Jan. 6 whose work is ongoing. Taylor voted against that committee, but his foes blurred the distinction as they attacked Taylor as insufficiently supportive of Trump.

Trump never endorsed in the primary, while Taylor boasted a list of endorsements led by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and ran TV ads aligning himself with Trump's "America First" messaging.

It was all a political twist of fate for Taylor, who faced a competitive general election battle last year and stumped as "Mr. Bipartisan." But redistricting turned his district into a Republican stronghold, providing more fertile ground for primary opposition.

Before going to Congress, Taylor served in the Texas Legislature, building a reputation as staunch conservative. He was a member of the state House from 2010-2015 and the Texas Senate from 2015-2019.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2022/03/02/van-taylor-reelection/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
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.
Ron Guerriers path to CIO launched with his cousins handiwork with old cars in his parents native Haiti. It was then, back in 1988, that Guerrier says he was first awed by innovation at work and the powerful potential of technology.

They were taking parts from every make and model they could get their hands on, and they were creating from scratch computers to tune the vehicles. I was fascinated with their ability to be so innovative with such little resources. That just blew me away, Guerrier remembers. They were tinkering with technology, and I saw then that technology was a true game changer.

He internalized that lesson and started to put it to use in his high school mechanics class, where he had to Frankenstein a car together and the computer came into play. Around that time the cars were starting to have motherboards, and you could take the computer and use it to optimize the performance of the engine.

Guerriers early experience with technology eventually led to his career in IT, while his parents immigrant experience and his time in Haiti shaped his leadership and his priorities  including his focus on bringing more diversity into the technology ranks. As he explains: The arc of my personal journey is contextual to what drives me.

Who knows the business well and technology?

Despite his teenage inauguration into techs potential, Guerrier studied finance and economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. But he didnt abandon his passion for technology: He put himself through college by working at a computer store. (He also worked as a janitor, noting that he likes to think he was a custodial engineer.)

He joined Toyota Financial Services in 1996, working as a customer service representative and repossessions specialist for nearly two years. Even then, as he was knocking on doors to collect payments or keys, Guerrier hadnt left computing behind; he often tinkered with the handheld devices he and his colleagues used for their field work.

I became the fixer, so when the company decided to go to client-servers, they looked around and asked, Who knows the business well and technology? And my name popped up, he says, adding that an advocate in his office encouraged him to consider the tech job that Toyota offered him.

Guerrier took that advice. He moved into IT full time in January 1998, first working in deskside support and then later in Y2K prep, which he acknowledges was a good move: What I really found captivating is you could solve different problems with technology, that technology is all about change, and change is something I really enjoy.

Moreover, Guerriers early-career pivot showed him the value of having mentors and the importance of bringing the business and technology together  lessons he says he has carried with him as he advanced up the IT ranks in subsequent years.

Guerrier stayed with Toyota Financial Services for 19 years, which included a three-year stint from 2012 to 2015 as the CIO. He credits several factors for his successful ascent to the executive ranks.

What served me well is a constant drive to be better, be better at what I do, be intellectually curious, and to surround myself with great people, he says.

His parents, who had emigrated from Haiti and settled in Illinois, instilled in Guerrier that immigrant drive to be appreciative of the opportunities he had and to take advantage of them.

But what also helped was having allies and advocates, having people at Toyota who said, He can do computers, so he can do servers, he can do applications. I credit those advocates and sponsors because they helped me go from repo agent to CIO full stop.

Giving back as he moved up

After leaving Toyota in 2015, Guerrier served for three years as CIO at Farmers Insurance and then for a year as CIO at Express Scripts. He then pivoted again, this time into the public sector to serve as the CIO and Secretary of Innovation & Technology for the State of Illinois, a position he held from early 2019 to September 2020.

The role, he explains, created new opportunities not only for him professionally but personally as the work enabled him to impact a larger community. He modernized legacy IT systems and led the transformation to remote work for nearly 50,000 employees at the outset of the Covid pandemic. He also led efforts in securing a $420 million state appropriation to upgrade and expand broadband in Illinois, and he worked on an initiative for improving resources for STEM education.

With an eye to the future, Guerrier also partnered with the states education department to update curriculum within the states college system so that students are trained in the data, cyber, and technical skills that CIOs need on their teams.

And he held the State of Illinois first-ever Diversity Supplier Technology Day to help ensure that the contractors, suppliers, and vendors that worked with the IT department better reflected the diversity of the state it served.

Leading the charge for diversity in IT

Guerrier, who has a masters degree in operations management and supervision from North Park University, has used his positions to draw attention to the lack of diversity in IT and in particular the disproportionately low number of Blacks in the profession.

He says that at one point he was one of only two Black CIOs working at Fortune 100 companies, and has been mistaken for hotel staff and a valet at CIO conferences, including those where he was the keynote speaker. He has also had people call security on him. People would just make the assumption that being the only Black person in the room I must be in the wrong place, he says.

In response, he drew on his mothers advice to use everything as a learning opportunity.

Id say, Im not the valet. Im a CIO like you, and Im the keynote. I hope you enjoy it.

Guerrier says such interactions led to new friendships, but not always.

He adds: I was always someone who said, Learn about this. I always tried to use it as an opportunity to have an open dialogue. Every time Ive had an opportunity at an organization, I took the chance to make a difference. Thats one of the reasons I took the job with the State of Illinois.

Such interactions also led Guerrier to see the need for more action.

As I progressed in each of the roles, I really started realizing that we have to do a better job of getting Black talent into tech, and it instilled in me [the belief] that we have to do a better job at diversifying the constitution of the people in the room  not just Blacks but women and Latinx and others.

Bringing his mission to HP

Guerrier brought that mindset to his current role as global CIO at HP, a position he started in September 2020. Guerrier, who is married with two children in college, is now based out of his hometown of Chicago as HP continues with a hybrid work environment.

He says he was drawn to the company in part because of its existing activities around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including the summer 2020 launch of its Racial Equality and Social Justice Task Force, its partnerships with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and the May 2020 comments posted by president and CEO Enrique Lores under the title Leading with our values following the murder of George Floyd.

Guerrier says he felt he could help the company make an even bigger impact on DEI. One of the biggest things that gravitated me to HP was the ability to have a dialogue, do right, be a multiplier, because [attention to these issues] was already here at HP, he explains. I didnt have to come in and ask, Are we thinking about our sustainability? Gender issues? Diversity?

Guerrier took action on these issues from the start, assembling a team of direct reports that was equal parts male and female.

He has set a goal to have gender parity among managers in the IT organization by 2030, and he similarly set a goal of having the US IT teams racial representation match the countrys diversity makeup by 2030. Guerrier has also brought new Black-owned IT suppliers to HP as part of the companys goal to create more diversity among the vendors that support the business. Those efforts are in addition to the more traditional CIO responsibilities he has of managing the IT department and leading digitalization across HP.

Theyre also in addition to his external activities, which includes his roles as advisory board member with the CIO Executive Council from IDC and a member of the Forbes Technology Council, as well as his position on the board of directors at Equinix.

Additionally, Guerrier works with a number of nonprofit institutions, including Junior Achievement and Habitat for Humanity, as well as Homeboy Industries, a rehabilitation and re-entry program for former gang members, and the disaster relief organization SBP.

Hes a founding advisory board member of the STEM Advantage program, which serves underserved populations interested in STEM through scholarships, mentoring, and internships.

Guerrier says he knows the importance and value of giving back, having benefited from mentors in his own career and witnessing the impact of helping others on their journey forward. He again turns back to his own family, who had hosted newly arrived Haitians as they settled into the Midwest, and the lessons he learned from that experience.

I saw firsthand, he says, that it was my duty to help others.
Number of new local COVID-19 cases on Chinese mainland continues to drop Wednesday

Xinhua) 13:15, March 03, 2022

Residents line up to receive nucleic acid tests at a community in Hohhot, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Feb. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 54 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, 17 fewer than the day before, the National Health Commission said Thursday.

The commission's daily report showed that Guangdong reported 28 new local infections, while Inner Mongolia reported seven, Hubei reported four, Jilin and Shanghai each reported three. In the meantime, Guangxi reported two cases, and Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Yunnan each reported one.

A total of 160 imported COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday, said the commission.

Five new suspected cases, all arriving from outside the mainland, were reported in Shanghai, said the commission. It added that no deaths from COVID-19 were reported on the day.

A total of 143 asymptomatic cases were reported Wednesday, including 106 arriving from outside the mainland, according to the commission.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reported on the mainland, both local and imported, has risen to 109,964 by Wednesday.

There were 3,094 patients still under treatment on Wednesday, of whom 20 were in severe condition. A total of 4,636 patients had died of the virus on the mainland since the outbreak of the disease.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Emporia, KS (66801)

Today

A steady rain this evening. Showers with perhaps a rumble of thunder developing overnight. Low 51F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

A steady rain this evening. Showers with perhaps a rumble of thunder developing overnight. Low 51F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Time knows that many will find its choice of Vladimir Putin for Man of the Year shockingbut any publicity is good publicity! The magazine presents a peremptory defense: the Man of the Year is not a boy scout, he is not a democrat, but he numbers among the very powerful, those who shape the worlds destiny for better or for worse.

Time does not specify this worse. The reader can take his pick: Putins army has massacred the Chechnyan population; the Czar of the Years police force has essentially eliminated the freedom of the mass media, ready to assassinate courageous journalists in order to keep the others in line. On the other hand, Time is quite specific concerning the better that Putin brings to his people and to the world: a stability that Russia hasnt known for a century.

But can one call it stability when the various mafias in power demolish and execute each other in the Kremlins shadow, to the point where a general in the Federal Security Bureau (FSB), the head of one of the factions, uses the front page of a Moscow daily paper to call for a cease-fire, lest the beautiful power machine crumble?

One must, moreover, ignore the score-settling, the contract murders, the imprisonments, the special treatments in psychiatric wards, and the arbitrary deportations to consider stability the permanent Valentines Day Massacre that determines the distribution and redistribution of wealth among the oligarchs and the top brass of the FSB. How many billions of dollars has the Man of the Year skimmed from the sales of gas and oil? Some, like the Guardian and Die Welt, claim $40 billion in eight years as president. The Kremlin cliques grow rich on the backs of the Russian people, whose life expectancy is 20 years lower than ours in the West.

Finally, one must lack both heart and mind to coronate as the guarantor of world security an autocrat whose profession of faith is once a Chekist, always a Chekist, and whose historical intelligence assaults us with the notion that the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century isguess what: the two world wars? Auschwitz? the gulag? wrong!the dissolution of the Soviet Union. True, one must credit Putin with sincerity for daring to make such a public declaration in April 2005; but Time, detecting in it a promise of stability, deserves credit only for absurdity.

In justifying its choice for Putins pseudo-stability, Time falls for the Kremlins propaganda: all is in order in the Potemkin village. Upon learning of the assassination of Paul Klebnikov, editor-in-chief of Forbes Russia, Anna Politkovskai wrote: It is undeniable that stability has returned to Russiaa monstrous stability, such that no one demands justice . . . such that only a fool would still dare to claim the protection of the forces of a regime riddled with corruption. An eye for an eye has replaced the rule of law in peoples minds, as in their acts. The president himself provides the example. Anna is unable to appreciate Times choice; she was assassinated on November 7, 2006.

Russia is a great power, by virtue of its oil revenues, its nuclear arsenal, its army, and its manifold military assetsby its multiple planetary means to do harm and to blackmail our democracies. Time can have its assurance that, by eliminating rights, opposition, and freedom of information, Putin is guaranteeing the security of this potential powder keg. All dictators, ancient and modern, mild or murderous, have sung the same hymns to security. Open a history book, set aside the fairy tales: Putin is not the Wizard of Oz. Contemplate Times cover, look its Man of the Year in the eyes: death stares back at you. Further on in the magazine, on his throne, he is taking your measure.

Translated by Ralph C. Hancock and John C. Hancock.

Photo by MARIO LAPORTA/AFP via Getty Images
Have we not seen, then, in our lifetime the end of the Western way of war? Two decades ago, I concluded The Western Way of War with that question. Since Western warfare had become so lethal and included the specter of nuclear escalation, I thought it doubtful that two Western states could any longer wage large head-to-head conventional battles. A decade earlier, John Keegan, in his classic The Face of Battle, had similarly suggested that it would be hard for modern European states to engage in infantry slugfests like the Battle of the Somme. The suspicion grows, Keegan argued of a new cohort of affluent and leisured European youthrebellious in spirit and reluctant to give over the good life to mass conscriptionthat battle has already abolished itself.

Events of the last half-century seem to have confirmed the notion that decisive battles between two large, highly trained, sophisticated Westernized armies, whether on land or on sea, have become increasingly rare. Pentagon war planners now talk more about counterinsurgency training, winning the hearts and minds of civilian populations, and smart interrogation techniquesand less about old-fashioned, blow-em-up hardware (like, say, the F-22 Raptor) that proves so advantageous in fighting conventional set battles. But does this mean that the big battle is indeed on its way to extinction?

Big battles sometimes changed entire conflicts in a matter of hours, altering politics and the fate of millions. It is with historys big battles, not the more common dirty war or insurgency, that we associate radical changes of fortune as well as war poetry, commemoration, and, for good or ill, the martial notions of glory and honor. Had the Greeks lost their fleet at Holy Salamis in 480 bc, instead of beating back the Persian invaders, the history of the polis might well have come to an end, and with it a vulnerable Western civilization in its infancy. Had the Confederates broken the Union lines at Gettysburg and swept behind Washington, Abraham Lincoln would have faced enormous pressure to settle the Civil War according to the status quo ante bellum. If the band of brothers had been repulsed at Normandy Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944, it is difficult to imagine that they would have reattempted an enormous amphibious invasion soon afterbut easy instead to envision a victorious Red Army eventually camped on the Atlantic Coast and occupying Western Europe.

Yet set engagements, its important to note, have never been the norm in warfare. The 27-year-long Peloponnesian War saw only two major ground engagements, at Delium (424 bc) and Mantinea (418 bc), and a few smaller infantry clashes, at Solygeia and outside Syracuse. In the asymmetrical struggle between Athenian naval power and premier Spartan infantry, the most common kinds of fighting were hit-and-run attacks, terrorism, sieges, constant ravaging of agriculture, and sea and amphibious assaults. True, during the murderous Roman Civil War (4931 bc), frequent and savage battles at Actium and elsewhere claimed more than a quarter-million Roman lives. Yet after the creation of the Principate by the new emperor, Augustus, much of the Mediterranean world was relatively united and free of frequent major battles for nearly half a millennium. And after the fall of the Roman Empire, for most of the Middle Ages, sieges and low-intensity conflict were more common than major engagements such as Poitiers (732), Hattin (1187), and Crecy (1346).

In fact, the course of military history has been strikingly cyclical. The eminent military historian Russell Weigley once described an Age of Battlesa uniquely destructive two centuries of pitched warfare between Gustavus Adolphuss victory at Breitenfeld (1631) and Napoleons defeat at Waterloo (1815)in which European armies of multifarious rivals, often in vain, sought to decide entire wars in a few hours of head-to-head fighting. That age ended with the agreements following the Congress of Vienna, which (along with military deterrence) kept a general peace in Europe for nearly a century. Set battles were common only in colonial theaters (Tel el Kebir, Omdurman), in Asia (Tsushima), and in the Americas (the decisive battles of the Mexican, Spanish-American, and American civil wars).

Then, during the first half of the twentieth century, came another Age of Battles, with the First and Second World Wars witnessing the most destructive fighting in the history of arms. The details of Iwo Jima, Kursk, Marne, Meuse-Argonne, Okinawa, Passchendaele, the Somme, Stalingrad, and Verdun still chill the reader. Asia saw horrors of its own: most Westerners know little about the Huaihai campaign (late 194849), in which the Nationalist Chinese lost an entire army of 600,000 to the Communists in mostly conventional fighting.

Today, the world is clearly enjoying another respite from huge set battles. Except for the daring American landing at Inchon (September 1950) and the subsequent first liberation of Seoul, few battles of the last seven decades resembled the Battle of the Bulge. Far more common in the past half-century have been the asymmetrical wars between large Westernized militaries and poorer, less organized terrorists, insurgents, and pirates. The list of theaters where conventional forces have battled guerrillas is long: Afghanistan, Grozny, Iraq, Kashmir, Mogadishu, the Somali coast. Seldom does an indigenous force dare to come out in the open, marshal its resources, and test head-on the firepower and discipline of a Westernized force. Historys record on that scorefrom Tenochtitlan to Omdurmanis not encouraging for those who try.

Those who have successfully attacked the United Statesin Lebanon (1983), at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia (1996), at Americas East African embassies (1999), on the USS Cole (2000), and in New York and Washington in 2001did so as terrorists. If nation-states sponsored such radical Islamist groups, they nearly always denied culpability, avoiding an all-out conventional war with the United States that they would inevitably loseas the brief rout of the Taliban in Afghanistan demonstrated in 2001.

Amid the murderous fighting between well-organized armies during the Vietnam War, North Vietnam as a matter of practice did not attempt to engage Western forces in formal set engagements. (The sieges at Khe Sanh and, earlier, against the French at Dien Bien Phu proved the exceptions rather than the rule and were themselves not traditional collisions of infantry.) In its failed attempt in the 1980s to take over Afghanistan, the Soviet army may have killed more than 1 million Afghans without once engaging in a set collision with tens of thousands of jihadists. We still do not know all the gory details of the Iran-Iraq war (198089), in which more than 1 million combatants and civilians perished. But despite the carnage that characterized that war, set engagements, out in the open, between two massed armies were not a major part of the conflict, so far as we know.

Even the Mother of All Battles in the 1991 Gulf War was largely a rout. The tank battle at Medina Ridge involved hundreds of armored vehicles but lasted little more than an hourthe Americans suffering neither casualties from enemy fire nor a single Abrams tank destroyed, while obliterating 186 Iraqi tanks. Today, few Americans even know what Medina Ridge was. In other engagements, most of Saddams army disintegrated rather than fight advancing American armoras was commonly the case again during the three-week war of 2003.

Some decisive fighting took place between British and Argentinean units during the Falklands War of 1982, but on a minuscule scale compared with the twentieth centurys bloody engagements. Tank battles raged in the Golan Heights during both the Six-Day War (1967) and the Yom Kippur War (1973). For a few days, also in 1973, the Israelis and the Egyptian Third Army fought each other openly in the desert expanses of the Sinai Peninsula. But the far more usual pattern of the inconclusive Israeli-Arab conflict has been terrorism, intifadas, bombings, and missile strikes.



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Why does decisive battle wax and wane in frequency, and why has it become rarer again? The political landscape certainly explains much. Empire of any sort can lessen the incidence of warfare. Unified, central political control transforms the usual ethnic, tribal, racial, and religious strife into more internal and less violent rivalries for state representation and influence. Once Philip unified Greece under a Macedonian hegemony after Chaeronea (338 bc), set battles between city-states, so common earlier in the fourth century bc, became a rarity. For now, anyway, the European Union lacks the interstate rivalry that plunged Europe into murderous battles for much of the first half of the twentieth century.

When the world is divided into larger blocs that have sizable, competent conventional forcessuch as the Soviet and American spheres during the Cold Warconfrontation can potentially turn catastrophic, given the vast resources available to each side. Yet its also possible that in such a bipolar world, battling along nationalist lines, among a variety of state players, will be less frequent. No nation of the Warsaw Pact fought the Soviet Republic; American allies like Iran did not threaten American allies like Israel; Tito and Yugoslavian Communism for a time kept Bosnians, Croats, Kosovars, Macedonians, and Serbs from killing one another.

In the present age, many of the most powerful economies in the world are united under the loose rubric the West, which includes some former nations of the British Empire (Australia, Canada, New Zealand), the transatlantic NATO alliance (most of the European Union and the United States), and democratic nations of the Pacific (Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan), along with miscellaneous allies, capitalist and democratic, such as India and Israel. At present, there is virtually no likelihood that we will see decisive battles between any of these similarly minded democratic states, even though a mere 70 years ago, when consensual government was less widespread among them, most of them squared off in various temporary alliances against one another in terrible engagements.

Technology also helps explain the current decline in conventional battles. The battlefield can now be seen and mapped to the smallest pebble through aerial photography, often by unmanned drones that update pictures second by second. Surprise is rare. Potential combatants know the odds in advance. They can use the Internet to download the most minute information about their adversaries. Generals can see streaming video of prebattle preparations and calculate, to some degree, the subsequent cost.

Uncertainty and the unknown were often essential to the outbreak of decisive battles, since each opposing force usually felt it had some chance of operational success. Had the British enjoyed satellite reconnaissance of the German lines in the days before and during the Somme, they might have curtailed their suicidal assaults. Had the Americans possessed live streaming video of Japanese forces fortifying bunkers on Okinawa, they might not have chosen to assault the Shuri Line frontally. Picketts Charge up Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg was predicated on an erroneous assumption that there was an especially weak spot in the Unions linea conjecture that General Robert E. Lee would have easily corrected if hed had a Predator drone at his disposal.

Weaponry is not static. It resides within a constant challenge-and-response cycle between offense and defense, armor and arms, surveillance and secrecy. Body armor may soon advance to the point of offering, if only for a brief period, protection against the bullet, which centuries ago rendered chain and plate mail useless. The satellite killer may render the satellite nonoperational. Sophisticated electronic jamming may force down the aerial drone. Yet for now, the arts of information-gathering about an enemy trump his ability to maintain secrecy, thus lessening the chance that thousands of soldiers will be willing to march off to massive battle.

The cost of todays military technology, too, renders big battles more unlikely. To wage a single decisive battle between tens of thousands of combatants along the lines of a Gaugamela or a Verdun would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, a figure far beyond the resources of most belligerents. A single B-1 bomber on patrol overhead represents a $1 billion investment. Abrams tanks go for over $4 million. A single cruise missile can cost over $1 million. One GPS-guided artillery shell may cost $150,000; one artillery platform could expend over $10 million in ordnance in a few hours. Even a solders M-4 assault rifle runs well over $1,000. The result is that very few states can afford to outfit an army of, say, 100,000 infantry, supported by high-tech air, naval, and artillery firemuch less keep it well supplied for the duration of battle. Even in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when weapons were cheap compared with todays models, both Egypt and Israel needed massive amounts of new weaponry from the Soviet Union and the United States shortly after the commencement of fighting.

Globalizationaccelerated by technologyis another reason that decisive battles are uncommon today. Instant cell-phoning and text-messaging, the Internet, access to DVDs, and satellite television have created a world culture that depends on uninterrupted communications. It frowns on massive disruptions in airline flights, banking, and the easy importation of consumer goods. Electronic togetherness hinges on our shared appetitesand a growing communal comfort factor. When Russia invaded Georgia, its oil buyers became upset. So did its own aristocratic grandees, who saw international capital flee Moscow. European states worry about oil shortages, should the U.S. bomb Iran; China frets about its vital American export market, should it invade Taiwan.

Finally, changing mores have changed military tactics. The current ascendant belief in the West that war is unnatural, preventable, and the result of rational grievancesthat it can, with proper training and education, be eliminatedhas probably made battle less tenable among the general public. The bombing of fleeing Iraqi bandit brigades from Kuwait on the so-called Highway of Death in the first Gulf War was halted by popular outrage because of the televised carnage. The abhorrent images of death on millions of television screens easily trumped the argument that the enemy, who had just committed rapine in Kuwait, should be punishedor preempted, since he was likely to regroup in Iraq to slaughter Kurdish and Shiite innocents again. Russias shelling and destruction of Grozny escaped world condemnation only because a news blackout ensured that Westerners saw little of mass death.

We shouldnt assume, though, that these various forces will always prevent set battles. Similar predictions have proved wrong before. In 1909, Norman Angells The Great Illusion argued that Europe had achieved too great an interdependence of financial credit, economic integration, and prosperity to throw it all away on nihilistic warmaking. The Somme, Passchendaele, and Verdun shortly followed.

Human beings remain emotional, irrational, and guided by intangible calculations, such as honor and fear, that collectively can induce them into self-destructive behavior. Armed struggles that at times result in horrific collisions are as old as civilization itself and are a collective reflection of deep-seated elements within the human psychetribalism, affinity for like kind, reckless exuberancethat are constant and unchanging. We are not at the end of history.

Can big battles, then, haunt us once more? If the European Union were to dissolve and return to a twentieth-century landscape of proud rivals, or if the former Soviet republics were to form a collective resistance to an aggrandizing Russia (as they did for much of the nineteenth century), or if the North Koreans, Pakistanis, or Chinese were to gamble on an agenda of sudden aggression (as they have on previous occasions when they were confident of achieving political objectives), then we might well see a return of decisive battles. The U.S. military still prepares for all sorts of conventional challenges. We keep thousands of tanks and artillery pieces in constant readiness, along with close-ground support missiles and planes, in fear that the Peoples Army of Korea might try to swarm across the Demilitarized Zone into Seoul, or that the Chinese Red Army might storm the beaches of Taiwan.

Waterloos or Verduns may revisit us, especially in the half-century ahead, in which constant military innovation may reduce the cost of war, or relegate battle to the domain of massed waves of robots and drones, or see a sudden technological shift back to the defensive that would nullify the tyranny of todays incredibly destructive munitions. New technology may make all sorts of deadly arms as cheap as iPods, and more lethal than M-16s, while creating shirts and coats impervious to small-arms fireand therefore making battle cheap again, uncertain, and once more to be tried. Should a few reckless states feel that nuclear war in an age of antiballistic missiles might be winnable, or that the consequences of mass death might be offset by perpetuity spent in a glorious collective paradise, then even the seemingly unimaginablenuclear showdownbecomes imaginable.

In short, if the conducive political, economic, and cultural requisites for set battles realign, as they have periodically over the centuries, we will see our own modern version of a Cannae or Shiloh. And these collisions will be frightening as never before.

Top Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Oklahoma City, OK (73106)

Today

Thunderstorms - a few could contain very heavy rain, especially overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 59F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Thunderstorms - a few could contain very heavy rain, especially overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 59F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
Raspunsul la criza refugiatilor: Apel de propuneri, lansat de MAD-Aid in parteneriat cu Camera de Comert Britanica din Moldova
By the third lockdown, we at the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) knew we needed to refresh our strategy two years early to adjust to the post-pandemic world.

With vast swathes of the NHS operating at severely reduced capacity, our support services were in record demand, just as the fundraising climate had become much tougher. We knew we needed to rethink our approach to impact, become more focused and more long-term in our thinking.

This week, we publish our new strategy, which re-orientates the charity towards national policy influencing, campaigning and public engagement. Its backed by a 1.7m investment programme over three years in public affairs, health services research, advertising and digital service delivery. Those funds have been freed up from the sale of our rural building, as we embraced hybrid working and move to a leased city office with a smaller floorplate.

Here's why we did it.

Osteoporosis is a public health emergency

Osteoporosis was a public health emergency even before the pandemic. Two-thirds of people were missing out on the treatment they need, due to long-term under-prioritisation and the postcode lottery for Fracture Liaison Services (FLS)  the world standard for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.

Osteoporosis causes bones to break (fracture) after simple injuries, such as a cough, a fall from standing height, or a hug from grandchildren. These fractures are no minor setback: as many people die from fracture-related causes as from lung disease and diabetes.

It doesnt need to be like this. Osteoporosis is treatable and fractures preventable. With an early diagnosis and the right treatment plan, people can live very well, thanks to safe, effective medication thats highly affordable for the NHS. But missed opportunities for diagnosis and early intervention mean that an estimated 90,000 people every year are missing out on the medication they need.

Action is now beyond the point of urgency. But while Covid-19 created the burning platform, the drivers for the UKs osteoporosis crisis go back further.

'End the postcode lottery for NHS fracture services'

For years, under-diagnosis and under-treatment of osteoporosis has meant that problems have been routinely left to escalate to boiling point. A fifth of women suffer three or more fractures before getting a diagnosis, meaning theyre already in crisis when they contact us.

Many helpline callers have suffered multiple spinal fractures, mistaken in primary care for a bad back or generalised ageing. Severe and painful in themselves, these spinal fractures are red flags for a future hip fracture, the injury that does more than any to undercut peoples freedom and independence. Its criminal that 70% of these alarm bell spinal fractures never come to medical attention  meaning around 2.6 million of us are at risk today.

This made it obvious that, rather than intervening when all the balls have been dropped, we need to make the case to government for early intervention and a timely diagnosis for all. And this means ending the postcode lottery for fracture services in the NHS.

ROS has a strong record of supporting local clinicians to make business cases for FLS in hospitals. Between 2015 and 2019, we helped 29 new services launch across the UK, extending the gold standard for fracture prevention to 10 million people.

Launching an advocacy programme

But with 40% of the population still excluded, we know we need to pivot towards putting FLS at the heart of national policy. This means top-down strategic influencing to make FLS part of the core offer of Integrated Care Systems (ICS), rather than a local add-on by exception. To do this, weve launched a bold advocacy programme to put osteoporosis at the top of the public health agenda and keep it there. Early results have been good, with more mentions of osteoporosis in Westminster over the last eight months than over the previous eight years combined.

Were more likely to succeed if we inspire like-minded organisations to join us. And that means tackling the dangerous tropes about ageing that have caused osteoporosis to be side-lined for so long: four in ten people think that curved backs and lost height are just part of getting older, rather than symptoms of a treatable condition. We want to change the culture around osteoporosis from one of passivity and defeatism to one of optimism and determination. In short, weve found our campaigning voice.

We know our influencing work is only as good as our evidence base, so weve publicly committed to making a record investment in research. But, as another strategic choice, well focus our research grants only on those studies that can help close the treatment gap. When we find solutions, our advocacy work will make the case to government and NHS leaders for the changes needed to put theory into practice.

The final lever to reduce pressure on the NHS and our own services will be a prevention campaign aimed at people in their forties  the age just after bone mass peaks. In a first for ROS, well launch a public advertising campaign to warn people who are at higher risk of osteoporosis, aiming to get them into the system quicker. And from 2023, well make a strategic pivot to bone health to become relevant for this whole new audience.

Collaboration

We know our own behaviour needs to change too. The scale of our mission is vast and we know we cant achieve it alone. Thats why we need to start thinking of ourselves in terms of networks and a movement. Were becoming more collaborative, better at partnership-working and stronger at holding others to account. We proudly re-joined both NCVO and the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA) for these exact reasons.



In summary, the next phase in our story will be unrelentingly outward-looking. Itll look and feel different  more challenging to the system and less satisfied with the status quo. Itll be marked by a step change in campaigning, public engagement and influencing. Well close the treatment gap through our advocacy, while reducing demand on the NHS through our prevention campaign and support services.

The pandemic has generated unprecedented support for the NHS and a new sense of solidarity between people of different ages. Were determined that good should come out of this crisis. And were willing to change and evolve to make it happen.

Craig Jones is CEO of Royal Osteoporosis Society

Civil Society Voices is the place for informed opinion, and debate about the big issues affecting charities today. Were always keen to hear from anyone, working or volunteering at a charity, who has something to say. Find out more about contributing and how to get in touch. is the place for informed opinion, and debate about the big issues affecting charities today. Were always keen to hear from anyone, working or volunteering at a charity, who has something to say.
LA HERRADURA, Spain (AP)  Herders and farmers have their feet on the ground, but their eyes on the sky. The old saying is still popular in Spains rural communities who, faced with recurrent droughts, have historically paraded sculptures of saints to pray for rain.

The saints are out again this year as large swaths of Spain face one of the driest winters on record. Even as irrigation infrastructure boomed along with industrial farming, the countrys ubiquitous dams and desalination plants are up against a looming water crisis that scientists have been warning about for decades.

We are facing a drastic situation, said Juan Camacho, a farmer in the southern province of Granada, as he looked hopelessly at withered leaves of avocado plants and their fruits, smaller than usual this year.

Not far from his orchard, the regions largest reservoir is down to 15% of its capacity after over two months without a drop of rain. And at least half of that, Camacho said, is just muddy water, completely useless.

Declining agricultural yields in Europe  and the battle for diminishing water resources, especially in the southern part of the continent  are perils that lie ahead as global temperatures continue to rise, the worlds top climate scientists say.

Their conclusions are part of a report this week by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released Monday. The panels periodic assessments inform policymaker decisions about how to prevent the planet from warming beyond the 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 Fahrenheit) already gained since industrial times.

For Europe, heat and flooding in addition to agricultural losses and water scarcity will be major climate impacts, the report said. And while European awareness of global warming motivates policymakers to do more, scientists say the ambition and execution of solutions vary greatly from country to country.

Extreme heat, floods and droughts will lead to widespread disruption of the economy, including damage to infrastructure and energy supplies, the need for more air conditioning and greater water demand, the report warned.

As warming rises faster in Europe than the global mean, panelists paint a picture of a continent divided: an increasingly arid south, struggling with desertification and competing for scarcer water _ and a north adopting a more traditional Mediterranean climate that could provide some increased crop yields and forest growth, but with risks of its own.

If temperatures rise an additional 1.9 degrees Celsius (3.4 Fahrenheit), corn harvest losses could reach 50%, especially in southern Europe, the report warned. Harvests of wheat, meanwhile, could increase in the north as long as warming doesnt exceed 2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial levels  or 0.9 degrees above the current average temperature.

But this is no silver lining. From a continental perspective, the report says due to combined heat and drought, substantive agricultural production losses are projected for most European areas over the 21st century, which will not be offset by gains in Northern Europe.

There are some vegetables and warm climate crops that might see benefits in the short term, Rachel Licker, a climate expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told The Associated Press. But the major cereal crops, the major commodities, the major crops that are exported and really form the basis of a lot of the economy are the ones that are likely to be negatively affected.

Europe will also suffer other negative impacts. Coastal damage is projected to increase at least tenfold by the end of the century  and, if the 3 degree Celsius (5.4 Fahrenheit) warming threshold is reached, damage costs and people affected by precipitation and river flooding may double.

For some coastal communities it will be an existential threat, the report said, adding that traditional lifestyles of the Sami and the Nenets peoples are already under threat in the European Arctic.

Inequality is expected to grow within and among countries as the continent sees more deaths from heatstroke, unbearable summers and irreparable damage to ecosystems.

Joaquin Montes, 50, is among those set to lose more. He is one of roughly 10 million farmers in the European Union who feed 440 million consumers inside and outside the bloc.

Sandwiched between the tourist-magnet Costa del Sol and the Sierra Nevada range in southern Spain, the ravines where Montes custard apple and avocado orchards sit should have plenty of water.

But with 41% less rain since October than average for the same period between 1980 and 2010, dams contain almost no water. Private ponds that are supposed to last farmers through summer are exhausted. And, with no fresh water replenishing aquifers, salty seawater is making them useless.

Us farmers, we are used to dealing with drought, said Montes, who learned the job from his father when he was 14. But every year we see less and less rain. I fear for my livelihood.

Environmentalists say landowners who switched from traditional crops to profitable but thirsty ones such as avocados or mangoes are the tip of a larger problem: industrial-scale, single-crop agriculture that has displaced smaller, traditional farmers.

The model is one of ill-planning and pure false developmentalism, said Julio Barea, a geologist and water activist with the environmental group Greenpeace.

In Spain, the surface of arable land devoted to intensive agriculture with irrigation has increased to a quarter of the total in recent decades, according to the Agriculture Ministry, taking over terrain once used for rain-fed crops.

We are hitting the wall of having no water, Barea said. And its going to be catastrophic. We need to change our mindset.

In neighboring Portugal, authorities have restricted the use of some reservoirs for hydroelectric power and irrigation amid an unusual winter drought, prioritizing drinking water.

As water scarcity hits southern Europe first, followed by Western and Central Europe, the U.N. report says irrigation will continue to be a solution for some to feed a warming continent, but it will be limited by water availability.

Additional means for watering crops wont even be an option in places like Spains southeast, according to food systems expert Marta Rivera-Ferre, who helped review the report.

The elevated risk of drought there has to let us think again about how best to adapt, she said.

Patrick Verkooijen, chief executive of the Rotterdam-based Global Center on Adaptation, said the reports message is that for many, now the time is already adapt or die.

The cost of inaction is much higher than the cost of action when it comes to making agriculture and food systems climate-resilient, he said.

Aritz Parra reported from Madrid. Frank Jordans contributed from Berlin.

About the photo: Joaquin Montes, owner of an avocado field, looks at dry leaves due to the lack of rainfall in Almunecar, southern Spain, Feb. 23, 2022. Declining agricultural yields in Europe, and the battle for diminishing water resources, especially in the southern part of the continent, are key risks as global temperatures continue to rise. These conclusions are part of a new United Nations report that will help countries decide how to prevent the planet from warming further. (AP Photo/Carlos Gil)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Over 15 countries have called for a special meeting with the UNs shipping agency to discuss the safety of ships and their crews sailing through the Black Sea and Sea of Azov after Russias invasion of Ukraine and growing dangers to vessels.

Many shipping firms have suspended sailings to affected Black Sea ports and other terminals in Ukraine. Insurance premiums for voyages have soared since Russias invasion on Feb. 24, an action Moscow calls a special operation.

An Estonian-owned cargo ship sank on Thursday off Ukraines major Black Sea port of Odessa, hours after a Bangladeshi vessel was hit by a missile or bomb at another port. This followed at least three other ships being hit by projectiles in recent days.

Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, Britain and the United States jointly called for the meeting, which is also backed by Ukraine, according to officials involved and a public document.

A spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization, which has 175 member states and three associate members and tasked with safety and security of international shipping, had no immediate comment.

Greek vessels have not been attacked so far, a Greek shipping ministry official said, adding that at least five Greek-flagged ships with 39 Greek nationals were still in the area, the official said.

We are in close contact with the captains of the Greek and Greek-owned vessels which have Greek crews sailing in the Black Sea, Greeces Shipping Minister Ioannis Plakiotakis said separately.

On Wednesday the International Transport Workers Federation union and other bodies designated sections of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov as warlike operations areas, which entitles seafarers to refuse to sail to the region among other rights.
CCC Acquires Safekeep

CCC Intelligent Solutions has acquired Safekeep, a New York City-based tech firm that developed an enterprise platform that uses artificial intelligence to manage the subrogation process for property and casualty claims.

The acquisition will expand CCCs claims software to include subrogation, which is a critical function in achieving claims resolution, the company said in press release. The subrogation management software is avialable to any of the more than 300 carriers that use CCC.

Subrogation is a largely manual, time-intensive process impacting every insurer across every line of business, stated Marc Fredman, chief strategy officer for CCC. Our insurance customers have been asking for an intelligent way to automate the subrogation process, which accounts for billions of dollars in administrative costs annually.

Safekeep applies machine-learning, natural language processing, rules and predictive models to score and prioritize claims for more efficient subrogation management, CCC said. The Safekeep technology also digitally packages documents and automates workflows to accelerate and improve subrogation outcomes.

Travelers Acquires Trovs Technology

Travelers Companies has acquired the technology developed by Trov, a Danville, Calif.-based company that developed on-demand insurance, micro-duration policies, claims-chat and other digital products for the insurance industry.

Travelers said in a press release that Trovs digital solutions have inspired the transformation of the insurance industry over the last several years. Most recently, the company launched its embedded insurance platform, application programming interface (API) and developer support tools to enable insurers to distribute their insurance products within their existing digital applications.

Many of Trovs staff members will become Travelers employees, the carrier said.

Travelers is the ideal company to harness our experience and take our technology to the next level. All of us are leaning into this opportunity with enthusiasm, stated Trov founder and Chief Executive Officer Scott Walchek.

Envista Opens Materials Science Lab

Envista Forensics has opened an in-house materials science laboratory that can identify defects in materials that may have resulted in failure.

The company, headquartered in Chicago, said it is offering Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, the first service of four new offerings that will launch this year. FTIR is a testing technique typically used to identify materials such as plastics, paints, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals, and organic acids, the company said in a press release.

This type of analysis is used to identify materials and help determine a materials chemical characteristics, stated Kristin Striber, a forensic laboratory rechnician for Envista We can then use the identity of the material to determine if that material was correct for the application and identify contaminates in the material or degradation.

Envista said it intends to begin three other laboratory services during the course of the year:

Ionic contamination testing, which his used to detect potential contamination of electrical/mechanical equipment often caused by water or smoke damage via ion chromatography.

Shingle desaturation, used to determine the potential cause of roofing damage, via vapor degreasing.

Fire debris analysis, used for fire investigations to analyze fire debris for potential ignitable liquid residues, via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

FourStone Acquires Cordants WC Division

FourStone Partners has acquired the workers compensation division of Cordant Health Solutions, which provides drug testing and specialized pharmacy services.

The new acquisition has been branded as FourStone Health, the West Chester, Pa.-based company said in a press release. FourStone and Cordant have entered into a long-term lab supplier agreement.

Fourstone, a privately held consulting firm specializing in the workers compensation industry, was founded in 2012 by Thomas P. Shivers.

FourStone currently offers lab management services focused on toxicology and pharmacogenomics, which is the study of how a persons genes affect his or her response to medications. The company also offers post-surgical accelerated recovery services, network development solutions and revenue cycle management.
IAT Appoints Senior VP for Claims

IAT Insurance Group has appointed Heidi Bendick as senior vice president of claims operations.

Heidi has a winning mix of technical knowledge, industry experience and people skills, stated Chief Claims Officer Trent Haas in a press release. Her passion for employee engagement and development aligns well with the IAT culture and we look forward to the leadership she will bring for our claims operations team.

Benedict was previously vice president of claims operations for CNA, where she led a team of 300 employees. She has experience with claims operations, payment management, customer service and developing quality assurance programs, the carrier said.

Bendicks experience also includes underwriting operations and back-office processing at Travelers Insurance. She started her career as a service representative at Safeco Insurance.

Bendick holds a bachelor of science in business administration from Central Washington University and a Masters in Business Administration from Gonzaga University.

Sedgwick Appoints Absence Management Chief

Sedgwick has appointed Marwan Shiblaq as president of its workplace absence division.

Shiblaq has more than 20 years of claims leadership experience, the Memphis, Tenn.-based claims administrator said in a press release. He replaces Darryl Hammann, who recently retired after a 28-year career with Sedgwick.

Marwan is an outstanding leader with a special talent for connecting with people  colleagues and clients alike. He is a natural fit for this senior role, and I am extremely confident in the continued development of our workforce absence business under his leadership, stated Jim Ryan, Sedgwick chief operating officer, Americas.

Shiblaq has has worked for Sedgwick since 2011. Most recently, he was managing director of the companys client services teams for disability, leave of absence and job accommodation programs.

Shiblaq previously served on the companys inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Council.

Sedgwicks absence management team assists employers in simplifying disability and leave of absence. This includes guidance and tracking for compliance as federal, state and municipal leave laws change in response to COVID-19.

CoreLogic Appoints Leader for Insurance Data Services

CoreLogic, a property information data analytics provider, has appointed Garret Gray as leader of its Protect business unit, where he will oversee all of the companys insurance data and technology services.

Gray is the former founder and chief executive officer of Next Gear Solutions, a company that CoreLogic purchased late last year, the company said in a press release. The acquisition enabled CoreLogic  based in Irvine, Calif.  to combine Next Gears digital workflow platform with CoreLogics estimating platform, Claims Connect.

CoreLogic is dedicated to our insurance and restoration customers and has made a significant investment to expand our state-of-the-art platforms and digital solutions, Gray stated in a press release. The combination of an integrated and unified business unit strategically enables us to completely re-imagine property insurance workflows and build market-driven solutions that drive even better outcomes for our customers throughout the entire property insurance lifecycle.

MedRisk Appoints Co-CEO

MedRisk appointed Danielle Lisenbey to co-chief executive officer, a position she will share with Ken Martino.

Danielle and I work as a team, Martino said in a press release. She already oversees the companys operations and explores strategic growth opportunities, essentially serving as co-CEO. Its time she had the title and recognition.

MedRisk is a managed care provider for physical rehabilitation services to injured workers, headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Lisenbey joined the company as president in late 2020.

Lisenbey oversaw development of the companys learning program for employees and created a post-pandemic work environment, blending in-office assignments with the ability to work from home, the company said.
SEATTLE (AP)  A woman who torched five Seattle police cars during a tumultuous protest that heralded a summer of unrest after George Floyds murder in 2020 was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison.

Margaret Channon, 26, of Tacoma, used an aerosol can and a lighter as a makeshift flame-thrower to burn the unoccupied, parked police vehicles in downtown Seattle on May 30, soon after officers sprayed tear gas to disperse a massive crowd. For 25 minutes she ran back and forth between the cars, adding fire as necessary to destroy them.

The burning police cars became some of the most indelible images of Seattles unrest  overshadowing the thousands who demonstrated for racial justice with justifiable anger, but who were nevertheless peaceful, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg told U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour.

She wasnt alone, but Ms. Channon set the tone for what that protest became moving forward, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg said. Ms. Channon left downtown Seattle in flames and in billowing smoke.

Millions across the country took to the streets after cellphone video surfaced of white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee against the neck of Floyd, who was Black, for 9 1/2 minutes as Floyd pleaded for breath. Chauvin was convicted last year on state charges of murder and manslaughter and was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison; he and three other officers have been convicted of federal civil rights violations.

In cities across the United States, protesters fed up with seeing Black people killed by police faced off against heavily-armed officers, with some smashing cruisers, ransacking businesses and setting fires. In Seattle, demonstrators went on to seize an area of several city blocks in the Capitol Hill neighborhood  the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest  and police for a time abandoned the nearby East Precinct building.

Verisks Property Claim Services estimated that the civil unrest that spread to more than 20 cities caused an unprecedented $2 billion in insured property losses. That surpassed the destruction caused by rioting in the Los Angeles area after the videotaped police beating of motorist Rodney King in 1994, which led to an estimated $1.4 billion in insured losses, measured in 2020 dollars.

Channon, who also acknowledged smashing a store window and busting the cash register at a sandwich shop, was the fifth and final defendant sentenced in federal court for actions related to the civil unrest in Seattle.

Kelly Jackson received more than three years for throwing Molotov cocktails at two Seattle police vehicles on May 30. Tyre Means got five years for burning one Seattle police vehicle and stealing a firearm out of another that day. Desmond David-Pitts and Isaiah Willoughby received 20 and 24 months, respectively, for setting fires at the East Precinct.

Channon apologized in a letter to the court and through a sentencing memo filed by her lawyer, acknowledging that the Black Lives Matter movement does not condone illegal acts and that as a white woman it was not her place to coopt the cause.

I apologize to the many workers and activists  who have given decades of their lives to building a countermeasure to police violence  that did not want to see fire, Channon wrote. I had intended to effect positive change, but my attempt was misguided.

Her mother, Elizabeth MacGahan, wrote her own letter to the court, saying Channon grew up in a family with a long history of civil service and citing the destabilizing effects of the pandemic, the protests and the recent deaths of her two beloved grandmothers as possible factors in her actions.

Its a very difficult time to be young and sensitive, and to suffer losses, she said.

The U.S. Attorneys Office said it offered Channon a chance to plead guilty to conspiracy, rather than arson  which would have enabled her to argue for a sentence less than than the five-year mandatory minimum for arson.

Channon refused. Her attorney, Vanessa Pai-Thompson, wrote that Channon was adamant that she would not do anything to shift blame to others for decisions that were hers alone.

After the sentencing, Seattle U.S. Attorney Nick Brown  the first Black person to serve as the Justice Departments top prosecutor in western Washington  said he understood and shared the anger over Floyds murder.

I watched people gather and protest here in Seattle with a lot of admiration, Brown said. To see that devolve into bombing of police vehicles and destruction of businesses  was profoundly sad for me.

His nearly 80-year-old father, Hank, was jailed during civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s, and Brown said he appreciated that protests sometimes must be loud, angry and disruptive  but not destructive. Channons actions undercut the message of the Black Lives Matter movement, he said.

About the photo: In this photo provided by KUOW, a Seattle police car burns on May 30, 2020 in downtown Seattle, during protests over the police killing of George Floyd. Margaret Channon, of Tacoma, Wash., who lit the car on fire along with several other police vehicles during the protest, was sentenced Tuesday, March 1, 2022, to five years in prison. (Megan Farmer/KUOW via AP)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
BUTTE, Mont. (AP)  A Montana jury has awarded $36.5 million in damages to an Oregon man who suffers from lung disease because of exposure to asbestos while working at a vermiculite mine in Libby, a bellwether case that could affect hundreds of additional claims filed against the company that once provided the mines workers compensation coverage.

The Great Falls jury on Friday awarded $6.5 million in compensatory damages and $30 million in punitive damages to Ralph Hutt of Roseburg, The Montana Standard reported.

Hutt was one of more than 800 plaintiffs who filed lawsuits against Maryland Casualty Co., which provided the workers compensation insurance coverage for the W.R. Grace & Co. mine from 1963-1973. Maryland Casualty also made worker safety recommendations and suggested workers undergo annual chest X-rays.

W.R. Grace operated the vermiculite mine and processing operations in Libby from 1963 to 1990.

Judge Amy Eddy, who oversees a special asbestos claims court in Montana, chose Hutts case as the lead case to help settle some of the complex legal questions and set parameters for the other cases against Maryland Casualty, which is now owned by Zurich Insurance.

Zurich does not comment on litigation, spokesperson Robyn Ziegler said.

Hutts case went to trial after the Montana Supreme Court ruled in March 2020 that Maryland Casualty should have warned Hutt and other workers about the risk of exposure to airborne asbestos  the needle-shaped fibers that are easily inhaled and damage lungs, causing scarring and shortness of breath decades after exposure.

The justices noted that in an internal Maryland Casualty memo an assigned insurance defense counsel recommended settling a 1967 workers compensation case against Grace to avoid exposing all of the more damaging aspects of our own situation.

Hutt worked for W. R. Graces Zonolite Division for 18 months in 1968 and 1969. He first experienced respiratory problems in 1990 while working as a logger at higher altitudes.

Hutt now requires nearly continuous use of supplemental oxygen due to asbestosis.

If I go to the bathroom, I can make it back here (to his living room chair), he testified at trial, saying he then has to put his oxygen back on and catch his breath.

Hutts case made it to trial more than two decades after the first news reports about the asbestos in Libby, the lung damage and hundreds of deaths caused by inhaling asbestos fibers, not only by mine workers but their families and other residents of the northwestern Montana town.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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-
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Intels new $20 billion project to build two microchip manufacturing plants will lead to major commercial real estate growth in New Albany and elsewhere in Central Ohio as companies that rely on microchips move facilities to the area.

The Intel project is a huge win for Ohio, Brian Schottenstein, president of Schottenstein Real Estate Group in Columbus, told the Columbus Jewish News.

Josh Ruben, a broker at JNR Grand Realty in Columbus, said the move is a sign of a region on the rise.

The Intel deal shows just how primed Ohio and more specifically, Central Ohio, is for economic growth right now, he said.

Both Schottenstein and Ruben said the deal will spark an explosion in commercial building in Central Ohio, beyond just New Albany to likely include cities like Johnstown and Alexandria. That growth will be driven by companies that rely on microchips that want to be near Intel, such as the auto industry and computer, television and phone manufacturers, they said.

Schottenstein likens this to the growth and development that took place when Honda built an auto plant in Marysville.

Ruben said those companies will draw in other commercial entities that support these industries, including shipping and transportation companies. He said this commercial development will bring more investors to the region, leading to growth.

This influx of investment and commercial building will have various long-term benefits, Ruben said. These benefits will include upgrades in infrastructure, including electrical grids, roadways and transportation systems; better bandwidth for the internet; and upgrades in local health care systems to better handle the growing population. And that cycle of improvement will then lead to new industrial, warehouse and mixed-use developments, including retail, he added.

Schottenstein said for this to become a reality, careful planning and coordination must continue among local governments and industry to address issues such as the need for zoning changes and the like.

I think theyve done a nice job with bringing Intel to this location, he said. I know there was a lot of people involved and I got to give them a lot of credit. But now the planning really has to begin.
Intel Corp.s decision to build a $20 billion chip manufacturing facility in New Albany is expected to result in enormous growth in the residential real estate market as there will be an influx of thousands of permanent and temporary workers, many earning high wages, according to two local residential real estate leaders.

But New Albany and surrounding cities face numerous obstacles in meeting the needs of this new workforce. As a result, it will require intensive planning and cooperation among local municipalities, the real estate industry and Intel, said Robert H. Schottenstein, president and CEO of Columbus-based M/I Homes, and Rick Barnett, broker and owner of RE/MAX Main Street in Bexley and president of the National Land Advisory Group.

This is an extraordinary deal for Columbus, Central Ohio and the state, Schottenstein told the Columbus Jewish News. Its hard to overstate its significance. And its actually hard to imagine just how transformative it will actually be.

Barnett sees the same potential, noting the project will have a tremendous impact on our community.

The fact that there will be 3,000 new jobs paying an average of $130,000 annual salaries will lead to a large number of new home purchases, many in the $400,000 to $800,000 range, he said. There will also be other new jobs as companies that supply parts and services to Intel move into the area, building their own facilities and warehouses in and around New Albany, perhaps up to 40 miles away from the Intel project, Barnett said.

Schottenstein said not only will there be thousands of new jobs, but with that comes household growth as workers move their families to town, which also drives real estate needs for homes and apartments.

I think this will have an enormously positive impact on our business and other homebuilders, he said. In Columbus, it will also be very positive for multifamily apartment developers.

Barnett said Intel already seems to be anticipating the need for new homes through its purchase of 3,000 acres, when the plants themselves would only need 1,000 of those acres. That leaves 2,000 acres on which to build homes for the new workforce.

However, there are obstacles to such growth. First and foremost is the lack of new homes to meet even current needs, let alone the massive growth anticipated, Schottenstein said. There are 4,000 new houses built on average each year, and it needs to be double that, he said.

In order to build on this land and other property throughout the region, real estate developers will need to work with local municipalities on land planning and changes to their zoning laws to allow these new homes to be developed, Schottenstein said.

Barnett said such negotiations also need to ensure a balanced approach to development to have various types of housing available, including homes, rental properties and properties at different price points to fit the needs of people in different stages of their careers.

Another obstacle facing the real estate industry are supply chain problems due to, among other things, the impact of COVID-19, Barnett said. This will delay availability of everything from building materials to

household appliances and more.

Despite all of this, Schottenstein and Barnett both said they expect that working together, the real estate developers, local governments and Intel will find a way to ensure there is sufficient housing options for these workers and their families.
Corey Hyde, age 51 of Clinton, passed away Sunday, May 1, 2022 at his home. Visitation and funeral services are being scheduled for Friday and Saturday at the Pape Funeral Home.
Staff Reporter

Mike has bachelors and masters degrees in journalism from Northwestern and is a 25-year member of the National Press Club. He has won four national writing awards for editorial work. He is a native of McLean, Va., and lives in Millville.
Students gathered in Penn State's Intramural Building Tuesday for a yoga practice full of body positivity and acceptance  "Love Your Body Yoga"  to celebrate the beginning of Womens History Month.

Penn States Gender and Equity Center hosted the yoga session, which was led by Jessamyn Stanley, co-founder of The Underbelly and We Go High NC, host of the podcast Dear Jessamyn and author of the books "Every Body Yoga" and "Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance."

Following the yoga session, Stanley participated in a Q&A and book signing for "Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance,'" which was released in June 2021.

Becca Geiger, assistant director of the Gender Equity Center at Penn State, said the 2022 theme for Womens History Month is Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope."

Its in celebration of frontline workers but also throughout history," Geiger said. "The ways that women have promoted hope and healing within communities and cultures around the world  so that fits perfectly with Jessamyns work."

Stanleys work focuses on body inclusivity and yoga for every body, Geiger said. Stanley also works to heal "white-washing of the practice."

Throughout the yoga session, Stanley guided participants into each move while encouraging messiness and organic movements  based on what felt best for each individuals body.

Stanley also emphasized emotional and spiritual bodies over physical bodies, reassuring participants they were exactly where they needed to be.

She emphasized that the poses don't have to be a certain way, it can be whatever you want, Josie Vidic, a group fitness instructor at Penn State, said.

Stanley said she began practicing yoga in graduate school.

It was when I was going through a really tough time in my life. It offered me a lot of stability during that time and beyond, Stanley said. Its really like my medicine in so many different ways  its how I take care of myself. Its really cool to come to Penn State for that reason.

Stanley said she doubted the path she was on, and she said its easy to doubt yourself and think you have no purpose.

Its cool to be in a space with people who are openly feeling those feelings and willing to be honest with themselves and each other, Stanley said.

Vidic (senior-biobehavioral health) said overall she had a really positive experience participating in the yoga session.

Coming here was like the best experience ever," Vidic said. "She makes yoga accessible for everyone, and its really up to you."

Geiger said the yoga was fabulous.

It was everything I expected and more in the sense that it was so affirming, positive and uplifting, and I think everyone who came here got something different from it, Geiger said.

Stanley said she hopes participants had the experience they were supposed to have.

The event was the first in-person practice she had led in a studio since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Stanley said.

I think that the pandemic has offered us a lot to reflect on and even just the reason we come together in community, Stanley said. Why we unite and why its important to unite through differences and through our complexities and through our intersections. Why now more than ever thats important and that its really important to be taking care of ourselves  so that we can take care of each other as well.

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Editors note: One name of an individual interviewed for this story was changed to protect their identity. The Daily Collegian has verified through fact-checking that the anonymous individual interviewed for this story is a current Penn State student.

Sophia Datsko said shes always held on to hope.

Hope that her home country of Ukraine would never become engulfed in war, hope that the loss of life  including civilians, volunteers and soldiers  would never lead to thousands gone in just days, and hope that the threat to her country's democracy wouldnt come to pass.

And yet, as Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the reality of war came crashing down for Datsko (senior-political science and global and international studies).

This was always discussed. But I thought till the last moment  theyre not going to invade, its a deterrence threat, an empty threat trying to bolster the legacy of Almighty Russia, Datsko said. But in reality, it was more a question of when it would happen. That is whats been most difficult to process.

Datsko said she was at home on the evening of Feb. 23, reading the news, when she first found out the invasion had begun. Ukraine is seven hours ahead of the East Coast, so it was already Thursday morning there.

I havent gone to bed earlier than 4 a.m. since then because I am staying up all night watching the news unfold as morning breaks in Ukraine, Datsko said. Its been incredibly hard.

Datsko, who was born and raised in Philadelphia, said shes a proud Ukrainian whose parents came to the U.S. shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. She said the war is not only leading to an emotional state of distress but also a physical state as well.

During the daytime, there are children dying, civilians dying, soldiers dying  all because [Vladmir] Putin and his regime decided to invade a completely innocent sovereign and peaceful country, Datsko said. My country, where my family and my roots are. It's incredibly disheartening and tragic but also frustrating.

The ongoing conflict essentially began in February 2014 on Ukraine soil with the protests and subsequent removal of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Feb. 22, 2014, according to Reuters.

As pro-Russian unrest escalated in many parts of Ukraine in the aftermath of Yanukovichs removal, Russian soldiers began taking control of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea.

In February and March of 2014, unmarked Russian troops seized the Crimean Parliament, leading to the annexation of Crimea.

Then in April 2014, Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk republics escalated into an active war.

Yelena Zotova is an associate teaching professor of Russian at Penn State. Though Zotova immigrated to the U.S. in 1994, she spent her formative years in Luhansk.

I cant emphasize enough how poorly I feel as [everything happening] is not something new, Zotova said. I cant apply shock as it occurred with the annexation of Crimea. The reason we are reacting so strongly is because we saw this day happen eight years ago.

The conflict  which has claimed over 14,000 lives since 2014  escalated once more after Russian military buildups near Ukraines borders were first reported in late 2021 and NATO accused Russia of planning an invasion  which Russia initially denied, according to Reuters.

But on Feb. 21, the Russian Federation officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent states.

Three days later, on Feb. 24, Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine.

I'm angry that this is happening, of course, Datsko said. [But] the fight that the Ukrainian people have put up with  men, women and children  it's absolutely incredible. I think we were severely underestimated by Putin and by the world.

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Datsko said some Ukrainians in the public eye who stayed in Ukraine to fight, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, continue to feed the Ukrainian stance to uphold and protect their country.

I couldnt be more proud to be a Ukrainian, Datsko said. I hold on to the hope that this is short-lived. But we dont know what is going to happen. How can we?

Yuliya Ladygina is an assistant professor of Russian and global studies at Penn State who immigrated to the U.S. in 2001 and started working at the university in 2019.

She said the vibrant Russian and Ukrainian clubs on campus helped provide the cultural connections she desired most when moving to the middle of Pennsylvania.

But this conflict, Ladygina said, has hit too close to home.

Ladygina was born into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and was 12 years old when the Soviet Union fell.

Holding dual-citizenship in the Ukraine and the U.S., Ladygina said she was raised by a father who was ethnic Russian-born and raised in eastern Ukraine and a mother born in northern Ukraine.

My last name is as Russian as it gets, Ladygina said. I speak both languages, and I have been exposed to Russian culture as part of my culture. But I identify as Ukrainian  I am a Ukrainian patriot.

Ladygina grew up in a small town 40 miles from Kyiv  the capital of Ukraine that Russia advanced but hasn't successfully invaded, according to the BBC.

Growing up, all my education was paid for, everything was free, and I benefited from social services, Ladygina said. But when Chernobyl blew up, that accident changed a lot.

In Chernobyl, a city in Ukraine where a nuclear power plant was located, an accident occurred in 1986 when a flawed reactor design was operated with inadequately trained personnel, resulting in 350,000 people being evacuated, but resettlement of areas from which people were relocated is ongoing, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Ladygina said questions of how far the Russian government would go to suppress information and how little regard the government had for the people of Ukraine were constant questions during her formative years as dissolution of the Soviet Union and patriotism for the new state of Ukraine occurred.

My heart is so tied to this country, to the rise of the state, Ladygina said. But the 90s were really tough. [There was] no social security, no jobs  people were miserable and poor. But slowly, we became democratized.

Ladygina said its been interesting to see the pro-democratic excitement evolve within her country but said that interest is also imperative to understanding why Putin and the Russian Federation are so heavy set on forcing Ukraine backward.

Putin's regime has tried to capitalize on the trauma of loss and financial security, bringing back nostalgia of the good Soviet times to sway political inclination and foster pro-Kremlin sentiments, Ladygina said. Its counterproductive for pro-European [and] Western beliefs.

Maria Smereka, the president of Penn States Ukrainian Society and the youngest daughter of immigrants from western Ukraine, said her parents made sure she knew the history of the Soviet Union  not from a political perspective, necessarily, but from their own experience as well.

My dad and grandfather being priests, religious oppression they experienced firsthand helped educate me growing up of their struggles living under the Soviet Union, Smereka (junior-biology and Spanish) said.

In post-Soviet Russia, however, Smereka said she does not believe all Russians support the Kremlin cause.

There are many looking for peace instead, Smereka said. Its just that a lot of people have been through tragedy perpetuated by the Soviet Union and Russia in recent years. They remember that and relate it to the current situation because that same encroachment is happening again.

Smereka, who identifies as Ukrainian American, grew up in Pittsburgh surrounded by a huge Ukrainian community presence.

From [the time] I was little, I understood my heritage very well, Smereka said. I participated in cultural events, folk groups and language school every Saturday.

Smereka said she still has relatives in Ukraine but recognizes her privilege, as she does not have to worry about her immediate familys safety.

Most of them are concerned, but some of them are used to this, Smereka said. This conflict has been going on since 2014  people forget this. It just shows how resilient and patient Ukrainians are.

Smereka said she feels its her responsibility to give a voice to Ukraine and its citizens locally  just one of the reasons Penn States Ukrainian Society has become so vocal as well.

Last week, after the news broke that Russia had invaded Ukraine, Smereka, Datsko and others began planning an impromptu rally at the Allen Street Gates for the same day.

We wanted to raise awareness of current events, share the perspectives of so many of us who have personal ties [to the conflict] and are knowledgeable about the history, Smereka said. Most importantly, we wanted to stand in solidarity with Ukraine.

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The rally brought out close to 50 people, according to Datsko, which was a feat for the Ukrainian Society and its organizing efforts, since the rally hadnt been in the works just 24 hours before.

The Ukrainian Society, which began in 2009, dates back to the 60s, according to Smereka, who said the organization is open to anyone  not just those who identify as Ukrainian.

In the past, the club has organized community events like language workshops and cooking seminars, and its in the process of rebuilding after a period of inactivity due to the coronavirus pandemic, Smereka said.

Us holding a rally is not just about the organization, though, Smereka said. It is about giving the people behind the organization a voice.

The societys next rally will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday at Old Main.

Datsko, who serves as the vice president of the Ukrainian Society, said this weeks rally is titled We Are For Ukraine and will centralize on sending a message to the State College community.

Anyone that believes in democracy, sovereignty, peace and no war is welcome, Datsko said. Stand with us and listen to our speeches, recitations of poems and our Ukrainian songs.

According to Datsko, the organization is expecting a much bigger turnout than last week.

Theres demonstrations coming out of quite literally the entire world, Datsko said. It will be our moment to commemorate the Ukrainian spirit and show that we are strong, that we are doing our part and [that we] will not back down.

James Sayers, a member of the Russian Club at Penn State, said he participated in the Ukrainian Societys rally last week.

I was expecting to show up with the possibility I was gonna be the only person there other than the two people I knew that were organizing behind the scenes, Sayers (junior-Russian studies and international politics) said. I mean, sure, we didn't have 100,000 people. But just the fact that even in this part of the world, we had a fair amount of people goes to show just how big this whole movement is.

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Sayers is not of Russian descent but is hoping to pursue a career path similar to his studies on the Russia-Ukraine tensions. He said hes been hooked since 2014.

I didnt want to just minor, I wanted to major and study Russian, Sayers said. How can you be an expert on a country without speaking the language?

On Feb. 8, he wrote a term paper predicting Putins invasion using game theory in PLSC 442: American Foreign Policy.

It was not that hard to prove, Sayers said. So many college students also predicted this in universities across the world that study politics. I mean, the U.S. government has been talking about this for a few months.

Sayers said hes been following the news avidly as the conflict continues to unfold, and he believes Putin is in over his head.

For decades, Putin has spewed propaganda that, among other things, categorizes him as this strong, rational person that is so superior, Sayers said. But what we have seen in the last 72 hours is Ukraine on top. [Russian forces] are supposedly more trained, more prepared and powerful, but thats not how things are shaping up.

After days of fighting and what began to look like a grave miscalculation on Russias part on how hard Ukrainians woud fight, Russian forces have turned their focus to residential areas, local infrastructure and attacking communications, according to the New York Times.

At this time, Ukrainian armed forces still control Kyiv and all major cities, which could change, the NYT said.

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[Putin] made this a political war, not a well-executed war, Sayers said. This will set a precedent for future generations for how we want our children and grandchildren to live. We must never forget  were always one generation away from tyranny.

Robert, a Russian Penn State student who wished to stay anonymous due to fear for personal safety, said hes been in a state of shock.

No one believed this was even an option after Donetsk and Luhansk had their independence stripped, Robert said. We thought there might be a possibility of military action, but [this] was unprecedented.

Robert said learning the events over the past week were real, not propaganda, was even more difficult to fully comprehend.

My first emotion was fear for my family and my friends, but second was monumental shame, Robert said. I had to go to class the next day [after the invasion began]. All I could hear in the hallway and in my lab were students talking about it.

Though he spent a third of his life in Australia, Robert said his formative years were spent in Moscow, where his family has roots dating back to medieval Rus.

The government is separate from the people  I love the Russian people. I have spent so much time with them. The fact that people are equating the government to the people is hard, Robert said. I think right now, the sanctions are keeping Russian people hostage.

Sanctions in all different sectors of the Russian economy have escalated over the past week after the U.S. and its allies worked together to impose severe and immediate economic costs to Russias largest financial institutions, according to the White House brief on Feb. 24.

Additionally, the U.S. has targeted all 10 of Russias largest financial institutions, and in the following days, sanctions from world leaders have continued to intensify.

Robert said he feels overall incredibly sheltered against the sanctions due to his well-off family, second passport and bank account in the states, which will make the effects of the sanctions less drastic.

However, Robert said he personally knows friends trying to fly out of Russia who have become trapped due to only having one citizenship.

I am one of the lucky ones, Robert said. But I am worried about my friends who are of drafting age. Military conscription is mandatory, and it is entirely reasonable that the military could start drafting students.

Robert said although there is a conscription provision still in place, that does not allow for the recruitment of students, people are still being shipped off, and notices are being sent out to random citizens.

Its horrifying, Robert said. In times of war, life becomes silent. Theres no telling what could happen to anyone inside Russia. Even if the conflict is resolved, no one knows.

For the most part, Robert said hes in constant communication with friends and family back home.

They are trying their best to go on as normal. Some have continued going to class, others have gone to anti-war protests, Robert said. But in Russia, it is so easy to be arrested and put away for 10 years just like that. Just for protesting against war.

In Russia, theres no separation of government, according to Robert, who said the country's control over its people works similarly to a dictatorship.

It is hard to see any good come out of this, Robert said. Putin wanted this to finish quickly. He wanted Kyiv in a few days. That hasnt happened, so the blatant war crimes being committed will continue.

Similar to Robert's views on Russia's power over its citizens, Datsko said its challenging to ascertain what Russians believe due to their lack of right to freedom in different forms.

No, of course not all of the Russian people equal Putins regime, Datsko said. I commend the Russian citizens who are taking to the streets and protesting in Russia, as it is illegal to criticize Putin directly. Its very brave.

But Datsko said its unknown what Russia will do to its own citizens who speak out.

You can only imagine what they're doing to the innocent  the free and peaceful citizens of Ukraine, Datsko said.

For Ladygina, its very personal.

But there is a benefit of the world news on Ukraine, Ladygina said. People are seeing what this war actually is. They are learning how we got into this situation to begin with, and hopefully, it will be an investment into research that is lacking in post-Soviet Union regions.

Zotova said for the first year after the war stemming from the unrest in 2014, she and her Russian colleagues had a profound crisis about why they even teach Russian in the first place.

Knowing the language of the enemy was difficult to fully understand, Zotova said. Even saying that sentence out loud is hard.

But for Zotova, finding a balance between teaching and her personal views eventually came naturally. Now, her biggest concern is whether lifelong friends and family are alive.

Its one thing to look at the news and another thing to talk to people who are right there, Zotova said.

Smereka said many Ukrainians in the U.S. with family and friends back home are feeling concerned.

A lot of us have connections and ties living near eastern border, and we are worried for their safety and well-being, Smereka said. You cant learn everything from the media  firsthand experiences are imperative to understanding crises of this magnitude.

Ladygina said the conflict should not be thought of as some regional war.

This is a conflict of global significance  important for American national interests and connecting the world, Ladygina said. Being aware of what is going on abroad is our responsibility for those who support democracy and hold principles of freedom and personal liberty.

For Datsko, she understands not everyone will be as interested in whats going on, as they dont have a personal connection, but hopes her peers will see how important it is to recognize the situations magnitude.

This concerns everybody interested in what it means to be an independent country and to enjoy the favors and the privileges that come with that, Datsko said. A threat to democracy anywhere is a threat to democracy everywhere. These are innocent people that are peaceful. All they've ever wanted is to be westernized from Russia's ongoing presence and pressure.

Robert said hes been reflecting on the wars various impacts on future generations.

War is hell, Robert said. In an era of diplomatic talks, the fact that we have to fight and sacrifice human life still is absolutely heartbreaking.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, was successfully invaded by Russia. As of March 3, that's incorrect. The Daily Collegian apologizes for the error.

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Legislation advanced by the Colorado Senate aims to improve missing persons investigations involving women from marginalized groups.

If enacted, Senate Bill 95 would shorten the timeframe before a person can be reported missing from 24 hours to two hours for minors and eight hours for adults. The bill would also require state law enforcement to collect and report data and trends regarding missing women and girls from marginalized groups, including people of color, LGBTQ+ people and older adults.

Bill sponsor Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, said the bill is partially inspired by Aarone Thompson, a 6-year-old Black girl who went missing in Aurora.

Thompsons father reported her as a runaway in 2005, though investigators believe she may have died up to two years before the report. Thompsons body was never found, and her father wasnt convicted for her death until 2009.

We hear about a lot of women that are not of color that get news coverage nationally and are found, Fields said. Far too often when there is a Black young girl or a transgender woman or an Indigenous woman or someone who is from the aging population, sometimes they are not found.

Fields said it is important to protect women of color as they are disproportionately victims of crimes, such as homicide and domestic violence. In 2020, one-third of the nearly 300,000 girls and women reported missing in the U.S. were Black, according to the National Crime Information Center.

The bill passed the state Senate in a nearly unanimous 33-1 vote on Wednesday, with Douglas County Republican Sen. Chris Holbert being the only "no vote.

Im not opposed to improving missing persons investigations, which is the title of the bill. I am, however, reluctant to support unequal protection under the law, said Holbert, who serves as Senate Minority Leader. Treating some people differently than others isnt equal protection and/or equal application of law.

Supporters of the bill argue that protection under the law is already unequal.

Micaela Parker, a student at the University of Denver, said her friend has been missing from Aurora since mid-January without any leads or media coverage. While the data requirements of SB-95 would not apply to men, Parker said more needs to be done to protect people of color in general.

Parker compared the treatment of her friend  a 24-year-old Black man named Terrell Whitley  to that of Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old white woman who went missing while traveling with her fiance, Brian Laundrie.

Amplified by public pressure after videos of the couple went viral, the search for Petito garnered national media attention and law enforcement involvement across several states. The massive investigation resulted in the discovery of Petitos body and, later, of Laundries body. A medical examiner concluded he committed suicide and authorities said he claimed responsibility for Petito's death in a notebook.

We are seeing the scary difference, not only in the cases being publicized, but the help being given and the resources allocated between BIPOC communities who are dealing with missing people and white-identifying communities who are dealing with missing people, Parker said.

During the search for Petito and Laundrie, nine other bodies were discovered, the Daily Mail reported. One of the bodies was of Lauren Cho, a Korean American woman whose missing person case gained attention on social media after people criticized the unequal coverage of her compared to Petito.

The bill has received no opposition and is supported by groups including County Sheriffs of Colorado, Colorado Fraternal Order of Police and Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance.

Far too many people are coming up missing every day. There are predators out there and theyre looking for the most vulnerable people, Fields said. This sends a strong message: When you decide to snatch and grab a person of color or anybody, we are going to quickly and swiftly report it and were going to make sure that information is available.
The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form
As the Cubs were beating the Braves 6-3 Wednesday night Steve left to see the game with his mom and dad, Reva and Harold, brother Ron and baby niece Elizabeth Henney. He left behind to run the store his wife Kathleen (Knight), Amelia (27), Nathan (24) and his beloved cat Lewis Black. His sis
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Fort Hood, TX (76544)

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The second season of Star Trek: Picard begins today, chronicling the entirely new adventures of everyones favorite elderly tea-drinking Starfleet officer. This season will feature not only time travel but returning characters like Whoopi Goldbergs Guinan and the God-like trickster Q. But where will it all lead? If the previous season is any indication, probably to some misguided 9/11 allegories and a planet full of affordable stock footage. Also, as weve mentioned before, the first season finale ended with Picard dying and being resurrected in an artificial body that was still programmed to die  and also still deprived of hair. Why wouldnt these meddling scientists give Admiral Picard some luscious synthetic locks to go with his new robot bod? Probably because it would have looked ridiculous, and we have proof 

Back when they were casting Star Trek: The Next Generation, creator Gene Roddenberry was against hiring Patrick Stewart to play Picard because he didnt want a bald man Captaining the Enterprise. Roddenberry only let Stewart audition in front of studio representatives after insisting that the actor wear a wig  which, to be fair, was something of a tradition among Star Trek captains.
Margaret Pearl Blaylock, age 85, of Crossville, TN, passed away at her home on May 3, 2022. She was born on November 18, 1936, in Crossville, TN, daughter of the late William Wyatt and Alice (Hale) Wyatt. Margaret was a homemaker and attended Stephen Gap Church of Christ. She is survived by 
Manhattan String Quartet / Contributed photo

KENT  The Manhattan String Quartet performs music from Spain and Ravel at St. Andrews Music in the Nave series, March 19 at the church in Kent at 4 p.m.

The quartets concert features Ravel and some intriguing finds from their recent trip to Spain, according to a statement.
Galt, CA (95632)

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NEW MILFORD  With the Harrybrooke Park Bridge structurally unsound, the town and park officials plan to fix the structure temporarily, while working toward a long-term repair.

The town has approved $126,000 from American Rescue Plan Act funds for a repair that will serve as a Band-Aid for about two years, while the nonprofit tries to secure enough funds for an estimated $6 million full bridge replacement.

The bridge has been a fixture in town for over a half-century, but has outlived its life. The 111-foot-long bridge is open to foot traffic only, but is needed for vehicles to enter the park for events and activities.

Need for a new bridge

Harrybrooke Bridge leads to Harrybrooke Park, a nonprofit organization that opened in 1966. The park was owned by the late Frank and Elizabeth Harden.

The park receives no town, state or federal funding. To fund the nonprofit, the 40-acre park regularly hosts events year-round, such as weddings, birthday parties and reunions.

If the bridge isnt operating, the park would be unable to host those events and serve the public, said state Rep. Bill Buckbee, R-New Milford, who is executive director of the park.

In 2018, the parks board of managers hired WMC Consulting Engineers in Newington to check on the bridge, due to its advancing age. After an inspection, the WMC told them the bridge had about five years before some action should be taken.

After further tests last year, the nonprofit was told by WMC in January that the bridge needed to be immediately shut down.

Its structurally unsound. The steel deteriorated more quickly than anyone expected, said Buckbee, attributing the deterioration to cars and weather.

The park, which is free, is used often, said Buckbee at the Feb. 14 Town Council meeting.

On a typical July day, weve tracked over 2,000 coming in and out. People use it in all weather, Buckbee said. We havent had to ask, in all the 65 years, for the town to help us out.

Financing

The nonprofit considered ways to repair the bridge on its own, said Buckbee, adding theres no other way to enter and exit the park without the bridge.

He added the entrance can only handle one car each way, and the road cant be widened.

Its got the Still River on one side and the train tracks on the other, he said.

At the Town Council meeting, Ralph Williams, treasurer for the Board of Management of Harrybrooke Park, said the parks board has, at any given time, $100,000 to $125,000 in its bank account.

Through fundraising and other efforts, weve been able to build up a reserve, and the purpose of that money is to do ongoing maintenance at the park  things like paving, dredging our pond, maintaining roofs, painting buildings  all the wear and tear that happens in that park, Williams said.

The parks trustee is Salisbury Bank.

The stock portfolio was almost $4.4 million at the end of January.The portfolio provides the park with a payment of $5,500 a month.

Thats our seed money to operate the park. The portfolio also pays for insurance for the park, which is very expensive because its in a flood zone, Williams said.

The parks insurance, which is about $40,000 a year, comes out of the trust.

Additionally, he said, the park has three paid people on staff  who are making no more than $50,000 a year.

We run bare bones with people who just really love what theyre doing, Buckbee said.

The park gets about 100,000 hours of volunteer work a year.

The temporary repair, which the Town Council approved, 5-1 with two abstentions, will give the nonprofit time to raise the funds for a full replacement.

To pay for a new bridge, the nonprofit hopes to secure grants, raise money and get individual donations. To donate, visit harrybrookepark.com and click on the Bridge Donation Button.

Whats next?

WMC is creating a design for the temporary repair of the bridge. As soon as thats complete, the park can put it out to bid.

If the repairs are made as scheduled, Buckbee hopes the bridge can reopen by mid-May.

Well be doing every possible thing we can to make sure that happens, Buckbee said.

sandra.fox@hearstmediact.com. 203-948-9802
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NEW MILFORD  Wearing masks in New Milford schools will become optional for students and staff on March 1, the Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night.

The board voted to repeal its policy that required wearing masks and face coverings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning March 1, masks will not be required on school grounds or at school-sponsored activities unless required by law, except on school buses and transportation which is required by federal law, the board said.

The school mask decision stems from Gov. Ned Lamonts announcement that the state will lift requirements that students, teachers and staff wear masks in schools, and instead shifted the power to local leaders to decide for their districts.

The mask debate has led to hostile environments in many communities, with disrupted town meetings, angry emails and threatening Facebook posts.

In New Milford, parents appeared pleased about the decision. Kimberly Rybicki-Ruskouski, whose 9-year-old daughter Emma Ruskouski attends New Milford schools, said she feels like the decision is a big win.

Hopefully its a sign that the tides are changing, Rybicki-Ruskouski said. More and more people are banding together to stand up for their rights and their childrens rights.

New Milford parent Ashley Wheatley said she plans to register her 4-year-old daughter Avery Repko for kindergarten.

I had been holding off on registering my daughter this fall because I wasnt sure what the mask situation was going to be, Wheatley said.

Avery attends preschool, where she does wear a mask, but she attends half-day and gets multiple mask breaks, her mother said.

More policy changes

In a letter sent Wednesday morning to the New Milford Public School community, Superintendent Alisha DiCorpo wrote that, aside from the mask policy change, vaccinations and required weekly testing are no longer mandatory for school staff and volunteers, effective Wednesday.

In her letter, DiCorpro wrote the district plans to remove all partitions over the April vacation, so when students return to school, the desks and cafeteria will look similar to the pre-pandemic building.

Removing the partitions over the April vacation ensures we have sufficient time and resources to accomplish the removal, she added.

She wrote, however, with small group instruction, the schools will leave partitions in place until updated guidance is released from the state.

Shesaid students and staff who experience any symptoms of COVID-19 should stay home and may access a school-provided test if needed.

We ask that the entire NMPS community be mindful and respectful of individual choice, she wrote. We will work together to ensure that everyone in our schools feels comfortable and safe.

In light of all the policy changes, Wendy Faulenbach, Board of Education chairman, said the board is committed to continue to work through these challenges on behalf of our students, staff and community.

Similar efforts to make masks optional are happening nearby, including in Region 12, New Fairfield, Bethel and Brookfield. Sherman planned to discuss the issue at a school board meeting Wednesday night.

sandra.fox@hearstmediact.com 203-948-9802
ENFIELD  Police said they found a baby dead at a local motel Tuesday morning.

The Enfield Police Department, emergency medical services and fire department were called to the Motel 6 on Hazard Avenue just before 11 a.m. Tuesday for a medical call regarding a fall, the police department said on its Facebook page.

While investigating, police found a deceased, apparently pre-term baby at the scene, police said.

Police said the circumstances of this death remain under review.

Enfield Police officers, as well as Connecticut State Police Major Crime Squad personnel, remained at the scene late Tuesday afternoon investigating the incident.

Police could not provide further information regarding the case Tuesday evening.
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On Friday, Gov. Ned Lamonts budget director, Melissa McCaw, became the third Connecticut official to announce their departure from state government while facing scrutiny related to a federal investigation into the states school construction program.

Not everyone involved in the scandal has been accused directly of wrongdoing, while those who have continue to maintain that the allegations against them are trumped up or baseless.

Theres also a lot that remains unknown about the investigation, and new developments are occurring on a near-daily basis.

Here are five key people involved:

Konstantinos Kosta Diamantis

The man at the center of the scandal is a 65-year-old former state lawmaker from Bristol who was in charge of the Office of School Construction Grants and Review from 2015 until he abruptly retired in October while facing a suspension for unspecified misconduct.

Diamantis  who is known by his nickname Kosta  was initially hired to oversee the school construction program as a member of former Gov. Dannel Malloys administration in 2015, before taking on the additional role as deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and Management after Gov. Ned Lamont was elected a few years later. At that time, Diamantis school construction work was transferred from the Department of Administrative Services to his new offices at OPM, under the oversight of Secretary Melissa McCaw.

Diamantis oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars of grants issued each year through the school construction office  and apparently butted heads with a few contractors, union leaders and school officials toward the end of his tenure.

In reports that have emerged since his retirement, union officials and at least one contractor complained to members of Lamonts administration as early as 2020 that Diamantis was using his authority to steer local construction projects to a select group of contractors.

Diamantis has denied any wrongdoing, saying his critics misinterpreted his approach to getting projects completed quickly and without cost overruns by utilizing preapproved state contracts with firms to conduct hazardous materials abatement and demolition work.

Last month, the state released copies of a federal grand jurys requests for records related to Diamantis handling of construction work.

That probe has also touched on aspects of Diamantis other job in the Office of Policy and Management, such as his involvement with the re-development of the State Pier in New London, a project that has faced criticism for blowing past initial cost estimates.

Diamantis and his attorney, Norm Pattis, say federal investigators have yet to contact them regarding the probe.

Anastasia Diamantis

The scandal surrounding Diamantis is essentially two separate controversies: One is the federal investigation into the school construction office and the other involving his daughter, Anastasia, and the circumstances around her hiring at the Division of Criminal Justice in June 2020.

Anastasia, 29, was working as a disability claims examiner assistant in the state Department of Rehabilitation Services, earning a salary of $66,447 when she applied for a job as an executive assistant with the head of DCJ, Chief States Attorney Richard Colangelo Jr.

At the time she applied for the job, Colangelo was lobbying her father and other officials at OPM to get approval for a series of raises for himself and other top prosecutors in supervisory roles at the division.

According to documents related to Anastasia Diamantis hiring released through public records requests, Colangelo quickly selected her application and offered her a job in about a week, with a starting salary of $99,000.

Anastasia Diamantis has not responded to repeated requests for comment, though both her father and Colangelo have defended the hiring, pointing to her several years of service in state government and education, which includes a masters degree in elementary education.

An outside report on her hiring commissioned by Lamont last fall, however, questioned the circumstances around her hiring and whether she, her father and Colangelo had been truthful with investigators.

Anastasia Diamantis has also faced questions over a part-time job she held with a construction consultant, Construction Advocacy Professionals, that was hired to work on school construction projects funded through her fathers office.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in New Haven specifically named Anastasia Diamantis, CAP and the firms boss, Antonietta DiBenedetto-Roy, in its requests for communications from the school construction office. DiBenedetto-Roy has also not responded to requests for comment.

Anastasia Diamantis was fired by CAP last October after her name was mentioned in news articles questioning her hiring in Colangelos office, according to the report prepared by former U.S. Attorney Stanley Twardy.

The release of Twardys report last month also prompted the division to place Anastasia Diamantis on paid leave following a full review of the allegations into her hiring.

Richard Colangelo Jr.

After being appointed to lead the states Division of Criminal Justice in January 2020, the states top prosecutor served a little more than two years before the controversy surrounding his decision to hire Anastasia Diamantis led to his retirement.

Colangelo, 55, announced his retirement last month after the commission tasked with overseeing his office prepared to initiate proceedings that could have led to his removal. His retirement will be effective March 31.

In a letter announcing his decision, Colangelo said he disagreed vehemently with the conclusions of Twardys report. The report found that Colangelo lacked credibility in his account of meeting Anastasia Diamantis, as well as his denial that the hire had anything to do with the raises he sought from her father.

I care too much about the [Division of Criminal Justice] to have the imbroglio over my efforts to ensure the very best are attracted to supervisory positions to detract from the important work of the Division, Colangelo wrote in the letter.

Colangelo and Anastasia Diamantis told investigators they met during a Greek Night event at a Southington restaurant in the early summer of 2020. However, Twardy wrote in the report that investigators spoke to other attendees who said the event took place in July or August, after Anastasia Diamantis was already hired.

The report also quoted an unnamed official in Colangelos office, who recalled the top prosecutor pointing to Diamantis resume and saying, look at the name.

When the individual said no, explaining the Division could not hire the daughter of the Deputy OPM Secretary, according to this individual, Mr. Colangelo then backpedaled and stated only if she is qualified and she can learn, the report stated.

Colangelo also came under fire for an email he sent to Konstantinos Diamantis in December 2020, in which he suggested that he needed the raises for his deputies to keep them happy and secure their support for his reappointment.

After that email was released to several news organizations through public records requests, Colangelo said through a spokesperson that he regretted sending it.

Colangelo was ultimately able to secure his reappointment, despite never having received approval for the raises, though his tenure was cut short by his sudden retirement.

Melissa McCaw

As Diamantis direct supervisor at the Office of Policy and Management, McCaw faced mounting questions over whether she had provided proper oversight of the school construction office. However, she denied having any knowledge of improper dealings and was not implicated directly in any of Diamantis alleged efforts to steer state contracts.

Ultimately, however, McCaw became the third official to step down amid the scrutiny surrounding Diamantis, announcing last week that she was leaving to take a job as finance director for East Hartford.

McCaw, 42, was tapped to serve as Lamonts budget director in 2018 after having led Hartfords efforts to resolve long-standing budget issues as the citys chief financial officer.

As secretary of OPM, McCaw similarly oversaw the administrations efforts to close a $3.75 billion budget deficit  helping turn it into a projected surplus of $1.5 billion  and continued to enjoy Lamonts public support despite the recent controversy surrounding Diamantis.

That controversy included allegations from Diamantis that members of Lamonts administration had disrespected McCaw, who is Black woman.

McCaw appeared to address those allegations during a budget presentation last month, saying, It is not easy to work professionally at this high a level of field that has been dominated by white males.  And while I cannot say the same for everyone in this administration, I want you to know that Gov. Lamont and I have always had a strong and close working relationship based on mutual trust and mutual respect.

The governor told reporters Friday that he had not asked for McCaws resignation, and she had informed him of her decision the night before.

Theres a lot of back and forth going on right now. Its distracting, Lamont said. She still had to get through OPM, get through this budget cycle, probably figured a fresh start over in East Hartford makes sense for her and makes sense for OPM right now.

After Diamantis retired in October, the school construction office that he oversaw under McCaw was moved back to the Department of Administrative Services, where it is now led by Noel Petra and DAS Commissioner Michelle Gilman.

Gov. Ned Lamont

Like McCaw, the central question surrounding Lamont is to what degree he was aware of the allegations involving Diamantis and whether his administration did enough to intervene.

While its now clear that complaints about Diamantis from contractors and union officials were raised directly with two of Lamonts former top deputies  senior adviser Jonathan Harris and chief operating officer Josh Geballe  the governor said nothing actionable ever rose directly to his level.

Geballe and Harris have since left the administration to take jobs elsewhere.

The governor has described first being tipped off about Diamantis alleged wrongdoing from a series of columns published in the Hartford Courant last fall by former state lawmaker Kevin Rennie.

As soon as we got whiff of something going wrong, we were right there on top of it, Lamont said last month. We got the independent report out there right now, we moved construction to a whole new department, people know that were taking this very seriously.

In an election year, however, Republicans have sought to tie Lamont to any semblance of corruption within his administration.

In the legislature, top Republicans last week called for the formation of a new, bi-partsian commission to oversee a separate investigation into Diamantis and the school construction office.

Meanwhile on Twitter, Lamonts likely opponent in the November election, Republican Bob Stefanowski, responded to the news of McCaws departure by writing that it should not signal an end to the ongoing scandal and investigation.

We dont yet know the full extent of corruption within the Lamont Administration, but as the people who pay their salaries, CT residents have a right to know, Stefanowski tweeted.

Lamont has repeatedly promised to cooperate with any investigations undertaken by federal authorities or state lawmakers, going so far as to tell reporters, if they want a public hearing, they can have a public hearing, sure.

On Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers announced they would hold a hearing at which two Lamont administration officials who took charge of the school construction office following Diamantis departure will testify about reforms they have implemented and ongoing audits into funds delivered under Diamantis.
NEW BRITAIN  A visit by the head of the Republican National Committee to a busy shopping plaza in this city where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 6 to 1 signaled the GOPs growing intent on making Connecticut a major target during the upcoming midterm elections.

People are going to say Why are you in New Britain, Connecticut. Why is the RNC here? You know why? Because we can win, RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Wednesday.

McDaniel was in the Hardware City to mark the official opening of the RNCs community center on West Main Street  the first time the national party has had a physical presence in Connecticut in recent memory, officials said.

The community center will serve as hub for the GOP to engage with minority communities in and around the area, which the party sees as key to taking back control of the U.S. Senate, winning seats in the U.S. House and flipping governors races across the country.

Connecticut is going to be on the front lines of wining it all back, McDaniel said.

Republicans have not won a single statewide or congressional race in Connecticut in nearly 16 years. But they see New Britian as key to breaking that streak.

The city, where Hispanics make up more than 40 percent of the population, is located in the 5th District  one of the key congressional seats Republicans are hoping to turn red in November. Despite its large Democratic voter bloc, New Britains mayor is a Republican and the GOP recently gained a super-majority on the city council.

The space where the RNC has set up shop formerly housed Mayor Erin Stewarts campaign office. The RNC has leased the space through the end of the year and has hired a full-time staffer to work out of the office.

Stewart, who was elected to a fifth-term last November, attributed the partys success in New Britain to reaching out across aisles that are not traditional Republican areas that you would think that wed go into.

When you see us door knocking in the projects, you know whats up, and were coming to get your vote, she said.

Stewart said Republicans have national headwinds at their back ahead of the midterms, when the party not in the White House usually performs well at the polls. In Connecticut, Republicans beneft from having a clear GOP frontrunner for governor, she said, referring to Bob Stefanowski, whose wife Amy was in attendance Wednesday.

We have, for the first time since 2006, a presumptive Republican nominee for governor early on in the cycle with established name recognition and a tremendous amount of resources, she said. We have enthusiasm around our party like I have never seen before.

Carmelo Rodriguez, vice chairman of the Connecticut chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, said New Britain is a model for better representation in the Republican party.

We have Republican Latinos on the council, in the RTC, board of education, many of them are here today, commission boards, Rodriguez said. Thats what we call victory.

Connecticut is home to more than 600,000 Hispanics but rarely do you see the Republican Party approaching our population, Rodriguez said.

George Logan, a former Republican state senator who is seeking to challenge Democrat Jahana Hayes for her 5th District seat, said the GOP has a strong message to share with minority voters.

As a Republican, an African-American, an Afro-Latino, I believe it is essential that we collectively get our message out of equal opportunity, free enterprise, free from big government, and protection of our constitutional rights. That is something thats important to all of us regardless of race, creed, economic status, Logan said, first addressing the crowd in Spanish then English.

In addition to Logan, congressional hopefuls Leora Levy and Themis Klarides, who are seeking the GOP nomination to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., were at Wednesdays event.

For years, Republicans have wrestled with the question of how to reach minority communities, said Ben Proto, the state GOP chairman who also sits on the national committee.

We always knew how to do it. We just never did it. Well folks, were doing it, Proto said. And its not only the minority communities, were reaching out across Connecticut, across the country to voters who have never supported us in the past.

Gov. Ned Lamont said he was focused more on governing than the opening of the RNC office.

Its campaign season and there will be a contested race, Lamont told reporters. My idea is to focus on governing and do the very best job I can on behalf of the people of Connecticut. They can open campaign offices and do TV and whatever they want to do. Well get to that as well. But I really want to focus on governing.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
At least two Connecticut consumers were among those affected when a large cargo ship carrying luxury cars from Germany sunk in the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday, almost two weeks after a fire broke out on board.

Chip Gengras, owner of Gengras Volkswagen in Plainville, said two vehicles that his customers ordered from the manufacturer were among those that sank when the cargo ship, Felicity Ace, lost stability and went under. The ship was about 250 miles off Portugal's Azores Islands as it was being towed to land, according to Portuguese navy officials.

We had one for a customer who had ordered an ID.4, which is an electric vehicle and another for someone who had ordered a GTI, Gengras said Wednesday.

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The 650-foot-long vessel is capable of carrying 4,000 cars, National Public Radio reported. It is unclear how many vehicles were onboard the ship, but Gengras said based on his conversations with other new car dealers, as many as 10 vehicles that were headed to Connecticut dealers may have gone down with the ship.

One dealer I talked with in Denver lost 10 cars, he said.

Gengras said it will take two or three months for Volkswagen to build his customers new cars.

They are going to try to expedite the process as much as possible, he said.

The customers will pay the same amount they agreed to when they ordered the car from the manufacturer, although they will be getting a newer model year. The customers will receive additional credit toward amenities associated with the new cars to compensate for having to wait, according to Gengras.

The Felicity Ace sank in an area of the Atlantic thats nearly 2 miles deep. The ship was carrying Porsches, Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Volkswagens, according to Gengras.

Volkswagen officials told The Wall Street Journal that insurance has covered the loss of its vehicles, which could be at least $155 million. The Journal reported the total estimated loss for all of the cargo is close to $440 million.

The Associated Press reported that the Portuguese navy rescued all 22 members of the crew from the ship, which was headed to Davisville, R.I. None of the crew members were hurt, according to the AP.

The Portuguese navy confirmed the sinking, saying it occurred outside Portuguese waters. A Portuguese Air Force helicopter evacuated the crew members when the fire first broke out, setting the ship adrift.

Ocean-going tugboats with firefighting equipment had been hosing down the ships hull to cool it.

European carmakers declined to discuss how many vehicles and what models were on board, but Porsche customers in the United States were being contacted by their dealers, the company said.

We are already working to replace every car affected by this incident and the first new cars will be built soon, Angus Fitton, vice president of PR at Porsche Cars North America Inc., told The Associated Press in an email.

The ship was transporting electric and non-electric vehicles, according to Portuguese authorities. Suspicion on what started the fire on Feb. 16 has fallen on lithium batteries used in electric vehicles, though authorities say they have no firm evidence about the cause.

Authorities feared the ship could pollute the ocean. The ship was carrying 2,200 tons of fuel and 2,200 tons of oil. It can carry more than 18,700 tons of cargo.

The Portuguese navy said in a statement that only a few pieces of wreckage and a small patch of oil was visible where the ship went down. The tugboats were breaking up the patch with hoses, it said.

A Portuguese Air Force plane and a Portuguese navy vessel are to remain at the scene on the lookout for signs of pollution.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com
The first figures of COVID infections in schools since the statewide mask mandate lifted showed that cases have declined slightly from the previous week, setting a new low for the second half of the academic year.

The latest report, which captures infections from Thursday to the following Wednesday, shows that 24 fewer infections were reported among students in Connecticut schools this week for a total of 607, the lowest since students returned from winter break.

Infections among teachers saw a similar decline. In the past week, there were five fewer infections for a total of 133. Since mask mandates were lifted for most school districts on Monday, a portion of the weekly report encompasses days when masks were still required.

The state education department said this week it sent a survey to school districts about masking policies, but had yet to receive all of the responses. While an exact tally of school districts that no longer require masks was not immediately available, state officials estimated it was roughly 90 percent. Some of the larger school districts have opted to keep mandates in place for several more weeks.

Is it permanent? I dont know, Gov. Ned Lamont said this week. But obviously, I think its 85, 90 percent of our schools have elected to end the mask mandate.

Overall, COVID-19 metrics have remained stable at lows not seen since the summer and fall after a surge in late December and January set new highs for the positivity rate and daily infections.

On Thursday, the state reported that 589 COVID-19 cases were found among 27,761 tests for a positivity rate of 2.12 percent, the lowest since early November. Hospitalizations dropped by a net of 21 patients for a total of 171, the lowest figure since early August. A total of 72 new deaths were reported in the past week, 47 fewer than the previous week.

While a vast majority of school districts no longer require masks, there are still many students who are wearing them. But, anecdotally, it appears there are sizable gaps among age groups and, overall, it differs from district to district.

Im told anecdotally that a third, maybe 40 percent of the kids, depending on where you are, still prefer wearing the mask, Lamont said.

Mask wearing has varied in some schools in the Danbury area. On the first day when masks were optional Tuesday, roughly half of the students still wore masks, but that may have been because the school board dropped the mandate the night before, Superintendent Kevin Walston said. Additional students decided to take off their masks the next day, he said.

In Westport, about 25 percent of students were wearing masks at the middle school level, while about 70 percent of students wore masks at the kindergarten level.

Darien Superintendent Alan Addley said only around 10 to 20 percent of teachers and students across the district were wearing masks on Monday, but he thought that number would change in the future.

Some parents also expressed a desire for their children to still wear masks in schools given the ongoing pandemic.

Jannette Blancovitch, a mother of a Stamford kindergarten student, said she wants her daughter to keep the mask on in school.

I told her not to take it off even if shes being asked to because its my family I have to protect, she said.

After announcing plans to lift the mask mandate, the state Department of Public Health sent guidance to school leaders that encouraged they support students and staff who decide to continue wearing face coverings.

Make sure that they can wear the mask without being ridiculed, Lamont said this week.

Despite an overall drop in infections statewide, the broad lifting of school mask mandates comes at a time in which vaccinations among children ages 5 to 11 are still lagging behind older age groups.

The latest state figures on Thursday show that 47 percent of these children are vaccinated, trailing other school-aged students by as much as 34 percentage points.

However, this week a study was released that suggested the efficacy of the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine wanes faster for children ages 5 to 11.

In the omicron era, the effectiveness against cases of (Pfizers vaccine) declined rapidly for children, particularly those 5-11 years, a study from researchers from the New York State Department of Health and the State University of New York at Albany School of Public Health said. These results highlight the potential need to study alternative vaccine dosing for children and the continued importance (of) layered protections, including mask wearing, to prevent infection and transmission.

Staff writers Serenity Bishop, Raga Justin, Julia Perkins, Ignacio Laguarda and Jordan Fenster contributed to this story.
BRIDGEPORT  A Derby resident was charged Wednesday with drunken driving and causing the crash that killed a local woman and injured another woman almost two years ago.

Police said Jaquon Torres, 24, had a blood alcohol level of 0.09 at the time of the two-car crash on June 9, 2020 at the intersection of Jane and Brooks streets. The legal limit is 0.08.

But Torres lawyer, Frank Riccio, argued in court that his client, who he said is known as Jaylani Torres, did not cause the crash. Court records still use Torres previous name.

Torres was charged with second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle and second-degree assault.

During the arraignment Wednesday afternoon, Assistant States Attorney Justina Moore urged Superior Court Judge Peter McShane to set a high bond for Torres, arguing that Torres initially denied driving the car.

Jennylizz Rodriguez, 31, a passenger in the car Torres was allegedly driving, died in the crash. Another woman passenger, who was pregnant, was severely injured, according to the police report.

But Riccio argued that the report states that the crash was caused by another car that ran a stop sign at the intersection and hit Torres car. He said no one has been arrested from that second car.

The judge set bond at $50,000, which Torres posted. He also ordered Torres confined to their parents home during the case.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, video showed Torres was driving a 2003 Honda sedan southbound on Jane Street when it was struck by a 2010 Honda sedan that went through the stop sign at the intersection at a high rate of speed. The impact spun the 2003 Honda around.

Although the affidavit names the driver of the 2010 Honda, he was not arrested.

The affidavit states that witnesses told officers that Torres had been drinking at a party prior to driving the car and had also gone through the stop sign at the intersection.
BRIDGEPORT - A Superior Court judge Thursday refused to order the city to pay the attorney fees of three police captains who successfully challenged the appointment of Rebeca Garcia to assistant chief.

Garcia has since been appointed acting chief.

In November Judge Barry Stevens ruled that the citys selection of Garcia as assistant police chief was in violation of civil service rules and the city charter.

The best characterization of the citys compliance with the civil service rules is that it was either perfunctory or pretextual rather than substantial and actual, Judge Barry Stevens stated in a 10-page decision. The citys overarching intent and goal in the selection of the assistant chief of police was not so much to comply with the civil service rules but rather to allow (former Police Chief Armando) Perez to choose from the ranks whomever he wanted in whatever manner he desired.

The city has appealed the decision to the state Appellate Court.

But while they wait for the results of the appeal, Thomas Bucci, the lawyer for the three captains, asked the judge to order the city to pay his attorney fees contending that he is entitled to have the city pay him because the city acted in bad faith when it defended the lawsuit.

This request is denied as the court is unable to find that the defense of this action amounted to bad faith litigation, the judge ruled Thursday.

Bucci declined comment.

City officials did not return calls and emails for comment.

Judge Stevens also denied a motion by the city to articulate or further explain his initial ruling. He stated his decision had been pretty clear.

In December 2019, Garcia, then a captain in charge of the police academy, was appointed assistant chief by Perez.

Garcia was made acting police chief following the arrest of Perez by the FBI for conspiring with former City Personnel Director David Dunn to rig the examination process that made Perez chief and lying to the FBI about it. Perez was later sentenced to a year and a day in prison and Dunn was sentenced to four months in prison after they pleaded guilty in federal court.

Three police captains, Brian Fitzgerald, Steven Lougal and Roderick Porter claimed in a lawsuit against the city that the appointment of Garcia to assistant chief was unlawful and invalid and in violation of the citys charter.

During the trial before Judge Stevens on the validity of Garcias selection as assistant chief, Perez testified he considered Fitzgerald, Lougal, and Porter for the position of assistant chief and submitted their resumes to a consultant hired by the city. However, the following day of the trial Perez admitted he had been confused during his first day of testimony and in fact had done none of that. He said he had only considered Garcia for the position and had submitted her name to the mayor.
Battles escalated across Ukraine on Thursday as Russia laid siege to major cities, stepping up assaults in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance. Explosions continued to rock the capital, Kyiv, lighting up the sky as air raid sirens sounded and a massive convoy of Russian ground forces remained within 20 miles of the city's center.

Moscow's troops have pushed into the Black Sea port city of Kherson - where Russian state media said Kremlin forces had taken control, but Ukrainian defense officials were adamant that the fight rages on. Russian troops filled the streets and stormed into the city council building, according to the mayor, but "the flag above us is Ukrainian," he wrote on Facebook.

The Ukrainian response, bolstered by scrappy civilian militias, continues to slow its opponent's advance. After days of heavy shelling, Ukraine has defied the odds to hold cities under fire, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, according to Britain's Ministry of Defense - as the Russian convoy pointed toward Kyiv struggles with low morale and botched planning. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was defiant on Thursday: "So many times they wanted to destroy us. But they couldn't. Wanted to wipe us from the face of the earth. But weren't successful. Beat our backs. But we are standing on our feet."

The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine, the intergovernmental organization's prosecutor said in a statement.

The British defense ministry said Thursday morning that the massive convoy of Russian troops and tanks looming over the Ukrainian capital remains more than 18 miles away from Kyiv's center. It said delays stemmed in part from "Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestions," with the column having made "little discernible progress over three days."

The line of armored vehicles, tanks and towed artillery had been wending its way closer to Kyiv, drawing within 20 miles of the city center on Monday, satellite images showed. The fleet stretched for some 40 miles, according to U.S. firm Maxar Technologies, which captured the photos Monday.

U.S. officials have since cautioned that while the convoy of combat vehicles may have been stalled, Moscow probably could bounce back from early setbacks, maintaining the upper hand against Ukraine's outgunned military.

Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, the northern city of Chernihiv and the port city of Mariupol, which have all come under fierce attack, remain in Ukrainian hands, according to the assessments from Britain, which defense analysts say has substantial intelligence capabilities in the region.

The British intelligence update also said that "some Russian forces have entered the city of Kherson but the military situation remains unclear." Moscow said Wednesday it had captured the southern city, whose mayor said Russian forces entered the city council building. However, a Ukrainian defense official said that night that the battle for Kherson was still raging.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry warned that the Kremlin could use "deepfake" videos, including one of Zelensky purportedly surrendering to Russia, to sow confusion and panic.

An intelligence unit within the ministry said in a statement early Thursday that false audiovisual clips created with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) are part of Russia's arsenal to spread disinformation in Ukraine. In 2014, Russia's military spy agency launched a covert influence operation against Ukraine's new pro-Western government. That campaign paved the way for Moscow to eventually annex Crimea from Ukraine.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote on Twitter that Russia has spent "years developing and perfecting" the ability to make deepfakes.

"Expect the unexpected," Rubio wrote. "[Russia's] military doctrine considers information a vital combat domain."

Many AI researchers fear that deepfake technology could be weaponized by malicious political actors. Some experts have designed systems that can analyze videos for the telltale indicators of a deepfake.

Just over 1 million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, according to data from the U.N. refugee agency - an exodus that is set to become Europe's worst humanitarian crisis this century. That figure already matches the number of refugees who were displaced from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in 2015.

The refugees are desperately seeking safety in neighboring countries like Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova. Some have crammed onto packed buses and trains out of Ukraine amid heavy shelling, while families were photographed walking for miles with their belongings to reach safety.

Some said they had driven for days to reach somewhere safe. Others told The Washington Post they had fled after witnessing incoming rockets in the sky above their homes, adding: "There is no more time to wait."

More than 500,000 people are estimated to have fled to Poland, where many have been welcomed with warm drinks, food and offers of transportation.Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, said Monday that as many as 4 million people in Ukraine are likely to be displaced in the coming weeks if the fighting continues.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry warned that the Kremlin could use "deepfake" videos, including one of President Volodymyr Zelensky purportedly surrendering to Russia, to sow confusion and panic.

The United Arab Emirates appeared to reverse an earlier decision not to grant visas on arrival to Ukrainian refugees, in a move that set the country apart from many of its allies, who have opened their doors to those fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

It came as the UAE's Ambassador to the United States said Thursday that the relationship between Abu Dhabi and Washington is undergoing a "stress test," but expressed confidence that they will "get out of it."

On Tuesday, as the United Nations said that more than 660,000 people had fled Ukraine, the Ukrainian Embassy in the UAE said on its Facebook page that the Emirati government was temporarily suspending an agreement with Kyiv to allow visa-free back-and-forth travel. It said Ukrainians would need visas to enter the UAE, effective immediately, while Ukrainians already in the UAE would not be similarly affected.

On Thursday, authorities appeared to reverse course. In an emailed statement to The Washington Post, the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said Ukrainians "continue to be eligible" for visas on arrival.

"Concerning reports on the issuance of advance visas to Ukrainian nationals to enter the UAE, HE Faisal Lutfi, Assistant Undersecretary for Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International [Cooperation], has announced that Ukrainian nationals continue to be eligible for visa on arrival to the UAE," the statement said. A member of the Ukrainian embassy in the UAE told Reuters they had not yet obtained official confirmation from Emirati officials.

The UAE has attempted to find a middle ground between supporting its ally, Russia, in its widely unpopular maneuvers in Ukraine and falling in line with the expansive U.S.- and European-led Western response to Moscow's invasion. It voted "yes" on Wednesday at the United Nations to a General Assembly resolution that criticized Russia's "aggression" in Ukraine and demanded that Moscow reverse course. But it abstained in a vote Friday on a similarly worded resolution at the U.N. Security Council.

Abu Dhabi's envoy to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, said in an interview Thursday that the UAE's relationship with the United States "is like any relationship. It has strong days where the relationship is very healthy and days where the relationship is under question. Today, we're going through a stress test but I am confident that we will get out of it and get to a better place."

In Moscow, Russia's Echo of Moscow radio station, an emblem of liberalism in the country for more than three decades, will be liquidated, underscoring how swiftly authorities are crushing the few media voices reporting the reality of the war against Ukraine.

The station's board, controlled by giant state gas monopoly Gazprom, voted to abolish the station Thursday. It had already been taken off the air on the orders of Russia's prosecutor general Tuesday but continued to operate on YouTube and online.

Thursday's move goes much further and threatens the station's ability to continue operating. A number of its hosts and commentators are among Russia's most prominent critics of President Vladimir Putin.

As one of the few independent media voices remaining in Russia, it was vulnerable because of its 66 percent majority control by Gazprom, a company accused by critics of acting as a lever of Kremlin geopolitical power, claims it denies.

While the board's decision to liquidate the station threatens its funding and budget, Echo of Moscow director Alexei Venediktov said Thursday it was too early to know the full implications. Russia's communications regulator also demanded that Google remove the Echo of Moscow app from its store, according to the station.

Russian authorities have banned media outlets from calling the military operation against Ukraine a war, invasion or attacks and have criminalized journalism that contradicts the official government line. But Echo of Moscow continues to report on the shelling of civilian neighborhoods, even as Russia's Defense Ministry insists that it "takes measures to ensure the safety of the civilian population of Ukraine."

Most journalists from another independent outlet, Dozhd television, which was also blocked by authorities Tuesday, have left the country, according to founder Tikhon Dzyadko, announcing Wednesday that he had fled for his safety.

As Russian troops continue to bombard major Ukrainian cities, Moscow is also stepping up pressure on social media sites and news organizations at home. It has throttled the public's access to information hubs like Twitter and Facebook and silenced reporting on the invasion by shutting down news outlets.

Russia's communication and media regulator Roskomnadzor has slowed online traffic to Facebook, according to an agency announcement last Friday, after the social media giant accused the social media platform's parent company, Meta, of restricting the content on four state-affiliated news outlets.

Meta's head of global affairs Nick Clegg responded in a statement pledging that the company will continue to independently fact-check and that it wants people in Russia "to continue to make their voices heard, share what's happening, and organize" via its suite of apps like Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.

Connectivity to Twitter has also been restricted for those who use services provided by four major telecommunications companies, internet monitoring group Netblocks said last Saturday. Like Meta and other tech giants, Twitter has said that it will restrict Russian state media content for users in the European Union.

Russia's rubber-stamp national legislature is meeting this Friday to discuss a bill that seeks to make "unofficial" reporting on Russia's attack on Ukraine punishable by up to 15 years in prison. Two independent news broadcasters - Echo Moskvy radio station and Dozhd TV - were taken off the airwaves Tuesday.

The U.S. State Department said this round of crackdowns mounts to a "full assault on media freedom and the truth" by Moscow authorities. "The people of Russia ... have a right to know about the death, suffering and destruction being inflicted by their government on the people of Ukraine," the department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Wednesday. "The people of Russia also have a right to know about the human costs of this senseless war to their own soldiers."

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The Washington Post's Ellen Francis, Jennifer Hassan, Annabelle Timsit, Robyn Dixon and Emily Cheng contributed to this report.
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BRIDGEPORT  A plane made an emergency landing at Seaside Park Wednesday afternoon due to loss of fuel, according to a city official.

The pilot  the sole occupant of the plane  was not injured. No property damage nor hazardous material spill were reported, according to Scott Appleby, the citys director of the Office of Emergency Management.
BRIDGEPORT  A city woman was charged this week in connection with an assault on a 2021 highway in Bridgeport, according to officials.

Aliyah N. Beeman, 27, of Washington Avenue, turned herself in at Troop G in Bridgeport on an active arrest warrant on Wednesday.

Connecticut State Police said Beeman was charged with third-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree breach of peace, operation of an unregistered motor vehicle, improper use of registration plates, operation of a motor vehicle without minimum insurance, operation of a motor vehicle under suspension and improper parking.

She was released after posting a $25,000 bond. Shes expected in court on March 14.

The charges against Beeman stemmed from an incident on Interstate 95 in Bridgeport last year, state police said.

Around 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 22, 2021, troopers were dispatched to a reported assault between two individuals on I-95 south near Exit 25. While troopers were en route, they were rerouted to Bennett Street in the city, where a juvenile victim was waiting to speak with police.

The trooper met with the victim and a Bridgeport officer. The victim showed the trooper a video, taken on the Exit 25 off ramp, that showed her being assaulted by an unknown woman driving a Ford Focus, state police said.

The juvenile told investigators that as she drove in the right lane to take the exit, with her right turn signal on, the driver of the Ford Focus sped past her along the right shoulder and cut in front of her, police said.

As the two drivers took the exit ramp, the victim told police the driver of the Ford Focus  later identified as Beeman  stopped her car, got out and started yelling at the victim, police said. The victim positioned her cellphone on her dashboard and started recording the incident.

The juvenile told police as the woman approached her car, she said she was going to hit her. Police said the juvenile told investigators that she told the woman to hit her, adding that she told her she was a minor.

The juvenile said she was standing between her driver door and her vehicle when Beeman grabbed her hair, pulled her in front of her car and started to punch her in the head and face, police said. She told police she managed to get up at some point and defended herself as Beeman walked away from her, according to officials.

The girl told police she got back in her car and Beeman told her to follow her. She said she called her mother, who told her to hang up and call police. The juvenile then called 911 as the light turned green at the end of the exit ramp and Beeman turned left onto Fairfield Avenue.

Police said the juvenile told investigators that Beeman started to drive away faster and cut in front of other cars on the street. Thats when the juvenile said she broke off and turned left onto Bennett Street to wait for police.

Medics met with the juvenile first, and evaluated her injuries suffered from the incident, police said. She refused to be taken to the hospital, instead accepting ice packs from medics while she awaited police arrival.

Investigators were able to identify Beeman through the license plate on the Ford Focus and still images taken from the video of the incident. The victims mother also posted the video screenshots on a public Facebook community forum, where she told investigators many people reached out to her to identify the suspect as Beeman, police said.
Regulators stress stability in housing

15:18, March 03, 2022 By JIANG XUEQING ( China Daily

Rental homes and loans seen as key to meeting rising urban demand

Housing price adjustments and restructuring of demand are good for China's financial sector but regulators expect to see a smooth transition rather than drastic adjustments that could have a huge economic impact, one of China's top financial regulators said on Wednesday.

"Nowadays, housing loans account for a large part of total loans at large commercial banks. We have repeatedly reminded banks to pay attention to risks, as many people borrow to buy homes for investment or speculation. If housing prices decline (unreasonably or irrationally) or some other problems emerge, a huge financial crisis will hit markets," said Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, at a news conference held by the State Council Information Office.

Despite slump in housing prices last year, homes, especially rental housing, and home decorations are still needed. Therefore, it is very meaningful to provide financial services in this regard, Guo said.

"No matter how much housing prices fall, it will still be difficult to meet housing demand of the working class, especially migrant workers who become new urban residents. In the future, we need to solve the problem by developing rental housing," said Tian Guoli, chairman of China Construction Bank Corp, a large State-owned commercial lender.

"If we keep designing rental housing-related financial products, many residents will get used to renting a home gradually," Tian said.

China Construction Bank developed a rental housing platform connecting landlords with tenants, which now covers more than 300 cities across the country. Over 38 million people have registered on the platform and conducted transactions so far, he said.

The CBIRC and the People's Bank of China, the central bank, will soon release a document guiding banks and insurers to offer financial services to new urban residentsthat is to say, people who live in cities but have not yet obtained an urban hukou, a system of household registration in China, or those who have got an urban hukou for less than three years. China has more than 300 million new urban residents with demand for housing, jobs, child education and eldercare, Guo said.

He also stressed financial risks in priority areas remained under control last year.

From 2017 to 2021, China dismantled 25 trillion yuan ($3.96 trillion) worth of shadow banking activities and disposed of about 12 trillion yuan of nonperforming assets.

The situation of local governments' hidden debt has improved, and regulators have dealt with a group of high-risk companies and financial institutions that violated laws and regulations, he said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
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BRIDGEPORT  City officials say revenues from a new lease with a longtime, major tenant at Sikorsky Memorial Airport will eliminate that facilitys long-standing annual operating deficit, better positioning the site for a purchase by the state.

But the proposed 20-year length of the contract with Atlantic Aviation is being questioned, as is the decision not to put it out to bid.

My biggest thing is just the lack of a competitive process, Robert Christoph Jr., the prominent Steelpointe developer and owner of Three Wing Aviation, another mainstay at Bridgeport-owned, Stratford-based Sikorsky, said this week. It should not be done without a competitive process so the public can understand it got the best deal.

He said Three Wing would have absolutely turned in its own proposal for the area occupied by Atlantic.

The city in a statement to Hearst Connecticut Media admitted a competitive process was not pursued but touted the financial and other advantages of keeping Atlantic as a tenant. When a municipal department spends over $25,000 it must go out to bid under the purchasing guidelines, but officials said that does not apply to leasing out public property.

And the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates many operations at Sikorsky, said Thursday, Local procurement laws govern the renewal process for this lease at Sikorsky Memorial Airport. The FAA is not involved.

Sikorsky is currently used by business, charter and private planes. The goal is to also bring back regular commercial passenger service once the city strikes a deal to sell the facility to the Connecticut Airport Authority. The authority, which operates Bradley International and a handful of other Connecticut airports, recently offered a maximum of $10 millon for Sikorsky.

In February Michelle Muoio, the manager of Sikorsky, presented Bridgeports airport commission with a draft, 20-year lease with Atlantic Aviation. The nationwide firm has operated hangars at the Stratford site for over three decades and provides fliers a host of services, from fueling and de-icing to baggage services, catering and hotel arrangements.

According to Muoio, the lease rate would increase from approximately $310,000 annually to $1.1 million, plus $300,000 in new fees.

Muoio noted to airport commission members the difference in the lease rate alone is approximately the current operating deficit at the airport, so that was pretty exciting.

She also noted that Bridgeport has been in a good negotiating position because the majority of other local airports are full.

But a vote to keep Atlantic as a tenant was delayed last month by commission member Aidee Nieves, Bridgeports City Council president. Nieves said she had some concerns about the 20-year length of the lease and how it factors into ongoing negotiations with the state.

I dont want to make that vote right now. I dont feel comfortable doing it, Nieves had said.

The authority was supposed to reconvene this past Tuesday but that meeting was canceled.

In addition to Nieves questions, Christoph has been raising his own about why other firms were not provided the opportunity by Bridgeport to submit their own proposals for the lease Atlantic occupies. He and his father, Robert Sr., the developers behind Bridgeports Steelepointe harborfront parcel, purchased Three Wing about three years ago and recently partnered with Atlantic and the city to pay for a study of the airports economic potential.

I have asked (why the lease was not bid). I get a response that this is a great deal for Bridgeport and we should go forward with it, which is not an answer, Christoph said. I do not have a beef with Atlantic. I think theyre a great organization. They are impressive. Theyve done good things in their growth. ... Its just the lack of competitive process I find appalling.

Addressing the length of the lease, Muoio in an email Wednesday to Hearst Connecticut wrote that two decades is pretty standard for similar airport lease agreements because ... tenants hope to amortize their investment over time.

This particular parcel requires future capital improvements and major upkeep as well as investment to improve aesthetics along Main St. (in Stratford), she added. She said Atlantic has also agreed to fund some very costly utility upgrades.

Muoio did not state that Bridgeport would have been prohibited from bidding the Atlantic lease. Instead, she argued, last year the city issued a request for information from private entities interested overall in investing in Sikorsky, and Three Wing responded but at that time did not express interest in the Atlantic site.

Atlantic has been the only entity on record that had communicated a formal desire to improve and lease that particular parcel. Therefore a competitive bid was not pursued, Muoio said.

Atlantic in a statement Thursday said the company followed the request for information process that the city and the airport solicited last year, which was a public process and open to all interested parties at that time.

Atlantic has enjoyed a positive, respectful relationship with the airport, City of Bridgeport, and the Town of Stratford for the past three decades. We expect that to continue, the company said. We are proud of our past relationship with the airport, and we have invested millions of dollars into this leasehold over the past few years and plan on investing millions more as part of our lease extension. These improvements will not only benefit the surrounding Stratford and Bridgeport communities, but the flying community at the airport as well.

Meanwhile Kevin Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority, in an interview last month said we have no concerns with the proposed deal with Atlantic.

They (the city) discussed the matter with us and were fully aware of the parameters of the lease, Dillon said. I think its a good deal for the airport. Whether or not it fully takes care of deficits going forward, thats kind of a moving target, unfortunately sometimes. (But) it certainly goes a long way toward getting to a break even point.

Back in 2016 when the city was initially talking about selling Sikorsky to the authority, Dillon, referencing the facilitys operating deficit, had said, We would not be interested in paying money for another airport that's losing revenue.
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WESTPORT  The phrase history repeats is often used as a passing cliche, but for Westporter Stephan Tranko, the tragedies taking place in Ukraine are incidents he personally witnessed nearly 80 years ago.

When Tranko was young, his family escaped from Lviv, Ukraine when Russia invaded the country during World War II. To escape the horrors occurring in his native country, he and his family traveled to Germany and as he puts it from the frying pan into the fire.

Im very much involved in this because we were refugees ourselves, Tranko said. I really can empathize with the people. Its the same thing. Nothing has changed.

He remembers women crying, trying to save their babies, just like he sees now as people are again forced to flee.

Again the Ukrainian people are sitting in bunkers, homes are being bombarded and they dont know if theyre going to survive, Tranko said. The same thing nearly 80 years later, why?

Monday evening, Tranko attended a vigil in Weston to show his support for Ukraine.

Other Ukraine rallies are planned for the area on Saturday. DefenDemocracy of CT will hold one from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Westport Librarys lower parking lot at the Jesup Green. The Ukrainian American Club of Southport will host a Stand With Ukraine rally at 1 p.m. at the club, 279 Kings Drive in Southport.

Weston First Selectwoman Samantha Nestor, who great grandmother emmigrated from Odessa to the United States, said she wanted to host the vigil to bring the community together and let everyone know that they are not alone.

She said what was thought to be a short gathering to have a moment of silence and pray turned into a beautiful moment.

We hosted the vigil because we have a strong Ukrainian community in Weston and in addition to that we have a lot of human beings that have compassion in Weston, Nestor said. We wanted to do something quickly because everybody was sort of in shock and didn't know what to do and I knew one thing that I could do is bring the community together.

She said the vigil gave Ukranian residents the chance to share what they and their families are going through.

Im so glad we did it, Nestor said. We have to keep Ukraine in our hearts.

Weston resident Iryna Akolzina said that she wanted to attend the vigil because her family lives in Ukraine and there is a lot of misinformation going on about the war.

She said she has been talking with her family a lot. On Wednesday, her brother told her missile trucks made it into his town in the central part of the country after being quiet for the first few days.

They hear the sirens that are on all the time, they have to hide in the cellars, they are stuck at home and cant really live their life, Akolzina said. They are just trying to keep going, but its inhumane whats going on right now in the Ukraine.

Its a mental assault, its a moral assault, its harassment to the Ukrainian people, she added.

Akolzina said she is impressed by the amount of support being shown for Ukraine, as well as her personally. On the first day of the invasion, she emailed the Weston superintendent to see if her niece and nephew could come to the United States and go to school. She said she was met with an answer the next day with full support from the first selectwoman.

Tranko said his cousin, who still lives in Ukraine, told him about all of the support that the world is showing the people of Ukraine.

He said its unbelievable that they have the whole rest of the world behind them so much and that it inspires them to keep on fighting for their families and homeland, Tranko said.

Darcy Hicks, who is planning the Westport rally and whose brother is currently in Ukraine as a photojournalist for The New York Times, said planning the rally has become a very surreal feeling.

This is the first time Im doing a march or a rally where it hits so close to home for so many people in town and is also so personal to me since my brother is there, Hicks said. A lot of people are being moved by he and his colleagues pictures.

Hicks said that the three goals of the Westport rally is to provide a platform for the community to come together and share their compassion, raise awareness of how people can help Ukraine and to also allow people to zoom out and see what else is going on the world.

She said rallies like these are important to have in the community during times likes these.

It gives the message that we care too, Hicks said. I talked to someone today that said their brother scours the internet for all the signs, all the rallies, all the protest because its saving his spirits while he is there.

serenity.bishop@hearstmediact.com
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World Council of Credit Unions President/CEO Elissa McCarter-Laborde discusses the power of credit unions during the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., Tuesday. (Photo by EPNAC.com)

The primary focus of the CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) is advocacy efforts in the United States, but its just as important to be aware of whats going on globally.

You are the U.S. movement, but you are also part of the worldwide movement, Elissa McCarter-Laborde, president/CEO of World Council of Credit Unions, told GAC attendees Tuesday.

With 86,000 credit unions worldwide serving 375 million members in 118 countries, McCarter-Laborde says thats 400 million touchpoints, including those who are directly impacted by the current war in Ukraine.

World Council launched a relief fund earlier this week to assist displaced Ukrainians. After the reception, a member of the catering staff, who is Ukrainian, came up to the presenters, said he wasnt aware that was what the reception was for, and thanked them for what they were doing.
Over the last ten years, I have enjoyed speaking about innovation to credit unions. While its a topic that has been repeatedly explored, we remain an industry in need of transformation. In the University of Pennsylvania Wharton piece Learning from Failure in Innovation: Turning Setbacks into Advantages, authors William and Phyliss Mack share, admitting to mistakes and taking the time to learn from them will reward companies with deeper insights into their businesses and markets. Getting employees to talk about previous errors can foster innovative thinking in a way that successes cannot. Mistakes offer us new portals of discovery, which is their unique value. Without mistakes, we cant really learn well.

I have shared a version of this advice many times. I share it at Canvas. And yet, for me, being open about my failures has been a journey. I remember the moments vividly after I felt I had done a poor job facilitating, when I sent an email too quickly and in the split seconds of hitting send saw a typo, or when I raced with passion forward on an idea without communicating as fully to my colleagues as I should have. I felt such shame for my errors. The I screwed up sizzle reel plays on a loop in my head on my worst days.

The Center for Creative Leadership defines psychological safety as the belief that you wont be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. They go on to share a psychologically safe workplace begins with a feeling of belonging. Like Maslows hierarchy of needs  which shows that all humans require their basic needs to be met before they can reach their full potential  employees must feel accepted before theyre able to improve their organizations.

For perfectionists and high achievers, finding that space of psychological safety that allows for more robust creativity, innovation, and exploration can be challenging; the experiences where we made missteps can leave us reeling.

Recently, in preparation for a presentation, I scrolled through hundreds of old photos and found a picture of myself taken early in my sixth-grade year. It captures the calm of the girl I was the year before things fell apart.

I endured bullying during my seventh-grade year. This was not a mild week-long bout of rudeness. This was a year-long, boundless and relentless approach, including name-calling, threats, and at times the throwing of objects. I begged my parents to pull me from school. While it did eventually come to an end as the school year came to a close, it left me scared, broken, and always waiting for the next awful thing to come to life and leave me shattered. While I would not call this difficult year a failure, it was a year full of shame.

Similarly, living through the pandemic impacted all of our employees. Depending on each persons experiences, tenure, and confidence, mistakes or living through challenging times can threaten our trust levels as we search for psychological safety. Safe for Work: Psychological safety in the workplace, a report from Great Place to Work, explains, Perhaps, more than ever, we need high levels of psychological safety in the workplace so employees feel comfortable sharing their concerns and struggles with their colleagues and managers. As a silver lining, 2020 has been a crash course for all of us in workplace empathy, flexibility and trust. With hope, these are lessons businesses will carry forward during the eventual transition back to the office and beyond.

As cooperative people-first organizations, we are positioned well to create safe places that will lead to even more substantial outcomes. Based on my own experiences, including that tough seventh-grade year, I have to resist the urge to feel shame when I make a mistake, whether large or small. As I looked at that old photograph of a naive girl with vibrantly curly hair and dangling cat earrings, it caused me to wonder what I might have said to that young girl about to face a year of horror.

As with many of my work failures, I never shared anything about that year until recently. I hoped that most of the people in my life that knew about that dark time would avoid raising it. I was ashamed. I was also reasonably concerned that if people knew this, they might think it was justified, which might unleash some other version of bullying.

As nearly 30 years passed and I crested into my 40s, I started to quietly share tiny bits about that year with those I trusted. With palms sweating and my heart racing, I even shared my story publicly to audiences that I had the opportunity to engage. I gained confidence as my worst fears went unrealized, and I began to enjoy the gift of self-assurance that time grants us as we age.

If I could weave through the dimensions of time and speak to sixth grade Tansley, I would warn her what lies ahead, as Ive always done better when I can prepare in advance. I would invite her to stand tall and speak up for herself, even when it felt impossible. I would encourage her not to hide and cower but to believe in who she was and who she would become. I would also tell her that the one friend who stood alongside her would remain her best friend throughout her life, becoming someone she could count on and would never let her down.

I would surprise my sixth-grade self by sharing that she would be a leader with enough confidence to speak in front of thousands of people. I would assure her that not only would she survive this tough year, but she would thrive. I would let her know that while nobody deserves to spend a year being bullied, the pain of that year would finely tune her empathy and ensure she would be a kind and generous friend and a nurturing mother. I would also share with her that walking through that level of hurt would add to her determination and grit to create an endless well of resolve.

I would also tell her to go easy on herself. I would say that as her own harshest critic, she would learn from both pain and failure and become a resilient human being who used her failures to become stronger and a curious, lifelong learner. I would also tell her it would eventually get easier to share with people when she skinned her knees.

The last two years have magnified the impact of prolonged emotional tumult. While each of us faces different and unique challenges, the hurt we endure can scar us. Each of us has a story of our darkest moments that have shaped us. We carry these experiences with us to work, and they impact us, especially in times of challenge.

When we are loved, when we have people to walk with us, and when we feel support through the pain, not only can we find our way through these trials, but we can also use the experience to inform a brighter future. None of us deserves these dark seasons, and yet they find us all. As we nurture those we care about most and those that we work with daily, walking with them through those dark times, we invite people to believe that they are safe not only to survive but also to thrive.

Enhancing our empathy not only improves innovation but can also strengthen our cultures. In Harvard Business Reviews Making Empathy Central to your Company Culture, author Jamil Zaki states, To build empathic cultures, leaders can begin by identifying connectors, and recruiting them for help championing the cause. This not only increases the likelihood that new ideals will take; it also allows employees to be recognized for connecting with others  highlighting another positive social norm at the same time.

As our credit unions look to grow, thrive, and compete, we must innovate. Doing so may require failure combined with a culture rooted in empathy that increases psychological safety. Whether loss experienced throughout the pandemic, a year-long seventh-grade bullying journey, or another untold pain, the people in our organizations have experienced real pain as human beings. People must know that we care about them, what theyve been through and ensure that they can trust us. That demands we create safe spaces for people to fail within bounds. We must invite people to have the courage to share those failures without shame. What we learn through our darkest moments and our sharpest disappointments and how we leverage these lessons to grow can shape whats possible for us as individuals and for our organizations.

What might you share with your sixth-grade self? What might you share with your colleagues sixth-grade self? I invite you to share that today. The results might amplify your culture, invite more creativity, grow even more innovation, and ensure another human being knows someone cares.
Funeral Service for Brenda Joyce Wright, 71, of Cullman, will be 3 p.m. Friday, May 6, 2022 at Northbrook Baptist Church. A viewing will be on Friday from 2-3 p.m. prior to the service. The visitation will be 5:30 - 8 p.m. Thursday night, May 5, 2022 at Cullman Funeral Home. Rev. Keith Warde
Bryson Thurman checks that the brick wall he is building is level in the masonry competition at the SkillsUSA Georgia State Leadership and Skills Conference in February.
The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Professional League Philippines is now set to cater to its week three matches in an offline setup.

Since COVID-19's arrival in the Philippines in 2020, this incoming week will be its first-ever face-to-face setup again.

Though the players will get to see their opponents while fighting against each other, it has been announced that it will accommodate audience appearance.

Schedule

In an article of Jules Elona in One Esports, the scheduled matches for the upcoming week will be at follows:

Day 1, March 4

Resurgence Philippines will face TNC Pro-ML Team at 6 PM (GMT +8). Following that opening game, Onic Philippines will face Omega Esports at 8 PM (GMT +8). [The time of the matches is not always being followed as technical difficulties and length of matches may appear more than expected]

Day 2, March 5

Blacklist International will fight Bren Esport as the opening match for day 2 at 4 PM (GMT +8) followed by Echo Philippines versus Resurgence Philippines at 6 PM (GMT +8), and lastly, a Nexplay Evos- Omega Esports clash as the closing match of the day, 8 PM (GMT +8).

Day 3, March 6

TNC Pro-ML Team will fight against Onic Philippines as the day's opener at 6 PM (GMT +8) while the second and last game will cater Blacklist International and Resurgence Philippines encounter.

All MPL-PH matches are broadcasted across its Facebook and Youtube live streams.

Read Also: [GUIDE] 'Mobile Legends' Yin: Skillset, Ultimate, and Heroes to Counter

Week 2 Results

As the international champions continue to struggle to get back on their groove, the results of Week 2 will feature the dark horses of the tournament, data garnered from Jules Elona's report in a One Esports article.

Resurgence Philippines swept Bren Esports in their opening affair on February 25; it has been a clean slate rally for RSG as Bren, on the contrary, fails again to win a series.

M3 World Champions Blacklist International could not just get back on their groove for its second-week campaign as they succumb at the hands of Nexplay Evos, with a one-point gain in the leaderboard, 1-2.

On the following day, Echo Philippines recorded its third straight win in a hard-fought 2-1 match against the TNC Pro-ML team; Onic Philippines, moreover, bled Bren Esports twice en route to an easy three-point 2-0 win; Resurgence Philippines as the conclusion of the second day of the second week, February 26, zeroed Omega Esports for an easy three points as well.

The third day started with another skid of the Reigning World Champions as Echo Philippines extend their fourth win streak while Nexplay Evos make trampling of Bren in an easy win on 2, February 27.

MPL-PH Week 2 Leaderboards

In reference to MPL Philippines regular season leaderboards in their official website, Echo Philippines and Resurgence Philippines came atop having a respective points of 11 and nine.

Nexplay Evos and TNC Pro-ML Team saw the third and fourth places occupied having eight and seven points, respectively.

The M3 finalists Onic Philippines and Blacklist International came as fifth and sixth having five and two points each.

Lastly, indeed the last at the bottommost of the leaderboard, Omega and Bren Esports failed to secure any point tying at zero.

Related Article: ICYMI: 'Mobile Legends: Bang Bang' revives Diggie in its Meta Game Through its Recent 1.6.58 Patch

This article is owned by GameNGuide

Written by: Jhon Paul Salazar
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
Sunbury, PA (17801)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 48F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 48F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Joe Biden's weakness as a leader made Vladimir Putin confident, and he can outsmart the gaffe-prone Democrat.

This is the sentiment of former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, who slammed the US president for not effectively deterring the Russian leader.He stresses that the US leader caused the full-scale Ukraine invasion because he could not handle the job.

Putin Decides To Invade

The Kremlin saw a lack of strength that affected messaging and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as opening. On February 24, they launched an attack with full steam ahead, surprising the allies, reported the Epoch Times.

Grenell gave these opinions in a recent interview. At Orlando's 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), he said it was a disaster that could have been avoided but failed, and America is suffering.

Grenell, the former US ambassador to Germany, argues that Putin's decision to attack Ukraine had been influenced by the US administration's decision last May 2021, lifting the embargo on the enterprise behind Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany and its CEO.

He lamented that the president has always been weak in doing the right thing. All the wrong decisions and committing to a course of action would often be bad.

The sanctions were placed for a reason on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and President Trump would not do it without good reason. Joe Biden's weakness is Vladimir Putin, an advantage that exists now. But when the administration changed, no time was wasted in removing the sanctions.

Read Also: Former German Ambassador Says Joe Biden Is Committing the US To War, Ignoring Diplomatic Channels To Prevent Conflict

It is not hard to imagine that $11 billion spent by Russia would, if allowed, would carry 55 billion cubic meters to Russia in a year would be a year. The president was too intent on the Democrat New Green Deal, and this invasion happened.

Nord Stream 2 Sanctions

A year ago, the US State Department sent Congress a report that Nord Stream 2 AG owned the pipeline. CEO Matthias Warning, a Putin ally, was not straightforward, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken ignored it.

He just waived and called it US interest though it's not the case now; his decision threatens the world. Waivers and no end date indicated and could be reversed by Blinken, but he didn't.

Finally, on February 23, a day before the rollout of Russian forces to Donbas and Lugansk, a sanction was in place due to what Russia did in Ukraine, per Al Jazeera.

In a statement, the president later said that further actions would be taken should the Kremlin escalate, with measures announced. Grenell said that Russian officials would shut the pipeline to have leverage if it suits them. They do it all the time.

Germany will not be affected like the rest of the bloc with the biggest economy, are immune to Russia because they have the NS 2, but the others are not so lucky. President Biden on his own created the worst crisis affecting many nations, he added.

If Donald Trump were in the White House, the US would be secure, unlike how things are. The current president seems not to understand what happened, and he gave Moscow a reason.

The senseless rhetoric does not hide that Joe Biden's weakness caused Vladimir's trouble. Fears of conflict that is due to his wrong decisions.

Related Article: Ric Grenell Says Joe Biden Disputes With Russia To Draw Attention From Failure of US Foreign Policy in Afghanistan

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Make no mistake, the Chinese Communist Party detests democracy and tramples on human rights.

But the leadership in Beijing appears so appalled by Vladimir Putins reckless onslaught on Ukraine that it now seems to be trying to stop it.

In an extraordinary geopolitical shift, we are seeing China emerge as the possible arbiter of European security.

On Friday, China surprisingly abstained at the United Nations Security Council in a vote condemning Russia.

Yesterday it repeated that action, while separately Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi offered his countrys services in brokering a ceasefire.

China was extremely concerned about the harm to civilians, he said. Few could have foreseen this.

As Chinese relations with the West have chilled in recent years, the Russian regime has knitted a web of military, economic and financial ties with the communist dictatorship in Beijing.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last month

Threatens

Indeed, as the Winter Olympics opened in the Chinese capital last month, the two nations issued a joint statement condemning Nato expansion.

And in the days before Putins invasion, China accused the U.S. of being the culprit, blaming it for heightening tensions, creating panic and even hyping up the possibility of warfare.

The foreign ministry in Beijing refused to say that the invasion was a violation of Ukraines sovereignty. China has also criticised Western sanctions on Russia.

But, swiftly and shockingly, its policy has changed. For behind the scenes, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is reportedly furious with the Russian president.

The Beijing strongman might have accepted a blitzkrieg victory, but not the costs and risks of a protracted war that seems ever more likely.

And why? Put bluntly: China prizes stability  and Putin threatens that. Nothing matters more for Chinas nominally communist leaders than continued growth of their giant capitalist economy.

Only through the continued raising of living standards for its 1.4 billion people can the social and regional tensions that plague this vast nation  and threaten the regimes stranglehold on power  be eased.

Prosperity also underpins Xis plan to make China the most powerful country in the world by the middle of the century.

A long war in Ukraine would jeopardise that. It would introduce new risks to the international financial system, cast a chill on global trade, and already means soaring prices for energy, food and fertiliser  all vital resources that China largely imports.

Putin has also breached taboos sacred to China. The Beijing regime detests any notion of outside interference in a nations domestic affairs.

It is neurotic about what it calls separatism because it knows that its own claims to territories such as Tibet and the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan, for example, are shaky.

Fixated on territorial integrity, China looked frostily on Russias first attack on Ukraine in 2014. It has never recognised the Kremlins annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

Nor has it acknowledged the Russian-backed breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Another reason for ire with Putin is that Chinas rise depends on Western weakness. So long as we in the democratic world are divided and distracted, Beijing can repress its own people while quietly building its influence abroad.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod walks out along with other ambassadors and diplomats while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's (on screen) pre-recorded video message is played at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday

But Putins invasion of Ukraine has woken us up. Nato is rejuvenated, the European Union united, the frayed transatlantic relationship repaired.

Even laggardly, niggardly Germany last week committed to bolstering defence spending to more than 2 per cent of GDP after years of refusing to meet its Nato commitment.

Shocked and shamed by the bloodbath in Ukraine, Westerners are now realising that freedom does not come free: its costs include financial sacrifices and military risks.This new mood of unity and determination spells big trouble for mainland China.

Having rallied behind Ukraine, Western public opinion and decision-makers could see Taiwan as another similarly beleaguered democracy.

And next time, Westerners will be far less likely to accept any attempts by a big dictatorship to smother a little neighbour.

Tellingly, Taiwan has hurried to hitch a ride on the international bandwagon in support of Ukraine.

President Tsai Ing-wen and two other leaders have each donated a months salary to support humanitarian relief there  they recognise what is to be gained.

Chinas ruler-for-life Xi sees other dangers, too. And perhaps even perceives Putins plight more clearly than the Russian tyrant does.

If Ukraine becomes a Syrian-style quagmire, the humanitarian and security consequences will plague Europe, and the world, for a decade.

Chinese dreams of new global infrastructure links running from East to West would be dashed.

Terrifying

A firefighter walks among damages in a building entrance after the shelling by Russian forces in Kharkiv

Alternatively, the botched war in Ukraine could lead to Putins fall. And whats to say a new leader wont find the West a better long-term partner than China.

Worse still for China is if a cornered Putin tries to escape through escalation.

Economic countermeasures such as interrupting Europes gas supply would hurt the world economy even further.

But the ultimate nightmare is that Putin goes nuclear  perhaps testing a low-yield weapon in the hope of cowing his critics.

Such a terrifying gambit might indeed deter the West from trying to throttle Russia. But it would be a disastrous shock to global confidence and stability  and end Xis dream of Chinas peaceful rise.

Indeed, it may be Chinese cyber-sleuths who have the best chance of forestalling such an insanely irresponsible move.

Despite superficially friendly ties, China spies hard on Russia  a country that the intensely cautious nation views as ill-run and reckless.

The Kremlins nuclear command structure and communications are a top target for all foreign intelligence agencies.

It is not utterly fanciful to imagine Western and Chinese agencies pooling their efforts to prevent the erratic Russian leader from precipitating a nuclear holocaust.

Painful

The scene of a fire at the Economy Department building of Karazin Kharkiv National University, allegedly hit during recent shelling on Wednesday

Damages in a building entrance after the shelling by Russian forces of Constitution Square in Kharkiv

All this explains why China is now so eager to broker a ceasefire. But what would such a deal involve?

Russias ragtag forces would rumble home, to be replaced by UN peacekeepers  doubtless including a large contingent from China.

The regions occupied by Russia would come under international administration pending referendums on their future status: to stay in Ukraine or to join Russia.

For its part, Ukraine might have to put its Nato aspirations on hold, while gaining a promise of speedy, unhindered accession to the EU.

Albeit painful, such conditions offer the best long-term prospect of peace and security. And they would be infinitely preferable to the countrys continuing destruction.

The West, spared a colossal humanitarian catastrophe, could devote its efforts to reconstruction  thus ensuring that in the medium-term Ukraine becomes a far more attractive country than Russia for its citizens.

That outcome would be exactly what Putin wants to avoid. But it would be hard for him to stand up to arm-twisting from Beijing.

China is now Russias only real lifeline: by far its most important supplier, customer and financial intermediary.

For the crippled Russian economy, even mild sanctions from the East would be devastating.

The greatest winner from all this would be China. Only lately it was heading for international pariahdom for its human rights record and bullying.

Now, a debut at the heights of global diplomacy looms.

And we in the West? Our naivety and greed have already consigned peaceful and friendly Ukraine to Putins meat-grinder.

What a bitter irony if we have also brought Chinas power to our doorstep.
This week, London has once again been crippled by Tube strikes: industrial action slammed as irresponsible by business leaders and naturally hated by the capitals residents.

The walkouts  more are threatened  have seen 200 Underground stations close, caused chaos during rush hours, cost the city up to 100million and savaged businesses that were only just struggling back on to their feet after two years of on- off lockdowns.

But the timing is terrible for another reason, of course: Vladimir Putins deranged invasion of Ukraine and its destabilisation of our world.

And on that score, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) might have chosen its moment to wage class war rather more carefully, given the rather troubling fondness that several of its senior members have expressed for Russia in the past.

The RMT has contained pro-Russian elements for years: at its annual meeting in 2014, soon after Putin first began his attempts to annexe eastern regions of Ukraine, the union passed a motion denouncing Western support for the far-Right regime in Kiev. Putin must have been delighted.

It also supported what it called the antifascist resistance in Ukraine  but was silent when it came to criticising Russia directly. Individual RMT members, however, go much further.

London has once again been crippled by Tube strikes: industrial action slammed as irresponsible by business leaders and naturally hated by the capitals residents. Pictured: RMT president Alex Gordon

Take RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who enjoys a somewhat unproletarian salary package of 108,000. He has said he wants to implement in this country policies which are socialist  but another country seems to interest him even more than his own.

If Putin has a number of useful idiots in the West, Dempsey has surely been among the most useful. In 2015, not long after the Russian dictators first invasion of Ukraine, the RMTs man thought it would be a good idea to visit that countrys Donbas region.

Here, he posed for photographs with the Putinite warlord Aleksey Mozgovoy, a commander in the hideous Ghost Brigade of pro-Russian separatists: branded a terrorist organisation by Ukraines Supreme Court.

In Dempseys deluded eyes, Mozgovoy was a charismatic anti-fascist.

Instead of calling out the Ghost Brigade for the blood-stained aggressors they are, the union leader praised them as volunteers while calling the Wests efforts to broker peace in the region a US-orchestrated coup.

And when, just two weeks after Dempseys happy snap, Mozgovoy was killed in a bomb and machine-gun attack, the union baron wrote a fawning obituary for the terrorist in the Communist newspaper Morning Star.

In 2020, a court found that Mozgovoy had planned and ordered the ambushing and murder of a family for money. Hows that for charismatic anti-fascism? Dempsey also saw fit to sign a recent letter from the notorious Stop the War coalition, which criticised Nato for showing disdain for Russian concerns in Ukraine.

RMT Assistant General Secretary Steve Hedley (pictured) poses in a Soviet-style soldier's hat with an assault rifle

It pointedly failed to criticise Russia for massing up to 190,000 troops on the Ukraine border  the prelude to Putins monstrous war.

Will Dempsey now express regret for his bizarre stance?

The Labour MP Chris Bryant, who sits on the foreign affairs select committee, certainly thinks so, saying: He should apologise  and be ashamed of himself.

But Dempsey, sadly, is only one of the RMTs hard-Left numbskulls.

The unions own president, Alex Gordon  a member of the Communist Party of Great Britains executive committee  has never made any attempt to hide his beliefs. In 2015, after Mozgovoy was killed, Gordon shared a post online that read: A person can be murdered but not his ideas.

In 2020, he cheerily tweeted: Happy 150th Birthday, Lenin!  celebrating the architect of Russias 1918 Red Terror that saw about 100,000 people executed as the Bolsheviks cemented their revolution.

Then theres Steve Hedley, assistant general secretary of the RMT. He has appeared in pictures brandishing an automatic rifle while wearing a Russian fur hat emblazoned with a hammer-and-sickle badge and has declared: We want to overthrow capitalism and create a socialist form of society.

Hedley, whose online campaign page declares he wants to fight the bosses, has the rare distinction of being to the Left even of John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyns Marxist ex-shadow chancellor.

Mr Hedley has the rare distinction of being to the Left even of John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyns Marxist ex-shadow chancellor

After Putins goons committed their sickening atrocity in Salisbury in 2018, McDonnell  in a rare moment of good judgment  called for a moratorium on Labour members appearing on Russia Today, Putins English-language propaganda channel (now under investigation by the broadcast regulator Ofcom because of its brazen pro-Kremlin propaganda).

Hedley declared the moratorium was absolute liberal nonsense and accused Mac Donell (sic) of joining the jingoistic anti-Russian bandwagon.

The RMT was kicked out of the Labour party in 2004, but in 2018, during Corbyns leadership, they said they would once again align themselves with the party.

And theyve certainly been generous to trusted Labour MPs. Ian Mearns, for example, has received an astonishing 86,000 from the RMT since 2016, while his Gateshead constituency party has received 12,500 since 2015.

Mearns is chairman of the RMTs 24-strong parliamentary group, which also includes Diane Abbott and the Corbynista former leadership candidate Rebecca Long Bailey.

Former Labour transport secretary Lord Adonis, who often had to deal with the RMTs 1970s-style intransigence, is appalled by the union leaders failure not to criticise Putin in the most ferocious terms.

Former Labour transport secretary Lord Adonis (pictured), who often had to deal with the RMTs 1970s-style intransigence, is appalled by the union leaders failure not to criticise Putin in the most ferocious terms.

Adonis tells me: The British people have no time for fascist dictators. Churchill saw off Hitler and Mussolini in the 1940s in our finest hour, and our freedom and prosperity flow from his stand against fascism and dictatorship. Working people in Britain are not going to fall for apologists for Vladimir Putin.

Quite so. So why have so many on the far-Left appeared in the past to swallow the Kremlins lies instead of supporting their own democratic country and its allies?

Tory MP Bob Seely, a former Army captain who lived in Kyiv in the 1990s, offers one explanation.

Because Putin opposes the UK and the US, they think he is on their side, somehow  and because some have a legacy romantic attachment to the Soviet Union, they see Putin as someone who shares their anti-capitalist urge, he says. They may also see Putin, in some weird and pathetic way, as a successor to the Soviet Union.

Dempsey did not express regret for his association with Mozgovoy when the Mail contacted the RMT last night. Asked if the union backed the Ukrainian government, the RMT said in a statement: The union does not support either Vladimir Putin or his actions in Ukraine.

Pointedly, though, these self-proclaimed anti-fascists dont show any support for the brave struggle of a democratic country against a real fascist in the Kremlin.
When Lana Mackenna visualised her thirties she imagined they would be the best years of her life.

What she didn't expect was a terminal lung cancer diagnosis, a 'fried and foggy' brain from the treatment and a collapsed lung.

But for the 33-year-old from the Gold Coast, this has been her reality for three years despite leading a healthy lifestyle and never touching a cigarette.

33-year-old Lana Mackenna pictured with her partner Mitch before she was diagnosed with Australia's 'deadliest' cancer

The young woman thought her thirties would be the best years of her life - she didn't imagine she would be fighting cancer (right, after an operation on her brain to remove a tumour

Lana and Mitch are both adventurous and love being outdoors so try to make the most of their time between her chemotherapy sessions

Lana was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer at 30, a disease which made her infertile following harsh treatments and stole her independence including the ability to drive.

Lana spoke to FEMAIL about how she went from being a fit, healthy young woman filled with excitement about life to trying to stay positive and survive for as long as possible despite a terrible five-year forecast.

'I had the best 18 months of my life before I was diagnosed with cancer. I had been exploring Melbourne, falling in love and I was looking forward to being taken seriously as a woman,' she said.

Now she has epilepsy, crippling brain fog, seizures and will likely be on chemotherapy for the rest of her life.

And it all started with bad back pain that 'wouldn't go away'.

'I tried everything, I went to the doctor who told me to take painkillers, I went to physios, osteopaths, chiropractors and even tried acupuncture,' she said.

'But nothing fixed it.'

Her GP told her to 'practice mindfulness' to help with the pain explaining it was 'probably just stress related'.

Lana, pictured with her husband Mitch, says she experienced symptoms six months before she was diagnosed including persistent back pain

Lana knew something was wrong but didn't know where else to turn after exhausting every medical avenue she could think of and being turned away by her GP.

'He told me there was no need to do an X-ray, he didn't want to put me through that much radiation, which is funny because now my brain's been fried by it,' she said.

No stranger to cancer, the then 30-year-old was part-way through getting her breasts removed after finding she carried the BRCA 2 breast cancer gene.

'I had been proactive about cancer, the gene was in my family so I was tested and said straight away let's do this,' she said.

When she wasn't healing from her breast surgery doctors became concerned and drained her lymphatic system.

When Lana stated getting short of breath, doctors drained 800ml of liquid from her lungs which caused one to collapse.

The 33-year-old is trying to remain positive and says she hopes to beat the disease despite being told it is terminal

The couple eloped after calling off their big wedding in case they needed the money to pay for experimental treatments

The medical error ended up exposing her lung cancer which was the cause of her sore back, inflammation and inability to heal as quickly as she should.

'Before the doctors worked out it was cancer they had told me not to worry because it definitely wouldn't be cancer,' she said.

What should I look out for? 1 - Persistent respiratory symptoms including breathlessness 2 - Coughing, especially if there is blood 3 - Pain that won't go away or that wakes you up at night 4 - A family history of the disease 5 - Fatigue of 'the feeling of being really tired for no reason' 6 - Not feeling 'as fit as usual' 7 - Unexpected weight loss 8 - Headaches or 'weird' vision abnormalities like floaters Source: Lung Foundation Australia lung specialist, Associate Professor Lucy Morgan Advertisement

'When the nurse came into tell me I cried, I didn't expect her to tell me it was cancer but I was scared and I knew whatever it was would change my life forever.'

The diagnosis came six months after Lana first noticed symptoms, leaving her frustrated that it wasn't picked up earlier.

Lana said her partner, Mitch, has been a critical part of her journey. She never thought she would have children, get married or get swept off her feet by love, especially not with a man she met on Tinder.

'The moment we started hanging out I knew, and a few weeks before I was diagnosed with cancer we agreed we both could see ourselves with kids,' she said.

'Everything was exciting and wonderful with him. We saw a life we had never believed in when we were together.'

With Mitch's support Lana jumped straight into chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, attacking the disease from every angle.

'I told myself I didn't care what my prognosis was, that I would get through this and live as authentically as possible at the same time,' she said.

'We struggled through the realisation we couldn't have kids but have a ragdoll cat now instead. It is hard to put all of this on someone you love so much but he says he will always stand by me.

'I am three years into this journey and I hope I have many more to come.'

Despite Lana's positive mindset, the journey hasn't been smooth with the first round of treatments leaving her tired and emotional. However it appeared to clear the cancer 'from the neck down'.

Treatments included radiation on her entire brain after spots kept appearing on scans

From May 2021 Lana didn't have any visible signs of cancer showing up on scans but by July everything changed.

'I started getting really bad headaches every day, I was anxious which isn't me at all and I had furious mood swings,' she said.

'My oncologist thought it could just be a delayed emotional response from everything I had been through, and told me not to worry.'

But the cancer specialist ordered a CT scan 'to be sure', and it revealed spots forming on Lana's brain.

The spots were secondary cancers from the original growth in Lana's lungs.

'They also found a huge tumour in the front left of my brain,' she said.

Doctor cut the growth out just before Victoria, where she was living at the time, went into lockdown.

Lana said that she had the best time of her life over the 18 months before she was diagnosed with cancer

She said Mitch has been there through all the struggles including finding out they will never have children

'I woke up and the nurses told me we were in lockdown and that I had 25 staples in my head,' she said.

'It was a wild time, my mum and sister came down and did hotel quarantine just to be with me.

At the end of 2021, Lana and Mitch moved to Queensland to be closer to her family.

Every six weeks checkups reveal more spots on Lana's brain.

'They grow faster than the checkups come around,' she said.

Lung specialists reveal the symptoms to look for and call for an early screening program Lung Foundation Australia lung specialist, Associate Professor Lucy Morgan wants there to be a national screening program for lung cancer to help increase survival rates and early detection of the disease Lung Foundation Australia lung specialist, Associate Professor Lucy Morgan told FEMAIL she wants to see lung cancer screening programs in Australia to help catch early cases and give people a better chance of survival. The professor said lung cancer is Australia's deadliest cancer with less than 20 per cent of people diagnosed with the disease making it past the five-year mark. 'That is of all cases, from early stage to late stage,' she said. 'If you only look at the early stage cases then it is higher but 80percent of lung cancer is found in the later stages. 'That's why I am so passionate about developing a screening program so we can find the disease in its early stages.' Smoking used to be considered the main cause of the disease but researchers have found it isn't the only cause, it can be environmental or hereditary. 'The main risk factor to lung cancer is now considered to be having lungs,' the professor said. The clinician compared the disease to breast cancer - which can be checked for at home and with screening programs. 'We can get to know our own breasts but we can't feel for lumps in out lungs,' she said. 'Something as simple as a chest X-ray or CT scan could pick up abnormalities.' Lung cancer can happen to anyone of any age, according to the doctor. She believes a screening program would identify thousands of Australians who are living with early stages of the disease. 'If we find it early, when it is tiny, we can just cut it out and treat it,' she said. She also addressed the issue with misdiagnosis and said it is important for people to go with their gut when they are feeling off. 'It is so frustrating when people come to us and tell us they went to doctors months or years before and felt like their worries had been dismissed. 'It adds an awfulness to an already difficult diagnosis - so I want to tell people to follow that instinct and ask their doctor to check again.' Lung cancer impacts men, women and children but the professor said women often complain their symptoms are ignored. She explained many of the symptoms look similar to those that could be explained by menstrual cycles, pregnancy and stress related to having a family. But the professor insists people with persistent symptoms should continue to go to their GP until they get answers. 'Go back to the same doctor and tell them you want more tests that things haven't gotten any better. 'We have excellent GPs in this country, they are well meaning and well trained and should look into it further. 'If you go to a new doctor they might just come to the same initial conclusion and not look further.' Advertisement

Doctors used radiation therapy on her entire brain including the healthy sections to put a stop to the cancer.

After the treatment, Lana and Mitch decided to elope in case further tests revealed she would need expensive, experimental treatments.

'That would mean we would have to pay for that instead of a wedding, so we just got married and it was perfect.'

Lana says treatment is difficult, with every round of chemotherapy knocking her flat for a few days before she can recover and have 'two good weeks'

She then went through seven rounds of chemotherapy until her scans finally showed the cancer was stable.

Now Lana has three weeks between chemotherapy sessions.

'I get knocked by it for a few days then I bounce back and I am just tired for a few days, then I have two good weeks,' she said.

'That's when we go on adventures or I hit the gym and do the stuff I love to do.'

Lana is telling her story as part of an initiative by the Lung Foundation Australia to raise awareness about the disease and push for a national screening program to prevent scenarios like her own.
The world is eagerly waiting for the hotly-anticipated season two of Bridgerton, starring Viscount Anthony as the dashing lead.

But until its release on March 25, Tatler has revealed the seven real-life Viscounts we 'need to know' about - from polo professional Bobby Dundas, who has travelled the world playing for England, to Princess Diana's nephew, Louis Spencer, previously dubbed Britains most eligible man.

Successful, sociable and with the world at their feet, the well-heeled individuals are compiled in a definitive list for the British society bible's April issue, available now.

Also making up the group is one of Prince Harry's close friends Julian Erleigh, 33, who is described as the 'eligible viscount' and helped play cupid to the Duke of Sussex and his ex Chelsy Davy back in 2004.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the top viscounts in the UK...

Viscount Newport

Alexander, Viscount Newport, was brought up by his parents, the Earl and Countess of Bradford, on the family's former 12,000-acre ancestral seat

He became engaged to Eliza Liepina (pictured together) in December 2020, a year after being introduced by a mutual friend

Alexander, Viscount Newport, was brought up by his parents, the Earl and Countess of Bradford, on the family's former 12,000-acre ancestral seat.

However, Weston Park was gifted to the nation after Alexander's father, Richard, succeeded as 7th Earl  and was promptly saddled with crippling death duties.

Alexander is MD of Bradford Estates  12,000 acres on the Shropshire and Staffordshire border which remain in family hands.

He became engaged to Eliza Liepina in December 2020, a year after being introduced by a mutual friend.

Her parents endured life under Soviet communism  until they left for a fresh start in New Zealand.

'They met at the Electric in Notting Hill,' Alexander's mother, Jo, told Daily Mail's Sebastian Shakespeare, referring to the West London outpost of the Soho House empire. 'I'm thrilled. She's a super girl and they're madly in love.'

The engaged couple and their cocker spaniel, Daisy, currently live between their Notting Hill house and the familys 12,000 acres on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border

Although real estate consultant Eliza was able to introduce Alexander to her parents when they paid a visit to London the previous February, there was no chance that he could meet them to seek her hand in marriage.

This prompted Alexander, 41, to break new ground not only for his family  motto: 'Neither Rashly Nor Timidly'  but for the aristocracy.

'He video-called them,' a friend said, 'and asked them for their permission the week before he asked Eliza.'

He then whisked Eliza, 30, off for a weekend in Gloucestershire to propose. The wedding will reportedly be at the former family seat.

The engaged couple and their cocker spaniel, Daisy, currently live between their Notting Hill house and the familys 12,000 acres on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border.

Alexander - close friends of Viscount Glenapp and Viscount Windsor - spent years as a partner at London property developer Quadrant before becoming manager of the land since 2019.

Viscount Melville

Bobby Dundas (pictured)  now Melville - left Britain for Argentina at the age of 22 to work at the Staudt polo academy

Bobby Dundas  now Melville - left Britain for Argentina at the age of 22 to work at the Staudt polo academy.

The viscount, who was kicked out of Pippa Middleton's year at Marlborough for being 'a bit naughty', according to the publication, then travelled the world playing professionally for England.

He has competed against Prince William and Prince Harry when they were part of their Eton team.

I would describe our friendship as pubs and polo, he told the magazine. William still calls if he needs players for a charity polo day in Norfolk.

Aged 29, he completed the 3,000-mile Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge alongside three friends who also enjoyed rowing.

Now aged 38, he lives in Bali with his wife Lucy, and their two children Max, four, and Finn, nearly two - but admitted 'it might be time to come home' following the pandemic.

Now aged 38, he lives in Bali with his wife Lucy, and their two children Max, four, and Finn, nearly two - but admitted 'it might be time to come home' following the pandemic

Bobby, who runs travel company IGO Adventures with explorer George Bullard, recently hit headlines in Britain over defending his ancestor Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville.

A monument of the Conservative politician Dundas at the Melville Monument in St Andrews Square, Edinburgh, became a focal point for discussion during Black Lives Matter demonstrations in June, last year.

Activists left signs at the monument saying 'Bring down Dundas', 'Their lives mattered', and 'Hope' - and some called for a plaque to be added explaining Dundas' role in delaying the abolition of slavery while Home Secretary in the 1800s.

Academics say his actions in deferring the abolition resulted in an additional 630,000 people being transported from Africa to Britain's colonies in the West Indies.

But Dundas's seven-time great-grandson hit back - claiming his forefather should actually be praised for his role in ending slavery.

Bobby Dundas, the 10th Viscount Melville, said that far from being a racist supporter of the slave trade, his ancestor played a key role in ending it.

The current Viscount said those who claim the 1st Viscount supported slavery do him a 'profound injustice'.

Aged 29, he completed the 3,000-mile Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge alongside three friends who also enjoyed rowing

Detractors argue he delayed a ban on human trafficking for 15 years which saw more than 600,000 people transported into slavery.

However the present Viscount argues that as the bill had already been rejected by the House of Commons, slavery would not have been ended at all without Dundas' intervention.

He sees Dundas as a pragmatist who realised the only way to pass the bill and ban slavery was to add the word 'gradually'.

The Viscount said: 'Henry Dundas was an abolitionist. He was for the abolition of the slave trade. That has been written about by countless people. But you have to understand in the current climate, what was UK politics and the British Empire.

'There was one failed attempt to get it through Parliament and the realistic and pragmatic approach that Dundas took was the only way - which many historians have written about - to make sure that the vision and final goal was achieved.'

The monument was funded by voluntary contributions from officers, petty officers, seaman and marines. The column was erected in 1821, with the statue placed on top in 1827.

The present Viscount admits Dundas  an MP and Scottish Lord Advocate  was a contentious figure, who both defended and expanded the British empire, imposing colonial rule on indigenous peoples.

He said: 'He certainly wasn't a saint and was a very controversial figure. But currently there is only one side of the man being shown. And fundamentally he was a politician and in the Admiralty quelled all-out war and kept Scotland in the Union. So there's a lot that Scots do not know about a man whose done a lot, I think, for Scotland.

'What I've always been in favour of is a wider conversation and education on it. It's so important for people to be educated to form an opinion - the two sides of a coin and two sides of a debate.'

Viscount Melville said: 'After one failed attempt already made by Wilberforce to get the abolition bill through parliament, and with so much power and financial interests involved in the West Indian plantations and the slave trade as a whole, the only way to get it abolished and a majority vote through parliament was to insert the word 'gradual' into the legislation.

'Had it not been for Henry Dundas' amendment to the legislation, the slave trade could have been about for decades to come.'

Viscount Althorp

He is the nephew of one of the most famous women in history and his sisters grace the pages of magazines, but the chances are you have never heard of Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp

He is the nephew of one of the most famous women in history and his sisters grace the pages of magazines, but the chances are you have never heard of Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp.

The 27-year-old aristocrat is the youngest child and only son of Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, and his first wife, Victoria Aitken (nee Lockwood).

Tall like his cousins Prince William and Prince Harry - and arguably better looking - Louis was raised by his mother in South Africa where he attended Cape Town's most expensive private school before returning to the UK to study at Edinburgh University.

It was in 2018 that Louis really came to the public's attention when he accompanied his mother and sisters to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Unlike his older sisters, D&G model Lady Kitty and twin Tatler cover stars Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza, Louis shuns social media and avoids high profile events.

This sits at odds with his reported ambition to become a professional actor, although he has yet to appear in anything.

Thanks to the centuries-old practice of male primogeniture, by which an aristocrat's title and estate passes to the eldest son, rather than the eldest child, Louis will also one day inherit Althorp House and its accompanying 13,500-acre estate in Northamptonshire.

Earl Spencer shares Kitty, twins Amelia and Eliza - who have covered Tatler together - with Victoria; son Edmund, 17, and daughter Lara, 15, with second wife Caroline Freud; and youngest daughter Charlotte, eight, with his current wife Karen.

Despite their complicated family dynamic, Louis enjoys a close relationship with his sisters.

Unlike his older sisters, D&G model Lady Kitty and twin Tatler cover stars Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza, Louis shuns social media

This must be at least partly due to the fact that they enjoyed a privileged but private upbringing in Cape Town, where Earl Spencer and Victoria moved in 1995 to raise their children out of the public eye.

The couple divorced in December 1997, months after Diana's death, and Charles moved back to the UK shortly afterwards.

Louis attended Diocesan College, where fees cost up to the equivalent of 13,955 a year.

Aside from a handful of photo calls with his father, Louis was kept largely out of the spotlight.

His first high profile appearance was at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding in April 2011, although the then 17-year-old was outshone by his glamorous blonde older sisters.

Four years later Louis made an unlikely cameo in an Instagram snap shared by Nicki Minaj. The dashing aristo posed with his arm around the rapper in a backstage meeting after one of her concerts. Nicki was clearly taken, joking: 'Check out our wedding photo'.

It was in 2018 that Louis really came to the public's attention when he accompanied his mother and sisters to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Dapper in a morning suit, Louis became one of the unlikely stars of the day and received dozens of playful marriage proposals from besotted social media users.

His appearance and strong family resemblance also earned him the nickname 'Harry Lite' and led to Tatler naming him one of the world's most eligible bachelors.

No doubt his family connections and dashing good looks will come in handy if Louis decides to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, with the viscount having studied at ArtsEd, an independent performing arts school based in Chiswick.

In 2019, Charles revealed: 'Louis lives in London. Hes an actor at drama school and works incredibly hard and I want him to be able to fulfil his dreams in that direction. It is full on: hes doing 14-hour days.'

However it remains to be seen how he might juggle a burgeoning career with the sizeable responsibility of managing Althorp, when the day comes.

Viscount Selby

The 6th Viscount Selby, Christopher Gully, 28, is a former personal trainer, according to the magazine

The 6th Viscount Selby, Christopher Gully, 28, is a former personal trainer, according to the magazine.

He can be found posing topless in his profile photograph on his Instagram account @LordSelby.

He lives in Stockholm, with his girlfriend Amanda, after splitting his time between Sweden, where his parents met, and Ardfern House, the family seat in Argyll and Bute, as a child.

Christopher was only seven when he became one of the youngest viscounts to inherit a title after his father, Edward, sadly died in a car accident in 2001.

Dubbed 'little viscount' by his mother, he often holidayed with his grandmother, Mary, Viscountess Selby, and aunt, the Hon Catherine Waldermar Brown, when enjoying time off from his boarding school in Perth.

At 21 he moved to Fulham, in London, before returning to Sweden 12 months after to begin a relatively 'normal' career at Electrolux and then Samsung.

But he told Tatler that he does intend to make a return to the British capital.

Viscount Erleigh

Julian Erleigh is a close friends of Prince Harry's, and helped play cupid to the Duke of Sussex and his ex Chelsy Davy back in 2004

Julian Erleigh is a close friends of Prince Harry's, and helped play cupid to the Duke of Sussex and his ex Chelsy Davy back in 2004.

He has enjoyed 'secret trips to Cornwall' with Prince William and Harry, as well as breaks with Cressida Bonas, Princess Eugenie and Cara Delevingne.

Tater labelled the 35-year-old son of the 4th Marquess of Reading 'one of the most well-connected viscounts in the land'.

Last year, he upped sticks to New York, where he works as senior vice president of European equity sales for investment bank Jefferies.

Julian is known for putting on nights out at Annabels, as well as organising charity expeditions.

Julian is still single, according to the magazine, after splitting from Burberry model and Harley Street nutritionist Sarah Ann Macklin, 30

Julian was introduced to Sarah Ann (pictured together) two years ago by his older sister, the fashion designer and girl-about-town Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs, who also helped play cupid to Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy back in 2004

He is still single, according to the magazine, after splitting from Burberry model and Harley Street nutritionist Sarah Ann Macklin, 30.

'It started off really well, but it just didn't go the distance,' a pal confirmed to the Daily Mail. 'There are no hard feelings  it was all very amicable.'

Julian was introduced to Sarah Ann two years ago by his older sister, the fashion designer and girl-about-town Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs, who also helped play cupid to Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy back in 2004.

It was always going to be a challenge, however, for Julian to measure up to Sarah Ann's ex, M&S advert hunk David Gandy.

Viscount Woodstock

William Jack Henry Bentinck, 38, also known as Viscount Woodstock is a London-based social entrepreneur and speaker

William Jack Henry Bentinck, 38, also known as Viscount Woodstock is a London-based social entrepreneur and speaker.

The Harrow-educated Will is down-to-earth, having previously said he has only been to Buckingham Palace to 'watch his dad Timothy get his MBE.'

For the past 40 years, Timothy has been the voice of David Archer, son of the eponymous household in the worlds longest-running radio series, The Archers.

The University of London graduate, who has a first class degree in philosophy, is also co-founder of several businesses.

After leaving uni in 2010, he co-founded The Ragged University, a free service offering peer-to-peer educational events inspired by the 19th century English ragged schools.

In December of the same year, Bentinck co-founded Levantine Links, a nonprofit organisation recruiting high-calibre UK graduates to provide English language programmes serving children and adults in Al-Hasakah, Syria, in collaboration with the Syriac Orthodox Church.

He recently married girlfriend Rebecca, having eloped to a deserted beach in Argyll and Bute.

He also hikes for charity, goes to poetry recitals and is a fan of Downton Abbey.

Viscount Bury

Viscount Bury, Augustus Keppel, 19, is a distant relative of the Duchess of Cornwall, through William Keppel, the 7th Earl.

The April issue of Tatler is available on newsstands and via digital download on Thursday 3rd March

When aged 16, and still a student at Stowe, he competed in a school enterprise competition with his drinks firm, The Bubble Company.

He appears to have received his entrepreneurial skills from his father, Rufus, the 10th Earl of Albemarle, who reportedly invested in a company selling 300 for sex toys plated in 24-carat gold.

Currently, the father and son duo stay at Hurst Barn Farm in East Chiltington, East Sussex, together, where Augustus grew up with his sculptor mother, Sally Albemarle.

Meanwhile, the Earl of Albemarle grew up in Italy and England, studying at Chelsea School of Art and Central St Martins School of Art & Design.

He then found work in Milan and New York as an industrial and branding designer. He later founded a men's shirt company, Albemarle of London.

He is divorced from his first wife Sally, a sculptor whom he married in Cuba where Fidel Castro reportedly allowed them to have a glitzy society wedding thanks to Rufus's ancestor, the 3rd Earl, who had captured Havana from the Spanish in 1762.

The Earl of Albemarle is a title that has been created four times, the last of which was in 1697 when Rufus's Dutch ancestor Arnold Joost van Keppel received it after helping to put Prince William of Orange on the English throne.

The April issue of Tatler is available on newsstands and via digital download on Thursday 3rd March
Channel 5's 10 Years Younger in 10 Days returned for a new series last night with a typically emotional episode that moved viewers to tears.

The show saw two women - mother-of-six Lisa and prison officer Adeline - undergo glamorous makeovers to restore their confidence.

Lisa, 54, admitted that focusing on her family left her feeling 'invisible' and was particularly self-conscious about her teeth, which had decayed after a recent car accident, and her greying hair.

Meanwhile, Adeline, a single mother-of-one, 45, believed to be from London, said she had to be tough to work as a prison officer, but had got used to hiding behind her uniform, and was tired of her harsh exterior.

Both women had experienced hardships throughout their lives and looked older than their real ages, with a public poll placing Lisa at 59 and Adeline at 49.

But, thanks to Cherry Healy and the Channel 5 show's team of experts, viewers were wowed by the two mothers' glamourous makeovers.

At 54, Lisa, a dedicated mother-of-six, felt 'invisible' and did not know how to feel good about herself anymore, left. After her makeover, she looked eight years younger than he actually age and 12 years younger than people previously thought

Full-time mother Lisa revealed she'd spent the past 25 years nurturing her six children, aged from nine to 25, while her husband worked long hours.

'It's quite a mad house, our house, because its never quiet,' she said.

'I see it as just hustle and bustle of warm family life,' she added.

'Im the person thats always there, who everybody turns to if something goes wrong.'

Lisa enjoyed her newfound confidence after the makeover, in a forme-hugging dress with a plunging neckline

Annie, Lisa's 13-year-old daughter. said: 'Mum pretty much does everything. She's always cooking for someone or taking someone somewhere.

'She does the cleaning, she does the dishes, she does a lot for us,' she added.

'I'm always "Annies mum" or the "bosss wife," Im just "Mum", not "me",' Lisa said.

'The last time I felt good about myself was before I got married. Thats a long time,' she added, saying she felt like she was 'fading away.'

'I look in the mirror now and I look and I wonder who I am,' she said, adding she felt like family life had aged her a lot and that she looked like 'death warmed up.'

With tears rolling down her face, she said she wanted to look good for her children.

Viewers were impressed wit both Lisa and Adeline's glamourous makeovers, with some saying the show 'knocked it out of the park'

'Because I want to be able to look in the mirror and like what I see.

'If I cant do that, I can't say to my girls or my boys "be proud of who you are" if Im not proud of whom I am.'

While she was only 54, people thought she looked 58, but Lisa was not discouraged.

'I'm here so I can feel better. At home, Im everything to everybody and everybody wants me but nobody sees me,' she said, ready to start with the makeover.

Her first appointment was with cosmetic dentist Dr Uchenna Okoye, who took a look at her teeth.

Lisa damaged her teeth during a recent car accident, and they had started to decay.

Dr Uchenna treated the decay and fitted Lisa with crowns and veneers to restore her smile.

Seeing herself with new teeth was heart-warming for Lisa, who couldn't get over her new look.

'I thought I might cry but it wasnt like that at all. I don't think Ive stop smiling since Ive looked in the mirror,' she said.

She said the teeth treatment had helped her put the trauma of the accident behind her.

She then met with Dr Tapan Patel, who rejuvenated her skin and her lips with derma filler in order to restore the youthful oval shape of her face and re-plump her lips.

Meanwhile, Adeline, a single mother-of-one, 45, said she had to toughen up working as a prison officer, but had got used to hiding behind her uniform, and was tired of her harsh exterior

Later, she met Cherry to try on a wardrobe specially crafted for her by stylist Gemma Sheppard and her team.

She experimented with different styles, particularly liking the look of herself in a snake skin jumpsuit.

She explained she hoped to start an events company and wanted to look the part.

At the end of the 10 days, and after meeting with makeup artist Hannah Martin and hairstyle John Vial, Lisa was ready to see her new look.

John coloured her hair in a youthful strawberry blonde, and cut her thinning locks into a wavy bob.

Adeline said she used to hide behind her uniform but was now ready to show the real her to the world

For the big reveal of her new look, she slid into a figure-hugging slip dress and gold stilettos.

Cherry was left speechless by Lisa's transformation, saying she looked 'drop dead gorgeous.'

Lisa could also tell how different she looked.

'Definitely not invisible, am I?' she said.

'This is like a new me and a new lifestyle and Im important and I look damn hot.'

After her makeover, the public placed her age at 46, eight years younger than her actual age of 54, and 12 years younger than how she looked in the past.

Lisa's four daughter were also impressed with her transformation.

'You look so much different. You look stunning,' they said as they rushed to hug her.

'Shes never put herself first and it means so much that she's done this,' Amy, her eldest daughter, said.

'I definitely think that my family will look at me in a different light, Im not just Mum, Im not just Lisa, Im a woman,' she said.

'When I began this process, I felt invisible, Everybody is going to see me now, everybody.'

Meanwhile, Adeline said she was tired of her harsh appearance after 23 years working as a prison officer.

The mother-of-one admitted she went through hard times in her youth, before becoming a mother aged 28, and ended up losing her dad and becoming a single mother in her 30s.

Now 45, Adeline felt and looked tired, but was ready for change.

'I was quite a sensitive child, I always had that feeling that I was never quite good enough in my life. And Ive had some quite difficult times in my life,' she said.

Adeline's transformation left her speechless after years of neglecting her look to take care of her loved ones

'My confidence seemed to have plummeted very quickly over a short period of time.'

Her son Kelson, 11, said: 'My mum is very busy, she works a lot, take care of the family.

'If there's a problem, shes always the first there to help undo it and take care of us.'

Myriam, Adelines mother, said her daughter went through hard times and needed to boost her self confidence

New partner Alvin said: 'I hope the experience will let her see what I see.

'What her family and the world see that shes a beautiful person in here,' he added, tapping his chest.

'A loving person, kind and generous because she doesnt see it.'

Adeline admitted her job in a prison has impacted how she presents herself to the world.

'My job can be quite stressful at times. In my career to date, Ive been assaulted twice. Its difficult sometimes to not come across as having a harsh exterior,' she said.

'I guess my uniform can serve as an armour, really. And I can hide behind it.

'Im tried of being this guarded prison officer. I feel that there is a new Adeline that's bursting to come out and be carefree, fun-loving, I want to be able to make the most of my life.'

People thought Adeline looked 49 instead of her actual age of 45, which was a wake-up call for the single mother.

'Im not quite ready to get to my next milestone so I definitely need some help and some rejuvenating,' she told Cherry.

'Im guilty of not making that time for myself, not really feeling I should make an effort.

'Now I want to be projecting as more confidence, someone who is going to be able to say: "Look, I some somebody, I do count

'My uniform has become my identify and its about now stripping those layers down to get back to my core, really.'

She said she wanted to 'inject a little bit of energy, colour' into her life.

'It is about me having fun today and forgetting about my worries,' she told Cherry.

'The expectation that as a prison officer you are a strong, brave person doesnt always tell the story inside.

'Ive added layers to my personality over the years and now its time to strip back and be me.'

She began with a activated oxygen treatment coupled with acupuncture and LED light therapy to rejuvenate her skin and relax.

'You're pondering whether youre worth this treatment. I definitely am finding a newfound value for myself,' she told Cherry.

After this, she met with stylist Gemma Sheppard, who agreed that Adeline had been using her uniform as a way to not have to think too much about what she wears.

She added that a uniform looks masculine and that they needed to find a way to express Adeline's femininity.

Her last appointment was a make-up masterclass with Hannah Martin, who taught her how to apply CC cream and find the right tone for her skin.

When came the time to reveal her new look, Adeline slid into a very glamourous art deco dress in blue-grey, adorned with gems on the cleavage.

Her hair was coloured and styled in a wavy vintage do that would not look out of place in a movie from Hollywood's Golden Age.

She completed the look with elegant make-up with a bold orange lip.

When she saw her reflection, Adeline had to fight tears back.

'Thank you so much. I cant believe Im wearing a dress,' she told Cherry.

'I dont feel drained as much as I did. I dont even recognise me. I feel like this is my Hollywood moment, I really do.'

Viewers were moved by the two women's stories and were impressed with their transformations.

'Shes got a face of someone whos cared for and taken bloody brilliant careof her six kids in my opinion. Respect for her,' one said of Lisa.

'She looks lovely. Even though I hate the dress,' another said after the mother-of-six's makeover.

'Wow indeed, she looks great in that dress, though I dont like the back seam,' another wrote.

'Once again they have knocked it out the park. Both transformations were great,' one said.

'Wow Adeline looks incredible,' one added.

10 Years Younger in 10 Days airs on Thursdays at 10pm on Channel 5
Senator Joe Manchin says President Joe Biden is not helping the commitment to sanction by still getting Russia oil imports, calling him hypocritical.

All the tough talk about Putin is moot since money is still paid that does not provide a solution. This sore point was pointed out by the senator from Virginia, who prevented the implementation of the Build Back Better bill.

Russian Oil Import Must Stop in This Time of War

Despite the debatable claims of the president, he still says the formidable sanctions are effective as a deterrent against Russia with its offensive going on in Ukraine. His address on Tuesday night got claps, but the Democratic lawmaker from Virginia saw the gaping hole ignored by everyone else, according to The Blaze.

Biden is convinced he's got the answer, but Manchin and other detractors think he's not up to the job.

Moderate Senator Manchin (W.Va.), a prominent Democrat, asks why oil is bought from Russia when according to him, it does not seem right, but the president is okay with it.

He suggests it should stop, and not getting any oil will hurt Moscow, but their energy exports are vital. It is a good time to return to energy independence cut short by Biden by shutting US energy is ill-advised and foolish.

The Democrat senator Joe Manchin spoke to Bloomberg and said the US produces cleaner energy compared to Russian oil imports. Ironically, about 650,000 barrels of oil are purchased from Russia daily that he called utterly foolish.

Read Also: Donald Trump Says Putin Invaded Ukraine Now Considering Joe Biden's Weakness

He is the Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee that deals in this aspect of energy production in the US. A statement issued on Twitter took a critical swipe at the Biden administration and its confusing energy policy.

The US is against Vladimir Putin using the resource as leverage to get what he wants from the EU and shuts down the gas to threaten the bloc; if it fits his ends.

How can the United States be against the Ukraine incursion when the US buys the crude it needs and more than 500,000 barrels. During this conflict, it seems so inappropriate.

Reliance on outer sources and not concentrating on developing US energy independence is a mistake, not depending on Russia and compound problems with energy security. The Biden administration reversed Trump's policies, placing the US in a pinch.

Sen. Manchin argued that the US does not need help to produce cleaner energy compared to other sources. It makes no sense to buy under these circumstances.

US Oil Dependence Fuels the Russian War Machine

Moscow gets its funds from oil and natural gas, allowing the Russian army to continue its military campaign to free Donbas and Lugansk by taking out Kyiv.

The ex-Soviet Union is built on this precious resource that gives it influence that should have been targeted from day one, so the question remains why Biden does not stop oil imports in the first place.

Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau has not bought gas from Russia for years, and it made a difference.

Sen. Joe Manchin railing against Joe Biden getting Russian oil imports makes sense in stopping Putin in Ukraine, but the White House has not commented.

Related Article: Sen. Rick Scott Says Joe Biden Caused the US Energy Dependence on Russia

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Many young people who were raised in strict religious households have now opened up about the trauma and abuse they suffered throughout their childhoods as part of a new viral TikTok trend.

Up-and-coming Australian artist Peach PRC, 24, (whose real name is Shaylee Curnow) recently released a song called God Is A Freak, where she sang about her negative relationship with God - and it has inspired others to speak out about their 'damaging' and 'poisoned' upbringings due to being raised in religious households.

While listening to the song, numerous TikTokers decided to share their personal stories of 'shame' or 'guilt' that they felt as a result of being told from a young age that they had to stay 'pure' until marriage or that their sexuality was wrong due to their families' religious beliefs.

One person claimed that they were taught that if you lose your virginity before getting married, you are 'damaged goods,' while another said she had to spend hours 'reading anti-LGBTQ+ passages in the bible' and listening to her parents, and several pastors, explain why her 'choice was sinful' after they found out she was a lesbian.

A third claimed that he was forced to keep his sexual abuse a secret because he thought he would be considered 'impure.'

Many young people who were raised in strict religious households are opening up about the trauma and abuse they suffered throughout their childhoods as part of a new viral TikTok trend

Artist Peach PRC released a song called God Is A Freak, where she sang about her negative relationship with God, and it inspired others to speak out about their 'damaging' childhoods

While listening to the song, numerous TikTokers shared their stories of 'shame' or 'guilt' that they felt as a result of being told from a young age that they had to stay 'pure' until marriage

A transgender man named Liam Magan (pictured) explained that he was forced to wear a purity ring from the age of 12, which in turn made him keep his sexual abuse a secret

He said he wore the ring for 10-years before he 'finally' took it off for good, after he came out as transgender at age 22

Now, he is happily married but said he will 'always think of the kid who was poisoned by the evangelical church and purity culture at such a young age'

'God is a bit of a freak / Why's he watching me getting railed on the couch, staying pure for a wedding? / He's got f**ked up priorities,' the lyrics to Peach PRC's song, which dropped on February 3, read.

'God is a bit of a freak / Like what's the fixation / On hating the way he creates? / So why would I spend my eternity / With God when he's a freak?'

One TikToker named Liam Magan - a transgender man from New Hampshire - explained that he was forced to wear a purity ring from the age of 12.

He said he was told if he didn't 'save himself for marriage,' he would be 'chewed up like a piece of gum' which led to 'shame' about his sexuality.

'This led to shame about my sexuality and kept me from speaking up when I was being abused as a teenager for fear of being seen as "impure,"' he wrote on TikTok.

'I wore the ring for 10-years despite being sexually active. The guilt I felt as a result of purity culture caused me to only engage sexually when I was drunk enough to forget most of it.

'I finally took it off for good when I came out as transgender at age 22. I ended up selling it for $300 to pay for testosterone.

'Now, I wear a wedding ring, but I'll always think of this kid who was poisoned by the evangelical church and purity culture at such a young age.'

According to TheGospelCoalition.org, 'The evangelical movement attempts to promote a biblical view of purity by discouraging dating and promoting virginity before marriage, often through the use of tools such as purity pledges, symbols such as purity rings, and events such as purity balls.'

Another TikToker named Theresa Rose , 36, from Portland, Oregon, revealed that she was taught her 'virginity was the best gift she could give her future husband'

Theresa said she was told marriage wasn't 'meant to make you happy' but instead, make you 'holy,' and that she was 'never taught about consent.' She is pictured at her wedding

She has since left her husband and is now happily dating a woman named Jacqui Mettle (pictured together)

The movement began in the 1990s and was heightened when the Southern Baptist Convention launched its True Love Waits campaign in 1993, seeking to promote sexual abstinence among Christian youth through conferences, concerts, and purity pledges.

'Everyone is expected to maintain absolute sexlessness before marriage (that means no sexual thoughts, feelings, or actions),' author Linda Klein, who wrote a book about it, entitled Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free, wrote.

'Underlying these teachings are several assumptions, including those that gender is a binary, and that heterosexual desire is the only right and normal form of desire/sexual intercourse.

'The white, American Evangelical Christian Purity Movement is further based in nationalistic and white supremacist assumptions.

'As a result, purity culture influences peoples lives in complex ways resulting in highly intersectional marginalization.'

Another TikToker named Theresa Rose, 36, from Portland, Oregon, revealed that she was told her 'virginity was the best gift she could give her future husband.'

Theresa, who previously made headlines for revealing that she realized she was a lesbian after arranging a threesome for her husband's birthday, said she was never taught about 'consent.'

'I was told that if you lose your virginity, you are "damaged goods." I ended up marrying my first boyfriend at age 22. He was 12 years older than me,' she said.

'I was taught that marriage isn't meant to make you happy, but holy. I was never taught about consent.

'I thought I had to submit to my husband because God created him to be the leader of my life and our family.

'When I let go of my belief in God and left the cult, I was finally able to accept myself.'

She has since left her husband and is now happily dating a woman named Jacqui Mettle.

Stephanie Leigh (pictured as a teen) said her parents found out she was dating a girl at age 14 after they read through her private messages

She said she had to spend hours 'reading anti-LGBTQ+ passages in the bible' and listening to her parents, and several pastors, explain why her 'choice was sinful'

Stephanie said she 'tried so hard' to 'be straight,' which led to her 'hating herself.' However, she later realized it her family was 'wrong,' adding, 'I am exactly the way I was created to be'

Now, she said she 'constantly' works to balance both her 'queer and Christian identities,' while helping other LGBTQ+ people of faith 'understand they were made this way for a reason'

A fourth TikToker, named Stephanie Gady, from Washington, recalled being told that she would be kicked out of her house if she didn't 'change to be how God intended' after her parents found out she was dating a girl at age 14.

'When I was 14, my parents found out I was dating a girl after reading through my Facebook messages without my consent,' she revealed.

'They took away my phone so I couldn't contact her, and told me I would be sent to a Christian school to learn the difference of right from wrong.

'My mom cried and told me they would have to kick me out when I turned 18 if I couldn't change to be how God intended.'

Stephanie said she 'tried so hard' to 'be straight,' which led to her presenting 'hyper-feminine' characteristics and dating boys - and eventually 'hating herself.'

She recalled: 'I spent hours listening to my parents and several pastors explain that my "choice" was sinful and reading anti-LGBTQ+ passages in the bible.

'But as I grew in my faith and spent time thinking on my own, I realized it was my family who was wrong, not me.

'God doesn't make mistakes: I am exactly the way I was created to be. I was baptized in 2017, alongside one of my best friends who is also LGBTQ+.'

Now, she said she 'constantly' works to balance both her 'queer and Christian identities,' while helping other LGBTQ+ people of faith 'understand they were made this way for a reason.'

'Every day I think about that little girl who cried because she believed her heart was broken,' she concluded.

'The way you love is never a sin, never believe anyone who tells you differently.'

BBC reported that most Christian churches hold the position that you should 'Love the sinner, but hate the sin.'

'This is generally interpreted to mean that Christians should show love and compassion to homosexuals, but that homosexuals should not engage in sexual activity,' the outlet reported.

'This is because most churches teach that sex should only happen within marriage, which the Church defines as being between a man and a woman.'

One user, named Noah (pictured), 33, said he was 'fed purity and courtship culture' well before he was 'old enough to grasp what that really meant' which 'severed his ability to trust his body'

He added that although he briefly left Christianity, he now works as a priest and tries to 'undo a little of the inexcusable damage people have done in the name of "purity"'

Another person, named Delia, from Rhode Island - who uses they/them pronouns - also spoke out about their strict religious upbringing

They left the church and came out as transgender years later. In Delia's case, it was their school and the church that they were raised in who traumatized them, not their family

'Today, I'm out, proud, and happy. And I know God loves me, no matter what I was taught as a kid,' they wrote

One user, named Noah Stansbury, 33, from South Carolina, said he was 'fed purity and courtship culture' well before he was 'old enough to grasp what that really meant.'

'No dating, no privacy, no youth group, nothing that would give us even a clue of what it meant to have a sexuality,' he explained.

'More than damaging my approach to love and sexuality, it severed my ability to trust my body and all the amazing things it can tell me. I'm almost 34 and I'm still working on it.'

He added that although he briefly left Christianity, he now works as a priest in the Episcopal Church and tries to 'undo a little of the inexcusable damage people have done in the name of "purity."'

'God doesn't expect you to be pure in order to love you. God loves when you use your body to appreciate the beauty you find in other people - sexually or otherwise,' he continued.

'I pray that you find the healing you need. You are so important and beautiful just as you are.'

Another person, named Delia Sosa, from Rhode Island - who uses they/them pronouns - also spoke out about their strict religious upbringing.

'I grew up in Catholic school and was taught that being gay was a sin. I didn't know trans people existed until high school,' they explained.

'I was outed as queer to my classmates when I was 14. Two years later, I left the church because I knew I wasn't safe there.

'At 19, I began to figure out I'm trans. I started to get transphobic messages from people still in the church.

'Today, I'm out, proud, and happy. And I know God loves me, no matter what I was taught as a kid.'

In Delia's case, it was their school and the church that they were raised in who traumatized them, not their family.

One TikTok user, named Shirelle (pictured), said she raised in a 'cult' and taught her 'only value as a woman came from being a virgin wife, serving her husband, and having lots of children'

She said she got married at age 19 and had three babies in four years

However, after realizing she was 'raised in a cult,' she left the church

Despite same-sex marriage becoming legalized in many states, many of the largest U.S. religious institutions have remained against it, including the Roman Catholic Church.

The Roman Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex marriages, no matter how stable or positive the couples' relationships are, the Vatican said in March 2021, according to NPR.

The outlet wrote that the church believes that 'marriage should be limited to a union between a man and a woman' and that 'same-sex marriages are not part of God's plan for families and raising children.'

'The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which are in themselves to be valued and appreciated, cannot justify these relationships and render them legitimate objects of an ecclesial blessing,' a statement from the church said.

One TikTok user, a former Mormon named Shirelle Benard, from Utah, said she raised in a 'cult' and was taught her 'only value as a woman came from being a virgin wife, serving her husband, and having lots of children.'

'So I got married at age 19 in the temple, had three babies in four years, and was a stay-at-home mom,' she said in her TikTok video, while playing Peach PRC's song in the background.

'I was told true joy and happiness would come from being obedient to the prophet, but I was miserable.

'After being as obedient as I possibly could be to the teachings of the Mormon church... I left in October 2020. I quickly and painfully realized that I was raised in a cult.'

According to MormonStories.org, 'Numerous Prophets have instructed that a Mormon womans place is in the home.'

'Mormon women were to reject the secular values of individuality and devote themselves to the eternal women's roles of marriage, motherhood, and submissiveness,' author Neil Young also explained in his book, The ERA Is a Moral Issue.

A different women, named Savannah Glembin (pictured), said she watched her pastor 'weaponize fear of the afterlife to assert control'

A user named Katie J (pictured), from London, England, also spoke out about the long-term effects a religious upbringing can have on a person

'Many fight to overcome the toll those ideologies have taken on their minds and bodies, regarding [sex] and building relationships,' she explained

A different women, named Savannah Glembin, from California, said she watched her pastor 'weaponize fear of the afterlife to assert control.'

She shared: 'Boomers can't seem to understand why thousands of millennials and gen-z have left the church in droves.

'You see, we were raised reading a bible that preached love but witnessed some of the most "Christian" people preach and justify hate towards minority groups.

'We watched our pastors weaponize fear of the afterlife to assert control over massive populations of people.

'A lot of us decided that the God being worshipped in church is just a reflection of power hungry men, not the true God.

'We decided that we don't need the "church" to have a relationship with a higher power.'

A user named Katie Jgln, from London, England, also spoke out about the long-term effects a religious upbringing can have on a person.

'Formerly religious people diagnosed with RTS (religious trauma syndrome) can have symptoms similar to PTSD - including cognitive, affective, functional, social, and cultural issues and developmental delays,' she claimed.

'Many of them suffer from the constraints of purity culture or a deep-seated fear of Hell, despite no longer believing in either.

'Many fight to overcome the toll those ideologies have taken on their minds and bodies, regarding [sex] and building relationships.

'And many LGBTQ+ people struggle with internalized homophobia or transphobia. We need to stop passing down bad ideas to our children just because they are part of a religious tradition.

'Bad ideas are bad ideas, and religions that preach them shouldn't be exempt from criticism.'

Others didn't share many details on what they went through, but instead, they spoke out about how much the song has helped them and how much they could relate to it

A TikToker named Sid Dorey shared a video of them and a friend rocking out to the song. 'When a former preacher's kid and former choir director's kid listen to this song,' they captioned it

'This song hits different when you were raised non-religious but decided to "fit in" and join the local youth group to make friends only to be groomed by your adult youth pastor,' wrote another TikToker named Mothica.

Someone else, who goes by @titan_of_joy online, posted a clip of herself singing along to the song, while adding, 'Even though I left the church over 15 years ago, I have to constantly renounce the guilty and shame that it left.

'I know I'm not alone in embracing the freedom but also living with the trauma and scars it left on me.

'So if anyone needs to hear this, you are not dirty, you are not sinful, you are a beautiful miracle on the face of our world. And don't let anyone in Heaven or on Earth tell you you're not.'

Others didn't share many details on what they went through, but instead, they spoke out about how much the song has helped them and how much they could relate to it.

A TikTok user named Emily Stern wrote, 'When I tell you this song has helped me with queer religious trauma in an hour of listening more than a decade of therapy,' alongside a clip of her singing and dancing along to the tune.

One person named Sid Dorey - who uses they/them pronouns - shared a video of that showed them and a friend rocking out to the song.

'When a former preacher's kid and former choir director's kid listen to this song,' they wrote.

'This song was MADE for all the religiously traumatize pastors' kids,' gushed another person, named Aaron - who also uses they/them pronouns - as they passionately lip-synced the lyrics while the song blasted in the background.
Aldi customers have been left furious after finding out large tubs of Milo sold at the supermarket are made in Singapore - and they claim the taste is 'completely different' and 'weird'.

A customer posted a warning to others on a popular Aldi page explaining they were put off by the 'revolting' taste of the product before discovering its origins.

'Last week I bought a tin from Aldi, it tasted really weird and had a weird texture. I called Nestle and the lady told me the 1.25kg tins are being made in Singapore while machines here are updated,' she said.

Aldi customers have been left furious after finding out the Milo sold through the retailer is made in Singapore - and claim it tastes completely different

'Make sure you check the back of the tin if you want Milo that tastes like real Milo.'

She went on to say she found 'real Milo' at Coles where she purchased a one-kilo tin.

Nestle confirmed with FEMAIL they were temporarily making the product in Singapore while upgrades were made to their factory.

'Milo is proudly made in Smithtown on the NSW mid-North Coast  where it has been made since 1934,' a spokesperson said.

'We have been investing in upgrading our factory for the future. To ensure Milo fans didnt miss out during this time, we imported some Milo from our factory in Singapore. This was limited to the 1.25kg tin sold in Aldi for a very limited time,' they added.

They also admitted the Singapore recipe is different to the Australian recipe but maintained it is 'very similar'.

They also said Australian stock is 'already coming back onto the shelf'.

However, others revealed they have also bought 'off tasting' Milo at other stores; they are unsure where it was made because the threw out the cans.

One man said his family go through about a kilogram of the drink each week and have noticed it has been inconsistent recently.

'Sometimes I get a normal tin, then I get an off tin and just suck it up because they are so expensive,' he said.

'I was beginning to think I was crazy because sometimes it is good and sometimes it isn't so I am glad I am not the only one.'

One woman said she recently had 'a glass of Milo and couldn't stomach it' which made her doubt herself.

'I thought my taste buds had changed being an adult with responsibilities but maybe I had the Singapore one,' one woman wrote on the post.

'It tasted nothing like my childhood.'

The customer said the Milo they got from Coles was much better and showed others how to work out if the product was local or foreign made

Another person said they took a RAT test after trying the product 'a few times' because they thought their sense of taste.

One woman who described herself as a die-hard Milo addict said she is often left shocked by the different varieties on the shelf.

'I have experienced this disappointment so often while traveling or living overseas,' she said.

Another person said it is frustrating because she 'can't afford to be wasting money on Milo' that doesn't taste like the traditional Australian version.

FEMAIL has reached out to Nestle and Aldi for comment.
A Ukrainian-born woman who now lives in Australia is packing her bags to make the treacherous flight back to her home country to save nine members of her family hiding in a 'cold, dark and crowded' basement as Russian forces advance on Kyiv.

Olena Torchinska, 32, will board an Emirates flight from Brisbane to Dubai, and then onwards to Poland, alongside her 25-year-old brother on Thursday night as she prepares to help her family caught in the crossfire of war.

She's working with Team Humanity, a not-for-profit organisation started in 2015 to provide aid to refugees, to cross the necessary borders and be reunited with her loved ones, who have been moved from the country's capital city to a small town 170km away.

Olena Torchinska, 32, will board an Emirates flight from Brisbane to Dubai, and then onwards to Poland, alongside her 25-year-old brother on Thursday night as she prepares to help her family caught in the crossfire of war (her family pictured in happier times, Olena third from the right)

'There is no plan as the situation is rapidly changing by the hour and fuel is almost impossible to get,' Ms Torchinska told FEMAIL from her home in Queensland (pictured on a FaceTime chat when war broke out)

'There is no plan as the situation is rapidly changing by the hour and fuel is almost impossible to get,' Ms Torchinska told FEMAIL from her home in Queensland.

'I'm trying to utilise all the resources I have and all the contacts I know to help. I was put onto Team Humanity... who has been fantastic at networking.

'Funding is a big part of it.'

On February 24 the Russian military invaded Ukraine, with the audible sounds of missile strikes at 5am on morning TV the first the world realised Vladimir Putin's threats of war were genuine.

A day later Ms Torchinska shared a fundraising post to her Facebook page calling for $50,000 in donations to help her family, who were living in Kyiv - Putin's primary target.

'Please, please, please help me to save my family and loved ones in Kyiv,' she wrote (pictured is her family in Ukraine living in a basement)

What is the latest in Ukraine's war? Russian paratroopers land in Ukraine's second city amid heavy fighting

'There are practically no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit': Interior Ministry official

Joe Biden brands Vladimir Putin a 'dictator' in his annual State of the Union address as he bans Russian aircraft from US airspace

Russia steps up its bombing campaign and missile strikes, hitting Kyiv's main television tower, two residential buildings in a town west of the city and the city of Bila Tserkva to the south of the capital

Russian forces push into the besieged Black Sea city of Kherson in the south

Russian attacks leave Mariupol, another Black Sea port further to the west without electricity

More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the UN's refugee agency says

The UN's International Court of Justice says it will hold public hearings on March 7 and 8 over Ukraine's allegations of 'genocide' by Russia

Russia blocks an independent television channel and a liberal radio station, tightening a virtual media blackout

A string of Western companies announce they are freezing or scaling back business with Russia

Russians race to withdraw cash after the introduction of capital controls and as the ruble hits record lows

Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 goes insolvent after Germany halts the pipeline following Moscow's invasion

Oil prices soar past $110 a barrel, despite agreements to release 60 million barrels from stockpiles

The World Bank prepares a $3-billion aid package for Ukraine, including $350 million in immediate funds Advertisement

'Please, please, please help me to save my family and loved ones in Kyiv,' she wrote.

'I am starting this fundraiser to ensure I have the means necessary to help them escape Ukraine.

'I have nine family members, including my little nieces and nephew, holed up in the cold, dark, crowded basement of an apartment building awaiting an attack (as well as many other friends).

'While I pray that this is just a nightmare, I cannot afford to sit around and do nothing. My brother and I are desperately trying to figure out the best course of action.'

So far 130 kind-hearted individuals have donated to Ms Torchinska's cause, totalling $9,200.

Jos Aguiar, who is working with Team Humanity and Ms Torchinska, said her family were able to travel an hour and a half outside of Kyiv to bunker down with what limited amount of fuel they could get

Jos Aguiar, who is working with Team Humanity and Ms Torchinska, said her family were able to travel an hour and a half outside of Kyiv to bunker down with what limited amount of fuel they could get their hands on.

'At the time they only had 100km worth of fuel in their car and limited options on where to refuel and how to get out safely,' Mr Aguiar told FEMAIL.

'We've been coordinating with her since to help find any and all options to get them out.

The basement the family are staying in is 'cold, dark and cramped' (pictured here)

'She'll be flying out of Brisbane to Poland but is doing everything within her and our power to have them out before then. It's a very scary situation.'

When the conflict began Team Humanity went into Ukraine through the Moldovan border and began bussing women and children out of the conflict zone.

While Ms Torchinska is hoping to get into the war-ravaged region, what happens next is entirely up to her family.

'I'd love to bring them here but I will do whatever they want and need,' she said.
Tokyo Lamington has teamed up with classic Violet Crumble to launch an all new lamington flavour for one day only.

The Newtown cafe is set to release a serving of the limited edition Violet Crumble lamingtons in three-packs for $25 to seven Sydney cafes on Saturday March 5.

The iconic flavour will feature a vanilla sponge with a honeycomb cream centre, that's coated in creamy dark chocolate and topped with Violet Crumble pieces.

Tokyo Lamington has teamed up with classic Violet Crumble to launch an all new lamington flavour for one day only in three-packs for $25 to seven Sydney cafes this Saturday March 5

'This lamington tastes just like the bar,' Tokyo Lamington wrote to their fans.

Founded in 2019, by Min Chai and Eddie Stewart, Tokyo Lamington was born to bring unique flavours and provide classic twists on the beloved Aussie favourite.

The founders for years have transformed the lamington into other chocolate bars, tropical fruits and of course serve an original coconut flavour.

The iconic flavour will feature a vanilla sponge with a honeycomb cream centre, that is coated in creamy dark chocolate and topped with Violet Crumble bar pieces

The Violet Crumble flavour will be available to buy in-store and across the suburbs of Balmain, Bella Vista, Cronulla, Strathfield, Cecil Hills, Penrith and Brookvale.

Tokyo Lamington encourage dessert fans to visit their nearest cafe selling the treats before they all sell out.

The limited-edition flavour is already enticing foodies as many have shared their excitement on the cafe's Instagram page.

The Violet Crumble flavour will be available to buy in-store and across the suburbs of Balmain, Bella Vista, Cronulla, Strathfield, Cecil Hills, Penrith and Brookvale

Where to buy Tokyo Lamington's Violet Crumble Lamington: Bertoni - Balmain

La Lune - Strathfield

Coffee Supreme - Brookvale

Good Fella - Bella Vista

Mili & Co - Cecil Hills

Ham - Cronulla

Tokyo Lamington - Newtown

Percy Plunkett - Penrith Advertisement

'I need to try this! Looks divine,' a foodie wrote.

'I know where I'll be going this Saturday. These look unreal,' a woman wrote.

'Violet Crumble, I am lost for words marry me Tokyo Lamington,' another wrote.
Prince Harry Meghan Markle may be 'hoping to return to the UK as part-time royals' once Charles becomes king, a royal author has claimed.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex currently live in a $14 million mansion in Montecito, California, after stepping back from royal duty in 2020.

But Tom Quinn, author of Kensington Palace: An Intimate Memoir from Queen Mary to Meghan Markle, believes the couple may have plans to return to the royal fold in the future.

When Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, first announced they wanted to change their royal roles in 2020, they suggested they may be able to be independently financial while still working as senior members of the Firm.

However, speaking in the To Di For Daily podcast, Quinn said that because Charles is more of a 'moderniser' than the Queen, he may approve of them carving out a part-time royal role back in the UK when he is in charge.

Royal biographer Tom Quinn believes Prince Harry and Meghan (pictured here at last week's NAACP awards) hope to move back to the UK to be part-time royals once Charles is king

Prince Charles, pictured with his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, is considered to be a 'moderniser' when it comes to the royal family

Her Majesty previously vetoed that suggestion, with a statement from Buckingham Palace saying in February 2021: 'The Queen has written confirming that in stepping away from the work of the Royal Family it is not possible to continue with the responsibilities and duties that come with a life of public service.'

Quinn added that an anonymous 'insider' had told him: 'Meghan and Harry believe that when the elder royals die  in other words, Elizabeth  they may well be able when Charles is King, be able to come back and be the part-time royals that they really wanted to be.

'So that they would be six months [being] working royals and six months in the States or wherever doing their own thing.

'That was something that Queen Elizabeth absolutely said couldnt happen, but I think Meghan and Harry are hoping that Charles, Harry's father after all, will be more of a moderniser and will say to them, "Okay, if you want to be part-time royals, thats fine".'

Meghan and Harry, pictured here with the Queen in 2018, when they were still senior members of the Royal Family, seemed keen to create a part-time royal role - a request the Queen denied

But Prince Charles is widely considered to be a 'moderniser' when it comes to his plans for the Firm, leading some to speculate he may allow the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to return

He added that he doesn't think the couple want to spend their whole time in the States, and not be part of the Royal Family, and that despite the apparent rift, he believes Harry wants to 'find a role' within the Firm.

Quinn's comments come amid reports that Prince Harry may not return to the UK this year for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations because will find it too hard to face his family ahead of the publication of his upcoming memoir.

The book, which many believe will contain explosive details about life in the Royal Family, netted Harry an advance of 14.7million ($20million). It is due to be published in the autumn.

Author Tom Bower, who is currently working on a biography of Meghan Markle, told Closer magazine that the prince is facing the 'ultimate dilemma', having to decide whether he should visit his beloved Grandmother knowing that he's being paid to bare his soul for the much-anticipated book.

Royal biographer Tom Quinn suggested the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may believe that once the Queen (pictured here during a reception celebrating her Platinum Jubilee) is dead and Charles is King, they may have a place in the family as part-time royals

The couple, pictured while speaking onstage during Global Citizen Live in New York in September 2021, initially appeared to want to be part of the Royal Family while being financially independent - a plan the Queen did not approve of

Bower says that Prince Harry will find it hard to be 'pleasant' to his family 'knowing what he's written about them in that book'.

Prince Harry is currently bringing a legal challenge against the Home Office after being told he would no longer be given the 'same degree' of personal protective security when visiting from the US, despite offering to pay for it himself.

He has said he wants to bring his children to visit from across the Atlantic, but 'does not feel safe' when visiting under the current security arrangements, the court was previously told.

But Bower claims Prince Harry is using these security concerns as 'an excuse' and says he knows that it's likely to be difficult to maintain friendly relations with the royal family following the release of the book.

Prince William, pictured during a visit to Wales earlier this week, was said to be 'blindsided' by the news that his brother Harry was working on an autobiography

The last time the brothers were photographed together was at the unveiling of a statue of Diana, Princess of Wales in July 2021

He said: 'I think Harry wont come back because he knows he cannot face his family, and be pleasant with them, knowing what hes written about them in that book.

'That book will have a lot of casualties and cause a lot of hurt. It will really deliver, as Harry knows it has to, to justify the money hes been paid to do it. How can Harry come back and pretend its all fine? The worst of what he will say is yet to come.'

Meanwhile, the Royal Family is thought to be deeply concerned about the book, described by his publishers as 'the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him'.

The Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William are said to have been completely blindsided by Harry's shock announcement that he has been secretly working on his as yet untitled memoirs for more than a year now.
A blind husky has been given a new lease of life thanks to his boisterous younger friend - from play fighting to daily runs, these pooches never have time to mourn.

The adorable duo, Sterling, 11 and Walker, 10, from Seattle, Washington, have been inseparable since they were first introduced, with one never straying too far from the other.

When Sterling, a Siberian husky, was diagnosed with glaucoma later leading to blindness more than three years ago, owners Lillian and Martin McKee were worried his quality of life would slowly decline.

But, Alaskan Malamute, Walker, wasn't going to let that happen.

Lillian, a hard analysis documenter, has been amazed at how much Walker has kept Sterling's spirits high.

Sterling (left) lost his sight three years ago due to glaucoma, but has rediscovered his verve for life thanks to his best friend Walker (left). Here the pair are pictured while hiking

Family: The dogs pictured with their humans Lillian and Martin McKee, who were worried Sterling's quality of life would slowly decline after he lost his sight

Luckily Sterling, pictured here wearing protective goggles, has a new lease of life despite being 'pretty down' after he went blind

She has shared adorable footage of the pair play fighting in the snow, and photos of them embracing the great outdoors.

Despite no longer being able to see, Sterling has maintained his happy cheery self, much to the surprise of his owners.

Lillian, 49, said: 'After his first procedure, he was pretty down, but we took him to the beach with Walker and he perked up instantly.

'We've found that still doing his favourite activities like running, long walks, trips to the beach have really helped him to be his old cheery self.

Sterling, pictured here before he was diagnosed with glaucoma, now enjoys all his hobbies again - like mountaineering

Lilian and Martin McKee, who adopted Sterling after fostering him, say the pooch has 'maintained his happy cheery self' despite his health struggles thanks to pal Walker

Walker (left) and Sterling (right) have extremely different personalities - this is one of the reasons their human Lilian thinks they get on so well

The McKees did not plan on adopting Walker, but when his foster family could no longer care for him, they took him in

'Walker loves getting him to play, and part of me thinks he doesn't even realise that Sterling is blind sometimes.

'They hike together, run together, sleep near each other and eat less than two feet away from each other.

'Sterling is like a jedi, he'll tell Walker to do something, and he'll do it.

'I think having someone to boss around is definitely why he's still such a happy dog.

Lilian, pictured with Sterling, describes the cheerful, friendly pooch as an 'amazing ambassador for the breed'

After losing his sight, Sterling wears protective ski goggles, to protect his eyes. He owns a few pairs, which he wears on rotation

While Sterling has to wear goggles to protect his eyes following surgery for glaucoma, Lilian says Walker also has a pair so he 'doesn't feel left out'

The stunning pooches like to don matching bandanas, according to Lilian, who says they own about 100 of the accessories between them

The pair have such different personalities, and that's why Lillian thinks they're such a good match.

She said: 'Sterling loves meeting people, car rides and has a few selective toys that he sometimes plays with, but other than that, is rather a distinguished gentleman.

'Walker, however, is definitely the goofy court jester.

'He'll try and steal Sterling's special treats, playfully attack him and just be a bouncy ball of fur.

Opposites attract: While the pair may look similar, Walker (left) is more of a joker, and Sterling (right) is more of a 'distinguished gentleman', character-wise

While the pair has been inseparable since they met, their friendship has blossomed even further since Sterling lost his sight, and Walker has boosted his morale

Both dogs were adopted from a rescue Lilian set up for big Northern dog breeds. She took them in at separate times - and hadn't planned to adopt either of them

Lilian and Sterling (centre), pictured volunteering with the Washington Alaskan Malamute Adoption League (WAMAL) which was set up in 1998 to rescue dogs

'But he knows that Sterling won't always put up with his nonsense.'

Lilian adopted Sterling and Walker separately from a rescue she set up for large Northern dog breeds.

She said: 'Sterling was our 'foster fail', we just couldn't let him go.

'He's an amazing ambassador for the breed, and he was a great therapy dog as he just loves people.

'I wasn't planning on adopting Walker either, but when his foster couldn't look after him anymore, he instantly became part of the family.

The active duo enjoy an energetic run with Martin. Sterling (left) often wears one of his pairs of ski googles, which help to protect his eyes

Sterling, pictured after his operation, was treated for his condition with medication several times a day for a year and a half, but eventually Lilian and Martin knew he needed surgery

Lilian and Martin were 'so worried' about Sterling after he was diagnosed with glaucoma, but with the help of Walker, he has adapted well to life without his vision

'Sterling has always loved bossing Walker around, and Walker just follows his lead like a sheep dog.

'When he was diagnosed with glaucoma, it was devastating.

'We tried to fight it for a year and a half, with six treatments four times a day, but we knew it couldn't prevent it for much longer.

'We decided to go ahead with a procedure which would save his eyes despite going blind.

'At first, we were worried that he would end up being depressed and stop doing the things he loved but having Walker around seemed to keep him going.

Lilian, pictured with both of the dogs, says she and Martin had a harder time coming to terms with Sterling's glaucoma than he did

Despite losing his vision because of his illness, Sterling still enjoys being 'goofy' and play fighting with his younger brother Walker

The inseparable pair, who have stuck together throughout Sterling's health concerns, pictured looking handsome in complementary bandanas

'We had a much harder time with Sterling's glaucoma than he did, we were very worried.

The pair even have a selection of fashionable ski goggles and matching bandanas for their daily outings.

Lillian added: 'To protect his eyes, Sterling has a few pairs of ski goggles that we rotate.

'So he doesn't feel left out, Walker has a pair too.

'They both look so handsome in their bandanas and have about 100 between them.'

You can see what the duo get up to over on their Instagram page: @sterlingandwalker
Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, whose ex-partner was a member of Putin's inner circle, has called for an end to the 'politicisation of Russian people or culture' amid the war in Ukraine.

The aristocratic beauty, who descends from a long line of Russian nobility, shares children Aliosha, Ivan and Maria with billionaire financier Sergei Pugachev, who was known as 'Putin's banker' before he fell foul of the Kremlin and fled the country. He is now considered a 'traitor' by Putin.

Posting on Instagram, Alexandra, who lives in the UK, called for a greater understanding and support of the Russian people, saying many are opposed to Putin's actions and are protesting the war 'at great personal risk'.

She has also posted a fundraising appeal for a Russian orphanage and has been vocal in her condemnation of Putin's actions in Ukraine. The posts have led to her being 'trolled by Russian bots' and losing more than 1,800 followers overnight.

Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, pictured, whose ex-partner was a member of Putin's inner circle, has urged people not to 'politicise Russian people or culture' amid the war in Ukraine

Posting on Instagram, Alexandra called for a greater understanding and support of the Russian people, saying many are opposed to Putin's actions and are protesting the war

The aristocratic beauty, who descends from a long line of Russian nobility, shares children Aliosha, Ivan and Maria with billionaire financier Sergei Pugachev, who was known as 'Putin's banker' before he fell foul of the Kremlin and fled the country

She wrote: 'Despite the trolling from paid Russian bots that I have received in the last days, I feel immensely proud to be partly Russian and a member of one of her most creative families.

'Please do not politicise Russian culture, heritage and her wonderful people, many of whom are bravely opposing the war at great personal risk.'

Alexandra also promoted a talk being given this week by her father Nikolai Tolstoy, a historian and author of books including Victims of Yalta and the Ministers and the Massacres, that will address the war in Ukraine.

She continued: '[He will discuss the] divisive policies of the Soviet regime, and in particular the misinterpretation and propaganda by the current regime of the facts, a direct continuation of Soviet policy, as well as the slanderous "fascist" and "Nazi" accusations constantly flung against the Ukrainians.'

Promoting the talk, which will raise money for a Russian orphanage, she added: 'Please do not forget how many Russians do not want this war and are bravely protesting and speaking up.'

Sergei said he enjoyed a 'very close' friendship with Russian president Vladimir Putin before falling out, with the politician calling Sergei 'a traitor' for dating an 'English woman'

Alexandras title descends from her great-great grandfather, her father's great-grandfather, Pavel Tolstoy-Miloslavsky, who was titled a Count for his services as the chamberlain to the last emperor, Nicolas II of Russia just after the First World War.

Pugachev was once dubbed 'the Kremlins banker' and was close to Vladimir Putin before falling into disfavour. He is now seen as a 'traitor' by the Russian president.

After arriving in the UK in 2011, he was accused of siphoning a fortune out of his finance house Mezhprombank. State creditors in Moscow pursued him in the British courts, claiming he embezzled hundreds of millions.

Who is Alexandra Tolstoy? Before she met Sergei, Alexandra was married to a penniless Cossack named Shamil Galimzyanov. The pair met whilst travelling along the Silk Road on horse in 1999. Tolstoy first met Sergei, then a Russian senator and trusted friend of Putin who had separated from his wife, when asked to give him English lessons while she was living in Moscow with Galimzyanov. A year later, they met again at an awards ceremony attended by the Russian president. Within months, Tolstoy and was pregnant with Sergei's child. They had three children together - Alexei, known as Aliosha, Ivan and Maria. Alexandra is the eldest of Anglo-Russian historian and writer Nikolai Tolstoy's four children. She grew up in Oxfordshire before going to Edinburgh University to study philosophy. She spent her gap year in Russia. Advertisement

The oligarch fled to France, where he remains, and was sentenced to two years in his absence by a High Court judge in 2016 for breaching court orders relating to hundreds of millions in allegedly stolen cash.

Pugachev has cut off Alexandra and their children financially, she claims, and the family were evicted from Pugachev's 12million south London family mansion during the height of the pandemic after reportedly being given just 12 days notice by the Russian government, who had repossessed the property.

It is understood Alexandra has since moved into another home in London, but she also has an idyllic country home, which she bought in 2004.

Pugachev once owned two major shipyards, the world's biggest mine and large chunks of real estate in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as the Mezhprombank, which he co-founded in the 1990s.

The couple met in 2008 after Sergei hired Alexandra to help improve his English while they were both living in Russia, where Sergei was once-close friends with Putin.

Speaking of their relationship in a documentary, Alexandra said: 'When I met Sergei it was electric. It was amazing. I fell so in love with him. I've never felt such a connection to someone ever.'

Within a year of meeting, they had a baby and another on the way, and were living a life of luxury in London, Moscow and Paris.

Alexandra said: 'It was incredible, he would give me his credit card and I would go shopping, I had a private jet. I just had to pack my suitcase and I could go.'

The family moved between an array of properties including a 12million family home in Battersea, a 200-acre country estate in Hertfordshire, and a 40million beachfront villa in St Barts.

But in 2008, Sergei's bank hit problems and the Russian bank bailed it out with $1 billion loan.

Sergei, who left Russia in 2011, claims that after relations between him and Putin cooled, the Kremlin tried to seize or destroy his business empire.

Alexandra has also posted a fundraising appeal for a Russian orphanage and has been vocal in her condemnation of Putin's actions in Ukraine. The posts have led to her being 'trolled by Russian bots' and losing more than 1,800 followers overnight

The Russians then accused him of profiting from vast sums of taxpayers' money given to Mezhprombank by the Russian central bank at the height of the 2008 economic crisis.

The Russian authorities froze his assets, put him on Interpol's wanted list and obtained a court order in Britain forcing him to hand over his passports.

By 2015, he was dividing his time between France and the family home in London and claimed to be number 3 on Kremlin's hitlist.

State creditors in Moscow pursued him in the British courts, claiming he embezzled hundreds of millions.

Pugachev fled to France before the 2016 High Court ruling in a case brought by Russias Deposit Insurance Agency, in which he was sentenced for 12 breaches of court orders connected to a freezing order imposed on him over attempts to recover the cash.

In the February 2016 High Court judgment, no ruling was made on the allegations of embezzled cash and Pugachev told the court he had not stolen any money. In her judgment jailing him, Mrs Justice Rose noted he does have a genuine fear that his life is in danger from agents of the Russian state.

Anne-Jessica Faure, a lawyer for Mr Pugachev, said there has been no court decision establishing financial wrongdoing by him.

On the order of the High Court, the family home was put on the market and Alexandra made a deal with the Russian government to drop her claim to his fortune.
It's been a family favourite for decades, yet the chicken kiev's exact origins remain a culinary mystery.

The breaded chicken dish could have been invented in a French restaurant, a Ukrainian hotel or by Mrs Beeton herself, according to the myriad rumours surrounding its creation.

The kiev has hit the headlines this week as customers call for it to be rebranded the chicken kyiv in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. Some food brands and restaurants have already done so, although no major supermarkets have yet to act.

The name change would remove the Soviet spelling of the city in favour of the one used by Ukrainians. The BBC, the New York Times and the Daily Mail have already adopted 'Kyiv'.

But questions still surround exactly how the dinner table staple came to be, with competing sources, including ones from Russia and Ukraine, trying to claim it as their own.

Food brands and restaurants are rebranding chicken Kievs, chicken Kyivs in solidarity with the Ukrainian people amid a campaign to ditch the Russian spelling, but questions remain over the origins of the dish. Irish food producer Finnebrogue has changed the name of their product

Proponents claim changing the spelling is a small, peaceful way to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine and taking a stand against Russia. Above, Twitter support for the campaign

It became widely popular in Western countries in the 1970s and was even served at a May 1990 dinner at the Soviet embassy in Washington DC to then leader Mikhail Gorbachev as Soviet Union collapsed.

Kiev vs Kyiv: Why the change in spelling? 'Kiev' was the standardised spelling for the city under Soviet rule, and recent Russian aggression has seen more Western institutions heed Ukrainian calls to abandon it. The UK Government has been referring to its embassy as being based in 'Kyiv' for years, with an Internet archive showing this had been the case until records began in 2014. Ministers are also increasingly using the new pronunciation. Ukraine's capital is known as  in Ukrainian and  in Russian. Both terms do not have a direct translation into the Roman alphabet, with Kiev, Kyiv, Kyyiv or Kiyev all being possibilities. But the spelling 'Kiev' is intrinsically linked with the old USSR due to its widespread use by the British and Americans while the city was under Soviet rule. This continued after independence in 1991, until 'Kyiv' was legally approved by the Ukrainian government. It was not until the Maidan uprising of 2014 the issue hit the public consciousness, with the ousting of pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych and the creation of a new administration seeking closer ties to the West. Young Ukrainians see 'Kiev' as a relic of the Soviet past, and this view is now shared by the government, which launched a 'KyivNotKiev' campaign in 2018. Advertisement

The Russians view the dish as theirs and claim it was invented in the Muscovy region of the Soviet Union in the 19th century by a chef from Kyiv. Another pro-Russian theory suggests it was invented in the 1800s in a Moscow restaurant called 'Kiev'.

A strikingly similar dish, 'chicken fried in batter', appears in the 1861 edition of the domestic bible, Mrs Beetons Book of Household Management.

Other Ukrainian oral traditions claim the Continental Hotel in central Kyiv invented the modern version of the dish in the early 20th Century.

There is another theory that the dish is French and was brought to Russia in the 1840s by chefs of the royal family who were sent to learn the latest culinary techniques in Paris.

'The dish was made in Paris with veal but in Moscow, it was made with chicken. At that time, chicken was more expensive and considered more of a delicacy,' Russian chef Viacheslav Gribov recently claimed.

Originally served only in high-end dining rooms such as the Merchant Club in Russia, Gribov claims Ukrainian chefs then perfected the modern day recipe - which does not include garlic or cheese, has a bone sticking out to stop the butter leaking, and, if done properly, some of the butter remains un-melted.

'This began as a dish for dignitaries meeting one another. You would never serve them garlic,' he said. 'We don't just learn how to make the dish; we also learn a special way of serving and cutting it to avoid butter splashing out.'

The dish eventually became more common and was served in Russian Tea Room in New York in the 1950s to cater for new immigrants. Some believe this is when the name 'chicken Kiev' was first coined.

The dish was popularised in the UK in the 1970s thanks to a range of ready meals from M&S and was a household staple by the 1980s.

Despite the confusion over where exactly the breaded dish come from, shoppers are still eager to have the name changed on shop shelves and packaging in a show of solidarity.

James Chiavarini, owner of Il Portico and Pino in west London 's Kensington High Street, revealed yesterday that chicken Kyiv is 'back in the menu' and 5 from every order would be donated to help out victims of the Russian invasion

The Chelmsford business, Our Local Butcher, also said it would be altering the spelling

James Chiavarini, owner of Il Portico and Pino in west London's Kensington High Street, revealed yesterday that chicken Kyiv is 'back in the menu' and 5 from every order would be donated to help out victims of the Russian invasion.

The high-end Dublin-based hamper, picnic and wine shop Fallon & Byrne also revealed that they were renaming their Food Hall item to 'Chicken Kyiv'. Irish food producer Finnebrogue, owner of the Better Naked brand, and Chelmsford business, Our Local Butcher, have done the same.

None of the major supermarkets have made the change but Morrisons and Sainsburys are both 'considering' and 'reviewing' the situation.

Proponents claim changing the spelling is a small, peaceful way to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine and taking a stand against Russia.

Twitter users are calling for major British supermarkets to make the change to Kyiv

One tweeted: 'I still think @marksandspencer is missing a real trick in not renaming its iconic Chicken Kiev  a dish that launched the entire ready meal industry  as Chicken Kyiv and donating profits to Ukraine Red Cross or similar. Come on, guys...'

Another posted: 'Lets start a campain to rename Chicken Kiev, the Russian name for Kyiv, to the Ukrainan name and call it Chiken Kyiv from now on. #Ukraine Support Ukraine.'

A third wrote: 'We had Chicken Kiev's for lunch; maybe Mr Tesco needs to rename them Kyiv's out of respect? #UkraineWar #PutinPackyourBags.'

A Facebook group, simply named 'Chicken Kyiv', has been created to advance the cause of renaming the beloved breaded dish.

The group's administrator wrote: 'It seems to me that a good passive protest would be to lobby supermarkets and food manufacturers to rebrand the humble Chicken Kiev in honour of the valiant city whose soviet-era name is still used.

'We should start calling the dish Chicken Kyiv, out of respect, or even Kyiv Supreme. And we should start eating it and posting pictures as another sign of support.

'Anyone working in restaurants and food retail get lobbying.'
A mother who waited five years to get a small mark on her face checked because she didn't want to seem vain was shocked to discover she had skin cancer.

Kimberley Connacher, 37, from Carluke, Lanarkshire, burned her left cheek in a firework accident a decade ago, and always assumed the tiny red mark on her face was a result of the incident.

But soon, another 'horrid' lump started growing on her temple, and so her husband Steven, 40, finally booked an appointment with their doctor last December - a decision she says saved her life.

The mum-of-three was stunned to be diagnosed with Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), a form of skin cancer, and needed immediate surgery.

Kimberley with the mark on her face much bigger after the scab fell off just before surgery. She feels lucky to be alive, having worried she would be called vain if she went to the doctor with a small facial mark

Kimberley and husband Steven, showing a small mark on Kimberley's cheek. which she assumed was caused by a firework burn a decade earlier

Kimberley recovering after surgery to remove Basal cell carcinoma, which appeared on her cheek and then her temple. Six weeks on from her operation, she is waiting to find out if all the cancer has been removed

Now, six weeks post-operation, the psychology student is hoping she will be in the clear and is urging anyone with suspicious lumps and bumps to see a doctor - pointing out that it is not just moles that need checking.

Kimberley said: 'If you have a spot, mark, pimple, or mole that doesn't look right or won't go away please get it looked at. You are not wasting doctors' time, you are worth their time.

'Especially parents, I think we put our needs last. Think if it was your child or loved one what advice would you give them?

'I'd assumed it was a burn, I didn't think it was essential to take up a doctor's time. To be honest, I thought they would think I was vain about a little mark on my face.

'The surgeon told me she'd expect to see this cancer on a person aged 65 plus, not my age. So even if you are young - get it checked out.'

Kimberley and her husband Steven, who she thanks for saving her life for making an appointment with the doctor.

Kimberley in a photo showing the small mark on her cheek when it seemed very innocent. She had always assumed it was a mark left by a firework incident.

Kimberely remembered back in November 2012 someone lit a nearby firework display box that then fell over - forcing her to use her body to protect her youngest child.

She said: 'I was burned on the face, just a tiny bit, on the right-hand side, on my cheek. I always assumed the mark on my face was from the burn.

'But recently I looked back at pictures and noticed the mark had actually appeared around 2016, so it could not have been from the firework night. The burn must have healed, and this new mark appeared on the same bit around five years ago.

'The mark on my cheek looked like a red spot. It went through a cycle of bleeding, scabbing, the scab falling off and then more bleeding.'

Kimberley showing the second pimple that appeared on her face (Left) which was in fact later diagnosed as the cancer spreading. And after surgery (right).



What you should know:

1. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common form of skin cancer and the most frequently occurring form of all cancers. 2. Because BCCs grow slowly, most are curable and cause minimal damage when caught and treated early. 3. Look for open sores, red patches, pink growths, shiny bumps, scars or growths with slightly elevated, rolled edges and/or a central indentation. 4. they rarely spread but can grow, disfigured and dangerous. Untreated, they'll become locally invasive, grow wide and deep into the skin and destroy skin, tissue and bone. Source: Skin Cancer Foundation www.skincancer.org/ Advertisement

Kimberley said she used to use factor 20 sun cream while at home in Scotland and also wore sun protection as well as a sun hat during her annual holidays abroad to Gran Canaria.

But she did use sunbeds back in 2019 once a week for a total of four months to catch a tan before going on holiday.

'Eight months ago I noticed another lump growing on the temple of my head. It was horrid looking with a red line going through it,' she added.

'I tried to pop it, tried spot cream, but I could not get it to go. I noticed people looking at it. And so my husband told me he would make an appointment with the doctor because he could see it was getting me down.

'I think I would've kept putting it off if my husband had not made the appointment. I am glad he did because it would have just spread. I credit him for saving my life.'

The part-time student said her civil servant husband sent photos of the areas of concern to the doctor in December, before they called her in for an appointment, where she was then referred to a hospital.

Kimberley then had a consultation with the plastic surgery team in January and was diagnosed with BCC and was told the lump she thought was an abscess, was actually where the cancer had spread.

Kimberley in recovery with the wound slowly healing after surgery. She said she's now very conscious of any small mark that appears on her face, worried more cancerous marks have appeared.

Kimberley after surgery and is now using her social media to urge anyone else to visit the doctor with any small mark or pimple, do not delay.

She then had surgery almost immediately to remove the mark on her cheek and the extra lump on her head with borders of healthy skin, and a third area above the lump which looked like dry skin was also biopsied.

The mum of Katie, 18, David, 15, and Andrew, 12, said she's still healing from the procedures and awaiting to be told the long term outcome.

Kimberley with her husband Steven and their three children Katie (right), Andrew, and David (left). As a parent, Kimberley felt she sometimes neglected her health but urges everyone to check anything suspicious on their body.

Kimberley said: 'Every time I see a spot I'm now worried it could be another one. I am covered in freckles and it's hard to keep track of what ones are new, old and different. I don't think I will ever sit out in the direct sun again, I will definitely be sitting in the shade.

'I have a facial scar now and I know in time it will heal. But I feel it's a reminder of this horrible time and that I am not invincible to things my family and I had only really seen on TV. If a cancer advert comes on the TV now, everybody looks at me. Before this we just didn't really think about it.

'It's made me appreciate the people in my life more. My friends and family have shown so much support and love. Everybody has been worried and I think being a parent you forget that people actually care about you.'
She was once tipped to be Prince Harry's future wife.

But now it looks like new mother Chelsy Davy, 36, could soon be walking down the aisle with one of the royal's former schoolfriends.

New mother Chelsy, 36, was spotted with a dazzling sapphire ring as she ran errands in west London, days after it emerged she has welcomed a baby with Sam Cutmore-Scott, 37, a successful hotelier who was in the year above Harry at Eton.

Details of their engagement and nuptials remain unknown but they're spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding where the wedding should be held.

For Sam is a director of his parents' hospitality company, the Bijou Collection, which owns four exclusive wedding venues, including an abbey in Buckinghamshire and an chateau in the South of France.

Bride-to-be? New mother Chelsy, 36, was spotted with a dazzling sapphire ring as she ran errands in west London, days after it emerged she has welcomed a baby with Sam Cutmore-Scott, 37, a successful hotelier who was in the year above Harry at Eton

What a sparkler! A beautiful sapphire ring with two diamonds was spotted on her ring finger

Dashing partner: Sam Cutmore-Scott, the father of Chelsy's son and rumoured fiance

Chelsy dated Prince Harry for seven years until 2010 and has remained largely out of the spotlight in the 12 years since.

The couple welcomed son Leo in January without virtually anyone knowing she was pregnant and her relationship with Mr Cutmore-Scott had remained secret until it was revealed this weekend.

Zimbabwe-born beauty Chelsy was sporting the sparkler when she popped out earlier this week.

Typically low-key, the socialite donned a smart-casual ensemble of check trousers, a burgundy top and beany for the outing, and carried her puffer coat over her arm.

Chelsy and Harry have stayed amicable since breaking up in 2010 after a seven-year romance. In 2011 they went to Prince William's wedding together. Above, at a royal event in 2008

Sam is managing director at The Harper hotel in Holt, Norfolk, and Chelsy shared a photo online last week of their dogs on a beach a few miles away.

He's the brother of Jack Cutmore-Scott, 34, the dashing Hollywood actor best-known for his role in Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning film Tenet and the U.S. drama series Deception.

Chelsy and Oxford graduate Sam live together in Chiswick, West London. Their baby was born at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in January.

Prince Harry's ex Chelsy Davy wrapped up in a navy puffer jacket as she stepped out for her first appearance in public since welcoming a baby with her Old Etonian partner

The mother-of-one, 36, opted to wear a cosy jacket with a pair of denim jeans and brown boots as she stepped out of her London home to walk her dog earlier this week

Party-loving Chelsy, who was born in Zimbabwe and now runs a jewellery and luxury travel business, revealed in 2020 that she had a serious boyfriend.

At the time, she did not give his name, explaining: 'There is someone, and I am quite taken by this one, but it's very new and I don't want to say too much.'

Her last known boyfriend before then was dashing television producer James Marshall, from whom she split in 2018.

Chelsy began dating Prince Harry while she was a pupil at Cheltenham Ladies' College.

The pair had an on-off relationship for seven years until they split in 2011, as Chelsy didn't want to be a royal bride.

Chelsy cut a low-key figure as she donned a pair of sunglasses and a white beanie hat to walk her dog in London this week
On Wednesday, former President Trump stated that he believes China would attack Taiwan and that it will happen sooner rather than later.

When asked if he felt an invasion would come sooner rather than later during an interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, Trump responded he did "because they're seeing how dumb the United States is run."

Trump Predicts That China Will Invade Taiwan Soon

China has implied support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, raising worries of a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which Beijing claims sovereignty over.

Trump has had a rocky relationship with China, which he was chastised for being too tight with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his administration. Relations between the United States and China reached a new low in Trump's final year in office when the Trump administration blamed Beijing for the coronavirus outbreak.

Trump, who is considering a bid for the presidency in 2024 and is the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination, has repeatedly assailed Biden's ideas. He attacked the Biden administration's handling of the Afghanistan drawdown in the Fox Business interview, stating that Chinese President Xi Jinping was drawing lessons from how the US handled the situation.

A US team led by former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mike Mullen is visiting Taiwan this week to express support for President Tsai Ing-wen and other Taiwanese authorities. Beijing has expressed its displeasure with the planned visit.

Trump went on to say that his assurance stems from the United States' lack of meaningful response to the invasion of Ukraine. Because of this, as well as the failure in Ukraine, Trump went on to say that this is Xi's greatest chance to achieve what China has desired for decades, as per The Hill.

Trump went on to argue that the escalation is the result of NATO's weakness and inability to respond and that Biden made a tactical error by publicly declaring that he would not fight the Russians over their invasion. According to CNN, this has prompted the attendance of a US team led by former Joint Chiefs of Staff member Michael Flynn and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen to reassure Taiwan of America's obligations in the area.

Tsai, on the other hand, maybe less confident than Mullen in reassuring Taiwanese citizens, given her words echo Trump's criticisms of Biden's inaction. Taiwan is "on the front lines of the battle for democracy," according to Tsai, and its citizens have "deep empathy" with Ukraine's "determination to safeguard freedom and democracy."

Read Also: Trump Seeks To Avoid Testifying in New York Investigation by Filing Appeal Against a Judge's Decision

White House Reportedly Shares Intelligence With China

Meanwhile, Kash Patel, a former Pentagon official, aimed at the Biden administration on Sunday, claiming that the White House shared intelligence with China regarding Russia's troop moves near Ukraine.

According to the New York Times, President Joe Biden's senior officials met with counterparts in Beijing six times over three months while Russian President Vladimir Putin aggressively deployed forces on Ukraine's borders.

The US hoped that Chinese President Xi Jinping would persuade Putin not to strike its neighbor. Each time, the Western calls for assistance were ignored, with China insisting that an invasion was unlikely.

Meanwhile, Beijing and Moscow were exchanging critical information. Officials claimed China's message to the Kremlin, which coincided with US intelligence findings, was that the US was simply aiming to foment strife and that China would not stand in the way of whatever Russia's intentions were.

In the early hours of Thursday morning last week, Putin personally authorized a military assault against Ukraine. Explosions erupted in the areas surrounding the nation's cities in a matter of minutes. Since then, Kyiv's military has been fending off an unprovoked invasion by Moscow, which has encompassed air, land, and sea offensives, Daily Mail reported.

Related Article: Joe Biden Delivers His First State of the Union Address; POTUS Warns Vladimir Putin "He Has No Idea What's Coming"

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Queen Letizia of Spain sent a supportive message to the people of Ukraine as she sported one of the country's traditional blouses to chair an event for the Mutua Madrilena Foundation in Madrid.

The mother-of-two, 49, paired the white blouse with simple black cigarette-style trousers, black stilettos, a wide black snakeskin belt, and a black patent clutch bag thought to be designed by Carolina Herrera.

Her folk blouse, known as the 'vyshyvanka' is a national Ukrainian embroidered shirt.

Every stitch and decoration on the blouses have their own meaning, with the decoration traditionally considered to be a talisman against bad luck.

The Royal opted to show her support for Ukraine during her appearance, donning a traditional folklore blouse from the country

Queen Letizia of Spain, 49, takes to the lectern as she chairs the 10th Annual Call for Grants for Social Projects of the Mutua Madrilena Foundation in Madrid

Spanish media has praised the royal for her outfit, with Estilo y Vida saying the queen showed 'great sensitivity' in opting to wear the traditional Slavic blouse.

Her appearance was to chair the 10th Annual Call for Grants for Social Projects of the Mutua Madrilena Foundation, a Spanish non-profit organization created by insurance company Mutua Madrilena to donate some of its profits to promote health-related scientific research.

Since its launch in 2004, the foundation has granted more than 1,000,000 to more than 36 social projects from a range of non-profit organisations.

Projects which receive the grants, should demonstrate that they are supporting vulnerable groups of people, including children suffering from health problems, people with disabilities, and those at risk of gender-based violence.

Letizia made sure her blouse was the star of her outfit, choosing to pair it with simple black chic trousers and accessories

The royal opted for black stilettos and a wide black snakeskin belt to accompany her white, embroidered blouse

Much has been made in the Spanish media of the Royal's choice of outfit. While the royal family tends to remain neutral in political matters, Letizia made her support for Ukraine clear

Keeping her look at the event simple, but chic, Letizia left her chocolate brown locks loose, but neatly blowdried into a smooth and shiny 'do.

An elegant sweep of light plum eyeshadow dusted her eyes, which were further emphasised with dark eyeliner.

Her jewellery was minimalist, just small gold hoop earrings, and a gold signet ring on her index finger.

She also opted to stick with her usual understated elegant make-up look, pairing a light dusting of plum eyeshadow with a sweep of liner

According to Spanish media reports, Letizia's understated black clutch bag, which features gold hardware, is designed by Carolina Herrera. Letizia's black stilettos shoes are thought to be from Spanish footwear brand Magrit, which was established almost 100 years ago

The royal was pictured arriving at the event with Minister of Justice Pilar Llop (pictured, right) at the Mutua Madrilena in Madrid

One Spanish media outlet praised the royal for her 'great sensitivity' in opting to don the national blouse of Ukraine

She also wore a white face coverings to keep safe and remain in compliance with current Spanish Covid-19 restrictions.

The appearance caps a busy few weeks for the royal, after her husband King Felipe made his first public appearance just last week after testing positive for coronavirus in early February.

Earlier this week, she attended the Gold Medals of Merit in Fine Arts 2020 ceremony with her recently recuperated husband.

While arriving at the auditorium, Letizia wrapped a black blazer around her shoulders, to ward off the brisk March weather

The stylish royal showed off her expertise in navigating the stairs in her tall heels, while looking elegant

Graceful: the queen took to her seat, sitting alone as the surrounding chairs were kept empty due to Covid guidelines

Event attendees gave the royal a standing ovation as she took to the stage to deliver her speech

The couple delivered Golden Medals of Merit in the Fine Arts, an award granted by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The awards are given to individuals or institutions who have excelled in an artistic of cultural capacity, providing 'valuable services' to the promotion of arts and culture.

During her appearance, Letizia donned an elegant fuchsia pink dress, and wore her brown locks in a bouncy blow dry.

King Felipe opted for a black pinstripe suit with a light blue shirt and burgundy tie to add a pop of colour like his wife.

Queen Letizia of Spain looked the picture in pink as she attended the Gold Medals of Merit in Fine Arts 2020 ceremony with husband King Felipe earlier this week

The royal, who is celebrating her 50th birthday later this year, stole the show with her gorgeous pink dress as she happily handed out the arts and cultural awards

King Felipe opted for a black pinstripe suit with a light blue shirt and burgundy tie at the event, complementing his wife's colourful dress

King Felipe wore a suave black pinstripe suit with a light blue shirt and burgundy tie to add a pop of colour like his wife

The couple, who attended the event without their two children, applauded the winners for their new awards after their great contributions to Spanish arts and culture.

And last week, busy Letizia opened a contemporary art fair in Madrid, looking poised and elegant donning a navy pinstripe suit.

The opening at the the country's capital saw the Spanish Queen look effortlessly stylish as she opened the ARCO 2022 Contemporary Art Fair at Ifema.

Art-lover Letizia showcased her slender frame in a wrap-suit which featured cinched waist detailing and sharp shoulders.
Prince Charles was greeted by groups of schoolchildren fans waving Ukrainian flags during his visit to Winchester this morning.

Charles, 73, travelled to Hampshire to officially open The Arc cultural centre and to see a statue of Licoricia of Winchester, a medieval personality who married the richest Jewish man of Britain, David of Oxford and lent significant funds to King Henry III during the 13th century.

Charles had meant to unveil the statue himself during a visit which was due to take place on February 10, but had to be cancelled when he tested positive for covid-19. The statues was still unveiled by Lord Lieutenant Nigel Atkinson and local school children.

Dressed in a tan overcoat and a light gray suit today, Charles made up for his delayed visit with warmth and good spirits.

Charles, 73, travelled to Hampshire to see a statue of Licoricia of Winchester, a medieval personality who married the richest Jewish man of Britain, David of Oxford and lent significant funds to King Henry III during the 13th century. Fans were seen waving Ukrainian flags

The heir-to-the-throne opened the Arc Cultural centre during his visit and chatted with young fans

The Prince of Wales was initially scheduled to unveil the statue last month, but was forced to cancel the engagement after he tested positive for Covid

When he arrived, he was met with a group of young fans, some of whom were donning fancy dress to mark World Book Day.

The Prince of Wales waved at the young people who had gathered in hopes to see him.

His tan coat was buttoned up on a grey suit, which he paired with a light pink tie, a crisp white shirt and a stylish pocket square.

The future monarch was gifted a bouquet of daffodils while he went on a walkabout of the city.

The royal appeared overjoyed to view the statue, having initially delayed his visit to the city after testing positive for Covid

The Prince of Wales arrived in a tan overcoat. He later took it off to reveal a grey suit, which he paired with a pink tie and lilac pocket square

Fans who had come to see Charles were seen waving Ukrainian flags during the Prince of Wales' visit

Charles was seen chatting with royal fans who showed support for Ukraine during his visit today

He also chatted with school children after he officially opened the The Arc cultural centre.

He had a particular attention for the fans in the crowd who were waving Ukrainian flags in the wake of the Russian's offensive on the Eastern European country last week.

His initial visit was cancelled last month when he tested positive for coronavirus during a routine health check prior to the engagement.

A statement from Clarence House read at the time: 'HRH is deeply disappointed not to be able to attend today's events in Winchester and will look to reschedule his visit as soon as possible.'

The Prince of Wales held the hand of a fan holding a Ukrainian flag during his visit to WInchester this morning

The royal warmly shook hands with a fan waving a jubilee. In the background, a fan with an Ukrainian flag seemed overcome with emotion

Young children had both the Ukrainian and the royal Jubilee flags in their hands during the royal visit

The unveilling went on without him, and today, the Prince of Wales stopped in Winchester to see the statue for himself.

The bronze statue showed Licoricia and her son. The 13th century woman was a widow and a single mother and a highly influential figure in Britain at the time.

She married the richest Jewish men of Britain at the time, David of Oxford, and while their union was short-lived, with David dying a few years later, she inherited his wealth and social standing.

After David's death, brave Licoricia was detained by the King, to make sure he woulds receive his portion of David's estate. After this, she returned home, where she raised her son and looked after her late husband's business.

She gained prominence throughout her life as a royal lender and would financed several projects in the south of England.

However, as antisemitism grew around the country at the time, she and her servant were murdered in her home and found by her young daughter Alice.

The royal, who had to cancel his visit to Winchester last month when he tested positive to covid-19, met with local members of the law enforcement

School children greeted Prince Charles with their royal Jubilee 2022 flags when he arrived in Winchester this morning

Yesterday, Prince Charles praised the 'brave' Ukrainian people in an impromptu speech as a tearful Camilla comforted the ambassador's wife and met with schoolchildren during an emotional visit to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London.

The royal couple were greeted by Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko, and his wife, Inna Prystaiko, at the site near Bond Street.

In an unscripted speech during the visit, Prince Charles said: 'I must say my wife and I have been deeply moved by everything we've heard today during our visit.

'Above all, by the extraordinary bravery, generosity and fortitude of the Ukrainian community in the face of such truly terrible aggression.

'Our thoughts and prayers, however inadequate they may be, are with all of you at this most difficult time.'
The Duchess of Cambridge has shared some of her favourite children's books to mark World Book Day.

Kate, 40, revealed some of the classic titles she enjoys reading with her children, George, eight, Charlotte, six, and Louis, three, including Stig Of The Dump and the Katie Morag series.

Of Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, the Duchess said: 'An all-time classic and loved in our house for obvious reasons! This is a charming story about friendship, loyalty and love.'

Storytime with Kate! The Duchess of Cambridge revealed her favourite books to mark World Book Day. Pictured, reading The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark on CBeebies

Family favourites: On the list is The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark, which she read on CBeebies Bedtime Stories last month. Of Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White, the Duchess said: 'An all-time classic and loved in our house for obvious reasons!'

Also on the list is The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark, which she read on CBeebies Bedtime Stories last month.

Kate shared her picks with the Duchess of Cornwall's The Reading Room initiative, which unveiled a children's section of the website today to mark World Book Day.

She focused on children's books due to her personal interest in Early Childhood development and children's mental health, which has become a cornerstone of her work.

The Duchess told how Clive King's Stig Of The Dump appealed to her lifelong love of the outdoors.

Perfect for bedtime: Also in her top five is Libby Walden's book Feelings, which explores emotions. The Duchess said Stig Of The Dump appealed to her love of the outdoors

Family favourites and memories of her own childhood: Kate's top 5 children's books revealed The Owl Who Was Afraid Of The Dark, By Jill Tomlinson About the book: Plop the Baby Barn Owl is afraid of the dark. He is so scared he won't even go hunting with his family. So Mrs Barn Owl sends him down from his nest-hole, where he will meet a series of friends who will convince him that perhaps there is a little bit of magic in the dark after all. What Kate says: I loved this book as a little girl and listening to my own children reading it has brought back so many wonderful memories. A comforting story to help children face their fears and grow in confidence with the help of others Stig Of The Dump, By Clive King About the book: Nobody believes Barney when he says he's discovered a boy living wild in the dump. But for Barney, Stif is totally real. They become great friends, learn each other's ways and embark on a series of exciting adventures. What Kate says: As a child I loved spending time outdoors, making dens, digging, discovering and making things out of odds and ends. Whether this was why my father recommended this book to me or whether this book inspired my imagination, I can't remember, but I have never forgotten this brilliant book and the values it teaches. Charlotte's Web, By E. B. White About the book: For fifty years, this timeless tale of how a little girl named Fern, with the help of a friendly spider, saved her pig Wilbur from the usual fate of nice fat little pigs has continued to warm the hearts of readers everywhere. What Kate says: An all-time classic and loved in our house for obvious reasons! This is a charming story about friendship, loyalty and love. Katie Morag Series, By Mairi Hedderwick About the book: Whether she's posting parcels to the wrong addresses, helping Grannie Island with a winning sheep, having problems with a troublesome ted or dealing with her naughty big boy cousins, Katie Morag is always up to something. What Kate says: Fun stories for children of all ages and a great book for older children to read to younger siblings. These books are filled with captivating and beautiful illustrations to accompany the text so theres lots to talk about! Feelings, By Libby Walden About the book: Accompanied by brilliant illustrations, the lyrical text explores the world of emotions to help children understand and navigate the universal and unique nature of feelings. What Kate says: This little book is a wonderful way to help children understand and recognise their feelings and emotions, and brings to life the importance of empathy. Advertisement

'As a child I loved spending time outdoors, making dens, digging, discovering and making things out of odds and ends,' she said.

'Whether this was why my father recommended this book to me or whether this book inspired my imagination, I can't remember, but I have never forgotten this brilliant book and the values it teaches.'

Also in her top five is Libby Walden's book Feelings, which explores emotions.

Kate said: 'This little book is a wonderful way to help children understand and recognise their feelings and emotions, and brings to life the importance of empathy.'

The Duchess added of the Katie Morag series, by Mairi Hedderwick: 'Fun stories for children of all ages and a great book for older children to read to younger siblings.

Reading along: Kate said the Katie Morag books are great for siblings to read to each other

'These books are filled with captivating and beautiful illustrations to accompany the text so there's lots to talk about.'

Last month Kate narrated one of her favourite children's books, The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark, by Jill Tomlinson, on Cbeebies Bedtime Stories.

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark tells the story of Plop, the Baby Barn Owl, who learns to overcome his fear of the dark through encounters with a host of friendly characters.

The Duchess said of the book: 'I loved this book as a little girl and listening to my own children reading it has brought back so many wonderful memories.

'A comforting story to help children face their fears and grow in confidence with the help of others.'
A three-part opera written by a lusty suffragette composer who had affairs with both married men and women is set to be staged this summer for the first time.

Dame Ethel Smyth, who wrote the suffragette movement's March Of The Women, lived a wildly eccentric life, at one stage, falling in love with Emmeline Pankhurst and Virginia Woolf.

Meanwhile she also simultaneously had an affair with the wife of one marriage and the husband of another.

She ended up wrapped in tweed suits and Old English Sheepdogs, living alone in a cottage in Woking and was described as 'a thin, resolute woman, touched with no sense of the shocking, who laughs at all the follies of the world'.

Her three-part opera, The Wreckers, is due to be performed on stage by a professional company in it's original French form for the first time, when it is staged at this year's Glyndebourne Festival.

A three-part opera written by Dame Ethel Smyth, who also penned the suffragette movement's March Of The Women, is set to be staged this summer for the first time in 80 years

Ethel was born the fourth of eight children in Sidcup, where her father, who was a major general in the Royal Artillery, was very opposed to her making a career from music.

Despite this, she began studying privately with Alexander Ewing when she was seventeen.

It was through him she was introduced her to the music of Wagner and Berlioz.

After a major battle with her father about her plans to devote her life to music, Ethel was allowed to advance her musical education at the Leipzig Conservatory, where she studied composition with Carl Reinecke.

She ended up wrapped in tweed suits and Old English Sheepdogs, living alone in a cottage in Woking and was described as 'a thin, resolute woman, touched with no sense of the shocking, who laughs at all the follies of the world'

However she left after a year, having become disillusioned with the low standard of teaching, and continued her music studies privately with Heinrich von Herzogenberg.

While she was at the Leipzig Conservatory, she met Dvorak, Grieg and Tchaikovsky. Through Herzogenberg, she also met Clara Schumann and Brahms.

Upon her return to England, she formed a supportive friendship with Arthur Sullivan in the last years of his life, who respected her and encouraged her work.

It was during this period that she began questioning her sexuality, writing to a close friend Henry Bennet Brewster n 1892: 'I wonder why it is so much easier for me to love my own sex more passionately than yours.

'I can't make it out, for I am a very healthy-minded person.'

Ethel, who wrote the suffragette movement's March Of The Women, lived a wildly eccentric life, at one stage, falling in love with Emmeline Pankhurst and Virginia Woolf

She had affairs with multiple women, and appeared to only engage sexually with one man, Henry, during her life.

After having an affair with the married Henry, she stayed with him (in different homes) but he was 'never jealous of my women friends . . . every new affection enriches older ties'.

The second of her six operas, Der Wald, became the first by a woman to be staged at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1902.

It was her three-act opera which she was most proud of, The Wreckers, which premiered in 1906 in Germany.

She had affairs with multiple women, and appeared to only engage sexually with one man, during her life

She said it was the work 'by which I stand and fall.'

She was inspired to write the piece about her relationship with Henry, his wife Julia, whom she was also attracted to, as well as Julia's sister, whom she had been in a relationship with.

The Wreckers tells the story of a fisherman, Mark, who is in love with Thirza, who is married to a preacher, Pascoe.

The group live in an isolated Cornish community where locals try to lure ships onto rocks to plunder their cargo.

Author Charles Reid described how she desperately sought success for her opera, 'striding around Europe, cigar in mouth, trying to sell her opera The Wreckers to timorous or stubborn impresarios.'

Author Charles Reid described how she desperately sought success for The Wreckers, 'striding around Europe, cigar in mouth, trying to sell her opera The Wreckers to timorous or stubborn impresarios'

She was enraged that the play was performed in German and, devastated by the cuts made to the final version, stole all the parts from the orchestra pit.

She later wrote an English translation in a desperate attempt to secure future performances.

However she failed to find success, and was panned for writing music that was considered too masculine for a 'lady composer'.

In 1910, she joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WPSU), which agitated for women's suffrage, giving up music for two years to devote herself to the cause.

During one stage, she fell in love with the married suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.

In 1910, she joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WPSU), which agitated for women's suffrage, giving up music for two years to devote herself to the cause

She accompanied the charismatic leader of the WSPU on many occasions, and her 'The March of the Women' became the anthem of the suffragette movement.

In 1912, she joined a group of 109 who Pankhurst called on to break the windows of the house of any politician who opposed votes for women.

She asked to be sent to attack the home of Colonial Secretary Lewis Harcourt, who had remarked that if his wife's beauty and wisdom was present in all women, they would have already won the vote.

Along with 100 other women, she was arrested and ended up spending two months in Holloway Prison.

Ethel accompanied Emmeline (pictured on a march) on many occasions, and her 'The March of the Women' became the anthem of the suffragette movement

During this period, Thomas Beecham visited her there to discover suffragettes marching past her room and singing, while she leaned out of a window conducting the song with a toothbrush.

She later recalled her prison experience in her book Female Pipings in Eden, writing she was in 'good company' with a united group of women who were 'old, young, rich, poor, strong, delicate'.

Meanwhile she also explained how the prison was infested with cockroaches, even in the hospital ward.

She was found to mentally unstable and hysterical during a medical assessment and therefore was released early.

Although she stayed in close contact with Emmeline, she strongly disagreed with the support she and her daughter Christabel gave to the war effort in 1914.

Despite her personal reservations, she did train as a radiographer in Paris.

Her fractious friendship with Christabel ended in 1925, and Ethel conducted the Metropolitan Police Band at the unveiling of the statue to Emmeline in London in 1930.

At the age of 71, she fell in love with writer Virginia Woolf  herself having worked in the women's suffrage movement  who, both alarmed and amused, said it was 'like being caught by a giant crab'.

In recognition of her work as a composer and writer, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1922, becoming the first female composer to be awarded a damehood.

She died in Woking in 1944 at the age of 86, with little trace of her legacy remembered. There were no recordings of her music, and her scores were placed in archives.

However in 1994, her work began gaining prominence again, with the BBC Proms supporting a semi-staged performance of The Wreckers.

It is only now, some eighty years after it was written, her work The Wreckers will be performed in it's original French version at the Glyndebourne.

Director Melly Still told The Times they hoped it could 'win the hearts of international public posthumously'.
Julia Fox has opened up about her whirlwind relationship with Kayne West, saying she lost 15 pounds the month they were together and ultimately broke up with the rapper because being with him 'just wasnt sustainable.'

The Italian-born, New York-raised actress, 32, met West, 44, on New Year's Eve at a surprise performance in Miami and was launched to fame as his new love interest. However, just six weeks later, she announced their split on Valentine's Day.

'I tried my best to make it work,' she told the New York Times. 'I already had a jam-packed life. How do I fit this really big personality into this already full life? It just wasnt sustainable. I lost like 15 pounds in that month.'

Julia Fox, 32, opened up about her whirlwind relationship with Kanye West, 44, in a new interview with the New York Times, saying it was 'a crash course on how to be famous'

Fox explained she tried to make their relationship work but 'it just wasn't sustainable,' saying she lost 15 pounds the month they were together. She is pictured in 2019 (left) and 2022 (right)

The Italian-born, New York-raised actress met the rapper on New Year's Eve at a surprise performance in Miami and was launched to fame as his new love interest

Fox described the time she spent with West as being 'a crash course on how to be famous.' When asked if their relationship was a publicity stunt, she noted 'there were definitely elements of it that were real.'

'It definitely felt like I was his girlfriend. But it also felt like I was being cast in the role of his girlfriend  and he was casting me,' she elaborated. 'He was the orchestrator of it all. It really did feel like a movie.'

The Uncut Gems star said she didn't think they were exclusive but dismissed the rumor that she had been interviewed to be his girlfriend, calling it 'ridiculous.' She also denied signing a nondisclosure agreement.

According to her estimation, they had only spent about 15 days together, when factoring in their other personal obligations. Fox has a one-year-old son, Valentino, with her ex-husband, pilot Peter Artemiev.

Meanwhile, West is going through a divorce with his ex, Kim Kardashian, with whom he shares four children: North, Saint, Chicago, and Psalm.

When asked if their relationship was a publicity stunt, the Uncut Gems star noted 'there were definitely elements of it that were real' and she 'felt like' she was his girlfriend

However, Fox (pictured with West at the Schiaparelli haute couture show in Paris in January) added that it also felt like she was being 'cast in a role' and West was 'the orchestrator of it all'

Fox has a one-year-old son, Valentino, with her ex-husband, pilot Peter Artemiev. They are pictured together last year

Fox claimed she was the one who ended their relationship, but said it was amicable.

Calling West the 'ultimate stunt queen,' she credited the designer with fostering her new relationships in the fashion industry.

Fresh off their breakup, she made her catwalk debut on February 15 at the LaQuan Smith autumn/winter 2022 show during New York Fashion Week.

Then she headed to Milan  the city where she was born. It was West who helped her nab a front-row seat at the Diesel fashion show last week.

A few days later, Fox donned head-to-toe latex to attend the Versace show, where she sat in the front row and posed for photos with Donatella Versace herself.

Fox denied the rumor that she had been interviewed to be his girlfriend and chalked up their breakup to her already having a 'jam-packed life'

While celebrating Fox's 32nd birthday last month, West gave her and four of her friends Hermes Birkin bags. The starting cost of a Birkin is $10,000

Fox admitted she is too nervous to carry around the ostrich leather Birkin that West picked out for her, saying it's 'the most anxiety-inducing thing ever' for someone who's not rich

While she was in Milan, she lost a close friend to a drug overdose. The day after the Versace show, she flew back to New York and picked up her friend's body from the morgue.

Fox has been candid about her past, including a brief stint as a dominatrix and her battle with drugs, previously revealing she had used heroin and suffered more than one overdose.

She told the New York Times that she stopped using pills and opiates in March 2019 and was officially 'scared straight' when a friend had an overdose that year.

And while their brief relationship has now come to an end, Fox, who has become a household name in just weeks, made it clear that she was grateful for the time she spent with West.

'Look at the big picture,' she said. That was amazing for me. The exposure was priceless.'

'But I do think eventually Ill surpass the Kanye narrative,' she added. 'Believe it or not, Kanyes not the most interesting thing thats ever happened to me.'

Fox claimed she was the one who ended their relationship. Fresh off their breakup, she made her catwalk debut at the LaQuan Smith show during New York Fashion Week

Fox credited West with fostering her new relationships in the fashion industry. She sat in the front row at the Diesel (left) and Versace (right) shows during Milan Fashion Week

Fox, who struck a pose with Donatella Versace at the designer's show, said the exposure she got while she was with West was 'priceless'

West has since moved on with his new 'muse' Chaney Jones, but Fox doesn't think he is 'dumb enough' to go public with details of their personal relationship like he has done with Kardashian and others.

'I dont think that he would want to open that door with me,' she said. 'If you come for me, Im going to come for you. And Im really good at coming for people. I just go straight for the jugular.'

As for the Hermes Birkin bags West gave to Fox and four of her friends at her 32nd birthday party, she admitted she's too nervous to carry it around.

The starting price for a Birkin is $10,000, and West picked out an ostrich leather bag for her in black based on her personality. After a few days of wearing it, she put it back in its orange Hermes box.

'I dont know if you know about owning a Birkin when youre not a rich person, but its like the most anxiety-inducing thing ever,' she said. 'Youre checking on the Birkin, making sure its still there, that it didnt magically grow wings.

'Its scary to have a Birkin. Its a lot of pressure.'
The Duchess of Cambridge is 'sharing more' about her family because she 'needed to raise the bar' following the Queen's recent health struggles and Megxit, a royal biographer has claimed.

Kate Middleton, 40, who shares Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three, with Prince William, 39, has spoken candidly about her children on recent visits.

Days ago, she explained how her children had been learning farming skills during half-term, as well as admitting she feels 'broody' when she works with babies on a recent trip to Copenhagen.

Royal biographer Sarah Gristwood said the mother-of-three's candid confessions showed she has opened up in the last year, telling People: 'The changing times have required Kate to start to share a bit more.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 40, is 'sharing more' about her family because she 'needed to raise the bar' following the Queen's recent health struggles and Megxit, a royal biographer has claimed (pictured with Prince George at Twickenham on Saturday)

'She's done it carefully enough to be relatable  nothing that would cause controversy and nothing that could be considered oversharing.'

In recent weeks, the Duchess has appeared particularly candid about the family's life at home.

Last week, Kate spoke about feeling broody, joking that meeting babies always makes her want another one while chatting to parents at Copenhagen's Children's Museum.

At the Children's Museum, Kate heard about the Understanding Your Baby research project which trains health visitors to help new parents as they begin to notice and interpret their babies' behavioural cues.

In recent weeks, the Duchess has appeared particularly candid about the family's life at home (pictured with Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis)

After meeting with two eight-month-old baby boys and their parents, she joked: 'It makes me very broody.

'William always worries about me meeting under one-year-olds. I come home saying, 'let's have another one'.'

Meanwhile she and Prince William were joined by Prince George at the weekend as they watched the England vs Wales game at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.

And days ago, the future Prince and Princess of Wales were visiting a goat farm in Llanvetherine, near Abergavenny, and shared how Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis had helped with their animals during half term.

It is thought the family were in Norfolk, where the Prince of Wales has been working to turn the Queen's Sandringham estate into a fully organic operation.

Last week, Kate spoke about feeling broody, joking that meeting babies always makes her want another one while chatting to parents at Copenhagen's Children's Museum

As they toured Pant Farm, where Gary and Jess Yeomans, both 50, produce goats' milk that has supplied a local cheesemaker for the past two decades, William spotted a robot silage sweeper in one of the barns.

Gary explained it could also be used to move feed, and the duchess replied: 'That was George's job at half term - moving feed.'

William told his hosts the children had been getting involved on the farm and added: 'We are trying some Agroforestry as well.'

Meanwhile Kate told her hosts: 'I was looking into my ancestry and there was someone who was a rare breed goat farmer. I will have to find out which one it was. It was just after the First World War.'

With Prince Andrew's legal difficulties, the Queen's Covid battle, as well as the Firm's concerns over the imminent publication of Prince Harry's upcoming memoir, the Duchess has been touted as playing a key role in shaping the future of the Monarchy.

With the Firm's concerns over the imminent publication of Prince Harry's upcoming memoir, the Duchess has been touted as playing a key role in shaping the future of the Monarchy (pictured Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday)

Having already been writing for a year, the prince is set to turn in a manuscript, which he promised will be a 'first-hand account of my life that's accurate and wholly truthful', by the end of this year. It is set to hit the shelves in 2022.

In addition, members of the Royal Family will also have to prepare themselves for series five of Netflix drama The Crown, which has started filming and will dramatise a notoriously difficult period of time in their recent history.

It will cover the Queen's 'annus horribilis', a Latin phrase meaning horrible year which she used in 1992 to describe the collapse of three of her children's marriages - including Prince Charles' to Princess Diana - and the fire that severely damaged her Windsor Castle home.
Sandra Lee has opened up about undergoing a hysterectomy earlier this week, saying the surgery was a 'bit rough' and she has a 'long road of recovery ahead.'

The Food Network star, 55, took to Instagram on Thursday  two days after the procedure to remove her uterus  to share a heartfelt message with her fans and give them an update on her health.

'Hello everyone, just quick note to sincerely say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for the outpouring of love and well wishes,' wrote Lee, who battled breast cancer and had a double mastectomy nearly seven years ago.

Sandra Lee, 55, opened up about her hysterectomy on Instagram, saying the surgery was a 'bit rough' and she has a 'long road of recovery ahead'

'It makes me so happy to read your notes Regarding the surgery  honestly it was a bit rough, but I am resting (hard for me you know I like to work), I am sleeping a lot and I have set my alarm to stay ahead of the pain relief medication, Lordy this is painful I have to say.'

Lee went on to thank her loved ones, including her fiance, Ben Youcef, who was by her side when she had the surgery.

The Food Network star also thanked her fans and loved ones for their support

'Although I have a long road of recovery ahead I am grateful that this is the end of one chapter and the beginning of another, and I am so thankful to be writing this today and to my family, friends, sweet Ben and ALL OF YOU for the wonderful support,' she concluded her post. 'Thank you so so much  with lots of love and appreciation!!'

Along with her message, she shared a selfie that shows her resting in bed wearing a striped nightgown.

In Lee's previous Instagram post that was shared on Tuesday, she revealed she was undergoing a hysterectomy after her gynecologist noticed a change in her cells.

'Soooooo this is happening! Several years ago I was supposed to have quite an intense surgery. It was a follow up to my breast cancer surgery, but I had repeatedly put it off and then COVID hit,' she explained.

'Fast forward to now, during a routine appointment with my gynecologist, she noticed a change in some of my cells. I went for a second and third opinion and they all confirmed the same.'

On Tuesday, she revealed on Instagram that she is undergoing a hysterectomy, saying a gynecologist noticed a 'noticed a change in some of my cells'

Lee's fiance, Ben Youcef, was by her side when she underwent the procedure to remove her uterus

A change in the cells covering the cervix, the lower part of the womb, can lead to an abnormal cervical screening test result.

'These change are not cancer,' according to Cancer Research UK. 'The cells often go back to normal by themselves. But in some women, if not treated, these changes could develop into cancer in the future.'

Lee said she immediately thought of a conversation she had with a friend who told her years ago that she could consider getting a complete hysterectomy.

'But after all of the issues I had experienced with my breast cancer surgery, the last thing I wanted to do was have another major operation  so I didnt!' she shared.

'Over the last few years I have watched and admired the grace of other women who went public with their own health decision while I sat on the sidelines in awe and with a bit of fear. Brave women, like my friends mother who sadly had lost her battle with breast cancer after it had spread to her ovaries.'

Lee, pictured with her ex, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2012, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015

Cuomo was by her side when she underwent a double mastectomy in 2015 and started reconstructive surgery a year later

Sources told Page Six that reading about Amy Schumer and Angelina Jolie's medical issues gave Lee the strength to move forward with the surgery.

Schumer, 40, had a hysterectomy and an appendectomy last year to treat endometriosis, a painful uterine condition.

Meanwhile, Jolie, 46, underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 after she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene, which dramatically increased her risk of cancer. Two years later, she had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.

Jolie's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died in 2007 at age 56 after a nearly eight-year battle with ovarian and breast cancer.

'I admit, I am a little embarrassed that I hadnt had the courage to get this final stage done until now,' Lee wrote in her candid post. 'So while youre reading this post I am undergoing hysterectomy surgery. A surgery that so many brave women before me have had to do.

Lee, pictured in January, admitted had been putting off having a hysterectomy for years 'and then COVID hit'

Sources said reading about Amy Schumer (left) and Angelina Jolie (right) having similar procedures gave Lee the strength to move forward with the surgery

'I admit, I am a little embarrassed that I hadnt had the courage to get this final stage done until now,' Lee wrote in her candid post

'Itll be an everything out procedure and after that, there wont be any more halo of worry hanging over my head. My sweet Ben is with me and will be taking a little time off work to stay home.'

Lee noted that she is grateful for everyone's support, saying her 'friends and family have been incredible.'

'I am filled with all sorts of emotions. I am scared but also happy to be getting this done  strength and courage!' she said 'We must always remember to have strength and courage.'

'Hopefully this will encourage anyone who needs to get a concerning procedure done to take the opportunity now so you can live as happy and healthy as possible,' she concluded her post. 'We must all live our best lives every day and in every way.

'With that I send you all the love in the world, your well wishes and prayers are appreciated more than you know.'

Lee moved to Malibu after she and Cuomo split in September 2019, and she met Youcef nearly two years later in March 2021

Youcef proposed to Lee in August during their whirlwind trip to France

Lee's ex, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, was by her side when she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy in 2015.

She praised him for being incredibly supportive during her cancer battle and subsequent reconstructive surgeries.

Lee developed an infection from her double mastectomy and was rushed to the hospital in August 215.

'I did my very best to avoid this (when I tell you I did everything, I mean everything  modern, Eastern and holistic) but infection is an incredible monster,' she wrote in a Facebook message to fans at the time.

'I am a long way from where I was and a long way from where I need to be, but at this point I understand that right now I just need to complete this unexpected phase of a tough journey.'

Lee praised Youcef in a gushing Valentine's Day post last month

She shared a carousel of photos of them together, including snapshots of them kissing

'So this happened! Ben happened! Love happened! Happiness happened!' she wrote. 'I was certain it never would again. I was shocked when it did.

Lee started her reconstructive surgeries in 2016, and it took four years for them to be completed due to complications.

'Its a really intense thing, having that operation,' she told People in June 2016. 'Being put out, its lights out. You go, "Oh God, please sweet Lord, take care of me while Im here."'

WHAT IS A HYSTERECTOMY? A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove a woman's uterus. There are three kinds: PARTIAL HYSTERECTOMY: Removes two-thirds of the uterus.

Removes two-thirds of the uterus. TOTAL HYSTERECTOMY: Removes uterus and cervix.

Removes uterus and cervix. RADICAL HYSTERECTOMY: Removes uterus, cervix and ovaries. The operation is most commonly performed on women between the ages of 40 and 49. More than 20 million American women have had a hysterectomy, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As women approach menopause, the odds that they will develop one of several serious uterine health conditions increases. Doctors may recommend a hysterectomy as a treatment for: fibroids

endometriosis

uterine (endometrial) cancer

chronic uterine pain or bleeding

collapsed uterus In some cases, doctors may suggest a hysterectomy as a preventative measure if a woman has significant warning or early signs of developing one or more of these conditions. When necessary, surgeons may also remove the ovaries and fallopian tubes, if these have also been damaged or are at serious risk of damage. The removal of reproductive organs sends a woman's body into menopause, no matter how old she is. This comes with unpleasant side effects like hot flashes, and many women have to start hormone therapy, taking estrogen to balance out their own hormones. Advertisement

Lee  who was dubbed 'First Girlfriend' while she was with Cuomo  kept a low profile during most of his first two terms as governor, but she emerged as an advocate for cancer screening after her own diagnosis.

'Early diagnosis just gives you the opportunity to be the most aggressive that you can be,' she told People in 2018. 'Its the best treatment.'

Lee also opened up about her cancer diagnosis in the 2018 HBO documentary 'RX: Early Detection, A Cancer Journey with Sandra Lee.'

She moved to Malibu after she and Cuomo split in September 2019. They dated for 14 years and lived together, but they never got engaged in their decade and a half as a couple.

Lee and Youcef are believed to have met at a charity event in Santa Monica back in March 2021, with him making the first move.

He is a father to five-year-old twins with his soon-to-be ex-wife, California-based realtor Apryl Stephenson.

Though the pair are still legally married, they separated in 2019 and they filed for divorce in January 2020.

Youcef proposed to Lee in August during their whirlwind trip to France that coincided with the sexual harassment scandal surrounding Cuomo.

'Ben really wanted to distract Sandra from all the news, so he whisked her away to Paris,' an unnamed source close to Youcef told the New York Post.

'He knows how hard this has been on her and he wants to make sure she feels loved and supported.'

The source added: 'Ben is incredibly protective of Sandra. They're soulmates and head-over-heels in love.'

Cuomo, 64, resigned from office in August after investigators working for New York Attorney General Letitia James authored a report concluding he had sexually harassed 11 women.

The disgraced governor has denied the allegations and some are speculating he could challenge James in the upcoming election.

He released an ad on Monday that depicts him as the victim of a 'political attack' launched by James, who later launched a failed bid for governor.

Lee, meanwhile, couldn't be happier with Youcef, whom she praised in a gushing Valentine's Day post last month. She shared a carousel of photos of them together, including snapshots of them kissing.

'So this happened! Ben happened! Love happened! Happiness happened!' she wrote. 'I was certain it never would again. I was shocked when it did. I swore I would never fall again, trust again, love again or open myself up again.

'On our one year anniversary I shall share the story of how we met but until then, my wish for you is that no matter where you are, how old you are or what has happened, you can welcome hope back into your life again.'
Infants could soon be given a vaccine that slashes their risk of falling ill with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), scientists announced last night.

A jab made by AstraZeneca and French firm Sanofi was found to cut hospitalisations by two-thirds in children under the age of one.

The nirsevimab vaccine is given as a single dose and protection lasts for five months - a full RSV season.

Results of the phase three trials have been described as a 'paradigm shift' by experts running the studies.

No vaccine for the condition currently exists for the general population, despite decades of research.

An injection known as palivizumab is offered to high-risk infants in the UK but it only provides one month of protection, meaning infants need five jabs to cover a season.

RSV causes coronavirus-like symptoms and is one of the leading causes of admission among infants in the UK.

It accounts for 29,000 hospitalisations and 80 deaths among children under five in the UK per year, and 58,000 admissions and 500 fatalities in youngsters in the US.

Infants could soon be given a vaccine that slashes their risk of falling ill with respiratory syncytial virus (stock)

The nirsevimab vaccine was 74.5 per cent effective at stopping children from getting ill enough with RSV to need medical attention. The graphs show the proportion of vaccinated children who did not seek any medical care due to an RSV virus (yellow), compared to the unvaccinated (blue). The internal graph shows the same data, but on a larger vertical axis

Phase three clinical trials of the RSV vaccine recruited 1,490 healthy children in the US and South Africa who were aged one year or younger and entering their first RSV season, which runs from October to March in the UK.

Two-thirds of the infants were given the nirsevimab vaccine, while a third were given a placebo jab.

WHAT IS RSV? Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a very common virus that almost all children become infected with by the age of two. In older children and adults, RSV can trigger colds and coughs, but it can cause bronchiolitis in young children. The virus is spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It can survive on a surface for up to 24 hours. Children remain infectious for up to three weeks, even after their symptoms have passed. RSV accounts for 450,000 GP appointments, 29,000 hospitalisations and 83 deaths per year among children in the UK. In the US, it leads to around 58,000 hospitalisations and 100 to 500 deaths among children aged younger than five. Advertisement

Nirsevimab is a long-acting monoclonal antibody vaccine, which involves injecting proteins that have been primed in a lab to fight the virus already.

It does not require the activation of the immune system, which can take weeks with normal vaccines, offering rapid and direct protection against disease.

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, show 12 infants (1.2 per cent) who were given the vaccine required medical care due to respiratory viruses caused by RSV.

Meanwhile, 25 children (5 per cent) in the unvaccinated group needed to see a doctor, four times more than the jabbed cohort.

Hospital admission rates were nearly three times higher among the unvaccinated group (1.6 per cent) compared to the immunised children (0.6 per cent).

Researchers at the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute in Chicago who are running the trials said the findings show the jab is 74.5 per cent effective at preventing hospitalisation among youngsters.

Around a year after being recruited into the trial, 6.1 per cent of vaccinated children had RSV antibodies, compared to 1.1 per cent of unjabbed youngsters.

Side effects were recorded among 6.8 per cent of those who received the nirsevimab vaccine and 7.3 per cent of those who had the placebo, but most were mild or moderate, including pain at the injection site.

The fact the rates of side effects were roughly the same meant the vaccine was safe.

Dr William Muller, lead investigator of the study and scientific director of clinical trials at the institute, said: 'These exciting data show that nirsevimab has the potential to offer RSV protection for all infants, which would be a paradigm shift in the approach to this disease.

'We know that RSV has seen a resurgence with the easing of Covid public health measures.

This shows us a broad immunisation approach is needed to help mitigate the substantial global burden RSV places on infants, their families and healthcare services.'
This is the incredible moment a baby was born while still encased in the amniotic sac during a C-section.

Video taken in Istanbul, Turkey, captures the boy's head appearing from his mother while still wrapped in the protective membrane.

The unnamed youngster can be seen moving and even making expressions with fluid floating around his face.

Births where a baby is born while still in the amniotic sac are known as 'en caul', occurring once in every 80,000 deliveries.

They are believed to be less common during caesareans because the scalpel typically punctures the sac.

Babies are protected from bumps inside the sac by amniotic fluid during pregnancy, which also helps to transfer nutrients and water to the child.

This child in Turkey couldn't wait to show himself to the world, with fascinating footage showing his head moving around inside an amniotic sac. The video, taken by Dr Eray Balcan in Istanbul, shows the baby making facial expressions in the sac during a C-section

The baby  whose name is not known  moves his head around, opening and closing his mouth as Dr Balcan strokes his head

The video was taken by gynecologist Dr Eray Balcan, who can be seen stroking the youngsters' head.

Sharing the video on social media, he said: 'Welcome little handsome.'

Normally, the amniotic sac is broken during the strenuous process of childbirth or is pierced with a scalpel during a caesarean.

WHAT IS BEING BORN 'EN CAUL'? Being born 'en caul' means a portion of the amniotic sac or membrane remains intact during birth. It affects less than one-in-80,000 newborn humans. A caul is a thin, filmy membrane that may be attached to the head, face and ears or could drape over the head and cover part of the torso. The caul is harmless and can be removed by experts. Often, incisions are made at the nostrils to allow the baby to breathe. The loops can then be carefully removed. Advertisement

When the amniotic sac breaks, the fluid held inside is what is described as a woman's 'water breaking'.

Social media users gushed over the latest video, describing the baby as a 'beauty'.

Ahmet Citlak said: 'Miracle itself. Thanks to you, we witness such a beauty, thank you sir.'

Another person wrote: 'It's a beautiful moment, it's a beautiful thing son.

'May God give you a beautiful life.'

And another said: 'Lord, how beautiful you are.

'May they grow up with health, their eyes are bright.

'I hope this beautiful feeling for other beautiful mothers.'

Foetuses receive oxygen in the womb from their mothers via the umbilical cord.

They do not begin breathing on their own until after they are born, with contractions during the birth helping to squeeze amniotic fluid out of their lungs.

Caesarean rates have almost doubled since the year 2000, with experts estimating that some 6.2million non-medically indicated C-sections are performed each year around the world.

Usually, C-sections are performed electively if there were problems in a previous birth or unplanned if there are complications during the birth itself.

Doctors can choose to perform a caesarean if the baby is not in the right position to be born or if the mother has medical conditions such as heart problems.
Putting a price-cap on cigarettes would limit the number of people who take up smoking, experts say.

Currently tobacco companies get around tax hikes by keeping the cost of cheap cigarettes low while raising those on higher-end products.

It has led to a 5 difference in pack prices, from up to 10 for the cheapest ones made by Benson and Hedges to 14.65 for its Gold range.

The researchers said the maximum price would drive up the price of all cigarettes, they said, rather than just expensive ones, and put off customers.

'It would also change the profit incentive behind the sale of these deadly products,' the Bath University experts added.

The team hope the policy will form part of the Government's plan to make England 'smoke-free' by 2030  a goal campaigners warn it is already on track to miss.

Britain already has some of the highest taxes on smoking in the world, accounting for about 80 per cent of the cost of a pack of cigarettes. For comparison, in the US about 15 per cent of a pack's price is due to tax.

Smoking rates fell rapidly in the UK during the 1980s and 1990s as the health risks became widely known. But in recent years this has slowed, with about 13 per cent, or 5.5million, adults still regular smokers.

Bath University researchers have called for a price-cap on cigarettes. They say it would help to reduce the number of smokers by driving up the costs

The Bath University researchers say a price-cap should be imposed covering just production costs, with taxes and sales expenses added on top.

They did not say what the cap should be set at.

The UK Government's strategy so far has been to impose general tax rises.

Last year it bumped up the price of an average pack of 20 cigarettes up by 88p to around 13.60 each with its tobacco tax. It also pushed up the price of a bag of rolling tobacco to 9.02.

Dr Rob Branson, from Bath's tobacco control research group, called for the price-cap today in a paper published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

He told MailOnline: 'The problem is companies don't pass on the taxes in a uniform way between the cheapest brands and most expensive.

'That basically allows them to keep cheap tobacco on the market.'

A pack of 20 cigarettes currently costs around 11.44 in the UK, with 8.69 going on tax and 2.75 to the manufacturer.

But up to 1.92 (or 70 per cent) of the money that goes to the manufacturer is profit.

'If we take away the profits then these companies lose the incentive,' Dr Branson said.

Pictured above is the proportion of people smoking in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland since 2011. It has dropped in all four UK nations over the last decade

Smoking rates continue to fall... even with the stress of the Covid pandemic Smoking rates in Britain continued to fall last year, according to official data released before Christmas. An Office for National Statistics (ONS) report showed usage dropped from 15.8 per cent in 2019 to 14.5 per cent last year. This is the equivalent of 7.6million over-16s, down from a high of just under 27million in the 1970s, when half of all adults engaged in the habit. Rates have consistently dropped over the past two decades, with officials declaring the end of smoking to finally be 'in sight'. England is aiming to go completely smoke-free by 2030, with No10 having already introduced a raft of policies to curb rates. Government advisers even called for smoking to be banned on pavements outside pubs and restaurants earlier this year  although the plans were ditched by No10, which sources say felt it had 'enough on its plate' at the time. Some studies had suggested Covid lockdowns and the stresses of coping with the pandemic would trigger a rise in the number of smokers in Britain. But two datasets published by the ONS today debunk the concerns, showing the opposite to be true. Advertisement

'Wouldn't it be a lot better if this money instead went to the Government to help fight smoking.'

In the paper, Dr Branson said a smoking regulator should be set up to impose the price-caps.

He suggested these could be lowered if a tobacco company continued to charge below the level.

Campaign groups backed his calls today saying it would stop tobacco companies passing the costs on to smokers.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said: 'These proposals are all supported by ASH, doctors organisations and health charities.

'That way tobacco manufacturers can be forced to fund the support smokers need to stop, rather than passing the cost on to smokers, which is what happens with tobacco taxes.'

But Simon Clark, from pro-smoking lobby group Forest, warned a price-cap would be an 'attack on consumer choice'.

'Worse, it would almost certainly lead to further increases in the cost of lower priced brands.

'This would not only discriminate against smokers who are less well off, it could drive many more consumers to the unregulated black market where criminal gangs will sell cigarettes to anyone, including children.'

Previous research from the same team at the University of Bath found that roll-your-own tobacco is taxed at lower rates than factory made cigarettes.

The World Health Organisation has raised concerns about the methods used by tobacco companies to counter tax rises, such as over-producing before a tax increase, subtly changing a product's weight or size so that it falls into a lower tax bracket or using price promotions like discounts.

The researchers said tobacco companies in the UK had kept price-sensitive customers by shrinking pack sizes.

And in Australia, packs come in more than 10 different sizes so that after every tax increase, most smokers could find either a smaller product that is cheaper up front, or a larger product that is cheaper per stick or per gram.

Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of suffering strokes as well as other conditions including cancer and heart disease.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has again slammed United States President Joe Biden after the Democrat praised Tesla's competitors General Motors and Ford during the State of the Union address on Tuesday night but did not mention his electric vehicle company.

In an email, Musk said that nobody was watching Biden's State of the Union. The Tesla CEO's remarks came after Biden said that Ford was investing $11 billion and creating 11,000 job opportunities in the electric vehicle market while GM was investing $7 billion and creating 4,000 jobs.

Elon Musk with the fattest ratio on President Biden pic.twitter.com/4B0s9d3v7B  Exec Sum (@exec_sum) March 2, 2022

Musk vs Biden

The 50-year-old billionaire entrepreneur said that Tesla has already created more than 50,000 job opportunities and invested more than double both GM and Ford combined. On Tuesday night following Biden's address, the president's Twitter account reiterated his remarks about the investments and job opportunities.

In a Twitter post, Musk responded by revealing how much money Tesla has invested and how many jobs it has created in the electric vehicle market. The two men have been in a longstanding feud, with the most recent incident coming in January when Musk called Biden a "damp sock puppet in human form," as per the Daily Mail.

Musk previously claimed that President Biden had pointedly ignored mentioning Tesla due to their argument with each other. He noted that if he was ever invited to a White House event, he would do the right thing.

Read Also: Joe Biden State of the Union Address: Strategy vs. Inflation, Vladimir Putin Warning, and 3 Key Highlights

So far, the Tesla CEO has yet to attend an official Biden White House meeting with other corporate leaders, including ones that included executives from Ford and GM. Biden and senior White House officials have privately suggested to their allies that they had no immediate plans of inviting the billionaire to any upcoming meetings with senior executives.

According to CNBC, the incident between Biden and Musk in January was when the president had a meeting with GM CEO Mary Barra and Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley. They attended a briefing with other corporate leaders to talk about the president's Build Back Better initiative which was stalled in Congress

Ignoring Tesla's Achievements

Tesla's factory in Fremont, California is known to be the most productive automotive plant in entire North America. The company's facility produces an average of 8,550 cars every single week. Tesla has plans to expand its production in the U.S. and elsewhere this year as the company builds a new factory in Texas, Berlin, and expands existing ones in Shanghai.

But the White House is wary of being associated with the electric vehicle company due to non-unionized workforces and allegations that Tesla has actively suppressed union activity. A California regulator sued Tesla last month for racial discrimination for allegedly operating a "racially segregated workplace."

Many supporters of Musk launched an online petition last month to get President Biden to "acknowledge Tesla's leadership in the electric vehicle market. The petition quickly received 60,000 signatures. The massive support for the petition prompted Biden to later recognize the company's achievements on Feb. 8, calling Tesla "our nation's largest electric vehicle manufacturer," Fortune reported.



Related Article: Joe Biden Approves Use of 30 Million Barrels of Oil Reserves Amid Russia -Ukraine War; US Senator Wants To Ban Russian Oil Import

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Covid cases in America are continuing to plummet, and with the White House unveiling plans this week to tackle the virus going forward without the need for more lockdowns or other strict measures, many are hopeful that the U.S. will avoid being slammed by another summer surge - as it was the previous two years.

Dr Scott Gottlieb, former director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told CNBC's Squawk Box on Thursday that he does not expect the U.S. to experience another Covid surge in the coming months, and if another does occur it will happen as early as fall or winter of this year.

He also praised the White House's new strategy to tackle Covid going forward, which was first announced by President Biden during Tuesday night's State of the Union address and fully unveiled Wednesday morning.

The plan includes ramping up domestic production of tests, antivirals and masks, expanding access to public health resources and information, helping Americans manage 'long Covid' symptoms and launching the 'Test to Treat' program, which should expand access to Covid therapeutics.

It also gives funding to schools and daycare centers to improve their ability to prevent transmission, supplying them with Covid tests and resources needed to improve ventilation.

Part of the White House's plan to deal with the virus going forward included ramping up the nation's COVID-19 test manufacturing capacity and building a stockpile. Pictured: A woman in Baltimore, Maryland, receives a Covid test on January 26

Putting many of these plans in place will take time, and while there are criticisms of the administration for waiting an entire year to start this process, Gottlieb believes that now since there should not be a Covid surge for the foreseeable future, America has bought enough time to start preparing for a post-Covid world.

'The criticism you can say is why didn't the administration do this six months ago? But we learned a lot along the way, and we're doing it now,' Gottlieb, who also serves as a board member for Pfizer.

Dr Scott Gottlieb (pictured), for chief of the FDA, does not expect the U.S. to experience another surge of Covid cases this summer. The country has been slammed by the virus during the previous two seasons

'We do have time, hopefully, to get these things in place.'

He also added that 'we're gonna have a pretty normal spring and summer' as he does not expect cases to surge for the next six months.

Gottlieb believes this plan will be especially good for schools. While schools have been open since for a year and a half, many have been plagued with Covid outbreaks, forcing students to miss crucial time in the classroom. Some localities have resorted to masking in schools to prevent Covid transmission, but the controversial policies have been criticized for hurting children's ability to socialize during key years of their development.

While masks are being ditched in schools all around America, new plans laid out by the federal government could hopefully reduce transmission and prevent school closures caused by Covid.

'We never really provided good guidance to schools,' Gottlieb, who has been a critic of school mask mandates, said.

'Ultimately schools had to look to state agencies to get a real playbook on how to stay open amidst a surge of infection. This is really a restart on things we didn't do adequately.'

The White House plan was unveiled as more Americans start to transition back to normal life amid dropping Covid cases and the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions.

The U.S. is averaging 59,245 Covid cases every day, a 25 percent drop over the past week and a 92 percent drop from the mid-January peak of the Omicron surge, when daily case averages reached as high as 800,000 per day.

Americans are highly protected from the virus as well, with official CDC data showing that 88 percent of adults have received at least on shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 75 percent are fully vaccinated. The agency also reports that 94.4 million Americans have received a booster.

'Thanks to the progress we have made this past year, COVID-19 need no longer control our lives,' President Biden said during his speech on Tuesday.

An AP-NORC survey conducted last month found that only 24 percent of Americans are still very concerned about themselves or someone in their family catching the virus.

In response, American cities and states are rolling back Covid restrictions and allowing their citizens to live as normal. Hawaii remains the only state that either still has a mask mandate, or does not have a day scheduled to lift it in the coming weeks.

The island state may soon join its peers, though, as officials lifted quarantine requirements for visitors on Tuesday.

New York City, which has had some of the strictest Covid guidelines throughout the pandemic, will even lift vaccine checks and mask mandates starting March 7. The city's mandate for private employers will still apply, though.

Other cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco have also removed or relaxed public indoor mask mandates in recent weeks.
A man has been left with lifelong scars on his buttocks after suffering severe burns during an NHS operation.

Paul Hickman, 43, of Walsall in the West Midlands, was injured while having surgery to improve circulation in his legs in March 2021.

He was placed on a heated mattress  despite the equipment being banned by the hospital in 2016 after a similar incident.

Before the procedure, doctors at the Russells Hall Hospital applied an alcohol-based antiseptic on Mr Hickman's thighs and buttocks.

Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, carried out an internal investigation and found: 'The unusual combination created the ideal circumstances to create a significant burn.'

Mr Hickman has now decided to take legal action against the hospital after learning another patient had gone through the same ordeal five years earlier.

Paul Hickman (right), 43, from Walsall in the West Midlands, has been left with lifelong scars on his legs buttocks after a botched surgery caused horrific burns on his backside (left)

After suffering from extreme pain from the surgery, Mr Hickman was told he had been burnt and would have scars for life

He said: 'It was a very worrying time and I obviously hoped that the surgery would go well. However, afterwards I remember just being in a lot of pain.

'When I was told that I had suffered burns, I was shocked and confused. I couldn't understand how that had happened.

'The pain from the burns and scars I had all down the back of the tops of my legs was unbearable. I was in so much pain and painkillers didn't really take the edge off.

'While the burns are starting to heal, I still have a lot of marks and scars where they have been and I've been told some of the scarring won't disappear so will be with me for life.'

He claims he now sits differently and has to lean to the side now because of the scars, which feel dry and scaly and require him to apply cream every day.

Mr Hickman added: 'What makes what happened to me even more shocking is hearing about the previous incident.

'I hope by speaking out I can help prevent yet another similar incident happening. This has happened twice and I don't want it to happen again.'

During the operation at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley (pictured), he was given a heat mattress  which was banned by the hospital after an identical incident five years earlier

A root cause analysis report by the Dudley NHS trust classed what happened to Mr Hickman as a 'serious incident'.

The Trust found the use of alcohol-based solution during preparation for his surgery and the 'inappropriate use' of a heated mattress in surgery led to his burns.

The investigation also revealed the use of heated mattresses was banned following an identical incident in 2016.

It said the earlier incident led to the 'complete stopping' of heated mattresses being used in certain vascular procedures.

Alexandra Roberts, the solicitor at Irwin Mitchell representing Mr Hickman, said: 'The severity of the injuries Paul suffered needs to be acknowledged, with the Trust itself declaring what happened as a seriousincident.

'Understandably what happened to Paul has had a physical and mental impact upon him.

'What is particularly worrying is that the injuries he suffered came after a fellow patient was injured in a similar incident and the Trust had taken measures to apparently avoid a repeat of this happening.

'While it's too late for Paul it is now vital that lessons are learned from what happened to Paul and that the Trust ensures its guidance is upheld at all times to maintain patient safety.'

Diane Wake, chief executive of the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, told MailOnline: 'We offer our sincere and wholehearted apologies to Mr Hickman who sadly sustained his burns during life-saving surgery.

'We have carried out a comprehensive review into the incident and this particular type of heated mattress, while appropriate in most surgical procedures, is no longer used for the type of vascular procedure undertaken on Mr Hickman.'
The White House is planning on sharing American-invented COVID-19 technology with the World Health Organization (WHO) in an effort to fight the pandemic across the world.

The Biden Administration is reportedly planning on announcing the initiative to share U.S. scientific breakthrough with the rest of the world Thursday.

Technologies developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will be licensed to the WHO and the Medicines Patent Pool - a United Nations medical group - which will allow other countries to access and replicate the findings.

Developing countries that do not have the same capabilities as the U.S. and other developed nations are set to benefit the most from this agreement. The WHO has long called for richer nations to do more to help their peers, especially in Africa.

The White House is expected to announce on Thursday that it will collaborate with the WHO and the U.N. to share American COVID-19 technology with the rest of the world in an effort to fight the pandemic globally

The highly sought after Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will not be included in the technologies shared by the White House

What technology will exactly be shared is still unknown pending the White House announcement.

The Washington Post reports that technology developed for the Moderna vaccine, which the NIH is suing the company for inventor credit, will not be included.

Moderna vaccine technology may be the most sought after in the world by developing nations, and its failure to be included limits the effectiveness of this plan.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts, based company has said it will not enforce its patent if a replica of it is developed.

While it is still a measure far short of licensing the drug to be manufactured generically, it does open the door for foreign scientists to recreate the drug themselves without fear of legal repercussions.

Afrigen Biologics, a South African company, even managed to successfully replicate a small dosage of the vaccine in a laboratory last month.

It may be years until a vaccine clone is viable to be used in the developing world, though, so calls for Moderna to make vaccine technology more accessible persist.

Other vaccine and Covid treatment technology developed by private companies with assistance from the federal government is also not expected to be included, per the Post.

Experts are still hopeful that this move by the U.S. could spur more cooperation in fighting the pandemic around the world.

'The U.S. government sets the tone for country relationships toward the pharmaceutical industry, as well as this sort of global cooperation,' said Peter Maybarduk, director at Public Citizen, told the Post.

'And by taking the publicly owned inventions, and working with WHO to make them available to humanity  that is a clear and powerful demonstration of what governments can do.'

The move comes as the U.S. transitions towards the end stages of the pandemic.

Earlier this week, the White House announced a shift in its COVID-19 response going forward.

The plan includes ramping up domestic production of tests, antivirals and masks, expanding access to public health resources and information, helping Americans manage 'long Covid' symptoms.

It also launched the 'Test to Treat' program, which should expand access to Covid therapeutics by making them available for free to any American who tests positive for the virus at any pharmacy-clinic.

The plan also gives funding to schools and daycare centers to improve their ability to prevent transmission, supplying them with Covid tests and resources needed to improve ventilation.
MEMOIR

MOTHER'S BOY

by Howard Jacobson (Cape 16.99, 288pp)

Did comic novelist Howard Jacobson (now in his 80th year) become a writer because he was always moody and morose? Or was it being a writer that made him moody and morose?

Its the conundrum he explores with wonderful verve in Mothers Boy, where the somewhat boastful and certainly self-delighting paradoxical conclusion seems to be that, The miserable employ a wider vocabulary than the happy because they have more to express.

Howard Jacobson (pictured) shares his upbringing as a Jew in Manchester and how his life experiences became comedy gold in a memoir

Jacobson has a lot to express, to be sure, starting with his upbringing as a Jew in Manchester.

His parents heritage, topically enough, was Ukrainian  but ancestry was never mentioned. Think about something else, the young Howard was told if he broached the subject. Were English now.

There was one exotic relative, an ill-tempered and drunken grandfather, whose toenails were so abhorrent and gnarled that cutting them was a task for a tree surgeon.

Jacobsons father, full of Ukrainian audacity, sounds a case. Known as Jakey, he was always busy, fixing cars, rewiring houses, repairing washing machines. He was a great neighbour to have when your pipes burst. He also worked as a tailor and an upholsterer, and had a stall at the market selling candlewick bedspreads, non-stick pans and spoons that bent in boiling water.

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And he was a semi-professional magician, too. The house was filled with wands, cloaks and white rabbits.

Though a practical man, Jakey was not the most observant of Jews. He once thought the Passover Table was his surprise birthday party.

Neetie, Jacobsons mother, was perhaps over-protective. When he went to Cambridge, she made him take a supply of emergency toilet rolls. She always encouraged her sons love of reading and would recite the poems of Tennyson. She had a thrilling voice, full of warm vivacity. She enjoyed ballroom dancing with off-duty policemen.

As for the young Jacobson himself, he was a holy terror. He pulled wallpaper off the walls, gouged out the eyes of soft toys and scribbled on everything with his crayons. He couldnt  still cant  climb, draw maps, wrap parcels or ride facing backwards in a taxi or bus. At school he couldnt sing, play the recorder or use the lavatory if other cubicles were occupied.

Howard (pictured) emigrated to Australia to become an academic in the Sydney University English department after studying at Downing College in Cambridge

Nevertheless, his grammar school got him into Downing College. The first time he took the train to Cambridge, the man sitting opposite dropped dead  an omen of some sort. When Jacobson arrived, he spent a term trying to impress the college porter with intellectual chat, mistaking him for F. R. Leavis.

One way and another, Jacobson was taught that a judgment was a richer thing than an opinion, and that tone could tell us what literal statements could not. Fair enough  but he received a poor degree.

The only option was to emigrate to Australia to become an academic in the Sydney University English department, where the staff were sarcastic, cruel, alert, scurrilous  as they reliably are in all English departments.

Married upon graduation, in 1964, Jacobson was accompanied by his bride, Barbara Starr. Jacobson says that, Down Under, I forgot to be shy. I forgot to be depressed. I forgot to be Jewish.

Instead, he became a loud-mouth drunk. Far too often, Barbara had to scrape me off the floor, drive me home, and contrive to get me up the stairs.

Being carefree was confused with obnoxiousness. Jacobson admits he went in for aggression, alcohol, cigarettes, late nights, infidelity and falling in love with a student, an offence that would get a person cancelled today without mercy.

We are told, however, that the heart is a rogue organ, and will love and betray at the same time, if you allow it. I dont think the organ in question here is the heart, but, as the saying goes, the past is another country and they did things differently there, especially in Australia.

Howard's (pictured) book Coming From Behind was published to acclaim in 1983, which led to the author being a worthy successor to Tom Sharpe

Back in Britain after three hedonistic years away, Jacobson taught English to hairdressers and sold handbags at the market. Because of his Mancunian accent, people thought he was selling humbugs.

I was sleeping badly and waking worse. He split up with Barbara, though by now there was a son, Conrad, named after Joseph Conrad, Jacobsons favourite novelist.

Returning to Australia on his own, he gave classes at a Melbourne technical college. Here, Jacobson met Ros Sadler, a swimmer, sailor and cellist who, in 1978, became his second wife.

Back in England once more, Jacobson was employed as a lecturer in Wolverhampton. He genuinely couldnt get over the utter forlornness of the place . . . the utter negation of natural beauty.

Living in Wolverhampton, he says, would today be called self-harming, but he stayed there for seven years.

Meanwhile, Ros, not fancying Wolverhampton either, set herself up running a handicraft shop in Boscastle, Cornwall, where she sold novelty paperweights, made in China, and unisex cheesecloth pirate smocks.

MOTHER'S BOY by Howard Jacobson (Cape 16.99, 288pp)

If Jacobson commuted between Cornwall and the West Midlands for 12 years its because although he hated Boscastle a little, he hated it less than Wolverhampton, which I hated absolutely.

What a lot of hatred and restlessness there is in this man, stretching all the way back.

Jacobson is unforgiving of many of his teachers, as well as angry with myself for having wasted my student years. The relationship with Ros was filled with resentment  his sulks were matched by her withering sarcasm. The marriage only went ahead so she could obtain British citizenship. On their honeymoon in Paris, neither spoke.

Of course, the torrent of disappointment, degradation, frustration, animosity, envy, futility as discussed in Mothers Boy was waiting to be turned into comedy gold. Lightly fictionalising his experiences, Jacobson sat down and wrote Coming From Behind.

His potential was spotted at once by Chatto editor Jeremy Lewis  my late cousin. But when the feminist new broom Carmen Callil arrived at the publishing house, she took against the novel: If you ran naked down Bond Street, I couldnt sell this book, she told him.

It was published to acclaim in 1983 and, along with Peeping Tom a year later, marked the new author, already in his 40s, as the worthy successor to Tom Sharpe. Jacobson won the Booker in 2010.

Callil was, he remembers, a harbinger of how the fun was beginning to go out of everything. Presumably well hear more of that in a further volume, to which I look forward with massive eagerness.
HOPE AND FEAR

by Ronald H. Fritze (Reaktion 20, 272pp)

When the Queen reached the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne recently, very little of the coverage focused on David Ickes theory that Her Majesty is a shape-shifting reptilian alien who, along with other world leaders, is only pretending to be human in order to maintain dominance over us.

You and I might think this lack of coverage was just because the theory is a load of rubbish. Icke and his followers would maintain that the lack of evidence for their statement simply shows how cunning reptilian aliens are at hiding the truth.

Ronald Fritzes exhaustively researched book examines the history of such crazy beliefs and the reasons people are drawn to them. Humans like a good story is one of his most basic assertions and, indeed, some lunatic theories started off as fiction.

Ronald Fritze's exhaustively researched book examines the history of crazy beliefs and the reasons people are drawn to them (file image)

For instance, in 1871 Edward Bulwer-Lytton published The Coming Race, a novel about a group of beings living in the hollow Earth who possess incredible destructive powers. Most readers enjoyed it as a yarn, but a few people took the book as a statement of fact. Some do even today.

How can often quite rational people believe such garbage? The clue is that word believe. As the historian of science Michael Shermer puts it: Beliefs come first, explanations follow . . . the brain is a belief engine. Shermer also writes about patternicity, the human desire to connect the dots. This explains such things as ley lines, the allegedly significant contours that connect structures such as the Great Pyramid of Giza and Stonehenge.

The trouble is, you can find any connection if you look hard enough. There are similar patterns connecting certain pizza restaurants, but no one seems bothered about those.

Narcissists are particularly vulnerable to conspiracy theories. They think people envy them . . . as a result, they assume people are out to get them.

HOPE AND FEAR by Ronald H. Fritze (Reaktion 20, 272pp)

Fritze quotes the writer Francis Wheen, who believes poverty plays a part: irrationalism is an expression of despair by people who feel impotent to improve their lives and suspect they are at the mercy of secretive, impersonal forces, whether thats the Pentagon or invaders from Mars.

Perversely, some of the people responsible for the conspiracy theories can end up making lots of money. Alex Jones, an American who has, among much else, accused George W. Bush of being behind the 9/11 attacks, testified in 2014 that his website InfoWars generated an income of $20 million a year.

The New Mexico city of Roswell, near where alien spaceships are said to have landed in 1947, now boasts a UFO museum. When one of the museums board members was asked if she believed in UFOs, she replied: I believe in tourism.

You may well ask why this book needs to be written at all. Sane people wont need it, and conspiracy theorists will refuse to be convinced by it. Fritze accepts this  but says that we need to keep arguing against myths and pseudo-history all the same. OK, its too late to convert the true believers, but we might stop others falling into the same trap.

If this book prevents even a few people from seeing Roswells UFO museum as something more than light-hearted fun, then Fritze may well have a point.
Manufacturers have been urged to boost the reliability of electric cars after Which? found they are more prone to faults and spend longer off the road than petrols, diesels and hybrids when needing repairs.

The consumer champion's annual car survey found that of cars up to four years old, nearly one in three (31 per cent) electric vehicle owners reported one problem or more, compared to less than one in five (19 per cent) petrol cars.

Owners of those faulty EVs then had to be without their cars on average for over five days while they were being fixed, which compared to just three days for petrol equivalents. And it is expensive Teslas that have the most problems, according to drivers.

The most common faults raised by electric car drivers in the survey were software-related problems, though not issues with the electric motors or battery packs that power the vehicles.

'Car makers, make your electric vehicles more reliable': That's the message from consumer watchdog Which? after it found that EV owners were more likely to suffer faults than drivers of petrol, diesel and hybrid models

The survey of more than 48,000 UK drivers who own over 57,000 vehicles found that the most reliable cars of any fuel type are conventional self-charging hybrids, with just one in six (17 per cent) owners reporting a fault with 'new' cars aged up to four years old in the prevailing 12 months.

Petrols were the next most dependable, with just 19 per cent of owners of newer models reporting issues, followed by plug-in hybrids (28 per cent).

Diesel cars were found to be marginally more reliable than EVs, with 29 per cent of drivers reporting issues with their oil burners.

Which? says that 2,184 of the full sample size reviewed were pure EVs.

CAR RELIABILITY BY FUEL TYPE, ACCORDING TO WHICH? Cars aged 0-4 years Cars with one fault or more Cars with one or more breakdown/failed to start Average days off the road (over 12 month period) Conventional hybrid 17.3% 5.6% 3.9 Petrol 18.6% 3.5% 3 Plug-in hybrid 27.5% 5.4% 4.2 Diesel 29.1% 6.9% 3.8 Electric 31.4% 8.1% 5.1 Average across all fuel types 22.3% 4.9% 3.6 Source: Which? based on results from its Car Survey 2021 of 48,034 car owners

Lisa Barber, home products and services editor at Which? said: 'We know that drivers are keen to make the move to more environmentally-friendly cars but it is vital that they are getting a quality product.'

She added: 'With EVs in particular, our research shows a premium price tag does not necessarily mean a reliable vehicle, so we would always encourage drivers to do their research ahead of such a significant purchase to see which cars and brands they can trust.'

While the report painted an unreliable picture for pure electric models, Which? concedes that most faults reported are software issues rather than serious problems with batteries or parts of the drivetrain that powers the vehicle.

This means most issues are likely with infotainment screens and other electrical features, such as reversing cameras.

The RAC warned that Which?'s findings 'should be taken with a pinch of salt' and that many of these software glitches raised could be simple to resolve.

James Gibson, the motoring organisation's head of technical, said: 'There is no question there are fewer moving parts with electric cars which makes them more reliable than a petrol or diesel car in the long run, but it's also the case that the software running them is more complex which has the potential to cause some issues.

'But it's very important to realise that most software problems can be solved easily, either by wireless updates or 'restarts' in the same way as a desktop computer simply by disconnecting the 12v auxiliary battery and 'rebooting' the system, something our expert patrols routinely do for our members in these situations.

'Many manufacturers are also able to help drivers sort issues out over the phone by getting them to carry out certain functions to reboot systems.

'While taking a new electric car back to the dealership is clearly frustrating it can be the case with any new car, regardless of how it's powered.'

Which? has already demanded Tesla's 8k Model S saloon (pictured) be recalled after the watchdog identified repeat concerns from owners regarding issues with door handles and locks

Tesla the least reliable EV brand

Which?'s survey also found that Tesla is the least reliable of all EV brands, despite its cars having premium price tags. However, Tesla is one of less than a handful of EV-only car makers alongside Polestar.

The research highlighted a raft of build quality complaints raised by owners in the US and UK in recent years and comes after a string of problems faced by Elon Musk's car firm, which issued four different recalls on vehicles in two weeks in February.

In cars up to four years old, two fifths (39 per cent) of Teslas had at least one fault and one in 20 (5 per cent) had a breakdown or failed to start.

Which? has previously called for the Tesla Model S saloon (2013- present), which starts from 79,980, to be recalled over issues with its door handles and locks for two years running.

One piece of positive news for Tesla and owners of its cars is that they are only off the road for just under three and a half days on average when they needed repair work.

Kia's e-Niro (pictured) was rated by owners as the most reliable of all compact SUVs, no matter the fuel type

Just 6% of e-Niro owners reported any kind of fault with their car and only one in 100 said their car had failed to start or broke down

Which?: 'Manufacturers should follow Kia's example'

While it was bad news for Tesla, the poll of UK drivers found that some EV examples have been almost entirely fault free in the previous 12 months of use.

One of these is Kia's e-Niro (2019- present), which is one of the more affordable family EVs, starting from 32,895. It even qualifies for the Government's Plug-in Car Grant to save buyers 1,500 on the purchase price.

It was not only the most reliable of all EVs but also the most dependable compact SUV across all fuel types, gazumping all petrol, diesel and hybrid-powered rivals.

Just one in every 17 (6 per cent) e-Niro owners reported any kind of fault with their car and only just in 100 said their car had failed to start or broke down.

However, the unlucky few who did have an issue faced an average of around eight and a half days of their car being off the road, showing there is still work to do on improving repair times when things do go wrong.

'In spite of the high fault rates reported by EV owners in the survey, Kia has proven that electric cars have the potential to be very dependable,' the consumer watchdog said.

'Which? is calling on other car makers to up their game and improve the quality of their cars.

'Manufacturers need to gain the trust of drivers to encourage them to switch towards more sustainable cars.'

Barber added: 'Whilst it's disappointing to see that EVs as a group are the least reliable, Kia's e-Niro shows there is a significant opportunity for manufacturers to up their game and provide drivers with a reliable and more sustainable car.'
As the civilian death toll soars in Ukraine, it is beyond time to be civil to the host of Russian companies still trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Collapsing market values mean that FTSE 100 beasts, including steel producer Evraz, in which Roman Abramovich has been a holder, and Polymetal, face expulsion from the main index.

Gold miner Petropavlovsk, formerly Peter Hambro Mining, has been skidding down the FTSE 250, and its backers may regret the Moscow-friendly name change.

Russian links: Collapsing market values mean that the biggest FTSE100 beasts, including steel producer Evraz and Polymetal face expulsion from the main index

The historic strength of the London market as a centre for trading natural resources stocks from all over the globe has made it a magnet for Russian entrepreneurs seeking access to fresh capital and to issue equity.

So enthusiastic has the LSE been about such stocks that in 2011 it tried to merge with the mining-rich Toronto Stock Exchange, which was abandoned after Canadian authorities got cold feet.

The LSE has moved in new directions since then, buying financial information service Refinitiv for 20billion in 2021, giving it control of vast data resources and leading risk monitor World-Check Intelligence.

In the current circumstances, with Western governments moving with speed to squeeze the lifeblood out of Russian commerce, it does not require the analytic skills of World-Check to recognise that it is time to expel all Russian-connected stocks from London platforms and indexes.

At last count, there were about 30 or so Moscow stocks, including Rosneft and Gazprom, with secondary listings in London making them more accessible to big battalion investors. Trading in these is a small proportion of the daily volumes.

The only case for continuing to list them is that it would allow asset managers such as Abdrn, with up to 2billion of exposures, time to divest without suffering a total loss.

There has been plenty of time for divestment and we have seen how quickly BP, Shell and Glencore distanced themselves from the Russian bear.

The LSE and its regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, should act without delay not just to suspend (that sounds temporary) but to terminate the quotes of the Putin red-chips without hesitation.

Blanc cheque

Making sense of the sprawling insurance giant Aviva has proved a challenge for successive chief executives.

Current occupant Amanda Blanc has taken a grip on the enterprise and investors, including activist Cevian, are reaping immediate benefits.

The share buyback of 4.75billion is larger than foreshadowed, there is a new, more ambitious cost-reduction target and a valiant attempt to build a wealth management enterprise. Unlike other heavily exposed asset managers, Aviva has less than 0.1 per cent of its assets in Russia.

Blanc acknowledges that there needs to be as much focus on governance as there has been on the green and social agenda.

With the purchase of wealth manager Succession, bought for 385million, Aviva is taking a critical step into a crowded field.

Lloyds Bank is targeting the same group in its joint venture with Schroders and platforms, including Hargreaves Lansdown, are promoting financial advice services. A plus for Aviva is its huge life and pensions book. It estimates that each year some 6bn of pensions and life assets mature.

At present, it lacks facilities to offer immediate financial advice to existing clients. Succession is intended to fill the gap.

As far as expansion is concerned, Blanc isnt done yet although she is keeping target areas under wraps.

The sense of change is underlined by a move from its 1970s tower at St Helens, Undershaft, in the City to smaller, more modern premises on nearby Fenchurch Street, saving 7million a year.

Better for lifes little dramas.

Bear freeze

Former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney cautioned of the dangers of investing in open-ended funds at the time of the Woodford implosion in 2019.

How right he was. This week the UKs Liontrust suspended its 60million Russia fund, which is 80 per cent-invested in Moscow stocks.

Bigger jolts have followed, with bankers JP Morgan and French asset manager Amundi suspending trading in funds holding 3billion of Russian shares.

The freeze is a sharp reminder that the promises of cash redemptions on demand arent worth the paper they are written on.
Aviva has vowed to return 4.75billion to investors as it fends off its activist shareholder.

The British insurer plans to distribute 3.75billion through a B share scheme  which comes on top of the 1bn share buyback announced last year.

Since chief executive Amanda Blanc took over in 2020, she has been selling Avivas overseas businesses to focus on the UK. She has offloaded eight branches, from Italy to Vietnam, raising 7.5billion.

Shake-up: Aviva boss Amanda Blanc has been selling Avivas overseas businesses to focus on the UK. She has offloaded eight branches, from Italy to Vietnam, raising 7.5bn

But her efforts attracted the attention of activist investor Cevian, which bought a stake and began lobbying it to funnel more cash to its investors.

As Blanc unveiled the 2021 results, announcing that 22,000 employees would be given 1,000 of shares as a bonus, she said all of the 7.5billion would be returned to investors.

Blanc hiked the dividend for 2021 by 5pc to 22.05p, and promised a rise to 31.5p next year and to 33p in 2023.

This fell short of Cevians demand that Aviva more than double its payout to 45p.

Cevian partner Niko Pakalen said the firm now has the capacity for a 50p per share total cash return to shareholders for 2024.

Aviva profits slipped 10 per cent to 1.6billion last year as strong performance in its general insurance business was dragged down by life insurance.

Blanc said: Weve done what we said we would do, but we are only just getting into our stride.

She plans to cut costs by 400million by the end of 2024, up from a previous goal of 300million by the end of 2022, but short of Cevians 500million target.

Part of this will be done by moving its London HQ to a smaller building, as flexible working means staff only come in three days a week.

Aviva also announced it was buying Succession Wealth for 385million, becoming the latest financial services firm to branch into new areas to hold on to more customers.

It currently estimates that around 6billion, which Aviva customers would spend with the firm if they could, is lost to its competitors.

Pakalen praised Blancs efforts and said Avivas transformation has still not been recognised by the market and the company remains one of the cheapest insurance companies in Europe.

But he added that Aviva must demonstrate that it can become more profitable and fast-growing, and translate this into growing and predictable dividends.
Oligarch Mikhail Fridman has stepped down from the board of the company that owns Holland & Barrett after being put on a sanctions list by the European Union.

His private equity firm Letter One bought the vitamin and supplement seller from rival buyout group Carlyle for 1.8billion in 2017.

But he and business partner Petr Aven have resigned from the board of Letter One, which is chaired by banker Lord Mervyn Davies, an ex-UK Labour government minister.

Billionaire Oligarch Mikhail Fridmans private equity firm LetterOne bought Holland & Barrett from rival buyout group Carlyle for 1.8bn in 2017

Billionaire Fridman and Aven set the firm up in 2013 following the 10billion sale of their stake in oil group TNK-BP to Rosneft.

The pair still owns almost 50 per cent of LetterOne. Holland & Barrett said: We are not affected by any sanctions, nor do we expect to be.

On Monday the EU added Fridman to its sanctions list following Russias invasion of Ukraine, describing him as a top Russian financier and enabler of Putins inner circle.

The EU has frozen his assets in member countries and banned him from travelling within the bloc.

Fridman said he was shocked by the allegations and would contest them. Holland & Barrett has 1,600 stores worldwide and more than 7,000 staff.

Latest results show its revenues for 2020 were 727.4million, up from 715.5million the year before.

Founded in 1870, it has always prided itself on its ethics.

Shunned: Some shoppers said they would boycott Holland & Barrett after finding it out it was owned by Fridmans firm

But some shoppers said they would boycott it after finding out it was owned by Fridmans firm.

The billionaire calls Britain his home and bought a 65million London mansion in 2016.

He has refused to criticise Putin and Russia since the invasion began, but called for bloodshed to end at the weekend.
Blackrock has been slammed for its lacklustre response to the Ukraine crisis.

Chief executive Larry Fink has not yet put out a statement about Russias invasion and it has done little to condemn the violence Vladimir Putin is wreaking.

In his annual letter to bosses in January, Fink defended his focus on the environment, sustainability and other social issues and said firms must create value for and be valued by society as well as investors.

Blackrock's chief exec Larry Fink (pictured) has done little to condemn the invasion and the violence Vladimir Putin is wreaking on Eastern Europe

But the asset manager is in line to receive a 62million dividend from London-listed Polymetal, the Russian mining company set up by Putin crony Alexander Nesis.

Blackrock, the second-largest shareholder behind Nesis, whose brother is the chief executive, last week increased its investment in the company.

The US asset manager has a stake in many of the worlds largest firms, including Russian titans Gazprom and Rosneft.

Blackrock in Russia 963m Stake in Gazprom

Stake in Gazprom 198m Holding in Polymetal

Holding in Polymetal 168m Stake in Rosneft

David Morrison, ethical investing analyst at Trade Nation, said: It does seem to fly in the face of what Mr Fink has been saying repeatedly and over a long period of time.

You would think Mr Fink would make a statement on what the company is going to do going forward in reaction to the Russian invasion against Ukraine.

Blackrock manages 7trillion of savers cash and has huge influence over the companies it invests in.

It has suspended four Russia-exposed funds worth around 363million and said it is taking all necessary actions to ensure it complies with sanctions laws and regulations.

But its actions fall far short of other institutions pledges to cut ties with the Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tells the Western alliance they are making a mistake by engaging, which could result in World War 3 if they don't change course. Lavrov said if the global powers get involved in Ukraine, their consequences will be grave.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his nuclear forces on high alert should NATO or the US bring similar weapons to the front.

Putin Orders Special Mode of Combat Duty

Moscow, expressing that a nuclear option exists that will not leave any winners, reminded the nations against them, reported the Express UK.

He stressed the Kremlin does want to prevent it, but the consequence would be on the western leaders if they decide on a full-on nuclear escalation.

Earlier, Putin has issued commands to emplace and keep Russian "deterrent forces" on a special mode of combat duty, noted NBC News. No one knows the extent of the command, which could include the nuclear arsenal.

He made the statement after foreign diplomats staged a walkout before starting at the UN Human Rights Council conference. A total of 100 or more foreign service officers did not listen to the reason for the Ukraine incursion last Tuesday.

Blaming it on Kyiv, the Russian foreign minister said Moscow could not allow it and alleged that Ukraine was trying to get nukes, which he interpreted as a threat to Russia, leaving them with no option, but to carry out a special operation, as ordered by Putin himself, which might lead to World War 3.

Read Also: Volodymyr Zelensky Wife: Who Is Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine?

Previously concessions for securing Russia would have sufficed, but western leaders were insincere using Kyiv as a pawn to influence NATO. He added that all fault is on Zelensky's regime that chose provocative action, which is a threat to its neighbor. Next, they would be assisted by the US and NATO, but getting nuclear weapons is the last straw.

Furthermore, Ukraine's Soviet nuclear systems are still in place to facilitate its use on Moscow, which the Kremlin will not allow.

Zelensky pursued this course of action to bring forces closer to nuclear Armageddon. It could be missed that cronies of US president Joe Biden like the UK, Japan, and the EU were prominent objectors.

But Venezuela, China, and Syria remained to hear the Russian speech.

Diplomats Walkout on Russia's Speech

Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko initiated the walkout, which the others followed. She politicked further by saying that Ukraine is fighting for independence, cited Al Jazeera.

These countries unfairly called Lavrov's speech as misinformation that deserved a just forum.

Similarly, Katharina Stasch, the German ambassador, called out the Russian officials' claims as false and called them distorted facts.

Lavrov used video conferencing to appear before the UN Human Rights Council as uncalled for and outrageous. His right to represent Russia was not possible because his plane could not fly in EU airspace, as the bloc banned flights from Russia.

No one knows if Vladimir Putin will call his threat to go nuclear, but the west's action made it a possibility.

The existing threat could have been prevented, and he dared the west face the consequences of their decisions. To this effect, Russian foreign minister Lavrov asserts the western alliance if they were ready for World War 3, and Moscow is prepared to defend itself against the alliance.

Related Article: Vladimir Putin Net Worth 2022: Does Anyone Know Russian President's Hidden Wealth?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
London Stock Exchange Group has suspended 28 listings with links to Russia from its markets after sanctions were introduced following the invasion of Ukraine.

The stock exchange said it was 'closely monitoring' the impact of the conflict, and was 'actively engaging' with regulators and authorities over relevant sanctions.

Boss David Schwimmer explained the decision was 'based on sanctions and the ability to run an orderly market'.

Suspensions: London Stock Exchange Group has announced said it has suspended 28 listings with links to Russia from its markets

He added: 'Suspensions are driven by those decisions, so if we see any other any other securities affected by sanctions then similar actions will take place.

'This is a very complex and fast-moving situation and we are working closely with regulators across all parts of our business.'

Operations in Russia and Ukraine account for less than one per cent of LSEG's total income, according to the group.

Last week, a subsidiary of Russias second biggest bank, VTB, was suspended on the London Stock Exchange as a result of sanctions introduced in relation to the invasion.

But a raft of Russian companies, including Roman Abramovich-backed Evraz, continue to trade on the stock market despite mounting critisicm.

Announcements of the suspensions came as LSEG hailed a 'successful first year' following the completion of its 22billion takeover of Refinitiv in early 2021.

LSEG saw its adjusted pre-tax profit increase by 26.8 per cent year-on-year to 2.3billion for the 12 months to the end of December.

It hiked its dividend for the year following positive revenue growth across all its divisions.

'Proposed final dividend of 70 pence per share, a 27 per cent increase in full year dividend to 95 pence per share, reflecting our strong performance in the year and confidence in our outlook,' the group said.

It also reported a 6.1 per cent rise in total income to 6.8billion for the year, and said it enjoyed a boost across its data and analytics arms.

LSEG's capital markets revenues jumped by 12.5 per cent as the pandemic trading boom continued during the year.

Mr Schwimmer said: 'LSEG has delivered a successful first year after completion of the Refinitiv acquisition.

'We have produced a strong financial performance, have met or are ahead of all targets, and have good momentum into 2022.

'All of our businesses produced good results and are well positioned in markets demonstrating strong growth.'

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: 'Shares in the London Stock Exchange are trading sharply higher after 2021 pre-tax profit more than doubled to 987million, thanks to its acquisition of Refinitiv last year.

'The exchange said it is actively engaging with regulators and authorities on all relevant sanctions. The LSE has suspended trading in 27 companies with ties to Russia including Sberbank after its collapse yesterday as well as Gazprom and Lukoil.

'Having shed almost a third of its value in just over a year, todays price action comes as a welcome positive surprise to investors, going against the recent downtrend.

'Despite a hefty price tag, the acquisition of Refinitv is clearly paying off as the company realigns its focus towards financial data to create a competitive force against Bloomberg.'

London Stock Exchange Group shares jumped today, and were up 9.36 per cent or 596.25p to 6,966.25p this afternoon.
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company has temporarily halted production at its Kyiv factory and evacuated employees following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The London-listed company, which has seen shares plummet in recent weeks due to its exposure to Russia and Ukraine, has scrapped its forecasts for the current year due to the conflict.

Coca-Cola HBC generated roughly 20 per cent of its sales volumes and profits in 2021 from Russia and Ukraine.

Impact: Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company has temporarily halted production at its Kyiv factory

In a stock market statement, the group said: 'The safety of our employees is our highest priority.

'We remain in constant contact with our people in Ukraine and Russia and are doing everything we can to support them.'

It said production at the Kyiv site was suspended on 24 February as the Russian invasion started.

The company told shareholders that the conflict 'has clearly developed further and faster than anticipated'.

It said it was 'still too early' to quantify the impact of the crisis and the developing reactions of international governments on the companys operations.

The company said it believes it was no longer prudent to provide financial guidance for the current year.

The drinks business said it is prepared to use actions to drive revenue growth, including price hikes, to offset currency depreciation and rising input costs due to the conflict.

It is also ready to move marketing funds and capital expenditure investment to other markets.

The company said: 'We will update accordingly when we have greater visibility on the impact of the events in the Ukraine and Russia on our business.'

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company shares have fallen today and were down 5.21 per cent or 87.00p to 1,583.50p this afternoon.

Meggitt in potential writedown amid Russian invasion

British aircraft parts maker Meggitt has flagged a possible 'material' writedown on a Russian aircraft programme amid the Ukraine war.

The group, a component supplier for aircraft makers including Boeing and Airbus, has been trying to mitigate supply chain disruptions, curtail lead times and look for alternatives for electronic parts due to pandemic-related hindrances.

Writedown? British aircraft parts maker Meggitt has flagged a possible 'material' writedown on a Russian aircraft program

'As we look ahead, and notwithstanding that the recovery in civil aerospace is likely to remain uneven in the short-term, the outlook and long-term fundamentals for our civil aerospace business remain positive,' boss Tony Wood, said.

Meggitt is one of the suppliers to Russia-based Irkut's MC-21 aircraft development programme, which is due to enter service this year. Irkut's parent firm United Aircraft Corporation is majority owned by Rostec, Russia's state aerospace and defence conglomerate.

In a stock market statement, Meggitt, said: 'During 2022, tensions between Russia and the West have escalated and, in the period immediately preceding the date of this Annual Report, has seen Russian troops enter Ukraine with Western countries imposing a number of sanctions on Russia in response.

'It is impracticable at the date of these consolidated financial statements to determine the possible effects this escalation of the conflict will have on the future of the aircraft programme or the ability of the Group to access benefits from it.

'However, it is reasonably foreseeable that a material impairment loss on the programme could be recognised in the next 12 months.'

Megitt revealed today that its underlying operating profit came in at 177.3million for the year ending 31 December, against 190.5million pounds a year earlier.

Its takeover by Parker-Hannifin is still subject to a regulatory probe by the Competition and Markets Authority.

Meggitt shares were down 0.55 per cent or 4.20p to 759.80p this afternoon.
The investment vehicle in talks to buy M&C Saatchi has been granted a further extension until the end of March to make a 'put up or shut up' takeover offer.

AdvancedAdvT previously had until 5pm today to make a definitive proposal for the AIM-listed firm or declare it is walking away, but will now be given another four weeks - though this deadline could be extended again.

Run by technology entrepreneur Vin Murria, it initially submitted a bid of 182.75p per share in early January, before coming up with two different offers later in the month that were rejected.

Probe dropped: M&C Saatchi said no enforcement action will be taken by the City watchdog

Soon afterwards, it came forward with another couple of offers - either 1.939 new AdvT ordinary shares and 40 pence in cash for each M&C Saatchi ordinary share or an all-share offer - both valuing the company at around 282million.

These bids have all been turned down by the advertising agency on the grounds that they undervalued the business, the lack of detail in AdvT's digital-led strategy and uncertainty over the employment of current staff, amongst other reasons.

After the most recent offers, independent directors at M&C Saatchi said that it was 'in the best interests of all [its] stakeholders...to continue to engage constructively in discussions.'

But it added: 'While the company continues to facilitate access to provide AdvT with the opportunity to make a formal offer to the company's shareholders, no revised proposal has been forthcoming.'

Nicknamed 'Britain's queen of tech,' Indian-born Murria founded Computer Software Group in 2002 before selling it five years later to private equity house Hellman & Friedman for 500million.

Afterwards, she set up Advanced Computer Software Group, which provides IT services to the National Health Service and other public bodies. It was eventually bought by investment firm Vista Equity Partners for 765million in 2015.

She has served on the boards of many distinguished businesses, including property portal Zoopla, security software manufacturer Sophos, and advertising group Chime Communications.

The latter firm is a rival to M&C Saatchi, which was founded by brothers Maurice and Charles Saatchi in 1995 following a shareholder revolt at the previous agency they co-founded, Saatchi & Saatchi.

Their clients have encompassed some of the world's most well-known brands, ranging from sportswear giants Adidas and Reebok to Coca-Cola, banking group NatWest, and technology goods manufacturer Samsung.

Until January, the company had been the subject of a two-year investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority following the discovery of accounting irregularities within its UK business in the summer of 2019.

M&C Saatchi shares were up 2.3 per cent to 1.80 during the late afternoon on Thursday, meaning their value has grown by around a quarter in the last 12 months.
From Covid to climate change and the rising cost of living, the modern world isnt exactly short of reasons to lose sleep and feel stressed.

Research by the mental health charity Mind reports that one in five Brits currently describe their mental wellbeing as 'poor'. Meanwhile, one in three of us suffers from poor sleep, with stress often blamed.

Fortunately, public awareness of how to fight stress and anxiety is growing. Around a third of us say we're doing more exercise, and more than a fifth are eating more healthily.

Research by the mental health charity Mind reports that one in five Brits currently describe their mental wellbeing as 'poor'

But one of the most scientifically proven ways to reduce stress and improve sleep is perhaps the least well-known  a natural herb called ashwagandha.

Known as the 'prince of herbs', ashwagandha has been prized as a treatment for general health and wellbeing in the traditional Indian practice of Ayurveda for thousands of years.

Now multiple scientific studies have confirmed that this ancient herb has a remarkable capacity to help us cope with modern-day stress.

A randomised, placebo-controlled study in 2012 concluded that ashwagandha 'safely and effectively improves an individual's resistance towards stress and thereby improves self-assessed quality of life.'

Another study in 2019 reported that stressed individuals who took 600mg per day of full-spectrum ashwagandha not only showed a significant reduction in their stress and anxiety levels, but also an improvement in sleep quality. A 2020 study also found that it could help manage insomnia.

Despite its long history, people in the UK are only starting to become aware of ashwagandha's ability to help promote wellbeing  or that it's available as a nutritional supplement.

Susan Ince, 52, began taking FutureYou Cambridges Ashwagandha+ after she started to feel more anxious and says it has helped her sleep. I feel more like me again, she says

'I have a much more comfortable night's sleep and feel so much more like I used to,' says 52-year-old Susan Ince from Northamptonshire.

When Susan began to feel more anxious and had trouble sleeping, a relative suggested that a supplement called Ashwagandha+ might help. Now, she wouldn't be without it.

'When you get to your late forties to early fifties, there are lots of hormonal changes in the body and it can often take you by surprise,' says Susan.

All of the physical exercise she got from her work, regular walks and pilates didn't seem to make a difference.

'Ashwagandha+ has helped me navigate those changes and I feel more like me again.'

'I feel calmer and more relaxed during the day, and I'm a lot less agitated than I was before I started on them.

'I take one in the morning and one at night. If I forget to take it at night, I'll get out of bed and go downstairs to take it  that's how strongly I feel about them.'

One of the most scientifically proven ways to reduce stress and improve sleep is perhaps the least well-known  a natural herb called ashwagandha

Ashwagandha+ was developed by FutureYou Cambridge, a leading supplement company known for developing formulations backed by extensive scientific research.

'Ashwagandha is a herb with multiple health benefits*,' says Dr Miriam Ferrer, PhD, FutureYou Cambridge's head of product development. 'And it can be beneficial if you're looking for a natural way to improve your mental and physical wellbeing.'

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is a small, evergreen shrub with yellow flowers that grows to about two feet in height across India and parts of the Mediterranean and Africa.

Also known as Indian ginseng, it belongs to a range of 'adaptogens' which promote homeostasis  an optimal internal state in which all the body's physical and chemical conditions are in a healthy balance.

Its key ingredient is a group of flavonoids called withanolides. Much like the way exercise builds physical performance, these active molecules help the body normalise physiological processes and adapt to changes. This in turn promotes relaxation and helps us cope with stress.

After deciding to develop an ashwagandha supplement, the experts at FutureYou Cambridge used the most scientifically validated formulation of the herb. 'If it wasn't backed by data, we didn't want it,' says Dr Ferrer.

'Ashwagandha+ provides 600mg of KSM-66 ashwagandha root extract, the most researched ashwagandha formulation available. That amount has been proven effective by 22 human studies. It's also 'full-spectrum', which means that it maintains the balance of the various constituents of the original herb.

She continues: 'It helps support relaxation, mental and physical wellbeing  and contributes to emotional balance and general wellbeing during periods of anxiety and emotional stress*.'

It's been a real saviour. I feel so much more mellow and less anxious now.'  Laura Harkins

The NHS is now placing more focus than ever before on mental health, and taking care of our emotional wellbeing and that of our loved ones has become a top priority for many of us  like 38-year-old Laura Harkins from Fife.

When Laura returned to work in the hospitality sector last year, she was looking for some support. 'I'm constantly on the go and quite a highly strung person,' she says.

'I came across FutureYou Cambridge's Ashwagandha+ online and read about the benefits. It ticked all the boxes for me.'

'I really liked the fact the Cambridge-based company has such strong scientific associations.'

'I decided to try it and I noticed the changes after just a few days. 'It's been a real saviour. I feel so much more mellow and less anxious now.'

'My friends noticed the difference and asked what I was taking. I highly recommend Ashwagandha+ to all of them.'

Studies have shown ashwagandha can help improve sleep quality and manage insomnia

Maz Naheed, 66, tells a similar story. Maz works on her own as a full-time carer for her elderly mother, and had recently begun to feel it taking a serious toll on her wellbeing.

It helped lift my mood and I was sleeping better.'  Maz Naheed

'I had problems sleeping and sometimes a low mood, as well as feeling tired,' says Maz.

Maz was already aware of ashwagandha and its reported benefits. 'I already took supplements from FutureYou Cambridge and I like them  so I decided to give Ashwagandha+ a try.'

'After two weeks I can honestly say it really made a difference to me. It helped lift my mood and I was sleeping better. I'm really happy I found it, and there are no side effects at all.'

Despite growing public awareness of issues around mental health and wellbeing, old stigmas can still be an obstacle to addressing them. 'No one should have to feel ashamed of seeking help to deal with stress,' says Dr Ferrer.'

'Feelings of stress and anxiety come and go and are a part of day-to-day life. But for some of us it can be much more severe, and it's important that people know where to get help, whether it's helplines, charities, counselling services, or your GP.'

Last year, FutureYou Cambridge commissioned its own research into how British people deal with stress, which discovered that only one in 10 people had tried a nutritional supplement to help  but more than two-thirds of us felt open to the idea.

'It was very interesting to learn that,' says Dr Ferrer. 'And it suggests that a lot of people still aren't aware that a science-backed supplement like Ashwagandha+ can help to contribute to optimal wellbeing.'

'The best way to find out if it makes a difference for you is simply to try it. And that's why we're happy to let people try a free pack for just the cost of the postage. We hope that a lot more people find that they share a positive experience like Laura, Maz and Susan.'

*Ashwagandha+ contains ashwagandha which contributes to optimal relaxation; helps to support mental and physical wellbeing; contributes to emotional balance and general wellbeing. Ashwagandha+ also contains vitamin C which contributes to normal psychological function and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.
A woman who torched five Seattle police cars during a tumultuous protest that heralded a summer of unrest after George Floyd's murder in 2020 was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison.

Margaret Channon, 26, of Tacoma, used an aerosol can and a lighter as a makeshift flame-thrower to burn the unoccupied, parked police vehicles in downtown Seattle on May 30, soon after officers sprayed tear gas to disperse a massive crowd. For 25 minutes she ran back and forth between the cars, adding fire as necessary to destroy them.

The burning police cars became some of the most indelible images of Seattle's unrest - overshadowing the thousands who demonstrated for racial justice with justifiable anger, but who were nevertheless peaceful, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg told U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour.

'She wasn't alone, but Ms. Channon set the tone for what that protest became moving forward,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg said. 'Ms. Channon left downtown Seattle in flames and in billowing smoke.'

Millions across the country took to the streets after cellphone video surfaced of white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee against the neck of Floyd, who was Black, for 9 1/2 minutes as Floyd pleaded for breath. Chauvin was convicted last year on state charges of murder and manslaughter and was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison; he and three other officers have been convicted of federal civil rights violations.

In cities across the United States, protesters fed up with seeing Black people killed by police faced off against heavily-armed officers, with some smashing cruisers, ransacking businesses and setting fires. In Seattle, demonstrators went on to seize an area of several city blocks in the Capitol Hill neighborhood - the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest - and police for a time abandoned the nearby East Precinct building.

Margaret Aislinn Channon (left and right), 25, was arrested by federal authorities wearing full SWAT gear from her home in Tacoma after being caught setting fires in the vehicles (left) by multiple cameras at the end of May 2020

In this photo provided by KUOW, a Seattle police car burns on May 30, 2020 in downtown Seattle, during protests over the police killing of George Floyd. Margaret Channon, of Tacoma, Washington, who lit the car on fire along with several other police vehicles during the protest, was sentenced Tuesday, March 1, 2022, to five years in prison

Channon, who also acknowledged smashing a Verizon store window and busting the cash register at a sandwich shop, was the fifth and final defendant sentenced in federal court for actions related to the civil unrest in Seattle.

Kelly Jackson received more than three years for throwing Molotov cocktails at two Seattle police vehicles on May 30. Tyre Means got five years for burning one Seattle police vehicle and stealing a firearm out of another that day. Desmond David-Pitts and Isaiah Willoughby received 20 and 24 months, respectively, for setting fires at the East Precinct.

Channon apologized in a letter to the court and through a sentencing memo filed by her lawyer, acknowledging that the Black Lives Matter movement does not condone illegal acts and that as a white woman it was not her place to coopt the cause.

'I apologize to the many workers and activists - who have given decades of their lives to building a countermeasure to police violence - that did not want to see fire,' Channon wrote. 'I had intended to effect positive change, but my attempt was misguided.'

Her mother, Elizabeth MacGahan, wrote her own letter to the court, saying Channon grew up in a family with a long history of civil service and citing the destabilizing effects of the pandemic, the protests and the recent deaths of her two beloved grandmothers as possible factors in her actions.

'Its a very difficult time to be young and sensitive, and to suffer losses,' she said.

Owing to 'high-quality' photographs taken by Sat the scene, investigators were able to pick out a 'distinctive' tattoo of the woman's left hand. 'She had the letters W-A-I-F tattooed on the fingers of her left hand... The letters were oriented such that the bottom of the letters faced towards her fingertips,' an indictment from 2020 reads.

'Also visible on the suspects left hand was a heart tattoo on her middle finger between the A and the fingertip.' Channon's tattoos were linked to a missing person's case from Texas in 2019.

They found her social media accounts and then her address. After raiding the Tacoma home, investigators kept articles of clothing - a black shirt, black pants and a black and white face covering - seen in the CCTV footage for evidence.

Channon's 'distinctive' tattoos were linked to a missing person's case from Texas in 2019

Investigators, using her 'distinctive' tattoos, tracked down Channon using social media

The 'distinctive' hand tattoos police used to track down Channon after she allegedly torched five police cars during Seattle protests

Federal authorities said Channon used a spray 'lit like a blowtorch' to set the vehicles ablaze

The U.S. Attorney's Office said it offered Channon a chance to plead guilty to conspiracy, rather than arson - which would have enabled her to argue for a sentence less than than the five-year mandatory minimum for arson.

Channon refused. Her attorney, Vanessa Pai-Thompson, wrote that 'Channon was adamant that she would not do anything to shift blame to others for decisions that were hers alone.'

After the sentencing, Seattle U.S. Attorney Nick Brown - the first Black person to serve as the Justice Department's top prosecutor in western Washington - said he understood and shared the anger over Floyd's murder.

'I watched people gather and protest here in Seattle with a lot of admiration,' Brown said. 'To see that devolve into bombing of police vehicles and destruction of businesses ... was profoundly sad for me.'

His nearly 80-year-old father, Hank, was jailed during civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s, and Brown said he appreciated that protests sometimes must be loud, angry and disruptive - but not destructive. Channon's actions undercut the message of the Black Lives Matter movement, he said.
An ultra pro-Russian patriot has mocked Scott Morrison's plan to send Ukraine missiles, saying the Prime Minister is 'a complete fool' who has put Australia's national security at risk.

Simeon Boikov, who calls himself the 'Aussie Cossack', said Mr Morrison's pledge to fund missiles for Ukraine had made Australia a 'target' for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Tuesday, Mr Morrison pledged $70 million to buy military equipment and weapons for Ukraine as part of a co-ordinated Western effort to help its armed forces resist Russia's invasion.

'This is very serious,' Mr Boikov told Daily Mail Australia.

'We are on the verge of nuclear war. Putin is not mucking around.'

Simeon Boikov, who calls himself the Aussie Cossack, claims Scott Morrison has acted like 'a complete fool' funding missiles for Ukraine and provoking Vladimir Putin to retaliate against Australia

Boikov's wife of one year Katia (above) is a 'very staunch' supporter of Russia's actions and is 'disgusted' with the West's opposition to Putin and support for Ukraine which he says is being liberated not invaded

Mr Boikov, who has tens of thousands of followers on his multiple social media channels, said most Australians would be against Mr Morrison dragging Australia into a war.

'We shouldn't be poking the bear', he said.

'Putin will have won within a few days ... this is the end of the war (but) if other countries get involved it's World War III.

'I personally think Australia is the best country in the world ... but Putin is not bluffing, I can't stress that enough.'

Mr Boikov says his glamorous wife Katia is even more 'staunch ... and disgusted with the way the West' has turned against Russia. The pair married in a Russian Orthodox wedding last year.

Simeon Boikov (above in Cossack uniform in Russia) says NSW police have imposed a firearms prohibition order on him 'same as on bikies and criminals' which he is fighting to have dismissed

Simeon Boikov (above) says Australia should not be provoking Vladimir Putin by funding $70m of missiles and military equipment to Ukraine because the Russian President 'is not bluffing'

Six days since Putin began Russia's military offensive against Ukraine, Mr Boikov declared 'I am on war time' and 'on Moscow time' and said monitoring actions in Russia and Ukraine for his Australian audiences had left him with little sleep.

The 32-year-old construction professional, aspiring politician and founder of his patriotic Russian Australian Aussie Cossack movement, is keen for Australians to see the current crisis as he does, with Putin as a 'liberator' not an invader or 'occupier'.

With a St George ribbon marking Russia's victory over Germany in World War II pinned to his suit, Mr Boikov spoke exclusively with Daily Mail Australia at his bayside inner western apartment block

The one-time student at St Andrews Cathedral School and at Trinity Grammar, where he played in the second row and as a flanker in the rugby first 15, said he believed Mr Morrison was sabre rattling to appear strong going into a federal election.

'It's because he's so unpopular and seen as weak and incompetent,' Mr Boikov said.

Simeon Boikov (above, left) has more than 30,000 followers of his Telegraph channel posts which spruik his claims that Russia is liberating Ukraine rather than invading the country

Simeon Boikov's Aussie Cossack movement employs the double-headed eagle as one of its symbols, and he is currently on a high alert war footing as the situation in Ukraine continues

Boikov says that Putin 'is not bluffing' and that Australian PM Scott Morrison is foolish to provoke the Russian President by promising to fund missiles for Ukraine

'It's a joke. He's way out of his pay grade and should stick to the floods.

On Tuesday Mr Morrison announced Australia was pledging $105 million to help Ukraine, including $70 million in military equipment.

'We're talking missiles, we're talking ammunition, we're talking supporting them in their defence of their homeland in Ukraine,' he said.

'I'm not going to go into the specifics of that because I don't plan to give the Russian government a heads-up about what's coming their way, but I can assure them it's coming your way.'

Mr Boikov said it was foolish to get involved in 'financing death, destruction, tragedy and bloodshed (in Ukraine)'.

'Is it a PR stunt?' he said.

Mr Boikov claims to be a student of Russian and European history who believes 'Nazi' inspired battalions have been waging war against Russian speakers in Ukraine, since a political overthrow of government in 2014.

He also claims Ukrainian nationalist battalions, descended from local swastika and 'SS' wearing divisions from the second world war, still operate in modern Ukraine.

This argument, also used by Putin to justify the invasion, has been widely debunked by world leaders and experts as Russian propaganda

Despite admitting 'a lot of crazies' follow him', Mr Boikov said 98 per cent of his serious followers believe Australia 'should not be committing missiles or financing a war against Russia'.

He described the West's campaign to get behind Ukraine and oppose Russia as 'virtue signalling" and derided 'Instagram models .... who suddenly overnight become interested in the war' and put the yellow and blue colours of the Ukraine flag on their Instagram pages like 'they're Parramatta Eels supporters".

'I am against war, but the war has replaced Covid as the latest fear mongering campaign,' he said.

Simeon Boikov (above) at his wedding to Russian wife Katia, and his brother Gabriel in February last year

The self-styled 'Aussie Cossack' claims Ukraine has been the aggressor against Russian speaking people within its borders with 'Nazi' like military units descended from WWII forces

'Pro-choice' Mr Boikov also campaigned against lockdowns over the last two years but denies he is an anti-vaxxer.

He currently has an annulment application before Burwood Local Court of a charge of not complying with a Covid-19 public health order, and said he and his wife both had Covid last December and it was 'like a cold'.

He formed the self-styled unit called Australian Cossacks or Zabaikal Cossack Society of Australia to honour the region both sides of his family come from in Russia, which borders Mongolia.

A third generation Russian Australian on his Russian Orthodox priest father's side, Mr Boikov said his parents had a strict Russian language rule at home and he couldn't speak English at kindergarten.

At school he was ' a leader', always ready to defend his ethnic identity, challenge teachers' versions of Western history and loved playing rugby union and other sport.

Aged 18, he insisted in trading his comfortable Sydney life for an austere, monastic existence studying at a seminary in Lubyanka, Moscow near KGB headquarters.

When he returned home four years later, he began working in the building industry and formed Australian Cossacks.

Simeon Boikov says he has never trained in the military in either Russia or Australia but wears Cossack uniforms to honour descendants of Russian horsemen who fought with Tsarist forces during the Russian civil war

Simeon Boikov has mocked sanctions and bans on items like Russian vodka (above, right) by western countries including Australia and says Scott Morrison is 'a complete fool' for offering to fund missiles for Ukraine

He made his own documentary about the history of Cossacks, descendants of Russian horsemen who fought with Tsarist forces during the Russian civil war, and who have supported Russia in the long-running Russo-Ukrainian War.

He met Ekaterina Olshannikova, who works at the Russian visa centre, four years ago and they married recently.

Mr Boikov described his two younger brothers and sister, a Sydney University lecturer, a chef and a trainee teacher as 'normal'.

He moved into his current apartment block because his wife's family come from the bayside inner western suburb, where he keeps a collection of Cossack memorabilia, including uniforms , he had collected over the years.

He said he had never trained in the Australian or Russian military and his army uniforms were Cossack only and that he didn't own any firearms, but had been photographed with weapons in Russia, where he had once met Vladimir Putin 'very, very briefly ... he was very amicable and nice'.

Mr Boikov told Daily Mail Australia that NSW Police had imposed a firearms prohibition order upon him the 'same as bikies and criminals' six months ago, but he had never owned a weapon in this country.

He was very critical of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, saying it was his empty threat of arming his country with nuclear weapons that had pushied Putin into invading.

Simeon Boikov and his wife Katia (above) have been together four years and were married in a Russian Orthodox ceremony in Sydney in February last year

Russian Cossack dancers *(above) at Simeon Boikov's premiere at Burwood cinema of a documentary he made about hundreds of years of history of the Cossacks

'It was the straw that broke the camel's back, and he (Zelensky) later said it was a joke. Who jokes about that. It's like saying on a plane you have a bomb.

'Now Ukraine has opened up the jails and handed out Kalahsnikovs and Bazookas to prisoners so in Kyiv there are small arms battles between looters instead of handing out food.

'There's no food in the shops. It will end up in more bloodshed. The Russians need to come in to restore order.'

Boikov mocked the Russian vodka ban by alcohol retailers such as BWS, Dan Murphys and Liquorland, saying sanctions had acted against Australia's interests in the past and now only acted to push Russia and China closer together.

He said Australia's massive iron ore exports to China before its imposed ban on it and other Australian products including wine, beef and barley could backfire if China sent warships made from that iron ore to attack us.

'China is very, very strong. It will come back to bite us. I want Australia to facilitate good relations with Russia.

'There is only one person the Chinese respect and can stop China and that is Putin.'

Mr Boikov campaigned to run as an independent in the Strathfield by-election last months, but did not end up on the ballot because it was 'to quick' and he ran out of time.

He may stand for the seat of Reid in the forthcoming federal election, but said it would depend on what happened in Ukraine as his current 'war' footing was consuming all his energy.

If he was elected he would join with other political minority 'freedom party' members in a move to get rid of the major parties from parliament.

'(I would be) very clear. Sack them all. We need to get rid of sitting members, Liberal and Labor, they have failed Australia.

'What have they done to families, the economy? The lockdown has been mishandled.

'Scott Morrison has mishandled the last two years. He doesn't act in the interests of the Australian people.'
One million refugees have fled across the borders of Ukraine since Russian forces invaded a week ago, the United Nations said Wednesday, calling it the swiftest refugee exodus this century, as Russian forces kept up their bombardment of the country's second-biggest city, Kharkiv, and laid siege to two strategic seaports.

'In just seven days we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine to neighboring countries,' U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi wrote in a tweet Wednesday.

'For many millions more, inside Ukraine, its time for guns to fall silent, so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can be provided.'

The tally from the U.N. refugee agency released to The Associated Press Wednesday amounts to more than two percent of Ukraine's population being forced out of the country in less than a week.

The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, where residents desperate to get away from falling shells and bombs crowded the city's train station and tried to press onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

In a videotaped address early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance.

He vowed that the invaders would have 'not one quiet moment' and described Russian soldiers as 'confused children who have been used.'

A family arrive at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, after fleeing from the Ukraine. The U.N. refugee agency said the number topped 1 million of those who have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries since the Russian invasion began

A group of women and a boy walk to the train station as they try to leave Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Russian forces have escalated their attacks on crowded cities in what Ukraine's leader called a blatant campaign of terror

Ukraine war: The latest Ukraine's president addresses the nation again in the early hours of Thursday, giving an upbeat assessment of progress

'These are not warriors of a superpower,' he says. 'These are confused children who have been used'

Kyiv is coming under renewed attack in the early hours of Thursday morning

Russian paratroopers land on Wednesday in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv amid heavy fighting

'There are practically no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit': Interior Ministry official

Joe Biden brands Vladimir Putin a 'dictator' in his annual State of the Union address as he bans Russian aircraft from US airspace

Russia steps up its bombing campaign and missile strikes, hitting Kyiv's main television tower, two residential buildings in a town west of the city and the city of Bila Tserkva to the south of the capital

Russian attacks leave Mariupol, another Black Sea port further to the west, without electricity

More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the UN's refugee agency says

The UN's International Court of Justice says it will hold public hearings on March 7 and 8 over Ukraine's allegations of 'genocide' by Russia

Russia blocks an independent television channel and a liberal radio station, tightening a virtual media blackout

A string of Western companies announce they are freezing or scaling back business with Russia

Russians race to withdraw cash after the introduction of capital controls and as the ruble hits record lows

Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 goes insolvent after Germany halts the pipeline following Moscow's invasion

Oil prices soar past $110 a barrel, despite agreements to release 60 million barrels from stockpiles

The World Bank prepares a $3-billion aid package for Ukraine, including $350 million in immediate funds Advertisement

Moscow's isolation deepened when most of the world lined up against it at the United Nations to demand it withdraw from Ukraine. And the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes.

With fighting going on on multiple fronts across the country, Britain's Defense Ministry said Mariupol, a large city on the Azov Sea, was encircled by Russian forces, while the status of another vital port, Kherson, a Black Sea shipbuilding city of 280,000, remained unclear.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces claimed to have taken complete control of Kherson, which would make it the biggest city to fall yet in the invasion. A senior U.S. defense official disputed that.

'Our view is that Kherson is very much a contested city,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Zelenskyy's office told the AP that it could not comment on the situation in Kherson while the fighting was still going on.

The mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow crews to gather up the bodies from the streets.

'We don't have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE,' he said in a statement later posted on Facebook.

The mayor said Kherson would maintain a strict 8 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew and restrict traffic into the city to food and medicine deliveries.

The city will also require pedestrians to walk in groups no larger than two, obey commands to stop and not to 'provoke the troops.'

'The flag flying over us is Ukrainian,' he wrote. 'And for it to stay that way, these demands must be observed.'

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said the attacks there had been relentless.

'We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop,' he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Russia reported its military casualties for the first time since the invasion began last week, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded.

Ukraine did not disclose its own military losses but said more than 2,000 civilians have died, a claim that could not be independently verified.

In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Zelenskyy praised his country's resistance.

'We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,' he said. 'They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.'

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who 'go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.'

'These are not warriors of a superpower,' he said. 'These are confused children who have been used.'

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, published another video to his social media in the early hours of Thursday, providing an upbeat assessment of his country's resilience and saying the Russian advance was not going according to their plan

Kherson, 300 miles south of Kyiv, is considered an important strategic asset, being on an inlet in the Black Sea

Meanwhile, the senior U.S. defense official said an immense column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last couple of days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

On the far edges of Kyiv, volunteers well into their 60s manned a checkpoint to try to block the Russian advance.

'In my old age, I had to take up arms,' said Andrey Goncharuk, 68. He said the fighters needed more weapons, but 'we'll kill the enemy and take their weapons.'

Around Ukraine, others crowded into train stations, carrying children wrapped in blankets and dragging wheeled suitcases into new lives as refugees.

Passengers rush to board a train leaving to Slovakia from the Lviv railway station, in Lviv, west Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Women and children walk to the train station as they try to leave Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 2

Local militiamen help an old woman crossing a bridge destroyed by artillery, as she tries to flee, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022

People walk next to a row of cars waiting to pick up family members and refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, in Palanca, Moldova, on March 2, 2022

In an email, U.N. refugee agency spokesperson Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams told the AP that the latest data indicates the refugee count surpassed 1 million as of midnight in central Europe, based on figures collected by national authorities.

Shabia Mantoo, another spokesperson for the agency, said that 'at this rate' the exodus from Ukraine could make it the source of 'the biggest refugee crisis this century.'

A large explosion shook central Kyiv on Wednesday night in what the president's office said was a missile strike near the capital city's southern railway station. There was no immediate word on any deaths or injuries.

Russian forces pounded Kharkiv, Ukraine's biggest city after Kyiv, with about 1.5 million people, in another round of aerial attacks that shattered buildings and lit up the skyline with flames.

At least 21 people were killed over the past day, said Oleg Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration.

Several Russian planes were shot down over Kharkiv, according to Oleksiy Arestovich, a top adviser to Zelenskyy.

'Kharkiv today is the Stalingrad of the 21st century,' Arestovich said, invoking what is considered one of the most heroic episodes in Russian history, the five-month defense of the city from the Nazis during World War II.

From his basement bunker, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov told the BBC: 'The city is united and we shall stand fast.

Russian attacks, many with missiles, blew the roof off Kharkiv's five-story regional police building and set the top floor on fire, and also hit the intelligence headquarters and a university building, according to officials and videos and photos released by Ukraine's State Emergency Service. Officials said residential buildings were also hit, but gave no details.

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warned that the fighting poses a danger to Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors.

Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency noted that the war is 'the first time a military conflict is happening amid the facilities of a large, established nuclear power program,' and he said he is 'gravely concerned.'

Russia already has seized control of the decommissioned Chernobyl power plant, the scene in 1986 of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

Displaced Ukrainians take shelter in an auditorium in Lviv, western Ukraine, on March 2

A woman from Ukraine covered with a blanket, stands at a train station in Przemysl, southeastern Poland, Wednesday, March 2

People seeking shelter from Russian airstrikes and shelling sit in the small basement of a house in Gorenka, outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Ukrainian volunteers sort donated foods for later distribution to the local population while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appears on television in Lviv, western Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022

A refugee from Ukraine hugs her dog at a temporary shelter in Ubla, eastern Slovakia, on the border with Ukraine, on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. While the fighting raged, so did the humanitarian toll, hundred of thousands people have fled Ukraine

In New York, the U.N. General Assembly voted to demand that Russia stop its offensive and immediately withdraw all troops, with world powers and tiny island states alike condemning Moscow. The vote was 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions.

Assembly resolutions aren't legally binding but can reflect and influence world opinion.

The vote came after the 193-member assembly convened its first emergency session since 1997. The only countries to vote with Russia were Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea. Cuba spoke in Moscow's defense but ultimately abstained.

Ukraines U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Russian forces 'have come to the Ukrainian soil, not only to kill some of us ... they have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist.' He added: 'The crimes are so barbaric that it is difficult to comprehend.'

Russia ramped up its rhetoric. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reminded the world about the country's vast nuclear arsenal when he said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that 'a third world war could only be nuclear.'

In the northern city of Chernihiv, two cruise missiles hit a hospital, according to the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency, which quoted the health administration chief, Serhiy Pivovar, as saying authorities were working to determine the casualty toll.

A second round of talks aimed at ending the fighting was expected Thursday, but there appeared to be little common ground between the two sides.

The price of oil continued to soar, reaching $112 per barrel, the highest since 2014.

Russia found itself even more isolated economically as Airbus and Boeing said they would cut off spare parts and technical support to the country's airlines, a major blow.

Airbus and Boeing jets account for the vast majority or Russia's passenger fleet.
American authorities have returned nine looted artifacts to Jordan after $70million antiquities were seized from a billionaire NY financier.

The artifacts were among 180 items seized by the Manhattan District Attorney's office from collector Michael Steinhardt, 81, in a landmark deal announced in December which allowed the billionaire to avoid prosecution.

His collection included a stag's head drinking vessel from Greece dating from 400 BC worth $3.5 million, and three 'Death Masks' believed to be more than 8,000 years old which were crafted in the Judean foothills and worth $650,000.

Steinhardt 'knew no geographic or moral boundaries, as reflected in the sprawling underworld of antiquities traffickers, crime bosses, money launderers, and tomb raiders he relied upon to expand his collection,' said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

'For decades, Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artifacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold, or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe,' Vance added.

The artifacts were among 180 items seized by the Manhattan District Attorney's office from collector Michael Steinhardt (pictured at the Champions of Jewish Values international awards), 81, in a landmark deal announced in December which allowed the billionaire to avoid prosecution

Jordanian Tourism Minister Nayef al Fayez and Henry Wooster, United States Ambassador to Jordan, stand near artefacts handed over by the U.S. to Jordan during a ceremony, in Amman

Stolen antiquities are displayed at a news conference at the offices of the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in New York. Dozens of looted antiquities seized from collector and billionaire hedge fund founder Michael Steinhardt after a years-long investigation have been returned to the people of Greece

A sculpture of a young man from about 560 B.C., known as a kouros, is presented at a news conference at the offices of the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in New York

The Jordanian Antiquities Ministry and the US Embassy in Jordan held a ceremony in Jordan's capital, Amman, on Tuesday showcasing the objects that were 'illegally smuggled from Jordan and obtained by an antiquities collector in the United States,' the embassy said in a statement

Many of the pieces Steinhardt acquired were removed from their countries of origin during times of war or civil unrest, prosecutors said.

The deal capped a four-year investigation into Steinhardt's possession of looted antiquities.

The Jordanian Antiquities Ministry and the US Embassy in Jordan held a ceremony in Jordan's capital, Amman, on Tuesday showcasing the objects that were 'illegally smuggled from Jordan and obtained by an antiquities collector in the United States,' the embassy said in a statement.

'This is a testament to the United States' commitment to help protect Jordan's cultural heritage. With today's repatriation of Jordanian antiquities, we are keeping this promise,' Ambassador Henry T. Wooster said.

The American and Jordanian authorities' press statements did not mention Steinhardt by name, but seven of the artifacts that appeared in photos published by the ministry matched the description of Jordanian items in court documents.

The Larnax , a small chest for human remains from Greek Island of Crete that dates between 1400-1200 B.C.E., purchased from known antiquities trafficker Eugene Alexander via Seychelles-headquartered FAM Services for $575,000 in October 2016. Today, the Larnax is valued at $1 million.

The Stag's Head Rhyton , depicting a finely wrought stag's head in the form of a ceremonial vessel for libations, purchased from The Merrin Gallery for $2.6 million in November 1991. The item, which dates to 400 B.C.E., first appeared without provenance on the international art market after rampant looting in Milas, Turkey. In March 1993, Steinhardt loaned the Stag's Head Rhyton to the Met, where it remained until the D.A.'s Office applied for and received a warrant to seize it. Today, the Stag's Head Rhyton is valued at $3.5 million.

Two ancient Jewish tombstones that were plundered from Jordan and bought by Steinhardt from an Israeli antiquities dealer did not appear in photos from the press conference. The director of the Jordanian Antiquities Ministry did not respond to request for comment.

Since the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced the agreement in December, U.S. authorities have returned Steinhardt's plundered artifacts to Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Libya, Iraq, and now Jordan.

Steinhardt was not accused of plundering any items himself and has said he did not commit any crime. But the DA's office said he 'knew, or should have ascertained by reasonable inquiry' that the antiquities were stolen.

More than two dozen artifacts that had been plundered from Israel and the occupied West Bank are expected to be returned to Israeli authorities later this month, the Israeli Antiquities Authority said.

Three Death Masks purchased from known antiquities trafficker GIL CHAYA with no provenance whatsoever for $400,000 in October 2007, less than a year after they surfaced on the international art market. The Death Masks (circa 6000 to 7000 B.C.E.) were crafted from stone and originated in the foothills of the Judean mountains, most likely in the Shephelah in Israel. Today, the Death Masks are valued at $650,000

Of the 40 artifacts being repatriated to Israel as part of the deal, at least 22 are believed to have been plundered from West Bank sites, according to court documents. Steinhardt 'has been unable to locate' nine of those pieces, and another three are on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

The museum recently removed Steinhardt's name from the display label for two Neolithic masks he had loaned.

The DA's office said the artifacts from the occupied West Bank will be returned to the Israeli government 'pursuant to the Oslo Accords,' the 1995 interim agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, which says the return of West Bank artifacts to the Palestinians should be resolved in a still-elusive final peace deal.

Jihad Yassin, a Palestinian Tourism and Antiquities Ministry official, said that the materials that came from the West Bank should be returned to the Palestinians, and that his department was preparing to submit a report to UNESCO about the issue.

Steinhardt is a hedge fund founder and philanthropist who chairs the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life. He is also co-founder of Birthright Israel, an organization that sends young Jews on free trips to Israel and a prominent patron of the Israel Museum and other institutions in the country.

'For decades, Michael Steinhardt displayed a rapacious appetite for plundered artifacts without concern for the legality of his actions, the legitimacy of the pieces he bought and sold, or the grievous cultural damage he wrought across the globe,' Vance added.

The offices of Steinhardt's hedge fund and his Fifth Avenue apartment have been raided in recent years by Vance's investigators.

The district attorney has made it a priority to track stolen works - seizing some from museums, private collections or auction houses - and return them to their rightful owners, including in Lebanon, Pakistan and Italy.

Steinhardt, estimated by Forbes to be worth $1.2 billion, is a major donor to institutions such as New York University and the Metropolitan Museum, which named a gallery after him.

The artifacts he has returned are estimated to be worth a total of about $70 million, the district attorney's office said.

Despite Steinhardt's 'decades-long indifference to the rights of peoples to their own sacred treasures,' Vance said he had no immediate plans to prosecute the billionaire.

'The interests of justice prior to indictment and trial favor a resolution that ensures that a substantial portion of the damage to world cultural heritage will be undone, once and for all,' he said.

'This agreement guarantees that 180 pieces will be returned expeditiously to their rightful owners in 11 countries rather than be held as evidence for the years necessary to complete the grand-jury indictment, trial, potential conviction, and sentence,' Vance said.

Steinhardt said in a prepared statement issued by his attorneys that he was 'pleased that the District Attorney's years-long investigation has concluded without any charges, and that items wrongfully taken by others will be returned to their native countries.'
A sommelier who was fired from Salt Bae's restaurant for 'eating an avocado after 5.30pm' has branded the eatery a 'toxic working environment'.

Guillermo Perez, 30, from Madrid, compared Nusr-Et, in Knightsbridge, central London, to a 'McDonald's for rich people' for charging guests extortionate prices - despite allegedly serving them 'frozen chips with Heinz ketchup'.

Turkish chef Nusret Gokce rose to fame back in 2017 for his unusual meat seasoning technique in which he lets salt run down his elbow, and has often been spotted slicing meat for customers at his pricey restaurant.

Specials include a Golden Giant Tomahawk steak for 1,450, Golden Giant Striplion for 1,350 and Golden Kafes for 500 - while a simple burger and coke will set you back 100 and 9 respectively.

David Beckham, Jason Statham and Naomi Campbell are among the famous faces to have eaten at Nusret's restaurants - which include locations in New York, Dubai and Istanbul.

But sommelier of eight years Mr Perez, who has lived in the UK since 2012, claimed the TikTok star's London outlet was 'immoral' in a scathing attack, adding that bottles of wine were being marked up by 'incredible' amounts.

'Bottles worth 1,000 would be sold for up to 3,000, for example,' Mr Perez told MailOnline, 'Of course you can charge people whatever price you want, but it's pretty immoral when the quality of the food and service does not match the price.

Mr Perez (picutred) said he pressed HR for better justification for his sacking, before he was told that he had not sold enough wine

Salt Bae, real name Nusret Gokce, owns a chain of Nusr-Et restaurants and is known for his theatrical salt-sprinkling antics

A slew of bad reviews left the restaurant ranked at number 20,491 out of 23,811 in the capital on TripAdvisor in December

'One day I saw a big bag of frozen chips and I thought 'really? That's what we are serving people?'

'And they had Heinz ketchup and mayonnaise, which you can get from the shop.'

It follows a swathe of savage reviews on TripAdvisor, which claimed the meat was 'smelly' and 'not at all tasty' - with one telling would-be punters to 'avoid it like the plague.'

Mr Perez continued: 'I have worked in Mayfair and other good restaurants, but my experience there was very disappointing.'

He added: 'I think people there want to show how much money they have, almost everybody paid in cash.'

Mr Perez was dragged into HR on January 20 after he was berated by a chef in the staff canteen - which is shared with a hotel  for eating his own avocado and rice.

Workers from Nusr-Et are not allowed to eat food from the canteen after 5.30pm, Mr Perez said.

'I arrived with my own food at 5.35pm and took a plate and the chef started shouting at me telling me I can't eat from the canteen,' alleged Mr Perez, whose past work experience includes the upmarket Sushisamba, 'I tried to explain that the avocado was mine and that I was just taking a plate and some cutlery and he accused me of being aggressive and called my general manager.'

Within 30 minutes, Mr Perez was told to report to HR, where he was chastised for 'arguing with the chef' and told not to return after that day.

He was told he would not receive his week's holiday pay or work a notice period.

Mr Perez, who has trained as a sommelier in Argentina and worked in top restaurants in Mayfair and central London, said: 'I told them that it was not fair because I had not received any verbal or written warning, and I had done nothing wrong.

'I wanted to take legal action but I could not really do anything because I was still on my probation period.'

Mr Perez said he pressed HR for better justification for his sacking, before he was told that he had not sold enough wine.

'I asked her to look up the latest sales figures, which showed I had actually sold the second-most out of all the sommeliers  even though I had worked fewer hours, so their reason was a lie,' he claimed.

'They also said when they hired me that my performance would not be rated on how much I sold, but then they complained that I did not sell enough in my first month.'

The upscale eatery chain is owned by Turkish butcher-turned-chef Nusret Gokce, whose theatrical salt-sprinkling antics have earned him a celebrity following including David Beckham (pictured together)

Rumours of Salt Bae's London branch had been circulating since 2017, before finally opening last year

Mr Perez said the working environment was 'toxic' due to the managers and employees who had been brought over from Greece, where Salt Bae's first restaurant was launched.

He accused the managers of favouring the staff brought over from Mykonos, as they were often given the biggest or most important tables to serve.

When Mr Perez tried to challenge the system, he claims a staff member tried to sabotage his service by knocking him as he served 60 shots to guests.

'The staff brought from Greece and Turkey were terrible and unprofessional,' he claimed, 'Everyone else, who had been trained in the UK or had experience in the hospitality sector in London were lovely and did a great job.'

Mr Perez is joining a cruise ship in two months to be a sommelier for a luxury onboard restaurant.

But it means he has been left jobless and unable to find work after being unexpectedly let go from Salt Bae's restaurant.

'I've had to use my own savings to pay rent and live because of course no one wants to hire someone for just one-and-a-half or two months,' he said. 'I wish I had never accepted a job there.'

It comes after diners were left less than impressed with the glitzy eatery in December, when a slew of bad reviews left it at number 20,491 out of 23,811 in the capital on TripAdvisor.

Many diners have been left less than impressed with the glitzy restaurant in Knightsbridge, leaving a host of one and two star reviews online

One person commented: 'Do not be fooled by the glitz and glam and waste your money.

'Terrible food. Meat was not at all tasty. Ended up going for a 5 kebab after a 300 bill... this place is the biggest joke in London.'

Meanwhile another wrote: 'Insult to humanity. Worst food, worst service. Paid over 1,800 for three of us.

'Poor quality, smelly meat, small portions. Rather spend 50 in the local restaurant, will be better! Never again! Stay away, it's a death trap!'

A third added: 'Avoid like the plague.

'I travel all over the world conducting my business and have eaten in many many restaurants but this is the worst one yet.

'The ones in L.A, Turkey and Dubai are amazing and I couldn't recommend them highly enough but I would never return to Nusr-et in London.

'I dined here with some business associates and felt embarrassed afterwards that I'd chosen such a god awful place to dine in. This place is all hype and no substance give it a miss or dine at your own peril.'

MailOnline has contacted Nusr-Et for comment.
Ketanji Brown Jackson, United States President Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee, has begun to meet with senators on her way to face a Senate confirmation hearing on Mar. 21.

Democrats are conducting a concerted effort to confirm Jackson before the Senate leaves for the Easter recess. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court nominee met one-on-one with top Senate officials. The Judiciary Committee also laid out a timeline for the nomination and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) prepared for any potential political attacks.

Ketanji Brown Jackson

While some House Democrats have begun preparing for the worst, Jackson's confirmation is seeing a good start, with many Senate Republicans so far withholding their attacks against the nominee. Despite the sole purpose of the Senate being a Supreme Court confirmation, it did not stop House members from weighing in their thoughts.

The CBC also set up a "war room" where they planned to defend the nominee even before President Biden selected her. Rep. Steven Horsford said that Democrats were ready to support her fair hearing and noted they were expecting a quick confirmation process from the Senate, as per Politico.

Jackson is the first Black woman to be nominated to the high court and is scheduled to deliver her remarks and answer questions at the confirmation hearing. During the process, senators will determine whether or not she is fit to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who is set to retire at the end of the court's current term.

Read Also: Joe Biden State of the Union Address: Strategy vs. Inflation, Vladimir Putin Warning, and 3 Key Highlights

According to CNN, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin was among those who sat with Jackson. He sent a letter to the committee where he said that they will undertake a fair and timely process to consider Judge Jackson's nomination. The first day of the hearing is scheduled for statements from each member of the committee as well as those who will formally introduce Jackson, and Jackson herself.

The second and third days will give senators the opportunity to question Jackson while the committee meets behind closed doors on Mar. 23 to review the nominee's FBI background information.

Senate Confirmation Hearing

On the final day of the confirmation hearing, outside witnesses will testify, including the American Bar Association which customarily rates federal judicial nominees with a possible finding of "Not Qualified," "Qualified," or "Well Qualified." On top of the questions that Jackson will have to answer at the hearing, she will also be presented with written "questions for the record."

Republican lawmakers have openly expressed their intentions of challenging Jackson based on her record and judicial philosophy instead of attacking her personally. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz released a statement on Feb. 25 slamming Democrats for how they have treated Republican-appointed nominees in the past, arguing that Jackson deserved better treatment.

In his statement, Cruz said that Democrats had undermined the American people's confidence in previous judicial confirmation processes with vicious personal smears and unfounded accusations. The official said that the left had committed shameless attacks that mocked the constitutional role of the Senate. Similarly, former committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley said on Monday that the GOP will be polite towards Jackson, Fox News reported.



Related Article: Trump Seeks To Avoid Testifying in New York Investigation by Filing Appeal Against a Judge's Decision

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Attorneys for convicted neo-Nazi Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof have asked the US Supreme Court to decide how to handle disagreements over mental illness-related evidence between capital defendants and their attorneys.

Roof's appellate team brought up this issue as part of its efforts seeking to appeal his death sentence for the 2015 racially motivated killings of nine members of a black South Carolina congregation in 2015.

The lawyers argued in their petition to the nation's highest court, filed last month, that the only reason Roof fired his legal team and represented himself during the sentencing phase of his federal trial was to keep jurors from hearing evidence of his mental illness.

When a capital defendant who has been ruled competent to stand trial and his attorneys 'disagree on whether to present mitigating evidence depicting him as mentally ill, who gets the final say?' Roof's appellate team asked the Supreme Court.

Racist mass murderer Dylann Roof's appellate attorneys want the US Supreme Court to decide on how to handle disagreements over mental health evidence between lawyers and clients

On June 17, 2015, Roof opened fire during the closing prayer of a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina

DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Myrah Thompson, Ethel Lance, Susie Jackson, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Daniel Simmons, Clementa Pinckney and Cynthia Hurd were all killed

Justices' consideration is 'needed to resolve a deep divide among the lower courts over who - client or lawyer - gets to decide whether mitigation evidence will be introduced at a capital penalty hearing.'

Roof's self-representation and desire to block any evidence potentially portraying him as mentally ill - even if it could have helped him avoid the death penalty - has been a constant part of his case.

During his federal trial, Roof decided to fire his legal team after the judge said that counsel could introduce evidence related to his mental health over his objection

The convicted mass killer's lawyers wrote that his decision to represent himself successfully prevented jurors from hearing evidence about his mental health.

They argued that he could have been spared the death penalty had the court known of his psychiatric issues, and instead been hit with a sentence of life behind bars.

The attorneys claimed that Roof was acting 'under the delusion' that 'he would be rescued from prison by white-nationalists - but only, bizarrely, if he kept his mental-impairments out of the public record.'

Roof made his decision, his team argued in the petition, 'after the district court told him that counsel could introduce evidence depicting him as mentally ill over his objection.'

But there is a disconnect, his attorneys argued, between how such cases have been handled in the 4th Circuit versus other jurisdictions, where 'the vast majority of state and federal courts hold otherwise, leaving this deeply personal choice to a defendant.'

In other words, they argued, 'Had Roof been tried in any one of those majority jurisdictions, he would not have been forced to self-represent at his capital trial to block his own attorneys from presenting evidence he abhorred.'

Authorities have said Roof opened fire during the closing prayer of a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015, raining down dozens of bullets on those assembled. He was 21 at the time.

DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Myrah Thompson, Ethel Lance, Susie Jackson, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Daniel Simmons, Clementa Pinckney and Cynthia Hurd were all killed.

Last year, a panel of appellate judges unanimously upheld Roof's conviction and death sentence and issued a scathing rebuke of Roof's crimes, which the judges wrote 'qualify him for the harshest penalty that a just society can impose.'

All of the judges from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers South Carolina, recused themselves from hearing Roofs case.

One of the judges, Jay Richardson, prosecuted Roofs case as an assistant U.S. attorney in 2017, when Roof became the first person in the U.S. sentenced to death for a federal hate crime.

Appeals lawyers argue that Roof fired his defense team (David Bruck, left, and Mike O'Connell, right, pictured arriving in court) during the sentencing phase of his capital murder trial to prevent jurors from seeing evidence of his mental illness

The petition by Roof's lawyers was filed with the nation's highest court in February

Roof subsequently asked the court to reconsider its recusal. The court denied that request, as well as one for a new hearing.

According to court documents filed in another federal case, the FBI heard two neo-Nazi group members talk about trying to free Roof from the maximum-security prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he is an inmate, including details on the number of guards present and how a shootout would happen.

If unsuccessful in his direct appeal, Roof could file what's known as a 2255 appeal, a request that the trial court review the constitutionality of his conviction and sentence. He could also seek a presidential pardon.

The government's response to Roof's request is due by the end of the month.
A Salvadoran immigrant has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole after he accepted a plea deal and admitted to murdering two of the four Nevada residents he was accused of killed.

Wilber Ernesto Martinez Guzman, 23, accepted responsibility Monday for killing an elderly Reno couple during a two-week crime spree in January 2019 and avoided a death penalty trial before a Washoe County district judge.

Martinez Guzman is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in Douglas County for the killings of two Gardnerville women. He is also due back in court on Friday in Carson City on charges related to property he stole from his victims and later sold at a pawn shop there.

Martinez Guzman, whom authorities say entered the U.S. illegally at age 16, pleaded guilty to all the crimes last year after prosecutors announced they'd agreed to a plea-bargain agreement in October.

Martinez Guzman had worked as a landscaper for all four victims - Jerry David, 81, and his wife, Sherri David, 80, in Reno; and Constance Koontz, 56, and Sophia Renken, 74, who lived in rural Douglas County.

Wilber Ernesto Martinez Guzman, a 23-year-old El Salvador national, learned Monday in a Nevada court that he will be spending in prison without parole for the January 2019 murders of Sherri David and her husband, Jerry David. He is expected to be sentenced Thursday for killing Constance Koontz and Sophia Renken

Sherri David and her husband, Jerry David, were found dead at their Washoe Valley home on January 16

Koontz, who was shot in the head, was found dead at her Gardnerville residence January 10, 2019. Renken was shot in the face and discovered dead at Gardnerville home on January 13.

The Davids died of gunshot wounds and were found dead inside their Washoe Valley home on January 16, 2019.

Martinez Guzman was arrested January 19, 2019, and, according to The Associated Press, told the police he targeted his victims because he needed money to cover his methamphetamine addiction.

In addition to four life terms without parole, Martinez Guzman is also looking at more than 200 years in prison for multiple burglary, larceny, weapons and stolen property charges.

Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks said the decision to drop pursuit of the death penalty came as a result of a direct appeal from families of the victims who didn't want the case to continue for years longer.

'I'm happy that he'll spend the rest of his life in prison and I hope that he spends all of that time thinking about what these family members told him today,' Hicks told the Reno Gazette Journal after Judge Connie Steinheimer sentenced him Monday.

Jerry David was president of the Reno Rodeo Association. His family opposed the death penalty because they didn't want the trial to be extended any further

The judge heard testimony from family of the Davids, who were well known in the Reno Rodeo community. Both served on the rodeo association board and Jerry was a past president.

One of his rodeo belt buckles that Martinez Guzman sold at the Carson City pawn shop provided a key clue in the early stages of the investigation of the string of killings that had the community on edge for weeks.

Kari Powning, the Davids' granddaughter, said she still becomes distraught whenever she sees a Reno Rodeo license plate.

'It is humanly impossible to suffer a tragedy of this magnitude and ever by the same,' Powning testified.

Prosecutors announced they would seek the death penalty shortly after Martinez Guzman was arrested on Jan. 19, 2019, and a Washoe County grand jury indicted him on four murder counts.

Last May, the Nevada Supreme Court ordered a Washoe County judge to dismiss the charges related to Douglas County because the grand jury in Reno lacked proper jurisdiction to indict him for those crimes. Still pending at the time of the plea deal in October was a defense motion to declare Martinez Guzman ineligible for the death penalty based on his limited mental capacity.

Martinez Guzman shot all victims with a .22 caliber revolver he stole from the Davids barn on their ranch property in southwest Reno days earlier, prosecutors said.

Steve David, their son, said his father told him someone had broken into their barn several times and that he suspected the thief was a landscaper he'd fired in July 2018.

Other family members who testified Monday recounted the couple's boundless generosity, including teaching underprivileged children and paying some of their medical bills.

Sherri Perry, named after her aunt, said she and others considered their ranch a second home, a safe haven from outside troubles while growing up.

'We called it `Aunt Sherri and Uncle Jerry's Home for Wayward Teens,' she said.

'They would take us in when we were too much to handle,' said Perry, who remembers Uncle Jerry took her to father-daughter dances because she didn't have one. 'If I hadn't had that, I don't know what would happen to my life.'

Just two days following Martinez Guzman's apprehension, then President Donald Trump shed light on his promised to have a wall built at the southern border by tweeting: 'Four people in Nevada viciously robbed and killed by an illegal immigrant who should not have been in our Country. 26 people killed on the Border in a drug and gang related fight. Two large Caravans from Honduras broke into Mexico and are headed our way. We need a powerful Wall!'
A judge has rejected an effort by New York's attorney general to put the National Rifle Association out of business, but will allow her lawsuit accusing top executives of illegally diverting tens of millions of dollars from the powerful gun advocacy organization to proceed.

Manhattan Judge Joel M. Cohen said allegations of NRA officials misspending on personal trips, no-show contracts and other questionable expenditures can be addressed by other remedies, such as fines and restitution, and do not warrant the 'corporate death penalty' that Attorney General Letitia James had sought.

James' lawsuit, filed in August 2020, tells 'a grim story of greed, self-dealing, and lax financial oversight' at the NRA's highest levels, but it does not allege any financial misconduct benefited the organization or harmed the public, or that the NRA is incapable of 'continuing its legitimate activities on behalf of its millions of members,' Cohen wrote in a 42-page decision.

The judge also raised concerns that shutting down the NRA could impinge the free speech and assembly rights of its millions of members.

Nevertheless, he said, James' lawsuit can continue against the NRA, its longtime leader Wayne LaPierre, and three men who have served as executives with the organization.

In addition to recouping money that was allegedly misspent, James is seeking to ban LaPierre and the other executives from serving in the leadership of any not-for-profit or charitable organization conducting business in New York, which would effectively remove them from any involvement with the NRA.

New York Attorney General Letitia James will not be able to pursue legal charges on dissolving the NRA but will be able to pursue her claims on top executives illegally laundering tens of millions of dollars from the powerful gun advocacy organization

The NRA's CEO Wayne LaPierre (pictured) is accused of illegally transferring millions of agency dollars to the group's leaders fund their lavish lifestyle, including trips to the Bahamas, safaris in Africa and jaunts on yachts

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen (pictured) on Wednesday rejected New York AG Letitia James' bid to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA) after she filed the lawsuit in 2020

The NRA, LaPierre and one other defendant had filed motions to dismiss the case.

NRA President Charles Cotton called Wednesday's ruling a 'resounding win for the NRA, its 5 million members, and all who believe in this organization.'

'The message is loud and clear,' Cotton said in a statement. 'The NRA is strong and secure in its mission to protect constitutional freedom.'

James said she was 'heartened that the judge rejected the NRA's attempts to thwart most of the claims in our case,' but disappointed that he ruled against dissolving the organization.

'We are considering our legal options with respect to this ruling,' James said in a statement. 'We remain committed to enforcing New York law regardless of how powerful any individual or organization may be.'

Messages seeking comment were left with lawyers for the other defendants: LaPierre; the NRA's general counsel John Frazer; its former treasurer Wilson Phillips; and former chief of staff Joshua Powell.

LaPierre, the CEO who has been in charge of the NRA's day-to-day operations since 1991, is accused in the lawsuit of spending millions on private travel and personal security and accepting expensive gifts  such as African safaris and use of a 107-foot (32-meter) yacht  from vendors.

In 2019, he almost bought a six million dollar mansion in Dallas on his $1.37 million annual salary. The 10,000-sqft home with four bedrooms and nine baths looked into a 1.5-acre lakefront estate.

He is also accused of setting himself up with a $17 million contract with the NRA if he were to exit the organization, spending NRA money on travel consultants, luxury car services, and private jet flights for himself and his family  including more than $500,000 on eight trips to the Bahamas over a three-year span. In 2019, he also nearly buoght

LaPierre has been previously accused of using the powerful gun advocacy organization's money to fund his luxurious lifestyle, including safaris in Africa (pictured in 2014), private travel and security

In 2019, the NRA came close to buying a six million dollar mansion for chief Wayne LaPierre in a Dallas, Texas, suburb

NRA President Charles Cotton called Wednesday's ruling a 'resounding win for the NRA, its 5 million members, and all who believe in this organization'. Pictured: Protestors gathering at a vigil for recent victims of gun violence outside the National Rifle Association's headquarters building in Fairfax, Virginia, August 5, 2019

Some of the NRA's excess spending was kept secret, the lawsuit said, under an arrangement with the organization's former advertising agency, Ackerman McQueen. The advertising firm would pick up the tab for expenses for LaPierre and other NRA executives and then send a lump sum bill to the organization for 'out-of-pocket expenses,' the lawsuit said.

Though headquartered in Virginia, the NRA was chartered as a nonprofit in New York in 1871 and is incorporated in the state. James is the state's chief law enforcement officer and has regulatory power over nonprofit organizations incorporated in the state, such as the NRA.

In the lawsuit, James' office argued that one way to remedy the alleged misspending at the organization was by closing it down.

In January 2021, the NRA declared bankruptcy and sought to move its state of incorporation from New York to Texas, but a judge blocked the move, saying the NRA's bankruptcy was not filed in good faith. In the process, the NRA had made clear it sought to escape regulatory oversight in New York, in part because of the lawsuit's threat to its existence.

In a court filing last year, lawyers for the organization called the lawsuit filed by James, a Democrat, 'a blatant and malicious retaliation campaign against the NRA and its constituents based on her disagreement with the content of their speech.'
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Baywatch star Jeremy Jackson's ex-wife Loni Willison has been spotted walking barefoot and rummaging through trash in the streets of Los Angeles.

The former swimsuit model, who has been homeless for nearly six years, resurfaced in Venice Tuesday for the first time since she was seen last spring.

Willison was snapped pushing a shopping cart piled high with her belongings while making stops at public trash cans around the tourist beach city to scavenge for food.

The 38-year-old, once a magazine cover girl, was unrecognizable during the sighting, wearing layers of clothing and going without shoes.

She wore a multicolor circle scarf, denim jacket, leggings, a backwards cap, and tied a flannel shirt around her waist.

Willison was seen sipping on McDonald's drink as she stopped to forage a garbage can on the street earlier in the day.

She was spotted again later in the evening, puffing on a cigarette and digging for more food in a dumpster in an alley.

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Former swimsuit model Loni Willison was spotted scavenging for food on the streets of Venice this week

Barefoot Willison wandered around the city shoeless and wore a multicolor circle scarf, denim jacket, leggings, a backwards cap, and tied a flannel shirt around her waist

The 38-year-old, once a magazine cover girl, was unrecognizable, dressed in layers of clothing and pushing a shopping cart with her belongings

Willison was seen making stops at public trash cans around the tourist beach city

Just a few years ago, Willison - a fitness model - was seen alongside her ex-husband, Baywatch star Jeremy Jackson, going on runs and making red carpet appearances. The two (pictured in 2011) divorced in 2014

The photos, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, are a stark contrast from Willison's once glamorous life.

Just seven years ago, she was living the Hollywood dream, modeling and appearing on red carpets at glittering events alongside TV hunk Jeremy Jackson, whom she married in 2012.

But after developing a drug addiction, she has fallen on hard times and has been sleeping rough for the last six years in Venice, where the homelessness problem has reached a crisis point in recent years.

Willison was found in the streets for the first time in two years in October 2020, having been homeless since around 2016.

She has reportedly suffered from from an addiction to crystal meth and various mental heath issues.

Shortly after she was found she told The Sun that she is 'doing just fine' and has not had any contact with Jackson in recent years.

'I haven't spoken to Jeremy. I don't want to speak to my friends, I'm doing just fine. I don't want anyone to help me.'

Willison was seen sipping on a McDonald's drink as she scoured for food earlier in the day

The photos, exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com, are a stark contrast from Willison's once glamorous life

Willison has been sleeping rough for the last six years in Venice, where the homelessness problem has reached a crisis point in recent years

Loni was married to Jeremy from 2012 until their tumultuous divorce in 2014. She once accused the actor of trying to strangle her in a violent rage.

She insisted to The Sun that she 'can live on [her] own' and that she has 'everything [she] needs right here' in Venice due to the area's affluent nature.

'I haven't got a cell phone. I've got food and I've got a place to sleep. I get money here and there and there's food in the bins and near the stores. There's lots here,' she said.

Loni, who once graced the cover of Australia's Glam Fit magazine, looked to be missing numerous teeth and had her hair styled into a pixie cut.

Before disappearing in October of 2018, Loni opened up about her tragic fall from grace in an interview with DailyMailTV earlier that month.

After developing a drug addiction, Willison fell on hard times and continues to live on the streets

She was spotted again later in the evening, puffing on a cigarette and digging for more food in a dumpster in an alley

Willison was found in the streets for the first time in two years in October 2020, having been homeless since around 2016

Barefoot and hungry, Willison is hardly recognizable compared to her once glamorous self

Four years ago, the former model revealed she was evicted from her West Hollywood apartment in 2016 after losing her job and suffering mental health issues

DailyMailTV reporters were able to locate Loni on a busy stretch of Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, where she was reunited with friend and former model Kristin Rossetti.

Loni explained to Rossetti and DailyMailTV that her unfortunate path to homelessness began in 2016 when she lost her job as an assistant at a cosmetic surgery center in LA.

She then claimed that she worked briefly for a realtor who refused to pay her, which only added to her financial, mental, and emotional turmoil.

Willison also began suffering from an increasingly severe mental illness that led to her convincing herself that she was being tortured in her apartment with electricity.

Unable to pay her bills or hold down a job, Loni, eventually, was evicted from her West Hollywood apartment and forced to live on the streets.

'I lost two jobs and everything crumbled. It's been two years, I've been on the streets since,' she revealed.

The one-time swimsuit model is now often seen pushing a cart piled with bags around Venice

Willison who is battling a crystal meth addiction, previously spoke about how 'everything crumbled' when she lost two jobs and her mental health deteriorated

Willison was featured on the cover of magazines, including Australia's GlamFit in 2012, before her downfall

Willison's hardships all occurred years after her divorce from Jeremy, which was finalized in 2014

Her hardships all occurred years after her divorce from Jeremy, which was finalized in 2014.

'I'd split from Jeremy at that time. I have not had any contact with him. All the s**t that's happened to me has been so f*****g crazy.'

At the time, DailyMail TV called upon the expertise of drug rehab specialist Larry Marinelli who own True Intentions sober living home and co-founded True Hope Calling to help families in crisis of substance abuse and mental health.

Larry offered to help Loni for free and even laid out a detailed treatment plan for her so she could safely battle her demons and get her life back on track.

Unfortunately, Loni denied treatment and was back out on the streets in less than 24 hours.
Russians living in UK protest alongside Brits against Ukraine invasion as they say 'the war should be stopped immediately. We are all ashamed'.

Russia today stepped up attacks on Ukraine's major cities as officials said a 'full-scale genocide' following a a 15-hour artillery barrage of Mariupol, while Kharkiv also came under heavy bombardment.

Ukraine's emergency services estimate that 2,000 civilians have been killed so far during Russia's invasion, though that figure is likely to be an under-count once Wednesday's figures are tallied.

And today Russian expats in Britain said the war 'should be stopped immediately' as they sent off food parcels to refugees at the Ukrainian-Polish border and donated money to support young children in Kharkiv.

Dr Uliana Bashtanova, a senior postdoctoral researcher in chemistry at Cambridge University, said she was 'ashamed' by her country's actions.

Ukrainians, Russians and British people also protested again in London yesterday in an effort to stop the war and Putin.

Dr Uliana Bashtanova, a senior postdoctoral researcher in chemistry at Cambridge University, said she was 'ashamed' by her country's actions

Russia today stepped up attacks on Ukraine's major cities as officials said a 'full-scale genocide' following a a 15-hour artillery barrage of Mariupol, while Kharkiv, pictured, also came under heavy bombardment

Russians living in the UK have said they are 'horrified' by Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine as they called for an immediate stop to the conflict. Professor Emerita Larissa Fradkin says she is 'absolutely horrified' by the war

She added that none of the Russian nationals in her circle are supportive of Putin's assault on Ukraine.

Her colleagues at a Cambridge Russian amateur theatre, where she is a director, come from all parts of the Russian-speaking community and are 'all absolutely appalled'.

Dr Bashtanova left Moscow for the UK 22 years ago - partly driven by concerns over the rise of a former KGB officer to political power.

Those fears have since come true as 'everything which is happening now is how Putin was taught about the world as a KGB officer', she said.

She also does not believe Russians back home would support the war if they were properly informed of the events taking place.

Ukrainians and other demonstrators protest against the war in Ukraine, saying 'Stop Putin'

One woman stood with a placard saying 'I'm Russian, stop Putin and the war' beside another who said he belongs in jail at a protest in Trafalgar Square yesterday in London

Dr Bashtanova added: 'First, nothing could be resolved by the war. Second, there is no proper opposition in Russia as leaders of opposition are imprisoned or forced to flee the country.

'It's really difficult for the Russian people to organise themselves against the war and there is lots of propaganda going on through TV, and most opposition radio stations are blocked, so it is really difficult for them to get any information.

'I don't think that Russian society, if they were given proper information, are for the war, definitely not.'

She said many Russians back in her home country do not know about the high number of casualties and any attempts to protest the conflict are 'brutally suppressed'.

Hundreds waved flags including the Union Jack in solidarity against the invasion of Ukraine by Putin

Her views were shared by Larissa Fradkin, 73, professor emeritus at London Southbank University, who said many Russians have been 'flooded with disinformation'.

She added: 'It is absolutely unbelievable the level of propaganda that people have been exposed to.'

Prof Fradkin said most Russians she is in touch with are 'absolutely horrified' by the war.

She continued: 'I think it's the end of the Putin regime, but how long it will take, nobody knows.

'I'm afraid that Russia will suffer greatly and we will suffer with it for many years.'

She said many Russians who oppose the war feel unable to voice their opinions due to the fear of being jailed.

Prof Fradkin said that she herself is worried about expressing her views on the invasion 'because as you well know they are quite capable of killing people on UK soil, but she added that 'somebody has to speak up'

Prof Fradkin said that she herself is worried about expressing her views on the invasion 'because as you well know they are quite capable of killing people on UK soil;, but she added that 'somebody has to speak up'.

She said she is aware of highly-educated Russians in the UK who are supportive of the invasion - a stance she described as 'heartbreaking'.

Prof Fradkin has lived in the UK for nearly 40 years.

She was born in the Baltic Sea area of Russia, but left the country as a stateless political refugee in 1973.

Both Dr Bashtanova and Prof Fradkin said they have not personally felt a shift in attitudes towards Russians in the UK yet, but they do expect that to change

The professor has a close connection to Ukraine as her 74-year-old aunt lives in Kyiv - they speak on the phone every night.

She continued: 'When we speak I can hear explosions. I hear stories of Russian children at school suffer because other children shout at them: 'You're Russian, are you going to bomb me?'.'

Both Dr Bashtanova and Prof Fradkin said they have not personally felt a shift in attitudes towards Russians in the UK yet, but they do expect that to change.

Russian cultural organisations based in Britain have also spoken out against the war.

Lord Godfrey Cromwell, director of the Britain-Russia Centre and The British East-West Centre, a UK non-government organisation dedicated to working with Russia, also called the war in Ukraine 'a tragedy'. Pictured: Hundreds protesting in Trafalgar Square in London yesterday

Pushkin House wrote on its website: 'As the oldest independent cultural centre based in the UK focusing on Russian culture, we feel it is now more important than ever to speak out.

'Pushkin House stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and condemns the Russian invasion and military aggression that is now affecting millions of innocent people in Ukraine.'

Lord Godfrey Cromwell, director of the Britain-Russia Centre and The British East-West Centre, a UK non-government organisation dedicated to working with Russia, also called the war in Ukraine 'a tragedy'.

He said: 'While historically many borders in this region have changed over time and there may be ethnic and other links between Russia and its neighbours, these provide no excuse for invasion of a sovereign state.

'At some point the fighting will end and politics resume, but we don't see an easy end-game here - for Ukraine, for Russia, or for the wider world.'

Protests come as Putin has stepped up his attacks on key cities all over Ukraine with Mariupol, Kharkiv, pictured, Kherson, Kyiv all being attacked simultaneously.

Despite the chaos of tube strikes and downpours of rains, London's Russians, Brits and Ukrainians again stood in solidarity against the Russian invasion.

Shouts were heard telling the UK and Europe to support Ukraine and saying No to War.

Protesters also urged Ukraine to 'stay strong' as a Russian air strike hit near Kyiv's southern main railways station at 7pm yesterday.

At another rally in Conway Hall, a man waving a Ukrainian flag interrupted the end of Jeremy Corbyn's speech at a Stop the War coalition event in London.

The man, who was inaudible over the crowd, was then forcibly removed by a group of men.

Mr Corbyn left the stage - before later exiting the building by the back entrance onto Red Lion Street.

Stop The War, which has repeatedly come under fire for alleged anti-Western sentiments since it began to oppose military action post-911, accused the British Government of 'aggressive posturing' and that Nato 'should call a halt to its eastward expansion'.

Pleas for Russian mothers to not let their son's become sunflowers by protesters in London

Its statement was signed by Mr Corbyn as well as by 11 Labour MPs but MPs later withdrew their support under threat of having the whip withdrawn by the Labour Party.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has been very vocal about Ukraine wanting to secure NATO membership, before and after the Russian invasion.

Earlier in his speech at Conway Hall, Jeremy Corbyn hit out at the British media for giving the conflict in Yemen less attention than the conflict in Ukraine.

He said: 'I would simply say this gently to our media.

'Yes, of course, you must do and will report everything that is happening in the Ukraine, and I agree with that.

'But also report on what is going on in Yemen.

He added: 'We join in with those very brave people across Russia who are also facing arrest and detention because they have spoken out against a regime run by, financed by, and for the benefit of some incredibly wealthy people who have been corrupting the political system in Russia just as they have tried to corrupt the political system here.'
New York City transit crimes surged by more than 200 percent in the first week of Mayor Eric Adams' crackdown on crime in the city's subway system, when compared to the same span last year.,

The city reported 55 transit crimes from February 21 through February 27, more than triple the 18 recorded during same period in 2021 - a jump of 205.6 percent, New York Police Department (NYPD) statistics released Wednesday reveal.

For the month of February, crimes on the city's transit system also increased markedly, by 72.4 percent over the most recent 28-day period starting January 31, when compared to last year.

For the year, transit crimes have surged by a similar 72.8 percent, the data shows, with 375 incidents reported as of February 27, compared to 217 during the same stretch in 2021.

The concerning statistics come on the heels of recently sworn in Adams' vow to clean up the crime-ridden subway system, amid a rash of reports of slashings, assaults, and even murder, on platforms and stations across the city.

The city reported 55 transit crimes from February 21 through February 27, more than triple the 18 recorded during same period in 2021 - a jump of 205.6 percent, New York Police Department (NYPD) statistics released Wednesday reveal

Adam's Subway Safety Plan initiative, announced by the mayor exactly two weeks ago on February 17, deployed 1,000 additional officers, as well as teams of health workers, into the city's intricate subterranean network to crack down on the influx of crime.

'No more smoking. No more doing drugs. No more sleeping. No more doing barbecues on the subway system. Not more just doing whatever you want,' Adam said at a press event announcing the plan alongside New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

'Those days are over. Swipe your MetroCard. Ride the system. Get off at your destination.'

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the new Subway Safety Plan initiative on Friday as a way to crackdown on crime and violence in the city's transit system. So far, statistics show that it has been largely unsuccessful

Gov. Kathy Hochul joined Adams during the press event February 17, where she said the state was investing more than $39 billion on beds to address mental health needs in New York, including 1,100 beds for the city. Many attribute the rise in subway crimes to the shutting down of mental health facilities under former mayor Bill de Blasio

But Adams' enforcement plan, which did not take effect effect on February 21 - the day the NYPD's crime data for the week began - has so far failed miserably, as the statistics show, with a rash of attacks including one on a city-employed scientist with a hammer and another where an assailant smeared human feces on a victim.

Right off the bat, the day the program launched, New York police officers reported a two assaults on the subway.

The attacks occurred just hours after Adams and Hochul's address.

In one instance, a 58-year-old man was arrested for allegedly going after another man with a hatchet around 12:30 a.m. at a Brooklyn subway stop where police were stationed.

Pictured: Nina Rothschild, the 58-year-old NYC Department of Health scientist who was kicked down the stairs and had her head repeatedly hit a hammer. On Thursday, the woman was on her way home when she was kicked down the stairs at a Queens subway station and attacked

Sickening surveillance video shows a robber kicking Dr Nina Rothschild down the steps and bashing her in the head repeatedly with a hammer, fracturing her skull days after Mayor Eric Adams vowed to crack down on violence in the transit system.

Surveillance video from the East 241st Street subway station in the Bronx shows a man attacking an unsuspecting woman sitting on a bench on February 21

The suspect lunges at the 43-year-old victim and shoves a plastic bag containing human feces into her face

The revolting attack took place without any apparent provocation during the evening rush hour

Upon being arrested, the suspect was found to have been carrying a screwdriver and a knife on his person, police said.

What does Adams's subway safety plan for NYC look like? The mayor's plan lays out how the Adams administration, in partnership with the MTA and other state entities, will confront these concurrent challenges on New York City's subway systems. Investments in people will provide immediate support and protection to New Yorkers, while investments in places like drop-in-centers, safe havens, stabilization beds, and Street Homeless Outreach Wellness vans, as well as policy changes at local, state, and federal levels will provide medium- and long-term solutions. These include: Deploying up to 30 Joint Response Teams that bring together DHS, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, NYPD, and community-based providers in high-need locations across the city

Training NYPD officers in the city's subway system to enforce the MTA and New York City Transit Authority's rules of conduct in a fair and transparent way

Expanding Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division 'B-HEARD' teams to six new precincts, more than doubling the precincts covered to 11. These teams will expand on the already-successful pilot of answering non-violent 911 mental health calls with mental health professionals

Incorporating medical services into DHS sites serving individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Expanded DHS Safe Havens and stabilization bed programs will offer on-site physical and behavioral health care to immediately address clients' needs

Immediately improving coordination across government with weekly 'Enhanced Outreach Taskforce' meetings that bring together senior leaders from 13 city and state agencies to address issues quickly

Creating new Drop-in-Centers to provide an immediate pathway for individuals to come indoors, and exploring opportunities to site Drop-in-Centers close to key subway stations to directly transition individuals from trains and platforms to safe spaces

Streamlining the placement process into supportive housing and reducing the amount of paperwork it takes to prove eligibility

Calling on state government to expand psychiatric bed resources and amending Kendra's Law to improve mental health care delivery for New Yorkers on Assisted Outpatient Treatment

Requiring  instead of requesting  everyone to leave the train and the station at the end of the line Advertisement

Roughly two hours later, a homeless man hit a woman in the face with a metal pipe aboard a subway train in the Bronx, cops reported.

The woman, who declined medical care, told officers the man lashed out after asking her to stop talking with a friend. No arrest has been made in that case.

More than fifty incidents followed during the remainder of the month of February, the statistics confirm.

One of the most headline-grabbing infractions, however, occurred on Monday, when a woman waiting for a train at a Bronx subway station was approached by a stranger who 'struck her in the face and the back of the head with human feces,' police said.

Frank Abrokwa, 37, was arrested February 28 in relation to the stomach-churning incident - which was captured on security video - and charged with forcible touching, menacing, disorderly conduct and harassment.

On Thursday, a 58-year-old research scientist for the New York City Health Department was on her way home when she was kicked down the stairs at a Queens subway station and bashed in the head with a hammer.

Sickening surveillance video shows a robber kicking Dr Nina Rothschild down the steps and bashing her in the head repeatedly with a hammer, fracturing her skull days after Mayor Eric Adams vowed to crack down on violence in the transit system.

Rothschild's brother, Gerson, is also a scientist in Upper Manhattan at Columbia University and managed to speak with his sister on Friday as she recovered from surgery. She remains critically-ill.

The weekend also saw a slew of subway-related incidents.

A man was shot in the chest during an argument on a Brooklyn subway station around 10 pm Sunday, police said, and rushed to a nearby hospital. He is expected to survive.

Moreover, the rash of incidents has not seemed to deaden this week, the second since Adams' new crackdown, with three teenagers and a man stabbed Tuesday, possibly during a fight, in a different Brooklyn subway station.

Many blame the crime wave on the lingering effects of the pandemic, compounded by the closure of mental health facilities under the reign of former Mayor Bill de Blasio, as well as fewer cops due to the pandemic, vaccine mandates, and a smaller police budget spurred by the Defund the Police movement in 2020.

Joseph Giacalone, a crime data expert, former cop, and professor at the city's John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told Fox News that the spate of subway crimes spells doom for a city 'trying to get back on its feet' after 'the two big C's'  COVID and crime.

'If you're thinking that people are going to be willing to come back after COVID, maybe,' Giacalone told the outlet.

'But now you're dealing with a crime issue  specifically in the subway, which is the lifeblood of New York City  if people fear going into the subways. And right now, when you look at these numbers, there is some reason to be hesitant.'
Taylor Schabusiness, 24, was charged Tuesday with killing and decapitating a Green Bay man at a home after smoking methamphetamine with him

The family of a Wisconsin man who was choked to death before being decapitated and dismembered by his married lover has described his killer as 'a monster.'

Twenty-four-year-old Taylor Schabusiness has been charged with first degree homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault after the victim's own mother discovered her son's severed head in a bucket, covered with a towel, in her home.

According to police Schabusiness admitted giving oral sex and using a sex toy on her victim after he was dead.

Now DailyMail.com has learned that the victim was Shad Rock Thyrion, also 24, as his uncle, Nathan Mineau, has shared the family's devastation and horror.

Posting on Facebook the day after Thyrion's gruesome death, Mineau revealed, 'Yesterday we were given some devastating news. Our nephew Shad Thyrion was taken from us by what I can only assume is a monster.'

Mineau went on to describe Thyrion as someone who had 'a good heart and soul,' and added, 'Shad, I love you so much I can't even begin to describe what we are feeling.'

The family has launched a GoFundMe page with the stated aim of helping his mother pay for housing, transportation and funeral costs. So far it has garnered more than $3,000 of its $20,000 goal.

DailyMail.com has learned that the victim was Shad Rock Thyrion, also 24. His mother found his severed head in a bucket at the bottom of her basement stairs

Police were called to the home on Stony Brook Lane in Green Bay around 3:25 a.m. on February 23 after the victim's mother stumbled upon thebucket in her basement

Shad's mother, Tara Pakanich, 47, called police to her home in Green Bay shortly after 3am on Tuesday February 23.

She had been woken by the storm door slamming and the sound of a vehicle driving away. She saw that the basement light was on and went to see if her son was there, assuming that it was Schabusiness, with whom Thyrion had spent the day, that she had heard leaving.

According to the criminal complaint  which refers to her only by her initials  'TP went into the basement and did not see anyone, so she started to walk back up the stairs and that was when she noticed a bucket next to the bottom of the stairs.

'TP stated she removed a blanket that was over the bucket, and she discovered the head of the Victim,' the complaint, obtained by DailyMail.com, said.

Damn, the head. I can't believe I left the head Accused killer Taylor Schabusiness

Thyrion's mother told police that Schabusiness had picked her son up around 9.30pm on Monday February 21, which was when she last saw him alive.

Pakanich and her boyfriend were out for much of the following day, and she did not hear her son and Schabusiness return but she believed they had spent the day in the basement as she heard Schabusiness talking.

Arriving on the scene, Green Bay Police Officer Alex Wanish reported how he had 'observed the plastic bucket on the floor...[with] a shower/beach towel over the bucket.' The officer 'lifted the towel and observed a human head inside the bucket.'

He also noted 'what appeared to be dried blood on a nearby mattress.'

It didn't take long for police to catch up to Schabusiness. They found her with blood still on her sweatshirt and sweatpants, scratches on her arms, a cut on her left thumb and what appeared to be blood on her hands.

Schabusiness claimed that they had been doing drugs  including smoking methamphetamine  earlier in the day. She said she had also shot herself and Thyrion up with Trazadone, a powerful sedative

Posting on Facebook on February 24, the day after Thyrion's gruesome death, his uncle revealed, 'Yesterday we were given some devastating news. Our nephew Shad Thyrion was taken from us by what I can only assume is a monster'

Shabusiness went onto tell police that she and Thyrion had been going to have sex and that he had produced two metal chains, one for him and one for her. She said he put his chain around his own neck as strangulation was something they had used during intercourse before

Schabusiness who has a husband, Warren, and recently became a mother to son, Mateo, admitted that she knew Thyrion. The pair were also Facebook friends.

She claimed that they had been doing drugs  including smoking methamphetamine  earlier in the day. She said she had also shot herself and Thyrion up with Trazadone, a powerful sedative.

Schabusiness who has a husband, Warren (pictured together), and recently became a mother to son, Mateo, admitted that she knew Thyrion

Police recovered evidence of drug-taking, including a glass pipe and bag containing light colored powder, from the scene.

When told by detectives that police had found Thyrion's head in a bucket Schabusiness responded, 'that is pretty f***d up.' When asked what had happened in the basement she replied, 'that is a good question' and initially claimed to have blacked out.

She went on to tell police that she and Thyrion had been going to have sex and that he had produced two metal chains, one for him and one for her. She said he put his chain around his own neck as strangulation was something they had used during intercourse before.

According to the complaint Schabusiness then suddenly blurted out, 'Damn the head. I can't believe I left the head though' before telling officers they were 'going to have fun trying to find all of the organs as she had dismembered the body.'

She told them that most of the body parts were in the basement but that 'there should be a foot or a leg' in her minivan.

With apparent calm Schabusiness told detectives that after Thyrion put the chain around his neck  which she compared to a dog choke collar  she just went 'crazy' strangling him.

She said that she could feel his heart beating, 'so she kept pulling and choking him harder,' claiming that he would not die as he just kept 'rebuilding into muscle.'

She told how she sat on top of him, choking him while he lay face down on the bed and how she watched as he coughed up blood and 'waited for him to die.'

At some point, she admitted, she knew that he was dead as his face was purple and blood was coming from his mouth. Still, she told detectives, that she was 'already this far' so she did not stop.

The graphic details of the gruesome murder were released Tuesday in a criminal complaint

In a sinister aside the criminal complaint records how, in a lower tone of voice, Schabusiness recalled, 'Ya, I liked it' when referring to choking her victim.

Asked what she did once she realized he was dead, Schabusiness stated that she had 'played' with Thyrion's body. The complaint reads, 'Schabusiness stated she sucked the Victim's penis, that she had a dildo that she put in the Victim's mouth and then in the Victim's ***.'

She said that Thyrion had fought back as she strangled him and went on to tell detectives that she had decapitated and dismembered him with knives taken from Thyrion's mother's kitchen.

She told them they would find the knives she had used in same black bags as she had put the body parts into. Ultimately, she said, she had favored a bread knife because the serrated edge made it more effective for the grizzly task.

Thyrion's penis was found in the same bucket as his head while other body parts were found in a variety of bags in the basement including plastic shopping bags. His upper torso was found in a storage tote along with a carving knife and several internal organs.

His legs and other body parts were found in a crockpot box on top of a laundry basket of clothes in the rear passenger seat of her minivan.

Schabusiness told detectives that she had planned to take all the body parts with her when she left in her minivan but that she had 'got lazy' and was ill-prepared because the murder was random and not planned.

Asked if she thought that what she had done was the right thing to do Schabusiness commented that she 'did it anyway.'

Schabusiness remains in custody after a bond hearing in Brown County Court Tuesday during which her bail was set at $2million. She faces life in prison if convicted.
Anti-vaxxers have lit fires on New Zealand's parliament lawns and hurled stones at officers in chaotic scenes as police moved to end a 23-day impasse with protesters.

On Wednesday, the group clashed with riot police on the streets around Wellington's centre of government with Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern saying she 'expected their would be hostility, resistance and violence... but it was another thing to witness it'.

Several police needed to be treated for injuries sustained in the operation, which was launched before dawn and ran well into Thursday afternoon.

Police Commissioner Andy Coster said police needed to end the long-running protest as a dangerous element had infiltrated the group.

After four weeks of protesters occupying the Welllington Parliament grounds riot police moved in on Wednesday (pictured)

The group had set up a tent city outside the parliament building (pictured)

But by Wednesday afternoon some of the group had begun setting fire to rubbish and their own groups tents (pictured)

'In the last week we have seen a changing mix in the makeup of the crowd ... those with good intentions are now outnumbered by those with the willingness to use violence,' Commissioner Coster said.

'The harm being done far outweighs any legitimate protest,' he said.

By afternoon, the protesters proved Mr Coster right, setting fire to tents and structures on the lawns.

They also burned the slide built to make parliament more family-friendly, sending thick, black smoke into the air.

Protesters threw chairs at police, who say they found makeshift weapons including pitchforks and shields among the group, and lit multiples fires before fleeing the scene.

The protesters threw rocks and cobblestones ripped from the road at police (pictured)

Police said the group has been infiltrated by those looking for trouble and violence

A children's playground was set on fire by the protesters (pictured)

Ms Ardern said she expected violence and resistance from protesters but was shocked at the level of the chaos (pictured)

After clearing nearby streets of protesters' cars and structures, police with riot shields moved in on the lawns.

By the afternoon they had torn down tents, towed vehicles and made 38 arrests.

Mr Ardern could barely contain her fury at the protesters' behaviour.

'I felt the same anger that I know many New Zealanders would have felt witnessing the hurling of basically any weapons that people were able to get their hands on - LPG (gas) bottles thrown onto flames  cobblestones being hurled at police,' Ms Ardern said.

'It was an attack on our frontline police. It was an attack on our parliament. It was an attack on our values and it was wrong,' she said.

Protesters became aware of the police operation to end their illegal occupation in the early hours, sending a simple message through its organising social media channel: 'WAKE UP'.

At 6:31am they followed up with another: 'All who can be on the ground need you all now please'.

They dug in to resist and at flashpoints around parliament.

A protester can be seen throwing rubbish on a fire on the parliamentary lawn (pictured)

Police move in to clear protesters from parliament grounds in Wellington on March 2, 2022

A protester receives medical attention after he was sprayed by police at a protest opposing coronavirus vaccine mandates in Wellington (pictured)

A fire can be seen among the tent village (pictured). Police made 38 arrests on Wednesday

A Stuff cameraman was assaulted by a protester, who said 'this wouldn't have happened if you guys had told the truth'.

Officers deployed pepper spray against protesters, which Mr Coster said was in response to police being sprayed with fire extinguishers.

'Our message to those who do not want to be caught up ... is please go home,' Mr Coster said.

Many chose to do that, leaving a hardcore crew of a few hundred behind.

While in control of loudspeakers outside parliament, protesters played songs including 'Amazing Grace' and 'Don't Stop Believing'.

The protest began back on February 6, New Zealand's national day, when hundreds of protesters took off from the furthest points of the country under the banner of 'Convoy 2022 NZ' bound for Wellington.

By Wednesday afternoon, police (pictured) had cleared most of the group

A fire rages as police move in to clear protesters from parliament grounds in Wellington on March 2 (pictured)

An officer aims a bean bag gun (pictured) at protesters throwing projectiles at police

A man throws rubbish on a fire (pictured). Police said those who sought violence had infiltrated the group

They arrived two days later to protest the government's COVID restrictions on the first day of the parliamentary year.

They set up camp on parliament grounds, left their cars on nearby streets and built infrastructure for 'Camp Freedom'.

That included laundry, daycare, food and coffee trucks, as well as crystal healing tents, cryptocurrency stalls, and even toilets plumbed in the middle of a road into Wellington's sewage system.

To the irritation of Wellingtonians, the local university and businesses, protesters staged daily rallies to shout invective at the government, journalists and health officials.

A member of the group can be seen with a wooden pallet board to shield themselves from police (pictured)

The group had become increasing unruly over their four weeks at the site (pictured)

The protesters had setup a 'Freedom Village' where the offered crystal healing but by Wednesday afternoon protesters were setting fire to the tents

A man throws a stone at police while another holds up a pallet board (pictured)

They regularly call for Ms Ardern and government MPs to be tried and executed.

They have thrown human waste at police officers and abused children for wearing masks as they walk to school.

Ms Ardern said she supported the police action.

'They have been given ample opportunity to leave ... the protest has been at times violent and increasingly fuelled by misinformation and sadly conspiracy theories,' she said.

The protest has coincided with New Zealand's biggest outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Water cannons were used at points throughout the clashes (pictured)

A man shield himself from the water cannons (pictured) on Wednesday

A line of police work their way towards the protesters (pictured)

At least 20 protesters, many of whom are unvaccinated, and all of whom are maskless, have tested positive to the virus.

Health officials say their unwillingness to get tested masks the true number, and COVID-19 is rampant among protesters.

On Wednesday, Maori leaders publicly denounced the protests with a spokesperson for the Maori King saying they should go home and look after their families.

'We do have some sympathy and empathy towards those that have lost their jobs and towards those that are actually feeling the pinch,' Rahui Papa said.

Wellington's mana whenua (those who have traditional rights on the territory) said the protesters were disrespectful and flagrantly dishonouring tikanga (customs).
Married Republican Rep. Van Taylor dropped his bid for reelection on Wednesday after apologizing for having a nine-month affair with a reformed ISIS bride.

'Today I am announcing I will not continue my campaign to seek reelection to Congress,' Taylor emailed supporters, according to the Dallas Morning News.

'About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life.'

Taylor won just shy of 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday's GOP primary, days after conservative outlets exposed the story of his affair with Tania Joya over the weekend. He was headed for a runoff against former Collin County judge Keith Self before he abruptly announced he was leaving the race.

A pregnant Joya was taken to Syria by her ex-husband John Georgelas - an American Muslim convert - in 2013. She escaped with their three children after three weeks, and she now lives in Texas, where she works to reprogram those who've been radicalized.

She once described Georgelas and herself as having been 'so thirsty for an Islamic state,' and says she was first radicalized during her time living in London as a teenager.

Married Republican Rep. Van Taylor dropped his bid for reelection Wednesday after apologizing for having a nine-month affair with a so-called 'ISIS bride'

Tania Joya was born in London to a Muslim Bangladeshi family and became radicalized at the age of 17, after the September 11 terror attacks

Tania Joya's ex-husband John Georgelas was from Texas, but traveled to Syria with his wife and three children to fight for the Islamic State. Joya went to Syria with him in 2013, but escaped

Rep. Van Taylor (right) and his wife Anne (left) on their wedding day. The Republican congressman publicly apologized to his wife and three daughters in a statement to supporters Wednesday as he withdrew from the race

Their affair lasted from October 2020 to June 2021, and saw Taylor - a hardline conservative - send Joya extremely explicit texts which saw him request that she perform multiple sex acts on him.

Last week, Joya reached out to Suzanne Harp, who was running against Taylor and Self in the Republican primary, hoping the rival would privately tell Taylor she knew of the affair - and push him to drop out of the race and resign from Congress.

The Dallas Morning News said Joya was annoyed by seeing her ex-lover's face on billboards around town.

'All I wanted was for Suzanne Harp to just say, "Hey, I know your little scandal with Tania Joya. Would you like to resign before we embarrass you?"' Joya told the paper. 'But it didn't happen like that.'

Instead, Harp sent a supporter to interview Joya, with the story popping up on the National File's website on Sunday, and Breitbart running an exclusive of it on Monday - one day before the election.

Taylor allegedly paid Joya $5,000 in hush money.

'I needed help. I was like, just help me out because thats the least  the very least  he could do, she told the Dallas Morning News. 'For him, it was like, "OK, on the condition you dont tell anyone." ... I didnt want to tell anybody anything.

Taylor also agreed to buy Joya's home for $600,000, along with $150,000 for utilities and other expenses, National File reports.

Taylor, 49, is a former Marine and Iraq War combat veteran who is widely considered to be one of the most conservative members of the Texas delegation, with high marks from the National Rifle Association, Heritage and other conservative groups.

He has an A+ rating from the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List for standing up 'against the pro-abortion agenda of the Biden-Harris administration and Pelosi Democrats.'

The two allegedly met while Joya was working with a program called Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE), according to the National File. Taylor took interest in Joya's story and extended the meeting from 15 to 30 minutes. The two then exchanged cell phone numbers.

Joya says she started the affair when she told Taylor she found him attractive, the National File reports. The two began exchanging messages, with Taylor describing in detail the sex acts he wanted Joya to perform on him.

Taylor, 49, (above on November 4) is a former Marine and Iraq War combat veteran who is widely considered to be one of the most conservative members of the Texas delegation

Tania Joya said she met the GOP congressman through the work she does to rehabilitating jihadists in Plano, Texas

A 2018 tweet from Rep. Van Taylor says that his wife Anne sent him a letter every day that he served in Iraq

Joya says Taylor began messaging her nonstop in October 2020, after she admitted that her marriage to her second husband was falling apart and she needed help with her children.

Joya, born in Harrow, London to a Muslim Bangladeshi family, became radicalized at age 17 after the September 11 terror attacks.

Her family had moved to Barking, east London, where she encountered schoolgirls who 'slut-shamed' her for dressing in Western clothes. Soon, she was wearing the full veil and being told by a friend to celebrate the bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York.

By her own admission, she became 'a hardcore jihadist'.

Joya said: 'We believed in jihad but the jihad we were thinking of was very rosy pictured.' Islam had become 'the solution to everything.'

A 19-year-old Joya joined a Muslim matrimonial website and by February 2003 had met John Georgelas, from Plano near Dallas.

He was the son of Colonel Timothy Georgelas and his wife Martha and had spent part of his childhood in Cambridgeshire.

'I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters,' Taylor said Wednesday

They were married within a month in a sharia ceremony that was made official at Rochdale Register Officer in England in October 2004.

Joya had the 'escape' she craved, moving with her new husband first to an upmarket suburb where she was overawed by the Georgelas family's four-bedroom, five-bathroom home with a pool.

The couple travelled to England and Syria, initially funded by money from their marriage, then settled in California, where Georgelas got a job as a data technician.

He was caught illegally accessing passwords for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, however, and was sentenced to 34 months in jail. He served his sentence, and Joya stuck by him, and again during three years further probation in Texas.

By 2011, she had given birth to the couples third son and they were free to leave. They moved to Cairo where, according to Mr Wood, Georgelas met other jihadists and was a vocal supporter of pre-IS pro-caliphate voices.

By 2013, Georgelas was determined to go to Syria and in August took his wife, who was five months pregnant, and three sons over the border to the city of Azaz in north-western Syria.

'John and I were so thirsty for an Islamic state. I was so young and naive, I painted this rosy picture in my mind. I was picturing a utopia,' she told Texas Monthly.

They were drawn to Syria because of 'the prophecies told by Muhammad said that the Messiah, Jesus, was going to return to Damascus with an army of believers, and there would be an apocalyptic showdown.'

Joya insists that she was tricked, and in any case did not have a choice because of the control her husband exerted over her  a theme that she says is reflected in the 'brainwashing' of Shamima Begum, another British jihadi bride now trapped in Syria after fleeing there aged 15.

'He controlled me, he owned me,' she said. 'He was like my master and I was his slave. If I disobeyed him, I was disobeying god. Any woman who has been in an abusive relationship would understand.'

Locked at home like a 'house cat,' she was repeatedly raped while her husband courted the Islamic militia. I used to cut myself just to keep him away from me, to stop him having sex with me, she said.

From her time in Syria, she remembers a place filled with once luxurious abandoned homes, limited food and no electricity.

Tania Joya moved to Plano, Texas after fleeing Syria and her ex-husband who joined ISIS

She would be heckled for going outside without being fully covered up. Regular Syrian people would be hospitable and friendly, the local Syrians, she said. It was the foreign fighters and their wives. They would say, Mujahideens wives to not dress like that.

She continued: 'All I wanted to do was die. I couldnt kill myself because I had children. I was in such a dark place. John thought it was just me being pathetic and weak.'

After they'd been in Syria for three weeks, Georgelas said, 'Im not going back,' according to the Texas Monthly profile.

'I was on my hands and knees, begging him. I was pregnant, just begging him to take us to the airport. He didnt listen. I told him, "F*** off." He said, "No, you f*** off." I said, "Can I? Can I go?" He said, "Yeah, just go."'

Georgelas, who was going by the name Yahya al-Bahrumi at this point, packed his family into a van, where they were driven as close to the border as possible.

So pregnant she was 'leaking amniotic fluid,' she says she ran for the border with her three children, the youngest in a pushchair.

In an extraordinary denouement to her 'jihadi bride' escape story, Joya says she came under sniper fire and was forced to put her three boys alone on a strangers motorbike to a bus station in Turkey. Her husband, she says, did not say goodbye.

'He never said goodbye to me or the kids,' she said. 'I was in utter shock.'

From there, she met a contact arranged by her husband, who got them on a plane to Istanbul. She travelled with the children to London, then to Texas where she moved in with Georgelass parents.

Joya is a mother of four. She told the Dallas Morning News that she had hoped a political rival would convince her ex-lover to drop out of the race and resign from Congress

Today, she shares custody of the four children with them.

She remained in touch with her husband for several years after she had fled Syria, she says, but said they lost contact in 2015.

IS expert Graeme Wood, author of The Way of Strangers: Encounters with Islamic State, claimed that Joya 'was no victim' and had passed up a decade of opportunities to leave her husband John Georgelas.

The picture Joya paints is very different  one of a 'lonely and isolated' girl bullied at school who turned to extremism at her lowest ebb. Any radical group could have sucked her in, she said.

And of the 150 women and girls who have travelled to Syria as jihadi brides, she is almost unique in publicly abandoning her beliefs  offering some insight into how or if these women can ever be re-integrated into western life.

Joya says her late ex-husband was the 'highest-ranking American' in the Islamic State.

After three weeks, she reported him to US authorities and fled Syria to the United States.

She's since lived in Plano, Texas - her now ex-husband's home state - and works to reprogram those who've been radicalized.

This work, according to the Morning News, is how she was introduced to Taylor.

'We were very close,' she told the Morning News on Monday night.

Harp called the affair 'shocking ... disturbing and unbecoming of a sitting US Representative' on election day eve, adding it would be 'dangerous to have compromised and corrupt representation in Washington.'

Taylor, the incumbent, still received 48.7 per cent of the vote with 95 per cent of precincts reporting Wednesday.

Self got 26.5 per cent and Harp got 20.8 per cent.

He had, however, been leading in early voting, taking 51.8 per cent of the vote share in a five-way race - which suggested the affair coming out right before election day did do some damage.

Taylor also didn't receive an endorsement from former President Donald Trump as he was one of four Texas Republicans who voted in favor of certifying the 2020 presidential election for President Joe Biden.

'I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters,' Taylor said in the note to supporters. 'For months, Anne and I have been working to repair the scars left by my actions.'

'I am unworthy, but eternally thankful for her love and forgiveness,' the congressman added.
A man who braved Queensland floodwaters to rescue a wallaby downed a couple of beers to shrug off illness caused by the contaminated water.

Jason was at a friend's house in Everton Park, Brisbane, when his son noticed a distressed wallaby flailing in the water.

Footage filmed by a bystander shows Jason swim into deep muddy water to rescue the animal.

The father dodges floating debris before he manages to coax the confused wallaby to higher ground.

Jason, was filmed by a bystander heroically rescuing a wallaby from floodwaters in Brisbane on Monday (pictured)

Before entering the water Jason, who has lived through floods before, ensured there were no flowing currents and made a conscious effort not to swallow floodwater.

'I've been around the traps a little bit, so I'm not just an idiot who jumped into the water,' he told ABC Radio on Thursday.

However, he said the polluted floodwaters made him feel 'a bit crook' the next day, but he had a classic Australian remedy.

'I went home, had a shower and a bit of a spew to get out some of that horrible water out, and had a couple stiff drinks to sort of sterilise my insides,' he said.

He revealed since entering the muddy water he has been feeling 'a bit crook' but manage to cure his sickness with a few beers (pictured, Jason was filmed rescuing a distressed wallaby from floodwaters)

Jason managed to coax the animal to higher ground so it hop to safety (pictured)

Authorities warned residents not to enter floodwater due to the danger of floating debris, strong currents, and damaged infrastructure.

Floodwaters also pose a health risk, leading to the possibility of injury, skin infections, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, and ear, nose, and throat infections.

Darling Downs Health reminded residents that floodwater is contaminated with sewage and chemicals on Wednesday.

While a cleanup is underway in some parts of the state's south east, contact with floodwater can be inevitable.

Queensland Health advises residents to wear full coverage clothing including gloves, long pants, and face masks when in contact with floodwater.

Keep open wounds away from dirty water and cover them with waterproof dressing. Ensure hands are washed frequently and thoroughly.

Residents now face a mammoth cleanup and are at facing further health risks from contaminated floodwater (pictured, a woman is seen cleaning her flood damage property in Brisbane on Wednesday)
The photos are frightening for anybody, but tiny children who see or hear about the violence in Ukraine may be concerned and even fearful.

According to pediatric psychologist Vanessa Jensen, children of any age might be upset by what they see, and the visions can manifest in nightmares and night terrors, so it's a good idea to keep an eye on what they see.

All children, regardless of age, require additional assistance and reassurance from their parents right now. According to Jensen, doing something can make a youngster feel less anxious. She recommended writing a card for a military member, praying for the safety of those in Ukraine, or sending warm thoughts and good wishes, according to WITN.

What Does War Look Like For The Children?

In a terrible video, a Russian mother tries to explain to her crying daughter why she and her daughter have been arrested for opposing the Ukrainian conflict. Ekaterina Zavizion and her seven-year-old daughter Sofya had gone to drop flowers outside the Ukrainian embassy in Moscow with a group of other moms and their children.

Before they were all approached by armed cops and brought first into a police vehicle, then to cells, the youngsters had also crafted 'No to War' placards. Ekaterina and Sofya can be seen conversing through the metal cage and grasping each other's hands through the grills in the footage.

Their phones were taken when they were transported by vehicle to the Presnenskoye station. The cops allegedly yelled at the parents, warning that the children would be taken away from them and that they would lose their parental rights if they did not comply. Ekaterina subsequently described the "horror" she went through as her children shouted and cried in detention, according to Mirror.

In another case, a small child is too young to comprehend the tragedy unfolding on the streets where she used to play. However, the agony of fleeing battle is engraved on her little face, and tears are already streaming down her cheeks. For the time being, she and hundreds of others call this tent in a temporary refugee camp outside Przemysl, Poland, home. As Russian armies invaded Ukraine from the east, north, and south without notice, she escaped with her mother.

She has all she needs in a hurriedly packed yellow knapsack, and her sole protection from the cold is a pink coat. One of the final devastating pictures in her mind's eye is her snatched goodbye with her father, who stayed to fight for her release. In the face of an unknown future, they embarked on an arduous trek by automobile and then on foot to the border. She is one of more than 500,000 people, largely women, and children, who fled Ukraine as Russian soldiers wreaked havoc.

As reported by The Sun, they crossed the 300-mile Polish border by vehicle, bus, rail, and foot, among other modes of transportation. Most people have abandoned their automobiles near the border route, opting to walk the remaining 25 kilometers, weighted down by baggage and terrified. Without food, drink, or shelter, a 24-hour line to the border awaits. This is only the beginning of their horror.

These are just a few of the tragic moments when a parent is forced to abandon their children for their safety as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues.

Read Also: World's Zero Discrimination Day: The Significance of Ending the Stigma; Here's All You Need To Know

Parents, Children Are The Most Affected by Russia-Ukraine War

Many people have taken refuge in basements and subway stations as the Russian military invades cities and street battles erupt. Others have had to flee their homes and dads, boarding trains and buses or traveling for kilometers with their family in the hopes of reaching a safer nation.

During the fighting, some children have been killed or injured. During the shelling, a 6-year-old child was struck in the southern city of Mariupol. Her parents, nurses, and physicians sobbed as she was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Babies were born into a chaotic environment. Tiny twin newborn boys were swaddled in blankets on the basement floor of the Okhmadet children's hospital in the heart of the capital. Kateryna Suharokova gave birth to a boy, Makar, in the basement of a maternity hospital in Mariupol that had been transformed into a medical ward and utilized as a bomb shelter.

Even children who were too young to comprehend the causes for and history of the battle with Russia witnessed its return home. At the burial of a Ukrainian soldier, a 3-year-old kid in Kyiv looked attentively at the open casket. Parents have battled to console their children across Ukraine and in refugee camps on the other side of the border.

Mothers carry them for kilometers in the cold or rock them on metro stations. For evenings spent beneath, they find distractions in the form of literature, toys, phones, and pets. Refugees were greeted with boxes of donated clothes and toys at one border crossing in Poland, WLWT5 reported.

Related Article: Volodymyr Zelensky Children: Does the Ukraine President Have Kids?

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A JetBlue pilot was removed from the cockpit after taking a breathalyzer minutes before takeoff which showed he was four times over the legal limit.

James Clifton, 52, of Orlando, Florida, blew a 0.17 before an early morning flight on Wednesday, admitting to police he drank 'up to eight drinks' the night before.

The pilot was reportedly visibly tipsy and impaired while going through security, prompting TSA to report it to airport police, causing the flight to delay four hours. The flight, which was supposed to take off at 6:15 a.m. in Buffalo, New York, arrived in Florida at 1:10 p.m., according to Flight Aware.

Clifton initially told police he had five or six drinks the night before and had not been drinking the morning of the flight, according to ABC 7. He later corrected himself and said he had up to eight drinks.

An officer reportedly overheard Clifton say on the phone that he had 'ten 22-ounce tallboys and left the restaurant around midnight.' The actual number of beverages the pilot consumed is unclear.

The pilot was pulled out of the cockpit at Buffalo Niagara International Airport ahead of takeoff to Fort Lauderdale, a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority spokesperson said.

Pilots and crew members are not permitted to consume alcohol within eight hours of their shift, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

JetBlue pilot James Clifton, 52, of Orlando, Florida, blew a 0.17 - which is four times over the legal limit for a pilot and double the normal limit - before an early morning 6.15am flight leaving out of Buffalo Niagara International Airport (pictured) on Wednesday

The flight to Fort Lauderdale was delayed four hours and the pilot was taken into custody and said he had seven to eight drinks, but one officer reportedly heard him on the phone saying he had 'ten 22-ounce tallboys and left the restaurant around midnight'

Clifton was taken into federal custody and authorities were notified. The pilot was released to JetBlue security and might face charges, according to WKBW.

JetBlue said it removed the pilot from his duties. The airline told the New York Post: 'The safety of JetBlues customers and crewmembers is our first priority. We adhere to all [Department of Transportation] rules and requirements concerning alcohol at all times and have a very strict zero-tolerance internal alcohol policy.'

The airline is also conducting an internal investigation and cooperating with local law enforcement.

The Federal Aviation Administration also said it would investigate the matter, stating: 'The FAA is investigating allegations that an airline pilot attempted to report for duty while under the influence of alcohol. The agency takes these matters seriously.'

Just the day before, a drunk New York man was Tasered seven times at an Orlando airport.

Pilots and crew members are not permitted to consume alcohol within eight hours of their shift, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Pilots can't be over a 0.04 BAC (stock photo)

A 280-pound, six-foot drunken New York man got into a tussle with police at Orlando International Airport Thursday, in an encounter where he was Tasered seven times and still refused to go down.

The altercation served as the climax of a chaotic meltdown by 34-year-old Ryan Austin Martin, who police said got into a physical fight with his wife and daughter, 6, at the airport prior to the encounter, and had been separated from them by security.

Orlando police said the man also attacked an airline employee before he was Tased.

The chaotic incident was recorded in full by a bystander.

'You want to see a show?' a looming Martin asks a group of people awaiting flights in the footage, many with their phones trained on him. 'I'm gonna f***ing put on a show,' he asserts, taking an aggressive stance as sirens blare.

'Who wants to fight? Let's go!' the man shouts in the nail-biting footage, egging on scared-stiff staffers.

According to a arrest affidavit, the incident began when Martin, who hails from Yonkers, grew agitated at his wife and attacked her while waiting for a flight to New Jersey.

The redacted report revealed that during the struggle, Martin also pushed his six-year-old daughter and tried to pull the neck of someone else in his group and gab someone by the hair.

During that time, he left twice and returned with drinks, the report, filed by the Orlando police department, says.

'Don't touch me! Nobody touch me!' he yelled, daring staffers and the responding officer to act

Martin was booked on one count each of child abuse, battery involving domestic violence, battery, resisting an officer with violence, and disorderly intoxication. It took four officers to hoist the behemoth man to his feet

The footage shows a belligerent Martin daring staffers to fight upon being separated him from his family, after a fellow flyer reported the alleged abuse.

'Why am I being arrested?' Martin shouts to a female staffer at the start of the clip, after being told to walk away from the locked jet bridge door separating the man from his family. 'For doing nothing.'

'Why am I being arrested?' Martin repeats, before laying into a curse-laden tirade.

'F**k you!' F**k you!'' the New Yorker shouts, standing in the center of the gate's waiting area, progressively raising his voice and moving into an aggressive stance. 'F***ing a**hole!' he yells at an unseen staffer.

'Don't touch me! Nobody touch me!' he then declares, while still daring staffers to act.

'Hurry up motherf***ers. I'm gonna put on a motherf***ing show!' Marin screams at the top of his lungs, striking a fighting pose.

He then concedes, 'I had a couple drinks before the go**amn flight.'

The footage shows Martin repeatedly banging and punching the door in a vain effort to bring it down, screaming at staffers on the other side.

Eventually, one Orlando police officer arrives on the scene.

Crouched awaiting the confrontation, Martin says to the officer, 'What, are you f***ing dumb? Get the f**k away! Get the f**k away!'

'If you're f**king smart, get the f**k away.'

Martin then turns back to the door and punches it repeatedly, before someone on the other side seemingly unlocks it and lets him in.

Martin enters the other room for about a minute, during which point two staffers attempt to follow him in the room, which again sets the man off.

'Back the f**k up,' he says, ordering the staffers to exit the room. 'I don't want to hurt you.'

Martin's family is then escorted outside of the room, where at which point Martin attempts to follow them.

The officer then sneaks up behind Martin with a Taser and pulls the trigger.

'Ow!' Martin can be heard saying in the recording, which spans about eight minutes, reacting to the 50,000 Volts coursing through his veins.

Still Tasering him , the officer commands a still-standing Martin to get on the ground.

'Get on the ground! Get on the ground!' the officer yells at the man, who seems only slightly discomforted by the voltage.

The officer then sends another charge into Martin after the first pulse is up, who then proceeds to approach the officer, who responds by issuing a third burst.

Seemingly unaffected by the electrical onslaught, Martin then turns away from the officer, spurring the cop to wing a full-force punch at the back of Martin's head to finally bring him down.

With the Taser still going, the officer attempts to restrain a still resisting Martin, ordering him to cooperate.

'Put your hands behind your back,' the officer says as he cuffs, Martin, Tasering him repeatedly, five, six, and eventually seven times, as an off-duty sheriff from New Jersey who happened to be at gate assisted with the arrest.

At that point, more officers arrive one the scene and successfully detain Martin.

'Listen man,' Martin can be heard pleading with officers while on the ground. 'I just had too much to drink.'

It then takes four officers to hoist the behemoth man to his feet.

Martin was then booked on one count each of child abuse, battery involving domestic violence, battery, resisting an officer with violence, and disorderly intoxication.

He was admitted to Orange County Jail and released Friday night on a $2,950 bond, police said.
A Miami mom was arrested for reportedly attacking her child's social studies teacher and spitting on principal's desk after they criticized her parenting skills.

Police arrested 34-year-old Stephanie Armas following a parent teacher conference gone wrong at Palmetto Middle School on February 14 after her son's eighth grade social studies teacher Mayade Ersoff, 59, told her 'You need to learn how to raise your child,' according to an arrest affidavit.

Police say after those comments Armas struck Ersoff and spat on principal Jesus Gonzalez' desk and threw a picture frame as Ersoff was leaving through a back door, the Miami Herald reported.

Police arrested Stephanie Armas after her son's eighth grade social studies teacher Mayade Ersoff, 59, (pictured) told her 'You need to learn how to raise your child'

The February 14 meeting at Palmetto Middle School was initially set up to address the behavior of Armas' child, who teachers say was being disruptive in class

The incident began after the school contacted Armas to discuss issues her child was having with students at school.

According to Armas' attorney, Frank Quintero, days before the confrontation Armas' child was 'threatened in school' and reported it to Ersoff who waited to report the incident to the principals for a few days, which led to the February 14 meeting.

Quintero said that when Ersoff emailed Armas about her child's disruptive conduct in class she failed to mention the assault her son had informed her of, Miami Herald reported.

Ersoff disputes that claim, telling the Miami Herald that she immediately informed the school's assistant principal about the student being threatened verbally and explained she didn't mention it in the email to Armas because she felt it was the school administrator's role to inform the parent regarding that issue.

Ersoff (pictured) denies ever making a move toward Armas: 'I would never in the world think to hit someone, or a parent. It would never cross my mind. I could have defended myself, but I didn't'

Police say after Ersoff made her comments Armas struck her and spat on principal Jesus Gonzalez' (pictured) desk and threw a picture frame as Ersoff was leaving through a back door

During the February 14 meeting set up by principal Gonzalez to address the threats the student's behavior was discussed and when Ersoff placed the blame on Armas' parenting skills, Armas 'stood up, raised her right arm and struck (Ersoff) on the left shoulder,' according to the affidavit.

Principal Gonzalez and assistant principal Isamara Berrios stepped in and had Ersoff, 34, leave the office through a back door but while she was leaving Armas 'picked up a picture frame from the desk and threw it against the back wall and spat on Gonzalez's desk,' the affidavit said.

But according to Armas' attorney, after her comments Ersoff 'made a move toward my client', which threatened Armas 'so she (swung) her purse to protect herself.'

Ersoff denied 'making a move' towards the parent and said she didn't even defend herself.

'I would never in the world think to hit someone, or a parent,' she said. 'It would never cross my mind. I could have defended myself, but I didn't.'

Following the incident Ersoff contacted the on-site school police officer and pressed charges.

The following day, Armas was arrested and released on $1,500 bond

She has pled not guilty to battery charges and will appear in court on March 8.

While Miami-Dade County Public Schools declined to comment on the incident, they released a statement that said the school community, 'including employees and visitors, is reminded to do its part by serving as positive role models for the students of this district and avoid disrupting the safe and positive learning environment that is expected at all of our schools.'
Philadelphia police are facing questions after releasing mixed messages on an armed 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot in the back by officers on Tuesday, with the police commissioner claiming he was armed and fired at police but her deputy later saying he wasn't sure if he'd done so.

Police identified the boy as Thomas Siderio Jr., saying officers took him to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a few minutes after the shooting. Officers said that Siderio was white.

One of the four officers in the car was struck by shattered glass in the face and eye, and was treated and released, police said.

A video from Ring camera footage out of a door near the shooting captures what sounds like an officer exclaiming: 'I'm bleeding' just after shots fired.

In a statement Wednesday, police said the four officers wearing plainclothes were in an unmarked car in south Philadelphia at about 7:20 p.m. Tuesday as part of a task force responding to social media posts involving a gun.

The officers said they saw two young males on a corner - one of whom appeared to be carrying a handgun - and recognized the older one as someone wanted for questioning in that firearms investigation.

Thomas Siderio Jr., 12, was fatally shot in the back by officers in South Philadelphia on Tuesday, with the police sending mixed messages about whether he was armed or whether he fired at them

Police investigate the scene of a shooting on Tuesday night. An unidentified male teen was fatally shot by police and an officer was injured by shattered glass during a confrontation in South Philadelphia, police said

The officers activated the car's emergency red and blue lights and then heard a gunshot and the rear passenger window shattering, police said.

Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Naish said the bullet went through the window, ricocheted off the passenger door and went through the passenger-side headrest, saying the officers very easily could have been killed or seriously injured. He spoke during a virtual update on gun violence in the city Wednesday.

Police said two officers got out of the driver's side of the car and fired at the fleeing youth, who officers said was holding a gun.

One of the officers continued to chase Siderio down the street, firing two more times and striking the boy once in the upper right back area. The bullet exited through his chest, police said.

The other youth, a 17-year-old male who was not named, was taken into custody in the firearms case but was later released, police said.

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw initially said that Siderio was definitely armed and fired at cops in a written statement after the shooting

Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Naish, however, said that police could not definitively say Wednesday that Siderio had shot into the police vehicle, or whether he had pointed the weapon at officers as he fled

The question has become as to whether Siderio or the other boy were armed and if they had fired at police.

Naish said officers recovered a 9mm semiautomatic handgun equipped with a laser that had been reported stolen.

He said the gun had one bullet in the chamber and five more in the clip.

However, Naish said that police could not definitively say Wednesday that Siderio had shot into the police vehicle, or whether he had pointed the weapon at officers as he fled.

'I can't be definitive about exactly everything at this point, but I can be definitive that a shot was fired into the police vehicle and a gun was recovered,' Naish said.

Thomas Siderio Jr. had attended Sharswood School in Philadelphia

Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw painted a different picture in a written statement after the shooting.

'A young child with a gun in their hand purposely fired a weapon at our officers,' she said.

Either way, Outlaw added this was a heartbreaking incident.

'However, the life of a young man was cut tragically short, and we should all be questioning how we as a society have failed him and so many other young people like him,' she said.

Police also did not say whether the recovered gun was part of the initial investigation.

Officers investigate the scene in South Philadelphia after the shots were fired

A pair of bicycles found at the seem cordoned off by yellow police tape.

'While the indications from the medical examiner is that the bullet entered into his back, that does not mean he was fleeing or that there was not a gun being pointed toward or in the vicinity of the officer. It doesn't mean that he wasn't continuing to be a threat to the officer,' Naish said.

He said ballistics evidence had been gathered and police were scouring the area for surveillance footage as part of the investigation.

None of the plainclothes officers was wearing a body camera, he said.

The two officers who fired their weapons were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.

Siderio Jr. reportedly had a tough, short life. An April 2020 police alert said that a then-11-year-old named Thomas Siderio Jr. was reported missing by a guardian.

'The School District of Philadelphia is heartbroken over the tragic shooting of one of our students. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family members, friends and school community who are grieving this loss,' a spokesperson for the district - where Siderio Jr. attended Sharswood School - said. 'We have made counseling and support services available for those who may need assistance coping or who wish to talk about what happened.'
Google staff were told on Wednesday that they need to return to the office from April 4, with the Silicon Valley company adopting a hybrid model with three days in the office and two days working from wherever they chose.

John Casey, vice president of global benefits at Google, wrote to employees outlining the plan in an email obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

'Our hybrid model balances the best of being together in person and being anywhere - where teams can intentionally come together to collaborate and connect in the office, and spend the other days working from wherever best suits their needs,' Casey wrote.

The move is just the latest twist in the saga of returning to the office - and comes after Google in the fall announced staff could apply to work remotely, and take a pay cut as a result of moving away from the costly coastal cities.

It was unclear whether those agreed deals would remain in place, or whether those workers would also be called back to work.

Google is yet to respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

Google's global headquarters are pictured in Mountain View, California. From April 4, workers must return to their desks three days a week

John Casey, vice president of global benefits at Google, announced the move in an email to staff sent on Wednesday

COVID cases are significantly down nationwide, with a 53 percent drop in cases in the last two weeks in California, and a 55 percent fall in New York

The move came the day after Joe Biden, in his State of the Union address, urged Americans to return to their offices.

'It's time for Americans to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again,' he said, noting the nationwide decrease in COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalizations.

'People working from home can feel safe to begin to return to the office.

'We're doing that here in the federal government. The vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person.

'Our schools are open. Let's keep it that way. Our kids need to be in school.

'And with 75 percent of adult Americans fully vaccinated and hospitalizations down by 77 percent, most Americans can remove their masks, return to work, stay in the classroom, and move forward safely.'

The CEO of Google's parent company Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, last weekend in an interview with The Wall Street Journal said he foresaw his staff returning part-time to the office.

'We do think it's important to get people in a few days a week, but we are embracing all options,' he said.

'I think we can be more purposeful about the time they're in, making sure group meetings or collaboration, creative collaborative brainstorming or community building, happens then.'

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, said last week that he expected a hybrid model of returning to the office, with some days a week worked from home, and others in the office

Google was originally planning on asking staff to return to the office in January 2021.

A survey conducted by the company in March 2021 had shown a drop in well-being among its workers, prompting Google to announce a series of benefits including a $500 cash bonus.

In the summer of 2021, Google then announced - along with other tech firms like Facebook, Reddit and Twitter - that people could apply to work from home permanently, but would take a pay cut if they moved to an area where living costs were deemed lower.

'Our compensation packages have always been determined by location, and we always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from,' a Google spokesperson told Reuters in August, adding that pay will differ from city to city and state to state.

Screenshots of Google's internal salary calculator seen by Reuters show that an employee living in Stamford, Connecticut - an hour from New York City by train - would be paid 15 percent less if she or he worked from home, while a colleague from the same office living in New York City would see no cut from working from home.

Screenshots showed 5 percent and 10 percent differences in the Seattle, Boston and San Francisco areas.

Google's offices in Manhattan are pictured. If staff chose to relocate to a cheaper part of the U.S., their New York salaries would be cut

Interviews with Google employees indicate pay cuts as high as 25 percent for remote work if they left San Francisco for an almost as expensive area of the state such as Lake Tahoe.

One woman told Wired that she was told moving to North Carolina would see her forced to take a 25 percent pay cut.

Twitter, which in October 2020 announced their staff could work from home permanently, has had staff returning gradually, if they wished.

Facebook, American Express and Wells Fargo are among companies that are planning broader office reopenings this month.

American Express told workers that they would be encouraged to return to the New York office starting March 1, followed by a broader return on March 15.

Facebook's parent company, Meta, is beginning its own return to the office on March 28.

Microsoft has told employees that they needed from February 28 to begin discussions with their managers about their return to the office, and gave them a 30-day timeline to agree an arrangement. Most would be able to work from home up to half the time, Microsoft said.

Ford Motor said in April that it would adopt a hybrid work program, where many employees can be partly in-person and partly remote.

This week, The Wall Street Journal's parent company announced a flexible approach, and The Washington Post said this month that staff would be required to come back in March.

The New York Times on Thursday announced a gradual return to office plan, in which employees are encouraged to return to the office occasionally starting April 4 and expected to adopt a combination of in-person and remote work starting June 6.

Banks were among the quickest to bring staff back after the Omicron surge had peaked.

Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase called employees back on February 1, and Citigroup said this week that its vaccinated U.S. employees should return to the office at least two days per week starting March 21, if they haven't yet gone back.

BNY Mellon broke from its Wall Street peers in introducing a more flexible work arrangement.

Chevron, which had delayed its return to the office in January, required Houston workers to return on February 14.

The mayor of New York, Eric Adams, has been urging companies to bring their staff back to restore some of the vibrancy of the city.

Office occupancy was at an average of 31 percent of pre-COVID levels across 10 major cities last month - up from 23 percent in early January and down from a pandemic peak of 40 percent in the first week of December, according to the security firm Kastle Systems.

A report last month from the Partnership for New York City found that the majority of employers surveyed expected daily attendance in their offices to exceed 50 percent on an average weekday by late March.
Sweden said four Russian fighter jets violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday, as Moscow forces continued to bombard cities in Ukraine.

The four aircraft - two SU-27 and two SU-24 fighters - flew briefly over Swedish airspace east of the island of Gotland, according to a statement from the Swedish Armed Forces.

The incident came days after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened military action against Sweden and neighboring Finland should either join NATO. The countries are currently conducting joint military exercises.

'In light of the current situation we are very concerned about the incident,' Swedish Air Force chief Carl-Johan Edstrom said. 'This is unprofessional and irresponsible behavior from the Russian side.'

Swedish fighter jets were scrambled and took photographs of the Russian jets, the statement said.

Two Russian aircrafts SU 27 and two SU 24 are pictured after violating Swedish airspace east of Gotland, over the sea

Sweden says four Russian fighter jets violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday

'This shows that our readiness is good. We were in place to secure the territorial integrity and Swedish borders,' Edstrom said. 'We have total control of the situation.'

'The Russian violation of Swedish airspace is of course completely unacceptable,' Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told news agency TT.

'It will lead to a firm diplomatic response from Sweden. Swedish sovereignty and territory must always be respected.'

Sweden on Sunday said it would send military aid, including 5,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, the first time since 1939 that Sweden has sent weapons to a country at war.

Soldiers from Gotland's regiment patrol in Visby harbor on January 13, 2022

Members of Gotland's Regiment patrol in a tank, on a road in Visby, northern Gotland, Sweden, Sunday January 16 2022

Spotify closes Russian office and limits its content in the country over Ukraine war Music streaming giant Spotify said Wednesday it had closed its office in Russia and removed Russian state-sponsored content from its service. The move came in response to the 'unprovoked attack against Ukraine', Spotify said in a statement, adding it had taken several measures as a result. 'We have closed our office in Russia until further notice,' said the Stockholm-based company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In addition, the streaming giant said it had examined 'thousands of podcast episodes since the start of the war' and limited users' ability to find podcasts owned and operated by media outlets tied to the Russian state. Spotify said that earlier in the week it had removed all content from Russian state-sponsored news outlets RT and Sputnik within the European Union and other markets. But it would keep its service open to Russian users. 'We believe that it is of utmost importance that our service is available in Russia to allow a global flow of information,' Spotify said. Reporting by AFP Advertisement

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said Tuesday her government wanted to boost the country's military capabilities following Russia's invasion of Ukraine as the 'general threat level' had increased.

'Sweden's defensive capabilities need to be strengthened, the rearmament needs to be brought forward,' Andersson said during a televised speech to the nation.

'Sweden should have a strong defence,' she said, announcing they would initiate talks for additional resources.

'We are not under a direct threat of an armed attack against Sweden, but the general threat level has increased,' she said.

After the end of the Cold War, Sweden slashed military spending. It was only after Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 that parliament agreed on a turnaround.

Sweden reintroduced mandatory military service in 2017 and reopened its garrison on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea in January 2018.

In October, it bumped up defence spending by 40 percent with an extra 27 billion Swedish kronor ($2.8 billion, 2.5 billion euros) to be added to the defence budget from 2021 to 2025.

Sweden is not a NATO member, but cooperates closely with the alliance.

However, like in neighboring Finland, the debate around NATO membership has been reignited in recent weeks.

According to a poll by public broadcaster SVT last Friday support for joining NATO is historically high in Sweden at 41 percent.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki recently said he feared a Russian attack in Poland, Finland or the Baltic states.

NATO has pledged to reinforce its military resources in eastern Europe, particularly in the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as well as Poland and Romania.
Victoria is planning to open their new quarantine hub to Ukrainian refugees

Victoria is planning to open the door at their quarantine hub in Mickleham to refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine.

The UN Refugee Agency estimates four million people could be displaced as a result of Russia's invasion.

Premier Daniel Andrews revealed on Wednesday that the state government would welcome refugees - as well as flood victims from NSW and Queensland - to the new facility.

Victoria is planning to open the door at their quarantine hub in Mickleham to refugees fleeing war-torn Ukraine following Russia's invasion of the country

The premier spoke about the conflict in Ukraine on Wednesday and shared his sympathy with those affected: 'This is shameful. It's wrong. Our hearts go out to everyone in Ukraine, and indeed those in Russia who don't necessarily support this'

It's been estimated by the UN Refugee Agency that close to four million people could be displaced as a result of the conflict between the two nations that has led to the death of thousands and completely decimated Ukraine

'We will do whatever we have to do, whatever we can, to help support - either on a temporary or permanent basis - anyone fleeing from Ukraine [and] anyone fleeing from this conflict,' Mr Andews said.

'The notion of state support - we are there to do whatever we can to support people displaced by this horrible conflict, this completely abhorrent act as perpetrated by the Russian Federation.'

The premier then shared his sympathy with the people of Ukraine and the citizens in Russia against the war.

'This is shameful. It's wrong. Our hearts go out to everyone in Ukraine, and indeed those in Russia who don't necessarily support this.'

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews revealed on Wednesday that the state government would welcome resettling displaced refugees - as well as flood victims from NSW and Queensland - at the new facility

'All of us are very saddened by what's going on. It is on the other side of the world but it affects so many people,' Mr Andrews added

'All of us are very saddened by what's going on. It is on the other side of the world but it affects so many people,' he added.

Mr Andrews celebrated the country's focus on 'diversity' and says that 'peace and respect always has to win out' in regards to resettling those from different countries.

The Victorian government has since written to the Commonwealth for support in opening the doors to the Mickleham hub for refugees and flood victims in New South Wales and Queensland.

Australia is set to offer permanent humanitarian visas to a select number of displaced Ukrainians.

The Victorian government has since written to the Commonwealth for support in opening the doors to the Mickleham hub for refugees and flood victims

It's unknown how many refugees will be taken in or how many will be offered permanent visas

It's unknown how many refugees will be taken in or how many will be offered permanent visas.

At least 500,000 Ukrainians have fled Ukraine since Russian forces invaded the eastern European country in late February.

160,000 more citizens are expected to move soon as the country continues facing devastating attacks.

Daniel Andrews condemned the attacks from the Kremlin last week and subsequently had numerous buildings in Melbourne lit up with the yellow and blue colours of the Ukrainian flag in a demonstration of support.

At least 500,000 Ukrainians have fled Ukraine since the eastern European country was invaded by the Kremlin's forces
through mosquito bites, with people in regional areas near pigs at risk

Three Victorians are in hospital suffering from Japanese encephalitis after the virus was detected in animals in the state's north.

Victorian health officials issued a warning about the virus - and warned children should be especially cautious - when evidence of the strain was found in pigs in Echuca, near the NSW border.

AAP understands that since Sunday's alert, four Victorians have contracted the virus.

All four were admitted to hospital and one has since been discharged.

Encephalitis spreads through mosquito bites and people residing in regional areas who are in contact with pigs may be at particular risk.

Victorian health officials have issued a warning about Japanese encephalitis - and warned children and older residents should be especially cautious - after evidence of the strain was discovered in some pigs at Echuca, near the NSW border this week

Encephalitis spreads through mosquito bites (pictured) and has symptoms such as confusion, headaches, neck stiffness, tremors, drowsiness and seizures

The disease is not transmitted from person to person and cannot be caught by eating pork or pig products.

Symptoms of encephalitis may include confusion, headaches, neck stiffness, tremors, drowsiness and seizures.

Australia's health department confirmed the disease had been found in one piggery in Victoria's north, six piggeries in NSW and one in Queensland.

'This is the first time the virus has been detected in Victoria, and biosecurity authorities are working with their human health departments to understand the implications and risks of human exposure,' Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Mark Schipp said.

Anyone working or camping in country Victoria is being warned to use mosquito repellent and cover up with loose-fitting clothing.

Older people and those aged under five who are infected have a higher risk of developing a serious illness.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton says anyone who developed a sudden fever, headache and vomiting should see their doctor immediately.

'People with these symptoms can deteriorate over just a few short days, including suffering a loss of coordination, disorientation, generalised weakness and in some cases issues with movement which can last for years,' he said.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain gave President Joe Biden grade-A marks for his fitness in a post-State of the Union interview Wednesday.

'He's definitely in better shape than I am, that's for sure. He's very fit, he works out almost every day in the morning before he comes down to the Oval Office,' Klain said in a virtual interview with the Economic Club of Washington. 'I think his fitness, his vigor, is beyond question.'

Speaking to billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein, Klain pointed to the 79-year-old Biden's performance at Tuesday night's State ofthe Union as evidence that being the country's oldest president isn't holding the Democrat back.

'And I think the American people saw for themselves last night the president stand and give an hourlong address that was filled with passion and power and wisdom and energy,' Klain said. 'They saw him hold the longest press conferences in the history of presidents,' he added, pointing to Biden's Q&A session in January.

Biden had one noticable slip-up during the 1 hour, 1 minute and 49 second-speech - accidentally referring to the Ukrainians as 'Iranians.'

'People see him on the job everyday and then what they see is a person who is fully capable of doing the job, fully vigorous, in great mental and physical health, and taking on the burdens of the office and executing them well,' Klain boasted.

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain (left) told billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein (right) that President Joe Biden is 'very fit' and works out every day before heading to the Oval Office

'I think his fitness, his vigor, is beyond question,' Chief of Staff Ron Klain said of President Joe Biden (center), who was captured walking across the South Lawn with First Lady Jill Biden (left) Wednesday night after a trip to Wisconsin

Polling from ABC News and The Washington Post released Sunday found that 54 per cent of Americans said they did not believe Biden had the 'mental sharpness' to serve effectively.

Forty per cent said he did.

Asked by Rubenstein if Biden was 'enjoying' the presidency, Klain said he didn't know if that was the way to put it.

'I think he's very glad he ran for president,' Klain answered.

'I think more importantly, I hear from people all around the country - Democrats and Republicans- that they're very glad he's the person in the Oval Office right now,' the White House chief of staff offered.

President Joe Biden is captured riding a bike during a trip to his Rehoboth Beach house in Delaware in June

'And so I think there's a lot of confidence in him as the person who should be where he is,' Klain added.

Klain described Biden as being 'even-keeled' when Rubenstein asked if the president was a yeller and screamer.

'I think when things are going well he doesn't get too hyped up and when we're having tougher days he maintains that composure, that demeanor,' Klain said.

He suggested that was because Biden had gone through a number of tragedies in his life, including losing his first wife, his baby daughter and later son, Beau, to cancer.

'One thing that is true is that there's never a morning I go in there with news that's as bad or worse than someone has had to deliver to him at other points of time in his life,' Klain said.

Klain, who is 60, continued to push that he wasn't in as good of shape as the president.

'I wish I was in better shape. I'm not very good at that. I wasn't very good at that, frankly, even before I was this busy,' he told Rubenstein. 'I try to watch how many French fries I order from the White House mess.'
An Australian father from an exclusive Sydney suburb is helping Ukraine fight the Russian invasion after finding himself stuck in the war-torn country.

Global management consultant Ashley Meredith, from Mosman on Sydney's affluent lower north shore, is pledging to do anything he can to stop the Russians.

Mr Meredith and his wife Maryna were caught in the crisis as they waited for their three-year-old son Barrie's Australian's citizenship to be approved.

The Sydneysider initially moved his wife and son to a safe house when Russia invaded last week and then went to Kyiv to help those displaced by the conflict.

The family were briefly stationed at the Ukrainian border with Poland, where they were helping hundreds of refugees flee the war by carrying out 'border runs' in a van.

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Sydney father Ashley Meredith found himself stuck in Ukraine with his wife Maryna and three-year-old son Barrie and is now helping hundreds flee the country

Mr Meredith and his wife Maryna helped hundreds flee the war in the Eastern European country and have taken in 18 refugees

Mr Meredith told Daily Mail Australia he was under pressure from family and the Australian embassy to get off Ukrainian soil

Mr Meredith, from Mosman on Sydney's affluent lower north shore, was caught up in the crisis as he waited for his three-year-old son Barrie's Australian's citizenship to be approved

Mr Meredith, who has lived in Ukraine for seven years, said he and his wife had also taken in 18 refugees and vowed to do 'whatever it takes' to protect his family and the Ukrainian people.

'The battle for Ukraine is on and the people will not be broken,' he told the Mosman Collective.

'As the husband of a Ukranian woman and father to a Ukranian-Australian child, I will do whatever it takes.

'Rather than run I thought it was time to stay and help these people,' he told The Project on Sunday.

'I've been delivering power banks to soldiers on the front line and water to the elderly in the shelters. I speak Russian and Ukrainian so I've been trying to help where I can.'

Mr Meredith said he and his driver were armed with a gun to protect themselves and his family, but added he was not looking to directly fight the Russians.

'I don't think I would be rushing towards the front to fight the Russians,' he said.

'My family is my first priority and to die would be the worst result. I am pushing the limit as far as I can but I don't plan to die and it's not something I've talked about.'

Mr Meredith has lived in Ukraine for seven years and said he would do whatever it takes to help the country win the war against Russia

The management consultant said he had a gun to protect himself and his family, but that he had no plans to fight the Russians

Mr Meredith said he and his wife had taken in 18 refugees and were briefly stationed at the Polish border with Ukraine

Mr Meredith said he had been 'delivering power banks to soldiers on the front line and water to the elderly in the shelters' during the invasion

Now that his son has had his passport approved, the Sydney father said he eventually planned to reach the Australian Embassy in Denmark and then fly back to Sydney.

He told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday he had started heading to Ukraine's border with Slovakia but may still have 20 hours to go depending on traffic and roadblocks.

'Once we're over the border we need to then head to Krakow in Poland - then we'll make the decision if we want to come back in [to Ukraine] again,' he said.

He said he was being pressured by family and the Australian embassy to leave Ukrainian soil.

'As soon as I get home I'm heading straight to Bathers Pavilion [on Balmoral Beach in Mosman],' Mr Meredith said.

'We just want to get home and cherish the safety of Australia.'

The father vowed to do whatever it takes to protect his family and the Ukrainian people

One million Ukrainians are estimated to have fled their country already since the war broke out, according to the UN - with many making their way to temporary camps on the Polish border.

Australia is poised to welcome thousands of Ukrainian refugees; Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this week he is working on a temporary protection scheme similar to one deployed during the Kosovo War.

In April 1999, Australia created 'safe haven' visas for about 4,000 Kosovars. Nearly all of them stayed for less than a year and returned home when the war ended.

The Australian father helped hundreds of the roughly one million Ukrainians who have fled their country already since the war broke out

The captured city of Kherson, 300 miles south of Kyiv, is considered an important strategic asset, being on an inlet in the Black Sea

The evacuation comes as the first Ukrainian city fell to the Russians on Wednesday, with its mayor urging residents to obey 'armed people who came to the city's administration'.

The captured city, Kherson is home to 290,000 people and 300 miles south of Kyiv.

The city is strategically important, sitting on an inlet of the Black Sea 260 miles west of the separatist enclave of Donetsk.
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Russia has captured its first major city in Ukraine after a week of fighting, with Kherson - a regional capital of 300,000 people on the Black Sea - now under the control of Putin's forces.

Igor Kolykhaiev, the city's mayor, said in an update around 1.a.m that 'armed visitors' had stormed a council meeting and imposed new rules including a strict curfew and urged citizens to follow them. But it was far from clear whether Ukrainian forces had totally withdrawn, with the UK MoD saying Thursday the situation is 'unclear'.

Ukraine war: The latest Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall

Invasion so far has been badly managed, a 'disaster, through and through', US defence experts say

Ukraine's second city Kharkiv continues to come under heavy Russian shelling

Column of Russian vehicles north of Kyiv 'stalled' due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion

Moscow admits 498 troops have died in Ukraine, widely thought to be an under-estimate but still a record total for post-Soviet Russia

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine 'will immediately proceed'

A Bangladeshi sailor is killed in an attack on his vessel docked in the Black Sea port of Olvia

Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday

Russia tells citizens in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol to leave, raising fears bombing will intensify

UN General Assembly demands Russia 'immediately' withdraws. Moscow wins support from only four nations - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria

Swedish Armed Forces say four Russian fighter jets entered its airspace in the Baltic Sea

US launches 'KleptoCapture' with the aim of seizing yachts, private jets and homes of Russian oligarchs

Chelsea Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirms he is selling the Premier League club

Ukraine invites mothers of captured Russian troops to come and collect their sons

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US follows the EU in targeting Russian ally Belarus with sanctions for supporting invasion Advertisement

If Kherson is under full Russian control, then it opens up Odessa - Ukraine's main port city and primary naval base - to an assault. Amphibious landing ships were seen forming up off the west coast of Crimea Thursday morning as US officials warned a major assault from the sea could come later in the day.

Meanwhile Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's two largest cities, remained under a heavy bombing campaign overnight with missiles striking civilian areas - including a train station in the Ukrainian capital being used to evacuate people from the city and as a shelter for those who cannot or have chosen not to leave.

Chernihiv, in the north west, and Mariupol, in the south, also remain under Ukrainian control despite being all-but surrounded by Russian forces and coming under heavy bombardment. The mayor of Mariupol said Thursday that Russian artillery fire has been so intense that they cannot even remove wounded people from the streets.

Vadym Boichenko accused the Russians of doing 'everything to block the exit of civilians' including blowing up the city's trains, leaving people stranded before the artillery opened fire. Evacuations continued elsewhere, however, with the UN estimating that 1million people have now fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries.

Ukraine estimates that 2,000 civilians have been killed in fighting. The UN has confirmed 227 of those but said the true toll is likely far higher. War crimes prosecutors have opened a case into the deaths.

Negotiators from both Ukraine and Russia are set to meet on the border with Belarus today for a second round of talks, after an initial summit on Monday failed to yield any result.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, issued a video address to the nation in the early hours of Thursday, giving an upbeat assessment of the war and calling on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance.

'We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,' he said, in the clip posted on social media. 'They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.'

Zelensky did not comment on whether the Russians have seized several cities, including Kherson. 'If they went somewhere, then only temporarily. We'll drive them out,' he said.

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who 'go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.' He added: 'These are not warriors of a superpower. These are confused children who have been used,' while giving the death toll at 9,000 Russian troops. The US believes the toll is actually around 6,000. Moscow has admitted only 500 deaths.

His assessment of the Russian attack was shared by several US defence analysts who said the campaign had been mismanaged, under-supplied, ineffective, and led to Moscow suffering much-higher casualties in the first few days of fighting than had been anticipated.

Ukraine war: City by city Kyiv: Four large rocket strikes hit the Ukrainian capital overnight, including one which struck a train station being used to evacuate civilians , while others struck TV and radio stations. Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian fighter jet over Irpin, a satellite city of Kyiv which has come under heavy attack, in the early hours of Thursday Kharkiv: The second-largest city in Ukraine continue to come under bombardment with pictures showing destroyed residential buildings and rubble littering the city centre. Izyum, a city 70 miles to the south of Kharkiv towards Donetsk, also came under heavy bombardment with explosions lighting up the night sky Chernihiv: Located to the north-west of Kyiv, the city has been the site of fierce fighting with Russian troops since the early days of the invasion Despite being surrounded and under heavy shelling, the city remains under Ukrainian control Mariupol: Heavy Russian shelling which began targeting the city on Wednesday continued into Thursday, with the mayor saying the bombardment is so heavy that medics can't get into the streets to rescue the dead and injured Despite the attacks, the city remains in Ukrainian hands Kherson: City feared captured by Russian forces after mayor says 'armed visitors' joined a local council meeting and had imposed a curfew However, the British MoD said Thursday morning that the military situation is still 'unclear' - suggesting that Russia may not be in full control Zaporizhzhia: Russian forces have surrounded the city and its nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe Civilians set up road blocks around the plant to defend it, with the city's mayor saying one came under fire by Russian troops on Wednesday leaving two people hurt Odessa: The Black Sea port city, and Ukraine's main naval base, is preparing for a Russian assault after a dozen warships were seen forming up near Crimea Mayor said fighter jets appear to be testing air defences by flying sorties overhead, as residents prepare makeshift defences made of old railway sleepers and lay landmines on the beach Advertisement

Ahead of the invasion, Washington had warned that Russia's superior forces would be able to quickly overwhelm Ukraine's 200,000-strong army - taking out air defences, achieving superiority in the skies, and then raining death down on those below.

But none of that has come to pass. Ukraine's skies remain contested, US intelligence says, while attacks have been piecemeal with troops under-supplied and not fighting in a coordinated fashion, leading to large numbers of dead along with some abandoning their vehicles which have then been captured.

'This is a colossal intelligence failure that vastly underestimated Ukrainian resistance, and military execution has been terrible,' Michael Vickers, former US Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

'[Putin's] main attack has been underweighted. It's been piecemeal. His reconnaissance elements have been captured, columns have been destroyed,' he said. 'It's just a disaster, through and through.'

But many caution that Russia's initial failures could simply pre-sage a secondary phase of the fighting in which it uses superior numbers and force of arms to surround and bomb Ukrainian troops into submission, causing large civilian casualties.

Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, agreed with that assessment today as he issued a warning that the 'worst' is still to come as Russia switches to a 'logic of siege' with major cities in danger of being surrounded.

He spoke as Europe continued to step up its assistance to Ukraine, with Germany pledging another 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles to bolster the Ukrainian defences. That comes on top of 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft weapons it has already sent, in a stunning reversal of its long-standing pledge not to supply weapons.

Meanwhile a Bangladeshi sailor was killed in an attack on his vessel in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Olvia, the state shipping company said Thursday.

The Banglar Samriddhi, a bulk carrier, arrived in the country on February 22, a day before Russia invaded, and has since been unable to leave.

Pijush Dutta, executive director of the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, said the vessel was hit in a 'rocket or bomb' attack on Wednesday - though it was not clear who had opened fire.

The third engineer was killed and the bridge caught fire, he said, but the remaining 28 crew - all Bangladeshis - were still on board. 'The fire has been brought under control,' he added. 'Other crew in the ship are safe.'

In the early hours of Thursday a huge explosion rocked Kyiv - preceded by the blaring of air raid sirens at around 2am local time in multiple districts across the city. Kyiv's buildings were then lit up by a huge blast from a bomb.

The Kyiv Independent reported that air raid alerts were issued in multiple regions included Kyiv Oblast, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Frankivsk, Chernihiv and Odessa.

Footage from the capital, filmed from windows overlooking the city, showed at least one massive explosion that lit up the night sky, and appeared to cause a shock-wave.

Russian tanks and a military truck are seen rolling through the streets of Kherson on Wednesday

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

A force of around a dozen Russian vessels including landing ships is massing off the coast of Crimea today, with experts saying an assault on Odessa could come later in the day

The city of Kherson is seen on Wednesday, with Russian forces seemingly in control. Kherson is the first major city to fall to the Russians

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, published another video to his social media in the early hours of Thursday, providing an upbeat assessment of his country's resilience and saying the Russian advance was not going according to plan

In another video, captured by CBS News reporters moments after signing off following a report, two bursts of light could be seen over Kyiv.

While the explosions were not filmed directly, the intensity of them was enough to shock the reporter and his film crew, who were some distance away from the blasts.

Hours earlier, a Russian missile struck near Kyiv's southern main rail station where thousands of women and children are being evacuated, Ukraine's state-run railway company Ukrzaliznytsya said in a statement.

The station building suffered minor damage and the number of any casualties was not yet known, it said, adding trains were still operating despite the blast.

Ukraine's interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said the blast was caused by wreckage from a downed Russian cruise missile, not a direct rocket strike.

Trains continued to run. Herashchenko added the strike may have cut off central heating supply to parts of the Ukrainian capital amid freezing winter temperatures.

Unverified reports said two missiles were launched towards the headquarters of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, with one being shot down. The HQ and the railway station sit across a road from one another in Kyiv.

Forty miles from Kherson, in Mykolaiv, Ukrainian forces captured several Russian troops on Wednesday, where fierce fighting broke out in recent days.

The region's governor and a member of Ukraine's Parliament shared pictures with the captured soldiers.

Roman Kostenko, a lawmaker and secretary of the Parliament's Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, told CNN that a reconnaissance unit of the Russian GRU's 10th brigade had been intercepted on the outskirts of Mykolaiv.

'We encircled them and they gave themselves up,' he said.

Kherson mayor's message on Wednesday evening These weren't negotiations or anything that was already rumored about. No one agreed anything with me. However, indeed there were armed visitors in the city council today. My team and I are peaceful people, we had no weapons or aggression on our side. We have shown that we are working to secure the city and are trying to eliminate the consequences of the invasion. We are experiencing enormous difficulties with collecting and burying the dead, delivering food and medicine, garbage removal, clearing accidents, etc. Everything that is happening now in our city is politics that I hate. I came to renew infrastructure, invest in Kherson, build houses, roads, parks and a new life for my hometown. As a result, I'm looking for special packages for the killed, putting the whole world on my shoulders, asking for a 'green corridor' and thinking HOW should I now rebuild the city after tanks and APCs. I made no promises to them. I just have nothing to promise. I am only interested in the normal life of our city! I just asked them not to shoot people. We don't have the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the city, only civilians and people who want to LIVE here! Result: 1. You can only go to the city during the day. 2. The curfew from 20.00 to 06.00 is strictly observed. 3. Only cars with food, medicines and other things can enter the city. 4. We will release public transport again so that employees of the bakery, shops, pharmacies, etc. could get to work. 5. Pedestrians walk one by one, maximum two. The military will not be provoked. Stop at the first demand. They do not seek conflict. 6. Cars that are allowed to be in the city must drive at minimum speeds, and should be ready to show the contents of their vehicle at any moment. So far this is how it is. The Ukrainian flag above us. And to keep it the same, these requirements must be met. I have nothing else to say yet. Advertisement

'They are with the SBU,' he said, referring to the Ukrainian security services.

He said one of the five Russian soldiers had died, one was taken straight to hospital and three were alive.

The capture of Kherson came as Western officials told CNN that they believe the Russian strategy is moving toward a 'slow annihilation' of the Ukrainian military.

They warned that the grinding pace of the conflict could see Russia resorting to the bombardment of cities and civilian targets.

Ukrainian forces have so far been able to stave off Russia's initial push, maintaining control of Kyiv and other major cities.

Russia has lost roughly 3-5 percent of its tanks, aircraft, artillery and other military assets inside Ukraine, according to two US officials familiar with the latest intelligence.

Ukraine has lost roughly 10 percent of its capabilities, and they remain massively outgunned and outmanned.

And Russia is now bringing in heavier, more destructive weaponry and increasingly striking civilian infrastructure, after an initial focus on military targets, the officials said.

'The cruel military math of this will eventually come to bear, absent some intervention, absent some fundamental change in the dynamic,' one official said.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, told Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a call on Wednesday that Ukraine needs additional deliveries of weapons 'now,' Kuleba tweeted.

A senior intelligence official said: 'They need bullets. They need bandages. They're going to need fuel. They're going to need ammunition, in addition to the humanitarian support to help with medical assistance, sustaining hospitals, both for combat wounded and for civilians that are being hurt.

'And they're going to need a lot again in ammunition and the weapons resupply, because the Russian force is both numerically and qualitatively superior.'

Moscow's isolation deepened, meanwhile, when most of the world lined up against it at the United Nations to demand it withdraw from Ukraine.

And the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes.

President Joe Biden and his administration have stopped short of accusing the Kremlin of conducting war crimes in its invasion of Ukraine so far.

On Wednesday Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, said instead they are 'looking very closely at what's happening' and 'documenting it.'

He said it was 'shameful' that hospitals and residential buildings were being hit.

'We're looking very closely at what's happening in Ukraine right now, including what's happening to civilians,' Blinken said.

'We're taking account of it, we're documenting it, and we want to ensure, among other things, that there's accountability for it.'

He compared Russia's tactics in Ukraine to previous conflicts, where its forces were 'absolutely brutal in trying to cow the citizenry of a given country, and that includes at the very least indiscriminate targeting and potentially deliberate targeting as well.'

A second round of talks aimed at ending the fighting was expected on Thursday, but there appeared to be little common ground between the two sides.

Russia reported its military casualties for the first time since the invasion began last week, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded.

Ukraine did not disclose its own military losses but said more than 2,000 civilians have died, a claim that could not be independently verified.

With fighting going on on multiple fronts across the country, Britain's Defense Ministry said Mariupol, a large city on the Azov Sea, was encircled by Russian forces.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said the attacks there had been relentless.

'We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop,' he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Meanwhile, the senior U.S. defense official said the immense column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 16 miles from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last couple of days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages and has faced fierce Ukrainian resistance, the official said.

On the far edges of Kyiv, volunteer fighters well into their 60s manned a checkpoint to try to block the Russian advance.

'In my old age I had to take up arms,' said Andrey Goncharuk, 68.

He said the fighters needed more weapons, but 'we'll kill the enemy and take their weapons.'

Russian warplanes bombed the village of Gorenka, a half-hour's drive from Ukraine's capital, Wednesday, leaving the bodies of villagers strewn among ruined homes, residents said.

In the northern city of Chernihiv, two cruise missiles hit a hospital, according to the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency

Ihor Kolykhaiev, mayor of Kherson, said on Wednesday that armed forces had taken control of his city

The mayor of Kherson, Ihor Kolykhaiev, made a post on Facebook at around 7pm local time on Wednesday evening. The translation is done by Facebook itself

A woman cries in the small basement of a house crowded with people seeking shelter from Russian airstrikes, outside the capital Kyiv, on Wednesday

The remains of a destroyed Russian military convoy are seen on a street in Bucha, to the south of Kyiv, on Wednesday morning

An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine

Russia also pounded Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city with about 1.5 million people, in another round of aerial attacks that shattered buildings and lit up the skyline with flames.

At least 21 people were killed and 112 injured over the past day, said Oleg Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration.

Several Russian planes were shot down over Kharkiv, according to Oleksiy Arestovich, a top adviser to Zelensky.

'Kharkiv today is the Stalingrad of the 21st century,' Arestovich said, invoking what is considered one of the most heroic episodes in Russian history, the five-month defense of the city from the Nazis during World War II.

From his basement bunker, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov told the BBC: 'The city is united and we shall stand fast.'

Russian attacks, many with missiles, blew the roof off Kharkiv's five-story regional police building and set the top floor on fire, and also hit the intelligence headquarters and a university building, according to officials and videos and photos released by Ukraine's State Emergency Service.

Officials said residential buildings were also hit.

Seven days into Russia's invasion, the United Nations said more than 934,000 people have fled Ukraine in a mounting refugee crisis on the European continent, while the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warned that the fighting poses a danger to Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors.

Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency noted that the war is 'the first time a military conflict is happening amid the facilities of a large, established nuclear power program,' and he said he is 'gravely concerned.'

'When there is a conflict ongoing, there is of course a risk of attack or the possibility of an accidental hit,' he said.

Russia already has seized control of the decommissioned Chernobyl power plant, the scene in 1986 of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

A private U.S. satellite company, Maxar Technology, on Wednesday released a series of 11 images taken on Monday showing damaged infrastructure in towns north of Kyiv.

A damaged bridge could be clearly seen beside bombed homes on Monday in Chernihiv, 80 miles north east of Kyiv.

A bombed-out factory could also be seen near Chernihiv.

Burning homes and impact craters could be seen other photos showing fields near Rivnopillia, 100 miles north of Kyiv. The tiny village is 30 miles south of the Belarus border.

Military vehicles and homes are seen in another photo, destroyed in residential areas on Vokzalna Street in Bucha, 20 miles north west of the center of Kyiv.

Further photos showed long lines of vehicles waiting to cross from Ukraine into Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.

Long lines are also seen in the photos outside supermarkets in Kyiv.

A damaged bridge is clearly seen beside bombed homes on Monday in Chernihiv, 80 miles north east of Kyiv

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a close up of destroyed factory building west of Chernihiv. The image was taken on Monday

Burning homes and impact craters are seen in fields near Rivnopillia, 100 miles north of Kyiv. The tiny village is 30 miles south of the Belarus border

Military vehicles and homes are seen destroyed in residential areas on Vokzalna Street in Bucha, 20 miles north west of the center of Kyiv. The photos were taken on Monday, after the Russian forces staged multiple advances on Kyiv from the west

Cars are pictured on Monday waiting to cross from Ukraine into Hungary at a checkpoint. People are still forced to wait for up to 24 hours to cross

Vehicles are seen on Monday waiting to cross from Ukraine into Slovakia. Ukraine's border posts with Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova have seen huge lines of people desperate to flee the war

A satellite image shows people and vehicles waiting to cross into Romania from Ukraine, at the Siret Border crossing, on Friday - the second day of the conflict

This handout satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows refugees vehicles waiting to cross into Slovakia from Ukraine at Vysne Nemecke border crossing on Monday. As of Wednesday, almost one million people have fled

A satellite image shows a large crater in the middle of a residential area and destroyed homes, in Sukachi village, 300 miles east of Kyiv, towards the border with Poland and Belarus

Another long line is seen on Monday outside a supermarket in Kyiv, in an image taken by Maxar Technology released on Wednesday

A satellite image shows a long line of people waiting for food outside a grocery store in Kyiv on Monday. The line can be seen snaking through the parking lot, next to the nearly-empty highway

In New York, the U.N. General Assembly voted to demand that Russia stop its offensive and immediately withdraw all troops, with world powers and tiny island states alike condemning Moscow. The vote was 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions.

Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but can reflect and influence world opinion.

The vote came after the 193-member assembly convened its first emergency session since 1997.

The only countries to vote with Russia were Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea. Cuba spoke in Moscow's defense but ultimately abstained.

Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Russian forces 'have come to the Ukrainian soil, not only to kill some of us ... they have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist.'

He added: 'The crimes are so barbaric that it is difficult to comprehend.'

A convoy of Russian vehicles is seen parked along a residential street in an unknown area of Ukraine, in footage released by Russia's armed forces on Wednesday

Police officers remove the body of a passerby killed in Tuesday's airstrike that hit Kyiv's main television tower

Police officers stand guard at the site of Tuesday's airstrike that hit Kyiv's main television tower

A large explosion shook central Kyiv on Wednesday night in what the president's office said was a missile strike near the capital city's southern railway station.

There was no immediate word on any deaths or injuries.

Thousands of Ukrainians have been fleeing the city through the sprawling railway complex.

A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, released his side's military casualty figures, disputing as 'disinformation' reports of much higher losses.

Ukraine's leader claimed almost 6,000 Russian soldiers have been killed.

Konashenkov also said more than 2,870 Ukrainian troops have been killed and about 3,700 wounded, while over 570 have been captured.

Russia also ramped up its rhetoric.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reminded the world about the country's vast nuclear arsenal when he said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that 'a third world war could only be nuclear.'

Commanders of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces warned they would no longer take Russian artillerymen as prisoner of war in response to their 'brutal shelling' of cities - a move which would be a war crime.

'Each and every gun crew will be slaughtered like pigs,' a statement on their Facebook page on Wednesday evening said.

Footage from Kyiv overnight into Thursday morning showed a huge explosion light up the night sky. Reports said at least two huge blasts were heard in the city air raid sirens warned residents to urgently seek shelter

Explosions in #Kyiv caught in the lenses of journalists' cameras right in the middle of a reportage pic.twitter.com/gp75DT99FB  NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 3, 2022

A Russian air strike hit near Kyiv's southern rail station on Wednesday where thousands of women and children are being evacuated, Ukraine's state-run railway company Ukrzaliznytsya said in a statement. Pictured: Footage purportedly showing a blast in Kyiv on Wednesday night near a southern train station and Ukraine's Ministry of Defense

Ukraine's interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said the strike may have e cut off central heating supply to parts of the Ukrainian capital amid freezing winter temperatures

A woman cries outside houses damaged by a Russian airstrike, according to locals, in Gorenka, outside the capital Kyiv

A woman says goodbye as a train with evacuees is about to leave Kyiv's railway station on Wednesday

People stay inside Dorohozhychi subway station, which is used as a bomb shelter, in Kyiv

Civilians are seen at the train station attempting to head west from Kyiv on Wednesday amid Russian attacks

Civilians are seen at the train station attempting to head west from Kyiv on Wednesday, before the building was hit

A view shows damaged buildings following recent shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region on Wednesday

Paramedics walk at the residential area following recent shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region on Wednesday

On Wednesday morning, the bodies of the five victims of a rocket strike on Kyiv's television tower were piled into a van and removed from the site by police - as the capital's mayor Vitali Klitschko warned that Russian forces were 'getting closer'.

Klitschko vowed that 'we will fight' to defend the city, amid fears it could soon be battered by artillery fire from a 40-mile long convoy parked nearby.

Along with his brother and fellow former boxer Wladimir, the mayor called for more support from the west in an interview on Wednesday.

Ukrainian police said Wednesday they had arrested a man who brought explosives hidden in a child's toy to one of the Kyiv subway stations where thousands of people have been sheltering.

The police also said four other suspected saboteurs were arrested, including two who were carrying weapons.

Police officers prepare to remove the bodies of passersby killed in Tuesday's airstrike that hit Kyiv's main television tower

Ukrainian police forces remove the bodies of people killed during a Russian rocket attack on Kyiv's main TV tower on Tuesday, ahead of an expected assault on the capital

Kyiv is preparing to come under fresh bombardment today after Moscow warned civilians to flee or else face being killed (pictured, bodies of people killed in last night's strike are covered by police)

Five people were killed on Tuesday in a Russian missile strike which wiped out several TV stations in Kyiv, thought to be preparation for a larger follow-up attack

Smoke and flames rise up the side of Kyiv's 1,300ft TV tower after Russia bombed it on Tuesday. The tower remained standing but buildings around it were damaged, with some broadcasts knocked off air

Smoke rises around Kyiv's main television tower after several explosions near the base of it on Tuesday afternoon

After failing to swiftly take major cities and to subdue Ukraine's military, U.S. officials have said for days that they believe Russia will instead seek to encircle cities, cutting off supply and escape routes, then attacking with a combined force of armour, ground troops and engineers.

A top Ukrainian diplomat received a standing ovation from diplomats after a heartfelt speech Wednesday to the U.N.'s top human rights body, calling on the Human Rights Council to help hold Russia's government accountable by creating a panel of experts to scrutinize the invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking by video from Kyiv, Emine Dzhaparova, Ukraine's first deputy minister of foreign affairs, described being awoken by the sound of an explosion on February 24 as the invasion began.

She said her government was 'fully operational' and lashed out at 'false claims' by Putin that Ukraine was committing 'genocide.'

'Do you know how Russia treats and deals with genocide in Ukraine? By airstrikes using cruise and operational tactical missiles, tanks and artillery, reconnaissance groups and sabotage groups,' she said.

'Ukrainian babies are born in the bomb shelters in bunkers.

'As we speak here today, Russian armed forces keep attacking maternity wards, kindergartens, orphanages, hospitals.'

Dzhaparova noted an 'urgent debate' at the council about the situation in Ukraine, calling for countries in the 47-member-state body's to set up a Commission of Inquiry - the council's most powerful tool to scrutinize human rights violations and abuses.

US President Joe Biden used his first State of the Union address to highlight the resolve of a reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and adopt tough sanctions, which he said have left Putin 'isolated in the world more than he has ever been.'

'Throughout our history we've learned this lesson - when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,' Biden said.

'They keep moving. And the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising.'

Soldiers are seen around piles of sand used for blocking a road in Ukrainian capital, Kyiv

A view of smoke from inside a damaged gym following shelling in Kyiv which partially destroyed a gym

A destroyed apartment building in Irpin, a city on the outskirts of Kyiv, was struck by Russian missiles early on Wednesday

Soldiers are seen around piles of sand used for blocking a road in Ukrainian capital, Kyiv
CPPCC member to promote museums' talent supply

By CHENG YUEZHU (China Daily) 15:19, March 03, 2022

People visit an exhibition in Shenyang, Liaoning province, on Tuesday that show how people dealt with the cold during winters in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The exhibition shows their solutions in house building, indoor furnishings and clothes, which were designed to resist the severe cold. CHINA DAILY

When Nankai University in Tianjin set up China's first museum studies major in 1980, An Laishun, now a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was among the first students.

An's academic background led him to a 40-year career in Chinese museums and international museum organizations, promoting international collaboration and exchanges, including his current work as vice-president of the International Council of Museums and the Chinese Museums Association.

He said that while he has witnessed the achievements made by Chinese museums during the past four decades, he now feels a pressing need to build a sustainable education system in order to maintain the talent supply for the museums.

"I really would like to share my knowledge, my experience and my personal reflections working within the museum sector with more young people, so that they could learn about museums, like museums and consider museums for a future career. And the best place to achieve this is universities," An said.

At the end of 2019, he started working as a professor at Shanghai University. Apart from teaching, he helped to bring about the establishment of the International Council of Museums' International Research and Exchange Center at Shanghai University in December 2020.

The center focuses on establishing a think tank and international network to deal with the crucial issues faced by the international museum community, promoting international collaboration on research of these issues, and the release of data and research reports.

Starting in 2010, one of the subjects the center has been working on is following up on government funding of museums in different countries, to compile a report that sheds light on problems and favorable experiences of financial policies regarding museums, especially amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the pandemic's outbreak, the International Council of Museums has been conducting surveys every six months on the impact of COVID-19 on museums and museum professionals, and it has published three survey reports.

According to the latest update in July last year, despite some recovery, the overall situation for museums worldwide since 2021 is still not very promising.

While the proportion of museums facing permanent closure has fallen to 4.1 percent, the percentage of survey respondents saying that employees have been laid off rose from 5.8 percent to 9.6 percent within a year, according to the July report.

To tackle the pandemic's ongoing impacts, cooperation should be enhanced on issues of common concern, such as the application of digital technology in museums, sustainable development of the facilities, fighting the illicit trafficking of cultural heritage, and museum leadership and capacity building, An said.

Channels for cooperation include constructive interactions among governments, international cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, working closely with international organizations such as UNESCO and the International Council of Museums, and exhibition exchanges and conservation collaboration among museums, he added.

"Museums all over the world share the same missionto serve society and social developmentand have the same professional responsibilities to protect, research and communicate the truth, goodness and beauty of human beings," An said.

As a member of the CPPCC, the nation's top political advisory body, for the past four years, An has attended national or local CPPCC meetings, exchanged opinions on economic and social issues, participated in field observations on topics related to cultural heritage and museums, and submitted proposals, including last year's proposal on upgrading museum services for the elderly and disabled.

For this year's two sessions, the annual gatherings of the CPPCC and the National People's Congress, An said he will continue to address the systems and mechanisms for cultivating young museum professionals, especially regarding museum studies curriculums at Chinese universities.

He has also worked to address sustainability, providing previous proposals on green museum buildings and environmentally friendly operations. This year, he will put more emphasis on how museums can play a role in relation to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, he said.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Police in Philadelphia is facing concerns after issuing contradictory statements about an armed 12-year-old kid who was fatally shot in the back by cops on Tuesday, with the police commissioner stating he was armed and fired at officers, but her deputy later admitted that he wasn't sure whether he had a weapon.

Officers rushed Thomas Siderio, Jr., to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was declared dead a few minutes after the gunshot, according to police. Siderio was described as Caucasian by officers.

Police Shoot, Kill 12-Year-Old Boy in Pennsylvania

According to authorities, one of the four cops in the car was hit in the face and eye by shattered glass and was treated and discharged. Just after bullets were fired, a video from a door near the incident records what sounds like an officer shouting, "I'm bleeding."

The four officers in plainclothes were in an unmarked car in south Philadelphia at around 7:20 pm Tuesday as part of a task force responding to social media posts concerning a pistol, according to a statement released Wednesday.

Officers stated they noticed two young boys on a corner, one of them seemed to be carrying a weapon and identified the elder one as a suspect in the guns investigation. In-proportion-to authorities, after activating the car's emergency red and blue lights, the cops heard a gunshot and the back passenger window smashing.

The bullet flew through the glass, ricocheted off the passenger door, and went through the passenger-side headrest, according to Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Naish, who believes the police might have been killed or gravely hurt. On Wednesday, he gave a virtual report on gun violence in the city.

Two cops allegedly jumped out of the driver's side of the car and shot at the running adolescent who was allegedly clutching a pistol, according to police. Siderio was pursued down the street by one of the cops, who fired two more times, striking the youngster in the upper right back region. According to authorities, the gunshot exited through his chest. The other teen, a 17-year-old man who has not been identified, was arrested in connection with the guns case but subsequently released, according to Daily Mail.

Read Also: National Poison Control Center Warns That Several At-Home Rapid Tests Kits Contains Toxic Chemical

Case Is on Pending Investigation

An officer fired two additional shots during the chase, injuring Siderio in the upper right back. According to officials, one gunshot exited him from the left side of his chest. Police took him to a hospital where he eventually died. The cop who was hit by the glass was taken to the hospital and treated before being discharged. Authorities claimed they couldn't say who shot at the automobile conclusively since the inquiry was still ongoing.

Siderio's supposed weapon was seized, and it was discovered to be fitted with a laser sight. According to authorities, it was reported stolen with one cartridge in the chamber and five shots in the magazine. The bullet that hit the unmarked police car shattered the rear passenger window glass, struck the inner door frame, and lodged in the passenger's headrest, as per Fox News.

Officers seized a 9mm semiautomatic pistol with a laser that had been reported stolen, according to Naish. The gun had one bullet in the chamber and five more in the clip. Siderio shot into the police car, but authorities couldn't say for sure whether he pointed the firearm at cops as he left, according to Naish. Police also declined to reveal whether the pistol was connected to the original inquiry.

As part of the inquiry, he said ballistics evidence had been acquired and police were examining the area for CCTV footage. He said that none of the plainclothes police was carrying body cameras. Both of the cops who discharged their firearms have been placed on administrative leave awaiting the outcome of the inquiry, News Boston reported.

Related Article: CDC, FDA Order Recall of Several Baby Formula Following 2 Infant Deaths, 5 Illnesses

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An abandoned Audi with the words 'help me' inscribed on the driver's side door has been found in rising floodwaters on the outskirts of Sydney - as water laps at homes on a million-dollar street and an 'exhausted' alpaca is rescued.

Londonderry in Sydney's west - where sprawling estates sell for upwards of $4million - is experiencing moderate flooding, but locals expect conditions to deteriorate further.

Residents are all too familiar with the reality of floods. Many homes were damaged in the March 2021 deluge and in 2016 before that.

'The poor buggers, it's happening all over again,' Richmond local Sarah Jones told Daily Mail Australia.

'Last year the water was higher, but it seems to be moving faster this time around. I don't want to imagine what it will look like later tonight.'

The abandoned luxury Audi Q3 was found on the side of the road in Londonderry, in Sydney's west, with 'help' scribbled into the dirt on the driver's side

Locals said the driver got bogged in flood water and mud and had to flee the vehicle

Many local schools in Sydney's west were closed on Thursday. Kids seen walking their bikes through floodwater

An alpaca was winched to safety after getting trapped in flood water at Llandilo, in Sydney's north west

An Audi was abandoned in the middle of the flooded Carrington Road. On the driver's side door, the word 'help' had been written in the dust on the car.

Nearby, council workers were loading sandbags into the cars of the few residents who chose to ignore earlier evacuation warnings.

'Most people left last night or this morning,' council employee Steve said.

'It's been pretty quiet here today, doesn't seem like there's too many people left.'

Meanwhile, young children still relished in the days off school, unconcerned by rising waters in the streets.

More than 250 schools were closed on Thursday morning and drivers told to take 'extreme care' due to dangerous conditions and fallen trees.

Council workers furiously loading sandbags onto a ute as they try and get homes protected before the worst of the rain hits on Thursday

Volunteers help with sand bagging efforts in Sydney's west

Two teenagers dragged their bikes through knee-deep water in the heavy rain, undeterred by warnings to stay at home.

They stopped only to peak through a neighbour's fence, where water was lapping at the back door with a tinny at the ready.

The concern for many longtime residents is whether the whole suburb will become waterlocked. Already, there's limited access to neighbouring Richmond or Windsor.

North Richmond has been experiencing major flooding since early Thursday morning and there is no access via the Richmond Bridge.

In nearby Llandilo, an 'exhausted' alpaca was pulled from rising and muddied floodwaters.

Floodwater seen lapping homes in Londonderry in Sydney's north west

Homes in Sydney's north west were hit by similar floods exactly a year ago

A richmond shed surrounded by water on Thursday, as locals prepare for more deluge to come

Locals were desperately searching for the owner, who is understood to have been forced out of their property, which was flooded overnight in the deluge.

'He's very tired and in desperate need of a shear [but] we think this is what may have saved him as he isn't drenched to the skin,' his rescuers said.

Many streets in Richmond's lowlands are already under water, but there are concerns the worst is yet to come with forecasters predicting further heavy rainfall overnight and into Friday.

Severe weather warnings are in place for a huge area spanning the NSW Mid-North Coast to the South Coast covering Newcastle, Gosford, Wollongong, Sydney and the Blue Mountains.

A man makes his way through flood water in Sydney's north west on a paddle board

Floodwater surrounding a children's playground in South Windsor in Sydney's north west on Thursday

Thousands of residents in Sydney's north-west and south-west were ordered to leave their homes by 3am last night or risk being trapped by rising floodwaters with hundreds of thousands more then told to get out by 9am.

Half a million people across the state are currently subject to evacuation orders or warnings, according to Premier Dominic Perrottet.

'Things will get worse before they get better here in our state,' he said on Thursday.

'We do expect particularly in the Hawkesbury region that the floods will be worse than they were last year.

The March 2021 floods in the Hawkesbury were the worst in 60 years.

The Hawkesbury region under water with local roads flooded. Pictured is an intersection at South Windsor underwater

Low lying parts of the Hawkesbury district were told to get out by 9am Thursday, including Cattai, North Richmond, South Maroota, Yarramundi, Windsor, Shanes Park, Riverstone and Londonderry.

'Once floodwater reaches 13.23m at Windsor, the area will be isolated,' an alert read.

'If you remain in the area after 9am you may be trapped without power, water and other essential services, and it may be too dangerous to rescue you.'

The Hawkesbury River at the Windsor Bridge is expected to reach 14m on Thursday night, well above levels recorded 12 months ago.

The river is expected to peak at 15m at North Richmond while the Nepean River is tipped to rise to nine metres at Penrith.
Firms and individuals could face penalties if they frustrate efforts to sanction Vladimir Putins henchmen, Downing Street warned yesterday.

It came a day after Tory MP Bob Seely used parliamentary privilege to name a number of amoral British lawyers he said had worked for oligarchs to silence the press.

Boris Johnsons spokesman said yesterday: Individuals and companies should think carefully about what role they are playing in assisting these individuals who are in some cases bankrolling Putins regime.

We are carefully considering all ways to go further.

In a warning to all businesses  not just law firms  the spokesman added: People should think very carefully about how they should engage with any organisations that may be assisting Putin even inadvertently.

Tory MP Bob Seely used parliamentary privilege to name a number of amoral British lawyers he said had worked for oligarchs to silence the press

Mr Seely said the UK legal system had become corrupted by money from kleptocrats, and accused lawyers of working on behalf of oligarchs to undermine freedom of speech and silence the British press.

Asked whether they could face sanctions, The Prime Ministers spokesman said: We are considering what the right approach is.

Were talking in terms of making sure these companies arent assisting or in fact deflecting from entities and oligarchs who might be benefiting the Putin regime, and were keeping that under careful review.

I think individuals and entities should think very carefully about the role theyre playing.

In a warning to all businesses - not just law firms  the spokesman added: What we are trying to do across the board, whether its businesses, oligarchs or in the cultural sector as well is to make clear that even when were not taking legislative action, people should think very carefully about how they should engage with any organisations that may be assisting Putin even inadvertently in the invasion in Ukraine.

It emerged this week that the Government had received warning letters from law firms earning huge fees by acting for Russian clients facing sanctions.

In the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Seely, the Tory MP for the Isle of Wight, said: What on earth has happened to some of the major legal firms in this country that they specifically avoid know your client checks because those clients are corrupt or criminal or linked to organised crime?

Its not only the oligarchs, its their millionaire servant class of enablers who enable the billionaire class of oligarchs who enable this neo-fascism that we now see in Europe.

There are guilty men and women who have done a really bad job at facilitating the agents of fascism.
The BBC has reported a surge of people in Russia turning to its news to get factual independent information about the war.

With the Kremlin exerting tight control over what people see, the broadcaster says millions of Russians have accessed its reports.

The BBC said the audience for its Russian language website more than tripled in a week to 10.7million.

It came as Russian state-backed channel RT disappeared off British TV sets yesterday, following EU sanctions.

The BBC also said last night that to make sure its news was available in Ukraine and Russia, it had launched two new shortwave frequencies in the region.

Director-General Tim Davie said there is a clear need for factual and independent news people can trust.

The BBC also said the number of people visiting bbc.com in Russia last week was up 252 per cent to 423,000 last week.

It added the live page in Russian about the invasion was the most visited site across all of the BBC World Services non-English language services getting 5.3 million views.

BC Broadcasting House in London. The corporation says the audience for its Russian language website has more than tripled

A rocket fragment lies on the ground next to a building of Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) after a rocket attack in Kharkiv on Wednesday

The Ukrainian language site also doubled its year-to-date audience, reaching 3.9m in the past week, while the audience to bbc.com in the besieged country leaped 154 per cent.

Mr Davie said: Its often said truth is the first casualty of war.

In a conflict where disinformation and propaganda is rife, there is a clear need for factual and independent news people can trust - and in a significant development, millions more Russians are turning to the BBC.

We will continue giving the Russian people access to the truth, however we can.

Despite the fact it has been taken off air, Ofcom revealed yesterday afternoon that it was launching a further 12 new investigations into the channel over its coverage of the Ukraine war.

This takes the total to 27, after the media regulator launched 15 investigations earlier in the week.

Ofcom said it was very concerned by the volume of programmes raising potential issues and as it carried out its investigations it was considering whether RT should retain a UK licence.

RT disappeared off Sky, Freeview and Freesat yesterday as the company which operates the satellite system which broadcasts it is based in Luxembourg, which is following the EUs ban on the channel.

On Sunday, Boris Johnson said the channel had been peddling content that was doing a lot of damage to the truth adding that Ofcom should look at whether it was infringing the rules of this country.
A pro-surfer returned to his flooded family home after NSW's record rainstorm to find ceiling-high water floated a shipping container inside.

Callum Robson was staying at his mother's house in Woodburn, NSW, when the two-storey property was submerged by 1,800mm of rain.

The surf star posted an incredible photo to Instagram on Tuesday of the huge metal box partly submerged in the roof cavity.

A shipping container has floated its way inside a pro-surfer's family home on Tuesday evening (pictured)

'Absolutely crazy,' Mr Robson wrote. 'Second floor of my family home in Woodburn.'

Further posts made to social media showed a dinghy approach what appeared to be the balcony on the home's second level.

'So devastating. Thanks to everyone for helping out, doing rescues wild times,' Mr Robson wrote in another post.

Record rain lashed northern NSW, stranding residents in Woodburn on their rooftops as floodwaters rose dramatically towards them.

Callum Robson (pictured) posted the shocking image to Instagram on Tuesday as floodwaters devastated NSW and QLD

Aerial footage showed a convoy of at least 20 cars and several horses trapped on a bridge as they tried to flee the town on Tuesday morning.

Fellow surfers Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson were also spotted helping flood-affected locals in NSW and Queensland.

In NSW, Fanning pulled on his wetsuit to lend a hand to locals in Murwillumbah in the north coast.

The three-time world champion gave pharmacist Skye Swift a lift from Tweed to Murwillumbah on his jet ski, to ensure residents could get vital medication.

Aerial footage showed a convoy of at least 20 cars and several horses trapped on a bridge as they tried to flee the town on Tuesday morning (pictured, cars stranded on Woodburn bridge)

Mick Fanning was among a group of surfers assisting locals on their jet skis in flood-affected areas in QLD and NSW (pictured, Fanning lends a hand to locals in Murwillumbah on Tuesday)

Meanwhile, fellow world champion surfer Joel Parkinson hopped on his jet ski rescuing dozens of stranded Queenslanders on Monday and Tuesday.

Parkinson reckons he along with several locals saved up to 40 people, six dogs, three cats and some chickens.

'I've rescued cats, dogs, I've had 10-15 people on my ski, it's been hectic, just picking people people up, getting to higher ground,' he said in a video.

But when Parkinson returned home 'exhausted' to the Gold Coast, he found his home had been broken into and wife Monica's car had been stolen.
Four students attending early morning swimming training at a prestigious private school had be rushed to hospital after suffering chlorine poisoning.

St John's WA sent four ambulances to St Mary's Anglican Girl's School at Karrinyup, in Perth's south, about 7.30am on Wednesday after they were alerted to a suspected poisoning incident.

Four teenage girls were transported to Perth Children's Hospital after being exposed to excess levels of chlorine which had leaked into the pool, while a further 16 were treated on site.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services also responded to the Hazmat incident - sending six vehicles - and were working on site for at least an hour to fix the issue.

Students at St Mary's Anglican Girl's School in Perth (pictured) had to be rushed to hospital after being exposed to dangerous levels of pool cleaning chemicals

A spokesperson for St Mary's said that pool equipment, which had been off because of a blackout, pumped excess chlorine into the water when switched back on.

'Some grounds staff and approximately 20 students attending swimming training this morning were affected,' the spokesperson told The West.

'Emergency services were called and, as a precaution, four students were taken to hospital for monitoring.'

The school said a 'small amount' of excess chlorine had been pumped into the pool after equipment switched on following a blackout (stock image)

'WorkSafe has completed its investigation and cleared the pool for use.'

The four girls were in a stable condition when they arrived at hospital and were discharged later on Wednesday.

St Mary's Anglican School and Worksafe have been contacted for comment.
The Russian Embassy in Canberra has been evacuated after a 'suspicious package' was delivered on Thursday morning.

Dozens of emergency service vehicles, including a special breathing unit, were on hand at the building after an envelope containing a white powder was discovered in the parcel at 10:15am.

Two packages were investigated, with police confirming one will require further analysis. The second package was deemed non-suspicious.

Investigators in HAZMAT suits had been inspecting the substance and an emergency filtration tent was placed around the item.

The cordon around the area was removed at 3.30pm on Thursday.

The Russian Embassy in Canberra has been evacuated after a suspicious package was delivered on Thursday morning

Investigators in HAZMAT suits are seen inspecting the substance. The contents of one package requires further analysis but the second package was deemed non-suspicious

'The contents of the package are currently being assessed,' ACT Police said in a statement earlier on Thursday.

'A cordon is in place and the public is urged to avoid the area until further notice.'

The package was reportedly left out the front of the building on Thursday morning.

The Russian Embassy is located on Canberra Drive, a short distance from Parliament House.

Dozens of emergency service vehicles, including a special breathing unit, were on hand at the building after an envelope containing a white powder was discovered in the parcel

Police cordoned off the road and several side streets near the building as they investigated.

The Australian government were yet to expel Russian diplomats following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

The embassy's Facebook page has been regularly posting articles and material supporting the war Russia has waged on the sovereign nation in recent days.
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Grim modelling that over-egged the Omicron wave failed to 'accurately predict the numbers' because it did not factor in behaviour changes, one of the Government's chief pandemic advisers has admitted.

When the ultra-transmissible variant struck, SAGE scientists warned deaths could peak at 6,000 a day with 10,000 hospital admissions, sparking calls for another lockdown.

But in reality, fatalities only reached 300 a day, or a quarter of the levels seen last winter, and hospitalisations peaked at around 2,000.

Ministers did impose 'Plan B' measures, including asking people to work from home, yet beforehand millions were already choosing to stay home to avoid catching the virus and having to self-isolate on Christmas Day.

Professor Graham Medley, who chairs a modelling group feeding into SAGE, told MPs it was almost impossible to predict human behaviour and that it was his job to consider pessimistic outcomes.

'The epidemic is dynamic,' he said. 'People's responses to the situation in March 2020 were very different to those in November 2020 and very different again in January 2021.'

Professor Medley, based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, added: 'The modelling is there to understand the process and what's going on. We know we cannot accurately predict the numbers but we can give insight into the processes that determine the outcomes.'

SAGE's models have been heavily criticised during the pandemic with many scientists claiming they fail to account for basic behavioural changes and underestimating the strength of natural immunity.

Even before Omicron emerged, the group warned there could be 6,000 Covid hospital admissions this winter from Delta alone  which would have been triple the number we seen with Omicron.

When England was coming out of its winter 2021 lockdown, SAGE said there could be 2,000 daily hospital admissions and over 500 deaths at the height of summer without delaying the roadmap.

Professor Medley, who heads up the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Modelling (SPI-M), was speaking to MPs in the Science and Technology committee yesterday.

Covid models predicting that deaths from Omicron could peak at 6,000 a day were wildly wrong because they failed to account for voluntary behavioural change, experts who advised the Government have admitted. Professor Graham Medley (pictured), chair of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Modelling (Spi-M), which has advised the Government on its pandemic response, answered tough questions from MPs yesterday

Some care home residents 'gave up and died' because they were unable to see loved ones during the pandemic, industry boss warns Some care home residents 'gave up and died' because Covid rules barred them from seeing family, the outgoing boss of one of the UK's biggest providers has said. Jeremy Richardson, who will leave Four Seasons Health Care next month, has urged ministers to 'never repeat' the bans. And he added that one of the 'biggest scandals' over the past two years was denying residents their liberty due to Covid. Speaking at a care conference in Birmingham, he said: 'We defined essential carers as people who work in care homes, not people who are the loved ones of people who live in those care homes. 'And I know for a fact that there were a number of people in our homes who gave up and died because they didnt have social interaction. They gave up the will to live.' Care home residents  including vulnerable people and dementia patients  faced visiting restrictions for almost two years throughout the pandemic. Rules in place have banned them having any visitors, and put in limits allowing them just three named guests to limit the spread of the virus in homes. But families repeatedly called for this to be relaxed, asking to be allowed to hug their mothers, fathers, brother and sisters. England finally dropped this restriction at the end of January, allowing them to reunite with loved ones they had not seen for many months. But there are still concerns that some homes will continue to limit visitor numbers for fear of bringing in the virus. Advertisement

Describing his role on the committee, Professor Medley said one of the 'worst things' would be for the modellers to under-predict the approaching wave.

He told MPs: 'The worst thing for me as chair of the committee is for the Government to say "why didn't you tell us it would be that bad?", so inevitably we are going to have a worst case that is worse than reality.

Professor Medley said the committee would give ministers a range of scenarios for what could happen during a Covid wave.

But they would not say which was more likely for fear of influencing policy decisions.

Questioned on this position, Professor Medley said: 'We could guess and our guesses might be 10 per cent more accurate than others but they are still guesses.

'It would be wrong for policy decisions to be made on the guess work of a few people.'

He added: '[We don't do this] partly because when you point to one scenario and say well actually this is the one we think, then the decision-makers will automatically focus on that one even though it might not be true.'

Another expert who gave evidence to the Commons committee said he feared the incorrect models could prompt Britons to ignore warnings in future.

Cambridge University epidemiologist Dr Raghib Ali said: 'My concern is next time there is a new variant doctors will go on TV and say "this is bad" but people will say, "you got a lot wrong last time, we're not going to listen", and that's very dangerous.'

The claim that the Government practised 'number theatre' during the pandemic was backed at the Committee hearing by the head of the statistics watchdog.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid was last year slapped down by the Office for Statistics Regulation after saying in mid-December that there were 200,000 new Omicron infections a day.

Ed Humpherson, head of the Office for Statistics Regulation, called for better 'transparency' while giving evidence.

Mr Humpherson said: 'A couple of times during the pandemic, we've seen examples of where we think the models have been put out in a way which doesn't give enough information to enable people to make sense of them.'

Referencing critical comments by statistician Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter on numbers given by the Government, the head of the statistics regulator added: 'Most recently on an estimate that Omicron would produce 200,000 infections a day, David Spiegelhalter memorably described it as number theatre - it's just putting a number out.

'As a result of speaking to the UK Health Security Agency, they then released the underlying logic of their model.'

It took officials three days to justify the 200,000 infections figure in December, after the Office for Statistics Regulation said it 'caused confusion'.

The Science and Technology Committee is scrutinising statistics on Covid following controversy over how they are communicated.

Behaviour changes were included in models created in Denmark, the committee heard.

Dr Ali, an epidemiologist and consultant in acute medicine at Oxford University Hospitals, who correctly predicted that the omicron wave would be mild, told MPs: 'People's behaviour does change.'

On people's willingness to be more careful in response to rising numbers of cases, he said: 'What has an impact is knowing that your friend, relative, colleague has got Covid  of course, during Omicron, that was very common  every one of us knows someone that got Covid.'

The above shows the proportion of PCR tests that are positive  pick up the virus  in England. It reveals the rate has started to tick back up, in a sign the outbreak is now growing in the country

Axing free Covid tests will put England two weeks behind future outbreaks of new variants, SAGE modeller warns Professor Medley also told the Commons committee that he believed Covid variants will take weeks longer to detect when mass testing is scrapped. He said he expects a 'one to two week delay' in picking up new mutants when the final part of England's 'living with Covid' plan comes into force on April 1. From that point the country will rely solely on the Office for National Statistics' weekly Covid survey to monitor community spread of the virus, with only severely vulnerable people eligible for free tests. Professor Medley said that while the UK was alerted to Omicron by South Africa, and Delta by India, it was Britain's mass testing programme that helped to pick up the Alpha variant in South East England and warned the world. And he pointed out the super-transmissible Omicron became dominant in just weeks, a crucial period which may have been missed if it were not for the scheme. Advertisement

Doctors had seen early signs the Omicron variant was not as severe, Dr Ali said, suggesting there should have been more doctors on the Sage panel of scientists advising the Government.

Mr Humpherson also accepted criticism of statistics showing how many people have died within 28 days of a positive Covid test.

He said the snapshot figure had 'limitations' in failing to separate out people dying from Covid from those who happened to die while they had Covid.

It comes after Britain's daily Covid cases rose for the first time in a month yesterday in a sign the outbreak may be growing again, while hospitalisations also ticked upwards.

Government dashboard data shows another 44,017 infections were detected over the last 24 hours, up 11 per cent on the tally last Wednesday.

It brings an end to more than four weeks of tumbling daily cases, with about 33,700 cases now being recorded every day on average.

Latest hospital data showed 1,040 people were admitted to hospital with the virus on February 26, up seven per cent on the 970 from the previous week.

But the seven-day average number of daily admissions is still falling, meaning today's rise could be a blip. Daily Covid deaths, however, have continued to fall, with the 74 victims announced today down 54 per cent in a week.

The rise in infections coincides with a more infectious version of Omicron, scientifically named BA.2, becoming dominant in England last week.

Experts warned it may cause some fluctuations in case rates, but called for calm saying there is no evidence that it is more severe than the original strain.

Plummeting testing numbers, which have dropped by a tenth in a week, also make it more difficult to track trends in infections.

Last week, Boris Johnson ditched all of England's remaining restrictions, with requirements to wear face masks on public transport and isolate when infected coming to an end.

Mass testing is also set to be dumped from April 1, with the country instead set to rely on the Office for National Statistics' Covid infection survey.

But experts warned this could take two weeks longer to pick up new potentially dangerous variants.

The above graph from the Sanger Institute shows the proportion of cases down to different Covid variants. It reveals that a more infectious version of Omicron BA.2 (light blue) is now dominant over Omicron (yellow and pink). Other variants including Delta (light green), Alpha (purple) and the old virus (green and red) have now disappeared. The data is up to the week ending February 19 and based on surveillance of genomes
The pro-Russian mayor of a city in eastern Ukraine who welcomed President Vladimir Putins invasion was 'shot dead' after being kidnapped from his home, it has been announced.

Vlodymyr Struk, of Kreminna in Luhansk, was killed on Tuesday and suffered a 'gunshot wound to the heart' after he was 'abducted from his home', according to his wife.

Announcing the news on Facebook, the adviser for Interior Minister of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko claimed Mr Struk was a 'Luhansk People's Republic supporter' (LPR) and actively pursued a 'pro-Russian position' in the last week by 'communicating with the Russian Federation'.

The Luhansk People's Republic is a self-proclaimed breakaway state located within eastern Ukraine that was established in 2014 by pro-Russian separatists.

The pro-Russian mayor of a city in eastern Ukraine , Vlodymyr Struk, (pictured) who welcomed President Vladimir Putins invasion was 'shot dead' after being kidnapped from his home, it has been announced

The adviser for Interior Minister of Ukraine alleged that Mr Struk 'was judged by the court of the people's tribunal' and called him a 'traitor'.

He also claimed Ukraine has not been able to 'do anything with Struk for the past eight years' since Moscow-backed separatists have controlled the southeastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk - collectively known as Donbas.

Mr Gerashchenko wrote on social media: 'One traitor of Ukraine became less! Vladimir Struk, the former deputy of the Luhansk Regional Council, the head of the Kreminetsk OTG, was found killed.

'In 2014 he was an active supporter of the LPR. He then left for a part of the Luhansk region free from temporary occupation [and was] twice elected the head of Kreminetskoi OTG.

'In the last week, he actively took a Russian position, campaigning OTG deputies to communicate with the Russian Federation and the LNR - gathering deputies on this matter.

The adviser for Interior Minister of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko (pictured) alleged that Mr Struk 'was judged by the court of the people's tribunal' and called him a 'traitor

Mr Gerashchenko claimed Ukraine has not been able to 'do anything with Struk for the past eight years' since Moscow-backed separatists have controlled the southeastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk - collectively known as Donbas. Pictured: President Vladimir Putin

'On March 1 [there] was a statement from his wife that he was kidnapped [from persons] unknown in camouflage form. The cause of death is a fiery injury to the heart area.'

He added: 'The whole state apparatus of Ukraine, SBU, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Prosecutor's Office and courts couldn't do anything with the open separatist Strukom for eight years because he had a lot of money. Most likely support from the Russian Federation.

'But when the Russian troops approached 15km to the Kreminny, Vladimir Struk was judged by the court of the people's tribunal. Judging by all, [he was] shot by unknown patriots as a traitor to the laws of military time.

'When we soon defeat fascist Russia - we will clean and relocate all the law enforcement officers and corrupt judges who covered up such as Struk!'

Confirming the news, Twitter user 'Ukraine War News' added: 'The head of Kremenets OTG Vlodymyr Struk, who welcomed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was found dead. He was an active supporter of the so-called "LPR". And since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he has actively called on local deputies to cooperate with Russians.'
A senior cabinet minister yesterday blocked a bid by British business groups to force companies to stop using the word chairman.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng rejected the demands of lobby groups, including the British Chambers of Commerce and the Confederation of British Industry, who said that chairman is an outdated term.

The groups called on the Government to change the term to the gender-neutral chair in records filed with Companies House, where companies operating in Britain must register.

They also suggested the use of the word was preventing women and young girls from achieving their ambitions.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng rejected lobby groups' demands that the word 'chairman' be banned from use

But Whitehall sources dismissed the suggestion as a woke waste of time while energy prices spiral and a war is ongoing in Europe.

In a letter to the Government, the business leaders said the change would not be a silver bullet, but it would send a signal to future generations.

BCC chairman Sarah Howard said: Its a small but very significant alteration that will help break down subconscious bias and send a clear message to future generations that they have an equal role to play in running businesses whatever their gender identity.

But John Hayes, chairman of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, said it was ludicrous to suggest the word chairman was stopping women from succeeding in business.

Mr Hayes said: This is preposterous nonsense from people who should know better.

These people at the BCC have clearly got an agenda which has no relevance or value to British businesses.

They should jettison this without delay. A chair is something you sit on, a chairman is somebody you respect.

Companies can already choose to make the change as they draft their own articles of association, while forcing the change would require legislation to go through Parliament.

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said the Government wholeheartedly supports increasing the diversity of business leaders.

The spokesman said: Companies already have the flexibility to craft their own articles, and to amend articles as they see fit.
Prisoners will be treated to pool tables and other privileges if they go on drug-free wings and agree to regular testing, the Justice Secretary has announced.

Dominic Raab said tackling substance abuse in jails was one of his mission critical priorities.

He has pledged a major expansion of recovery wings, where offenders can access counselling to help them beat addictions.

Mr Raab told The Daily Telegraph he wants as many incentives [to quit] as we can, including access to TVs, better kitchen facilities, gyms and almost certainly the right to work.

He aims to promote recovery for addicted criminals rather than giving out the heroin substitute methadone, which left prisoners in a zombie comatose where they were unable to complete work.

He told the newspaper: All of these things are linked.

Prisoners will be granted privileges such as access to TVs, better kitchen facilities and gyms if they agree to undergo regular drug testing. Pictured: Shepton Mallett Prison in Somerset

You are not going to get offenders doing courses or into work if they have got high-level dependency and addictions and methadone is highly, highly addictive.

A special mail-order version of the Argos catalogue was launched last year which lets prisoners buy musical instruments to play in their cells.

Options available via the catalogue published in the prisoners newspaper Inside Time is a 75 electronic drum kit, a Cassio keyboard at 85 and an acoustic guitar for 80.
During his State of the Union Address, Joe Biden and his speech did not go smoothly, instead, he had noticeable errors that did not escape everyone watching.

Niles Gardiner, the former advisor to Margaret Thatcher, called it a disaster that happened again in public. A Twitter user observed him as confused and had to be assisted by Vice-president Kamala Harris at one point.

Biden Gibberish in State of the Union Address

The captured footage of President Biden's address was mocked on social media by users who caught his error very distinctly, reported the Express UK.

According to those who've watched him, he is known for making errors and lapsing into barely understandable gibberish.

The 46th president tried to sound commanding in a rallying speech falling flat. Talking about the Ukrainian fighting the Russians, he erroneously said that Vladimir Putin would not conquer the hearts and souls of Iranians.

Now the Iranians were friends, not the Ukrainians, which he meant to say. It was not missed and got criticized for it, noted Ajansev.

Posting on social media, Gardiner said if it were Donald Trump, the biased US liberal media would have a field day.mBut it's Biden, so he gets a free pass from them.

This is seen as a double standard for conservatives, especially for Democrats who can get away with it. Donald Trump Jr. took the time to take a jab at the president and say that's close enough.

Kamala Harris Prompts Biden on Gaffe

Confusing Iranian for 'Ukrainian' gaffe made Biden a humorous subject on social media for his performance in the State of the Union Address.

Read Also: Dr. Jill Biden: Who is this New First Lady of the United States?

The handlers of Biden know that gaffes are his staple whenever he makes a public speech, and they are sweating bullets if something goes wrong.

Audiences listening to him would be so attentive to catch the moment a mistake comes along, and a mistake would be publicized again.

As the media says, one explanation is that Biden had stuttered throughout, no relation to his mental faculty. These mistakes are allegedly a speech impediment and not attributable to a gaffe.

Mistakes made while in a public appearance led to many asking if the president could be trusted to do his job. There is doubt his critics think the 79-year-old might be over the hill.

ABC News and the Washington Post surveyed before he did his public speech. Many who answered the poll think the 46th president is not equipped mentally, and it compromises the White House.

Thomas Massie, the Kentucky Republican representative, posted on Twitter to poke at the Democrat with a post mentioning all the mistakes made since occupying the Oval Office.

He wrote, does anyone understand what the president said? What did he say? He added freedun loving Americans.

Does anyone speak Biden? Can you translate these?



He met a mall of resistance



Freedun loving Americans



The tree world is holding him accountable



Rushial rudel  Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) March 2, 2022

Another post from the GOP member got creative by altering what #SOTU meant; it is Slur, not a state of the union. A tweet remarked that Biden was assisted by Vice-President Kamala Harris, who was behind him. She said Ukrainian after saying Iranian and was not looking comfortable.

Biden says "Putin may encircle Ukraine with tanks, but cant defeat the heart and souls of the Iranian people "

Meanwhile Kamala appears to mouth Ukrainian when Joe Biden said#Iranian #Ukrainepic.twitter.com/bC4ezPFfbQ  Mister J. (@Angryoldman_J) March 2, 2022

Gardiner and other experts think the gaffe-prone president will not get support with constant errors; adversaries don't worry about him.

Joe Biden, in his State of the Union Address, getting marred by mistake again is not a surprise to many. But the Democrats still clap despite the errors while adversaries know what they are dealing with.

Related Article: Joe Biden Earns Low Rating in Foreign Policy as War Looms in Ukraine, Gets Accused of Not Providing Strong Leadership

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Debate is raging online over whether it is legal to drive barefoot or in thongs in Australia.

Hills Police Local Area Command, based in Sydney's north-west, posed the road rule question on their Facebook page - and it didn't take long for a flurry of responses to follow on social media.

Some drivers were adamant they knew the correct answer - others weren't so sure.

'Yes. There is no law on what to wear on your feet while driving,' one person confidently said.

After a representative from Hills District Local Area Command asked whether it is legal or illegal to drive in NSW barefoot or on thongs, debate raged on social media (stock image)

Some commented on social media driving in thongs in NSW was legal - others disagreed (stock image)

FOOTWEAR DRIVING RULES There are no laws in any Australian state or territory dictating what a person wears on their feet while driving, if anything at all. Appropriate footwear is highly recommended. Source: NRMA Advertisement

A second agreed, stating 'Legally, yes you can. I won't ever do it again personally after one slipped off one time, got caught behind the brake and prevented me from applying the brake properly.'

A third was of a different opinion, believing the answer was no, 'as driving barefoot or in thongs results in the driver not having complete control of their vehicle.'

Another suggested no as it 'would be dangerous'.

According to the NRMA website, it is not against the law to drive in thongs, but appropriate footwear is highly recommended.

'There is currently no legislation requiring a driver to wear or not to wear footwear whilst driving a motor vehicle,' the organisation confirms online.

'Wearing high heel shoes, stilettos, thongs, or any other footwear that could cause you to lose control of the vehicle is a bad idea.

'If an accident was to occur and it was found that the cause of the accident was due to inappropriate or lack of footwear, an offence under Rule 297 of the Road Rules 2014 (driving without proper control of vehicle) could be applied.'
An Indiana teacher was captured on school surveillance footage chasing after a student and slapping them round the face for wearing a hoodie sweatshirt to class.

Mike Hosinski, a civics teacher Jimtown High School, has been allowed to take early retirement with his full pension, after the video emerged. It is not clear if he will face criminal charges.

Surveillance footage from the school hallways from Friday shows Hosinski confronting the student because he was wearing the hoodie - which is not allowed in school.

Video shows the student, who has not been named, running down the hallway until Hosinski catches up with them.

The teacher then grabs them, spinning the kid around so the two are face to face, before slapping them so hard their head to smacks the wall behind them.

As the teacher tries to drag the student down the hall, the student stumbles, falling to the floor.

Baugo Community School Superintendent Byron Sanders said the student suffered visible injuries and was treated by medical staff.

Meanwhile, there has been an outpouring of support for the teachers from parents, students and staff.

Jimtown HS teacher Mike Hosinski is seen on video chasing a student down a hallway at school, grabbing him so the two are face to face and shoving him against the wall

Hosinski is seen on video wagging at finger at the student before slapping him

Hosinski is seen on video slapping the student so hard, his head appears to hit the wall

As Hosinski tries to drag the student down the hall, the student stumbles, falling to the floor

It was initially reported that Hosinski was fired and banned from the school grounds, but on Monday, the Baugo Community School Board clarified that it had allowed Hosinski to take an early retirement and retain his full pension, WNDU reported.

Parents were invited to attend the meeting and voice their concerns after seeing the video released on Friday.

Earlier that day, students staged a walkout at the school in support of the teacher many described as 'laid back.'

Not one parent publicly spoke out against Hosinski, WNDU reported.

'I still back Mike Hosinski,' a parent said hours after the video was released.

Hosinski had been a teacher for 40 years and named Teacher of the Year at Jimtown in 2020, according to WNDU.

Hosinski had been a teacher for 40 years and named Teacher of the Year at Jimtown in 2020

Baugo Community School Board decided Monday night to allow Hosinski to take an early retirement and retain his full pension, even after seeing the video

The incident happened Friday at Jimtown High School in Indiana

According to Indiana Code 20-33-8-9: Disciplinary powers of teachers and school staff members, it states, 'an individual can take any action that is reasonably necessary to carry out or to prevent interference with an educational function that the individual supervises.'

'Any action that threatens to harm any student will be quickly, directly and severely addressed. All Jimmies must be able to learn in a safe environment,' the superintendent said in a statement.

Administrators contacted the Indiana Department of Child Services and the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office and both agencies are investigating the incident.

Local South Bend attorney Peter Agostino, who is not linked to the case, told WNDU that it's possible Hosinski could face some criminal charges.

'It probably ranges from battery which is in consented touching,' he said. 'Depending from there, how extensive the conduct was, how aggressive it was, could be viewed as some other attempt to inflict bodily injury.'

School representatives also reported the incident to the Indiana Department of Education.
A Chicago businessman has admitted to conning hospitals out of more than $3million at the beginning of the pandemic for PPE - then failing to deliver even a single mask.

On Tuesday, 45-year-old Dennis Haggerty Jr. pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to swindling Northwestern Memorial Healthcare in Chicago and University of Iowa Medical Center in Iowa City.

Haggerty then used his ill begotten gains to splurge on luxury cars such as Maseratis and Land Rovers.

According to the plea agreement, in March 2020 Haggerty and two business partners formed a company called At Diagnostics Inc. to sell then personal protective equipment at the height of pandemic shortages where hospitals and medical staff were running out and desperate for more masks, gloves and other PPE.

Dennis Haggerty Jr. (pictured) plead guilty to swindling two university hospitals out of millions in exchange for PPE but never supplying them with a single mask

Haggerty (pictured) pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering and faces nearly three years in prison and an order directing him to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution

In March 2020 his company struck a deal with the University of Iowa Medical Center to purchase 500,000 N95 respirator masks for $2.495 million

That month the company struck a deal with the University of Iowa Medical Center to purchase 500,000 N95 respirator masks for $2.495 million but Haggerty, without telling his business partners, wired the money to an account of a different business solely controlled by him.

Haggerty admitted to withdrawing $147,750 in cash from the account, as well as paying credit card companies $190,000 with the funds and giving his friend $20,000, the plea agreement said.

He also purchased multiple luxury vehicles with the stolen money- including two Maseratis- a 2013 Maserati GranTurismo, which sell for roughly $130,00 and a 2017 Maserati Ghibli, worth $73,000- as well as a 2015 Land Rover Range Rover, valued at $84,000, the plea agreement said.

When the Iowa hospital demanded the money back because it didnt get any masks, Haggerty lied and said his bank had no record of the wire transfer.

He even sent an altered bank statement after his partners asked him about the money, according to the plea agreement.

Haggerty admitted to withdrawing $147,750 in cash from the account and purchasing multiple luxury vehicles, including a 2015 Land Rover Range Rover

He also purchased multiple luxury vehicles with the stolen money- including two Maseratis- a 2013 Maserati GranTurismo, and a 2017 Maserati Ghibli

After a one million mask order fell through with Northwestern Memorial Healthcare the hospital placed a second order for 500,000 N95 masks and inadvertently wired $933,825 into Haggertys account in June 2020, the plea agreement said.

Instead of returning it the money, Haggerty used the funds to give back $250,000 to the first hospital in Iowa.

Haggerty pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering and faces nearly three years in prison and an order directing him to pay more than $2.5 million in restitution.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 25.
A group of Ukrainian men took a Russian tank they 'captured' for a joyride through the frozen fields - one of many military vehicles and weapons that have been left behind as 'demoralized' Russian soldiers are captured or flee the fight.

A group of men cheered as they rode on top of a Russian tank in viral video footage showing them taking the T-80BVM armored battle tank for a high-speed ride through a field in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

The man filming on his cellphone yells 'we did it' and 'glory to Ukraine' in his native tongue as his friends laugh and cheer as they traverse the snow-covered field.

The video was posted on Twitter by an account that tracks the 'usage and capture of material in Ukraine.'

Ukrainian soldiers say they have also found abandoned Russian weaponry, such as a vacuum bomb launcher that was in 'good condition and fully loaded,' according to Ukrainian Weapons Tracker.

They claim to have found a self-propelled howitzer, a command vehicle, and logistical trucks in Sumy, Ukraine - roughly 200 miles outside of Kyiv.

A group of men cheered as they ride on top of a Russian tanker on Wednesday as they take a high-speed ride through a field in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The tank was reportedly 'captured'

The man shooting the video reportedly says 'we did it' and 'glory to Ukraine' in his native tongue as his friends laugh

Tanks, other military vehicles and weapons have been abandoned across Ukraine as many demoralized Russian troops either surrendered to Ukraine without a fight or fled the battle in the night, Newsweek reported.

Video of captured Russian soldiers, taken by their Ukrainian captors, showed them saying they feel 'demoralized' and wish to go home.

Some soldiers are claiming they were deceived by their commanders and were told they were being sent to Ukraine for 'training,' according to one viral video.

More than 5,000 Russian soldiers have died and nearly 200 have been captured. Russia has also lost 14 airplanes, eight helicopters, 102 tanks, 536 armed vehicles, 15 heavy machine guns and one BUK missile, according to the Ukrainian military.

One of the videos, which was published on Telegram early on Sunday, shows a captured Russian soldier who identifies himself as Leonid Paktishev, 28, the commander of a sniper unit based in the Rostov region.

Paktishev's family, speaking to the Guardian, said they were not aware he had been sent to the frontline with Ukraine - adding they believed their relative did not know prior to his deployment either.

'I knew Leonid was in the military, but I had no idea that he was sent to Ukraine. I don't think he would have been aware of it either,' his sister Polivtseva, who went by her maiden name, said.

The family expressed shock and anger that Paktishev had been sent over the border, but stopped short of condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Polivtseva saying she was not 'competent' to judge whether the military action was right.

Other footage purported to show Russian soldiers calling their families to tell them they had been captured but were safe and being 'treated fairly' by Ukrainian forces.

They drove it through a snowy field at high speeds

Ukrainian soldiers also found a vacuum bomb launcher that was in 'good condition and fully loaded'

They claim to have found a self-propelled howitzer (pictured), a command vehicle, and logistical trucks in Sumy, Ukraine

They found the vehicles about 200 miles from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv

It is believed Putin's forces are starting to run out of food and fuel, with some resorting to looting, while others are even reportedly sabotaging their own military equipment in a bid to get out of the war.

Intercepted radio messages indicate troops are disobeying orders from Moscow to shell Ukrainian towns, and complaining about running out of food and fuel.

While both US and Ukrainian intelligence believes morale within the Russian ranks is low, Putin and his commanders have showed no sign they are about to give up the fight - and have instead vowed to press even harder to try and capture key objectives.

Sergey Shoigu, the country's defense minister, said on Tuesday that they offensive would keep going until all objectives had been completed - which he said was the removal of threats to Russia by the West.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia is trying to erase Ukraine and its people as Vladimir Putin's invasion entered its seventh day today with renewed attacks on all fronts including an expected assault on the city which houses Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

Zelensky, who has become a symbol of Ukrainian defiance and courage since the war began, told his people today that Russians 'know nothing about our capital. About our history. But they have an order to erase our history. Erase our country. Erase us all.'
This newspaper is proud and grateful that our Ukraine refugee appeal today receives a Royal seal of approval.

In a marvellous gesture, the Duchess of Cornwall has made a substantial donation to help the victims of Russia's barbarism.

Her generous gift takes the total raised to a staggering 2.55million.

Through decades of campaigning, we have always been awestruck by Mail readers' benevolence. But you have surpassed yourselves again, helping make this the fastest newspaper appeal in history.

It's hardly surprising. As a tearful Camilla told friends: 'No one could fail to be moved by the appalling scenes of war.'

In a marvellous gesture, the Duchess of Cornwall has made a substantial donation to help the victims of Russia's barbarism. Her generous gift takes the total raised to a staggering 2.55million. Pictured: Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Charles during a visit to the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London

Prince Charles, meanwhile, spoke for the entire nation when paying tribute to the Ukrainian people's 'bravery and fortitude' in the face of 'truly terrible aggression'.

Every penny raised will go towards food, water, shelter and medical treatment for almost one million fleeing the warzone.

And every penny will be needed. With evil Putin's forces indiscriminately bombing whole neighbourhoods, slaughtering civilians including children, countless others will be forced from their homes.

Furious his invasion is being resisted, the tyrant has resorted to war crimes.

But Boris Johnson rightly resists brainless calls to impose a no-fly zone to stop the carnage. However well intentioned, such a move would inevitably inflame a volatile conflict with a nuclear power.

For now, the West should continue arming Ukraine and tightening the sanctions noose strangling Russia's economy.

Yes, these measures will cost British families in higher fuel and food bills. But this is a price worth paying to defend democracy from Putin's pariah state.

Kremlin's City stooges

It's shameful that it has taken a brutal war for the Government to crack down on Putin's pet oligarchs using Britain as a safe haven for stolen money.

Having got round to it, Mr Johnson is right to also take aim at the venal London legal firms, accountants and estate agents who get rich abetting billionaire gangsters.

Anger is mounting at amoral City lawyers, who think they're untouchable, frustrating No 10's bid to impose sanctions on kleptocrats, while intimidating journalists who investigate their clients.

These white-collar collaborators deserve to be named and shamed at the very least.

The reputational costs of working for the Kremlin and its stooges must become so high that no hourly rate can compensate for them.

HPV jabs save lives

In the face of ill-informed, hysterical and sinister anti-vaxxer scaremongering, more spectacular news that jabs work.

So successfully has the HPV inoculation cut the risk of cervical cancer  by nearly 90 per cent  that experts believe women will soon need only one smear test in their life.

That would mean fewer risking their health by shunning check-ups, which many find uncomfortable and embarrassing.

This seismic shift, within a generation, is a triumph for science  and the grateful women whose lives have been saved.

A censor's charter

With its Online Safety Bill, the Government seeks to halt the tsunami of extremist material, pornography and criminality that swills across the internet.

But the unintended consequence of making social media firms responsible for policing 'legal but harmful' content is disastrous for freedom of speech.

Lord Frost hits the nail on the head.

Granting 'woke' Silicon Valley executives a censor's charter makes them the arbiter of what views are considered acceptable  and which ones should be silenced.
The committee in the US House of Representatives investigation the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021 said in a court filing Wednesday it believes that former President Donald Trump violated 'multiple laws' in his attempt to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election.

The court document was filed in federal court in Los Angeles as part of the U.S. House of Representative Select Committee's dispute with John Eastman, a lawyer who advised Trump on a plan to invalidate election results in key battleground states.

Eastmann is behind the notorious 'coup memo,' which argued that former Vice President Mike Pence had unilateral power to overturn Trump's loss to Joe Biden.

The attorney sued the committee in December, seeking to block a congressional subpoena requesting that he turn over thousands of emails.

The Select Committee's members have said they will consider passing along evidence of criminal conduct by Trump to the U.S. Justice Department. Such a move, known as a criminal referral, would be largely symbolic but would increase political pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge the former president.

The committee argues that Eastmann must testify because they believe he and others, including Trump, 'may have engaged in criminal and/or fraudulent acts' in their attempts to overturn the election.'

They claimed in the filing that they have enough evidence to show 'a good-faith basis for concluding that President Trump has violated section 18 U.S.C.  1512(c)(2),' or the obstruction of an official act of Congress.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference

The court document was filed in federal court in Los Angeles as part of the U.S. House of Representative Select Committee's dispute with John Eastman (pictured), a lawyer who advised Trump on a plan to invalidate election results in key battleground states

Chapman University law professor John Eastman, next to U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, gestures as he speaks while Trump supporters gather ahead of his speech to contest the certification by the U.S. Congress of the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021

They believe that Trump and his associates did this and did so with the intent to break the law.

The House Committee - which features only two Republicans, the anti-Trump Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger - added that it has 'a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C.  371.'

Eastmann, who is currently being investigated by the California State Bar Association, cited attorney-client privilege to avoid giving testimony.

Eastman, the former dean of the Chapman University law school in Southern California, argued after the November 2020 election that then-Vice President Mike Pence could overturn the results and keep Trump in power. Critics have likened that to instructions for staging a coup.

Pence refused to do that and Trump left office. But since then, Eastman has been subpoenaed by a committee of U.S. lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

Rep. Liz Cheney, vice-chair of the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, speaks during a business meeting on Capitol Hill. Cheney is one of two anti-Trump Republicans on the largely Democrat panel

Tear gas is released into a crowd of protesters during clashes with Capitol police at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results

Representatives of Eastman and Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The committee's leaders said in a statement that "Eastmans emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power."

On Tuesday, the State Bar of California confirmed it has been investigating Eastman since September. Such investigations are usually kept secret, but the State Bar's rules say it can publicly confirm them 'when warranted for protection of the public.'

In a news release, the bar said 'details of the investigation must remain confidential' to comply with state law and 'give the investigation the greatest chance of success.'

George Cardona, the State Bar's chief trial counsel, investigates and prosecutes attorney disciplinary matters before the State Bar Court, which can recommend attorneys be either suspended or, in some cases, lose their licenses to practice law. The California Supreme Court ultimately decides what to do.
Two women got the fright of their life when they encountered a big spider on their car windscreen.

Waitress Saige Rushton, 18, and her mother were at a McDonald's drive-thru in Laverton, Victoria, when they were confronted with the giant huntsman.

Video shows the pair screaming as they watched the spider run across the car window while Saige's mother attempted to put their coffee order through.

Two women got the fright of their life when they crossed paths with a big spider running across their car window at a McDonald's drive-thru in Laverton, Victoria

Saige Rushton and her mother were putting an order through for their morning coffee at the fast food establishment when the pair encountered a giant huntsman spider on their windscreen and screamed

Saige uploaded the now viral clip to her TikTok and captioned it: 'Drive through in Australia'.

The waitress revealed in a pinned comment on her post that the spider 'wouldn't stop running at the window every time we put it down to order'.

'I am not a huge fan of spiders at all and would just scream, and then laugh at how ridiculous we sounded,' she said.

When Saige and her mother pulled up to the drive-thru window, one of the McDonald's employees attempted to lean over the counter and flick the arachnid off using a straw.

Instead of getting the huntsman off the window, the employee inadvertently caused the spider to run towards Saige's passenger-side window to escape.

It joins the many viral clips online of Aussies in their cars getting the fright of their life when they cross paths with a big spider.

Saige, 18, revealed in a pinned comment on her post that the spider 'wouldn't stop running at the window every time we put it down to order'

The huntsman spider, pictured, looks terrifying but is only dangerous to cockroaches and insects

Last August, two men caught the terrifying moment a large huntsman also crossed the windscreen of their vehicle.

Dashcam footage captured the spider in close-up shortly before 6am on August 3 as it ran only inches from the men's faces and they screamed.

In between the screams, one of the men shouted: 'Look how big it is.'

Luckily for the pair, the driver was able to keep control of the car with is travelling at 96km/h.

In an expletive-ridden tirade, the other man suggested the spider should remain on his friend's side of the car.

The short clip was posted online by Dashcam Australia with the headline: 'Why Australia has so many car crashes.'
Matilda 'Tilly' Rosewarne's family rail against bullies who tormented her to death

Pictured: Matilda Rosewarne, who tragically died on February 16

The shattered family of a schoolgirl who suicided rail against the heartless bullies who pushed her to the brink, asking 'how many more little humans do we have to bury?'.

Matilda 'Tilly' Rosewarne was only 15 when she decided she couldn't live with the merciless taunts she experienced at the hands of people she thought were friends in Bathurst, west of Sydney.

It took more than seven years for them to wear her down until, after one failed attempt, she tragically ended her life on February 16.

Tilly's family have been in ruins after her death asking why schools don't intervene properly in cases of severe bullying, and claiming 'sorry is not enough'.

'A once happy and joyful child was tormented and abused in an environment that was supposed to keep her safe,' one relative wrote in a heartbreaking social media post on Thursday.

'We must now live with the everlasting ramifications of her death, also falling victim to the cunning, vicious behaviour that is bred in schools.'

She said the term 'bullying' is thrown around loosely when it's actually a 'cancer that lives in person and online'.

Family members described Tilly (pictured) as a 'joyful' girl who was 'tormented and abused'

'We will not accept schools saying that these issues are 'too hard' and pushing them aside.

'How many more little humans do we have to bury?'

She also posted a picture of the teenager's coffin from the funeral service at Bathurst Harness Racing Club, which was covered with white roses.

Tilly's mother Emma Mason said she couldn't communicate the trauma bullying caused her daughter, or the ongoing distress her death caused her parents, siblings, and extended family.

The teenager's first attempt on her own life was triggered when her peers used Snapchat and a European porn site to spread 'fake nudes'.

Ms Mason said they lodged a complaint with police, but there were difficulties identifying the person who owned the Snapchat account and the investigation was dropped.

Tilly Rosewarne's parents were shattered after her death and asked why schools don't intervene quickly in cases of severe bullying

By that point, Tilly was so unwell that she didn't want to do more police interviews.

The mother suggested to the Daily Telegraph that educational institutions keep a database of students' phone numbers, emails and social media accounts to help them identify cyber bullies.

At a parliamentary inquest into her death, Snapchat's head of public policy Henry Turnbull said: 'I just wanted to say how sorry I am for what [Tilly's family] are going through right now.'

A Snapchat spokesman told Daily Mail Australia that bullying, harassment and other forms of abuse are against the community guidelines.

'Our app is designed differently making it very prohibitive for anonymous abuse - we intentionally make it difficult for strangers to identify, much less contact, people that they don't know,' he said.

'Unfortunately, bullying often takes place among people who know each other in real life. If bullying takes place on Snapchat, we make it quick and easy to report abuse.'

'We work closely with mental health organisations to provide in-app tools and resources for Snapchatters as part of our ongoing work to keep our community safe.'

A NSW Department of Education spokesperson extended condolences to Tilly's family in a statement to Daily Mail Australia.

Tilly's parents Emma and Murray Mason wrote a tribute to their daughter and detailed some of abuse she experienced at the hands of her peers (pictured)

'The wellbeing of our students is our highest priority in the NSW Department of Education,' they said.

'Bullying and anti-social behaviour is not tolerated at any public school in NSW. This includes bullying online and via social media.'

'The Department works closely with the office of the e-safety commissioner and police to provide resources for schools and families on the issue.'

In her funeral booklet, Tilly's parents told friends and family that their daughter decided to end her life as a result of catastrophic events that 'cut into Tilly's soul'.

'Every post you write, every image you share, every word you say has an impact,' they said.

They explained that the father of one of their daughter's classmates died when she was eight years' old, but her classmates responded by holding a vote and deciding that Tilly's father should have died instead.

When she wasn't invited to birthday parties with the rest of her grade, her peers would call and text her all night to tease her because she wasn't there.

'We share these examples not to cast blame at any one person, or any one school, but to plead with all our educators and parents that something has to change,' the family said.

'If anything can come from the loss of Tilly, we wish that our education system moves past the security of having a policy, or observing 'R U OK' day to ensuring that real, hard conversations are had and that bullying behaviour is stopped.'

They remembered the schoolgirl as someone who loved to dance and paint, and was a great debater, but bullying led her to develop depression, anxiety and symptoms of borderline personality disorder - a condition that affects self-image and creates a pattern of unstable relationships.

NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia there will be an investigation into Tilly's death on behalf of the Coroner.

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Beyond Blue 1300 224 636
A man who tricked a venture capitalist into believing he was an ex-CIA spy is about to head to jail for embezzling over $2million of the billionaire's cash to run 'off the books' private paramilitary missions.

Matthew Marshall, 51, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion last November as part of the case for his supposed action on behalf of venture capitalist Michael Goguen, who himself has numerous accusations of sexual impropriety on the books, as well as a civil suit involving Marshall.

Goguen, 57, allegedly sent Marshall over $2million for multiple missions between 2013 and 2015.

Among Goguen's assignments for Marshall, who served as Goguen's head of security: a plan to lead assault teams on rescue missions and according to court filings, to 'strike Syrian terrorist leaders.'

Marshall, according to court filings, embezzled the cash for himself and used it on 'loans and gifts to friends and family.'

Michael Goguen, founder and managing partner of Two Bear Capital, stands for a photograph in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. The billionaire claimed Matthew Marshall took over $2million of his money for private 'paramilitary missions'

Marshall (pictured right) served as Goguen's head of security and used several lies to convince Goguen he was ex-CIA. Marshall did serve in the Marine reserves but had an 'other than honorable' discharge for accruing absences

Goguen admitted to The Daily Beast that he'd been had by the former CIA spy.

'He was really pulling on the hero-complex strings,' he said of their relationship.

According to his sentencing memorandum, Marshall is accused of using prayer beads he claimed he had taken off the body of a dead terrorist to convince Goguen of his CIA past.

He also used a phony text message, allegedly sent to him from longtime Central Intelligence Agency Official Cofer Black.

Marshall old told Goguen he served in 'Force Reconnaissance,' a made up unit of the Marines. To further convince Goguen, he even got a tattoo of a logo. He went as far as to claim the Hollywood movie Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado was based on him.

The conman only served in the Marine reserves, accrued 82 absences and was given an 'other than honorable' discharge.

As he started getting found out, Marshall created fake phone numbers to send himself texts from doctors at the Mayo Clinic. The scam: he had contracted a 'life-threatening medical condition.'

Marshall went as far as to claim the Hollywood movie Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado was based on him

Marshall also produced phony text messages from ex-CIA director Cofer Black to verify his identity

Marshall has a sordid past: In 1996, he was hired as an Indiana State Trooper and 'neglected to disclose' that he had to resign from another police department in the state because he became a suspect in a burglary.

'Marshall's crimes of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion went far beyond the mere theft of money,' a spokesperson for Goguen said. 'They demeaned the dignity of real victims of terrorism and besmirched the valiant men and women of our military and the intelligence community who risk their lives.'

Marshall's attorney has not responded to requests for comment but in a sentencing memo said the man was a '51-year-old husband and father of three children whois a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a man who has dedicated his adult life to public service.'

The government has recommended Marshall serve seven years and three months in prison, while his attorney has asked for just two years.

'If ever there were a defendant standing before this Court who is as remorseful as he is committed to never finding himself in this situation again, it is Marshall,' the memo said.

There may be another twist to the story, however, as Marshall and three other plaintiffs are involved in a civil suit against Goguen, alleging the billionaire had a 'sexual enterprise' in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana.

Goguen's attorney said that 'Marshall's crimes of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion went far beyond the mere theft of money'

There may be another twist to the story, however, as Marshall and three other plaintiffs are involved in a civil suit against Goguen, alleging the billionaire had a 'sexual enterprise' in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana

The also allege that he used safe houses to conduct 'illicit activity' and tried to have his enemies killed.

The civil suit is described as a 'sham' by Goguen's spokesperson, who said Marshall is 'using the legal process to peddle his false slander to tabloids.'

And indeed, some of the claims made in the lawsuit were not substantiated but Goguen's lifestyle has been the subject of several accusations.

Goguen, a former partner at venture capitalist Sequoia Capital who was fired by the firm over a sexual misconduct allegation in 2016, is also accused of paying an underage woman to keep quiet about their sexual relationship, according to the New York Post.

'The ridiculous and defamatory published in the New York POST article yesterday was the 'last gasp' attempt by recently convicted felon Matthew Marshall to cause my family and I as much damage as possible before his upcoming sentencing,' Goguen told the Post on Sunday.

Marshall is one of four former employees of Goguen's Amyntor Group LLC, a security contractor, who filed a 135-page lawsuit against their onetime boss in February

The legal filing alleges that Goguen, who is currently married to his fourth wife, allegedly kept a 'harem' of 'numerous women, including married women, strippers, and prostitutes,' who he bought homes for and used for 'illicit sexual activity.'

Marshall, the former head of Amyntor who quickly grew to become Goguen's 'right-hand man,' pled guilty to wire fraud and other charges earlier this month.

The explosive lawsuit claims the investor met with the women at various safe houses or at a 'boom boom' room in the basement of his bar in Whitefish, a small town in Montana where he now lives.

Goguen was fired by Sequoia Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, after he was sued by Amber Baptiste (above), who claimed that she was sexually and physically abused by him

The married billionaire, who has two children, once asked his employee to arrange a hit on a former friend who knew too much about his personal life, according to the lawsuit.

A retired Whitefish police chief now says that Goguen - whom he compared to serial predators Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein - 'has to be stopped.'

These are the latest allegations of sexual impropriety leveled against Goguen, who in 2016 was accused of 'countless hours of forced sodomy' by his former girlfriend, exotic dancer Amber Baptiste.

Some of the encounters, which allegedly involved underage women, took place in the basement of Casey's, a bar owned by Goguen in Whitefish, Montana

The tech investor appears to have moved to Montana to start a new investment firm after he was let go from Sequoia Capital in 2016 over Baptiste's allegations

Former Whitefish police chief Bill Dial (center left) called Goguen 'a billionaire a la Harvey Weinstein and Epstein,' saying people in the community are 'afraid of him'

The lawsuit lays out a complex operation headed by Goguen to protect his simultaneous affairs.

The breakdown of the operation, and the employees who helped it run, can be traced through multiple guilty pleas by former employees and associates who threatened to speak out about the alleged scheme.

The tech investor is worth more than $5billion, according to the New York Post.

He flew some of the women in his private $42 million jet.
A Texan former infantryman who was deployed on multiple tours of Iraq is training Ukrainians to fight against the Russians in a battle against time.

Paul Grey served in the 101st Airborne Division, he told Fox News.

'Ukrainians remind me a lot of my home state of Texas,' he said.

'They are fiercely independent. We have cowboys. They have cossacks.'

Grey, from Tyler, 100 miles east of Dallas, moved to Ukraine a year ago to open a gym in Kyiv, and is now training troops to defend the country.

'I'm fighting to defend my home, and their home here,' he said.

'I'm teaching them what I can, in as little time as I can, to help give them a chance to survive this invasion and slaughter by Russians.'

Paul Grey, who served in the 101st Airborne Division, told Fox News on Wednesday that he had moved to Ukraine a year ago and was now readying to fight on behalf of his new home

Paul Grey has remained in Ukraine and is helping President Zelensky's forces

The Texan completed multiple tours of Iraq with the 101st Airborne, and is now in Ukraine

Grey's mother, Jan, told her local TV station, KETK, that his gym was shut down three weeks ago and he decided to remain in the country.

'It's his individual choice to make those types of decisions, and I can only pray and support,' she said.

KETK reported that Grey was a Purple Heart recipient.

His mother said she trusted him to make the right decision.

'They do hear the bombings that are taking place,' she said.

'There is a video of him outside. People are going in and out and taking shelter. I don't know if he was able to go out and see all the devastation in the surrounding areas.'

She said her son and his friends were warned weeks before the invasion that it was coming, and added that Paul and his friends, who have military experience, have been helping others.

He was prepared by stocking up on food, taking money out of the banks and getting ready for a possible onslaught.

Grey is seen in Iraq, where he served multiple tours. He is now based in Kyiv, where he runs a gym

Grey is pictured in October at a patriotic rally in Ukraine

The U.S. Army veteran captured this December picture: 'Another English class for Ukraine veterans'. Commentators thanked him for his work

It is not against U.S. law for a U.S. citizen to join an international legion.

But a violation may have occurred if someone has been hired while still in the United States.

Paul said none of the foreign fighters were doing it for money.

'We are not paid. We are not mercenaries. We are not in this for any kind of personal gain,' he said.

The White House is encouraging Americans to heed existing travel warnings against going to Ukraine  even after Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky's call for people from around the world to join his country's fight against Russia's invasion.

White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre invoked the travel warnings when asked by DailyMail.com for the government's position on the matter.

It came on the seventh day of the invasion, hours after President Joe Biden said Russia was deliberately targeting civilians, following Russian shelling of Ukrainian urban centers.

'Ukrainians have shown their courage,' Jean-Pierre said, noting they were calling on every resource to defend themselves.

'We applaud their bravery. However, our travel advisory remains that U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine,' she said.

A destroyed armored vehicle, with the letter 'V' painted on its turret, is seen on a street, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the town of Bucha in the Kyiv region

Workers in Kyiv lift concrete slabs to cut roads into the city on Wednesday

President Joe Biden visits workers near the John A. Blatnik Memorial Bridge in Superior, Wisconsin, on Wednesday. The White House, asked about Ukrainian President Zelensky's call for foreigners come and join the fight to defend against the Russian invasion, noted the travel advisory that warned Americans not to go to Ukraine

She said those advisories are 'to help Americans make the most informed decisions about their safety.'

Pressed on whether the guidance specifically related to those who might choose to go in fight, Jean-Pierre referenced a State Department advisory on traveling to Ukraine.

That advisory, issued before the Russian invasion, referenced both the dangers of potential conflict and risks of COVID-19.

Zelensky called on foreigners wanting to fight alongside Ukrainians to make the journey - alarming some in the West.

'Join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world,' said Zelensky at the weekend.

'All the friends of Ukraine who want to come join us, come here toowe will give you weapons.'

'We applaud their bravery. However, our travel advisory remains that U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine,' said the White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

People take part in a basic military training on Tuesday in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. Ukrainians from the eastern and central parts of the country have increasingly fled to western cities as Russian forces advance toward Kyiv from three sides

The Ukrainian President Zelensky said he is creating a new International Legion of Territorial Defense

The Ukrainian leader said he is creating a new International Legion of Territorial Defense, even as his country is rushing to enlist ordinary Ukrainians to join the fight, where they are outnumbered against a Russian Army contingent estimated at more than 200,000.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said she supports UK citizens who want to go and answer Zelensky's call.

Jean-Pierre's comment follows reports that six American special ops veterans are on the Polish border waiting to join the fight.

Two US infantry officers are also planning to fly to the region to give 'leadership' to the volunteer fighters, Buzzfeed reported.

The U.S. has previously rejected other steps that might risk an escalation between the U.S. and Russia, rejecting Zelensky's call to establish a no-fly zone.
Russian law enforcement personnel arrested schoolchildren for anti-war protests where they showed support for Ukraine, calling the country's people "[their] friends."

The young kids were among the thousands that police have detained in several cities across the country as residents decried Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. A professor at the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow, Alexandra Arkhipova, shared several images on Facebook showing young children detained at a police station in Moscow.

Arrest of Schoolchildren

Arkhipova's post said that two Russian women, Ekaterina Zavizion and her friend, Olga Alter, were with five children when they were detained while laying flowers at the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow. The children were identified as boys and girls between the ages of seven and 11 and photographed still holding their hand-drawn "No War" posters.

Authorities then transported the mothers and their children to the Presnenskaya police station where officers quickly confiscated their phones. Law enforcement personnel then yelled at the mothers, telling them they could lose their parental rights and have the children placed in the custody of the Russian version of Child Protective Services, as per Fox News.

The signs that the children held up before being detained showed the Russian flag, a plus sign, the Ukrainian flag, an equal sign, followed by a heart. The arrest of the young kids and their mothers received the attention of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba who shared images of the incident.

Read Also: Donald Trump Expects China To Invade Taiwan, Blames Joe Biden, US for Poor Leadership

The official said that the arrest of the young kids was another sign of the toll that Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine was taking on children. He referred to Putin while he talked about the children, showing a picture of one behind bars, saying, "This is how scared the man is."

According to NPR, Arkhipova said that she relayed the details of the incident to the website OVD-info, which monitors potential police abuse cases in Russia. The site posted a video of what it said was the moment of the arrest of the schoolchildren. In the video, a child's cries could be heard echoing down the street where witnesses observed several police vehicles.

Thousands of Protesters

The OVD-info site said that children up to 14 years old cannot be legally detained for more than three hours. In a similar incident in a different region of the country, Yelena Osipova, a 77-year-old artist, was also taken into custody by a group of police while protesting against the war in St. Petersburg.

Thousands of Russian citizens have marched their way into the streets of the region to decry Putin's act of war against Ukraine. They have defied police threats amid authorities having a low tolerance for demonstrations and marches. It is believed that attending such demonstrations in Russia can have serious consequences such as fines, arrests, and even imprisonment.

OVD-info revealed that Russian authorities have already arrested more than 320 anti-war protesters across 33 cities. Since President Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last Thursday, a total of 6,840 people have already been detained in various areas across the region, The Guardian reported.



Related Article: Joe Biden Delivers His First State of the Union Address; POTUS Warns Vladimir Putin "He Has No Idea What's Coming"

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Anthony Albanese has hit the campaign trail in Western Australia

Anthony Albanese has made his pitch to voters in a newly-open Western Australia as Labor eyes off three Liberal-held seats.

The opposition leader landed in Perth moments after the hard border came down on Thursday, seizing his opportunity to head west for the first time in almost a year.

WA looms as a key battleground in the upcoming federal election, with Labor targeting the Liberal-held seats of Pearce, Hasluck and Swan - all on margins of less than six per cent.

The incumbent MPs for Pearce and Swan, Christian Porter and Steve Irons, are retiring from politics at the election, while Hasluck is held by Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt.

Anthony Albanese showed off his fancy new suit as he hit the campaign trail in Perth

Anthony Albanese flew into Perth just after the hard border came down on Thursday morning

Mr Albanese on Thursday made Pearce his first stop, visiting manufacturing firm Aries Rail in the industrial suburb of Wangara.

Flanked by Labor candidate Tracey Roberts, the opposition leader sought to remind voters that the federal government had - albeit briefly - intervened in support of Clive Palmer's failed constitutional challenge of the WA border closures.

"If we are successful in May, I want a federal Labor government that works with the Western Australian government and most importantly with the people of Western Australia," he told reporters.

"The idea that the federal government joined that court case and supported it when Christian Porter, the local member here, was the attorney-general ... just shows how out of touch the Morrison government is when it comes to the needs of looking after Western Australians."

Anthony Albanese has hit the campaign trail in Western Australia where Labor hopes to snatch three seats, including Christian Porter's electorate of Pearce.

Mr Albanese later visited a Tesla community battery site in Ellenbrook alongside Hasluck candidate Tania Lawrence and local federal Labor MPs.

He claimed the exit of senior West Australian federal ministers Julie Bishop, Mathias Cormann and Michael Keenan had left the state "sidelined" in Canberra.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison had hoped to also head west following the border opening but was forced into quarantine after contracting COVID-19.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg denied the government had ignored funding for Western Australia.

"That's just a bald-faced lie, it's bollocks, it's political at its worst," he told Perth radio station 6PR on Thursday.

"We have dispensed more than $14 billion to the people of Western Australia since the start of COVID."

Mr Albanese was also expected to meet privately with Premier Mark McGowan on Thursday and to engage with local business leaders during his three-day visit to WA.

But questions were raised about the curious timing of Mr McGowan holding his own press conference in Perth while Mr Albanese addressed local media.

The pair did not hold any media events together when Mr Albanese visited during the state election last year.

"I always catch up with Mark McGowan when I'm here. I value his advice, I speak to him regularly and I look forward to working with him before the election," Mr Albanese said.

"Unless the premier went missing and went on radio silence for three days, then it's inevitable that we'll be doing some things at the same time."
A young man is planning to fight charges that he twice bit his friend's mother's nipple while trying to seduce her.

Jonathan Stefan Priscan, 24, allegedly turned up at the home of the woman in southern Adelaide on March 18 last year when police say the incident occurred.

Priscan's lawyer told a South Australian court on Thursday that he will fight the charges laid against him - two counts of indecent assault and one of assault.

Jonathan Stefan Priscan, 24, handed himself into police after allegedly breaking into his friend's mother's home and biting her on the nipple twice

A police prosecutor previously told the court the woman asked Priscan to leave. He allegedly didn't, causing the woman to feel intimidated.

When the pair moved to sit out the back of the home, Priscan asked the woman for a hug, the court heard last year.

After she refused, the 24-year-old allegedly then moved to sit on top of the woman, touching her breasts before biting her left nipple.

The mother then slapped Priscan in the face and punched him in the stomach after the unwanted advance, the court was told.

But Priscan allegedly then bit her on the nipple for a second time, leaving the woman with bruising.

Priscan only left the house after the woman agreed to unblock him from her phone.

The case will return to court at a later date.
Harrowing photos have shown the true extent of the devastation caused by floods in Sydney - as countless buildings are submerged in water.

An independent service station in Camden in the city's south-west was unrecognisable after suffering severe flooding on Thursday.

Murky, brown water was seen reaching halfway up the petrol bowsers as those in low-lying areas in the town were forced to move to higher ground.

Just after 8pm on Wednesday residents in parts of Camden were told to evacuate immediately.

An independent service station in Camden is seen inundated with flood waters on Thursday

The Camden Petroleum store was left unrecognisable

'Once floodwater reaches 8.5 metres at the Camden Weir, the area will be isolated. If you remain in the area you may be trapped without power, water and other essential services and it may be too dangerous to rescue you,' the SES alert said.

Meanwhile, similarly devastating scenes have been captured in Londonderry, in Sydney's north-west.

The town's famous junk store known as The Junkyard was destroyed in the raging floods with only the roof seen sticking above the water.

A yellow line marking the level floods reached during last year's disaster sits around a metre higher than the current water level.

Nearby homes and buildings around the junkyard also fell victim to the enormous deluge.

 Slide me  Buildings in Londonderry in Sydney's north-west were also destroyed by raging floods

The wild weather in Sydney has now left residents in the Penrith and Hawkesbury regions battling major flooding for the second time in 12 months.

Heavy rain with six hourly totals of 60-100mm is forecast to hit Sydney until Thursday evening after a severe weather warning was updated at 11am for the Harbour City, the Illawarra and parts of the Mid North Coast, Hunter and Central Tablelands forecast districts.

The wild weather hit Newcastle and the Central Coast on Thursday afternoon, bringing torrential rain, thunderstorms and flash flooding.

 Slide me  Londonderry's Junkyard had water reaching up to its roof on Thursday

Many Sydney residents have been forced to flee as waters rise (pictured in Londonderry)

In some good news, the weather bureau now says flooding of the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers will unlikely exceed the devastation experienced in March 2021.

More rain is forecast Thursday and Friday with major flooding at North Richmond and possible at Windsor by this evening.

'We've lost the intense rainfall,' Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jackson Browne told 2GB on Thursday afternoon.

'That's going to be the next pickup in activity and given the amount of tropical moisture we'll likely see a rebirth of severe weather activity right across the state.'

A group of young boys are seen making their way through flooded streets in Londonderry

'So think of tomorrow as a temporary lull in the battle and then hunker down again for the weekend.'

A young woman had to be rescued from floodwaters in Camden on Wednesday night after she sought refuge in a tree.

It's understood she'd been playing near the water on a boogie board before she was swept away.

The woman was brought to safety by police officers and a local who owned a boat nearby.

'This incident could have easily ended very differently,' NSW Police said in a statement.
A murder-accused policeman who fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker says he knew the Aboriginal teenager could die when he pulled the trigger.

Constable Zachary Rolfe told his trial he feared for his life when he realised the 19-year-old was holding a 'blade' in one hand and reaching for his gun with the other.

Rolfe, 30, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Walker, 19, during a failed arrest attempt in Yuendumu, 290km northwest of Alice Springs.

He fired three shots into the teen's back and torso on November 9, 2019 after he was stabbed with a pair of scissors.

Rolfe has pleaded not guilty to murdering Walker (pictured) on November 9, 2019 after he was stabbed with a pair of scissors

Constable Zachary Rolfe, 30, (pictured, centre, departing the Supreme Court on Wednesday) who fatally shot an Aboriginal teenager during an arrest in 2019 says he was trained to pull the trigger until an offender is incapacitated

Asked by prosecutor Philip Strickland SC if he knew the second and third shots fired at 'point-blank' range' would 'probably kill' the teen, Rolfe replied: 'I knew it was a potential outcome'.

However, he denied knowing the shots 'into an area containing the teen's heart and lungs would ultimately kill' Mr Walker.

'Did you think they would cause him serious harm?' Mr Strickland replied.

'Possibly at the time,' the constable told a packed Northern Territory Supreme Court on Thursday.

Earlier, the former soldier said he did not initially regard the teen as a threat when spotted him inside his grandmother's home.

That changed in a second after Rolfe and Sergeant Adam Eberl identified Mr Walker and attempted to handcuff him.

'Kumanjayi started resisting. He raised his arms and started striking me around my head and neck area,' he said.

Rolfe said the teen struck him twice on the top of the head in a 'hammer fist motion'.

'At that point I looked at his hands. That was the first time I identified that he had a metal blade. I saw him holding a blade in a dagger-like grip. I immediately feared for my life,' he said.

Rolfe (pictured, centre) contradicted other officers' evidence by saying he was sent to Yuendumu, 290km northwest of Alice Springs, to arrest Kumanjayi Walker

Rolfe said Mr Walker then stabbed him in his left shoulder. He said he instinctively 'jabbed' the teen's face and reached for his firearm.

'His left hand was already on my Glock. I twisted my hips back as we are trained to do to knock that hand off my Glock and stepped back,' he said.

'Kumanjayi's focus turned to Eberl and I immediately feared for Eberl's life. Kumanjayi started stabbing Eberl in the chest and neck area.

'I drew my Glock and when it was safe to fire, still fearing for Eberl's life, I fired one round into the centre of mass of Kumanjayi.'

Rolfe said the shot did not incapacitate the teen, and he and Eberl fell to the ground and continued fighting.

'I could see Kumanjayi's right arm with the blade in it still moving and stabbing Eberl,' he said.

'I was still in fear for Eberl's life. I believed he still had a lethal weapon and was utilising it against Eberl ... stabbing his neck, chest, shoulder.

'I moved towards the two and I placed my left hand on Eberl's back. I did this because they were still fighting. They were still moving ... and I fired two more rounds.'

Kumanjayi Walker, 19, (pictured) died after he was shot three times in the back and torso as he resisted arrest in a dark room at his grandmother's home in Alice Springs

Rolfe said Kumanjayi's right arm stopped moving after he was hit with the rounds and he re-holstered his firearm.

'I believed he was still a threat and still held a lethal weapon,' he said.

Rolfe fired his first shot about a minute after finding Mr Walker at his grandmother's home. Shots two and three followed about three seconds later.

He died about an hour after Rolfe's second shot ripped through his spleen, lung, liver and a kidney.

The Crown has conceded the first shot, which was fired while Mr Walker was standing and wrestling with Sgt Eberl, was justified.

But it says the second and third shots, which are the subject of the murder charge, went 'too far'.

The trial continues.
Furious locals in a town whose $101million bridge is underwater for a second time are staying put despite evacuation orders, slamming the government's response to the flood crisis and noting it's 'the same sh*t, just a different year'.

The newly built Windsor Bridge on the Hawkesbury River in Windsor - which cost the taxpayer $101million and was pitched to locals as 'flood proof' - became submerged during New South Wales' weather bomb on Thursday.

A time lapse showing the bridge from 5.30pm on Wednesday to just before 9am Thursday illustrates just how far up the water has come, cutting off local traffic to North Richmond on the other side.

Cars travelled freely across the bridge without any concern at the beginning of the video.

But as the hours wore on, water levels in the Hawkesbury River rose and began lapping at a dip in the bridge.

Scroll down for video

At 5pm on Wednesday afternoon, the bridge was still passable (pictured, left), but by 8.30am Thursday (right) it had become inundated with water

The bridge was closed on Thursday (pictured) cutting locals off from vital supplies and escape routes

By 3am, access to the bridge was limited and by 7am parts of the bridge were entirely submerged.

Pictures taken on Thursday afternoon show water levels have since risen even further.

Forecasters predict the Hawkesbury River near Windsor will rise to 12.2 metres by Thursday night.

While authorities have placed the region on high alert, urging some residents to evacuate and warning others it may be too late to leave, most aren't too worried.

'So far so good,' Mike Lewis, whose home is safe 'toward the back of Windsor', told Daily Mail Australia.

'They keep saying it'll get worse, but I can't see it being too bad this time around.

'It's the same sh*t, just a different year.'

An aerial view of the Windsor floods in 1964 when homes were left almost submerged in the rising waters

Aerial view of the Windsor floods in 1961 (pictured) with dozens of residents forced to evacuate

Windsor has flooded 101 times since they started keeping count in 1799 and longtime residents have seen it far worse than now.

The highest the river has ever risen was in 1867, when it peaked at 19.7m.

Even the deluge in 2021 had more of an impact than the current flood levels, but forecasters remain on alert with more rain expected overnight.

'Further heavy rainfall is forecast today and into Friday which may result in extended and higher flood peaks,' a Bureau of Meteorology forecaster said.

'River levels at North Richmond and Windsor are expected to remain below those observed during the March 2021 event.'

If the river rises more than 12.20 metres at Windsor, it will be considered a major flooding event. This could occur by Thursday night.

By 3am on Thursday, access to the bridge was limited and by 7am parts of the bridge were entirely submerged (pictured)

This plaque next to Windsor Bridge documents each time the suburb has flooded since 1799

The river peaked at 12.93 metres in March 2021, entirely submerging the new Windsor Bridge.

Locals and politicians expressed outrage that the bridge had 'failed' to do its job.

While it was initially sold as 'flood proof' to locals, defenders of the overpass later said the 2021 weather event was 'extreme and rare'.

But now that it's flooded for a second time in just under 12 months, some Windsor residents are concerned at how sturdy the bridge will be moving forward.

Sarah Jones, from Richmond, noted water levels appeared to be rising significantly faster than in 2021, despite not yet looking as severe.

'It's not the highest we've seen, but it's the fastest growing, I'd say. It's quite concerning.'

Garbage piled up at the bridge just last year when the $101million crossing flooded for the first time (pictured on March 26, 2021)

Local parks have flooded, taking with them outhouses, sheds and gazebos (pictured at Windsor on Thursday)

There's a sense of anger that steps weren't taken to properly equip the region after the devastation of 2021.

'We've got neighbours that still haven't gotten back on their feet from last year.'

'And now we could very well be back to square one.'

When the bridge was completed in 2020, the NSW Government said it would be better able to cope with the impacts of flooding than the original structure.

Transport for NSW said the new bridge was three metres taller than the old one, but because roads are at river level there was no point building it any higher.

The height of the bridge does not matter if the surrounding land goes underwater in a major flood, as cars won't be able to cross it regardless.
Clive Palmer has spoken out for the first time since testing positive for Covid-19 to deny reports that he purchased Adolf Hitler's car.

The unvaccinated mining billionaire was rushed to hospital last Thursday after becoming so ill over the previous two days that he had to cancel a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra.

He was seen leaving hospital later that evening and has been treated at home for both Covid-19 and pneumonia.

And while he has not offered up any information about the state of his health, he did address reports he had bought Adolf Hitler's bulletproof Mercedes-Benz.

'I did not buy Hitler's car. Its more Fake News,' he said in a Twitter post.

Clive Palmer is seen leaving the Pindara Private Hospital on the Gold Coast, on Thursday, February 24

Mining billionaire Clive Palmer has denied reports that he bought Adolf Hitler's Mercedes

As commenters under his post spotted, Mr Palmer didn't say it was never an option or that it was not something he had ever looked into, he just said he didn't buy Hitler's Mercedes-Benz 770 Grosser Offener Tourenwagen.

The story, originally published by Perth Now, said he had bought it from an unnamed Russian billionaire for a museum he wants to build on the Gold Coast.

The dictator's car was seized in France by the US military at the end of World War II and has had a number of owners over the years.

It was also reported last week that Mr Palmer bought a 1929 Rolls-Royce owned by King Edward VIII for around $200,000.

The green and black car was said to have been shipped from London to Queensland to be added to Mr Palmer's extensive collection of vintage cars worth hundreds of millions.

Mr Palmer, who is bankrolling the United Australia Party (UAP) and running as its lead Senate candidate in Queensland, did not comment on the truth or otherwise of him buying the King's car.

Clive Palmer has denied reports that he bought Adolf Hitler's bulletproof Mercedes-Benz (pictured) for a museum he wants to build on the Gold Coast

Mr Palmer was rushed to hospital a week ago after becoming so ill.

His wife, Anna - who is also unvaccinated - reportedly tested positive for Covid too.

Sources close to Mr Palmer told The Australian last weekend that though he had shown some improvement, he was still very sick.

The magnate is being treated by doctors in his Gold Coast mansion, having left hospital on Thursday evening last week.

A spokesman for Mr Palmer, 67, would not comment on his status. 'Clive's medical condition is a matter between him and his doctors,' he said.

'He is recovering and is thankful of the wishes being sent to him.'

Mr Palmer speaks to someone on the phone as he gets into his car following a brief health scare

Clive Palmer pictured (right) with his wife, Anna (left). In January, the mining magnate claimed he did not need a Covid jab because he's 'not in bad shape' and leads a 'healthy life'

Mr Palmer's UAP has an anti-Covid restriction and anti-vaccine mandate platform.

In January, he claimed he did not need the jab because he was healthy.

'I don't think I need a vaccination for Covid personally, I haven't caught it, I have a healthy life,' he said.

'I don't think I'm in bad shape. I think I look a lot more trim now than I did when I was in Parliament.'

Daily Mail Australia understands three ambulances were called to his home at Paradise Point in the Gold Coast's upmarket Sovereign Islands precinct when he became ill.

The billionaire mining magnate was transported to Pindara Private Hospital at Benowa (pictured) after several ambulances were called to his home

Queensland Ambulance Service said one patient was picked up from a Paradise Point home and transported to hospital on Thursday afternoon.

He was then transported to Pindara Private Hospital at Benowa.

Signs out the front of the facility warned visitors they would need to be fully-vaccinated with two TGA approved Covid vaccinations by December 17 to enter.

The billionaire looked off-colour as he walked out of the facility, wearing a face mask and white long-sleeved shirt.

Clutching his phone and keys, Mr Palmer walked to a nearby car and drove away from the centre.

Mr Palmer was discharged and returned to his Gold Coast mansion with his wife Anna (pictured)

He was later seen out the front of his mansion speaking with his wife Anna after arriving back home.

The health scare came after he cancelled a scheduled speech in Canberra on Tuesday.

In a statement, the National Press Club said Mr Palmer was showing Covid-like symptoms and had been advised not to travel to Canberra.

In an interview with the ABC in November 2021, Mr Palmer claimed vaccination had not reduced sickness or death from Covid-19 in Australia

'There's no data to support that in Australia,' he said.

Vaccination 'makes no difference from a public health context,' the billionaire claimed.

One of Mr Palmer's multiple properties at Sovereign Islands on the Gold Coast, Queensland
A witness says crowds unnecessarily spooked miracle NSW flood survivor Carol the cow, leading to her being shot dead by police earlier this week.

The brown bovine unexpectedly emerged from monstrous surf on Duranbah Beach on the Queensland border on Tuesday morning after being washed up to 30km down the flooded Tweed River.

A few dozen locals gathered on the beach to gawk at the unexpected animal with police arriving on the scene shortly after.

Carol the cow was shot dead despite miraculously surviving the floods. An animal rescue organisation said it was 'beyond distraught' at the news the cow was dead

Flood-affected NSW and QLD residents were shocked by the appearance of cows washed up along beaches

Farm Animal Rescue organised with authorities to pick up the frightened and confused Carol in a horse float and take her back to their property northwest of Brisbane.

Channel Nine weather reporter Luke Bradnam says while they were waiting for panels to funnel her into the float to arrive, a woman stepped forward to get a photo which made Carol bolt off.

'This absolute moron came out with her phone, took a snapshot of it, and the cattleman that I was with ... he turned to me and said: 'This is what the end result (shooting) is going to be for the cow, they'll have no choice, spook now, and it won't be able to compose itself, and it's exactly what happened,' he told Triple M.

The adventurous cow first took a walk along the beach before venturing into headlands and crossing roads

Gold Coast locals spotted the cow roaming Duranbah beach on Tuesday morning and assumed it floated down from a flooded Tweed Heads paddock

Farm Animal Rescue said Carol, who was highly agitated due to the large crowd, was then chased by youths further into the suburban streets of the border towns of Tweed Heads and Coolangatta.

The volunteers tried to keep her off the roads for 13 hours, but said that NSW police seemed content to let her roam.

'They have just left her to run around the suburbs,' Farm Animal Rescue said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

'This grieving mother has suffered so much, this on-going torture is so unnecessary and so cruel. We have named her Carol, so however this works out she will always have a name,' they said.

After 13 hours of trying to corral Carol, NSW Police decided that distressed cow couldn't be safely caught and shot her dead, reportedly six times.

'The cow was subsequently humanely euthanised,' police said in a statement.

Mr Bradnam said Carol had 'captured the imagination of the nation' after her flood ordeal and if she hadn't been spooked she wouldn't have been killed.

'It's totally avoidable, unnecessary and just angers me,' he said.
Loud sex is ruining New Yorkers lives after the city's non-emergency hotline received 270 complaints over the past year - including reports of 'backyard orgies', 'loud ruthless sex,' and one person moaning that her significant other is a 'sexual-tyrannosaurus.'

The Big Apple is one of the liveliest cities in the country, as 75,000 noise complaints are filed on average per month  but new data received from the city's 311 official helpline bemoans the sounds of people's late night ventures between February 19, 2021, and February 9, 2022.

Throughout the city's five boroughs, Queens has logged in the most complaints, with 103. Manhattan came in second with 66 while Brooklyn received 55, the Bronx 48 and Staten Island four.

'Listen I am a Christian woman, help this girl stop having loud sex before God does,' one woman in distress living in the Bronx told 311 in a 6 a.m. complaint this January.

In Cross Bay Boulevard, in Queens, 56 complaints were filed regarding 'hippies' allegedly dressing up as Freddy Krueger, Pennywise and the Easter Bunny while partying to the theme song of Velveteen Dream, a pro wrestler, being loudly played in the background.

'Orgy going on in the backyard, boobs and penis' being flashed on the street,' a Queens resident complained at 1 a.m. in June of last year.

'O to the R to the G to the Y. Put it all together and you get a orgy party,' another complaint read. 'Come on down they are letting the booties hit the floor and watching broke back mountain. They are screaming cowabunga and orgy! I guess they got horny during hibernation. Stop these sex feens!'

One Bronx residents complained that his neighbors were having 'loud and ruthless sex' in the middle of the afternoon, while a Manhattan resident said there was a 'sex T party' going on in the apartment next to him. A 'T party' is gay slang for crystal meth 'T' or 'Tina.'

'There is an obese gay man splashing his Latino lovers cheeks with his man syrup,' a wordsmith from Brooklyn told the city's hotline in August well after midnight.

The data, first collected by Patch through a Freedom of Information Act request before being shared with the Dailymail.com, comes from a majority of New Yorkers who claim that some residents are taking the 'city that never sleep' slogan too seriously.

'This apartment always have loud moaning from the female occupant while having intercourses. Hard for a lonely neighbor to get a good night sleep,' a desperate Queens resident wrote one night at around 4 a.m.

One resident in Brooklyn told the 311 hotline that they couldn't access their apartment due to the frequency of an orgy happening in the building's staircase

One Brooklyn resident was sleep deprived to the point where he lost his job because he overslept too often due to neighbors having sex well into most nights, according to a 311 complaint. Another Brooklynite wrote that it was inevitable to come across eight or night people having an orgy in his apartment complex's staircase while trying to access his unit.

'I've slept through earthquakes and fires in my life but I couldn't sleep through this,' a shocked resident wrote.

A person living in Queens told 311 that a neighbor was 'shouting loudly that he is a sexual-tyrannosaurus.'

'Please make him stop,' the complained cried.

While all complaints are being investigated, records show almost no actions were taken against those doing their funny business.

Most complaints were described as 'unfounded,' 'unnecessary' or without any criminal involvement. Seventeen were labelled as 'unable to enter,' two as 'gone on arrival' and three were passed on to another agency, but 311 records don't reveal which. Three other complaints were tagged as 'other' without more specifics.

In Greenwood Heights, another Brooklynite said that they normally sleep profoundly but that their neighbor's late night activities were now giving them insomnia.

'To get a sense of how disruptive they are, I've slept through earthquakes and fires in my life  I couldn't sleep through this,' according to the complaint filed last April, at 2.45am.

Someone else reported: '[She] makes the bed squeak as if it's an Olympics event.'

Another said: 'Ceiling shaking and debris falling sex.'

The complaints have been about 'loud ruthless sex' noises coming from all five of New York City boroughs. Pictured: A couple kissing behind a street performer in Washington Square Park on August 28, 2021 in New York City

Other complaints reveled that New Yorkers have been unintentionally aware of bedroom stories aligned with current events.

On 23 December at 11pm of last year, a resident in East Harlem, in Manhattan, said in her complaint that: 'Some guy is singing jingle balls at the top of his voice  Another person is screaming ['Y]es daddy come down my chimney.'

In March, when the Biden administration gave out Covid-19 stimulus checks as part of the American Rescue Plan, one Bronx resident complained at 12:45am: 'Loud banging and moaning. Heard the neighbor saying, 'How's this STIMMY baby!'

In a statement over the findings, a New York police spokesperson, Sophia Mason, said the New York Police Department (NYPD took all complaints with serious consideration.

'[We] will continue to monitor and address all complaints,' she said.
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New satellite pictures shows the devastation suffered in the Ukraine after it was hit by Russian military strikes which flattened homes and factories and left some bomb sites a smoking mess.

Images show Rivnopillya, a once neat and green little village near Chernihiv, with giant craters in the ground and smoke billowing from burning homes on February 28.

Dozen of impact craters can be seen on the images by Maxar Technologies.

In another image, a nearby bridge over the Stryzhen River is destroyed, leaving little more than rubble and charred earth surrounding the area.

A nearby factory was also said to have sustained immeasurable damage and a Russian convoy was seen making its way through the village.

Other images show burned remains of Russian military vehicles in a residential area in Bucha, another town near Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said the remains came after Ukraine thwarted an attack from Putin's army.

Another image showed citizens in Kyiv lining up outside a grocery store as Putin's forces close in on the capital. The line curled all out to the end of the parking lot as people waited patiently to stock up on food.

Since the attack by Putin's army, a dense cloud cover has obscured visuals from most satellites, CNN reported.

 Slide me  Images show Rivnopillyawith giant craters in the ground and smoke billowing from burning homes (right). Before the attack, the houses sat in neat little roads and the grass was green

 Slide me  Other images show a destroyed bridge crossing the Stryzhen River near Chernihiv and the burned remains of Russian military vehicles (middle on center road, right)

 Slide me  Homes (left) and a factory sat in the middle of Bucha in western Kyiv, which were flattened by the bombs (right)

The images were released shortly after the news broke that the first major city in Ukraine has fallen to the Russians. Kherson, home to 290,000 people, is 300 miles south of Kyiv. The city is strategically important, sitting on an inlet of the Black Sea 260 miles west of the separatist enclave of Donetsk.

Ihor Kolykhaiev, mayor of Kherson, earlier on Wednesday insisted the city remained under Ukrainian control, but it has now fallen.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, issued a video address to the nation in the early hours of Thursday, giving an upbeat assessment of the war and calling on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance.

'We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,' he said, in the clip posted on social media.

'They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.'

Zelensky did not comment on whether the Russians have seized several cities, including Kherson.

'If they went somewhere, then only temporarily. We'll drive them out,' he said.

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who 'go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.'

Video clips shared on social media showed the Russian forces looting towns as they passed.

Some claimed that the Russians who were captured were found with rations on them which had expired in 2015.

Western officials have reportedly said they believe some of the young Russian troops do not want to fight and are sabotaging their vehicles, puncturing the gas tanks.

'These are not warriors of a superpower,' said Zelensky. 'These are confused children who have been used.'

He said the Russian death toll has reached about 9,000.

'Ukraine doesn't want to be covered in bodies of soldiers,' he said. 'Go home.'

In the early hours of Thursday a huge explosion rocked Kyiv - preceded by the blaring of air raid sirens at around 2am local time in multiple districts across the city.

Kyiv's buildings were then lit up by a huge blast from a bomb.

The Kyiv Independent reported that air raid alerts were issued in multiple regions included Kyiv Oblast, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Frankivsk, Chernihiv and Odessa.

Footage from the capital, filmed from windows overlooking the city, showed at least one massive explosion that lit up the night sky, and appeared to cause a shock-wave.

In another video, captured by CBS News reporters moments after signing off following a report, two bursts of light could be seen over Kyiv.

While the explosions were not filmed directly, the intensity of them was enough to shock the reporter and his film crew, who were some distance away from the blasts.

Hours earlier, a Russian missile struck near Kyiv's southern main rail station where thousands of women and children are being evacuated, Ukraine's state-run railway company Ukrzaliznytsya said in a statement.

The station building suffered minor damage and the number of any casualties was not yet known, it said, adding trains were still operating despite the blast.

Ukraine's interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said the blast was caused by wreckage from a downed Russian cruise missile, not a direct rocket strike.

Trains continued to run. Herashchenko added the strike may have cut off central heating supply to parts of the Ukrainian capital amid freezing winter temperatures.

Russian tanks and a military truck are seen rolling through the streets of Kherson on Wednesday

Kherson, 300 miles south of Kyiv, is considered an important strategic asset, being on an inlet in the Black Sea

Unverified reports said two missiles were launched towards the headquarters of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, with one being shot down. The HQ and the railway station sit across a road from one another in Kyiv.

Kherson was, throughout Wednesday, the focus of fierce fighting.

Earlier on Wednesday, a U.S. official told AP: 'Our view is that Kherson is very much a contested city.'

Kolykhaiev later in the evening said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building.

He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow crews to gather up the bodies from the streets.

'I simply asked them not to shoot at people,' he said in a statement.

'We don't have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.'

Kolykhaiev said he never imagined he would end up dealing with a war.

'Everything that is happening now in our city is politics that I hate,' he wrote.

'I came to office to renew infrastructure, invest in Kherson, build houses, roads, parks and a new life for my hometown.

'Now, I'm looking for special packages for those killed.'
Fox News top two primetime hosts clashed about what to do with Vladimir Putin - as Sean Hannity suggested the Russian leader should be assassinated, while Tucker Carlson warned that removing the dictator could lead to someone even worse taking power.

'Cut the head of the snake off and you kill the snake,' said Hannity, 60, as the first Ukrainian city fell to the Russian invasion on Wednesday.

'What we really need in this crisis, more than anything else, is a worldwide condemnation,' Hannity said on his daytime radio show. 'And it's a simple new rule that if you invade an innocent sovereign country, and you kill innocent men, women and children, you don't deserve to live. That's the bottom line.'

'Now currently the U.S. operates under a decades-old executive order signed by [former President] Gerald Ford that prohibits the U.S. government employees from engaging in political assassinations.

'And I'm like, 'You cut the head of the snake off and you kill the snake. Right now the snake is Vladimir Putin,' Hannity added.

He brought a similar attitude to his primetime show 'Hannity' Wednesday, and echoed his take that the Russian president had 'forfeit [his] right to live.'

The comments came as the first major city in Ukraine, Kherson, fell to the Russians, the mayor confirmed on Wednesday, urging his residents on Facebook to obey 'armed people who came to the city's administration'.

Kyiv was also coming under attack in the early hours of Thursday, with a bright explosion booming across the city around 2am.

The fall of Kherson comes as Putin's invasion heads into its second week. President Joe Biden forcefully condemned Putin and said 'he has no idea what's coming' in his State of the Union Tuesday.

Fox News host Sean Hannity suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin be assassinated as his invasion of Ukraine continues

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with the head of Russia's Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a big business lobby group, at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 2

Sean Hannity proposes NATO fighter jets bomb Russian convoy and then nobody takes credit for it, so then Putin won't know who to hit https://t.co/7jYGYmxMsK pic.twitter.com/CcVUvYglw8  Brendan Karet (@bad_takes) March 2, 2022

Hannity also suggested a Spartacus-esque scenario in which either everyone or no one took credit for the assassination.

'You know, if we can see on satellite imagery where the convoy is, I don't know, maybe some smart country, maybe NATO might take some of their fighter jets, or maybe they can use some drone strikes and take out the whole damn convoy,' Hannity said on the radio Wednesday. 'And then nobody takes credit for it, so then Putin won't know who to hit back.'

But fellow Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested that it was better the devil you know and that deposing Putin could end in an even worse dictator.

He also suggested ending the sanctions against Russia, during his Wednesday show.

After criticizing the supposedly performative efforts to support Ukraine by both President Biden and Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, he asked rhetorically what should be done about Putin.

'What's the point of all of this? Putin's bad,' he said. 'No one in America is gonna argue with that. But will destroying the entire Russian economy make Putin less bad? Will it force Russia troops to withdraw from Ukraine? And if it will, how exactly will that work and how long will it take?'

Joe Biden delivered this countrys first ever state of Ukraine address last night. pic.twitter.com/av1MjKxh8x  Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 3, 2022

He then wondered what would happened if Putin were somehow removed from office.

'Would the next Russian president be an improvement over Putin? Or would Russia descend into barbarous chaos like Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan did once we overthrew their governments?' he asked.

Carlson wrapped up by trashing what he sees as the U.S. foreign policy establishment

'They're very good at wrecking things,' he said. 'It's what they do. They planned the Iraq war and they never apologized for it. So we might want to make sure they don't wreck anything else ever again, especially this country.'
For the first time, Melinda Gates addressed the repercussions of her ex-husband Bill Gates' adultery throughout their marriage.

Bill Gates, 66, reportedly had a years-long romance with one of Microsoft's programmers that began in 2000, just after Melinda Gates announced her breakup from Bill Gates in May 2021. "There was an affair approximately 20 years ago that ended peacefully," a spokesman later revealed in a statement.

Melinda Gates: Trust Is Broken

The 57-year-old, who surprised the world when Melinda Gates and Bill Gates announced they were splitting their 27-year marriage in May 2021, is featured in a preview teaser for the interview, which will run on March 3, implying that her relationship with the billionaire businessman was "trust broken."

In a video, she speaks up for the first time about her husband's infidelity; it was discovered last year that Bill Gates had an extramarital affair with a female Microsoft employee in 2000, six years after he and Melinda married.

Melinda revealed to Gayle that the pair tried to 'work through the betrayal, but that their trust could not be reestablished in the end. She claimed that she was upset by the breakup while understanding that divorce was her only option. She had hoped that their marriage would last a lifetime during most of their marriage.

The interview, which is the first time Melinda has spoken publicly about her divorce from Bill, comes 10 months after the former couple announced their separation to the world and only seven months after they finalized their $130 billion divorce deal. While Bill and Melinda Gates have been quiet on the reason for their breakup, the Microsoft founder has been shaken by allegations that he behaved improperly with female colleagues at the firm only weeks after their announcement.

Multiple rumors arose in May 2021 that the billionaire had extramarital affairs with female Microsoft employees; during that same month, Bill's spokeswoman revealed that he had an affair with a female Microsoft employee in 2000 when he was married to Melinda, Daily Mail reported.

Read Also: Prince Andrew Is Broken After Settlement in Sex Abuse Case; MPs Can't Investigate Where The Duke Gets His Payment For Virginia Giuffre

Bill, Melinda Gates Try To Work on the Foundation

Bill Gates said his split from Melinda was a "very sad milestone" and a source of "personal sadness" shortly after the divorce was finalized. Gates told the anchor that he and his ex-wife will continue their philanthropy work together, citing her "incredible strengths" in furthering the missions of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Melinda has stated that she intends to continue working with Bill on the foundation for at least another two years. Bill and Melinda Gates were seen together at the wedding of their oldest child, Jennifer Gates, 25, who married Nayel Nassar, a 30-year-old equestrian, in Westchester County last October, as per New York Post.

Last year, the 65-year-old stepped down from Microsoft's board of directors to focus on their charity initiatives, making him the world's second-richest person - with a meager $124 billion fortune.

Following his divorce from his ex-wife Melinda, he is now the world's fifth-richest man. According to estimates, despite giving $50 billion to charity since 1994, Gates is making more money than he is donating.

On March 13, 2020, Bill Gates resigned from Microsoft's board of directors, nearly 45 years after co-founding the firm with Paul Allen and 20 years after stepping down as CEO in 2000. Gates and his two sisters, as well as his parents, grew up in Seattle, Washington. After dropping out of college, he co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen, according to The Sun.

Related Article: Melinda French Gates Net Worth: What Does Bill Gates' Ex-Wife Plan To Do With Her $11.4 Billion Wealth?

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Sarah Everard's family today issued a statement on the first anniversary of her rape and murder, as the Met Police said it 'remains deeply disgusted and ashamed' one of its officers was responsible.

Wayne Couzens was handed a whole-life jail term last year after using Covid powers to conduct a fake arrest of the 33-year-old marketing executive as she walked home from a friend's house, before committing crimes so horrific they shocked the nation and undermined confidence in the police.

The 49-year-old, who used his warrant card and handcuffs to carry out the crime, had been planning for at least a month before abducting Ms Everard in Clapham, south London, on the evening of March 3, 2021.

Statement from Ms Everard's family on the first anniversary of her horrific murder 'It is a year since Sarah died and we remember her today, as every day, with all our love. Our lives have changed forever and we live with the sadness of our loss. Sarah was wonderful and we miss her all the time. 'Over the past year we have been overwhelmed with the kindness shown to us, not just by family and friends, but by the wider public. We are immensely grateful to everyone for their support, it has meant such a lot to us and has comforted us through this terrible time. 'Sadly, Sarah is not the only woman to have lost her life recently in violent circumstances and we would like to extend our deepest sympathy to other families who are also grieving.' Advertisement

Passing sentence at the Old Bailey in September, Lord Justice Fulford said the case in which a serving officer abused his position was so exceptional that it warranted a whole life order, meaning Couzens will never be freed.

It was the first time the sentence had been imposed for a single murder of an adult not committed in the course of a terror attack.

Today, exactly 12 months on from when Ms Everard first went missing, her loved ones told of their personal woe.

In a statement, her family said: 'It is a year since Sarah died and we remember her today, as every day, with all our love. Our lives have changed forever and we live with the sadness of our loss. Sarah was wonderful and we miss her all the time.

'Over the past year we have been overwhelmed with the kindness shown to us, not just by family and friends, but by the wider public.

'We are immensely grateful to everyone for their support, it has meant such a lot to us and has comforted us through this terrible time.

'Sadly, Sarah is not the only woman to have lost her life recently in violent circumstances and we would like to extend our deepest sympathy to other families who are also grieving.'

The force has also issued a statement, which read: 'Our thoughts are with Sarah Everard's family and loved ones. One year on we remain deeply disgusted and shamed that a Met police officer was responsible for Sarah's appalling murder.'

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said it is 'unacceptable' that many women and girls still face violence and perpetrators must be held to account.

'It is unacceptable that so many women and girls still fear and face violence and abuse, and perpetrators must be held to account for their actions. Everyone deserves to feel safe on our streets.'

Scotland Yard today posted a statement saying it 'remains deeply disgusted and ashamed' that a Met Police officer was responsible for the murder of Sarah Everard, on the first anniversary of her horrific rape and killing

Wayne Couzens was handed a whole-life jail term last year after using Covid powers to conduct a fake arrest of the 33-year-old marketing executive as she walked home from a friend's house

Women 'demand change' on anniversary of Ms Everard's death Women will be demanding change at a memorial protest to mark the anniversary of the murder of Sarah Everard, organisers have said. The killing of the 33-year-old - who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by serving Met police officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home in south London - sparked outrage across the country one year ago. A rally is planned to remember Ms Everard, and other women killed by men, outside Holyrood on Thursday. Politicians including SNP MP Hannah Bardell and Labour MSPs Monica Lennon and Pauline McNeill are due to speak at the event, as well as Rape Crisis Scotland chief Sandy Brindley. Strut Safe founder Alice Jackson said the event has been planned as a 'coming together to mark a year since the passing of Sarah Everard'. Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, she added: 'It's not only demanding change and mourning the countless others lost to violence, but to demonstrate that progress is inevitable, it is the only path we will accept. 'It is to let those in Holyrood and wider society know that there is no place in our society for those who perpetrate violence, for those who protect the people who perpetrate it and encourage it. 'So we are just asking people to join us, to come together with us.' Strut Safe was set up in the wake of Ms Everard's murder, with volunteers providing a free service to help women walk home safely in Edinburgh, along with phone support in the rest of the UK. Ms Everard's murder in March 2021 'exposed the gravity of the situation in terms of how much misogyny there is in our culture, the brutality of misogynistic violence that many of us are constantly threatened by and suffer', Ms Jackson added. She said: 'It has served as a reminder for many and a wake-up call for so many of us that we are not protected or valued by some of the institutions that claim to do so. 'In the year since her passing we have lost so many more to violence, despite promises after her murder that her death would incite meaningful change.' On Thursday evening, a walk will take place in south-west London, which organisers The Urban Angels said is in memory of 'victims of gendered violence.' The group, which aims to make society safer for women and non-binary people, wrote it is a 'chance for us all to stand in solidarity and show that we both demand and support change.' The event will begin at Clapham North underground station at 7pm and will finish at the Clapham Common bandstand, near where Ms Everard went missing and the location of a socially distanced vigil held in her memory last year. Advertisement

Mayor London Sadiq Khan also issued a statement this morning. He said: 'My thoughts are with Sarah Everard's family, friends and all those who knew her.

'Today we remember the young woman that Sarah was, and the life that she lived. She was a vibrant, talented, intelligent young woman, who was loved deeply by her family and friends.

'Sarah's murder left the nation in shock, and sparked a national outcry about the way our society treats women and girls. I am clear, we cannot simply respond to male violence against women and girls  we must prevent it.

'I want every woman and girl to be safe, and to feel safe  whatever time of day and wherever they are in the capital. I will continue to do everything within my power to ensure that ending violence against women and girls is treated with the utmost urgency both by our police, and society as a whole.'

Meanwhile, outgoing Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick marked the anniversary by laying flowers in tribute to Ms Everard.

Dozens of well wishers have left flowers at the bandstand in Clapham Common, south London today - close to where Sarah was last seen alive before she was brutally kidnapped and killed.

In the days after Sarah's murder the bandstand became a focal point for an outpouring of grief and anger calling for more awareness for women's safety.

Police were then slammed for breaking up a vigil after hundreds defied orders to not attend a cancelled organised event during the covid lockdown.

Now a year on, well wishers have laid flowers at the site in Sarah's memory.

The Women's Institute have put up bunting around the bandstand highlighting Sarah and every other woman killed in the UK since Sarah's horrific death which shocked the nation.

Lydia Davies, a 53-year-old nanny from Wales who has lived and worked in Clapham for over six years said that she and other local nannies and mothers had helped in the search for Sarah, and that every woman she knew had been deeply affected by the shocking events of last March.

She said: 'I don't know how to feel right now, it is really tough.

'What has even happened since then? Have any laws been brought in? Have any of these officers who they've realised have done awful things been suspended? Are we any safer to walk in the dark now?

'Police stations everywhere are shutting, we don't know where to go. When you call 999 they don't come. What are you supposed to do when something happens?

'I am a nanny so I often work late and have to walk home in the dark. I have been getting minicabs a lot more now but they are expensive so I still often walk.

'As soon as we saw the posters with the image of Sarah it just hit us, every woman I knew. A few of us helped to look for her.'

Lydia explained how women felt when it happened last year and why so many decided to break lockdown rules to gather for the vigil to Sarah: 'There was an outpouring of grief, it was amazing.

'If you are a woman who has had any violence in her background or you have had an abusive partner, her death just brought everything back to you. You just felt like the vigil was a way to express that.

'The police dealt with it in a very heavy-handed way, they could have policed it but they did it in the wrong way. The local MP begged with them to stop.

'There were activists who were over the top, but the majority were mums and daughters who had just had enough.'

Annie Lane, 28, who works in PR and lives in Clapham, laid tulips at the bandstand while out for her daily jog, and said: 'It's awful what happened it's terrifying.

'I live in the local area and I am a similar demographic to Sarah. It could have been me, it could have been anyone.

'It has just reminded everybody about how dangerous it is for girls out there.

'There needs to be more done to protect girls, well I say protect girls but it's actually more to change the behaviour of men and boys - men just seem to think its their right to attack girls and obviously it is not right.

'In lockdown the only thing there was to do was go for a walk, she was just walking home because it was the safest way for her healthwise, but obviously the most unsafe way in terms of violence.'

'Women are still looking over our shoulders, I don't think anything has changed since.

'There is more conversation around girls but I don't know if that has translated into boys understanding that they too need to talk about it and make the change.

'She did everything she could she wore brightly coloured clothes, she rung her boyfriend, there's nothing she could have done to stop it - but men and society could have done more.

'I hope that one day girls can walk home in the dark safely, not having to clutch their keys. There is apps and stuff now but it is silly that that is what girls have to do to feel safe.'

Cressida Dick Commissioner of the Met Police lays flowers at the Clapham Bandstand south west London, a year on from the murder of Sarah Everard

Cressida Dick Commissioner of the Met Police lays flowers at the Clapham Bandstand south west London, a year on from the murder of Sarah Everard

Earlier this week, Priti Patel told police that attacks on women and girls should be given the same priority as tackling terrorism, saying: 'I do not accept that violence against them is inevitable.'

The Home Secretary's plan will aim to improve the record low conviction rate for rape, amid scathing criticism of police and criminal prosecutors.

It comes as an exclusive survey carried out by Good Morning Britain reveals that three quarters of men in the UK recognise that they should actively change their behaviour to make women feel safe when they are on their own.

The specially commissioned poll by Savanta ComRes, of more than two thousand men in the UK, also revealed that 84% of men are concerned about women's safety and a staggering three in five men say it's not safe for women to walk home alone at night.

When asked whose responsibility it is, 60% of men believed the police or government should take primary responsibility for improving women's safety, with only 21% of men believing the responsibility is theirs and 10% of men thinking this should fall to women themselves.

In addition, half (49%) of the men surveyed said their female friends or family members have experienced some kind of physical, sexual or emotional abuse incuding harassment, stalking, threats, intimidation and blackmail.

Furthermore, more than half (55%) of the men who took part in the survey said they had already altered their behaviour to make a woman who was alone feel safer - with only three in ten (29%) agreeing they already do enough. Only 21% of men admitted to having asked a woman how they could alter their behaviour.

Neil Thompson, Editor, Good Morning Britain said: 'A lot has happened across the world since the tragic and terrible death of Sarah Everard, but as the new Enough government campaign which launched this week proves, and as we emerge from the pandemic, violence against women and girls has no doubt increased and is still very much a daily crisis for many in the UK.

'It is encouraging that GMB's new survey has revealed more men across the UK are taking responsibility for women's safety and looking to change their own behaviours as a consequence. Long may this continue and improve, as we still have a very long way to go.'

A slew of claims have come to light about the killer since he was jailed for his life with no chance of parole after he kidnapped, raped and murdered Miss Everard.

Couzens is known to have committed an indecent exposure, driving round naked from the waist down in his car, when he served with them in 2015.

He has also been identified as being responsible for carrying out the same offence at a McDonald's restaurant days before he targeted Miss Everard.

On March 3, he staged a fake Covid arrest, handcuffed Miss Everard and put her in his car before driving 80 miles to Kent where he raped and murdered her. Days later, he burned her body and left it in woods near land he owned.

The Met faced a wave of criticism over missed opportunities to expose Couzens as a sexual predator before he went on to murder Ms Everard.

It emerged he was known as 'the rapist' by staff at the Civil Nuclear Constabulary because he made female colleagues feel so uncomfortable.

He had been accused of indecent exposure in Kent in 2015 and in London in the days before Ms Everard's murder, but was allowed to continue working.

On March 3, Couzens staged a fake Covid arrest, handcuffed Sarah Everard (pictured), 33, and put her in his car before driving 80 miles to Kent where he raped and murdered her

Ms Patel announced there will be an independent inquiry into the 'systematic failures' that allowed Couzens to serve as a Met police officer. The Home Secretary said that 'recent tragic events have exposed unimaginable failures in policing'.

She said that the public 'have a right to know' why Couzens was able to be employed by the Metropolitan Police.

The inquiry will look at Couzens' career in the Metropolitan Police and determine if red flags were missed to identify him as a threat.

The inquiry will be split into two parts, with the first examining Couzens' previous behaviour.

It will seek to establish a 'definitive account' of his conduct leading up to his conviction, as well 'any opportunities missed'.

The second part of the probe will look at 'specific issues raised by the first part of the inquiry'.

That could include examining wider issues across policing, including vetting practices, discipline and workplace behaviour.

The Met has also commissioned its own review of the culture and standards at the force, including Couzen's former unit - the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command.

The past year has seen a number of high profile alleged stranger murders of women, including the deaths of PCSO Julia James and teachers Sabina Nessa and Ashling Murphy.

Another case saw labourer Valentin Lazar, 21, jailed for life for beating 45-year-old Maria Rawlings to death after a chance meeting on a bus.

Women will today be demanding change at a memorial protest to mark the anniversary of the murder of Ms Everard, organisers have said.

A rally is planned to remember Ms Everard, and other women killed by men, outside Holyrood on Thursday.

Politicians including SNP MP Hannah Bardell and Labour MSPs Monica Lennon and Pauline McNeill are due to speak at the event, as well as Rape Crisis Scotland chief Sandy Brindley.

Strut Safe founder Alice Jackson said the event has been planned as a 'coming together to mark a year since the passing of Sarah Everard'.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, she added: 'It's not only demanding change and mourning the countless others lost to violence, but to demonstrate that progress is inevitable, it is the only path we will accept.

'It is to let those in Holyrood and wider society know that there is no place in our society for those who perpetrate violence, for those who protect the people who perpetrate it and encourage it.

'So we are just asking people to join us, to come together with us.'

Strut Safe was set up in the wake of Ms Everard's murder, with volunteers providing a free service to help women walk home safely in Edinburgh, along with phone support in the rest of the UK.

Ms Everard's murder in March 2021 'exposed the gravity of the situation in terms of how much misogyny there is in our culture, the brutality of misogynistic violence that many of us are constantly threatened by and suffer', Ms Jackson added.

She said: 'It has served as a reminder for many and a wake-up call for so many of us that we are not protected or valued by some of the institutions that claim to do so.

'In the year since her passing we have lost so many more to violence, despite promises after her murder that her death would incite meaningful change.'

On Thursday evening, a walk will take place in south-west London, which organisers The Urban Angels said is in memory of 'victims of gendered violence.'

The group, which aims to make society safer for women and non-binary people, wrote it is a 'chance for us all to stand in solidarity and show that we both demand and support change.'

The event will begin at Clapham North underground station at 7pm and will finish at the Clapham Common bandstand, near where Ms Everard went missing and the location of a socially distanced vigil held in her memory last year.
The Russian military's initial invasion of Ukraine has been a surprising strategic and tactical blunder marked by food and fuel shortages, abandoned armored vehicles, aircraft losses and troop deaths, US experts said on Thursday.

'This is a colossal intelligence failure that vastly underestimated Ukrainian resistance, and military execution has been terrible,' Michael Vickers, former US Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, said this week at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

'His main attack has been underweighted. It's been piecemeal. His reconnaissance elements have been captured, columns have been destroyed,' he said.

'It's just a disaster, through and through.'

This Maxar satellite image taken on February 28, 2022 and released on March 2, 2022 shows burning homes and impact craters in fields near Rivnopillia, Ukraine

A huge 40-mile convoy of Russian military vehicles appeared to have stalled less over 30 kilometers outside of Kyiv, according to UK Ministry of Defence.

'The main body of the large Russian column advancing on Kyiv remains over 30km from the center of the city having been delayed from staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion,' said UK Ministry of Defence on Thursday.

'The column has made little discernable progress in three days.'

Retired lieutenant General Mark Hertling told CNN on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces were prioritizing military targets, shifting the focus away from the 40-mile convoy, which he suggested is mostly made up of supply vehicles.

But the failures of the first days, including vastly underestimating the Ukrainians' willingness to fight back, could lead to a frustrated Moscow deciding to unleash all its power and indiscriminately destroying large swathes of Ukraine, they said.

US specialists who study the Russian military say they have been astonished by the mismanagement of the campaign, which has seen invading columns stalled, apparently hundreds of Russian armored vehicles lost, and the Ukrainians preventing the Kremlin's air force from controlling the skies.

'If you were going to screw it up two or three weeks in, I might understand it,' said Scott Boston, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corp, a think tank.

'But if you, like, tripped over the doorframe on the way into the house, you have another issue,' he said.

The Pentagon and private sector experts expected Russian President Vladimir Putin's army to quickly destroy Ukraine's ability to fight back, undermining its command and control of the 200,000-strong Ukraine military, wrecking its missile defenses and destroying Kyiv's air force.

A photograph shows anti-tank devices set up by Ukrainian forces in Independence Square in Kyiv on March 2, 2022

None of that has happened in the first six days. And, although there are no reliable estimates of the dead, injured and captured Russian troops, the numbers appear to be much higher than what would have been expected in a well-managed invasion.

Aircraft losses

An assessment by military experts of the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center pointed to the crucial failure of the Russians to quickly seize and hold an airport just outside Kyiv.

The fight over the airport left it likely too damaged to use as planned to invade Kyiv, they said.

Moreover, they said, 'Russian aircraft and helicopter losses have been surprisingly high and unsustainable,' because they did not destroy the Ukrainians' air defenses.

Also surprising was the limited or ineffective deployment of electronic warfare weapons, which most analysts expected would have a significant role in attacking the Ukrainians' ability to communicate.

'Were the Russians able to cut off Ukrainian military leaders from those they are commanding... Ukrainian air and air-defense forces would have been forced to fight in an uncoordinated fashion, making them less lethal and more susceptible to attack,' the Scowcroft Center report said.

Boston pointed out that the Ukrainians have continued to use their Turkish-made Bayraktar drones to destroy Russian armor.

'If they got hit with the Turkish drones once or twice, okay,' he said.

'If they got hit more than once or twice, something's wrong on the Russian side.'

Food shortages

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the Russians appeared to not coordinate well their sizable and diverse capabilities, or manage the logistics for the invasion.

'We're seeing indications here early on that though they have sophisticated combined arms capabilities, that they're not being necessarily fully integrated,' he said.

Equally surprising was their logistics shortcomings.

'We're seeing vehicles abandoned. We're seeing sustainment problems not just in fuel but in food,' he said Wednesday.

Boston, who has taken part in high-level war games focused on the Russian force, said there are signs they much of the force is young, undertrained for this kind of conflict, and probably unaware they were even going to war.

He said it appeared, too, that the troops on the ground had no sense of what they were trying to do in invading Ukraine, with its longstanding ties to Russia.

'If you don't know what's going on... you can't adapt,' he said.

None of the experts count the Russians out. The Russian force's advance has stalled, but that could allow it to resolve its logistical problems, noted Kirby.

And to the contrary, they expect Putin's frustration over the first days could lead to his unleashing the full force of his artillery, missiles and air power on the Ukrainian population with devastating effect.

'Russia still holds the overwhelming combat power advantages that will eventually grind down Ukrainian forces as the war continues,' said the Scowcroft Center analysis.
A woman has somehow survived a train slamming into her car while she was stuck on a notorious level crossing on Thursday.

The woman's Honda Civic was trapped between boom gates on the hated crossing on High Street at Glen Iris in Melbourne's east when a train struck the back of her car, spinning it around.

She was unable to get off the crossing because another car directly ahead of her had stalled and blocked her in, causing heavy traffic to build up.

The woman's Honda Civic was trapped between boom gates on a hated crossing on High Street at Glen Iris in Melbourne's east when a train struck the back of her car, spinning it around

The woman's car was smashed by a train on Melbourne's Glen Waverley line at 12.30 on Thursday

'The train came around the corner so quickly it didn't have time to brake and she was in the middle of the train line,' witness Ben described the scene to 3AW.

'It smashed right into the back of her car, spun her right around.'

He described the aftermath, which left her car completely mangled by the impact, as a 'complete mess'.

He said she was 'very lucky to be alive'.

The driver was taken to hospital for observation.

Thursday's accident was the second time in six months a train has struck a vehicle on the Glen Iris level crossing in Melbourne's east

Tony, who works at 1533 Cellars on High Street, Glen Iris, told the Herald Sun that the driver of the car in front of her 'abandoned' his vehicle.

'I was thinking that there was no way she was going to get out alive but she did,' he said.

That caused traffic to bank up behind him, trapping the Honda Civic driver between the boom gates.

She was taken to hospital and no-one on the train was injured.

Residents of nearby Stonnington and Boroondara have campaigned for the crossing to be removed and previously launched an online petition.

'That makes 2 [accidents there] in the last 6 months,' said one signatory, Camille Cousins.

In August 2021 a truck and train collided on the same crossing. The 68-year-old driver was taken to hospital but survived

'It is a dangerous site and suspect being so close to traffic lights and freeway on/off ramps is causing drivers to make risky decisions.'

In August 2021 a truck and train collided on the same crossing.

The driver of the truck, a 68-year-old man, was taken to hospital in a stable condition with multiple injuries.

''I think the community in Glen Iris would like to see this crossing gone,' said Boroondara mayor Garry Thompson.
Ministers FINALLY crack down on oligarchs - but is it too late? Uzbekistan-born Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov and ex-Kremlin deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov are latest targets - as Abramovich sells off assets

Pictured: The Soviet-era Russian laboratory where Putin's 'bioweapon arsenal of smallpox, anthrax and Ebola is being kept'

Russian soldier holds two grenades in the air as he walks among Ukrainians demanding they surrender

More children's blood on Putin's hands: Father weeps over the body of his son killed by Russian shelling as Zelensky says 'heroic' resistance will stop Kyiv from falling and Ukrainian minister accuses Vladimir of war crimes

Russian forces seized a Ukrainian seaport and besieged another today as they tried to cut off the country from its coastline while Vladimir Putin's invasion continues.

The Russian military said it had control of Kherson, a Black Sea port of 280,000 people, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Elsewhere, the Russians pressed their offensive on multiple fronts, but a column of tanks appeared to have been stalled for days outside Kyiv. And the European Union said it had seen signs online that Russia could introduce martial law in the country.

Ukraine said Russia's forces have so far suffered 9,000 casualties in the fighting. Russia said yesterday that nearly 500 troops have been killed and 1,600 wounded.

And Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today warned that World War Three would be 'nuclear', while the Ukrainian city of Odessa was braced for an assault.

But Moscow's isolation deepened as most of the world demanded it withdraw from Ukraine and the UK said it was 'fast-forwarding sanctions' against oligarchs.

Ukraine said more than 2,000 civilians have died, while the United Nations refugee agency revealed that one million people have fled the country since the invasion.

A second round of 'peace talks' aimed at ending the fighting in eastern Europe was expected to take place today, but there were little hopes of a breakthrough.

And an International Criminal Court war crimes investigation has begun after Boris Johnson accused Mr Putin of committing atrocities by bombarding cities.

Meanwhile Ikea became the latest firm to halt operations in Russia as it temporarily shut all stores and factories in the country in a move impacting 15,000 workers.

Here was MailOnline's live blog running through updates on the crisis in Ukraine on Thursday:
The owners of major construction company ProBuild have admitted the business firm should have been shut down years ago after the troubled firm collapsed while owing $14million to workers.

The chief executive of South African parent company Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) Wolfgang Neff said there had been 'red flags' years ago.

Mr Neff told an interim results presentation on Wednesday night that in hindsight operations in Australia would have been abandoned a lot earlier.

'If we knew everything we know today we would have pulled the plug years ago,' the chief executive told the Herald Sun.

The owners of major construction company ProBuild have admitted the troubled firm should have been shut down years ago (pictured, construction workers in Darling Harbour)

Earlier this wek, it was revealed ProBuild owed 786 employees across 19 projects $14million, and even more to its 2300 creditors (pictured, a construction site in Darling Harbour)

'The reality of it was the exposure in terms of the guarantee facility over the last 18 months restricted this decision. The risk versus reward became untenable.'

Earlier this week, it was revealed ProBuild owed 786 employees across 19 projects $14million, and even more to its 2,300 creditors.

It comes after WBHO this week told the Johannesburg Stock Exchange it could no longer profitably build apartment complexes.

As a result administrators were assigned to Probuild after the parent company refused to throw any more money at the failed construction firm.

The bombshell decision will jeopardise 18 building and civil engineering projects around Australia and the livelihoods of nearly 800 workers.

The group's project at 443 Queen St Brisbane for 264 high-quality residential apartments has haemorrhaged as much as $223million in material losses.

Probuild's South African parent company this week told the Johannesburg Stock Exchange it could no longer profitably build apartment complexes (pictured, workers in Darling Harbour)

Australia's hardline border policies has been blamed for the company's collapse with a ban on travel making it difficult to contain costs (pictured, construction workers in Brisbane)

Mr Neff revealed while the Australian arm of the business had contributed about 60 per cent of revenue since 2017, it had done little to boost overall profits.

He said impacts of hardline border closures and lockdown policies in Australia had contributed to the company's collapse and made it difficult to contain costs.

The government's move in March 2020 to ban foreigners from arriving Down Under was blamed for WBHO's decision to put Probuild into administration, with Deloitte given the 'nightmarish' task of finding a buyer.

WBHO has been particularly scathing of lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne, which state governments imposed for much of 2021 to deal with a Delta outbreak.

'The Australian government's hardline approach of managing Covid-19 through a combination of border restrictions, snap lockdowns and mandatory work-from-home regulations for many sectors, has had a considerable impact on property markets,' it said.

The 264 high-quality residential apartments (pictured) in Brisbane's Queen Street has haemorrhaged as much as $120million

Large-scale apartment developments and commercial city office blocks have been made much less profitable in the absence of overseas migrants (pictured, a Sydney worksite)

With more people working from home, professionals are increasingly relocating to regional areas where houses near the beach still cost less than a city apartment.

This made large-scale apartment developments and commercial city office blocks much less profitable in the absence of overseas migrants and fewer professionals commuting to the central business district.

Mr Neff is hopeful the process of exiting the Australian market will take about 12 months, with little impact on remaining operations.

Despite a surge in demand for new homes, construction companies are more likely to be going into administration than any other kind of company.

In the December quarter of last year, 328 construction firms went into administration, compared with 178 in the food and accommodation services sector, Australian Securities and Investments Commission data showed.

Despite a surge in demand for new homes, construction companies are more likely to be going into administration than any other kind of company (pictured, workers in Sydney)

Australia's construction sector is facing challenges with higher building material costs for steel and timber as a result of Covid supply constraints (pictured, a Sydney worksite)

Housing Industry Association senior economist Nick Ward said Australia's apartment building sector had bounced back from the Covid restrictions.

'Confidence in the market did weaken after the border closures but there early signs that's come back,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

Nonetheless, Australia's construction sector is facing challenges with higher building material costs for steel and timber as a result of Covid supply constraints.

'In general, the supply of raw materials is a very significant constraint for builders at the moment,' Mr Ward said.

'That's showing up in two ways: costs of materials have increased significantly.'
This is the moment a Russian soldier held two grenades in the air as he walked among Ukrainians demanding that they surrender.

Footage, filmed in Konotop, shows the Russian serviceman holding what appear to be two grenades above his head as he walked through a crowd of furious Ukrainian citizens shouting 'shame'.

Others told Moscow's men, 'don't walk around showing your grenade off', while others jostled with the soldier, seemingly oblivious to the danger of the grenades.

The soldier was in the city, on Ukraine's south coast, to negotiate a Ukrainian surrender with residents after encircling the city.

He reportedly spoke with Konotop Mayor Artem Semenikhin and presented an ultimatum - surrender or fight.

Semenikhin, speaking from the city centre after the Russian soldiers had left, could be heard asking residents which option they wanted, to which the Ukrainians responded: 'Fight, of course.'

It comes as Russian forces on Thursday morning captured their first major city in Ukraine with Kherson - a regional capital of 300,000 people on the Black Sea - now under the control of Putin's forces.

Russian troops have encircled major cities Chernihiv, in the north west, and Mariupol, in the south, as well as Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's two largest cities - though all remained under Ukrainian control by Thursday morning.

This is the moment a Russian soldier held two grenades in the air as he walked among Ukrainians in the city of Konotop, demanding that they surrender

Footage, filmed in Konotop, shows a Russian commander purporting to hold two grenades above his head as he walks through a crowd of furious Ukrainian citizens. The soldier was reportedly in the city, on Ukraine's south coast, to negotiate a Ukrainian surrender with residents after encircling the city as the Russian invasion entered its eighth day

Konotop Mayor Artem Semenikhin spoke to residents after Russian forces left the city centre, asking them whether they wanted to surrender or fight.

In a rousing speech, Semenikhin said: 'They have given us an ultimatum - if we start resisting they will pull the city to pieces with artillery. You say yes then we will fight. Who's for fighting?'

'I am for fighting! Listen, we should take the decision all together because the artillery is aimed at us already.'

The crowd can be heard telling Semenikhin: 'Fight, of course'.

Konotop Mayor Artem Semenikhin spoke to residents after Russian forces left the city centre. He could be heard asking residents whether they wanted to surrender or fight, to which the Ukrainians responded: 'Fight, of course'

A force of around a dozen Russian vessels including landing ships is massing off the coast of Crimea today, with experts saying an assault on Odessa could come later in the day

Russian tanks and a military truck are seen rolling through the streets of Kherson on Wednesday

Overnight Russian forces captured Kherson. Igor Kolykhaiev, the city's mayor, said in an update around 1am that 'armed visitors' had stormed a council meeting and imposed new rules including a strict curfew and urged citizens to follow them.

But it was far from clear whether Ukrainian forces had totally withdrawn, with the UK MoD saying Thursday the situation is 'unclear'.



After failing to swiftly take major cities and to subdue Ukraine's military, US officials have said for days that they believe Russia will instead seek to encircle cities, cutting off supply and escape routes.

Intelligence suggests Vladimir Putin's men will then attack the cities with a combined force of armour, ground troops and engineers.

Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's two largest cities, remained under a heavy bombing campaign overnight with missiles striking civilian areas.

Among the targets was a train station in the Ukrainian capital being used to evacuate people from the city and as a shelter for those who cannot or have chosen not to leave.

Chernihiv, in the north west, and Mariupol, in the south, also remain under Ukrainian control despite being all-but surrounded by Russian forces and coming under heavy bombardment.

The mayor of Mariupol said Wednesday evening that Russian artillery had levelled large parts of the city in what amounted to 'genocide'.

The city of Kherson is seen on Wednesday, with Russian forces seemingly in control. Kherson is the first major city to fall to the Russians

A woman cries in the small basement of a house crowded with people seeking shelter from Russian airstrikes, outside the capital Kyiv, on Wednesday

A picture shows damages in a building entrance after the shelling by Russian forces of Constitution Square in Kharkiv

A damaged bridge is clearly seen beside bombed homes on Monday in Chernihiv, 80 miles north east of Kyiv
A former Jetstar pilot charged with murdering two elderly campers in Victoria could sue the budget airline over claims he was unfairly dismissed.

Greg Lynn, 55, has been behind bars since November of last year when he was charged with the murders of Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73.

Jetstar dismissed the pilot almost immediately and advised through a letter dated January 7 his employment would be terminated.

Lynn was sacked with two months pay and the unpaid leave entitlements he accumulated over the 15 years he flew with the budget airline.

'Your present circumstances clearly prevent you from performing your role of narrow body captain,' his former employee stated.

Transport Workers Union (TWU) secretary John Berger has accused the airline of being 'harsh, unjust and unreasonable' in their decision.

Former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn, 55, (pictured) charged with murdering two elderly campers in Victoria could sue the airline over claims he was unfairly dismissed

Greg Lynn, 55, has remained behind bars since he was arrested in November 2021 and charged with the murders of elderly campers Russell Hill (right) and Carol Clay (left)

In a response dated January 20, the union boss said the sacking of the accused double-murderer was not proportionate to his circumstances.

'The union asserts that procedural fairness was not observed as the decision to terminate Captain Lynn's employment is disproportionate to the circumstances in which he finds himself,' the letter read.

'Captain Lynn has not been found guilty of any misconduct, he has advised Jetstar that he is on remand and therefore cannot attend at work.

'Captain Lynn has not been convicted of any crime.'

Jetstar has responded to the claims and denied Lynn has been treated unfairly.

A spokeswoman said it was clear the former pilot is on remand pending trial and therefore will nit be able to perform his duties for a significant period of time.

'Jetstar rejects the TWU's claims that the response is disproportionate and lacks procedural fairness, and will oppose the unfair dismissal claim by the TWU,' she said.

Ms Clay and Mr Hill disappeared from their campsite in the Wonnangatta Valley (pictured) on March 20, 2020, prompting an extensive two-year investigation by Victoria Police

The 'secret lovers' (pictured) mysteriously vanished from their campsite in the Wonnangatta Valley on March 20, 2020, prompting an extensive two-year investigation

A TWU spokeswoman told The Age all union members were entitled to representation in industrial disputes.

'The TWU is not involved in this criminal justice matter,' the spokeswoman stated.

'Consistent with regular practice, the union has provided support to this member for a Fair Work conciliation.'

Lynn will face a hearing at the Sales magistrates court on May 31. It is unclear if conditions will still prevent Lynn from flying if he is granted bail.

If he was convicted of the alleged double murders he could face life behind bars.

Ms Clay and Mr Hills' remains were found by detectives in Dargo, in Victoria's High Country, last November, just a few days after Lynn was arrested in Gippsland.

Forensic experts made the grisly find off the Providence Spur Track within dense bushland often frequented by deer hunters.

The remains were found not far below the surface after four days of extensive searching in the rugged bushland.

The remains were only recently identified as belonging to the pair.

Lynn (pictured) will face a hearing at the Sales magistrates court in May. If he is convicted of the double murder of the campers he faces a lifetime in jail

Campers found Mr Hill's car destroyed by fire at their campsite (pictured) near Dry River Creek Track the day after the 'secret lovers' were last heard from via high-frequency radio

The 'secret lovers' vanished from their campsite in the Wonnangatta Valley on March 20, 2020 and Victoria Police will allege they were murdered the same day.

The couple were last heard from when Mr Hill, an experienced outdoorsman, made a call via high-frequency radio saying he was at Wonnangatta Valley on March 20.

Campers found Mr Hill's car destroyed by fire at their campsite near Dry River Creek Track the following day, along with their burnt tent and some belongings.
A flood victim has unleashed at politicians for showing for a photo-op instead of pitching in to help.

Auchenflower resident Andrew Brady, who helped clean up his Brisbane suburb after devastating floods this week, was back at work clearing the site on Thursday after a supercell storm deluged exhausted locals.

Mr Brady said many tireless neighbours had been working around the clock and become too fatigued to continue.

'Please don't let another politician come down here with clean shoes, they just want be on camera, doing nothing,' Mr Brady told 9News.

'Come down [and] help.'

Mr Brady's swipe comes two days after Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk posed for cameras in front of floodwaters at Jindalee

Mr Brady's swipe comes two days after Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk posed for cameras in front of flood waters at Jindalee.

The gigantic clean-up in south-east Queensland was going well in many flooded suburbs before the premier, faced with the threat of more rain, ordered some people to stay indoors for 48 hours - and others to stay away from their homes.

'We're asking you to please, do not go back into your homes over this period because we don't want to put your lives at risk,' she announced on Thursday.

That instruction persuaded thousands of 'mud army' volunteers to stay away, after they had been helping distraught homeowners to salvage whatever they could.

They also helped with the soul-crushing task of clearing out ruined possessions and debris in their streets, homes and yards.

Auchenflower resident Andrew Brady begged politicians to pitch in and help instead of posing in front of cameras. 'I don't know who to trust,' he said

Brisbane residents worked for days to organise ruined possessions and debris for collection before floodwaters rose again

Many isolated flood-fatigued families, thousands of whom were still without power, were in despair.

'The people that kept it together, who were probably my strongest locals, are breaking down, they're just saying 'I can't take this no more',' Mr Brady said.

'I don't know who to trust.'

Residents in 21 brisbane suburbs were flooded, especially those living near the Brisbane river.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has been criticised for her mixed messaging during the devastating SE Queensland flooding

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and police commissioner Katarina Carroll meet four year old Beckham Waghorn while inspecting floodwaters at Jindalee

As of Thursday evening 21,000 south-east Queensland properties were without power.

That included 12,000 people in Brisbane, and over 1,000 in Logan.

Ms Palaszczuk's messaging was slammed as confusing by many.

She urged parents to pick up their children from schools from the northern Moreton Bay region, Sunshine Coast, Gympie, Wide Bay up to Bundaberg region due as weather conditions deteriorated.

More than 8,000 volunteers have signed on to help with the massive relief and recovery effort underway across the southeast

But opposition Leader David Crisafulli claimed the premier had sent three different messages to parents in one hour on different social media platforms.

Frustrated parents criticised her for 'mixed messaging' when calling for children to be picked up from school early as the flood crisis deteriorated.

'As we speak parents, schools and teachers are scrambling in different directions and acting on mixed advice. This is downright dangerous,' said said Queensland opposition education spokesman Christian Rowan.
A blond-haired Florida man has been arrested on suspicion of attacking seven Asian woman across Manhattan during a two-hour frenzy of violence.

Steven Zajonc, 28, was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment.

The homeless man was perp-walked out of a Manhattan police station on Wednesday night, wearing a sweater, sweatpants and white pool sliders, and ignored reporters' questions about why he'd allegedly carried out the spate of attacks.

He is accused of targeting seven women on February 27 between 6.30pm and 8.30pm, from Madison Avenue and East 30th Street to Broadway and East Eighth Street.

Zajonc is listed as having addresses in Sarasota, Florida, and Staten Island in New York, but was most recently listed as living at a Midtown Manhattan shelter. He does not appear to have a criminal record, and is believed to have been living on the streets at the time of the attacks.

His alleged attacks come after a spate of high-profile attacks on Asian-Americans in recent weeks - two of them deadly. Last week, Asian grandmother GuiYing Ma, 61, died after fighting for three months to recover from brain damage after being smashed in the face with a rock during a New York City street attack.

Steven Zajonc, 28, was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment

He is accused of targeting seven women between 6.30pm and 8.30pm from Madison Avenue and East 30th Street to Broadway and East Eighth Street

Zajonc ignored reporters' questions as he was bundled into a waiting cop car

Steven Zajonc, 28, was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment

This map shows the times and locations of the attacks, from Midtown Manhattan to Nolita and Greenwich Village, on Sunday

Ma, who immigrated four years ago from Liaoning, China, was sweeping her front sidewalk on November 26, 2021 in Jackson Heights, Queens when Elisaul Perez, 32, homeless man who was sleeping on the street attacked her, according to her family.

The first victim of the Sunday attacks, a 57-year-old Asian woman, was hit in the face by a man near Madison Avenue and East 30th Street.

She went to a nearby hospital to have treatment for a cut on her lip and facial swelling.

Just 10 minutes later police were called about another attack near Fifth Avenue and East 30th Street where a 25-year-old Asian woman was punched in the face by a man who ran away.

A $3,500 reward was being offered for information leading to the racist attacker's capture

And only five minutes after that police were called again after a man punched a 21-year-old Asian woman in the face near Park Avenue South and East 23rd Street.

She was rushed to hospital with facial cuts and a swollen mouth.

Just before 7pm a fourth Asian woman, 25, was punched in the face in Union Square near Irving Place and East 17th Street. She was also left with a cut on her face and swollen lip but didn't need hospital treatment.

At 7.15pm a 19-year-old Asian woman was elbowed in the face in the same area by a man who ran off.

The sixth attack was against a 25-year-old Asian woman who was elbowed in the face near East Houston and Mott Street and just one hour later a 20-year-old Asian woman was shoved to the ground in the same area.

Asian Americans have experienced a 343 percent increase in hate crimes in 2021 with 133 attacks. Hispanics are also seeing a rise in attacks with eight attacks happening in 2021, compared to one in 2020

Only 219 people were arrested for hate crimes last year, though there were 524 such complaints. In 2020, there were 265 complaints and 93 arrests

Zajonc is believed to be originally from Florida but currently homeless in New York City.

One East Side resident told CBS: 'I try not to let it totally change my life but at the same time I've noticed there's an uptick in that stuff so I'm a little bit more cautious.'

The latest spate of attacks adds to the increasing number of assaults Asians Americans have suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The NYPD has created an Asian Hate Crime Task Force in response to the increase in attacks and the department recorded 524 hate crime incidents in the city last year - almost double the amount in 2020 and the highest it's been in five years.

Some 131 'anti-Asian' incidents were recorded in 2021 - a 385 per cent increase from the 27 reported in 2020.

Adams reassigned Inspector Jessica Corey, who led the Hate Crime Task Force, last month. His office has not clarified where she was placed or who would replace her

Sunday's crime spree came just two weeks after Christina Yuna Lee, a 35-year-old Korean-American, was followed by a homeless criminal to her apartment on the Lower East Side and stabbed to death in the bathtub.

In January, Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, was shoved to her death in front of a train at the West 42nd Street subway station.

On Monday, New York City Mayor ousted Jessica Corey, the head of the NYPD's hate crimes unit, which has made arrests in fewer than half of all reported incidents.

'We were too slow in investigating [crimes] as possible hate crimes,' Adams said Monday as he commented on Corey's ouster. 'I wanted a new face there, a new vision.'

Lee was reassigned to the firearms and tactics unit, after Adams learned that she had allegedly berated Esther Lee, a hate crime victim, for filming the man who she said spat on her and called her a 'carrier' aboard an A train last fall.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that his office 'tragically' currently has 33 open hate crime cases involving anti-Asian hate crimes - the most since the establishment of the office's Hate Crime Unit in 2010.

In 2021, the Manhattan DA's Office prosecuted nearly four times more anti-Asian hate crimes than in the previous year.
The British father who launched a one-man mission to save his wife and baby son who were stranded in Ukraine is facing an anxious wait to flee the war-torn country.

Ian Umney, 28, travelled more than 1,700 miles from St Helens in Merseyside to Nikopol in south-eastern Ukraine to be reunited with his his wife Nelia, 26, and their two-and-a-half-year-old son Jonathan.

The English teacher, who has only ever fired a BB gun before, vowed to stay and fight 'without hesitation' if he was called upon.

He quickly became a TikTok sensation - with more than 200,000 subscribers tuning in for his regular travel updates - and described the 'emotionally charged' moment he was finally reunited with his family after his 46-hour trip.

But Mr Umney says he has now arranged travel out of the country as the Russian invasion ramped up after he reached the coastal city on Tuesday.

As troops continue to advance on Ukrainian cities, Umney says he has managed to book a last-minute evacuation train out of Ukraine that leaves Nikopol on March 13.

British teacher Ian Umney, 28, travelled more than 1,700 miles from St Helens in Merseyside to Nikopol in south-eastern Ukraine to be reunited with his his wife Nelia, 26, and their two-and-a-half-year-old son Jonathan (pictured together, above)

English teacher Ian Umney, who has only ever fired a BB gun before, had vowed to stay and fight 'without hesitation' if he was called upon or conscripted by Ukrainian forces

But the TikTok sensation - with more than 200,000 subscribers tuning in for his regular travel updates - now says he has arranged travel out of the country as the Russian invasion ramped up after he reached the coastal city on Tuesday

In the latest of his TikTok videos, Ian revealed his plan was to catch a train to Lviv in the west of Ukraine.

But the family now face a race against time, having already missed one of the planned evacuation trains to Dnipro.

He told his TikTok followers: 'We've got a plan of exit from Ukraine. It's all dependent on linking up to those evacuation trains in Dnipro.

'From here we have to go to another city which has got quite some difficulties at the minute and then from there another train to Dnipro.

'Then there is a free evacuation train.

'We missed one today, there was one evacuation bus that left this morning from Dnipro.'

Ukraine war: The latest Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall

Invasion so far has been badly managed, a 'disaster, through and through', US defence experts say

Ukraine's second city Kharkiv continues to come under heavy Russian shelling

Column of Russian vehicles north of Kyiv 'stalled' due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion

Moscow admits 498 troops have died in Ukraine, widely thought to be an under-estimate but still a record total for post-Soviet Russia

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine 'will immediately proceed'

A Bangladeshi sailor is killed in an attack on his vessel docked in the Black Sea port of Olvia

Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday

Russia tells citizens in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol to leave, raising fears bombing will intensify

UN General Assembly demands Russia 'immediately' withdraws. Moscow wins support from only four nations - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria

Swedish Armed Forces say four Russian fighter jets entered its airspace in the Baltic Sea

US launches 'KleptoCapture' with the aim of seizing yachts, private jets and homes of Russian oligarchs

Chelsea Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirms he is selling the Premier League club

Ukraine invites mothers of captured Russian troops to come and collect their sons

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urges Russians to protest daily against the invasion

US follows the EU in targeting Russian ally Belarus with sanctions for supporting invasion Advertisement

In later clips shared online, in which he can be seen playing with his young son, Ian adds: 'So at the minute we have booked a direct train from here to Lviv on the 13th. That's ten days away.

'So what we are doing now is we are waiting to see if there is any more information that we can ascertain on moving.

'Right now what I'm doing is going back to our family flat to tape up the windows.

'To get a few bits and bobs packed away in the bag so its ready to go ready to bug out as and when we need it.'

Umney, who has lived in Ukraine for six years, had been working in Britain prior to Vladimir Putin's invasion - leaving his family behind in the coastal city near the Russian border.

Having initially planned to make the 1,700 mile trip by car, Umney instead chose to fly to Krakow, in Poland and documented the trip on TikTok.

On Tuesday, Mr Umney, who quit his job as an English teacher to make the journey, posed for a heart-warming photo with Nelia and Jonathan in her parent's apartment in the southern city of Nikopol.

The cute toddler, wearing a Paw Patrol jumper, was cradled in his father's arms after his emotional journey.

Mr Umney beamed and could not hide his excitement at being with them again after a month apart.

He added: 'It was a very emotionally charged moment when I saw them. My son held out his arms for me and I wept into my wife's shoulder.

'It was such a relief and more than worth the risk and stress of travelling. It's been a long time. I'm finally here.'

But with Russian military officials yesterday claiming control of Kherson, a key crossing point of the Dneiper and just 120miles to the south-west of Nikopol, his wife's home city could soon come under siege.

Despite the threat of a Russian attack, Mr Umney, from St Helens, Merseyside, insisted he would remain in the city and fight if his Ukrainian wife wanted to stay.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss had earlier appeared to encourage Britons choosing to sign up to fight as part of an international legion of the Ukrainian armed forces.

But lawyers later warned that Britons who fight in Ukraine could be prosecuted under UK terror laws - much like those who took arms for Kurdish militia forces against ISIS in Syria.

Yesterday Prime Minister Boris Johnson waded into the debate, warning members of the so-called 'Lads Army' that they could be breaking British law by going over to Ukraine to fight.

Giving a speech in Estonia, Mr Johnson said: 'I can understand why people feel as they do but we have laws in our country about international conflicts and how they should be conducted.'

Asked if, in the wake of Ms Truss's comments, that the Government was encouraging Britons to fight, he replied: 'The UK is not actively doing any such thing.'

If Mr Umney does choose to fight, or is conscripted into the Ukrainian Armed Forces, he will be among dozens of Britons who have already volunteered to join the Ukrainian resistance.

'One hundred per cent, I would bear arms and fight the Russians,' he previously said.

'I think Nelia will want to stay in Nikopol. If she wants to stay, then I will arm myself and defend her city.'

The pair had a whirlwind romance after meeting while Mr Umney was on holiday in the Ukraine in 2016.

'We got married in January 2017. We had our son Jonathon in October 2019. I lived in the Ukraine for nearly six years, but before the invasion we had decided we would all move to the UK.

'We spent Christmas together in the UK, then they went back to Ukraine for a bit.'

The former cybersecurity worker (pictured with his wife) vowed he was 'on the way to reunite with my family by whatever means'

Mr Umney beamed and could not hide his excitement at being with them again after a month apart.

On Wednesday he added: 'It was a very emotionally charged moment when I saw them. My son held out his arms for me and I wept into my wife's shoulder.

'It was such a relief and more than worth the risk and stress of travelling. It's been a long time. I'm finally here.'

He made the decision to travel from the UK to Nikopol after Russian soldiers moved in last Friday.

He jetted from Manchester to Krakow in Poland on Sunday before catching a train to Lviv in his wife's homeland on Monday.

Following heavy delays and cancellations on the railways he then caught another overnight train to Nikopol.

Exhausted, he finally got to his wife's home city at lunchtime yesterday where he saw her and their little boy.

'It's been heartbreaking being without my family,' he said.

'But it's quite exhilarating to be on a journey to see them. I feel like I've achieved something.'

He added: 'We are going to spend some time together. We have been apart for a month. I last saw them on February 5.

'We need to make a sensible decision about what we are going to do next for the three of us. My family back home said it's too dangerous and it's too risky.'

Russian tanks and a military truck are seen rolling through the streets of Kherson on Wednesday

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

The city of Kherson is seen on Wednesday, with Russian forces seemingly in control. Kherson is the first major Ukrainian city to fall to the Russians

The news comes as Russia confirmed the capture of its first major city in Ukraine after a week of fighting, with Kherson - a regional capital of 300,000 people on the Black Sea - now under the control of Putin's forces.

Igor Kolykhaiev, the city's mayor, said in an update around 1.a.m that 'armed visitors' had stormed a council meeting and imposed new rules including a strict curfew and urged citizens to follow them.

But it was far from clear whether Ukrainian forces had totally withdrawn, with the UK MoD saying Thursday the situation is 'unclear'.

If Kherson is under full Russian control, then it opens up Odessa - Ukraine's main port city and primary naval base - to an assault.

Amphibious landing ships were seen forming up off the west coast of Crimea Thursday morning as US officials warned a major assault from the sea could come later in the day.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin resumed bombarding Ukrainian cities amid the rise of civilian and military losses, the Pentagon stated Wednesday that its nuclear missile test slated for this weekend will be postponed.

After the Russian leader put his country's nuclear weapons on high alert and amid concerns from the US that he is transporting vacuum bombs and cluster munitions across the border, Defense Department Spokesperson John Kirby said the action is a display of "restraint."

US Postpones Minuteman III Nuclear Missile Test Launch

In a press conference held as a missile struck near Kyiv's southern main rail station, where hundreds of women and children were being evacuated, Kirby claimed the US had not followed Putin's lead in raising nuclear alert levels.

The cancellation of the test flight is the US's first act of restraint after slamming Putin with a barrage of sanctions as the world continued to force him into exile.

At the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, countries from all over the world lined up against Russia to approve a resolution rebuking Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine and demanding the evacuation of the Russian military.

The missile testing has been postponed after the US Air Force displayed its military might in Japan on Tuesday, showcasing a fleet of more than two dozen jets in an apparent attempt to discourage Chinese forces from invading Taiwan's self-governing island.

The military show of might at Kadena Air Base comes two days after President Joe Biden despatched many former senior defense aides to the island country in a show of solidarity, as many fear that Russia's invasion of Ukraine may inspire a Chinese attack, according to Daily Mail.

Last week, Putin ordered the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military's general staff to deploy nuclear deterrent forces on a "special regime of combat duty," implying that tensions may escalate into a nuclear conflict.

The United States Air Force has 400 Minuteman III missiles on alert at three locations in the West and Midwest, each with a single nuclear warhead. Every four years, the Air Force conducts a test of nuclear-capable missiles, firing an unarmed missile 4,000 miles into space before landing near the Marshall Islands.

Seventy percent of the US nuclear weapons are stationed below the sea, aboard ballistic missile submarines. Multiple nuclear warheads, each 30 times more powerful than the nuclear bombs unleashed on Japan in 1945, are carried by such nuclear missiles, Fox News reported.

Read Also: Taliban Conducts Horrible Raids Across Kabul That Spark Fear, Diplomatic Criticism While The World Is Focused on Ukraine Crisis

What Is Minuteman III?

The nuclear-capable Minuteman III is an important element of the US military's strategic arsenal, with a range of over 6,000 miles (9,660 km) and a top speed of almost 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 kph). Missiles are distributed by launch teams in fortified subterranean launchers.

Senator Jim Inhofe, the senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed disappointment at the delay, stating that the test was necessary to maintain America's nuclear deterrence. According to the Pentagon, the delay will have no impact on the situation.

Following Putin's command the day before, Russia's defense ministry said on Monday that its nuclear missile units, as well as its Northern and Pacific fleets, had been placed on increased combat duty.

According to Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva, the order may have activated Russia's nuclear command and control system, thereby enabling communication channels for any future launch order. Alternatively, he believes it is possible that the Russians simply increased the number of people working at their nuclear sites.

Despite this, the Biden administration has not confirmed any specific steps taken by Russia's nuclear forces in response to the declaration, such as the possible removal of weapons from storage or the repositioning of nuclear force personnel.

On Monday, President Joe Biden stated that Americans should not be concerned about a nuclear conflict while Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Wednesday that his government was confident in America's security posture, as per NDTV.

Related Article: Vladimir Putin 'War Toys': Robot and Land-Water Tanks, Dogtroopers Among Rumored Weapons

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A woman left her south Wales home to make petrol bombs with her family in Ukraine while her ex-Royal Marine husband is preparing to take up arms to fight against Vladimir Putin's tanks.

Sabina Jenkins and her husband Michael had been living about 50 yards from the sea in Llanelli until a few weeks ago before a planned move to the US.

Michael, a soldier and engineer originally from Ringland, Newport, went out there to get the move started while Sabina returned home to her native Ukraine and moved in with her grandmother to sort out paperwork ahead of their move.

But then Russia invaded, forcing Sabina, her mother Oksana and her grandmother Larysa into the basement of the house a couple of hours south of Kyiv where they have been making petrol bombs to help defend their country.

Michael, who met Sabina while he was stationed in the Ukraine with the Marines as a machine gunner, plans to return to the country in the next week and said his priority is ensuring the safety of his family, before turning his attention to fighting the Russians as a 'voluntary soldier'.

Michael and Sabina Jenkins met while Michael was stationed in the Ukraine with the marines as a machine gunner. They were living in Llanelli until a few weeks ago but now they are preparing to defend Ukraine

Sabina said she thinks almost all households are making petrol bombs after Ukraine's Ministry of Defence issued graphics explaining how to launch them at approaching tanks.

She said the petrol bombs she and her family have been making have rope attached to them and a film wrapped tightly around the top ready to explode on impact.

In a video call, Sabina revealed their homemade bunker, complete with a log fire, beds and jars of essentials, and said: 'It's my granny's basement, but we've made it into a shelter.

'My grandmother has made these [petrol bombs] before. But I have never made these in my life. I never thought I would need to make them.'

Sabina thinks she and her family will be forced to use the home-made petrol bombs.

'We have been told we must be ready, we must be ready for anything', she said.

'We must be ready for the worst case scenario.'

Sabina said she and her family have had the chance to leave the country and still do but Larysa has spent her life in Ukraine and wants to defend it.

'I can't imagine leaving like this, no,' said Sabina.

'No, it's my family. My gran is here and I grew up here as a kid. If I leave, then what?

'Of course, I don't feel safe. Who feels safe in a war? But we will stay here and stand up for our land.'

Michael, who is due to the return to Ukraine next week, said his priority is the safety of his family before he turns his attention on fighting the Russians

Ahead of returning to Ukraine, Michael said he has not given up on trying to move his family to a safer place, even if they remain within the country.

He said he wants to ensure their safety before using his experience fighting around the world with the British Army, including in Ukraine against Russia, to help repel Vladimir Putin's troops.

He said: 'This could be a huge war.

'The worst one I think I'll experience by far. Ukraine is going to fight until the end and Russia has made it very clear of their intentions.

'I think when the worst does come NATO can't stand by and let that happen. And where does that leave us?

'My major concern and worry now is that I'm going to get to Ukraine too late for Sabina and her family.

'I need to get there and make sure they are safe, and then I'll fight with the voluntary battalion for as long as I'm needed.

'I have very bad anxiety, like something churning in my stomach. It's not so much anger but pure worry that I am here and they are there.'

Sabina said she cannot comprehend the 'hate between Ukraine and Russia' now.

'None of us expected this', she said.

'Maybe in Donbass or Luhansk, but not here.

'We never expected Putin would do this to the ordinary people. Ukraine and Russia were brothers, now people have so much hate for each other. I have no words for it.

'A lot of people are dying and Russian people are being told on TV that people in Ukraine are happy to see them [Russian soldiers]. It is totally wrong and not true.'

Sabina's grandmother Larysa holding one of the petrol bombs she made in the basement of her house a couple of hour south of Kyiv

Michael said he has been overwhelmed by the generosity of people he has met in western Europe and the US, particularly from those who donated money to help him and his family fly back to the Ukraine.

He added: 'I came [to the US] and spent all the savings I had building this new life for us. I just felt completely helpless because I've been trying to get to Ukraine but couldn't.

'I have had people sending me money from all over the world who I don't even know.

'It's not just me, seeing the clothes and donations being sent from the UK too makes me really proud of my country right now.

'I just want to say a massive thank you to anyone who has helped my family financially or emotionally.'

He said he is worried to hear about people planning to go to Ukraine without combat experience and said he has received 'hundreds of calls' from people asking him whether they should join the Ukraine war effort.

He added: 'I am really concerned. It is not a good idea to go there with little to no combat experience.

'I would highly suggest staying at home or doing something logistically to contribute, which would really help.

'I am not joking when I say I must have had 500 people come to me over the last few days saying they're thinking about fighting.

'Eighty per cent of them have no experience of war. There is no glory or romance about this.'
Scientists in Canada believe they have detected the first probable case of a deer transmitting Covid to a human.

The suspected infection happened last November in Ontario and involved an unnamed person who had 'close contact with deer'.

It was revealed in a pre-print study by Iowa State University, which has not been peer-reviewed.

A herd of 17 white-tailed deer were found to be infected with a 'new and highly divergent' variant of the virus in November and December 2021.

Analysis of positive swabs matched the strain to a person who lived in the same southwestern region of the Canadian province.

While the study could not definitively prove the patient caught Covid from a deer, they said it was 'likely' due to their close interaction and fact it was an isolated case.

Covid has become widespread in the deer populations of North America, with up to 80 per cent of the animals infected in some US states.

It is not clear how the deer are catching the virus in such high numbers, but studies suggest it could be through drinking water contaminated with human faeces.

Hundreds of white-tailed deer (pictured) are known to be infected with Covid in North America. Scientists say they may be catching the virus from drinking water contaminated with human faeces

The above map shows where in Ontario, Canada, the deer found to be infected with Covid were. Scientists say it is likely one human also got infected

Above are the possible transmission routes for how a human got infected with the 'new variant' in deer. Scientists say it either caught it from a deer (scenario 1) or both were infected with the variant at a similar time (scenario 2)

The latest case plays in to fears that wild animal populations could act as reservoirs for the virus where it can mutate before spreading back into humans.

Some scientists believe Omicron evolved in rodents before spreading back to the human population because of its unique alterations.

Several cases of SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes Covid, spreading from humans to pets including dogs and cats have been recorded.

But there has not been any confirmed cases of animals then passing the virus back to humans, despite anecdotal reports.

Covid is thought to have originated in bats and spread to humans through an intermediate host, but that animal has never been found.

Can animals catch Covid? Covid has been detected in animals on multiple occasions. Previous studies have found the virus can be passed on from people to animals ranging from pets to pests, including, cats, dogs, and rodents. This is called a reverse zoonosis, where an animal catches a disease from a person. This is the opposite of the more famous zoonosis, where a person catches a disease from an animal. Zoonosis is one of the theories behind the emergence of the original Covid strain. Recent examples of Covid reverse zoonosis include a cases where mink in fur farms Denmark had to be culled after catching the virus from people in late 2020. And just yesterday reports from Canada indicated Covid has been found in wild deer populations in the country, presumably caught from people. Advertisement

Professor Finlay Maguire, an epidemiologist at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, who was involved in the latest research, said it was the best evidence of an animal-to-human transmission yet.

He added: 'The good news is that there have been no indications of additional human cases related to this so far.'

But he said the discovery occurred 'before a considerable reduction in surveillance caused by the Omicron wave'.

In the study, published as a pre-print on MedRxiv, scientists said the deer had caught a variant linked to an old version of the virus that was circulating during Canada's early epidemic waves.

It had 76 extra mutations compared to the original Wuhan strain, including 37 linked to non-human infections.

A total of 300 deer were sampled with nasal swabs during the annual hunting season, from November to December, when they come into close contact with humans.

Canada's public health agency said this was likely an 'isolated case' after reviewing the paper.

But it added: 'Until we know more, people who hunt, trap or work closely with or handle wildlife should take precautions to prevent the potential spread of the virus.'

More than 29 animal species have been shown to be susceptible to Covid infections from humans since the start of the pandemic.

These include big cats, minks, hyenas, domestic cats, dogs, ferrets, fruit bats, primates, pangolins, pigs, raccoon dogs and hamsters.

Hundreds of white-tailed deer have tested positive across Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Ohio, with scientists estimating the true number could be much higher.
Vaping has become a growing problem in Australian schools, with some pupils even illegally importing vapes from China and selling them on to their mates for a profit.

Teachers have also spoken out about unpredictable classroom behaviour caused by high doses of nicotine or kids who are 'edgy' because they crave a vape.

The problem has got so bad after Covid-related school lockdowns last year, that some NSW schools are locking toilets during class time to stop students going there to vape.

The new revelations come as NSW education minister Sarah Mitchell said she will to tackle the issue 'head on'.

Vaping has become a growing problem in Australian schools, with NSW taking action to the issue

The action plan includes trying to change social attitudes to vaping, similar to how the anti-smoking movement started in the 1970s.

Ms Mitchell said dealing with vaping will involve parents, pupils and community attitudes.

'Increased vaping amongst our students is an issue that concerns me, as both a minister and as a parent,' she told the Daily Telegraph.

'We will be looking at everything from advertising, to additional resources in our schools to curated information for parents as we inform our young people to make healthy decisions.'

Craig Petersen, president of the Secondary Principals Council, said dozens of NSW schools are locking toilets during class time to stop students vaping.

'There are parents who are letting their children vape at home  Because of the nature of the vapes, they can get multiple hits very quickly which impacts behaviour,' he said.

Mr Petersen and other principals are also concerned about black market activities such as importing the vapes to sell on, and children being supplied with vapes by adults.

Vaping at Australian schools has increased since lockdowns as students picked up the habit while at home unsupervised

One Sydney principal said vape use had surged when students returned from lockdown because they had been left to vape all day unsupervised while at home.

When one pupil was caught selling vapes, school staff found about 100 vapes and hundreds of dollars made from selling them.

Another high school principal called for a crackdown on shops selling vapes, saying there should be more legislative control corner stores can't sell them to children under 18.'

An Education Department spokeswoman encouraged people to tell the police about shops selling vapes.

NSW Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell has launched an action plan to tackle the problem of vaping

Last year, a 15-year-old Sydney girl had to be ventilated after taking up vaping.

Dakota Stephenson went to hospital with a high temperature and back pain last September, seven months after she first started vaping with friends at school.

She was ventilated but survived.

Nationwide changes to vaping laws came into effect on October 1, criminalising the importation of e-cigarettes, pods and liquids containing nicotine from overseas without a valid prescription.

There was considerable concern vape vendors were sidestepping the ban on Chinese-made disposable devices by selling them on the black market anyway.
Putin-linked oligarchs could have their UK properties seized by the government, under radical plans being drawn up by Michael Gove.

The Cabinet minister is proposing to ramp up the sanctions regime by requisitioning lavish residences without paying any compensation.

They could potentially be used to house Ukrainian refugees, with Boris Johnson pledging that Britain will take hundreds of thousands fleeing the Russian invasion.

There is understood to have been 'enthusiastic' support at Cabinet for the idea - including from the PM - and it could apply to nine oligarchs sanctioned by the UK, including Kirill Shamalov, Vladimir Putin's former son-in-law.

Currently the state can freeze assets of people subject to sanctions, but cannot take possession of them without compensation.

Michael Gove (right) is proposing to ramp up the sanctions regime by requisitioning lavish residences without paying any compensation. It could apply to nine oligarchs sanctioned by the UK, including Kirill Shamalov (left), Vladimir Putin's former son-in-law

A woman carries her baby at border crossing in Medyka, Poland, as refugees flee Russian invasion of Ukraine

However, the plan - reported by the Financial Times - is likely to require legislation, and government lawyers have raised concerns it would face legal challenges for undermining core property rights.

No final decision has been reached on whether to proceed, with one official telling MailOnline that it will need to happen in 'days or weeks' to be relevant.

The possibility of housing Ukrainian refugees in any properties has also been discussed, as they would be 'the government's to use'.

But sources said it might end up being more practical to sell and use the proceeds for other housing.

Liz Truss, UK foreign secretary, said on Monday that the government is working through a 'hit list' of Putin-linked oligarchs for sanctions.

However, there has been criticism at how long the process is taking, with suggestions that some are already getting rid of assets.

Mr Johnson told the House of Commons yesterday: 'The vice is tightening on the Putin regime and it will continue to tighten.'

In a round of interview this morning, security minister Damian Hinds said more individuals will be sanctioned by the UK and appeared to suggest the UK could seize assets of Russian oligarchs.

The minister was told on LBC that German authorities have seized Alisher Usmanov's yacht, and he was asked whether similar action on elite Russians should be taken in Britain.

Mr Hinds said: 'Yeah, and, look, we are going to go further.

'We've acted very quickly on the initial round of sanctions - that includes individuals as well as organisations, banks and so on - but we've always been clear it is a ratchet approach and there can be more to come.

'Specifically on assets, we've got legislation going through Parliament at the moment - we're debating it on Monday - to include bolstering unexplained wealth orders, which are a potentially potent tool that can open investigations to lead to the proceeds of crime being seized.

'We need to gum up that system, we need to stop it, to stop the money laundering, but also, as you rightly say, where it is possible - and obviously we operate within a legal framework - we are absolutely motivated to seize the proceeds of crime.'
Mass blackouts hit Taiwan leaving more than five million households without power, with authorities blaming human negligence at a major power generation plant for the outage.

The power failures occurred on Thursday morning across the island, from the capital Taipei to central Taichung city and southern Pingtung county.

Hydro and other power plants are now being brought online to provide electricity, as Taiwan blamed negligence during the annual maintenance at the Hsinta power plant in the southern city of Kaohsiung for the mass outage.

Cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng said state-run operator Taipower's initial probe found the outage was caused by human negligence during annual repairs of a generator at the Hsinta plant.

The statement did not elaborate, though it added that Taipower's chairman Yang Wei-fu had submitted his resignation.

The mass blackouts came as former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the island's president Tsai Ing-wen to warn that Taiwan must not be allowed to suffer the same fate as Ukraine following Russia's barbaric invasion of the country.

Self-governed Taiwan's 23 million people live under the constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, which views the island as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walk together at the presidential building in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday

A shop owner and her dog stay outside a Taiwanese restaurant where electricity supply is down, following a nationwide blackout jeopardising transportation and the private sectors across island in Taipei on Thursday

'If any of us were mistaken or complacent about the risk to that freedom, I think we need only watch what's taking place in Europe today to see that this continues to demand deep concerted focus leadership from those of us who cherish freedom,' Pompeo said in a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen today.

'I think these days call for the simple reminder that it is not provocative to say that one demands freedom,' he added, warning that 'those who desire to destroy freedom, to change human lives' will see silence as 'their opportunity'.

Pompeo, one of former President Donald Trump's most hawkish advisers on China, arrived in Taipei on Wednesday for a visit at a time of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over the self-ruled island as well as the crisis sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Tsai bestowed a presidential honor to Pompeo during his visit on Thursday for his contribution to boosting relations with the island, as China's government lambasted his record as 'despicable'.

China placed sanctions on Pompeo when he left office at the end of the Trump presidency last year, angered by his repeated criticism, especially of its ruling Communist Party, and support for Chinese-claimed Taiwan.

The visit comes a day after the US Air Force displayed its military force at one of its airbases in Japan, showcasing a fleet of more than two dozen warplanes in an apparent effort to deter Chinese forces from invading Taiwan.

Democratic Taiwan has watched the Ukraine situation closely, as many fear that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could trigger a Chinese invasion of the country.

The blackouts across Taiwan meant that a scheduled live stream of Tsai's meeting with Pompeo was cancelled.

Taiwan's government blamed human negligence at the Hsinta power plant during annual repairs at a generator for the blackout.

'I am very sorry for this major loss of electricity, and am extremely apologetic for the inconvenience caused, especially for the south,' Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told reporters.

The US Air Force displayed its military force at one of its airbases in Japan on Tuesday, showcasing a fleet of more than two dozen warplanes in an apparent effort to deter Chinese forces from invading Taiwan

State-run Taipower said a malfunction occurred at Kaohsiung's Hsinta power plant, the island's third-largest coal-fired station which supplies around a seventh of Taiwan's power.

It then caused an ultra-high voltage station in neighbouring Tainan to trip, which led to the blackouts, it said.

The outage hit about 5.5 million homes across Taiwan, the company said, of which 4 million have since had power restored.

A police officer instructs the traffic as traffic lights are down in Taipei on Thursday, following a nationwide blackout across Taiwan

Power should start being restored in southern Taiwan from midday, Wang added.

Back-up power supply was at 24% at the time of the incident, Wang said, adding that it was not triggered by insufficient supply, the root cause of major outages in May, when Taiwan was grappling with drought.

TV footage showed police officers directing cars as traffic lights failed and some shops were forced to stay closed due to the lack of power.

Taiwan High Speed Rail said an unspecified number of its trains were affected by the power outage.

Taiwan Railways Administration said some of its trains operating in southern Tainan, Pingtung and central Nantou have been delayed or suspended.

The island does occasionally experience large power outages, particularly during warmer seasons when demand spikes.

In 2017, Taiwan's economic minister resigned following an outcry over massive power failures across the island, affecting more than six million households.

Blackouts also hit in May last year as demand spiked during a heatwave.

Tsai praised Pompeo for facilitating 'multiple breakthroughs' in Taiwan-US relations after conferring him an honorary medal to recognise his contributions

Meanwhile, Pompeo's visit to Taiwan comes a day after a separate trip by a delegation of former US security officials aimed at assuring regional allies that Washington 'stands firm behind its commitments'.

Pompeo announced in January last year as the outgoing state secretary that Washington was ending restrictions on official contacts with Taipei island in a move that angered Beijing.

Tsai praised Pompeo for facilitating 'multiple breakthroughs' in Taiwan-US relations after conferring him the Order of the Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon, one of Taiwan's top honours, in recognition of his contributions. Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is a previous recipient.

Pompeo, wearing a mask with U.S. and Taiwanese flags emblazoned upon it, said he was proud of his achievements while in office to try and normalise relations with Taiwan, including sending U.S. officials to visit.

'It is not provocative to say that one demands freedom. Indeed to walk away from these things demonstrate the absence of resolve,' he said.

China put sanctions on 'lying and cheating' Pompeo and 27 other top Trump-era officials as President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.

Asked about his trip, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: 'The relevant actions from Pompeo are despicable and inevitably a futile effort'.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen poses for pictures with Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after he was bestowed with an Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon at the presidential building in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday

China's top newspaper, the party's official People's Daily, weighed in with a commentary earlier on Thursday, calling Pompeo an 'extremely notorious' anti-China politician who 'took pride in lying and deceit' while in office.

The Donald Trump administration gave strong backing to Taiwan, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, including high-profile arms sales and visits by top U.S. officials.

China has ramped up its military and diplomatic pressure against Taiwan since the 2016 election of Tsai, who rejects its stance that the island is part of Chinese territory.

Its sabre-rattling has increased considerably over the past year, with warplanes breaching Taiwan's air defence zone on a near-daily basis.

Just weeks before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, China and Russia signed a joint statement agreeing to a host of foreign policy goals, including Taiwan being 'an inalienable part' of the mainland.

Taiwan's democratically elected government says it wants peace but will defend itself if attacked, and that only the island's people have the right to decide their future.

The island plans to more than double its yearly missile production capacity to close to 500 this year, Taiwan's defence ministry said in a report, as it boosts its combat power amid what it sees as China's growing military threat.

Taiwan last year approved extra military spending of T$240 billion ($8.6 billion) over the next five years as tensions with China, which claims the island as its own territory, have hit a new high and Chinese military planes have repeatedly flown through Taiwan's air defence identification zone.

In a report printed on Wednesday and sent to the parliament for review by lawmakers, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, the defence ministry said the extra spending included plans to boost annual missile production capacity to 497 from the current 207 a year.

Among them are Taiwan's self-made Wan Chien air-to-ground missiles as well as the upgraded version of the Hsiung Feng IIE missile, the longer-range Hsiung Sheng land-attack missile which military experts say is capable of hitting targets further inland in China.

The ministry was also planning to start manufacturing unspecified "attack drones" with an annual production target of 48 such aircraft.

The so-called 'Elephant Walk' - a term referring to the taxiing of large numbers of military aircraft before takeoff, when they are in close formation - saw a grouping of two dozen F-15 fighter aircraft and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, collectively valued at just over a billion dollars

Meanwhile, the US Air Force displayed its military might at the Kadena Air Base in Japan on Tuesday, showcasing a fleet of warplanes in an apparent effort to deter Chinese forces from invading Taiwan.

The display of military might at the base, which officials called a 'routine wing readiness exercise,' came two days after President Biden dispatched several former senior defense staffers to the island nation in a show of support, as many wonder whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine could trigger a Chinese invasion of the country.

The so-called 'Elephant Walk' - a term referring to the taxiing of large numbers of military aircraft before takeoff, when they are in close formation - saw a grouping of two dozen F-15 fighter aircraft and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, collectively valued at just over a billion dollars.

The show of force comes after months of mounting and increased Chinese aggression directed at Taiwan, including nine Chinese aircraft entering the nation's air space Thursday - the day Russian troops invaded Ukraine

The show of force comes after months of mounting and increased Chinese aggression directed at Taiwan, including nine Chinese aircraft entering the nation's air space Thursday - the day Russian troops invaded Ukraine

The fleet of jets are assigned to the 44th and 67th Fighter Squadrons, better known by their colloquial epithets, the Vampires and the Fighting Cocks, respectively. The chopper belongs to the 33rd Rescue Squadron, which boasts the motto 'That Others May Live.'

The formation also featured a $50million KC-135 Stratotanker refueling plane, assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron, as well as a $270million E-3 Sentry aerial command and control craft, assigned to the 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron.

The show of force comes after months of mounting and increased Chinese aggression directed at Taiwan, including nine Chinese aircraft entering the nation's air space Thursday - the day Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
Ukrainians have mocked a Russian soldier who fired on the door of an appliance store in Kherson - only to walk away with little to show from the face-off.

Footage recorded in secret shows a Russian soldier shooting a door to a store called 'Techno House' in an attempt to break in.

The video shows the soldier firing off a few rounds, but the door held firm.

The soldier then punched through the shattered glass with the butt of his rifle, knocking out the shards in an apparent attempt to open the door using the handle inside.

But after putting his gun on the ground and trying to force the door open by hand, the Russian soldier gave up and walked away.

The Russian soldier fired off a few rounds to try and get the door to give way

After, he walked up to see what effected the rounds had made, but he was disappointed

The soldier then knocked out the glass with his rifle, but ultimately walked away, leaving Techno House alone

A Ukrainian hiding from the Russian invasion and occupation of Kherson is believed to have recorded the footage before it was posted online.

Online users dubbed the incident 'The Battle of Techno House'.

The footage emerged ahead of confirmation that Kherson has become the first Ukrainian city to fall into the hands of the invading Russian forces.

Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's two largest cities, remained under a heavy bombing campaign overnight with missiles striking civilian areas.

Chernihiv, in the north west, and Mariupol, in the south, also remain under Ukrainian control despite being all-but surrounded by Russian forces and heavy bombing from Russian artillery.

Military tanks and trucks are spotted on the streets on Kherson, captured by video footage

A woman carries a child at the train station in Lviv following the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Most people in Sweden and Finland now want to join NATO after war broke out in Ukraine - despite Russia's threat it will 'retaliate' if they join the alliance.

A poll commissioned by Finnish broadcaster YLE this week showed that, for the first time, more than 50 per cent of Finns support joining the Western military alliance.

In neighboring Sweden, a similar poll showed those in favor of NATO membership outnumber those against.

Apparently sensing a shift among its Nordic neighbors, the Russian Foreign Ministry last week voiced concern about what it described as efforts by the United States and some of its allies to 'drag' Finland and Sweden into NATO.

Moscow also warned that the Kremlin would be forced to take retaliatory measures if either Finland or Sweden joined the Western military alliance.

The poll results come hours after four Russian fighter jets violated Sweden's airspace over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday evenings, as Moscow forces continued to bombard cities in Ukraine.

Support for NATO membership rises and falls in both states and there is no clear majority for joining in either of their parliaments but the signs of change since Russia began its invasion last week are unmistakable.

A poll commissioned by Finnish broadcaster YLE this week showed that, for the first time, more than 50 per cent of Finns support joining the Western military alliance

Most people in Sweden and Finland now want to join NATO after war broke out in Ukraine - after four Russian aircraft breached Swedish airspace over the east of Gotland on March 2

Sweden says four Russian fighter jets violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Wednesday

Apparently sensing a shift among its Nordic neighbors, the Russian Foreign Ministry last week voiced concern about what it described as efforts by the United States and some of its allies to 'drag' Finland and Sweden into NATO

Through the Cold War and the decades since, nothing could persuade Finns and Swedes that they would be better off joining NATO - until now.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has profoundly changed Europe's security outlook, including for Nordic neutrals Finland and Sweden, where support for joining NATO has surged to record levels.

'The unthinkable might start to become thinkable,' tweeted former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, a proponent of NATO membership.

The attack also prompted both states to break with their policy of not providing arms to countries at war by sending assault rifles and anti-tank weapons to Kyiv.

For Sweden, it's the first time offering military aid since 1939, when it assisted Finland against the Soviet Union.

It comes despite Russian threats of retaliation if either country tries to join NATO - though the governments of Sweden and Finland retorted that they won't let Moscow dictate their security policy.

Late on Wednesday, four Russian fighter jets - two SU-27 and two SU-24 fighters - flew briefly over Swedish airspace east of the island of Gotland, according to a statement from the Swedish Armed Forces.

'In light of the current situation we are very concerned about the incident,' Swedish Air Force chief Carl-Johan Edstrom said. 'This is unprofessional and irresponsible behavior from the Russian side.'

Swedish fighter jets were scrambled and took photographs of the Russian jets, the statement said.

'This shows that our readiness is good. We were in place to secure the territorial integrity and Swedish borders,' Edstrom said. 'We have total control of the situation.'

'The Russian violation of Swedish airspace is of course completely unacceptable,' Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told news agency TT.

'It will lead to a firm diplomatic response from Sweden. Swedish sovereignty and territory must always be respected.'

Police officers remove the body of a passerby killed in Tuesday's airstrike that hit Kyiv's main television tower

The remains of a destroyed Russian military convoy are seen on a street in Bucha, to the south of Kyiv, on Wednesday morning

Members of an Ukrainian civil defense unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown up bridge on Kyivs northern front on Tuesday

'I want to be extremely clear: It is Sweden that itself and independently decides on our security policy line,' Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.

Finland has a conflict-ridden history with Russia, with which it shares a 830-mile (1,340km) border.

Finns have taken part in dozens of wars against their eastern neighbor, for centuries as part of the Swedish Kingdom, and as an independent nation during the world wars, including two fought with the Soviet Union from 1939-40 and 1941-44.

In the postwar period, however, Finland pursued pragmatic political and economic ties with Moscow, remaining militarily nonaligned and a neutral buffer between East and West.

Sweden has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, choosing a path of peace after centuries of warfare with its neighbors.

Both countries put an end to traditional neutrality by joining the European Union in 1995 and deepening cooperation with NATO. However, a majority of people in both countries remained firmly against full membership in the alliance - until Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

The YLE poll showed 53 per cent were in favor of Finland joining NATO, with only 28 per cent against.

The poll had an error margin of 2.5 percentage points and included 1,382 respondents interviewed February 23 to 25. Russia's invasion began on February 24.

'It's a very significant shift,' said senior researcher Matti Pesu from the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

'We've had a situation in the past 25-30 years where Finns' opinions on NATO have been very stable. It seems to now to have changed completely.'

While noting that it's not possible to draw conclusions from a single poll, Pesu said no similar shift in public opinion occurred after Russia's 2008 war with Georgia and the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, 'so this is an exception.'

Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Monday evening that a planned debate in parliament the following day would cover the situation in Ukraine and was not intended as a 'wider conversation on Finland's policy regarding military alignment or non-alignment'

Protesters hold Ukrainian flags and anti war banners during a demonstration to protest the Russian invasion in Ukraine, in central Stockholm, Sweden, on March 1, 2022.

In Sweden, a late February poll commissioned by the Swedish public broadcaster SVT found 41 per cent of Swedes supported NATO membership and 35 per cent opposed it, marking the first time that those in favor exceeded those against.

The Nordic duo, important partners for NATO in the Baltic Sea area where Russia has substantially increased its military maneuvers in the past decade, has strongly stressed that it is up to them alone to decide whether to join the military alliance.

In his New Year's speech, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto pointedly said that 'Finland's room to maneuver and freedom of choice also include the possibility of military alignment and of applying for NATO membership, should we ourselves so decide.'

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted last week that for Helsinki and Stockholm 'this is a question of self-determination and the sovereign right to choose your own path and then potentially in the future, also to apply for NATO.'

There are no set criteria for joining NATO, but aspiring candidates must meet certain political and other considerations.

Many observers believe Finland and Sweden would qualify for fast-track entry into NATO without lengthy negotiations and membership could be a reality within months.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said this week that her Social Democratic Party would discuss possible NATO membership with other parties but didn't set a time frame. She said everyone agrees that the events of the past weeks have been a game-changer.

'Together we see that the security situation has changed remarkably since Russia attacked Ukraine. It is a fact that we have to acknowledge,' Marin said.

A man is visibly upset as he sits inside a vehicle damaged by shelling, in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday

People walk by a damaged vehicle and an armored car at a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday
Scotland is set to make it easier for people to legally change genders by reducing the waiting time to six months and removing the need to provide supporting medical reports.

Ministers also want to lower the age at which people can make the change from 18 to 16 - which some campaigners fear could lead to more youngsters having reassignment surgery they later regret.

It comes as Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison will update MSPs on the controversial Gender Recognition Reform Bill this afternoon.

The SNP-Scottish Green Government pledged to introduce the Bill - which will amend the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) - in its Programme for Government last year.

Four out of the five parties in Holyrood promised such reforms in their election manifestos, meaning the changes will likely be approved.

It comes despite the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) urging the government to pause the reforms for more detailed consideration.

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison (pictured) will update MSPs on the controversial Gender Recognition Reform Bill

Scottish ministers want to lower the age at which people can legally change gender from 18 to 16. (Pictured: Trans Pride march in London)

The body argued that the current system 'provides the correct balanced legal framework that protects everyone'.

But Ms Robison accused the EHRC of adopting a 'significant policy change on gender recognition reform', arguing they had made somewhat of a u-turn after backing the legislation as a key policy priority as recently as May 2021.

She added that the new bill would have no impact on the 2010 Equality Act or the single-sex exemptions it sets out, or the definitions of 'gender' or 'sex' in the original Gender Recognition Act.

While the process would be more streamlined, any applicant would still need to swear they intend to remain in their new gender for the rest of their life - with a false declaration amounting to a criminal offence.

Ministers say the legislation will improve the lives of trans people and ensure they do not have to go through a 'degrading' process to be legally recognised in their gender.

Some campaigners fear the change could impact women's rights, but the government insists it is simply making a pre-existing process quicker.



Ahead of Ms Robison's statement, Scottish Conservative MSP Megan Gallacher said: 'Women's rights must be paramount in the debate over GRA reform.

'We recognise the case for improving the system and we will constructively scrutinise the Government's proposals when they come forward.

'However, we will also be clear that any improvements to the process for trans people must not come at the expense of women's rights or women's safety.

Ministers say the legislation will improve the lives of trans people and ensure they do not have to go through a 'degrading' process to be legally recognised in their gender. (Pictured: Trans Pride march in London)

'We hope the Government will listen and respect the views of women who feel very strongly that their rights may be eroded if the SNP get this legislation wrong.'

Under current legislation, those wanting to change gender must apply to a UK gender recognition panel and be diagnosed with gender dysphoria - the medical term for a person whose gender does not match the biological sex they were born with.

They must also be able to prove they have been living in their acquired gender for at least two years.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been an avid support of trans rights, previously describing the minority as 'one of the most stigmatised in our society.'

Ms Sturgeon insisted their rights did not need to clash with those of women - after some groups claimed the proposals could undermine access to women-only spaces, including in hospitals and refuges.

In February, a Savanta ComRes poll for the BBC found 57 per cent of Scots support the idea of making it easier to acquire a gender recognition certificate for people who identify as transgender.

However, just 5 per cent of people said they follow discourse on the issue 'very closely', with 31 per cent saying they follow it 'quite closely'.

Work on the Bill was paused due to the pandemic, delaying it until after the May 2021 election.

The SNP committed to bringing forward its Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill in its new Programme for Government.

The document stated: 'While the COVID19 pandemic delayed our work to establish a more straightforward system for obtaining legal gender recognition, trans people should not have to go through a degrading, traumatic and intrusive process to be legally recognised in their gender.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (pictured) has been an avid support of trans rights, previously describing the minority as 'one of the most stigmatised in our society.'

'Within the next year we will bring forward the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, removing the current medical requirements and reducing the time that applicants for gender recognition need to have lived in their acquired gender from two years to three months.

'The changes will improve the lives of trans people, while ensuring the legislation doesn't affect the rights and protections that women currently have under the Equality Act.'

It comes after some campaigners said they feared the new law would 'open the floodgates' to teenagers requesting irreversible gender reassignment surgery.

Statistics obtained by the For Women Scotland campaign group last year showed there were at least 51 cases over a six year period where trans males under the age of 18 had been approved for double mastectomies.

Those people were referred to NHS hospitals in England for assessment on 'specialist chest reconstruction'.

The campaign group expressed concerns that lowering the age limit for certificates to 16 could result in more young people requesting surgery which they could later regret.

Trina Budge, director of For Women Scotland, told The Telegraph that England and other countries were 'sensibly rolling back on invasive and non-reversible treatments' for young trans people.

She said it was 'shocking' to see Scotland 'heading in the opposite direction'.

'No physically healthy child should ever be locked into a pathway of puberty blocking drugs and wrong-sex hormones, leading to the removal of breasts at the age of 16,' she said.

'Lowering the age at which gender can be changed to 16 will inevitably open the floodgates for many more teenagers to request elective surgeries to match their new legal status.'
Russia's ministry of education will today give school pupils across the country an online lesson, propagating the claim that Nato poses a danger to the Kremlin as Vladimir Putin ramps up his efforts to brainwash children as young as 11.

The President has been desperately trying to control the narrative in his homeland as the war in Ukraine enters its second week.

Teachers have reportedly been given manuals, which demand they describe the bloody invasion as 'a special peacekeeping mission'.

Russia has already banned use of the words 'invasion,' 'offensive' and 'declaration of war' in the media, while reporters are also prohibited from mentioning civilian deaths caused by the conflict.

Now secondary schools are hosting special war-themed social studies classes, in which pupils are told the official government position on Russia's history with Ukraine.

Manuals have been distributed throughout the school system, instructing teachers to tell students that Ukraine did not exist as a nation until the 20th century, and that it suffered a bloody coup in 2014, which resulted in the installation of an American puppet regime, Al Jazeera reports.

Vladimir Putin has been desperately trying to control the narrative in his homeland as the war in Ukraine enters its second week

Now secondary schools are hosting special war-themed social studies classes, in which pupils are told the official government position on Russia's history with Ukraine. Pictured: Children examine military shells in Moscow

Police detain a demonstrator during an action against Russia's attack on Ukraine in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday

The unfounded propaganda then claims Donetsk and Luhansk, recently recognised as independent by Putin, rose up against the 'coup', and were subjected to a 'genocide' for eight years.

Russia has therefore stepped in to carry out a 'special peacekeeping mission', the manual dictates.

Further details include claims that Russian security concerns over Nato have been ignored by Washington and fears of Ukraine's capacity to build nuclear weapons.

A source told Al Jazeera that teachers are being given no choice but to carry out these lessons in the framework of history or social studies, and provide proof they are doing so.

The source added that the opinions among teachers vary depending on their age, but even among those who generally support Putin there are those who are horrified by the war.

Furthermore, teachers have received letters from school, warning them to monitor their children's activities on social media platforms such as TikTok.

A Russian opposition politician has shared heart-rending images of children (pictured) detained in the back of a police van after taking part in anti-war protests

Ukraine war: The latest Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall

Invasion so far has been badly managed, a 'disaster, through and through', US defence experts say

Ukraine's second city Kharkiv continues to come under heavy Russian shelling

Column of Russian vehicles north of Kyiv 'stalled' due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion

Moscow admits 498 troops have died in Ukraine, widely thought to be an under-estimate but still a record total for post-Soviet Russia

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine 'will immediately proceed'

A Bangladeshi sailor is killed in an attack on his vessel docked in the Black Sea port of Olvia

Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday

Russia tells citizens in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol to leave, raising fears bombing will intensify

UN General Assembly demands Russia 'immediately' withdraws. Moscow wins support from only four nations - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria

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Kremlin chiefs claim they may be encouraged to use the hashtag # ('no to war') and be drawn into 'unsafe' protests.

There are also 'warnings' that children may also be exposed to 'suicide flash mobs, detailed instructions on gender reassignment, and promotion of same-sex relationships', it is reported.

It comes as the United States accused Russia of launching a 'full war on media freedom and the truth' by blocking independent news outlets and preventing Russians from hearing news of the invasion of Ukraine.

'Russia's government is also throttling Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram platforms that tens of millions of Russia's citizens rely on to access independent information and opinions,' the State Department said in a statement.

Russians also used social media to connect to each other and the outside world, it added.

Yesterday, a Russian opposition politician shared heart-rending images of children detained in the back of a police van after taking part in anti-war protests.

Despite the Kremlin having no tolerance for dissent, protesters have defied Moscow and taken to the streets against President Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, risking jail and even treason charges.

Almost 7,000 people have so-far been detained by Russian police in as many as 50 cities, according to OVD-Info - an organisation that tracks protests in the country.

According to photographs shared on Tuesday by opposition politician Ilya Yashin, children are among those that have been snatched by officers.

The pictures show at least three children - no older than Primary School age - sitting in the back of what is reportedly a Moscow police van holding flowers and banners. One reporter said they went to lay flowers at the city's Ukrainian embassy.

One girl is shown holding a sign that says 'No War' in Russian. Small Russian and Ukrainian flags have been painted around the words. To the right, the two flags are drawn followed by a small pink heart, to says 'Russia plus Ukraine equals love'.

The girl is shown sitting on a chair in the back of a police van with a blank expression, with two children sat either side of her, who also both appear calm despite the circumstances.

A girl to her left is shown in a pink puffer jacket and mittens holding a bunch of flowers and another banner, while a boy to her left has his backpack at his feet.

Another photo shows the girl in the pink jacket standing up against metal bars that are keeping them inside the van. Her face appears red, as if she had been crying.

The other children can be seen behind her, as can what appear to be at least two Russian police officers dressed in black uniforms.

Officers in the same uniforms have been seen in Russian cities cracking down on protesters and bundling them into vans.

A third picture, again showing the girl in the pink jacket, suggest the children were taken to a police station. She can be seen sitting on a chair next to a desk, where a woman in police uniform and a mask is working on a computer.

The 'no war' banners they were holding are laid out on the desk behind the girl, as is one of her flowers. It appears to be dark outside.
A couple who claimed their neighbour installed a mannequin to watch them undress in their 1.5m home have lost a High Court privacy battle.

TV costume designer Rosie Taylor-Davies and husband Christopher said they were forced to live with curtains drawn after Simon Cook built a Velux window which faced into their Richmond Park bedroom - and then put a blonde mannequin in it.

At the High Court, a senior judge said Mr Cook did not take his neighbours' privacy concerns 'seriously', but ruled that he had not breached planning rules by installing an openable window with clear glass.

Rosie and Christopher Taylor-Davies complained of a mannequin placed in neighbour's window overlooking their Richmond Park home

The Dover House Road houses at centre of privacy battle over loft window. The arrow points to location of the controversial window in Simon Cook's house (left), and the view it offers into the Taylor-Davies' house (right).

In February 2020, the local council, London Borough of Wandsworth, gave Mr Cook planning permission for extensive work on his home, but laid down conditions that the dormer window should have obscured glass and be non-opening.

The work involved a roof extension with dormer windows on both sides and at the back, but Mr and Mrs Taylor-Davies objected to elements of the project, calling the windows an 'invasion of their privacy'.

The houses are on a slope meaning that the window provides a view directly into the Taylor-Davies's house - inclduding their clear-sided shower.

The Velux 'directly overlooks our bed,' they said, claiming that they would be 'overlooked day and night' on their top floor, where they sleep and shower, and Mrs Taylor-Davies studies for her PhD in embroidery.

However, council planning officers waived those rules for the Velux, because it 'faces the sky' and would have less impact on neighbours.

The Taylor-Davies's were looking to force Simon Cook to frost the glass on his Velux window

The couple said the fact the window did not use frosted glass meant they had to resort to getting undressed behind a bookcase, the only point on their top floor where they could not be seen from his new window.

Challenging the council's decision not to take 'enforcement action' to make Mr Cook obscure the rooflight glass, their barrister Stephen Whale argued before High Court judge, Mrs Justice Lang, that the window had robbed them of their privacy.

Justice Lang said: 'It serves to give the impression, as presumably he intends, that there is a person at the window overlooking their property and invading their privacy,' he told the court.

'It only adds to their distress. The overlooking of their property and the invasion of their privacy as a result of the Velux window is very distressing to them.

'There is no good reason for the Velux window to have clear glass or be openable as there is another window very close on the opposite wall.

Simon Cook allegedly put a blonde mannequin in the window to make the Taylor-Davies's uncomfortable

'There would be no loss of amenity to Mr Cook were the Velux window to have opaque glass and be non-openable.

'The only thing the Velux window overlooks is the top floor of the claimants' house.'

The barrister said the council had been wrong in refusing to take enforcement action against Mr Cook in relation to the window.

Giving judgment, Mrs Justice Lang said: 'Mr Cook periodically installs a mannequin in the roof light which gives the impression that there is a person at the window looking out at [the claimants' home].

'This suggests to me that he is not taking the claimants' concerns seriously, and so he is unlikely to maintain obscuring film voluntarily.'

But she said there was nothing in the planning conditions obliging him to obscure the rooflight's glass.

They only required Mr Cook to obscure his new dormer window, she said.

She also noted that Mr Cook had added an 'obscuring film' to part of the rooflight, although adding that it could easily be removed.

The couple, both New Zealanders, moved into their home beside Richmond Park 27 years ago and raised a family there.

Mrs Taylor-Davies, 62, is a costume designer, who has worked in TV, film and theatre, as well as winning a local council award for her campaign to make protective scrubs for medics during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Her husband, Mr Taylor-Davies, 59, is a technical consultant and software designer.

Speaking from his home after the court hearing, Mr Taylor-Davies said the mannequin is no longer at her station by the window.

'We've lived here for more than 20 years, but we might have to move out because of all this,' he explained.

'We can't take a shower or get dressed without being overlooked,' he said, adding that their only option was to keep the curtains drawn.

'It's essentially like living in darkness,' he said.

Mr Cook was not a party to the case, which was an attempt by judicial review by Mr and Mrs Taylor-Davies to get the council to take action against him.
According to a Western intelligence report, China requested that Vladimir Putin postpone any invasion of Ukraine until after the Beijing Winter Olympics.

It shows that Chinese authorities were aware of Mr. Putin's plans before he carried them out. The claim was dismissed by Beijing as "baseless conjecture" and an "effort to malign China." According to a Western diplomat, the article does not specify if Putin and Xi Jinping discussed the topic or some of their officials.

China Refuses To Sanction Russia Amid Illegal Ukraine Invasion

On February 20, the Olympic closing ceremony took place. Putin recognized two separate regions in Ukraine the next day and dispatched troops to assist rebels. Then, on February 24, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, Russia and China declared there were "no 'forbidden' sectors of cooperation" in a joint statement. China's attitude on the crisis is equivocal, and government officials have declined to denounce Russia or label it as an "invasion."

However, there were signals on Wednesday that Beijing's backing for Moscow's war was dwindling. For the first time, China Daily, a state-run news agency, used the phrase "invasion." The term was eventually removed from China Daily's online report, but it was left in a Twitter message.

Its foreign minister voiced "alarm" at civilian deaths in Ukraine. Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba over the phone late Tuesday. Beijing has yet to denounce Russia's strike, and no government officials have used the word "invasion" to describe it. China attempted to separate itself from the worldwide condemnation of Putin's conduct at first.

China voted no on a resolution criticizing the invasion at the United Nations General Security Council last week. It did the same thing in the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, when it was one of 35 nations to vote no on a resolution condemning Russia's "aggression against Ukraine," Telegraph reported.

Read Also: Sen. Joe Manchin Calls Out Joe Biden To Cut Russian Oil Imports Instead Push for US Energy Independence

West Countries Doubt Putin's Invasion After Olympics Was a Coincidence

China said on Wednesday that it would not consider sanctioning Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine and that it would continue with "normal trade cooperation." China also abstained from voting on a nonbinding resolution calling on Russia to end its war in Ukraine and withdraw its military forces at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

Only five countries - Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea, and Syria - voted against the motion, which received 141 yes votes. According to Ukraine's State Emergency Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a "special military operation" last week, and Ukraine has been subjected to seven days of horrific battle, with 2,000 Ukrainians and 5,000 Russian soldiers killed, as per Fox News.

On February 20, China hosted the Olympic closing ceremony. After state media televised a meeting between Putin and his national security council and, separately, a heated speech in which he stated Ukraine should be a part of Russia, Putin ordered additional Russian forces to invade an insurgent-controlled territory of eastern Ukraine the next day. The Russian military launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, including strikes on cities with ballistic missiles, artillery, and tanks.

Officials from the United States and Europe have stated that they find it difficult to accept that Putin's invasion began shortly after the Olympics. During the Summer Olympics in Beijing in August 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, angering some Chinese authorities.

In preparation for the invasion, Russia transferred military forces from its border with China and other regions of the east to Ukraine and Belarus this winter. The moves revealed that Russian and Chinese officials had a high level of confidence.

For years, China and Russia have been bolstering their economic, political, and military relations. Before their most recent conclave in Beijing, Xi and Putin met 37 times as national leaders, per New York Times.

Related Article: Vladimir Putin's Vast Arsenal of Weapons To Use if New Tactics Are Needed To Change the Outcome

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For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local branch or go to samaritans.org

A drunk TikToker who set her block of flats on fire while she was on a FaceTime call has been jailed for two years.

Siobhan Houldsworth, 26, was talking to her sister on the video platform in her bedroom when she suddenly grabbed a pile of clothes and set them ablaze with a cigarette lighter at noon in October last year.

The sister looked on in horror then dialled 999 as the flames ripped through her flat in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

Within minutes, police rescued Houldsworth from a balcony, but the three storey apartment block had to be evacuated as firefighters battled the blaze.

No one was injured, but it is thought that the blaze caused up to 25,000 worth of damage to rooms and communal hallways.

When quizzed, Houldsworth, who regularly posts selfie videos in which she mimes movie dialogue and song lyrics on Chinese social media site TikTok, claimed she was trying to kill herself on FaceTime, but said of the fire: I did not mean to do it, it was an accident.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, the TikToker begged to go free after she admitted arson. However, a judge sentenced her to two years in jail, saying that she had put other lives at risk.

Siobhan Houldsworth. 26, was talking to her sister on the video platform in her bedroom when she suddenly grabbed a pile of clothes and set them ablaze with a cigarette lighter at noon on October 6 last year

Within minutes, police rescued Houldsworth from a balcony, but the three storey apartment block had to be evacuated while firefighters battled the blaze

Judge Angela Nield told the defendant: This was a multiple occupancy building and there were others residing in the flats within the same vicinity.

At the time you set the fire, it is without question you were suffering significantly both from excess alcohol and significant mental health difficulties and this is a tragic case.

There seems to be little doubt your actions were a cry for help and unusually, the fire was set when you were on a FaceTime call with your relative. Clothing was set alight and they raised the alarm.

But in short, often those who commit arson are almost always significantly troubled, as were you when this was committed and this offence crosses the custody threshold. This was not a fire set in a single household, it was set of others innocent of any wrongdoing who could have lost their lives.

To start a fire sets off a force that no one can predict or control. You intended to kill yourself but once the flame is lit, you were a hostage to misfortune to whether others were injured, or worse killed.

Excessive damage was caused to your flat and to the common parts of the building, between 15-25,000 worth of repairs are expected to be necessary.

You did not leave the flat which is a testimony to the extent of your distress and intoxication, but police officers were required to attend and to place their lives at risk when trying to save yours.

You had to be restrained and handcuffed before you were removed. The risk to the police officers should not be minimised or ignored.

Prosecutor Alistair Reid told the court: During the call, she was seen to go and get clothes and start a fire in the middle of her bedroom floor.

Houldsworth had been in custody for 144 days since her arrest

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Houldsworth begged to go free after she admitted arson

The fire was started near to electrical appliances. A close family friend was on the same FaceTime call and could see a huge blaze.

Police were contacted by the family member and they arrived at the scene at 12:07. They forced their way through the front door of the entrance to the flats and when they reached Flat 14, the front door was open.

The defendant was in the living room leaning out of the balcony. She became obstructive with the police officers and refused to leave the flat. The police were forced to handcuff her and she appeared to be intoxicated. The flat was now filling with smoke and other flats had to be evacuated.

She was cautioned and when officers spoke to her after, she said: I did not mean to do it, it was an accident. A short time later, she said she was trying to kill herself when on FaceTime with her family and she was taken to Stepping Hill hospital.

When she was taken into custody, she said she could not recall what had happened. She said she was heavily intoxicated and had no recollection of what happened at all.

There was fire damage in her own bedroom and the building manager said there was extensive damage to the defendants flat, communal hallways and damage to the flats underneath due to water seeping through. The repairs are still ongoing.

There is no exact figure on the damage caused but it is estimated to be in the region of 15-25,000. The view of an expert was the fire was started from a naked flame to combustible materials whilst on FaceTime video.

Houldsworth had been in custody for 144 days since her arrest.

Her lawyer Andrew Nuttall said: She suffers from complex PTSD and what is clear is that this is a woman who needs and wants help. It was a cry for help when she lit this fire. She was not in the right state of mind.

She was talking to her sister at the time on FaceTime. She has a very supportive family and they are distraught as to what has happened. They are prepared to do anything they can to help her.

She would like to go back to the bosom of her family. This incident has been an awakening for the defendant.

For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local branch or go to samaritans.org.
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These incredible photos show workers carrying out a huge and 'meticulously-planned' operation to remove nine illegally dumped cars from a reservoir in Scotland.

The vehicles, some of which were manufactured in the 1980s and 1990s, were lifted from Gleniffer Braes Country Park in Paisley, Renfrewshire, on Wednesday.

The illegally-dumped vehicles have been submerged in the water at Lower Glen Dam for years and the 'delicate' removal operation has required lengthy and meticulous planning.

Lower Glen Dam is a small reservoir with an earth embankment dam on the course of the Glen Burn, which is owned by Scottish Water but not used for drinking water.

These illegally dumped vehicles, some of which were manufactured in the 1980s and 1990s, were lifted from Gleniffer Braes Country Park in Paisley, Renfrewshire, on Wednesday during a huge 'meticulously-planned' operation to dredge the Scottish reservoir

Once the cars were removed from the base of the reservoir, a tractor was used to life them away from the scene. The illegally dumped vehicles had been submerged in the water at Lower Glen Dam - a small reservoir with an earth embankment dam on the course of the Glen Burn - for years and the 'delicate' removal operation has required lengthy and meticulous planning

Scottish Water West posted videos on their Twitter account showing the water being gradually lowered to a safe level before the workers attached rope to the vehicles and used recovery lorries to slowly pull them from the ground. In total, nine illegally-dumped cars were recovered from the base of the reservoir

Scottish Water worked with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Ayrshire Rivers Trust, and contractors George Leslie Ltd to ensure the environment and the removal team were kept safe during the course of the operation.

Before the removal could start, the water level of the reservoir was gradually lowered to a safe level to mitigate any environmental impact.

For health and safety reasons, pathways around the reservoir were closed while work was done.

Scottish Water West posted videos on their Twitter account showing the water being gradually lowered to a safe level before the workers attached rope to the vehicles and used recovery lorries to slowly pull them from the ground.

Another video showed one of the vehicles being dragged gradually from the thick mud.

'Our vehicle removal op in Paisley has required lengthy and meticulous planning to ensure the environment and the team are kept safe throughout', said Scottish Water West.

'Protecting the workers and the environment has been key throughout this delicate operation to remove nine abandoned vehicles from Lower Glen Dam in Gleniffer Braes Country Park.'

Photographs taken when the water was gradually lowered to a safe level showed nine cars, mostly all upside down, at the base of the reservoir and submerged in the thick mud. Removing the vehicles required huge machinery and a great deal of planning

A huge recovery lorry was used to attach a winch to the cars found at the bottom of the reservoir. Video footage showed the winch being reeled in extremely slowly to ensure the vehicles were safely pulled from the ground without any parts being left behind. This picture shows one of the cars totally embedded by mud after being at the bottom of the reservoir for a number of years

The cars, some of which were manufactured in the 1980s and 1990s, were thought to have been at the bottom of the reservoir for decades. Even after being pulled out of the ground and taken to a holding area, the vehicles were still completely caked in the thick mud from the bottom of the reservoir

A worker can be seen attempting to attach a winch to the rear end of a maroon vehicle found at the bottom of the reservoir. The car's windows had been completely smashed due to the weight of the water but much of the paint work and structure of the car had remained fairly intact despite the years spent under water

Scottish Water worked with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Ayrshire Rivers Trust, and contractors George Leslie Ltd to ensure the environment and the removal team were kept safe during the course of the operation. Before the removal could start, the water level of the reservoir was gradually lowered to a safe level to mitigate any environmental impact. For health and safety reasons, pathways around the reservoir were closed while work was done

Once one of the vehicles was pulled from the ground and brought to the bank next to the reservoir, a tractor was used to pick it up and taken it away from the scene. The huge operation to remove the nine vehicles had been planned for months to ensure as little impact on the environment as possible, according to the project manager

Project manager Gerry OHara said: 'Weve listened to community concerns about the vehicles being in the water and now is the time to act. This is such a delicate and sensitive operation and has been months in the planning to ensure there is as little impact on the environment as possible and that our teams are safe. Restrictions are in place for everyones safety and we would ask visitors to Gleniffer Braes Country Park to respect all signage around the reservoir while these works are carried out.

Lower Glen Dam is a small reservoir with an earth embankment dam on the course of the Glen Burn, which is owned by Scottish Water but not used for drinking water. Ayrshire Rivers Trust will carry out a fish rescue operation and additional measures will be put in place to help avoid any impact on the local water environment

Project manager Gerry OHara said: 'Weve listened to community concerns about the vehicles being in the water and now is the time to act.

'This is such a delicate and sensitive operation and has been months in the planning to ensure there is as little impact on the environment as possible and that our teams are safe.

'Restrictions are in place for everyones safety and we would ask visitors to Gleniffer Braes Country Park to respect all signage around the reservoir while these works are carried out.'

Ayrshire Rivers Trust will carry out a fish rescue operation and additional measures will be put in place to help avoid any impact on the local water environment.

Once the vehicles have been safely recovered, the water level will be raised back to its normal level.
A family doctor who was honoured by Boris Johnson for his work during the Covid pandemic has been suspended in disgrace after he was caught illicitly sharing confidential patient details for a lark.

Dr Haider Ali taped one consultation with a woman then shared it via WhatsApp, allegedly mocking her weight as he did so, and later shared details of a second woman he suspected of making a false claim for benefits.

Over a period of four months GP Ali breached the privacy of various patients by photographing and leaking their medical records.

The 38-year-old also annotated copies of them with laughing emojis - with one mark referring to TV cartoon character Inspector Gadget.

Dr Haider Ali, pictured here in his uniform, taped one consultation with a woman then shared it via WhatsApp in which he allegedly mocked her weight and later shared details of a second woman he suspected of making a false claim for benefits

Dr Ali had been widely praised for delivering care packages filled with essentials and treats for NHS staff forced to live away from home in the pandemic. He received a bravery award and a letter (pictured) from the Prime Minister at Downing Street as thanks for his actions

Last October Ali, from Sale, Greater Manchester received a bravery award from the PM at Downing Street after he voluntarily delivered care packages of essentials and treats for NHS staff who have had to move away from their loved ones during the pandemic.

His work led to him being featured on radio shows including Talk Radio where he was interviewed by Trish Goddard and he has been recognised by Manchester United, Liverpool FC and Andy Burnham the Mayor of Greater Manchester.

But at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, Ali was found guilty of misconduct and was ordered to be suspended from duty for four months. The order will take effect later to allow the possibility of an appeal.

The Manchester hearing was told Ali had 'not intended to cause harm or offence and that his motive was a thoughtless and ill-judged attempt at humour, rather than anything more sinister.' He has since apologised for his conduct.

The incidents began in July 2018 whilst Dr Ali was employed by the Robert Darbishire Practice, in Rusholme, Manchester and when he was undertaking occasional locum shifts at Boundary House Medical Centre in Sale.

The GP has been suspended after breaching the privacy of various patients by photographing and leaking their medical records over the course of four months

The 38-year-old was alleged to have discussed the medical history of a mutual friend known as Patient C after he secretly took photos of her records and shared them via the messaging service

One of the woman known as Patient A had booked a consultation with Ali and she agreed to let him tape the meeting for 'training purposes.'

But the hearing was told the content of the recording suggested Dr Ali was 'taking an unprofessional and mocking tone as if he were making fun of Patient A.'

She was said to have a poor grasp of English and had difficulty understanding what Dr Ali said to her.

The recording was subsequently sent by WhatsApp to a friend known as Mr B and it was claimed Haider laughed at the recording in front of him and made fun of Patient A's weight.

It was also alleged he tried to discuss Patient A's medical history with Mr B.

Later when Mr B attended a family get together at Ali's home the GP began discussing the medical history of a mutual friend known as Patient C after he secretly took photos of her records and shared them via the messaging service.

During the party which Patient C had earlier attended but left, it was claimed Ali told guests private information about surgery she had undergone and made reference to her making a fraudulent claim for benefits.

Dr Ali received multiple letters of thanks for his actions during the pandemic, including from the Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham (pictured), Liverpool FC (above left) and Manchester United (above right)

Mr B and others were said to be 'not amused' by what Dr Ali was saying, told him they disapproved of it and insisted he should not be discussing such matters about Patient C.

But Ali also shared photographs of parts of other patients' confidential medical records with some of the images annotated with emojis.

Mr B said that Dr Ali, visiting his family home, would try to engage Mr B in conversation about the messages and to 'joke' about them.

Ali was eventually reported to the General Medical Council when Mr B contacted Patient C.

The MPTS panel was given screenshots of nine WhatsApp photographs plus an audio recording which had been sent to the GMC.

The majority displayed a header displaying the name 'Haider', with a date and time beneath indicating when the message was sent between July and November 2018.

In his defence Ali confirmed that there had been a social gathering involving with Patient C but he denied discussed her confidential medical information or any claims for benefits.

In a statement he said: 'Patient C was visiting our home on a date sometime after the gathering in Manchester and asked if I could obtain a copy of her records and bring them to Birmingham the following weekend.

Dr Ali claimed some of the accusations against him had been fabricated and said people 'had engaged in an elaborate conspiracy of Machiavellian proportions' to make it appear he had been disclosing confidential medical records

A Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel found him guilty of nine misconduct charges but cleared him of another 11.

'She mentioned that she had had a procedure and she was seeking some advice about this and something to do with her entitlement to benefits.'

He said he later accessed Patient C's medical record, taken a photograph of it and sent it via WhatsApp to Mr B, to be forwarded on.

Ali accepted he had annotated the photograph with an arrow pointing to the relevant entry, adding a 'crying-laughing' emoticon and the hashtag 'inspectorgadget' which was a nickname he had for Patient C.

But the GP said said one friend had accessed his laptop and had taken copies of the screengrabs with a view to 'possibly blackmailing him in the future.'

He claimed Patient C, Mr B and two other friends had 'engaged in an elaborate conspiracy of Machiavellian proportions' to make it appear he had been disclosing confidential medical records.

He claimed the annotations had been made by someone else said the allegations against him were 'borne of their animosity towards him.'

Ali was found guilty of nine misconduct charges but cleared of another 11.

MPTS chairman Mr Tim Bradbury said: 'Dr Ali's actions of photographing and sharing medical records amounted to numerous breaches of patient confidentiality.

'There were several instances over a period of approximately four months, involving a number of patients.

'Dr Ali had copied and disseminated patient records in such a cavalier manner, in an ill-judged attempt at humour and in some cases subjecting the patients concerned to potential ridicule.

'The Tribunal concluded it was far more likely that, Dr Ali having both taken all the photographs on his mobile phone, sent them over a period of time to Mr B in a misplaced and wholly unprofessional attempt at humour.

'Dr Ali annotated and added an emoticon in a manner which was mocking of Patient C and which would have been likely to offend her or subject her to derision if the photograph was shown to others.

'The Tribunal considered that Dr Ali would not have included these additions if he had believed they were going to be seen by Patient C or by anyone from whom she was going to seek serious advice.

'Dr Ali had maintained that 'Inspector Gadget' was a nickname he had for Patient C. But neither Patient C nor any of the other witnesses who gave evidence appeared to be aware of this nickname.

'Further, the Tribunal found that Dr Ali had, in addition to adding the annotation to Patient C's medical records, added the emoticons to the other messages which were of a similar nature.

'The Tribunal rejected as implausible the suggestion that these might have been added by someone else, other than Dr Ali himself.

'Dr Ali did not have any clinical reason to view Patient C's medical record, and that the only reason he had done so on this occasion was to obtain confirmation of the fact that Patient C had undergone surgery and he wished to convey that to Mr B to prove a point and he did so in an unprofessional and wholly unjustified attempt at humour.

'The reference to 'Inspector Gadget' with a 'crying-laughing' emoticon was more likely to be a reference to Dr Ali himself.

'This would have been to highlight that he had evidence of the matters about which there had been discussion at the gathering.

'It is most likely that there had been some conversation regarding Patient C and possibly a claim for benefits and that this would have occurred at a time after Patient C had left the gathering.

'The tribunal is mindful patient confidentiality is at the centre of the doctor-patient relationship, and its importance cannot be understated.'
A primary school teacher who taught classes for five days while unknowingly infected with Covid has avoided being struck off the register.

Saira Taylor, 37, put pupils and staff at risk by teaching lessons at Kitchener Primary School in Riverside, Cardiff, while waiting for the results of her coronavirus test, an Education Workforce Council heard.

The supply teacher continued teaching five classes despite showing symptoms of the virus, including coughing, which was noticed by other teachers, the hearing was told.

When Ms Taylor's test came back positive, she immediately informed headteacher Reena Patel, who then sent a message to parents saying she was 'devastated and angry' at the teacher's actions.

Ms Taylor did not return to the school after receiving her diagnosis in November 2020.

The Council found five misconduct allegations proved against Ms Taylor - but she was allowed to return to the classroom.

Saira Taylor (pictured), 37, put pupils and staff at risk by teaching lessons at Kitchener Primary School in Riverside, Cardiff, while waiting for the results of her coronavirus test, an Education Workforce Council heard

The supply teacher continued giving a total of five classes despite showing symptoms of the virus, including coughing, which was noticed by other teachers, the hearing was told. (Pictured: Kitchener Primary School in Cardiff)

Presenting officer Ashanti-Jade Walton explained staff members observed Ms Taylor coughing which was not reported to the school at the time.

Head teacher Ms Patel sent a video sent to parents to notify them of the five classes which could not attend the following day in order to allow them to isolate.

She said: 'If Saira Taylor had any Covid-19 symptoms she should have alerted the school as soon as possible and self-isolated until she received the results of her test.

'I was made aware by three teaching assistants that they had observed Saira Taylor coughing in the staff room on Wednesday, October 21. I was not aware of this at that time.

'She did put the five classes and their families and our staff members at great risk and caused a lot of anxiety as well.'

A statement from Ms Taylor said: 'When I received the result I did not return to school after receiving a positive test.'

She blamed the delay on 'sickness and poor judgement.'

The hearing in Cardiff ruled she put colleagues and learners at the school at risk and that her actions constituted unacceptable professional conduct meaning 'conduct which falls short of the standard expected of a registered person'.

Chairman Steve Powell told the hearing Ms Taylor 'had a good teaching record' and decided against striking her off.

When Ms Taylor's test came back positive, she immediately informed headteacher Reena Patel (pictured), who then sent a message to parents saying she was 'devastated and angry' at the teacher's actions.

But it put a reprimand on her record for two years.

He said: 'Ms Taylor has made a number of admissions and admitted serious shortcomings on her part and has taken action to remediate her shortcomings.

'The committee is of the view that a reprimand is appropriate and proportionate and imposes this order.

'It does not affect the person's registration but remains on the register for a period of two years.

'It will be disclosed to an employer or a prospective employer as part of pre-employment checks on registration.'
Sajid Javid has told NHS bosses they must stop using energy supplied by Russian Government-owned firm Gazprom.

A senior government source said the Health Secretary has been in talks with NHS England about ending the contracts, reportedly worth 17million in 2021.

More than a dozen NHS trusts rely on gas from Gazprom, mostly concentrated in the North West of England, along with several local councils.

The source said: 'Sajid has spoken with NHS England and been clear that trusts need to stop using Gazprom as a supplier.

'He has also requested a wider review of any Russian role in supply chains across the health service.'

The move comes after former NHS boss Lord Simon Stevens said the health service should ditch ties to Gazprom to 'take pound notes out of the hands of dictatorial regimes that are engaged in acts of aggression'.

Lord Stevens of Birmingham, who quit as the chief executive of NHS England in July, yesterday said the health service should reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.

And unions today claimed it would be 'morally unconscionable' to continue with public contracts with 'the energy supply chain that fuels Putin's war machine'.

It comes after NHS trusts were told to firm up their cybersecurity amid fears of a Russian attack in retaliation to Western interference in the war in Ukraine.

Sajid Javid (pictured left, at the Porton Down research facility in Salisbury) has told NHS bosses they must stop using energy supplied by the Russian-owned firm Gazprom. Former NHS boss Lord Simon Stevens (right) said the health service should ditch ties to Gazprom to 'take pound notes out of the hands of dictatorial regimes that are engaged in acts of aggression'

Discussing an amendment to the Health and Social Care bill in the Lords on Tuesday, Lord Stevens called on the NHS to ditch its ties to Russian carbon companies.

He said: 'Yesterday, the Government welcomed Shell's decision to sever its relationship with Gazprom.

NHS tells hospitals to shore-up cyber security NHS trusts have been told to firm up their cybersecurity amid fears of a Russian attack in retaliation to Western interference in the war in Ukraine. Health chiefs have written to hospitals telling them to make it their 'focus' to keep their systems secure and make sure backups are in place. There have been widespread concerns about the technological resilience of the NHS which only last year stopped using fax machines. It was famously hacked in 2017 in the WannaCry attack, which brought the whole health service to a standstill for days and cost the UK 92million. Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, told a summit that cyber-security was being brought to the 'forefront' in the wake of the situation in Ukraine. She added the health service was examining its supply chain resilience in the event of a Kremlin attack here or elsewhere. Advertisement

'Yet Ministers may have seen an important story in the Health Service Journal suggesting that, over the last two years, at least 17 NHS trusts have continued to rely on gas sourced from Gazprom, which has confirmed today that it continues to get its gas supplies through Ukraine.

'Decarbonising the health sector will take pound notes out of the hands of dictatorial regimes that are engaged in acts of aggression.'

Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt also tweeted his support for the move.

He said: 'It's clearly unsustainable for a humanitarian organisation like the NHS to have any commercial links whatsoever with Putin's murderous regime.'

Meanwhile, a number of councils have said they want to end contracts with Gazprom and are considering their links to other Russian suppliers.

A Manchester City Council spokesman said their contract with Gazprom expires at the end of the month, adding that they are 'looking at alternative gas providers', while Suffolk County Council is also working on other options.

Matthew Hicks, leader of Suffolk County Council, said: 'When Vladimir Putin made the immoral and utterly reprehensible decision to invade Ukraine, I instructed officers last week to review our contract with Russian-owned energy company Gazprom.

'I can confirm that we have decided to invoke our options to break away from the contract, ending our connection with Gazprom. Working with our partners, we are actively pursuing this outcome.'

But Slough Borough Council, which confirmed it does have a contract with Gazprom, said: 'Unfortunately it is not possible to say at the current point whether we will be continuing with it or not.'

Dorset Council is due to consider the 'indirect exposure' it has to Russian companies through pension fund investments, at a meeting of its pension fund committee on March 10.

Derby City Council said it is aware that its energy supplier, TotalEnergies, owns a 20 per cent stake in the Russian gas producer Novatek.

But it highlighted that the French company has announced it will no longer provide capital for new projects in Russia.

Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust paid 1.78million to Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd during the 2021-22 financial year. Pictured: The Royal Victoria Infirmary, one the hospitals run by the trust in Newcastle

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay spent 380,000 on Russian gas. Pictured: Furness General Hospital, one of the hospitals run by the trust

Thousands of Russian scientists and medics risk JAIL as they slam Putin's 'senseless' invasion of Ukraine Thousands of Russian scientists and journalist have condemned Vladimir Putin's 'senseless' invasion of Ukraine, risking fines or even prison sentences. In an open letter to the increasingly isolated dictator, they said there was no 'rational justification for this war' and warned the country was 'doomed to isolation'. Russian science and medicine could be left behind because of a lack of international funding as the world turns the country into a 'pariah' state, they claimed. More than 6,100 academics, scientific journalists and medics have put their name to the document despite Russia's strict anti-freedom of speech laws. Any public criticism of the Russian state can result in fines of up to 6,200 or jail sentences, under laws introduced in 2012. The coalition has demanded 'an immediate halt to all military operations directed against Ukraine'. The US has already cut ties with Russia's space industry as part of its package of sanctions, while Germany's biggest research funder has frozen all scientific cooperation with the country. The letter was published last Tuesday and has been translated into English using Google. It reads: 'We, Russian scientists and scientific journalists, declare a strong protest against the hostilities launched by the armed forces of our country on the territory of Ukraine.' Advertisement

Gary Smith, GMB general secretary, said: 'Serious questions need to be asked about how our schools and hospitals have become entangled in the energy supply chain that fuels Putin's war machine.

'Ultimately, this spending is an indictment of the failure of UK energy policy to prioritise affordable and secure supply.

'It is morally unconscionable for contracts to still be awarded while missiles rain down on Ukrainian workers.

'There should be no new public sector contract awards to Gazprom, and we need an urgent Government review into whether alternative suppliers can take on existing contracts.'

It comes after the Health Service Journal reported that at least 11 trusts paid just over 4m to Gazprom this year, most of them based in the North West of England.

Last year the figure was even higher, with 17 trusts dishing out 17.1million to the Russian firm.

Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust paid 1.78million to Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd during the 2021-22 financial year.

That was more than triple the amount of any other trust included in the analysis.

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust paid the company nearly 470,000 in the same time and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay spent 380,000 on Russian gas.

The analysis relies on trusts publishing their data so the actual number supplied by Gazprom could be higher.

There are a total of 223 trusts in England and the NHS is thought to spend well over 100m a year on gas.

It is unclear if the trusts made the purchases from Gazprom directly or via a national procurement system.

The developments come after NHS bosses wrote to trusts this week telling them to shore up their cybersecurity.

Hospitals were told to make it their 'focus' to keep their systems secure and make sure backups are in place.

There have been widespread concerns about the technological resilience of the NHS which only last year stopped using fax machines.

It was famously hacked in 2017 in the WannaCry attack, which brought the whole health service to a standstill for days and cost the UK 92million.

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, told a summit today that cyber- security was being brought to the 'forefront' in the wake of the situation in Ukraine.

She added the health service was examining its supply chain resilience in the event of a Kremlin attack here or elsewhere.

Security officials fear the NHS, government and business could be prime targets for Moscow, which has one of the world's most sophisticated cyber capabilities.

Russia is said to be furious at the British decision to supply Ukraine with defensive weapons systems and impose tough sanctions on Vladimir Putin and his cronies.
Business leaders have called for the 'sexist' and 'outdated' term 'chairman' to be scrapped and for a gender neutral equivalent to be used in the first instance.

The coalition, led by the British Chambers of Commerce, called on the UK's official business register, Companies House, to remove any default reference to a company 'chairman' in all future references to the head of a business.

The group called for words such as 'chairman', 'policeman' and 'fireman' to all be 'consigned to the history books'.

Companies should instead be encouraged to use gender neutral words, such as 'chair', over fears that more masculine alternatives could contribute to gender inequality among business chiefs.

The calls have already been backed by the historic British manufacturing giant Make UK, who have already widely adopted the title 'chair', and the Institute of Directors.

But parliamentarians, including Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, are understood to have already rejected the idea.

One source close to Mr Kwarteng told the Telegraph: 'It requires primary legislation and we have more pressing issues, like supporting businesses through the pandemic and a war on European soil. The priorities here are all mixed up.'

British business leaders have called for the 'sexist' and 'outdated' term 'chairman' to be scrapped and for a gender neutral equivalent to be used instead [File image]

Sarah Howard, the BCC's chairman, said: 'It's a small but very significant alteration that will help break down subconscious bias and send a clear message to future generations that they have an equal role to play in running businesses whatever their gender identity'

Sarah Howard, the BCC's chairman, said: 'It's a small but very significant alteration that will help break down subconscious bias and send a clear message to future generations that they have an equal role to play in running businesses whatever their gender identity.

'There is much more that all of us need to do to help address inequality in the business world, and this change would send a clear message on government intent.'

Ms Howard said that many businesses were unaware they could change Companies House's default draft articles of association, which ordinarily means 'chairman' is used rather than 'chair'.

Dame Judith Hackitt, the chairman of Make UK, insisted that dropping gendered references to chairmen would be a 'small but positive and symbolic' move.

She said: 'This is a welcome and long overdue change which is easy to make and which I hope all businesses across the UK will support.

'Despite progress in recent years, it remains the case that women are under-represented in the most senior roles across companies.'

And Jonathan Geldart, director general of the IoD, added 'The importance of language should not be underestimated.

'By taking this small step, the Government can ensure that gender neutrality is instilled in new business ventures at their inception.'

But parliamentarians, including Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng (pictured above), are understood to have already rejected the idea.

Less than half (39 per cent) of board members of FTSE 100 companies were female, per data recorded last month.

And there are 16 female chairmen recorded on the FTSE 100, while there are 32 included in the FTSE 250.

A spokesman from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: 'We wholeheartedly support increasing the diversity of business leaders and championing women in business.

'Companies already have the flexibility to craft their own articles, and to amend their articles as they see fit.'

The news comes as the Tory-run Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council voted in favour of dropping masculine and feminine terms for its senior positions.

Last month, councillor L.J Evans, who put forward the proposal along with Labour councillor Lewis Allison last year, said the changes were 'a small win for equality' and 'not political correctness gone mad'.

The move will see the role of chairman and vice-chairman of committees now being referred to as chair and vice-chair.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has this evening called on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to sit down with him at the negotiating table in person during another impassioned television appearance.

Zelensky's comments came as Putin's forces continued their brutal assault on several of Ukraine's cities, and on the same day negotiations between the two sides made little progress in deescalating the deadly war.

In an appeal to his Russian counterpart, Zelensky said: 'Get off our land. You don't want to leave now? Then sit down with me at the negotiation table. I'm available. Sit. Just not 30 metres away like with Macron or Scholz etc. I am your neighbour. You don't need to keep me 30 metres away.

'I don't bite. I'm a normal bloke. Sit down with me and talk. What are you afraid of? We aren't threatening anyone, we're not terrorists, we aren't seizing banks and seizing foreign land.'

Earlier today, Putin branded Ukrainians 'extreme gangsters', claimed their army is using civilians as 'human shields', hailed his soldiers as heroes who are fighting to save innocent lives and said his invasion is going exactly to plan and schedule in a stunning act of hypocrisy and outright denial.

The Russian leader, who eight days ago declared all-out war against Ukraine in a bid to topple its elected government and reunify it with Russia by force, denied that his troops are deliberately targeting civilians - despite reams of evidence to the contrary - and instead blamed 'neo-Nazis' holding citizens hostage.

Referring to the invasion as a 'special operation' aimed only at protecting the eastern Donbass region, he acknowledged that some Russian forces including a senior commander had died in the fighting - but claimed the officer had blown himself up in a heroic act of sacrifice while taking out several Ukrainian soldiers.

The address, one of the first Putin has made in public since announcing the start of his 'special operation' eight days ago - will do little to reassure anyone that the war is close to being over, or that Russia can be brought to the negotiating table without more blood being shed.

But it also hints that Putin is rattled as the fighting proves harder than Russian commanders anticipated, and western sanctions go harder and deeper than even European or American observers predicted. All hope of a swift victory has now been dashed, leaving Putin facing a long, bloody and expensive war to achieve his aims.

Zelensky's subsequent comments came in during a press conference in Kyiv and in response to a reporter's question on what 'guarantees' Ukraine can offer.

'Guarantees for what?' Zelensky fired back at the interviewer in Russian. 'We aren't attacking Russia and we have no intention of doing so. Guarantee what? We aren't in NATO. We don't have nuclear weapons. What am I supposed to say, what am I supposed to give, and to whom?

'You must understand - this is also a huge thing that everybody is talking about - what am I supposed to give? Jesus, what do you want from us?!'

Ukraine's president, who has become an inspirational figure both at home and abroad for his defiance in the face of Russian aggression, also called on the West to supply planes to help his military control the skies. It came after NATO members ruled out enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine for fear of igniting World War Three.

'If you do not have the power to close the skies, then give me planes!' Zelensky told a news conference. 'If we are no more then, God forbid, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia will be next,' he said, adding that direct talks with Putin were 'the only way to stop this war'.

Zelensky - who just weeks ago sought to calm Ukrainians over US allegations that Russia was planning to invade his country - said: 'Nobody thought that in the modern world a man can behave like a beast.'

Soon after Putin's address, Ukraine announced that it has agreed with Russia to create safe corridors - backed by ceasefires - to evacuate civilians and deliver aid to areas under attack by Russian forces. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky also said the agreement had been made during talks, describing it as 'substantial progress'.

The agreement was the only tangible progress from a second round of talks between Moscow and Kyiv, according to an adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, and it was not immediately clear how they would work.

Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia said afterwards that a third round of talks on the war will be held shortly.

So far, more than one million people have fled Ukraine as Putin's armies have laid waste to key cities.

Meanwhile the Russian economy is tanking with the ruble at record lows, the stock market unable to open because it faces near-total collapse, and European countries seizing assets from billionaire oligarchs. Protests have also sprung up in Russia, coupled with high-profile political figures and celebrities calling for the war to end.

Ukraine war: The latest Peace talks between the two sides resumed today, with negotiators meeting on the Belarus border

An agreement was made for safe corridors to be created to allow for people to evacuate cities and for aid to be delivered, both sides confirmed

Vladimir Putin called Emmanuel Macron to tell him that he has no intention of calling off the invasion, will keep going until 'the end', and may increase his demands despite suffering losses

In an appeal to his Russian counterpart, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to Putin to sit down with him in-person for negotiations

Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall

Invasion so far has been badly managed, a 'disaster, through and through', US defence experts say

Ukraine's second city Kharkiv continues to come under heavy Russian shelling

Column of Russian vehicles north of Kyiv 'stalled' due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion

Moscow admits 498 troops have died in Ukraine, widely thought to be an under-estimate but still a record total for post-Soviet Russia

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine 'will immediately proceed'

Russia's top independent radio station closed and a leading independent TV station has suspended its operations as Kremlin moves to stifle criticism

A Bangladeshi sailor is killed in an attack on his vessel docked in the Black Sea port of Olvia

Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday

Russia tells citizens in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol to leave, raising fears bombing will intensify

UN General Assembly demands Russia 'immediately' withdraws. Moscow wins support from only four nations - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria

Swedish Armed Forces say four Russian fighter jets entered its airspace in the Baltic Sea

US launches 'KleptoCapture' with the aim of seizing yachts, private jets and homes of Russian oligarchs

Chelsea Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirms he is selling the Premier League club

Ukraine invites mothers of captured Russian troops to come and collect their sons

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urges Russians to protest daily against the invasion

US follows the EU in targeting Russian ally Belarus with sanctions for supporting invasion Advertisement

Just hours before the TV address, Putin had phoned Emmanuel Macron to tell the French President that he has no intention of pulling back from Ukraine or watering down his security demands, will achieve his aims 'whatever happens' and will continue fighting until 'the end'.

Macron's aides said after the call that they believe Putin intends to take the whole country, and that the 'worst is yet to come' as the Russian attacks step up, and that 'there was nothing in what President Putin told us that should reassure us.'

Mr Macron is said to have told Putin he is making a 'major mistake' and 'lying to himself'. Macron said Russia would end up poor, weakened and under sanctions for a very long time.

'There was nothing in what President Putin told us that should reassure us. He showed great determination to continue the operation,' Macron's aide said, before adding that Putin 'wanted to seize control of the whole of Ukraine'.

Putin's two statements today - the first he has made in public since announcing the start of his 'special operation' eight days ago - will do little to reassure anyone that the war is close to being over, or that Russia could be brought to the negotiating table without more blood being shed.

News that the convoy has been at least partially damaged or destroyed will come as a huge boon to the people of Kyiv, as it was feared the vehicles would be used to surround and bomb the city into submission. The Ukrainian capital is still under attack by Russian rockets and missiles, but has largely escaped the intense fire being rained down on other locations.

Perhaps the hardest-hit has been the city of Mariupol, on Ukraine's eastern Black Sea coast, which came under bombardment by Russian forces surrounding it yesterday - with the fire kept up near-continuously into today. Local officials say the city is without water, heat, or electricity, and cannot clear the dead from the streets.

Harrowing pictures revealed at least part of the civilian death toll, with a father seen weeping over the body of his son who was killed when a Russian shell destroyed his legs. Two elderly women were also pictured being evacuated from their homes and covered in blood after Russian attacks.

Despite the vicious shelling, the city still remains in the hands of Ukrainian forces - as a defiant Zelensky vowed today that Ukraine will be rebuilt with Russian money as he praised his troops' 'heroic' defence.

Kharkiv, in the east, and Chernihiv, in the north west, also remained under Ukrainian control despite coming under heavy rocket fire. Nine people died in Chernihiv after Russian rockets hit a school and nearby apartments. There were also fears the Russians were about to launch a major amphibious assault against the port city of Odessa after a large fleet of ships was spotted near Crimea in the early hours.

The Ukrainian president said that 'all lines of defence are holding' with the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mykolaiv all resisting Russian attacks. He even claimed the city of Kherson remains in Ukrainian hands, despite the mayor seeming to confirm overnight that it had been taken by Russian forces.

'They wanted to destroy us. They failed. We've been through so much. And if anyone thinks that, having overcome all this, Ukrainians will be frightened, broken or surrender, they know nothing about Ukraine,' Zelensky said, adding: 'We will restore every house, every street, every city and we say to Russia: learn the word 'reparations'.

'You will reimburse us for everything you did against our state, against every Ukrainian, in full.'

Separately, one of his presidential advisers said the Ukrainian army is now getting ready to launch counter-attacks on Russian forces after their initial assault on the country stalled - amid reported of fuel and food shortages, heavy casualties, and mismanagement of the operation.

'Help to us is increasing every minute and the strength of the enemy is decreasing every minute. We're not only defending but also counter-attacking,' the adviser said in a televised briefing.

President Zelensky's office said a second round of negotiations had concluded. A first round of talks on Monday ended without an agreement.

Ukraine war: City by city Kyiv: Four large rocket strikes hit the Ukrainian capital overnight, including one which struck a train station being used to evacuate civilians , while others struck TV and radio stations. Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian fighter jet over Irpin, a satellite city of Kyiv which has come under heavy attack, in the early hours of Thursday Kharkiv: The second-largest city in Ukraine continue to come under bombardment with pictures showing destroyed residential buildings and rubble littering the city centre. Izyum, a city 70 miles to the south of Kharkiv towards Donetsk, also came under heavy bombardment with explosions lighting up the night sky Chernihiv: Located to the north-west of Kyiv, the city has been the site of fierce fighting with Russian troops since the early days of the invasion Despite being surrounded and under heavy shelling, the city remains under Ukrainian control Mariupol: Heavy Russian shelling which began targeting the city on Wednesday continued into Thursday, with the mayor saying the bombardment is so heavy that medics can't get into the streets to rescue the dead and injured Despite the attacks, the city remains in Ukrainian hands Kherson: City feared captured by Russian forces after mayor says 'armed visitors' joined a local council meeting and had imposed a curfew However, the British MoD said Thursday morning that the military situation is still 'unclear' - suggesting that Russia may not be in full control Zaporizhzhia: Russian forces have surrounded the city and its nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe Civilians set up road blocks around the plant to defend it, with the city's mayor saying one came under fire by Russian troops on Wednesday leaving two people hurt Odessa: The Black Sea port city, and Ukraine's main naval base, is preparing for a Russian assault after a dozen warships were seen forming up near Crimea Mayor said fighter jets appear to be testing air defences by flying sorties overhead, as residents prepare makeshift defences made of old railway sleepers and lay landmines on the beach Advertisement

Ahead of the invasion, Washington had warned that Russia's superior forces would be able to quickly overwhelm Ukraine's 200,000-strong army - taking out air defences, achieving superiority in the skies, and then raining death down on those below.

But none of that has come to pass. Ukraine's skies remain contested, US intelligence says, while attacks have been piecemeal with troops under-supplied and not fighting in a coordinated fashion, leading to large numbers of dead along with some abandoning their vehicles which have then been captured.

'This is a colossal intelligence failure that vastly underestimated Ukrainian resistance, and military execution has been terrible,' Michael Vickers, former US Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

'[Putin's] main attack has been underweighted. It's been piecemeal. His reconnaissance elements have been captured, columns have been destroyed,' he said. 'It's just a disaster, through and through.'

But many caution that Russia's initial failures could simply pre-sage a secondary phase of the fighting in which it uses superior numbers and force of arms to surround and bomb Ukrainian troops into submission, causing large civilian casualties.

Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, agreed with that assessment today as he issued a warning that the 'worst' is still to come as Russia switches to a 'logic of siege' with major cities in danger of being surrounded.

He spoke as Europe continued to step up its assistance to Ukraine, with Germany pledging another 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles to bolster the Ukrainian defences. That comes on top of 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft weapons it has already sent, in a stunning reversal of its long-standing pledge not to supply weapons.

Kyiv has so-far escaped what observers feared would be Russian attempts to surround and bomb it into submission, after skirmishes in the outskirts led to Moscow's men being pushed back. Sight of the convoy earlier this week seemed to confirm that Putin would resort to 'siege' tactics to force a bloody victory.

But, as of Thursday morning, the convoy was near-motionless - having stalled late Monday. The exact reason is unclear, but American and British intelligence believe it is due to a combination of Ukrainian resistance and logistical problems within the convoy itself.

Reports from the ground indicate that Russian vehicles have been running out of fuel, while pictures also appear to show some vehicles have been poorly maintained and their tyres are falling apart.

A Pantsir missile system bogged down and abandoned in a muddy field lost several of its tyres when Ukrainian forces tried to tow it away, with Trent Teletenko - a former Department of Defence civil servant - wrote on Twitter that it appears Russia has failed to maintain the tyres on its vehicles properly, leaving them brittle.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gestures as he speaks during a press conference in Kyiv on March 3, 2022. He made a plea to Russian President Valdimir Putin to sit down with him in person for negotiations

Russian President Vladimir Putin issues assessments during his meeting with the officials of Security Council of Russia, on March 03, 2022 in Moscow, Russia. Putin branded Ukrainians 'extreme gangsters', claimed their army is using civilians as 'human shields', hailed his soldiers as heroes who are fighting to save innocent lives and said his invasion is going exactly to plan and schedule in a stunning act of hypocrisy and outright denial

Units of Russian Armed Forces enter Kyiv region, Ukraine, in this screengrab obtained from a video by Reuters on Thursday

MARIUPOL: Serhii, a father from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, weeps over the body of teenage son Iliya at a maternity unit converted into a hospital to treat civilian victims of Russian shelling

MARIUPOL: Ilya is brought into hospital in the back of a car, with both of his legs destroyed by a Russian shell explosion. The mayor of Mariupol believes 'hundreds' of civilians have been killed in similar strikes

MARIUPOL: A civilian wounded in Russian strikes on the city of Mariupol is treated at a maternity unit of the local hospital that has been converted into a centre to treat the victims

KYIV: A firefighter works to extinguish fire at a warehouse that caught flames, according to local authorities, after shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the village of Chaiky in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 3, 2022

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

Pictured: A map showing the Kyiv region and the area occupied by Russian troops as they close in on Ukraine's capital

MARIUPOL: A Ukrainian woman living in the Black Sea city of Mariupol is evacuated from her home during a brief break in Russian shelling, which has now been continuous for more than 24 hours

MARIUPOL: An elderly woman laying in a pool of blood inside her apartment in Mariupol is rescued by paramedics after being injured during shelling of the city

MARIUPOL: Ambulance paramedics move a wounded in shelling civilian onto a stretcher to a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol

MARIUPOL: The Black Sea city continues to be under heavy bombardment today, with the mayor saying there is no water, heat or electricity and that Russian fire is so intense they cannot collect bodies from the streets

KYIV: Smoke rises over Chaika, a residential area on the outskirts of Kyiv, as the city again came under bombardment

BELARUS: Ukrainian and Russian negotiators meet on the border with Belarus for talks on ending the war. Ukraine says it will demand a ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Russian forces from the country

KYIV: An apartment building in Borodyanka is seen on Thursday morning almost totally destroyed after a Russian missile struck it the day before, causing a large part of it to collapse

KYIV: Another view of the apartment block in Borodyanka shows it suffered heavy damage in a Russian strike on Tuesday, as Putin's men continue to try and take the country

A view of heavy damage in the residential area of Borodyanka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine

CHERNIHIV: A diesel fuel storage facility burns in Chernihiv after being struck with a Russian shell

CHERNIHIV: Ukrainian firefighters attempt to put out a burning diesel fuel depot in the northern city after attacks by Russia

A force of around a dozen Russian vessels including landing ships is massing off the coast of Crimea today, with experts saying an assault on Odessa could come later in the day

KYIV: Destroyed Russian vehicles are seen on a street in the settlement of Borodyanka, around 30 miles from the capital

KYIV: Destroyed Russian vehicles are seen on a street in the town of Borodyank, around 30 miles from Kyiv, after meeting 'staunch' Ukrainian resistance

KYIV: Damaged buildings and destroyed Russian vehicles are seen in the streets of Borodyanka, close to the capital of Kyiv, after a failed assault by Putin's men

Macron: 'Delusional' Putin is intent on seizing 'the whole' of Ukraine to achieve 'de-nazification' French President Emmanuel Macron believes 'the worst is yet to come' in Ukraine after 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin ended with his Russian counterpart declaring his goals will be achieved 'in any case'. In the phone call initiated by Putin today, the Russian leader reiterated his determination to 'neutralise' Ukraine, whether diplomatically or by force, a senior aide to Macron said. 'The expectation of the president is that the worst is to come, given what President Putin told him,' the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. 'There was nothing in what President Putin told us that should reassure us. He showed great determination to continue the operation,' the aide continued, before adding that Putin 'wanted to seize control of the whole of Ukraine'. 'He will, in his own words, carry out his operation to ''de-Nazify'' Ukraine to the end.' Macron in return told Putin he was making a 'major mistake' by invading a sovereign nation, that he was deluding himself about the government in Kyiv, and that the war would cost Russia dearly over the long term. The French President also urged Putin to avoid civilian casualties and allow for humanitarian access. It comes as the civilian death toll in Ukraine continues to climb as Russian forces carry out a sustained bombing campaign of several major cities including Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and capital Kyiv. After having shared several direct calls with Putin in an attempt to avert war in recent weeks, Macron today told the Russian President directly that he was 'delusional' in light of his invasion of Ukraine. 'You are lying to yourself,' the French President said according to the aide. '[This invasion] will cost your country dearly, your country will end up isolated, weakened and under sanctions for a very long time.' Despite their drastically opposed viewpoints however, there were no signs of aggression between the pair on the call. 'President Putin has a way of talking that is very neutral and very clinical. He sometimes shows signs of impatience, but fundamentally there were no open signs of tensions during the exchanges,' Macron's aide suggested. Advertisement

According to his analysis, it means lowering the pressure in the tyres - which is typically done so they can drive off-road - will cause them to shred, meaning the trucks and artillery systems will be confined to highways or else risk getting bogged down in mud.

Other images showed armoured vehicles bogged down and abandoned after Russian forces tried laying sawed-down trees under their wheels to keep them out of the muck.

Whatever the case, the longer the Russian convoy remains stuck the more vulnerable it becomes to Ukrainian counter attack and the longer the people of Kyiv get to go about their lives without the risk of being shelled.

In just seven days of fighting, more than 2% of Ukraine's population has been forced out of the country, according to the tally the U.N. refugee agency released to The Associated Press.

The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, a city of about 1.4 million people and Ukraine's second-largest. Residents desperate to escape falling shells and bombs crowded the city's train station and pressed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

At least 227 civilians have been killed and another 525 wounded in that time, according to the latest figures from the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. It acknowledges that is a vast undercount, and Ukraine earlier said more than 2,000 civilians have died. That figure could not be independently verified.

As the toll of war mounted, a second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was expected later Thursday in neighboring Belarus - though the two sides appeared to have little common ground.

'We are ready to conduct talks, but we will continue the operation because we won't allow Ukraine to preserve a military infrastructure that threatens Russia,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, repeating an accusation Moscow has repeatedly used to justify its invasion.

Lavrov said that the West has continuously armed Ukraine, trained its troops and built up bases there to turn Ukraine into a bulwark against Russia.

The U.S. and its allies have insisted that NATO is a defensive alliance that doesn't pose a threat to Russia. And the West fears Russia's invasion is meant to overthrow Ukraine's government and install a friendly government - though Lavrov said Moscow would let the Ukrainians choose what government they should have.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier raised the specter of nuclear war, putting his country's nuclear forces on high alert, but his foreign minister shrugged off questions of whether Russia could escalate the conflict with nuclear weapons, saying such talk comes from the West.

In Kherson, the Russians took over the regional administration headquarters, Hennady Lahuta, the governor of the region, said Thursday - while adding that he and other officials were continuing to perform their duties and provide assistance to the population.

Kherson's mayor, Igor Kolykhaev, previously said that the national flag was still flying, but that there were no Ukrainian troops in the city. Britain's defense secretary said it was possible the Russians had taken over, though not yet verified.

The mayor said the city would maintain a strict curfew and require pedestrians to walk in groups no larger than two, obey commands to stop and not to 'provoke the troops.'

'The flag flying over us is Ukrainian,' he wrote on Facebook. 'And for it to stay that way, these demands must be observed.'

Earlier Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian land forces have stalled and Moscow is now unleashing air attacks, but that they are being parried by Ukrainian defense systems, including in Kherson.

'Kyiv withstood the night and another missile and bomb attack. Our air defenses worked,' he said. 'Kherson, Izyum - all the other cities that the occupiers hit from the air did not give up anything.'

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions heard overnight in the Ukrainian capital were Russian missiles being shot down by air defense systems.

From Kherson, Russian troops appeared to roll toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding center to the west along the coast. The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, said that big convoys of Russian troops are advancing on the city but said that they will likely need to regroup before trying to take it over.

A group of Russian amphibious landing vessels is also heading toward the port of Odesa, farther west, the Ukrainian military said.

A building is engulfed in flames after shelling in Kyiv, with the Ukrainian capital under heavy attack on Thursday afternoon

Heavy smoke blankets an area of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, after it was hit by Russian shelling

A Ukrainian serviceman walks past as fire and smoke rises over a damaged logistic center after shelling in Kyiv

A badly damaged car and destroyed buildings are seen in central Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, after being hit by artillery

The interior courtyard of a building in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, are pictured after being hit by a missile

Heavily damaged buildings in downtown Kharkiv are pictured after a strike by Russian rockets on Thursday

KHARKIV: A view of damaged civil settlements after Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine

KHARKIV: Flattened buildings and a destroyed apartment block are seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, after it came under attack by Russian forces

KHARKIV: A view of damaged civil settlements after Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine

A view of heavy damage in the residential area of Borodyanka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine

A woman walks next to a damaged house following recent shelling in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk

Images have been steadily emerging of Russian vehicles getting stuck, including one where the tyres shredded (left) after apparently being poorly maintained

A satellite image shows southern end of convoy armour towed artillery trucks, east of Antonov airport, Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers patrol in front of the Independence Monument during Russian attacks in Kyiv

A Ukrainian soldier tasked with defending Kyiv is pictured patrolling the streets shortly after airstrikes on the city

Ukrainian soldiers patrol in front of the Independence Monument during Russian attacks in Kyiv

A woman cooks for Ukrainian soldiers at a frontline, northeast of Kyiv

Ukrainian soldiers share a light moment at a frontline, northeast of Kyiv

A Ukrainian soldier walks next to a camp fire at a frontline, northeast of Kyiv

Moscow's isolation deepened when most of the world lined up against it at the United Nations to demand it withdraw from Ukraine. The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes. And in a stunning reversal, the International Paralympic Committee banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Winter Paralympic Games.

Russia reported its military casualties Wednesday for the first time in the war, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine did not disclose its own military losses.

Ukraine's military general staff said in a Facebook post that Russia's forces had suffered some 9,000 casualties in the fighting. It did not clarify if that figure included both killed and wounded soldiers.

In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Zelenskyy praised his country's resistance.

'We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,' he said. 'They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.'

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who 'go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.'

'These are not warriors of a superpower,' he said. 'These are confused children who have been used.'

Meanwhile, the senior U.S. defense official said an immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last couple of days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

On the far edges of Kyiv, volunteers well into their 60s manned a checkpoint to try to block the Russian advance.

'In my old age, I had to take up arms,' said Andrey Goncharuk, 68. He said the fighters needed more weapons, but 'we'll kill the enemy and take their weapons.'

Around Ukraine, others crowded into train stations, carrying children wrapped in blankets and dragging wheeled suitcases into new lives as refugees.

Among the million-plus refugees who have fled Ukraine in recent days were some 200 orphans with severe physical and mental disabilities who arrived from Kyiv by train in Hungary on Wednesday.

Some of them spent more than an hour in underground shelters during a bombing, said Larissa Leonidovna, the director of the Svyatoshinksy orphanage for boys.

Overnight, Associated Press reporters in Kyiv heard at least one explosion before videos started circulating of apparent strikes on the capital.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it had knocked out a reserve broadcasting center in the Lysa Hora district, about 7 kilometers (4 miles) south of the government headquarters. It said unspecified precision weapons were used, and that there were no casualties or damage to residential buildings.

A statement from the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces didn't address the strikes, saying only that Russian forces were 'regrouping' and 'trying to reach the northern outskirts' of the city.

'The advance on Kyiv has been rather not very organized and now they're more or less stuck,' military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told the AP in Moscow.

Ukrainian soldiers unload weapons from the trunk of an old car, northeast of Kyiv

A Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher at a frontline, northeast of Kyiv

A Ukrainian soldier flashes the victory sign at a frontline, northeast of Kyiv

A worker from a local construction company prepares an anti-tank obstacle to be place on road around Kyiv

Workers from a local construction company weld anti-tanks obstacles to be place on road around Kyiv

Workers from a local construction company weld anti-tanks obstacles to be place on road around Kyiv

Civilians build iron barricades and traps to block armored vehicles in Lviv, as Russia attacks other cities in the country

Metal workers in Lviv, western Ukraine, help to make barricades that can be used to defend the city in case Russia attacks

Civilians build iron barricades and traps to block armored vehicles in the city of Lviv, western Ukraine

Clusters of metal spike traps designed to puncture the wheels of Russian armoured vehicles are manufactured by metal workers in Lviv, western Ukraine

At least 227 civilians have been killed and another 525 wounded since the invasion began, according to the latest figures from the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Earlier, Ukraine said more than 2,000 civilians have died, a figure that could not be independently verified.

The U.N. office uses strict methodology and counts only confirmed casualties, and admits its figures are a vast undercount.

Still, the tally eclipses the entire civilian casualty count from the fighting in 2014 in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces - which left 136 dead and 577 injured.

In a videotaped address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance. He vowed that the invaders would have 'not one quiet moment' and described Russian soldiers as 'confused children who have been used.'

Moscow's isolation deepened when most of the world lined up against it at the United Nations to demand it withdraw from Ukraine. The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes. And in a stunning reversal, the International Paralympic Committee banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Winter Paralympic Games.

Felgenhauer said with the Russian economy already suffering, there could be a 'serious internal political crisis' if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not find a way to end the war quickly.

'There's no real money to run to fight this war,' he said, adding that if Putin and the military 'are unable to wrap up this campaign very swiftly and victoriously, they're in a pickle.'

Several parts of the country were under pressure.

Ukraine's military said Russian forces 'did not achieve the main goal of capturing Mariupol' in its statement, which did not mention the another important port, Kherson, whose status was unclear.

Putin's forces claimed to have taken complete control of Kherson, and U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Thursday that it was 'possible - it's not verified yet - that Russia is in control' there.

A senior U.S. defense official earlier disputed the Russians controlled the city.

'Our view is that Kherson is very much a contested city,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Zelenskyy's office told the AP that it could not comment on the situation in Kherson while the fighting was still going on.

The mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow crews to gather up the bodies from the streets.

'We don't have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE,' he said in a statement later posted on Facebook.

The mayor said Kherson would maintain a strict 8 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew and restrict traffic into the city to food and medicine deliveries. The city will also require pedestrians to walk in groups no larger than two, obey commands to stop and not to 'provoke the troops.'

People board an evacuation train from Kyiv to Lviv at Kyiv central train station amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine

People board an evacuation train from Kyiv to Lviv at Kyiv central train station amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Children look out from an evacuation train from Kyiv to Lviv as they say goodbye to their father at Kyiv central train

Pictured: Footage from Kiyv overnight showed a huge explosion light up the night sky. Reports said at least two huge blasts were heard in the city air raid sirens warned residents to urgently seek shelter

Burned buildings which were hit by shelling is seen in small city of Borodyanka near Kyiv

A view shows damaged buildings following recent shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 2, 2022

'The flag flying over us is Ukrainian,' he wrote. 'And for it to stay that way, these demands must be observed.'

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said the attacks there had been relentless.

'We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop,' he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Russia reported its military casualties for the first time in the war, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine did not disclose its own military losses.

Ukraine's military general staff said in a Facebook post that Russia's forces had suffered some 9,000 casualties in the fighting. It did not clarify if that figure included both killed and wounded soldiers.

In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Zelenskyy praised his country's resistance.

'We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,' he said. 'They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.'

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who 'go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.'

'These are not warriors of a superpower,' he said. 'These are confused children who have been used.'

Meanwhile, the senior U.S. defense official said an immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last couple of days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

On the far edges of Kyiv, volunteers well into their 60s manned a checkpoint to try to block the Russian advance.

'In my old age, I had to take up arms,' said Andrey Goncharuk, 68. He said the fighters needed more weapons, but 'we'll kill the enemy and take their weapons.'

Around Ukraine, others crowded into train stations, carrying children wrapped in blankets and dragging wheeled suitcases into new lives as refugees.

In an email, U.N. refugee agency spokesperson Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams told the AP that the refugee count surpassed 1 million as of midnight in central Europe, based on figures collected by national authorities.

Shabia Mantoo, another spokesperson for the agency, said that 'at this rate' the exodus from Ukraine could make it the source of 'the biggest refugee crisis this century.'
Vladimir Putin has been warned he faces decades of isolation after invading Ukraine as Liz Truss vowed to stand by under-threat Baltic states.

As the fighting intensifies and the diplomatic response ramps up, the Foreign Secretary visited Lithuania reiterating the UK's commitment to Nato collective defence rules.

She insisted Putin 'must lose in Ukraine', saying the international community 'needs to go further' on shutting Moscow out of the Swift financial messaging system and cutting dependence on gas and oil supplies.

Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Russia will be 'isolated for decades to come'.

Speaking at a press conference in Estonia, Mr Wallace said: 'This hasn't finished here. The consequences of what we are seeing in Ukraine will ripple through Europe and Nato for not just weeks but months and years to come.'

He said it will 'be very hard for the international community to engage' with Mr Putin 'in the long term' following his invasion of a 'sovereign country at huge scale, inflicting huge damage and violence'.

As the fighting intensifies in Ukraine (pictured), Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has been visiting Lithuania reiterating the UK's commitment to NATO collective defence rules

Meanwhile in Estonia, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (right) said Vladimir Putin (left) will be 'isolated for decades to come'

Ms Truss insisted Putin 'must lose in Ukraine', saying the international community 'needs to go further' on shutting Moscow out of the Swift financial messaging system and cutting dependence on gas and oil supplies

Mr Wallace said the idea of a 'normal relationship with the Russian government' is 'almost impossible as a result of what we have seen in Ukraine unless President Putin chooses to cease what he is doing now'.

Speaking alongside counterparts from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in Vinius, Ms Truss said the West was engaged in a battle for 'all of our freedom and security'.

She said: 'This is a struggle not just for Ukraine's freedom and self-determination, but for all of our freedom and security.

'By continuing to respond with strengths we will together ensure that Putin loses.'

World leaders have pledged to turn Russia into a 'pariah state' after the invasion of Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened a war crimes investigation last night after Britain and 37 allies referred Moscow over what Mr Johnson described as 'abhorrent' attacks.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab - who has a background in prosecuting war criminals - told the Daily Telegraph the UK will assist the ICC in hunting down suspected Russian war criminals.

In a round of interviews this morning, security minister Damian Hinds told LBC there is 'every indication Vladimir Putin is absolutely guilty' of war crimes.

'But it is also really important that not only he, but the generals, the officers in his army, know that evidence is being gathered and that people can be held to account through the international justice system,' he said.

The International Paralympic Committee today reversed its original decision and decided to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Beijing Winter Paralympics.

IPC president Andrew Parsons said 83 athletes will now be unable to compete and the decision was taken because of the threat of widespread withdrawals from other countries if Russia and Belarus were allowed to take part.

Private companies have also continued to pull their services from Russia, with clothing retailer Asos refusing to operate in the country.

Mr Hinds said more individuals will be sanctioned by the UK and appeared to suggest the UK could seize assets of Russian oligarchs.

The minister was told on LBC that German authorities have seized Alisher Usmanov's yacht, and he was asked whether similar action on elite Russians should be taken in Britain.

Mr Hinds said: 'Yeah, and, look, we are going to go further.

'We've acted very quickly on the initial round of sanctions - that includes individuals as well as organisations, banks and so on - but we've always been clear it is a ratchet approach and there can be more to come.

'Specifically on assets, we've got legislation going through Parliament at the moment - we're debating it on Monday - to include bolstering unexplained wealth orders, which are a potentially potent tool that can open investigations to lead to the proceeds of crime being seized.

'We need to gum up that system, we need to stop it, to stop the money laundering, but also, as you rightly say, where it is possible - and obviously we operate within a legal framework - we are absolutely motivated to seize the proceeds of crime.'

Mr Hinds said he is 'desperately concerned' about the situation in Ukraine, as the port city of Kherson had fallen to the Russians, according to its mayor.

Speaking alongside counterparts from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in Vinius, Ms Truss said the West was engaged in a battle for 'all of our freedom and security'

A woman carries her baby at border crossing in Medyka, Poland, as refugees flee Russian invasion of Ukraine

'This is a ruthless invading force. When it comes to tactics and military strategy, I'm not going to second-guess Vladimir Putin and what he might be thinking, what might be in his head,' the minister said.

'But we do know that this is a ruthless force, an extremely dangerous (force), obviously imminently right now for Ukraine, but actually dangerous for wider Europe and the world.'

A second round of talks aimed at ending the fighting is expected to take place between Ukraine and Russia on Thursday, but there is little hope of agreement.

The United Nations (UN) human rights office has said 227 civilians have been killed and another 525 injured in Ukraine since Russia's military invasion began a week ago.

More than one million refugees have now fled the country, the UN added.
Sergei Lavrov has repeated his warning that World War Three would be nuclear while at the same time accusing the West of fixating on his dire threats of destruction.

The foreign minister also compared the US to Nazi Germany in his latest rant after Russian forces seized the Black Sea regional capital of Kherson in Ukraine, its first major city after a week of fighting.

Vladimir Putin's lackey said today: 'It is clear that World War Three can only be nuclear.

Sergei Lavrov has repeated his warning that World War Three would be nuclear as he accused the West of fixating on his dire threats

'I would like to point out that it's in the heads of Western politicians that the idea of a nuclear war is spinning constantly, and not in the heads of Russians.

'Therefore I assure you that we will not allow any provocations to throw us off balance.'

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's nuclear forces be put on high alert, accusing the West of taking 'unfriendly' steps against his country.

Moscow has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and a huge cache of ballistic missiles which form the backbone of the country's deterrence forces.

The move was followed up by comments from Lavrov yesterday in which he warned another World War would be 'nuclear and destructive'.

In separate comments today, Lavrov accused the US of trying to conquer Europe.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's nuclear forces be put on high alert

The foreign minister also compared the US to Nazi Germany in his latest rant after Russian forces seized the Black Sea regional capital of Kherson

He told Sky News: 'Napoleon and Hitler had the objective to have the whole of Europe under their control, now Americans have got Europe under their control.

'We see that the situation what role the EU is really playing in the context of the global situation, they are just fulfiling a role.

'We see that there's a picture like in Hollywood of absolute evil and absolute good and this is unfortunate.

'I think that this hysteria will end and our partners will settle down after a while and we will sit down to negotiate but only on one absolute condition and that is as equal parties.'

Lavrov has also indicated that Moscow is ready for peace talks as another meeting by Ukrainian and Russian officials is expected to take place in Belarus today.

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

A force of around a dozen Russian vessels including landing ships is massing off the coast of Crimea today, with experts saying an assault on Odessa could come later in the day

Ahead of the meeting, he told reporters in Moscow that Russia will press its military action in Ukraine until achieving its goals, chiefly the 'demilitarisation of Ukraine' but added that it will be up to Ukrainians to choose what government they should have.

Talks are expected to be held in the Brest region of Belarus, which borders Poland.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said earlier Wednesday that his country was ready for talks to resume, but he noted that Russia's demands hadn't changed and that he wouldn't accept any ultimatums.

He has accused the West of continuously arming Ukraine, training its troops and building up bases there to turn it into a bulwark against Russia - claiming it justifies the military operation.

The US and its allies have insisted that NATO is a defensive alliance that does not pose a threat to Russia. And the West fears Russia's invasion is meant to overthrow Ukraine's government and install a friendly government.

The city of Kherson is seen on Wednesday, with Russian forces seemingly in control. Kherson is the first major city to fall to the Russians

Russian tanks and a military truck are seen rolling through the streets of Kherson on Wednesday

Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's two largest cities, remained under a heavy bombing campaign overnight with missiles striking civilian areas - including a train station in the Ukrainian capital being used to evacuate people from the city and as a shelter for those who cannot or have chosen not to leave.

Chernihiv, in the north west, and Mariupol, in the south, also remain under Ukrainian control despite being all-but surrounded by Russian forces and coming under heavy bombardment.

The mayor of Mariupol said Thursday that Russian artillery fire has been so intense that they cannot even remove wounded people from the streets.

Vadym Boichenko accused the Russians of doing 'everything to block the exit of civilians' including blowing up the city's trains, leaving people stranded before the artillery opened fire.

Evacuations continued elsewhere, however, with the UN estimating that 1million people have now fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries.

Ukraine estimates that 2,000 civilians have been killed in fighting. The UN has confirmed 227 of those but said the true toll is likely far higher. War crimes prosecutors have opened a case into the deaths.

Meet Putin's loyal attack dog: Gruff Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was wheeled out to issue dire warnings of nuclear war, is a career civil servant who 'bankrolled his secret mistress and owns property worth hundreds of millions of dollars'

By David Averre for MailOnline

Russia's Foreign Minister, the gruff and sarcastic Sergey Lavrov, has become a notorious figure in recent weeks amid the invasion of Ukraine.

For many, Russia's top diplomat likely represents Putin's harbinger of doom, remarking today that World War III will be 'nuclear and destructive' in a thinly-veiled threat to NATO and the West.

But although Lavrov is tasked with delivering his President's messages to the world with a brutal, no-nonsense style seldom associated with a negotiator, he is much more than just Putin's mouthpiece.

The 71-year-old's diplomatic career has spanned half a century, meaning the straight-talking senior has lived and worked through the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union - watching as his country's relations with the West went from near-friendly to the brink of nuclear war and back again.

Like many top Russian officials and oligarchs, Lavrov became the target of personal sanctions implemented by the EU when relations plummeted to a new low as Russian tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border.

But he is thought to own hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of property and other assets, and a report published last year revealed that Russia's No1 diplomat has bankrolled the careers and personal lives of a secret mistress and her friends and family to boot.

Russia's Foreign Minister, the gruff and sarcastic Sergey Lavrov, has become a notorious figure in recent weeks amid the invasion of Ukraine

For many, Russia's top diplomat likely represents Putin's harbinger of doom, delivering the President's messages to the world with a brutal, no-nonsense style seldom associated with a negotiator. But at age 71, Lavrov is more than just Putin's mouthpiece (Lavrov (L) pictured with Putin (R) in 2019)

His diplomatic career has spanned half a century, meaning the straight-talking senior has lived and worked through the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union - watching as his country's relations with the West went from near-friendly to the brink of nuclear war and back again (Lavrov pictured in 2000 as Russian ambassador to the UN)

US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at the 'Villa la Grange', Wednesday, June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sergey Lavrov embodies the Kremlin's defiant posture as the country's top diplomat with a mixture of toughness and sarcasm

Lavrov has for years weathered endless waves of speculation that he was on the verge of retirement, instead becoming one of the longest-lasting members of Putin's Cabinet and a perennial figure among a constantly churning cauldron of foreign counterparts.

The diplomat became Russia's foreign minister in 2004, making the length of his tenure in the position second only to that of Dr. No - the infamous Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko - and prior to that served as Russia's chief ambassador to the UN for 10 years.

Born in Moscow to a Russian mother and Armenian father in 1950, he began his diplomatic career back in 1972 after graduating from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), when he was dispatched to serve as lowly Soviet advisor in Sri Lanka.

But Lavrov excelled and by 1981 had been made a senior advisor at the Soviet mission to the UN in New York during one of the most intense periods in the Cold War.

A younger Lavrov was a far less serious character - he was among one of MGIMO's keenest amateur dramatics enthusiasts, performing in various plays and sketches put on by the university, and was known for his love of chatting to journalists and putting on skits with fellow diplomats during his time as UN ambassador.

Those days are long gone, though.

Since becoming foreign minister, Lavrov's demeanour has steadily hardened and he now paints the picture of an impatient and irritable man who no longer enjoys his work and does not suffer fools easily.

In recent years his remarks directed at foreign counterparts have been derisive and laced with aggression, and he has developed a reputation for his angry diatribes at Western governments.

In 2008, Lavrov famously responded to a reprimand from then British Foreign Secretary David Miliband by snarling: 'Who are you to (expletive) lecture me?', and just last month snapped that talks with Liz Truss were like a 'conversation between the deaf and the dumb' before abandoning her at the dias.

Like his boss, Lavrov has tapped into broad public nostalgia for the country's Soviet-era clout, and has often depicted the US as arrogant, conceited and bent on world domination, while dismissing the UK and European leaders as yes men obediently toeing Washington's line.

And at age 71, Lavrov looks visibly bored by the daily routine of diplomacy.

He no longer bothers to hide his irritation at a naive or provocative question when sat in front of the media, often responding with an air of contempt or plain mockery, and harbours a particular distaste for photographers, showing clear annoyance at the clacking of camera shutters.

Russian Federation Ambassador Sergey Lavrov smokes while walking to a UN Security Council meeting about Iraq in November 1998. Before becoming the foreign minister, he served as Russia's ambassador to the United Nations for 10 years and was known for his enjoyment of chatting to the media and putting on skits with other diplomats

Lavrov became Russia's foreign minister in 2004, making the length of his tenure in the position second only to that of infamous Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko - known as Dr. No - and prior to that served as Russia's chief ambassador to the UN for 10 years (pictured in 2010)

Like his boss, Lavrov has tapped into broad public nostalgia for the country's Soviet-era clout, and has often depicted the US as arrogant, conceited and bent on world domination, while contemptuously dismissing the UK and European leaders as yes men obediently toeing Washington's line

Lavrov just last month snapped that talks with UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (L) were like a 'conversation between the deaf and the dumb' before abandoning her at the dias

Outside of diplomacy, Lavrov has followed the example set by his boss and gone to great lengths to keep his personal life private.

But Russia's top diplomat has been embroiled in a controversy surrounding a woman believed to be his longtime mistress, Svetlana Polyakova.

A report published last year by anti-corruption publication iStories and the official website of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny alleged that Lavrov, who has been married since 1971 with a child and a pair of grandchildren, took Polyakova abroad more than 60 times on 'diplomatic missions' and bankrolled her luxury lifestyle.

Polyakova, who has held a position in the Russian Foreign Ministry since 2014, has travelled with Lavrov to France, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Portugal, Azerbaijan and Greece to name a few destinations, and used the foreign ministry's plane frequently in the last eight years.

Some of the trips included luxury holidays and visits to opulent houses and yachts - among them a ship owned by oligarch Oleg Deripaska - with the couple, in some instances, joined by Polyakova's mother, daughters, and niece.

Lavrov's mistress has also engineered senior appointments for friends and family within the foreign ministry, appeared publicly alongside President Vladimir Putin and has been named among his elite entourage.

The report found that Polyakova was so close to the foreign minister that her contact information was often listed as 'Svetlana Lavrova' - with some government officials believing she was Lavrov's wife.

The investigation also uncovered Polyakova's extraordinary wealth and family properties across Russia and the UK worth $13.6billion.

The mistress also owns at least $545,000 in luxury cars, including a Mercedes worth around $250,000.

Though this is likely a paltry sum for Lavrov, who is thought to own hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of property and other assets.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (centre) reportedly took his millionaire mistress Svetlana Polyakova (right) abroad more than 60 times on 'diplomatic missions' and bankrolled her luxury lifestyle

Polyakova appeared alongside Lavrov at St Sergius of Radonezh Russian orthodox church in December 2014 and has since shared an opulent lifestyle with the foreign minister

Little is known about Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's wife Maria (left) and daughter Ekaterina (centre)

The controversy surrounding Russia's top diplomat was revealed by anti-corruption publication iStories and the official website of Alexei Navalny, one of the Kremlin's most prominent critics who is currently in jail near Moscow

In the present day, Lavrov is one of Russia's most recognisable figures amid the conflict in Ukraine, delivering statements and justifications for Russia's 'special military operation' while denouncing the actions of Western powers.

Yesterday, he was barred from flying to Geneva to attend a UN conference after European Union members banned Russian planes from their skies as part of bruising sanctions against Moscow.

Lavrov denounced what he called the 'outrageous' move in a video address to the UN session, accusing EU member states of 'avoiding a candid face-to-face dialogue or direct contacts designed to help identify political solutions to pressing international issues.'

'The West clearly has lost self-control in venting anger against Russia and has destroyed its own rules and institutions, including respect for private property,' Lavrov raged.

'It's necessary to put an end to the arrogant Western philosophy of self-superiority, exclusivity and total permissiveness.'

But Western diplomats from dozens of nations walked out of the conference room as Lavrov's message began to play, in effect saying 'nyet' to him and Russian diplomacy.

In the present day, Lavrov is one of Russia's most recognisable figures amid the conflict in Ukraine, delivering statements and justifications for Russia's 'special military operation' while denouncing the reactions of Western powers

While both allies and adversaries may respect his professionalism, Lavrov has been criticised by some for toeing the Kremlin line rather than directing his own foreign policy.

Rex Tillerson reportedly said in 2017, while US secretary of state: 'You cannot tango with Lavrov because he is not allowed to dance.'

Recent events have shown this to be the case, as Lavrov's speeches and media addresses appear resemble more and more the echoes of Putin's rhetoric.

Asked once what it takes to be a diplomat, Lavrov said the key qualities were being 'erudite' and having a good knowledge of history, adding that was important to understand the psychology and the positions of fellow negotiators across the table.

As the 50-year veteran of diplomacy moves into the final stages of his career, his counterparts are likely questioning whether Lavrov still subscribes to these ideas.
Dominic Raab has issued a war crimes warning to Russian military commanders involved in the invasion of Ukraine as he said UK prisons could be used to house people found to have broken international laws on conflicts.

The International Criminal Court last night announced it had opened a formal investigation in relation to Vladimir Putin's attack on the country.

Mr Raab, the Justice Secretary, said it is 'important to lay down a marker now and puncture the perception of impunity' as he insisted the UK is 'willing to step up and perform its role' in the hunt for potential war criminals.

The Deputy Prime Minister warned any Russian commander who carries out an 'illegal order' could end up in the 'dock of a court in The Hague and a jail cell'.

He also reportedly said that suspected war criminals could be held in UK prisons while Britain could also help with witness protection efforts.

A handful of war criminals have been jailed in British high-security prisons like HMP Belmarsh and HMP Wakefield in recent history.

Both are Category A prisons - the highest security category - with Belmarsh currently home to Julian Assange who is being held on remand while fighting extradition to America as well as Ali Harbi Ali, the man accused of killing the MP Sir David Amess.

Dominic Raab has issued a war crimes warning to Russian military commanders involved in the invasion of Ukraine

The International Criminal Court last night announced it had opened a formal investigation in relation to Vladimir Putin's attack on the country

The ICC confirmed it had launched a probe after the UK and 37 allies referred Russia over what Prime Minister Boris Johnson described as 'abhorrent' attacks.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said he had actively begun an investigation into the war in Ukraine.

In a statement, he said: 'I have notified the ICC Presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations in the situation. Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced.'

Mr Raab told The Telegraph that Russian military commanders should be aware they could end up in The Hague if they act on an 'illegal order'.

'It is important to lay down a marker now and puncture the perception of impunity,' he told the newspaper.

'What we really want to do is get this message to Putin, but also any commander in the field who may be thinking about what he is going to do with an illegal order that may cause him to commit war crimes.

'They need to know there is a very real chance that they will face the dock of a court in The Hague and a jail cell.

'That's why we will support the International Criminal Court (ICC), technically, but also in terms of any other ways.'

Mr Raab, who worked as a lawyer before entering politics and has a background in prosecuting war criminals, said the UK 'would be willing to step up and perform its role - and the Ministry of Justice certainly would'.

The Justice Secretary told The Telegraph that Britain's prisons could be used to house suspected war criminals.

He is said to have cited the case of notorious Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic who was transferred to a UK prison last year to serve the rest of his sentence for war crimes.

He was transferred to an unspecified UK prison from a UN detention centre in the Netherlands, where he had been held following his conviction for genocide and crimes against humanity.

In 2016, he was sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague to serve 40 years, later increased to life.

He was held responsible for the 1995 massacre of more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica  regarded as one of the worst atrocities committed in Europe since the Second World War.

The UK is said to have volunteered to take Karadzic as part of efforts to support international justice. The Ministry of Justice did not provide details at the time of where he was being moved to for security reasons.

He is not the only war criminal to have been housed in a British prison in recent history.

Bosnian Serb war criminal Radislav Krstic, who was jailed by the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague in 2001, was held at HMP Wakefield.

He was attacked by three of his fellow inmates in 2010 and was later transferred to a Polish jail.

Another former Bosnian Serb leader convicted of war crimes was also transferred to the UK.

Momcilo Krajisnik was jailed for the deportation, forcible transfer and persecution of Bosnian Muslim and Croats including women, children and elderly people during the 1990s Balkan conflict.

Former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic (right), was convicted of war crimes during the Balkan conflict of the 1990s

He was transferred to the UK in 2009 and reportedly served time in HMP Belmarsh but was granted early release in 2013 and died in September 2020.

Mr Raab's comments came after Mr Johnson yesterday directly accused Russian forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

He told MPs in the House of Commons: 'What we have seen already from Vladimir Putin's regime in the use of the munitions that they have already been dropping on innocent civilians, in my view, already fully qualifies as a war crime.'
This year, Prince Harry is unlikely to return to the United Kingdom. Prince Harry is suing the Home Office after being told that despite being willing to pay for it he would no longer be afforded the same degree of personal security protection while coming from the United States.

Tom Bower, who is currently writing Meghan Markle's biography, said that the Duke of Sussex is using security concerns as an "excuse," and that he understands that maintaining amicable connections with the royal family would be difficult following the publication of the book.

Prince Harry is reportedly facing the "ultimate dilemma" this year, as he must decide whether to see his beloved Grandmother while getting paid to expose his soul for the much-anticipated book, Bower explained, as per Daily Mail.

Duke, Duchess of Sussex Can Return as Part-Time Royals

Meanwhile, when Prince Charles becomes King, a royal author claims that Prince Harry and Megan Markle may return to the UK as part-time royals. On the To Di For Daily podcast, royal author Tom Quinn stated that a source informed him that both Meghan Markle and Prince Harry believe they would be able to return as part-time royals when Queen Elizabeth dies.

Quinn went on to say that they would work as royals for six months before going out on their own for six months in the United States or somewhere. He went on to say that Meghan and Prince Harry are hoping Prince Charles would be a modernizer and consent to them being part-time Royals.

According to the To Di For Daily podcast, Quinn also noted that, despite rumors that Prince Harry's planned memoir has created alarm, Prince Harry has never sought to destroy the monarchy. He further stated that Prince Harry has no intention of destabilizing the Royal Family and is merely searching for a role. Because he is the spare and not the heir, Prince Harry does not play a significant role in the Royal Family, according to Republic World.

Read Also: 'The Kissing Booth' Star Joey King Reveals She's Engaged With Director Steven Piet; Here's Why Engagement Ring Is Unique

Prince Harry Seemingly Anxious at US Awards Ceremony

Moreover, Dr. Lilian Glass said Prince Harry appeared "embarrassed" and as if he "didn't want to be there," whereas Meghan Markle looked "at ease" on stage during a US awards ceremony. When Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle attended an awards event, a body language expert said they looked like "fish out of waters."

Dr. Glass, an internationally recognized body language expert, examined their appearance during the occasion and observed that Harry seemed "uncomfortable" in comparison to his wife.

During their acceptance speech, the Sussexes paid respect to the people of Ukraine and urged for international solidarity for the country despite the continuing situation. "Before I begin, we would want to recognize the people of Ukraine who urgently require our assistance as a global community," Prince Harry said, pausing to speak about the conflict and the need to resist injustice and to listen to the voiceless.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry also announced the new NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, which honors people who are working to "create revolutionary change at the confluence of social justice and technology." The NAACP and the couple's Archewell foundation collaborated on the prize, Daily Record via MSN reported.

Related Article: Prince Charles Shows How He'll Take Over Queen Elizabeth's Role; Future King Makes Historic Change to Great Britain

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Terrifying footage has revealed the moment a CBS reporter dived to shelter as a massive bomb exploded behind him during a live report from Kyiv.

Charlie D'Agata was broadcasting live for CBS from Ukraine on Wednesday night and had handed the segment back to Elaine Quijano at the US offices of the news station when an explosion went off behind him.

Footage which wasn't broadcasted shows a flash of white light which then turned to amber in the background of the city just behind D'Agata.

Charlie D'Agata was broadcasting live for CBS from Ukraine on Wednesday night and was handing the segment back to Elaine Quijano at the US offices of the news station when an explosion went off behind him

Footage shows a flash of white light which then turned to amber in the background of the city just behind D'Agata

D'Agata immediately turns around to face the explosion before turning back to his colleagues and saying: 'What the hell was that?'

He adds: 'I don't know it was almost like lightning. It was a big flash and then...' D'Agata trails off as he stares into the distance before another explosion is set off sending the city into clouds of orange smoke

D'Agata immediately turns around to face the explosion before turning back to his colleagues and saying: 'What the hell was that?'

He adds: 'I don't know it was almost like lightning. It was a big flash and then...'

D'Agata trails off as he stares into the distance before another explosion is set off sending the city into clouds of orange smoke.

He instantly turns and dives down for shelter before he can be heard saying: 'Ow... that was close. Close enough to see the flash.'

KYIV: An apartment building in Borodyanka is seen on Thursday morning almost totally destroyed after a Russian missile struck it the day before, causing a large part of it to collapse

KYIV: Another view of the apartment block in Borodyanka on Thursday morning shows it suffered heavy damage in a Russian strike on Tuesday, as Putin's men continue to try and take the country

Smoke and flames rise up the side of Kyiv's 1,300ft TV tower after Russia bombed it on Tuesday. The tower remained standing but buildings around it were damaged, with some broadcasts knocked off air

Smoke rises around Kyiv's main television tower after several explosions near the base of it on Tuesday afternoon

Paramedics walk at the residential area following recent shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region on Wednesday

A view shows damaged buildings following recent shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region on Wednesday

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

It is unclear exactly where the explosions happened in Kyiv but Kyiv's 1,300ft television tower was bombed on Tuesday. The tower remained standing but buildings around it were damaged, with some broadcasts knocked off air.

It comes after Russia captured its first major city in Ukraine after a week of fighting.

Ukraine war: City by city Kyiv: Four large rocket strikes hit the Ukrainian capital overnight, including one which struck a train station being used to evacuate civilians , while others struck TV and radio stations. Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian fighter jet over Irpin, a satellite city of Kyiv which has come under heavy attack, in the early hours of Thursday Kharkiv: The second-largest city in Ukraine continue to come under bombardment with pictures showing destroyed residential buildings and rubble littering the city centre. Izyum, a city 70 miles to the south of Kharkiv towards Donetsk, also came under heavy bombardment with explosions lighting up the night sky Chernihiv: Located to the north-west of Kyiv, the city has been the site of fierce fighting with Russian troops since the early days of the invasion Despite being surrounded and under heavy shelling, the city remains under Ukrainian control Mariupol: Heavy Russian shelling which began targeting the city on Wednesday continued into Thursday, with the mayor saying the bombardment is so heavy that medics can't get into the streets to rescue the dead and injured Despite the attacks, the city remains in Ukrainian hands Kherson: City feared captured by Russian forces after mayor says 'armed visitors' joined a local council meeting and had imposed a curfew However, the British MoD said Thursday morning that the military situation is still 'unclear' - suggesting that Russia may not be in full control Zaporizhzhia: Russian forces have surrounded the city and its nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe Civilians set up road blocks around the plant to defend it, with the city's mayor saying one came under fire by Russian troops on Wednesday leaving two people hurt Odessa: The Black Sea port city, and Ukraine's main naval base, is preparing for a Russian assault after a dozen warships were seen forming up near Crimea Mayor said fighter jets appear to be testing air defences by flying sorties overhead, as residents prepare makeshift defences made of old railway sleepers and lay landmines on the beach Advertisement

Kherson - a regional capital with 300,000 people on the Black Sea - is now under the control of Putin's forces.

Igor Kolykhaiev, the city's mayor, said in an update around 1am that 'armed visitors' had stormed a council meeting and imposed new rules including a strict curfew and urged citizens to follow them. But it was far from clear whether Ukrainian forces had totally withdrawn, with the UK MoD saying Thursday the situation is 'unclear'.

If Kherson is under full Russian control, then it opens up Odessa - Ukraine's main port city and primary naval base - to an assault. Amphibious landing ships were seen forming up off the west coast of Crimea Thursday morning as US officials warned a major assault from the sea could come later in the day.

Ukraine estimates that 2,000 civilians have been killed in fighting. The UN has confirmed 227 of those but said the true toll is likely far higher. War crimes prosecutors have opened a case into the deaths.

Meanwhile Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's two largest cities, remained under a heavy bombing campaign overnight with missiles striking civilian areas - including a train station in the Ukrainian capital being used to evacuate people from the city and as a shelter for those who cannot or have chosen not to leave.

Chernihiv, in the north west, and Mariupol, in the south, also remain under Ukrainian control despite being all-but surrounded by Russian forces and coming under heavy bombardment. The mayor of Mariupol said Thursday that Russian artillery fire has been so intense that they cannot even remove wounded people from the streets.

Vadym Boichenko accused the Russians of doing 'everything to block the exit of civilians' including blowing up the city's trains, leaving people stranded before the artillery opened fire. Evacuations continued elsewhere, however, with the UN estimating that 1million people have now fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries.

Negotiators from both Ukraine and Russia are set to meet on the border with Belarus today for a second round of talks, after an initial summit on Monday failed to yield any result.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, issued a video address to the nation in the early hours of Thursday, giving an upbeat assessment of the war and calling on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance.

'We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,' he said, in the clip posted on social media. 'They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.'

Zelensky did not comment on whether the Russians have seized several cities, including Kherson. 'If they went somewhere, then only temporarily. We'll drive them out,' he said.

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who 'go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.' He added: 'These are not warriors of a superpower. These are confused children who have been used,' while giving the death toll at 9,000 Russian troops. The US believes the toll is actually around 6,000. Moscow has admitted only 500 deaths.

His assessment of the Russian attack was shared by several US defence analysts who said the campaign had been mismanaged, under-supplied, ineffective, and led to Moscow suffering much-higher casualties in the first few days of fighting than had been anticipated.

Russian tanks and a military truck are seen rolling through the streets of Kherson on Wednesday

The remains of a destroyed Russian military convoy are seen on a street in Bucha, to the south of Kyiv, on Wednesday morning

A damaged bridge is clearly seen beside bombed homes on Monday in Chernihiv, 80 miles north east of Kyiv

Police officers remove the body of a passerby killed in Tuesday's airstrike that hit Kyiv's main television tower

Ahead of the invasion, Washington had warned that Russia's superior forces would be able to quickly overwhelm Ukraine's 200,000-strong army - taking out air defences, achieving superiority in the skies, and then raining death down on those below.

But none of that has come to pass. Ukraine's skies remain contested, US intelligence says, while attacks have been piecemeal with troops under-supplied and not fighting in a coordinated fashion, leading to large numbers of dead along with some abandoning their vehicles which have then been captured.

'This is a colossal intelligence failure that vastly underestimated Ukrainian resistance, and military execution has been terrible,' Michael Vickers, former US Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

'[Putin's] main attack has been underweighted. It's been piecemeal. His reconnaissance elements have been captured, columns have been destroyed,' he said. 'It's just a disaster, through and through.'
Owners of a 3million Scottish castle have been evicted this week after a battle over a 230 debt dating back 25 years.

Businesswoman Marian Van Overwaele was made bankrupt in 2000 after repeatedly refusing to pay a bill relating to a bridalwear business she ran in 1997.

The debt rose to 30,000, 130 times the original sum, and a bankruptcy trustee was appointed to take control of her assets.

The 71-year-old has been holed up in her castle on the banks of Loch Long for more than 35 years, despite repeated attempts to remove her so the castle could be sold to pay her creditors.

Sheriff officers have now taken control of the Knockderry Castle, in Cove, Dunbartonshire property on behalf of trustees.

Businesswoman Marian Van Overwaele has been evicted from her castle, and described the prolonged legal action as a 'miscarriage' of justice

The 71-year-old had been holed up in her castle on the banks of Loch Long for more than 35 years, despite repeated attempts to remove her so the castle could be sold to pay her creditors

She had transferred ownership of the castle to her brother, George Amil, after she was made bankrupt, and continued to live there with him and his family.

In January, Van Overwaele lost a bid to take her case to the UK's highest court. She was not there when the eviction took place on Wednesday.

Amil was photographed at the A-listed castle yesterday ahead of the sheriff officers' arrival.

Reports stated he was still making calls to the Court of Session before the eviction took place.

Amil told the BBC: 'They are saying they are coming today to evacuate us.'

Asked if he intended to leave, he told the broadcaster: 'No. This is our house. I paid for it. I worked hard in this house. This decree is not against me.'

Workmen are reported to have forced the door open before sheriff officers and two police officers went inside to remove the family from the castle on Loch Long.

After Amil left with his wife he told the BBC: 'We just ended up homeless, I don't know where we are going to go now. And the kids finish school at three o'clock.

'It is a giant miscarriage of justice. Someone has been sequestrated for 230 that was already paid, but the whole matter is a conspiracy and a cover-up. We are going to keep fighting.'

Amil was photographed at the A-listed castle yesterday ahead of the sheriff officers' arrival

Marian Van Overwaele, 71, (pictured outside Knockderry Castle) has been evicted due to an unpaid debt of 230 from 1997 which grew to 30,000

Speaking to the BBC via Facetime, Van Overwaele said: 'This happened in Dumbarton. It happened at Court of Session.

'All the time, there has been a miscarriage of justice. My evidence has been overlooked.'

Previously the Belgian national had tried to use an ancient Scots law, Lawburrows, against insolvency practitioner Cameron Russell

Last July, the Court of Session upheld an earlier decision to allow the bankruptcy trustee to evict the family and take control of the castle.

The law lords ruled against Van Overwaele and her brother because they failed to attend court.

At a Court of Session hearing in January, Van Overwaele was denied permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in London.
More bad weather is on the way for parts of south-east Queensland and NSW but in what could be good news for many suffering, several severe weather warnings have been cancelled.

Brisbane's volunteer clean up crew, known as the Mud Army, have been stood down until at least Saturday as the Queensland capital braces for more unprecedented weather.

The Brisbane City Council on Thursday afternoon told residents to stay at home and off the roads as possible thunderstorms and flash flooding are forecast for Friday.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology has cancelled weather warnings for parts of NSW.

Severe weather had been forecast for the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, Hunter, Sydney and South Coast regions but the bureau late on Thursday night said the heavy rainfall over the Hunter and Mid North Coast area has now eased.

A similar warning issued for severe thunderstorms was also cancelled for the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and Northern Tablelands.

More bad weather is on the way for parts of NSW but severe weather warnings have been cancelled (pictured in Ballina)

A volunteer clean up crew in Brisbane has been told to stay indoors until at least Saturday as the city braces for more rain and potential flooding (pictured in Auchenflower, Brisbane)

A family are seen looking in awe at rising flood waters from the Hawkesbury River in Windsor, Sydney on Thursday

But thousands of Australians dealing with severe flooding are not yet out of the woods, with widespread rainfall still forecast for most of the affected NSW regions on Friday.

Countless towns have been left devastated by flooding in recent days with the clean up effort only now able to begin in some areas, while others remain submerged.

Sydney is expected to cop 20mm on Friday, a big drop from the 60-100mm which was predicted on Thursday evening. Residents have also been warned off hazardous surf conditions.

On Thursday night the BoM issued a major flood warning for areas near the Richmond River including Coraki, Woodburn and Bungawalbyn.

A moderate to major flood warning has also been given to the Hawkesbury, Nepean Valley and Colo River.

There were fears flooding in the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers would exceed the levels of the devastation experienced in March, 2021, but the bureau has said that is now unlikely.

Locals have started the clean up process in Lismore

A man is seen walking through floodwaters with his dog in Milperra, south-west of Sydney

A staircase is seen submerged in water near the Hawkesbury River in Windsor

The Hawkesbury River at the Windsor Bridge was expected to reach 14m on Thursday night, well above levels recorded 12 months ago.

The river peaked at 12.92 metres at North Richmond while the Nepean River is tipped to rise to nine metres at Penrith.

The expected spillage at Warragamba Dam was also downgraded from 600 gigalitres to 300-350 gigalitres.

Half a million people across the state were subject to 76 evacuation orders or warnings, according to Premier Dominic Perrottet.

'Things will get worse before they get better here in our state,' he said on Thursday.

'We do expect particularly in the Hawkesbury region that the floods will be worse than they were last year, and that we see more torrential rain and flooding in Newcastle and Hunter over the course of the day.

Brisbane is one area around Australia that has been devastated by floods

A man is seen trying to clear a drain along a street in Brisbane on Thursday

Bridges have been inundated with water in Sydney's north-west

'If you are subject to one of those evacuation warnings, please get ready.'

Up north in Queensland, residents are again bracing for the worst.

Students in the state's south-east have been told to stay at home from school on Friday.

'In addition to early collections in those areas today, tomorrow schools across the entire south-east region will only be open for children of essential workers,' Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said.

'However, the message is stay off the roads and stay at home unless you really need to be out. This weather is of serious concern.'

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday shocked many parents when she suddenly encouraged them to collect their kids in the Moreton Bay region, the Sunshine Coast, Gympie and Wide Bay to Bundaberg regions.

One Lismore local had no choice but to kayak down a main road

Loved ones find comfort in each other as they look at the damage by floods in Brisbane

NSW Police rescue teams are seen scouring floodwaters in north-west Sydney

'Children are safe at school but you should collect your children when it is safe to do so,' she said.

There are fears of flash flooding in the south-east on Friday but warnings for severe thunderstorms for the coastal area between Bundaberg and Gladstone on the coast was cancelled late on Thursday night.

There are hazardous surf warnings for the Fraser Island Coast, Sunshine Coast Waters and Gold Coast Waters.

Brisbane copped 48mm of rain in just 30 minutes on Thursday. Those near flood waters have been advised to get tetanus shots if not up to date.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Service state duty coordinator Superintendent Simon Evans said SES crews responded to 1,022 calls for help since 3pm on Thursday.

'The thing to be aware of heading into the weekend is the threat from the weather,' he said.

'As we move into recovery mode, people need to be aware of the dangers that have been left behind. That's those weakened trees, there's also chemical residue, broken glass, downed power lines and all those other hazards.'
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A British jihadi bride nicknamed the first lady of ISIS after marrying an American Islamic convert who became one of the terror groups most senior commanders has wrecked a US congressmans career by embarking on a nine-month affair with the married Republican.

Tania Joya, a mother-of-four who grew up in Harrow, Middlesex but now lives in Plano, Texas with her second husband, had an affair with Representative Van Taylor after meeting him through her work as an ex-jihadist helping to deradicalise extremists.

Joyas first husband, John Georgelas, grew up in Plano, converted to Islam and became a top recruiter for the extremist Islamic State group. In 2013, he took her and their three children to northern Syria where, as Yahya Abu Hassan, he became the most important American fighting for ISIS. He was killed in 2017.

Three weeks after their arrival in Syria, a pregnant Joya fled to Turkey with the children, then to Plano to live near her in-laws. The couple was covered for years by tabloids in Britain and profiled in US publications.

Following reports that Taylor had been cheating on his wife Anne with the ISIS bride, the North Texas congressman admitted having an affair and dramatically announced that he was ending his re-election campaign on Wednesday. His statement, shared with supporters, does not mention Joya by name or reference her late ISIS group recruiting husband.

About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world, he wrote. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life.

Taylor, a former Marine and Iraq war combat veteran, was considered one of the Texas delegations most conservative members when he was elected in 2018. But he has been sharply criticised by the partys Right wing for voting to certify the 2020 election results and supporting a commission to investigate the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Several days before Tuesdays primary election, Joya told The Dallas Morning News that she had an affair with Taylor that lasted from October 2020 to June 2021. The interview went viral and caused the congressman to issue a grovelling apology.

Tania Joya, a mother-of-four who grew up in Harrow, Middlesex but now lives in Plano, Texas, had an affair with Representative Van Taylor after meeting him through her work as an ex-jihadist helping to deradicalise extremists

Following reports that Taylor had been cheating on his wife Anne with the ISIS bride, the North Texas congressman admitted having an affair and dramatically announced that he was ending his re-election campaign

Tania Joya with John Georgelas (her jihadi husband). The pair fled to Syria from the US. Pictured in June 2009

Joya's ex-husband John Georgelas, who was from Texas, but travelled to Syria with his wife and three children to fight for the Islamic State. Joya went to Syria with him in 2013, but escaped

Toward the end of the affair with Taylor, Joya said she asked for help to pay off a credit card debt and some other bills. He gave her $5,000, she said.

I needed help. I was like, just help me out because thats the least  the very least  he could do, she told the newspaper. For him, it was like, OK, on the condition you dont tell anyone. ... I didnt want to tell anybody anything.

The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday that Joya contacted Suzanne Harp, another candidate opposing Taylor in the primary, hoping Harp would confront Taylor privately and persuade him to drop out and resign from Congress.

All I wanted was for Suzanne Harp to just say, Hey, I know your little scandal with Tania Joya. Would you like to resign before we embarrass you?. But it didnt happen like that, Joya told the newspaper. Instead, the newspaper reported, Harp sent a supporter to interview the woman, then shared the interview with a pair of right-wing websites.

In a statement, Harp said the revelations were deeply concerning, and Im praying for all involved.

Politics should build up our families, our communities, and our political parties. This story breaks my heart, both as a wife and as an American. Politics should never tear these sacred institutions apart, she said.

Taylor tallied 48.7 per cent of the vote on Tuesday, falling 823 votes short of what he needed to avoid a runoff with 63,981 ballots cast. Self scored 26.5 per cent of the vote, while Harp tallied 20.8%.

Tania Joya moved to Plano, Texas after fleeing Syria and her ex-husband who joined ISIS

For some, it may be hard to understand how Joya, who once said she was thirsty for the Islamic state and that her children were born to serve the mujahideen, has made such a dramatic U-turn.

IS expert Graeme Wood, author of The Way of Strangers: Encounters with Islamic State, claimed that Joya was no victim and had passed up a decade of opportunities to leave her husband John Georgelas.

The picture Joya paints is very different  one of a lonely and isolated girl bullied at school who turned to extremism at her lowest ebb. Any radical group could have sucked her in, she said. And of the 150 women and girls who have travelled to Syria as jihadi brides, she is almost unique in publicly abandoning her beliefs  offering some insight into how or if these women can ever be re-integrated into western life.

Her story begins in Harrow, north-west London, where she was born Joya Choudhury, to culturally Muslim Bangladeshi parents like Begum.

Her father Nural Choudhury moved between jobs including bank clerk and accounts assistant, while her mother Jahanara ran a catering business. Miss Joya, one of five children, says she was brought up to believe men were on a pedestal.

She claims she was radicalised after the family moved to Barking, east London, when she was 17. There she encountered schoolgirls who slut shamed her for dressing in Western clothes.

Soon, she was wearing the full veil and being told by a friend to celebrate the bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York. By her own admission, she became a hardcore jihadist. Joya said: We believed in jihad but the jihad we were thinking of was very rosy pictured. Islam had become the solution to everything.

She joined a Muslim matrimonial website and by February 2003 had met John Georgelas, from Plano near Dallas. He was the son of Colonel Timothy Georgelas and his wife Martha and had spent part of his childhood in Cambridgeshire. They were married within a month in a sharia ceremony that was made official at Rochdale Register Officer in October 2004. Joya had the escape she craved, moving with her new husband first to an upmarket suburb where she was overawed by the Georgelas familys four-bedroom, five-bathroom home with a pool.

The couple travelled to England and Syria, initially funded by money from their marriage, then settled in California where Georgelas got a job as a data technician.

He was caught illegally accessing passwords for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, however, and was sentenced to 34 months in jail. He served his sentence, and Miss Joya stuck by him, and again during three years further probation in Texas.

By 2011, she had given birth to the couples third son and they were free to leave. They moved to Cairo where, according to Mr Wood, Georgelas met other jihadists and was a vocal supporter of pre-IS pro-caliphate voices.

By 2013, Georgelas was determined to go to Syria and in August took his wife, who was five months pregnant, and three sons over the border to the city of Azaz in north-western Syria.

Joya was born in London to a Muslim Bangladeshi family and became radicalized at the age of 17, after 9/11

Like the congressman, Tania Joya is also a mother of three. She told The Dallas Morning News that she had hoped a political rival would convince her ex-lover to drop out of the race and resign from Congress

Joya insists that she was tricked, and in any case did not have a choice because of the control her husband exerted over her  a theme that she says is reflected in the brainwashing of Shamima Begum. He controlled me, he owned me, she said. He was like my master and I was his slave. If I disobeyed him, I was disobeying god. Any woman who has been in an abusive relationship would understand.

Locked at home like a house cat, she was repeatedly raped while her husband courted the Islamic militia. I used to cut myself just to keep him away from me, to stop him having sex with me, she said.

From her time in Syria, she remembers a place filled with once luxurious abandoned homes, limited food and no electricity.

She would be heckled for going outside without being fully covered up. Regular Syrian people would be hospitable and friendly, the local Syrians, she said. It was the foreign fighters and their wives. They would say, Mujahideens wives to not dress like that.

She continued: All I wanted to do was die. I couldnt kill myself because I had children. I was in such a dark place. John thought it was just me being pathetic and weak.

At breaking point, Joya told her husband she needed to escape. Tiring of her relentless begging, he agreed to take her and the children to the border.

So pregnant she was leaking amniotic fluid, she says she ran for the border with her three children, the youngest in a pushchair.

In an extraordinary denouement to her jihadi bride escape story, Joya says she came under sniper fire and was forced to put her three boys alone on a strangers motorbike to a bus station in Turkey. Her husband, she says, did not say goodbye.

From there, she met a contact arranged by her husband, who got them on a plane to Istanbul. She travelled with the children to London, then to Texas where she moved in with Georgelass parents. Today, she shares custody of the four children with them.

She remained in touch with her husband for several years after she had fled Syria, she says, but said they lost contact in 2015.
A British army Gurkha has been locked up for six months after he sexually assaulted a cleaner by grabbing her and trying to drag her into a toilet cubicle to have sex.

Rifleman Tarahang Rai waited in the toilet block and begged the woman for a kiss each time she returned to do her job of cleaning the men's toilets at an army base in Brunei, a court martial heard.

When she rejected his advances on two occasions, the 26-year-old soldier hid in a cubicle before grabbing her by the wrists, asked her for sex and tried to drag her inside.

The victim told the court Rfn Rai did not let go of her hands until she threatened to shout for help.

Rfn Rai denied assaulting the cleaner, claiming she came onto him and made up the allegation after he turned down her advances.

But he was found guilty following a trial at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, and was sentenced to six months at the Military Corrective Training Centre in Colchester, Essex.

Rfn Rai, of the 2 Royal Gurkha Rifles, was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.

Rifleman Tarahang Rai, pictured here outside the court, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a cleaner at Tuker Lines base in Brunei

The trial heard the woman was cleaning on the Tuker Lines base in Brunei at the time.

Prosecuting, William Peters said: 'The female cleaner encountered Rfn Rai on three occasions within the men's toilet that it was her job to clean.

'On the first two occasions he made suggestive comments to her and asked for a kiss and on the third and final occasion he actually grabbed hold of her and tried to pull her into the cubicle having again asked her for a kiss.'

Mr Peters told the court the female cleaner first went to the men's toilet block to wash some mugs and was met with silence when she shouted into the room to check there was no one inside.

After entering the block, she found Rfn Rai who asked her to kiss him.

The cleaner left to carry out other cleaning duties and returned to the toilets later, only to find Rfn Rai still waiting inside.

On the third occasion, the woman called out and again received no response but was shocked when Rfn Rai appeared from behind a partially closed cubicle door, the court heard.

Mr Peters said: 'He emerged and and continued where he left off, harassing her, but took it a stage further and grabbed hold of her forcefully and tried to pull her to the toilet.

'After a relatively short time, she was able to push him off.'

The cleaner said it was 'painful' when Rfn Rai grabbed her wrists and she was 'scared' of losing her job if she made a fuss.

Rfn Rai claimed the cleaner has come on to him, by calling him 'cute' and that she filed the complaint because she was upset at how he had rejected her. But his claim was rejected and he was found guilty

She said: 'He asked me to kiss him and then wanted to do a bad thing.

'I wanted to scream but I did not want to create any trouble at the time because I was scared of losing my job.

'I rejected him politely because I know the Army is more powerful than a weak woman.

'I said 'please leave me alone'... he said 'just a couple of minutes, just for a few minutes'.

'I tried to get out but he wouldn't let me go.

'I said 'just let me go, just let me go', he said 'no'.

'He asked for sex... I told him I wasn't really interested.

'I was very scared. I tried to calm down myself [and tried] not to panic. He was forcing me to kiss him, I told him let me go or I would shout.

'Once I told him I would shout he [let go of] my hands.'

Rfn Rai was found guilty following a trial at Bulford Military Court, Wiltshire, and was sentenced to six months at the Military Corrective Training centre in Colchester, Essex

After breaking free from Rfn Rai's 'rough' grip and leaving the toilets, the woman reported the incident to her boss, the court heard.

Rfn Rai claimed the cleaner has come on to him, by calling him 'cute' and that she filed the complaint because she was upset at how he had rejected her.

But his claim was rejected and he was found guilty before being sentenced to six months at the Military Corrective Training centre.
The shocking moment a Melbourne university student was sensationally booted from the Q&A studio after he claimed Russia was under threat from Ukrainian 'Nazi' killers has divided Australians.

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis appeared in the audience during Thursday night's episode before he was later asked to leave after making the contentious statement.

'As someone who comes from the Russian community in Australia, I've been pretty outraged by the narrative created by the media depicting Ukraine as 'the good guy' and Russia as the 'bad guy', he told the panel.

'Believe it or not, there are a lot of Russians here and around the world who support what Putin is doing in Ukraine, myself included.'

His controversial take on the invasion sparked a fierce debate on the panel and ultimately saw him booted from the show, prompting raucous applause.

Q&A host Stan Grant addressed Gillies-Lekakis later in the show and repeatedly asked him to leave, explaining the advocacy of violence would not be tolerated.

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis (pictured) was asked to leave the Q&A studio after he said he supported what Putin was doing in Ukraine and claimed there were other like-minded Australians

'Something has been bothering me, I have to admit, since we had Sasha's question earlier about Russia, and it's been playing on my mind,' the host said.

'Sasha, people here have been talking about family who are suffering and people who are dying. I understand you wanted to ask your question about - is there some reasoning for this?

As audience members took the opportunity to give their two cents, the host then shut down any the discussion and pointed his arm towards the door.

'Can I just say - I'm just not comfortable with you being here. Could you please leave? Sasha, I'm sorry. You can ask a question, but we cannot advocate violence. I should have asked you to leave then.'

However, not all Aussies agreed with Grant's decision to boot the student from the audience, with dozens taking to social media to debate the contentious moment.

Tasmanian Labor MP Brian Mitchell weighed in on the intense debate on Twitter.

'Get absolutely f*d with this clickbait garbage. Putin invaded a peaceful Democratic neighbour that posed no threat to Russia. His forces have murdered civilians, including children. There are not two sides to this story,' he said.

'Well done Stan. Very proud of what you just did live,' another user agreed.

Poll WAS GRANT RIGHT TO THROW PUTIN SUPPORTER OUT? Yes No WAS GRANT RIGHT TO THROW PUTIN SUPPORTER OUT? Yes 1179 votes

No 1595 votes Now share your opinion





'What happened to our free speech on the ABC? Cut off his question, didn't answer his question, and kicked him out,' another tweeted.

'I don't agree with his view and agree that his opinion may be compromised on bias information, but the only way people can resolve conflict is with open conversation.'

'Should have let this guy finish his question in full without cutting him off. Thought the idea of a Q&A was to hear different points of view even if you disagree with them,' another said.

'He did ask his question earlier in the show. His answer was truly offensive,' one woman replied.

'He asked his question and then started spewing bulls*** stats/propaganda, it can be cut off when it's no longer a question,' a second agreed.

Q&A host Stan Grant (pictured) asked the university student to leave the live audience after the panel discussed his statement and said 'we can't have people advocating violence'

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis (pictured) is a Melbourne university student who claimed that since 2014 the Ukrainian government had collaborated with Nazi groups to besiege the Russian population

'How is shutting him up and kicking him out fair discussion for both sides? Stop the censoring and one way media,' another user commented.

'Well done Stan for telling him to leave. He was supporting the murder of civilians and children,' another user disagreed.

During his address Mr Gillies-Lekakis claimed that since 2014, the Ukrainian government had been collaborating with Nazi groups to besiege Russia.

Putin has argued Ukrainian nationalist battalions, descended from local swastika and 'SS' wearing divisions from WW2, still operate in modern Ukraine.

The leader has used this rhetoric to justify the invasion of Ukraine, however, it has been widely debunked by world leaders and experts as Russian propaganda.

The student went on to claim Nazi groups had killed 13,000 Russians in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine, citing the United Nations as his source.

While there is no evidence for claims of genocide, Putin has used the word to pretext launching a war against Ukraine, among other reasons.

When gas supplies were interrupted to parts of eastern Ukraine in 2015, the Russian leader stated it 'smells of genocide', and in 2021, Putin said the conflict zone in Donbas 'looks like genocide'.

As other Q&A audience members began to heckle Mr Gillies-Lekakis he asked where Australia's outpouring of grief and concern was for the 13,000 Russians killed.

Host Stan Grant took the question to the panel, asking if there was a moral equivalence to the attacks and if there had been provocation from Ukraine before Russia invaded the capital, Kyiv.

Liberal MP for Mackellar Jason Falinksi said it was simple.

'There is no moral equivalency to murder. Just because someone is murdered it does not give you the right to murder someone else.'

'Secondly, the sovereignty of a nation cannot be simply wiped out because one individual decides without evidence, that he is going to do that.

'We live in a world at the moment which is managed by the rule of law. If we change that to a position where people just get to decide what they want to do because they've got more guns than the next person, that is not a world I want to live in.'

He said the situation in eastern Europe was 'not going to end well' unless the West was incredibly assertive about pushing back the unwarranted aggression.

Shadow Minister for Defence Brendan O'Connor said the student's claims had proven how the Russian leader's misinformations had made their way Down Under.

'Putin has been deploying misinformation for years, he is undemocratic by nature, he kills off his opposition, he uses all forms of propaganda,' he said.

Mr O'Connor said Putin had misrepresented conflicts in Ukraine for his own benefit.

The university student was asked to leave after host Stan Grant said his question had advocated for violence - something that wasn't tolerated on the ABC program

As Mr Gillies-Lekakis continues his heated spiel the camera panned to the visibly uncomfortable panel, where one woman is seen raising her eyebrows (pictured)

According to the Australian Institute of International Affairs, Sasha Gillies-Lekakis is an Honours Student in Spanish and Latin American Studies.

Its website states Sasha is passionate about Cuban history and politics and recently graduated from the University of Melbourne.

It comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday announced Australia was pledging $105 million to help Ukraine, including $70 million in military equipment.

'We're talking missiles, we're talking ammunition, we're talking supporting them in their defence of their homeland in Ukraine,' he told reporters.

'I'm not going to go into the specifics of that because I don't plan to give the Russian government a heads-up about what's coming their way, but I can assure them it's coming your way.'
The Kremlin meanwhile insists that less than 500 of its soldiers have been lost

It comes as the armed forces claimed to have downed 9,000 Russian troops

It will be seen in Ukraine as a sign that the invasion is not progressing as planned

He is by far the most senior figure to have been killed amid the Russian invasion

A top Russian general has been killed amid bitter fighting in Ukraine in what represents a major blow to the Russian invasion.

Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, who was the deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of Russia's Central Military District, died yesterday as Ukrainian defence forces repelled the Russian offensive.

His death has not yet been officially confirmed by Russia's Ministry of Defence, but was announced on social media by his colleague Sergey Chipilyov and was widely reported by several Russian and Ukrainian news outlets.

A military source confirmed that he was killed 'by a sniper', and suggested a funeral for the Major General - by far the most senior Russian figure to have died in the conflict thus far - will be held in Russia on Saturday.

After days of denial, the Kremlin yesterday admitted that 498 of its troops have been killed and 1,600 injured in the 'special military operation' in Ukraine, but the true figure is almost certainly higher.

Ukraine's armed forces meanwhile claimed today that Russia's army had suffered 9,000 casualties - though the statement recognised that the calculation of the death toll 'is complicated by the high intensity of hostilities'.

Major General Andrey Sukhovetsky, who was the deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of Russia's Central Military District, died yesterday as Ukrainian defence forces repelled the Russian offensive

Andrei Sukhovetsky, the Deputy Commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District. Pictured with Sergey Chipilyov (right

Huge convoys of Russian armour have rumbled into several Ukrainian cities, only to be met with fierce resistance as well-armed troops used a mixture of their own and NATO-supplied anti-tank weapons to wreak havoc on the invaders

An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine

Chipilyov, of the Airborne Forces Union of Russian Paratroopers, confirmed Sukhovetsky's death on social media earlier today in perhaps the most definitive proof of the general's passing.

'With great pain, we received the tragic news about the death of our friend, Major-General Andrey Aleksandrovich Sukhovetsky, in Ukraine during a special operation.

'We express our deepest condolences to his family,' the post read.

It was not clear where Sukhovetsky was killed.

The 47-year-old was a highly decorated veteran who was appointed deputy army commander of the 41st division in October 2021.

Prior to that, he commanded the 7th Airborne Assault Division in Novorossiysk for three years, and had completed several combat deployments in the Chechen war, Abkhazia and the intervention in Syria.

Sukhovetsky twice participated in the Victory Parade in Moscow's Red Square, and was awarded two Orders of Courage, the Order of Military Merit and the Medal of Courage.

He also received special commendation for his participation in Russia's annexation of Crimea.

His loss will be taken in Ukraine as yet another encouraging sign that the Russian invasion is not progressing as planned.

Day eight of Russia's invasion dawned today with the city of Kherson, in the south of Ukraine, having fallen into Moscow's hands. Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. But defences elsewhere are still holding fast despite coming under heavy bombardment

Day eight of Russia's invasion dawned today with the city of Kherson, in the south of Ukraine, having fallen into Moscow's hands.

Kerson is the first regional capital to have been taken by Putin's men after a week of fighting that has seen his army suffer heavy casualties as Ukraine's forces continue to defy the Russian onslaught.

Defences elsewhere are still holding fast despite several cities - Chernihiv, Mariupol and Kharkiv chief among them - coming under heavy Russian bombardment.

Kyiv was struck by four large missiles overnight, one of which hit the central train station and three of which struck TV or radio stations.

In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised his country's resistance and vowed that the nation's cities will be rebuilt with Russian money

The Ukrainian president claimed that 'all lines of defence are holding' with the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mykolaiv all resisting Russian attacks.

KYIV: An apartment building in Borodyanka is seen on Thursday morning almost totally destroyed after a Russian missile struck it the day before, causing a large part of it to collapse

KYIV: Another view of the apartment block in Borodyanka shows it suffered heavy damage in a Russian strike on Tuesday, as Putin's men continue to try and take the country

'They wanted to destroy us. They failed. We've been through so much. And if anyone thinks that, having overcome all this, Ukrainians will be frightened, broken or surrender, they know nothing about Ukraine,' Zelensky said, adding: 'We will restore every house, every street, every city and we say to Russia: learn the word 'reparations'.

'You will reimburse us for everything you did against our state, against every Ukrainian, in full.'

'We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,' he said. 'They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.'

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who 'go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.'

'These are not warriors of a superpower,' he said. 'These are confused children who have been used.'
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Melinda Gates trashed her ex-husband Bill for his questionable friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and revealed that he continued to meet with him despite her having 'nightmares' about him.

In her first interview since her divorce from the billionaire last year, Melinda told CBS Mornings that she insisted on meeting Epstein back in 2011 because she wanted to see 'who this man was'.

'I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. I made that clear to him. I also met Jeffrey Epstein exactly one time. I wanted to see who this man was and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door.

'He was abhorrent, evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. That's why my heart breaks for these young women. That's how I felt, and I am an older woman. He was awful.'

She told host Gayle King that Bill had to answer the many times he met Epstein, and even suggested that it contributed to the divorce.

'It was not one thing, it was many things [that led to the divorce]. Any of the questions remaining about what Bill's relationship with him was... those are for Bill to answer. I made it very clear how I felt about him.'

Melinda revealed how;

She cried 'on the carpet' at times while working through the divorce that they announced in May last year

She had forgiven Bill for a 2000 affair but he had to answer to reports of multiple affairs

The pair are 'friendly' now but are not 'friends': 'I wish him well,' she said

She is 'dipping her toe' into dating again and finds it 'interesting'

Every billionaire should give away at least half of their wealth

She does not blame herself for the divorce, saying 'I did nothing wrong, I hold my head high'

She has launched her own company now called Pivotal Ventures but will continue to work at The Gates Foundation

The interview was filmed at the offices of Melinda's new company, Pivotal Ventures, in Seattle.

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Melinda Gates in her CBS interview. She lifted the lid on her marriage to Bill Gates for the first time, telling how the trust in their relationship was broken by his 2000 affair

Bill Gates in Jeffrey Epstein's Upper East Side mansion, the scene of many of his crimes, in 2011 - after the pedophile had spent time in prison for having sex with minors

Melinda also revealed that she and Bill are not friends but are 'friendly' and work together, and she suggested he had more than one affair throughout their 27-year-marriage.

He was abhorrent, evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards.

'Those are questions Bill needs to answer,' she said when asked about reports he cheated multiple times. He previously acknowledged one affair.

'I believe in forgiveness. I thought we had worked through some of that,' Melinda said of his 2000 affair with a Microsoft employee. I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage. I was committed from the day we got engaged to the day I got out of it.'

Bill has said in the past that meeting with Epstein multiple times was a 'huge' mistake and error in judgement.

In a statement to CBS, he said: 'Meeting with Epstein was a mistake that I regret deeply. It was a substantial error in judgement.'

Elsewhere in the interview, Melinda told of being in 'tears' about the divorce moments before having to attend a Gates foundation meeting, and how she is dating again.

'I hope that happens for me again. I am dipping my toe in the water a little bit,' she said, adding that she 'definitely' wants to be in love again.

She said dating was 'interesting at this point' but did not give any additional details.

The interview was filmed at the offices of Melinda's new company, Pivotal Ventures, in Seattle. The company involves Melinda investing in female-driven ventures

The 57-year-old, who shocked the world when she and Bill announced in May 2021 that they were ending their 27-year marriage, previously told how she endured emotionally challenging times whilst working with the billionaire.

The pair's divorce was finalized privately in Washington - where their Gates Foundation is based - in August.

The terms of it were never made public but Bill was worth around $152billion at the time, giving Melinda a 50 percent settlement of $76billion. That does not include the couple's vast property portfolio which comprised of homes in New York, Washington, and California.

In a preview of the interview, Melinda took a swipe at her ex's infidelity, saying: 'I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage. I was committed from the day we got engaged to the day we ended it.'

'BILL HAS TO ANSWER TO INFIDELITY': AFFAIR WITH MICROSOFT EMPLOYEE THAT 'BROKE' THE TRUST IN THE MARRIAGE

Melinda revealed that Bill's 2000 affair with a Microsoft employee 'broke' the trust in their marriage, and also suggested that he was unfaithful more than once.

Kingasked Melinda: 'Once trust is broken, isn't it hard to get it back?' to which the philanthropist responded: 'Very, it's very hard to get it back, in any relationship.'

'I certainly believe in forgiveness so I thought we had worked through some of that,' she said of the couple's attempt to work through Bill's affair.

'It wasn't one moment or one specific thing that happened, there just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realized it just wasn't healthy, and I couldn't trust what we had.'

Asked for her response to reports that Bill cheated multiple times, she replied: 'Those are questions Bill needs to answer.'

Bill and Melinda were married for 27 years before announcing their split last May. They are shown together (left) in 2017 and Bill is shown (right) at the Munich Security Conference last month

A spokesman for Bill previously acknowledged that he had an affair, but that it had nothing to do with him stepping down from the board at Microsoft in 2020.

'There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably.

'Bill's decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier,' a spokesman told The Wall Street Journal last year.

'I WISH HIM WELL BUT WE'RE NOT FRIENDS' - WORKING TOGETHER AT THE GATES FOUNDATION THROUGHOUT DIVORCE

Melinda spoke about how, despite the couple going through their divorce behind the scenes, they were still able to work 'effectively together'.

'First of all we both want to work together  we founded this institution in 2000  both of us. It has both of our names on the building.

'I believe in that institution, my values are baked into that institution. So I have always felt like it calls us to be our higher selves.

'Even during the difficult times in the last 18 months while we were going through this process behind the scenes, we were able to show up and work effectively together.

Bill and Melinda Gates are pictured at their daughter Jennifer's wedding in North Salem, New York, in October

'I'm not saying it was easy but I'm saying for me I had days where I had tears the hour before an online meeting or I'd be angry but I still rose to be my higher self and I think we can continue to do that.'

She said the pair are not yet 'friends' but are 'friendly'.

'We certainly have a working relationship. We are friendly at this point. Friends is a different word for me. That might come over time but for me there is still healing that needs to happen.

'I wish him well. I certainly don't wish him any harm.

'We have a productive working relationship and I think that will continue,' she said.

CRYING ON THE CARPET AND REALIZING HER MARRIAGE WAS OVER BUT THAT SHE DID 'NOTHING WRONG AND HOLDS HER HEAD HIGH'

Melinda spoke candidly about sobbing on the floor as her marriage fell apart, and while she was working 'through' the divorce.

She said she never thought their marriage would end in divorce.

'I never thought I would end it being divorced. I needed to take a different path. And so I think, you know, we knew that when the divorce was gonna be announced that it would be a surprise to people.

'I felt bad about that, but I probably, I didn't have any sense of how big of news it would be. You never, you can't anticipate something like that.

'I think it's really important to say, look, I had a lot of tears for many days, I mean days where I'm literally lying on the floor on the carpet... thinking, 'How can this be? How can I get up? How am I going to move forward?'' she revealed.

The ex-couple, who share three kids (pictured), have not publicly spoken out about the split, however Bill is reported to have blamed himself in an off-the-record Q&A session back in July

'[There were] days [where] I certainly was angry. That's part of the grieving process. You're grieving a loss of something you thought you had and thought you had for your lifetime. This is painful stuff.

'At the end of the day though I started on this journey of healing and I feel like I'm starting to get to the other side. And I do feel like I'm turning a page in the chapter now. It's 2022 and I'm actually really excited about what's to come and life ahead of me.'

She added: 'I don't question myself now, not at all. I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage. I was committed to the marriage from the day we got engaged to the day I got out of it.

'Society used to put this on women like it was our fault. I did nothing wrong. I hold my head high.'

'EVERY BILLIONAIRE IN THE WORLD SHOULD GIVE AWAY AT LEAST HALF OF THEIR WEALTH'

Melinda also used the interview to tell other billionaires to give away the majority of their wealth, as she does.

She set up The Giving Pledge with her ex-husband and Warren Buffett with the intention of encouraging the world's richest people to donate their money to charity.

If you are lucky enough to be a billionaire, believe me - you can give half of it away and it will not change your life

Others who have joined it include Jeff Bezos' ex-wife MacKenzie. Jeff has not signed up to it.

Melinda said of her philanthropy: 'I do feel that if you are lucky enough to be a billionaire, believe me - you can give half of it away and it will not change your life.

'We should. We should have a society where if you have wealth, you put it back into society so that you can change and uplift others.'

The interview - which marks the first time that Melinda has publicly addressed her split from Bill - comes 10 months after the former couple first revealed to the world that they were separating, and just seven months after they finalized their $130 billion divorce settlement.
Fake heiress and convicted scammer Anna Sorokin is suing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after she allegedly caught coronavirus when she was denied a booster vaccination shot.

Sorokin, 31, along with three other detainees, filed the suit on Tuesday alleging federal authorities at the Orange County Correctional Facility in upstate New York violated their constitutional rights as 'medically vulnerable individuals' and engaged in 'unlawful discrimination' by refusing to issue the shot.

The famed Soho Grifter claims she tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-January after she made multiple requests for a booster shot and never received a response, according to the complaint obtained by DailyMail.com Thursday.

She also alleges she continues to experience lingering effects of the virus - including fatigue, coughing, brain fog and shortness of breath - and still seeks the jab 'as she is concerned about getting sick from COVID-19 if she contracts it again'.

Sorokin, who is fighting deportation to Germany, was placed in ICE custody last March after she allegedly overstayed her visa.

The Russian-born scammer - whose story inspired the newly released Netflix series Inventing Anna - swindled banks and New York's downtown socialite scene out of thousands of dollars between 2013 to 2017 while she lived in Manhattan and posed as Anna Delvey, a German heiress who had a $67million trust fund back in Europe.

Sorokin skipped out on exorbitant restaurant and hotel bills, and in one case, put a friend in an awkward position putting $62,000 - more than she made in a year -on her credit card to cover a stay at a lavish hotel in Marrakesh.

In April 2019, Sorokin was convicted of four counts of theft services, three counts of grand larceny, and one count of attempted grand larceny. She was sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison, but was out in February 2021.

Anna Sorokin, along with three other ICE detainees, is suing federal authorities after she allegedly caught COVID-19 at the facility after having been denied a booster shot. She is pictured in court in May 2019

The complaint alleges ICE violated the plaintiffs' constitutional rights to substantive due process by failing to provide conditions of reasonable health and safety to people in detention.

Sorokin and the other plaintiffs accuse federal authorities of creating conditions posing 'unreasonable risk of serious harm' and argue officials 'knew or should have known' that 'medically vulnerable people in ICE detention facilities who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot in accordance with CDC guidance, face an unreasonable risk to their health.'

The suit continues, claiming ICE has 'recklessly disregarded their serious medical need for a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.'

The plaintiffs also accused ICE of failing to provide 'reasonable accommodations' to persons with disabilities, citing their medical and psychological conditions - which include HIV, chronic kidney infection, and post-traumatic stress disorder - are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Sorokin suffers from a chronic kidney infection, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the suit.

She and the other plaintiffs have illnesses that reportedly 'substantially impair major life activities' and pose a risk that makes them 'more likely than others to suffer serious illness or death from COVID-19'.

The group is also seeking an injunction ordering ICE to immediately provide them with a COVID booster shot.

Sorokin claims she tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-January after she made multiple requests for a booster shot and never received a response. She also alleges she continues to experience lingering effects of the virus - including fatigue, coughing, brain fog and shortness of breath - and still seeks the jab 'as she is concerned about getting sick from COVID-19 if she contracts it again'

Sorokin and the other plaintiffs claim ICE violated their constitutional rights as 'medically vulnerable individuals' and engaged in 'unlawful discrimination' by refusing to issue the shot. The complaint alleges Sorokin suffers from conditions, including chronic kidney infection and PTSD, that make her 'more likely to suffer serious illness or death from COVID'

They also want a directive for all ICE detention centers to issue booster shots to all eligible detainees as well as provide adequate education, pre-vaccination consultation and documentation in accordance with CDC guidance.

Sorokin, according to the complaint, 'has not heard of any other detained people getting boosters' at the Orange County Correctional Facility and says she has 'not seen any information distributed about boosters'.

She 'feels that the staff have left her and other detainees unprotected in the facility' and would like to see change implemented at the facility.

The group is also seeking financial retribution to cover the cost of their counsel and legal fees.

Sorokin's attorney did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment, however, the American Civil Liberties Union - which filed the complaint on behalf of the plaintiffs - issued a statement to Reuters Wednesday saying Sorokin's involvement in the suit 'brings additional attention to the problem'.

'We were not looking to put fireworks around her name,' ACLU attorney Arthur Spitzer said, adding that Sorokin was referred to their agency by another nonprofit.

'We thought to the extent that her involvement brings additional attention to the problem, it's a plus for everyone and not just for her.'

Sorokin, in a statement provided to the news outlet, reiterated that she fears contracting COVID again.

'I joined this lawsuit because everyone who wants a booster shot to protect themselves should be able to get one,' she said.

Sorokin reiterated that she fears contracting COVID again. She said: 'I joined this lawsuit because everyone who wants a booster shot to protect themselves should be able to get one.' Sorokin is pictured in New York City in February 2021

The Russian-born scammer - whose story inspired the newly released Netflix series Inventing Anna - swindled banks and New York's downtown socialite scene out of thousands of dollars between 2013 to 2017 while she lived in Manhattan and posed as Anna Delvey, a German heiress who had a $67million trust fund back in Europe. In April 2019, Sorokin was convicted of four counts of theft services, three counts of grand larceny, and one count of attempted grand larceny. She is pictured in April 2019 during her trial

Last month, Sorokin penned an open letter while in COVID isolation whining about feeling like an afterthought, not being able to watch Inventing Anna and admitting she made 'questionable choices.'

In the letter published by Insider, Sorokin laments about being held behind bars after being ruled 'a continuous danger to the community' and insist that she was fully and legally self-sufficient after being released in 2021.

The 31-year-old claimed she paid off her criminal restitution and 'accomplished more in the six weeks they deemed were long enough for me to remain free than some people have in the last two years' although she does not specify how.

Sorokin also said she is appealing her criminal conviction in an attempt to clear her name. 'I did not break a single one of New York state's or ICE's parole rules,' she adamantly states.

She mocked the immigration judge's ruling that 'even if released from detention and ordered to report regularly to ICE, the respondent would have the ability and inclination to continue to commit fraudulent and dishonest acts' and claim that she 'failed to demonstrate remorse.'

Sorokin also complains about having to be put in 'medical isolation' for contracting COVID 'even though there's nothing medical about it.'

Sorokin was sentenced to a minimum of four years in prison, but was out in February 2021. She was then placed in ICE custody last March after she allegedly overstayed her visa. Sorokin, who is pictured in Manhattan on Feb. 25, 2021, faces deportation back to Germany

The Russian born criminal also complained about her inability to watch the Netflix series centered around her scandal starring Julia Garner as the scam artist. The 10-episode Shonda Rhimes-produced series premiered in February.

Sorokin said she could 'pull some strings and make it happen' but brushed it off saying 'nothing about seeing a fictionalized version of myself in this criminal-insane-asylum setting sounds appealing to me.'

'I imagined for the show to be a conclusion of sorts, summing up and closing of a long chapter that had come to an end,' she writes while sitting behind bars yet again.

She also noted she participated in nearly four years of phone conversations and in-person visits with the Inventing Anna creators and actors, but complained that the show was being told from a journalist's perspective.

'While I'm curious to see how they interpreted all the research and materials provided, I can't help but feel like an afterthought, the somber irony of being confined to a cell at yet another horrid correctional facility lost between the lines, the history repeating itself.'

Last month, Sorokin penned an open letter while in COVID isolation whining about feeling like an afterthought, not being able to watch Inventing Anna and admitting she made 'questionable choices'. A scene from the show, starring Julia Garner, is pictured above

Sorokin noted that she felt like an 'afterthought' as the show was being told from a journalist's perspective, instead of hers. She said she participated in nearly four years of phone conversations and in-person visits with the Inventing Anna creators and actors (Pictured: Julia Garner as Anna Delvery, Katie Lowes as Rachel in Inventing Anna)

Sorokin also admitted that she made 'questionable choices' calling herself an 'unreliable narrator'. Garner is pictured as Sorokin in Episode 2 of the show

'What you won't see in the Netflix show is my newly acquired habit,' she says noting how she 'methodically' bites the skin around her nails 'until the nailbeds slowly fill with blood from both sides, collect at the tip, which I then squeeze until there's enough to drip down the sink.'

Thinking through her years spent behind bars she also bragged how she was considered 'not a regular white girl, like the rest of them here.'

In the midst of her complaining she admitted: 'I, the ultimate unreliable narrator, have made some questionable choices that I wouldn't necessarily repeat today.'

Sorokin quickly followed her second of remorse by questioning whether she deserves to be deemed a permanent threat noting that other more violent criminals have been released. 'It makes no sense for me to still be here,' she insists.

She ended her open-letter rattling off a series questions:

'Will I forever be judged by my early-to-mid-twenties? Is there anything else I could possibly have done to close this chapter? Will I forever be stuck in a past not entirely of my creation without getting a chance to move on? How many years of reflecting on an overdrawn bank account are socially acceptable before one is allowed to open another one? How many ancient VHS tapes does one have to watch before one's considered reformed?'
Lara Worthington has issued a desperate plea for help in one of Australia's worst-affected flood-stricken regions and taken a swipe at Scott Morrison.

The veteran model tagged the Prime Minister as she called for 'the army, police, services' to assist 'regular people' who she said are carrying out rescues of vulnerable residents in the NSW Northern Rivers.

Worthington claimed 'so many people are missing' in the 'apocalyptic' conditions at Mullumbimby and Main Arm through Wilson's Creek, calling it 'a state of emergency'.

Lara Worthington has issued a desperate plea for help in one of Australia's worst-affected flood-stricken regions and took a swipe at Scott Morrison

Worthington shared an astonishing post from a Mullumbimby meditation school, which she appeared to base her appeal on

She said people in the region were being forced to scale cliffs to rescue 'pregnant people, babies and families'.

She tagged the prime minister in the post and asked: 'Scott Morrison are we doing this again?'

In 2019, Ms Worthington criticised her former boss and now PM for his controversial holiday to Hawaii as bushfires ravage Australia.

She referenced her famous Tourism Australia catch-cry from 2006 Tweeting: 'Scott Morrison: WHERE THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU???' on Twitter.

Mr Morrison was the boss of Tourism Australia when a bikini-clad Bingle featured in the $186 million campaign.

Deemed too risque, the advert was later banned in the UK.

The model lashed out at Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Twitter (pictured) after he apparently flew business class to Hawaii as bushfires continue to ravage Australia

Mr Morrison hired the 18-year-old Sydney-born model, who is from Cronulla in the Sutherland Shire which is part of the PM's electorate, to front the campaign promoting Australia's natural wonders.

On Thursday the Prime Minister announced $434.7million of emergency funding to support flood affected areas including grants of up to $75,000.

Morrison, who is recovering from Covid, posted on social media, saying 650 Australian defence Force personnel and 5 ADF helicopters were helping.

'Over 52,000 disaster payments of $1000 for adults and $400 for children have so far been paid out by the Federal Government to support people impacted by the floods, totalling $62.7 million.'

The veteran model tagged the Prime Minister as she called for 'the army, police, services' to assist 'regular people' who she said are carrying out rescues of vulnerable residents in the NSW Northern Rivers (pictured Lara Worthington with husband and actor Sam)

Worthington claimed 'regular people' around Mullumbimby were being forced to scale cliffs to rescue pregnant people, babies and families'

On Thursday the Prime Minister announced $434.7million of emergency funding to support flood affected areas including grants of up to $75,000

Morrison said five ADF helicopters were helping flood relief efforts

'It's not enough,' one follower responded to his post on Thursday.

'Why is this not a state of emergency? People are risking their lives to save people in danger.'

Worthington also shared an astonishing post from a Mullumbimby meditation school, which she appeared to base her appeal on.

It painted an emerging tragedy in an area 50km north-east of Lismore, and 40km north of Ballina - two NSW towns whose plight has already been widely publicised.

Titled 'Northern Rivers calling for help', The Broad Place included a photo showing a rampaging river smashing through trees after apparently washing away part of a set of wooden stairs.

'People are lost and missing. Cars destroyed by floods are leaking fuel into sewerage all over the streets. We need help. We are running out of drinking water.

'Regular citizens are winching themselves down bridges and over landslides to save people [and] attempting to hike their way to food and water.'

The PM said 650 ADF personal were already helping, but one follower shot back 'it's not enough'

The post claimed 'mud and sewerage' have reached 'head high' in some homes.

'Disabled elderly cannot access medication, and have no phones. They can't contact their kids and are breaking down in tears of despair.

'Bridges are down, roads have been swept away in landslides.

'Army, defence force, police where are you?

'We need counselors, therapists, doctors, nurses.'

The Broad Place is run by couple Jacqui Lewis and Arran Russell, well known for running corporate meditation programs.

Under Morrison's plan grants of up to $75,000 are available for farmers and up to $50,000 for small businesses and not for profit organisations hit by floods.

They will be available through NSW government agencies, with registration already open through Service NSW.

'Farmers will need to restock and rebuild and small businesses will need help replacing damaged goods and shop fronts, and when more support is needed, more support will be given,' he said.

'I have already asked the New South Wales Premier to provide my Government with a proposal for a second support package to ensure all communities get the support they need.'

Further funding through the Queensland government will be announced in coming days.

'This initial package is in addition to the federally funded $1,000 disaster relief payment and the 13-week income replacement for employees and small business, which to date has already paid out almost $63 million in a matter of days,' he said.

As head of Tourism Australia Morrison famously gave Worthington (when she was Lara Bingle) her first big break, fronting his 2006 'So Where the Bloody Hell Are You? campaign.
The House Select Committee responsible for investigating the events leading up to the unprecedented Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot on Wednesday said that there was sufficient evidence to conclude that former U.S. President Donald Trump was part of a "criminal conspiracy."

The statement alleges that the Republican businessman and his allies conspired to commit fraud and obstruction by misleading Americans about the results of the 2020 election. The panel also claims that the former president tried to overturn the results in his favor.

Trump's "Criminal Conspiracy"

The committee's lawyers laid out their theory of a potential criminal case against the former president in a court filing in a civil case in California. The legal experts said that evidence pointed to Trump, conservative lawyer John Eastman, and many of the Republican's allies could be charged with obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress and conspiracy to defraud the American people.

The filing also claims that the individuals involved may have broken a common-law statute against fraud through the former president's repeated lies that the election was stolen from him. The committee's filing disclosed only limited new evidence and they asked the judge in the civil case to review the relevant material behind closed doors, as per the New York Times.

No federal or state prosecutor has accused Eastman and Trump of any crime and they have not charged any top advisers around the former president for Jan. 6-related crimes. While the White House does not have the ability to bring criminal charges, it pointed to Trump's actions to overturn the elections.

Read Also: Joe Biden State of the Union Address: Strategy vs. Inflation, Vladimir Putin Warning, and 3 Key Highlights

Lawyers for the House said that the former president called and met with several state officials, multiple times with Department of Justice officials, tweeted and spoke about the issues publicly, and engaged in a personal campaign to persuade the public of widespread voter fraud.

According to CNN, the document claimed that evidence supported the accusation that Trump and members of his campaign were aware he did not win the 2020 election. Nevertheless, they continued to use then-Vice President Mike Pence to manipulate the results.

Another Legal Battle

The situation comes as Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka Trump and Don Jr., are fighting another legal battle with New York Attorney General Letitia James. They are trying to avoid testifying in the AG's investigation into the Trump Organization that has been given a deadline of next week by a Manhattan judge.

Trump's lawyers have filed to appeal the judge's order, which could delay testimony for several months. One of the former president's lawyers, Ron Fischetti, said that the Republican businessman and his two children will not be testifying by Mar. 10. He argued that no one believed they were going to testify by that date.

Fischetti said that Trump's legal team was working on filing an appeal and requesting for a stay, saying that such a process was "routine." He added that the former president's notice of appeal, and his request for a stay of Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron's compliance order, will be filed with the state's appellate division early next week, Business Insider reported.



Related Article: Ketanji Brown Jackson Meets With Senators on Her Way To Face Senate Confirmation Hearing on Mar. 21

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A Virginia substitute teacher has been suspended after expressing approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine and urging students to read Russian propaganda outlets including Sputnik News.

Arlington Public Schools suspended John Stanton, 65, who made the comments during an eighth-grade Spanish lesson on Friday at Swanson Middle School.

Stanton told the Washington Post he offered an opposing viewpoint about Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine for the first 10 minutes of a 90-minute class while expressing approval of Putin's decision to invade.

The substitute teacher, who has worked pro-Moscow publications as a journalist, told the students to read as many news sources as possible, including Sputnik News, which the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency have declared a 'state-run propaganda machine'.

'The statement I think that got me was I said, "I personally support the logic of Putin," and what I meant by that is, he made a rational decision from his perception,' Stanton said.

Arlington Public Schools suspended John Stanton, 65, who made the comments during an eighth-grade Spanish lesson on Friday at Swanson Middle School (file image)

In an email to the school board, parents said Stanton's comments, where he expressed support for Russia and asked students if anyone 'hated Russia', amounted to 'advocacy of political positions, and Russian propaganda.' The email noted there was a Ukrainian student in the class at the time.

Officials notified Stanton on Tuesday that he was suspended because of 'an allegation of comments made to students during instructional hours regarding sensitive world events with Russia and Ukraine.'

Stanton, who has been subbing for Arlington for three years, said he doesn't plan to petition for reinstatement.

He told Fox 5:'It is pointless to petition. We live in a time of war propaganda from both sides which brings with it censorship of opinions deviating from the core message.

'It is at a fever pitch now. As an expert in information warfare and the author of many pieces on the subject I speak with some authority.'

A schools spokesperson declined to discuss Stanton's comments or employment status.

Stanton, whose resume lists roles as an American Enterprise Institute researcher, a host of an unnamed 1980s 'political/cultural radio program' in D.C. and an 'independent journalist,' said he writes for outlets such as Pravda, which was the Soviet Union's main propaganda platform.

In a Pravda opinion piece, published on Monday, Stanton argued that the US owns 'every country in the NATO alliance' and described Russia's invasion of Ukraine is 'great news for the West's defense contractors who earn 'billions of profit'.

The substitute teacher, who has worked pro-Moscow publications as a journalist, told the students to read as many news sources as possible, including Sputnik News, which the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency have declared a 'state-run propaganda machine'

Stanton also worked for Sputnik News in Washington D.C. from 2016 to 2018 according to his CV but a 2018 PBS article revealed he was filed after he gave information about outlet to a third-party client.

'I was extracting as much information as possible from their [Sputnik News] computer systems, taking pictures of the staff, collecting information,' Stanton said, adding that the client was a US government intelligence agency without expanding further.

Arlington Public Schools spokesman Frank Bellavia declined to directly answer questions about how Stanton was hired by the board or if a background check was carried out during the hiring process, the Washington Post reported.

Instead, Bellavia said that 'we pull from a pool of subs and they don't have to have any background in the subject area they are subbing in.'

Stanton said he would give the same speech again if he had a chance, but understood why his speech on Russia's invasion of Ukraine was not appropriate for a Spanish class.

'If I reached one student  and there was one student that told the kids 'Be quiet,' because he wanted to learn,' Stanton said. 'If for one student that is the case then I would do it again.'
An artisan bakery named Bread A Manger is facing financial ruin after being ordered to change its name by its 1.5bn 'rival' - Pret A Manger.

The small business was set up during the Covid lockdown in Bermondsey, south-east London, by bakers Fouad Saber and Bertrand Kerleo - after both their previous companies were decimated by the pandemic.

But after almost two years of operating, the pair were left 'shocked' last month when they were told they had just nine days to stop using the business's name, logo and promotional material - and to hand over its website.

The owners claim they never even thought of Pret when they came up with their business name - adding that the changes would cost around 10,000, which is money the independent eatery simply does not have.

Pret A Manger, which has more than 450 UK outlets, sent a legal letter to the bakery, situated on Market Place, on February 22.

The orders came from top international patent and trademark law firm Dehns, which has seven offices in the UK and one in Norway.

The company has now said Bread A Manger can have longer to make the changes they deem are necessary, adding that it merely wanted a response by March 3.

Bread A Manger was set up during the Covid lockdown in Bermondsey, south-east London, by bakers Fouad Saber and Bertrand Kerleo (pictured) - after both their previous companies were decimated by the pandemic

The letter came as a shock to cofounder Mr Saber, who says the company simply does not have the estimated 8,000 it would cost to make the requested changes. (Pictured: Front of Bread A Manger on Market Place, Bermondsey, south-east London)

Pret A Manger, which has more than 450 UK outlets, sent a legal letter to the bakery, situated on Market Place, on February 22. (Stock photo)

The letter came as a shock to cofounder Mr Saber, who says the company cannot afford to make the requested changes.

He said: 'I found it funny at first. But when I read the letter it was quite scary.

'It was a 15-page letter demanding for us to change the company name, change the sign, hand over the website for free.

'It would cost around 8,000 to 10,000 to change everything - we don't have that kind of money.

'Our customers mostly pay and order online so even the thought of doing anything like what they are asking would badly damage the business.'

He added: 'At the beginning, I thought it was a scam or a wind-up.

'But then I checked the name of the law company and realised it was serious.

'It has been very stressful. We don't really know what to do. We are a small business trying to survive. We opened at the start of lockdown because we loved what we do.

'But one of our customers, a judge, gave us the name of a lawyer who could helps us - but being given a week to change our name is not enough.

'We are a French artisan baker and they are a fast food outlet. We do birthday cakes. There can be no confusion.

'But our supporters have been very helpful. They have led the way in trying to save us.

'We are just trying to stay positive because we did not do anything wrong.

'We will do all we can. I come from Lyon, which was the centre of the French Resistance, so we will fight on.'

Pret has confirmed that it asked for initial changes to be made by March 10.

It said it has not asked for other changes to be implemented - including registering a new name with Companies House - until later in the month.

But Mr Saber is planning on fighting to keep the Bread A Manger name.

He continued: 'They are completely two different companies. It means 'bread to eat'.

'Pret A Manger is different in French, it means 'ready to go' or 'ready to eat' depending on how you use it.

'Pret A Manger was set up in London by an Englishman in the 80s. Obviously, they do sandwiches, salads, coffee, etc - it's fast food.

'We're completely different... No one ever has come to us and said it looks like a Pret.

'We honestly didn't think about [Pret] when we created the name.'

The two men say that loyal customers have come out in full force.

After almost two years of operating, the Bread A Manger founders were left 'shocked' last month when they were told they had just nine days to stop using the business's name, logo and promotional material - and to hand over its website. (Pictured: Interior of Bread A Manger)

Mr Saber continued: 'I'm not scared about it because it has been nearly two years since we opened our business.

'We've worked hard to build the company and we're dedicated to proving our case.

'I'm from Lyon, we never stop fighting.

'If someone had come down and spoke to us as human beings, I hoped we could have worked it out that way.

'Sending that bundle of a letter, threatening that we must change everything, it's just not a nice way of going about doing things.'

He added: 'The reason why we are not in a depression is that our customers are supporting us and we really appreciate it.

'We've had people who know the law come in and give advice...'It's all very nice. It's not about the money.'

Pret has offered to support the small business in making its requested changes.

'We have a duty of care to ensure the brand is not diluted,' it said in a statement.

Jo Holinska, Head of Operations, London City, Pret a Manger, said: 'Thousands of Pret Team Members across London have worked hard to earn the trust of customers in the city over the past four decades, and although we appreciate it when other businesses take inspiration from what we do, this name is just too close, especially when many of the products are similar too.

'We're more than happy to give the business the time it needs to make these changes and to provide any support we can, and we'll be getting in touch again to see if we can resolve this in a fair and amicable way.'

Bread A Manger came about with the merger of two companies which could not survive the pandemic: Manger Moi and Dynamic Baking Classes.

The former was created in 2017 by Mr Saber, who is also a former shop, restaurant and customer services manager.

It specialised in pastries, muffins, and French crepes, in Stratford.

Pret said there were 'uncertainties' that may cast 'significant doubt' over its ability to continue trading in accounts filed earlier this month (stock image used)

Dynamic Baking Classes, created by Mr Kerleo in 2019, was a specialist bakery selling French and English traditional food.

Mr Kerleo has more than 25 years' experience as a head baker, previously working in a Michelin star restaurant, hotels and other bakeries.

He has also worked with top chefs including Tom Atkins and Eric Chavot.

It comes after Pret A Manger last month warned that fewer workers returning to the office and a shift to hybrid working mean it could come under significant financial pressure.

The coffee shop chain said there were 'uncertainties' that may cast 'significant doubt' over its ability to continue trading in accounts filed earlier this month.

Among these was the 'unpredictability of consumer behaviour' as well as the possibility of new pandemic restrictions and the ability to keep paying its debts.

Pret, which has nearly 470 branches, relies heavily on office workers and commuters.

Covid forced many of its shops to close for several months, leaving it hemorrhaging cash  it plunged to a 296million loss in 2020, compared with a 1.9million profit in 2019.

The bleak assessment came as Pret doubled the size of an emergency cash reserve to 200million in January, after an injection of 106million in November and 185million 12 months ago.

The group recently raised the price of its coffee subscription service, which offers up to five barista-made drinks per day, to 25 per month from 20.

Remaining optimistic, Pano Christou, CEO, Pret A Manger said last month: 'In September last year, we announced ambitious plans to double the size of Pret's business over the next five years, backed by a 100m injection of funding from JAB and Pret co-founder, Sinclair Beecham.

'Since announcing this strategy, Pret has continued to expand its business in the UK and internationally, and we're confident that we will continue this pace of growth in the coming years.

'Despite the impact of Omicron on trade in December, our UK shops continue to recover strongly, with our Coffee Subscription used over a million times every week in the UK.'
Moldova and Georgia are set to 'imminently' bid for EU membership in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a senior official for the bloc has said.

The two eastern European countries are already part of EU outreach programs but a membership request would be a major development in their relations with the 27-nation bloc.

Any membership application and consideration is a process that would take many years and involve fundamental political adjustments, ranging from trade, to rule of law measures and anti-corruption commitments.

Moldova's move comes amid fears Alexander Lukashenko accidentally revealed that Vladimir Putin intends to invade the country next after Ukraine.

He addressed security officials on Tuesday while standing in front of a battle map that seemed to show a planned operation from southern Ukraine into its tiny neighbour.

The map also showed proposed battle plans for Russian troops across the country.

Moldova and Georgia are set to 'imminently' bid for EU membership in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a senior official for the bloc has said. Pictured: Moldova's president Maia Sandu

Alexander Lukashenko appeared in front of a battle map during a state TV broadcast which appears to detail Russia's attack plans in Ukraine

The map seems to suggest that a force will be sent from the Ukrainian city of Odessa to attack neighbouring Moldova, where Russia already has troops

Nicu Popescu, Moldova's deputy prime minister, admitted earlier this week that his country is in a 'very risky zone' with the population feeling 'anxiety and fear'.

But, he added, he does not expect to be invaded and instead sees the biggest challenge as handling an influx of refugees.

The EU official who spoke on Thursday asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of recent geopolitical developments after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The bid from Georgia and Moldova comes after the European Parliament backed Ukraine's bid to apply for EU membership.

The ruling Georgian Dream party chairman, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced the party's decision 'to immediately apply for the EU membership'.

Georgia called on the EU 'to review our application in an urgent manner and to make the decision to grant Georgia the status of an EU membership candidate,' he told a press conference.

Georgia will 'immediately' apply for EU membership, the Black Sea nation's ruling party said Wednesday. Pictured: President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili and European Council President Charles Michel speak after their meeting in Brussels, Belgium on March 1, 2022

Russian troops take position at the entrance of the flashpoint city of Gori, Georgia during Russia's invasion of regions of the country in 2008

Moldova: A brief history The Republic of Moldova has changed its colours many times throughout its history, which dates back to the 1350s. In its early state, it was the precursor to what is today Moldova and Romania, and was known as the Principality of Moldavia. The principality was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire from the 1500s until the 19th century. In 1812, the eastern half of the principality - Bessarabia - was annexed by the Russian Empire. Over 100 years later, Bessarabia briefly became independent as the Moldavian Democratic Republic and united with Romania in 1918, but was occupied by the Soviet Union soon after during the Second World War. When the war ended in 1945, it remained in the Soviet Union as the Moldavian SSR, until the USSR dissolved in 1991, at which point the country declared independence and become the Republic of Moldova as it is known today. However, a small strip of Moldovan territory found on the country's easy bank has been under the control of the breakaway government of Transnistria since 1990, which is one of four post-Soviet 'frozen conflict' zones. Advertisement

Georgia's decision followed a similar move by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who won backing from MEPs in a non-binding resolution recommending that EU bodies grant Ukraine the status of candidate country.

The vote was largely seen in Georgia as a window of opportunity to advance its own EU aspirations - a goal enshrined in the country's constitution.

However, Kobakhidze also slammed Ukraine's decision to recall their ambassador to the country over what Zelensky called Gerogia's government's 'immoral stance' on sanction on Russia, as well as blocking a flight to bring in volunteers to the country.

'This decision is not just unjustified, it is completely illogical for many reasons', Kobakhidze said, according to Open Caucasus Media.

'If the reason for recalling the ambassador was the non-imposition of sanctions, we would like to remind you that a number of countries have refused to impose sanctions, including Moldova, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel and others.

'However, the Ukrainian authorities have not recalled their an ambassador from any of these countries,' he said.

Last year, the Georgian government announced its intention to apply for EU membership in 2024.

Georgia's and Ukraine's efforts to forge closer ties with the West has long angered former imperial master Russia.

Tensions with Moscow culminated in Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008.

Both Georgia and Ukraine have signed association agreements with the EU 'on economic integration and political approximation,' and free trade, which give no guarantee for an eventual membership.

Russia and Georgia fought a war in August 2008 over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, which saw hundreds of deaths.

Moscow continues to garrison troops there and to support another breakaway region, Abkhazia, after recognising both regions as independent states.

Russia and Georgia fought a war in August 2008 over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia. Moscow continues to garrison troops there and to support another breakaway region, Abkhazia, after recognising both regions as independent states

President Zelensky signed a request for Ukraine to join the EU 'immediately' on Monday

On Monday, Ukraine's President Zelensky signed a request for Ukraine to join the EU 'immediately' as Putin's brutal invasion continued.

However, Brussels' officials warned the process to join the block takes years, and that there is no fast-track procedure for membership.

Joining the bloc can be a long and complex process that often requires major reforms to reach EU standards. A country also has to prove that their finances are heading in a direction that will allow them to adopt the euro.

Speaking on Ukraine's chances, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that any bid for membership could take 'a lot of years'.

The European Commission said that, in any case, it can only negotiate with hopeful candidate countries on the basis of a mandate from the EU's 27 member states - something it has not received for Ukraine.

'At the end of the day, this is a debate at the highest political level, for the (European) Council,' where the member states take decisions, said a commission spokeswoman, Ana Pisonero.
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President Joe Biden held a virtual meeting with leaders of Australia, Japan and India Thursday morning to discuss the implications the Russian invasion will have in the Indo-Pacific region as the White House formally asked Congress for $10 billion in additional aid for Ukraine.

The video call was scheduled to start around 9:00 a.m. from the Situation Room with Quad Leaders Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan's Prime Minister Kishida Fumio.

The Quad Leaders' aim is to tackle pressing challenges affecting the Indo-Pacific.

The meeting comes as concerns arise over India's handling of Russia's full-scale invasion into Ukraine last week and that China could take Russia's lead and invade Taiwan.

A joint readout of the call said the four leaders agreed to meet in Tokyo, Japan in person in the coming months in order to continue the 'pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific.'

Russia is a massive arms supplier for India. The nation provides military equipment like missile defense systems, which are crucial for deterrence against China and Pakistan.

Modi would not denounce the Russian invasion, making India one of the 35 states that abstained from a resolution brought during an emergency United Nations General Assembly meeting condemning President Vladimir Putin's attack.

President Joe Biden held a video call with Quad Leaders on Thursday morning to discuss implications Russia's invasion of Ukraine could have on the Indo-Pacific region. Pictured: A view of heavy damage in the residential area of Borodyanka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine on March 3, 2022

A father from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol weeps over the body of his teenage son Iliya at a maternity unit converted into a hospital to treat civilian victims of Russian shelling

The meeting of Quad Leaders (pictured from the Situation Room Thursday) comes after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine during an earlier emergency UN General Assembly meeting

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

Damaged civil settlements after Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine on Thursday, March 3, 2022

MARIUPOL: An elderly woman laying in a pool of blood inside her apartment in Mariupol is rescued by paramedics after being injured during shelling of the city

The US Air Force flexed its military muscles at one of its airbases in Japan Tuesday, showcasing a fleet of more than two dozen warplanes in an apparent effort to deter Chinese forces from invading the self-governing island of Taiwan

Ukraine war: The latest Peace talks between the two sides resumed today, with negotiators meeting on the Belarus border

Vladimir Putin called Emmanuel Macron to tell him that he has no intention of calling off the invasion, will keep going until 'the end', and may increase his demands despite suffering losses

Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall

Invasion so far has been badly managed, a 'disaster, through and through', US defence experts say

Ukraine's second city Kharkiv continues to come under heavy Russian shelling

Column of Russian vehicles north of Kyiv 'stalled' due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion

Moscow admits 498 troops have died in Ukraine, widely thought to be an under-estimate but still a record total for post-Soviet Russia

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine 'will immediately proceed'

A Bangladeshi sailor is killed in an attack on his vessel docked in the Black Sea port of Olvia

Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday

Russia tells citizens in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol to leave, raising fears bombing will intensify

UN General Assembly demands Russia 'immediately' withdraws. Moscow wins support from only four nations - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria

Swedish Armed Forces say four Russian fighter jets entered its airspace in the Baltic Sea

US launches 'KleptoCapture' with the aim of seizing yachts, private jets and homes of Russian oligarchs

Chelsea Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirms he is selling the Premier League club

Ukraine invites mothers of captured Russian troops to come and collect their sons

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urges Russians to protest daily against the invasion

US follows the EU in targeting Russian ally Belarus with sanctions for supporting invasion Advertisement

China also abstained from the vote, while five countries voted against it, including North Korea, Syria, and, of course, Russia.

More than 140 other nations voted in favor of condemnation.

Biden said last week he would discuss with India its stance on the invasion of Ukraine when asked during a press conference if the Asian nation was behind the U.S.

'We haven't resolved that fully,' he said at the time.

A readout of the call from the White House did not say whether the leaders discussed Modi's lack of condemnation of Russia, but did say: 'The Quad leaders discussed the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications.'

'They agreed to stand up a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will enable the Quad to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific and provide a channel for communication as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine,' the joint readout added.

Putin said Thursday that Ukrainians are 'extreme gangsters', and claimed their army is using civilians as 'human shields'.

He also hailed Russian soldiers as heroes who are fighting to save innocent lives and said his invasion is going exactly to plan and schedule in a stunning act of hypocrisy and outright denial.

The Russian leader, who eight days ago declared all-out war against Ukraine in a bid to topple its elected government and reunify it with Russia, denied that his troops are deliberately targeting civilians - despite reams of evidence to the contrary - and instead blamed 'neo-Nazis' holding citizens hostage.

Referring to the invasion as a 'special operation' aimed only at protecting the eastern Donbass region, he acknowledged that some Russian forces including a senior commander had died in the fighting - but claimed the officer had blown himself up in a heroic act of sacrifice while taking out several Ukrainian soldiers.

The address, made during a meeting of Putin's security council, seemed more aimed at reassuring a jittery Russian public and government officials than it did at trying to convince an international audience who have spent days looking at images of increasingly indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities that are thought to have killed thousands of innocents.

It came just hours after Putin called Emmanuel Macron to tell the French President that he has no intention of pulling back from Ukraine or watering down his security demands, will achieve his aims 'whatever happens' and will continue fighting until 'the end'.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a small press conference in Kyiv on Thursday that he 'needs' to speak directly with Putin.

Leaders from Moscow and Kyiv met for negotiations and talks on ending the war on the border with Belarus on Thursday.

Zelensky insisted there's room for compromise, just not when it comes to Ukraine's status as an independent nation.

Biden's administration officially requested Congress approve $32.5 billion to send additional aid to Ukraine in its defense against Russia and to build up a kitty for the battle against coronavirus at home.

Of the total, the White House is asking for $10 billion to address the emerging humanitarian crisis in Ukraine as well as protect its digital grid from cyber attacks, two people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post.

The remainder of the money would go toward U.S. COVID measures over fears more variants will emerge just as the majority of the nation ended its mask mandates.

'Given the rapidly evolving situation in Ukraine, I anticipate that additional needs may arise over time,' Acting Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young wrote in a letter to lawmakers, which was obtained by The Post.

Young added that she 'anticipate[s] that additional funding will be needed to support the covid-19 response.'

The Biden administration initially asked lawmakers to provide $6.4 billion in aid to Ukraine, but both parties quickly called for more spending and the administration agreed. The $10 billion request would aid in training Ukraine's military, provide food and other humanitarian aid and boost cybersecurity defense, as well as fortify the electric supply.

The U.S. is also concerned that Russia's invasion into Ukraine could lead China into invading the self-governing island of Taiwan.

MARIUPOL: A Ukrainian woman living in the Black Sea city of Mariupol is evacuated from her home during a brief break in Russian shelling, which has now been continuous for more than 24 hours

The display of military might at Kadena Air Base, which officials called a 'routine wing readiness exercise,' comes two days after President Biden dispatched several former senior defense staffers to the island nation in a show of support, as many wonder whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine could trigger a Chinese invasion of the country

In an effort to deter that, the U.S. Air Force flexed its military muscle with a so-called 'Elephant Walk' military display at the Kadena Air Base in Japan.

Officials called the show of military might a 'routine wing readiness exercise,' and it comes just two days after Biden dispatched several former senior defense staffers to the island nation in a show of support.

The 'Elephant Walk', or taxiing of large numbers of military aircraft in close formation before take off, saw a grouping of two dozen F-15 fighter aircraft and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, collectively valued at just over $1 billion.

The fleet of jets are assigned to the 44th and 67th Fighter Squadrons, better known by their colloquial epithets, the Vampires and the Fighting Cocks, respectively. The chopper belongs to the 33rd Rescue Squadron, which boasts the motto 'That Others May Live.'

The formation also featured a $50million KC-135 Stratotanker refueling plane, assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron, as well as a $270million E-3 Sentry aerial command and control craft, assigned to the 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron.

The show of force comes after months of mounting and increased Chinese aggression directed at Taiwan, including nine Chinese aircraft entering the nation's airspace last Thursday - the day Russian troops invaded Ukraine.
An Estonian-owned cargo ship has been sunk off the coast of Ukraine after hitting a mine.

Four crew members are still missing and two are in a life raft at sea following the explosion near Odessa.

Igor Ilves, managing director of Tallinn-based manager Vista Shipping Agency, said the ship likely struck a mine, adding: 'The vessel has finally sunk. Two of the crew are in a raft on the water and four others are missing. I don't know where they are at the moment.'

Estonia is a member of NATO and the EU, and while an official reason has yet to be given for the blast, the possibility that it was the result of a mine risks further destabilising an already explosive situation in Eastern Europe.

Images circulating on social media purport to show the sinking of the Helt in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine (pictured)

Four crew members are still missing and two are in a life raft at sea following the explosion near Odessa

An Estonian-owned cargo ship has been sunk off the coast of Ukraine following an explosion (file image)

The 37-year-old Helt was flying under the Panamanian flag, like many merchant ships who wish to avoid their own countries' strict marine regulations.

It comes after the Russian Black Sea Fleet was accused of using civilian vessels including the Helt as human shields in the invasion of Ukraine.

The military said the Russian Navy forced the Helt to enter a dangerous zone of the Black Sea to cover the movement of its own warships.

Ukraine's armed forces said: 'For the safety of civil navigation, the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine closed navigation in the north-western part of the Black Sea.

'At the same time, the Russian Black Sea Fleet continues the tactics of Russian ground forces trying to hide behind civilian lives.'

It comes just a day after a Bangladeshi-owned cargo ship was struck by a missile or bomb in the Black Sea port of Olvia, killing one of its crew members.

A Bangladeshi-owned cargo ship was struck by a missile or bomb in the Black Sea port of Olvia, killing one of its crew members yesterday (pictured)

The Bangladesh-flagged Banglar Samriddhi had been stuck in the port of Olvia since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24

'The ship came under attack and one engineer was killed,' Pijush Dutta, executive director of Bangladesh Shipping Corp, told Reuters. 'It was not clear whether it was a bomb or missile or which side launched the attack. The other 28 crewmen are unharmed,' he said, without providing further details.

The Bangladesh-flagged Banglar Samriddhi had been stuck in the port of Olvia since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, and was hit by a missile on Wednesday evening, a Bangladeshi foreign ministry official said on Thursday.

In the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, the Russian Embassy said in an English-language statement on its Facebook page that the circumstances of the incident were 'being established'.

'We express deep condolences to the near and dear ones of the deceased. The Russian side bends every effort to ensure safe departure of the Bangladeshi ship from the port,' it said.

It was hit by a missile on Wednesday evening, a Bangladeshi foreign ministry official said =on Thursday

Videos on social media showed crew members asking for help after the ship was hit.

In one video, the vessel's second engineer said the ship had been hit by a rocket with one crewmate already dead.

'We have no power supply. Emergency generator power supply is running. We are on the verge of death. We have not been rescued yet. Please save us,' the seafarer said.

In another video, another crew member called Asiful Islam Asif said: 'Please rescue us.'

Bangladesh Shipping Corp's Dutta said he was aware of the videos, declining further comment.

Many shipping companies have suspended sailings to affected Black Sea ports and other terminals in Ukraine, with insurance premiums for voyages soaring in recent days.

At least three commercial ships have been hit by projectiles since the invasion was launched.
A KGB double agent living in the North East of England who still fears being visited by Vladimir Putin's 'hitmen' says the West should have cracked down on Russia after the novichok poisonings in Salisbury.

Victor Makarov, 67, attended the KGB's spy school in the same year as Putin but later put his life on the line when he passed Soviet secrets to MI5 and MI6 for a period of two years.

He was caught and arrested, but in 1992 he was smuggled out of Russia to the UK where he has stayed ever since, making Northumberland his home, but claims he will always remain on the Russian president's hit list.

Speaking from his housing authority flat in Haltwhistle, Mr Makarov said the horrors happening in Ukraine right now could have been avoided if the world had taken Putin seriously after the assassination attempt of former spy Sergei Skripal, in Salisbury, which led to the death of Dawn Sturgess.

Victor Makarov said the horrors in Ukraine could have been avoided if the West had cracked down on Russia after the novichok poisonings in Salisbury

He said: 'This could easily have been prevented.

'If Putin had been taken seriously this would not have happened.

'The world leaders gave Putin the wrong signal. The reaction to Salisbury was not strong enough. All this bloodshed could have been prevented.

'Nobody in Russia agrees with this war. People are not loyal to Putin, they are afraid of him.

'Russia is no longer my country, it stopped being my country a long time ago, but it does make me sad to see Russia involved in this.

'The Russians have lost already 5,000 people. It is really sad to see.'

Mr Makarov is pictured in 2018 in Haltwhistle (left) and when he was a KGB agent (right)

He said he has faced no hostility as a Russian living in the UK since the invasion but said many people have asked him questions and he has tried to explain the situation.

'Its not easy for them to understand because its fully illogical to people in Northumberland,' he added.

'The people here know who I am. They know the invasion is not supported by the Russian people.'

After enlisting in the KGB, Mr Makarov said he realised the secret security service was corrupt.

He worked in the cryptoanalytical department where he deciphered diplomatic telegrams that came from embassies around the world bugged by the Russians.

He was convinced by his English tutor, a woman he fell in love with, to approach the British intelligence services with the information he was gathering.

He was subsequently caught by a former colleague and arrested on July 8, 1987.

Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia (pictured together) were poisoned in Salisbury in March 2018. Mr Makarov said the West should have cracked down on Russia after that attack

Mr Sergei and his daughter Yulia survived the attack but it later claimed the life of Dawn Sturgess (pictured) who was exposed to the novichok nerve agent that had been discarded in a perfume bottle

Mr Makarov spent five years in a gulag labour camp in the Ural mountains but was freed in early 1992, a few months after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

With the help of two MI6 officers, he escaped to Britain on a false passport.

After former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned in Salisbury in March 2018, Mr Makarov feared Russian assassins would target him next.

Ms Sturgess died when she was exposed to the novichok nerve agent that had been discarded in a perfume bottle.

Mr Makarov at the time called on the UK Government to take action to protect all former spies.

And he told of his fears that the West underestimated the threat posed by Putin and that leaders must stop trying to appease him.

He warned Russia posed a bigger threat than Islamic extremism and urged then Prime Minister Theresa May to take tough action against Mr Putin to keep the UK safe.
President Zelensky has made substantial use of social media videos to broadcast to the outside world

Ukrainians like 20-year-old Marta Vasyuta, who films aftermath of bombings, have amassed huge audiences

App, previously dominated by dancing videos, has proven itself particularly suited to covering the conflict

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been described as the 'first war fought on TikTok', with social media used by President Zelensky and ordinary Ukrainians to expose the brutality of the conflict - but also by pro-Kremlin propagandists to spread disinformation.

The Chinese-owned app, previously dominated by dancing and lip-syncing videos, has proven itself particularly suited to covering the conflict, with its simple editing software allowing users to share footage within seconds of it being filmed - before being shown to millions of young users via its powerful algorithm.

Ukrainians like 20-year-old Marta Vasyuta, who films the aftermath of bombings, have gone on to amass huge audiences. One other user, @valerisssh, posted a video that aped the popular TikTok template where people point out stylish features of their homed but showed viewers around her 'bomb shelter' instead.

President Zelensky has made substantial use of social media videos to broadcast to the outside world - often while walking around the streets of Kyiv. In a recent video, on February 26, he slammed 'fake information' that he was telling the army to lay down its weapons, while last week he filmed himself alongside his Cabinet to counter Russian claims he had fled.

Although these videos are usually posted onto Twitter, they are then shared by TikTok users and go on to spread rapidly through the platform.

A TikTok user from Chernihiv takes followers on tour of bombsite, in an example of how young Ukrainians are using the platform to spread news about the war

The user says she wanted to show what Russian forces did to her city while she was sleeping in a bomb shelter

Ukraine war: The latest Peace talks between the two sides resumed today, with negotiators meeting on the Belarus border

Vladimir Putin called Emmanuel Macron to tell him that he has no intention of calling off the invasion, will keep going until 'the end', and may increase his demands despite suffering losses

Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall

Invasion so far has been badly managed, a 'disaster, through and through', US defence experts say

Ukraine's second city Kharkiv continues to come under heavy Russian shelling

Column of Russian vehicles north of Kyiv 'stalled' due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion

Moscow admits 498 troops have died in Ukraine, widely thought to be an under-estimate but still a record total for post-Soviet Russia

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine 'will immediately proceed'

A Bangladeshi sailor is killed in an attack on his vessel docked in the Black Sea port of Olvia

Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday

Russia tells citizens in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol to leave, raising fears bombing will intensify

UN General Assembly demands Russia 'immediately' withdraws. Moscow wins support from only four nations - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria

Swedish Armed Forces say four Russian fighter jets entered its airspace in the Baltic Sea

US launches 'KleptoCapture' with the aim of seizing yachts, private jets and homes of Russian oligarchs

Chelsea Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirms he is selling the Premier League club

Ukraine invites mothers of captured Russian troops to come and collect their sons

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urges Russians to protest daily against the invasion

US follows the EU in targeting Russian ally Belarus with sanctions for supporting invasion Advertisement

TikTok has 1billion global users who open the app around 17 times a day, and videos tagged #ukraine have been seen more than 20.5billion times.

Darren Davidson, the editor-in-chief of online video service Storyful, said that despite large amounts of misinformation circulating on TikTok, the platform had proved invaluable to covering the war.

'This is the first conflict to play out on TikTok,' he told The Times.

Once a video is posted it is promoted by TikTok's powerful algorithm, which aims to match particular content to users' individual preferences, even if they don't actually follow the person posting it.

'Content that is highly ''spreadable'' on TikTok often relates to users' personal tastes, as well as current events that are deemed to be relevant and timely,' said D Bondy Valdovinos Kaye, a lecturer at Queensland University of Technology.

The app has become so influential in this conflict that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appealed to 'TikTokers' as a group that could help end the war, in a speech directed at Russian citizens. Some TikTokers picked up where the politician left off.

A Ukrainian travel blogger named Alina Volik, who has over 36,000 followers on TikTok, took a break from posting highlights of her trips to Egypt, Spain and Turkey, to upload videos of life in the invasion, of emergency backpacks filled with first aid supplies and of sealed windows to protect against glass shards in a blast.

In TikTok videos posted on Monday, Volik also urged her international followers to watch her Instagram Stories to 'see the truth' about Ukraine.

Volik said she wanted to combat misinformation in the Russian news that the country's actions were a 'military operation' rather than a war that is hurting Ukrainians.

Montages of residential buildings destroyed by missiles, empty grocery store shelves and long lines of cars piled up outside gas stations could be seen on the TikTok pages of top Ukrainian influencers.

'@zaluznik' who has 2 million followers, posted one such montage on Sunday with the caption 'Russians open your eyes!'

Russian influencers have also taken to the app to share their reaction. Niki Proshin, who has over 763,000 TikTok followers, said in a video on Thursday that 'normal people' in Russia do not support the war.

'None of my friends and none of the people I personally talk to supported today's events,' he said, referring to the invasion of Ukraine.

A Russian TikTok user speaking out against Putin's invasion of Ukraine and saying war 'is not the solution'

The Kremlin is aware of TikTok's power, and Russian communications regulator Roskomnadzor demanded the app stop including military-related content in recommended posts to minors, saying much of the content was anti-Russian in character.

Footage that has spread widely in recent days includes interviews with weeping Russian prisoners of war apparently renouncing their support for Putin and saying they have been used as 'cannon fodder' by commanders.

When Russia invaded Ukraine last week, some of social media's youngest users experienced the conflict from the front lines on TikTok.

Videos of people huddling and crying in windowless bomb shelters, explosions blasting through urban settings and missiles streaking across Ukrainian cities took over the app from its usual offerings of fashion, fitness and dance videos.

Ukrainian social media influencers uploaded bleak scenes of themselves wrapped in blankets in underground bunkers and army tanks rolling down residential streets, juxtaposed against photos of blooming flowers and laughing friends at restaurants that honored more peaceful memories of their hometowns.

A Twitter video shared by residents of Kharkiv showing them taking a captured Russian tank on a 'joyride' earlier this week

They urged their followers to pray for Ukraine, donate to support the Ukrainian military and demanded Russian users in particular to join anti-war efforts.

Online misinformation researchers have warned that false information about the conflict is now being mixed in with authentic ones and has spread widely on TikTok and other tech platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Footage of military simulator video game Arma 3, images of explosions from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip, old footage of heavy firing and animations of flying aircraft have been shared on social media sites as if they depict the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week.

'We continue to closely monitor the situation, with increased resources to respond to emerging trends and remove violative content, including harmful misinformation and promotion of violence,' a TikTok spokesman said, adding that it works with fact checking organizations.

Some Ukrainian TikTok users have made it a mission to share information and spread awareness with Western audiences.

'I want people to understand this is not a joke, this is a serious situation that Ukrainians face,' Marta Vasyuta, 20, said in an interview on Monday.

One of Vasyuta's TikTok videos showed what appeared to be a missile in the sky with the caption 'Kyiv 4:23 am.' It had over 131,000 comments by Monday as users flooded the video to offer their prayers and express disbelief.

'Never thought I would get WAR updates on TIKTOK,' commented one user.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A Lyft driver has been accused of raping a drunk female passenger after picking her up at a Miami Beach bar she had just left because she was vomiting.

Kevyn Rojas, 28, was arrested on Tuesday on a charge of sexual battery of a helpless victim, punishable by up to 40 years in prison.

He is said to have driven past his frightened woman's hotel before attacking her, with the alleged victim explaining how she'd tried to fight him off, but was too inebriated to do so.

Rojas made his initial court appearance on Wednesday, when a judge set his bond at $500,000 and ordered him to turn in his Colombian and American passports.

According to an arrest report, the alleged rape took place on February 27, when a female tourist visiting from Texas had gone to a bar in Wynwood with a friend.

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Lyft driver Kevyn Rojas, 28, has been charged with sexual battery of a helpless victim for allegedly raping a drunk female passenger in Miami Beach

Rojas was supposed to drop the woman off at the Berkeley Shore Hotel in Miami Beach, but police stated that he drove by it without stopping

After a night of drinking, the woman said she was intoxicated and vomited several times outside the bar, so she ordered a Lyft through the app on her phone to take her back to the Berkeley Shore hotel in Miami Beach, where she was staying.

Rojas' father (pictured) told a Local10 reporter that he believes the accuser is lying and that the sexual encounter was consensual

Rojas picked up the inebriated tourist at around 4.45am and allegedly made comments about her dress before she fell asleep in the back seat of the ride-share car, reported Local10.

According to the report, the passenger woke up when Rojas' phone pinged, indicating that they had arrived at her destination.

But instead of pulling up to the woman's hotel and letting her out, she said Rojas continued driving.

Some time later, according to the report, Rojas parked his car, got into the backseat with the passenger, lifted her dress against her will and allegedly raped her, reported CNN.

The victim said she repeatedly told Rojas to stop, but she was too intoxicated to physically fight him off.

Following the alleged rape, police said Rojas drove the woman back to her hotel, where she immediately called 911 to report the crime.

Rojas made his initial court appearance on Wednesday, when a judge set his bond at $500,000

The report alleges that surveillance video confirmed that Rojas initially drove past the passenger's hotel before returning to drop her off there.

Rojas' father denied that his son had raped anyone, telling a Local10 reporter that he believes the accuser is lying and that the sexual encounter was consensual.

A Lyft spokesperson called the allegations against Rojas 'appalling' and said he has been permanently removed from the ride-share service.

Court records indicate that Rojas was arrested in November 2020 on a felony charge of aggravated assault, but it was later dropped and the case was closed in February 2021.
Thousands of desperate Russians fleeing conscription and political persecution by Vladimir Putin's goons are claiming asylum on the US- crossing over from Mexico - and creating instructional videos showing others how to do it, DailyMail.com can reveal.

In the first two months of 2022 alone, 5,984 Russians sought asylum compared to just 3,893 in the whole of 2021 according to Custom and Border Protection figures.

As a result, Russians are now the number one nationality seeking help at refugee shelters run by the San Diego Rapid Response Network  a charity that coordinates shelter and legal advice for asylum seekers.

Last week, as Putin's forces invaded Ukraine, Russians topped the list of nationalities seeking help in the US, ahead of Cubans and Armenians.

Video diaries show how fleeing Russians travel to Mexico  one of the few countries that allow them visa-free travel  and then make their way to Tijuana on the US border in Baja California.

From there, they cross into the US via the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry  handing themselves over to border guards and requesting asylum.

Dmitry Politov, 29, said he was forced to leave Russia after outspoken anti-Putin campaigner Alexei Navalny was arrested in January 2021. Politov now lives in Sacramento, California, and says he will not return to Russia while Putin is in charge

In the first two months of 2022, 5,984 Russians sought asylum compared to just 3,893 in the whole of 2021 according to Custom and Border Protection figures

Russians have been crossing into the US via the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry  handing themselves to the border guards and requesting asylum

One video seen by DailyMail.com is titled 'Mexico-USA border in Tijuana and Political Asylum in America!' and was posted by a man named Igor from the Four Points by Sheraton hotel in San Diego  currently being used as a quarantine shelter for refugees.

Other clips show families with small children and men hoping to avoid conscription as well as political dissidents and groups facing religious discrimination.

Politov worked for a close colleague of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (pictured). He said he fled to the US last August after Putin announced plans to prosecute supporters of his FKB anti-corruption organization

Destinations include New York City, Seattle and Sacramento  all of which have large Russian populations.

Miami-based immigration lawyer Ekaterina Mouratova told DailyMail.com: 'When the situation in Ukraine broke out, I had hundreds of emails and calls from both sides  from Ukrainians which is understandable but also from Russian people who are scared.

'They're scared Russia is going to become the next Cuba.'

She added: 'There has been a big increase in the Russian speaking population who arrive in Mexico to request asylum at the US southern border.

'Because the political situation has deteriorated, it pushed people out. It has increased [the numbers] dramatically.'

Mouratova says Mexico is one of the few countries that allows Russians visa-free travel, making the US a better option than Western Europe where getting a visa is virtually impossible.

Among the Russians to make the journey is Dmitry Politov, 29, who said he was forced to leave Russia after outspoken anti-Putin campaigner Alexei Navalny was arrested in January 2021.

Politov, who worked for Navalny's close colleague Lyubov Sobol, said he fled to the US last August after Putin announced plans to prosecute supporters of his FKB anti-corruption organization.

Mexico is one of the few countries that allow Russians visa-free travel, making the US a better option than Western Europe where getting a visa is difficult

One video seen by DailyMail.com is titled 'Mexico-USA border in Tijuana and Political Asylum in America!' and was posted by a man named Igor from the Four Points by Sheraton hotel (pictured) in San Diego  currently being used as a quarantine shelter for refugees

Speaking in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Politov said: 'The Russian authorities, headed by Putin, decided to completely get rid of dissent and began to clear the political field.

'I was a politically active person, I was not afraid to express my opinion. I am a supporter of Navalny. I went to pickets and was not afraid to declare my position.

'After the FBK was officially named an extremist organization by the Russian authorities, they said people who support Navalny can be prosecuted for aiding and abetting.

'It became clear that staying in Russia is dangerous to life and freedom.'

The 29-year-old, who documented his journey to the US in a YouTube video, told DailyMail.com how he flew to Cancun before getting a flight to Mexico City to avoid detection.

They're scared Russia is going to become the next Cuba Immigration lawyer Ekaterina Mouratova

From there, he made his way to Tijuana, crossing the border with a friend called Vitaly Kovalev on the night of August 17.

He said the crossing was made on the second attempt: they were turned around the first time and spent two nights in immigration detention in Tijuana but were then allowed to claim asylum at San Ysidro before being released into the US.

According to Mouratova, the majority of Russia asylum claims are successful. She said: 'Conscription for men is a big reason but political opinion also.

'They say nowadays that even if you post on Instagram or Facebook that you are against war or you know someone who does, they will come after you.

'People who went out to rallies are being detained and people are telling me, you don't even have to go to a rally or speak out publicly  you can just post something online or like a picture. People are getting really oppressed.'

The 29-year-old, who documented his journey to the US in a YouTube video, told DailyMail.com how he flew to Cancun before getting a flight to Mexico City to avoid detection

Politov now lives in Sacramento, California, and says he will not return to Russia while Putin is in charge.

The 29-year-old is firmly opposed to the war in Ukraine and said the Ukrainians can expect little mercy from Putin.

He said: 'I take it negatively. This is a pointless war. It became possible thanks to many years of propaganda in the Russian media.

'Putin has taken away the future of millions of Russians. It is very sad that the Russian people will now be associated in the world not with achievements in space, science and art, but with war and the shame that will inevitably follow it.'

He added: 'Putin cannot tolerate free people. He will take revenge on the Ukrainians for their rebelliousness in the Crimean issue, in the Donbas issue and in their unwillingness to accept the puppet president  Viktor Yanukovych.

'Putin is ready to take extreme measures so as not to lose. It is important for him to be a tough guy otherwise his environment will destroy him.'
Two 12-year-old girls were arrested after they allegedly tortured another girl of the same age by beating her, burning her with cigarettes, shaving her head and sitting on her until she couldn't breathe during a sleepover.

Police in Logansport, Indiana, said the incident took place last Friday night and that they had received photos and video from the victim's family of the girl being abused at the sleepover.

Jaimie Tribbett, the victim's mother, told Fox 59 that this wasn't a case about bullying, but rather a serious crime committed against her daughter.

'They tortured her,' Tribbett said. 'Mentally, physically tortured my daughter and it's not right.'

Logansport Police said one of the arrested girls faces juvenile charges of battery, criminal confinement and intimidation. The second girl has yet to be charged and the investigation is still ongoing.

Renita Contreras, the victim's aunt, said that her niece was 'tortured, beaten, [and] confined' during a sleepover last Friday in Logansport, Indiana

The victim's mother, Jaimie Tribbett, said her daughter is recovering from the incident but will spend the rest of her life wondering who she can trust

Logansport Police Sgt. Dan Frye told Fox that it was 'heart wrenching' to see the videos and hear about what allegedly took place during the sleepover and could not provide specific details over the incident because the case involved juveniles.

'My heart goes out for the young lady,' he said. 'We apologize... for what she is dealing with at a young age.'

Renita Contreras, the victim's aunt, said that her niece was 'tortured, beaten, [and] confined.'

'Two juvenile females sat on top of her for two hours so she could not breathe, they burned her with cigarette lighters,' she told Fox. 'It goes on and on.'

The family members of the victim added that the girl received cuts on her face and that they showed police a clip of the victim lying down on the floor with a bloodied face.

'She's a little girl. What these juvenile females did to her is unimaginable,' Contreras said.

Logansport Police Sgt. Dan Frye called video of the alleged torture 'heart wrenching'

Tribbett said her daughter is recovering from her injuries, but fears that the incident will take its toll on her mental health.

'It hurts bad because now she has to for the rest of her life look over her shoulder or wonder if she can trust this person or that person,' Tribbett told Fox. 'It's absolutely horrible.'

Tribbett added that she wanted justice for her daughter and for the girl currently charged to be locked away.

'I hope that my daughter can get justice and that the other little girl, I hope that she stays in there for a long time and gets the help that she needs,' she said.
White House authorities released a new set of sanctions against Russia on Wednesday but also handed out punishment on its ally, Belarus, who joined the war on Ukraine in support of Moscow.

Officials handed out expansion of export restrictions on technology and software that were currently in place for Russia to Belarus. The move is believed to "significantly degrade both countries' ability to sustain their military aggression and project power, said the White House.

Sanctions on Belarus

Last week, Russian military forces began the invasion of Ukraine, using the north area, Belarus, as their entry point. On Sunday, a referendum was approved in Belarus that revoked the country's non-nuclear status, which potentially signals the opening of the door for Russia's nuclear weapons to be deployed in the region.

On Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of Commerce Thea Rozman Kendler said that Belarus' choice to enable and support Russia's horrific assault on Ukraine and its citizens has justifiably drawn international condemnation. Furthermore, the White House took steps to further economically isolate Russia by handing out export controls on oil refining equipment, as per Fox Business.

On top of the United States' sanctions, the European Union has also handed out sanctions on at least 22 Belarusian officials and military personnel for their involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war. The EU wrote in a document published on Wednesday that the recipients of the sanctions were high-ranking individuals.

Read Also: Pentagon Postpones US Nuclear Missile Test Launch To Prevent "Misinterpretation" Amid Russia-Ukraine War

The sanctions were handed out "in view of the gravity of the situation and of the fact that Belarus is participating in a Russian unprovoked invasion against Ukraine by allowing military aggression from its territory." The bloc also handed out restrictions on Minsk by banning certain imports from Belarus into the EU and EU's exports of machinery to Belarus.

According to CNN, in a Twitter post on Wednesday, the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union announced that certain sectors of the Belarusian economy, particularly the wood, steel, and potash sectors, would be impacted by the measures.

Russia-Ukraine War

Roughly 70% of exports from Belarus are affected by the EU's restrictions on imports, and affects cement, rubber, fuels, and closes loopholes for some of the existing sanctions on the nation. Furthermore, U.S. officials said that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was ordering the preparation of military troops that will be deployed into Ukraine.

EU's restrictions aim to stop exports to Belarus that could be used to manufacture weapons in areas such as advanced technologies, computers, electronics, telecoms, sensors, and lasers. While the region's banks have not been affected by the sanctions, one European official said that Belarusian financial establishments being banned from accessing the international SWIFT system was a further step that will come in the future, The Hill reported.

The situation comes as Ukrainian officials announced that the first key Southern City has fallen to Russian aggression. Moscow's troops have seized the port city of Kherson, which is seen as a significant moment in the battle for the south region of the country. One United Nations official said that more than a million people have already fled Ukraine since the beginning of the war.



Related Article: Russia Arrests Schoolchildren Who Showed Support for Ukraine Amid Moscow's Crackdown of Anti-War Protesters

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Ukraine has warned Russia may be about to stage a false flag attack on one of its own border villages using 'multiple rocket-launching systems'.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter on Thursday there were 'worrying reports' of a potential operation to suggest Ukraine has attacked a Russian village.

'Russians might have pointed multiple rocket-launching systems in the Russian border village of Popovka towards their own territory. Knowing the barbaric nature of Russian actions we fear a false flag operation,' Kuleba said.

His statement was not immediately confirmed by other government officials but follows days of Russian troop movements to encircle key Ukrainian cities after Moscow's men failed to swiftly take major urban centres and to subdue Kyiv's military.

And it is the latest in a string of accusations levied at Russia's President Vladimir Putin after Kremlin forces were accused multiple times of launching so-called false flag attacks before the invasion of Ukraine last week.

Ukraine has warned Russia may be about to stage a false flag attack on one of its own border villages using 'multiple rocket-launching systems' (pictured, a Russian TOS-1A thermobaric multiple rocket-launching system captured in Ukraine)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter on Thursday there were 'worrying reports' of a potential operation to suggest Ukraine has attacked a Russian village

Two days before the invasion on February 22, Russia was accused of orchestrating a 'false flag' event after Moscow claimed it ambushed two military units, destroyed two armoured vehicles and killed five Ukrainian troops in Russian territory.

Analysts were quick to cast doubt over the claims, which resulted in fresh warnings that the Kremlin was looking to manufacture conflict as justification for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In another incident, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) claimed that bombing carried out by 'Ukrainian saboteurs' killed three civilians. But a video of a reporter showing the damage was also questioned by analysts.

US intelligence had for weeks before the invasion been warning Russia was planning a false flag attack as a pretext for an invasion - and a social media disinformation campaign to portray Ukraine as the aggressor.

Officials last month said they had evidence that operatives training in urban warfare and sabotage would carry out the attacks.

Two days before the invasion on February 22, Russia was accused of orchestrating a 'false flag' event after Moscow claimed it ambushed two military units, destroyed two armoured vehicles and killed five Ukrainian troops in Russian territory. A video allegedly showing the incident (pictured) has been widely debunked by analysts as fake

Another video reportedly showed the armoured vehicle in flames, and was posted by state-controlled broadcaster Russia Today. Others on twitter pointed out that the vehicle shown in the second video did not match that seen in the first

At the time Ukraine's Ministry of Defence was also warning that Russian special forces were gearing up for 'provocations' against their own forces in order to frame Ukraine.

The latest allegations come as Russian forces on Thursday morning captured their first major city in Ukraine with Kherson - a regional capital of 300,000 people on the Black Sea - now under the control of Putin's forces.

Russian troops have encircled major cities Chernihiv, in the north west, and Mariupol, in the south, as well as Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's two largest cities - though all remained under Ukrainian control on Thursday.

Mariupol has been bombarded since early Wednesday with 'hundreds' of civilians thought to have been killed there - as Putin's men attempt to force the city into submission.

Ukraine's deputy foreign minister has told the UN's human rights council that Putin is 'spilling the blood of Ukrainian children' with his troops shelling civilian areas of cities in what 'clearly amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.'

KYIV: An apartment building in Borodyanka is seen on Thursday morning almost totally destroyed after a Russian missile struck it the day before, causing a large part of it to collapse

KYIV: Another view of the apartment block in Borodyanka shows it suffered heavy damage in a Russian strike on Tuesday, as Putin's men continue to try and take the country

KYIV: Destroyed Russian vehicles are seen on a street in the settlement of Borodyanka, around 30 miles from the capital

CHERNIHIV: A diesel fuel storage facility burns in Chernihiv after being struck with a Russian shell

KHARKIV: A view of damaged civil settlements after Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine
Imperial College London will add the name of an ethnic minority scientist to the building named in honour of one of its founding fathers who was accused of scientific racism.

The university faced calls to remove a bust of 19th century biologist Thomas Huxley and rename the Huxley building, named in his honour, after accusations of racism were made by its independent history group.

The group, formed in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 to examine Imperial colleges links to colonialism, argued that Huxley wrote an essay in 1865 which espouses a racial hierarchy of intelligence, a belief system of scientific racism that fed the dangerous and false ideology of eugenics.

The college this week said it would retain the name and bust of Huxley, but would consider a joint name for the building, with the aim of adding a minority ethnic scientist alongside Huxley, The Times reported.

Thomas Huxley (1825-1895) was a famed English biologist and a founder of the Royal College of Science, later Imperial College, the institution which examined its links with him

Imperial College this week said it would retain the name of the Huxley building (pictured), but would consider a joint name for the building, with the aim of adding a minority ethnic scientist

The university said it would provide a complete understanding of Huxley's 'complex character' by putting his name 'into a fuller context'.

This, the university claimed, would mean his flaws and 'racially prejudiced writings' would be included alongside historical context.

Who was Thomas Huxley? Founding father of Imperial College under spotlight Thomas Huxley (1825 to 1895) was an English biologist known for his advocacy of Charles Darwins theory of evolution, which led to his nickname Darwins Bulldog. In 1860, he engaged in the Oxford evolution debate with evangelist Samuel Wilberforce, which was widely seen as a crucial step in the public acceptance of human evolution. Huxley was instrumental in advancing scientific thought in Britain and coined the term "agnosticism" in 1869. In 1889, he expanded upon it as a means to assess what is knowable and what is not. He worked on invertebrates, examining the relationships between groups pf species which were previously only vaguely understood. Later, he worked on vertebrates, particularly the relationship between apes and humans. Huxley was the grandfather of writer Aldous Huxley, who was famous for Brave New World and for interpreting his psychedelic experience after taking mescaline. Advertisement

Imperial said it was also taking a similar approach to the Beit building and statue, named after Alfred and Otto Beit, brothers who were 19th century Anglo-German gold and diamond magnates.

Alice Gast, Imperials president, told The Times: 'The communitys research, reflection, and debate about our history is a tribute to our commitment to freedom of speech and open dialogue.

'We are committed to furthering understanding and learning from the fullness of our history  including both its inspiring and difficult aspects.'

Huxley, a famed English biologist and a founder of the Royal College of Science, later Imperial College, is celebrated as the biologist who discovered that birds descended from dinosaurs.

But the independent history group published a report in October which concluded he might now be called racist and suggested the removal of his bust, as well as renaming the Huxley building.

But a group of 39 leading scientists, including Prof Richard Dawkins and Nobel laureate Sir Prof Paul Nurse, objected to the reports characterisation of Huxley, and asked Imperial College not to cut its links with him.

Their letter stated: Huxley was an ardent abolitionist who fought the virulent pro-slavery scientific racism of his day and publicly welcomed the defeat of the Confederacy in 1865, they say.

From childhood poverty, Huxley rose on merit to become President of the Royal Society and Privy Counsellor.

Darwins Bulldog, he fought for the theory of evolution, and first demonstrated our evolutionary descent from an ape-like ancestor.

Although the scientists admitted Huxley believed in a hierarchy of races, they stated that he became wary of racial stereotypes as he aged.

They added that Huxley reformed Londons schools, was a principal of a working mens college, wrote volumes of journalism, gave lectures for working people and opened his classes to women.

Prof Armand Leroi, an expert in evolutionary developmental biology at Imperial College, described the history group's suggestions as 'frankly shocking' and said many members of staff were 'outraged' - especially the biologists.
A New Mexico woman is accused of pulling a gun on another driver on Sunday because she was so enraged by the sight of his pro-vaccine bumper sticker, authorities said.

On February 27, Christina Blair, of Albuquerque reportedly became triggered upon seeing the man's bumper sticker, which declared he had been vaccinated against COVID-19, and started honking her car horn, cursing at him and even throwing water bottles at the man's car while the two were stopped a red light, KTLA reported.

The 33-year-old eventually followed the man into a Walgreens parking lot after he accidentally backed into her vehicle in an effort to get away from her, prompting Blair to pull out a handgun in a threatening way, according to police.

The man, who was not named, said Blair 'racked the slide' of the gun, causing him to back away and call 911 'in fear that she was going to shoot him.'

Pictured: Christina Blair, 33, of Albuquerque, is accused of honking and cursing and later pulling a gun on a man whose bumper sticker declared that he's vaccinated against COVID-19

The Walgreens parking lot where Blair pulled out a handgun on another driver over a pro-vaccine bumper sticker

Blair has since been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

'Through the course of my investigation, I was able to determine that (Blair) did have an opportunity to leave... but instead overtly reached into her vehicle and retrieved a handgun threatening (the man),' the arresting officer wrote.

The victim in the case did capture the whole incident on video, however footage has yet to be publicly released.

Police were able to track Blair down at her home using her license plate, authorities said.

Pictured: the intersection in Albuquerque, New Mexico where Blair reportedly spotted the man's pro-vaccine bumper sticker

Blair, who reportedly works for a car dealership, admitted to police that she pulled out her gun during the incident, but said she did so because 'she was scared.'

Meanwhile, the district attorney's office has filed a motion to keep Blair behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center until trial, where she remains as of Thursday, calling her a 'dangerous person.'

Her criminal history includes four juvenile offenses that were 'all violent in nature,' according to online court records.

She was sentenced to three years of probation in 2007 after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and tampering with evidence, however the details of that case were not made public.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been accused in a lawsuit of hurling obscenities at a city lawyer who tried to defy her wishes by allowing Italian-Americans to display a removed statue of Christopher Columbus at a parade.

Former Chicago Park District deputy general counsel George Smyrniotis filed the lawsuit on Tuesday against the city and Lightfoot, alleging she defamed him with her remarks in a meeting last year.

'You make some kind of secret agreement with Italians,' said Lightfoot, according to the complaint, which was first reported by the Chicago Tribune. 'My d**k is bigger than yours and the Italians, I have the biggest d**k in Chicago.'

At issue was one of the two Columbus statues that Lighfoot ordered removed during widespread unrest in the summer of 2020, which city Italian-American groups hoped to unveil and display temporarily during their Columbus Day parade last fall.

Smyrniotis and his superiors at the Park District agreed to allow the display -- but according to the suit, Lightfoot lashed out in rage when she learned of the plan and threatened to pull the parade's permit if the statue were displayed.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been accused in a lawsuit of hurling obscenities at a city lawyer, and claiming to have the 'biggest d**k in Chicago'

Former Chicago Park District deputy general counsel George Smyrniotis filed the lawsuit on Tuesday against the city and Lightfoot, alleging she defamed him

In the summer of 2020, Lightfoot ordered the removal of Columbus statues in Grant Park (left) and Arrigo Park (right). Italian-American groups wanted to display one of them at a parade

'You are out there stroking your d**k over the Columbus statue, I am trying to keep Chicago police officers from being shot and you are trying to get them shot,' Lightfoot allegedly said.

According to the suit, Lightfoot told the Park District lawyers that they had to submit all of their moves to the city's legal department for approval, warning them 'not to do a f***ing thing with that statute without my approval.'

'Get that f***ing statue back before noon tomorrow or I am going to have you fired,' Lightfoot said, according to the complaint.

Smyrniotis and representatives for Lightfoot did not immediately respond to inquiries from DailyMail.com on Thursday morning.

The lawsuit alleges that Lightfoot 'proceeded to berate and defame' him in the meeting by questioning his credentials as an attorney in front of his Park Department superiors.

'Where did you go to law school? Did you even go to law school? Do you even have a law license?' Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, allegedly said.

According to the lawsuit, Lightfoot called Smyrniotis and his supervisor 'd**ks' and asked, 'What the f*** were you thinking?'

Christopher Columbus statue removed from the Little Italy area of Chicago in July 2020

City crews inspect the straps that are around the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park as they begin to remove it in 2020

A city Law Department spokeswoman told the Tribune: 'The city has not yet been served with a complaint and will have no further comment as the matter is now in litigation.'

Smyrniotis resigned from the Park District last month, according to the lawsuit, and now appears to be in private practice in Chicago.

The two Columbus statues -- which had stood for decades in Grant Park and Little Italy's Arrigo Park -- have been at the center of a firestorm of controversy since Lightfoot ordered their removal in 2020.

Critics of the statues and others like them call them symbols of oppression, citing Columbus' brutal mistreatment of indigenous people after he arrived in the Caribbean in 1492.

For many Italian Americans, though, the explorer born in Genoa is a cultural hero and symbol of their heritage.

Lightfoot ordered the removal of the Chicago statues in the context of violent unrest over the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and as groups of protesters clashed with police and attempted to topple the massive Grant Park statue.

The Democrat mayor, who had initially spoken of her desire to preserve history, warts and all, gave the order for removal after 49 police officers were injured by a mob hurling rocks and fireworks while attempting to tear the statue down.

'This step is about an effort to protect public safety and to preserve a safe space for an inclusive and democratic public dialogue about our city's symbols,' said Lightfoot at the time.

A group of people in support of the removal of the Christopher Columbus statue cheer as the it is driven away from Grant Park

Ever since, the statues have remained out of sight in a city storage facility.

Meanwhile, Chicago's Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans has been engaged in a long-running legal battle over the statue removed from Arrigo Park.

In a lawsuit filed last year, the group alleged that the Park District violated a deal signed in 1973 when it took down the statue in Little Italy.

An attorney for the group, Enrico Mirabelli told the Tribune that he believes Smyrniotis' allegations strengthen their case.

'Presuming the mayor has been accurately quoted, her comments give proof to the claim that she has wrongfully interfered with my client's contract with the Chicago Park District in a degree that is unprecedented,' Mirabelli said.

The president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans expressed fury over Lightfoot's alleged obscene remarks .

Ron Onesti told the Tribune that he's 'literally outraged that someone in her position would ever use words like that to refer to any group of individuals.'

'When will it end with the disrespect?' asked Onesti.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) maintenance logs reveal how criminal organizations have sawed off blocks of the Trump-era Southern border wall thousands of times to smuggle migrants from Mexico into the United States over the last three years.

The unpublished records, which were obtained by The Washington Post, show that smuggling gangs breached sections of the border wall at least 3,272 times in the Arizona border cities of Naco and Douglas as well as in New Mexico.

Under the Trump administration, at least $2.6 million was spent to repair the breaches that were made to steel bollards (sturdy posts), which ranged from 18 to 30 feet.

Smuggling gangs took to cheap power tools to detach the bottom end of the beams from the ground, leaving the top part dangling as migrants zipped through the desert border and continued into the U.S.

A person with knowledge of the border wall breaches told The Washington Post that the smugglers 'cut it with a fair amount of precision' but that you really had to approach the beams up close to notice the damage.

According to outlet, a 25-mile portion of Trump's border wall located between Naco and Douglas contained 75 bollards that had been repaired.

Repair crews have installed metal plates that resemble a boot-like sleeve to secure the gaps, which secure the fractured steel beams to the ground.

As a measure to limit the influx of undocumented migrants who were unlawfully ferried across the 1,954-mile southwestern border, Trump stuck to his election promise of building a border wall by constructing 458 miles of new barriers set up throughout New Mexico and Arizona during his four-year term.

US Customs and Border Protection discovered a hole cut into Southern California's border fence with Mexico on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, where 13 people were killed after vehicle carrying more than 40 migrants crashed

Former President Donald Trump (pictured on February 26, 2022) was able to construct more than 400 new barrier miles at the border with Mexico, but smugglers have found ways to breach the new fencing by sawing off the bottom end of the steel beams to smuggle migrants into the US

CBP reported 2,035,010 encounters with undocumented migrants who were stopped by U.S. Border Patrol agents for unlawful crossing of the United States-Mexico border between January 2021 and December 2021

51 migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were stopped while crossing border in Arizona

'No structure is impenetrable,' CBP spokesman Luis Miranda said in a statement provided to The Washington Post. 'So we will continue to focus resources on modern, effective management measures to improve safety and security.'

Logs show that smugglers breached the border wall on 1,867 occasions in U.S. Border Patrol's El Centro Sector. The San Diego Sector reported 866 breaches.

CBP detected 891 breaches in fiscal year 2019 when border agents reported 977,509 encounters with migrants stopped for unlawful border entry. Another 906 breaches were registered throughout fiscal year 2020 when the agency tallied 458,088 interdictions.

As breaches spiked to 1,475 in fiscal year 2021, so did encounters with migrants as border patrol officers reported 1,734,686 interdictions.

'Every bit of infrastructure that I've ever worked around over the past 26 years gets tested,' U.S. Border Patrol Tucson Sector Chief John Modlin told The Washington Post. 'At some point, people will try to get past it.'

Asylum seekers wait to be processed by border patrol in Yuma, Arizona, in February 2022 near the border wall

A child sits on a cardboard box while migrants wait to be processed by border agents in Yuma, Arizona, on February 22

Trump vowed that Mexico would cover the cost of the border structure, but instead the U.S. spent $11 billion in tax dollars, which was primarily pulled from Defense Department funding.

Upon entering office, President Joe Biden terminated his predecessor's project, claiming in a January 2021 action that 'no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall.'

The Biden administration followed with an executive decision instructing the Department of Defense to cancel border wall construction contracts in April 2021.

However, in December 2021, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas authorized projects that allowed CBP to use funding provided by Congress to repair damaged border wall gaps in Arizona, California and Texas along border barriers that were part of Trump's border wall plan.

Texas Republican Governor Gregg Abbott, a fierce critic of Biden's departure from the Trump anti-immigration policies, reinitiated construction of the border wall in mid-February.

Abbott retrieved 1,700, 32-foot panels that had gone unused after Biden shut down the southwestern border construction deals and were being stored in San Diego.

The beams are enough to cover a 1.3-mile span of the border at the Texas-Mexico international boundary.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio said that Vladimir Putin's mental state is declining because 'his time is running out on the this earth.'

Rubio, who sits on the Senate intelligence committee, said Putin, who is 69, was trying to cement his historical legacy by restoring Russian territory.

'He is older now. His time is running out on this earth. He knows that,' Rubio said on CNN on Tuesday. 'He's about to turn 70  he's not going to be around 30 more years to deal with all this. He views himself as a great historic figure in Russia. Every great Russian figure in history has conquered territory. He views it as his historic legacy to restore Greater Russia, and you can't do that unless Ukraine is something that you control and have at least a vassal state [there]. And so he's deeply committed to this.'

Rubio said Putin's flashes of anger have shown his mental state. And he's pointed out that average Russian man dies at age 72.

'This is a guy who's always prided himself on emotional control, almost stoicism, for him to flash the sort of anger that you've seen is an indication that we're dealing with a different guy,' the senator from Florida said.

'This is not about whether the guy is crazy or not crazy or got some other issues. That's what a lot of people assume,' Rubio said. 'This is about the following: We should not assume that the Vladimir Putin of 2022 is the same guy that he was 10 or five years ago. His risk calculus is very different.'

Republican Senator Marco Rubio said in an interview on CNN that Vladimir Putin's mental state is declining because 'his time is running out on the this earth'

Intelligence officials are worried about Russian President Vladimir Putin's mental state and isolation

Rubio is a member of the 'Gang of Eight': members of Congress who get access to the most sensitive classified intelligence information. But he has said the information he shares in interviews and on Twitter comes from public sources.

He tweeted on Friday that Putin 'has always been a killer, but his problem now is different & significant.'

'I wish I could share more,but for now I can say it's pretty obvious to many that something is off with #Putin,' Rubio wrote. 'It would be a mistake to assume this Putin would react the same way he would have 5 years ago.'

Officials have grown increasingly concerned about Putin's mental state as his invasion of Ukraine goes badly, he and his allies are being hammered with economic sanctions and the value of the ruble has plummeted.

U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Putin is growing increasingly frustrated by his military struggles in Ukraine and may double down on violence, NBC News reported.

The Russian president is directing unusual bursts of anger at people in his inner circle over the resistence he's facing in the Ukraine and the worldwide condemnation of his actions.

Intelligence agencies said it was a red flag because Putin usually keeps a stoic facade and his emotions contained.

'He is no longer the same cold-blooded, clear-eyed dictator that he was in 2008,' former CIA Director John Brennan told NBC.

Putin, a former KGB official, has effectively ran Russia since 1999.

'This was just such a bad, bad miscalculation on Putin's part,' Brennan said of the Ukraine invasion. 'He's never faced something like this before. I'm sure he's lashing out at advisers, ministers and others  there may be an emotional spiral here. He's suffered two black eyes, a bloody nose and a series of punches. He is being crippled on the battlefield and the financial front, and he has no good options.'

White House press secretary Jen Psaki also questioned Putin's state of mind.

'He's obviously been quite isolated during Covid. But I will tell you, certainly the rhetoric, the actions, the justification that he's making for his actions are certainly deeply concerning to us,' she told ABC's This Week on Sunday.

During the pandemic, Putin largely self-sequestered in a 'bunker' with strict regulations limiting visitors in order to protect himself from the disease. In the process, analysts worry, he may have severed nearly all ties he had with the outside world and lost a grasp of reality.

And Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence panel, said he's worried Putin may feel backed in a corner.

'This is somebody that's clearly been caught off guard by the size of the Ukrainian resistance,' Warner said on MSNBC. 'He has isolated himself. He's not been in the Kremlin very much. ... You've got less and less inputs, and these inputs are from sycophants.'

He added: 'I do worry that he's been backed into a corner. I do worry that there is no obvious exit ramp.'

Video footage and photos from Putin's meetings show him seated at a far distance from those he meets with - enforcing the idea he is isolated and acting alone.

Putin's growing isolation has intelligence analysts worried. The United States and its allies have hit Putin's inner circle hard with sanctions and also targeted several Russian oligarchs made billionaires thanks to Putin's policies.

Odessa is preparing for the Russian offensive, some of the inhabitants have already left, but those who remain are preparing to defend the city

Two workers lift concrete slabs to cut roads in Kiev, Ukraine

Video footage and photos from Putin's meetings show him seated at a far distance from those he meets with - such as his meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov above - enforcing the idea he is isolated and acting alone

Putin did gain a miltiary victory on Wednesday when Russian forces took control of the Southern cityof Kherson, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

But Russian forces are working on many fronts and a long line of tanks outside of Kyiv has made little progress in the past few days.

The Russians have said they are willing to talk negotiations - with tough conditions.

'We are ready to conduct talks, but we will continue the operation because we wont allow Ukraine to preserve a military infrastructure that threatens Russia,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, repeating an accusation Moscow has repeatedly used to justify its invasion.

Lavrov said that the West has continuously armed Ukraine, trained its troops and built up bases there to turn Ukraine into a bulwark against Russia.

But the U.S. and its allies have insisted that NATO is a defensive alliance that doesnt pose a threat to Russia.

Russia reported its military casualties Wednesday for the first time in the war, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine did not disclose its own military losses.

Ukraines military general staff said in a Facebook post that Russias forces had suffered some 9,000 casualties in the fighting. It did not clarify if that figure included both killed and wounded soldiers.
The son of the creator of the beloved British sitcom Only Fools And Horses has told a judge that an interactive theatrical dining experience ripped material from original scripts and was difficult to watch.

Shazam Productions, which was founded by the late comedy writer John Sullivan and taken over by his son Jim Sullivan, is locked in a High Court battle with Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience.

Lawyers representing Shazam allege the show infringes copyright in the sitcom scripts and copyright in each of the central characters  and that marketing of the show has involved passing off.

This would mean that the BBC sitcoms audience may think the production had the full backing of the estate.

Lawyers for English troupe the Dining Experience and Astralian company Imagination workshop, which operate the show, deny Shazams claims made against them and are fighting the case.

It is believed the operators could face a fine of up to 50,000 at the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court if they lose.

Shazam Productions, which was set up by the late comedy writer John Sullivan and taken over by his son Jim Sullivan, has taken legal action against Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience (pictured, a promotional photo for the dining experience)

Only Fools And Horses stars Buster Merryfield, Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst

In a written witness statement, John Sullivans son Jim Sullivan, 43, has told a High Court hearing in London he had found the Only Fools The (cushty) Dining Experience difficult to watch.

Mr Sullivan told Judge John Kimbell that his job was to manage his fathers work and generate income for the family. He added that he had watched a tape of the dining experience show.

I find the defendants show difficult to watch... and not just because it is, in my opinion, of poor quality, but because of how much of it is ripped from the original scripts written by my dad, he said.

Pictured: Comedy writer John Sullivan, creator of Only Fools And Horses

I know that any audience member will compare it with my dads work.

The judge has heard that the dining experience show is a part-scripted, part-improvised dramatic performance featuring central characters from the sitcom, including Del Boy, Rodney, Uncle Albert, Marlene, Cassandra, Boycie, Trigger and DCI Roy Slater.

Lawyers representing Shazam say the characters have the distinctive character traits conceived by John Sullivan and used their signature phrases and ways of speaking.

They say the judge will have to consider whether sitcom scripts and the character Del Boy are literary and dramatic works.

The operators of the dining experience show contend that their use of the characters and materials from the sitcom does not amount to material that could be protected by copyright.

They deny passing off on the footing that their show would not be seen as connected with the owners of the intellectual property in the sitcom, but as an unofficial tribute show, and question whether Shazam, rather than the BBC, owns goodwill attached to the name Only Fools And Horses.

Jonathan Hill, who is leading Shazams legal team, told the judge in a written argument: The sitcom constitutes one of the most valuable properties in British television.

Photo of the cast of Only Fools and Horses inside The Nags Head pub from the television sitcom, as TV channel Gold celebrates the show's 40th anniversary

The outcome of this claim could have potentially very serious ramifications for [Shazams] exploitation of its intellectual property in relation to the sitcom.

Mr Hill told the judge that Del Boy was the sine qua non  or epitome  of a character that should be the subject of protection by copyright.

He added: Considerable intellectual creativity on the part of John Sullivan was expended in developing the character, both at the outset and over the course of writing the body of scripts for Only Fools and Horses.

Barrister Thomas St Quintin, who is leading the dining experiences legal team, said: The marketing and presentation of [the show] is sufficiently different that the relevant public are well aware that it is not associated in the course of business with the sitcom.

There is no evidence of anyone believing that [the show] is associated in the course of business with the sitcom.

Carl Steele, a solicitor at law firm Ashfords, which represents Shazam, said outside court that the judges ruling could clarify copyright law.
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Vladimir Putin's forces are battling for control of a crucial energy-producing city in Ukraine's south as they bid to completely cut off the country from its vital links to the Black Sea.

Russia continues to make slow gains in the north and south as the invaders claimed Kherson as their first city - but President Volodymyr Zelensky's troops stood firm in a defiant resistance in capital Kyiv.

Putin want to 'sever' Ukraine in half and deprive the north of resources needed to keep fighting the war - a siege tactic reminiscent of how he won the Chechen war in 2000.

Fighting has intensified in the port cities of Odessa and Mariupol as well as Enerhodar, a city on the Dnieper River that accounts for about one-quarter of the country's power generation.

The Russian military said it now had control of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the Black Sea port city of 300,000.

Heavy fighting is continuing throughout the country with Russian forces pressing on multiple fronts, as tactics switched to the escalation of bombardment of major cities, reducing them to rubble.

But the main body of the huge Russian column advancing on Kyiv remains 19 miles from the city centre, delayed by Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion.

A week after Putin launched his savage campaign, MailOnline assesses the progress made by Russian forces on the major cities which have been fiercely defended by the defiant Ukrainians.

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

Footage circulating on social media appears to show a group of Russian naval warships off the coast of Odessa in south Ukraine, ahead of a likely invasion from which could cut off Ukraine's vital access to the Black Sea

Kyiv

Moscow's advance on Ukraine's capital in the north has apparently stalled over the past few days, with a huge armoured column outside Kyiv at a standstill.

Russia made clear its plans to quickly seize the capital, with Western security officials fearing they would overthrow the government and implement their new regime within days.

But stiffer than expected resistance from the outmanned and outgunned Ukrainians has staved off the swift victory that Russia may have expected.

Meanwhile, a senior US defence official said the immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 16 miles from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last few days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with comical mishaps including fuel and food shortages, the official said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian land forces have stalled and Moscow is now unleashing air attacks, but that they are being parried by Ukrainian defence systems, including in Kherson.

'Kyiv withstood the night and another missile and bomb attack. Our air defences worked,' he said.

Kyiv remains in government control and, should the conflict continue 'till the end', as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov threatened yesterday, it will likely be the last city to fall.

Overnight explosions heard by Associated Press reporters in the capital, Kyiv, were missiles being shot down by Ukraine's air defense systems, according to the city's mayor.

An aide to Zelenskyy has called on soldier and volunteers to use guerrilla tactics against Russian forces, to cut down trees and destroy rear columns of Russian troops.

Heavy smoke blankets an area of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, after it was hit by Russian shelling on Thursday in the latest attack

A firefighter works to extinguish a huge blaze at a warehouse that caught fire after shelling, according to local authorities, in the village of Chaiky in the Kyiv region

An apartment building in Borodyanka is seen on Thursday morning almost totally destroyed after a Russian missile struck it the day before, causing a large part of it to collapse

The Russian Defence Ministry has released photos appearing to show armed forces units entering the Kyiv region. Putin's hope of a quick invasion and takeover of the Ukrainian capital were slapped down by a fierce resistance from President Zelensky's troops

Another view of the apartment block in Borodyanka shows it suffered heavy damage in a Russian strike on Tuesday, as Putin's men continue to try and take the country

A building is engulfed in flames after shelling in Kyiv, with the Ukrainian capital under heavy attack on Thursday afternoon

Ukrainian soldiers patrol in front of the Independence Monument during Russian attacks in Kyiv

In the residential area of Borodyanka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, a building is barely standing after being bombarded by Russia

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a damaged logistic center after shelling in Kyiv

A Ukrainian soldier keeps position sitting on a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun at a frontline northeast of Kyiv

Four large rocket strikes hit the capital overnight, including one which struck a train station being used to evacuate civilians, while others struck TV and radio stations.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions heard overnight were Russian missiles being shot down by air defense systems.

Since the start of the war, residents of the capital Kyiv have feared a terrorist attack by Russian saboteurs

The threat turned to reality yesterday when police arrested a man who brought explosives hidden in a childrens toy to a subway station where thousands have been sheltering.

Four other suspected saboteurs were also arrested, including two carrying weapons. Roads in Kyiv were deserted and there were fewer people on the streets yesterday, except for queues at pharmacies.

Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian fighter jet over Irpin, a satellite city of Kyiv which has come under heavy attack, in the early hours of Thursday.

But Russia is starting to switch its focus to other cities in a change of tactics after failing to quickly capture the key city.

The immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appears to have stalled near Kyiv and has made no real progress in the last few days.

Destroyed Russian vehicles are seen on a street in the settlement of Borodyanka, around 30 miles from the capital

Destroyed Russian vehicles are seen on a street in the town of Borodyank, around 30 miles from Kyiv, after meeting 'staunch' Ukrainian resistance

A Ukrainian serviceman walks past as fire and smoke rises over a damaged logistic center after shelling in Kyiv

The 40-mile Russian convoy continues to be stuck north of Kyiv, with vehicles bunched on to the road in an apparent attempt to stop them getting bogged down in mud

A view shows damaged buildings following recent shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 2, 2022

Smoke rises over Chaika, a residential area on the outskirts of Kyiv, as the city again came under bombardment by Russia

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

Zelensky said today: 'Kyiv withstood the night and another missile and bomb attack. Our air defenses worked.'

The president has stayed in Kyiv, releasing regular video updates to the nation. In his latest message, he said Ukrainian lines were holding. 'We have nothing to lose but our own freedom,' he said.

Kherson

Kherson became the first city to be captured by Russian forces today as part of their effort to sever the country's connection to the Black and Azov seas.

Mayor Igor Kolykhaevr said 'armed visitors' joined a local council meeting and imposed a curfew. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow crews to gather up the bodies from the streets.

'We don't have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE,' he said in a statement.

The mayor said Kherson would maintain a strict 8pm to 6am curfew and restrict traffic into the city to food and medicine deliveries. The city will also require pedestrians to walk in groups no larger than two, obey commands to stop and not to 'provoke the troops.'

Ukrainian officials have also confirmed that Russian forces have taken over local government headquarters in the vital Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Cutting Ukraine's access to the coastline would deal a crippling blow to the country's economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor stretching from its border, across Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, and all the way west to Romania.

From Kherson, Russian troops appeared to roll toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding centre to the west.

The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, said that big convoys of Russian troops were advancing on the city.

CCTV footage shows Russian combat vehicles on the central square of Kherson in southern Ukraine

Kherson became the first city feared to be captured by Russian forces after its mayor said 'armed visitors' joined a local council meeting and imposed a curfew

But the British MoD said Thursday morning that the military situation is still 'unclear' - suggesting that Russia may not be in full control.

A senior U.S. defense official also disputed the Russians controlled the city.

'Our view is that Kherson is very much a contested city,' the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Zelensky also claimed Kherson remains in Ukrainian hands, despite suggestions by its own mayor it had been seized.

Despite the Russians apparently taking over the regional administration headquarters, Hennady Lahuta, the governor of the region, said that he and other officials were continuing to perform their duties and provide assistance to the population.

Kherson's mayor, Igor Kolykhaev, previously said that the national flag was still flying, but that there were no Ukrainian troops in the city.

Kherson's mayor, Igor Kolykhaev, previously said that the national flag was still flying, but that there were no Ukrainian troops in the city

The mayor said the city would maintain a strict curfew and require pedestrians to walk in groups no larger than two, obey commands to stop and not to 'provoke the troops.'

'The flag flying over us is Ukrainian,' the mayor wrote on Facebook. 'And for it to stay that way, these demands must be observed.'

From Kherson, Russian troops appeared to roll toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding center to the west along the coast.

The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, said that big convoys of Russian troops are advancing on the city but said that they will likely need to regroup before trying to take it over.

Mariupol

Perhaps the hardest-hit has been the city of Mariupol, on Ukraine's eastern Black Sea coast, which came under bombardment by Russian forces surrounding it yesterday - with the fire kept up near-continuously into today.

The heavy Russian shelling of Mariupol has been compared to the Nazi's Siege of Leningrad in World War Two which lasted for three years and practically levelled the entire city.

Local officials say the city is without water, heat, or electricity, and bombardment is so heavy that medics cannot clear the dead from the streets.

Mariupol is all-but surrounded by Russian forces attempting to smash the city into submission as Putin's men resort to bloody siege tactics.

Ukraine's military said Russian forces 'did not achieve the main goal of capturing Mariupol' in a statement today.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said the attacks there had been relentless.

The Black Sea city continues to be under heavy bombardment today, with the mayor saying there is no water, heat or electricity and that Russian fire is so intense they cannot collect bodies from the streets

Serhii, a father from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, weeps over the body of teenage son Iliya at a maternity unit converted into a hospital to treat civilian victims of Russian shelling

Mariupol is all-but surrounded by Russian forces attempting to smash the city into submission as Putin's men resort to bloody siege tactics

The attacks which began targeting the city on Wednesday continued into today, with the mayor saying the bombardment is so heavy that medics can't get into the streets to rescue the dead and injured

Ilya is brought into hospital in the back of a car, with both of his legs destroyed by a Russian shell explosion. The mayor of Mariupol believes 'hundreds' of civilians have been killed in similar strikes

Electricity and phone connections are largely down, and homes and shops are facing food and water shortages

'We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop,' he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

But the heavy fighting has plunged the city into darkness, isolation and fear.

Electricity and phone connections are largely down, and homes and shops are facing food and water shortages.

Mariupol city council said Russia was constantly and deliberately shelling critical civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian southern port, leaving it without water, heating or power and preventing bringing supplies or evacuating people.

'They are trying to create a blockade here, just like in Leningrad,' Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko said, referring to the brutal Nazi siege of Russia's second city, now re-named Saint Petersburg.

Kharkiv

The second-largest city in Ukraine continues to come under massive bombardment with residential buildings destroyed and rubble littering the city centre.

Ukrainian military authorities said many areas of the eastern city have been 'pounded all night' by indiscriminate shelling, which UN prosecutors are investigating as a possible war crime after targeting civilians, which Russia denies.

Military strikes on the village of Yakovlivka near the eastern city of Kharkiv destroyed 30 homes, leaving three dead and seven injured, and rescuers pulled 10 people from the ruins, according to emergency authorities.

In just seven days of fighting, more than 2 per cent of Ukraine's population has been forced out of the country, according to the tally the UN refugee agency released to The Associated Press.

The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, with about 1.4 million people.

Residents desperate to escape falling shells and bombs crowded the railroad station and pressed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

Despite the intense attacks on the city, Ukraine forces are still putting up a stiff resistance and captured a unit of Russian troops over the weekend.

A badly damaged car and destroyed buildings are seen in central Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, after being hit by artillery

The interior courtyard of a building in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, are pictured after being hit by a missile

Heavily damaged buildings in downtown Kharkiv are pictured after a strike by Russian rockets on Thursday

A view of damaged civil settlements after Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Residents desperate to escape falling shells and bombs have crowded the railroad station and pressed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

The city hall has been shelled and many parts of the city have no water, electricity or heating.

On Tuesday, the opera house, concert hall and government offices were hit in a series of strikes, which killed at least 10 people, despite Russia's claim it is only targeting military sites.

Meanwhile the central Freedom Square was attacked on Wednesday, which Zelensky labelled 'frank, undisguised terror. Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget. This attack on Kharkiv is a war crime.'

Flattened buildings and a destroyed apartment block are seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, after it came under attack by Russian forces

A view of damaged civil settlements after Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Ukraine

It wasn't immediately clear what type of weapon was used or how many people were killed, but Zelensky said there were dozens of casualties.

It was the first time the Russian military had hit the center of the city of 1.5 million people whose residential neighborhoods have been under shelling fire for days.

Izyum, a city 70 miles to the south of Kharkiv towards Donetsk, has also came under heavy bombardment with explosions lighting up the night sky.

Despite the incessant shelling and bombardment, Kharkiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

Chernihiv

Located to the north-west of Kyiv, the city has been the site of fierce fighting with Russian troops since the early days of the invasion but is still under Ukraine's control.

This afternoon, a Russian airstrike killed at least 22 civilians in the northern city, and rescuers are still searching the debris for bodies.

A diesel fuel storage facility burns in Chernihiv after being struck with a Russian shell

Nine people died and four were injured after Russian forces hit residential areas, including schools, in the northern Ukrainian city

Located to the north-west of Kyiv, the city has been the site of fierce fighting with Russian troops since the early days of the invasion

Earlier today, at least nine people were killed and four wounded in a Russian air strike that hit two schools and private houses in the region.

Footage from a car dashboard camera, verified by Reuters, showed buildings in a residential area in Chernihiv hit by apparent missiles.

The street was engulfed in a fireball and a huge cloud of black smoke rose into the sky.

The mayor says he is struggling to organise safe passage for civilians.

A huge fire also erupted at an oil depot after being bombed by Russian invaders this morning.

Earlier today, at least nine people were killed and four wounded in a Russian air strike that hit two schools and private houses in the region

The street was engulfed in a fireball and a huge cloud of black smoke rose into the sky after this morning's attack in Chernihiv

Zaporizhzhia

Ukrainian media reports said Russian troops had entered the southern city of Enerhodar, a major energy hub on the Dnieper River that accounts for about one-quarter of the country's power generation.

It is the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the biggest in Europe.

Civilians set up road blocks around the plant to defend it, with the city's mayor saying one came under fire by Russian troops on Wednesday leaving two people hurt.

But Ukraine still says it is in control of Zaporizhzhia and another key plant in the south despite Russian forces closing in.

Ukrainian media reports said Russian troops had entered the southern city of Enerhodar, a major energy hub on the Dnieper River. Pictured: the Ukraine convoy

Civilians set up road blocks around the plant to defend it, with the city's mayor saying one came under fire by Russian troops

Petro Kotin, speaking in an interview with Reuters, called Russia's capture last week of the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant 'nuclear terrorism'.

Kotin said Russian troops have advanced to within 21 miles of the Zaporizhzhia plant and the South Ukraine power plant.

Kotin said the Russian troops wanted local forces to surrender so they could take control of the surrounding areas and the Zaporizhzhia power plant.

'The Zaporizhzhia plant is still working normally. There is no deviation from normal operations but consumption during this war has decreased dramatically to only 3 units from 6 working units,' he said of the 6,000 megawatt plant.

Russian forces last week seized the spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste facilities at Chernobyl, the site of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986.

Odessa

The Black Sea port city, and Ukraine's main naval base, is preparing for a Russian assault after a dozen warships were seen forming up near Crimea.

The mayor said fighter jets appear to be testing air defences by flying sorties overhead, as residents prepare makeshift defences made of old railway sleepers and lay landmines on the beach.

There have also been reports of Russian rocket or artillery fire at the city's airport, Ukraine's deputy defence minister said.

But an official said despite bracing for an attack, there has been no major Russian military moves on the port city.

Odessa is preparing for the Russian offensive, some of the inhabitants have already left, but those who remain are preparing to defend the city

A force of around a dozen Russian vessels including landing ships is massing off the coast of Crimea today, with experts saying an assault on Odessa could come later in the day

The Black Sea port city, and Ukraine's main naval base, is preparing for a Russian assault after a dozen warships were seen forming up near Crimea

Local residents are building up defences on the port city amid reports of Russian rocket or artillery fire at the city's airport

Meanwhile, an Estonian-owned cargo ship was sunk off the coast of Ukraine after hitting a mine.

Four crew members are still missing and two are in a life raft at sea following the explosion near Odessa.

Igor Ilves, managing director of Tallinn-based manager Vista Shipping Agency, said the ship likely struck a mine, adding: 'The vessel has finally sunk. Two of the crew are in a raft on the water and four others are missing. I don't know where they are at the moment.'

Estonia is a member of NATO and the EU, and while an official reason has yet to be given for the blast, the possibility that it was the result of a mine risks further destabilising an already explosive situation in Eastern Europe.

Images circulating on social media purport to show the sinking of the Helt in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine (pictured)

An Estonian-owned cargo ship has been sunk off the coast of Ukraine following an explosion (file image)

The 37-year-old Helt was flying under the Panamanian flag, like many merchant ships who wish to avoid their own countries' strict marine regulations.

It comes after the Russian Black Sea Fleet was accused of using civilian vessels including the Helt as human shields in the invasion of Ukraine.

The military said the Russian Navy forced the Helt to enter a dangerous zone of the Black Sea to cover the movement of its own warships.
The UN human rights chief slammed Russia's attack on Ukraine on Thursday and cautioned that heightened nuclear threat levels showed all of humanity was at risk from Putins invasion.

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Michelle Bachelet warned that Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched a week ago, 'is generating massive impact on the human rights of millions of people across Ukraine.'

'Elevated threat levels for nuclear weapons underline the gravity of the risks to all of humanity,' she added.

Her comments, during an urgent council debate on the Ukraine conflict, came after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday ordered Russia's nuclear forces be put on high alert.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Western politicians of fixating on nuclear war.

A building burns after shelling in Kyiv on Thursday as Putin's bloody war continues

An aerial view shows a residential building destroyed by shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region

'It is clear that World War Three can only be nuclear,' Lavrov said in an online interview with Russian and foreign media.

'I would like to point out that it's in the heads of Western politicians that the idea of a nuclear war is spinning constantly, and not in the heads of Russians,' he said.

Moscow has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and a huge cache of ballistic missiles which form the backbone of the country's deterrence forces.

Bachelet's speech came as UN figures showed the devastating week-old war had already forced more than one million people to flee Ukraine into neighboring nations, with countless others displaced inside the war-ravaged country.

Bachelet said her office had recorded 227 civilian deaths, including at least 15 children, but stressed that the real numbers were likely far higher.

Russian forces targeted a military base near Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, killing at least 70 Ukrainian soldiers

A firefighter gathers up a hose amid rubble from a residential apartment block that was hit by a missile in Kyiv
Controversial new laws setting up a quicker and 'less medicalised' system for trans people to change their gender - and from a younger age - have been unveiled in Scotland today.

The SNP's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill sets out proposals to speed up the time it takes to get a gender recognition certificate (GRC).

The legal update would also lower the age at which trans people can obtain the document from 18 to 16.

Scottish Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison outlined the plans to Holyrood this afternoon after saying many people have found the current process for obtaining a GRC 'intrusive, medicalised and bureaucratic'.

She said trans people are 'among the most stigmatised in our society' as she argued the Bill makes 'no changes' to women's rights.

But while LGBTI groups have welcomed the reforms, some feminist organisations fear there could be a loss of women-only spaces - such as refuges, hospital wards, toilets and changing rooms - which could then impact on women's safety.

Tory MSP Meghan Gallacher told Holyrood: 'The Scottish Conservatives recognise improvements to the system would be beneficial for trans people. We will constructively scrutinise the proposals in the bill that may help to make the system and the process easier.

'However, the proposals as they stand don't protect women's rights. They do not offer enough protection for women's safety. The concerns of women are legitimate, they are reasonable, they are honestly and sincerely held.'

Scottish Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison outlined the plans to Holyrood this afternoon after saying many people have found the current process for obtaining a GRC 'intrusive, medicalised and bureaucratic'.

Scottish ministers want to lower the age at which people can legally change gender from 18 to 16. (Pictured: Trans Pride march in London)

Tory MSP Meghan Gallacher told Holyrood: 'The proposals as they stand don't protect women's rights. They do not offer enough protection for women's safety'

The Scottish Government's proposals would amend the Gender Recognition Act of 2004, which sets out the grounds and procedures for obtaining legal gender recognition.

Ministers say the legislation will improve the lives of trans people and ensure they do not have to go through a 'degrading' process to be legally recognised in their gender.

The Bill would cut the length of time a person has to live in their acquired gender before applying from two years to three months.

They would then have to undertake a mandatory three-month 'reflection period', confirming at the end of this if they wish to proceed with their application.

However some in the SNP have been critical of the reforms, and earlier this week Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes refused to say if she would support the Bill amid speculation some SNP MSPs want a free vote on the reforms to avoid repercussions if they go against the party whip.

Ministers say the legislation will improve the lives of trans people and ensure they do not have to go through a 'degrading' process to be legally recognised in their gender. (Pictured: Trans Pride march in London)

Under current legislation, those wanting to change gender must apply to a UK gender recognition panel and be diagnosed with gender dysphoria - the medical term for a person whose gender does not match the biological sex they were born with.

They must also be able to prove they have been living in their acquired gender for at least two years.

Ms Robison told Holyrood she was 'well aware of real and legitimate concerns about the violence, abuse and harassment women and girls face in our society. But trans people are not responsible for that abuse, indeed they often face it themselves'.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been an avid support of trans rights, previously describing the minority as 'one of the most stigmatised in our society.'

Ms Sturgeon insisted their rights did not need to clash with those of women - after some groups claimed the proposals could undermine access to women-only spaces, including in hospitals and refuges.

In February, a Savanta ComRes poll for the BBC found 57 per cent of Scots support the idea of making it easier to acquire a gender recognition certificate for people who identify as transgender.

However, just 5 per cent of people said they follow discourse on the issue 'very closely', with 31 per cent saying they follow it 'quite closely'.

Work on the Bill was paused due to the pandemic, delaying it until after the May 2021 election.

The SNP committed to bringing forward its Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill in its new Programme for Government.

The document stated: 'While the COVID19 pandemic delayed our work to establish a more straightforward system for obtaining legal gender recognition, trans people should not have to go through a degrading, traumatic and intrusive process to be legally recognised in their gender.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon (pictured) has been an avid support of trans rights, previously describing the minority as 'one of the most stigmatised in our society.'

'Within the next year we will bring forward the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, removing the current medical requirements and reducing the time that applicants for gender recognition need to have lived in their acquired gender from two years to three months.

'The changes will improve the lives of trans people, while ensuring the legislation doesn't affect the rights and protections that women currently have under the Equality Act.'

It comes after some campaigners said they feared the new law would 'open the floodgates' to teenagers requesting irreversible gender reassignment surgery.

Statistics obtained by the For Women Scotland campaign group last year showed there were at least 51 cases over a six year period where trans males under the age of 18 had been approved for double mastectomies.

Those people were referred to NHS hospitals in England for assessment on 'specialist chest reconstruction'.

The campaign group expressed concerns that lowering the age limit for certificates to 16 could result in more young people requesting surgery which they could later regret.

Trina Budge, director of For Women Scotland, told The Telegraph that England and other countries were 'sensibly rolling back on invasive and non-reversible treatments' for young trans people.

She said it was 'shocking' to see Scotland 'heading in the opposite direction'.

'No physically healthy child should ever be locked into a pathway of puberty blocking drugs and wrong-sex hormones, leading to the removal of breasts at the age of 16,' she said.

'Lowering the age at which gender can be changed to 16 will inevitably open the floodgates for many more teenagers to request elective surgeries to match their new legal status.'
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan was indicted on Wednesday on a nearly $3 million case for racketeering, bribery, wire fraud, and extortion charges.

The individual wielded extraordinary power over Democratic politics in the state for several decades. Prosecutors said that the suspect, who also chaired the Illinois Democratic Party, took advantage of his position in the State House to solicit bribes from ComEd, an electrical utility company.

Indictment on Racketeering Charges

Madigan allegedly conducted legislative favors for the company in exchange for jobs and money for his political allies. In a statement, the top federal prosecutor in northern Illinois, John Lausch, said that the indictment against the former speaker alleges a long-term, multifaceted scheme to use public positions for unlawful private gain.

The prosecutor's office also accused Madigan of "leading for nearly a decade a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigan's political power and financial well-being." It said that he also used his authority to generate income for his political allies and associates, as per the New York Times.

The 79-year-old Madigan faces 22 counts which have made him the most prominent politician involved in a federal investigation of entrenched government corruption in the state. Lausch added that the former speaker's actions undermined the public's confidence in the government of the United States.

Read Also: Pennsylvania Police Shoot Dead a 12-year-old Boy; Officers Change Initial Statement, Admit They Are Unsure if He Had a Weapon

However, Madigan has denied the allegations, releasing a statement following the announcement of the charges on Tuesday evening. He claims that he has never been involved in any form of criminal activity. Madigan says that the government was trying to criminalize routine constituent service, which is job recommendations.

According to NBC Chicago, the former speaker said that the process was not illegal and that all of the other charges against him were equally unfounded. Throughout his five decades as a public servant, he said, he worked to address the needs of his constituents but noted that he always kept in mind the high standards required and the trust that the public placed in him.

Michael Madigan's Criminal Charges

Madigan and his lawyers, while denying the allegations, said that they planned to fight the accusations in court. The former speaker's longtime confidant, Michael McClain, was also charged in the indictment. McClain was a former state legislator and lobbyist who now faces separate charges claiming he orchestrated an alleged bribery scheme by ComEd.

The scheme is believed to have outlined a plan by the utility giant to pay thousands of dollars to lobbyists that Madigan favored in order to win his influence over legislation that the company wanted to pass in Springfield. Furthermore, the indictment alleges that the former speaker illegally solicited business for his private property tax law firm.

The alleged plan was made during discussions to turn a state-owned parcel of land located in Chinatown into commercial development. While the deal was never consummated, it has become a source of interest for federal investigators. In 2020, they subpoenaed Madigan's office for records and communications he had with key players.

Numerous conversations with Madigan were recorded by then-Adl. Daniel Solis who was secretly working with the investigation. One of the discussions was where the former speaker told Solis that he was looking for a colleague to sponsor a House bill approving the land scale, the Chicago Tribune reported.



Related Article: Trump Seeks To Avoid Testifying in New York Investigation by Filing Appeal Against a Judge's Decision

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Ministers are facing demands to strip Putin-linked oligarchs of British citizenship amid the push to ramp up sanctions.

The government said it is 'looking at the full picture' after calls for those with dual nationality to have it removed.

The suggestion was made as pressure mounts on Boris Johnson to go further and faster in targeting Russian oligarchs, with fears it could take 'weeks and months' to build legally-sound cases.

Downing Street has hinted it is now considering emergency legislation to cut through red tape, with furious Tories pointing out the EU is already seizing yachts and asking 'what the f*** is going on'.

The idea of removing citizenship as part of sanctions was raised by Labour former minister Lord Foulkes of Cumnock in parliament today.

'There is one further sanction which has not yet been considered and that is using the powers we have to remove British citizenship from Putin oligarch's living in the United Kingdom,' he said.

Government frontbencher Lord Ahmad replied: 'We are looking at the full picture. But equally I would stress the point there are many Russians in the United Kingdom who are dual nationals, there are many Russians who don't have citizenship but who are residing in the UK, there are many Russians in Russia who are totally and utterly against Mr Putin and his Government and it's important we stand by them as well.'

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at damaged buildings after shelling in Kyiv today

Pressure is mounting on Boris Johnson to go further and faster in targeting Russian oligarchs

The Home Secretary has powers to strip British citizenship in exceptional circumstances, which are being upgraded in the Nationality and Borders Bill.

But it is not clear what individuals with dual nationality would be the targets for such a move. There are not thought to be any on the current sanctions list.

Senior Tories have called for the immediate seizure of oligarchs' assets in the UK, such as luxury yachts and property, and the return of them to the Russian people 'as soon as possible'.

Amid growing frustration one senior Conservative MP told MailOnline the EU was putting Britain to shame.

'The EU is actually seizing yachts, locking up people's houses. We're talking about some sporting events. I don't know what the f*** is going on, it's not good,' they said.

'I don't know what is holding it up but if it is lawyers get on the floor of the House and name the f***ers.

'They need to pull their finger out. This is not the time for complacency. It is shocking.'

Questions continued over why billionaires such as Roman Abramovich, who has announced he will sell Chelsea FC, have not been hit with sanctions.

Government sources have acknowledged it could take 'weeks and months' to build a legally watertight case against some Russian oligarchs.

'We're working round the clock and going as quick as we can,' the source added.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is understood to have tripled the size of the sanctions team in recent months.

Ms Truss said 'there is nowhere for any of Putin's cronies to hide' as she seeks to hit more Russian oligarchs with sanctions.

In an interview in Lithuania, she said: 'We have to make sure we have the right evidence to put in place those sanctions.

'I'm very clear that legal threats will have no impact on our ability to sanction oligarchs and we will continue to work through our list, we will continue to sanction oligarchs and there is nowhere for any of Putin's cronies to hide.'

Downing Street tried to play down the issue, with the Prime Minister's official spokesman insisting: 'We are not being held back from introducing sanctions.'

But he said 'we do have laws that we need to abide by' when applying the economic restrictions.

'When it comes to individuals it is the case that we need to do the preparatory work, the requisite work, to make sure it is legally sound before introduction,' the spokesman added.

'Like I said, we will keep that under review and if there are ways to further speed it up then we will.'

He also sought to argue that sanctions on the banks funding the Russian president's military machine will exert more pressure than going after his wealthy allies.

'Our judgment is placing sanctions particularly on large banks and companies  that is what we believe will exert the most pressure on Putin's regime and will throttle off funding for this illegal war against Ukraine,' he said.

But Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, called for the Government to go further to follow European allies to seize oligarchs' assets.

'We should be looking immediately to seize those assets linked to those who are profiting from Putin's war machine, holding it in trust and returning it to the Russian people as soon as possible,' he said.

Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood echoed the call, warning there will be 'increasing public anger that we're not doing enough to help our fellow Ukrainians in their hour of need'.

The chairman of the Commons Defence Committee said: 'There's a race to squeeze Putin given the war crimes he's now committing in Ukraine and London continues to be seen as ground zero as to where oligarchs' investments sit. So we need to be impounding these assets in days, not weeks or months.

'Every day we wait offers more time for the oligarchs to move their wealth to other parts of the world. Don't forget it's not their wealth, this is the stolen wealth from the Russian people which is utilised to keep Putin in power.'

French authorities have said they seized a yacht linked to Igor Sechin, an ally of Mr Putin who runs oil giant Rosneft, under EU sanctions. It was also reported Germany had seized another megayacht.

In another sign of anxiety about sanctions, Michael Gove has been drawing up radical plans for Putin-linked oligarchs to have UK properties seized.

The Cabinet minister is proposing to ramp up the regime by requisitioning lavish residences without paying any compensation.

French authorities have seized the yacht Amore Vero linked to Rosneft boss Igor Sechin - a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin - in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat close to Marseille (pictured today)

They could potentially be used to house Ukrainian refugees, with Boris Johnson pledging that Britain will take hundreds of thousands fleeing the Russian invasion.

There is understood to have been 'enthusiastic' support at Cabinet for the idea - including from the PM - and it could apply to nine oligarchs sanctioned by the UK, including Kirill Shamalov, Vladimir Putin's former son-in-law.

Currently the state can freeze assets of people subject to sanctions, but cannot take possession of them without compensation.

Veteran Tory MP Sir Roger Gale has joined calls to seize Russian oligarchs' assets, saying 'other countries are doing it better than we are'.

Adding that the UK should move 'hard and fast' with sanctions, Sir Roger said: 'It does seem to me that you don't say we are going to punish you and give people however many days it is to move their assets.

'If you are going to do a drugs raid, you do a drugs raid. You go in the middle of the night and smash the door in, you don't say we're going to raid your house in 12 hours.'
A modern-day Ark of animals has escaped into Poland after a six-day odyssey across Ukraine which saw their convoy come under fire from Russian artillery while evading Vladimir Putin's tanks.

The animals, from a rescue shelter near Kyiv airport, had come under attack from Russian shelling when the director made the decision to evacuate them.

Saying they would either die from bombs or starvation, Natalia Popova contacted a zoo in the Polish city of Poznan before making the difficult decision about which of her 80 animals had the best chance of surviving the journey.

Selecting six lions, four tigers, an African wild dog and a capuchin monkey, Popova then arranged to meet up with Polish zoo staff on the border.

Setting off on Saturday the convoy immediately had to return after coming under fire. The following day they ran into Russian tanks forcing the convoy to go into hiding but resumed on Tuesday, changing route several times to avoid bombs and Russian troops.

A modern-day Ark of animals, among them a capuchin monkey has escaped into Poland after a six-day odyssey across war-torn Ukraine with saw their evacuation convoy come under fire from Russia artillery and forced to flee Vladimir Putin's tanks

The animals, including six lions from a rescue shelter near Kyiv airport, had come under attack from Russian shelling when the director made the decision to evacuate them

Warning the animals, among them tigers, would either die from bombs or starvation, Natalia Popova contacted a zoo in the Polish city of Poznan before making the difficult decision about which of her 80 animals had the best chance of surviving the journey

Popova selected six lions, four tigers, an African wild dog and a capuchin monkey, and arranged to meet up with Polish zoo staff on the border

The modern-day Ark reached and crossed the Polish border late on Thursday evening after dodging artillery fire and Russian tanks in a desperate bid to flee the country

Piles of food were loads onto an animal carrier as it left the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in a desperate evacuation bid as Russian troops advanced on the capital after invading the country last week

At the border last night delighted zoo staff posted on social media: We did it! They are all alive! The crossing took eight hours in the cold, the people and animals are exhausted'

After escaping Russian tanks they headed towards Zhytomyr, where they encountered a bombing raid so headed south towards Vinnitsa before heading to the border crossing in Metyka.

At the border last night delighted zoo staff posted on social media: We did it! They are all alive! The crossing took eight hours in the cold, the people and animals are exhausted. We are concerned about an old tigress, a tiger cub and one lion.

Poznan Zoo director Ewa Zgrabczynska later said: Getting out of a country under attack is not easy, as hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine have already found out. With animals, it is even more difficult.

'At one point [Natalia] called me, saying in a whisper that she was sitting in the cabin and could see the tanks. I begged her to leave the animals and save her life. She refused.

The animals are now on their way to the zoo where after resting, some will head to sanctuaries in Spain and Belgium where they have been offered shelter.

Several of the zoo's 80 animals were left behind in the desperate evacuation effort this week - among them Alpacas pictured at the zoo earlier this year

Selecting six lions, four tigers, an African wild dog and a capuchin monkey, Popova then arranged to meet up with Polish zoo staff on the border, leaving the other animals behind

Several of Kyiv zoo's 80 animals were left behind when staff evacuated some of the creatures as Russian troops advanced on the Ukrainian capital after invading the country last week

Several of the zoo's 80 animals were left behind in the desperate evacuation effort this week - among them Alpacas pictured at the zoo earlier this year
Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov refused to comment on 'conjecture' that Moscow was targeting Ukrainian civilians and warned foreigners not to believe the 'American action movie' that U.S. media portrays the invasion as.

'The world is seeing civilians being killed in Ukraine by Russian bombs,' ABC's George Stephanapoulos noted to Lavrov virtually during a press conference.

'I cannot comment on conjectures, there are a great deal of these now. If you paid your attention probably to the fact mostly the United States are trying to close down all the media outlets and information sources broadcast by Russia from Russia,' Lavrov said.

He said that the Ukrainian army 'robs and rips off' pro-Russian regions within Ukraine.

'How the Ukrainian army, how the neo-Nazi battalions behave toward the peaceful civilians - they rob and rip off the Donbas settlements,' he said. 'We saw the footage of foreigners trying to flee by Russian soil and they're not allowed.'

Asked if he believes Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's first Jewish president, is a Nazi, Lavrov said: 'I think the Nazis and neo-Nazis manipulate him.'

'Please learn more facts. Don't try to pretend that this American action movie is developing according to your plan of absolute good and absolute evil,' he told Stephanapoulos.

Sergei Lavrov has repeated his warning that World War Three would be nuclear as he accused the West of fixating on his dire threats

Lavrov also said that Russia does not feel politically isolated, ignoring the fact that much of the world has united against them.

The foreign minister said that Vladimir Putin is prepared to press forward with fighting in Ukraine until 'the end' but added that Moscow is not looking to pursue nuclear war.

'The thought of nuclear is constantly spinning in the heads of Western politicians but not in the heads of Russians,' he said. 'I assure you that we will not allow any kind of provocation to unbalance us.'

He claimed that the U.S. has a vested interest in the Ukrainian invasion because it has biochemical facilities there it needs to protect.

'We have evidence that the Pentagon is very much concerned about the fate of chemical and bio facilities in Ukraine, because the Pentagon in Ukraine has actively built two biological military laboratories and has been developing pathogens there  in Kyiv and Odessa,' Lavrov said, without providing the evidence, in a press conference Thursday.

He also accused the United Kingdom of building military bases there.

The U.S. has a stake in nuclear facilities in Poland and Romania, but none in Ukraine.

Meanwhile French President Emanuel Macron spoke to Vladimir Putin for a second time since the invasion on Wednesday, and the call did not leave him hopeful for peace.

A force of around a dozen Russian vessels including landing ships is massing off the coast of Crimea today, with experts saying an assault on Odessa could come later in the day

'There was nothing in what President Putin told us that should reassure us. He showed great determination to continue the operation,' and aide to the French leader told reporters.

'The expectation of the president is that the worst is to come, given what President Putin told him,' the aide said, according to AFP.

Putin 'wanted to seize control of the whole of Ukraine. He will, in his own words, carry out his operation to 'de-Nazify' Ukraine to the end.'

Macron also reportedly told Putin to avoid striking civilian areas and allow for humanitarian aide to enter Ukraine. Putin reportedly said he was in favor, but did not make any commitments.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's nuclear forces be put on high alert, accusing the West of taking 'unfriendly' steps against his country.

Moscow has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and a huge cache of ballistic missiles which form the backbone of the country's deterrence forces.

The move was followed up by comments from Lavrov yesterday in which he warned another World War would be 'nuclear and destructive.'

In separate comments today, Lavrov accused the US of trying to conquer Europe.

He told Sky News: 'Napoleon and Hitler had the objective to have the whole of Europe under their control, now Americans have got Europe under their control.

'We see that the situation what role the EU is really playing in the context of the global situation, they are just fulfilling a role.

'We see that there's a picture like in Hollywood of absolute evil and absolute good and this is unfortunate.

'I think that this hysteria will end and our partners will settle down after a while and we will sit down to negotiate but only on one absolute condition and that is as equal parties.'

Still, Lavrov said he was certain a solution to the crisis would be found, as a new round of peace talks are set to take place between Russia and Ukraine.

Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's two largest cities, remained under a heavy bombing campaign overnight with missiles striking civilian areas - including a train station in the Ukrainian capital being used to evacuate people from the city and as a shelter for those who cannot or have chosen not to leave.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's nuclear forces be put on high alert

Chernihiv, in the north west, and Mariupol, in the south, also remain under Ukrainian control despite being all-but surrounded by Russian forces and coming under heavy bombardment.

The mayor of Mariupol said Thursday that Russian artillery fire has been so intense that they cannot even remove wounded people from the streets.

Vadym Boichenko accused the Russians of doing 'everything to block the exit of civilians' including blowing up the city's trains, leaving people stranded before the artillery opened fire.

Evacuations continued elsewhere, however, with the UN estimating that 1million people have now fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries.

Ukraine estimates that 2,000 civilians have been killed in fighting. The UN has confirmed 227 of those but said the true toll is likely far higher. War crimes prosecutors have opened a case into the deaths.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr writes in his new book that surveillance footage proves Jeffrey Epstein killed himself and wasn't murdered because it shows no one else entered his cell the night he died.

Barr was the AG when Epstein killed himself in prison in August 2019. He was tasked with investigating how Epstein was able to kill himself while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.

Conspiracy theorists speculated that Epstein was murdered in order to stop him from telling prosecutors about who else was involved in his child sex trafficking ring, if anyone. His family attorneys also said that the marks on his neck looked as though he had been strangled and not hanged by a sheet.

Barr says he 'personally' reviewed the surveillance footage and can conclude that Epstein was alone in the cell.

'The New York City medical examiner had conducted an autopsy and ruled that Epstein killed himself by hanging.

'Other evidence also pointed to suicide, but it was the video evidence that confirmed the medical examiners finding.

'I personally reviewed that video footage. It shows conclusively that between the time Epstein was locked in his cell at 7:49 p.m. on the night of August 9 and the time he was discovered the next morning at 6:30 a.m., no one entered his tier,' he wrote in the book, One Damn Thing After Another.

This was what Jeffrey Epstein's cell looked like after he killed himself on August 10, 2019

Epstein's lifeless body is shown after being removed from the cell on August 10, 2019

The surveillance footage has never been made public.

FOX News obtained an advanced copy of the book and reported its contents on Thursday.

Instead of murder, Barr said a 'perfect storm' of failures by guards at The Metropolitan Correctional Center led to him being fired.

Ghislaine Maxwell is the only other person who has been arrested in relation to Epstein's crimes.

Barr makes the revelation in his new memoir One Damn Thing After Another

She was convicted of sex trafficking in New York City in December and is currently awaiting sentencing.

She denies ever facilitating the sexual trafficking and plans to appeal her conviction.

The two guards who were on duty were supposed to be checking on Epstein every 30 minutes.

They told investigators that they fell asleep, watched TV and simply forgot their duties - which many conspiracy theorists did not believe.

Even President Donald Trump questioned if Epstein had in fact been murdered to stop him from snitching on his pedophile friends.

Speaking of Maxwell in an interview with Axios, he said: 'Her friend or boyfriend was either killed or committed suicide in jail.

'Shes now in jail. Yeah, I wish her well. Id wish you well. Id wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty.'

'Her boyfriend died in jail. And people are still trying to figure out how did it happen.

'Was it suicide? Was he killed? And I do wish her well. Im not looking for anything bad for her.'
The University of Edinburgh has more than 1million worth of shares invested in Russia's biggest bank Sberbank that was sanctioned after the invasion of Ukraine.

As of January, records show the university has 1,109,251 in Sberbank stock, held via fund manager Baillie Gifford - a firm based in the Scottish capital.

The lender has already caused tension within Scottish Parliament after it emerged last week that Holyrood's pension scheme also has holdings worth around 300,000, with MSPs now calling for the investments to be removed.

With almost four times that figure, the university is now facing calls to divest after Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The institution has 98 Russian students, the largest of any in Scotland, as well as more than 5,000 students from China.

Financial records show the university has held stock in the bank since at least January 2016, though the firm had already been imposed with US and EU sanctions following Putin's annexation of Crimea.

Sberbank, which accounts for 35% of all Russias bank assets, was prohibited from clearing sterling payments through the UKs financial system as part of the latest sanctions introduced on Tuesday.

The US Treasury has also blocked the banks ability to process transactions in US dollars.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has joined calls for the university to pull out of its investment with the Russian bank.

The University of Edinburgh is facing calls to divest its shares in Russia's leading bank Sberbank following the invasion of Ukraine

Sberbank is Russia's biggest lender but, has come under pressure from Western sanctions

He said: 'Scotland needs to play its part in putting the squeeze on Vladimir Putin and his regime, and that means using the financial leverage we have.

'It is important to send a message that Putins behaviour in Ukraine will not be tolerated or supported.'

Michael Marra, Scottish Labour shadow education secretary, today described the university's position as 'untenable'

He tweeted: 'He Russia shouldn't profit from our world-class education system, nor hold cultural or educational influence.

'I have written to all universities today asking them to conduct a full analysis of all of their investments, holdings, partnerships and contracts.'

His letter continued: 'Scotlands response to the unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine must be unequivocal and immediate. Strangling the Russian economy can only be effective if financiers have no place to turn and funds have no place to be hidden.

'Our Scottish universities know that they have a duty to the public good. This is not a time for equivocation or delay. It is not a time for fund managers to await a good price elsewhere for the relocation of investments. Stakes in Russian funds and banks must be dropped immediately.'

The universitys students today organised a rally in support of Ukraine in the city's Bristo Square.

It comes as the pandemic has impacted on finances at the university, with its latest annual report, for the year to July 2021, detailing how 'certain key income streams have been very substantially reduced since March 2021'.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Russian Security Council via teleconference today

However, the universitys total income grew to 1.18 billion over the same period.

On Tuesday, the University of Edinburgh said it had suspended all affected exchange programmes in Russia following the invasion.

It added that Ukrainian and Russian students who have been impacted financially can apply for hardship funding.

A spokesman for the university said: In view of recent events and the sanctions that the UK has implemented against the Russian state, we are reviewing our collaborations to take account of any potential security risks.

We are reviewing the implications for our endowment portfolio, a small proportion of which includes indirect investments in Russian-related assets.

Where these are held in pooled funds, we are engaging with fund managers as part of our review.

Its Endowment and Investment Fund report shows that the university also has more than 1m shares in Netflix, more than 2m in Facebook and 5m in Microsoft.
French President Emmanuel Macron believes 'the worst is yet to come' in Ukraine after 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin ended with his Russian counterpart declaring his goals will be achieved 'in any case'.

In the phone call initiated by Putin today, the Russian leader reiterated his determination to 'neutralise' Ukraine, whether diplomatically or by force, a senior aide to Macron said.

'The expectation of the president is that the worst is to come, given what President Putin told him,' the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

'There was nothing in what President Putin told us that should reassure us. He showed great determination to continue the operation,' the aide continued, before adding that Putin 'wanted to seize control of the whole of Ukraine'.

'He will, in his own words, carry out his operation to ''de-Nazify'' Ukraine to the end.'

Macron in return told Putin he was making a 'major mistake' by invading a sovereign nation, that he was deluding himself about the government in Kyiv, and that the war would cost Russia dearly over the long term.

The French President also urged Putin to avoid civilian casualties and allow for humanitarian access.

It comes as the civilian death toll in Ukraine continues to climb as Russian forces carry out a sustained bombing campaign of several major cities including Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and capital Kyiv.

French President Emmanuel Macron believes 'the worst is yet to come' in Ukraine after 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin ended with his Russian counterpart declaring his goals will be achieved 'in any case'

In the phone call initiated by Putin today, the Russian leader reiterated his determination to 'neutralise' Ukraine, whether diplomatically or by arms, a senior aide to Macron said

Macron in return told Putin he was making a 'major mistake' by invading a sovereign nation, that he was deluding himself about the government in Kyiv, and that the war would cost Russia dearly over the long term (Macron is pictured yesterday speaking from the Elysee Palace during a televised address on the general situation seven days after Russia launched a military invasion on Ukraine)

The civilian death toll in Ukraine continues to climb as Russian forces carry out a sustained bombing campaign of several major cities including Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr and capital Kyiv (wounded civilian is loaded into an ambulance in Mariupol)

KYIV: A view of the apartment block in Borodyanka shows it suffered heavy damage in a Russian strike, as Putin's men continue to try and take the country

MARIUPOL: The Black Sea city continues to be under heavy bombardment today, with the mayor saying there is no water, heat or electricity and that Russian fire is so intense they cannot collect bodies from the streets

After having shared several direct calls with Putin in an attempt to avert war in recent weeks, Macron today told the Russian President directly that he was 'delusional' in light of his invasion of Ukraine.

'You are lying to yourself,' the French President said according to the aide.

'[This invasion] will cost your country dearly, your country will end up isolated, weakened and under sanctions for a very long time.'

Despite their drastically opposed viewpoints however, there were no signs of aggression between the pair on the call.

'President Putin has a way of talking that is very neutral and very clinical. He sometimes shows signs of impatience, but fundamentally there were no open signs of tensions during the exchanges,' Macron's aide suggested.

In response to the French leader's plea to avoid civilian causalities and to allow humanitarian aid into conflict zones, the Putin said he was 'in favour' of keeping the death toll of regular citizens to a minimum.

But he did not 'make any commitments' to back up this statement, and denied that the Russian military had targeted civilian infrastructure in the first place.

The Russian leader also asked Macron to contribute to efforts to safely evacuate foreign nationals from Ukraine, something which Macron said he would raise with Kyiv, according to the Russian report of the call.

The French leader has been among those leading the push for diplomacy with Russia and has spoken directly with Putin on several occasions in the past two weeks.

But Macron is now expected to push the EU to consider further sanctions on Russia to increase the cost of the invasion according to an Elysee Palace spokesperson, after several attempts at diplomacy have proven unsuccessful.

The leaders' conversation took place as Ukrainian and Russian delegates met on the Belarusian-Polish border for the second round of peace talks after an initial meeting on Monday yielded little progress.

The meeting's participants reportedly shook hands across a table at the beginning of negotiations, with the Ukrainian delegates in military khaki clothing and the Russians in more formal business suits.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators meet on the border with Belarus for talks on ending the war. Ukraine says it will demand a ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Russian forces from the country

The Ukrainian delegation insisted on the need for humanitarian corridors, to get urgent supplies into cities and trapped civilians out, while reiterating that Kyiv will not accept any Russian 'ultimatums'.

But Putin told Macron that any attempts to slow the talks process would 'only lead to additional demands on Kyiv in our negotiating position', according to the Kremlin's account of the call.

It comes after Macron yesterday delivered a speech in a national television address in which he denounced the 'lies' being spread by the Russian government to justify a war in Ukraine.

'It is alone, betraying his international commitments one by one, that President Putin chose this war,' Macron declared.

'This war is not a conflict between the West and Russia, as some would like us to believe.

'There is no NATO base in Ukraine. These are lies. Russia is not aggressed; it is the aggressor.'

Macron also hailed Zelensky as a man of honour amid the conflict.
The Bank of England has overhauled its 328-year-old logo of Britannia in an effort to become more 'inclusive', relieving her of her money in the process.

The seal, which shows the female personification of the British Isles, has been redesigned, with the Bank saying it wanted it to 'reflect our current mission and values'.

The Bank has played up its 'woke' credentials in recent years, proudly declaring itself a Stonewall Diversity Champion, after joining a scheme run by the controversial charity.

The charity has recently been dropped by partners such as the BBC, House of Lords and Cabinet Office over concerns it could pressure employers to change their policies to reflect its agenda on trans rights.

The Bank, which has not revealed the cost, says it has also made changes to its website to make it easier for people to read.

While the entire logo hasn't been changed, there are a number of obvious differences between the new and the old.

The old seal (pictured left) has been redesigned (right) in a move the Bank says 'reflects our commitment to be plainer and simpler'

A pile of what appear to be coins laying at the feet of Britannia have disappeared from the new seal, as have the feet themselves.

Meanwhile, the shield resting next to her has been redesigned, with the St George's cross on the previous version being replaced with the Union Jack.

And Britannia herself has shifted - no longer sat side-on, she has turned slightly to a more face-on position.

On its website, the Bank said its mission was 'to serve the people of the UK' and it had looked at this as part of the redesign, adding the new logo 'reflects our commitment to be plainer and simpler'.

It said: 'One part of how we communicate is the look and feel of our content. That includes things like our logo, and the colours and typography we use.

'We want to make these things more accessible and inclusive. So our in-house designers have worked with industry leaders to create a new, digital-first visual identity system for our website and publications.

'We will keep on working to improve the way we communicate because this will help us to carry out our mission.'

The Bank of England, pictured, said it wanted to become more 'inclusive' and this was a driving force behind the changes

While the logo is the most obvious change, the Bank added it had redesigned its website and typface to make it easier to read for people with dyslexia.

It said: 'It's estimated up to 1 in every 10 people in the UK has some degree of dyslexia.

'So we have designed a new typeface that is easier to read.

'The design was created by industry-leaders in type design. Its based on guidance by the British Dyslexia Association.'

It added it had changed its use of colours, inspired by those used on its banknotes, to make the contrast between the colour of the text and backgrounds better.

Governer of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey (pictured), said the move was part of the Bank's mission to be 'inclusive and accessible'

Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, said: 'The Bank of England has been around for hundreds of years, but it embraces advances in digital technology.

'These advances have brought many benefits. One is that it brings us closer to the public we serve. We know this means we have to explain what we do and why.

'How we communicate is part of how we carry out our mission. We intend to keep trying to make our communications more inclusive and accessible for everyone.'

The Bank proudly declares itself a Stonewall Diversity Champion, and it was ranked number 57 on the charity's list of Top 100 employers for LGBTQ+ people.

The charity has come under fire recently for the scheme, which tells employers how to create an inclusive environment for LGBT staff members and then ranks them based on how good they do.

Last month it was reported that Whitehall is being told to ditch the scheme, which costs 5,000-a-year to join, over fears the charity is advising members to rewrite their policies to reflect its agenda on trans rights.

The House of Lords has already pulled out of the scheme, as has the BBC and the Cabinet Office.

Instead, the Cabinet Office issued guidance saying schemes such as this should not be done with 'external assurance and benchmarking organisations', but should be done in-house.

Meanwhile, in June last year the Bank came under fire for removing portraits of former governors who were linked to the slave trade.

Governor Andrew Bailey was accused of taking part in a 'latter-day Bonfire of the Vanities' after the objects were removed following a review.

The seven figures include colonial trader Sir Gilbert Heathcote and slave traders Sir Robert Clayton, and Robert Bristow.

Sir James Bateman acted for the Royal African Company - the foremost slave trading enterprise of the time - while William Manning and John Pearse held investments in plantations.

The seventh figure is William Dawsonne, director of the bank from 1698 to 1719.

A spokesman for the Bank of England said: 'In June 2020, the Bank announced a review of its collection of images of former governors and directors, to ensure none with known involvement of the slave trade remain on display anywhere in the Bank.'
Elon Musk is facing a court trial in April after a Tesla shareholder sued him and the company over the CEO's 2018 pay packet, with was worth around $2.5billion at the time.

Shareholder Richard Tornetta brought a lawsuit against Musk and members of Tesla's board in 2019 after the package was cleared.

He alleges that Tesla's board has breached its fiduciary duty by awarding Musk excessive compensation. Tornetta had asked that the pay package by rescinded and the board of Tesla be overhauled to better protect investors.

Under the compensation scheme, Musk earned a payment of more $700million in 2020 - one of the highest in US history.

Now, almost three years after Tornetta brought the lawsuit against Musk and Tesla's board members, a judge ruled that the case will go to trial on April 18 in the Delaware Chancery Court, reported CNBC.

Elon Musk is facing a court trial after a Tesla shareholder sued him and the company over the CEO's 2018 pay packet, with was worth around $2.5billion at the time

The suit has been lodged against Musk and members of the board, including James Murdoch, son of media modul Rupert Murdoch, Musk's brother Kimbal Musk, and Tesla directors Brad Buss and Robyn Denholm, according to Plainsite.

Musk's attorneys had sought to have the court dismiss the claims and asked for a summary judgement, but this was denied by court chancellor Kathleen St J. McCormick who said the case will go to trial.

McCormick wrote in a letter: 'I am skeptical that this litigation can be resolved based on the undisputed facts. So I am cancelling oral argument on the summary judgement motions. This case is going to trial.'

The case brought by Tornetta centres around an audacious compensation package approved by the Tesla board in 2018.

The compensation award includes no salary or cash bonus for the Silicon Valley billionaire Musk, but sets rewards based on Tesla's market value rising to as much as $650 billion over the next decade and allows Musk to buy deeply discounted Tesla shares.

Tornetta argues that the board members breached its fiduciary duty in approving the package, and that the package unfairly enriches Tesla's CEO.

Tesla's compensation committee, which the company has conceded was not independent of Musk, negotiated the package - and Tornetto alleges that this lack of independent oversight meant it was unfair.

Shareholder Richard Tornetta brought a lawsuit against Musk and members of Tesla's board after the compensation package was cleared. Pictured: The Tesla Plant in Fremont, California

In 2020, Musk earned a performance-based compensation payment worth more than $700million.

The payout was triggered by the company reaching several financial metrics which included hitting $20 billion in total revenue for four previous quarters.

The payment was one of the biggest corporate pay packages in U.S. history and is just the first of 12 different bundles Musk will receive if Telsa meets different financial goals.

Under the compensation package, which involves stock options that invest in 12 tranches, Tesla's market value must increase to $100 billion for the first tranche to vest and rise in additional $50 billion increments for the remainder. The package does not require Tesla to hit profitability metrics.

Tornetto alleges that the Tesla board members who approved the compensation package had undisclosed conflicts and did not disclose all the information to shareholders before a proxy vote of the pay plan.

He also alleged Musk was assisted in creating the pay plan by his former divorce lawyer Todd Maron, who was Tesla's general council. Maron has since left the company.

The compensation scheme was 'unfair and 'wholly unnecessary,' Tornetta said in the lawsuit, adding that Musk already had a large equity stake in the company.

The plan was 'beyond the bounds of reasonable judgment and is inexplicable on any grounds other than bad faith,' the lawsuit said.

Musk's compensation package passed shareholder approval with about 73 percent of votes cast, excluding votes by Musk and his brother Kimbal.

The vote result indicated some, but not all, big investors were prepared to support a large payout at the founder-led company.

At the time, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended voting against the compensation, noting that if achieved Musk's award would surpass anything previously granted to top U.S. executives.

DailyMail.com has contacted Tesla and attorneys representing Tornetta for comment.
A 21-year-old man has been arrested in connection to the killing of three Mexican cousins, including a teenager, whose bodies were located in an Arizona vacant lot last month.

Juan Vargas was taken into custody Wednesday night. He was scheduled to appear before a judge Thursday.

Jail records show that Vargas was booked on suspicion of first-degree murder during the commission of a crime, kidnapping, armed robbery with a deadly weapon, and abandonment or concealment of a body.

Authorities recovered the bodies of Herminio Perez, 28; Isauro Martinez, 21; and Abimael Jimenez, 16, in a lot near 99th Avenue and Mobile Lane on February 20.

Phoenix Police Department spokesman, Sgt. Philip Krynsky, said the investigation was continuing and that no additional information about the killings was immediately available.

Juan Vargas was taken into custody Wednesday night in Phoenix, Arizona. The 21-year-old is being connected to the murders of three Mexican cousins, whose bodies were located on a vacant lot February 20. Vargas has been charged with suspicion of first-degree murder during the commission of a crime, kidnapping, armed robbery with a deadly weapon and abandonment or concealment of a body

Herminio Perez (left) and Isauro Martinez (right) are two of the three cousins whose dead bodies were found by police in an empty lot in Phoenix, Arizona, on February 20. A suspect linked to their murders was arrested Wednesday, the Phoenix Police Department revealed

Abimael Jimenez was only 16 years old and had migrated to the United States from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca in February

All three victims had signs of trauma, but Phoenix police investigators haven't said how they were killed.

Ramirez, Martinez and Jimenez had been living in the United States since migrating from the Southern Mexico state of Oaxaca.

According to Vice News, Martinez departed from the indigenous Mixe community of Santo Doming Tepuxtepec on or about February 14 and joined a larger group of migrants, whom Jimenez was traveling with after abandoning his home two weeks prior.

Residents in the town of 6,000 make an average of less than $65 a month.

Martinez and Jimenez stopped in California before heading over to Arizona.

Once in Arizona, they met up with Ramirez, who had been living in the state a decade ago and was working with smugglers to help ferry migrants once they made it to America.

Phoenix, Arizona, cops located the three dead bodies of Mexican cousins at an empty lot (pictured) on February 20

He was to drive them to Wisconsin. ABC affiliate KNXV 15 reported that Martinez and Jimenez were going to live with family members.

Martinez reportedly spoke to his sister on February 19. The following day, cops received reports on an injured person at the lot and discovered the three corpses.

It wasn't clear whether Vargas had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

The arrests came hours after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called on the U.S. authorities to investigate the murders.

'A thorough investigation is being requested to rule out that they have been tortured, murdered, by US authorities,' the leftist leader said.
Eventually they were able to get the squirrel under control and nobody, not even the squirrel, was injured

His partner could be seen in video recorded from the sheriff's car trying to swat at the animal as he scurried along the man's body

When they searched the man's vehicle, the squirrel lunged onto the back of one of the deputies

Officials said he and his partner were conducting a traffic stop east of Baton Rouge, Louisiana when they went to arrest a tow truck driver

A deputy with the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office was attacked by what officials are calling a 'pet feral squirrel' on Monday night

Two police officers were caught off-guard when they were attacked by a pet squirrel as they tried to arrest his owner on Monday.

According to the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, two deputies were wrapping up a traffic stop east of Baton Rouge, Louisiana Monday night when they went to arrest an unidentified tow-truck driver.

But when they searched the vehicle, a 'pet feral squirrel' leaped onto the back of one of the deputies, the Sheriff's Office wrote on Facebook.

As he ran in circles trying to get the squirrel off his back, jumping and grabbing at the rodent, his partner could be seen in video taken from the sheriff's car trying to swat at the animal, but he moves to different parts of the man's body as he tries to run away.

The deputies were eventually able to get the rodent back into his cage without anyone - not even the squirrel - getting hurt, the Sheriff's Office said.

While conducting a traffic stop on Monday night, a 'pet feral squirrel' leaped onto the back of one of the deputies

The deputy was seen in video taken from the sheriff's car squirming to get the squirrel off as his partner tried swatting at it

Eventually, the deputies were to get the rodent back into his cage without anyone - not even the squirrel - getting hurt

But that didn't stop people online from poking fun at the deputies, after the video was shared 340 times.

Amanda Courtney-Slimak wrote: 'You'd think after wrestling enough meth addicts in LP they'd be prepared for a feral squirrel,' and Donald Martin wrote: 'The squirrel went buzzurk on the back of that deputy's shirt.

'The little fellow ran all over his back,' Martin commented. 'The squirrel sure made the deputy look like a quack.'

Billy Ward also asked whether the deputy's squirming was 'a new training technique,' and Christopher Brown joked, 'That deputy was acting a little squirrely.'

Zachary Marable, meanwhile, asked: 'Who keeps an attack squirrel? That's meth'd up!'

And Steven Castella joked: 'He was arrested for appearing squirrely behind the wheel? That squirrel is most definitely on y'all's trail,' while Andrea Saia Mistric simply wrote: 'That's nuts!'

Details about the vehicle search and arrest have not been released.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Sheriff's Office for more information.

Many on Facebook poked fun at the deputies' expense after watching the video

The incident comes more than two years after an Alabama man who was accused of feeding methamphetamine to what authorities called his 'attack squirrel' had been charged with a state wildlife offense.

Mickey Joel Paulk was charged with one count of illegal possession of wildlife, court records from the time indicated.

He was arrested in June 2019 on multiple felony warrants unrelated to Deez Nutz, his squirrel, which was made infamous after police said they were warned about a meth-fueled squirrel that had been trained to attack.

Paulk did not deny having the pet squirrel, which is illegal under state law. But he has denied police allegations that he fed meth to the squirrel to make it aggressive.

He said prior to his capture that he was working on a plan for turning himself in to authorities.

The squirrel was eventually released back into the wild by animal control officials.
Hong Kong: Govt fighting epidemic with full gear

The Government today announced that its departments will continue to provide emergency services and essential public services and release manpower to focus on the anti-epidemic work that is being carried out with urgency.

In a statement, the Government said the epidemic situation remains severe, posing an unprecedented threat to Hong Kong but it emphasised that its employees, regardless of the departments they belong to, are making the fight against the epidemic the overriding mission.

Regarding comments that the Government arranges for its employees to work from home rather than to engage in anti-epidemic work, the statement said all government employees are united and consider the fight against the epidemic as their top priority and most important task.

Government employees, whether deployed to work in the office or otherwise, should stand ready when called upon by their departments, no matter what their original or usual duties are, it added.

In addition to mobilising a large number of staff to support testing operations, contact tracing, issuing of quarantine orders, the Government has stepped up the scale of the restriction-testing declaration operations, involving staff of 39 departments under eight bureaus.

The Home Affairs Department has deployed about 1,000 government employees for the operation of the 24-hour telephone hotline since the implementation of the StayHomeSafe Scheme and has been providing support to members of the public in need, including COVID-19 patients, people subject to testing and those under home quarantine.

As for additional community isolation and treatment facilities, members of the disciplined services have been mobilised to take up management duties.

The Commerce & Economic Development Bureau has been co-ordinating medical supplies, including rapid antigen test kits, masks, proprietary Chinese medicines from the Mainland, and has been swiftly distributing them to frontline staff, people receiving treatment, high-risk and target groups through departments and district organisations.

The Constitutional & Mainland Affairs Bureau is planning at full steam the Compulsory Universal Testing scheme, to be supported by staff mobilised by government departments.

The Civil Service Bureau spares no effort in increasing the venues for COVID-19 vaccination and their capacity to provide protection to members of the public who are yet to be vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the Vaccine Pass arrangement for government employees entering government buildings and offices has been updated.

Except for those holding a COVID-19 Vaccination Medical Exemption Certificate, all government employees entering government buildings and offices for work-related purposes are required to have received the second dose of vaccine by April 1, the statement said.

They must also receive the third dose before May 16, or within eight months after receiving the second dose, for entering government premises, it added.

The Government said it will closely monitor the development of the epidemic and review the situation.

It also appeals to all employers to allow their staff to work from home as far as possible to reduce social contact in the community so as to slow down the spread of the virus and enable Hong Kong to win the battle against the virus.

This story has been published on: 2022-03-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The first cargo train on China-Lao railway begins journey

Chinadaily.com.cn) 15:22, March 03, 2022

The first cargo train on China-Lao railway pulls out of the Xiaonanya railway logistic center in Southwest China's Chongqing on March 2. The train is carrying chemicals, construction materials, machines and daily necessities worth about 4 million yuan ($633,068.67) in 37 containers. With the opening of the China-Lao railway to traffic, cargo transportation time from Chongqing to Vientiane has shrunk to about five days from 10. [Photo/Xinhua]

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
New satellite photographs illustrate the magnitude of damage caused by Russian military strikes in Ukraine in the first five days of the invasion. Maxar Technologies captured the shots on February 28. Since then, most satellites have been unable to observe much on the ground across the country due to severe cloud cover.

The images show residences on fire in Rivnopillya, a community in the Chernihiv district some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. The grounds surrounding the town are littered with dozens of impact craters, CNN reported.

Ukraine Homes Ablaze, Buildings Leveled From Russian Strikes

A bridge across the Stryzhen River looks to have been destroyed in Chernihiv while surrounding residential structures and a factory appear to have been damaged. On a distant road, a Russian military convoy was also visible.

The burned wreckage of Russian military vehicles can also be seen in a nearby area in Bucha, a town outside of Kyiv, according to satellite pictures. Ukrainian officials said on Sunday that they had blocked a Russian column's advance in Bucha.

A massive impact crater is visible in the center of a roadway in Sukachi, a tiny town 70 kilometers (approximately 43.5 miles) northwest of Kyiv, with residences adjacent appearing substantially damaged. The photographs also captured sights of normal life in Chernihiv and Kyiv throughout the war, including scores of people queuing outside supermarkets.

Read Also: China Reportedly Asks Russia To Delay Ukraine Invasion Until After Winter Olympics, Urges Not To Sanction Moscow Despite Bombardment in Kyiv

Russia Steps Up Attack on Ukraine Centers

In the face of stiff opposition, Russian forces stepped up their attack on major Ukrainian population centers on Thursday, appearing to conquer the strategic southern port city of Kherson while resorting to siege tactics elsewhere.

Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, stated on Thursday that as a prerequisite for peace talks, Russia would not cease striking Ukraine's military infrastructure, promising to see the war through to the end.

The 40-mile Russian convoy outside of Kyiv had made "no discernible progress," according to a UK Ministry of Defense intelligence update, and was over 19 miles from the city core, as per AXIOS.

The Russian military claims possession of Kherson, Ukraine's southern port city, which has a population of 300,000 people and would be the country's first major city to fall. Fighting was "still continuing" around Kherson, the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told AP News.

In a Facebook post, Kherson's mayor announced he had achieved a deal with the Russian military on civilian movement. Meanwhile, Russian troops have encircled Mariupol, although Ukrainian forces stated on Thursday morning that they still have control of the 500,000-person port city in the southeast.

Kharkiv, a 1.4 million-strong Russian-speaking city, was under siege. Following days of severe shelling, Russian airborne forces arrived in the city on Tuesday night. Between the lines: According to a senior Pentagon officer, capturing Mariupol and Kharkiv would allow Russia to cut off eastern Ukraine and encircle Ukrainian forces around Kyiv.

The Russian plan to rush to Kyiv and force a quick surrender has failed due to resolute Ukrainian opposition. Russian forces, on the other hand, are capturing towns and cities, particularly in the south, expanding their bombing of places such as Kharkiv in the east, and funneling forces toward Kyiv.

Related Article: WATCH: Heartbreaking Moments of Parents Leaving Their Children Amid Ongoing Russia-Ukraine War

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A former spokesman for Donald Trump's White House is expected to testify before the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot on Thursday, reports indicate.

It comes one day after the committee issued its most damning accusations against the former president yet, suggesting he engaged in a criminal conspiracy.

Judd Deere, who served as one of the Trump's deputy press secretaries, was subpoenaed by the panel in late January. He was seen walking toward the ONeill House Office Building late on Thursday morning, a hub of activity for the Democrat-led committee.

He was the last communications aide in the West Wing when Trump left office, and held a key role in the back-and-forth with President Joe Biden's transition team.

ABC News first reported that he is speaking with the bipartisan committee on Thursday.

Deere is currently a spokesman for Republican Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee.

DailyMail.com has reached out to both Deere and the January 6 committee for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Lawmakers on the panel, led by Democrat Chairman Bennie Thompson and GOP Vice Chair Liz Cheney, reportedly want to hear from the ex-Trump aide about a January 5, 2021 staff meeting in the Oval Office.

Deere, a former Trump press deputy, was spotted walking toward the House Office Building late on Thursday morning

The building is a central hub of activity for the House committee investigating the Capitol riot

Since leaving the Trump White House, Deere has taken up a job as spokesman for Republican Senator Bill Hagerty

Deere had a hand in 'formulating White House's response to the January 6 attack as it occurred,' the January 28 letter obtained by CNN read.

The committee said it was told Trump asked his staff at the meeting: 'What are your ideas for getting the RINOs to do the right thing tomorrow? How do we convince Congress?'

He's one of several Trump administration officials to be caught in the committee's crosshairs as it seeks to uncover the former president's role in last year's insurrection and whether he personally worked to overturn the 2020 election.

Former White House economic adviser Peter Navarro was subpoenaed in February, and ex-Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany spoke with lawmakers earlier this year.

Trump's Chief of Staff Mark Meadows handed over thousands of pages of documents before abruptly severing ties with the committee, which earned him a referral for criminal contempt.

The Democrat-led panel is closing in on the former president, as a Wednesday court filing indicates. It believes that former Trump violated 'multiple laws' in his attempt to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election.

Deere (pictured with Donald Trump in April 2020) had a hand in formulating the White House's January 6 response, the committee claims

The court document was filed in federal court in Los Angeles as part of the committee's dispute with John Eastman, a lawyer who advised Trump on a plan to invalidate election results in key battleground states.

Eastman is behind the notorious 'coup memo,' which argued that former Vice President Mike Pence had unilateral power to overturn Trump's loss to Joe Biden.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference

The attorney sued the committee in December, seeking to block a congressional subpoena requesting that he turn over thousands of emails.

The Select Committee's members have said they will consider passing along evidence of criminal conduct by Trump to the U.S. Justice Department. Such a move, known as a criminal referral, would be largely symbolic but would increase political pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge the former president.

The committee argues that Eastman must testify because they believe he and others, including Trump, 'may have engaged in criminal and/or fraudulent acts' in their attempts to overturn the election.'

Speaking about the matter with reporters on Thursday, Rep. Adam Kinzinger -- one of two Republican committee members -- said the ball was in the Justice Department's court.

'In terms of anything beyond that, for a criminal perspective, that's up to DOJ. It's not up to us,' he said of the filing.

It claimed in the Wednesday filing that they have enough evidence to show 'a good-faith basis for concluding that President Trump has violated section 18 U.S.C.  1512(c)(2),' or the obstruction of an official act of Congress.

The court document was filed in federal court in Los Angeles as part of the U.S. House of Representative Select Committee's dispute with John Eastman (pictured), a lawyer who advised Trump on a plan to invalidate election results in key battleground states

Chapman University law professor John Eastman, next to U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, gestures as he speaks while Trump supporters gather ahead of his speech to contest the certification by the U.S. Congress of the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021

The panel believes that Trump and his associates did this and did so with the intent to break the law.

The House Committee added that it has 'a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C.  371.'

Eastman, who is currently being investigated by the California State Bar Association, cited attorney-client privilege to avoid giving testimony.

The former dean of the Chapman University law school in Southern California argued after the November 2020 election that then-Vice President Mike Pence could overturn the results and keep Trump in power. Critics have likened that to instructions for staging a coup.

Pence refused to do that and Trump left office. But since then, Eastman has been subpoenaed by a committee of U.S. lawmakers investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

Rep. Liz Cheney, vice-chair of the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, speaks during a business meeting on Capitol Hill. Cheney is one of two anti-Trump Republicans on the largely Democrat panel

Trump loyalists gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021

Representatives of Eastman and Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The committee's leaders said in a statement that "Eastman's emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power."

On Tuesday, the State Bar of California confirmed it has been investigating Eastman since September. Such investigations are usually kept secret, but the State Bar's rules say it can publicly confirm them 'when warranted for protection of the public.'

In a news release, the bar said 'details of the investigation must remain confidential' to comply with state law and 'give the investigation the greatest chance of success.'

George Cardona, the State Bar's chief trial counsel, investigates and prosecutes attorney disciplinary matters before the State Bar Court, which can recommend attorneys be either suspended or, in some cases, lose their licenses to practice law. The California Supreme Court ultimately decides what to do.
Shocking surveillance footage shows the moment two men opened fire at one another at 10am on a Brooklyn street before fleeing the scene.

The film, shot from a nearby corner, shows a man wading into a crosswalk and aiming a handgun at another man, who ducks behind cars parked on the curb.

He can be seen opening fire, with the second man later returning fire with his own pistol, with puffs of gun smoke emerging as he pulls the trigger.

Moments later, the man who was filmed opening fire first flees the scene - right past the camera that captured the incident - with its lens catching a crystal-clear shot of his face.

The gunfight happened Saturday at 9.50am at 475 Riverdale Avenue, in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. NYPD cops are continuing to hunt for the two men involved.

It's the latest in a series of disturbing crimes to have been caught on camera across NYC as crime continues to soar.

Shootings are up by 14.7 percent compared to this time last year, according to the latest data from the NYPD. Data released last week shows shootings up by 58.8 percent compared to 2020, before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic.

Two men allegedly fired 'multiple rounds' at each other on Saturday at 475 Riverdale Avenue in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn

At one point, the man who begins the video by aiming a handgun at another man ducks behind a white sedan parked on the curb

The number of shooting incidents this year is up by 14.7 percent compared to this time last year, with shooting victims up by 17.8 percent, according to the latest data from the NYPD

Police haven't made any arrests in Saturday's shooting, but they're offering a $3,500 reward for information

No one has been arrested in Saturday's shooting incident. Police are offering a reward up to $3,500 for anyone with information leading to an arrest.

Footage shows the two men, both wearing black hoodies, using the residential New York City street as a shooting range.

At one point, the man who kicks off the video by aiming his gun ducks behind a white sedan after appearing to shoot his weapon. He later runs to the sidewalk and toward a surveillance camera, which captures his face.

Overall crime in New York City is up 47.7 percent from last year, with the biggest increases in grand larceny and auto theft.

On Wednesday, a blonde Florida man was arrested on suspicion of attacking seven Asian woman across Manhattan during a two-hour frenzy of violence.

Steven Zajonc, 28, was charged with assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment.

The homeless man was perp-walked out of a Manhattan police station Wednesday night wearing a sweater, sweatpants and white pool sliders. He ignored reporters' questions about why he'd allegedly carried out the spate of attacks.

He is accused of targeting seven women on February 27 between 6.30pm and 8.30pm, from Madison Avenue and East 30th Street to Broadway and East Eighth Street.

Zajonc is listed as having addresses in Sarasota, Florida, and Staten Island in New York, but was most recently listed as living at a Midtown Manhattan shelter.

Steven Zajonc, 28, was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment

Zajonc ignored reporters' questions as he was bundled into a waiting cop car Wednesday

This map shows the times and locations of the attacks, from Midtown Manhattan to Nolita and Greenwich Village, on Sunday

He does not appear to have a criminal record, and is believed to have been living on the streets at the time of the attacks.

His alleged attacks come after a spate of high-profile attacks on Asian-Americans in recent weeks - three of them deadly. Last week, Asian grandmother GuiYing Ma, 61, died after fighting for three months to recover from brain damage after being smashed in the face with a rock during a New York City street attack.

The first victim of the Sunday attacks, a 57-year-old Asian woman, was hit in the face by a man near Madison Avenue and East 30th Street.

She went to a nearby hospital to have treatment for a cut on her lip and facial swelling.

Just 10 minutes later police were called about another attack near Fifth Avenue and East 30th Street where a 25-year-old Asian woman was punched in the face by a man who ran away.

And only five minutes after that police were called again after a man punched a 21-year-old Asian woman in the face near Park Avenue South and East 23rd Street.

She was rushed to hospital with facial cuts and a swollen mouth.

Just before 7pm a fourth Asian woman, 25, was punched in the face in Union Square near Irving Place and East 17th Street. She was also left with a cut on her face and swollen lip but didn't need hospital treatment.

At 7.15pm a 19-year-old Asian woman was elbowed in the face in the same area by a man who ran off.

The sixth attack was against a 25-year-old Asian woman who was elbowed in the face near East Houston and Mott Street and just one hour later a 20-year-old Asian woman was shoved to the ground in the same area.

A man accused of smearing feces in a woman's face on the subway is already back out on New York City's streets - a regular pattern for the criminal menace who has been arrested 44 times only to be released to terrorize another New Yorker.

Just one week before the horrifying subway attack, Frank Abrokwa had been arrested for allegedly threatening a hardware store employee with a screwdriver but had been released without bail.

Frank Abrokwa, 37, (pictured in his mugshot) accused of smearing feces on a woman in a subway attack last week, was released without bail, arrested again for a Brooklyn hate crime and given supervised release

The revolting attack took place without any apparent provocation during the evening rush hour

Transit crime is up significantly from last year, with 375 incidents as of February 27

The 37-year-old was also arrested on January 7, for allegedly punching a 30-year-old man on a subway platform at 125th Street and Lenox Avenue and on February 5, for hitting a 53-year-old man at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

But each time, thanks to New York's lax new bail reform laws, the career criminal did not have to post bail and was released.

A few days after threatening the store employee during a robbery, Abrokwa allegedly lunged at the woman at the East 241st Street subway station on February 21, smearing feces on her face.

He was arraigned Tuesday night on charges of forcible touching, menacing, disorderly conduct and harassment. But once again, he was released without bail.

He was immediately taken into custody for allegedly threatening to murder a Jewish man in Brooklyn last September. He was arraigned in that case Wednesday night and given supervised release.

NYPD police union head Pat Lynch criticized New York's bail reform laws for allowing people like Abrokwa to roam the streets.

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden directly took aim at progressives' calls to 'defund the police,' earning a standing ovation from Republicans and sour looks from the progressive Squad.

He followed it by urging Congress to pass more gun control measures to 'save lives.'

Republicans gave Biden a standing ovation when he vowed to fund the police during his speech

We should all agree: The answer is not to Defund the police. The answer is to FUND the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities, the president said.

The House chamber erupted in bipartisan applause, including standing ovations from top Republicans like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise.

Biden then touted his administrations efforts to provide resources to both hire new police officers and equip them with body cameras and other measures that provide more accountability.

The president also acknowledged the toll of the violent crime wave gripping US cities by taking a moment to remember the two young NYPD officers who were slain when responding to a domestic violence call earlier this year.

I recently visited the New York City Police Department days after the funerals of Officer Wilbert Mora and his partner, Officer Jason Rivera. They were responding to a 9-1-1 call when a man shot and killed them with a stolen gun. Officer Mora was 27 years old. Officer Rivera was 22, Biden said.

'Both Dominican Americans whod grown up on the same streets they later chose to patrol as police officers.I spoke with their families and told them that we are forever in debt for their sacrifice, and we will carry on their mission to restore the trust and safety every community deserves.

'Ive worked on these issues a long time. I know what works: Investing in crime prevention and community policing, cops wholl walk the beat, wholl know the neighborhood, and who can restore trust and safety. So lets not abandon our streets, or choose between safety and equal justice.'
Indiana Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz revealed in an emotional TV interview that her 95-year-old grandmother had to relocate to the basement of her apartment building in Ukraine after the neighboring building was bombed amid Russia's brutal invasion.

Spartz, who is the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress, recounted the terrifying episode as she appealed for military aide for Ukraine and said Russian President Vladimir Putin should be investigated for war crimes.

'Interestingly enough, my grandma turns 95 today and we couldn't reach her,' Spartz told Fox New in an interview.

'My mom just called me a few minutes ago and told me that we reached her neighbor and the building next to her was hit so it blocked all of her windows in the apartment and they moved into the basement,' she continued.

Indiana Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz said her 95-year-old grandmother living in Ukraine had to relocate to the basement after the building across the street was hit with explosives

She said her grandmother was safe in the basement but the humanitarian crisis had reached a new level in the country where she was born.

'I was just listening to the mayor. Saying they hit directly buildings, blood banks, schools, water towers, electric facilities. They have nothing. People in the basement with no food, no electricity, nothing. My friend just called relatives in the city by Kyiv. They are on the ground crying and they tried to talk to Russians to have safe passage they didn't do it,' she said.

'They actually bombed train stations and train cars to make sure people cannot get evacuated,' she said, calling for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to assist with evacuations.

Asked about the attacks on civilian targets, she said advocates were 'documenting' what was happening to ensure 'there is accountability.'

These aren't military targets. They are places where civilians work and families live. We're looking very closely at what is happening in Ukraine right now including what's happening to civilians. We are taking account of it. We're documenting it. And we want to insure among other things that there is accountability for it,' Spartz said.

Rep. Burgess Owens (L) (R-UT) hugs Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) following a press conference before President Biden's State of the Union speech. Ukrainian born Spartz delivered an emotional appeal for further U.S. support for Ukraine during the press conference

A man goes past burned buildings that were hit by shelling in the small city of Borodyanka near Kiev, Ukraine, 03 March 2022. Spartz said observers were taking account of attacks on civilian targets

Spartz also called for more arms to help the Ukrainian people fight

Burned buildings which were hit by shelling is seen in small city of Borodyanka near Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine, 02 March 2022

She has compared the invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin to genocide

Spartz said her grandmother lives in Chernihiv. This grab made from a handout video released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, shows a damaged apartment building which is said was hit by shelling in Chernihiv on March 3, 2022. Nine people died and four were injured after Russian forces hit residential areas, including schools, in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, the local governor said on March 3

Spartz said Putin's assault is 'not a war' but an 'extermination of people' in comments to Fox news

She noted that the U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court, but said: 'People need to have responsibility for the genocide, for killing people, for war crimes. It is not a war, it is killing, extermination of people.'

She also spoke emotionally about the invasion on Tuesday, when she said Russian force are bombing Chernihiv, where her grandmother lives. 'They are bombing civilians, nonstop, day and night, the whole city,' she said.

'They are leveling the cities to the ground, destroying the people,' she said. 'They are slaughtering them like animals.'

She also blasted Biden on the day of his State of the Union speech, saying he 'talks about, talks about, and doesn't do things,' although his comments on Ukraine ended up earning plaudits from members of both parties.

'What, is he going to wait when millions have died, then he's going to do more?' she asked. "We have not just a moral duty, we are the leaders of the free world."

Her comments come amid a push to provide humanitarian as well as military aide to allow the Ukrainians to defend themselves from the Russian onslaught.

The Biden administration is asking for a supplemental appropriation including $10 billion to address the emerging humanitarian crisis in Ukraine as well as protect its digital grid from cyber attacks, the Washington Post reported.

She said she met with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on the issue Tuesday.

She said he is determined to get it moving. 'I told him we don't want to have this big package with a lot of junk' and called for dealing with it like the Congress dealt with COVID'  when assistance packages passed with bipartisan majorities (although Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed on a series of party-line votes along with stimulus measures).

'If we would have a narrow approach to deal with the problem there is much more bipartisanship on this issue,' she said.

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

A diesel fuel storage facility burns in Chernihiv after being struck with a Russian shell

Nine people died and four were injured after Russian forces hit residential areas, including schools, in the northern Ukrainian city

Located to the north-west of Kyiv, Chirnihiv has been the site of fierce fighting with Russian troops since the early days of the invasion but is still under Ukraine's control.

This afternoon, a Russian airstrike killed at least 22 civilians in the northern city, and rescuers are still searching the debris for bodies.

Earlier today, at least nine people were killed and four wounded in a Russian air strike that hit two schools and private houses in the region.

Footage from a car dashboard camera, verified by Reuters, showed buildings in a residential area in Chernihiv hit by apparent missiles.

The street was engulfed in a fireball and a huge cloud of black smoke rose into the sky.

The mayor says he is struggling to organise safe passage for civilians.

A huge fire also erupted at an oil depot after being bombed by Russian invaders this morning.
A married Metropolitan Police officer who used his position to try to start a sexual relationship with two 'vulnerable' teenagers has been jailed for two years.

Married PC Adnan Arib, 45, 'used his position as a police officer' to obtain the mobile phone numbers of both girls, aged 15 and 16, before asking whether they had boyfriends and inviting them out for drinks.

The younger girl said she felt his 'intentions were of a sexual nature' when Arib, who had first been called to her home by her mother, met her in a park after school.

The 16-year-old said she began feeling 'uncomfortable and a bit weird' when the officer told her she was 'very pretty' and invited her out while in Bethnal Green police station, east London, at around 5am.

A court was told Arib, of Barking, east London, sent her dozens of text messages, including late at night, for around two months, asking her to meet him.

The PC, who has been suspended by the Met, claimed he wanted to offer the girls 'career advice', but a jury at Southwark Crown Court found him guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office between April and July 2019 following a trial.

He was today jailed for two years.

Married Metropolitan Police officer Adnan Arib, 45, has been jailed for two years after he used his position to try to start a sexual relationship with two 'vulnerable' teenagers

The PC, who has been suspended by the Met, claimed he wanted to offer the girls 'career advice', but a jury at Southwark Crown Court found him guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office between April and July 2019 following a trial

Sentencing him, Judge Deborah Taylor said: 'What is clear from the evidence in this case is that there was a sexual undertone to your behaviour.

'Once the jury had rejected your explanation, the only inference is you were trying to gain their trust to pursue some sort of sexual relationship.'

Highlighting the 'gross disparity in age' between Arib and the girls, she told him: 'You were a police officer and you used your position as an officer to obtain the mobile phone numbers of two young women, who were then aged 15 and 16 respectively.

'They were both vulnerable, and in your treatment of them you abused the publics trust in you as a police officer.'

The judge added: 'I take into account that the important aspect of sentence in this case is punishment and deterrence, because not only must police officers be deterred from misconduct but the public must see that very serious punishment will be visited on those who betray the trust given to them and dont live up to the high standards required by any police force.'

Dressed in a black suit, burgundy shirt and black tie, the disgraced officer did not react as he was taken down to the cells.

Arib first came into contact with the 16-year-old after she was picked up by police, having been reported missing on April 1, 2019.

While in the station, Arib asked for her phone number and if she was in a relationship, told her she was 'very pretty' and that he wanted to take her out, a court was told.

He accessed a police report about her and officers later found 47 text messages had been sent between them on a phone he had initially tried to deny was his, a jury heard.

Arib was called to the 15-year-old girls flat by her mother, who had accused her of stealing 10 in July 2019.

He told her to deny the suspected theft, got her phone number, then later asked if she had a boyfriend and suggested taking her out for a drink when they met in a park.

The younger of the two victims said she Arib's (pictured outside court) 'intentions were of a sexual nature' when he met her in a park after school

In a victim impact statement, she said: 'I felt uncomfortable because I know his intentions were not pure.

'I felt his intentions were of a sexual nature and that he had other people waiting for us.

It was inappropriate because he was trying to take me somewhere.

For a while I feared for mine and my mums safety because he knew where I lived.

If I was as vulnerable as he thought I was I am sure the situation would have carried into something more.'

Her mother said: 'I feel guilty because I called the police for only 10 and then this situation happened.

'We dont feel secure in our own home.

'I now have a lack of trust in the UK authorities because hes a policeman.

Patrick Hill, defending Arib, said the loss of his career and reputation are 'inevitable', adding: 'The disciplinary proceedings will no doubt be fast-tracked in light of the jurys verdicts.'

Mr Hill added that Aribs wife of 18 years was dependent on him to an extent and that the family had no assets.

Arib was found guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office between April and July 2019 following a trial at Southwark Crown Court (pictured)

After today's sentencing, detective chief superintendent Marcus Barnett, in charge of policing for Hackney and Tower Hamlets, said: 'Officers like PC Arib are not welcome in our Met and the sentence handed to him today reflects the seriousness of his actions.

'Now that the criminal case has concluded we will move to misconduct proceedings as soon as possible.

'The communities we serve come to us in need of help and at times of great distress. It is our duty to do so in the most protective and professional way and we will not stand for anyone who fails to take this responsibility seriously.

'The trust of the public is fundamental to our core purpose of keeping London safe.

'We only want the best and I hope this demonstrates that we will always act when our employees fall below the exemplary standards we and the public expect.'

The Met said it would not wait for inquiries to be completed to regain the public's trust, pointing towards two independent reviews, an examination of all current investigations of sexual and domestic abuse allegations against Met employees and an increase in the number of investigators in its professional standards directorate.
CNN has offered early subscribers to its upcoming streaming service half-price fees for life as the embattled news network seeks to put multiple embarrassing scandals behind it.

CNN+ will launch later this month with a base price of $5.99 per month, or $59.99 for an annual subscription. Subscribers who sign up the first four weeks will get half off the regular monthly price for life, in what CNN is calling the 'deal of a lifetime.'

After the promotion ends, the CNN+ monthly base price will be the same as top rival Fox News' established streaming service, Fox Nation.

CNN, a division of AT&T's WarnerMedia, has invested a reported $120 million in CNN+ and recruited top talent, including Fox News veteran Chris Wallace, actress Eva Longoria, and Alison Roman, a former New York Times food writer fired by bosses at the paper for criticizing shamed social media star Chrissy Teigen.

Roman also has a successful career as a cookbook author, Instagram personality and newsletter writer.

Ahead of WarnerMedia's merger with Discovery, expected to close this spring, CNN hopes to move on from drama after the bombshell ousters of host Chris Cuomo and boss Jeff Zucker, who resigned after failing to disclose a romance with a colleague.

CNN+ has recruited top talent, including (left to right) Fox News veteran Chris Wallace, actress Eva Longoria, and Alison Roman, an Instagram personality and cooking author

CNN hopes to move on from drama after the bombshell ousters of host Chris Cuomo and network boss Jeff Zucker (together above in 2014)

CNN+ will launch at a base price of $5.99 per month, or $59.99 for an annual subscription, but subscribers who sign up in the first four weeks will get half off for life

How they stack up: CNN+ versus Fox Nation CNN+ Launch date: Expected March 2022 Base price: $5.99/month Top Talent: Chris Wallace

Audie Cornish

Alison Roman

Eva Longoria Top Original Shows: Jake Tappers Book Club

Reliable Sources Daily

The Source with Kasie Hunt

Anderson Cooper Full Circle

Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico Programming Library: Forensic Files II Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown More program information Fox Nation Launch date: November 2018 Base price: $5.99/month Top Talent: Tucker Carlson

Dan Bongino

Geraldo Rivera

Kevin Costner Top Original shows: Tucker Carlson Today

The Dan Bongino Show

What Made America Great

Cops

Yellowstone One Fifty Programming Library: Forensic Files seasons 1-9 More program information Advertisement

Replacing Zucker is veteran television executive Chris Licht, who has hinted that he will scrap the network's opinion-heavy content and return to the station's roots as a hard-hitting news source.

The change in leadership, merger with Discovery, and launch of CNN+ could together mark the start of a new era for the Atlanta-headquartered network, which first went live in 1980.

CNN says that its new streaming service will feature live daily news programming, original series, true crime shows and food and travel docuseries.

'Nothing like CNN+ exists. There is no news and non-fiction streaming subscription offering available today, and only CNN can create and deliver a global news product with this kind of value to consumers,' claimed CNN+ boss Andrew Morse in a statement on Thursday.

'We're thrilled to offer CNN+'s world class journalism, premium storytelling and Interview Club platform at this attractive price,' he said of the new pricing scheme.

CNN says it will have a single integrated app that will allow access to both CNN+ and live streaming through a traditional cable provider, 'with easy navigation between the two.'

Meanwhile, Licht will take over as CNN global chairman when Discovery completes its $43 billion acquisition of WarnerMedia sometime this spring.

Chris Licht's directive as incoming CNN president is to ensure that it 'remains the global leader in NEWS,' he wrote in a memo to staff on Monday

Earlier this month, Jeff Zucker resigned under pressure for violating corporate policy by not disclosing the nature of his consensual romance with second-in-command Allison Gollust, his friend and colleague of over 20 years

In his first memo to staff on Monday, Licht, 50, said his one directive as incoming boss is to ensure that it 'remains the global leader in news as part of Warner Bros. Discovery,' emphasizing the word 'news' in capital letters.

Discovery CEO David Zaslav tapped Licht for the new role, which he will officially assume in May.

Licht's emphasis on 'news' in his first message to staff was a telling message that suggested the network could shift its focus under the new ownership.

Liberty Media CEO John Malone, Discovery's largest shareholder, has publicly denounced CNN's current reputation for producing heavy opinion-based content.

The network's top stars, including Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper, are given a nightly soapbox and regularly insert their own opinions into the day's top news stories.

Fox News has deployed similar tactics - to great success - with its conservative hosts - but CNN appears to want to become a breaking news powerhouse once again.

Licht wrote in his memo: 'I look forward to getting to know all of you and hearing your candid thoughts and feedback. Our viewers demand the truth from us, and I want to learn the truth from you. Together, we will double-down on what's working well and quickly eliminate what's not.'

'I know you have a lot of questions. Perhaps the biggest one is how will CNN change? The honest answer is that I don't know yet. David Zaslav has given me one simple directive: To ensure that CNN remains the global leader in NEWS as part of Warner Bros. Discovery,' he added.

Both Zaslav and Licht have talked about 'doubling down on journalism' and Zaslav has said that CNN's credibility should be prioritized over ratings or profits, sources close to the two told CNN Business.

Licht (left) has been the showrunner and executive producer of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert since 2016. He was above with Stephen Colbert at the 2018 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, California

Discovery CEO David Zaslav (above) tapped Licht for the role, which he will officially take in May, and gave him the directive, which hints that the network may return to its roots as a hard-hitting news source free from bias

Liberty Media CEO John Malone, Discovery's largest shareholder, has publicly denounced CNN's reputation for producing opinion-heavy content

Earlier this month, Zucker resigned under pressure for violating corporate policy by not disclosing the nature of his consensual romance with second-in-command Allison Gollust, his friend and colleague of over 20 years.

Gollust subsequently left the network following a third-party investigation into 'issues associated with Chris Cuomo and former Governor Andrew Cuomo,' WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar said in a statement.

CNN founder Ted Turner's biographer Porter Bibb recently said that Turner and Malone 'adamantly' opposed 'what Zucker did with CNN, turning it into an opinion network, to compete with Fox and losing the concept of hard news 24/7.'

Bibb, who penned It Ain't as Easy as It Looks, told The Ankler that Turner and competitor-turned-friend Malone agreed on their disappointment in the current state of the network - and the direction it needs to be taken in ahead of the Discovery merger with CNN parent WarnerMedia in April.

'John Malone is not only speaking his own opinion of what CNN should be doing as an all-news network, but he speaks for Ted,' Bibb said.

Zaslav, who is expected to run the company after Discovery acquires WarnerMedia, said that Licht is 'a highly principled individual who is trusted, hard-working and makes every organization stronger, more innovative and more cohesive.'

Licht has been the showrunner and executive producer of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert since 2016.

'Colbert credits him with saving his show and elevating it to the most-watched in late night,' Bill Carter, a CNN media analyst who wrote multiple books about late-night TV, told CNN Business.

While Licht filled more of a management role at The Late Show, geared towards improving its backstage culture, Carter said that he is 'a producer first, not an executive, key to making CNN work.'

He earned fame in the broadcasting world as the founding executive producer of Morning Joe, which he and host Joe Scarborough created and launched together in 2007.
An Alabama woman has been charged with murder after allegedly killing Ms. Alabama Tourism 2021 - a pregnant mom-of-four - in a head-on crash over the summer while under the influence of a 'cocktail of drugs,' with her own infant in the backseat of the car, according to authorities.

Anna Lea Dalrymple, 36, was driving northbound with her young daughter when her 2007 Volvo crossed the center line, causing a deadly collision with Audra Mary Rogers, who was driving her four young sons as they sat in the back on July 5, 2021.

Rogers, 36, who was pregnant at the time with her fifth son, attempted to avoid the crash in her Honda Pilot, but the two cars ultimately collided head-on. Rogers was pronounced dead at the scene.

Dalrymple and her infant daughter, who was unrestrained at the time of the crash, were both seriously injured, while Rogers' four sons, ages unknown, were wearing seatbelts and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

A blood test revealed that Dalrymple was under the influence of 'a cocktail of drugs,' according to police, including methadone, Xanax, Klonopin and Gabapentin, AL.com reported.

Dalrymple has since been charged with reckless murder in Rogers' death, as well as four counts of first-degree assault for injuries to each of Rogers' sons, and domestic violence and reckless endangerment for injuring her own infant daughter in the wreck, according to reports.

Pictured: Audra Mary Rogers, who was killed during a head-on crash while driving her four young sons as they sat in the back in July 2021

Rogers and her four sons, all of whom were in the car with her at the time of the deadly collision in July

Rogers' four young sons, pictured, were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash and received non-life threatening injuries

Pictured: Anna Lea Dalrymple, 36, who has been charged with reckless murder, four counts of first-degree assault for injuries to each of Rogers' sons and several more charges

On February 24, Dalrymple was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail and released the same day after posting $137,500 bond.

Dalrymple has yet to enter a plea, while an attorney for her was not immediately listed on online records.

The Rogers' attorney, Paul Patterson, issued a statement to WBRC: 'Audra's four young sons lost their mother because of the intentional and reckless behavior of Anna Dalrymple. We trust a Tuscaloosa County jury will hold her accountable and render the maximum sentence for this reprehensible act.'

Patterson also revealed that the accused driver, Dalrymple, doesn't have liability coverage. It's unknown if she has an attorney at this time.

'You know we haven't been able to speak with Anna Dalrymple yet because she refuses to speak,' the attorney told WBRC.

'We do know that the clerk at the convenience store acknowledged Mrs. Dalrymples behavior was odd and the clerk in the convenience store actually called 911.'

Rogers' uncle, Dillon LaBonte, told DailyMail.com on Thursday: 'We are relieved that charges have finally been brought against Anna Lea Dalrymple because from the beginning people (claimed she) didnt drink or take drugs and it was nothing more than an accident. We had faith the facts would come out and the truth would be known. We knew about the 911 call from the convenience store but could not discuss it. Obviously, if a store clerk was concerned enough to call 911, she was not fit to be behind the wheel of vehicle.'

'She turned her car into weapon against my niece and her four kids the moment she got behind the wheel impaired,' he continued. 'We are expecting more charges such as driving her fathers car without insurance, we are wondering now if she even had a valid drivers license.

'We know the whole truth will come out in the end and that is what we cling to as we mourn this tragic loss to our family.'

Rogers was a professional bodybuilder who held the title of 2021 World's Ms. Alabama Tourism. The Miss Tourism pageant was established in 1998, according to its website, and has a mission to 'serve communities all over the world.'

She was also a three-time powerlifting state record holder, according to online records.

Rogers held three Alabama state raw powerlifting records - meaning athletes were drug tested. Lifting at a 181.7-pound bodyweight, she set the record for back squat in her category, lifting 319.70 pounds; deadlifting 347.20 pounds and then taking home the record for the top total - the combined squat, deadlift and bench press lifts - with 810.20 pounds, according to state records.

Rogers pictured with her four sons, all of whom were in Rogers' vehicle during the deadly July crash

Rogers was a three-time power-lifting state record holder, according to online records

Rogers, who was pregnant at the time, attempted to avoid the crash, but the two cars ultimately collided head-on

'All of us here at Crunch Tuscaloosa are just devastated by the loss of Crunch Tuscaloosa member and friend Audra Rogers,' the gym wrote had posted. 'She inspired and motivated and her smile would light up a room.'

A GoFundMe for Rogers' family had raised $38,930 out of $33,000 goal after being created shortly after the fatal crash back in July.

In an update to the fundraising page on Thursday, Gabriel Rogers, listed as beneficiary, wrote: 'Our family continues to heal from our devastating loss. While 8 months has passed, we are still reeling as if it just happened. We know so many of you are looking for updates on the boys, but due to an ongoing court case and open murder investigation, we are unable to share specifics.

'We can say they miss their mom. Deeply. And they are healing both physically and emotionally still.

'With the recent charges brought forward against the woman who murdered Audra, we know there is a lot more traffic to this Go Fund Me and we want to say thank you. We truly, truly appreciate each person who has helped us with prayers and donations. Knowing the woman who murdered Audra had no insurance, every single penny donated is a huge blessing to us.'

Rogers was a professional bodybuilder and beauty queen, who held the title of 2021 World's Ms. Alabama Tourism

Rogers, pictured above in an undated photo with a horse

The post continued: 'The financial burden that has been laid upon our family in addition to coping with a gruesome murder of our beloved Audra is at times too much to handle, but we know God is bigger than all of this and He is working to make sure Audra didnt die in vain.

'There are no words to describe our gratefulness to every single one of you. Please continue to pray for healing physically, emotionally, and justice for our Audra and these boys.'
The mother of Britain's most wanted woman said today 'at least I know she is alive' after her daughter was recaptured in Spain.

Widow Pauline Panitzke, 77, refused to comment on the circumstances of Sarah Panitzke's case but broke years of silence to express her relief she was safe.

Sarah Panitzke, 47, was arrested on Sunday by officers from an elite Madrid-based police unit as she walked her dog near her home in Santa Barbara village, between Barcelona and Valencia.

The property developer's daughter has been wanted since 2013 over a massive mobile phone VAT fraud in which she played a key role by laundering up to 1billion.

Speaking from her semi detached home in the sleepy village of Market Weighton, East Yorkshire, Pauline said: 'At least, I know she is safe and well but otherwise no comment.'

It was the first news she had heard from her daughter in ten years on the run, she confirmed.

Sarah's father Leo died in April 2020 before she was captured, in 2016 when she first became Britain's 'most wanted woman', told the MailOnline it was a 'shock'.

Mr Panitzke himself was a residential property developer and insurance broker who was arrested when his daughter was 19 for buying council houses and selling them on early for a large profit and was subsequently sentenced to four years in prison.

Leon, Sarah's brother, told Vice magazine last year 'the whole saga had been incredibly difficult for everyone involved.'

Pauline Panitzke was relieved to find out her daughter Sarah Panitzke, 47, (pictured being arrested) was still alive after being on the run for nearly nine years

She was sentenced in her absence to eight years in jail in August 2013 after absconding during her trial at Kingston Crown Court

Sarah Panitzke grew up in Fulford, near York, attending St Peter's School, eventually going on to study Spanish at Manchester Metropolitan University

A large-scale operation with undercover officers was put in place to arrest Panitzke, who previously evaded police in 2015

The privately-educated fraudster was part of 16-strong criminal gang that bought mobile phones abroad without VAT then resold them in the UK.

Panitzke was said to have travelled to places like Dubai, Spain and Andorra to 'clean' the money the gang had stolen.

Originally from Fulford, near York, Panitzke disappeared in May 2013 before being convicted and sentenced in absentia to eight years behind bars.

She was the last of the gang to be caught, with other members collectively sentenced to 135 years in jail, Britain's National Crime Agency said.

Panitzke had been recruited into notorious tax criminal Geoffrey Johnson's web of 18 fraudsters located throughout the UK after meeting an acquaintance.

She was part of a group of companies that bought cheap mobile phones in overseas countries without VAT, then sold them in the UK for a big profit.

UK holidaymakers were asked to help catch the 'most wanted woman' from Fulford near York in a recent appeal for information.

She was said to have 'disappeared into thin air' after becoming the only woman on the National Crime Agency's Most Wanted List.

Police said in an appeal in August 2019 she was responsible for laundering approximately one billion pounds.

Privately-educated university graduate Sarah Panitzke (pictured) was held on Sunday by officers from an elite-Madrid based police unit as she walked her dog near her home

For a long period she was the only woman on the National Crime Agency's Most Wanted List, with her face described in one recent newspaper article as an 'anomaly' alongside those of a fugitive who stabbed and paralyzed his victim with a machete and another who raped a seven year-old girl.

The arrest occurred around 9am on Sunday, well-placed sources said.

Respected Spanish news website El Confidencial, which broke news of Sunday's arrest on Monday, said she was fighting her forced return to the UK.

Well-placed sources confirmed she had been held on Sunday. The arrest was carried out by the Civil Guard Central Operative Unit's Fugitive Task Force.

The specialist Madrid-based unit was the same one that arrested Irish fugitive gang boss Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch last August near his hideaway in the Costa del Sol resort of Fuengirola.

Panitzke, who went to York College for Girls before moving on to fee-paying St Peter's School, which is the third oldest in the world, came from a wealthy family.

She is said to have studied ten GCSEs and three A-levels. She studied Spanish at Manchester Metropolitan University before doing a master's degree in Barcelona in Business Management.

Sarah Panitzke was held in Catalonia on Sunday and is claimed by Spanish authorities to be the only member of a crime gang that remained free, with 16 people already jailed

She was arrested by Spanish Civil guard police officers whilst she was walking her dog near her hideout in Spain

Operation Vaulter, the codename given to HMRC's investigation into the fraud gang, led to a trial at Kingston Crown Court.

Her links to Spain were well-known and she is believed to have been allowed to travel to and from her then-home on a gated residential estate in Vilanova i la Geltru where she had been based during her trial.

At the time she was said to have been living in the coastal town with two dogs and a long-term partner and doing 'front jobs' as a hotel worker and property investor.

Recent reports said she would face 17 years' incarceration if caught because her non-payment of a 2.4 million confiscation order meant further time had been added to her prison sentence.

She remained the only member of the 18-strong gang on the run because ringleader Geoffrey Johnson was arrested in Dubai in 2017 and subsequently sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Police described her in their Wanted Appeal as '170cm tall, slim build with mousey straight hair, blue eyes and a Yorkshire accent.'

She was the only woman on the National Crime Agency most-wanted list - and had been for most of the eight years she was on the run.

The NCA had said in an earlier appeal: 'She controlled the company accounts of many companies remotely via different IP addresses.'

She is said to be languishing in a prison near Madrid ahead of her expected extradition

Panitzke has been remanded in Spanish prison while she fights her forced return to the UK

A spokesman for the force, which released pictures and footage of Panitzke's arrest, said: 'In 2015 we were able to establish that S.P. was hiding out in Olivella near Barcelona where she was visited by her husband at weekends amid tight security.

'Those visits were designed to provide the woman who has now been arrested with her basic necessities, as she hardly left her hideout so as not to raise suspicion.'

But during the operation to arrest her, Panitzke managed to detect the police presence, completely change her appearance and escape.

'From that moment she became a prime objective for investigators, who managed to accumulate a large amount of information about her and put her close circle under constant watch,' said the Civil Guard.

'Despite that investigators concluded she had broken off all physical ties with her family in Spain to avoid detection.'

In a statement on the arrest, the Civil Guard added: 'In February officers received information about her possible presence in Santa Barbara in Tarragona, a small village with around 4,000 inhabitants.

'A round-the-clock watch was established in the area that lasted several weeks.

'At the beginning of last week investigators managed to detect a woman whose appearance matched that of the detainee and then established that she lived in a block of apartments on the outskirts of the locality.

'Given what had happened in 2015, a large-scale operation with undercover officers was put in place and on Sunday morning she was arrested when she left her home to walk her dogs.'
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Republicans lambasted Joe Biden for allowing Vladimir Putin to dictate U.S. readiness after the Pentagon canceled its nuclear missile testing, which they claim is a 'hollow gesture' that shows weakness on the world stage.

'Disappointing @SecDef decision to cancel routine unarmed reliability test of Minuteman III in the face of Russian bluster,' Republican Senator Jim Inhofe tweeted Wednesday.

'Test is critical to ensure our nuke deterrent stays effective,' the Oklahoma senator added. 'Deterrence means projecting strength & resolve  not sacrificing readiness for hollow gestures.'

Republican members of the House Armed Service Committee are also not pleased with delaying the nuclear exercise in the midst of war in Ukraine after Russia attacked last week against western warnings.

'The Biden admin is willing to sacrifice our own readiness in the name of 'not being escalatory,'' the panel's GOP Twitter posted Wednesday. 'It's reportedly the same reason a hypersonic missile test was postponed over the summer.'

'We cannot let Putin dictate our readiness,' added the group, which is led by Ranking Member and Alabama Republican Representative Mike Rogers.

Defense Department Spokesperson John Kirby announced Wednesday the Pentagon will delay testing of its intercontinental Minuteman III ballistic missiles scheduled for this weekend.

He claimed the move was to avoid angering Putin as he continued shelling Ukrainian cities and civilian and military casualties continued to climb.

Kirby also described the change of plans as a show of 'restraint' after the Russian leader put his country's nuclear forces on high alert and amid warnings from the U.S. he is deploying vacuum bombs and cluster munitions across the border.

'This is not a step backwards in our readiness,' he assured during his press briefing Wednesday announcing the testing of the $7,000,000 intercontinental Minuteman III ballistic missiles - that can travel up to 6,000 miles at 15,000 mph - would be scrapped at Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California.

Republicans lashed out at Biden's administration for delaying nuclear missile testing in what appeared to be an appeasement of Russian President Vladimir Putin after he put his country's nuclear forces on high alert. Pictured: An aerial view shows a residential building destroyed by Russian shelling in the settlement of Borodyanka in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 3, 2022

The Pentagon was meant to do a testing this weekend of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (pictured)

Senator Jim Imhofe said the move was 'sacrificing U.S. readiness for hallow gestures' while the House Armed Services Committee GOP Twitter said the Biden administration is 'willing to sacrifice out own readiness' to not anger Russia

MARIUPOL: An elderly woman laying in a pool of blood inside her apartment in Mariupol is rescued by paramedics after being injured during shelling of the city

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

Kirby said the U.S. has not followed Putin in putting its nuclear forces on heightened alert in a briefing conducted as a missile struck near Kyiv's southern main rail station - where thousands of women and children were being evacuated.

The scrapping of the test flight is the first show of restraint from the U.S. after hitting Putin with a slew of sanctions as the world continued pushing him into international exile.

Countries from across the world lined up against Russia at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday to overwhelmingly pass a resolution that rebuked Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine and demanded the withdrawal of Russian forces.

The delay of missile testing comes after the U.S. Air Force flexed its military muscles Tuesday at one of its airbases in Japan, showcasing a fleet of more than two dozen warplanes in an apparent effort to deter Chinese forces from invading the self-governing island of Taiwan.

Ukraine war: The latest Peace talks between the two sides resumed today, with negotiators meeting on the Belarus border

Vladimir Putin called Emmanuel Macron to tell him that he has no intention of calling off the invasion, will keep going until 'the end', and may increase his demands despite suffering losses

Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall

Invasion so far has been badly managed, a 'disaster, through and through', US defence experts say

Ukraine's second city Kharkiv continues to come under heavy Russian shelling

Column of Russian vehicles north of Kyiv 'stalled' due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion

Moscow admits 498 troops have died in Ukraine, widely thought to be an under-estimate but still a record total for post-Soviet Russia

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine 'will immediately proceed'

A Bangladeshi sailor is killed in an attack on his vessel docked in the Black Sea port of Olvia

Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday

Russia tells citizens in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol to leave, raising fears bombing will intensify

UN General Assembly demands Russia 'immediately' withdraws. Moscow wins support from only four nations - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria

Swedish Armed Forces say four Russian fighter jets entered its airspace in the Baltic Sea

US launches 'KleptoCapture' with the aim of seizing yachts, private jets and homes of Russian oligarchs

Chelsea Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirms he is selling the Premier League club

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Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urges Russians to protest daily against the invasion

US follows the EU in targeting Russian ally Belarus with sanctions for supporting invasion Advertisement

The display of military might at Kadena Air Base, which officials called a 'routine wing readiness exercise,' comes two days after President Joe Biden dispatched several former senior defense staffers to the island nation in a show of support, as many wonder whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine could trigger a Chinese invasion of the country.

Kirby claimed the Defense Department Secretary Lloyd Austin is 'comfortable that the strategic deterrence posture that we have in place is up to the task of defending the homeland and our allies.'

At the top of the briefing Wednesday, Kirby detailed: 'I often come out here and tell you what we have done both in terms of exercises and operations. Today, I want to talk a little bit about something that we're not going to do, and I want to explain why.'

'Last weekend, as you saw, President Putin directed a special alert of Russian nuclear forces. Now, in this time of heightened tensions, the United States and other members of the international community rightly saw this as a dangerous and irresponsible and, as I said before, an unnecessary step.'

'In an effort to demonstrate that we have no intention in engaging in any actions that can be misunderstood or misconstrued, the Secretary of Defense has directed that our Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles test launch scheduled for this week to be postponed,' he announced.

'We did not take this decision lightly but instead to demonstrate that we are a responsible nuclear power,' Kirby added.

Russia stepped up its attacks on Ukraine's major cities on Wednesday as officials in Mariupol said a 'full-scale genocide' was underway as Putin's men unleashed a 15-hour artillery barrage while Kharkiv also came under heavy bombardment in a dark sign of what could come to be in the capital of Kyiv.

In recent days, thousands of civilians have been queuing at railway stations to flee the city, which has come under bombardment from invading Russian forces. Many fear the worst is yet to come.

The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's reported the powerful explosion was also near the country's Defence Ministry. Zelenskyy's office said it was a missile strike and that it wasn't immediately clear how damaging the strike was or precisely where the missile hit.

Ukraine's emergency services estimate that 2,000 civilians have been killed so far during Russia's invasion, though that figure is likely to be an under-count considering it does not take into account Wednesday's figures.

The Pentagon canceled an intercontinental ballistic missile test to show 'restraint' and avoid 'misunderstanding' with Russia. Pictured: The Air Force flexed its military muscles at and airbase in Japan Tuesday by showcasing a fleet of more than two dozen warplanes in an apparent effort to deter Chinese forces from invading Taiwan

A Russian air strike hit near Kyiv's southern rail station on Wednesday where thousands of women and children are being evacuated, Ukraine's state-run railway company Ukrzaliznytsya said in a statement. Pictured: Footage purportedly showing a blast in Kyiv on Wednesday night near a southern train station and Ukraine's Ministry of Defence

Ukraine's interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said the strike may have e cut off central heating supply to parts of the Ukrainian capital amid freezing winter temperatures

A view of heavy damage in the residential area of Borodyanka, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine

CHERNIHIV: A diesel fuel storage facility burns in Chernihiv after being struck with a Russian shell

Despite Biden insisting shows of strength toward Russia during his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, the move on Wednesday is an apparent ploy to appease Putin.

The president warned Putin he 'has no idea what's coming' as he opened his national address Tuesday, declaring that invading a foreign country has 'costs around the world'.

Biden declared Putin a 'Russian dictator' and said Moscow is 'more isolated than ever' as he added to already strict Western sanctions against Russia with the closure of U.S. air space to all Russian flights.

He was met with applause after accusing Putin of 'underestimating' Western allies and the Ukrainian people.

The president spent the first 12 minutes of his State of the Union speaking about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and announced 'strict' new measures against Moscow and its wealthy elite with a new task force to go after the 'crimes' of Russian oligarchs, while reaffirming that he would not send American forces into Kyiv.

This included closing U.S. air space to all Russian aircraft and flight.

'We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,' Biden said Tuesday night, prompting the rare sight of members of both parties standing to applaud.

Biden also said matter-of-factly on Monday that Americans should not be concerned about nuclear war with Russia.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki later said the White House sees 'no reason' to change its nuclear posture.

'We think provocative rhetoric like this is dangerous adds to the risk of miscalculation, should be avoided, and we'll not indulge in it.' Psaki said.

Putin explained that 'aggressive statements' by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) led him to ratchet up his nuclear defenses.

'We are assessing President Putin's directive and at this time we see no reason to change our own alert levels.'

The move raised concerns that the invasion of Ukraine could intentionally or mistakenly lead to a global nuclear war.

Kirby said Monday that Putin now has three quarters of his resources, 120,000 of the 160,0000 troops amassed at the border deployed to Ukraine.

Mariupol, located in the south of Ukraine on the Black Sea, has been surrounded by Russian forces and struck by artillery in an apparent attempt to bomb the city into submission as Putin's men resort to 'medieval' tactics. Sergiy Orlov, the deputy mayor, said entire districts had been leveled with such heavy barrages that medics cannot get in to retrieve the dead.

'We are near to a humanitarian catastrophe,' he said. 'Russian forces are several kilometers away on all sides,' he added. 'The Ukrainian army is brave and they will continue to defend the city, but Russia does not fight with their army, they just destroy districts... We are in a terrible situation.'

Minuteman III nuclear missile: The $7million warhead that can travel 6,000 miles at 15,000 mph The Minuteman III makes up the Unites States' land-based ICBM of the nation's nuclear triad, along with the Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and nuclear weapons carried by long-range strategic bombers. It is a strategic weapon system using a ballistic missile of intercontinental range. Missiles are dispersed in hardened silos to protect against attack and connected to an underground launch control center through a system of hardened cables. The $7,000,000 Minuteman III weighs 79,432 pounds and can travel 6,000 miles at 15,000mph. Development of the missile began in the 1950s, and was named after the Colonial Minutemen of the American Revolutionary War, who could be ready to fight on short notice. The Minuteman entered service in 1962 as a deterrence weapon that could hit Soviet cities, with the Minuteman-II entering service in 1965 with a number of upgrades to its accuracy and survivability in the face of anti-ballistic missile (AMB) systems. In 1970, the Minuteman-III became the first deployed ICBM with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV): three smaller warheads that improved the missile's ability to strike targets defended by AMBs. By 1970 during the Cold War, 1,000 Minuteman missiles were deployed, but by 2017, the number had shrunk to 400, deployed in missile silos around Malmstrom AFB, Montana; Minot AFB, North Dakota; and F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming. From 2027 onwards, Minuteman will be progressively replaced by the new Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) ICBM from 2027 onwards to be built by Northrop Grumman. The $7,000,000 Minuteman III weighs 79,432 pounds and can travel 6,000 miles at 15,000mph. Above is a test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in October 2019 Advertisement

MARIUPOL: A Ukrainian woman living in the Black Sea city of Mariupol is evacuated from her home during a brief break in Russian shelling, which has now been continuous for more than 24 hours

A view shows damaged buildings following recent shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine on Wednesday

Meanwhile, the Russian missile struck near Kyiv's southern main rail station on Wednesday night where thousands of women and children are being evacuated, Ukraine's state-run railway company Ukrzaliznytsya said in a statement.

The station building suffered minor damage and the number of any casualties was not yet known, it said, adding trains were still operating despite the blast and fears of another night of brutal attacks by Vladimir Putin 's forces.

Ukraine's interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said the blast was caused by wreckage from a downed Russian cruise missile, not a direct rocket strike. Trains continued to run. Herashchenko added the strike may have cut off central heating supply to parts of the Ukrainian capital amid freezing winter temperatures.

A Reuters witness said the explosion made the earth shake.

In recent days, thousands of civilians have been queuing at railway stations to flee the city, which has come under bombardment from invading Russian forces. Many fear the worst is yet to come.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office reported the powerful explosion was also near the country's Defense Ministry.

Unverified reports said two missiles were launched towards the headquarters of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence, with one being shot down. The HQ and the railway station sit across a road from one-another in Kyiv.

The Southern Railway station is one of two stations that make up the main passenger rail complex that thousands have used to flee the war over the past week. The two stations are connected by an overhead corridor that crosses over about a dozen tracks.

'Russian terrorists launched an air strike on the South Railway Station in Kyiv, where thousands of Ukrainian women and children are being evacuated,' the national railway company said.

A Russian air strike hit near Kyiv's southern rail station on Wednesday where thousands of women and children are being evacuated, Pictured: Civilians are seen at the train station attempting to head west from Kyiv on March 2, 2022

People stay inside Dorohozhychi subway station, which is used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine on Wednesday, March 2

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, also came under heavy barrage in the early hours of Wednesday as Russian troops try to surround and seize it after days of fighting - with a rocket slamming into a university building and police station in the early hours before the city council was also struck, with one of the explosions caught in a dramatic video.

The bombardment gives a dark taste of what is likely to come for other cities such as Kyiv after analysts warned Russia's military - having suffered heavy losses trying to pull off ambitious precision strikes - was likely to resort to surrounding cities and bombing them into submission to force a bloody victory.

Despite the missile testing delay, the U.S. is still showing its military force in other ways. Air Force craft participated in a so-called 'Elephant Walk' Tuesday at an air base in Japan in an apparent move to deter China from taking Russia's lead and invading Taiwan

The so-called 'Elephant Walk'  a term referring to the taxiing of large numbers of military aircraft before takeoff, when they are in close formation  saw a grouping of two dozen F-15 fighter aircraft and an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter, collectively valued at just over a billion dollars.

The fleet of jets are assigned to the 44th and 67th Fighter Squadrons, better known by their colloquial epithets, the Vampires and the Fighting Cocks, respectively. The chopper belongs to the 33rd Rescue Squadron, which boasts the motto 'That Others May Live.'

The formation also featured a $50 million KC-135 Stratotanker refueling plane, assigned to the 909th Air Refueling Squadron, as well as a $270million E-3 Sentry aerial command and control craft, assigned to the 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron.

The show of force comes after months of mounting and increased Chinese aggression directed at Taiwan, including nine Chinese aircraft entering the nation's airspace Thursday - the day Russian troops invaded Ukraine .

A woman says goodbye as a train with evacuees is about to leave Kyiv's railway station on March 2, 2022

Paramedics walk at the residential area following recent shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 2, 2022

Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko defiantly vowed 'we will fight' to defend the city, amid fears it could soon be battered by artillery fire from a 40-mile long death convoy parked nearby. Along with his brother and fellow former boxer Wladimir, the mayor called for more support from the west in an interview on Wednesday.

Ukrainian police said Wednesday they arrested a man who brought explosives hidden in a children's toy to one of the Kyiv subway stations where thousands of people have been sheltering. The police also said four other suspected saboteurs were arrested, including two who were carrying weapons.

An opening salvo on Tuesday night struck the Ukrainian capital's largest TV tower and damaged a nearby Holocaust memorial, killing five bystanders in the process. Hours later, US intelligence said the huge Russian convoy appears to have stalled near Kyiv though it could just be regrouping for a more-determined attack.

Klitschko said that fighting is still ongoing in the cities of Bucha and Hostomel, on the outskirts of Kyiv, where a large number of destroyed Russian vehicles were pictured on Wednesday. He implored people in the city 'not to lose endurance', saying all critical infrastructure is still running and humanitarian supplies are being handed out.

'I ask everyone, for security reasons, not to go outside unnecessarily. At the alarm - go to the shelters,' he said. 'The enemy is gathering forces closer to the capital... We are preparing and will defend Kyiv!'

Images showed areas of the city damaged in overnight strikes, as attacks resumed on Ukrainian cities elsewhere in the country - with paratroopers dropping into Kharkiv on Wednesday morning as missiles struck a university in the city having apparently missed a nearby police headquarters.
A sick pervert who photoshopped climate activist Greta Thunbergs face onto child sex abuse images has avoided jail.

Kyle Tumeo was caught with hundreds of pseudo images and indecent images of children after police raided his home and seized an Acer laptop, two Samsung phones and an Amazon tablet.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the 34-year-old had downloaded 162 category A pseudo images of children  the most serious category of child abuse  as well as a further three indecent images.

He was also caught with 146 category B illegal images of children, 208 category C images, and 110 prohibited images of children.

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg speaking at Festival Park as the UN Climate Change Conference took place in Glasgow, Scotland, November 1, 2021

Prosecutor Jenny Haigh told the court that Tumeo had also superimposed a picture of himself onto some of the images.

Tumeo, of Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, pleaded guilty to three counts of making an indecent photograph, or pseudo-photograph of a child and to the possession of a prohibited image of a child, at his pre-trial hearing on January 10.

However, he managed to avoid a jail sentence and was instead given a two-year community order. He was also made to sign the sex offenders register for the same period of time.

The court heard that police became aware of Tumeos illegal internet activity after an email from a user with the Gmail address princessfasha94 had uploaded a pseudo image online.

A general view of Teesside Crown and County Court in Durham

Judge Timothy Stead told Tumeo: I think you know what you have been doing is wrong.

You have been doing something in private and you thought no one would ever find out about it.

I think you can actually move on from this and not do anything like it again. Youre going to need help with this and I intend to see that you get it.

Tumeo was also ordered to attend an accredited sexual offending programme which involves 44 days of work, as well as 55 rehabilitation days.
The billionaire Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma - makers of OxyContin - reached a settlement on Thursday over its role in the nation's deadly opioid crisis with nine state attorney generals, with the family boosting their cash contribution to as much as $6 billion.

The deal follows an earlier settlement that had been appealed by California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia, and also allows any medical centers and art or educational institutions bearing the Sackler name to have it removed from their buildings.

The attorney generals agreed to sign on after the Sacklers kicked in more cash - including a portion that just those jurisdictions would control - and accepted other terms, including apologizing. In exchange, the family would be protected from civil lawsuits.

In all, the plan could be more than $10 billion over time. It calls for members of the Sackler family to give up control of the Stamford, Connecticut-based company so it can be turned into a new entity with profits used to fight the crisis.

An apology is something Sackler family members have not unequivocally offered in the past. And victims are to have a forum, by videoconference, in court to address Sackler family members - something they have not been able to do in a public setting.

The settlement, outlined in a report filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York, still must be approved by a judge.

'The Sackler families are pleased to have reached a settlement with additional states that will allow very substantial additional resources to reach people and communities in need,' the apology reads.

'The families have consistently affirmed that settlement is by far the best way to help solve a serious and complex public health crisis. While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities.'

The Sackler family, owners of OxyContin makers Purdue Pharma, agreed to up $6 billion for nine state for their role in the opioid crisis. Pictured (left to right): Dr. Thomas Lynch, Richard Sackler, Jonathan Sackler, and Dean Robert Alpern; Seated: Mr. and Mrs. Raymond and Beverly Sackler

OxyContin is among the painkillers attribute to the fueling America's opioid crisis. The addictive drug was created by Purdue Pharma, which the Sacklers own

The settlement also protects any medical centers and art or educational institutions bearing the Sackler name to have it removed from their buildings. Kathleen Scarpone (left) is pictured protesting in front of Harvard University's Arthur M. Sackler building in 2019 after here son, Sgt. Jospeh Scarpone, died of an overdose

The settlement comes as the CDC reported more than 104,000 deaths due to overdoses last year, the largest number of deaths in a single year

THE SACKLERS' DEAL AS THEY APOLOGIZE FOR THEIR ROLE IN FUELING AMERICA'S OPIOID CRISIS The Sackler family reached a deal with attorney generals from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and D.C. on Thursday over the role that their company, Purdue Pharma, had in America's opioid crisis. The family has agreed to: Up their personal contribution to state and local governments across the nation from $4.8 billion to $6 billion

Give up control of Purdue Pharma so it can be turned into a new entity with profits used to fight the crisis

Issue an apology for their role in the crisis and allow victims and their families to address them through videoconference

Allow any medical centers and art or educational institutions bearing the Sackler name - like Harvard and Columbia University and The Smithsonian - to have it removed from their buildings In exchange, the family would be protected from civil lawsuits Advertisement

Most of the the money is to flow to state and local governments, Native American tribes and some hospitals, with the requirement that it be used to battle an opioid crisis that has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades.

The new plan was hammered out with attorneys general from the eight states and D.C. who had opposed the earlier one, arguing that it did not properly hold Sackler family members accountable.

Families of overdose victims see the settlement in different ways.

For Suzanne Domagala, of Millville, Delaware, even a modest payout to victims from the Sackler family is important, though she is still upset that the wealthy family is getting protection from lawsuits.

Domagalas son Zach, a Marine Corps reservist, became addicted after injuring his shoulder during boot camp. When he died in 2017, she said, she didnt have the money to bury him, and it took a few years before she could afford a headstone.

'Thats why when youre looking at the costs of these things, money is such a trivial thing,' she said, 'but its the only way to exact any justice.'

Ed Bisch, whose 18-year-old son died of an overdose 20 years ago, is glad states pushed Sackler family members to pay more but still called the settlement 'a horrible deal' because so many parents who buried loved ones wont see money - and the Sacklers will still be wealthy and free.

'Guess what? They still made billions and billions of dollars,' he said. 'Without any jail time, where is the deterrent? Weve lost two generations to their greed.'

William Tong, the attorney general of Connecticut, said in a statement that the latest settlement was a step in the right direction but still not enough for the victims.

'This settlement resolves our claims against Purdue and the Sacklers, but we are not done fighting for justice against the addiction industry and against our broken bankruptcy code.'

The deal would not shield members of the family from criminal charges - though theres no indication any are forthcoming.

Individual victims and their survivors are to share a $750 million fund, a key provision not found in other opioid settlements.

About 149,000 people made claims in advance and could qualify for shares from the fund; others with opioid use disorder and the survivors of those who died are shut out.

That amount is unchanged in the new plan, but states will be able to create funds they can use to compensate victims beyond that, if they choose.

'Were pleased with the settlement achieved in mediation, under which all of the additional settlement funds will be used for opioid abatement programs, overdose rescue medicines, and victims,' Purdue said in a statement.

'With this mediation result, we continue on track to proceed through the appeals process on an expedited schedule, and we hope to swiftly deliver these resources.'

The deal would also allow institutions like the Smithsonian and Harvard, who feature the Sackler name on their building to remove it after both institutions said they were legally bound to keep the name.

Critics have accused the billionaire family of 'art-washing' their money, as their money has in some cases been given out on the condition that their name be celebrated in exhibits and buildings.

Last month, the Tate Modern museum, in London, was the latest institution to remove the Sackler name and give up donations due to the family's tie with the opioid crisis.

Tuffs University featured the name in their Arthur M. Sackler Center for Medical Education before removing it in 2019

Kentucky and Oklahoma are not part of the deal because they both reached previous settlements with Purdue.

Purdue Pharma, the originator of time-release versions of powerful prescription painkillers, is the highest-profile company out of many that have faced lawsuits over the crisis. It has twice pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to its business practices around OxyContin.

The latest announcement follows another landmark settlement late last week, when drug maker Johnson & Johnson and three distributors finalized a settlement that will send $26 billion over time to virtually every state and local governments throughout the U.S.

If the latest Purdue deal wins approval, the two settlements will give local communities that have been devastated by opioid addiction a significant boost to help them combat the epidemic.

There are two key differences between the the latest Purdue settlement and the previous one struck last year. The Sacklers' cash contribution has gone up by at least $1.2 billion, and state attorneys general and the District of Columbia have now agreed.

As recently as February 18, a mediator said a small but unspecified number of states were still holding out.

Last year, the eight states - California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington - and D.C. refused to sign on, and then most of them appealed after the deal was approved by the bankruptcy judge.

In December, a U.S. district judge sided with the nine holdouts. The judge, Colleen McMahon, rejected the settlement with a finding that bankruptcy judges lack the authority to grant legal protection to people who dont themselves file for bankruptcy when some parties disagree.

Jayde Newton helps to set up cardboard gravestones with the names of victims of opioid abuse outside the courthouse where the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy is taking place

Purdue Pharma's headquarters stands in Stamford, Connecticut

Purdue appealed that decision, which, if left standing, could have scuttled a common method of reaching settlements in sweeping, complicated lawsuits.

Meanwhile, U.S Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain, who had approved the earlier plan, ordered the parties into mediation and on several occasions gave them more time to hammer out a deal.

The new plan still requires Drains approval. Appeals related to the previous version of the plan could continue moving through the court system.

In a separate push to hold the Sacklers accountable for the opioid crisis, a group of seven U.S. senators, all Democrats, wrote the U.S. Department of Justice in February asking prosecutors to consider criminal charges against family members.
Kremlin-backed broadcaster RT should lose its licence and 'never again' be able to broadcast 'poisonous propaganda' into British homes, the Culture Secretary said today.

Nadine Dorries told MPs she hopes that TV watchdog Ofcom's 27 investigations into the channel will result in the removal of its ability to operate in the UK.

The network, formerly Russia Today, was unavailable on Sky, Freesat and Freeview on Wednesday.

Ms Dorries said she has also contacted Meta and TikTok to urge them to stop streaming RT via their online platforms.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Ms Dorries said Russian president Vladimir Putin 'must not be allowed to exploit our open and free media to spread poisonous propaganda into British homes'.

But her remarks could risk a reprisal against UK broadcasters. The Kremlin today accused the BBC of playing a 'determined role in undermining the Russian stability and security'.

Nadine Dorries told MPs she hopes that TV watchdog Ofcom's 27 investigations into the channel will result in the removal of its ability to operate in the UK.

The network, formerly Russia Today, was unavailable on Sky, Freesat and Freeview on Wednesday.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the banning of Russian media RT and Sputnik, claiming the world was being deprived of Russia's point of view and that western media was only giving one side.

According to translation from RT, Ms Zakharova told a press briefing the only reason Russian journalists could still work in the UK was 'related to London fears that (the) BBC might be targeted in Russia because it plays a determined role in undermining the Russian stability and security'.

She said: 'We haven't invented that because it stems from the statement by the British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.'

On Monday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned that the BBC risks being banned in Russia if RT is shut down in the UK.

She said a 'careful judgment' is required as retaliatory action against the BBC would harm efforts to ensure Russians 'hear the truth' about the invasion of Ukraine.

Ms Dorries, in response to SNP questions in the Commons today, said: 'As part of a concerted effort and discussions, Russia Today is no longer streamed into British homes either via TV, Sky, Freesat or Freeview.

'We have contacted both Meta and TikTok to implore them to stop streaming Russia Today via their own online platforms.

'It is my absolute position that we will not stop until we have persuaded every organisation, based in the UK or not, that it is the wrong thing to do to stream Russian propaganda into British homes.'

Conservative former minister David Jones asked the Cabinet minister: 'Can you convey to Ofcom what I perceive to be the feeling of this House, that it would be deplored if Russia Today was ever to be seen on British screens again?'

Ms Dorries replied: 'I absolutely agree with (Mr Jones). I published the letter that I wrote to Ofcom shortly after I wrote it last week; they've launched 27 live investigations into Russia Today.

'I'm hoping they expediate those investigations and that those investigations result in the removal of Russia Today's licence so they're never again able or have the platform to broadcast their propaganda into the UK.'

Anna Belkina, RT's deputy editor-in-chief, said in a statement: 'We have long stopped expecting any legitimacy or reason in the UK's attempts to curtail media freedoms at home and abroad; relentlessly pressing their supposedly independent regulator or global social media platforms is just par for the course.'
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Britain's daily Covid cases rose for the second day in a row today amid signs the country's outbreak is no longer shrinking.

Government dashboard data showed 45,656 infections were logged over the last 24 hours, up 17 per cent on the tally last Thursday. A month of falling infections was brought to an end yesterday.

Another 194 Covid deaths were also registered today, up 55 per cent on last week, but fatalities are still trending downwards.

Meanwhile, latest hospitalisation data shows there were 1,058 admissions on February 27, down two per cent on the week before.

The rise in cases comes after England's Freedom Day last week, which saw all legally binding Covid restrictions lifted, including compulsory masks on public transport and the mandatory isolation for infected people.

It also coincides with the emergence of a more infectious version of Omicron, named BA.2, which has outstripped its parent strain to become dominant.

Experts warn it may cause some fluctuations in case rates, but say there is no reason to panic because there is no evidence the strain is more likely to cause severe disease. The original Omicron wave  which sparked fears of a pre-Christmas lockdown  never overwhelmed the NHS.

Above is the PCR positivity rate (blue line) for England, showing the proportion of swabs that detect the virus. It is creeping back up suggesting cases are growing again in the country

The uptick comes after Boris Johnson ditched all of England's remaining coronavirus laws on February 24, with requirements to wear face masks on public transport and isolate coming to an end.

Mass testing is also set to be shelved on April 1, with the country shifting to relying on national surveillance.

Government dashboard data shows the number of Covid tests carried out across the UK fell by seven per cent yesterday, the latest available, compared to the same time last week as the tests are rationed ahead of being scrapped entirely.

The PCR positivity rate  the proportion of swabs processed in a lab that come back positive  is also pointing upwards slightly, in another sign that the outbreak is now growing.

Across the four UK nations, cases rose in Scotland (up 32 per cent in a week) and England (up 16 per cent), but they fell in Wales (down 15 per cent) and Northern Ireland (down three per cent).

First case of deer-to-human Covid transmission found in Canada Scientists in Canada believe they have detected the first probable case of a deer transmitting Covid to a human. The suspected infection happened last November in Ontario and involved an unnamed person who had 'close contact with deer'. It was revealed in a pre-print study by Iowa State University, which has not been peer-reviewed. A herd of 17 white-tailed deer were found to be infected with a 'new and highly divergent' variant of the virus in November and December 2021. Analysis of positive swabs matched the strain to a person who lived in the same southwestern region of the Canadian province. While the study could not definitively prove the patient caught Covid from a deer, they said it was 'likely' due to their close interaction and fact it was an isolated case. Covid has become widespread in the deer populations of North America, with up to 80 per cent of the animals infected in some US states. It is not clear how the deer are catching the virus in such high numbers, but studies suggest it could be through drinking water contaminated with human faeces. Advertisement

It comes after a major trial revealed an arthritis drug cuts the risk of severely ill Covid patients dying by as much as a fifth.

The protection is on top of that given from dexamethasone and tocilizumab, two medicines already proven to save the lives of the infected.

Results of the Oxford University Recovery trial, involving 8,000 hospitalised Covid patients, will add another weapon to the 'suite' of treatments available to fight the virus.

All of the patients received standard NHS treatment, but half also had baricitinib  which is given as a 25 tablet once a day for ten days.

Thirty-three fewer deaths were recorded in the group given the drug, compared to those kept on the drugs already available. This equated to an additional 13 per cent reduced risk, the researchers calculated.

But scientists claimed the benefit could actually be as high as 20 per cent.

Sir Martin Landray, an epidemiologist behind the research, said today's results were a 'big step' towards getting the drug available in the UK.

It has been dished out to severely ill Covid patients in the US since November 2020.

Baricitinib was first approved five years ago to treat rheumatoid arthritis, a condition where the immune system misfires and attacks the joints.

This leads to inflammation in the affected areas, which the medicine reduces to ease pain and swelling.

Baricitinib, available on prescription under the brand name Olumiant in the UK, is just the latest drug spotted by the Recovery trial that could help Covid patients.

It found dexamethasone  a 5 drug that has existed for decades  cut the risk of death by a fifth in June 2020.

Eight months later it revealed tocilizumab, which costs 600 per treatment, could halve the risk of severely ill patients dying.

In the latest study  released as a pre-print today  participants were around 58 years old and recruited between February and December last year.

About two-thirds were receiving oxygen, and a further quarter were on additional respiratory support. The majority were given a corticosteroid such as dexamethasone.

A total of 4,008 patients received 'usual' NHS care, while 4,148 received that plus baricitinib.

Results showed 513 patients in the baricitinib group had died within 28 days, or 12 per cent of the total. But among those who did not get the drug there were 546 deaths, or 14 per cent of the total.

The benefit of baricitinib was consistent regardless of which other Covid treatments the patients were also receiving, including corticosteroids, tocilizumab or remdesivir.

Sir Martin Landray, a professor in epidemiology at Oxford University, said today's results were a big step in approving the drug for use in the UK.

Cases of winter-vomiting bug shoot by two-thirds in a week in care homes Outbreaks of norovirus have shot up by two-thirds in a week in care homes, health chiefs have warned. There were 40 outbreaks of the highly infectious virus, which causes sickness and diarrhoea, in care homes last week. For comparison, 24 were logged in the previous seven-day spell. A rise in norovirus cases among care home residents is usually followed by a spike in hospital outbreaks, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warned. Rates were also high in schools and nurseries, sparking an alert from officials. There were 135 norovirus outbreaks  defined as at least two cases  in schools and nurseries in the four weeks to February 20. This was 48 per cent more than normal. Norovirus infections were suppressed during Covid as a result of measures brought in to fight the pandemic, resulting in reduced immunity against the bug. Health chiefs warned that, as a result, 'it is possible that unusual or out of season increases could be seen in the coming months'. Advertisement

It comes after one of the Government's chief pandemic advisers admitted grim-modelling that over-egged the Omicron wave failed to 'accurately predict the numbers' because it did not factor in behaviour changes.

When the ultra-transmissible variant struck, SAGE scientists warned deaths could peak at 6,000 a day with 10,000 hospital admissions, sparking calls for another lockdown.

But in reality, fatalities only reached 300 a day, or a quarter of the levels seen last winter, and hospitalisations peaked at around 2,000.

Ministers did impose 'Plan B' measures, including asking people to work from home, yet beforehand millions were already choosing to stay home to avoid catching the virus and having to self-isolate on Christmas Day.

Professor Graham Medley, who chairs a modelling group feeding into SAGE, told MPs it was almost impossible to predict human behaviour and that it was his job to consider pessimistic outcomes.

'The epidemic is dynamic,' he said. 'People's responses to the situation in March 2020 were very different to those in November 2020 and very different again in January 2021.'

Professor Medley, based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, added: 'The modelling is there to understand the process and what's going on. We know we cannot accurately predict the numbers but we can give insight into the processes that determine the outcomes.'

SAGE's models have been heavily criticised during the pandemic with many scientists claiming they fail to account for basic behavioural changes and underestimating the strength of natural immunity.

Even before Omicron emerged, the group warned there could be 6,000 Covid hospital admissions this winter from Delta alone  which would have been triple the number we seen with Omicron.

When England was coming out of its winter 2021 lockdown, SAGE said there could be 2,000 daily hospital admissions and over 500 deaths at the height of summer without delaying the roadmap.

Professor Medley, who heads up the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Modelling (SPI-M), was speaking to MPs in the Science and Technology committee yesterday.

Describing his role on the committee, Professor Medley said one of the 'worst things' would be for the modellers to under-predict the approaching wave.

He told MPs: 'The worst thing for me as chair of the committee is for the Government to say "why didn't you tell us it would be that bad?", so inevitably we are going to have a worst case that is worse than reality.

Professor Medley said the committee would give ministers a range of scenarios for what could happen during a Covid wave.

But they would not say which was more likely for fear of influencing policy decisions.
BBC and Channel 5 star Jeremy Vine has sparked shock after suggesting Russian soldiers fighting for Putin 'probably deserve to die'.

The veteran broadcaster, 56, was speaking on his eponymous morning magazine show when he made the remark.

It was during a phone-in from a member of the public who identified themselves as Bill, from Manchester.

Bill told him: 'Quite a number of those Russians you'll probably find will go across. They were were holding their hands up this morning not wanting to fight Ukrainians.

'They were told lies by Putin, surprise surprise.'

But it was then Jeremy told him: 'True. But the brutal reality is, if you put on a uniform for Putin and you go and fight his war, you probably deserve to die, don't you?'

Social media users rounded on him after the remarks yesterday morning.

They came on the day that a video of a Russian soldier breaking down in tears as he spoke to his mother on the phone after surrendering to Ukrainians went viral.

Footage shows captured a handcuffed Russian prisoner crying over the death and destruction wrought by the war, saying: 'They don't even pick up the corpses, there are no funerals'

Captured Russian soldiers have been filmed describing themselves as 'cannon fodder' and warning 'everyone is going in columns and they all die'

One viewer fumed at Vine: 'What a pathetic excuse for a human being. This guy needs taking off the air.'

Another posted: 'rancid and vile comments from Vine designed to pull in the viewers and gain a reaction.'

Vine defended himself, saying he was just offering a counter view to the caller.

He insisted: I'm replying to a caller with the counterpoint to his view, which I do day in and day out and which is my job.

'My views are neither here nor there.'

Footage yesterday showed a young fighter from Putin's forces being comforted by a group of women after throwing down his weapon. One of the women tells him 'everything his OK' while patting him on the back.

He is then seen drinking tea and eating a pasty as another woman offers him a phone. The young prisoner of war blows kisses as his mother answers, and bursts into tears as soon as he sees her. One of the other women is heard speaking to her down the phone, saying: 'Natasha, God be with you. We will call you later. He is alive and healthy.'

Captured men said they had no idea they were being sent to invade Ukraine and were used like 'cannon fodder' by commanders who threw them into battle against 'peaceful people defending their territory' after Vladimir Putin's forces took heavy losses in the opening days of the conflict.

'This is not our war. Mothers and wives, collect your husbands. There is no need to be here,' an injured soldier sat in front of a Ukrainian flag was filmed saying. Other footage showed handcuffed Russian prisoner crying, while saying: 'They don't even pick up the corpses, there are no funerals'.

Jeremy Vine made the remarks on his Channel 5 show yesterday morning to a caller named Bill

Captured Russian soldiers (left and right), speaking in video posted to the Ukraine security services' Facebook page, claimed they were 'deceived' and did not realise they were going to invade Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last night claimed the morale of Vladimir Putin's Russian forces is 'constantly deteriorating' in a powerful address, and added that his forces have so-far killed 9,000 invaders.

The leader of the besieged nation also said that his country had thwarted Russia's 'sneaky' plans, saying he was proud of the 'heroic' resistance to Moscow's shocking invasion.

'We are a nation that broke the enemy's plans in a week. Plans written for years: sneaky, full of hatred for our country, our people,' Zelensky said in a video posted across multiple social media channels.

The president said he 'sincerely admired the heroic residents' of cities who have resisted the advance of Russian forces. He added that around 9,000 Russian soldiers had been killed since the invasion began, a claim disputed by Moscow who released contesting figures for the first time earlier on Wednesday.

'Our military, our border guards, our territorial defence, even ordinary farmers capture the Russian military every day,' he said in the video, similar to several others he has previously recorded during the war.

'All the captives say only one thing: they do not know why they are here. Despite the fact that there are dozens of times more than them, the morale of the enemy is constantly deteriorating.'

Footage shows a young surrendered soldier from Putin's forces breaking down in tears as he speaks to his mother on the phone after being comforted and fed by Ukrainian women

Zelensky, who has drawn praise from Ukrainians and the international community alike for his leadership since the invasion began, also accused Russian troops of looting out of desperation for food and supplies.

He said Ukrainian civilians had driven Putin's soldiers out of grocery stores as they searched for food. 'These are not warriors of the superpower, these are confused children who were used,' he said.

'They will not have peace here, they will not have food here, they will not have a single quiet moment here,' he warned. 'The occupiers will receive only one thing from Ukraine - a rebuff, a worth rebuff. They will remember that we do not give up.'
She lived the high life in Manhattan after swindling her victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But now fake heiress Anna Sorokin claims she is finally broke.

Russian-born Sorokin, who masqueraded as a wealthy German socialite, has been granted poor persons relief in filing her appeal against her conviction for grand larceny and theft, DailyMail.com can reveal.

Sorokin, who is the subject of the new Netflix series Inventing Anna  which says it was inspired 'by the true story of a total fake'  was given help by a court to cover the costs of filing her appeal and other legal fees.

The 31-year-old had formally requested limited' relief, for which she would have to prove she had little or no money.

Sorokin had been due to file the appeal by February 22nd but she has yet to do so.

Anna Sorokin has applied for limited poor person's relief to get state aid to fund her appeal against her convictions for grand larceny and theft

The Russian-born criminal was convicted of scamming New York banks and socialites out of thousand claiming to a German heiress named Anna Delvey

Sorokin (right) lived the high life. Hers she poses for a picture with friends at the Tumblr Fashion Honor celebrating the Rodarte brand at New York's Jane Hotel in 2014

She is currently in the custody of US Immigration and Enforcement at the Orange County Correctional Facility in Goshen, New York, awaiting possible deportation back to Germany, pending her appeal.

She is also one of three detainees suing federal immigration authorities for refusing to give her Covid booster shots while locked up and claims she tested positive in January.

The idea that Sorokin, who also calls herself Anna Delvey, could be out of money would be a grimly fitting end to a story of fraud, hubris and high living.

Her father was a truck driver, her mother ran a small convenience store. She was born in a working class suburb of Moscow and she and her family emigrated to Germany when she was 16.

Inventing Anna, starring Julia Garner in the lead role, details how Sorokin claimed she had a $60m trust fund in Europe and scammed her way to expensive trips and hotel stays, ripping off her best friend along the way.

Sorokin was only released from jail in February last year after serving nearly four years of her four to 12 year sentence and went about returning to her previous life of luxury by renting a swank apartment in Chelsea.

Weeks later, after bragging in a TV interview that 'crime pays, in a way' she was arrested by immigration agents for allegedly overstaying her visa and has been in custody ever since.

This image released by Netflix shows Julia Garner in a scene from 'Inventing Anna.'

Sorokin said she had no plans to watch Inventing Anna starring Julia Garner (pictured). 'I never made the show in anticipation, thinking that she's going to watch it. If she did watch it, great,' said the actress

Sorokin is currently behind bars at the Orange County Correctional Facility in Goshen, New York, 70 miles north of Manhattan

Sorokins appeal for limited poor persons relief was filed at the First Appellate Division of the New York state court, which is handling her appeal.

Last month the court ruled that Sorokin was permitted to dispense with payment of the required fee for the subpoena and filing of the record.'

The form for Sorokins application is not public but according to a blank version on the courts website, she would have to detail any assets she had including property, stocks and bonds and details of her bank accounts.

She would have to disclose if she owns a vehicle and her gross monthly income and expenses, including money spent on food and utilities.

Poor persons relief can cover everything from legal fees, to having the court provide a lawyer.

Sorokin still has her own private lawyer but requested help with administrative costs.

Inventing Anna was released by Netflix last month

New York-based attorney Mark Bederow, who does not represent Sorokin, said that her applying for such relief was funny on many levels.

He said: Normally a person gets poor persons relief by saying they are destitute.

They dont just literally rubber stamp it, but you do have to represent that you lack any income and resources and one wonders did she ask her friends at Netflix to pay for it?

Sorokins claim that she cannot afford a lawyer contrasts with statements by her attorneys in her immigration case, which is being handled in federal court.

Writing in August last year, attorney Audrey Thomas made a compelling case why Sorokin should stay in the US  based on her wealth.

Thomas argued that Sorokin would not be a burden to the State as she has very lucrative contracts with Netflix and other well established media groups.'

Court documents from Thomas stated: She will be self-sustaining for the entirety of her presence in the USA. She has a place to live and means of providing for herself and her business ventures will actually provide jobs for Americans

Ms. Sorokin has already provided for several peoples financial security. She has paid out over $75,000 in legal fees, and has hired camera men/women, videographers, photographers, and a team of American media personnel.

Sorokin at her New York trial in 2019, where she was reprimanded by Judge Diane Kiesel for refusing to enter court because the Ann Taylor outfits provided by her lawyer were not up to her standards

Sorokin posed as a German heiress with a $60 million fortune to rip off businesses and friends so she could maintain her extravagant lifestyle

Sorokin was released from jai in February 2021 but soon taken into custody by ICE for overstaying her visa and faces being deported back to Germany

Ms. Anna Sorokin is truly a force of change that Americans can believe in and a source of inspiration for those who have fallen to believe they can get back up again,' added Thomas.

Bederow said the difference in the two sets of documents is troubling and raises issues.'

He said: It is what it is. Shes a convicted con artist who is convicted of misrepresenting who she is.

Sorokin did indeed have a lucrative deal with Netflix for $320,000, according to the New York state Office of Victims Services, which oversaw the repayment of her restitution to her victims.

Of that money she repaid $100,000 to City National Bank, $70,000 to Citibank, spent $75,000 on legal fees and another $24,000 on fines - leaving around $51,000 left over.

Sorokin does not appear to have paid back Blade, the air taxi service from Uber, for the $35,400 she owes to them for a charter flight from New Jersey to Omaha, Nebraska to attend the annual shareholders meeting of investment company Berkshire Hathaway.

Nor has she apparently reimbursed the $23,000 she owes to Signature Bank.

Thomas did not respond to messages asking for comment.
A pensioner has gone on trial for the 'brutal' rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl nearly 50 years ago after he was 'caught by advances in DNA'.

Dennis McGrory, 74, was fuelled by rage when he sexually assaulted, stabbed and strangled schoolgirl Jacqui Montgomery at her home in Islington, north London, in 1975, the Old Bailey heard today.

He was arrested nearly 50 years later when a cold case review matched his DNA to the teenager's body.

The court heard McGrory was 'wild with anger' after discovering that Jacqui's aunt, Josie, was having an affair with a close friend at the end of May 1975.

McGrory, who was 28 at the time, believed he could force the teenager to reveal her whereabouts, jurors were told.

Opening the trial today, prosecutor Sarah Przybylska told the court: 'Many years ago this defendant, when in his 20s, attacked, raped and brutally murdered the 15-year-old victim, Jacqueline Montgomery, in her own home when she was all alone.

'He was desperate at the time. He was trying to track down his ex-partner Josie Montgomery [Jacqui's aunt], who had recently left him, and he wanted to harm her.

The defendant knew that Jacqui was likely to know where Josie was. She was an obvious point of contact.

In addition, Josie had been staying for a short time at Jacquis house very shortly before the murder. Therefore there was every chance that she would either be there or Jacqui could be forced to reveal her whereabouts.'

Jacqueline Montgomery, 15, was allegedly raped and murdered because she was the niece of McGrory's ex-partner

The prosecutor continued: 'Whilst Jacqui may have known where she was, whether she ever told the defendant only he knows.

'No doubt furious with rage and wanting to attack Josie, the defendant took out his anger on the next best thing, Jacqui Montgomery, both raping and murdering her.'

During the attack, a page of Jacquis diary containing an address where her aunt had been staying was allegedly ripped out by the defendant.

Ms Przybylska told the Old Bailey: 'Whether in fact, as he was strangling Jacqui to extort an address, she fobbed him off, saying that was where Josie would be, we will never know.'

But the prosecutor suggested the fact McGrory had the address was 'damning evidence'.

Jacquis body was found by her father, Robert Montgomery, lying on the floor of their living room in Offord Road, Islington, in the early hours of June 2, 1975.

She had been stabbed repeatedly and strangled with the iron flex, the court heard.

There were also clear signs of a struggle having taken place in the home, and the familys telephone was left hanging off the receiver - possibly after Jacqui had tried to phone the police, jurors were told.

Her skirt and jumper had been pulled up, consistent with a sexual assault, the court heard.

A short time after the discovery, McGrory was spoken to by police, but in interviews denied having anything to do with the murder.

However, the prosecutor told jurors that 'justice has now finally caught up with the defendant'.

As well as circumstantial evidence, new DNA evidence has 'compellingly' established McGrory as the killer, the court heard.

The statue of "Lady Justice" by the British sculptor, Frederick William Pomeroy, which stands on the dome of the Central Criminal Court where the trial is taking place

Swabs from Jacquis body, which found nothing relevant at the time, have since linked McGrory scientifically thanks to DNA advances, jurors were told.

Scientific analysis showed McGrory is between 33,000 times and one billion times more likely to have contributed to DNA samples from Jacquis vaginal swabs, the court heard.

She added there was evidence that McGrory had a sexual interest in Jacqui and had threatened to rape her.

The prosecutor said: 'The evidence establishes that the defendant made good on his threat to rape Jacqui Montgomery.'

McGrory, of Milton Keynes, Bucks, denies murder and rape.

The bespectacled and bearded Scot remains on unconditional bail, and is attending the trial via videolink from his solicitors offices in Milton Keynes.

The trial continues.
China is dismissing a report that it asked Russia to delay invading Ukraine until after the Beijing Winter Olympics as 'fake news'.

The Chinese government on Thursday denounced the report and called it a 'very despicable' attempt to divert attention and shift blame over the invasion of Ukraine.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also repeated China's accusation that Washington provoked the war by not ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine.

'We hope the culprit of the crisis would reflect on their role in the Ukraine crisis, take up their responsibilities, and take practical actions to ease the situation and solve the problem instead of blaming others,' Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.

An article in The New York Times cited a 'Western intelligence report' considered credible by officials.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Chinese President Xi Jinping during the welcoming ceremony at the Grand Kremlin Palace on June 5, 2019 in Moscow

Olga Fatkulina and Vadim Shipachyov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, carry a flag into the stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics

'The New York Times report is purely fake news, and such behaviors of diverting attentions and shifting blames are very despicable,' Wang said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Beijing on February 4, hours before the Olympics opening ceremony.

The two countries issued a joint statement in which they declared 'friendship between the two states has no limits, there are no "forbidden" areas of cooperation'.

In the statement, China also endorsed Russia's opposition to further NATO expansion and demanded that it 'respect the sovereignty, security and interests of other countries.'

Russia, for its part, reaffirmed its support for China's claim over Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing threatens to annex by force if necessary.

The New York Times said it wasn't clear whether the communication about an invasion took place between Xi and Putin or at a lower level, but that the intelligence report indicated that 'senior Chinese officials had some level of direct knowledge about Russia's war plans or intentions before the invasion started last week.'

China is the only major government that hasn't criticized Moscow's attack on Ukraine and has also ruled out joining the United States and European governments in imposing financial sanctions on Russia.

Instead, Beijing has endorsed the Russian argument that Moscow's security was threatened by NATO's eastern expansion.

China abstained in Wednesday's UN General Assembly emergency session vote to demand an immediate halt to Moscow's attack on Ukraine and the withdrawal of all Russian troops.

'Regrettably, the draft resolution submitted to the General Assembly emergency special session for vote had not undergone full consultations with the whole membership, nor does it take into consideration the history and the complexity of the current crisis,' Wang said.

'It did not highlight the importance of the principle of indivisible security or the urgency of promoting political settlement and stepping up diplomatic efforts,' he said.

'These are not in line with China's consistent position. Therefore, we had no choice but to abstain in the voting.'

Russia launched an attack on Georgia during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, angering some in the Chinese leadership and among the public.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said he does not care whether President Joe Biden misunderstood things about him, saying Biden should be focusing on America's interests, in an interview with The Atlantic monthly published Thursday.

Since Biden took office in January 2021, the long-standing strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and Washington has come under strain over Riyadh's human rights record, especially with respect to the Yemen war and the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The crown prince told The Atlantic that he felt his own rights had been violated by the accusations against him in the brutal murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi, who was killed inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

'I feel that human rights law wasn't applied to me...Article XI of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that any person is innocent until proven guilty,' he said.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said he does not care whether President Joe Biden misunderstood things about him, saying Biden should be focusing on America's interests, in an interview with The Atlantic monthly published Thursday

President Joe Biden's (left) administration released a U.S. intelligence report implicating the crown prince in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (left), which MbS denies, telling The Atlantic that his own rights were violated

Prince Mohammed, the de facto Saudi ruler widely known as MbS, suggested in separate but related remarks carried by the Saudi state news agency SPA that Riyadh could choose to reduce investments in the United States.

'Simply, I do not care,' the crown prince said when asked by The Atlantic whether Biden misunderstood things about him.

He said it was up to Biden 'to think about the interests of America'.

'We don't have the right to lecture you in America,' he added. 'The same goes the other way.'

The Biden administration released a U.S. intelligence report implicating the crown prince in the murder of Khashoggi, which MbS denies, and pressed for the release of political prisoners.

Khashoggi's murder tarnished the reformist image that the crown prince had been cultivating in the West, which largely condemned him.

MbS has wanted to return the focus to social and economic reforms that he has pushed through to open up Saudi Arabia and diversify its oil-dependent economy.

They do not appear to include wide political reform.

Asked whether Saudi rule could transform into a constitutional monarchy, MbS said no.

'Saudi Arabia is based on pure monarchy,' he said.

Prince Mohammed also told The Atlantic that Riyadh's objective was to maintain and strengthen its 'long, historical' relationship with America.

He said Saudi investments in the United States amounted to $800 billion.

'In the same way we have the possibility of boosting our interests, we have the possibility of reducing them,' SPA quoted him as saying.

While the crown prince enjoyed close relations with Biden's predecessor, former President Donald Trump, Biden has taken a tougher stance with the Gulf Arab powerhouse and has so far chosen only to speak with King Salman bin Abdulaziz, not MbS.

The Biden administration has also prioritized an end to the Yemen war, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for seven years.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's re-election campaign condemned progressive activist Stacey Abrams on Thursday for comparing her fight to change her state's election laws to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leading his country against a Russian invasion.

Speaking to the Daily Show with Trevor Noah on Wednesday, Abrams suggested Kemp and Russian President Vladimir Putin were both waging a 'war on democracy' --- though Kemp is fighting a legislative battle as Putin orders weapons into Ukraine that are reportedly being used to slaughter civilians.

Democrat Abrams is running to challenge Kemp for governor in November, after having lost to him in 2018.

A spokesman for Kemp's 2022 campaign told DailyMail.com that Abrams' comparison is 'disgusting' and suggested she was using the unfolding tragedy for her own gain.

'This is a disgusting comparison. President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people are fighting for their freedom against a callous invasion that has killed innocent civilians,' Kemp campaign press secretary Tate Mitchell said.

'Stacey Abrams is a political opportunist who has lined her pockets on lies about common-sense election integrity measures like voter ID. The two are not the same.'

Abrams was asked during the TV interview about how she squares her push to expand voting rights with the fact that data show it will likely boost her campaign.

Progressive Georgia activist Stacey Abrams was criticized by Republicans from her state on Thursday for comparing her fight against Georgia election laws to Ukraine's fight against a Russian invasion

The former state lawmaker stood firm in her belief that it 'should be easy to vote' and said she did not care who those she registered were voting for.

'My focus should never be on who you cast your ballot for. Voting itself, the process is nonpartisan. We are a stronger nation when we allow people to participate,' she explained.

'And if we ever doubted that -- the war that Putin is waging against Ukraine, President Zelensky said that -- I'm going to paraphrase him probably poorly -- he said this isn't a war on Ukraine, this is a war on democracy in Ukraine.

'When we allow democracy to be overtaken by those who want to choose who can be heard, and those choices are not based on anything other than animus or inconvenience, then that is wrong.'

Abrams previously lose to Kemp in 2018 in a close race for governor of the Peach State.

Since then she's focused on ramping up voter registration through her group Fair Fight. Her efforts were widely credited for helping President Joe Biden clinch Georgia in the 2020 presidential election.

She's also focused on attempting to roll back Kemp's election security law, which civil rights groups and Democratic opponents claim heavily disenfranchises non-white voters in Georgia.

Abrams said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people were fighting for their democracy, as they also fight for their lives against an onslaught of Russian troops

An aerial view shows a residential building destroyed by shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region on March 3

Roman, a former Ukrainian soldier injured in combat, gives instructions on how to handle weapons and move during conflict to civilians in the outskirts of Lviv

Meanwhile in Ukraine, civilians have armed themselves and are constructing molotov cocktails to help Kyiv's defense forces fight against a Russian invasion.

For roughly a week, Putin's forces have rained airstrikes and various shellfire down on Ukraine's cities.

Kyiv officials have said that at least 2,000 civilians, including children, have been slaughtered so far.

Former Georgia Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler on Thursday criticized Abrams for making the comparison.

'Stacey Abrams is so self-absorbed that she just compared her push to undermine fair elections with Ukraine's invasion by a murderous dictator,' Loeffler wrote on Twitter.

The Democrat had previously made similar comments claiming the heavily-armed Russian invasion was a test of Ukraine's 'democracy' -- and compared the situation to the fight for America's future at home.

On February 28, days after Putin personally ordered Moscow's forces to attack, Abrams told Axios the invasion was 'not a question of Putin, it's a question of Ukrainian democracy working.'

Former Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler also condemned Abrams' comparison

'Stacey Abrams is a political opportunist who has lined her pockets on lies about common-sense election integrity measures like voter ID. The two are not the same,' Kemp's press secretary told DailyMail.com

'We are watching across this world the attacks on democracy, and they are more salient and more effective than they've ever been,' she said. 'And the United States is not immune.'

Elsewhere in her Daily Show interview on Wednesday night, Abrams was forced to again defend herself against criticism over the infamous February photo of her sitting in a classroom full of children wearing masks. Abrams' smile was the only one that could be seen.

'My responsibility in that instance, if I created any appearance that I did not take childrens lives safe --seriously, thats a mistake. But your job fundamentally is to acknowledge when you make a mistake and try to make it right. We have this narrative that we have invincible leaders, thats just not true,' she said.

'What we have are humans who want to do a job and we have to hold them accountable for the job they do. But we have to have grace when they make mistakes and trust that their intentions were right.'

The long-winded response is a far cry from her gubernatorial campaign's initial reaction slamming criticism of the photo as 'baseless.'
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps today faced a ferocious social media backlash after announcing he is easing Covid travel rules for people fleeing Ukraine.

Mr Shapps said anyone starting their journey in the country will now not have to take a Covid test or fill in a passenger locator form.

But Twitter users slammed the announcement and said it was no where near generous enough amid growing calls on the Government to do more to help people trying to escape the Russian invasion.

Some mocked Mr Shapps, with one user tweeting: 'They're not coming from Mallorca mate they're fleeing a warzone'.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps today faced a ferocious social media backlash after announcing he is easing Covid travel rules for people fleeing Ukraine

Mr Shapps said anyone starting their journey in the country will now not have to take a Covid test or fill in a passenger locator form

Boris Johnson has been under growing pressure in recent days to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to come to the UK

Boris Johnson has been under growing pressure in recent days to make it easier for Ukrainian refugees to come to the UK.

Ministers have changed some rules to allow British nationals with family in Ukraine and Ukrainian nationals living in the UK to bring their relatives to Britain.

But the action has stopped far short of a full visa waiver, with ministers adamant that strict checks must be kept in place for security reasons after warnings from MPs that Russian agents could try to disguise themselves as civilians to gain entry to the UK.

Mr Shapps tweeted this afternoon to announce he is relaxing coronavirus travel rules for people travelling from Ukraine.

He said: 'Were supporting #Ukraine by making it easier for those who are fleeing conflict to travel to the UK.

'Passengers who began their journey in Ukraine now do not need to fill in a Passenger Locator Form or take travel tests.'

However, his announcement was seized on by some Twitter users who said the Government should be doing much more to help fleeing Ukrainians.

One user said in response to Mr Shapps: 'I wish this was a joke but this sadly is the best the UK is willing to do.'

Another user said: 'Right and how do people in Ukraine actually get out of Ukraine to the UK?'

Another user mocked Mr Shapps and said that his 'generosity is mind blowing'.

One user added: 'You don't have a clue, this is a warzone! Get yourself dropped into Kyiv with no passport or papers then try and make your way back to the UK.'

While domestic Covid rules have now been lifted in England, some do still apply to international travel.

People who are fully-vaccinated are required to complete a passenger locator form in the three days before they arrive in England.

Twitter users slammed Mr Shapps' announcement and said it was no where near generous enough

The fully-vaccinated do not need to take any Covid tests before travelling to England or after arrival and they do not have to quarantine.

People who are not fully-vaccinated are required to take a Covid test in the two days before they travel to England.

They must also book and pay for a Covid test to be taken after arrival in England.

They are also required to complete a passenger locator form in the three days before arriving in the country.

The Foreign Office has now updated its official advice to state that 'if you began your journey in Ukraine, you do not need to: complete a passenger locator form' or 'take a COVID-19 test before travel to England or book a PCR test to take on arrival'.
Former education secretary Gavin Williamson was awarded a knighthood today, just months after being sacked for overseeing the Covid pandemic exams shambles.

Downing Street said on Thursday afternoon that the Queen has conferred the honour on the Tory MP, who has twice been sacked from the Government.

Mr Williamson, who ran Boris Johnson's Tory leadership campaign in 2019, was axed last September in a Cabinet reshuffle.

He had faced repeated criticism and calls to resign after overseeing months of Covid schools chaos and the exam result fiasco in 2020.

When his removal was confirmed, Labour's Angela Rayner described him as a 'prat'.

He had previously been sacked as defence secretary by Theresa May after being blamed for leaks of top secret information on China from national security briefings.

While in that post he attracted ridicule for telling Russia to 'go away' and shut up' at the height of the Salisbury poisoning.

But No 10 this afternoon said: 'The Queen has been pleased to approve that the honour of Knighthood be conferred upon The Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP.'

Asked why the knighthood was being announced now and not part of an honours list, Downing Street said it was a political appointment by the Conservative Party. Before his sacking, he reportedly told allies 'knows where the bodies are'.

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'Gavin Williamson left children to go hungry, created two years of complete chaos over exams and failed to get laptops out to kids struggling to learn during lockdowns. His record is astonishing and disgraceful.

'Boris Johnson is proving again it's one rule for him and his mates and another for the rest of us.

'This shows utter contempt for the challenges children and education staff have faced during the pandemic.'

Downing Street said on Thursday afternoon that the Queen has conferred the honour on the Tory MP, who has twice been sacked from the Government.

He had faced repeated criticism and calls to resign after overseeing months of Covid schools chaos and the exam result fiasco in 2020.

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: 'The only award Gavin Williamson should be given is the one for worst education secretary in history'

Williamson's timeline of catastrophe in office 2016: As chief whip, Mr Williamson warned unruly MPs that he took a 'carrot and stick' approach to discipline in the Commons. He had a pet tarantula called Coronus and was once photographed with a whip on his desk

As chief whip, Mr Williamson warned unruly MPs that he took a 'carrot and stick' approach to discipline in the Commons. He had a pet tarantula called Coronus and was once photographed with a whip on his desk 2017: Appointed Defence Secretary

Appointed Defence Secretary 2018: Told Russia to 'go away' and shut up' at the height of the Salisbury poisoning in March. The comment came during a question and answer session following the expulsion of Russian intelligence staff from the UK following the nerve agent attack

Told Russia to 'go away' and shut up' at the height of the Salisbury poisoning in March. The comment came during a question and answer session following the expulsion of Russian intelligence staff from the UK following the nerve agent attack 2018: Risked a diplomatic row with France over the Syria conflict, by saying: 'What is the point in listening to French politicians?'

Risked a diplomatic row with France over the Syria conflict, by saying: 'What is the point in listening to French politicians?' 2018: Confessed he had cheated on his wife in 2004 by kissing a colleague while working as a manager of a fireplace company

Confessed he had cheated on his wife in 2004 by kissing a colleague while working as a manager of a fireplace company 2019: Sacked as Defence Secretary by Theresa May over the leak of sensitive information about phone giant Huawei from the National Security Council - although he has always denied involvement.

Sacked as Defence Secretary by Theresa May over the leak of sensitive information about phone giant Huawei from the National Security Council - although he has always denied involvement. 2019: Boris Johnson appoints Mr Williamson as Education Secretary

Boris Johnson appoints Mr Williamson as Education Secretary 2020: Closes all schools in March due to the Covid pandemic and cancels A-Level and GCSE exams, replacing exam marks with a formula which downgraded thousands of results. He faced calls to resign - and was likened to accident-prone British TV character Frank Spencer - after the Government was forced into a U-turn

Closes all schools in March due to the Covid pandemic and cancels A-Level and GCSE exams, replacing exam marks with a formula which downgraded thousands of results. He faced calls to resign - and was likened to accident-prone British TV character Frank Spencer - after the Government was forced into a U-turn 2021: Accused of ruining the credibility of this year's A-Levels after a soaring grade inflation

Accused of ruining the credibility of this year's A-Levels after a soaring grade inflation 2021: In an interview with the Evening Standard, Mr Williamson confused Premier League footballer and free school meals campaigner Marcus Rashford with England rugby international Maro Itoje. The then-Education Secretary said he had spoken to Rashford when he had in fact been talking to Itoje

In an interview with the Evening Standard, Mr Williamson confused Premier League footballer and free school meals campaigner Marcus Rashford with England rugby international Maro Itoje. The then-Education Secretary said he had spoken to Rashford when he had in fact been talking to Itoje 2021: Sacked as Education Secretary in Boris Johnson's reshuffle

Sacked as Education Secretary in Boris Johnson's reshuffle 2022: Knighted for political and public service Advertisement

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said: 'The only award Gavin Williamson should be given is the one for worst education secretary in history.

'He failed to get laptops to children who needed them, sleepwalked into the exam crisis and caused chaos for parents and teachers over getting children back to school.

'People across the country will be outraged at this reward for his abysmal failures.

'It is an insult to every child, parent and teacher who struggled through Covid against the odds. It shows this government only cares about those at the top.'

Mr Williamson was appointed Education Secretary after Boris Johnson's election as Prime Minister in July 2019.

The following year he came under repeated pressure to resign over the fiasco around grading of GCSE and A-level students amid cancelled exams.

He also he faced further ridicule after he said online he had met England footballer Marcus Rashford - who led a campaign for free school meals - when he had instead talked to England rugby player Maro Itoje.

After closing schools in March 2020 because of Covid, and then cancelling that year's GCSEs and A-Levels, he faced calls to resign - and was likened to accident-prone British TV character Frank Spencer - after the Government was forced into a U-turn following protests over the downgrading of thousands of results.

He also received criticism over the recovery plan to help pupils catch up and confusion around children returning to class amid Covid-19.

Before his tenure at the Department for Education, Mr Williamson became known for a tendency to put his foot in his mouth as defence secretary.

He was sacked from that job in May 2019 following an inquiry into the leak of information from a National Security Council meeting about Chinese telecoms firm Huawei's involvement in the UK's 5G mobile network.

Mr Williamson denied being the source of the leak.

He was also given the nickname 'Private Pike' by critics who compare him to the hapless young soldier in Dad's Army.

Former shadow schools minister Wes Streeting said Gavin Williamson's knighthood was a 'reward for failure'.

Mr Streeting, who is now Labour's shadow health secretary, said on Twitter that the decision was 'shameless'.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'School and college leaders will be surprised to learn that Gavin Williamson has been given a knighthood.

'The challenges of the pandemic and the implications for education would have been challenging for any education secretary, and this needs to be recognised.

'But the experience of schools and colleges of Mr Williamson during his tenure as education secretary was one of endless muddle, inevitable U-turns, and even threats of legal action to override local decisions.

'This was not all Mr Williamson's fault. The hand of Downing Street was detectable amidst the chaos too.

'However, many parents will share our surprise that his record in this role warrants the conferring of a knighthood.'
Windows 11 started rolling out last year. The Windows 11 upgrade has become more widely acceptable after it surpassed its beta testing last year.

The all new Windows 11 build 22567 will bring in a plethora of new upgraded improvements from Windows 11.These improvements will include a better animation compatibility for tablet users.

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22567

Windows 11 Insider Preview build 22567 is now rolling out. The 22567 build has numerous significant changes. It is reported by Windows Central that the changes implemented in this new build will pave the way for a better animation for tablet users.

The recent build will introduce a fluid user experience in animation to the tablet users.

Aside from animation improvements, Windows 11 will now make user experience even better by providing a more fluid interface.

Microsoft has invested significant resources over the last three weeks in improving the tablet user experience on Windows 11.

This is the first time since Windows 8 that Microsoft has given this much attention to the tablet experience, and it is a welcome change of direction.

Also included in the release is an update to the default application's user interface.

The new interface will be based on the WinUI design that will be used across the remainder of Windows 11.

Windows 11 Insider Preview build 22567 also has the ability for Windows Update to use renewable energy, an improvement to Microsoft 365 subscription management in Settings, phone linking during device setup (OOBE), and a new security feature called Smart App Control. In addition to that, the build also includes some helpful bug fixes.

Windows has redesigned the "Open with" dialog to make use of the Windows 11 design principles. The company also broadened the scope of the improvements to voice typing

Another major change Windows has brought in the recent build is its commitment to being more eco-friendly.

With that, Windows Update is now able to schedule updates to be installed at certain times of the day. This manner will allow the updates to have less of an impact on the environment.

Read Also: Google Turning On Search Tracking History: What Does It Mean for Workspace Users?

Windows 11 App Compatibility

Despite the promising changes, the company has received a lot of complaints from users with app compatibility.

Since the succesful release of Windows 11 in October 2021, the business has reported increased demand for the operating system, leading Microsoft to accelerate the pace of the upgrade rollout to meet the demand.

The beta testing of Windows was completed at the end of January. Following that, Windows 11 began its broad deployment phase, which is the final step of availability. The rollout of the update made it available to anybody who has an eligible device via Windows Update.

Microsoft stated that they are working towards the concern of their customers. The company also assured that the App Assure Support for Windows 365 of their system is ready to help consumers resolve issues.

Microsoft added that App Assure assistance can be used whether a customer is a small business or a large enterprise. The customer support will provide assistance with compatibility problems and help users switch to Windows 11.

Usually, these compatibility issues are experienced by customers when upgrading to Windows 11.

As reported by Bleeping Computer, Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer for Windows and Devices, stated that customers are upgrading to the most recent Windows version at a rate twice that of Windows 10 adoption. Aside from that, among all Windows versions, Windows 11 received the highest quality rating and product satisfaction from its users.

Related Article: Microsoft Woke Feature Launching For Appropriation, Inclusivity of Word Choices Like Whitewash, Blacklist and More!
Rising costs threaten future of Britain's fish and chip shops with a third expected to go out of business as they face record price rises for fish, batter, fat, wrapping paper and energy, industry leaders have said.

The National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) expects a third of fish and chip shops they represent to close over the next 12 months and fears the situation could look a lot worse in five years time.

Speaking to the MailOnline, president of the NFFF, Andrew Crook said the 'disaster' for the makers of the English takeaway staple might get much worse when sanctions start taking an effect in Russia.

He added this puts a 'devastating' effect on the industry where 60% of haddock and cod come from Russia.

An MP also called on the government to protect this 'great part of British life' in the face of 'record price rises for fish, batter, fat, wrapping paper and of course, energy'.

Rising costs threaten future of Britain's fish and chip shops with a third expected to go out of business as they face record price rises for fish, batter, fat, wrapping paper and energy, industry leaders have said

The National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) expects a third of fish and chip shops they represent to close over the next 12 months and fears the situation could look a lot worse in five years time

Speaking earlier to PA news agency Mr Crook, added: 'What has happened in recent months post-pandemic is that everybody else is getting squeezed.

'So all of a sudden, everybody else is feeling the pinch. And what's worse is that we're expecting a third of fish and chip shops to go out of business.'

He also told the MailOnline he hopes the government will lower VAT at the next budget so fish and chip shops will not face such a 'big drain' on their costs.

And fears the next five years will see worse times for fish and chip makers.

Mr Crook also said shops will be in 'real dire straits' if Russia places an embargo on its fish exports.

He said: 'White fish comes from Russia, because they are a very big fishing nation in the Barents Sea.

'So if we lose that, the price of fish will go significantly higher and this is on top of the current record prices we are seeing. If that happens, we are in real dire straits.'

MP Andrew Bridgen asked the Government to lay out what action it is going to take to 'protect the future of our fish and chip shops', which are a 'great part of British life'. Commons leader Mark Spencer jokingly told MPs 'I declare an interest in fish and chips', before adding: 'Takeaways are a huge part of the night-time economy'

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen asked the Government to lay out what action it is going to take to 'protect the future of our fish and chip shops', which are a 'great part of British life'.

The MP for North West Leicestershire said in parliament the owner of an 'award-winning' fish and chip shop in his constituency told him 'the business outlook has never been more volatile, with record price rises for fish, batter, fat, wrapping paper and of course, energy'.

Mr Bridgen added: 'Many fish and chip shops are worried about whether they are actually going to survive, so, could we have a statement from the Government about what action the Government is going to take to ensure they protect the future of our fish and chip shops, a great part of British life?'

Commons Leader Mark Spencer jokingly told MPs 'I declare an interest in fish and chips', before adding: 'Takeaways are a huge part of the night-time economy.

'Those businesses are actually a service they provide to our community and they should be supported.

'I wish not only his fish and chip shop well, but all fish and chip shops all around the country.'
Co-op Food has removed Russian-made vodka from sale and Marks & Spencer has halted shipments to its Russian stores as the commercial backlash against Vladimir Putin's shocking invasion of Ukraine continues.

Russian Standard vodka has been taken off sale 'with immediate effect' as the brand is 'overtly marketed as being Russian' and is produced in the country, a spokesman for Co-op said today.

He said: 'In response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and as a sign of solidarity with the people of Ukraine, we have taken the decision to remove from sale Russian-made vodka.

Meanwhile, Marks & Spencer said it has stopped sending to stores, which are operated by Turkish franchise partners, 'given the unfolding humanitarian crisis following the invasion of Ukraine'.

M&S has more than 40 franchise-run stores in Russia, with the majority of these based in Moscow.

Russian Standard vodka has been taken off sale 'with immediate effect' as the brand is 'overtly marketed as being Russian' and is produced in the country, a spokesman for Co-op said today

Meanwhile, Marks & Spencer said it has stopped sending to stores, which are operated by Turkish franchise partners, 'given the unfolding humanitarian crisis following the invasion of Ukraine'. Pictured: A Marks & Spencer store seen in Moscow

It is the latest brand to seek to sever ties with Russia following the invasion, with the likes of Boohoo, Ikea and H&M all announcing plans to stop Russian sales in recent days, while Co-op's decision follows a host of UK bars and hospitality firms stopping the sale of Russian vodka due to the invasion.

'Russian Standard has been taken off sale with immediate effect because it is overtly marketed as being Russian and produced there,' the Co-Op spokesman said.

'It will not be stocked for the foreseeable future. 'A Polish distilled alternative will be sold in our stores in its place. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, and those in Russia who oppose this invasion.'



He added: 'Our members and customers will also be able to support the humanitarian response to help those displaced by the conflict by donating at our stores to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal.

'The appeal will launch across our 2,600 stores today and we'll be match funding our customers donations up to 100,000.'

M&S said: 'We are doing everything we can to support the people of Ukraine, and in response to the growing refugee crisis we are building on our existing support for Unicef UK's Ukraine appeal with a 1.5 million package to support the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and Unicef to help children and families in need.'

British and international companies have continued to remove their products from Russia as the world protests the country's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, with the country already losing 100 billion of trade.

Shoppers swarmed to stores to pick up last-minute bargains in Moscow (pictured) and St Petersburg as well as at Siberian outlets in Omsk and Novosibirsk, all of which closed their doors today for the foreseeable future along with several other locations

IKEA stores in Russia are experiencing huge queues as people rush to buy furniture and home essentials after the Swedish homewares giant after it announced a suspension of operations amid the invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, fashion brands BooHoo, H&M and Burberry, and music streaming site Spotify are among some of the other big name brands to reduce their ties with the nation.

Jaguar Land Rover, HSBC, BP and Shell have all already announced they are leaving Russia, while Mastercard and Visa have even blocked Russian institutions from using its payment systems.

No part of life has been left untouched, with Disney joining other film companies in pausing the release of its films in the country, meaning the upcoming Pixar film Lightyear might not be shown on big screens.

In total more than 100 billion of trade ties have already been severed with the increasingly isolated nation, with no sign the ever-largening embargo is set to lose momentum.

Nightcap Group and Arc Inspirations are among bar operators to remove vodka and other alcohol products from Russia from their venues in a move of solidarity with people in Ukraine.

Sarah Willingham, former Dragon's Den entrepreneur and founder of Nightcap, described the move as a 'little thing' the business could do in response to the conflict.

London-listed Nightcap runs 27 sites across its London Cocktail Club, Barrio Bars and Adventure Bar Group businesses.

Finland and Sweden banned liquor sourced from Russia on Monday, followed by Norway on Tuesday.

Supermarket chains including Top! and Elvi in Latvia, Coop and Rimi in Estonia and Norfa and Maxima in Lithuania also banned vodka among all goods originating from Russia.

Meanwhile, Leeds-based bar owner Arc Inspirations also confirmed it would stop serving Russian vodka.

The bar business said on Twitter: 'To show our support to the people of Ukraine we will no longer be pouring any Russian vodka in any of our bars standwithukraine.'

Elsewhere, the founder of Bundobust, which runs hospitality venues in Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds, also called on the sector to find alternatives for Russian products.
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The only police officer to face charges over the killing of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky in March 2020 was acquitted on Thursday, after a dramatic trial which saw Taylor's mother storm out of the court when the former officer broke down in tears on the stand.

Brett Hankison, 45, was on Thursday afternoon found not guilty of three counts of wanton endangerment for firing shots that ripped into a neighboring apartment.

The killing of Taylor loomed over the trial, though prosecutors insisted in opening statements that the case wasn't about her death or the police decisions that led to the March 13, 2020, raid.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron failed to charge Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove with a crime last year, saying that both cops were justified in returning fire against Walker.

Both Cosgrove and Hankison were fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department for their actions during the raid, along with Detective Joshua Jaynes - who obtained the controversial no-knock search warrant. Mattingly resigned from the force.

On Thursday night, the verdict, so devastating for the Taylor family, who dearly clung to this one chance for justice, failed to spark widespread anger - the news from Ukraine continuing to dominate discussion on news channels and online.

The panel of eight men and four women on the jury heard five days of witness testimony, and delivered its verdict about three hours after it took the case following closing arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys.

'Justice was done. The verdict was proper and we're thrilled,' said defense attorney Stew Mathews, speaking outside the courthouse.

'He was doing his job as a police officer.'

Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, accompanied by and a group of friends and family, left the courthouse without commenting after the verdict.

Hankison was tried for firing shots during the raid that went through a sliding-glass side door and a window of Taylor's apartment, and into a unit next door, where a couple lived with their five-year-old son.

The raid left Taylor, 26, dead.

The defense never contested the ballistics evidence presented to the court, but said he fired 10 bullets because he thought his fellow officers were 'being executed.'

Had Hankison been found guilty, he faced one to five years in prison for each charge.

Brett Hankinson, 45, is seen on Wednesday, questioned by his defense attorney. On Thursday the jury in Louisville found him not guilty of wanton endangerment for shooting through the walls

A jury has found ex-Louisville police officer Brett Hankison not guilty on all three counts of felony wanton endangerment in the botched raid that left Breonna Taylor dead. He is pictured speaking his attorney Thursday following his acquittal

Hankison, center, is pictured in court Thursday as he awaits the juries verdict in his wanton endangerment trial. The panel of eight men and four women delivered its verdict about three hours after it took the case following closing arguments

Hankison was tried for firing shots during the raid that went through a sliding-glass side door and a window of Breonna Taylor's (pictured) apartment and into a unit next door where a couple and small child lived

'Justice was done. The verdict was proper and we're thrilled,' defense attorney Stew Mathews told reporters at the courthouse Thursday. 'He was doing his job as a police officer'

In the early hours of March 13, 2020, Louisville police officers entered apartment 4 of 3003 Springfield Drive, firing 32 times. Breonna Taylor was shot six times, but only one was determined to be fatal

Hankison did not appear outside the courtroom after the verdict was read, although the defense noted they were pleased with the outcome.

When asked what might have swayed the jury, Mathews replied: I think it was absolutely the fact that he was doing his job as a police officer.

'The jury felt like you go out and perform your duty and your brother officer gets shot, you got a right to defend yourself. Simple as that.'

Barbara Maines Whaley, the assistant Kentucky Attorney General, told reporters at the courthouse she respected the jury's verdict but had no further comment.

Mathews did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Nor did attorneys for Taylor's family or her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was with her during the raid.

The Taylor family leave the court in protest as Hankinson breaks down in tears on the stand on Wednesday

Hankison is pictured in a file photo taken on the day of the shooting

Breonna Taylor's mother stormed out of the court room on Wednesday as Hankison sobbed on the stand while giving evidence.

He outlined the events of the botched no-knock warrant raid, saying officers were told Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was alone in the apartment at the time of the raid. They were trying to arrest him for a drug crime.

Hankison added that he was shocked to learn the 26-year-old woman was in the apartment after the gunfire had broken out.

'He was supposed to be alone. There wasn't supposed to be a girl inside,' Hankison said as he started to cry.

Addressing Palmer and Taylor's other relatives, a tearful Hankinson said: 'Ms. Taylor's family, she didn't need to die that night.'

The prosecution cut him off. Palmer then stormed out of the courtroom.

Hankinson breaks down in tears on the stand multiple times

Hankison also broke down in tears as he testified that he believed Walker was armed with an AR-15 rifle when he fired at police officers, thinking they were introducers.

Walker was not armed with a rifle but instead fired at officers with a 9mm handgun.

Hankison said that because of the poor visibility, Walker's pose, and the bright flash of the gun, he believed the officers were being shot at with a rifle.

'It appeared to me like they're being executed with this rifle,' Hankison said, as he started crying once more, recalling the moment Walker shot Sgt. Jon Mattingly in the leg.

When asked how he responded, Hankison said he ran to the side of the house and returned fire through sliding glass doors.

'I felt helpless that I had a handgun fighting against a rifle,' he said.

He said that due to the darkness and the fact that the sliding glass doors had blinders on them, he fired his weapon at where he believed Walker was in order to assist his fellow officers.

He said the chaotic shootout, where six stray bullets fired by Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove struck and killed Taylor, lasted between five to ten seconds.

Hankison added that the incident was the first time he ever fired his weapon while in the line of duty since joining the police department in 2003.

Although the former officer fired 10 shots near the side door of the Louisville apartment complex, prosecutors said the bullets also endangered Taylor's neighbors, including a couple and their unborn child.

Hankison (pictured during his trial Wednesday) called the shooting of Breonna Taylor a 'tragedy' that 'didn't have to happen' as he took the stand

Hankison (pictured Wednesday) testified that he believed Breonna Taylor's boyfriend was armed with a rifle when he fired at police during the chaotic raid at Taylor's apartment on March 13, 2020

He started to break down in the courtroom as he recalled the hectic shooting that killed Breonna and left a fellow officer injured

Hankison said the incident was the first time he ever fired his weapon while in the line of duty

But in closing arguments on Thursday, prosecutors cast doubt on what Hankison said he saw, challenging whether he could have looked through Taylor's front door when police broke it open with a battering ram.

Hankison breaks down during testimony Former Louisville cop Brett Hankison broke down during his testimony Wednesday, telling Breonna Taylor's family was shocked to learn the 26-year-old woman was in the apartment after the gunfire had broken out. 'He was supposed to be alone. There wasn't supposed to be a girl inside,' Hankison said as he started to cry. 'Ms. Taylor's family, she didn't need to die that night' he said, addressing her mother, Tamika Palmer, who was in court, before the prosecution cut him off. He also shared how he believed Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was armed with an AR-15. He was actually armed with a 9mm handgun. Hankison said that because of the poor visibility, Walker's pose and the bright flash of the gun, he believed the officers were being shot at with an rifle. 'It appeared to me like they're being executed with this rifle,' Hankison said as he started crying recalling the moment Walker shot Sgt. Jon Mattingly in the leg. When asked how he responded, Hankison said he ran to the side of the house and returned fire through sliding glass doors. 'I felt helpless that I had a handgun fighting against a rifle.' Advertisement

'He was never in the doorway,' Assistant Kentucky Attorney General Barbara Maines Whaley told the jury.

Referring to Taylor she added: 'His wanton conduct could have multiplied her death by three, easily.'

Whaley also reminded the jury that none of the other officers who testified recalled Hankison being in the doorway before the gunfire began.

All the shells from his weapon were found in the parking lot, among a row of cars.

She said while other officers were in the line of fire of a single shot fired by Taylor's boyfriend, Hankison was 'over here, shooting wildly through sliding-glass doors covered with vertical blinds and drapes.'

Defense attorney Stewart Mathews told the jury in his closing argument on Thursday that Hankison thought he was doing the right thing, and was not a criminal who belongs in prison.

'He did what he thought he had to do in that instant. This all happened in such a short span,' Mathews said.

During his testimony, the former narcotics detective admitted to firing through Taylor's patio doors and bedroom window, but said he did so to save his fellow officers.

Asked if he did anything wrong that night, he said 'absolutely not.'

Hankison also explained that officers are trained to get out of tight spots during shootings, known as a 'fatal funnel,' in order to secure their safety and put them in a better position to remove a threat.

He denied the possibility that he could have shot fellow officers when he was firing at the location of the gunfire he saw inside the apartment, adding that as the situation calmed, Walker stepped out of the apartment with his hands up.

Hankison instructed him to come closer as he questioned the man about the police shooting.

Hankison claimed Walker denied firing at police and instead blamed Taylor, saying she was the one to fire at the officers.

'That kind of shook me,' Hankison said, as he explained that the raid was supposed to take place when Walker was alone, to arrest him on drug trafficking charges.

He also addressed Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer (pictured attending the trial on Tuesday), saying: 'Ms. Taylor's family, she didn't need to die that night'

Hankison (pictured Wednesday) explained that he was at the doorway (beneath the stairs) when the raid began. He quickly ran to the side by the sliding glass doors as the shootout began and he fired at where he believed the gunman was

Defense argued Hankison followed police training during raid that took Breonna Taylor's life Defense attorney Stewart Mathews argued Brett Hankison's shooting was justified during the March 2020 raid that ended in Breonna Taylor's death. Once the gunfire began, Hankison 'was attempting to defend and save the lives of his fellow officers who he thought were still caught in that fatal funnel inside that doorway,' Mathews told the courtroom last week, recalling the chaotic scene lasting just 10 to 15 seconds from when Taylor's door was breached to when the shooting stopped. The lawyer claimed Hankison was doing what 'he was taught to do - he was taught to shoot until the threat is stopped.' Hankison echoed his counsel's claim during his own testimony. The former officer explained that officers are trained to get out tight spots during shootings, known as a 'fatal funnel,' in order to secure their safety and put them in a better position to remove a threat. When asked by the prosecution if he did anything wrong that night, Hankison said 'absolutely not.' Advertisement

Hankison, who was fired by Louisville Metro Police for shooting blindly during the raid, added that the incident was the first time he ever fired his weapon while in the line of duty.

He joined the police department in 2003.

A 20-year veteran K-9 officer assigned to handle a drug-sniffing dog during the raid, Hankison said he was positioned behind an officer with a battering ram, and could see the shadowy silhouette of a person 'in a shooting stance' with what looked like an AR-15 rifle as Taylor's door swung open.

No long gun was found - only the handgun of Walker, who told Louisville Police investigators he thought intruders were breaking in.

Investigators determined Walker fired the shot that passed through the leg of Sgt. John Mattingly, who along with officer Myles Cosgrove, returned fire.

A total of 32 rounds were fired by police. Walker wasn't hit.

Whaley said other officers next to Cosgrove and Mattingly chose not to fire, and there was no evidence of any shots from a long rifle at the scene.

'Nobody got shot with an AR because there never was one,' she said.

Breonna Taylor's terrified neighbor described how he and his pregnant girlfriend narrowly escaped bullets that came through the drywall of his apartment

Last week, on the trial's opening day, the first witness, Cody Etherton, described how he and his expectant girlfriend Chelsey Napper were jolted awake that night by the sound of Taylor's door being breached.

Thinking someone was breaking down his door, Etherton said he jumped out of bed to investigate, and barely dodged bullets that penetrated a wall they shared with Taylor's apartment.

'I pretty much knew it was gunfire going through the wall. I do remodeling for a living, so when drywall started hitting my face, I pretty much knew. I hit the floor and went back into the bedroom,' he said.

'I don't even remember how many shots I heard because it was so chaotic.'

Etheron added: 'Another one or two inches and I woulda gotten shot. I would have never gotten to meet my son.'

He said he went outside after the shooting stopped, looked through Taylor's open door and heard a man saying 'breathe, baby, breathe.'

Police then ordered him back into his apartment, but he said he kept watching through his peephole and could see a black man being arrested.

Later, Etherton said he and his girlfriend looked through Taylor's door, and saw a body covered in a white sheet.

Taylor's neighbor Cody Etherton described in a court in Louisville last week told the court how he barely dodged bullets during the deadly shootout.

Chelsey Napper, the next door neighbor of Breonna Taylor, holds up an exhibit during questioning from the prosecution Tuesday

Chelsey Napper, who was pregnant at the time, called 911 twice after bullets pierced a wall she shared with Taylor and shattered her apartment's glass patio door.

'It was so scary and crazy I didn't know what was going on,' Napper testified on Tuesday. She lived in the apartment with her boyfriend and her 5-year-old son.

It 'sounded like somebody set off a bomb or something' outside their apartment, she testified.

Napper said she and Etherton were stuck for hours in the apartment and at one point police aimed guns at Etherton when he looked out the shattered glass door.

She said she learned days later that it was the police who shot into their apartment and a battering ram knocking down Taylor's door that had startled her.

In giving his evidence on Wednesday, Hankison apologized to the couple.

'I saw Ms Napper and Mr Etherton up here for the first time, and I felt sincere empathy for them,' he said.

'If my daughter was shot at and bullets came into our house, that would be very concerning, and I apologize for that.'

Hankison testified during his trial that officers were told Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was alone in the apartment at the time of the raid as they were trying to bust him for a drug crime. Walker and Taylor are pictured together

A neighbor described how Taylor's boyfriend tried to perform CPR on her after she was shot. The 26-year-old victim, who was a Louisville emergency medical technician, could not be saved

Taylor's death was deliberately not the focus of the trial.

Jurors were shown a single image of her body, barely discernible at the end of the hallway.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who had been settling down for bed when officers broke through her door, was shot multiple times and died at the scene.

Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron's prosecutors asked a grand jury to indict Hankison on charges of endangering Taylor's neighbors, but declined to seek charges against any officers involved in Taylor's death.

Protesters, who had walked the streets for months calling for justice, were outraged.

Taylor's name, along with George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery - black men who died in encounters with police and white pursuers - became rallying cries during racial justice protests seen around the world in 2020.

The jury of 10 men and five women was selected after several days of questioning from a pool expanded to about 250 people.

Before deliberations, the jury was reduced to eight men and four women after three alternates were dismissed.

The judge declined to release details about their race or ethnicity.

The city of Louisville, the largest in Kentucky, settled a wrongful death suit with Taylor's family for $12million in September 2020.

How the botched raid unfolded

Bodycam footage released in October 2020 by Louisville police shows the moment the officers told SWAT team officers they believed Taylor was dead - but said they weren't 'rushing in to check', moments before they cleared her apartment as she lay motionless on the floor.

The videos were included in a trove of investigative documents released by the police department following the controversial grand jury ruling that saw no officers directly charged with Taylor's death.

The footage shows the moment officers find Taylor without a pulse in the hallway after she was killed in a hail of bullets on March 13, when her boyfriend Kenneth Walker and cops exchanged fire in a drug raid gone wrong.

As the SWAT team prepares to enter the apartment, an officer is heard briefing the squad on the incident and says Taylor was allegedly the one shooting and was 'down' inside.

At the time, Walker, who had actually fired at police first, was already in police custody meaning Taylor's bullet-riddled body was inside the apartment alone.

'He [Walker] said she's down in there. He said she's dead, she's down - but we weren't rushing in there to check,' the cop tells Sergeant Brandon Hogan.

The footage shows the moment officers find Taylor pulseless in the hallway after she was killed in a hail of bullets on March 13, when her boyfriend Kenneth Walker and cops exchanged fire in a drug raid gone wrong

One of the officers is heard asking, 'Ma'am, can you hear us?' to her lifeless body. The team then hovers over Taylor as one of the cops checks her pulse

Members of the team were seen inspecting the rooms of the apartment as a group of cops examined Taylor's lifeless body

'We just literally hit the door and there was shooting. We announced, we waited,' he adds.

The team of officers then make their way inside and survey all the areas of the apartment to ensure it is secure.

The police are seen inspecting the rooms of the home for several minutes while Taylor's body lies on the floor in the hallway, untouched.

As the officers examine her bedroom, one of the cops tells the team: 'We still gotta check the bed.'

'Check her. We've gotta check her, make sure she's good,' Sergeant Hogan responds, referring to Taylor.

He is then heard asking, 'Ma'am, can you hear us?' to her lifeless body. The team then hovers over Taylor as one of the cops checks her pulse.

The officers eventually determine she's 'done' and prepare to head out.

'Let's go ahead and move out. Alright, she's done. We'll keep one person here on her. She's done,' he says.

As the SWAT team prepares to enter the apartment, an officer is heard briefing the squad on the incident and says Taylor was allegedly the one shooting and was 'down' inside

At the time, Walker, who had actually fired at police first, was already in police custody meaning Taylor's bullet-riddled body was inside the apartment (pictured) alone

In an interview with the police department's Public Integrity Unit months after the shooting, a member of the SWAT team told investigators they refrained from touching Taylor's body and let the medical unit take care of her.

'We just kind of pulled security on her meaning we're just watching her and we know that we have EMS right outside the scene. So rather than us mess with her, we're not medical professionals in anyway, we called for our temps to come up and then I believe he kind of lifted her up and he checked her pulse and looked to see where her injuries were,' Sergeant Joel Casse said.

'And I do remember him saying she had multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. No sign of a pulse and he said: "Yeah, you know, she's - she's gone".'

Breonna Taylor's boyfriend told police they were 'scared to the death' when they heard banging on the door because they thought it was her drug-dealing ex

Walker said that they only heard the knocking, and did not hear police identify themselves.

Walker said the couple was 'scared to death' because they feared it was her drug-dealing ex-boyfriend.

He opened fire down a hallway as the door was breached, striking one officer in the leg, and cops returned fire, killing Taylor.

The raid unfolded as part of a series of simultaneous raids on multiple locations associated with Taylor's ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover, a suspected drug trafficker.

This Glock 9mm was recovered under the bed inside the apartment, where Walker said that he kicked it after opening fire on the search warrant team

Cops believed Taylor's home was the 'money house' where Glover 'housed the dope', but no significant amounts of drugs or money were found there - and investigators later raised questions about the evidence used to tie Glover to Taylor's home.

Taylor's name came up in the drug case at least in part because she had posted bail a few times from 2017 to January 2020 for Glover and another defendant, Darreal Forest, in amounts that went as high as $5,000.

Taylor's apartment was considered a 'soft target' by police conducting the raid, and they believed she was home alone.

Walker, a licensed gun owner, was not expected to be there and his relationship with Taylor appears to have been unknown to police.

The documents reveal that the cops executing the raid decided to knock and announce themselves, despite having a 'no-knock' warrant, because they considered the location to be low-risk.

Walker, believing it was an intruder, shot at the officers, striking Sergeant Jon Mattingly in the leg, prompting them to return fire and kill Taylor in a hail of bullets.

He was charged with attempted murder, however those charges were later dropped.

Walker has maintained that the officers did not identify themselves as police when they arrived at the apartment.

During his interview with investigators from the Public Integrity Unit, he said the couple were awoken after they heard a 'loud thud.'

He did not mention Glover by name but said he thought it may have been a 'guy' Taylor was on and off with.

'It scared her [Breonna] to death. Me too, like who is that. I was honestly thinkin' - because we been on and off together for like, seven years, or whatever... there was a guy that she was messin' with or whatever throughout that time,' Walker told investigators.

'And he popped over there once before while I was there like a couple months ago. So that's what I thought was goin' on.'

The report notes that Walker's reference to the 'guy' showing up at the apartment months prior corresponds to the same time frame when Glover was spotted at Taylor's home.

He also told investigators he was a licensed carrier but had never fired his gun 'outside of a range'.

After hearing the 'loud boom at the door', Walker said he asked who was there and did not get a response.

He said Breonna then tried asking by screaming, 'who is it?' "Loud at the top of her lungs"', but they still did not get an answer.

Walker then described walking over to the breached door and firing one gun shot.

Police photos and video reveal Taylor's bullet-riddled apartment in the aftermath of the fatal raid

Photos and videos released by police show the aftermath of the raid that left Taylor dead.

Investigators say that police fired 32 rounds during the raid, based on a review of the bullets remaining in the magazines of the four officers who fired.

Shortly before she was shot, Taylor was preparing to settle in for the night and head to bed. Her bedroom is pictured in this file handout

Photos also show a shattered sliding door, displaying the evidence of the alleged wild shots fired through that door by Detective Brett Hankinson

Gouge marks from bullets are seen in Taylor's home after cops fired 32 rounds

An evidence marking shows where a bullet penetrated a pantry inside the apartment

A discarded battering ram is seen outside of Taylor's apartment following the March 13, 2020 raid

Walker claimed he only fired once as a 'warning shot' towards the ground, but this could not be confirmed by a review of his Glock 9mm's magazine, which only had a few rounds remaining.

He told investigators that he had previously used the gun at a firing range and left the magazine partially empty.

Photos from the scene show the bullet-riddled aftermath inside the apartment, with bullet holes in the walls and shell casings strewn inside and outside the front door.

Photos also show a shattered sliding door, displaying the evidence of the alleged wild shots fired through that door by Hankinson.

A termination memo accused Hankinson of 'blindly firing' 10 rounds through the sliding glass door without being able to see who was on the other side.

Three of those rounds went though the rear wall of Taylor's apartment into the neighboring unit, which was occupied, resulting in the wanton endangerment charges against Hankinson.

As Brett Hankison is cleared of endangerment, questions arise why officer who did NOT shoot Breonna Taylor was the only one to go to trial

The only police officer to face charges for the disastrous and ill-planned raid that killed Breonna Taylor in her own home, in her nightclothes, was cleared by a jury on Thursday - leaving the Taylor family still searching for answers.

Brett Hankison, 45, was found not guilty of three counts of wanton endangerment for firing the gunshots that ripped into a neighboring apartment.

He was not charged in connection with Taylor's death, and the circumstances leading up to her killing played little part in Hankison's trial.

And the fact that he was the only office among the three who opened fire that night led to questions over whether he was being scapegoated for the chaos.

He was also the only one of the three who did not fire bullets that killed Taylor, meaning he - unlike the others - was never at risk of facing murder charges.

Hankison, a detective who spent 20 years with the Louisville police, was fired in June 2020 after an internal investigation found his actions created 'substantial danger of death and serious injury' to Taylor and those in her apartment complex.

On the night of March 13, 2020, he was assisting two other officers as a K9 handler.

Ahead of him were Sgt. John Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove.

Mattingly was shot in the leg by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when the door was broken down.

He, Cosgrove and Hankison all returned fire.

A total of 32 rounds were fired by police, with six of the shots fired by Mattingly and Cosgrove striking Taylor and killing her.

Along with Hankison, Det. Joshua Jaynes (left) and officer Myles Cosgrove (right) were fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department

Walker was left uninjured.

Last year, the attorney general of Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, failed to charge Mattingly and Cosgrove.

In a declaration that sparked widespread anger, he said that both officers were justified in returning fire against Walker.

Both Cosgrove and Hankison were fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department for their actions during the raid, along with Detective Joshua Jaynes - who obtained the controversial no-knock search warrant.

Mattingly resigned from the force.

After Cameron's decision was announced, it emerged that the grand jury deciding whether to charge the officers was never allowed to charge them with murder.

An anonymous juror for the first case against the Hankison, Cosgrove and Mattingly in September 2020 said the jury was never given the option to charge the officers of murder and their decision was misrepresented by Cameron, The New York Times reported.

Hankison was charged with wanton endangerment and booked at the Shelby County Detention Center on September 23, 2020

Two other anonymous jurors echoed the complaint and said that murder charges against the three officer were never on the table.

'After much reflection, Anonymous Grand Juror #3 has joined Anonymous Grand Jurors #1 and #2 in promoting truth and transparency regarding the Breonna Taylor case,' said the law firm representing all three jurors, the Glogower Law Office.

They said that the third juror agreed with her colleagues, and 'firmly supports the fact that no additional charges were allowed'.

The grand jury ended up only indicted Hankison, and only for the lesser charge of wanton endangerment - leading to protests across the country.

Hankison was terminated from the Louisville Metro Police Department in June for violating the department's policies by 'blindly' shooting into the apartment through obstructed sliding glass doors.

In the termination letter, interim Louisville Metro Chief of Police Robert Schroeder said Hankison showed 'extreme indifference to the value of human life.'

Mattingly, who was shot in the leg during the incident, resigned. Both he and Cosgrove never faced charges for their role in the botched raid that led to Breonna Taylor's death

Hankison also faced uncomfortable questions after the shooting about his life away from the force.

The former police officer occasionally worked off-duty at bars in St. Matthews, including Tin Roof and Sullivan's Tap House.

In the summer of 2020, as protests grew, two women said on social media that Hankison had sexually assaulted them - using his patrol car to pick them up.

One of those women, Margo Borders, filed the lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

'He drove me home in uniform, in his marked car, invited himself into my apartment and sexually assaulted me while I was unconscious,' Borders posted June 4, 2020.

She alleges that Hankison 'willfully, intentionally, painfully and violently sexually assaulted' her while she was passed out drunk in April 2018.

'Margo was physically injured, mentally horrified and remained in extreme emotional duress over both the assault and the feeling that any efforts made to hold Officer Hankison accountable for his actions would backfire,' wrote Sam Aguiar, Borders' attorney, in the complaint.

Aguiar also represented Taylor's family in their lawsuit against the city, which settled for a record $12 million.

On Instagram, a second woman, Emily Terry, recounted walking home from a bar in early fall while intoxicated, and a police patrol car pulling up beside her.

'I thought to myself, 'Wow. That is so nice of him,'' Terry wrote.

'And willingly got in. He began making sexual advances towards me; rubbing my thigh, kissing my forehead, and calling me 'baby.'

'Mortified, I did not move. I continued to talk about my grad school experiences and ignored him.

'As soon as he pulled up to my apartment building, I got out of the car and ran to the back.'

Terry wrote that her friend reported the incident the next day, 'and of course nothing came from it.'

Another man claimed that Hankison, in a personal vendetta, planted drugs on him.
A bleach-blond homeless man arrested on suspicion of racist attacks on seven Asian women is an Army vet whose mom has a restraining order against him, and who allegedly hurled n-word slurs at NYPD cops after his apprehension.

Steven Zajonc, 28, was apprehended for the February 27 attacks on Wednesday, after barricading himself inside a bathroom at the New York Public Library and causing a standoff with the police.

DailyMail.com can now reveal that Zajonc, who has ties to both Sarasota in Florida and Staten Island, served in the US Army as a private between February 2015 and March 2016.

Social media posts reveal he was stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas, which is home to the 1st Infantry Decision. A US Army spokesman told DailyMail.com that Zajonc was never deployed. It is unclear why he left the armed forces.

Meanwhile, Zajonc is also believed to have continued his alleged racist behavior after his arrest. Law enforcement sources told DailyMail.com that he screamed the n-word at black NYPD officers after his detention. He also has a prior arrest for graffiti in Staten Island, although it is unclear when that incident took place, and what the tagging involved.

Cops say they remain unclear about why Zajonc - whose most recent address was listed as a homeless shelter in Midtown Manhattan - specifically targeted Asian women, beyond the broad suspected racist motive they've already shared.

Zajonc now faces charges of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment.

He is accused of targeting seven women on February 27 between 6.30pm and 8.30pm, from Madison Avenue and East 30th Street to Broadway and East Eighth Street.

A photo posted in 2015 shows Steven Zajonc, a suspect in a spate of anti-Asian attacks in Manhattan, in his US Army uniform. The 28-year-old is now homeless and faces hate crime charges

Zajonc is pictured on his Instagram pages, before he bleached his hair

While Zajonc does not appear to have a criminal history in New York, court records in Florida reveal that in October 2020, his mother, Denise Zajonc, sought an injunction for protection against him, citing domestic violence.

According to the court docket, Zajonc was not served with the injunction. The documents related to this case, which has been dormant since October 2021, are not publicly available online because they have a 'protected' status.

Older photos posted on Zajonc's Instagram page, and his sister and mother's Facebook accounts showed the homeless suspect with dark hair. At the time of his arrest on Wednesday, he was seen sporting platinum-blond locks and bleached eyebrows.

His alleged attacks come after a spate of high-profile attacks on Asian-Americans in recent weeks - two of them deadly. Last week, Asian grandmother GuiYing Ma, 61, died after fighting for three months to recover from brain damage after being smashed in the face with a rock during a New York City street attack.

Steven Zajonc, 28, was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment

He is accused of targeting seven women between 6.30pm and 8.30pm from Madison Avenue and East 30th Street to Broadway and East Eighth Street

Zajonc ignored reporters' questions as he was bundled into a waiting cop car

Steven Zajonc, 28, was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, aggravated harassment and harassment

This map shows the times and locations of the attacks, from Midtown Manhattan to Nolita and Greenwich Village, on Sunday

Ma, who immigrated four years ago from Liaoning, China, was sweeping her front sidewalk on November 26, 2021 in Jackson Heights, Queens when Elisaul Perez, 32, homeless man who was sleeping on the street attacked her, according to her family.

The first victim of the Sunday attacks, a 57-year-old Asian woman, was hit in the face by a man near Madison Avenue and East 30th Street.

She went to a nearby hospital to have treatment for a cut on her lip and facial swelling.

Just 10 minutes later police were called about another attack near Fifth Avenue and East 30th Street where a 25-year-old Asian woman was punched in the face by a man who ran away.

A $3,500 reward was being offered for information leading to the racist attacker's capture

And only five minutes after that police were called again after a man punched a 21-year-old Asian woman in the face near Park Avenue South and East 23rd Street.

She was rushed to hospital with facial cuts and a swollen mouth.

Just before 7pm a fourth Asian woman, 25, was punched in the face in Union Square near Irving Place and East 17th Street. She was also left with a cut on her face and swollen lip but didn't need hospital treatment.

At 7.15pm a 19-year-old Asian woman was elbowed in the face in the same area by a man who ran off.

The sixth attack was against a 25-year-old Asian woman who was elbowed in the face near East Houston and Mott Street and just one hour later a 20-year-old Asian woman was shoved to the ground in the same area.

Asian Americans have experienced a 343 percent increase in hate crimes in 2021 with 133 attacks. Hispanics are also seeing a rise in attacks with eight attacks happening in 2021, compared to one in 2020

Only 219 people were arrested for hate crimes last year, though there were 524 such complaints. In 2020, there were 265 complaints and 93 arrests

Zajonc is believed to be originally from Florida but currently homeless in New York City.

One East Side resident told CBS: 'I try not to let it totally change my life but at the same time I've noticed there's an uptick in that stuff so I'm a little bit more cautious.'

The latest spate of attacks adds to the increasing number of assaults Asians Americans have suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The NYPD has created an Asian Hate Crime Task Force in response to the increase in attacks and the department recorded 524 hate crime incidents in the city last year - almost double the amount in 2020 and the highest it's been in five years.

Some 131 'anti-Asian' incidents were recorded in 2021 - a 385 per cent increase from the 27 reported in 2020.

Adams reassigned Inspector Jessica Corey, who led the Hate Crime Task Force, last month. His office has not clarified where she was placed or who would replace her

Sunday's crime spree came just two weeks after Christina Yuna Lee, a 35-year-old Korean-American, was followed by a homeless criminal to her apartment on the Lower East Side and stabbed to death in the bathtub.

In January, Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, was shoved to her death in front of a train at the West 42nd Street subway station.

On Monday, New York City Mayor ousted Jessica Corey, the head of the NYPD's hate crimes unit, which has made arrests in fewer than half of all reported incidents.

'We were too slow in investigating [crimes] as possible hate crimes,' Adams said Monday as he commented on Corey's ouster. 'I wanted a new face there, a new vision.'

Lee was reassigned to the firearms and tactics unit, after Adams learned that she had allegedly berated Esther Lee, a hate crime victim, for filming the man who she said spat on her and called her a 'carrier' aboard an A train last fall.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that his office 'tragically' currently has 33 open hate crime cases involving anti-Asian hate crimes - the most since the establishment of the office's Hate Crime Unit in 2010.

In 2021, the Manhattan DA's Office prosecuted nearly four times more anti-Asian hate crimes than in the previous year.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene to keep quiet after the duo interrupted President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on several occasions.

'Let me just say this. I agree with what Sen. Lindsey Graham said. Shut up. That's what he said to them. I think they should just shut up,' Pelosi said Thursday, ending her weekly press conference. 'Thank you all very much,' she called out to reporters as she exited.

Graham, a South Carolina Republican, told Boebert to 'shut up' after she heckled Biden just as he was about to get into a part of the speech about his dead son.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene to keep quiet after the duo interrupted President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on several occasions

Republican Reps. Lauren Boebert (left) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (right) heckled President Joe Biden during Tuesday night's State of the Union address. Boebert yelled out right as Biden was about to mention his dead son Beau

Biden spoke about how the use of burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan exposed servicemembers to toxins that could cause cancer.

'A cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin,' Biden said.

Boebert then shouted the president down.

'You put them there. Thirteen of them!' the Colorado Republican screamed.

She was booed by Democrats

Somebody in the audience shouted, 'kick her out!'

'One of those soldiers was my son, Major Beau Biden,' Biden went on.

Boebert and Greene also tried to start a 'build the wall' chant, when Biden discussed border security.

Reporting from The Washington Post Wednesday found that Mexican smugglers sawed through former President Donald Trump's border wall 3,272 times over the past three years.

Boebert wore a cape to the speech that said 'Drill Baby Drill,' a line made famous by former Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin.

Greene was already in trouble with some members of her party for speaking at a white nationalist gathering in Florida last weekend.

She denied knowing the conference's chief organizer, an anti-Semite and holocaust denier.

Boebert didn't back down from her remark.

'When Biden said flag draped coffins I couldn't stay silent. I told him directly he did it. He put 13 in there. Our heroic servicemen and women deserve so much better,' she tweeted after the speech.

The 13 was in reference to the number of American casualties outside the Kabul airport that were killed in an ISIS-K attack in late August as the U.S. withdrew forces from Afghanistan.

On Thursday, Boebert tweeted a response to Pelosi saying she should 'shut up.'

Rep. Lauren Boebert defended her interruption in a tweet after President Joe Biden's Tuesday night State of the Union speech

Rep. Lauren Boebert hit back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for saying she should 'shut up' asking what the Democrat was 'so torn up about.' Boebert then included a picture of Pelosi ripping up a copy of former President Donald Trump's 2020 State of the Union

'So Fancy Nancy is upset about me speaking out at the State of the Union. What's she so torn up about?' Boebert said, including the image of Pelosi ripping up a copy of former President Donald Trump's speech after the 2020 State of the Union.

'I will not "shut up" about Biden's failure in Afghanistan and the 13 heroes we lost because of it,' Boebert added.

In 2009 after Republican Rep. Joe Wilson shouted 'you lie' as former President Barack Obama addressed Congress he was rebuked in a party-line vote by the House for a 'breach of decorum' and 'degrad[ing] the proceedings of the joint session, to the discredit of the House.'

A reporter brought this up with Pelosi, but she made no indication there would be similar punishment for Greene and Boebert.

Last February, the House stripped Greene of her committee assignments, after she indicated support for violence against Democrats on social media platforms.
Police investigating the murder of a mother-of-three stabbed to death last week in 'Britain's poshest village' have released CCTV of a man in a hooded jacket they 'urgently' want to speak to.

The body of Clair Ablewhite, 48, was discovered in a cottage in Colston Bassett, Nottinghamshire, at around 6.30pm on Saturday following a call to police.

Neighbours said she had only moved into the 300,000 rented property a short time before the brutal attack, which is thought to have taken place on Friday evening.

A 48-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder on Sunday morning, before being released under investigation on Tuesday while enquiries continue.

Detectives have now said there were no signs of a break-in at Ms Ablewhite's home, and released CCTV of a hooded man they 'urgently' want to speak to in connection with the probe.

Clair Ablewhite, 47, was found stabbed to death at her home in Colston Bassett, Nottinghamshire, just before 6.30pm on Saturday

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: 'Detectives are urging people to look closely at the video as they are confident someone can tell them who he is so he can be eliminated from their enquiries.

'Officers also today revealed there were no signs of a break-in before mother-of-three Clair Ablewhite, 47, was murdered in a knife attack at her home in Hall Lane, Colston Bassett, on Friday evening.

'Reassurance patrols have been stepped up in the area and officers are due to conduct house-to-house enquiries tonight in the village and will be asking people to view the video.

'The man is seen on camera on foot in Hall Lane, Colston Bassett, at around 9.30pm on Friday, shortly before the murder took place.

'He was wearing a hooded jacket with the hood up, trainers, and a rucksack on his back. He has a light-footed walk and has his right hand to his mouth in the clip.'

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin, of Notts Police, urged people to watch the footage carefully and share it with as many people as possible on social media to help officers identify him.

Police cordon off Hall Lane in Colston Bassett, Nottinghamshire, after mother-of-three Clair Ablewhite, 47, was found dead

ACC Griffin also said he believed the murderer may have been known to Clair.

He added: 'We are keeping an open mind about the circumstances around Clair's murder. However, there are some features within it that make me think that this is a local person.

'There are no signs of forced entry and no obvious signs of a burglary. It could be that the person was known to Clair.'

Ms Ablewhite worked as a dogwalker and dogsitter. Her family are said to be devastated by her death and two of her sons paid tribute to her online.

Dan Ablewhite, 28, wrote on Facebook: 'I love you so much mum. I just want to see that beautiful big smile and give you a hug and tell you how much you mean to us all.

'You really was one in a million, rest in peace, sleep tight, remember and dream about all the good times we had together.'

And Sam Ablewhite, 20, added: 'RIP Mum we all miss you so much... words cannot describe how hard my life will be without seeing that beautiful big smile you had.

'Rest in peace, sleep tight and remember all the good times we had together.

'All three of us brothers will do everything we can to put a proud little smile on your face up there.'

Locals in the quiet village - named as one of the 54 'most desirable' in the country by the Daily Telegraph in January - are said to be 'shocked' by the tragedy.

Management consultant John Jennings, 62, who lives just yards from where she was killed, said: 'This kind of thing is pretty much unheard of around here.

'It's very sad news. She hadn't been here long, only a month or so, so I only really knew her to say 'hello' to, when I saw her walking her dogs. But she seemed really nice.

'I feel very sorry for her family. It must be an awful shock for them, especially in a place which is about as far as you can get from this kind of stuff.

'It's quite unbelievable really. I've lived in the village for 34 years and can't remember anything like this before.'

Another local, retired Colin Selby, 58, said: 'I came home on Saturday evening, and the police were here.

'There were more police than I've ever seen before in my life, so I knew something very serious must have happened.

Police have released footage of a man they urgently want to speak to in connection with a murder investigation into the death of Clair Ablewhite

'The lane is still cordoned off, so I can only assume the police are searching for something.

'It's extremely distressing. I hadn't really spoken to her yet, but my wife and I were about to ask her about looking after our dog when we go away. From what I could tell she was a lovely lady.'

Another villager added: 'She was a lovely lady, very friendly and always smiling. It is such a shame, just awful what has happened.

'As a local you cannot imagine that something like this would ever happen here. It's a lovely, charming village where something dreadful has now happened.

'Without in anyway making light of what's happened, you have to say it could be a bit like a plot from Midsomer Murders.'

Colston Bassett is based in the picturesque Vale of Belvoir on the Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire border. It has a population of around 400. In January it was named as one of the 54 'poshest' villages in the UK by The Daily Telegraph.

The average house price is just below 800,000 - the most expensive in Notts - and the village is the home of traditional Stilton and Shropshire Blue cheeses.
Rich Russians 'panic buy' luxury jewellery and watches that may have a high resale value as the country remains in financial meltdown due to crippling Western sanctions brought in after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Bulgari has seen an increase of their jewellery sales at their Russian stores during the last few days following the international sanctions issued to Putin, which has restricted the movement of cash.

Many of the country's wealthy have sought to spend big on luxury jewellery and watches that may have a high resale value as the rouble value continues to tumble.

Like the price of gold, designer jewels and watches can hold and in some cases, increase their prices following the 'economic turmoil caused by war and conflict'.

The Italian jeweller's chief executive officer Mr Jean-Christophe Babin said: 'In the short term it has probably boosted the business' and described Bulgari's jewellery as a 'safe investment.'

Bulgari (pictured) has seen an increase of their jewellery sales at their Russian stores during the last few days following the international sanctions issued to Putin, which has restricted the movement of cash

Many of the country's wealthy have sought to spend big on luxury jewellery and watches that may have a high resale value as the rouble value continues to tumble (file image)

Like the price of gold, designer jewels and watches can hold and in some cases, increase their prices following the 'economic turmoil caused by war and conflict'

Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg, Mr Babin opened up about SWIFT - which acts as the messaging system for international payments, connecting more than 11,000 financial institutions worldwide - making it 'impossible to export to Russia'.

In response to the Putin's invasion of Ukraine, SWIFT 'disconnected select Russian banks from their financial messaging services'm restricting the movement of cash in further.

He added: 'How long it will last it is difficult to say, because indeed with the SWIFT measures, fully implemented, it might make it difficult if not impossible to export to Russia.'

The currency sank 30 per cent in early trading before easing back to stand 20 per cent down. Its collapsing value risks wiping out the savings of ordinary Russians, who have been seen flocking to ATMs all over the country to empty their accounts, including in Putin's home city of St Petersburg.

In response to the Putin's invasion of Ukraine, SWIFT 'disconnected select Russian banks from their financial messaging services'm restricting the movement of cash in further (file image)

Despite many companies like Apple, Nike and oil titans Shell and BP pulling out of Russia, as Western nations imposed sanctions on Putin's country after he launched a brutal war on neighbouring Ukraine, luxury European brands have remained and seen an increase in sales (Russian woman trying on a hat in a Prada boutique in Moscow)

Putin announced earlier this week a diktat to ban the depositing of cash in any foreign accounts from tomorrow, to stop cash, especially held by rich Russians, moving out of the country and further destablising the economy.

A fresh barrage of sanctions this week saw the US cut off the Russian central bank, effectively preventing Americans from doing business with it and severely limiting Russia's ability to defend its currency.

The US also imposed sanctions on the state investment fund, with an official saying Joe Biden intended to ensure the Russian economy 'goes backward as long as Putin goes forward with his invasion of Ukraine'.

Despite many companies like Apple, Nike and oil titans Shell and BP pulling out of Russia, as Western nations imposed sanctions on Putin's country after he launched a brutal war on neighbouring Ukraine, luxury European brands have remained and seen an increase in sales.

Alongside Bulgari, which is owned by French holding multinational conglomerate LVMH, other luxury brands such as Cartier, Rolex and Swatch Groups Omega watches are still being sold in the country.

Babin added: 'We are there for the Russian people and not for the political world. We operate in many different countries that have periods of uncertainty and tensions.'
Joy Behar took an unexpected tumble during the opening credits of The View on Thursday morning.

The 79-year-old co-host could be seen talking and laughing with her colleague Sara Haines as the crowd applauded the beginning of the daily talk show, but as she was about to sit down on one of the show's famous high chairs, she fell and landed on her side.

Her fellow co-hosts quickly rushed to her aid, and Haines, 44, soon pulled her back up as Whoopi Goldberg, 66, could be heard telling her to 'Just stand.'

A stagehand then helped Behar to her seat to a round of applause, as her co-hosts tried to defend Behar's sudden tumble.

'These chairs move - you touch it and you're on the ground,' Goldberg told the audience, with Sunny Hostin adding: 'It's happened to all of us at one time or another.'

But Behar quickly interjected, saying that in her 25 years on the show 'that has never happened to me.

'Who do I sue?' she joked, as she laughed off the experience.

Joy Behar, 79, fell and landed on her side as she went to sit in her chair on the set of The View Thursday morning after speaking with co-host Sara Haines

Behar was quickly helped back onto her feet by co-host Sara Haines

Her fellow co-hosts quickly rushed over to her aid, and Haines, 44, soon pulled her back up

A stagehand helped her into her seat following the fall to a round of applause

One viewer joked that comedienne Behar's fall was the first laugh she'd roused in decades

Another wondered whether regular criticism of the star had jinxed her

A third viewer feared Behar's advancing years had put her at risk of a serious injury

But she still seemed shaken up by the time all four co-hosts finally took their seats on Thursday morning, saying: 'I went flying.'

'We can't even say "Oh you can't have another glass of wine," it takes a glass of wine to get into the chairs,' Whoopi joked as she sat in her seat, before asking Behar if she was OK, to which Behar replied: 'I just missed the step as usual.'

'Well that's our show today,' Whoopi joked. 'Thank you so much.'

Viewers were quick to share their thoughts on the incident on Twitter, with one writing: 'She's fine, but "The View" host Joy Behar took a fall walking out on stage.

'The good news is it was the first laugh she's gotten in 20 years.'

Another, referring to a past Behar controversy, said: 'Noted blackface user Joy Behar from #TheView suffers a fall.' His tweet included a clip of a nonchalant-looking Jeremy Clarkson.

Another Twitter user berated View critics who were mocking Behar's unexpected tumble

Others were more supportive. One Twitter users shared her fears for Behar given the host's advancing years, writing: 'Girl you know your bones can't take those kinda slips at your age.'

And another even pondered whether Behar's critics may have willed her into falling, writing: 'Stop hating on Joy Behar look you made her fall on her face!'

The fall came following a string of controversies on the female-led talk show, with Behar stirring outrage last week as she complained that the war in Ukraine would disrupt her Italian getaway.

The long-running gabfest was discussing Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine when she began to whine about her summer trip getting ruined.

Hostin started off the conversation last Thursday, laying out some of the facts regarding the warfare in eastern Europe, which saw mass evacuations of Kyiv after Vladimir Putin launched his all-out invasion on Ukraine.

'Estimates are 50,000 Ukrainians will be dead or wounded and this is going to start a refugee crisis in Europe. We're talking about 5 million people that are going to be displaced,' she said. 'It's heartbreaking to hear what is going to happen.'

Behar then tried to bring the discussion toward western Europe, specifically, her apparent plans to travel to Italy, located about 1,500 miles from where Russian forces were bombing its neighbor.

'I'm scared of what's going to happen in western Europe, too,' she said.

'You plan a trip, you want to go there, I've wanted to go to Italy for four years and I haven't been able to make it because of the pandemic and now this. It's like, what's gonna happen there?'

Social media quickly pounced on Behar's apparent disregard for anyone else's circumstances.

Broadcaster Liz Wheeler posted the video, writing: 'I literally cant believe Joy Behar said this.'

Ida Tavakoli added in: 'You almost have to respect Joy Behars unwavering commitment toward ensuring that boomers are the most hated generation alive.'

NY Post and Fox News columnist Karol Markowicz asked: 'Did Putin even stop to think how his invasion would affect Joy Behars trip to Italy?'

Sports commentator @KFCBarstool piled on: 'The true horror of the worldwide pandemic and Russia invading Ukraine? Joy Behar hasnt been able to take her trip to Italy. Thoughts and Prayers for Joy. We hope she makes it through this tragedy.

Social media slammed Behar's remarks last week as being 'tone deaf'

But Behar isn't the only one who has found herself in hot water for comments made on the long-running show - her co-host Whoopi Goldberg was put on a two-week suspension following global backlash over comments she made about the Holocaust.

In a broadcast on January 31, Goldberg claimed on-air that the Holocaust was 'not about race.'

She was soon placed on a two-week, unpaid suspension by ABC boss Kim Godwin, who said she wanted to put an end to a 'culture' where The View host and her colleague Joy Behar could 'say and do whatever they wanted', insiders told DailyMail.com.

Goldberg was set to lose $192,000 for the two-week suspension, sources told DailyMail.com.

But when she returned, she did not shy away from the controversy.

'It's not always pretty, as I said, and its not always as other people would like to hear, but it is an honor to sit at this table and be able to have these conversations because they're important,' she said last month.
A disgraced Colorado cop who broke a 73 year-old dementia sufferer's arm during a violent arrest could be sentenced to probation after striking a plea deal that has infuriated his victim's family.

Loveland police officer Austin Hopp, 26, was fired and charged with second degree assault, attempting to influence a public servant and official misconduct in May 2021 for the arrest of Karen Garner after the elderly woman walked out of Walmart in June 2020 with a soda she'd forgotten to pay for.

Hopp faced a mandatory sentence of 10 to 32 years on those counts - but he's now pleaded guilty to a single charge of second-degree assault, a class four felony, that could see him walking away with only probation.

'She had pleas that were ignored,' Garner's daughter-in-law Shannon Steward told reporters outside the courthouse on Wednesday. 'And we have to come here today to honor him for this plea deal. It's a slap in the face.'

In June 2020, Hopp pushed the 80-pound grandmother, then 73-years-old, to the ground and arrested her for allegedly walking out of a Walmart with less than $14 in products, according to bodycam footage released as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Garner's family.

The lawsuit alleges she suffered a dislocated shoulder, a broken humerus and a sprained wrist. A follow-up video from inside the police department shows Hopp boasting about the arrest as Garner languished in a cell for the next six hours, crying out in pain because of her arm.

Disgraced cop Austin Hopp is pictured in court Wednesday, when he pleaded guilty to a single count of assault on a dementia-stricken woman in a plea deal that could see him avoid jail

Austin Hopp, 26, pled guilty to a single charge of second-degree assault, a class four felony, on Wednesday

The former Loveland, Colorado police officer, right, was first charged with second degree assault, attempting to influence a public servant and official misconduct last year

He faced up to 32 years in prison for the 2020 arrest of Karen Garner, a then-73-year-old woman with dementia, who allegedly walked out of a Walmart with less than $14 in products

Garner, who frequently forgets things, repeated, 'I'm going home,' over and over again as the officer shoved her to the ground, breaking her arm in the process

Loveland city leaders fired Hopp and his partner Daria Jalali last year. They also paid Garner, now 75-years-old, a $3 million settlement, but nothing can repair the damage done to her dwindling quality of life, daughter-in-law Shannon Steward told DailyMail.com over the weekend.

The standard sentence for second-degree assault is two to eight years, but 8th Judicial District Judge Michelle Brinegar could choose choose probation or Community Corrections after hearing evidence from both sides at an upcoming sentencing hearing on May 5, according to the Loveland Reporter-Herald.

On Wednesday, Steward asked the court why Hopp was being given a plea deal.

Prior to the incident, her mother-in-law lived alone with constant monitoring from family who used a tracker on her phone to see where she was.

She had left it at home the day she was roughed up by Hopp.

Today, she lives in a facility for dementia patients, suffers from PTSD and no longer recognizes her three children and nine grandchildren.

'Karen would repeat things, she would show me her new bedspread three times while I was visiting, that sort of thing. But she wasn't leaving the stove on, it wasnt dangerous. She loved to walk, she loved to be active,' Steward told DailyMail.com.

Hopp bragged about the arrest as Garner languished in a cell for the next six hours crying out in pain because of a fractured arm and dislocated shoulder. She is pictured sat in her cell and in pain

Meanwhile, Hopp bragged about the arrest, saying, 'I think it went great. I think we crushed it'

Shannon Steward, Garner's daughter-in-law, railed against the plea deal on Wednesday. 'She had pleas that were ignored,' she said of Garner. 'And we have to come here today to honor him for this plea deal. Its a slap in the face'

'After the incident all she could say was, why did they do this to me? Why did they do this to me? She couldn't discuss it, she just repeated herself over and over.

'She didn't trust anyone. The doctors and nurses would try to come in her room and she would push the doors shut. She wanted to be left alone. She couldn't get a Covid vaccine because she wouldnt let anyone touch her.

'We were told by her care facility that the PTSD has accelerated her dementia. She wouldn't even let us hug her.'

Steward said the family explicitly asked prosecutors not to enter a plea deal when they first met with prosecutors last May, according to KUSA.

She said the family asked for a week to consider the plea deal when prosecutors brought it up last week, but that they still came to the conclusion that they wanted a trial.

'Im really disappointed that the district attorney would offer a plea,' said John Steward, Garner's son and Shannon's husband, last week. 'Caught us off-guard, shocked, disappointed.'

District Attorney Gordon McLaughlin promoted the plea deal in a tweet Wednesday.

'This result brings significant criminal accountability for his assault of Ms. Garner & shows such abuse of power will not be tolerated,' he said.

The Loveland Police Department praised McLaughlin's 'pursuit of justice.'

'What happened to Ms. Garner is a stark reminder that no police officer is above the law. We appreciate the DA's efforts in pursuing justice for Ms. Garner and her family,' the department said.

Garner's family says she hasn't been the same since the incident and now lives in a facility with dementia patients

Hopp's body camera footage shows him catching up to her as she walked through a field. On the left, his partner Daria Jalali, who was also later fired

Jalali faces misdemeanor charges of failing to report excessive use of force, failure to intervene and first-degree official misconduct. DailyMail.com revealed that she was previously in a romantic relationship with Hopp

Steward said she believes there's more than enough evidence to secure a conviction for all three of the original charges.

'Im very disappointed,' she said, according to the Reporter-Herald. 'We've gone so far. Theres so much evidence that he should be going to trial. I dont understand this. We dont understand a lot of things. Our God is much greater and powerful than this, and at the end of the day he'll see justice.'

Body-worn camera footage shows Hopp catching up to Garner as she picks flowers on her route home and giving her barely seconds to comply before he savagely bundles her to the ground and hogties her.

Garner, who frequently forgets things because she suffers from dementia and sensory aphasia, cries out in pain and repeats the phrase, 'Im going home,' over and over as the snarling officer drags her to his squad car.

As she languished in a cell for the next six hours crying out in pain because of a fractured arm and dislocated shoulder, Hopp was recorded on his police departments CCTV system laughing and joking as he played back his footage to colleagues.

Ready for the pop? he was overheard saying as he relived the moment he pinned Garner to his vehicle and violently yanked her arm behind her back.

'I think it went great. I think we crushed it,' he sniggered, giving his partner Daria Jalali a celebratory fist bump. 'I was like, "All right, let's wrestle, girl. Lets wreck it!'"

DailyMail.com revealed last April that Hopp and Jalali, who also lost her job for her part in Garners arrest, were previously in a romantic relationship.

She faces misdemeanor charges of failing to report excessive use of force, failure to intervene and first-degree official misconduct.
At least 60 more migrants arrived in Kent today following a break in bad weather after 230 made the perilous channel crossing on Tuesday.

Dozens of people, wrapped in emergency foil blankets, hats and scarves, were seen being escorted to the port of Dover by UK officials at around 12:30pm this afternoon.

As they disembarked from a Border Force boat, one woman was spotted limping as she was helped off a Border Force vessel by officials - appearing to have suffered a leg wound during the treacherous journey.

Heavy winds and storms throughout February temporarily prevented crossings due to the dangerous waters of the channel.

But numbers have increased once again - with more people making the perilous journey on Tuesday than throughout the whole of last month.

At least 60 more migrants arrived in Kent today following a break in bad weather after 230 made the perilous channel crossing on Tuesday. One woman (pictured) was spotted limping as she was helped off a Border Force vessel by officials - appearing to have suffered a leg wound during the treacherous journey

Dozens of people, wrapped in emergency foil blankets, hats and scarves, were seen being escorted to the port of Dover by UK officials at around 12:30pm this afternoon (pictured)

Heavy winds and storms throughout February temporarily prevented crossings due to the dangerous waters of the channel. But numbers have increased once again - with more people making the perilous journey on Tuesday than throughout the whole of last month. One young girl was pictured wearing a leopard print-style jacket who was led to safety by an officer (pictured)

Approximately 40 migrants were escorted into the Port of Dover by UK officials and coastguard volunteers on board Border Force ship Hurricane around 12.30pm this afternoon.

A second group of around 20 people stepped foot on British soil just minutes later via Border Force cutter Hunter.

Those on board looked pleased to reach the UK - waving at bystanders as they approached the port, wrapped in burgundy blankets.

One young girl was pictured wearing a leopard print-style jacket who was led to safety by an officer.

This comes after around 130 migrants - including small children - reached the UK by small boat yesterday.

The Home Office have yet to release official figures for Wednesday.

Meanwhile more Border Force vessels brought in migrants on Thursday afternoon, with one vessel, Hurricane, thought to have had as many as 65 people on board who were mainly men, while another that came in an hour earlier at noon had around 30 on board.

Approximately 40 migrants were escorted into the Port of Dover by UK officials and coastguard volunteers on board Border Force ship Hurricane around 12.30pm this afternoon (pictured)

A second group of around 20 people stepped foot on British soil just minutes later via Border Force cutter Hunter (pictured)

Those on board looked pleased to reach the UK - waving at bystanders as they approached the port wrapped in burgundy blankets (pictured)

This comes as Tuesday's migrant crossings were the first since 132 people were picked up in the Channel during freezing conditions on February 26 - the second of two incidents reported for the whole month of February.

Including Tuesday's incident, a total of 1,714 people have so far this year made the treacherous crossing in 58 boats. Today's tally will take the total above 1,750.

The first of Tuesday's arrivals - the first migrants attempting to cross the Channel in March - were escorted to the Port of Dover by the RNLI before sunrise, amid heavy fog and rain.

A second group arrived in the UK on board Border Force cutter Searcher after 8am, with more migrants arriving in HMC Hunter a short while later. All were transferred to Border Force at Dover.

This comes as Tuesday's migrant crossings were the first since 132 people were picked up in the Channel during freezing conditions on February 26 - the second of two incidents reported for the whole month of February.

A further two groups - which included a toddler and a young child - were accompanied to the port by UK officials before midday via Border Force ship Hurricane and lifeboats.

Later in the afternoon more migrants were brought to shore on board Border Force cutter Searcher, while another group was escorted into the UK by lifeboat shortly afterwards.

The final arrivals of the day came into Dover at around 5pm on Border Force vessel Hurricane - wrapped in coats and woolly hats.

All of the arrivals appeared to be suffering as a result of the choppy conditions at sea and could be seen clutching emergency foil blankets around their shoulders and heads.

Yesterday, flimsy rubber dinghies could be seen floating at sea and drifting ashore at Dover - one of which was punctured and partially deflated.
Ending the voluntary WFH period, Google employees are asked to return to the office starting April 4 and are expected to be working on-site for three days each week.

Google Employees Will Return to Office This April

Google announced on Wednesday through The Verge that employees, who are working at their Bay Area offices and other U.S. locations, will return to work on April 4.

Starting on the said date, the search engine giant will begin its previously stated hybrid work style, with most employees expected to be in the office three days each week.

Google spokesperson Lora Lee Erickson explained the timeline that the company will use the whole month of March to assist their employees with the transition to the new hybrid work approach.

Erickson further emphasized that some employees may be required to work more than three days per week, depending on their positions. Additionally, an extension can be made by employees who need extra time before returning to work.

Read Also: Chrome OS Flex: Windows, Mac Hardware Can Now Operate Google's Operating System

Hybrid Work Approach

According to Envoy, the hybrid work approach contains several variations, one of which is that some companies require their employees to work on-site and remotely in a week. While other companies demand their employees either work full-time on-site or full-time at home.

Despite this difference, most companies combined these two variations simultaneously.

To provide further details, the survey conducted by Envoy showed that nearly half of employees would likely look for a new job if their company did not implement a flexible working model. With the mentioned result, it appears that employees value hybrid work.

With regards to the benefits, the hybrid work approach it enables employees to have more freedom to work during their most productive time.

In addition to this, the recent survey from Slack also showed that flexibility is the main reason why employees are attracted to the hybrid work approach. For instance, employees who are in the said work approach will have more time to do personal matters including running errands or taking care of children.

Apple Is Also Doing Hybrid Work Approach

Apart from Google, several companies are also requiring their employees to return to the office as well as to adapt the hybrid work approach.

Some of the said companies are Netflix, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, J.P Morgan and more.

To keep track of those companies with employees returning to the office, Hubble created a list of all the firms' back-to-office strategies which are updated weekly. The said list is categorized into three parts: office-first, hybrid model, and remote-first.

Under the hybrid model, the Cupertino-based technology company Apple is also implementing the mentioned approach.

For those unfamiliar, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued an email to employees in June 2021, asking them to come back to work three days a week - Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday - with the chance to work from home on Wednesdays and Fridays.

This was originally planned to take place in September 2021 but was pushed back to October. However, due to the objections, the tech giant postponed its plan until early 2022.

Related Article: Google Search On Desktop Appears To Include Widgets Similar To Discover-like Cards
Peloton co-founder John Foley, who resigned as CEO of the company last month, appears to be seeking liquidity after selling off $50 million in stock and quietly seeking buyers for the $55 million Hamptons compound he purchased just months ago.

Foley, who remains executive chairman at Peloton, sold the shares in a privately negotiated transaction to an investment firm backed by tech billionaire Michael Dell, a regulatory filing Wednesday showed.

Last month, former Netflix and Spotify executive Barry McCarthy replaced Foley as CEO, but said that the co-founder would maintain an active role at Peloton despite criticism over a series of management missteps during the pandemic.

Even after the stock sale, Foley owns enough Peloton stock to maintain voting control of the company.

Peloton co-founder John Foley, who resigned as CEO of the company last month, appears to be seeking liquidity after selling off $50 million in stock and quietly seeking home buyers

Foley and his wife Jill are reportedly quietly seeking a private buyer for their sprawling East Hamptons compound for less than they bought it

They purchased the home, on a spacious four-acre oceanfront lot, in December for $55 million, which was $2.5 million above the asking price

Peloton stock plunged more than 75 percent in the past year after a series of missteps

Last year, Foley sold some $100 million worth of shares in the company, but most of his prior sales have been at more than $110 per share.

The sale to Dell's investment firm, MSD Partners, was executed at $26 per share, after Peloton stock plunged more than 75 percent in the past year.

On Thursday, the stock closed at $24.52, down 8.3 percent for the day.

A Peloton spokesman told CNBC that the stock sale by Foley was 'based on his own financial planning.'

MSD Partners CEO Gregg Lemkau told the outlet: 'Peloton is an exceptional brand and MSD Partners is pleased to have this opportunity to back Barry McCarthy and the Peloton team as they position the business for long-term growth.'

Meanwhile, Foley and his wife Jill are also quietly seeking a private buyer for their sprawling East Hamptons compound for less than they bought it, according to the New York Post.

They purchased the home, on a spacious four-acre oceanfront lot, in December for $55 million, which was $2.5 million above the asking price. It is now back on sale for last year's original asking price.

The 6,100-square-foot mansion, designed by Francis Fleetwood, has five bedrooms, a chef's kitchen, and multiple sundecks.

Foley is reportedly seeking to unload his Hamptons mansion for less than he paid

The 6,100-square-foot mansion, designed by Francis Fleetwood, has five bedrooms, a chef's kitchen, and multiple sundecks

The property boasts a number of outdoor amenities as well a beach access

Foley soared high during Peloton's pandemic sales surge, and was featured in a flattering New York Times profile in late 2020, which depicted him lugging firewood to his West Village townhouse, where he kept a Peloton treadmill in his basement bathroom.

But the praise soon turned to criticism over a number of PR mishaps and Peloton's falling share prices.

In December, Foley came under fire for hosting an invite-only party for top instructors at New York's iconic Plaza Hotel despite cancelling the firm's company-wide festive bash.

The boss held a swanky party at the famous five star hotel, near Central Park, on December 8, with pictures of the glitzy bash being shared to social media by glamorous Peloton instructors who were among invited VIPs.

The Peloton co-founder claimed the party was a 'personal' event hosted by himself for his 'vaccinated family and friends' and was not affiliated with Peloton, according to a company-wide email seen by The New York Post.

But that excuse cut little ice with the vast majority of the firm's workers, who had their own work party canceled due to the Omicron COVID surge and the firm's tanking share price.

While Peloton stock soared during the pandemic as home fitness boomed, it has since crashed, and the company faces criticism that it overinvested in expansion plans during a growth spurt that was unsustainable.

In December, Foley came under fire for hosting an invite-only party for top instructors at New York's iconic Plaza Hotel despite cancelling the firm's company-wide festive bash

Pictures and videos showed attendees (pictured: Aditi Shah and Kendall Toole) dancing the night away in a room grandly decorated with a disco ball

While Peloton stock soared during the pandemic as home fitness boomed, it has since crashed, and the company faces criticism that it overinvested in expansion

Foley drew the ire of activist investor Blackwells Capital as the company struggled to maintain the breakneck growth that propelled its valuation to $52 billion in early 2021.

The investment firm called for his removal and even urged the company to sell itself, blaming the stock's underperformance to 'gross mismanagement,' Foley's poor decision making and a lack of credibility.

Jason Aintabi, Blackwells' chief investment officer, accused Foley of 'repeated failures' including hiring his wife as vice president of apparel.

In February, Foley did resign as CEO as Peloton announced a dramatic reorganization and cost-cutting plan, along with 2,800 layoffs in a bid to shore up expenses.

The company expects to spend about $130 million in total cash on severance packages as part of the restructuring, as well as $80 million in non-cash charges.

The layoffs are only targeted at corporate staff and will not affect Peloton fitness instructors, some of whom have become quasi-celebrities with large followings.

Peloton will wind down the development of its planned factory in Ohio, where it was set to invest about $400 million and add more than 2,000 jobs over the next few years.

Overall the company said its restructuring changes would save it about $800 million annually in reduced expenses.
President Joe Biden had the lowest viewership for his State of the Union than any of his four predecessors first addresses with less than 40 million tuning in, according to Nielsen ratings.

In a tracking of the 16 networks that aired live coverage of the address on Tuesday evening, 38,197,000 individuals were watching from 27,408,000 different households in the U.S.

The figures from Biden's speech come amid an ongoing war in Ukraine and increasingly dire approval rating numbers for the president and Democratic lawmakers going into the 2022 midterm elections.

Donald Trump's first State of the Union address in 2018 had 45.5 million viewers from 32.1 million households.

Barack Obama's first State of the Union garnered 48 million viewers, George W. Bush's 51.7 million and Bill Clinton 45.8 million.

Bush garnered a big boost for his first official address because it came just four months after the Twin Towers fell in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack.

Nielsen ratings score shows nearly 38.2 million people tuned in for President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address on Tuesday, March 3, 2022  the least of his four predecessors

The figures from Biden's speech come amid an ongoing war in Ukraine and increasingly dire approval rating numbers for the president. Pictured: Biden shakes hands with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi upon arriving for his first State of the Union address before Congress Tuesday

The first State of the Union after the attacks on January 29, 2002 garnered 51,773,000 viewers from 35.5 million households and his remarks the year after saw 62,061,000 people tune in for the speech, the second most ever since Clinton's first address to a joint session of Congress.

Bill Clinton had the most viewership ever since Nielsen tracking started in his first address to Congress in 1993 with 66.9 million viewers on just four networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN.

Joint Session addresses are delivered just months after a president is elected so the new Executive Branch leader can lay out to the legislative body their plans for the country. It is not considered the first 'State of the Union,' that comes around a year after inauguration.

The marks for Biden's speech Tuesday evening were a noticeable improvement from his joint session address last year, where only 26.9 million viewers tuned in from 19.95 million households, which was the lowest of any address since tracking started in the early 90s.

Nielsen ratings are pulled from network television as more Americans are pulling the plug on cable and switching to streaming services. The tracking advisory noted, however, that out-of-home viewing and connected TV viewing was included in the 2022 figures.

Biden's Tuesday figures just edged out Trump's last State of the Union in February 2020, which drew just over 37.1 million people.

The first 12 minutes of the president's address on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 was aimed at Russia following its invasion of Ukraine  and included an announcement that the U.S. is closing its airspace to Russian flights and aircraft.

It also came with a stark warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin: You have 'no idea what's coming.'

Biden announced 'strict' new measures in Tuesday's address against Moscow and its wealthy elite with a new task force to go after the 'crimes' of Russian oligarchs, while reaffirming that he would not send American forces into Kyiv.

'We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,' Biden said, prompting the rare sight of members of both parties standing to applaud.

The president's State of the Union address typically focuses on domestic policy, but the raging conflict in Ukraine and a plea from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for Biden to make Americans understand it is a 'war for the values of democracy and freedom' meant the leader changed his focus.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US and the West had acted too late to protect his country from the might of the Russian army and described how 'the end of the world has arrived' during a news conference on Thursday.

He appealed for more help during a defiant appearance in his capital Kyiv as fighting entered its second week.

A Pentagon official said Russia has now sent almost all its assembled combat power across the border into Ukraine, while reports suggested they were gaining ground across the south.

Zelensky repeated his plea for a NATO no-fly zone to protect his cities and troops.

And eight days into the war he said he now had good lines of communication with the President Joe Biden and other leaders, but lamented that they only stepped up their support once Russia launched its invasion.

'It's a pity it began after the beginning of this war, but we have it. And my appreciation to [Biden] and to his team. We can speak now often,' he said

'The whole world is late with Ukraine, making decisions.'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the US and the West had acted too late to protect his country from Russian might and described how 'the end of the world has arrived' during a news conference on Thursday

Pictured: A map showing the Kyiv region and the area occupied by Russian troops as they close in on Ukraine's capital

A Ukrainian armored personnel carrier in Sytniaky, west of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Russia continues its assault on Ukraine's major cities as fighting entered its second week

Passers-by inspect past a destroyed Russian military vehicle at a frontline position in Irpin, Ukraine. Ukrainian resistance has been credited with stalling the Russian advance

Ukraine war: Latest updates from cities under attack Mariupol  Mayor reports full-scale genocide with 15-hour Russian shelling killing hundreds of people. Russia says it has surrounded the port city. Three boys wounded by apparent Russian shelling while they were playing football Wednesday were rushed into a hospital. One lost his leg, and died soon after Kherson - Ukrainians said they were battling in the port, the first sizeable city Russia claimed to have seized Kharkiv - Bombing of Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million people, has left its centre a wasteland of ruined buildings and debris according to eyewitnesses Kyiv - Powerful blasts heard overnight, with people on the ground reporting car alarms being set off. 40-mile column of military vehicles is outside the city Gorenka - Ukrainian reservists have set up checkpoints to stop Russian advance outside of Kyiv Irpin - Mayor of town 15 miles west of Kyiv reported a rocket strike on a multi-storey residential building Odessa - Ukrainian deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said on Wednesday said reports suggested Russian artillery struck the city's airport this morning Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv and Chernihiv - Russians used Iskander missile systems to bombard cities Donetsk and Luhansk - UNHCR said today 96,000 people had crossed into Russia from the separatist regions between February 18 and 23- days before Russia's invasion began Advertisement

Zelensky and his allies had urged the West to step up financial sanctions on Moscow as Vladimir Putin massed his troops on the border with Ukraine to deter an invasion.

But the White House and allies stepped up its pressure only after Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.

More support arrived on Thursday in the form of sanctions on oligarchs and other's in the Russian president's inner circle.

Now his country was fighting for survival, said Zelensky.

'The end of the world has arrived,' he said.

After saying the world had been too slow to act, he called on Western leaders to step up their support now with a no-fly zone that would deny access to Russian warplanes.

He said the world was too slow to offer support for Ukraine and prodded Western leaders to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine to deny access to Russian warplanes that were bombing civilian areas.

'We want a no-fly zone because our people are being killed. From Belarus, from Russia  these missiles, these Iskander missiles and bomber planes, are coming,' Zelensky said.

'I asked President Biden, and Scholz and Macronand I said, if you cant provide a no-fly zone right now, then tell us when?'

The White House and and NATO allies have ruled out a move that would directly pit its warplanes against Russian forces.

Zelensky also challenged Putin to sit down for talks.

In a sarcastic reference to a the size of table Putin used for meetings with other foreign leaders, he said: 'Sit down with me to negotiate, just not at 30 meters.

'I don't bite. What are you afraid of?'

Foreign leaders have hailed the spirit of the Ukrainian resistance, which is credited with slowing or stopping the Russian advance.

But that has only prompted Putin and his generals to double down.

Russia has accelerated the arrival of troops into Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official told reporters, with 90 percent of the assembled troops now having crossed into Ukraine.

More than 150,000 troops, along with tanks, aircraft, armored vehicles carriers and missile systems had gathered around the borders ahead of the invasion.

The result was a day of fierce fighting.

Kherson, a city of 300,000 on the Black Sea, appears to have fallen under Russian control after the mayor said 'armed visitors' had taken over a council meeting and imposed curfews. If Putin's men are in full control then it opens up the city of Odessa, home to Ukraine's main naval port, to attack - with amphibious assault ships seen forming up near Crimea today

Part of the Karazin National University campus in the city of Kharkiv is destroyed after being struck by a Russian missile which was seemingly intended for a nearby police or interior ministry building

Sergyi Badylevych, 41, hugs his wife Natalia, 42, and child in an underground metro station used as bomb shelter in Kyiv

The White House announced more sanctions on Russian oligarchs and Putin's inner circle on Thursday. 'The goal was to maximize impact on Putin and Russia and minimize the harm on us and our allies and friends around the world,' said Biden

The deputy mayor of Mariupol said hours of shelling and besieging Russian troops had cut off power, food and water to his city.

'We are near to a humanitarian catastrophe,' said Sergiy Orlov. 'Russian forces are several kilometers away on all sides.

'The Ukrainian army is brave and they will continue to defend the city, but Russia does not fight with their army, they just destroy districts... We are in a terrible situation.'

And officials in Kyiv, Ukraines second-largest city Kharkiv, and the northern city of Chernihiv, said they had come under fierce attack but remained under Ukrainian control.

Meanwhile the Biden administration ordered new sanctions on Russian business oligarchs and Putin's cronies.

They included Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, and Alisher Burhanovich Usmanov, one of Russia's wealthiest individuals.

The US State Department also imposed visa bans on 19 Russian oligarchs and dozens of their family members and close associates.

'The goal was to maximize impact on Putin and Russia and minimize the harm on us and our allies and friends around the world,' said Biden as he opened a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the pandemic has killed the traditional five-day work week as she urged businesses to ask employees to commute to work 'at least three to four days' a week to help the city's economy.

While COVID-19 has been on the decline in New York and across the nation, Hochul lamented that work-from-home days would be here to stay.

'It may never be a five-day week again,' Hochul told the New York Post on Tuesday.

Hochul's acknowledgement comes as Google and Twitter announced that they would be implementing remote-work days for their employees, with the latter doubling down on a promise to let them work from home 'forever.'

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, pictured on Thursday, said the pandemic killed the five-day work week, but urged business to require in-person work at least three days a week.

Google said it would reopen its offices across the US on April 4 and said employees would be required to return to work at least three days a week

Twitter's offices are set to reopen by March 15 but will allow employees to work from home any day they chose, doubling down on a promise it made last year

The calls to return to the office come as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations drop in the US

Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for the City of New York - the city's largest business group, said Hochul's assessment was correct and that many workers have gotten used to working from home.

'Gov. Hochul has met with a lot of employers over the past few months and she is accurately reflecting their view of the future of office work,' Wylde told the Post. 'People will be expected back in the office but with some greater flexibility than in the past.'

Hochul added that she wants employees occupying office buildings at least three to four days as in-person work spurs creativity and social development.

The governor lifted mask mandates in the city last month, which she said would fuel confidence for New Yorkers to return to in-person work.

The push for more days in the office was shared by Google as the company announced earlier this week that it will end its voluntary work-from-home initiative and require employees to return to their offices at least three days a week at their offices in Silicon Valley and across the U.S. starting on April 4.

John Casey, Google's vice president of global benefits, said in a statement: 'It's been a long and challenging two years since the vast majority of our people started working from home, but the advances in prevention and treatment, the steady decline in cases that we continue to see, and the improved safety measures we have implemented across our Bay Area sites now mean we can officially begin the transition to the hybrid work week.'

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal (left) said Twitter would reopen their offices on March 15 and urged employees to return while also doubling down on a promise to let them work from home whenever they wanted. Google VP John Casey said Google offices would reopen on April 4 and require employees to come to the office at least 3 days a week

Agrawal said in a statement that he would honor former CEO Jack Dorsey's promise that employees could work remotely 'forever' if they wanted

The company estimated that nearly a 10th of the company's 156,500 full-time employees around the world had moved to fully-remote work.

Casey told CNBC that Google would be assisting the remaining employees in settling back into their offices as the company readies its new hybrid work schedule.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, however, recommitted to the company's pledge that employees would be free to work from home whenever they wanted as he announced on Wednesday that the company's office would be reopening on March 15.

'The decisions about where you work, whether you feel safe traveling for business, and what events you attend, should be yours,' Agrawal wrote in a statement.

Last year, former CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey made a pledge that employees could work remotely 'forever' if they wanted, and while Agrawal plans to honor that policy, he warned that 'distributed working will be much, much harder' and said 'there will be lots of challenges.'

He told CNBC that he encouraged employees to return to the office to 'experience the company culture,' saying office visits, meetings and events 'bring that culture to life in such a powerful way.'

The calls to return to the office come as the nation sees a steady drop in COVID-19 cases after the Omicron surge hit in the winter.

The U.S. reported 52,355 new cases in the past day and 2,095 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

More than 65 percent of those eligible are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and at least 81 percent have gotten at least one jab.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy again complained about the House of Representatives' use of proxy voting in a Thursday morning tweet.

'If Ukraine's Parliament can meet in person in the midst of a Russian invasion, why can't Washington Democrats show up for work in Congress?' McCarthy mused.

The California Republican was likely responding to video footage of Ukraine's parliament meeting Thursday morning amid Russian President Vladimir Putin's assault on the country.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy again complained about the House of Representatives' use of proxy voting in a Thursday morning tweet

'If Ukraine's Parliament can meet in person in the midst of a Russian invasion, why can't Washington Democrats show up for work in Congress?' McCarthy mused

Ukraine parliament member Lesia Vasylenko tweeted video footage of the legislative body meeting in person Thursday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin's siege continued

'#Ukraine Parliament sits in person today to vote essential defence and security laws. A quick and tense session.We sing the national anthem in unity as we begin our session in the most targeted building in all of Ukraine. #LoveUkraine,' tweeted parliament member Lesia Vasylenko.

In May 2020, two months into the coronavirus pandemic, Pelosi changed the House rules to allow members to utilize proxy voting.

During floor votes another member could come to the microphone and announce how his or her colleagues intended to vote.

Both Democrats and Republicans have utilized proxy voting in the nearly two years since the rules changed.

But McCarthy has been on a crusade to see it gone.

The top House Republican sued over proxy voting several times - with the Supreme Court finally saying in late January that justices would not take up the challenge.

The decision leaves intact an July 2021 ruling from a lower court allowing proxy voting to stand.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the courts did not have jurisdiction over Congressional rules - as they are a seperate branch of government.

'Members of Congress should show up to work on behalf of their constituents, just as they have since our nation was founded,' McCarthy spokesman Mark Bednar said following the high court's decision.

'We can't rely on a separate branch of government to make Congress do their jobs as intended by the Constitution, and if Republicans earn back the majority, proxy voting will be eliminated on Day One,' Bednar added.

While Washington, D.C. has dropped its vaccination and mask mandates, Pelosi said proxy voting would continue until at least the end of the month.
Australians whose homes were destroyed by floodwater have been urged by the nation's top disaster recovery official to 'face reality' and move away from vulnerable areas.

Entire towns in south-east Queensland and northern NSW have been inundated in the past two weeks, while 200,000 residents in Sydney's outer western suburbs alone had to evacuate as the Hawkesbury and Nepean river breached its banks.

The unprecedented flooding has prompted the federal government to offer lump-sum grants of $1,000 to those whose homes have suffered major flood damage.

But National Recovery and Resilience Agency Coordinator General Shane Stone said the taxpayer should not have to 'pick up the bill' for those who chose to live on floodplains.

Australians whose homes were damaged by floodwater have been urged by the country's top recovery official not to rebuild and instead relocate to less flood-prone areas. Pictured is a man throwing damaged goods from an affected house in Lismore

Loved ones find comfort in each other as they look at the damage from flooding in Auchenflower in Brisbane's inner-city

'Youve got people who want to live among the gum trees  what do you think is going to happen?' Mr Stone told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Sydney's west and south-west have been hit by rising floodwaters yet again, just a year after catastrophic flooding in the same region last March.

Mr Stone, a former Liberal Northern Territory chief minister, said councils were also to blame for zoning flood-prone areas for residential use.

'Australians need to have an honest conversation about where and how people build homes,' he said, adding flooded homeowners need to 'face realities'.

'The taxpayer and the ratepayer cannot continue to pick up the bill for these huge, catastrophic damage events.'

Data shows 15 per cent of all Australian homes are now at least susceptible to flooding, according to the Insurance Council of Australia.

Sydney's west and south-west have been hit by rising floodwaters yet again, just a year after catastrophic flooding in the same region last March (pictured in Windsor, north-west of the city)

Residents remove their belongings from their flooded home in western Sydney on Wednesday

While rainfall levels in Sydney's west on Thursday fell short of expectations, forecasters predict more bad weather could be on the way for parts of south-east Queensland and NSW.

Severe weather had been forecast for the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, Hunter, Sydney and South Coast regions but the bureau late on Thursday night said the heavy rainfall over the Hunter and Mid North Coast area has now eased.

A similar warning issued for severe thunderstorms was also cancelled for the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and Northern Tablelands.

But thousands of Australians dealing with severe flooding are not yet out of the woods, with widespread rainfall still forecast for most of the affected NSW regions on Friday.

Countless towns have been left devastated by flooding in recent days with the clean up effort only now able to begin in some areas, while others remain submerged.

A family are seen looking in awe at rising flood waters from the Hawkesbury River in Windsor, Sydney on Thursday

Sydney is expected to cop 20mm on Friday, a big drop from the 60-100mm which was predicted on Thursday evening. Residents have also been warned off hazardous surf conditions.

On Thursday night the BoM issued a major flood warning for areas near the Richmond River including Coraki, Woodburn and Bungawalbyn.

A moderate to major flood warning has also been given to the Hawkesbury, Nepean Valley and Colo River.

There were fears flooding in the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers would exceed the levels of the devastation experienced in March, 2021, but the bureau has said that is now unlikely.

A man removes debris from his flood-affected car mechanic business in Lismore, northern NSW on Wednesday

The Hawkesbury River at the Windsor Bridge was expected to reach 14m on Thursday night, well above levels recorded 12 months ago.

The river peaked at 12.92 metres at North Richmond while the Nepean River is tipped to rise to nine metres at Penrith.

The expected spillage at Warragamba Dam was also downgraded from 600 gigalitres to 300-350 gigalitres.

Half a million people across the state were subject to 76 evacuation orders or warnings, according to Premier Dominic Perrottet.

'Things will get worse before they get better here in our state,' he said on Thursday.

A resident begins the flood cleanup as he removed items from a home following heavy rains in Lismore

'We do expect particularly in the Hawkesbury region that the floods will be worse than they were last year, and that we see more torrential rain and flooding in Newcastle and Hunter over the course of the day.

'If you are subject to one of those evacuation warnings, please get ready.'

Up north in Queensland, residents are again bracing for the worst.

Students in the state's south-east have been told to stay at home from school on Friday.

'In addition to early collections in those areas today, tomorrow schools across the entire south-east region will only be open for children of essential workers,' Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said.

'However, the message is stay off the roads and stay at home unless you really need to be out. This weather is of serious concern.'

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday shocked many parents when she suddenly encouraged them to collect their kids in the Moreton Bay region, the Sunshine Coast, Gympie and Wide Bay to Bundaberg regions.

'Children are safe at school but you should collect your children when it is safe to do so,' she said.

A pile of flood-damaged furniture outside a home in Lismore on Wednesday. Sydney is expected to cop 20mm on Friday, a big drop from the 60-100mm which was predicted on Thursday evening

Residents begin the flood clean up in Lismore on Wednesday as they inspect a damaged property

There are fears of flash flooding in the south-east on Friday but warnings for severe thunderstorms for the coastal area between Bundaberg and Gladstone on the coast was cancelled late on Thursday night.

There are hazardous surf warnings for the Fraser Island Coast, Sunshine Coast Waters and Gold Coast Waters.

Brisbane copped 48mm of rain in just 30 minutes on Thursday. Those near flood waters have been advised to get tetanus shots if not up to date.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Service state duty coordinator Superintendent Simon Evans said SES crews responded to 1,022 calls for help since 3pm on Thursday.

'The thing to be aware of heading into the weekend is the threat from the weather,' he said.

'As we move into recovery mode, people need to be aware of the dangers that have been left behind. That's those weakened trees, there's also chemical residue, broken glass, downed power lines and all those other hazards.'
European intelligence officials claim Russia is planning to stage public executions in captured Ukrainian cities in an effort to break morale.

Crackdowns on protests, imprisonment of political opponents and public executions are all said to be part of the invasion strategy.

The source of the information is an anonymous official, who claims to have seen documents from Russia's intelligence agency the Federal Security Service, Bloomberg reports.

'The agency is also planning violent crowd control and repressive detention of protest organisers in order to break Ukrainian morale,' said Bloomberg's political editor Kitty Donaldson added.

Russian armed forces pictured carrying out an operation in the Donetsk separatist region of Ukraine

As day eight of Russia's widely-condemned invasion of Ukraine got underway, a defiant President Putin told Frances Emmanuel Macron that he intends to fully realise his military conquest of the region.

This removing the government in Kyiv, which has won plaudits around the world for its defiance in the face of overwhelming military aggression.

Russian troops are marching upon the southeast city of Mariupol, although Ukraine still has control over the city.

The Russian military also states it has control over Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed Russian forces have taken over local government headquarters in this Black Sea port of 280,000 people - the first major city to fall since the start of the war.

Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy once again urged Putin to meet with him in order to reach an agreement.

He said: 'I have to talk to Putin, the world has to talk to Putin, because there is no other ways to stop this war.'

The United Nations reports that more than a million refugees are fleeing to neighboring countries, creating one of the worst humanitarian crises in Europe since the Second World War.

A woman walks next to a damaged house following recent shelling in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine

According to Ukrainian media, Russian troops have also entered the southern city of Enerhodar, a major energy hub on the Dnieper River that accounts for about one-quarter of the countrys power generation.

It is the site of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the biggest in Europe. The mayor of Enerhodar said Ukrainian forces on the citys edges are battling the Russian troops.

Heavy fighting is continuing on the outskirts of another strategic port city on the Azov Sea, Mariupol, plunging it into darkness, isolation and fear. Electricity and phone connections are largely down, and homes and shops are facing food and water shortages.

More shelling was reported in the northern city of Chernihiv, where emergency officials said at least 33 civilians had been killed and 18 wounded in a Russian bombardment of a residential area. Rescue crews were forced to suspend their search in the wreckage because of renewed shelling.
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Melinda Gates is dating again, 'dipping her toe' back into the world of romance less than a year after announcing her split from husband Bill.

Melinda, 57, told CBS Mornings Gayle King that she is 'definitely' open to finding love again and has already met some suitors.

'It's interesting at this point,' she giggled during an interview with King that aired on Thursday morning.

'You know, I'm dipping my toe in that water a little bit. I feel like, I'm in a really good place. And I'm really, really excited about my life and about the worldthe work ahead,' she said.

Bill, 66, has not commented on the divorce publicly.

Melinda Gates in her CBS interview. She lifted the lid on her marriage to Bill Gates for the first time, telling how the trust in their relationship was broken by his 2000 affair

Melinda Gates and Bill Gates speak on stage during The Robin Hood Foundation's 2018 benefit at Jacob Javitz Center on May 14, 2018 in New York City

She also trashed her ex-husband Bill for his questionable friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and revealed that he continued to meet with him despite her having 'nightmares' about him.

In her first interview since her divorce from the billionaire last year, Melinda told CBS Mornings that she insisted on meeting Epstein back in 2011 because she wanted to see 'who this man was'.

'I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. I made that clear to him. I also met Jeffrey Epstein exactly one time. I wanted to see who this man was and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door.

'He was abhorrent, evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. That's why my heart breaks for these young women. That's how I felt, and I am an older woman. He was awful.'

She told host Gayle King that Bill had to answer the many times he met Epstein, and even suggested that it contributed to the divorce.

'It was not one thing, it was many things [that led to the divorce]. Any of the questions remaining about what Bill's relationship with him was... those are for Bill to answer. I made it very clear how I felt about him.'

Melinda revealed how;

She cried 'on the carpet' at times while working through the divorce that they announced in May last year

She had forgiven Bill for a 2000 affair but he had to answer to reports of multiple affairs

The pair are 'friendly' now but are not 'friends': 'I wish him well,' she said

Every billionaire should give away at least half of their wealth

She does not blame herself for the divorce, saying 'I did nothing wrong, I hold my head high'

She has launched her own company now called Pivotal Ventures but will continue to work at The Gates Foundation

The interview was filmed at the offices of Melinda's new company, Pivotal Ventures, in Seattle.

Bill Gates in Jeffrey Epstein's Upper East Side mansion, the scene of many of his crimes, in 2011 - after the pedophile had spent time in prison for having sex with minors

Melinda also revealed that she and Bill are not friends but are 'friendly' and work together, and she suggested he had more than one affair throughout their 27-year-marriage.

He was abhorrent, evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards.

'Those are questions Bill needs to answer,' she said when asked about reports he cheated multiple times. He previously acknowledged one affair.

'I believe in forgiveness. I thought we had worked through some of that,' Melinda said of his 2000 affair with a Microsoft employee. I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage. I was committed from the day we got engaged to the day I got out of it.'

Bill has said in the past that meeting with Epstein multiple times was a 'huge' mistake and error in judgement.

In a statement to CBS, he said: 'Meeting with Epstein was a mistake that I regret deeply. It was a substantial error in judgement.'

Elsewhere in the interview, Melinda told of being in 'tears' about the divorce moments before having to attend a Gates foundation meeting, and how she is dating again.

'I hope that happens for me again. I am dipping my toe in the water a little bit,' she said, adding that she 'definitely' wants to be in love again.

She said dating was 'interesting at this point' but did not give any additional details.

The interview was filmed at the offices of Melinda's new company, Pivotal Ventures, in Seattle. The company involves Melinda investing in female-driven ventures

The 57-year-old, who shocked the world when she and Bill announced in May 2021 that they were ending their 27-year marriage, previously told how she endured emotionally challenging times whilst working with the billionaire.

The pair's divorce was finalized privately in Washington - where their Gates Foundation is based - in August.

The terms of it were never made public but Bill was worth around $152billion at the time, giving Melinda a 50 percent settlement of $76billion. That does not include the couple's vast property portfolio which comprised of homes in New York, Washington, and California.

In a preview of the interview, Melinda took a swipe at her ex's infidelity, saying: 'I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage. I was committed from the day we got engaged to the day we ended it.'

'BILL HAS TO ANSWER TO INFIDELITY': AFFAIR WITH MICROSOFT EMPLOYEE THAT 'BROKE' THE TRUST IN THE MARRIAGE

Melinda revealed that Bill's 2000 affair with a Microsoft employee 'broke' the trust in their marriage, and also suggested that he was unfaithful more than once.

Kingasked Melinda: 'Once trust is broken, isn't it hard to get it back?' to which the philanthropist responded: 'Very, it's very hard to get it back, in any relationship.'

'I certainly believe in forgiveness so I thought we had worked through some of that,' she said of the couple's attempt to work through Bill's affair.

'It wasn't one moment or one specific thing that happened, there just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realized it just wasn't healthy, and I couldn't trust what we had.'

Asked for her response to reports that Bill cheated multiple times, she replied: 'Those are questions Bill needs to answer.'

Bill and Melinda were married for 27 years before announcing their split last May. They are shown together (left) in 2017 and Bill is shown (right) at the Munich Security Conference last month

A spokesman for Bill previously acknowledged that he had an affair, but that it had nothing to do with him stepping down from the board at Microsoft in 2020.

'There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably.

'Bill's decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier,' a spokesman told The Wall Street Journal last year.

'I WISH HIM WELL BUT WE'RE NOT FRIENDS' - WORKING TOGETHER AT THE GATES FOUNDATION THROUGHOUT DIVORCE

Melinda spoke about how, despite the couple going through their divorce behind the scenes, they were still able to work 'effectively together'.

'First of all we both want to work together  we founded this institution in 2000  both of us. It has both of our names on the building.

'I believe in that institution, my values are baked into that institution. So I have always felt like it calls us to be our higher selves.

'Even during the difficult times in the last 18 months while we were going through this process behind the scenes, we were able to show up and work effectively together.

Bill and Melinda Gates are pictured at their daughter Jennifer's wedding in North Salem, New York, in October

'I'm not saying it was easy but I'm saying for me I had days where I had tears the hour before an online meeting or I'd be angry but I still rose to be my higher self and I think we can continue to do that.'

She said the pair are not yet 'friends' but are 'friendly'.

'We certainly have a working relationship. We are friendly at this point. Friends is a different word for me. That might come over time but for me there is still healing that needs to happen.

'I wish him well. I certainly don't wish him any harm.

'We have a productive working relationship and I think that will continue,' she said.

CRYING ON THE CARPET AND REALIZING HER MARRIAGE WAS OVER BUT THAT SHE DID 'NOTHING WRONG AND HOLDS HER HEAD HIGH'

Melinda spoke candidly about sobbing on the floor as her marriage fell apart, and while she was working 'through' the divorce.

She said she never thought their marriage would end in divorce.

'I never thought I would end it being divorced. I needed to take a different path. And so I think, you know, we knew that when the divorce was gonna be announced that it would be a surprise to people.

'I felt bad about that, but I probably, I didn't have any sense of how big of news it would be. You never, you can't anticipate something like that.

'I think it's really important to say, look, I had a lot of tears for many days, I mean days where I'm literally lying on the floor on the carpet... thinking, 'How can this be? How can I get up? How am I going to move forward?'' she revealed.

The ex-couple, who share three kids (pictured), have not publicly spoken out about the split, however Bill is reported to have blamed himself in an off-the-record Q&A session back in July

'[There were] days [where] I certainly was angry. That's part of the grieving process. You're grieving a loss of something you thought you had and thought you had for your lifetime. This is painful stuff.

'At the end of the day though I started on this journey of healing and I feel like I'm starting to get to the other side. And I do feel like I'm turning a page in the chapter now. It's 2022 and I'm actually really excited about what's to come and life ahead of me.'

She added: 'I don't question myself now, not at all. I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage. I was committed to the marriage from the day we got engaged to the day I got out of it.

'Society used to put this on women like it was our fault. I did nothing wrong. I hold my head high.'

'EVERY BILLIONAIRE IN THE WORLD SHOULD GIVE AWAY AT LEAST HALF OF THEIR WEALTH'

Melinda also used the interview to tell other billionaires to give away the majority of their wealth, as she does.

She set up The Giving Pledge with her ex-husband and Warren Buffett with the intention of encouraging the world's richest people to donate their money to charity.

If you are lucky enough to be a billionaire, believe me - you can give half of it away and it will not change your life

Others who have joined it include Jeff Bezos' ex-wife MacKenzie. Jeff has not signed up to it.

Melinda said of her philanthropy: 'I do feel that if you are lucky enough to be a billionaire, believe me - you can give half of it away and it will not change your life.

'We should. We should have a society where if you have wealth, you put it back into society so that you can change and uplift others.'

The interview marks the first time that Melinda has publicly addressed her split from Bill - comes 10 months after the former couple first revealed to the world that they were separating, and just seven months after they finalized their $130 billion divorce settlement.
Russia has declined to send observers to upcoming military manoeuvres involving tens of thousands of troops from NATO countries later this month in Norway, the Norwegian military said today.

The largest Nato exercise planned for this year, Cold Response 2022 will bring together around 30,000 troops from 27 nations.

From mid-March to early April, they will train on land, at sea and in the air, deploying troops to help an attacked Nato country.

Russia has declined to send observers to view upcoming NATO manoeuvres in Norway

As usual, member states of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including Russia, have been invited to send observers to follow the exercise, which was planned long before Russia's military offensive in Ukraine last week.

'Russia thanked for the offer to send observers during Cold Response 22 but declined,' Norwegian army spokesman Preben Aursand told AFP.

The reasons for the refusal were not known.

Foreign troops have already arrived in Norway, going back several weeks, even months, and more are expected in the coming days.

The number of troops announced to participate has fluctuated: initially it was put at more than 40,000, it is now estimated at around 30,000.

'Some nations have chosen to use their troops in other ways,' said Preben Aursand, without giving further details.

In addition to Nato members, Finland and Sweden, two nations that are officially non-aligned but where the debate over membership has been reignited by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are both expected to send contingents.

The US and the UK will deploy one carrier battle group each during the exercise.
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A Ukrainian nuclear power plant could suffer a Fukushima-style meltodown due to the power being shutdown after an attack by Putin's Russian troops during their invasion of Ukraine, experts have warned.

Russian troops had attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe and creates around 20 per cent of Ukraine's electricity, in the early hours of Friday, with CCTV capturing a fierce gun battle between Putin's men and Ukrainian defenders that sparked a fire in a six-storey training building just outside the main complex. Moscow's men then stopped firefighters getting to the building for several hours.

Nuclear experts warned the attacks were 'frightening' but that any disaster caused by fighting would be similar to Fukushima in 2011 rather than Chernobyl in 1986. Fukushima, in Japan, melted down after a tsunami cut electricity to the plant, disabling its cooling system. Chernobyl exploded after a training exercise gone-wrong caused an uncontrolled nuclear reaction.

Claire Corkhill, professor of nuclear materials at Sheffield University, told the BBC the reactors at Zaporizhzhia appear to be shutting down to remove the danger of a Fukushima-style meltdown - which may have been Russia's intention in attacking the plant.

Eventually, emergency crews were allowed to go in and douse the flames at the Zaporizhzhia plant before Russian troops moved in an occupied the site, which provides a fifth of Ukraine's electricity. The UN's nuclear monitoring agency said that, fortunately, none of the site's six reactors had been directly damaged and radiation levels remained normal. Three Ukrainian troops were killed defending the complex, Kyiv said.

Ukraine war: The latest Fire at Europe's biggest nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia is put out after Ukraine accuses Russia of 'nuclear terror' in shelling the plant. Russian troops later take the reactors

Diplomats from NATO, the EU and G7 will all meet in Europe today to discuss next moves to contain crisis

Russia admits 'limiting' access to news websites including the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, independent Russian site Meduza and Germany's Deutsche Welle, with Facebook blocked

Russian lawmakers approve legislation providing up to 15 years in jail for any publication of fake news about the Russian armed forces

Thirty-three people are killed as Russian forces hit residential areas, including schools, in the northern city of Chernihiv

Russia and Ukraine agree to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from cities

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Moscow's advance is going 'according to plan'

Senior US Republican senator Lindsey Graham calls for 'somebody in Russia' to assassinate Putin

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky calls for direct talks with Putin as the 'only way to stop the war'

Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson as it appears Moscow is trying to cut Ukraine's access to the sea

US and EU offer temporary protection for Ukrainian refugees so far numbering more than 1million

Russians pack trains out of the country to Finland, fearful that it is their last chance to escape the impact of swingeing Western sanctions

Sanctioned Russian oil giant Lukoil calls for a halt to fighting in Ukraine, one of the first major domestic firms to speak out

Russian tech giant Yandex warns it may default on its debt after it was suspended from trading on New York's digital stock exchange

The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank suspends business with Russia and Belarus in a sign of their deepening pariah status

Ex-Soviet states Georgia and Moldova - which borders Ukraine's threatened south - apply to join the EU

The Beijing Winter Paralympics opens with Russian athletes banned Advertisement

Moscow has, predictably, attempted to deny responsibility for the attack, saying its forces had come under attack by Ukrainian 'saboteurs' while patrolling the plant, who then set fire to the building themselves.

'These statements are simply untrue,' Vassily Nebenzia, the Moscow ambassador to the UN, told the UN Security Council on Friday. 'This is all part of an unprecedented campaign of lies and disinformation against Russia.'

He said Russian troops had exchanged small arms fire with Ukrainian forces at Europe's largest atomic power plant in Zaporizhzhia but had not shelled the facility.

Ukraine is home to three other active nuclear power plants, one of which is located 70 miles from the city of Mykolaiv which Russian forces have begun attacking after seizing nearby Kherson. The other two active sites are located in the west and are not currently under threat, though that situation could change as the Russian attack branches out. Ukraine also has five sites which are out of action, including Chernobyl, but could still pose a risk if hit by shells.

President Zelensky said the attack on Zaporizhzhia could have caused a crisis equivalent to 'six Chernobyls' - referencing the fact that the modern-day plant has six reactors while the Soviet-era disaster affected only one - and called on Russians to end the fighting.

In 2011, a 33ft-high tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people crashed into Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant.

This led to several meltdowns, allowing harmful radioactive fuel rods and debris to escape from contained areas.

Approaching a decade after the disaster, researchers are still struggling to clean up fuel in the waters of the wasting reactors.

It's estimated plant officials have only located 10 per cent of the waste fuel left behind after the nuclear meltdowns.

And the damaged plant is believed to be leaking small amounts of the radioactive waste into the Pacific Ocean, which could be travelling as far as the west coast of the United States.

Authorities are encouraging evacuees to return, but the population in the Fukushima prefecture has more than halved from some two million in the pre-disaster period.

The threat comes as

Russia's war against Ukraine is now entering its ninth day and shows no sign of stopping any time soon after talks between the two sides yesterday broke up without agreement, before Vladimir Putin went on TV to declare that he would keep battling for 'total victory' while he spouted propaganda that Russia's forces are not deliberately targeting civilians and that the 'special operation' is proceeding on time with all of its major objectives completed to schedule.

Mykolaiv, a city to the west of Kherson which is now under Russian control, came under attack on Friday morning with the mayor saying troops had moved into the outskirts. Mykolaiv is located along the road to Odessa, Ukraine's third-largest city and main port, which is increasingly at risk of coming under siege.

The city of Mariupol, on the other side of the Crimean peninsula, also continues under heavy bombardment as Moscow's men try to bomb it into submission - with the aim seeming to be cutting off Ukrainian access to the Black Sea to deny the government access to lucrative trading routes.

Fighting is also continuing across the north and east, with Ukrainian special forces ambushing and destroying Russian tanks and armoured vehicles at Hostomel - to the west of the city - and Brovary - to the east - late yesterday and this morning. Ukraine also claimed its jets have targeted part of a 40-mile convoy currently stalled outside the city, amid fears it would encircle the capital and bombard it.

Meanwhile Chernihiv, to the north east of Kyiv, and Kharkiv, in Ukraine's east, were braced for more heavy shelling today after days of increasingly indiscriminate attacks including with banned cluster munitions have left dozens of civilians dead. Officials in Chernihiv said this morning that 47 people died in attacks yesterday.

Boris Johnson accused Russia of 'threatening the security of the whole of Europe' after Putin's troops attacked the continent's largest nuclear power plant overnight, sparking a fire that raged for hours before emergency crews were eventually allowed to extinguish it as Russian soldiers seized the complex.

Mr Johnson condemned the attack as 'reckless' after a phone call with President Volodymyr Zelensky who branded it 'nuclear terrorism'. Jens Stoltenberg, who is in Brussels today to meet with NATO allies, denounced attacks on all civilian infrastructure and said the fire at the plant underlined the need to end Putin's war as soon as possible.

President Putin has been stepping up actions on the home front, intended to head off internal dissent about the war as combat proves fiercer and harder than his generals anticipated, and western sanctions destroy large chunks of the economy.

Russia's rubber-stamp parliament on Friday approved new laws that would see anyone spreading 'fake news' about the invasion jailed for up to 15 years. Putin had previously threatened and shut down radio and TV stations referring to the 'war' or 'invasion' of Ukraine - which Moscow prefers to call a 'special military operation'.

Moscow also admitted to limiting news from outside sources getting into the country, with the BBC, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, independent Russian site Meduza and Germany's Deutsche Welle all restricted, while access to Facebook has been blocked.

Putin has also gone after peaceful protesters, with thousands arrested while marching in rallies around the country asking for the conflict to end.

Meanwhile diplomats from NATO, the EU and G7 will hold a series of back-to-back meetings today in order to discuss next steps in the crisis, with discussions expected to focus on reinforcing NATO's eastern flank in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, supporting non-NATO states such as Moldova and Georgia, and calls for more military support to be sent to Ukraine.

Fire-damaged buildings at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear complex are pictured on Friday morning after coming under attack by Russian forces overnight, leading to international condemnation

A damaged Russian attack truck is seen outside Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (left) and damage to a training building at the plant is seen with fire crews putting it out (right)

A column of Russian tanks, armoured vehicles and support trucks is seen at the Zaporizhzhia plant after it was seized

Sparks erupt from an administration building (bottom right) as a live steam video shot from a larger office block behind it films Russian tanks opening fire on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the early hours of Friday morning

A projectile (the bright light, bottom left) lands in a car park at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, damaging cars in the area

Russian armoured vehicles and troops attacked the nuclear power plant in the early hours of Friday, shooting and shelling guards holed up in administrative buildings near the nuclear reactors - setting one of them on fire

Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the UN's nuclear energy watchdog, outlines where the building that caught fire was in relation to the six reactors at Zaporizhzhia

Zaporizhzhia has six nuclear reactors, making it the largest of its kind in Europe, and accounts for about one quarter of Ukraine's power generation. One report said the fire was about 150 meters away from one of the reactors

Russia is continuing to advance in southern Ukraine, with Mariupol under bombardment and Odessa and Mykolaiv under threat. Chernihiv, in the north, and Kharkiv, in the east, continue to come under heavy bombardment. The capital Kyiv is also under threat, though Ukrainian counter-attacks took out some Russian forces early on Friday

President Zelensky has 'survived three assassination attempts in the past week' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly survived three assassination attempted in the last week. Mercenaries from the Kremlin-backed Wagner group and Chechen special forces were both allegedly sent to kill the Ukrainian president since Russia's invasion began last week. The assassins were foiled by subversive anti-war members within Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) - Russia's successor to the KGB - who alerted Ukraine officials, The Times reported. Ukraine Secretary of National Security and Defense confirmed the three assassination attempts and told local press that he had received information from the double agents 'who do not want to take part in this bloody war.' One of the groups that reportedly tried to kill Zelensky, 44, was the Wagner Group - which has 400 members located in Kyiv as members infiltrated Ukraine with a 24-name 'kill list.' If the attempt was success, Russian President Vladimir Putin would have been able to deny any involvement. 'They would be going in there with a very high-profile mission, something that the Russians would want to be deniable  a decapitation of a head of state is a huge mission,' a source told the Times. 'In terms of the impact on Russian sovereign policy, this would be perhaps their biggest mission so far. It would have a major impact on the war.' The army-for-hire, run by oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin - a close ally of the Russian president who is often dubbed 'Putin's chef' - was flown in five weeks ago and is being offered a huge sum for the mission. A few days ago, the highly-trained operatives were said to be waiting for the green light from the Kremlin to pounce, with their hit list also including Ukraine's prime minister, the entire cabinet, mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir - both boxing champions who have become iconic figures on the front lines of the capital. The plan was sabotaged after they reached the upper echelons of the Ukrainian government on Saturday morning, prompting Kyiv to declare a 36-hour 'hard' curfew, ordering everyone indoors so that soldiers could sweep the streets for Russian saboteurs. Advertisement

President Zelensky accused Russia on Friday of unleashing 'nuclear terror' after his forces attacked the plant, claiming the Russian leader wanted to repeat the Chernobyl disaster - considered the worst nuclear disaster in history.

'You know the word Chernobyl,' he said in a video posted on Friday morning, calling on Russia to stop its attack on a nuclear power plant 350 miles south of Kyiv.

'No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power units.

'This is the first time in our history. In the history of mankind.

'The terrorist state now resorted to nuclear terror,' he said in the video message.

Zelensky said: 'Europe needs to wake up. The biggest nuclear power plant in Europe is on fire right now.

'Russian tanks are shooting at the nuclear blocks. These are tanks equipped with thermal imagers, so they know what they are aiming at.'

Meanwhile, Moscow's isolation deepened on Friday, with Airbnb becoming the latest company to pull out of the country - following Ikea, BP, Shell, HSBC, Apple and Nike.

'Airbnb is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus,' tweeted the CEO, Brian Chesky.

Intel and Airbnb announced they were pausing business in Russia and Belarus on Thursday, joining a US tech freeze-out of Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

The United States and European allies have imposed tough sanctions on Russia over the attack, with major corporations across a range of industries following suit by freezing business in the country.

Apple has halted all product sales in Russia and limited the use of Apple Pay, while Facebook, YouTube and Microsoft have moved to curb the reach of Russian state-linked news outlets.

'Intel condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and we have suspended all shipments to customers in both Russia and Belarus,' the chipmaker said in a statement.

'Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by this war.'

Airbnb's co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky, who has added a Ukrainian flag to his Twitter profile, tweeted that the company 'is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus,' without giving further details.

The vacation-rentals platform also announced on Monday that it would offer free short-term stays for up to 100,000 people fleeing fighting in Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the Russian offensive, one million refugees have left the Eastern European country, the United Nations said Thursday.

Airbnb's offer echoes aid extended by the firm last August to people escaping Afghanistan after the Taliban took power.

The California-based company has also faced scrutiny over its presence in China in recent weeks.

Meanwhile NATO foreign ministers were meeting today to discuss their next steps over the war, with Canada's top diplomat Melanie Joly saying that 'all options' - including a no-fly zone over Ukraine - should be discussed.

President Zelensky has been calling for a zone to be established over Ukraine to stop Russian jets from bombing cities, but establishing such a zone would require NATO aircraft and anti-aircraft batteries intervening directly in the fighting in what Moscow is almost-certain to view as a declaration of war.

Joly stressed that she is not in favour of a no-fly zone and said NATO's top priority remains stopping the Ukraine war from spiralling into a world war, but added that 'we want to make sure scenarios are being discussed'.

The Prime Minister of Lithuania, whose country would be on the frontlines if fighting broke out between Russia and NATO, said demands for a no-fly zone are 'irresponsible.'

The shelling of the plant came as the Russian military pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea.

As the invasion entered its second week, another round of talks between Russia and Ukraine yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.

Leading nuclear authorities were worried - but not panicked - about the damage to the power station. The assault, however, led to phone calls between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders. The U.S. Department of Energy activated its nuclear incident response team as a precaution.

Earlier, nuclear plant spokesman Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television that shells fell directly on the facility and set fire to one of its six reactors. That reactor is under renovation and not operating, he said.

The Zaporizhzhia regional military administration said that measurements taken at 7 a.m. Friday (0500 GMT) showed radiation levels in the region 'remain unchanged and do not endanger the lives and health of the population.'

The mayor of Enerhodar, Dmytro Orlov, announced on his Telegram channel Friday morning that 'the fire at the (nuclear plant) has indeed been extinguished.' His office told The Associated Press that the information came from firefighters who were allowed onto the site overnight.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council in 'coming hours' to raise the issue of Russia's attack on the nuclear power plant, according to a statement from his office.

Zelensky said Russia's attack on the power plant amounted to 'nuclear terror' that threatened all of Europe

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tweeted that the Zaporizhzhia plant's reactors were protected by robust containment structures and were being safely shut down.

In an emotional speech in the middle of the night, Zelenskyy said he feared an explosion that would be 'the end for everyone. The end for Europe. The evacuation of Europe.'

'Only urgent action by Europe can stop the Russian troops,' he said. 'Do not allow the death of Europe from a catastrophe at a nuclear power station.'

But most experts saw nothing to indicate an impending disaster.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the fire had not affected essential equipment and that Ukraine's nuclear regulator reported no change in radiation levels. The American Nuclear Society concurred, saying that the latest radiation levels remained within natural background levels.

'The real threat to Ukrainian lives continues to be the violent invasion and bombing of their country,' the group said in a statement.

Orlov, the mayor of Enerhodar, said Russian shelling stopped a few hours before dawn, and residents of the city of more than 50,000 who had stayed in shelters overnight could return home. The city awoke with no heat, however, because the shelling damaged the city's heating main, he said.

Prior to the shelling, the Ukrainian state atomic energy company reported that a Russian military column was heading toward the nuclear plant. Loud shots and rocket fire were heard late Thursday.

Later, a livestreamed security camera linked from the homepage of the Zaporizhzhia plant showed what appeared to be armored vehicles rolling into the facility's parking lot and shining spotlights on the building where the camera was mounted.

Then there were what appeared to be muzzle flashes from vehicles, followed by nearly simultaneous explosions in surrounding buildings. Smoke rose into the frame and drifted away.

Vladimir Putin's forces have brought their superior firepower to bear over the past few days, launching hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites around the country and making significant gains in the south.

The Ukrainian military shot down a Russian Su-25 aircraft over the city of Volnovaha, in the Donbass according to the General Staff of the armed forces. Pilot ejected

A destroyed Russian tank is seen on the road near Brovary, to the east of Kyiv, after being destroyed on Friday morning

Ukraine says two tanks and three infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed in an early-morning attack near Brovary, Kyiv

A destroyed Ukrainian army tank in the settlement of Gnutovo outside Mariupol is shown in images taken by Russian forces

Burning apartment buildings are seen in Mariupol, which has now been under days of heavy shelling by Russian forces

Fire is seen in Mariupol at a residential area after shelling amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Gutted shops are seen in the Black Sea port city of Odessa, which has been under heavy attack by the Russian military

Russia claims to be avoiding civilian areas, but pictures from Mariupol show shops, restaurants and apartments have been hit

School hit during the Russian air raids in Zhytomyr, a city around 80 miles to the west of Kyiv, which was struck this week

Parts of a maternity hospital were damaged in Russian strikes on Zhytomyr, which seemed to have missed a police station

Damage is seen in one of the rooms of a maternity hospital in Zhytomyr after Russian air strikes on the city

A view of damaged building after the shelling is said by Russian forces in Ukraine's second-biggest city of Kharkiv

People walk past the remains of a missile at a bus terminal, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv

The Russians announced the capture of the southern city of Kherson, a vital Black Sea port of 280,000, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed the takeover of the government headquarters there, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

A Russian airstrike on Thursday destroyed the power plant in Okhtyrka, leaving the city without heat or electricity, the head of the region said on Telegram. In the first days of the war, Russian troops attacked a military base in the city, located between Kharkiv and Kyiv, and officials said more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed.

'We are trying to figure out how to get people out of the city urgently because in a day the apartment buildings will turn into a cold stone trap without water, light or electricity,' Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea. The battles have knocked out the city's electricity, heat and water systems, as well as most phone service, officials said. Food deliveries to the city were also cut.

Associated Press video from the port city showed the assault lighting up the darkening sky above deserted streets and medical teams treating civilians, including a 16-year-old boy inside a clinic who could not be saved. The child was playing soccer when he was wounded in the shelling, according to his father, who cradled the boy's head on the gurney and cried.

Severing Ukraine's access to the Black and Azov seas would deal a crippling blow to its economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, seized by Moscow in 2014.

Overall, the outnumbered, outgunned Ukrainians have put up stiff resistance, staving off the swift victory that Russia appeared to have expected. But a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia's seizure of Crimea gave it a logistical advantage in that part of the country, with shorter supply lines that smoothed the offensive there.

Ukrainian leaders called on the people to defend their homeland by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear. In recent days, authorities have issued weapons to civilians and taught them how to make Molotov cocktails.

'Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card, and this is what we can do best in the world,' Oleksiy Arestovich, an aide to Zelenskyy, said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in neighboring Belarus. But the two sides appeared far apart going into the meeting, and Putin warned Ukraine that it must quickly accept the Kremlin's demand for its 'demilitarization' and declare itself neutral, renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron he was determined to press on with his attack 'until the end,' according to Macron's office.

The two sides said that they tentatively agreed to allow cease-fires in areas designated safe corridors, and that they would seek to work out the necessary details quickly. A Zelenskyy adviser also said a third round of talks will be held early next week.

Despite a profusion of evidence of civilian casualties and destruction of property by the Russian military, Putin decried what he called an 'anti-Russian disinformation campaign' and insisted that Moscow uses 'only precision weapons to exclusively destroy military infrastructure.'

Putin claimed that the Russian military had already offered safe corridors for civilians to flee, but he asserted without evidence that Ukrainian 'neo-Nazis' were preventing people from leaving and were using them as human shields.

The Pentagon set up a direct communication link to Russia's Ministry of Defense earlier this week to avoid the possibility of a miscalculation sparking conflict between Moscow and Washington, according to a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the link had not been announced.

A destroyed car is seen in front of a partially-collapsed apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, after Russian shelling

An office block in central Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, has been destroyed in Russian attacks in the last few days

Civilian and administrational infrastructure damaged in Russian shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine

Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a warehouse after shelling by Russian forces in the village of Chaiky in the Kyiv region

People stand next to a shell crater in front of a house damaged by recent shelling in the village of Hatne in the Kyiv region

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the start of an extraordinary meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, center, right, poses with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, center left, during an extraordinary NATO foreign ministers meeting

On Wednesday Ukrainian civilians built makeshift roadblocks with bright orange lorries and piles of tyres on the main route to the Zaporizhzhia site.

Brandishing Ukrainian flags, the army of volunteers created a human barricade near the city of Enerhodar to stop advancing Russian troops.

Footage posted on social media showed the blockade, reportedly a kilometre long and comprising scrap cars, garbage trucks and sandbags.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior ministry, warned on Wednesday the Russians could create a 'new Chernobyl' if the plant was damaged.

'Because of Vladimir Putin's madness, Europe is again on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe,' he wrote on Facebook.

'The city where the largest nuclear power plant in Europe is located is preparing for a battle with the invaders. An accident can happen like at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant or the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

'Russian generals  think again! Radiation does not know nationalities, does not spare anyone!'

Russia has written to the International Atomic Energy Agency saying its forces have taken control of the area around the plant.

The UN nuclear watchdog said Moscow claimed technicians at Zaporizhzhia were continuing their 'work on providing nuclear safety and monitoring radiation in normal mode of operation'.

The letter on Wednesday added: 'The radiation levels remain normal.'

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned on Wednesday that any 'accident involving the nuclear facilities in Ukraine could have severe consequences for public health and the environment'.

He said it was 'imperative to ensure that the brave people who operate, regulate, inspect and assess the nuclear facilities in Ukraine can continue to do their indispensable jobs safely, unimpeded and without undue pressure'.

Jan Vande Putte, co-author of the risk analysis, said: 'So long as this war continues the military threat to Ukraine's nuclear plants will remain.

'This is one further reason, amongst so many, why Putin needs to immediately cease his war on Ukraine.'

The fight to protect Zaporizhzhia is symbolic of the everyday heroism shown by the Ukrainian people.

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, told the BBC he had seen a line 'hours long' of civilians queuing up to get weapons.

'Right now, people are proud,' the former world champion boxer said.

His brother Wladimir, who was also a top fighter, said: 'This is our home. Our parents are buried here, our children go to school here.

'Why should we flee? What would you do if someone gets in to your house? You defend it.'

Huge plums of black smoke and fire were seen coming from a makeshift barricade on the main route to the Zaporizhzhia site in eastern Ukraine, as an air raid siren wailed in the background

The footage, taken earlier today, showed armed men holding guns and wearing bulletproof vests as rounds of ammunition appeared to be fired by Russian troops

Footage posted on social media showed the blockade, reportedly a kilometre long and comprising scrap cars, garbage trucks and sandbags

Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians defied Russian troops on Wednesday in a bid to protect Europe's largest nuclear plant Zaporizhzhia

Could Ukraine nuclear plant REALLY trigger a blast '10 times larger than Chernobyl'? Experts say 'contained' reactors at Zaporizhzhia won't explode like 1986 disaster - but damage to cooling system may mirror 2011 Fukushima accident

BY SAM TONKIN AND JONATHAN CHADWICK FOR MAILONLINE

Nuclear experts have quelled fears that Europe's largest nuclear power plant is at risk of becoming 'another Chernobyl', after Russia's 'reckless' overnight shelling attack sparked a fire at the site.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky branded the offensive 'nuclear terrorism', while Foreign Affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted: 'If it [the plant] blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chernobyl!'

The latest chapter in the ongoing conflict has raised fears of a nuclear blast that could affect all of central Europe for decades, similar to Chernobyl near Pripyat in Ukraine in April 1986  the worst nuclear disaster in history.

But experts say this is very unlikely, in part because of the differences in design between Zaporizhzhia and Chernobyl.

The six nuclear power reactors at Zaporizhzhia are not Chernobyl-type reactors, but pressurised water reactors, brought online between 1985 and 1995.

Unlike Chernobyl, the reactors are also housed in thick steel reinforced concrete containment units which are built to withstand extreme explosions, such as an aircraft crash.

One nuclear expert said the 'worst-case scenario' for Zaporizhzhia would be similar to what happened at Fukushima in Japan in 2011, a disaster which unlike Chernobyl did not result in any direct fatalities.

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Zaporizhzhia's nuclear reactors are contained  they have a shell of metal and cement around them. Chernobyl had NO containment around the nuclear reactors. Also, Zaporizhzhia's nuclear reactors are water-moderated; Chernobyl's were graphite-moderated. (Nuclear reactor moderators reduce the speed of neutrons and allow a nuclear reaction to be sustained)

Nuclear experts have quelled fears that Europe's largest nuclear power plant is at risk of becoming 'another Chernobyl', after Russia's 'reckless' overnight shelling attack sparked a fire at the site (pictured)

Six power units generate 40-42 billion kWh of electricity making the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant the largest nuclear power plant not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe

Russian armoured vehicles and troops attacked the nuclear power plant in the early hours of Friday, shooting and shelling guards holed up in administrative buildings near the nuclear reactors - setting one of them on fire

CHERNOBYL AND FUKUSHIMA The Fukushima meltdown of March 2011, caused by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, was the most extensive nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. A steady stream of toxic, radioactive materials spewed into the atmosphere and forced thousands nearby to flee their homes. But most of the released radioactive material was dumped in the Pacific  and only 19 per cent of the released material was deposited over land  keeping the exposed population relatively small. There were no deaths directly caused by the meltdown, although in 2018 one worker in charge of measuring radiation at the plant died of lung cancer caused by radiation exposure. The April 1986 explosion at Chernobyl, meanwhile, blanketed the western Soviet Union and Europe with radiation  leading to the largest man-made environmental disaster in history  and the largest ever nuclear disaster. Chernobyl's number-four reactor, in what was then the Soviet Union and is now Ukraine, exploded April 25, 1986, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe and becoming the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster. Two reactor employees were killed in the explosion and 134 were hospitalized with acute radiation poisoning. Of them, 28 died and another 14 succumbed to suspected radiation-induced cancer in the years that followed. Advertisement

At Fukushima, water from a 33ft (10m)-high tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people overwhelmed the defensive sea wall and flooded the power plant.

It also knocked out emergency generators which provide power to the cooling system.

Professor David Fletcher, who previously worked at UK Atomic Energy and is now at the University of Sydney, said: 'At present it seems as though it is only ancillary buildings that have been damaged by Russian missiles.

'The real concern is not a catastrophic explosion as happened at Chernobyl but damage to the cooling system which is required even when the reactor is shut down.

'It was this type of damage that led to the Fukushima accident.'

While Chernobyl had graphite moderated reactors, Zaporizhzhia uses water moderated reactors which are generally considered safer.

In nuclear reactors, a moderator is used to reduce the speed of fast neutrons. (At Zaporizhzhia, the moderator used is the same material as the coolant  water.)

'At Chernobyl, the graphite moderator (an essential part of maintaining the nuclear chain reaction) caught on fire and burned for 10 days,' Professor Claire Corkhill, nuclear materials expert at the University of Sheffield, told MailOnline.

'The radioactive smoke from the reactors was taken high up into the atmosphere, which is the reason why the spread of radiation was so vast, all over Europe.'

'The same could not happen at Zaporizhzhia because there is no graphite. Any release in radiation would be much more localised.'

Another advantage in the design of Zaporizhzhia, when compared to older style nuclear plants, is that the core of the reactor contains less uranium.

This lowers the risk of additional fission events happening and therefore makes the reactor safer and more controllable.

It stops the reaction from 'running away with itself' and exploding like it did at Chernobyl, when a sudden power surge caused by human error resulted in a massive reactor explosion.

This exposed the core and blanketed the western Soviet Union and Europe with radiation.

According to Dr Mark Wenman, Reader in Nuclear Materials at Nuclear Energy Futures, Imperial College London, Zaporizhzia's six pressurised water reactor units produce a fifth of Ukraine's electricity.

Unlike Chernobyl, they are well-protected in the event of a direct strike  although whether doing this would be in Russia's interests is questionable.

'The plant is a relatively modern reactor design and as such the essential reactor components are housed inside a heavily steel reinforced concrete containment building that can withstand extreme external events, both natural and man-made, such as an aircraft crash or explosions,' Dr Mark Wenman said.

'The reactor core is itself further housed in a sealed steel pressure vessel with 20cm [8 inch] thick walls.

'The design is a lot different to the Chernobyl reactor, which did not have a containment building, and hence there is no real risk, in my opinion, at the plant now the reactors have been safely shut down.'

But despite the reassurance, some experts have warned that the containment structure may not hold up against missiles.

Russia is continuing to advance in southern Ukraine, with Mariupol under bombardment and Odessa and Mykolaiv under threat. Chernihiv, in the north, and Kharkiv, in the east, continue to come under heavy bombardment. The capital Kyiv is also under threat, though Ukrainian counter-attacks took out some Russian forces early on Friday

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), points on a map of the Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as he informs the press about the situation of nuclear powerplants in Ukraine during a special press conference at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria on March 4, 2022

Ukraine war: The latest Fire at Europe's biggest nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia is put out after Ukraine accuses Russia of 'nuclear terror' in shelling the plant. Russian troops later take the reactors

Diplomats from NATO, the EU and G7 will all meet in Europe today to discuss next moves to contain crisis

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Robin Grimes, professor of materials physics at Imperial College London, said: 'The pressure vessel is very robust and can withstand considerable damage from phenomena such as earthquakes and to an extent kinetic impacts.

'It is not designed to withstand explosive ordinance such as artillery shells.

'While it seems to me unlikely that such an impact would result in a Chernobyl-like nuclear event, a breach of the pressure vessel would be followed by the release of coolant pressure, scattering nuclear fuel debris across the vicinity of the plant and a cloud of coolant with some entrained particles reaching further.'

Only one of Zaporizhzhia's six reactors now appears to be operating, according to State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, while the others are being cooled.

'Now we know that they are putting the reactors into cold shutdown, which means they do not need external electricity supplies to keep the fuel cool,' Professor Corkhill said.

'In this situation, the fuel is safe and not hot enough to cause a meltdown. Therefore, there would be no loss-of-coolant accident once the reactors are shut down.'

Since Russia's attack concerns have slightly subsided after Ukrainian authorities announced that the fire had been extinguished by the Ukrainian State Emergency Service units.

However, one concern, raised by Ukraine's state nuclear regulator, is that if fighting interrupts power supply to the nuclear plant, it would be forced to use less-reliable diesel generators to provide emergency power to operating cooling systems.

A failure of those systems could lead to a disaster similar to that of Japan's Fukushima plant, when a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed cooling systems, triggering meltdowns in three of its nuclear reactors.

Zaporizhzhia, which was built between 1984 and 1995, is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and the ninth largest in the world.

One of the primary differences between Zaporizhzhia and Chernobyl (which began construction in 1972) is that Chernobyl did not have a containment system around its reactors.

So once they had an accident, they had massive releases of radioactive materials, according to Dale Klein, former chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Klein told Bloomberg that Zaporizhzhia's reactors are protected with thick metal and cement shells, designed to withstand earthquakes and big explosions.

'Depending on what type of artillery shells they are firing, it is not likely they will break out the containment buildings,' Klein said.

Professor Tom Scott, Professor in Materials at the University of Bristol, also said: 'Shelling nuclear power plants is against the Geneva convention and this is obviously very worrying.

'The good news is that radiation levels around the plant are reportedly normal and five of the six reactors are now turned off, with one still operating.

'The reactors are all pressurised water reactors and hence don't have graphite cores which could set on fire as per Chernobyl.

'Their inherent safety design should mean they are naturally quite resilient to any external perturbations and hence I am not overly concerned that inadvertent damage could cause a major nuclear incident.

'However, it would be more concerning if the reactors were being deliberately targeted to induce a nuclear incident.'

A Nuclear Industry Association spokesperson said: 'We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Russian military attacks around the Zaporizhzhia plant that have endangered the lives of nuclear workers bravely discharging their duties.

'We commend the extraordinary dedication of the station's staff and operators in what are terrible circumstances and emphatically endorse the IAEA's call for a halt to all use of force around Ukraine's nuclear power plants.

'We understand that the fire at the plant was not in the reactor buildings, has been extinguished and has not affected essential equipment with no reported change in radiation levels.

The spokesperson said it will continue to monitor developments at Zaporizhzhia.

In this satellite view, the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power plant is seen after the massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 14, 2011 in Futaba, Japan

A power-generating unit at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the city of Enerhodar, in southern Ukraine, is shown on June 12, 2008

Zaporizhzhia has six nuclear reactors, making it the largest of its kind in Europe, and accounts for about one quarter of Ukraine's power generation. One report said the fire was about 150 meters away from one of the reactors
After a promising debut, Donald Trump's Truth Social app's hype train seems to be derailing. People are losing interest while its creator appears disinterested in using his own app.

Truth Social Users Stuck in Line

Almost a week after a fiery launch of the app, hundreds of thousands or maybe even millions of would-be Truth Social users remain in the "waitlist abyss."

Feeling a bit let down by Truth Social. Been number 937989 in WAITLIST ABYSS for 3 days. Theyre opening strikes me as pretty LAME. I hope this is not indicative of how the site will function once my account is set up/IF it is ever set up.  Kathryn (@kittykwinmn) March 2, 2022

This frustration has been building on social media with some people already expressing their waning interest. Some have created accounts just minutes after Donald Trump's social media app became available and yet remain in the waitlist with no signs of moving up.

Im losing interest in Truth - they never let anyone new in, so theres not many people there.  Catturd  (@catturd2) February 28, 2022

Twitter Error

Journalists also tried to get on the app, but they also faced the same problems.

"The wait list aspect - it seems most people can't even use the service - was particularly odd," said Kara Swisher from New York Times. She started at waitlist number 248,496 and then rose to 169,495. But then a little while later, she fell back to 249,495 without explanation.

Read Also: Biden Calls on Congress To Pass CHIPS Act in SOTU Address

Donald Trump Not Interested in Using Truth Social

While some so-called "truthers" cannot wait to access the app, its creator does not seem to care about it at all. As of this moment, Donald Trump has yet to post on Truth Social. This is extremely odd as the reason why the app was created was for former President Trump to have a platform to speak his mind without any regulation.

For those out of the loop, Trump has been banned in a number of social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, while some channels and groups dedicated to his cause were also banned on Reddit, Facebook, and Discord.

Trump's disinterest in the app comes as a surprise considering the unprecedented current events happening in Eastern Europe.

He has actually commented on the issue days ago: "The problem is not that Putin is smart, which, of course, he's smart. The problem is that our leaders are dumb... and so far, allowed him to get away with this travesty and assault on humanity."

As to why he would not use the Truth Social app in sharing his thoughts is anyone's guess. It would have been the perfect way to boost his brand and the social media app's traction.

Future of the Truth Social Media App

Trump's social media app came out last Feb. 21 with a bang. It almost immediately topped the U.S. Apple Store rankings upon its debut. This created excitement mostly from conservatives and even contributed to the rising stock of some companies.

But nine days later, the app has yet to serve the purpose for which it was created.

The problem may be due to a lack of computing power from the app. According to the Truth Social Twitter account, the glitch is due to the app's popularity. The enormous number of potential users were allegedly causing the problem. For comparison, Twitter has about 400 million followers yet users encounter minimal difficulties.

While some people remain steadfast in waiting to access the app and some grow frustrated, others continue to criticize Truth Social for being an echo chamber. Needless to say, they won't be waiting in line.

As for Trump, he might need to act soon because Truth Social is losing ground. From being #1 on the Apple Store rankings upon its launch, the app is now in the 50s.

Related Article: Truth Social App on Android Is a Fake! Here's Where You Can Download Donald Trump's True Social Media App
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has said his human rights were violated by claims he ordered the murder journalist Jamal Khashoggi as he reveals his love for Game of Thrones in an extraordinary interview from his family's Covid 'bunker'.

Khashoggi, a former member of the Saudi royal family turned dissident, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 before being dismembered and disintegrated.

His murder sparked international outrage that continues to reverberate, with Western intelligence agencies accusing the kingdom's de-facto ruler, 36, of authorising the killing - tarnishing his reformist image.

However, the crown prince defended himself today, claiming it was 'obvious' that he had not ordered the killing and the allegations had 'hurt' him a great deal.

In an interview with The Atlantic, given from his Covid 'bunker' palace close to the Red Sea, he said: 'It hurt me and it hurt Saudi Arabia, from a feelings perspective.

'I understand the anger, especially among journalists. I respect their feelings. But we also have feelings here, pain here.'

He continued: 'I feel that human-rights law wasnt applied to me. Article XI of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that any person is innocent until proven guilty.

MbS also defended himself by saying the journalist was not important enough for him to want to kill.

He added that he had 'never read a Khashoggi in his life', before stating that the journalist would not be among his top 1,000 targets to kill 'if that was how we did things'.

'Khashoggi would not even be among the top 1,000 people on the list. If youre going to go for another operation like that, for another person, its got to be professional and its got to be one of the top 1,000', he said.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks during the Gulf Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was allegedly strangled and his body dismembered by Saudi agents

He said that the killing was a 'huge mistake' and hoped no more hit squads would be found.

MbS also told two close aides that the murder the 'worst thing ever to happen to me, because it could have ruined all of my plans' to reform the country.

Following the allegations, MbS says he now wants to return the focus to social and economic reforms that he has pushed through to open up Saudi Arabia and diversify its oil-dependent economy. The plans do not appear to include wide political reform.

The crown prince also gave an insight into his personal life during the interview, revealing how he tries to limit his Twitter usage and eats breakfast every day with his children.

Discussing what he does for enjoyment, MBS said he watches television, but avoids shows that remind him of work such as House of Cards.

However, he did admit to a love for Game of Thrones as it helps him to escape the reality of his job.

Mohammed Bin Salman revealed he has a love for Game of Thrones (pictured) and tried to limit his Twitter usage

MbS went onto discuss how he did not care whether US President Jo Biden misunderstood things about him, adding that he should be focusing on America's interests.

Prince Mohammed enjoyed close relations with Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.

But since Biden took office in January 2021, the long-standing strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and the US has come under strain over Riyadh's human rights record, especially with respect to the Yemen war and the Khashoggi murder.

And asked whether Saudi Arabia rule could transform into a constitutional monarchy, said no, before adding that the country is 'based on pure monarchy'.
Former President Donald Trump unleashed on several of his rivals in a lengthy statement on Thursday, hours before his future daughter-in-law Kimberly Guilfoyle was subpoenaed by the Capitol riot committee

Donald Trump accused the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot of using 'lies and Marxist tactics' on Thursday after lawmakers said the former president committed 'criminal conspiracy.'

Trump unleashed on several of his rivals in a lengthy statement where he also claimed Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell had a 'steaming hot affair with a Chinese spy' and called former Attorney General Bill Barr a 'broken man.'

'The actual conspiracy to defraud the United States was the Democrats rigging the Election, and the Fake News Media and the Unselect Committee covering it up. Few things could be more fraudulent, or met with more irregularities, than the Presidential Election of 2020,' Trump said through his Save America PAC.

'The evidence is monumental but the Unselect Committee of politically partisan hacks, and someone who had a steaming hot affair with a Chinese spy, hides the facts.'

That 'someone' is in reference to reports that Swalwell, not a member of the committee but one of Trump's most vocal critics in Congress, was targeted by a Chinese spy during his early years in local elected office.

The California congressman was reportedly one of several politicians targeted by a Chinese national named Fang Fang, who helped Swalwell fundraise for his 2014 campaign. Axios first broke the story in 2020. Swalwell, who sits on the powerful House Intelligence Committee, cut all ties with Fang in 2015 after being alerted by federal investigators.

A spokesperson for Trump confirmed to DailyMail.com that he was referring to Swalwell.

He claimed the panel's 'sole goal is to try to prevent President Trump, who is leading by large margins in every poll, from running again for president, if I so choose'

In his Thursday statement, Trump alleged the January 6 committee's real goal was not to investigate the Capitol riot but to stop him from running in 2024.

He blamed the insurrection on the fact that 'millions of people in our Country know the Election was Rigged and Stolen' and slammed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not beefing up security ahead of time.

Trump's spokesperson confirmed to DailyMail.com that the person he claimed 'had a steaming hot affair with a Chinese spy' is California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell

'The Unselect Committees sole goal is to try to prevent President Trump, who is leading by large margins in every poll, from running again for president, if I so choose,' he said.

'By so doing they are destroying democracy as we know it. Their lies and Marxist tactics against political opponents will not stop the truth, or the biggest political movement, Make America Great Again/America First, in the history of our Country.'

He also lashed out at his former Attorney General Bill Barr, who on Thursday told NBC News that Trump fired him on the spot when he said the ex-president's 2020 election fraud claims were 'bulls**t.'

While he ran the Justice Department, Trump said, Barr 'was so petrified of being held in contempt or being impeached by the Democrats, which they were constantly threatening him with, that he was virtually a broken man who allowed for the systemic violation of election laws and other things to take place.'

A few hours later the committee subpoenaed former White House personality Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is engaged to his oldest son Donald Trump Jr.

Earlier on Thursday a former Trump communications aide was spotted walking to the ONeill House Office Building, a hub of activity for the Capitol riot committee.

Lawmakers reportedly wanted to Trump deputy press secretary Judd Deere's account of a January 5 Oval Office meeting, the day before the Capitol riot.

Deere had a hand in 'formulating White House's response to the January 6 attack as it occurred,' a January 28 subpoena obtained by CNN read.

Judd Deere (right) a former Trump press deputy, was spotted walking toward the House O'Neill Office Building late on Thursday morning

On Wednesday evening the committee (pictured during a December 2021 hearing) claimed in a court filing that Trump engaged in criminal conspiracy

The committee said it was told Trump asked his staff at the meeting: 'What are your ideas for getting the RINOs to do the right thing tomorrow? How do we convince Congress?'

The Democrat-led panel is closing in on the former president, as a Wednesday court filing indicates. It believes that former Trump violated 'multiple laws' in his attempt to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election.

The court document was filed in federal court in Los Angeles as part of the committee's dispute with John Eastman, a lawyer who advised Trump on a plan to invalidate election results in key battleground states.

Eastman is behind the notorious 'coup memo,' which argued that former Vice President Mike Pence had unilateral power to overturn Trump's loss to Joe Biden.

The former law professor has sued the committee in a bid to block thousands of documents from being released.

The Democrat-led bipartisan panel is investigating the former president's role in the January 6 insurrection last year

The committee argues that Eastman must testify because they believe he and others, including Trump, 'may have engaged in criminal and/or fraudulent acts' in their attempts to overturn the election.'

It claimed in the Wednesday filing that they have enough evidence to show 'a good-faith basis for concluding that President Trump has violated section 18 U.S.C.  1512(c)(2),' or the obstruction of an official act of Congress.

The panel believes that Trump and his associates did this and did so with the intent to break the law.

The House Committee added that it has 'a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States in violation of 18 U.S.C.  371.'

Eastman, who is currently being investigated by the California State Bar Association, cited attorney-client privilege to avoid giving testimony.
A Kentucky state representative sparked fury by telling his legislature that Jewish women suffered less cervical cancer because they have fewer sex partners, and that an abortion drug was used in gas chambers

State Rep. Danny Bentley - a qualified pharmacist - stood on the floor debating House Bill 3, an omnibus anti-abortion bill that passed 77-20 later that day when he made the jaw-dropping remarks.

'In fact the person who developed it was a Jew, since we brought up the Hebrew family today,' Bentley said, going on to theorize about the sex lives of Jewish women.

'Did you know that a Jewish woman has less cancer of the cervix than any other race in this country or this world? And why is that? Because the Jewish women only have one sex partner They don't have multiple sex partners. To say that the Jewish people approve of this drug now is wrong.'

The Republican lawmaker spoke after wrongly claiming that RU-486, or Mifepristone - one of two pills taken to end an early pregnancy - was created during World War II and was originally called Zyklon B, a cyanide-based gas that was used to kill Jews during the Holocaust.

Earlier in the day, a Democratic representative had filed an amendment that would exempt Jewish women from the rules, since the faith does not believe that life begins at conception, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Kentucky Rep. Danny Bentley has apologized for commenting on the sex lives of Jewish women during a debate on an anti-abortion bill on Wednesday

Other lawmakers laughed as Bentley falsely claimed that an abortion pill is derived from a cyanide-based gas used to kill Jewish people in the Holocaust

The Republican's remarks were quickly condemned by Jewish groups and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear

Beshear wrote that there is 'no place for antisemitism in Kentucky' in a tweet Thursday

Bentley's comments were condemned by multiple Jewish organizations and by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who said Thursday that 'there is no place for antisemitism in Kentucky. Not in our communities and not in our government.'

Bentley has represented Kentucky's 98th district in the state House of Representatives since 2017, according to the state website.

He is a pharmacist from Russel, a river town near the borders of West Virginia and Ohio, having earned his doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Kentucky.

Lawmakers sitting behind Bentley laughed as he delivered his speech, but his remarks went uninterrupted.

The Republican apologized for his comments on Wednesday night.

'I meant absolutely no harm in my comments today and sincerely apologize for any they caused. Last week we received a heartbreakingly sad reminder that anti-Semitism still exists in our society and I apologize if my comments today caused similar pain or any doubt that I stand with the Jewish Community against hatred,' he said.

Bentley was likely referring to an anti-Semitic email that was sent to various lawmakers in the Kentucky House last week, the Courier-Journal reports.

The Jewish Federation of Louisville and the American Jewish Committee offered to provide training to legislators about understanding and combating anti-Semitism, and a spokeswoman for Kentucky Senate Republicans said Senate leadership would add sensitivity training on antisemitism to the current annual slate of trainings.

'My intention was to speak as a pharmacist to the history of RU-486 and respond to a proposed amendment. I clearly should have been more sensitive with my comments.'

But state Sen. Karen Berg, a Democrat from Louisville and the only Jewish member of the Kentucky legislature, says the information was wrong anyway.

She says that the drug was indeed developed by a Jewish person, but that it was in the 1980s.

The lawmaker falsely claimed Mifepristone - one of two pills taken to induce abortion - was created during World War II and was originally called Zyklon B, a gas used to kill Jewish people

The medicine was invented by a Jewish person, but in the 1980s, far after World War II

Rep. Bentley is a pharmacist from Russel, a river town near the borders of West Virginia and Ohio. He earned his doctorate in pharmacy from the University of Kentucky

'The first clinical trials on this drug has nothing to do with World War II (and) has nothing to do with the Holocaust,' she told the Courier-Journal. 'That the developer was indeed of Jewish descent... what difference does that make? And why is that being brought up on the floor?'

The American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the National Council of Jewish Women's Louisville Section released a joint statement condemning Bentley's comments Wednesday night.

'On Wednesday, during a hearing on women's reproductive choice, Rep. Danny Bentley went on a bizarre, anti-Semitic rant that included outlandish claims about the sex lives of Jewish women and the outrageous assertion that Jews created the 'abortion pill' during the Holocaust to profit financially,' they said.

'We call on all elected officials and community partners to forcefully denounce anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, especially when they emanate from officials elected to serve the people of the Commonwealth.'

The bill that was being debated, House Bill 3, would ban the shipment of medication used to induce abortions by mail, which is now allowed in many states after a federal rule change that did away with a requirement for an in-person visit.

It would require fetal remains to be buried or cremated.

The legislation would further restricts abortions for underage girls by making it harder for them to get one without parent approval. It also puts the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy in charge of enforcing the rules about the medications, which account for about half of the abortions performed in Kentucky.

It will now move on to the Senate.
Paul Murray has slammed Anthony Albanese for fleeing flood-hit NSW to visit Western Australia and chase votes ahead of the federal election.

The Sky News host accused Mr Albanese of prioritising the election over his disaster-struck homestate as he unloaded on the Labor leader on Thursday night.

Mr Albanese had landed in Perth moments after the hard border came down earlier that day, seizing his opportunity to head west for the first time in almost a year.

He showed off his flashy blue suit as he worked his way around the key battleground state, targeting the Liberal-held seats of Pearce, Hasluck and Swan.

His visit came as NSW was battered by historic floods with one dead, more than 500,000 residents evacuated and premier Dominic Perrottet labelling the disaster a 'one-in-a-1,000 year event'.

The same storms have battered Queensland forcing the closure of schools, cutting power to tens of thousands of homes and killing nine people.

'As you know the cleanup operation is taking place all over NSW and there was a situation in Western Sydney - all of which serious and it should have the total focus of our national leadership,' an outraged Murray said.

Paul Murray has slammed Anthony Albanese for fleeing flood-hit NSW to visit Western Australia and chase votes ahead of the federal election

The Sky News host accused Mr Albanese of prioritising the election over his disaster-struck homestate as he unloaded on the Labor leader on Thursday night

'But of course there's an election to win and somehow the rules don't apply when it comes to "each way Albo".'

Murray accused the Labor party of double standards and questioned why Mr Albanese should be allowed to get away with leaving NSW at such a critical time.

'But what if Scott Morrison did it?' Murray said. 'What if Scott Morrison, the second the borders came down, was able to go to Western Australia? Could you imagine what the reaction would be?'

'I thought that every single hand needed to be helping and unless you're on the frontline of everything, somehow you don't care - that's the standard that "Each Way" and his mates have been screaming for, for the last couple of years.'

NSW Liberal senator Hollie Hughes took to Twitter to heap more criticism onto Mr Albanese.

'While Albos electorate deals with these horrendous floods - rather than getting out there and assisting his local community - he has chosen to sandbag a few votes out in WA the first moment they open their border. Absolutely shameless,' she wrote.

Mr Albanese has defended his decision to visit Western Australia saying that he had promised to visit the state as soon as the borders reopened.

'I said a number of times over almost a year that I would be on the first plane if that was possible,' he told The West Live on Thursday.

'And so, I kept that commitment to Western Australians. I had made a commitment to visit the West ten times a year as a Labor Leader.'

His visit came as NSW was battered by historic floods with one dead, more than 500,000 residents evacuated and premier Dominic Perrottet labelling the disaster a 'one-in-a-1,000 year event' (pictured, Lismore in northeastern NSW)

WA looms as a key battleground in the upcoming federal election, with Labor targeting the Liberal-held seats of Pearce, Hasluck and Swan - all on margins of less than six per cent.

The incumbent MPs for Pearce and Swan, Christian Porter and Steve Irons, are retiring from politics at the election, while Hasluck is held by Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt.

Mr Albanese on Thursday made Pearce his first stop, visiting manufacturing firm Aries Rail in the industrial suburb of Wangara.

Flanked by Labor candidate Tracey Roberts, the opposition leader sought to remind voters that the federal government had - albeit briefly - intervened in support of Clive Palmer's failed constitutional challenge of the WA border closures.

The same storms have battered Queensland forcing the closure of schools, cutting power to tens of thousands of homes and killing nine people (pictured, Lismore)

'If we are successful in May, I want a federal Labor government that works with the Western Australian government and most importantly with the people of Western Australia,' he told reporters.

'The idea that the federal government joined that court case and supported it when Christian Porter, the local member here, was the attorney-general ... just shows how out of touch the Morrison government is when it comes to the needs of looking after Western Australians.'

Mr Albanese later visited a Tesla community battery site in Ellenbrook alongside Hasluck candidate Tania Lawrence and local federal Labor MPs.

He claimed the exit of senior West Australian federal ministers Julie Bishop, Mathias Cormann and Michael Keenan had left the state 'sidelined' in Canberra.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison had hoped to also head west following the border opening but was forced into quarantine after contracting COVID-19.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg denied the government had ignored funding for Western Australia.

'That's just a bald-faced lie, it's bollocks, it's political at its worst,' he told Perth radio station 6PR on Thursday.

Anthony Albanese flew into Perth just after the hard border came down on Thursday morning

Anthony Albanese has hit the campaign trail in Western Australia where Labor hopes to snatch three seats, including Christian Porter's electorate of Pearce.

'We have dispensed more than $14 billion to the people of Western Australia since the start of COVID.'

Mr Albanese was also expected to meet privately with Premier Mark McGowan on Thursday and to engage with local business leaders during his three-day visit to WA.

But questions were raised about the curious timing of Mr McGowan holding his own press conference in Perth while Mr Albanese addressed local media.

The pair did not hold any media events together when Mr Albanese visited during the state election last year.

'I always catch up with Mark McGowan when I'm here. I value his advice, I speak to him regularly and I look forward to working with him before the election,' Mr Albanese said.

'Unless the premier went missing and went on radio silence for three days, then it's inevitable that we'll be doing some things at the same time.'
Hankison is pictured in a file photo taken on the day of the shooting

The only police officer to face charges for the disastrous and ill-planned raid that killed Breonna Taylor in her own home, in her nightclothes, was cleared by a jury on Thursday - leaving the Taylor family still searching for answers.

Brett Hankison, 45, was found not guilty of three counts of wanton endangerment for firing the gunshots that ripped into a neighboring apartment.

He was not charged in connection with Taylor's death, and the circumstances leading up to her killing played little part in Hankison's trial.

And the fact that he was the only office among the three who opened fire that night led to questions over whether he was being scapegoated for the chaos.

He was also the only one of the three who did not fire bullets that killed Taylor, meaning he - unlike the others - was never at risk of facing murder charges.

Hankison, a detective who spent 20 years with the Louisville police, was fired in June 2020 after an internal investigation found his actions created 'substantial danger of death and serious injury' to Taylor and those in her apartment complex.

On the night of March 13, 2020, he was assisting two other officers as a K9 handler.

Ahead of him were Sgt. John Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove.

Mattingly was shot in the leg by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, when the door was broken down.

He, Cosgrove and Hankison all returned fire.

A total of 32 rounds were fired by police, with six of the shots fired by Mattingly and Cosgrove striking Taylor and killing her.

Former Louisville officer Brett Hankison (above) was found not guilty of three counts of wanton endangerment for the botched raid that killed Breonna Taylor

Along with Hankison, Det. Joshua Jaynes (left) and officer Myles Cosgrove (right) were fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department

Walker was left uninjured.

Last year, the attorney general of Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, failed to charge Mattingly and Cosgrove.

In a declaration that sparked widespread anger, he said that both officers were justified in returning fire against Walker.

Both Cosgrove and Hankison were fired from the Louisville Metro Police Department for their actions during the raid, along with Detective Joshua Jaynes - who obtained the controversial no-knock search warrant.

Mattingly resigned from the force.

After Cameron's decision was announced, it emerged that the grand jury deciding whether to charge the officers was never allowed to charge them with murder.

An anonymous juror for the first case against the Hankison, Cosgrove and Mattingly in September 2020 said the jury was never given the option to charge the officers of murder and their decision was misrepresented by Cameron, The New York Times reported.

Hankison was charged with wanton endangerment and booked at the Shelby County Detention Center on September 23, 2020

Two other anonymous jurors echoed the complaint and said that murder charges against the three officer were never on the table.

'After much reflection, Anonymous Grand Juror #3 has joined Anonymous Grand Jurors #1 and #2 in promoting truth and transparency regarding the Breonna Taylor case,' said the law firm representing all three jurors, the Glogower Law Office.

They said that the third juror agreed with her colleagues, and 'firmly supports the fact that no additional charges were allowed'.

The grand jury ended up only indicted Hankison, and only for the lesser charge of wanton endangerment - leading to protests across the country.

Hankison was terminated from the Louisville Metro Police Department in June for violating the department's policies by 'blindly' shooting into the apartment through obstructed sliding glass doors.

In the termination letter, interim Louisville Metro Chief of Police Robert Schroeder said Hankison showed 'extreme indifference to the value of human life.'

Mattingly, who was shot in the leg during the incident, resigned. Both he and Cosgrove never faced charges for their role in the botched raid that led to Breonna Taylor's death

None of the officers involved in shooting that led to Taylor's death have been found guilty of a crime. Taylor (pictured) was struck with six bullets fired by Mattingly and Cosgrove

Hankison also faced uncomfortable questions after the shooting about his life away from the force.

The former police officer occasionally worked off-duty at bars in St. Matthews, including Tin Roof and Sullivan's Tap House.

In the summer of 2020, as protests grew, two women said on social media that Hankison had sexually assaulted them - using his patrol car to pick them up.

One of those women, Margo Borders, filed the lawsuit in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

'He drove me home in uniform, in his marked car, invited himself into my apartment and sexually assaulted me while I was unconscious,' Borders posted June 4, 2020.

She alleges that Hankison 'willfully, intentionally, painfully and violently sexually assaulted' her while she was passed out drunk in April 2018.

'Margo was physically injured, mentally horrified and remained in extreme emotional duress over both the assault and the feeling that any efforts made to hold Officer Hankison accountable for his actions would backfire,' wrote Sam Aguiar, Borders' attorney, in the complaint.

Aguiar also represented Taylor's family in their lawsuit against the city, which settled for a record $12 million.

On Instagram, a second woman, Emily Terry, recounted walking home from a bar in early fall while intoxicated, and a police patrol car pulling up beside her.

'I thought to myself, 'Wow. That is so nice of him,'' Terry wrote.

'And willingly got in. He began making sexual advances towards me; rubbing my thigh, kissing my forehead, and calling me 'baby.'

'Mortified, I did not move. I continued to talk about my grad school experiences and ignored him.

'As soon as he pulled up to my apartment building, I got out of the car and ran to the back.'

Terry wrote that her friend reported the incident the next day, 'and of course nothing came from it.'

Another man claimed that Hankison, in a personal vendetta, planted drugs on him.

Body cam footage of the incident shows the moment Hankison, Cosgrove and Mattingly arrived at the apartment on March 13, 2020 to bust Taylor's boyfriend

When police broke into the building, Kenneth Walker believed they were intruders and fired at them. The police are pictured trying to take cover from the gunfire as they fire back

Hankison ran to the side of the house and fired 10 shots through the sliding glass door (pictured). He was terminated from the force for firing 'blindly'

Hankison is pictured on Thursday as the jury found him not guilty of wanton endangerment. He was the only officer involved in the shooting to be charged with a crime
Mexican Netflix star Pablo Lyle had the start of his manslaughter trial delayed for a sixth time.

Florida 11th Circuit Court judge Diana Vizcaino accepted the actor's request Thursday to postpone the trial and set a new hearing for June 23, in which the parties must let her know if they are ready to proceed.

The trial, which was scheduled for the week of March 14, has now been delayed until July 5.

This is the sixth postponement since the judicial process began in April 2019 after a road rage incident that was sparked March 31 that year when Lyle's brother-in-law, Lucas Delfino, was driving the actor, his wife and two children to the airport and his car crossed paths with that of Juan Ricardo Hernandez Sr., a 63-year-old Cuban who died four days later in a hospital from a brain injury.

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Mexican star actor Pablo Lyle will go on trial in July 5 for a manslaughter charge after he was involved in a fight in which he punched 63-year-old Juan Ricardo Hernandez Sr. on March 31, 2019, in Miami before he died four days later at a hospital

Juan Ricardo Hernandez (pictured) suffered a fractured skull and internal bleeding following the March 31, 2019 road-rage incident with Mexican actor Pablo Lyle

Mexican actor Pablo Lyle (center) charges toward Juan Ricardo Hernandez (right) during a road rage incident moments after Hernandez had attempted to open the door of the vehicle Lyle was being taken to the airport in on March 31, 2019. A fight ensued between Lyle and Hernandez, who was knocked to the ground by the Netflix star. Hernandez suffered a brain injury and died April 4

In a brief virtual hearing, Lyle's attorney Philip Reizenstein explained to the judge that he had spoken with the prosecutors the day before and told them that only one witness statement was missing, a relative of Hernandez Sr.

Reizenstein said that they had previously participated in a mediation with Hernandez Sr.'s family and that the other party's lawyers had contacted him again.

Juan Ricardo Hernandez Jr. filed a $100,000 civil lawsuit, citing 'severe emotional damages.'

'We're in a position where we need a short reprieve,' Reizenstein said. 'This will be resolved or we will go to trial again.'

The prosecution agreed.

'The joint request for postponement is granted,' said Judge Vizcaino.

Juan Ricardo Hernandez Jr. has claimed that the elder Juan Ricardo Hernandez and his family have experience emotional damage as a result of the March 31, 2019 incident that took place in the middle of a busy Miami street. They are seeking $100,000 compensation from Mexican actor Pablo Lyle

Mexican soap opera star Pablo Lyle (right) and his wife Ana Araujo (left) at a April 8, 2019 court hearing in Miami. She is currently in Mexico with the couple's two children

Surveillance video footage taken at the time of the incident showed Juan Ricardo Hernandez Sr. got out of his car at a red light and approached the window of Lyle's vehicle to claim that he had been cut off.

It seemed as if Hernandez Sr. tried to open the driver's door before Delfino got out of his car and argued with Hernandez Sr.

Lyle attempted to stop the car from moving during the commotion and Delfino raced back to put in in park.

Fearing for his family's safety, Lyle left the passenger seat and ran towards Hernandez and punched him in the face.

Hernandez was left lying on the floor, alone, as Lyle's vehicle and his family drove away. A few hours later, the actor was detained at the Miami airport when he was preparing to travel to Mexico.

Pablo Lyle and Juan Ricardo Hernandez Sr. fight while Delfino steps in the vehicle to stop it from moving into a busy Miami intersection

Hernandez suffered a brain injury caused by the trauma and died April 4 died after family members gave doctors the order to have his life support turned off.

Lyle has said that he acted in self-defense because he feared the Cuban would attack him with a gun.

Those allegations, however, were dismissed by another judge and by a higher court, which returned the case to the Miami court to go to trial.

Lyle remains under house arrest and has been staying in Miami with his family. He is required to wear an ankle monitor which allows the court to track his whereabouts 24 hours a day.

His lawyer confirmed to DailyMail.com that his wife and children are in Mexico.

Lyle is best known for his work in Mexican soap opera 'My Adorable Curse' and the Netflix series 'Yankee'.
One man is dead and another seriously injured after a late-night double shooting at a service station.

Police responded to reports of gunshots at the service station at the intersection of Pitt and Neil streets in Merrylands shortly before midnight on Thursday night.

On arrival officers from Cumberland Police Area Command found a 39-year-old man suffering a gunshot wound to his buttocks.

He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to Westmead Hospital in a stable condition.

Police then found the body of a man near the intersection of Fox and Robert Streets, Holroyd. He is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be aged 40.

Police responded to reports of gunshots at the service station at the intersection of Pitt and Neil streets in Merrylands shortly before midnight on Thursday night

Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Danny Doherty said on Friday that a number of shots were fired during the incident.

'This happened on the streets of Sydney, the rain was coming down and at the scene police had to put shelter up because the blood from the victim was running down the gutter,' he said.

Det Insp Doherty said local residents must have heard the shots and appealed for anyone with information to report it to police.

He said both men were known to police and appeared to have been 'ambushed'.

'They are associates, it appears the shooting happened in Fox Street and the man who was injured managed to drive away from that area about six blocks away... that's where Triple Zero were called,' he said.

Specialist forensic police are now examining the two crime scenes while officers conduct a search of the surrounding area.

Detectives from NSW's State Crime Commands Homicide Squad are conducting the investigation under Strike Force Severne.

Police appealed for anyone with dashcam footage or CCTV from the surrounding area to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' wife Casey is now free of breast cancer.

'After going through both treatment and surgery for breast cancer she is now considered cancer free,' the Florida governor said in a video released to Twitter.

'There are no words to express how truly blessed, grateful and humbled I am to hear the words cancer free. To those who are in the fight, know there is hope. Have faith and stay strong,' the Florida first lady added.

Casey, 41, first revealed her diagnosis in October. Inspired by his wife's battle, DeSantis has proposed increasing the state's budget for cancer research by 60 percent, bringing the total to $100 million.

'For all the woman who are going through breast cancer right now, you can overcome this. I know its very difficult, but my wife is proof-positive,' the governor said.

'She still has more to do but I'm confident shes gonna make a full recovery,' he continued.

In recent months, Casey, a former television host who plays a visible role in her husband's administration, has been making visits to children's hospitals and cancer centers, discussing the importance of early screening and bolstering the spirits of cancer patients undergoing chemo.

Casey, 41, first revealed her diagnosis in October

Casey married the now-governor in 2010 and the couple has three children: Madison, five, Mason, three, and Maime, one

DeSantis' funding initiative needs the approval of the state legislature, which is currently considering the 2022-23 budget for Florida.

Casey married the now-governor in 2010 and the couple has three children: Madison, five, Mason, three, and Maime, one.

'All of you have had thoughts and prayers that have been given to my family and my wife, I just wanted to let you know thank you for doing that it's lifted her spirits it's made a tremendous difference,' DeSantis said.

The governor, 43, is considered a top GOP contender for the presidential nomination. He has refused to say whether he would back down from a run if Donald Trump were to run again, causing friction in their once air-tight alliance.

Inspired by his wife's battle, DeSantis has proposed increasing the state's budget for cancer research by 60 percent, bringing the total to $100 million

Most recently, DeSantis has garnered headlines for saying this week he rejected a request from President Biden to send up Florida National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. for added protection during the State of the Union.

He later said he snoozed through Biden's Tuesday address and heckled a group of college students for wearing masks.

'You do not have to wear those masks. I mean, please take them off,' DeSantis said during a speech at the University of South Florida. 'Honestly it's not doing anything and we've gotta stop with this COVID theater.'
Former President Donald Trump must turn over documents to the New York attorney general's investigation into his business affairs by the end of the month but will not now have to answer questions under oath while he appeals a judge's order to testify, according to a new deal.

The agreement was struck on Thursday between the former president, his oldest children Don Jr. and Ivanka Trump, and the prosecutor Letitia James.

It means they will now have to testify within two weeks of their appeal failing, likely delaying the process for several months.

Last month, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron ordered the Trump to appear for depositions within three weeks.

They immediately appealed.

In a letter to the judge, Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in the attorney general's office, said the two sides had reached an agreement 'in the interest of efficiency for both the parties and the court' to 'extend the time for the Trump Respondents to appear for testimony until two weeks after a decision by the First Department.'

As part of the arrangement, Trump also agreed to comply with subpoenas to turn over documents and other information by the end of the month.

Engoron approved the deal in an order on Thursday.

Former President Donald Trump reached a deal with the New York Attorney General on that allows him not to testify in a case looking at his business dealings while an appeal plays out

Attorney General Letitia James says her office has evidence that the Trump Organization inflated the value of assets to obtain loans, and undervalued properties when it came to taxes.

James also wants Trump's two oldest children Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump to testify

Take the 5th? The choice could soon be Trump's in NY probe after judge orders him to testify within 21 days By Associated Press To plead the Fifth, or not to plead the Fifth? That is the question Donald Trump may face after a New York judge ordered the former president to testify in a long-running state civil investigation into his business practices. Trump's lawyers have appealed the ruling - and with Thursday's deal it could mean the former president has months before he finds out if he must give evidence. Barring victory, Trump would then have to decide between answering questions under oath or remaining silent and invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination - a tactic he has equated with evidence of guilt. 'The mob takes the Fifth,' Trump told a campaign crowd in Iowa when running for president. 'If you are innocent, do not remain silent,' Trump tweeted in 2014, offering free advice as Bill Cosby faced a flurry of sexual assault accusations. 'You look guilty as hell!' Aside from any legal considerations, refusing to answer James' questions carries political risks. 'For a former president and potential candidate for the office to take the Fifth would really be remarkable,' said Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University. 'The problem with appearing - at least as his lawyers will see it - is that Trump cant be controlled and hes likely to say things that will cause more trouble for him and his family.' Trump's own lawyers acknowledged during a court hearing Thursday that the former president faces risks by sitting down with attorneys heading up an investigation he long has derided as a 'witch hunt.' But even remaining silent could hurt a potential criminal defense, Trump's attorneys said. 'If he goes in and follows my advice, which will be you cannot answer these questions without ... immunity because thats what the law provides, and take the Fifth Amendment, thatll be on every front page in the newspaper in the world. And how can I possibly pick a jury in that case?' attorney Ronald Fischetti said during Thursday's hearing. Trump would not be afforded 'a blanket assertion' of his Fifth Amendment right but be required to invoke it 'individually for each question that's being asked,' said David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor. 'It's a very long and drawn-out process,' he said. Advertisement

James says her office has evidence that the Trump Organization inflated the value of assets to obtain loans, and undervalued properties when it came to taxes.

The Trumps deny any wrongdoing and accused James, a Democrat, of leading a politically motivated investigation.

They also say her subpoenas could be used improperly to gather evidence for a separate criminal investigation being run by the Manhattan district attorney.

Trump's lawyer Alina Habba told the New York Post: 'We are pleased that these proceedings will be put on hold pending our appeal and look forward to our opportunity to argue this case before the Appellate Division.'

Trump faces multiple investigations over his business dealings and his final weeks in office, when he contested the results of the 2020 election and his supporters attacked the US Capitol.

This week, it emerged that members of the House Jan. 6 investigation had set out a possible criminal case against against the former president in a court filing.

They said there was enough evidence to conclude Trump and allies might have conspired to commit fraud and obstruction by attempting to overturn the result.

But legal experts said it would be hard to build a case.

In the meantime, it emerged on Thursday that Don. Jr's fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, who spoke at a Jan. 6 rally, had been subpoenaed by the investigation.

The latest twist in the investigation into Trump's business dealings came after Trump's lawyers last month failed in their attempt to have the case put on hold while Manhattan's criminal probe plays out.

During a bad-tempered hearing, Habba argued that the former president was the victim of discrimination.

James has 'such disdain for this person because he was president, because he is Donald Trump and he could probably win again in '24,' she said, according to Newsweek.

'He has First Amendment rights. He's allowed to be a Republican.'

Engoron responded: 'There's no viewpoint discrimination. I'm just saying there is none.'

Habba then contended that Trump was part of a 'protected class.'

'The traditional protected classes are race, religion, etcetera,' Engoron responded.

'Donald Trump doesn't fit that kind of mold or model. He's not being discriminated against based on race, is he? Or religion, is he?

'He's not a protected class.

'If Ms. James has a thing against him, OK, that's not in my understanding unlawful discrimination.

'He's just a bad guy she should go after as the chief law enforcement officer of the state.'

In denying their motion, Engoron said it would be 'dereliction of duty' for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) not to continue its investigation.

'Indeed this court's in camera review of thousands of documents responsive to OAG's prior subpoenas demonstrates that OAG has a sufficient basis for continuing its investigation, which undercuts the notion that this ongoing investigation is based on personal animus, not facts and law,' he said.

Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in the AGs office, wrote in a letter to Justice Engoron that the office is agreeing to the stay 'in the interest of efficiency for both parties and the court'

And he expanded on his hearing comments by saying that James' elections comments were protected under the First Amendment.

He ordered that Trump provide the requested documents and information within 14 days and that he, Ivanka Trump and Don Jr all give depositions within 21 days.

Don Jr. and Eric ran the Trump Organization along with now-indicted executive Allen Weisselberg while Trump was serving as president.

The decision comes after a bombshell filing revealed Trump's longtime accounting firm Mazars USA had quit and that 10 years of financial statements could not be relied on.

While undoubtedly helpful for prosecutors, James has already been able to obtain a trove of information through subpoenas and interviews with other company officials.

She was able to obtain a wealth of tax and financial information from Trump's longtime accounting firm, Mazars, following a case that went to the Supreme Court.
Experts warn that seizing the port would give Russia a 'chokehold' on Ukraine's economy  akin to the UK losing Dover

Ukrainian defence ministry said it was poised for attack on third largest city

Russian assault ships were advancing toward Odessa from the Black Sea last night, fuelling fears that the Ukrainian port is Vladimir Putin's next target.

The Ukrainian defence ministry warned that invading forces were poised for a possible attack on the country's third largest city in a move that could open up a corridor to Kyiv from the south.

Landing ships capable of launching tanks and hundreds of troops ashore have been seen off the coast.

The Ukrainian defence ministry warned that invading forces were poised for a possible attack on the country's third largest city in a move that could open up a corridor to Kyiv from the south

'In the waters of the Black Sea, we are observing a landing detachment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, consisting of four large landing ships accompanied by three rocket boats, advancing toward Odessa,' the ministry said in a statement.

Experts warn that seizing the port would give Russia a 'chokehold' on Ukraine's economy  akin to the UK losing Dover.

General Sir Richard Barrons, a former British military chief, said the city was a 'big prize' in the Russian invasion.

Odessa residents preparing to defend the city in anticipation of Russian invasion

Sandbags piled up on a beach in Odessa as local residents prepare to fight for their city

'You would expect to see, based on the success in Kherson, that the Russian forces that are on the coast would now be prone to move further west and it is entirely plausible they would then put an amphibious landing somewhere around Odessa and conduct over a few days a link-up operation,' he told The Times.

One landing ship was identified as the Pyotr Morgunov, which is capable of carrying attack helicopters, 13 tanks or 36 infantry vehicles and 300 troops. Alligator and Ropucha-class vessels were also spotted.

An Estonian cargo ship apparently captured by the Russian navy to be used as a shield during an invasion sank off Odessa after an explosion yesterday. Four of the six crew of the Helt were missing.
A Soyuz rocket by Russia is preparing to launch carrying OneWeb satellites. However, due to some uncertainties, the launch will be suspended if OneWeb will not address Russia's additional demands.

Roscosmos is in partnership with OneWeb to launch its satellites to space. The Soyuz launch is expected to launch 36 satellites.

Russia's Demands To Launch OneWeb's Satellites

OneWeb is a London-based company that specializes in global communications systems similar to Starlink. It has been launching satellites in space exclusively through Roscosmos.

Roscosmos is Russia's space agency. It is a state federation by the Russian government. OneWeb is scheduled to launch 36 satellites aboard the Soyuz rocket of Roscosmos.

However, just recently, Director-General Dmitry Rogozin imposed two new conditions on OneWeb before Roscosmos launches the satellite into space.

As reported by Space.com, one of the imposed demands of Roscosmos is the assurance of OneWeb that the satellite would not be used in military endeavors with Russia and Ukraine. The Russian space agency seems to want to assure that the satellites would not be used against them.

Another particular demand of the space agency is for the British government to divest its investment in OneWeb. The British Government is the biggest stakeholder of OneWeb, investing roughly $ 500,000 million in the company in 2020 to save it from bankruptcy.

      24:



    OneWeb  ,     21:30  4          ,   -2.1   . pic.twitter.com/EYDeaH79Qe   (@roscosmos) March 2, 2022

However, British Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng stated on Twitter that the demands will not be met. As he put it, "There is no negotiation on OneWeb: the United Kingdom Government is not selling its share. We are in contact with other shareholders to discuss next steps..."

There's no negotiation on OneWeb: the UK Government is not selling its share.



We are in touch with other shareholders to discuss next steps...  Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) March 2, 2022

In response to Kwarteng's tweet, Roscosmos Director-General Rogozin tweeted that he will give the British government two days to consider.

Read Also: Facebook Security: 4 Steps to Follow to Lock FB Profile and Prevent Hacking, Manipulation

Is Russia Launching OneWeb Satellites?

In the event that the demands of Roscosmos are not met by 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 GMT; 9:30 p.m. local time in Moscow) on Friday, the Soyuz rocket will not launch OneWeb's satellites.

The disadvantage will fall into OneWeb's side since Roscosmos will lose nothing if the satellites are not launched. The Russian space agency stated that there will be no financial damage since it has already been paid.

OneWeb's working relationship with Roscosmos will be in jeopardy since the satellite company did not expect launch alteration despite the invasion of Russia. The satellite company plans to launch 648 satellites to space.

They also planned numerous launches this 2022 on Soyuz rockets to launch the satellites. As of today, OneWeb has successfully launched 428 satellites through the help of Roscosmos.

As of the Russian space agency, it is ready to fulfill its space commitments as long as the demands are met by OneWeb.

Chief of government, regulatory, and engagement at OneWeb, Chris McLaughlin stated that in his point of view, the launch, as of now, is suspended. This confirms that OneWeb's satellites are not launching anytime soon

The Verge stated that another challenge OneWeb is facing is their staff and the staff of Arianespace in Russia. Both OneWeb and Arianespace had staff relocated to Baikonur Cosmodrome in preparation for the Soyuz launch.

They are now making efforts for all the staff to be able to come home safe. McLaughlin stated that their satellites are still in Baikonur and they hope it will be returned.

Related Article: NASA Hubble Image Shows Epic View of 2 Close Galaxies 200 Million Light-Years Away From Earth! [See Photo Here]
A 70-year-old woman with a history of slipping past security at airports and sneaking onto flights was sentenced on Thursday to more than three years in prison for trespassing at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in 2019.

After Marilyn Hartman pleaded guilty to felony counts of criminal trespass and escape from electronic monitoring, Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas sentenced her to 18 months for the trespassing charge and two years for the escape charge.

She must serve the sentences consecutively for a total of three years and six months, the judge said.

However, she was given two years and five months of credit for the time she has already been in custody, and will thus be eligible for release in about a year, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

In exchange for her plea, prosecutors agreed to drop other similar charges against her - including those stemming from an incident last March when she allegedly left a facility where shed been staying on electronic monitoring and went to OHare in the apparent hopes of sneaking onto another flight.

The hearing marks the latest chapter in a years-long odyssey of a woman dubbed the 'serial stowaway' who has sneaked into airports in Chicago, Hawaii, San Francisco, Florida and Europe and tried - sometimes successfully - to board passenger jets without a ticket.

'Serial Stowaway' Marilyn Hartman has been sentenced to 3.5 years behind bars

Hartman's is seen above at her March 2021 arraignment after her latest arrest

Her 2019 arrest violated a probation sentence she received for her conviction on charges that she sneaked past O'Hare security in January 2018, boarded a jet and flew to London's Heathrow Airport without a ticket.

Hartman has apologized before and on Thursday she apologized for leaving the facility where she was receiving mental health treatment and housing.

'I've struggled with depression and medication management my whole life,' Hartman said.

The story of a woman who has for years illegally boarded or tried to board jets at airports across the United States captivated the nation.

Hartman in an interview with WBBM-TV previously detailed her stunning history of illegal joyrides around the country and across the world, estimating that she managed to get onto at least 30 flights illegally since 2002.

Asked how she managed to get by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, Hartman's explanation was startling simple.

Hartman, an unassuming older woman, said that she slipped through checkpoints by pretending to be accompanying other groups of people.

'I got by them - this is the thing that is so crazy - by following someone they would be carrying like a blue bag,' she said. 'And the next thing I know, I get into the TSA line and TSA lets me through, and they think I'm with the guy with the blue bag.'

Hartman estimated that she managed to get onto at least 30 flights illegally since 2002. She is pictured in airport surveillance footage from one of her many arrests in 2018

Once through the security checkpoint, she would often look for a boarding pass that had been discarded by another passenger, or slip onto a plane and wait in the lavatory until she could take an empty seat.

Airports where the 'Serial Stowaway' has been caught trying to board passenger flights San Francisco International Airport Los Angeles International Airport Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport St. Paul International Airport (Minneapolis) Jacksonville International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport Chicago Midway International Airport Heathrow Airport (London) Advertisement

A WBBM review of court records and police reports showed that Hartman was repeatedly caught carrying a boarding pass from another passenger or arriving in another country without documentation to get through Customs.

But those accounts only tell part of Hartman's story, as she claims to have flown under the radar for 12 years before authorities first caught on to her scheme.

Records show Hartman was arrested in at least 20 airport incidents between 2014 and 2019. Over that period TSA agents became well acquainted with her face and ultimately started calling for back-up as soon as they spotted her.

Her notoriety was exemplified in an audio recording obtained by CBS2, in which a TSA agent was heard saying: 'There's been a Marilyn sighting over here.'

Hartman said she had been taking flights illegally well before 2014, but no one noticed.

'The first time I was able to to get through I flew to Copenhagen,' she said. 'The second time I flew into Paris.'

The first few times she was caught in airports without a ticket, she was interviewed by police and released. Her first arrest came on August 14, 2014, when she flew from San Jose, California, to Los Angeles without a ticket.

Hartman's name was subsequently added to the TSA's 'trespass list' and a judge let her off with a warning to never do that again - but she didn't listen.

She was arrested again seven months later in Jacksonville, Florida, after flying in from Minnesota without a ticket.

Hartman is seen in mugshots from several of her many arrests over the years. She estimated that she managed to get onto at least 30 flights illegally since 2002

Hartman, 69, was busted at the O'Hare CTA station (seen in a file photo) in 2021 when the ankle bracelet monitoring her home confinement stopped pinging

The court overseeing that case determined that she was not mentally competent to face prosecution.

But Hartman insisted that concerns about her mental state were overblown.

'I know they keep emphasizing the mental illness. Law enforcement would like to have that in place. But umm  no, I'm pretty good,' she told CBS2 with a laugh.

'I don't mind if people say: 'She's a nut.' Because when I look at it objectively, that's how I see it, is craziness. I purposely remained a mystery, because of the crazy factor. It was like something out of a movie.'

In the four years after the Jacksonville arrest, Hartman had at least seven more brushes with law enforcement at Chicago's main airports - O'Hare and Midway.

The last time she successfully boarded a plane without a ticket was in January 2018, when she slipped past security at O'Hare and took a seat on a British Airways flight to London Heathrow.

But her plan was foiled upon arrival in the United Kingdom, where border officials discovered that she didn't have proper documentation.

Hartman was then shuttled back to Chicago, where she was charged with felony theft and misdemeanor trespass.

She was released from custody and ordered to wear an ankle monitor and undergo psychiatric evaluation. She later pleaded guilty to the trespassing charge and was sentenced to 18 months probation.

Hartman's next trip to O'Hare came in October 2019, when officers spotted her trying to get through a security checkpoint without a boarding pass.

After that arrest, Hartman became pen pals with CBS2 investigator Brad Edwards, who conducted the series of phone interviews with her behind bars.

Hartman said she wanted to apologize to law enforcement and the TSA, saying: 'It was not my intention to make their jobs more difficult.'

She said that her bipolar disorder was behind the relentless urge to travel, explaining that she took the flights whenever she fell into a depressive episode.

'When I took the plane ride, I wasn't happy,' she said. 'It wasn't, 'Oh, I'm going here or there' - I was actually in a depressed state of mind.'

'I'm bipolar. And this is something I've rejected for years,' she added.

She vowed in the interviews never to do it again -- but days later, in March 2021, she slipped away from a halfway house and was arrested once more at O'Hare.
A university student who was sensationally kicked off the ABC's Q&A for showing support for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has accused host Stan Grant of being 'unprofessional' - while denying he supports the war.

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis, 22, was asked to leave the live audience on Thursday 20 minutes after claiming Russians living in the Ukraine were being massacred and saying many Russians across the world supported Putin's invasion.

Q&A host Stan Grant stopped the show and said: 'I'm just not comfortable with you being here. Could you please leave? Sasha, I'm sorry. You can ask a question, but we cannot advocate violence. I should have asked you to leave then.'

On Friday, Gillies-Lekakis, who spent a semester living and studying in communist Cuba, hit back at his critics and Grant, claiming he 'made no direct statement sanctioning violence or conflict'.

'I was hoping to make the point that I support Putin's grievances regarding the breaking of the Minsk Peace Agreement by the Ukraine, and the ensuing loss of life.'

'I find Mr Grant's statements following my departure, and the fact that I was asked to leave the program, disappointing and unprofessional.'

On Friday the 22-year-old, who spent a semester living and studying in communist Cuba, hit back at his critics and ABC's Q&A host Stan Grant, arguing he 'made no direct statement sanctioning violence or conflict'

In the segment, Mr Gillies-Lekakis told the panel he found himself 'pretty outraged by the narrative created by the media depicting Ukraine as 'the good guy' and Russia as the 'bad guy'.

'Believe it or not, there are a lot of Russians here and around the world who support what Putin is doing in Ukraine, myself included.'

His controversial take on the invasion sparked a fierce debate on the panel and ultimately saw him booted from the show, prompting raucous applause.

But Mr Gillies-Lekakis now claims he is 'unequivocally against war and the loss of any lives' and argues his 'words were misrepresented and incomplete' because he was cut off from finishing his question.

The Spanish and Latin American Studies student from the University of Melbourne also denied allegations his question was 'unvetted' and 'rogue'.

He claims to have followed all the appropriate channels, including submitting the question via the Q&A portal and finessing it at the request of production.

'I am genuinely sorry that things took the turn they did. However, at the same time, an acknowledgement of the ABC's questionable conduct would also be appreciated.'

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis spent a semester abroad living and studying in communist Cuba

Daily Mail Australia can reveal Mr Gillies-Lekakis spent a semester during his degree living and studying in Cuba, a communist nation.

The then-20-year-old travelled to Cuba in 2020, making him the first student from the University of Melbourne to undertake an exchange program in Cuba.

He attended the University of Havana and found he was particularly interested in studying Cuba's relationship with Europe and Russia.

'It turned out that the director specialised in this area and he was able to organise a few meetings so I could chat with relevant people,' he said.

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis (pictured) was asked to leave the Q&A studio after he said he supported what Putin was doing in Ukraine and claimed there were other like-minded Australians

Grant addressed Gillies-Lekakis during the show and repeatedly asked him to leave, explaining his perceived advocacy of violence would not be tolerated.

'Something has been bothering me, I have to admit, since we had Sasha's question earlier about Russia, and it's been playing on my mind,' the host said.

'Sasha, people here have been talking about family who are suffering and people who are dying. I understand you wanted to ask your question about - is there some reasoning for this?

However, not all Aussies agreed with Grant's decision to boot the student from the audience, with dozens taking to social media to debate the contentious moment.

Tasmanian Labor MP Brian Mitchell weighed in on the intense debate on Twitter.

'Get absolutely f*d with this clickbait garbage. Putin invaded a peaceful Democratic neighbour that posed no threat to Russia. His forces have murdered civilians, including children. There are not two sides to this story,' he said.

'Well done Stan. Very proud of what you just did live,' another user agreed.

Poll WAS GRANT RIGHT TO THROW PUTIN SUPPORTER OUT? Yes No WAS GRANT RIGHT TO THROW PUTIN SUPPORTER OUT? Yes 1179 votes

No 1595 votes Now share your opinion





'What happened to our free speech on the ABC? Cut off his question, didn't answer his question, and kicked him out,' another tweeted.

'I don't agree with his view and agree that his opinion may be compromised on bias information, but the only way people can resolve conflict is with open conversation.'

'Should have let this guy finish his question in full without cutting him off. Thought the idea of a Q&A was to hear different points of view even if you disagree with them,' another said.

But others argued Mr Gillies-Lekakis was given an opportunity to ask his question only to 'start spewing bulls**t stats and propaganda'.

'It can be cut off when it's no longer a question,' the critic said.

Q&A host Stan Grant (pictured) asked the university student to leave the live audience after the panel discussed his statement and said 'we can't have people advocating violence'

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis (pictured) is a Melbourne university student who claimed that since 2014 the Ukrainian government had collaborated with Nazi groups to besiege the Russian population

During his address Mr Gillies-Lekakis claimed that since 2014, the Ukrainian government had been collaborating with Nazi groups to besiege Russia.

Putin has argued Ukrainian nationalist battalions, descended from local swastika and 'SS' wearing divisions from WW2, still operate in modern Ukraine.

The leader has used this rhetoric to justify the invasion of Ukraine, however, it has been widely debunked by world leaders and experts as Russian propaganda.

The student went on to claim Nazi groups had killed 13,000 Russians in the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine, citing the United Nations as his source.

While there is no evidence for claims of genocide, Putin has used the word to pretext launching a war against Ukraine, among other reasons.

When gas supplies were interrupted to parts of eastern Ukraine in 2015, the Russian leader stated it 'smells of genocide', and in 2021, Putin said the conflict zone in Donbas 'looks like genocide'.

As other Q&A audience members began to heckle Mr Gillies-Lekakis he asked where Australia's outpouring of grief and concern was for the 13,000 Russians killed.

Host Stan Grant took the question to the panel, asking if there was a moral equivalence to the attacks and if there had been provocation from Ukraine before Russia invaded the capital, Kyiv.

Liberal MP for Mackellar Jason Falinksi said it was simple.

'There is no moral equivalency to murder. Just because someone is murdered it does not give you the right to murder someone else.'

'Secondly, the sovereignty of a nation cannot be simply wiped out because one individual decides without evidence, that he is going to do that.

'We live in a world at the moment which is managed by the rule of law. If we change that to a position where people just get to decide what they want to do because they've got more guns than the next person, that is not a world I want to live in.'

He said the situation in eastern Europe was 'not going to end well' unless the West was incredibly assertive about pushing back the unwarranted aggression.

Shadow Minister for Defence Brendan O'Connor said the student's claims had proven how the Russian leader's misinformation had made its way Down Under.

'Putin has been deploying misinformation for years, he is undemocratic by nature, he kills off his opposition, he uses all forms of propaganda,' he said.

Mr O'Connor said Putin had misrepresented conflicts in Ukraine for his own benefit.

The debate comes as Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday announced Australia would pledge $105 million to help Ukraine, including $70 million in military equipment.

'We're talking missiles, we're talking ammunition, we're talking supporting them in their defence of their homeland in Ukraine,' he told reporters.

'I'm not going to go into the specifics of that because I don't plan to give the Russian government a heads-up about what's coming their way, but I can assure them it's coming your way.'

The university student was asked to leave after host Stan Grant said his question had advocated for violence - something that wasn't tolerated on the ABC program
A robber with distinctive face tattoos pleaded guilty Thursday to the murder of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant.

Aariel Maynor, 30, also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Avants security guard at her Beverly Hills home in December, Los Angeles County prosecutors said.

Jacqueline Avant, 81, and Maynor startled each other when he broke into her $7 million Beverly Hills home on December 1 before opening fire, sources close to the incident told TMZ. She was rushed to the hospital where she died from her injuries.

Maynor has previous felony convictions for assault, robbery and grand theft and was on parole at the time of the shooting.

He was apprehended by cops after accidentally shooting himself in the foot during a subsequent attempted robbery nearby.

Maynor is scheduled to be sentenced on March 30 for Avant's murder and could be sentenced to up to 170 years in prison, prosecutors said.

'This crime continues to shock the conscience,' District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement. 'Mrs. Avant's death was a tragic loss felt by our entire community.'

Gascon said Maynor will be ineligible for elderly parole.

Aariel Maynor, 30, also pleaded guilty Thursday to the murder of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant

Jacqueline Avant was fatally shot early on December 1 at her home in Beverly Hills. She is pictured with husband, Clarence

Police were called to the Avants' home on December 1 after a 2:23am call reporting a shooting. Officers found Jacqueline with a gunshot wound. She was taken to the hospital but did not survive.

An hour later, Los Angeles Police Department officers were called to a home in the Hollywood Hills - about seven miles from the Avant residence - for a reported shooting.

They found Maynor there, as well as evidence of a burglary at that home, and took him into custody.

Maynor accidentally shot himself in the foot while breaking into the Hollywood Hills home. An LAPD watch commander 'put two and two together' and reached out to Beverly Hills investigators.

Sources closed to the incident told TMZ that Jacqueline Avant and Maynor startled each other when he broke in that night.

Jacqueline is often awake after 2am and the night of the break-in was most likely no different, the source continued, adding that her husband Clarence was asleep in their bedroom.

A security guard was stationed at the front of the house, though Maynor is believed to have entered through the side yard.

He then smashed open the homes rear sliding glass doors, the shattered remains of which are seen in photos obtained by DailyMail.com.

The guard heard the gunshot and raced inside before Maynor shot at him and then fled the scene. Police were called to the Avants' home after a 2.23am call reporting the shooting.

Jacqueline was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Shocking photos obtained by DailyMail.com show the sliding glass door that was smashed by home invader who killed the wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant

Investigators work the scene of Jaqueline Avant's murder after an apparent home invader shot and killed her, pictured last week

Beverly Hills police were called to the home after a 911 caller said someone had been shot and killed. Officers arriving at the scene discovered one victim, Avant's wife of 54 years, Jacqueline, suffering from a gunshot wound. She succumbed to her wounds later that day

Maynor, 30, was arrested after attempting to rob another home in the Hollywood Hills, where he accidentally shot himself in the foot. He is above handcuffed to wheelchair as he is being taken into custody by police

Police confirmed that Maynor (pictured in what appears to be prison) has an extensive criminal record dating back nearly a decade, including convictions for assault, robbery and grand theft

Jacqueline Avant was a longtime local philanthropist who led organizations that helped low-income neighborhoods including Watts and South Los Angeles, and was on the board of directors of the International Student Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Grammy-winning executive Clarence Avant is known as the 'Godfather of Black Music' and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year.

The 91-year-old was also a concert promoter and manager who mentored and helped the careers of artists including Bill Withers, Little Willie John, L.A. Reid, Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

Clarence was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2016, with his wife by his side

Jacqueline, Clarence and Gail Mitchell at the Jazz Foundation honors in LA in 2019

The Motown fixture's life and legacy were recently chronicled by Sarandos' streaming service in 2019, in a documentary titled The Black Godfather

The Avants were married for 54 years and had two children, Alexander Du Bois Avant and Nicole Avant, a film producer and former U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas who is married to Netflix co-CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos.

Jacqueline Avant's charitable work and personal connections made her a widely beloved figure.

After her death, tributes to her came from former President Bill Clinton, Earvin 'Magic' Johnson and Quincy Jones, who said 'The heaviness of my heart today is unlike any other that I have ever experienced.'
Nadine Dorries appeared close to tears yesterday as she praised the courage of journalists risking their lives to cover the unfolding crisis in Ukraine.

The Culture Secretary paid tribute to those braving Russian bombs to provide unbiased and accurate news from a live war zone  in stark contrast to poisonous propaganda from the Kremlin.

We are on the side of free media, she told the Commons. It was brilliant to see the audience for the BBCs Russian-language news site has gone up from 3.1million to 10.7million in the past week.

Despite his best efforts to censor reporting in Russia, Putins own citizens are turning to factual, independent information in their millions.

The Culture Secretary paid tribute to those braving Russian bombs to provide unbiased and accurate news from a live war zone  in stark contrast to poisonous propaganda from the Kremlin

At times pausing to maintain her composure, she continued: At this point, I would just like to offer my heartfelt thanks and admiration to all those journalists working for the BBC, ITV and other news outlets who are risking their lives to bring us unbiased and accurate news from a live war zone.

Miss Dorries  who has previously called for an end to the licence fee  stressed yesterday: I have always said the BBC is a great British global brand and it needs protecting. We need to review the funding model in order to protect the BBC... including the World Service.

She went on to say Russia Today, now known as RT, should lose its UK broadcasting licence.

Media watchdog Ofcom has launched 27 investigations into the channel, which is now no longer available on Sky or Freeview.

Putin must not be allowed to exploit our open and free media to spread poisonous propaganda into British homes, Miss Dorries vowed.

In Moscow, a foreign ministry spokesman claimed the BBC plays a determined role in undermining Russian stability and security.

They claimed the only reason Russian journalists had not been banned from working in the UK was related to fears that the BBC might be targeted, adding: We havent invented that... it stems from the British Foreign Secretary. Liz Truss had called for careful judgment on RT earlier this week, warning that a ban in Britain could lead to Russia blocking the BBC in retaliation.
Despite it being in his teams colours, its doubtful Roman Abramovich will appreciate the sign put up at his London mansion yesterday.

Pranksters installed a fake English Heritage blue plaque on a wall outside the billionaires Kensington home.

The sign, pictured, was headed Billionaire Putin crony. And in reference to the property, a message at the base read: Its worth 150m but the government wont seize it.

Campaign group Led By Donkeys posted a video of the stunt online, with the caption: In France and Germany theyre seizing super-yachts. In London... nothing.

Despite it being in his teams colours, its doubtful Roman Abramovich will appreciate the sign put up at his London mansion yesterday. The sign, pictured, was headed Billionaire Putin crony. And in reference to the property, a message at the base read: Its worth 150m but the government wont seize it

The Russian Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich announced on Wednesday that he was looking to sell the Premier League club. Pranksters installed a fake English Heritage blue plaque on a wall outside the billionaires Kensington home

The Russian Chelsea FC owner announced on Wednesday that he was looking to sell the Premier League club.

The Government has faced criticism for not sanctioning Abramovich over the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, former England captain John Terry was criticised for posting a photo of himself holding the Premier League trophy alongside Abramovich with the message: Thank you Roman. The best owner in the WORLD.

Labour MP Chris Bryant urged the ex-Chelsea defender to take down the post, saying: The people of Ukraine are being bombed, shelled and murdered while you celebrate Abramovich.
Russia could impose martial law in a fresh attempt to curb dissent following its invasion of Ukraine, EU officials fear.

The Kremlin is clamping down on independent voices reporting on the Ukraine conflict, and Russian schoolchildren are being taught why the liberation mission is necessary.

Now Brussels is picking up speculation on social media about potential Russian plans to introduce martial law, which it said would be completely home-produced  as is the tragic loss of young lives killed in the military conflict, with Russian mothers having to learn about the loss of their sons.

An EU official added yesterday: It is something were conscious of and its something were worried about.

Imposing martial law would allow the Kremlin to close borders, impose curfews, seize property and restrict the movement of people.

Security forces intervened during today's anti-war demonstration in the St Peterburg

Russian security forces detain a protester during an anti-war demonstration in St Peterburg today

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the speculation as well as reports that the authorities will prevent men leaving Russia.

But he said Vladimir Putin would convene Russias national security council last night, though he did not say what it would discuss. The martial law fears come after Russian authorities imposed censorship on reporting of what the Kremlin calls a special military operation in Ukraine.

Two liberal media groups  radio station Ekho Moskvy and TV network Dozhd  said they were halting operations, in another blow for independent reporting in Putins Russia.

But Russians have still turned out for large anti-war protests across the country, braving mass arrests in a direct challenge to the presidents 22-year rule.

Nearly 7,000 Russian scientists, mathematicians and academics had, as of yesterday, signed an open letter strongly protesting against the war in Ukraine. And Russian oil giant Lukoil called for an immediate halt to fighting in Ukraine, one of the first major domestic firms to speak out against the invasion.

Yesterday Russia held an online lesson for children on why the liberation mission in Ukraine is a necessity.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov (pictured) dismissed the speculation over martial law as well as reports that the authorities will prevent men leaving Russia

They were taught about the danger represented by Nato and why Russia stood up for the protection of the civilians of the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples Republics, according to the Russian education ministry.

This week pictures emerged of children detained in the back of a police van after taking part in anti-war protests.

Some 7,669 people have been detained at anti-war protests since the invasion began on February 24, according to the OVD-Info protest-monitoring group. Many Russians are attempting to flee to destinations abroad that have not banned flights from Russia, and they have been prepared to pay high prices in their rush to escape.

Putin said last night that Moscows advance in Ukraine was going to plan and appearing in no mood to heed the global clamour for hostilities to end.

Independent Russian radio station Ekho Moskvy announced its dissolution today. The station was banned from the airwaves because of its coverage of the invasion of Ukraine

During the televised opening of the national security council meeting, he said Russia was rooting out neo-Nazis, and added that he will never give up on [his] conviction that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.

Last night it was claimed that Putin concealed his plans to invade Ukraine from his cabinet and officials were unprepared for the scale of the sanctions imposed on Moscow.

Investigative website Agentstvo, citing sources close to the Kremlin, said the government was aware of plans to recognise two-Kremlin backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, but thought the sanctions would be light.

They reported that many officials were ready to resign in protest, but were afraid as this would be seen as an act of treason  with one fearing it would lead to a prison camp.

Moscow repeatedly denied it planned to invade Ukraine until its troops moved in.
Dominic Raab has vowed to crack down on oligarchs who use British courts to silence their critics.

The Justice Secretary said he will not tolerate the mega-rich, some of whom have links to Vladimir Putin, bringing legal challenges to stifle legitimate criticism.

He indicated for the first time yesterday that he is preparing measures to combat SLAPPs  strategic lawsuits against public participation  including libel cases which result in eye-watering costs.

The litigation is designed to make critics  including the Press  back down in fear of huge financial consequences.

It is understood measures to tackle SLAPPs could be published within weeks, including possible curbs on British lawyers who mount such cases for oligarch clients.

Dominic Raab has vowed to crack down on oligarchs who use British courts to silence their critics

Apart from ramping up regulatory powers against law firms, proposals could also include changes to the way the court system handles such cases, it is understood. It may even propose new laws.

On Tuesday, Tory MP Bob Seely used parliamentary privilege to name amoral lawyers whom he claimed had allowed Putins henchmen to intimidate the UKs free press. He said the prominent firms were offering a form of legalised intimidation to Russian clients to silence their critics.

Mr Raab said yesterday: What were not going to tolerate is people exercising freedom of speech legitimately and people with decent, honourable reputations being subject to libel claims by those with deep pockets who can ruin them in the process.

I am going to look at SLAPPs and say something about this relatively soon.

We will not have people close to Putin coming here to try and bankrupt people who shine a light on his excesses. Its about oligarchs and kleptocrats who get together and try to sue people who shine a light.

On Tuesday, Tory MP Bob Seely (pictured) used parliamentary privilege to name amoral lawyers whom he claimed had allowed Putins henchmen to intimidate the UKs free press

He said the Governments plan to reform the Human Rights Act and introduce a Bill of Rights will reinforce freedom of speech and freedom of expression  which I think will provide a really strong safeguard. It is understood that a limit on libel costs could be part of the action against SLAPPs.

Nothing is off the table in how we address it, a government source said last night.

Mr Raab said the UK was ready to provide wide-ranging support to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has launched an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

In the past the UK has provided expertise in forensics, evidence-gathering and witness relocation, he said, as well as sentence enforcement. He highlighted how former Bosnian Serb politician Radovan Karadzic  found guilty by the ICC of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2016  is now serving a life-without-parole sentence in a British prison.

[Putin] needs to know and we need to send a message out to his commanders that face illegal orders to commit war crimes that they will face, potentially, the dock of a court in The Hague and prison, Mr Raab said.

However long it takes, if you commit a war crime... expect to be held to account.
Jarryd Hayne will face a third trial over charges he raped a young woman at her home four years ago.

The former NRL icon's two sexual assault convictions were overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal last month.

The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions has elected to take the case to trial once more, a court heard on Friday.

Jarryd Hayne is seen following his release from prison on February 16, after his convictions were overturned by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal

Prosecutor Adrian Dragicevic told the District Court: 'The Crown will be proceeding to a retrial'.

Hayne's bail was continued.

Judge Dina Yehia was also told Hayne's lawyer Ramy Qutami is applying for a change of venue from Sydney to Newcastle.

The application was listed for hearing on March 21.

When granting Hayne bail after his successful appeal, another judge said the earliest the trial may be able to proceed would be in October.

'After that, we're looking at 2023,' he said.

Hayne served nine months of a minimum three years and eights months term imposed on him in May after he was found guilty of two charges of sexual intercourse without consent.

Amellia Bonnici, the mother of Hayne's children and his wife, stood by him despite the rape conviction

The ex-Parramatta player had earlier faced another trial where the jury could not reach a verdict.

The Crown contended in both trials Hayne forcibly performed oral and digital sexual intercourse on a woman in her NSW Hunter bedroom on the night of the 2018 NRL Grand Final.

Hayne has always maintained the encounter was consensual.

Hayne (right) and Ms Bonnici leave the Downing Centre District Court in March 2021 during his second trial on sexual assault allegations

His barrister successfully argued for his convictions to be overturned on two appeal grounds - that there was an error in the legal directions given to the jury and an error in a pre-trial ruling on evidence.

Hayne's bail conditions include a $20,000 surety, surrendering his passport and reporting to police three times a week.

He also must not contact or intimidate the alleged victim or any witnesses and cannot enter the Newcastle local government area.
Remnants of an 'innovative' Old Stone Age culture have been unearthed in China where ancient humans crafted tiny, blade-like tools from stone 40,000 years ago.

Researchers have excavated Xiamabei, a well-preserved Palaeolithic site in the Nihewan Basin of northern China.

Although no human remains were found at Xiamabei, the team found materials for processing ochre  iron-rich rock used to make pigment  and a set of distinct blade-like stone tools.

It's thought the tools were used by Homo sapiens at the site, although it's possible they encountered Denisovans or Neanderthals when they arrived there, around 40,000 years ago.

At Xiamabei, hominins likely conducted activities around a campfire, hafting blade-like stone tools to conduct tasks including hide and plant processing, and sharing food including the meat they hunted.

Archaeologists excavating the well-preserved surface at the Xiamabei site, northern China, showing stone tools, fossils, ochre and red pigments

Ochre pieces and stone processing equipment laying on a red-stained pigment patch

XIAMABEI: A 'WELL-PRESERVED' PALAEOLITHIC SITE Xiamabei is a well-preserved Palaeolithic site in the Nihewan Basin of northern China. It was found and excavated by the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology (HPICRA) in 2013-2014. Discovered at the site are ochre-processing materials and an assemblage of tools dated to around 40,000 years ago. The Nihewan Basin has a wealth of archaeological sites ranging in age from 2 million to 10,000 years ago. Advertisement

The study has been conducted by an international team of experts, led by personnel at the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, Shijiazhuang, China.

'Xiamabei stands apart from any other known archaeological site in China, as it possesses a novel set of cultural characteristics at an early date,' said Fa-Gang Wang, whose team first excavated the site.

Findings at Xiamabei include the earliest known evidence of ochre processing in East Asia, the team claim. In fact, ochre was used 'extensively' there.

Artefacts include two pieces of ochre with different mineral compositions and an elongated limestone slab with smoothed areas bearing ochre stains, all on a surface of red-stained sediment.

Analysis indicates that different types of ochre were brought to Xiamabei and processed through pounding and abrasion to produce powders of different colours and sizes.

The quantity of ochre produced at the site was so large that leftover material permanently impregnated the area.

Meanwhile, the assemblage of stone tools, which researchers described as 'unique' and 'innovative' and comprised a total of 382 artefacts, demonstrated skills that were complex for the time, the team report.

These skills include miniaturisation  almost all of the pieces are smaller than 1.5-inch, and most are under 0.7-inch.

Pictured is an 'extraordinarily well-preserved- bladelet showing microscopic evidence of a bone handle, plant fibres used for binding and plant polish produced by whittling action

Researchers excavated Xiamabei, a well-preserved Palaeolithic site in the Nihewan Basin of northern China

HOW WERE THE FINDINGS DATED? To establish the chronology of the 114-inch-deep section of the site, the researchers applied two chronological methods - accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Based on these results, Bayesian analysis showed that the sequence dated to 43,00028,000 years ago, with the main cultural layer (Layer 6) dating to 41,00039,000 years ago. Various scientific methods were used to identify the ochre and the sediment staining. In particular, mineral magnetism (MM) was used to identify the anthropogenic ochre. Advertisement

Seven of the stone tools showed clear evidence of hafting  a process by which an artefact is attached to a handle or strap.

Analysis also suggests tools were used for boring, hide scraping, whittling plant material and cutting soft animal matter.

Artefacts at Xiamabei don't correspond with any found at other archaeological sites inhabited by archaic populations, such as Neanderthals, Denisovans or even those generally associated with the expansion of Homo sapiens, the research team say.

'This may reflect an initial colonisation by modern humans, potentially involving cultural and genetic mixing with local Denisovans, who were perhaps replaced by a later second arrival,' said study author Professor Michael Petraglia at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

'Our findings show that current evolutionary scenarios are too simple, and that modern humans, and our culture, emerged through repeated but differing episodes of genetic and social exchanges over large geographic areas, rather than as a single, rapid dispersal wave across Asia.'

Previous studies have established that Homo sapiens arrived in northern Asia by about 40,000 years ago, although much about their lives and cultural adaptations, and their possible interactions with archaic groups, are unknown.

Neanderthals were a close human ancestor that lived in Europe and Western Asia from about 400,000 to 40,000 years ago.

The Xiamabei site and its chronology, including stratigraphic layers identified in the field (C)

Neanderthals went extinct around 40,000 years ago but have a reputation as being hulking, brutish beings who were tough and fearless

Less is known about the Denisovans, another population of early humans who lived in Asia at least 80,000 years ago and were distantly related to Neanderthals.

'The ability of hominins to live in northern latitudes, with cold and highly seasonal environments, was likely facilitated by the evolution of culture in the form of economic, social and symbolic adaptations,' said study author Shixia Yang.

'The finds at Xiamabei are helping us to understand these adaptations and their potential role in human migration.'

The full findings have been published in the journal Nature.
British satellite company OneWeb has announced that it is suspending all launches from the Russian-run Baikonur spaceport.

The firm, which is part-owned by the UK government, had hoped to send up 36 spacecraft on a Soyuz rocket but a row broke out amid the fall-out over Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia and the UK were in a stand-off over the launch after Moscow's space agency Roscosmos demanded guarantees the technology would not be used for military purposes.

Britain had separately come under pressure to scrap the launch because of the war in Ukraine, while Russia also wanted the UK government to divest itself of OneWeb shares, an ultimatum that was swiftly rejected by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.

The British government said it supported OneWeb's decision to suspend launches.

The OneWeb launch was due to use Russian Soyuz rockets at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (pictured)

'In light of Russia's illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we are reviewing our participation in all further projects involving Russian collaboration,' a spokesperson said.

Yesterday a Soyuz rocket carrying 36 OneWeb satellites was lifted onto a launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which Russia rents from Kazakhstan.

But Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin said the space agency wanted OneWeb to provide guarantees that its satellites would not going to be used against Russia.

Without these, Rogozin said Russia would cancel Friday's planned launch without compensating OneWeb.

The UK satellite firm, which will offer broadband via a constellation of 650 satellites, was rescued from bankruptcy by Britain and Bharti Global in 2020. Eutelsat and SoftBank have also invested.

OneWeb announced that its board had voted to suspend future launches from Baikonur

The board of OneWeb, which is headquartered in London, voted this morning to suspend all future launches from Baikonur.

It had been planning a series of flights from the cosmodrome this year to complete its broadband internet constellation.

The company now plans to work with its French partner Arianespace, which organises Soyuz launches around the world, to find alternative rocket rides.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX, has donated Starlink satellite internet terminals to Ukraine, where internet connections have been disrupted due to the Russian invasion.

Starlink, like OneWeb, uses small low earth orbit (LEO) satellites to provide internet access.
New Twitter leaks suggest that a podcast feature is coming soon to the app's bottom menu bar. This reveal made fans curious about its relation to Twitter Spaces.

Twitter user Jane Manchun Wong shared the details for this exciting new leak. The data miner posted a screenshot of a new Twitter app UI that features a microphone icon on the menu bar. When clicked, users would be redirected to a page called "Podcasts."

Twitter is working on Podcasts tab pic.twitter.com/64tTd3XPdu  Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) March 2, 2022



Unfortunately for fans, not many other details were revealed for this feature. So fans are left to speculate on the possible changes in the system.

Twitter Leaks: The Podcast Tab

Note that the screenshot does not indicate anything about how the podcasts will be displayed. So some speculate it can appear like chat rooms, messages, or even hashtag pages.

For reference, Cambridge Dictionary describes a podcast as a "radio program that is stored in a digital form that you can download from the internet and play on a computer." This ideally means audio-only chatrooms that mix the use of messages and audio calls.

Some podcasts have a listener-to-speaker interactions while others feature a listen-only program for interested fans. Taking these ideas into consideration, it is exciting to see how Twitter plans to expand its utility to other forms of communication.

Read Also: Windows 11: New Preview Build Shows Better Animation for Tablet, Microsoft Ready To Help with App Compatibility Issues

Twitter Podcast Tab Explained

It is worth emphasizing that Twitter already features one online tool similar to podcasts. This is the Twitter Spaces which launched in 2020.



The Verge pointed out that Twitter might incorporate its Spaces on the podcast platform. Notably, the audio-only chatrooms might fit well in this type of system. So this implies that Twitter Spaces and Podcasts will work together to emphasize each other's functions.

This issue is especially obvious with recorded Spaces because these audio files only last for 30 days. In comparison, podcasts are supposed to be audio files that people can listen to at their leisure.

Some fans hope that the incoming podcast will introduce longer and permanent video formants to Twitter systems.

The Verge notably tried to reach out to Twitter for a comment about the leak but unfortunately received no reply.

Other Details about Twitter Podcast

It is worth mentioning that Twitter is deeply invested in the idea of podcasts, especially since they decided to acquire the social podcast platform Breaker last year, per TechCrunch. So this teases a lot of potential for the rumored Twitter podcasts.

However, keep in mind that this is still a leak. Since Jane Manchung Wong has no history of Twitter leaks, it is hard to validate the screenshot posted.

So readers are recommended to take this information with a pinch of salt and some level of skepticism. For now, fans should wait for the official update which should drop from Twitter. Hopefully, the podcast feature will be revealed in the coming months.

Related Article: Anonymous Summons Hackers Around the World to Target Russia and Keep Ukrainians Online
Long-necked dinosaurs including diplodocus had a gait that was unlike any living animal but most similar to a hippopotamus, a new study shows.

Researchers have studied sauropod footprints to learn more about their gait  the way they walked  at the Lower Cretaceous De Queen Formation, Arkansas.

Like hippos, sauropods walked with a 'diagonal gait'  where each step of a front leg is in tandem with, or very closely followed by, the hind leg on the opposite side.

Using the diagonal gait would have allowed the dinosaurs to keep their wide frames in balance, the researchers found.

Sauropods were among the bulkiest creatures to have ever walked the Earth, some weighing the equivalent of 14 African elephants.

The herbivorous dinosaurs dominated landscapes during their existence, somewhere between 200 million and 66 million years ago.

Like hippos, sauropods walked with a 'diagonal gait'  where each step of a front leg is in tandem with, or very closely followed by, the hind leg on the opposite side. Elephants have what's called a 'lateral' gait - where two limbs on the same body side tend to move forward one after the other

Sauropods walked with a 'diagonal gait'  where each step of a front leg closely followed by the hind leg on the opposite side (pictured)

The researchers analysed fossilised Lower Cretaceous sauropod footprints from three Arkansas sites, where the tracks run in a straight line across distances ranging from 154 to 305 feet.

GAITS USED BY MODERN-DAY ANIMALS Diagonal gait Hippos walk with a 'diagonal gait' - where each step of a front leg is in tandem with, or very closely followed by, the hind leg on the opposite side. According to the findings of this new study, sauropods walked with a 'diagonal gait' a bit like hippos do. Lateral gait Elephants use a 'lateral' gait where two limbs on the same body side tend to move forward one after the other. So, the right front leg takes a step, followed by the right hind leg taking a step, then the left front leg, then the left hind leg, and so on. Pace gait Camels use the pace gait, where the limbs on one side of the body (e.g. front right and hind right) move together - pretty much at the same time, rather than one after the other. Singlefoot gait Imagine the foot making a sound when hitting the ground - with singlefoot gait, the four feet make an even rhythm: 1-2-3-4. The time between each beat is the same. Horses can be trained to use multiple gaits, but if not trained, the singlefoot is always the main one at normal walking speeds, while the trot is the main one at faster speeds, and at even faster speeds there's the gallop. Advertisement

In comparison, elephants use something called a 'lateral' gait where two limbs on the same body side tend to move forward one after the other.

So, the right front leg takes a step, followed by the right hind leg taking a step, then the left front leg, then the left hind leg, and so on.

The new study was carried out by Dr Jens Lallensack and Dr Peter Falkingham, researchers at Liverpool John Moores University.

'Everybody always assumed that sauropods walked like modern elephants,' Dr Lallensack told New Scientist.

'But they didnt, and we think thats because the sauropods were just so much broader.'

Extinct animals, such as dinosaurs, have left tracks that are fossilised, recording their movement at a particular time during their life.

Placement of tracks relative to each other changes in a consistent way when the animal speeds up or slows down.

This variation, which can be measured in long trackways, is characteristic for particular gaits.

Four-footed animals use different gaits such as trots, walks, and pace gaits.

In a trot, one diagonal limb pair (e.g. hind right and front left) moves together, followed by the other diagonal limb pair.

Many mammals use trots when they're running, while reptiles also use trots at slow speeds.

Working from published LIDAR imagery, the researchers analysed fossilised Lower Cretaceous sauropod footprints from three Arkansas sites, where the tracks run in a straight line across distances ranging from 154 to 305 feet.

They found the sauropod gait was most similar to the trot, but also slightly different.

With the sauropod gait, the front foot touched down just before the diagonal limb; when animals trot, the two diagonal limbs land at the same time.

But the study revealed that sauropods instead employed a gait intermediate between the singlefoot and a trot  the opposite-side limbs tend to swing together.

Sauropod dinosaurs (pictured) walked on four legs and had distinctive long necks. They were widespread - their remains have been found on all the continents except Antarctica

Sauropods were the first successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs, dominating most terrestrial ecosystems for more than 140 million years, from the Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous. They had long necks and tails and relatively small skulls and brains

Extinct animals, such as dinosaurs, have left tracks that are fossilised, recording their movement at a particular time during their life

Researchers estimated limb phases of giant wide-gauged sauropod dinosaurs based on three long trackways from the Lower Cretaceous of Arkansas. Pictured, graphical abstract from the paper

Elephants place one foot almost directly in front of another, resulting in a narrow path.

Sauropod trackways, in contrast, are much broader. Their particular gait allowed sauropods to have at least one foot on the ground on both the left and right sides of the body at all times, preventing swaying from side to side.

'Sauropods chose a gait that maximised stability but still allowed for efficient walking,' said Dr Lallensack.

The study has been published in the journal Current Biology.
An artificial intelligence model has been created that can detect the mental health of a user, just by analyzing their conversations on social platform Reddit.

A team of computer scientists from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, set about training an AI model to analyze social media texts.

It is part of an emerging wave of screening tools that use computers to analyze social media posts and gain an insight into people's mental states.

The team selected Reddit to train their model as it has half a billion active users, all regularly discussing a wide range of topics over a network of subreddits.

They focused on looking for emotional intent from the post, rather than at the actual content, and found it performs better over time at discovering mental health issues.

This sort of technology could one day be used to help in the diagnosis of mental health conditions, or be put to use in moderating content on social media.

An artificial intelligence model has been created that can detect the mental health of a user, just by analysing their conversations on social platform Reddit

Previous studies, looking for evidence of mental health conditions in social media posts, have looked at the text, rather than intent.

There are many reasons why people don't seek help for mental health disorders, including stigma, high costs, and lack of access to services, the team said.

There is also a tendency to minimize signs of mental disorders or conflate them with stress, according Xiaobo Guo, co-author of the new study.

It's possible that they will seek help with some prompting, he said, and that's where digital screening tools can make a difference.

'Social media offers an easy way to tap into people's behaviors,' Guo added.

Reddit was their platform of choice because it is widely used by a large, active user base that discusses a wide range of topics.

The posts and comments are publicly available, and the researchers could collect data dating back to 2011.

In their study, the researchers focused on what they call emotional disorders  major depressive, anxiety, and bipolar disorders  which are characterized by distinct emotional patterns that can be tracked.

A team of computer scientists from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire set about training an AI model to analyze social media texts. Stock image

They looked at data from users who had self-reported as having one of these disorders, and from users without any known mental disorders.

They trained their AI model to label the emotions expressed in users' posts and map the emotional transitions between different posts.

AI BEING USED TO HELP DETECT MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in four people will be affected by mental disorders at some point in their lives. However, in many parts of the world, patients do not actively seek professional diagnosis. This is for a number of reasons, including the stigma attached to mental illness, ignorance of mental health and its associated symptoms. A number of studies have explored using AI to scour big sets of data to predict mental health issues in the people making posts and comments. In one paper, the team from Dartmouth College created a model for passively detecting mental disorders using conversations on Reddit. Specifically, they focused on a subset of mental disorders that are characterized by distinct emotional patterns. Including: Major depressive Anxiety Bipolar disorders Through passive detection, the team say patients can then be encouraged to seek diagnosis and treatment for mental disorders. Advertisement

Apost could be labeled 'joy,' 'anger,' 'sadness,' 'fear,' 'no emotion,' or a combination of these by the AI.

The map is a matrix that would show how likely it was that a user went from any one state to another, such as from anger to a neutral state of no emotion.

Different emotional disorders have their own signature patterns of emotional transitions, the team explained.

By creating an emotional 'fingerprint' for a user and comparing it to established signatures of emotional disorders, the model can detect them.

For example, certain patterns of word use and tone within a message, points to a key emotional state - and tracked over multiple posts, a pattern is discovered.

To validate their results, they tested it on posts that were not used during training and show that the model accurately predicts which users may or may not have one of these disorders, and that it improved over time.

'This approach sidesteps an important problem called 'information leakage' that typical screening tools run into,' says Soroush Vosoughi, assistant professor of computer science and another co-author.

Other models are built around scrutinizing and relying on the content of the text, he says, and while the models show high performance, they can also be misleading.

'For instance, if a model learns to correlate 'COVID' with 'sadness' or 'anxiety,' Vosoughi explains, it will naturally assume that a scientist studying and posting (quite dispassionately) about COVID-19 is suffering from depression or anxiety.

'On the other hand, the new model only zeroes in on the emotion and learns nothing about the particular topic or event described in the posts.'

While the researchers don't look at intervention strategies, they hope this work can point the way to prevention. In their paper, they make a strong case for more thoughtful scrutiny of models based on social media data.

'It's very important to have models that perform well,' says Vosoughi, 'but also really understand their working, biases, and limitations.'

The findings have been published in preprint on ArXiv.
NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names to a database that will be loaded on to a flash drive and sent on a trip around the moon with Artemis 1.

The US space agency will send the Orion capsule atop a Space Launch System (SLS) mega rocket at some point this summer, possibly as early as late May.

Copying something offered during the Mars missions, NASA will allow people to get a virtual 'boarding pass' to send their name to the moon.

Artemis I will be the first uncrewed flight test of SLS and Orion, the system that will take the first woman and first person of color to the moon by 2025.

The spacecraft, and the flash drive of names, will spend about three weeks in space, including six days in a distant retrograde orbit around the moon.

NASA is inviting the public to submit its name to a database, that will be loaded on to a flash drive and sent on a trip around the moon with Artemis 1

It is set to lift off atop the massive Space Launch System (SLS) megarocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but has been hit by a number of delays

Artemis 1 is the first of three initial lunar flights planned by NASA as part of the plan to return to the moon, and will use the SLS and Orion capsules.

The combination of spaceship and rocket will be put to the test in a wet dress rehearsal on March 17, where it will be rolled out to the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This is used to test all launch procedures and equipment, to ensure everything will go as planned when the spaceship finally launches in the summer.

If that all goes to plan, Artemis 1 will take to space, although the actual launch date is still unclear. This is because the data from the rehearsal has to be analyzed.

Artemis 1, the first in NASA's new generation of moon missions, won't launch until at least the end of May, and could slip into June, according to the space agency

It was originally due to lift off at the end of last year, but was delayed and is now scheduled to launch anytime from late May to mid-July.

'All eyes will be on the historic Launch Complex 39B when Orion and the Space Launch System (SLS) lift off for the first time from NASA's modernized Kennedy Space Center in Florida,' the space agency said.

'The mission will demonstrate our commitment and capability to extend human existence to the Moon and beyond.

'Artemis I will be the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term human presence at the Moon for decades to come.'

It was originally due to lift off at the end of last year, but was delayed and is now scheduled to launch anytime from late May to mid-July

The spacecraft, and the flash drive of names, will spend about three weeks in space, including six days in a distant retrograde orbit around the moon

NASA is going to miss its moon landing target date by 'several YEARS,' watchdog report says A report from NASA's inspector general said the U.S. space agency will miss its target for landing humans on the moon in late 2024 by 'several years,' just days after it pushed back its initial target date to 2025, citing cost overruns and lawsuits. 'Given the time needed to develop and fully test the HLS and new spacesuits, we project NASA will exceed its current timetable for landing humans on the Moon in late 2024 by several years,' the IG wrote in its report. The report also notes that NASA is not properly estimating all costs for the Artemis program and could spend as much as $93 billion between fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2025, when taking into account the $25 billion needed for missions beyond Artemis III. 'Without capturing, accurately reporting, and reducing the cost of future [Space Launch System]/Orion missions, the Agency will face significant challenges to sustaining its Artemis program in its current configuration,' the report added. Advertisement

Once Artemis I has proved a success, NASA will send Artemis II, likely sometime in 2024, with a crew of astronauts on a journey around the moon.

Then, if that goes to plan, Artemis III will launch in 2025 or 2026, landing the first humans on the lunar surface since 1972.

While in the White House, President Donald Trump pushed NASA to return to the moon by 2024, but that slipped to 2025 last year, and will probably split again.

Speaking at the House space subcommittee hearing on Artemis, NASA Inspector General, Paul Martin, predicted the launch would slip to at least 2026.

NASA says it will be able to launch Artemis III, the first crewed mission to land on the lunar surface since 1972, in 2025, with the first uncrewed mission launching in May.

At an estimated $1 billion per launch, the space agency wants to ensure any issues or errors are picked up before the single-use rocket leaves the Earth.

It is housed in the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and with the Orion module on top, it stands a whopping 322ft.

When it launches the rocket will produce 8.8 million lbs of thrust, which is more than the Saturn V rocket that took the Apollo astronauts to the Moon in the 60s and 70s.

The Artemis missions have faced issues, including with the development of spacesuits and the human lander systems that will take crew to the surface.

However, many of the delays have been as a result of issues with the SLS itself and legal issues, caused by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin unsuccessfully suing NASA over a decision to award the Human lander system contract solely to Blue Origin.

In November, NASA extended its target date for sending astronauts back to the moon from 2024 to 2025 at the earliest.
British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe is reportedly among those interested in buying Chelsea after Roman Abramovich confirmed he would be selling the London club.

The Sun claim Ratcliffe - the wealthiest man in the UK - is considering putting in an offer via his Ineos empire.

The 69-year-old has a net worth of 6billion and is reportedly a season ticket holder at Stamford Bridge.

It is understood he will face competition from at least two other groups should he make a bid.

Ratcliffe already has an interest in two clubs overseas having bought Swiss Super League side Lausanne-Sport in 2017, while also owning French side Nice.

Abramovich sensationally confirmed that Chelsea is up for sale on Wednesday, with the Russian oligarch reportedly slapping a 3billion asking price on the London club while also writing off the 1.5billion debt he is owed from it.

In a surprise development, the Russian broke his silence to confirm he is in the process of selling Chelsea FC - with proceeds of the prospective sale to be donated to the victims of war in Ukraine.

MailOnline reported on Wednesday morning that the club had been put on the market, with a view to recouping at least 3billion, as Abramovich seeks to distance himself from Russian President Vladimir Putin and sanctions imposed on Russia by the west over its devastating and illegal invasion of Ukraine.

British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe is reportedly among those interested in buying Chelsea

The oligarch has instructed American bank the Raine Group to handle the sale of the west London side.

Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss claims he has been approached ad is considering making an offer as part of a consortium which includes co-owner of the LA Dodgers Todd Boehly, who has shown previous interest in buying the club.

Abramovich is worth 10.4bn ($12.5bn), according to Forbes, and owns a 150m Kensington mansion, a 22m penthouse, and more than 1.2bn of yachts, private jets, helicopters and supercars in Britain and globally.

The 69-year-old has a net worth of 6billion and is a season ticket holder at Stamford Bridge

Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss (R) says he could form part of a consortium to purchase the club

Chelsea FC is his most valuable British asset, after the oligarch transformed its fortunes from outside challengers to Premier League giants with the help of Jose Mourinho and huge signings like Didier Drogba, so its sale will be a personal blow to the billionaire industrialist.

There are strong indications that Abramovich will receive at least two firm offers for Chelsea by the end of the week.

The danger of a buy-out being wrecked if Abramovich is sanctioned by the UK Government has made the situation urgent.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer challenged Boris Johnson in Parliament on Wednesday about why Abramovich has not yet been sanctioned, with the Prime Minister replying: It is not appropriate to comment on individual cases.
Kate Laidlaw's Married At First Sight audition tape reveals a history of tears, rejection and sadness before signing up for Nine's social experiment out of desperation.

The Melbourne-based nutritionist, who has never had a boyfriend, spoke of her embarrassment at being 38 without having ever been told 'I love you'.

Laying her heart bare in the video released by 9Now, Kate said she was amazed how some people could marry and have children by the age of 40, while she 'can't even get anyone to stick around for three months'.

Sad story: Kate Laidlaw's Married At First Sight audition tape reveals a history of tears, rejection and sadness before signing up for Nine's social experiment out of desperation

Laughing at times, but clearly emotional, Kate admitted she had never been in a proper relationship, which left her feeling she was not pretty enough to be anyone's girlfriend.

'The last couple of guys have closed me down,' she said. 'When you get rejected a lot you begin to see yourself as not worthy.'

Her attempts at romance have often ended with Kate lying in bed at night in tears after a date has told her she was not good enough.

She added: 'It's not a great feeling and I don't want to make the same mistakes.'

Laughing at times, but clearly emotional, Kate admitted she has never experienced a formal relationship which led to feeling she was not pretty enough to be anyone's girlfriend

At one point in the video, Kate said friends had advised her to 'freeze her eggs' before it's too late.

'I don't want to go through life without experiencing basically what we're here for. I want what everyone else has got,' she said.

'I want to say "I love you" to somebody,' Kate continued. 'And I want someone to say it back to me and I want to know what it feels like.'

Rather than facing the constant disappointment of dating, Kate prefers to stay home watching romantic movies with her best friend and her sister, whom she lives with.

Pictured is Kate wedding Matt: 'I want to say 'I love you' to somebody,' Kate said in her audition for the show, 'and I want someone to say it back to me and I want to know what it feels like'

Kate entered this season's Married at First Sight two weeks ago as one half of three intruder couples.

She was paired with Matt Ridley, a 39-year-old lawyer, but things aren't going well because she feels no chemistry with him.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine and 9Now
Brooke Blurton and Darvid Garayeli went through a public split in January.

And as the Bachelorette star gears up to attend the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, she has revealed her dating hopes for the future.

'I'm not giving up on love just yet... I feel like that journey is still an open door,' the 27-year-old told Now To Love on Wednesday.

Still hopeful: The Bachelorette's Brooke Blurton has revealed she is ready to date again after her public split from ex Darvid Garayeli in January

Although she stayed tight-lipped about her ex, the former youth worker said she'd used her complicated break-up as inspiration for self-growth.

'I think I've come out of this a much more confident version of myself and realising that I need to really take the time to incorporate a bit more self-love,' she said.

'Maybe something will happen around the corner, but I'm not putting so much pressure on myself [to find love].'

It comes after Brooke's interview last month with NITV's The Point in which she claimed Darvid, 27, wanted to 'humiliate' her when he publicly announced their split in early January.

Bad break-up: It comes after Brooke's interview last month with NITV's The Point in which she claimed Darvid, 27, wanted to 'humiliate' her when he publicly announced their split in January

She said she'd been blindsided by Darvid's decision to reveal their 'private' break-up on Instagram, and said she was 'in a very vulnerable place' when it happened.

'It's a lot of pressure and I had no choice in any part of it going public, I would have preferred not to but it did,' she said.

'I feel like it was just to humiliate me, to have one over me, and what else did I have to do?

'I was silenced. I was defenceless. I just had to cop it. And that's exactly what I did.'

Ouch: She said she'd been blindsided by Darvid's decision to reveal their 'private' break-up on Instagram, and said she was 'in a very vulnerable place' when it happened

Darvid stunned Brooke and Bachelorette fans alike when he announced their split on Instagram Stories in early January.

'Unfortunately Brooke and I have parted ways. Whilst we both genuinely thought we were each other's person, things change and that's okay,' he said.

Following Darvid's announcement, Brooke shared a post on Instagram admitting she was 'surprised' he'd shared the news with fans.

Coming clean: Darvid stunned Brooke and Bachelorette fans alike when he announced their split on Instagram Stories in early January

'Hey, beautiful people. Before my phone blows up, I just want to say right now I'm finding this really quite overwhelming and just as surprising to me as you guys,' she began.

'I just woke up to the news. It was definitely agreed to part ways. I just wanted to do it privately, amicably and respectfully.'

She continued: 'This is not how and what I expected to be doing right now so as you can imagine, this is all a lot.

Blindsided: Following Darvid's announcement, Brooke shared a post on Instagram admitting she was 'surprised' he'd shared the news with fans

'You will all have your judgements and have your say but there is a lot going on in my world and D's of course. So I again just ask you be kind, we are human.'

She ended her post by asking the public to 'respect some part of some what "privacy" we do have right now' and said she'd be 'tuning out' online.

Bisexual Brooke will attend the the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on March 5.
90 Day Fiance star Natalie Mordovtseva shared the welcome news earlier this week that her mother had escaped Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian attacks.

In an Instagram Stories post from Monday, the 37-year-old reality star wrote that her mother was 'safe' after making her way to 'Europe.'

But Mordovtseva revealed that things were far more dire for her friends who hadn't been able to leave Ukraine, as they were left fearing death.

Getting out: Natalie Mordovtseva, of 90 Day Fiance fame, revealed Monday on Instagram that her mother had escaped Ukraine for the safety of Europe

She shared a closeup video of herself and updated her 280K followers on her mother's status in a text caption.

'My mom is safe from today morning, she made it to Europe with some other families,' she wrote.

'Unfortunately, my all friends are locked at that hell,' she added.

'Every night they telling me that they gonna die. I'm suffering with my people [sic],' she added.

Scary: She said that she still had friends locked in the 'hell' of the fighting in Ukraine. 'Every night they telling me that they gonna die. I'm suffering with my people [sic],' she added

Natalie, who hails from Kyiv, appeared on 90 Day Fiance in 2019 for the long-running show's seventh season.

She met Washington Statebased Mike Youngquist after his best friend and his Ukrainian wife introduced him to Natalie virtually.

The two hit it off once he traveled to Ukraine to spend some time with her, and she eventually moved to the United States with him after receiving her visa.

Despite plenty of incompatibilities, the two married at the last minute in 2021, but they split shortly afterward, and Natalie later moved to Florida.

Moving on: Natalie, who hails from Kyiv, appeared on 90 Day Fiance in 2019 for the long-running show's seventh season. She later split from her husband Mike Youngquist after a brief marriage and moved from Washington State to Florida

While the reality star was safe from the fighting in the US, other Ukrainian stars have been close to the destruction at home and have been reporting back to their followers.

Dancing With The Stars professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy was back in Ukraine when the Russian invasion began, so he shared photos and videos of destruction to areas around Kyiv.

He was originally forced to hide with others in an parking structure doubling as a bomb shelter, but after he was arrested on Monday, he moved to flee the country into Poland.

Escape: Other Ukrainian stars have been documenting the plight of the nation under attack, including DWTS pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who revealed he was packed aboard an overstuffed train headed to Poland

'I'm at a station about 20, 30, 40, I don't actually know where I'm at but like 30 minutes before the Polish border, they stopped to change wheels on the train, I can't make this up and let us out... for fresh air and I went to the bathroom and now we're going back and this is the train,' he explained as he panned his camera to show the train tracks and crowds surrounding them.

Following a 31-hour trip, during which he said a train car meant to carry 30 had to be stuffed with 135 people, Chmerkovskiy arrived safely in Poland.

From Poland, he was able to get a flight back to Los Angeles on Wednesday, taking him back to his wife Peta Murgatroyd.

Free: Following a 31-hour trip, during which he said a train car meant to carry 30 had to be stuffed with 135 people, Chmerkovskiy arrived in Poland before catching a flight to his family in Los Angeles
Cheryl Burke was spotted out publicly for the first time on Wednesday since filing for divorce from her husband Matthew Lawrence last month.

The Dancing With The Stars pro, 37, was not wearing her wedding band as she strolled through the hills in Los Angeles with her beloved French bulldog.

Burke braved the SoCal heat in an off-the-shoulder brown tee and a pair of matching sweatpants.

Spotted: Cheryl Burke was spotted out publicly for the first time on Wednesday since filing for divorce from her husband Matthew Lawrence last month

The television personality slipped on some sneakers and let her brunette hair flow out from under a white Adidas hat.

She kept her darling dog close and held her cellphone up to her ear for most of the morning walk.

Burke and Lawrence, 42, initially met in 2006 after his brother Joey Lawrence appeared as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars.

The former couple went on to begin a relationship the following year, although they ended up splitting up in 2008.

Missing: The Dancing With The Stars pro, 37, was not wearing her wedding band as she strolled through the hills in Los Angeles with her beloved French bulldog

Matching: Burke braved the SoCal heat in an off-the-shoulder brown tee and a pair of matching sweatpants

The two eventually reconciled in 2017, and they went on to make their union official in 2019.

Burke spoke about their reconciliation during an interview with People, where she noted that she and Lawrence weren't initially ready for a long-term relationship.

The dancer recalled that 'there was an attraction right away' but they 'were both really young.'

She then gushed about her now-ex partner and stated that he had brought much joy into her life.

'Matt brings out the best in me. He enjoys every moment and that helps me appreciate life even more,' she said.

Beginning: Burke and Lawrence, 42, initially met in 2006 after his brother Joey Lawrence appeared as a contestant on Dancing With The Stars. The former couple went on to begin a relationship the following year, although they ended up splitting up in 2008; Matthew and Cheryl pictured in 2007

Burke also expressed that the time between the split and the reconciliation did not have any effect on their relationship, stating: 'It felt like the [time passed] didn't happen. I just felt so comfortable.'

However, TMZ reported that the professional dancer had filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, in mid-February 2022.

The media outlet also reported that she had listed January 7th as their date of separation and that the couple had a prenuptial agreement in place.

Reconciliation: The two eventually reconciled in 2017, and they went on to make their union official in 2019; Cheryl and Matthew pictured in 2018

An insider later spoke to Us Weekly and expressed that Burke and Lawrence were 'keeping divorce matters private.'

The source also stated that the 'reason' for the split 'was not about having kids.'

They concluded by stating that the dancer was focusing on her own well-being.

'Cheryl's taking this time to focus on next steps and focus on her mental health,' they said.
Rap sensation The Kid Laroi may be busy in the studio working on his first album.

But the Stay hitmaker, 18, took some time off on Tuesday to go out for dinner with his pals at an upscale sushi restaurant in Los Angeles.

Laroi, whose real name is Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, dressed casually in a pair of khaki pants and an oversized black jacket.

Outing: Rap sensation The Kid Laroi went out for dinner with his pals at an upscale sushi restaurant in Los Angeles on Tuesday

He also donned a pair of trainers and wore his shaggy hair in its signature style.

Following their meal, Laroi bid farewell to his friends with a hug.

The sighting comes two weeks after he celebrated his girlfriend Katarina Deme's 18th birthday.

Hugging it out: Following their meal, Laroi bid farewell to his friends with a hug

Laroi threw Katarina a surprise birthday party at a trendy restaurant in LA on February 19, inviting all her friends and family.

Katarina, a model and TikTok star, couldn't quite believe it when she entered the venue with her boyfriend and saw the assembled guests.

She clearly wasn't expecting a party, and almost immediately broke down in tears.

Surprise! Laroi threw his girlfriend Katarina Deme a surprise birthday party at a trendy restaurant in LA on February 19, inviting all her friends and family

'The best surprise ever. I've always cried on my birthday, but this was the first time from just being happy,' she said on Instagram.

The couple have been dating for more than a year.

As his personal life goes from strength to strength, the Without You star has been concentrating on his career of late.

In November, he announced he was taking time out to work on his first album.

'Goodbye for now': Laroi announced in November he was taking a break from the spotlight to work on his debut album. Pictured on October 23 in Los Angeles

Laroi explained that after a 'wild year' he was focusing on his full-length release.

He thanked fans for supporting his debut mixtape, F*ck Love, but said he needed a digital detox to optimise his creativity.

'My life has changed so much this past year because of [F*ck Love] and I owe it all to every single one of you. There is no way I will ever be able to repay you,' he said.

Power couple: Laroi and Katarina are pictured on vacation last year

'Last week I went on a small vacation for the first time in a while. During that time I started thinking and I made the decision that I need to take some time away from everything and focus on the next project: my debut album.'

Laroi promised fans he would be back soon.

'I'm going to miss you all beyond words can describe, but I do believe that this is what I need to do to give you all the best music possible,' he concluded.
Alan Ladd Jr., who won an Academy Award as. producer on Braveheart, died Wednesday at the age of 84.

His daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones, who directed the documentary Laddie: The Man Behind The Movies,' announced his passing at his Los Angeles home on the film's Facebook page.

'With the heaviest of hearts, we announce that on March 2, 2022, Alan Ladd, Jr. died peacefully at home surrounded by his family. Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed. His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence.'

So far there's no official word on a cause of death.

RIP: Longtime film producer Alan Ladd Jr. died at his Los Angeles home on Wednesday

Ladd Jr.'s brother, David Ladd, shared a brief statement, where he described him as a loyal sibling, when he posted the news of his passing on Facebook.

'My brother, my friend, my hero, who always stood by my side. We will stand together again on the other side! I love you Laddie,' he wrote, as reported by the New York Post.

He was the son of actor Alan Ladd, who died at the age of 50 in 1964, and Marjorie Jane, Ladds first wife, whom he met in high school.

His father found success in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in the Western genre, with such films as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), The Blue Dahlia (1946) and Shane (1953).

In mourning: Ladd Jr.s daughter Amanda Ladd-Jones, who directed the documentary Laddie: The Man Behind The Movies,' announced his passing on the film's Facebook page

Despite his father's success in Hollywood, Ladd Jr. would go on to have an even more successful career, which included numerous accolades.

His began his career in Hollywood as an agent in the early 1960s, representing for the likes of Robert Redford and Judy Garland at CMA under Freddie Fields.

But then, in 1969, he had moved to London to produce nine films that included The Walking Stick (1970), A Severed Head (1970) and Villain (1971).

He eventually returned to the U.S. in 1973 to become Head of Creative Affairs at 20th Century Fox, and within three years the Los Angeles, California native was promoted from worldwide production head to president of Fox's film division.

Risk well rewarded: It was Ladd Jr. who would bring George Lucas' Star Wars to Fox President Gordon Stulberg for consideration, despite it being widely deemed as a risky endeavor; He is pictured (left with Lucas (center) and Director Ron Howard on the set of the film Willow (1988)

It was Ladd Jr. who would bring George Lucas' Star Wars to Fox President Gordon Stulberg for consideration. And despite being perceived as a risky endeavor, Stulberg would approve the production, which was plagued by location difficulties, story problems and budgetary disagreements.

In the end, Star Wars (1977) would go on to become a critical and commercial success, earning the title of highest-grossing film of all time, up to that point, and spawning an array of sequel and prequel films, television, video games and franchise merchandise.

Ladd Jr. would also help greenlight and produce Ridley Scott's classic sci-fi horror film Alien (1979), which also turned into a franchise, among a few others during his tenure at 20th Century Fox.

Accolades: Ladd Jr.(producer), Bruce Davey (producer), and Mel Gibson (director and lead role) won Best Picture Oscars for Braveheart (1995)

By 1979, Ladd Jr. decided to move on and create his own production company, The Ladd Company, a move that saw quick results with the success of such films as Outland (1981), Night Shift (1982), Blade Runner (1982) and PoliceAcademy (1984).

The Ladd Company saw its success soar with Academy Award winners Chariots Of Fire (1981), The Right Stuff (1983), and more recently, Gone Baby Gone (2007).

Ladd Jr. received the 2,348th star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame on September 28, 2007.

Ladd is survived by his three remaining children: Ladd-Jones and her sisters, Kelliann and Tracy Ladd. Sadly, his daughter Chelsea died peacefully in her sleep on March 28, 2021 at the age of 34.
Married At First Sight star-turned-influencer Martha Kalifatidis is always impeccably turned out wherever she goes.

And the 32-year-old didn't appear too pleased when she got caught in Sydney's torrential downpour on Wednesday.

Martha looked glum as she battled the wet weather conditions while her best friend and podcast co-host Roj Torabi held an umbrella over her.

The forecast is... gloomy: Married At First Sight star Martha Kalifatidis looked glum as she got drenched in Sydney's torrential rain on Wednesday during an outing with her best friend and podcast co-host Roj Torabi

Martha's oversized jeans and hair both getting a good soaking as the pair appeared to head to a meeting.

Sydney has been suffering extreme weather conditions with parts of the city already suffering flooding.

The reality star was not happy as she walked along the street in her loose-fitting jeans and a khaki padded jacket.

Rain bomb: Martha desperately tried to keep dry as she raced for cover

She finished her look with a black -shirt, white sneakers and a Louis Vuitton handbag.

She tied her brunette tresses back in a bun and had a full face of makeup.

It comes after Martha visited her hometown of Melbourne last week to get a 'little refresher' at a skincare clinic.

Downpour: Martha's oversized jeans and hair both getting a good soaking as the pair appeared to head to a meeting

Joined by her fiance Michael Brunelli and mother Mary on the outing, Martha showed off the surprising results with fans just one hour after filler injections.

'I had some filler in my temples. A little bit of filler in my jaw. No bruising,' she said as she revealed her plump and glowing visage in a candid video.

'This is an hour after my treatment with Dr Miller. I did have an LED (treatment) straight after to help with the bruising,' Martha continued.

Hitting refresh: It comes after Martha visited her hometown of Melbourne last week to get a 'little refresher' at a skincare clinic

The reality star also posted a close-up photo that drew attention to her under eye area, as she revealed she had 'some peptide injections'.

Peptide injections are often injected under the eye, and are amino acids that help to repair tissues at the cellular level, resulting in firmer, younger-looking skin.

The cosmetic reveal comes just weeks after it was reported that Martha and her fiance Michael, 31, will televise their real-life nuptials.

After: 'I had some filler in my temples. A little bit of filler in my jaw. No bruising,' the beauty said as she revealed her plump and glowing visage in a candid video. Pictured after treatment

Their MAFS wedding was watched by over a million Aussies back in 2019.

According to Woman's Day, the couple have been inundated with offers from networks to film a TV special after getting engaged.

'They were hoping to do a wedding special on a free-to-air channel and they've been overwhelmed by all of the interest,' a source told the magazine.
Just one day after Netflix's The Crown was robbed by thieves who made off with $200,000 in props, Netflix's Lupin also suffered a robbery in France.

Production was under way on Part 3 of the series with star Omar Sy in Nanterre, France on the outskirts of Paris, when 20 masked men robbed the set, via Variety.

These brazen criminals made off with an estimated 300,00 Euros ($330,000) worth of equipment, which lead to a brief production shut-down.

Robbery: Just one day after Netflix's The Crown was robbed by thieves who made off with $200,000 in props, Netflix's Lupin also suffered a robbery in France

Thieves: These brazen criminals made off with an estimated 300,00 Euros ($330,000) worth of equipment, which lead to a brief production shut-down

The thieves broke onto the set after launching mortar fireworks in the area, though a Netflix statement confirmed no one was harmed in the incident.

'There was an incident on Feb. 25 while filming the upcoming season of Lupin. Our cast and crew are safe and there were no injuries,' the statement read.

Filming was shut down for a few days on the Netflix series, before production resumed on Monday, February 28.

No one harmed: The thieves broke onto the set after launching mortar fireworks in the area, though a Netflix statement confirmed no one was harmed in the incident

Incident: 'There was an incident on Feb. 25 while filming the upcoming season of Lupin. Our cast and crew are safe and there were no injuries,' the statement read

Authorities in Nanterre have launched an investigation into the robbery, though it wasn't specified what was stolen during the incident.

Just one day earlier on February 24, thieves broke into three trucks in Yorkshire U.K., which were parked close to where a unit was filming, though production was not affected by the incident.

The thieves stole approximately, $200K worth of gemstones, silverware and antiques, including a replica of a rare Faberge egg owned by George V., Queen Elizabeth II's grandfather, in 1933.

Investigation: Authorities in Nanterre have launched an investigation into the robbery, though it wasn't specified what was stolen during the incident

Other items stolen from The Crown set include a candelabra, jewelry, a grandfather clock and a birdcage.

Lupin is based on the fictional master thief Arsene Lupin, created by Maurice LeBlanc in 1905, who featured the character in 17 novels and 39 novellas.

Omar Sy plays Assane Diop, a French man who is inspired by these tales and lays out an elaborate scheme to get revenge on the wealthy family who framed his late father.

Omar's character: Omar Sy plays Assane Diop, a French man who is inspired by these tales and lays out an elaborate scheme to get revenge on the wealthy family who framed his late father

Based: Lupin is based on the fictional master thief Arsene Lupin, created by Maurice LeBlanc in 1905, who featured the character in 17 novels and 39 novellas

The series, created by George Kay and Francois Uzan, debuted with the first five episodes in January 2021 with the second batch of five episodes dropping in June 2021.

Netflix revealed in January that the show was watched by more than 70 million subscribers in the first 28 days, the biggest debut ever for a non-English series, at the time, though it was later ousted by Squid Game.

The streaming service issued a renewal for Part 3 back in May, and while production continues there is no release date in place quite yet.

Created: The series, created by George Kay and Francois Uzan, debuted with the first five episodes in January 2021 with the second batch of five episodes dropping in June 2021
Triple M breakfast host Jess Eva was visibly stunned on Thursday when a bomb blast interrupted her live interview with a Ukrainian politician.

The former Block star, 37, was talking to Kira Rudik in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv when suddenly the camera shook and Rudik gasped.

The leader of Ukraine's Voice Party then revealed a missile strike had landed 'really close' to where she was doing the interview.

Shocked: Triple M breakfast host Jess Eva (right) was visibly stunned on Thursday when a bomb blast interrupted her live interview with Ukrainian politician Kira Rudik (left)

Also conducting the interview were Eva's co-hosts Mark Geyer and Chris Page.

The Sydney radio team realised something was amiss when Rudik's screen shook during their Skype call and she suddenly looked alarmed.

'What's just happened, Kira?' asked Page.

Sudden: The former Block star, 37, was talking to Kira Rudik (pictured) in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv when suddenly the camera shook and Rudik gasped

'There has been a strike right here it's really close. This is probably the closest we've ever seen,' said the Ukrainian parliament member.

'This was a strike right now, it was very close one second, let me [check],' she added, before speaking quickly in Ukrainian to someone off-camera.

Shortly thereafter she cut the interview short.

Bombshell: The Sydney radio team realised something was amiss when Rudik's screen shook during their Skype call and she suddenly looked alarmed

'They're saying they need to go out and check, so I need to stop Thank you so much, and all the hugs from Ukraine,' the 36-year-old signed off.

Earlier in the interview, Rudik, whose party runs in opposition to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party, said 'we have been constantly attacked... usually 10 to 15 air strikes a day on the city.'

'So 10 to 15 times a day you have to go down to your bomb shelter and sit and hide with your family. This has actually been really hard,' she said.

Russia has stepped up its bombing campaign and missile strikes in recent days, hitting Kyiv's main television tower, two residential buildings in a town west of the city and the city of Bila Tserkva to the south of the capital.

More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion began, the UN's refugee agency says.
Elle Fanning looks eerily like Michelle Carter in a trailer for Stan's new true crime drama The Girl From Plainville.

The American actress, 23, stars in the highly anticipated new series, which tells the story of Carter, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2017 for encouraging her boyfriend to kill himself via text messages in 2014.

The compelling trailer shows detectives investigating Carter's involvement in the death of her boyfriend Conrad Henri Roy III, played by Colton Ryan.

Identical: Elle Fanning (left) looks eerily like Michelle Carter (right) in a trailer for Stan's new true crime drama The Girl From Plainville, about the Massachusetts woman who was convicted of manslaughter for encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide in 2014

Text messages between the pair are then shown on screen, in which Carter asks her boyfriend 'if he's going to do it'.

It also shows Carter going to court and being confronted by Roy's family.

Although Roy and Carter lived just over 50km apart near Boston, the two met while both were visiting Florida in 2012.

New series: The compelling trailer shows detectives investigating Carter's involvement in the death of her boyfriend Conrad Henri Roy III, played by Colton Ryan

The two carried on a relationship via text from that point on, despite rarely seeing each other, even though they lived just an hour away.

Although Carter referred to herself as Roy's girlfriend, he didn't use that terminology and only referred to her as a friend.

After Roy began sharing his suicidal thoughts with Carter later in 2012, she initially tried to convince him he had 'so much to live for,' reported The New York Times.

She urged Roy to seek professional help in June 2014 when he again told Carter he was thinking of killing himself.

Exchange: Text messages between the pair are then shown on screen, in which Carter asks her boyfriend 'if he's going to do it'

But just a month later, she began sending him texts encouraging him to kill himself and trying to convince him his family and friends would eventually accept his death.

'Everyone will be sad for a while but they will get over it and move on,' she wrote in a text message shown in court.

Although Carter's defence blamed her text messages on mental changes brought about by a new antidepressant she was taking, she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.

Carter was released three months early in January 2020 due to good conduct.

The Girl from Plainville premieres 30 March, same day as the U.S. and only on Stan.

For free and confidential support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
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Katie Holmes wowed in a plunging white jumpsuit while attending the grand opening of RiseNY, which features a flying theater that gives visitors a bird's-eye view of the city, located in Midtown Manhattan, on Tuesday.

While visiting the attraction, which also features museum exhibits honoring some of the most legendary spots in the Big Apple, the 43-year-old Dawson's Creek alum oozed sophistication as she strutted around in a pair of hot pink slingback heels.

Instead of flat ironing her typically straightened locks, the actress wore her beautiful brown tresses in textured waves for her fun night in the city.

Looking good! Katie Holmes wowed in a plunging white jumpsuit while attending the grand opening of RiseNY, which features a flying theater that gives visitors a bird's-eye view of the city, located in Midtown Manhattan, on Tuesday

She also sported a bright red lipstick for a bold pop of color and cool, gold necklace with a crystal pendant.

Once she arrived to the event, Holmes posed in front of a stunning wall covered in graffiti art with the Statue of Liberty and 'RiseNY' in red letters on it, painted by Will Power.

Just hours ahead of her outing, the mother-of-one rocked another effortlessly chic ensemble, consisting of a slouchy cardigan and high-waisted black jeans.

Pops of color: She let the art behind her stand out as she wore a simple monochrome ensemble

Fashion icon: Holmes wowed in a plunging white jumpsuit while attending the grand opening of RiseNY, which features a flying theater that gives visitors a bird's-eye view of the city, located in Midtown Manhattan

Daring: She also sported a bright red lipstick for a bold pop of color and cool, gold necklace with a crystal pendant

As she ran errands in her neighborhood wearing black leather loafers, the First Daughter star stayed safe in a face mask amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

On top of her public appearances, the star has a number of upcoming film and television projects on the way as well.

She recently completed filming on an untitled Fox television movie in which she will play a FBI special agent.

Art aficionado: Once she arrived to the event, Holmes posed in front of a stunning wall covered in graffiti art with the Statue of Liberty and 'RiseNY' in red letters on it, painted by Will Power

Pops of color: She let the art behind her stand out as she wore a simple monochrome ensemble

Another one of her untitled projects, set for release later this year, is currently in post-production while she's in the process of filming the movie Rare Objects.

The movie is based on the novel about a young woman who tries to rebuild her life by working in an antiques store.

Holmes will serve as the lead actress and director. She also co-wrote the script along with Phaedon A. Papadopoulos and the novel's author Kathleen Tessaro.

Casual: Just hours ahead of her appearance, the mother-of-one rocked another effortlessly chic ensemble, consisting of a slouchy cardigan and high-waisted black jeans

In addition to being a movie star, Holmes is also hard at work as a full-time mother to her daughter Suri, 15, who she shares with her ex-husband Tom Cruise.

The Iconic Series, Dawson's Creek is available only on Stan in Australia.

Cozy: As she ran errands in her neighborhood wearing black leather loafers, the First Daughter star stayed safe in a face mask amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

Out and about: Ahead of her appearance, Holmes stayed busy on a stroll near her apartment in New York City

Katie's look: Katie Holmes strikes a pose at the official grand opening of RiseNY in New York City

Ready to Rise: Katie Holmes gets ready to check out the RiseNY immersive aerial adventure over New York City

After Rise: Katie Holmes is all smiles in a pantsuit after taking in RiseNY

Balcony shot: Katie Holmes poses on the balcony at RiseNY

NPH and family: Neil Patrick Harris took in the RiseNY grand opening with husband David Burtka and their son Gideon Scott

Selfie time: Neil Patrick Harris takes a selfie with husband David Burtka and their son Gideon at RiseNY

Kitchen shot: Neil Patrick Harris, David Burtka and their son Gideon pose in a kitchen at RiseNY

Ready: NPH and his family get ready for the RiseNY experience

All smiles: NPH is all smiles with husband David Burtka and son Gideon

Balcony shot: NPH, David Burtka and young Gideo pose on the balcony

DJ NPH: Neil Patrick Harris also serves as the DJ during the RiseNY premiere party

Michaela: Michaela Vybohova stepped out in a cream colored sweater and black leather pants at RiseNY
Laura Byrne has raised $40,000 for flood relief in Queensland and New South Wales through sales of her jewellery brand ToniMay.

The former Bachelor star, 35, had announced on Tuesday all proceeds for a 24-hour period would go towards helping those affected by the extreme weather.

She took to Instagram on Wednesday to confirm the amount of money raised, and became emotional as she thanked customers for their contribution.

Generous donation: Laura Byrne (pictured) has raised $40,000 for flood relief in Queensland and New South Wales through sales of her jewellery brand ToniMay

'Are you kidding me? I'm very excited,' Laura said through tears.

'Thank you to everyone who purchased. We will be donating that money to the Red Cross [flood appeal] in the next couple of days.'

Laura said ToniMay had practically no stock left after the sale.

'For anyone from Lismore or who has been affected [elsewhere], we are so sorry you are going through this,' she added.

'Are you kidding me?': She took to Instagram on Wednesday to confirm the amount of money raised, and became emotional as she thanked customers for their contribution

'We hope this helps in some small way,' she concluded.

Laura had announced on Tuesday she would be donating 100 per cent of the proceeds from her jewellery brand ToniMay to flood relief.

The podcast host has a personal connection to Lismore, which has been devastated by the floods, because she studied a Fine Arts degree there.

Giving back: Laura had announced on Tuesday she would be donating 100 per cent of the proceeds from her jewellery brand ToniMay to flood relief

'I know that everyone is sitting on social media looking at the photos of floods and what is happening in Queensland and New South Wales,' she said.

'It's horrific, entire houses underwater.'

Laura also said the crisis needs to be given the same attention as the 2019-2020 bushfires.

Good cause: The former Bachelor star, 35, has a personal connection to Lismore, which has been devastated by the floods, because she studied a Fine Arts degree there

'I feel so sorry for the families who have lost so much. This is a little way we can help to support that. We're there,' she said.

Laura also shared a number of photos highlighting the damage caused by the flooding event.

Lismore and the Northern Rivers region have been battered by floods, resulting in death and destruction.

Treacherous: A convoy of at least 20 cars and several horses are trapped on a bridge at Woodburn near Lismore in northern NSW this week

Brisbane, Ipswich, the Sunshine and Gold coasts are all also being severely affected by the dangerous trough passing over the region.

Hail measuring up to six centimetres hit towns in the Sunshine Coast hinterland in the early hours of Thursday.

'We've got a number of activities and jobs and requests for assistance, particularly this morning in the Beerwah and Landsborough areas,' QFES Deputy Commissioner Mike Wassing told the Nine Network.

Rescue effort: LifeFlight Special Mission helicopter crews spent Tuesday wrenching stranded residents in northern NSW to safety. Pictured is the aerial view of Coraki
Model and I'm a Celebrity star Maria Thattil has defended political correctness during a segment on Nine's Talking Honey.

The former Miss Universe Australia, 29, sparred with 2GB radio host Ben Fordham on the subject, arguing political correctness is 'important' because it helps marginalised groups feel more included in society.

Thattil, who is bisexual and of South Asian descent, said: 'We're talking about languages and practices that make people feel seen, feel included, and if you can make those changes to accommodate people, I think you should.'

Having her say: Model and I'm a Celebrity star Maria Thattil has defended political correctness during a segment on Nine's Talking Honey

She also said people who don't want to change their language to adhere to politically correct standards have a 'real privilege' because they're not likely to ever be offended like marginalised groups are.

Thattil has been outspoken about promoting diversity in the media, and recently partnered with Olay, Mardi Gras and Minus18 to destigmatise LGBTQIA+ issues and support those dealing with low self-acceptance after coming out as bisexual.

Conservative commentator Fordham, 45, had a slightly different take on the situation, saying it's possible to be respectful without policing language.

Inclusive: 'We're talking about languages and practices that make people feel seen, feel included, and if you can make those changes to accommodate people, I think you should,' said Thattil, who is bisexual and of South Asian descent

'I don't want to walk around on eggshells,' he said.

'I want to be safe in the knowledge that I treat people well, I respect people and I don't really want people second guessing whether I'm "evil" in some way just because I don't spend too much time thinking about political correctness,' he added.

'Most people are very decent people and they go looking out for people, and if they see racism or if they experience sexism, they speak up and do something about it.'

He then used Jamie Oliver as an example of PC culture going too far, after the celebrity chef was forced to hire 'offence advisers' to ensure his cookbooks weren't guilty of 'cultural appropriation'.

'I don't want to walk around on eggshells': Conservative commentator Fordham had a slightly different take on the situation, saying it's possible to be respectful without policing language

Oliver, 46, said his 'Empire roast chicken' recipe from 2012 would probably not be acceptable today despite it being a 'bloody good recipe'.

Talking about receiving accusations of cultural appropriation, he told the Sunday Times Culture magazine: 'Your immediate reaction is to be defensive and say, "For the love of God, really?" And then you go, "Well, we dont want to offend anyone."'

As a result, Oliver said he had employed 'teams of cultural appropriation specialists' to avoid accusations of insensitivity.
Colin Farrell and Sir Patrick Stewart compared their action figures on Wednesday's episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS.

The 45-year-old Irish actor, who portrays the Penguin in the superhero film The Batman, was not impressed with his action figure's hefty physique.

James, 43, asked Colin how it felt with his first action figure looking nothing like him.

Good times: Colin Farrell and Sir Patrick Stewart compared their action figures on Wednesday's episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden on CBS

'The eyebrows are in the neighborhood,' Colin said. 'I look like I'm wearing a sumo thing. The crotch is all wrong. Far too ample.'

James then pulled out Patrick's Captain Picard action figure and compared it to Colin's toy.

'It's very flat, it looks like I've been sitting down for 10 years,' said Colin of his action figure's behind.

'Could you just turn me around?', asked Patrick, 81, and then Colin described Patrick's Captain Picard action figure's behind as 'pert'.

Action figures: The 45-year-old Irish actor, who portrays the Penguin in the superhero film The Batman, was not impressed with his action figure's hefty physique

Action figures: James Corden compared their action figures next to each other

Pert posterior: 'Could you just turn me around?', asked Patrick, 81, and then Colin described his Picard figure's behind as 'pert'

'It really is,' said James.

'I swear to you that I didn't know,' said Patrick.

'Yeah you did,' said James. 'Look at that, it's a tight peach.'

Season two: Patrick was on the CBS show promoting season two of Picard

James also asked Patrick whether in light of William Shatner's recent trip to space if he had ever considered traveling out there himself.

'Yeah, I've thought about it,' said Patrick. 'I think I would pass.'

'I would pass out,' Colin quipped.

Warm welcome: Colin and Patrick received a warm welcome from the studio audience

James said to Colin that he knew he was a nervous flyer and asked him what he would do if there was turbulence on a plane. Colin acted it out and grabbed Patrick's hand.

'You touched me,' said Patrick.

'Did I break protocol?' asked Colin.

Touched him: 'Did I break protocol?' asked Colin after touching Patrick on the arm

'Colin Farrell touched me,' said Patrick who raised his arms in the air triumphantly.

James congratulated Colin on The Batman and asked him about making the superhero movie that will be in theaters on Friday. He said it was a little uncomfortable because he went through four hours of prosthetic makeup.

James showed the audience a photo of Colin as the Penguin and asked if it was true that the first time he wore the make up that he went to a Starbucks and no one recognized him.

Hollywood star: James congratulated Colin on The Batman and asked him about making the movie

'Absolutely and I ordered an oat milk latte and they seemed very surprised,' said Colin. 'Yeah, with two Stevia.'

'Yeah, he doesn't look like an oat milk guy,' said James.

Colin said some of the other actors also didn't recognize him.

In costume: 'Absolutely and I ordered an oat milk latte and they seemed very surprised,' said Colin of going to Starbucks in costume. 'Yeah, with two Stevia'

'Jeffrey Wright walked by and I said, ''Morning man'' and he looked at me like he wanted me thrown off the set,' said Colin. 'Then he went over and talked to the director and the director pointed at him and came back and said, ''Colin?''

James asked Patrick if had ever been on a set and not recognized another actor. Patrick told him when he was filming the original Dune that everyone was talking about Sting being on set.

'One day I was sitting next to him and I said Sting, they say you are a musician and he said 'yup,' said Patrick. 'And I said,'' What do you play. He said 'bass.' I said I've always wanted to ask people why they choose to play that huge instrument. It's standing up and you don't get to sit down.'

Sting story: Patrick told him when he was filming the original Dune that everyone was talking about Sting being on set

Patrick said Sting giggled and said 'no not a double bass a bass guitar. I said really that's amazing, do you play in a band? He said yeah 'The Police.' And I said, 'you play in a police band?'

James asked him about the new season of Star Trek: Picard and he said that this season his character will have romance.

'Is Picard going to get saucy,' asked James.

Romantic role: James asked Patrick about the new season of Picard and he said that this season his character will have romance

'Yes,' said Patrick.

'Sounds like Picard is going to get cancelled,' said Colin.

Patrick talked about working with Whoopi Goldberg on the set and how they were initially surprised when she, an Academy Award winner, joined their cast. He asked her why she wanted to do a syndicated sci-fi show and she said 'as a child she watched the show and there was an African-American woman actress playing her leading role and being highly respected and thought well of and important in her job.'

Stellar cast: Patrick talked about working with Whoopi Goldberg on the set and how they were initially surprised when she, an Academy Award winner, joined their cast

Patrick said he thought to himself that 'one of us made it. I was so moved.'

James also asked Colin about his other movie After Yang and he said it was completely different from Batman and was about memory and loss.

'It couldn't be any more different than The Batman,' Colin said.
Nathaniel Curtis has revealed he was 'incredibly humbled' to use his breakout role in It's A Sin to raise awareness about LGBTQ+ issues.

The actor, 31, told how it was an 'enormous deal' to shed light on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s while speaking to MailOnline at the NME Awards on Wednesday night.

He went on to reveal that, as somebody who identifies as queer, he's faced appalling prejudices before being lauded for his portrayal of Ash Mukherjee in the miniseries.

Talented: Nathaniel Curtis has revealed he was 'incredibly humbled' to use his breakout role in It's A Sin to raise awareness about LGBTQ+ issues

He gushed: 'Oh there's been an overwhelmingly positive reaction. It's opened so many doors and, for all of us, to just be able to do so much in terms of charity work. It's given us a few more options and introduced us to this insane industry.

'It was an enormous deal for me to be raising awareness about LGBTQ+ issues. It was such a horrible time so to be able to be a part of that was incredibly humbling and wonderful just to tell that story and a beautifully written and well-done story.

The talented star continued: 'I am indeed a member of the community. Yeah I think everyone has at some point faced discrimination in one way or another.'

Despite fan speculation of a second series, Nathaniel admitted he wouldn't support a follow-up since the Channel 4 show has already 'told the story it needed to'.

Tragic: He went on to reveal that, as somebody who identifies as queer, he's faced appalling prejudices before being lauded for his portrayal of Ash Mukherjee in the miniseries (pictured)

He confessed: 'There won't be as far as I know. I think short and sweet, one and done. It's told the story it needed to.'

Of his castmates, he said: 'We've all been so busy but we all catch up when we can. There's a group chat, it's just checking on each other, fun tit bits.'

From multi-BAFTA Award-winning writer Russell T Davies, It's A Sin follows the story of the 1980s, the story of AIDS, and charts the joy and heartbreak of a group of friends across a decade in which everything changed.

In the show, Lydia West's character Jill Baxter and her friends Ritchie (Olly Alexander), Roscoe (Omari Douglas), Colin (Callum Scott Howells) and Ash (Nathaniel) would happily say 'la' to each other whenever they left their flat.

Candid: The actor, 31, told how it was an 'enormous deal' to shed light on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s while speaking to MailOnline at the NME Awards on Wednesday night

Starring the Years & Years frontman alongside a cast of rising stars and celebrated favourites including Keeley Hawes, Stephen Fry and Neil Patrick Harris, It's a Sin has been universally praised by fans.

Russell, the writer and producer behind Queer As Folk and the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, loosely based the drama on his own experiences in the eighties.

He also spent hours in conversation with his childhood friend Jill Nalder, an actor, ally and activist who lived in London during the decade and is played by Lydia.

Russell cast Alexander as the show's protagonist Ritchie Tozer, an 18-year-old hailing from an ignorant, unloving household on the Isle of Wight who throws himself headfirst into London life.

He soon befriends Jill and three others and rents their flat, lovingly dubbed The Pink Palace.

Olly recently claimed making the series was 'one of the greatest experiences of his life' after it won the New Drama Award at the National Television Awards.

He said: 'It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It's created a conversation that I'm amazed to be a part of. A global conversation.'
Married at First Sight star Dion Giannarelli has slammed his 'wife' Carolina Santos for deliberately sabotaging their relationship before it ever had a chance.

The 34-year-old property developer told Now To Love that Brazilian-born Carolina, 33, 'tried to find any little excuse' to get out of their experimental marriage.

He said she would use his taste in music and the fact he doesn't go to the gym as 'excuses' to push him away.

'She was trying to find any excuse': Married At First Sight's Dion Giannarelli has slammed his 'wife' Carolina Santos for deliberately sabotaging their relationship before it ever had a chance

'It is unnecessary and there are so many other layers taken to make a relationship work other than going to the gym or what music they listen to. That is so miniscule in a relationship,' he told the publication.

'How about trying to connect in deeper level and talking, getting to know each other?'

'I suppose [she thought of] any little thing to try and push me away, it would seem. She was trying to find any little excuse.'

It comes after a source told Daily Mail Australia that Carolina and Dion 'pretty much lived separate lives' when the cameras weren't rolling.

Not impressed: The 34-year-old property developer told Now To Love that Brazilian-born Carolina, 33, (pictured) 'tried to find any little excuse' to get out of their experimental marriage

'Carolina and Dion were just not to be. He didn't tick any of her boxes and he is actually quite the opposite of what she asked for,' said the insider.

'Carolina always made it clear she was looking for a sexy type who loves the gym,' they added.

According to the source, Carolina wanted someone who would 'reignite her spark while letting her shine'.

Disaster: It comes after a source told Daily Mail Australia that Carolina and Dion (pictured on their wedding day) 'pretty much lived separate lives' when the cameras weren't rolling

Incompatible: Carolina wanted someone who would 'reignite her spark while letting her shine'

Despite being matched with Dion, Carolina decided to take her friendship with co-star Daniel Holmes to the next level after several on- and off-camera meetings.

Daily Mail Australia spotted the pair secretly meeting up behind their partners' backs during filming in November.

MAFS producers were mortified after discovering Carolina and Daniel's drivers had accidentally dropped them off at the exact same time in front of photographers.

Married At First Sight continues Sunday at 7pm on Channel Nine and 9Now




By Anna J. Park







The country's "MyData" industry needs to be extended to include big tech as well as medical sector data, growing beyond businesses' main preoccupation with the financial sector, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Koh Seung-beom said Thursday.







MyData is one of the government's flagship financial business initiatives, which aims to enable customers to browse their own personal financial information gathered from various financial firms and made available all in one place. Currently more than 18 million people have signed up for MyData services through multiple financial firms.







Koh's comment was made on Thursday when the FSC head held a meeting with data experts to discuss the development direction and goals of the MyData industry.







"It is necessary to consistently widen the scope of information provided through MyData services. And customers should be at the center of such expansion of services," Koh said during the meeting.







"Aiming to keep pace with the fast changes of a hyper-connected society, MyData businesses' services should be extended to non-financial areas, including big tech and the medical sector. Through providing the information to diverse sectors, we hope to see the creation of innovative fusion services."







The FSC head also called for MyData service providers to operate thorough security and privacy protection systems to earn customer trust.


She's been living and working in the United States for more than a decade now.

But Rebel Wilson's permanent US residency has now been officially acknowledged, with the actress revealing on Thursday she has just received her Green Card.

The document's arrival happened to coincide with her 42nd birthday, and Rebel wrote, 'Wow. The best birthday present just arrived!'

It's official: Rebel Wilson's permanent US residency has now been officially acknowledged, with the actress revealing on Thursday she has just received her Green Card

She also posted a photo of the document which displayed her full name, Rebel Melanie Eliz Wilson.

A Green Card is a permit allowing a foreign national to live and work permanently in the United States.

The good news comes after the Senior Year actress jetted off Mexico with a slew of pals to party at the One and Only Pamilla resort on Tuesday.

In a series of Instagram posts, Rebel, who celebrated turning 42 on March 2, showed herself first boarding a private jet to the pricey Mexican resort.

High life! Rebel Wilson (pictured) flew to Mexico via private jet to stay at the AUD $1,800 (USD $1,300) per night One and Only Pamilla resort for her birthday on Tuesday

Ocean front rooms can cost upwards of AUD $1,800 (USD $1,300) per night at the stunning destination.

'Spending my one and only birthday this year at One and Only Palmilla,' Rebel captioned the three photos.

Rebel, who has lost an incredible 35kg (77lbs), showed off her slender curves in a tailored green blazer along with a white cap which had the hotel's logo on it.

Glamazon: Rebel, who has lost an incredible 35kg (77lbs), showed off her slender curves in a tailored green blazer along with a white cap which had the hotel's logo on it

Birthday vacation: 'Spending my one and only birthday this year at One and Only Palmilla,' Rebel captioned the photos

Elsewhere, she posted video showing her drive to the resort, during which she and her friends enjoyed a number of drinks.

The star also shared a number of images showing the ocean view from her luxurious hotel room.

In a series of Instagram Stories shared on Saturday, the Pitch Perfect star filmed her pals on a private jet.

Party! In a series of Instagram Stories shared on Saturday, the Pitch Perfect star filmed her pals on a private jet

'Just going on a little trip for the weekend!' Rebel said humbly in one the clips, before filming her view out the window

'Just going on a little trip for the weekend!' Rebel said humbly in one the clips, before filming her view out the window.

She also posed alongside her friends inside the plane, as well as on the staircase before they took off.

In his own posts from the day, Australian star Hugh revealed that the group had made an early start on celebrating Rebel's birthday.
She's the Australian designer who is never afraid to flash the flesh.

And Bianca Elouise did just that on Sunday as she enjoyed a sun-drenched day at a beach in Miami while sporting a skimpy black G-string bikini.

The 30-year-old looked sensational in the $200 two-piece from her own label, Myra Swim, which showed off her hourglass frame and pert derriere to perfection.

Red hot! Fashion designer Bianca Elouise showed off her epic curves on in Miami Sunday as she enjoyed a sun-drenched day at the beach in a skimpy black G-string bikini

The skimpy number featured high waisted bottoms which elongated her sun-kissed pins, while the string detail bikini top emphasised her ample assets.

Bianca teamed her sassy look with a pair of oversized sunglasses and a watch, and showed minimal emotion on his face as she enjoyed a dip in the ocean.

Bianca famously made the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list after founding bikini brand Myra Swim in 2014.

Miami heat! The 30-year-old looked sensational in the $200 swimsuit from her own label, Myra Swim, which showed off her hourglass frame and pert derriere to perfection

She spoke to Forbes about how she built such a successful company.

'I think my consistency has for sure played a huge role in my success,' she explained.

'Honestly, I have my moments where I doubt myself but most times I take control and keep pushing through. Consistency is key.'

Beach babe: The skimpy number featured high waisted bottoms which elongated her sun-kissed pins, while the string detail bikini top emphasised her ample assets

Chic: Bianca teamed her sassy look with a pair of oversized sunglasses and a watch, and showed minimal emotion on his face as she enjoyed a dip in the ocean

The former professional surfer said she founded her label because she couldn't find items to suit her body correctly.

'I lived in the garments and was sponsored by brands, but I couldn't find anything that I was 100 per cent happy with or fitted me the way I wanted, so I created what I couldn't find in the market,' she said.

Her designs have been seen on the likes of Kim Kardashian, Chrissy Teigen and Jennifer Lopez.
She's been living the Australian dream for almost two years.

But American actress Kate Walsh bid farewell to the land Down Under on Thursday as she boarded an international flight at Sydney Airport.

The 54-year-old Grey's Anatomy star, who relocated to Perth in 2020, attempted to go incognito as she made her way through the departures terminal ahead of her long-haul flight.

Doing the heavy lifting: Hollywood actress Kate Walsh, 54, (pictured) went incognito as she checked in her huge mountain of luggage at Sydney Airport before jetting out of Australia on Thursday

Hiding beneath a pair of glasses, a mask and an Akubra hat, Kate did her best to avoid unwanted attention, yet stuck out like a sore thumb thanks to her colossal mountain of designer luggage.

Among her haul was a Louis Vuitton duffel bag worth around $3,000 and a hat box by the same brand, worth approximately $8,000.

Showcasing her expensive taste, the brunette sported a pair of $2,100 Gucci trousers and $1,000 Gucci loafers.

Under cover: Hiding beneath a pair of glasses, a mask and an Akubra hat, Kate did her best to avoid unwanted attention, yet stuck out like a sore thumb thanks to her colossal mountain of designer luggage

The finer things in life: Among her haul was a Louis Vuitton duffel bag worth around $3,000 and a hat box by the same brand, worth approximately $8,000

Cha-ching! Showcasing her expensive taste, the brunette sported a pair of $2,100 Gucci trousers and $1,000 Gucci loafers

Her look as completed with a denim jacket, layered over a white knit cardigan.

After arriving at the airport in a private car, Kate was spotted packing her bags onto a trolley and pushing them towards the terminal's entrance.

She was quickly met with an airport staffer who stepped in to assist with her baggage.

Comfortable: Her look as completed with a denim jacket, layered over a white knit cardigan

On her way: After arriving at the airport in a private car, Kate was spotted packing her bags onto a trolley and pushing them towards the terminal's entrance

Help at hand: She was quickly met with an airport staffer who stepped in to assist with her baggage

Not joining Kate for her jet-setting adventure was farmer boyfriend Andrew Nixon.

Andrew is part of Nixon Farming, a family farming enterprise in the Moora region.

Kate and Andrew had been living together in Perth since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and he convinced her to relocate to WA, reports The West Australian.

Where's Andrew? Not joining Kate for her jet-setting adventure was farmer boyfriend Andrew Nixon

Andrew is part of Nixon Farming, a family farming enterprise in the Moora region.

Kate previously told The Daily Telegraph she enjoyed living in Perth so much she didn't want to return to New York City, even when she was able to.

'I didn't really want to go back to New York in the middle of a pandemic when it was pretty gnarly to say the least,' she said.

Aussie battler: Andrew is part of Nixon Farming, a family farming enterprise in the Moora region

Loving the Australian life: Kate previously told The Daily Telegraph she enjoyed living in Perth so much she didn't want to return to New York City, even when she was able to

'I couldn't go home initially, and now that I can, I don't really fancy going back. When I have my own mother saying don't come home, my 86-year-old mum we are in a very challenging time!'

Kate jetted off to Paris last June, presumably to shoot the Netflix show Emily in Paris, but returned to Australia once production wrapped.

Though Andrew's relationship history is unclear, Kate was married to producer Alex Young from 2007 until their divorce in 2010.

On the job: Kate jetted off to Paris last June, presumably to shoot the Netflix show Emily in Paris, but returned to Australia once production wrapped
Comedian Joel Creasey made his much-anticipated return to Neighbours as Mick Allsop in November.

And on Wednesday, the 31-year-old celebrated his last day on set by sharing a picture of himself in a crab costume on Instagram.

'Somehow its been almost a whole year since I regularly started wreaking havoc on Ramsay St. And then without realising I shot my last scene yesterday,' he began.

A look: Joel Creasey (pictured) donned a CRAB costume on Wednesday as he filmed his final scenes for Neighbours

'The cast and crew on this show truly could not be more talented, kind and hard working. They put in some wild hours, are so incredibly passionate and genuinely do it for the fans.

'Particular thanks to the writers who wrote Mick Allsop for me, the worlds most inept events planner and villain,' he said.

'Here I am in a story line from last year dressed as a crab because um duh why wouldnt I be?! I love you. It was a pleasure and an honor becoming good friends,' he concluded his heartfelt message.

Joel's post was quickly inundated with comments from his Neighbours co- stars.

Memories: 'Somehow its been almost a whole year since I regularly started wreaking havoc on Ramsay St. And then without realising I shot my last scene yesterday,' he began

'So amazing to get to spend time with you!' wrote Tammin Sursok.

'Oh NO I wish wed realised!' added April Rose-Pengilly.

Joel's madcap post comes after it was revealed on Thursday that Neighbours has officially been axed after 37 years.

Sigh: Joel's post was quickly inundated with comments from his Neighbours co- stars.

Network 10 and Fremantle, the show's producer, confirmed the news and said the final episode of the iconic soap will be filmed in June.

In a statement issued to MailOnline, they confirmed: 'It is with sadness that after nearly 37 years and almost 9000 episodes broadcast, we are confirming that Neighbours will cease production in the summer.

'Following the loss of a key broadcast partner in the UK, and despite a search for alternative funding, we currently have no option but to rest the show.

'Everyone at Neighbours has been overwhelmed by the love and support from the audience since the news came out. The show has brought a sunny slice of Australia into the homes of millions of viewers around the world launching the careers of dozens of household names along the way.

'But as this chapter of Ramsay Street comes to a close, we promise to do everything we can to give the show the send-off it deserves.'
She is a new mother after welcoming a baby daughter via surrogate weeks ago.

And Priyanka Chopra got a little break from mommy duty on her latest outing.

The 39-year-old actress was seen dressed for comfort on an errand run in West Hollywood on Wednesday.

Comfortable Customer: Priyanka Chopra was seen dressed for comfort on an errand run in West Hollywood on Wednesday

The A-list star donned a green camouflage zip-up hoodie over a black top from the 2016 Global Citizen Festival and a pair of blue clinging three-quarter length leggings.

She completed the look with a pair of white platform perforated G sandals from Gucci.

The Quantico actress accessorized with a large black pair of designer shades and a taupe monogrammed Louis Vuitton tote.

Out and about: The 39-year-old A-list star donned a green camouflage zip-up hoodie over a black top from the 2016 Global Citizen Festival and a pair of blue clinging three-quarter length leggings

Her highlighted locks were worn in a messy updo as she showcased her natural looks with complementary make-up on her face.

Just last week the star gave fans a look into her day-to-day life by uploading a 'photo dump' to Instagram.

Notably, the actress appeared to give her followers a peek at the nursery her and husband Nick Jonas set-up for their baby daughter.

As revealed exclusively by DailyMail.com in January, the couple's first child was born via surrogate and arrived at 27 weeks at a Southern California hospital outside LA.

Day in the life: Just last week the star gave fans a look into her day-to-day life by uploading a 'photo dump' to Instagram

She will remain in hospital until she is healthy enough to return home with her parents, a source close to the couple said.

Though it's unclear if their little girl has been cleared to go home, Chopra and Jonas have a nursery decorated and ready for her arrival.

There were several stuffed animals, including a fluffy rabbit and a patchwork bear, sat atop a white dresser.

There was also a gold statue positioned next to the stuffed toys.

Nursery? Notably, the 39-year-old actress appeared to give her followers a peek at the nursery her and husband Nick Jonas set-up for their baby daughter

New parents: As revealed exclusively by DailyMail.com in January, the couple's first child was born via surrogate and arrived at 27 weeks at a Southern California hospital outside LA. She will remain in hospital until she is healthy enough to return home with her parents, a source close to the couple said; Chopra and Jonas pictured in 2021

Chopra's first photo was a self-portrait she'd taken as she lounged on the couch in a bright red 'Indian Space Research Organisation' shirt.

She had a pair of AirPods in her ears and her brunette hair was worn down for the shot.

A trio of images featured in the slideshow appeared to be from a recent date night Chopra and Jonas enjoyed in Los Angeles.

Date night: A trio of images featured in the slideshow appeared to be from a recent date night Chopra and Jonas enjoyed in Los Angeles

Decked out: She included a selfie of the couple posing closely at sunset, while another gave her fans a look at her patterned shirt and aviator shades

She included a selfie of the couple posing closely at sunset, while another gave her fans a look at her patterned shirt and aviator shades.

Chopra also showed off one of the delicious appetizers they dined on, which happened to be a plate of cheesy fries.

Last but not least, the Quantico star showed some love for their family's adorable rescue dogs.

Yummy: Chopra also showed off one of the delicious appetizers they dined on, which happened to be a plate of cheesy fries

Puppy love: Last but not least, the Quantico star showed some love for their family's adorable rescue dogs

They were captured sitting near one another on the floor as they chewed on their chew toys.

Earlier in the day, Chopra broke her silence about an awkward encounter she recently shared with Rosie O'Donnell.

The performer had a run-in with the comedian, 59, at Nobu restaurant in Malibu, where she was mistaken for the daughter of author Deepak Chopra.

The comedian later made a public apology through a video that was shared to her TikTok account following the incident, and she was widely criticized for her choice of words in the clip.

Speaking up: Earlier in the day, Chopra broke her silence about an awkward encounter she recently shared with Rosie O'Donnell; she is seen in 2021

Chopra responded to O'Donnell without referring to her by name through a message that was shared to her Instagram Story, and she began by expressing that she did not expect to be immediately recognized by the general public.

'I have never taken myself so seriously to think everyone would know who I am, or my work for that matter,' she said.

She then appeared to respond to the comedian's video and offered a bit of criticism regarding her perceived shortcomings.

'But if you wanted to make a public apology for a very awkward private encounter, I think probably best to take the time to google my name before doing it or even try to reach out directly,' she continued.

Expressing her feelings: Chopra responded to O'Donnell without referring to her by name through a message that was shared to her Instagram Story on Wednesday, and she began by expressing that she did not expect to be immediately recognized by the general public

Chopra added: 'We ALL deserve to be respected for our unique individuality and not to be referred to as 'someone' or 'wife' especially in a sincere apology.'

The performer went on to express that she would like to see future generations of people become more mindful of diversity-related issues.

'If we can learn to respect our differences in an authentic way, the world we our children in, will be amazing,' she wrote.

Chopra concluded by writing that her last name was more common than many people would think.

Not unexpected: Chopra concluded by writing that her last name was more common than many people would think; she is seen in 2021

'As I've said before, not all Chopra's are related to the great Deepak, just as not all Smith's are related to the legendary Will Smith,' she wrote.

O'Donnell previously took to TikTok Sunday and explained how she and her party, including her son and his girlfriend, and friend Fran Drescher, were seated next to the couple at the luxe restaurant, which is a popular haunt for celebs.

She noted that she had 'always assumed' Priyanka, 39, was the daughter of the famed author and said as much when she was socializing with her.

The latest: O'Donnell apologized to Chopra and Nick Jonas, 29, for a verbal flub she made while running into the celeb couple at Nobu Malibu

'So when I said, 'Hi, Nick Jonas. You were great in Kingdom,' and [to Priyanka,] 'Hi, I know your dad.' She goes, 'You do? Who's my dad?' And I'm like, 'Deepak.' She's like, 'No, and Chopra is a common name.' I felt so embarrassed.'

O'Donnell continued, 'Nick Jonas, I apologize and to the Chopra wife, I apologize too.'

O'Donnell caught flak from TikTok users in the comment thread for calling Priyanka 'the Chopra wife,' which O'Donnell led to make another video on Monday apologizing for the botch.

'So I'm reading the comments about my [exchange with] Nick Jonas and his wife, Priyanka Chopra, who I mistakenly thought was Deepak's daughter,' O'Donnell said.

The celebrity couple was snapped last November at The Fashion Awards in London

The talk show host detailed the embarrassing faux pas on the social media site

The entertainer said, 'Sorry, sometimes I f*** up. I did at Nobu'

O'Donnell said that while 'people thought that [Priyanka] was rude' in her response, 'She wasn't rude, it was just awkward.

'I'm sure she gets sick of that. I'm sure I'm not the only one. According to the comments, a lot of people thought that too but she's apparently a very well-known actress and more famous than him, people were saying. So I'm sure it felt weird to her, to begin with.'

O'Donnell continued, 'Anyway, Priyanka is her name. Priyanka - I hope I'm pronouncing that right.

'I just want to apologize to her and to everyone who thought that it was really inappropriate of me. Sorry, sometimes I f*** up. I did at Nobu.'

The Quantico actress and Jonas, who wed in 2018, became parents last month in welcoming a baby via surrogate

Priyanka's father Dr. Ashok Chopra died in June 2013 following a cancer battle.

The Quantico actress and Jonas, who wed in 2018, became parents last month in welcoming a baby via surrogate.

'We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate,' both said on Instagram in announcing the big news. 'We respectfully ask for privacy during this special time as we focus on our family.'
WAG Alex Pike is certainly no slouch.

And the cosmetic nurse, 44, proved she was highly motivated yet again on Thursday during a walk in Sydney.

Alex was seen drenched as she went for an ocean stroll while trying to get her steps up for the day.

No days off! Melbourne WAG Alex Pike, 44, (pictured) showed off her incredible figure in activewear as she battled Sydney's rain for a power walk on Thursday

The glamazon looked amazing in activewear as she beamed during the walk while braving the city's torrential rain.

Alex wore black and white striped activewear on the walk.

The bombshell is known to walk 10 kilometres a day.

Alex has three sons, Spencer, Hudson and Jim, who she is believed to share with ex-partner Leon Siebel.

Exercise: The glamazon looked amazing in activewear as she beamed during the walk

Stormy: Alex showed the swell in the ocean during her walk

It comes after Nathan Buckley, 49, seemingly confirmed he is still with girlfriend Alex, after he was seen leaving her cosmetic clinic in Melbourne last month.

The couple were rumoured to have split after less than a year of dating.

However, the AFL star's sighting at her injectables practice on Chapel Street in South Yarra all but confirms the pair are very much together.

Family: Alex has three sons, Spencer (right), Hudson (left) and Jim (centre), who she is believed to share with ex-partner Leon Siebel

It follows speculation the glamorous footy couple recently called time on their whirlwind romance.

Nathan and Alex's relationship emerged just weeks after the champion midfielder announced his split from his wife of 18 years, Tania Minnici.

The former couple split in December 2020.
Pierce Brosnan and wife Keely Shaye Smith looked blissfully happy as they were snapped in Malibu, California headed to dinner on Wednesday evening.

Brosnan, 68, held hands with Smith, 58, as the pair entered the restaurant ahead of a meal.

Brosnan was clad in a dark navy blue button-up sweater with black pants and black shoes with a patterned scarf around his neck.

The latest: Pierce Brosnan, 68, and wife Keely Shaye Smith, 58, looked blissfully happy as they were snapped in Malibu, California headed to dinner on Wednesday evening

Smith, 58, wore a long black coat over a black dress with black shoes. She accessorized with green earrings and a green necklace and carried a black purse on the nighttime outing.

The pair, who celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary last year, are parents to sons Dylan, 25, and Paris, 21.

The James Bond actor took to Instagram Tuesday with a shot as they celebrated Paris's 21st birthday at an outdoor venue.

The Mamma Mia! actor captioned the shot, 'Happy 21st birthday dear Paris. May the year ahead be all you could wish for! All our love Mamma and Papa.'

Brosnan held hands with Smith as the pair entered the restaurant ahead of a meal

The James Bond actor took to Instagram Tuesday with a shot as they celebrated Paris's 21st birthday at an outdoor venue

Brosnan posted an image from his garage studio last month, showing off pieces of work he and his son Paris have produced, writing, 'Pariss paintings and dads.'

He also enjoyed an art-themed outing with Smith on Valentine's Day as they visited the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit.

'A beautiful St. Valentines Day with my love @keelyshayebrosnan at the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibitkissing Van Gogh,' he said.

Brosnan posted an image from his garage art studio last month, showing off pieces of work he and his son Paris have produced, writing, 'Pariss paintings and dads'

Brosnan enjoyed an art-themed outing with Smith on Valentine's Day as they visited the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit

The actor has a number of projects due out this year, including the movie The King's Daughter, in which he plays King Louis XIV; the DC film Black Adam, in which he will play Dr. Fate alongside Dwayne Johnson; and The Out-Law, an action-comedy also featuring Nina Dobrev and Michael Rooker.

Brosnan will also be featured in a project for The History Channel called Historys Greatest Heists, which will chronicle large-scale robberies that have occurred, Deadline reported Wednesday.

The series will air in eight installments and chronicle events ranging from 1899's Wilcox train robbery to 1950's Great Brink robbery in Boston, with 'stylized' recreations of the crimes and visual effects, the outlet reported.
The taut abs were back on display as Georgia Steel enjoyed a night out with friends in west London on Wednesday evening.

The former Love Island contestant was accompanied by Maria Wild, another ex islander whose brief appearance on the show came 12-months after her own, during an appearance in upmarket Chelsea.

Opting for a distinctive black crop top beneath a matching oversized blazer, Georgia, 23, ensured she caught the eye while making her way towards a local bar.

Toned and trim: The taut abs were back on display as Georgia Steel enjoyed a night out with friends in west London on Wednesday evening

She added to her look with a pair of loose-fitting high-slung jeans, while a smart black handbag appeared to be her only notable accessory.

Joining Georgia, close friend Maria looked equally stylish in a form-fitting camel top and boot-cut jeans, teamed with brown leather boots.

The 24-year old rounded off her look with a chic camel blazer, tastefully draped across her shoulders.

In good company: The former Love Island contestant was accompanied by Maria Wild, another ex islander whose brief appearance on the show came 12-months after her own

Looking good: Opting for a distinctive black crop top beneath a matching oversized blazer, Georgia ensured she caught the eye while making her way towards a local bar

Stylish: Joining Georgia, close friend Maria looked equally stylish in a form-fitting camel top and boot-cut jeans, teamed with brown leather boots

Georgia recently took to Instagram with a series of bikini throwbacks as she dreamt of jetting away on her next break in the sun.

The TV personality looked sensational in an orange bandeau bikini, her taut physique on full display as she reclined on a sunbed.

She kept makeup to a natural minimum and managed to capture her scenic surroundings in the bikini-clad snaps.

Upbeat: Georgia appeared to be in high spirits during her latest public appearance in London

Wistful: Georgia recently took to Instagram with a series of bikini throwbacks as she dreamt of jetting away on her next break in the sun

A few days earlier, Georgia protected her modesty with nothing more than a pair of coconuts as she went topless in Mexico in a social media post.

She strategically covered her upper-half as she slipped into a tiny pair of black bikini bottoms while holidaying on the island of Isla Mujeres.

Clutching the fruit to her chest, she displayed her taut abs as she worked her best angles for the Instagram update.
Kate Garraway admitted that caring for her husband Derek Draper amid his battle with Covid 19 is tough on her and their children, but said they are 'paid with love.'

Appearing on The One Show on Wednesday, the Good Morning Britain presenter, 54, joined Alex Jones and Ronan Keating on the show to talk about her recent ITV documentary, Caring For Derek.

The show focused on the upheaval and uncertainty that has dominated their family's lives as they care for Derek, also 54, following being critically ill in hospital with Covid-19 - with Kate taking on the role as a carer.

Paid with love: Kate Garraway revealed that she is 'paid with love' when caring for her husband, Derek Draper, during an appearance on The One Show on Wednesday

During the appearance, Kate revealed that she wanted this documentary to focus on the work of professional carers but also the 'unpaid' carers - friends and family who get 'paid with love'.

Kate explained the incredible response she has had from the public on the documentary, saying the public have been 'amazing'.

She went on to detail the struggles of caring for a family member, saying: 'It's such a wonderful thing, to be able to care for someone you love. But, it's a tough thing.'

Family: Behind the scenes: Caring For Derek shows the family's lives as they care for Derek following being critically ill in hospital with Covid-19 - with Kate taking on the role as a carer (pictured with children Darcey, 15, and Billy, 12)

Gratitude: Kate revealed that she wanted this documentary to focus on the work of professional carers but also the 'unpaid' carers like herself and her family

Positive response: Kate explained the incredible response she has had from the public on the documentary, saying the public have been 'amazing'

'It's tough for the carer and the person who's being cared for. I'm trying to say, salute everybody out there and give them some support.'

Kate Garraway: Caring For Derek came out on February 22nd, giving an inside look into how Kate and her family's lives have changed since Derek contracted Covid in March 2020.

Kate and Derek share two children; Darcey, 15 and Billy, 12.

Hardship: She went on to detail the struggles of caring for a family member, saying: 'It's such a wonderful thing, to be able to care for someone you love. But, it's a tough thing.

Journey: Derek contracted Covid-19 in March 2020, and has since come out of a medically induced coma

It comes after Kate recently revealed that Derek can only sit in his wheelchair for 20 minutes before he flags.

She gave an update on her husband's condition while talking on This Morning, after the couple took a 5,000 mile trip to Mexico to receive treatment from a doctor there as part of a clinical trial.

On the show she said: 'He can sustain sitting in a wheelchair for about 20 minutes before he flagged so the thought of going 5,000 miles seemed bonkers.'

Despite Kate's woes, the couple managed the long trip, as Kate said they are starting to see 'little improvements.'

Unstable: Kate recently revealed that Derek can only sit in his wheelchair for 20 minutes before he flags
The cast of Neighbours has been left devastated after it was announced on Thursday that the long-running soap is coming to an end.

In a post on Instagram on Thursday, one of the show's longest serving cast members, Alan Fletcher, paid tribute to the series.

A gracious Alan, 64, called it 'a sad day indeed' after it was announced production on the series would cease in June.

End of an era: The cast of Neighbours has been left devastated after it was announced on Thursday that the long-running soap is coming to an end

'It's official, all attempts to #SaveNeighbours have been unsuccessful and #fremantle has confirmed the show will end production in June this year,' he began.

'This is a sad day indeed. I want to express my deepest gratitude to the millions of fans all around the world who have supported our iconic drama for 37 wonderful years.

'And huge thanks to our broadcast partners @channel10au and @channel5_tv who have been incredible supporters of the show for so long.'

'Sad day': In a post on Instagram on Thursday, one of the show's longest serving cast members, Alan Fletcher (pictured with co-star Jackie Woodburne), paid tribute to the series

He added: 'Please stick with the show right to the end because the final episodes will be an incredible celebration with returning characters and extraordinary story lines.'

Speaking about his own experience on the show, Alan - who plays Dr Karl - said it had 'been my creative home for almost 28 years'.

'It has provided me with enormous artistic satisfaction and deep, everlasting friendships that I will treasure forever,' he continued.

Coming to an end: A gracious Alan, 64, called it 'a sad day indeed' after it was announced production on the series would cease in June

'Most especially my artistic partnership with the spectacular #jackiewoodburne who has truly made the journey the greatest joy imaginable.

'The show has also connected me to thousands of people who have supported my work on and offscreen through my music and stage appearances.'

He added: 'I am filled with #gratitude #staytuned #celebrateneighbours #farewellneighbours #pleasestickwithus'.

'This is a sad day indeed. I want to express my deepest gratitude to the millions of fans all around the world who have supported our iconic drama for 37 wonderful years,' Alan wrote on Instagram

His post attracted an outpouring of emotion from several cast members - both past and present - who left comments.

'Beautiful words mate. Sending lots of love,' wrote Rob Mills, while Charlotte Chimes commented with a broken heart emoji.

Rebekah Elmaloglou left a series of red love hearts, while former cast member Daniel MacPherson wrote: 'I'll never forget my time with the Kennedy's mate'.

Feeling nostalgic: His post attracted an outpouring of emotion from several cast members - both past and present - who left comments

Added Takaya Honda: 'Thank you for your endless kindness, leadership, and generosity Fletch'.

In a post on her own Instagram Stories, Charlotte, 28, wrote: 'So grateful to have been a small part of this amazing production'.

Meanwhile, Takaya, 34, wrote a message to the show's fans: 'We will be #CelebratingNeighbours not for us, but for you. It's always been for you'.

End of the road: It was announced that Neighbours would cease production after it was revealed early last month that British broadcaster Channel 5 had dropped the Australian series in favour of local content. Pictured, Tammin Sursok

Commenting on a post on the Neighbours Instagram page, Rob, 39, added: 'Thanks for the memories. And thank you for teaching me so much.'

Former Neighbours actress Madeleine West appeared lost for words, also leaving a comment on the Neighbours Instagram page: 'Nothing more I can say'.

Added fellow actress Jane Hall: 'So sorry I adored my time as Rebecca for many years'.

Emotional ending: Rebekah Elmaloglou (pictured with co-star Stefan Dennis) left a series of red love hearts, while former cast member Daniel MacPherson wrote: 'I'll never forget my time with the Kennedy's mate'

It was announced that Neighbours would cease production after it was revealed early last month that British broadcaster Channel 5 had dropped the Australian series in favour of local content.

'We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9,000 episodes broadcast we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June,' Neighbours announced on social media on Thursday.

'Following the loss of our key broadcast partner in the UK and despite an extensive search for alternative funding, we simply have no option but to rest the show.'




Major cryptocurrency exchanges in Korea have blocked IP addresses from Russia in an effort to join global sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.







Upbit, the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange by transaction, announced Thursday withdrawal requests from Russian IP addresses could be rejected.







"We've blocked subscriptions by users in countries which are at high risks of money laundering, in line with guidelines of the Financial Action Task Force," Upbit said, referring to the global anti-money laundering body.







The exchange said it could turn down requests to withdraw if they are found to be transactions related to Russia.







Gopax, another cryptocurrency exchange, on Wednesday froze some 20 accounts registered by Russian users and barred IP addresses from Russia.







Bithumb and Korbit also blocked access from Russian IP addresses Thursday.







The United States and its allies have intensified sanctions against Russia, including export controls and removing Moscow from the SWIFT international payment network.







Concerns have grown that Russia may use digital money to stave off the impact of U.S. sanctions, as the SWIFT-related measure is intended to leave Russia further isolated from the international financial system. (Yonhap)






Gemma Collins looked in high spirits on Wednesday night as she attended a Simply Red concert at the O2 in London with her fiance Rami Hawash.

The former TOWIE star, 41, beamed in the snap she shared with her 2.2 million Instagram followers as Rami, 46, affectionately had his head resting on her shoulders before they passionately kissed.

The loved-up couple looked like they were having the time of their life in Gemma's videos as they were seen dancing around and singing with friends.

Couple goals: Gemma Collins beamed with her fiance Rami Hawash as they head out to a Simply Red concert at the O2 in London on Wednesday

Gemma looked fabulous as she wore a plunging black top with lace trims under a black blazer and complimented the ensemble with two gold necklaces.

The beauty opted for a smoky pink eye with a nude lip and wore her blonde tresses in beach waves.

The couple cosied up and shared a kiss while enjoying the show from a VIP seating area.

The reality TV star captioned the post: 'DATE NIGHT  my forever love 

'Sometimes juggling career life we dont always get date nights but when we do its lovely.

Adorable: The loved-up couple shared a kiss as they cosied up and watched the concert from a VIP seating area

'I really love the fact rami isnt afraid of my work ambitions and really appreciates our time when we get it the one thing in life is time is not something to take for granted   #makingmemories '

Gemma has known Rami for over ten years, having previously dated the businessman in 2011.

She reunited with Rami during lockdown, seven years after breaking off their original engagement.

Happy: The former TOWIE star looked in high spirits as she documented the night on her Instagram

It comes after Gemma detailed her battle with self harm in a Channel 4 documentary Gemma Collins: Self Harm and Me earlier this month.

In the documentary, the TV star reveals her fiance caught her cutting herself 10 years ago, and sit to discuss this moment and the impact it had on them.

She explains: 'It was never about you, it was never about any of that. It was to do with me, obviously I was going through something and the only way I could relieve the pressure was to cut myself.

'I never wanted to kill myself, that never went through my head. It was like a coping mechanism for me.

'So you know, when I just obviously, suddenly got famous and then people were coming up to me every five minutes. The pressure, the build-up, I couldn't express myself properly.'

Honest: Gemma revealed to Rami that she fears returning to self-harm as they look to the future and the possibility of having a family

Gemma also reveals to Rami that she fears returning to self-harm as they look to the future and the possibility of having a family.

She says: 'In the back of my mind because obviously we do want to go on to, you know, have a baby and stuff. I feel very happy with you and very settled with you and I think always in the back of my mind, you think oh shit, is it going to come back?'

Looking back on her history of self-harm, which she struggled with for two decades, Gemma says: 'I don't know why I self-harmed, I don't know where it came from. I don't understand it.

'This is why I'm making this documentary, I want to finally put it to bed It's going to be really tough at times, but I am ready to find out why I did it.'

She adds: 'The public don't know Gemma, they know 'The GC'. Everyone sees me as this strong character. I'm actually a very soft, sensitive person, very few people get to see that side of me.

'I first self-harmed when I was at school. It was just something I did in private for 20 years. I haven't cut myself since my early 30s

'After my 30s I think I went onto a different sort of harm with bad partners, bad relationships with food, it's all different types of self-harm.'

Elsewhere in the documentary, Gemma visits a support group in Essex to hear other people's experiences of self-harm. She also meets Caroline Harrow, co-founder and CEO of the charity Harmless which provides support to people who do, or might be at risk of, self-harm.

After attending Harmless' centre in Nottingham, Gemma says: 'When you come to these centres no one's getting judged, it's like a sanctuary for people who self-harm

'It just made me realise that people are there to help and I just sort of like, at the same time, kick myself because I wish I'd been able to get that help years ago or been brave enough to ask for the help. I could have saved myself a lot of pain.'

For support on dealing with self-harm see mind.org.uk/selfharm or call Mind's confidential Infoline on 0300 123 3393.

For further help or advice, please visit: https://www.channel4.com/4viewers/help-support
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They are in the French capital to model in runway shows as part of Paris Fashion Week.

And sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid put on another show-stopping display as they took to the runway yet again for the Coperni show in Paris on Thursday.

Supermodel Bella, 25, left little to the imagination as she went braless in a semi-sheer black halter-neck mini dress adorned with sparkling silver stones.

Glam: Sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid put on another show-stopping display as they took to the runway yet again for the Coperni show in Paris on Thursday

The eye-popping ensemble featured a teardrop cut-out and side slits, while Bella flaunted her toned pegs in patent black over-the-knee heeled boots.

The bombshell wore her dark tresses in a straight fashion cascading across her shoulders, while she showcased her natural good looks with a feathered eyebrow look.

Meanwhile, her elder sister Gigi cut an elegant figure in a baby pink midi-dress with a dramatic side-slit, while the stunning outfit was adorned with a series of rose-style knots.

The model, 26, looking nothing short of spectacular as she strutted up the runway in a pair of unique white heels, decorated with a chunky zip across the pointed toes.

Eye-popping: Supermodel Bella, 25, left little to the imagination in a semi-sheer black halter-neck mini dress adorned with sparkling silver stones

Glitzy: The eye-popping ensemble featured a teardrop cut-out and side slits, while Bella flaunted her toned pegs in patent black over-the-knee heeled boots

Runway: The bombshell wore her dark tresses in a straight fashion cascading across her shoulders, while she showcased her natural good looks with a feathered eyebrow look

She clutched a tiny transparent handbag in one hand, while she wore her golden tresses straight in a side parting and flaunted her beauty on the runway.

In another runway look, her sister Bella captured attention in an understated black mini-dress, which she paired with a unique black buttoned hood, which she tucked her glossy tresses underneath.

The famous sisters were also joined on the runway by the likes of David Ginola's daughter Carla and Kate Moss's daughter Lila.

Lila, 19, followed in the modelling footsteps of famous mother as she stunned in a bright blue mini dress, featuring three dramatic horizontal cut outs.

Gaze: Bella perfected her dramatic runway stare as she strutted down the runway in the sheer ensemble

Catwalk: Bella Hadid walks the runway during the Coperni Womenswear Fall/Winter 2022-2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week

Pretty in pink: Meanwhile, her elder sister Gigi cut an elegant figure in a baby pink midi-dress with a dramatic side-slit, while the stunning outfit was adorned with a series of rose-style knots

Wow! She clutched a tiny transparent handbag in one hand, while she wore her golden tresses straight in a side parting and flaunted her beauty on the runway

Career: Earlier this year it was announced that Gigi would be replacing Alexa Chung to co-host the second series of Netflix's Next In Fashion with Tan France

Romance: Bella was seen leaving a fashion show earlier this week alongside her art director boyfriend Marc Kalman, who she tends to keep her relationship with private

She made her mark on the fashion industry as she strutted up the runway in the figure-hugging mini, which she paired with sparkling silver sneakers.

The model wore her golden tresses in a straight fashion with her sweeping fringe falling in front of her face, while she showed off her fresh-faced good looks.

Outside the fashion show, Lila also appeared to be in excellent spirits as she flashed a huge grin as she showcased her edgy sense of style.

The influencer kept it casual in a pair of straight leg black jeans, which she paired with a leather-look black jacket with white stitching and chunky Dr Marten's boots.

Model: Lila Moss, 19, followed in the modelling footsteps of famous mother as she stunned in a bright blue mini dress, featuring three dramatic horizontal cut outs

Beauty: She made her mark on the fashion industry as she strutted up the runway in the figure-hugging mini, which she paired with sparkling silver sneakers

Different look: In another runway look, her sister Bella captured attention in an understated black mini-dress, which she paired with a unique black buttoned hood, which she tucked her glossy tresses underneath

She hooked a small rouge handbag over her shoulder and kept herself warm with a black scarf as she posed for pictures outside the event.

Elsewhere, David Ginola's daughter Carla showed off her sensational sense of style as she attended the Coperni fashion show amid her string of Paris Fashion Week appearances.

The 27-year-old influencer, whose mother is French model Coraline, showed off her sensational physique in a clinging checkered off-the-shoulder grey mini dress.

She showed off her slender pegs in a pair of strapped black heels, while she clutched a chic blue round handbag as she posed for snaps.

Carla accentuated her good looks with a bronzed palette of make-up, while she simply accessorised her attire with an array of silver earrings.

Dramatic: Bella looked fierce as she walked down the runway in the unique hooded ensemble

She styled her golden tresses in a straight fashion with a centre parting as she attended the fashion show, just one day after she attended the Rochas show in Paris.

Bella was also seen looking effortlessly chic outside the Coperni fashion show, as she sported wide leg black trousers with a front seam and a coordinated suit jacket.

She kept it casual in a pair of black trainers, while she carried a warmer jacket slung over her shoulder at the event.

The bombshell accessorised her stylish ensemble with an array of black necklaces, one of which featured a large brown stone, while she carried her essentials in a small black handbag.

The model kept her brunette tresses in the same straight style as on the runway, while she adorned her face with a stunning pair of square glasses.

Keeping it casual: Outside the fashion show, Lila also appeared to be in excellent spirits as she flashed a huge grin as she showcased her edgy sense of style

Great style: She hooked a small rouge handbag over her shoulder and kept herself warm with a black scarf as she posed for pictures outside the event

Edgy: The influencer kept it casual in a pair of straight leg black jeans, which she paired with a leather-look black jacket with white stitching and chunky Dr Marten's boots

Their latest runway appearance comes just days after they appeared at the Off-White show for Paris Fashion Week on Monday.

Bella was seen leaving the fashion show alongside her art director boyfriend Marc Kalman, who she tends to keep her relationship with private.

Bella and Marc have been dating since last year following her split from The Weeknd.

The pair went public with their romance this past July when she posted a picture of her and Marc locking lips in Cannes.

They are said to have carried on the romance in New York amid the coronavirus pandemic while assiduously making sure they never got caught together.

Famous families: Elsewhere, David Ginola's daughter Carla showed off her sensational sense of style as she attended the Coperni fashion show amid her string of Paris Fashion Week appearances

Style: The 27-year-old influencer, whose mother is French model Coraline, showed off her sensational physique in a clinging checkered off-the-shoulder grey mini dress

Although her look was spectacular on the runway, Bella's sister Gigi who is one of the world's best-paid models, previously revealed that she doesn't like to give her own thoughts on the outfits she has to wear for work.

She explained: 'It's not my job to have an opinion on what I'm wearing [on set].

'It's my job to wear what I wear and have enough of a photographic mind to understand how to make that piece look good, sellable, and give the feeling that is wanted by the creative team.'

And despite being one of the most photographed women in the world, Gigi doesn't even like to look at herself in the mirror.

She shared: 'I don't spend a lot of time in the mirror at all. I brush my teeth in the shower in the morning. Or I usually look out the window.'

Casual: Bella was also seen looking effortlessly chic outside the Coperni fashion show, as she sported wide leg black trousers with a front seam and a coordinated suit jacket

Smiles: She kept it casual in a pair of black trainers, while she carried a warmer jacket slung over her shoulder at the event

Earlier this year it was announced that Gigi would be replacing Alexa Chung to co-host the second series of Netflix's Next In Fashion with Tan France.

Gigi, who has an 18-month-old daughter named Khai with her ex Zayn Malik, recently said she is 'so excited' to be hosting alongside Tan.

The pair confirmed the news on Instagram in late January, writing: 'Who would have thought when we met over Facetime 4 years ago that we'd be hosting NEXT IN FASHION TOGETHER!'

Series one of the fashion competition hit Netflix in January 2020 starring Tan and Alexa. Alexa has yet to comment on the news she has been replaced.
Francis Bourgeois and his girlfriend Amy Linkin walked the red carpet at the NME Awards on Wednesday night at London 's O2 Academy Brixton.

TikTok star Francis, 20, who who rose to fame with his joyous trainspotting videos during the pandemic has been enjoying life in the limelight recently.

The social media sensation, who has more than two million followers on the site as a result of his high-energy trainspotting content, looked right at home as he rubbed shoulders with a whole host of celebs at the star-studded music event.



Stylish: Francis Bourgeois and his girlfriend Amy Linkin walked the red carpet at the NME Awards on Wednesday night at London 's O2 Academy Brixton

The Mechanical Engineering student looked stylish in a pair of grey capri trousers and a white buttoned up shirt.

The internet star stepped out in a pair of black leather loafers, while adding a hint of colour with a pair of multi-coloured socks which he wore up to his shins.

Looking ecstatic on the night, Francis found it hard to take the smile off his face as he larked around on the red carpet showing off some impressive moves.

Sensation: TikTok star Francis, 20, who who rose to fame with his joyous trainspotting videos during the pandemic has been enjoying life in the limelight recently

Meanwhile, his pretty girlfriend Amy, showcased her eye for style in a pair of polka dot tights and a little black dress.

She looked elegant in the all-black ensemble as she wrapped up in a black blazer while opting for comfort on their big night, pairing the look with some buckle strap shoes.

Embracing their new found notoriety, the loved-up couple went on party the night away at Oscars nightclub in Mayfair for an exclusive gathering.

Cool: The social media sensation looked relaxed as he rubbed shoulders with a whole host of celebs at the star-studded music event

Fun: The Mechanical Engineering student looked stylish in a pair of grey capri trousers and a white buttoned up shirt

Francis was adorned by fans outside the establishment while his supportive girlfriend looked on.

Living up to his internet persona, the Somerset native posed for snaps as eager fans were visibly vying for his attention.

The NME Awards ceremony was co-hosted by comedian Daisy May Cooper and Grime star Lady Leshurr and featured performances from Griff, Rina Sawayama, BERWYN, CHVRCHES and Robert Smith of The Cure.

Billie Eilish, Sam Fender and Wolf Alice were among the most-nominated artists, while Lana Dey Rey got Best Album and FKA Twigs landed best solo act.

Caring: Amy could be seen fixing her famous boyfriends mask as they waited for a taxi home

Chic: Amy looked elegant in the all-black ensemble as she wrapped up in a black blazer

Loving life! Embracing their new found notoriety, the loved-up couple went on party the night away at Oscars club in Mayfair for an exclusive gathering

Idol: Living up to his internet persona, the Somerset native posed for snaps as eager fans were visibly vying for his attention
Strictly Come Dancing star Nikita Kuzmin has shared his heartbreak over his grandmother being trapped in Ukraine amid the devastating Russian invasion.

During an appearance on Thursday's Lorraine, the dancer, 24, expressed his anguish about the troubles his family is facing, admitting to the host that things are 'incredibly scary'

Nikita, who was partnered with Tilly Ramsay in last year's show, was born in the Ukraine but he and his family relocated to Italy when he was just nine years old.

Worries: Strictly Come Dancing star Nikita Kuzmin has shared his heartbreak over his grandmother being trapped in Ukraine amid the devastating Russian invasion

Speaking via video link from Germany, he told Lorraine, 62, that he's been calling his relative everyday after she was caught up in the conflict, stating that she was trying to protect him and his family from the worst news.

He explained: 'Luckily, we still have a connection to her, so we are video calling her all the time.

'Shes actually trying to protect us from being scared. Everytime we can hear gun shots or explosions in the background, shes always telling us that its a movie that shes put on TV and only afterwards, a couple of hours later, shes confessing that actually its a real bomb, real gun shots - its incredibly scary.'

Family: Speaking via video link from Germany, he told Lorraine, 62, that he's been calling his relative everyday after she was caught up in the conflict, stating that she was trying to protect him and his family from the worst news

Fears: During an appearance on Thursday's Lorraine, the dancer, 24, expressed his anguish about the troubles his family is facing, admitting to the host that things are 'incredibly scary'

Nikita went on to share his pride at the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people, noting that Russia is not only battling against the Ukrainian army, but the whole country.

He added: 'It's absolutely heartbreaking and now seeing the reports from Kyiv, honestly I'm just trying to contain myself, drink a bit of water and recompose.

'But at the same time, it's so inspiring to see the Ukrainian people fighting. The Russian army are not just fighting the Ukrainian army, it's fighting against the whole country. Everyone is coming together to fight for the country.'

Speaking out: Nikita, who was partnered with Tilly Ramsay in last year's show, was born in the Ukraine but he and his family relocated to Italy when he was just nine years old

The pro dancer also shared how heartbreaking it is to see the streets he grew up on devastated by the impact of the war.

He said: 'It's absolutely heartbreaking and to see the streets where I grew up, where many of the Ukrainians grew up, I recognise the streets and just now see them being bombed, went over by tanks, fighting on the streets. It's wrong on so many levels.'

He also appealed to the government to call for a no-fly zone over the Ukraine, pleading: 'Please help us cover the sky  we need help.'

War: Nikita went on to share his pride at the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people, noting that Russia is not only battling against the Ukrainian army, but the whole country

Shocking: 'It's absolutely heartbreaking and now seeing the reports from Kyiv, honestly I'm just trying to contain myself, drink a bit of water and recompose'

Following his interview, the choreographer took to his Instagram stories to encourage his followers to help in any way they can by donating money, clothes and other items to help those in need in his home country.

He wrote on social media: 'Just dont stay silent. Talk about it, discuss, inform, post, repost, donate, do something. Make pressure to the government, make pressure to the hospitals, just dont stay silent.'

Further to his appeals on his stories, the star also uploaded a number of images of his family to his grid, commenting with a single red heart.

Lovely: Further to his appeals on his stories, the star also uploaded a number of images of his family to his grid, commenting with a single red heart

How sweet: Nikita shared several snaps of his beloved family following the interview

The post garnered plenty of positive and supportive comments from his fans and Strictly co-stars.

Ukraine war: The latest Russian paratroopers land in Ukraine's second city amid heavy fighting

'There are practically no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit': Interior Ministry official

Joe Biden brands Vladimir Putin a 'dictator' in his annual State of the Union address as he bans Russian aircraft from US airspace

Russia steps up its bombing campaign and missile strikes, hitting Kyiv's main television tower, two residential buildings in a town west of the city and the city of Bila Tserkva to the south of the capital

Russian forces push into the besieged Black Sea city of Kherson in the south

Russian attacks leave Mariupol, another Black Sea port further to the west without electricity

More than 677,000 people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the UN's refugee agency says

The UN's International Court of Justice says it will hold public hearings on March 7 and 8 over Ukraine's allegations of 'genocide' by Russia

Russia blocks an independent television channel and a liberal radio station, tightening a virtual media blackout

A string of Western companies announce they are freezing or scaling back business with Russia

Russians race to withdraw cash after the introduction of capital controls and as the ruble hits record lows

Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 goes insolvent after Germany halts the pipeline following Moscow's invasion

Oil prices soar past $110 a barrel, despite agreements to release 60 million barrels from stockpiles

The World Bank prepares a $3-billion aid package for Ukraine, including $350 million in immediate funds Advertisement

It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia is trying to erase Ukraine and its people as Vladimir Putin's invasion entered its seventh day.

Renewed attacks on all fronts included an expected assault on the city which houses Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

Zelensky, who has become a symbol of Ukrainian defiance and courage since the war began, told his people today that Russians 'know nothing about our capital. About our history.

'But they have an order to erase our history. Erase our country. Erase us all.'

Meanwhile Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, warned that - if a Third World War were to begin in Europe - it would be 'nuclear and destructive' in a thinly veiled threat for NATO not to get involved in Ukraine.

Fighting was also underway in Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv after Russian paratroopers dropped in and attacked a military hospital before airstrikes targeting police, state agencies and the security service.

Part of Karazin National University was on fire early Wednesday after a missile - seemingly intended for the neighbouring police headquarters or interior ministry - struck the college's department of sociology instead.

Since Russian troops rolled into Ukraine last week to achieve Putin's mission of overthrowing Zelensky's pro-Western government, hundreds of civilians have been reported killed.

Russian forces have carried out a massive bombing campaign and encircled urban centres, but Ukraine insists no major city has yet been overtaken.

More than 660,000 people have fled abroad, the UN refugee agency said, and as battles rage for control of major cities many more are expected to follow.

Residents of capital Kyiv are crammed into makeshift bomb shelters awaiting their own fight, with a massive Russian military convoy stationed just north of the city.

Russia has defied international bans, boycotts and sanctions to press ahead with an offensive it says is aimed at defending Ukraine's Russian speakers and toppling the leadership.

In response, more Western companies have withdrawn from projects in Russia, deepening the economic toll on Moscow that saw the ruble collapse this week.

The International Criminal Court has opened a war crimes investigation against Russia. Ukraine says more than 350 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed in the conflict.
Actor Antony Starr has been handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence after admitting a drunken assault on a chef called Bathuel Araujo, 21, in a Costa Blanca pub.

Starr, who plays evil superhero Homelander on Amazon show The Boys and is currently filming a new Guy Ritchie Movie in Spain, was also ordered to pay more than 4,000 in compensation.

The 46-year-old was told after a speedy trial at a court in Alicante that he would only escape having to serve time as long as he paid his victim the money in the next 72 hours.

Starr, who covered his face by wearing a hoodie and using a face mask even though face coverings no longer have to be worn outdoors in Spain, left court without saying anything before being driven away in a taxi.

In custody: Actor Antony Starr has been handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence after admitting a drunken assault on a chef in a Costa Blanca pub

PIctured: Chef Bathuel Araujo, 21, told officers he had been punched twice before having a glass smashed in his face. He was taken to hospital and had to have four stitches to a wound above his eye

The New Zealand-born actor was convicted of a crime of wounding after being hauled to court on Thursday following two nights in police custody.

He was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning after police were called to the scene of a disturbance outside a pub in Alicante.

21-year-old chef told officers he had been punched twice before having a glass smashed in his face. He was taken to hospital and had to have four stitches to a wound above his eye.

Popular: The actor plays evil superhero Homelander on Amazon Prime's The Boys

A court official, confirming Thursday's decision, said: 'A speedy trial ended up taking place and Alicante Court of Investigation Number Nine, acting as a duty court, sentenced the arrested man to 12 months in prison and the payment of a fine of 4,141 for a crime of wounding.

'The detainees state of drunkenness was taken into account as an extenuating factor. The sentence was the result of an agreement between the state prosecution service and the man who was subsequently convicted.

'His prison sentence is being suspended on the condition that he doesnt commit another crime in two years and pays the compensation in the next 72 hours.'

Starr is understood to be in Spain shooting for British film director Guy Ritchies latest movie, an action-thriller starring Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal as a sergeant on his last tour of duty in Afghanistan.

The pub in Alicante where the incident occurred has not yet been named.

Bathuel Araujo, the injured man, told local press on Thursday his alleged aggressor was very drunk at the time and said he lashed out after a friend he was with asked a pal of the actors to calm him down because he was being a nuisance.

The Venezuelan-born chef claimed he responded by telling him to F**k off and trying to push him out of the pub before punching him in the jaw and near his eye when he eventually responded by pushing him back.

On location: Starr is understood to be in Spain shooting for British film director Guy Ritchies latest movie

He told respected local Informacion: 'After he punched me I was dizzy and thats when he hit me with the glass by his left eyebrow.'

Admitting to a second fracas in the street after the actor was allegedly kicked out off the pub by doormen and he had cleaned himself up in the toilets, Bathuel claimed Starr had gone on to threaten him in English, telling him: 'You dont know who youve messed with, you dont know who I am and what youve done.

'Youve committed the mistake of your life and Im going to look for you. I want to kill you.'

Picturesque: The brawl took place in popular Spanish resort city Alicante (pictured)

Officers from Spains National Police are understood to have arrested the actor at the scene and taken him to a nearby police station where he spent the rest of the night.

A spokesman for Spains National Police in Alicante confirmed ahead of the court hearing: 'I can confirm a 46-year-old man was arrested following an incident at a pub in Alicante around 2.30am on March 2.

'He was held on suspicion of wounding. He has spent two nights in police cells and is due to appear in court later today.

'Another man suffered a cut near his left eyebrow which required four stitches. Only the one arrest was made.'

Success: Starr built up a worldwide following with his superhero role on Amazon Primes original series The Boys, which is based on the comic book series of the same name

Starr posted photos of him enjoying the sunshine earlier this week after flying to the Costa Blanca.

He posted a selfie photo in sunglasses by a marina which he captioned Boats.

The Auckland-born actor also uploaded a snap from the same site showing the tapas he was eating, with a caption which said: Heres some food. That I did not eat. As opposed to food that I did eat. Exciting stuff we do on here.

Starr built up a worldwide following with his superhero role on Amazon Primes original series The Boys, which is based on the comic book series of the same name.

He started his acting career early in the 1990s.

From 2013 to 2016 he starred in the television series Banshee which was his first role on US television, playing the part of an ex-convict who after 15 years in prison assumes the identity of Lucas Hood and becomes the new Sheriff of Banshee.

The new Guy Ritchie film he is starring in is as yet untitled. The cast includes Danish actor Dar Salim who played Qotho in Game of Thrones.

Jail sentences of two years or less for first-time offenders in Spain are normally suspended.
James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson said they are disappointed by the lack of awards recognition for Daniel Craig's last appearance as 007 in No Time To Die.

Wilson, 80, said he believed Daniel, 54, deserved more accolades for his role in the film, while Broccoli, 61, said she thinks the actor is 'so convincing' as 007 that people forget he is even acting.

Wilson told The Times: 'You're always happy to get nominated, but Daniel not getting any nods is really amazing to me.'

Accolades: Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson said they are disappointed by the lack of awards recognition for Daniel Craig's last appearance as 007 in No Time To Die

Broccoli went on to say that the blow of his lack of acting nominations was somewhat softened as the film, which Daniel produced, as a whole has received recognition.

While Daniel himself did not land an acting nomination, No Time To Die scooped a total of five BAFTA nominations; Outstanding British Film, Special Visual Effects, Editing, Cinematography and Sound.

Broccoli and Wilson also spoke about the task of finding Craig's replacement as Bond, after the actor completed his fifth and final stint as 007.

Touching on the difficult decision, Broccoli explained that they are looking for an actor to carry the franchise across a number of films.

Awards: Wilson (right), said he believed Daniel, 54, deserved more accolades, while Broccoli (left), 61, said she thinks the actor is 'so convincing' as 007 that people forget he is even acting

She said: 'The thing is, when you cast James Bond you're not just casting one movie. You're making a decision that you're going to have live with for at least a decade.'

Broccoli said casting Daniel in Casino Royale was made easier as they had already decided to do the reboot followed by five interconnected films.

But the producer said it won't be that easy this time around as they have to both cast the new Bond and decide the theme of the movies ahead.

'It's not just, 'Oh, who looks good in a suit?' We have to figure this out on our own,' she added.

Bookmakers favourites for the new Bond are Bridgerton's Rege-Jean Page, Luther star Idris Elba and Happy Valley actor James Norton.

The producers also said they believe Bond should be shown in cinemas, as Amazon is set to takeover its parent company MGM Studios in a $8.5billion deal.

The streaming giant, which announced its plans to acquire MGM Studios in May, is reportedly hoping to make several spin-offs from the film franchise.

An Amazon spokesperson, said in December that the deal isn't closed and the two companies continue to operate separately.

But Broccoli said the idea of Bond spin-off projects, following in the footsteps of the Marvel franchise, makes 'no sense' to her as Bond is the centre of the franchise's universe.

Daniel has previously backed up the producers, saying in December that franchises should remain on the big screen.

Next 007? Touching on the difficult decision of casting the new Bond, Broccoli said they are looking for an actor to carry the franchise across a number of films. Pictured: No Time To Die

The star argued that as long as there are 'event' movies that get the whole family out, cinemas have a chance of surviving.

He told The Sun: 'One of the greatest things that's happened is we got this movie into the cinema, that's where Bond movies should be.

'They don't look so good on a phone. They look great on an Imax screen.'

It wasn't the first time that Daniel spoke about the importance of cinema, saying he hoped that the release of No Time To Die, which is the 25th film in the franchise, would boost the industry.

In September, he said: 'Cinema is here to stay as far as I'm concerned and if we can help in some way, I'll be very happy.'

Streaming: Wilson and Broccoli (pictured with Daniel in April 2019) said Bond should be shown in cinemas, as Amazon is set to takeover its parent company MGM Studios in a $8.5billion deal

His comments came after it was reported that studio MGM had held discussions with Netflix and Apple about releasing No Time To Die directly on to a streaming platform when its release was postponed.

At the time, MGM quashed rumours that it was thinking of offering the film to streaming services for a $600million one-year licensing deal.

When asked if it came close to the film bypassing a theatrical release, producer Barbara Broccoli told PA: 'Not for us. Fortunately, we have great partners with MGM and they stuck with us, and the pressure was tremendous on them, obviously.

'But I think we've learned many things during this 18-month period and certainly one of them is the sense of community, that we need people, we're social creatures, and we need each other.

'I think there's no better place to come together than the cinema. And we are hoping this is going to be a joyful return for people to come back with their friends and their families to see the film and to again celebrate, after a very long and difficult period.'

Big screen: Daniel Craig hinted that Amazon's proposal to make spin-off Bond films could spell disaster for cinemas, saying franchises should remain on the big screen

After bidding farewell to Bond, Daniel will return to the stage this year as Macbeth in a revival of William Shakespeare's tragedy, with Ruth Negga making her Broadway debut playing Lady Macbeth.

Macbeth will play at Longacre Theatre in New York starting March 29 with an opening set for April 28.

Tony Award-winner Sam Gold will direct. Barbara Broccoli, who produces the James Bond films with her brother, is a producer of Macbeth.

Craig was last on stage in a 2013 revival of Harold Pinter's Betrayal opposite his wife, Rachel Weisz, and directed by Mike Nichols.

Craig also starred opposite Hugh Jackman in 2009's A Steady Rain. Gold directed Craig in a 2016 off-Broadway production of Othello alongside David Oyelowo.
Mariska Hargitay shared a tribute to her late costar, Ned Eisenberg, to her Instagram account on Wednesday.

The 58-year-old actress penned a message about the loss of her late Law & Order: SVU castmate and lauded his affable personality and professionalism as a performer.

The late actor passed away this past Sunday at his home in New York at the age of 65 after battling cancer.

In remembrance: Mariska Hargitay shared a tribute to her late costar, Ned Eisenberg, to her Instagram account on Wednesday; she is seen in February

'My heart is so full of sadness over the loss of our dear, dear Ned Eisenberg,' Hargitay began.

The actress then remarked that the late performer had graced the lives of those around him both on and off set.

'What a light and what a love. And such a first-rate actor, which pales next to him as a first-rate human. We will remember him always with his bright, mischievous smile and his wide-open heart,' she wrote.

Opening up: The 58-year-old actress spoke about the loss of her late Law & Order: SVU castmate and lauded his affable personality and professionalism as a performer

Fond memories: The actress then remarked that the late performer had graced the lives of those around him both on and off set

Hargitay then concluded her message by writing: 'We love and miss you, sweet Ned.'

The Mare of Easttown star had been privately battling cholangiocarcinoma and ocular melanoma for the past two years, and his wife confirmed the news in a statement to TMZ this past Monday.

'As Ned would say, he was attacked by two very rare assassins  cholangiocarcinoma and ocular melanoma,' his wife Patricia said.

Law & Order: SVU star Ned Eisenberg dead at 65 following private two-year battle with cancer (Pictured above in 2012)

'Over the course of two years, he bravely fought the cancers in private while continuing to work in show business to ensure that his medical coverage paid for himself and his family.'

His representative Jeremy Leiner of Nicolosi & Co. announced confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he passed away this past Sunday at his home in New York.

The character actor is survived by his wife Patricia and his son, Lino.

Eisenberg was born in New York and attended the famed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan where he studied acting.

Character actor: He recently played Detective Hauser on the hit HBO drama Mare of Easttown, starring opposite Oscar-winner Kate Winslet (filmed in late 2019, pictured above)

He recently played Detective Hauser on the hit HBO drama Mare of Easttown, starring opposite Oscar-winner Kate Winslet.

Eisenberg also starred as Lou Rabinowitz on the hit Amazon show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

His other recent TV credits include The Blacklist, Elementary, Bull, Madam Secretary and The Good Wife.

Many viewers will remember him most from the Law & Order franchise including Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Health: The Law & Order: SUV and Mare of Easttown star had been privately battling cholangiocarcinoma and ocular melanoma for the past two years (Pictured; 2012)

His first movie role came in 1980 when he appeared in the action flick the Exterminator.

He would go on to frequently appear on the big screen, including roles in Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Flags of Our Fathers (2006).

Other film credits include The Burning (1981), Moving Violations (1985), Roger Spottiswoode's Air America (1990), Walter Hill's Last Man Standing (1996), Mike Nichols' Primary Colors (1998), Steven Zaillian's A Civil Action (1998), Oliver Stones World Trade Center (2006), Limitless (2011), Won't Back Down (2012), Experimenter (2015) and Asher (2018).
She's putting the finishing touches to her Paris Fashion Week show, which will take place on Friday March 4.

But Victoria Beckham found time for a spot of shopping in the French capital on Thursday.

The Spice Girl turned fashion designer was looking as chic as ever as she headed to the Celine store just 24 hours before presenting her own line.

Fashion queen: Victoria Beckham found time for a spot of shopping in the French capital on Thursday as she announced her own Fashion Week show

The star, 47, showed off her slender frame in a pair of olive green statement flares as she strutted around the city.

She teamed the trousers, which covered her feet, with a slinky purple silk shirt, tucked into the high waistband of her flares.

Victoria draped a smart grey checked blazer around her shoulders and accessorised with a burgundy clutch strapped to her wrist.

A pair of her favourite dark shades completed the fashion forward look.

Style statement: The Spice Girl turned fashion designer was looking as chic as ever as she headed to the Celine store just 24 hours before presenting her own line at PFW

Retro: The star, 47, showed off her slender frame in a pair of olive green statement flares as she strutted around the city

Arm candy: Victoria draped a smart grey checked blazer around her shoulders and accessorised swith a burgundy clutch strapped to her wrist

Victoria has been in town for Paris Fashion Week and amid much anticipation announced her own runway show on Thursday, sharing an image of a chic green ensemble with the simple caption:

'VICTORIA BECKHAM AW22. Watch live 12pm GMT. 04.03.22.'

Earlier in the week, Victoria made an eye-catching appearance at the Saint-Laurent show alongside her son Romeo, who towered over his PVC-clad mother as they posed ahead of the event together.

Looking good: Victoria ensured she was the centre of attention while turning the streets of Paris into her very own fashion show

Spot of shopping: The fashion fan was spotted emerging from the Celine store in the heart of Paris

The designer opted for a smart lilac sweater over clashing red PVC trousers, a look she teamed with distinctive red stiletto heels.

Joining his fashion conscious mother, Romeo wore a baby pink woollen sweater over loose fitting acid wash jeans and box fresh white trainers.

Not present on the night was Victoria's equally fashion conscious husband David Beckham - co-owner of the American club his son currently plays for - and the couple's three other children, Brooklyn, Cruz and Harper, who have remained at home in London.

Height advantage: Earlier in the week, Victoria made an eye-catching appearance at the Saint-Laurent show alongside her son Romeo, who towered over his PVC-clad mother

Elsewhere in the French capital on Thursday, Victoria's son Romeo Beckham and his girlfriend Mia Regan, stepped out for a spot of sightseeing.

The footballer, 19, and the model, also 19, put on a fashionable display, despite dressing down for the occasion as they headed out to take some snaps.

Mia bared her midriff in a quirky ensemble as she sported a cropped vintage burgundy fleece and some statement wide leg jeans.

She layered over a khaki trench coat and added a pair of chunky soled loafers to complete her fashion forward ensemble.

Romeo Beckham, 19, put on a casual display as girlfriend Mia Regan, also 19, made a statement in flares as they went sightseeing during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday

Sightseeing: The footballer and the model put on a fashionable display, despite dressing down for the occasion as they headed out to take some snaps
Zendaya flashed plenty of skin for her latest magazine photo session which had her Dune director Denis Villeneuve overseeing the shoot.

And Denis went with an arty theme for the W magazine spread: The beauty from Oakland, California, wore a skimpy black top that showed off her slender arms and chest before she modeled a small gold bra.

Inside the issue, the former teen star revealed why she felt that her Dune co-star Timothee Chalamet would be put off by her.

Light on clothing: Zendaya flashed plenty of skin for her latest magazine photo session which had her Dune director Denis Villeneuve overseeing the shoot

As good as gold: And Denis went with an arty theme for the shoot: The beauty from Oakland, California, wore a skimpy black top that showed off her slender arms and chest before she modeled a small gold bra

'I had just gotten my wisdom teeth taken outMy biggest fear was that my mouth would be vile, and then I would have to do a scene with Timothee where we have to be really close, and he would smell my dry socket breath,' said the Spider-Man star.

But she was very attracted to the project.

'Walking in other people's shoes is my jobSo when you have this beautiful meeting of escapism, other realms, dimensions, planets, futurist times, but then you can also exist as a human being who's just going through life and trying to survive and exist [trailing off]It's so hard to find the heart in something really, really massive.

'And there's no person better at that than Denis,' said the cover girl.

Dune pair: Inside the issue, the former teen star revealed why she felt that her Dune co-star Timothee Chalamet would be put off by her. Seen in February

Feeling self-conscious: 'I had just gotten my wisdom teeth taken outMy biggest fear was that my mouth would be vile, and then I would have to do a scene with Timothee where we have to be really close, and he would smell my dry socket breath,' said the Spider-Man star

BUT: But she was very attracted to the project. 'Walking in other people's shoes is my jobSo when you have this beautiful meeting of escapism, other realms, dimensions, planets, futurist times, but then you can also exist as a human being who's just going through life and trying to survive and exist'

Zendaya also said she likes to be in control.

'As a Virgo, I hate not being in control of things, and spontaneity is difficult for me in real life,' said the Valentino model.

But acting lets her cut loose, she claimed.

'It's funny, because that's why I love acting so much. It's the one space in which I can feel safe being spontaneous, because I'm not myself; I'm someone else. There are no consequences.'

Props for her director: 'And there's no person better at that than Denis,' said the cover girl

The issue was the fourth and final cover of W Magazine Volume 2, The Directors Issue.

Directed by Villeneuve, Photographed by Jack Davison, Written by Brooke Marine, Styled by Law Roach, the profile was definitely one of the magazine's more arty.

The Directors Issue celebrates some of the greatest and most talked about directors in film this year.

Inspired by David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth and how to play with time, not space, Villeneuve asked Zendaya to portray a visitor from the future in an out of-this-world photo production.

Cruise control: Zendaya also said she likes to be in control. 'As a Virgo, I hate not being in control of things, and spontaneity is difficult for me in real life,' said the Valentino model

Denis Villeneuve on shooting his first magazine cover: 'Zendaya has shot maybe 10,000 covers of magazines. It's something I've never doneI'm approaching this with a lot of humility. My expectation about it is just to have, frankly, creative fun.'

Villeneuve also discussed his passion for movies: 'One of my favorite things about cinema is when everybody starts to dance and create poetry with a camera. It deeply moves me and gives sense to my life.

'The language of cinema is by far the most powerful way to tell a story. You hypnotize people, and you bring them into a world, into emotions. Music can do that in some ways too, but there's something about cinema that is, for me, unbeatable.'

Acting helps: But acting lets her cut loose, she claimed. 'It's funny, because that's why I love acting so much'

On the cover: She had round objects all around her head as she wore a black dress

And he loves that he pulls people in: 'What will make a story relevant is if you believe in the characters, and if they are real beings having real human responsesPeople will believe in Arrakis if they believe in Zendaya. And Zendaya killed it. When we turned on the camera and she started to behave as Chani, I saw the birth of the character.'

He started in documentaries and that gave his a special edge.

'I learned to approach reality with a camera, and to use a camera in the context of improvisationA sci-fi movie is very different from a documentary, but there's still a sacred space that I'm trying to protect,' said the director.

The magazine hits newsstands on March 8.
Angelina Jolie noted the staggering number of Ukrainians who have been forced to flee their homes and country due to the ongoing Russian invasion on Thursday.

In an Instagram post, the 46-year-old actress and activist compared the plight of Ukrainian refugees escaping to safety with the struggles of other refugee groups across the globe.

She wrote to her 12.4 million followers that  regardless of their nationality or race  'All refugees and displaced people deserve equal treatment and rights.'

Equal treatment: Angelina Jolie, 46, urged her Instagram followers to treat refugees around the world with the same compassion that they have shown for Ukrainians fleeing from the Russian attacks on Thursday; seen in 2011 in LA

Jolie's post included striking photos of what appeared to be refugees from various countries, including a photo of a somber Ukrainian girl looking through the window of a bus.

'One million refugees have now fled Ukraine,' she began her caption.

'Before a single Ukrainian refugee crossed the border, there were already more than 82 million people forced from their homes globally  the highest number on record,' she continued.

'They include over 6 million Syrians  the worlds largest population of refugees  whove been displaced for over a decade already.

Global issue: She noted one million Ukrainians had already fled, but more than '82 million people' had already been forced to flee their homes elsewhere in the world; seen February 9 in Washington, D.C.

'And over 1 million Rohingyas from Myanmar  who as well as being forcibly displaced, are also stateless,' she wrote.

'And nearly 48 million people who have been forced from their homes by conflict and violence, who are living internally displaced within their own countries  in Yemen, in Somalia, in Afghanistan, in Ethiopia, and in so many other places.'

Although she didn't state it explicitly, the Oscar winner alluded to complaints that refugees from other global conflicts hadn't received the same degree of compassion and support that recent Ukrainian refugees have received.

'All refugees and displaced people deserve equal treatment and rights,' she concluded.

Jolie add the hashtag, '#RefugeesWelcome,' along with countries from where refugees had fled, including Ukraine, Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan and South Sudan.

She also mentioned the Rohingya, a stateless group of Muslims living within Myanmar who were the victims of a genocide in recent years.

In her thoughts: Late last month, Jolie  who was appointed the Special Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2012  shared on Instagram that, 'Like many of you, I'm praying for the people in Ukraine'

Late last month, Jolie  who was appointed the Special Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2012  shared on Instagram that, 'Like many of you, I'm praying for the people in Ukraine.'

She also shared a statement from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which is working in conjunction the United Nations, Ukraine and other countries in Europe to provide humanitarian support amid the ongoing Russian attack.

'We are gravely concerned about the fast-deteriorating situation and ongoing military action in Ukraine,' read the message.

'The humanitarian consequences on civilian populations will be devastating. There are no winners in war, but countless lives will be torn apart.

'We have already seen reports of casualties and people starting to flee their homes to seek safety. Civilian lives and civilian infrastructure must be protected and safeguarded at all times, in line with International Humanitarian Law.

'Accordingly, we have stepped up our operations and capacity in Ukraine and neighboring countries,' the statement added.

'We remain firmly committed to support all affected populations in Ukraine and countries in the region.'

Time for action: Last month, Jolie turned her activism toward speaking out in favor of reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act after it was previously held up by Republicans in congress; seen February 9 in Washington, D.C.

Speaking out: The star was visibly emotional while speaking during a press conference at which she shamed Congress' 'silence' on the the act, which expired almost a decade before; seen February 9 in Washington, D.C.

Last month, Jolie turned her activism toward speaking out in favor of reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act after it was previously held up by Republicans in congress.

The star was visibly emotional while speaking during a press conference at which she shamed Congress' 'silence' on the the act, which expired almost a decade before.

'Most of all, I want to acknowledge  most of all, I want to acknowledge the children who are terrified and suffering at this moment,' she said. 'And the many people for whom this legislation comes too late.'

'The women who have suffered through this system with little or no support, they still carry the pain and trauma of their abuse,' Jolie continued. 'The young adults who have survived abuse and emerged stronger not because of the child protective system, but despite it.

'And the women and children who have died, who could have been saved,' she said.

False flag? On Thursday, amid an escalation in attacks from Russian forces, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned on Twitter that there were 'worrying reports' of a potential operation to suggest Ukraine has attacked a Russian village; seen on February 23 in NYC

On Thursday, amid an escalation in attacks from Russian forces invading Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned on Twitter that there were 'worrying reports' of a potential operation to suggest Ukraine has attacked a Russian village.

'Russians might have pointed multiple rocket-launching systems in the Russian border village of Popovka towards their own territory. Knowing the barbaric nature of Russian actions we fear a false flag operation,' Kuleba said.

His statement was not immediately confirmed by other government officials but follows days of Russian troop movements to encircle key Ukrainian cities after Moscow's men failed to swiftly take major urban centers and to subdue Kyiv's military.

Kulegba's statement is the latest in a string of accusations levied at Russia's President Vladimir Putin after Kremlin forces were accused multiple times of launching so-called false flag attacks before the invasion of Ukraine last week.
Beijing 2022 Games poster weaves together Chinese aesthetics, Olympic spirit

By Li Yuche (Global Times) 15:26, March 03, 2022

A snowflake design made by intertwining a Chinese knot with the Olympic Rings can be seen on the poster Connecting the World by Enthusiasm, the official poster of the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Unlike other posters made by professional designers, this minimalistic design that combines Chinese culture with the Olympic spirit was created by a student in Sichuan Province.

Art and the Olympics

The design team at China's Sichuan Fine Arts Institute first pitched their work for Beijing 2022 in September 2020, after the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee announced in Beijing that it was accepting submissions.

Including the main designer Zhang Sujun, a student at the school, and Yan Li, head mentor of the team who guided Zhang through the whole process, the special group has five members, each of whom has said designing a poster for Games in their home country is the experience of a lifetime.

"We did not care about whether or not we would be selected," Yan told the Global Times.

"Showing the cultural confidence of China" was the main theme they chose to underpin the whole project, but they were still left with the puzzle of how to make the design represent both China and the World.

"We wanted to use a design language that shows the uniqueness of Chinese aesthetics, but it had to be traditional and modern at the same time," said Yan.

"Traditional Chinese design can also be trendy."

After studying past Summer and Winter Olympic posters, the design team considered Chinese elements such as the characters "Beijing," the Great Wall and folk paper-cutting.

In the end, they pitched more than 10 designs to the Organizing Committee, whose final decision landed on the iconic Chinese knot.

"It was a big challenge to use the Chinese knot in the design as it has become a common design symbol, so designers have to get creative if they want to have it represent a message beyond just 'a symbol of China.'"

Atypical Chinese knot

The similarities between the way a Chinese knot is woven together and the interlocking nature of the Olympic Rings inspired the team to incorporate the five colored rings inside of a white Chinese knot against a pure red background in a prototype that was both elegant and eye-catching.

According to Yan, the weaving of the knot also symbolizes how the future of the world is bound together.

The Chinese knot is surrounded by eight arrows that transform the entire shape into a "snowflake," which emphasizes that Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Games, became a double-Olympic city in the winter of 2022.

"The modern feel comes from details such as the rounder and sleek corners of how the knot has been drawn and also the new messages added to this intangible cultural heritage of China," Zhu Min, a veteran graphic designer, told the Global Times.

As one of China's intangible cultural heritage items, the Chinese knot is an intricate design that uses only one string to weave the whole pattern. Dating back to the Warring States period (475BC-221BC), it became a common part of Chinese folk art during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The one string artistry and also the carefully designed tassel of the Olympic Rings' colors tie the world, China and the city of Beijing together, Yan explained.

Zhang asked Yan for help when receiving the dozen of revision recommendations for the poster from the Organizing Committee.

The recommendations went into extreme details like the thickness of the tassel and the direction of the arrows.

Despite the difficulties involved, the team managed to make their work stand out from more than 1,500 submissions from teachers and students at hundreds of design institutions across the country. It was one of 11 official posters for the 2022 Games to display Chinese culture on the Olympic stage. "To be selected was a tremendous encouragement to us," said Yan.

"We hope our future design can continue to present the Chinese philosophy of 'being different but harmonious' and 'beauty in the common' to viewers around the world."

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Retired pediatrician Cho Byung-guk / Korea Times photo by Kang Hyun-kyung



Dr. Cho's memoir about Korean War orphans, abandoned children will be published in English in May, shedding light on why they were sent overseas to new families



By Kang Hyun-kyung





The cover for "Before Adoption There Was Dr. Cho"
Bella Hadid left almost nothing to the imagination as she took to the runway at Ludovic de Saint Sernin's show for Paris Fashion Week on Thursday.

The model, 25, looked incredible as she went braless in a black sheer dress that highlighted her jaw-dropping figure.

The sleeveless garment, part of the designer's ready-to-wear collection, featured a high collar and a flowing black pleated train.

Stunning: Bella Hadid looked incredible as she went braless in a black sheer dress at Ludovic de Saint Sernin's show for Paris Fashion Week on Thursday

The star added height to her frame with a pair of black boots for her turn on the runway.

Bella, who is the younger sister of fellow model Gigi Hadid, accentuated her natural beauty with a light pallet of makeup.

The model completed her look for the catwalk by letting her brunette locks fall loose down her shoulders.

Gigi also walked in the show and donned a dark brown shirt which she wore with a matching pair of boots.

Incredible: The sleeveless garment, part of the designer's ready-to-wear collection, featured a high collar and a flowing black pleated train

Show: The star added height to her frame with a pair of black boots for her turn on the runway

Wow: Bella, who is the younger sister of fellow model Gigi Hadid, accentuated her natural beauty with a light pallet of makeup

Wearing her blonde locks straight, the star added to her outfit with a multi-coloured necklace.

Bella is in Paris with boyfriend Marc Kalman, who she was seen exploring the city with on Tuesday.

The pair went public with their romance last July when she posted a picture of herself and Marc sharing a kiss while visiting Cannes.

They are said to have carried on the romance in New York amid the coronavirus pandemic while ensuring they were never seen together.

Bella has established herself as one of the fashion world's most sought after models since emerging almost a decade ago.

Beauty: The model completed her look for the catwalk by letting her brunette locks fall loose down her shoulders

Career: Bella has established herself as one of the fashion world's most sought after models since emerging almost a decade ago

Outfit: Gigi also walked in the show and donned a dark brown shirt which she wore with a matching pair of boots

Fashion forward: Putting on a leggy display in the thigh-skimming number, it was left partially unbuttoned at the neckline and the cuffs for a relaxed fit

Radiant: Wearing her blonde locks straight, the star added to her outfit with a multi-coloured necklace

Looking good: Gigi effortlessly commanded attention on the runway

Shortly after launching her career in 2016, Bella was voted Model of the Year by industry professionals. This was the same year she walked in her first ever Victoria's Secret fashion show.

Bella carved out a modelling career after her mother Yolanda Hadid and sister Gigi forged their own hugely successful careers in the same industry.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda was a major model in the '80s and '90s, and got Gigi into modelling when she was just two-years-old.

Success: Shortly after launching her career in 2016, Bella was voted Model of the Year by industry professionals
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Kim Kardashian has been pictured for the first time since it was revealed she is officially single again amid her contentious divorce battle with ex-husband Kanye West.

On Wednesday, the 41-year-old Hulu reality star was seen stepping out on the same day that a Los Angeles judge ruled in her favor, granting her request to be declared legally single immediately and settle child custody and money issues later.

Kim looked suitably stylish in a bright orange Balenciaga top as she was pictured with eight-year-old daughter North West, whom she shares with Kanye.

Single lady! Kim Kardashian has been pictured for the first time since it was revealed she is officially single again amid her contentious divorce battle with ex-husband Kanye West

Meanwhile on Thursday, it was reported that their custody agreement will 'likely be informal.'

'Kim will be home base and Kanye can see his four kids pretty much whenever he chooses,' a source told TMZ on Thursday.

'As crazy as the divorce has been, the custody issues for the most part have been handled peacefully. Whenever Kanye's in L.A. and wants to see the kids, Kim has facilitated it. They can always go back to court if it becomes acrimonious, but for now things have been peaceful.'

Yesterday, Kardashian  wearing a black blouse and her hair swept back  appeared via video at a court in downtown LA.

Keeping calm and carrying on: On Thursday, it was reported that their custody agreement will 'likely be informal'

New era: Kim was seen out after being declared legally single by a judge following Wednesday morning's court hearing over her divorce from the 44-year-old rapper

'We're having so much fun': Yesterday, Kim confirmed to a judge that she is showering her children with affection amid the divorce

West, 44, did not appear in person nor via video.

Judge Steve Cochran granted her request to have her maiden name restored, and he denied West's motion to prevent Kardashian from transferring assets out of trusts set up during the marriage.

The feuding couple, both billionaires, had their high powered attorneys in court Wednesday: Laura Wasser for Kardashian and Samantha Spector for West. Spector was only appointed last night after West fired his previous lawyer.

Pictured: Kanye West as seen above at a cafe on Wednesday, the first time since the latest development in their divorce

Judge Cochran began today's hearing by asking Kardashian how her four children by the hip hop star and producer  North, eight; Saint, six; Chicago, four; and Psalm two  are doing.

'Everybody is doing OK,' she responded.

Asked by the judge if she was 'showering her children with affection,' she replied, 'Absolutely.'

She added, 'We're having so much fun.'

The couple married in 2014 and have four children together. She filed for divorce from Kanye in 2021

After asking Kardashian to raise her right hand to be sworn in, Judge Cochran asked her a series of five questions:

Is everything true in your petition? 'Yes,' she replied.

Did you live in Los Angeles at least six months prior to filing for divorce? 'Yes.'

Is your marriage irretrievably broken? 'Yes.'

Will counseling save your marriage? 'No.'

Is it your desire to be granted single status? 'Yes.'

With a grin, the judge told Kim it was his practice to see photos of children involved in cases before his court.

But in this case, he added, he did not ask to see pictures, 'to protect the children's privacy. Is that OK with you?

'Yes your honor, thank you,' she responded with a smile.

Wasser told the court that she 'didn't believe there would be any disagreements' between the celebrity couple over custody of their kids.

But she and West's attorney, Spector, hit roadblocks on two other issues.

The first was Kanye request to prevent Kim from transferring assets out of any trust  a request Kim has fired back at due to their existing prenup, which already keeps their trusts and assets separate.

Wasser told the court today that Kim 'uses these trusts for her business and to freeze her assets wouldcreate problems. It would prevent her from doing business.'

The second point of dispute was West's request for Kim to 'waive marital privilege.' Waiving marital privilege would means all of their communication would no longer be private and instead would be part of the court record.

Wasser branded the request 'unprecedented' and accused West of trying 'to prevent or make it difficult for Ms. Kardashian to remarry' in the future.

Judge Cochran denied West's attempt to stop Kardashian from taking money out of her trusts and he also denied the rapper's request for her to waive marital privilege, telling the court, 'The law provides no support for that condition.'

The judge scheduled August 5 for a status and pretrial hearing to hear arguments from both sides about financial and child custody issues still to be settled.

In recent weeks West has taken to attacking her boyfriend Pete Davidson on social media. West  who wasn't present at the hearing  didn't object via his attorney, but he asked a judge to let funds meant to be split between the two go to the other partner if one of them dies, which they agreed to

Kanye hasn't ben exactly loveless since the split. his new girlfriend Chaney Jones showcased her incredible curves last Sunday, as she stepped out for a solo dinner at Carbone in Miami

Following the court appearance, Samantha Spector, the fourth divorce attorney to represent West in the proceedings, shared a statement to 'to dispel a few mistruths.'

'Kanyes paperwork has always indicated that his problems with the divorce [were] only procedural,' she claimed, before saying that her client would be providing any 'official' comment at that time. 'Moreover, he was always in support of the divorce only if Kim satisfied the procedural requirements to protect rights under the [California] law  the same rights afforded to any litigant going through a divorce.'

She continued: 'Today it was determined and addressed in court that Kim initially did not have the proper paperwork to get the bifurcation of the marital status. As mentioned in our statement yesterday, Ye is focusing his entire attention to their children.'

Kardashian's new legal status means that West is also legally single, and a source close to the rapper claimed that he also wants the divorce to proceed, though that doesn't align with his delay tactics in court or his public statements about trying to get his wife back

Demands: The judge rejected his request that Kim not transfer assets held in trusts and that she waive the right to have a spouse avoid testifying about conversations with her; seen in 2020

She filed for divorce in February 2021 and the couple initially seemed to be on the same page, but in recent weeks West has taken to attacking her boyfriend Pete Davidson on social media.

He has also repeatedly posted text conversations that appear to be with his estranged wife, including one conversation in which she appeared to write, 'Why can't you keep any of our conversations private ???'

'Cause I got a text from my favorite person in the world,' he allegedly replied. 'I'm your number one fan. Why wouldn't I tell everyone!!!!'

Kardashian doesn't appear to have any desire to slow down her divorce, but her ex has shared multiple times in public that he hopes to win her back.

West's ex previously filed documents claiming that his recent social media posts have been riddled with 'misinformation,' and she claimed their attacks on her and her boyfriend Pete Davidson have caused her 'emotional distress.'

'I believe that the court terminating our marital status will help Kanye to accept that our marital relationship is over and to move forward on a better path which will assist us in peacefully co-parenting our children,' Kardashian wrote in documents filed on February 23, according to Rolling Stone.

West's attorneys said Kardashian would need to prove he had personally written the posts, though they didn't appear to explicitly deny that he had written them in their own filings.

'Kim claims she read something online allegedly by Kanye and characterizes the posts in her declaration as misinformation. The social media posts are not attached to the declaration. Kim needed to offer the social media posts into evidence, and show that the posts were written by Kanye,' his lawyers wrote, adding that Kardashian's claims amount to 'double hearsay.'

Mixed messages: The rapper filed to have Kardashian's complaints about his social media posts ruled inadmissible, claiming she hadn't proved he wrote them, but he previously posted on Instagram that his account was 'not hacked'

Unrelenting: Kardashian pleaded with him over text: 'Why can't you keep any of our conversations private ???' and he replied: ''Cause I got a text from my favorite person in the world'

Although West's attorneys appear to be raising doubts about whether he's responsible for posts on his social media account, he seems to have taken steps in his posts to cast himself as their author.

In a since-deleted Instagram post, the rapper shared a photo of himself holding up a yellow notepad that read, 'My account is not hacked,' and the date, ' 2 13 22.'

The post's caption featured the recognizable breathless all-capitals style that many of West's recent posts have adhered to.

'MY ACCOUNT IS NOT HACKED,' the post repeated in the caption, before noting that West would be taking his children to Sunday Service, followed by the Super Bowl.

New ink? After the hearing, Kanye was spotted back in Miami heading to a tattoo parlor

Bundled up: He was seen wearing a puffy black down jacket with text on the sleeves

Checking out: The rapper was also seen as he stepped out of the Four Seasons Hotel in Miami Beach

Catching up: The hitmaker paired his black jacket with a matching tank top and sweatpants as he took a phone call on speakerphone

Self-promotion: In place of the Balenciaga x Crocs rain boots he has favored in recent days, he opted for a charcoal set of Yeezy Slides.

Mum's the word: A statement from his fourth divorce attorney, Samantha Spector, said an 'official' statement from Kanye about Kim's new single status wouldn't be arriving at this time

He also included a note to SNL Weekend Update anchor Michael Che offering to pay him double 'WHATEVER THEY PAYING YOU' to get him away from cast member Pete Davidson.

Sources claimed to TMZ that the musician and fashion designer has not been working closely with his legal team.

Instead, he made it clear that he didn't want to divorce Kardashian, but left it up to his attorneys to craft a legal strategy for him, though he now seems to be back on board with a divorce.

Despite the ongoing divorce drama with Kanye, Kim has continued to devote herself to the causes near and dear to her heart.

Involved: Despite the ongoing divorce drama with Kanye, Kim has continued to devote herself to the causes near and dear to her heart. On Thursday, the SKIMS founder went on a hike at 6AM with the 'formerly incarcerated members and staff' of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, which is a non-profit organization that advocates for criminal justice reform

On Thursday, the SKIMS founder went on a hike at 6AM with the 'formerly incarcerated members and staff' of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, which is a non-profit organization that advocates for criminal justice reform.

'[The formerly incarcerated members and staff] are now university students, film students, firefighters, artists, now giving back to their communities,' wrote Kim, who shared images of the hike to her Instagram Story.

'I love hearing their stories - from life sentences to what life is like now. I'm so proud of them and can't wait to hike more! Thank you @scottbudnick1 for introducing us all,' concluded the star, who added the hashtag #mymorningmotivation.

In a follow-up post, Kim posed for a group selfie with her fellow hikers. She sported a minimalist makeup look and wore her rave hair in a ponytail.

Inspired: ''[The formerly incarcerated members and staff] are now university students, film students, firefighters, artists, now giving back to their communities,' wrote Kim, who shared images of the hike to her Instagram Story

She braved the morning chill in a zip-up windbreaker jacket and a hooded sweatshirt.

After the hike, Kim revealed to her 289million followers that her four children 'made all the guys this morning hot chocolate.'

She included an image of the beverages in to-go cups with small bowls of colorful marshmallows made readily available.

The members and staff of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition penned a note to Kim on their own Instagram Story, where they thanked her for 'all your work on behalf of formerly and currently incarcerated people.'
Brielle Biermann appeared to enjoy a working vacation in the Bahamas this week.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member shared shots from a resort in Nassau, Bahamas on her Instagram feed Thursday as she shared: 'Lifes better in a bikini.'

The reality TV star recently celebrated her 25th birthday on February 25 in the island nation.

Enjoying the sun: Brielle Biermann appears to be catching a few rays while showing off her assets during a recent trip to the Bahamas

Modeling a thong bikini in multi-colored horizontal stripes, the young influencer tagged the Salty K brand in her post.

The company was founded by her mother, fellow RHOA star Kim Zolciak-Biermann.

Brielle appeared to be enjoying the sun as she posed for a photo in which she looks slyly over her shoulder while flaunting her toned derriere.

Mirror mirror: The media influencer wore a bikini from her mother's Salty K brand, and gave fans not only a look at her taut abs, but a glance at her toned back via a mirrored reflection

In another, the socialite faced the camera to show off her taut abs, but the picture also allowed her fans a glance at the media darling's toned back via a mirrored reflection.

The bathing suit featured a bottom with string ties at the hips and a bandeau top that didn't quite cover her chest.

The petite actress completed the look with a wide gold bracelet on her wrist and a necklace and pendant duo.

Updating her profile: Fans went wild for this profile pic in which Brielle showed off all her curves, including a little underboob

Brielle appeared to wear little make-up and styled her long blonde locks in matching braids.

In a third picture, she posed in a profile shot in front of a mirror, showing off her assets, including a little underboob.

The star's 3.2 million followers were appreciative of her efforts

Some of their comments included, 'DAYUMMM,' and 'So hot,' along with many belated birthday wishes.

Last week she was seen in a bathroom as she posed in a light peach swimsuit while holding up a bottle of Loving Tan. She promised: 'I've used Loving Tan for years now, and this product is my new go-to! I love how easy it was to apply, and I now can get maximum results like this without a double-coat!'
His estranged wife Kim Kardashian was declared legally single by a judge on Wednesday.

And Kanye West seemed to be moving on from the development on Thursday when he was seen stepping out in Miami with his new girlfriend Chaney Jones.

The 44-year-old rapper and the 24-year-old model were spotted in complementary all-black ensembles a they stepped out of his hotel.

Moving on: Kanye West was spotted leaving his hotel in Miami on Thursday with his girlfriend Chaney Jones, 24, leading the way just a day after his ex Kim Kardashian was declared legally single

Chaney rocked an edgy black leather jacket with silver zippers running across her chest and an upturned collar.

She highlighted her toned legs in a skimpy pair of black shorts, and she wore her long raven locks swept back in thick waves while sporting slim black sunglasses.

Kanye looked casual in a black tank top that he tucked into his black jeans, and he also wore one of a variety of tall black rain boots that he has favored in recent weeks.

The duo were later joined by an unidentified blonde woman, who sported a midriff-baring black top and low-rise trousers.

Back in black: Chaney rocked an edgy black leather jacket with silver zippers running across her chest, plus tiny black shorts and slim sunglasses

Coordinated: The 44-year-old rapper and the 24-year-old model were spotted in complementary all-black ensembles a they stepped out of his hotel

She was captured trailing behind Kanye and Chaney as they exited a Miami hotel.

Chaney took to her Instagram Story hours later to share a brief video of herself and Kanye posing closely in the backseat of vehicle.

She also uploaded a series of sizzling snaps of herself modeling her leather get-up as they, presumably, boarded a private jet together.

'up, up & away,' she captioned the post.

Chaney struck a pose on the jet's stairs before spinning around on the tarmac and touching one of the wings.

Single life: The rapper spent time with his new girlfriend after Kim was granted a bifurcation, meaning they're both legally single even as they still work to split their assets

Monochrome: Kanye looked casual in a black tank top that he tucked into his black jeans

Chaney, who's noted to be a dead ringer for Kanye's ex Kim, has been spending time with the rapper since his split from Julia Fox.

Earlier this week, he posted a photo of himself and Chaney together, captioning it with a black heart, to which she replied in the comments, 'My love.'

Earlier this week, the hitmaker caught up with another figure banished from the KardashianJenner clan, Khloe Kardashian's ex Tristan Thompson.

Kanye and the Chicago Bulls player were seen dining with other women on Tuesday night at the Setai Hotel, though it's unclear if Chaney was part of the group.

Third wheel: The duo were later joined by an unidentified blonde woman

Midriff: The mystery blonde sported a midriff-baring black top and low-rise trousers

The Monster rapper was back in public after he suffered a setback in his attempts to slow down his divorce from Kim Kardashian.

The day before, a judge declared the 41-year-old reality star legally single and allowed her to return to her maiden name after she had adopted West's last name.

The legal action is called bifurcation, which Kanye had opposed.

The judge's move to make Kim legally single also meant that he is now officially single, even as the couple are still working to finalize their divorce and to untangle their assets.

Cozy: Chaney took to her Instagram Story hours later to share a brief video of herself and Kanye posing closely in the backseat of vehicle

Wheels up: She also uploaded a series of sizzling snaps of herself modeling her leather get-up as they, presumably, boarded a private jet together

Kardashian  wearing a black blouse and styling her hair swept back  appeared via video on Wednesday at a court in downtown Los Angeles, but Kanye didn't attend at all, as sources close to the rapper had expected.

In addition to granting Kim's request to have her maiden name restored, Judge Steve Cochran denied West's motion to prevent her from transferring assets out of trusts set up during the marriage.

The feuding couple, both billionaires, had their high powered attorneys in court Wednesday: Laura Wasser for Kardashian and Samantha Spector for West. Spector was only appointed last night after West fired his previous lawyer.

Ready to go! 'up, up & away,' she captioned the post

Photo shoot: Chaney struck a pose on the jet's stairs before spinning around on the tarmac

Fun: At one point, she got her hands on one of the jet's wings

Judge Cochran began the hearing by asking Kardashian how her four children by the hip hop star and producer  North, eight; Saint, six; Chicago, four; and Psalm two  were doing.

'Everybody is doing OK,' she responded.

Asked by the judge if she was 'showering her children with affection,' she replied, 'Absolutely.'

She added, 'We're having so much fun.'

After asking Kardashian to raise her right hand to be sworn in, Judge Cochran asked her a series of five questions:

Is everything true in your petition? 'Yes,' she replied.

Did you live in Los Angeles at least six months prior to filing for divorce? 'Yes.'

Going solo: Kim Kardashian, 41, attended the hearing remotely, though Kanye wasn't present art all amid his Miami trip; seen February 24 in Milan

Is your marriage irretrievably broken? 'Yes.'

Will counseling save your marriage? 'No.'

Is it your desire to be granted single status? 'Yes.'

With a grin, the judge told Kim it was his practice to see photos of children involved in cases before his court.

But in this case, he added, he did not ask to see pictures, 'to protect the children's privacy. Is that OK with you?

'Yes your honor, thank you,' she responded with a smile.

Wasser told the court that she 'didn't believe there would be any disagreements' between the celebrity couple over custody of their kids.

But she and West's attorney, Spector, hit roadblocks on two other issues.

Exes: The couple married in 2014 and have four children together. She filed for divorce from Kanye in 2021

The first was Kanye request to prevent Kim from transferring assets out of any trust  a request Kim has fired back at due to their existing prenup, which already keeps their trusts and assets separate.

Wasser told the court today that Kim 'uses these trusts for her business and to freeze her assets wouldcreate problems. It would prevent her from doing business.'

The second point of dispute was West's request for Kim to 'waive marital privilege.' Waiving marital privilege would means all of their communication would no longer be private and instead would be part of the court record.

Wasser branded the request 'unprecedented' and accused West of trying 'to prevent or make it difficult for Ms. Kardashian to remarry' in the future.

Judge Cochran denied West's attempt to stop Kardashian from taking money out of her trusts and he also denied the rapper's request for her to waive marital privilege, telling the court, 'The law provides no support for that condition.'

The judge scheduled August 5 for a status and pretrial hearing to hear arguments from both sides about financial and child custody issues still to be settled.

Lashing out: In recent weeks West has taken to attacking her boyfriend Pete Davidson on social media. West didn't object via his attorney, but he asked a judge to let funds meant to be split between the two go to the other partner if one of them dies, which they agreed to

Following the court appearance, Samantha Spector, the fourth divorce attorney to represent West in the proceedings, shared a statement to 'to dispel a few mistruths.'

'Kanyes paperwork has always indicated that his problems with the divorce [were] only procedural,' she claimed, before saying that her client would be providing any 'official' comment at that time. 'Moreover, he was always in support of the divorce only if Kim satisfied the procedural requirements to protect rights under the [California] law  the same rights afforded to any litigant going through a divorce.'

She continued: 'Today it was determined and addressed in court that Kim initially did not have the proper paperwork to get the bifurcation of the marital status. As mentioned in our statement yesterday, Ye is focusing his entire attention to their children.'

A source close to the rapper claimed that he also wants the divorce to proceed, though that doesn't align with his delay tactics in court or his public statements about trying to get his wife back

She filed for divorce in February 2021 and the couple initially seemed to be on the same page, but in recent weeks West has taken to attacking her boyfriend Pete Davidson on social media.

Demands: The judge rejected his request that Kim not transfer assets held in trusts and that she waive the right to have a spouse avoid testifying about conversations with her; seen in 2020

He has also repeatedly posted text conversations that appear to be with his estranged wife, including one conversation in which she appeared to write, 'Why can't you keep any of our conversations private ???'

'Cause I got a text from my favorite person in the world,' he allegedly replied. 'I'm your number one fan. Why wouldn't I tell everyone!!!!'

Kardashian doesn't appear to have any desire to slow down her divorce, but her ex has shared multiple times in public that he hopes to win her back.

West's ex previously filed documents claiming that his recent social media posts have been riddled with 'misinformation,' and she claimed their attacks on her and her boyfriend Pete Davidson have caused her 'emotional distress.'

'I believe that the court terminating our marital status will help Kanye to accept that our marital relationship is over and to move forward on a better path which will assist us in peacefully co-parenting our children,' Kardashian wrote in documents filed on February 23, according to Rolling Stone.

West's attorneys said Kardashian would need to prove he had personally written the posts, though they didn't appear to explicitly deny that he had written them in their own filings.

'Kim claims she read something online allegedly by Kanye and characterizes the posts in her declaration as misinformation. The social media posts are not attached to the declaration. Kim needed to offer the social media posts into evidence, and show that the posts were written by Kanye,' his lawyers wrote, adding that Kardashian's claims amount to 'double hearsay.'

Unrelenting: Kardashian pleaded with him over text: 'Why can't you keep any of our conversations private ???' and he replied: ''Cause I got a text from my favorite person in the world'

Although West's attorneys appear to be raising doubts about whether he's responsible for posts on his social media account, he seems to have taken steps in his posts to cast himself as their author.

In a since-deleted Instagram post, the rapper shared a photo of himself holding up a yellow notepad that read, 'My account is not hacked,' and the date, ' 2 13 22.'

The post's caption featured the recognizable breathless all-capitals style that many of West's recent posts have adhered to.

'MY ACCOUNT IS NOT HACKED,' the post repeated in the caption, before noting that West would be taking his children to Sunday Service, followed by the Super Bowl.

Sources claimed to TMZ that the musician and fashion designer has not been working closely with his legal team.

Instead, he made it clear that he didn't want to divorce Kardashian, but left it up to his attorneys to craft a legal strategy for him, though he now seems to be back on board with a divorce.
Leighton Meester has revealed that she struggles to leave her two children when she goes away in a candid new interview about motherhood.

The Gossip Girl actress, 35, shares daughter Arlo, six, and a son, two, with husband Adam Brody, 42, but told Cosmopolitan UK that being away from them is the 'most terrifying prospect'.

Leighton was speaking as she prepares to star in the new Netflix thriller The Weekend Away, in which her character Beth goes on her first holiday after welcoming a baby.

Honest: Leighton Meester has revealed that she struggles to leave her two children when she goes away in a candid new interview about motherhood

She told Cosmopolitan about the part and her own experiences as a parent: 'I really was excited about playing a new mother who's having a weekend away for the first time, which is the most exciting and really the most terrifying prospect when you have a new baby.

'So I felt like that was the kind of character that I could very easily relate to, slip into, and have compassion for. When I got the script breakdown it was like a 35-year-old [woman] with a 10-month-old [baby], and I was like, 'That is exactly me.'

'The element of being away from your child is very different from when you're with your child. At least for me. When anything happens, if your kid gets hurt or something happens, that's your number one concern.'

Together: The Gossip Girl actress, 35, shares daughter Arlo, six, and a son, two, with husband Adam Brody, 42, but says being away from them is the 'most terrifying prospect'

She added: 'You have to be the grown up, which is really hard to be even when you are the grown up. [My character Beth] is not with her kid, and that would drive me mad. I would be devastated to be in a situation like that and be thousands of miles away from my kid.'

During the interview she also touched on releasing new music, saying new tracks are coming out 'hopefully soon'.

She said: 'I have a bunch of stuff written and recorded and ready to go. It's just a matter of when I can release it and when I can make time for that.

Drama: Leighton was speaking as she prepares to star in the new Netflix thriller The Weekend Away, in which her character Beth goes on her first holiday after welcoming a baby

'I had it ready and set to go, and then pandemicAnd I've had another child. So I thought, 'This isn't the right timing.' So I think that the timing will probably happen this year, hopefully.'

On which of her characters she's most like she added: 'It's a good question. I feel like what I've had the joy to discover is there's part of me in every character and part of every character in me.

'It's like I can find something within any role - within reason - that I can find some common ground and feel compassion for and something that I care about and love.

'With variety, I've also found characters that have a common thread of humanity, even in the most caricature-like roles.'

Exciting: During the interview she also touched on releasing new music, saying new tracks are coming out 'hopefully soon'

OC star Adam told People last October of becoming a dad for the second time: 'It's been pretty magical.

'It's such a crazy time for everyone and we're so, so, so fortunate that we have some of the security we do and have the flexibility with our jobs we do. We talk about it all the time and we're just ridiculously fortunate and lucky.'

He continued: 'To be more or less quarantined during [this] time  the last trimester of pregnancy and the fourth trimester, if you will  has its benefits, You've gotten to be in a cocoon. The world outside is scary for the moment and also thrilling and hopeful.

'For us, luckily in this time in our lives, this moment in our lives, this family growing by one has definitely had its magical moments and it's had its benefits, for sure.'

Brody and Meester tied the knot in February of 2014, after they met on the set of their 2011 film The Oranges.

Watch the full interview on Cosmopolitan UK's YouTube channel.
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Kevin Costner, Zoe Kravitz and Lady Gaga were among the initial list of presenters announced for the 94th Academy Awards on Thursday.

The trio of A-listers will be joined by Rosie Perez, Chris Rock and South Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the 2021 ceremony for the acclaimed drama Minari.

The release of the first batch of presenters comes as the Oscars have been plunged into controversy over the show's decision to cut eight categories from the live broadcast and to only play 'the most potent and emotional moments' from those acceptance speeches, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

A-lister presenters: Kevin Costner, Zoe Kravitz and Lady Gaga were among the high-profile presenters announced by Oscars telecast producers Will Packer and Shayla Cowan for the Academy Awards ceremony on March 27

Will Packer and Shayla Cowan, the producers of the Oscars telecast, announced the first group of presenters, with more to follow ahead of the ceremony on March 27.

'Movies inspire us, entertain us and unite us across the globe,' Packer said in a statement. 'Thats the precise goal of the show this year, and were thrilled to welcome the first of a stellar lineup joining the Oscars stage to help us celebrate the power of film and honor the years best in filmmaking.

It's traditional for the Academy Awards to bring back the previous year's Best Actress and Best Actor winners to announce those categories, though it's not yet known if Frances McDormand  who won for Nomadland  or Anthony Hopkins  who scored a surprise win for The Father  will be returning this year.

Costner, who was nominated for Best Actor for 1990's Dances With Wolves and won for Best Picture and Best Director, currently stars on the popular Paramount Network Western drama Yellowstone.

He plays the owner of a massive ranching bordering the iconic national park, as well as a Native American reservation and ravenous land developers.

Former nominee: Rosie Perez, who was previously nominated for her performance in Fearless opposite Jeff Bridges, was also part of the first batch of presenters announced; seen February 28 in NYC

Talented group: Chris Rock will provide some much-needed comedy for the broadcast, while Youn Yuh-jung will likely announce one of the supporting categories

Lady Gaga received plenty of buzz this year for starring as Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott's crime drama House Of Gucci.

Though the film performed well for an adult drama, it received mixed reviews, with several finding the film overwrought, while others deemed it to be missing out on some much-needed camp.

Gaga has been nominated for her performance by other award bodies, but the role hasn't been praised as much as her acclaimed part in A Star Is Born.

Kravitz is expected to have a blockbuster on her hands with this week's release of The Batman, which stars Robert Pattinson as the eponymous caped crimefighter.

She appears in the noir-influenced superhero film as Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman.

TV revival: Costner, who was nominated for Best Actor for 1990's Dances With Wolves and won for Best Picture and Best Director, currently stars on the popular Paramount Network Western drama Yellowstone

Missed out: Lady Gaga received plenty of buzz this year for starring as Patrizia Reggiani in Ridley Scott's crime drama House Of Gucci. Though the film performed well for an adult drama, it received mixed reviews, with several finding the film overwrought, while others deemed it to be missing out on some much-needed camp; seen with Adam Driver

Blockbuster: Kravitz is expected to have a blockbuster on her hands with this week's release of The Batman, which stars Robert Pattinson as the eponymous caped crimefighter. She appears in the noir-influenced superhero film as Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman

Perez is a former Oscar nominee for her supporting role in Fearless opposite Jeff Bridges, and she recently appeared in the well-received superhero film Birds Of Prey.

Chris Rock's last big role was in the Saw sequel Spiral, and he'll also likely add some audience-friendly comedy to the broadcast.

Youn, who is well known in South Korea, scored an upset win for Best Supporting Actress last year among a high-profile group of nominees including Olivia Colman, Glenn Close and Amanda Seyfried.

She stars in the film as the mother of a Korean immigrant who dreams of starting his own farm after being forced to work in low-paying agricultural jobs after moving to the US.

Superhero transition: recently appeared in the well-received superhero film Birds Of Prey

Left-field choice: Chris Rock's last big role was in the horror film Spiral, a sequel to the Saw franchise

American breakout: Youn stars in Minari as the mother of a Korean immigrant who dreams of starting his own farm after being forced to work in low-paying agricultural jobs after moving to the US

The Oscars may be hoping viewers will overlook controversial changes to the broadcast with the announcement of the presenters.

The Hollywood Reporter wrote on Tuesday that the broadcast will be removing eight categories from the live broadcast and instead presenting them beforehand.

The acceptance speeches will be recorded, but only the 'most potent and emotional moments' from the speeches will be including, raising a question as to whether speeches that don't feature any particularly 'emotional moments' will simply be eliminated from the broadcast all together.

Those winners also likely won't have the major stars who attend the Oscars seeing their wins, as ABC is having them arrive later in staggered fashion for its red carpet coverage.

The acceptance speech excerpts will be played on monitors in the theater.

The Academy is reportedly making the changes  which sparked a storm of angry posts on social media  at the behest of ABC.

Yellowstone the series is available only on Stan in Australia.
Sydney Sweeney looked ravishing while exiting her friend's house on Thursday in Encino, California, after it was confirmed yesterday that she is set to tie the knot with long-term boyfriend Jonathan Davino.

The newly-engaged Euphoria star, 24, wore a Spring-appropriate outfit for the sunny day, featuring a high-neck and long sleeve baby blue floral dress, with her svelte waist cinched by a belt.

The actress did not have her large sparkler on her ring finger, as it appeared that she was in costume for a role or a photo shoot.

Newly engaged glow: Sydney Sweeney, 24, looked ravishing exiting her friend's house on Thursday, after news broke yesterday that she is engaged to Jonathan Davino, 37

The beauty - who is also known for her roles in The Handmaid's Tale and Sharp Objects - wore her red hair in straight layers and sported charming bangs to frame her face.

She paired the look with high gold boots and an adorable pink purse with a heart-shaped closure.

As for makeup, the Washington native wore a subdued shade of red on her lips as well as a touch of mascara.

Beauty: The newly-engaged Euphoria star wore a Spring-appropriate high-neck and long sleeve baby blue floral dress, with a belt cinching in her svelte waist

Breaking the news? The star was seen chatting on the phone as she carefully maneuvered her way down the stairs

The star was seen chatting on the phone as she carefully maneuvered her way down the stairs, and was accompanied by a blonde female companion.

Sydney and Jonathan, 37, have been romantically linked since 2018 but the star has never commented publicly on the relationship.

DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Sydney who have so far been unavailable for comment.

Red head: The beauty - who is also known for her roles in The Handmaid's Tale and Sharp Objects - wore her red hair in straight layers

Gold boots: She paired the look with high gold boots and an adorable pink purse with a heart-shaped closure

Glam: As for makeup, the Washington native wore a subdued shade of red on her lips as well as a touch of mascara

The actress sparked engagement rumors on Monday, after she was photographed wearing a huge diamond ring on her wedding finger while out in Encino.

The engagement rumors were confirmed by Us Weekly yesterday.

Sydney and Jonathan were first photographed together in October 2018 as they attended the InStyle and Kate Spade dinner at Spring Place in Los Angeles.

Though the relationship has remained ultra private, the engaged pair have been captured out and about on numerous occasions.

Costume? The actress did not have her large sparkler on her ring finger, as it appeared that she was in costume for a role

Company: She was accompanied by a blonde female companion

Rumors: The actress sparked engagement rumors on Monday, after she was photographed wearing a huge diamond ring on her wedding finger while out in Encino, California

Famously, Sydney and Jonathan enjoyed a Hawaiian vacation in the summer of 2020, where they were captured putting on a PDA-packed display on the beach.

Jonathan is based in Chicago, Illinois, and is the co-owner of a restaurant called Mista Pizza, as well as the heir to the Italian restaurant Pompei, owned by his family, according to PEOPLE.

The family also own a device technology and packaging company.

The star has previously opened up about her dating struggles growing up during an interview with C Magazine in November 2021.

Private: Though their relationship has been quite private, Sydney and Jonathan enjoyed a Hawaiian vacation in the summer of 2020, where they put on PDA-packed display

'I acted out, but not in the way you would think. I was a straight A student in all AP classes. I was valedictorian. I never went to a high school party. Ive never done drugs, to this day. The acting out Syd tried to find love through boys. I got myself into sometimes really unfortunate and even dangerous relationships,' she revealed.

Sydney then added that she had to love herself first before being able to open up to true love.

'Being able to love yourself before allowing anyone else to love you  thats where true happiness and healthiness comes from. Its a part of my own life that I wish I could go back to.'

She also spoke about her ideal man to Cosmopolitan in February 2022, saying, 'I look for a best friend. I need to be able to be with someone who I can literally hang out with 24/7 and never get sick of and we laugh every single day.'

The Handmaid's Tale is available now on Stan in Australia.
She recently scored a role on Neighbours before the long-running soap was axed.

But former Home and Away star Tammin Sursok announced another new exciting project on Friday morning.

The 38-year-old actress, who recently returned to Australia after a long stint in Hollywood, revealed she has been cast in Stan's Tiger King series, JOE vs CAROLE.

That's one way to make an announcement! Tammin Sursok strips down to red hot racy lingerie to reveal she is starring in Stan's Tiger King series JOE vs CAROLE

The Pretty Little Liars beauty posted several photos and video clips from behind the scenes of the show, including one of her trying on red lingerie.

The mother-of-two said she she will playing the role of confident 'Nicole' in the series, but admitted she found wearing the racy outfits uncomfortable.

'My character, as you can see from my outfit, was very comfortable with her sexuality and sauntered around accepting her body without a care in the world,' she said.

Im not going to lie, I was incredibly honored to have been cast in this role, but I was terribly insecure about being dressed like this.

'As a women, and a mother, you are constantly fed the narrative that you must now hide away and be invisible when you crossover into that role.'

In bed with Tammin: The former Home and Away star also shared one of her racy bedroom scenes

But Tammin said she eventually felt a part of her old self return as soon as she stepped on the set of the show.

'When I stepped on set, in this outfit, even though it took me a while, I felt a part of my old self flood back into my body,' she said.

'I pretended to hide behind this character, but to be honest the character started to morph into me.

'The old me.

'The one that would look into mirror and approve instead of picking myself apart.

'Im so grateful for the moments spent on Joe vs Carol. Because even though it was over in a flash, it left a lasting impression on how I felt about myself.'

Getting wiggy with it: Tammin wears a blonde wig to portray confident 'Nicole'

The upcoming JOE vs CAROLE series chronicles Carole's feud with Joe and is based on Robert Moor's podcast.

Saturday Night Live actress and comedian Kate McKinnon completely transforms into Carole, while John Cameron Mitchell plays Joe.

Carole's husband Howard is portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan, of Twin Peaks and Sex and the City fame.

The show will be based on the Wondery podcast 'Joe Exotic', hosted and reported by Robert Moor, which the Netflix docuseries Tiger King was based on.

Leaving LA: Tammin recently returned to Australia after a long stint in Hollywood

The limited series will centre on Carole Baskin, 'a big cat enthusiast, who learns that fellow exotic animal lover Joe "Exotic" Schreibvogel is breeding and using his big cats for profit,' according to the series description.

'She sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry.

But Carole has a checkered past of her own and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose what he sees as her hypocrisy.

The results prove dangerous,' the description reads.

Joe has been behind bars since 2020 when he was convicted of trying to hire two different men to kill Carole.

Watch Joe vs. Carole now available on Stan.
She is a regular at Paris Fashion Week thanks to her style credentials.

And following an action packed day in the French capital, Alexa Chung continued her event hopping as she attended a party at Hotel Vivier on Thursday evening.

The model, 38, opted for a casually cool look in an oversized distressed leather jacket, which she styled with a pair of blue jeans.

Stylish: Alexa Chung continued her event hopping as she attended a party at Hotel Vivier on Thursday evening

The Vogue cover girl layered her jacket over a turqouise camisole, while she added height to her statuesque frame with a pair of bejewelled heels.

Alexa wore her cropped brunette locks in soft waves and highlighted her pretty features with light touches of make-up in a natural pallet.

Other attendees at the glamorous event included Coca Rocha, Jessica Wang and Victoria Barbara.

Chic! Other attendees at the glamorous event included Coca Rocha (pictured), Jessica Wang and Victoria Barbara

Classic: Jessica was rocking a grey tweed skirt suit with a chic bag

Earlier in the day, Alexa cut a stylish figure in a floral top with plunging neckline at the Isabel Marant show.

The presenter also sported a pair of high-waisted white trousers while she wrapped up in a black blazer.

Alexa, who is a regular at Paris Fashion Week, completed her look for the show with a pair of black heels.

Pose! Alexa was among the star-studded guest list at the Isabel Marant show

Trendy: Alexa while she wrapped up for the evening in a black blazer

Alexa appeared to be attending Fashion Week solo, without her boyfriend Orson Fry.

Alexa and Orson first sparked romance rumours in May 2019 when they were seen putting on an affectionate display at the All Point East Festival, it was then revealed that their relationship had begun two months prior.

A source told The Mail's Katie Hind at the time: 'They instantly hit it off. Now they're inseparable and he's practically living at her place. It's all moving very fast, but she's smitten.

'They're also not shy when it comes to public displays of affection and were recently seen getting very cosy at the festival. They are very much enjoying themselves.'

At the time, the source revealed that even though the romance was new, Orson had as good as moved into her apartment in Dalston, east London.

Meanwhile, she is said to have been regularly cheering him on when he performed at pubs and small venues across the capital with his band, Soundtown.

Before embarking on her romance with Orson, Alexa had split with True Blood actor Alexander Skarsgard in 2018.
Pete Davidson could be jetting out of this world soon as he nears an agreement to accompany Jeff Bezos into space.

The 28-year-old Saturday Night Live star is currently in negotiations to board a Blue Origin flight with the 58-year-old Amazon founder to spend a little over 10 minutes at 100km above the Earth's surface, according to Page Six.

'Pete is excited,' a source close to the comedian told the publication, though they noted that it's not quite a done deal.

Up, up and away! Pete Davidson, 28, is currently in negotiations to board a Blue Origin flight with Amazon found Jeff Bezos, 58, according to Page Six

'They havent signed a contract yet, but it looks like its going to happen. The details are being finalized,' they continued.

Davidson previously had a chance to get close to the billionaire in late January, when he and his girlfriend Kim Kardashian joined the space tourism leader at his $175 million mansion in Los Angeles.

The source added that the comic 'got on really well' with Bezos during their dinner party.

As the details haven't been finalized, it's unknown when exactly he might fly into space, but the source said Blue Origin is eyeing a launch sometime this year.

Space explorer: Bezos (pictured in his Blue Origin suit) founded the company in 2000 and has already flown into space on one of his company's rockets

Strong first impression: A source close to Davidson said he got along well with Bezos when he visited his LA mansion in January with his girlfriend Kim Kardashian

Bezos' first flew into space back in July 2021 on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket.

Joining him on that initial flight were the pioneering female aviator Wally Funk who became the oldest person to fly into space at age 82.

The billionaire also brought along his brother Mark, as well as the 18-year-old Dutch student Oliver Daemen, who was selected at the last minute after another guest had a scheduling conflict that required them to take a later space flight.

First crew: Bezos was joined by his brother Mark, female aviation pioneer Wally Funk (who became the oldest person in space at 82) and 18-year-old Dutch student Oliver Daemen; Bezos seen on a test flight

Davidson has lately been the subject of several social media attacks from Kardashian's ex Kanye West, 44, but she subtly showed her support for the King Of Staten Island star on Twitter on Thursday.

Seemingly out of the blue, Guardians Of The Galaxy director James Gunn sent out a complimentary post about Davidson, who appeared in The Suicide Squad, which he also directed.

'For the record, Pete Davidson is one of the nicest, sweetest guys I know. A truly generous, tender & funny spirit, he treats everyone around him with respected,' he wrote, and fans could see from her profile that Kim quickly smashed the 'like' button.

The show of support came just a day after a judge declared that Kardashian was now legally single, allowing her to return to her maiden name, while West is also now single, even though their divorce is still proceeding in court.

Supporting! Apropos of nothing, Gunn tweeted out kind words about Kim's boyfriend Pete Davidson following a disturbing music video from Kanye West, which Kim 'liked'

Still going: West escalated his feud with his ex's new boyfriend to a violent and absurd extreme the same day; seen January 23 in Paris

West escalated his feud with his ex's new boyfriend to a violent and absurd extreme the same day.

In the video for the song, titled Eazy, a claymation figure standing in for the rapper is seen burying alive a stand-in for Davidson up to his neck and then planting a bed of roses around his head.

Kim has previously shared her fears that Kanye's posts about her boyfriend were 'creating a dangerous and scary environment,' which she feared would lead someone to 'hurt Pete,' which she said would then be his 'fault.'

Though she expressed that to the rapper in private messages, he subsequently shared her messages with the world in since-deleted Instagram posts.

Yikes: In the video for the song, titled Eazy, a claymation figure standing in for the rapper is seen burying alive a stand-in for Davidson up to his neck and then planting a bed of roses around his head
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum / Yonhap





Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum tested positive for COVID-19 in a rapid antigen test, his office said Thursday.





He is currently waiting for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result at his official residence, the office added.





Kim reportedly felt symptoms of the virus after visiting Daegu, Monday, to attend an event commemorating the 1960 democratic uprising in the city.





Kim's Thursday schedule has been postponed, his office said. (Yonhap)






A man looks at the Sevit Floating Island in Seoul, being lit in the colors of the Ukraine national flag, March 2, in support of Ukrainians following Russia's invasion of the country. Reuters-Yonhap





Personal donations toward helping the government of Ukraine and its people after Russia's invasion have gained traction among South Koreans as the attacks reached the end of their first week.







The Ukrainian Embassy in South Korea, which announced a special bank account to collect humanitarian donations to assist the Eastern European country in its plight, said it managed to raise over 150 million won ($125,000) in just the first day.







The embassy said it thanked everyone who shared their encouragement and support to the Ukrainian people during the difficult times.







Cho Hyun-won, a 22-year-old university student, said he learned about the embassy's donation program and sent 100,000 won to help the Ukrainian people.







"I believe South Korea currently stands thanks to the sacrifices made by other countries for our freedom. As someone living comfortably now, I wanted to help Ukraine currently fighting alone against Russia," Cho said.







Various nongovernmental organizations have also launched emergency charity programs to help Ukraine in its national crisis. The Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association, the Seoul-based Good Neighbors International and the Korean Committee for UNICEF have all started donation campaigns in the wake of Russia's Ukrainian aggression.







Yoo Cheol-hyun, a 40-year-old worker in Seoul, said he decided to donate to the UNICEF drive after seeing a photo of an injured Ukrainian girl receiving emergency medical care following a Russian shelling attack.







"I wanted to help as the photo reminded me of my 10-month-old daughter," Yoo said. He said he shared the donation drive website link with his office coworkers in a joint online chat room.







Others have shared their support by donating cryptocurrencies to Ukraine's cause.







Kang Eun-jung, a 45-year-old mother of three children, said she sent 200,000 won worth of cryptocurrency to Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization that helps the country's military through crowdfunding.







"I thought it would be easier to donate with bitcoin than by doing so after trading my money into U.S. dollars," she said. Kang added she plans to donate some 1 million won worth of bitcoin in total. (Yonhap)






The 51st Annual Spring Powwow, organized by First Nations @ UW in April, marked the events post-pandemic return. Drawing both Indigenous people and nonnatives from across the country, the powwow is one of the largest student-run events on campus and has been an important event for Pacific N
A group of demonstrators takes to the street near the Embassy of Russia in central Seoul to protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Tuesday. Yonhap





By Park Han-sol







In the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week, many of the religious bodies in Korea have come forward to unite against the aggressor and stand with the war-stricken country.







The Korean Conference of Religions for Peace (KCRP)  an umbrella organization made up of religious organizations for Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Won Buddhism, Confucianism, Chondogyo and the Association for Korean Native Religions  released a statement on Monday, saying that no crisis can be resolved by brute, barbaric force.







"We are sure that this war, although triggered as a result of a multitude of historical and political factors, can be overcome through dialogue alone," the organization said, calling for solidarity from all those in support of lasting peace.






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President Moon Jae-in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the telephone at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae



President Moon Jae-in held telephone talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday and said Korea stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine fighting against Russia's invasion.



"As a country that suffered a tragic war, Korea expresses its respect to President Zelenskyy for his strong leadership. We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine who have risen resolutely to defend their country," Moon wrote, retweeting Zelenskyy's Twitter post, shortly after their 30-minute telephone talks.



During the talks, Moon expressed his respect for the courage and sacrifice of Ukrainian people, presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee said.



Moon told Zelenskyy he expressed his "sincere condolences to the victims of Russia's armed invasion and bereaved families, and pays tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the (Ukrainian) president and the Ukrainian people fighting against the invasion," Park said.






Hyderabad: Cyberabad police foiled the execution of an alleged plan to kill tourism minister V. Srinivas Goud and arrested six persons on Wednesday for hatching the conspiracy and offering Rs 15 crore supari to hired assassins. They seized country-made weapons and other incriminatory documents from them.

Police also detained some more suspects in Delhi from the residential quarters of former Mahabubnagar MP, A.P. Jitender Reddy.

The six arrested include Raghavendra Raju, Madhusudhana Raju, Munnuru Ravi, Ch Nagaraju, Bhandekar Viswanath and Varda Yadiah.

Cyberabad police commissioner Stephen Raveendra said here on Wednesday that they had received a complaint from one Mohammed Farooq, a 45-year-old businessman from Shamshabad, who stated that when he went to the excise court in Mahabubnagar, two persons approached him and introduced themselves as Raghu and Nagaraju.

They said Mahbubnagar market committee chairman Amar was their brother and they were facing a problem from one Ghulam Hyder Ali, who stayed with a VIP, and sought his help because he was troubling their family members.

The complainant also stated that they came to Petbasheerabad to escape as they feared a threat to their life.

Based on the complaint, Petbasheerabad police registered cases under section 307 (attempt to murder), 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy), 115 (abetment of punishment to life threat) of IPC and 25 (1) Arms Act.

"On February 26, we arrested Nagaraju, Viswanath and Yadaiah for committing an offence. It was also revealed that the three had colluded with Madhusudhan Rau, Raghavendra Raju and Munnuru Ravi to allegedly kill the minister. They purchased a country-made weapon from Uttar Pradesh. Raju, Rau and Ravi went to Delhi from Vizag and took shelter at Jitender Reddy's staff quarters," the commissioner said.

"We will seek police custody from the court. Based on the courts directions, we will question the accused on the money transactions and how they had procured illegal weapons," Raveendra said.

He also stated that they would probe the case in establishing the role of Jitender Reddy and BJP leader DK Aruna in connection with the case.
New Delhi: The High-Level Committee under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved Rs 1,682.11 crores of additional Central assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to five States and one Union Territory for floods/landslides that occurred during the year 2021.

These include Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.

Of the total Rs 1,682.11 crores of additional Central assistance, Rs. 1,664.25 crore is for five States and Rs 17.86 crore is for one Union Territory.

Of Rs 1,682.11 crores, Rs 351.43 crore will go to Andhra Pradesh, Rs 112.19 crore to Himachal Pradesh, Rs 492.39 crore to Karnataka, Rs 355.39 crore to Maharashtra, Rs 352.85 crore to Tamil Nadu, and Rs 17.86 crore to Puducherry.

"This shows the resolve of the Union Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the people of the five states and one Union Territory who faced these natural disasters," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

It further stated that this additional assistance is over and above the funds released by the Centre to the States in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already placed at the disposal of the States. During the financial year 2021-22, the Central Government has released Rs 17,747.20 crore to 28 States in their SDRF and Rs 4,645.92 crore to 8 States from NDRF.

The Central Government had deputed Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to these States and Union Territories, immediately after the calamities, without waiting for the receipt of Memorandum from them.
: Indian students, evacuated from crisis-hit Ukraine, upon their arrival at the airport, in Mumbai, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (PTI Photo)

Mumbai: An Air India Express flight from Bucharest carrying 183 Indians stranded in Ukraine landed in Mumbai on Thursday, the airline said.

One of the evacuees said many Indian students are still stuck in Ukraine and that the problem is in the war-torn country's eastern parts where the stranded people need assistance.

Another evacuee said it was difficult to get a flight to come back home and thanked the Indian authorities for facilitating their return.

"The flight with 182 passengers and one infant landed at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport from Bucharest at 5.40 am on Thursday morning," Air India Express spokesperson said.

Union minister Raosaheb Danve welcomed the passengers as soon as the Air India Express Flight IX 1202 landed here.

The Air India Express is operating two more evacuation flights on Thursday via Kuwait - one from Kochi to Budapest (Hungary) and another from Mumbai to Bucharest (Romania), the spokesperson said.

Of these, the return flight from Bucharest is expected to arrive in Mumbai at 1.50 am Friday, while the flight from Budapest is likely to land here at 8 am on Friday, he said.

The eastern side of Ukraine has been facing a brutal Russian assault.

After landing here on Thursday morning, one of the students said, "The eastern side is where the problem is and people (students) there need assistance."

Another student said while she managed to cross the (Ukraine) border, a lot of students were still stuck.

"So, I am praying that they also get out of there, she said.

It was difficult to secure a flight. Students were not getting flights, but then the Indian embassy helped us with that, she added.

Earlier, while interacting with passengers inside the aircraft, Danve said, "I have been asked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to welcome you. There were around 17,000 Indians, including students, stranded there (in Ukraine) and the PM started 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate them."

Around 4,000 to 5,000 Indians have been brought home so far from Ukraine and the operation will continue to bring back those still stranded there, the minister said.

The flight which arrived here on Thursday was the third evacuation flight operated to Mumbai from Bucharest to bring back Indians from war-ravaged Ukraine since February 27.

Of these, one has been operated by Air India and the other two by Air India Express, which is the international low-cost arm of now Tata Group-owned full service carrier.

Ukraine's airspace is shut since February 24 and India has been evacuating its citizens by special flights from that country's western neighbours like Romania, Hungary and Poland.

IAF's 3 evacuation flights with 628 Indians land in Hindon airbase

The IAF's three evacuation flights with 628 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow landed at the Hindon airbase here in the early hours of Thursday, sources said.

The Indian Air Force's first flight carrying 200 people from Bucharest landed at 1.30 am and Union Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt welcomed them at the airbase, they noted.

All three IAF flights were conducted using C-17 military transport aircraft, sources said.

India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.

The second evacuation flight of the IAF with 220 Indians from Budapest landed at the Hindon airbase on Thursday morning, sources mentioned.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju with Indian students, during his visit to Slovakia to facilitate the evacuation of Indians stranded in war-torn Ukraine, in Kosice, Slovakia. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The government on Thursday said that the Indian embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with its stranded citizens, adding that it has not received any reports of students being held hostage in the war-hit country.

The government's remarks came in response to media queries after the claims of the Russian embassy in India on Wednesday that the Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield.

Refuting the reports of Indian students being held hostage, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi informed that many students left Kharkiv yesterday with the cooperation of Ukrainian authorities.

"We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested for the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for evacuating students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country," he added.

Bagchi further said that the MEA has been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region, including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, and expressed gratitude towards Ukrainian authorities for their help in the evacuation of Indians.

"A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days. We appreciate the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible. We thank Ukraine's western neighbours for receiving Indian nationals and accomodating them while they waited for flights to take them back home," he stated.

Notably, the Russian embassy in India on Wednesday wrote in a tweet, "According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russia. Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities."

However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a tweet, said that the country has established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine as the tensions between Moscow and Kyiv rages on.

Meanwhile, a total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under 'Operation Ganga' have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.

The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously.

Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials.
The state government has arranged three flights to bring back students arriving at Delhi (airport) from Ukraine today, CMO said. (Representational image: ANI)

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala government has arranged three chartered flights to bring back Indian students arriving at Delhi airport on Thursday from conflict-ridden Ukraine, said Chief Minister's Office.

The flights to Kochi will depart from Delhi at 9.30, 15.30 and 18.30, informed Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Twitter.

Bus services have also been arranged from Kochi Airport to Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod.

Non-resident Keralites affairs (NORKA) teams, including women officials, have been deployed at all four airports in the state to help the Ukraine returnees.

"The state government has arranged three flights to bring back students arriving at Delhi (airport) from Ukraine today. Bus services will be arranged from Kochi Airport to Thiruvananthapuram and Kasargod. NORKA teams deployed in all four airports in the state to help Ukraine returnees," CMO said in a statement.

"Today GoK (Kerala government) has arranged 3 chartered flights for our students repatriated from #Ukraine. The flights to Kochi will depart from Delhi at 0930,1530 & 1830. Buses have been arranged to Trivandrum and Kasargod. NORKA teams, including women officials are all set to receive the students," Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted on Thursday.

Special flights have been pressed in action to evacuate Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine under 'Operation Ganga'.

Jaishankar on Wednesday tweeted, "Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. Includes IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3000 Indian nationals."

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under 'Operation Ganga' were scaled up to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to use his office in helping evacuate some Indian medical students stranded in war-ravaged Ukraine near the Romania border.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the submissions of a lawyer that several students are stuck near the Romanian border in freezing cold and the government is not running flights from Romania.

Flights are being operated from Poland and Hungary and not from Romania. The students, which also included many girls, are stuck without any facility, the lawyer told the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli.

"We have all sympathies with them. But what can the court do," the bench said.

It, however, asked the top law officer to consider extending help to the stranded students.

As per reports from Kyiv, Russia has stepped up its attack on Ukraine.
State government is supplying potable drinking water under Mission Bhagiratha to several villages. But their residents are not showing interest in this water complaining that it is smelly. (Representational Photo: AFP)

ADILABAD: High temperatures prevailing in erstwhile Adilabad district are drying up drinking water sources, particularly in interior and hilly areas much before the onset of summer. Reports of water shortage have already started emerging from areas like Gadeguda, Narnoor, Indravelli, Utnoor, Kerameri, Lingapur, Sipur (U), Bajarhathnoor, Boath, Ichoda, Srinikonda and Tiryani.

Women and men of some villages, particularly in hilly areas, are trekking for long distances to fetch drinking water from streams and rivulets. Many are transporting water in plastic drums on bullock carts.

As temperatures are rising day by day, there are also fears of heat waves emerging.

State government is supplying potable drinking water under Mission Bhagiratha to several villages. But their residents are not showing interest in this water complaining that it is smelly. This could be because pipelines need repairs. What people are doing is use bore-well water for drinking purposes and utilise Mission Bhagiratha for washing, cleaning and other purposes.

Panchayatraj and rural water supply departments have not yet taken steps to address drinking water shortage by supplying drinking water in tankers to identified villages. Arrangements will have to be made in this regard, as there have been instances in the past of people falling sick because of drinking water collected from abandoned wells or cooking food using such water.

Vasanth Rao of Gadeguda said it is high time officials concerned start supplying clean drinking water under Mission Bhagiratha to interior villages facing drinking water shortages.
Visakhapatnam: The fourth flight of the Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 from Bucharest landed at the Hindon Air Base at Ghaziabad at 8.15 am on Thursday. A total of 180 passengers, mostly students, were on board, according to a defence official release here.

The flight is part of the Government of India's massive airlift effort named Op Ganga. Till now, the IAF has brought back a total of 798 passengers from Hungary, Poland and Romania. The defence minister Ajay Bhatt, was present at the tarmac to welcome back the passengers who were evacuated from Ukraine to these neighbouring countries.

On Thursday, the IAF is operating three more flights to various locations in the neighborhood of Ukraine towards the effort.

All three IAF flights were conducted using C-17 military transport aircraft, sources said.

The IAF C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft have been extensively used for evacuation of stranded citizens of India in the recent past, most notably from Afghanistan. These airplanes have also been utilised to transport oxygen containers in large quantities during the Covid19-19 outbreak last year.

India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.

The second evacuation flight of the IAF with 220 Indians from Budapest landed at the Hindon airbase on Thursday morning, sources mentioned.

A little while after the second, the IAF's third evacuation flight arrived at the airbase from Rzeszow with 208 Indians, they noted, adding the fourth flight is expected to arrive later in the morning.

Four Union ministers have gone to Ukraine's western neighbours to facilitate the evacuation of Indian nationals.

Hardeep Singh Puri is in Hungary, Jyotiraditya Scindia is in Romania, Kiren Rijiju is in Slovakia and V K Singh is in Poland.
Three projects for Indian Air were accorded Approval In-Principle (AIP) by Collegiate Committee of MoD including communication equipment with Indian security protocols (routers, switches, encryptors, VoIP phones and their software) and Airborne Electro Optical pod with Ground Based System. (Representational Image/ AFP)

New Delhi: In a major push towards Aatmanirbharta in defence sector, the defence ministry accorded in-principle approval to fund four projects by Indian industry. It inclu-des design and development of light tank for the Indian Army and airborne stand-off jammer for the Indian Air Force. The industry will be provided financial support for prototype development of these projects.

Defence ministry has offered these four projects (one for army and three for IAF) to the Indian Industry for design and development under Make-I category of Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.

This is for the first time since the launch of industry-friendly DAP-2020 that Indian industry has been involved in development of big ticket platforms such as Light tank and Communication Equipment with Indian security protocols.

Three projects for Indian Air were accorded Approval In-Principle (AIP) by Collegiate Committee of MoD including communication equipment with Indian security protocols (routers, switches, encryptors, VoIP phones and their software) and Airborne Electro Optical pod with Ground Based System.

The indigenous development of these projects in the country will help harness the design capabilities of Indian defence industry and position India as a design leader in these technologies, said defence ministry.

In the defence budget, 70 per cent funds have been kept for domestic procurement in 2022-23. Underlying the importance of Make-in-India in defence sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told Indian industry that surprise element during war can only be attained if customized and unique weapons are developed in one's own country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the post-budget DPIIT webinar on Make in India for the World. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: India on Thursday discussed the implications of the Ukraine crisis with Quad group of countries  the United States, Japan and Australia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy.

US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida participated in the virtual summit.

The meeting reviewed the progress of Quad initiatives since the summit in September 2021 with the leaders agreeing of accelerating cooperation with an objective to achieve concrete outcomes by the summit in Japan later this year.

Prime Minister Modi reiterated importance of adhering to UN Charter, international law, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. The leaders also discussed developments in Asean, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific Islands. The leaders agreed to stay in touch to work towards an ambitious agenda for the forthcoming leaders summit in Japan.

In a joint statement that was released later, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected. They agreed to stand up a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism.

Meanwhile, Russia offered to send 130 buses to evacuate stranded Indian students and other foreigners from war-torn Ukraines Kharkiv and Sumy cities to its Belgorod Region, a top Russian military general said on Thursday. The remarks by Russian National Defence Control Center head Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed evacuation of Indians from conflict areas.




Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People's Party dropped out of the presidential race Thursday and declared his support for main opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol following a surprise last-minute agreement to merge candidacies.





The deal came on the eve of early voting ahead of the March 9 election and is expected to boost Yoon's chances in a tight race where he is running neck and neck with ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) within the margin of error.





"Both of us, Ahn Cheol-soo and Yoon Suk-yeol, agreed to combine our minds for a better change of the government," Ahn said during a joint news conference with Yoon of the conservative People Power Party (PPP). "I, Ahn Cheol-soo, decided to support candidate Yoon Suk-yeol."



Yoon said he will honor Ahn's wishes and win the election "without fail" in order to jointly create a "successful government of national unity."





"We will achieve a change of government without fail, and following only the wishes of the people, prepare for an era of grand transformation for change and innovation in the Republic of Korea," the two said in an agreement read by Ahn.





Ahn said he will work to merge the two parties immediately after the election.





The agreement was reached when the two held a surprise meeting in the early hours of Thursday.





"The two candidates met for about two-and-a-half hours from shortly after midnight until nearly 3 a.m. and agreed on these measures," a PPP official told Yonhap News Agency.





"They agreed to merge candidacies and parties without any conditions to honor the wishes of the majority of the people who wish for a change of government," the official said.





The two had been under pressure from conservatives to merge their campaigns but repeatedly clashed over the method, with Ahn initially proposing an opinion poll to pick a unified candidate.





But the PPP balked at the idea, citing the large gap in public support for the two candidates and the possibility of a distortion in the survey results. Specifically, the PPP expressed concern Lee's supporters could pick Ahn over Yoon in the survey to increase Lee's chances of winning the election.





Ahn then withdrew his offer and vowed to finish the race on his own.







Yoon leads Lee in hypothetical two-way race: polls DPK's Lee lectures rival candidate on feminism Rival candidates clash over cash handouts, tax increase Speaking to reporters after the press conference, Ahn said he believed it was right to "follow a great cause even if it brings personal losses."



On a possible role in government after the election, he said he would continue to contemplate "what role will truly help the people."



The DPK denounced the merger, saying it is no more than "collusion aimed at sharing positions."



Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the chief of the DPK campaign committee, made the comment to reporters after an emergency leadership meeting, adding that the committee will move to a 24-hour emergency footing to respond "in full force."



"The people of the Republic of Korea are wise," he said. "They have watched the process unfold until now, and we expect them to pass strict judgment."



Lee resolved to soldier on.



"Politics appears to be done by politicians, but in fact, it is done by the people," he told reporters after a meeting with the archbishop of Seoul, reading from prepared remarks.



"I trust history and the people. I will steadfastly walk the path of people's livelihoods, peace and unity," he said.



Sim Sang-jeung, the presidential candidate of the minor Justice Party, said in a radio interview it was "regrettable" that Ahn changed course and that she felt an "emptiness in my heart."



The extent to which the merger will affect the election is still uncertain as ballots have already been printed and the votes of Ahn's supporters could spread among the remaining candidates.



Yoon and Lee have been neck and neck with support of around 40 percent each, while Ahn has had around 10 percent.



According to a survey conducted by Embrain Public from Monday to Wednesday, Yoon led Lee 47.4 percent to 41.5 percent in the hypothetical scenario of Yoon merging campaigns with Ahn.



The gap of 5.9 percentage points was outside the margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.





By law, opinion polls that are conducted within six days of the election, or starting Thursday, cannot be published until after voting closes. (Yonhap)


Chennai: Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission has ordered the state government to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to student Lois Sophia who was arrested in 2018 for raising anti-BJP slogans before former Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Tamilisai Soundararajan at Tuticorin airport.

Earlier on September 3, 2018, Sophia allegedly raised slogans against the BJP government on a Chennai-Tuticorin flight. She also got into a verbal spat with Soundararajan who was also on the same flight and later allegedly with the police, who were stationed at the Tuticorin airport.

Soundararajan had also lodged a complaint and Sophia was later detained for interrogation. However, the police released the girl on unconditional bail.

The Tamil Nadu BJP president claimed that the girl belonged to some organization and was tutored to misbehave with the BJP leaders.
VIJAYAWADA: YSR Congress MLA Thopadurthi Prakash on Wednesday lashed out at Telugu Desam for politically conspiring against Chief Minister Jagan and spreading false stories over the Vivekananda Reddy murder. He expressed his apprehension that TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu played a role in this, and sought a probe.

Speaking to the media at the party central office here on Wednesday, the MLA said TDP has been trying to malign the chief minister by saying the family members of Jagan were involved in the murder. What did the special investigation team find in three months of investigation during TDP rule, he asked.

Referring to Yerra Gangireddy's confession statement, the MLA said the ' top people' at that time were CM Naidu and the then minister Adinarayna Reddy. Hence, the CBI should focus the probe on them.

The MLA said Vivekananda Reddy lost the MLC elections due to Naidu, Adinarayna Reddy and Btech Ravi. Viveka's son in law maintained good relations with Adinarayna Reddy, he said, and demanded a probe against all these.

He questioned why had Narreddy Rajasekhar Reddy asked Viveka's PA Krishna Reddy to hide the phone and the letter that were retrieved from the crime scene. Also, he questioned the TDP and a section of the media why no one was talking about that letter and why the CBI was not considering that letter as a death confession statement.
Hindu mythology recounts several events of mass extinctions and similar catastrophes. In one legend, Manu, the law giver, survives a great flood that destroys all of humanity. Warned by a fish, Manu builds a boat and

ties it to the fishs horn and is steered to safety. When the waters recede, Manu performs a sacrifice and from the waters a woman is born: the two procreate to found a new human race.

Similar myths exist in many cultures and religions. Now science tells us that such a situation is not all that fanciful and could occur relatively soon.

In its latest report on the approaching catastrophic climate change, the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, has warned all of us on this planet that it is now certain that the world is headed for disastrous times, including rising oceans that will submerge vast parts of the inhabited world.

The IPCCs 3,600-page Sixth Assessment Report released on Monday is considered the most dire of the many studies prepared by this group of global scientists and climatologists. Once seen as a problem of the future, severe environmental consequences of global warming have, according to the report, become a here-and-now reality.

The report points to the fact that in the past year alone, the world has seen a cascade of unprecedented floods, heatwaves and wildfires across four continents. All these impacts will accelerate in the coming decades even if the fossil fuel pollution driving climate change is rapidly brought to heel... As nations struggle to finally bend the curve of carbon dioxide emissions downward, they must also prepare for a climate onslaught that in some cases can no longer be avoided.

All attempts to prevent climate change are failing and the situation is worsening. The key findings are frightening:

*Weather and climate extremes have already caused irreversible impacts in both human society and the natural world: No matter how quickly carbon pollution driving global warming is drawn down, a billion people will be at risk from coastal climate hazards such as increasingly powerful storms amplified by rising seas.

*The earths climate system could arrive at tipping points that would be triggered at different thresholds of global warming. These would include catastrophic events such as the melting of ice sheets atop Greenland and the West Antarctic, which have enough frozen water to lift oceans 13 metres. In a more immediate future, some regions... and coastlines almost everywhere could be battered by multiple climate calamities: drought, heatwaves, cyclones, wildfires, flooding.

*Currently, some 900 million people living within 33 feet of the sea level are vulnerable: The population exposed to once-a-century coastal flooding will double if oceans rise 75 cm (30 inches), well within the range of 2100 projections.

*If overall temperatures rise 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, 14 per cent of terrestrial species face an extinction risk.

The crux of the issue, however, is not the doomsday predictions themselves, but the fact that the world is still not stirring. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the report was a damning indictment of failed global leadership. Perhaps, more significant is his statement that the worlds biggest polluters are guilty of arson of our only home.

One of the reasons why global action on climate change has been slow and inadequate is because it is subconsciously viewed as a Third World problem. The authors of the latest study said much of Africa, parts of Central and South America and South Asia are the hot spots which stand to be the worst affected by global warming.

The rich countries also seem to believe that developing economies such as India and China are contributing the most to the rise of use of fossil fuels, which is true but ignores the fact that in their present state of development they do not have much of an alternative. The rich nations nevertheless feel the developing world is not doing enough and feel it is unfair that they should pay a larger share of the costs of combating climate change. So, while the rich wont foot the bill, the poorer countries do not have the resources to address both climate change and economic development.

Worse, while the developed world asks the emerging economies to tighten their belts and stop burning fossil fuels, they themselves continue to build new projects using these very same fuels. This prompted the UN Secretary-General to appeal to all G-20 governments, who have agreed to stop funding coal abroad, to do the same at home and dismantle their coal fleets. Those in the private sector still financing coal must be held to account. Oil and gas giants -- and their underwriters -- are also on notice... OECD countries must phase out coal by 2030, and all others by 2040.

Another reason for the inadequate response on climate change in the developing world is the esoteric nature of the problem. The urgency of climate change appears to be beyond the comprehension of the masses in developing countries like India, where there are more pressing issues such as unemployment and poverty.

Similarly, the dangers of rising sea levels might not be difficult to explain but the causality is. Moreover, how can people living a miserable existence be convinced to consume less? Equally difficult is expecting the rising middle classes in these nations to aspire for less and cut down on consumption.

Preaching the global warming message has therefore not been a political priority in poorer, underdeveloped parts of the world, unlike in the developed world where environmental awareness levels are generally higher. Politicians in the developing world have consequently rarely tried to sensitise their people about the link between rising populations, increased demand for resources and environmental degradation.

India is in a particularly hard spot according to the latest study, and may experience plummeting foodgrain production, unendurable hot-humid conditions, severe water scarcity and rising disease. The report estimates that India could face a 92 per cent loss of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of the century if global warming continues at the present rate.

The UN chiefs fervent appeal could not be more relevant: Now is the time to turn rage into action. Every fraction of a degree matters. Every voice can make a difference. And every second counts. But will world leaders actually pull out their wallets to pay for the required changes? Will Third World politicians start talking about climate change? Or will humanity pray for a modern-day Manu to steer it through the approaching floods?
A member of Ukrainian forces patrols the streets at Maidan square in Kyiv, on February 27, 2022. (AFP)

New Delhi: The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Monday advised all Indian students stranded in Kyiv to reach the railway station in the Ukrainian capital for their onward journey to the western parts of the war-torn country.

It said the weekend curfew in Kyiv has been lifted and they can go to the railway station to get out of the city.

"Weekend curfew lifted in Kyiv. All students are advised to make their way to the railway station for onward journey to the western parts.Ukraine Railways is putting special trains for evacuations," the embassy tweeted.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, meanwhile, said the sixth flight under India's evacuation mission 'Operation Ganga' left for Delhi from Budapest with 240 Indian nationals.

"Sixth #OperationGanga flight from Budapest. To Delhi with 240 Indian nationals," he tweeted.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Sunday said the main concern for India is ensuring the safety of its nationals stuck in areas witnessing intense fighting including in Kyiv that has around 2,000 Indians.

India has already evacuated over 2,000 of its citizens from Ukraine and more than 1,000 of them have been brought back home on chartered flights from Hungary and Romania.

The areas in the east of Ukraine including Kharkiv and Sumy are the conflict zones and India has been focusing on taking out its citizens from these areas to the country's western region for their subsequent evacuation through border crossings to Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia.

"The Ministry of External Affairs, under the direct supervision of the External Affairs Minister, and the overall guidance of the prime minister is doing everything possible to make sure that the safety, security and the interests of our citizens in Ukraine are given the highest priority," Shringla said.

India on Friday managed to set up camp offices in Lviv and Chernivtsi towns in western Ukraine to facilitate the transit of Indians to Hungary, Romania and Poland.

India also positioned teams of officials at Zahony border post in Hungary, Krakowiec as well as Shehyni-Medyka land border points in Poland, Vysne Nemecke in the Slovak Republic and Suceava transit point in Romania to coordinate the exit of Indian nationals from Ukraine.

India is using the land routes to evacuate its citizens as Ukraine has closed its airspace for civilian aircraft following the Russian attack.
Ukrainian policemen stop cars to control people as they look for suspicious men, on February 27, 2022 in a street of Kyiv. - Ukraine demanded an immediate Russian ceasefire and troop withdrawal today as a Kyiv delegation arrived at Belarus border for talks with Russian negotiators on the fifth day of the Kremlin's offensive against the country. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP)

Kyiv: Outgunned but determined Ukrainian troops slowed Russia's advance and held onto the capital and other key cities - at least for now. In the face of stiff resistance and devastating sanctions, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's nuclear forces put on high alert, threatening to elevate the war to a terrifying new level.

Explosions and gunfire that have disrupted life since the invasion began last week appeared to subside around Kyiv overnight, as Ukrainian and Russian delegations prepared to meet Monday on Ukraine's border with Belarus. It's unclear what, if anything, those talks would yield.

Terrified Ukrainian families huddled in shelters, basements or corridors, waiting to find out. Exact death tolls are unclear, but Ukraine's president says at least 16 children have been killed and another 45 wounded, among hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other casualties. Millions have fled homes or the country all together.

Russia's Central Bank scrambled to shore up the tanking ruble Monday and the US and European countries upped weapons shipments to Ukraine. While they hope to curb Putin's aggression after he unleashed Europe's biggest conflict since World War II, the measures also risked pushing an increasingly cornered Putin closer to the edge.

I sit and pray for these negotiations to end successfully, so that they reach an agreement to end the slaughter, and so there is no more war," said Alexandra Mikhailova, weeping as she clutched her cat in a makeshift shelter in the strategic southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Around her, parents sought to console children and keep them warm.

The relative lull in warfare Monday morning in Ukraine was unlikely to last.

Neighbouring Belarus could send troops to help Russia as soon as Monday, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of current US intelligence assessments. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

US officials say they believe the invasion has been more difficult, and slower, than the Kremlin envisioned, though that could change as Moscow adapts. The British Defence Ministry said Monday that the bulk of Putin's forces are about 30 km (20 miles) north of Kyiv, their advance having been slowed by Ukrainian forces.

Western nations ramped up the pressure with a freeze on Russia's hard currency reserves, threatening to bring Russia's economy to its knees. Russians withdrew savings and sought to shed rubles for dollars and euros, while Russian businesses scrambled to protect their finances.

In addition to sanctions, the US and Germany announced they will send Stinger missiles to Ukraine among other military supplies. The European Union - founded to ensure peace on the continent after World War II - is supplying lethal aid for the first time, including fighter jets.

EU defence ministers were to meet Monday to discuss how to get the pledged weaponry into Ukraine. Germany's defence minister said without elaborating that her country has channels and possibilities to do that, and a trainload of Czech equipment arrived Sunday. Blocking off those shipments will clearly be a key Russian priority.

It remains to be seen how much the weaponry will help Ukraine fend off Russia's vastly greater arsenal.

The increasingly erratic Putin made a clear link between ever-tightening sanctions and his decision Sunday to raise Russia's nuclear posture. He also pointed at aggressive statements by NATO as a reason for his move, a reference to his long-running stance that the US-led alliance is an existential threat to Russia.

US and British officials played down Putin's nuclear threat, and its practical meaning was not immediately clear. Russia and the United States typically have land- and submarine-based nuclear forces that are prepared for combat at all times, but nuclear-capable bombers and other aircraft are not.

A tiny sliver of hope emerged as a Ukrainian delegation arrived on the border with Belarus for talks with Russian officials Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said it would demand an immediate cease-fire.

While Ukraine sent its defense minister and other top officials, the Russian delegation is led by Putin's adviser on culture - an unlikely envoy for ending the war and a sign of how Moscow views the talks. It wasn't immediately clear what Putin is seeking in the talks or from the war itself.

Western officials believe Putin wants to overthrow Ukraine's government and replace it with a regime of his own, reviving Moscow's Cold War-era influence. His comments Sunday raised fears that the invasion of Ukraine could lead to nuclear war, whether by design or mistake.

In New York, the 193-member UN General Assembly scheduled an emergency session Monday on Russia's invasion.

With the Ukrainian capital besieged, the Russian military offered to allow residents to leave Kyiv via a safe corridor, raising fears a further onslaught is coming. The mayor of the city of 3 million had earlier expressed doubt that civilians could be evacuated.

Authorities have been handing out weapons to anyone willing to defend the city. Ukraine is also releasing prisoners with military experience who want to fight, and training people to make firebombs.

Battles also broke out in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, and strategic ports in the country's south came under assault from Russian forces. Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Sea of Azov, is hanging on, said Zelenskyy adviser Oleksiy Arestovich.

The Russian military claimed Monday it had taken full control of Ukraine's airspace after showering its air bases and air defense batteries with air and missile strikes. But a similar claim on the first day of the invasion turned out to be untrue, and US officials said Sunday that Moscow has failed to fully control Ukrainian skies.

In Mariupol, where Ukrainians were trying to fend off attack, a medical team at a city hospital desperately tried to revive a 6-year-old girl in unicorn pajamas who was mortally wounded in Russian shelling.

During the rescue attempt, a doctor in blue medical scrubs, pumping oxygen into the girl, looked directly into the Associated Press video camera capturing the scene.

Show this to Putin," he said angrily. The eyes of this child, and crying doctors."

Their resuscitation efforts failed, and the girl lay dead on a gurney, covered by her blood-splattered jacket.

Nearly 900 km (560 miles) away, Faina Bystritska was under threat in the city of Chernihiv.

I wish I had never lived to see this, said Bystritska, an 87-year-old Jewish survivor of World War II. She said sirens blare almost constantly in the city, about 150 km (90 miles) from Kyiv.

Among Western sanctions is a freeze on Russia's hard currency reserves, which Putin had built up in recent years to increase the country's economic independence. The unprecedented move could have devastating consequences for the country's financial system.

The US, European Union and Britain also agreed to block selected Russian banks from the SWIFT system, which facilitates moving money around thousands of banks and other financial institutions worldwide.
In a fresh development, Amazon Inc on Thursday proposed before the Supreme Court to hold talks with Future group to resolve its dispute saying "whirlpool of litigations" was being dragged too long.

A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana said it was a good sign if parties involved in the matter are willing to amicably settle the dispute through informal dialogues.

The court gave both the parties time till March 15 as they agreed to explore talks to resolve the 18-month-old legal battle over Future Retail's move to sell its retail assets to Reliance Retail for Rs 24,500 crore. The bench also asked the courts to withhold from pronouncing the order in the matter, in order to allow the parties to have a dialogue.

It noted that the proceedings are going on before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), and the Delhi High Court.

Amazon, which had acquired an indirect minority stake in Future Group in 2019 for Rs 1,400 crore, challenged Future Groups merger deal with Reliance Retail. The fight between Future Group and Amazon has been on since October 25, 2020.

On Thursday, senior advocate Gopal Subramanian, appearing for Amazon, submitted before the bench, "We've always believed there can be other resolutions to a matter... Let us put our heads together."

"I am presenting a solution...Throughout we have always been willing to have a dialogue, a conversation. There can be other resolutions to a matter. Is it not a whirlpool? Facing one statutory authority barely because we went through an arbitration. Let us put our hands together and find a solution, he said.

He proposed talks with Future Retail and Future Coupons, to end the logjam, as the business houses are embroiled in legal battles at various fora.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the Future group, quipped, "Amazon gods will have to come down to talk to us mortals."

He said, "If Amazon wants to have a conversation, what is preventing its boss from calling up Biyanis (Future Group Chairman Kishore Biyani)?"

Salve maintained in this legal battle nobody is winning.

On this, the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli, told Salve, "Instead of saying they should pick up the phone and call, why don't you facilitate that to happen?"

Salve said he has no issues with it.

Taking note of the submission, the bench posted the matter for consideration on March 15.

"If you can find out some solution, tell us, or we will hear and pass orders," the bench told the counsel.

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An Indian tax investigation into China's Huawei Technologies has found the telecoms equipment maker manipulated account books to reduce its taxable income in the country, a government source told Reuters on Thursday.

Without naming the company, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday a major telecoms group did not account for income of Rs 400 crore in its books, and showed expenses of Rs 480 crore that the firm failed to justify.

A Huawei spokesperson in India did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last month, income tax authorities conducted searches at Huawei's office premises in New Delhi, neighbouring Gurugram and Bengaluru. The government conducted raids at the residences of its senior executives as well.

The government said more investigations were in process.

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India is considering guarantees of lenders' letters of credit and soft loans for exporters hit by a cash squeeze following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions imposed on Moscow, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Indian banks are scrambling after bills for imports from Russia have started bouncing and payments for exports have been stuck.

A government official, who declined to be named because the discussions were not public, said Indian exporters are owed about $500 million (Rs 3,800 crore approx.) from Russia and the government may guarantee banks' letters of credit or loans to help ease the crunch.

"Letters of credit is the most likely option," the official said.

A senior banker familiar with the developments said "letter of credit or some form of bank guarantees can be given, so that trade settlement is not hampered. We are looking into it".

The finance ministry and Reserve Bank of India did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Also read: US calls on India to distance itself from Russia

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The government is also looking at having state-owned banks lend to exporters at reduced rates or provide funds to them directly up to the amount of pending payments from Russia and Ukraine.

The official said the decisions could be taken in a couple of weeks.

The banking source said then the central bank could follow up and "find solutions to how bilateral trades can be settled."

India exported $3.33 billion (Rs 25,000 crore approx.) worth of goods to Russia in 2021, mainly pharmaceutical products, tea and coffee, while imports totalled $6.9 billion (Rs 52,400 crore approx.) including defence goods, mineral resources, fertilizers, metals and precious stones.

"We will first look to ease the pain of Indian exporters. Import settlement issue resolution could take some time," the government official said.

India, which has deep trade and defence ties with Russia, has avoided criticising its long-standing arms supplier publicly and urged both sides to cease hostilities instead, causing frustration among its other allies including the United States.

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For months, cryptocurrency enthusiasts poured hundreds of millions of dollars into a project called Wonderland, which claimed to provide a system of exchange for the murky world of decentralized finance.

To take part in the project, the investors  who called themselves Frog Nation  entrusted their money to Wonderlands treasury manager, a crypto developer whom they knew only by the profile name of 0xSifu.

In late January, 0xSifu was revealed to be an alias for Michael Patryn, who had served 18 months in federal prison for fraud. The price of the Wonderland token, $TIME, crashed overnight as Frog Nations panicked denizens debated shutting down the project.

Also Read | Cryptocurrencies enter Ukraine conflict

I was like, Oh, man, this is going to get ugly, said Brad Nickel, a Wonderland investor in Florida who runs the crypto podcast Mission: DeFi. Immediately, that was a total loss of confidence.

From its inception, the crypto industry has been built on anonymity. Bitcoin was conceived more than a decade ago by a mysterious figure who went by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. For years, thieves and drug dealers have used cryptocurrencies to do business in the shadows.

The ability to operate anonymously is a central tenet of crypto technology. All cryptocurrency transactions are recorded on decentralized ledger systems called blockchains, which let users transact namelessly, without registering a bank account or interacting with traditional financial gatekeepers.

Now as crypto transforms into an increasingly mainstream industry, even the ostensibly legitimate actors  startup founders, engineers and investors  insist on anonymity. A growing number of crypto entrepreneurs, many of whom control hundreds of millions of dollars in investor funds, conduct business via mysterious internet avatars scrubbed of identifying information. Some venture capital firms are backing founders without ever learning their real names.

Also Read | Crypto exchange Coinbase stops short of blanket ban on Russian accounts

But the near collapse of Wonderland is forcing a reckoning over whether this culture of anonymity undermines accountability and enables fraud. Last month, BuzzFeed News set off a fresh round of debate by identifying two of the pseudonymous founders of Bored Ape Yacht Club, a $2.5 billion collection of non-fungible tokens, the unique digital collectibles known as NFTs.

This pseudonymous stuff is so dangerous, said Brian Nguyen, a crypto entrepreneur who used a pseudonym last year before making his identity public. They could be a good actor today, but they could turn bad in two or three years.

Nguyen once lost more than $400,000 in a common crypto scam called a rug pull, in which an anonymous developer launches a project, solicits funds from investors and then disappears with the money. Victims of rug pulls are often left with little recourse against nameless thieves.

Still, some of the industrys most powerful companies have accepted that crypto engineers and startup founders often prefer to operate anonymously. Crypto evangelists argue that this creates a more egalitarian marketplace, in which entrepreneurs are judged on their technical expertise rather than their academic or family backgrounds. The blockchain provides a public record of transactions, allowing savvy observers to gauge the qualifications of a nameless entrepreneur without consulting a resume.

Also Read | Russia eyes sanctions workarounds in energy, gold, cryptocurrency

Amy Wu, who leads the venture arm of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, said she sometimes collaborated with anonymous investors she met online. One rose to fame running an Elon Musk parody Twitter account that now has nearly two million followers.

I dont know who he is. I dont know what company he worked at, Wu said. And I dont need to. I know that hes an expert in the industry.

Last year, FTX recruited an influencer with the Twitter pseudonym SolanaLegend to advise corporate clients interested in NFTs. An FTX employee introduced The New York Times to SolanaLegend, who in an interview declined to provide his real name, saying he stays anonymous to protect his safety and privacy. While he divulged his true identity during an initial call with his FTX supervisors, he said, his company email address features his pseudonym, which he chose as a joke.

At work, he makes one exception to the secrecy. On calls with clients, he often uses his actual first name to introduce himself, concerned that traditional business executives may be uncomfortable working with someone known simply as Legend.

Over the last year, the venture capital firm Paradigm has also hired engineers and researchers who operate anonymously; they appear on the companys staff page under pseudonyms. The most recent hire was a crypto engineer who goes by Transmissions11 and attends high school in his spare time, according to his company bio. (Jim Prosser, a Paradigm spokesman, said the employees bosses knew their identities.)

In interviews, anonymous crypto entrepreneurs and engineers offered a variety of reasons for concealing their names. Some feared that a regulatory crackdown could put them in the cross hairs of law enforcement. Others said they disliked the attention or worried that their growing wealth could make them targets for thieves and hackers.

The nameless entrepreneurs often take extreme steps to keep their identities private, using voice-altering software on calls or requiring business partners to sign nondisclosure agreements.

Some venture firms are willing to invest in them anyway. Last year, 0xMaki, a developer who helped run the prominent crypto project SushiSwap, raised $60 million from a group of venture investors, including Wu, without disclosing his real name to them. (The deal fell through after members of SushiSwap  a so-called decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, in which individual investors hold significant sway  raised concerns about the funding.)

Last summer, the anonymous founder of Alchemix, another major crypto project, raised $4.9 million from a group of venture firms led by CMS Holdings. Dan Matuszewski, a founder of CMS, said he never asked the projects leader, who uses the pseudonym Scoopy Trooples, to reveal his identity.

A lot of these guys have reputations from over the years, Matuszewski said. It doesnt seem like it makes a ton of sense for them to run off and abscond with the funds.

But for many people, it can be difficult to evaluate the credentials of an unknown developer operating under a pseudonym. The anonymous founders of a crypto collective called AnubisDAO raised nearly $60 million in a few hours last year; less than a day later, the funds disappeared in the second-largest rug pull of 2021, according to blockchain-tracking firm Chainalysis.

No one is ultimately auditing, said Jordi Alexander, chief investment officer at the crypto trading firm Selini Capital. You have anonymous people on the internet now. Sometimes they end up being scammers.

These days, crypto entrepreneurs who use their real names sometimes advertise their startups as fully doxxed, meaning their backgrounds are public. And founders are finding it harder to keep their identities secret. BuzzFeed analyzed publicly available business records to establish the identities of the Bored Apes founders, Greg Solano and Wylie Aronow. (Neither responded to requests for comment.)

Wonderland was established in September by Daniele Sestagalli, a crypto entrepreneur who managed the project with Patryn, using whimsical imagery from Alices Adventures in Wonderland to entice investors. In a January blog post, Sestagalli said he had known since December that Patryn was an ex-fraudster but decided not to take action because he believed in second chances. (Sestagalli did not respond to requests for comment.)

His investors were not as forgiving. Like SushiSwap, Wonderland is run as a DAO. After a vote in January, Patryn was forced to resign from the project. (He did not respond to emails.) A second referendum calling for Wonderland to shut down was narrowly defeated.

Patryns identity may have remained secret if not for the work of an influential crypto sleuth, who tweeted screenshots of a text conversation he had with Sestagalli. In those messages, the Wonderland founder appeared to acknowledge 0xSifus real name.

Last month, the sleuth was at it again, tweeting evidence that an anonymous leader of another crypto project had once been fined by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The sleuths name? Unknown. He uses a pseudonym.

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Germany's Lufthansa, which narrowed its losses in 2021 but remained in the red, said it could not provide a detailed outlook for 2022 due to the war in Ukraine and the pandemic.

The airline said it expected significant improvement in operating results for the rest of the year after a challenging first quarter of 2022. "We are very sure that air traffic will experience a strong upswing this year," said Chief Executive Carsten Spohr. "Now we are leaving the crisis behind us mentally and - in view of the strong booking figures this year - also in business terms."

But major uncertainties regarding developments in Ukraine and the economic and political fallout, as well as uncertainties regarding the course of the pandemic, did not allow the company to provide a detailed financial outlook, Lufthansa said.

Moscow has closed its airspace to European and US aircraft after European states and the United States banned Russian flights.

Also Read  Omicron wave forces Lufthansa to axe 33,000 flights

Airlines are bracing for potentially lengthy blockages of key east-west flight corridors and preparing for further disruptions to its passenger and freight businesses.

Lufthansa Group, which includes Eurowings, Austrian Airlines and Swiss, plans to offer more than 70 per cent of its pre-crisis capacity this year, rising to 85 per cent for the summer.

The company reported a 2021 operating loss of 2.3 billion euros ($2.55 billion), in line with analyst forecasts. Shares traded 1.4 per cent lower in early Frankfurt trade.

In 2020, the company reported a loss of 5.5 billion euros.

A partial sale or a partial listing of Lufthansa Technik was intended for 2023, Lufthansa said.

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Main opposition People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, left, and People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo raise their hands after announcing the merger of their presidential election campaigns during a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday. Joint Press Corps



Candidates reach last-minute deal to field unified candidate



By Nam Hyun-woo





Minor center-right People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo dropped out of the presidential race on Thursday, hours after he and main opposition People Power Party (PPP) candidate Yoon Suk-yeol agreed on a last-minute deal to field a unified candidate.



As a result, Yoon will run in the election as the standard-bearer of the PPP-People's Party coalition.



Yoon and Ahn closed the dramatic deal to combine their candidacies as the PPP candidate was in a tight race with ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) candidate Lee Jae-myung only six days ahead of the March 9 presidential election. Polls released on Wednesday showed that Yoon and Lee were in a close race with Ahn trailing in third place with a single-digit support.



"We, Ahn Cheol-soo and Yoon Suk-yeol, decided to be united for the sake of a change in government, to make Korea a better country," Ahn said during a joint press conference with Yoon, Thursday.



"With today's declaration to merge our candidacies, we will achieve a perfect government change in this election. Following the will of the public, we will prepare for an era of transition."



The two sides had been in a tug-of-war over merging their candidacies for nearly a month, after Ahn officially proposed on Feb. 13 that he and Yoon select a unified candidate based on surveys. Yoon, while welcoming the offer, had not responded to Ahn's request in person. After the two played a waiting game, they announced separately on Sunday that the talks for their merger had failed.



After passing the Sunday deadline, they reached a deal for the coalition early Thursday morning after the two sides spent three hours negotiating.



Those who are familiar with the overnight deal said Ahn agreed to drop out of the race unconditionally and support Yoon as a unified candidate for the coalition.



Yoon and Ahn agreed to form a coalition government if Yoon gets elected, calling it a "government of national unity."



"The government of national unity will not be run by the president alone," Ahn said. "Based on the principles of cooperative governance, we will oversee state affairs together with partners. From the presidential transition team to the coalition government, we will have consultations and hire experts without considering their political factions."



When asked if he would consider being a member of Yoon's Cabinet, Ahn answered indirectly that he has no prior experience in government, although he has served as a lawmaker for 10 years.









"I will think about how I can help the nation move forward and under what capacity I can help improve the lives of the people. But, at the moment, we need to win the election. A government change is the most important thing that we have to achieve," he said.



Yoon and Ahn said their parties will be combined after the election.



"When and if we win the presidential election, we will promptly start the processes for merging the two parties," Yoon said.





A supporter holds a balloon with the names of main opposition People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol and People's Party candidate Ahn Cheol-soo on it, during the former's public canvassing in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Thursday, when the two candidates unified their campaigns. Yonhap
HTC was once a popular smartphone-maker in the 2010s but lately like the BlackBerry, has become out of favour with the consumers. Now, in a bid to make a comeback, the Taiwan-based company has made a big announcement that their upcoming premium mobile will be very different compared to contemporary handsets in the market.

While announcing the launch of the virtual world Viverse at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2022, Charles Huang, GM, HTC Vive Asia-Pacific said the company has developed an Augmented Reality(AR)/ Virtual Reality (VR)-centric smartphone, reported DigiTimes.

This comes as a surprise for many, as the company had sold the mobile division to Google for $1.1 billion in early 2018 and the latter began to make its own Pixel phones.

Now, the new announcement by Huang has renewed the hopes of the fans of owning a premium HTC Android phone. However, it remains to be seen how the device really be able to offer an immersive experience.

Except for the hype, there is very little about how the device looks and will it be offered with HTC Vive AR/VR headgear package or not.

We just have to wait for a month to see what HTC has in store for the fans.

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.
The sixth round of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls will see voting for 57 seats on Thursday sealing the fate of political heavyweights such as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the Congress' Ajay Kumar Lallu, and Samajwadi Party's Swami Prasad Maurya. With voting for 292 out of 403 assembly seats over, the polling has now moved to the Purvanchal region of the state where 111 seats are up for grabs. Of the remaining constituencies, 57 seats spread across 10 districts will go to the polls on Thursday and 54 in the final phase on March 7.
The Opposition Congress on Thursday moved the Election Commission objecting to the payments released by the Centre to militant groups in Manipur recently alleging that the same was a bribe to intimidate voters in favour of ruling BJP.

Senior Congress leader and AICC observer, Jairam Ramesh told reporters in Imphal that Rs. 15.70 crore was released by the MHA on February 1 and another Rs. 92.62 lakh was released on March 1 as instalments to militant groups, who are in Suspension of Operation (SOO) agreement with the government.

"We are not against dialogue or SOO with militant groups. But the fact that the money was released just before polling makes it clear that it was done to bribe the militant groups to influence voters in favour of the BJP. This is bribery, corruption and violation of the Model Code of Conduct of the elections. This has been done for benefit of BJP," Ramesh said.

Read more: Repolling in 12 stations in Manipur after micreants destroy EVMs

The payment on February 1 was released to influence votes in Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, where polling was conducted in the first phase on February 28. The payment on March 1 was aimed at influencing voters in Tengnoupal and Chandel districts where polling is scheduled for March 5, he said.

Congress and National People's Party (NPP), a partner of BJP-led government in Manipur since 2017 had earlier alleged that BJP was using the militant groups to intimidate voters and threaten rival candidates.

Polling for 38 out of 60 Assembly constituencies was conducted on February 28. A little over 88 per cent of voters cast their votes. Polling in the remaining 22 seats will be conducted on March 5.

Repolling ordered:

Also Read | Modi, Shah target Congress in Manipur, promises AIIMS, skill university but silent on AFSPA

The allegation was made on a day Election Commission ordered repolling in 12 Assembly constituencies in Imphal East, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur districts, where polling was conducted on February 28. Repolling will be conducted along with the second and final phase of polling on March 5.

The polling stations where re-polling has been ordered are under the Khundrakpam Assembly constituency in Imphal East district, Saitu in Kangpokpi district and Thanlen, Henglep and Singhat in Churachandpur district.

"One of the main reasons for consideration of re-polling was connected to damage of EVMs by miscreants during and after the poll. These kinds of incidents lead to major discomfort to the electors of

Also Read | Naga issues in focus as hill constituencies goes for polls in Manipur

the polling station as their right to the franchise gets infringed on the poll day and they will now need to come out again to exercise their rightful franchise on the day of repoll," Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur, Rajesh Agrawal said in a statement.

Soon after the first phase of polling, Congress workers had staged protests alleging rigging by BJP workers and demanded repolling in several polling stations.

BJP has set a target for the absolute majority and formed a government in Manipur for the second term while Congress wants to bounce back to power.

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In Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election 2022, Lucknow West Assembly Constituency (AC No. 171) in Lucknow district goes to polls on February 23, 2022.

Uttar Pradesh Election Result 2022: Lucknow West Assembly constituency result will be declared on March 10, 2022.

In Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election 2017, BJP candidate Suresh Kumar Shrivastav won Lucknow West constituency seat securing 93022 votes, beating SP candidate Mod Rehan by a margin of 13072 votes. In 2017, the total voters in Lucknow West constituency were 387874. Of that, 2,16,919 voters cast their ballot visiting polling booths or exercising their voting franchise through postal ballots.

Use the map below to get the latest updates, winners and losers in Lucknow West assembly constituency.
In Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election 2022, Sarojini Nagar Assembly Constituency (AC No. 170) in Lucknow district goes to polls on February 23, 2022.

Uttar Pradesh Election Result 2022: Sarojini Nagar Assembly constituency result will be declared on March 10, 2022.

In Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election 2017, BJP candidate Swati Singh won Sarojini Nagar constituency seat securing 108506 votes, beating SP candidate Anurag Alias Anurag Yadav by a margin of 34179 votes. In 2017, the total voters in Sarojini Nagar constituency were 498573. Of that, 2,88,921 voters cast their ballot visiting polling booths or exercising their voting franchise through postal ballots.

Use the map below to get the latest updates, winners and losers in Sarojini Nagar assembly constituency.
Streaming giant Netflix has paused all future projects and acquisitions from Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine.

The streamer had four Russian originals in the pipeline, including a crime thriller series directed by Dasha Zhuk, which was shooting and has been put on hold, Variety has learned.

The 1990's set series was Netflix's second original series filming in Russia, following 'Anna K' which wrapped last year.

A source close to Netflix said the company was assessing the impact of current events.

On Monday, the Walt Disney Company announced it will similarly be pausing all theatrical releases in Russia, including Pixar's 'Turning Red', set to premiere in the country on March 10.

Also read: Should tech stay or go in Russia?

A few hours after the announcement, Warner Bros. halted the release of 'The Batman' in Russia.

Elsewhere in the film and TV industry, Russia has been barred from major festivals and award shows.

The Cannes Film Festival announced on Tuesday that it will not welcome any Russian delegations or attendees with ties to the government, while Series Mania Festival and MipTV said there won't be a Russian presence at their respective events, in accordance with the French government's sanction against Russia.

On Monday, the Beinnale arts exhibition in Venice scrapped its Russian pavilion, as the Venice Film Festival continues to mull its response to calls for a boycott of Russian movies at the event.

The Glasgow Film Festival in Scotland took a similar stance, decided to pull its two Russian titles this year: Kirill Sokolov's 'No Looking Back' and Lado Kvataniya's 'The Execution'.

Switzerland's Locarno Film Festival, on the other hand, announced it would show Russian films at its upcoming edition in August.

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The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Wednesday an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine "will immediately proceed" after his office received the backing of 39 countries.

Though ICC, which judicially prosecutes offenses of war crimes among others, has taken cognisance of the crisis in Ukraine, war crimes are often extremely complicated and difficult offenses to prove. Besides, Russia is not a member of the ICC and that further raises questions around jurisdictions.

As a week has passed since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a "special military operation" in Ukraine, seen as a full-scale invasion, hundreds of civilians have been killed in Russian military attacks, which range from missile attacks to destructive shelling. Many Ukrainian cities have been reduced to dust and rubble after coming under heavy attacks on buildings, which include apartment complexes and government buildings. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, along with UK's Boris Johnson, has accused Russia of committing war crimes.

Also read: Explained | What are thermobaric weapons and how do they work?

Russia is not a member of the ICC

The Hague-based ICC was established in 2002 as an independent court to try individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC, however, can only prosecute crimes committed on the territory of its 123 member states.

Ukraine is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, but it has twice accepted the courts jurisdiction over any international crimes committed in its territory. This could include offences committed by pro-Russian separatists or Russian or Ukrainian military forces.

Moscow withdrew from the ICC, so the court will only be able to reach Russians if they are arrested on the territory of a state that respects the jurisdiction of the court. The ICC is also hampered by the fact that it has no police force and relies on state parties to detain suspects -- with varying success in the past.

International law prohibits indiscriminate attacks. These could include using certain weapons against military targets in dense urban areas, such as artillery, cluster munitions or thermobaric vacuum bombs, whose wide effects also risk hitting civilians. Russian troops have already been accused of using cluster munitions and vacuum bombs in civilian areas in Ukraine.

However, the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the international crime of aggression  that is, to prosecute Russias unlawful attack on Ukraine.

Ukraine has made a claim with the International Court of Justice that Russia is invading on the pretext of stopping genocide by Ukraine, but this is a speculative gambit. And the ICJ does not have jurisdiction to directly hear any claim that Russia is committing aggression.

Also Read  Nearly 6,000 Russian troops killed so far: Zelenskyy

So, can Putin be put on trial and arrested?

Unlikely.

Realistically, it is unlikely that many prosecutions will happen  if any at all. For one, establishing which Russian military or political leaders are responsible for specific crimes will be complex and difficult. Then, arresting them in Russian-occupied territory, or obtaining their extradition from Russia, will be virtually impossible. The ICC has only convicted 10 people in two decades, despite the prevalence of international crimes in many conflicts.

At most, anyone ultimately indicted may think twice about travelling outside Russia or occupied Ukraine, as they could be arrested in 123 countries that are members of the court.

However, if Putins regime eventually fall, a new Russian government may be more open to seeking justice for the past. Collecting and preserving evidence is therefore essential for any future accountability efforts.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Russian forces took the Black Sea city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, a significant victory for Moscow after a string of military setbacks, and reportedly surrounded surround Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov that sits between Russian-controlled Crimea and breakaway Donbas republics.

The US, Britain, Europe and Canada had announced sanctions on Russia including blocking certain lenders' access to the SWIFT international payment system.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists. It denies targeting civilians although there have been widespread reports of civilian casualties and the shelling of residential areas.

Bombing in Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million people, has left its centre a wasteland of ruined buildings and debris. Russian forces have captured the town of Balakliya near the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine

The military move by Russian President Vladimir Putin has left many people looking for information on how and why the conflict started. Here are answers to some key questions.

Click here to follow live updates on Ukraine-Russia crisis

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Putin nurses a deep sense of grievance over the loss of Russias power and influence since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine was formerly part of the Soviet Union but declared its independence in 1991.

Having a prosperous, modern, independent and democratic European state bordering Russia was perceived as posing a threat to Russias autocratic regime. If Ukrainians succeeded in fully reforming their country along lines of other western democracies, it would set a bad precedent for former Soviet countries and serve as an example for Russians who want a more democratic country.

Putin also perceives that western democracies are in a weak and particularly vulnerable state  thanks in part due to Russian efforts to create discord and sow divisions in Europe and North America abroad  making this an opportune time to launch a major military adventure.

Why do Russia, the US and Europe care so much about Ukraine?

Both Russia and the West see Ukraine as a potential buffer against each other.

Russia considers Ukraine within its natural sphere of influence. Most of it was for centuries part of the Russian Empire, many Ukrainians are native Russian speakers and the country was part of the Soviet Union until winning independence in 1991.

Russia was unnerved when an uprising in 2014 replaced Ukraines Russia-friendly president with an unequivocally Western-facing government.

Most former Soviet republics and allies in Europe had already joined the European Union or NATO. Ukraines lurch away from Russian influence felt like the final death knell for Russian power in Eastern Europe.

To Europe and the United States, Ukraine matters in part because they see it as a bellwether for their own influence, and for Russian intentions in the rest of Europe. Ukraine is not part of the European Union or NATO. But it receives considerable financial and military support from Europe and the United States. If Russia invades, it suggests that Moscow might feel empowered to raise tensions with other former Soviet republics that are now members of the Western alliance, like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Any Russian incursion would also further threaten US dominance over world affairs. By winning the Cold War, the United States established great influence over the international order, but that influence has waned in the past decade, and a Russian invasion might accelerate that process. By reinvigorating NATO, the United States may hope to slow that process down, or even reverse it.

Also Read  India explores setting up rupee trade accounts with Russia to soften sanctions blow

How Russian is Ukraine?

According to the last full census taken in 2001, 17.3 per cent of the citizens of independent Ukraine identified themselves as ethnic Russians. This was a decline of almost five percentage points from 1989, reflecting in part an out-migration of Russians after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

There was also a change of identification among Ukrainians who had claimed to be ethnically Russian in the late Soviet period when it was socially and economically advantageous to do so, but reverted to their Ukrainian identity when Ukraine became independent.

Since 2001, the numerical influence of ethnic Russians in Ukraine diminished even further, as a result of the annexation of Crimea and the creation of the two separatist republics in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Significantly, even in the Donbas, where ethnic Russians form a substantial minority, they do not outnumber ethnic Ukrainians.

Somewhat confusing the situation is the fact that most Ukrainians are able to speak or easily understand both Russian and Ukrainian. For many Ukrainians, especially in the south and eastern regions of the country, Russian is the first language.

Russian is widely used throughout large parts of Ukraine and it is not unusual for people to easily and even unconsciously move back and forth between languages. Nor is it unusual that many Russian speakers are fervent Ukrainian patriots, just as significant numbers of ethnic Russians are fiercely loyal citizens of Ukraine.

Russians and Russian speakers are not persecuted or discriminated against in Ukraine, even as the Ukrainian state  and increasingly Ukrainian citizens themselves  work to encourage fluency and the use of Ukrainian in daily life after centuries of linguistic and cultural Russification.

Finally, a large number of Ukrainians have ties to Russians and Russia, through mixed marriages, work, professional relations and longstanding friendships.

Sadly, many of these relations have been strained in recent years due to the Putin governments hostility towards Ukraine and the Russian medias relentless and baseless attacks on Ukrainians. The situation has resulted in contacts being terminated for political reasons as a result of changing attitudes towards Russia as a whole.

The vast majority of Ukrainians until recently had a positive image of Russia, but a growing number now have a critical or skeptical attitude to Russia. The current conflict is certain to make things worse.

Also read: Can Vladimir Putin be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine?

Why does Putin say Ukraine isnt a real country?

In a televised speech days before the invasion, Putin suggested that modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia.

Putin has inherited much of his world view from the Russian-chauvinist and Russocentric traditions of the former imperial and Soviet Russian regimes. His Ukrainophobic attitudes can be attributed in part to his being steeped in deeply rooted feelings of both Russian superiority and resentment towards Ukrainians who have consistently asserted their distinct identity.

Russia has for four centuries tried to fully subjugate Ukrainian lands and to subdue the Ukrainian nation by means of laws and policies designed to undermine and suppress the Ukrainian language and culture, while at the same time privileging Russians in Ukraine.

Russia has often resorted to using brutal force to prevent Ukraine from pursuing greater autonomy as well as outright independence, using invasions, ruthlessly crushing rebellions, exiling hundreds of thousands to Siberia and the Far North, starving millions in a genocidal famine, and simultaneously imprisoning and executing legions of gifted artists, intellectuals, spiritual leaders and political activists, who dared to challenge Russian dominance over the country.

As various attempts by Ukrainians to establish an independent state were thwarted by Russia and by other foreign oppressors, Putin has repeatedly sought to disparage Ukraines successful declaration of independence in 1991 and is determined to put an end to it.

Also read: Explained | What are thermobaric weapons and how do they work?

Didnt Russia already invade parts of Ukraine?

Yes. After the uprising in 2014, Russian troops wearing unmarked uniforms invaded Crimea, a strategically important peninsula on the Black Sea. In a referendum condemned as illegal by most of the world, the region then voted by an overwhelming majority to join Russia.

Later in 2014, pro-Russian separatists backed by Russian troops and military hardware captured parts of eastern Ukraine, setting up two rebel republics  in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions  that remain unrecognized by any other state.

Fighting continues today between the Ukrainian state and the separatists. To many Ukrainians, the threat of a broader Russian intervention in Ukraine is therefore merely the latest episode of an unfinished eight-year war. And that war is likely to continue, whether Russia invades in the coming days or not.

Why is Ukraine so vulnerable?

Though given money and arms by the West, Ukraine is not actually a NATO member and so cannot count on the direct US military support and of US allies. Its military, though the recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars in Western aid in recent years, is still no match for Russias.

It is also surrounded by Russian allies and proxies  and by Russia itself. Russian troops are massed not only along Ukraines eastern border with Russia but also along the Belarusian border, just over 50 miles north of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Russian troops are also stationed in Transnistria, a small and unrecognized breakaway region from Moldova, to Ukraines west. If Russian troops invaded from some or all of these locations, Ukraines army might be stretched too thin to mount an effective defense.

Would-be allies like Germany may also be wary of enacting economic measures to deter Russia. Europe is highly dependent on Russian fuel, and Russia is a major trading partner of Germany.

(Compiled from agency inputs)

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The House Committee investigating the US Capitol insurrection said Wednesday night that its evidence shows former President Donald Trump and his associates engaged in a criminal conspiracy to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election, spread false information about it and pressured state officials to overturn the results.

The committee made the claims in a filing in response to a lawsuit by Trump adviser John Eastman.

Eastman, a lawyer who was consulting with Trump as he attempted to overturn the election, is trying to withhold documents from the committee as it investigates the Jan 6, 2021, insurrection. The committee argued there is a legal exception allowing the disclosure of communications regarding ongoing or future crimes. The Select Committee also has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States, the committee wrote in a filing submitted in US District Court in the Central District of California.

The 221-page filing marks the committee's most formal effort to link the former president to a federal crime, though the actual import of the filing is not clear since lawmakers do not have the power to bring charges on their own and can only make a referral to the Justice Department. The department has been investigating last year's riot, but has not given any indication that it is considering seeking charges against Trump.

Also Read  Judge rejects effort by Trump to toss Jan 6 lawsuits

The brief filed Wednesday was in an effort by the committee to refute attorney-client privilege claims made by Eastman in order to withhold records from congressional investigators. "The Select Committee is not conducting a criminal investigation," Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committee's Democratic chairman, said in a statement. But, as the judge noted at a previous hearing, Dr Eastman's privilege claims raise the question whether the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege applies in this situation.

The filing also details exhibits from the committee's interviews with several top Trump aides and even former Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short.

The committee also said it found evidence that Trump sought to obstruct an official proceedingin this case, the certification of the resultsby trying to strongarm Pence to delay the proceedings so there would be additional time to manipulate the results.

The evidence supports an inference that President Trump and members of his campaign knew he had not won enough legitimate state electoral votes to be declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential election during the January 6 Joint Session of Congress, but the President nevertheless sought to use the Vice President to manipulate the results in his favour, the filing states.

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Russian troops were in the centre of the Ukrainian port of Kherson on Thursday after a day of conflicting claims over whether Moscow had captured a major urban centre for the first time in its eight-day invasion.

Russia's defence ministry said it controlled Kherson on Wednesday but an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded that Ukrainian forces continued to defend the Black Sea port of about 250,000 people. "We are a people who broke the enemy's plans in a week," Zelenskyy said in a video address. "These plans had taken years to writethey are mean, with hatred for our country, for our people."

A Ukrainian delegation had left for the second round of talks with Russian officials on a ceasefire, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters.

Russian forces have yet to overthrow the government in Kyiv but thousands are reported to have died or been injured and more than a million people have fled Ukraine amid the biggest attack on a European state since 1945.

Click here to follow live coverage of the Ukraine-Russia crisis

At Borodyanka, a town 58 km northwest of Kyiv, a resident gave a breathless account of their encounter with the enemy, as Reuters Television footage showed shell damaged building, fires burning in the streets and destroyed military vehicles.

"They (Russian military) started shooting from their BMP (military vehicle), towards the park in front of the post office in the centre of Borodyanka," said a Ukrainian man, who did not give his name. "Then those bastards started the tank and started shooting into the Fora (supermarket) which was already burned. It caught fire again."

Barrage of sanctions

The capture of Kherson, a strategic southern provincial capital where the Dnipro River flows into the Black Sea, would be the first significant urban centre to fall since Moscow launched its invasion on February 24.

Mayor Igor Kolykhayev said late on Wednesday that Russian troops were in the streets and had entered the council building. He called on civilians to walk through the streets only in daylight and in ones and twos. "There were armed visitors in the city executive committee today," he said in a statement. "I didn't make any promises to them ... I just asked them not to shoot people."

Russia's attack has led to a barrage of international sanctions that threaten the global economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, and stoked fears of wider conflict as Western countries send arms to help the Ukrainian military.

The US State Department called on Putin and the Russian government to "immediately cease this bloodshed" and withdraw forces from Ukraine. It also accused Moscow of launching a "full war on media freedom and the truth" by blocking independent news outlets and social media to prevent Russians from hearing news of the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

Also Read  China asked Russia to delay war until after Olympics: US officials

It denies targeting civilians although there have been widespread reports of civilian casualties and the shelling of residential areas. Bombing in Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million people, has left its centre a wasteland of ruined buildings and debris.

Russians have shelled the city of Izyum, about 120 km southeast of Kharkiv, killing six adults and two children, Ukraine's parliament said. Reuters was unable to verify the casualties.

The UN Human Rights Office has confirmed the deaths of 227 civilians and 525 injuries during the conflict as of midnight on March 1, cautioning that the real toll would be much higher due to reporting delays.

An explosion also rocked the Kyiv railway station where thousands of women and children were being evacuated. The blast was caused by wreckage from a downed Russian cruise missile, a Ukrainian interior ministry adviser said, and there were no immediate reports of casualties.

An investigation into possible war crimes will immediately be opened by the International Criminal Court, following requests by 39 of the court's member states, an unprecedented number.

International response

A UN resolution reprimanding Moscow was supported by 141 of the assembly's 193 members, a symbolic victory for Ukraine that increases Moscow's international isolation. "More is at stake even than the conflict in Ukraine itself. This is a threat to the security of Europe and the entire rules-based order," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow still sought Ukraine's "demilitarisation" and that there should be a list of specified weapons that could never be deployed on Ukrainian territory. Moscow opposes Kyiv's bid to join NATO.

Oil and commodity prices spiralled ever higher on Thursday in a grim omen for global inflation.

Also Read  Big tech grapples with Russian state media, propaganda

For Russians, the fallout has included queues outside banks, a plunge in the value of the rouble which threatens their living standards, and an exodus of Western firms who refuse to do business in the country. Japanese automakers including Toyota were forced to halt production in Russia as sanctions scrambled logistics and cut off supply chains.

Russia's central bank, itself under sanctions, has doubled interest rates to 20 per cent and Fitch and Moody's rating agencies downgraded Russia's sovereign credit rating to "junk" status. Forbes reported Germany had seized Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's mega yacht in a Hamburg shipyard, while at least five superyachts owned by billionaires were anchored or cruising in Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, data showed.

Russian businessman Roman Abramovich said he would sell London's Chelsea Football Club and donate money to help victims of the war in Ukraine.

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Opposition seeks to boost chances in election



Two opposition presidential candidates have reached a last-minute agreement on fielding a single candidate, raising their chances of winning in the March 9 election. Under the accord announced Thursday, Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor People's Party dropped out of the race and declared his support for Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP).



The surprise deal has turned the presidential race into a three-way competition among Yoon and his two rivals, Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Sim Sang-jung of the minor progressive Justice Party. It came as Yoon and Lee were engaging in a neck-and-neck battle with around 40 percent of public support each in the latest polls, while Ahn was struggling with less than 10 percent.



We welcome the deal as it reflects supporters' call for the unity of the opposition toward the goal of a change of government. The single candidacy could tip the balance in favor of conservative candidate Yoon. However, some critics warn that the move will have little effect on the election results, predicting that not all of Ahn's supporters will vote for Yoon.



The question is how Yoon and Ahn will make joint efforts to persuade the latter's supporters to back the single candidate. The agreement came belatedly, only six days before election day. The deal was made 18 days after Ahn had initially proposed the unified candidacy to Yoon, showing difficulties in narrowing their differences over the matter. Now it is fortunate to see the two finally joining hands in the effort to realize their common goal of defeating the ruling party candidate.



We positively assess their agreement to form a government of national unity in case Yoon wins the election. They have also promised to merge the two parties immediately after the election. We hope they will keep this promise faithfully to unite the opposition even if Yoon loses to Lee.



More than anything else, Yoon and Ahn, along with their parties, need to present joint campaign promises and common policy proposals in order to give credence to the single candidacy. They should endeavor to prove that their deal is not just a political gambit, but a genuine effort to live up to supporters' aspirations for a drastic change for the better.



According to the latest opinion polls, a majority of Koreans want to see a power change, citing the Moon Jae-in administration's failure to stabilize housing prices, revive the economy and create a fair and just society. So, Yoon and Ahn should present detailed measures to bring hope to the nation.



First and foremost, the unified candidacy should be a first step toward healing the nation, which has been sharply divided amid ideological and partisan confrontations. Hopefully, it will serve as an opportunity to end divisive politics and the winner-take-all mantra. It should also open the way for national unity and harmony.


By Shira Ovide

The international business community is getting out of Russia. Global tech companies including Google, Facebook and Apple remain mostly open for business there.

After Russias invasion of Ukraine, energy giants announced plans to ditch projects to dig up oil and gas in the country. Several automakers said that they would stop making or selling vehicles in Russia. Banks have largely shut Russia out of the global financial system.

But Russians are still swiping their iPhones, surfing YouTube and chatting on WhatsApp and Telegram. That could change. The Russian government is trying to tighten its control of foreign tech companies. And Apple said Tuesday that it paused sales of its products in Russia.

A tricky question remains: Are Ukraine and global democracy better served if major tech services stay, or  as Ukrainian leaders have pleaded  if Russia is treated as a pariah and cut off from popular digital services? We'll lay out the pros and cons.

Live news updates on Russia-Ukraine crisis on DH

First, techs history in conflict zones:

My New York Times colleagues Adam Satariano and Sheera Frenkel wrote this week that Ukraine provides an opportunity for tech companies to show they can use their technology for good in a way not seen since the Arab Spring in 2011, when social media connected activists and was cheered as an instrument for democracy.

In the years since those citizen uprisings, tech companies have sometimes failed to devote the resources and care to decisively stand up for people caught in conflict zones or stuck at the mercy of autocratic governments in countries such as Myanmar, Ethiopia and Afghanistan.

Allies of Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition politician, last year criticized Apple and Google for complying with government demands to take down an app meant to coordinate protest voting in Russian elections.

This time seems to be different. Tech companies seem more willing to take sides and offer their support to Ukraine.

The power of leaving:

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraines minister of digital transformation, has been using his Twitter account to shame Facebook, Google, Apple and Netflix to stop or limit their tech services in Russia. Doing so, Fedorov said, might shake up Russians to rebel against their governments invasion.

In 2022, modern technology is perhaps the best answer to the tanks and other weapons, he wrote in a letter to Apples chief executive, Tim Cook.

Social media in Russia, and outside the country, are also hotbeds of pro-Kremlin propaganda that portrays Ukrainians as the aggressors and deceives citizens about their governments actions in Ukraine.

Also read: After harrowing week, 100 Indian students enter Poland

Why staying could help:

David Kaye, a law professor and former United Nations special rapporteur on free expression, told me that at least right now, it would be a mistake for tech companies to quit Russia.

Kaye said that the harm of false or distorted information circulating online in Russia was relatively minor compared with the productive ways that Russian citizens, activists and journalists were using YouTube, Telegram, Signal, Instagram and smartphones from Google and Apple.

These technologies expose Russians to information beyond government propaganda and contradict the state narrative of the war. (Ukrainians are also using social media to ridicule Russian troops, rally foreigners to their cause and share safety information.)

While Im totally sympathetic with the idea that US and international companies should be resisting engagement with Russia right now, there are some companies that are providing communications to people who really need it, Kaye said.

Nothing is simple in war, and Kaye quickly added, I realize there may be downsides to this and we need to think it through.

Also read: Polish border guards beat up around 100 Indian students and turned them back into Ukraine: Belarus envoy to UN

The risks involved:

In backing US or European governments against Russia, theres a risk that companies appear to be a puppet of the West. That might be counterproductive for Russian dissidents and journalists, and hurt tech companies relationships in other countries.

Whereas staying could put tech companies employees in harms way. Russia is among the countries that are establishing so-called landing laws that make local employees of foreign companies more vulnerable to fines, arrests or other punishments if their companies dont comply with government demands.

Ultimately, the big tech companies may not be the ones deciding on their future in Russia. It has been difficult for Russians to use Facebook and Twitter because the government has been slowing down internet speeds to those websites and apps. Adam said that YouTube could be next.

The Kremlin, Adam said, is more likely to make the should we leave decision for the tech companies.

Theres also a related and difficult question, which Im leaving aside today, about what the major technology companies should do outside Russia  particularly with Russian state media outlets such as RT or other sources of propaganda. Twitter on Wednesday became the latest internet company to restrict Russian state media outlets inside the European Union.

One last thought:

Im often wary of treating technology companies as a special species that gets a pass from normal rules for corporations. But as this war is showing, global information and communication services really arent like cars or barrels of oil.

Tech companies are for-profit companies that are not accountable to the public, and yet they have become so powerful that they now serve as mini foreign ministries.
The IAF and Indian carriers will operate 19 flights to bring back 3,726 Indians from Ukraine's neighbouring countries to India on Thursday, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

Under Operation Ganga, eight flights of the IAF, Air India and IndiGo will operate from the Romanian capital Bucharest to India on Thursday, he said on Twitter.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is using its C-17 military transport aircraft for this evacuation operation.

Read more: 'Can we ask Putin to stop the war?' CJI Ramana on plea to evacuate Indians from Ukraine

India has been evacuating its citizens through special flights from Ukraine's western neighbours such as Romania, Hungary and Poland as the Ukrainian airspace has been shut since February 24 due to the Russian military offensive.

The minister said two flights of IndiGo will depart from Romanian city Suceava and one flight of SpiceJet will leave from Slovakian city Kosice on Thursday.

The IAF, Go First and Air India will operate five flights from Hungarian capital Budapest to India on Thursday, he said, adding IndiGo will operate two flights from Polish city Rzeszow to India the same day.

"With all hands on deck and the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, we will get 3,726 of our people back home today. Jai Hind!" Scindia tweeted.

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Some of the 1 million people who have fled Russia's devastating war in Ukraine count among society's most vulnerable, unable to decide on their own to flee and needing careful assistance to make the journey to safety.

In the Hungarian town of Zahony on Wednesday, more than 200 Ukrainians with disabilities  residents of two care homes in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv  disembarked into the cold wind on a train station platform after an arduous escape from the violence gripping Ukraine.

The refugees, many of them children, have serious mental and physical disabilities, and were evacuated from their care facilities once the Russian assault on the capital intensified.

It wasn't safe to stay there, there were rockets, they were shooting at Kyiv, said Larissa Leonidovna, the director of the Svyatoshinksy orphanage in Kyiv. We spent more than an hour underground during a bombing.

Russia's intensifying attack on Ukraine has forced 1 million people to leave in what one UN official predicted could become Europe's biggest refugee crisis this century.

The exodus tallied early Thursday by the UN refugee agency after one week of Russian fighting is without precedent in this century for its speed and amounted to more than 2% of Ukraine's population.

Also read: Kherson becomes the first Ukrainian city to fall as Russia strikes more civilian targets

More than half of the refugees  nearly 505,000  have gone to Poland, while more than 116,300 have entered Hungary and over 79,300 have crossed into Moldova, according to earlier figures. Another 71,000 have fled to Slovakia, and some 69,600 have gone to other European countries.

While many of those fleeing are able-bodied adults, choosing to brave long and sometimes dangerous journeys to bring themselves and their families to safety, others are at the mercy of their caregivers to deliver them out of danger.

These children need a lot of attention, they have illnesses and require special care, said Leonidovna, the director of the Kyiv orphanage.

Moving from the train in groups of 30, the children  also from the Darnytskyy orphanage in Kyiv  were escorted to buses waiting to take them to Opole, Poland, where they would be settled and receive further care.

There are 216 people altogether, the children along with their chaperones, said Viktoria Mikolayivna, deputy director of the Darnytskyy home.

Cold weather gripping Eastern Europe on Wednesday made conditions even harder for those fleeing into countries neighboring Ukraine.

At the border area of Palanca in southern Moldova, a country that shares a long border with Ukraine, temperatures hovered around freezing and a fresh blanket of snow covered the ground.

Mothers with young children came wrapped in blankets and clothing, but the cold weather has made an already desperate situation even worse.

Click here to follow live coverage of the Ukraine-Russia crisis

Julia, a 32-year-old mother with a 3-year-old child, tried to calm her son who was burning with fever. She felt helpless, she said, but is proud that she made the decision to help her family.

Thank God that I can protect my family, but I didn't want to leave my country. But I had to find another way to protect my family, she told The Associated Press.

Braving snow and sub-freezing temperatures, thousands of refugees continued to flee Ukraine into neighbouring Romania through the Siret border crossing.

Alina Onica, a 41-year-old Red Cross volunteer in Siret, said that the freezing weather and snow are only adding to the challenges and needs of the refugees being displaced by war.

It made it more difficult because many left their homes a couple of days ago, and all they had was the clothes on their backs, she said. "They have been asking for gloves, hats, and blankets. It's a humanitarian crisis and we're hoping it will end soon.

Nastya Kononchuk, who hopes to reach the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to wait out the war with her dog, said she is originally from the Black Sea city of Odesa but was living in Kyiv.

Her husband drove her to the Romanian border, but then returned to joined Ukraine's armed forces.

It was a very long road and very scary," she said of the journey, when she heard the thud of missiles all around. "You don't understand, Is it ours or is it enemy?'"

Maybe it's okay that now we don't have children," she added. "But we have our dog, it is our child."

Victoria Baibara, who left Kyiv two days ago with her 6-year-old son after witnessing escalating bombing in the capital, arrived in Romania on Wednesday and will travel to Istanbul to stay with friends, she said.

Also Read  China asked Russia to delay war until after Olympics: US officials

It's so hard, it's hard for a child, we can't explain to him why we should leave our home, why we hear these bombs," the 29-year-old said. "He is also very scared. I am also very scared. ... It's so cold and it was hard to stay with a child in the snow.

Marya Unhuryan, from Chernivsti in western Ukraine, came by car to Siret with her 9-year-old daughter and other relatives, all women.

I feel a lot of pain. ... Just pain. A lot of pain for my country and my people," she said. She's 9 years old and she does not understand the situation. She just wants to eat pizza in Italy and go to Disney in France.

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Russia on Wednesday said there will be no impact of the Western sanctions against it on the supply of S-400 missile systems to India.

At a media briefing, Russian Ambassador-designate Denis Alipov also referred to a bilateral mechanism to do business in national currencies.

"As regards the S-400 deal, be rest assured that it will not be impacted in any way. It is a 100 per cent surety... As regards the overall trade and economic cooperation, we will see what will be the ultimate impact of those severe restrictions that are being imposed," he said.

The Western countries have imposed severe sanctions on Russia in the last few days following its military invasion of Ukraine.

In October 2018, India had signed a $5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.

Also read: India avoids condemning Putin to get weapons for China fight

Russia has already started the supply of the missile systems.

To a question on the impact of the sanctions on bilateral trade, Alipov said it will largely depend on the readiness of the "Indian partners" to continue with the engagement.

"We have bilateral mechanisms and means of doing business in national currencies. Much will depend on the readiness of the Indian partners to continue the business because some of them are over-cautious as regards their exposure to the US and European markets," he said.

Replying to a question on whether the Western sanctions and the conflict in Ukraine will impact the overall delivery of key defence equipment to India, Alipov said there are mechanisms in place to offset the impact of the restrictions.

"Russia has always risen from the ashes. It will rise again. Do not have any doubt about that. We have taken steps to secure ourselves," he said.

"Our economy is stable and I believe we will withstand the pressure that we are experiencing and will experience in the future," the Russian ambassador-designate added.

"As regards the bilateral trade in defence, we have the mechanism of cooperation and transactions independent of western mechanisms," he said.

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Days after visiting the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to film scenes for his documentary on Russia's invasion, Hollywood actor-director Sean Penn found himself among thousands of refugees fleeing to Poland, joining the exodus on foot.

Penn, 61, posted a photo to his Twitter feed on Monday showing the movie star wearing a backpack and toting a piece of luggage on wheels as he trudged along the shoulder of a road beside a line of cars stretching into the distance.

"Myself & two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road," Penn said in a caption tweeted with the picture. "Almost all the cars in this photo carry women & children only, most without any sign of luggage, and a car their only possession of value."

Myself & two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road. Almost all the cars in this photo carry women & children only, most without any sign of luggage, and a car their only possession of value. pic.twitter.com/XSwCDgYVSH  Sean Penn (@SeanPenn) February 28, 2022

The tweet did not explain why the Academy Award-winning actor and his companions were forced to abandon their vehicle.

A spokesperson in Los Angeles, Mara Buxbaum, told Reuters by email on Tuesday that Penn had "made it out of Ukraine safely." She declined to answer other questions about his whereabouts or the circumstances of his departure from Ukraine.

Penn was in Kyiv last Thursday attending a press briefing at the office of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the first day of Russia's invasion, recording footage for a documentary chronicling the crisis, Zelenskiy's office said in a statement at the time.

"Sean Penn is among those who support Ukraine in Ukraine today. Our country is grateful to him for such a show of courage and honesty," the statement said.

Get Russia-Ukraine crisis live updates here

It said Penn had interviewed Ukrainian political and military figures as well as journalists as part of the production, for which he initially visited Ukraine in November.

In a statement last week, the actor acclaimed for Oscar-winning roles in "Mystic River" and "Milk" praised the Ukrainian people as "historic symbols of courage" and called Ukraine "the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams."

"If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost," Penn wrote.

Penn, whose directorial credits include "Into the Wild" and "The Crossing Guard," is also known for his political activism and involvement in various humanitarian causes, including relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake of 2010 and Pakistan floods in 2012.

He made headlines in 2016 when Rolling Stone magazine published an interview Penn had secretly conducted with Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman at his jungle hideout prior to the arrest of the cartel boss.

Penn is producing the Ukraine documentary for Vice Studios, a US-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company, according to Hollywood trade publication Variety.

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Leaders of the Quad grouping of countries -- the United States, India, Australia and Japan -- agreed on Thursday that what is happening to Ukraine should not be allowed to happen in the Indo-Pacific, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.

A virtual meeting of the four-country grouping was held at a time of increased concern about Taiwan, a self-ruled island claimed by China, which has stepped up its alert level, wary of China taking advantage of a distracted West to move against it.

"We've agreed that unilateral changes to the status quo with force like this should not be allowed in the Indo-Pacific region," Kishida said, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"We've also agreed this development makes it even more important to work toward realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific," Kishida told reporters after the meeting with US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Also Read: Braving shells, Indian students flee Ukraine's Kharkiv on foot

Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for Indo-Pacific, said on Monday the United States would keep its focus on the Indo-Pacific despite the Ukraine crisis, although this would be difficult and expensive. He said Washington has been deeply engaged in two theaters simultaneously before, including during World War Two and the Cold War.

The United States sees the Quad and its growing relations with India as essential to its efforts to push back against China in the Pacific, but it is in a delicate balancing act with New Delhi, given the latters long-standing ties with Russia.

Of the four Quad countries, only India has not condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the main supplier of arms to the Indian military and India faces the possibility of US sanctions for its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.

Analysts say any moves by Russia hawks in the Biden administration to impose sanctions on India for working with Moscow could backfire and set back cooperation in the Quad.

Campbell said on Monday that Washington remained "bullish" about its relationship with India.

"We have a deep dialogue with them on issues underway now, he told a Washington think tank. "We understand ... India's historic, long-standing relationship with Russia, but at the same time, ultimately, we believe that India will be moving in our direction."

India's foreign ministry said before Thursday's meeting that it would follow a September summit of the Quad leaders in Washington and they would "exchange views and assessments about important developments in the Indo-Pacific."

It was not immediately clear on whose request the meeting was called. None of the Quad countries had flagged it earlier.

Quad foreign ministers met in Australia early last month and pledged to deepen cooperation to ensure the Indo-Pacific region was free from "coercion," a veiled reference to China's economic and military activities, and their leaders are set to hold a summit in Japan in May.

China has denounced the Quad as a Cold War construct and a clique "targeting other countries."

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Under President Xi Jinping, China has pushed for self-reliance in key areas of technology and the payments needed to settle trade to minimise its vulnerability to economic pressure over flashpoints, from trade policy to Taiwan.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the tough global response, including curtailment of access to the SWIFT payments system and a freezing of Russian assets, provide a case study for China on the economic and financial vulnerabilities analysts expect it will continue to address.

The unexpectedly heavy sanctions, led by the West, have exposed vulnerabilities for Russia, including dependence on the US dollar, that China would want to mitigate before becoming the target of any such measures.

Also Read | Can Vladimir Putin be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine?

While the China-US trade war during the Trump administration forced China to seek greater self-sufficiency, the sanctions on Russia are a louder wake-up call, said Abraham Zhang, chairman of Shenzhen-based China Europe Capital.

"Just as China needs food security, China also needs oil reserves, and a complete industrial system, so that if China is one day cut off from external supplies as Russia is now, China can still be self-sufficient, maintain internal circulation, and survive," Zhang said.

China has in recent years ramped-up efforts to develop home-grown technologies, from semiconductors to advanced materials to aircraft, to ease reliance on imports. Huawei Technologies, crippled by sanctions preventing its access to high-end chips, is a cautionary example.

Also Read | Russian sanctions are biting harder than it could have imagined, and itll get worse

"China needs to accelerate the development of key technologies. Otherwise, it would be too late once you're suffocated by sanctions, if Russia offers any lessons," he said.

To be sure, China has a much bigger and more diversified economy than Russia's, although it depends on imported energy and food, and relies heavily on global commerce as the world's largest trading economy.

Also, Ukraine is not Taiwan, which Beijing has vowed to bring under its control, by force if necessary.

The political and geostrategic circumstances are vastly different, including the likely response to a Chinese attack on the democratically controlled island, which among other factors is a linchpin in the global technology supply chain.

Where the United States has ruled out intervening militarily in Ukraine, its policy of "strategic ambiguity" towards Taiwan and its strengthening defence ties with the island, including stepped up arms sales and the development of the AUKUS grouping with Australia and Britain, convey a warning.

China, which has declined to condemn Russia's attack or call it an invasion, has blamed the Ukraine conflict on NATO expansion.

Taiwan has reported no unusual Chinese military movements since the Ukraine war began and US President Joe Biden this week dispatched a team of former senior officials to visit the island in a show of support.

Currencies, payments

China has in recent years sought to internationalise its currency by settling more trade with the yuan, including with Russia. The yuan accounted for 13.1 per cent of the Russian central bank's foreign currency reserves last June, compared with just 0.1 per cent in June 2017

China's central bank is developing a digital currency, which would have the benefit of further encouraging yuan settlement for trade, but the project, while ahead of efforts elsewhere, is still in its early days.

China has an alternative system to bypass SWIFT, the Cross Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), which saw a 75 per cent increase in processing volume last year, although 80 per cent of CIPS transactions still involve SWIFT.

Bert Hofman, director of the East Asian Institute at the Lee Kuan Yew School of the National University Singapore, said China has been concerned about dollar dominance of international payments since the global financial crisis.

"The sanctions may therefore lead China to accelerate the development of alternative options, including the China-led CIPS system, and the further internationalisation of the (yuan)."

Worry about isolation

While the unity and strength of the diplomatic response to the invasion, which many experts believe Russia underestimated, may be instructive to China, the unexpectedly sluggish early performance of Russia's forces in Ukraine is less applicable, with the United States not engaged there militarily.

US intervention would be China's biggest worry in the event that it attacked Taiwan, said Yun Sun, director of the China Program at the Washington-based Stimson Center.

"The international isolation of Russia, and the broad coalition ... make China worry about the potential international isolation of China in a similar event on Taiwan," she said.

Still, she said, China would take comfort that countries that have joined in sanctions against Russia remain in the minority, and the fact that China has yet to face secondary sanctions for its Russia ties.

Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London, said Beijing was unlikely to be happy with the way things are going in Ukraine but the ultimate effectiveness of the international response would determine its outlook.

If Russia was not brought to its knees, "China will be relatively relaxed about what the West could do when China is finally ready to take Taiwan," he said.

"If the responses should prove effective against Russia, Xi will be a lot more cautious about when and how he will try to bring Taiwan into the fold," he said.

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Members of the All India IT and ITes Employees Union have launched a countrywide campaign, #FridayProtest, where weekly public protests will be held in every city, including Bengaluru.

The members are protesting the new labour codes that do away with hard-won labour rights.

The central government recently introduced four labour codes, which indirectly and discreetly replace several labour laws without retaining many rights contained in them, explains Suman Das Mahapatra, president, All India IT and ITes Employees Union (Karnataka).

The protest, which has grown into a movement of sorts, will address the issues faced by the IT and ITeS employees. Our union was formed in 2018. We currently have a membership strength of 3,000 employees across the country. Post the pandemic, more people are getting associated with us, thanks to the malpractices of the corporate organisations becoming more evident, explains Suman.

He points out that, in terms of workplace safety and the right to unionise, the new codes are abhorrent. They constitute illegitimate interference of the state in the employees and workers rights to organise and choose their own union leaders. They elevate the governments power to reject or indefinitely delay the registration of trade unions. They make it easier for strikes to be declared illegal, which means that workers and those who aid workers can be charged and arrested easily, he explains.

The members strongly feel that these labour codes are a move to make any workers agitation a dangerous affair.

The IT industry is highly segmented in terms of working hours and conditions. ITeS workers, for instance the BPO workers, face the brunt of long working hours with discouraging and toxic work environments. Even in large IT companies, there is a differentiation in terms of hours and rights. However, all IT and ITeS employees are in the same boat when it comes to dissatisfaction about work, and being precariously employed, adds Suman.

He also feels that the rights against abrupt and mass termination are not implemented, as seen during the pandemic.

Unions ensure that these laws are implemented, and ensure sustainable and fair growth of the industry. The employees need an assurance of protection of their rights, a responsibility towards their mental and physical health, and a respect for their time and dignity, he sums up.

Why is it called #FridayProtest?

The idea of Friday protest by the members of the All India IT & ITeS Employees Union was inspired by The Fridays for Futures movement, which was started by activist Greta Thunberg in 2018. #Fridayprotest is a form of agitation and involves the distribution of leaflets. This is an effort at educating the working class and creating a class consciousness, explains Suman.

Some of their demands

Revoke all four labour codes

Reinstate all IT & ITeS employees who were retrenched during the pandemic period

Forced resignation should immediately be stopped

Temporary working force should be made permanent
An Air India Express flight from Bucharest carrying 183 Indians stranded in Ukraine landed in Mumbai on Thursday, the airline said.

One of the evacuees said many Indian students are still stuck in Ukraine and that the problem is in the war-torn country's eastern parts where the stranded people need assistance. Another evacuee said it was difficult to get a flight to come back home and thanked the Indian authorities for facilitating their return.

"The flight with 182 passengers and one infant landed at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport from Bucharest at 5.40 am on Thursday morning," Air India Express spokesperson said.

Also Read | Polish border guards beat up around 100 Indian students and turned them back into Ukraine: Belarus envoy to UN

Union minister Raosaheb Danve welcomed the passengers as soon as the Air India Express Flight IX 1202 landed here.

The Air India Express is operating two more evacuation flights on Thursday via Kuwait - one from Kochi to Budapest (Hungary) and another from Mumbai to Bucharest (Romania), the spokesperson said. Of these, the return flight from Bucharest is expected to arrive in Mumbai at 1.50 am Friday, while the flight from Budapest is likely to land here at 8 am on Friday, he said. The eastern side of Ukraine has been facing a brutal Russian assault.

After landing here on Thursday morning, one of the students said, "The eastern side is where the problem is and people (students) there need assistance."

Another student said while she managed to cross the (Ukraine) border, a lot of students were still stuck. "So, I am praying that they also get out of there, she said. It was difficult to secure a flight. Students were not getting flights, but then the Indian embassy helped us with that, she added.

Earlier, while interacting with passengers inside the aircraft, Danve said, "I have been asked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to welcome you. There were around 17,000 Indians, including students, stranded there (in Ukraine) and the PM started 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate them."

Around 4,000 to 5,000 Indians have been brought home so far from Ukraine and the operation will continue to bring back those still stranded there, the minister said. The flight which arrived here on Thursday was the third evacuation flight operated to Mumbai from Bucharest to bring back Indians from war-ravaged Ukraine since February 27.

Of these, one has been operated by Air India and the other two by Air India Express, which is the international low-cost arm of now Tata Group-owned full service carrier. Ukraine's airspace is shut since February 24 and India has been evacuating its citizens by special flights from that country's western neighbours like Romania, Hungary and Poland.

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A person checks Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 3 smartphone, at the MWC in Barcelona, March 1. AFP-Yonhap





Mobile phones, cars and other consumer goods are not subject to the United States' sweeping restrictions on exports to Russia, South Korea's trade ministry said Thursday.







Last week, the U.S. government announced the Foreign Direct Product Rule (FDPR) for "all of Russia" as part of its export controls to block Russia's access to global high-tech products and other major items, such as semiconductors, over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.







The measure calls on companies to receive a license from the U.S. for tech-related items using U.S. technology before they can be shipped to Russia, which is feared to affect major South Korean exporters, as they use U.S. technology and software.







During a working-level meeting between Seoul and Washington held Tuesday, the U.S. Commerce Department confirmed that smartphones, cars, washers and other consumer goods are exceptions to the FDP rules as long as they are not shipped to military-related users, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.







South Korean firms could also get approval for planned shipments to their factories in Russia through the U.S.' case-by-case examinations, according to the ministry.







South Korea is seeking to receive an exemption from the FDP rules, as it was not included in the U.S.' exception list of 32 nations. (Yonhap)


Shells exploded nearby, shaking buildings and sending debris flying around a group of Indian students making a dash out of central Kharkiv on foot after warnings from the government to flee the Ukrainian city hit hard by the Russian invasion.

Aditya Narayan Patra, a 21-year-old medical student, said he was near the front of the group fleeing on Wednesday when the explosions rang out.

"The bomb fell only around 100 meters from me," Patra told Reuters via phone on Thursday, describing a particularly harrowing moment in the journey that around a thousand students took to reach relative safety on the outskirts of Kharkiv.

Read more: BJP MLA says more students can be brought in place of Karnataka boy's body in Ukraine

One Indian medical student was killed in the area this week, prompting a promise by Moscow to try to organise an urgent evacuation through a "humanitarian corridor," following pressure from New Delhi, an ally.

It was not immediately clear whether Russia had any involvement in the escape. The students said Ukrainian soldiers ushered them through. The Indian foreign ministry on Wednesday said it issued two advisories asking students to flee Kharkiv after receiving information from Russia.

Sprinting to save their lives, Patra said some students stumbled but Ukrainian soldiers pushed them to keep moving.

"They told us 'run, run, run'," he said.

Before the conflict flared, Indians made up around a quarter of the 76,000 foreign students in Ukraine, the largest number from any overseas country.

Patra and another Indian student who fled Kharkiv said that their group - including hundreds of women - was now at one of three safe locations listed by the Indian embassy in Ukraine. Reuters could not immediately establish if more students remained in the city.

"It was full of scary things but we needed to walk for our lives," said Kumar, who asked to be identified using only a part of his name.

Indians not allowed

After six days in a bunker at the Kharkiv National Medical University hostels, Patra said over a thousand students walked to the city's railway station at dawn on Wednesday, hoping to travel towards Ukraine's western borders.

But most Indians were not allowed by locals and railway authorities to board the two trains that pulled into Kharkiv till the afternoon, Patra and Kumar said.

As air-raid sirens rang out soon after, the large crowd at the station scurried for cover at Kharkiv's underground metro stations, they said.

Messages from the Indian embassy on social media then appeared on the students' phones, asking them students to leave the city within hours using any means possible.

"The Indian embassy told us to walk, so we walked," said Patra, who had left his hostel with only a backpack with his documents and laptop.

Snaking their way out of Kharkiv's city centre amid shelling, Kumar said Ukrainian troops guided the group through multiple checkpoints, till they reached a designated location in the evening.

"Ukraine is not safe at all," said Kumar, "We need to be evacuated as soon as possible."

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The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to consider a plea for evacuation of Indian students stranded in war-torn Ukraine.

An advocate claimed his client with 250 other students from National Medical University in Odessa, Ukraine, were stranded near the Ukraine-Romania border and they are facing issues to cross over to Romania. He submitted before a bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana that students are stranded amid freezing temperatures, and struggling to access food and water.

The top law officer sought to know hindrance in case of petitioners while maintaining that senior Indian ministers are facilitating students return from countries bordering Ukraine.

Click here to follow live updates on Ukraine-Russia crisis

Why are they not crossing over?" he asked the counsel, while asserting Ukraine is allowing Indians to cross over to neighbouring countries.

The counsel, for his part, said that flights are only operating from Poland and Hungary.

The bench asked the A-G to look into the contents of the petition and see if something could be done.

Earlier in the day, the bench told the counsel that the court feels bad for the Indian students, stuck in Ukraine amid the ongoing war, but it cannot direct the Russian President to stop the war.

Also Read  India explores setting up rupee trade accounts with Russia to soften sanctions blow

"What can the court do? Can we issue a direction to the President of Russia to stop the war?" the bench asked the counsel who sought urgent intervention by the court.

The court, however, sought the Attorney General's views.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said it has been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region, including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, for evacuation of the students from Ukraine.

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The life expectancies of Adivasis and Dalits in India are significantly lower than upper-caste Hindus, a new study reported using decade-old government data on 20 million individuals from nine states.

The life expectancy differences of more than four years in Adivasis, three years in Dalits and one year among Muslims as against upper-caste Hindus could not be explained on the basis of wealth or environmental exposures, the scientists said, suggesting that the difference may be rooted in discriminatory social practices.

With economic status accounting for less than half of the life expectancy gaps, the results highlight the need to address social inequalities in India.

The researchers used Indias Annual Health Survey data from Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, representing 20 million individuals from 4 million households.

They analysed the data using sophisticated statistical tools and compared with other data sets to derive the conclusions.

We observe lower life expectancies at birth among marginalised social groups. Adivasis have the lowest life expectancy among the four groups. Differentials between Adivasis and higher-caste Hindus are 3.7 years for women and almost five years for men, they reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA.

For the studies, the researchers clubbed OBCs (other backward classes) with upper-caste Hindus in the absence of segregated data.

The gap between Dalits and higher-caste Hindus is of similar magnitude  more than three years for both women and men. Muslim life expectancy is about one year less than that of higher-caste Hindu, the trio of Sangita Vyas at the University of Texas, Austin; Payal Hathi at the University of California, Berkeley; and Aashish Gupta at the University of Pennsylvania reported.

The life expectancy for Dalits and Adivasis is similar to those of the poorest countries in the world.

The overall gaps are similar to the contemporaneous Black-White gap in the USA and the Arab-Jewish gap in Israel.

Given that marginalised social groups are also poorer, the question that arises is to what extent are social group differences in life expectancy driven by economic disadvantage.

Life expectancy gaps

The study found that differences in rural residence, wealth and environmental exposures did not fully account for the life expectancy gaps between marginalised social groups and higher-caste Hindus.

In the US, observable socio-economic status characteristics explain about three-quarters of the life expectancy gap between Black and White Americans. In India, they explain less than half.

We find that the unexplained gaps are about half a year for Muslim men, one year for Muslim women, more than two years for Adivasi women, Dalit women, and Dalit men, and more than three years for Adivasi men, they reported.

Social disparities

To find out the reasons behind the unseen other half, the trio suggested digging deep into social disparities and exploitation as addressing the economic concerns alone wont be sufficient to bridge the gap.

A 2020 study by scientists at the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, also came up with similar findings. The IIPS team also found differences in life expectancy among various social and religious groups, but concluded that such gaps were not linked to socio-economic status.
India's Defence Ministry on Thursday issued survival guidelines for Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine, especially Kharkiv, while warning them of aerial raids and drone attacks.

The ministry told stranded Indian citizens to learn a few sentences in Russian language to tell people they were students from India. "Here are the sentences in Russian: 'Ya student iz Indii (I am a student from India)', 'Ya nekombatant (I am a non-combatant)', 'Pazhalusta Pamagite (please, help me)'," the ministry said in advisory for Indian nationals in Ukraine's Kharkiv about potentially dangerous and difficult situations to be expected.

This advisory, prepared by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, warns about aerial raids, missile attacks, artillery shelling, small arms and gunfire, grenade explosions and 'Molotov cocktails', including by local people/militia. It also warned of building collapse, falling debris, internet jamming, lack of electricity and food and water, exposure to freezing temperature, psychological trauma, feeling of panic, injuries and lack of medical support, as well as lack of transportation, and coming face-to-face with armed fighters and military personnel.

Click here to follow live updates on Ukraine-Russia crisis

Providing ground rules and a list of things to do, it asked nationals to compile and share information with fellow Indians, remain mentally strong and not panic. "Organise yourselves in small groups/squads of ten Indian students/within that organise a buddy/pair system/nominate a coordinator and a deputy coordinator in each group of ten persons," said the ministry advisory, adding that their presence and whereabouts must always be known to their buddy and small group coordinator.

The ministry also told Indian nationals to make a WhatsApp group, compile details such as names, address, mobile numbers and contacts in India and share geolocation on WhatsApp with control rooms in the Embassy or in New Delhi. It asked them to update information every eight hours, keep frequent head count and directed group and squad coordinators to report their location to control rooms and helpline numbers.

The advisory also stressed that they must avoid stepping out from their bunker, basement, or shelter at all times.

Also Read  Explained: Why Russia is invading Ukraine

"Stay indoors, preferably in designated safe zones, basements, bunkers. If you find yourself in the streets, then walk on the sides of the roads, close to cover of buildings, crouch low to avoid being targeted, do not cross streets, avoid city centres, or downtown areas. Turn around street corners in urban areas with great caution," it said.

"Do not go to downtown and crowded areas. Do not join local protestors or militia. Refrain from commenting on social media. Don't pick up weapons or any unexploded ammunition/shells," it said.

The ministry also advised them not to take pictures/selfies with military vehicles, troops, soldiers, check posts and militia. "Do not try and film live combat situations. In the event of warning sirens, take immediate shelter wherever possible. If you are in the open, lie flat on your stomach and cover your head with your backpack," it said.

"Avoid unstable/damaged buildings and be mindful of falling/flying debris. Stay away from glass windows to avoid injury from flying glass during explosions or gunfire," it said.

The ministry also advised they not consume alcohol and refrain from substance abuse.

"Do not wear wet socks to avoid chill blains/frostbite. Wherever possible, remove your shoes and dry your socks and other wet belongings," said the ministry said.

Also Read  India explores setting up rupee trade accounts with Russia to soften sanctions blow

Indians were asked to keep ready a small kit of essential items on persons or at hand round the clock, with the emergency kit containing passport, ID cards, essential medication/life-saving drugs, torch, matchbox, lighter, candles, cash, energy bars, power banks, water, first-aid kit, headgear, muffler, gloves, warm jacket and warm socks and a comfortable pair of shoes.

"Conserve and share food and water: avoid full meals, eat smaller portions to extend the rations. Stay hydrated. If you find yourself in an open area/field, melt snow to make water. If available, keep one large garbage bag per person to use as ground matting/cover against exposure to rain/cold/storm/during forced march/evacuation."

If injured or ill, intimate condition and seek advice from control room, helpline and WhatsApp group, the advisory said.

Indians were also asked to delete all unnecessary apps in mobile, limit conversations to low volume, and audio mode to conserve battery life.

"Pack minimum personal belongings (other than the emergency kit) preferably in small backpack suitable for long trek and walking," said the ministry.

Be ready to move under instructions at short notice, do not carry large bags to avoid slowing down, fatigue and crowding, it said.

"If stopped by military check-post or by police/armed personnel/militia - cooperate/obey/raise your hands with open palms facing forward above your shoulders/remain polite/provide necessary information/contact the control room/helpline when possible without confrontation," it said.

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A number of Indian students evacuated from Ukraine have criticised the government, claiming that they received little to no help from Indian Embassy officials, with one even slamming the gesture of handing over a rose to returnees.

"We are being given this (flowers) after returning to India. What should I do with this rose? What would our families do if something happened to us there?" Divyanshu Singh, one of the students who fled Ukraine and was flown back from Hungary on Thursday, told news broadcaster NDTV.

"Had the government taken action on time, there would have been no need to give us these roses," an anguished Singh added. '

"Our government is at fault. The US government informed its citizens on time, ours told us at the very end," he said

Follow live Ukraine-Russia crisis updates here

Another student who was flown by the Indian Air Force from Bucharest told the channel that the government should not call be calling this operation an evacuation.

"They brought us in flights from a safe country, Romania, to here. How can this be called evacuation?"

"We do not want free flights, we want help to reach the borders," she said, adding that the government should help all Indians  particularly in Sumy and Kharkiv  reach the Western border safely.

Aneesh, a student from Bengaluru, in a terse message, said that the government did not have the "guts" to step foot in Ukraine. He was part of a group of students who was flown back to Karnataka from Hungary. The student also said that his group was able to reach the Hungarian border safely only because of the Indian flag that they had attached to the bus and urged ministers to "stop showing off."

On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs said that nearly 17,000 Indians had fled Ukraine since the Embassy in Kyiv first began issuing advisories. Four flights run by the Indian Air Force from Hungary, Romania and Poland carrying 828 Indians together landed at the Hindon Air Base earlier on Thursday.

Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the IAF and Indian carriers will operate 19 flights to bring back 3,726 Indians from Ukraine's neighbouring countries to India on Thursday.

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Many Indian students are still stuck in Ukraine and the problem is in the war-torn country's eastern parts where stranded people need assistance, said an evacuee who arrived in Mumbai on Thursday.

A flight from Bucharest carrying 183 Indians, including an infant, stranded in Ukraine landed in Mumbai in the morning, officials said.

Union minister Raosaheb Danve welcomed the passengers as soon as the Air India Express Flight IX 1202 landed here around 5:30 am.

Also Read | New Delhi rejects Russia's allegation against Ukraine, says no Indian in Kharkiv taken hostage by Ukrainian Army

The eastern side of Ukraine has been facing a brutal Russian assault. After landing here on Thursday, one of the students said, "The eastern side is where the problem is and people (students) there need assistance."

Another student said while she managed to cross the (Ukraine) border, a lot of students were still stuck. "So, I am praying that they also get out of there, she said.

It was difficult to secure a flight. Students were not getting flights, but then the Indian embassy helped us with that, she added.

Meanwhile, Danve said around 4,000 to 5,000 Indians have been brought home so far from Ukraine and the operation will continue to bring back those still stranded there.

Last week, Maharashtra minister Vijay Wadettiwar said around 1,200 students from the state are estimated to have been stuck in war-hit Ukraine.

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The Union Health Ministry has asked the states to utilise near-expiry Covid-19 shots lying at private hospitals in order to avoid vaccine wastage.

The Union Health Ministry has no objection for states and union territories to consider exchange of near expiry vaccine vials of private Covid vaccination centres with long expiry vaccine vials available with government Covid vaccination centres after due diligence. Kindly ensure that no vial of Covid-19 vaccine is wasted, Vikas Sheel, Additional Secretary in the ministry wrote to the states last week.

Also Read | Govt says it is now 'rational' to open schools while taking precautions

According to the letter, released by the ministry on Thursday, a new accounting provision for such exchanged vaccines is available in the Co-WIN platform.

Private hospitals in several big cities were struggling with their near-expiry Covid-19 vaccine stocks as there was no clarity on whether such vaccines could be reused in the government programme. It was a particularly critical issue for the private hospitals in West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra.

The ministry has now communicated to all the states to hold regular reviews on the status of Covid vaccines available with the private hospitals and clinics and to check if the vaccine stock is expected to expire in the coming months.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modis government in New Delhi has dismissed Moscows allegation that the Ukrainian Army had forcibly stopped some Indians from leaving Kharkiv in the East European nation and took them hostage to be used as human shields to resist the advancing Russian Army.

The Embassy of India in Kyiv is in continuous touch with Indians in Ukraine, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said early on Thursday. New Delhi noted that many Indian students had left Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday with the cooperation of the local authorities.

We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student, he said, contradicting the allegations made not only by a spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Government but also by the office of President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

New Delhi has requested support from the Ukrainian Government in arranging special trains for taking students out of Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country, the MEA spokesperson said.

Also read: Polish border guards beat up around 100 Indian students and turned them back into Ukraine: Belarus envoy to UN

We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, said Bagchi.

A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days. We appreciate the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible, he added, dismissing Moscows allegation against Kyiv.

India got hundreds of its citizens to leave Kharkiv and move to three nearby towns on short notice on Wednesday, apparently for evacuating them through the territory of Russia.

Moscow, however, alleged that the Ukrainian Army had taken some Indian students hostage and forced them to remain in Kharkiv to be used as human shields in a press release issued after Putin had a phone call with Modi.

The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Government also alleged that the Ukrainian Army and local authorities forcibly kept a large group of Indian students in Kharkiv, although they had wanted to leave and cross the Ukraine-Russia border to go to Belgorod in Russia. In fact, they (Indians) are being held as hostages (by the Ukrainians) and offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border (though areas of active hostilities), a spokesperson of the Russian Government said. Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens, and send them home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes, they added.

Also read: After harrowing week, 100 Indian students enter Poland

Kyiv on the other hand stated that the citizens of India, Pakistan and China could not leave Kharkiv and Sumy due to indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on the residential areas and civilian infrastructure in eastern Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Ukrainian Government also said that it was ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy if Russia committed to a ceasefire.

Modi spoke to Putin and reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv. They discussed the safe evacuation of the citizens of India from the conflict zones in Ukraine, according to a press release issued by the Prime Ministers Office in New Delhi. Putin told Modi that all necessary instructions had been given and the Russian Army had been doing everything possible to ensure the safe removal of Indian citizens from the war zone and their return to their homeland.

Hundreds of Indians, mostly students, have been stranded in Kharkiv, Sumy and other cities in eastern Ukraine ever since the country came under attack from Russia early on February 24. A 21-year-old medical student, Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, was killed in front of the grocery store during Russian shelling on Tuesday.

The Embassy of India in Kyiv issued an urgent advisory at around 1:30 pm (Ukraine Time) on Wednesday, asking the stranded Indians to immediately leave Kharkiv and, in case of unavailability of vehicles, start walking towards Pesochyn, Babai and Bezlyudivka, three settlements located nearly 11-16 kilometres away. Proceed immediately. Under all circumstances, Indians must reach these settlements by 6 pm (Ukraine Time) today, the embassy asked students in the advisory.

A majority of Indians stranded in the city did leave after the advisory was issued and they either reached or were on their way to the designated destinations, according to the latest report received in New Delhi.

Live news updates on Russia-Ukraine crisis on DH

Bagchi, the spokesperson of the MEA, told journalists in New Delhi on Wednesday that India had issued the advisory on the basis of inputs received from Russia. He, however, declined to elaborate on the nature of the inputs India received from Russia.

A source in New Delhi, however, told DH that the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Government had alerted the Embassy of India in Moscow about the possibility of a major military operation being launched soon to fully wrest control of Kharkiv from Ukraine.

After the death of Naveen, the Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla once again called in Russias ambassador-designate to India, Denis Alipov, and demanded safe evacuation of Indians. He also called in Kyivs envoy to New Delhi, Igor Polikha, and reiterated the demand.

Kharkiv has been witnessing intense fighting as the Ukrainian Army tries to hold on to its second largest city. The paratroopers of the Russian Armed Forces purportedly landed in and around Kharkiv early on Wednesday. Russia is also sending additional troops towards eastern Ukraine, apparently preparing for a major offensive to take the city.

Though the Modi Government in New Delhi over the past few days evacuated a large number of Indians from western Ukraine through neighbouring Romania, Hungary, Poland and Slovak Republic, it could not help the ones stranded in Kharkiv, Sumy and other places in the war-torn eastern region of the country.

It was after the death of Naveen in Kharkiv on Tuesday that the Government of India decided to prioritise evacuation of citizens from the city.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday blamed previous governments for a large number of Indian students going abroad to pursue medical education and asserted that his dispensation has been working to augment the number of medical colleges so that students can enrol themselves within the country.

In an interaction with students from different parts of Uttar Pradesh who have returned from the war-hit Ukraine, Modi also empathised with those students and their families who have expressed their anger, even at him, after facing hardships in Ukraine.

"I think it is natural for them to feel angry in this crisis," he said, adding that they have been facing hardships and braving cold.

The government has launched Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine which has been attacked by Russia.

When they are no longer agitated and begin to understand the magnitude of the exercise, they will show their affection as well, the prime minister said, as many students expressed their thanks to him and lauded his government for rescuing them when they had lost all hope.

Click here to follow live updates on Ukraine-Russia crisis

A strong India is the answer to these troubles, Modi said, expressing his sympathies with the students who, he added, had to go through such an experience at a young age.

"If medical education policies were right earlier, then you would not have to go abroad," he said, adding that no parents want their children to go overseas at such a young age.

His government is working to correct the past mistakes, he added. There were 300 to 400 medical colleges earlier, and they now number nearly 700, Modi said. The number of seats they offer has now gone up to 1.5 lakh from earlier 80,000-90,000, he said. "My effort is that every district has one medical college. Probably, there will be more doctors produced in 10 years than the last 70 years," he said.

This will be a big thing as young students would not have to travel abroad, and their families would not have to under such stress, he added.

Speaking to the students, Modi said everyone should keep doing something for the country. "You had to undergo such an experience in life at such a young age in a distant place alone. I can imagine the mental state you would have been through. Now we are able to evacuate people properly," he said.

The students shared their experiences with Modi, who is on a tour of the state as part of the BJP's campaign for the ongoing Assembly polls. Modi represents Varanasi constituency in Lok Sabha.

Also Read  Explained: Why Russia is invading Ukraine

Sharing their experience, some students said they had left all hopes after Russia launched an attack on Ukraine and could not have returned without support from the government. Some other students said they faced no difficulties and received adequate facilities from the Indian Embassy there.

"After the attack began, it seemed I will not be able to return and saw death from close quarters. I am proud of being an Indian and you as prime minister," a student said, adding that the display of Indian flag on their windows and buses ensured that Russian forces let them go without causing any problem.

Another student conveyed his family's gratitude to the prime minister, saying they believed only he can do something after he was stranded in Ukraine. "You were being remembered only next to God," he said.

Even students of some other countries also used Indian flag to get smooth passage from the Russian army, one said.

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Delhi's vibrant art district in Lodhi Colony has now some new quirky residents  a flying 'fish', an 'owl' on roller skates and a 'flamingo' on a bicycle.

This colourful, surrealistic menagerie has been imagined by two women  a graphic novel artist from Germany and an architect-illustrator from India -- who joined hands to create a dazzling mural in the heart of the national capital.

The Indo-German collaborative work titled 'Fish Out of Water' took two weeks.

Besides depicting flora and fauna, it draws its essence from the idea of travelling and experiencing a new culture, as also travelling in one's mind to places that don't exist on a map.

Aashti Miller, an architect by day and an illustrator by night, said the idea of travelling in one's minds essentially happened during the pandemic when lockdown and new safety norms essentially meant there was no physical travelling. The artwork also draws from that aspect of life.

Mumbai-based Miller, 28, and Greta Von Richthofen, 33, who can also be dubbed as 'fellow travellers' for this project given the theme of the artwork, interacted with a group of select guests at the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan in Delhi on Wednesday evening after a curated walk in the Lodhi Art district, where virtually every other wall has a mega mural.

Anja Riedeberger, Director, Information and Library Services, Goethe-Institut, South Asia, said the mural in Delhi and another one that the two artists will work together on in Chennai, are part of a larger project called 'Graphic Travelogues' of the Goethe-Institut.

The project focuses on the depiction of travel in comics and graphic novels and brings together artists from around the globe to create a digital platform focusing on the subject of travel and its evolution during the pandemic.

Miller and Greta in their artistic collaboration for the mural have also married the culture and sensibilities of the two countries with a surrealistic imagination.

The art is called 'Fish Out of Water' and there is actually a fish on the wall, but it has wings and it is flying.

This depicts the experience of travelling out of a familiar place to a new culture and the element of surprise and unease one might feel, but not in a negative way, Miller told PTI.

Also, there is an Indian owl on roller skates and a flamingo riding a bicycle, and there is a flying whale too. It's a motley crew, she said.

Greta echoes her views and adds that as it's an Indo-German collaboration, a German bird called Blaumeiser has also been depicted in the mural, but the work is an amalgamation of our efforts and a shared vision despite cultural and linguistic differences.

Miller, who did her master's degree in architecture from Cornell University in 2017 and works for a US-based firm, said the artwork was first conceived through sketches and was later translated into a mural.

But, the final work is very different from what was conceived in the sketch form, as it kept evolving. Initially, it had a dominant blue hue but based on feedback and incorporating the colours seen in Delhi it took the current shape, said Greta, who has a degree in visual communications from a university in Kassel, Germany.

The artwork also depicts parachutes in mid-air and a pair of hands, holding a pencil. Miller said, The hands are in Delhi, but the head will come up in Chennai.

The theme is travel and we are literally travelling from north to south India, from one culture to another, to do the second mural together at an art festival. So, the two murals are physically separated but are parts of a whole, as imagined, she added.

The artwork in Delhi has been created under the 'Graphic Travelogues' project of Goethe-Institut in partnership with St+Art, a Mumbai-based art group, whose previous projects have transformed Lodhi Colony in central Delhi into a 'Lodhi Art District'.

Officials at the Goethe-Institut here said the idea behind this mural project was to bring greater engagement of public with art as also to celebrate the ties between the two countries.

Asked if the existing projects were on their minds while working on 'Fish Out of Water', Miller said, I did go and see the existing murals and it was a bit scary as I am in the initial phases as an artist.

But, not knowing what we will be able to accomplish was also an advantage as we didn't pre-empt our work, and the result was surprising and delightful.

We had fun making this, and we hope people will have a whale of a time, watching this mural, she said.

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Oceans and Fisheries Minister Moon Seong-hyeok / Yonhap



Shipping company expected to be less worth next year



By Park Jae-hyuk



Minority shareholders of HMM have leveled criticism at Oceans and Fisheries Minister Moon Seong-hyeok for reiterating that it is too early to privatize the container transportation and shipping company, despite its record earnings last year.



"There are prerequisites to selling HMM shares which are owned by Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Korea Ocean Business Corp. (KOBC)," the minister told reporters, Wednesday. "Its management condition needs to be stabilized further over the next two to three years."



He added that the government is expected to retrieve triple the amount it injected into HMM, once the shipping company is privatized.



His recent remarks came a few months after his press conference last December, in which he cited HMM's relatively low credit rating of "BBB-" as the main reason for the ministry's skepticism about the company's complete independence from the government.



In contrast, HMM's minority shareholders have called for prompt privatization, based on the belief that the deal will raise its stock price sharply.



They have claimed the timing is right for HMM's privatization, considering the recent improvement in the global shipping industry, which enabled the company's 2021 operating profit to rise 652 percent year-on-year to a record 7.37 trillion won ($6.1 billion) and its annual sales to reach 13.7 trillion won the same year, up 115 percent from 2020.



The latest nomination of former Hyundai Glovis CEO Kim Kyung-bae to lead HMM has also caused minority shareholders to anticipate Hyundai Motor Group's acquisition of the shipping company, despite the automotive group's continuous denials.



"We want the sale of HMM to be finished by the end of this year, because the lack of aggressive investments has deteriorated its competitiveness, blocking it from catching up with market leaders," one of the minority shareholders wrote online.



KDB has also continued to indicate its intention to sell its stake in HMM.



Earlier this year, KDB Chairman Lee Dong-gull told reporters that the bank should sell parts of its stake gradually so as to pursue a smooth M&A deal. He also said last November that KDB should divest from HMM, because the shipping company has become "very profitable" recently.



Local securities analysts raised questions about the maritime ministry's hesitancy about selling HMM.



"Once the global supply chain bottlenecks are resolved next year in the wake of COVID-19's transition into an endemic disease, freight rates will become lower," Daishin Securities analyst Yang Ji-hwan said. "In that case, it will be difficult to sell HMM, so it would be better to privatize the company this year."



The analyst expects KDB to sell its stake in HMM first, while allowing the buyer to have a call option to take over the remaining shares owned by KOBC later.



"It seems that KDB seeks to sell its stake as soon as possible, while the maritime ministry wants a slower sale," he said. "The two institutions should talk with each other to reach an agreement."


However, the report prepared after a visit by NCPCR led by its chairman Priyank Kanoongo does not make any conclusion on allegations by BJP and parents of the girl that she and her family were forced to convert to Christianity.

The girl had named the warden in one of the videos shot by a BJP functionary before her death. The girl, responding to questions from the BJP functionary, had said the warden had attempted to convert her to Christianity two years ago.

The BJP took up the issue to allege forced conversion but the state police ruled out the angle. However, the girls father knocked at the doors of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court which transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). CBI is now investigating the case.

The 10-page report, accessed by DH, said there were many glaring issues which were required to be investigated by the investigating authorities and that many discrepancies and lapses were observed as to the immediate steps taken by the school authorities for the care of the minor girl after she fell sick she consumed pesticide on January nine and died ten days later.

On the procedural lapses in the investigation, the report said the alleged crime scene was not sealed and cordoned for the purpose of the investigation by the local police, and the Investigating Officer (IO) said that the warden, named by the girl, was not even taken on police custody.

It was also informed by the Investigating officer that to date she has not been able to identify the vendor/the source from which the alleged substance/poison/herbicide had been procured. It was also observed by the team during the interaction that the statements which were made by the IO and the SP had various anomalies, the report said.

The report also said the hostel authorities waited for the parents of the minor child to take her for medical treatment to the hospital even when she did not get relief with the treatment given by the nurse who had been called by them.

It is also pertinent to mention here that before the deceased girl was allowed to be taken for the treatment to the other hospital, the school authorities collected fee from the mother, the report added.

It was observed that the investigating authorities were somewhere trying to conceal material facts pertaining to the care given to the child while she was staying in the CCI and also ignored all the pleas made by the family to investigate regarding the minor being forced to convert into Christianity, the report said.

The report also said several violations under Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and its Rules, 2016 and various other irregularities were also noticed during the visit.

The NCPCR recommended Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu to provide necessary counselling, compensation and assistance to the parents and the brother of the deceased girl and to shift all the children residing in the hostel following due procedure immediately.

It also asked the Director General of Police Sylendra Babu to take disciplinary action against the district police officials for not following the due process of investigation and conducting a fair investigation.

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Even as a Kerala girl from Ukraine managed to bring her pet dog along with her and reached Delhi by Thursday, she was facing further hurdles in reaching Kerala.

Arya Aldrin, a native of Idukki in Kerala, received much appreciation for her efforts to bring her pet - a five-month old Siberian Husky. She reached Delhi from Romania on Thursday.

But on reaching Delhi, the Kerala government officials said that the chartered flights arranged for them to Kerala would not allow pets. Hence, she would have to arrange own means to bring the pet, said her friend Shyama.

The intervention of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) helped in relaxing the norms for carrying pets from abroad. However, Aldrin still had to struggle to meet the requirements like arranging a cage for the pet till she boarded the flight from Romania.

Many like Aldrine were carrying their pets along with them from Ukraine and faced similar issue.
Over the past week, Indian Embassy in Ukraine has continued to guide Indians stuck in the eastern European country, after Russia launched a full-scale military invasion. The government is evacuating nationals, including students, from Romania and Hungary as Ukrainian airspace remains closed.

Barring flight arrangements by the government, Indians in Ukraine are reportedly on their own and are asked to reach border points. On Wednesday evening, the Indian Embassy, in an advisory, asked nationals to immediately leave the city of Kharkiv, which came under heavy attack from Russian forces.

"Those students who cannot find vehicles or buses and are in railway station can proceed on foot..," the advisory said. They were asked to reach specific points, which were as far as 16 kilometres away.

Also read: Ukraine crisis: Scindia says IAF, Indian carriers to bring back 3,726 people in 19 flights Thursday

General guidelines to travel in a combat zone

- Cities are usually considered key targets during a war situation and this is true for Ukraine, where Kyiv and Kharkiv have been excessively hit. Suburbs or countryside are relatively safer, as military convoys move along large highways.

- Among things to carry, clothes, water bottles, light food, medicines, tissues and sanitary napkins for women are considered essential. Documents, including passport and now the Covid-19 vaccination certificates, are important. "Be prepared to walk, and take only as much as you can carry on your back," a military expert told The Indian Express.

- The students in Ukraine are told to carry only backpacks and not entire luggage. Heavy bags make walking impossible, considering terrain and weather may often be challenging. (It is just above 0 degrees Celcius in Kyiv)

- Staying together in a group during traveling on foot is also a key piece of advice. Guidelines by government agencies need to be followed and advisories have to be taken seriously as meeting points and shelters usually are equipped with supplies.

- Soldiers from either party must not be approached and by doing so one can put the group in danger, the expert told the newspaper.

- If caught in the crossfire, raise your hands and slowly move away and identify yourself as non-combatant. Running briskly or attempts to hide must be avoided.

- Military posts and government buildings have been under attack in Ukraine, thus they have to be avoided. Schools and other civilian spaces are relatively safer however, there is no guarantee about what can be considered a safe spot.

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Indias Operation Ganga evacuation process in war-hit Ukraine is not just bringing back the Indian students stranded in Ukraine, but also their furry friends.

Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation General Vijay Kumar Singh has shared a video on his Twitter account in which some Indian students are seen bringing their pet dogs with them while coming back to India.

Some of the evacuees brought their four legged best friends as well. Good to have all of our #IndianStudents aboard on the @IAF_MCC C-17 Globemaster ready to return to the safety of our motherland, General Vijay Kumar Singh wrote in a tweet.

Some of the evacuees brought their four legged best friends as well. Good to have all of our #IndianStudents aboard on the @IAF_MCC C-17 Globemaster ready to return to the safety of our motherland.#OperationGanga #NoIndianLeftBehind@PMOIndia @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/XprDh0p57K  General Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) March 2, 2022

A few days ago, a video of a third-year engineering student from India studying at Kharkiv National University refusing to leave the country surfaced on the internet. He appealed to the Indian government to help him take his dog with him while returning to the country as the Indian embassy in Kyiv was not helping him.

So far, around four to five thousand Indians have been brought home and the operation will continue to bring all those remaining there to the country, Union minister Raosaheb Danve said Thursday.

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The United States called on India on Wednesday to distance itself from Russia, its main arms supplier, after the invasion of Ukraine, which New Delhi has yet to condemn.

New US sanctions on Russian banks will make it harder for countries to buy major defence equipment from Moscow, a US diplomat said, though no decision had been reached on Washington granting a waiver to New Delhi to take delivery of Russian surface-to-air missiles under an earlier contract.

India signed a $5.5 billion deal with Russia in 2018 to buy five of its S-400 missile systems, initial supplies of which started late last year despite a US law aimed at deterring countries from buying Russian military hardware.

Also Read  India explores setting up rupee trade accounts with Russia to soften sanctions blow

The United States this week placed more restrictions on Moscow including the bank sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine last week. "It is going to be very hard for any country in the globe to buy major weapon systems from Russia because of the sweeping sanctions now placed on Russian banks," Donald Lu, assistant US Secretary of State for South Asian affairs, told a US senate subcommittee.

Lu also said US officials have held talks with India to "underscore the importance of a collective response condemning Russias invasion". India is the only major US ally that has declined to publicly criticise Moscow, though it has called for an end to violence.

Click here to follow live updates on Ukraine-Russia crisis

Asked by senators if the Ukraine crisis had changed the administration's position on a waiver for India, he said: "I am not able to prejudge the decisions of the president or the secretary on the waiver issue or on the sanction issue, or whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine will bear on that decision," Lu said.

"What I can say is that India is a really important security partner of ours now, and that we value that partnership. Moving forward, I hope that part of what happens with the extreme criticism that Russia has faced is that India will find it is now time to further distance itself from Russia."

India's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia is India's main arms supplier, though since 2011 New Delhi has reduced its imports from Moscow by 53 per cent and raised purchases from the United States.

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Top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday told a meeting of the Consultative Committee of MPs for the Ministry of External Affairs that the war situations are "always challenging" and there are "no perfect solutions in such situations" even as he and his party colleagues found fault with the government for not taking effective steps on time to evacuate Indians stuck in Ukraine.

The Consultative Committee of MPs, an informal mechanism for interaction with the government and MPs, was briefed by Foreign Secretary Harsh Varshan Shringla in the presence of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other senior officials about the current situation in war-hit Ukraine. Nine of the 21 MPs who are part of the committee attended the deliberations.

After the "good discussion on the strategic and humanitarian aspects of the issue", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tweeted, "strong and unanimous message of support for efforts to bring back all Indians from Ukraine. A national consensus on the importance of dialogue and diplomacy. Thank all members for their participation."

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Sources said Congress MPs  Rahul, Anand Sharma and Shashi Tharoor  told the meeting that India's interests are "paramount" for all of them and their suggestions were given with a "positive" attitude.

Congress MPs were of the view that the government did not take effective steps on time regarding the stranded students in Ukraine. They felt that the government should have acted more quickly to get them out of the war zone.

Initially, sources quoted the MPs as saying, the advisories issued there were also confusing but not clear, due to which most of the students remained there. They also told the meeting that the Indian government should have used India's "goodwill to mediate" between the two countries so that the violence would have stopped.

Also Read | Russia says 130 buses ready to evacuate Indian students, foreigners from Ukraine

For the time being, sources quoted Rahul as saying, our priority should be to get our students out of Ukraine safely. War situations are always challenging and there are no perfect solutions in such situations, Rahul said while praising the efforts of officers and Indian missions in Ukraine and its neighbouring countries from where evacuation is planned.

On what should be India's stand on the conflict, the Congress MPs said that one cannot adopt "partisan approach" in a war situation and it was necessary that New Delhi "remain neutral so that our people can get out safely".

Tharoor said it was an "excellent meeting" in which the MEA gave "comprehensive briefing and candid responses" to MPs' questions and concerns. "This is the spirit in which foreign policy should be run...The meeting took place in a constructive spirit and all parties are united in their desire to see our nationals return safely home...Frank discussions took place in an amicable atmosphere, a reminder that when it comes to national interests we are all Indians first and foremost."

Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "...all stand united in the efforts to bring our students back home."

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Russian President Putin finally attacked Ukraine, which was expected, on February 24. Again, as expected, the OECD countries, led by the US and EU, have imposed financial sanctions. But there has been no direct involvement in terms of sending their militaries to support Ukraine.

Also as expected, they have not imposed any sanctions on Russias energy sector. When interests are intertwined, as they are with Russian oil and gas supplies to Europe, it becomes difficult to take unilateral decisions. In the case of Venezuela and Iran, the US did not hesitate to impose sanctions on their energy sectors since there was minimum collateral damage to the US in doing so.

Sanctioning Russias energy sector would hurt both sides more or less equally. For Russia, oil and gas export earnings account for 60% of its total exports and nearly 40% of its federal budget. Europe, on the other hand, depends on Russia for 40% of its gas imports. In the short to medium term, Europe cannot meet its gas requirements if Russia stops gas exports -- one of its strongest weapons.

It can even be argued that the Russian economy can withstand the shock of a sudden drop in its export earnings from the loss of the European gas market, but Europe cannot manage without Russian gas supplies, especially during the winter months, although it must be noted that winter is about to end. It is this unequal position that has led the western industrial democracies not to impose sanctions on the Russian energy sector. In fact, the US had been warning its allies not to rely on Russian supplies ever since the first Russian gas pipeline to Europe was constructed.

Even before the Ukraine crisis started to dominate the news, the Nord Stream pipelines had been attracting unusual attention. In order to reduce dependence on Ukraine, through which Russia used to supply gas to Europe, it developed two Nord Stream gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea. Together, they have a combined capacity of 110 billion cubic meters (bcm). Nord Stream 1 was already in operation and Nord Stream 2 was ready to be commissioned once certified by Germany.

Initially, Germany was ready to approve Nord Stream 2 despite the US opposition to it. Germanys current gas demand is 90 bcm. Thus, Nord Stream would have added to its energy security since gas would be piped directly from Russia to Germany. Currently, Germany gets most of its Russian gas supplies through Ukraine but some supplies through Nord Stream 1 also.

However, after the start of the Ukraine war, Germany decided not to certify Nord Stream 2. Thus, in a way, it can be claimed that it is Germany that has started the Energy Cold War. Whether Germany was ready and willing to start it or was pushed to do it will be known only when events unfold in the future. At present, it is difficult to predict how and when this Energy Cold War will end. It is possible that Nord Stream 1 may also be forced to shut down.

But it is a surprise that the western countries have not imposed sanctions on crude oil and petroleum products from Russia. This may be because even before the Ukraine Crisis, the oil market was sending signals that demand was exceeding potential supply. Some experts were predicting oil prices to reach as high as $125 per barrel.

In the event, prices did not skyrocket, as they had during disruptions in oil supplies in 1973/74 during the Arab embargo and in 1977/78 during the Iranian revolution. Soon after the attack on Ukraine started, Brent crude reached $106/b. But it then fell below $100/b. This shows that the US and its allies could have taken the risk of imposing at least partial sanctions on Russian oil, restricting the ban to only the developed countries. They could have used their petroleum reserves to put pressure on Russia. Such steps would have reduced Russian flexibility in selling crude oil and petroleum products. Russia accounts for about 10 million barrels per day (MBD) of oil production (about 10% of world oil production) and exports about 5 MBD.

While much is written about the political and economic impact of the Ukraine invasion in the short, medium and long term, there is hardly any discussion of how the oil and gas trade will change in the future due to the Energy Cold War. In the medium term, western countries will certainly reduce imports of gas and oil from Russia to a minimum. While there will be minimum impact on Russian oil production, its gas sector will suffer. It will not be easy to find a market for the large quantity of gas that it exports to Europe. This will be a big economic loss to Russia.

Russia will likely become a more active member of OPEC+ in the future, and unlike in the past, it may not threaten to unilaterally increase production, but rather lend more cooperation to OPEC.

In this Energy Cold War, India will face a difficult situation in terms of its relations with the Russian energy sector. The developed countries have the economic clout to cut off trading with Russia in the petroleum sector, but not energy-deficient India. It may have been relatively simpler to decide to abstain from voting against Russia in the UN Security Council, but India will have to pause to see how the West will look at any greater Indian involvement with Russias energy sector.

Yet, India should strategically place itself to promote large quantities of oil and gas (in the case of gas, it is mostly the import of LNG) which are likely to be available at attractive prices from Russia once the developed countries treat it as a pariah. In addition, India should also promote even greater investment in the Russian petroleum sector by Indian companies and by Russian companies in India. Energy transition to renewables will, however, make this a complex task.

(The writer is a former international oil and gas industry professional)
March 3 is celebrated as World Wildlife Day. It marks the day of the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973. The theme for 2022 is Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has estimated that over 8,400 species of wild fauna and flora are critically endangered, which means that there is enough scientific information to demonstrate that a species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Likewise, more than 30,000 species are categorised as endangered or vulnerable, two categories that act as beacons that these lifeforms will be lost if suitable action is not taken in time.

This downfall has been due to the loss of habitat and the direct extermination of species for trade and other reasons. The Great Indian Bustard, once proposed to be the national bird of India, is synonymous with how we are on the verge of losing a species that specialises in surviving in grasslands. We continue to fail our wildlife that are fussy about where they live. In conservation vocabulary, they are called habitat specialists.

A key aspect of wildlife species conservation is the protection of their natural habitats. Once the home where wildlife can survive and reproduce is lost, saving species becomes a humongous task. Restoring habitats over large areas is colossally expensive and almost impossible, especially for species that need big spaces. It could be the cheetah, tiger, elephant, rhino, lion-tailed macaque, whales or sea turtles, the picture for some species remains the same -- they need vast contiguous spaces.

India is now at a critical juncture when the priority is to achieve ever-higher levels of economic growth. To achieve this economic aspiration, we have ignored that saving natural habitats is mandatory, rather than a luxury. Words like sustainable development, sustainable use have ended up being mere buzzwords. Laws that were cornerstones of conservation have been weakened under the pretext that they need to be development-friendly. Perpetrators responsible for the loss of wildlife habitats are rarely brought to justice.

Worldwide, another aspect that leads to the extinction of species is the direct extermination of species for trade or consumption. With the increasing human population and growing affluence, the demand for body parts or meat of certain wildlife species is on the rise. This must be curtailed through a combination of law enforcement and education.

As technology changes and products become cheaper, new threats emerge. A new report by the UNs Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) has highlighted that Indias Ganges River Dolphin and the Gharial (a crocodile species) are adversely impacted by plastic pollution. Both species are at high risk of entanglement in fishing lines and gillnets. The critically endangered Gharial, which numbers only about 650, is also at risk of ingestion of microplastic.

Loss of species or their habitats directly impacts humans as many people rely on biodiversity-based resources for livelihood, food, medicine, growing crops, and many other daily needs. It also leads to disasters such as floods and water scarcity, landslides, extreme weather conditions, pollution, and others, some of which are irreversible.

But there are glimmers of hope. One of the recent success stories is that of vultures. They were reduced to extremely low numbers in India and elsewhere due to certain veterinary drugs administered to livestock. Nowadays, near the Moyar gorge on the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and in Bandipur Tiger Reserve, I often observe a kettle of vultures circling overhead or gliding thermals searching for food.

They are also often found in good numbers around wildlife carcasses. Both depict that the numbers are slowly inching back. However, what we still miss seeing is the scene of vultures at livestock carcasses in rural parts of the country. Possibly, there is a big change in the way livestock carcasses are disposed of. If we take a leaf out of such victories and work towards reversing the extinction risk, it will be the greatest gift to wildlife and, in turn, to humanity.

Though World Wildlife Day is a symbolic event, the conservation of species needs attention and action on a daily basis. Though the threats that burden wildlife are complex, collective efforts by government, communities, conservationists, social leaders, media, scientists, and anyone who can make a difference, is the need of the hour. Though there is an increased interest in wildlife tourism, photography and other such activities, support and involvement in issues that threaten wildlife is diminishing. Collaborating with governments can reap rich benefits to conservation. Unfortunately, these days, collaborations from interested groups seem to be notional, such as producing films, designing logos, or activities that contribute very little to actually saving species.

(The writer is a conservationist and the author of Leopard Diaries: The Rosette in India)
Nawab Malik has been part of Maharashtra's ruling circles for decades, but he wasn't the name that came to mind when one spoke of "Muslim faces" in the government. One knew of him as a minister, sometimes handling labour, sometimes housing. Unlike other Muslim ministers, he was never photographed with maulanas, nor did he take centre stage when Muslims were released after spending years in jail on false charges, not because he has always maintained a low profile, but simply because he didn't get involved in such matters. He was no "qaum ka rehnuma" (leader of the community). He was just a politician.

Today, when identity has become paramount, and representation is the buzzword, it's difficult to imagine a time when it was commonplace for Muslims to be part of government without being noticeably Muslim. Grouses about representation have been there for a long time; before every election, politically active Muslims would get together and demand that parties allot them more tickets. The demand was rarely met, and things would go back to normal after the results.

But after Narendra Modi took over in 2014, things never went back to normal. It was no longer a question of not enough tickets. The question that began to be asked then had never needed to be asked: did Muslims matter anymore in our representative system of government?

Modi's BJP made it clear that the only community that mattered was the majority community; all others, especially those following what the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has always described as "foreign" religions, had to efface their distinctiveness. Asaduddin Owaisi took this logic to the other extreme: Muslims must have a share in power, but only a Muslim party that flaunted the community's religious identity could give it to them.

In this clash of arms, one reality continues to be ignored - the Muslim in government who is no different from his/her Hindu counterpart, who doesn't wear his/her faith like a badge. Does such a Muslim qualify in today's discussions on Muslim representation? So all-pervasive has the issue of identity become that we forget that for years Ghulam Nabi Azad was the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha; that Salman Khurshid is one among many who represent the Congress in TV debates and that Muslim MLAs from the South often talk about their parties on matters that have nothing to do with being Muslim.

Also read: No need for Malik to resign as he has not be proven guilty, says minister Jayant Patil

Nawab Malik has been the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spokesman for more than a decade. He is also its Mumbai president. The NCP is Malik's predominant identity. But over the last few months, this low profile politician, who continues to live with his joint family in his old flat in the predominantly Muslim area of Kurla, has acquired a new identity: that of the "Muslim leader" who dared to take on the all-powerful Hindutvavadi Central government on behalf of an unfairly targeted Bollywood icon. And now that he's paying the price for that audacity, Nawab Malik has become the latest "Muslim victim".

That epithet seems like a cruel joke to the Muslims who live in the constituency where Malik began his political career. The man who's been minister thrice hasn't bothered to ensure for his earliest voters even the most basic of civic amenities. Malik now fights from another constituency, but this ghetto, dotted with piles of garbage and illegal constructions, remains under the menacing shadow of his brother.

Few of these voters joined the NCP's protest when Malik was arrested last week. It wasn't just their own neglect by the minister that made them stay away; it was also Malik's silence on the lynchings and everyday humiliation of Muslims that have been a hallmark of BJP-ruled states in the last seven years. As a spokesperson of an opposition party, Malik could have spoken up on these crucial issues. He chose not to. When he did take the BJP on, they point out, it was only to avenge his son-in-law's arrest by the Narcotics Control Bureau.

Yet, today, Muslims, in general, are proud that one of their own confronted the Centre. To the heroes and heroines of the fight against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)-National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the hijab ban, a most unlikely hero has been added. One wonders, though, whether Nawab Malik sees himself as part of this galaxy of fighters for the community. Going by his record as minorities minister for the last two years, he doesn't quite fit the bill.

For thrusting this community halo on a man who shuns identity politics, credit must be given to the BJP and its relentless pursuit of Muslims at every level.

(Jyoti Punwani is a journalist.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH .

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In his New Year's message to the world, when Pope Francis declared that violence against women insults God, it raised a few eyebrows. After all, this was not the first time that the Pope had spoken about social issues. Since his ascension in 2013 as the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, the Pope has been vocal about a variety of social and political issues; be it advocating for greater activism for climate justice, equitable and accessible healthcare for all, welcoming members of the LGBT community to the Church, or being openly critical of capitalism and consumerism. Even while defending the traditional beliefs of the Catholic Church on a contentious issue such as abortion, he builds his defence on the grounds of reason and science more often than theology.

The Pope is not the only religious figure participating in the discourse around developmental issues today. Today, every society is witnessing a resurgence of religious institutions responding to contemporary social and economic problems relating to health, livelihoods, education, and the environment. In other words, they are participating in the development project.

Why is this significant, one may ask?

Perhaps because, once upon a time, people had imagined religion and development to be in binary opposition to each other and development was seen as an essentially 'secular' subject. Religion, according to this perspective, was imagined as patriarchal, regressive, anti-science and anti-equality while the 'secular' development project was seen as embedded in reason, rationality, democracy and human rights. In continuity with these ideas, the discourse that was led by international development agencies after the Second World War marginalised religious players as their teachings were perceived to be incompatible with the ideas of human rights, gender equality and liberal secularism.

In post-colonial India, too, the State did not accord an important status to religious institutions in the development domain for quite some time, despite the latter's contributions to social reform in the colonial period. In an edited book titled 'Religion, Community and Development: Changing Contours of Politics and Policy in India', Professors Gurpreet Mahajan and Surinder Jodhka have shown that in the backdrop of the bloody Partition, religious actors were seen as divisive forces by the State and potentially capable of entrenching the religious, caste, and gender divides. The task of development planning was primarily seen as the State's responsibility.

With time it has become evident that secularisation didn't quite follow the trajectory it was expected to by its adherents. While indeed religion does not function as a 'sacred canopy' anymore across most societies, it has come to re-assert itself in the public domain though it has significantly transformed itself in the process. Religious organisations working in the development domain like to be called 'secular' and constantly invoke the language of rights, equality and social justice. In India, as elsewhere, the contribution of religious organisations to philanthropy and developmental activities has been steadily growing.

A large-scale economic survey of religious institutions in India conducted by a team of researchers based in Cambridge and Delhi between 2006 and 2010 found that post-1991, religious institutions have increased their participation in providing food, education, healthcare, childcare and employment. An analysis of the FCRA data from 2009/10 to 2018/19 reveals that the proportion of the contribution of religious funding to overall funding has steadily increased from 2014/15 onward; averaging 7 per cent from 2014/15 to 2018/19 versus 2 per cent average contribution during 2009/10 - 2013/14. Religious organisations are also better embedded in the community and have access to a large pool of volunteers, widespread networks and command respect from vast sections of people across societies.

Given the enormity of problems facing the world today, one cannot escape the fact that we need more partners and allies. Hence, greater openness to building religious institutions and leaders as allies in the battle against poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy will likely help us reach our developmental goals faster. While certain beliefs of religious organisations are antithetical to democracy and equality, one has to appreciate that religious communities and congregations are not monolithic. For every conservative and repressive tradition upheld by religion, there have been counter traditions that have evolved within the same faith. It is usually possible to negotiate these tensions through an approach of 'overlapping consensus' and clearly demarcating boundaries that disallow discrimination or favouritism.

Like all other institutions in society, religion is living, dynamic and evolving. When Nietzsche famously declared in the 19th Century that God is dead, he was referring to how scientific development and the birth of reason post Enlightenment in Europe had annihilated the idea of a divine moral force governing the universe. Perhaps that God has indeed died. In the 21st Century, however, a new God is alive and kicking, and she is constantly adapting herself to secularised forms to remain triumphant. Development professionals, are you listening?

(Malini Bhattacharjee is faculty at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
Fighter jet in round-the-clock combat flight training

China Military Online) 15:46, March 03, 2022

A pilot assigned to an aviation brigade of the air force under the PLA Central Theater Command climbs into the cockpit of his J-10 fighter jet prior to a round-the-clock combat flight training exercise on February 23, 2022. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Jin Huidong)

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)




Hyundai cars are temporally stationed at Hyundai Motor's Ulsan export loading docks before shipment. / Yonhap
The ramifications of Russia's Ukraine invasion emerge daily, among them a curious but substantial one for the recently renovated India-Australia bilateral relationship on which the present Australian federal government places so much weight.

While the background is complex and put (perhaps too) crudely here, in recent years, the Liberal-National Party coalition government in Canberra has: swung fully back to a global reliance on America; become increasingly belligerent towards China; and come to regard India as a counterweight to China.

That is because China's increasing Pacific presence (notable recently in the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea) has spooked Canberra into looking for a global alliance reset.

Read more: Quad leaders to hold virtual meet amid Ukraine crisis

That led to Scott Morrison's government becoming enthusiastic about what is now known as the QUAD  an alliance between the United States, Japan, Australia and India. Among other things, that fed further enthusiasm for the "Indo-Pacific" term as a new sphere of influence and activity.

The QUAD is seen as a bulwark against the rising tide of Chinese influence by way of the Belt and Road project. QUAD members regularly cast Chinese activities in areas like the Indian Ocean as rapacious, noting developments like China's repossession of the rebuilt port at Hambantota in lieu of debt payment from the Sri Lankan government.

While concern over Belt and Road activities is reasonable, it has also been used to legitimate drivers behind the need for and justification of the QUAD. In Australia, as a generalisation, Canberra has assumed the QUAD relationship will take priority for all parties involved and, in turn, automatically involve unquestioned unity in all matters.

Which is where the Ukraine crisis has produced a problem.

Several Australian commentators have expressed surprise that QUAD member India has not automatically joined those countries like Australia and the United States in United Nations resolutions on sanctions and related actions against Russia following the Ukraine invasion. A few of those commentators have even seen India's reluctance to join these actions as a betrayal of QUAD fundamentals  and a few have blindly raised the question of why India is still in the QUAD.

These issues will play out in the coming weeks and months as part of the normal labyrinthine United Nations processes attendant on such dreadful conflicts, and India will, no doubt, reach agreements or not with its QUAD partners on them.

But at a deeper level, the sheer nature and future of the India-Australia relationship swing into focus here.

As is well known, this new (and, it has to be said, vigorous) attempt at strengthening the India-Australia relationship is the latest in a string that has not always amounted to much over the years since the end of the World War II. The hurdles are clear enough: India moving to be a republic at Independence; its long-standing commitment to the non-aligned sphere during the Cold War and after; its heavy interaction with Russia during that phase; its strong socialist outlook at a time when governments in Australia were overwhelmingly conservative, and, of course, the extension of the White Australia policy that prevented strong South Asian migration.

Read more: Why the Indo-Pacific region matters to the US

An associated separator was Canberra's long term affinity for the United Kingdom and Europe rather than for "Asia" in general, a trend that began breaking down only in the 1970s and did not reach full flow until much later. Some might argue the full switch of interest and allegiance has still to happen, and they would be right as the present imbroglio underlines.

So this assertion of a strong India-Australia link, and its projection into the QUAD, is based on a new and as yet unsubstantiated platform, and that in turn has given rise to the apparent split on Ukraine.

For example, we now see Australian commentators associated with government and commercial defence industry organisations lambasting India for being careful in criticising Russia. It is apparently a surprise to some that India has long-standing defence industry relationships with Russia.

They and media commentators more widely in Australia somehow see that as a betrayal of the Quad when, of course, bilateral relationships of all sorts within the QUAD will complicate matters enormously. There is too little understanding of India's precise position in all this.

And that is complicated further because some of these commentators also seem to think that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should simply telephone Xi Jinping and ask him to intercede with Vladimir Putin. That is, there is an assumption that India should automatically be "with" the QUAD above other extant bilateral relationships and considerations.

Based on the evidence so far, the India-Australia relationship and those within the QUAD have a way to go to reach maturity. That will require a doubling down from agencies like the Australia-India Business Council chapters in explaining to the government exactly how India works.

(Emeritus Professor Brian Stoddart has a long-standing interest in India and has written on several aspects of the India-Australia relationship.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
Last year, Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said that he is looking forward to a day when Bangladeshis and Indians will not need visas to visit each other's countries. "Our relationship is written in blood, and we want to deepen it. I am waiting for the day when people from both countries can travel without visas," Momen said at an event commemorating Bangladesh and India's 50-year diplomatic connection. But is it at all feasible to set up a visa-free regime at the Indo-Bangladesh border?

According to India's ministry of tourism's 'India Tourism Statistics at a Glance 2021' report, Bangladesh accounted for 23.6 per cent of overall foreign tourist visits to India. In India's 28 international airports and five cruise terminals, citizens from 171 countries could apply for e-visas. That list does not include Bangladesh. So, in terms of achieving a visa-free regime, the two countries can start by first implementing the e-visa arrangement.

E-visa services are provided online, and an Electronic Travel Authorisation is issued quickly, within 24 hours of receipt of the application in 90 per cent of the cases. In response to a query in Parliament, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said that e-visas are granted after considering security, inbound tourism, investments, bilateral relations, and other factors. Given the current robustness of the Indo-Bangladesh bilateral ties, the two countries can elevate their rapport by first allowing the e-visa arrangement for both countries' citizens and then gradually moving towards a visa-free regime.

Also read: New thrust in ties with Bangladesh needed

The Indo-Myanmar border arrangement is something the two sides can study. The Indo-Myanmar border has a one-of-a-kind agreement called the Free Movement Regime (FMR). India has a 1,643-kilometer border with Myanmar, which is unique in many ways since it allows individuals residing within 16 kilometres of the border to travel freely. They can stay for up to 72 hours if they have valid and effective permits from the relevant authorities on both sides. While the FMR has assisted the tribes in maintaining their long-standing links, it has also evolved into a system in which community-level contacts between citizens of the two countries have helped diminish unlawful trespassing along the border.

If a free movement regime is set up between India and Bangladesh, this could be particularly beneficial for India's Northeastern states. The Northeast borderland is characterised by high mountains, deep river channels, and dense forest. As a result of the difficult terrain, the border area is sparsely populated and economically disadvantaged. An FMR arrangement, particularly along the hill bound Indo-Bangladesh border, can help facilitate communications and upgrade the living standard of the people in these regions. Further, new visa regulations will significantly improve trade relations between Northeast India and Bangladesh.

Finally, due to obvious security concerns between India and Bangladesh in their border areas, it won't be possible to implement visa-free access for both countries' citizens quickly. But instead, it can be implemented in phases. Bangladesh's former high commissioner to India, Syed Muazzem Ali, has said the first step towards implementing a visa-free regime between the two countries could be achieved by allowing citizens over the age of 65 to travel without a visa and immediately receive a visa valid for five years. Patients and minor children will benefit from such a step, and gradually, this facility could be extended to citizens of other age groups.

The South Asia region is home to almost one-fifth of the world's population, but the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the only multilateral arrangement that links the countries of the region. In 2018, the SAARC's Core Group on Immigration Authorities and Visa Expert proposed simplifying the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme and developing security software for use throughout the region. But due to the global Covid surge, that could not be initiated.

As recently as 2021, a special committee was formed by India and Bangladesh to focus on the reforms required to put the no-visa policy into effect. Authorities from both countries have repeatedly stated that implementing such an arrangement is possible. But due to impending security reasons, it might take up to 10 years to implement a full-fledged visa-free regime between the two countries.

At present, India is dealing with a grotesque political philosophy, a popular and influential philosophy that has spoken passionately about Akhand Bharat for decades. From Kabul to Burma, India had a civilisation that spanned the continent. Ironically, authorities are wary of the notion of uniting Akhand Bharat through the unrestricted movement of SAARC nationals across the region.

(The writer is an independent researcher of South Asian affairs)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
Hubballi-Dharwad West MLA Arvind Bellad on Thursday said that the governments focus is more on getting back the stranded students in war-torn Ukraine alive than bringing the mortal remains of Naveen Gyangoudar, who was killed in the war.

Speaking to a section of media in Dharwad, Bellad said that 'Operation Ganga' has been launched to rescue the Indian students struck in Ukraine.

A coffin would occupy the seats of 8 to 10 students in the plane. Therefore, the priority is on evacuating the medical students stranded in the war-hit nation and bring them back alive," he added.

Bellad further said that the MEA is constantly monitoring the evacuation operation in Ukraine and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the safe evacuation of Indian students.

Read more: Ukrainian woman told us our son is no more: Naveen's mother

Going by the terrifying bombing incidents in Ukraine, getting back the stranded students has become a major challenge and getting the body of Naveen to India would be a difficult task and it could be delayed, said Bellad.

In spite of the difficulties, Modi himself is taking special care in trying to bring back the mortal remains of MBBS student Naveen of Haveri, he said.

India has made food and accommodation facility in Romania and Poland but the major challenge is to cross the Ukraine border and reach Romania. Very soon, all those reaching Romania would be brought back and the parents need not worry, assured Bellad.

The MLA further alleged that the Medical Council of India (MCI) is a private entity and it has been creating artificial scarcity of MBBS seats which has led to an escalation of the cost of medical education. Common people cannot afford to pay such huge fees and therefore, are migrating to other countries like Ukraine wherein medical education can be had at affordable cost, he said.

"Large scale corruption is going on in the MCI and the government has to come up with measures to root out corruption and make medical education affordable," he stressed.

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The Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the state government not to allow any kind of procession or protest in the entire city of Bengaluru, except on the designated Freedom Park premises.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice S R Krishna Kumar was hearing a suo motu PIL registered last year based on a letter by a sitting judge of the high court on traffic disruptions caused due to protests held on March 2, 2021.

The bench took a serious view of the fact that a similar disruption was caused on Thursday in the city. Is it not possible at all to stop these processions on roads? It took one hour for me to come to the court. It is high time something was done, Justice S R Krishna Kumar said.

Traffic was disrupted in the city on Wednesday and Thursday due to the Congress padayatra demanding implementation of the Mekedatu project.

Also read: Mekedatu march ends, Congress attacks 'double engine' BJP govt

The bench said that pending decision in the PIL, it is a fit case to pass an interim order. It directed the authorities to ensure that traffic does not get affected in the city, especially during rush hours.

No such activity shall be permitted to be carried out and in case any such activity is undertaken, appropriate action shall be taken and the responsibility of the agencies meant for providing proper traffic management shall be fixed and action taken in this regard shall be reported to the court, the bench said.

The suo motu petition was registered based on the letter written by Justice Aravind Kumar  who is presently the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court  to the then chief justice quoting a newspaper report about morning rush hour traffic disrupted due to various protests. The bench had asked the authorities to ensure that protesters were permitted to gather only at Freedom Park, the designated place for demonstrations.

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A 15-year-old youth has been remanded in custody at Derry Magistrate's Court after a police officer said he had "the worst bail record" he had ever seen.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was appearing on a breach of bail after he failed to observe his curfew on March 3.

The court was told that police were alerted by G4S that the youth had been out after curfew and was found in his girlfriend's house.

The officer said that police believed that there was 'no chance' the youth would adhere to any conditions and said he had lasted 11 days from being released.

He said that the youth was "a danger to the public and a danger to himself".

Defence counsel Stephen Chapman said there had been no new offences and accepted there had been a breach of bail in a long line of breaches.

District Judge Barney McElholm said in all his years in the job he had seen some people who if sober would never commit an offence but when drunk they were a menace.

But he said the problem was what do you do with someone who "continually offends against their own community".

The judge said if the court kept giving people chances they will keep on offending "as there are no consequences".

He added that while there was a presumption of bail for someone his age that did not mean they should be allowed to continue offending.

The judge said there were not enough police officers as it is without them having to deal with people like this youth.

He remanded the youth in custody and said bail conditions had to be obeyed.

The youth will appear again on March 15.
SDLP Communities Spokesperson, Mark H Durkan, has called on Minister for Communities, Deirdre Hargey, to extend the 200 energy payment to all bill-payers similar to the provision made by the Irish Government.

Following an Assembly statement on the Energy Support Payment Scheme earlier this week, Minister Hargey rebutted comments from Mr Durkan that the scheme was "underwhelming" despite her party leader, Mary Lou McDonald deeming the more generous provision in the south as the "bare minimum."

Foyle MLA, Mr Durkan said: The Irish Government are providing 200 energy credit to all bill payers- the total cost of the measures agreed is 505m, with over two million households due to be paid the 200 energy credit in April. There is also to be a one-off payment of an extra 125 for people in receipt of fuel allowance.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald deemed this the 'bare minimum' despite the package proving much more generous than the 55m Energy Support Scheme announced by her party colleague, Minister Hargey in the North.

"When I challenged the Minister on what support would be provided to households not in receipt of benefits, she argued that her scheme was not 'underwhelming.'

"It's clear the scheme here is lacking and the division in views within the Minister's own party is testament to that fact. More must be done to ensure every struggling household across the North is supported throughout this crisis.

The 150m funding that was received via Barnett consequential from Westminster to tackle the energy crisis could be used to provide a 200 payment to every household.

"While the DUPs selfish decision to collapse the Executive has hampered our attempts to support people, Minister Hargey still has the power to intervene to help families and she must explore every option available to her to do so.
A tanker carrying oil from Russia arrived in Lough Foyle early this morning and docked in Foyle Port, outside Derry City.

On Tuesday (March 1), the British Department for Transport announced the closure of ports to all Russian-owned, operated, controlled, chartered, registered or flagged vessels. However, the ban does not cover the origin of the cargo.

Speaking to Inish Live, a spokesperson for Foyle Port said: Foyle Port is currently operating to the parameters of the sanctions set out by the Department for Transport in London.

"It has been highlighted to the department, by the port, that the commodity on a ship is beyond the set sanctions.

"It is clear from the department that we are obliged to facilitate this vessel, which is not Russian owned, registered or managed."

The ship tracking website, Marine Traffic, gave the 184 metre-long Pluto as being in the Irish Sea on Wednesday afternoon, with the vessel expected in Foyle Port at 8.00pm.

It is believed, Pluto, is carrying crude oil from Primorsk, near St Petersburg, on the Baltic Sea, in northwestern Russia.

Commenting on the Pluto which has since docked at Foyle Port, Colum Eastwood MP (SDLP) said: This vessel, which contains Russian goods cargo, is not welcome and should not be allowed to make land in Derry. It runs contrary to the spirit of the sanctions which have been introduced to bring pressure to bear on Putins regime to end the outrageous invasion of Ukraine.

The people of Derry stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine who are enduring unimaginable suffering at the hands of Putins forces. I have been in touch with the Port to offer assistance through my office to ensure that the spirit of the sanctions are upheld and that the vessel is prevented from docking in Derry."
A County Derry bricklayer has had his work viewed by millions of people after an unusual design was picked up by a number of local media outlets in America and, eventually, the New York Times.

Ciaran McNally, originally from Lavey, has lived in Philadelphia since moving out there in 2008, and was asked to complete the work on the back of a previous similar project he carried out.

I did something similar on Walnut Street about six years ago and that's how I ended up doing this one, he told the County Derry Post.

The construction on Walnut Street, Philadelphia.

The builder used a guy who knew me, so I worked through him. I am pricing another one at the minute as well.

I build brick houses and fronts. It's not the same as at home, I do brick fronts all over the city and have done for the last ten years.

I work all over the city; from the richest to the poorest neighbourhoods. You could do a small house in a week over here, it's only the front of it, but this house was different.

So different in fact, that the New York Times ran a piece on the house they said was 'too good to sell' after the developer liked the finish so much he decided to stay.

Set in the Graduate Hospital area of the city, the property appealed to Stephen Rodriguez and his family and two-thirds of the way through the construction process, they opted to keep it.

The finish gives a modern twist to the traditional red brick house, with four overlapping layers of brick running throughout the facade.

Ciaran said the plans represented a challenge, but once he and his labourer  Charlie from Honduras  set about the task, they were meticulous.

I did a plan like this before for the same architects. You have to study the plan for nearly a day to figure out any mistakes and talk it over with the architect; stuff that works and what doesn't work, he said.

The way the houses are in Philly, it's only recently they've started these designs, but you're seeing them more and more. People are stepping out from the norm and trying to stamp a mark on houses.

On a normal day you'd be throwing 600-700 bricks, but that you could imagine is maybe less than a hundred.

There is a double brick screen on it. You can see the glass behind it, it's one massive big window. When you're inside the house, you can see the brickwork.

You had to choose a brick knowing all sides of it could be seen. Usually only one can be seen, but this time you see everything at the same time.

I was in finishing it up with a mirror, because I couldn't get my head in; it was only eight or nine inches of space, so that was new.

The 41-year-old, who plans to move home within the next five to six years, said he was buoyed by the publicity the project had received.

The owner of the house texted me and said it had been in all the magazines round Philadelphia, he said.

He told me the brick company from Tennessee had a professional photographer take a picture and that it had hit 100 million views online. I think that's why the New York Times got involved.

They definitely did a good job on the design, he added.
Jungheung Group Chairman Jung Chang-sun, left, and KDB Investment CEO Lee Dae-hyun pose at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, after signing an agreement on Jungheung Group's acquisition of Daewoo E&C from KDB Investment in this December 2021 file photo. Courtesy of Jungheung Group





By Park Jae-hyuk







Jungheung Group appears to be accelerating efforts to take control of Daewoo E&C, as its chairman's grandchildren were transferred recently to the newly acquired subsidiary in the wake of its latest reshuffle which saw the dismissal of a significant number of executives.







According to industry officials, Thursday, Jungheung Group Chairman Jung Chang-sun's grandson, who was born in 1998, joined Daewoo E&C's strategy planning team as its leader.







The son of Jungheung Group Vice Chairman Jung Won-ju is said to have joined the Gwangju-headquartered construction company last year, after finishing his military service. He was reportedly among the group's taskforce members who handled the post-acquisition integration process.







Two sons of the chairman's daughter also moved from Jungheung to Daewoo E&C as members of its procurement team and ESG team, respectively, according to industry officials.







Although their father, Herald Corp. Executive Vice President Kim Bo-hyun, was initially supposed to be appointed as executive director of Daewoo E&C, he was barred from joining the builder's board of directors. As a retired Air Force general, he is ineligible for employment by a private enterprise capitalized at over 1 billion won ($831,000), until three years after the end of his military service in April 2020.







There is speculation that Kim, the son-in-law of the Jungheung chairman, will join Daewoo E&C next year as the head of its management support department, considering that the company did not fill that position in its recent executive reshuffle.







In addition to the chairman's family members, many Jungheung executives who took part in the Daewoo E&C acquisition deal were appointed to key positions of the new subsidiary, after the Fair Trade Commission allowed the medium-sized builder to take over its larger rival.







Some critics pointed out that Daewoo E&C's recent executive reshuffle was contradictory to the Jungheung Group chairman's promise to guarantee the subsidiary's "independent management."







However, unionized workers at Daewoo E&C, who stopped their nine-month protest in February after they reached an agreement with Jungheung's management, have remained silent about this issue.







"It is difficult for us to comment at this moment, as we have yet to clarify our official position," the Daewoo E&C union's deputy chairman said.


Minister Coveney to attend extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council

Press release

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney T.D. will attend an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 4 March.

The meeting will focus on the EUs cooperation with its partners in responding to Russias ongoing aggression against Ukraine. EU Ministers will have an in-depth discussion on the situation and the coordination of next steps with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, UK Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Minister Coveney said:

Ireland has been very clear. Russias invasion of Ukraine is a gross violation of international law, which cannot and will not, be tolerated.

The international community has clearly demonstrated its unified rejection of Russias aggression against a sovereign state. Ireland continues to be at the forefront of efforts across the UN, to bring an end to this conflict and to hold Russia accountable.

I look forward to discussions tomorrow with the EUs key partners on maintaining our close coordination on holding Russia to account and providing strong political and practical support for Ukraine.

ENDS

Press Office

03 March 2022

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How to find nearby grocery stores using Google Maps on desktop

The most efficient tool for finding a nearby grocery store is Google Maps.

1. First, open Google Maps on your computer.

2. Next, type an address or name of the locality nearby from which you wish to find a grocery store in the Search box and then press Enter.

3. Then click on the Nearby tab, for searching Grocery store near me.

4. Just type grocery stores in the Search box and press Enter.

5. The website will display all the grocery stores open in your locality along with the address.

6. You can also press directions, to get the complete directions to the grocery store.

How to find grocery store via Google Maps app

You can also use Google maps on your phone or tablet. Just follow the below-mentioned steps to find a grocery store via Google maps.

1. First, open the Google Maps app on your mobile phone.

2. Next, type an address or name of the locality nearby from which you wish to find a grocery store in the Search box and then press Enter.

3. Then, scroll down to different category tabs and choose select Groceries. You can also click on More and select Groceries under the Shopping section.

4. An extensive list of grocery stores near you will be displayed along with their location on the map shown as red mini-pins or red dots.

5. The app allows you to filter your search results using the drop-down menus below the Search box, based on rating, distance and more.

How to check if the nearest store timings via Google maps

Google Maps also shows whether the nearest grocery store is open or closed. Once you have the search results you will also be able to see the Open stores Now, Open 24 hours or closed. The app also shows when the store is going to open the next day. It also gives you the weekly timings of a store by clicking on its name, then clicking on the Timings drop-down menu.

To find out if a store is open in real-time follow the below-mentioned steps.

1. You can filter your search results by selecting the Open Now option under the Hours drop-down menu on the website.

2. You can also click the Open Now tab on the app.

3. Google Maps will also show you how busy a particular store is for shopping at that time and day for added user convenience.

4. Google displays the time the store is open, along with the peak rush times, and also gives you a complete address, location, and phone number for your convenience.

How to find a grocery store nearby via Stillopen on desktop

You can also use apps like Stillopen to find the grocery stores that are open nearby. Follow the below-mentioned steps to find the grocery stores near you via the Stillopen site.

1. First, go to the website - stillopen.quikr.com/open-stores-near-me

2. Next, the website will ask for your location. Just Allow it and it will automatically detect your location.

3. Then the website will ask you to donate to the PM cares fund or share the page with your friends.

4. Next, it will ask you to find a service you are looking for.

5. Then just Type and find the availability of the items.

6. The app also gives directions to nearby stores/centres.

7. You can also provide reviews on the stores by clicking on the Update button.
The Lenovo ThinkVision M14d weighs just 0.6 kgs, justifying its portable tag.

Lenovo has launched a host of devices at MWC 2022 and one of the product that would be hitting the Asian markets is the Lenovo ThinkVision M14d portable monitor. As the name suggests, this has a 14-inch display. Now, this is of a 16:10 aspect ratio thats in vogue lately. It projects 2.2K pixels and offers 6ms of response times. It stays on thanks to an external power supply. And when it lights up, heres everything you get with it:

Lenovo ThinkVision M14d Portable Monitor Specs and Features

Lenovo has outfitted the ThinkVision M14d with a 14-inch LCD panel with 2.2K resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, 6ms response times, 60Hz refresh rate, 300 nits of peak brightness, 100% of sRGB coverage, and 178-degree FoV. There is even certification for eye protection against blue light emission from the screen.

Now, an external power source keeps the thing up and running. You can connect to it via a 65W Power Delivery charging. This is USB-C based charging.

Be that as it may, you can unplug it and carry it around with ease as it is just 600 grams in heft. You can mount it on a table or prop it onto some place using the bundled 100mm screws.

Among the list of features, you also get connectivity options like 2x USB-C ports for video signals (DisplayPort 1.2 Alt Mode), a USB hub, a USB-C 2.0 port for uplink, a USB-C 2.0 port for downlink, and a 3.5mm audio jack.

Lenovo ThinkVision M14d Price and Availability

Lenovo has priced the ThinkVision M14d at EUR 359 (~30,200). It will be retailing from August in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. The available color option is black.

For similar news, reviews, buying guides, features, and everything else keep reading Digit.in.
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By JAMES MacPHERSON

Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D.  North Dakota's biggest oil driller said Wednesday it will commit $250 million to help fund a proposed pipeline that would gather carbon dioxide produced by ethanol plants across the Midwest and pump it thousands of feet underground for permanent storage.

Continental Resources, headed by billionaire oil tycoon Harold Hamm, discussed the investment into Summit Carbon Solutions' $4.5 billion pipeline at an ethanol plant in Casselton, in eastern North Dakota. The plant is one of 31 ethanol facilities across Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas, where emissions would be captured and piped to western North Dakota and buried deep underground.





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Officials have said the Blaine, Washington, inn is an easy place for people, drugs and money to cross the border.



By JESSICA GRESKO

Associated Press

WASHINGTON  The Smuggler's Inn, a bed-and-breakfast on the U.S.-Canada border that officials say is a magnet for illegal border crossings, was the setting of a case heard Wednesday at the Supreme Court.

Some online reviewers praise the property for its scenic views, while others say its cleanliness leaves much to be desired. But a lawyer for the Biden administration added another negative review in court, calling the place rundown and a constant headache. While the high court case involves whether the inn owner can sue a federal official, the cheekily-named inn was also the subject of questions.





. . .
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The Adelaide, at 4557 University Way N.E. sold this week for nearly $4.2 million, according to King County records. The seller was the Erickson family, which had owned the building since 1956 and long operated University Seafood & Poultry there. It's still home to Costas restaurant.

The buyer was Adelaide LLC, associated with Panos Properties, a longtime owner and investor in the University District and beyond. Panos owns the one-story Starbucks complex next door to the south; and the next two properties to the south  one of which is leased to Target.





. . .
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SEATTLE  A waterfront property and dock at 1609 Fairview Ave. E. sold for $2 million, according to King County records.

The buyer was an LLC associated with Alexandria Real Estate Equities, a major owner and developer on Eastlake and in South Lake Union.





. . .
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SEATTLE  The MacDonald Meat buildings, at 2709 Airport Way S., sold for $12 million, according to King County records.

The seller was A.G. Motter LLC, which acquired the property in 2000 for almost $2.9 million.





. . .
A worker arranges mushroom products on a shelf at an E-mart store in Seoul, Nov. 9, 2020. Yonhap





By Kim Jae-heun







E-mart workers are urging the government to ease rules on retail store chains by scrapping a regulation forcing them to close twice a month, calling it discrimination against large retailers and their workers in the name of protecting small businesses, the company's union said Thursday. The union also called for abolishing rules preventing the retailers from opening new stores within a kilometer of existing ones.







"The restrictions on major retailers did not result in reviving traditional markets or small stores in alleys. In fact, other firms not subject to the regulation are taking advantage of it and customers are being inconvenienced," E-mart's union said in a statement released on Wednesday. "The government and politicians have to start a dialogue with the public and make a system where both workers at supermarkets and business owners in traditional markets can make a living together."







The Distribution Industry Development Act was established in 1997 and revised twice in 2010 and 2012, placing major retailers like E-mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus under extra rules, such as staying closed on two Sundays each month.







In addition, restricting the number of supermarkets in the country not only halted the retailers' prospering business but also resulted in the closure of 12 of their branches during the pandemic.







Emerging e-commerce firms also took away many offline store customers. Each major supermarket employs at least 500 workers and they are worried they can lose their jobs if the stores go out of business.







"We have the right to live and it is threatened by COVID-19, retailers' transition to online shopping and the government's regulation on supermarkets. Don't forget, we are also people of this nation," the union said.







E-mart's union further pointed out that the Distribution Industry Development Act does not help traditional markets to grow. In 2021, sales at traditional markets in Seoul declined by 80 percent, year-on-year, a federation of merchants in Seoul said.







The Korea Distribution Association also conducted a survey on supermarket customers in 2019, and only 5.8 percent of the respondents said they use traditional markets on Sundays when E-mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus are closed.







The National Assembly is preparing to introduce a stronger regulation to prevent the big stores from opening a new branch within a radius of 20 kilometers of their existing stores. Multiple shopping complexes can also be subjected to the regulation according to the proposed bill.







"The government must seek mutual growth between retailers and traditional markets. The current law is only discouraging major supermarkets' business and it needs to be revised," an E-mart official said.


The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) will publish its long-awaited Report on Construction Costs for the Defective Concrete Blocks Grant Scheme at 11.30am today. The report has already been received by Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien.

The SCSI report arose from the government decision on November 30th 2021 to establish a 100% redress scheme for affected homeowners.

In November 2021, Minister OBrien announced an 'enhanced' Defective Concrete Block scheme and committed to consulting with the SCSI on the grant calculation methodology.

Commenting on the report Minister OBrien said the publication of the report and detailed engagement with the SCSI will now allow all stakeholders the opportunity to review its findings.

Minister O'Brien has now requested that the Expert Working Group on the implementation of the Defective Concrete Block Scheme chaired by independent engineer Paul Forde to analyse the report and make recommendations to me on how to operationalise its findings.

Minister O'Brien added: "In addition I have formally appointed John OConnor as liaison to the Homeowners Forum to ensure Homeowners views are represented throughout the practical progression of the scheme.

"John is the Chairperson of the Housing Commission and a member of the Expert Group and this will build on his extensive engagement with homeowners to date on this issue.

"Today is an important step forward in getting an enhanced scheme up and running. Arising from this I intend to bring the final details of the scheme and the required primary legislation to Cabinet in April. I hope that all members of the Oireachtas will facilitate a speedy passage of the Bill to allow the scheme to get started as soon as possible, he concluded.
Stereotyping and resistance to change are among the obstacles to implementing recommendations of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality, a committee has been told.

Dr Catherine Day, chairperson of the assembly, said that other barriers include the perception that making changes to bring in gender equality would be too expensive.

Appearing before the Oireachtas committee to discuss the recommendations of its report, Dr Day said that members of the assembly want to see an immediate change.

The Oireachtas committee, which held its first public hearing today (Thursday March 3) was established to consider the 45 recommendations contained in the report.

The Joint Committee on Gender Equality chaired by Deputy @IvanaBacik will hold its first public meeting tomorrow. The Committee was established to consider the recommendations contained in the Report of the Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality.https://t.co/mjO2a8Xlg5 pic.twitter.com/i1lwaPMYtX  Houses of the Oireachtas  Tithe an Oireachtais (@OireachtasNews) March 2, 2022

The assembly members, who make up a representative mix of the Irish population, have called for a number of changes to the constitution.

Among those is to extend the obligation of the state to protect all types of family life, not just married families.

They also want the so-called woman in the home clause of the constitution to be scrapped.

Assembly members want Article 41.2 deleted and replaced with a state obligation to bring in reasonable measures to support care within the home and the wider community.

Among the recommendations is to extend gender quotas for party candidates to the Seanad and European Parliament elections.

Dr Day said there are numerous obstacles to bringing in gender equality change.

They go from peoples lack of thinking about the issues, to stereotyping, through to more narrow resistance to certain changes, Dr Day said.

Let me take the example of gender quotas because its often a divisive issue.

What we saw during the assembly was peoples ideas evolving. I would say at the beginning there was a certain number of people that thought this is not a good idea, it will either lead to tokenism or to problems of one kind or another.

But what I think influenced most of those who had initial reticence to move in favour of going for gender quotas, was they realised how long it would take if we didnt take action.

I do think that the recommendations are building on whats already there. There are gender quotas for parties for national elections, but why not start where most people enter politics, which is in the local elections?

Look forward to chairing our first public hearing this morning #genderequality #citizensassembly https://t.co/NblP9Co5Kc  Ivana Bacik (@ivanabacik) March 3, 2022

Other obstacles would be, perhaps, the perception that some of the recommendations would be expensive to implement.

Although we didnt have either the requirement or the capacity to do cost benefit analysis, I think that it is very significant that the citizens did vote and say that they would be prepared to pay higher taxes in order to get what theyre asking for.

But theyre calling for structural change in certain areas.

But I think the important message coming from the assembly is they want the change to start now.

Fine Gael senator Regina Doherty, who was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 2013, said: Were all sick to the back teeth talking about it.

And we all know some of the stuff that can be done and yet the obstacles are obvious to us, and we just dont seem to be able to get over the wall to fix them.
Duncan, OK (73533)

Today

Strong thunderstorms - some locally heavy downpours are possible, especially late. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 61F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Strong thunderstorms - some locally heavy downpours are possible, especially late. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 61F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
People stand in line to withdraw U.S. dollars and euros from an ATM in St. Petersburg, Russia, Feb. 25. AP-Yonhap



In the days since the West imposed sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, ordinary Russians are feeling the painful effects  from payment systems that won't operate and problems withdrawing cash to not being able to purchase certain items.



''Apple Pay hasn't been working since yesterday. It was impossible to pay with it anywhere  in a bus, in a cafe,'' Moscow resident Tatyana Usmanova told The Associated Press. ''Plus, in one supermarket they limited the amount of essential goods one person could buy.''



Apple announced that it would stop selling its iPhone and other popular products in Russia along with limiting services like Apple Pay as part of a larger corporate backlash to protest the invasion.



Dozens of foreign and international companies have pulled their business out of Russia. Major car brands halted exports of their vehicles; Boeing and Airbus suspended supply of aircraft parts and service to Russian airlines; major Hollywood studios halted their film releases; and the list will likely keep growing.



That's on top of the United States and other Western nations hitting Russia with sanctions of unprecedented breadth and severity. They have thrown major Russian banks off the SWIFT international payment system, limited high tech exports to Russia and severely restricted Moscow's use of its foreign currency reserves.



Russians in Moscow and other cities talked to The AP about how those moves have played out in their daily lives, pointing to problems with converting rubles into foreign currency, long lines at ATMs and certain bank cards failing them.



Irina Biryukova in Yaroslavl, in a city about 250 kilometers northeast of Moscow, said she could only deposit a limited amount of money into her bank account through the bank ATMs.



''The majority of ATMs (of this bank) don't work to deposit (money),'' Biryukova said.











People walk past a currency exchange office screen displaying the exchange rates of U.S. dollar and euro to Russian rubles in Moscow's downtown, Feb. 28. AP-Yonhap
Louth TD Peter Fitzpatrick has raised the issue of vacant living spaces above shop units in Dundalk, and has called for regeneration of vacant living spaces to form part of the town centre regeneration in both Dundalk and Drogheda.

Deputy Fitzpatrick was speaking during a discussion last week on the recently published Town Centre First policy. He told the Dail that "anybody travelling through any town in Ireland today is sure to find a vast number of vacant properties", adding that on Clanbrassil Street in Dundalk, there are "vacant shop units and, overhead, many vacant living spaces."

He asked that why, during a housing crisis, "why more is not being done to regenerate the vacant properties in towns such as Dundalk and Drogheda and, not only that, to regenerate the living quarters that are often over the retail units in the main trading places."

He went on to say that "in Dundalk there is a major problem among multinational companies trying to recruit workers because there is no suitable accommodation. Nothing is available and this is making it increasingly difficult to attract workers to the town. I have spoken to a number of these employers and they all tell me the same story that accommodation is a problem when trying to attract employees to the area.

"That is why I fully support any initiative that might help. I welcome the town centre first plan and will fully support it as long as it produces the right outcomes. We do not want another talking shop with lots of different people talking and nothing happening on the ground.

Further in his Dail contribution, Deputy Fitzpatrick said that "what we need is for people to work together locally to identify the areas that need help and to direct resources to where they are badly needed. A lot of work continues to be done in Dundalk in the northern end of the town and we are starting to see results. I have no doubt that the regeneration will transform the towns like Dundalk and can see it happen already in the northern quarter there."

He concluded by saying that "there are many vacant properties in Dundalk, Drogheda and other towns. I hope that the Government injects the necessary funds. It is common sense that to make money, money has to be invested. Many multinational companies will come to Dundalk and attract many people with them.

"Those people will come with families, children and everything else but they have nowhere to live. These shops may not suit young families but single people or married people just starting off could move in."
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Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk to each other during their meeting in Beijing, Feb. 4. AP-Yonhap





Senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the New York Times reported, quoting Biden administration officials and a European official who cited a Western intelligence report.







The Times said the intelligence report indicated senior Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about Russia's plans or intentions to invade Ukraine before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the operation last week.







A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that China had made the request but declined to provide details. The source declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.







"The claims mentioned in the relevant reports are speculations without any basis, and are intended to blame-shift and smear China," said Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington.







The U.S. State Department, the CIA and the White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.







After weeks of warnings from Western leaders, Russia unleashed a three-pronged invasion of Ukraine from the north, east and south Feb. 24, just days after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics ended.






Citizens wait in front of the entrance of a branch of the Russian Sbertbank in the center of Zagreb, Feb. 28. Customers rushed to the bank in an attempt to retrieve their money following last week's Russian attack on Ukraine. AFP-Yonhap





Fitch downgraded Russia's sovereign credit rating by six notches to "junk" status Wednesday, saying Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine made it uncertain Russia could service its debt and would weaken its economy in "a huge shock" to its creditworthiness.







Russia's financial markets have been thrown into turmoil by its assault on Ukraine, the biggest on a European state since World War Two, and stiff Western sanctions.







The invasion has triggered a flurry of credit rating moves and dire warnings about the impact on Russia's economy. Last week, SP lowered Russia's rating to junk status and Moody's put the country on review for a downgrade to junk.







The Institute of International Finance predicts a double digit contraction in economic growth this year.







Fitch downgraded Russia to "B" from "BBB" and placed the country's ratings on "rating watch negative".






In landlocked Mongolia in the early 1990s, off-brand or secondhand electronics sold by private resellers were the only affordable option for many people when buying home appliances, mobile phones and personal computers.

The unreliable nature of the entrepreneurs that sold them made consumers apprehensive about paying a premium for electronics over the decades, until Sain International, a computer and computer parts distributor, entered the Mongolian electronics business.

With funding from the European Union, the EBRD has helped Sain International establish itself as a major competitor with a 20 per cent share of the Mongolian electronics market.

Peace of mind guaranteed

In the electronics market, secondhand is a term frequently applied to privately refurbished or cosmetically renewed old devices that are being sold relatively cheaply.

Even in 2021, transactions of secondhand consumer electronics thrive in Mongolia, accounting for over 50 per cent of the entire market. And as the prices for these items are so low, it is often cheaper even to buy a new secondhand computer or phone rather than have a broken one repaired.

The prominence of these small private resellers offering cheap products has severely deteriorated peoples trust in the quality of electronics products. Even famous multinational brands would find relatively few consumers willing to pay a premium price for guarantees, post-sale service and repairs, explains Amgalantuya Bayasgalan, CEO of Sain International, which had been doing relatively well as a business despite this fierce competition.

The situation changed in 2015, however, when other professional distributors entered the market and consumers were exposed to even more options for their electronics demands. Sain International was faced with declining sales year after year, so the company sought help from the EBRD.

Sain International was matched with a business consultant that helped it understand the value of marketing and customer retention. The company shifted its focus away from sales promotions, and towards better management and customer education.

Multimedia content providing useful tips, repair tutorials, and customer feedback led to new consumers who learned to appreciate officially licensed products from professional distributors.

The offer of both virtual and in-person assistance educated people on the functions of their new purchases fostered a loyal customer base which saw Sain International grow to be recognised as experts in the Mongolian consumer electronics sector.

Solving high employee turnover

Along with tackling the issue of customer communication, the EBRDs Advice for Small Businesses programme worked with Sain International to resolve its unsustainable employee turnover rate. Employees left after gaining only basic customer care and sales experience as they did not see potential for growth within the company. The challenge lay in the companys strict top-down management style, the consultant found.

Throughout the programme, I realised that I had been an intense micromanager. With the support of the advisory project, I have learned to trust the middle management staff to function competently on their own. Although giving fewer instructions and receiving fewer requests has been a strange experience, it has resulted in empowered and far less stressed employees. Additionally, I could spend more time thinking about the companys strategic direction and decision-making, says Amgalantuya.

Embracing the digital future

Now with stable growth in sales, empowered employees and a management more focused on strategic planning, Sain International was one of the Mongolian businesses better prepared for the global pandemic. Today, the companys online sales channels are well staffed, equipped and managed.

With a 20 per cent market share, we are ranked the 4th largest distributor in Mongolia. Although we still face new challenges, we believe that we are in a good position for further growth thanks to the advisory support we received from the EBRD. So far, our annual revenue has increased by 30 per cent! says Amgalantuya.

Even for a relatively established business like Sain International, the EBRDs Advice for Small Businesses programme has proved an essential boost to the sustainability of their operations. The EBRD and the European Union believe in empowering SMEs and supporting their development.

For more information regarding the EBRDs projects and initiatives in Mongolia, follow us on: www.facebook.com/ebrd.sbsmongolia
THE winners of the annual Showcase Awards were announced at Showcase - Irelands Creative Expo, which took place at the RDS in Dublin.

The annual show has established itself as a must-see trade event, attracting buyers from Ireland and overseas, including UK, USA, Mainland Europe and Asia, all keen to see the latest designs from Irelands top brands and craft producers.

Showcase is an international launch pad for the 318 Irish designers, manufacturers and craftspeople who will be unveiling their new season collections across fashion, jewellery, home and giftware during the four-day event.

A particular emphasis is placed on new products to market, providing retailers with opportunities to discover and stock up on the latest design-led products, many of which are unique to the show.

The Sustainability Award was won by Badly Made Books from Cork, and The Designer of Things also from Cork was highly commended in the Local Enterprise Showcase award.

Mary Palmer, Chair of Showcase , said: Showcase marks one of the most important events in the design and crafts sectors calendar. For many, this is their first trade show of the year, a chance to launch their new collections and secure orders for the year ahead.

Attracting buyers from Ireland and around the world, Showcases strength lies in its unique identity and high quality display of Irish design and crafts. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in Showcase 2022, you are helping to support and grow our sector.

Mary Palmer, chair of Showcase Ireland board; Bert Dufour of The Designer of Things, who was highly commended in the Local Showcase award category, and Rosemary Steen, CEO of Design & Crafts Council Ireland.

Exhibitors selected for the Showcase Best Product Awards 2022 were chosen by judges Brian McGee, DCCI, insert other judges. The judges nominated the Best Product in each of their categories and each category produced a Best Product Award and Highly Commended awards. The overall Best Product Award at Showcase 2022 was chosen by the Showcase judging panel.

The overall winner of the Showcase Best Product Award was Molloy and Sons.

Full winners: Sustainability award: The Sustainability Award which promotes innovative and sustainable development in craft, was won by Badly Made Books from Cork. Nunaia from Tipperary and Kopper Kreation from Dublin were highly commended in this category.

Local enterprise showcase award: The Local Enterprise Offices selected Tidings from Louth as the winner of the Local Enterprise Showcase Award. Highly commended were David Oliver Bespoke from Kilkenny, Kings Forge Glass from Monaghan and The Designer of Things from Cork.

Fashion: The Showcase Fashion Category award winner was Irish Linen Shirt from Kilkenny. Highly commended in this category were Clare OConnor from Meath, Lou Brennan from Mayo and Aran Woollen Mills from Mayo.

Home: The Showcase Home Category award winner was Cushendale from Kilkenny. Highly commended in this category were Stephen Farnan from Antrim, Martina Scott from Louth and Copperfish from Wicklow.

Gift: The Showcase Gift Category award winner was Snugibabog Knitwear from Dublin. Highly commended in this category were Helen Faulkner Ceramics from Dublin and Tipperary Crystal from Dublin.

Jewellery: The Showcase Jewellery Category award winner was Lynsey De Burca from Galway. Highly commended in this category were Rothlu from Mayo and Garrett Mallon from Louth Other Category Winners:

Design & Crafts Council Ireland award: The winner of the Design & Crafts Council award was Una Burke from Roscommon. Highly commended were Irish Handmade Glass Company from Waterford and Anita Reynolds Art from Meath.
A CORK woman who has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the Down Syndrome Centre on Forge Hill has hailed the centre for its early intervention services.

Katie Desmond, whose five-year-old daughter Freya has Down syndrome, has been involved with the centre since it opened in 2017.

The centre was opened by a group of parents who saw the need for a centre in Cork that would provide services for children with Down syndrome. It does not receive any government funding and relies solely on the generosity of the public and fundraisers.

Ms Desmond has organised a sponsored walk from Haulbowline to Pairc Ui Chaoimh on June 19, where participants are invited to walk 21km with the aim for each participant to raise 21 from 21 people.

Speaking about how the centre has helped her along the journey of raising a child with Down syndrome, she said: Our daughter Freya is an amazing little girl and were incredibly proud of her every day and we want to give her the best start in life and every opportunity to reach her full potential and the centre is a huge part of helping us to achieve that and make that possible.

It provides early intervention for the children and the therapies that the children need so they heavily subsidise those otherwise they wouldnt be available to the 120 children who are availing of the services and were lucky to have a fantastic team of therapists that work with the children.

My own daughter goes there for occupational therapy and speech and language therapy and they also have a physiotherapist so theyve got an amazing team so we really need the funds to be coming in to provide services for the children.

Ms Desmond said they have also met families who are in the same position as them and have made friends for life, as have her children, which she said is an important part of what the centre is all about.

The centre also provides support to expectant parents by connecting them with parents already on that journey, which she found the best source of information and said that there is a great sense of belonging to be involved and to be a part of that community.

Those who want to take part in the sponsored walk challenge 21 can registerat eventbrite - those who sign up before Mothers Day on March 27 will be entered into a draw for a weekend away for two.

Those interested in becoming a corporate sponsor or who would like to make a donation to The Down Syndrome Centre Cork can contact lisa@dsccork.ie.
Disabled children are escorted to waiting buses, in Zahony, Hungary, Wednesday, after being evacuated from two orphanages in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP-Yonhap



Some of Ukraine's most vulnerable citizens have reached safety in Poland through an effort of solidarity and compassion that transcended borders and raised a powerful counterpoint to war.



On Wednesday, a train pulled into the station in Zahony, Hungary carrying about 200 people with severe physical and mental disabilities -- residents of two orphanages for the disabled in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv that were evacuated as Russian forces battered the city.



"Territorially, the orphanages are where the rockets flew, where there were bursts of rifle fire. A metro station near the orphanage was blown up," said Larissa Leonidovna, the director of the Svyatoshinksy orphanage for boys in Kyiv. "We spent more than an hour underground during a bombing."



The disabled refugees, most of them children, disembarked the train into the cold wind of the platform and into the arms of dozens of Poles and Hungarians waiting to receive them. From there, they were escorted to four waiting buses, sent from Poland by the Catholic relief organization Caritas.



With the help of the deputy mayor of Kyiv along with the city's child protection office, Caritas organized the evacuation from the capital as a Russian assault intensified.





Disabled children are escorted to waiting buses in Zahony, Hungary, Wednesday, after being evacuated from two orphanages in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP-Yonhap
TODAY is a great day for the national school, the local community, and parents.

That was the reaction from the principal of Kilbrittain National School Karen ODonovan after the National Council for Special Educations (NCSE) reversed its decision to close early intervention classes in the Cork school.

It was confirmed on Tuesday evening that the NCSE had reviewed the matter, and approval has been given to the school for the retention of the early intervention class for 2022/23.

Susan OLeary, whose three-and-a-half-year-old son Adam is due to start in the early intervention preschool for children with autism in Kilbrittain NS this September, said that the news is a huge relief.

I am absolutely delighted that my son and all the other children on the list will have a place in September, she said.

This is fantastic news and a huge relief for everyone.

Ms OLeary said the decision ensures the families have a roadmap for the next year.

It gives us that little bit of comfort that other families can take for granted, she said.

Kilbrittain National School has every facility that we need. The thought of [the class] closing was desperate. This is great news.

Ms ODonovan said the decision makes sense for the area.

It is fantastic news, she said. We are absolutely thrilled and relieved.

The NCSE assessed the need in the area, and it became obvious that this had to be continued. Hopefully, once we can continue to show there is a need in the community, it will continue into the long term. We got great huge local support in our community, which had an impact.

Ms ODonovan said the decision provides a sense of security for the families in the locality.

It is such a relief for families, she said.

It is fabulous news for them to have a place and to have that security. Today is a great day for the national school, the local community, and parents. This means we can provide as much education as we can for all the children in the community.

We are all systems go now this week to offer places for the coming year.

We will be offering places in the next week or so. We are very much oversubscribed in our other classes so we wont be able to enrol every child, but we will have a lot more places than we expected.

We will be able to look after many as we can.

Political reaction

Fianna Fail TD for Cork South-West Christopher OSullivan welcomed the news and said such early intervention services should be rolled out nationwide.

The early intervention classroom is such an important service for both children with autism and their families, he said.

Well done to the principal, the parents, and the staff for fighting this fight. But its a fight that should never have happened, and frankly, this service should be rolled out nationwide.

Thanks to [Education Minister Norma] Foley and the department for their swift action. Now we need to secure this service for the future.

In a letter to Mr OSullivan, the NCSE also said a new special class is being opened by the school to cater for children transitioning from this years early intervention class.

This decision was taken following consideration of the needs of the area and the capacity of the school to make the additional provision, the letter stated.

Social Democrats TD for Cork South West Holly Cairns said the victory is down to the efforts of both parents and staff.

This victory is down to the dedicated parents and staff who understand the value of early intervention ASD classes, she said.

These classes, tailored towards children aged three to five, help improve the outcomes and prospects of the children.

Ms Cairns said the NCSE should have engaged with the school in the first place.

The need for the class was never in doubt, and the school had the space and staff in place, she said.

If the NCSE had engaged with the school in the first place, all of this would have been avoided.

It is of huge concern that the NCSE has repeatedly refused to clarify if it is their policy to phase out early intervention classes.

Staff and parents are the experts in local conditions and the needs of children. They should be at the centre of this process. The Department of Education has to change the way it works.

Independent TD for Cork South West Michael Collins also welcomed the news.

It is welcome news that the excellent service provided in Kilbrittain NS will continue for this year, he said.
IT has been confirmed that the vaccination centre in Cork City Hall will close this Sunday, March 6.

The final vaccinations will be administered in Cork City Hall on Sunday and the vaccination centre will relocate to the North Main Street Vaccination Centre from Monday, March 7.

Cork City Hall vaccination centre initially opened on April 20 2021, and to date has administered 286,637 vaccines, including first, second and booster doses.

The centre had its highest number of vaccination on December 19 2021 with 4,255 doses administered.

Gerry ODwyer, CEO, South/South West Hospital Group said:

On behalf of the S/SWHG, I would like to thank management at Cork City Hall and its staff for working with us since April 2021," he said.

"For 11 months, this central facility has ensured that cohorts across all age groups within the region had access to an easily accessible vaccination centre."

Mr ODwyer said the centre performed to an excellent standard.

This vaccination centre has performed to an excellent standard and this is evident from the 286,637 vaccines doses that were administered to date since opening.

"We will continue to work closely with our community colleagues to ensure a successful transfer of services to the North Main Street Vaccination Centre."

I would also like to thank and acknowledge the huge interagency cooperation and support provided to the S/SWHG by the Defence Forces, National Ambulance Service, the Fire Service, An Garda Siochana, the Coastguard and voluntary emergency services who greatly assisted with the successful rollout of the Vaccination Programme over the past 11 months, he added.

The vaccination centre at City Hall, Cork.

Management at South / South West Hospital Group (S/SWHG) said they are working closely with community colleagues in Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH) in relation to the transfer of services to the North Main Street Vaccination Centre.

The new vaccination centre is operational and details of the vaccination clinics are available on the HSE website.
The head of the Irish charity, the Greater Chernobyl Cause, has spoken of her pain after hearing that abandoned babies and young children in a care home they support in Kyiv have had to be taken from their sanctuary because of the war.

Cork-based charity director, Fiona Corcoran, says Fathers House in Kyiv is one of their partners in Ukraine and a project which she has felt passionate about for many years.

It is a childrens home which takes orphaned and abandoned children off the streets, providing a loving home environment, care and education.

It is heartbreaking to think that now, on top of the trauma they have already suffered, these brave children are now caught up in a war.

Dr Roman Korniyko, Charity Director of Fathers House, has described recent efforts to evacuate children from the care home near Kyiv to the Polish border.

He recounts one incident where they stopped at a petrol station to take children to the bathroom only for them to hear the sound of explosions.

We later learned it was the airport shelling. Police officers escorted us heroically, covering the childrens bodies in case a shell hit the gas station, and took us away from the gas station. They later asked our buses to turn off the lights and follow them at top speed. They turned on their emergency lights to show us the direction of traffic and put themselves in danger in the process. These are the real heroes and we are proud of our police.

Ms Corcoran says she was particularly impacted by a photograph sent to her of two babies from the care home who are now staying in a facility on the outskirts of the Polish border. She has also received pictures of older children crying as they left their sanctuary.

Irish charity head speaks of pain of not being able to help abandoned babies and children in care home in Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Ms Corocan has seen the care she provides to vulnerable men, women and children curtailed - intitially by the pandemic and now arising out of the war. She has worked in the region for over twenty five years assisting the poor, ill and desperate in Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. The charity has arranged and funded the building of orphanages, care centres and hospices for those abandoned and forgotten by family and state, namely children and the elderly.

Fundraising for supplies

Ms Corcoran was today overseeing the sending of a 40ft truck containing clothes, tents, blankets, hot water bottles and medicine to Ukrainian people who are crossing over the border to Poland.

She will continue to fundraise for humanitarian supplies for as long as it is needed.

However, Ms Corcoran is heartbroken at not being able to properly assist the projects in the three countries that rely on funds from the charity.

In my 26 years doing this work I have never felt the way I feel today. This is the first time we will be sending a shipment to a border. They cant go any further.

I am heartbroken about our existing projects. We can bring aid as far as the border but that is as far as we can go.

Fiona hasnt been able to travel to any of their projects since 2019 arising out of the pandemic.

Normally I would be out three or four times a year. I have been to the region sixty to seventy times. These are our people who are now forced to flee their countries and their homes. To think of our little children who have been abandoned. And now they have to leave their sanctuary (the care home).

People in our projects are sending me photographs of them huddled together in a basement. Some of them are children. Some are late sixties or early seventies. How would you ever envision that something like this could happen? Our hearts go out to our people and our projects.

The charity has helped to bring many sick children from areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster to Ireland for recuperation and rehabilitation at adventure camps. In 2018 a group arrived from the Okhamdayt Hospital and Cancer Centre in Kiev. All were suffering from life-threatening illnesses like cancer, sickle cell anaemia and HIV/AIDS and came to experience, perhaps for the first time, the simple joys of childhood.

The charity has also supported a rehabilitation centre and new equipment at the main radiological hospital in Kiev. Here they struggle against many of the conditions thought to be directly related to the Chernobyl disaster: cancers, deformities and weakened immune systems which afflict young and old.

Meanwhile, Ms Corcoran is held in such esteem in Ukraine that in 2011 former President of the country Viktor Yanukovych lauded her with The Order of Princess Olga. The Order is a very rare Ukranian civil decoration featuring the 10th Century Kiev Saint and is bestowed only to women for outstanding personal achievements in science, education or charity work. It is unknown for the award to be presented to a foreigner.

In 2014 Fiona was the first Irish recipient of Russias Order of Friendship award whilst Kazakhstan has also given Fiona its highest civilian honour for her outstanding humanitarian work.

Ms Corcoran has vowed to continue to fundraise to send humanitarian aid. She also aims to start funding their projects again as soon as is possible.

We will send the aid to the border for as long as it is needed. We will do everything we can for those people on the border.

"It is

a devastating situation

. I feel so overwhelmed. I have never felt like this. It is hard to find words.
Digital Desk Staff

Alan Kelly is expected to stand down as leader of the Labour Party.

His position as leader has been in doubt after months of internal strife within the party, according to the Irish Examiner.

A source close to Mr Kelly said that he confirmed he would stand down. It is understood that he will make a significant announcement at 7pm this evening.

The Labour parliamentary party members will meet this evening where they will decide the next steps, however, Mr Kelly's leadership has been the source of concern for many within the party for months, the paper reports.

It is understood that staffing issues have been a source of concern.

Sources also confirmed there had been criticism of Mr Kelly's leadership style as the party continues to stall in the polls.

Another source said that issues had come to a head in last week's parliamentary party when Mr Kelly faced serious criticism from the representatives present.
By PA Reporter

Conflict in Ukraine remains the central focus of the nations papers as the invasion enters day seven.

The Irish Times leads with the UN general assembly vote which condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine as close to one million people have fled the country.

The Irish Examiner also reports that the world is lining up against Moscow after the UN vote was passed which demands the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Elsewhere, the Irish Independent leads with the fall of the Ukrainian city of Kherson to Russian troops.

Meanwhile, the Irish Daily Star leads with Ukrainian citizens uniting to form a shield around a nuclear plant as they continue to defend their country.

Thursdays front page pic.twitter.com/isx22yt4JZ  Irish Daily Star (@IsFearrAnStar) March 3, 2022

And the Belfast Telegraph reports that an estimated 2,000 civilians have died during the invasion while Russian president Vladimir Putin has been accused of war crimes.

Morning readers. Stay with @BelTel for all your breaking news.



Here's a look at the front page of the Belfast Telegraph this morning. https://t.co/3AlGJmrP8Y #Tellitlikeitis pic.twitter.com/rlTdm0zRXF  Belfast Telegraph (@BelTel) March 3, 2022

In Britain, the Russian invasion of Ukraine also continues to dominate the papers.

The Daily Telegraph reports Kherson in the countrys south has become the first of Ukraines besieged cities to fall into Russian hands. The story is accompanied by the image of a civilian crying outside homes damaged by the Kremlins airstrikes on Kyivs outskirts.

The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:



'First city falls to Russians'#TomorrowsPapersToday



Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/SPFrcQrOhw  The Telegraph (@Telegraph) March 2, 2022

The Daily Mirror and i both lead with the compelling story that babies are being born in bomb shelters while missiles rain down above. Their respective headlines read: For his sake for his future STOP and Welcome to hell.

Thursday's front page: Welcome to hell #TomorrowsPapersToday



Latest as Russian bombing of civilians claims hundreds of lives: https://t.co/55cQbwIq0j pic.twitter.com/F1Oqvi0gBi  i newspaper (@theipaper) March 2, 2022

The Daily Express also carries a photo of a baby who was born in the warzone, accompanying it with a report that Russias soldiers were deceived into a war against Ukraine, and they dont have the heart to fight.

Their finest hour reads the front page of Metro, citing Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy as saying there is no time to be neutral as Russia escalates its assault on his country.

The Times splashes with the pulverised scene from Zhytomyr, 90 miles outside Kyiv, which was one of the cities bombed beyond recognition. The accompanying story reports that Russia has destroyed homes, schools and hospitals across Ukraine.

Clear offski declares The Sun in reference to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich as he confirms he is selling Chelsea FC.

On tomorrow's front page: Roman Abramovich confirms he's selling Chelsea, with all proceeds going to Ukraine war victims https://t.co/D33txlingP pic.twitter.com/nQxAOLkOHT  The Sun (@TheSun) March 2, 2022

The Daily Mail reports the Duchess of Cornwall has made a substantial donation to Ukrainian refugees.

The Independent writes that civilian deaths have soared as Russian forces bombard key cities.

INDEPENDENT DIGITAL: Civilian deaths soar as forces bombard key cities #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/EayDDrpqII  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) March 2, 2022

Russians batter Ukrainian cities says the Financial Times, splashing with a photograph of a crying civilian taking shelter with hundreds of others in the Kyiv metro station.

Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Thursday 3 March https://t.co/wzKwViLadq pic.twitter.com/Ws4aVAI2Qu  Financial Times (@FinancialTimes) March 2, 2022

The Guardian carries the words of the Ukrainian president as he warns of genocide.

Guardian front page, Thursday 3 March 2022: Russia wants to 'erase' us, warns Ukraine's president pic.twitter.com/p9sR48KjKp  The Guardian (@guardian) March 2, 2022

And the Daily Star reports a blockade of civilians stopped Russian forces from getting to a nuclear reactor.
In June of 2021, a record-breaking heat wave scorched western North America, killing more than 500 people in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Canada.

Now, Oregon lawmakers are taking steps to lower the death toll next time around. The state Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would help provide air conditioners on an emergency basis for those in need, among other things.

In the summer of 2021, Oregon experienced a record heat wave, the 2nd worst natural disaster in our states recorded history, Senator Kayse Jama (D-Portland), chair of the Senate Committee on Housing and Development, said in a statement. Most people who passed away were seniors, people with disabilities, or people with underlying medical conditions. Senate Bill 1536 will protect more Oregonians by removing barriers to installing lifesaving devices.

Most people who passed away during the last heat wave were those living in upper-level multifamily units or manufactured homes and didnt have access to air conditioning or heat pumps. Senate Bill 1536 will protect our vulnerable Oregonians.#Orleg #Orpolhttps://t.co/eDzeAScoIB  Senator Kayse Jama (He/Him) (@SenatorJama) March 3, 2022

Heat waves are currently the deadliest type of extreme weather event in the U.S., as The Weather Channel explained, killing an average of 130 people per year compared to hurricanes (46), tornadoes (70), lightning (48) and flooding (81). As the climate crisis continues, they are only expected to get more frequent and intense, and, therefore, deadlier, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). During the five-day heat wave in June of 2021, 96 Oregonians died of heat-related illnesses, OPB reported.

Extreme heat is becoming a serious public health crisis in Oregon, particularly for seniors and other vulnerable folks, Senator Deb Patterson (D-Salem), chair of the Senate Committee on Health Care, said in a statement. We are working to prevent tragedies ahead by taking action on this emergency heat relief bill today. Todays vote is another example of Oregonians stepping up for each other when it is most needed.

The bill includes several new measures, including:

Limiting restrictions placed on portable cooling units by landlords, homeowners associations and others. Ordering the Oregon Health Authority to create a program for providing emergency air conditioners and filters to eligible people. Mandating that new residences be built with adequate cooling abilities. Creating the Heat Pump Deployment Program to provide grants to buy and install heat pumps. Mandating that the Department of Energy fund grants for landlords to build community cooling centers. Expanding a Department of Human Services grant to fund the creation of heating and cooling shelters, in addition to clean air shelters.

The bill now travels to the House of Representatives for discussion before it can become law, according to the Senate statement.

Environmental justice groups supported the lawmakers efforts to protect vulnerable people from heat waves.

The effects of the heat wave were deeply inequitable and most harmed the people least able to seek or afford relief, Verde manager Oriana Magnera said in a public legislative hearing last month, as OPB reported.

Oregon Environmental Council Climate program director Nora Apter also spoke out in favor of heat pumps specifically.

They are effective at both heating and cooling homes, use less energy than traditional systems and cost less to run than lower efficiency alternatives, she said, as OPB reported. They do not emit toxic air pollutants, and they produce less climate pollution than other heating and cooling appliances on the market.






Sarawak, Malaysia looks at improving food security through cattle production





The state government of Sarawak, Malaysia, intends to improve its food security by producing enough cattle to meet current market demand, especially for beef, and reduce import of cattle meat.

According to the Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture and Regional Development, Dato Sri Dr. Stephen Rundi Utom, Sarawak is only 12% self-sufficient in beef and to meet demand, 88% was imported mainly from Australia and New Zealand.

"The state's aspiration is to improve food security and in regard to beef, we want to achieve 50% self-sufficiency level by 2030. To achieve this aspiration, the involvement of the private sector is encouraged in commercial cattle production," he said in his address during the signing of an agreement for privatisation of Karabungan Agriculture Station.

The signing was between the state government represented by Veterinary Services of Sarawak and Alam Bumijaya Sdn Bhd.

The agreement will privatise Karabungan Agriculture Station for the purpose of commercial cattle farming for the production of beef, which will be undertaken by Alam Bumijaya Sdn Bhd as the operator.

"Mostly, our beef is imported. If we cut that (imported beef), we can increase revenue for the state," Dr. Rundi said. "But most importantly, it is also for food security. This is the future challenge the world over, not only for us in Malaysia, but all other parts of the world. We are not only looking at livestock, but we will also be looking at other agriculture activities, crops and so on, especially big plantations."

He said the government had decided to invite the private sector to invest in commercial livestock production, utilising existing government station land.

Apart from Karabungan, two other livestock stations, that have been chosen for commercial livestock production under this privatisation initiative, are Temudok Agriculture Station for goat production and Maragang Station for buffalo production.

"We want to use this (Karabungan) government's original initiative and make it a full pledged commercialisation to produce beef. The government will facilitate and assist, especially in terms of infrastructure," Dr. Rundi added. "We should be able to develop it within the 12th Malaysia Plan or even beyond, so that we can secure the future of our food security in this part of the world."

Dr. Rundi said the signing of the licence agreement marks a new milestone in the commercial development of the cattle industry in Sarawak towards achieving its 50% self-sufficiency level for beef and cattle population of 150,000 head by 2030.

- Borneo Post
From left are Kim Uphoff, SBL Vice President of Operations; Kyle Banks, member of the SBL Health Foundation Board and Hospice House Campaign Committee; Mike Genta, SBL board member and member of Hospice House Campaign Committee; and Amy Card.
Description

Our flagship report illustrates how the European Investment Bank Group confronted two great threats in 2021, the climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, even as the challenges posed by development grew more urgent. The EU bank tackled these hazards by thinking hard and moving fast  in new directions.

The Activity Report highlights our emergency response to COVID-19 through the unique European Guarantee Fund, as well as our support for healthcare companies working on cures and therapies for the disease. It illustrates the dimensions of our backing for companies that are forging new frontiers of climate action  sometimes right into outer space. It demonstrates our commitment to a better future for all Europeans in our cohesion investment and for all global citizens through our development work.

Built around 25 articles about the work of the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund in COVID-19 response, climate action, cohesion and development, the Activity Report highlights our contribution to a healthy, green and inclusive world.

Figures are expected outcomes of financed new operations signed in 2021 for the first time based on available data at this stage. All figures are unaudited and provisional.
People hold up signs during a gathering in support of Ukraine on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, at Courthouse Plaza in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo by Jack Weaver | Staff
Manx Government to divest itself of Russian assets

Treasury Minister David Ashford MBE MHK has confirmed the Isle of Man Government has issued instructions to its investment managers to divest any Russian assets held, in light of the conflict in Ukraine.

Minister Ashford said: In view of the ongoing military invasion of Ukraine, a review has taken place of the investment portfolio to ensure the Isle of Man Government identifies holdings of any Russian assets.

Discussions with investment managers indicate these holdings constitute a very small proportion of the total portfolio, a fraction of 1 per cent.

The announcement follows a statement from the Chief Minister in the House of Keys yesterday during which he confirmed that work was taking place to understand the Islands links to Russian persons and entities, and to understand the impact on the Island of possible further UK sanctions measures.

The Chief Minister told Members: We will work to ensure that we are not a weak link in international pressure on the Putin regime.
Triskelion Way will lead ferry travellers to Liverpool terminal

The road leading to the Isle of Man Ferry Terminal in Liverpool has been named Triskelion Way by Liverpool City Council.

The name was chosen to mark the journey being taken by passengers travelling to and from Manx shores while acknowledging the Islands historic maritime link with the city and wider area, and reflects the significant investment being made by the Isle of Man Government.

The road sign was unveiled by Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson at an official ceremony on Friday 25 February attended by Chief Minister Alfred Cannan MHK, Infrastructure Minister Tim Crookall MHK and James Whittaker, representing Liverpool Waters developers Peel L&P.
Local organisations join together to show support for Ukraine

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and local freight carrier Island Express have partnered up to send essential supplies to Ukraine.

Manx Support for Refugees has organised collections for supplies kindly donated by Manx residents. These will be distributed in Poland to refugees from Ukraine who have been displaced by the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Isle of Man based-company Island Express has worked with Manx Support for Refugees to pack an articulated trailer full of supplies, which the Isle of Man Steam Packet company agreed to ship on Ben-my-Chree last night, and a further on this evenings crossing, free of charge.

Jenny Baker, on behalf of Manx Support for Refugees, said: We have been overwhelmed with the support from the Manx public shown for the crisis in Ukraine. The supplies will go to UK charity Merseyside Refugee Support Network, and then transported to Poland. We are expecting the goods to reach those in need by Sunday the sooner the better.
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
Netflix has been the victim of two big on-set robberies in the space of two days, Variety has reported. On February 24th, $200,000 worth of antique props were reportedly stolen after thieves broke into vehicles used for production of The Crown. And just a day later, 20 thieves with covered faces broke onto the set of Lupin while star Omar Sy was filming and made off with 300,000 ($333,000) worth of equipment.

The Lupin heist happened in a northwest Paris suburb called Nanterre. The thieves reportedly set off mortar-style fireworks before making off with the equipment. "There was an incident on Feb. 25 while filming the upcoming [part 3] season of Lupin," Netflix confirmed to Variety. "Our cast and crew are safe and there were no injuries." Nanterre authorities have launched an investigation.

Lupin is Netflix's second-biggest international hit after Squid Games and has helped touch off a production boom in the French capital, along with series like Emily in Paris and Call My Agent. Recently, France decreed that streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ must reinvest at least 25 percent of revenue earned in the country on local productions.

Sy is once again in the role of Assane Diop, a character inspired by the Arsene Lupin gentleman thief/master of disguise detective developed by French author Maurice Leblanc. Just hours after the attack, Sy appeared at France's Cesar awards to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Intouchables (Untouchables).
Spotify has shut down its Moscow operations indefinitely in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, reported Variety. The streaming platform had just opened a representative office in Moscow last month, after a new Russian law required foreign tech companies with an audience of over 500,000 users to establish an office in the nation by 2022. But the law is new enough that most of the companies impacted (a list that includes Meta, Twitter and Telegram) have yet to comply. So far, Spotify, TikTok and Apple have opened offices in Russia.

Users in Russia will still be able to access Spotify. We think its critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to allow for the global flow of information, according to the statement provided to Variety by a Spotify spokesperson.

Spotify will also yank RT and Sputnik News off its platform, both Kremlin-funded news outlets with a massive global audience. Critics say both outlets function as propaganda tools for the Russian government and their foreign policy interests. Canada and the EU have both banned Russian state programming from their airwaves in recent days, and both outlets are under investigation in the UK.

But it's still pretty easy to view such Kremlin-backed outlets in the US. The National Association of Broadcasters has called for US broadcasters to stop airing RT, RT America and Sputnik News; so far only DirectTV and Roku has complied. Both Apple and Google have also removed apps from these outlets from their app stores.

But most other platforms, including Meta, TikTok and YouTube, are merely demoting or downranking Russian state-backed channels in the United States, though they are banning them outright in the European Union. Meta has stopped recommending RT and Sputnik News channels in the feeds of Facebook Main and Instagram, but users can directly go to the pages themselves.
The following contains moderate spoilers for the first three episodes of Star Trek: Picard season two, but not much more than what was seen in earlier teasers and trailers.

The first season of Picard was controversial, to say the least. Many fans were happy to see old friends again; others werent so thrilled at the grimdark direction Starfleet and the Federation went in the 20 years since wed last seen their 24th century incarnations. Still, we got a look at how technology evolved, met some intriguing new characters and in the finale, at least, everything seems to have been put right.

Its that brighter world where the second season of Picard begins, with synthetic beings now legal  which is handy, given that at the end of last season Jean-Luc Picard was transferred into an android body. It left me and much of the audience wondering if and how this would affect future stories. The answer comes pretty quickly in season two, now with new showrunner Terry Matalas at the helm. It doesnt really matter. Its not made clear exactly who does and who doesnt know, but Jean-Luc Picard is still subject to the ravages of age while enjoying all the legal protections he would have had as a flesh-and-blood being (he still owns the vineyard, for one thing). Even Q, when he inevitably appears, treats Picard as the same being hes always been.

CBS

Viewers may be familiar with the Ship of Theseus thought experiment, recently brought up in the finale of last years WandaVision. Basically, the idea is that if you slowly replace the parts of a ship over time, and then reassemble the old parts into another ship, which one is the original ship? In Picard, they suggest that the essence of a human being is their intelligence, so the real Jean-Luc Picard is the synthetic being thats walking around on Earth right now. The problem with this, however, is that this hasnt always been how Star Trek worked. While characters like Miles OBrien and Harry Kim were replaced by duplicate versions of themselves, Thomas Riker was decidedly not given the same courtesy. It seems that duplicates are acceptable only when they replace someone weve otherwise lost.

During press interviews, even Patrick Stewart admitted the synthetic body issue was a real mess. Thankfully, the show smartly moves past it. Its been at least a year and a half since the events of the first season, meaning were now in the 25th century. Picard has returned home and assumed the chancellorship of Starfleet Academy. Both Rios and Raffi have gone back to the fleet, and even Elnor is now attending school as a cadet (as the first full-blooded Romulan at the Academy). Its the nice shiny future weve always loved to see on Star Trek, complete with some banging costume design and fun updated tech. Last season I noted how nice it was to see the continuation of the synthetic being storyline that ran through The Next Generation, and having all the characters settled into new positions leaves plenty of room to explore other facets of 25th-century technology and society.

CBS

However, Picard hasnt become a happy show overnight. A new crisis quickly emerges, with a rift in subspace demanding Picards attention and putting the entire fleet at risk. This is where Q comes in, shunting Picard and his close compatriots over to an altered timeline where the genocidal Confederation rules the Alpha Quadrant with an iron fist. This isnt the Mirror Universe that were familiar with from previous shows like the original series, Deep Space Nine and Discovery. In this version, Earth is still very much in charge, having wiped out multiple species with the Borg next on its list.

Its not entirely clear in the first three episodes how this alternate reality was created, or why Q picked the La Sirena crew over any of Picards friends from the Enterprise-D. But its really just a tool that lets the show dabble in another Star Trek mainstay: time travel. Rather than create some new device or strange spatial phenomenon that sends the crew back in time, their method of traversing through the centuries harkens back to a method seen in the original series, one later repeated in the The Voyage Home. The ship slingshots around the sun, a technique that requires precise calculations that only someone like Spock can provide or the Borg Queen, in this case. Its not necessarily scientifically accurate, but it is a nice callback for a franchise spanning over 60 years, especially when fans have a tendency to try to square every inconsistency with their own theories instead of just embracing the chaos.

CBS

And chaos awaits the crew as they slide into the fair year of 2024, just a notch ahead of our own time so theres very little difference in tech to worry about. Raffi and Seven are aghast at the poverty on display in 20th-century Los Angeles, which points to why the shows writers chose this year instead of 2022 or 2023: 2024 is the date of the infamous Bell Riots as seen on Deep Space Nines Past Tense.

At that point, the poor and indigent residents interned in Sanctuary Districts in San Francisco struck back against the degrading conditions they were forced to live in, eventually prompting higher level changes that would eventually lead to the Federation we all know and love. Whether Picard and friends will end up playing a role in those pivotal events remains to be seen, but the third episode hints at Rios getting some taste of injustice as an undocumented Latino man though hes undocumented for a time travel reasons and not because of immigration.

Overall, the beginning of Picard plays like a greatest hits reel: Were treated to the return of classic baddies like Q and the Borg, other characters are referenced in passing for some fun Easter eggs, and time travel episodes of Star Trek tend to be a blast so I hope that this will be a good storyline. In a way its a warm blanket of nostalgia to calm the audience after the mess that was season one. But if you were hoping to actually explore the galaxy and see more of the 25th century, season two looks to be yet another letdown.
Twitter will resume business travel and open up its offices all around the world on March 15th, according to a tweet by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. While some Twitter staff began working out of the companys San Francisco and New York City offices last fall, most offices have remained closed since the beginning of the pandemic. But unlike many companies who are returning to in-person operations, Twitter is not requiring employees to come back. Early into the pandemic, Twitter granted employees the option of working from home indefinitely.

Agrawal noted that a workforce where a large fraction will either be 100 percent remote or switching between the office and home will have its unique challenges. In 2020 we adjusted quickly to working virtually with resilience and agility, but almost all of us were working from home. Distributed working will be much, much harder. Anyone who has joined a meeting remotely while others are in a conference room knows this pain. There will be lots of challenges in the coming months, and well need to be proactive, intentional, learn and adapt, wrote Agrawal.
The city of Enid has settled out of court with a landowner in a years-long eminent domain dispute over the citys Kaw Lake water project, just as lawyers in Osage County still are attempting to keep work from beginning on the pipeline.

After a two-hour executive session Tuesday night, Enid city commissioners unanimously approved a settlement amount of $150,000 to Enid resident Robert Anderson to acquire two 50-foot tracts of his land in eastern Garfield County.

City Manager Jerald Gilbert said that amount was determined in mediation between city officials and Anderson last week.

We believe we got a mutually agreeable place, Gilbert said Wednesday.

Last June, Anderson had been awarded $2.755 million in district court as just compensation for the citys condemnation of his property. Much of that amount had been made up of costs from a prior property lease terminated during the citys lawsuit.

Commissioners last month had designated settlement authority to Enids city manager, city attorney and Mayor George Pankonin before the mediation held Feb. 21.

The city had placed the millions in an escrow agreement at Stride Bank ahead of a potential settlement in October.

+5 Lengthy lawsuit over land: City takes next steps in million-dollar dispute for Kaw Lake pipeline By next summer, the city of Enid could go to a jury trial to settle an eminent domain dispute, officials said, rather than pay a Garfield County landowner $2.755 million recently awarded as just compensation for his property.

Anderson initially had been offered $4,800 for the easements in mid-2019, but this amount ballooned after a solar farm company already leasing his property for future construction canceled its agreement in order to avoid being sued in condemnation.

Anderson, a former chairman of Oklahoma Tax Commission and a former state senator, was long adamant about no pipelines being allowed on his property before the city of Enid filed its condemnation petition in 2020.

Andersons son, attorney Patrick Anderson, had been representing him throughout the condemnation dispute, but the younger Anderson did not return request for comment from the News & Eagle on Wednesday about the settlement.

Meanwhile, attorneys for Ponca City resident Dr. James Merrifield, who is objecting to the citys condemnation of his own property in Osage County, will return to Pawhuska next month to ask a district court judge to consider granting another restraining order against the city.

Osage County District Court Judge Stuart Tate will consider a motion to stay during a hearing set for 11 a.m. April 5 at the district courthouse.

Merrifields attorneys filed the stay request Monday in district court after a prior 16-month restraining order was finally lifted last week.

The motion is intended to prevent the city from damaging the property from the pipeline installation as Merrifield intends to appeal Tates recent ruling in state court.

We think that the laws on the side of the city, but we did anticipate that Mr. Merrifield might appeal, Gilbert said. And he has a right to due process.

That appeal has not yet been filed in appellate court, according to the Oklahoma State Courts Network website.

 A stay is necessary to protect Defendants rights and preserve the status quo of Defendants property until such time as all matters on appeal are resolved, the filing reads.

Last month, Tate had denied Merrifields myriad exceptions objecting to a 2020 report from court-appointed condemnation commissioners.

Tate then granted an immediate appeal in a Feb. 22 hearing and also dissolved the temporary injunction from Oct. 15, 2020, which had prevented contracted engineers from entering Merrifields property while the condemnation objection was underway.

Tate said in his ruling that the retraining order was dissolved because the adjudication of the right to condemn is no longer pending before the trial court.

Gilbert said the city would resolve its land acquisition issues before beginning to construct the 70-mile-long pipeline, which is being installed fairly soon, starting from the citys new water treatment plant on West Chestnut.

I do know pipelines on the ground on Phillips Road east of U.S. 81, he said.
Enid, OK (73701)

Today

Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low 53F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. Low 53F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
"The Larry David Story" got pulled from its schedule only a few hours before its expected release.

Fans who have been waiting to watch "The Larry David Story" were left dismayed after HBO announced the show's postponement on Monday evening. According to the network, David himself requested the cancelation of the show.

HBO Documentaries' official YouTube channel said, "The #LarryDavidStory on @HBOMax is being postponed. Instead, Larry has decided he wants to do it in front of an audience. Stay tuned for more info."

"The Larry David Story" is a two-part documentary series that will tell the life of the 74-year-old TV personality. But as reported by Deadline, David was not happy with the final product that he now wants to do it with a live audience instead.



It seemingly did not reach the comedic legend's expectations at all despite its interesting trailer released last month. David said in the previous clip, "I never thought of myself as funny. Anything I was associated with that could be successful was a shock."

HBO nor its representatives have not commented on the development yet. The trailer has also been made private as of Tuesday morning.

Larry David Has Confessions in HBO Documentary

Unfortunately, the postponement of the flick means people would not know what David stored for them - at least, not yet.

The trailer piqued the audience's interest as it also featured his friend and collaborator, Larry Charles. In the sneak peek, David gets candid about his personal and professional lives. He also mentions his early days as a not-so-funny Brooklyn kid who grew up to become America's favorite misanthrope.

David was set to discuss his iconic work on TV series, including "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." He finished working on "Seinfeld" in 1998. From there, he created "Curb Your Enthusiasm" for HBO in 2000.

READ ALSO: Alex Trebek Power: 'Jeopardy!' Champ Christine Whelchel Normalizes Cancer With This

"Twenty-five years old, I didn't know what I wanted to do. Well, what do you do when you're talking and people are laughing? You do comedy," David said. "I never thought of myself as being funny. Anything I was associated with that could be successful was a shock."

Larry David began his career in the 1980s when he served as a stan-up comedian. He then landed his first television gig in 1984 on "Saturday Night Live."

It remains unknown whether David would still allow the docuseries to air sooner or later.

READ MORE: Danny Ongais Cause of Death Tragic: Renowned Motorsports Driver Dead At 79
Darren Criss shocked fans when he shared a harrowing post on social media revealing that one of his beloved family members had passed away at a young age; what was his cause of death?

Taking to his Instagram account, the "Glee" actor shared a series of photos of his brother Charles, whom he referred to using his nickname, Chuck.

The post was accompanied by a lengthy statement, revealing the cause of death of his brother, which is suicide. Charles Criss reportedly suffered from a "severe depression" for some time before his passing in February.

Criss noted that the recent news in their family was a "colossal shock," and it impacted his mom, brother, his three small children, and their respective mothers.

His death affected the actor badly, and he mentioned that he'd attempt to wrap his head around the idea of why he did it on himself.

However, he thought of writing a lengthy statement, saying it gives him peace, so he's sharing it with his three million followers online.

Chuck was not very hard to be fond of, said the actor, as there was something "disarming about his mild manner that you couldn't help but feel affectionate towards him."

READ NOW: Headlines Say Kim Kardashian is Single, But Kanye West's Legal Team Would Like To Clarify Some Things!

In addition, Darren revealed his brother's attitude, saying he's a "total goofball" as he loves to deliver "wickedly funny lines" that would light up a room, especially with his timing despite not being an outspoken person. (via Daily Mail UK)

The statement continues, "'Charles & Darren' were an inseparable, dynamic duo. We shared nearly everything and looked out for each other. He was my confidant and companion as we discovered the world together."

The two shared common a common denominator as both of them loved music. Chuck has a talent for singing and songwriting, which his brother greatly admired as it inspired him.

On the second page of his statement, Darren said he had to meditate over how much information he was willing to disclose to the public as his brother's death was a sensitive matter. Still, he later realized that the vagueness can lead to confusion and "provoke ideas far worse than the truth."

Over the last part, the actor shared how Chuck struggled to "find stability" when he encountered a harrowing moment, "severe depression," that ultimately led to him taking his own life last week.

The actor concluded his statement by saying he can't imagine that even for a person who was "universally adored" like his brother, darkness could take him, which is powerful enough to "block the magnitude of life" from other people surrounding him.

READ ALSO: Gotta Love Karma...The Tindler Swindler Was Swindled Himself And Finding Out How Is So Satisfying
A Reflection on Sraffas Revolution in Economic Theory edited by Ajit Sinha, Palgrave Macmillan, 2021; pp xxv+ 601, 14,821 (hardcover).

No revolution in economic theory has been quieter and more explosive than that sparked by the publication of Piero Sraffas slim volume Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities, in 1960. Using linear algebra, the author sought no less than to solve conundrums in classical theory, as well as set up a research programme in political economy.

Over time, the economics of Sraffa settled into a rich, thick soup resting in a kitchen presided over by a handful of mostly Italian chefs. Then Ajit Sinha entered and began to stir the pot. His contestation of the culinary skills of the possessors of the Sraffa recipe book continues through this volume which is a collection of insights from the finest international scholars on the subject. A galaxy of 25 stars shines over 18 chapters. The format of each reminded me of my school debates; there is thesis followed by antithesis, concluding with a counter to the counter. The erudition is staggering and a complete appraisal would tax my abilities and the kindness of the editors of this journal. I have done no more than cull out some themes with the associated authors.
So far there are two abiding images of the Ukrainian-Russian crisis. One is of Vladimir Putin holding court seated at one end of a long table, his guests a distance away. Two tables feature in these meetings: a 6m-long white one (at which sat, among others, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz) and another that looks like a sushi conveyor (which appears in meetings with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu). Its always a formal setting, suits and ties, uniforms, plush carpets and heavy drapes, flags, flowers and portraits on the walls, all designed apparently to exude power for a man reliant on RT, Tass, Rossiya 24 and other organs of state control to project this image, and who has established a system of oligarchical patronage involving his former KGB colleagues. In attempting to return Russia to past glories via Kyiv, Putin seems to have made what Zoya Sheftalovich describes as the classic mistake of tyrants: Surround yourself only with sycophants, suck-ups and yes-men, and you never get a reality check in your echo chamber. Eliminate dissenting politicians, and you assume that means youve eliminated dissent.

And then there is the image of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky (44) at his regular press conferences in a khaki T-shirt, visiting the frontline in combat fatigues, and screening pop-up clips with his colleagues. We are here. We are in Kyiv. We are defending Ukraine, he said in a Telegram video shot on the streets last Friday night. He was surrounded by his close aides including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and the head of the ruling partys parliamentary faction. Zelensky, previously a comedian and actor, has stayed in Kyiv despite reported offers of sanctuary in the US and France. He entered politics in 2019 on an anti-corruption campaign, after his television role as a history teacher elected as president on just such a platform in the sitcom Servant of the People. Nobodys perfect, but Zelenskys path to power and his motives appear a world apart from his Russian rival.

Perhaps this explains why so few African leaders are reluctant to speak out against Putins actions  they are caught between envy and fear of change. With few notable exceptions, most African elites have, by their effective silence, presumed Putins move will have little impact on their lives. The muted African response may have been motivated by a wish not to be drawn into a great power conflict. Alienating Russia doesnt make sense, for some, whatever the principles at stake, particularly when Africa might become a more important trade partner in the wake of Western sanctions. Take South Africas foreign minister, Naledi Pandor. Last week, on 23 February, she said that, while she was extremely concerned about developments in Ukraine, the concerns Russia has expressed about its own security need to be taken into account. In an interview on SAFM, she denied that Russia was sending soldiers across an international border, and banged on about South Africa seeking a peaceful resolution of disputes, calling along the way for reform of the UN Security Council.

Pandors pomposity was rowed back (a bit) by her Department of International Relations and Cooperation the following day when it stated: South Africa calls on Russia to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine in line with the United Nations Charter. But then both were trumped by the ANCs Department of International Relations statement on 27 February which (inexplicably) defended Belarus and, in calling for negotiations to end a conflict which exposes that the Cold War has never been taken to its grave, completely ignored the fact that Russia has invaded a sovereign democratic country. Nor is Belarus an innocent bystander. It has allowed Russian forces to launch an attack from its territory and its own armed forces have joined in. It speaks volumes about the strength of the hold Russia has on the ANC and exposes the party badly. The ANC might as well have thrown a naartjie at the ref, for no one takes such stump South African blah seriously any longer. The countrys foreign policy was captured long before Jacob Zuma added a price tag, using Cold War nostalgia as a fig leaf to disguise State Capture, conjuring up the West as an enemy while embarking on health trips to Moscow and a nuclear power deal. Like a Potemkin village, SAs foreign policy pretends that the country has a voice when it is faring poorly itself.

The danger with closing ranks in this way is that you miss the lessons that should be learnt from Putins moves and missteps. The most sympathetic explanation is that South Africa is trying to protect its membership of BRICS, as the Ukraine invasion threatens to undo the grouping. For one, it has exposed the different trajectories of democracy between China and Russia on one side, and Brazil, India and SA on the other. There are question marks too against the benefits of closer BRICS economic integration. Western sanctions against Russia will not help its already unsteady economy, beset as it is by a fluctuating oil price and an aging population. Frustrated by Washingtons dominance in global affairs, some might also hold the West at least partly to blame for isolating and humiliating Russia since the Berlin Wall came down. For others, it raises the hypocrisy of Western foreign policy, one blogger asking why, when Russia takes military action (in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine), its called an invasion, but when the US does so (the examples cited being Iraq, Syria, Libya, Panama, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) its described as a liberation?

No matter how egregious the Western motivation for the removal of those listed, among other governments, the problem with this argument is that none of those removed in the latter group could remotely be considered as democratic. By contrast, the extent to which Ukraine is a democracy is perhaps best illustrated by Putins criticism that it isnt. Putins model is attractive to certain African elites. It offers the prospect of rapid wealth accumulation (with the big man at the top of the billionaire pile, as with Putin) for a select few and the prospect of never losing power with no limits to personal authority and state control over all checks and balances, including the media. Imagine, as Anne Applebaum notes, an American president who controlled not only the executive branch  including the FBI, CIA, and NSA  but also Congress and the judiciary; The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, and all of the other newspapers; and all major businesses, including Exxon, Apple, Google, and General Motors.

While the exact consequences for Africa of the invasion are as uncertain as the military outcome, they are likely to be mostly negative  at least for Africas peoples  for several reasons. The first of these lies in the African adage that when elephants fight, the grass gets trampled. International markets and oil prices remain vulnerable and volatile. Also Europe, which has stood up and together diplomatically and militarily as never before, is likely to concentrate resources internally as result, both on increased military expenditure (Germany just announced a 100-billion increase in its defense budget due to Putins war) and towards reconstruction and refugee flows.

Second, by declaring parts of Ukraine as independent states, Putin also undermines, as the Kenyan ambassador to the UN, Martin Kimani, has eloquently pointed out, the supposedly inviolate principle of nation-state sovereignty, raising all sorts of problems potentially for the potpourri colonial composition of African states. Its another irony that the Chinese, for whom sovereign matters are perhaps the key feature of international relations, have lent support to Russia on these very grounds over Ukraine. President Xi Jinping reportedly told Putin that certain international forces are arbitrarily interfering in the internal affairs of China and Russia, under the guise of democracy and human rights. This could provide an insight  when push comes to shove  into just how China might view African sovereignty (as opposed to its own territory) when its interests are threatened.

Third, there is a potential democracy debit. Moscow, like China, shares a common purpose towards the West, intent on disrupting and weakening relations with its allies, especially in the Middle East and Africa, but also through undermining Western democracy at home, already fraught with doubt and hampered by a combination of poor leadership and citizen disengagement.

Russias ratcheting African ambitions and methods, which are in line with Putins goal to restore Moscows authority at home and abroad, link to the militarization of his foreign policy. This model is already promoted by Russia in Africa through its example in Ukraine and more direct means, not least the activities of the Wagner private security group, active in Central African Republic, Mali and Mozambique. There are close connections between Wagner and those around Putin. Wagner promotes a view of Africa out of the 1960s  grateful locals receiving foreign mercenaries who bring stability, a view that looks away from the killings and torture the mercenaries are accused of by the UN and human rights groups. Africans could increasingly become a target of such authoritarian tactics, including support for local political splitters. While elites might be pleased at the prospect of reducing domestic political competition, such a new world order (through disorder in large measure) is unlikely to be in Africas overall interest given the clear longstanding empirical correlation on the continent between democratic standards and developmental outcomes. And yet its hard to believe that those who support  alternatively, dont criticize  Putin favor the peaceful resolution of disputes, democracy, the rule of domestic and international law, and human rights.

But there is a silver lining that sensible African leadership should note. The first is to never underestimate your foes, as Putin seems to have done. He has underestimated the Ukrainian will to fight and Zelenskys ability to lead. This illustrates the danger of losing touch with public sentiment. Perhaps such estrangement is an inevitable consequence of being locked into the past and in historic struggles and destiny, but also reflects the absence of democracy  and the legitimacy, sensitivity and sensibility that inevitably flows from this. As they lose touch, governments invariably pick populist short-cuts: redistributive economics, a diplomatic method aimed at remaking the world on the basis of historical imagination, the development of narratives inflating past glories, control of sources of power and information, and increasing alignment with like-minded authoritarians.

Zoya Sheftalovich asks, as a consequence, How long will Russians continue buying into this war  a war they know Putin started, despite what their TVs might be telling them? How long will they watch videos of Ukrainian soldiers telling Russian warships to go fuck themselves in their common tongue? The same can be asked of those Africans who buy into the rhetoric of national liberation struggles, in spite of the obvious failings of their governments.

Lessons and Consequences for Africa from Putins Moves and Missteps in Ukraine  Article by Greg Mills  The Brenthurst Foundation.

The Article can be downloaded here:
Connectivity Unleashed at MWC22 Barcelona - GSMA/PR NEWSWIRE

More than 60,000 attendees convened in-person from around the world to discuss the convergence of mobile, the potential of the metaverse and transforming vertical industries

BARCELONA, Spain, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The GSMA is celebrating a vibrant and dynamic edition of MWC Barcelona and there was no doubt it was the place to do business. The world's largest and most influential connectivity event hosted over 60,000 attendees from almost 200 countries. It was the centre of discussion and debate, the place where leaders in the mobile ecosystem continued charting the future to achieve the full potential of technology.

"Nothing beats MWC in person, and it was exciting to bring our community  which is so passionate about connectivity  back together to discuss the opportunities that lie ahead." John Hoffman, CEO GSMA Ltd. said. "On behalf of the GSMA, I would like to thank all of our attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, and partners who came together to make MWC22 so productive, safe, and successful. I also want to thank Barcelona City Council, Generalitat de Catalunya, the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation, Fira de Barcelona, Tourism de Barcelona (the Host City Parties), the L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Mobile World Capital, and the people of Catalonia and Spain. Your support is unwavering, and your creativity, hospitality, and perseveclrance continually inspire us."

Connectivity Unleashed

Over four days, more than 1,900 companies joined MWC22 Barcelona to showcase the role of mobile technology in unleashing connectivity, exploring 5G Connect sponsored by Salesforce, Advancing AI, Internet of Everything, CloudNet by Kyndryl, FinTech, and the Tech Horizon.

Thought leadership from entrepreneurs, government ministers, and extraordinary people pushing the boundaries of our imaginations spoke from stages across the event. From traditional industries to award-winning filmmakers speakers challenged and inspired attendees to think about new ways of leveraging technology.

Vertical collaboration, startup innovation, and much more at MWC22

Again this year, the Ministerial Programme at MWC was the centre of global digital policy debate. With more than 160 delegations from countries and international institutions around the world, policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, and the international development community exchanged experiences and views on how to build policies for a digital world, maximise the potential of 5G, close the digital gap, and meet global climate targets. As the world becomes increasingly digital, there was broad agreement that we need more collaboration and cooperation amongst all stakeholders to expand digital inclusion for all. This year, leaders like Jessica Rosenworcel, Chairwoman of the U.S. FCC, and Minister Paula Ingabire of Rwanda not only contributed to the conversation in the Ministerial Programme, but brought their policy priorities to the MWC keynote stage.

All-new for this year's edition, Industry City, co-delivered with Knowledge Partner Accenture showcased demos from the FinTech, Manufacturing, and Automotive sectors. With a buzz of activity, Industry City was a must-see space at the event. Visitors had the opportunity to experience a range of Summits covering robotics and smart mobility topics through interactive metaverse tours and demonstrations from partners and the GSMA Foundry programme.

Focus on the local entrepreneurial startup community returned with the 4YFN (Four Years from Now) programme  supported by platinum sponsor BStartup Banco Sabadell  as it welcomed over 500 international startups and over 300 speakers to share insights on how to drive the ecosystem forward. Competing for more than 24 billion of investment, 200 startups pitched to leading funds, VCs, and CVCs during the event.

MWC22 by the numbers

Over 60,000 unique people attended in person

Around 500,000 unique virtual and daily viewers on MWC22 and partner platforms

Representation from almost 200 countries and territories

Over 1,900 exhibitors, sponsors, and partners

Over 1,000 speakers, 97% in person and 36% women

More than 50% of attendees were Directors and C-Suite executives, 20% were CEOs and founders, 25% were women

Millions tuned into MWC22 Barcelona content via Mobile World Live global syndication and official national and international broadcasters.

More than 1,600 international journalists were onsite

Our gratitude

"The momentum leading into MWC22 was palpable, and it delivered," said Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA. "In the spirit of our theme 'Connectivity Unleashed', we saw how industries were going beyond simple connectivity to deliver meaningful connectivity, deploying technology in ground-breaking ways that will shape industry and society. I thank every person who helped make MWC Barcelona 2022 an unmissable event  and as we move to a 'digital everything' world, I look forward to seeing what we achieve next year!"

MWC22 was covered by Mobile World Live, CNBC, Euronews, Financial Times, TIME, The Wall Street Journal Barron's Group, and more than 1,600 international journalists. Featured Media Partners include C114, Insider Intelligence, Radio + Television Business Report, Technology Record, and TeleSemana. A huge thank you to all our MWC22 partners and sponsors. Your collaboration and support contributed significantly to the buzz and excitement of being together at this time.

Local initiatives like, Meet and Eat and Beat Barcelona showcased the best of the city. A preliminary economic analysis indicated that MWC will have contributed more than 240 million to Barcelona's economy and created more than 6,700 part-time jobs in 2022. And once again, MWC was a carbon-neutral event.

Looking to the future

Following a successful MWC22 Barcelona, the GSMA is working hard to deliver the full MWC series in 2022. The next event, MWC Shanghai, will take place from 29th June  1st July, followed by the inaugural MWC Las Vegas from 28th-30th September and rounded off by MWC Africa from 25-27th October  which will return in person to Kigali for the first time since 2019.

As the mobile industry gathered this week at MWC22, our thoughts have been with those suffering hardship and loss. Businesses, governments, and individuals alike are wrestling with meaningful ways to help, even as the conflict continues to escalate. Many of our members are responding by facilitating communication with loved ones and by addressing humanitarian needs.

Find out more about MWC Barcelona: www.mwcbarcelona.com.

About GSMA

The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry, and society thrive. Representing mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA delivers for its members across three broad pillars: Connectivity for Good, Industry Services and Solutions, and Outreach. This activity includes advancing policy, tackling today's biggest societal challenges, underpinning the technology and interoperability that make mobile work, and providing the world's largest platform to convene the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events.

We invite you to find out more at gsma.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1759161/GSMA_at_MWC22.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1385555/GSMA_Logo.jpg

Media Contacts:

GSMA Press Office pressoffice@gsma.com
Honda Motor said it has suspended exports of cars and motorcycles to Russia, signaling the likelihood more Japanese automakers would join the global swell of companies halting business with Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
The term Metaverse is fast becoming the buzzword in tech and business. Metaverse is intrinsically a visual interface that expands the capability of the eyes, ears, and brain - to see, feel, believe, and do what we could not see, feel, believe, or do before. Metaverse seems to encapsulate Virtual Worlds, AR, VR, NFTs and blockchain.

How big is the metaverse opportunity?

Metaverse is not just a next step in technology but a complete evolution of the way the Internet works and how people perceive the Internet. While Web2.0 was focused on just making connections, metaverses are focused on making people be with each other. For example, in India, we did a wedding on metaverse. The concept was very simple - that people are anyways comfortable with sharing the live stream of events, so why not

Facebook is building the metaverse in Horizon Worlds; Apple is currently working on an advanced virtual reality gathering; Google is said to be working on innovative augmented reality devices; Microsoft is also creating a Mixed Reality Productivity tool called Mesh that will incorporate virtual experience directly into the Microsoft Business Stack, and Disney has a Disney theme metaverse. South Korea also announced a metaverse called Gen MZ; Barbados has a plan to set up an embassy in Metaverse, and Santa Monica in Canada partnered with a metaverse company to launch a digital world of Santa Monica. The start-up space for all sorts of head-worn devices is also quite exciting for me. Having a mixed bag of upstarts and gorillas of the industry battling it out to create the next big thing in tech is an exciting space to be.

For years, we have been adding mediums to communicate with users through our innovative technology partners. From print to radio to television, Internet (digital) to Voice, and now Metaverse.

Metaverse For Good is the most important aspect and the reason I find Metaverse for Good so conceptually important is that this for good objective should apply to all stakeholders creating many opportunities.

Marketers must follow the Metaverse For Good framework by

 Incentivizing better social behaviours

 Safe-guarding consumer privacy and security

 Embedding diversity and inclusion

 Securing brand safety and copyright

 Moving towards crypto sustainability

 Narrowing digital divide

Our brain has been millions of years in the making. It is not about to change in the next few years. Once we appreciate this fact, it can serve us well to focus on this unchanging aspect of humanity as we try to navigate the changing tech landscape.

Use Cases

1. In todays world where consumers are culture creators and replicators, it is critical to build symbols that can be used, remixed, and built upon by the consumer - "Cadbury: Secret Love Notes & A Date on the Moon".

This Valentine's Day, Dairy Milk Silk ads were used to convey love notes, viewable only via your mobile device, creating a secret world where your secret love could send you a secret note. As part of the campaign, one lucky couple was treated to a virtual date on the virtual moon on the metaverse.

2. Be where the attention of your consumers is converging. For instance, Matrimony.com was present at the first Indian wedding on metaverse.

3. A brand that experiments with new ideas conveys to the world that it is intellectually curious. Coca-Cola and ITC created unique experiences at India's first metaverse wedding. Virtual stores were set up by these brands inside the platform where any guest could come to the storefront and buy an item of their choice. The guests also received discounts and gift cards as return gifts. Coca-Cola pulled off one of the best brand integrations in India on the metaverse, bringing alive the theme of Sip A Coke, Shake A Leg With Daljeet, at Indias first metaverse wedding.

4. Metaverse can be the safe space, a safe springboard for new users to launch their hope and dreams in real lives. WPP enabled new kinds of experiences for employees with WPPs First NFT forest! - They prepared a gift to enable their employees to experience the world of Web 3.0, along with wishes for the new year. Through this, many of them stepped into the world of Web 3.0, excited to have bought NFT for first time. With this special gift project, they had a brand new and wonderful moment where they got to share the sprit of WPP and the excitement of the new year.

Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India)
Commentary From Crisis Management Expert Edward Segal, Author of the Award- Winning Book "Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies " (Nicholas Brealey)

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is taking different forms, including cyberattacks.

Last week, CNBC said that, "Websites for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet of Ministers and Rada, the country's parliament, were among those down.... The government sites were offline as officials attempted to switch traffic elsewhere to minimize damage..."

But the impact of Russia's cyber warfare in Ukraine could be far-reaching.

'The Most Sobering Statistic'

Baruch Labunski, CEO of Rank Secure, observed that, "Here's the most sobering statistic I've seen about the threat to businesses all over the globe that the Russian invasion of Ukraine poses in terms of cybersecurity: According to Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1 in 5 Fortune 500 companies rely on Ukraine's IT outsourcing sector.

"That means that even if your business isn't directly targeted by Russian-based cyberattacks, you may still feel the impact," he warned.

'Under No Illusions'

Mykola Volkivskyi, a political expert and former advisor to a top official of the Ukrainian Parliament, is president of The First International Ukrainian Foundation of Development. He observed that, "Cybersecurity is under great threat throughout Europejoint action is often ineffective and attacks on critical infrastructure provide a good time to conduct an operation. We have no illusions about Russia's plans to attack Ukraine, so its previous successful testing of the attack provides a lot of material to continue the action.

"The new large-scale attack will not be limited to information portals of government organizations or anythingnow the entire banking system will be hit, there will be disruptions in energy supply, communications, Internet, contacts in the metropolis, and more. All spheres will sufferthe demand for cash and foreign currency will increase, panic will hit people who will buy fuel and food," he predicted.

'Ukraine Has Become A Testing Ground'

Writing in New Eastern Europe, Volkivskyi said that, "The Russian Federation is investing heavily in state-controlled cyber groups. These [groups] systematically carry out industrial espionage and intelligence activities using various methods. For example, the Kremlin has interfered in elections and referendums, stolen and leaked compromising information, and disabled banking systems.

"Ukraine has become a testing ground for many of these tactics over the past ten years. Despite this, the activities of such groups in other regional states prompted us to write about Moscow's actions. Overall, the Kremlin appears ready to move to a new stage of provocations in Eastern Europe in order to counter NATO's military infrastructure. What will these actions look like in the future and how can Ukraine's experience help its neighbors in Europe?,'' he asked.

'Part Of An Integrated Offensive Military Invasion'

Jonathan Reiber is the senior director for cybersecurity strategy and policy at AttackIQ. He noted that the initial cyberattacks "may end up being the first declared hostility where cyberspace operations are a part of an integrated offensive military invasion.

"It would by no means be the first time that a nation-state has conducted cyberattacks to achieve a strategic objective, and recent history is replete with such examples,'' he noted.

"How might it unfold? We could see a coordinated campaign of cyberspace operations targeting the Ukrainian government's senior leader communications, military critical infrastructure and communications, and aspects of Ukrainian national critical infrastructure, to include the energy, manufacturing, and media sectors (as well as others).

"Such a coordinated campaign could extend far beyond what the Russian government has done to Ukraine in the past. For the sake of international peace and security, we should all hope for de-escalation,'' Reiber concluded.

Advice For Business Leaders

'Time Is Running Out'

Bryan Hornung, the founder of Xact IT Solutions, warned that, "Time is running out if you have not started on a comprehensive cybersecurity plan for your business.

"At this stage, companies should be looking to adopt a zero-trust model to protect critical assets and secure home-based workers. If you're not quite ready for zero trust having the basics like advanced endpoint protection, multi-factor authentication on everything, and a firm password hygiene policy that utilizes password management technology is a good start.

"I would recommend layering all of that with human threat hunting technology which most businesses today, even small ones, can afford," he concluded.

'CISA's 'Shields Up Warning'

Earlier this month, as concerns mounted about a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Cyber Security & Infrastructure Agency (CISA) issued a 'shields up' warning to U.S. companies. It recommended that, "all organizationsregardless of sizeadopt a heightened posture when it comes to cybersecurity and protecting their most critical assets."

CISA said that, "While there are not currently any specific credible threats to the U.S. homeland, we are mindful of the potential for the Russian government to consider escalating its destabilizing actions in ways that may impact others outside of Ukraine."

Good News And Bad News

Michael Greenberger is a law school professor at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law and the founder and director of the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security. He noted that a defensive cyber checklist issued by CISA for U.S. businesses was both good and bad news.

According to Greenberger, the bad news "is that these merely 'voluntary' defensive CISA 'suggestions" 'expose the entirety of U.S. infrastructure to crippling stoppages. In such a 'voluntary' system, too many entities do not establish (indeed have no knowledge of) defensive cyber measures, especially in the small business and small government sectors. Of course, any weakness within the entirety of an infrastructure system can cripple (and has crippled) the delivery of critical servicesno matter how diligent some governments and businesses are." he noted.

Greenberger commented that the good news "is that U.S. military and intelligence agencies can greatly debilitate Russian infrastructure in quick response to any serious Russian cyberattacks. The chances are also great that that a U.S. affirmative response against Russia can inflict pain that far exceeds that which can be imposed by Russia and, indeed, may even debilitate its conventional military's incursion into the Ukraine. Russia knows this. For this reason, Russian cyberattacks on the U.S. should be measured to avoid the worst potential U. S. affirmative responses.

"In short, this pending conflict will doubtless require the U.S. and state and local governments, as well as the entire business community, to be on the most heightened alert," Greenberger concluded.

###
Heres a look at whats new or notable in home video. Movies and TV series are available on streaming sites such as iTunes, Amazon and Vudu unless otherwise noted.

Scream: Is it an enhanced horror movie, a requel (reboot + sequel) or just another meta-slasher whodunnit? Whatever it is, the new Scream mostly gets it right.

A new Ghostface killer pops up in Woodsboro to menace a new group of young friends, as well as legacy characters such as Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). Knowing all about horror movies  especially the fictional Stab franchise inside the Scream universe  can still help characters ID the killer and maybe even survive.

As in the 1996 original, there is a lot of bloody violence, often involving kids. So even if you like scary movies, you might not be in the mood for this right now.

Now available to rent and buy from digital retailers following a theatrical release.

New  Blu-ray

Belfast: Kenneth Branagh was born in Northern Ireland but left with his family for England when he was young to get away from the Troubles. His deeply moving film Belfast tells that story from a boys point of view. Buddy (11-year-old Jude Hill, who is terrific) is concerned about girls and long division, but he twice gets swept up into street fights. His ma (Caitriona Balfe) and pa (Jamie Dornan) try to hold their family together amid the start of the simmering civil war.

Rob Youngson / /Focus Features /AP

The movie also is about the inspiration of a future filmmaker. Buddy and his family escape into movies like American Westerns and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, seen in brilliant color against the movies black-and-white daily life, until they can escape for real.

Belfast was a best picture Oscar contender when it was released; current events may make it a lock.

Now available on Blu-ray; also available to rent or buy from digital retailers.

New  Animation

The Spine of Night: Never mind Adult Swim. This animated feature is a deep dive into hard, R-rated fantasy that recalls Heavy Metal and the movies made by Ralph Bakshi.

RLJE Films

Its about a scholar who begins a campaign of conquest after being corrupted by a sacred plant that gives him ultimate knowledge and power. A variety of forces  including winged killers and undead guardians  try to halt him. The voice cast includes Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless and Patton Oswalt.

Now available on Blu-ray; also available to rent or buy from digital retailers.

More to stream Here's a look at movies just added to streaming services. New movies "Drive My Car": This Japanese drama, based on a story by Haruki Murakami, follows a director trying to resume his career after the death of his wife. It's nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture. HBO Max "West Side Story": Steven Spielberg's revamped remake of the musical that sets a Romeo and Juliet romance amid a New York gang rivalry in the '50s wasn't a hit in theaters, but it has a devoted fan base. It also is up for seven Academy Awards, including best picture. Disney+, HBO Max Vintage movies "Dazed and Confused": Richard Linklater's fond evocation of the last day of school in a small Texas town is one of the greatest high school movies ever. The cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Parker Posey and Joey Lauren Adams. Peacock "Foxy Brown": In this 1974 thriller, Pam Grier plays the title character, who infiltrates a drug gang to avenge the death of her boyfriend. Amazon Prime "A Nightmare on Elm Street": Check out both the original "Nightmare," which cemented Freddy Krueger as one of the most iconic horror-movie villains, and the 2010 remake, with San Antonio actor Jackie Earle Haley as that villain. Netflix "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion": Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow star in this candy-colored comedy from 1997 about longtime friends who are perfectly fine with their going-nowhere lives until they get ready to attend their 10-year reunion. Hulu, Paramount+ See More Collapse

jkiest@express-news.net | Twitter: @en_salife
San Antonio police are searching for an endangered 10-year-old child.

Kassandra Torres was last seen on Tuesday in the 1300 block of N. Sabinas.

Police believe Kassandra may be with her biological mother who does not have custodial rights.

Kassandra has collar-length black hair and brown eyes, stands at 5-feet 1-inch, and weighs 190 pounds. She was last seen wearing a grey sweater, pink jacket, black pants and black shoes.

Anyone with information on Kassandra should contact the San Antonio Police Department's Missing Persons Unit at 210-207-7660.
State Rep. Michelle Beckley forced a runoff in the Democratic race for lieutenant governor  and now shes calling on her opponent, Houston accountant Mike Collier, to end his campaign.

He doesnt inspire the base, Beckley, of Carrollton, said in an interview Thursday. He should drop out.

Collier was the 2018 Democratic nominee for the post and came within 5 points of unseating Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that year. He earned about 42 percent of the vote in Tuesday nights election, followed by Beckley at 30 percent.

A third candidate, Houston educator Carla Brailey, came in just behind at 28 percent, according to unofficial results. Patrick, who is seeking his third term in Texas No. 2 spot, sailed to victory in the Republican primary.

TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday

Danny Zaragoza, Staff Photographer

Collier says he has no intention of dropping out, and the two will face off in a May runoff election.

Our campaign is building a diverse coalition around the issues that matter to Texans  protecting our individual rights, fully funding our public education system, fixing the damn grid, expanding Medicaid  and working together to defeat Dan Patrick, Collier said.

Now, the pair will spend the next two months hoping to win over the more than 280,000 voters who cast ballots for Brailey  and also convincing them to show up on May 24. Texas primary elections are notorious for their low turnout, and runoff elections typically see even lower numbers.

Brailey said Thursday she plans to stay involved in the race, and shell look toward the candidate whose actions reflect a commitment to diversity and inclusion. But shes not ready to make an endorsement just yet: You can rest assured, Im not going anywhere at all. How I stay in this race will be determined in the next couple days, couple weeks.

Collier has two statewide elections under his belt: the lieutenant governors race four years ago and a bid for state comptroller before that. His campaign has a massive funding advantage, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in the lead-up to the primary.

As of Feb. 22, his campaign had about $120,000 on hand to Beckleys $9,000. Collier has raised nearly $2 million since announcing his run last year, though his campaign is bogged down by about $450,000 in outstanding loans  a holdover from the 2018 race that hed given to himself.

On ExpressNews.com: Texas senators move to purge Russian investments from state pension funds

For Collier, the lead-up to the May runoff will focus on digital campaigns and travel across the state, starting with a visit to North Texas on Monday. His campaign also announced a number of new endorsements on Thursday, including three members of Congress  Reps. Veronica Escobar, Lizzie Fletcher and Lloyd Doggett  and a slate of Houston-area politicians who had previously endorsed Brailey.

Every vote we gain in the primary and every supporter that we meet is not wasted time, said Ali Zaidi, Colliers campaign manager. A runoff is not wasted time. It builds our coalition and support for November. Its not like we have one enemy in the primary and then another one in the general. We have been laser-focused since April of 2021 that this is an effort to defeat Dan Patrick.

For Beckley, the run-up to May will focus on direct voter contact. She has repeatedly noted that she was the only candidate in the lieutenant governors race to previously win an election and slammed Collier on Thursday for failing to get through the primary with two candidates who came in very late with almost no resources.

Beckley beat Republican state Rep. Ron Simmons in 2018 and held onto the seat two years ago. She jumped into the race for lieutenant governor after being drawn out of her state House seat during the redistricting process.

She had also briefly run a congressional campaign against U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Irving but abandoned the effort after that seat was also redrawn to more heavily favor Republicans. Rated among the most liberal members of the Texas House, Beckley said that voters want a true Democrat who will address the states grid and education issues while also fighting Republicans made-up problems.

The reality is: Im experienced, Ive worked in the Texas Legislature, I know what Im getting into and Im prepared to get into it, Beckley said. I have a voting record. I beat a Republican in a Republican district and became the first Democrat there. And you do that by sticking with the Democratic values.

On ExpressNews.com: President Joe Biden is coming to Texas to push for veterans benefits

Zaidi said running statewide is an entirely different beast than anything else, noting that Democrats have not won a statewide race here in nearly three decades.

The winner of the runoff election will face an uphill battle ahead of November, facing Patrick in an election year thats already expected to favor Republicans. Patrick, who toppled five challengers on Tuesday to secure 77 percent of the vote, has a $23 million campaign war chest and name recognition that neither Democrat can match.

His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday, but Patrick released an Election Night statement thanking voters for their support: The people of Texas have spoken with one conservative voice, confirming what we already know. Texans are committed to keeping our state on its conservative path.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
A North Texas candidate running for the Texas House of Representatives to outlaw sex reassignment surgeries for children was shouted and cursed at by students at the University of North Texas in a recently posted social media video.

In the 17-second video, District 63 candidate Jeff Younger can be seen standing at the front of a classroom as students bang on their desks and shout insults at him. Younger claps his hands and shouts something indiscernible back at the students.

On ExpressNews.com: Medina Valley ISD administrator compiled list of complaints  then hit send

Younger  who lost a years-long battle for custody of his 9-year-old twins, one of them a transgender girl  was invited to speak on campus by the Young Conservatives of Texas, a student organization that promoted the event with anti-trans flyers distributed across campus.

The event was reportedly cut short, and Young Conservatives of Texass UNT chapter Chair Kelly Neidert was rushed out of the building. Neidert said on Twitter that she hid in a janitor closet, fearing for her safety.

Ahead of the event Wednesday, Neidert posted a TikTok video of herself arguing with another student over flyers she was printing. The flyers read criminalize child transitions and were aimed at promoting the on-campus event with Younger. The video went viral and has since led to an online petition meant to have Neidert expelled from the university.

Tensions at the University of North Texas were so high that President Neal Smatresk sent a campus wide email Feb. 22.

On ExpressNews.com: Armando Montelongo yanks $1.2M Dominion home off market after months without a buyer

Smatresk said in the email that the last few days felt particularly difficult for the transgender members of our community because of the intolerant views of a handful of campus members.

The Young Conservatives of Texas boasts that its the only conservative organization at the University of North Texas. Neidert has been on Fox News, and she held a rally last year where a conservative social media influencer asked the crowd, What is wrong with Christian fascism?

In the online petition to have her expelled, students accuse her of perpetuating a hostile environment by encouraging and disseminating racist, homophobic and transphobic rhetoric.

Gender-affirming medical care has become a popular issue among Texas conservatives in recent weeks. Last week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott have called this type of medical treatment child abuse. Both Paxton and Abbott are seeking re-election this year.

Younger, who is running as a Republican, is also calling gender-affirming care child abuse but for a different reason.

According to his campaign website, Younger blames a pediatrician for incorrectly diagnosing his child. He says the doctor planned to put the child on chemical castration drugs when she turned 9 years old.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
Olena Khrystyuk lost contact with her friend in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion for two days. When they reestablished contact, the story was the same.

Theyre bombing. Were running, her friend told her.

An end to the invasion and a chance at peace were the focal points of prayers during a service held Wednesday night at the Oblate School of Theology. The service marked the start of a fundraising campaign to support fellow missionaries and Ukranian refugees in Ukraine and Poland.

This is our oblate family thats being affected, said Claudia Garcia, an Oblate School spokeswoman. Its part of our mission to help our missionaries.

On ExpressNews.com: Ukrainian community rallies to support home country with downtown demonstration

More than 50 people gathered in the Immaculate Conception Memorial Chapel. They bowed their heads in prayer, lit candles and sang hymns as priests led them in English and Spanish.

The prayers came amid Ash Wednesday, a special day of prayer, fasting and reflection that Pope Francis asked be devoted to the war in Ukraine. The pope has asked Catholic Church leaders to pray nightly and dedicate their Sunday masses for peace in Ukraine, said the Rev. Warren Brown, a Catholic priest with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

About 30 missionaries are spread out helping refugees between Ukraine and Poland, officials said. The missionaries are planning to stay despite the ongoing invasion.

They have all made a commitment that theyre not going to leave, Brown said.

One mission was to the nuclear plant in Chernonyl, Brown said. He said many people were working at the plant, which was captured early during the invasion. It is unknown how many parishioners were arrested by Russian forces, the priest said.

We have a very large number of Oblate priests and brothers in Poland, Brown said. Many of the people in Ukraine of course have Polish heritage. Those countries have been very connected and, sadly, involved in war for centuries.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonios venerable flag company jumps to meet sudden demand for Ukraines blue and yellow

Khrystyuk, a native Ukrainian who has extended family and friends in the country, was at the prayer service to show support. She said Ukraine and Poland have had issues over the years because Poland is majority Catholic, while Ukraine is mostly orthodox.

Now, there are thousands of stories of Polish people helping refugees across the border and offering them food and shelter, Khrystyuk said.

Its so touching to see the kindness of people, versus the disaster of whats happening across the border in Ukraine, she said.

Jessica Phelps /San Antonio Express-News

Many people sleep in their clothes as they rest in the relative safety of garages and other underground locations, Khrystyuk said. They wear the same clothes in order to be prepared to run at a moments notice.

Khrystyuk, like many others, grew up hearing stories of World War II from her parents. Now, the realities of war are hitting home.

I would have never thought in my entire life that this would happen, she said. The Germans were blaming Jews for their problems, and theyre (Russians) blaming us for theirs.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio bar drops Russian vodka following invasion of Ukraine

Brown  who acts as a liaison between Rome, Canada and the United States  said missionaries in Ukraine were already in need of funding before the war began. Those missionaries have since shifted their work to helping refugees who are staying in basements in churches, offering counseling to people who are traumatized.

Right now, they just need the basics, Brown said. They leave home with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

People wishing to support missionaries and refugees in Ukraine may donate via the Oblate Schools website at ost.edu.

jbeltran@express-news.net
Celebrating Losar, the Tibetan New Year!

(People's Daily App) 15:57, March 03, 2022

The Tibetan New Year, known as Losar, is the most important festival in the Tibetan calendar. Losar is a time for family reunions and also offers the travelers a great opportunity to enjoy the annual festive occasion with local Tibetans. Tibetan New Year 2022 will be celebrated on Mar. 3. Locals mark the festival by religious rituals, long prayers, horse racing, family gatherings, feasts.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
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A San Antonio man was charged with possession of child pornography, accused of uploading sexually explicit images to a social media account.

Rudy Jesse Garza, 39, was arrested Tuesday and is being held at the Bexar County Jail on $75,000 bail.

In March 2021, the Criminal Investigations Division with the Office of the Attorney General received a report from the social media app Kik about a user who had uploaded eight files containing child pornography to an account.

On ExpressNews.com: Easy to prey: San Antonio man sentenced to 40 years for producing, possessing child pornography

The files included a video that depicted an adult man sexually assaulting a toddler. Other files uploaded to Garzas account included nonsexual pictures of himself and pictures of his three children.

The account used to upload the files was linked to Garzas email login, according to an affidavit supporting his arrest. Investigators were also able to pull Garzas internet user information that provided them with his identity and address.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
Veteran groups no longer have to pay San Antonio park and pavilion fees.

A Veterans of Foreign Wars post first asked District 6 Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda about facility rental fees because they have had to pay the same price as the general public to reserve park space and pavilions for events.

Outdoor spaces can be important for anyone, but they are especially important for our veterans who use the outdoors to cope with PTSD, Cabello Havrda said in a statement. Eliminating these fees demonstrates public acknowledgment and gratitude for their long-standing military and community-based contributions.

The far West Side councilwoman supported the change through a policy proposal she brought about a year ago. Mayor Ron Nirenberg last month brought it forth to the citys governance committee, which deliberates on policy ideas.

The fee waiver received final approval through the committee and doesnt need a vote from the full City Council, a spokesman for Cabello Havrda said.

Veterans and military retirees account for 20 percent of San Antonios population. The majority of them live in District 6, and many belong to one of the citys 12 VFW or eight American Legion posts, according to the District 6 City Council office.

San Antonio is known throughout the world as Military City USA, and this change in fees is another example of the respect and appreciation we have for our military veterans, Cabello Havrda said.

The District 6 councilwoman recently saw another policy request of hers move ahead. San Antonio will now include demographic questions related to ability and disability on city-sponsored surveys  much like questions that ask about age, gender, race or ethnicity.

Cabello Havrda hopes the city can better serve the disability community by knowing more about their needs and demographics.

megan.stringer@express-news.net
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As San Antonio reels from the decision by the Texas Transportation Commission at the end of January to go back on its word, subvert the doctrine of local control and move actively against its Vision Zero goals, the brilliant Feb. 13 Express-News article A remedy for construction explained why TxDOT reversed its course with the city of San Antonio regarding the upper Broadway redesign.

The Texas Transportation Commission claims due to capacity issues, it cannot allow any reduction in vehicle lane miles on upper Broadway and the road must retain its designation as Texas Loop 368. TxDOTs ownership of Broadway is just a designation  the street itself belongs to San Antonians.
Brackenridge Park is a gathering place of mi gente, my people, families, friends, strangers, lowriders and cruising hot rods, bikers and others sharing a common thread of traditions, social connections, cultural cohesion and social practices.

I honored the sacred on the winter solstice with my friend Matilde, who shared the creation story of Yanaguana, the spirit river that runs through the park. The sacred water bird, or the double-crested cormorant, that nests in the park also has a religious connection. According to the Payaya people, the water bird flew into the Blue Hole where the blue panther lived. The water bird then flew out of the spring, water dripping from his tail feathers, giving life to the region. With the sacred river mapped in the stars, the anhinga rests in his stellar home.

The cultural and religious significance of the park to indigenous people  tribes that have rested, hunted, prayed along the sacred river  is unmistakably tied to the human environment  the human environment defined as including the natural and physical (e.g., built) environment and the relationships of people to that environment.

We should be alarmed by the citys request to remove from Brackenridge Park 105 native trees  the oldest, most ecologically valuable resources in the park. We should be protecting trees, as San Antonios air quality is being downgraded. Trees are important in protecting our air quality, as they sequester carbon and make oxygen we need to breathe. They also help with flood plain management.

On Jan. 26, the city Planning Commission approved a request for a variance for removal of significant trees in excess of the 80 percent tree preservation requirement. The 2010 Tree Ordinance requires heritage trees be preserved at 100 percent.

On Jan. 28, protesters gathered for the San Antonios Parks and Recreation and Public Works departments media event, which was canceled 30 minutes prior to starting without any public notice.

On Jan. 30, the public was given 72 hours public notice to review the departments submission to Historic and Design Review Commission on a tree removal plan.

On Feb. 22, the Historic and Design and Review Commission delayed a vote to allow the city time to review plans.

William Luther /Staff

Its difficult to enjoy the park these days as park workers bang two-by-fours daily to scare away birds. It gives me a headache and elevates my blood pressure. Its also disturbing watching the USDAs Wildlife Services shoot explosives at nesting great egrets inside the nearby San Antonio Zoo. Is this the future for wildlife in city parks?

Correction: Due to editing errors, an earlier version of this op-ed stated the city council requested the trees be removed from Brackenridge Park. The city made the request. The sacred water bird was also described as the anhinga. It is a double-crested cormorant.

Alesia Garlock is a wildlife and environmental advocate in San Antonio.
In the cause of freedom, the world has found in Volodymyr Zelenskyy its most Churchillian figure in decades. I need ammunition, not a ride  the Ukrainian presidents spirited reply to a U.S. offer to spirit him to safety  is a line for the ages. His inspiring appearances on the streets of Kyiv recall Britains wartime prime minister during the Blitz, personifying his nations determination to resist.

Now its up to President Joe Biden to play Franklin to Zelenskyys Winston. That begins by explaining to the American public that losing Ukraine would be a global, not local, calamity, as he did in his state State of the Union address Tuesday. The main point is this: Vladimir Putins goal in Ukraine isnt merely to seize territory for Russia, even if he wouldnt mind swallowing an additional chunk of it. He wants to crush its spirit.

The threat a free Ukraine poses to his regime isnt, and never will be, military. Its political. Its the thought that if democracy, the rule of law and civil rights can take root in Kyiv, they might soon take root in Moscow, too, bringing an end to his rule and accountability for his crimes. A Ukraine thats a thriving member of the European Union would pose an even graver threat to Putins grip than would Ukrainian membership in NATO.

But at stake in this war is more than the fate of Ukraine. Putin is a creature of the Soviet system and personifies its values: contempt for truth, contempt for the individual, contempt for international norms, the unprincipled pursuit of unbridled power.

These values have no cultural or geographic limit. If Putin can impose them in Ukraine, just as China has imposed them in Hong Kong, then we will be thrust into a world in which, in the language of Thucydides, the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.

For America, such a world would be a never-ending test of strength at a moment when we are not particularly strong. China would challenge us  much sooner than we think  over Taiwan. Iran would use sanctions relief from any new nuclear deal to further arm its proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen, stirring chaos that will not spare the United States. A victorious Russia would turn its sights on another target and then another. Some European states, like Poland, might rise to the challenge, but others, like Hungary, would find their inner Quisling.

Where will the Biden presidency be then? The administration acquitted itself well in the weeks leading up to the invasion. But if Kyiv falls, it will be the second geopolitical catastrophe the Biden administration will have sustained in barely six months. Republicans will say that the president has consistently been a day late and a dollar short and that this would never have happened on their watch. A growing number of Americans will believe them.

But the courage of the Ukrainian people  matched by the remarkable ineptitude of the Russian military in its campaign so far  has given the administration an opportunity to help Ukraine, the world and itself.

How?

It can stop telegraphing to Putin what we are not going to do. Giving Putin every reason to believe that the United States is more afraid of him than he is of us provides him with additional incentives to ratchet up tensions and behave worse.

It can do everything short of war to prevent the fall of Kyiv, including by establishing a humanitarian air corridor to keep the city from being starved and frozen into surrender. Like Leningrad in World War II or Berlin in 1948, the Ukrainian capital has become a potent symbol of defiance. Every day it doesnt fall, Putin loses the perception of his invincibility.

It can persuade Congress to fund covert efforts to support a long-term insurgency throughout Ukraine. The thought of thousands of sniper rifles and antitank missiles in the hands of Ukrainian partisans should keep Russian commanders awake at night.

It can push for a declaration with the EU that Russias energy sector will face comprehensive sanctions if Zelenskyy is killed, harmed or captured by Russian forces. You dont need to subscribe to the great man theory of history to recognize that right now, Ukraines hopes, and ours, rest on his life.

Long before Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt understood that the United States could not be indifferent to Britains fate, even with the odds so overwhelmingly against it. At a meeting in Britain in January 1941, his closest adviser, Harry Hopkins, used the words of the Book of Ruth to convey to Churchill the feelings the two Americans shared:

Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Then he added, Even to the end.

Biden ought to send Zelenskyy the same message.
War tests both the aggressor and the victim, debasing the former and ennobling the latter.

Under a furious assault from Russian forces since Feb. 24, Ukraine has responded with remarkable courage and fortitude.

Ukraine cannot boast the military might of its aggressive neighbor, but whatever it lacks in weaponry it is making up in valor. We have seen it day after day, on street after street, men and women girded by love of country and freedom.

The people are standing up to a giant, diminishing the enemy in the process, and the result has been inevitable: Russia exposed for what it is  a bully that failed to realize that real strength lies not in tanks and missiles but in the heart and soul of a people.

The scenes have been amazing:

A man walking up to a Russian tank, armed with nothing more than valor and defiance, demanding that the soldiers turn around.

A woman, overcome by outrage, berating a Russian soldier for attacking her homeland.

Children hugging their parents as they wait in queues along the Polish border, hoping to be granted refugee status.

Its amazing, Alexander Vindman, former director for European affairs at the U.S. National Security Council, told CBS News. They are a shining example to the rest of the world.

An innocent people inflamed by an unjustified attack, Ukrainians have inspired the world, and at the head of it all is the former actor and comedian who has shown he is no joke  President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

We are here, Zelenskyy said in a video released last week. We are in Kyiv. We are defending Ukraine. Were defending our independence and our country, and thats how itll be.

Zelenskyy spoke from a street in the government district of Kyiv, according to Financial Times Moscow bureau chief Max Seddon. The video galvanized Ukraine and the world, with protests erupting from Australia to America, including San Antonio. Hundreds have been arrested during anti-war rallies in Russia.

On ExpressNews.com: Ukrainians in San Antonio in despair over the invasion by Russian forces

The world has done more than take note. It has joined the battle. From Britain to Turkey, the globe has united to support the country of about 45 million through protests, sanctions and military aid. Even neutral Switzerland has entered the fray.

While some nations pledged both military and economic aid to Ukraine, others slapped sanctions on Russia, freezing millions of dollars in foreign banks. S&P Global Ratings lowered the Russian credit rating to junk. The ruble dropped precipitously.

As the world rushed to support the embattled nation, thousands of Ukrainians rose to help themselves. Hundreds gathered in front of the town hall in the central Ukrainian town of Mankivka to join the army. Other citizens took up arms on their own, entering the conflict as civilians.

Ukraine will not kneel, one prospective enlistee told NPR.

This has been a brutal assault, however, and whatever courage the Ukrainians have shown thus far, they will need more in the days or weeks or months ahead. Maybe years. It is unthinkable, but that is the reality for this war-torn country.

While Russian and Ukrainian officials held their first talks on Monday, Russia stepped up its attack, shelling the northeastern town of Kharkiv, the second largest city in the country. Pentagon officials said Russian soldiers faced more resistance than they expected.

On Wednesday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported a substantial number of casualties in Ukraine, according to NPR, announcing 498 Russian troop deaths and 1,597 troops injured. Among Ukrainian troops, Konashenkov reported 2,870 have been killed, about 3,700 injured and 572 captured.

To Zelenskyy and all the brave people of Ukraine, we stand with you.
Texas closely watched primary election on Tuesday saw several of the states best-known officials wallop their challengers, led by Gov. Greg Abbotts decisive win over his seven Republican opponents.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw also scored blowout wins in their GOP primaries, as did Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and former congressman Beto ORourke on the Democratic side. ORourke will take on Abbott in November.

While Tuesday night proved favorable for most incumbents, Attorney General Ken Paxton was perhaps the most notable exception. Though he comfortably led his three Republican opponents, Paxton failed to win a majority of the total votes, putting him in a runoff against Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the second-place finisher.

A glance farther down the ballot, however, reveals a number of less apparent trends and insights into the state of Texas politics ahead of a pivotal midterm election.

Here are a few of the takeaways from an eventful election night in Texas.

Phelan, incumbents fend off most hardline primary foes

Tuesdays Republican statehouse primaries saw the return of a right-wing megadonor duo  Midland oilman Tim Dunn and Cisco fracking billionaire Farris Wilks  known for their efforts to unseat Republican lawmakers they consider insufficiently conservative. The main benefactors behind the defunct Empower Texans political action committee, Dunn and Wilks put $4.6 million this cycle behind a reincarnated version, called Defend Texas Liberty PAC.

The committee, run by former state representative Jonathan Stickland, spent the bulk of its funds to support gubernatorial candidate Don Huffines in his unsuccessful quest to unseat Abbott. But the group also dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars to target 19 Republicans in the Texas House, pitting it directly against House Speaker Dade Phelan, who backed each of the incumbents.

According to unofficial returns, 16 of the targeted members won their primaries outright, while three  state Reps. Kyle Kacal of College Station, Stephanie Klick of Fort Worth and Glenn Rogers of Graford  were forced into runoffs.

At least a handful of races were seen as major long-shots for Defend Texas Liberty, which nonetheless ran attack ads against several incumbents facing little-known and underfunded challengers. One target, state Rep. Mike Schofield of Katy, won more than 90 percent against an opponent who did not spend a single dime on the race.

But Phelan was also the top donor to several Republicans in closely watched races who went on to win their primaries outright, including Houston-area state Reps. Ernest Bailes and Lacey Hull. In a statement Wednesday, the speaker cast the outcome as a repudiation of the hard-line groups, without mentioning any by name.

My team and I have been hard at work this election cycle, raising millions of dollars and traveling across the state to support Texas House Republicans and grow our majority in the chamber, Phelan said. That hard work has paid off, despite the efforts of some out-of-touch groups that have spent millions in election after election  and still dont have much to show for it.

Some candidates overcame massive fundraising deficits

Numerous candidates outperformed expectations Tuesday by winning or making runoffs despite being vastly outspent by their opponents. In one particularly notable case, mental health counselor Sandra Grace Martinez finished atop the four-candidate Democratic primary for land commissioner, despite spending roughly $2,000 on her campaign for the statewide office.

Martinezs opponent in the runoff, conservationist Jay Kleberg, reported $679,000 in campaign expenditures during the first round of the primary.

Along similar lines, social worker Vanesia Johnson found herself in a runoff for the Democratic nomination in a Fort Bend County state House district, despite spending less than $6,000 during the primary  less than any of her three primary opponents.

Conversely, some top-spending candidates were defeated on Tuesday. Galveston physician Abel Longoria outspent his three opponents in the Republican primary for House District 23, yet finished in third place, trailing a candidate who he outspent roughly three-to-one.

And in the Republican attorney general primary, top fundraiser Eva Guzman, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, also came up shy of making the runoff.

GOP congressional leadership goes 3 for 4

Republican combat veterans Wesley Hunt and Morgan Luttrell won their crowded Houston-area primary races on Tuesday, defeating hard-line conservative opponents who had attempted to paint them as pawns of House Republican leadership.

The charge stemmed from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthys support for the two candidates, which included financial backing through a super PAC affiliated with House GOP leadership. During the closing weeks of the primary, the committee mounted an aggressive spending campaign to lift Luttrell over his main rival, political operative Christian Collins, who had also been boosted by a flood of outside spending  including from a super PAC aligned with the right-wing House Freedom Caucus.

Both Hunt and Luttrell are running in districts drawn to heavily favor Republicans, making them all but certain to win in November. The likely addition of two new allies is seen as a boon for McCarthy, who is aiming to become speaker if Republicans win control of the lower chamber in November.

A third McCarthy-supported candidate, Monica De La Cruz, also won her primary on Tuesday in the South Texas-based 15th Congressional District, though she faces a far more competitive race in November.

McCarthys lone black eye came in Texas 3rd Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, R-Plano, was forced into a runoff against former Collin County Judge Keith Self. Despite receiving more than $200,000 in support from the McCarthy-affiliated super PAC, on top of his own overwhelming fundraising advantage, Taylor fell just shy of the threshold to avoid a runoff.

On Wednesday, Taylor abruptly ended his re-election campaign after admitting to an extramarital affair. The development means that Self, who has vowed not to support McCarthy for speaker, will likely be elected to Taylors seat in Congress.

Self has vowed not to support McCarthy for speaker and attacked Taylor for voting to establish a commission to investigate the events of Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol.

A more conservative Senate

Patrick, who presides over the Texas Senate, threw his support behind four Republican candidates running to succeed departing senators in Tuesdays primary. He also backed a fifth candidate running for a Fort Worth-area seat that is held by a Democrat but was gutted last year during redistricting to heavily favor Republicans.

As was largely expected, four of Patricks preferred candidates won their primaries outright, while a fifth, former state senator Pete Flores, was headed to a runoff after finishing first in his primary. All five candidates are running in Senate districts drawn to favor Republicans.

If things go according to Patricks plan, the Senate would gain at least three new members next year who are unmistakeably more conservative than their would-be successors. Two of them  state Rep. Mayes Middleton and Midland oilman Kevin Sparks  won their primaries Tuesday and do not have Democratic opponents, virtually ensuring their election to the chamber.

With full control over committee assignments and the flow of legislation, Patrick already maintains a firm grip on the 31-member Senate. Adding at least four fresh-faced political allies would likely continue the chambers rightward shift under his watch.

This will most definitely be the most conservative Texas Senate in recent history, Republican political consultant Luke Macias tweeted Tuesday night.

jasper.scherer@chron.com
More than two dozen state senators from both parties want to take steps to divest the states pension systems from Russian companies in response to the countrys invasion of Ukraine.

All 31 state senators have signed onto a letter, penned by Houston Republican Sen. Paul Bettencourt, that requests an interim charge order from Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that would allow them to study the issue, hold hearings and file reports. Legislation couldnt be filed or passed until the chamber is in session, which isnt scheduled until next year.

Interim charge requests are due by the end of this week. A spokesman for Patrick did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bettencourt is leading the charge, and he said in a Thursday call that 26 other senators have signed on, describing it as as bipartisan as it gets.

The legislation would apply to the Texas Teacher Retirement System, Texas County & District Retirement System, Texas Permanent School Fund, Texas Municipal Retirement System, Texas Employee Retirement System and UTIMCO, the University of Texas investment fund.

The moral and financial issues here are two sides to the same coin. We cant sit back and watch the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and do nothing, Bettencourt said. Were not going to tolerate any association from the state of Texas with a dictatorship thats invading a democratically elected government. It just cant be tolerated, and the risk is too high to taxpayers.

Governments of European and Western-allied nations around the world have ordered financial sanctions on Russia, including freezing assets, banning air travel to and from the country, and refusing access to banking systems. The goal is to cripple Russias economy to make it harder for it to wage and sustain war, and the effect thus far has been devastating.

RELATED: Texas invests over $9 billion in China despite hostile nation rhetoric from GOP leaders

It was not immediately clear exactly how much the various state funds had invested in Russia. Such investments would likely come from large international indexes, which the funds hold to minimize the risk of holding stock in individual companies. Emerging markets  such as Russia, Brazil, China, India or many other countries  offer higher upside to pension funds, but also larger risks. Russian companies make up about 3 percent of the most popular emerging markets index fund, CNBC reported.

A spokesman for the largest fund, the Teachers Retirement Fund, said less than $204 million is invested in Russia or Ukraine  about a 10th of a percent of its total holdings.

Its time to set partisanship aside and unite to do everything we can to isolate Russia from any Texas economic ties, state Sen. John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat, wrote in a statement accompanying Bettencourts letter.

Historically, its considered financial best practice for political leaders to avoid interfering with the investment decisions of public pension funds. But exceptions have been made. Last year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law banning state investment in companies that have supported boycotts of Israel, and in recent history the pension funds have been forced to divest from companies in countries that are believed to support terrorism, such as Sudan and Iran.

Such investments often come from large international indexes, which the funds hold to minimize the risk of holding stock in individual companies. Emerging markets  such as Russia, Brazil, China, India or many other countries  offer higher upside to pension funds, but also larger risks. Russian companies make up about 3 percent of the most popular emerging markets index fund, CNBC reported.

In China, for instance, a Hearst Newspapers analysis found that state pension funds invest more than $9 billion, despite anti-China rhetoric from political leaders and a state law signed last year that designates the country as a hostile nation.

Bettencourt said previously that he expected the Legislature to consider a forced divestment from China on the grounds that the government there is unpredictable, creating risk for the investments.

edward.mckinley@chron.com
Soil loss is something that we should all strive to prevent on our farms. A soil loss of only 1/32 of an inch over an acre represents an approximate 5-ton loss. Thats a loss that on many soil types is unsustainable.

One of the biggest issues for our lakes and streams in Carroll County is sediment. Sediment is caused by soil eroding from the surrounding landscape. How do we know this, you may ask? A quick look at the number of dredging projects that have taken place over the last few years indicates that sediment is a real issue.

Solution

The solution may seem simple: Less tillage plus more living cover equals less erosion. But can it be that simple?

Over the last few years, I have been looking for some way to prove to producers that soil health pays. The problem is, there are so many variables. In particular, soil erosion prevention has proven to be a difficult sale.

Transitioning to soil-friendly practices may involve increased peer pressure at the coffee shop, purchasing new equipment and possibly absorbing a yield hit for a couple of years. Coupled with seed, fuel, fertilizer and every other input cost on the rise and crop prices on the decline (at the time of this article being written), and poof! You have just lost the sale.

So, there must be an easier way.

The past

Historically, soil and water conservation districts offered various types of equipment for rent. Equipment sometimes too expensive for one producer to justify purchasing, but not too expensive to rent. Lowering costs, providing technical assistance and reducing risk to producers can help them get access to new equipment and exposure to new practices.

The most popular of these are no-till drills and no-till planters, which gave all producers in the district an opportunity to try no-till firsthand. Now, as in times past, we have expanded our equipment rental inventory to include a cover crop roller, a new piece of equipment that will allow producers to get the most out of their cover crops. This is a tool to improve soil health and reduce erosion.

Issue

Our district offers discounts on all of our equipment, in an effort to reduce the monetary burden on our producers and give them the opportunity to see the benefits of soil health. Soil erosion is a serious issue.

Unfortunately, erosion is a problem that happens over long periods of time, making it easy for it to hide in plain sight. The problem did not happen over night and we cannot solve it overnight either, but we must be willing to make changes today in order to have a successful tomorrow.
This year, I discovered the best way to observe Presidents Day. It seems obvious in hindsight; we shouldve done it years ago.

On Presidents Day, we visited the McKinley National Memorial in Canton, Ohio, and then explored parts of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It felt like we honored two American treasures, one a hero to the American people and the other a relic of transportation and pristine natural refuge.

Presidential memorial

The McKinley National Memorial is the final resting place of the 25th president of the United States, William McKinley and his family. He is remembered for his victory in the Spanish-American War and raising tariffs in support of American industry.

Born in Niles and a graduate of Poland Seminary, McKinley opened his law office in Canton in 1867. He served as president from March 4, 1897, until his assassination Sept. 14, 1901.

The day we visited the memorial, it was unusually warm and sunny. It was so sunny that it was difficult for our eyes to adjust to the brightness of the granite exterior. I could not fathom how the monument was built in 1905.

Fueled by donations

Fueled by the American spirit and their collective love for the president, many people donated their hard-earned money to cover the construction costs. The money to pay for the building came entirely from donations.

Natural materials used in the memorial came in the form of donations from nine different states. Granite, marble, and bronze combine to give the building a powerful and stately feel.

We climbed the 108 steps from ground level to the top of the monument. Impressed by the details and the colossal stones, we quietly walked around the outside of the dome.

A famous quote by William McKinley states, Let us ever remember that our interest is in concord, not in conflict; and that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war. The quote is meaningful still today as troops assemble along the Ukrainian border and the world watches and prays for peace.

Ohios national park

Our day continued as we left the city and sought peace in nature at Ohios only national park. Cuyahoga Valley National Park is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, with recreational options including hiking, biking and boating. It is different from any other national park we have visited.

The 32,572 acres stretch between urban areas in Cleveland and Akron, with the Cuyahoga River winding through the valley. The biggest difference is the presence of roads and interstates within the park. Exploring every part of the park would take years.

We chose to focus on my favorite springtime activity, hiking to waterfalls. I have to admit, we were a little overzealous. The unusual 60-degree temperature seemed balmy and perfect for hiking. However, the trails were still icy and treacherous at times.

The first trail we chose is a part of the Buckeye Trail to Blue Hen Falls, a three-mile out and back trail that covers a mix of terrains. It is rated as moderate due to elevation changes.

The ice on the trail definitely slowed us down, but the waterfall was worth it. The 15-foot waterfall still had frozen sides, but a steady flow from Spring Creek continued to flow over the layered rocks.

Our second trail of the day was to the tallest waterfall in Northeast Ohio. Water along Brandywine Creek plunges 65 feet over a rock cap of Berea Sandstone to the valley below. A system of boardwalks enables closer viewing of the waterfall, although the lower portion was closed when we visited.

The moistness in the gorge allows stately eastern hemlocks and maple trees to flourish. We had an unobscured view from the upper boardwalk since the maple trees had long lost their vibrant red leaves last fall.

Out and about

Even though the waterfalls were breathtakingly beautiful, my favorite part was seeing people out and about after a long winter.

Its true, winter might not be over yet. Just like our fellow hikers, we are emerging from our winter cocoon ready to take flight this spring. Only in Ohio can one skid across ice and trample down snow, while other hikers shed layers and bask bare-chested in the glorious sunlight.

At one point during our hike, I was sweating and had shed layers down to my T-shirt. I glanced over and could see skiers flying down the slopes at Boston Mills Ski Resort.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park is unlike any park we have visited. What makes it different is what makes it unique. We cant wait to return to try some other options like biking and boating.
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they dont have any.

 Alice Walker

Who doesnt love the idea of finding power within oneself at the most critical time in an embattled life? It is, as Ms. Walker so eloquently stated, something we far too often disregard.

Biblical stories recited to us as young children kept a light shining on all manner of possibilities. I remember leaving Sunday School believing I was invincible after listening to some of these great David versus Goliath stories.

Malcom Gladwell, who authored the book titled David and Goliath, offers some interesting viewpoints.

The reason King Saul is skeptical of Davids chances is that David is small and Goliath is large. Saul thinks of power in terms of physical might. He doesnt appreciate that power can come in other forms as well  in breaking rules, in substituting speed and surprise for strength.

I write this as the Russian invasion of Ukraine unfolds, and along with the world, I have been reading every report available of how Ukrainians are faring in this assault upon their homeland.

It is horrifying to imagine, and impossible to fully grasp living through such terrifying moments, tomorrow uncertain in every possible way. But Ukrainian men and women standing unified and strong for their homeland is one enormous point their powerful adversary miscalculated.

Their president has remained to lead and fight for this democratic country. Reports of young Russian soldiers asking Ukrainians for food and fuel paints an interesting picture of how tides can turn.

Much of what we consider valuable in our world arises out of these kinds of lopsided conflicts, because the act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty, Gladwell writes in his October 2013 book.

I attended a wedding a couple of years ago, the bride of Ukrainian descent, and a great number of her family flew in from Ukraine for the celebration. Our son stood with the groom, a lifelong friend, in a beautiful ceremony.

The age-old symbolic traditions, wrapped in true joyfulness, were incredible and touching in ways that I had never experienced. My husband and I both felt blessed by it all.

Yesterday, I thought of the brides family as I watched a video clip of a brave, defiant Ukrainian woman confronting heavily armed Russian troops in Henichesk, a port city on the sea of Azov.

The translation of what she said will be carried for all time. You should put sunflower seeds in your pockets so that they grow on Ukraine land after you die.

Sunflowers are a strategically important part of Ukraines agricultural economy. Overall production places Ukraine first in the world for oilseed crops, accounting for 70% of all oilseed crops grown worldwide.

Sunflowers will forever be symbolic of standing tall and strong in the face of an overpowering adversary.

Heres hoping the Russian rampage ends, returning peace and democracy to Ukraine.
COLUMBUS  Planning is underway for the Ohio Cattlemens Associations 34th Ohio Beef Expo, the premier event for Ohios beef industry.

The Ohio Expo Center in Columbus will provide cattle enthusiasts from across the state with a unique experience that brings education, breed sales, youth shows, industry retail opportunities and more together all in one place, March 17-20.

This years schedule will include events like the judging contest and youth quality assurance training.

For the first time in the history of the expo, the coliseum will be used for all junior activities. The junior show will continue with the market animal show Saturday and the heifer show Sunday. All junior show stalling will take place online, and viaducts are reserved for OCA BEST sponsors.

Eight breeds will host sales during the expo and, like last year, there will only be one sale ring. The expo trade show will continue to host vendors and retailers of all kinds to provide attendees with the opportunity to purchase everything from semen to trailers and from show supplies to insurance. The trade show will open March 17 at 3 p.m.

The full 2022 Ohio Beef Expo schedule is as follows:

THURSDAY, MARCH 17

 8 a.m.-noon: Trade Show set up for large indoor equipment

 Noon: All breeding cattle must be in place, Breeds Building

 Noon-3 p.m.: Trade Show set-up outdoor and small indoor displays

 3 p.m.-6 p.m.: Trade Show Open, Voinovich Building

 4 p.m.-8 p.m.: Junior Show Check-in, Gilligan Complex

 7:30 p.m.: The Social, Hilton Columbus/Polaris

FRIDAY, MARCH 18

 7 a.m.-8 a.m.: Judging Contest Registration, Coliseum

 8 a.m.-10 a.m.: Junior Show Check-in, Gilligan Complex

 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.: Trade Show Open, Voinovich Building

 9 a.m.: Judging Contest Begins, Coliseum

 10 a.m.: Online Feeder Cattle Sale, Voinovich Building Red Angus Parade, Cooper Arena

 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Genetic Pathway Open, Breeds Building

 10:30 a.m.: Angus Parade, Cooper Arena

 12 p.m.: Hereford Show, Cooper Arena

Shorthorn Show, Cooper Arena

 12:30 p.m.: Youth Beef Quality Assurance Training

 1 p.m.: Murray Grey Show, ONeill Breeds Building

 2 p.m.: Junior Showmanship, Coliseum

 2 p.m.: Miniature Hereford Show, Cooper Arena

 2:30 p.m.: Judging Contest Awards

 3 p.m.: Chianina Sale, Voinovich Building

 4 p.m.: Red Angus Sale, Voinovich Building

 4 p.m.-5 p.m.: Cowboy Happy Hour, Voinovich Building

 5 p.m.: Angus Sale, Voinovich Building

 5 p.m.-7 p.m.: Junior Show Check-in, steers only

SATURDAY, MARCH 19

 8 a.m.-5 p.m.: Junior Market Animal Show, Coliseum

 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.: Trade Show Open, Voinovich Building

 9:30 a.m.: Miniature Hereford Sale, Voinovich Building

 10 a.m.: Hereford Sale, Voinovich Building

 10 a.m.-5 p.m.: Genetic Pathway Open, Breeds Building

 11:30 a.m.: Shorthorn Sale, Voinovich Building

 1 p.m.: Simmental Sale, Voinovich Building

 3 p.m.: Maine Anjou Sale, Voinovich Building

 4 p.m.  5 p.m.: Cowboy Happy Hour, Voinovich Building

 6 p.m.-8 p.m.: Junior Show Check-in  Heifers Only

SUNDAY, MARCH 20

 8 a.m.-5 p.m.: Junior Heifer Show, Coliseum

 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.: Trade Show Open, Voinovich Building

 10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Genetic Pathway Open, Breeds Building

The official expo hotel will be the Hilton Columbus/Polaris, 8700 Lyra Dr.,which will host the social where cattlemen will gather to network and mingle March 17.

Admission to the Ohio Beef Expo is free. Parking is $5 per day and weekend parking passes are $14. The Ohio Beef Expo will ensure that all health orders related to COVID-19 at the time of the event will be followed.

For more information on the 2022 Ohio Beef Expo, contact OCA at cattle@ohiocattle.org, 614-873-6736 or visit ohiobeefexpo.com.
Attorneys advise against setting up land leases without written contracts, but many Ohio farmers and landowners still rely on verbal agreements and handshakes. Those casual arrangements can lead to legal problems, especially when the landowner wants to end the lease.

To help prevent those problems, Ohio legislators are considering a bill that would establish a lease termination deadline of Sept. 1 for any agreements that dont have written provisions for termination. The legislation, Ohio House Bill 397, passed the Ohio House last December and was introduced in the Senate.

It was referred to the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, which began hearings on the bill in early February. Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, one of the primary sponsors of the bill, told Farm and Dairy hes not anticipating much opposition to the bill and hopes to see it pass through the Senate quickly.

Stewart said his work as an attorney in rural Ohio brought problems with land leases to his attention.

Questions and controversies about what happens when leases are or are not terminated are more common than anyone would like to see, he said.

The Ohio Revised Code does not currently provide a deadline for lease termination, and case law doesnt provide clear or consistent guidance either. If the bill is passed into law, it wont affect leases that already specify a method for lease termination, Rep. Darrell Kick, R-Loudonville, the second primary sponsor for the bill. He told Farm and Dairy its meant to help head off litigation when lease agreements dont include written termination provisions.

This is for those that fall in those cracks, he said.

Clear deadlines

Unless a written lease says otherwise, the legislation would require a landowner to give the person leasing the land a written notice of termination on or before the first day of September. The end date for the lease would be Dec. 31 or whenever harvest is finished for crops planted on the land, whichever comes first.

The bill was passed by the House with only one opposing vote. Even though they supported the bill, some legislators were surprised that handshake deals are still common in the farming community, Kick said.

Such legislation wouldnt be necessary if all farmers and landowners used well-written leases with clear termination provisions. Stewart said, however, that verbal agreements remain common in the farming community, and we have to take our clients and industry as is.

The bill covers termination of a lease by the landowner, but doesnt outline rules for tenants who want to end a lease. That situation is much less likely to lead to a lawsuit, Stewart said. In fact, hes never encountered a case where a landowner sued a tenant over a lease termination.

Landowners arent as likely to suffer financial damage from the abrupt end to a lease because they are generally not investing in crop inputs, he explained. And the competitive farmland market usually makes it easy for a landowner to find a new tenant.

Even on short notice, you could find somebody to take it on, he said.

Disagreements over farmland leases occur most often when a land owner dies or land is sold, Stewart said. For instance, he represented the buyer of a piece of crop land that had been leased out by the previous owner. The leases were written down, but those written leases didnt mention terms for termination.

The buyer believed all leases had expired, but a tenant had invested in inputs thinking the lease extended for another year. If the proposed law had been in place at the time, that disagreement could have been avoided, Stewart said.

Less litigation

Avoiding litigation over leases benefits both landowners and tenants, and the bill has support from farm organizations, as well as the Ohio State Bar Association.

Amy Milam, director of legal education and member engagement for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, testified in support of the bill on behalf of the Ohio Farm Bureau.

Many other states, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, have already created statutes addressing farm lease termination, she told Farm and Dairy.

This bill would bring Ohio up to date with many other Midwestern ag states, she said.

Courts in Ohio have reached varying conclusions about whether sufficient notice was given to end leases, Milam said. The litigation has created some inconsistencies.

That creates uncertainty for both landowners and tenants, which this legislation would resolve. At the same time, Milam said, landowners and tenants can better protect their interests and head off disagreements by getting lease deals down on paper.

We very much encourage landlords and tenants to put their leases in writing, she said, but we know the reality of how many are not.

According to tenants and landowners recently surveyed by Ohio State University Extension, about 47% of their farm leases were in writing. Thats something Ryan Conklin would like to see change. He is an attorney with Wright & Moore Law Co. and also chairs the Ohio State Bar Associations Agricultural Law Committee.

He testified in support of the bill, but he also recommends written leases.

The ultimate goal of this legislation is to chip away at the continuing presence of handshake leases in the farm community, he told Farm and Dairy.

Related Content
MASSILLON, Ohio  On Feb. 14, at 7 p.m., Green Valley 4-H held its first meeting of the year at the Beach City Grange.

The club started the meeting off with a welcome and then continued to do roll call, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the 4-H Pledge. Club members then spent the rest of the meeting doing elections.

Elections concluded with Addy Brenner as the president, AJ Wentling as the vice president, Kelli Brenner as the secretary, Ashley Wentling as the treasurer, Adaline Borojevich as news reporter, Katelynn Wentling as health and safety, Calvin Kegley as the recreation leader and Hannah Wentling as community service.

Members paid their dues, and the meeting came to a conclusion.
Like many of West Virginias agricultural sectors, the equine industry in West Virginia is small. West Virginia currently has about 5,300 horse farms and 24,000 horses. But it already draws economic activity through things like racing and trail riding, and nearly $6.5 million in annual equine sales.

And just like agriculture across West Virginia, it has room to grow.

Thats why the states department of agriculture, along with equestrians across the state, launched the West Virginia Horse Coalition Feb. 1 at Agriculture Day at the Legislature, in Charleston. The coalition is a public-private partnership that aims to promote and support the horse industry in West Virginia.

Were all part of the agricultural fabric of our state, so its important for everybody to be successful and productive, said Jana Tetrault, an interim board member for the West Virginia Horse Coalition and executive director for the Mountaineer Park Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association, in an interview with Farm and Dairy.

Industry

While the horse industry has its own unique challenges and goals, it also has a lot in common with other agricultural industries. For example, other livestock owners also need places to buy hay and grain for their livestock, and access to veterinarians.

In a Feb. 2 statement about the coalition, West Virginias agriculture commissioner, Kent Leonhardt, noted a successful equine industry would add more incentive for veterinarians to consider working in West Virginia.

From hay and grain to tourism and connected business, expanding the equine industry will spur economic growth in our communities, he wrote.

Coalition

Tetrault first discussed the coalition as an idea with Leonhardt in early 2021. She thought an industry group would be a good way to gather people from different equine disciplines across the state and work on improving the industry for all of them.

[West Virginias horse industry is] very diverse, just like in most states, Tetrault said. I think its an underrepresented group in our state.

There have been other attempts to form a similar group in West Virginia before, Tetrault said. But those groups had a difficult time moving forward. Leadership and support from Leonhardt made a big difference for the coalition.

Just like expanding any agricultural industry in the state, as we foster growth, the impact of the horse industry will have down-stream effect on multiple sectors, Leonhardt wrote. We have a lot to gain by working together.

With the department of agricultures backing, Tetrault and other interim board members started reaching out to people involved in the industry to invite them to a summit at the state fair in August. At the summit, they asked attendees to fill out a survey on the industrys strengths and weaknesses.

More than 50 people attended. There were representatives from disciplines including quarter horses, racing, equine welfare, therapeutic riding, rodeo, saddlebred riding and more, as well as veterinarians and representatives from West Virginia Universitys equine program. That meeting set the coalition, which has since added more than 40 people and 22 organizations, up to launch in February.

People just came together, and we really had a good conversation on where we needed to go, Tetrault said.

Goals

One of the next steps for the coalition is to get more information on the industry across the state. The coalition has chosen regional directors, who will work on driving membership, look at facilities and infrastructure for the industry in their region and conduct strength, weakness, opportunity and threat analyses in their regions.

Right now, we have very little data on the horse industry except for what the [U.S. Department of Agriculture] provides in their annual surveys, Leonhardt wrote. Part of the problem is the industry is too small, so our federal partner doesnt include more data on the industry in the U.S. Census of Agriculture. We cannot develop a path forward without first understanding the problems we have to tackle.

Infrastructure is one current challenge for the industry, Tetrault said. Having better facilities for hosting shows and other events would help the state draw more people in for shows and as tourists.

The coalition also aims to serve as a central hub for information about West Virginias horse industry. That includes event listings, vet and farrier listings and information about things like trail systems and diseases that affect horses. They plan to develop educational programs on things like business in the horse industry and animal welfare, and also want to promote tourism connected with the industry.

The coalition is currently working on establishing itself as a nonprofit, and is planning to hold an official board election soon. The interim board members for now are Tetrault; Tim Ketterman, president of the West Virginia Quarterhorse Association; Maria Catigani, executive director for the Charles Town Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association; and Greg Thomas, whose daughter shows saddlebred horses and who works in the state capitol.

We just are really excited, Tetrault said. I think we can really showcase all the horse industry has to offer.
Tracy, Jeff and Jesse Vitek, of Rayland, Ohio, and their friend Josey Meddles took Farm and Dairy on their vacation to Cancun, Mexico, to celebrate the New Year. (Submitted photo)

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Farmers wanting to sell their carbon credits are being told to understand their carbon footprint before entering into any agreement.

Carbon has become a major talking point for UK farmers and landowners, but most of the talk is about how to monetise it.

Strutt & Parker says one of the questions it is asked most frequently by farmers is how they can sell their soil carbon.

The company says it's clear that many people are operating with limited information, for example they havent worked out whether they actually have any surplus carbon to sell.

The rural agency adds that some do not know the difference between the voluntary carbon market and the compliance carbon market.

Jonathan Armitage, head of farming at Strutt & Parker, says: Understanding the basics is important to make informed decisions and enable farmers to ask the right sort of questions before entering into an agreement.

"Selling carbon may be an opportunity to generate a new income stream, but there are also potential pitfalls making it an area that requires careful navigation.

Strutt & Parker has produced a guide to help farmers understand more about how carbon credits markets work, highlighting some of the wider considerations worth bearing in mind.

Its advice for farmers thinking about selling their carbon includes first understanding how much carbon their land can sequester, how much carbon they are emitting as a business and whether there is any surplus that can be sold to third parties.

Mr Armitage explains: Its about minimising the risk of unintended consequences further down the line, which might arise if a business is unable to demonstrate its own low-carbon credentials.

For example, if a farmer has sold all the carbon their land can sequester to third parties, they could find themselves in a position where they cannot easily offset their own emissions, which might prove costly if carbon offsets are made a requirement for land-based businesses."

Once a landowner has sold sequestered carbon, this will appear on the buyers balance sheet, Mr Armitage adds.

"Looking into the future, it seems inevitable that supermarkets and food processors will want their own supply chains to be low carbon.

"If a farmer has sold all their carbon credits to another emitter for offsetting purposes, they will not be able to use the sold sequestration against their own emissions.

Establishing baselines now by measuring activities and soil carbon levels in a verifiable way will assist farmers to make informed decisions, he explains.

It might also prove important in the future to be able to demonstrate the impact of any positive actions taken now.

What should I consider?

Strutt & Parker advises that farmers who are in a position to sell carbon credits should consider the following:

 Ensure that the verification scheme is of high quality: There are a small number of acknowledged international standards for verification and buyers will want to rely on a trusted and rigorous process.

 Have a contingency plan in place to avoid breaking contract  Contracts between buyers and sellers of carbon are usually agreements over a long period of time i.e. 30 years. Be aware that if, for instance, a woodland suffers from a fire, the seller would have to still provide the same amount of carbon sequestration as per the terms of the contract. This could mean replanting woodland or supplying it from another source.

 Protect your own reputation by knowing your buyer  Accusations of greenwashing can happen when buyers offset their carbon but have not taken other steps to reduce their unsustainable emissions of greenhouse gases and therefore are still major pollution contributors. To avoid getting involved with such buyers, transparency and knowing the buyer is key.

 Understand the implications that lie within carbon trading  These include considering the consequences for farming economics, interactions with other environmental schemes, effect on the capital value of land and property, tax issues, land tenure issues and the consequences of any land use change.

 Investigate if there are alternatives  This could include generating new income streams by delivering other ecosystem services, such as land management practices which reduce flooding or improve habitats. There are growing numbers of large corporate companies willing to partner with landowners on environmental projects as it helps them to meet their Environmental Social Governance (ESG) objectives.
Scottish farmers and landowners, along with those wishing to enter the sector, can now apply for funding support to gain skills required to combat climate change.

Supported by Scottish government funding of 250,000, the Climate Change Mitigation Training Fund is open to applications for people aged 13 and over.

Those interested can apply for 500 or more for the cost of a 'climate change badge' practical or technical training course through the Skillseeder platforms, administered by Lantra Scotland.

Courses offered could provide people with skills to improve soil health, undertake peatland and wetland restoration, increase biodiversity, reduce carbon footprints or reduce waste.

The training fund will be open for applications until the end of March 2022, the Scottish government confirmed.

Scotland's Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: We know that we need to work together to meet our climate change ambitions, especially as we transition to sustainable agriculture in rural Scotland.

"We want to empower people in our remote and rural communities by helping them get the skills required to address the emergencies facing the climate and nature and support a green recovery.

I would encourage all those eligible to get their applications in as soon as possible to help play their part in making a difference for Scotland.

Skillseeder is a skills sharing app which provides a one-stop shop to find training and skills development opportunities across the country, particularly for those in rural and island areas.

All eligible courses will be identified on the SkillSeeder platforms with a climate change badge.

Training up to the value of 500 per course will be fully funded; any training over the value of 500 per course will be considered and assessed on a case by case basis.

Scotland Director of Lantra, Dr Liz Barron-Majerik expressed her enthusiasm for the new fund: "Many of the land-based businesses that will be impacted by climate change are both small and rural, which brings associated logistical challenges.

"Even a minor change can be relatively high risk. So being able to find and access training, specific to the needs of the individual or business, is very important."
Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, known as The Black Farmer, has been appointed to the governing council of the Royal Agricultural University in a bid to bring more diversity to farming.

The Devon farmer is recognised for his long-time campaigning for diversity across the British agricultural industry and founder of The Black Farmer brand.

The new role creates a platform for Wilfred to champion greater diversity and representation within the sector and highlight the benefits they can bring.

Wilfred said that as one of Britains only black farmers, his new role as governor would not only allow him to bring more diversity, but also to attract new blood.

"Our farmers are the lifeblood of British agriculture and Im fiercely passionate about educating and attracting young people to the industry," he added.

"Ive been lucky enough to have worked with the university on several initiatives previously, including the Young City Farmers Scheme, which has given me the opportunity to help shape the pathways and passions of future British farmers."

Wilfreds own love of farming began as a boy on his fathers allotment, and it is this childhood passion which sparked the dream of one day running his own farm.

This has since grown beyond anything Wilfred could have imagined, he now runs a successful food and lifestyle brand, The Black Farmer and in 2021, was awarded an MBE for services to British farming.

Wilfred added: I have one mission and that is to help invigorate and inspire the next generation of British farmers, to encourage diversity to the industry, and to strengthen what I see as the backbone of British society.

He joins five new independent members to the council, including a columnist for the FT, a property and business consultant, the head of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission, a UK Health Security Agency director and an organic farmer.
The UK's farming unions have sent a letter of solidarity to Ukrainian farmers as they are facing 'atrocious and unprecedented challenges' as a result of Russia's invasion.

The letter, written by the NFU, NFU Scotland, Ulster Farmers' Union and NFU Cymru, has been sent to the Ukrainian National Agrarian Forum.

Co-ordinated by the British Agricultural Bureau, based in Brussels, the letter, available to see online [pdf], was signed by the presidents of the four farming unions.

Several key agri-exports from Ukraine face significant disruption following new military action in the country, which has caused wheat prices to rise to an all-time high since 2008.

The region is one of the worlds largest producers of the crop, along with numerous vegetable oils.

The union presidents wrote: "We write today on behalf of farmers across the United Kingdom. We are watching with shock and horror at the unfolding events in your nation.

"We are appalled at the dreadful situation that the people of Ukraine are facing following the Russian invasion.

"We wish to express our support to everyone in Ukraine and all Ukrainian farming families caught up in these horrifying events and to offer any assistance that may be possible for us to give you.

"We stand in solidarity with you at this horrifying moment in your history."

The UK farm leaders offered support to farmers in Ukraine, who are facing 'atrocious and unprecedented challenges' as a result of the invasion.

"Spring for all farmers should be a time to celebrate new life in our livestock and new growth in our crops," the letter added.

"Please be assured farmers in the United Kingdom hold you in our thoughts, we are watching and want to hear from you."

The letter comes as farming businesses across the country establish donation sites on-farm to help with efforts in Ukraine.

North Wales-based Rhug Estate, located near Corwen, has set up its conference room to act a place where people can donate supplies.

Blankets, coats for women and children, warm clothes including hats, gloves, scarfs and socks can be dropped off at the conference centre.

Elsewhere, Mossgiel Organic Farm, in Ayrshire, has already packed lorry loads of essential items such as clothes, blankets, duvets and sleeping bags.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up to collect donations for the Ukrainian people, which has so far raised over 1.5 million as of 3 March.
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The purpose of the legislative session is for priority bills to become law. Thousands of bills are introduced; this year, 293 bills became law. Its hard to keep up with them all, so heres a brief rundown of major bills that became lawand bills that did not.
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.

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OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Kinross Gold Corp. (KGC,K.TO) said that it will suspend all activities at its Udinsk development project in Russia. The company is also in the process of suspending operations at its Kupol mine, with the focus on the safety and well-being of its more than 2,000 employees and in recognition of its obligations to manage and mitigate the mine's environmental impact on an ongoing basis. Kinross said it is deeply concerned about the loss of life and destruction in Ukraine and wishes to express its sympathy and support for the people who are suffering because of this tragic situation. The company announced a donation of $1 million to the Canadian Red Cross Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal to assist those people most in need. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.


Figure 1: Image of the dedicated app (Japanese and English language version in development)



Figure 2: Image of community-based evacuation process

TOKYO, Mar 3, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - The International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) at Tohoku University, the Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo, Fujitsu, and the City of Kawasaki(1) today announced plans to conduct a field trial of AI that is constructed on the world's fastest supercomputer, Japan's Fugaku(2), and provide high-resolution, real time tsunami flooding forecast for supporting safe and efficient tsunami evacuations during disaster prevention drills in Kawasaki, Japan on Saturday, March 12, 2022.During this field trial, participants from the surrounding community will be notified about the arrival time and the flooding height of a predicted tsunami through a special smartphone application developed by Fujitsu. The exercise aims to identify the most effective ways to use the technology to support local communities in sharing information amongst residents and avoid cases of people being left behind during evacuations.This project represents the latest milestone in an ongoing initiative between the parties. As part of a framework agreement signed between Kawasaki City and Fujitsu in 2014 to promote the creation of sustainable communities(3), the four parties have been engaging in R&D activities as part of the "Joint Project Aiming for Tsunami Disaster Risk Reduction Using ICT in the Kawasaki Coastal Area" since 2017. Verifying the effectiveness of information sharing amongst field trial participants via the app, the parties aim to further promote the practical use of disaster risk mitigation methodologies that leverage the capabilities of AI, high performance computing (HPC), and communications technologies for tsunami flooding forecasts, ultimately contributing to the realization of a safer society.BackgroundRecent years have witnessed the development of several different technologies for real time tsunami flooding forecasts that make use of the capabilities of high-speed supercomputers and AI. Barriers to the practical deployment of such technologies remain, however, including how to share relevant information in an inclusive yet effective manner to the public, taking into account individual differences of users and varying levels of digital literacy.The four parties aim to address some of these challenges by conducting a field trial to test the technology with actual residents of the community in circumstances that replicate the uncertainty of an actual disaster, including the possibility that the AI forecast information itself isn't 100% certain.Outline of the field trialDate: March 12, 2022 (Saturday) 8: 15 to 11: 15 JST (held at the same time as the comprehensive disaster prevention drills in Kawasaki Ward)Place: Kawasaki Municipal Kawanakajima Junior High School and surrounding area (Kawasaki Ward, Kawasaki City)Participants: local residents and project membersOverview: Field trial to verify the effectiveness of evacuation using AI tsunami flooding forecast data(4)-this data will be delivered to a dedicated app developed by Fujitsu, which residents and organizers will refer to in real time during a simulated evacuation. The field trial will be conducted under the supervision and guidance of Prof. Fumihiko Imamura, Director of the International Research Institute of Disaster Science at Tohoku University and Prof. Takashi Furumura at the Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo.Several participants briefed in advance of the field trial (including the possibility that AI forecast information isn't 100% certain) will act as disaster information leaders and receive detailed information including the predicted arrival time and flooding height of the tsunami. Other participants will receive a text message on the app indicating that AI has forecast flooding for their location.When evacuating, disaster information leaders can check the current location of participants in the same community and alert those who are behind in evacuating by using the app's messaging function.The field trial will be followed by an online disaster prevention course, in which evacuation actions of the participants will be reviewed.About the appThe app has two display modes. The first one is a detailed mode, in which AI-generated tsunami flooding forecast data is displayed on a map in different colors corresponding to the arrival time and the flooding height of the incoming tsunami. The second mode is a simple display that only shows a text message warning users in a certain area about the predicted tsunami flooding. The app also includes a messaging function that allows users to check the location of other community members on a map and help one another to communicate and gather safely during the evacuation. Users can further post and share information on points along evacuation routes that are assumed to be damaged and difficult to pass (a function which has been validated in prior field trials(5)) and also share real-time information about the number of people who have successfully evacuated and gathered at evacuation centers.Future PlansBased on the feedback from the participants of the field trial, the four parties will further investigate methods to transmit and use AI disaster forecasting to realize safer and more efficient community-based evacuation and promote the use and practical application of AI to support disaster mitigation measures and contribute to the realization of safer local communities.(1) Kawasaki City :city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan; Mayor: Norihiko Fukuda(2) AI that is constructed on the world's fastest supercomputer, Japan's Fugaku :This AI was built using computational resources of supercomputer Fugaku provided by the RIKEN Center for Computational Science through the HPCI System Research Project (Project ID: hp210220).(3) a framework agreement signed between Kawasaki City and Fujitsu in 2014 to promote the creation of sustainable communities :Kawasaki City and Fujitsu in June 2021 further strengthened their collaboration to promote various initiatives utilizing cutting-edge digital technology, focusing on the four priority themes of "health," "safety and security," "environment," and "work and living" that will further increase the value of communities by making them more livable."Fujitsu, City of Kawasaki Strengthen Cooperation to Realize a Sustainable "Future City""(4) AI tsunami flooding forecast data :Authorization from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) based on the Meteorological Service Act is required when actual tsunami forecast is issued by an organization other than JMA.(5) prior field trials :From 2018 to 2020, the four parties conducted experiments to realize tsunami evacuation using smartphone applications."Fujitsu Leverages AI Tech in Joint Project to Contribute to Safe Tsunami Evacuation in Kawasaki""Fujitsu Optimizes Evacuation Center Management to Mitigate COVID-19 Risk with AI in Joint Field Trial in City of Kawasaki"About FujitsuFujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company offering a full range of technology products, solutions and services. Approximately 126,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.6 trillion yen (US$34 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2021. For more information, please see www.fujitsu.com.Press Contacts:Tsunami Engineering LabInternational Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS)Tohoku UniversityDr. Daisuke SugawaraE-mail:sugawara@irides.tohoku.ac.jpSource: Fujitsu LtdCopyright 2022 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
BARCELONA, Spain, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Huawei held its Industrial Digital Transformation Summit during Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona 2022 in Spain. At the summit, Huawei unveiled brand-new solutions for data center and intelligent campus scenarios. Campuses have high requirements for data center storage, computing power, and energy efficiency, and face challenges in managing their vast assets. Together with industry customers, opinion leaders, and global partners, Huawei discussed industry trends, introduced latest practices in digital transformation, and shared the vision of an innovative future where digital technology, business value, and eco-friendly development come together.

During his opening speech, Mr. Li Peng, President of Huawei West European Region, emphasized that digital transformation and environmental protection are key topics in the future. Huawei provides innovative Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and a full portfolio of products to help global customers build robust ICT infrastructure and enable industrial digital transformation. In fact, over the last few decades, Huawei has been focusing on reducing energy consumption and carbon emission through continuous product and solution innovation.

Interlocking technology with business innovation, Huawei unveils two scenario-based solutions

Mr. Chen Banghua, Vice President (VP) of the Huawei Enterprise Business Group, delivered a keynote speech - Dive into Digital with Innovative Digital Infrastructure - at the summit, announcing new full-stack data center and intelligent campus solutions. Mr. Chen also introduced the latest practices of digital transformation in energy, finance, transportation, and other industries.

Huawei's full-stack data center solution leads the trend of cloud-based, intensive, and eco-friendly development, while Huawei's intelligent campus solution enables all-wireless access, network architecture renewal, and hyper convergence of IT infrastructure. Through continuous innovation in ICT and digital infrastructure, Huawei laid a solid foundation for the development of the intelligent world, as mentioned by Mr. Chen in his speech.

Full-stack data center solution: Huawei provides various products, ranging from data center infrastructure to ICT devices and cloud platforms, to enable software-hardware convergence, cross-domain production collaboration, and other innovation. With the goal of building agile, efficient, reliable, and eco-friendly data centers, its solution features innovation in the following four areas:

Renew computing & storage: The intelligent cloud management platform enables agile provisioning of various computing power resources. The innovative DPU technology allows the CPU to focus on processing services, unleashing the full potential of computing power and increasing the virtual machine (VM) capacity by 30%. The storage module also collaborates with the NoF+ network to achieve double the storage performance.

Renew network: The innovation DCI-DCN synergy enables centralized network management and one-stop service provisioning in minutes, building data center networks with ultimate agility and efficiency.

Renew reliability: The full-stack disaster recovery (DR) solution offers comprehensive backup, covering from a single piece of hardware to the entire cloud platform. The solution flexibly copes with various service needs, enabling uninterrupted online service operations around the clock. The storage-optical synergy shortens the service switchover time of the active-active link to 5 ms. This allows storage service recovery in 1 second, completely unnoticeable by users.

Renew green: Featuring an innovative ultra-high density design, the converged cooling solution maximizes the power usage effectiveness (PUE), reducing annual power consumption by more than 14%. The prefabricated modular equipment room shortens the delivery time by more than 70% and creates no onsite construction waste, causing little harm to the environment.

Next-generation intelligent campus solution: Huawei renewed and upgraded the office system, network architecture, and IT equipment room - the three major modules of campus ICT infrastructure. This accelerates intelligent upgrade and digital transformation of campuses, offering more efficient, eco-friendly, and convenient campus services.

Intelligent office system upgrade: Huawei's proprietary AirEngine Wi-Fi 6 and IdeaHub collaborate with each other based on unique intelligent multimedia dispatching algorithms, allowing one-click meeting access, wireless screen projection, and video conferences with 4K video, Hi-Fi audio, and zero frame freezing.

video, Hi-Fi audio, and zero frame freezing. Campus network architecture renewal: Based on the ground-breaking long-distance mixed transmission (wireless, copper cable, and optical) technology, Huawei's solution delivers high-speed communications and power supply for remote devices. The solution redefines simplified architecture for next-generation campus networks by simplifying network architecture from three layers to two layers. In addition, it reduces the power consumption of the aggregation equipment room as well as the entire network and cuts down the total cost of ownership (TCO) by 38%.

Campus IT equipment room convergence: Traditional IT equipment room faces challenges such as dispersed hardware procurement and heavy power consumption. Based on the all-in-one preconfigured design, Huawei's solution integrates all campus ICT modules (computing, storage, network, power supply, etc.) to build a hyper-converged IT equipment room. A single cabinet can serve as an independent data center. Such all-in-one design shortens the system delivery time by 88% and the overall power consumption by 58%.

Focusing on these two major scenarios, Huawei extensively integrates ICT with industry trends and customers' business requirements in developing its many cutting-edge products with industrial scenarios, such as energy, transportation, and finance. With innovative technology, Huawei drives customer success in digital transformation and upgrade.

In the oil and gas industry, pipeline management has always been challenging, from complex security protection and high maintenance costs to low inspection efficiency and monitoring blind spots. Huawei's all-optical sensing solution leverages optical sensing products, algorithms, and engines to help Shandong Jihua Gas implement intelligent pipeline inspection. The solution increases the risk detection accuracy to 97%, compared to the industry's next-best at 83%. With the solution in place, Jihua has improved pipeline security and management, reduced pipeline O&M costs, and made significant progress in its digital transformation journey.

In the transportation industry, traditional urban rail communications systems suffer from low bandwidth, frequent package loss in real-time data transmission, and inefficient system deployment. As a result, many bandwidth-hungry systems have historically not been deployed, such as the Passenger Information Systems (PISs). Huawei's Wi-Fi 6 train-to-ground communications solution, powered by a number of cutting-edge technologies, delivers a maximum of 1.4 Gbit/s bandwidth for trains moving at a speed of 160 km/h. In addition, the solution supports fast soft handover within 30 ms, ensuring secure and stable urban rail operations. The all-in-one chassis is easy to deploy and configure, shortening the service provisioning time by 67%.

In the financial industry, banks face traffic, service, and data challenges brought on by rapid financial service upgrades and changes. Their legacy data centers, built based on non-cloud architecture, have limited service capacity. With internal modules closely packed with one another, these data centers are not able to effectively support the fast rollout of innovative services and rapid growth of service traffic. To cope with these challenges, many banks are migrating their core systems from traditional centralized architecture to advanced distributed architecture. To help its financial customers, Huawei provides a solid cloud base for traditional banks to implement digital transformation, and helps digital banks build their own high-reliability platforms, enabling large-scale, multi-scenario innovation across the industry.

Unlocking business potential with eco-friendly digital technology: Writing the future with innovation

As the global economy and wider society begin to recover from the pandemic, industrial digital transformation will undoubtedly become the new engine that drives the world forward. Indeed, digital technology has been continuously breaking boundaries and playing an increasingly important role in today's global economic development.

At the end of the summit, Huawei proposed an initiative aimed at enabling eco-friendly development with green ICT. The plan is to leverage innovative energy-saving technology to continuously improve ICT products' energy efficiency and drive low-carbon development. The initiative includes three major practices: accelerating the development of renewable energy, digitalizing the management of traditional energy, and enabling eco-friendly business development through digital technology and digital transformation. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to make lives better, businesses more intelligent, society more inclusive, and the world greener through innovative digital technology.

In the future, Huawei will continue its efforts in developing innovative solutions for industry scenarios, building simplified, eco-friendly, and intelligent ICT infrastructure, practicing sustainable development through the use of ICT, as well as building Digital Twin systems. It will also deliver optimal service experience, boost production efficiency, accelerate digital and eco-friendly transformation of industries, and create new value together with customers and partners.

MWC Barcelona 2022 runs from February 28 to March 3 in Barcelona, Spain. Huawei Enterprise's exhibition booth is located at 1H50 in Hall 1 of Fira Gran Via. Throughout the event, Huawei will continue to extensively cover topics on industry trends, business value, and eco-friendly development with government and enterprise customers, industry elites, opinion leaders, and global partners.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1757723/Mr_Li_Peng_President_Huawei_West_European_Region_delivered_opening.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1757724/Mr_Chen_Banghua_Vice_President__VP__Huawei_Enterprise_Business_Group.jpg


Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2022) - CGX Energy Inc. (TSXV: OYL) ("CGX" or the "Company") announced today the release of its audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021, together with its Management Discussion and Analysis (the "Financial Disclosures"). These Financial Disclosures will be posted on the Company's website at www.cgxenergy.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. All values in the Financial Disclosures are in United States dollars unless otherwise stated.

Corentyne Block

CGX and Frontera, the majority shareholder of CGX and joint venture (the "Joint Venture") partner of CGX in the petroleum prospecting license for the Corentyne block offshore Guyana, have safely completed exploration activities at the Kawa-1 exploration well. In line with our exploratory objectives, the well has now been safely plugged and abandoned and the Maersk Discover drilling rig has been released from the Kawa-1 location. Only a single lost time injury was recorded throughout Kawa-1 well operations. The final cost of the Kawa-1 exploration well was $141 million.

The Kawa-1 well was drilled to a total depth of 21,578 feet (6,577 metres) in the northern section of the Corentyne block. Drilling results confirm the presence of an active hydrocarbon system at the Kawa-1 location. Successful wireline logging runs confirmed net pay of approximately 200 feet (61 metres) within Maastrichtian, Campanian, Santonian and Coniacian horizons. These intervals are similar in age and can be correlated using regional seismic data to recent successes in Block 58 in Suriname and Stabroek Block in Guyana.

The Joint Venture did not get MDT data or sidewall core samples and has engaged an independent third-party to complete further detailed studies and laboratory analysis on drilling cuttings from the Santonian, Campanian and Maastrichtian intervals and well-bore fluid samples to evaluate in situ hydrocarbons. Preliminary results from the Santonian interval indicate the presence of liquid hydrocarbons in the reservoir. Results from the Campanian and Maastrichtian intervals are pending.

Kawa-1 well results have improved the Joint Venture's understanding of the operational and geological complexities of the basin and will help reduce the technical risks of the Wei-1 exploration well. Given the initial positive results at the Kawa-1 well the Joint Venture is moving forward with its second exploration well, Wei-1 on the Corentyne block.

The Joint Venture has begun the integration of detailed seismic and lithological analysis and pore pressure studies from the Kawa-1 well into drilling preparations in advance of spudding the Wei-1 exploration well which will be spud in the second half of 2022. The Wei-1 exploration well will target Campanian and Santonian aged stacked channels in the western fan complex in the northern section of the Corentyne block. Data from both the Kawa-1 and Wei-1 wells will inform future activities and potential appraisal/development decisions.

CGX is currently assessing several strategic opportunities to obtain additional financing to meet the costs of the drilling program.

Demerara

On February 4, 2022, the Joint Venture announced that as a result of the initial positive results at the Kawa-1 exploration well, the Joint Venture will focus on the significant exploration opportunities in the Corentyne block and will not engage in drilling activities on the Demerara block in 2022. On February 21, 2022, the Minister of Natural Resources informed the joint venture that the two commitment exploration wells must be drilled on the Demerara block per the terms of the Demerara Petroleum Prospecting License and associated Petroleum Agreement prior to February 12, 2023. CGX will seek further dialogue with the Ministry of Natural Resources regarding this guidance.

Berbice

On February 4, 2022, the Company, through its 62% owned subsidiary ON Energy Inc. ("ON Energy"), notified the Ministry of Natural Resources that, given the focus on developing the Corentyne Block, operational considerations and investment priorities, ON Energy is unable to drill an exploration well on the Berbice Block in 2022; proposed that seismic acquisition on the block be shifted to commence in January 2023 and sought the Minister's guidance on this matter. The Minister of Natural Resources has informed ON Energy that he expects the Company to drill one exploration well on the Berbice block and acquire seismic on the block prior to the expiry of the Berbice Petroleum Prospecting License and associated Petroleum Agreement. The Company will seek further dialogue with the Ministry of Natural resources regarding this guidance.

Berbice Deep Water Port

Civil works continue on the wholly-owned Berbice Deep Water Port, with an Access Bridge from the Corentyne Highway completed, Access Road from Corentyne Highway to the port site completed, delivery of electricity to the port site completed, delivery of Potable Water to the port site completed, quayside laydown yard 60% completed and rip rap flood protection 95% completed. Requests for proposals have been advertised for the wharf platform and access trestle, capital dredging program, design and construction of all gates, buildings and fences, design and construction of firefighting and first aid structures and covered storage areas. Currently, evaluations of submitted proposals for the capital dredging and construction of the wharf platform and access trestle are underway. To date, all contractors on the project have been 100% local Guyanese companies and all efforts are being expended to ensure that this focus on local content is maintained throughout the project.

About CGX

CGX is a Canadian-based oil and gas exploration company focused on the exploration of oil in the Guyana-Suriname Basin and the development of a deep water port in the Berbice, Guyana.

NEITHER THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE, TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR THEIR REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDERS (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE AND TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE

Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that CGX believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding exploration and development plans and objectives with regards to the Kawa-1 or Wei-1 wells) are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of CGX based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: the need to obtain any required regulatory approval; the ability of the Frontera Energy Corporation and CGX joint venture to successfully explore and develop offshore blocks, and to fund exploration and development and the impact thereof of unforeseen costs and expenses; changes in equity and debt markets; perceptions of the prospects and the prospects of the oil and gas industry in the countries where the Company operates or has investments; and the other risks disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's annual information form dated May 5, 2021 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, CGX disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although CGX believes that the assumptions inherent in the cautionary and forward-looking statements applicable to it are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

For further information, please contact: Hill-York Poon, Interim CFO at (832) 300-3200.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115521
BARCELONA, Spain, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Mobile World Congress 2022, during the industrial digital transformation summit, Huawei unveiled the Intelligent Power Transmission Line Inspection Solution 2.0. Through two sub-solutions - channel visualization and tower foundation safety - it addresses some of the key issues in manual line inspection and tower foundation perimeter safety. The solution is slated to help electric power enterprises detect each risk and protect each line.

Traditional manual inspection of power transmission lines faces a plethora of issues, including safety, management, efficiency, response, real-time performance, and operational risks. To address these, Huawei developed the Intelligent Power Transmission Line Inspection Solution 1.0, which integrates intelligent vision, site energy, and microwave backhaul. It ensures reliable data backhaul and visualizes the status of power transmission lines in environments where signals are missing, power supply is unavailable, and imaging is difficult. The upgraded version 2.0 adds several key functions. This includes radar-video linkage that constantly monitors the conditions around the tower foundation, securing the power grid.

The tower foundation is the skeleton that supports the stable and reliable operation of power transmission lines. However, it faces many artificial and natural threats. At the same time, manual inspection is dangerous and performed in harsh environments. That's why, Huawei has added tower foundation safety to its upgraded inspection solution. Now, it can adapt to line solutions for various distances, manage up to 600,000 cameras, and process a wealth of data. The inspection center and teams collaborate to support the inspection at every step. This is complemented by radar-video linkage, enabling full-coverage inspection and detecting any intrusions by unauthorized personnel in real time.

Huawei's Intelligent Power Transmission Line Inspection 2.0 integrates four core capabilities: a wide range of high-precision algorithms, secure and controllable self-networking technologies, lightweight and easy-to-install integrated products, and efficient O&M with fast iteration and long battery life. This solution protects each power transmission line by making them safe, efficient, green, and focuses on experience.

Safe: Replace manual site visits with intelligent inspection, remotely diagnose potential risks, improve inspection coverage density from 60% to 100%, reduce the annual frequency of power outages, prevent 90% of unplanned temporary power outages, and ensure stable and safe power consumption for the entire industry.

Replace manual site visits with intelligent inspection, remotely diagnose potential risks, improve inspection coverage density from 60% to 100%, reduce the annual frequency of power outages, prevent 90% of unplanned temporary power outages, and ensure stable and safe power consumption for the entire industry. Efficient: Reduce inspection time from 20 days to 2 hours, making it 80 times more efficient. Link the intelligent platform and apps to digitize services, improving response speed and task processing efficiency by 30%.

Reduce inspection time from 20 days to 2 hours, making it 80 times more efficient. Link the intelligent platform and apps to digitize services, improving response speed and task processing efficiency by 30%. Green: Reduce the number of inspection personnel and vehicles, cutting down carbon emissions. For example, for every 5000 km of lines, the solution is expected to decrease carbon emission by 16.2 tons per year for each vehicle. In addition, the solution helps quickly identify emergencies (such as mountain fires), protect nature, and improve power supply reliability.

Reduce the number of inspection personnel and vehicles, cutting down carbon emissions. For example, for every 5000 km of lines, the solution is expected to decrease carbon emission by 16.2 tons per year for each vehicle. In addition, the solution helps quickly identify emergencies (such as mountain fires), protect nature, and improve power supply reliability. Experience-oriented: Personnel do not have to work in harsh environments as often thanks to intelligent devices; and when they do, the solution offers a safer environment, improving personnel experience.

Huawei uses information communication technology (ICT) for integration with power systems, which is the foundation of the Intelligent Inspection Solution 2.0. It features unattended inspection, visualized channels, simplified maintenance, and lightweight work. In the future, Huawei will continue to dive deep into industry scenarios and launch products and solutions that are reliable, cost-effective, and suitable for the electric power industry. We aim to help power grids reach safe, efficient, and green operations.

MWC 2022 is held from February 28 to March 3 in Barcelona, Spain. Huawei's enterprise business booth is located at 1H50, Hall 1, Fira Gran Via. For more information, please visit: https://e.huawei.com/en/events/huawei-enterprise-mwc-2022

About Huawei

Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices and is committed to bringing digital to every person, home, and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. We have more than 197,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world. Huawei focuses on enterprise customers' business scenarios, and continues to invest in R&D and digital infrastructure innovation. Joining efforts with global customers and partners, Huawei extensively integrates ICT with industry businesses, accelerates industrial digital transformation, drives digital industry upgrades, promotes digital economic development, assists sustainable social development, New Value Together.As of the end of 2021, globally, more than 700 cities and 267 Fortune Global 500 companies have chosen Huawei as their digital transformation partner.For more information, please visit Huawei online at

www.huawei.com or follow us on:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/Huawei

http://www.twitter.com/Huawei

http://www.facebook.com/Huawei

http://www.youtube.com/Huawei

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1757727/Huawei_unveils_Intelligent_Power_Transmission_Line_Inspection_Solution_2_0.jpg
DJ Marked increase in sales and operating profit margin

Bucher Industries AG / Key word(s): Annual Results Marked increase in sales and operating profit margin 02-March-2022 / 06:00 CET/CEST Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Ad hoc announcement Niederweningen, 2 March 2022 | Ad hoc announcement pursuant to article 53 listing rules

Demand for Bucher Industries' products and services was very strong in the reporting period. Sales were up substantially and slightly exceeded the high 2019 figures. The operating profit margin rose to a very good 11.1% and profit for the year increased to CHF 269 million. The board of directors proposes a dividend of CHF 9.50 per share.

Group

Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 3'948 2'838 39.1 39.3 37.5 Net sales 3'176 2'741 15.9 15.9 14.2 Order book 1'873 1'081 73.2 73.5 71.3 Operating profit (EBITDA) 437 287 52.0 % of net sales 13.7% 10.5% Operating profit (EBIT) 352 204 72.4 % of net sales 11.1% 7.4% Profit for the year 269 152 77.2 % of net sales 8.5% 5.5% Earnings per share in CHF 25.96 14.71 76.5 Operating free cash flow 271 313 -13.5 Net cash/debt 551 404 36.4 Total assets 2'768 2'431 13.9 Equity 1'533 1'391 10.2 Equity ratio 55.4% 57.2% Return on equity (ROE) 18.4% 10.9% Net operating assets (NOA) average 1'052 1'151 -8.6 Return on NOA (RONOA) after tax 25.6% 13.5% Employees at 31 December 13'562 12'5983) 7.7 6.7 Average number of employees during year4) 13'375 12'515 6.9 5.7

1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects 3) 2020: 12'727 employees (FTEs), of whom 129 on short-time work 4) Average 13'401 employees (FTEs), of whom 26 on short-time work (2020: 12'868 employees, of whom 353 on short-time work)

Very good business performance Bucher Industries' products and services enjoyed very strong demand in the reporting period. Order intake rose markedly in all five divisions and overall exceeded the high figures of 2019 by nearly a third. This was largely attributable to the very good economic development, but also to catch-up effects and precautionary orders. Like the entire industrial sector worldwide, the divisions found themselves faced with bottlenecks and delays in the supply chain and logistics as well as rising material and transport costs. This resulted in production challenges that intensified over the course of the reporting period. However, the divisions managed to cope with these challenges very well. They enlarged their workforce primarily by means of temporary workers but were unable to fill vacancies to the desired extent, particularly in the USA. Accordingly, the Group's order book grew by more than two thirds. Sales were up considerably year on year and slightly exceeded the 2019 figures. The operating profit amounted to CHF 352 million. The operating profit margin rose to a very good 11.1% and profit for the year to a pleasing CHF 269 million. Earnings per share amounted to CHF 25.96.

Significant increase in return on invested capital The return on net operating assets after tax (RONOA) was 25.6%, above the long-term target of 20% and therefore also far above the cost of capital of 8%. The high return is mainly attributable to the marked increase in the operating profit margin and the level of invested capital, which remained low. The good operating performance and lower dividend payment for 2020 had a positive effect on free cash flow and thus on net cash/debt, which amounted to CHF 551 million. The equity ratio remained nearly unchanged at 55%.

Strengthening of divisions Three smaller acquisitions were made in the past 14 months that strengthened the business activities of Kuhn Group in Brazil and of Bucher Unipektin in the areas of vacuum belt drying technology and of beer filtration. Furthermore, Bucher Hydraulics acquired the mobile electric drive technology business from Lenze Schmidhauser in Romanshorn, Switzerland. Renamed 'Bucher Mobile Drives', this business unit develops and delivers frequency converters for mobile applications. This move enables Bucher Hydraulics to combine both its hydraulics and electrotechnical expertise to position itself in the rapidly growing market for electrohydraulic solutions. Integration of the business and its approximately 30 employees is proceeding on schedule.

Kuhn Group

Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 1'676 1'290 29.9 31.8 30.9 Net sales 1'319 1'094 20.5 22.1 21.4 Order book 941 587 60.3 62.4 61.4 Operating profit (EBITDA) 196 125 56.4 % of net sales 14.8% 11.4% Operating profit (EBIT) 161 91 76.9 % of net sales 12.2% 8.3% Employees at 31 December 5'832 5'194 12.3 10.8 Average number of employees during year 5'740 5'0193) 14.4 12.9

1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects 3) 2020: Average 5'168 employees (FTEs), of whom 149 on short-time work

Marked increase in operating profit margin Demand for the division's products was very strong, driven by farmers' higher income. Dealers' low inventory levels prompted substantial early order placements. The trend was also underpinned by a major need for new, more productive machines in the arable sector after the extended low cycle. Order intake rose by nearly one third. At the same time, the division found itself faced with challenges in the supply chain and logistics, which it was able to cope with very successfully. Recruiting additional qualified employees was difficult, particularly in the USA. Nevertheless, sales rose markedly over 2020 and considerably exceeded the high level of 2019. The very good capacity utilisation and the pricing measures implemented to absorb the massive increases in material and transport costs caused the operating profit margin to rise markedly.

Bucher Municipal

Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 599 460 30.1 27.5 24.9 Net sales 523 462 13.0 10.6 8.1 Order book 237 157 50.6 47.9 47.9 Operating profit (EBITDA) 44 38 16.5 % of net sales 8.4% 8.1% Operating profit (EBIT) 33 28 18.5 % of net sales 6.3% 6.0% Employees at 31 December 2'329 2'3273) 0.1 0.1 Average number of employees during year4) 2'355 2'322 1.4 -0.4

1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects 3) 2020: 2'334 employees (FTEs), of whom 7 on short-time work 4) Average 2'359 employees (FTEs), of whom 4 on short-time work (2020: 2'364 employees, of whom 42 on short-time work)

Operating profit margin adversely affected The market for Bucher Municipal's products was very brisk. Order intake rose markedly. This positive trend was driven largely by truck-mounted sweepers and the new modular line of 'CityCat V20' compact sweepers together with the fully electric model. Production was greatly hampered by bottlenecks among suppliers, particularly those of chassis and other components. Especially in Australia, the strict COVID-19 measures continued to pose a challenge. In November, the division was forced to temporarily shut down its IT infrastructure following the early detection of a malware attack, which was blocked thanks to the immediate, secured system shutdown. Bucher Municipal's sales still rose substantially and ended the year just below the high level of 2019. Compared to 2020, the operating profit margin rose only marginally due to difficulties in the supply chain and production.

Bucher Hydraulics

Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 856 561 52.5 52.4 49.4 Net sales 681 536 26.9 26.8 25.0 Order book 320 134 139.2 138.8 125.7 Operating profit (EBITDA) 111 81 36.7 % of net sales 16.3% 15.1% Operating profit (EBIT) 88 59 48.9 % of net sales 12.9% 11.0% Employees at 31 December 2'825 2'5373) 11.4 10.3 Average number of employees during year4) 2'704 2'530 6.9 6.3

1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects 3) 2020: 2'602 employees (FTEs), of whom 65 on short-time work 4) Average 2'712 employees (FTEs), of whom 8 on short-time work (2020: 2'634 employees, of whom 104 on short-time work)

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DJ Marked increase in sales and operating profit -2-

Order book doubled Developments in the hydraulics markets were very dynamic. The division reported exceptionally high demand for components and solutions. One reason for this, apart from the strong economic development, was the fact that customers were placing precautionary orders due to the generally long delivery times in the industrial sector. Order intake increased by half. Adjusting the production capacities to the required level was very challenging and the order book doubled. The division increased its sales considerably, thereby exceeding the high level of 2019. One major driver of this was Asia, which reported above-average growth in China and India. Thanks to the higher sales and good cost structure, the operating profit margin grew markedly.

Bucher Emhart Glass

Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) Order intake 522 317 64.7 62.6 Net sales 394 421 -6.4 -7.7 Order book 285 155 83.8 81.4 Operating profit (EBITDA) 71 53 33.6 % of net sales 18.1% 12.7% Operating profit (EBIT) 62 44 40.4 % of net sales 15.8% 10.5% Employees at 31 December 1'563 1'611 -3.0 Average number of employees during year 1'577 1'688 -6.6

1) Adjusted for currency effects

Very high operating profit margin The division experienced a rapid upturn on the heels of the slump of the previous year. Order intake at Bucher Emhart Glass grew by nearly two thirds, putting it back at the very high level of 2019. Starting from a low level in the first quarter, production capacity utilisation rose sharply in the course of the reporting period. Bottlenecks for raw materials and components, and in logistics, as well as government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions in Malaysia posed major challenges. All this caused sales to decline slightly year on year. The operating profit margin was outstanding. This was mainly due to a favourable product mix and the cost base, which remained low throughout the entire reporting period.

Bucher Specials

Change CHF million 2021 2020 % %1) %2) Order intake 366 261 40.3 39.9 35.2 Net sales 321 273 17.6 17.2 11.3 Order book 121 70 72.1 71.4 69.7 Operating profit (EBITDA) 32.2 12 168.3 % of net sales 10.0% 4.4% Operating profit (EBIT) 28 7 298.6 % of net sales 8.6% 2.5% Employees at 31 December 953 8683) 9.8 7.5 Average number of employees during year4) 937 893 4.9 3.1

1) Adjusted for currency effects 2) Adjusted for currency and acquisition effects 3) 2020: 925 employees (FTEs), of whom 57 on short-time work 4) Average 951 employees (FTEs), of whom 14 on short-time work (2020: 951 employees, of whom 58 on short-time work)

Solid operating profit margin The division's financial year was characterised by dynamic developments in its markets. The easing of restrictions in the gastronomic sector and at major public events over the course of 2021 had a positive impact on the business units serving the beverage industry. Customers approved projects that they had postponed in the previous year. Catch-up effects kept business in the Swiss market for agricultural machinery very brisk. Demand for mobile and industrial automation solutions also picked up again strongly. Overall, order intake was up by more than a third. Sales also rose considerably and ended the period slightly above the high 2019 level. The operating profit margin increased to a solid figure due to better capacity utilisation and cost-savings measures put in place in the previous year.

Outlook for 2022

The Group expects demand to weaken at a very high level. The extraordinarily strong order book at the end of 2021 means that capacities will remain strongly utilised, particularly in the first half of the year. Difficulties in procurement and logistics are likely to persist at least for the time being. The resulting inefficiencies in production and the rising cost base are likely to increase pressure on margins. In addition, the shortage of skilled labour will make it difficult to work through the record-high order book. Kuhn Group anticipates that demand for agricultural machines will normalise, especially in North and South America, following a year where it was at an extremely high level, in part due to catch-up demand. Difficulties in the supply chain and logistics will continue, at least during the first half of the year. Thanks in part to the full order book, the division expects sales to rise slightly. Despite higher material and personnel costs, the operating profit margin is likely to remain in the double digits. Bucher Municipal expects demand for municipal vehicles to remain high. Supply chain challenges are likely to persist with delays, in particular, in the delivery of chassis. The division therefore expects sales to be on a par with those of 2021. Improved production efficiency should lead to a higher operating profit margin. Bucher Hydraulics expects demand to be weaker yet still at a very high level. Capacity utilisation will remain high, in part due to the very good order book, and shortages of staff will persist. Accordingly, the division expects ongoing production challenges and a moderate increase in sales. The operating profit margin is likely to be at a similar level to that of 2021. Bucher Emhart Glass expects demand to remain good. Production capacity utilisation will be at an extremely high level due to the very high order book, and the division expects sales to rise considerably as a result. Due to the change in the product mix and the general increase in the cost base, the operating profit margin is likely to be lower but still markedly above the long-term target of 10%. Bucher Specials expects a good market environment overall. Thanks to the well-filled order book at the start of the year, the division is forecasting a modest increase in sales. The operating profit margin is likely to be on a par with that of 2021, since the major part of the increase in material, personnel and other costs can be compensated. The Group expects to see slightly higher sales and a slightly lower operating profit margin in the double-digit range. The Group's profit for the year is expected to be almost on par with the high 2021 figures.

Consistent dividend policy

The board of directors proposes a dividend of CHF 9.50 per share to the annual general meeting on 12 April 2022. The dividend paid in the previous year was CHF 6.50 per share. This proposal is in keeping with a consistent dividend policy and takes account of the profit for the year 2021, the solid financial position, the outlook for the current year as well as internal and external investment opportunities.

Annual general meeting

The annual general meeting of Bucher Industries AG will be held on 12 April 2022 at the Hotel Movenpick in Regensdorf, starting at 3.30 p.m. The board of directors proposes to the annual general meeting the re-election of Philip Mosimann, as chairman, and the current members of the board of directors and of the compensation committee - with the exception of Heinrich Spoerry, who will not stand for re-election due to the age limit set in the internal rules of organisation. The board of directors thank him for his dedicated service, in particular during his many years as chairman of the audit committee. It proposes that the annual general meeting elect Stefan Scheiber as a new board member. Further resolutions proposed can be found in the invitation to the annual general meeting, which will be sent out to shareholders on 11 March 2022. Shareholders registered in the company's share register with voting rights on 6 April 2022 will be entitled to vote at the annual general meeting. From 7 to 12 April 2022 the share register will be closed for entries. Shares purchased on or after 14 April 2022 are not entitled to a dividend. The dividend will be paid on 20 April 2022. The annual report for 2021 will be available for download from 2 March 2022, and the invitation to the annual general meeting from 11 March 2022, at bucherindustries.com. A printed version of the annual report 2021 will be available from 2 March 2022.

The annual report, the presentation for the annual press and analysts' conference and the investor relations handout for the financial year 2021 (English) are available at bucherindustries.com under 'Media dossiers'.

Contact for investors and financial analysts Manuela Suter, CFO T +41 58 750 15 50 ir@bucherindustries.com

Contact for media Silvia Oppliger, Head of Group Communications T +41 58 750 15 40 media@bucherindustries.com

_________

Simply great machines Bucher Industries is a global technology group with leading market positions in speciality areas of mechanical and vehicle engineering. The company's operations include specialised agricultural machinery, municipal vehicles, hydraulic components, manufacturing equipment for the glass container industry and for wine and fruit juice production, as well as automation technology. The company's shares are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (SIX: BUCN). Further information is available at bucherindustries.com.

Additional performance measures: Internally and externally Bucher Industries uses key figures that are not defined by Swiss GAAP FER. The composition and calculation of the individual performance measures are set out here: bucherindustries.com/en/additional-performance-measures.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

End of ad hoc announcement

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BENTONVILLE (dpa-AFX) - Walmart Inc. (WMT) announced Thursday new low-price fee to send money to Mexico through its Walmart2Walmart money transfer program. Customers can now send money from any Walmart store in the U.S. to any Walmart store in Mexico for as little as $2.50 per transaction, at least 50% lower than similar offerings on the market. The company said it aims to provide more inclusive and affordable financial solutions for all customers, including unbanked or underbanked households that rely on services like wire transfers for everyday money management. The original Walmart2Walmart money transfer service between the U.S. and Mexico was launched in 2016, but the service was paused in 2018. Walmart noted that with remittances to Mexico up over 27% in 2021, the relaunch of Walmart2Walmart Mexico is timely, enabling customers to use Walmart's large network of stores to send money quickly and inexpensively. Juan Bianchi, CEO of Euronet's Money Transfer Segment, said, 'We are delighted to collaborate with Walmart on this exceptional service, which provides customers price benefits and easier access to fast, safe and guaranteed money transfers to Mexico.' Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Regulatory News:

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AD HOC ANNOUNCEMENT PURSUANT TO ART. 53 LR

CSL Behring AG, Berne, Switzerland, a wholly-owned subsidiary of global biotechnology leader CSL Limited (ASX: CSL; USOTC: CSLLY), today announced the provisional notice of the interim result of its public tender offer to acquire all publicly held shares of Vifor Pharma Ltd. (SIX:VIFN; ISIN:CH0364749348) for USD 179.25 per share as indicated in the offer prospectus of 18 January 2022.

According to the provisional interim result, taking into account the Vifor Pharma shares held by the offeror and the persons acting in concert with the offeror at the end of the main offer period and the Vifor Pharma shares tendered during the main offer period, CSL's participation at the end of the main offer period on 2 March 2022 amounts to a total of 74 percent of all listed Vifor Pharma shares as of 2 March 2022, subject to the completion of the offer. CSL highly appreciates this strong support of the combination with CSL by the Vifor Pharma shareholders. If the definitive numbers will be substantially the same as or higher than the preliminary numbers, the offeror plans to waive the 80 percent acceptance rate condition and to declare the offer successful in the definitive notice of the interim result, which is expected to be published on March 8, 2022.

The provisional notice of the interim result is available at www.csltransaction.com.

If the offer is declared successful by the offeror in the definitive notice of the interim result, the additional acceptance period of 10 trading days for the subsequent acceptance of the tender offer is expected to commence on 9 March 2022 and to expire on 22 March 2022, 4 p.m. Swiss time.

The regulatory approval process in relation to the offer is on track and CSL is highly confident that the remaining conditions will be satisfied such that the settlement of the offer may occur around mid-2022 as previously indicated. As described in the offer prospectus, following closing, CSL plans to pursue an application to SIX Exchange Regulation for the delisting of the Vifor shares.

About Vifor Pharma Group

Vifor Pharma Group is a global pharmaceuticals company. It aims to become the global leader in iron deficiency and nephrology. The company is a partner of choice for pharmaceuticals and innovative patient-focused solutions across iron, dialysis, nephrology and rare conditions. Vifor Pharma Group strives to help patients around the world with severe, chronic and rare diseases lead better, healthier lives. It specializes in strategic global partnering, in-licensing and developing, manufacturing and marketing pharmaceutical products for precision patient care. Vifor Pharma Group holds a leading position in all its core business activities and includes the companies: Vifor Pharma, Sanifit Therapeutics, and Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma (a joint company with Fresenius Medical Care). Vifor Pharma Group is headquartered in Switzerland and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX Swiss Exchange, VIFN, ISIN: CH0364749348). For more information, please visit viforpharma.com

About CSL

CSL (ASX: CSL; USOTC: CSLLY) is a leading global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of life-saving medicines, including those that treat hemophilia and immune deficiencies, as well as vaccines to prevent influenza. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise to save lives using the latest technologies. Today, CSL including our two businesses, CSL Behring and Seqirus- provides life-saving products to more than 100 countries and employs more than 25,000 people. Our unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so our patients can live life to the fullest. For more information visit csl.com.

Legal Disclaimers

Important Additional Information

This release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute, or form part of, any offer or invitation to purchase, sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to sell, purchase or subscribe for any registered shares or other equity securities in Vifor Pharma Ltd., nor shall it form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefor. This release is not part of the offer documentation relating to the tender offer. Terms and conditions of the tender offer have been published in CSL's offer prospectus regarding the tender offer. Shareholders of Vifor Pharma Ltd. are urged to read the tender offer documents, including the offer prospectus, which are or will be available at www.CSLtransaction.com.

Certain Offer Restrictions

The tender offer is not made, directly or indirectly, in any country or jurisdiction in which it would be considered unlawful or otherwise violate any applicable laws or regulations, or which would require CSL or any of its subsidiaries to change or amend the terms or conditions of the tender offer in any material way, to make an additional filing with any governmental, regulatory or other authority or take additional action in relation to the tender offer. It is not intended to extend the tender offer to any such country or jurisdiction. Any documents relating to the tender offer must neither be distributed in any such country or jurisdiction nor be sent into such country or jurisdiction, and must not be used for the purpose of soliciting the sale or purchase of securities of Vifor Pharma Ltd. by any person or entity resident or incorporated in any such country or jurisdiction.

The tender offer is made in the United States pursuant to Section 14(e) of, and Regulation 14E under, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "U.S. Exchange Act"), subject to the applicable exemptions provided by Rule 14d-1 under the U.S. Exchange Act and Rule 14e-5(b) under the U.S. Exchange Act and any exemptions that may be granted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and otherwise in accordance with the requirements of Swiss law. Accordingly, the tender offer is subject to disclosure and other procedural requirements, including with respect to withdrawal rights, settlement procedures and timing of payments that are different from those applicable under U.S. domestic tender offer procedures and laws. Neither the SEC nor any securities commission of any State of the United States has (a) approved or dis-approved of the tender offer; (b) passed upon the merits or fairness of the tender offer; or (c) passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of the disclosure in the offer prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offence in the United States.

The communication is not being made by, and has not been approved by, an "authorised person" for the purposes of Section 21 of the U.K. Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

Reference is made to the offer prospectus for full offer restrictions.

Other Important Additional Information

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement may contain statements that constitute forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "estimate", "aim", "project", "forecast", "estimate", "risk", "likely", "intend", "outlook", "should", "could", "would", "may", "will", "continue", "plan", "probability", "indicative", "seek", "target", "plan" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Any such statements, opinions and estimates in this announcement speak only as of the date hereof and are based on assumptions and contingencies subject to change without notice, as are statements about market and industry trends, projections, guidance and estimates. Forward-looking statements are provided as a general guide only. The forward-looking statements in this announcement are not indications, guarantees or predictions of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of CSL, its officers, employees, agents and advisors, and may involve significant elements of subjective judgement and assumptions as to future events which may or may not be correct, and may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. You are strongly cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

This announcement is not financial product or investment advice, a recommendation to acquire or sell securities or accounting, legal or tax advice. It does not constitute an invitation or offer to apply for securities. It has been prepared without taking into account the objectives, financial or tax situation or needs of individuals. Before making an investment decision, prospective investors should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to their own objectives, financial and tax situation and needs and seek legal and taxation advice appropriate for their jurisdiction. CSL is not licensed to provide financial product advice in respect of an investment in securities.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220302006217/en/

Contacts:

Media Relations

Nathalie Ponnier

Global Head Corporate Communications

+41 79 957 96 73

media@viforpharma.com

Investor Relations

Laurent de Weck

Investor Relations Treasury Senior Manager

+41 58 851 80 95

investors@viforpharma.com

CSL

Australia Asia Pacific

Jemimah Brennan

P: +61 412 635 483

E: Jemimah.Brennan@csl.com.au

United States Rest of World

Tom Hushen

P: 267-769-6728

E: Thomas.Hushen@cslbehring.com

Switzerland Europe

Martin Meier-Pfister (IRF)

P: 41 432 448 140

E: meier-pfister@irf-reputation.ch
Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

Allschwil, Switzerland - March 3, 2022

Idorsia Ltd (SIX: IDIA) today issued the formal Notice to the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Shareholders on behalf of the Board of Directors. The meeting to approve the Annual Report of the year ending December 31, 2021, will be held on Thursday, April 14, 2022.

The meeting will be held at the principal office of the company at Hegenheimermattweg 91, CH-4123 Allschwil. However, in accordance with the requirements of the COVID 19 Ordinance 3 issued by the Swiss Federal Council, attendance of shareholders in person will not be possible and voting will take place by independent proxy only.

Mathieu Simon, Chairman of the Board of Directors commented:

"Once again, I am impressed by what has been accomplished at Idorsia in 2021. We have continued to pursue and to deliver on the strategic priorities that were set at the beginning of Idorsia's journey. As you have certainly noticed, 2022 has started with great news for Idorsia. Over the course of two weeks in January, we received our first two product approvals: QUVIVIQ in the US and PIVLAZ in Japan. This has brought us to the point where we are now just weeks away from launching our first products in two of the world's largest pharmaceutical markets. With these product launches and more study results expected in 2022, another exciting year is in prospect - a transformative year, in which Idorsia becomes a fully fledged biopharmaceutical company."

Notes to Shareholders

The Notice will be published in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce (Schweizerisches Handelsamtsblatt) in the coming days and distributed to Shareholders by post on March 18, 2022. It is also available, together with the Company's Annual Report and Compensation Report, on www.idorsia.com/agm (http://www.idorsia.com/agm).

Shares only qualify for voting through the independent proxy if registered in the company's shareholder register by April 5, 2022, at the latest. Registered shareholders will receive a form to appoint the Independent Proxy. Forms must be received by April 11, 2022, please allow appropriate time for delivery.

Notes to the editor

Letter from the Chairman

Dear Shareholders,

When we were last looking forward to Idorsia's Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, we were still caught in the grip of the pandemic. Thanks to global research efforts and constant innovation, vaccines have been made widely available in record time, and life is now returning to some semblance of normality. However, in view of the precarious pandemic situation and the continued risk to vulnerable populations, we will once again be holding the meeting in accordance with the requirements of the COVID-19 Ordinance 3, issued by the Swiss Federal Council. This means that attendance in person will not be possible, and voting will take place by independent proxy.

While it is disappointing not to be able to invite you to hear about the progress your company is making, the past few years have shown that it is possible to adequately cover the agenda items without physically bringing people together. Since we are always looking for more efficient ways to conduct our activities, the Board will be evaluating how the meeting should be run in a post-pandemic era.

Let me now take this opportunity to give you an overview of our progress and provide some context on the Board's proposals, which you are invited to vote on either by postal vote or via the electronic voting platform.

Once again, I am impressed by what has been accomplished at Idorsia in 2021. We have continued to pursue and to deliver on the strategic priorities that were set at the beginning of Idorsia's journey. This has brought us to the point where we are now just weeks away from launching our first products in two of the world's largest pharmaceutical markets.

A full description of last year's achievements and where your company stands at the beginning of 2022 is given in the recently published Annual Report 2021, available at: www.idorsia.com/annual-report (http://www.idorsia.com/annual-report). In the report, you will recognize two main themes aligned with Idorsia's strategic priorities - delivering innovations from bench to bedside and scaling up to achieve this on a global scale. With the recent US approval of QUVIVIQ (daridorexant) and the anticipated EU approval, as well as the approval of PIVLAZ (clazosentan) in Japan, Idorsia is on the cusp of bringing its innovations to patients, becoming a fully fledged biopharmaceutical company, and putting sustainable profitability within reach.

As recently announced, we are confident that we will become profitable in 2025, with annual sales exceeding CHF 1 billion. While we are not yet funded to break-even, we have the full range of financing options available to us - notably through royalty monetization and partnership deals involving our diverse pipeline of unencumbered assets. Even though we are prioritizing non-dilutive instruments, we must remain financially and strategically flexible.

To maximize the impact of our innovation, we must attract, develop and retain the best talent in a highly competitive job market. Idorsia's Long-Term Incentive Plan currently involves grants of stock options and restricted stock units, which are cash-preserving and focused on long-term value creation, thus ensuring close alignment with shareholder interests. To this end, we are asking you to approve an increase of conditional share capital to cover our long-term incentive plan with regard to stock-based compensation for eligible employees, as well as to fully cover conversion rights or options in relation to convertible debt instruments, bonds, loans and similar forms of financing.

Over the past year, the Board has worked very closely with the management team to ensure excellent execution across Idorsia and the successful introduction of our products. In this period, I am pleased to have the continuity of oversight provided by a stable board standing for re-election. We would be very proud if you placed your trust in us again, and we look forward to continuing to lead Idorsia on its exciting journey.

All the other items on the agenda are relatively straightforward, with explanations given with the proposal or in the Appendix, and I encourage you to exercise your voting rights through the proxy vote.

With product launches and more study results expected in 2022, another exciting year is in prospect - a transformative year, in which Idorsia becomes a fully fledged biopharmaceutical company. Stay tuned and be prepared for more!

I send you my best wishes for 2022.

Best regards,

Mathieu Simon

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Agenda for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders 2022

1. Annual Report 2021, Consolidated Financial Statements 2021, Statutory Financial Statements 2021 and Compensation Report 2021

1.1. Approval of Annual Report 2021, Consolidated Financial Statements 2021 and Statutory Financial Statements 2021

1.2. Consultative vote on the Compensation Report 2021

2. Appropriation of available earnings

3. Discharge of the Board of Directors and of the Executive Committee

4. Increase of conditional share capital

5. Board elections

5.1. Re-election of members of the Board of Directors

5.2. Re-election of the Chair of the Board of Directors

5.3. Re-election of members of the Compensation Committee

6. Approval of Board compensation and Executive Committee compensation

6.1. Approval of Board compensation (Non-Executive Directors) for the 2022-2023 term of office

6.2. Approval of Executive Committee compensation 2023

7. Election of the Independent Proxy

8. Election of the statutory auditors





About Idorsia

Idorsia Ltd is reaching out for more - We have more ideas, we see more opportunities and we want to help more patients. In order to achieve this, we will develop Idorsia into a leading biopharmaceutical company, with a strong scientific core.

Headquartered near Basel, Switzerland - a European biotech-hub - Idorsia is specialized in the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecules to transform the horizon of therapeutic options. Idorsia has a broad portfolio of innovative drugs in the pipeline, an experienced team of professionals covering all disciplines from bench to bedside, state-of-the-art facilities, and a strong balance sheet - the ideal constellation to translate R&D efforts into business success.

Idorsia was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol: IDIA) in June 2017 and has over 1,200 highly qualified specialists dedicated to realizing our ambitious targets.

For further information, please contact

Andrew C. Weiss

Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Hegenheimermattweg 91, CH-4123 Allschwil

+41 58 844 10 10

investor.relations@idorsia.com (mailto:investor.relations@idorsia.com)

media.relations@idorsia.com (mailto:media.relations@idorsia.com)

www.idorsia.com (http://www.idorsia.com)

The above information contains certain "forward-looking statements", relating to the company's business, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "estimates", "believes", "expects", "may", "are expected to", "will", "will continue", "should", "would be", "seeks", "pending" or "anticipates" or similar expressions, or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. Such statements include descriptions of the company's investment and research and development programs and anticipated expenditures in connection therewith, descriptions of new products expected to be introduced by the company and anticipated customer demand for such products and products in the company's existing portfolio. Such statements reflect the current views of the company with respect to future events and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

Attachment
A data leak has revealed that the major Swiss bank, Credit Suisse, has been managing the assets of global oligarchs, corrupt politicians and drug barons for decades. Clients included the sons of former Egyptian tyrant Hosni Mubarak, ousted Algerian dictator Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and Eduard Seidel of the Siemens scandal, the biggest German corruption affair in recent years.

Many accounts belong to former and current officials from the Arab world, who, according to the whistleblower, extracted large sums of money from their countries at the time of the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring. Some accounts also belonged to people accused of hollowing out the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA through corruption and money laundering.

The revelations, called Suisse Secrets, are particularly significant because the data leak of 30,000 accounts only covers a fraction of Credit Suisse's 1.5 million accounts. This leak alone, however, includes clients from over 160 different nationalities. This clearly shows that the rich and powerful around the world use every means at their disposal to accumulate money, avoid taxes and maximise their profits.

Credit Suisse, the second-largest Swiss bank after UBS, is a global player in the financial sector. It is the 41st largest bank in the world and ranks fifth among the asset-managing banks. The reaction of stock markets illustrated the danger posed by this scandal for the entire Swiss banking sector. Shares of Swiss banks fell far further than other European financial institutions that have been affected by the Ukraine crisis.

In Switzerland, the so-called Censorship Act is also making waves. The law was drafted in 2014, shortly before Swiss banking secrecy was brought to an end. It states, among other things, that journalists can be prosecuted, and face prison sentences of up to three years, if they publish data about any individual that they are sent in violation of banking secrecy. As such, the Suisse Secrets leaks were published by a network of journalists from over 40 countries but without Swiss participation. This has exposed for all to see that parliament and the bourgeois state are defenders of the criminal interests of the bankers.

In the same week as the Suisse Secrets were released, Putin marched his troops into Ukraine. Switzerland was under pressure to support the EUs sanctions against Putin's regime. But in the first week of the invasion, the Swiss government invoked Swiss neutrality and desperately attempted to find a loophole.

Russian oligarchs should have no problem using their bank accounts in Switzerland. About 80 percent of the Russian trade in raw materials is conducted via the Swiss financial centres of Geneva, Zug, Lugano and Zurich. The Swiss capitalists have also been doing business with the USA, the EU and Ukraine, where they of course benefited from the favourable business climate under the reactionary Maidan government since 2014.

Indeed, Switzerland has become the fourth-largest investor in Ukraine in recent years. This is the real meaning of neutrality: Swiss imperialism balances between the big blocs to maximise its wealth as far as possible.

One rotten apple?

It is absolutely clear that Credit Suisse is not just one bad apple in the financial business. All major Swiss banks have been linked to illegal activities in recent months and years: whether tax evasion by big French capitalists (UBS), or a worldwide network of money laundering (HSBC), banks in Switzerland have a dirty finger in every pie.

The Suisse Secrets are only the latest in a series of major corruption and money laundering revelations in recent years, which include the Panama Papers, the Swiss Leaks and the Pandora Papers. In the end, all these scandals merely go to prove what we all know: that the global 1 percent dodge taxes and cheat the rest of the world.

The Suisse Secrets are only the latest in a series of major corruption and money laundering revelations in recent years, which include the Panama Papers, the Swiss Leaks and the Pandora Papers / Image: Public Domain

The Suisse Secrets reveal nothing other than the extreme parasitic character of the Swiss banking centre and of Swiss imperialism in general. This has historically been facilitated by Swiss banking secrecy - the ban on disclosing bank client data - which was enshrined in law in 1934 and only formally ended in recent years.

The aim was to strengthen Swiss banks in their main discipline of asset management. Switzerland had a law for almost a century that was deliberately designed to allow Swiss banks to engage in money laundering and tax evasion for the criminals of the entire world. This clearly shows the role of the capitalist state in Switzerland as the guardian of the banking centre. The state is not a neutral entity but is linked by a thousand threads to the capitalist class.

Today, the Swiss banking centre is in a deep crisis. In the last decade, bankings share of Swiss GDP has fallen from 13 percent to 8.5 percent. The profits as well as the share prices of the two big banks UBS and Credit Suisse have also plummeted massively since 2008.

The financial crisis of 2008 was a near-death experience for the Swiss banks. UBS had to be rescued by the Swiss state with 60 billion Swiss francs. Among other things, the financial crisis exposed the fact that the big Swiss banks did not limit themselves to asset management, but since the 1990s had ventured deep into risky investment banking. In doing so, they had made powerful enemies; after all, this is the territory of the big US banks.

The US banking sector brutally capitalised on the weakness of the Swiss banking centre after the 2008 crisis. The USA threatened the devastated UBS with criminal charges for aiding and abetting tax evasion. This attack on the Swiss banking centre was part of the global campaign of the great powers (above all the USA and the EU) against tax havens since the 1990s, not for moral but purely competitive reasons. Swiss banking secrecy, and thus the heart of the banking centre, was attacked head-on.

The Swiss government fought tooth and nail to preserve banking secrecy. But in the end Switzerland had to admit defeat to the great powers. The Swiss banks were forced to pay gigantic fines and to hand over thousands of clients data. By the end of 2009, UBS had lost 30 percent of its assets under management.

In 2014, Switzerland finally joined the OECD's declaration on the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) in tax matters. The AEOI came into force in 2017. Since then, Swiss banks have had to collect financial information on their clients and, if necessary, transmit it to the tax authorities of certain countries.

But the formal end of banking secrecy does not mean that corruption, money laundering and tax evasion are over. On the contrary, since Swiss banks are now at the mercy of international competition, they are forced to take ever-greater risks.

This includes focusing on emerging markets in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. These countries have major wealth and income inequality. These large and new assets are profitable, but the clients are riskier: political scandals and money laundering are becoming more of a problem. A particularly large number of clients from the Credit Suisse data leak come from emerging markets. While populations are often subjected to catastrophic living conditions, Swiss banks help local elites drain money from the country.

The AEOI agreement does indeed pose a certain difficulty. But at the same time, numerous ways exist to circumvent the exchange of information. There is no AEOI agreement with over 90 countries worldwide. Suisse Secrets has now uncovered that, for example, clients are being issued residence confirmations from countries without an AEOI agreement. Or the Swiss banks operate through one of their branches in the corresponding countries. Credit Suisse, for example, has branches in more than 50 countries without disclosing which ones. And these are just a few of the many loopholes in the AEOI.

The Suisse Secrets clearly prove that criminal schemes are still an integral part of the Swiss banking centre today.

The decline of the Swiss banking centre

With the formal fall of banking secrecy, the Swiss banks lost their position of near-monopoly in asset management. International competition intensified massively. Today, Swiss banks have to manage 20 percent more assets to make the same profit as they did before 2008.

We are seeing the decline of the Swiss banking centre on every front. Since 2009, the number of foreign banks in Switzerland has dropped from 123 to 71. In the same period, the sector lost almost 20 percent of its employees.

A third of Swiss private banks are likely to exit the market in the coming years / Image: Romy Biner Hauser, Wikimedia Commons

According to the main Swiss bourgeois newspaper NZZ, a third of Swiss private banks are likely to exit the market in the coming years. Bernhard Brauhofer, leading expert on corporate reputation, sums it up well: You can simply see that security and all that Switzerland stands for has really been lost. Investors and savers are not only noticing this in Switzerland, but also in other countries.

Credit Suisse is in particularly dire straits. While the two big Swiss banks were roughly equal for a long time, UBSs profits are now more than double those of Credit Suisse.

In the last few months, one shock followed another. Last March, $5 billion (a half-year's profit) were lost on the overly-risky Archegos deal. In October, there came a $500 million fine for involvement in the Mozambique administration corruption scandal. In December, there were charges of money laundering with Bulgarian drug traffickers. In January 2022, the Chairman of the Board of Directors Horta-Osorio resigned after only eight months, after it became known that he had violated quarantine regulations twice. At the beginning of February, the bank slid into the red, and dividends were cut to 10 centimes. And now, we have this devastating data leak.

In the Suisse Secrets leak, a crack has emerged in the declining Swiss banking centre at its weakest link.

Swiss capitalism at a dead end

Switzerland has historically been one of the most stable capitalist countries. But the material basis of this stability is decaying massively. In the global crisis of capitalism, international competition is clearly heating up.

The niches for Swiss capital are becoming smaller and smaller, cherry-picking from the world markets is becoming less and less possible. The abolition of banking secrecy is part of this. But it applies to all the cornerstones of Swiss capitalism.

What seemed to be eternal Swiss stability is coming to an end  a clear sign of the depth of the world capitalist systems general crisis / Image: der Funke

Switzerland's tax advantages are under international fire, most recently from the OECD's tax reform. Fewer and fewer large corporations are settling in Switzerland. Relations with all-important economic partners are in crisis, as can be seen in failed negotiations on the framework agreement with the EU. As a result, at least two-thirds of trade on industrial products could face major problems in the next few years.

Swiss capitalism is in relative decline. In 1970, Switzerland's per capita economic output was 110 percent higher than the OECD average and today it is only 57 percent higher. Labour productivity in Switzerland has been growing more slowly than most OECD countries since 1990, a whopping 22 percent less than in Sweden, for example. At the same time, living conditions in Switzerland have been stagnating for 25 years.

The Swiss bourgeoisie is largely at the mercy of the international situation. It can hardly assert its own interests in the increasing tensions between the big blocs. Therefore, the ruling class is increasingly attacking the working class. The Swiss capitalists urgently need reforms to improve their conditions of profit, at least within their own national borders. Many hard attacks are already being prepared: on pensions, via the tax system, working hours and social benefits.

In the end, this will only provoke the resistance of the working class. What seemed to be eternal Swiss stability is coming to an end. This is a clear sign of the depth of the world capitalist systems general crisis.

Hypocrisy and rot exposed

The Suisse Secrets have exposed the tremendous hypocrisy of the ruling class. As with the Panama Papers, they claim that no laws have been broken. Or they try to sell corruption and money laundering as a necessary evil. In the words of the NZZ: Criminal money always seeks the path of least resistance. It will never be completely avoidable that money of criminal origin also finds its way to the Swiss financial centre.

From a capitalist point of view, they are right. But in the eyes of the masses, the Suisse Secrets are simply revolting. It is clear that, as with the Panama Papers, the ruling class will once again get away unpunished. But the resulting radicalisation will sooner or later backfire on the elite.

The duty of Marxists in Switzerland is to fight the regime of the bankers and bosses / Image: der Funke

Under capitalism, the working class creates all the wealth in society. But the capitalists concentrate it in a few hands and stash it in their private bank accounts. At the same time, they tell us that there is not enough money for healthcare or education.

In this respect, the Suisse Secrets expose the character of the capitalist state. Banking secrecy was explicitly a law for the criminally rich and the bankers. Despite politicians talking about regulating the financial market, in reality the state acts as an organ for the interests of the bourgeoisie as a whole.

The Swiss social democracy is now demanding the abolition of the Censorship Act. Of course, this law is harmful to the working class. But to raise this as the only demand flowing from the Suisse Secrets scandal fuels the illusion that the bourgeois state can be depended on to clean up the finance sector. The reformist demand to tax the rich is also woefully insufficient. The capitalists will always find ways to pay as little tax on their ill-gotten wealth as possible, fair or foul.

The duty of Marxists in Switzerland is to fight the regime of the bankers and bosses. First and foremost, we must name and expose the parasitic nature of the Swiss banks: they are the asset managers for corrupt regimes around the world. They plunder the fruits of the labour of the international working class.

Beyond that, we Marxists in Switzerland can set ourselves no lesser aim than the expropriation of the banks, the return of the money to the working populations all over the world and the democratic planning of societys wealth under workers control.
BEIJING, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakthrough India's Pan-Asia Summit 'Reframe' kick-started today with an insightful discussion on what it will entail to end Gender-Based Violence in the next 10 years. The 3-day Pan-Asia summit 'Reframe' has brought together non-profit organizations, industry experts, thought leaders and media to discuss ways to create a future without Gender-based Violence.

Sohini Bhattacharya, in her welcome address, said, "The aim of this regional summit is to co-create a future agenda in the Asian context, including setting priorities, sharing of strategies for achieving and measuring progress on preventing Gender-Based Violence and Discrimination. Leveraging the opportunity provided to us with the launch of Generation Equality Forum, in 2020, advancing a shared agenda on Gender-based Violence specifically for Asia is important in the current context".

The surge of violence has disproportionately affected those who were already most likely to experience GBV - those facing intersecting and compounding oppressions on the basis of gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation and other characteristics. Adolescent girls, in particular, have faced a range of issues that are likely to increase their risk of facing GBV across their lifetimes.

Wangshu Lian, an LGBTI activist with Common Language and Chinese Lala Alliance, said, "Building agency and leadership are two critical components at the heart of combatting Gender-Based Violence. Feminist civil society organizations supporting marginalized communities should be empowered with agency and technical know-how to tackle Gender-Based Violence. Additionally, funding needs to be prioritized for these organizations to drive social change."

An Oxfam International analysis in 70 countries over 40 years has found that the most vital and consistent factor driving policy change has been feminist activism. Feminist movements and organizations have changed the way we think about GBV, drawing attention to the issue and stirring hearts and minds globally, while also deepening our understanding of its root causes and the interventions that are most effective in addressing it.

World Health Organization's (WHO) regional estimates suggest that South Asia and South-East Asia regions have the highest rate of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the world, at 43 percent and 33 percent respectively. Four South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal in order of prevalence) feature among the top fifteen countries with the highest national prevalence of physical intimate partner violence as reported by the Demographic and Health Surveys.
BARCELONA, Spain, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- During the Huawei Full-Stack Data Center Forum at MWC Barcelona 2022, Huawei proposed the vision of "Flash-to-Flash-to-Anything (F2F2X)", and advocated use all flash storage to accelerate all-scenario. At the same time, Huawei revealed three flagship storage products: OceanStor Dorado All-Flash Storage, OceanProtect Backup Storage, and OceanStor Pacific Storage for Huawei Full-Stack Data Center solution.

The rise of 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications has caused data to surge in the finance, government, and manufacturing industries. As a result, storage systems face higher requirements than ever before. Traditional systems cannot provide the service and operating expense (OPEX) performance needed to keep IT systems online at all times and in all conditions. Consequently, all-flash storage has become a popular choice to boost production efficiency across industries, especially for transactions, analytics, high-performance file sharing, development and testing, disaster recovery and backup, and high-performance computing. Solid-state drives (SSDs) are rapidly replacing hard disk drives (HDDs) to deliver higher data performance and better data protection in all scenarios.

Huawei revealed three flagship storage product series and solutions for the Full-Stack Data Center Solution:

The OceanStor Dorado All-Flash Storage series is famous for its robust reliability and high performance, and it has been widely adopted in various industries for core production applications. The new OceanStor Dorado systems launched at MWC feature brand new network attached storage (NAS) features together with many other security features, such as quota, Quality of Service (QoS), and ransomware protection. Together, they help ensure safe cross-department file sharing. The new Dorado systems also adopt a unique cross-cluster global distributed file system architecture and a leading FlashLink architecture to deliver 30% higher performance than industry peers. Furthermore, the OceanStor Dorado series simultaneously supports active-active storage for storage area network (SAN) and NAS to ensure that services run 24/7. Dorado arrays are particularly suitable for semiconductor electric design automation (EDA), product research and development (R&D), and financial data exchange scenarios, serving as efficient and reliable infrastructure for applications with over a trillion small files. The OceanProtect Backup Storage series features a multi-stream engine for end-to-end acceleration and an active-active architecture for high reliability. With groundbreaking inline variable-length deduplication and feature-based compression algorithms, it provides three times higher data backup speed and five times higher data recovery speed than competing products as well as a high data reduction ratio of 72:1. In addition, it provides an all-round ransomware protection solution to help users protect data against attacks. The OceanStor Pacific Mass Data Storage series breaks the boundaries of performance, protocol, and capacity for high-performance data analytics (HPDA) applications. It is the only storage series in the industry to support hybrid loads, meaning that one OceanStor Pacific system can be used for HPDA, big data, video, backup, and archiving applications at the same time. New OceanStor Pacific systems further improve storage utilization by 30% in HPDA scenarios through algorithm optimization and data compression techniques. In addition, supporting near-real-time big data processing, they slash the time for analyzing 100 billion data sets from days to only minutes, significantly accelerating application development.

For more information about Huawei OceanStor Storage, please visit https://e.huawei.com/en/products/storage

MWC Barcelona 2022 runs from February 28 to March 3 in Barcelona, Spain. Huawei Enterprise's exhibition booth is located at 1H50 in Hall 1 of Fira Gran Via. For more details about digital transformation of industries, please visit: Huawei Enterprise at MWC 2022 | New Value Together

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1758729/Huawei_Storage_Reveals_Three_Flagship_Products.jpg
Paris, March 3rd, 2022

AgroGeneration, a Ukraine based grain and oilseed producer, considering the political situation in Ukraine and its impact on the work of its teams, suffered of difficulties, among others, to finish its work on the consolidation of the financial statements of each of its subsidiaries for the year end 2021.



At this stage, AgroGeneration will probably not be able to meet the forecasted deadline for the Group's 2021 financial accounts publication (30 April 2022). Subject to the positive evolution of the political situation in the coming weeks, the group will make its best efforts to publish its financial statement end-May. The convening of the shareholders general meeting to review and approve such financial statements will also probably be postponed.

The group will keep the market informed on further significant changes in its activity.



About AGROGENERATION

Founded in 2007, AgroGeneration is a large-scale producer of grain and oilseed. Following its merger with Harmelia, AgroGeneration today is ranked amongst some of the largest agricultural firms in Ukraine. The company's core business is grains and oil commodity crop farming, operating near 60,000 hectares of high quality agricultural lands in the East of Ukraine.

All information on AgroGeneration's website: www.AgroGeneration.com

Receive all AgroGeneration's financial information by e-mail for free by registering at: www.actusnews.com





AgroGeneration

+33 1 55 27 38 40

investisseurs@AgroGeneration.com

www.AgroGeneration.com



Actus Finance

Anne-Pauline Petureaux, Investor Relations

+33 (0)1 53 67 36 72

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AMSTERDAM, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Valtech, a global business transformation agency, today announced the acquisition of B2B digital consultancy, Evident.

Digital now touches every part of a B2B business, and with an industry facing more complexity than at any other time, companies are rightly investing in their digital experience. They are seeking digital solutions to drive smarter, faster, and more intuitive interactions.

Already positioned as a leader in the commerce and B2B sectors, in welcoming Evident, Valtech is now set to become a true B2B digital powerhouse.?

"Evident and Valtech's businesses are fully complementary, from a business and technology perspective. We are delighted to welcome the talented Evident teams to Valtech, with whom we have found mutual values and culture. Partnering with Evident and Valtech's clients, we will continue to be a leading strategic transformation partner, accelerating growth for B2B companies across the region and beyond."

David Gompel, EVP Europe, Valtech

The Netherlands- and Portugal-based digital consultancy Evident brings over two decades of experience delivering transformative solutions for B2B clients including Atlas Copco, Vanderlande, Aalberts Industries, NCOI and Mazars. Valtech is already recognized as a strategic digital partner for leading B2B companies including Linde, Henkel, Grundfos and Wavin. Strengthening forces with Evident elevates Valtech's B2B presence across the European region and globally.?

'I am really looking forward to the opportunity to grow our international business even faster in the B2B market, within the context of Valtech. The timing of us getting together couldn't have been better, given the growth momentum in the B2B market.'

Ferry Meijndert, CEO, Evident

Evident's deep relationships with Microsoft Azure and Intershop both broaden and deepen the scope of technology partnerships Valtech can offer their clients, which already include SAP Hybris, commercetools, VTEX, Optimizely and Salesforce, among others. Listed as one of the most significant commerce services providers by leading analysts, the addition of these B2B specialists is also set to supercharge Valtech's already impressive global commerce footprint.?

'The cultural match between our two companies feels great from the start. The entrepreneurial 'can-do' mentality combined with an open and warm culture is a great fit. And personally, I am very much looking forward to another shared tradition, that is to celebrate successes together with our clients.'

Herbert Pesch, Founder and CCO of Evident

ABOUT VALTECH

Valtech is a global business transformation agency delivering innovation with a purpose. We enable clients to anticipate tomorrow's trends and connect more directly with consumers across their digital and physical touch points while optimizing time-to-market and ROI.

We are a network of more than 4,700 innovators, design thinkers, marketers, creatives, and developers spanning 5 continents with offices in 19 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, UK, Ukraine, USA).

While our expertise is experience design, technology and marketing, our passion is in addressing transformational business challenges for our clients. Challenges where we re-imagine the customer journey and build new connected experiences. Challenges where we make data work in this new era and help our clients transform the way they operate.

Our services including strategy consulting, service design, technology services, and optimization of business-critical digital platforms for multichannel commerce and marketing.

For more information, visit VALTECH.COM

CONTACT:

Rebecca Pilkjaer

European PR & Communication Manager

+45 40 22 93 75

rebecca.pilkjaer@valtech.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/valtech/r/evident-joins-valtech--creating-a-b2b-digital-powerhouse-in-europe,c3517818

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Aqara, a leading provider of smart home products, announced the wide availability of its Camera Hub G2H Pro, an updated version of the popular Aqara Camera Hub G2H. Compared to the predecessor, the G2H Pro features wider compatibility with third-party ecosystems, more storage options and added functionalities such as privacy masking, custom ringtone, and timelapse clip generation. The camera has been available on Amazon in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and France, and is also expected to be sold by authorized Aqara retailers in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania in the following months*.

The G2H Pro inherits and improves many premium features from its predecessor, such as the Zigbee 3.0 hub function with an upgraded support of up to 128 Aqara accessories, and the slightly wider viewing angle of 146 (diagonal) due to the absent distortion correction. Key improvements of the new camera also include:

Fuller HomeKit support : apart from HomeKit Secure Video** and HomeKit-enabled 2-way audio, the G2H Pro supports all 4 modes of the HomeKit Security System which automatically syncs with the Alert System on the Aqara Home app;

: apart from HomeKit Secure Video** and HomeKit-enabled 2-way audio, the G2H Pro supports all 4 modes of the HomeKit Security System which automatically syncs with the Alert System on the Aqara Home app; Wider compatibility : apart from HomeKit, the G2H Pro is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, including streaming to Amazon and Google smart displays;

: apart from HomeKit, the G2H Pro is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home, including streaming to Amazon and Google smart displays; More storage options : for local storage users can use a micorSD card with an increased maximum capacity of 512 GB, or opt for the Samba NAS storage with the SMB 1.0-compatible software***;

: for local storage users can use a micorSD card with an increased maximum capacity of 512 GB, or opt for the Samba NAS storage with the SMB 1.0-compatible software***; Activity zones and privacy masking : on the Aqara Home app users can configure not only activity zones to reduce unnecessary alerts, but also local privacy masking zones to block certain parts of the image to be recorded or sent to Aqara or third-party ecosystems including HomeKit, Alexa and Google for enhanced privacy;

: on the Aqara Home app users can configure not only activity zones to reduce unnecessary alerts, but also local privacy masking zones to block certain parts of the image to be recorded or sent to Aqara or third-party ecosystems including HomeKit, Alexa and Google for enhanced privacy; Custom ringtones and timelapse clip generation: G2H Pro users are allowed to use uploaded recordings as ringtones and for home automation, and they can use the new timelapse clip generation functionality to generate a short video summarizing the day.

Like the G2H, the new G2H Pro model serves as a home security center and connects with other Aqara sensors. In the cases of an abnormal sound detection, an unexpected door opening, or an unexpected human motion, the camera notifies users via the smartphone, triggers the built-in siren, and records a short video clip which will be synced to the Aqara cloud. The Aqara cloud storage is subscription free, and can be disabled on the app. If local storage is available, user can choose to record and save only the clips of such critical events locally, or to record constantly and store the 24/7 footage.

To celebrate the launch, Aqara now offers a 15% discount for the new G2H Pro on its Amazon brand stores. North American customers will enjoy the offer with the promo code G2HPROPR in the US and Canada, while European customers will enjoy it using the promo code PRG2HPRO in the UK, Germany and France. Both codes will be valid through Mar 5, 2022.

For more details of the G2H Pro Camera Hub, please visit our website.

* Product availability may vary among different retail channels, and could be updated all the time. It's recommended to check with the regional retailer(s) for real time availability.

** To support HomeKit Secure Video, an iCloud subscription, a home hub from Apple and up-to-date iOS/iPad OS/ tvOS are required.

*** To support NAS storage, a compatible microSD card must be inserted.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005048/en/

Contacts:

For Media Inquiry:

Michell Li

Phone number: 86-18501199430

Email: media@aqara.com
LONDON, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- South Korean monk Jeong Kwan is the 2022 recipient of the prestigious Icon Award - Asia 2022. Voted for by the 300-plus members of the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants Academy, the Icon Award honours culinary figures who have inspired others with their skills and positive contributions.

Growing up on a farm, Jeong Kwan developed a respect for seasonal produce from an early age. At 17, she left home to join a Buddhist monastery and immersed herself in the centuries-old traditions and cooking techniques of temple cuisine. Jeong Kwan's impeccably crafted dishes reflect her innate creativity, technical skills, and deep respect for seasonal ingredients.

Jeong Kwan's cuisine came to the world's attention when French chef - and fellow Buddhist - Eric Ripert of New York's famed Le Bernardin visited Baekyangsa, the seventh-century temple which Jeong Kwan calls home. Enchanted by her dishes, in 2015 he invited her to New York to prepare a meal for select guests. The subsequent profile in The New York Timesdescribed her dishes as "the most exquisite food in the world." Her fame grew when she was featured in a 2017 episode of Netflix's Emmy Award-winning Chef's Table series.

Jeong Kwan continues to cook at the hermitage she shares with her fellow nuns and attracts a growing number of devotees to Baekyangsa Temple. Within her modest kitchen, visitors are educated on the Buddhist principles that underpin authentic temple food. Although she has never worked in or owned a restaurant, Jeong Kwan's innovative cuisine places her in the vanguard of visionary chefs.

William Drew, Director of Content for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, says: "A guardian of Korean temple cuisine, Jeong Kwan is confirming her status as an international culinary icon thanks to her refined mastery of flavours and spiritual approach to cooking."

Accepting the award, Jeong Kwan said: "I am extremely honoured to receive the 2022 Icon Award. I am aware of the difficulties caused by the global pandemic and hope that the situation will improve so we can meet again to share food and positive energy."

Jeong Kwan's achievement will be highlighted as part of the online ceremony for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2022 on 29th March, which will be broadcast to a global audience via Asia's 50 Best Restaurants Facebook and the 50 Best Restaurants TV YouTube channels.

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- Mocravimod is being developed as a potential best-in-class adjunctive and maintenance therapy to enhance the curative potential of HSCT for AML patients

- A global registration-enabling Phase 2b trial assessing mocravimod in AML patients undergoing allogeneic HSCT is planned in H2 2022

DUBLIN, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Priothera, a late-clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of its S1P receptor modulator drug, mocravimod, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have both granted orphan drug designation (ODD) to mocravimod for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). EMA's ODD follows a recommendation from the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP).

Florent Gros, Co-Founder and CEO of Priothera, commented: "The orphan drug designations we received for mocravimod from both the FDA and EMA are important milestones towards addressing the urgent, unmet needs of AML patients. Allogenic stem cell transplantation is the only potentially curative approach for AML patients but has unacceptably high mortality rates with current treatments. We are looking forward to initiating the global Phase 2b clinical trial with mocravimod in multiple centers in the US, Europe and Asia in the coming months."

Mocravimod, a sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator which has been previously tested in multiple autoimmune indications, is being developed to enhance the curative potential of HSCT. Moreover, it has shown a clinically relevant benefit in an early clinical study in patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing HSCT.

A multicenter Phase 2b study evaluating the efficacy and safety of mocravimod as an adjunctive and maintenance therapy to HSCT in adult AML patients is planned for the second half of 2022. The study will include approximately 250 patients in several countries in Europe, the US and Asia, upon approvals from respective health authorities.

Orphan drug designation is reserved for medicines treating rare, life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases.

About mocravimod

Mocravimod (also known as KRP203), is a novel, synthetic, sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor (S1PR) modulator with a long duration in the body. Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials successfully assessed mocravimod for safety and tolerability in several autoimmune indications. Promising data from a Phase 1b/2a clinical study in patients with hematological malignancies led Priothera to further develop mocravimod for the treatment of blood cancers.

Mocravimod will be investigated in a Phase 2b/3 study as a potential treatment for patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Allogenic HSCT is the only potentially curative approach for AML patients, but current treatments have unacceptably high mortality and morbidity rates.

Priothera leverages S1PR's unique mode of action to maintain anti-leukemia activity - graft-versus leukemia (GVL) - while reducing tissue damage resulting from graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a consequence of allogenic HSCT. This novel treatment approach - the only S1PR modulator treating blood cancers - tackles a high unmet medical need and intends to add quality life to patients.

About Priothera

Priothera is leading the way in developing orally applied sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) receptor modulators for the treatment of hematological malignancies. S1P receptor modulators are known to largely reduce egress of T cells from lymphatic tissues and not being immunosuppressants, thereby allowing for inhibition of graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) while maintaining graft-versus-leukemia benefits in patients receiving HSCT.

Priothera which was founded in 2020 by an experienced team of drug development experts is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The Company is backed by international founding investors Fountain Healthcare Partners (Dublin, Ireland), funds managed by Tekla Capital Management, LLC (Boston, Massachusetts), HealthCap (Stockholm, Sweden) and EarlyBird Venture Capital (Berlin, Germany).

For more information please visit: www.priothera.com

Contacts
Receiving advisory services and up to C$404,000 in funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) supporting M2CAM and thermal processing initiatives

Cost optimization of M2CAM and thermal processing innovations underway

Supports scale-up on path to commercialization and leverages engineering study

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Nano One Materials Corp. (TSX: NANO) (OTC Pink: NNOMF) (FSE: LBMB) ("Nano One") is a clean technology company with a patented low carbon intensity process for the production of low cost, high-performance cathode materials used in lithium-ion batteries. Nano One announced today that it is receiving advisory services and funding of up to C$404,000 from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to support a research and development project to advance its Metal direct to Cathode Active Material ("M2CAM") technology and thermal processing innovations.

"Nano One values this support from NRC IRAP," said Nano One CTO Dr. Stephen Campbell. "This project will further advance cost optimization of the One-Pot Process for the manufacture of cathode active materials, specifically as it relates to the use metal feedstocks enabled by our M2CAM technology and innovations in final stage of thermal processing."

Nano One believes that the world's battery ecosystems and supply chains can only be made secure, competitive and resilient, by leapfrogging the established methods, with economically and environmentally engineered supply chains. A study produced by Hatch Ltd. and announced by Nano One on January 24 2022, supports that Nano One's patented One-Pot and M2CAM processes offer both environmental and potential economic benefits when compared to conventional cathode manufacturing processes. The technology eliminates large streams of wasteful by-product and the need to convert lithium-carbonate to lithium-hydroxide and metals to metal-sulfates. There are also estimated significant reductions in carbon footprint and water usage.

Dr. Campbell added, "We have also identified opportunities to improve the efficiency of thermal processing, which is a capitally and energy intensive final step in making cathode materials. We have innovations and patents pending, and this latest support from NRC IRAP is aimed at developing them into near-term industrial scale solutions, better suited for terawatt-hour scale battery production."

###

About Nano One

Nano One Materials Corp (Nano One) is a clean technology company with a patented, scalable and low carbon intensity industrial process for the low-cost production of high-performance lithium-ion battery cathode materials. The technology is applicable to electric vehicle, energy storage, consumer electronic and next generation batteries in the global push for a zero-emission future. Nano One's One-Pot process, its coated nanocrystal materials and its Metal to Cathode Active Material (M2CAM) technologies address fundamental performance needs and supply chain constraints while reducing costs and carbon footprint. Nano One has received funding from various government programs and the current "Scaling of Advanced Battery Materials Project" is supported by Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and the Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund of the Province of British Columbia. For more information, please visit www.nanoone.ca

Company Contact:

Paul Guedes

info@nanoone.ca

(604) 420-2041

Media Contact:

Chelsea Nolan

Antenna Group for Nano One

nanoone@antennagroup.com

(646) 854-8721

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to: benefits achieved from further optimization of Nano One's patented One-Pot Process and M2CAM technologies, the execution of the Company's development plans which are contingent on such support and awards and the commercialization of Nano One's technology and patents. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of terminology such as 'believe', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'plan', 'intend', 'continue', 'estimate', 'may', 'will', 'should', 'ongoing', 'target', 'goal', 'potential', 'advance', 'aim' or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made are not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Nano One to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including but not limited to: benefits achieved from further optimization of Nano One's patented One-Pot Process and M2CAM technologies and any anticipated results thereof, any future collaborations that may happen with the OEM's or other partners in the battery supply chain, Nano One 's ability to achieve its stated goals, the commercialization of Nano One's technology and patents and other risk factors as identified in Nano One's MD&A and its Annual Information Form dated March 15, 2021, both for the year ended December 31, 2020, and in recent securities filings for the Companies which are available at www.sedar.com. Although management of Nano One has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Nano One does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that is incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115514
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - London Stock Exchange Group plc (LSE.L) reported Thursday that its fiscal 2021 profit before tax surged to 987 million pounds from last year's 492 million pounds. Basic earnings per share grew to 98.4 pence from 83.6 pence a year ago. Adjusted profit before tax was 2.22 billion pounds, compared to 832 million pounds last year. Adjusted basic earnings per share were 286.5 pence, up from prior year's 166.7 pence. The results reflected the acquisition and consolidation of Refinitiv as of January 29, 2021. On a pro-forma basis, assuming that the acquisition of Refinitiv took place on January 1, 2020, adjusted profit before tax was 2.30 billion pounds, compared to 1.82 billion pounds. Continuing adjusted basic earnings per share were 286.7 pence, up from 195.7 pence last year. Pro forma adjusted EBITDA went up 8.3 percent to 3.28 billion pounds, and adjusted EBITDA margin grew to 48.2 percent from 46.3 percent a year ago. Total income, excluding recoveries, grew to 6.42 billion pounds from last year's 2.03 billion pounds, primarily as a result of the acquisition and consolidation of Refinitiv. The company recorded strong revenue growth across all divisions driving 6.1 percent constant currency total income growth. Pro forma total income, excluding recoveries, edged up 0.7 percent to 6.81 billion pounds from 6.77 billion pounds a year ago. Further, the company proposed final dividend of 70 pence per share, a 27 percent increase in full year dividend to 95 pence per share. Looking ahead, the company said it is confident in its outlook. The company is on course to achieve the 5-7 percent 2020-23 CAGR target. The company also announced that Jacques Aigrain will step down from the LSEG Board on 27 April 2022, after nine years as a non-executive director. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Chemring Group plc (CHG) on Thursday said it now expects the financial results for the current year to be slightly more than analysts' estimates. The company believe analyst forecasts for its adjusted operating profit for the year ending 31 October 2022 are in the range of 61.0 million pounds to 63.3 million pounds, with a consensus of 62.2 million pounds. The company which operates through two segments, Sensors & Information as well as Countermeasures & Energetics said that both sectors have performed well since the start of the current financial year, in line with management expectations. The higher expectation is attributed to the recent positive order intake, including Roke's award of an 8-million-pound contract to supply electronic warfare equipment to the Swedish Ministry of Defence, which is expected to be partially delivered in FY22. The company's order cover increased from 84 percent at the start of the year to 89 percent currently, covered by revenue in the period to date and the current order book. The order book stood at 476 million pounds as compared to 481 million pounds in 2021. Shares of Chemring Group closed Wednesday's trading at 326.50 pounds, down 14.00 pounds or 4.48 percent from previous close. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
New Funding to Accelerate Platform Innovation and Fuel Rapid Market Expansion with Public Transport Agencies Globally

Masabi, the company bringing the latest ticketing innovations to public transport around the world via 'Fare Payments-as-a-Service', today announced a strategic growth investment from Accel-KKR, a leading technology-focused private equity firm with over $11 billion in capital commitments. Existing investors Shell and Smedvig Capital also participated in the round.

This investment will supercharge Masabi's continued success in disrupting the legacy ticketing industry by accelerating product development and adding new deployments of Justride in North and South America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Masabi's market-leading platform is being adopted by an ever-growing number of public transit agencies and authorities of all sizes around the globe. Today, Masabi operates in nine countries, with more than 140 customers in cities such as Denver, Las Vegas, Boston, Los Angeles, San Antonio, Columbus, Calgary, Birmingham, Valencia, Bilbao and Osaka.

Cities and public transit agencies previously had to rely on monolithic automated fare collection (AFC) technology providers to create complex, bespoke ticketing systems resulting in excessive capital expenditures, and requiring significant time and effort to go live. This legacy approach delivers systems that are expensive and time consuming to upgrade, and creates significant challenges maintaining pace with consumer and technology changes.

Masabi disrupts the traditional model by combining SaaS and cloud computing to deliver FPaaS which is easy and quick to upgrade, enabling transit agencies to continually benefit from the latest ticketing innovations quickly and cost-effectively.

"The past few years have seen a revolution in transport ticketing and payments technology, and Masabi has consistently been at the forefront, time-after-time delivering ground-breaking firsts which have shaped the industry," said Brian Zanghi, CEO of Masabi. "This significant investment will help us build on our market-leading technical and geographic foundations, to accelerate company growth and make it easier for more passengers around the globe to safely and quickly access public transport. We're delighted to welcome Accel-KKR's support and look forward to working with them to take our growth to the next level."

Joe Porten, Managing Director of Accel-KKR said, "Over $270 billion is spent every year on tickets for public transit globally, and it is one of the most visible services that local governments provide. Public transit agencies have been underserved by rigid, stifling systems unable to keep up with technology and consumer-facing innovations that riders have come to expect in their daily lives. We have been impressed by Masabi's agile yet powerful SaaS approach to bring innovation to this space, and we look forward to supporting Brian and the Masabi team as they scale."

Masabi was advised in the round by CKS Finance and a legal team from Smoosmiths.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005070/en/

Contacts:

Charlie Crossley

charlie@fieldhouseassociates.com
JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. announces the release of the market assessment report on "Global Immuno-Oncology Cell Therapy Market Therapy Type (CAR-T Cells, NK & NKT Cells, TAA/TSA targeted T Cell, TCR T Cell, Cytokine-induced killer cells, Dendritic cells, Macrophages, and Other Cell Therapies), Major Indication (Head & Neck Cancer, Lung Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Melanoma, Lymphoma, Leukemia, and Others) - Technology Trends, Clinical Trial/Pipeline Analysis, Revenue and Forecast Till 2030."

According to the latest market research research, the global Immuno-oncology cell therapies market size is valued at US$ 7.20 Billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach US$ 34.69 Billion in 2030 recording a promising CAGR of 20.4% from 2022 through 2030.

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The introduction of new immunotherapies for cancer treatment has drastically transformed the landscape of the oncology industry. Immunotherapy is a relatively recent topic of cancer treatment. Immunotherapy aims to use the immune system's ability to recognize, target, and kill malignant cells. Immuno-oncology is a biological treatment that boosts the body's immune system to stop cancer growth. The oncology market today could be quickly superseded by next-generation therapies in the upcoming forecast period. Their ongoing clinical trials and recent FDA approvals emphasize their potential as effective first-line or follow-up cancer medicines. One of the most significant developments in cancer since the introduction of chemotherapy is the approval of CAR-T cell therapy products. The current clinical development focuses on identifying new indications for T cell therapy, developing safer T cell therapy platforms, and manufacturing T cell therapy more efficiently. Furthermore, COVID-19 Pandemic is significantly increasing the need for immuno-oncology cell therapies, and hence, in future, there will be a high requirement of cell therapies, which will ultimately result in immuno-oncology cell therapy market growth.

The Immuno-oncology Cell Therapy market growth is attributed to numerous factors including fast adoption of cancer immunotherapies over other conventional cancer treatments, development of bioinformatics tools, high prevalence of cancer worldwide, and increased demand for personalized medicine. According to the American Cancer Society, In 2020, 1,806,590 new cancer cases and 606,520 cancer deaths are projected to occur in the United States. The rising number of research and funding activities in the immune-oncology and robust focus on research activities from government health institutions and pharma giants in Immuno-oncology therapy development is expected to drive the market growth over the forecast period. Furthermore, the use of various bioinformatics tools reduces the cost and time of the drug development process, enabling pharmaceutical companies to monitor and evaluate their products more efficiently and rapidly. Thus, bioinformatics and different software tools increase the interest of researchers to innovate novel cancer therapies, thereby increasing the adoption of the cancer immunotherapy market.

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However, the high cost of immuno-oncology therapies, stringent regulatory requirements for biomarkers, and poor reimbursement policies are expected to hamper the growth of market during the forecast period. Geographically, North America is expected to dominate the market over the forecast period, owing to high healthcare expenditure and awareness among people. European region also holds a significant market share for the immuno-oncology cell therapies market. It is expected that the support provided by government bodies for research & development and increased clinical trial programs in healthcare will drive the market in the European region. Asia Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period (2021-2030) due to the high prevalence of cancer, increasing use of bioinformatics tools & data for drug designing, and rising government funding for healthcare sector. Significantly, China, India, and Japan are the major countries in this market.

The immuno-oncology cell therapy market is fragmented with the presence of many players with therapeutic products in clinical trials, which are expected to get approval in the upcoming forecast period. Most of the leading players use various strategies such as new product launches in developed countries, partnerships, expansions, agreements, mergers, and acquisitions to increase their value in this market. In January 2021, Novartis (Switzerland) collaborated with BeiGene, Ltd. to in-license tislelizumab from BeiGene, Ltd. in major markets outside of China. This agreement is expected to accelerate the potential for Novartis to enter the large and growing checkpoint inhibitor field. Tislelizumab is an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody specifically designed to minimize binding to Fc?R on macrophages

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The global immuno-oncology cell therapy market covers prominent players like Agios Pharmaceutical, Atara Biotherapeutics, Novartis, Juno Therapeutics, Allogene Therapeutics, Shenzhen BinDeBio Ltd., Kite Pharma, Autolus Limited, China Immunotech Co., Ltd., Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, bluebird bio, CARsgen Therapeutics, Cell Design Labs, Calibr, Carina Biotech, Editas Medicine, Celgene Corporation, Cellectis, Cell Medica, Amgen, Celularity, Celyad, Fortress Bio, Fate Therapeutics, Gilead Sciences, JW Therapeutics, Mustang Bio, Ziopharm, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., Medigene, Medisix Therapeutics, Precision Biosciences, Lion TCR, Nanjing Legend Biotech, Posedia Therapeutics, Zelluna Immunotherapy, and others prominent players.

Key Developments:

In Dec 2021 , Novartis unveiled T-ChargeTM, its next-generation CAR-T platform, which will serve as the platform for several new investigational CAR-T cell therapies in the Novartis pipeline. Novartis continues to improve the T-Charge platform, which protects T cell stemness, a crucial attribute linked to therapeutic potential, while also implementing significant process savings.

Novartis unveiled T-ChargeTM, its next-generation CAR-T platform, which will serve as the platform for several new investigational CAR-T cell therapies in the Novartis pipeline. Novartis continues to improve the T-Charge platform, which protects T cell stemness, a crucial attribute linked to therapeutic potential, while also implementing significant process savings. In Nov 2021 , CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited announced that CT041, an autologous CAR T-cell product candidate against the claudin18.2 protein (CLDN18.2) for the treatment of gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer (GC/GEJ), has been granted Priority Medicines (PRIME) eligibility by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

CARsgen Therapeutics Holdings Limited announced that CT041, an autologous CAR T-cell product candidate against the claudin18.2 protein (CLDN18.2) for the treatment of gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer (GC/GEJ), has been granted Priority Medicines (PRIME) eligibility by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). In Aug 2021 , The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Kite's Investigational New Drug (IND) application for KITE-363, the company's first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatment that targets two antigens, CD19 and CD20. Kite intends to begin a multi-center Phase 1 clinical trial assessing KITE-363 in large B-cell lymphoma with this approval (LBCL).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Kite's Investigational New Drug (IND) application for KITE-363, the company's first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell treatment that targets two antigens, CD19 and CD20. Kite intends to begin a multi-center Phase 1 clinical trial assessing KITE-363 in large B-cell lymphoma with this approval (LBCL). In Aug 2019 , Celgene and Immatics Biotechnologies will collaborate to explore breakthrough adoptive cell therapies for a variety of diseases. Immatics plans to develop T-Cell Receptor Engineered T-cell Therapy (TCR-T) programmes targeting solid tumour targets found by Immatics' XPRESIDENT technology under the terms of the firms' strategic collaboration and option agreement.

Celgene and Immatics Biotechnologies will collaborate to explore breakthrough adoptive cell therapies for a variety of diseases. Immatics plans to develop T-Cell Receptor Engineered T-cell Therapy (TCR-T) programmes targeting solid tumour targets found by Immatics' XPRESIDENT technology under the terms of the firms' strategic collaboration and option agreement. In Jan 2018 , Celgene Corporation (U.S.) acquired Juno Therapeutics, Inc. (U.S.), a company engaged in the development of CAR T and TCR (T cell receptor) therapeutics. This acquisition added a novel scientific platform and scalable manufacturing capabilities to complement Celgene's haematology and oncology leadership.

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Market Segments

Market Size (Value US$ Mn) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2022 to 2030 based on Therapy Type

CAR-T Cells

N.K. & NKT Cells

TAA/TSA targeted T Cell

TCR T Cell

Cytokine-induced killer cells

Dendritic cells

Macrophages

Other Cell Therapies

Market Size (Value US$ Mn) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2022 to 2030 based on Major Indication

Head & Neck Cancer

Lung Cancer

Kidney Cancer

Melanoma

Lymphoma

Leukemia

Others

Market Size (Value US$ Mn) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2022 to 2030 based on Region

Europe

North America

Asia Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

Europe Immuno-oncology cell therapies market Revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

Germany

France

Italy

Spain

Russia

Rest of Europe

North America Immuno-oncology cell therapies market Revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

U.S.

Canada

Asia Pacific Immuno-oncology cell therapies market Revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

India

China

Japan

South Korea

Australia & New Zealand

Latin America Immuno-oncology cell therapies market Revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

Brazil

Mexico

Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa Immuno-oncology cell therapies market Revenue (US$ Million) by Country, 2022 to 2030

South Africa

GCC Countries

Rest of Middle East & Africa

Why should buy this report:

To receive a detailed analysis of the prospects for global Immuno-oncology cell therapies market

To receive clinical trial/pipeline analysis of Immuno-oncology cell therapies market

To analyze the Immuno-oncology cell therapies market drivers and challenges

To get information on Immuno-oncology cell therapies market size value (US$ Mn) forecast till 2030

Mergers & Acquisition, Major Investments, in Immuno-oncology cell therapies market industry

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Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic:

Global Allogeneic Cell Therapy Manufacturing Market

Global CAR T-Cell Therapy For Multiple Myeloma Market

Global Allogeneic Cell Therapies Market

About Us:

InsightAce Analytic is a market research and consulting firm that enables clients to make strategic decisions. Our qualitative and quantitative market intelligence solutions inform the need for market and competitive intelligence to expand businesses. We help clients gain a competitive advantage by identifying untapped markets, exploring new and competing technologies, segmenting potential markets, and repositioning products. Our expertise is in providing syndicated and custom market intelligence reports with an in-depth analysis with key market insights in a timely and cost-effective manner.

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- Increase in need for luxury vehicles, incorporation of connectivity and advanced features in vehicles, and rise in demand to offer improved customer convenience and comfort drive the global hands-free power liftgate market.

PORTLAND, Ore., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Hands-Free Power Liftgate Market by Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars (SUV, Sedan, and Others) and Commercial Vehicles), Propulsion (Gasoline, Diesel, and Electric), and Sales Channel (Original Equipment Manufacturer and Aftermarket): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030". As per the report, the global hands-free power liftgate industry was accounted for $1.12 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach $2.35 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2021 to 2030.

Major determinants of the market growth

Rise in demand for luxury vehicles, integration of connectivity and advanced features in vehicles, and need to offer improved customer convenience and comfort have boosted the growth of the global hands-free power liftgate market. However, high initial cost and degradation of sensing mechanisms over time hinder the market growth. On the contrary, rise in adoption of electric and autonomous vehicles and technological advancements are expected to open new opportunities for the market players in the future.

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Covid-19 scenario:

The Covid-19 pandemic created uncertainty in the market, leading to disruption of supply chain, shutdown of industries, and decline in overall production and sales of automotive vehicles.

The shortage of microchips and electrical components and disruption of supply chain hampered the manufacturing of hands-free power liftgate during lockdown. However, manufacturing activities are expected to get back on track post-lockdown.

The passenger cars segment dominated the market

By vehicle type, the passenger cars segment held the largest share in 2020, accounting for more than 90% of the global hands-free power liftgate market. In addition, the segment is estimated to register the highest CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period, owing to high demand for passenger vehicles and need for comfort and luxury to enhance driving experience. The report includes analysis of the commercial vehicles segment.

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The aftermarket segment to portray the highest CAGR through 2030

By sales channel, the aftermarket segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 8.4% from 2021 to 2030, owing to focus on integrating advanced features into vehicles to enhance passenger experience and comfort. However, the OEM segment held the largest share in 2020, contributing to more than 90% of the global hands-free power liftgate market, due to rise in demand for hands-free power liftgate by consumers for increased comfort.

North America to manifest the highest CAGR by 2030

By region, the market across North America is expected to register the highest CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period, due to rise in sale of luxury vehicles and integration of connectivity and advanced features in vehicles. However, the global hands-free power liftgate market across Asia-Pacific dominated in 2020, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the market, due to demand for premium cars & advanced features in vehicles, increased disposable income in countries such as India & China, and rise in development of autonomous vehicles in the region.

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Major market players

Aisin Corporation

Autoease Technology

Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG

Continental AG

Hi-Lex Corporation

Huf Hulsbeck & Furst GmbH & Co.

Johnson Holdings Limited

Magna International Inc.

Stabilus GmbH

Woodbine Manufacturing Co. Inc. ( Tommy Gate )

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Syngenta Group, one of the world's leading agriculture innovation companies, reports a rating action from Fitch Ratings ("Fitch"). Fitch today announced its first issuer credit rating for Syngenta Group of "A".

About Syngenta Group

Syngenta Group is one of the world's leading agriculture innovation companies, with roots going back more than 250 years. In more than 100 countries, the company strives to transform agriculture through breakthrough products and technologies that play a vital role in enabling the food chain to feed the world safely, sustainably and with respect for our planet. Swiss-based and Chinese-owned, the Group draws strength from its four business units Syngenta Crop Protection headquartered in Switzerland, Syngenta Seeds headquartered in the United States, ADAMA headquartered in Israel, and Syngenta Group China that provide industry-leading ways to serve customers everywhere.

For Syngenta Group photos and videos, please visit the Syngenta Group Media Library.

Data protection is important to us. You are receiving this publication on the legal basis of Article 6 para 1 lit. f GDPR ("legitimate interest"). However, if you do not wish to receive further information about Syngenta Group, just send us a brief informal message and we will no longer process your details for this purpose. You can also find further details in our privacy statement.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as "expect," "would," "will," "potential," "plans," "prospects," "estimated," "aiming," "on track" and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta Group, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or grain prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta Group assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005419/en/

Contacts:

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SMSZ Project Hosts Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources 310,300 ounces of Gold and Inferred Mineral Resources of 769,200 ounces of Gold

Delta, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Desert Gold Ventures Inc. (TSXV: DAU) (FSE: QXR2) (OTCQB: DAUGF) (the "Company") is pleased to present further insights at its Mogoyafara South Gold Deposit in Western Mali, following completion of a ground magnetic survey and geological mapping.

In early 2022, Desert Gold carried out a ground magnetic survey over the Mogoyafara South Gold Deposit. This work demonstrated a strong correlation between known gold intercepts and magnetic highs (see Figure 1). From this image, it is obvious that, within the deposit area, there is at least five magnetic high areas that appear to have good potential for the discovery of additional gold mineralization.

Following these positive results, after a much larger area was surveyed, the prospective magnetic high target was extended to the north and south (see Figure 2). Based on the magnetic data, the magnetically anomalous trend, aligned along what is interpreted as the Senegal Mali Shear Zone or proximal structure, can now be traced for approximately 5,000 metres from an original strike extent of 1,900 metres. This materially expands the higher priority exploration target area. At the northern end of the anomalous trend, soil samples returned up to 1,252 ppb gold, proximal to the magnetic high target trend.

As well, based on mapping and data compilation, a new, 200 metre long, artisanal mining pit was discovered near the western edge of the claim block in a magnetic low area. This new artisanal zone has never been tested by drilling and is associated with a 1.4 km long gold-in-soil trend with values to 320 ppb gold and prospecting grab samples to 2.26 g/t gold.

Additional prospecting samples grading to 6.61 g/t gold, and additional anomalous gold-in soil values were identified to the south of the drilled area and highly anomalous gold-in-soil and gold-in-termite anomalies were noted along a strong magnetic high anomaly in the eastern side of the survey area. These areas show good potential for the discovery of additional gold zones.

Jared Scharf, Desert Gold's Present and CEO commented "We are quite pleased with the results of the magnetic survey. In addition to the fantastic correlation between the magnetic highs and mineralized intercepts, the magnetic data provides insight into structure and context for other targets. It is also interesting to see that gold mineralization occurs in multiple target environments in the Mogoyafara South area, which should result in extensions to known zones, discovery of new gold-bearing lenses and, as we believe, the delineation of additional mineral resources."

* NI 43-101 Mineral Resource reported by a Desert Gold January 17, 2022 news release





Figure 1. Mogoyafara South Deposit area detail view.

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4954/115516_cf263067c42d182c_004full.jpg





Figure 2. Large scale review of Mogoyafara South Deposit Target Area

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4954/115516_cf263067c42d182c_005full.jpg

Technical details

The Company completed approximately 180-line kilometres of walking magnetometer survey with lines every 100 metres and readings taken continuously as the operator followed flagged lines through light bush and grassy areas. Daily magnetic readings were then corrected for diurnal variation at the end of the day using data from a base station. Upon completion of the survey, the data will be subject to inversion to create a 3D image of the magnetic data to depth. This 3D data will be utilized in the ongoing exploration program with a goal to develop an exploration model using the inversion data and then use that model for focused exploration.

The positive correlation between the gold intercepts and magnetic highs is not common, as gold-related alteration is often related to magnetic lows as the alteration destroys the magnetic minerals. However, gold mineralization is related to pyrrhotite, which is magnetic, at Desert Gold's Barani East Deposit and magnetite occurs in ore at both the large Fekola (B2 Gold) and Gounkoto (Barrick) Mines, located to the south, along the Senegal Mali Shear Zone. The presence of pyrrhotite may represent a hotter hydrothermal system. However, the source of the stronger magnetism is not known at this time and will be determined once drill testing of this area commences.

Next Steps Guidance

A 2022 exploration program consisting of approximately 20,000 metres of drilling will be carried out subject to financing with a general work plan as follows.

The tier 1 Mogoyafara South and Gourbassi West North Zones, will be the focus of the 2022 exploration program as these two gold-bearing systems appear to be the largest on the property. Together, these two project areas will account for approximately 70% of the 2022 drill program with the remainder of the 2022 drill budget designed to follow-up on known zones and drill intercepts at 11, tier 2 targets (Linneguekoto West, Manankoto, Kamana, Soa, Kolon, Sorokoto North, Barani East, Frikidi, Gourbassi West, Gourbassi East and Gourbassi Northeast Zones - see figure 3 for zone lcaitons). The goal of testing these targets is to determine if these zones have potential to develop into tier 1 targets.

Untested gold-in-auger anomalies (tier 3 targets) have been prioritized and will be tested with a focus on anomalies >100 ppb gold.

Additional auger surveys (tier 4 targets) are planned in the Gourbassi West North, Mogoyafara South and Linnguekoto South areas.





Figure 3. Plan Map Mineral Deposits and Zones, significant drill hole intercepts**, soil geochem summary on color-contoured analytical signal; magnetic data

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4954/115516_cf263067c42d182c_006full.jpg

**All gold grades over width, with the exception of the Soa, Berola and Gourbassi prospects, represent drill holes with the true widths, for most holes, ranging from 65 to 95%. Estimated true widths for the Soa and Berola prospects are unknown. Estimated true widths at the Gourbassi Zones are estimated to range from 60% to 90% .

On Behalf of the Board

"Jared Scharf"

___________________________

Jared Scharf

President & CEO

About Desert Gold

Desert Gold Ventures Inc. is a gold exploration and development company which holds 2 gold exploration permits in Western Mali (SMSZ Project and Djimbala) and its Rutare gold project in central Rwanda. In Mali, Desert Gold's SMSZ property hosts Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources of 8.47 million tonnes grading 1.14 g/t gold totaling 310,300 ounces and Inferred Mineral Resources of 20.7 million tonnes grading 1.16 g/t gold totaling 769,200 ounces. For further information please visit www.SEDAR.com under the company's profile. Website: www.desertgold.ca

This news release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations, are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such statements. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the capital markets, the price of gold; operational, funding, liquidity risks, the degree to which Mineral Resource estimates are reflective of actual Mineral Resources, the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable, and the risks and hazards associated with mining operations. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these materials. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States securities act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to the account or benefit of a U.S. person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such act.

Contact

Jared Scharf, President and CEO

Email: jared.scharf@desertgold.ca

Tel. No.: +1 (858) 247-8195

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115516
LONDON, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

Payment solution innovator, Fintech Digital Solutions Ltd., continues its expansion of the FintechCashier brand across the globe with the announcement of another partnership, this time in Malaysia with HWG Cash.

Payment solution innovator, Fintech Digital Solutions Ltd., continues its expansion of the FintechCashier brand across the globe with the announcement of another partnership, this time in Malaysia with HWG Cash, a leading finance application developed by giant, HWGG Capital P.L.C., a licensed company under Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA), Malaysia.

"We are extremely pleased to announce this very important partnership with such a powerhouse as HWGG Capital and their HWG Cash banking application. This is a vital step in our mission to revolutionise money transfers and payments with one integrated payment solution ecosystem for our clients across the world, that is highly secure, agile, innovative and fully compliant," comments Shalom Dodoun, Founder & Director of Fintech Digital Solutions.

HWG Cash is a new world banking solution guarantees global transactions in seconds and not days as before, as well as sending Swift globally, has the most competitive FX rates, automated mass payouts and is crypto friendly. All of this at a fraction of the cost, which means B2B will never be the same ever again.

Nations like Malaysia aim to lead the world in digital adoption and digital entrepreneurship, which makes this partnership very significant. "It is key that everyone adopts digital technology and takes advantage of technologies such as blockchain and various ways to implement it in both small and large-scale businesses," said Malaysia's special envoy to China, Tan Kok Wai in his keynote speech at the HwgPay Ecosystem Showcase recently.

"Our partnership with Fintech Digital Solutions has now reached another level with this latest offering. HWG Cash will now manage all digital assets settlement services for FintechCashier clients in Malaysia, shortening the process for all stakeholders in the financial value chain. Our strategy is to expand into the UK and Europe as well as the Middle East and Fintech Digital Solutions is undoubtedly our partner of choice," says Gavin Lim, Founder & Chairman of HWG Cash and Fintech Bank.

FintechCashier, based in London, UK, is truly a global player, with coverage in more than 150 countries, with more than 100 solutions in over 90 currencies. All of this through a single payment gateway, making it a truly remarkable and speedy solution to all the needs of the modern digital marketplace. ONE Application, ONE Integration, GLOBAL REACH.

About Fintech Digital Solutions Ltd.

Fintech Digital Solutions recently launched FintechCashier, a payment gateway and solution provider, which guarantees a seamless, transparent, and fast portal for their clients to receive the transaction related funds of their customers, to manage their cash flow, and to make settlements. FintechCashier supports a wide spectrum of services, ranging from credit card processing, exchange, eCommerce and wire solutions. www.fintechcashier.com

About HWCG Capital P.L.C. & HWG Cash App

HWG Cash App is a leading finance app developed by HWGG Capital (HWGG Capital) P.L.C, a licensed company under Labuan Financial Services Authority (LFSA), Malaysia. Founded in 2017, HWGG Capital is part of the vision of Ho Wah Genting Group, The group has a strong brand heritage and businesses operating for over 40 years, including a venture into the financial industry wh blockchain technology. www.hwgcash.com

For more information, please contact:

Christine Kulbas

Head of Marketing

FintechCashier

+447399837453

marketing@fintechcashier.com

Video: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1757998/FintechCashier_HWG_Partnership.mp4

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1757995/Shalom_Dodoun_FintechCashier.jpg

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1758965/FintechCashier_HWGCash_PartnerShip.jpg

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HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) has donated COVID-19 diagnostic test kits and protective equipment worth RMB10 million to the Hong Kong SAR Government through the Ping An Foundation. Ping An is proud to support Hong Kong's fight against the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and protect the health and safety of frontline medical staff and anti-pandemic workers.

Ping An has donated various supplies including COVID-19 diagnostic test kits, KN95 masks, protective clothing, face shields, surgical caps, shoe covers, and gloves. The supplies are expected to arrive in Hong Kong before March 15.

Mainland China is wholly committed to helping Hong Kong SAR in the pandemic. Hong Kong and Shenzhen are inseparable from each other and will always bear trials and hardships together. Amid the pandemic outbreak in Hong Kong, Ping An, as a responsible corporate citizen, wants to support the fight against the pandemic to help meet the most urgent needs of frontline staff and medical workers.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, Ping An has introduced several initiatives in insurance protection, public welfare donations and medical services. To date, Ping An has donated more than RMB180 million in supplies and cash. The Group has also provided more than RMB18 billion in financial support to affected enterprises, customers and frontline medical institutions. It has introduced innovative services such as an online end-to-end insurance policy process through a green claims channel and special pre-claims services, and extended insurance coverage to COVID-19 for policyholders. Ping An Good Doctor has provided free COVID-19 consultations and pandemic protection guidance for the public, attracting a total of 1.11 billion visits during the peak of the pandemic. Also, Ping An Healthcare Diagnostics Center is a designated institution for pandemic prevention and control. To date, its medical laboratories across China have performed nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 on more than 25 million samples.

About Ping An Group

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") is a world-leading technology-powered retail financial services group. With over 225 million retail customers and nearly 634 million internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Ping An focuses on two over-arching domains of activity, "pan financial assets" and "pan health care", covering the provision of financial and health care services through our integrated financial services platform and our ecosystems in financial services, health care, auto services and smart city services. Our "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" transformation strategies aim to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services using technology. The Group is committed to becoming the world's leading integrated finance and healthcare service provider. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The Group is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Ping An ranked 6th in the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2021 and ranked 16th in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2021. Ping An also ranked 49th in the 2021 WPP Kantar Millward Brown BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list.

For more information, please visit www.group.pingan.com and follow us on LinkedIn - PING AN.
DGAP-News: SHOP APOTHEKE EUROPE N.V. / Schlagwort(e): Hauptversammlung

SHOP APOTHEKE EUROPE N.V. VEROFFENTLICHT AGENDA DER ORDENTLICHEN HAUPTVERSAMMLUNG 2022.



03.03.2022 / 11:50

Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent / Herausgeber verantwortlich.



HINWEIS: DIESE MITTEILUNG IST NUR IN ENGLISCHER SPRACHE VERFUGBAR.





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SHOP APOTHEKE EUROPE N.V. PUBLISHES AGENDA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS 2022



Sevenum, 3 March 2022. SHOP APOTHEKE EUROPE N.V. ("SHOP APOTHEKE EUROPE" or the "Company") has today published the agenda for the annual general meeting of shareholders of the Company (the "AGM") to be held virtually on 14 April 2022. The convocation announcement and the agenda, the accompanying explanatory notes and other information/documentation are available on the corporate website of the Company (http://shop-apotheke-europe.com) under Investor Relations / General Meeting / Annual General Meeting 2022 and via the link



http://shop-apotheke-europe.com/en/investorrelations/hauptversammlung/



The AGM will take place on 14 April 2022 starting at 10:00 CEST, and will take place fully virtually this year on the basis of the Dutch Temporary Law Covid-19 Justice and Safety (the "Emergency Law"). The Company believes that a virtual meeting is the most prudent decision in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and considering the current guidelines of the Dutch government regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. This means that no visitors or shareholders can attend the meeting in person. The Company's shareholders, who are entitled to participate and exercise voting rights, can take part in the annual general meeting via the webcast on 14 April 2022 and can vote virtually during the meeting, in each case via an online platform provided by the Company's service provider for annual general meetings (such online platform, the "Virtual AGM Platform"). Furthermore, shareholders can ask questions either during the meeting and/or prior to the date of the meeting. The terms and conditions regarding virtual general meetings are available on the virtual AGM platform and apply to all shareholders who wish to attend, participate and vote at the meeting via the Virtual AGM Platform. Please refer to Section 3 (General Information) of the convocation announcements for further details regarding how to submit questions, attend, participate and vote at the AGM via the Virtual AGM Platform. Should the Emergency Law no longer apply on 14 April 2022, the Company will not be able to hold the annual general meeting fully virtually and, therefore, the annual general meeting will then take place on the same date and at the same time both virtually via the virtual AGM Platform and with limited access in person at Erik de Rodeweg 11-13, 5975 WD Sevenum (such meeting, the "Hybrid Meeting"). In the event that the annual general meeting must be held in the form of the Hybrid Meeting, the Company urges all its shareholders to carefully consider whether they wish to attend the annual general meeting in person at the venue in Sevenum in view of possible health risks relating to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The Company gives top priority to the health of its employees, shareholders and other stakeholders and, therefore, the Company strongly encourages its shareholders to take part in the annual general meeting via the webcast on 14 April 2022 and vote virtually during the meeting, in each case via the Virtual AGM Platform, and not to attend the Hybrid Meeting in person. This way, the Hybrid Meeting can take place with only a limited number of core attendees and health risks for those attendees can be limited as much as possible. If the annual general meeting this year will need to be held in the form of the Hybrid Meeting, the Company will announce that on the Company's corporate website before 14 April 2022.

For further information please contact us at:



General AGM related matters:

Rens Jan Kramer

Telephone: +31 6 46 18 67 23

Email: rensjan.kramer@shop-apotheke.com



Trade and public media:

Sven Schirmer

Mobile: +49 152 28 50 63 61

Email: presse@shop-apotheke.com



Financial media:

Thomas Schnorrenberg

Mobile: +49 151 46 53 13 17

Email: presse@shop-apotheke.com

03.03.2022 Veroffentlichung einer Corporate News/Finanznachricht, ubermittelt durch DGAP - ein Service der EQS Group AG.

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Cranbrook, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - DLP Resources Inc. ("DLP" or the "Company") (TSXV: DLP) (OTCQB: DLPRF) is pleased to announce an exploration update.

Moby Dick and NZOU Projects (Sullivan-type Zn-Pb-Ag Targets)

With weather conditions improving, it is expected that access to the first drill platform on the Moby Dick project will be cleared for drill rig mobilization to commence in mid March and drilling to start in late March-early April.

A three-to-four-hole drill program of approximately 5400m is planned for the Sullivan-type Zn-Pb-Ag targets on the Moby Dick and NZOU projects (Figure 1). As highlighted in the DLP press release of November 9, 2021, the extension of the well-developed MT (magnetotelluric) geophysical anomalies to the NE of hole DD21-02 indicate well developed conductive bodies extending over 5000m x 500m. These conductive zones are proposed to be associated with pyrrhotite (iron sulphide) associated with the extension of the Sullivan Horizon intersected in DD21-02 (Figures 2 and 3). Both geophysical and geological data support the fact that sufficient "smoke" exists to suggest that a significant mineralized Sullivan-type Zn-Pb-Ag system may be encountered in this phase of drilling.

Hungry Creek Project and Copper Creek (Sediment Hosted - Stratiform Copper-Silver-Cobalt Targets)

Permitting for drilling six drill holes (1800m) on both Hungry Creek and five drill holes on Copper Creek (2000m) has commenced. It is expected that permits for both projects should be approved for a summer drill program.

Both Hungry Creek and Copper Creek drilling will target sediment hosted - stratiform copper-silver-cobalt mineralization within the middle Creston Formation. Target 711 at Hungry Creek will be the focus of the first six holes where very encouraging copper mineralization was reported from seven grab and two float samples (see DLP press release dated November 30, 2021). Copper up to 1.15% and anomalous silver of up to 3.51ppm together with anomalous cobalt (up to 117.6ppm) and barium (up to 4,274 ppm) were also reported.

Aurora Project (Porphyry Cu-Mo Target)

Aurora is a porphyry copper-molybdenum project in Southern Peru with the potential to host a significant copper-molybdenum mineralized system. (Figures 4 and 5).

The community agreement with the Parobamba community has been finalized and permitting for drilling initiated. Drilling is expected to commence by June 2022.

When the property was under option with Focus Ventures Ltd. in 2013, they reported that thirteen historic holes drilled in 1999 and 2005 cut significant intervals of copper and molybdenum mineralization, including 244m @ 0.48% Cu, 0.007% Mo in DDA-1, 142m @ 0.5% Cu, 0.004% Mo in DDA-3, and 71.7m @ 0.7% Cu, 0.007% Mo in DDA-3A (see Focus news release July 11, 2012). No additional drilling has been done since Bear Creek and Vena Resources drilled those six and seven historic holes respectively. From a review of the historic data, majority of the holes were drilled within the leached cap of the mineralized system which extends to approximately 200m depth. Ten of the thirteen holes never fully tested the oxide and secondary enrichment zone and/or the primary copper zone at depth encountered in DDA-01.

Once permitting for drilling is approved, a 3000m phase 1 drill program will be initiated to confirm the historic copper-molybdenum results reported and expand the known secondary copper mineralization intersected previously in historic Hole DDA-01 (see news release of DLP Resources Inc. dated May 18, 2001).

Ian Gendall, CEO & President of DLP, commented: "We are excited about initiating the planned drilling on the Sullivan-type Zn-Pb-Ag targets on the Moby Dick and NZOU projects within the next month. In addition, drilling of the 711-copper target on the Hungry Creek Project in SE BC this summer is expected to give us a good indication of the mineralized thickness and copper grades at depth along this stratiform horizon which has now being mapped over 11km. With permitting underway on the Aurora porphyry copper project in Peru, we look forward to having drilling commence in June 2022."





Figure 1: DLP Project areas with Moby Dick, NZOU, Hungry Creek and Copper Creek properties shown.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6456/115465_efb3fe3454b91b64_001full.jpg







Figure 2: Titan MT resistivity section along Line 2N showing drill hole DD21-02.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6456/115465_efb3fe3454b91b64_002full.jpg







Figure 3: Titan MT resistivity plan at 0m elevation with the main MT anomaly trending NE from DD21-02 onto the Moby Dick and NZOU properties.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6456/115465_efb3fe3454b91b64_003full.jpg







Figure 4. Summarized geology and historic drill holes on the Aurora Project.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6456/115465_efb3fe3454b91b64_004full.jpg







Figure 5. Section 1-1' showing preliminary modelling and interpretation of historic drilling on the Aurora Project.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6456/115465_efb3fe3454b91b64_005full.jpg



Proposed Extension of June 2021 Warrants

The Company is pleased to announce that it has applied to the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") for a one-year extension of the term of 4,333,967 common share purchase warrants (the "Warrants") issued as part of the Company's private placement that closed on June 23, 2021. The Warrants are exercisable at a price of $0.40 and currently expire on June 23, 2022.

Subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, the term of the Warrants will be extended to June 23, 2023 for a total term of two years.

The Warrants are exercisable at a price of $0.40 and currently expire on June 23, 2022, subject to acceleration in the event that the trading price of the common shares of the Company equals or exceeds $0.50 for 10 consecutive days."

Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States.

Qualified Person

David L. Pighin, consulting geologist and co-founder of DLP Resources, is the qualified person of the Company as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Pighin has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.

About DLP Resources Inc.

DLP Resources Inc. is a mineral exploration company operating in Southeastern British Columbia and Peru, exploring for Base Metals and Cobalt. DLP is listed on the TSX-V, trading symbol DLP and on the OTCQB, trading symbol DLPRF. Please refer to our web site www.dlpresourcesinc.com for additional information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

DLP RESOURCES INC.

Ian Gendall, CEO & President

Jim Stypula, Executive Chairman

Robin Sudo, Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary

Maxwell Reinhart, Investor Relations

Telephone: 250-426-7808

Email: iangendall@dlpresourcesinc.com

Email: jimstypula@dlpresourcesinc.com

Email: robinsudo@dlpresourcesinc.com

Email: maxreinhart@dlpresourcesinc.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This release includes certain statements and information that may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company regarding future events. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". This information and these statements, referred to herein as "forward-looking statements", are not historical facts, are made as of the date of this news release and include without limitation, statements regarding discussions of future plans, estimates and forecasts and statements as to management's expectations and intentions with respect to, among other things, acquiring permits for drilling on the Aurora property.

These forward-looking statements involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things: delays in obtaining or failure to obtain required permits on the Aurora property and delays in obtaining or failure to obtain required regulatory approvals for the Investor Relations Agreement.

In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that: the Company will obtain the required regulatory approvals for permitting on the Aurora project and for the Investor Relations Agreement.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial out-look that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. We seek safe harbor.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115465
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices continued to soar on Thursday as Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its eighth day and Britain introduced additional legislation to implement further financial and trade sanctions on Russia. Benchmark Brent crude futures were up 2.2 percent at $115.40 a barrel, after having risen to within a whisker of $120 per barrel earlier. WTI crude futures were up 2.3 percent at $113.19. The Ukraine war triggered a dash for commodities that could be in short supply. Russia supplies around 30 percent of Europe's gas and oil imports and accounts for around 11 percent of world oil production. Everything from coal to natural gas and aluminum are surging as Western nations tighten sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Russia calls its actions a 'special operation'. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today accused Western politicians of considering nuclear war, adding that Moscow would press on with its military operation until 'the end.' Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
PHILADELPHIA  Pennsylvania lawmakers researching a bill to legalize recreational marijuana received a barrage of information Tuesday during a spirited, two-hour hearing in West Philadelphia.

They heard testimony espousing their instituting automatic and retroactive mass expungement of cannabis convictions and keeping the states white cartel of medical marijuana firms executives from taking over the recreational market.

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And there were calls to just legalize it already  from a medical marijuana patient who said he spent time in jail partly because of marijuana charges.

The House Democratic Policy Committee hearing, convened by State Rep. Amen Brown, and other meetings held in Harrisburg recently by the Republican-led Senate Law and Justice Committee highlighted the multitude of demands that lawmakers have to satisfy  criminal and economic justice, work-related and driver safety, and more  to get a legalization bill passed.

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Marijuana arrests fall in Pa.

But after many towns decriminalize, why hasnt there been a bigger drop? Brown, a West Philadelphia Democrat, said after the hearing that the bill he is proposing with State Sen. Mike Regan, a Republican from central Pennsylvania who attended Tuesdays hearing in Philadelphia, solves many of those concerns. Its uncertain when they will introduce that legislation or whether it stands any chance in the state House of Representatives, where Republican leaders remain steadfastly opposed to legalization.

Business Buzz Daily The daily update for the Lehigh Valley business person. >

Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana in 2016 and made it available to patients two years later. But thousands of Pennsylvanians are still suffering from the impact of cannabis arrests, causing problems with their employment, housing, health, and education, said Andrea Lindsay, lead investigator and mitigation specialist at the nonprofit Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity. That is why mass expungement is necessary, she said.

Lester Hollis, a Black cannabis entrepreneur, in 2016 and 2017 helped what he described as an African American-owned, African American-operated company apply for a license to be a grower and a processor in Chester. The application failed because of how the state awarded points for diversity, he said.

We now have a cartel of multistate operators who make nice gestures and say nice things, but the reality is that communities of color have not benefited by the rollout of this industry, Hollis said. Its just rich white folks getting richer. Thats been a failure, as I see it.

Community activist Isaac Ikey Raw Gardner told of his experiences with drug charges  a misdemeanor for cocaine and a felony for marijuana  and finally going to federal prison after being arrested for gun possession.

Gardner also spoke as a medical marijuana patient, pulling out packages of weed to show the lawmakers and gesticulating with his phone to show how he could text his medical marijuana dispensary right there and pick up his order later in the afternoon, just like a drug deal.

It seems crazy to him: Why are we even here? Why isnt marijuana already legalized and regulated?

(c)2022 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / NeonMind Biosciences Inc. (CSE:NEON)(OTCQB:NMDBF)(FRA:6UF) ("NeonMind' or the "Company"), an integrated drug development and wellness company focused on bringing innovative psychedelic-based treatments to people suffering from obesity and mental health disorders, announced today a strategic partnership with BioScript Solutions, a Canadian leader in specialty care. Under the terms of the partnership, NeonMind and BioScript Solutions will leverage BioScript Solutions' extensive national network of community-based infusion clinics to expand access to NeonMind's interventional psychiatry and unique treatment programs for Canadians.

Since 2001, BioScript Solutions' clinical network has been providing patients with a safe, comfortable environment to receive specialty therapies for chronic health conditions. With over 100 conveniently located clinics across the country, run by a team of highly experienced nurses, BioScript remains committed to being at the forefront of innovative patient care. NeonMind expects to select and announce its first location within BioScript Solutions' network in the first half of 2022. The Company expects to provide care through additional clinic locations throughout 2022, expanding to further locations and services in 2023 and beyond.

"We are thrilled to advance the development of our specialty clinics division through our partnership with BioScript Solutions," said Robert Tessarolo, President & CEO of NeonMind. "We now have multiple strategic partnerships in place with leading specialty care providers and have built an enhanced clinic network with greater reach. This positions us well to identify and open high-impact clinic locations that will serve local community needs and expedite our time to market. We look forward to working with BioScript Solutions to bring the therapeutic benefits of interventional psychiatry including evidence-based innovative therapies such as psychedelic modalities to mental health patients across the nation."

Commenting on the partnership, Chris Dalseg, Vice-President Strategic Growth and Marketing of BioScript Solutions, said, "This partnership with NeonMind is part of our ongoing mission to simplify access to specialty care for Canadians from coast to coast, and directly within their own communities. Mental health continues to be a growing global health concern, and we are thrilled to be able to continue expanding the breadth of our services supporting NeonMind's novel approach to mental health treatments."

About BioScript Solutions

For over 20 years, BioScript Solutions has been committed to helping people with chronic illnesses achieve the best possible health outcomes. With our total care approach, we simplify access to complex drug therapies and deliver full-service specialty care solutions at every stage of the patients' treatment journey. Through our logistics and distribution operations, specialty pharmacies, patient support programs and clinical services, BioScript Solutions has the capability to manage the needs of manufacturers, payors, prescribers, and health care practitioners across Canada - today, and tomorrow. To learn more, please visit www.bioscript.ca.

About NeonMind Biosciences Inc.

NeonMind operates two divisions: (i) a pharmaceutical division engaged in drug development of psychedelic compounds with two lead psilocybin-based drug candidates targeting obesity; and (ii) a medical services division focused on launching specialty mental health clinics that integrate psychedelic therapeutics into traditional psychotherapy settings.

In its pharmaceutical division, NeonMind has two distinct psilocybin drug development programs targeting obesity. NeonMind's lead candidate, NEO-001, employs psilocybin as an agonist at the serotonin 5- HT2A receptor, which is involved in the hallucinogenic effect of psychedelics. The Company's second drug candidate, NEO-002, employs low-dose psilocybin as an agonist at the 5-HT2C receptor, which controls appetite.

NeonMind and its strategic partners are building NeonMind-branded specialty mental health clinics in Canada that incorporate evidence-based innovative interventional psychiatry treatments to address a variety of mental health needs. For more information on NeonMind, go to www.NeonMindBiosciences.com.

Rob Tessarolo, President & Chief Executive Officer, NeonMind Biosciences Inc.

rob@neonmind.com

Tel: 416-750-3101

Investor Relations:

KCSA Strategic Communications

Scott Eckstein/Tim Regan

neonmind@kcsa.com

Tel: 212-896-1210

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or NeonMind's future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on NeonMind's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, NeonMind's drug development plans, its ability to retain key personnel, and its expectation as to the development of its intellectual property and other steps in its preclinical and clinical drug development constitute forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The statements made in this press release are made as of the date hereof. NeonMind disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: NeonMind Biosciences Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691372/NeonMind-and-BioScript-Solutions-Announce-Strategic-Partnership-Expanding-NeonMinds-Specialty-Clinic-Network-for-Interventional-Psychiatry-Treatments
Genetic medicine executive brings deep sector expertise to synthetic rescue leader

Pioneering platform charting world-first druggable target opportunities for diseases with a genetic component

Adrestia building a synthetic rescue 'atlas' of the human genome

Emerging pipeline of first-in-class therapies initially focused on neurologic, neuromuscular and cardiomyopathic diseases

Adrestia Therapeutics, a leader in synthetic rescue therapies for genetic diseases, today announced the appointment of life sciences executive Robert Johnson as Chief Executive Officer. Johnson joins the company following executive positions at Boston-based gene therapy company Affinia Therapeutics, which he co-founded, and a career in biotech and pharmaceutical management consulting. Johnson will lead Adrestia in the next phase of its development, leveraging its leading synthetic rescue platform to advance a portfolio of first-in-class therapeutics into clinical studies.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005095/en/

Robert Johnson, CEO, Adrestia Therapeutics (Photo: Business Wire)

"Rob joins Adrestia at a pivotal moment, as the company is delivering robust validation of its platform through its collaboration with GSK and is now advancing a portfolio of its own first-in-class programs towards IND," said Joanna Green, of Ahren Innovation Capital, which co-led Adrestia's Series A with GSK. "His strategic insights will be invaluable as Adrestia consolidates its position as a leading innovator in synthetic rescue, opening new therapeutic possibilities for intractable genetic diseases."

Despite advances in genetic technologies, many genes known to directly cause disease remain undruggable. Synthetic rescue offers a fresh approach: rather than targeting the causative mutation, a synthetic rescue drug modulates a related pathway, correcting the effects of the disease mutation and 'rescuing' cells from disease. The concept is enabled by a deep understanding of genetic networks and its therapeutic potential is illustrated in families where a member born with a disease-causing mutation is protected from disease due to a second 'rescue' mutation. Synthetic rescue presents new opportunities for drug development across all diseases that have a genetic component, including prevalent conditions like heart failure, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

"Physicians have long known that the severity of a genetic disease can be modulated by other genetic factors. The challenge has always been how do we identify those factors, and use that knowledge to help patients? Dramatic advances in functional genomics, cell and molecular biology and bioinformatics have set the stage for Adrestia's platform to methodically identify these precious insights," said Johnson. "I look forward to working with the Adrestia team to advance our pipeline into the clinic and apply synthetic rescue to benefit people living with one of the thousands of serious genetic conditions."

Adrestia's pioneering platform systematically mines the entire human genome for synthetic rescue targets using proprietary precision disease models. The platform builds on decades of research from the laboratory of Adrestia's founder, Professor Steve Jackson, and is already delivering novel validated targets to inform a synthetic rescue 'atlas' of the genome. Jackson is a pioneer in the related field of synthetic lethality for the treatment of cancers, notably co-originating olaparib, the first of a family of synthetic lethal drugs that has enhanced and extended the lives of thousands of cancer patients worldwide.

"Rob's leadership will be invaluable as Adrestia shifts from discovery to executing on a long-term portfolio strategy. Our rigorous drug development platform benefits from eight years of focused research into synthetic rescue and leverages a range of research tools validated over decades in synthetic lethality," said Jackson. "Our tools and know-how are exploiting the vast wealth of human genomics data available today to rapidly characterize the most compelling synthetic rescue targets for intractable diseases and build a pipeline with exciting potential for patients".

Robert Johnson was previously co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Affinia Therapeutics, a Boston-based gene therapy company engineering next-generation AAV capsids. Affinia's Series A was backed by noted life sciences investors NEA, Atlas and F-Prime, and was followed by a $1.6 billion strategic alliance with Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to Affinia, in 2009 Johnson co-founded Alacrita, a biotech and pharmaceutical strategy consulting firm. Over a decade of his leadership, he managed and led hundreds of consulting assignments. While working at Alacrita, Johnson also founded Foothold America, a fast-growing facilitator of market entry into the U.S. for the life sciences and other industries. He began his career at Onyvax, a 3i and SR One portfolio company developing allogeneic whole cell cancer vaccines, where he concluded his tenure as Head of Business Development.

About Adrestia's synthetic rescue platform

Adrestia has developed a leading synthetic rescue drug development platform, which has already identified completely new approaches to treating intractable genetic diseases. The platform includes multiple components, each designed to yield new insights into how every gene in the human genome modifies a particular disease's cellular phenotype. These insights are married with human genetic datasets to provide robust validation of new druggable targets and build an ever-growing synthetic rescue 'atlas' of the human genome.

This scalable platform builds on decades of research by Professor Steve Jackson's laboratory into the related concept of synthetic lethality for the treatment of cancer. The Jackson Laboratory's work has yielded a wealth of techniques, tools and know-how, now translated into Adrestia's synthetic rescue platform.

About Adrestia

Adrestia is a leader in synthetic rescue therapies for genetic diseases. As many directly causative mutations are not druggable, synthetic rescue embraces the much broader target set within related pathways to correct the effects of the causative mutations and 'rescue' health. Adrestia is creating a synthetic rescue 'atlas' of the human genome and advancing a portfolio of first-in-class therapies, initially for neurological, neuromuscular and cardiomyopathic diseases. Adrestia's platform and in-house programs are complemented by a target discovery alliance with GSK and a Huntington's disease collaboration with noted researchers including Dr. Sarah Tabrizi at University College London.

Adrestia was co-founded by Professor Steve Jackson and the deep technology investment fund Ahren Innovation Capital, which co-led Adrestia's Series A financing along with GSK. Jackson co-originated the first synthetic lethality drug, olaparib, which was the first drug approved to treat cancers caused by inherited mutations. For further information, please visit: www.adrestia.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005095/en/

Contacts:

Investors

Robert Johnson

investors@adrestia.com

Media

Tom Donovan

tom@lyrebird.bio

+1 857 559 3397
Nokia Corporation

Stock Exchange Release

3 March 2022 at 14:00 EET

Notice of the Annual General Meeting of Nokia Corporation

Espoo, Finland - Notice is given to the shareholders of Nokia Corporation (the "Company") of the Annual General Meeting to be held on Tuesday, 5 April 2022 at 15:00 EEST in the Company's headquarters at Karakaari 7, Espoo, Finland. Participation and exercise of shareholder rights in the Meeting is possible only by voting in advance and by submitting counterproposals and asking questions in advance in accordance with the instructions given in section C of this notice and otherwise by the Company. It is not possible for the shareholders or their proxy representatives to participate in the Meeting at the meeting venue.

The Board of Directors of the Company has resolved on extraordinary measures pursuant to the temporary legislative act (375/2021) which entered into force on 8 May 2021. In order to restrict the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Annual General Meeting will be held without shareholders' and their proxy representatives' presence at the Meeting venue. This is necessary in order to organize the Meeting in a predictable way allowing equal means for shareholders to participate while also ensuring the health and safety of the shareholders, employees and other stakeholders of the Company.

It is possible to follow the Annual General Meeting through a webcast. Instructions regarding the webcast will be available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm. It is not possible to ask questions, make counterproposals or vote through the webcast, and following the webcast is not considered as participation or exercise of shareholder rights in the Meeting.

After the Annual General Meeting on 5 April 2022 at 16:00 EEST the webcast will continue with a live Q&A event where the shareholders have the opportunity to present questions to the Company's management on subjects related to the Annual General Meeting. The Q&A event is not part of the Annual General Meeting and questions presented at the Q&A event are not deemed to be made at the Annual General Meeting. Questions presented to the Annual General Meeting pursuant to Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Companies Act are therefore required to be asked in advance in accordance with the instructions given in section C of this notice. Instructions regarding the webcast for the Q&A event will be available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

A. Matters on the agenda of the Annual General Meeting

At the Annual General Meeting, the following matters will be considered:

1. Opening of the Meeting

2. Matters of order for the Meeting

The Chair of the Meeting will be Seppo Kymalainen, attorney-at-law.

In case Seppo Kymalainen would not be able to act as the Chair of the Meeting for a weighty reason, the Board of Directors will name another person it deems most suitable to act as the Chair of the Meeting.

3. Election of a person to confirm the minutes and a person to verify the counting of votes

The person to confirm the minutes and to verify the counting of votes will be Marjo Westergard, the Company's Senior Legal Counsel.

In case Marjo Westergard would not be able to act as the person to confirm the minutes and to verify the counting of votes for a weighty reason, the Board of Directors will name another person it deems most suitable to act in that role.

4. Recording the legal convening of the Meeting and quorum

5. Recording the attendance at the Meeting and adoption of the list of votes

The shareholders who have voted in advance and who have the right to participate in the Meeting pursuant to Chapter 5 Sections 6 and 6a of the Finnish Companies Act will be recorded to have attended the Meeting. The list of votes will be adopted according to the information provided by Euroclear Finland Oy.

6. Presentation of the Annual Accounts, the review by the Board of Directors and the auditor's report for the financial year 2021

As participation in the Meeting is possible only in advance, the "Nokia in 2021" annual report, which includes the Company's Annual Accounts, the review by the Board of Directors and the auditor's report is deemed to have been presented to the Meeting once it is published in week 9 of 2022, after which it is available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

7. Adoption of the Annual Accounts

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting adopt the Annual Accounts.

8. Resolution on the use of the profit shown on the balance sheet and authorization of the Board of Directors to decide on the distribution of dividend and assets from the invested unrestricted equity fund

The distributable funds on the balance sheet of the Company as at 31 December 2021 were EUR 17 282 854 713.47, of which the profit for the financial year 2021 was EUR 482 256 270.12.

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that based on the balance sheet to be adopted for the financial year ended on 31 December 2021, no dividend is distributed by a resolution of the Annual General Meeting. Instead, the Board proposes to be authorized to decide on the distribution of an aggregate maximum of EUR 0.08 per share as dividend and/or as assets from the invested unrestricted equity fund.

The authorization will be used to distribute dividend and/or equity repayment in four installments during the period of validity of the authorization unless the Board of Directors decides otherwise for a justified reason. The authorization would be valid until the opening of the next Annual General Meeting. The Board would make separate resolutions on the amount and timing of each distribution of the dividend and/or equity repayment so that the preliminary record and payment dates for the dividend and/or equity repayment will be as set out below. The Company shall make a separate announcement of each such Board resolution.

Preliminary record date Preliminary payment date 3 May 2022 12 May 2022 26 July 2022 4 August 2022 25 October 2022 3 November 2022 7 February 2023 16 February 2023

The dividend and/or equity repayment based on the resolution of the Board of Directors will be paid to a shareholder registered in the Company's shareholders' register maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy on the record date of the dividend and/or equity repayment.

Based on the total number of shares in the Company on the date of this proposal, the authorization would be equal to an approximate maximum of EUR 456 million. The proposed total authorization for dividend and/or equity repayment is in line with the Company's dividend policy.

Since the Board has proposed that instead of an immediate dividend resolution, the Board would be authorized by the Annual General Meeting to decide on the dividend and/or equity repayment as set forth above, the shareholders have the right, in deviation from the Board's proposal, to demand a minority dividend, pursuant to Chapter 13 Section 7 of the Finnish Companies Act. The minority dividend must be distributed, if a demand to this effect is made by shareholders who have at least one tenth of all shares. The amount of minority dividend is EUR 241 128 135.06, which corresponds to half of the profit of the financial year. A shareholder demanding minority dividend may vote for the minority dividend in advance voting, and no separate demand or counterproposal is required. The Board has informed that it would take the potential distribution of minority dividend into account as a reduction in the amount of funds to be distributed based on the authorization, provided that the Annual General Meeting authorizes the Board to decide on the distribution of funds as proposed.

9. Resolution on the discharge of the members of the Board of Directors and the President and CEO from liability for the financial year 2021

10. Addressing the Remuneration Report

As participation in the Meeting is possible only in advance, the Company's Remuneration Report is deemed to have been presented to the Meeting once it has been published by a stock exchange release in week 9 of 2022, after which it is available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm. The resolution to adopt the Remuneration Report is advisory.

11. Resolution on the remuneration to the members of the Board of Directors

To ensure the competitiveness of the Board remuneration and reflecting the fee development in Nokia's global peer group, the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee has resolved to recommend to the Board that the annual fees of Board members, save for the Chair of the Board, would be proposed to be increased with EUR 10 000. Other remuneration payable to the Board and Committee members would remain unchanged, including the annual fee of the Chair of the Board and the Company's practice according to which no additional annual fees are paid to the Chair of the Board for service in any of the Board Committees.

Consequently, on the recommendation of the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee and in line with the Company's Remuneration Policy, the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the annual fee payable to Board members for a term ending at the close of the next Annual General Meeting be as follows:

EUR 440 000 for the Chair of the Board;

EUR 195 000 for the Vice Chair of the Board;

EUR 170 000 for each member of the Board;

EUR 30 000 each for the Chairs of the Audit Committee and the Personnel Committee and EUR 20 000 for the Chair of the Technology Committee as an additional annual fee; and

EUR 15 000 for each member of the Audit Committee and Personnel Committee and EUR 10 000 for each member of the Technology Committee as an additional annual fee.



The Board of Directors proposes that approximately 40 percent of the annual fee be paid in Nokia shares purchased from the market on behalf of the Board members or alternatively by using treasury shares held by the Company. The rest of the annual fee will be payable in cash to cover taxes arising from the remuneration. The directors shall retain until the end of their directorship such number of shares that corresponds to the number of Nokia shares they have received as Board remuneration during their first three years of service in the Board.

In addition, the Board proposes that the meeting fees for Board and Board Committee meetings payable to all the other Board members, except for the Chair of the Board, remain at current level. These meeting fees based on travel required between the Board member's home location and the location of a meeting would be paid for a maximum of seven meetings per term as follows:

EUR 5 000 per meeting requiring intercontinental travel; and

EUR 2 000 per meeting requiring continental travel.

Only one meeting fee would be payable in the usual case of multiple Board and Board Committee meetings per eligible travel.

Moreover, it is proposed that members of the Board of Directors shall be compensated for travel and accommodation expenses as well as other costs directly related to Board and Board Committee work. The meeting fees, travel expenses and other expenses directly related to Board and Board Committee work will be paid in cash.

12. Resolution on the number of members of the Board of Directors

On the recommendation of the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee, the Board proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the number of Board members be ten (10).

13. Election of members of the Board of Directors

Kari Stadigh, the Vice Chair of the Board, has informed the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee that he will no longer be available to serve on the Nokia Board of Directors after the Annual General Meeting. The Board proposes, on the recommendation of the Board's Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee, that the following current Board members be re-elected as members of the Board of Directors for a term until the close of the next Annual General Meeting: Sari Baldauf, Bruce Brown, Thomas Dannenfeldt, Jeanette Horan, Edward Kozel, Sren Skou and Carla Smits-Nusteling. In addition, it is proposed that Lisa Hook, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Neustar, Inc., Thomas Saueressig, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and Global Head of SAP Product Engineering, and Kai Oistamo, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vaisala Corporation, be elected as new members of the Board of Directors for the same term of office.

The Corporate Governance and Nomination Committee intends to propose in the assembly meeting of the new Board of Directors to be held after the Annual General Meeting that Sari Baldauf be re-elected as Chair of the Board and Sren Skou as new Vice Chair of the Board, subject to their election to the Board of Directors.

All Board member candidates have been determined to be independent of the Company and of the Company's significant shareholders under the Finnish Corporate Governance Code and the rules of the New York Stock Exchange, as applicable.

The biographical details of all Board member candidates are presented on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

14. Resolution on the remuneration of the Auditor

On the recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that the auditor to be elected for the financial year 2023 be reimbursed based on the invoice of the auditor and in compliance with the purchase policy approved by the Board's Audit Committee.

15. Election of Auditor for the financial year 2023

Since 2019, the Board of Directors has proposed to the Annual General Meeting that the shareholders would elect the auditor for the financial year commencing next after the election. Therefore, on the recommendation of the Board's Audit Committee, the Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting that Deloitte Oy be re-elected as the auditor of the Company for the financial year 2023.

Deloitte Oy has informed the Company that the auditor in charge would be Authorized Public Accountant Marika Nevalainen.

16. Authorization to the Board of Directors to resolve to repurchase the Company's own shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorize the Board of Directors to resolve to repurchase a maximum of 550 million shares, which corresponds to less than 10 percent of the Company's total number of shares. The repurchases under the authorization are proposed to be carried out by using funds in the unrestricted equity, as resolved by the Board of Directors, which means that the repurchases will reduce the distributable funds of the Company.

The price paid for the shares under the authorization shall be based on the market price of Nokia share on the securities markets on the date of the repurchase or a price otherwise formed in a competitive process. Shares may be repurchased to be cancelled, held to be reissued, transferred further or for other purposes resolved by the Board of Directors. The Company may enter into derivative, share lending or other arrangements customary in capital market practice.

The shares may be repurchased otherwise than in proportion to the shares held by the shareholders (directed repurchase).

The Board shall resolve on all other matters related to the repurchase of Nokia shares.

It is proposed that the authorization be effective until 4 October 2023 and terminate the authorization for repurchasing the Company's shares granted by the Annual General Meeting on 8 April 2021 to the extent that the Board has not previously resolved to repurchase shares based on such authorization.

17. Authorization to the Board of Directors to resolve to issue shares and special rights entitling to shares

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting authorize the Board of Directors to resolve to issue in total a maximum of 550 million shares through issuance of shares or special rights entitling to shares under Chapter 10, Section 1 of the Finnish Companies Act in one or more issues during the effective period of the authorization. The Board of Directors may issue either new shares or treasury shares held by the Company. The proposed maximum amount corresponds to less than 10 percent of the Company's total number of shares as of the date of this proposal.

Shares and special rights entitling to shares may be issued in deviation from the shareholders' pre-emptive rights within the limits set by law. The authorization may be used to develop the Company's capital structure, diversify the shareholder base, finance or carry out acquisitions or other arrangements, settle the Company's equity-based incentive plans or for other purposes resolved by the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors shall resolve on all terms and conditions of the issuance of shares and special rights entitling to shares under Chapter 10, Section 1 of the Finnish Companies Act.

It is proposed that the authorization be effective until 4 October 2023 and terminate the authorization for issuance of shares and special rights entitling to shares resolved at the Annual General Meeting on 8 April 2021.

18. Closing of the Meeting

B. Documents of the Annual General Meeting

This notice, all the proposals by the Board of Directors relating to the agenda of Meeting, the Remuneration Report as well as the "Nokia in 2021" annual report, which includes the Company's Annual Accounts, the review by the Board of Directors and the auditor's report, are expected to be available on the Company's website at www.nokia.com/agmin week 9 of 2022. A copy of the "Nokia in 2021" annual report will be sent to shareholders upon request. The minutes of the Annual General Meeting will be available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agmlatest on 19 April 2022.

C. Instructions for the participants of the Annual General Meeting

The Company takes the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, and in its efforts to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Annual General Meeting has been decided to be held without shareholders and their proxy representatives' presence at the Meeting venue. This is necessary in order to ensure the health and safety of the Company's shareholders, employees and other stakeholders. The Company's shareholders and their proxy representatives can participate in the Meeting and use their shareholder rights only by voting in advance and by submitting counterproposals and asking questions in advance by following the below instructions.

It is possible to follow the Annual General Meeting through a webcast. Instructions regarding the webcast will be available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm. It is not possible to ask questions, submit counterproposals or vote in the Annual General Meeting through the webcast, and following the webcast is not considered as participation in the Annual General Meeting or exercise of shareholder rights. The same applies also if a shareholder would not have voted in advance or issued a proxy document to a proxy representative.

1. The right to participate in the Meeting

Each shareholder, who on 24 March 2022 is registered in the Register of Shareholders of the Company, maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy, has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting. A shareholder, whose shares are registered on his/her Finnish book-entry account, is automatically registered in the Register of Shareholders of the Company. If you do not have a Finnish book-entry account, see section 4. Holders of nominee-registered shares or section 5. Holders of American Depositary Receipts (ADR). Shareholders cannot participate in the Meeting by any other means than voting in advance in the manner instructed below as well as by submitting counterproposals and asking questions in advance.

2. Registration and voting in advance for shareholders registered in the shareholders' register maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy

Shareholders with a Finnish book-entry account, who wish to participate at the Annual General Meeting, must register for the Meeting by giving a prior notice of participation and by delivering their votes in advance no later than by 29 March 2022 at 16:00 EEST by which time the notice and votes need to be received.

Registration and advance voting will open on 9 March 2022 by 10:00 EET and end on 29 March 2022 at 16:00 EEST. A shareholder, who has a Finnish book-entry account, may register and vote in advance by the following means:

a) through the Company's website at www.nokia.com/agm

Private persons can register and vote by using strong authentication (for example Finnish bank ID). For shareholders that are legal persons, a business ID and the book-entry account number of the shareholder are needed for voting in advance. Should a legal person authorize a proxy representative through the electronic Suomi.fi authorization service, the authorized person is required to use strong identification in order to register and vote. More information in chapter 3. Proxy representatives and powers of attorney.

b) by email or mail

A shareholder may send the advance voting form available on the Company's website to Euroclear Finland Oy by email at yhtiokokous@euroclear.euor by regular mail to Euroclear Finland Oy, Yhtiokokous/Nokia Oyj, P.O. Box 1110, FI-00101 Helsinki.

In connection with the registration, a shareholder or a proxy representative is required to provide the personal information requested. The personal information collected will only be used in connection with the Annual General Meeting and registrations related to it.

If a shareholder participates in the Meeting by sending the votes in advance by mail or email to Euroclear Finland Oy, in accordance with applicable instructions, the delivery of the votes constitutes due registration for the Meeting. No other separate notification of participation is required.

Further instructions relating to the advance voting will be available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agmand information is also available by telephone at +358 20 770 6870 from Monday to Friday at 09:00 to 16:00 EET.

3. Proxy representatives and powers of attorney

A shareholder may participate in the Annual General Meeting by proxy. The proxy representative of a shareholder is also required to vote in advance in the manner instructed in this notice. A proxy representative shall produce a dated proxy authorization document or otherwise in a reliable manner demonstrate their right to represent the shareholder. Should a shareholder participate in the Meeting by means of several proxy representatives representing the shareholder with shares in different book-entry accounts, the shares by which each proxy representative represents the shareholder shall be identified in connection with the registration for the Meeting. Proxy authorization documents should be delivered to Euroclear Finland Oy by letter to Euroclear Finland Oy, Yhtiokokous/Nokia Oyj, P.O. Box 1110, FI-00101 Helsinki or by email at yhtiokokous@euroclear.euat the latest by 29 March 2022 at 16:00 EEST.

Shareholders that are legal persons can also use the electronic Suomi.fi authorization service instead of the traditional proxy authorization document. In this case, the legal person authorizes a representative nominated by it in the Suomi.fi service at www.suomi.fi/e-authorizationsby using the mandate theme "Representation at the General Meeting". In order to register and vote through Euroclear Finland Oy's online meeting service, the authorized person must use strong electronic identification.

4. Holders of nominee-registered shares

A holder of nominee-registered shares has the right to participate in the Annual General Meeting by virtue of such shares, based on which they on the record date of the Annual General Meeting, i.e. on 24 March 2022, would be entitled to be registered in the shareholders' register of the company held by Euroclear Finland Oy. The right to participate in the Meeting requires, in addition, that the shareholder on the basis of such shares has been registered into the temporary shareholders' register held by Euroclear Finland Oy at the latest by 31 March 2022 by 14:00 EEST. As regards nominee-registered shares this constitutes due registration for the Annual General Meeting.

A holder of nominee-registered shares is advised to request without delay necessary instructions regarding the temporary registration in the shareholders' register of the Company, the issuing of proxy authorization documents and registration for the Annual General Meeting from his/her custodian bank. The account management organization of the custodian bank shall temporarily register a holder of nominee-registered shares, who wants to participate in the Annual General Meeting, into the shareholders' register of the Company at the latest by the time stated above. In addition, the account management organization of the custodian bank shall arrange advance voting on behalf of the holders of nominee registered shares. Further information on these matters can also be found on the company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

5. Holders of American Depositary Receipts (ADR)

A holder of American Depositary Shares (ADR) intending to vote at the Meeting shall without delay notify the Depositary Bank of Nokia, Citibank, N.A., of his/her intention and shall comply with the instructions provided by Citibank, N.A.

6. Other instructions and information

Shareholders who hold at least one hundredth of all shares in the Company have a right to make counterproposals on the agenda items for the Meeting, to be put for a vote. Such counterproposals are required to be sent to the Company by email to agm@nokia.comno later than by 8 March 2022 at noon EET. The shareholders shall in connection with the counterproposal present sufficient evidence of their shareholding in the Company. The counterproposal will be taken to a vote in the Meeting provided that the shareholders making the counterproposal have the right to participate in the Meeting and that they hold at least one hundredth of all outstanding shares in the Company on the record date of the Meeting. Should the counterproposal not be taken to a vote at the Meeting, votes in favor of the counterproposal will not be taken into account. The Company will publish the counterproposals eligible for voting on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agmon 9 March 2022 at the latest.

Shareholders have the right to ask questions referred to in Chapter 5, Section 25 of the Finnish Companies Act with respect to the matters to be considered at the Meeting. Such questions must be sent by email to agm@nokia.comno later than 18 March 2022 at 16:00 EET. Shareholders shall in connection with their questions present sufficient evidence of their shareholding in the Company. Such questions from shareholders, the Company's management's answers to them, and any counterproposals that have not been put for a vote are available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agmon 23 March 2022.

Information on the General Meeting required by the Finnish Companies Act and the Securities Markets Act is available on the Company's website www.nokia.com/agm.

Changes in the number of shares held after the record date of the Annual General Meeting shall not have an effect on the right to participate the Meeting nor on the number of votes held by a shareholder in the Meeting.

On the date of this notice of the Annual General Meeting the total number of shares in Nokia Corporation and votes represented by such shares is 5 696 261 159.

Nokia Corporation

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

About Nokia

At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

As a trusted partner for critical networks, we are committed to innovation and technology leadership across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. We create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.

Adhering to the highest standards of integrity and security, we help build the capabilities needed for a more productive, sustainable and inclusive world.

Inquiries:

Nokia

Communications

Phone: +358 10 448 4900

Email: press.services@nokia.com

Katja Antila, Head of Corporate Communications
Iconic, Sport-Inspired Brand Celebrates Spring with Sun-Washed Pastels, Florals, and Tropical Prints

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., March 03, 2022., the official brand of the United States Polo Association, has launched its iconic, sport-inspired Spring Collection for 2022. The brand's global photoshoot took place across South Florida in trendy Miami Beach, The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, and in iconic Palm Beach - all known for their luxurious, coastal scenery, lush, tropical feel, and bright, sunny skies.

U.S. Polo Assn.'s Spring 2022 Collection represents what is bright and new in the upcoming spring season. In this beautiful South Florida setting, sun-washed pastels were layered with textured linens and shot beside chic poolside cabanas, breezy palms, and white sand beaches. Escape the winter grays and sunbathe in the Spring Collection, filled with soft colors, leafy florals and tropical patterns. This collection offers casual comfort and a relaxed style to bring your wardrobe into a new season with ease. The Spring Collection is filled with looks that match your personal style and can be layered for the ever-changing spring weather. This season you will see subtle prints, fabrics with texture, color blocking, and softer fits to create an evolved classic style from U.S Polo Assn.

"In our Spring 2022 Collection, we take a fresh approach to wardrobe classics by using color as the catalyst for change," says Brian Kaminer, SVP of Brand and Product for U.S. Polo Assn. "Always keeping comfort as much a priority as style, we have also used technical yarns and fabrics in creating products that work for busy lifestyles."

U.S. Polo Assn. is known for its sport-inspired, classic American style, and each season the brand takes it to a new level with unique colors, styles, and fabrics. The Spring 2022 Collection is no different, as the vibrant and modern assortments offer wide variety, including some apparel with sustainable aspects.

"The U.S. Polo Assn. creative team was able to capture the inspiration behind the collection in the photoshoot at iconic locations in South Florida, like the historic Biltmore Hotel and the stylish sites around Palm Beach," says J. Michael Prince, President and CEO of USPA Global Licensing, which manages the global, multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand. "Every season, we evolve our products with innovation, production and style but always maintain our authentic connection to the sport of polo."

About U.S. Polo Assn. and USPA Global Licensing Inc. (USPAGL)

U.S. Polo Assn. is the official brand of the United States Polo Association.

USPA Global Licensing Inc..

###

Press Release Contact:

Stacey Kovalsky - Senior Director, Global Communications

Phone +001.561.790.8036 - Email: skovalsky@uspagl.com

Kaela Drake - PR & Communications Coordinator

Phone +001.561.461.8596 - Email: kdrake@uspagl.com

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / LOVE Pharma Co. ("LOVE" and or "The Company") (CSE:LUV)(FSE:G1Q0), the Company is pleased to announce updated details on the proposed Microdoz Therapy acquisition (originally announced in a press release on November 23, 2021), whereby Microdoz has engaged exclusively with researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the top psychedelic center in the World, located in the eastern United States, to conduct a landmark study into the potential of psilocybin assisted treatment of cannabis use disorder. The company looks forward to working with the university and research experts on the study and, ultimately, licensing and commercializing the intellectual property developed by the landmark study.

"This is a significant opportunity to develop treatments with efficacy for people who are today subject to Cannabis Use Disorder and those who will become subject to it in the future," said Mr. Zach Stadnyk, Love Pharma CEO. "The U.S. cannabis industry is forecast to surpass $41 billion by 20252, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse has released research suggesting 9% - 30% of people using cannabis may develop cannabis use disorder3, so we see an opportunity where Love can help people facing this disorder along with our research partners, while at the same time developing a lucrative market for treatment that will benefit our shareholders."

Lucas Corrubia, Co-founder of Microdoz and PhD Candidate, stated: "the Hopkins team has paved the way for clinical psychedelic therapy research, and we are optimistic in working with their successful research team to develop a new therapy for cannabis abuse, and develop a long-lasting relationship with the global leader in medical research sciences".

Through the planned acquisition of Microdoz, partnering with the university to conduct this comprehensive study relating to the potential of psilocybin assisted treatment for cannabis use disorder will help to establish consumer confidence and guide the development and use of psilocybin product development and application. As a result, LOVE will continue to develop innovative products that establish new consumer applications. Science and efficacy are paramount to the LOVE Pharma strategy, as indicated by the Company's research initiative to take place at Johns Hopkins. We look forward to completing this clinical study and licensing the intellectual property produced from it and, eventually, commercializing the prospective findings furthering our footprint in the bourgeoning psychedelics for therapeutic use space going forward and delivering value for our shareholders.

Terms of the Deal:

$1,000,000 CAD payable in common shares of the company subject to certain escrow provisions pegged to milestone achievements at a deemed price of $0.05 per share

50% payable at closing of the definitive agreement which is anticipated to close in 14 days, subject to final due diligence

Remaining 50% will be paid in four equal tranches over a 2-year period subject to the successful completion of certain millstones

https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/alcohol-drugs-and-addictive-behaviours/drugs-psychoactive/cannabis https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-08/cannabis-addiction-draws-drugmakers-in-search-for-a-treatment https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/available-treatments-marijuana-use-disorders

This acquisition is subject to final due diligence, and it is anticipated to close in the coming weeks, for which, there is no guarantee.

In addition, pursuant to the company's stock option plan, the company has issued 3,000,000 inventive stock options to consultants of the issuer exercisable at a price of $0.05 per share for a period of five (5) years, vesting immediately.

Zachary Stadnyk, CEO and Director

About Love Pharma Inc.

With a focus on the global sexual Health and Wellness markets, Love Pharma Inc. (CSE: LUV) (FSE: G1Q0) was founded in 2020, with a mission to bring to market innovative products that enhance sexual health and wellness while providing an improved quality of life. Love Pharma holds exclusive licenses to produce market, package, sell, and distribute patent-protected therapeutic and pharmaceutical products throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America.

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations

Telephone: 1 (604) 343-2977

E-mail: investors@love-pharma.com

www.love-pharma.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward-looking information") as those terms are used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "anticipates" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company, financing and certain corporate changes. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

SOURCE: Love Pharma Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691340/Love-Pharma-Updates-Microdoz-Proposed-Acquisition-with-Global-Leader-in-Psychedelic-Research
Strengthens Management Team in Anticipation of First Delivery of Carbon Credits

Carbon Streaming Corporation (NEO: NETZ) (OTCQB: OFSTF) (FSE: M2Q) ("Carbon Streaming" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the addition of Oliver Forster as Vice President of Sales as the Company anticipates its first delivery of carbon credits from previously announced streaming agreements.

Carbon Streaming's CEO Justin Cochrane stated: "On behalf of the entire organization I would like to extend a very warm welcome to Mr. Oliver Forster. His unique background in carbon credit sales and in designing emission reduction programs for global corporations makes him a valuable addition to the Carbon Streaming team."

Oliver Forster (VP of Sales) brings with him nearly a decade of experience devoted to climate action and strategic corporate sustainability consulting. He joins Carbon Streaming from his role as Director of Business Development at ClimateCare Natural Capital Partners, where he managed a team of sales and sustainability consultants. Mr. Forster holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Geoscience from The University of Edinburgh (UK) and a Master's in Leadership for Sustainable Development degree from Middlesex University (UK).

About Carbon Streaming

Carbon Streaming is a unique ESG principled company offering investors exposure to carbon credits, a key instrument used by both governments and corporations to achieve their carbon neutral and net-zero climate goals. Our business model is focused on acquiring, managing and growing a high-quality and diversified portfolio of investments in projects and/or companies that generate or are actively involved, directly or indirectly, with voluntary and/or compliance carbon credits.

The Company invests capital through carbon credit streaming arrangements with project developers and owners to accelerate the creation of carbon offset projects by bringing capital to projects that might not otherwise be developed. Many of these projects will have significant social and economic co-benefits in addition to their carbon reduction or removal potential.

To receive corporate updates via e-mail as soon as they are published, please subscribe here.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, 'forward-looking information') within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements with respect to the timing of future carbon credit delivery from the Company's existing investments and statements regarding the Company's financial future) are forward-looking information.

This forward-looking information is based on the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things: general economic, market and business conditions and the other risks disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's Annual Information Form dated as of September 27, 2021 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005403/en/

Contacts:

ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY:

Justin Cochrane, Chief Executive Officer

Tel: 647.846.7765

info@carbonstreaming.com

www.carbonstreaming.com
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Pentair plc (PNR), a provider of water treatment and sustainable solutions, said it agreed to acquire Manitowoc Ice, a provider of commercial ice makers, for $1.6 billion. When adjusted for about $220 million of expected tax benefits, the net transaction value is about $1.38 billion. Pentair expects to fund the acquisition with new debt that is anticipated to be investment grade. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022. Manitowoc Ice is a portfolio brand of Welbilt Inc. (WBT). Manitowoc Ice employs more than 800 team members and operates facilities in Manitowoc, Wis., Monterrey, Mexico and Hangzhou, China. Manitowoc Ice generated $308 million in revenue in 2021 with EBITDA margins of approximately 30%. Not including Manitowoc Ice, Pentair reiterated its 2022 GAAP earnings per share guidance of approximately $3.54 to $3.64 and on an adjusted basis of approximately $3.70 to $3.80. Not including Manitowoc Ice, the company continues to anticipate full year 2022 sales to be up approximately 6 to 9 percent on a reported basis compared to full year 2021. In addition, the Company reiterated its first quarter 2022 GAAP earnings per share of approximately $0.76 and on an adjusted earnings per share basis of approximately $0.80. The Company expects first quarter sales to be up approximately 7 to 11 percent on a reported basis compared to first quarter 2021. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / Silver Range Resources Ltd. (TSXV:SNG) ("Silver Range" or the "Company") is pleased to provide results from a recent exploration programs at the Bellehelen Property ("Bellehelen") in Nye County, NV.

Between May and October 2021, Silver Range conducted geologic mapping, prospecting, sampling and soil geochemical surveys at Bellehelen. Prospecting identified two new structurally controlled, low sulphidation quartz vein occurrences in the northern portion of the property returning 10.85 g/t Au and 148 g/t Ag; and 8.89 g/t Au and 609 g/t Ag respectively. A different style of mineralization, analogous to the nearby Silicon Project, and potentially hosting much larger gold endowment was discovered in the northern portion of the property where quartz-adularia flooded pyroclastic rocks return 0.622 g/t from a chip panel sample (QA Showing). At a second location on trend in pyritized, quartz-flooded pyroclastic rocks, an overlooked historic grab sample returned 0.744 g/t from dump material at a shallow shaft.

Soil sampling was conducted on two grids using 100 m spaced lines with samples spaced 25 m apart. At the BH Grid, centred on the area of the Ben Hur Mine, soil sample results mapped a kilometre-long gold-in-soil anomaly defined by samples greater than 100 ppb Au. The anomaly is open on-strike in both directions. Peak soil response on this grid was 3.53 ppm Au and 168 ppm Ag. At the QA grid, centred on the eponymous showing, scattered gold-in-soil analyses were recorded with peak soil responses of 331 ppb Au and 1.04 ppm Ag. High mercury responses were also noted on this grid.

Airborne total magnetic field surveys; short wave infrared (SWIR) alteration and geologic mapping; and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) lithogeochemical analyses identified two subordinate craters within the larger Bellehelen Caldera. The Ben Hur Crater, defined by aeromagnetic surveys and structural geologic mapping, contains the Ben Hur Mine and associated showings. The BH soil grid is also within this feature. Higher temperature, lower pH alteration minerals were identified in this crater by SWIR analysis of pumice clasts in host pyroclastic rocks. Rocks with higher temperature clay minerals defined by crystallinity index and rocks with pumice fragments showing higher Rb/Sr ratios are found along the central axis of the Bellehelen Caldera, suggesting that heat flow and mineralization may be localized along this axis.

An updated video presentation on results to date at Bellehelen may be found at https://silverrangeresources.com/projects/nevada/bellehelen/.

A total of 47 grab and chip rock samples were collected during the program and returned gold values ranging from trace to 10.85 g/t Au with two samples greater than 5 g/t Au and from 0.2 to 609 g/t Ag with 2 samples greater than 400 g/t Ag. A total of 464 soil samples were collected during the program. Soil response ranged from 0.2 to 3,350 ppb Au with 21 samples greater than 100 ppb Au and from 0.022 to 168 ppm Ag with 12 samples greater than 2 ppm Ag. Samples were secured and transported under chain of custody to ALS Minerals facilities in Reno, Nevada for sample preparation and analysis. Rock pulps were shipped to North Vancouver for assaying and geochemical analyses. At the laboratory, soil samples were screened to -180 mm and a 50 g aliquot was analyzed for 41 elements with induced coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). ALS documents a 0.1 ppb Au detection limit for this technique. Overlimit soil samples (> 1.00 ppm Au) were re-analyzed with ALS procedure Au-AROR44. Rock samples were analyzed by Ultra-Trace Aqua Regia ICP-MS (ME-MS41) and fire assayed for gold (50 g sample) (Au-AA26). Samples returning overlimit silver analyses were reanalyzed with a technique appropriate to ore grade concentrations (Ag-OG46).

Technical information in this news release has been approved by Mike Power, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and CEO of Silver Range Resources Ltd. and a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

About Silver Range Resources Ltd.

Silver Range is a precious metals prospect generator working in Nevada and Northern Canada. It has assembled a portfolio of 45 properties, 13 of which are currently under option to others. Four projects have been converted to royalty interests. Silver Range is actively seeking other joint venture partners to explore the high-grade precious metals targets in its portfolio.

ON BEHALF OF SILVER RANGE RESOURCES LTD.

"Michael A. Power"

President and Chief Executive Officer

For further information concerning Silver Range or its exploration projects please contact:

Investor Inquiries

Richard Drechsler

Vice-President, Communications

Tel: (604) 687-2522

NA Toll-Free: (888) 688-2522

rdrechsler@silverrangeresources.com

http://www.silverrangeresources.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration and other risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.

SOURCE: Silver Range Resources Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691328/Silver-Range-Resources-Ltd-Samples-High-Grade-Gold-and-Silver-at-the-Bellehelen-Property-Central-Nevada
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 7.30 am ET Thursday, the European Central Bank releases the accounts of the monetary policy meeting of the governing council held on February 2 and 3. Ahead of the release, the euro traded mixed against its major counterparts. While it held steady against the yen and the greenback, it advanced against the pound. Against the franc, it dropped. The euro was worth 128.33 against the yen, 1.1094 against the greenback, 1.0195 against the franc and 0.8288 against the pound at 7.25 am ET. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The European Central Bank has published the accounts of the monetary policy meeting of the Governing Council held on February 2 and 3 at 7.30 am ET Thursday. After the release, the euro changed little against its major counterparts. The euro was trading at 128.32 against the yen, 1.1094 against the greenback, 1.0193 against the franc and 0.8287 against the pound around 7.35 am ET. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
An Easton man was sentenced Wednesday to seven to 14 years in state prison after being convicted of assaulting and disarming a city police officer who was trying to arrest another man at a party.

Wilfredo Santiago, 45, was sentenced by Northampton County Judge Samuel Murray after a jury in February convicted him of aggravated assault, riot, obstructing police, hindering apprehension, simple assault, recklessly endangerment and disarming a law enforcement officer, a news release states.

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Shortly after 7 p.m. July 27, 2019, officers responded to a noise complaint in the 900 block of Ferry Street and found a large party in the street and on the sidewalk, police said.

An officer began to arrest a man when Santiago grabbed, pushed and pulled the officer in efforts to prevent the arrest, according to trial testimony. Santiago then knocked the officers Taser from his hand and punched the officer in the face, knocking him down several steps onto his head.

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The concussed officer was taken to a hospital, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Patricia Mulqueen, who prosecuted the case.

Morning Call reporter Andrew Scott can be reached at 610-820-6508 or ascott@mcall.com.
TORONTO, ON and RICHMOND, VA / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / StageZero Life Sciences, Ltd. (TSX:SZLS) ("StageZero" or the "Company"), a vertically integrated healthcare company devoted to improving the early detection and management of cancer and other chronic diseases through leading-edge molecular diagnostics and clinical interventions, is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced private placement of its common shares ("Common Shares") and warrants to purchase Common Shares ("Warrants") with an institutional investor for gross proceeds of approximately CAD$1.87 million (the "Private Placement"). Pursuant to the Private Placement, the Company issued 10,000,000 Common Shares and Warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 10,000,000 Common Shares at a purchase price of CAD$0.187 per Common Share and associated Warrant. Each Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of CAD$0.2206 per Common Share for a period of four years following the issuance date.

H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as the exclusive placement agent for the Private Placement.

The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to accelerate the Company's Global Growth Strategy and further support the commercialization of Aristotle and AVRT. No securities were offered or sold to Canadian residents in connection with the Private Placement.

"With the formal launch of AVRT in the US now under way and the planned introductions in Canada and the UK, this additional financing will allow us to accelerate adoption by expanding promotion." said James Howard-Tripp, Chairman and CEO of StageZero Life Sciences.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The securities referred in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. state securities laws, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States or to any U.S. person absent registration under U.S. federal and state securities laws or an applicable exemption from such U.S. registration requirements. "United States" and "U.S. person" have the respective meanings ascribed to them in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

About StageZero Life Sciences, Ltd.

StageZero Life Sciences, Ltd. is a vertically integrated healthcare company dedicated to improving the early detection and management of cancer and other chronic diseases through next-generation diagnostics and a unique telehealth program that provides clinical interventions to help patients reduce the risk of developing late-stage disease (AVRT).

The Company's next generation test, Aristotle, is the first ever mRNA multi-cancer panel for simultaneously screening for multiple cancers from a single sample of blood with high sensitivity and specificity for each cancer. Aristotle uses mRNA technology to identify the molecular signatures of multiple cancer types and is built on the Company's patented technology platform, the Sentinel Principle. This underlying technology has been validated in more than 9,000 patients and used by more than 100,000 patients in North America.

Aristotle, as well as additional cancer diagnostics (ColonSentry, BreastSentry, and the Prostate Health Index) are processed at the Company's clinical laboratory, StageZero Life Sciences, Inc., a CAP accredited and CLIA certified high-complexity reference laboratory in Richmond, Virginia. In addition, the Company is also leveraging its specialty in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to provide COVID-19 PCR testing (swab and saliva) and Antibody Testing (blood analysis).

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release related to StageZero, its respective business and the use of proceeds from the Private Placement are forward-looking statements and are prospective in nature. Forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections about future events and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "anticipate", "expect", "believe" or "continue", or the negative thereof or similar variations. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the use of net proceeds. These statements reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events, but involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected herein. Such risks include the t risks and uncertainties described in StageZero's ongoing quarterly filings, annual reports and annual information form. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

CONTACT:

Investor Relations

Rebecca Greco

1-855-420-7140 ext. 1838

rgreco@stagezerols.com

SOURCE: StageZero Life Sciences Ltd.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691391/StageZero-Life-Sciences-Announces-Closing-of-CAD187-Million-Private-Placement-with-Institutional-Investor
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / Sassy Resources Corporation ("Sassy" or the "Company") (CSE:SASY)(FSE:4E7)(OTCQB:SSYRF) has significantly expanded the Westmore high-grade gold-silver discovery at depth and along strike with the highest grades yet from drilling at the Company's 100%-owned Foremore Project in Northwest British Columbia's prolific Eskay Camp, 30 miles northeast of the Eskay Creek mine.

2021 Drilling & Sampling Highlights

The last five drill holes at Westmore in 2021 each intersected shallow, high-grade mineralization (drill hole intersections are core lengths - true widths unknown at this time);

Four of the last five holes returned visible gold and confirmed the continuation to depth of high-grade Au mineralization defined by 2020 surface sampling. The newly-named 4Amigos Vein has a strike length of 160 meters and is open for expansion to depth and along strike to the west and in particular along strike and downslope to the east;

has a strike length of 160 meters and is open for expansion to depth and along strike to the west and in particular along strike and downslope to the east; 55.2 g/t Au and 32.3 g/t Ag over 0.8 m within 1.5 m @ 26.6 g/t Au and 15.7 g/t Ag (WM21- 014 );

over 0.8 m within 1.5 m @ and (WM21- ); 86.4 g/t Au and 41.6 g/t Ag over 0.7 m within 1.4 m @ 43.2 g/t Au and 20.8 g/t Ag (WM21- 015 );

and over 0.7 m within 1.4 m @ and (WM21- ); 26.3 g/t Au and 17.0 g/t Ag over 0.7 m within 2.2 m @ 8.4 g/t Au and 6.25 g/t Ag (WM21- 016 );

and over 0.7 m within 2.2 m @ and (WM21- ); 20.2 g/t Au and 19.3 g/t Ag over 0.8 m within 1.6 m @ 10.2 g/t Au and 9.8 g/t Ag (WM21- 017 );

and over 0.8 m within 1.6 m @ and (WM21- ); 503.0 g/t Ag over 1.0 m (WM20- 18 ), 200 m south and 112 m below the 4Amigos vein ;

over 1.0 m (WM20- ), 200 m south and 112 m below the 4Amigos vein New discovery from channel sampling 600 m south and 300 m below the 2019 original surface discovery where a steeply dipping mafic volcanic hosted quartz vein, up to 7.7 m thick, is exposed over a distance of 130 m and is believed to continue underneath the glacier at the bottom of Westmore. A channel sample across this vein system returned 7.2 g/t Au and 230 g/t Ag over 2.0 m. This area of Westmore has yet to be drill-tested.

Mr. Mark Scott, Sassy President and CEO, commented: "The Eskay Camp is one of the best addresses in the world for high-grade gold exploration and mining. What's so encouraging about Westmore is that this is a completely new grassroots discovery with a large surface footprint and improving early-stage drill results. As we ramp up drilling and tighten up drill spacing, the expectation is for even better results. The Eskay Camp is renowned for its upside surprises. We also look forward to providing an update soon on the highly prospective More Creek Corridor where we're targeting gold-silver-rich VMS-style deposits."

Westmore Discovery Highlights

18 drill holes (4,168 m) completed to date at Westmore (6 in 2020, 12 in 2021) confirm the discovery of a structurally controlled gold-silver-rich system with a large surface footprint covering the Westmore granodiorite intrusive and surrounding country rock;

1,026 surface samples collected at Westmore by Sassy, mostly during 2020 and 2021, returned an average grade of 2.65 g/t Au. The top 50 samples averaged 43.16 g/t Au and 329.26 g/t Ag ;

; 2021 geological mapping focused on defining the outer edge of the intrusive suggests that its widest point east-west is approximately 1 km. In a north-south direction the intrusives long axis also measures approximately 1 km. Its depth extent is unknown but beyond 400 m;

A geochronology study has put the time of the emplacement of the Westmore intrusive at 189.6 Ma (Early Jurassic). Notable examples of gold deposits in the Eskay Camp of a similar age are Brucejack and Snip;

Geochemically, the high-grade veins occurring in the intrusive and the encompassing mafic volcanic rock at Westmore are similar;

The associated Au-Ag-Cd-Pb-Te-Zn geochemical signature is recognized in veins occurring within the mafic volcanic unit that flanks the west-northwest side of the Westmore intrusive and on the southeast side of the intrusive where mafic volcanic hosted and very steeply dipping quartz veins have a measured thickness at surface of up to 7.7 m;

Importantly, this geochemical signature can be utilized to vector to potentially favorable quartz veins within the intrusive and surrounding country rock.

Mr. Ian Fraser, P.Geo. and VP-Exploration for Sassy, commented: "We have taken another important step forward with this early-stage discovery and we have much to follow up on from our 2021 success. The last five drill holes at Westmore all cut high-grade mineralization and we're also greatly encouraged by the channel sampling of the wide vein system at the bottom of the Westmore intrusive leading into the glacier, perhaps our most important surface discovery since the original 2019 discovery 600 m to the northwest and 300 m higher in elevation.

"The aim this summer will be to take Westmore to yet another level and identify the significant mineralizing source which fed this apparent robust system," Mr. Fraser concluded.

Drilling Notes

2021 Westmore drilling was designed to test the quartz vein stockwork systems occurring at the southern part of the exposed Westmore intrusive and to test other quartz vein occurrences at lower elevations than those tested by drilling in 2020. Four drill holes (WM21-014 to WM21-017) were designed to confirm the quartz vein hosted high-grade Au values sampled extensively on surface in 2020, and intersected by 2020 drilling (4Amigos Vein), are continuous along strike and to depth (see attached 2021 drill hole plan map, drill hole location table and 4Amigos long section). As illustrated in the 4Amigos long section, assay results from surface sampling and drill hole pierce points indicate a current strike length exceeding 150 m and a drill-confirmed vertical depth of 37 m in which high-grade Au values have been produced (fully open for expansion).

Notably, drill hole WM21-007 (the first hole drilled in the 2021 season following up on the six holes drilled at Westmore in 2020) was collared south of and at a lower elevation relative to the six holes drilled at Westmore in 2020 and produced a wide intersection grading 0.34 g/t Au over 28.0 m from 191.0 to 219.0 m downhole. Included within this intersection was a higher-grade result of 5.8 g/t Au over 0.8 m which contained visible gold, demonstrating the potential of this wide vein to produce high-grade results across significant widths as further drill testing is performed. The type of "blow-out" observed in WM21-007 can occur in any of the numerous east-west trending vein systems within the Westmore intrusive.

Highlight 2021 Drill Intersections - 2021 Westmore Discovery Zone

Drillhole Id From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) WM21-018 35.0 36.0 1.0 0.03 503.00 WM21-017 11.0 12.6 1.6 10.17 9.76 Including* 11.8 12.6 0.8 20.20 19.30 WM21-016 8.5 10.7 2.2 8.42 6.25 Including* 9.2 9.9 0.7 26.30 17.05 WM21-015 8.7 10.1 1.4 43.21 20.85 Including* 8.7 9.4 0.7 86.40 41.60 WM21-014 7.8 9.2 1.5 26.65 15.67 Including* 7.8 8.5 0.7 55.20 32.30 WM21-013 27.0 28.0 1.0 3.28 1.35 WM21-012 150.8 152.4 1.6 0.90 13.90 WM21-008 83.0 87.0 4.0 1.39 9.29 Including 85.0 86.0 1.0 3.02 26.20 WM21-007 191.0 219.0 28.0 0.34 1.89 Including 212.0 213.5 1.5 4.00 7.15 Including* 212.0 212.8 0.8 5.77 7.22 WM21-007 278.0 279.0 1.0 2.01 1.34 WM21-007 404.0 405.0 1.0 1.67 0.48

* Denotes visible gold (VG) observed in drill core

Note: Length is drill hole length and not true width

Westmore Discovery Zone - Plan View (Partial) 2020-2021 Sampling & Drilling

The collar locations of drill holes WM21-009 and WM21-010 occur just off the northeast corner of plan map.

Westmore Channel Sample Table

Sample_Id E_UTM N_UTM Sample Type Length (m) Au (ppm) Ag (ppm) Pb (ppm) Zn (ppm) E247135 378583 6325165 Channel 1.0 0.03 2.11 1.7 <2 E247136 378583 6325165 Channel 1.0 6.44 109.00 8.4 3 E247137 378583 6325165 Channel 1.0 8.00 351.00 29700 306 E247138 378583 6325165 Channel 1.0 0.13 5.42 90.7 12

"4Amigos" Plan View & Long Section of DDH Pierce Points Along Strike

2021 Westmore Drill Hole Locations

Drillhole_Id Easting (UTM) Northing (UTM) Elevation (ASL_m) Azimuth () Dip () Depth (m) Start Date End Date WM21-007 378462 6325299 1404 180 -60 422 07/23/2021 07/30/2021 WM21-008 378462 6325299 1404 200 -55 350 07/30/2021 08/05/2021 WM21-009 379006 6325728 1260 130 -55 352 08/06/2021 08/10/2021 WM21-010 379006 6325728 1260 150 -55 263 08/10/2021 08/12/2021 WM21-011 378348 6325453 1524 180 -55 21 08/13/2021 08/14/2021 WM21-012 378348 6325453 1524 180 -60 458 08/14/2021 08/20/2021 WM21-013 378348 6325453 1524 165 -50 205 08/20/2021 08/22/2021 WM21-014 378354 6325501 1533 180 -45 99 09/05/2021 09/06/2021 WM21-015 378354 6325501 1533 180 -55 49 09/06/2021 09/07/2021 WM21-016 378354 6325501 1533 200 -45 32 09/07/2021 09/07/2021 WM21-017 378354 6325501 1533 200 -65 56 09/07/2021 09/08/2021 WM21-018 378419 6325305 1421 180 -50 199 09/08/2021 09/11/2021 Total 2506

No significant results reported in drill holes WM21-009 & WM21-010. Hole WM21-011 was abandoned shortly after it was collared due to a drill mechanical issue.

Illustration of Visible Gold in Core - Diamond Drill Hole WM-21-014

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Sassy implemented an industry-standard QA/QC program for all field samples and drill core samples collected during its 2021 exploration program. The company inserted QC blanks and standards at pre-determined intervals. Drill core samples were cut in half by rock saw, half of the core remained in the labeled interval in the core box, the other half was placed in clear plastic sample bags together with pre-numbered sample tags and remained on site until transportation to the lab. Samples were transported and submitted directly by Company personnel to the ALS prep lab at Terrace, B.C. Initially, all rock and drill core samples were crushed to 70% passing 2mm, split to 500g, and pulverized to a pulp with 85% passing 75 micrometres. The pulps were then shipped to ALS facilities in Kamloops and Vancouver BC, where they were fire assayed for gold by 50g fire assay with atomic absorption finish (AAS), 48 elements by multi-element ICP-MS, 4-acid digestion. The company is in the process of re-assaying high-grade Au Samples by Metallic Screening process. Over-limit analyses for Ag, Cu, Pb, Zn were performed utilizing the Ore Grade, 4-Acid, ICP-AES procedure. ALS is an accredited lab independent of Sassy Resources.

Subscribe for Updates

Photographs and videos from the Company's projects in Northwest B.C. and Newfoundland will be added to the Sassy website over the coming days and weeks. Visit SassyResources.com and sign up for news alerts to stay informed as exploration continues year-round.

Qualified Person

The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Ian Fraser, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for Sassy Resources. Mr. Fraser is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards.

About Sassy Resources Corporation

Sassy Resources is an exploration stage resource company currently engaged in the identification, acquisition and exploration of high-grade precious metal and base metal projects in North America. Its focus is the Foremore Project located in the Eskay Camp, Liard Mining Division, in the heart of Northwest B.C.'s prolific Golden Triangle, and the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt where Sassy is one of the district's largest landowners.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Investors are cautioned that, except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained in this document includes "forward looking information", with respect to a performance expectation for Sassy Resources Corporation. Such forward looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections formulated using assumptions believed to be reasonable and involving a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, without limitation, fluctuations in foreign exchange markets, the price of commodities in both the cash market and futures market, changes in legislation, taxation, controls and regulation of national and local governments and political and economic developments in Canada and other countries where Sassy carries out or may carry out business in the future, the availability of future business opportunities and the ability to successfully integrate acquisitions or operational difficulties related to technical activities of mining and reclamation, the speculative nature of exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks obtaining necessary licenses and permits, reducing the quantity or grade of reserves, adverse changes in credit ratings, and the challenge of title. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update publicly or revise forward looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Some of the results reported are historical and may not have been verified by the Company.

Contact Info:

Mark Scott

Chief Executive Officer & Director

info@sassyresources.ca

Terry Bramhall

Sassy Resources - Corporate Communications/IR

1.604.833.6999 (mobile)

1.604.675.9985 (office)

terry.bramhall@sassyresources.ca

In Europe:

Michael Adams

Managing Director - Star Finance GmbH

info@star-finance.eu

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Sassy Resources Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691355/Sassy-Significantly-Expands-Westmore-High-Grade-Gold-Silver-Discovery-in-Eskay-Camp
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Galleon Gold Corp. (TSXV: GGO) (the "Company" or "Galleon Gold") is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement (the "Agreement") to acquire 129 mineral claims totaling 2,760 hectares (the "Mineral Claims") contiguous to the Company's existing property position at its West Cache Gold Project in Timmins, Ontario.

The addition of the Mineral Claims located in Price Township adds to the Company's land position 13 kilometers west of Timmins and expands the total claim package to 10,350 hectares. Figure 1 provides the location of the new ground in relation to the existing West Cache Project and adjacent operators in the Timmins Camp.

Figure 1 - Galleon Gold's Land Position in the Timmins Gold Camp



To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1014/115450_52cb508ed48f8bd9_001full.jpg

Comments from the CEO

R. David Russell, President and CEO of Galleon Gold, commented, "Our success at West Cache has shown the significant potential that exists in the Timmins West Camp; we are very pleased that the owners of the claims adjacent to us have entrusted Galleon Gold with the continued exploration of the newly acquired ground and we welcome them as shareholders."

Terms of the Agreement

Pursuant to the terms of the Agreement with Delford Investments Inc. ("PrivateCo"), the Company will issue PrivateCo 250,000 common shares of Galleon Gold (the "Galleon Shares") and grant a 2% Net Smelter Royalty ("Royalty") to obtain a 100% interest in the Mineral Claims. The Company may at any time purchase 1% of the Royalty for a cash payment in the amount of one million dollars. The transaction is expected to close by the end of March and is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Galleon Shares will be subject to a hold period of four months and a day under applicable Canadian securities laws.

About the Price Property

The Price Property is located approximately 10 km SSW of the West Cache Gold Project's resource and is underlain by Archean metavolcanic rocks, metasedimentary rocks, quartz feldspar porphyry and syenite dikes. The Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone trends east into the western part of the Property and the Mattagami River Fault runs N-S through the center of the Property. Exploration at the Price Property began in the 1940's and mainly targeted sulphide-rich NW to NNW-trending iron formations and quartz veins exposed in outcrop. Little drilling or geochemical work has been done to follow-up targets generated from geophysical surveys, which appear successful at identifying the iron formations. Precious and base metal mineralization have been identified over limited prospecting and drilling programs on the Property.

About the West Cache Gold Property

The Property is situated in the Western Porcupine Gold Camp along the Destor-Porcupine Fault Zone ("DPFZ") in the Abitibi greenstone belt. The Property is predominantly underlain with Archean rocks of the Tisdale and Deloro Assemblages (metavolcanics), Porcupine Assemblage (metasediments) and quartz feldspar porphyry of the Porcupine Intrusive Suite. Paleoproterozoic Matachewan diabase dikes trend north-south to northwest-southeast across the Property. The main break of the DPFZ trends east-west through the eastern part of the Property and is offset to the south in the western portion of the Property by the Mattagami River Fault. Gold mineralization is characterized by roughly east-west trending "shear" zones, dipping 60 to 80 to the north, and is associated with pyrite, chalcopyrite and sphalerite. To-date, the quartz feldspar porphyry unit and associated contacts with the metasedimentary units have been the focus of exploration activities, with large areas of Tisdale and Deloro metavolcanics yet to be explored, including the Rusk contact zone, which is associated with gold mineralization at the Timmins West Complex, approximately 7 km southwest of the Property.

Technical Content and Qualified Persons

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by West Cache Gold Project Manager Leah Page, P. Geo. (APGNS #217) and West Cache Gold Resource Geologist, Rochelle Collins, P. Geo (PGO #1412), both "Qualified Persons" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Galleon Gold

Galleon Gold is an exploration and development company focused on advancing the West Cache Gold Project in Timmins, Ontario. The project is situated along the Destor-Porcupine gold belt approximately 7 km northeast of Pan American Silver's Timmins West Mine and 14 km southwest of Newmont's Hollinger Mine. Since acquiring the project the Company has demonstrated significant resource growth while providing a strong valuation in its maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment. Permitting and baseline studies in support of a bulk sample are currently underway. Eric Sprott holds approximately 23% of the Company's outstanding common shares.

For further information:

Galleon Gold

R. David Russell

Chairman and CEO

T. (416) 644-0066

info@galleongold.com

www.galleongold.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains certain forward-looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of Galleon Gold with respect to its long-term strategy, proposed work, plans and other reports including the PEA for its projects. Forward-looking statements are based on the then-current expectations, beliefs, assumptions, estimates and forecasts about the business and the markets in which Galleon Gold operates. Some of the statements contained herein may be forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, expectations, plans, and objectives of Galleon Gold are forward-looking statements that involve various risks. The following are important factors that could cause Galleon Gold's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: changes in the world-wide price of mineral commodities, general market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risks associated with development, construction and mining operations, risks related to infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and the uncertainty of future exploration activities and cash flows, and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events may differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Galleon Gold undertakes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115450
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Bell Copper Corporation (TSXV:BCU) (OTCQB:BCUFF) ("Bell Copper" or the "Company") reports that it continues drilling copper sulfide mineralization hosted by quartz porphyry at its Big Sandy project. Big Sandy is a large, truncated porphyry copper-molybdenum target located in northwestern Arizona, approximately 30 kilometers south of the Company's Perseverance Project.

Highlights

BS-3 is now cutting chalcopyrite-pyrite-molybdenite mineralization.

Disseminated chalcocite mineralization began at an inclined depth of 1302 meters and extended beyond 1589 meters.

Geological logging, sawing, and sampling of the chalcopyrite-bearing interval from 1776-1919 meters are underway.

Samples have been submitted for assay to a depth of 1776 meters.

Drill hole BS-3

Drillhole BS-3, which was oriented to test a 2400 meter by 2100 meter area of high electrical conductivity that was detected in an earlier magneto-telluric survey (refer to news release dated October 6, 2020), passed out of gravel and into pervasively sericitized quartz porphyry at an inclined depth of 1192 meters. Disseminated chalcocite (copper sulfide) and pyrite were first encountered at an inclined depth of 1303 meters, immediately beneath leached capping. Refer to news release dated February 2, 2022). Chalcocite was commonly observed to approximately 1500 meters, and then faded to trace amounts below 1589 meters. Drillhole BS-3 is currently cutting chalcopyrite-pyrite-molybdenite mineralization in pervasively sericitized quartz porphyry at an inclined depth of 1919 meters.

Core samples have been submitted to the laboratory for all BS-3 core between 1293 meters and 1776 meters. Geological logging, sawing, and sampling of porphyry carrying tennantite and chalcopyrite to the current bottom of the hole at 1919 meters are underway.

Drilling of BS-3 will continue until either the core becomes unmineralized or the drill lacks the power to advance the hole further. Drilling of BS-3A, a 500-meter offset to BS-3 drilled from the same pad, will begin immediately thereafter.





Figure A, B, and C. Core box photos representative of the last 300 meters of mineralization between 1500m and 1800m in BS-3.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2825/115533_bc.htm2.jpg





Figure D. Core sample from BS-3 showing chalcopyrite-pyrite-quartz-molybdenite mineralization in sericitized porphyry near 1900 meters depth.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2825/115533_bc.htm4.jpg

Tim Marsh, Bell's President and CEO, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI43-101, said, "BS-3 is gradually entering the chalcopyrite-molybdenite zone at the heart of this porphyry system. The homogeneity of sericite-pyrite alteration over hundreds of meters of core now in the box speaks to the strength and size of the Big Sandy system. It is likely that we will be able to complete multiple 500-meter step-out holes from this same drill pad, and also test the concept of a thick chalcocite blanket overlying the inferred heart of the porphyry system from a new drill pad 900 meters south of the BS-3 pad."

About Bell Copper

Bell Copper is a mineral exploration company focused on the identification, exploration and discovery of large copper deposits located in Arizona. Bell Copper is exploring its 100% owned Big Sandy Porphyry Copper Project and the Perseverance Porphyry Copper Project which is under a Joint Venture - Earn In.

Qualified Person

The technical content of this release has been reviewed and approved by Timothy Marsh, PhD, PEng., the Company's CEO and President. No mineral resource has yet been identified on the Big Sandy Project. There is no certainty that the present exploration effort will result in the identification of a mineral resource or that any mineral resource that might be discovered will prove to be economically recoverable.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of

Bell Copper Corporation

"Timothy Marsh"

Timothy Marsh, President, CEO & Director

For further information please contact the Company

Tel: 1 800 418 8250

Email: info@bellcopper.net

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "potential", "target", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof.

Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which Bell Copper operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic, and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results, and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include actual exploration results, interpretation of metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required approvals, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators, including those described in the Company's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115533


MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - On completion of the first week of Ukraine invasion, Russia seized the southern city of Kherson - the first major city to fall to Russian forces. Kherson mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev said the Ukrainian military is no longer present in the city, and residents must now carry out the instructions of 'armed people who came to the city's administration.' A second round of ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia is scheduled to be held at the Belarus-Poland border Thursday.



'On our way to negotiations with the Russian Federation. Already in helicopters,' presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.



The International Criminal Court said it has launched an investigation into possible war crimes by Russia in Ukraine after 39 nations called for the same.



More cities are shelled and Russia is piling suffering on civilians as the war entered eighth day.



The Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol 'remain in Ukrainian hands,' despite heavy bombarding by Russian forces, the British Defense Ministry said Thursday.



Missile attacks are also being reported in the capital Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson.



Ukraine's State Emergency Service said in a statement that 34 civilians were killed in the past day during Russian attacks.



The port city of Mariupol is in blackout and civilian areas are being targeted.



As the invasion enters a second week, President Volodymyr Zelensky claims Ukraine's defense lines are holding up.



There has been no let-up in Russia's shelling of cities since midnight, Zelensky said in the latest video he released.



'All lines of our defense are kept. The enemy has no success in any of the strategic directions,' Zelensky said in a new Facebook post.He p leaded for more international assistance.



Ukraine army claimed that 9,000 Russian personnel have been killed or wounded. According to Russia, only 498 soldiers had died and nearly 1,600 were wounded. More than one million people have already fled the country since the war broke out, according to the UN. More than half of them have fled to Poland.



Spain's Defense Minister Margarita Robles said a shipment of offensive weapons, including anti-tank grenade launchers, light machine guns and 700,000 rounds of rifle and machine-gun ammunition, will be sent to Ukraine on Friday.



The United Kingdom imposed new sanctions Thursday to block Russian companies in the aviation and space industries from accessing the British insurance market.



French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that the situation in Ukraine could further deteriorate under relentless bombardment from Russia.



Meanwhile, a U.S. official said the movement of a huge Russian convoy towards Kiev has slowed down.







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Hans Schep, General Manager, Ford Pro Europe will discuss key elements of the Ford Pro ecosystem in a fireside chat with autos analyst Philippe Houchois at the Jefferies Spring Automotive Conference at 12:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 8.

Schep will explain how Ford Pro accelerates productivity for today's commercial customers by operating differently than other businesses to drive always-on relationships, and how the Ford Pro business is positioned for growth.

The fireside chat can be viewed online. Additional information is available at shareholder.ford.com.

About Ford Motor Company

Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) is a global company based in Dearborn, Michigan, that is committed to helping build a better world, where every person is free to move and pursue their dreams. The company's Ford+ plan for growth and value creation combines existing strengths, new capabilities and always-on relationships with customers to enrich experiences for and deepen the loyalty of those customers. Ford designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of connected, increasingly electrified passenger and commercial vehicles: Ford trucks, utility vehicles, vans and cars, and Lincoln luxury vehicles. The company is pursuing leadership positions in electrification, connected vehicle services and mobility solutions, including self-driving technology, and provides financial services through Ford Motor Credit Company. Ford employs about 183,000 people worldwide. More information about the company, its products and Ford Motor Credit Company is available at corporate.ford.com

For news releases, related materials and high-resolution photos and video, visit www.media.ford.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005316/en/

Contacts:

Equity Investment

Community:

Lynn Antipas Tyson

914.485.1150

ltyson4@ford.com

Fixed Income

Investment Community:

Karen Rocoff

313.621.0965

krocoff@ford.com

Shareholder

Inquiries:

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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - One Rock Capital Partners, LLC, a private equity investment management firm, said Thursday that it decided to to buy Therm-O-Disc, an arm of engineering and technology company, Emerson Electric Co. (EMR). The financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022, were not disclosed. Scott Spielvogel, Managing Partner of One Rock, said: 'Therm-O-Disc is well-positioned as a leading global manufacturer of branded, essential sensor and safety products. We are excited to collaborate with management to drive innovation, enhance strong operational capabilities.' Based in Mansfield, Ohio, with over 4,000 staff members across the globe, Therm-O-Disc is a designer and maker of safety-critical sensors, thermal cutoffs, and sealed connecting components. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
DENVER, CO / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / Solitario Zinc Corp. ("Solitario") (NYSE American:XPL)(TSX:SLR) is pleased to announce that it will host a detailed corporate update with an in depth look at the Golden Crest project and the promising results of its exploration work.

Mr. Herald will deliver an online presentation at 1:00 pm EST, featuring the Golden Crest project in South Dakota. To attend the presentation please register at the following link:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJArdOurpjwsEtNAv70PmnEupIbxdP3F1zxa

About Solitario

Solitario is a natural resource exploration and development company focused on high-quality Tier-1 gold and zinc projects. The Company is traded on the NYSE American ("XPL") and on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("SLR"). In addition to its Golden Crest project, Solitario holds 50% joint venture interest (Teck Resources 50%) in the high-grade Lik zinc deposit in Alaska and a 39% joint venture interest (Nexa Resources holds the remaining 61% interest) on the high-grade Florida Canyon zinc project in Peru. Solitario is carried to production through its joint venture arrangement with Nexa. Solitario's Management and Directors hold approximately 9.3% (excluding options) of the Company's 62 million shares outstanding. Solitario's cash balance and marketable securities stand at approximately US$6.5 million. Additional information about Solitario is available online at www.solitariozinc.com.

Solitario has a long history of committed Environmental, Social and Responsible Governance ("ESG") of its business. We realize ESG issues are also important to investors, employees, and all stakeholders, including communities in which we work. We are pledged to operate our business in a manner that supports environmental and social initiatives and responsible corporate governance. Importantly, our joint venture partners not only value the importance of ESG issues in the conduct of their activities on our projects, but they are also industry leaders on these important issues.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Christopher E. Herald

President & CEO

303-534-1030, Ext. 14

Valerie Kimball

Director - Investor Relations

720-933-1150

800-229-6827

SOURCE: Solitario Zinc Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691252/Join-President-and-CEO-Christopher-Herald-for-a-Corporate-Update-Focusing-on-the-Golden-Crest-Project-Thursday-March-3rd-at-100-pm-EST
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Battery Mineral Resources Corp., (TSXV: BMR) today announced that Martin Kostuik, CEO & Director will be attending the Q3 Virtual Investor Summit. During the presentation, Battery Mineral Resources CEO Martin Kostuik will highlight the Company's recent drilling successes at its flagship Punitaqui copper mine in Chile as well as the ongoing work to complete a resource update and technical report ahead of the planned restart of operations and cash flow at the mine. The presentation will be webcast and an archived recording will be made available in Investors' section of the Battery Mineral resources website, (bmrcorp.com).

Event: Q1 Investor Summit Date: March 8-9th, 2022 Presentation: March 8th @ 12:30PM ET Location: Public webcasting link

1x1s will be available for qualified investors

The conference is completely complementary to qualified investors. Please register at

Complimentary Investor Registration

About Battery Mineral Resources Corp.

Battery Mineral Resources (TSXV: BMR) (OTCQB: BTRMF) has been public for less than one year but has been active for nearly five years. Our flagship asset is our former producing Punitaqui copper mine in Chile. We acquired Punitaqui out of bankruptcy in early 2021 and initiated infill and exploration drilling as part of a technical report to be published in late Q1 or early Q2. The technical report will be our blueprint to restart the Punitaqui mine in the next nine to twelve months. Historically, Punitaqui produced between 20m to 25m lb. of copper in concentrate per annum which is our primary goal. Beyond that, we will continue to conduct both infill and exploration drilling while also exploring new "blue sky" exploration targets on our properties around our Punitaqui mill. We also hold a high-grade cobalt property in the Cobalt Embayment of Ontario that hosts a +1m pound cobalt resource. We have a dominant position in the Ontario cobalt belt with over 1,100 km2 of claims. We own two high-grade drill ready cobalt projects in the Idaho cobalt belt. We have an early-stage lithium brine project in Nevada as well as two former producing graphite mines in South Korea.

About the Investor Summit

The Investor Summit (formerly MicroCap Conference) is an exclusive, independent conference dedicated to connecting smallcap and microcap companies with qualified investors. The Q4 Investor Summit will take place virtually, featuring 70+ companies and over 500 investors comprising of institutional investors, family offices, and high net worth investors. Sectors Participating: Biotech, Communication Services, Consumer, Energy, Energy/Tech, Financial, Healthcare, Industrials, Materials, Real Estate, Technology, and Tech/Crypt. Contact: info@investorsummitgroup.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115399
Rise in prevalence of tuberculosis, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, and technological advancement in the field of vaccine research drive the growth of the global BCG vaccine market

PORTLAND, Ore., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "BCG Vaccine Market by Demographics (Pediatric (0-18 Years) and Adults (19-35 Years): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030." According to the report, the global BCG vaccine industry was estimated at $46,637.50 thousand in 2020, and is anticipated to hit $74,269.55 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 4.8% from 2021 to 2030.

For Right Perspective and Competitive Insights, Get Sample Report at:

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/4419

Drivers, restraints, and opportunities-

Rise in prevalence of tuberculosis, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, and technological advancement in the field of vaccine research drive the growth of the global BCG vaccine market. On the other hand, certain side effects and global shortage of the vaccine impede the growth to some extent. However, untapped market opportunities in the developing economies have been highly beneficial for the market growth.

Covid-19 Scenario-

The outbreak of the pandemic has had a slight negative impact on the global BCG vaccine market, especially during the initial phase of the pandemic, since the concurrent global restrictions caused huge disruptions in the supply chain.

However, the market has recovered at a swift pace.

The pediatrics (0-18 years) segment to lead the trail-

By demographics, the pediatrics segment generated the highest share in 2020, holding more than three-fourths of the global BCG vaccine market. The same segment is also expected to cite the fastest CAGR of 5.0% from 2021 to 2030, owing to increase in the prevalence of tuberculosis, especially in the developing and underdeveloped countries, and technological advancements in the field of vaccine research.

Do You Have Any Query Or Specific Requirement? Ask to Our Industry Expert: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/4419

Asia-Pacific to dominate by 2030-

By region, Asia-Pacific contributed to the major market share in terms of revenue 2020, holding nearly two-fifths of the global BCG vaccine market. The same region is also projected to cite the fastest CAGR of 5.3% from 2021 to 2030. This is attributed to improvements in healthcare infrastructure, rise in the number of hospitals equipped with advanced medical facilities, and developments in the R&D sector in the region.

Prominent market players-

China National Biotec Group

Sanofi Pasteur, Merck & Co., Inc.

Japan BCG Laboratory

AJ Biologics

Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.

InterVax Ltd.

Statens Serum Institut

Torlak Institute of Virology

GreenSignal Bio Pharma Limited (GSBPL)

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Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

Pawan Kumar, the CEO of Allied Market Research, is leading the organization toward providing high-quality data and insights. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access.

HARRISBURG  Pennsylvanias new political maps may have been picked, but that doesnt mean the redistricting process is over.

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There are pending legal challenges against the congressional and legislative maps, which were redrawn this year to account for population changes identified by the census.

Below is a rundown of what you need to know about these lawsuits. If you want to learn more, join Spotlight PA on March 3 at 5 p.m. for a free Q&A. RSVP here.

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Congressional map

Pennsylvania law gives the responsibility to draw the states congressional boundaries to the legislature. The governor has the power to approve or reject the map.

Gov. Tom Wolf did the latter in January when he vetoed a map sent to him by Republicans.

Shortly after that occurred, the state Supreme Court agreed to intervene in an existing case and take over the process. In mid-February, the justices in a 4-3 decision picked a new congressional map from among more than a dozen proposals.

But theres still at least one legal challenge left to play out.

A group of Pennsylvanians, including two Republicans running for political office, has brought a challenge in federal court, arguing the Pennsylvania justices had no right to pick a new map.

A federal judge in Harrisburg recently denied their request for a temporary restraining order against the map. The petitioners are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider that decision.

>> MY MAP: Search now to see your old and new political districts

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Legislative maps

Pennsylvanias state House and Senate districts are drawn by the five-person Legislative Reapportionment Commission, which is composed of the top General Assembly leaders and an independent chair.

The panel voted 4-1 in early February to approve new maps.

Under the Pennsylvania Constitution, any person can bring a challenge to either map directly to the state Supreme Court by March 7. As of March 2, four separate parties had done so.

Last Call Daily Get top headlines from The Morning Call delivered weekday afternoons. >

One group of Butler County residents  potential legislative candidate Ryan Covert, his mother Darlene J. Covert, and supporter Erik Hulick  are challenging how the state House map divides their home county.

House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre), the only member of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission to vote against the maps, wants the court to throw them out. He claims the maps were gerrymandered to benefit Democrats and create districts that do not comply with the Voting Rights Act.

Another elected official  state Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-Northampton)  is objecting to the way her district in the Lehigh Valley was divided.

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And Todd Elliott Koger claims he was drawn out of a state House district that includes part of Pittsburgh in order to benefit another candidate who works for Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny), a member of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission. In a statement, Costa called the accusation offensive and completely inaccurate.

I would not and did not use my role on the LRC to make a House seat more favorable to a member of my staff, Costa continued.

After March 7, the Legislative Reapportionment Commission will have a few days to respond to the suits. After the briefs are filed, the court can choose whether it wants to consider the challenges.

WHILE YOURE HERE... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.
WEST MELBOURNE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / BK Technologies Corporation (NYSE American:BKTI) today announced that John Suzuki, Chief Executive Officer of BK Technologies, and Bill Kelly, Chief Financial Officer, will attend the 34th Annual ROTH Conference being held virtually and in-person at the Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, California. Mr. Suzuki and Mr. Kelly will be available for virtual and in-person one-on-one meetings on Monday, March 14.

Interested investors can request a registration form to attend the conference at this link.

About BK Technologies

BK Technologies Corporation manufactures high-specification, American-made communications equipment of unsurpassed reliability and value for use by public safety professionals and government agencies. BK Technologies is honored to serve these heroes with reliable equipment when every moment counts. The Company's common stock trades on the NYSE American market under the symbol "BKTI". Maintaining its headquarters in West Melbourne, Florida, BK Technologies can be contacted through its web site at www.bktechnologies.com or directly at 1-800-821-2900.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements concern the Company's operations, economic performance, and financial condition, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the Company's long-term strategic plan, and are based largely on the Company's beliefs and expectations. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks, some of which have been, and may further be, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, include, among others, the following: changes or advances in technology; the success of our land mobile radio product line; disruption in the global supply chain creating delays, unavailability and adverse conditions; successful introduction of new products and technologies, including our ability to successfully develop and sell our anticipated new multiband product and other related products in the planned new BKR Series product line; competition in the land mobile radio industry; general economic and business conditions, including federal, state and local government budget deficits and spending limitations, any impact from a prolonged shutdown of the U.S. Government, and the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic; the availability, terms and deployment of capital; reliance on contract manufacturers and suppliers; risks associated with fixed-price contracts; heavy reliance on sales to agencies of the U.S. Government and our ability to comply with the requirements of contracts, laws and regulations related to such sales; allocations by government agencies among multiple approved suppliers under existing agreements; our ability to comply with U.S. tax laws and utilize deferred tax assets; our ability to attract and retain executive officers, skilled workers and key personnel; our ability to manage our growth; our ability to identify potential candidates for, and to consummate, acquisition, disposition or investment transactions, and risks incumbent to being a noncontrolling interest stockholder in a corporation; impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the companies in which the Company holds investments; impact of our capital allocation strategy; risks related to maintaining our brand and reputation; impact of government regulation; impact of rising health care costs; our business with manufacturers located in other countries, including changes in the U.S. Government and foreign governments' trade and tariff policies, as well as any further impact resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; our inventory and debt levels; protection of our intellectual property rights; fluctuation in our operating results and stock price; acts of war or terrorism, natural disasters and other catastrophic events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; any infringement claims; data security breaches, cyber-attacks and other factors impacting our technology systems; availability of adequate insurance coverage; maintenance of our NYSE American listing; risks related to being a holding company; and the effect on our stock price and ability to raise equity capital of future sales of shares of our common stock. Certain of these factors and risks, as well as other risks and uncertainties, are stated in more detail in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, and in the Company's subsequent filings with the SEC. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Company Contact:

IMS Investor Relations

John Nesbett/Jennifer Belodeau

bktechnologies@imsinvestorrelations.com

(203) 972-9200

SOURCE: BK Technologies Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691241/BK-Technologies-to-Attend-34th-Annual-ROTH-Conference
ST. PETERSBURG, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / Energy and Water Development Corp. (OTCQB:EAWD) (the "Company"), an engineering company focused on delivering innovative and sustainable solutions of water and energy, today announced its successful uplisting from the OTC Pink Market to the OTCQB Venture Market (the "OTCQB") effective Monday, February 28, 2022 and will continue to trade under the ticker symbol "EAWD".

The OTCQB, operated by OTC Markets Group Inc., is designed for developing and entrepreneurial companies. The OTCQB is recognized by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission as an established public market providing public information for analysis and valuation of securities. OTCQB companies must be current in their financial reporting and must undergo an annual verification and management certification process, including meeting a minimum bid price and other financial conditions. With more compliance and quality standards, the OTCQB provides investors improved visibility to enhance trading decisions.

Ralph Hofmeier, Chief Executive Officer of Energy and Water Development Corp., stated, "Uplisting to the OTCQB is another important milestone for Energy and Water Development Corp. We believe this achievement will significantly improve our capital markets appeal to a broader range of investors and meeting all of the heightened requirements and criteria of the OTCQB will bring us one step closer to our longer term objective of uplisting to a national exchange."

"As we look to accelerate our number of active projects and revenue in 2022, the additional capital markets exposure afforded by our OTCQB listing will be invaluable. We believe that Energy and Water Development Corp. is well on its way to capturing market share in this multi-billion-dollar market opportunity," concluded Hofmeier.

Energy and Water Development Corp.

Energy and Water Development Corp. (OTCQB:EAWD) is an engineering solutions company focused on delivering innovative and sustainable solutions of water and energy. EAWD builds its systems out of proven technologies, using their technical know-how to customize solutions to their clients' needs. The Company offers design, construction, maintenance and specialty consulting services to private companies, government entities and non-government organizations (NGOs).

For additional information, please visit: https://energy-water.com

Forward-Looking Statements:

Statements contained herein that are not based upon current or historical fact are forward-looking in nature and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's expectations about its future operating results, performance, and opportunities that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. When used herein, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "upcoming," "plan," "target," "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to Energy and Water Development Corp., its subsidiaries, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements.

Corporate:

investor.relations@energy-water.com

Investor Relations Contact:

Brian Loper

ClearThink

bloper@clearthink.capital

p347-413-4234

SOURCE: Energy and Water Development Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691185/Energy-and-Water-Development-Corp-Announces-Uplisting-to-the-OTCQB
Project Hospitality takes HIPAA compliance seriously

DANA POINT, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / Identillect Technologies Corp. (the "Company" or "Identillect") (TSXV:ID)(FSE:8ID), an industry leader in compliant email security services for many non-profit organizations, is pleased to announce that it is assisting Project Hospitality ("PH") in advancing their already strict HIPAA protocols. Project Hospitality increases the levels of security on their communication by implementing Identillect's Delivery Trust for all their internal and external communication requiring security.

Project Hospitality has a 30-year history of serving the needs of the poor, hungry, and homeless residents of Staten Island, New York. It is the mission of Project Hospitality to reach out to community members who are hungry, homeless, or otherwise in need, with the goal to create self-sufficiency. PH seeks to realize its mission by advocating for those in need as well as providing a comprehensive continuum of care that provides the essentials of food, clothing, and shelter enhanced by health and mental health services, substance abuse treatment, HIV prevention and care, domestic violence education and services, immigrant services, vocational training, transitional and permanent housing, legal and financial services, and services for at-risk youth.

Project Hospitality addresses the needs of more than 26,000 impoverished and marginalized individuals annually. Project Hospitality operates with more than 300 staff and a corps of more than 600 student, community, religious, and corporate volunteers.

Jaclyn Stoll, Executive Director at Project Hospitality stated, "In our continued efforts to provide our community with opportunity, basic human needs, and safety, the security and privacy of their electronic information are also of importance. Therefore, we have partnered with Identillect for their secure communication. Project Hospitality focuses on all aspects to create a better life for these marginalized individuals and to increase the overall level of well-being of the community."

Identillect CEO, Todd Sexton, states, "Identillect is proud to work with Project Hospitality, they provide a tremendous amount of value to our community of Staten Island, NY and we support their efforts to provide the same level of security to all members of the community, regardless of their economic status. Identillect understands how important privacy and security, this is crucial at all socio-economic levels."

HIPAA Journal recently reported additional HIPAA regulatory requirements in healthcare data breaches and 2020 saw more than 29 million healthcare records breached. The medical profession is seeing a significant increase in data breaches and cyber-security protection is now more important than ever.

About Project Hospitality:

Project Hospitality, Inc. is a non-profit organization designed to reach out to community members who are hungry, homeless, or otherwise in need. The goal of Project Hospitality is work with the community members to achieve their self-sufficiency - thereby enhancing the quality of life for the community. Project Hospitality seeks to realize its mission both by advocating for those in need and by establishing a comprehensive continuum of care which begins with the provision of food, clothing and shelter and extends to other services which include health care, mental health, alcohol and substance abuse treatment, HIV care, education, vocational training, legal assistance, and transitional and permanent housing.

About Identillect

Identillect Technologies is the leading provider of email encryption service Delivery Trust, empowering enterprises of all sizes to protect their business and their client's critical information against cyber security attacks.

Delivery Trust is an award-winning, multi-platform plug-in, which gives users complete control of their emails, for one low price. The simple integration complies with all regulations and most importantly provides peace of mind.

For more information or your free trial, please visit www.identillect.com

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of:

IDENTILLECT TECHNOLOGIES CORP.

Todd Sexton

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (949) 468-7878

Email: todd.sexton@identillect.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.

SOURCE: Identillect Technologies Corp

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CHICAGO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new research report, the "Horticulture Lighting Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Technology (Fluorescent, HID and LED), Application (Greenhouses, Vertical Farms, Indoor Farms), Cultivation, Lighting Type, Offering, Installation and Region - Global Forecast to 2027", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to grow from USD 3.1 billion in 2022 to USD 9.4 billion by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.5% from 2022 to 2027. The key factors fueling the growth of this market include rising number of government initiatives to promote the adoption of CEA practices and SSL technology, growing demand for food owing to the continuously increasing population, increasing funding to develop vertical farms and greenhouses, and ongoing legalization of cannabis cultivation.

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The hardware segment to hold a larger market share in 2027

The hardware segment of the horticulture lighting market, by offering is estimated to hold a larger market share in 2027. The key factors for the growth of the market are the increasing number of new lighting installations in greenhouses and vertical farms and the growing support of governments of different countries promoting the adoption of CEA facilities.

The cannabis segment to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The cannabis segment of the horticulture lighting market, by cultivation, is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The legalization of cannabis production is gaining momentum in different parts of the world as lawmakers globally are working toward this process. This is certainly going to benefit all categories of cannabis growers, and at the same time, manufacturers of LED grow lights are expected to benefit the most from this. Cannabis is also considered as a high value crop by growers and hence the cultivation of cannabis is growing at a faster pace.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Horticulture Lighting Market"

196 - Tables

71 - Figures

305 - Pages

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Europe is projected to hold the largest share of the horticulture lighting market in 2027

Europe is expected to hold the largest share of the horticulture lighting market in 2027. The growth of the market in this region can be attributed to the fact that the region has the strongest economies in the world, along with flourishing industries that lead to increased capital investment capabilities. Countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, France, and Italy have large areas under greenhouse cultivation. The use of LED grow lights in this region is gradually increasing from being a supplemental lighting source to becoming a primary light source for indoor farming. The population of Europe has expanded rapidly in recent times, and countries of the region are importing fruits and vegetables in frozen form from Africa and Asia. These factors are expected to drive the market growth of horticulture lighting market in Europe.

Signify (Netherlands), OSRAM (Germany), Gavita (Netherlands), Valoya (Finland), California Lightworks (US), Helliospectra AB (Sweden), LumiGrow Inc. (US), Hortilux Schreder (Netherlands), Eye Hortilux (US), ILUMINAR Lighting (US), GE Current, A Daintree Company (US), PARsource (US), GE Lighting, A Savant Company (US), Hubbell (US), and Agrolux (Netherlands) are the key players in the global horticulture lighting market. These players are increasingly undertaking strategies such as product launches and development, expansions, partnerships, contracts, and acquisitions to increase their market share.

Related Reports:

Vertical Farming Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Growth Mechanism (Hydroponics, Aeroponics, Aquaponics), Structure (Building-based vertical farm and Shipping container-based vertical farm), Crop Type, Offering, & Region - Global Forecast to 2026

Smart Greenhouse Market by Type (Hydroponics and Non-Hydroponics), Covering Material Type (Polyethylene, Polycarbonate, and Others), Offering (Hardware and Software & Services), Component, Cultivation, End User, Region - Global Forecast to 2025

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REDDING, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new market research report, "Ambulatory EHR Market by Delivery Mode (Cloud-based, On-premise), Type, Practice Size (Large, Small-to-medium, Solo), Application (Patient Portals, Practice Management, CDS, Computerized Physician Order Entry, PHM), and End User - Global Forecast to 2028," published by Meticulous Research, the ambulatory EHR market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2021 to 2028 to reach $6.74 billion by 2028.

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An ambulatory electronic health record (EHR) is a software solution designed for use in outpatient care facilities. Ambulatory EHRs help physicians easily track a patient's medical history and treatment, which helps them better diagnose and effectively treat chronic illnesses. Patients' full medical histories, which are preserved in an electronic archive, can be accessed by medical professionals. These reports include all records of operations or treatments that do not require hospitalization. Physicians can monitor a patient's medical history and provide long-term care more easily using ambulatory EHR systems. Physicians use this software to gather detailed, relevant information about every patient, creating comprehensive databases of their personal health records. These extensive databases help doctors gain a better understanding of patients' health, simplifying diagnosis.

The growth of the overall ambulatory EHR market is mainly attributed to the rising government support for EHR adoption, patients' growing preference for ambulatory treatment over in-patient care, and a growing need to reduce operating costs in the healthcare sector. The integration of AI and machine learning and the changing scenario in emerging economies are expected to offer significant growth opportunities for the players operating in this market. However, data security concerns, high deployment costs, and heavy infrastructure investment requirements in low-income countries are expected to hinder the growth of this market.

Impact of COVID-19 on Ambulatory EHR Market

Governments of various countries had proposed modifying policies to alleviate the pressure on overburdened hospitals. For instance, in March 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided guidance allowing ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) to partner with local healthcare systems to provide hospital services. Elective and non-essential procedures were also suspended at the peak of the pandemic. Ambulatory surgical centers were, however, granted permission to perform outpatient procedures. Furthermore, the incorporation of various healthcare IT solutions with ambulatory EHR solutions allowed physicians to gain a better understanding of their patients' health, leading to more accurate diagnoses. In 2020, Oracle Corporation (U.S.) developed a National Electronic Health Records (EHR) Database and a suite of Public Health Management Applications to help U.S. public health departments and healthcare providers capture and interpret data related to COVID-19. Thus, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the increased burden on healthcare providers, drove the demand for EHR solutions, leading to the market's growth.

In Europe, hospitals were overburdened during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ambulatory care facilities helped alleviate this burden. In Germany, the majority of COVID-19 patients were treated in ambulatory settings during the initial phase of the pandemic. Also, in the Seine-Saint-Denis region of France, 20 ambulatory healthcare facilities were created to improve patient access.

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In Latin America, the need to share health data increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus increasing the significance of electronic health records. According to an article published in Front Public Health, several countries in South America developed shareable EHR models to enable the seamless exchange of EHR between healthcare providers and administrative entities, allowing concerned authorities to share important aspects of the outbreak, compare symptoms across different regions & healthcare facilities, and understand the overall scenario.

However, the implementation of new EHR systems was negatively impacted due to lockdown restrictions & social distancing protocols, and the diversion of healthcare budgets toward combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions and social distancing protocols were major challenges for sales teams and on-site implementation teams. Government measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 delayed the marketing, sale, and implementation of ambulatory EHR solutions and also affected investments in healthcare IT solutions, negatively impacting the ambulatory EHR market.

Ambulatory EHR Market Overview

The overall ambulatory EHR market is segmented by deployment mode, type, practice size, application, end user, and geography.

Based on deployment mode, the ambulatory EHR market is segmented into the cloud/web-based ambulatory EHR and on-premise ambulatory EHR segments. In 2021, the cloud/web-based ambulatory EHR segment accounted for the larger share of the overall ambulatory EHR market. The large share of this segment is primarily attributed to the advantages of cloud platforms, such as flexibility, real-time monitoring, data security, and lower implementation costs compared to on-premise deployments.

Based on type, the ambulatory EHR market is segmented into modular ambulatory EHR and all-in-one ambulatory EHR. In 2021, the all-in-one ambulatory EHR segment accounted for the larger share of the overall ambulatory EHR market. The large share of this segment is primarily attributed to the factors such as ease of use, availability of all functionalities, and seamless software and hardware.

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Based on practice size, the ambulatory EHR market is segmented into large practices, small-to-medium-sized practices, and solo practices. In 2021, the large practices segment accounted for the largest share of the overall ambulatory EHR market. Large practices' ability to deal with the productivity/maintenance/handling issues that may arise due to adopting new EHR solutions and their financial capacity to choose between a wide range of solutions drive the growth of this segment.

Based on application, the ambulatory EHR market is segmented into practice management, patient portals, computerized physician order entry, clinical decision support, population health management, referral management, and other applications. In 2021, the practice management segment accounted for the largest share of the overall ambulatory EHR market. The large share of this segment is primarily attributed to the high adoption of ambulatory EHR solutions for practice management due to their advanced features that enable capturing patient data, scheduling appointments, and performing billing tasks.

Based on end user, the ambulatory EHR market is segmented into hospital-owned ambulatory centers and independent ambulatory centers. In 2021, the hospital-owned ambulatory centers segment accounted for the larger share of the overall ambulatory EHR market. The large share of this segment is attributed to hospital-owned ambulatory centers' growing need to organize unstructured health data and the higher adoption of EHR solutions among hospital-owned ambulatory centers compared to independent ambulatory centers.

Based on geography, the ambulatory EHR market is segmented into five major regions-North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. In 2021, North America accounted for the largest share of the global ambulatory EHR market, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific. Growing government support to promote the adoption of EHR solutions and patients' increasing preference for ambulatory treatments over in-patient care drive the growth of this market.

Some of the key players operating in the global ambulatory EHR market are Epic Systems Corporation (U.S.), Cerner Corporation (U.S.), Medical Information Technology, Inc. (U.S.), Computer Programs and Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (U.S.), athenahealth, Inc. (U.S.), NextGen Healthcare, Inc (U.S.), eClinicalWorks (U.S.), Greenway Health, LLC (U.S.), CureMD Healthcare (US), and AdvancedMD, Inc. (U.S.) among others.

To gain more insights into the market with a detailed table of content and figures, click here: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/ambulatory-ehr-market-5190

Scope of the Report:

Ambulatory EHR Market, by Deployment Mode

Cloud/Web-based Ambulatory EHR

On-premise Ambulatory EHR

Ambulatory EHR Market, by Type

All-in-one Ambulatory EHR

Modular Ambulatory EHR

Ambulatory EHR Market, by Practice Size

Large Practices

Small-to-medium-sized Practices

Solo Practices

Ambulatory EHR Market, by Application

Practice Management

Patient Portals

Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE)

Clinical Decision Support (CDS)

Population Health Management

Referral Management

Other Applications

Ambulatory EHR Market, by End User

Hospital-owned Ambulatory Centres

Independent Ambulatory Centres

Ambulatory EHR Market, by Geography

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



France



U.K.



Italy



Spain



Rest of Europe (RoE)

(RoE) Asia Pacific

China



Japan



India



Rest of APAC (RoAPAC)

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

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Amidst this crisis, Meticulous Research is continuously assessing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on various sub-markets and enables global organizations to strategize for the post-COVID-19 world and sustain their growth. Let us know if you would like to assess the impact of COVID-19 on any industry here- https://www.meticulousresearch.com/custom-research

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https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/healthcare-it-market-5084

Mid-revenue Cycle Management/ Clinical Documentation Improvement Market by Product & Service [Solutions (Coding, Charge Capture, DRG Group, Pre-Bill Review), Consulting Services], End User (Providers, Payers), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2027

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About Meticulous Research

Meticulous Research was founded in 2010 and incorporated as Meticulous Market Research Pvt. Ltd. in 2013 as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956. Since its incorporation, the company has become the leading provider of premium market intelligence in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

The name of our company defines our services, strengths, and values. Since the inception, we have only thrived to research, analyze, and present the critical market data with great attention to details. With the meticulous primary and secondary research techniques, we have built strong capabilities in data collection, interpretation, and analysis of data including qualitative and quantitative research with the finest team of analysts. We design our meticulously analyzed intelligent and value-driven syndicate market research reports, custom studies, quick turnaround research, and consulting solutions to address business challenges of sustainable growth.

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Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Moon River Capital Ltd. (TSXV: MOO.P) ("Moon River" or the "Company"), a capital pool company ("CPC") pursuant to Policy 2.4 of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV"), is pleased to announce the voting results of its annual and special meeting of shareholders held on March 1, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario (the "Meeting").

In addition to the election of directors, the re-appointment of the auditors and the re-approval of the Company's stock option plan, shareholders ratified the adoption of a new general corporate by-law (the "New By-Law No.1"), which repealed and replaced the Company's previous general corporate by-law. The full text of the New By-Law No. 1 is available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com.

In accordance with changes to the TSXV's Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies, which came into effect as of January 1, 2021 (the "New CPC Policy"), the Company also obtained the requisite approval of disinterested shareholders of the Company for the following matters: (i) to remove the consequences of failing to complete a Qualifying Transaction (as that term is defined in the Policies of the TSXV) within 24 months of the Company's date of listing on the TSXV; (ii) to amend the escrow release conditions and certain other provisions of the Company's escrow agreement; and (iii) to permit for the payment of a finder's fee to a Non-Arm's Length Party (as that term is defined in the Policies of the TSXV) to the CPC in connection with an arm's length Qualifying Transaction. All matters submitted to shareholders of the Company for approval at the Meeting are more particularly described in the Company's management information circulated dated January 28, 2022 (the "Circular"). Please refer to the Circular for further details with respect to the amendments associated with the New CPC Policy.

Following the results of the Meeting, the Company will continue to evaluate and review alternative acquisition opportunities with a view to completing its Qualifying Transaction.

About the Company

The Company is a CPC within the meaning of the policies of the TSXV that has not commenced commercial operations and has no assets other than cash. Except as specifically contemplated in the CPC policies of the TSXV, until the completion of a Qualifying Transaction, the Company will not carry on business, other than the identification and evaluation of companies, business or assets with a view to completing a proposed Qualifying Transaction. Investors are cautioned that trading in the securities of a CPC is considered highly speculative.

For further information please contact:

Jamie Levy, CEO, CFO, Treasurer & Director at (416) 567-2440 or jlevy@genmining.com

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "will", "estimates", "believes", "intends", "expects" and similar expressions, which are intended to identify forward-looking statements. More particularly and without limitation, this press release contains forward-looking statements concerning: the Company's' evaluation and review of alternative acquisition opportunities with a view to completing its Qualifying Transaction.

These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions that the Company has made in respect thereof as at the date of this press release regarding, among other things: the continued evaluation and review of alternative transaction opportunities by the Company.

Although the Company believes the expectations and material factors and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date hereof, there can be no assurance that these expectations, factors and assumptions will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to: changes in general economic, competitive, business, political and social conditions, including changes in the financial markets; the impact of competitive entities and pricing; the ability to access various sources of debt and equity capital on favourable terms; changes in applicable laws and regulations and costs associated therewith; actions by governmental or regulatory authorities and costs associated therewith; technology and cyber security risks; natural catastrophes; and certain other risks detailed in the Company's final prospectus dated January 20, 2020, a copy of which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

This list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. Readers are cautioned that events or circumstances could cause results to differ materially from those predicted, forecasted or projected. The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as of the date of this document. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information contained herein, except as required by applicable laws. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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Elektros Inc. (OTC PINK:ELEK), an emerging electric vehicle company based in South Florida, is pleased to announce that today marks the first day of production for Elektros Sonic Vehicles and delivery is anticipated early this summer. The company is now discussing exclusive rights with Jinpeng Group in preparation for consumer demand.

SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / Elektros Inc. is thrilled to announce that the production of Elektros Sonic vehicles is officially underway with anticipated delivery early this summer. The company also announced today that they were able to further negotiate their contract with Jinpeng Group to add on unique luxury automotive parts and Elektros Sonic branded accessories which the company hopes to reveal in coming months.

Elektros Inc. is working closely with Jinpeng Group and hopes to finalize exclusive U.S. rights with the company in the near future. "We're moving at a fast pace to provide consumers with affordable luxury in the electric vehicle space," said Shlomo Bleier, CEO of Elektros Inc. "Elektros Sonic aims to become a household name."

As previously announced, Elektros Inc. will submit the electric vehicles to be crash test approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation upon delivery. The company aims to present Elektros Sonic to consumers beginning as early as 2023.

About Elektros, Inc.

Elektros is an American electric vehicle company that innovates mobility solutions for consumers and businesses. The automotive landscape faces existential disruption over the next decade to reach carbon neutrality. Elektros addresses this paradigm shift with mobility technologies that support sustainability for a transformative user experience. Elektros aims to present a compelling and completely new electric vehicle experience known as Elektros Sonic to consumers beginning as early as 2023.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking statements" that include information relating to future events and future financial and operating performance. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "can," "believe," "potential," and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which that performance or those results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time they are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: fluctuations in demand for Elektros, Inc.'s products, the introduction of new products, the Company's ability to maintain customer and strategic business relationships, the impact of competitive products and pricing, growth in targeted markets, the adequacy of the Company's liquidity and financial strength to support its growth, and other information that may be detailed from time to time in Elektros Inc.'s filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Examples of such forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding future sales, costs, and market acceptance of products as well as regulatory actions at the State or Federal level. For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting Elektros Inc., please refer to the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, which are available at www.sec.gov. Elektros, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT:

Elektros, Inc. IR and Media Inquiries

Email: ElektrosInc@gmail.com

Website: Elek.World

SOURCE: Elektros, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691362/Elektros-Inc-OTCELEK-Production-is-Underway-for-Elektros-Sonic-Vehicles-Delivery-Expected-Early-Summer-2022
Forms a technological partnership with Movandi to manufacture and supply tested products for the first time

New modules support all three Korean carriers and frequency bands of U.S./Japanese mobile carriers (Triband)

Doosan Corporation (KRX: 000150) is advancing into the 5G antenna module business in partnership with Movandi Corporation.

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Doosan Corporation is advancing into the 5G antenna module business in partnership with Movandi Corporation. It has delivered an initial order of 5G mmWave 28 GHz beamforming antenna modules from FRTek, a telecommunication smart repeater manufacturing company. The modules are a core part of 5G wireless repeaters based on Movandi's BeamX beam forming antenna technology. They offer integrated solutions loaded with such functions as signal transmission and reception and frequency conversion. They can not only respond to the 28GHz frequency band (26.5-28.9GHz) used by all Korean wireless carriers, but they are also applicable to overseas communications markets such as the United States and Japan. (Photo: Business Wire)

Doosan Corporation announced on the 28th Feb that it has delivered an initial order of 5G mmWave 28 GHz beamforming antenna modules from FRTek, a telecommunication smart repeater manufacturing company. The modules are a core part of 5G wireless repeaters based on Movandi's BeamX beam forming antenna technology. They offer integrated solutions loaded with such functions as signal transmission and reception and frequency conversion. They can not only respond to the 28GHz frequency band (26.5-28.9GHz) used by all Korean wireless carriers, but they are also applicable to overseas communications markets such as the United States and Japan.

*Beam forming is a technology to transmit and receive strong signals in a certain direction after forming an antenna beam in that direction.

Movandi is a leader in 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) radio frequency semiconductor technologies and algorithms. It showcased 5G Beamforming technology at CES 2022 in Las Vegas in January. The technology minimizes signal interference between users and transmits 5G signals in an intended direction, thus raising the quality of communication remarkably.

Doosan is expanding its business to the high value-added field of copper clad laminate (CCL) which is diversely applicable to mobile, semiconductors, networks, automotive electronic devices and 5G/6G telecommunications. Doosan secured the exclusive right to manufacture and sell 5G antenna modules from Movandi last year. Doosan has since been setting up lines at its factory in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, to produce 5G antenna modules.

"Needs for 5G are growing fast along with related markets as data traffic is increasing worldwide. We have a greater expectation of this business partnership, given that 5G communication infrastructures are being developed briskly especially abroad," said Yoo Seung-woo, CEO of Doosan Corporation Electro-Materials, a business group of Doosan. He added that the company will continuously seize 5G-related business opportunities starting with 5G antenna modules.

Meanwhile, Doosan Corporation is developing 26GHz and 39GHz antenna modules jointly with Movandi RF semiconductor and antenna technologies. It plans to roll them out within this year. This is a move to advance into overseas markets such as China, Europe and the United States and expand its overseas business. Besides, Doosan is pushing to increase its R&D manpower and facilities to accelerate its business. It seeks to expand its business areas to mmWave-based specialized network IoT terminals and wireless connection network radio modules. Doosan Corporation is scheduled to display its 5G antenna modules at DesignCon 2022 in Santa Clara, CA, in April.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005008/en/

Contacts:

Doosan Corporation Electro-Materials

Chaehyun Im

chaehyun.im@doosan.com
First Fully Implantable Electro-Physiological Cardiac Assistance Device

FineHeart S.A, a preclinical medical device company that has developed the ICOMS FLOWMAKER, a fully Implantable Cardiac Output Management System designed to address the unmet need of patients suffering from severe heart failure, today announced the grant by theUSPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) in the United States, of their new patent US 11 097093

The patent named "Method for managing a heart pump" covers various therapeutic modes of the ICOMS FLOWMAKER the world's first and only fully implantable electro-physiological cardiac assistance device for the treatment of severe heart failure

Besides being totally adaptable, the mini intracardiac pump developed by FineHeart is the only circulatory assistance device capable of synchronizing with the opening of the aortic valve to increase the native cardiac function with every heartbeat. The algorithms used in the ICOMS FLOWMAKERrepresent the real intelligence of the device. Much like the algorithms used in pacemakers, they allow to recognize the patient's effort, identify arrhythmias and to adjust the level of assistance provided in real time.

This key patent adds to FineHeart's strong international portfolio of more than 72 patents in 18 various fields of expertise spanning from the design, the control, to the surgical implantation of the ICOMS FLOWMAKER.

Designed by renowned electrophysiologists, the ICOMS FLOWMAKER offers great autonomy to patients with severe heart failure. It requires little energy: its 70 g battery is recharged through the skin via a wireless transcutaneous energy transfer system (TET), avoiding any risk of infection.

For Dr Stephane Garrigue, CSO Cardiologist and co-Designer of the ICOMS Flowmaker: "The ICOMS FLOWMAKER started as a vision and resulted in the development of a totally disruptive approach to the treatment of severe heart failure. It is the first smart mini cardiac device that is programmable by the doctor, regardless of the characteristics of the sick heart and the heart rhythm. It preserves and assists the normal function of the heart to optimize the therapeutic effect and help its progression, in a personalised way for each implanted patient. This is the first device ever to produce blood flow in strict accordance with cardiac physiology. This enables the heart to increase its chances of spontaneous recovery, and for the patient to avoid vital dependence on cardiac assistance, a major downside of all current cardiac assistance devices. Thanks to its unprecedented functionality, the ICOMS FLOWMAKER brings hope for doctors and thousands of patients suffering from severe heart failure, whose only current therapeutic solution is a transplant."

For Arnaud Mascarell, CEO and co-Founder of Fineheart: "Even if the technologies developed over the last few decades allow patients to recover their vital functions and regain a certain degree of autonomy, there remain limitations and constraints which prevent them from leading a normal life. With the ICOMS FLOWMAKER, our ambition is to enable patients with severe heart failure to return to a normal life.

Severe heart failure is the second leading cause of death worldwide after cancer. It is a degenerative disease that progresses to a severe form and results in the inability of the heart to pump normally. Each year 200,000 patients cannot be appropriately treated due to a lack of therapeutic solutions.

With its unique features, the ICOMS FLOWMAKER represents an effective therapeutic alternative for all these patients.

About the ICOMS FLOWMAKER

The ICOMS FLOWMAKER is the first fully intraventricular, wireless flow accelerator that provides physiological support synchronized with the heart's natural contractions. It respects the natural blood flow and does not require aortic bypass surgery. It is the first miniaturized device barely 10 cm in size that is adjustable to patients' needs, like a pacemaker, to treat patients with varying degrees of severity. It has no external driveline as it is recharged via a wireless transcutaneous energy transfer system (TET). The device is implanted using a minimally invasive beating-heart procedure, commonly performed by cardiac surgeons, which, on average lasts 90 minutes.

About FineHeart

FineHeart is a medical device company that is developing its innovative ground-breaking product, ICOMS FLOWMAKER, with the potential to treat 200,000 patients with severe heart failure each year. First-In-Human trials are expected in 2023. FineHeart will initially target the 50,000 most severe patients who are eligible for cardiac assistance. Initial estimates value this market segment to be worth over US$5 billion.

Founded in 2010, FineHeart is based in Bordeaux employing close to 50 employees. It is led by a team of internationally renowned cardiac surgeons and electro-physiologists: Dr. Stephane Garrigue, PhD, CSO co-inventor of ICOMS FLOWMAKER; Dr. Philippe Ritter, MS, co-inventor of cardiac resynchronization (CRT); and Arnaud Mascarell, FineHeart's CEO. The company holds a portfolio of 72 patents in 18 families.

FineHeart is supported by a wide pool of public and private industrial and independent investors: Lauak Group, Doliam, Med-INNOV, FineHeart Founders' Holding representing domestic and international private investors, mainly from the cardiology sector, and the European investment fund Verve Ventures as well as historical shareholders Irdi, Aquiti, Galia, Broadview Ventures, and M Capital. FineHeart also benefits from the financial support of the European Union, Bpifrance, the New Aquitaine Region and the Centre Region.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005617/en/

Contacts:

Europe

Media Relations

Annie-Florence Loyer

afloyer@newcap.fr

+33 (6) 88 20 35

FineHeart Communications

James Palmer

j.palmer@orpheonfinance.com

+33 (0) 7 60 92 77 72
China has given conditional approval for a recombinant protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine developed by domestic company Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, the National Medical Products Administration said on Wednesday.

The vaccine uses purified pieces of the virus' protein to trigger an immune response. It is the first vaccine based on this technology to be approved by the top drug regulator.

In total, five COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for public use in China so far.




Attorneys for the Berks County mother facing the death penalty in the hanging deaths of her 8- and 4-year-old children say they want to stop jurors from hearing about statements she made to officials before her arrest and her internet search history.

Lisa Snyder appeared Wednesday in Berks County Court for a status conference in her case. Snyder, 39, is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in the deaths of 8-year-old Conner and 4-year-old Brinley Snyder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

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Judge Paul Yatron scheduled a May 25 evidentiary hearing to hear testimony from prosecution witnesses on three issues raised in a motion to suppress certain evidence Snyders lawyers argue would be inflammatory and cause jurors to be biased against her.

Defense attorneys Dennis Charles and James Burke argue in the brief that although they instructed state police and district court officials that Snyder should not be questioned without them present, they believe she may have made statements before she was advised of her right to remain silent. Charles said in court the defense would also seek to exclude any statements that Snyder made to child welfare officials in the months after her childrens deaths.

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Snyders lawyers also say state police lacked probable cause to search her Albany Township home and seize electronic devices including a cellphone, a touch-screen tablet and a laptop computer because they failed to explain how the devices were connected with the deaths of her children. They also argue that the data downloaded from the devices was improperly obtained and should be excluded.

The internet browsing history recovered from the devices includes searches for things that are lewd, lascivious and/or unduly offensive, the motion to suppress the evidence says, and Snyders attorneys asked the judge to review it in chambers. Snyders lawyers say they believe prosecutors may try to introduce the search history evidence in an attempt to blacken Snyders character or reputation before the jury.

Among the other categories of evidence Snyders attorneys want to be excluded are photos of the death scene or autopsies. They are also asking for the trial to be held outside of Berks County or for jurors to be brought in from another county because of the publicity the case has received.

Yatron has already granted a defense request to have the homicide charges tried separately from charges that Snyder engaged in sex acts with a dog and cruelty to animals.

Last Call Daily Get top headlines from The Morning Call delivered weekday afternoons. >

Paramedics responded to Snyders home at 2442 Route 143, near Kempton, around 4:40 p.m. Sept. 23, 2019, and found Conner and Brinley unresponsive and in cardiac arrest.

The children were hanging 3 feet apart from a single wired cable with plastic coating and ends containing swivel eye snap hooks, according to a search warrant. The wire was wrapped around the main support beam of the basement and each end was wrapped around the childrens necks. Alongside the children were two wooden dining room chairs that were knocked over, court records say.

Paramedics were unable to revive the children with CPR. They were rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where they were taken off life support three days later.

Snyder denies the charges, saying she found the children and was unable to get them down because she was having an anxiety attack that made her sweat profusely. She told first responders that her son was bullied at school and had talked about ending his life in the weeks leading up to the hangings.

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Prosecutors have said there is no evidence that Conner was bullied.

Snyder is being held in the Berks County Jail without bail. Her trial date has not been set.

Morning Call reporter Peter Hall can be reached at 610-820-6581 or peter.hall@mcall.com.
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Start-Up Nation Central, a non-profit that promotes the Israeli innovation ecosystem around the world, published on Tuesday a first-of-its-kind landscape map detailing some of the leading Israeli companies active in the ClimateTech space.

The interactive map highlights 180 startups and growth companies providing solutions across seven verticals: Agriculture and Food, Construction, Energy, Industry, Mobility, Nature and Carbon Tech, and Water.

Israel is home to roughly 700 companies whose products or services have the potential to aid in the battle against climate change. The ClimateTech map published this week focuses on two groups of innovative companies: those that have displayed the most traction in the last 24 months in terms of investments, M&As, IPOs, grants, or collaborations with design partners; and those whose solutions make them true pioneers in the ClimateTech innovation field.

"At Start-Up Nation Central, we've prioritized climate solutions as one of the central areas of focus for the years to come, recognizing their importance and potential to be a driving force in the local and global economy," said Start-Up Nation Central ClimateTech Sector Lead Yael Weisz-Zilberman. "The climate crisis is becoming a prevalent topic of discussion around board rooms all over the world and impacts every company across practically every industry. We hope that this map serves as an asset for those seeking real-time data on the important work that's already being done here in Israel."

The map was published at the launch of the Climate Solutions Prize, a joint initiative by Start-Up Nation Central and partners from the corporate and philanthropic world to incentivize Israeli innovation geared to battling the global climate crisis.

Start-Up Nation Central is the address for corporations, governments, and investors to connect with the Israeli tech ecosystem. We catalyze growth opportunities by bringing Israeli tech innovation to global business and societal challenges. Established in 2013 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Start-Up Nation Central is a not-for-profit organization funded by philanthropy.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1758334/SNC_ClimateTech_Landscape.jpg
Igor Kuruc is a seasoned board level manager and Energy sector thought leader with in-depth knowledge of energy & utility supply chains.

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / NMS Consulting, Inc. ("NMS"), a global management consulting and strategic advisory firm announced today that Igor Kuruc has joined the firm as a Senior Consultant based in the Czech Republic. In his new position, he shall also be responsible for establishing the firm's first office in the Czech Republic and growing the regional team.

Igor Kuruc is a seasoned board level manager and Energy sector thought leader. He has in-depth knowledge of energy & utility supply chains, redesigning wholesale businesses during acquisitions and post-merger integrations, and is well-versed in the European regulatory landscape for the Energy sector.

Igor has worked at Procter & Gamble, where he was a Financial Analysis Manager, and also worked several years at Shell as a Supply Chain Optimization Manager and Board Member. At Shell, he oversaw regulatory stakeholder management and served as Vice Chairman of the Board for Shell Czech Republic. He was responsible for generating over 10 million in improved purchase conditions from a local supplier, and for a 25 million cash flow improvement via prolonged payment terms.

Aykut Cakir, Managing Director, Senior Partner and Head of MENA Region at NMS commented, "Igor's background in the Energy sector can prove to be extremely useful for companies facing today's high energy prices. His expertise in supply chain management, acquisitions, and integration can help companies overcome hurdles and various issues."

Trevor M. Saliba, Managing Partner at NMS said "Igor's background and the experience he gained at Shell are welcome attributes in today's geopolitical environment. With commodity prices rising quickly due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Igor's consulting prowess can make an immense impact for companies across the globe."

About NMS Consulting

Founded in 2018, NMS Consulting is a global management consulting and strategic advisory firm that specializes in delivering services to a global client base of private and public companies, government agencies, philanthropic organizations and the individuals who lead them.

With a global footprint of sixteen offices located through the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East staffed with more than 250 seasoned professionals, our clients benefit from a combination of our diverse skills, expertise and global organization offering a unique multi-disciplinary 360 solutions platform.

Unlike other leading management consulting firms, NMS Consulting provides its clients the experience of working with a "big firm consultancy" without the higher premium. Client projects are staffed with qualified professionals who have trained at many of the leading global consultancy firms enabling the NMS professionals to deliver "big firm" experience and capabilities, while providing flexibility on mandate sizes and pricing.

For more information, please visit www.nmsconsulting.com.

Global Media Contacts:

NMS Consulting, Inc. - USA

Lili Swanson

+1 310 855 0020

news@nmsconsulting.com

NMS Consulting, Inc. - Europe

Liliya Chvileva

+49 30 8009 8743

lchvileva@nmsconsulting.com

NMS Consulting, Inc. - MENA

Gulcan Koseoglu

+90 216 970 3375

gulcank@nmsconsulting.com

SOURCE: NMS Consulting, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691257/NMS-Consulting-Expands-European-Team-Appointing-Igor-Kuruc-as-Senior-Consultant-in-the-Czech-Republic
Leading Solutions Across All Targeted Markets from Fast-Charging GaN Chargers, Best-Sounding Class-D Audio, EV Powertrain Solutions, And More Are on Display

HOUSTON, TX and OTTAWA, CANADA / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / GaN Systems, the global leader in GaN (gallium nitride) power semiconductors, today announced that it will showcase the industry's newest lineup of power electronics solutions at the 37th annual Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) from March 20-24, 2022 in Houston. GaN Systems' solutions enable smaller and lower-cost systems for its customers while delivering next-generation efficiency and leading quality and reliability.

GaN Systems APEC 2022 booth #1324 will include:

GaN Chargers : The company will showcase the world's smallest 65W and 100W GaN chargers and a wide range of optimized chargers for smartphones, laptops, and other consumer devices from 45W to 240W from Dell, Philips, Harman, and other leading brands. GaN Systems' array of charger reference designs that support faster time-to-market will be on display, including the 65W QR GaN charger, 100W Dual USB-C Intelligent PD GaN charger, and 250W AC/DC GaN adapter.

The company will showcase the world's smallest 65W and 100W GaN chargers and a wide range of optimized chargers for smartphones, laptops, and other consumer devices from 45W to 240W from Dell, Philips, Harman, and other leading brands. GaN Systems' array of charger reference designs that support faster time-to-market will be on display, including the 65W QR GaN charger, 100W Dual USB-C Intelligent PD GaN charger, and 250W AC/DC GaN adapter. GaN Audio: GaN Systems will showcase the Syng Alpha Cell, one of TIME's 100 Best Inventions of 2021, and highlight solutions providing the best sounding Class-D audio with products like Orchard Audio's Starkrimson Stereo Ultra amplifier and all-in-one Starkrimson Streamer Ultra, and the new 500W Heatsinkless Audio Amplifier from Axign and GaN Systems. Additionally, the company will showcase its 400W Class-D audio reference design and its new 300W Boost Converter reference design for automotive, motorcycle, and marine applications.

GaN Systems will showcase the Syng Alpha Cell, one of TIME's 100 Best Inventions of 2021, and highlight solutions providing the best sounding Class-D audio with products like Orchard Audio's Starkrimson Stereo Ultra amplifier and all-in-one Starkrimson Streamer Ultra, and the new 500W Heatsinkless Audio Amplifier from Axign and GaN Systems. Additionally, the company will showcase its 400W Class-D audio reference design and its new 300W Boost Converter reference design for automotive, motorcycle, and marine applications. Leading EV Power Solutions: GaN Systems is the clear leader in automotive GaN and will showcase onboard charger, traction inverter, and DC-to-DC converter implementations. GaN Systems is building on this success with partners Vitesco Technologies and USI for next-generation powertrain solutions. Vitesco's Head of Innovation in the Electrification Technology business unit, Dr. Gerd Rosel, said, "GaN transistors help to minimize heat losses, particularly the switching losses at the high switching frequencies we require. GaN components outperform silicon chips in every respect."

GaN Systems is the clear leader in automotive GaN and will showcase onboard charger, traction inverter, and DC-to-DC converter implementations. GaN Systems is building on this success with partners Vitesco Technologies and USI for next-generation powertrain solutions. Vitesco's Head of Innovation in the Electrification Technology business unit, Dr. Gerd Rosel, said, "GaN transistors help to minimize heat losses, particularly the switching losses at the high switching frequencies we require. GaN components outperform silicon chips in every respect." Transistors, Power Module Solutions, and More: The company's newest generation of high-performance, lower-cost transistors will be shown. Several high-power and IPM form factor power modules will be on display for applications in the industrial and EV segments that require much higher power.

To see an in-depth review of managing thermals in high-density applications, GaN Systems will present a technical session titled "Thermal Design Considerations for GaN-Based Power Adapters with Multi-Heat Sources" on March 22, 2022, 9:10 AM - 9:30 AM Central Time at Location 361ABC.

"Efficient power generation, distribution, and conversion are key factors in driving sustainability and reducing emissions, and GaN is more efficient and more cost-effective than both silicon and silicon carbide," said Paul Wiener, VP of Strategic Marketing at GaN Systems. "The power industry is rapidly transitioning to GaN for best-in-class efficiency, design flexibility, costs, and more. We see rapid adoption across all of our target markets - automotive, consumer, enterprise, and industrial."

Visit GaN Systems at APEC 2022

GaN Systems will demonstrate the latest designs and products at Booth 1324. Contact us here or reserve an appointment or meet with GaN Systems virtually at the show.

About GaN Systems

GaN Systems is the global leader in GaN power semiconductors with the most extensive transistors portfolio that uniquely addresses the needs of today's most demanding industries, including consumer electronics, data center servers, power supplies, renewable energy systems, industrial motors, and automotive electronics. As an industry-leading innovator, GaN Systems makes it possible to design smaller, lower cost, more efficient power systems. The company's award-winning products provide system design opportunities free from the limitations of yesterday's silicon. By changing the transistor performance rules, GaN Systems enables power conversion companies to revolutionize their industries and transform the world.

For more information, please visit: www.gansystems.com or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and scan this QR code for our WeChat.

Media Inquiries:

Mary Placido

Trier and Company for GaN Systems

mary@triercompany.com

+1 (415) 218-3627

SOURCE: GaN Systems

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691370/GaN-Systems-to-Showcase-Newest-Innovations-at-APEC-2022
The formation in Israel enables the cleantech company to bring a new era in sustainable and energy-efficient waste management and resource recovery to the region

DURHAM, NC / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / 374Water Inc. (OTCQB:SCWO) a social impact cleantech company is pleased to announce the establishment of 374Water Sustainability Israel LTD, representing 374Water's first global subsidiary. The company is launching this new subsidiary as a sustained initiative to expand its presence and conduct business with partners in Israel. The formation of the subsidiary follows the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation's selection of 374Water to receive a $900,000 grant for a cleantech project with Environmental Services Company, Ltd. in Israel.

Each year more than 5 million tons of municipal and commercial waste are generated in Israel, a country with limited land and a growing population. With the established subsidiary in place, 374Water will provide its AirSCWO technology to meet the increasing demand for sustainable, resilient and decentralized waste management solutions.

"Israel was always on the leading edge in creating and adopting innovative technologies, which aligns with 374Water's vision of pioneering new technologies in the water and waste industries," said Kobe Nagar, Chairman and CEO of 374Water.

374Water's AirSCWO features a physical-thermal process that uses supercritical water oxidation to convert waste to recoverable energy, water, and minerals, while eliminating organic pollutants, including "forever" chemicals such as PFAS. The decentralized AirSCWO systems utilize an omniprocessor to address a variety of wastes. The compact, modular, and prefabricated units will help communities in the region transition from linear to circular economies.

About 374Water

374Water is a US-based cleantech, social impact company whose mission is to preserve a clean and healthy environment that sustains life. We are pioneering a new era of sustainable waste management that supports a circular economy and enables organizations to achieve their sustainability goals. https://www.374water.com/

Cautionary Language

This press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "plans," "projects," "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates," and other words of similar meaning.

Company Contact:

374 Water:

Mr. Richard Davis

ir@374Water.com

(786) 412-7015

Investor Contact:

Hayden IR:

James Carbonara

(646)-755-7412

james@haydenir.com

Media Contact:

FischTank PR:

374water@fischtankpr.com

SOURCE: 374Water, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691366/374Water-Expands-Presence-to-Western-Asia-with-Launch-of-New-Subsidiary
$14.1 Million Will Be Sent to 20 Charities for Immediate Humanitarian Aid

Jefferies announced today that its Ukrainian Doing Good Global Trading Day raised more than $14 million, and the funds will be quickly distributed to 20 charities that are providing on the ground humanitarian aid and support.

In a remarkable show of support, Jefferies' clients generated $12.4 million in net trading commissions, with Jefferies employees donating more than $700,000 and the Company contributing $1 million as well.

Rich Handler, CEO, and Brian Friedman, President, of Jefferies commented:

"Today every member of the Jefferies extended family is Ukrainian in heart and spirit. Their bravery and courage in the face of the worst kind of tyranny is beyond inspirational. We are humbled by our clients, employees, shareholders and friends who have all come together in our largest fundraising effort ever. We have all felt so helpless watching this tragedy unfold before our very eyes and we are grateful for the chance to do our small part to help the families, children and communities of Ukraine."

Jefferies and our clients proudly support the following charitable organizations:

Charitable Organization Charity Description Amount Americares Focuses on providing medicine, medical

supplies and emergency funding to

communities that are vulnerable to crises,

disasters and poverty. 1,000,000 CARE Raises money to provide immediate aid,

including food, water, hygiene kits, support

services and direct cash assistance in Ukraine. 1,000,000 Doctors Without Borders Mobilizes emergency preparedness response,

with teams at the Polish-Ukrainian border

setting up emergency response activities and

carrying out assessments along Ukraine's border. 1,000,000 GlobalGiving Supports humanitarian assistance in impacted

communities in Ukraine and surrounding regions

where Ukrainian refugees have fled. GlobalGiving's

local partners are bringing relief to terrified and

displaced communities, supplying shelter, food,

clean water, access to education, and more. 1,000,000 Global Empowerment Mission Aims to restore hope and opportunities in the lives

of those affected by natural disasters. They are

currently on the ground in Medyka, Poland to offer

complimentary aid and travel relocation. 1,000,000 International Committee of the Red Cross Ensures humanitarian protection and assistance

for victims of armed conflict and other violence.

The ICRC is focused on repairing vital infrastructure

in Ukraine, supporting health facilities with medicines

and equipment, and supporting families with food

and hygiene items. 1,000,000 International Medical Corps Works directly and in partnership with local

organizations to increase access to medical services,

child protection, and mental health and psychosocial

support for those living in areas affected by war. 1,000,000 UNICEF Protects and promotes the rights of children all over

the world, and is working nonstop to deliver

lifesaving programs in Ukraine for affected children

and families, including health, hygiene and

emergency education supplies. 1,000,000 World Central Kitchen Supplies meals in response to humanitarian, climate

and community crises. They are set up at eight

border crossings to serve nourishing meals to people

in need, in addition to supporting local restaurants

preparing meals in five Ukrainian cities. 1,000,000 Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Works with organizations globally to help vulnerable

people overcome emergencies, earn a living through

agriculture and access affordable health care. They

are working with partners on the ground across

Ukraine to provide safe shelter, hot meals, transport

to safe areas, and fuel to keep warm. 750,000 Project CURE Provides humanitarian assistance to the people of

Ukraine by shipping cargo containers of medical

equipment and supplies. 750,000 Project HOPE Actively shipping essential medicines and medical

supplies to refugees and activated an emergency

response team to provide immediate health and

humanitarian relief. 750,000 United Ukrainian American Relief Committee Administers vital medical supplies to victims, care for

the injured and refugees, as well as shelter and food

to those affected. UUARC is working closely with

UCCA, UWC, US Aid and the Ukrainian Embassy in

the coordination of aid. 750,000 Come Back Alive Helps the Ukrainian military, volunteers and their

families by providing technical support, specifically

with cameras and night vision devices. 300,000 Direct Relief Provides emergency health kits and medical

backpacks for triage care to refugees feeling

violence and disruption. 300,000 The Global Surgical and Medical Support Group (GSMSG) Provides high quality medical care and training to

communities in conflict zones, austere environments

and disaster areas around the world. GSMSG

medical and surgical teams can provide the full

spectrum of care ranging from front-line medical

services to advanced neurosurgery. 300,000 Kyiv School of Economics for Crisis Support Fundraises to support humanitarian projects of

Ukraine NGOs and local administrations aiding

vulnerable groups of people and those who cannot

ensure their safety independently. 300,000 National Bank of Ukraine Humanitarian Assistance Fund Special fundraising account that will be leveraged

by the Ministry of Social Policy to provide food, shelter,

clothes, medicine, staple goods, and financial aid to

refugees and citizens that have been displaced due to

military conflict. 300,000 Saint Andrew Charity Foundation Ukraine-based charity that seeks to improve the social

conditions and welfare of children, specifically orphans,

across education, healthcare, and human rights. 300,000 SOS Children's Villages Sends emergency relief, critical medical supplies, healthy

meals and clean water, vital psychotherapy support, and

quality education resources to children and families in Ukraine. 300,000

Jefferies (NYSE: JEF) is the largest independent, global, full-service investment banking firm headquartered in the U.S. Focused on serving clients for 60 years, Jefferies is a leader in providing insight, expertise and execution to investors, companies and governments. Our firm provides a full range of investment banking, advisory, sales and trading, research and wealth management services across all products in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Jefferies' Leucadia Asset Management division is a growing alternative asset management platform.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220302006210/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Jonathan Freedman, MediaContact@Jefferies.com; 212-778-8913
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA, ANY MEMBER STATE OF THE EEA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF SUCH JURISDICTION

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

Capitalised terms used in this announcement, unless otherwise defined, have the same meanings as set out in the circular of UK Mortgages Limited (the "Company" or "UKML") dated 3 March 2022 (the "Circular").

3 March 2022

UK MORTGAGES LIMITED

(a closed-ended investment company incorporated with limited liability under the laws of Guernsey with registration number 60440 and registered as a Registered Closed-ended Collective Investment Scheme with the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. LEI: 549300388LT7VTHCIT59)

Circular to Shareholders and Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting relating to Proposed Merger with TwentyFour Income Fund Limited

On the 8 February 2022 the Board of the UKML announced that it had agreed with TwentyFour Income Fund Limited ("TFIF") the terms of a proposed merger to be effected by way of scheme of reconstruction of the UKML, consisting of the winding-up of the UKML, the transfer of UKML's assets to TFIF and the issue of New TFIF Shares to UKML Shareholders (the "Proposals").

Following this announcement, the Board today announces the publication of the Circular relating to the Proposals and notice of the Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on 18 March 2022.

Chris Waldron, Chairman, commented:

"We are pleased to put forward details of the proposed merger with TwentyFour Income Fund Limited, which has been well received since its announcement. The Board unanimously recommends that UKML Shareholders vote in favour of all of the Resolutions to be proposed at the Extraordinary General Meeting."

Background to the Proposals

Following UKML's rejection of an indicative third-party bid approach in August 2020 and the strategic review subsequently conducted by the Board, on 4 December 2020, UKML Shareholders overwhelmingly approved proposals (the "2020 Proposals") under which the Company would continue operating as a publicly traded company under a revised mandate offering increased focus on enhancing liquidity and returns whilst continuing to seek to narrow the share price discount to NAV.

The measures set out in the 2020 Proposals were successfully implemented and UKML Shareholders have consequently benefited from two returns of capital for an aggregate of approximately 40 million, increasing portfolio income returns such that the Board has been able to declare an increased quarterly dividend and provide guidance indicating the potential for increased dividends in respect of the next Company financial year, and an improved share price which immediately prior to the announcement of the Proposals represented a narrowed discount of approximately 8 per cent. to the Company's last published NAV.

Additionally, the 2020 Proposals introduced certain protections for UKML Shareholders, namely that if the UKML Shares (i) trade at a discount of 5 per cent. or wider to the prevailing NAV in the period of 20 Business Days preceding any Board consideration of a refinancing of a Mortgage Securitisation, then the Board will not approve such refinancing and instead will pursue a realisation with the net proceeds intended to be returned to UKML Shareholders; and (ii) if the UKML Shares are not trading at an average price per UKML Share which is equal to or above the most recent published NAV in the period of 20 Business Days preceding 4 December 2022, the Board intends to place the Company into a managed wind down.

In late 2021 the Company received a preliminary non-binding approach from TFIF regarding the potential for a merger of the two companies. The Board considered this approach against the background outlined above, namely that while a number of issues faced by the Company had been addressed to which the share price had responded positively, other challenges remained including a persistent share price discount to NAV which may have triggered the UKML Shareholders' protections discussed above, a market capitalisation of only approximately 130 million, and modest liquidity in the trading of the UKML Shares.

After a negotiation process the Board concluded that the interests of UKML Shareholders would be best served if the Company pursued the proposed merger into a single entity. The Board consulted with a number of major shareholders, received strong levels of support for the proposed merger, and announced the Proposals on 8 February 2022.

Both UKML and TFIF believe that the Proposals remain attractive, despite the change to the global economic environment caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and have today undertaken to proceed to implementing the Proposals, subject to UKML Shareholders' approval and certain other conditions. In order to provide enhanced certainty for both UKML and TFIF of transaction terms against current uncertainty and potential volatility, the proposed terms of the Scheme involve the Acquisition Value and the TFIF Issue Price being substantively fixed as at 31 January 2022.

Benefits of the Proposals

The Directors consider that the Proposals should have the following benefits for UKML Shareholders, as investors in TFIF following its merger with UKML:

(i)Creating a market leading listed credit fund in TFIF:

? TFIF should benefit from a strengthened market position due to greater scale and the combined asset management and securitisation expertise within TwentyFour;

? The expected enlarged size of TFIF is approximately 715m of NAV;

? 11 investment professionals of TwentyFour will be focussed on TFIF;

? TFIF Shares are admitted to the premium segments of the Official List and the Main Market;

(ii)Combining complementary portfolios with attractive characteristics:

? The Proposals enable UKML Shareholders to retain access to UKML's stable income-generating assets, previously underwritten by TwentyFour, within TFIF's broader investment policy, which principally provides floating rate exposure, has greater diversity in its sources of income, and has a proven track record; TFIF has had an annualised total NAV return of 7.5 per cent. since launch;

? TFIF's evolving strategy seeks the yield premium from lower liquidity, recognising that sourcing attractive risk-adjusted returns has become more challenging. The acquisition of UKML's portfolio assets is therefore consistent with TFIF's investment approach;

(iii)Enhanced return profile:

? Earnings from the combined portfolios of UKML and TFIF are expected to be a strong underpin to TFIF's annual dividend target of at least 6p[1] per TFIF Share. The estimated gross-to-market yield of the combined portfolio is approximately 8.3 per cent.;

? The merger of UKML and TFIF is expected to be NAV accretive over the medium term;

(iv)Access to high quality counterparties:

? TFIF will be well placed to capitalise on UKML's counterparty relationships across the asset-backed securities market;

? The combined management teams within TwentyFour will have a consolidated focus on origination;

(v)Increased liquidity with a more diverse shareholder register:

? Increased liquidity is expected in the secondary market given TFIF's greater scale and anticipated increased weighting in the FTSE indices;

? TFIF will achieve a high quality and more diverse shareholder register with scope to appeal to a broader universe of potential investors;

? UKML Shareholders will have the potential to benefit from TFIF's realisation opportunity in Q4 of 2022, and at three yearly intervals thereafter;

(vi)Synergies expected to create value for UKML Shareholders:

? Cost efficiencies and economies of scale are expected as a result of the Proposals;

? TFIF is expected to maintain an attractive ongoing charges ratio over time;

(vii)Compelling value proposition:

? Significant uplift in market value for UKML Shareholders, currently estimated at 11.4 per cent. compared with the market price per UKML Share immediately prior to announcement of the Proposals. This expected uplift results from the elimination of UKML's share price discount to NAV and the competitive Acquisition Value as described below in paragraph 5 of Part 1 of the Circular;

(viii)Transaction structured to defer potential tax liability:

? The mechanics of the Scheme are designed with the intention of allowing certain UKML Shareholders subject to UK tax to continue to receive investment returns without triggering an immediate liability to capital gains tax (UKML Shareholders should read paragraph 1 of Part 5 of the Circular carefully and should consult their own tax advisers as to the advantages or otherwise of the Proposals);

(ix)Attractive alternative to returning further capital and/or managed wind down:

? If UKML is unable to narrow its discount in the short term, UKML will, due to the UKML Shareholders' protections outlined in the 2020 Proposals referred to above, need to consider its options for the future. A sale of UKML's assets is likely to mean that UKML would cease to have access to the high-quality assets and counterparties in the current UKML portfolio in the future; and

? The illiquid nature of UKML's assets means that any managed wind-down is likely to be a drawn-out process as accelerated portfolio sales may not maximise value.

The figures set out in this paragraph "Benefits of the Proposals" are provided for illustrative purposes, are estimates only and are based on current market conditions and information and estimates available to the Company as at the date of the Circular and are not profit forecasts. Where illustrative figures are provided relating to the position of UKML Shareholders and/or TFIF following implementation of the Proposals, they assume that the calculation date of the Scheme had been 1 March 2022. There can be no assurance that these estimates will be met and specifically the market value of TFIF Shares, UKML Shares and UKML's costs in relation to the Proposals and the Scheme may change, potentially materially, up to the Effective Date. The Acquisition Value and TFIF Issue Price have been substantively fixed in order to provide enhanced certainty for both UKML and TFIF of transaction terms against current uncertainty and potential volatility following Russia's invasion of Ukraine; however this means that any increase or decrease in asset values of either UKML or TFIF after 31 January will not be reflected in any adjustment to UKML Shareholders' entitlements under the Scheme.

In addition, these estimates should not be taken as an indication of TFIF's expected or actual current or future results. TFIF's actual results, profits and dividends paid will depend upon a number of factors, including but not limited to TFIF's net income and TFIF's ongoing costs, expenses and charges. UKML Shareholders should decide for themselves whether or not returns are reasonable and achievable.

TwentyFour Income Fund Limited

TFIF is a registered closed-ended collective investment scheme under the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2020, as amended and the Registered Collective Investment Scheme Rules 2021 made thereunder.

TFIF has a single class of ordinary shares in issue, the TFIF Shares, which are listed on the premium segment of the Official List and are admitted to trading on the premium segment of the Main Market.

TFIF is registered with the GFSC. It is not regulated by the FCA, but is subject to the Listing Rules applicable to closed-ended collective investment funds and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

TFIF's investment objective is to generate attractive risk adjusted returns principally through income distributions. TFIF invests in a diversified portfolio of predominantly UK and European Asset Backed Securities.

TFIF's assets are managed by TwentyFour, which is also the manager of the Company. TwentyFour is an FCA-regulated specialist in fixed income, founded in 2008, headquartered in the City of London and a boutique of the Swiss based Vontobel Group. As at 31 December 2021, TwentyFour had assets under management of 23 billion and it employed 32 investment professionals.

Subject to and in accordance with the TFIF Articles, TFIF Shareholders have an opportunity to elect to realise all or part of their TFIF Shares at three yearly intervals, or, alternatively, continue their investment in TFIF with the next realisation opportunity due to take place in the third quarter of 2022. As such, UKML Shareholders would have the opportunity to make Realisation Elections later this year.

As at the Latest Practicable Date, TFIF had unaudited net assets of approximately 568 million, a market capitalisation of approximately 564 million and the NAV per TFIF Share (unaudited) was 111.77p.

TFIF has delivered a strong performance for the TFIF Shareholders since its launch on 6 March 2013:

(i) NAV total return from launch to close of business on the Latest Practicable Date was 92.2 per cent., or 7.53 per cent. per annum, comparing favourably with TFIF's target annual total return of 6 to 9 per cent. per annum;

(ii) Income return has been ahead of TFIF's targets at launch. TFIF targets a dividend of at least 6p per UKML Share, and has exceeded that target since launch; and

(iii) TFIF Shares have predominantly traded at a premium or at a small discount to NAV since its launch, TFIF's average premium since launch being 2.1 per cent.. There can be no assurance that TFIF Shares will trade at a premium in the future.

Further information on TFIF is set out in Part 3 of the Circular and in the TFIF Prospectus. Please note that the Board does not take any responsibility for the contents of the TFIF Prospectus.

Summary of the terms of the Scheme

Appropriation of the Company's assets into two pools

On or shortly after the Calculation Date, the Board, in consultation with the proposed Liquidators, shall finalise the division of the Company's undertaking, cash and other assets into two separate and distinct pools (the Liquidation Pool and the Rollover Pool), as follows:

? First, there shall be appropriated to the Liquidation Pool such cash and other net current assets of the Company of a value sufficient to meet the outstanding current and future liabilities, including contingent liabilities of the Company, all costs of the Company relating to the Proposals and the Scheme and a Retention to meet unknown and unascertained liabilities of the Company. The Company has signed a deed of termination with TwentyFour and the AIFM in relation to the Portfolio Management Agreement under which the parties have agreed that (i) the Portfolio Management Agreement will terminate with effect from the Calculation Date and consequentially all management fees and expenses accrued up to the Calculation Date will become due and payable to TwentyFour; and (ii) TwentyFour will not receive any payment in lieu of notice.

? Second, there shall be appropriated to the Rollover Pool the balance of the undertaking, cash and other assets of the Company remaining after the appropriation of the Liquidation Pool referred to above.

Financial terms

TFIF will acquire the assets comprising the Rollover Pool. The proposed acquisition value of the Rollover Pool is an amount equivalent to 84p per UKML Share less the aggregate of:

(a) the Company's costs relating to the Proposals and the Scheme; and

(b) the Retention,

(the net value being defined as the "Acquisition Value").

The acquisition will be satisfied through the issuance to UKML Shareholders of New TFIF Shares at a price representing a 1.25 per cent. premium to the NAV per TFIF Share as at 31 January 2022 (the "TFIF Issue Price"). The Acquisition Value and the number of New TFIF Shares to be issued in exchange for the Rollover Pool will be calculated as at the Calculation Date, as described in detail in paragraph 6 of Part 2 of the Circular.

The Company:

? does not intend to declare any further dividends on the UKML Shares. New TFIF Shares will be entitled to receive all dividends declared by TFIF with a record date subsequent to the Calculation Date. It is anticipated that the first dividend payable on the New TFIF Shares will be the fourth interim dividend for TFIF's financial year ending 31 March 2022 which is expected to be paid in April 2022; and

? has undertaken not to take any action or omit to take any action that would cause a reduction in the NAV of the Company, other than in the ordinary course of its business.

Costs of the Proposals

The Company and TFIF have each agreed to bear their own costs in relation to the Proposals and the Scheme as detailed in paragraph 3.1 of Part 2 of the Circular.

In the event that the Proposals do not proceed, each of TFIF and the Company will bear its own costs incurred in connection with the Proposals, save as set out in Part 4 of the Circular.

Acquiring Entity Reorganisation

The Scheme is conditional on the implementation of a reorganisation of the Acquiring Entity, which will involve (inter alia) (i) the redemption of the Participating Notes issued to UKML by the Acquiring Entity and the issue of new Participating Notes and bonds that will be transferred to TFIF pursuant to the Scheme; and (ii) certain changes to the portfolio advisory agreement between the Acquiring Entity and TwentyFour, in each case to the extent reasonably required by TFIF.

Transfer Date

On the Transfer Date, the cash, undertaking and other assets of the Company comprising the Rollover Pool shall be transferred to TFIF. In consideration for the transfer of the Rollover Pool to TFIF under the Transfer Agreement, the relevant numbers of New TFIF Shares will be allotted to the Liquidators, as nominees for the UKML Shareholders (save for any Restricted Shareholders), who will direct the issuance of the New TFIF Shares in favour of those UKML Shareholders entitled to them in accordance with the Scheme. On such direction, TFIF will issue the New TFIF Shares to the UKML Shareholders entitled to them.

To the extent that any part of the Liquidation Pool is not subsequently required to discharge the Company's liabilities, it will be distributed in cash to all UKML Shareholders (in each case being those UKML Shareholders on the Effective Date in proportion to their respective holdings of UKML Shares on the Effective Date) provided that if any such amount payable to any UKML Shareholder is less than 5.00, it shall not be paid to UKML Shareholders but instead shall be paid by the Liquidators to the Nominated Charity. The Liquidators will also be entitled to make interim payments to UKML Shareholders in proportion to their holdings of UKML Shares. The Liquidators shall only make such distribution if there is sufficient cash available and if the Liquidators are of the view that it is cost effective to make an interim distribution. UKMLShareholders should therefore keep the Registrar advised of any changes to their details after the Effective Date.

Conditions to the Scheme

The Scheme is conditional upon, amongst other things:

(i) the passing of the Resolutions to be proposed at the Extraordinary General Meeting, or any adjournment of the Extraordinary General Meeting, and all conditions to such Resolutions (excluding any condition relating to the passing of any other Resolution) being fulfilled;

(ii) the FCA agreeing to admit the New TFIF Shares to the premium segment of the Official List and the London Stock Exchange agreeing to admit the New TFIF Shares to trading on the premium segment of the Main Market, subject in each case only to issue;

(iii) implementation of the DAC Reorganisation;

(iv) there not having been any Material Adverse Change prior to the Effective Date; and

(v) the Company being in compliance with its undertaking not to take any action or omit to take any action that would cause a reduction in the NAV of the Company, other than in the ordinary course of its business,

provided that the Company and TFIF may agree in writing to waive fulfilment of any of the above conditions.

In the event that any of the Resolutions are not passed or any other condition of the Proposals is not met, the Proposals will not be implemented. In that event, the Company would continue as presently constituted and specifically:

(i) cognisant of the first of the UKML Shareholder protections described above, the Board currently intends that it would pursue a realisation of the equity notes in Barley Hill No. 2 PLC acquired by the Company as a part of the refinancing of Barley Hill No. 1 PLC of which its noteholders were notified on 8 February 2022; and

(ii) the Company will continue to be subject to the shareholder protection described in the November 2020 Circular, namely the steps described at (i) above, and (ii) if the UKML Shares are not trading at an average price per UKML Share which is equal to or above the most recent published NAV in the period of 20 Business Days preceding 4 December 2022, the Board intends to place the Company into a managed wind down.

Entitlements under the Scheme

Under the Scheme, each UKML Shareholder on the Register on the Record Date will receive such number of New TFIF Shares (rounded down to the nearest whole number of TFIF Shares) as have a value at the TFIF FAV per Share equal to the number of UKML Shares held by the UKML Shareholder multiplied by the Acquisition Value per UKML Share.

For illustrative purposes only, had the Calculation Date been 1 March 2022:

(i) the Acquisition Value per UKML Share would have been approximately 83.32p;

(ii) the TFIF Issue Price would have been 114.21p;

(iii) the aggregate number of New TFIF Shares issued to UKML Shareholders would have been approximately 130.4 million and therefore the number of New TFIF Shares issued per UKML Share would have been 0.7296;

(iv) the estimated NAV of the New TFIF Shares to be issued per UKML Share would have been 81.64p, which would have represented an uplift of 1.1 per cent. compared with the last published NAV per UKML Share as at 31 December 2021; and

(v) the market value of the New TFIF Shares to be issued would have been 80.98p per UKML Share, which would have represented an uplift of 11.4 per cent. compared with the closing market price per UKML Share immediately prior to the announcement of the Proposals.

The above figures are for illustrative purposes only and do not represent forecasts. The market value of TFIF Shares, UKML Shares and UKML's costs in relation to the Proposals and the Scheme may materially change up to the Effective Date. For details of the Scheme, please refer to Part 2 of the Circular.

The attention of Overseas Shareholders and UK registered UKML Shareholders that hold Shares on behalf of non-UK based investors is drawn to the section headed "Overseas and Restricted Shareholders" in paragraph 12 of Part 1 of the Circular.

Risk Factors

Please refer to Part 4 of the Circular for an overview of the relevant risk factors.

In light of the uncertainty in the global economic environment caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, UKML Shareholders are recommended when assessing whether to vote in favour of the Resolutions to continue to monitor these risk factors and also consider additional risks that may emerge or become material. If any UKML Shareholders are in any doubt about the contents of the Circular or as to the action they should take, they should immediately seek their own personal financial advice from an appropriately qualified independent adviser.

Extraordinary General Meeting

An Extraordinary General Meeting is being convened at 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 18 March 2022 at the offices of Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited, Trafalgar Court, Les Banques, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands GY1 3QL to consider and, if thought fit, pass the Resolutions, as set out in full in the Notice of EGM at the end of the Circular.

At the Extraordinary General Meeting resolutions will be proposed, on which all UKML Shareholders may vote, which, if passed, will:

? authorise the implementation of the Scheme by the Liquidators, once appointed; and

? appoint the Liquidators and place the Company into liquidation.

Each of the Resolutions will be proposed as a special resolution, requiring not less than 75 per cent. of the votes cast at the Extraordinary General Meeting to be in favour of it in order for it to be passed.

The Company will only implement the Proposals if the Resolutions are passed at the Extraordinary General Meeting.

UKML Shareholder intentions

UKML Shareholders holding an aggregate of approximately 47 per cent. of the UKML Shares provided written indications of voting support for the Scheme prior to the Company's announcement of the Proposals on 8 February 2022.

Expected Timetable

2022 Date and time from which it is advised that dealings in UKML Shares will be for cash settlement only and immediate delivery of documents of title 6.00 p.m. on 15 March Latest time for receipt of Form of Proxy from UKML Shareholders for use at the Extraordinary General Meeting 10.30 a.m. on 16 March Record date for entitlements under the Scheme close of business on 17 March UKML Shares disabled in CREST close of business on 17 March Calculation Date close of business on 18 March Trading in the UKML Shares suspended 7.30 a.m. on 18 March Extraordinary General Meeting 10.30 a.m. on 18 March Effective Date for implementing the Scheme 18 March Publication date of the Acquisition Value per UKML Share and the TFIF Issue Price 23 March Date of transfer of Rollover Pool to TFIF 24 March Admission of the New TFIF Shares issued under the Scheme to the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange, and dealings in the New TFIF Shares commence 8.00 a.m. on 24 March CREST accounts credited with the New TFIF Shares issued under the Scheme 24 March Share certi?cates in respect of the New TFIF Shares issued under the Scheme expected to be despatched week commencing 28 March

Notes

(1) References to times in the expected timetable above are to London times unless otherwise specified.

(2) All times and dates may be adjusted by the Company. Any material changes to the timetable will be notified via a RIS.

Enquiries:

UKML

Chris Waldron, Chairman

Via Numis



Numis

Financial Adviser and Corporate Broker

Nathan Brown / Vicki Paine

Tel: 020 7260 1000



Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited

Company Secretary

Tel: 01481 745001

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

The Scheme will be subject to certain conditions, which if not satisfied or waived, will mean that the Scheme will not proceed. Nothing in this announcement shall form the basis of or constitute any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for any shares or any other securities nor shall it (or any part of it) or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract therefor.

UKML's shareholders or prospective investors should not base any financial decision on this announcement. Acquiring investments to which this announcement relates may expose an investor to a significant risk of losing all of the amount invested. Persons considering making investments should consult an authorised person specialising in advising on such investments. This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning shares in either TFIF or UKML. The value of shares can decrease as well as increase.

Nothing contained herein constitutes or should be construed as (i) investment, tax, financial, accounting or legal advice (ii) a representation that any investment or strategy is suitable or appropriate to individual circumstances or (iii) a personal recommendation.

Numis Securities Limited ("Numis"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA"), is acting for TFIF and UKML and for no one else in connection with the Scheme and will not regard any other person as its client and will not be responsible to anyone other than TFIF or UKML for providing the protections afforded to clients of Numis or for advising any such person in connection with the contents of this announcement or the Scheme.

This announcement does not constitute an offer or solicitation to acquire or sell any securities in TFIF or UKML. This announcement is not for distribution in or into the United States or to any US Person, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of South Africa, any European Economic Area state or any other jurisdiction in which its distribution may be unlawful. A "US Person" is any person who is not a "Non-United States Person" as defined in US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Rule 4.7. This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States or elsewhere. The securities of TFIF or UKML have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption from such registration. TFIF and UKML have not been and will not be registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and investors are not entitled to the benefits of that Act. There has not been and there will be no public offering of UKML's securities in the United States.

Forward looking statements

The information contained in this announcement regarding the Scheme, and other information published by UKML may contain certain 'forward-looking statements'. For example, statements containing words such as 'may', 'will', 'should', 'continue', 'aims', 'estimates', 'projects', 'believes', 'intends', 'expects', 'plans', 'pursues', 'seeks', 'targets' and 'anticipates', and words of similar meaning or the negative thereof, may be forward-looking. By their nature, all forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they are based on information available at the time they are made, including current expectations and assumptions, and relate to future events and circumstances which may be or are beyond UKML's control, including among other things statements relating to the expected benefits of the proposed Scheme.

TFIF's actual future financial condition, performance and results may differ materially from the plans, goals, strategy and expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. Except to the extent otherwise required by applicable law, none of UKML or TwentyFour are under any obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement or any other forward-looking statements they may respectively make. Past performance is not an indicator of future results and unless expressly stated otherwise, no statement contained or referred to in this announcement is intended to be a profit forecast, estimate or projection of TFIF's or UKML's future results.

Any shareholder action required in connection with the proposed Scheme will only be set out in documents sent to or made available to UKML's shareholders and any decision made by such shareholders should be made solely and only on the basis of information provided in those documents.

[1] This figure is indicative and based on TwentyFour modelling
DORSET, England, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- VerifyEd , an educational blockchain credentialing platform from the UK, has been awarded a $100,000 grant through the XRPL Grants program, a grant foundation for XRP Ledger-based projects supported by RippleX .

The grant will enable VerifyEd to pilot a 'Blockchain-as-a-Service' solution enabling any business to issue and verify data via Blockchain. The solution aims to increase the adoption of Blockchain technology by making it more accessible and removing the barriers to entry, such as recruiting technical staff with Blockchain experience.

Yaz El Hakim, CEO at VerifyEd, said, "We're elated to have been awarded this grant from XRPL Grants and we're so excited to be building technology that can make blockchain utilization far more accessible. We are also proud to be using one of the most energy efficient, reliable and scalable blockchains in the world, a factor that all our clients to date have been keen to learn more about."

VerifyEd, founded in 2019, has issued over 11,000 blockchain-backed educational certificates for institutions like Middlesex University and the Law Society of Ireland. The grant will enable VerifyEd to extend their impact beyond education. Early demand for a solution has come from art houses, luxury brands and Fortune 500 companies that understand the trust and transparency that blockchain can bring, along with the benefit of integrating blockchain-verified data into their own systems.

Wave 2 of XRPL Grants saw over 100 applications from around the world. Elliot Lee, software engineering manager at RippleX, noted, "This was a highly competitive round of XRPL Grants, and we were amazed by the caliber and scope of the applications. The judging panel was impressed with the achievements of the VerifyEd team to date, and we look forward to witnessing their growth as they build on their proven blockchain expertise."

For more information on VerifyEd and XRPL Grants, please visit www.verifyed.io and www.xrplgrants.org .

About VerifyEd
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Nevada Silver Corporation (TSXV:NSC) (OTCQB: NVDSF) ("NSC" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has engaged Canaccord Genuity Corp. (the "Lead Agent") on behalf of a syndicate of agents (collectively with the Lead Agent, the "Agents"), on a commercially reasonable efforts private placement basis for the sale of units (the "Units") of the Company at a price of $0.30 per Unit (the "Offering Price") for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $7,020,000 (the "Offering"). Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share of the Company (a "Warrant Share") at a price of $0.45 per share at any time prior to 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on the day that is 24 months from the Closing Date (as hereinafter defined), subject to adjustments in certain events. The Agents shall have the option, exercisable at any time prior to the closing of the Offering, to increase the size of the Offering by up to $3,000,000.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to further exploration and development of the Corcoran Canyon silver-gold property (the "Corcoran Project"), to undertake drilling at the recently acquired Belmont silver property (the "Belmont Project"), both located in Nye County, Nevada, USA, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

In consideration of the services rendered by the Agents in connection with the Offering, the Company has agreed to pay to the Agents on the Closing Date a commission equal to 7% of the gross proceeds from the Offering (the "Agents' Commission"). In addition, the Company will issue the Agents warrants (the "Agents' Warrants") to acquire that number of Units which is equal to 7.0% of the number of Units sold under the Offering, at an exercise price equal to the Offering Price for a period of 24 months following the Closing Date. The Agents' Commission paid to the Agents in respect of Units purchased by subscribers on a president's list up to a maximum of $2,000,000 shall be reduced to 2.5% Agents' Commission and 2.5% Agents' Warrants. In addition, on closing the Company shall pay the Lead Agent a corporate finance fee of that number of Units which is equal to 3.0% of the aggregate number of Units issued pursuant to the Offering.

Certain insiders of the Company may participate in the Offering. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about March 31, 2022 (the "Closing Date") and is subject to a number of conditions, including receipt of all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals, including the TSX Venture Exchange. All of the securities issuable in connection with the Offering will be subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day after date of issuance.

About Nevada Silver Corporation

Nevada Silver Corporation (TSXV: NSC) (OTCQB: NVDSF) is a multi-commodity resource company with two exploration projects in the USA. NSC's principal asset is the Corcoran Silver-Gold Project in Nevada. In addition, NSC has management and ownership rights over the Emily Manganese Project in Minnesota, which has been the subject of considerable technical studies, with US$24 million invested to date. Both Corcoran and Emily have been the subject of National Instrument 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimates.

This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States, nor may any securities referred to herein be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration as provided in the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 as amended (the "Securities Act") and the rules and regulations thereunder. The securities referred to herein have not been registered pursuant to the Securities Act and there is no intention to register any of the securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States.

Forward-Looking Information

Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release about the successful completion of the Offering and the terms thereof, the expected Closing Date, and the expected use of proceeds, and other forward-looking information includes but is not limited to information concerning the intentions, plans and future actions of the parties to the transactions described herein and the terms of such transaction.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, risks related to the Company's inability to perform the proposed operations.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further Information please contact:

Gary Lewis

Group CEO & Director, Nevada Silver Corporation

T: +1 (416) 941 8900

E: gl@nevadasilvercorp.com

Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115560
Growing trend toward digitalization and the cloud key to driving business Big international names among Group's new clients

The 2021 financial year saw xSuite Group continue on its trajectory of growth, achieving sales of EUR 40 million and maintaining high profitability. The Group's cloud business, in particular, enjoyed very strong growth. Staff numbers also went up, with the Group recording a total of 230 employees as of December 31, 2021. xSuite's positive overall result was achieved also thanks to its subsidiaries in Denmark, the Netherlands, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, and the US, which contributed significantly to the company's success. The number of client projects at xSuite grew again in 2021 by 6 percent on the previous year. Among the Group's new clients are US automotive supplier and medical technology manufacturer Gentherm Inc., as well as US shoe manufacturer Crocs Inc.

xSuite is a global software manufacturer specializing in the automation of document-based business processes in SAP, in particular the automation of incoming invoice processing. Supplementary to this, the Group also offers solutions for related areas such as procurement processes. Within these areas, xSuite provides companies with expert support and advice to help them implement their digitalization strategies. Around the world, some 200,000 users across more than 1,200 companies and organizations work with xSuite solutions, together processing over 60 million invoices per year.

Despite the global supply bottlenecks that last year affected the manufacturing and automotive sectors (among others), and despite the associated innovative reticence seen in so many companies, xSuite was able to report positive business development for 2021. "Demonstrating a progressive readiness to digitalize commercial business processes is key to remaining viable as a company," explains CEO Matthias Lemenkuhler, "We therefore certainly had our work cut out for us last financial year."

With more and more AP processes set to be transferred to the cloud (e.g., the SAP Business Technology Platform), xSuite Group has been following a cloud-first strategy, gearing its product development activities accordingly and incorporating artificial intelligence into its products. Over the medium term, more and more SAP user companies are set to switch to the new SAP S/4HANA product generation and, as a result, to move to the cloud. Offering SAP certifications for all its solutions, xSuite allows its clients to choose their preferred cloud model; it also offers software for SAP's various deployment models, even for clients still working with the on-premises operating model. xSuite is currently working on numerous extensions and enhancements for 2022, which are set to affect not only invoice processing and delivery bills, but also the Business Partner Portal. This portal, which runs on the SAP Business Technology Platform, maps the entire procure-to-pay process with suppliers.

About xSuite Group

Founded in 1994, xSuite is a software manufacturer of applications for document-based processes. xSuite provides enterprises across the globe with standardized, digital solutions, making work simple, secure and fast. xSuite's products provide digital document management, automation of important work processes, and efficiency in the use of e-files. Around 1,200 customers in more than 60 countries have come to rely on xSuite solutions.

xSuite's core competence is accounts payable (AP) automation in SAP, for mid-sized to large corporations, as well as for public clients. Other solutions automate procurement and sales order processing, or optimize file management and archiving. The solutions are available on-premises, cloud-based or hybrid, with standard processes from the cloud incoming mail, data extraction, and archiving supplementing locally installed applications. The Managed Services team supports customers using SAP-integrated xSuite solutions. xSuite Group is an SAP Silver Partner.

Headquartered in Ahrensburg, Germany, xSuite employs 230 employees at eight locations in Europe, Asia and the U.S.A. In 2021, the company generated total sales of 40 million.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005453/en/

Contacts:

Barbara Wirtz

xSuite Group GmbH

Marketing and PR

Phone +49 4102 88 38 36

barbara.wirtz@xsuite.com

www.xsuite.com
Jakarta, Indonesia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Kommunitas - a tier-less, decentralized, and multi-chain launchpad built on Polygon - has recently announced that it will reduce the maximum supply of its token ($KOM) by 95%. Launchpads are platforms for crypto projects to raise funds for their development before listing. Due to the tremendous surge in public interest towards cryptocurrencies and blockchains, many individuals have been motivated to turn their innovative ideas into actual projects in the industry. However, one of the hurdles of turning such an idea into fruition has always been acquiring the funds needed to kick-start their development. That is where launchpads come in. By conducting Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs), launchpads can sell tokens to individual investors pre-listing, thus helping projects raise funds by bridging them to individual investors.

Kommunitas

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8632/115351_komm.jpg

Kommunitas is one of such launchpads aiming to make waves in this industry. "We have raised over $2.5 million for 45 projects across various blockchain networks. We also have quite the following, with a total of 18 regional communities, 100k+ members on Telegram, 140k+ followers on Twitter, and connections with 100 VCs, 80+ KOLs, and 50+ community partners from across the globe," said Robby Jeo, CEO of Kommunitas.

Kommunitas has recently announced a 95% reduction in the maximum supply of $KOM, from 40 billion tokens down to 2 billion tokens. With a current circulating supply of 1.19 billion. This means that a majority of the tokens are already in circulation. Investors are encouraged to learn more on the company's website.

One of the key features of Kommunitas is its tier-less system for calculating token sale allocation. There is a launchpad comparison and allocation calculator on Kommunitas' main page which users can use to calculate the estimated allocation or compare Kommunitas to other launchpads.

Moving on, Kommunitas has created a Calendar where users will be able to select the events they want to be reminded of, such as Public Sales, Private Sales, Vesting, Airdrops, AMAs, etc. "We also have added a new addition titled 'KOM Portfolio Event' where we will share events related to projects in Kommunitas' portfolio, such as staking, farming, mainnet launch, and giveaways, all in a single location," said Robby.

Finally, Kommunitas being a multi-chain oriented launchpad, means that they conduct token sales for projects from various blockchain networks. Thus, investors will be able to invest in projects from different blockchains such as Polygon, BSC, Solana, Avax, etc.

To learn more about Kommunitas, visit their website and socials:

Website: https://kommunitas.net/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kommunitas1

Telegram: https://t.me/kommunitas

Media contact:

Kommunitas

bizdev@kommunitas.net

Robby. +6281914567889

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115351
Earlier this week, I criticized legislation that would restrict competition for Allentowns largest construction projects.

I said Mayor Matt Tuerk should have vetoed it, because it would expose taxpayers to higher costs.

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It turns out he did veto it.

Due to poor communication, though, no one  including the mayor  realized it for several days.

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The Morning Calls Lindsay Weber detailed that confusion in an article Tuesday.

The law isnt dead, though. Unfortunately, some members of City Council plan to take another shot at it. They have the votes to pass an amended version, which the mayor says he will support.

I wish he wouldnt.

To recap, the deceptively dubbed Responsible Contractor ordinance is being touted as a way to ensure Allentown gets quality work from the contractors it hires.

Much of it makes sense. It requires firms to be bonded and insured. They must have no recent defaults, criminal record or sanctions by government regulators. Their workers must have safety training.

The bad part of the ordinance is that it requires contractors to have a formal apprenticeship program to be eligible to bid on jobs of more than $100,000. Thats going to limit competition.

I hope opponents pack City Hall to lobby against it at the March 16 council meeting where it is expected to be reintroduced.

Ill repeat what I said in my column Tuesday: This is nothing more than the all-Democratic council pushing the national Democratic pro-union agenda. Most contractors that have apprenticeship programs are union shops.

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I took heat from some readers for that comment. I was accused of bashing unions. Those critics are missing the point.

Unions are valuable. I am a member of a union, The Morning Call Guild. Its part of the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America.

But public officials should not prioritize unions over taxpayers, which is what this legislation does. And they should not discriminate against non-union businesses that do good work.

The law implies that companies without apprenticeships  non-union companies  arent responsible, dont have well-trained employees and dont perform safe, quality work.

Thats insulting.

The price of five recent construction projects in Allentown would have risen by about $883,000 in total if this law had been in place when they were bid, according to data presented to council. Those projects included the Second Street bridge, sidewalk work and demolition of the Irving Pool.

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Council passed the legislation on Feb. 16 by a 4-3 vote. Council members Cynthia Mota, Candida Affa and Daryl Hendricks asked for a delay to do a cost analysis, but lost that fight.

They voted against the legislation. Council members Joshua Siegel, Ed Zucal, Ce-Ce Gerlach and Natalie Santos voted for it.

Tuerk had until Feb. 26 to sign the legislation, veto it or return it to council unsigned, meaning it would become law by default.

On Feb. 25, he sent a memo to council saying he could not support it as presented.

He called for errors in language to be fixed, and for a few points to be clarified. He also said council should remove language that would apply the law to city-related authorities and agencies such as the Parking Authority.

The Parking Authority had asked him to veto the bill because it would have grave impacts on some of its construction projects. The Allentown Economic Development Corp. also raised concerns.

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Tuerks memo to council did not use the term veto. He told council he was returning it unsigned and that he would sign a bill with the changes he suggested.

Tuesday, his action was considered to be a veto, meaning the legislative process would have to start over again. I heard conflicting accounts of why there was a change in interpretation.

Tuerk told me he didnt consider what he did to be a veto, but if thats how council interpreted it, he would respect that.

He said he didnt want to veto the bill because that could have been embarrassing for council. Not to mention him, as he had said he supported it as written at the time it was approved.

He said he continues to support the spirit of the legislation.

I hope he changes his mind.

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Morning Call columnist Paul Muschick can be reached at 610-820-6582 or paul.muschick@mcall.com
Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust plc (the "Company")

The Board of Aberforth Smaller Companies Trust plc is pleased to announce the appointment of Mrs Patricia Dimond as an independent non-executive Director of the Company and member of its Audit Committee with effect from 3 March 2022, upon conclusion of the Annual General Meeting.

Mrs Dimond is a non-executive director and audit chair of LXi REIT Plc, and a non-executive director of Foresight VCT Plc. She is a trustee of the English National Opera and the National Academy for Social Prescribing. Mrs Dimond has had an international career with over 30 years in the consumer, retail and financial sectors. As an industry executive or strategic advisor she has worked with FTSE 100, Private Equity and Founder/owner managed companies with a focus on finance, strategy and corporate governance. She is a McKinsey & Company alumna, CFA charter holder, has an MBA from IMD Switzerland and qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells.

As previously announced on 28 January 2022, Mrs Paula Hay-Plumb, who has been an independent non-executive Director since January 2014, retired as a Director of the Company at the Annual General Meeting held on 3 March 2022. Paula has been a valued member of the Board and the Audit Committee.

There are no further details required to be disclosed under LR 9.6.13.

Aberforth Partners LLP, Secretaries (Tel: 0131 220 0733)

3 March 2022

END
Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Adamera Minerals Corp. (OTC Pink: DDNFF) ("the Company"), a company exploring for high-grade gold deposits near the town of Republic in Washington State. President and CEO of the Company, Mark Kolebaba, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly.

Jolly began the interview by asking about the Company's background and current projects. "Our focus is on gold in Washington state, which is an area with high-grade gold," said Kolebaba. "We like to work around existing mines and explore them with modern techniques," he explained.

Jolly then asked about the Company's recently acquired data package from Kinross Gold Corp. "We felt we were getting around $3 million worth of data that might push us forward," said Kolebaba. "When we finally received the data, we put a value on that data of about $15 million, which included a lot of drilling data, airborne data, and soiling sampling information," he shared. "It is really advancing us," said Kolebaba. "This is going to put us ahead by at least five years."

"What will you do differently than your predecessors?" asked Jolly. "We have added very detailed groundwork that has not been done in the past," said Kolebaba. "I think the big thing that we're going to add to this is, using technology and modeling this data more closely," he said. "We are not having to develop targets - we are drilling."

The conversation then turned to the Company's permitting process. "I do expect it to go well," said Kolebaba. "When it comes to permitting we try to minimize our disturbance, or our footprint," he explained. "We have been able to get the permits that we require."

Jolly then asked about the Company's Cooke Mountain project. "We spent a number of years targeting this project," said Kolebaba. "Last year we drilled eight holes, we drilled eight targets," he shared. "Two of those actually hit something," he said, noting that both targets included a high-grade zone on the Lamefoot property. "These are great places to start working and those numbers are rare; when you hit them you have to pay special attention to them."

"How far down will you have to drill?" asked Jolly. "The last one that we announced was at about 240 meters," explained Kolebaba. "With Lamefoot South, we intercepted mineralization at 20 meters, which is very shallow," he said. "We typically don't look at these as open pits. We are looking for high-grade, smaller deposits that can be mined underground."

"Would you like to elaborate on your stock price and market cap?" asked Jolly. "I think we are absolutely undervalued," said Kolebaba, noting the price of gold, as well as the Company's recently acquired data package. "These are the kinds of grades that people want, these are the kinds of grades that are very valuable when gold prices are high."

To close the interview, Kolebaba encouraged listeners to keep up-to-date on the Company's current and upcoming projects, and elaborated on their potential as they continue to move forward and remain well-funded. You can follow their progress from prospecting to drilling on the Adamera YouTube channel where he says he makes videos to explain the targeting process for investors who don't have a geological background.

To hear Mark Kolebaba's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/8040874-adamera-minerals-corp-discusses-significant-data-package-acquisition-and-high-grade-gold-potenti.

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/.

About Adamera

Adamera Minerals Corp. is exploring for high-grade gold deposits near Republic Washington. This area has reportedly produced 8 million ounces of gold. Adamera is the dominant regional explorer in the area.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Mark Kolebaba, President & CEO

For additional information please contact:

Email: info@Adamera.com

Website: www.Adamera.com

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

About The "Stock Day" Podcast

Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America.

SOURCE:

Stock Day Media

(602) 821-1102

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115557
Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Cassiar Gold Corp. (TSXV: GLDC) (OTCQX: CGLCF) ("Cassiar Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, due to significant investor demand, the Company has agreed to amend its agreement with Red Cloud Securities Inc. and Raymond James Ltd. (the "Co-Lead Underwriters") as co-lead underwriters and joint bookrunners on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters (collectively, the "Underwriters"), to increase the size of the Company's previously announced offering from C$6.0 million to C$10.0 million. Under the revised offering, the Underwriters have agreed to purchase 6,666,667 flow-through units of the Company (each, a "FT Unit") to be resold to charitable purchasers at a price of C$1.50 per FT Unit (the "Offering Price") on a "bought deal" basis by way of a short form prospectus for gross proceeds of C$10,000,001 (the "Offering").

Each FT Unit will consist of one common share of the Company to be issued as a "flow-through share" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (each, a "FT Share") and one half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant shall entitle the holder to purchase one non-flow-through common share of the Company (each, a "Warrant Share") at a price of C$1.60 at any time on or before that date which is 24 months after the closing date of the Offering.

The Company has granted to the Underwriters an option, exercisable for a period of 30 days after and including the closing date of the Offering, to purchase up to an additional 1,000,000 FT Units for resale to charitable purchasers at the Offering Price to raise additional gross proceeds of up to C$1,500,000 to cover over-allotments, if any, and for market stabilization purposes.

Proceeds from the sale of FT Shares will be used to incur "Canadian exploration expenses" as defined in subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act and "flow through mining expenditures" as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Income Tax Act. Such proceeds will be renounced to the subscribers with an effective date not later than December 31, 2022, in the aggregate amount of not less than the total amount of gross proceeds raised from the issue of FT Shares. The Company intends to use the net proceeds raised from the Offering for the exploration of the Company's Cassiar Gold property in British Columbia, Canada.

The FT Units will be sold by way of a short form prospectus to be filed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia. The Offering is scheduled to close on or around March 24, 2022 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Cassiar Gold Corp.

Cassiar Gold Corp. is a Canadian gold exploration company holding a 100% interest in its flagship Cassiar Gold Property located in British Columbia, Canada. The Cassiar Gold property spans 590 km2 and consists of two main project areas: Cassiar North, which hosts a NI 43-101-compliant inferred resource estimate of 1Moz at 1.43 g/t Au (cutoff grade of 0.7 g/t) known as the as the Taurus Deposit (see National Instrument 43-101 Technical report on the Cassiar Gold property, amended Nov. 12, 2019, by S. Zelligan, posted to SEDAR); and Cassiar South which hosts numerous gold showings, historical workings, and exploration prospects. Historical underground mines in the Cassiar South area have yielded over 315,000 oz of Au at grades of between 10 and 25 g/t Au (BC Minfile), underscoring the high potential for further discovery and expansion of bonanza-grade orogenic gold veins.

The Company also holds a 100% interest in the Sheep Creek gold camp located near Salmo, BC. The Sheep Creek gold district ranks as the third largest past-producing orogenic gold district in BC with historical gold production of 742,000 ounces gold at an average grade of 14.7 g/t gold from 1900 to 1951. Minimal exploration work has been conducted since the 1950s.

Cassiar Gold acknowledges, respects, and supports the rights of Traditional First Nations in the lands and communities where we operate.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Cassiar Gold Corp.

Shirley Anthony

VP Investor Relations & Communications

1-778-999-2771

Shirley@cassiargold.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements including those describing Cassiar's future plans and the expectations of management that a stated result or condition will occur. Any statement addressing future events or conditions necessarily involves inherent risk and uncertainty. Actual results can differ materially from those anticipated by management at the time of writing due to many factors, the majority of which are beyond the control of Cassiar and its management. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining, directly or indirectly, to the following: Cassiar's exploration plans and work commitments, market conditions and the Company's reasonable commercial efforts regarding financing activities, the ability to close the Offering in the amount anticipated or at all, the use of proceeds of the Offering and economic factors, business and operations strategies. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive. These statements speak only as of the date of this release or as of the date specified in the documents accompanying this release, as the case may be. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements except as expressly required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115566
CHICAGO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "Cell Culture Media Market by Type(Serum-free (CHO, BHK, Vero Cell), Stem Cell, Chemically Defined, Classical, Specialty), Application(Biopharmaceutical (mAbs, Vaccine), Diagnostics, Tissue Engineering), End User(Pharma, Biotech) - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 10.3 billion by 2026 from USD 4.9 billion in 2021, at a CAGR of 16.0% between 2021 and 2026.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Cell Culture Media Market"

314 - Tables

41 - Figures

303 - Pages

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=97468536

The global cell culture media market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.0% during the forecast period. The growth of this market is majorly driven by the rising R&D spending in pharmaceutical companies, emerging cell culture technologies for cell-based vaccines, increasing demand for monoclonal antibodies, growth in stem cell research, the launch of new cell culture media by market players, and the growing focus on personalized medicine. On the other hand, expensive cell biology research products and ethical concerns regarding cell biology research are expected to hinder the growth of this market.

The serum-free media segment accounted for the largest share of the type segment in the cell culture media market in 2020.

Based on type, the market is segmented into serum-free media, classical media & salts, stem cell culture media, specialty media, chemically defined media, and other cell culture media. In 2020, the serum-free media segment accounted for the largest share of the market. This can be attributed to the advantages of serum-free media over other types of media, including consistent performance, increased growth & productivity, better control over physiological responsiveness, and reduced risk of contamination by serum-borne adventitious agents in cell culture.

The biopharmaceutical production segment accounted for the largest share of the application segment in the cell culture media market in 2020.

Based on application, the market is categorized into biopharmaceutical production, diagnostics, drug discovery & development, tissue engineering & regenerative medicine, and other applications. The biopharmaceutical production segment is further divided into monoclonal antibody production, vaccine production, and other therapeutic protein production. The tissue engineering & regenerative medicine segment is further divided into cell & gene therapy and other tissue engineering & regenerative medicine applications. The biopharmaceutical production segment is estimated to grow at the highest CAGR of 17.5% during the forecast period. The high growth of this segment is attributed to the commercial expansion of major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, the increasing demand for mAbs, and the growing regulatory approvals for the production of cell culture-based vaccines.

Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=97468536

The Asia Pacific region is the fastest-growing region of the cell culture media market in 2020.

Based on the region, the global market has been segmented into North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. The Asia Pacific market is estimated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growing geriatric population, favorable regulatory guidelines, government support for cell culture-based vaccine production, low manufacturing costs, and the growing focus of global market players on emerging Asian economies are the major factors contributing to the growth of the cell culture media market in the Asia Pacific.

Key players in the cell culture media market include Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (US), Merck KGaA (Germany), Danaher Corporation (US), and Sartorius AG (Germany), Corning Incorporated (US).

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Browse Adjacent Markets: Biotechnology Market Research Reports & Consulting

Browse Related Reports:

Cell Culture Market by Product (Consumables (Media, Serum, Reagent, Vessels), Equipment (Bioreactor, Centrifuge, Incubator)), Application (Vaccines, mAbs, Diagnostics, Tissue Engineering), End User (Pharma, Biotech, Hospital) - Global Forecast to 2026

https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cell-culture-market-media-sera-reagents-559.html

Cell-based Assays Market by Product & Service (Reagents, Microplate, Cell Lines, Assay Kits, Instrument & Software, Services), Application (Drug Discovery, Research), End User (CROs, Pharmaceutical Companies, Research Institutes) - Global Forecast to 2025 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cell-based-assays-market-119917269.html

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MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions.

Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve.

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- Emergency assistance package will be directed to organizations working to bring food, water, clothing and shelter to displaced Ukrainians

CHICAGO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: B.A.] today announced a US$2 million emergency assistance package to support humanitarian response efforts in Ukraine. The assistance package will be directed to organizations working to bring food, water, clothing, medicine and shelter to displaced Ukrainians - including those seeking refuge in neighboring countries. In addition, Boeing will match all qualifying employee contributions made in support of Ukrainian humanitarian relief through the company's charitable matching program.

"The conflict unfolding in Ukraine is leading to a significant humanitarian emergency, and Boeing will take action to support the Ukrainian people," said Dave Calhoun, Boeing president and CEO. "Our thoughts are with all those who have been thrust into the midst of this crisis. While we work to ensure the safety of Boeing employees in the region, our hope is that this assistance package will help deliver some much-needed support to those who are displaced and suffering."

Funding from the Boeing Charitable Trust will support the following organizations:

$1,000,000 to CARE to assist with food, water and hygiene kit distribution as well as monetary assistance and psychosocial support for affected Ukrainians, with a focus on women, children and the elderly.

to CARE to assist with food, water and hygiene kit distribution as well as monetary assistance and psychosocial support for affected Ukrainians, with a focus on women, children and the elderly. $500,000 to American Red Cross to support the global Red Cross movement providing critical humanitarian relief to people affected by the Ukraine crisis.

to American Red Cross to support the global Red Cross movement providing critical humanitarian relief to people affected by the crisis. $250,000 to Americares to help with the distribution of medicine and medical supplies as well as support critical medical care for families displaced by the crisis, including mental health services.

to Americares to help with the distribution of medicine and medical supplies as well as support critical medical care for families displaced by the crisis, including mental health services. $250,000 to organizations working to support vulnerable, displaced populations in Ukraine and neighboring countries.

"The humanitarian situation in Ukraine is worsening by the hour. In the last week, more than 500,000 people have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries. This number is expected to rise to more than one million in the next few days," said Michelle Nunn, president and CEO at CARE USA. "The support from Boeing is so timely and impactful. It will help us provide durable food, hygiene items, diapers, sleeping bags, mats, and other critical necessities to alleviate suffering."

"Thanks to Boeing's generous support, the global Red Cross network is helping families impacted by continued fighting in Ukraine," said Anne McKeough, chief development officer at the American Red Cross. "We are grateful for partners like Boeing as we work together to provide critical humanitarian relief in response to the Ukraine crisis."

"We are so grateful for Boeing's incredible support as we work to protect the health of families fleeing from the devastating crisis in Ukraine," said Kate Dischino, vice president of emergency programs at Americares. "This donation will directly support Americares response efforts and help our emergency response team on the ground restore access to care for those who need it most."

The health and well-being of Boeing employees and their families around the world remain a top priority for the company. Boeing and partner teams are checking on affected employees while continuing to coordinate with government agencies, customers and suppliers to assess human and business impacts in the region.

Humanitarian relief efforts align with the company's ongoing commitment to the communities where our Boeing employees live and work. Boeing is active and engaged in Europe, contributing a combined US$11 million (9.9 million) in charitable contributions across the continent over the last five years. In 2021, Boeing donated US$13 million to disaster relief and humanitarian efforts globally.

As a leading global aerospace company, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. Boeing's diverse team is committed to innovating for the future and living the company's core values of safety, quality and integrity. Learn more at www.boeing.com.

Contact

Boeing Communications

media@Boeing.com
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - ION Energy Limited (TSXV: ION) (OTCQB: IONGF) (FSE: 5YB) ("ION" or the "Company") is very pleased to welcome Wendy Li to the Company as Director - Asia, with a focus on strategic relationships across Asia.

"We are very proud and excited to welcome Wendy to the ION team. She brings significant experience in the resource sector, international trade and supply chain management. Wendy's exceptional track record of business development and forging long-term partnerships across Asia, including Mongolia and China, will enhance ION's aggressive growth plan as we strive to play a pivotal role in Asia's battery metals supply hub," says Ali Haji, CEO & Director of ION Energy Ltd.

Wendy Li's more than 18 years of extensive commercial and business development experience in Asia, including Mongolia and China, has spanned across commodity branding and trading, supply chain management and asset development. Prior to joining ION Energy, Ms. Li served as General Manager of International Trade for Noble Resources Ltd and General Manager of Marketing for SouthGobi Resources Ltd. Ms. Li graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University, in Waterloo, Canada with a Bachelor of Arts, Honours in Economic and Financial Management.

An Exciting Spring Ahead for the ION Energy Team:

Along with this new addition to the team, preparations are being made for an in-country site visit in April, now that travel restrictions have been eased. ION's CEO, Ali Haji, will be joined by other members of our senior leadership team, including Lead Technical Advisor, Don Hains, P.Geo, MBA. The Company's technical bench strength and 2021 capital strategy ensures that our team can now embark upon a capital-intensive exploration program at our flagship Baavhai Uul site. We look forward to sharing updates from the site visit next month.

About ION Energy Ltd.

ION Energy Ltd. (TSXV: ION) (OTCQB: IONGF) (FSE: 5YB) is committed to exploring and developing Mongolia's lithium salars. ION's flagship, 81,000+ hectare Baavhai Uul lithium brine project, represents the largest and first lithium brine exploration licence award in Mongolia. ION also holds the 29,000+ hectare Urgakh Naran highly prospective Lithium Brine licence in Dorngovi Province in Mongolia. ION is well-poised to be a key player in the clean energy revolution, positioned well to service the world's increased demand for lithium. Information about the Company is available on its website, www.ionenergy.ca, or under its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

For further information:

COMPANY CONTACT: Ali Haji, ali@ionenergy.ca, 647-871-4571

MEDIA CONTACT: Siloni Waraich, siloni@ionenergy.ca, 416-432-4920

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Company's objectives, goals or future plans, statements, potential mineralization, exploration and development results, the estimation of mineral resources, exploration and mine development plans, timing of the commencement of operations and estimates of market conditions. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from ION Energy's expectations include, among others, uncertainties relating to availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, risks related to international operations, the actual results of current exploration activities, delays in the development of projects, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as future prices of lithium, and ability to predict or counteract potential impact of COVID-19 coronavirus on factors relevant to the Company's business. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115573
Anticipated departure of Jocelyn PINEAU, Chief Financial Officer and member of the Board of Directors, at June 30, 2022.

Recruitment of a new senior Chief Financial Officer to support the development of Valbiotis as a major player in health nutrition.

Regulatory News:

Valbiotis (FR0013254851 ALVAL, PEA/SME eligible) (Paris:ALVAL), a Research and Development company committed to scientific innovation for preventing and combating metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, announces organizational changes of its Board of Directors.

The departure of Jocelyn PINEAU, current Chief Financial Officer and member of the Board of Directors (Directoire) is scheduled for June 30, 2022. Until that date, Jocelyn PINEAU will continue to exercise his corporate duties and carry out his operational tasks. He will also manage the transition with his successor.

The Supervisory Board (Conseil de Surveillance) approved this change at its meeting on March 3, 2022. The search for a new Chief Financial Officer is already underway to support the significant milestones scheduled for the coming months. These include, in particular, several clinical results expected this year that should pave the way for future commercialization (see press release of January 6, 2022).

In the interest of Valbiotis, of all its shareholders and by mutual agreement, any transfer of shares by Jocelyn PINEAU will be restricted until the end of December 2024.

Jocelyn PINEAU, CFO and member of the Board of Directorsstated:"I am proud of the years I have spent at Valbiotis and would like to thank the expert and committed teams with whom I have enjoyed working. Valbiotis has paved the way for the development of a unique innovation model in preventing and combating metabolic and cardiovascular diseases and I am confident in its future."

Sebastien PELTIER, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directorscommented: "On behalf of all our employees and all the members of the Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board, I would like to thank Jocelyn PINEAU for his contribution to everything that has already been achieved and wish him every success in his future activities. In 2022, a new development cycle will start for Valbiotis with several expected clinical results in high cholesterol, blood pressure and prediabetes. Today, we are ready to seize all the opportunities offered by these markets."

About Valbiotis

Valbiotis is a Research Development company committed to scientific innovation for preventing and combating metabolic diseases in response to unmet medical needs.

Valbiotis has adopted an innovative approach, aiming to revolutionize healthcare by developing a new class of health nutrition products designed to reduce the risk of major metabolic diseases, relying on a multi-target strategy enabled by the use of plant-based terrestrial and marine resources.

Its products are intended to be licensed to players in the health sector.

Created at the beginning of 2014 in La Rochelle, the Company has forged numerous partnerships with leading academic centers. The Company has established three sites in France Perigny, La Rochelle (17) and Riom (63) and a subsidiary in Quebec City (Canada).

Valbiotis is a member of the "BPI Excellence" network and has been recognized as an "Innovative Company" by the BPI label. Valbiotis has also been awarded "Young Innovative Company" status and has received major financial support from the European Union for its research programs via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Valbiotis is a PEA-SME eligible company.

For more information about Valbiotis, please visit: www.valbiotis.com

Name: Valbiotis

ISIN code: FR0013254851

Mnemonic code: ALVAL

EnterNext PEA-PME 150

This press release contains forward-looking statements about Valbiotis' objectives. Valbiotis considers that these projections are based on rational hypotheses and the information available to Valbiotis at the present time. However, in no way does this constitute a guarantee of future performance, and these projections may be affected by changes in economic conditions and financial markets, as well as certain risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Valbiotis Universal Registration Document approved by the French Financial Markets Regulator (AMF) on July 27, 2021 (application number R 21-039). This document is available on the Company's website (www.valbiotis.com). This press release and the information it contains do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe, or a solicitation to purchase or subscribe to Valbiotis' shares or financial securities in any country.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005667/en/

Contacts:

Corporate communication Valbiotis

Carole ROCHER Marc DELAUNAY

+33 5 46 28 62 58

media@valbiotis.com

Financial communication Actifin

Stephane RUIZ

+33 1 56 88 11 14

sruiz@actifin.fr
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

For immediate release

3 March 2022

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 94,800 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 812.21p per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.

The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 9 February 2022.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 1,160,421; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 223,830,882.

The figure of 223,830,882 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For and on behalf of

Frostrow Capital LLP

Company Secretary

For further information, please contact:

Victoria Hale

Frostrow Capital LLP

Tel: 020 3 170 8732
The "Wired Charging Market by Type, Charging Type, Application and Sales Channel: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2021-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global wired charging market was valued at $11.1 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $15.9 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 3.9% from 2020 to 2030.

Wired charging is the charging done by wires and it is the integral part of wire coated with plastic. Wired charging is widely used to charge mobiles, laptops, tablets, and other gadgets. In addition, rise in the technological advancement in automotive sector led to increase in demand for electric vehicle, which also boosts the demand for wired charging. Moreover, European Japanese electric vehicle manufacturers play a vital role in the EV game, with the launch of Audi E-Tron, Mitsubishi i-MIEV and Nissan LEAF more than a decade ago.

The cars were supported by incentives, and the rollout of AC charging points and DC fast chargers that utilize the Japanese CHAdeMO standard (for several years the standard was spreading globally, including in Europe and North America). The massive deployment of CHAdeMO chargers, through high government subsidies, allowed to increase the number of fast chargers to 7,000, which creates wide opportunities for the global wired charging market.

Wired charging is also widely used in the gadget's major players such as Sony, Mitsubishi, Panasonic and many others, have a significant role in the global wired charging market. In addition, rising use and demand for mobile, laptops and other gadgets also led to increase in demand for the wired charging market. Moreover, COVID-19 creates wide opportunities for the market due to the work from home culture. Furthermore, rise in wireless charging may act as the restraining factor for the market.

The global wired charging market is segmented on the basis of type, charging type, application and sales channel. Depending on type, the market is categorized into Type C, Micro USB, lightning and others. On the basis of charging type, it is divided into standard and fast charging. On the basis of application, it is classified into personal care, consumer electronics, automotive, energy power, healthcare and others. Sales Channel-wise, it is categorized into online and offline.

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Rise in demand and sustainable development in electronics gadgets

Rise in demand for electric cars

Rise in demand for daily use electronic products

Restraints

Introduction of wireless charging

Low range of electric vehicle

Decomposition of wires and toxic effects of gadgets on human body

Opportunities

Rise in pollution by crude products and high oil prices led to enhance EV market

Rise in urbanization and tourism development

Key Market Segments

By Type

Type C

Micro USB

Lightning

Others

By Charging Type

Standard

Fast

By Application

Personal care

Consumer Electronics

Smartphones

Tablets

Others

Automotive

Energy Power

Healthcare

Others

By Sales Channel

Online

Offline

By Region

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Key Market Players

ABB

AOYAMA Elevator Co., Ltd

Apple Inc.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Delta Electronics, Inc.

Huawei Technology Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Sunvalley Group

Tesla

Webasto

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3mbfew

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005900/en/

Contacts:

ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / March 3, 2022 / ActivePure, the global leader in 24/7 surface and air purification technology, partnered with local distributor Agrow Healthtech Sdn Bhd, to install its products throughout Malaysia.

Because of its partnership with ActivePure, Agrow Healthtech has been appointed as the official air purification technology partner with C.I.S Network Sdn Bhd, one of the largest exhibition organizers in the industry. C.I.S. has experienced steady growth as a leading trade and lifestyle exhibition organizer in the business events industry. Earning a reputation for producing appealing concepts and introducing strategic platforms and partnerships, C.I.S. sought the ActivePure partnership to supply exhibitors and visitors with the best whole-room, automated surface and air disinfection technology developed for facility-wide coverage. C.I.S. has appointed Agrow Healthtech to provide ActivePure Technology products in its upcoming exhibitions.

ActivePure leads the industry in proactive, continuous air purification and surface decontamination for health care, commercial and residential applications. The ActivePure Medical Guardian is an FDA-cleared Class II medical device. Products Powered by ActivePure have been proven to proactively deactivate bacteria, mold, fungi and viruses in the air and on surfaces, including the virus that causes COVID-19, as proven in extensive laboratory testing and real-world environments.

Agrow Healthtech will be exhibiting at the upcoming Malaysian Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration and Ventilation Expo (MARVEX) from March 16 to 19 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia. Agrow Healthtech will also provide ActivePure Technology in the exhibition halls for the event. MARVEX is jointly organized by C.I.S. Network and Malaysian Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Association (MACRA) and sponsored by The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM).

"This partnership with ActivePure was a no-brainer and we are delighted to partner with C.I.S. Network to provide ActivePure technology products in its upcoming exhibitions. We are also excited to exhibit during MARVEX 2022 to demonstrate the power of ActivePure Technology," said Robert Wong, managing director of Agrow Healthtech Sdn Bhd.

Among the locations in Malaysia that have installed ActivePure Technology:

Sunway Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Malaysia with core interests in real estate, construction, education, healthcare, retail, and hospitality installed Aerus Pure & Clean with ActivePure Technology in four of its prominent malls in Malaysia. This is an addition to installations into Sunway's 12 property sales galleries.

one of the largest conglomerates in Malaysia with core interests in real estate, construction, education, healthcare, retail, and hospitality installed Aerus Pure & Clean with ActivePure Technology in four of its prominent malls in Malaysia. This is an addition to installations into Sunway's 12 property sales galleries. Kian Joo Can Factory Berhad is the biggest packaging company in the ASEAN region and one of the few companies in Malaysia with the capability to implement packaging solutions that deliver freshness, convenience and security for food and consumer products. Kian Joo management installed ActivePure Technology in its offices.

is the biggest packaging company in the ASEAN region and one of the few companies in Malaysia with the capability to implement packaging solutions that deliver freshness, convenience and security for food and consumer products. Kian Joo management installed ActivePure Technology in its offices. American Express offices in Kuala Lumpur have ActivePure's Pure Cloud and other products installed throughout its offices.

offices in Kuala Lumpur have ActivePure's Pure Cloud and other products installed throughout its offices. Nurul Yaqin Mosque , with a capacity of 500 worshippers, is located between housing areas in Petaling Jaya. Located in a largely urban area within a close-knit community, leaders opted to have Agrow Healthtech supply Aerus Pure & Clean units in its prayer halls. Feedback has been extremely positive and there are plans to add ActivePure Technology to several other mosques in the region.

, with a capacity of 500 worshippers, is located between housing areas in Petaling Jaya. Located in a largely urban area within a close-knit community, leaders opted to have Agrow Healthtech supply Aerus Pure & Clean units in its prayer halls. Feedback has been extremely positive and there are plans to add ActivePure Technology to several other mosques in the region. Aluminum Company of Malaysia Bhd. (ALCOM) is the largest manufacturer of rolled aluminum products in Malaysia and a leading supplier in the Asia Pacific region with a strong global presence. ALCOM has ActivePure Technology working in its offices and has partnered with Agrow Healthtech to offer the same technology in additional locations.

is the largest manufacturer of rolled aluminum products in Malaysia and a leading supplier in the Asia Pacific region with a strong global presence. ALCOM has ActivePure Technology working in its offices and has partnered with Agrow Healthtech to offer the same technology in additional locations. TMC Life Sciences Berhad (TMCLS) is one of the fastest-growing healthcare groups in Malaysia. It has been listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad since 2005. TMC group chose ActivePure products during its grand opening ceremony of TMC Care Pharmacy in January.

"Agrow Healthtech and its team have been ramping up to provide solutions across Malaysia by choosing ActivePure Technology and we are thrilled to partner with them in their efforts," said Anil Agrawal, vice president of international sales and operations of ActivePure.

"We have worked with companies and governmental entities around the world, and we are eager to see ActivePure expand deeper into Malaysia," said Joe Urso, CEO of ActivePure. "While this pandemic still rages globally, we anticipate more companies looking to ActivePure to neutralize airborne and surface pathogens in busy spaces."

For more information on ActivePure, go to ActivePure.com or call 1-888-217-4316.

ABOUT ACTIVEPURE:

Privately held ActivePure has been the global leader in active, continuous surface and air disinfection systems for health care and educational institutions, commercial and public facilities, hospitality and residential applications since 1924. Patented ActivePure Technology has been proven in independent university and laboratory testing to effectively control and neutralize indoor contaminants. It is the only product in its class recognized by the Space Foundation as Certified Space Technology and inducted into the Space Foundation Hall of Fame. The ActivePure Medical Guardian is registered and cleared as an FDA Class II Medical Device. ActivePure was developed for use in the space program and has since evolved for use in commercial and consumer products used to reduce exposure to pathogens, including RNA and DNA viruses, bacteria and molds, by up to 99.9% in the air and on surfaces. For more information, please visit ActivePure.com or call (888) 217-4316.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jo Trizila, TrizCom Public Relations on behalf of ActivePure

Email: Jo@TrizCom.com

Office: 972-247-1369

Cell/Text: 214-232-0078

or

Tonie Auer, TrizCom Public Relations on behalf of ActivePure

Email: Tonie@TrizCom.com

Office: 972-247-1369

Cell/Text: 817-925-2013

SOURCE: ActivePure Technology

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/691468/CIS-Network-Sdn-Bhd-Selects-Agrow-Healthtech-as-Official-Air-Purification-Technology-Partner
Recently there has been an unfortunate movement of anti-LGBTQ+ and, specifically, anti-transgender bills, policies and directives aimed at harming or suppressing these individuals. These actions, more deliberately, are aimed at children and adolescents.

Recently the Florida Legislature passed a Dont Say Gay bill (HB 1557/SB 1834); to prohibit certain discussions about LGBTQ+ topics in any school setting to conceal and silence LGBTQ+ youth.

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The governor of Texas directed Family and Protective Services to begin investigating all transgender children in Texas and report their parents as child abusers for seeking gender-affirming health care. All mandated reporters are required to follow this guidance.

Other states are considering orders and directives like these.

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Harmful LGBTQ+ and trans-exclusionary legislation is dehumanizing  and politicians who attack LGBTQ+ and trans kids by supporting these measures should not be politicians anymore.

John C. Mikovits (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

In this May 20, 2021 file photo, demonstrators gather on the steps to the Texas State Capitol to speak against transgender-related legislation bills. (Eric Gay/AP)

Refusing to support kids who tell you they are transgender does not decrease the chance that they will grow up to be trans. It only decreases the chances that they will grow up.

There is a direct association with the barriers that transgender people face, such as the lack of quality, equitable health care, and lifetime suicide attempt rates that are almost 10 times higher than the 4.6% rate in the general population.

Other data suggests transgender people also face significantly higher prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, victimization, and mental health issues, including a decreased likelihood of having health insurance. There are reports that show 28% of transgender individuals postponed their care because of previous discrimination and inequities.

Transgender adolescents who receive gender-affirming care have a lower risk of suicidal thoughts as adults than those who wanted care but faced barriers to access it. Lawmakers must treat these health risks of transgender youth as the public health issue that it is, and not potentiate these risks with discriminatory actions.

Gender-affirming health care is health care, and health care is a right that everybody deserves regardless of who they are. Health care providers must step up to the plate in this moment and advocate for equitable, affirming care for LGBTQ+ and transgender people.

Registered nurses continue to make up the largest subset of health care providers. They are in an optimal position to intentionally advance affirming health care with advocacy, policy change and education.

Registered nurses must denounce discriminatory policies and practices that harm transgender and LGBTQ+ people seeking health care and hold colleagues accountable who do not meet this basic standard.

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There is an opportunity for the nursing profession to take a leadership role in our health care systems to provide fundamental, affirming care to these often-marginalized people and to protect their human dignity.

Transgender people are people. Transgender children are children. Theyre brilliant. Creative. Beautiful. Spontaneous. Vibrant. Resilient. Energetic. Courageous. Treat them like people and support them the way you would support any other child.

It is likely that somebody who you love and care about identifies as LGBTQ+, whether they are open to you about it or not. They see our actions, our words, the things we like on social media. We need to do better.

In our own communities we can support and elect individuals who do not discriminate against LGBTQ+ people. It is appalling that protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ people is still a topic of debate in 2022.

Lucky for us, advocacy, support, love and acceptance are free for us to provide. I will always stand and support our LGBTQ+ community, and I encourage you to do the same.

If you or someone you know need support or feel motivated to support gender and sexual minorities, there are local, regional, and national organizations that can help: www.bradburysullivancenter.org; www.patransequity.org; www.glaad.org.

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John C. Mikovits, a registered nurse with a Ph.D., is an assistant professor of nursing at Moravian Universitys Helen S. Breidegam School of Nursing and Public Health.
4 out of 5 Mud Gas Separator Sales in North America to be contributed by the U.S

Fact.MR's latest report on the mud gas separator market offers a 10-year forecast through 2022 & beyond. The report explicates vital dynamics, such as drivers, restraints and emerging opportunities shaping the market dynamics. To present the information in a more vivid manner, the report has been segmented in terms of product type, end user and region

NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A recently published Fact.MR report expects the global market for mud gas separators to flourish at a CAGR of 3.6% from 2022 to 2032. The industry experienced an annual increase of 2.6% from 2021, rising from US$ 3.8 Million to US$ 3.9 Million in 2022.

As per the report, mud gas separators accounted for 1.3% of the global drilling rig equipment industry, with an expected rise in market share of up to 2-3% throughout the period of assessment. Adoption of automation in drilling & well completion and strict safety regulations in oil & gas fields are expected to drive product penetration, since mud gas separators remove formation gas from drilling fluids and aid in reducing the chances of unwanted kicks.

Moreover, in deep to ultra-deep drilling scenarios, mud gas separators work as a well-controlled equipment by eliminating gas content from drilling mud. Besides, increasing need to ensure equitable city gas distribution for driving the LNG business has led to enhanced mud gas separator adoption.

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Report Attributes Details Base Year Value (2021A) USD 3.8 Million Estimated Year Value (2022E) USD 3.9 Million Projected Year Value (2032F) USD 5.6 Million Global Growth Rate (2022-2032) CAGR 3.6%

Key Takeaways

By type, closed-bottom mud gas separators captured over 60% demand in 2021, expected to surpass US$ 3.5 Million by 2032

by 2032 Approximately 9 out of 10 mud gas separators are to be utilized in the oil & gas industry, estimated to create an absolute opportunity worth US$ 1.7 Million

U.S to emerge as the most opportunistic market across North America , expected to capture 80% market share throughout the continent

, expected to capture 80% market share throughout the continent China to experience a CAGR of 2.7% with respect to mud gas separators market demand from 2022-2032

to experience a CAGR of 2.7% with respect to mud gas separators market demand from 2022-2032 Global market for mud gas separator to expand 1.4x across the 2022-2032 forecast period

Prominent Drivers

Extensive utilization of oil & gas across a myriad range of end use industries, from transport to energy and pharmaceuticals to textiles, is widening adoption of mud gas separators

Ensuring equitable gas distribution across cities is another major factor contributing to the growth of the market for mud gas separators across the forecast period

Key Restraints

A paradigm shift in the automotive sector towards EVs is likely to restrain uptake of mud gas separators, given the reducing dependence on oil & gas fuels

A shift towards renewable electricity is also hampering prospects for mud gas separators, attributed to rising consciousness about the growing carbon footprint left behind by conventional coal and oil powered power generation stations

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Market Competition

Leading mud gas separator suppliers are focused on the development of compact, efficient, and versatile products for oil & gas. A versatile product is capable enough to handle high GOR (gas/oil ratio) and large volumes of drilling mud.

In addition to this, the compact design of mud gas separators provides sufficient space in fields and reduces the risk of accidents. Development of such types of products are likely to provide a plethora of opportunities for mud gas separator manufacturers over the coming years.

More Valuable Insights on Mud Gas Separator Market

Fact.MR, in its report, offers a market analysis of the global mud gas separator market analyzing forecast period through 2022 and beyond. This survey reveals the growth of technology in the mud gas separator market with detailed segmentation as follows: -

By Type:

Open-bottom Mud Gas Separator

Closed-bottom Mud Gas Separators

Float Type Mud Gas Separators

By Exploration Type:

Onshore Mud Gas Separators

Offshore Mud Gas Separators

By Orientation:

Horizontal Mud Gas Separators

Vertical Mud Gas Separators

By Region:

North America Mud Gas Separator Market

Latin America Mud Gas Separator Market

Europe Mud Gas Separator Market

East Asia Mud Gas Separator Market

South Asia & Oceania Mud Gas Separator Market

& Oceania Mud Gas Separator Market MEA Mud Gas Separator Market

Key Questions Covered in the Mud Gas Separator Market Report

What is the global mud gas separator market scenario?

How far is the global demand expected to reach over the forecasted period?

What was the last 5-year CAGR for the demand in the demand in the mud gas separator market?

Who are the prominent players in the global mud gas separator market?

Which is the most leading region in the mud gas separator market?

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Auger Drilling Machine Market Analysis: Auger drilling machines remain a lucrative commodity due to its diversified utility. The drilling machine market was significantly impaired after the global pandemic. However, increased application in agriculture and industries will boost growth prospects. This Fact.MR study provides in-depth analysis of the overall market scenario over the coming decade.

Screw Separators Industry Report: Screw separators have gained paramount importance for separation of solid residues from liquids through sedimentation across a wide range of industries. Low investment and little maintenance are one of the major requirements of screw separator end-users, which has influenced developments in screw separator as a consequence.

Infrared Detector Market: Infrared detectors are mainly used in motion and people sensing applications, which are expected to lead market growth over the coming years. Increasing use of infrared detectors in areas such as museums, homes, airports, libraries, and retail shops to count people and detect motion had subsidized its dominance in the market.

Thermal Spray Coatings Market: Preference for thermal spray coatings over conventional hard chrome coatings on the back of superior features such as enhanced coating consistency will continue to provide growth opportunities for the thermal spray coatings market. Amalgamation of a variety of compatible raw materials such as aluminum, steel, and copper is furthering mass-adoption of thermal spray coating processes.

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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - GoldHaven Resources Corp. (CSE: GOH) (OTCQB: GHVNF) (FSE: 4QS) ("GoldHaven" or the "Company") invites you to join our upcoming conference call scheduled for March 7, 2022.

Details on the Upcoming Management Conference Call

The call will be hosted by Justin Canivet (CEO) on Monday, March 7 , 2022 at 1:15 pm Pacific Standard Time (4:15 pm Eastern Standard time and 9:15 pm Central European Time).

The purpose of the call is to provide a general update and discussion of the Company's recent developments and strategy moving forward. This call is also an opportunity to get better acquainted with GoldHaven's new CEO.

Dial-in numbers are as follows:

Dial-In (Toll-Free US & Canada): +1 877-407-6176

Dial-In (International): +1 201-689-8451

There is no access code.

Live Event Call me link (for participant entry):

https://hd.choruscall.com/InComm/?callme=true&passcode=13727705&h=true&info=company&r=true&B=6

Participants can use Guest dial-in telephone numbers above and be answered by an operator OR click the Call me link for instant telephone access to the event.

About GoldHaven Resources Corp.

GoldHaven Resources Corp. is a Canadian junior exploration Company active in the highly gold and silver endowed Maricunga Gold Belt of northern Chile. The Maricunga Belt measures 150 km north-south and 30 km east-west and is host numerous mines and advanced exploration projects including Salares Norte (Gold Fields), Esperanza (Kingsgate Consolidated), La Coipa (Kinross), Cerro Maricunga (Fenix Gold), Lobo Marte (Kinross), Volcan (Volcan), Refugio (Kinross/Bema), Caspiche (Goldcorp/Barrick), Cerro Casale (Goldcorp/Barrick). The Company has agreements in place to acquire seven high priority exploration targets as identified by geological studies. To date, GoldHaven has identified "High Priority" targets on four of the seven exploration properties and will commence a drilling program during the first quarter of 2021. The four priority targets include Coya, located approximately 16 km northeast of the Kinross La Coipa mine; the second is Rio Loa, a project located 25 km south of Gold Field's Salares Norte deposit (5.2 million ounces of Gold1); the third and fourth projects are Alicia and Roma which are approximately 35 km south of the Salares Norte deposit. These exploration targets have been designated High Priority due to extensive, pervasive alteration, favourable geology, highly anomalous rock geochemical results, and their relative proximity to existing deposits. The company has also made recent acquisitions in high profile metal belts in British Columbia and Newfoundland.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

David Smith

For further information, please contact:

Bonn Smith,

Business Development

www.goldhavenresources.com

bsmith@goldhavenresources.com

Office Direct: (604) 638-3073

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE- Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

News Release References

1 Jamasmie, C., 2019. Gold Field's Salares Norte project in Chile granted environmental permit. December 18, 2019, 9:29am. Exploration Intelligence Latin America Gold Silver. https://www.mining.com/gold-fields-salares-norte-project-in-chile-granted-environmental-permit/

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, the intended use of the proceeds received from the Offering, the possible acquisition of the Projects, the Company's expectation that it will be successful in enacting its business plans, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that investor interest will be sufficient to close the Offering, and the receipt of any necessary regulatory or corporate approvals in connection with the Offering and the Assignment, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the exploration and development of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the inability of the Company to obtain the necessary financing required to conduct its business and affairs, as currently contemplated, the inability to close the Offering, the inability of the Company to enter into definitive agreements in respect of the Letters of Intent which are the subject of the Assignment, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including by the Exchange, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management's Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115597
Melbourne, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - LustCoins (Lust) announced the listing of its Lust token on the global crypto trading platform LBank Exchange on Mar. 10, 2022. LBank Exchange is one of the most popular and trusted crypto trading platforms, with over 6.4 million users worldwide in more than 210 regions. After successful listing on P2PB2B.io and CoinsBit.io now Lbank.info is the next target for LustCoins, and project officials said much more has yet to come before the end of March.





LustCoins Partnership

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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LustCoins (Lust) revolutionary blockchain-powered, "learn-to-earn" ecosystem promises a significant change in community issues. The project was founded on the mission of creating a safe environment for everyone to receive professional education about the causes, consequences, and preventative measures of sexual abuse, discrimination against LGBTQ groups, violence, and body shaming via certified experts. Through its digital learning platform, Lust Academy, community members earn crypto as they learn about these issues through the project's own LUST/LWP tokens.

"Online education has been on the rise over the past few years but has especially exploded in light of the COVID-19 pandemic," said a LustCoins official. "Lust aims to transform the future of online education and the possibilities of crypto by paying students for learning via a Learn-to-Earn model instead of contributing to the negative social and emotional impacts of today's Play to Earn gaming culture and as we aim to tackle one of today's most pressing issues in our Lust Academy, early detection and intervention sexual abuse or violence, we anticipate our project will continue to garner unprecedented support from investors and NGOs who are eager to support social change."

LustCoins (Lust) will not only be powered by an educational platform (Lust Academy) but an entire ecosystem including the LWAP.finance (lust DeFi) platform, NFT Market Place (L Land), Metaverse club, and much more to secure the profitability of the investment. LustCoins' L Land marketplace runs on the BNB smartchain, ETH, and Polygon networks at launch and will add Solana later. Buyers can buy and sell NFTs on these marketplaces, and buyers using Lust and LWP tokens can pay zero transaction fees.

The Lust development team announced that after the partnership with Pride Foundation Australia, one of the biggest LGBTQ communities in Australia, now they are considering blockchain data storage projects such as Filecoin and AR for partnerships to enable video NFT, one of the platform's most important initiatives. The team believes that this innovation will redefine the future of video by creating new ownership and delivery models for video content.

No need to say the recent partnership with the Pictor Studio team in listing their first humanitarian project (TAHNFT.io) called "They Are Human" to support over 30,000 Refugees in Australia brought a lot of attention to their launching soon L Land (NFT Market Place) platform. Lustcoins officials also added that more partnerships are to come in March as they have already reached an agreement with other major LGBTQ NGO's in Australia and Turkey.

CONTACTS

AIDIN MONTAZEMI

CEO

Support@lustcoins.com

LINKS

Web: https://www.lustcoins.com

Telegram: https://t.me/lusttoken

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/LustCoins

Instagram: https://instagram.com/lustcoins

Disclaimer: There is no offer to sell, no solicitation of an offer to buy, and no recommendation of any security or any other product or service in this article. Moreover, nothing contained in this PR should be construed as any recommendation. Readers are encouraged to do their own research.

Company: LustCoins

City: Melbourne, Australia

Email: Support@lustcoins.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115574
The H2 Racing Truck will land in Genoa on March 10 before touring France, Belgium, and the United States

GAUSSIN (EURONEXT GROWTH ALGAU FR0013495298), a pioneer in the clean and intelligent transport of goods and people, today announced the world tour of its H2 Racing Truck, the world's first hydrogen-powered truck, which completed the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia in January 2022. The H2 Racing Truck will make stops in several European countries starting in March, before crossing the Atlantic to be exhibited throughout the United States in April.

An international exhibition to showcase GAUSSIN's expertise

After its successful run in the Dakar Rally in January 2022 in Saudi Arabia, and a tour of the country that continued GAUSSIN's Saudi journey, the H2 Racing Truck the first hydrogen truck to complete the storied and challenging rally will be exhibited internationally. "The interest in our truck is enormous, from journalists, public authorities, connoisseurs of the challenges of the energy transition, and above all from many industry players, enthralled by our technology," says Christophe Gaussin, CEO of the GAUSSIN Group

The H2 Racing Truck is going to land in Europe:

First in Genoa, Italy's largest port, on March 10

Then, through France:

in Paris from March 13-15.

- at GAUSSIN's headquarters in Hericourt, from March 17-28 during the Open Days and Investor Days.

In Toulon from March 23-24, where GAUSSIN will take part in the Meet4Hydrogen event.

Finally, in Zeebrugge, Belgium, one of the largest ports in Europe, at the beginning of April.

The truck will then cross the Atlantic to be displayed in the United States, where it will serve as a technological showcase for GAUSSIN. It will be:

in Baltimore, near Washington, from April 28.

in Los Angeles from May 9-12 for the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, in which GAUSSIN will participate.

The H2 Racing Truck will travel the country from coast to coast and should pass through:

Chicago

Dallas

Denver

Las Vegas

And finally, the legendary Route 66.

The truck will continue its international journey, including a stop in Vancouver, Canada. This tour promises to be an opportunity for the Group to strengthen its partnerships with American industry players, with the aim of signing new licensing agreements.

During the various stages of the tour, spectators will be able to take pictures of the H2 Racing Truck, meet the "co-pilots", and learn more about the technology of the hydrogen truck. The truck will also be accompanied by other vehicles from the GAUSSIN range, including the APM, the ATM and the Cit-e (ex-Bluebus).

A hydrogen truck with proven performance

The H2 Racing Truck, the most powerful 100% hydrogen and electric racing truck ever built, performed an exceedingly successful showcase at the 2022 Dakar Rally. It ran from the Red Sea, in Jeddah, through the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia traversing to Hail, Al Artawiyah, Al Qaisumah, Riyadh, Al Dawadimi, Wadi Ad Dawasir, Bisha and returning in the final sprint of the race to Jeddah, where it all began. The team for the H2 Racing Truck consisted of a crew driven by a Dakar winner, Philippe Jacquot pilot, and included Christophe GAUSSIN, CEO of GAUSSIN, as racing team manager. This heavy class 8 truck was entered in the experimental category of the Dakar 2022 for new clean energies. It wasdesigned for extreme environments and was intended to demonstrate the performance and reliability of the hydrogen-electric motorization developed by GAUSSIN.

The H2 Racing Truck is a showcase of GAUSSIN's latest innovations. Unlike the solutions currently available on the market, the implementation of the hydrogen system has been developed on the basis of an ultra-light chassis, designed around the hydrogen and electric powertrain and based on the modular skateboard launched last April by GAUSSIN (see April 27, 2021 press release). It is the precursor of GAUSSIN's new range of 100% hydrogen and electric road trucks, designed by PININFARINA, which will be marketed this year and of which it is the first model. While obtaining the truck's registration to drive on European roads was a first success, the H2 Racing Truck's successful run in the Dakar Rally is an undeniable highlight for attracting new partners and customers on the market. Winning new licensing agreements is one of GAUSSIN's stated objectives in the context of its participation in the Dakar, and several promising relationships have been established during the race.

Upcoming events

Open days in Hericourt: March 17 18

GAUSSIN Investor Days in Hericourt: March 28

Paris Investor Access: April 4

2021 financial results: April 26

Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo in Los Angeles: May 9 to 12

About GAUSSIN

GAUSSIN is an engineering company that designs, assembles and sells innovative products and services in the transport and logistics field. Its expertise encompasses cargo and passenger transport, autonomous technologies allowing for self-driving solutions such as Automotive Guided Vehicles, and the integration all types of batteries, electric and hydrogen fuel cells in particular. With more than 50,000 vehicles worldwide, GAUSSIN enjoys a strong reputation in four fast-expanding markets: port terminals, airports, logistics and people mobility. The group has developed strategic partnerships with major global players in order to accelerate its commercial penetration: Siemens Postal, Parcel Airport Logistics in the airport field, Bollore Ports and ST Engineering in ports and Bluebus for people mobility. GAUSSIN has broadened its business model with the signing of license agreements accelerating the diffusion of its technology throughout the world. The acquisition of METALLIANCE confirms the emergence of an international group present in all segments of intelligent and clean vehicles.

In October 2021, GAUSSIN won the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport.

In January 2022, GAUSSIN successfully completed the 2022 Dakar Rally with its H2 Racing Truck, the first hydrogen-powered vehicle to enter the race and generate zero CO2 emissions.

GAUSSIN has been listed on Euronext Growth in Paris since 2010.

More information on www.gaussin.com.

For more information on GAUSSIN, go to www.gaussin.com

This document may contain forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information refers to future prospects, developments and strategies of Gaussin and is based on an analysis of expected future results and estimates of amounts that are not yet determinable to date. Forward-looking information naturally contains elements of risk and uncertainty relative to events and therefore dependent on circumstances which may or may not occur in the future. Gaussin draws your attention to the fact that forward-looking information provides no guarantee concerning its future performance or financial situation, financial results or trends in the sector in which Gaussin operates, and which may significantly differ from those proposed or suggested in the forward-looking statements contained in this presentation. Furthermore, even though the financial position of Gaussin, its performance and trends in the sector in which Gaussin operates comply with the forward-looking information contained in this presentation, such performance or trends may not be a reliable indication of the company's future performance or prospects. Gaussin is not committed to updating or confirming analysts' expectations or estimates or to publicly correcting any information or event in order to reflect an event or circumstance eventually occurring following this presentation.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005946/en/

Contacts:

GAUSSIN

Christophe Gaussin, invest@gaussin.com

+33(0)3.84.46.13.45

Ulysse Communication

Nicolas Daniels, ndaniels@ulysse-communication.com

+33(0)6.63.66.59.22

Charles Courbet, ccourbet@ulysse-communication.com

+33(0)6.28.93.03.06

LHA Investor Relations USA

Jody Burfening, jburfening@lhai.com

(212) 838-3777

RooneyPartners USA

Jeanene Timberlake, jtimberlake@rooneypartners.com

(646) 770-8858
Sacramento, California--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Farmer Doge ventured in and has begun to gain traction in the crypto community. Farmer Doge has taken the metaverse by storm, having more long-term metaverse projects lined up right after the TCG World metaverse partnership.





Farmer Doge Partners With TCG World

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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What is Farmer Doge?

Farmer Doge is the first multi-currency rewards token in the world. Farmer Doge runs on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and apart from providing yield farming to users via the $CROP native token, users are able to farm any cryptocurrency, from the top lists to the most recently minted.

The core principle of the project is that users must plant and subsequently harvest their effort. The high trading volume of Farmer Doge grows proportionally with rewards to users.

Giving Back to Society

Furthermore, because of its commitment to the community, Farmer Doge is more than a mere cryptocurrency. Thousands of pounds of vegetables and plants are discarded annually because they are not visually pleasing enough to be sold in markets, though their quality is not in question. As such, Farmer Doge has made it its mission to buy these fruits and vegetables and donate them to charity as part of their mission to fight hunger. Families in need, restaurants, and other enterprises that may use fruits and vegetables as components for donating meals to charities, will not face food scarcity. Donations have been already carried out in the Philippines, Laos, and the United States.

Farmer Doge puts a premium on user safety and comfort by creating a safe and interactive space for users to get informed on the newest undertakings of the project while having the chance to network with members of the Farmer Doge community.

Metaverse Debut with TCG World Partnership

Metaverse will most definitely provide users with an immensive experience which will compass everything from gaming and social interactions to financial transactions. Farmer Doge has partnered with TCG World, the biggest and most advanced metaverse running on Binace Smart Chain (BSC), to provide its users a fast-adopting and futuristic experience.

Farmer Doge will receive a vast plot of commercial land in TCG World as a result of this partnership. It will also allow the community to connect with one another as a result of the project. Farmer Doge-themed games and NFTs are in the making for the metaverse.

Metaverse Partnerships

Farmer Doge has made strides in climbing the ladder to become one of the most unique crypto projects out there. Aside from working on launching Farmer Doge NFTs, the cryptocurrency project will continue to establish new partnerships for long-term projects.

The team is establishing more metaverse partnerships and intends to finalize some more deals by year's end, in order to raise brand awareness across the crypto community. The upcoming NFTs will also be integrated in the metaverse projects.

Contact Details

Company Name: Farmer Doge

Company Email: farmerdoge@farmerdoge.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FarmerDoge-101777302236101/

Telegram: https://t.me/FarmerDogeCrypto

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FARMERDOGEBSC

Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FarmerDogeBSC/

Discord: https://discord.com/invite/farmerdoge

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farmerdogebsc/

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/farmerdoge

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115541
Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ("Benton" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, subject to all regulatory approvals, the Company intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of flow-through units and non-flow-through units (the "Private Placement") for combined aggregate gross proceeds of up to $2.4 million. The Private Placement is expected to close on or before March 25, 2022.

On closing the Company will issue 6,250,000 flow-through shares units ("FT Units") at a price of $0.2275 per FT Unit, for gross proceeds of $1,421,875. Each FT Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"), each Warrant being exercisable for an additional common share of the Company, each of which will not qualify as a flow-through share, at an exercise price of $0.20 for 24 months from the date of issue. The FT Units will entitle the holder to receive the tax benefits applicable to flow-through shares, in accordance with provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

On closing the Company will also issue 6,250,000 non-flow-through units ("Units") at a price of $0.16 per Unit for aggregate proceeds of up to $1,000,000. Each Unit consists of one common share and one Warrant, each Warrant being exercisable for an additional common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.20 for 24 months form the date of issue.

As a result of the Private Placement, Eric Sprott will become Benton's largest shareholder, adding 12.5M shares and 12.5M warrants to his current position of 10.0M shares and 5.0M warrants.

All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month and a day hold period.

In connection with the Private Placement, the Company may pay finders' fees in cash or securities or a combination of both, as permitted by the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Private Placement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

The Company will use an amount equal to the gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the FT Units, pursuant to the provisions in the Income Tax Act (Canada), to incur eligible "Canadian exploration expenses" that qualify as "flow-through mining expenditures" as both terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Qualifying Expenditures") on or before December 31, 2023, and to renounce all the Qualifying Expenditures in favour of the subscribers of the FT Units effective December 31, 2022. The proceeds from the sale of the Units will be used to advance Benton's various exploration projects, and for working capital purposes.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Inc.,

"Stephen Stares"

Stephen Stares, President

About Benton Resources Inc.

Benton Resources is a well-funded Canadian-based project generator with a diversified property portfolio in Gold, Silver, Nickel, Copper, Lithium, and Platinum group elements. Benton holds multiple high-grade projects available for option that can be viewed on the Company's website. Most projects have an up-to-date NI 43-101 Report available.

Parties interested in seeking more information about properties available for option can contact Mr. Stares at the number below.

For further information, please contact:

Stephen Stares, President & CEO

Phone: 807-475-7474

Email: sstares@bentonresources.ca

Website: www.bentonresources.ca

Twitter: @BentonResources

Facebook: @BentonResourcesBEX

THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements."

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115610


WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Treasuries showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session on Thursday before ending the day modestly higher.



Bond prices spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line but moved to the upside going into the close. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 2.1 basis points to 1.844 percent.



The choppy trading on the day came as traders seemed reluctant to continue to making significant moves following the volatility seen over the past few sessions, which saw treasuries soar early in the week before pulling back sharply on Wednesday.



Traders may also have decided to stick to the sidelines ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly employment report on Friday.



Economists currently expect employment to jump by 400,000 jobs in February after surging by 467,000 jobs in January, while the unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 3.9 percent from 4.0 percent.



A day ahead of the release of the monthly jobs report, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest decrease in first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended February 26th.



The report showed initial jobless claims dipped to 215,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's revised level of 233,000.



Economists had expected jobless claims to edge down to 225,000 from the 232,000 originally reported for the previous week.



Meanwhile, a separate report from the Institute for Supply Management unexpectedly showed a continued slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service sector activity in the month of February.



The ISM said its services PMI fell to 56.5 in February from 59.9 in January. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth in the service sector, economists had expected the index to inch up to 61.0.



The services PMI decreased for the third straight month after reaching a record high of 68.4 in November of 2021.



The situation in Ukraine is likely to remain on investors' minds on Friday, although they may pay even closer attention to the monthly jobs report.







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WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - Volkswagen Group is the latest big name to have joined the migration from Russia, suspending its exports to the country as well as bringing to a halt the local production in Russia as a response to its siege over Ukraine.



This move will mainly affect the company's two factories in Russia, which produce the Volkswagen brand and Skoda models, the automaker said on Thursday. Models like the Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley cars, which are popular with Russia's elite, will also stop production.



In 2021, Volkswagen supplied about 216,000 cars to Russia, which accounts for around 2.4 percent of the automaker's global vehicle sales. 'Vehicle exports to Russia will also be stopped with immediate effect,' the company added.



The carmaker said that local employees at its plants will receive short time working benefits. As a fall out of the Ukraine war, Volkswagen also suspended operations at many of its European plants due to the shortage of parts from Ukrainian suppliers. Mercedes-Benz on Wednesday suspended vehicle exports to Russia and local production in the country, becoming the latest carmaker to respond to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.



The company said in a statement, 'Mercedes-Benz will suspend the export of passenger cars and vans to Russia as well as the local manufacturing in Russia until further notice.'



Germany's Daimler Truck also stopped its 12-year partnership with Russian lorry maker Kamaz, which also makes armored vehicles.



In another interesting development, Korea's largest automaker, the Hyundai Motor Group, which includes the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, may not be part of the European, North American, and some Japanese automakers exodus from Russia as the country, as a market, is now very important for the Korean car company.







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Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Athabasca Minerals Inc. (TSXV: AMI) ("AMI" or the "Corporation") announces that subsequent to its press release of December 1st, 2021 when a Definitive Agreement was reached, AMI Silica LLC ("AMI Silica", co-owned 50% by JMAC Energy Services LLC), has now closed the strategic acquisition of an operational U.S. sand mine and facilities in Wisconsin (the "Assets"). The Assets include real-estate of 1100 acres, a fully functional and staffed mine and processing plant capable of 2 million tons sand production annually, fixed storage, rail transload with unit train capability (i.e. loading/unloading 100 railcar shipments), mobile equipment and active supply chain contracts. All financing associated with the closing and operations of the plant have been arranged. The portfolio of land and facilities, originally developed at a cost of more than USD $100 million within the past 10 years, were procured at less than 10% the development value as per terms of the acquisition first announced in the December 1, 2021 press release.

Robert Beekhuizen, Chief Executive Officer of AMI states: "We are extremely pleased with this strategic acquisition, and we expect it to be highly accretive to AMI. It is a robust operation which AMI Silica LLC has been operating under contract on behalf of the Vendor since June 2021. We have a talented team onsite with proven experience running operations, and a premium sand product being sold and transported across North America. The acquisition also strategically engages other important dimensions of AMI's integrated business model, including TerraShift Engineering's mine planning and reclamation services and AMI RockChain's logistics solutions. We regard AMI's expansion into the United States as a new chapter in the Corporation's rebuild and renaissance over the past 4 years and we look forward to each of our subsidiaries playing a role in this sizable market in the future.

"We are committed to grow our business interests and customer base across North America. With that goal in mind, Dana Archibald, AMI's Chief Operating Officer, will be additionally appointed as President of AMI Silica Inc, in Canada, and AMI Silica LLC in the United States. Mr. Archibald has worked diligently to maintain continuity of operations and customer relations during this strategic acquisition. Under his divisional leadership, we are enthusiastic about the performance and future growth potential of AMI Silica."

Corporate Update on TerraShift Engineering Ltd. Acquisition:

Further to the news release of June 30, 2020, when AMI acquired TerraShift Engineering Ltd. ("TerraShift") in an arm's length, predominantly share-based transaction (the "Transaction"), the Corporation provides a summary and supplemental update on the acquisition purchase process. The Transaction included all beneficial rights, title and interest in TerraShift for a total purchase price of $250,000 (the "Purchase Price"), and no finder's fee was paid in respect to this Transaction. The Purchase Price was comprised of cash consideration, in the amount of $25,000.00 upon Closing, along with the issuance of 542,002 common shares of the Corporation. These shares were issued on June-30, 2020 at a price of $0.1384 per share, based on a 5-day Volume-Weighted Average Price ("VWAP"), as per the terms of the Transaction. In addition, the Purchase Price included two trailing payments to be paid on the 1st and 2nd anniversary of Closing, payable with AMI common shares, each valued at $75,000, as well as Performance Payments to be made after the 1st and 2nd financial year-ends, based on a calculated percentage of EBITDA. The first trailing payment was made on June 30, 2021 through an issuance of 343,796 common shares of the Corporation with a value of $0.2182 per share and the first Performance Payment was made on September 21, 2021 with the issuance of 699,326 common shares with a value of $0.167 per share, all based on a 5-day VWAP. The final trailing payment will be made on June 30, 2022 with the issuance of AMI common shares (or cash equivalent) based on a 5-day VWAP at the time of issuance. The final performance payment will be made within 60 days of the June 30, 2022 anniversary based on a pre-determined calculated percentage of EBITDA. Robert Beekhuizen, CEO of AMI states: "The acquisition of TerraShift has been profitable for, and strategically important to, the Corporation with engineering & technology serving AMI's full portfolio of companies while adding external customer revenues."

ABOUT ATHABASCA MINERALS INC.

Athabasca Minerals is an integrated group of companies capable of full life-cycle development and supply of aggregates and industrial minerals. The Corporation is comprised of the following business units: AMI Silica, (www.amisilica.com) with resource holdings and business interests in Alberta, North-East BC, and the United States; AMI Aggregates, with aggregates from its corporate pits and which manages the Coffey Lake Public Pit for the Government of Alberta; Metis North Sand & Gravel which is a strategic partnership with the McKay Metis Group to deliver aggregates to the energy, infrastructure, and construction sectors in the Wood Buffalo region; AMI RockChain, a technology-enabled business using its proprietary RockChain digital platform, automated supply-chain and logistics solutions, quality-assurance & safety programs to deliver products across Canada; and TerraShift Engineering which conducts resource exploration, regulatory, mining, environmental and reclamation engineering for a growing nation-wide customer base and is also the developer of its proprietary TerraMaps software.

For further information, please contact:

Cheryl Grue, Director, Corporate Affairs

Tel: 587-392-5862 / Email: cheryl.grue@athabascaminerals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain statements or disclosures relating to Athabasca that are based on the expectations of its management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to Athabasca which may constitute forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements") under applicable securities laws. All such statements and disclosures, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results or developments that Athabasca anticipates or expects may, or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of the words "would", "will", "anticipates", believes", "explores" and similar expressions.

Athabasca believes the material factors, expectations and assumptions reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable at this time but no assurance can be given that these factors, expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements including, without limitation: a significant expansion in COVID-19 restricting or prohibiting the operation of the Athabasca's facilities or significantly impacting the Company's supply chain; the duration and extent of the relatively low global oil prices; general economic, market and business conditions including those in the event of an epidemic, natural disaster or other event; increased costs and expenses; reliance on industry partners; and certain other risks detailed from time to time in Athabasca's public disclosure documents including, without limitation, those risks identified in this news release, and in Athabasca's annual information form, copies of which are available on Athabasca's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Moreover, the duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown at this time and it is not possible to reliably estimate the length and severity of these developments and the impact on the financial results and condition of the Company. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Corporation undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/114964
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc. (TSXV: LPC) ("LPCP" or the "Company") today announced the issuance of shares pursuant to its Employee Share Savings Plan ("ESSP") and announced option grants pursuant to its Stock Option Plan.

Issuance of Shares Pursuant to ESSP

LPCP announced that pursuant to its ESSP, the Company has issued a total of 72,215 common shares of LPCP to eligible employees at a price of $0.93, for aggregate proceeds of $67,160. Of these common shares, 28,444 shares were issued to certain directors and officers of the Company.

Option Grant

LPCP also announced that it has granted 815,000 aggregate incentive stock options to various employees, officers, and directors of the Corporation, under its Stock Option Plan. The options are exercisable at $0.95 per common share, vest over a three-year period, and expire on March 3, 2032. Of these options, 730,000 were granted to certain directors and officers of the Company.

About Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc.

LPCP was created to bring together boutique investment management and wealth advisory firms in order to deliver robust, cost-effective investment solutions to affluent investors, foundations, estates and trusts. LPCP's unique strategy creates better alignment between investment managers and wealth advisors while providing them with additional resources to accelerate their growth.

For further information, please contact:

Robert Sewell

Chief Executive Officer

Lorne Park Capital Partners Inc.

investor.relations@lpcp.ca

(905) 337-2227

Cautionary Notes

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information may be identified by such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", "plan", and other similar expressions. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, without limitation, LPCP's objectives, goals, and future plans. Forward-looking information addresses possible future events, conditions and financial performance based upon management's current expectations, estimates, projections, and assumptions. In particular, the forward-looking information contained in this news release reflects assumptions about the timing and results of the amalgamation and regulatory approvals. Management of LPCP considers the assumptions on which the forward-looking information contained herein are based to be reasonable. However, by its very nature, forward-looking information inherently involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such information. Such risks include, without limitation, changes in economic conditions, applicable laws, or regulations. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. LPCP disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES, ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAW/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115592
Accel-KKR, a Menlo Park, CA-based technology-focused private equity firm, closed Accel-KKR Growth Capital Partners IV L.P., a $1.35 billion growth capital fund.

The new fund includes a $100m commitment from the firms employees.

Accel-KKR invests in technology companies through a series of different funds and strategies including Buyout, Emerging Buyout, Growth Capital and Credit.

The new fund will focus on the same strategy as the firms prior growth capital funds, primarily making minority preferred equity investments in software and technology-enabled services companies with more than $10m in revenue. It also will continue to emphasize investing in founder-led and closely-held businesses, which results in Accel-KKR oftentimes becoming the first institutional investor into these companies.

Accel-KKR Growth Capital Partners III LP, the firms previous growth-capital fund, closed on $685 million in capital commitments in 2019.

The firm simultaneously announced that David Cusimano and Joe Porten, both members of the firms Growth Capital team, have been promoted to Managing Director. Mr. Cusimano joined the firm upon graduation from business school in 2009, and Mr. Porten joined Accel-KKR in 2013 with many years of experience in technology private equity.

The firm  which also has offices in Atlanta and London, UK  is led by Tom Barnds and Rob Palumbo, Co-Managing Partners. Greg Williams leads the firms growth capital investments.

FinSMEs

02/03/2022
Connecteam, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based provider of SaaS solutions for a company to empower, manage, and engage its deskless workforce, raised $120m in Series C funding.

The round, which brought total funding to $160m, was co-led by Stripes, and Insight Partners, with participation from Tiger Global, Qumra Capital, and Eyal Ofers O.G. Tech.

The company intends to use the funds to scale its global operations, triple the size of its team, and expand both research and development and marketing to help businesses around the world manage and engage their deskless workers.

Led by Amir Nehemia, CEO and Co-Founder, Connecteam helps companies of all sizes and across multiple industries  from small mom-and-pop shops to Fortune 500 firms in such industries as construction, security, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, hospitality and others  improve how they manage and engage their deskless workers. The companys app includes features for tracking time and attendance (including time off), communications, learning and training, employee recognition, and more, and is designed to help manage the more than 2.7 billion workers or 80% of the global workforce that are not tied to a desk. It is fully customizable to serve the needs of companies of any size without the need for IT support.

Connecteams all-in-one product is comprised of three different hubs, providing everything deskless managers need to run their business:

Operations: Time tracking, scheduling, checklists and forms, task management

Communication: Internal chat, organizational directory, updates and announcements, surveys

HR and people management: recognition and rewards, employee documentation management, employee timeline, training and skill building

Founded in 2016, the company has 20,000-plus global customers that span 80 countries and include leading brands such as SodaStream (PepsiCo company), Sodexo, Saint Gobain, Berry Global and others.

FinSMEs

02/03/2022
Lianne Akal du Toit

Johannesburg, March 3, 2022  Gradient, the global science-centric start-up using artificial intelligence technology, computer vision and data analytics to unveil Diversity & Inclusion in images and videos, appoints Lianne Akal du Toit, recently featured in Standard Banks Top Womens Business Edition and the winner of 2018 Inspiring Fifty, as Advisory Board Member.

Lianne resides in Johannesburg and is the Network Director of YPO, the global leadership community of more than 29,000 chief executives in 142 countries who are connected by the shared belief that the world needs better leaders.

She is an angel investor part of Dazzle Angels, a female focused angel fund born to solve the radical gender inequality in early-stage investment management and deployment.

Lianne holds a BCom in Industrial Psychology at The University of South Africa and attended executive education courses at Harvard Business School and Stanford University. She is an Angel Investor in Dazzle Angels which invests into female led businesses.

I want to leave the world a little better than I found it and I love to collaborate with partners who have the same mindset. I am excited to start this new collaboration with Gradient: combining science and D&I allows a concrete and effective approach to spreading the culture of respect and inclusion said Lianne Akal du Toit.

Lianne deeply understands where Gradient stands today as a business, as well as their goals for the future, and look forward to contributing to significant growth. She has a lot in common in terms of values, culture, and target market. I am thrilled to officially welcome Lianne as a member of our global Advisory Board, said Giorgia Coltella, CEO.

Lianne joins a top-tier advisory board with global members such as Raquelle Zuzarte, former Marketing Manager at Washington Post and Ricky Gordon, General Manager Digital at Vista.
There is a power to a persons sense of smell. A single scent can stay with us or transport us back in time to memories weve almost forgotten. For Lily Gladstone, the smell of Missoula Childrens Theatres traveling costumes is like that  these articles of clothing that have lived their li
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The Public Art and Community Dialogue program, led by the Fred Hutch Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, provides an opportunity for employees and the broader community to be in dialogue about community solidarity and our pursuit of equity in research and healthcare. This program will foster ongoing dialogues with marginalized and oppressed communities to inform our commitment to inclusion, and how we represent that commitment in visual form.

Fred Hutch is putting out a call for interested Indigenous visual artists. Artists selected for the program will each create commissioned artwork informed by our Community Dialogues to be displayed across the Fred Hutch Seattle campus and featured in public and community program materials. Selected artists will receive $5,000 for their commission and participation in the program.

Submissions for Indigenous artists are due Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.
Gainesville, TX (76240)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early followed by scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low near 65F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early followed by scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low near 65F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
The times, they are a-changin. The Benton County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, March 1, discussed options for amending the countys indoor masking order and decided to align themselves with state guidelines.

And so, like the rest of the state, Benton County will lift its indoor mask mandate after March 11. A new order will include encouraging vulnerable people to continue masking indoors for their protection. The new order is slated for review at the boards meeting Tuesday, March 8.

Benton County has been very diligent about tracking in parallel with the state of Oregon throughout the pandemic, said Vance Croney, county counsel. I think that has created a high degree of certainty and confidence in the public.

The Board of Commissioners, acting in its role as the Board of Health, had been weighing whether to let its masking order expire, extend it, or cancel it ahead of schedule, according to April Holland, Benton County public health administrator.

We have one community, and we need to have one message, Commissioner Pat Malone said. It makes no sense for Benton County to be out of alignment with (Oregon Health Authoritys) state guidelines.

Updating the commissioners on COVID-19 in Benton County at the Tuesday meeting, Holland said the pandemic situation continues improving, with cases dropping 26% last week in comparison to the week before, for a total of 172 cases for the week of Feb. 20. She said the positivity rate for that week was down to 5%.

These figures are very close to those that we saw the week of Dec. 19, which was our first week of elevated cases with the omicron surge, Holland said. Hospitalizations are decreasing rapidly statewide.

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Holland said future case numbers may ebb and flow. She told commissioners it would be unwise to take mask mandates off the table as possible options to battle another COVID-19 surge, calling for support and normalization of masking. She also noted the availability of vaccines and therapeutics.

The commissioners heard public comment on the topic of masking as well. Commissioners also heard from representatives of Oregon State University and Greater Albany Public Schools (which also has schools in Benton County). Both suggested masking should be an optional, personal choice.

Linda Spain said the past two years of the pandemic have been difficult for her as a faculty member of Linn-Benton Community College and part owner of a mailing business. She mentioned the challenges of teaching online, then stressed the burden of masking on her employees and the fear of an extended mandate.

I would suggest that you issue a statement respecting the grownup, common sense of the people in Benton County  who are overwhelmingly vaccinated and taking care of things  to use masks when they need them, and to give them some freedom, Spain said, adding that customers may choose unmasked neighboring counties for future business.

Oregon State University announced in a news release that masks will be welcome but not required in most campus settings. State and federal requirements for wearing masks in health care settings, on public transit, and in other specialized settings within OSU will remain in place.

OSU will also no longer require attendees at designated indoor and outdoor events to show proof of vaccination or provide proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test, according to the news release.

The commissioners did not declare victory over the pandemic, which as Holland noted, may see a resurgence sometime in the future. The countys state of emergency declaration from December 2021 remains active and is slated to expire April 1. The message is clear  dont throw away your masks just yet.

COVID has been with us for two years, and weve never quite known whats around the next corner, Malone said. So, I think vigilance and being careful needs to be part of our message.

Cody Mann covers Benton County and the cities of Corvallis and Philomath. He can be contacted at 541-812-6113 or Cody.Mann@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter via @News_Mann_.

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A $200 million plan to boost future jobs in health care, construction and manufacturing  and focus training on people who have often been left behind in economic recoveries  is halfway through the Oregon Legislature.

The Senate passed it on a 23-3 vote Tuesday, and sent it to the House for an up-or-down vote. Senate Bill 1545 has already cleared the Legislature's joint budget committee.

The plan is known as Future Ready Oregon and blends work by Gov. Kate Brown and her staff, the Governor's Racial Justice Council  which emerged from the racial justice protests of 2020  and business interests and regional workforce development boards.

Although Oregon's economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in more unfilled jobs than there are available workers, the plan will focus on training efforts in three sectors that will generate more jobs in the next decade. They are health care  which has been chronically short of workers for almost a decade, and also suffering losses in the aftermath of the two-year pandemic  plus construction and manufacturing. Skilled workers in those fields are retiring faster than younger workers can replace them.

The plan combines $76 million from the tax-supported general fund with $123 million in federal funds from Oregon's share of the American Rescue Plan Act, the $2 trillion pandemic recovery plan that President Joe Biden signed last year.

What supporters said

Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, referred to a Feb. 9 presentation by the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, which concluded that a shortage of trained workers and a lack of lower-cost housing are barriers to Oregon's economic future.

"We need to get more Oregonians into training programs that will get them into career pathways and progress on those pathways to self-sufficiency and prosperity," said Dembrow, who leads the Senate Education Committee. "We need them now."

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One barrier to full participation by would-be workers, he said, is the lack of social supports such as income, child care, housing and transportation while they are undergoing training.

Sen. Kathleen Taylor, D-Milwaukie, said the Governor's Racial Justice Council added its voice to augment the education and training programs advocated by business and workforce development boards. Council and task force members were asked about how the state should respond to longstanding racial, economic and social inequities.

"They looked at it from a perspective that has looked different from what we have seen in the past," said Taylor, whose Senate Labor and Business Committee conducted hearings on elements of the plan before the start of the 2022 session.

"We recognize the barriers inherent in certain populations' ability to prosper," said Sen. Lew Frederick, a Democrat from Portland  and one of four Black senators  whose written comments were read aloud by Taylor during the Senate debate. "This bill is an investment in our workforce, which is an investment for all of us."

Critics and a response

Not all comments were favorable.

Sen. Dennis Linthicum of Klamath Falls was one of three Republicans to vote against it. He said the plan should have been considered in the longer 2023 session  although there is a December 2024 deadline for states to spend federal funds under the 2021 law  and that some would-be workers will find they will require far more training for their jobs than the plan will provide.

Sen. Fred Girod of Lyons, who was among five Republican legislators who opposed the bill when it was in the joint budget committee, even questioned whether it was a proper use of the federal money. Unlike the infrastructure law that Congress passed and Biden signed Nov. 15, money under the rescue plan can be spent on a range of programs  and Oregon even plans to save about $500 million of it to balance the 2023-25 state budget.

Democratic Sen. Janeen Sollman said her home city of Hillsboro is a model for what the plan envisions. The top two employers in Oregon's fifth most populous city are Intel and Kaiser Permanente. She said there is cooperation among the school district  she is a former board member  Portland Community College and the Washington County Chamber of Commerce about what needs to be done to prepare people for work.

"What a boost Future Ready Oregon will be to have this workforce development occurring statewide to serve historically underserved communities, including dislocated workers and disconnected youth," Sollman said.

"Let's help people get back to work to help them thrive. We need smart comprehensive investments to support future generations. Future Ready does just that. Oregonians are ready for it."

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Drought, coupled with last year's heat waves, have weakened the health of forests across Oregon.

"In Oregon, we're facing several emerging issues: drought, fire, tree decline, insect outbreaks, tree pathogens and invasive species," said David Shaw, Oregon State University professor and forest health specialist with the Forestry and Natural Resources Extension.

Shaw was speaking to about 230 people at OSU's biennial State of the State Forest Health in Oregon Conference on Tuesday.

Shaw motioned to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map, an assortment of yellow, orange, red and maroon swatches representing the ongoing severity of Oregon's drought.

"This (drought) pattern that we're in has some serious consequences for forest health," he said.

It matters when too many trees die, said Andrew Gray, research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station, because healthy forests are needed to support wildlife, timber, water, recreation, carbon storage and wildfire resilience.

The past few years, Oregon forests have been suffering from biotic and abiotic factors  biotic meaning from living things, such as invasive plants and bacteria, abiotic meaning from non-living things such as fire and atmospheric conditions.

"Between the abiotic and biotic stresses, the common thread is drought," said Danny DePinte, Oregon aerial survey coordinator for the U.S. Forest Service, who coordinates remote sensing and aerial analysis of forests via drones, planes and satellites.

The connection between drought and forest health is sometimes self-evident: dry fuels burn more easily. But drought also weakens trees, making them more susceptible to pests.

For example, DePinte said Southwest Oregon is facing an uptick in Douglas fir mortality to a pest called the flatheaded fir borer.

Robbie Flowers, a U.S. Forest Service entomologist, is also seeing intensified pest pressure.

"(Insects that defoliate trees) are coming into a larger, more prominent role in the era of these heat events and ongoing drought," said Flowers.

In Central Oregon, for example, Flowers said bark beetles are a major concern.

According to DePinte, the aerial survey coordinator, another factor that damaged Oregon's forests last year was the "heat dome" that formed in June.

After the heat wave, researchers and "citizen scientists" compiled images and other records showing massive sunburn damage throughout Oregon's forests: trees scorched orange.

"It was a landscape-scale type of event," said DePinte.

The records conservatively mapped 229,000 acres of heat damage across Oregon and Washington.

"It was potentially the largest documented scorch event in history," said Shaw, the extension specialist.

David Still, OSU professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, said some impacts were less obvious than sunburn. Some perfectly green pine needles, for example, dropped to the ground or stopped photosynthesizing effectively after being superheated.

"There was a real jolt to the whole system," said Still.

According to Jessica Halofsky, director of the U.S. Forest Service's Western Wildland Environmental Threats Assessment Center, solutions will vary by region, but some potential solutions include conducting more prescribed fire treatments, thinning stands, improving beetle control, creating fuel breaks, removing non-native species and planting tree species that are more disease- and drought-resilient.

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SALEM  The Oregon Senate has voted overwhelmingly in favor of new logging standards negotiated by timber and environmental groups under the Private Forest Accord compromise.

Senate Bill 1501, which enshrines the deal into law, was approved Wednesday, March 2 by the Senate 22-5 after a brief discussion during which no objections against the legislation were raised.

Representatives of timber and environmental groups struck the deal last year after a year of talks mediated by the office of Gov. Kate Brown, who convened the panel in 2020 to avoid competing ballot measures on forestry regulations.

The 44-page bill expands no-harvest buffers around streams, implements stricter requirements for road-building, prioritizes non-lethal control of beavers and creates a new modeling system to avoid and mitigate the effects of landslides.

The legislation is expected to set the stage for a federal Habitat Conservation Plan for the states private forests, which would shield landowners from liability under the Endangered Species Act when harvesting trees.

Several forest products companies and the Oregon Small Woodlands Association signed onto the Private Forest Accord with the understanding that it would provide more regulatory certainty and reduce the likelihood of disruptive lawsuits and ballot initiatives.

The agreement is costly for the timber industry, not only financially but also in terms of its unity, since some companies remain opposed to the new regulations, said Chris Edwards, president of the Oregon Forest & Industries Council.

However, there is too much at stake for the timber industry to roll the dice and move forward without the deal, he said during a legislative hearing on SB 1501.

At its core, the Private Forest Accord is about protecting a future for forestry in Oregon, Edwards said. Its also about turning the page on the timber wars of the past.

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Support for the deal is not unanimous in the timber industry  critics argue that it complicates forest management, excludes excessive amounts of land from logging and was developed without sufficient transparency and public input.

Many members of the Oregon Farm Bureau who own forestlands believe the agreement is unworkable, said Lauren Smith, the organizations director of government affairs.

With the new harvest buffers in place, some of our members risk losing up to 50% of their harvestable timber and have stated theyre likely to sell their woodlands to larger owners or sell the minimum parcel sizes for home sites, she said.

Under the agreement, small forestland owners are subject to less rigorous logging restrictions in recognition of their tendency to grow trees on a longer rotation cycle.

Small woodlands owners who choose to manage their properties under the standards required for larger landowners would be eligible for tax credits under a companion bill.

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In this file photo, a student walks out of McGill hall on Jan. 16, 2019. In 2019, UM reported dangerous levels of asbestos in McGill Hall. A legal complaint was later filed by parents of children who were exposed at the ASUM preschool. McGill houses several offices, the ASUM preschool, and the media arts program.
Braden Manning, Gettysburg baseball: Braden went 9-for-13 with 2 doubles, 2 triples and 7 RBI over 4 games. He also struck out 11 batters in a win over South Western.

Amy Anderson, Delone Catholic softball: Amy went 5-for-12 with 6 RBI, 3 runs scored and a triple over 3 games. She also struck out 17 batters and went 2-1 in those games.

Parker Sanders, Bermudian Springs Tennis: Parker won 3 matches on his way to a fourth-place finish in the YAIAA Class 2A Singles Tournament.

Andrew Koons, Fairfield baseball: Andrew went 5-for-11 with 8 RBI, 4 runs scored and 2 home runs over 3 games, including a grand slam. He was also the winning pitcher against Biglerville.

Ben Angstadt, Biglerville baseball: Ben went 8-for-17 with 7 RBI, 4 runs scored, a double and a home run over 4 games for the Canners.

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DUBAI, Arab Emirates, March 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- All Blue Capital ("AB") today announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters from London, United Kingdom, to the Dubai International Financial Centre ("DIFC"), Dubai, UAE, effective 2 March 2022, expanding upon its already deep presence in the UAE. The relocation is happening concurrently with a raft of other significant developments for AB, including the launch of AB's North Star 1 fund, its BVI licenced asset manager and a suite of new hedge fund products.

"We're excited to strengthen our presence in the UAE and make DIFC, one of the leading financial zones, our official global headquarters," said Matt Novak, Managing Partner, All Blue Capital. "Dubai is one of the most exciting and ambitious jurisdictions on the planet, the recent Expo being just one example of the great international events held there. What's more, it's shown great strength and resilience as a financial centre during the COVID pandemic, with a proportionate policy response that balanced safety with the needs of international businesses to continue to operate. Making this move will ensure business continuity in challenging times while providing an exceptional working and living environment for our officers and employees. We'll also enjoy improved efficiency, an accommodating time-zone between the Americas and Asia and better cost-competitiveness."

Following the relocation of its headquarters, AB will continue to have a strong presence in the United Kingdom. It also maintains representative offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands.

Move Supports Multi-Year Strategic Growth Initiative

"As part of our strategic growth initiative and in consultation with senior management and staff, we've thought hard about where we should base our global HQ. The COVID pandemic really affected international travel and people's global mobility, so choosing the right business hub became a top priority. Dubai has proved itself time and time again for good sense policymaking and its understanding of the needs of businesses for openness, appropriate regulation and legal certainty," said Lewis Edwards, Vice President. "Bringing our HQ to Dubai will protect our business by ensuring optimal business continuity both in good times and in bad. It will also provide a perfect platform to complement our investment activity from geographies as far afield as Asia and the Americas. In the long run, this will improve operating profit growth for the organization."

About All Blue

AB is a global investment firm that focusses on multiple investment themes, including private equity, real estate, special situations and blockchain. Leveraging the strength of the team's global presence and through its strategic network of hedge fund partners, AB is able to take advantage of differentiated investment opportunities across asset classes, industries and geographies. AB's focus on its core values of entrepreneurialism, innovation, and institutionalization has led to a history of delivering excellent risk-adjusted returns.

Contacts

Karen Wilson, (Investors and Financial Media)

Kwilson@allbluecapital.com

This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.
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Philadelphia, PA, March 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Monday, February 28, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman , head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice for Americas 32.5 million small businesses in President Bidens Cabinet, joined U.S. Reps. Dwight Evans and Chrissy Houlahan in Philadelphia for a roundtable discussion with Black small business owners to highlight the economic impact of President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan, and the SBAs COVID-19 relief funding programs.

Administrator Guzman kicked off her trip by meeting Reps. Evans and Houlahan, and National Urban Leagues President and CEO, Marc Morial, and participating in a National Urban League Black History Month Small Business Roundtable featuring local small business owners to discuss the state of small businesses in Philadelphia under the Biden-Harris Administration and its policies, which are designed to create generational wealth through entrepreneurship.

For decades, in the face of underinvestment, discrimination, and systemic prejudice, many Black entrepreneurs have had to forge their own paths to achieve the American dream. Now more than ever, we need to do more to empower Black entrepreneurs to continue powering Americas strong recovery, said Administrator Guzman. Together with Representatives Dwight Evans and Chrissy Houlahan, I met with several Philadelphia entrepreneurs who are doing the important work of creating jobs, building economic output, and supporting their neighborhoods. In addition, I was honored to join Marc Morial to highlight the National Urban Leagues role as a Hub in the SBAs Community Navigator Pilot program . The SBA will leverage the Urban Leagues extensive network to reach small businesses and entrepreneurs who have historically been left behind and are now launching startups at record rates. With growth opportunities ahead, including $1.2 trillion being invested through President Bidens Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) , the SBA is pulling out all the stops to make sure Philadelphia's Black entrepreneursand entrepreneurs all across Americaare ready to seize this moment and help build a better, more equitable, America.

The National Urban League is one of 51 Hubs within the SBAs Community Navigator Program  an American Rescue Plan initiative designed to reduce barriers faced by underserved entrepreneurs when attempting to access programs needed to recover from economic crises or to simply start and grow their business. The program provides $100 million in funding to 51 Hubs to work with community groups (spokes) to improve access to government resources.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, said Rep. Evans. As a member of the Small Business Committee, I am committed to increasing minority entrepreneurship. I want to thank Administrator Guzman for coming back to Philadelphia, and I congratulate the Urban League for being selected as one of SBAs Community Navigators.

After a pandemic, global supply chain issues, and disparities in our economic recovery, it has been an especially trying time for Black small business owners, said Rep. Houlahan. That's why I was honored to join Monday's conversation with the Small Business Administration and the Urban League of Philadelphia to highlight the efforts we've taken to support small businesses so far and recommit ourselves to the work ahead, including building out the navigator program partnership to deliver necessary tools and resources. Small businesses are the engine that keeps our economy moving forward, and I will always lift up their voices and champion their priorities.

Following the roundtable discussion, Administrator Guzman also visited Community First Fund, an SBA Microlender and 7(a) Loan Guaranty Lender that provides loans, training, and one-on-one counseling to low-income communities to increase opportunities for economic prosperity.

Administrator Guzman ended her trip by meeting Silvias Bakery owner, Silvia Paulino. Silvias Bakery specializes in baking pastries and creating Latin-inspired desserts for wholesale and retail clients. In 2020, Paulino was chosen as the Eastern PA Districts Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year. Silvias Bakery braved the worst of the pandemic with funding from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), and COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (COVID EIDL) and used it to fund her payroll and for working capital, including inventory, mortgage payments, and utilities.

This visit marks the Administrators second official visit to Philadelphia, PA. In her first year in office, Administrator Guzman has visited 26 states and U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, and over 41 cities.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov .

Attachments
New York, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Sacroiliac Joint Fusion Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Treatment Type, By Indication, By End-user, By Region And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06241792/?utm_source=GNW



Sacroiliac Joint Fusion Market Growth & Trends



The global sacroiliac joint fusion market size is anticipated to reach USD 2.49 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 19.0% over the forecast period. The key factors driving the market growth include a rising preference for minimally invasive surgeries, the growing aging population, and various initiatives by market players. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in logistical bottlenecks, decreased sales & marketing activities, low demand, and other challenges for market participants. The major impact during the pandemic, however, was the canceled/postponed elective surgeries. As many countries went under lockdown and implemented movement restrictions, the number of elective surgeries plummeted.



In addition, several healthcare institutions and regulatory bodies recommended the postponement of elective surgical procedures. The Harvard Business Review estimated an approximately 4.8% GDP decline in the U.S. economy, in the first quarter of 2020, which could be attributed to the postponed healthcare services, particularly delayed elective procedures. The demand is anticipated to increase with the resumption of elective surgeries. The rising adoption of minimally invasive surgeries is a major factor contributing to the market growth. For instance, in September 2021, Core Link Surgical reported that its patented Entasis SI Joint Fusion System surpassed 5,000 implants.



The growing aging population in developed countries, such as the U.S., and the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases are leading to a rise in the number of surgeries performed every year. As per the U.S. Census Bureau in 2019, out of the 328 million U.S. population, about 75 million were aged 60 years and older. This implies that a significant number of the population is vulnerable to degenerative sacroiliitis and sacral disruption leading to an increased number of SI joint fusion surgeries. Many companies specializing in spine, orthopedic, or musculoskeletal solutions hold a significant share of the market. These players are involved in increasing their market share through R&D, product launches, geographical expansions, and partnerships.



For example, in March 2021, Aurora Spine, operating in spinal implant & pain management markets, launched the SiLO Posterior SI Joint Fusion System.In February 2020, Genesys Spine launched its Sacroiliac Joint Fusion system consisting of partially threaded and fully threaded implants.



In January 2018, Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc., formerly known as RTI Surgical, entered the market by acquiring Zyga Technology, Inc. In July 2020, the company sold its OEM Businesses to become a pure-play global spine company and changed its name to Surgalign



Sacroiliac Joint Fusion Market Report Highlights

 The degenerative sacroiliitis indication segment dominated the market in 2021 due to the high geriatric population and prevalence of chronic conditions

 The rapidly growing adoption of minimally invasive surgeries contributed to the dominant share of the surgery treatment type segment in 2021

 The hospital end-user segment held the largest share of the global revenue in 2021 as hospitals are the primary Point-of-Care (POC) for treatment

 Furthermore, hospitals offer superior care to their patients, and treatment cost is generally reimbursed, which drives the segment growth

 The Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) segment is anticipated to register the fastest CAGR over the forecast years

 This is owing to significantly lower procedure costs lower infection risk and high patient satisfaction than hospitals

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06241792/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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Dublin, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Structural Health Monitoring Market with COVID-19 Impact by Offering (Hardware, Software & Services), Technology (Wired, Wireless), End Use (Civil Infrastructure, Aerospace & Defense, Energy, Mining) and Geography - Global Forecast to 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The structural health monitoring market is estimated to grow from USD 2.0 billion in 2022 to USD 4.0 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 14.6% between 2022 and 2027.

The major factors contributing to the market growth are increased importance of automated maintenance and repair of critical infrastructures, cascading effects of structural failures such as loss of lives and capital, significant investments in infrastructure sector, stringent government regulations to build sustainable structures, aging infrastructure, and benefits offered by structural health monitoring, and reduced costs of structural health monitoring systems.



Wireless structural health monitoring technology is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2022 and 2027



The market for wireless structural health monitoring systems is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Wireless systems used in the structural health monitoring system consist of autonomous data acquisition nodes to which conventional sensors, such as strain gauges, accelerometers, linear voltage displacement transducers, and inclinometers, could be attached.

A wireless sensor network provides numerous advantages over the wired sensor network in terms of deployment, management, and cost. Increased adoption of wireless technology significantly reduces monitoring costs as the need for installation and protection of cables is eliminated.

Also, the wireless system is flexible in nature. In other words, various sensors used in the wireless structural health monitoring system are organized by wireless transmission, which makes updating, adding, moving, and replacing of sensors easy after the initial installation.



The civil infrastructure segment is expected to hold the largest share of structural health monitoring during the forecast period.



Civil infrastructure consists of structures, such as bridges, dams, buildings & stadiums, and tunnels. The development of new infrastructure ultimately results in economic growth. Structures for transportation, such as bridges and tunnels, are essential as they reduce the cost of travel, save time, and facilitate regional trade.

Hence, many regions such as the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, China, South Korea, India, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are extensively investing in civil infrastructures to develop new infrastructure facilities and renovate the old infrastructures. The growing demand for new infrastructure globally, is expected to increase the need for regular monitoring of structures to reduce the risk of structural failure.



Structural health monitoring market in Asia Pacific to grow at the highest rate between 2022 and 2027



The structural health monitoring market in Asia Pacific (APAC) is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Increasing investments related to infrastructure and stringent regulations by governments for the adoption of structural health monitoring techniques for various structures are some of the important factors driving the market growth in this region.

The increasing population in many Asia Pacific countries has led to rapid urbanization, which, in turn, is expected to create growth opportunities for the market players in the coming years as many construction projects are being sanctioned.

Premium Insights

Growing Infrastructure Investments to Significantly Contribute to Market Growth

Hardware Segment to Account for Larger Market Share Than Software & Services Segment Throughout Forecast Period

Wired Technology to Account for Larger Market Share Than Wireless Technology Throughout Forecast Period

Civil Infrastructure Segment to Account for Largest Market Share from 2022 to 2027

Americas to Account for Largest Share of Structural Health Monitoring Market in 2027

Civil Infrastructure and UK Held Largest Share of Structural Health Monitoring Market, by End Use and Country, Respectively, in Europe in 2021

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Increased Importance of Automated Maintenance and Repair of Critical Infrastructures

Cascading Effects of Structural Failures Such as Loss of Lives and Capital

Significant Investments in Infrastructure Sector

Stringent Government Regulations to Build Sustainable Structures

Aging Infrastructure and Benefits Offered by Structural Health Monitoring

Reduced Costs of Structural Health Monitoring Systems

Restraints

High Installation and Monitoring Costs

Inaccurate Results Owing to Errors in Readings

Slow Adoption of Structural Health Monitoring Systems in Developing Countries

Opportunities

Growing Focus on Integrating Advanced Solutions in Structural Health Monitoring

Increasing Market Growth Opportunities in Asia-Pacific and Gcc Countries

Ongoing Advancements in Sensor Technologies

Rising Investments in Oil & Gas and Energy Projects

Challenges

Dearth of Skilled Operators to Install and Calibrate Instruments

Poor Site Conditions

Technical Challenges and Operational Factors

Processing and Management of Large Volumes of Data

Adverse Impact of COVID-19 on Various Industries

Industry Trends

Value Chain Analysis

Research & Development Engineers

Raw Material/Component Suppliers

Manufacturers & Assemblers

Distributors

End-users

Post-Sales Service Providers

Key Technology Trends

Health Monitoring of Bridges with Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Uav) Sensing Systems with 3D-Digital Image Correlation (Dic)

Use of Wireless Smart Sensor Networks to Capture Cost Benefits and Reduce Monitoring Time

Distribution of Processed Data Over Internet Using Remote Access Software

Adoption of Ultra-Low-Power and Battery-Based Strain Gauges to Detect Strains

Case Studies

Dam Monitoring

Tunnel Monitoring

Bridge Monitoring

Company Profiles



Key Players

Nova Metrix LLC

Geokon

Campbell Scientific

Cowi

Geocomp

Acellent Technologies

Sixense

Pure Technologies

Structural Monitoring Systems plc.

SGS

Digitexx

Other Players

First Sensor

Bridge Diagnostics

Sisgeo

Rst Instruments

Avt Reliability

Geomotion Singapore

Strainstall UK (James Fisher & Sons plc)

Holtinger Baldwin Messtechnik (Hbm)

Kinemetrics

Feac Engineering

Destek Engineering LLC

Sensuron

Infibra Technologies

Sodis Labs

Set Point Technologies

Mistras Group

Metis Design Corporation

Geosig Ltd.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ldjn1r

Attachment
New York, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Gynecology Drugs Global Market Report 2022" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06241906/?utm_source=GNW





The global gynecology drugs market is expected to grow from $24.68 billion in 2021 to $26.36 billion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8%.. The growth is mainly due to the increase in gynecological disorders among women and rising cases of gynecological cancer. The market is expected to reach $33.21 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 5.9%.



The gynecology drugs market consists of sales of gynecology drugs services by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that manufacture gynecology drugs which are used to treat gynecological diseases which includes conditions affecting the uterus, ovaries, and their appendages.



The main types of therapeutics in gynecology drugs are hormonal therapy and non-hormonal therapy.Hormonal therapy is a treatment that adds, blocks or removes hormones to slow or stop the growth of cancer cells that need hormones to grow.



Gynecology drugs are used for gynecology cancers, menopausal disorder, polycystic ovary syndrome, contraception and others and are distributed through hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies and online pharmacies.



North America was the largest region in the gynecology drugs market in 2021.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region in the forecast period.



The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa.



The rise in number of women suffering from ovarian cancer would drive the growth of the global gynecological drugs market.For instance, according to Globocan, it is estimated that the global incidence of ovarian cancer will increase to 434,184 by 2040.



The increasing incidence of ovarian cancer would boost the market for gynecological drugs in the forecast period.



Alternative treatment methods and natural remedies are increasingly becoming popular globally which is expected to have a negative impact on the revenues of gynecological drugs companies.Treatments in the fields of homeopathy, Ayurveda, yoga, acupuncture, sujok therapy are gaining popularity and slowly replacing some traditional hospital practices.



For instance, Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient Indian system of medicine uses range of techniques and treatments for gynecological cancer.Many herbs used in Ayurveda have anti-cancer properties, example Curcumin, Holy Basil are said to inhibit the growth of cancerous cells and Ayurvedic gynecological procedures like Agnikarma helps treat cervical erosion.



This growing adoption of alternative treatments is expected to have a negative impact on the growth of the market.



Drug manufacturers are investing in developing personalized cancer vaccines, including gynecological cancers, and few have reached clinical trial phases.Pharmaceutical companies are combining genetic sequencing and precision medicine to create new drug therapies and cancer treatments that are designed to treat specific patients.



For instance, in September 2021, scientists from the University of Oxford and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research designed a two-dose therapeutic cancer vaccine using Oxfords viral vector vaccine technology.In 2019, Moderna announced the result from the ongoing Phase 1 clinical study in patients with both resected (adjuvant) and unresected (advanced) solid tumors.



The results were positive when mRNA mRNA personalized cancer vaccine (PCV) mRNA-4157, given alone or in combination with Merck pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA). Currently the vaccine is in phase 2 clinical trial.



In January 2020, True North, India-based capital market company, announced the acquisition of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd gynecology business in India and Nepal for $16.2 million (INR 115 crore). Through this acquisition, True North aims at further growing the gynecology portfolio of Glenmark and expanding presence in multiple geographies. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd is a India-based manufacturer of generic drug and active pharmaceutical ingredient.



The countries covered in the gynecology drugs market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK and USA.





Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06241906/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



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Dublin, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Wire-to-Board Connector Market 2022-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The publisher has been monitoring the wire-to-board connector market and it is poised to grow by $ 1.06 bn during 2022-2026, progressing at a CAGR of 4.72% during the forecast period.

This report on the wire-to-board connector market provides a holistic analysis, market size and forecast, trends, growth drivers, and challenges, as well as vendor analysis covering around 25 vendors.



The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current global market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. The market is driven by the increased adoption of automotive electronics, growth in the telecommunication sector, and growing demand for consumer electronics.



The wire-to-board connector market analysis includes the application segment and geographic landscape.



The publisher's wire-to-board connector market is segmented as below:

By Application

Computer and peripherals

Automotive

Telecommunication

Medical

Others

By Geographical Landscape

APAC

North America

Europe

Middle East and Africa

South America

This study identifies the miniaturization of electronic devices as one of the prime reasons driving the wire-to-board connector market growth during the next few years. Also, the growth of smart homes and multimedia devices and advanced connector technology will lead to sizable demand in the market.



The publisher presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters.



This report on wire-to-board connector market covers the following areas:

Wire-to-board connector market sizing

Wire-to-board connector market forecast

Wire-to-board connector market industry analysis

The publisher's robust vendor analysis is designed to help clients improve their market position, and in line with this, this report provides a detailed analysis of several leading wire-to-board connector market vendors that include 3M Co., Amphenol Corp., ERNI Deutschland GmbH, Foxconn Technology Group, HARTING Technology Group, HIROSE ELECTRIC Co. Ltd., Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Ltd., JST Mfg. Co. Ltd., Koch Industries Inc., KYOCERA Corp., Norcomp Inc., Phoenix Contact GmbH and Co. KG, Samtec Inc., TE Connectivity Ltd., WAGO Kontakttechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Wurth Elektronik GmbH and Co. KG, and Yamaichi Electronics Co. Also, the wire-to-board connector market analysis report includes information on upcoming trends and challenges that will influence market growth. This is to help companies strategize and leverage all forthcoming growth opportunities.



The study was conducted using an objective combination of primary and secondary information including inputs from key participants in the industry. The report contains a comprehensive market and vendor landscape in addition to an analysis of the key vendors.



The publisher presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters such as profit, pricing, competition, and promotions. It presents various market facets by identifying the key industry influencers. The data presented is comprehensive, reliable, and a result of extensive research - both primary and secondary. The publisher's market research reports provide a complete competitive landscape and an in-depth vendor selection methodology and analysis using qualitative and quantitative research to forecast the accurate market growth.



Key Topics Covered:

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

4 Five Forces Analysis

5 Market Segmentation by Application

5.1 Market segments

5.2 Comparison by Application

5.3 Computer and peripherals - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

5.4 Automotive - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

5.5 Telecommunication - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

5.6 Medical - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

5.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

5.8 Market opportunity by Application

6 Customer Landscape

7 Geographic Landscape

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

9.3 Landscape disruption

9.4 Industry risks

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

10.3 3M Co.

10.4 Amphenol Corp.

10.5 ERNI Deutschland GmbH

10.6 HIROSE ELECTRIC Co. Ltd.

10.7 JST Mfg. Co. Ltd.

10.8 Koch Industries Inc.

10.9 KYOCERA Corp.

10.10 TE Connectivity Ltd.

10.11 Wurth Elektronik GmbH and Co. KG

10.12 Yamaichi Electronics Co.

11 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/z8nks9
Dublin, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Wireless Broadband in Public Safety Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global wireless broadband in public safety market reached a value of US$ 19.4 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 76.53 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 24.40% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.



Wireless broadband in public safety refers to the delivery of high-speed internet solutions for seamless communication between local and state governments, federal agencies, public safety organizations and private organizations. The broadband connections are utilized for responding to disasters and accidental situations and improving public preparedness for adversities.

The service utilizes Long-Term Evolution (LTE) mobile communicators, real-time data transfer applications, wireless mobile networks and radio management systems for improved communication and interoperability. It is widely used for capturing real-time critical information that aids in video surveillance and monitoring, automatic vehicle tracking, real-time incident management, integrated device monitoring and data device monitoring. As a result, wireless broadband is widely used by police, highway control, area security, disaster management and medical emergency service authorities.



Wireless Broadband in Public Safety Market Trends:

The increasing requirement for efficient public safety systems across the globe is one of the key factors creating a positive outlook for the market. With significant improvements in mobile connectivity systems and enhanced mobility, public and private organizations are widely adopting wireless broadband solutions for obtaining real-time information to ensure enhanced public safety.

Moreover, the implementation of wireless broadband systems in rural areas is also providing a thrust to the market growth. Due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, employees of both public and private organizations have shifted base from urban localities to rural areas. This has enhanced the requirement for high-speed internet services for operating smartphones, laptops, computers and other devices with enhanced efficiency.

Additionally, various technological advancements, such as the integration of connected devices with the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, are acting as other growth-inducing factors. These technologies aid in enhancing the operational efficiency of encrypted voice calls, mission-critical LTE, advanced terrestrial trunked radio systems, base stations, network switching systems and push-to-talk solutions. Other factors, including the increasing adoption of wireless broadband systems by first responders, along with the implementation of favorable government policies to ensure public safety, are anticipated to drive the market toward growth.



Key Market Segmentation:

The publisher provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global wireless broadband in public safety market, along with forecasts at the global, regional and country level from 2022-2027. Our report has categorized the market based on type, offering, application and end user.



Breakup by Type:

Fixed

Mobile

Breakup by Offering:

Hardware

Software

Services

Breakup by Application:

Video Surveillance and Monitoring

Automatic Vehicle Tracking

Real-time Incident Management

GIS (Geographic Information System)

People Control and Management

Others

Breakup by End User:

Department of Police

Department of Disaster Management

Medical Emergency Service Providers

Others

Breakup by Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Australia

Indonesia

Others

Europe

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Russia

Others

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Others

Middle East and Africa

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being AT&T Inc., Broadcom Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., General Dynamics Corporation, Hitachi Ltd., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., L3Harris Technologies Inc., Motorola Solutions Inc., Nokia Corporation, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Verizon Communications Inc. and ZTE Corporation.



Key Questions Answered in this Report:

How has the global wireless broadband in public safety market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global wireless broadband in public safety market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the type?

What is the breakup of the market based on the offering?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

What is the breakup of the market based on the end user?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global wireless broadband in public safety market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Wireless Broadband in Public Safety Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Type

6.1 Fixed

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Mobile

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Offering

7.1 Hardware

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Software

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

7.3 Services

7.3.1 Market Trends

7.3.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Application

8.1 Video Surveillance and Monitoring

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Automatic Vehicle Tracking

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Real-time Incident Management

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 GIS (Geographic Information System)

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 Market Forecast

8.5 People Control and Management

8.5.1 Market Trends

8.5.2 Market Forecast

8.6 Others

8.6.1 Market Trends

8.6.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by End User

9.1 Department of Police

9.1.1 Market Trends

9.1.2 Market Forecast

9.2 Department of Disaster Management

9.2.1 Market Trends

9.2.2 Market Forecast

9.3 Medical Emergency Service Providers

9.3.1 Market Trends

9.3.2 Market Forecast

9.4 Others

9.4.1 Market Trends

9.4.2 Market Forecast



10 Market Breakup by Region



11 SWOT Analysis



12 Value Chain Analysis



13 Porters Five Forces Analysis



14 Price Analysis



15 Competitive Landscape

15.1 Market Structure

15.2 Key Players

15.3 Profiles of Key Players

15.3.1 AT&T Inc.

15.3.1.1 Company Overview

15.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.1.3 Financials

15.3.1.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.2 Broadcom Inc.

15.3.2.1 Company Overview

15.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.2.3 Financials

15.3.2.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.3 Cisco Systems Inc.

15.3.3.1 Company Overview

15.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.3.3 Financials

15.3.3.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.4 General Dynamics Corporation

15.3.4.1 Company Overview

15.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.4.3 Financials

15.3.4.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.5 Hitachi Ltd.

15.3.5.1 Company Overview

15.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.5.3 Financials

15.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.6 Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

15.3.6.1 Company Overview

15.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.6.3 SWOT Analysis

15.3.7 L3Harris Technologies Inc.

15.3.7.1 Company Overview

15.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.7.3 Financials

15.3.8 Motorola Solutions Inc.

15.3.8.1 Company Overview

15.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.8.3 Financials

15.3.8.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.9 Nokia Corporation

15.3.9.1 Company Overview

15.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.9.3 Financials

15.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.10 Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson

15.3.10.1 Company Overview

15.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.10.3 Financials

15.3.10.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.11 Verizon Communications Inc.

15.3.11.1 Company Overview

15.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.11.3 Financials

15.3.11.4 SWOT Analysis

15.3.12 ZTE Corporation

15.3.12.1 Company Overview

15.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

15.3.12.3 Financials

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/p7lq3u

Attachment
Dublin, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Tissue Sectioning Market Research Report by Product, by Technology, by Application, by End-user, by Region - Global Forecast to 2027 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Tissue Sectioning Market size was estimated at USD 761.68 million in 2020 and expected to reach USD 836.33 million in 2021, at a CAGR of 10.23% to reach USD 1,506.43 million by 2027.



Market Statistics:

The report provides market sizing and forecast across five major currencies - USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, AUD, CAD, and CHF. It helps organization leaders make better decisions when currency exchange data is readily available. In this report, the years 2018 and 2019 are considered historical years, 2020 as the base year, 2021 as the estimated year, and years from 2022 to 2027 are considered the forecast period.



Market Segmentation & Coverage:

This research report categorizes the Tissue Sectioning to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets:

Based on Product, the market was studied across Accessories & Consumables, Instruments, and Services. The Instruments is further studied across Cryostat, Rotary Microtome, Sliding Microtome, and Ultramicrotome.

Based on Technology , the market was studied across Automatic, Manual, and Semiautomatic.

Based on Application , the market was studied across Diagnosis and Research.

Based on End-user, the market was studied across Clinics, Diagnostic Laboratories, Hospitals, and Research Centers.

Based on Region, the market was studied across Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East & Africa. The Americas is further studied across Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and United States. The United States is further studied across California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The Asia-Pacific is further studied across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The Europe, Middle East & Africa is further studied across France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

Competitive Strategic Window:

The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period.



FPNV Positioning Matrix:

The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Tissue Sectioning Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape.



Market Share Analysis:

The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer base compared to others. Knowing market share offers an idea of the size and competitiveness of the vendors for the base year. It reveals the market characteristics in terms of accumulation, fragmentation, dominance, and amalgamation traits.



Company Usability Profiles:

The report profoundly explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Tissue Sectioning Market, including Abcam, AGD Biomedicals (P) Ltd., Amos Scientific Pty Ltd, Boeckeler Instruments, Inc., Covance Inc., Danaher Corporation, Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH, LLS ROWIAK LaserLabSolutions GmbH, MEDITE GmbH, Product benchmarking, Sakura Finetek Japan, Co., Ltd., SLEE medical GmbH, SM Scientific Instruments Pvt. Ltd., Strategic initiatives, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc..



The report provides insights on the following pointers:

1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players

2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyze penetration across mature segments of the markets

3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments

4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, certification, regulatory approvals, patent landscape, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players

5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and breakthrough product developments



The report answers questions such as:

1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Tissue Sectioning Market?

2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Tissue Sectioning Market during the forecast period?

3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Tissue Sectioning Market?

4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Tissue Sectioning Market?

5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Tissue Sectioning Market?

6. What is the market share of the leading vendors in the Global Tissue Sectioning Market?

7. What modes and strategic moves are considered suitable for entering the Global Tissue Sectioning Market?



Key Topics Covered:



1. Preface



2. Research Methodology



3. Executive Summary



4. Market Overview



5. Market Insights

5.1. Market Dynamics

5.1.1. Drivers

5.1.1.1. Strong demand for histopathology tests

5.1.1.2. Growing prevalence of chronic diseases and cancers

5.1.1.3. Rise in awareness programs undertaken by organizations

5.1.2. Restraints

5.1.2.1. Adverse Reimbursement scenario

5.1.3. Opportunities

5.1.3.1. Growth of personalized therapeutics and diagnostics

5.1.3.2. Rising demand for technologically advanced products

5.1.4. Challenges

5.1.4.1. Association of multiple cut and tissue related issues

5.2. Cumulative Impact of COVID-19



6. Tissue Sectioning Market, by Product

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Accessories & Consumables

6.3. Instruments

6.3.1. Cryostat

6.3.2. Rotary Microtome

6.3.3. Sliding Microtome

6.3.4. Ultramicrotome

6.4. Services



7. Tissue Sectioning Market, by Technology

7.1. Introduction

7.2. Automatic

7.3. Manual

7.4. Semiautomatic



8. Tissue Sectioning Market, by Application

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Diagnosis

8.3. Research



9. Tissue Sectioning Market, by End-user

9.1. Introduction

9.2. Clinics

9.3. Diagnostic Laboratories

9.4. Hospitals

9.5. Research Centers



10. Americas Tissue Sectioning Market

10.1. Introduction

10.2. Argentina

10.3. Brazil

10.4. Canada

10.5. Mexico

10.6. United States



11. Asia-Pacific Tissue Sectioning Market

11.1. Introduction

11.2. Australia

11.3. China

11.4. India

11.5. Indonesia

11.6. Japan

11.7. Malaysia

11.8. Philippines

11.9. Singapore

11.10. South Korea

11.11. Taiwan

11.12. Thailand



12. Europe, Middle East & Africa Tissue Sectioning Market

12.1. Introduction

12.2. France

12.3. Germany

12.4. Italy

12.5. Netherlands

12.6. Qatar

12.7. Russia

12.8. Saudi Arabia

12.9. South Africa

12.10. Spain

12.11. United Arab Emirates

12.12. United Kingdom



13. Competitive Landscape

13.1. FPNV Positioning Matrix

13.1.1. Quadrants

13.1.2. Business Strategy

13.1.3. Product Satisfaction

13.2. Market Ranking Analysis

13.3. Market Share Analysis, By Key Player

13.4. Competitive Scenario

13.4.1. Merger & Acquisition

13.4.2. Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership

13.4.3. New Product Launch & Enhancement

13.4.4. Investment & Funding

13.4.5. Award, Recognition, & Expansion



14. Company Usability Profiles

14.1. Abcam

14.2. AGD Biomedicals (P) Ltd.

14.3. Amos Scientific Pty Ltd

14.4. Boeckeler Instruments, Inc.

14.5. Covance Inc.

14.6. Danaher Corporation

14.7. Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH

14.8. LLS ROWIAK LaserLabSolutions GmbH

14.9. MEDITE GmbH

14.10. Product benchmarking

14.11. Sakura Finetek Japan, Co., Ltd.

14.12. SLEE medical GmbH

14.13. SM Scientific Instruments Pvt. Ltd.

14.14. Strategic initiatives

14.15. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.



15. Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tfgghy

Attachment
Dublin, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Big Data as a Service Market (2021-2026) by Solution, Industry Vertical, Deployment, Organization Size, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Big Data as a Service Market is estimated to be USD 78.4 Bn in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 304.9 Bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 31.2%.



Market Dynamics

Growing demand in industries to gain actionable insights from big data and growth in data due to digitization and automation is majorly driving the market growth. The adoption of Big Data services for enhancing internal efficiency is trending across the industry verticals. Various public and private sectors use Big Data to develop faster results, identify manufacturing glitches, and warn about security threats. However, data security concerns and lack of awareness of BDaaS solutions and professional expertise are expected to hinder the market growth.



Rapid Advancement of Cloud Ai, Ml, IoT, and advanced analytics is expected to increase opportunities for the market.



Market Segmentation

The Global Big Data as a Service Market is segmented further based on Solution, Industry Vertical, Deployment, Organization Size, and Geography.

By Solution Type, the market is classified as Hadoop as a Service (HDaaS), Data as a Service (DaaS), and Data Analytics as a Service (DAaaS).

By Industry Vertical, the market is classified as BFSI, Retail and E-Commerce, IT & Telecom, Healthcare, Government, Manufacturing, and Others.

By Deployment, the market is classified as Public Cloud, Private Cloud and Hybrid Cloud.

By Organization Size, the market is classified as Large Enterprises and Small & Medium Enterprises.

By Geography, America is projected to lead the market.

Company Profiles

Some of the companies covered in this report are 1010data, Accenture, Amazon Web Services Inc., Dell EMC and Century link, etc.



Countries Studied

America (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, United States, Rest of Americas)

Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Rest of Europe)

Middle-East and Africa (Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Rest of MEA)

Asia-Pacific (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Rest of Asia-Pacific)

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Big Data as a Service Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Market Influencers

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Growing Demand for a Unified Solution

4.1.2 Reduction in Implementation Cost

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Complexity in Data Consolidation

4.2.2 Regulatory Compliance and Security Issues

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 The Rise in Demand for Advanced Analytics and Data Warehousing Solutions

4.3.2 Attractive Investment in IT Sectors

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Privacy Concerns

4.4.2 Lack of Awareness of BDaaS Solutions



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.2 Impact of COVID-19

5.3 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Big Data as a Service Market, By Solution Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Data as a Service (DaaS)

6.3 Data Analytics as a Service (DAaaS)

6.4 Hadoop as a Service (HdaaS)



7 Global Big Data as a Service Market, By Deployment Model

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Public Cloud

7.3 Private Cloud

7.4 Hybrid Cloud



8 Global Big Data as a Service Market, By Industry Vertical

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Healthcare

8.3 Retail and E-Commerce

8.4 Manufacturing

8.5 BFSI

8.6 IT & Telecom

8.7 Government

8.8 Others



9 Global Big Data as a Service Market, By Organization Size

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Large Enterprises

9.3 Small & Medium Enterprises



10 Global Big Data as a Service Market, By Geography

10.1 Introduction

10.2 America

10.2.1 Argentina

10.2.2 Brazil

10.2.3 Canada

10.2.4 Chile

10.2.5 Colombia

10.2.6 Mexico

10.2.7 Peru

10.2.8 United States

10.2.9 Rest of Americas

10.3 Europe

10.3.1 Austria

10.3.2 Belgium

10.3.3 Denmark

10.3.4 Finland

10.3.5 France

10.3.6 Germany

10.3.7 Italy

10.3.8 Netherlands

10.3.9 Norway

10.3.10 Poland

10.3.11 Russia

10.3.12 Spain

10.3.13 Sweden

10.3.14 Switzerland

10.3.15 United Kingdom

10.3.16 Rest of Europe

10.4 Middle East and Africa

10.4.1 Egypt

10.4.2 Israel

10.4.3 Qatar

10.4.4 Saudi Arabia

10.4.5 South Africa

10.4.6 United Arab Emirates

10.4.7 Rest of MEA

10.5 Asia-Pacific

10.5.1 Australia

10.5.2 Bangladesh

10.5.3 China

10.5.4 India

10.5.5 Indonesia

10.5.6 Japan

10.5.7 Malaysia

10.5.8 Philippines

10.5.9 Singapore

10.5.10 South Korea

10.5.11 Sri Lanka

10.5.12 Thailand

10.5.13 Taiwan

10.5.14 Rest of Asia-Pacific



11 Competitive Landscape

11.1 Competitive Quadrant

11.2 Market Share Analysis

11.3 Strategic Initiatives

11.3.1 M&A and Investments

11.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

11.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



12 Company Profiles

12.1 1010data

12.2 Accenture

12.3 Amazon Web Services

12.4 CenturyLink

12.5 Cisco

12.6 Cloudera

12.7 Dell EMC

12.8 GoodData

12.9 Google

12.10 Guavus

12.11 Hewlett Packard

12.12 Hitachi Vantara

12.13 International Business Machines

12.14 IRI

12.15 MapR Technologies

12.16 Microsoft

12.17 MicroStrategy

12.18 Oracle

12.19 Qubole

12.20 Salesforce

12.21 SAP

12.22 SAS Institute

12.23 Splunk

12.24 SunGard Data Systems

12.25 TeraData

12.26 UST Global

12.27 Wipro

13 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/mhwhmp

Attachment
Dublin, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Automotive Radar Market (2021-2026) by Range, Frequency, Application, Vehicle Type, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Automotive Radar Market is estimated to be USD 4.73 Bn in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 12.42 Bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 21.3%.



Market Dynamics

Key factors such as the rise in demand for safety features and increasing sales of luxury cars are driving the market growth. Technological advancements and increasing awareness among people provide growth opportunities to the market.



However, high cost and complex structure factors are likely to restrain the market growth. Moreover, lower efficiency and shorter wavelength are major challenges in the market.



Market Segmentation

The Global Automotive Radar Market is segmented further based on Range, Frequency, Application, Vehicle Type, and Geography.

By Range, the market is classified as and Short-Range Radar, Medium-Range Radar & Long Range Radar.

By Frequency, the market is classified as 24 GHz, 77 GHz, and 79GHz.

By Application, the market is classified as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Forward Collision Warning System (FCWS), and Intelligent Park Assist.

By Vehicle Type, the market is classified as Passenger Car (PC) and Commercial Vehicle (CV).

By Geography, America is projected to lead the market.

Company Profiles

Some of the companies covered in this report are Denso, Fujitsu, Infineon Technologies, NXP, Robert Bosch, STMicroelectronics, etc.



Countries Studied

America (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, United States, Rest of Americas)

Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Rest of Europe)

Middle-East and Africa (Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Rest of MEA)

Asia-Pacific (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Rest of Asia-Pacific)

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Automotive Radar Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary

4 Market Influencers

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Rise in Demand and Government Regulations for Safety Features

4.1.2 Increase in Adoption of ADAS Technology by OEMs

4.1.3 Increasing Sales of Luxury Cars

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Usage of Radar Detectors Considered as Illegal in Some Countries

4.2.2 High Cost and Complex Structure

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Technological Advancements

4.3.2 Digital Transformation Instead of Analog/RF

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Issues Related to Equipment Calibration and Testing

4.4.2 Shorter Wavelength



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Regulatory Scenario

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Automotive Radar Market, By Range

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Short Range Radar (SRR)

6.3 Medium Range Radar (MRR)

6.4 Long Range Radar (LRR)



7 Global Automotive Radar Market, By Frequency

7.1 Introduction

7.2 24 GHz

7.3 77 GHz

7.4 79 GHz



1. Global Automotive Radar Market, By Application

2. Introduction

3. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)

4. Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)

5. Blind Spot Detection (BSD)

6. Forward Collision Warning System (FCWS)

7. Intelligent Park Assist



8 Global Automotive Radar Market, By Vehicle Type

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Passenger Car (PC)

8.3 Commercial Vehicles (CV)



9 Global Automotive Radar Market, By Geography

9.1 Introduction

9.2 America

9.2.1 Argentina

9.2.2 Brazil

9.2.3 Canada

9.2.4 Chile

9.2.5 Colombia

9.2.6 Mexico

9.2.7 Peru

9.2.8 United States

9.2.9 Rest of Americas

9.3 Europe

9.3.1 Austria

9.3.2 Belgium

9.3.3 Denmark

9.3.4 Finland

9.3.5 France

9.3.6 Germany

9.3.7 Italy

9.3.8 Netherlands

9.3.9 Norway

9.3.10 Poland

9.3.11 Russia

9.3.12 Spain

9.3.13 Sweden

9.3.14 Switzerland

9.3.15 United Kingdom

9.3.16 Rest of Europe

9.4 Middle East and Africa

9.4.1 Egypt

9.4.2 Israel

9.4.3 Qatar

9.4.4 Saudi Arabia

9.4.5 South Africa

9.4.6 United Arab Emirates

9.4.7 Rest of MEA

9.5 Asia-Pacific

9.5.1 Australia

9.5.2 Bangladesh

9.5.3 China

9.5.4 India

9.5.5 Indonesia

9.5.6 Japan

9.5.7 Malaysia

9.5.8 Philippines

9.5.9 Singapore

9.5.10 South Korea

9.5.11 Sri Lanka

9.5.12 Thailand

9.5.13 Taiwan

9.5.14 Rest of Asia-Pacific



10 Competitive Landscape

10.1 Competitive Quadrant

10.2 Market Share Analysis

10.3 Strategic Initiatives

10.3.1 M&A and Investments

10.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

10.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



11 Company Profiles

11.1 Analog Devices

11.2 Autoliv

11.3 Continental

11.4 Delphi Automotive

11.5 Denso

11.6 Fujitsu

11.7 HELLA

11.8 Infineon Technologies

11.9 Infineon Technologies

11.10 Mitsubishi Electric

11.11 Nidec Elesys

11.12 NXP

11.13 RadSee Technologies

11.14 Robert Bosch

11.15 Rohde & Schwarz

11.16 Symeo

11.17 STMicroelectronics

11.18 Texas Instruments

11.19 TungThih Electronic

11.20 Valeo

11.21 Veoneer

11.22 ZF Friedrichshafen



12 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/qpr80t

Attachment
Dublin, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Synthetic Aperture Radar Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global synthetic aperture radar market reached a value of US$ 3.42 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach a value of US$ 6.64 Billion by 2027 exhibiting a CAGR of 11.20% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.



Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is an imaging technique used to collect data and produce fine resolution images actively from a radar system. It transmits and receives back microwave signals from the surface of the Earth using active sensors. At present, it is utilized in various applications, ranging from studying icebergs and tracking the paths of oil spills into sensitive marshes to mapping the wetlands. It can also be used in unfavorable environmental conditions to detect changes in habitat, water levels and moisture, and analyze the effects of natural or human disturbances after earthquakes or sinkhole openings.



Synthetic Aperture Radar Market Trends:

SAR is extensively utilized by scientists, geologists, and researchers to remotely map and study the reflectivity of different objects or environments with high spatial resolution through the emission and reception of electromagnetic (EM) signals. This, coupled with rising concerns about climatic changes, environmental degradation, and disaster monitoring, represents one of the key factors driving the use of SAR to assess changing ecological impacts. Apart from this, SAR technology is employed in the agriculture sector to identify differences in surface roughness and improve field plowing, soil tillage, and crop harvesting. Moreover, governing agencies of several countries are encouraging the adoption of modern agricultural practices, which is contributing to the market growth.

Furthermore, SAR instruments are gaining traction over conventional optical imaging technology and observation satellites as they can provide detailed information about the surfaces of the Earth. Besides this, due to rising geopolitical tensions and increasing security concerns, defense organizations across the globe are relying on SAR satellites for surveillance, reconnaissance, and precision targeting, which is impelling the market growth.



Key Market Segmentation:

The publisher provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global synthetic aperture radar market, along with forecasts at the global, regional and country level from 2022-2027. Our report has categorized the market based on component, mode, frequency band, platform and application.



Breakup by Component:

Antenna

Receiver

Transmitter

Breakup by Mode:

Single Mode

Multi-Mode

Breakup by Frequency Band:

X Band

L Band

C Band

S Band

K, Ku, Ka Band

VHF/UHF Band

Others

Breakup by Platform:

Airborne

Ground

Breakup by Application:

Defense

Commercial

Breakup by Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Australia

Indonesia

Others

Europe

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Russia

Others

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Others

Middle East and Africa

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being Airbus SE, Aselsan, BAE Systems plc, Cobham Limited, General Atomics, Israel Aerospace Industries, L3Harris Technologies Inc., Leonardo S.p.A., Lockheed Martin Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Raytheon Technologies Corporation, Saab AB and Thales Group.



Key Questions Answered in this Report:

How has the global synthetic aperture radar market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global synthetic aperture radar market?

What are the key regional markets?

What is the breakup of the market based on the component?

What is the breakup of the market based on the mode?

What is the breakup of the market based on the frequency band?

What is the breakup of the market based on the platform?

What is the breakup of the market based on the application?

What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?

What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?

What is the structure of the global synthetic aperture radar market and who are the key players?

What is the degree of competition in the industry?

Key Topics Covered:



1 Preface



2 Scope and Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends



5 Global Synthetic Aperture Radar Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast



6 Market Breakup by Component

6.1 Antenna

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Receiver

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Transmitter

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast



7 Market Breakup by Mode

7.1 Single Mode

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Multi-Mode

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast



8 Market Breakup by Frequency Band

8.1 X Band

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 L Band

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 C Band

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 S Band

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 Market Forecast

8.5 K, Ku, Ka Band

8.5.1 Market Trends

8.5.2 Market Forecast

8.6 VHF/UHF Band

8.6.1 Market Trends

8.6.2 Market Forecast

8.7 Others

8.7.1 Market Trends

8.7.2 Market Forecast



9 Market Breakup by Platform

9.1 Airborne

9.1.1 Market Trends

9.1.2 Market Forecast

9.2 Ground

9.2.1 Market Trends

9.2.2 Market Forecast



10 Market Breakup by Application

10.1 Defense

10.1.1 Market Trends

10.1.2 Market Forecast

10.2 Commercial

10.2.1 Market Trends

10.2.2 Market Forecast



11 Market Breakup by Region



12 SWOT Analysis



13 Value Chain Analysis



14 Porters Five Forces Analysis



15 Price Analysis



16 Competitive Landscape

16.1 Market Structure

16.2 Key Players

16.3 Profiles of Key Players

16.3.1 Airbus SE

16.3.1.1 Company Overview

16.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.1.3 Financials

16.3.1.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.2 Aselsan

16.3.2.1 Company Overview

16.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.2.3 Financials

16.3.3 BAE Systems plc

16.3.3.1 Company Overview

16.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.3.3 Financials

16.3.3.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.4 Cobham Limited

16.3.4.1 Company Overview

16.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.4.3 SWOT Analysis

16.3.5 General Atomics

16.3.5.1 Company Overview

16.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.6 Israel Aerospace Industries

16.3.6.1 Company Overview

16.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.7 L3Harris Technologies Inc.

16.3.7.1 Company Overview

16.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.7.3 Financials

16.3.8 Leonardo S.p.A.

16.3.8.1 Company Overview

16.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.8.3 Financials

16.3.8.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.9 Lockheed Martin Corporation

16.3.9.1 Company Overview

16.3.9.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.9.3 Financials

16.3.9.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.10 Northrop Grumman Corporation

16.3.10.1 Company Overview

16.3.10.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.10.3 Financials

16.3.10.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.11 Raytheon Technologies Corporation

16.3.11.1 Company Overview

16.3.11.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.11.3 Financials

16.3.11.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.12 Saab AB

16.3.12.1 Company Overview

16.3.12.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.12.3 Financials

16.3.12.4 SWOT Analysis

16.3.13 Thales Group

16.3.13.1 Company Overview

16.3.13.2 Product Portfolio

16.3.13.3 Financials

16.3.13.4 SWOT Analysis



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/qzbvyh

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Since the start of the semester, the Student Advocacy Resource Center has received five times as many reports of roofies, or drug-facilitated assaults, than usual. The druggings happened at four different bars, and beg an important question: what should I do if a friend or I get roofied wh
DUBLIN, Ohio, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via InvestorWire -- reAlpha , a cutting-edge technology company with a goal to empower everyone with the ability to invest in the $1.2 trillion short-term rental market, is proud to announce the acquisition of several single family homes in Kissimmee, Florida, in zoned short-term rental communities. The purchase of these homes expands reAlpha's portfolio and the investment opportunities available to future reAlpha syndicate members, further illustrating the companys rapid growth.

The company plans to make the homes purchased in Kissimmee reAlpha featured rental properties.

We are looking to set the standard for what investors and future reAlpha members can expect in terms of the quality of our homes, said Mike Logozzo, CFO/COO of ReAlpha. We are pivoting to more rent-ready homes in order to scale faster and meet the demand for these types of investment opportunities. We have been able to purchase these homes with the capital from our Regulation A+ funding round , and we plan to continue to use those funds to scale the portfolio. These initial featured properties are just the tip of the iceberg.

Homes built in short-term rental communities offer unique opportunities for investors and community members alike. Since there are no full-time residents, investors can receive tax benefits and amenities one would expect from a vacation resort, such as hotel-style workout facilities, pools and bars.

We are excited to test out some properties in these zoned communities. We are seeing more and more that short-term rental guests desire a consistent experience. They dont want to compromise the benefits and comforts of traditional hospitality, and these communities offer the best of both worlds, said Christie Currie, CMO at reAlpha.

reAlphas investment also stands to benefit the overall Kissimmee community. We plan to partner with the local Orlando community to offer guests special perks like yoga classes, local restaurant discounts, artist features and more in order to create a truly remarkable experience for guests, while also putting money back into the local economy.

Interested investors can learn more about potential investment opportunities at invest.reAlpha.com , and renters will soon be able to rent them on Airbnb.

About reAlpha

reAlpha is building a digital real estate investing platform that enables its members to simplify wealth creation opportunities through investments in vacation homes while striving to deliver exceptional guest experiences. reAlpha sources and scores properties from the wholesale market using a proprietary AI-driven algorithm called reAlphaBRAIN. It then predicts the viability of each property for the short-term rental market, as well as the projected long-term value. reAlphas business plan contemplates eventually allowing investors to buy equity in specific properties, providing opportunities for short-term passive income generation via Airbnb, as well as equity-driven capital appreciation. reAlpha is based in Dublin, Ohio.



Forward-looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: will, expect, would, intend, believe, or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements about our future financial performance, our business plan, our market opportunities and beliefs and objectives for future operations. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different. More information on the factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause or contribute to such differences is included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the Risk Factors and Managements Discussion & Analysis sections of our offering statement on Form 1-A. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Contact

Christie Currie

christie@realpha.com

(614) 203-3723

reAlpha Tech Corp

6640 Riverside Dr., Suite 200

Dublin, OH 43017

Corporate Communications:

InvestorBrandNetwork (IBN)

Los Angeles, California

www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com

310.299.1717 Office

Editor@InvestorBrandNetwork.com

###

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Longmont, Colo., March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Colorado-based hemp bioscience company CFH, Ltd., launches a Rapid Relief Roll-on Gel and Relief Cream as a part of its ProLine. The CFH ProLine, which debuted as a lineup of professional-grade full-spectrum hemp extract products for clinical use, is now available online nationwide at www.CFH.Ltd. Both the Relief Cream and the new Rapid Relief Roll-on Gel work topically to reduce inflammation and relieve muscle soreness for athletes and people living active lifestyles.

CFHs Full Spectrum Hemp Flower Extract Relief Cream, containing 500mg or 1000mg of full-spectrum hemp flower extract, CBD and other phytocannabinoids per jar, is intended for large muscle groups and can be applied liberally several times per day for immediate and long term relief. CFHs new Rapid Relief Roll-on Gel, featuring an easy-to-use rollerball applicator, is a dual-action gel containing menthol and CBD used for rapid relief of tense muscles and joints.

CFH has over 30 years of experience in research and production, plant bioscience, genetic development, and agriculture. All products in the CFH ProLine, which includes the new Rapid Relief Roll-on Gel as well as creams, tinctures and soft gels, are made with Full Spectrum Hemp Flower Oil derived from hemp grown by CFH on its certified-organic Colorado farm. The vertically integrated company controls all aspects of product development to ensure all products are made with the highest quality hemp.

We manage every aspect of product testing and development, says Jim Ott, chief executive officer and founder of CFH. We start by developing the genetics, we grow and harvest the hemp flower on our farm and we formulate in our lab. We also do in-house and third-party testing to establish quality and consistency.

CFHs lineup of full spectrum hemp extract wellness products is developed with research by Clinical Science Director Dr. Karen Hufnagl, DC, MS. Dr. Hufnagl is also the founder of In Avanti Health, a Functional Medicine Practice based in Colorado. With more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Hufnagl has one foot in everyday clinical practice and the other in product development and research. She specializes in thyroid and hormone imbalances and is also dedicated to helping athletes reduce pain and inflammation, maximize their recovery and performance, and reach new heights in their athletic pursuits.

Consistent and high-quality CBD topicals are a game changer for pro and amateur athletes looking to improve recovery times, says Dr. Hufnagl. Whether you're skiing, hiking, biking, climbing or spending time outdoors and feeling the effects of the cold and dry winter months, these products are designed to help you recover faster.

# # #

About CFH, Ltd.

Founded in 2014, CFH, Ltd. is Colorado-based, vertically integrated hemp bioscience company and a leading supplier of CBD nationwide. CFH is committed to producing the highest quality full spectrum CBD and proprietary hemp strains that maintain the natural balance and proportion of the cannabinoids and terpenes present in hemp plants to provide optimal health benefits and efficacy. In addition to CBD as a major component, CFH's full spectrum hemp flower derived products contain an extensive profile of cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids. For more information on CFH, visit CFH.Ltd.

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West Palm Beach, FL, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- Ethema Health Corporation (OTCPINK: GRST) (Ethema GRST or the Company) is actively expanding its bed count. With the imminent addition of the ARIA treatment center first-floor treatment space and staff offices, several staff members have temporarily moved from their offices to make way for more beds. ARIA was able to add 4 additional beds to the previous count of 42 in the month of February.



The first-floor space is nearing completion and is now at the paint and finish stage. ARIA expects to receive the certificate of occupancy in the month of March and this will make way for the addition of 10 more beds on the second and third floor for a total of 58 beds.

The Company has had meetings during the last two weeks with the owner of an adjacent property containing 5 one-bedroom apartments to discuss a master lease for all of the units, and if the Company is successful in leasing these units an additional 10 PHP beds could be added for a total of 68 beds. This would give ARIA an optimal bed count of 12 detox beds, 16 residential beds and 40 PHP/IOP beds. This would optimize the infrastructure in the building leading to more cost savings as fixed costs become more leveraged. The discussions are ongoing, and a final decision is not expected until later this month.

Mr. Shawn Leon, Company CEO, reported, The possibility of getting to 68 beds so soon after opening is empowering. With all of the build out at the West Palm Beach location soon to be completed and behind us, we can turn our attention to the constant pursuit of increasing the quality of our service and achieving our ultimate goal of saving and improving more lives.

About Ethema Health Corporation

Ethema Health Corporation (OTCPINK: GRST) operates in the behavioral healthcare space specifically in the treatment of substance use disorders. Ethema developed a unique style of treatment over the last decade and has had much success with in-patient treatment for adults. Ethema will continue to develop world class programs and techniques for North America. For more information you can visit our website at www.ethemahealth.com .

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

For information please contact:

Ethema Health Corporation

shawn@ethemahealth.com

Text to 416-500-0020

Twitter @healthethema
San Francisco, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global bearings market size is expected to reach USD 226.8 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 8.5% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Bearings are essential in almost every application that involves motion, and they help minimize friction between different mechanical components in several industrial machinery and equipment, resulting in reduced energy consumption. Hence, this machine element finds application in all industries, ranging from automobiles, household appliances, and aerospace to industrial machinery, using machinery or related motor-driven linkages.

Key Insights & Findings from the report:

The development of cost-effective wind energy generating product has resulted in their increased espousal within wind turbine applications that aid in increasing energy production, reduce lubricant consumption, and enhancing turbine performance and reliability.

The roller bearings segment is anticipated to emerge as the largest product segment by 2028 ascribed to their ability to carry heavy loads and shock or impact loading.

The railway and aerospace segment is estimated to witness the fastest CAGR of over 10.0% over the foreseeable years, due to their growing demand in applications such as shock absorbers, gearboxes, doors, and tilting mechanisms to name a few.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness the fastest CAGR of over 9.0% by 2028. This can be attributed to the increased demand for fuel-efficient passenger vehicles, industrialization, and infrastructure development in various countries such as China, India, and Japan.

Various leading companies are investing in high-level R&D to come up with innovative solutions. These solutions are focused on being cost-effective as well as on enhancing the overall quality of the end-product.

Get Free Sample of market research report,  Bearings Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Product, By Application (Automotive, Agriculture, Electrical, Mining & Construction, Railway & Aerospace, Automotive Aftermarket), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2021 - 2028 , published by Grand View Research.

Bearings Market Growth & Trends

The market is estimated to witness considerable growth in the forthcoming years, ascribed to the aim to achieve energy efficiency. Energy-saving and bearings go hand-in-hand. The main objective of this element is saving energy by reducing friction, be it during the rotation of shafts of a transmission or the wheel of a vehicle. Additionally, the rising demand for commercial vehicles is expected to catapult the demand from the automotive sector across the world.

Technological advancements including smart bearings, development of advanced materials and lubricants, and integrating sensor units, are anticipated to provide high growth potential to the market. With the objective of enhancing performance, vendors are incorporating sensor units of the product. Sensor units help digital monitoring of rotation speed, axial movement, load-carrying capacity acceleration, and deceleration. These units are presently being used in conveyors forklifts, road rollers, and electric motors. Furthermore, the integration of IoT capabilities facilitates manufacturers to monitor operations constantly.

The market is mature with a dynamic demand closely related to the state of engineering industries and capital goods. Companies are offering integrated products that significantly decrease the number of bearings that go into an assembled product and reduce the overall cost of equipment. This in turn is also increasing the shelf-life and reliability of the product. Product manufacturers are increasingly investing in R&D to address the intensifying competition by providing innovative products.

Bearings Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global bearings market based on product, application, and region:

Bearing Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2028)

Ball Bearings Deep Groove Bearings Others

Roller Bearings Split Tapered Others

Others

Bearing Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2028)

Automotive

Agriculture

Electrical

Mining & Construction

Railway & Aerospace

Automotive Aftermarket

Others

Bearing Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2016 - 2028)

North America U.S. Canada

Europe U.K. Germany France Italy Eastern Europe

Asia Pacific China India Japan

Latin America Brazil Mexico

Middle East & Africa

List of Key Players of Bearings Market

Brammer PLC

Harbin Bearing Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

HKT Bearings Ltd.

JTEKT Corporation

NBI Bearings Europe

NSK Global

NTN Corporation

RBC Bearings Inc.

Rexnord Corporation

RHP Bearings

Schaeffler Group

SKF Corporation

The Timken Company

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Automotive Infotainment Market - The global automotive infotainment market size is expected to reach USD 12.57 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 8.7% from 2021 to 2028, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The increasing demand for autonomous vehicle technology, automotive cockpit electronics, and advanced safety features such as advanced driver assistance systems is anticipated to drive the growth. The growing demand for enhanced in-vehicle experience and shifting consumer buying behavior and the worldwide expansion of the luxury and premium car segments are also likely to fuel the growth of the market.

Automotive Transmission Market - The global automotive transmission market size is expected to reach USD 211.85 billion by 2028, registering a CAGR of 5.2% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected the automobile industry, leading to a decline in the growth of this market. Increasing concerns regarding global warming and pollution have led to various stringent government regulations pertaining to vehicular emissions. Such regulatory guidelines have propelled component suppliers to manufacture eco-friendly and high-efficiency transmission systems for domestic and international markets.

Automotive Collision Repair Market - The global automotive collision repair market size is expected to reach USD 220.12 billion by 2028, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 2.1% from 2021 to 2028. Technological advancements in claims, insurance, and the automobile aftermarket have led to the development of innovative repair techniques and processes, which have significantly widened the scope for the growth of passenger and commercial vehicles. Numerous leading manufacturers, including Daimler AG (Germany) and BMW Group (Germany), are using advanced 3D printing technology for manufacturing spare parts and associated automobile components.

Browse through Grand View Researchs Automotive & Transportation Industry Research Reports.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research Helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead.

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DENVER, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Denver-based Atlas Real Estate, a full-service, national real estate company specializing in institutional investment, brokerage, and property management, has announced today the launch of a new division: Atlas Home Services. This new division will help Atlas to combat rising maintenance and construction prices to benefit property owners and tenants alike through collaborating with local area general contractors and subcontractors, vendors, suppliers, and government inspectors to deliver maintenance and property improvements.

Concurrently, seasoned industry veteran Jon Lohman has been hired and named General Manager of Atlas Home Services.

"When Atlas decides to launch a new business, we always ask ourselves if we can be the best at it  and having Jon take the reins of Atlas Home Services means that we absolutely can," said Tony Julianelle, Atlas CEO. "Jon's leadership will be the difference-maker for our new home services division, and our team members, residents, and the investors we serve will be the beneficiaries."

Lohman joins Atlas with nearly 10 years of experience in high-volume residential construction, most recently serving as the General Manager of Zillow Offers, where he oversaw strategic operations and managed a team that completed more than 3,000 home renovations across Colorado. Prior to that, Lohman served as a Director at Invitation Homes, where he honed his operational skills in construction, rehabs, and residential unit lease turnovers by managing maintenance for a portfolio consisting of 7,500 homes.

Lohman will be responsible for directly overseeing construction and rehabilitation of residential real estate nationwide, supervising all projects across Atlas Real Estate's business lines to ensure quality control and timely, cost-effective construction and maintenance delivery. Operating at both a strategic and tactical level under Jon's leadership, Atlas Home Services will initially launch in the company's home market of Colorado, with phased expansion in the months ahead to support further office locations.

"I feel very fortunate to join this well-regarded team and contribute to Atlas' continued growth and evolution," said Lohman. "While I'm incredibly impressed by Atlas' business model, talented team, and growth record, I'm even more impressed by Atlas' purpose-driven culture and mission to uplift humanity through real estate. I look forward to delivering on that mission through the Home Services division as well."

Since its inception in 2013, Atlas has become recognized as a leader in the real estate industry. The Denver Business Journal named Atlas as a Fast 50 Honoree, Bank of America selected Atlas as one of its Colorado Companies to Watch, and ColoradoBiz Magazine honored the firm with a Best of Colorado: Property Management award for five consecutive years and the Best Residential Real Estate Agency award in 2021.

CONTACT:

Nicole Marshall, CPSM

Curated Communications

504.644.7335

nicole@curatedcommunications.com

Related Images











Image 1: Jon Lohman, Atlas Home Services





Jon Lohman, formerly with Zillow, Assumes Mantle of Atlas' Newly Formed Division









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

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Pune, India, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global assisted reproductive technology (ART) market size is likely to gain traction owing to the increasing cases of infertility worldwide. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention states an average of 306,174 ART cycles was undertaken in 2018 within fertility clinics in the United States. As per a recent study by Fortune Business Insights titled, Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Technique (In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), Artificial Insemination (AI-IUI), Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET), and Others), By Procedure (Fresh Donor, Fresh Non-donor, Frozen Donor, and Frozen Non-donor), By End User (Fertility Clinics, and Hospitals) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026, the market is expected to reach USD 45.06 billion by the end of 2026 from USD 21.32 billion earned in 2018, by exhibiting a CAGR of 9.8% between 2019 to 2026.

Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/assisted-reproductive-technology-art-market-101811

Regional Analysis-

Europe Earned Highest Share Attributable to Rising Prevalence of Infertility Cases

Geographically, Europe earned USD 8.78 billion in 2018 and gained the highest ART market share on account of the increasing prevalence of infertility cases in the region, followed by increasing demand for assisted reproductive technology for conceiving. Germany, the UK, Spain, France, and Denmark are the most active nations for fertility services in this region. Additionally, the North America market will witness significant growth on account of increasing adoption of technologically advanced fertility services in the U.S. Besides this, Asia Pacific market will also witness rapid growth in the coming years on account of the increasing disposable incomes of people, developing healthcare infrastructure and reduction in socio-ethical stigma among the local population.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only impacted our lives at a personal level but also the world economy at large. Most of the businesses are at a halt, export and import are not possible, the whole world is struggling. However, optimism is the faith leading us to achievement, and therefore we hope this bio war ends soon with government support and necessary measures. We at Fortune Business Insights are offering a detailed analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on various markets for the benefit of market investors.

Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Market.

Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/assisted-reproductive-technology-art-market-101811

The Report Answers the Following Queries

What is the nature of the market?

How will Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer (GIFT) aid in the expansion of the market?

What are the major drivers, restraints, and challenges of the market?

Which players are operating in the market?





Drivers & Restraints-

Rising Cases of Infertility Among Men and Women to Augment Growth

As per the 2018 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) report, an estimated 6.7% women between the ages 15 to 44 years were suffering from infertility in the U.S. This may be due to change in lifestyle, irregular eating and sleeping habits, therefore depriving the body of complete rest, and others. Infertility can also occur in men and therefore the increasing rate of infertility among both men and women on a global basis is a key factor propelling the assisted reproductive technology market growth.

On the negative side, the high cost associated with the treatment may pose a major hindrance to the market in the coming years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), most females residing in emerging nations do not opt for this service owing to its high cost. This, coupled with the socio-ethical stigma associated with the treatment procedures may also hamper the market in the coming years.

Nevertheless, the advent of various conceiving techniques such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF), gamete Intrafallopian transfer (GIFT), artificial insemination (AI-IUI) and frozen embryo transfer (FET), coupled with its success rates are further expected to add impetus to the market in the coming years.

Quick Buy - Assisted Reproductive Technology Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/101811

Segment-

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Segment Held Dominance Owing to Cost Efficiency

Based on segmentation by technique, the in vitro fertilization (IVF) segment earned a 79.2% share in the market in 20918. This is accountable to the fact that a patient can try opting for this procedure multiple times at a lower cost, thereby increasing the chances of pregnancy.

Competitive Landscape-

European Sperm Bank, California Cryobank, and Bloom IVF Centre are Holding Dominance Owing to Strong Portfolio

Players operating in the market for assisted reproductive technology (ART) are engaged in various strategies such as strong network and portfolio, and introduction of better-advanced fertility procedures at efficient prices for gaining momentum in the market. Currently, players namely California Cryobank, Bloom IVF Centre, and European Sperm Bank are dominating the market with their strong portfolio.

Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/assisted-reproductive-technology-art-market-101811

Key Industry Developments of the Market include:

July 2019  A provider of fertility services based in Queensland called Fertility Solutions acquired Monash IVF Group for expanding its geographical presence.

April 2019  A major stake of CARE Fertility was acquired by Silverfleet Capital Partners with the major objective of strengthening their portfolio.

Fortune Business Insights lists out the names of market manufacturers. They are as follows:

European Sperm Bank

California Cryobank

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd.

Bloom IVF Centre

INVO Bioscience

CARE Fertility

Carolinas Fertility Institute

Monash IVF Group

Other players

Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/assisted-reproductive-technology-art-market-101811

Detailed Table of Content:

1. Introduction

1.1. Research Scope

1.2. Market Segmentation

1.3. Research Methodology

1.4. Definitions and Assumptions

2. Executive Summary

3. Market Dynamics

3.1. Market Drivers

3.2. Market Restraints

3.3. Market Opportunities

4. Key Insights

4.1. Prevalence of Infertility, By Key Regions/Countries, 2018

4.2. Number of Registered Fertility Clinics for Key Countries

4.3. Technological Advancements in ART procedures

4.4. Key Industry Developments  Partnerships, Mergers and Acquisitions

5. Global Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2015-2026

5.1. Key Findings / Summary

5.2. Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Technique

5.2.1.In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

5.2.2.Artificial Insemination (AI-IUI)

5.2.3.Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET)

5.2.4.Others

5.3. Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Procedure

5.3.1.Fresh Donor

5.3.2.Fresh Non-donor

5.3.3.Frozen Donor

5.3.4.Frozen Non-donor

5.4. Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By End User

5.4.1.Hospitals

5.4.2.Fertility Clinics

5.5. Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast  By Region

5.5.1.North America

5.5.2.Europe

5.5.3.Asia Pacific

5.5.4.Latin America

5.5.5.Middle East & Afric

Continued...

About Us:

Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in.

Contact Us:
MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility has announced that Lucian T. Pera is the recipient of the 2022 Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award. Mr. Pera, a Partner at Adams and Reese LLP in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the nations leading legal ethics and professional responsibility practitioners.

The Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award is one of the top ethics honors of the ABA and given to an individual whose contributions in the professional responsibility field reflect the highest level of dedication to legal professionalism.

Im truly humbled, Pera said. Its simply the highest honor in our field, and I have always looked up to the people who have received the Franck Award.

Lucians commitment to legal ethics has earned him a well-deserved reputation as a leader in this field of practice and to the profession more broadly, said Gif Thornton, Managing Partner at Adams and Reese.

For more than 25 years, Pera has represented lawyers, law firms, clients, and those who do business with lawyers and law firms on the widest possible array of issues relating to legal ethics and the regulation of lawyers. He has advanced the profession through his work at the ABA, the national voice of the legal profession and the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. For more than a century, the ABA has led the nation on issues related to legal ethics and the regulation of the legal profession.

Lucian not only has long demonstrated his dedication to the legal profession, the organized bar, and the law regulating lawyers, he has lived his life as a lawyer of the highest caliber, adds Judy Perry Martinez, who served as ABAs President from 2019-2020. He has contributed significantly to innovations in the practice of law pursued by the ABA.

From 1997 to 2002, Pera served as the youngest member of the ABA Ethics 2000 Commission, which rewrote the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Since then, he has played a central role in national debates over changes to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct as a member of the organizations policy-making House of Delegates, including Ethics 2000 Commission amendments, amendments to permit screening to avoid disqualification of laterally-moving lawyers, the addition of an ethics rule making harassment or discrimination by lawyers a disciplinary violation, and amendments streamlining the lawyer advertising rules.

Most importantly, Lucian has helped lawyers across our nation understand what more or differently we must do for those whom we serve, if we are to in any way approach the level of professionalism and ethics that he has embodied throughout his years of practice, Martinez continues. Having had the privilege of knowing Michael Franck, it is no surprise that Lucian Pera would be the lawyer leader selected to receive the prestigious award.

Pera has also chaired the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility governing Coordinating Council and served as the ABA Treasurer.

In addition to his work in the ABA, Pera served as the Tennessee Bar Associations President and led their Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility from 1995 to 2009. He is a former president of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL), the national organization of ethics lawyers. Pera also chaired and served as a member of the editorial board of the ABA/Bloomberg Lawyers Manual on Professional Conduct. He frequently writes and speaks across Tennessee and nationally on legal ethics and professional responsibility.

Mr. Pera will receive the ABA Michael Franck Professional Responsibility Award on June 2, 2022, in Baltimore, during the 47th ABA National Conference on Professional Responsibility.

About the American Bar Association

The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

About Adams and Reese

Adams and Reese (http://www.adamsandreese.com), founded over 70 years ago, is a multidisciplinary law firm with nearly 270 attorneys and advisors strategically located throughout the southern United States and Washington, D.C. The American Lawyer includes Adams and Reese on its distinguished list of the nations top law firms, the Am Law 200. The National Law Journal also includes the firm among the top 200 on the NLJ 500 list of the nations largest law firms.

A photo of Lucian is available for download on our website or upon request.
Westminster, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Westminster, Maryland -

MD based Certified Home Remodelers, Inc. is pleased to share that their team is now available for all manner of remodeling jobs throughout the state. The company specializes in bringing every customers home improvement vision to life via their contractors expertise as well as industry-leading techniques and materials. They also serve the surrounding regions of Baltimore, Frederick and Westminster.

According to the company, many customers approach Certified Home Remodelers, Inc. for room additions in Westminster since this is the easiest way to increase their homes living, entertaining or storage space without having to relocate to another area entirely. This is particularly true for new families, such as when they are expecting children or have other family members who will soon be joining them. Homeowners tend to be invested in their homes, with good reason, and the company is always happy to help them avoid the hassle and emotional distress of having to move houses where possible.

Furthermore, especially given the state of the economy and housing market, homeowners are taking every opportunity to increase the value of their homes. While they may not intend to move out at any point in the near future, there is always the chance that they will change their mind or have to sell their home for other reasons. The best course of action, therefore, is to invest in a property they have an incentive in protecting (since they currently reside within it), and the best contractors for the job can be found at Certified Home Remodelers, Inc.

The companys work is peerless, and their ability to create a flawless, custom design that can contend with any other from around the world is heavily sought after. In fact, they work closely with each customer to create designs that complement the existing architecture of the home, following which they source quality, long-lasting materials to use in construction.

Certified Home Remodelers, Inc. adds that they provide all equipment and crew members needed to complete construction as well  keeping within the customers preferred schedule and budget. The company is highly favored for kitchen remodeling in Westminster as well for this reason and others, not the least of which is their dedication to personalized customer service.

As any homeowner will attest, the kitchen and bathroom tend to receive a great deal of attention when the time comes to renovate or remodel the home. This is unsurprising for some since these areas also contribute to the value of the property, but the company points out that aesthetic appeal and monetary value should not be the sole considerations in their design. Where kitchens are concerned, for instance, Certified Home Remodelers, Inc. ensures that a customers every need (both personal and practical) is met by assigning them a dedicated kitchen design specialist. This specialist will take all their ideas into account, along with the propertys overall interior decor and what its residents need from a functioning kitchen.

Notably, thanks to modern technology, customers will be afforded a fully-realized preview of intended upgrades since the company can recreate the entire scene within computer software. As a result, they can examine the design from several perspectives before construction even begins. The company clarifies that they employ a team of contractors who specialize in kitchen remodeling, so customers are welcome to either request a complete renovation or ask the team to focus on a specific area.

Homeowners can expect a similar service if they wish to bring their windows and doors in line with contemporary standards. As the company explains, manufacturers build modern windows and doors to much higher standards, and the best of these are also equipped with energy-efficient designs to protect the interior temperatures of a home.

Certified Home Remodelers, Inc. offers customers access to both high quality products of this nature as well as expert onsite door and window teams. A wide variety of products are available as well, in virtually every design imaginable, so customers are encouraged to describe what they are looking for if they are unsure what would be best for their home. The company will be pleased to offer their recommendations where necessary.

Those looking for room additions, kitchen and bath remodeling services or door and window replacement in Frederick, Baltimore, Westminster and beyond are welcome to contact Brad Jessup of Certified Home Remodelers, Inc. to schedule a consultation. More information is also available on the companys website.

###

For more information about Certified Home Remodelers, Inc., contact the company here:



Certified Home Remodelers, Inc.

Brad Jessup

(410) 871-9100

bradleydjessup@gmail.com

57 Aileron Ct Suite 18, Westminster, MD 21157
Houston, TX, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hartman Income REIT Management, Inc. (Hartman), a commercial real estate owner and operator, headquartered in Houston, Texas, announces its achievement of a 69.3 on its latest Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey, once again placing the firm in the top tier of all commercial real estate firms worldwide. NPS is a market research tool used to measure the loyalty and satisfaction of a companys customers. Hartman tenants, twice a year, are prompted to complete a voluntary survey that asks respondents to rate their likelihood of recommending the company.

In January, the firm conducted its semiannual survey and received a record high score of 69.3. This score culminated in perfect tenant ratings from 25 percent of Hartmans 60 properties and an increase of 10 points over the firms last survey. Other highlights include 79 percent of tenants identifying as promoters of the company, stating that they are highly pleased with the service received, timely fulfilling of maintenance requests at the properties, and the management team's courteousness when asked for help.

Scheduling regular NPS surveys with its tenants is incredibly important to the firm as it helps Hartmans property management team stay on top of areas of improvement. Tenants have expressed appreciation for the firm's transparency, stating that many of the firms industry peers opt to keep their scores private or not survey tenants at all.

Our desire to provide excellent customer service and be faithful stewards to our tenants is something we are continuously working on. And our NPS score having improved ten points in six months truly shows our commitment. I am so proud of our team. shared Al Hartman, President, and CEO.

If you are looking to lease office, retail, or industrial space in Houston, Dallas or San Antonio, please contact a Hartman leasing agent for more information. A leasing representative can be reached by phone at 800-880-2212 or by email at leasing@hi-reit.com.

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Pune, India, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Entrepreneur Vinod Ramchandra Jadhav is pleased to announce that he was awarded The Vocational & Service Excellence Award for 2021-22.

The award was presented on February 20 by the Rotary Club of Pune Heritage at a function organized at the Cannaught Boat Club.





Vinod Jadhav is a first-generation Indian-born entrepreneur who is based in Dubai. He has expertise in first-to-market generics, veterinary medicines, supply chain management, global sourcing, and international taxation.

He has a materials management degree and is a mechanical engineer who stumbled into the world of pharmaceuticals. He's supported ventures in the fields of the electric vehicle ecosystem, power electronics, predictive diagnostics, biotechnology, and new drug research.

Vinod Jadhav is currently chairman of the SAVA Group, which focuses on manufacturing a wide range of high-quality, affordable generic drugs, and is trusted by healthcare professionals across the world.

In recognizing him as the 2021-22 Vocational & Service Excellence Award winner, the Rotary Club of Pune Heritage's President Vinayak Pethe, Secretary Harshada Bawankar, and Vocational Director Subhro Sen said of Jadhav:

"He is a living example of determination and perseverance. Having started from scratch with just one employee in 2003, he employs more than 750 employees across six countries. 

"We all feel very proud to have this multifaceted personality -- An Entrepreneur cum Investor cum Philanthropist cum Art Lover cum World Traveller as our Hon. Member, and feel privileged to honor him today with the Vocational Excellence and Service Award."

In addition to this award, Vinod Jadhav is the past recipient of the Major Donor Crystal and "Paul Harris Society" member of Rotary International. He has also been the pillar for supporting many of the Rotary Club's service projects through his CSR activity.

In addition to leading SAVA Group, Jadhav is the chairman of Devtech M2M, a research-driven organization that uses innovative technology to manufacture smart products aimed toward increasing energy efficiency.

The company was awarded the India Lighting Controls and Solutions New Product Innovation Leadership Award in 2015 by Frost & Sullivan under Jadhav's leadership.

In 2010, the Pharmaceutical Exports Promotion Council recognized SAVA Healthcare Ltd. as the Best Merchant Exporter of India.

Jadhav has settled with his family in the global city of Dubai. However, during the holidays, he enjoys returning to his hometown of Pune in India, where he spends time at his home that has received many architectural awards and was featured in the "50 Most Amazing Homes of India" book.

Vinod Ramchandra Jadhav is also an extensive world traveler, having visited almost 50 countries for business and pleasure. In addition, he's a lover of art, history, and culture.

About Vinod Ramchandra Jadhav

A self-described first-generation Entrepreneur, Mr. Vinod Ramchandra Jadhav is the Chairman of SAVA Healthcare Limited and Managing Director of Regent Global DMCC. With a professional career spanning more than 30 years, he is well versed in marketing, sales, supply chain management, and regulatory & corporate affairs in various capacities. Mr. Jadhav holds a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and a graduate Diploma in Materials Management.

Media Contact:

sales@savaglobal.com

SAVA Healthcare Limited
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged armed police forces to always serve as the faithful guardian of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people.

Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in the reply to a letter from a People's Armed Police Force unit in Shanghai.

In his letter, Xi praised the unit for its honorable tradition and achievements in learning the Party's history, and called for carrying forward the great founding spirit of the CPC.

Since 1998, members of the unit have devoted their weekends and holidays to explaining the Party's history to over 4.5 million visitors to the site of the first CPC National Congress in Shanghai. The site is part of a memorial that chronicles the founding of the CPC as well as the Party's efforts and achievements over the past 100 years.

Armed police officers of the unit recently wrote to Xi to report their progress in studying the Party's history.




Sparkling wine exports in the EU doubled over the past decade, peaking at 1.1B litres in 2021. Italy remains the leading supplier, accounting for 49% of the total exports in the EU.

NEW YORK, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In its latest report on the global sparkling wine market, IndexBox says that the EU exports spiked to 1.1B litres in 2021, rising by 27% compared to the previous year. In value terms, supplies soared from $5.8B to $8.7B.

Italy was the largest exporter of sparkling wines in the EU, with the volume of exports finishing at 523M litres, which was near 49% of total supplies in 2021. It was distantly followed by France (245M litres) and Spain (165M litres), committing a 39% share of total exports. Germany (33M litres), Belgium (29M litres) and Latvia (19M litres) comprised a relatively small percentage of total volume.

In value terms, France ($5.1B) remains the largest sparkling wine supplier in the EU, comprising 58% of total exports. The second position in the ranking was held by Italy ($2.3B), with a 26% share of the total value. It was followed by Spain, with a 6.7% share.

Supplies from France gained +58.6% against the previous year. In Italy and Spain, the growth rates amounted to +34.4% and +26.5% per year, respectively.

Sparkling Wine Prices in the EU

In 2021, the sparkling wine export price in the EU amounted to $8.2 per litre, increasing by 18% against the previous year. Prices varied noticeably: the country with the highest price was France ($21 per litre), while Spain ($3.5 per litre) was amongst the lowest. In 2021, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Spain, while the other leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

Top Leading Sparkling Wine Importers in the EU

Germany (77M litres) and Belgium (72M litres) represented the key importers of sparkling wines in the EU, together comprising near 37% of total purchases in 2021. It was distantly followed by France (33M litres), Sweden (26M litres), the Netherlands (25M litres), Latvia (23M litres), Lithuania (20M litres), Austria (19M litres) and Italy (19M litres), together generating a 40% share of total imports. Poland (15M litres), Spain (15M litres), the Czech Republic (11M litres), and Denmark (8.7M litres) followed a long way behind the leaders.

In value terms, Germany ($547M), Belgium ($454M) and Italy ($300M) constituted the countries with the highest levels of imports in 2021, together comprising 46% of total supplies. These countries were followed by the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, France, Denmark, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic, which accounted for a further 43%.

About IndexBox

IndexBox is a market research firm developing an AI-driven market intelligence platform that helps business analysts find actionable insights and make data-driven decisions. The platform provides data on consumption, production, trade, and prices for more than 10K+ different products across 200 countries.

For more information, please visit

Website https://www.indexbox.io

Twitter https://twitter.com/indexbox

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/IndexBox

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/indexbox-marketing/

Companies Mentioned in the Report

Arvitis, Centre Vinicole  Sparkling wine Nicolas Feuillatte, Sparkling wine Piper-Heidsieck, Diageo, Lanson-BCC, Laurent-Perrier, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Taittinger, Pernod Ricard, Vranken - Pommery Monopole SA, Bauchet Pere Et Filsbauchet Pere Et Fils, Minsk Sparkling Wines Factory Ojsc, Vdc France Vie De Chateaux, Spumante Silvania, Sparkling wine Claude Perrard, Vindega, Distillerie Othon Schmitt, Sparkling wine Cristian Senez, Divine Wines, Sparkling wine Cheurlin-Dangin, Sparkling wine Boulachin-Chaput, Sparkling wine Ayala, Sparkling wine Cretol Et Fils

Sources

EU - Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

World - Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

Eastern Europe - Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

Northern America  Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

Australia and Oceania - Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights
Dallas, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As per the report published by The Brainy Insights, the global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market is projected to grow from USD 7.62 billion in 2020 to USD 11.96 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 5.80% during the forecast period 2021-2028.



Increasing demand for pharmaceutical products due to rise in spending on healthcare across the globe. In addition to this, increasing geriatric population and chronic diseases in the world, rising the demand for pharmaceutical products. A large number of original drugs have lost their patents. Thus, the production of generic medicines is on the rise. Furthermore, the generic medicines are affordable than the original drugs, and thus demand is high in the regions such as the Asia Pacific and Latin America.



Request a Sample Copy of the Research Report: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/sample-request/12561



Pharmaceutical packaging equipment is the machines that are used for the packaging of pharmaceutical products. These machines are ranging from conveying systems to sealing machines to labelling and printing machines. In addition to this, various types of other equipment are used for pharmaceutical packaging. Some of the newest pharmaceutical packaging equipment includes label applicators, sealers, hand packing stations, and case packers. The use of equipment generally depends on the type of packaging, such as solid, semi-solid, and liquid packaging.



The global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market is witnessing a rapid growth owing to increasing production of pharmaceutical products across the globe. In addition to this, rising production of generic medicines in developing countries, further boosting the growth of the market. Furthermore, the growth in the contract manufacturing of pharmaceutical products propelling the demand for more pharmaceutical packaging equipment across the globe. The increasing emergence of new technologies for the packaging of pharmaceutical products, further offering growth opportunities in the market. However, the high cost of pharmaceutical packaging equipment may hamper the growth of the market over the forecast period.



For more information about this report visit: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/report/pharmaceutical-packaging-equipment-market-12561



Major players in the global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market are Romaco Holding, Uhlmann Group, Bausch + Strobel, Korber AG, Marchesini Group, Vanguard Pharmaceuticals Equipment, I.M.A. IndustriaMacchineAutomaticheS.p.A., Accutek Packaging Equipment Companies, and Coesia among others. The key players of global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market are majorly focusing on adoption of various strategies such as new product development, joint venture, collaboration, technological integration, product innovations, mergers & acquisitions, and partnerships to gain the significant market share in the industry.



 In August 2017, Uhlmann announced the partnership with the Surepharm Services, a specialist in the contract manufacturing of generic and branded formulations,to install the Uhlmanns BEC 300, a combined blister and cartoning module, to streamline the productivity.

 In June 2018, The Marchesini Group announced the acquisition of Schmucker, a companythat specialises in building stickpack packaging machinery for the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic market, to expand the pharmaceutical packaging business.



The semi-solid packaging equipment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 7.8% over the forecast period



The equipment type segment is divided into solid packaging equipment, semi-solid packaging equipment, and liquid packaging equipment. The semi-solid packaging equipment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR of 7.8% over the forecast period. Increasing production of semi sold pharmaceutical products such as ointments, gels, lotion, and cream are driving the need for semi-solid packaging equipment.



The primary packaging segment dominated the global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market and valued at USD 4.59 billion in the year 2020



The packaging type segment is classified into primary packaging, secondary packaging, tertiary packaging, and labelling and serialization equipment. The primary packaging segment dominated the global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market and valued at USD 4.59 billion in the year 2020. High adoption of primary packaging for pharmaceutical products for easy handling and distribution, contributing to the growth of the market.



Have Any Query? Ask Our Experts: https://www.thebrainyinsights.com/enquiry/buying-inquiry/12561



Regional Segment Analysis of the Pharmaceutical Packaging Equipment Market



 North America (U.S. , Canada, Mexico)

 Europe (Germany, France, U.K., Italy, Spain, Rest of the Europe)

 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan India, Rest of APAC)

 South America (Brazil and Rest of South America)

 Middle East and Africa (UAE, South Africa, Rest of MEA)



The global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market is classified into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, South America, and Middle East & Africa. The Europe region emerged as the largest market for the pharmaceutical packaging equipment market and valued at USD 3.10 billion in 2020. The growth is mainly due to higher production of pharmaceutical products across the European region. In addition to this, the rising demand for flexible pharmaceutical packaging equipment for efficient packaging, further driving the growth of the market. Furthermore, the presence of key manufacturing companies in the European region, propelling the growth of the market. On the other hand, the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR of 7.1% over the forecast period. The growth is mainly attributed to the increasing production of generic pharmaceutical products in countries such as India and China. In addition to this, many global pharmaceutical companies are focusing on the implantation of manufacturing plant in the Asia Pacific region, due to advantages such as low cost of manufacturing, a large number of labour, and a large number of resources. Furthermore, many local companies are entered into the contract manufacturing of pharmaceutical products in the Asia Pacific region. Thus, rising pharmaceutical production across the region driving the growth of pharmaceutical packaging equipment market in the Asia Pacific region over the forecast period.



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About the report:



The global pharmaceutical packaging equipment market is analyzed on the basis of value (USD Billion) volume (Thousand Units), export (Thousand Units), and import (Thousand Units). All the segments have been analyzed on global, regional and country basis. The study includes an analysis of more than 30 countries for each segment. The report offers in-depth analysis of driving factors, opportunities, restraints, and challenges for gaining the key insight of the market. The study includes porter's five forces model, raw material analysis, attractiveness analysis, and competitor position grid analysis.



About The Brainy Insights:



The Brainy Insights is a market research company, aimed at providing actionable insights through data analytics to companies to improve their business acumen. We have a robust forecasting and estimation model to meet the clients' objectives of high-quality output within a short span of time. We provide both customized (clients' specific) and syndicate reports. Our repository of syndicate reports is diverse across all the categories and sub-categories across domains. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the clients' requirement whether they are looking to expand or planning to launch a new product in the global market.



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TORONTO, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian company Empowerment Technologies Inc., through its baby safety brand Levana, announced today the re-release of the highly rated Oma SenseTM baby movement monitor.

Designed and engineered in Canada and using revolutionary unique patented WakeUpTM technology, the Oma Sense delicately tracks a baby's abdominal movements every 80 milliseconds. If none are detected within 15 seconds, gentle vibrations try to stimulate movement, and if nothing is detected in the next 5 seconds, an alarm (along with LED lights) immediately sounds to alert parents.

The wireless Oma Sense sits on your baby's waistline, making zero contact with their skin and eliminating the risk of rashes and irritation. Crafted with medical-grade materials, the device clips onto baby clothes, even diapers and onesies, and is highly portable with an included carrying case.

Since Wi-Fi and Bluetooth can cut out unreliably and potentially transmit harmful wireless signals, the Oma Sense relies on neither. Instead, a small battery snaps in the back, that powers a gentle LED that glows every 30 seconds reassuring you that it's on, detecting movement, and giving plenty of warning when it runs low. It is small and simple but provides true peace of mind for parents - a tiny but potentially life-saving device for infants under six months when used properly in accordance with the product manual.

With no separate smart devices, cloud, app, account, or baby monitor required, it's unhackable, secure, and completely private.

"It's incredible to hear the stories from parents and truly humbling to know that our vision is being realized. Oma Sense is a total game-changer for new parents, and we are extremely proud to be helping to not only ease their worries but to know that the device has saved the lives of babies." - Raj Jain, CEO & Founder, Levana

About Levana, From the Latin levare, "to lift" a newborn child, Levana is the ancient Roman goddess of childbirth. For over 20 years, Levana has been bringing peace of mind to parents through thoughtfully designed, innovative, and reliable baby safety solutions. As a team of engineers, designers, and parents, we strive to push what's possible by never settling for "good enough" as we combine our commitment to creating great products with our passion for cutting-edge technology.

Levana continues to create devices that empower parents (such as the Mila monitor) and provide peace of mind. Oma Sense is available to buy at www.mylevana.com. The monitor is not a medical device and should not be relied upon as such or over proper parental supervision or medical care. The product's potentially life-saving qualities are not guaranteed or warranted by the company. The device should be used properly in accordance with the product manual. For sample requests or questions, please contact sm@etinc.ca.

Related Images











Image 1: Levana Oma Sense Movement Monitor





Baby wearing the Levana Oma Sense abdominal movement monitor and key product features.









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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arras Minerals Corp. (Arras) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Vera Kobalia to the Arras Board of Directors effective immediately.



Brian Edgar, Chairman of the Arras Board of Directors commented, We are very pleased to welcome Ms. Vera Kobalia to the Arras Board of Directors. Vera is an entrepreneur who brings a wealth of global experience covering a wide range of areas including economic development, international trade & finance and government relations. Ms. Kobalia is also well-versed with Central Asia and Kazakhstan specifically having worked there previously. She adds an important dimension to our Board and her experience and understanding of Central Asia will be very beneficial to the Company as we continue to advance with the exciting opportunities Arras has in Kazakhstan.

Ms. Kobalia is founder of Kobalia Consulting, a private consultancy advising public and private sector leaders around the world since 2013. Clients have included local and federal governments of Australia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and United Kingdom. She is also co-founder of Olyn Inc., a blockchain based solution for asset registry. Ms. Kobalia previously was Deputy Chair of the Board of the Astana Expo 2017 National Company, which was responsible for the management and construction of associated facilities and infrastructure for the International Exposition held in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2017. Ms. Kobalia served as Advisor to the President of Georgia in 2012-2013 and was Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development for the Republic of Georgia in 2010-2012.

Ms. Kobalia is currently a visiting lecturer at the European Academy of Diplomacy (Warsaw, Poland); a member of the Peoples Panel at the Centre of Public Impact (London, UK); a member of the Economic Development Advisory Committee for the City of New Westminster (British Columbia, Canada); and a member of the Board of Directors for Sandstorm Gold (TSX: SSL). Ms. Kobalia was recognized as one of Business in Vancouvers Top 40 Under 40 award winners in 2019 and is a frequent speaker at various international forums including the World Economic Forum, where she was a Board Member on the Global Council for Development Finance in 2018-2019.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

"Tim Barry"

Tim Barry, CPAusIMM

Chief Executive Officer and Director

INVESTOR RELATIONS:

+1 604 687 5800

info@arrasminerals.com

About Arras Minerals Corp.

Arras is British Columbia incorporated private company advancing a portfolio of copper and gold assets in northeastern Kazakhstan, including the Option Agreement on the Beskauga copper and gold project.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Resource Data announced today that Ariel Gibson was appointed the company's new president. An experienced business leader, Gibson will succeed Jim Rogers and assume responsibilities immediately.

After nearly 25 years as Resource Data's president, Rogers is choosing to phase into retirement. He will remain with the company to support Gibson as a resource of historical knowledge and as a mentor and will serve on the board of directors.

Gibson's impressive resume spans over 20 years in information technology and project management. During her 10 years as a leader within Resource Data, she has risen from a senior project manager to branch manager, shareholder, and most recently, director of sales and marketing.

"Ariel is the right person to take over as president. I am confident she will steer Resource Data into the future while maintaining our mission and values," said Rogers. "She has a strong business education, extensive experience working with large firms, and has occupied a senior role within Resource Data long enough to truly understand our culture and how the business works."

Gibson received her MBA from the University of Alaska and has earned certifications for project management, organizational change management, Scrum Master, and ITIL. She is a proven leader, experienced in managing change while remaining results- and employee-focused.

"I'm looking forward to working with Ariel in her new role as president. I have complete confidence that she will lead the company wisely, ensuring we adhere to our culture and values while continuing our tradition of excellence," said Diane Thompson, Anchorage Branch Manager and board member.

About Resource Data

Resource Data has solved business problems with innovative technology solutions since 1986. They specialize in custom application and database development, system integration, IT project management, analysis, system engineering, and more. With nearly 200 employees, they deliver the personal attention and custom-fit solutions of a small company, with the resources and scalability of a much larger one.

Media Contact

Howard Earl

Sr. Proposal Writer

howard@resourcedata.com

907-770-4134

https://www.resourcedata.com/

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Image 1: Ariel Gibson, President, Resource Data, Inc.





Ariel Gibson, President, Resource Data, Inc.









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NEW YORK, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Elliot Group, a premier executive search firm that harnesses human connections and strategic advisory to power businesses forward, announced today the honorees for The Elliot Awards, to be celebrated in June at a gala reception in New York City at renowned Cipriani South Street.



Exemplifying Courageous Behavior, this group of award recipients will be honored for exemplary leadership, innovative brand building, and impactful guidance for the next generation of leaders.

For more than 25 years, The Elliot Group has honored outstanding leaders for their success in building best-in-class brands through innovation and inspiration. The Elliot Awards hold a rich history of meaningfully recognizing both long-standing leaders with decades of impact, as well as emerging executives well on their way to groundbreaking business endeavors. Past award winners have included: Tim McEnery, CEO of Coopers Hawk Winery & Restaurants; Andy Pforzheimer and Sasa Mahr-Batuz, co-founders, Barteca; Gail Simmons, culinarian and Top Chef judge; Greg Dollarhyde, founder, director, and investor; and Patrick Doyle, former CEO, Dominos Pizza.

One of our founding principles is the belief in building and nurturing real, genuine, and caring relationships with executives in the industries we serve, said Alice Elliot, founder and CEO of The Elliot Group. We are proud to showcase some of the best leaders with The Elliot Awards, and honor those that exemplify courageous behavior in business and in life.

The 2022 honorees include:

Lauren Bailey, CEO and co-founder, Upward Projects

The TrueTrep Award

The TrueTrep Award recognizes entrepreneurs who have successfully built a brand with inventive vision, relentless persistence, and a focus on purpose and people. Celebrating the true calling of an entrepreneur, the TrueTrep Award celebrates those who have started with an idea and then took risks, broke molds, and worked tirelessly with others to create unique value.

Bailey is a creative powerhouse and master strategist focusing on conceptualization and development for 18 restaurants and five brands spanning three states. Postino, Windsor, Churn, Federal Pizza, and Joyride Taco House are each known for their unique, chef-driven menus, differentiated cultures, and commitment to community. Bailey serves on numerous non-profit boards and advises the Entrepreneurs Organization and Grand Canyon University Colangelo College of Business.

Noah Glass, founder and CEO, Olo

The Renaissance Award

The Renaissance Award recognizes leaders who have masterfully combined both the art and science of leadership to successfully develop distinctive paths in business. Utilizing varying skill sets and mental models, honorees showcase a range of business acumen paired with passionate leadership to successfully launch products, services or brands that disrupt the status quo.

Glass is an industry visionary who founded Olo in 2005 and has since developed the brand to be the leading on-demand commerce platform powering the restaurants industry digital transformation. Through both tech development and advocacy for restaurant partners, Olo now serves over 500 brands. The company held a successful IPO in March 2021, raising $450 million to fund its further growth. Glass serves on the board of directors for Portillos and Share Our Strength, as well as a trustee at the Culinary Institute of America.

David Overton, founder and CEO, The Cheesecake Factory

The Legacy Award

The Legacy Award honors excellence in leadership, lifetime achievement, and contributions of outstanding significance. Recipients have exemplified innovation, dedication, commitment, and guidance of others to drive strong growth not only for a brand, but also for teams that share in that success from the C-suite to the front line.

Through his vision, flare for culinary creativity, and commitment to excellence, Overton has helped to develop some of the highest standards in casual dining. He originated the upscale casual segment by creating and opening the first The Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills in 1978. Under Overtons leadership, the brand has since grown to over 200 locations across the U.S. and Canada, while maintaining the highest sales volumes in the industry, averaging $11.1 million per restaurant. Believing that creativity is the key to his success, Overton enjoys every aspect of the development of a restaurant from location to decor to menu design. Always giving back, Overton established a charitable foundation with beneficiaries including the City of Hope and the Salvation Army.

Regynald Washington, president and CEO, RGW Enterprises

The Impact Award

The Impact Award, presented by The Elliot Leadership Institute, recognizes a leader who has focused selflessly on giving back and serving future generations as an advocate and advisor. Honorees have built a personal and professional legacy of providing inclusive opportunities to advance others and delivering impactful guidance to help people, communities, industries, and the world.

Throughout a long and distinguished career with leadership positions at Paradies Lagardere and Walt Disney Company, Washington never lost sight of paying it forward via philanthropy, education, and board service. Over decades of service to students, emerging leaders, and the broad hospitality industry, he has gifted $1 million for an endowment and scholarships at Georgia State Universitys Hospitality School, was named a Conti Lifetime Professor at the School of Hospitality Management at The Pennsylvania State University, served as chairman of the National Restaurant Association and in numerous roles at the Georgia Restaurant Association, and has used his industry visibility to always support others and encourage the practice of leadership through dignity and generosity.

About The Elliot Group:

The Elliot Group is a premier executive search firm that harnesses human connections and strategic advisory to power businesses forward. Focusing on the consumer and service industries, including hospitality, foodservice, franchise, fitness, wellness, and retail, The Elliot Group is retained by private equity firms and public and private companies of all sizes. The firm places executive talent across the Board, C-Suite, Vice President, and Director levels, and completes projects including talent benchmarking, pre-M&A talent advisory, and succession planning. By leveraging informed intuition and cultural and business intelligence, The Elliot Group successfully pairs talent and companies in ways that unlock growth and make futures happen. For more information on The Elliot Group, visit www.theelliotgroup.com.

About The Elliot Leadership Institute

The Elliot Leadership Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advancing courageous behavior among leaders looking to positively affect and advance communities, industries, and the future of business. Through collaboration, education, and inspiration, The Elliot Leadership Institute serves executives of influence who are committed to a journey of professional and personal development focused on conscious leadership, diversity, equity and inclusion, local action, and global impact.

Contact:

Kimberly Hamilton

The Elliot Group

KimHamilton@TheElliotGroup.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7128670d-1d7c-458a-9aa4-a26f31fd6d49

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/61f8638a-6d91-43d6-a94a-75700b25cbab

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e7fad3bd-65b8-4653-b059-6e9a8019b470

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eea27c3d-b4f9-457f-8b7a-021c3ef30b6b
WESTPORT, Conn., March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HMG Strategy, the Worlds #1 digital platform for enabling technology executives to reimagine the enterprise and reshape the business world, is excited to be hosting its 2022 New York CIO Summit of America on April 5 at Pier 59 at Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. HMG Strategys highly interactive events bring together the worlds most distinguished and innovative security and business technology leaders to discuss the most pressing leadership, strategic, cultural, technology and career challenges and opportunities that they face today  and into the future.



The 2022 New York CIO Summit of America will focus on the tech leader as enterprise change agent fostering cultural change and enabling the digital business enterprise. The summit will also feature bestselling author Stephen M.R. Covey who will share how a Trust and Inspire leadership style can help engage employees and enable technology executives to win the global war for talent.

Technology executives have an incredible opportunity to act as enterprise change agents as they sit at the intersection of how technology can be leveraged to drive transformative change across the organization, said Hunter Muller, President and CEO at HMG Strategy. But in order to pilot such dramatic changes across the organization, bold leadership along with an inclusive and compassionate approach is needed to succeed.



World-class technology executives and industry experts speaking at the 2022 New York CIO Summit of America will include:

Bashir Agboola , VP & Chief Technology Officer, Hospital for Special Surgery

, VP & Chief Technology Officer, Hospital for Special Surgery Nicolas Avila , Chief Technology Officer, Globant

, Chief Technology Officer, Globant Wolfgang Bauriedel , Practice Lead, Technology Sector, Russell Reynolds Associates

, Practice Lead, Technology Sector, Russell Reynolds Associates Christopher Bernard , VP Digital Employee Experience, Wheels Up

, VP Digital Employee Experience, Wheels Up Candice Dixon , Coalition Development Director, NPower

, Coalition Development Director, NPower David Fairman , Chief Security Officer APAC, Netskope

, Chief Security Officer APAC, Netskope Steve Fernandez , Global CTO, AIG

, Global CTO, AIG Scott Glenn , Partner, BearingPoint

, Partner, BearingPoint Rocco Grillo , Managing Director - Global Cyber Risk Services & Incident Response Investigation, Alvarez & Marsal

, Managing Director - Global Cyber Risk Services & Incident Response Investigation, Alvarez & Marsal Fred Harris , Head of Cybersecurity Risk, Data Risk and IT Risk, Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking

, Head of Cybersecurity Risk, Data Risk and IT Risk, Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking Yvonne Hyland , Head of Portfolio Business Development, B Capital Group

, Head of Portfolio Business Development, B Capital Group John Iannarelli , Former FBI Special Agent and Senior Executive Advisor FBI

, Former FBI Special Agent and Senior Executive Advisor FBI Tony Leng, Managing Director, Practice Lead and OMP, Diversified Search

Managing Director, Practice Lead and OMP, Diversified Search Shola Oyewole , VP Digital Innovation, United Therapeutics

, VP Digital Innovation, United Therapeutics Mark Polansky , Senior Partner, Technology Officers Executive Search, Korn Ferry

, Senior Partner, Technology Officers Executive Search, Korn Ferry Anna Ransley , CIO, GODIVA

, CIO, GODIVA Gabrielle Wolfson, CIO & CDO, Quest Diagnostics



Valued Partners for the 2022 New York CIO Summit of America include Akamai, Apptio, Aryaka, BearingPoint, B Capital Group, BetterCloud, Darktrace, Genesys Works, Globant, Moveworks, Netskope, NPower, Nutanix, Palo Alto Networks, RingCentral, SafeGuard Cyber, SIM New York Metro, Skybox Security, SnapLogic, Software Improvement Group, Strata, Tonkean, Upwork, Zoom, and Zscaler.

To learn more about the 2022 New York CIO Summit of America and to register for this custom event, click here.

HMG Strategy will also be hosting its 2022 Dallas CIO Executive Leadership Summit at the Brookhaven Country Club on April 7. Top-tier technology executives and industry experts speaking at this in-person event will share recommendations for tech executives to strengthen their leadership acumen with a heightened focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion while promoting their personal brands to retain and attract world-class business technology talent.

Global technology executives and industry leaders speaking at the 2022 Dallas CIO Executive Leadership Summit on April 7 include:

Renee Arrington , President, COO & Director, Pearson Partners International, Inc.

, President, COO & Director, Pearson Partners International, Inc. Nellson Burns , VP, IS, BU CIO, Mohawk Industries (Dal-Tile)

, VP, IS, BU CIO, Mohawk Industries (Dal-Tile) Kevin Christ , Partner, Concentre

, Partner, Concentre Mark Connelly , Global Information Security Senior Director, CISO, Boston Consulting Group

, Global Information Security Senior Director, CISO, Boston Consulting Group Mignona Cote , Chief Security Officer, NetApp

, Chief Security Officer, NetApp Stephen M.R. Covey , Bestselling Author, Global Practice Leader, Speed of Trust, FranklinCovey

, Bestselling Author, Global Practice Leader, Speed of Trust, FranklinCovey Jamey Cummings , Partner - Cybersecurity and Technology, JM Search

, Partner - Cybersecurity and Technology, JM Search John Foley , Founder & CEO, John Foley Inc.

, Founder & CEO, John Foley Inc. Chris Gates , Group CIO and SVP Hosting Services, Allstate

, Group CIO and SVP Hosting Services, Allstate Rocco Grillo , Managing Director - Global Cyber Risk Services & Incident Response Investigation, Alvarez & Marsal

, Managing Director - Global Cyber Risk Services & Incident Response Investigation, Alvarez & Marsal Ebele Kemery , Managing Director, Head of Global Technology Diversity & Inclusion, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

, Managing Director, Head of Global Technology Diversity & Inclusion, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Gerry Mecca , CIO, Tropicana Brands

, CIO, Tropicana Brands Claire Pendleton , Marketing Specialist, Insight

, Marketing Specialist, Insight Mark Polansky , Senior Partner, Technology Officers Executive Search, Korn Ferry

, Senior Partner, Technology Officers Executive Search, Korn Ferry Angela Venuk, Former CIO  Gamestop, President, SIM DFW



Valued Partners for the 2022 Dallas CIO Executive Leadership Summit include Akamai, BetterCloud, Darktrace, Centripetal, Fortinet, Globant, Insight Cloud + Data Center Transformation, Moveworks, Netskope, NPower, Nutanix, OutSystems, Palo Alto Networks, ReliaQuest, RingCentral, SafeGuard Cyber, SentinelOne, SIM Dallas Fort Worth, Skybox Security, SMC2, Strata, Tonkean, Upwork, Zoom, and Zscaler.

To learn more about the 2022 Dallas CIO Executive Leadership Summit and to register for the event, click here.

HMG Strategys digital 2022 HMG Live! SASE Executive Leadership Summit on March 8 will focus on the factors that are prompting security leaders to adopt a Secure Access Security Edge (SASE) network architecture to provide edge-to-edge protection across enterprise infrastructure. CISOs and security leaders speaking at and attending this interactive event will also discuss the skillsets needed to successfully address the evolving threat landscape.

World-class security executives and industry experts speaking at the 2022 HMG Live! SASE Executive Leadership Summit will include:

Mike Anderson , Chief Digital and Information Officer, Netskope

, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Netskope Andy Bennett , CISO, Apollo Information Systems

, CISO, Apollo Information Systems Nishant Bhajaria , Global Head of Privacy Engineering and Analytics, Uber

, Global Head of Privacy Engineering and Analytics, Uber Lawrence Bilker , EVP & CIO, Pyramid Healthcare

, EVP & CIO, Pyramid Healthcare Patrick Ford , CISO, America Region, Schneider Electric

, CISO, America Region, Schneider Electric Rocco Grillo , Managing Director  Global Cyber Risk Services & Incident Response Investigation, Alvarez & Marsal

, Managing Director  Global Cyber Risk Services & Incident Response Investigation, Alvarez & Marsal Fred Harris , Head of Cybersecurity Risk, Data Risk and IT Risk, Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking

, Head of Cybersecurity Risk, Data Risk and IT Risk, Societe Generale Corporate and Investment Banking John Iannarelli , Former FBI Special Agent and Senior Executive Advisor, FBI

, Former FBI Special Agent and Senior Executive Advisor, FBI Greg Kyrytschenko , Deputy CISO, Guardian Life

, Deputy CISO, Guardian Life Ryan Loy , CIO, EBSCO Industries, Inc.

, CIO, EBSCO Industries, Inc. Michael Moore , Practice Development Manager, Insight

, Practice Development Manager, Insight Kumar Ramachandran , SVP of Products for SASE, Palo Alto Networks

, SVP of Products for SASE, Palo Alto Networks Bobby Singh , CTO & CISO, TMX Group

, CTO & CISO, TMX Group Erik Tomasi, Managing Partner, Symosis Security

Valued Partners for the 2022 HMG Live! SASE Executive Leadership Summit on March 8 include Akamai, BetterCloud, Darktrace, Globant, Insight Cloud + Data Center Transformation, Netskope, Nutanix, Palo Alto Networks, RingCentral, SafeGuard Cyber, SIM Philadelphia, Skybox Security, Strata, Tonkean, Upwork, Zoom, and Zscaler.

To learn more about the 2022 HMG Live! SASE Executive Leadership Summit and to register for this custom event, click here.

To learn about all of HMG Strategys Upcoming CIO & CISO Summits, click here .

About HMG Strategy

HMG Strategy is the world's leading digital platform for connecting technology executives to reimagine the enterprise and reshape the business world. The HMG Strategy global network consists of more than 400,000 CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, CDOs, senior business technology executives, search industry executives, venture capitalists, industry experts and world-class thought leaders.

HMG Strategys global media model generates more than 1 million impressions per week, providing vast opportunities for business technology leaders and sponsor partners to promote themselves and their brands.

HMG Strategy was founded in 2008 by Hunter Muller, a leadership expert who has worked side-by-side with Fortune 2000 executives with strategic planning and career ascent for the past 30+ years.

HMG Strategys regional and virtual CIO and CISO Executive Leadership Series, authored books and Digital Resource Center deliver unique, peer-driven guidance from CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, CDOs and technology executives on leadership, innovation, transformation and career ascent.

HMG Strategy offers a range of peer-led research services such as its CIO & CISO Executive Leadership Alliance (CELA) program which bring together the worlds top CIOs, CISOs and technology executives to brainstorm on the top opportunities and challenges facing them in their roles.

HMG Strategys Global Peer Actionable Insights Services Stack is a unique set of research services that are designed to keep business technology executives up to speed on the latest leadership, business, technology and global geo-economic trends that are impacting businesses and industries.

HMG Ventures is a venture capital unit thats designed to connect CIOs, CTOs, CISOs and other technology executives with innovative early-stage technology companies from Silicon Valley to Tel Aviv. HMG Ventures provides technology executives with a window into hot emerging technology companies that can help move the needle for their businesses while also offering these executives unparalleled personal investment opportunities. One early-stage investment in an enterprise-level AI-powered service management provider has generated a 100X return.

HMG Strategy also produces the HMG Security Innovation Accelerator Panel, a new webinar series thats designed to connect enterprise technology and security leaders with the most innovative technology and cybersecurity companies from across the world.

To learn more about the 7 Pillars of Trust for HMG Strategy's unique business model, click here .

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5dcfe23f-2c34-4606-aa28-6243df14097b
BODEN, Sweden, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genesis Digital Assets, one of the largest industrial-scale Bitcoin mining companies in the world, today announced a new self-hosted Bitcoin mining data center in Sweden.

The new data center expects to have up to 100 MW megawatts online by 2024. The energy used by the new farm comes from 100% clean energy sources.

Commenting on the new data center, Tim Liepold, Head of Power at Genesis Digital Assets, said: "This latest expansion aligns with GDA's focus to identify ways to power our facilities with clean energy while also creating jobs for the local economy. We're pleased to see this project begin and look forward to expanding this hydro-powered data center in the future."

This latest announcement comes after a flurry of recent company news. In 2021, Genesis Digital Assets announced one of the largest procurement deals in the history of the industry and more than $550 million raised with the most recent round led by Paradigm with participation from NYDIG, Stoneridge, Alameda Research, Ribbit, Electric Capital, Skybridge, and Kingsway Capital.

"We're on a mission to provide the infrastructure that will power the open-source monetary system revolution and this data center marks another key milestone as we work to execute on our big picture vision," said Liepold.

About Genesis Digital Assets

Genesis Digital Assets is one of the world's largest and most experienced Bitcoin mining companies. Since 2013, founders of the company have built over 20 industrial-scale mining farms, brought over 300,000 miners online, and mined over $1 billion in Bitcoin. Learn more at genesisdigitalassets.com.

Media contact:

Brett@gofrontlines.com



Related Images











Image 1: GDA Drone









This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com.

Attachment
TORONTO, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bunker Hill Mining Corp. (the Company) (CSE: BNKR, OTCQB: BHLL) is pleased to announce the purchase of a 225-acre surface land parcel for approximately $200,000.



Sam Ash, CEO, stated We are excited to secure a more than 50% increase in our surface land ownership with the purchase of a private ground parcel centered around the main haulage entrance to the Bunker Hill Mine. This will serve as a strategic asset for the rapid restart of the mine, optimizing construction efficiency and costs while providing improved access to prospective areas identified by our recent geophysics survey.

The purchase of the land package originates from a lease to purchase option with Northern Enterprises, Inc. that was signed by the Company in late 2020. The agreement called for monthly lease payments of $4,000, with the crediting of 12 payments against the purchase price of $250,000, resulting in a net purchase price of $202,000.

The approximately 225-acre land parcel includes the surface rights to portions of 24 patented mining claims, of which Bunker already owns the mineral rights. In addition to being a strategic operational acquisition, the acquired land provides further surface access up both East and West Milo Gulch, opening up a large portion of ground identified by the geophysical program for future exploration efforts. This section of the Bunker Hill property hosted some of the earliest mining in the area on some of the highest grade, shallow silver veins produced from in Bunkers history. The site is accessible year-round by an existing road to the Russel portal yard.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8969f873-80bd-4efd-ae1a-f88f3d748515

ABOUT BUNKER HILL MINING CORP.

Under new Idaho-based leadership the Bunker Hill Mining Corp, intends to sustainably restart and develop the Bunker Hill Mine as the first step in consolidating a portfolio of North American mining assets with a focus on silver. Information about the Company is available on its website, www.bunkerhillmining.com, or within the SEDAR and EDGAR databases.

For additional information contact:

David Wiens, CFA

CFO & Corporate Secretary

+1 208 370 3665

ir@bunkerhillmining.com

Cautionary Statements

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as well as within the meaning of the phrase forward-looking information in the Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 51-102  Continuous Disclosure Obligations. Forward-looking statements are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Companys future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as believes, anticipates, expects, estimates, may, could, would, will, or plan. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet managements expectations. Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.

Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, the Companys intentions regarding its objectives, goals or future plans and statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: the ability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel and supply chains; failure to identify mineral resources; failure to convert estimated mineral resources to reserves; the inability to complete a feasibility study which recommends a production decision; the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results; the Companys ability to restart and develop the Bunker Hill Mine and the risks of not basing a production decision on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, resulting in increased uncertainty due to multiple technical and economic risks of failure which are associated with this production decision including, among others, areas that are analyzed in more detail in a feasibility study, such as applying economic analysis to resources and reserves, more detailed metallurgy and a number of specialized studies in areas such as mining and recovery methods, market analysis, and environmental and community impacts and, as a result, there may be an increased uncertainty of achieving any particular level of recovery of minerals or the cost of such recovery, including increased risks associated with developing a commercially mineable deposit with no guarantee that production will begin as anticipated or at all or that anticipated production costs will be achieved; failure to commence production would have a material adverse impact on the Company's ability to generate revenue and cash flow to fund operations; failure to achieve the anticipated production costs would have a material adverse impact on the Company's cash flow and future profitability; delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals; political risks; changes in equity markets; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the inability of the Company to budget and manage its liquidity in light of the failure to obtain additional financing, including the ability of the Company to complete the payments pursuant to the terms of the agreement to acquire the Bunker Hill Mine Complex; inflation; changes in exchange rates; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the development of projects; capital, operating and reclamation costs varying significantly from estimates and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry; and those risks set out in the Companys public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources

This press release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates included in this press release have been disclosed in accordance with NI 43-101 and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves. NI 43-101 is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral projects. Canadian disclosure standards, including NI 43-101, differ significantly from the requirements of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and resource and reserve information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. companies. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the term resource does not equate to the term reserves. Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a reserve unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination is made. The SECs disclosure standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information concerning measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources or inferred mineral resources or other descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not constitute reserves by U.S. standards in documents filed with the SEC. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. U.S. investors should also understand that inferred mineral resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of contained ounces in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute reserves by SEC standards as in-place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. The requirements of NI 43-101 for disclosure of reserves are also not the same as those of the SEC, and reserves disclosed by the Company in accordance with NI 43-101 may not qualify as reserves under SEC standards. Accordingly, information concerning mineral deposits contained in our website may not be comparable with information made public by companies that report in accordance with U.S. standards.
Vancouver, British Columbia, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Apogee Minerals Ltd. (Apogee or the Company or the Optionee) (TSXV: APMI) issues a correction to prior news release dated February 18, 2022, regarding the amendment to the option agreement (the Agreement) with Eagle Plains (the Optionor) for the Pine Channel Property (or the Property).



Under the new terms of the Agreement, Apogee has been granted a reallocation on the majority of the first year exploration expenditures from the first year to the fourth year, with the aggregate exploration expenditure amount over the course of the option remaining the same. The new exploration expenditure schedule is as follows:

(i) $100,000 on or before June 30, 2022;

(ii) an additional $500,000 on or before June 30, 2023;

(iii) an additional $800,000 on or before June 30, 2024; and

(iv) an additional $1,600,000 on or before June 30, 2025.

In consideration of the amendment, the Apogee has paid the Optionor $40,000. All the other terms and conditions of the agreement remain unchanged.

About Apogee Minerals Ltd.:

Apogee Minerals Ltd. is a mineral exploration company. Our goal is to build shareholder value through mineral project acquisitions and advancement, as well as new mineral discoveries.

To find out more about Apogee Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V: APMI) visit the Companys website:

www.apogeemineralsltd.com

Apogee Minerals Ltd.

Jim Pettit

James Pettit

CEO and Director

For further information, please contact:

Apogee Minerals Ltd.

Riley Trimble, Director

Email: rtrimble@sentinelmarket.com

Tel: (604) 416-2978

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding the structure of the Proposed Transaction, the terms and conditions of the Proposed Transaction, the Consolidation, the Name Change, the terms of the Financing. the composition of the board of directors and officers of the Resulting Issuer upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, the intention of the parties to seek a sponsorship exemption or waiver, the issuance of subsequent news releases, and Alto Verdes future exploration plans. Although the Company believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

Forward looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the Companys ability to complete the Proposed Transaction; the expected timing and terms of the Proposed Transaction and the Financing; the state of the financial markets for the Companys securities; the state of the natural resources sector in the event the Proposed Transaction is completed; recent market volatility and potentially negative capital raising conditions resulting from the continued COVID-19 pandemic and risks relating to the extent and duration of such pandemic and its impact on global markets; the Companys ability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; and other risks and factors that the Company is unaware of at this time.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

The securities referred to in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements.

This news release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities, nor a solicitation for offers to buy any securities.
DHAKA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh on Wednesday resumed in-person classes for children across the country in strict compliance with health directives.

"Educational institutions reopened for in-person classes for students aged under 12 from today," Education Minister Dipu Moni told reporters.

She asked school authorities to follow health regulations strictly during in-person classes.

Meanwhile, the minister said they are working on a plan to vaccinate children under the age of 12.

Apparently, the resumption of in-person classes elated parents and their children who returned to campuses after a long time.

On Wednesday morning in Dhaka, happy gatherings of parents and children were seen in front of many government and private schools.

With COVID-19 cases rising since December last year due to the highly-infectious Omicron strain, the Bangladeshi government announced the closure of educational institutions temporarily on Jan. 21 this year, which was later extended in phases to Feb. 21.

The country's secondary and higher educational institutes reopened on Feb. 22 after a closure of one month as authorities decided not to extend COVID-19 restrictions except mask mandates which remained as usual.

Amid surging cases with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country, the Bangladeshi government on Jan. 13 imposed 11-point restrictions till Feb. 7, and then extended them up to Feb. 21.

The latest moves came as the COVID-19 situation continued to improve in the country in recent weeks.

On Wednesday, Bangladesh reported 732 new cases, taking the infection tally to 1,945,108.

The country also reported eight new deaths from the pandemic Wednesday, taking the death toll to 29,053. 
Toronto, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Police Association of Ontario (PAO) is thrilled that Ontario has announced a dedicated mental health facility for first responders thanks to commitments at the municipal, provincial and federal levels.

The provincial and federal governments will each provide $1 million for the capital planning stage of the facility, and construction is set to begin this spring, with a completion goal of late 2024.

The Runnymede Health Centre is set to build and run a rehabilitation centre dedicated to treating first responders and medical personnel for post-traumatic stress injuries. The facility will include an outpatient and assessment centre in Torontos west end, which will be known as Station 3434, and a 40-bed in-patient facility located on a large property in Caledon, Ont., that has been donated by the Region of Peel.

We are extremely pleased to see that our efforts are paying off with this announcement of a dedicated facility for our first responders, said PAO President Mark Baxter. The PAO will continue to advocate for the mental health and well-being of our members.

As the first of its kind in Ontario, Runnymede has an opportunity to make a real difference, said Baxter. When a police officer or civilian police service employee is struggling, and particularly if they have gotten to a point of crisis, they require immediate and confidential access to support services and professionals who are specifically trained to understand the unique challenges that first responders face.

The PAO is looking forward to being a continued partner as the Centres programs and services are developed, the Toronto and Peel sites are built and launched, and the Runnymede First Responders PTSI Rehabilitation Centre is able to start providing evidence-based and much-needed assistance and treatment to Ontarios policing and first responder communities.

-30-

About the Police Association of Ontario (PAO):

Founded in 1933, the Police Association of Ontario (PAO) is the official provincial representative body for over 28,000 sworn and civilian police personnel from 45 police associations across Ontario. A unifying voice for advocacy in policing, the PAO provides its member associations with representation, resource, and support.
Brisbane City, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brisbane City, Queensland -

Protec Security Systems is urging homeowners and commercial business owners in Brisbane, Queensland, to monitor and protect their properties with state-of-the-art security systems to combat the steadily rising specter of robberies and home invasions affecting the region.

According to statistics from the Queensland government website, robberies in Brisbane have seen a steady rise (except for the year 2020) since they hit their low in 2016. 2022 appears to be a continuation of this trend as the government has already recorded 94 robberies, as of the time of writing, in the first two months of the year. According to the Online Crime Map published online by the Queensland Police Service most crimes occur during the night between 10 PM and 6 AM. The numbers and statistics clearly show that criminals prefer the quiet of the night to implement their nefarious plans.

Properties that are left at the mercy of malicious actors will have no recourse if they happen to get infiltrated. Modern security systems not only act as an active deterrent to criminal activity but also prove pivotal in helping the authorities collect evidence regarding the perpetrators and, hopefully, assist them in recovering the stolen goods and valuables. Protec Security Systems is recommending the use of its suite of security cameras, access control systems, alarms, and networking hardware to every property owner who wants to protect their domicile or place of business from those with wicked intentions. Readers can find out more about the care that needs to be taken while hiring a security company by checking out a blog post from Protec Security Systems by heading over to the link: 8 Things You Should Know Before Hiring a CCTV Installation Company.

Technology has progressed way beyond the typical grainy footage that is often associated with security cameras. Today, security cameras have a range of features that make home and commercial property security not only feasible for almost anyone but also lowers the barrier in terms of the technical proficiency required to operate and maintain them in the long term. For example, security cameras now support sending their live feed to connected and authorized smart devices such as mobile phones, tablets, or computers allowing property owners to monitor their premises from wherever they might be at that moment.

Some cameras support night vision, making them invaluable in spotting and tracking intruders that plan their invasion during the nighttime hours. IP-based camera systems, which are considered by many to be the future of CCTV camera systems, offer higher image clarity, allowing the authorities to zoom into the picture and get a better profile of the offenders. They even draw power over the ethernet connection eliminating the need for a separate power source. The ethernet connection also enables administrators and security specialists to control a fleet of such cameras from a central console, giving a better view over the entire area to be monitored.

The advancements in computer storage have also made storing large quantities of surveillance data collected over a long time, more affordable than it has ever been. Video intercom systems are another hot category of consumer devices that have made controlling access to the home even more secure, giving the homeowners a clear view of the person or group that is at their front door.

A spokesperson for the company had this to say about its offerings: Protec Security Systems cover a wide range of services, such as Security Alarm Systems, CCTV (Cameras), Access Control, Intercoms, Locksmithing, Data, Networking & Communications to homes and businesses across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and SE Queensland. With over 15 years of combined industry experience, Protec Security understands that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to security. With our in-depth experience and knowledge, our team will always focus on providing a tailored package to suit your requirements. A CCTV system installed by Protec Security Systems uses technology such as ColorVu by Hikvision that enables cameras to produce colorful videos with rich details in extremely low-light environments. Any detailed information, such as the color of the hair and skin, the color of the clothing, will play a critical role in following authority investigations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taa6I2e7MQU

Protec Security Systems can be contacted at the phone number 1300 373 805 or the email address operations@protecsecurity.com.au.

###

For more information about Protec Security Systems, contact the company here:



Protec Security Systems

1300 373 805

operations@protecsecurity.com.au

Brisbane QLD 4000
Vancouver, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vancouver, BC  March 3, 2022  Residents and visitors to the City of Medford, Massachusetts will now have a better parking experience thanks to PayByPhone. The leading global provider of mobile parking payment solutions, PayByPhone now offers safe, convenient parking payment for 1,181 spaces throughout the city.

Were excited to be introducing our contactless parking services in the City of Medford, as they join the many other communities in the greater Boston area that have adopted PayByPhone said Roamy Valera, CEO of PayByPhone. Now, residents and visitors to the City of Medford can enjoy the convenience of paying for parking with the PayByPhone app on their own personal devices.

PayByPhone is a hassle-free solution for over 43 million drivers, allowing them to pay for parking with just their smartphone. The app sends text messages automatically when a parking session expires and gives drivers the ability to extend their parking session without needing to return to their vehicle. Drivers can also begin a session without registering for an account, making it ideal for those who are pressed for time.

For more information, visit paybyphone.com

About PayByPhone

PayByPhones aim is simple: simplify your journey so you can focus on what matters most. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, they are one of the fastest growing mobile payments companies in the world, processing more than $550 million USD in payments and over 5 million downloads per year. Available in more than 1,000 cities across the globe, PayByPhone helps millions of consumers easily and safely pay for parking without the hassles of coins, lines, or fees. Their smart, intuitive technology is at the centre of their user-first approach, delivered to make everything as simple as possible.

Media Contact

Genevieve Stuart-Ross

Marketing Manager, PayByPhone

genevieve.stuart-ross@paybyphone.com
ADEN, Yemen, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group fired ballistic missiles against a military base of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in the country's northwestern province of Hajjah on Wednesday, killing 10 Sudanese soldiers, a military official told Xinhua.

"The missiles struck the units of Sudanese troops, who are part of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition troops, in Hajjah province near the border with Saudi Arabia," the local military source said on condition of anonymity.

"A total of 10 Sudanese soldiers were killed and more than 25 others injured in Hajjah's district of Midi," the local military source said.

The Sudanese troops were backing the Yemeni government forces in the ongoing military operations taking place against the Houthis in the northern regions of the war-ravaged Arab country, according to the official.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition reported that its warplanes carried out more than 18 airstrikes against the Houthi-held sites in Yemen's Hajjah during the past 24 hours.

Local Yemeni sources confirmed that most of the airstrikes bombed the Houthi sites in Haradh district and other key areas of Hajjah, causing casualties amongst the Houthi fighters.

Under the cover of the intensified airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition, the Yemeni government forces have been engaged in intense battles recently with the Houthi fighters in Haradh, the main gateway for Yemen's exports before a land port there was closed by the Houthis in 2014.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. 
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China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna Wang Qun attends a meeting convened by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Ukraine, at Vienna, Austria, March 2, 2022. Wang expressed concerns for the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine.(Xinhua/Guo Chen)

VIENNA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna Wang Qun on Wednesday expressed concerns for the safety of nuclear facilities in Ukraine.

China supports the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in performing its duties in accordance with its mandate, Wang said at a meeting convened by the IAEA Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

"Nuclear safety and security are responsibilities of sovereign states," the Chinese envoy said. "The issue of Ukraine's nuclear safety and security should be addressed through existing procedures."

He urged relevant parties to earnestly perform their duties on this issue and called for the IAEA to provide necessary assistance in strict accordance with its mandate.

"Relevant parties should act prudently to avoid unintended nuclear safety and security accidents, and the IAEA should properly handle the issue of nuclear safeguards in Ukraine in consideration of the country's security situation," he added.

He also urged relevant parties to respect the independence and authority of the IAEA and avoid politicizing the agency's affairs.

China will continue to closely monitor the developments in Ukraine and support all efforts conducive to de-escalation and political settlement, Wang said. 
Governors began the year by sounding off on a range of issues likely to garner attention in their respective statesand in some cases nationally.Annual State of the State addresses provide a glimpse of each governors priorities for the new legislative session.reviewed all 49 speeches delivered so far, compiling summaries of some of the most talked-about policies.Job creation and education served as central themes throughout most governors speeches, while many also touched on pension reform and Medicaid expansion. Curbing gun violence and providing support for the mental ill, along with references to the Sandy Hook school shootings, also frequently appeared in speeches.But for the most part, governors avoided some of the more hot-button issues: immigration, same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization and abortion.Heres a summary of a few of the top issues governors addressed:Governors of the following 20 states either discussed the health of retirement systems or policies specifically affecting pensions: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin.Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn devoted a large portion of his speech to the issue, throwing his support behind a bill that would make changes to the states chronically-underfunded system. Illinois' public pension system is draining funds from education, public safety and other services to the tune of $17 million a day, Quinn said.Similarly, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett warned lawmakers that pension debt could siphon funding from other areas of state government. Resolving our pension crisis will be the single most important thing we do for decades to come, he said.Others hit the topic indirectly: West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin hailed passage of a bill tackling public employee retiree health care debt, a non-pension cost. New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan also referenced estimates from changes to the states retirement system when discussing an unrelated topic, and South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard cited other states pension woes.Thirty governors referenced the word Medicaid at least once in their speech, with much of the discussion revolving around Medicaid expansion. The Supreme Court left it up to states to decide whether to expand Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act last year.About half of states have opted in. But governors of 14 others had not elected not to participate in Medicaid expansion as of this week.Several high-profile Republican governors consistently voiced sharp criticism directed at president Obamas healthcare legislation, and their State of the State speeches were no different.Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, whose state will not participate, cited the programs high price tag. Instead of assuming enormous costs that we cannot afford, I would suggest that we spend our time and efforts in finding good jobs for all Mississippians, he said.Other Republican governors attempted to justify their support for expanding Medicaid while remaining firm in opposing the legislation.Ohio Gov. John Kasich, for example, discussed how added Medicaid benefits would benefit the mentally ill or those suffering from addictions. For those that live in the shadows of life, those who are the least among us, I will not accept the fact that the most vulnerable in our state should be ignored, he said.Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer reminded voters she attempted to block the legislation, and even wagged her finger at the president. Still, federal dollars would simply flow to other states if the state chose not to participate, she said.Several governors expressed concerns regarding state costs if the federal government decides to cut Medicaid reimbursement rates in the coming years. Brewer and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon both called for a provision to roll back Medicaid expansion in their states if Congress trims federal funding in the future.Governors of the following twenty states emphasized mental health or suicide prevention: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming. Three others made references in passing while discussing other issues.Several governors reminded lawmakers of the Sandy Hook shootings as they pressed for additional funding.Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon's budget included $10 million targeted for mental health treatment, while Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin proposed a $16 million funding increase for the state's Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.Only four governors cited specific policies concerning undocumented immigrants. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was most vocal on the issue, calling on the federal government to strengthen the state's border security.Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn hailed passage of a bill legalizing driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, while New Mexico Gov. Gov. Susana Martinez backed the repeal of a similar law in her state. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper voiced his support for an "equitable and fair" way for undocumented children to attend college.Governors of the following 14 states made references to charter schools: Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.In his State of the Commonwealth Address, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell called on the state Legislature to loosen charter school laws and approve a Constitutional amendment allowing the state Board of Education to authorize charter applicants.Six speeches  Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming -- cited the importance of broadband or high-speed Internet access.Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin lauded a program aimed at virtual statewide coverage by the end of the year.Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, whose state invested heavily in broadband, announced an initiative providing students digital learning materials and devices that would put the states broadband infrastructure to use. Similarly, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock committed state funding to modernize schools and upgrade technology capabilities.Technology has pushed Montana into a global marketplace, but far too many of our schools are lagging behind, Bullock said. The phones in our pockets have better Internet access than many of the classrooms in our state.Seven governors  all Democrats -- voiced concern regarding climate change. They were: California Gov. Jerry Brown, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Maryland Gov. Martin OMalley, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.Cuomo made particularly poignant remarks about New Yorks coastal communities and advocated reducing the carbon emission cap. In wake of Hurricane Sandy, he outlined a program providing funds to homeowners wanting to move from their flooded homes and rebuild on higher ground. Cuomo also called for hardening the New York City subway system, airports and utilities to better withstand natural disasters.There is a 100-year flood every two years now, he said. It's inarguable that the sea is warmer and that there is a changing weather pattern, and the time to act is now.Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, cited an initiative reducing carbon emissions without invoking global warming, as did Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie.Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo each proposed state minimum wages hikes.Governors Pat Quinn (Illinois), Mark Dayton (Minnesota) and Lincoln Chafee (Rhode Island) all called on legislatures to pass marriage equality measures.For our economic development, for civil rights, and for basic fairness, we must extend the rights and benefits of marriage to all Rhode Islanders, Chafee said,Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper pressed for civil unions. Peter Shumlin (Vermont), Jay Inslee (Washington) and Andrew Cuomo (New York) rhetorically patted their states on the back for passing marriage equality legislation.Despite a push to legalize marijuana in several states, governors were mostly silent on the issue in their speeches. Only New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper brought it up.Cuomo called for loosening of laws, which he said predominantly result in the arrest of young minorities. Decriminalize the public view with 15 grams or less so there is fairness and parity in the system and we stop stigmatizing these people, making it harder to find a job, making it harder to get into to school, making it harder to turn their lives around at a very young age, he said.Hickenlooper briefly discussed a need to promote health and safety as the state implements Amendment 64, a measure voters approved last fall legalizing personal use of marijuana.
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland on Wednesday reported 54 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, 17 fewer than the day before, the National Health Commission said Thursday.

The commission's daily report showed that Guangdong reported 28 new local infections, while Inner Mongolia reported seven, Hubei reported four, Jilin and Shanghai each reported three. In the meantime, Guangxi reported two cases, and Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Yunnan each reported one.

A total of 160 imported COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday, said the commission.

Five new suspected cases, all arriving from outside the mainland, were reported in Shanghai, said the commission. It added that no deaths from COVID-19 were reported on the day. 
In Seoul, Hyundai Motor Company unveiled a strategic roadmap to accelerate its electrification ambition as it pursues sustainable progress for the company. President and CEO Jaehoon Chang and other executives presented the plans to shareholders and investors, and other various stakeholders at the 2022 CEO Investor Day virtual forum. The company also unveiled targets for sales and financial performance to be achieved by 2030.

Under the new plan, the company aims to boost annual global BEV sales to 1.87 million units and secure 7% of global market share by 2030 by strengthening its line-up with 17 new BEV models by 2030; 11 for Hyundai models and 6 for Genesis luxury brand. The previously announced target was 560,000 units by 2025. With 1.87 million BEV units, Honda projects EVs will represent 36% of all its sales.





The new Hyundai BEV models will include three sedan models, six SUVs, one light commercial vehicle as well as one new type model. This year, Hyundai begin sales of IONIQ 6, followed by IONIQ 7 in 2024.

The Genesis luxury brand BEV line-up consists of two passenger cars and four SUVs, including the Electrified GV70 launching this year. Starting in 2025, all newly launched models from Genesis will be electrified.





Presentation of Jaehoon Chang, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai also presented its mid-to long-term financial goals. The company earmarked KRW 95.5 trillion (US$79 billion) of investment for future businesses by 2030, including KRW 19.4 trillion (US$16 billion) for electrification and KRW 12 trillion (US$10 billion) for software capabilities.

By 2030, Hyundai also targets to achieve an operating profit margin of 10% or higher in its EV businesses by enhancing competitiveness in hardware and software capabilities with an expanded line-up. On a consolidated basis, it aims to secure an operating profit margin of 10%.





Presentation of Gang Hyun Seo, Executive Vice President and Head of Finance & Accounting Division at Hyundai Motor Company

Optimizing EV manufacturing capacity. Hyundai Motor aims to establish a high efficiency manufacturing process for BEV production to accelerate its transition into electrification. Hyundai Motor Global Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS), the cornerstone for innovation in the companys mobility value chain, will build a human-centered manufacturing innovation platform.

The platform is intended to bring significant innovation in production efficiency through a flexible production system, advanced level automation and digital twin technology. The innovation will be expanded to global plants in the future.

Beyond existing BEV production facilities centered in Korea and the Czech Republic, Hyundai plans to expand its BEV manufacturing bases gradually, starting with an Indonesian plant that recently started operation. The Indonesian plant will start BEV production this year to help expand production volume.

As BEV production bases expand, the company is trying to increase the local procurement rate of batteries through strategic alliances with battery companies in major regions, including the US, to secure sufficient battery supply. Through these alliances, the company expects to obtain more than 50% of its next-generation lithium batteries for BEVs starting in 2025.

In addition, Hyundai will also diversify battery sourcing to consolidate the competitiveness of future BEVs. The company has secured sufficient battery supply to meet its sales targets by 2023. Hyundai plans to continue cooperation with various battery companies with an aim of securing 170 GWh of batteries for its models, including Genesis luxury brand by 2030.

Regarding the next-generation batteries, such as solid-state battery, Hyundai is cooperating with various global partners to improve energy density and cost efficiency.

New IMA architecture. Hyundai Motor plans to introduce an Integrated Modular Architecture (IMA), evolved from the electric global modular platform (E-GMP) that is the foundation of IONIQ 5 and GV60, successfully launched in 2021.

The IMA will be utilized not only to as Hyundai Motors passenger BEV platform but also as its exclusive purpose-built vehicle (PBV) platform, helping to streamline production processes and reduce cost.

The IMA is being developed to standardize not only a chassis but also battery system and motor. The innovative architecture can be used for BEV models in all segments, improving driving range.

Unlike the existing BEV development system, which has different types of battery packs for each model, IMA can be equipped with standardized battery packs to attach flexibly regardless of the model to improve cost efficiency. Through the cell-to-pack system, the new architecture can secure sufficient energy density and shorten charging time.

Five types of standardized motors also will be installed on IMA according to model needs. This modular motor system can secure competitiveness in terms of cost and weight as well as motor efficiency.

Software. Hyundai Motor will also strive to develop software architectures to provide a satisfying ownership experience for customers. The company plans to apply an over-the-air (OTA) update to new models that will be launched starting at the end of 2022, and expand it to all Hyundai models by 2025. In addition, the number of integrated control units can be reduced by one-third by 2030.

In terms of autonomous driving technology, the Highway Driving Pilot (HDP), a Level 3 autonomous driving function, will be applied to Genesis G90 starting in the second half of this year. The Motional, the autonomous driving joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv, plans to expand the service area of an IONIQ 5-based robotaxi following its commercial service commencement in 2023 and start self-driving delivery services this year through partnerships with Uber Eats.

The KRW 12-trillion investment in software capabilities will include KRW 4.3 trillion (US$ 3.6 billion)on technology development, such as connectivity and autonomous driving, KRW 4.8 trillion (US$4 billion) on strategic investment for startups and research institutions, and KRW 2.9 trillion (US$2.4 billion) on information and communications technology (ICT). After 2030, the company targets the revenue from software-related businesses to take approximately 30% of total sales.
UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. misappropriation of frozen Afghan assets while the Asian country is facing an avalanche of hunger and poverty is inhumane, said a Chinese envoy on Wednesday.

Against the backdrop of such a grim humanitarian and economic situation, the U.S. government decided last month to divert 7 billion U.S. dollars in frozen Afghan assets for other purposes, which triggered widespread protests across Afghanistan, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Noting that those assets belong to the Afghan people and the sovereign state of Afghanistan, Zhang stressed that the practice of arbitrarily handling other countries' overseas assets under U.S. domestic law has no precedent. It is not only an infringement on Afghanistan's sovereignty and property, but also a serious contravention of international law, he said.

The envoy pointed out that those funds are the only few available assets owned by Afghanistan, playing a crucial part in the stability and development of the country. For the Afghan people, those assets are their life-saving money and their hope for survival. When Afghans need them the most, the ruthless deeds of freezing and misappropriation have inflicted "secondary damage" on them and that are completely against the due spirit of morality and justice.

What the United States has done is illegal, unreasonable and inhumane, he said, noting that China once again calls on related countries to immediately and unconditionally return those assets in full to the Afghan people, instead of making things worse. Moreover, the United States should stop applying double standards on humanitarian issues, Zhang added.

Afghanistan has going through a lot of trials and tribulations, and is now standing at a crucial stage of reconstruction. The country is working hard to improve its political structure, restore order in production and livelihood, and actively carry out foreign exchanges and cooperation. There is a good trend that more and more countries are engaging with the Afghan interim government in various forms, he said.

The international community should continue to adhere to the "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" principle, step up engagement with the Taliban in an equitable, rational and pragmatic approach, and patiently guide the Taliban to respond to the expectations of the international community. Only in this way can Afghanistan gradually achieve lasting peace and stability and eliminate the breeding ground of terrorism. Afghan women and children can thus achieve better development, Zhang said.

As a friendly neighbor, China has always been committed to supporting the peaceful and stable development of Afghanistan. China will work closely with countries in the region, actively participate in various Afghan-related multilateral mechanisms, and promote coordinated actions by all parties to create synergy and help Afghanistan walk on a path of sound development, he said. 
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The new Nardellis Grinder Shoppe was bustling with a lunchtime crowd on March 3, three days after its grand opening.

The sandwich shop, located at 345 Main Ave., opened its new location on Feb. 28.

"People are really enjoying it. It's been a long time coming and I'm so happy that I can bring Nardelli's to lower Fairfield County," said Matthew Youngs, franchisee of the Norwalk location.

Due to the pandemic and supply shortages, Nardelli's Norwalk location opened three months after it originally intended.

"A lot of customers have known our delis very well and have traveled into Central Connecticut to have it and they no longer have to do that," said Youngs, who plans to open up to five new locations in the next six years.

Adriana Morga/ Hearst Connecticut Media

The franchise has been voted the No.1 grinder in Connecticut for nine years in a row by The Best of Connecticut contest, which is run by Connecticut Magazine. Menu items include more than 30 hot and cold grinders, with ingredients such as prosciutto hot pepper chicken, chicken cutlet, roasted turkey club and chipotle grilled chicken.

The family-owned brand was first opened in Connecticut in 1922 by brothers Giuseppe, Antonio and Frederico Nardelli, who had left their Italian hometown eight years earlier, according to Nardelli's website.

Nardelli's Grinder Shoppe currently has 16 locations in Connecticut including in Danbury, Southbury, Milford, Oxford, Waterbury, Meridian, Torrington, Cromwell and Middletown.

Nardelli's is open Monday through Wednesday from 1030 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:30 to 8 p.m.
BRIDGEPORT  A former New Haven police officer, on probation for sexually assaulting a teenage girl, has been charged with sexually assaulting another girl in Stratford that he met on social media.

Eddie Rodriguez, 54, of West Haven, was charged Wednesday with second-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a child.

During Rodriguezs arraignment Wednesday afternoon, Assistant States Attorney Justina Moore urged Superior Court Judge Peter McShane to set a high bond because of Rodriguezs prior criminal history.

His previous sexual assault is very similar to the facts here, Judge McShane agreed. He ordered Rodriguez held in lieu of $500,000 bond and continued the case to March 31.

Rodriguezs lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Kim Mendola, declined comment.

According to Stratford police, last Oct. 21 the mother of a 14-year-old girl reported to a resource officer at Stratford High School that her daughter had been sexually assaulted by an older man.

Police said the mother told them she had been going through her daughters cellphone when she saw a number of sexually explicit texts from a person who identified himself as Jonathan Eddy.

The victim was taken to Bridgeport Hospital where a sex assault kit was done, police said. Police said DNA collected from the victim was determined to match the DNA taken from Rodriguez who was a convicted sex offender.

Police said the victim told them she had initially contacted Rodriguez on Snapchat and, while she didnt know how old he was, she agreed to meet him before school. The victim met Rodriguez in a parking lot near the Stratford Library and agreed to get into his car.

Once in the car, police said Rodriguez sexually assaulted the victim. He then drove her to school.

Police said the victim subsequently identified Rodriguez as the man who assaulted her from a police photo array.

Rodriguez was suspended from the New Haven Police Department in 1990 after he allegedly fired 20 shots at the homes of another police officer and a schoolteacher believing he was shooting at the home of former Mayor Biagio DiLieto.

Then, in 2011, Rodriguez was accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in his West Haven home. He pleaded guilty in 2012 to second-degree sexual assault, illegal sexual contact, according to court records, and was sentenced to five years in prison, followed by 10 years of probation.

In 2019, he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault with a firearm and threatening and was sentenced to one year, followed by three years of probation.
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PORT CHESTER, N.Y.  A new Target store is coming to the Greenwich area.

The big-box retailer is set to move into structure measuring 89,000 square feet at the Gateway shopping plaza off the Post Road in Port Chester, where Whole Foods and Old Navy currently operate. A new sign has already been put up at the site of the former A.I. Friedman art-supply business, at 495 Boston Post Road.

The retailer has confirmed the store opening on its website, as did the the shopping centers management firm. The store is expected to open this spring.

Targets corporate office did not respond to a request for comment.

Port Chester Village Manager Stuart Rabin said he was seeking more information on the business, such as when the store would open and how many employees it would hire. He said the village building department was working on the project.

Sure, its a positive, he said of the planned opening. Its a great business coming into Port Chester, and it could bring in shoppers to other areas of the village.

Rabin said Target was a retail brand that many communities found desirable to host.

While the retail sector has been hard-hit by internet sales in recent years, Target has managed to operate successfully and expand in the digital economy. The Minneapolis-based company made headlines this week when it announced it would begin offering wages as high as $24 an hour this year, at certain store outlets.

The retailer has roughly 1,900 stores and 350,000 employees in the U.S. The company has moved into e-commerce, re-modeled many of its older stores and introduced new brands, according to industry analysts, to satisfy consumers.

The nearest Target store to Greenwich is currently at 21 Broad Street in Stamford. The retail company has plans to open 14 stores in New York state, taking over a number of shuttered Sears retail stores. The company is aggressively expanding into New York City. No planned openings are scheduled in Connecticut.

The Gateway shopping center lies across the street from the former United Hospital. A large redevelopment plan, one that could bring 755 residential units and a hotel, has been proposed at the site.

Includes prior reporting by The Associated Press.
GREENWICH  The town of Greenwich is ending its regular COVID-19 briefings as cases continue to trend downward.

On Wednesday, Greenwich Hospital reported having only one COVID-positive patient admitted after none late last week; the towns Health Department said it was monitoring 39 active cases, a reduction of 19 from the week before.

Overall, the Yale New Haven Health System, which includes Greenwich Hospital, has only 51 COVID-positive patients in its facilities.

The town of Greenwichs vaccination rates are up to 83.23 percent fully vaccinated with 95.18 percent of the eligible population of 58,952 residents ages 5 and older at least partially vaccinated.

We continue to see the numbers decline and flatten and were really excited about that, Diane Kelly, Greenwich Hospital president, said.

Unless the situation changes again, Barbara Heins, executive assistant to the first selectman, said the briefings would end.

The briefings were a daily occurance during the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, tapering off to every other week before initially ending last year. With the late summer surge in cases because of the delta variant, they were brought back.

Now that cases have decreased, the updates are no longer necessary, Heins said.

What stands out is what weve learned in such a rapid fashion, said Kelly, a registered nurse, about the past two years of COVID-19. In the health care industry, we dont typically learn and change practice in a rapid fashion because were built on science and the data. ...Whats been impressive is the whole medical community, and I mean the whole international medical community, came together to learn and test and roll things out responsibly but collectively and collaboratively.

I am in awe that I got to witness it at such a fast pace and very effectively. Its amazing what collaboration and communication can do, she said.

Greenwich Hospital is set to unveil and dedicate a mural created for last years Greenwich Reindeer Festival by artist Rick Garcia in appreciation of all that hospital workers have done during the pandemic.

The mural, sponsored by Greenwichs C. Parker Galley, was available for those who attended the festival at Sam Bridge Nursery and Greenhouses to sign.

It will be unveiled at noon Monday as part of Greenwich Hospitals week of gratitude to thank medical staff and employees.

I am so incredibly grateful for each and every one of them, Kelly said. Gratitude doesnt even feel like enough to say it. Im in awe of what theyve done and I am grateful from many perspectives, including from being part of the human collective. They have shown me the best of people. ...They were putting themselves in harms way when we had very little information and they just leaned in with the goal of supporting those who were depending on them.

On Wednesday, Greenwich Hospital announced a further loosening of visitor restrictions for patients. Kelly said non-COVID-19 patients will now be allowed two visitors at the same time although proof of vaccination or a negative PCR COVID test continues to be required. COVID-19-positive patients will be limited to one visitor.

Masks will continue to be required for all Yale New Haven Health System hospitals regardless of a persons vaccination status.

Mask guidelines have largely been lifted for town government buildings, schools, Greenwich Library and its branches and the Perrot Memorial Library. Private businesses are still able to make their own policies.

Kelly said Wednesday there is a sense of cautious optimism at Greenwich Hospital.

kborsuk@greenwichtime.com
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Following MWC, the recipients of the GLOMO (Global Mobile) Awards have been announced. There are six categories of awards across the mobile industry: Mobile Tech recognizes solutions that advance and revolutionize the mobile communications industry. Industry X recognizes companies that innovate to connect peoples mobile lives with other facets of life.

The Tech4Good category awards companies and organizations that try to address world issues like climate change, inclusion, and humanitarian crises. The Government Leadership Award is the only one in the category and Spain is the recipient. The Outstanding Achievement category is awarded to those who contribute most to the mobile industry.

Around here, well focus on the Device category. The Disruptive Device Innovation Award goes to the Oppo Find N for its Hinge and display integration.

Oppo Find N

For core hardware and software innovation within smartphone devices themselves. From chips and processors to cameras, screens and other innovative technologies that advance the user experience and enhance smartphone capabilities, as determined by world leading independent analysts, journalists, and influencers.

Other devices considered for this award were the Apple AirTag, FairPhone 4, Google Tensor Chip, and Samsungs Galaxy Z series.

Next in the Device category, the Best Smartphone award goes to the Apple iPhone 13 for its outstanding performance, innovation, and leadership as determined through an assessment of smartphones on the market through 2021.

Apple iPhone 13

Other smartphones considered for this award include the Google Pixel 6 Pro, Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, and three Samsung phones including the Galaxy S21 Ultra, Z Flip3, and Z Fold3.

Check out the Source link for the full list of GLOMO Awardees.

Source
Samsung launched the Galaxy A13 5G last year, and it's expected to unveil the Galaxy A13 4G soon since the smartphone recently bagged NBTC certification and its support pages also went live on Samsung's official websites in multiple countries. And while we await more details from Samsung about the Galaxy A13 4G's launch, a new leak by WinFuture tells us what to expect from the A13 4G as it revealed its specs, design, and price.

The Samsung Galaxy A13 4G looks similar to its 5G counterpart. We have a notched screen on the front, and the back has the cameras and LED flash placed separately instead of inside an island. And since these protrude, the phone will likely wobble on flat surfaces.

The Galaxy A13 4G's right-side frame features a volume rocker and power button, which doubles up as a fingerprint reader. We don't have images showing the phone's left side, but since the 5G model has the SIM card slot on the left-side frame, the 4G variant may also have one.

We've seen the Galaxy A13 4G on Geekbench previously with the Exynos 850 SoC and 3GB RAM, and the source corroborates that bit about the chip. But, that device had model code SM-A135F, and the one we are talking about right now has model designation SM-A136.

That said, the Galaxy A13 4G will come with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage onboard, and it will also have a microSD card slot for storage expansion.

The smartphone's 90Hz LCD will measure 6.6" diagonally and have FullHD+ resolution. Its notch will house an 8MP selfie shooter, and the camera system on the rear will consist of 48MP primary, 5MP ultrawide, 2MP macro, and 2MP depth sensors.

Fueling the entire package will be a 5,000 mAh battery with 15W charging support. The Galaxy A13 4G will come in at least three colors and start at 200 in Europe.



Samsung Galaxy A13 4G's color options

Talking about the Samsung Galaxy A33 5G, we already know what the smartphone will look like, thanks to its CAD-based renders that leaked last November. But now we've got the Galaxy A33 5G's official-looking renders, which not only corroborate the phone's design but also show it off in four new colors.

The source says that the Galaxy A33 5G will come with the Exynos 1200 SoC, 6GB RAM, 128GB storage, and 5,000 mAh battery.



Samsung Galaxy A33 5G's color options

Source (in German)
DALIAN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Northeast China's Dalian, a port city in Liaoning Province, opened direct sea services to Australia on Wednesday, said the port's operating company.

Dalian is a major foreign trade port in China. Ships along the new sea route will provide direct services to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and other key Australian ports.

Previously, it took 35 to 45 days to travel from Dalian to Sydney, but the new route can cut the sailing time to about 20 days, said Liaoning Port Group.

The major exports of the new shipping route will be chemical products, steel products, grain and the like, while the main imports will be food, health care products, and other commodities.

Australian goods used to be transshipped to Dalian through the Republic of Korea. After the opening of the new sea route, imported goods including fruits can reach the Chinese market directly at a low cost and high efficiency, according to the group. 
The Samsung Galaxy M23 recently made an appearance on NBTC's database and is now being partially revealed by a Google Play Console listing as well. This time around, however, the documents give out a bit more information about the hardware.



Screenshot from the Google Play Console listing

The device with model number SM-M236B will offer a 1080 x 2408px display and run on the Snapdragon 750G chipset paired with at least 6GB of RAM. Since the handset is geared with the Snapdragon 750G, it will most likely support 5G connectivity. The integrated X52 modem allows it.

Interestingly, the listing suggests that the device will come pre-installed with Android 12 and support 25W of fast charging.

We still don't know when to expect the Galaxy M23 but judging by the frequency of leaks, we may not have to wait much longer.

Via
The vivo NEX series is being axed, another source revealed. Sina Technology, one of the biggest tech platforms in China, pointed out that vivo unlisted the NEX phones from its website. It also said insiders confirmed the new flagship is going to be called X Note, while the foldable will sport the X Fold moniker.

The new top-tier phone will obviously not be named NEX 5. Sina Technology stated that vivo executives folded the whole NEX sub-division, and employees will work for other divisions within the Dongguan company as part of an internal structure adjustment.

The NEX brand was supposed to bring the latest innovations, and it did back in the days - the NEX S was the first phone with an elevating selfie camera in 2018, while the NEX Dual Display brought the dual-screen experience. However, in the past two years, we havent heard or seen anything from the team, so the internal shift is hardly a surprise.

Source (in Chinese) | Via
PDN Lifestyle reporter Madison Scott takes us behind the scenes of Breaking Wave Theatre Company's "Much Ado About Nothing," which she also co-directed, at the University of Guam on May 3. The play runs May 5-8.
The congressional panel charged with the investigation of Guam Del. Michael San Nicolas is actively conducting interviews and collecting evidence more than two years after the probe of the delegate began.

The House Committee on Ethics last month asked to interview the man whose allegations against San Nicolas preceded the congressional investigation launched in 2019, documents obtained by the PDN show. Committee inquiries were previously stalled because of the pandemic.

San Nicolas, who did not respond for a request for comment as of 5 p.m. Thursday, has called the allegations baseless political attacks stemming from complaints he filed with the FBI against local government officials.

A letter to the delegates one-time chief of staff, John Paul Manuel, requested Manuels appearance in Washington, D.C., for an interview with the subcommittee handling the investigation.

Manuel in September 2019 accused San Nicolas of using illegal campaign funds to facilitate an extramarital affair with one of his staffers. The congressional probe began the next month.

The Chairman and Ranking Member of the (Investigative Subcommittee) have authorized Committee counsel to conduct interviews and collect documents and other evidence relevant to the (Investigative Subcommittees) inquiry, the Feb. 11 letter to Manuel states.

The committee wanted to interview Manuel on March 2. The letter was appended to a leave form Manuel submitted to the Guam Legislature, where he now works as a policy adviser. Manuel was approved for leave from March 1 to March 4, and listed a Washington, D.C., address as his residence while on leave.

Your participation in this interview is voluntary. The entire interview will be transcribed by a House reporter, the letter states.

Manuel was chief of staff when San Nicolas was a senator and managed the delegates 2018 congressional campaign. San Nicolas did not bring him on board his congressional staff in 2019. "To maintain the integrity of the House Ethics process, I cannot go further into detail about the Congressman's on-going investigation," Manuel said. The committee letter requests that he refrain from discussing the matter publicly.

The House Committee on Ethics could not be reached for further details.

January 2020 report

A January 2020 report approved by all six members of the Office of Congressional Ethics stated there is substantial reason to believe San Nicolas converted campaign funds to personal use, accepted excessive campaign contributions and disclosed false information in his campaign paperwork.

That letter was forwarded to the House Ethics Committee, which in March 2020 created the investigative subcommittee to look into allegations against the delegate. The investigation, launched by the 116th Congress, was renewed in 2021 by the 117th. San Nicolas has said the renewal was a procedural matter.

No findings have been issued.

The investigative subcommittee has jurisdiction to determine whether San Nicolas may have:

engaged in a sexual relationship with an individual on his congressional staff;

converted campaign funds to personal use;

accepted improper and/or excessive campaign contributions;

reported campaign disbursements that may not be legitimate and verifiable campaign expenditures attributable to bona fide campaign or political purposes;

omitted required information from or disclosed false information in reports filed with the Federal Election Commission;

made false statements to government investigators or agencies;

improperly interfered or attempted to interfere in a government investigation of related allegations in violation of House Rules, law, regulations, or other standards of conduct.

Reach reporter Joe Taitano II at
Jacob Ngirangeang pleaded not guilty to charges connected to the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl.

Ngirangeang, 58, also known as Jacob Ngirangeang Nakamura, pleaded not guilty to criminal sexual conduct charges Wednesday afternoon at the Superior Court of Guam.

Ngirangeang was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct, attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct  all first-degree felonies. He was also charged with possession of Schedule II controlled substance and destruction of evidence, according to charging documents.

Case

On Feb. 12, police were called after a woman found Ngirangeang lying on a bed in boxers with the girl, charging documents state.

The woman told police when the girl got up, she was pulling her shorts up and appeared as if she was about to cry.

The girl then told police that Ngirangeang ordered her into the room, threatened to hurt one of her family members and threatened to hurt her, according to charging documents.

Ngirangeang sexually assaulted the child in the room, charging documents stated.

After being read his Miranda rights, Ngirangeang described assaulting the girl but denied trying to have sex with her, according to the complaint.

When interviewed by police, Ngirangeang was holding a backpack that included a plastic resealable bag containing methamphetamine. The bags spilled on the floor.

He also told police he flushed his pipe down the toilet and said the methamphetamine belonged to him, charging documents stated.

Ngirangeang is currently confined at the Department of Corrections.
A man pleaded guilty to attempted possession of methamphetamine found inside childrens paint bottles.

Peter Quifunas was charged in September after a package containing meth was tracked to a Yona residence.

On Tuesday morning at the District Court of Guam, Quifunas entered a plea of guilty for the charge of attempted possession of methamphetamine hydrochloride with intent to distribute.

Quifunas, according to the plea agreement, faces a sentence of between 10 years to life imprisonment.

Mailed meth

On Sept. 7, 2021, postal inspectors discovered a package that contained 428 grams, or about a pound, of methamphetamine. The meth was inside 42 plastic bags contained in small balloons concealed in paint bottles. The paint bottles were inside a Cra-Z-Art washable childrens paint set, court documents state.

A couple of days later, the meth was replaced with a sham and placed in a cluster box in Yona. The package was picked up and tracked to a Yona residence, where it was handed off to Quifunas, documents state.

Shortly afterward, law enforcement responded to a breaching signal in the package and detained Quifunas. The paint bottles and packaging were seen on the ground, and officers found similar paint bottles and packaging around the residence, documents state.

Quitaro

Quifunass co-defendant in the case, Doreen Esther Quitaro was also detained as she had meth and paraphernalia, such as small plastic bags, rubber bands and a digital scale in her car, documents stated.

Quitaro said she was a meth user and former dealer. She was also in contact with the woman suspected to have sent the package, documents state.

Quitaro previously pleaded guilty to attempted possession of meth with intent to distribute and also faces between 10 years to life of imprisonment, according to the plea agreement.
Indoor social gatherings of up to 100 people will be allowed regardless of vaccination status beginning Friday, Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero announced Thursday.

With fewer people in the hospital and more ways of managing COVID-19 in the community, Leon Guerrero said more restrictions could be lifted. She said the requirement for indoor masking in certain settings will be lifted if the situation keeps improving.

The change follows a recent revision of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on measuring COVID-19 in the community.

"We have, I think, as a nation come to a consensus that we need to shift our focus from stopping transmission to minimizing the impact of severe illness on health and society," Dr. Annette David said during a COVID-19 update held by the Department of Public Health and Social Services Thursday.

Although Guam is still at the high-risk level for COVID-19 transmission, the trends are encouraging, the governor said.

Territorial epidemiologist Ann Pobutsky said the island went from more than 800 cases a day to 250 cases a day by the end of February, and the test positivity rate has dropped from 40% to 23%. The island is also seeing a decrease in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19, and just 40% people who get COVID-19 show any symptoms.

"Guam is looking really good," Pobutsky said.

Story continues below.

Measuring the pandemic

The CDC last week unveiled a new system for tracking the severity of the pandemic. Leon Guerrero said the community can view it in a similar way to the COVID Area Risk score that was used in the early days of the pandemic  lower is better.

Guam is at high risk for transmission and hospitalization levels, according to David, but the situation has improved just between Monday and Thursday of this week. About 69% of the countrys population is medium or low risk, CDC data shows. Masks and social distancing are not even recommended by the CDC at the low level.

Leon Guerrero said the levels would help tailor Public Healths response to the virus as the island strove for a return to normal life.

I would like to see the day we dont have to be tested  but I dont thats going to happen for quite a while, she said.

Emergency

Theres no end in sight for the state of the public health emergency that has been in place since March 2020.

Leon Guerrero said the emergency declaration was needed for access to certain resources from the federal governmentbblike 100% payment for the National Guard troops who have been assisting with testing and vaccination efforts.

The emergency declaration is also key to a number of COVID-19 treatments that arent yet fully authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, Public Health acting chief medical officer Dr. Bob Leon Guerrero said. We can still give the Pfizer (vaccine) because it's fully authorized, but the other vaccines, monoclonal antibodies are dependent on us being in a public health emergency.

Dropping the state of emergency would limit Guams ability to bring in nurses to help with testing, vaccinations, and community outreach, Public Health COVID-19 incident commander Fernando Esteves said.

I'll tell you right now, based on the current situation, we don't have enough nurses on the island to support the functions that that we're supporting, Esteves said.
The Women, Infants and Children program, also known as WIC, is reaching out to more families in Guam who could benefit from their nutrition and health services.

The program under the Department of Public Heath and Social Services asked for assistance from the Mayors Council of Guam to inform the public about its services during the council meeting Wednesday.

The program provides short-term assistance through classes and services to improve the health and nutritional habits of low-income mothers and children under the age of 5 in the community.

These services include health screenings, nutrition education, community referrals, supplemental food packages and breastfeeding support.

New families can sometimes be overwhelmed with responsibilities, and they forget that they can reach out and ask what kind of support they can get, said program health educator Renee Veksler.

One-on-one counseling that is personalized for each client based on nutritional needs is a service Veksler said many do not know about. She gave the example of a mother or infant with gestational diabetes.

More than 5,000 clients are being served on Guam, according to Veksler.

Sharing information

The program is asking for the mayors help with sharing information in the villages by giving out flyers and posting announcements on neighborhood WhatsApp chat groups.

Dededo Mayor Melissa Savares said when nutrition classes were taught in her village, many people stopped coming after attending a few sessions. They didnt complete the course.

Daisy Fallejo, a health educator for the program, said organizers are offering classes over the phone for those who cant attend face-to-face every week.

They are also setting up an online platform for participants to attend virtually.

Fallejo said mayors could help by providing their offices for classes.

Organizers are also asking the mayors to provide proof of residency, a program requirement for clients to be able to access services.

Potential clients must attend a certification appointment and provide proof of residency, proof of income that meets program guidelines, a current ID, and bring the child under 5 to the meeting.

Legal guardians must bring court documents showing guardianship.

Residents can call the Women, Infants and Children program for more information or to set up an appointment at 671-475-0295/6.
Zhang Jun (C), China's permanent representative to the United Nations, makes an explanation of vote after the adoption of a resolution on Ukraine by the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, March 2, 2022. A Chinese envoy on Wednesday discouraged action that may escalate the situation in Ukraine.(Xinhua/Wang Ying)

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Wednesday discouraged action that may escalate the situation in Ukraine.

"Blindly exerting pressure and imposing sanctions and creating division and confrontation will only further complicate the situation and result in a rapid negative spillover of the crisis, and affect even more countries," warned Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

"We call on the international community to take a responsible attitude, and promote the relevant parties to immediately return to the track of political settlement, and use dialogue and consultation to seek a comprehensive solution to the Ukraine issue," he said in an explanation of vote after the adoption of a resolution on Ukraine by the UN General Assembly.

Stressing that China is ready to continue its constructive role in this regard, Zhang said that China's basic position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and unequivocal.

China always believes that all countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected, and that international disputes should be resolved peacefully in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. Any action by the United Nations and the relevant parties should give priority to regional peace and stability and the universal security of all parties, and should play a positive role in de-escalation and diplomatic solutions, Zhang said.

Regrettably, he added, the draft resolution had not undergone full consultations within the whole membership, nor did it take full consideration the history and complexity of the current crisis. It did not highlight the importance of the principle of indivisible security, or the urgency of promoting political settlement and stepping up diplomatic efforts. These are not in line with China's consistent positions. Therefore, China had no choice but to abstain.

The top priority right now is to ease the situation on the ground as much as possible, and prevent the situation from escalating or even getting out of control. Russia and Ukraine have already held their first round of negotiations. Despite their differences, both sides have shown willingness to continue the negotiations. China welcomes this, said Zhang.

Faced with the highly complex and sensitive situation, China once again calls on the international community to stick to the overall direction of political settlement and foster an enabling atmosphere and conditions for direct dialogues and negotiations between the parties concerned, he said.

The final settlement of the Ukraine crisis requires the abandonment of the Cold War mentality, the abandonment of the logic of ensuring one's own security at the expense of others' security, and the abandonment of the approach of seeking regional security by expanding military blocs. It is important to give full attention and respect to the legitimate security concerns of all countries, and on that basis conduct negotiations to put in place a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism, he said. 
Michael Lujan Bevacqua is an author, artist, activist and the curator for The Guam Museum.
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has been coordinating efforts to put into place a national pension program to tackle the strains from an aging population and regional imbalance.

The tactics came out of a holistic approach that is to upgrade the previously fragmented pension system like "playing a chess game on a nationwide chessboard."

Through a central coordination mechanism, over 930 billion yuan (147.58 billion U.S. dollars) from the national pool went to make up for the shortfalls of local pension schemes last year alone.

China's basic old-age insurance, a key program to ensure people's well-being after retirement, has been evolving to a larger-scale management system since its establishment in the 1990s. The central coordination mechanism was set up in 2018 as the first step prior to building a national system to further address unbalanced pension burdens nationwide.

But issues deriving from disparities in regional economic development and demographic structure still exist.

"Some regions have more surpluses, while the others with older populations are under heavier pressure to make pension payments," said Qi Tao, an official from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

In 2021, over 210 billion yuan from the coordination mechanism went to the central and western regions as well as the northeastern "rust belt" provinces, as a greying population weighs on their pension payments and growing labor outflows squeeze pension income.

Using a nationwide chessboard as a metaphor, the head of the China Association of Social Security Zheng Gongcheng said the new national system will make the pension benefits fairer. "People won't need to sacrifice their pensions for migrating to work, and retirees won't have to deal with the risks from local pension fund shortfalls."

Qi said a mechanism that assigns the respective expenditure responsibilities of central and local governments on pension funds will be built after the national program comes into force and the central government will not roll back its subsidy to the pension funds.

Apart from the coordination efforts and central subsidy, state assets totaling 1.68 trillion yuan from 93 centrally-administered enterprises and financial institutions have also been transferred to replenish the pension schemes.

China first piloted transferring state assets in five centrally-administered firms and financial institutions including the China Unicom and China Reinsurance Group in 2018. The transfer amount was 10 percent of their state-owned equity.

"Advancing the state-asset transfer to reinforce social security funds attests to the intergenerational equity of basic old-age insurance regime and the state-owned enterprises' dedication to share their development benefits to the public," said Lu Qingping, an official at the Ministry of Finance.

China was among the most improved performers in the 2021 global pension index as a result of significant pension reform, according to the index report released by Mercer, a global human resources consulting firm.

The Chinese index value increased from 47.3 in 2020 to 55.1 in 2021 primarily due to higher net replacement rates and improved regulations, the report said.

The country has the world's largest social security system, including pensions, medical and health care, and social assistance. By 2021 end, a little over 1 billion people had subscribed to basic old-age insurance across the country.

"The provision of financial security in retirement is critical for both individuals and societies as most countries are now grappling with the social, economic and financial effects of aging populations," the report said.

Official data showed that China has shown a deepening aging trend. By the end of 2021, people aged 60 and above accounted for 18.9 percent of the total, 0.2 percentage points higher than that of the previous year.

Noting that many systems face similar problems in the decades ahead, the report suggested "encouraging higher levels of private saving, both within and beyond the pension system, to reduce the future dependence on the public pension," among other measures for improvement. 




Haiti - Diaspora Covid-19 : Daily Bulletin #713





GLOBAL SITUATION 2019-2022:

Epidemiological situation:



Thursday March 3, 2022 the number of people infected worldwide with the Covid-19 coronavirus and its variants since the start of the pandemic (March 11, 2020) amounts to 440,764,444 cases (+1,628,758 in 24 hours ), the day before (+1,757,573)



Number of infected countries: 224



*Healings: 373,343,539 people have been cured of Covid-19 worldwide (+1,669,717 in 24 hours), the day before (+2,777,291)

*Deaths: 5,994,125 people died of Covid-19 worldwide (+8.466 in 24 hours), the day before (+9.862)

*Active cases (less deaths and recoveries) in the world is currently 61,426,780 cases (-494,250 in 24 hours), the day before (-1,029,580)



Average cure rate in the world: 84.70% (+)



Average mortality rate in the world: 1.35% (-)



World: Number of daily confirmed cases





(Day-1)



Vaccination: 10.86 billion doses of vaccine injected (+20 million doses injected in 24 hours. Update March 3, 2022 (latest data available).



HAITI:

Epidemiological situation:

According to the Ministry of Public Health, +14 new of Covid-19 and its variants have been confirmed in Haiti as of February 26, 2022 (latest partial data available) for a total of 30,350 confirmed cases throughout the national territory (48.7% women and 51.3% men), since the first case (March 19, 2020 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30319-haiti-health-origin-of-the-first-2-cases-of-covid-19-in-haiti.html ). Previous update (+6 cases on February 24, 2022).



Heals: 25,230 (+20)



Cure rate: 83.13% (+)



Deaths: 820 deaths (+0)



Death rate: 2.70% (=)



5th Wave (Omicron Dominant):

Total of the 5th wave (starting December 27, 2021) amounts to 4,355 confirmed cases and 54 deaths



Haiti: Active Cases Trend: (less recoveries and deaths)





(Day-1)



Screening since the start of the pandemic: 179,117 tests (+340 in 4 days) since March 19, 2020, latest data available. Note that the very small number of people screened every day at the national level out of a population estimated at 11.6 million citizens, does not statistically allow us to make a representative estimate of the situation in Haiti, which translates into a < B>number of daily confirmed cases largely underestimated.



TOP 5 of the most affected municipalities in the West (2022):

Delmas: 726 (+1); Petion-ville 612 (+0); Port-au-Prince 404 (+0); Tabarre 278 (+0); Cross-Bouquets 224 (+0)



Confirmed cases by department (2022 / 2021 / 2020):

West: 2022: 2,490 cases; (2021: 9.890); (2020: 6,945 cases)

North: 2022: 261 cases; (2021: 664); (2020: 677 cases)

Center: 2022: 211 cases; (2021: 1.001); (2020: 508 cases)

Artibonitis: 2022: 162 cases; (2021: 855); (2020: 593 cases)

Northeast: 2022: 147 cases; (2021: 404); (2020: 314 cases)

Southeast: 2022: 229 cases; (2021: 768); (2020: 274 cases)

South: 2022: 211 cases; (2021: 891); (2020: 262 cases)

North West: 2022: 243 cases; (2021: 383); (2020: 229 cases)

Grand'Anse: 2022: 138 cases; (2021: 861); (2020: 176 cases)

Nippes: 2022: 33 cases; (2021: 249) (2020: 149 cases)



Cumulative deaths by department (2022-2021):

West: 292 deaths (2020: 104 deaths)

North: 53 deaths (2020: 34 deaths)

Center: 74 deaths (2020: 13 deaths)

Artibonite: 39 deaths (2020: 39 deaths)

North East: 7 deaths (2020: 6 deaths)

South: 51 deaths (2020: 6 deaths)

Southeast: 14 deaths (2020: 9 deaths)

North West: 15 deaths (2020: 12 deaths)

Grand'Anse: 7 deaths (2020: 13 deaths)

Nippes: 27 deaths (2020: 5 deaths)



Distribution of deaths by age (since the start of the epidemic):

0-9 years: 15 deaths

10-19 years: 10 deaths

20-29 years: 29 deaths

30-39 years: 54 deaths

40-49 years: 78 deaths

50-59 years: 133 deaths

60-69 years: 186 deaths

70-79 years: 181 deaths

80 years and over: 134 deaths



Vaccination:

155,233 Haitians (1.33% of the population) +4,499 in 11 days received a 1st dose of vaccine since July 16, 2021, date of the first injection through 149 open vaccination centers https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35051-haiti-covid-19-list-of-149-vaccination-centers-open-in-the-country.html and 104,389 Haitians are fully vaccinated (2 doses, 0.89% of the population) +4,263 in 11 days. Update February 26, 2022 latest information available (source MSPP).



List of the 149 Vaccination Centers open in Haiti (and hours) by department:

(updated October 20, 2021, latest information available)

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35051-haiti-covid-19-list-of-149-vaccination-centers-open-in-the-country.html



DIASPORA:

Epidemiological situation :



USA:

*Cases since the first case (February 29, 2020): 80,770,604 cases (+72,680 in 24 hours), the day before (+50,581)

*Healings: 53,945,789 healings (+214,984 in 24 hours), the day before (+230,543)

National Cure Rate: 66.78% (+)

*Deaths: 979.725 deaths (+2.323 in 24 hours), the day before (+2.252)

National death rate: 1.21% (=)

*Active cases (minus deaths and recoveries): 25,845,090 (-144,627 in 24 hours), the day before (-182,214)

Tests: 952,687,698 last data available.



USA: Number of daily confirmed cases





(Day-1)



Vaccination: 553.90 million doses of vaccine injected since December 14, 2020, date of the first injection in the United States (+290,000 doses in 24 hours). Update March 2, 2022 (latest data available).



DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:

Confirmed cases since March 1, 2020: 575,157 cases (+245 in 24 hours) the day before (+356 in 48 hours). First case (March 1, 2020)

Healings: 568,947 healings (+143 in 24 hours), the day before (+482)

National Cure Rate: 98.92% (-)

Deaths: 4,370 deaths (+1 in 24 hours), the day before (+1)

Death rate: 0.75% (=)

Positive rate over 4 epidemiological weeks: 5.19% (-)

Active cases: (excluding deaths and recoveries) 1,840 cases (+101 in 24 hours) the day before (-127)



Dominican Republic: Trend of active cases: (minus recoveries and deaths)





(Day-1)



TOP 5 Provinces with the most new cases in the last 24 hours:

Santo Domingo: +87 new cases in 24 hours

Santiago: +63 new cases in 24 hours

National District: +37 new cases in 24 hours

La Vega: +14 new cases

Monte Cristi: +11 new cases



Tests (since the 1st case): 3,124,587 tests (+6,769 in 24 hours), the day before (+7,431)



Vaccination: 15.27 million doses of vaccine injected since February 16, 2021, date of the first injection in the Dominican Republic (+10,000 doses injected in 24 hours). Update March 1, 2022 (latest data available).



QUEBEC:

Confirmed cases since the first case (February 27, 2020): 924,309 (+1,630 in 24 hours), previous (+698)

Healings: 895,073 people (+1,228 in 24 hours), previous (+65)

Cure rate: 96.83% (-)

Deaths: 14,016 deaths (+20 in 24 hours), previous (+14)

Death rate: 1.51% (=)

Active cases: (excluding death and recovery) 15,220 cases (+382 in 24 hours), previous (-14,838)



Quebec: Confirmed case trend:





(average weekly trend)



Test: 16,733,572 people tested since the first case (+15,779 in 24 hours)



Vaccination: 18,440,659 doses of vaccine injected since December 14, 2020, date of the first injection (+7,089 doses in 24 hours), latest data available - MSSS as of March 2, 2022)



FRANCE:

*Confirmed cases since the first case (January 24, 2020): 22,840,306 cases (+57,697 cases in 24 hours), previous (+79,794)

*Healings: 21,233,516 healings (+152,839 in 24h), previous (+179,405)

National Cure Rate: 92.96% (+)

Deaths: 138,762 deaths (+186 in 24 hours), previous (+209)

Death rate: 0.60% (=)

Active Cases: 1,468,028 (-95,328 in 24h), previous (-99,820)

Test: 246,629,975 (last data available February 27, 2022)



France: Number of daily confirmed cases:





(Day-1)



Vaccination: 140.94 million doses of vaccine injected since December 27, 2020, date of the first injection in France (+60,000 doses injected in 24 hours. Update March 3, 2022 (latest data available)



Previous bulletin : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36084-haiti-diaspora-covid-19-daily-bulletin-712.html



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30319-haiti-health-origin-of-the-first-2-cases-of-covid-19-in-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30165-haiti-flash-first-case-of-covid-19-in-the-dominican-republic.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





War : Our students in Russia

Haitian students currently residing in Russia are currently unaffected, but may become so, according to Raphaella Celestin, an international relations student at a Russian federal university. She denies rumors suggesting that their safety is threatened.



26 field workers repatriated to Haiti

On Wednesday March 2, 2022, a first group of Haitian workers of 26 field workers whose migratory status has not been regularized, were repatriated by the Dominican authorities on Wednesday March 2. Recall that these repatriations are part of the new measures taken by the Dominican Republic to strictly enforce migration laws, prohibiting Dominican companies from hiring people in an irregular migratory situation under penalty of strong sanctions.



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-35140-icihaiti-dr-tens-of-thousands-of-haitian-workers-in-an-irregular-situation-risk-deportation-in-january-2022.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35047-haiti-flash-dr-90-day-ultimatum-for-haitian-workers.html



Majority vote at the UN for a ceasefire in Ukraine

At the United Nations, in a historic vote (non-binding) 141 countries including Haiti, demanded that Russia cease its offensive in Ukraine. 5 countries oppose this resolution (Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Russia, Syria), 35 countries abstain including China



Signature Sale

Sale-signing of the biographical book "50 model and inspiring Haitian women to discover" on March 8, 2022 at the CCC hall of Quisqueya University (UniQ) in Turgeau.



A painting by a Haitian-American painter on sale for 70 million US

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa wants to sell a painting by late Haitian-American painter Jean Michel Basquiat for US$70 million that he bought in 2016 for US$57.3 million. May 18 NYC auction by Philipps.



New Ambassador of Mexico

"Congratulations friend Daniel Camara Avalos for your nomination as Ambassador of Mexico in Haiti. I wish you much success in my country," Edmond Bocchit, Ambassador of Haiti in Washington D.C. USA.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2022/03/03 | Source

Kim Young-ok, the oldest active female actor in Korea, will star in a movie.

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Kim Young-ok's first leading role in her 65-year acting career, "Take Care of My Mom" was confirmed to be released in April.

"Take Care of My Mom" is a human family drama depicting the choice of an 85-year-old Jeong Mal-im stuck between a son pretending to be a good son and a nursing care worker pretending to be family. Under the sub-title of 'strangers-like family, family-like strangers', the film discusses whether we live together because we are a family, or if we live together and are a family. It talks about the birth of a new family through the inner circumstances of many families.

Along with actors Kim Young-ok, Kim Young-min and Park Sung-yeon perform realistically, while Lee Jung-eun adds strength with a special appearance.

In particular, Park Kyung-mok's feature film debut, which received great attention from overseas film festivals such as the Vancouver International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and Sitges Film Festival through short films, is drawing attention. It makes us expect delicate and humane directing skills. Filming director Lee Hyung-deok also shows off his skills.

"Take Care of My Mom" conveys realistic emotions that can be more sympathetic in traditional Korean parent-child relationships based on episodes that are not unfamiliar. The provocative and unconventional suggestion of the tradition of warm gaze on alternative families and the duty of support shows a new look at the form of the family. In the aging era, it is explained that it allows us to look back on the relationship between parents and children intertwined with support issues and at the same time consider the true meaning of the family in our society.

The main poster, which was released with the confirmation of its release, raises expectations for a movie that will show us living with the scent of people just by actor Kim Young-ok's expression of various emotions in a bright smile in spring. The sentence 'more like a family than I am' harmonizes with the title, leaving a deep impression.
Published on 2022/03/03 | Source

New stills added for the upcoming Korean movie "Take Care of My Mom" (2021)

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Directed by Park Kyung-mok

With Kim Young-ok, Kim Young-min, Park Sung-yeon, Kim Hye-na, Lee Jung-eun,...

Synopsis

Stranger like family, family like stranger

What is 85-year-old Mrs. Jeong Mal-im's choice?

Mrs. Jeong Mal-im, an 85-year-old lady enjoys living alone with her longtime friend's dog in an old Western-style house in Daegu. Her only son, Jong-wook, will visit from Seoul after a long time, and while preparing here and there, her arm broke, and through the accident, a caregiver named Mi-seon was hired. She really hates being indebted to her children, and she doesn't feel comfortable with others so she insists on sending Mi-seon away, and Jong-wook who installed CCTVs due to his worries for her mother is frustrated at what's happening.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Jeong seems to disappear from objects and side dishes after Mi-seon came, but there is no physical evidence, and Mi-seon, who takes care of her more gently than her real son, is proud of her, and the two become like real mothers and daughters.

Then, one holiday, when Jong-wook's family suddenly visited, the conflict in the relationship that had been buried, bursts when they saw Mi-seon wearing the clothes of Mrs. Jeong, which was a gift from her daughter-in-law Yoo-jin...

What's wrong with this family? We'll live together now so "Take Care of My Mom".

Release date in Korea : 2022/04
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YEREVAN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Armenia's parliament on Thursday elected Vahagn Khachaturyan as the country's new president.

This came after 71 lawmakers participated in the second round of the vote and all voted in favor of Khachaturyan's candidacy, reported local Armenpress.

The 62-year-old politician, who served as high-tech industry minister, was nominated by the ruling My Step faction and the only presidential candidate.

According to Armenian law, he will be inaugurated at a special session in parliament in 10 days.

The Armenian parliament failed to elect the country's president in the first round due to a boycott by opposition parties.

Khachaturyan's predecessor, Armen Sarkissian, resigned in January, saying he did not have the necessary power to deal with the country's political problems. 
Some stations will open in early March

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks

HELENA  Several watercraft inspection stations begin operation in early March to check snowbird boat traffic returning from mussel positive areas such as Lake Mead and Havasu.

Boat owners coming to Montana must have their vessel inspected for aquatic invasive species at a Montana watercraft inspection station prior to launch.

The stations that open in early March include those near Dillon, Anaconda and Ravalli. FWP works closely with partners for station operation and cotracts with the Beaverhead Conservation District for operation of the Dillon station and CSKT for operation of the Ravalli station. Inspections will also be available at the FWP Region 1 office in Kalispell in March.

This year, watercraft inspection restrictions at Tiber Reservoir are being evaluated for removal following no further detections of invasive mussels.

During 2021, crews conducted 123,000 inspections and intercepted 61 mussel-fouled boats intercepted, which was a record number for the state. FWP warden staff, who provided support at inspection stations to prevent drive-bys, issued 137 citations and 182 written warnings.

Watercraft inspection stations are Montanas first line of defense to prevent the movement of aquatic invasive species  AIS  which can have devastating impacts on Montana waterways.

Boat owners should ensure their watercraft, trailers and gear are clean, drained and dry before transporting and need to be aware of Montanas inspection rules:

 All watercraft coming into Montana from out of state must be inspected prior to launching.

 All watercraft traveling west across the Continental Divide into the Columbia River Basin must be inspected prior to launching.

 Anyone transporting watercraft must stop at all open watercraft inspection stations they encounter.

 And all boaters are reminded to always clean drain and dry their boats and gear to help prevent the spread of AIS.
I have no doubt that we are all watching the the events unfold in Ukraine with heartbreak and horror. And yet, we are seeing the inspirational courage of the Ukrainian people as they take up arms and fight for their families, liberty and their land.

The Biden administrations retreat and failure in Afghanistan coupled with their inability to deliver any meaningful deterrent to Putins onslaught over the past year has given the world a clear message: America under Biden will not or cannot protect and defend freedom. Our allies no longer trust us and our adversaries no longer fear us. Like negotiating with terrorist to rescue the abandoned Americans left in Afghanistan, the U.S. and our allies are only able to caste ineffective sanctions in response. Why? An underlying reason is that Russian has an energy stranglehold on Europe that can be countered.

When I first campaigned for Congress one of the key parts of my platform was achieving American energy independence using all forms of energy. During my time in Congress, we made progress lifting the export ban on oil, and helped the Crow Nation develop their coal resources. But we were still lagging and decisive action at the Cabinet level was needed.

When I served as secretary of the interior, we were able to increase production from 8.3 millions barrels a day and declining to 12.5 million barrels a day, and gain the title of being world largest producer of energy. We also leased massive offshore wind projects and developed other renewables. The cost of gas was down to a couple of bucks and America was manufacturing things again. Americas energy dominance was achieved in just two years and we were able to do with record safety while reducing overall carbon emissions.

Nay-sayers claimed it was impossible to reach American energy independence. Im happy to say we proved them wrong. And, more importantly, we proved to the American people that when the USA is free from excessive government regulation and adopts policies that allows energy innovation, we can serve the world with clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

American Energy Independence is important for three reasons:

1. Its better for the environment  Its better to produce energy here in the USA under reasonable regulation than to produced it overseas with no regulation. American made energy is cleaner and more efficient than products produced in Russia, Africa or the Middle East.

2. Its better for the economy  I dont have to tell you the impact of high energy prices. Youre feeling it right now at the gas pump, the thermostat and every time the electric bill comes. And if youre a business owner, you see the costs to produce rising and your margins shrinking. Made in America products to address critical supply chain vulnerabilities rely on affordable energy to be globally competitive.

3. Its better for national security  When the USA is energy dominant, we are able to supply our allies with affordable energy and check our adversaries. More importantly, America does not have to deploy troops overseas and waste our treasure protecting foreign oil interests.

Watching the news the past few days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine not only breaks my heart but is also a reminder that NATOs response and sanction options would be far different if Europe had an energy option from the U.S. Rather than build America energy capacity to support NATO and our allies, the Biden administration is instead canceling domestic oil and gas leases, canceling critical pipelines, penalizing fossil fuel investment, and begging Saudi Arabia to produce more. Nuts.

But we can fix it! We can easily get back to a position of peace through strength and American energy dominance by restoring the American First Policies to include:

1. Approve and expedite construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline

2. Lift the moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal land and offshore

3. Scrap the Green New Deal and put all forms of American-made energy on the same playing field.

4. End imports of Russian oil and gas and Chinese-made solar panels and wind turbines

5. Approve and expedite construction of liquid natural gas terminals and a supporting fleet of tankers

6. Expedite the permit process for critical infrastructure

Ill leave you with this: If it wasnt fixable, I wouldnt take it on. But we know it is. We know that energy was affordable, productivity was high, and the world was safer when we had a booming American energy industry. We did it once, and we can do it again.



Ryan Zinke is the 52nd U.S. secretary of the interior and the key architect of the policy that made the USA energy independent for the first time since World War II. He previously served as Montanas congressman, 23 years as a U.S. Navy SEAL, and is running for Congress in Montanas new western congressional district.
Kentucky Power admitted in a Kentucky Public Service Commission filing recently that it overcharged its customers by $3.2 million in January and that the amount would be returned to customers in March via a reduction in the companys fuel adjustment clause in March.

The letter was sent by Brian K. West, Kentucky Powers vice president of regulatory and finance, in connection with regular filings it is required to make regarding its Fuel Adjustment Clause, which is intended to allow the company to recoup costs connected to fluctuating costs of fuel and power.

According to the letter, the overcharge, referred to in the letter as an over-recovery, resulted from a higher-than-normal Fuel Adjustment Clause factor caused by high fuel costs and higher-than-estimated usage.

In response, West wrote in the letter, the company will reduce its March Fuel Adjustment Clause factor by 72 percent from $0.00762/kWh to $0.00213/kWh, which is 94 percent less than the January factor of $0.03556/kWh.

The fuel system set up in Kentucky allows any unexpected over-recovery to be returned to customers quickly in the form of an offset in the going forward fuel factor, West wrote in the letter.

Further, West wrote, the company recognizes the burden that fuel clause volatility can impose on its customers and proposes the following actions:

 To immediately notify the PSC of any abnormal change in the Fuel Adjustment Clause factor;

 In the event there is an abnormal increase, the company proposes to spread the increase out over a period of months in order to lessen the immediate burden on customers; and

 Undertake a review of changes in the calculation methodology to reduce monthly volatility in its calculated Fuel Adjustment Clause.
A Knott County man was sentenced to serve more than 24 years in prison in connection with a federal carjacking case.

Christopher Adam Cole, 34, was sentenced on Feb. 25 to 294 months in federal prison by United States District Judge Robert E. Wier for charges related to two armed carjackings.

According to his plea agreement, Cole admitted to using a firearm to steal a vehicle from a victim on Aug. 28, 2020.

According to a statement from the office of U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky Carlton S. Shier IV, Cole also admitted that, just a few days later, on Sept. 4, 2020, he stole a vehicle from another victim. During the sentencing hearing, the court found that, on Sept. 4, 2020, the victim had jumped on the hood of the vehicle in an attempt to keep Cole from stealing the vehicle and only let go when Cole pointed a gun at him. The victim suffered a broken leg and collarbone in connection with the incident, according to the statement.

Under federal law, Cole must serve 85 percent of his 294-month prison sentence and will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for five years following his release. Additionally, Cole was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $10,120 to the victim of the Sept. 4, 2020 carjacking.

During the Sept. 4, 2020 carjacking, the statement said, Cole was assisted by Angela Granny Vanover, 44, of Perry County. Vanover pled guilty to aiding and abetting the carjacking by driving the vehicle while it was being stolen from the victim. Vanover was also sentenced on Feb. 25, to serve 126 months, or 10 and a half years, in federal prison. Vanover was also ordered to pay restitution the victim.

Brandi Hurt, 28, of Perry County, who pled guilty to assisting Cole during the Aug. 28, 2020 carjacking, was previously sentenced to 67 months, or five and a half years, in federal prison.

Shier; R. Shawn Morrow, special agent in charge of the ATF Louisville Field Division; Perry County Sheriff Joseph Engle; and Knott County Sheriff Dale Richardson jointly announced the sentences.

The investigation was completed by the ATF, Perry County Sheriffs Office and Knott County Sheriffs Office with assistance by the Kentucky State Police, the statement said. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew H. Trimble.
By Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, Deputy Director General of the Information Office of the Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Spokesperson for the MND

Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), answers reporters' questions at a regular press conference on February 24, 2022.(Photo:mod.gov.cn)

(The following English text of the press conference is for reference. In case of any divergence of interpretation, the Chinese text shall prevail.)

I have two pieces of news at the top.

First, the Chinese military will hold the 7th Great Wall International Military Medicine Forum (GWIMMF) in Beijing from March 24 to 27 in a synchronized online and offline manner. Focusing on the new challenges and new missions brought by modern military transformation to military health, this forum will take the theme of "Reform, Reshaping and Mission", and set up five parallel sub-forums on the Battlefield Frontline Rescue, Mobile Medical Service Force, Medical Support in Special Environment, Prevention and Control of New Infectious Disease , and International Disaster Relief Operations. China has invited military medical experts from more than 10 countries including Russia, Serbia, Pakistan, Vietnam, Germany, and Cambodia, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to participate in the event. Chinese representatives will mainly come from the CMC Logistic Support Department and the PLA Joint Logistic Support Force.

Second, the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) training exercise as part of Exercise Cobra Gold 2022 was held in Thailand from February 18 to 20. Chinese military personnel participated in the HADR Table Top Exercise (HADR-TTX) on international disaster response and civil-military coordination in the context of pandemic situation via video link. They exchanged views with other participants on the early warning mechanism for disaster relief.

Question: As reported, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the State Council, and the CMC have jointly issued the Regulations on Military Honors and Awards and released a notification requiring all regions and departments to fully and honestly implement the regulation. Would you please brief us on the innovative points and highlights of the regulations and any provisions about the foreign-related honors and awards?

Answer: Since its promulgation, the Regulations on Military Honors and Awards has attracted wide public attention and encouraged service members to admire, learn from and become heroes.

The innovative points of the regulations can be summarized as follows. First, its the first time in PLA history that such regulations have been jointly promulgated by the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and the CMC.

Second, the regulations stipulate that military honors and awards include distinguished service medals, titles of honor, meritorious service medals and citations, commendations, and commemorative medals.

Third, categories of military honors and awards have been expanded, including those granted in wartime, peacetime and major military operations other than war (MOOTWs).

Fourth, the regulations systematically specify the items, criteria, authority, procedures, honorary signs, benefits, promotion, management and supervision of military honors and awards.

Fifth, it stipulates the foreign-related military honors and awards.

Sixth, it unifies and regulates the benefits to recipients of military honors and awards.

Seventh, the systematic design of distinguished medals, meritorious medals and commemorative medals reflects the focus on winning battles and building a strong military.

The promulgation of the regulations is of great significance to improving the honors and awards system for the Party and the nation, making the military occupation more attractive, enhancing the sense of mission and honor of service members, guiding officers and soldiers to carry forward the fearless heroic spirit and the tenacious fighting style of the PLA, and inspiring the whole military to achieve the military centenary goal.

Regarding the foreign-related military honors and awards, the regulation clarifies relevant matters in providing military honors and awards to foreign nationals and the acceptance of foreign honors and awards by Chinese military personnel. The regulations stipulate the foreign-related distinguished medals, meritorious medals and commemorative medals including the Peace Distinguished Medal, the Peace Meritorious Medal, and the Peace Commemorative Medal. The design of the medals mainly composes of elements like military emblems, peace doves, and olive branches.

Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), answers reporters' questions at a regular press conference on February 24, 2022.(Photo:mod.gov.cn)

Question: It is reported that the Chinese naval task group delivering disaster relief supplies to Tonga had recently arrived in Nukualofa, capital city of Tonga. Please tell us more about that.

Answer: At the request of the Kingdom of Tonga, the Chinese military sent PLANS Wuzhishan and PLANS Chaganhu to form a maritime transportation task group to Tonga for delivering disaster relief supplies. The task group departed from Guangzhou on the Chinese New Years eve on January 31. After sailing for over 5,200 nautical miles without a stop, they arrived at the Nukualofa Port on February 15, the Chinese Lantern Festival. The vessels delivered about 1,400 tons of materials, including large pieces like prefabricated houses, tractors and power generators, as well as emergency supplies such as drinking water, food, and medical and pandemic control appliances. The task group overcame complicated weather conditions such as strong winds, huge waves and volcanic pumices, implemented strict pandemic protocol, and ensured the safety of themselves and the goods. They worked closely with the Tongan side to unload and hand over the supplies in light of evolving disaster and pandemic situation in Tonga. Tongas prime minister and foreign minister welcomed the Chinese vessels at the port. They expressed their gratitude to the Chinese side and applauded the friendship between the two countries.

Mankind are one family under the same sun. The disaster relief cooperation between China and Tonga vividly illustrated the concepts of a community with a shared future for mankind and a maritime community with a shared future. It further consolidated the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. China will continue to do what we could to support Tonga for post-disaster reconstruction in accordance with the requirements of the Tongan side.

Crew members of the Chinese naval transportation task group convey their best wishes to Tonga. Photo by Yin Zheng

Crew members of the Chinese naval transportation task group load large-piece cargoes. Photo by Xue Chengqing

Cargoes are unloaded from the Chinese naval vessel. Photo by Xue Chengqing

Question: The US recently issued a new "Indo-Pacific Strategy Report" claiming that the Indo-Pacific region faces mounting challenges, particularly from China that is combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might as it pursues a sphere of influence in the region, prompting the US to strengthen collaboration with its allies and partners to cope with the challenges and compete with China. It also said the US will strive to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, including supporting Taiwans self-defense capabilities. What's your comment, please?

Answer: The US report openly promotes the idea of building exclusive cliques with the excuse of exaggerated foreign threats. Meanwhile it claims to promote regional freedom, openness, prosperity and security. This is illogical and unreasonable. The so-called commitments and visions it paints out of the outdated Cold War mentality and confrontational concept are far from convincing. Once stripped of its veneer, the report in essence shouts only one message  containing the development of other countries and preserving Americas hegemony.

Diversity and inclusiveness are the cornerstones of prosperity and development in the Asia Pacific region. People of Asia Pacific countries look forward to an open and inclusive environment rather than a narrow and isolated one. It is peremptory and ignorant to think that one can forcibly and single-handedly shape or change the Asia-Pacific region out of its self-interests. We urge the relevant country to embrace the the trend of peaceful development and win-win cooperation, live up to its responsibility for regional peace, stability and prosperity, and make the Asia Pacific a generator for win-win cooperation rather than an arena of zero-sum games.

The negative contents in the report about Chinas Taiwan region constitute a gross interference in Chinas internal affairs and violation of the one-China principle and basic norms governing international relations. We are firmly opposed to that. The Taiwan question concerns Chinas core interests and brooks no foreign interference. We urge the US side to fully recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan question, stop interfering in Chinas internal affairs and stop playing with fire on Taiwan.

Question: It is reported that the US Navy recently confirmed the authenticity of an internet video about a US Navy F-35C fighter crashing into the sea in late January. The spokesperson of the US Department of Defense also confirmed that the US Navy is making every effort to salvage the plane. Please comment on that.

Answer: Weve noticed relevant reports. Freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea has never been an issue. But the American side has for a long time used that as an excuse to frequently send military vessels and aircraft to provoke and flex muscles in the South China Sea, which has heightened tensions in the region. Too much muscle-flexing is bound to cause a strain. As is known to all, the US military has suffered a submarine collision and a warplane crashing since last year in the South China Sea. Actually, over the past few years, the US military had multiple ship and aircraft collision accidents that caused serious casualties in different sea areas. These accidents show that instead of being a so-called defender of freedom of navigation and overflight, the US is the true trouble-maker and accident-maker.

We believe that the South China Sea should be a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation, rather than the wild west of individual countries. The US side should immediately stop its long-term, large-scale and high-frequency military activities in the region. Otherwise, it will not only undermine regional countries efforts to keep the South China Sea peaceful and stable, but also harm its own credibility and personnel safety.

Question: It is reported that Japanese defense minister Nobuo Kishi talked about Chinas attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, the Korean Peninsula issue and the Russia-Ukraine tensions during his meeting with the US ambassador to Japan, claiming that regional security situation is anything but optimistic, and Washington and Tokyo should jointly defend democracy, the rule of law and other universal values. A previous commentary said that the new joint operation plan between Japan and the US was drafted in response to a so-called Taiwan emergency. Please comment on that.

Answer: Weve noticed the relevant reports. China upholds that exchanges and cooperation between countries should be conducive to regional peace and stability, instead of targeting or undermining the interests of any third party. Ill-intended conjectures and ganging up with those of the same views while alienating those with different views will only lead to more trust deficit, tensions and confrontation.

Regarding to Taiwan, for a long time, Japan and the US have been grossly interfering in Chinas internal affairs in defiance of the basic norms governing international relations, and deliberately hyped up and manipulated Taiwan-related issues on various occasions. Their insidious remarks and deeds have not only sent wrong signals to the Taiwan-independence forces and seriously threatened the cross-Strait peace and stability, but also further revealed who are breaking international rules, violating other countries sovereignty, and causing regional turmoil. It must be noted that these sinister moves can never shake PLAs resolution to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. We are fully prepared and will resolutely foil external inference and the secessionist attempt for Taiwan independence in any form.

Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), answers reporters' questions at a regular press conference on February 24, 2022.(Photo:mod.gov.cn)

Question: Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said during an interview with Australian media in February that "the United States and others acquiesced and allowed Chinas militarization now to the point where China has 20 points of military presence in the South China Sea, which does not help stability in the region." And he continued to say, If we continue on that trajectory, then I think well lose the next decade. He thought that Australia has to confront China in the South China Sea. Dutton also revealed that based on the new AUKUS trilateral security partnership, Australia will have its first nuclear submarine before 2038. What's your comment, please?

Answer: The South China Sea islands are Chinas inherent territory. Chinas infrastructure construction and deployment of necessary defensive forces on its own soil are perfectly reasonable and justified. No one, including the Australian side, has the right to arrogantly make irresponsible remarks. What I want to emphasize is that if a nations defense authorities are obsessed with confrontation and deliberately make waves in the South China Sea, what it will lose is not just the next decade, but also its international credibility and the opportunities to cooperate with regional countries.

China has repeatedly expressed serious concerns about and firm oppositions to the nuclear submarine deal under the AUKUS framework. The trilateral clique is a reflection of Cold War zero-sum mindset with a strong military touch. It is against the trend of the time and the wish of regional countries and is doomed to fail. Featuring the transfer of a large amount of weapon-grade nuclear materials from nuclear-weapon states to a non-nuclear-weapon state, the clique also violates the provisions set in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone (SPNFZ) Treaty. As such, it will pose a grave risk of nuclear proliferation, exacerbate regional arms race and have negative implications on resolving other nuclear hotspots in the region. China urges the AUKUS group to forsake Cold War mentality and the zero-sum game concept, and treat international concerns in a responsible manner. They should stay out of other countries internal affairs, spend more time reflecting on themselves, revoke their wrong decisions as soon as possible, and perform their anti-proliferation obligations with concrete actions.

Question: Taiwan media reported that Taiwans military conducted various training and readiness operations during the Spring Festival holiday. Its army carried out reconnaissance and patrol missions and various drills, its navy sent vessel to closely monitor maritime situations, and its air force dispatched fast-response forces to respond to PLA warplanes frequent entry into Taiwans southwest air space. Moreover, Taiwan media recently clamored about a PLA anti-submarine helicopter flying around Taiwan for the first time. Whats your comment on that?

Answer: The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have been seeking external support, making independence provocations in various forms, and continuously escalating cross-Strait confrontation. Their acts are the biggest threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and to the wellbeing of all Taiwan compatriots. The regular patrols in the sea and air space around the Taiwan Island conducted by the PLAs multiple services and arms and multiple batches of vessels and aircraft are intended to contain the Taiwan independence separatist forces and their attempts for "independence". Defending national territorial integrity is the sacred duty of the PLA. As long as Taiwan independence provocations exist, the PLA definitely can not and will not stop its actions in defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
WINDHOEK, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Namibia's trade balance with Asian countries decreased from a surplus of 1.7 billion Namibia dollars recorded in December 2021 to 1.3 billion Namibia dollars obtained in January 2022, according to the country's statistics agency (NSA) on Thursday.

Exports declined by 318 million to 3.2 billion Namibia dollars whereas imports increased by 156 million to 1.9 billion Namibia dollars, NSA statistician general Alex Shimuafeni said in the latest NSA trade statistics.

Despite the trade balance decrease, Shimuafeni said China emerged as the main export market for Namibia, absorbing 32.3 percent of all goods exported, ahead of South Africa in the second position with a market share of 18.3 percent of total exports.

"Zambia ranked third with a relative share of 6.1 percent while Spain and France occupied the fourth and fifth positions with respective shares of 4.8 percent and 4.4 percent," he added.

Shimuafeni said copper blisters was Namibia's largest export commodity during the month under review accounting for 26.6 percent of total exports mainly destined to China, France and the Netherlands.

"This was followed by uranium which accounted for 12.8 percent of total exports destined mostly to China," he added.

Meanwhile, in terms of imports, South Africa, Zambia, DRC, UAE and Bulgaria were the major source of imports for Namibia.

"These top five import markets supplied Namibia with 69.7 percent of all imports required by the country, up from its December 2021 level of 67.9 percent and 58.4 percent recorded in January 2021," he concluded. 
A UKRAINIAN woman has spoken of her fears for her family in her homeland following the Russian invasion.

Vicky Vitruk, 48, said her mother called her on the first day of the attack, saying she was worried it might be the last time they spoke.

She was speaking after her appeal for aid for Ukrainian refugees resulted in a huge collection in Benson, where she used to live.

Her parents, who are both in their seventies, live in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in western Ukraine, and chose not to leave before the Russian attack started on Thursday last week.

Her sister left the country with her 12-year-old daughter and they travelled to Prague to stay with friends.

Mrs Vitruk, who used to work in the finance department at Phyllis Court Club in Henley, said: On Thursday I received a call from my mum at 5am. She said, Im calling you now because we are being attacked and Im not sure if Im going to have the chance to talk to you again.

My parents told me they dont want to leave Ukraine. I asked them to travel to the border as I was sure I could somehow drive there and pick them up but now I know that was impossible even then because the border was closed.

They want to stay there. They have lived there their whole life and said they want to die there too. My dad even said that he wants to fight if necessary.

We had a feeling something bad was going to happen but I didnt want to believe it. I used to say, Russia wouldnt dare, a war is just not going to be the case but it became evident that everything was leading to it.

I couldnt speak about it for the first few days and it was difficult to call anyone without crying.

It took me a couple of days just to realise I couldnt go there and help my family and I was thinking about what to do from here.

My sisters husband stayed in Ukraine with their son because they want to fight, so I called him and he told me what they would need. He gave me a list and I decided to try to collect some of the stuff from our nice community here.

I was concerned, scared and very determined to help.

Mrs Vitruk, whose husband Vitaliy is also Ukrainian and has two sons, Stanislav, 24 and Sasha, 15, posted an appeal on Facebook and Donna Mitchell, manager of the Millstream Centre in Benson, offered to help.

On Sunday, thousands of items were donated, including camping equipment, tents, groundsheets, mats, sleeping bags, blankets, cooking utensils, bowls, buckets, folding chairs and tables and warm clothes for all ages, including fleeces, coats, socks, hats and gloves, holdalls and backpacks.

These filled a 3.5-tonne box van which was then driven to the Ukrainian Embassy in London. More donations were made on Monday and Tuesday before these were also driven to London.

Mrs Vitruk, who lived in Benson for five years and now lives in Dorchester-on-Thames, said: I think a lot of people responded because there was no other collection point at that moment and everyone wanted to help.

Now we are thinking about the logistics for future donations because we want to make sure that the right resources are making it through. Some specialist medical items are in low supply even during peace times so we know those will be needed.

She has received calls and offers of help from people who worked with her in Henley as well as Benson people.

Mrs Vitruk said: The response was overwhelming, It is so moving. I never thought it would be this huge. What a wonderful community we have and Im so proud to live among such nice, kind people. I just want to say a huge thank-you to everyone who has helped. Mrs Mitchell said: Vicky reached out to people on Facebook and as a centre we thought we could help with the collection and storage of the items.

Weve got such good community spirit in Benson and the centre has the facilities to be able to support that. We set up a collection point and we were absolutely overwhelmed with the amount of very good donations.

People donated their family camping equipment and everyone was very keen to get involved.

We had to put a notice on the gate saying we couldnt take any more items for the time being.

Since London is now overwhelmed with these kinds of donations we are looking at other ways to support charities that do work to help Ukrainian people.

We now need to be very specific about what we can accept. We know specific medical equipment is needed, for example.

Meanwhile, a pub is taking donations for Ukrainan refugees fleeing to Poland.

Dan and Natalie Redfern, who run the Cherry Tree Inn in Stoke Row, are supporting Thatcham Chamber of Commerce, which has organised for items to be sent to help those in need. The items will be driven to Poland in a number of vans by Didcot Ambulance Service.

Mrs Redfern said: We heard about the collection through a friend and decided we wanted to help. We posted on social media and by Monday we already had around 15 donations. There have been so many different items, clothes, bedding, toys and toiletries.

We are grateful to still have the marquee, which we are currently using as a drop-off point. Thank you to everyone who has donated.

I think we will continue for however long the ambulance service will be transporting donations to Poland.

The Redferns have recommended donations of basic medicines such as ibuprofen, paracetemol and aspirin. They will accept donations of antiseptic creams, bandages and gauze tapes, baby formula, baby grows, childrens clothing, shoes and blankets.

There are two drop-off points in Henley for people to donate medical items and non-perishable foods. The YMCA in Lawson Road is open on weekdays from 9.30am to 5pm and the town hall is open on weekdays from 10am to 4pm.

 Henley Town Hall has been lit in blue and yellow to show support for Ukraine. The town council has installed the lights on the front of the building in Market Place. Members of the town and community committee began a meeting on Tuesday with a minutes silence for the countrys people.
JOHN HOWELL has been thanked for helping to ensure Russia was suspended from the Council of Europe following its invasion of Ukraine.

John Howell is the leader of the UK delegation to the Council of Europe, a non-EU European body which includes the European Court of Human Rights.

He was thanked in Parliament by Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the House of Commons, for his successful efforts in ensuring Russia was suspended from the council last week.

This was one of many sanctions imposed by the UK and its NATO allies since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Mr Howell said: It was a view I had taken from the beginning and as leader of the UK delegation, I spoke to and convinced senior members. I think I have had enormous success.

Russia now has no representation on the council but will still be subject to the conditions that the European Court of Human Rights imposes, which it will continue to fail to meet.

I found it very difficult at the weekend driving past Downing Street not to join in with the mass of protestors flying Ukrainian flags and in fact I did join in by hooting my car horn in support all the way down the street because Im so worked up about this.

Mr Howell dismissed accusations that Britain has not gone far enough with its sanctions.

He said: I think its utterly ridiculous to say that we have not gone far enough. I have spoken to MPs in the Ukrainian parliament and they are incredibly grateful for what weve done. There has been no criticism from them that it has been too slow or weve not gone far enough.

Some actions cannot be taken by the UK alone and weve had to persuade our allies.

Look at what we have done and the leadership role that the UK and I in particular have taken to make sure the sanctions are improved.

Its now leading to the collapse of the rouble and basically the collapse of the Russian economy. He said he expected the Government to go further to support refugees from Ukraine. Mr Howell said: The Secretary of Defence has said that the announcements made about UK visas is only the first step.

We must go further and we will go further but the first safe havens for Ukrainians are not the UK, they are Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. We need to offer them support there.

Matt Rodda, Labour MP for Reading East, which includes Caversham and Emmer Green, said he was pleased the Government had now gone further with sanctions but argued that more work was needed to give refugees easy access to this country.

He said: The invasion is an appalling, unprovoked and unjustifiable attack, a violation of international law and we do need to stand with our allies and strengthen our resolve.

Labour had been calling for further sanctions and were pleased the Government has started to respond and has tightened up sanctions, particularly the move on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

But there are some outstanding areas for further action, particularly greater support for refugees.

There doesnt seem to be a simple scheme for Ukrainian refugees to come to Britain and there should be. They are obviously in real need but there isnt a simple system they can access. It should be simplified and made more generous.

The Reading Ukrainian Community Centre is offering support to Ukrainians in Oxfordshire and Berkshire and Im pushing in Parliament for organisations like that to be given more support and some funding.

Maidenhead MP Theresa May said she was shocked and appalled at the events unfolding in Ukraine.

The former prime minister said: Let there be no doubt  Vladimir Putin has initiated war in mainland Europe.

It is important we call out this action for what it is. This is a violent invasion of an independent, democratic country.

We must put in place every possible economic sanction so that Russia feels absolutely the cold wind of isolation and the Russian people understand that Vladimir Putin has brought their state to a pariah state.

I know many people will have Ukrainian family members and friends and that this will be a particularly distressing time.

 What do you think? Write to: Letters, Henley Standard, Caxton House, 1 Station Road, Henley or email letters@henleystandard.co.uk
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ISLAMABAD, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrived here on Thursday for a two-day visit to Pakistan on bilateral and regional matters.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed Mirziyoyev on his arrival, who was accompanied by a high-level delegation, according to the state television of Pakistan.

This is the first visit of the Uzbek president to Pakistan since he assumed office in 2016, the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mirziyoyev will hold a one-on-one meeting with the Pakistani prime minister, which would be followed by delegation-level talks and joint media stakeout, according to the statement.

During the visit, the two leaders will review the entire gamut of bilateral relations including cooperation in political, trade and economic, connectivity, education, culture, security and defense domains, said the foreign ministry. 
Greenville, TX (75401)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
A China-Europe freight train carrying hundreds of tons of medical equipment from China arrives in Belgrade, Serbia on May 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Shi Zhongyu)

In 2021 bilateral trade exchanges between Serbia and China were worth 5.3 billion euros, and in the past five years the volume of Serbia's exports to China increased 15 times, said Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic.

BELGRADE, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The trade between Serbia and China is getting stronger every day, showing the trust of Chinese companies in Serbia, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said here on Thursday during the opening ceremony of the Chamber of Chinese Companies in Serbia.

The ceremony, which was also attended by representatives of the Chinese Embassy in Serbia and Chinese companies, was accompanied by an exhibition on environment protection and sustainable development.

In her address, Brnabic stressed the important role the new chamber will play in advancing the two countries' partnership.

"In a moment like this, the establishment of the chamber is a clear message that Chinese companies have trust in Serbia, in the political and economic stability of Serbia, and that they have the intention to invest more and further in our country," she said.

Praising the strengthening of economic cooperation between Serbia and China in recent years, she said that in 2021 bilateral trade exchanges were worth 5.3 billion euros (5.86 billion U.S. dollars), and that in the past five years the volume of Serbia's exports to China increased 15 times.

Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic (Front) addresses the opening ceremony of a center for genome sequencing in Belgrade, Serbia, on Dec. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Shi Zhongyu)

Song Sihai, director of HBIS Serbia, who became the president of the Chamber of Chinese Companies in the country, said that the new chamber could provide advice to Chinese companies interested in developing their business in Serbia.

He said that Chinese companies will benefit from this chamber through learning, support and the exchange of experiences, as well as by bringing the chamber's members and the local business circles closer to each other.

Tian Yishu, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy, recalled that the excellent relations between the two countries promoted economic growth and the realization of numerous projects in fields of infrastructure, energy and production capacities, and that the volume of bilateral trade increased by 52.5 percent from 2020 to 2021 despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"All people present here are participants and promoters of China-Serbia economic cooperation, and I believe that through cooperation of institutions for promotion of investments, and through mutual cooperation between Chinese and Serbian companies, economic and trade cooperation can be raised to an even higher level," he said.

Photo taken on Sept. 5, 2021 shows the coffee bean displayed at the booth of Serbia during the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Wang Tiancong)
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we've all known individuals who have done more than their share to help their neighbors and communities with food, comfort, care, companionship and dozens of other needs. If you know of such a person, you can nominate them to be featured in our upcoming H
People wearing face masks are seen on a tram in Budapest, Hungary, on Jan. 11, 2022. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

The Hungarian government decided to remove the measures as the fifth wave of the pandemic was coming to an end.

BUDAPEST, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Hungary will remove the majority of its restrictions introduced against the COVID-19 pandemic, Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Prime Minister's Office said Thursday.

"The obligation to wear a mask will end next Monday," said Gulyas, adding that the wearing of masks will stay obligatory in social and health care institutions.

He said that the government decided to remove the measures because the fifth wave of the pandemic was coming to an end.

The government also revoked the rule that allowed employers to make vaccination against the coronavirus compulsory, the minister added. The regulations concerning the vaccination certificate will also be canceled.

People wearing face masks wait at a tram stop in Budapest, Hungary, on Jan. 11, 2022.(Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua)

The government will maintain the "health emergency situation" in Hungary for fear of the risk of a possible sixth wave.

On Thursday, the country registered 3,862 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,796,982, according to official data.

In the past 24 hours, 77 people died from the disease, taking the cumulative death toll to 44,211 in the country. Currently, 3,120 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 126 on ventilators, the government's website said.

As of Thursday, 6,395,509 people had received at least the first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.

A doctor shows a box of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Varoslod, Hungary, Feb. 24, 2021. (Tamas Vasvari/MTI via Xinhua)
On Sunday, I went with a couple of my family members to a baseball game in Milwaukee between the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers. Everything was going well. I used my phone to get driving directions to the stadium from St. Joseph, and the Apple Maps app got us to the exact location on
Collier Meyerson, creator of "Love Thy Neighbor," grew up in Manhattan but spent eight years living in Crown Heights as an adult.

(New York Jewish Week via JTA) - The Crown Heights riots, which roiled the Brooklyn neighborhood over four days in 1991, were some of the most thoroughly documented events in New York City history: Covered in real time by local, national and global media, the violence was recounted by witnesses in numerous civil and criminal trials. The riots were also the subject of countless books, essays, documentaries and a one-person play.

Add to that canon now, six months after the 30th anniversary of the events, an exploration in that most modern form of media: a podcast.

"Love Thy Neighbor," a...
NBC's "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" (Season 23, Episode 10, "Silent Night, Hateful Night,") began 2022 with a troubling episode about religious hate crimes. But just as troubling as the hate crimes catalogued here was the very existence of the episode itself.

Principal series writers/producers Julie Martin, Kathy Dobie and Warren Leight concocted this discombobulated fare about a wave of anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh attacks on houses of worship and businesses, all on Christmas Eve. The suggestion is that violence and vandalism were someone's idea of celebrating the birth...
(JTA)  Prayers for peace are an integral part of Jewish worship. Now, they are also a central part of the communal Jewish response as fighting is underway in Ukraine where Russian troops invaded Thursday morning.

Here are excerpts from the responses weve seen so far from Jewish groups. Know of something weve missed? Please send it our way.

The Conservative/Masorti movement of Judaism and its affiliated organizations hosted a global prayer gathering over Zoom Thursday for the well-being and safety of our brothers and sisters and all those in Ukraine under attack. The event fea...
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) yesterday threatened to sue activists and other pressure groups for exposing discrepancies on the voters roll, with the electoral management body saying public disclosures containing peoples personal details are a security risk.

Zec has been under the spotlight after activists such as Team Pachedu exposed massive irregularities including the alleged registration of voters without known addresses and movement of over 170 000 registered voters from constituencies without their consent.

Zec has, however, dismissed reports that the voters roll was shambolic.

Independent election watchdogs and critics have said Zecs defensive stance without addressing stakeholder concerns on the voters roll fuelled fears that the electoral management body had something to hide.

Opposition parties and other critics have gone further saying the exposures lend credence to their fears of a plot to rig the March 26 by-elections and the 2023 polls.

Zec chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana in a meeting yesterday with the Misheck Mataranyika-chaired Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, said public disclosure of the discrepancies on the voters roll was illegal, and exposed voters to physical attacks.

He singled out Team Pachedu.

First and foremost, it is important to note that most, if not all, of the allegations that are being raised in the social media have not been formally brought to the attention of the commission save through unorthodox means, Silaigwana said.

The meeting was held in partnership with the Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust.

A shadowy group called Team Pachedu has been at the forefront of raising some of the allegations on social media, especially regarding issues related to the national voters roll. The publication of voters information on social media, as is now being done without seeking clarification from the commission, is highly deplorable and puts voters at risk.

Silaigwana added: As much as the national voters roll is a public document, it is also a security document containing voters personal details. Any abuse of it attracts legal consequences and the commission has a duty to protect voters information which they supplied in confidence. The advent of social media has exacerbated challenges related to security of information of citizens.

Early this week, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) urged Zec to address stakeholder concerns on the voters roll to safeguard the integrity of the polls.

In its recommendations, Zesn said the electoral management body should allow the voters roll to be audited by independent data experts.

The countrys voters roll has been the subject of contention, with stakeholders poking holes in the document.

The commission is accountable to Parliament through the Justice Committee and has engaged to give updates on electoral activities. Of concern to the commission are the various allegations which relate to the mandate of the commission that have been highly publicised in the social media, which have a damaging effect of casting aspersions on the credibility of our electrical process, Silaigwana said.

Zec chairperson Justice Priscilla Chigumba condemned rising cases of politically-motivated violence as the country marches towards the March 26 by-elections.

On Sunday, a Citizens Coalition for Change supporter died after he was stabbed by suspected Zanu PF activists during a rally which was being addressed by party leader Nelson Chamisa in Kwekwe.

The commission condemns and abhors in strongest terms such acts of violence which have the effects of marring and negatively impacting the electoral environment in the build-up to the by-elections set for March 26, Chigumba said.

It is everybodys responsibility to promote an environment conducive to the holding of free and fair elections and a climate of tolerance in which electioneering activities may take place without fear or coercion, intimidation or reprisal. Newsday
(JNS) - "Everyone is just talking about the war," said Yana Koblenko from Ukraine, who arrived in Israel on Sunday with a plane of 74 other new immigrants. "Until the last minute, I was worried the flight would be canceled."

The Koblenko family-Yana, her husband Yevgeny and their young daughter-had been longing to come to Israel for some time. The rest of Yana's family, including her parents, had made aliyah just before the pandemic.

"It's scary in Ukraine right now," Yana said as she arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport. "We are very happy to have the opportunity to live in Isra...
A special briefing on the situation in Ukraine was held on Tuesday featuring experts from Joint Distribution Committee, Jewish Agency for Israel and National Coalition Supporting Eurasion Jewry. The webinar was presented by United Jewish Appeal Federation New York and the Jewish Federations of North America.

Mark Levin, executive vice chairman and CEO of NCSEJ, shared letters from President Zelenskys office and the mayor of Kiev both of which expressed a need for more weapons and that the political landscape is changing minute by minute. Levin stated, Now it the time to stand on...
BOSTON (JTA)  For nearly a month, a small liberal arts college just miles outside of Boston has been roiled by a spate of hate incidents, including antisemitic graffiti and threatening racist language, prompting the school to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved.

The incidents at Curry College, located in Milton, a suburb south of Boston, began Jan. 27, when International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed worldwide, with reports of drawings of swastikas and discriminatory and hateful language.

Numerous other similar incidents...
Ginsburg Family Foundation announced grants totaling $40 million to three local organizations focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion in the Central Florida community. The social impact grants were awarded to Nemours Childrens Health, Holocaust Museum for Hope & Humanity and the University of Central Florida.

Our family loves the Central Florida community and we are proud to support these organizations which not only celebrate our diversity, but also improve the quality of life for our community, said Alan H. Ginsburg, prominent Central Florida philanthropist, community leade...
Jewish Family Services of Greater Orlando has been selected as a beneficiary of the Winn-Dixie Bloomin 4 Good Program for the month of March.

JFS Orlandos Pearlman Emergency Food Pantry will receive a $1 donation for every $12.99 Bloomin 4 Good Bouquet (marked with a red circle sticker) purchased at the Fern Park Winn-Dixie located at 7800 South Highway 17-92 during March.

We are very grateful to have been chosen for the Winn-Dixie Bloomin 4 Good Program, said Philip Flynn, executive director of JFS Orlando. Whether youre purchasing flowers to make someones day or...
(JTA)  Israel began allowing unvaccinated tourists to enter the country on March 1 as the countys COVID case numbers continue to decline, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced.

Tourists will still need to produce negative PCR tests before and after their flights, while Israelis will only need to take a test upon landing.

The more lax rules mean that children under the age of five who are ineligible to be vaccinated can now enter the country. Only fully vaccinated tourists have been allowed in since January.

The changes came as Israels governm...
(Israel Hayom via JNS)  Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has ordered Israeli embassy staff in Kyiv to move to consular offices in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, as war looms between Russia and Ukraine.

The consular office in Lviv has been working to provide travel documents to Israeli citizens since Thursday and will assist citizens interested in leaving the country, primarily through land border crossings to neighboring countries, the ministry said in a statement.

Officials said that the ministry was prepared for any development, including the possibility of a land exit...
Ohio University junior Hadass Galili noted that an instructor threatened to drop her grade by an entire letter after she had to miss a class because of Passover, Feb. 15, 2022.

(JNS) - The Ohio House Higher Education Committee heard testimony on Feb. 15 on a bill that would require colleges and universities in the state to provide accommodation for students when there are conflicts between class assignments, exams and religious observances.

A number of Jewish organizations, including dozens of Hillels, Chabad Houses, historically Jewish fraternities, Jewish Federations and Jewish Community Relations Councils, are supporting the legislation.

The bipartisan bill was introduced by Republican State Rep. Gary Click and Democratic State Rep. Jessica Miranda, and has s...
By Israel Kasnett

(JNS) - Screams pierce the air as the dust clears and survivors begin to emerge from the rubble. More than 10,000 people have been killed and 20,000 more are injured. Thousands of buildings across the country have collapsed. In some areas, there is deathly silence; in others, cries for help can be heard from beneath the debris. The streets are impassable; shattered glass, bricks and chunks of concrete are strewn everywhere. Trees, light poles and electrical wires lie across the ground and where there were once unbroken roads, deep cracks and chasms now threaten cars and pe...
(JTA)  In launching Russias war on Ukraine last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin cited a purported need for denazification of Ukraine, a country whose president is Jewish.

Its goal is to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide  for the last eight years. And for this we will strive for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, Putin said in his speech, which was broadcast on state television.

Putin was referring to a claim that he has long made, starting as a justification for his 2014 invasion and subsequent annexation of Crimea,...
Zimbabwe was among the 35 countries that yesterday abstained from voting against Russia when the United Nations General Assembly put the Ukraine crisis for a vote.

The vote was 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions. It came after the 193-member assembly convened its first emergency session since 1997.

Zimbabwe is expected to release a comprehensive statement on the vote today.

Although resolutions arent legally binding, the vote yesterday reflected divided opinion over the Russian-initiated military operation in Ukraine.

Most Western nations voted against Russia while Zimbabwe was among the 35 that included China, El Salvador, India, Iran, Iraq, China, South Africa, Algeria, Angola and Mozambique that abstained.

Countries that were pushing for an outright condemnation of Russia got a rude awakening as at least 5 countries came out guns blazing in support of President Vladimir Putin. Countries that spoke for Russia included Belarus, North Korea, Cuba and Syria.

President Putin has raised concern over Ukraine, which he said must remain a neutral buffer state and not become a member of NATO. He has also called for NATO to stop military activities in Eastern Europe, blaming it for undermining the regions security.

The Russian president has said the military operation in Ukraine is meant to protect and secure its security concerns.

Five countries, Russia, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea and Belarus voted against reprimanding Russia while 141 members supported the resolution.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe is evacuating its citizens who have managed to leave Ukraine to neighbouring countries mainly Poland.

An envoy was dispatched to Poland for the safe-keeping of Zimbabweans who have fled to the central European country, these Zimbabweans are generally students who were studying in Eastern Europe.

The Government representative is taking care of their welfare in Poland while facilitating their return home after the Government committed to pay for their return tickets.

Posting on their micro blogging site Twitter this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade said: The Government wishes to inform all students who have left Ukraine to urgently get in touch with the Government official in Poland.

The Government has already dispatched an official to Poland to organise their stay in Poland and buy their tickets to Zimbabwe. All those who are stranded and wish to travel to Zimbabwe will be assisted.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry assured parents that the Government was seized with evacuating its citizens home.

All students in Ukraine were being urged to cross the border into neighbouring Poland where Government intervention was guaranteed from there.

Government wishes to assure parents with students in Ukraine that they should not worry. The Government is going to pay for return tickets for all the students currently being evacuated from Ukraine to Zimbabwe.

All the students currently in Ukraine are urged to cross over to Poland and they will be assisted from there. Our Embassy in Germany is making all concerted efforts to make sure that our students are brought home safely.

Our Embassy in Germany is already in touch with most of our students in Ukraine and is currently working towards assisting its nationals based in that country. Those who havent contacted the Embassy are urged to do so on the number: +4903023255676 or by email: Infor@zimembassyberlin.com.

There are 256 registered Zimbabweans in Ukraine. Herald
(JNS)  Neo-Nazis in Florida. Synagogue desecration in Chicago. Regular assaults in Brooklyn, N.Y. When it comes to antisemitism in America, its time to start connecting the dots.

If were going to better understand the nature and scope of the threats, we need the FBI to lead, taking everyone out of their silo, getting all the information that theyre uniquely positioned to get, and then having a desk thats going to review things and have access to other agencies  domestic and otherwise  in order for us to quantify and qualify whats going on, Rabbi Abraham Cooper,...
Dan Green, CEO and director general of World ORT, wrote the following news release about the five schools and regional office in Kiev:

World ORT has learned with dismay and great concern about the escalation overnight of the security situation in Ukraine.

We are in constant contact with our regional office in Kiev and with our five schools and two affiliated schools in Ukraine  Zaporozhe and Odessa in the eastern and southern regions; and Chernivtsi, Kyiv, and Belaya Tserkov in the north and west  and are co-operating fully with our partners in the region.

We have been assured that al...
The Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center will honor Dr. Rita Bornstein with the Tess Wise White Rose Award at its annual event on April 13, from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., at the Rollins Museum of Art, Back Lawn.

The White Rose Award commemorates the actions of a group of courageous students in Germany during World War II. Calling for non-violent resistance against Hitler and the Nazis, the group consisted of five students in their early 20s led by Hans and Sophie Scholl. They worked day and night to create flyers criticizing Germans who did nothing to combat the tyranny of the Thi...
(JTA)  Ukraines embassy in Israel tried to recruit Israelis to join the Ukrainian fight against Russia in a Facebook post Saturday.

The Embassy has begun the formation of lists of volunteers who wish to participate in combat actions against the Russian aggressor, the embassy wrote in a Facebook post that was later taken down, according to The Times of Israel. The post asked volunteers to tell coordinators about any military specialty they have, something Israelis, most of whom complete mandatory army service after high school, will likely possess.

The call for volunteers...
(JNS)  Russian President Vladimir Putins recognition on Feb. 21 of two breakaway states in eastern Ukraine and his subsequent dispatch of peacekeepers there  considered by Western nations to be an official invasion of the country  has left its citizens and particularly the Jewish communities on edge. Throughout Ukraine, Jewish leaders are watching closely, and many have made contingency plans in the event the situation worsens.

Ukraines Chief Rabbi Yaakov Bleich told JNS that the Jews are part of the general community. Whats good for Ukraine is good for the...
(JTA)  It seemed a slam dunk: The popular conservative cause of banning critical race theory in schools, being taken up for a vote in one of the countrys most lopsidedly conservative legislatures.

Then a Democrat, one of just seven in the 60-member Wyoming legislature, stood up Thursday and said he could not support the bill because he was Jewish.

In this bill, page 9, line 19 states, The teaching of history must be neutral, without judgment, state Rep. Andy Schwartz said during debate. Now, how can that be possible? If I were a Native American, I doubt I could ac...
(JTA)  One week ago, Jews outside of Ukraine knew Volodymyr Zelensky as the world leader on the other end of the perfect phone call that resulted in the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

But now, after days of watching Zelensky balance humor and gravitas while rallying his fellow Ukrainians to rebuff the Russian army invasion, they know him as a contemporary Jewish hero.

Zelensky gives modern Maccabee energy, Peter Fox, a writer, wrote on Twitter.

Fox was referring to the ancient Jews who, though outflanked in every way, fended off the efforts of foreign fighters, direc...
(JTA)  If I have learned anything over the past month, it is that racist tropes are not harmless words. They must be actively and consistently challenged.

You know them and so do I. The racist tropes peddled about Jewish people are plentiful. What you may not know is that antisemitic tropes caused my friends and me to be held hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas.

Our Shabbat morning service on Jan. 15 began normally. I had just sat down after the morning Amidah. Within a few seconds, I heard that unmistakable sound of an automatic pistol chambering a bullet. A man...
(JNS)  A New York congressman has withdrawn his support for a pro-Israel bill, saying that J Street, which labels itself as the home of pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans convinced him to change his position.

This development reveals a great deal about the reasons for the ongoing tension between American Jewish critics of Israel and the rest of the Jewish community.

The congressman in question is Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a first-term Democrat who represents a district that covers part of New York City (the north Bronx) and much of Westchester County. Bowman has a substantial number of Jewi...
(JNS)  On Feb. 24, 2020, former Indian Supreme Court justice Deepak Gupta delivered a lecture to the Bar arguing that the right to dissent is the most important right granted by the Constitution.

Gupta took the ancient idea of challenging authority and gave it dignity: To question, to challenge, to verify, to ask for accountability from the government is the right of every citizen under the constitution, he said. These rights should never be taken away otherwise we will become an unquestioning moribund society, which will not be able to develop any further.

Canadian Pri...
John Cameron Mitchell barely made it through a single episode of Tiger King, but he was so excited about Joe vs. Carole that he sent in his first audition tape in 25 years.

The scripted Peacock series, premiering Thursday and based on the Wondery podcast, takes on the same story as Netflixs pandemic sensation: The battle between big cat enthusiasts Joe Exotic Maldonado-Passage and Carole Baskin that starts with Baskin trying to shut down Exotics zoo and ends with him behind bars after trying to have her killed.

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I saw one episode of the docuseries and though the characters were popping out at you like 3-D [private parts] in a 70s porn film, I didnt feel a lot of empathy happening with the filmmakers, Mitchell, who plays the over-the-top Exotic, told the Daily News. I want empathy. I love camp  but I need to care.

Joe vs. Carole, which co-stars Kate McKinnon as Baskin, claws deeper than Tiger King into Baskins relationships before current husband Howard (played by Kyle MacLachlan), including her second husbands mysterious disappearance. It also delves into Exotics 17-year relationship with first husband Brian Rhyne, who died of complications from HIV in 2001, and their families and coworkers.

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Its the quieter moments that connected most with Mitchell, an actor, director and playwright who has appeared on Broadway as well as in TV and films.

John Cameron Mitchell stars as Joe Exotic in Joe vs. Carole. (Mark Taylor/Peacock/Mark Taylor/Peacock)

I found I had a lot in common with him. We grew up in the same part of the country, same age within six weeks, a showman, the 58-year-old Army brat born in El Paso, Texas, told The News.

He created his shows, his communities, his zoo. I create my own plays and movies and concerts with all the misfits.

[ Fresh Prince remake Bel-Air strikes a more serious tone to fish-out-of-water story ]

Exotic considered himself a misfit too, but thats why he thought he was special. It comes out on stage, when everyones eyes are on him, even if only because hes holding a tiger cub (Joe vs. Carole uses visual effects instead of real animals). Hes skinny, covered in tattoos with a shock of a blond mullet and a Southern drawl.

Kate McKinnon plays as Carole Baskin, alongside Kyle MacLachlan as her husband, Howard. (Mark Taylor/Peacock/Mark Taylor/Peacock)

Mitchell compared Exotic to Richard III, the English king whose Machiavellian rule was often blamed on his physical deformities.

It can make you very angry or it can make you very empathetic to other outsiders, the actor said. In the end, (Exotic) felt he needed to conquer and destroy. He felt attacked. Eventually it became bigger than self-defense; it became offensive.

[ Search Party finds closure in final season ]

In September 2018, Exotic was arrested and charged with hiring two hitmen to kill Baskin at her Florida rescue center. He was found guilty on two counts of attempted murder for hire and other charges including violating the Endangered Species Act by killing five tigers.

Exotic was sentenced to 22 years behind bars. In January, a federal judge cut one year off in a resentencing.

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Joe vs. Carole digs deeper into the pandemic hit Tiger King. (Mark Taylor/Peacock/Mark Taylor/Peacock)

In portraying Exotic, Mitchell points to the people surrounding him: His mother, who tried to understand him; his cousin, who called him a scam artist; an ex-boyfriend who was convicted of murder and sexual assault. He points to the irrevocable grief of losing a loved one.

You have to approach every role with some kind of sympathy. There are no pure villains. There are damaged people. There are psychopaths. I dont think Joe was a psychopath but he was definitely a narcissist, Mitchell told The News.

Youve got to honor his humanity without excusing his behavior.
(JNS)  Lets face it: The raging debate about Jews having white privilege is a bit absurd.

Jews are basically a historical Rorschach depiction of a people. In other words, we take the form; we are regarded through the eyes of those who perceive us.

For most of the past two millennia, Jews were certainly not regarded as being like other people. In Europe, we were first the Christ-rejectors/killers who per Augustine, were being kept around in order to bear witness to our own degradation and supersession by the Church.

Not too much privilege there.

Come the Enlightenment, and we became th...
Very, we have an emergency plan and complete emergency supply kit.

Somewhat, we have a complete emergency supply kit.

Little, we have incomplete plan and/or supply kit.

Not at all.

Vote

View Results
Tech giant Amazon is pledging to subsidize the cost of tuition and fees for roughly 30,000 of its hourly workers across New York state who get accepted at one of eight participating CUNY colleges, company and university officials announced Thursday.

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The program would allow eligible Amazon workers  full-time, hourly employees whove worked at the company for more than 90 days  to get up to $5,250 to cover costs at CUNY schools. Part-time Amazon employees can get up to half of that yearly subsidy.

Amazon officials said the move is part of the companys $1.2 billion national initiative to subsidize higher education costs for a targeted 300,000 hourly employees. They didnt say how much they expect to spend on the New York City effort, but Carley Graham-Garcia, Amazons head of community affairs for New York, said she expects significant participation.

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A woman works at a packing station at the 855,000-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island. (JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)

The tech behemoth has expanded its footprint in the city in recent years, despite the aborted plan to build a second headquarters here. Amazon has at least 12 warehouses in the city, including a Staten Island warehouse where workers are expected to vote in March on whether to form a union.

Graham-Garcia said warehouse workers will be among those eligible for the CUNY subsidies, as well as other hourly workers.

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The eight participating schools are Bronx Community College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, the City College of New York, the College of Staten Island, the CUNY School of Professional Studies, Kingsborough Community College, LaGuardia Community College and Queens College.

The colleges offer more flexible options for students working full-time, including night and online classes.

Yearly tuition at CUNYs community colleges runs $4,800 a year, and could theoretically be covered entirely by the Amazon subsidy. Annual tuition at a four-year college is $6,930 and fees are usually several hundred dollars more.

Enrollment at CUNYs community college is down significantly since the start of the pandemic, mirroring national trends. But CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez said the university systems scholarship partnerships with employers happen in good or bad enrollment times. We see this as part of our historic role in extending social mobility in New York City.

In a statement, Gov. Hochul said the CUNY and Amazon collaboration will provide greater access to education and opportunity, and complement our efforts to grow our economy and expand workforce development across the state.

Amazon officials said the program is open to students enrolled or planning to enroll in any of the participating CUNY schools after January. The subsidies are direct payments to the schools, and accepting the financial support doesnt require worker to commit to staying at Amazon for any length of time, Graham-Garcia said.

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Students can get subsidized for both graduate or undergraduate programs.
New York City school chancellor David Banks laid out the first concrete steps Wednesday towards his pledge to trim the Education Departments sprawling central bureaucracy  vowing to eliminate the executive superintendent position created by former Chancellor Richard Carranza.

The vow to cut the jobs of eight high-ranking DOE officials in charge of overseeing district superintendents and principals across the five boroughs came during Bankss first major speech since taking the helm of the Education Department in January.

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New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks at Department of Education headquarters on Wednesday, March 2, 2022 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Were going to streamline what I consider some level of waste within this department, Banks said to a crowd of DOE staffers at Tweed Courthouse. We have not gotten the level of value added to our schools that is needed from having those positions, Banks explained.

He promised instead to bolster the authority of 32 district superintendents and give principals with a track record of success additional freedom.

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Banks said he would consider additional cuts to the DOEs borough offices to further trim the agencys central offices. He added that cutting the executive superintendent jobs could help redirect money to school budgets, though its unclear how much impact the money saved from the eight positions would have when spread across 1,600 schools.

In the nearly 40-minute address, which Banks later said he largely had to ad-lib because his teleprompter wasnt working, the new schools chancellor repeated past criticism of the low reading proficiency rates for Black and Hispanic students, pledging to retool literacy instruction citywide by screening more kids for dyslexia and pushing more schools to adopt phonics-based reading instruction.

New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

I have met really smart committed people putting in long hours and very committed and yet the results we have as a school system is completely dysfunctional, Banks said.

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He cited techniques used by the Windward School, an Upper East Side private institution that specializes in teaching kids with dyslexia, as a model for the approach he hopes to use, and proposed an advisory council of DOE teachers who have had success teaching reading.

Banks lamented declining enrollment, pointing to declines in the student population that began years before the pandemic and accelerated during the past two years as an indictment on the work weve done.

He laid out several ideas to improve school performance, including expanding vocational education and creating an internal DOE system to highlight effective schools.

New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

The new chancellor said hes also planning to revive a Bloomberg-era system that gave high-performing principals additional autonomy and exempted them from some regulations.

Following a citywide uptick in youth gun violence and a surge in weapons confiscated in schools  many of them self-protective devices like tasers and pepper spray students say they bring to protect themselves on public transit  Banks said hes working with the NYPD to hire more School Safety Agents, whose ranks have diminished from roughly 5,000 in spring 2020 to closer to 3,600 now.

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City officials are still looking into technology they say could replace traditional metal detectors in schools while still finding weapons, Banks said. He declined to name specific companies the city is speaking to, saying theres some companies further along and some promising opportunities but were not there yet.

Mayor Eric Adams ( left) and New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Banks also elaborated on plans to expand a permanent remote learning option for city families, saying the DOE is working on creating a fully virtual academy with a principal and teachers who all work remotely and students who attend class solely online.
New York Attorney General Letitia James cant fire the kill shot that puts the National Rifle Association out of business, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen said the AGs case against the pro-gun lobbying group paints a grim story of greed, self-dealing, and lax financial oversight  but not one that warrants the corporate death penalty.

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Her allegations concern primarily private harm to the NRA and its members and donors, which if proven can be addressed by the targeted, less intrusive relief she seeks through other claims in her complaint, Judge Cohen found.

He added that James didnt allege that the gun rights groups exists solely to carry out crimes or that its incapable of continuing legitimate work.

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In short, the complaint does not allege the type of public harm that is the legal linchpin for imposing the corporate death penalty.

Cohen said the suit could proceed without consideration of James requests to dissolve the organization  meaning the attorney general may succeed at expelling the gun groups longtime head, Wayne LaPierre, if she prevails.

James said she was exploring her options.

While were heartened that the judge rejected the NRAs attempts to thwart most of the claims in our case against the NRA, we are disappointed that the judge ruled against the dissolution portion of the case, James said in a statement.

We remain committed to enforcing New York law regardless of how powerful any individual or organization may be.

New York Attorney General Letitia James and NRA Executive Vice President Wayne Lapierre. (Associated Press/AP)

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The August 2020 complaint accused LaPierre and other senior management of diverting tens of millions of dollars to fund safari trips in Africa, private jet flights to the Bahamas, expensive meals, and other luxury items.

It also accused NRA chiefs of rewarding loyalists with lucrative no-show contracts, retaliating against whistleblowers, and myriad other instances of mismanagement and misconduct dating back decades.

Along with seeking the NRAs dissolution, James demanded current and former execs make full restitution of money they have misspent.

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The NRA countersued in state and federal court before filing for bankruptcy and trying to reincorporate in Texas. A Dallas judge dismissed that effort.

During the bankruptcy case, the court heard how LaPierre cowered aboard a yacht in the Bahamas in December 2012 after a gunman slaughtered 26 children at Sandy Hook elementary school with military-grade weapons.

This was the one place that I hope could feel safe, where I remember getting there going, Thank God. Im safe. Nobody can get me here, LaPierre said in a deposition revealed at the bankruptcy hearings.

Lawyers for the NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Minor Hotels (MH) the parent company of NH Collection Hotels, is bringing a captivating heritage-inflected resort to the heart of Chiang Mai. NH Collection Chiang Mai Ping River, as the new development will be known, is located on the picturesque bank of the Mae Ping River and will become NH Collection's first property in Asia when it opens in Q1 2023.

Occupying two low-rise buildings right on the riverbank, the resort will be integrated into nature and the surrounding tranquil riverside landscape. In addition to 79 rooms and suites, some with private swimming pools, the new NH Collection will also feature a swimming pool and deck, a multipurpose space combining a restaurant, cafe, art space and bar, and a fitness centre. Right across the river lies the temple-filled Old City with its trendy art galleries, craft shops and numerous dining options, while the Chiang Mai International Airport is only 4 kilometres away.

A partnership between Osmo Ping River, a subsidiary of Osmo Properties Group and Minor Hotels, the development marks a debut of the NH Collection brand outside of Europe and Latin America, where the upper-upscale chain has 93 hotels housed in authentic and unique landmark buildings, carefully conceived with an eclectic-elegant atmosphere, historical references and an eye for the arts.

To build a cohesive visual narrative, Narong Othavorn, Principal Architect at SO Architect's drew inspiration from the romance surrounding the golden era of travel when western adventurers journeyed to the farthest corners of the world as journalists, archaeologists, missionaries, or simply intrepid explorers. More specifically, they turned to local history by spotlighting Daniel McGilvary, an American missionary-statesman and scholar who lived and worked in Chiang Mai in the late 19th century. The resulting design concept marries Eastern mysticism and Western spirit of exploration.

Honouring McGilvary's legacy, the moody and eclectic McGilvary Bar features antique whiskey glasses on silver trays, banker's lamps and a selection of antique curios. The bar's design decisions mix classic and modern touches, including a hand-painted mural and locally crafted fixtures to reflect a timeless aesthetic the brand is known for. The adjacent cafe embraces modernity with luxe bubble-couches, minimalist details and clean lines. Connecting the two venues is the Ping Hill Gallery  a winding archway of fluted surfaces and undulating walls that will showcase contemporary Thai art on rotation. Outside by the river, 19th-centure passion for adventure and fascination with expeditions are celebrated at a breezy campsite, with folding campaign chairs strewn on a grassy patch under tropical fronds.

Nestled into the mountains of northern Thailand, the laid-back city of Chiang Mai is one of the most visited destinations in the country known for long, storied history of traditional craftsmanship. The inauguration of Chiang Mai's contemporary art museum has further cemented the city's reputation as an art hub. Founded in 1296, Chiang Mai was capital of the independent Lanna Kingdom until 1558, and the Old City area still retains vestiges of walls and moats as well as hundreds of elaborate Buddhist temples reflecting the city's importance as a cultural and religious centre. In addition to cultural pursuits, such as visits to artisan villages and mountain hill tribes, guests can immerse themselves in nature with trips to hot springs, natural parks and waterfalls.

Hotel website
Formerly the Assistant General Manager of the property, Berk was promoted to General Manager following the building's large-scale renovation and transition from the Grand Hotel Minneapolis.

Beginning his career with a bachelor's degree in Hotel Management from University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Berk quickly launched his career at the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts working in a variety of locations. For the next 16 years, he continuously moved up the ladder, from Food and Beverage Manager to Director of Catering at one of Denver's most prominent downtown hotels. He went on to become the Director of Catering and Events at JW Marriott Denver Cherry Creek before relocating to Minneapolis, where he joined the AC Hotel Downtown Minneapolis team under Sage Hospitality. In his first Minneapolis hotel as Director of Operations, Berk's focus was to ensure the hotel delivered at a high level for the upcoming 2018 Super Bowl.

He remained successful after a move to the greater Minneapolis area as Hotel Manager at the Sheraton Hotel Bloomington where he secured capital funds to ensure an improved guest experience. You will see Berk's incredibly positive impact not only on the AC's TripAdvisor ranking but the Sheraton's as well.

He joined the Hyatt Centric Downtown Minneapolis team as Assistant General Manager during the building's large-scale renovation and transition from the Grand Hotel Minneapolis. His unwavering leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic led to his promotion to General Manager in September 2020, just nine months later.
Hawks Cay Resort has appointed Albert Bilotti as the food and beverage director.

Prior to joining Hawks Cay, Director of Food & Beverage Albert Bilotti served as the general manager of restaurant operations for Morada Bay, a well-known seaside dining locale located in Islamorada, Florida. Originally from New York, Bilotti relocated to the Florida Keys following a long career in the hospitality industry having worked at several leading resorts across the country where he led food and beverage operations and programming including The Roosevelt Hotel, Waldorf Astoria, The Resort at Squaw Creek, and La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa, just to name a few. At Hawks Cay, he will be working directly with the Executive Chef to ensure a world-class dining experience for guests at each outlet, representative of both the Florida Keys locale and the culinary brand the hotel has chartered.
hihotels by Hospitality International, a recognized leader in franchising of conversion and new build hotels for economy lodging, is thrilled to announce the addition of Kimberly Midkiff as a Franchise Development and Assurance & Marketing Program Director.

Located in Lakemont, Georgia, Midkiff will be leading the growth of hihotels' five distinct brands - Scottish Inns, Red Carpet Inn, Master Hosts Inns, Downtowner Inns and Passport Inn - in the Southeast region of the country. She'll also be delivering ongoing sales and marketing support and training to franchisees in that area as part of the company's Assurance & Marketing Program (AMP).

Midkiff most recently served as Vice President of Development for Sonesta and Red Lion Hotels Corporation, where she focused on the growth of the company's select-service brands for nearly six years. Before that, she spent two years as Director of Sales and Operations for JDH Developers, a commercial real estate company that specializes in the hospitality industry.

For more information about franchising with hihotels, visit hifranchise.com or contact us at 800-892-8405 or [email protected].
Over the past few years, bitcoin and blockchain are two words that nearly all of us have had to add to our vocabulary.

Today, blockchain technology is already in use across several sectors, but is it also going to disrupt the travel industry? While Bitcoin is expected to reach new heights in the future and blockchain technology starts changing certain aspects of the economy, the travel industry is undergoing one of its biggest-ever transformations.

In order to get some insights, we set-up a joint interview with investor Jan-Frederik Valentin and founder Florian Montag, taking a look at how blockchain can impact the travel and hospitality industry over the next year. Jan Valentin is already involved in tourism and blockchain scale-ups (Solana, HomeToGo) and is General Partner of ennea capital partners, an early-stage VC firm focusing on travel and mobility. Florian Montag, as the Co-founder of Hotelhero and Apaleo, is familiar with the latest technical developments in travel tech.

Jan, what are the key challenges that youve seen in the travel industry over the past couple of years?

Well, obviously the pandemic slowed down startup growth and at the same time has kept old companies alive through state subsidies. A few of them might not exist anymore if not for the subsidies. Secondly, GAFA and the extraction of profits from the ecosystem, notably by Google and Facebook have been a challenge for travel companies. Furthermore, the slow adaptation of the public sector to badly needed technological advancements, which, in turn, slow down the success of startups, especially of mobility B2B companies.

Jan , you are also involved with the traveltech scale-up HomeToGo. Can you tell us a bit more about this company?

HomeToGo built an incredibly strong team with a vision to tackle a hugely complex whilst underrated challenge, solving the fragmented alternative accommodation industry. Theyve managed to bring together a very diverse supply across thousands of points of sale and providers, empowering the industry with technology solutions to fuel growth. To see how far they have come since their founding in 2014 is impressive. They drastically accelerated throughout the pandemic and saw record growth last year, especially with their onsite business  where the complete transaction from discovery to booking to payment happens on their domains. In my opinion, they have effectively evolved to be an Airbnb competitor in Europe. Being the first European tech SPAC IPO is a huge achievement, possibly bigger than in flights (KAYAK) or hotels (Trivago). If HomeToGo can evolve from a full-stack holiday homes aggregator to the worlds largest marketplace for alternative accommodation, and on its way to becoming a SaaS-enabled operating system, decacorn status is possible in my opinion. A true tech champion for Europe.

Read the full article at eu-startups.com
Donald J. Trumps top hotel executive is leaving the company as its five-star signature hotel brand has taken a back seat to other moneymaking ventures by the former president.

The executive, Eric Danziger, cited family reasons for his departure. He joined Trump Hotels in 2015 with plans to expand the business, but instead oversaw the shrinking of a significant portion of the hotel portfolio as Mr. Trumps polarizing politics tarnished the brand, legal and ethical scrutiny scared away potential partners, and the pandemic sent the hospitality industry into a tailspin.

Since 2017, the Trump name has come off hotels in New York, Toronto, Panama, Vancouver and, soon, Washington, as once-lucrative deals were canceled or sold. Trump hotels, for decades a defining feature of the former presidents global real estate business, have dwindled to seven properties. Any immediate hope of rebuilding the hotel brand after Mr. Trump left office was likely undone by the fallout from the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, as many companies parted ways with the Trumps.

Mr. Danziger, 67, announced his departure on Wednesday in an email to colleagues in the hotel industry, where he has been a prominent figure for decades. He said he would become chief executive of Braintree Group, a company in Boise, Idaho, that has several lines of business, including hospitality. The email noted that he owns a home in Boise and has a son who works for Braintree.

Read the full article at nytimes.com
Supporters of Donald Trump during the Capitol riot to protest against the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the Congress, in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 6, 2021. /Reuters

Editor's note:Xin Ping is a commentator on international affairs who writes regularly for CGTN, Global Times and China Daily. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

For a long time, the U.S. has been keen to dress up as the bright and glamorous "beacon." And one of the most effective ways is to make and sell numerous lies to whitewash its failures, smear its enemies and mislead the public. It has literally become a "factory and dealer of lies," which not only exposes its hypocrisy, but also brings chaos to the world.

Lie No.1: The U.S. is a poster child in fighting COVID-19

The U.S. yelled at the top of its voice that it ranked first for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic while the incompetence of the U.S. government to tackle the virus is for all to see. Following the broken electoral promise to end the pandemic in 2021, the U.S. government has now taken a "lie-flat" approach and changed its tone to "coexist" with the virus. The U.S. death toll is heading toward the one million threshold. Up to now, there have been a total of 12.5 million confirmed cases of children in the U.S., according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

While messing up its own response to the pandemic, the U.S. is also making trouble for other countries around the world. According to a study of Tel Aviv University, about 70 percent of infected Israelis had a particular strain of the coronavirus that originated in the U.S. TheNew York Timespublished another grim news item that Johnson & Johnson quietly shut down the only plant making usable batches of its COVID-19 vaccine late last year, and switched to making an experimental but potentially more profitable vaccine to protect against an unrelated virus.

"This is not the time to be switching production lines of anything, when the lives of people across the developing world hang in the balance," Dr Ayoade Alakija, a co-head of the African Union's vaccine-delivery program commented.

Lie No.2: The U.S. is a champion of democracy

The U.S. has repeatedly boasted of its own political system and touted its commitment to "democracy." That turns out to be a black irony as defined by the three big failures of U.S. democracy in 2021. The first one is the "Capitol riot on January 6" when violent attacks ripped off layers of band-aid on U.S. democracy all at once. According to a Quinnipiac University poll, 53 percent of Americans think it is either very likely or somewhat likely that there will be another attack like the January 6 riot.

The second one is the "Fall of Kabul" in August when the hasty withdrawal of U.S. troops left the world with such bloody scenes as American soldiers shooting civilians and Afghan young men falling from a U.S. military airplane. The U.S. even robbed life-saving money from the Afghan people recently. And the third one is the "Summit for Democracy" in December, which ended hastily in waves of suspicion and criticism from the international community.

Alice Gaskins holds a sign in front of the Massachusetts State House during a funeral procession for essential workers that have been sick with or died from COVID-19, May 25, 2020. /Getty

Lie No.3: The U.S. is an advocate of the free market

While claiming that it proudly protects the "fair, free, competitive market economy," the U.S. remains the leading culprit in undermining the market economy, free competition and globalization. The U.S. is still exercising protectionism and pressing ahead with the trade war against China. It is even suppressing foreign enterprises to maintain its own dominant position in commerce and technology.

From Alstom of France to Toshiba and Toyota of Japan, to Huawei of China, companies in other countries have only two options if they aim for the peak of science and technology: being acquired and annexed or ruthlessly banned. Domestically, there is no longer any political power nowadays in the U.S. that is able to discipline capital and financial speculation, and the only thing Washington can do is to keep printing and borrowing money, and watching the National Debt Clock in Manhattan show astronomical numbers.

Lie No.4: The U.S. is the guardian of peace

Contrary to its pompous promises of maintaining peace in conflict zones, the U.S. is actually the most fatal threat to peace and stability on earth, inflicting millions of civilian casualties and untold damage and suffering. In its more than 240-year-long history, there have only been 16 years in which the U.S. was not at war. From the end of World War II to 2001, the U.S. has initiated 201 of the 248 armed conflicts in 153 locations, accounting for over 80 percent of total wars fought.

It has also been making numerous excuses to simmer conflicts and provoke confrontation across the world for its own selfish interests, as it did in Iraq based on the infamous "test tube full of washing powder." Most recently, the U.S. played up the "Russian threat" to escalate the tension in Ukraine for the sake of its narrow geopolitical gains: it started the fire and fanned the flames, but is not going to put out the fire now.

A lie remains a lie even if repeated a thousand times. But all the lies the U.S. has made will only harm its credibility and image. Instead of racking its brains creating lies, the U.S. should do something useful for the well-being of humanity and world peace.
An NYPD sergeant pleaded guilty Wednesday to punching two handcuffed homeless men and wont serve any time for the crimes.

Sgt. Phillip Wong admitted in Manhattan Supreme Court to assaulting the two men while they were in police custody.

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Wong, 37, socked a man in an upper Manhattan holding cell in October 2019 and punched a 35-year-old man in April 2020 inside an Upper West Side subway station.

Law enforcement officials are sworn to serve and protect their communities, including New Yorkers in their custody, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

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In this case, Sgt. Wong violated not only his oath  but the law  during the violent arrests of two New Yorkers, on two separate occasions.

NYPD Sgt. Phillip Wong in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday, July 22, 2021. (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News)

The hotheaded cops body-worn camera captured him clobbering both men.

The first assault happened inside NYPD Transit District 3 at the W. 145th St. and St. Nicholas Ave. subway station in Hamilton Heights on Oct. 4, 2019. As cops escorted a 48-year-old man into a holding cell, he kicked the door and spat at the officers, according to an indictment. That set Wong off, and he charged into the cell and clocked the man above his right eye, prosecutors said.

Wong was under investigation by the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau and Transit Bureau Investigations for that incident when he lost his temper again on April 29, 2020.

He was supervising three cops at the W. 96th St. and Broadway subway station when they spotted a 35-year-old man throw a punch at another straphanger. As officers moved in to arrest the pugnacious passenger, the man hurled anti-Asian slurs at Wong and kicked him as they reached an exit, prosecutors said.

Wong placed his knee on the suspects back as the cops took him to the ground.

I cant breathe! the man said, using the same words spoken by Eric Garner before his death in an NYPD chokehold.

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I dont give a fk if you can breathe or not! Wong allegedly said before socking the handcuffed man.

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The sergeant then bounced on the victims back continuously with both knees, prosecutors said.

Medical records showed the victim was not injured.

Manhattan prosecutors asked the court to sentence Wong to 60 days in prison for abusing prisoners in his custody.

Judge Curtis Farber said two years probation was sufficient. Wong must also attend anger management or counseling and perform 70 hours of community service.

Wong, who joined the force in 2006, is on modified assignment and faces a departmental trial on March 22, police said.

His lawyer Andrew Quinn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
2021 was rich in innovation: we helped hoteliers capture demand and position themselves in the world of e-commerce with MediaGenius, the first multi-digital management platform to centralise, simplify, organise and optimise the management of their digital marketing campaigns and with Fusion, the first website offering a fully integrated and seamless booking process. We added the offline string to our bow with our Central Reservation Office (CRO), allowing hotels to efficiently manage booking requests coming by email, phone, etc, increasing the conversion rate from offline demand. And we started to deliver our Guest Centric vision with the integration of our Central Data Management (CDM) and Central Reservation System (CRS): work that we will continue in 2022 as described below.

2022 is already underway

And the momentum will increase further in 2022. We will double again our level of investment in our R&D: in 2021 we hired 80 new product experts & engineers, and we plan to welcome 90 more in 2022 to surpass the threshold of 300 developers working to change hoteliers lives in the R&D department.

Why? Because the hotel business transformation is accelerating: staff shortage pushes for more product simplification and a quick learning curve, digitalisation of the economy urges for more personalisation and differentiation, and globalisation leads to more hotel consolidation and rationalisation needs.

It is consequently a natural progression for us to build our Roadmap around 4 core priorities:

To significantly improve UX for better user adoption and greater operational efficiency To enable you to navigate the ocean of data, through a Guest Centric approach To develop the depth of our functionalities to serve more specific needs such as those of hotel chains To pursue our unique strategy of developing direct connectivity with the hospitality ecosystem, to provide hoteliers the freedom to pick the PMS, Distributors, RMS, etc. that suit them best.

1- A new user experience: going further in turning complex into simple

Hotel distribution is a complex process. D-EDGEs solutions are built to make operations as easy and fast as possible. Our Central Reservation System (CRS)  including our Channel Manager to name just one  is already recognised as one of the most user-friendly on the market.

Weve put a lot of effort into functional alignment to further integrate our solutions into a single, seamless platform. But technical integration is just the first step towards an even more hotelier-friendly platform.

Our products must be easier and easier to use. We want new users to be able to learn very quickly how to master the D-EDGE Solutions with no heavy training. We want the new features to be self-explanatory. We think that in the context of staff shortage and with a need for flexibility, it is crucial for hoteliers to be able to onboard new users very quickly., said Antoine Buhl, CTO of D-EDGE during the internal presentation of our 2022 roadmap.

We have therefore considerably strengthened our UX team: a recognised expert in the world of Product Design and User Experience (UX) has joined us and will be supported by a large, dedicated team of UX specialists. To deliver this vision, we put the user at the center of our product design process. We work closely with many of our hotel clients to define how we could make their lives easier and be more efficient in their day-to-day work.

In the short term, we will be working on the ergonomics of our Central Inventory, the platform for managing your distribution, and in particular, the planning.

And we are not stopping at our users experience: we also work on the guest experience, and especially the booking process.

2- Helping hoteliers leverage data

Empowering hotels through a guest-centric reservation system

The challenge for most hoteliers is to gather the data collected from many channels (online and offline) and tools (PMS, Website, ) and to ensure this data is always up-to-date and accessible anytime by the staff while complying with regulations such as GDPR. Only from there, they can offer personalised experiences and increase the return rate.

Thats why we launched our Central Data Management solution, a hotel-dedicated CDP (Customer Data Platform) providing you a unique Central Guest Profile. 800 hotels are using this solution with clear effects on direct bookings, retention, and satisfaction ratings. And because our CDM is connected to our CRS, there are many additional values for your hoteland for your guests. For example, thanks to this integration, your Loyalty program is connected to your Booking Engine, enabling your guests to benefit from their Member special rates when booking on your website and to receive a booking confirmation with an update of their membership status. Simple. Seamless. Efficient.

In 2022, we will go further and strengthen the CRS-CDM synergy.

Our vision is that you should be able to pilot all your distribution from the Central Guest Profile and we will continue working on integrating all our CRS bricks with our CDM. At D-EDGE we are building the first real guest-centric CRS! One of the upcoming releases is the CROxCDM integration. This means that your Call-Center Staff  or your receptionist  will be able to immediately identify a returning customer and apply the right price and provide a room according to the guests preferences. In the case of a first-time customer, your staff will be able to immediately create a new profile and generate the booking from there.

Market data to make rational, optimal decisions

In parallel, our team is also focusing on improving our market intelligence solutions to help you better monitor your competitiveness. In 2022 we will finalise the 12-month revamping program of our Data Intelligence solutions portfolio, which includes 3 streams: to scale up our data collection process, to improve our solutions UI to enable an expert usage of the tool to multitask hotel staff, and to provide a new and state-of-the-art Event Management tool.

3- More scalable solutions: think big

D-EDGE solutions have helped many hotel owners to grow their businesses and think bigger. As our customers businesses grew, we were able to develop increasingly sophisticated solutions for larger and larger hotels. Today, D-EDGE technology powers 17,000 hotels, including domestic, regional and international chain hotels.

More specifically for these chain hotels, we have developed a new layer of functionality to facilitate and streamline their work and offer them greater operational efficiency. These features include template creation and duplication, mass creation and update of hotel rooms and rates, advanced user rights management, and a PMS interface, retrieving information from the PMS and importing it into the D-EDGE CRS, giving hotel chains the ability to control 100% of their booking information in the CRS.

By building the only platform in the world that integrates CRS and CDM as described above, D-EDGE offers hotel chains the unique ability to drive their distribution strategy from the customer profile regardless of their PMS(s).

What we are building is the next-generation, easy-to-use, Guest Centric CRS for hotel chains, because weve learned that the more complicated the environment, the stronger the need for simplicity.

4- The power of the collective: providing hotels with choice and efficiency

Our platform is open, and adapts to the hoteliers environment  not the other way around! Over the last 12 months, we have connected 49 new hospitality players (channels, tech providers, etc) who will make 2022 and beyond.

Today, our 17,000 hotel customers benefit from the best connectivity in the world. Not only because it offers one of the largest ecosystems with more than 550 third-party solutions (PMS, RMS, ) and distributors (OTAs, GDS ) connected to the D-EDGE CRS. But also, because D-EDGE is the only player in its category to develop direct connectivity with each of its partners.

And, from the hotel perspective, this makes a huge difference in the processing speed and in real-time information, meaning your inventory and rates are always up-to-date, with no delay.

Speaking of choice, we want to thank the 17,000 hotels that have chosen D-EDGE as their preferred partner. Whether on the technology side, the customer service side or the administration side, our entire team is committed to going the extra mile for our customers. Because, just like you, we want to deliver the best experience to our customers.

About D-EDGE

D-EDGE is a SaaS company offering leading-edge cloud-based e-commerce solutions to more than 12,000 hotels in over 100 countries.

Combining technical excellence with digital marketing expertise, D-EDGE brings a holistic hospitality technology infrastructure under one roof. The integrated range of solutions covers all stages of hotel distribution which encompasses Central Reservation System, Guest Management, Data Intelligence, Connectivity Hub, Digital Media, and Website Creation.

With a team of 350 experts located in over 20 countries, D-EDGE provides localised support, services, and tools. With its global network of 500+partners, D-EDGE's ever-expanding ecosystem is a positive place to do business and grow. D-EDGE is a subsidiary of Accor, a world-leading hospitality group consisting of more than 5,100 properties and 10,000 food and beverage venues throughout 110 countries

Isabelle Falque

Chief Marketing & Communication Officer

+33 678 680 980

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Los Angeles hoteliers enjoyed a strong lift but underperformed due to the Omicron impact.

Since 2011, STR has analyzed the top-line hotel performance impact for the Super Bowl host city, both in terms of absolute performance and year-over-year change. As usual, STR also made a prediction about Los Angeles hotel performance weeks before the event, forecasting revenue per available room (RevPAR) of US$396 for the weekend of the big game (Friday-Sunday).

With actualized data now processed, that RevPAR projection was an overestimate as weekend RevPAR reached just US$310 RevPAR. Fortunately, that RevPAR level was still a 272% increase from the comparable weekend last year, which was obviously lower because of the pandemic. L.A.s recorded weekend occupancy of 80.5% was nine points lower than projected, suggesting the sweep of the Omicron variant may have played the part of spoiler for the event.

The hometown Rams being one of the Super Bowl teams also could have played a small role in the underperformance. However, the average fan is mostly priced out of the Super Bowl experience, limiting the amount of team-specific fan travel from other parts of the country. Fans who attend the Super Bowl are usually attending regardless of the matchup.

Despite the underperformance, some areas of L.A. posted far higher levels, so for that reason, we dive into analysis by the following locations:

Overall Los Angeles market

The submarkets: Hollywood/Beverly Hills, Long Beach, Los Angeles Airport, Los Angeles CBD, Los Angeles East, Los Angeles North, Los Angeles Southeast, Pasadena/Glendale/Burbank, Santa Monica/Marina Del Rey, South Bay

The City of Los Angeles

Occupancy

Source: STR

The Hollywood/Beverly Hills submarket, with just over 15,000 rooms, achieved the highest occupancy at 88.5% for the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights of Super Bowl weekend, which was lower than what the entire Miami market achieved for the 2020 Super Bowl (92.8%). Though a smaller market, Miami is somewhat similar to L.A. in terms of typical occupancy levels experienced in February. Miami, in particular its luxury segment, also carried similar rate upside for VIP travelers.

Occupancy levels were moderate-to-strong across the entire L.A. market, including a weekend occupancy of 85.7% for the Los Angeles Airport submarket, where SoFi Stadium is located. Altogether, the Los Angeles market achieved a 17-point occupancy increase versus the same weekend in 2021 but was actually about seven occupancy points lower than the pre-pandemic weekend in 2020.

ADR

Source: STR

Source: STR

While absolute ADR ranged significantly through the submarkets, hotels in all areas experienced a lift. Hotels located in the Southeast submarket experienced the smallest gain in average rates, at 49%. On the other end of the spectrum, Hollywood/Beverly Hills hotels pushed their collective three-day ADR to a whopping US$853, a 295% gain over last year. Overall, the Los Angeles market hit a weekend average rate of US$384, which was 192% higher than in 2021 and 115% higher than the pre-pandemic levels of 2020.

RevPAR Year-over-Year % Change

Source: STR

In the end, the Hollywood/Beverly Hills submarket experienced the greatest weekend RevPAR gain (+570%), far and above the next highest area (the City of Los Angeles at +451%). Overall, two-thirds of submarkets achieved triple-digit RevPAR growth. In Miami in 2020, only half the submarkets hits triple-digit levels.

Comparing performance to the those of the 11 previous Super Bowl host cities provides context to the annual gains attributable to the event. The following charts examine the comparative impact of all 12 host markets.

Occupancy  Super Bowl Weekend

Source: STR

The Los Angeles market's Super Bowl occupancy was lower than STR expectations. As a large Top 25 Market with 112,000 rooms, and one that runs in the 80s in occupancy percentage on February weekends (pre-pandemic), an expectation of occupancy close to the 90% mark seemed logical. But clearly, although most signs of leisure demand indicate a strong willingness to travel despite the pandemic, the timing of the Omicron variant seemed to have an impact on this years Super Bowl hotel performance.

ADR  Super Bowl Weekend

Source: STR

In terms of absolute ADR, Los Angeles hotels performed near the top of the range demonstrated by other host cities (except the wild outlier of Miami). And while this ADR was an admirable 192% lift over 2021 levels, its difficult to compare to a period of time in which national travel was substantially muted. The fact that the 2022 Super Bowl weekend ADR was only 115% higher than pre-pandemic levels suggests the December/January surge of the Omicron variant may have played a role in tempering performance. As a point of comparison, Atlantas 2019 Super Bowl weekend ADR was 307% higher than the previous year.

RevPAR % Change  Super Bowl Weekend

Source: STR

Including this year, the straight-average market RevPAR lift during the Super Bowl weekend over the last 12 events is 372%. Los Angeles's lift of 272% is below that average, likely resulting from 1) the ongoing impact of the pandemic, 2) the sheer size of the market, and 3) typically strong February performance, making it more difficult to achieve substantial percent gains (though 2021 was a soft comp year). Overall, while the weekend performance for Los Angeles hotels was lower than what STR predicted, a nearly quadrupling of RevPAR for a market with over 112,000 hotel rooms is nonetheless an impressive feat.

For more industry information each day, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

About STR

STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 15 countries with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an international headquarters in London, and an Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. STR was acquired in October 2019 by CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces. For more information, please visit str.com and costargroup.com.

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With social media proving to be the most cost-effective and impactful way of directly getting engaged with younger consumers, travel companies have begun to invest time and resource into this space for faster outreach and connection, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalDatas Job Analytics Database reveals that there was a 175.8% increase in social media-related jobs in the travel and tourism industry from 2020 to 2021. This showcases that an increasing amount of travel companies have acknowledged the importance of social media for brand engagement and customer service.

According to GlobalData, *30% of Gen Z and *32% of Millennials state that direct engagement with a brand is a key driver of a purchase. These percentages are significantly higher when compared to Boomers and the Silent Generation, with *13% and *4% of these cohorts perceiving direct engagement with a brand to be a key driver, respectively.

Ralph Hollister, Travel and Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: A travel companys success with Millennials and Gen Z can now be determined by its performance on social media, with positive performance and service levels on these platforms encouraging brand loyalty while boosting visibility.

Ryanair is a leader in terms of encouraging brand engagement through social media, with 1.6 million followers on TikTok.

Hollister continues: Ryanair has gained a mass following on platforms such as TikTok because it capitalizes on viral content such as memes that are entertaining and relatable. This social media strategy allows the company to already be in the minds of its next generation of customers. It also creates differentiation, as the airline can cultivate its own distinct personality through the content it posts.

Additionally, social media allows for widescale company contact through direct messaging services, allowing for enhanced levels of customer service. Dutch airline KLM considers social media to be an integral part of its customer relationship strategy. Since 2010, KLM has gained a reputation as a pioneer in the field of social media by consistently adopting the most advanced social media-related technologies, such as AI and voice-activated technology to boost service levels. As a result, KLM now offers a 24-hour customer service platform via various social media sites, in 10 different languages.

Hollister concludes: With social medias ever-growing popularity, travel companies have moved to where their younger customers are. As such, social media will continue to grow as an integral part of travel companies strategic operations as specific roles and teams managing social media output continue to be bolstered at all major companies.

*Data from GlobalDatas Q1 2021 Consumer Survey with 21,768 respondents.

About GlobalData

4,000 of the world's largest companies, including over 70% of FTSE 100 and 60% of Fortune 100 companies, make more timely and better business decisions thanks to GlobalData's unique data, expert analysis and innovative solutions, all in one platform. GlobalData's mission is to help our clients decode the future to be more successful and innovative across a range of industries, including the healthcare, consumer, retail, financial, technology and professional services sectors.

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The University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management has changed its name to the Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership.

Since hotel industry icon Conrad Hilton gifted $1.5 million to build the first hospitality school in Texas more than 50 years ago, the hospitality industry has grown exponentially. To keep pace, programs and courses offered at Hilton College also evolved into more than a hotel and restaurant management program.

The new name not only reflects the role of Hilton College as a global leader in hospitality education, but also supports its mission to prepare the industrys future leaders, said Paula Myrick Short, UH senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

Dennis Reynolds, dean and Barron Hilton Distinguished Chair at Hilton College, said the impetus for the name change began years ago when students and faculty began asking for it.

Ambiguity about our name among employers and recruiters, many of whom are in service businesses outside of hotels or restaurants, also played a factor, he said. While perfect in 1969, Hotel and Restaurant Management does not resonate today, particularly with parents. Given many of our students are the first in their family to go to college, families have difficulty separating a career in service from servitude.

With a goal of leveraging data to identify a name that would better bridge industry and academia, a market-research firm conducted an eight-month query process. Funded by an anonymous donor, more than 30 one-on-one qualitative interviews were conducted, followed by a far-reaching quantitative survey that yielded some 350 responses from alumni, advisory board members, students, faculty, staff, recruiters, and deans and directors from hospitality programs around the world.

In August 2021, Hilton College faculty voted unanimously to support the name change, and the UH System Board of Regents unanimously approved it during its Feb. 24 meeting.

Doug Brooks, UH System regent and retired CEO, president and chairman of the board for Brinker International, one of the worlds leading casual dining restaurant companies, said having the Conrad N. Hilton name has always distinguished the college from other hospitality programs, but now the name is more relevant, applicable and defining.

Today, multinational hospitality companies are the norm rather than the exception, and Hilton College graduates continue to lead the industry worldwide, said Brooks, a 1975 alumnus of Hilton College and chair of the Deans Advisory Board. With the addition of Global Hospitality Leadership to the Hilton name, this program stays ahead of the curve as it has done since its founding.

A Global Leader in Hospitality Education

When Hilton College was established in 1969, there were 39 students and three adjunct professors.

Today, there are about 1,000 students from 30 countries, 32 full-time faculty and seven degree programs.

The college has graduated nearly 10,000 students who work in hospitality leadership positions around the world.

Hilton College is the only hospitality program in the world where students work  and take classes  in an internationally branded, full-service hotel.

In 2019, the undergraduate curriculum was revamped to consolidate nine areas of emphasis into four tracks  Lodging Management, Foodservice Management, Wine & Beverage Studies and Project Management & Analytics. This streamlined curriculum allows students more flexibility in customizing their academic experience, as well as a wide range of electives designed to prepare them to better anticipate inevitable change in the industry.

In addition to name and curriculum changes, Hilton College continues to make its mark on hospitality education. Currently, the Hilton University of Houston  the colleges teaching hotel  is undergoing a $30.4 million expansion and renovation. The project, which includes the addition of a new five-story, 70-room guest tower, is expected to be completed in early 2023. Financing is through a revenue bond issued by the UH System that will be repaid with additional revenue generated by the hotel.

These and other endeavors allow us to provide the highest level of hospitality education and leading research, said Reynolds. Conrad Hilton embodied the spirit of hospitality and, along with our world-class faculty and staff, it is an honor to now carry on his legacy with this fitting new name.

About the Conrad N. Hilton College

Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees at the University of Houston, a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university serving more than 40,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the United States. Home to the Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor, the Hospitality Industry Archives and a state-of-the-art beverage and food lab, Hilton College is consistently ranked among the top hospitality programs in the world. For more information, visit http://www.hrm.uh.edu.
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Nataliya Pashchenko, 61, said she tossed and turned over the past 10 nights at her home in the Heights as she worried about her sister in Kyiv.

Her sister, who is disabled and constrained to her seventh-floor apartment, sent a message early Thursday: I dont have food.

Pashchenko, a retired engineering manager for Chevron, was among a handful of protesters at the entrance to Schlumbergers offices in Sugar Land on Thursday to draw attention to the plight of people suffering in Ukraine. She held one side of a banner that read: Stop Rosneft Project.

They claim that Schlumberger, the worlds largest oilfield services company, is working with Russian oil firm Rosneft and called on the Houston- and Paris-based company to join other global corporations who have cut ties with Russia.

Schlumberger did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

RELATED: While other oil majors pull out of Russia, Chevron says Caspian pipeline is key

Several energy companies have said they will stop doing business in Russia. Exxon Mobil said Tuesday it would cease oil production in Russia. BP and Shell announced plans to withdraw from oil and gas partnerships in the country this week.

Oilfield service giants Baker Hughes and Halliburton have declined to comment on what, if any, business theyre doing in Russia.

Schlumbergers protesters drew support from people driving along U.S. Route 90, who honked and waved. One slowed, rolled down his window and called out: Im with you.

The whole point, Pashchenko said, is we wanted the people who work at Schlumberger to know that theyre making money off Ukrainian death.

Protesters Sergey Makhotkin, a Moscow native, said companies continuing to do business in Russia need to know there is opposition here in Houston.

Its going to hurt their image, he said.

Makhotkin said its sad to watch what his native country is doing in Ukraine.

Major companies such as Apple, Nike and Ikea have pulled out of Russia at huge cost, Mahotkin said.

Its the position that everyone should take, Makhotkin said.

Without Schlumbergers technology, it would be difficult for Russia to pump oil, protesters said.

Countries with a combined 60 percent of the worlds gross domestic product have announced sanctions against Russia, said Jarand Rystad, chief executive of Norwegian energy research firm Rystad Energy.

Western contractors account for a combined 25 percent of all oil and gas investments in Russia, he said, often with leading-edge technologies.

Should those contractors leave the country, it will undoubtedly cause delays and disruptions to ongoing operations, said Rystad, adding that the result would be higher crude prices, potentially more than $130 per barrel.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate settled nearly $3 lower at $107.67 on Thursday.

Oil money feeds the Russian government, which is investing in weaponry to use against Ukraine, the protesters said.

Belarus native Paulina Miakish, a former oil and gas geologist, said she understands business is business. Still, she said, Schlumbergers technology is supporting projects that funnel money to the Russian government.

Supporting Russia means supporting fascism, said Larysa Drobot, who said her family texted her Thursday to say Russian soldiers have begun taking over peoples homes and kicking people out into the Ukrainian winter weather.

Theyre doing the same things the Nazis were doing, she said.



amanda.drane@chron.com
Daniel Acker / Bloomberg News Service

A Russian pipeline owned partly by Chevron remains important to global supply, the company said Wednesday as western companies faced mounting pressure to cut ties with Russia.

Chevron has a 15 percent stake in the Caspian Pipeline, which carries crude from Kazakhstan through Russia to the Black Sea. Russia is the majority owner of the pipeline, according to a website for the project. Other owners include Kazakhstan, which owns around 20 percent of the pipeline, and Exxon, which owns around 8 percent.
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Texas barbecue changed in May 2015 when pitmaster Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue in Austin won the James Beard award for the best chef in the Southwest region of the United States.

Yep, a Texas barbecue pitmaster was recognized as a best chef in the country.

It marked a seismic shift for both the Beard awards and for Texas barbecue in general.

For most of its history, the Beards, often called the Oscars of the restaurant world, had been known as the domain of Euro-centric, white tablecloth restaurants based on the East and West coasts. But in recent years, it began to focus on the diversity of cuisines throughout the U.S., creating more categories for the various regions of the country and recognizing more casual restaurants.

Texas barbecue changed, too. Starting in the late aughts, young pitmasters began to unearth long-forgotten techniques of Texas barbecue, combining artisan processes with high-quality ingredients to create the craft barbecue movement. Franklin became the flag bearer for this movement.

At the time, Franklins win was quite the eyebrow-raiser because the awards were mainly seen as catering to an upscale audience. But looking back on the trajectories of both the awards and American cuisine in general, the recognition of Texas barbecue made perfect sense.

Blood Bros. BBQ 5425 Bellaire, 713-664-7776 Closed Monday & Tuesday. See More Collapse

Eyebrows raised yet again with the Beard award semifinalist nominations for 2022. In recent years, the awards added a stand-alone category for the state of Texas, joining both New York and California, and further committed to a more equitable distribution of nominations based on geography and diversity of cuisines and chefs.

This years nominations featured a total of four Texas barbecue joints/pitmasters/chefs: Quy Hoang of Blood Bros. BBQ in Houston (Bellaire), Damien Brockway of Distant Relatives in Austin, Esaul Ramos Jr. of 2M Smokehouse in San Antonio, and Ernest Servantes and David Kirkland of Burnt Bean Co. in Seguin.

All of these barbecue joints are representative of a trend I call fourth wave barbecue, reflecting the next era of Texas barbecue that is building on the craft movement.

This era represents changes caused by economic and cultural shifts of the last few years, mainly regarding the higher costs of meat, especially brisket, as well as the increasing diversity of influences in Texas barbecue, especially Mexican, Vietnamese and African American contributions.

New inventive barbecue items, using less expensive cuts of meat and other ingredients, have combined with the diverse experiences and backgrounds of a newer generation of pitmasters to create this new trend.

The 2022 Beard semifinalist nominations represent national recognition for this new era in Texas barbecue.

Not only were observers of Texas barbecue surprised by the nominations, the nominees themselves were also caught off guard.

I had no idea we were even being considered, Hoang of Blood Bros. told me. I started getting a bunch of texts in the morning, and thats how I found out.

Hoang, along with his partners Robin and Terry Wong, represent a uniquely Houston transformation of Texas barbecue, combining classic Central Texas-style ingredients and techniques with their own experiences growing up in the diverse, blue-collar Alief neighborhood.

Beyond the classic Central Texas-style trinity of brisket, pork ribs and sausage (which is one of the best in the city), the Blood Bros. team offers a dizzying and ever-changing array of new-era barbecue staples  think smoked char-siu pork belly bao buns and stacked enchiladas stuffed with red chile carnitas.

With Houston leading the way, Texas barbecue continues to evolve, and the rest of America is taking notice.

jcreid@jcreidtx.com

twitter.com/jcreidtx
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Explaining San Luis Salute, the Fertitta familys annual Mardi Gras bash on Galveston Island, is trickier than youd think.

Remember MTVs short-lived reality show, My Super Sweet 16? The marathon party is kind of like that  except with Texas debutantes, a nine-figure yacht, a concert by a Grammy Award-winning band and some political figures sprinkled in just for fun.

This year, in celebration of San Luis Salutes 25th anniversary, patriarch Tilman Fertitta super-sized every aspect. Tilman  a Galveston-native best known as chairman, CEO and owner of Landrys Inc. who also owns the Houston Rockets  booked friends and family members into not one, but two of his hotels: Hilton Galveston Island Resort and San Luis Resort.

Both are adjacent to the Galveston Island Convention Center, where the San Luis Salutes black-tie gala is held. A record-breaking 2,000 tickets to the ball sold within hours.

A handful of VIPs always kick off the festivities early, with an invitation-only reception dockside at Pier 21 on the islands harbor-side. A trio of private shuttle buses and at least one party bus typically transport the intimate group from the San Luis Resort to the waterfront pre-party.

The fleet swelled to a total of six XL-vehicles this year. Why? To accommodate all 30 duchesses, which is Mardi Gras speak for debs. The number of accomplished young women making their social debut doubled after the pandemic canceled the 2021 in-person event.

A parade of blue and red flashing lights by way of police escort clear the motorcades path. Upon arrival, there are always two pre-party attractions: a Veuve Clicquot Crystal Tent pop-up lounge and free reign on Tilmans yacht. Most ran  after removing their shoes  onto the Boardwalk, a 252-foot motor yacht designed by De Voogt Naval Architects that comes with an estimated $150 million price tag.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Tilman Fertitta shows off new $150 million mega-yacht at San Luis Salute in Galveston

It boasts seven staterooms, a swimming pool and a helipad. The tri-level vessel boasts an elevator and wine room. There are crystal chandeliers, a 16-seat dining table and chrome accents. On Friday, the people-watching rivaled Tilmans impressive contemporary art collection.

Frances Moody Buzbee, Maria and Neil Bush, Vicki West and Ralph Burch, and the entire Fertitta family were present in addition to political heavy-hitters including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and former Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo.

After 90 minutes of socializing and selfies, the group loads back onto the buses bound for the main event: a multi-course dinner, dancing and concert back at the Galveston Island Convention Center.

Longtime event planner Richard Flowers of the Events Company transformed the space into Cabaret in Paris, a theme loosely inspired by the film Moulin Rouge. Think of a ballroom awash in crimson, black-and-white Damask linens, tens of thousands of roses and ostrich plumes, burlesque performers and an Elton John-style impersonator playing piano from the ceiling.

As a special treat, each table was topped with Calirosa Tequila Rosa Blanco, a pink-hued spirit by Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and his model-wife Behati Prinsloo, with all of the margarita or ranch water accoutrements.

Levine and his band headlined the evening, after all 30 duchesses were presented, and Dr. Barbara Thompson, Department of Family Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, was honored for contributions to the local medical community.

For the last 25 years, Tilman has underwritten the gala and made a sizable contribution to UTMB. Further proceeds from ticket and table purchases also benefit the university.

The program is always short and sweet, which affords maximum time for revelry.

After performances from can-can dancers, the Big Beyond cover band and an aerialist, Maroon 5 took the stage. Their concert proved one of San Luis most popular. Attendees rushed and remained on the dance floor throughout the set list which included chart-topping hits such as Moves Like Jagger, Sugar, Makes Me Wonder, Harder to Breathe, Animals, Girls Like You, Sunday Morning, This Love, and many more.

One guest successfully jumped onstage with Levine, though she was escorted away within seconds.

As always, the Salute raged into the wee hours. Its tradition for the last men and women standing to hit the San Luis Resort bar until the lights come on.

Maroon 5 embarked on a world tour the following day. And there was no rest for many party-goers either  the Fertitta family and hundreds of guests had their faces freshly painted for Mardi Gras! Galvestons parade by Saturday morning.

amber.elliott@chron.com
What's better than parents reading to their kids? Houston Texans reading to their kids.

Several Texans players joined Mayor Sylvester Turner, HISD Superintendent Millard House II, Houston Texans President Greg Grissom and Literacy Now director Jacque Daughtry for Houston Reads Day on Wednesday at Bruce Elementary School, 510 Jensen Dr.
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The sprawling River Oaks Boulevard mansion that was once home to jet-setters Baron Enrico Ricky and Baroness Alessandra Sandra di Portanova has sold. Though its actual sale price wasnt revealed, the home was listed for $16 million less than a month ago by Nancy Almodovar of Nan and Company Properties Christies International Real Estate.

The 21,500-square-foot home on perhaps River Oaks swankiest street  even bigger and grander than when the di Portanovas lived in it  was originally built in 1968. Its most recent owner did a massive, $7 million renovation and expansion in 2004.

The Harris County Appraisal District lists the house  with seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms  with a 2021 market and appraised value of $7,350,000.

MORE FROM DIANE COWEN: First look: Newly opened Blossom Hotel in the Med Center offers simple luxuries

Home to parties and fund raisers likely by every owner in its history, the Neoclassical-style mansion has been written about for years, with stories always lavishing praise on its natatorium, a massive enclosed backyard swimming pool with a huge chandelier hanging over it.

Craig Vance/TK Images Craig Vance/TK Images Craig Vance/TK Images

Former Houston Chronicle society writer Shelby Hodge wrote in 2002 that Azar and Dr. Ebrahim Delpassand had just purchased the home for $2.25 million, at the time judged as its lot value. By 2006 she was covering its post face-lift unveiling at a gathering of Heart Ball supporters.

Dr. Delpassand is now the chairman and medical director of Excel Diagnostics and Nuclear Oncology Center and is the former chief of clinical nuclear medicine at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. On Linkedin.com, Azar Delpassand is listed as president of Excel Diagnostics.

Perhaps the homes most illustrious era was during the di Portanovas ownership. The couple bought the home in the 1980s and lived there until their deaths. They had homes elsewhere around the world, including their Arabesque mansion in Acapulco, where they spent the winter entertaining friends from all over the world  from Houston pals to celebrities including Frank Sinatra and Burt Reynolds.

Ricky battled throat cancer and died in February 2000; Sandra died less than two months later from brain cancer.

Ricky di Portanovas life was full of twists and turns, particularly after he learned that his grandfather, wildcatter Hugh Roy Cullen, died, and he came to Houston to seek his share of his grandfathers fortune.

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Ricky was the son of Cullens eccentric and estranged daughter, Lillie Cranz Cullen, who married Paolo di Portanova an Italian playboy and small-time actor in California, and gave birth to Ricky eight months later. In her later years, Lillie Cranz Cullen lived in a hotel in a seedy part of New York and often wandered the streets carrying shopping bags.

When the couple divorced, Ricky and his younger brother, Ugo, went to Italy with their father. While the di Portanovas title of nobility was long questioned, both his father and paternal grandfather claimed to be barons, so Ricky did, too.

Craig Vance/TK Images Craig Vance/TK Images Craig Vance/TK Images Craig Vance/TK Images Craig Vance/TK Images

In fact, when Hugh Roy Cullen died, its been reported that Ricky had no idea how much money his mothers family had. The family trust started sending him a monthly pension of $5,000.

He was working as a jewelry trader and borrowed $10,000 to hire an attorney and fly to Houston, where he waged a 20-year battle to get a share of the fortune.

His settlement amount was never disclosed, but Hugh Roy Cullens fortune was vast and the Cullen family were generous philanthropists, helping fund the University of Houston and donating to many nonprofits in Houston and elsewhere.

Cullen struck oil for the first time in 1928 and had three more major oil finds in the next handful of years, earning him the title of King of the Wildcatters. His biggest oil find was the so-called Tom OConnor field outside of Victoria, a mile-deep field that brought in $1 billion.

diane.cowen@chron.com
A former producer for the Wu-Tang Clan alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday that New York City law enforcement subjected him to a near-decade of torment for an attempted rape and assault he insists he didnt commit.

Derrick True Master Harris, 52, partially beat a sex crimes conviction in 2015 after defending himself against felony charges alleging he tried to rape a woman he invited into his apartment on Sept. 12, 2011. He also faced accusations he punched a second woman in a park in an unprovoked attack the same day.

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Derrick Harris, producer for the rap group Wu-Tang Clan, appears in Manhattan Supreme Court for his arraignment on sex assault charges in 2011. (Marc A. Hermann/for New York Daily News)

A jury acquitted Harris of felony criminal sexual act. Judge Abraham Clott declared a partial mistrial on five other counts when a holdout juror wouldnt deliberate for longer than one day. Harris spent four years behind bars while awaiting trial.

Manhattan prosecutors announced they would not retry the remaining charges in January 2020.

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Derrick Harris faced a concerted and malicious effort to sabotage the successful life that he had built for himself and to rob him of his notoriety and freedom, said Harris lawyer Ben Crump.

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Even today, it can be astounding to some to see Black people rise to success and achieve the American dream, but it remains to be seen why that assigns a target to our backs.

Harris worked with Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes, Ghostface Killah, and others. His suit seeks unspecified damages.

Harris cross-examined his alleged assault victim at the Manhattan Supreme Court trial. He told jurors that she spitefully accused him of trying to rape her because he had rejected her sexual advances. His lawsuit doesnt mention the alleged sexual advance.

Prosecutors argued that Harris forced the woman he had met several times before to perform oral sex and tried to rape her on a pool table inside his house. They said the alleged victim was so desperate to escape that she tried to flee through a second-floor bathroom window of his 120th St. townhouse while naked from the waist down.

Harris said the woman had framed him. He claimed a separate woman  who his lawsuit alleges the first victim knew, unbeknownst to him or jurors during the trial  similarly could not be believed. He was accused of punching her at random in Marcus Garvey Park. Harris claims the NYPD falsified and withheld exculpatory evidence and that DNA swabs he paid for after prosecutors dismissed the case did not identify him.

Harris case with the Manhattan DA is now sealed. The office declined to comment on the lawsuit. A spokesman for the city Law Department said the suit will be reviewed.
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Gene Velasquez runs to stay fit  and to maintain the energy level required to perform on stage as a singer for the Poison tribute band, Poison IV.

The last few months, however, his laps around Memorial Park have taken on added significance. He has been hoping to reunite with his guardian angel.

Over the summer, Velasquez, 55, had cardiac arrest and a heart attack while on his usual jog around the park. A good Samaritan gave him CPR and put him in an ambulance, which rushed him to the hospital.

If that person didnt do that, I wouldnt be here now, Velasquez said. Its crazy to think about.

He can picture heading to the park the morning of June 25. Usually, he goes in the afternoon, but he had the day off from work, allowing him to go on an earlier run.

I remember doing my stretch and hitting the trail, he said. Then, I blacked out.

Five days later, Velasquez regained consciousness  in the hospital.

His wife, Celeste, was next to him. She recounted the whole story, including how they found her to let her know what had happened.

My heart just stopped, Velasquez said. They told me someone did CPR on me at the park and called the paramedics, who had a defibrillator and shocked me two times.

Upon arriving at the hospital, he was met by Dr. Ben Bobrow, professor and chair of emergency medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth and attending physician at Memorial Hermann.

The patient on the stretcher did not carry a phone, wallet or ID, Bobrow said.

Velasquez was unconscious and not breathing on his own. He was placed in therapeutic hypothermia, a treatment for cardiac arrest that lowers body temperature to prevent further damage resulting from a lack of blood flow to the brain.

We did that immediately, Bobrow said.

Then came the mystery of identifying the patient.

Im a runner, Bobrow said. And he had a running watch on. I know that watch.

The physician called the first number on the watch  and Celeste answered.

Melissa Phillip / Staff Photographer

Everything lined up

A heart attack and cardiac arrest are not the same. In Velasquezs case, a heart attack caused cardiac arrest.

Think of a heart attack as a plumbing problem, Bobrow explained. An artery supplying blood to the heart is blocked, much like a pipe that wont work.

You will be awake and need treatment soon, within 60 minutes ideally, Bobrow said.

Cardiac arrest, on the other hand, is an electrical problem. The electrical signals that make the heart pump dont work and the heart cannot pump blood at all, and death follows in five to 10 minutes without CPR and defibrillation, he said.

What are the chances that Velasquez would receive CPR right in the nick of time?

The odds are not good, Bobrow said. You literally have only a matter of minutes. If no one does bystander CPR, its highly unlikely someone will survive something like this.

Most of the time, things fall through, Bobrow said. Not everything lines up  but it could.

Things could change for the better if more people took the responsibility to learn CPR, he said. In fact, Bobrow helped launch Texas Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival Program to do just that. He also created a free, three-minute video on YouTube to teach bystander CPR when the pandemic halted in-person lessons.

You want to be able to save a life if you need to, he said. Remember, you cannot do CPR wrong. Dont be afraid to try. The only way you can mess up is if you dont try.

There are about 50 cardiac arrests every day in Texas and many of those stricken are young and healthy.

Cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, and cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death, Bobrow said. Its in the top three causes of unexpected death.

By taking the time to learn CPR, the equations could change.

We could save many, many people, Bobrow said.

Finding his heroes

Velasquezs cardiac arrest was caused by a blocked blood vessel.

His heart stopped beating normally, Bobrow said. We had to fix Gene and his heart and support his brain while all of this was going on.

An angiogram, or scan of his arteries, revealed the blockage, and a small stent was placed to correct the problem.

By the time Velasquez regained consciousness, everything had been repaired.

He made a beautiful recovery, Bobrow said.

Velasquez wanted to share his gratitude with the runner who saved him.

I would love to thank that person, he said. There are still good people out there who take a chance.

It took a while to heal the broken ribs from CPR and to work his way up from walking to jogging slowly to running again. But when Velasquez was ready, he headed back to Memorial Park and hoped someone would recognize him.

Months passed, and no one approached. Then, Velasquez shared his story on KHOU-TV, Channel 11.

He discovered that at least seven people had gathered to help him that day, including Eric McClendon, who was the first to spot Velasquez, collapsed on the trail. He described him as unresponsive and very pale.

Sgt. David Gonzalez, with the University of St. Thomas police, was among the first at the scene. He was trained in CPR. But Ive never actually done it, he said.

The officer discovered that Velasquez had no pulse. He flipped him over onto his back to see if his chest was rising.

It wasnt, Gonzalez said.

He began administering CPR  and continued for nine minutes. Then, Jack Perini took over.

Perini spoke to the unconscious Velasquez: Hang in there. The ambulance is coming.

Another bystander called 911, and more were on the lookout, ready to direct EMS to the site. A group of women gathered and prayed, Perini recalled. He watched as the first responders placed the defibrillator paddles and delivered a first shock. A flatline appeared on the monitors.

After a second shock, the heart rhythm returned on screen.

McClendon was also standing by. It looked so severe and desperate at the scene, and it still appeared to be hopeless with all attempts to revive the individual, he said. I thought that we lost him. It certainly seemed and felt to me that the worst-case scenario should be expected from this incident.

It haunted him every time he went for a run. Gonzalez, too, kept wondering about what happened to the man at the park.

Perini called area hospitals and the fire department after the incident looking for a John Doe. Another person at the scene, Mike Gonzalez, had collected the phone numbers of everyone there. So when the broadcast aired months after the incident, Perini, Gonzalez, McClendon and the others learned that John Doe was Gene Velasquez  and that he had survived.

It was a good feeling, Gonzalez said. I saved someones life.

Perini and his wife have already marked their calendars to watch Velasquez sing at his next concert.

On Feb. 16, Velasquez met with four of the men who helped him that day. Four angels, Velasquez said.

Just sitting there, talking with his rescuers was a surreal experience.

It makes me feel better now that I know what happened, he said. I gave them all hugs. It was just so awesome to meet them. I just didnt have the words to say.

I mean what do you say to a person who saved your life?

Lindsay Peyton is a freelance writer.
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Amazon said it would delay opening up a 150,000-square-foot delivery station at the intersection of U.S. Highway 59 and Grand Parkway in Porter, until an undisclosed time in the future.

We still plan to launch a new facility in Porter, Amazon spokesman Daniel Martin said in a statement. The only thing thats changed with our plans is the exact timing.

Retail wrap: Yardbird Furniture, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, Russos New York Pizzeria open new locations

The building, whose exterior is largely complete, had been expected to open for business in the latter part of the year, bringing hundreds of jobs into the area.

Frank McCrady, president and CEO of the East Montgomery County Improvement District, which had worked to bring the Amazon project into the area, said he was not disappointed with the companys delay decision.

They told us they were going to open in a couple of years and thats kind of what our expectation is, he said. Were still excited about them being part of our community and look forward to them getting open in a couple of years.

Last March, Amazon had announced plans to build the delivery station, one of four such facilities it planned to build as part of an expansion program in the greater Houston. The other three projects consist of facilities at 9155 Derrington Road and 11311 North Gessner Drive in Houston and at the intersection of Northcrest and Spring Steubner in Spring.

At the time of last years announcement, Amazon said the Porter facility would create more than 300 full-time jobs, with starting pay of $15 per hour and a benefits package.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Home Depot starts hiring spree in Houston

Martin said the company would provide an update on the timetable for opening the Porter facility at a later date.

We are a dynamic business and we have dozens of fulfillment centers, sortation centers and delivery stations that are evolving and under construction across the country. Its common for us to adjust launch timetables based on capacity needs across the network, he said.
Margaritaville Lake Resort, Lake Conroe | Houston has announced that Country Music Association (CMA) of Texas Songwriter of the Year, Thom Shepherd, will perform as part of the resorts Singer/Songwriter Series at Boathouse Bar & Lounge.

Shepherd grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri before his family moved to Virginia when he was in high school. His dad worked for General Electric and he has fond memories of his mothers relatives coming over to play country music.

In college, he thought hed study television and film, but the urge to play music was strong and he joined his first band. His path was set and he headed to Nashville after college.

He found success as a songwriter in the Music City.

Shepherd is the writer of five No. 1 singles including Redneck Yacht Club, Riding with Private Malone, and three Texas music number ones. In total, he has written over 10 radio singles, two Grammy nominated songs, and has had over 100 songs recorded by other artists. He was also named the CMA Texas Songwriter of the Year.

He and wife Coley McCabe recently hosted the four-day Trop Rock music festival, the Lone Star Luau, at Margaritaville in early February.

Shepherds will perform in the series on Thursday with Michael Hearne. After recording several albums in the early 2000s - including the critically-acclaimed concept album Sight and Sound: Songs Inspired by the Fine Art of Northern New Mexico (winner of seven awards at The New Mexico Music Awards), Hearne made his way to Nashville, Tennessee. There, he wrote and recorded 2011s Life in America - after surviving the historic Nashville floods in 2010.

Next hell perform on April 21 with Mike Nash who was named Male Vocalist of the Year by the National Trop Rock Association. Nash has performed with musical legends including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels, and Jimmy Buffett as well as contemporary stars like Brantley Gilbert, Blackberry Smoke, the Eli Young Band, and Justin Moore.

Additional dates for 2022 include Thursday, May 19; Thursday, June 2; and Thursday, Aug. 11.

The cost per person is $29; resort members pay $20. There will be open seating with food and drink available for purchase from the Boathouse menu.

For more information and to purchase your ticket, see https://bit.ly/3Ml5EJl.
The city of Pasadena is on its way to developing its first new park space this century.

Preston Crenshaw Park, as its being called now, will be in an area roughly bounded by Crenshaw Road, Beltway 8 and Preston Avenue.

Well go with roughly because the park will be tucked behind several businesses, the Zion Lutheran Church and the Preston Trails South subdivision.

The most recent park in the city, Holly Bay Park, opened in the early 1990s through an interlocal agreement with Deer Park ISD.

So, its been more than 20 years since we have added a new park, said Pasadena Parks Director Jed Aplaca.

Preston Crenshaw Park will have a fairly sizable footprint.

Its a total of about 30 acres and the majority of it is taken up by a pond thats already there, Aplaca said.

The pond actually serves two purposes, one is to serve as a fishin hole, while the other is to catch stormwater runoff.

When the pond was originally dug out, it was intended to be a fishing pond; so there were several deep holes , Aplaca said.

Parts of the pond are as deep as 11 feet.

Its nice because it is not a square pond, the parks director said. Its got some shape to it.

Park plans are still in the design phase but are shaping up.

In Phase 1, were going to have a parking lot, a walking trail around the pond and other amenities like trees along the trail, some park benches and well also be adding some fountains or aerators to help the pond recirculate the water to keep the oxygen levels (where they should be), Aplaca said. It helps control the vegetation and keeps the water quality better.

The parking lot will be accessible from Preston Drive and have about 20 spots.

Phase 1 is expected to cost about $1.2 million

During the design phase, efforts are being made to keep the park insulated from the neighborhood and surrounding businesses and also return the greenspace to a more natural place.

Were going to keep a buffer between the neighborhood and the park, Aplaca said. There are already a lot of trees over there (but) weve been looking to remove some of the invasive species and plant better trees.

There are a lot of Chinese tallow and McCartney rose (there) that are undesirable invasive species.

Looking ahead, a fishing pier is on the wish list, as is a connection to the sidewalk along Crenshaw, Aplaca said.

If you go to the west, you can get to Burke Crenshaw Park and if you go east you can get to Holly Bay Park, so, there can be great connections along the streets, he said. There is a right-of-way along one of the drainage areas along Crenshaw and our goal is to put a connection from the (walking trail) loop to Crenshaw.

Progress on construction could come pretty quickly.

We are in the design process right now and we should finish up the plans in the spring and then go out to bid, the parks director said. Hopefully, well see a groundbreaking in late summer

Depending on the weather (and other factors) we could be done by early next year.

A portion of the park came to the city through a land swap that resulted from a Pasadena neighborhoods resistance to a proposed location for a restaurant supply business.

Restaurant Depot is a business that wanted to move to Pasadena, Pasadena Mayor Jeff Wagner related in a recent state-of-the-city address. Our (economic development corporation) got with them and bought the land at Preston and Beltway 8.

But residents of Preston Trails South told city officials in 2016 that they did not want the business in their backyard.

That led to Pasadena swapping a city-owned piece of property on Genoa-Red Bluff Road for the plot on Preston. The restaurant supply business opened at the Genoa-Red Bluff site in 2020.

John DeLapp is a freelance writer. He can be contacted at texdelapp@gmail.com.
Houston police fatally shot a man Wednesday who fired a shot at a lawman when authorities were trying to take him into custody on an outstanding warrant in west Houston, police said.

Authorities said they were surveilling the 18-year-old man  who was wanted on an aggravated assault deadly weapon warrant and had gotten information he may be in or around an apartment complex in the 2600 block of Lazy Hollow Drive, near Westheimer and Fondren.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Fire damages vacant Third Ward house; a brick wall falls on top of a Houston firefighter

He walked away from the complex sometime before 6 p.m. and went to a parking lot, according to Houston police executive chief Matt Slinkard. Not many people were around when he was returning to the complex, and officers felt that was a good and safe location to bring him into custody, Slinkard said.

As officers approached the man, he produced a weapon and pointed it at a Houston police sergeant, Slinkard said.

Slinkard said Wednesday that authorities were still investigating whether the man was able to fire before the sergeant did. In a release Thursday, police said the suspect fired a shot toward the sergeant and then the lawman fired, striking the man.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Couple wanted in tequila heist at SW Houston liquor store

The man went down, police said. Officers rendered first aid to him, but he died at the scene, according to police.

No officers were struck by the suspect, Slinkard said.

The sergeant  identified as Sgt. K. Canales, who is assigned to the Gang Division  will be placed on administrative duties as the investigation begins, police said. He was sworn in to be a Houston police officer more than 12 years ago, according to police.

No other officers fired, according to police.

Body camera footage is expected to be released within 30 days.

Authorities are investigating the shooting.
Chronicle file

Another busy front page from this day in 1953.

One of the big stories of the day was the Texas Senate voting to make Texas A&M a co-educational university. Soon after the vote, it seemed that everyone had second thoughts about it, with the Senate voting 26-to-1 a few days later to kill State Sen. William T. Moore's proposal. Women wouldn't be admitted to A&M as regular students until 1963.
A south Houston woman orchestrated the deaths of three people in a Brays Oaks home last summer, including that of a woman she had been dating, authorities said on Thursday.

Alexus Chenelle Williams, 29, is charged with three counts of capital murder in the June 2021 deaths of Donyavia Lagway, Gregory Carhee and Harmony Carhee, their 6-year-old daughter, court records state.

Prosecutors believe Williams had a prior relationship with Lagway and had even possibly spent some time living at the couple's apartment at 12101 Fondren Road before their relationship allegedly soured, according to Sean Teare, Harris County assistant district attorney.

"We believe their relationship ended badly about a week before these murders," Teare said.

Williams is also charged with aggravated assault in the shooting of the couple's other child, a 10-year-old girl.

She is the second person charged with capital murder in the incident, according to court records.

In July 2021, prosecutors charged 28-year-old Xavier Davis with the three counts of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, court documents state. After he was charged, Davis' bond for a separate family violence incident was revoked by a Harris County judge.

Prosecutors said Williams has known Davis since childhood and the two were together for a period of time right before the slayings, Teare said.

"We know that Xavier Davis was telling people that he was going to 'Hit a lick and go get money,' some number of thousands of dollars, from an apartment because Alexus had told him which apartment to go to," Teare added.

Cell phone records also allegedly showed prosecutors that Davis was on Facetime with Williams the majority of the time he was at the location during the incident, he said.

"She either observed him executing this family or she was able to see the immediate aftermath of it."

A target for investigators early on, Williams allegedly was on the radar for involvement but evidence was needed in order to bring charges against her, he added.

"Today's a good day and we were able to finally get the charge that we all believe are correct," Teare said. "This family is not dead if it's not for Alexus Williams."

Williams is scheduled to appear before a Harris County magistrate Thursday afternoon and will be in front of a county judge Friday morning for a bail hearing, according to Teare.

Prosecutors will petition the court to deny Williams bail, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Joel.Umanzor@chron.com
The Texas Homeowner Assistance Fund  $842 million in federal dollars meant to ease financial hardships associated with the pandemic  launched statewide Wednesday morning, announced the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.

Eligible homeowners could receive up to $40,000 to help pay past-due mortgage payments and up to $25,000 to help pay past-due tax, insurance and association payments.

Were committed to distributing this assistance as quickly, accurately, and seamlessly as possible, said Bobby Wilkinson, TDHCA executive director, in a release.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Help is coming for Texas homeowners facing foreclosure, but not in time for Tuesdays auction

Some advocates expressed worries last week when the preliminary launch date, which TDHCA shared with local organizations and city and county leaders but did not formally announce, came and went without the fund opening statewide. Federal protections limiting foreclosures on delinquent mortgages expired at the end of 2021, so the delay meant a third foreclosure auction took place in the gap between those protections expiring and the federal Homeowner Assistance Funds reaching Texans.

The launch was welcomed by groups working with homeowners.

This program provides much-needed support at a critical time, said Amir Befroui, managing attorney for the nonprofit Lone Star Legal Aids Foreclosure Prevention Project.

Sherrie Young, executive director of the housing counseling agency Credit Coalition, agreed, calling the launch a blessing for families that qualify for it. She said, Its not going to fit everybody, but for those that it will fit, lets hope that its smooth and seamless and they get back on time with their mortgages.

Eligibility requirements include losing income or experiencing increased expenses due to the pandemic. Households must have an income at or below either the area median income or the median income for the United States, whichever is greater.

A pilot for the Homeowner Assistance Fund was launched in Hidalgo County in January, and already $2.3 million in assistance has been paid out to 430 households in that county, according to Jaime Longoria, who has been overseeing the pilot as head of the Hidalgo County Community Service Agency. The average household received upward of $5,300 in assistance.

The aid largely went toward past-due mortgages and property taxes, rather than insurance costs or association fees. He said it was too soon to tell how many of the applications are being turned around in the target 45 days.

One aspect of the program he touted is the ability to use attestations as proof of income. So many of these families, for instance, will have side gigs  will work selling items at the flea market or will work in landscaping or will mow yards or sell food or may have a food truck. Such families often have difficulty providing formal documentation of their incomes. The ability to use attestations allows them to take part in the fund.

So the experience with this state agency has been a very good one in terms of their recognizing the needs of the constituency, he said.

rebecca.schuetz@chron.com;

twitter.com/raschuetz
Somewhere between the Gus Wortham Golf Course and the Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home along Brays Bayou, 27-year-old Alex Sosa was struggling to angle one of the biggest catches of his life.

The water was murky and brown, so he couldn't see just how big his catch was, but he knew it had to be substantial since it took his entire buffalo head fish bait. For half an hour, Sosa reeled in an alligator gar that he says must have been nearly six feet in length and weighed around 130 pounds, well beyond the 100-pound fish scale he kept in his boat.

By the time he finally managed to wrestle the fish onto his boat and to the shore, the onlookers reminded him why he loved to fish on the bayou.

"Being able to share that moment with everyone who stopped to ask questions and take pictures is what reminded me why I love fishing," Sosa said. "If were to have been alone, and not have been able to share it with anyone, the catch wouldn't have been as meaningful."

On HoustonChronicle.com: Angler catches record-breaking 17-pound bass on Texas lake known for monster fish

Sosa's catch was not a record-breaking alligator gar  the largest in Texas caught with a rod and reel was 7 feet 9 inches at 289 pounds from the Rio Grande in 1951. In 2021, two Memorial High School students caught a alligator gar that was nearly seven feet in Buffalo Bayou.

But for Sosa, the catch reinforced his desire to teach residents about the eco-diversity of Houston's bayous and guide them on how they can experience giant catches for themselves.

"Here in Houston, most people don't realize it but we are very fortunate to have our waterways the way they are," Sosa said. "We tend to have a warmer water temperature so we tend to have giant fish swimming around all year."

Sosa grew up in Houston but only started fishing when he started college at the University of Houston-Downtown. He lived close by to Buffalo Bayou and in his free time, little by little, he would fish and learn about all the different types of fish that exist in Houston's waterways. To learn how to fish, Sosa would watch the Youtuber Wild Life, a Houston fisherman who creates educational videos about Houston's animals, primarily fish.

"Every time I go out there it's a new experience," Sosa said. "I learn something new every time. In a way I'm just starting and I'm not going to be quitting anytime soon. I still have a lot to learn and that's exciting."

After Sosa finished college at HCC, he continued to fish, turning his hobby into a side business called Buffalo Bayou Fishing Champs, where he takes passengers along for an entire day of boating, catching fish and releasing fish back into the bayou. To date, Sosa said he has had around 40 sign up to ride-along.

"I think if it wasn't for the people that join me that I have on board and being able to teach them things they've never had any idea about before, that's what keeps me hooked," Sosa said.

Similar to all the other fish Sosa caught, he released the alligator gar back into the bayou where it swam away, unharmed.
MTA Chairman Janno Lieber wants the authority to ban repeat offenders from the subway, including the homeless man accused of smearing a strangers face with his feces last month on a Bronx train platform.

I do not understand why the MTA cannot ban people, like that guy who had three priors of attacks in the subway system, from using our system, Lieber said during an event hosted by NYUs Rudin Center on Thursday. That guy had 19 priors, had attacked subway riders and actually had a hate crime attack.

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Janno Lieber speaking at a press conference at the Brooklyn Army Terminal Annex on January 20, 2022. (Shawn Inglima/for New York Daily News)

Lieber was referring to Frank Abrowka, 37, the alleged poop attacker who was set free Wednesday, a day after being arrested and charged with a hate crime for spitting at and assaulting a Jewish man in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, last September.

Hours after he was released, Abrowka posted a video to Facebook showing he was at the Wakefield-241st St. station on the No. 2 line, the same station where he was caught on camera smearing his fresh excrement in an unsuspecting womans face.

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He posted more videos on Thursday, including one with an unhinged rant in which he said, The feces scenario should keep every female in the their right mind away from me.

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Lieber said people like Abrowka shouldnt be allowed in the subways and compared the type of behavior to a DWI. We take away drivers licenses for one drunk-driving episode, Lieber said.

Frank Abrowka, 37, was arrested for the unprovoked Feb. 21 poop attack that was caught on camera. (DCPI)

State officials have at least one way to ban people from the subways via a law passed in 2020 by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The law allows New York state judges to ban people from public transit for up to three years if they are convicted of unlawful sexual conduct while using the system. Under the law, judges can also issue bans for people convicted of assaulting MTA workers.

New York judges have issued just two subway bans since the law went into effect, according to courts spokesman Lucien Chalfen. One person convicted of menacing in Bronx Criminal Court was banned from transit for a year and a person convicted of criminal possession of a controlled substance in Brooklyn was banned for six months.

Given the vast size of the subway system . . . a ban is unlikely to have more than a symbolic effect, said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for the advocacy group Riders Alliance. The governor and MTA should be doing everything they can to make the subway as safe, welcoming and inclusive as possible by running more trains. Bans arent going to do the trick.

Sarah Feinberg, who was interim NYC Transit president when Cuomos law was passed, said her team met with local judges and districts attorney last year to ask them to impose more bans on people who repeatedly commit crimes on the subway. She said the DAs told her to pound sand.

When police see a repeat offender in the system they have to follow them and wait for them to commit a crime to arrest them  but that just means theres another victim, said Feinberg. The police said this legislation would help them keep people out of the system, but there could be some exceptions, like if someone is going to work.
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Candidates vying for top leadership posts in Houstons suburbs claimed decisive victories in primaries Tuesday night, with one county judges race seemingly decided and another just heating up.

Fort Bend County Judge KP George easily claimed victory against a single challenger in the Democratic primary in that diverse, fast-growing county. Republican voters overwhelmingly chose Trever Nehls, an Army veteran and former Precinct 4 constable, as their nominee in the November general election. The wins, as expected, have kicked off a race that experts say may be competitive.

Meanwhile, in Montgomery County, incumbent Mark Keough apparently clinched a second term as county judge after defeating Sara Countryman, the mayor of the city of Montgomery, and Billy Graff, a pastor and nonprofit founder, in the Republican primary. No Democrats ran in their partys primary in the conservative stronghold north of Houston.

Keough captured more than 66 percent of the vote while Graff garnered 17 percent and Countryman received 16 percent. Both challengers had criticized Keoughs financial decisions and handling of the pandemic throughout the campaign. The judge also was criticized for being in a 2020 automobile crash after taking the prescription sleep medication Ambien. He pleaded guilty to a DWI charge.

I couldnt be more pleased, Keough said after his Tuesday night victory. The people have spoken. The support that I have felt throughout this endeavor has been uncommon and I look forward to completing this term and starting the next term next year.

In the same county, Precinct 2 Commissioner Charlie Riley won a third term while newcomer Matt Gray will replace incumbent James Metts as commissioner of Precinct 4. Gray, a former oil and gas businessman, ran on accountability.

In Fort Bend, George claimed nearly 70 percent of the vote against Ferrel Bonner, a retired veteran with experience working in government, security and emergency management roles.

"Fort Bend County voters overwhelmingly voted to select me and the most diverse slate of candidates in Fort Bend history. Together, we will stand united and represent every person that lives in our beautiful community," George said in a statement. "We will continue to move Fort Bend forward by making our county more effective, engaging, and efficient for ALL."

George, who navigated Fort Bend through the pandemic with successful vaccination efforts and strong public health measures, said he is running for a second term to build on his administrations progress.

An Indian-American, George became the first person of color to hold the position when he was elected in 2018 alongside a host of other Democrats. Fort Bend County has long been celebrated for its racial and ethnic diversity.

Nehls, president of a local biotechnology company, beat his opponent, Ibifrisolam Max-Alalibo, with nearly 92 percent of the vote.

I'm overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and look forward to the November General Election, Nehls said in a Tuesday night statement. From myself and my whole family, thank you!

In 2020, Nehls ran unsuccessfully to succeed his twin brother, Troy Nehls, as Fort Bend County sheriff. Troy Nehls was elected to Congress that same year and now represents Fort Bend and other communities south and west of the city of Houston. Trever Nehls priorities as county judge would include infrastructure and law enforcement.

Nehls has criticized George for redrawing the precinct boundaries to favor Democrats and exceeding his authority by implementing pandemic-related business closures.

In other Fort Bend primary races, incumbent Grady Prestage won 50.3 percent of the vote, narrowly avoiding a runoff election for his spot as Precinct 2 county commissioner. The race for Precinct 4 county commissioner, a position currently held by Democrat Ken DeMerchant, will head to a runoff.

Catherine Dominguez contributed to this report.

anna.bauman@chron.com
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The International Space Station was designed to make Russia and the United States mutually dependent on each other. After President Joe Biden announced sanctions in response to the invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. got a sharp reminder that Russia keeps the station aloft.

If you block the cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from uncontrolled deorbiting and fall on the U.S. or European territory? Russian space leader Dmitry Rogozin said in a series of Tweets.

Rogozin is known for his bluster. The damage this conflict might do to space cooperation pales in comparison to the human cost the invasion has already inflicted. Still, space analysts and political experts say the late February invasion could prompt a change in off-planet relationships and alliances.

SPACE RACE? America's new path to the ISS could affect relationship with Russia

For the most part, it has not affected day-to-day operations on the International Space Station. But the conflict has trickled into other space missions and could affect civil, military and commercial space.

I think its the end of any kind of close relationship, said John Logsdon, founder of George Washington Universitys Space Policy Institute. Its the end of an illusion that cooperation in space will spill over to other relations on Earth.

International Space Station

The International Space Station has weathered other Earthly conflicts, including Russias annexation of Crimea in 2014, and NASA said it has not received any indication at the working level that Russia is no longer committed to the station.

There are currently two Russian cosmonauts, four NASA astronauts and one German astronaut on the station. NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is slated to return home later this month in a Russian Soyuz capsule; the other astronauts will return in the SpaceX Crew Dragon that carried them to the station.

We, as a team, are operating just like we were operating three weeks ago, Kathy Lueders, NASAs associate administrator for Space Operations, said Monday during an unrelated news conference. And I actually feel like this is a good message for us that we are operating peacefully in space now and moving forward. Those who have been on the space station have spoken about the strong bonds forged from working and living together for months at a time.

But the scale of this conflict is much larger than the Crimea crisis. And the U.S. is not as dependent on Russia as it was in 2014 when NASA, having retired the space shuttle in 2011, relied on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to reach the station. The U.S. is now launching astronauts in the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.

But, as Rogozin pointed out on Twitter, the U.S. still has at least one major dependency on Russia: The International Space Station needs occasional boosts to keep it in orbit, and Russias visiting spacecraft and Zvezda Service Module have been crucial to keeping it aloft. They ignite their engines to move the station to a higher orbit.

Rogozin is the head of Roscosmos, the Russian state-owned enterprise that incorporates civil space activity and manufacturing. In response to sanctions for Russias annexation of Crimea, Rogozin suggested that NASA use a trampoline to reach the space station, said Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

He has shown himself in the past to be a hothead, Harrison said.

Harrison views Rogozins Tweet about the ISS crashing down as an empty threat.

But thats not to say that it is something we should completely ignore, he said.

Coincidentally, NASA is planning to use an America resupply spacecraft, Northrop Grummans Cygnus spacecraft, to boost the space station. The Cygnus thats currently docked to the station  it launched Feb. 19 before Russia invaded Ukraine  will be the first Cygnus to perform an operational reboost service in April.

Lueders, with NASA, said this had been planned for operational flexibility.

Currently there is no plan  it would be very difficult  for us to be operating on our own, she said on Monday.

RETIREMENT: International Space Station will plummet into the Pacific at end of its mission

Russia likely isnt interested in leaving the International Space Station, either. Analysts said the ISS is Russias premiere human spaceflight program. Losing it would be a major blow to the countrys image as a global space power.

We highly value our professional relationship with NASA, Rogozin said in a statement shared by Roscosmos on Feb. 23 that was translated into English.

But Roscosmos said Thursday it would not cooperate with Germany on joint experiments on the space station.

And analysts said there is a chance Russia could leave the station in 2024, the previously agreed upon life of the station, despite other nations pushing to extend ISS operations through 2030. It would be very messy (and highly unlikely) that Russia removes its space station modules, but it could withdraw cosmonauts and stop providing ground support.

If Russia departs in an organized, controlled manner, and agrees to leave key components behind, Harrison said the U.S., Europe, Canada and Japan could (and would) likely continue operating the station. But leaving abruptly would cause chaos and irreparable damage to international relationships.

I dont think Russia will ever be a partner with Western nations for civil space again if they abandon their responsibilities on the ISS abruptly, Harrison said.

It may also be time to acknowledge that this relationship in space is not creating stronger ties on Earth, said Logsdon, with George Washington University.

Though not fully trusting Russia might create new benefits, said Phil Smith, a space industry analyst at BryceTech. This could motivate Congress and the private sector to invest more heavily in commercial space stations that will replace the ISS.

Disrupted missions

While that future is still being considered, the invasion into Ukraine has caused more immediate disruptions.

Russia responded to European sanctions by suspending rocket launches and withdrawing its personnel from French Guiana, an overseas department of France on the northeastern coast of South America.

Smith said pulling its rocket will temporarily restrict Europes ability to launch satellites from French Guiana, and it will delay the launch of two European Galileo global navigation satellites. However, the European Space Agency is planning to debut the Vega-C and Ariane 6 rockets this year, and those rockets will be able to pick up missions that had been using Russias rocket.

LAUNCHED FROM FRENCH GUIANA: Why NASA's new James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble, has 'perfectly misshaped' mirrors

That didnt stop Rogozin from commenting on Twitter.

The European Space Agency can launch its satellites using its own launch vehicles  when it happens to have them, he said in a translated Tweet.

The European Space Agency announced that sanctions and the wider context make it very unlikely the joint Europe-Russia ExoMars Program will launch this year. The next direct pathway to Mars becomes available in 2024.

Then OneWeb, a London company launching satellites to provide internet connectivity, suspended its launches from Kazakhstan. This came after Roscosmos demanded that the companys satellites it was going to launch not be used for military purposes and that the U.K. government withdraws as a OneWeb shareholder. Rogozin shared a video of workers covering the flags of other nations, including the U.S., on the rocket fairing that would have protected the OneWeb satellites during launch.

"Without the flags of some countries our rocket would look more beautiful," Rogozin said in a translated Tweet.

In the U.S., Roscosmos has taken aim at the rocket supply chain. It announced Thursday that it would not deliver engines used in Northrop Grummans Antares rocket, which helps deliver supplies to the International Space Station. Northrop Grumman said it has enough hardware for a NASA-contracted mission this year and another in 2023. If necessary, Smith said, the Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft could launch on United Launch Alliances Atlas V rocket.

The Atlas V also uses Russian-built engines, which Roscosmos said it will no longer service, but United Launch Alliance has purchased and taken delivery of all the engines it will need. The company said it can safely fly its rockets without Roscosmos support.

The Atlas V will be replaced by United Launch Alliances Vulcan rocket that uses American-made engines. Phasing out United Launch Alliances dependency on Russian engines was part of the U.S. sanctions following the Crimea conflict in 2014.

Military space

The current invasion of Ukraine has been more deadly than Crimea and more destabilizing to Europe. That leaves Harrison with a question: What might Russia do in space as it feels increasingly isolated and desperate for a clear military victory on the ground?

The U.S. is not sending troops into Russia, but it is using satellites to help Ukraine monitor Russian troops.

Its believed that Russia has been attempting to jam GPS signals in Ukraine, Harrison said. And Tweets suggest that Roscosmos would allocate civil space resources to defense and prioritize creating satellites for defense.

Russia already has some damaging technology in its arsenal. It could temporarily dazzle or permanently blind satellite sensors, Harrison said, and this might be an attractive option for quietly turning Earth-observing satellites into space junk.

It also has ground-based missiles that can destroy satellites, which it demonstrated last year by destroying a defunct Russian satellite, but it would be extreme for Russia to use this against a U.S. satellite.

SPACE DEBRIS: Russia responds to criticism of missile test that blew up satellite

That would be a pretty severe escalation of the conflict that would certainly change the calculus for the United States and NATO allies, Harrison said.

And if Russia gains too much notoriety, it may become a less attractive partner to China. The two countries have been discussing crewed missions to the moon.

Russia has a space legacy and good (albeit old) rockets. But its struggling economy has stifled innovation in recent years. Russias space program would suffer if it lost both the U.S. and China as partners.

"They need collaboration, Logsdon said. It would be very difficult, at least for civilian space activities, for Russia to go it alone."

andrea.leinfelder@chron.com

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State Rep. Michelle Beckley forced a runoff in the Democratic race for lieutenant governor  and now shes calling on her opponent, Houston accountant Mike Collier, to end his campaign.

He doesnt inspire the base, Beckley, of Carrollton, said in an interview Thursday. He should drop out.

Collier was the 2018 Democratic nominee for the post and came within 5 points of unseating Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that year. He earned about 42 percent of the vote in Tuesday nights election, followed by Beckley at 30 percent.

A third candidate, Houston educator Carla Brailey, came in just behind at 28 percent, according to unofficial results. Patrick, who is seeking his third term in Texas No. 2 spot, sailed to victory in the Republican primary.

Collier says he has no intention of dropping out, and the two will face off in a May runoff election.

Our campaign is building a diverse coalition around the issues that matter to Texans  protecting our individual rights, fully funding our public education system, fixing the damn grid, expanding Medicaid  and working together to defeat Dan Patrick, Collier said.

Now, the pair will spend the next two months hoping to win over the more than 280,000 voters who cast ballots for Brailey  and also convincing them to show up on May 24. Texas primary elections are notorious for their low turnout, and runoff elections typically see even lower numbers.

TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday

Brailey said Thursday she plans to stay involved in the race, and shell look toward the candidate whose actions reflect a commitment to diversity and inclusion. But shes not ready to make an endorsement just yet: You can rest assured, Im not going anywhere at all. How I stay in this race will be determined in the next couple days, couple weeks.

Collier has two statewide elections under his belt: the lieutenant governors race four years ago and a bid for state comptroller before that. His campaign has a massive funding advantage, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in the lead-up to the primary.

As of Feb. 22, his campaign had about $120,000 on hand to Beckleys $9,000. Collier has raised nearly $2 million since announcing his run last year, though his campaign is bogged down by about $450,000 in outstanding loans  a holdover from the 2018 race that hed given to himself.

For Collier, the lead-up to the May runoff will focus on digital campaigns and travel across the state, starting with a visit to North Texas on Monday. His campaign also announced a number of new endorsements on Thursday, including three members of Congress  Reps. Veronica Escobar, Lizzie Fletcher and Lloyd Doggett  and a slate of Houston-area politicians who had previously endorsed Brailey.

Every vote we gain in the primary and every supporter that we meet is not wasted time, said Ali Zaidi, Colliers campaign manager. A runoff is not wasted time. It builds our coalition and support for November. Its not like we have one enemy in the primary and then another one in the general. We have been laser-focused since April of 2021 that this is an effort to defeat Dan Patrick.

For Beckley, the run-up to May will focus on direct voter contact. She has repeatedly noted that she was the only candidate in the lieutenant governors race to previously win an election and slammed Collier on Thursday for failing to get through the primary with two candidates who came in very late with almost no resources.

Beckley beat Republican state Rep. Ron Simmons in 2018 and held onto the seat two years ago. She jumped into the race for lieutenant governor after being drawn out of her state House seat during the redistricting process.

She had also briefly run a congressional campaign against U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Irving but abandoned the effort after that seat was also redrawn to more heavily favor Republicans. Rated among the most liberal members of the Texas House, Beckley said that voters want a true Democrat who will address the states grid and education issues while also fighting Republicans made-up problems.

The reality is: Im experienced, Ive worked in the Texas Legislature, I know what Im getting into and Im prepared to get into it, Beckley said. I have a voting record. I beat a Republican in a Republican district and became the first Democrat there. And you do that by sticking with the Democratic values.

Zaidi said running statewide is an entirely different beast than anything else, noting that Democrats have not won a statewide race here in nearly three decades.

The winner of the runoff election will face an uphill battle ahead of November, facing Patrick in an election year thats already expected to favor Republicans. Patrick, who toppled five challengers on Tuesday to secure 77 percent of the vote, has a $23 million campaign war chest and name recognition that neither Democrat can match.

His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday, but Patrick released an Election Night statement thanking voters for their support: The people of Texas have spoken with one conservative voice, confirming what we already know. Texans are committed to keeping our state on its conservative path.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
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The Harris County Elections Division released the final, unofficial primary elections results early Thursday, following a GOP petition to impound the records which stopped vote counts hours earlier.

Citing malfunctions and a lack of testing of election machinery, Harris County Republicans alleged their party's voters experienced irregularities that affected their vote count, according to the petition.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Why the slow vote count? Harris County elections officials blame the voters.

"For example, some voters were able to successfully submit their votes for the first page of their ballot but were unable to submit their votes for the second page of their ballot," the petition, filed by Harris County Republican Party Chairman Cindy Siegel, states.

Republicans also alleged in the petition that improperly tested election machinery provided to them at various locations had issues with scanning ballots.

In a statement Thursday morning, Siegel called Tuesday's primary in Harris County a "fiasco" and blamed County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria.

"The fault lies with Lina Hidalgo and the management of this primary that both parties contracted the Harris County elections administrator to run," Siegel stated. "What happened during this primary in terms of running an election is not acceptable."

The petition, looking to impound the county's elections records, was filed at 5:18 p.m. Wednesday, halting the vote count just before the 7 p.m. deadline.

VOTE TRACKER: 2022 Texas Primary Election Results

Judge Ursula Hall of the 165th District Court denied the petition, according to court records, instructing Longoria to provide a status update at 11:30 p.m. and allowing the vote count to resume almost two hours after it had been stopped.

"At the time the petition was filed and the Central Count Board halted counting, Harris County Elections had tabulated approximately 99 percent of the ballots cast on Election Night," Longoria said in an email Wednesday night.

The county sent out the email detailing Tuesday's primary results for both parties at 12:37 a.m. Thursday.

Joel.Umanzor@chron.com
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Mayor Sylvester Turner and police leadership announced a new labor contract for officers Thursday that includes 10.5 percent in raises over three years and an adjustment to disciplinary procedures.

The deal would give police officers raises of 4 percent, 3 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, over the next three years. That roughly is in line with previous deals. Officers received 7 percent raises over two years in their most recent deal, which took effect in 2019, and saw another 2 percent in 2021 when the deal expired.

Mayor Sylvester Turner, Police Chief Troy Finner and the Houston Police Officers Union announced the contract at a press conference Thursday after the graduation of a cadet class earlier in the morning, adding 61 members to the force. Union members already have ratified the deal, though City Council also must approve it. Turner said about 70 percent of the union members voted in favor of the deal.

The part I want to underscore is that not only are we adding more police, not only are we adding technology, but were also making commitments to their pay, said Turner, whose godson was in the graduating class Thursday. The cost of the pay hikes will be about $125 million, the mayor said.

As part of the deal the union agreed to adjust the so-called 180-day rule, which says that officers who commit certain crimes must be disciplined within 180 days of the date the crime was committed, even if the department and city did not know about the crime within that time period. That limit did not apply to allegations of untruthfulness, serious misconduct, criminal wrongdoing, or moral turpitude.

A call for transparency: Houston reform advocates: We want a seat at the police contract bargaining table

Now, the rule has been revised to require discipline within 180 days of the citys discovery of the crime.

The change was sought by advocates who hoped a labor deal would help enact reforms.

District C Councilmember Abbie Kamin, who chairs the councils public safety committee, said it marks an important adjustment for the city.

No one is above the law. Period. If you commit a crime, you dont get to avoid accountability simply because your employer learned about it after 180 days, Kamin said. Weve put a lot of focus on addressing this loophole, and its a big win for our community and our city.

There is no change, however, to the 48-hour rule, codified in state law and targeted by advocates, that says officers accused of misconduct must be given 48 hours notice before they are questioned about the alleged impropriety.

I think its fair to us and the city. I think at the end of the day, its going to help our officers feel appreciated, said Douglas Griffith, president of the union. Thats what we really need. The morale is obviously low with things going on around this country, but were building it up.

Under the contract, the base salary for a police officer with one year on the force would go from $56,440 now to $58,697 in July. By July 2024, it will rise to $62,574, though that does not include incentive pay for equipment, education, training, shift, weekend and bilingual abilities. Rookies, who begin in a probationary period, make a $42,000 salary that is unchanged in the agreement.

Reforms?: As police chief urges 'meaningful reform,' critics wonder why it's missing in Houston

At-Large Councilmember Mike Knox, a retired police officer, said he thinks the deal will help bolster the departments ranks. One issue the city faces is a high number of retirement-eligible officers. The proposed raises, Knox said, may help convince some of those officers to remain on the force for a few more years, while the city funds cadets to replace them.

Weve got to have boots on the ground, and we have to be competitive with other police departments, Knox said.

Reform advocates have sought, unsuccessfully, a seat at the negotiating table. Community members in Austin and other cities have achieved that goal.

Houston and its police union negotiate labor deals by a meet-and-confer arrangement, where they meet behind closed doors to review contract provisions. Some public safety unions, like Houston firefighters, have opted for a collective bargaining process, which is required to be public.

The citys refusal to allow observers to the negotiations drew fire from reformers, who called the move a breach of public trust.

For two whole years now, residents, justice organizations, and community advocates have been calling for a transparent and open contract negotiations process in light of repeated and ongoing instances of police violence and unaccountability, said Alan M. De Leon, policy and adovacy manager for MOVE Texas. Unfortunately, those concerns and demands have been deliberately ignored and denied.

Texas Appleseed spokesman Brennan Griffin likewise criticized the secretive negotiations, calling it deeply unfortunate that they were held behind closed doors.

Other cities in Texas open these negotiations up to the public, he said, allowing residents to see what is being negotiated on their behalf.

In San Antonio, which also reached a new labor deal with its police union this week, the bargaining sessions were open to the public and live-streamed. The first public indication of Houstons deal was Thursdays press conference announcing it had been finalized. The administration did not provide a copy of the deal to reporters.

We pretty much followed the same structure that we have followed in the city of Houston for years and years in contract negotiations, Turner said.

Jaison Oliver, an advocate who has organized around police spending, said the city often says it is cash-strapped and unable to spend on other priorities, but it does not have an issue finding more money for police.

PROFILE: Former Chief Acevedo survived controversy on way to top policing jobs

If these budget decisions are justifiable, then they can happen in public, Oliver said. These discussions can happen in public like they do in many other cities, including in Texas.

The new contract also would give the chair of the Independent Police Oversight Board and the citys deputy inspector general for police reform some insight into the process for promoting commanders. The third-party testing agency will meet with those officials, along with representatives of the police executive team and union, to seek input regarding the assessment exercises to be utilized for the assessment portion of the test.

Ray Hunt, the unions executive director, said they will work to see exactly what this community needs, in order to develop what types of exercises youre going to give to those potential commanders before they get promoted. So that was put in this contract.

The mayors task force on police reform had recommended adding an internal panel with community representation to the promotion process. It recommended that commanders, who lead entire divisions within the department, be selected by the chief and appointed by the mayor, like executive and assistant chiefs.

Of course, the city wanted more points given by the police chief, Hunt said. We didnt want that, we came to an agreement.

dylan.mcguinness@chron.com
After Tuesdays primary election, Texas progressives see a goal within reach: At least three new members of Congress, all of whom are politically aligned with the likes of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The outcome isnt certain, with voters sending several progressive candidates to runoffs and denying national groups the sweeping victory theyd hoped for. But they say Tuesdays results were a promising start to the countrys 2022 primary elections, with one candidate, former Austin City Councilmember Greg Casar, crushing competition and heading to an all-but-certain win in a blue district this November.

I think yesterday's results show that positive progressive change is popular in Texas, and that progressive change isnt just for some faraway place, said Casar, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who bested three candidates Tuesday night to secure about 61 percent of the vote.

Still, progressives across the state will face an uphill battle in November, a midterm election thats already widely expected to favor Republicans. Democrats gained little ground in Texas two years ago despite a flood of national money and resources.

I think that we look really strong heading into November based on the turnout, based on where the nominees are, said Austin-based GOP strategist Brendan Steinhauser. I think Republicans are poised to do really well. ... Id rather be a Republican in Texas than a Democrat today.

IN-DEPTH: Meet the Texas progressives aiming for Congress

But the momentum is clear. Progressive candidates forced a runoff in Texas 28th Congressional District, the South Texas seat held by Rep. Henry Cuellar, one of the most conservative Democrats in the U.S. House. He earned 49.98 percent of the vote, falling just short of the threshold to win the nomination outright  while his progressive challengers, Jessica Cisneros and Tannya Benavides, earned about 45 and 5 percent of the vote, respectively.

Cisneros, an immigration attorney, is shaping up for a rematch after coming within 4 points of unseating Cuellar two years ago.

Im really glad that over half of voters agree that its time for new leadership, Cisneros said at a Wednesday press conference.

And in Dallas, state Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the most progressive Democrat in the Texas House, is advancing to a head-to-head contest this May against former congressional chief of staff Jane Hope Hamilton. Crockett nearly took the race for the 30th district on Tuesday, securing 48 percent of ballots to Hamiltons 17 percent.

That seat is also safely blue, likely sending Crockett straight to D.C. if she wins in May.

All three of the progressive candidates were supported by Our Revolution, the Sanders-inspired political action organization. Aaron Chappell, the groups political director, said the early Texas returns are indicative of the growth of the progressive movement nationally.

Partly, that's some of the energy that came out of the Bernie Sanders campaigns and the movement  that inspired other people to run for office, he said. That movement just keeps having these ripple effects, and we're doing the work. We're building a bench of candidates that can especially speak to that in Texas.

A Democratic nightmare scenario in Laredo

Other progressives are headed to runoffs elsewhere across the state, including Austin activist Claudia Zapata, who is running in U.S. Rep. Chip Roys Central Texas district, and Michelle Vallejo, the small business owner running for the open seat in South Texas 15th District. Zapata came out of her race in first place with 47 percent support, and Vallejo came in second at 20 percent.

Still, those races highlight the other enormous obstacles blocking progressives path to Washington: formidable GOP competitors.

After redistricting, Roys seat grew much redder, and the 15th District is the most purple in Texas, with voters there favoring former President Donald Trump in 2020 by just 2.8 points.

In the 15th District, Republicans already know their candidate: insurance agent Monica De La Cruz, who flew past eight other contenders to secure 57 percent of the vote.

Either candidate who comes out on top in the Cuellar-Cisneros race is sure to face the same troubles. National Republicans have been aiming to flip the seat for years, a realistic goal this year as GOP officials make inroads among Latino voters in South Texas. Some say the FBI investigation of Cuellar and the liberal politics of Cisneros mean theyre both doomed in the general election.

Sabatos Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan political analysis site at the University of Virginia, changed the seats rating on Wednesday from leans Democrat to toss up.

This is a nightmare for Democrats because they have no good options, said Torunn Sinclair, a spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. Whoever wins this runoff will lose to the Republican nominee in November.

No corresponding shift rightward for GOP

Texas low-turnout primary elections fuel extremism on both sides of the aisle, as many of the voters represent their partys most active and passionate wings. The May runoffs are expected to see even lower turnout, and itll come down to a contest of which candidate can get more voters to the polls, said Walter Wilson, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

If you have a pretty established machine that a longtime incumbent typically has in place, that means that you've got reliable supporters who are going to support you every time, Wilson said. But I think the insurgent candidacy definitely has the potential to energize a small but critical base of support that could put Cisneros over the top.

While Democrats have struggled to find balance between their progressive and moderate factions, Republicans have faced similar intraparty conflict over the past few years. Breakaway far-right candidates, like U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Madison Cawthorn, have challenged the partys status quo  though that has also shifted to the right during the Trump era.

On Tuesday, Texas saw a handful of those proxy battles down ballot, but the results varied. Take Gov. Greg Abbotts race, for example, where he easily fended off two competitors from his political right  but only after moving his own politics rightward to do so, political observers say.

In the state Legislature, right-wing Senate candidates sailed to victory, but the majority of incumbent House candidates targeted by ultra-conservative donors won their primaries. It was a similar mix a the congressional level.

Political operative Christian Collins, who was endorsed by both Greene and Cawthorn, couldnt force a runoff in a Houston-area congressional district. Former Navy SEAL Morgan Luttrell, who had the support of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, instead came out on top of a field of 11 candidates with 52 percent support.

Other far-right candidates forced runoffs in a handful of races. U.S. Rep. Van Taylor of Plano was headed for a May contest against former Collin County Judge Keith Self, the conservative challenger who attacked Taylor over his support for a commission to investigate the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Taylor had 48 percent of the vote to Selfs 27 percent  but Taylor abruptly dropped out of the race on Wednesday after admitting to an affair. Self is set to become the nominee.

Meanwhile, Cassy Garcia, the first-time candidate backed by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, was the frontrunner in the Republican race for the 28th Congressional District. Shell face off against Sandra Whitten, who was the 2020 nominee for the seat but lost to Cuellar.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
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WASHINGTON - Jackson Reffitt said he felt guilty and gross after submitting an anonymous tip to the FBI about his father, a member of a far-right extremist group whose messages in the family group chat had left him increasingly concerned.

Jackson knew his father, Guy Reffitt, a 49-year-old out of work oilman from Wiley, was a member of the Texas Three Percenters who regularly wore a handgun on his hip, occasionally donned a bulletproof vest and kept an AR-15 rifle with a pretty bulky scope on it in a closet safe.

So when the familys typical political disagreements drew increasingly alarming responses from his father in the weeks after the 2020 election, Jackson Reffitt felt he had to do something.

I was scared, he said. I didnt know what was going to happen.

Fourteen months later, Jackson Reffitt was testifying against his father, the first defendant to stand trial in the Jan. 6 Capitol attacks. His testimony in a D.C. courtroom Thursday was the culmination of a months-long family drama that has left Jackson Reffitt estranged from his family.

He gave the FBI screenshots of the family text thread and recordings of his father  evidence that led to the arrest. He has gone on TV to describe his father threatening himself and his sister: If you turn me in, youre a traitor and traitors get shot, he says his father told them.

I dont have words to really describe it, Jackson Reffitt said on the witness stand, where he appeared to briefly break down as he talked about his decision to turn in his father: I think this is the best-case scenario.

Jackson Reffitt spoke quietly, occasionally pushing his shoulder-length hair out of his face as he gave hours of testimony. He had to be reminded repeatedly to speak up as he offered a window into the suburban Dallas familys life with an increasingly extremist father.

Not really onboard

He read from text messages presented by the prosecution, and sat quietly as recordings were played, taken on his phone in the family dining room while his father giddily recounted his experience at the Capitol after returning home.

People were coming up to me constantly, going youre such a (expletive) patriot. You lit the fire, Guy Reffitt said in one of the recordings. I didn't drive 20 (expletive) hours to come here and not do what needs to be done.

Guy Reffitt is one of at least 66 Texans who have been charged in the riot, which left five dead, including a Capitol police officer, and 140 other officers injured. Other Texans charged include Stewart Rhodes, who founded and leads the far-right extremist group Oath Keepers, as well as Tam Dinh Pham, a former Houston police officer who was sentenced to 45 days in jail last year.

Guy Reffitt faces five felony counts including transporting an AR-15 and a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol for unlawful use in a riot, breaching Capitol grounds while armed with the holstered handgun, impeding police and obstructing an official proceeding of Congress before threatening to kill family members if they turned him in to law enforcement. The charges are punishable by up to 20 years each.

Jackson Reffitt testified that he first became concerned about his father in late December 2020, when the typical political disagreements between the left-leaning teen and his far-right father were growing increasingly disturbing.

On Dec. 24, Jackson Reffitt sent a message to the thread he said he thought everyone could agree on.

I still hate Mitch, he wrote, referring to then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. I think every living soul does.

Hes another politician, his father responded. Why Im going to DC. They all must go. They all play games with our money and they still get paid buy (sic) our money. They must go.

Whats about to happen will shock the world, Guy Reffitt wrote.

Im not really onboard with the whole lets blow up the White House way of handling it, Jackson Reffitt wrote in a later message. Im more of, Im voting for someone new.

With the true power over the American people, voting! he added, with a peace sign emoji.

The entire house of legislation has committed unthinkable acts on our people, Guy Reffitt wrote. We have had enough. Time a new partyTakes over.

That was when Jackson Reffitt, sitting alone in his bedroom in his parents home, searched Google for how to report his father to the FBI. He found a page where he was able to submit an anonymous tip.

Telling patriots to hold my beer

I just felt gross, he said in court. I decided to shut off my day, lay in bed, watch TV  Not to linger on what I did.

Jackson Reffitt said he didnt find out his father had actually traveled to D.C. until his sister texted the family thread on Jan. 6.

Dad please be safe!! she wrote. You know you are risking not only your business but ur life too and that isnt just something to through away lol.

Guy Reffitt responded: I have no intentions on throwing it away. I love ALL of you with ALL of my heart and soul. This is for our country and for ALL OF YOU and your kids. God Bless us one and all 

In the days after the riots, Guy Reffitt sent his family Fox News clips showing himself in action.

Me telling patriots to hold my beer and watch this, he wrote with one.

Im looking for the video of me sitting after being pepper sprayed and trying to flush my eyes with watet (sic), he wrote in another.

A hero, Jackson Reffitt responded.

It was sarcasm, he told the courtroom.

Jackson Reffitt took screenshots of the exchanges that he eventually handed over to the FBI.

Later, when Guy Reffitt returned home, Jackson recorded his father bragging and showing video from the riots. At one point, Jacksons mother tried to stop Guy Reffitt from talking about it, but he said he wasnt worried, he was in the safety of his own home.

I mean if you guys want to turn me in  thats fine, Ill take it, Guy Reffitt said in the recording. I was willing to die when I was there. I was willing to die.

Days later, his tone would change.

Traitors get shot

Jackson Reffitt testified about an exchange in his younger sisters bedroom, where he said his father believed the two children were cornering him about Jan. 6. He said his father grew increasingly agitated.

If you turn me in, youre a traitor and traitors get shot, Guy Reffitt said.

Later in the kitchen, Jackson Reffitt said his sister was looking through her phone, and his father snapped at her and said, You better not be recording this or Im going to put a bullet in your phone.

Jackson Reffitt met with an FBI agent later that day.

In a cross examination, defense attorney William Welch questioned Jackson Reffitt about his fathers drinking, noting two empty Corona bottles on his fathers nightstand that could be seen in a picture shown earlier in the day. He asked what sort of medication his father took.

Jackson Reffitt said his father drank often, including the day he recorded him talking about the riots. He said his father took Xanax, he believed for back pain.

Welch asked Jackson Reffitt about an online fundraiser he set up after falling out with his family and moving out of their home. He testified he raised $158,000 to help pay for college and living expenses and to buy a car.

Welch asked whether he had offered to help his family with the money.

Didnt you say its GoFundMe, not go fund us? Welch asked.

Jackson Reffitt denied saying it. It was something his sister had posted on Snapchat, not a direct quote, he said.

Welch later asked Jackson Reffitt why he would needle his father about politics, knowing the two disagreed so strongly.

You choose to argue with him about that, you dont choose to let it go, Welch said.

I learned my lesson, Jackson Reffitt responded. I learned to pick my battles.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly quoted Guy Reffitt's threat to his daughter; he said he would shoot her phone.

benjamin.wermund@chron.com
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Officially, its not their fight. Their commander-in-chief insists hes not deploying troops to war-torn Ukraine, even as Russias military siege intensifies.

But to these Americans, freedom at home means nothing without freedom abroad, so they have signed up for another countrys war half a world away.

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Anything Dennis Diaz knows about Ukraine he read online or saw on television. He fought in Iraq. He fought in Afghanistan. But he fought under his flag. He had his nations blessing.

Dennis Diaz of Connecticut is volunteering to fight in Ukraine. (Ellen Moynihan )

This time hes answering a different call.

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Im a Marine combat veteran, and not only that, but as Americans we dont accept people getting bullied, said Diaz, 39, an entrepreneur from Waterbury, Conn. Somebody as big as Russia coming in to conquer Ukraine, thats just wrong.

Diaz was outside the Ukrainian Consulate in Midtown responding to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys call on Sunday for the formation of an international legion to defend itself against Russian aggression.

Diaz was one of many American and Canadian soldiers volunteering for duty, even as their own governments sit this one out. Most, like Diaz, were inspired by Ukrainians fierce resistance.

Many believe their democratic rights will be threatened at home if they do nothing to stand up in Europe.

I have a lot of military experience, I did go to Iraq and Afghanistan, so now its time to go ahead and fight for whats right, he said.

I have some flight experience. Also I was field artillery in the Marine Corps. Also Ive got some experience driving tanks. Enough to be a valuable asset to Ukraine.

Also enlisting is Christian Gonzalez, 35, of Yonkers, who calls the decision to fight side-by-side with the Ukrainians a no brainer.

What separates Gonzalez from war veterans like Diaz is his level of military experience  he has none.

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Absolutely not. he said.

But what Gonzalez lacks in combat training, he makes up for in his commitment to right over wrong.

They have a bully thats bullying people around him, Gonzalez said of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Why not fight for a greater cause? Even if its just pulling people out of rubble. Even if its just aiding. Its history in the making.

Gonzalez said he cant watch this war unfold on the evening news and do nothing about it.

What are we going to do, just stay here and consume materialistic things? Gonzalez said.

Were in a crisis right now. I know it sounds cliche, but its true. Believe it or not, were United States citizens, but were going to get dragged into this. If were not already dragged into it, and its going to get worse. Its not going to get better. This guys got nuclear weapons.

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Staring down Russian soldiers wont be the hard part, Gonzalez said. The hard part will be telling his family.

They dont know yet, he said.

Frank Christianos family knows. And theyre not too happy with it.

Frank Christiano is planning on enlisting to fight for Ukraine. (Ellen Moynihan )

They think Im crazy if I do go, said Christiano, 28, of Yorktown, Westchester County. Which is normal, to go into a war zone. But my decisions made. I want to go.

At Ukrainian embassies and consulates, would-be soldiers are signing up, even as the civilian death toll in Ukraine reaches more than 2,000 and the United Nations condemns the Kremlin.

In online groups, military veterans warned volunteers with no combat training they were heading into a showdown where inexperience could put themselves and others in danger.

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But that did not stop Andrew Bennett, 45, a union carpenter from Bayonne, who said he was moved to enlist by Zelenskyys emotional appeal.

Zelenskyy has asked every friend of Ukraine who wants to join Ukraine in defending the country to please come over, adding that they would be given weapons.

Everyone who is defending Ukraine is a hero, he said.

Bennett said he couldnt resist.

Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. >

Thereve been other conflicts that weve been made aware of over the last few years, but for some reason, this one is the most heart tugging, soul-moving thing, said Bennett, who has no military experience. If you can do something, you should do something. Im grateful for where I was born and raised, but you have to risk freedom for freedom.

Not all volunteers are looking for a fight. Some of the American enlistees are medics who want to help the wounded, or humanitarian workers who want to help the displaced.

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Thomas Harris appreciates their commitment. But he said hes ready for combat. The former Marine machine-gunner filled out his application and was told the military attache would be in contact within a couple of days. He said he still has his Kevlar armor from his time in the Marines. Harris said he considered joining the French Foreign Legion some time ago,

Thomas Harris of Harlem is enlisting as a volunteer. (Ellen Moynihan )

And then this happened, he said.

My dad was actually a Marine for 30 years, said Harris, 31, of Harlem. He doesnt like it at all, but he understands it. My mom is crying.

Diaz said his family is worried, too.

Theyre a little bit, I would say, scared, Diaz said. This is absolutely a major war. Theyre really scared that I actually might not come back. But that is a sacrifice I am willing to make to help the people in Ukraine. Theyre doing the best they can, but they need the help.
Nine residents were hurt, including a 3-year-old girl, when a fire tore through their Brooklyn NYCHA apartment building early Thursday, FDNY officials said.

Two firefighters were also injured battling the blaze that broke out inside Borinquen Plaza on Moore St. near Graham Ave. about 1:45 a.m.

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Inside the NYCHA apartment building where a fire broke out in Brooklyn. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

The fire started in a third-floor apartment and quickly spread to the hallway and other floors.

Four of the injured residents, including the baby girl, were taken to Woodhull Hospital. All of the residents suffered from smoke inhalation, an FDNY source said. The baby was initially listed in critical condition but is expected to recover.

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Scene of fire at NYCHA building along Moore St. in Brooklyn. (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

Fire marshals were working to determine the cause of the fire.
Collier will leave the NBUW in mid-March.

NBUW Executive Director Takes New Position

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  Northern Berkshire United Way Executive Director Christa Collier will leave her post and take a position with the Massachusetts Children's Alliance.

Collier took to social media Wednesday to announce that she accepted a position with Massachusetts Children's Alliance (MACA) as the Director of Training, Education and Special Initiatives after nearly six years as the Northern Berkshire United Way (NBUW) executive director.

"The past six years, it has been an honor to serve the community where I was born, raised and where we raised our son (now in college)," she wrote. "I have met new people, made new friends, all while learning about the realities our community members and organizations face each day."

Collier will leave the NBUW in mid-March.

The NBUW Board of Directors announced the appointment of Duffy Judge as Interim Executive Director.

"We're excited to work with Duffy," said Leah Thompson, board president. "We are thankful to Christa for all of the good work she has accomplished here in the past 5+ years and we wish her all the best."

Judge comes to NBUW from Berkshire United Way in Pittsfield where he has served as Development Manager since July 2017.

"It has been a wonderful experience at Berkshire United Way, but I yearn to serve the community in which I have raised a family, Northern Berkshire," Judge said. "This opportunity would allow me to have a direct impact on people I interact with every day and that would be the absolute ideal for me."

NBUW named Collier executive director in 2016. Prior to her appointment, she served as the executive director of the Kids Place and Violence Prevention Center in Pittsfield.

Im tremendously proud of everything that Northern Berkshire United Way has accomplished during the past six years, Collier said. These accomplishments include initiatives such as Operation Warm and the Born Learning Trail and facilitating the Northern Berkshire Housing and Homelessness Collaborative. I am confident that the organization is in good hands and will continue its transformational work, Collier said.

MACA, an organization that helps victims of child abuse, is an accredited state chapter of the National Children's Alliance (NCA) and membership organization of the 12 Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) in Massachusetts.

"I am looking forward to the opportunity to return to the child advocacy field and to collaborate with a community of colleagues I admire," she wrote. "In my new role I will serve as the Director of Training, Education and Special Initiatives."

Collier indicated that she still plans to serve on some local committees and boards. She is also open to volunteer opportunities.

The Board plans to announce a search for a permanent Executive Director in the coming months.
Over 100,000 Vaccinations by Big Y Over Past Year

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.  Big Y, in both their Massachusetts and Connecticut stores, has tallied a combined total of 105,000 vaccinations.

These shots include 12 different types of vaccines including COVID, seasonal flu, Shingrix, pneumonia, T Dap, Hepatitis A and B, meningococcal, MMR, and HPV. In total, they have administered about 75,000 COVID vaccines including regular and boosters of Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, about 25,000 seasonal flu shots, and about 5,000 of their other offerings.

Before this effort, Big Y's pharmacists administered about 22,000 vaccines a year.

In addition to their immunization program at each Big Y Pharmacy and Wellness Center, they have offered over 200 off-site vaccine clinics to further their assistance within their community. These clinics include public and private schools, senior centers, nursing homes, manufacturing plants, local businesses, and other facilities to provide more convenience, access, and availability. As another part of their initiative, they've held several Big Y Big Vax Week events for customers, employees, and their families to make it even easier to get one of their many vaccines offered.

Big Y pharmacists continue to follow the CDC's recommended guidelines as they have expanded throughout this past year. These changes encompass age and product availability updates as soon as they are released.

Big Y's president and CEO, Charles L. D'Amour congratulated his professional pharmacy team on their accomplishment this past year.

"We are so very proud of our pharmacy team's continued efforts to promote the health of our communities. Their dedication to our neighborhoods is another way we showcase Big Y's legacy of caring. By reaching a new milestone of 105,000 combined vaccines last year, we are grateful for the trust our friends and neighbors have in us."

Another element of Big Y's vaccination program has been the ability to provide valuable clinical experience for health care students at local colleges such as Elms College School of Nursing, Western New England University College of Pharmacy and Gateway's, and Porter and Chester Institute's Nursing Programs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is anticipating more than more than one million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated material will be removed from the Housatonic floodplain.

EPA Issues Final Decision on $576M Rest of River Cleanup

BOSTON  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued its final permit decision obligating the General Electric Co. to perform a cleanup of the so-called "Rest of River" portion of the GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River Site.

"EPA is requiring GE to move forward with the Rest of River cleanup plan documented in the final permit," said EPA Regional Administrator David W. Cash. "The communities along the Housatonic deserve access to a river free of threats posed by PCBs, and issuing the final permit today is a big step towards that cleanup goal."

The cleanup is estimated to cost $576 million and will take approximately two to three years for initial design activities and 13 years for implementation.

The Revised Final Permit is a step toward reducing PCBs in and around the river and is expected to reduce risk of human exposure. Some of the goals of this permit include achieving:

Reduced risks to children and adults from direct contact with contaminated soil and sediment;

Reduced soil contamination in the floodplain allowing recreational and residential use without unacceptable risk, and

Reduced PCB concentrations in fish to levels that allow increased consumption of fish caught from the River in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

"Today's decision by the EPA will support the recovery of past wrongs that have impacted the communities along the Housatonic River for over 70 years. It is the result of the hard work of community leaders and will ensure the Housatonic River can be enjoyed for generations to come. We will continue working with our federal, state and local partners to hold GE accountable for meeting all of its obligations and seek the environmental justice our communities deserve," said U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal in a joint statement.

After a lengthy public comment process, EPA issued the Revised Final Permit, outlining the cleanup plan for the Rest of River in Massachusetts and Connecticut, on Dec. 16, 2020. Following that, the Housatonic River Initiative and the Housatonic Environmental Action League petitioned EPA's Environmental Appeals Board for review of the Revised Final Permit.

On Feb. 8, 2022, the board issued a 122-page decision denying the appeal of the revised permit. The board denied the appeal in all respects.

EPA notified General Electric Co. on Tuesday of the Region's final permit decision, and the permit became effective and fully enforceable. EPA officials say the agency remains committed to the work to protect human health and improve the ecological health of the Housatonic River and its floodplain by implementing the remedy called for in the permit.

The Revised Final Permit requires GE to clean up contamination in river sediment, banks, and floodplain soil that pose unacceptable risks to human health and to the environment. GE will excavate the contamination of polychlorinated biphenyls, used in its former capacitor manufacturing in Pittsfield, from 45 acres of floodplain and 300 acres of river sediment, resulting in removal of more than one million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated material.

Most of the sediment and floodplain cleanup will happen within the first 11 miles of the Rest of River in the city of Pittsfield and the towns of Lee and Lenox. Phasing the work will disperse the effects of the construction activities over time and locations.

The excavated material will be disposed of in two ways: materials with the highest concentrations of PCBs will be transported off-site for disposal at existing licensed disposal facilities, and the remaining lower-level PCB materials will be consolidated on-site at a location in Lee.
Medical Matters Weekly Welcomes Integrative Psychiatrist

BENNINGTON, Vt.  Southwestern Vermont Health Care's (SVHC) Medical Matters Weekly with Dr. Trey Dobson welcomes Adam Pruett, MD, MPH, at noon on Wednesday, March 9.

He is a psychiatrist at Taconic Psychiatry in Manchester, Vt., which offers treatment for ADHD, anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, and trauma. It is among the first practices to offer ketamine-assisted therapy.

The show is produced with cooperation from Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV). Viewers can see Medical Matters Weekly on facebook.com/svmedicalcenter and facebook.com/CATTVBennington . The show is also available to view or download a podcast on www.svhealthcare.org/medicalmatters

Adam Pruett, MD, MPH, graduated from Birmingham-Southern College magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in German. He completed medical school at the University of Alabama and a residency at Emory University. Pruett completed an immersive year-long fellowship with the Integrative Psychiatry Institute focusing on integrative psychiatry, which aims to resolve the underlying causes of mental illness. For more than 10 years, Pruett served patients in the inpatient setting in Alabama and Vermont.

After the program, the video will be available on area public access television stations. On CAT-TV, viewers will find the show on channel 1075 at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 1:30 p.m. Monday, 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 7:30 a.m. Friday, and 7 p.m. Saturday. GNAT-TV's Comcast channel 1074 airs the program at 8 a.m. Monday, 9 p.m. Wednesday, and 1 p.m. Saturday.

Medical Matters Weekly is an interactive, multiplatform, guest-driven, medical-themed talk show hosted by Dr. Trey Dobson. It provides a behind-the-scenes perspective on health care and the interesting personalities that drive positive change within the industry and its surrounding professions. Topics include behavioral health, food insecurity, equitable care, and the opioid crisis. The show is produced in partnership with Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV) and is broadcast on CAT-TV, Greater Northshire Access Television, Facebook Live, YouTube, and podcast platforms.
A Staten Island drug suspect sped away from police and drove his getaway car into a building Thursday, police said.

Michael Robles, 38, and five others inside his 2007 Jeep suffered minor injuries during the 3:30 a.m. crash on Van Duzer St. and St. Pauls Ave. in Stapleton Heights, cops said.

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Police pulled over Robles jeep at the corner of Hudson and Cedar Sts. for a defective brake light, but when a cop approached the car, he noticed a crack pipe sticking out of Robles sneaker, authorities said.

The officer asked Robles to step out of the car, but Robles allegedly hit the gas instead.

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He sped away and made a series of rights and lefts for six blocks until he lost control of the vehicle on Van Duzer St. and slammed into the building, causing significant damage to the facade, police said.

The six people in the car suffered injuries, but refused medical attention at the scene.

Robles, who lives on Cedar St. just down the block from where he was pulled over, had drugs on him, as well as a suspended license, cops said. Hes charged him with reckless endangerment, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and drug possession.

His arraignment in Richmond County Criminal Court was pending Thursday.
The city Law Department has appealed a judges ruling striking down a controversial law blocking NYPD cops from putting pressure on a suspects diaphragm  despite Mayor Adams calling the law just not realistic while on the campaign trail.

The diaphragm law, which was passed by the City Council in 2020 over opposition from the NYPD and police unions, was blocked last year by a judge who called it unconstitutionally vague.

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FILE - The 'Diaphragm Law' banned NYPD officers from applying pressure to a suspect's torso during an arrest. (Shutterstock)

As a candidate for mayor, Adams seemingly agreed with the judge, saying in June 2021 that the Council failed to craft a smart bill.

When youre saying you cannot touch someones chest  its just not realistic, he said on MSNBCs Morning Joe.

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Yet the Law Department is fighting the judges decision. On Feb. 22, it filed an appeal with the mid-level Appellate Division 1st Department, arguing that the phrase, compresses the diaphragm is concededly clear.

The phrase clarifies the scope of the prohibited conduct  sitting, kneeling, or standing on the chest or back so as to obstruct air or blood flow is prohibited if the arrestees diaphragm is thereby compressed, the city argues.

A Law Department spokesman would not say if city lawyers spoke with Adams about the appeal.

Our brief argues that the lower court should not have struck down an entire local law because it incorrectly believed a single phrase in the law is unconstitutionally vague. the spokesman said.

Police unions argue the law, which is not in effect, could have a chilling effect on officers trying to do their jobs.

PBA President Pat Lynch has criticized the diaphragm law as having a chilling effect on cops. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

This appeal is just another artifact of the de Blasio administrations disastrous policing policies, said Patrick Lynch, head of the Police Benevolent Association. Adams should follow up with the Law Department to make sure the appeal is dropped forthwith.

Lou Turco, head of the Lieutenants Benevolent Association, said such laws endanger the public and police.

How are the men and women of the NYPD supposed to protect the people of New York when city politicians keep removing any protective measures these officers employ to secure their personal safety? Turco asked.

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Deputy Commissioner John Miller, the NYPDs top spokesman, echoed the unions criticism.

He called the law vague and unclear. But he added that officers know positional asphyxia is a real danger when making arrests

Once we get the defendant under control, Miller said, officers are trained to position them to promote free breathing.

Mayor Bill de Blasio signed the City Councils bill into law amid protests over the police killing of George Floyd. Police chokeholds have long been banned by the NYPD. But Council members pointed out that the policy did not prevent Eric Garner from dying in a police chokehold.

Police unions asked whether the law would result in district attorneys filing charges against cops.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >
Pro-Ukrainian people hold up placards and wave Ukrainian flags as they shout slogans during a protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Russia renewed its assault Wednesday on Ukraine's second-largest city in a pounding that lit up the skyline with balls of fire over populated areas, even as both sides said they were ready to resume talks aimed at stopping the new devastating war in Europe. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
The accused killer of a beloved Bronx emergency medical technician unleashed a deranged courtroom rant Thursday as the fifth anniversary of his long-delayed murder prosecution loomed.

Murder suspect Jose Gonzalez, ignoring the advice of his court-appointed lawyer, insisted he accidentally ran over 14-year FDNY veteran Yadira Arroyo before blaming the victims EMT partner for the death and denouncing a Bronx prosecutor handling the case as a Satanist.

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Right now, my heart and my soul are losing because of a conspiracy, railed the defendant, wearing orange and gray prison garb with his hair in braids. (The prosecutor) keeps doing devil-worshiping. This guy wants to play with peoples lives. Hurry up and take me to trial, bro.

Jose Gonzalez, who ran over and killed EMT Yadira Arroyo in Bronx Supreme Court in 2017. (GREGG VIGLIOTTI/For New York Daily News)

Assistant District Attorney George Suminsky listened quietly as the battle over Gonzalezs competency to face charges dragged on and the grim anniversary of Arroyos March 16, 2017, death approached. The suspect was arrested at the scene, with his claims of mental health issues spawning more than 50 prior hearings and repeatedly delaying a trial.

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Gonzalez made little sense during his rambling appearance before the case was adjourned yet again.

I apologize for all this propaganda and all this trash that happened, he said. I was hallucinating and I did not understand what was going on. Im trying to ask for forgiveness. I accidentally, mistakenly ran over her by accident.

Defense attorney Richard Barton told Bronx Supreme Court Justice Ralph Fabrizio that Gonzalezs choice to speak was his alone.

Mr. Gonzalez is making his own decisions, said Barton.

FDNY EMT Yadira Arroyo. (Handout)

The 44-year-old Arroyo left behind five sons after the fatal incident that began when Gonzalez, now 30, jumped a ride on the back of her ambulance. When she stopped the vehicle and climbed out, authorities charged, Gonzalez climbed behind the wheel and threw the ambulance into reverse.

After backing over Arroyo, he put the ambulance in drive and ran her over once more, officials said. The defendant, who also acknowledged he was high on PCP when Arroyo was killed, infuriated the victims friends and colleagues during his rambling declaration by alleging her partner was involved in the killing.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

One of her co-called partners was an accomplice to her death, Gonzalez said without a scintilla of proof. She set me up. She blackmailed me.

EMT Jason Rosado, who was the dispatcher on the night of Arroyos murder, was outraged by Gonzalezs unfounded claims about Arroyos partner, Monique Williams.

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I was very disturbed when he said that, said Rosado, who attended the hearing. That was very disgusting in my opinion. It was distasteful.

In a 2019 hearing, Suminsky recounted phone conversations from jail where Gonzalez coherently indicated he was a fan of the movie Black Panther and told a friend he could beat the case by checking into a mental health facility.

Yadira Arroyo's ambulance. (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News)

As has become almost standard in the long-unresolved prosecution, another hearing was scheduled for March 24 after the suspect underwent a three-hour psychiatric evaluation this past Tuesday.

Once again, were faced with the same adjournment for the same reason, said Arroyos uncle A.J. Hernandez after the hearing. However, we are supposedly making some kind of ground in the legal system. Hard to feel, difficult to see, when you get the same thing.

But Hernandez said Arroyos family wasnt going anywhere: We maintain the faith, we keep showing up.
Journalist Yevhenii Sakun, 49, an EFE correspondent and camera operator for the Ukrainian television channel LIVE, was killed during the shelling of the TV transmission tower in Kyiv by the Russian military on 1 March. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) condemn the killing as a war crime and urges the Russian military to not target media workers and facilities.

The death of the operator was confirmed today by the National Police and IFJ/EFJ affiliate National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU). According to Ruslana Pakhalyuk, chief of staff of NEWS Network Holding, they are trying to contact Yevhenii Sakun's family as Sakun's flat in the capital is closed and there are no neighbours.



NEWS Network holding stated they are ready to help with the funeral, to provide support to the relatives. In addition, its employees are providing nationwide support with a news telethon covering Ukraine's fight against Russia and its journalists and operators are participating in creating joint national news content to protect Ukraine.



Sakun's fellow Ukrainian correspondent, Olga Tokariuk, confirmed the cameraman's death officially: "It was a pleasure working with him. I am devastated by this news," she said, accompanying the message with a photo of the murdered cameraman's professional press card.





The IFJ recalls that, under international humanitarian law, journalists are considered as civilians and they and media infrastructure should not be targeted for military purpose.

In a separate incident, Danish reporters Stefan Weichert and photographer Emil Filtenborg Mikkelsen were shot by unidentified attackers on their way to cover a shelling in the town of Ohtyrka in north-eastern Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian government, 2.000 civilians have already been killed since the start of hostilities by Putin's army. IFJ, EFJ and their Ukrainian affiliates NUJU and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU) expressed their deepest condolences to the family and friends of Sakun and urged respect for journalists' safety reporting on the ground.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "We are deeply saddened by the death of our colleague Yevhenii Sakun, killed in a reckless Russian attack on a civilian infrastructure in Kiev. All parties to the conflict must protect local and international journalists and stop targeting media workers who are risking their life to inform the world about the war."

Donate to the IFJ Safety Fund for Journalists in Ukraine
As a pioneer and stalwart in the Philippine esports and gaming scene, PLDT wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) has bolstered its commitment to support SIBOL, the bemedaled national team for esports in the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian Games happening in Hanoi, Vietnam this May.

Wrapping up the national qualifiers led by the Philippine Esports Organization (PESO) and powered by Smart, SIBOL will field 54 esports athletes to represent the Philippines in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang; League of Legends Wild Rift Mens and Womens Division; Crossfire; League of Legends; Arena of Valor; FreeFire; PUBG Mobile; and FIFA Online 4.

It is our great honor to support the best Filipino esports athletes as they continue to prove to the world that we have the talent, skill, and drive to dominate this rapidly growing sport. Smart will continue to support the dreams of these young athletes and help them achieve glory for the Philippines in the international stage, said Jane J. Basas, SVP and Head of Consumer Wireless Business at Smart.

PESO, the national esports organization under the Philippine Olympic Committee, also recognizes the role of the government and partners for the growth of the sector.

This is a historical feat for Philippine esports. Our 54-strong SIBOL delegation -- including the first all-female team -- for SEA Games is one of the biggest in the country. This was made possible with the support of the government and industry partners who paved the way and made this dream a reality, said Marlon Marcelo, PESO Interim Executive Director.

PESO is committed to further strengthen esports development within our country and our competitiveness abroad. We have gathered the top athletes in every game category to become SIBOL representatives. We look forward to achieving great success in repeating our 2019 medal results, said Brian Lim, PESO President.

To help SIBOL's quest for gold, Smart has also opened the doors of the Smart SIBOL Training Ground to the team, fitted with the latest connectivity innovations. Smart will also help in the training bootcamp of SIBOL to ensure that they are in fighting form before they fly to Vietnam.

Powering esports in PH

Smart has long supported esports in the country. In 2019, Smart became the official sponsor of SIBOL for their debut in the SEA Games, where SIBOL bagged a total of five medals -- three gold, one silver, and one bronze  for the Philippines during its maiden year.

The mobile operator also recently marked its fifth year of partnership with Shanghai-based international gaming developer, MOONTON Games, as the official telco partner for all Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Pro League (MPL) Philippines tournaments in 2022.

Smart also hones the competitive spirit of esports athletes through its professional teams, Smart Omega and Smart Omega Empress, and backing leagues like The Nationals, Liga Adarna, among others. The telco also helps in developing potential athletes through grassroots events in partnership with local government units across the country.
Jodi Daniels, an Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) member in Atlanta, is founder and CEO of Red Clover Advisors, which helps businesses simplify their data privacy practices to go beyond compliance, while building customer trust and gaining a competitive edge. We asked Daniels about the advantages of building out your company's consumer data privacy program ahead of compliance laws. Here's what she shared.

Data privacy is one of the hottest, buzziest phrases in business today, and for good reason.

According to KPMG, 86 percent of consumers are becoming more concerned about their data privacy, and 78 percent are uncomfortable with how much personal information companies are collecting.

Consumers have become data privacy activists, and both the government and business sectors have noticed. Every year, legislative bodies around the world pass new and more aggressive privacy laws. In response to both government interventions and consumer expectations, all major browsers--Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Mozilla Firefox--have implemented or announced plans to ban third-party cookies and other technologies that track users' internet and app behavior without explicit consent.

There's no question that data privacy best practices and regulatory requirements are still evolving. Because of the continually shifting goalposts, some companies have chosen to wait until "the dust settles" to start working on their data privacy program and compliance processes.

That is an epic mistake.

Instead, businesses should focus on future-proofing their data management and marketing.

Why Is Now The Right Time To Focus On Privacy?

The interconnectedness of the digital economy makes it impossible to completely silo the different functions of your business. Your marketing program impacts your sales team, and your inventory and warehouse operations support your marketing efforts.

Waiting even a year or two to start building out a compliant data privacy and management program will cost more, take longer, and be more disruptive to your business operations than having to adapt strong, existing processes to legislative and cultural changes.

So far, California, Colorado, and Virginia have passed bold privacy laws. The laws vary slightly from state to state, but they all provide consumers with the right to know what data is collected about them, why it's being collected, what companies do with it, who they share it with, and how long they keep it.

Companies that jump on the privacy bandwagon right now have a unique opportunity to market themselves as a forward-thinking, consumer-friendly industry leader. Companies that wait will only be able to say they are compliant with a law they must comply with anyway.

The Cookie Jar Is Empty Anyway

Another reason to start now?

Google, Apple, and Mozilla will stop supporting third-party cookies by 2023, making this staple of digital marketing an irrelevant and unusable tool moving forward.

Nearly 83 percent of marketers currently rely at least partially on third-party cookies, which means most businesses will be forced to make dramatic changes to their marketing programs. You'll save countless hours (and dollars) if you create a comprehensive data privacy program alongside this new marketing strategy.

A New Kind Of Cookie Jar

Instead of worrying about your cookie jar being empty and trying to decide when to fill it up again, invest in a new, better cookie jar.

This "cookie jar of the future" should have multiple compartments to house different types of cookies: Snickerdoodles stay soft in an airtight section, crisp gingersnaps and anise-flavored pizzelles are separated to prevent the flavors from mixing, sugar cookies have a special shelf to keep their frosting pristine, and chocolate chip cookies are easily accessible in the front (because a chocolate chip cookie goes with everything, right?).

When talking about consumer data privacy, this everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cookie jar is called a preference center.

A preference center is a hardworking, multitasking page on your app or website that can:

Help you establish compliance

Improve the quality of data collected from your customers

Simplify and streamline your data collection processes

Increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts

Build consumer trust by giving them control of their data

A preference center lets customers tell you:

What information they will allow you to collect

What they will allow you to do with their data

How and how often you can contact them using the data you've collected

Preference centers offer companies better data which means you can implement more effective--i.e., higher-converting--marketing campaigns.

Even better, a preference center gives you a highly visible, easily accessible way to explain your privacy practices and market them as a value-added service.

Make Customers Your Co-Pilots

The best way to future-proof your marketing is to give consumers the opportunity to tell you what they want and figure out how to give it to them. Staying ahead of major swings is easier when you keep up with small shifts. Keeping up with small shifts is only possible if you're listening to the tiny sways in consumer behavior and government action.
Most of us have heard the saying that some folks "work to live" and others "live to work." This popular maxim feels intuitively right, and as I explained in a recent post, it's also backed up by research.

Research out of Yale argues not only that people can be divided into those who see work as a job versus as a career, but also that some see work as calling that is central to their identity. When employers are looking for one type but hire another, big problems arise.

This is the classic framework for thinking about what psychologists term work orientation, but is it complete and up to date? An extensive new report from Bain that digs into workers' changing expectations for their jobs suggests not. The authors spent a year surveying 20,000 workers in 10 countries (the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, and Nigeria) as well as conducting in-depth interviews with more than 100 employees.

They concluded that there aren't three work orientations (Bain calls them worker "archetypes"); there are six, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. "These archetypes help us better understand what it takes for different individuals to find a sense of purpose at work," the report states. If you know who you're dealing with, you're better placed not only to hire the right person for the right role, but also to help your existing team stick around.

So what are these archetypes? Here's how the Bain report describes them, along with a quick rundown of the typical strengths and weaknesses of each type.

1. Operators

Of the traditional work-to-live type, the reports says "operators find meaning and self-worth primarily outside of their jobs. When it comes down to it, they see work as a means to an end. They're not particularly motivated by status or autonomy, and generally don't seek to stand out in their workplace. They tend to prefer stability and predictability. Thus, they have less interest in investing to change their future compared with other archetypes. At the same time, operators are one of the more team-minded archetypes, and often see many of their colleagues as friends."

Strengths: team players. Weaknesses: not proactive, easily disengaged.

2. Givers

"Givers find meaning in work that directly improves the lives of others. They are the archetype least motivated by money. They often gravitate toward caring professions such as medicine or teaching, but can also thrive in other lines of work where they can directly interact with and help others. Their empathetic nature typically translates into a strong team spirit and deep personal relationships at work. At the same time, their more cautious nature means they tend to be forward planners, who are relatively hesitant to jump on new opportunities as they arise," according to the report's authors.

Strengths: selfless, help build trust within an organization. Weaknesses: sometimes impractical or naive.

3. Artisans

"Artisans seek out work that fascinates or inspires them. They are motivated by the pursuit of mastery. They enjoy being valued for their expertise, although they are less concerned with status in the broader sense. Artisans typically desire a high degree of autonomy to practice their craft and place the least importance on camaraderie of all the archetypes. While many find a higher purpose in work, this is more about passion than altruism," the report claims.

Strengths: well positioned to solve the most complex challenges. Weaknesses: can be aloof and lose sight of bigger objectives.

4. Explorers

A free-spirited type, the report says "explorers value freedom and experiences. They tend to live in the present and seek out careers that provide a high degree of variety and excitement. Explorers place a higher-than-average importance on autonomy. They are also more willing than others to trade security for flexibility. They typically don't rely on their job for a sense of identity, often exploring multiple occupations during their lifetime. Explorers tend to adopt a pragmatic approach to professional development, obtaining only the level of expertise needed."

Strengths: will enthusiastically throw themselves at whatever task is required of them. Weaknesses: can be directionless or lack conviction.

5. Strivers

"Strivers have a strong desire to make something of themselves. They are motivated by professional success, and value status and compensation. They are forward planners who can be relatively risk averse, as they opt for well-trodden paths to success. Strivers are willing to tolerate less variety so long as it is in service of their longer-term goals. They tend to define success in relative terms, and thus can be more competitive and transactional in their relationships than most other archetypes," says the report.

Strengths: disciplined and transparent. Weaknesses: their competitiveness can degrade trust and camaraderie within teams.

6. Pioneers

This entrepreneurial type sounds like it's more likely to be founding companies than plugging away in the trenches: "Pioneers are on a mission to change the world. They form strong views on the way things should be and seek out the control necessary to achieve that vision. They are the most risk-tolerant and future-oriented of all the archetypes. Pioneers identify profoundly with their work. Their vision matters more than anything, and they are willing to make great personal sacrifices accordingly. Their work relationships tend to be more transactional in nature. Their vision is often at least partly altruistic, but it is distinctly their own."

Strengths: infectious energy that can bring about lasting change. Weaknesses: can be uncompromising and imperious.
A Bronx motorist is accused of fleeing the scene after he allegedly triggered a fatal chain-reaction crash that killed a pedestrian last month.

Steven Castillo, 26, was driving a Honda Accord just before 7 p.m. Feb. 13 when he struck Antonio Martin, 60, as he crossed Jerome Ave. near Featherbed Lane in Morris Heights, cops said.

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The NYPD Highway Patrol investigates after a pedestrian was fatally struck by a car at a Sunoco gas station at 1657 Jerome Ave. in the Bronx on Feb. 13. (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News)

Martin was then hit by a second motorist, a 21-year-old man driving a black BMW GT5 sedan, cops said.

Martin lived at a homeless shelter in Hunts Point, about 2 miles away from where he was killed.

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He died on the scene. The BMW driver stuck around, but Castillo fled before police arrived, and cops said they used surveillance video to determine what happened.

Castillo, who lives in Mount Eden, less than a mile away, was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene of a fatal crash.
In 1990, Vlada Bortnik fled Ukraine with her family as the country struggled for independence from the Soviet Union. After arriving in the U.S. at the age of 11, Bortnik--now the co-founder and CEO of the private video messaging app maker Marco Polo--would go on to graduate from Northwestern University and land a job at Microsoft, where she would meet her husband and future co-founder, Michal Bortnik. The pair founded Palo Alto, California-based Joya Communications in 2012, which launched the Marco Polo app four years later. The app exploded in popularity during the pandemic, with more than 10 million downloads, according to analytics firm Sensor Tower. Recently Bortnik, 43, spoke to Inc. about the pain and hope she's experienced watching her home country at war--and how her experience as a refugee has shaped her as a leader. --As told to Lindsay Blakely

I was reflecting with my husband and co-founder the other day. We both grew up in countries controlled by the Soviet Union--he's from Poland and I'm from Ukraine. Back then, we went on vacations, we spent time with parents and friends, but life felt very serious. My husband asked, "Isn't that what every kid thinks?"

Our childhoods weren't typical, and I think only now do I fully realize that and how that has made me who I am. The anti-Semitism propagated by the government was everywhere at the time. There were Jewish quotas in schools. Passports indicated who was Jewish. The last year my family lived there, I remember seeing huge signs that said, "Kill all the Jews." I wasn't allowed to wear the Star of David or ever really talk about being Jewish.

On the flip side, we had a lot of gratitude. When my dad went to Moscow on business trips, he'd bring us things like bananas or ketchup. And I remember tasting those and it just felt like bliss. There was a lot of togetherness, too. This sense among our neighbors that we were all in it together.

When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, he allowed citizens to start private businesses, so my dad started a side gig in addition to his regular job as a mechanical engineer. I don't remember the details of what he did, but I do remember the spirit of it--the idea that you could start your own thing. That was my first taste of entrepreneurship.

Eventually it became really clear to my parents that we as Jews had to leave Ukraine to stay safe. But they always explained it to me as going toward opportunity. We left for the U.S. and landed in Kansas. My parents had to scramble to put food on the table. I didn't want to worry them, so it was just me figuring out my way through the American school systems. In Ukraine, I was a top student and had a lot of friends. But I was bullied badly in middle school. People made fun of my hair, my clothes, the food I brought from home. I felt really lonely. But when I look back, I see this is part of how I developed my resourcefulness and creativity as a leader. When you're a refugee, you just figure things out. When things get hard, you just push through. You can't fail.

All of these experiences have shaped me as an entrepreneur--probably in many more ways that I'm still unconscious to. Certainly in the early days of starting Marco Polo, this mentality is what kept me going. I think the other piece of it is, my experiences have shaped how I feel about the people who work for me. I'm not sure if servant leadership is the right name for it. I want them to know that they're not just employees; they're someone making a difference to me and to our purpose of connecting people.

Watching Putin invade, I couldn't help jumping to the idea of how quickly Kyiv might fall, that people would stand by and watch as they did in 2014 when Russia annexed the region of Crimea in Ukraine. Here is this bully coming in and trying to take everything my country fought for. And yet now as I watch, I am so inspired by what I see. I spoke to my team about my experience last week. I was shaking--this is a really personal thing for me. I was surprised by how many Polos I received from people thanking me for being vulnerable and sharing my experience. Lots of people have friends from Ukraine and Russia. It's so important to just bring up how you're being affected as a leader. To say, "I'm not as present as I am usually because of what's going on."

Ukraine now has a Jewish president, and it is such an impressive feat to lead in the way he has, to stay, to take on a Goliath like Russia. The Ukrainian people have a purpose that unites them--freedom--and we're seeing these ripple effects throughout the world. You have people in Poland picking up families at the border, massive donations going to Ukraine. There is so much kindness. I am inspired by that in life and at my company.
Since 1963, The Independent has helped create a great community!

Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region.
According to the media reports, the government may postpone Indias mega initial public offering (IPO), Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to the next financial year. The government is likely to hold a meeting to reassess the LIC IPO timing in view of the escalating Russia-Ukraine war.Last week, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi permitted up to 20 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) under automatic route in IPO -bound LIC with the aim of facilitating disinvestment of the countrys largest insurer.During a recent interview with Hindu Business Line, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has "stated the government position" on the matter, the official said, referring to her remarks, where she suggested that the emerging global situation may warrant a relook at the IPO timing.Ideally, Id like to go ahead with it because we had planned it for some time based purely on Indian considerations," FM Sitharaman told in the interview.Sher added further, if global considerations warrant that I need to look at it, I wouldnt mind looking at it again".Further, Russias invasion of Ukraine has impacted across global stock markets, including the Indian stock market and also it could impact the timing of the mega public offering, Indias largest, which made up the biggest portion of the countrys asset-sale program aimed at stanching the budget deficit for the year through March 31, 2022.Several media reports, also stated that the postponement of the LIC IPO could affect bond prices and would also have a negative impact on the rupee, which is reeling under pressure due to Russias invasion of Ukraine.
Prevent Unauthorized Transactions in your demat / trading account Update your Mobile Number/ email Id with your stock broker / Depository Participant. Receive information of your transactions directly from Exchanges on your mobile / email at the end of day and alerts on your registered mobile for all debits and other important transactions in your demat account directly from NSDL/ CDSL on the same day." - Issued in the interest of investors.

KYC is one time exercise while dealing in securities markets - once KYC is done through a SEBI registered intermediary (broker, DP, Mutual Fund etc.), you need not undergo the same process again when you approach another intermediary.

No need to issue cheques by investors while subscribing to IPO. Just write the bank account number and sign in the application form to authorise your bank to make payment in case of allotment. No worries for refund as the money remains in investor's account."

www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others.


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Sanjay Leela Bhansali's movie Gangubai Kathiawadi has been making headlines ever since announced. The movie opened to rave reviews by critics and fans.

While the buzz around the film is still strong, a heartwarming story of a man is currently winning hearts and sharing a picture of her mother along with Alia Bhatt, a Twitter user.

Twitter

He mentioned how his mother, a Kamathipura courtesan, had a look similar to Alia Bhatt as Gangubai Kathiawadi.

Twitter

In a series of tweets, he wrote:

That's my mother on the right Rekhabai. Almost same na, white saree, red bindi, bangles, qamar mein kassa pallu, dancing in 80s Kamathipura kotha district, Bombay, separated from #GangubaiKathiawadi by a few decades, but twinning by fate that unites them. pic.twitter.com/PAq8sSzhru  manishgaekwad (@manishgaekwad) February 26, 2022

That's my mother on the right Rekhabai. Almost same na, white saree, red bindi, bangles, Qamar mein Kassa pallu, dancing in 80s Kamathipura kotha district, Bombay, separated from #GangubaiKathiawadi by a few decades, but twinning by fate that unites them.

He further wrote,

Mother is still in the hospital in Calcutta, being treated for her multiple ailments. She will be discharged tomorrow. I didn't tell her I saw #GangubaiKathiawadi and loved it. It will be a whole new experience seeing it with her soon. In sha allah.  manishgaekwad (@manishgaekwad) February 26, 2022

Mother is still in the hospital in Calcutta, being treated for her multiple ailments. She will be discharged tomorrow. I didn't tell her I saw #GangubaiKathiawadi and loved it. It will be a whole new experience seeing it with her soon. In sha allah.

Sharing an update on his mother who is currently hosp[italised, he wrote,

So here she is Rekhabai, from her hospital bed, saying hello to "tyooter", getting ready to go home today. I forgot to get her a change of clothes. "Kya hum nange ghar jayenge!" she chuckled. Her humor is an indication she is well. Thank you all for your wishes.

As soon as he tweeted receiving love and attention, he further wrote:

Twitter

Am hustling to get my mother's memoir The Last Courtesan a new publisher after #Westland in the midst of designing the cover, shut down. The #GangubaiKathiawadi momentum helps. New publishers are inquiring.

Gangubai Kathiawadi, Bhansali's film is based on the life of Gangubai Harjivandas. The movie is based on one of the chapters from Mafia Queens of Mumbai written by S. Hussain Zaidi.

(To get the latest updates from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.)


When the hopes are high on government but the chances seem bleak, Sonu Sood steps in and turns messiah for the ones in need.

Once again, Sonu Sood won hearts as he helped Indian students get back home from war-struck Ukraine.

Tough times for our students in Ukraine & probably my toughest assignment till date. Fortunately we managed to help many students cross the border to safe territory. Lets keep trying. They need us. Thank You @eoiromania @IndiaInPoland @meaindia for your prompt help.

Jai Hind https://t.co/q9oJ428pHu  sonu sood (@SonuSood) March 2, 2022

Many students have shared videos to thank him and his organisation for helping them come back home safely.

"We were stuck in Kyiv and it was Sonu Sood sir and his team who helped us to get out. With their help, we are heading to Lviv which is a safer place and from there we will reach India."

That's my job.

I am glad that I was able to do my bit,

Big thank you to Government of India for all the support.

Jai hind  https://t.co/KWhf7R4pP9  sonu sood (@SonuSood) March 2, 2022

Another Indian student, Charu said, "I am leaving Kyiv. Sonu Sood sir helped us at the right time. In sometime we will reach Lviv and from there we will cross the Poland border by tonight. Thank you so much, they are giving us hope."

Will keep you all updated through your team leaders who are in constant touch with us. Students moving towards Shegyn Border Poland &

Chop Border Hungary kindly ensure you speak to the embassy to avoid any potential hassle. We are with you. Stay calm Stay safe.

Jai Hind   sonu sood (@SonuSood) February 27, 2022

Another student named Kranj said, "I have reached the Delhi airport with the help of Sonu Soods team, and now I am waiting for a flight to Ahmedabad . They provided us food and water when we were stuck at a petrol pump in lviv city, and have now even paid the fare for my Ahmedabad flight."

How is Sonu Sood helping Indian students in Ukraine get back home?

Sonu Sood Foundation has teamed up with Ukraine's neighboring countries, reports Mid-Day.

Sonu Sood said that local taxis are sent to students' locations. From there, they are taken to the railway station in Kharkiv. and then they travel to a safer location in Lviv, where buses are arranged to ferry them to Polish border.

"We are also paying for students air travel if they cannot afford it. Dozens of them have already reached their home in India," said Sonu Sood.



It is reported that about 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine's border since the first travel advisory was issued by the Indian Embassy in Kyiv.



Also Read: From Sonu Sood To Tillotama Shome, Bollywood Celebs Express Concern Over Ukraine-Russia War

(For more news and updates from the world of celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment, and let us know your thoughts on this story in the comments below.)

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The Australian Department of Defence accused China's People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) warship of unprofessional and unsafe conduct, by beaming a laser at a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The event allegedly occurred on February 17, 2022. The RAAF aircraft detected the laser beam while flying above the Arafura sea, north of Australia, according to the Australian Department of Defence (DoD).



"Acts like this have the potential to endanger lives," the DoD said in a statement, adding that it highly condemns the "unprofessional and unsafe military conduct."

TOIGFX/Representational image

In order to put this in context, it's necessary to first understand a laser attack and the various reasons for China to carry one out.



What is a laser attack?

Lasers are used to estimate the firing range and select a target, before shooting artillery shells, machine guns, or missiles. Lasers are installed on all modern warships. It's routinely performed on dummy targets.

It is potentially harmful, for at least two reasons. Before firing live munitions, pointing a laser is commonly referred to as "painting a target." It is commonly seen as an act of deliberate provocation that falls just short of open conflict or war.

This is due to the fact that laser targeting differs from firing a missile with hostile intent by a fraction of a second. It can be a terrifying experience for people who are exposed to such beams. Furthermore, laser beams are dangerous since they can cause lifelong blindness if they are shone into someone's eyes, as well as damage to essential navigational and other related systems that are crucial to air safety.

Why would China do this?

Naval vessels operating in the disputed waters of the South China Sea are frequently encountered by PLA-N, Chinese Coast Guard, and Chinese paramilitary vessels. And these Chinese ships have been participating in this type of behaviour against Australian, US, and other aircraft for some time.

Forbes/Representational image

In uncontested waters closer to Australia  or within any nation's exclusive economic zone  this kind of assertive and adversarial behaviour is unusual. This is also not a technique Australia is known to have used against the naval boats of other countries, particularly not in or near China's exclusive economic zone. As a result, the situation appears to be getting worse.



Experts claim that China may be seeking to convey a message to Canberra that its South China Sea naval patrols are not welcome. These patrols, known as Freedom of Navigation Operations, or FONOPS, involve the US Navy as well as other nations such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and France.

These FONOPS are seen as provocative by China, which claims practically the entire South China Sea under the so-called "nine dash line." China's maritime claims were invalidated in 2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which supported the implementation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), however China still seeks to rewrite the laws.

Previous attempts of 'laser attack' by China

The US stated in May 2018 that Chinese military operating out of its overseas station in Djibouti had used lasers to disrupt US aircraft landing in Djibouti on many occasions. At least three accidents with military-grade lasers resulted in minor eye damage to two servicemen.

AFP/Representational image

A month later, a US official confirmed that lasers had targeted US military aircraft operating over the East China Sea more than 20 times. Commercial-grade lasers were usually used in these cases, and the perpetrators were usually fishing boats.



During the crucial Indo-Pacific Endeavor 2019 exercise in the South China Sea in May 2019, suspected maritime militia vessels fired commercial-grade lasers against Australian Navy chopper pilots.

According to a leading Australian expert who participated in the naval drill's Vietnam-to-Singapore phase, Australia went out of its way to train with Vietnam in the South China Sea, implying that China is experimenting with new means to express its displeasure. Later in December 2019, Australian officials revealed that fishing vessels were increasingly employing lasers.

Deductions made from the events

There are two conclusions drawn from the events of the last few days. To begin with, it was claimed that China is increasing its pressure on Australia. Second, in the run-up to the election, Australian politicians remain ready, if not eager, to utilise rising tensions with China to draw attention to themselves.

However, Australian diplomats are exploring how to best manage this in the future, including enlisting the help of ASEAN member states, our Quad allies (India, Japan, and the United States), and others in the region.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world please visit Indiatimes News.
An NYPD sergeant has been cleared of ties to the far-right Oath Keepers militia, and a police officer is on course to be cleared following Internal Affairs Bureau investigations, sources told the Daily News.

The names of Sgt. Stuart Wohl and Officer Aniello Napoli appeared in hacked rosters of the militia largely comprised of former members of law enforcement and the military. More than a dozen Oath Keepers are accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 using military-style tactics.

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FILE - The Oath Keepers are a far-right wing group which employed military style formations during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (William Campbell/Corbis via Getty Images)

Wohl, a 21-year veteran with the Firearms and Tactics section, was cleared by NYPD Internal Affairs after investigators concluded he was doing research on the Oath Keepers for his supervisor, a police official said.

The sergeants union did not respond to an inquiry regarding Wohl.

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Napoli, a 13-year veteran with the Strategic Response Group, has not been formally cleared, but the department has been unable to establish he was aware of the Oath Keepers anti-government ethos. He did not take part in meetings or events, the official said.

Stu London, a lawyer for the Police Benevolent Association, confirmed Napoli was questioned but never hit with disciplinary charges.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

Meanwhile, a new date has yet to be set for the continuation of the departmental trial of Officer Salvatore Greco, who is facing disciplinary charges related to his friendship with controversial Trump adviser Roger Stone and Manhattan Madam Kristin Davis.

Greco is accused of working as armed security for Stone on Jan. 6. Members of the Oath Keepers also served as Stones bodyguards on the day of the insurrection before allegedly storming the Capitol.

The first day of the trial was cut short Tuesday when the presiding judge, Paul Grimes, fell ill and suspended the proceeding.

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A key piece of evidence in the case against Greco is a statement from Joshua James, an Oath Keeper member facing federal charges for participating in the Capitol riot. James, according to the NYPD, described Greco as part of Stones security team.

James was scheduled to appear for a possible guilty plea in Washington on Wednesday afternoon, court records show.
There are no reports of Indian students being held hostage by the Ukrainian forces in the city of Kharkiv, the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

"Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine. We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

Reuters

"We have not received any report of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country," he said.

What Russia had claimed

The ministry's clarification came after Russia claimed that some Indian students were "actually taken hostage" by Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a "human shield" and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russian territory.

Reuters

Following the telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian readout said the Russian side is trying to organise an "urgent evacuation of a group of Indian students from Kharkov (Kharkiv) through the humanitarian corridor along the shortest route to Russia."

"At the same time, according to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russian territory," it claimed.

Reuters

"The leaders reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in the city of Kharkiv where many Indian students are stuck. They discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas," the Indian statement of the conversation said.

What Ukraine said

The Ukrainian foreign ministry on the other hand had claimed that the students were being held hostage by the Russian troops and said that it "urgently called on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities."

Reuters

There were around 20,000 Indians in Ukraine, mostly students before the conflict started.

Around 4,000 to 5,000 Indians have been brought home so far from Ukraine under Operation Ganga and more flights from neighbouring countries are also scheduled to bring back more citizens to safety.

For more on news, sports and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 transport aircraft has now been deployed into 'Operation Ganga', in order to evacuate stranded Indian nationals in Ukraine. Ukrainian airspace was shut down on February 24, 2022, in the aftermath of the Russian military offensive. IAF's C-17 left from the Hindon base near Delhi for Romania on March 2, to bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine.

This decision was taken after PM Narendra Modi asked the IAF to join Operation Ganga. Over the next three days, 26 flights have been scheduled to rescue Indian citizens.

Take a look:
A team of scientists from different divisions at ISRO made use of S-band radio signals from Mangalyaan to study the suns corona.

ISRO

Also Read: Six Years Later, Here's Why ISRO's Mangalyaan Mission Is Still Making India Proud

To the unaware, the corona is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere. It is at the corona where strong magnetic fields fuse plasma and trap the turbulent solar winds, preventing them from escaping.



For the study, scientists made use of the solar conjunction event when Earth and Mars were on the opposite side of the Sun. This occurred during May-June of 2015. It occurs once every two years.

During this event, radio signals from Mangalyaan passed through the solar corona -- around 69,57,000 kilometres from the centre of the Sun (one solar radii is about 695,700 kilometres, making this around 10 solar radii away).

Scientists discovered that the transition of solar wind from slower speeds to higher velocities occurs in a region thats 10 to 15 times the solar radii from the Suns centre.

Whats surprising is that the Sun's surface is a few thousand degrees Kelvin whereas the outer later -- the corona -- goes up to millions of degrees Kelvin. The cause for this divide is unknown.

Studying the corona is crucial since it passes through interplanetary spaces and is capable of affecting the space weather, which would in turn affect us on Earth.



The radio signals that passed through the plasma during the aforementioned conjunction event showed dispersive effects. The turbulence was registered at the Indian Deep Space Network for Mangalyaan as Isrtrac (Isro Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network).

NASA

Also Read: Mangalyaan: ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission Was Only Going To Last 6 Months, It Has Gone Past 4 Years

Looking at the signals, scientists found the coronal turbulence spectrum was between four and 20 solar radii. This was the zone where solar wind experiences acceleration.



They also found that the turbulence power spectrum at a smaller distance from the Suns centre -- less than 10 solar radii -- had shorter frequencies which corresponds to the solar wind acceleration region.

This curve gets steeper for distances larger than 10 solar radii. Scientists further found that these findings were in line with theoretical models of solar wind turbulence.

Moreover, the findings were also supported by the first direct observation of solar corona recently conducted by NASAs Parker Probe in the space agencys first-ever endeavour to touch the sun.

For more science and technology stories, keep reading Indiatimes.com.
A Kerala man working as a private chef in Abu Dhabi has hit a jackpot by winning 500,000 dirhams (Rs 1 crore) in a raffle draw in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).



Saidali Kannan, who has been buying lottery tickets for the past 24 years, first won a cash prize way back in 1998. After trying his luck for all these years, he won the Big Ticket draw again in 2022, Khaleej Times reported.

Khaleej Times/Shutterstock

Kannan is sharing the prize money with a group of friends who helped him buy the ticket. Kannan bought his winning ticket on February 22.



Abdul Majeed, one of his friends who will be sharing the prize, said they have been jointly buying tickets for decades now.

I have been sharing tickets almost every month with Saidali for the last 20 years. I believe hes very lucky. I have been doing this for a very long time. And it has finally paid off," Majeed told Khaleej Times.



Last year in July, another Kerala man's luck shone brightly after he hit a jackpot by winning 20 million dirhams (Rs 40 crore) in a raffle draw.

Ranjit Somaranjan, who works as a driver in Dubai, had been buying tickets for three years without any luck. But in 2021, his stars aligned perfectly.

Khaleej Times

He was at a place near the Abu Dhabi mosque when he got the good news. However, the winning amount was to be shared between 10 people, Somarajan and his nine other friends.



The group of 10 had brought the tickets together, so the whole amount will be divided among all those who contributed. The group includes people from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Each of them had contributed 100 dirhams (Rs 2,000) each to buy the ticket, which was bought in Somranjans name.



Another Indian, Ganesh Shinde, a mariner, won $1 million in a lucky draw contest in Dubai.

Representational Image/Shutterstock

Shinde, based in Maharashtra's Thane, bought the jackpot ticket from the Dubai Duty-Free Millennium Millionaire and Finest Surprise draw website on June 16 last year. Shinde, who is a seaman for a Brazilian company, had bought the coveted ticket when he was travelling back to Dubai.



On his arrival, he was left stunned as he found out that he had won the jackpot.

Shinde has been buying lottery tickets for the past two years without any luck. But this time, luck was in his favour.

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India has a long history of bringing its people from abroad in case of any emergencies. When any crisis or an untoward situation arises in any country then the government of India immediately takes action and tries to go for the safe evacuation of its citizens. Several times, Indian citizens were safely brought back home after the governments intervention.



The Indian government is facilitating repatriation flights, as part of the ongoing Operation Ganga, for thousands of Indian nationals stranded in war-torn Ukraine.

Covid-19 | Image Credit: The Indian Express

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have been trapped in several regions of Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on the country on Thursday, 24 February.

However, Operation Ganga in Ukraine isnt the first time that Air India has conducted large-scale evacuations of Indian nationals from foreign nations.

To add to the long list, Air India has been doing great work in bringing back stranded Indians. From 1990 Kuwait to 2022 Russia-Ukraine Crisis, there have been many occasions when Air India brought Indians home from abroad.

1. 1990 - When Saddam Hussain attacked Kuwait

Twitter

More than three decades ago, thousands of Indians were ferried in buses to Jordan from Kuwait, which was then under attack from Iraq, before they were flown to India, mostly by Air India. The mass evacuation of Indians in 1990 from Kuwait, which also found a place in the Guinness World Records, was the biggest evacuation by a civil airliner. The Kuwait airlift operation was launched in 1990, between August and October, after Kuwait was invaded by Iraqi forces. Air India and other aircraft were deployed to rescue 1,75,000 people.

2. 2006 - When Lebanon and Syria nearly went to war

ET

India had carried out one of its best evacuation operations from a war-like zone in 2006, when it brought back home around 2,300 people, including some from Sri Lanka and Nepal, who were caught in the Israel-Lebanon conflict, says a new book. The Indian Navy worked with Air India to evacuate almost 2,300 Indians, Sri Lankans and Nepalis away from the conflict. This mission was complicated by Israel's naval blockade of Lebanon.

Evacuees had to be transported to Syria from where Indian navy vessels participating in naval exercises in the Mediterranean would take them to the island nation of Cyprus.

3. 2011 (Operation Safe Homecoming) - During the Libyan Civil War

Reuters

The Indian government had commenced Operation Safe Homecoming on February 26, 2011, to rescue over 15,400 Indian nationals stuck in Libya during the civil war. The Libyan civil war was fought between forces commanded by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel forces who wanted to oust the government.

Tensions escalated with protests in Benghazi on February 15 when in clashes with the protestors, police fired on the crowd with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons. This led to a nationwide rebellion against Gaddafi. As protests intensified, the Indian government facilitated nine Air India flights from Libya (Tripoli and Sebha), Egypt (Alexandria), and Malta while others were evacuated by the Indian Navy.

4. 2015 (Operation Rahat) - When Yemen and Saudi Arabia locked horns

AP

Operation Raahat was an operation of the Indian Armed Forces and Air India to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals from Yemen during the 2015 military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies in that country during the Yemeni Crisis. As the situation on the ground grew more acute, the Indian military again teamed up with Air India to evacuate 4,640 Indians and 960 citizens from 41 other countries including the US, the UK, France, Egypt, Sweden and Thailand. The evacuation by sea began on April 1, 2015, from the port of Aden.

5. 2020 (Vande Bharat Mission) - During Covid-19 Crisis

At the beginning of the pandemic, countries across the world restricted movement across their borders and airlines. At that time Air India had proved its worth by evacuating thousands of Indians trapped in China, Iran, Italy. In January 2020, a 423-seat Boeing 747 brought back Indians from Wuhan in China at a time when the city saw the peak of the coronavirus pandemic. The flight had five doctors and one paramedic on board. To minimise the risk of infection, there was no interaction between passengers and cabin crew. Even food was kept on the seats.

6. 2021 (Operation Devi Shakti) - When Taliban Takeover Afghanistan

Operation Devi Shakti was an operation of the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals from Afghanistan after the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul, the capital city, to the Taliban. As usual, this time also Indian air force and Air India joined hands to rescue citizens of India from Afghanistan. Besides, the Indian Air India flight brought back many Nepalese nationals from the Tajikistan capital of Dushanbe to New Delhi.

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Being "too hot" is a problem apparently, according to a playboy model, who claims she was kicked out of an Airbnb rental by a host who suffers from hot girl phobia.

Suzy Cortez, a Brazilian model, reportedly spent over $1,000 (Rs 75,000) on a rental unit on the site in January so she could visit family in Sao Paulo.



Instagram/suzycortezfan

Cortez, however, alleges that she had stayed at the property for less than 48 hours before the male host evicted her out and threw her belongings in the trash because she was too attractive, New York Post reported.



She said she feels persecuted by the ordeal, which she compared to a horror movie. She is now planning to sue Airbnb but has yet to file any paperwork.

This is the biggest prejudice and nightmare Ive ever lived. I am extremely embarrassed and psychologically shaken. A trip to see my parents turned into a horror movie, the model told Jam Press.

Instagram/suzycortezoficial

As per Cortez, the host complained about her clothing  specifically, a pair of workout leggings  before he promptly cancelled her booking on the second day.



From the second day I started to receive complaints about my gym clothes, which by the way were leggings. The host simply said that I would have to leave the apartment because it was inhabited by familiar people and not like me," she claimed.

The model received an email from Airbnb saying her booking had been cancelled as they could not support the reservation.

Cortez claimed there could be no other reason for her to be thrown out other than the fact that she was "too pretty".



Instagram/suzycortezoficial

I was startled when the host entered the property I was in and took my belongings and threw them in the trash, she declared. He only came in because I suffer persecution for being too pretty.



After being kicked out, the model contacted the cops and returned to the apartment alongside the officers to collect her passport.

She allegedly found more of her belongings stuffed into garbage bags outside the residence. She also said her Airbnb profile was temporarily removed amid the drama.

Even the police themselves thought it was absurd. I am now at a total loss and psychologically shaken. I am being the victim of all this, why? Prejudice because Im famous, or have been on the covers of Playboys all over the world? Cortez said.



Airbnb has since restored Cortezs profile. Despite threatening to sue the company, she has not yet contacted a lawyer.



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Today the Russian government warned the Voice of America of its intention to block the VOA Russian language services news website, www.golosameriki.com, unless it removes coverage of Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Russian governments media regulator, Roskomnadzor, claims the news site contains false messages about terrorist attacks or other kind (sic) of information of public concern.

The media regulator demands that the VOA Russian service remove a news story from its site that provided factual reporting on the second day of the Russian invasion. The article included widely reported facts regarding Russian bombardment of cities, a Russian claim to have captured an airport close to Kyiv, and statements from witnesses as well as reporters inside Ukraine.

Any attempts to interfere with the free flow of news and information are deeply troubling. We find this order to be in direct opposition to the values of all democratic societies, says Acting VOA Director Yolanda Lopez.

The warning to VOA follows a broader crackdown on the press by the Russian government. The same regulators also moved to shut down two Russian news organizations that reach large audiences, Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd, as well as Current Times website, a joint production of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The Russian people deserve unfettered access to a free press and, therefore, we cannot comply with the Roskomnadzor's request, said Acting Director Lopez.
The picture shows the meeting scene of the 58th Munich Security Conference. (Photo/Agencies)

By Xu Haiyun

The Munich Security Conference that recently wrapped up discussed an array of issues, including the Ukraine conflict, COVID-19, climate change and food crisis. Instead of arrogantly pointing fingers at others  like they always did on international occasions in the past, western countries, especially some from Europe, were bringing out their skeleton from the closet this year, a scene that perfectly illustrated the term collective helplessness, the theme of the Munich Security Report 2022released before the conference.

Lets take a look back at the past few Munich Security Conferences: In 2018 it asked To the Brink  and Back?; in 2019 it asked Who Will Pick Up the Pieces? about international order; in 2020 and 2021 it was focused on westlessness; and now it asked for Unlearning Helplessness. The constant concentration on uncertainty by this international forum on strategy and security dominated by western countries reveals its deep confusion about the status quo and pervasive concern about the future. As the report said, western countries may have come to believe that theyare unable to get a grip on the challenges they are facing with a feeling of the loss of control.

Well, just as Rome is not built in one day, the Wests helplessness at crisis handling doesnt come out of the blue either.

In recent years, western countries have found themselves trapped in one governance crisis after another, as reflected in the ever more conservative politics, serious economic stagnation, and mounting populism. The pandemic-handling debacle, widening rich-poor gap and social rift, inefficient institution and waning strengths have made them doubtful about their ability to get a hand in an international or regional crisis.

Besides, given the current turmoil and turbulence, western countries, under an amiable mask, all harbor their own calculations and can hardly reach a united stance or take concerted actions. What Trump did while being in office left a serious divide in the cross-Atlantic relation, turning the Munich Security Conference, which used always to be a family gathering of the western bloc, into a platform of condemning American unilateralism. Although Biden tried to rebuild the relationship with the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, his series of moves  from the hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan to withholding other countries anti-pandemic supplies to using the Ukraine issue to roil up regional security  have shown the European allies how readily Washington would neglect or sacrifice their interests. Bidens steps, or rather missteps, reminded Europe of what former European Council President Donald Tusk said  who would need an enemy when he has a friend like America?

More importantly, western countries themselves are responsible for many of the crises. For a long time, some of them, still living with the outdated Cold War mentality and confrontation, is obsessed with taking unilateral actions in international affairs and hasarbitrarily sabotaged the international system to serve its own interests, either through long-arm jurisdiction, or unilateral sanctions, or color revolution, or direct resort to forces. These atrocities have taken a serious toll on the authority and validity of international law.

It must be pointed out that when western countries are deploring their helplessness at international or regional crises, they are not really expressing a wish to preserve world peace and security as it may pitifully sound, but are actually lamenting the loss of political and cultural superiority. What underlies their eagerness to unlearn helplessness is the wish to maintain the west-centric international order so that they can continue to deal with crisis and conflict in the unilateral and hegemonistic way that they are so familiar with, and keep their global influence and discourse power intact.

Theirfeeling of helplessness is less for the current situation than for yesterday no more; their motivation, especially certain hegemon, to step out of such helplessness is less to resume the international order than put up a futile fight against the historical trend.

No matter how western countries deny it, one fact beyond doubt is that their comprehensive strengths, international clout and policy execution capacity are declining with the group rise of emerging countries, and the days when they called the shot on everything in the international arena are gone. To dispel the collective helplessness, they must find a new way out  the way of practicing multilateralism, intensifying equality and solidarity, mutual trust and cooperation, and jointly building a more prosperous and stable world of greater justice and fairness. If they refuse to abandon their old mindset and ideology, they are bound to feel the helplessness more strongly and frequently in the future.

(The author is from the School of History, Renmin University of China)
A former state police investigator probing the death of Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew, who vanished on Mothers Day nearly two years ago, called the arrest of her husband premature and the worst decision that could be made, according to a motion to dismiss the case.

Suzanne Morphew was last seen alive the afternoon of May 10, 2020 as she left her home in Chaffee County for a bike ride.

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The missing mothers disappearance prompted a widespread search effort and investigation, ultimately culminating in the arrest of her husband, Barry Morphew. He was charged earlier this year with tampering with physical evidence and an attempt to influence a public servant as well as murder, even though Suzannes body has not been found.

Barry Morphew (AP)

Morphews attorneys have since requested the charges against him be dropped, citing the skepticism voiced by Former Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Agent Joseph Cahill, once a co-lead investigator in the case.

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During a December interview with internal affairs investigators, Cahill said he told supervisors there wasnt enough evidence to arrest Morphew, according to court documents obtained by 9News on Tuesday. The motion to dismiss was initially filed on Feb. 9.

Cahill also said he voiced his concerns to supervisors and Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze before taking Morphew into custody.

Suzanne Morphew (AP)

Authorities arrested Morphew on May 5, 2021, nearly one year after his wife was reported missing. He has since posted a $500,000 cash bond and his trial is slated to begin on April 28.

Prosecutors believe Barry Morphew shot his wife with a tranquilizer gun and then disposed of her body.
The Delaware Insurance Department has issued a report critical of the use of gender in auto insurance rating and concluding that the state should end the practice as six other states have done.

The report found that several of the states largest auto insurers charge female drivers 8-9% more than male drivers, when all other factors including vehicle and drivers history are equivalent. It says females insured by GEICO and Progressive face the highest cost differentials and the cost disparity can rise to as much as 20% under some plans.

State Farm and California Casualty charge women and men the same premium, while Donegal charges a higher premium to men, according to the study.

Navarro is advocating for Senate Bill 231 under which gender would be prohibited as a rating factor. California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania currently ban gender as a rating variable. According to Navarro, prohibiting the use of gender in Delaware would only require insurers implement consumer protections that are already in force in these other states where a number of the insurers already do business.

The Delaware/CFA report uses insurance industry pricing data analyzed by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). The data is from Quadrant Information Services and reflect the August 2020 cost of a policy covering only the states mandatory minimum coverage for 35-year-old male or female customers who have clean driving records and are otherwise the same in every respect: unmarried, holding a high school diploma, renting their home, and driving a 2011 Honda Civic LX on a 12-mile commute five days a week, 12,000 mile annually.

Insurers have criticized the reports methodology and its conclusions.

The reports reliance on website quotes gathered by an outside vendor is potentially unreliable and may well be an inaccurate representation of what a consumer actually pays, which is often very different from website quotes. Website quotes are the beginning of obtaining the actual premium, not the end, said the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) in a statement.

APCIA argues that each insurer has its own factors that it uses in rating and all rating plans are subject to regulatory review to ensure factors being used comply with all laws, including state anti-discrimination laws. Having the option for different rating factors and having more choices rather than fewer leads to the best result for all consumers, the insurer group said, noting that 43 states and the District of Columbia permit auto insurers to use gender as a rating factor.

The Delaware/CFA report claims that gender is not a reliable factor in risk-based pricing because insurers do not agree on gender-based risk of loss. For example, based on GEICOs online pricing tool, the study found that a 20-year-old female driver was quoted a higher rate than a 20-year-old male driver, a class often thought to be the riskiest drivers. According to the report, this illustrates a lack of consistency in pricing of young men also.

Rating factors should be meaningfully related to drivers risk of loss and should not be disproportionately harmful to customers based on protected classes. Though used by many insurers, gender does not meet these critical tests. With several companies setting prices that suggest women are inherently riskier, another company rating as though men are riskier drivers, and two companies considering it unnecessary to consider the gender of the driver, it is clear that this factor does not meaningfully or accurately capture a drivers risk of loss. The inconsistency of genders usage reveals that carriers claims of correlation to risk are deeply flawed, the report states.

Sen. Kyle Evans Gay is the prime sponsor of the legislation that will be filed this week. Most Delawareans would be surprised to learn that gender factors have any bearing on premium pricing, which should be based in data and accident records, said Gay.

House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst supports the change. This legislation is a no-brainer, and I urge my colleagues in the General Assembly to support it, Longhurst said.

Topics Carriers Legislation Auto Delaware
LONDON  Britain will ban Russian companies from the multi-billion dollar aviation and space insurance market in London, the worlds largest commercial and speciality insurance center, the finance ministry said on Thursday.

Russian companies in the aviation or space industry will be blocked from accessing British-based insurance or reinsurance services directly or indirectly, the ministry said.

The UK government will bring in legislation to prohibit UK-based insurance and reinsurance providers from undertaking financial transactions connected with a Russian entity or for use in Russia, the Treasury department said.

Further details of the legislation will be available in due course.

The move will leave Russian commercial airlines scrabbling to get cover elsewhere. Industry sources say this could include from Chinese reinsurers, while other western insurers are likely to hold back from the business, fearful of other countries imposing similar restrictions.

Companies from around the world use Lloyds of London and other businesses operating in London for aviation insurance and reinsurance.

We are in regular communications with the UK government and international regulators, and are working closely with the Lloyds market to uphold the implementation, at pace, of sanctions applied by governments around the world, said Patrick Tiernan, Lloyds Chief of Markets.

Aviation is one of the largest sectors at Lloyds, along with marine and energy insurance.

Marine, aviation and transport at Lloyds reported gross written premium of three billion pounds ($4.01 billion) in insurance and 1.5 billion pounds in reinsurance in 2020.

The International Underwriting Association, which represents London commercial insurers outside Lloyds, was awaiting more detail on the legislation, it said in a statement.

Photo: Pedestrians pass the Lloyds of London Ltd. building in London.

Topics Legislation Trends Excess Surplus Russia Reinsurance Aviation Market Lloyd's London
The parents of a newborn child who was fed and changed by a stranger at a Des Moines, Iowa hospital is suing the hospital and the man.

Police have said the man, Adam Wedig, entered the neonatal intensive care unit at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center on Dec. 27 and fed the child and changed a diaper before leaving. He got into the NICU through a secure door when a nurse was leaving, according to the criminal complaint.

He also made inappropriate comments and asked nurses inappropriate questions about the newborns care, according to the lawsuit.

The child was not injured. The parents were at a Ronald McDonald House at the hospital at the time, The Des Moines Register reported.

Wedig was charged in February with misdemeanor trespassing.

The suit accuses MercyOne of not having adequate security measures and not complying with existing security measures.

The lawsuit also names Catholic Health Initiatives, or CHI Health, which owns MercyOne.

The suspect has a history of legal trouble related to substance abuse, according to court records.

MercyOne is committed to the well-being and safety of our patients, hospital spokesperson Marcy Peterson said in an email. We are unable to provide further comment on an ongoing legal matter.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits
ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok is being targeted by a group of states seeking to determine whether the social media platform is being improperly marketed to children.

The states are investigating how TikTok promotes itself to younger users, including techniques to increase time spent on the platform and frequency of use, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said Wednesday. She is co-leading the probe with California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont.

As children and teens already grapple with issues of anxiety, social pressure, and depression, we cannot allow social media to further harm their physical health and mental wellbeing, Healey said in a statement. State attorneys general have an imperative to protect young people and seek more information about how companies like TikTok are influencing their daily lives.

TikTok issued a statement saying, We care deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community, and appreciate that the state attorneys general are focusing on the safety of younger users. We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens.

The probe was announced less than four months after a group of U.S. state attorneys general said they are investigating Meta Platforms Inc.s Instagram photo-sharing app over its efforts to engage children and young adults. In May, 44 attorneys general urged Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg to drop the project. The company paused work on its Instagram Kids site in September after the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook consistently played down its own research that the app can harm the mental well-being of its youngest users.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said last month that he is probing TikTok for potential facilitation of human trafficking and child privacy violations as well as other possibly unlawful conduct.

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Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
Issues related to media publicity and a gag order as well as a concern over a lack diversity among attorneys representing those killed or injured during last years deadly Astroworld music festival were discussed during a court hearing on March 1.

The hearing was the first time lawyers handling the nearly 500 lawsuits filed after 10 people died and hundreds of others were injured during a massive crowd surge at the Nov. 5 concert headlined by rapper Travis Scott had met in court after the cases were consolidated before one judge.

After being appointed last month by a judicial panel overseen by the Texas Supreme Court to handle all pretrial matters in the lawsuits, state District Judge Kristen Hawkins issued a gag order in the case.

During the hearing, Hawkins clarified her order, saying lawyers could tell the media about factual issues that happen in court, but she didnt want attorneys to make their cases in the court of public opinion and possibly influence the jury pool.

This case should be tried in the courtroom and not on social media or with press releases or other statements to the media, Hawkins said.

Brent Coon, an attorney who is representing about 1,500 concertgoers and is asking for $10 billion in damages, said after the hearing he understands the judges goal of lets keep whos pointing the finger at who, let that be courtroom issues and jury issues ultimately.

But this is a case of public import for all the reasons that are obvious, Coon said.

Most of Wednesdays court hearing was spent discussing how the cases would proceed, the creation of a leadership structure that would speak on behalf of attorneys for each side, how disputes over evidence or other matters would be handled. Hawkins said she planned to have monthly hearings. She requested that by the next hearing, lawyers give her a breakdown of the various lawsuits by four categories: deaths, bodily injuries, brain injuries and post traumatic stress disorder.

Coon said it could be years before any trials or settlements in the case take place.

During the court hearing, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family of the youngest person to die from injuries during the festival, said that most of the victims killed or injured were Black but the majority of attorneys representing them are white. During Wednesdays hearing, most of the 50 to 60 attorneys in the courtroom were white.

There seems to be not much representation in the court of those African American voices. We really grapple with it. We are concerned about them not having a voice, said Crump, who represents the family of 9-year-old Ezra Blount, who was Black. Ezras father, Treston Blount, who was with his son at the concert, was at the court hearing.

In recent years, Crump has represented victims of police brutality and vigilante violence and has been the lawyer for the families of Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

Hawkins told Crump this issue is something that has not gone unnoticed by the court  I would like that to be considered going forward.

But Hawkins said she was not going to choose someones counsel for them. I do know we have excellent attorneys in this room and those attorneys come from all aspects of Harris County.

Neal Manne, who represents Astroworld festival promoter Live Nation, thanked Crump for highlighting this issue, saying, I agree with him.

Houston police are still conducting a criminal investigation of the Astroworld concert.

The U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee in December announced it was investigating Live Nations role in the deadly concert.

Last month, Houston officials announced the creation of a new task force that will look at improving the safety at large Houston-area events.

Those who died in the concert ranged in age from 9 to 27 years old. Roughly 300 people were injured and treated at the scene, and 25 were taken to hospitals. Those killed died from compression asphyxia.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Florida homeowners arent the only ones feeling the pinch from sharply rising insurance premiums.

School board members in the Florida Keys were taken aback this week when they were told that property insurance premiums for the coming school year would jump by about $400,000. The increase is the result of steadily rising insurance costs across Florida, the inherent risk in vulnerable areas like the Keys, and hurricane losses in recent years, according to a local news report.

The property market has been our biggest challenge, said Ilene Abella, who is with the school districts broker, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services. Between wildfires and major freeze events, there have been lots of major catastrophes, the most billion-dollar-plus weather and climate disasters in U.S. history  22 events in 2020 and 20 events in 2021.

Abella said that Gallagher asked 43 insurance carriers for quotes for the Monroe County School District, and 23 submitted proposals. The package that was presented to the school board was the least expensive and has multiple layers of coverage from different companies, including coverages for property, cybersecurity and equipment breakdown, among others.

The Florida Keys is still viewed as one of the most vulnerable areas in the country, she noted.

Cybersecurity insurance costs also were a factor, spiking by 83%, officials said.

The total cost for school districts renewal is almost $1.5 million, Keys Weekly reported. Board members expressed frustration at seeing the quote too late to search for a cheaper alternative in time for the next school year.

On behalf of taxpayers, we need to look at spending money and not just having insurance to have insurance, said board member Mindy Conn, who said the board should discuss which types of coverage to drop.

The board voted to renew the insurance, then pledged to look for alternatives for next year.

Photo: Overturned mobile homes in the wake of 2017s Hurricane Irma (AP)

Topics Trends Florida Pricing Trends K-12
The family of a little girl who was killed when her mothers car was rear-ended by a Jeep on a Phoenix freeway can sue the SUVs manufacturer for wrongful death because it did not install automatic emergency braking devices that were available as optional equipment, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

The court rejected arguments from lawyers for Jeep parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administrations decision not to require the devices pre-empted the state lawsuit.

The decision written by Justice Bill Montgomery also overturned a similar 2019 decision that said automakers were immune to such lawsuits because of the federal agencys decision not to require the technology.

The crash on Aug. 15, 2015, killed 4-year-old Vivian Varela, who was riding in the back seat of her mothers Lexus sedan. Melissa Varela was preparing to take an exit from the Loop 101 freeway in north Phoenix when traffic stopped because an emergency vehicle was blocking the off-ramp, according to one of her lawyers, Brent Ghelfi.

A nurse who had just ended her shift at a nearby hospital was also intending to take the exit but did not notice stopped traffic until it was too late. Her Jeep Grand Cherokee slammed into the back of the Lexus, killing Vivian and injuring her mother.

Vivian was the only child of Melissa and her husband, Mitchell, who lived in metro Phoenix at the time but now live in Franklin, Wisconsin.

Ghelfi said the 2014 Jeep could have been equipped with Fiat Chryslers version of automatic emergency braking but it was only included as an option with a package upgrade that added $10,000 to its price.

What Chrysler did was they had a safety system that the Insurance Institute of America has studied that says it will prevent 60% of rear end collisions, Ghelfi said. Its a massive game changer in terms of automobile collisions.

He said automakers have been incredibly slow to adopt the crash-prevention technology while noting how automakers have adopted airbags and other safety features to protect occupants. The item costs automakers about $100.

And the real tragedy here is they option it, Ghelfi said. They take a safety feature and they bundle it together with moonroof and leather seats and non-safety features. So you can only get the safety feature if you buy the upgraded trim level.

In a statement, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles extended their sympathies to the Varela family for their loss and other injuries stemming from this horrific, high-speed collision caused by an inattentive driver.

While we disagree with the Arizona Supreme Courts ruling on the preemption defense, we look forward to presenting our other defenses to the trial court, the statement said.

The company noted that the Jeep Grand Cherokee involved complied with all applicable federal safety standards and said that while automatic emergency braking, known as AEB, is a promising new technology, it cant prevent all crashes.

Lawsuits attempting to impose an autonomous feature on all vehicles can inadvertently stymie the development of better versions as technology matures, the company said.

Federal regulators have not mandated the equipment. The Supreme Courts decision noted that the federal safety agency opted to forego imposing a mandate for several reasons, including that it wanted to spur innovation and because automakers were adopting the technology on their own

To the extent the administrative record reflects a federal policy about AEB technology, it is that the Agency encourages AEB innovation and desires it be deployed more broadly and sooner rather than later, Montgomery wrote.

The case now goes back to a trial court, unless Fiat Chrysler files an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Expert witnesses have been retained and depositions takes, so a trial could happen quickly.

Ghelfi, the Varelas lawyer, called automakers failure to universally adopt automatic emergency braking a nationally important and fundamental issue.

He said modeling done by experts determined that if Chryslers version of emergency braking had been installed on the Jeep, Vivian would not have died.

It would have automatically braked that car, and this accident would have been a clean miss, Ghelfi said. At worst it would have been a fender bender, and most likely it would have been a clean miss.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Legislation Auto Tech Arizona
Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) has warned that homelessness is likely to rise significantly in the coming months due to a range of issues, including the lifting of Covid-19 precautionary measures and the likelihood of refugees coming to Ireland to escape the invasion of Ukraine.

The charitys head of services, Niamh Donnelly, said MQI was already working on a full reopening of its Sunday service, which offers hot food and drinks from breakfast at 7.30am to lunch at 2.30pm, because of growing demand.

Ms Donnelly said MQI has not had a discussion about any potential reopening of its night cafe, which ran from 2015 before closing at the start of the pandemic, but she added that nothing could be ruled out.

MQI has launched its Lenten appeal so as to fund its Sunday service, and amid a 10% rise in homelessness overall in the past year.

Ms Donnelly said there was a range of factors that could push that figure still higher in the coming months. One of those is a reduction in special measures put in place during the pandemic, such as moving people from single occupancy settings to multi-occupancy  something, she said, tended to result in some people ending up on the streets.

All the reports are that homelessness is going to increase very significantly, said Ms Donnelly.

You have got the fact that landlords are no longer prohibited from evicting tenants. You have the cost of living crisis, heating, rent increases.

"The other thing that is very significant is a likely increase in refugees with what is going on in Ukraine," she said. "Everything is trending upwards."

She said these challenges needed to be acknowledged and planned for, with measures that will stop the "revolving door" of people entering homelessness and struggling to access stable accommodation.

She said the reinstatement of a Sunday service  currently operating at a reduced level  was in response to need, but had to be funded separately from its Monday to Friday services.

The night cafe offered mat-on-the-floor accommodation for dozens of people before it closed and, in one year of operation, had more than 2,100 unique clients. It began as a temporary measure and had to close at the start of the pandemic.

Ms Donnelly said there had not been a conversation about any form of reopening but added: "I don't think Merchant's Quay would ever rule anything out." She said:

If we spot a gap for an evening or overnight provision we would have to make a case and set out and fundraise.

MQI CEO Paula Byrne said of the Sunday service: "No matter when a person finds themselves homeless for the first time, we need to be there to guide them towards the support they need. Life happens in the evenings and at weekends, so safeguarding our Sunday service is more important than ever."

 You can learn more about the work of Merchants Quay Ireland by visiting their site at mqi.ie where you can also support their Lenten campaign.
This chapter has ended.

Amazon, which famously began as an online bookseller that put physical shops out of business, will close its physical bookstores and several other brick-and-mortar stores.

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The circle of life will be completed because the physical bookstores simply werent growing at the same rate as Amazons online business, Reuters reported.

The Amazon Books store opened in New York City in May 2017. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

In total, Amazon will shutter 68 physical stores across the U.S. and U.K., including bookstores, Amazon Pop-Up stores and 4-star shops that sold a variety of items, from toys to home goods, according to CNBC. Employees will be transferred to other Amazon-owned properties or given severance pay, the company said.

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After driving many legacy booksellers out of business, Amazon opened its first physical store in 2015 in Seattle, apparently trying to figure out if the Amazon name could carry a cachet that Borders could not.

Amazon expanded the practice across the country, including shops in Chicago and New York, but has evidently realized that its initial business model worked so well for a reason.

Still, the company isnt giving up on physical stores. Amazon launched department stores, called Amazon Style, earlier this year.
Swedish authorities are seeking the extradition of three men arrested after disembarking a plane at Waterford Airport last week.

The trio were arrested last Wednesday, February 23, following their arrival on a Belgian flight via the UK.

After the plane stopped over at an airfield in the UK, officers from the UKs National Crime Agency (NCA) say they intercepted a vehicle nearby in which 50kg of cocaine worth approximately 3.5m was uncovered and seized.

One man was arrested and charged in connection with the seizure.

The plane then landed in Ireland at 11am last Wednesday. Upon arrival, it was met and searched by Waterford Gardai, personnel from Revenue and Customs and a customs dog.

A number of mobile phones and 9,000 in cash were seized from the aircraft.

Three males on board the plane were arrested for alleged offences under 72 Criminal Justice Act 2006 and detained under section 50 Criminal Justice Act 2007 at Garda Stations in the Southeast.

The aircraft was also seized and impounded by gardai.

Following further enquiries and liaison with the UK NCA, Interpol and Swedish Police, the identities of a Lithuanian Male, aged in his 30s, and two Swedish males, aged in their 50s, were confirmed by gardai.

On Sunday, February 23, the trio were released before being re-arrested on foot of European Arrest Warrants by Swedish authorities.

They appeared before a sitting of the High Court at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin on Monday, February 28.

The men have been remanded in custody and are due to appear before the Hugh Court once again on Friday, March 11.
A detective has told a murder trial he saw that the body of a 71-year-old pensioner had lacerations to the neck, an injury to the head and her left ear appeared to be missing when he entered her home.

The jury has also heard that murder accused Trevor Rowe told gardai: "I thought it was going to be an easy touch, what have I done?" He also told officers when he was sitting in the back of a patrol car that he "just wanted her to be found" and that he had "slit her throat and stabbed her in the head".

Another garda witness told the trial that he located "a piece of an earlobe" on the couch where Ann Butler had been lying and there was a metal crowbar and a Swiss army knife in the vicinity.

Mr Rowe (29), with an address at Abbey Street, Kilkenny has pleaded not guilty to murdering 71-year-old Ms Butler at her home at Maudlin Street, Kilkenny on March 20, 2020.

Scene of Ms Butler's death

Giving evidence on Thursday, Detective Sergeant James O'Brien told Garrett McCormack BL, prosecuting, that he got a phone call from Sergeant Jason Crotty at 7.28pm on March 25 informing him that a body had been discovered at a house on Maudlin Street in suspicious circumstances.

Det. Sgt O'Brien said he entered the house at 7.33pm and that the heating appeared to be on. Immediately, he got a very strong, overpowering and unpleasant smell. The witness said he walked down the hallway and looked into two bedrooms, which appeared to be ransacked and very untidy.

He then went into the main sitting room area and noticed a deceased female on the right side of a two-seater couch. She had obvious injuries to her body and her skin had gone very discoloured, he said.

"There were obvious lacerations to the left side of her neck and an injury to her head where the left ear appeared to be missing," said the detective. The witness remained inside for two minutes and then left the house.

'An easy touch'

Mr Rowe, who was present outside the house at Maudlin Street at the time, was then arrested and conveyed to Kilkenny Garda Station in a patrol car.

Describing the accused's demeanour in the back of the patrol car, Det. Sgt O'Brien said he was very visibly upset, that he was in a very emotive state and was sobbing. "At some stages he was crying and at some stages shouting," he added.

The witness said Mr Rowe made several statements in the vehicle including "I just wanted her to be found" and that he had "slit her throat and stabbed her in the head last Friday". The court heard that the defendant asked himself "what have I done, what have I done?".

"Sometimes he was sobbing and other times was aggressive. At one stage he punched the headrest of my seat quite aggressively then he struck the window of the patrol car," he continued.

Det. Sgt O'Brien said the accused also stated: "I thought it was going to be an easy touch, what have I done?" The defendant also said in the patrol car that he had killed another woman beside John's Bridge.

Under cross-examination, the detective agreed with Kathleen Leader SC, defending, that her client had said "I thought it was an easy touch". The witness also agreed with the barrister that Mr Rowe had gone on to say "it [the touch] went wrong".

Earlier, Sergeant Jason Crotty testified that he noticed blood marks on the walls of the hall when he entered Maudlin Street. He said the temperature inside the house was quite warm, that the heating was on and there was a fairly strong unpleasant odour in the air.

Sgt Crotty used his torch to see around the living room as it was quite dark. "I saw what appeared to be the body of a deceased female on the couch with no sign of life and what I thought was a wound to the neck area," he said.

The witness said he contacted the previous witness to inform him of what appeared to be the body of a female in suspicious circumstances and requested his attendance at the scene.

Timber cross

This afternoon, Detective Garda Brian Barry said he went to the house at Maudlin Street on March 26 and found no evidence of a forced entry. Ms Butler, who was wearing a red cardigan and black trousers, was lying on her right side on a two-seater couch.

There was an injury to the left side of the neck and the left ear lobe was missing. Drops of blood, a metal crowbar, a Swiss army knife and some money were found in front of the deceased. The television was knocked over in the corner of the room and the doors belonging to a timber display cabinet were opened.

The detective said he observed a bottle of Baileys, which was opened, in a blood-stained Dunnes Stores bag and an opened can of Linden Village cider on top of a cabinet in the living room. In the main bedroom of the semi-detached bungalow, there was an opened jewellery box which was empty.

Det. Gda Barry said he returned to the house the next day and located a timber cross under a computer desk in a bedroom. "The timber cross didn't have the crucifixion of Jesus on it, [it was] just the timber cross," he said.

The witness said he also located "a piece of an earlobe" on the two-seater couch where the deceased had been lying. Three partial footmarks from the front of the couch where Ms Butler had been lying were photographed.

The daughter of Ann Butler, Elaine Butler, told prosecution counsel, John O'Kelly SC, that she lived in two different houses on Maudlin Street with her mother from the age of three or four until she was 25. She then moved into her own home and would call to her mother's house a few times a week.

Ms Butler said she last saw her mother on March 18 but was unable to visit her the following week as she was awaiting the results of a Covid test. The witness was shown a photograph of a wooden cross, which Ms Butler said had been hanging over the fireplace in her mother's sitting room for a good while.

"It had a brass figure of Jesus and on the base of the cross there was a rectangular part that said INRI. When I was in the house in February it wasn't in the sitting room, there was a different picture over the fireplace," she said.

In his opening speech, Mr O'Kelly said there would be forensic evidence on a number of items that connected Mr Rowe to the scene of Ms Butler's death. One of the items was part of a crucifix, he said, which had been in the deceased's house and was later found in the possession of Mr Rowe.

The trial continues on Friday before Ms Justice Karen O'Connor and a jury of seven men and five women.
Interview Chin Resistance Fighters Expect More Myanmar Junta Attacks This Month

Chin National Army cadets at a graduation parade. / Chinland Information Center

The Chin National Army (CNA) is the armed wing of the Chin National Front (CNF), a veteran ethnic Chin political party that has been demanding greater autonomy for Chin State in western Myanmar. Following last years coup, it has joined forces with the National Unity Government to collaborate in toppling the military regime.

Salai Htet Ni, the spokesperson for the CNA/CNF, said that they stand in solidarity with Peoples Defense Forces (PDF), striking government staff who have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement and ethnic Chin people at home and abroad to fight the junta.

Now we are in high gear to play a part in national politics as well as building a federal union, said Salai Htet Ni.

There have been fewer clashes lately in Chin State, but there are rumors that the regime is planning a large-scale attack. Salai Htet Ni spoke recently to The Irrawaddy about the military situation and to what extent PDFs have gained control in Chin State.

How is the military situation in Chin State now?

There are skirmishes in the nine townships of Chin State. But there is no large-scale fighting. We heard that it [the regime] is planning to move into rural areas to consolidate its control, particularly in Matupi and some other townships.

How is the contest between the regime and PDFs in Chin State? To what extent have PDFs been able to take control of the state?

It is fair to say that we have taken control of 75 per cent of Chin State. But we assess that the regime will conduct more military operations in March because the weather allows it [it is easier to travel in the mountainous areas of Chin State in the hot season than in the rainy season].

We can say that the regime has control in the urban areas of Chin States townships, as well as control of roads connecting the towns, but they barely have control over rural areas.

Militarily, the regime is operational in urban areas. But in terms of government departments, only 30 per cent of them are operating. Government employees are not going to offices regularly and are not working full time. The military regime is not in a position to control and organize them properly. Only the security forces assigned to towns are managing the local workforce.

What are the difficulties facing Chin revolutionary groups fighting in Chin State?

We are not a match for them [Myanmar military] in terms of weaponry. And we have some problems with the chain of command among local resistance and guerilla groups. But everything else is OK. We have to make good use of all available weapons including rudimentary hunting rifles.

What preparations have resistance groups made in response to possible attacks by the regime this month?

I said we have control of 75 per cent of Chin State, I mean that we have been running our own schools, charities and clinics in almost all the rural areas in Chin except Paletwa Township. That work can be continued only when there is security for the people and the region in the long run.

This year is a real challenge for our national cause and national politics. And we have prepared our best to face whatever may come.

Fierce clashes are taking place almost daily in Karenni (Kayah) State and also in Sagaing and Magwe regions. What is your advice to PDFs fighting the military regime?

Taking a look at the usual practice of the regime throughout history, its military strategy is to use superior numbers in a battle. Normally, it only fights the war on one front. They may be weak if they have to fight on many fronts. We have to be aware of this, and we have to take action to make them fight on as many fronts as possible.

We must have a strategy to split their forces so that they cant send superior numbers to a single front. It is important that not only resistance groups from Chin but also PDFs from other areas, as well as ethnic armed organizations (EAO), attack them collaboratively and harmoniously. Only then will we be able to split their forces. We understand their common strategy. So we must work collaboratively and make the best use of our strength. EAOs, local resistance groups and any other anti-junta forces including striking employees need to know their strategy and must learn to respond accordingly to any junta moves.



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Burma Fresh Fighting Erupts After Myanmar Junta Attacks at Chinese Border

MNDAA fighters. / The Kokang

Fresh clashes broke out between Myanmars military regime and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), also known as the Kokang Group, in Mongkoe, northern Shan State, on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the armed group.

The two sides clashed to the west of Mt Manpin on Wednesday morning, an MNDAA information officer told The Irrawaddy.

Around 100 soldiers from Battalion 420 under Division 99 came to attack us, he said.

Junta troops withdrew after 90 minutes of fighting. The MNDAA suffered no casualties and junta casualties are unknown, he added.

Mongkoe is crucial to border trade with China.

Around 100 junta troops also attacked a hill at Manjie near the border on Tuesday, according to the MNDAA. The group claimed the regime fired more than 80 artillery shells at its Manrang outpost in Mongkoe on Monday.

The MNDAA said in late November that more than 260 clashes had been recorded with Myanmars junta in Mongkoe since early July.

Junta reinforcements have arrived in Mongkoe via Kutkai since February 24, said the MNDAA, accusing the regime of attempting to take advantage of the funeral of its founder to launch attacks.

Peng Jiasheng, 94, a former MNDAA chairman, died of old age in mid-February and the group had been busy organizing his funeral.

I think they are taking advantage of the fact that we are busy with the funeral of our former chairman and attacked us off our guard, the MNDAA information officer said.

He said further clashes could erupt any time in Mongkoe amid high tensions and because junta reinforcements keep arriving.



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Burma Myanmar Junta Has Torched Over 6,000 Civilian Homes Since Coup

Aerial view of Thapyayaye Village, Sagaing Region, which was reduced to ashes in a junta arson attack on February 28. / Myauk Yamar PDF

Junta forces have torched at least 6,158 civilian homes in the 13 months since the Myanmar militarys coup, mostly in areas where anti-regime resistance is the strongest. Sagaing Region suffered nearly 60 per cent of the damage, according to independent research group Data for Myanmar.

The houses were burned down in 165 places nationwide from February 1, 2021 to March 1 this year, said Data for Myanmar in its latest report.

Fighting between regime forces and Peoples Defense Forces (PDF) continues across the country, especially in Chin, Kayah, Karen and Kachin states and Sagaing, Magwe, Mandalay and Yangon regions. The resistance forces use guerrilla tactics and have inflicted heavy casualties on junta troops.

In retaliation, regime forces have increasingly carried out indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including air and artillery strikes, arbitrary killings and massacres, burning people alive, using civilians as human shields, and looting and burning houses.

Junta arson attacks on civilian homes began in May last year, and have intensified in recent months.

Last month alone, 2,882 houses were burned down, which is nearly half of all properties torched since the coup. In January, 1,059 homes were destroyed in arson attacks, while 960 homes were torched in December and 384 houses in November.

The properties were destroyed either in air and artillery strikes or were torched by regime soldiers and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militia.

On Wednesday, Moekaung Village in Sagaing Regions Yinmabin Township was torched, following clashes between PDFs and junta forces, according to a member of a local PDF who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The fighting intensified yesterday [on Wednesday] and continued into the night. Junta troops burned some houses and arrested some civilians, too. Some villagers were also injured. People had to flee into the jungle, he told The Irrawaddy.

Moekaung Village lies just to the north of Thapyayaye Village, which was completely torched in a junta attack on February 28 that also saw two civilians killed.

An elderly woman in Thapyayaye who couldnt run away burned to death along with the village homes. A man was shot to death from a helicopter, said a Yinmabin resident.

At least eleven Thapyayaye villagers were arrested, according to a statement on Thursday from Myauk Yamar PDF.

In February, at least 30 junta soldiers were killed and more than 50 injured during 17 separate clashes with local PDFs, while two PDF fighters died and five were injured, said Myauk Yamar PDF.

Junta soldiers suffered huge casualties from our guerrilla and mine attacks. We didnt even need to use bullets. When they lost, they targeted innocent civilians, added the PDF member.

They dont understand how people have to struggle to survive, so they dont care about the people. They consider the villagers and villages as resistance to them. The villagers homes were burned without reason and people have to restart their lives from zero when their houses are destroyed, he added.

People from about a dozen villages, including Thapyayaye and Chin Pone villages, in Yinmabin and nearby Kani Township have been forced to flee their homes, according to Yinmabin residents.

In Chin States Thantlang, regime forces torched over 1,000 homes in 26 reported attacks since September. 101 houses were burned down over two days on February 25 and 27, said Thantlang Placement Affairs Committee-IDPs, a local organization helping people displaced from Thantlang, in a statement on Tuesday. Mountain-top town Thantlang formerly had around 2,700 houses.

Some 20 houses in Magwes Yesagyo Township were also torched by the junta on February 26, after a local PDF reportedly seized a junta-affiliated oil container in the area.

In total, the junta has burned down 3,689 civilian homes in Sagaing Region, 1,032 in Chin State, 885 in Magwe Region and 311 homes in Kayah State, as well as dozens of others in southern Shan State, Karen State and Mandalay, Tanintharyi and Bago regions, according to Data for Myanmar.

The research group compiled their information from media reports, local rights groups and refugee organizations. However, Data for Myanmar didnt include information that has yet to be verified, so the actual number of houses torched may be higher than the reported figures.

The military regimes spokesperson denied to media that the junta carried out arson attacks on civilian homes.

As of Wednesday, junta forces have also killed 1,590 civilians and detained nearly 12,500 people since the coup.



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Burma Myanmar Junta Seizes Hundreds of Opponents Homes

The house of singer Chan Chan is confiscated by junta forces in February.

Proving that it is even more ruthless than its predecessors, the Myanmar military regime led by coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has seized hundreds of houses belonging to individuals taking part in the anti-regime movement across the country, hoping to weaken resistance to its rule.

In an unprecedented move, since seizing power on Feb. 1 last year the junta has targeted properties owned by its opponents, mainly elected lawmakers and members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), officials of the ousted NLD-led government, and representatives of the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and its parliamentary committee the CRPH, but also political activists, striking civil servants, journalists, celebrities and businessmen who have supported the resistance movement against the regime.

According to data compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an advocacy group, at least 267 houses and other properties owned by individuals had been seized by the junta as of Jan. 20, with nearly half of those belonging to NLD lawmakers and members.

A spokesperson for the group said the actual number was likely much higher, as the number of cases on the ground was likely underreported, and many reported cases were as yet unverified.

Going beyond [its predecessors], the current regime is finding more repressive ways to intimidate individuals who join the revolution by targeting the homes and property they left behind, the AAPP spokesperson told The Irrawaddy.

Since last month, the regime has significantly stepped up its targeting of properties owned by opponents of the coup, the spokesperson added. We have seen junta forces confiscating civilians property almost every day.

By The Irrawaddys estimate, last month alone the junta sealed off houses and other property owned by more than 100 civilians.

Among those whose homes were seized by the junta in February were veteran student leader U Min Ko Naing, NLD Central Executive Committee member and lawmaker Daw May Win Myint, NLD lawmaker Daw Thiri Yadanar, former political prisoner Ko Bo Tauk, three NLD party supporters in Mon States Thaton, two residents of Khin-U in Sagaing, film director Ko Pauk, celebrity vocalist couple Lynn Lynn and Chit Thu Wai, presenter Maung Maung Aye, social influencer Ei Pencilo, and police major U Tin Min Tun, who left his job to join the Civil Disobedience Movement against the regime. The office of the Mahar rescue group in Mandalay was also seized.

Several businessmen and shop owners who joined the nationwide silent strike on Feb. 1 to mark the anniversary of the coup were also arrested and their property seized.

Ei Pencilo, who went into hiding after the junta issued a warrant for her arrest a few weeks after the coup, wrote that she was not surprised by the juntas seizure of her residence in Yangon.

It is nothing compared to the youths and civilians who have paid with their lives and are sacrificing for the revolution, she wrote, adding that it only made her more determined that the revolution must succeed.

They can seal off the house but they cant break our revolutionary spirit, she said.

Junta supporters and military-linked accounts on the Telegram messaging app have shared private information of civilian supporters of the anti-regime movement, inciting violence against them and encouraging their arrest and the confiscation of their property.

The junta has searched, raided and sealed off the houses of those identified as regime opponents on the channel. After sealing off the houses and shops, junta forces place notices at the entrance reading, This land/building is sealed off for supporting the terrorist CRPH, NUG and PDF. The PDF, or Peoples Defense Force, is a network of armed resistance groups that supports the NUG.

The NUG described the regimes seizure of citizens houses and other property as illegal and an act of cowardice and repression against civilians, in a statement issued this week amid the ongoing daily confiscations of private property by junta forces.

Each and every [individual] involved in such illegal activities shall be held accountable, it added, calling on people to report all property seizures to the NUGs Home Affairs Ministry, along with information on those involved.



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Nokia says its first-of-its-kind solution is designed to make radio networks more sustainable and cost-efficient by reducing the energy required to cool a base station. Cooling system energy consumption can be reduced up to 90% and base station CO2 emissions up to 80% compared to traditional active air-cooling systems, Nokia claims

Nokia says the move supports its ambitions to have the most energy-efficient, zero-emission 5G product portfolio in the industry. Commercial products will be available from Q3 2022.

Nokia also announced that AT&T is piloting the solution in a live network trial in Philadelphia, U.S.

Nokias liquid-cooled AirScale baseband solution can accommodate any liquid-cooled common or capacity plug-in unit and supports all radio access technologies from 2G to 5G. It supports the reduction of base station-related CO2 emissions by up to 80%. Nokias Liquid Cooling solution is also almost completely silent and maintenance-free making it ideal for apartment buildings, whereas more traditional air-cooling systems are typically noisy and require regular maintenance. Liquid is much more efficient in the transmission and transfer of heat. Nokias solution carries the captured waste heat produced by the base station during operation. This can then be circulated and reused for other purposes, for example, it can be redirected to a buildings heating system for free, at a price, or even traded.

Nokia says it is committed to leading the decarbonisation of the telecommunications industry and helping other industries and communities to decarbonise and dematerialise through digitalisation. Digitalisation is critical for making industries more sustainable resulting in less waste, more resource-efficient, and more productive. Nokia has set a science-based target to reduce its emissions by 50% by 2030 across its value chain, including its operations, products in use, logistics, and final assembly supplier factories. Nokia has also been increasing its share of renewable electricity and is committed to reaching 100% by 2025.

Experience Liquid Cooling at MWC22 Barcelona

At MWC22, Nokia said it will showcase how its products and services can reduce CO2 emissions and the cost of energy and help its customers to take control of their sustainability targets. Nokia will demonstrate its AirScale Radios with energy-efficient software features as well as its Liquid-cooled AirScale Baseband and Wavence microwave radio energy innovations.

AT&T VP implementation provisioning & optimisation Joe Taylor said: AT&T is committed to tackling climate change, enhancing the efficiency of our network, and reducing our operational carbon footprint.

"Were pleased to work with Nokia as we take a more sustainable path and to trial its liquid-cooled base station in our network. We firmly believe that sustainability is one of the biggest factors impacting the world right now and is a key differentiator in business. Were eager to continue aligning with like-minded, innovative companies like Nokia that are developing ground-breaking solutions to combat climate change.

IDC research director Daryl Schoolar said: Controlling total cost of network ownership remains an important priority for mobile operators. A significant portion of that total cost of ownership comes from operating expenses.

"Network solutions that can lower those operating expenses, which includes cost of energy, are certainly welcomed by mobile operators. Also, if those solutions can help an operator achieve its green energy goals, that is just another added plus.

Nokia president of mobile networks Tommi Uitto said: There is no green without digital and the commercial availability of Nokias liquid cooling technology across our AirScale portfolio highlights our commitment to leading the industry to become more sustainable through digitalisation.

"Our innovative, game-changing solution reduces energy consumption, costs, and carbon emissions and helps mobile operators become more environmentally responsible. 5G networks and technologies will play a critical role in making other industries more sustainable and we must all play our part to minimise our footprint and accelerate the use of green electricity.
Her money was fake, but COVID is real.

Fake heiress Anna Sorokin, formerly known as Anna Delvey, sued Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in an attempt to get a COVID booster shot.

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Sorokin, 31, suffers from a kidney condition that puts her at higher risk of severe disease, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday. She requested a booster in December 2021, while in ICE custody, but never heard back and later contracted COVID in January, the suit said.

Anna Sorokin attends her sentencing hearing on May 10, 2019. (Alec Tabak/for New York Daily News)

Now the subject of a Netflix series (Inventing Anna), Sorokin was convicted in 2019 for stealing $275,000 by duping friends, banks and others into believing she was an heiress with a $60 million trust fund.

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[ Inventing Anna, Anna Delvey and the fake German heiress who grifted Manhattan ]

She was actually just a normal Russian-born German woman who made the whole thing up and lived the high life for four years. She was sentenced to four years in prison but was released after two for good behavior.

However, Sorokin was detained by ICE shortly afterward and has been back behind bars for nearly a year, according to the lawsuit. Sorokin was supposed to be deported back to Germany no matter the result of her trial, but shes fighting to stay.

Sorokin got a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in April 2021, the suit said. With cases spiking late in the year, she made a request for a booster shot that went unanswered and then contracted COVID on Jan. 19, 2022, according to the suit. She suffered from fever, persistent cough, nausea, migraines and body aches.

ICE has administered only 1,436 booster shots despite holding about 20,000 people in custody, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a press release. The ACLU also said ICE has no booster shot policy at all, and the group filed a similar lawsuit in January. That suit led to all the plaintiffs receiving booster shots.

Its shameful that yet again, the ACLU has to sue ICE to provide basic care for people in detention, said Arthur Spitzer, senior counsel at the ACLU in Washington, D.C. Booster shots are a necessity for people in crowded housing conditions and are readily available. Theres no excuse for ICEs failure to provide them.
Jimeoin played no part in the conference that I am aware of, it's just a nice picture

Epson was part of the Sustainable Brands 2022 event in Yokohama, (SB'22 Yokohama) which was a hybrid international conference held both online and at the Pacifico Yokohama North last month, with Epson having showcased its efforts to enhance sustainability in the fashion and apparel industry.

SB'22 Yokohama was the fifth time Epson featured at a Sustainable Brands conference.

At the same time as the Yokohama event, SB22 Asia-Pacific, the first such multilateral conference, was also held in Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.

Those conferences provide participants with an opportunity to highlight their sustainability efforts with the aim of building corporate recognition and promoting engagement.

Epson participated in three programs at SB'22 Yokohama.

1. Plenary Session (plenary 1-5)

Epson global president Yasunori Ogawa gave a speech entitled Epsons Sustainability Vision and Initiatives to Solve Societal Issues. In this, he will highlight value propositions addressing societal issues and explain how Epson seeks to build co-creation relationships.

2. Breakout Session (C1-3)

Panelists included a designer, a fashion coordinator, apparel production control system provider, and representatives from the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, a printing company and Epson, and discussed from their various perspectives on the theme of The future of sustainable fashion using digital technologies."

3. Activation Hub

In the Activation Hub, Epson demonstrated its collaboration with Japanese designer Yuima Nakazato through a pop-up shop exhibit that showed his latest sustainable fashion designs printed using Epson inkjets and shop designs using projection technology to reduce environmental impact.

A streamed replay on the event is available from March 1 to March 31, but unfortunately, the SB organisers unsustainably closed registration for the stream last month, which seems mind-numbingly crazy in the modern world of streams, but that's life.

Either way, with sustainability in products and tech being top of mind these days, Epson and plenty of other companies are doing their part to ensure a sustainable future, showing evolving technology is the only true answer to sustainability problems, so that we can continue living a modern life, rather than retreating into caves and mashing papyrus into paper.
Thales Australia and New Zealand has signed a contract with the Queensland Government to continue implementing the states Digital Licence App.

According to the Queensland government website, the app is coming next to Townsville, and then will roll out to the rest of Queensland in 2023.

The app allows Queenslanders to store their driver licenses, photo identification cards, and recreational marine licenses digitally on their mobile devices.

A first for Australia, the Transport and Main Roads (TMR) Digital Licence App, developed by Thales in partnership with Queensland SMEs, Code Heroes and Aliva, will meet the International ISO-18013-5 Mobile Driver Licence Standard, allowing the states digital driver licences to be recognised and used all over the world.

The Digital Licence App was successfully piloted with residents of the Fraser Coast in 2020 with a user satisfaction rating of 94%.

Thales will now introduce further features for residents and businesses before working with TMR to make the Queensland Digital Licence App available to other regions.



We are excited that over 3.9 million Queenslanders will soon be able to access Thales Digital ID Wallet via the Digital Licence App, proudly developed in partnership with TMR and Queensland SMEs, Code Heroes and Aliva. Our solution provides the people of Queensland with complete control over their personal data and the freedom to decide exactly what information to share, with whom, and when, in the convenience of a mobile app that can also act as a gateway to Government services, concludes Thales Australia and New Zealand CEO Chris Jenkins.
Splunk announced Gary Steele will be its new CEO as of 11 April 2022. Steele was the founding CEO of Proofpoint taking it from an early-stage start-up to a global, publicly-traded security-as-a-service provider. Steele also held leadership roles at Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems, Sybase, and Portera.

Following the departure of longtime Splunk CEO, Doug Merritt, Steele brings over 30 years of experience and a proven track record of successfully scaling SaaS operations and growing multi-billion-dollar global enterprises. Upon joining, he will focus on helping Splunk further scale the business and extend the value it provides to customers and partners.

Interim CEO Graham Smith, will return to his role as chair of the Splunk board when Steele joins the company.

Gary is a visionary leader whose software and cybersecurity expertise, deep understanding of SaaS and recurring revenue models, and unwavering commitment to driving innovation and customer success on a global scale will be invaluable to Splunk on our path to $5 billion and beyond, said Smith. Were thrilled to welcome Gary to the Splunk team, and look forward to working with him to further scale the business and extend the value we provide our customers and partners.

Splunk has built one of the most respected brands in tech and is at the forefront of security and observability. Im honoured to join the company at such an important moment  for both Splunk and the industry, Steele said. Ive dedicated my career to helping companies around the world safeguard their data, systems and infrastructure, and know firsthand how critical Splunks products and solutions have become to customers as they navigate hybrid, multi-cloud environments with increasingly complex attacks and threat actors. Splunk is executing against a tremendous opportunity, and I look forward to working with the team to ensure the business reaches its full potential.

Splunk has incredible talent and an innovative and customer-centric ethos. I cant wait to get started and earn the right to call myself a Splunker," he said.

Steele currently serves on the boards of directors of Upwork, Malwarebytes, Synack and Modmed. Steele also serves as a trustee and director at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Steele holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Washington State University.
David Vaile: "This 'opt-out' process is, in our view, unusable, rather than a credible or respectful mitigation measure for the privacy intrusion the Corporation is proposing."

The ABC's decision to force iview users to create accounts in order to use the service from 15 March onwards could well lead to suspicion that the broadcaster is being prepared for privatisation and commercial exploitation, the Australian Privacy Foundation says in an open letter to ABC chair Ita Buttrose.

APF chair David Vaile and deputy chair Dr Juanita Fernando [below, right] said in the letter, which was released on the organisation's website on Wednesday, that forcing users to log in to use a service which contained content they had paid for was creating "a non-voluntary online identification scheme of the kind typically justified as supporting the sale of mass psychographic profiling insights to a platforms advertisers".

The ABC announced the compulsory logins in a statement on 17 February, claiming that it would collect user data but would not sell the same. However, the data will be shared with both Google and Facebook.

iview is a service that allows viewers to see programs that have already been broadcast, or, in some cases, which are yet to go to air.

While the ABC had said in the announcement that it would provide a means for users to control sharing of data, Vaile and Fernando said the opt-out involved "a cumbersome and user-hostile process, one apparently designed to be tedious enough that many users will be nudged to give up and not bother".

"This 'opt-out' process is, in our view, unusable, rather than a credible or respectful mitigation measure for the privacy intrusion the Corporation is proposing," they added.

The very notion of opt-out settings sounded like an oxymoron, Vaile and Fernando said, noting that this still meant that mandatory collection of data would take place.

"It is reminiscent of commercial 'opt out' online tracking schemes, which require users not wanting to be tracked by cookies to accept a tracking cookie to mark their choice to opt out, with a user-opaque backend and no way to tell what happened to the retained personal information thereafter," they explained.

They also highlighted the fact that privacy impact assessment of the new measure had been conducted in-house, rather than by an independent expert in an open and consultative manner.

"This flawed approach lacks independence and transparency, compromising the processs rigour," they said. "The usual explanation for this sort of PIA is a prior commitment to implement the plan [a mandatory registration system] anyway, regardless of issues like intrusiveness, threats to privacy, potential to undermine trust, or lack of justification  at worst, a PIA as a box-ticking compliance exercise, rather than as a credible, open investigation of potential impacts and an opportunity to explore alternative ways to achieve necessary effects."

The APF officials questioned why users were not given a choice between creating an optional voluntary account and mandatory involuntary registration.

"It is not essential for audience members to be required to register with the ABC for the broadcaster to analyse usage figures to understand the content, features and kinds of programmes people like. The ABCs usage figures illustrate this already," Vaile and Fernando pointed out.

Further, the data that was collected through an iview account did not necessarily enable analysis of who within a house was watching a specific program, but only that _someone_ was watching, the two APF officials said.

"So the ABCs claim that account-holder information collected and used by these mandatory accounts is necessary to provide a granular view of watcher engagement for programming analysis is not persuasive, and does not demonstrate this intrusion is necessity for improving ABC services for all Australians," they said.

Vaile and Fernando said the registration scheme was a violation of the Commonwealth Privacy Act of 1988, which specified that "individuals must have the option of not identifying themselves, or of using a pseudonym, when dealing with an APP [Australian Privacy Principle] entity [such as the ABC] in relation to a particular matter".

There were only two exceptions:

APP 2.2(a): where "the APP entity is required or authorised by or under an Australian law, or a court/tribunal order, to deal with individuals who have identified themselves", or

APP 2.2(b): where "it is impracticable for the APP entity to deal with individuals who have not identified themselves or used a pseudonym".

The APF officials said neither exception was applicable to the ABCs mandatory registration proposal, which amounted to mandatory identification.

"This thus contravenes every Australians right to choose not to identify themselves except in limited, exceptional circumstances," they added.

Vaile and Fernando questioned what would happen when someone who had no functioning ABC account attempted to access the broadcasters services asking whether such people would be excluded.

In response to the ABC's claim that it had carried out Video On Demand research in 2021 with a sample of 1500 people, and the responses justified the move to mandatory logins, the APF asked for the research methodology, the questions and the responses to be made publicly available.

With regard to privacy and information security, Vaile and Fernando asked whether there was any specific guarantee offered by the ABC that information and metadata collected from users who registered using anonymous or spurious information would not be linked to their account.

"For instance, will Google, Amazon, Facebook/Meta or other foreign commercial online surveillance operators be able to exploit ABC account information or behavioural data traces to add to their own existing psychographic profiling information about users of online services?" they asked.

"We would appreciate any technical details on work done to investigate or address this risk."

The two APF officials concluded by saying, "Taken together these issues suggest the mandatory registration scheme, having been prototyped and considered, should now be set aside."

Contacted for comment, an ABC spokesman said: "Viewers will still be able to watch all the ABCs live broadcast streams on ABC iview web including ABC TV, ABC News, ABC Kids and ABC ME without needing to log in.

"All other ABC television and radio services, and the broader suite of ABC apps, are available without creating an account and logging in."
This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
Jacksonville, TX (75766)

Today

Mostly clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.




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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked a group of high school students to remove their masks at a speech Friday, where he also accused those Tampa-area teens of engaging in COVID theater.

DeSantis was preparing to address a University of South Florida crowd on the issue of cybersecurity education when he noticed several students behind him on stage were wearing masks.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference Wednesday in Tampa. (Chris O'Meara/AP)

You do not have to wear those masks, the governor reportedly said. I mean, please take them off. Honestly, its not doing anything and weve got to stop with this COVID theater. So if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous.

Video of the DeSantis speech shows one student still wearing a mask as the governor spoke. There were seven students in attendance from Middleton High School in Tampa, according to the Hillsborough School District. The school districts superintendent said the district was proud of the students in attendance and excited about the high schools involvement in the states cybersecurity education initiative.

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DeSantis has been firmly opposed to mask mandates, going so far as to endorse measures to penalize schools that implement such directives. The Centers for Disease Control says Layered prevention strategies  like staying up to date on vaccines and wearing masks  can help prevent severe illness and reduce the potential for strain on the health care system.

The coronavirus has killed 70,000 Floridians and more than 950,000 people nationwide, though new COVID cases are trending downward in the U.S. University of Floridas Emerging Pathogens Institute research scientist Thomas Hladish told the Tampa Bay Times in mid-February that he felt comfortable saying infections will return to pre-omicron levels by early March.
Joplin, MO (64801)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain, some heavy early. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of rain, some heavy early. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
The sole police officer charged in the deadly raid on Breonna Taylors apartment was acquitted Thursday.

Brett Hankison, 45, had been charged with wanton endangerment because bullets he fired flew into a neighboring apartment in Louisville, Ky., during the raid on March 13, 2020.

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Myles Cosgrove and Jonathan Mattingly, the two officers who combined to shoot Taylor six times, were never charged with crimes. No one was charged in the killing of Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman.

Brett Hankison gestures while testifying Wednesday. (Timothy D. Easley/AP)

It took the jury about three hours to reach the not-guilty verdict.

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Hankison did not speak after the verdict, but his attorney, Stewart Mathews, said his client was thrilled.

Prosecutors said Hankisons shots, fired from outside the apartment at a different angle than his partners, endangered a family of three that lived in the apartment next to Taylors.

Hankisons defense team said the ex-cop opened fire to defend his colleagues. Hankison took the stand in his own defense Wednesday. He claimed that he saw a muzzle flash from a rifle inside Taylors apartment. No rifle was ever found.

Breonna Taylor was killed during a police raid on her home.

Taylors boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he fired a single warning shot from his legally owned handgun because he believed the officers were intruders whod just busted down his front door. That shot hit Mattingly in the leg, prompting Cosgrove and Mattingly to fire into the apartment.

There were six officers on the scene that night. All those who testified said that they knocked and announced their presence. Walker has said he never heard them. Cosgrove and Mattingly stood at the front of the line outside Taylor and Walkers front door. Hankison stood at the back, according to multiple officers who testified during the trial.

Hankison opened fire through a sliding glass door on the side of the building, shooting 10 bullets. His shots traveled perpendicular to the shots fired by Cosgrove and Mattingly. While several of their shots struck Taylor, Hankisons flew randomly into the apartment. Three traveled through a common wall and into an apartment occupied by Cody Etherton.

Etherton said if the shots changed direction by one or two more inches, he wouldve been killed.

I pretty much knew it was gunfire going through the wall, Etherton testified on the first day of the trial. I do remodeling for a living, so when drywall started hitting my face, I pretty much knew. I hit the floor and went back into the bedroom.

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Judge Ann Bailey Smith decided that understanding the physical structure of the scene was important, so jurors and lawyers took a field trip to the apartment last week. Kentucky state prosecutors solicited testimony for four days before resting their case.

Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. >

Hankisons defense team presented its case in a single day, focused almost entirely on the defendants testimony.

The former cop said he felt he did nothing wrong on the night of the raid, but that Taylor didnt need to die that night.

I knew Sgt. Mattingly was down and I knew (the other officers) were trying to get to him, Hankison said. I thought I could put rounds through that bedroom window and stop the threat.

Hankison said he heard multiple rounds and believed his partners were being executed with this rifle.

The Louisville Metro Police Department fired Hankison in June 2020, saying his rounds created substantial danger for everyone at the scene. Cosgrove, who fired the fatal shot, was also fired. Mattingly retired last year.

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The Justice Department launched an investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department in April 2021.

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A 12-year-old was fatally shot in the back by police officers in Philadelphia, who unleashed gunfire after a bullet ripped through their unmarked car.

The deadly incident unfolded on Tuesday as police responded to social media posts involving a stolen gun. A group of four officers, who were surveilling a south Philadelphia neighborhood, spotted a couple of young males just before 7:30 p.m., one of whom appeared to be carrying a firearm.

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Authorities said they also recognized the older of the two as someone wanted for questioning in connection with the firearms probe.

Officers turned on the emergency lights of their unmarked vehicle and started to approach the pair  thats when they heard gunfire, immediately followed by the sound of glass shattering. According to authorities, the bullet went through the rear passenger windows glass, struck the inner doorframe, and then pierced the passengers headrest before stopping in the vehicles headliner.

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Two officers then exited the vehicle and fired twice, fatally striking one of the suspects in the back. The Philadelphia Police Department identified the victim on Wednesday as Thomas Siderio Jr.

He was rushed to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a few minutes after the shooting.

Thomas Siderio Jr.

One of the four officers was also injured. They were struck by shattered glass in both the face and eye, but have since been released from the hospital.

Philadelphia police said they recovered from the scene a 9MM equipped with a laser, which had previously been reported as stolen. Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Naish on Wednesday said authorities could not definitively say whether Siderio shot into the police vehicle, nor whether he had pointed the weapon at officers as he fled.

While the indications from the medical examiner is that the bullet entered into his back, that does not mean he was fleeing or that there was not a gun being pointed toward or in the vicinity of the officer, Naish said.

It doesnt mean that he wasnt continuing to be a threat to the officer.

A 17-year-old male who was not named was taken into custody in connection with the firearms case but was later released, police said.
TV viewers who like their Russian propaganda made in America will have to settle for Tucker Carlson Tonight.

RT America  a Russian state-funded news affiliate is closing shop in the U.S., according to media industry publication Talkers. The network reportedly informed staffers Thursday that its Washington, D.C.-based operations effective immediately due to the condemnation it is receiving in the United States as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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A Russia's state-controlled Russia Today television broadcast is seen in Moscow on Nov. 11, 2017. (KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)

The announcement came during an all-hands-on-deck staff meeting in the nations capital at noon. Talkers contributor Holland Cooke, who hosted a show on RT, explained that programming was made unnecessary when platforms that carry RT distanced themselves from the outlet.

Weve been canceled, by cable/satellite/online distribution platforms, he wrote Thursday.

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[ We can put Vladimir Putin on trial: Heres how ]

DirecTV and Roku removed RT America from their respective platforms because of Russian aggression. The news sharing platform Reddit declared Wednesday that it would prohibit links to RT and Russian news outlet Sputnik globally. Social media giants Twitter and Meta have also worked to stop the spread of Russian propaganda following its attack on its neighboring nation. YouTube and Google nixed RT as well.

RTs Twitter motto, Freedom over censorship, truth over narrative, echoes the rhetoric over U.S. outlets that have been targeted for spreading misinformation. The Daily Beast reports that Kremlin-backed media has aired excerpts from Fox News broadcasts in the U.S. as propaganda for its Russian audience.

Last week, Fox News host Carlson trivialized tensions between Russia and Ukraine as a border dispute, claimed he had no issues with Russias leader and groused that Democrats in Washington have told you its your patriotic duty to hate Vladimir Putin.

RT has referred to Putins attack on Ukraine as a special operation.
A Ukrainian member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europes monitoring mission was killed in a bombing while collecting supplies for her family, the international body said Wednesday.

Maryna Fenina, a national member of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), died in shelling in Kharkiv Tuesday, the OSCE said in a statement.

Kharkiv, the countrys second city, has come under intense shelling by Russian forces, with police and university buildings bombarded and government offices reduced to rubble.

In Kharkiv and other cities and towns in Ukraine, missiles, shells and rockets are hitting residential buildings and town centers, killing and injuring innocent civilians  women, men and children alike, the OSCE said.

We strongly condemn the increased shelling in urban areas, it added, reiterating its call on the Russian Federation for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

A largely Russian-speaking city of 1.4 million near the border, Kharkiv has been a target of Moscows forces since the invasion last week.

Intense shelling there on Tuesday drew comparisons to the massacres of civilians in Sarajevo in the 1990s and was called a war crime by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Here are the latest developments in Russias war in Ukraine:

 Russian advances in the south 

Russian forces take the Black Sea city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, a significant victory for Moscow after a string of military setbacks.

Russian forces also reportedly surround Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov that sits between Russian-controlled Crimea and breakaway Donbas republics.

 Kharkiv bombarded 

Ukraines second city Kharkiv continues to come under severe Russian shelling, with police and university buildings among the latest struck.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says a member of its Ukraine observer mission died in the shelling.

 Kyiv column stalled 

A senior US defence official says the massive column of Russian military vehicles amassed north of Kyiv has stalled due to fuel and food shortages, and Ukrainian resistance.

 One million flee 

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the UNs refugee agency says, with the number rising rapidly.

 First Russian toll 

Russia says 498 of its troops have been killed in Ukraine, its first declared death toll since President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion a week ago.

The true number of casualties on each side is not known. The UN has recorded 227 civilian deaths.

 War crimes probe 

The International Criminal Courts chief prosecutor says an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine will immediately proceed after his office received the backing of 39 countries.

 Ceasefire talks 

Russia moots the possibility of discussing a ceasefire in talks with Ukraine scheduled for Thursday on the Belarus-Poland border.

 Humanitarian corridors 

Russias Defence Ministry announces so-called humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave the most exposed Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol.

 UN demands Russias withdrawal 

The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopts a resolution demanding Russia immediately withdraw from Ukraine. Moscow wins support from only four other nations  Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria. Its allies China and Cuba abstain.

 Russian jets over Swedish airspace 

The Swedish Armed Forces say that four Russian fighter jets entered Swedens air space to the east of the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea.

 Oligarchs targeted 

The US launches KleptoCapture tasked with the aim of seizing the yachts, private jets and luxury homes of Russian oligarchs.

Chelsea Russian owner Roman Abramovich confirms he will sell the Premier League club, saying it is in its best interest.

 Appeal to Russian mothers 

Ukraines defence ministry invites the mothers of Russian troops captured on the battlefield to come and collect their sons, in an apparent attempt to embarrass Moscow.

 Navalny tells Russians to protest 

Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urges Russians to protest daily against the invasion of Ukraine, saying they should not be a nation of frightened cowards.

 Belarus punished 

The United States follows the EU in targeting Russian ally Belarus with sanctions, choking off its import of technological goods. Washington also hits Russias defence industry.

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The Federation Internationale Feline announced on its website that because of Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine, FIFe has banned Russian cats from international competition until at least June.

The Board of FIFe feels it cannot just witness these atrocities and do nothing, the organization said.

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A Russian blue cat is pictured. (Shutterstock)

It noted that in addition to more than a million people being displaced amid the violence in Eastern Europe, animals are being affected as well. The shocked and horrified federation said it will use part of its budget to help cat fanciers in Ukraine. Its sanction against Russia also prohibit any cat bred in Russia from being registered in any FIFe pedigree book outside the country.

[ Russia suspended from international soccer over Ukraine war after IOC calls for country to be excluded from sports ]

We hope for the sake of our Ukrainian friends that this terrible situation will not last a lot longer and we wish them a lot of courage and good fortune! federation officials added.

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FIFe fancies itself the United Nations of Cat Federations and claims members in 40 countries. According to its website, the federation has been hosting shows since 1949.
Germany has charged a man with being part of an army unit that carried out assassinations on behalf of former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh, prosecutors said on Thursday.

The suspect, a Gambian national named as Bai L., is accused of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder, including the 2004 killing of an AFP journalist.

Bai L. allegedly worked as a driver for a hit squad known as the Junglers between December 2003 and December 2006.

This unit was used by the then president of Gambia to carry out illegal killing orders, among other things with the aim of intimidating the Gambian population and suppressing the opposition, prosecutors in the city of Karlsruhe said.

The tiny West African state was ruled by Jammeh for 22 years before he fled in 2017 after losing a presidential election to Adama Barrow, a relative unknown.

The case is being brought on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows a foreign country to prosecute crimes against humanity, including war crimes and genocide, regardless of where they were committed.

Germany has been particularly active in pursuing such cases linked to the Syrian regime, and in January sentenced a former Syrian colonel to life in jail for crimes against humanity.

Bai L., identified by German media as Bai Lowe, is accused of involvement in the attempted murder of a lawyer in 2003 and the murder in 2004 of a Gambian journalist who had been critical of the government.

The journalist was Deyda Hydara, editor and co-founder of the independent daily The Point and a correspondent for AFP for 30 years.

In a third incident at around 2006, the accused drove members of the unit to a site near Banjul airport where they shot and killed a suspected opponent of the president, the prosecutors said.

The suspect was arrested in Hanover in March 2021 and has since been in pre-trial detention.
Russias invasion of Ukraine has sent energy prices surging, but the oil-rich Gulf monarchies have so far resisted Western pressure to raise output, prioritising their own strategic and economic interests.

The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude topped $115 on Thursday, the highest since 2008, as the war and sanctions against Moscow stoked fears about global supplies.

Russia is the worlds second biggest crude exporter after Saudi Arabia, which is close to Western governments but also to Moscow.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), led by Riyadh and Moscow, failed Wednesday to respond to a call to produce more and faster, despite pressure on the Gulf states in particular.

The group argued that the current volatility is not caused by changes in market fundamentals but by current geopolitical developments, according to a press release.

Gulf countries are testing their ability to have a strategic autonomy, to defend their own national interests, Hasan Alhasan, a Middle East specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told AFP.

The Gulf countries, which had suffered from declines in oil prices since 2014, now seem all the more reluctant to take immediate action as they benefit from the short-term price surge.

If the barrel stays above $100, this will mean that none of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries will face a budget deficit by 2022, wrote researcher Karen Young of the Washington-based Arab Gulf States Institute.

 Keeping Russia 

Amena Baker, an analyst with Energy Intelligence, said that according to OPEC+ there is no physical shortage of crude in the market.

The impact of the Western sanctions against Russias hydrocarbon exports is still unknown, she told AFP.

Baker said the only two OPEC+ countries able to truly open the floodgates are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but that even they would be unable to make up for Russian exports.

Overall our calculations put spare capacity of OPEC+ at 2.5 million barrels per day and thats much less than what Russia exports Russias exports are closer to 4.8 million bpd, she said.

However, producing countries are aware that high prices risk depressing the global economy and accelerating the energy transition away from fossil fuels, at a time of fragile post-Covid recovery.

What is most important for Saudi Arabia is oil price stability, said Alhasan, who added that the kingdom counts on Russias cooperation in this.

The last time Saudi Arabia and Russia clashed over production quotas, it led to a price war and a collapse of prices, he recalled.

Baker agreed that keeping Russia as part of OPEC+ is also seen as very important by member states  Thats the only way to ensure an effective market managing tool in the years to come.

 Stress test 

The International Energy Agency announced Tuesday that member countries would release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves to stabilise global markets.

Half, 30 million barrels, will be released by the United States.

Alhasan said the pressure the United States has exerted on its close Gulf partners has been limited so far, adding that well see if the pressure will increase in the coming days.

According to the analyst, the Gulf countries have said: This isnt our war. A very similar message, by the way, to the one consistently sent by the US to the Gulf states on Yemen over the past several years.

Saudi Arabi and the UAE  close diplomatic and military partners of the United States  have intervened in Yemen since 2015 to support government forces against Huthi rebels, who are backed by Iran.

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi would like stepped-up support from Washington against the rebels, but the US has been reluctant to engage further in a conflict where all parties have been accused of war crimes.

The UAE hosts US troops and has been a strategic partner to Washington for decades, but its ties with Russia have also been growing.

In its current role as holder of the UN Security Councils rotating presidency, the UAE abstained last Friday from voting on a US-Albanian draft resolution condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine.

US-UAE relations now face a stress test, said Yousef al-Otaiba, the Emirati ambassador to the US, but he voiced confidence that we will get out of it and we will get to a better place.
Ukraines leader vowed Thursday that Moscow would be made to pay to rebuild his shattered country, as the warring sides readied for ceasefire talks following the fall of the first major city to Russian forces.

The invasion, now in its eighth day, has driven one million Ukrainians from their homes and plunged Russia into deepening isolation as a global pariah in the worlds of finance, diplomacy and sports.

The UN has opened a probe into alleged war crimes, as the Russian military bombards cities in Ukraine with shells and missiles, forcing civilians to cower in basements.

We will restore every house, every street, every city and we say to Russia: learn the word reparations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement.

You will reimburse us for everything you did against our state, against every Ukrainian, in full, he said.

Zelensky claims thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed since Russian President Vladimir Putin shocked the world by invading Ukraine, purportedly to demilitarise and de-Nazify Western-leaning threat on his borders.

Announcing its own toll for the first time this week, Moscow said it had lost 498 troops, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin would praise their sacrifice at a meeting with his security chiefs later Thursday.

Its a huge tragedy, Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

But we also admire the heroism of our soldiers. Their exploits will enter into the history books, their exploits in the struggle against the Nazis.

The Kremlin has been condemned for likening the government of Zelensky, who is Jewish, to Germanys in World War II.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov kept up a verbal barrage, however, accusing Western politicians of fixating on nuclear war after Putin placed his strategic forces on high alert.

While a long military column appears stalled north of Ukraines capital Kyiv, Russian troops seized Kherson, a Black Sea city of 290,000 people, after a three-day siege that left it short of food and medicine.

Russian troops have been advancing elsewhere on the southern front and are besieging the port city of Mariupol east of Kherson, which is without water or electricity in the depths of winter.

The Russians just wanted to destroy us all, Mariupols mayor Vadym Boychenko said, accusing their forces of attacking residential buildings.

Ukraines military authorities said residential and other areas in the eastern city of Kharkiv had been pounded all night by indiscriminate shelling, which UN prosecutors are investigating as a possible war crime.

Oleg Rubaks wife Katia, 29, was crushed in the rubble of their family home in Zhytomyr, 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Kyiv, by a Russian missile strike.

One minute I saw her going into the bedroom, a minute later there was nothing, Rubak, 32, told AFP, standing stunned and angry amid the ruins in the bitter winter chill.

I hope shes in heaven and all is perfect for her.

He sobbed, apologised, and continued: I want the whole world to hear my story.

 Junk status 

The UN says the war has displaced more than one million people, after Putin launched his offensive in a bid to demilitarise Ukraine and depose Zelenskys Western-leading government.

Protect civilians, for Gods sake, in Ukraine; let us do our job, the UNs emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths told AFP in Geneva.

The Russian president now finds himself an international pariah, his country the subject of swingeing sanctions that sent the ruble into further freefall on currency markets Thursday.

France seized a superyacht owned by a company linked to Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russian energy giant Rosneft and close Putin confidant.

Russias central bank  whose foreign reserves have been frozen in the West  imposed a 30-percent tax on all sales of hard currency, following a run on lenders by ordinary Russians.

The unfolding financial costs were underlined as ratings agencies Fitch and Moodys slashed Russias sovereign debt to junk status.

Swedish furniture giant Ikea became the latest to halt operations in Russia, as well as Belarus, saying nearly 15,000 employees would be affected by the suspension in response to the war.

Moscows sporting isolation worsened as the International Paralympic Committee, staging an abrupt U-turn, banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from the Beijing Winter Games.

The UN General Assembly voted 141-5 to demand that Russia immediately withdraw from Ukraine. Only four countries supported Russia  Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria. China abstained.

The German government is planning to deliver another 2,700 anti-air missiles to Ukraine, a source said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned the human costs were already staggering as he prepared to travel to eastern Europe to coordinate support for Ukraine and ceasefire efforts.

Kyiv is sending a delegation to the ceasefire talks due to start around 1200 GMT at an undisclosed location on the Belarus-Poland border, but has warned it will not accept ultimatums.

A first round of talks on Monday yielded no breakthrough.

 Leaving everything behind 

Many Ukrainians have now fled into neighbouring countries, according to the UN refugee agencys rapidly rising tally.

We left everything there as they came and ruined our lives, refugee Svitlana Mostepanenko told AFP in Prague.

Nathalia Lypka, a professor of German from the eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, arrived in Berlin with her 21-year-old daughter.

My husband and son stayed My husband already served in the army, and he had to return to duty, she said, before boarding a train for Stuttgart where friends were waiting.

Putins invasion has appeared hamstrung by poor logistics, tactical blunders and fierce resistance from Ukraines outgunned military  as well as ever-swelling ranks of volunteer fighters.

Scores of images have emerged of burned-out Russian tanks, the charred remains of transporters and of unarmed Ukrainians confronting bewildered occupation forces.

US officials say the massive column of Russian military vehicles amassed north of Kyiv has stalled due to fuel and food shortages.

Russian authorities have imposed a media blackout on what the Kremlin euphemistically calls a special military operation.

The Ekho Moskvy radio station  a symbol of new-found media freedom in post-Soviet Russia  said it would shut down after being taken off air over its invasion coverage.

But Russians have still turned out for large anti-war protests across the country, in a direct challenge to Putins 20-year rule.

Thousands of anti-war demonstrators have been detained.

I couldnt stay at home. This war has to be stopped, student Anton Kislov, 21, told AFP.

burs-jit/dc/bp

MOODYS CORP.
We welcome the long overdue launch of the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the situation in Ukraine. According to the ICC Prosecutor, as of 2 March 2022, his office had received state referrals from 39 State Parties  an unprecedented show of unity and support for international justice. These referrals allow him to immediately proceed with the collection and preservation of evidence. However, an investigation into an active conflict will require significant resources  both financial and human. We call on all States to increase their financial support to the Court without undue delay, and to support the Prosecutors office with highly qualified military and investigative experts. We also call on the international community to assist civil society in its effort to support the ICC investigation in Ukraine  through funding, expertise and coordination. Previous experience has shown the civil society engagement and cooperation with the ICC is indispensable to effective prosecutions in the Hague.

Enough evidence to support arrest warrants

From the outset of the invasion in 2014, Russian authorities and their proxies have shown utter disregard for human rights and the laws of war. In our view, the ICC has for several years now had enough evidence to support arrest warrants and prosecutions against key perpetrators of international crimes up and down the chain of command  like Igor Girkin (aka Strelkov), the former head of Donetsk separatist forces who terrorised the population of Slavyansk and admitted to extrajudicial executions; Igor Bezler, a former GRU officer implicated in torture and executions in Horlivka; or Sergey Aksyonov, the head of occupying authorities in Crimea under whose authority Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians have been subjected to persecution.

For the past eight years, civil society organisations have meticulously documented war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated on the territory of Ukraine. In February 2014, the Russian government began its invasion of Ukraine, resulting in the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts by Moscow-backed separatists. Shortly afterwards, the ICC launched a preliminary examination of the situation in Ukraine. While the ICC Prosecutor considered an investigation, civil society interviewed thousands of victims of and witnesses to atrocities, documented artillery attacks on civilians through ballistic investigations and satellite imagery, supported victims of brutal torture and sexual violence and identified those most responsible for perpetrating international crimes. All findings have been transmitted to the ICC Prosecutor, as well as national authorities in Ukraine and other European nations.

Documenting todays international crimes

Today, as the Kremlins aggression rages across Ukraine on an unprecedented scale, civil society is once again on the frontline of documentation. Early reports suggest that Russian forces  aided and abetted by the Lukashenko regime in Belarus  are indiscriminately bombing Ukrainian cities with artillery and cluster munitions. Civilian residences, schools, hospitals and key infrastructure have been deliberately targeted and destroyed. Oil and gas storage facilities have been directly targeted, causing unspeakable environmental damage and a humanitarian crisis. Human rights defenders and citizen journalists are documenting these atrocities in the field, in real time and under constant threat of death. Others are interviewing some of the half a million refugees who have fled across the border. An army of IT specialists is scouring open-source intelligence for images, videos and metadata to deconstruct atrocities and identify perpetrators.

On Tuesday 1 March, the city centre of Kharkiv (Ukraine) was the target of intense bombardment, resulting in at least 21 deaths. Here, the square in front of the city hall.  Sergey Bobok / AFP

Our mission is to support the victims and to collect and preserve all available evidence of war crimes to an international judicial standard, with a view to making it available to the ICC and for future international and national justice and accountability efforts. The timely, thorough, and competent collection of credible and reliable evidence must happen at the earliest possible opportunity to preserve an accurate historical record of this unfolding tragedy, and to combat impunity.

The investigation needs money and experts

To succeed in this critical mission, we call on the international community to support the ICC and civil society in our efforts to document international crimes in Ukraine.

The unprecedented move by 39 State parties to refer the Ukraine situation to the ICC is a much needed show of collective support for international justice and Ukrainian victims. Now we ask the international community to put its money where its mouth is. We call on State Parties to substantially increase funding for the Office of the ICC Prosecutor. Inadequate funding for this crucial institution does not match up with the importance of its role and global reach, undermining the entire project of international justice. In addition to budget, the ICC will need a significant increase in its pool of experienced investigators, military and ballistics experts, trauma specialists and Russian/Ukrainian interpreters. We call on State Parties to identify and second these human resources to the Court free of charge.

Further, we call on the international community to help civil society support the ICC investigation. Civil society has been and remains on the frontline of the documentation efforts. In parallel to the ICC investigation, civil society will continue to play a crucial role in identifying, liaising with and representing victims and witnesses, and gathering evidence in locations beyond the Courts reach  in Ukrainian towns under bombardment or occupation as well as in Russia and Belarus. To this end, civil society needs additional funding, expertise, and coordination to ensure our effectiveness and support for the ICCs investigation. The international community has shown willingness to punish the Kremlin and its enablers for this war of aggression, now it must invest in justice to identify and punish those responsible for war crimes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed no let-up in his invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, even as the warring sides met for ceasefire talks and Kyiv appealed for relief supplies to reach shattered cities.

After the fall of a first major Ukrainian city to Russian forces, Putin appeared in no mood to heed a global clamour for an end to hostilities as the war entered its second week.

Russia intends to continue the uncompromising fight against militants of nationalist armed groups, Putin said, according to a Kremlin account of a call with French President Emmanuel Macron.

But Ukraine insisted that corridors for medical and other supplies were the bare minimum it expected, as negotiators arrived for the talks at an undisclosed location on the Belarus-Poland border.

A first round of talks on Monday yielded no breakthrough, and Kyiv says it will not accept any Russian ultimatums.

Putin, however, said any attempts to slow the talks process would only lead to additional demands on Kyiv in our negotiating position.

For his part, Macron said he feared that worse is to come in the conflict and condemned Putins lies, according to an aide.

The invasion, now in its eighth day, has created a refugee exodus and turned Russia into a global pariah in the worlds of finance, diplomacy and sports.

The UN has opened a probe into alleged war crimes, as the Russian military bombards cities in Ukraine with shells and missiles, forcing civilians to cower in basements.

We will restore every house, every street, every city and we say to Russia: learn the word reparations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video statement.

You will reimburse us for everything you did against our state, against every Ukrainian, in full, he said.

 Just like Leningrad 

Zelensky claims thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed since Putin shocked the world by invading Ukraine, purportedly to demilitarise and de-Nazify a Western-leaning threat on his borders.

Moscow says it has lost 498 troops and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin would praise their sacrifice at a meeting with his security chiefs.

Its a huge tragedy, Peskov told reporters in Moscow.

But we also admire the heroism of our soldiers. Their exploits will enter into the history books, their exploits in the struggle against the Nazis.

The Kremlin has been condemned for likening the government of Zelensky, who is Jewish, to that of Germany in World War II.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov kept up a verbal barrage, accusing Western politicians of fixating on nuclear war after Putin placed his strategic forces on high alert.

While a long military column appears stalled north of Ukraines capital Kyiv, Russian troops seized Kherson, a Black Sea city of 290,000 people, after a three-day siege that left it short of food and medicine.

Russian troops have been advancing elsewhere on the southern front and are besieging the port city of Mariupol east of Kherson, which is without water or electricity in the depths of winter.

They are trying to create a blockade here, just like in Leningrad, Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko said, referring to the siege of Russias second largest city, since re-named Saint Petersburg, by Nazi Germanys invading army in World War II.

Ukrainian military authorities said residential and other areas in the eastern city of Kharkiv had been pounded all night by indiscriminate shelling, which UN prosecutors are investigating as a possible war crime.

Oleg Rubaks wife Katia, 29, was crushed in the rubble of their family home in Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, by a Russian missile strike.

One minute I saw her going into the bedroom. A minute later there was nothing, Rubak, 32, told AFP, standing stunned and angry amid the ruins in the bitter winter chill.

I hope shes in heaven and all is perfect for her, he said, adding through tears, I want the whole world to hear my story.

 Junk status 

The war has displaced more than one million people, according to the United Nations. The bodys aid chief pleaded on Thursday for civilians in Ukraine to be protected and for humanitarian aid to enter unhindered. Protect civilians, for Gods sake, in Ukraine; let us do our job, emergency relief coordinator Martin Griffiths told AFP in Geneva.

The UNs International Atomic Energy Agency urged Russia to cease all actions at Ukraines nuclear facilities, including the site of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Putin now finds himself an international outcast, his country the subject of swingeing sanctions that sent the ruble into further freefall on currency markets on Thursday.

Russias central bank  whose foreign reserves have been frozen in the West  imposed a 30-percent tax on all sales of hard currency, following a run on lenders by ordinary Russians.

The unfolding financial costs were underlined as ratings agencies Fitch and Moodys slashed Russias sovereign debt to junk status.

Turmoil deepened on markets more broadly. European stocks slid and oil prices approached $120 per barrel.

Swedish furniture giant Ikea became the latest to halt operations in Russia, as well as Belarus.

Russias sporting isolation worsened as it lost the right to host Formula One races. And the International Paralympic Committee, in a U-turn, banned Russians and Belarusians from the Beijing Winter Games.

The UN General Assembly voted 141-5 to demand that Russia immediately withdraw from Ukraine. Only four countries supported Russia  Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria. China abstained.

Europe stepped up practical support as well as diplomatic. The German government is planning to deliver another 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, a source said.

 Leaving everything behind 

Many Ukrainians have now fled into nearby countries, according to the UN refugee agencys rapidly rising tally.

We left everything there as they came and ruined our lives, refugee Svitlana Mostepanenko told AFP in Prague.

Nathalia Lypka, a professor of German from the eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, arrived in Berlin with her 21-year-old daughter.

My husband and son stayed My husband already served in the army, and he had to return to duty, she said, before boarding a train for Stuttgart where friends were waiting.

Putins invasion has appeared hamstrung by poor logistics, tactical blunders and fierce resistance from Ukraines outgunned military  as well as its ever-swelling ranks of volunteer fighters.

Scores of images have emerged of burned-out Russian tanks, the charred remains of transporters and of unarmed Ukrainians confronting bewildered occupation forces.

US officials say the massive column of Russian military vehicles amassed north of Kyiv has stalled due to fuel and food shortages.

Russian authorities have imposed a media blackout on what the Kremlin euphemistically calls a special military operation.

The Ekho Moskvy radio station  a symbol of new-found media freedom in post-Soviet Russia  said it would shut down after being taken off air over its invasion coverage.

But Russians have still turned out for large anti-war protests across the country, in a direct challenge to Putins 20-year rule.

Thousands of anti-war demonstrators have been detained.

I couldnt stay at home. This war has to be stopped, student Anton Kislov, 21, told AFP.

burs-jit/dc/gil

MOODYS CORP.
Disgraced Peruvian former president Alberto Fujimori was rushed to hospital from prison after suffering from a heart problem, his doctor told AFP on Thursday.

The 83-year-old, who is serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity committed during his presidency, underwent heart surgery in October.

He decompensated at seven in the morning and started experiencing an irregular heartbeat, said Dr. Alejandro Aguinaga.

Fujimoris condition has since stabilized, Aguinaga added, noting the irregular heartbeat was linked to the ex-presidents operation five months ago, when he had a catheterization and a stent fitted after suffering from a racing heartbeat.

His daughter Keiko Fujimori said at the time that one of his arteries was 70 percent obstructed.

Fujimori  president from 1990 to 2000  was jailed in 2007 but has long suffered from breathing and neurological problems, as well as hypertension.

His family has appealed to courts several times to release him on health grounds.

Fujimori was jailed over two massacres committed by army death squads in 1991 and 1992, in which 25 people, including a child, were killed in a supposed anti-terrorist operation.
The mayor of Vilnius said Thursday the Lithuanian capital will name the small road leading up to the Russian embassy Ukrainian Heroes Street to send a clear message to the Kremlin.

The move comes as Russias offensive against its pro-Western neighbour entered its second week.

Calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a Nazi, Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Simasius said we want to tell him that Ukrainians really exist and that their society are the true heroes.

That street plate on the Russian embassy will remind Putin that The Hague awaits him, he told AFP, referring to The International Criminal Court which prosecutes those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The International Criminal Court in the Hague has already begun investigating possible war crimes in Ukraine. Lithuanian prosecutors have also launched their own probe.

The embassy currently takes its address from nearby Latvian Street, whose name will not change. Instead a hitherto nameless smaller road leading straight to the embassy will acquire the Ukrainian moniker.

Simasius said the city council will adopt the change next week.

The business card of every staff member of the Russian embassy will now have to honour Ukrainian heroes, he wrote on Facebook.

He added on Twitter that he suspects the postal service will not necessarily deliver the letters if the address is given incorrectly.

This will not be the first time Vilnius has used signs to get their point across to Russia.

In 2018, the city renamed a square outside the embassy after Boris Nemtsov, a prominent opposition figure gunned down near the Kremlin a few years earlier by unknown assailants.

Lithuania and fellow Baltic states Estonia and Latvia are all small EU and NATO members that have long been wary of Russia, their Soviet-era master.

Fearing Russia will target it next if Ukraine falls, the Lithuanian government has said it will increase defence spending to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product this year, up from just over 2 percent at the moment.

saj-amj/pvh

Meta
No large industry on earth is increasing in size as quickly as the emerging international cannabis industry.

Cannabis is still prohibited in more countries than it is legal for medical or recreational use. However, the ratio becomes more favorable with every passing year.

Even in countries where cannabis laws were reformed and the legal industry currently operates, laws, rules, and regulations are evolving.

The legal industry is just scraping the surface from a job-creation standpoint, although that doesnt mean that a significant number of legal cannabis jobs dont already exist.

United States and Canada

Two economic analysis reports were recently released that both explored the number of legal cannabis industry jobs, with one focusing on Canada and the other on the United States.

Canada legalized cannabis for adult use at the national level in late 2018, becoming the first G-7 nation to do so.

Cannabis remains prohibited at the federal level in the United States. However, dozens of states have legalized cannabis for medical and/or adult use and are home to thriving state-level cannabis industries.

According to consulting firm DeloitteCanadas legal cannabis industry now sustains over 90,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the United States now sustains over 428,000 legal cannabis industry jobs.

Exponential Growth

In addition to creating over 90,000 jobs, Canadas cannabis industry has generated over $11 billion in sales since late 2018.

Colorado was the first state to launch legal adult-use sales in the US back in 2014. In just 2020 and 2021 alone, Colorado brought in over $2 billion from cannabis taxes and fees each year.

As Canada continues to increase cannabis product exports to other countries, more jobs, tax revenues, and boosts to local economies will be created.

Current numbers suggest the same will happen in the United States as it continues to move towards a nationally legalized industry.
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A judge in Texas on Wednesday temporarily blocked the state from investigating the parents of a transgender kid, just days after an order issued by the governor directed state agencies to treat gender-affirming care for trans youth as child abuse.

The ruling by the Travis County District Court came a day after the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the ACLU, and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of two parents and their 16-year-old daughter, identified in court papers as Mary Doe.

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District Judge Amy Clark Meachum wrote that the family faces the imminent and ongoing deprivation of their constitutional rights, the potential loss of necessary medical care, and the stigma attached to being the subject of an unfounded child abuse investigation.

Last week, the states Republican governor, Greg Abbott, ordered state agencies to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation into gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

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His directive came just days after the states attorney general, Ken Paxton, issued an opinion stating that such procedures and treatments could legally constitute child abuse when performed on minor children.

Adri Perez, left, ACLU of Texas Policy and Advocacy Strategist, hugs Rebecca Marques, Human Rights Campaign Texas State Director, at a rally in support of transgender children and their families at the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday March 2, 2022. (Jay Janner/AP)

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services announced that it would follow the directive. The trans kids family then filed a lawsuit asking a judge to block the DFPS from investigating them.

We are relieved that  at least for now  the threat of a child abuse investigation is no longer hanging over the heads of the family members in this case, Paul Castillo, Lambda Legal senior counsel, told the Daily News in a statement.

It is unconscionable for DFPS to still pursue any investigation or inflict more trauma and harm. We look forward to continuing the fight for all Texas families, he added.

The court limited the ruling to an investigation into the parents named in the lawsuit. However, a hearing scheduled for March 11 will look into whether the governor, commissioner, and DFPSs actions should be blocked more broadly.

UPDATE: The Travis County District Court has GRANTED a temporary restraining order to BLOCK the state from investigating the parents of a trans teenager for providing essential, life-saving health care or taking any action against the mandatory reporter in our case.  ACLU of Texas (@ACLUTx) March 3, 2022

This is a critical victory and an important first step in stopping these egregious and illegal actions from Texas officials. We are relieved for our plaintiffs and ready to keep fighting to stop the governor, commissioner, and DFPS from inflicting further harm on trans people and their families and communities across Texas, said Chase Strangio, deputy director for trans justice with the ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project.

Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. >

Last week, district attorneys of five of the states most populated counties  Dallas, Bexar, Travis, Fort Bend and Nueces  strongly condemned Abbott and Paxtons anti-trans and life-threatening directives.

We are deeply disturbed by Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxtons cruel directives treating transgender childrens access to life-saving, gender-affirming care as child abuse, the DAs wrote in an open letter.

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This is part of a continued onslaught on personal freedoms. Elected officials should be protecting our most vulnerable. These two, instead, want to irrationally target and restrain children seeking medical assistance  and force caregivers to participate, they added.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (Eric Gay/AP)

A recent survey published by The Trevor Project, the worlds largest organization on suicide prevention for LGBTQ and questioning youth, found that more than half (52%) of transgender and nonbinary youth seriously considered suicide in the past year.

Another research found that transgender and nonbinary youth who have accepting parents and/or access to gender-affirming care report lower rates of attempting suicide. Additionally, access to gender-affirming medical care has been found to be significantly linked to lower rates of depression, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth.

We are relieved for the moment to see the District Court of Travis County place a temporary hold on the unlawful child abuse investigations into Texas parents and healthcare professionals who support transgender and nonbinary youth, Sam Ames director of advocacy and government affairs for The Trevor Project, told The News in an email.

The Trevor Project remains steadfast in its position that this guidance is invalid and unconstitutional. We are optimistic that judges will continue to see the governors action for what it truly is  a politically-motivated opinion that will only pit the government against loving families, teachers against students, doctors against patients, and neighbors against neighbors, they added.
Due to his consistent achievements in and out of his homeland South Korea, "Squid Game" lead star Lee Jung Jae is gaining massive recognition from fans and critics around the world.

Read further for more details.

Lee Jung Jae Hailed Best Actor at 2022 SAG Awards

ALSO READ: Lee Jung Jae Receives Special Gift from Netflix After Winning SAG Awards 2022 Best Actor

Lee Jung Jae recently made history after he won the Best Actor trophy at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) last February 28 in the U.S. Due to the global success of Neflix's original series "Squid Game," where he showcased his brilliant acting skills, he gained recognition from different parts of the world and international award-giving bodies.

Why is Lee Jung Jae the Next Rising Hollywood Star?

Lee Jung Jae succeeded in directing his global gaze toward himself. In fact, according to the report released by a famous media outlet, Lee Jung Jae is hailed as a "new star in the cultural world" by New York Times in the US.

On February 25, Lee Jung Jae signed an exclusive contract with one of the biggest agencies in U.S., Creative Artists Agency (CAA), home to top Hollywood stars Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Merrill Streep, and Ryan Gosling.

This doesn't only mean he will be active under CAA as actor but, according to his company, Artist Company, he "will not only be active as an actor, but also as a producer and a director."

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN: Chae Jong Hyeop & Park Ju Hyun Showcase Chemistry in New 'The Speed Going to You is 493km' Teaser

As the "Chief of Staff" star is multi-skilled, he is slated to have his directorial debut with the movie "Hunt". Not only that but he is also the co-owner of Artist Company with fellow actor and best friend Jung Woo Sung. Currently, it houses some of the brightest stars in South Korea, such as Go Ara, Esom, Cho Yi Hyun, and Jung Woo Sung and Lee Jung Jae themselves.

The superstar is expected to be active as producer and director as well as learning in the overseas market.

Interest also comes from the fashion world. In November 2021, the award-winning actor was introduced as a global ambassador for luxury brand Gucci and appeared in the main global campaign video for the first time as a Korean actor. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Snoop Dogg, Miley Cyrus, Jared Leto and Vinny Feldstein.

What are your thoughts about Lee Jung Jae's latest achievements? Share your comments with us!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Shai Collins wrote this. Kdramastars owns this article.
A special poster of the Netflix hit series "Juvenile Justice" starring Kim Hye Soo, Kim Moo Yeol, Lee Sung Min and Lee Jung Eun has been released!

The court drama continuously receives praise and acclaim for its top notch performances and vivid, sincere message.

Kim Hye Soo's 'Juvenile Justice' Unveils Special Poster

Netflix series "Juvenile Justice" starring Kim Hye Soo, Kim Moo Yeol, Lee Sung Min and Lee Jung Eun depicts the stories of the judges at the juvenile court who give just punishments to unbelievably young offenders.

It centers around judge Shim Eun Seok, played by Kim Hye Soo, a juvenile judge who has a distinct hatred for juvenile criminals.

"Juvenile Justice" was released on February 25 and has been receiving since then, capturing the hearts of viewers of all ages.

Following its huge success, "Juvenile Justice" released a special poster including the four respected judges at the juvenile court-Shim Eun Seok (Kim Hye Soo), Cha Tae Joo (Kim Moo Yeol), Kang Won Jung (Lee Sung Min) and Na Geun Hee (Lee Jung Eun).

In the newly released poster, the four judges stop in the center of the busy street, contemplating which direction to go.

The people who pass by them and Baek Seong U (Lee Yeon) who look up at the sky bring the viewers back to the drama, giving a new sense of perspective.

The poster that includes the four juvenile judges conveys the message of the "judgment" they brought upon the young offenders, that realistic concerns continue even after the trials are over.

Meanwhile, the lauded megahit series has a sincere and delicate message that is timely and relevant to society.

"Juvenile Justice," which attracts attention from all over the world, is available for online streaming on Netflix.

'Juvenile Justice' Tops Netflix Global Charts

According to the daily chart released by Flix Patrol, Netflix series "Juvenile Justice" takes a spot on the top 10 series with 190 points, next to the Spanish drama "Toy Boy" with 115 points.

With its impeccable plot and outstanding performances from Kim Hye Soo, Kim Moo Yeol, Lee Sung Min and Lee Jung Eun, "Juvenile Justice" currently tops television shows in three countries including Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Kim Hye Soo's Silver Screen Comeback With 'Smugglers'

After two years, Kim Hye Soo returned to the small screen. The actress led the hit series "Juvenile Series" that generated buzz even after a week since its release.

Kim Hye Soo is now gearing up to return to the big screen with her newest action crime film "Smugglers" along with Jo In Sung, Yeom Jung Ah, Go Min Si and more.

Moreover, she is also currently in talks to headline the forthcoming historical drama "Umbrella," where she is set to take on the role of Im Hwa Ryung, the King's wife and mischievous crown prince's mother.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Russia's bombardment of residential areas in Ukraine has forced more than one million refugees to flee the country, according to the United Nations, as fierce fighting continues into its second week, and pictured here, people fleeing Ukraine on March 2, in Berlin, Germany.
CNN's Tim Lister and Olga Voitovych reported from Kyiv, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Xiaofei Xu, Anaelle Jonah, Michael Conte, Nathan Hodge, Nick Paton Walsh, Natalie Gallon, Vasco Cotovio, Katharina Krebs, Nada Bashir and John Berman contributed to this report.
The reservation system that is the backbone of airlines around the world terminated its agreement with Russia's largest airline, Aeroflot.
Texas U.S. Rep Van Taylor will not seek reelection after admitting to a 2021 affair  reportedly with a former ISIS bride.

The Republican congressman confessed to infidelity Wednesday in an email to supporters obtained by the Texas Tribune.

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About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world, the 49-year-old Plano rep wrote. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life. I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters.

Rep. Van Taylor (R-Texas) listens during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 22, 2020. (Caroline Brehman/AP)

Right-wing media outlet Breitbart News posted a story one day before Taylors Tuesday primary alleging the lawmaker had paid $5,000 hush money to a woman with whom he had a fling between November 2020 and June 2021. That woman, Tania Joya, reportedly verified the relationship for Breitbart and shared a dirty text from the congressman.

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Joya has been dubbed an ISIS Bride because she married a member of that Islamic terror group when she was 19 years old and living in London. The pair moved to Syria, which she fled in 2013, pregnant with the couples fourth child.

Taylor did not address claims regarding Joya, which the Tribune could not verify.

[ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asks students to take off masks before his speech ]

He finished Tuesdays five-way primary with 49% of the vote, which left him just short of avoiding a runoff with a former judge, who is favored to now win the seat. That judge, Keith Self, ran against Taylor by criticizing his choice to certify President Bidens win in the 2020 election without a full forensic audit.

A spokesperson told the Tribune that Taylor will remove his name from the ballot by the March 16 deadline to do so.

The outgoing congressman is an Iraq War veteran who attended Harvard University. Hes been married since 2004.
Children Vlada, left, Katrin and Danilo look out from a window of an unheated train carriage of an emergency evacuation train which is travelling from Kharkov to Lviv, as it stopped in the Kyiv railway station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Dubchak)
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One year ago, the FDA granted emergency use authorization of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S., and nearly 549 million total vaccine doses have been given since. These vaccines have been safe, effective methods in preventing infection and death from COVID-19.

Vaccine recipients had a lower overall risk of death from non-COVID-19 disease compared to unvaccinated counterparts.

Among available vaccines, mRNA products have been the most effective against COVID-19 and its variants. The benefits of vaccination, especially with mRNA technology, should not be limited to wealthy countries. With over 5.86 million COVID-19 deaths globally, less-vaccinated countries cannot wait to gain sufficient vaccine availability. They should also not have to wait for donated support. It is vital to share vaccine technology with the world to save more lives, not just the lives of Americans.

Moderna, the much younger company of the two mRNA vaccine producers, had a major stock crash this month as insiders cashed out on pandemic profits amid vaccine sale declines and subsiding Omicron cases. While Pfizer has experienced stock declines, albeit less steep, both companies trailing gross profits remain between $10 million for Moderna and $50 million for Pfizer.

A central contention to Pfizer and Moderna sharing mRNA technology is that other countries do not have the resources to follow the advanced, lengthy protocol to produce the vaccine. This, however, is not proven.

Doctors without Borders, with the help of AccessIBSA, has identified over 100 manufacturers in Asia, South America and Africa that have the baseline needs to produce an mRNA vaccine.

On the moral front, this is not the first time in history where a U.S.-based pharmaceutical company was called to action to place people over profit.

While in graduate school for public health, I analyzed a case study with my peers. A major American pharmaceutical company, Merck, could cure river blindness in several countries, but the drug would not garner profits. Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is a parasitic disease that was causing agricultural communities to become blind and devastating peoples ability to care and provide for their families.

Painfully aware of the systems of capitalistic health care in the U.S., most of my classmates suspected the company would minimally intervene, if at all. Thankfully, that was incorrect.

In 1987, Merck pledged to donate Mectizan, a drug that cures river blindness, for as long as it was needed until the disease was no longer a threat to over 300 million people in 49 countries. The program is over 30 years old and remains as an ongoing triumph of pharmaceutical leadership.

Some may be quick to cite that the U.S. has donated over 140 million vaccine doses to other countries, with at least 1.1 billion doses pledged by 2023 during the Global Summit to End COVID-19.

Many of these vaccines are from Pfizer and Moderna, however, they were not free. The U.S. had to purchase vaccines from each company to then donate to the global campaign. While exact amounts were not disclosed, the original agreement with Pfizer in June of 2020 was $1.95 billion for 100 million vaccines, or $19.50 per dose. Countries with low vaccine availability, therefore, are largely at the discretion of vaccine production and shipping times from only the facilities that currently operate.

Financially, Moderna had a $3.3 billion net income in November 2021, which added 3 executives to Forbes 400 richest Americans list. It employs over 1,800 people with a net worth of $59 billion. Pfizer had $83.1 billion as total 2021 revenue, employs over 10,000 people, and has a net worth of $272 billion.

Stocks for both companies are currently experiencing market falls, but each can afford to share the life-saving technology and the subsequent trade agreements that would likely be enforced. Both companies received billions in government and private funding for the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, excluding additional profits from other COVID-19-related products.

While the U.S. has over 64% of its total population fully vaccinated, and over 75% of its population has at least one dose of an EUA-approved vaccine, the 50 least wealthy countries have access to only 6.3% of total available vaccine products.

If multiple countries have the capacity to produce vaccines within their own borders, time is wasted waiting for Pfizer and Moderna to produce enough vaccines to reach all corners of the world.

The World Health Organization launched a vaccine equity campaign in the winter of 2021, underscoring the immediate need to better distribute COVID-19 vaccinations globally. The pandemic will not end without sufficient global vaccination.

Pfizer has a particular onus to help intervene globally as one of the largest and most profitable pharmaceutical companies in the world. With its immense capital power, Pfizer should shift some of their spending from national ads promoting their vaccine product in a country that has large booster vaccine availability to sharing the technology that can help countries self-produce and vaccinate their citizens much faster.

Even if new production facilities had delays from receiving the mRNA technology protocol to production, the months spent toward self-producing could be expediting vaccine receipt for countries otherwise waiting until the end of 2022 for donated vaccines.

In a pandemic that is approaching six million global deaths, time is the most valuable resource in fulfilling vaccine equity. Countries cannot wait to save lives while wealthy pharmaceutical companies gatekeep vital technology.

Amber Gipson-Fine is a project manager.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
There is a Hope Primary School in Beihong Village, Beiji Town, Mohe City, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Since March 2006, a border company of the Army under the PLA Northern Theater Command has successively sent five soldiers to this remote primary school as volunteer teachers.

In March 2006, Beihong Village, a remote area with 136 kilometers away from the nearest county, had no post service, no electricity and no roads. One day, soldier Song Hongju went to the school to participate in voluntary work, and the dilapidated tables and chairs in the classroom, extremely scarce teachers, and the tough learning conditions grieved him.

After careful consideration, Song Hongju applied to the company to volunteer to teach at the school and became the school's first "soldier teacher". Because he had to participate in the company's duty and training every day, Song could only compress his rest time in the evening to prepare lessons and arranged his annual vacation time during the school's winter and summer vacations to teach the pupils there.

Volunteer teachers from the border defense company hold a flag-raising ceremony with students in the Hope Primary School.

Qin Guoqiang, the company instructor, introduced that when Song met children who dropped out of school due to family difficulties, he would persuade their parents repeatedly, and used his allowances to buy stationery and exercise books for the children in a bid to reduce their financial burden as much as possible.

Song's selfless behavior moved the villagers very much. Several parents brought back their children who were already in elementary school in the county. They all said, "We can rest assured because we trust our 'soldier teacher'!"

The second "soldier teacher" Xiao Shuai celebrates birthday for children with a cake bought from the county more than 100 kilometers away.

Since then, more soldier teachers have taken over Song Hongju's job, including Hou Guoqing, a soldier from the Tsinghua University.

For better teaching, Hou Guoqing made the teaching contents into vivid and interesting PowerPoint presentations, which made the children who had been accustomed to chalk and blackboard more interested in learning. During recess, Hou and the students talked with his teachers and classmates at the Tsinghua University via video link and listened to their campus stories.

The current "soldier teacher" Dong Chao plays Gomoku with students.

In addition to the classroom teaching, the company also organized a variety of educational activities for the children including the joining ceremony of the young pioneers before the boundary marker and picnics on Children's Day.

In the past 16 years, 50 students from Beihong Village got out of the mountains through the efforts of five soldier teachers, 17 of whom were admitted to the university and were able to see the wonderful world outside. Wang Zhonglei, the principal of the Hope Primary School, said that four graduates, as far as he knew, have followed in the footsteps of soldier teachers and joined the Chinese military.
The latest stop on Andrew Cuomos attempted comeback tour was a Manhattan lunch with a fellow former governor whos no stranger to scandal.

Cuomo was spotted laughing and dining Thursday at Midtowns Fresco by Scotto with ex-New Jersey leader Chris Christie.

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Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pictured leaving Fresco by Scotto in Manhattan, New York on Thursday, March 3, 2022. Gov. Cuomo had lunch with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

The pair of ex-pols, both looking to revive stalled political careers clouded by controversy, exited the 52nd St. restaurant separately after wrapping up their hour-long sit-down. Neither shared any details about their discussion.

Christie, a Republican who led the Garden State for two terms from 2010 to 2018, quickly clammed up when asked what the duo chatted about, instead opting to glad-hand fellow patrons on his way out of the dining room.

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Cuomo similarly kept a relatively tight lip.

The food was great, he said with a broad smile. It was just a lot of fun.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is pictured leaving Fresco by Scotto in Manhattan, New York on Thursday, March 3, 2022. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Asked about persistent rumors he may be eyeing a run for attorney general, he responded with a firm no.

Cuomo resigned from office last August after a blistering report from Attorney General Letitia James office laid out multiple allegations of sexual harassment against the former Democratic darling.

The report detailed accusations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavior from nearly a dozen women, including former staffers and a state trooper assigned to Cuomos security detail.

Despite stepping down, Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing. A spokesman and his legal team have painted James investigation and subsequent report as a political hit job.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is pictured leaving Fresco by Scotto in Manhattan, New York on Thursday, Thursday, March 3, 2022. Gov. Cuomo had lunch with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Local prosecutors who have investigated the claims outlined by James team found the victims credible but declined to pursue criminal charges against the ex-governor, leading Cuomo to claim he has since been vindicated.

The pow-wow with Christie comes days after Cuomo launched an ad blitz focused on revamping his tarnished image and painting himself as the true victim.

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He may have a log way to go to win back the hearts and minds of New Yorkers. A recent Siena College poll found Cuomo had an abysmal 33% favorability rating and more than 80% of voters believe he did the right thing by resigning.

[ Former N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo launches television ad aimed at clearing name ]

Cuomo was also seen dining publicly earlier this year with Mayor Adams last month.

While Cuomo and Christie kept mum about their conversation, the two may have commiserated over their shared dislike of federal prosecutors.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is pictured leaving Fresco by Scotto in Manhattan, New York on Thursday, March 3, 2022. Gov. Christie had lunch with former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News)

Cuomo has publicly accused Joon Kim, a former federal prosecutor who led James independent harassment probe, of bias against him.

Christie has similarly shared grievances, accusing federal lawyers of torpedoing his 2016 presidential aspirations after charging top aides over the infamous Bridgegate scandal.

The Supreme Court later overturned the convictions of two top Christie aides who were accused of shutting down access lanes from Fort Lee, New Jersey, to the George Washington Bridge in 2013 in retaliation for the towns mayor refusing to endorse Christies reelection bid.

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While Cuomos future ambitions remain unclear, Christie, who served as an adviser and ally to former president Donald Trump, is rumored to be eyeing another shot at the White House in 2024.

He has recently sought to distance himself from Trump, criticizing his fellow Republican over the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and, this past week, questioning the former commander-in-chiefs praise of Russian president Vladimir Putin.
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- There's an exciting update in a moving scam case that started in Corvallis.

A woman moving to Tampa, Florida, made it to her new home only for the movers to demand a ransom for her belongings. When she refused to pay to find out where her things were, she said they put it up for auction.

And now, the KEZI 9 News report from Feb. 28 about her struggles has led to a moving scandal miracle.

"My ex calls me, tells me about you guys. I call you; we do an interview; it gets played. This guy evidently saw it on the news. Why would he be watching Oregon news?" said victim Carol Berning.

Carol said the Extra Space Storage owner in Tampa called her after seeing the story on KEZI 9 News.

"We've got your stuff; you want to come and get it? And I'm just like, 'What, really?'" Berning said.

There are a number of irreplaceable items in that storage unit, but Berning said she's most looking forward to holding her father's memorial flag again.

"I can't wait to see my stuff and to actually get it home, and so my life can go on. It feels like half of my life just got ripped away from me by these people," Berning said.

Even though she's getting her stuff back, she said justice has yet to be served.

"Just because I got my stuff back does not mean that these guys are off the hook. I want justice for all the families who have been taken advantage of," Berning said.

Berning encourages people never to give up. Even if you're a moving scam victim spanning 3,000 miles, she said it's important to keep calling around to local storage companies and stay on top of the investigation.

"You're going to get your stuff back. Have faith. Hang in there; it's going to happen," Berning said.

A spokesperson for Extra Space Storage told KEZI if they are aware of anything suspicious with a unit or auction, they immediately take action to resolve any issues. They said this was certainly a happy day in the office because it brought Carol and her belongings back together.
Looking to update your home? Watch the KHQ Spring Home Design Guide featuring the areas top home improvement businesses on Sat, May 7 at 4:30pm on KHQ. And click here to win a $500 VISA gift card, courtesy of our presenting partner - VPC Electric!
Tipperary's The 2 Johnnies have confirmed they will be back on RTE 2FM in two weeks' time.

The pair made the announcement on Tuesday evening that they will return to the airwaves on Monday, March 14.

They added: "Thank you for yer support everyone."

See the full statement below:

Johnny McMahon and Johnny O'Brien previously issued an apology through a statement after Holly Cairns TD claimed some of their content was "virulently sexist".

The Social Democrats Deputy was quoted in the Irish Independent to condemn the inclusion of sexist slogans from car stickers which were included in teaser clips for the duo's new RTE 2FM show, Drive It, which started this week.

The video has since been deleted but made reference to slogans the pair shared with the thousands of listeners to their separate podcast series. The comments or content was not aired at any stage on 2FM.

The pair have been off air pending a review by RTE into a video with offensive comments about women is completed, the broadcaster had said.

In a statement on Tuesday night, The 2 Johnnies said: "We would like to thank 2FM for working through this with us," as they confirmed that they would return to do the show on March 14.

Drive It with The 2 Johnnies will return on that date.
Business to Arts launched the call for Kilkenny nominations for the 30th annual Business to Arts Awards (2022) to join previous local winners, MacDonagh Junction Shopping Centre and Ani Mollereau for Kilkenny Famine Experience Sculpture, recipients of the Jim McNaughton Perpetual Award for Best Commissioning Practice (2018).

The Awards, now in its 30th year, champion businesses, artists and arts organisations across the country that work together in areas such as sponsorship, commissioning, philanthropy and CSR programmes, and more. 2022 is a landmark year in the Awards history and also represents the highest level of monetary support to the arts offered with 25,000 available through bursaries and awards across the country.

The Awards celebrate the power of partnerships between two sectors that can generate learning, wellbeing, joy and innovation during times of hardship.

At the awards launch, Business to Arts and the awards partners encouraged businesses and philanthropists to look to the cultural sector for inspiration and support in providing engaging, insightful and enjoyable experiences both within and outside of the workplace. Most recent research conducted by Business to Arts in 2020/21 among corporate sponsors of the arts in Ireland reveals that:

 2019/2020 saw a huge 9.68m invested in the arts

 The majority of sponsors now cite staff engagement as their primary reason for sponsoring the arts (70%)

 Commitments to multi-annual (3  5 year) partnerships more than doubled during Covid-19 rising from 9% to 22%

 The average spend on an arts partnership has increased 33% year-on-year

Now in its 13th year, the 10,000 Jim McNaughton/TileStyle Bursary, is open to emerging artist(s) in any art form. The inaugural year of the Accenture Digital Innovation in Art Bursary will offer 10,000 to an artist whose work is created digitally and showcases how harnessing the combination of technology and human ingenuity can produce new perspectives and approaches to art.

The daa 5,000 Arts Award honours an arts organisation in recognition of its effective and imaginative collaboration with a business. Additionally, the Best Philanthropic Support to the Arts award, supported by the Arts Council, recognises outstanding examples of sustainable and impactful arts philanthropy.

There are 11 categories in total focusing on sponsorship, commissioning, CSR initiatives and community engagement as well as mentoring, training, philanthropy, and staff programmes. The online application form can be accessed through www.businesstoarts.ie/awards. Previous award winners include Iarnrod Eireann/Irish Rail, An Post, Flogas, Grant Thornton, Dublin Port Company, Irish Film Institute, and the Naughton Foundation.

As well as arts sponsorship and philanthropic support to the arts sector, the Awards recognise examples of arts and business organisations working together in other areas such as mentoring, training, events, staff engagement or development, commissioning artists, CSR initiatives, community engagements etc.

1. Best Large Sponsorship (value over 2550,000 cash or in-kind) supported by Arthur Cox

2. Best Small Sponsorship (value under 25,00015,000 or under, cash or in-kind)

3. Best Long-Term Partnership (3 years or more) supported by The Irish Times

4. Best Use of Creativity in the Community supported by Irish Life

5. Best Use of Creativity in the Workplace supported by ESB

6. Best Philanthropic Support to the Arts supported by the Arts Council

7. Jim McNaughton Perpetual Award for Best Commissioning Practice supported by TileStyle

8. Jim McNaughton/TileStyle 10,000 Bursary for Commissioned Artists

9. Accenture Digital Innovation in Art 10,000 Bursary

10/11. Judges Special Recognition Award for Portfolio of Arts Sponsorship supported by Accenture and the daa 5,000 Arts Award will also be awarded on the evening of the awards.

Clare Duignan, Chair of this years judging panel and Board Member of Business to Arts said: "The 30th anniversary of the Business to Arts Awards ceremony will combine physical with virtual to celebrate the very best in creative partnerships from the last 18 months. As we emerge and recover from the effects of pandemic it is vital to celebrate new, innovative, and sustained corporate partnerships that support artistry, creativity, and society. In our work, we are increasingly seeing business organisations connect with important issues around sustainability, equality, technology, and wellbeing by engaging with the arts, and we hope to see this reflected in this year's nominations."

Closing date for applications is Tuesday, April 26 2022 at 5pm. Go to www.businesstoarts.ie/awards for information on the application process and to complete the online application form.
Russias inhumane invasion of Ukraine is an affront to New York, Gov. Hochul said at a Ukrainian church in Manhattan on Wednesday, declaring the state stands with its vibrant Ukrainian community and will offer refuge to those fleeing the war.

Gov. Hochul delivers remarks at St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church on Wednesday night. (Don Pollard/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

On behalf of 20 million New Yorkers, Im here to say, with resolve in my heart, that we stand against this tyranny, Hochul said at an overflowing evening service at the St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in the East Village.

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This is personal to us, the governor added. New York is home to the largest Ukrainian population in the entire United States, and Im proud to represent all of you.

Hochul, who has ordered state agencies to divest public dollars from Russia, predicted President Vladimir Putins soldiers will be driven out of Ukraine, a 30-year-old sovereign nation that has been under assault from its larger neighbor for seven days.

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Gov. Hochul at St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church on Wednesday night. (Don Pollard/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

Hochul said Russia will regret the day that they had the audacity to challenge the people of this great country  because you have allies in every corner of this planet.

You have united people who many times were not united in the past, Hochul said of the Ukrainian people, who are fighting fiercely against the invasion.

New York is with you, she concluded. We will always be with you.

Standing outside the majestic church after the nearly two-hour service, Alex Labunka, a Ukrainian-American who lives on the Upper East Side, said he had been moved by the service and touched by the words of the governor.

It was wonderful to hear her support us, added his wife, Luba Labunka, who is also Ukrainian-American.

Alex Labunka pointed blame for the invasion at Putin  and away from ordinary Russians.

This is not about Russians and Ukrainians, he said. Its about Putin, and Putin alone. A very small, ugly little person causing hell for millions of people.
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2 from Mason City arrested for trying to steal ATMs from banks
A Manhattan judge ruled Thursday that Mayor Adams administration cannot slap a financial penalty on retired municipal workers who opt out of the citys controversial new Medicare plan, marking a major win for a group of retirees who fought the health insurance switch in court for months.

The effort by the administration to levy a $191 monthly fee on retirees who want to keep their current coverage instead of enrolling in the new Medicare Advantage Plan runs counter to longstanding local administrative law, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank wrote in a decision.

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The law in question, Frank continued, requires the city to pay the entire cost of health insurance coverage for city employees, city retirees and their dependents. Any attempt to impose a premium or other cost for coverage is thereby illegal, he ruled.

This court holds that this is the only reasonable way of interpreting this section, the judge wrote.

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Retired New York City municipal workers are pictured on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall to call on New York City Mayor-elect Adams to preserve their Medicare coverage last December. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)

Franks decision caps a heated court battle between the city and a group of retired city workers that began last year under former Mayor Bill de Blasios administration.

In announcing the plan last fall, de Blasios administration presented Medicare Advantage as a fiscal boon that would save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars every year because it is subsidized by the federal government at a higher rate. At the same time, the administration maintained the new plan would provide the citys roughly 250,000 Medicare-aged retirees with health coverage thats comparable to what theyre currently receiving.

But the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, a group of ex-cops, firefighters and other retired workers, sued over the move, charging that the new plan would result in inferior coverage, including by imposing complex new preauthorization rules for specific medical procedures.

After vowing on the campaign trail to make sure the new plan wouldnt be a bait and switch for retired workers, Adams announced last month that he would move ahead with implementing it as envisioned by de Blasio, angering retirees who said he was going back on his promise by keeping the $191 penalty in place.

Retired New York City municipal workers are pictured marching near Brooklyn Borough Hall to call on Mayor-elect Adams to preserve their Medicare coverage last December. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)

After Franks ruling, an Adams spokesman suggested the administration may not give up on the original Medicare Advantage plan just yet  raising the specter of an appeal.

We are reviewing the courts decision and evaluating our options, the spokesman said.

The Adams administration can still offer the Advantage plan to retirees, starting April 1, under Franks ruling.

However, barring a successful appeal of the ruling before then, the administration would have to offer both the Advantage plan and the current Medicare plan free of charge.

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As a result, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, whose powerful union had previously backed the Medicare Advantage switch, said hes pulling his support for the April 1 implementation and urged the citys other organized labor entities to follow suit.

The judges recent decision will effectively eliminate the savings the plan would have produced and that would have been reinvested in health benefits for our members, Mulgrew said in a statement. Given the judges order, the UFT is withdrawing its support for starting the NYC Medicare Advantage Plus plan on April 1, 2022, and will urge the Municipal Labor Committee to suspend its efforts to begin the program until all the implementation and legal issues are resolved.

According to data reviewed by the Daily News, the Medicare Advantage plan has made municipal retirees so anxious that 45,000 of them had opted out of it by mid-February  despite at that point still facing the threat of a $191 monthly penalty. That number has likely increased since then, according to Steve Cohen, an attorney for the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees.

On Thursday afternoon, a handful of retired city workers gathered outside City Hall to celebrate the elimination of the financial penalty.

We wanted to keep our traditional Medicare, which we love, said Sarah Shapiro, a retired city public school teacher who spent 27 years in the Department of Education. And we are so grateful that we will not have the $191 penalty every month, which we cannot afford.

Cohen called Franks decision an incredible victory for his clients and urged Adams administration to not file an appeal.

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Mayor Adams could do the right thing now, Cohen said, noting that Hizzoner is himself a retired NYPD captain eligible for municipal health benefits. He can say to the city Law Department, Dont appeal this case. Lets do the right thing.
A group of LGBTQ community leaders are meeting with Mayor Adams on Thursday to move on from weeks of rancor over his appointment of three men with histories of anti-gay views, according to a person whos expected to attend the sit-down.

Allen Roskoff, a longtime gay rights activist in the city and founder of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, told the Daily News that he and others in attendance at the afternoon meeting at City Hall will voice their disenchantment with Adams decision to hire Fernando Cabrera, Erick Salgado and Gilford Monrose.

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But we have an obligation to move on, Roskoff said. Were going to continue to hold him accountable and work with him, but were moving on. We want to get things done.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks at the National Action Networks (NAN) headquarters in Manhattan, New York on Jan. 17, 2022. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News)

Roskoff declined to say who else will join the meet, and noted that other activists may feel differently.

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Still, he said he got the sense from speaking with other participants that theres support for lowering the temperature a bit.

We have two options: To say, Were not moving, go f--k yourself, or, We disagree, we think its horrendous, but we have to move on, he said.

Adams meeting with the LGBTQ leaders will take place behind closed doors, but the mayors aides said they will provide a readout of the discussion afterward.

Activist Allen Roskoff speak at a press conference on March 17, 2015. (Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News)

The meet comes after LGBTQ activists and lawmakers have spent weeks calling on Adams to rescind the appointments of Cabrera, Salgado and Monrose, all three of whom are Christian pastors with documented histories of anti-gay rhetoric and views.

Cabrera, who has been tapped by Adams as a senior faith adviser, traveled to Uganda in 2014 and praised its governments extreme anti-gay and anti-abortion laws, proclaiming that Christians had taken their rightful place in the country.

At the time, Uganda had adopted legislation that made homosexuality a crime punishable by years of imprisonment.

Monrose, meantime, was appointed to lead Adams Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, the same entity that Cabrera will work in. The Brooklyn pastor has also espoused anti-gay views, including deeming homosexuality a lifestyle that I dont agree with.

Salgado, a onetime mayoral candidate endorsed by anti-gay marriage groups, was picked by Adams to serve as an assistant commissioner in the mayors immigrant affairs office.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

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Cloudy skies with periods of light rain late. Thunder possible. Low near 50F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

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Mayor Adams heard concerns from LGBTQ leaders Thursday in a private City Hall meeting days after drawing their ire for appointing three people whove espoused anti-gay views in the past.

But, according to three people who attended the meeting, the mayor made no commitments to the gay community aside from maintaining a continued dialogue.

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Many of the leaders demanded that Adams create a government agency focused on the concerns of the LGBTQ community and hire people with a background in gay activism to important city posts.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News)

We want an office that has a budget, said prominent LGBTQ activist Allen Roskoff, who pointed to similar offices that existed under the leadership of Mayor David Dinkins and Mayor Ed Koch. He needs to have recognizable LGBT people everywhere.

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Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who also attended the meeting, said Adams took in requests for more city funding for programs targeted at  and developed by  transgender people of color. He also acknowledged an expanded LGBTQ curriculum within city schools and hiring more LGBTQ people to important city jobs.

For me, the two most pressing things are to do more for the Department of Education and to dedicate more funding to the community, in particular the transgender community, she said.

The Thursday afternoon meeting in City Hall comes in response to Adams controversial appointment of three Christian pastors  Fernando Cabrera, Erick Salgado and Gilford Monrose  who have expressed anti-gay views before being tapped for their jobs in Adams administration.

[ Mayor Adams hires ex-NYC Councilman Fernando Cabrera as faith adviser after he apologizes for anti-gay views ]

During a 2014 trip to Uganda, Cabrera, a former City Councilman from the Bronx, praised that countrys government for its draconian anti-gay and anti-abortion laws, saying at the time that it was an example of Christians taking their rightful place. At the time of his visit, Uganda had a law on the books making homosexuality illegal and punishable by life behind bars.

Cabrera, who didnt respond to messages Thursday, now serves as Adams senior faith adviser.

Senior adviser in the newly formed New York City Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, Fernando Cabrera. (Angus Mordant/for New York Daily News)

Salgado, who was appointed as an assistant commissioner in the mayors immigrant affairs office, ran for mayor in 2013 on a platform opposed to gay marriage and abortion.

Monrose will head Adams Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships. The Crown Heights pastor has called homosexuality a lifestyle that I dont agree with.

Gay rights activists have slammed the appointments  despite Adams contention that the men have evolved since making their anti-gay views public.

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He didnt attempt to explain the appointments or defend anyone hes appointed. Nor did the community engage on that level, state Sen. Brad Hoylman said of the meeting. A lot of us dont know what to really think when three appointments were made and have such a long and sordid history of homophobic comments and actions. That said, I guess the real test is going to be moving forward and watching this administration.

Mayor Eric Adams, left, and Erick Salgado (Twitter)

Councilman Chi Osse, a member of the Councils LGBTQ caucus, stressed that Adams didnt make any firm commitments in the meeting despite a long list of demands.

I just want to see a follow through on any of the things that we asked for in the room, Osse said. Where the sympathy lies is in the action thats supposed to come after ... Thats why we are all waiting in this moment  to see the action that we all requested of the mayor today.

Activist and president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club Allen Roskoff addressed the rally outside City Hall in Manhattan, New York on Feb 24, 2022. (Peter Senzamici)

Roskoff, who heads the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, said that since the controversy erupted, hes spoken with Adams over the phone about the appointments.

According to Roskoff, Adams justified making the picks because he believes in redemption and second chances. He praised Adams for his support of gay marriage when he was a state senator and said the three appointments will be viewed historically as a stain on his administration.

There are now three more homophobes in city government than there should be, he said.

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Still, he noted, he hopes Adams and the citys LGBTQ community can now put the episode behind them.

We hope that we have a great relationship with him moving forward, he said.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trashed France on Wednesday, saying Paris would probably put up no resistance if Russia ever invaded.

A lot of other places around the world, they just fold the minute theres any type of adversity, DeSantis asked, according to a report in the Florida Politics web site. If (Putin) went into France, do you think theyd do anything to put up a fight? Probably not.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (Chris O'Meara/AP)

Without offering any evidence for the jibe, the Sunshine State leader sought to frame his attack on France as a tribute to the strength of Ukraines resistance to the Russian invasion.

I think its going to be like death by 1,000 cuts, DeSantis said of the invasion, which has run into unexpectedly stiff sledding. I think Putin has miscalculated.

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A spokeswoman for DeSantis repeated the attack on France, noting that France continued selling weapons to Russia after the 2014 takeover of Crimea.

Hes not wrong, said Christina Pushaw, the spokeswoman.

The move came as DeSantis continued to resist taking any actions to punish Putin.

He has resisted calls from Democrats and Republicans alike for the state to divest itself of investments in Russian companies and says it wouldnt be the states job to seize plush Miami properties owned by Russian oligarchs who are cronies of Putin.

[ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won't sell state's Russian investments despite invasion of Ukraine ]

DeSantis has even refused to call for boycotts or bans on sales of Russian-made alcohol products, breaking ranks with fellow GOP governors who have done so.

Products that are currently on store shelves were already imported and purchased, so throwing them out at this point would be a loss for Florida retailers, not for Vladimir Putin, Pushaw told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Not everyone agrees.

The giant Florida-based supermarket chain Publix announced Wednesday it would remove all Russian vodka and other products from its shelves in stores across the southeast U.S.

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Publix stands with the people of Ukraine, Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous told the Sun-Sentinel.




Korea will provide 3.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to African countries this year to help fight the global pandemic, Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Thursday.







In his opening address for the 5th Korea-Africa Forum in Seoul, Chung said the contribution will be made in close coordination with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).







"Korea, as a global vaccine hub, will seek to provide vaccines in a comprehensive package comprising cold chain and medical supplies to ensure equitable access to vaccines," he said.







Chung also vowed to enhance economic cooperation with Africa.







"Korea will continue to seek to develop Africa's renewable energy sources by increasing our Green New Deal ODA," Chung said. ODA stands for the official development assistance.







The forum was attended by ministerial-level representatives from 10 African countries, including Senegal, Malawi and Ghana.







The participating countries adopted a joint statement, dubbed Seoul Declaration 2022, and detailed action plans to boost cooperation in the next five years. (Yonhap)


By Andrew Hammond





U.S. mid-term congressional contests usually center around domestic issues, yet as Joe Biden gave his first state-of-the-union address on Tuesday, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly bringing foreign policy into election year 2022.



Biden said in his big speech to Congress that "Putin's war was premeditated and unprovoked. Throughout our history we've learned this lesson  when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos...and the cost and threats to America and the world keep rising."



It is rare, but by no means unprecedented, for international issues to become salient in U.S. campaigns. The year 2016 was one of these years when the high prominence of foreign policy was illustrated in a Pew survey that found 34 percent of the population believed such issues, especially tackling international terrorism, was then the biggest challenge facing the country. By contrast, "only" 23% mentioned economic problems.



That data showing a higher salience of foreign policy compared to economic issues resembles the first 25 years of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, from 1948 to 1972. Then, international security issues tended to dominate the concerns of U.S. voters during presidential campaigns.



By contrast, since the early 1970s, economic matters have tended to be the electorate's highest priority. For instance, just before the 2012 presidential election year, some 55 percent of U.S. citizens cited economic worries as the most important factor facing the country, according to Pew. By contrast, only 6 percent mentioned foreign policy or other international issues.



Whether or not foreign policy proves to be as salient for voters in 2022, as in 2016, there are a significant number of reasons why international affairs will be prominent this year. For East Europe is not the only region where foreign policy may impinge on the U.S. campaign. Also of interest is China and Iran whose actions are closely being monitored in Washington.



Add to this too the aftermath of the Afghan withdrawal. While many in the United States were lukewarm, or opposed to, the continued U.S. commitment to that nation, key mistakes were made in the botched withdrawal last year that has led to searching questions being asked about U.S. military power. While claims made at the time about the end of the "American era" of leadership were off-the-mark, U.S. soft power and moral credibility have taken a hit with allies from Asia-Pacific to the Americas. This is troublesome for Biden as he seeks to rebuild the global reputation of the United States after the travails of the Donald Trump era.



In this context, it is likely that Biden will put increased emphasis on foreign policy, especially following the massive Russian invasion into Ukraine. He is far from alone amongst U.S. presidents in doing so. For instance, Richard Nixon scored a string of international successes in the second half of his first term, including his landmark trip to China in February 1972 as his domestic agenda stalled, and he looked for a legacy abroad.



However, even if foreign and security policy now returns again to the forefront of the U.S. electorate's mind in 2022, there are significant differences between now and during the first two decades of the Cold War. This earlier period was characterized by a relative policy consensus and widespread bi-partisan cooperation on foreign and security matters.



Today, however, this policy area is significantly more divisive politically. To be sure, the early Cold War consensus can be overstated. Nonetheless, a significant degree of bipartisan agreement on foreign affairs, and wider political decorum, did exist until breaking apart in the late 1960s under the strain of the Vietnam War debacle and the demise of the notion of monolithic communism in light of the Sino-Soviet split.



No clear foreign and security policy consensus has emerged in recent years. For instance, many Republicans and Democrats differ significantly on how they view the power and standing of the United States internationally; on the degree to which the country should be unilateralist; in their attitudes toward the campaign on terrorism and the methods by which they are being fought; and on what the priorities of foreign policy should be.



Take the example of U.S. Representative Mario Diaz Balart, a Republican congressman from Florida, who released a statement this week calling the world "a much more dangerous place today than before Biden took officeafter Afghanistan, Ukraine, and negotiations toward an Iran deal, I shudder at the thought of three more years of incompetence, weakness, and appeasement from the current administration." Far from rallying-around-the-flag at a time of geopolitical tension, he even claimed that the current tensions in East Europe stemmed from "the results of a feckless U.S. foreign policy of appeasement."



Especially with Russia's incursion into Ukraine, the salience of foreign and security issues could therefore become an increasingly important aspect of U.S. politics for the rest of the election year. And the partisan splits on these topics will reinforce high rates of political polarization in the U.S. electorate, and also potential global interest in the congressional mid-term elections race to boot.





Andrew Hammond (andrewkorea@outlook.com) is an associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.


The count of Ukrainian civilians reported dead in the Russian invasion eclipsed 2,000 on Wednesday, as global condemnation of the Kremlin reached new peaks, and the war entered its second week.

President Biden said that the Russian military was deliberately targeting civilian areas, a view echoed by the UNs secretary-general and by Ukrainians who have watched air attacks crush central Kharkiv, a city of more than 1 million people.

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Kharkiv burned Wednesday as Russia blitzed the city from above, striking a police station, a university and the city council building, according to the Ukrainian state emergency service. Russian rockets turned handsome buildings into ruins and left streets strewn with debris.

Andrey Goncharuk, 68, right, a member of the territorial defense speaks to a man in the backyard of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike, according to locals, in Gorenka, outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (VADIM GHIRDA/AP)

At the UN, the general assembly passed a resolution condemning the Russian invasion by a 141-to-5 vote, with 35 countries abstaining.

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Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria opposed the measure, which demands that Russia immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from Ukraine, according to the UN. China and India were among the nations that sat the vote out.

The message of the general assembly is loud and clear, Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said after the vote. End hostilities in Ukraine now. Silence the guns now. Open the door to dialogue and diplomacy now.

The UNs refugee agency said the war has displaced more than 1 million refugees who have flooded out of the country. Ukraine has ordered men ages 18 to 60 to remain in the country to help fight off the Russians.

Addressing the British Parliament, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Russias assault on its democratic neighbor already fully qualifies as a war crime, citing munitions that have rained on Ukrainian civilians.

The International Criminal Court said Monday that it will probe the invasion unleashed by President Vladimir Putin. The courts prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in a statement that there was a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine.

:      .  ,   , .         #stoprussia Posted by   on Wednesday, March 2, 2022

The partially stalled Russian blitz has met intense resistance from Ukrainians and appears to lag days behind schedule.

Russias army has sustained significant casualties, although the extent has been foggy. On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that 498 members of the military had been killed and 1,597 wounded since the launch of the invasion, CNN reported, citing Russian state media.

Ukraines government has claimed the Russian forces have suffered more than 5,700 casualties. Both sides may be fudging figures to improve morale.

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A woman is overwhelmed by emotion in the backyard of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike, according to locals, in Gorenka, outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (VADIM GHIRDA/AP)

But it has seemed clear which side has fought with a greater purpose  the Ukrainian soldiers who are defending their homeland against Putins invasion of their 30-year-old sovereign nation.

John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said Wednesday afternoon that the U.S. assessed Russias ground advance in northern Ukraine had not made any appreciable progress, geographically speaking, in the last 24 to 36 hours.

We believe the Russians are deliberately, actually, regrouping themselves and reassessing the progress that they have not made  and how to make up the lost time, Kirby told reporters. We do believe that they have experienced logistics and sustainment challenges.

The Ukrainians are working to slow a menacing 40-mile convoy of trucks and tanks that Russia lined up outside Kyiv, Ukraines capital. But the Russian forces appeared to be making more progress in the southern reaches of Europes second-largest country.

The coastal city of Kherson, home to some 280,000, seemed to be slipping into Russian hands. Kherson is located more than 300 miles south of Kyiv.

The capital, meanwhile, was battered Wednesday by an airstrike near its central train station. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.

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Ukraine sits within the former Soviet Union. Putin, a former KGB colonel who weaved a falsehood-filled rationale for his bloody war, once described the fall of the Soviet Union as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.

He launched Russias assault a week ago after massing more than 150,000 troops around Ukraines borders. The invasion, Europes largest since World War II, has united disturbed European countries in stiff opposition, and led to unprecedented sanctions that have rattled the Russian economy.

The Russian currency, the ruble, has plunged in value. Moscows stock exchange has shuttered. And Russian oligarchs have begun to feel the pain.

The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday that it was creating a task force, coined KleptoCapture, dedicated to enforcement of American sanctions on Russia. The department said it would target additional law enforcement resources at Russian oligarchs.

The Justice Department will use all of its authorities to seize the assets of individuals and entities who violate these sanctions, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. We will leave no stone unturned.

Still, there were no signs that Putin had any interest in scaling back his brutal war.

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On Wednesday, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraines ambassador to the UN, issued yet another plea to the world for support as he recapped a devastating week.

Ukraine has been fighting, Kyslytsya said in a statement. Fighting under bombs and missiles. Fighting in the face of armadas of hardware and countless crowds of enemies.

They have come to Ukrainian soil not only to kill some of us. Not only to shift our course and priorities, he added. They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist.
An adult relative caring for a child after the child has been removed from a dangerous home situation soon will be entitled to directly participate in court hearings concerning services needed by the child or terminating the parent-child relationship.

Under current law, only state-licensed foster parents have a statutory right to intervene in legal proceedings pertaining to abused or neglected children.

Senate Enrolled Act 410, which won final legislative approval Wednesday and now goes to the governor to be signed into law, gives the same right to unlicensed caregivers who are related to, and taking of, an abused child.

It follows the October 2021 death of Judah Morgan, a 4-year-old in LaPorte County, who died after suffering severe injuries from blunt force trauma in his birth parents' home, notwithstanding repeated warnings to the Department of Child Services by his caregiver, a second cousin, that the child was at risk if returned again to his parents.

Under this legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, the caregiver would have been entitled to speak at court hearings concerning the disposition of the child.

"SEA 410 will help prevent more cases like Judah's from occurring," Bohacek said. "Caregivers will finally have the opportunity to intervene in a child's case and hopefully provide them with refuge from the abuse they face."

The LaPorte County prosecutor's office has charged Judah's father and mother in his homicide.
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IVE member Jang Wonyoung is being praised by fans for continuously doing this for fans everyday.

Keep on reading to know more.

IVE Jang Wonyoung Receives Praise for Connecting With DIVEs Everyday on Messenger App

Recently on March 1, one fan of former IZ*ONE member and now IVE member, Jang Wonyoung, took to the online community forum Nate Pann to talk about the popular idol and share one interesting fact about her.

In a post made on the forum, the fan shared a calendar showing Jang Wonyoung's attendance in going online on social media and the popular fan community app, Bubble, from January to February.

In particular, it can be seen on the calendar that Jang Wonyoung has been diligently going online and talking to fans through the app almost everyday in the last two months, except for one day in January and two days in February, where she didn't post anything.

Along with talking to fans through Bubble, Jang Wonyoung also shares at least one selfie per day on social media.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: IVE Jang Wonyoung Slim Figure Sparks Concern - Here's Why

Many fans and netizens could not help but shower Jang Wonyoung with praise for her dedication to continuously communicate with fans and given them updates on what she has been up to lately.

Some comments praising the idol read, "Yeah, she usually comes [online] around 10am to 2pm, and tells us the little to big things that she did that day. She is so adorable."

"We need to give her more credit for the great love she has for fans."

"I honestly want to thank her for always trying her best for us! Thank you, Wonyoung."

"I definitely think she is really sincere to her fans."

"Maybe I should go pay for that communication app. It would be so worth it if my idol logs on this often."

"Idols who are treating their fans well are the successful ones," and more.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: IVE Jang Wonyoung Earns Praise for THIS Surprising Talent

Since Bubble is a paid subscription service, many fans want to get their money's worth and receive exclusive updates from their favorite idols. Despite Jang Wonyoung being busy, she still makes sure to keep in touch with her fans whenever she can, which makes them love her even more!

IVE to Perform at 'KPOP.FLEX' Concert

In other news, IVE is set to perform at the upcoming "KPOP.FLEX" two-day concert in Germany on May 15 local time.

The news came after fellow labelmates, MONSTA X, will no longer be able to perform the event on May 14, and thus, IVE will be taking their place.

"KPOP.FLEX" will be held at the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany. The lineup includes EXO's Kai, NCT Dream, ENHYPEN, (G)I-DLE, MAMAMOO, AB6IX, and ONEUS.

For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Robyn Joan
President Biden asked Congress on Thursday to approve a new $10 billion package of aid to help Ukraine in its fight to repel the Russian invasion.

The new funding request, which includes military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and aid to central European neighbors, dramatically hikes the $6.5 billion that the White House put forward just last week.

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An Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher at a frontline, northeast of Kyiv on March 3, 2022. (ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

I urge the Congress to address these critical and urgent needs as part of a comprehensive government funding bill, acting White House budget czar Shalanda Young said in letters to Congressional leaders.

The Ukraine spending package, along with $22.5 billion more to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to be included in talks for a budget deal needed ahead of a March 11 deadline.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have expressed support for the Ukraine aid package.

[ Pelosi vows to approve 'whatever needed' to assist Ukraine ]

Based on the standing ovations they gave Biden at his recent State of the Union address, Republicans also support the assistance for Ukraine, although they may object to other spending provisions.

The $10 billion to Ukraine would be a massive increase over the $1.4 billion provided by the United States since 2021, a reflection of the crisis caused by the Russian offensive that began last month.

Young said the money would cover additional humanitarian, security and economic assistance in Ukraine and the neighboring region in the coming days and weeks.

Along with security aid, neighboring countries are struggling to handle hundreds of thousands of refugees pouring out of Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion.

Just last week, White House officials told congressional aides that their requests would include $3.5 billion for the Pentagon and $2.9 billion for humanitarian aid. The more extensive package reflects the rapid escalation of the conflict and the increasing unity of the Western alliance backing Ukraine.

The $22.5 billion for COVID would pay for testing, treatments and vaccines, as well as investments in research and efforts to increase vaccinations worldwide.
FILE - Ulrich Kranz, co-Founder & CEO of Canoo, arrives in his first electric van model at AutoMobility LA auto show in Los Angeles, on Nov. 19, 2019. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is planning to award a state-record $15 million to electric vehicle-manufacturer Canoo for a planned manufacturing facility in the state. The Tulsa World reports the money from the governor's Quick Action Closing Fund will support Canoo's plan for a 1,500-job factory in Pryor, Okla. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
One million people have fled Ukraine in search of safety in the past seven days, according to the United Nations.

The mass movement began almost immediately after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion, the largest in Europe since World War II.

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Refugees fleeing the war from neighboring Ukraine walk on a platform after disembarking from a train in Zahony, Hungary, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (Balazs Kaufmann/AP)

For many millions more, inside Ukraine, its time for guns to fall silent, so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can be provided, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi tweeted Wednesday.

More than half of the refugees have fled to Poland, Ukraines western neighbor, according to UN data.

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[ Civilian death toll in Ukraine eclipses 2,000; UN condemns invasion ]

Ukraines population was estimated at 44 million, meaning that 2% of all people in the country have exited in the past week, many leaving with little more than they could carry or fit into a car.

People walk next to a row of cars waiting to pick up family members and refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, in Palanca, Moldova, on Wednesday. (Aurel Obreja/AP)

The UN estimates up to 4 million people could flee Ukraine during the war, but has noted even that estimate could be low. The worlds worst refugee crisis at the moment spawns from Syria, where 5.7 million people have left in search of safety since the Syrian Civil War began in 2011.

Many reports indicate that Poland and other countries have welcomed refugees with open arms, but that hasnt been the case for everyone.

A child speaks on the phone as he says goodbye to a relative looking out the window of a train carriage waiting to leave Kramatorsk for western Ukraine at the railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (Andriy Andriyenko/AP)

They stopped us at the border and told us that Blacks were not allowed. But we could see white people going through, Moustapha Bagui Sylla, a student from Guinea, told France 24.

They wont let Africans in. Blacks without European passports cannot cross the border, a Nigerian student named Michael told the outlet. Theyre pushing us back just because were Black!

Polish leaders and Ukrainian border patrol officials have blamed each other for the discrimination.

According to Ukrainian policy, the only people not allowed to leave the country are Ukrainian men between ages 18 and 60, who are required to join the war effort.
HARDIN, Mont. - The Big Horn Hospital Association and Billings Clinic have signed an agreement making the Hardin hospital a member of the health system.

A release from Billings Clinic said the Big Horn Hospital Association joins 16 other Billings Clinic affiliates across Montana and Wyoming.

We are thrilled to work with Billings Clinic and are looking forward to the support and collaboration this relationship will bring, Kristi Gatrell, Big Horn Hospital CEO, said in the release.

The move streamlines communication and medical information for staff.

Billings Clinic said it works closely with the Big Horn hospitals to make sure they're able to keep the patients close to home when they need care.

Quite simply, this affiliation makes sense. Big Horn Hospital and our staff will be able to access expertise and support from Billings Clinic. Billings Clinic will continue its focus on supporting and growing local health care; and, most importantly, our patients and the communities we serve will benefit from the combined work and commitment to top quality patient care from each of us, she said.
BILLINGS, Mont. - The name of the main administration building at Montana State University Billings is under review Thursday following the resurfacing of historical documents at the university.

According to a release from MSUB, McMullen Hall got its name from the first president of then Eastern Montana Normal School, Lynn McMullen.

The documents reveal McMullen was in support of eugenics, a now disgraced theory, in 1935. MSUB said the documents stated McMullen indicated, "Germany would advance faster than other nations due to Adolf Hitler's embrace of eugenics."

A task force is reviewing the issue and they will give MSUB Chancellor Stefani Hicswa a suggestion for the next step.

MSUB said the university would need to bring the recommendation of renaming the building to the Montana Board of Regents for evaluation.
Harrisburg, Pa.  A coalition of Attorneys General nationwide are examining whether or not TikTok has violated state consumer protection laws.

In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Josh Shapiro launched an investigation into TikTok for providing and promoting its social media platform to children and young adults while use is associated with physical and mental health harms.

The investigation will look into the harm TikTok usage causes to young users and what TikTok knew about those harms. The investigation focuses, among other things, on the techniques utilized by TikTok to boost young user engagement, including increasing the duration of time spent on the platform and frequency of engagement with the platform.

Some say TikTok is not all bad. According to an article published Jan. 5, 2022 by the LA Times, "TikTok videos with the hashtag #mentalhealth have accumulated more than 20 billion views. And thats not counting #anxiety, which has almost 11 billion views, or #adhd, with close to 9 billion."

While the app primarily features short videos meant to entertain, experts say TikTok has also become a place for young people to learn about and share mental health struggles.

According to statista.com, there are currently 84.9 million TikTok users in the U.S., with projections for that number to increase.

Find more statistics at Statista

My job is to protect all Pennsylvanians, especially children, from online threats, said AG Shapiro. Parents and children deserve to know the risks associated with these platforms. And if TikTok is found to have prioritized business growth over the physical and emotional well being of Pennsylvanias children, they will be held responsible for that.

In May 2021, AG Shapiro took action with a bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General in urging Facebook to abandon its plans to launch a version of Instagram for children under 13. In November 2021, AG Shapiro launched an investigation into the impact of Instagram on Pennsylvania youth. He was joined in this effort by Attorneys General nationwide.

Leading the investigation is a bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Vermont.
Have a news tip or would like to report a typo? Email Anthony Victor Reyes at areyes@kvoa.com.
Martin Luther King Jr., reminded us that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. In a time when the world is in turmoil with a persistent pandemic, the global climate crisis and blatant aggression by a member state of the United Nations, Russia, against another, Ukraine, one can certainly wonder how this will all end. It is a shared concern. As to Vladimir Putin, the law should provide the answer.

For more than two decades, I have sought justice for those who are victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It has been a dire and strenuous journey, but in the end, somehow, the rule of law has always prevailed. When I was head of an international war crimes tribunal in West Africa, the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, I told the citizenry there that the rule of law was fair because no one is above the law, and that the rule of law is more powerful than the rule of the gun.

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Over a period of three years, we showed them the power of the law.

For the first time in modern history, a criminal prosecution, one I was proud to lead, took down a sitting head of state, the most powerful warlord in Africa, Liberian President Charles Taylor. I indicted him for war crimes and crimes against humanity and he now sits in a maximum-security prison in the United Kingdom for the rest of his life. He never thought he would be held accountable, yet the international community decided to address the atrocities he committed and use the power of the law.

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If and when sPutin surrenders or is caught, it should become time to do that again  show a tyrant that his invasion of Ukraine and the actions of the Russian invasion forces are accountable under international law. His aggression is illegal, and his indiscriminate targeting of Ukrainian civilians and structures are war crimes and crimes against humanity.

There is no doubt that under international law, Putin should be held individually criminally responsible for the actions of his armed forces in Ukraine. The only question is how. The international community has several tools in its kitbag to deal with him justly and fairly in a court of law.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

The first possibility is the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has opened a case against Putin and others for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC has obtained jurisdiction over most of the alleged international crimes because, even though neither Russia nor Ukraine is party to the statute that created the ICC, Ukraine has submitted itself to its jurisdiction.

A second possibility would be that the United Nations, through the General Assembly, create an international court very similar to the Special Court for Sierra Leone, with the mandate to prosecute those who bear the greatest responsibility for the crime of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity due to the invasion and occupation of Ukraine.

The UN Security Council normally would be the vehicle to create such a court, but Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council would veto any effort to do so. Using the General Assembly would allow for international efforts to bypass the Security Council. It has been done recently when the UN General Assembly took matters into their own hands and created an investigatory mechanism for Syria to investigate international crimes, because Russia was reluctant to hold anyone accountable for atrocity crimes there and vetoed that effort.

A third possibility could be a regional court set up perhaps by the European Union with a similar mandate as the UN-established court mentioned above. This regional court could also be created by a consortium of concerned states outside the EU to do the same thing. Even though this would be the first of its kind, creating such a court is not outside the realm of possibility if there is a will to do so.

There is also the possibility of the prosecution of various Russians under domestic law by United Nations member states with the jurisdiction to try crimes of aggression, war crimes or crimes against humanity using their domestic laws. This method is currently being successfully used by several European countries related to crimes committed in Syria.

Bottom line: If there is a political will, accountability under law for Putins actions is possible. Over the past two decades or so, modern international criminal law now gives the world the ability to show Putin and his henchmen that the rule of law is more powerful than the rule of the gun.

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Crane is founding chief prosecutor of the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, distinguished scholar in residence at Syracuse University College of Law and founder of the Global Accountability Network.
The Northern New England Red Cross is installing smoke detectors this weekend. Do you have a fire evacuation plan for your home? How about when you are traveling?
OSAGE BEACH, Mo.  A critical funding plan to redevelop the Osage Beach Outlet Mall will go before the city's Board of Aldermen on Thursday. Developers say the success of the project hinges on city leaders' willingness to get behind it.

The mall, owned by Simon Property Group, went under contract in the fall of 2021: local developers with Horizon Development partnered with Kansas City-based Legacy Development to dream big about the future of what was historically the Lake's single largest retail engine. The mall's centrality to the on-land retail scene at the Lake has dwindled over the past decade, with a decline both in retailers and shoppers. Horizon and Legacy say they have plans for a "world-class destination." But the deal won't happen if they can't get financing.

That's where the City of Osage Beach comes in.

The developers have asked the city for a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement. And while every TIF agreement is different, the main aspects of this one involve the property tax and the city using its bonding ability to bond the project, according to Chris Foster of Horizon Development.

The details of that funding plan will be the subject of discussion on Thursday evening, March 3, as the city Board of Aldermen convenes for their regular meeting. The aldermen plan to conduct a first and second reading of a bill approving the consideration of that funding plan.

Foster says he's been encouraged by the project's reception among city aldermen. "They're all for it," he said. "They're like, 'What can we do to help you?'"

But he emphasized the urgency of the project, and the need to act quickly, so their new vision for the mall can bring clarity to the retailers that remain, and those who may be waiting to see what the future holds.

Mark Beeler, the real estate agent facilitating the mall's purchase, said he believes the fate of the mall's redevelopment will be a bellwether for future major developments at the Lake. He acknowledged the difficulty of getting major corporations to bring big money to the Lake. "They feel like its a 90-day season," he said. "Thats why its so important that local developers are engaged here and that cities embrace the projects that they want to do."

Mayor John Olivarri said he's eager to see what's next for the mall. "Im always looking for something that is more family-oriented," he said. "We need more of that down at the Lake and that place has the opportunity to do that."

Olivarri says theres a lot of agreement between the city and the developers as to the kind of project theyd like to see: family-oriented, with plenty of places to gather, a modern reinvented space. He said that would be a huge "win-win" for the developers and the Lake community.
South Africa: Condolences for Simon Mbata

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Barbara Creecy and Deputy Minister, Makhotso Sotyu have expressed their deepest condolences at the passing of South African Waste Pickers Association (SAWPA) National Coordinator Simon Mbata.

The SAWPA is one of the organisations formed to promote, protect and defend the rights of waste pickers in the country. Mbata who was its advocate, was also a member of the Global Alliance of Waste Pickers.

The waste pickers role has been widely recognised nationally and internationally including at the current United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) 5.2 held in Kenya, Nairobi, this week.

At national level, collaboration with South African Waste Pickers Association (SAWPA), African Reclaimers Organisation (ARO), the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and the Department of Science and Innovation led to the development of guidelines for the integration of waste pickers in the municipal waste management systems. Mbata participated in the inaugural 2019 Plastic Colloquium in his capacity as the Chairperson of SAWPA, the Department said on Thursday.

In 2020, he also worked with the private sector and the DFFE to facilitate relief support to waste pickers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the waste collection systems.

On 18 February 2022, the day before he met his untimely death, Mbata briefed the Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on matters affecting the waste pickers.

Minister Creecy, Deputy Minister Sotyu convey a message of comfort to his family, friends and colleagues, the department said. SAnews.gov.za

This story has been published on: 2022-03-03. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
The ratings are in, and the people (who watched) have spoken!

And Trump has been trumped.

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President Biden is seen during his first State of the Union address, and former President Donald Trump during his final one. (Getty Images)

According to Nielsen Media Research, approximately 38.2 million people watched President Bidens State of the Union address live on 16 different networks on Tuesday.

The one hour, one minute speech  which included remarks about Russias invasion of Ukraine, health care, infrastructure, the Child Tax Credit and the American Rescue Plan  was the Democratic commander-in-chiefs first State of the Union address.

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By contrast, Bidens speech reportedly attracted more eyeballs than Trumps final State of the Union address on Feb. 4, 2020 with 37.1 million total viewers.

Tuesdays address also brought in more viewers than Bidens first to a joint session of Congress on April 28, 2021 with a big jump from 26.9 million viewers.

Fox News Channel seemed to be the destination most of the tallied viewers chose to watch Bidens second address.

According to the Associated Press, Rupert Murdochs right wing-appealing coverage drew an average of 7.2 million people  which the network said were the highest ratings for a State of the Union by a Democratic president.
WHITEWATER  Designer, artist and entrepreneur Jordan Mozer is giving a free public lecture Monday, March 7, at 7 p.m.

The lecture will be in Young Auditorium, 950 W. Main St., Whitewater, preceding Mozers four-day residency with UW-Whitewaters Department of Art and Design.

His residency runs from Tuesday to Friday, March 8 to 11. But on March 7, Mozer will introduce Love in the Chroma Zone, an exploration of human relationships through paintings, drawings and sculptures that give form to genetics, gender, love and identity.

He will also discus his process of conceptualizing and realizing various projects.

Love in the Chroma Zone can be traced to a series of sketches commissioned by Mick Jagger for a series of rock opera sets and props that Mozer imagined for the Rolling Stones. Some of these elements were transformed in subsequent projects, including Herzblut and East in Hamburg, Germany and at a hotel in Times Square in New York for Bill Marriott.

In the latest iterations, the Love in the Chroma Zone incorporates meditations on genetics and the accelerating transformation of ideas about the gender spectrum and sexual expression. The project will engage UW-Whitewater students in assisting Jordan to realize a variety of two- and three-dimensional artworks and create a narrative environment in the gallery.

During his residency, Mozer will work with students over the course of four days to complete projects that include murals scaled to the exhibition space, the finishing and base making for six full sized sculptures, and the finishing of 24 sculptures, each cast 12 inches tall.

After the residency, the works will be on exhibit in Crossman Gallery from March 11 to April 1. More about Crossman Gallery is at uww.edu/coac/events.

Mozers visit is funded by the Annette and Dale Schuh Visiting Artist Endowment, established in 2015, in recognition of the experience Annette Schuh had at UW-Whitewater as an undergraduate art student, interacting with notable visiting artists.

Those visiting the lecture are asked to RSVP at www.uww.edu/artist. Masks are required for anyone entering campus buildings. For current safety guidelines, see uww.edu/warhawks-are-back.
EAST TROY  The Bunny Train is back.

Tickets are on sale now to board one of the historic trains at the East Troy Railroad Museum to embark on an Easter-themed rail ride to fun.

Trains will head to the Elegant Farmer in Mukwonago. Along the way, there will be coloring activities and a scavenger hunt involving things to be seen out the window.

On the return trip from the Elegant Farmer, there will be jelly beans for all and guests can have a picture taken with the Easter Bunny himself.

All child ticket holders will receive a stuffed bunny on the return trip.

Railroad cars are heated and rest rooms are available at the East Troy Depot, 2002 Church St., East Troy.

Trains depart at 9 and 10:30 a.m., noon, and 1:30 and 3 p.m. on April 9, 10 and 16.

Advance reservations required. Tickets are $19 adults, $15 ages 3 to 14, and $9 for ages 2 and younger.

Purchase tickets at www.easttroyrr.org/bunny-train.

The East Troy Railroad Museum operates 14-mile round trip train rides from its historic East Troy depot and museum to Indianhead Park in Mukwonago, with a stop at the popular Elegant Farmer store and deli.

The museum is celebrating 50 years of riding the rails through Southeast Wisconsins Kettle Moraine countryside. Our not-for-profit museum is operated, maintained and managed by over 130 volunteers dedicated to engaging visitors in the heritage of electric interurban railways and trolley systems through restoration, preservation and operation of historic equipment.

For more information, visit www.easttroyrr.org or call 262-642-3263.
SOMERS  The identity of the woman who was caught on video creating a disturbance at the Walmart Supercenter, 3500 Brumback Blvd., has been released.

According to Kenosha County Jail records, police arrested Magdalena Ciechanowski, 42, of the 300 block of Luedtke Avenue, Racine. Jail records indicate shes currently in custody and facing potential misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.

The records show that Ciechanowski is being held on a $350 cash bond. She was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Racine after police there received an anonymous tip.

In a video that was circulating widely by Monday night on social media, Ciechanowski is observed wildly throwing candles and yelling, including expletives. The Kenosha County Sheriffs Department was notified at about 7:30 p.m.

Sheriffs Sgt. David Wright said she was seen leaving the store in a white Toyota Prius with damage to its right rear passenger side before deputies arrived. He said it had Illinois plates.

She was in there throwing candles and causing a big disturbance, Wright said. By the time our squads had gotten there, she had left.

Ciechanowski was arrested in Racine and then taken into custody by Kenosha County Sheriffs Deputies at about 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Several candles appeared to be damaged or destroyed during Ciechanowskis outburst. Wright said no one was injured. The video also shows nobody stepping in to stop her, but doing something like that as a member of the public reaches a gray area, as far as anything an average citizen could face in the way of potential legal troubles, Wright said.

It depends on if she was potentially going to hurt somebody, he said. (In that case), I think they would probably be fine, detaining her until police arrived. If she was actively hurting people, I dont think they would have an issue with that.

Breaking stuff in the store is kind of in the gray area of, should I restrain this person because shes smashing things?

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Lots of claims. Very little evidence, at least for some of them.

Thats what was in the interim report from the taxpayer-funded probe of the 2020 election that was released Tuesday.

I thought the report was brash and rambling, Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of political science, said during an online panel hosted Wednesday by the Bipartisan Policy Center. It touched on a lot of issues but didnt really solve or resolve any of them. It mainly raised questions and made a number of allegations that I think were not well established in the facts.

Two unsubstantiated claims

The report claims there was 100% turnout in 12 Racine County nursing homes, 30 Milwaukee County nursing homes and 24 Dane County nursing homes.

But the report doesnt identify any of those 66 nursing homes, or where exactly the data came from, or provide any substantiating documents or evidence to support the claims, which were made in bold red type.

Without knowing what nursing homes the claims are being made about, its hard to rebut them, state Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, said in a phone interview Thursday morning.

Members of the Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, upon which Spreitzer sits, was given the report minutes before hearing testimony by Michael Gableman, the former state Supreme Court justice leading the probe. As such, committee members had little time to educate themselves on Gablemans claims before he spoke about them and answered questions.

Gableman and the report itself admit the data is incomplete, but made claims based on that data anyway.

Milwaukee officials have already countered the nursing-home claims with actual data, indicating the reports assertions are wholly inaccurate.

Among the apparently false claims was one that asserted federal law requires lists of non-citizens be provided to local elections officials and that that did not happen before the 2020 election. But multiple clerks said this is not true; there is no such thing as a non-citizen list.

The Journal Times requested data and clarification from the Office of the Special Counsel, led by Gableman. No reply was received.

Nursing homes

Racine County does not have exactly 12 nursing homes, so unless the OSC releases more information, its impossible to know upon what the reports claims are based.

Depending on your definition, Racine County has six nursing homes, or somewhere between 14 and 17, or dozens, or more than 200. But not 12.

The report does not deny this, saying that its assertion of 100% voter turnout (reportedly 348 votes cast out of 348 registered voters in 12 unidentified Racine County nursing homes) reflects voting at the nursing homes that the OSC has been able to vet to this juncture. There are more facilities in these counties, and after auditing the votes from other facilities, the above percentages may change.

Gableman noted Tuesday, regarding turnout rates at nursing homes: I havent fully investigated that yet.

By releasing the incomplete information, Gableman and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the Racine County Republican who ordered the investigation, have contradicted what they said when the probe launched; at the time, they said it was important to not release any information until the investigation is complete.

According to the state designation of what a nursing home is, there are six in Racine County:

The Bay at Burlington

Oak Ridge Care Center, Union Grove

Ridgewood Care Center, Mount Pleasant

Lakeshore at Siena, Caledonia

Wisconsin Veterans Home-Boland Hall, Town of Dover

The Villa at Lincoln Park, Racine

That count of six was confirmed by Andrew Goetz, a spokesman for the county, who indicated he likewise was confused as to how Gablemans team came to its conclusion.

If you are to include both memory care units and residential care apartment complexes, the number increases to somewhere from 14 to 17.

Include community-based apartment complexes, the number rises to more than 50.

If you include adult family homes, the number rises to more than 300.

In Milwaukee County, Gablemans report claims there were 1,084 votes cast out of 1,084 registered voters in 30 nursing homes.

But Milwaukee elections officials disclosed data that contradicts this. In an email Thursday morning, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg said that in the November 2020 election, there were 579 ballots issued to SVD (special voting deputy) voters; 389 ballots returned; 67.2% return rate, in the City of Milwaukee.

That return rate is actually down from the 2016 presidential election, when there were 810 such ballots issued, with 633 of them being returned, for a turnout rate of 78.1%, according to the data Woodall-Vogg provided.

Asked about the discrepancy between Gablemans numbers and Milwaukees actual election data, Woodall-Vogg said: It is not clear if Mr. Gableman understands this, but SVD voters are those who have requested an absentee ballot and are in nursing or assisted living. Voters in independent living  which comprises quite a large number  can vote via mail or with the SVDs. It is their preference.

The numbers Woodall-Vogg provided, she said, indicate the requests we had on file for voters in care facilities who were in nursing or assisted living and would have voted with a SVD if SVDs had been dispensed in 2020, which they were not.

Using the states strict definition of nursing home, there are 32 nursing homes in Milwaukee County.

Non-citizen

Gablemans report states outright: WEC is also legally required under federal law to distribute to the States municipal clerks lists of wards and incapacitated person so as to prevent these ineligible non-citizens from Election Day registration and voting.

This is wrong, said Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell and Caledonia Clerk Joslyn Hoeffert.

The report does not cite any specific law from which it drew the conclusion that such non-citizen lists must be provided.

Of the claim that there is some sort of non-citizen list mandate, thats a lie, McDonell said. Thats a complete lie. That is made up. That is, theres no legal cite, of course there isnt one, he cant provide one and no one else does. So, if it were a federal requirement, someone would be doing it.

Local election officials do get lists of felons and others barred from voting from the state; Waterford Village Clerk Rachel Ladewig called it an Ineligible Voter List. But theres no such non-citizen list.

We get a list of the felons, which I think is from the state  its definitely not a non-citizen list, Hoeffert said.

The report further stated, Wisconsin election officials failed to prevent non-citizens from voting in the 2020 presidential election  casting doubt on the election result. However, the report does not even claim or point to any case in which a single non-citizen voted in the 2020 presidential election.

Misinformation already spreading

Preventing the potential spread of misinformation was ostensibly the reason why Gablemans work and documents associated with OSC were to be kept secret. As such, it is not clear why these unsubstantiated claims and incomplete data sets are being released now, breaking from the assurances that were made by Vos and Gableman at the outset of the probe.

The claims Gableman made Tuesday have already led to the spread of misinformation.

Wisconsin has an estimated 92,000 people living in nursing homes. As such, Gableman implied that supposed election fraud in nursing homes could have swayed the election in Bidens favor, since 92,000 is bigger than Bidens margin of victory, which was 20,682 votes.

92,000 is a lot of votes, he said.

But Gableman ignores the fact that that 92,000 is the total population of all Wisconsinites living in nursing homes, and he did not even assert that there were 92,000 ballots cast out of the nursing homes.

To allege that there could be 92,000 fraudulent votes connected to nursing homes implies that there was a ballot cast for every single nursing home resident in the state  which did not happen  and that, somehow, all of these ballots were fraudulent, which would imply that not a single resident of a Wisconsin nursing home voted legally. It also implies that every single nursing home resident in the state is a registered voter, which is not accurate.

The investigation conducted by the Racine County Sheriffs Office  which looked into alleged election fraud in a single Mount Pleasant nursing home and has been heavily cited by Gablemans team  effectively disproves Gablemans implication that 92,000 votes connected to nursing homes could have been fraudulent.

The RCSOs investigation found that eight people whose family members said should not have been able to vote and would not have consciously wanted to vote did vote at Ridgewood Care Center. But 42 votes were recorded from Ridgewood, with no concerns being raised about 34 of them. Additionally, Ridgewood has a capacity of 200 residents.

Burden, the UW-Madison professor, said Wednesday: I think the report suggesting that there are 92,000 people at risk of being coerced or breaking the law is mostly innuendo.

Still, state Rep. Tim Ramthun, in a release titled Vindication, claimed his doubts of the legality of the 2020 election were confirmed by Gableman. Ramthun is a Republican gubernatorial candidate who has tried to have Wisconsins electoral votes somehow recalled 15 months after the fact, something Gableman now asserts is possible even though the Legislatures attorneys and election officials say would be illegal, since once the Electoral College votes were tabulated on the evening of Jan. 6, 2021, the proceedings were finalized. (tncms-asset)f75edb9e-9b32-11ec-9676-00163ec2aa77[8](/tncms-asset)

Those in Donald Trumps camp likewise are still claiming Biden did not win the 2020 election, and they are citing Gablemans flawed report as purported evidence backing up those claims. Boris Epshteyn, an attorney who is a current advisor to Trump, spoke about Gablemans report at length in a podcast hosted by former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, with Epshteyn falsely asserting that the interim report proves the election was stolen. Epshteyn predicted a mushroom effort in the drive to decertify the 2020 election.

Reporting from Alexander Shur of Lee Newspapers is included in this article.

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A Dane County judge on Wednesday ruled that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman arbitrarily and capriciously denied or delayed access to public records related to the GOP-ordered review of the states 2020 election.

Circuit Court Judge Frank Remington ordered Vos and Gableman, who has been allocated $676,000 in taxpayer funds for the one-party review, to release the records, which were requested last year by liberal watchdog group American Oversight. Remington put enforcement on the ruling on hold until after a hearing on the case scheduled for Tuesday.

(The Office of Special Counsel), Robin Vos, and the assembly each arbitrarily and capriciously denied or delayed access to records, Remington wrote in the ruling.

Remington ruled that Gableman had no basis for withholding the public records, which the former state Supreme Court justice requested to keep secret as they pertained to strategic information to our investigation, according to court documents.

In sum, (the Office of Special Counsels) decision at the time of its denial of access was to send a three-sentence, misspelled, summary rejection email, Remington wrote. This is the sort of unconsidered and irrational conduct deserving of punitive damages.

Remington ordered the three parties to each pay $1,000 in damages to American Oversight and cover the groups legal fees, with those penalties on hold pending next weeks hearing. Those fees could very well fall on taxpayers and Remingtons ruling is likely to be appealed.

Speaker Vos and Michael Gableman have done everything in their power to avoid running a transparent investigation, American Oversight senior adviser Melanie Sloan said in a statement.

Their claims of seriousness and non-partisanship have been belied by their actions from the outset. The courts ruling is clear: Wisconsin law gives the public the right to see these records. We look forward to the (Office of Special Counsels) prompt compliance.

The case is one of three lawsuits filed by American Oversight against Gableman, Vos, his attorney Steve Fawcett and Assembly Chief Clerk Ted Blazel.

The records, which have also been requested by several news outlets including the Wisconsin State Journal, pertain to Gablemans ongoing review of the 2020 election, which focuses on a number of things including election administration, guidance from the Wisconsin Elections Commission and private election grants provided to cities to administer the presidential election during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gableman provided an update on his review Tuesday, including a 136-page interim report on the 2020 election. During a three-hour presentation, Gableman suggested the Legislature consider decertifying the states presidential election results  something legal experts and legislative attorneys say is a legal and constitutional impossibility.

Gableman also called for the elimination and dismantling of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission after it instructed clerks in 2020 that they did not need to send poll workers into nursing homes to assist with absentee voting after many were turned away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vos, who hired Gableman last year to conduct the review, has opposed both proposals in the past. Gableman said Tuesday he plans to continue carrying out the review, though negotiations with Vos continue over an extended contract. His previous contract with the state expired at the end of December.
Gov. Tony Evers is set to decide whether to sign a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Corrections to change course on a contract that gives a Texas firm an effective monopoly on providing personal items to correctional inmates and their families.

The bill, which passed the Legislature in mid-February with support from Republicans and Democrats, requires DOC to contract with at least three vendors after the state prison system opted to contract with only one vendor last year.

The single-vendor contract with Union Supply Group, which began in October, has led to longer customer service wait times, higher prices and fewer available items, activists and families have said. The move by DOC also effectively shut off access to a brick-and-mortar store operated by the company J.L. Marcus in Milwaukee that allowed families to pick out items in-person and have them sent to state prisons.

This is something thats a common-sense thing, said Sen. Van H. Wanggaard, R-Racine, who sponsored the bill, SB 564, in the Senate.

The DOC just arbitrarily decided that they werent going to put out bids, the senator said. We just felt that there should be an option and there should be a choice.

Rep. Samba Baldeh, D-Madison, who co-sponsored the bill, AB 565, in the Assembly, said he hopes the governor will sign the bill, adding that the legislation shows issues that affect incarcerated people are simply not partisan.

I sponsored the bill because I believe the DOCs plan to provide a monopoly on items for purchase would almost certainly ensure that incarcerated individuals and their families would end up paying higher prices for the basic goods that they depend on, Baldeh wrote in an email.

Britt Cudaback, a spokesperson for Evers, said the governors team was still reviewing the bill.

For and against

The bill was lobbied against by the contracts beneficiary, Union Supply, in September, while J.L. Marcus, the company that previously contracted with DOC and operates the in-person storefront in Milwaukee, lobbied in favor of it.

In testimony to the Assembly in September, DOC said its years-long competitive process to award a single contract aimed to obtain good customer service as well as a wide range of products for purchase for people in our care.

DOCs contract with Union Supply is set to last until the end of September 2023 with four one-year renewal options. The contract is at no cost to DOC, said spokesperson John Beard.

Beard declined further comment on the bills passage and its prospects on being signed into law.

Union Supplys corporate office in Texas did not respond to a request for comment.

For J.L. Marcus, the loss of a contract with DOC and the shuttering of the Milwaukee store has cost the company 30% of its business, said president Jodi Weber.

We actually still have people who come to us daily and say, Can you please help us? Can you please send this order to our loved one? Weber said.

You have a captive audience, she added. They dont have the ability to go down the street and go to a Walgreens and get the essentials that they need.

Wisconsin prisons rely on third-party vendors to provide items, which have to meet a facilitys rules. A prison radio, for instance, has to be see-through to prevent smuggling.

Prior to the shift to Union Supply, families could browse online and physical catalogues offered by three different companies, then order items for shipment to state correctional institutions.

A moms story

Kay Lanctot, a Mauston resident whose son Levi is incarcerated at New Lisbon Correctional Institution, said she always used J.L. Marcus over other vendors to mail items to her son because it was cheaper and had more options.

But since Union Supply became DOCs only vendor, prices have jumped and the variety of available items has decreased, Lanctot said. Other items, from deodorant to coffee, are either not available or have months-long delivery delays.

In recent months, Lanctot said, she had to send shoes to her son three separate times because the ones she sent were not allowed by the prison and Union Supply doesnt say which items are available at which facility.

If you have competition, theyre much better at it (than) if youre the only person, Lanctot said of the change to a single vendor.

It was so frustrating when they went down to just Union Supply and they do it sneakily, she said. There was nothing we could do about it.

Though she once had to wait over an hour to speak with a customer service representative, wait times have vastly improved recently, Lanctot said. A call by the Wisconsin State Journal to Union Supplys customer service line got a representative on the phone in about a minute on Thursday afternoon and in about 15 minutes on Monday afternoon.

Ramiah Whiteside, the associate director of Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing, said his group has also heard reports of long customer service wait times, shipping delays, higher prices and fewer options.

They have a certain routine that theyve done for over a decade to be able to send items to their loved one, and you completely cut that up with a process that you say is going to better and its not, Whiteside said.

I think the motivation was to make it more efficient, make it faster, he added. However, in practice it didnt work.

Should it be signed by Evers, the bill requires DOC do everything necessary to implement the law within 90 days. An amendment to the law also allows for DOC to contract with only two vendors if fewer than three bids satisfy the bid criteria.
With mask mandates lifting in Dane County and around the country, a Wisconsin health official on Wednesday urged people to follow new federal guidance recommending masks indoors when COVID-19 community levels are high.

My view, my hope is that the age of mask mandates is sort of in the rearview mirror, and the enlightened age of mask critical thinking is ahead of us, said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, a chief medical officer with the state Department of Health Services.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week released a three-tier classification of counties based on COVID-19 cases and hospital capacity. The agency said people in counties with high levels should wear masks indoors and those in medium-level counties who are at high risk for severe illness should talk about mask wearing with their doctors. Residents of low-level counties can generally forego masks, the CDC said.

Dane County and 33 other Wisconsin counties had low levels as of last week. The state had 20 counties with medium levels and 18 with high levels, including Green County, south of Dane County.

The CDC system can help individuals and organizations decide when to wear or require masks, Westergaard said. Given that some people remain at high risk for severe disease, when we gather together, we can be mindful of that, he said.

Dane Countys indoor mask mandate expired Tuesday. The Madison School District also started letting students and staff go unmasked outdoors. The districts indoor mask requirement will remain until at least April 1, the end of spring break. Other Madison-area school districts have also loosened or dropped their requirements.

UW-Madison is lifting its mask mandate when its spring break starts March 12. A mask requirement ended Tuesday for employees and visitors at most state buildings Tuesday, with the rule continuing at least until April 1 for workers in the departments of Corrections, Health Services and Veterans Affairs.

With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations down dramatically in Dane County, Wisconsin and the nation since the omicron variant peak in January, Westergaard said he is cautiously optimistic that were in a good place for this spring and summer.

Easing mask rules could pose more risk, but Im not terribly concerned about that, he said, because most people have some protection through vaccination or recent infection.

The fall could bring more spread of the coronavirus, however, like with other seasonal respiratory viruses such as influenza, he said.

Also, more concerning COVID-19 variants could again emerge. Thats going to be an ever present risk, he said.
On the Hemp Podcast this week we talk to Geoff Whaling, chair of the National Hemp Association about the recent creation of the Standing Committee of Hemp Organizations which will give the hemp industry a stronger, more unified voice in Washington.
Weather Alert

...AIR QUALITY ALERT... The following message is transmitted at the request of the New Mexico Departments of Health and Environment. * WHAT...Westerly transport winds becoming northwest tonight and Thursday will generally carry smoke toward the east then southeast through late afternoon and evening. Diminishing winds and nighttime inversions tonight will focus the greatest overnight impacts close to and down-drainage of the large fires. * WHERE...Smoke will continue to significantly impact areas across much of southern Colfax, Los Alamos, Mora, southeast Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Miguel, and Santa Fe counties during the next 24 hours. This includes but is not limited to the following communities: Espanola, Kewa Pueblo, La Cueva, Las Vegas, Los Alamos, Mora, Ocate, Ohkay Owingeh, Pojoaque, Pueblo of Cochiti, Pueblo of San Felipe, Pueblo of Santa Clara, Pueblo of Santa Ana, Santa Fe, Sapello, and White Rock. * WHEN...Remainder of this afternoon through noon MDT Friday. * IMPACTS...Those with conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung disease, lung cancer, and heart disease will be especially vulnerable to impacts from poor air quality, as will adults over age 65, young children, and pregnant women if smoke concentrations become unhealthy. * HEALTH INFORMATION...Remember, your eyes are your best tools to determine if it is safe to be outside. Use the 5-3-1 Method available at https://nmtracking.org/environment/air/FireAndSmoke.html. If visibility is: Under 5 miles, the air quality is unhealthy for young children, adults over age 65, pregnant women, and people with heart and/or lung disease, asthma or other respiratory illness. Outdoor activity should be minimized. Around 3 miles, young children, adults over age 65, pregnant women, and people with heart and/or lung disease, asthma or other respiratory illness should avoid all outdoor activities. Around 1 mile, the air quality is unhealthy for everyone. People should remain indoors and avoid all outdoor activities including running errands. Unless an evacuation has been issued, stay inside your home, indoor workplace, or in a safe shelter. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic affecting New Mexico and with the wildfire season underway, New Mexicans will need to take extra precautions. Smoke from wildfires may cause people to have more severe reactions if they are infected COVID-19. The best way to protect against the potentially harmful effects of wildfire smoke and to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is to stay home and create a clean indoor air space. NMDOH offers tips here: https://nmtracking.org/environment/air/IndoorQuality.html and https://cv.nmhealth.org New Mexicans will also need to take steps to keep their homes cool to avoid heat-related illnesses. NMDOH offers tips here: https://nmtracking.org/health/heatstress/Heat.html. For smoke forecast outlooks from the Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program please visit: https://outlooks.wildlandfiresmoke.net.
New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) A record Rs 328 crore worth of inducements to voters such as cash, liquor and narcotics have been seized in Uttar Pradesh since the announcement of the assembly poll schedule on January 8, Election Commission sources said on Thursday.

The cumulative seizure of such illegal inducements in the five poll-going states -- Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab -- stood at Rs 1,039.50 crore, the sources said, adding that it included drugs worth Rs 571.34 crore.

Also Read | Ukraine Crisis: Huge Evacuation Requires High Level of Intervention, Says Kiren Rijiju.

The seizure figure in Uttar Pradesh up to Thursday was Rs 328.33 crore, 1.70 times more than the total combined seizure of Rs 193.29 crore in the entire assembly polls held in 2017 in the state. Like last time, this time too assembly polls in the state are being held in seven phases.

While voting is over in Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur still have one phase each to go.

Also Read | Himachal Pradesh: Two Dead, 14 Injured as Bus Falls into Gorge in Mandi.

The commission, the sources said, has been laying special emphasis on inducement-free elections and curbing the malaise of undue money power, liquor and freebies.

A total of 128 expenditure observers have been deployed in Uttar Pradesh for effective monitoring. Over 1,800 flying squads and 2,104 static surveillance teams were operationalised to check movement of cash, liquor, drugs and freebies in Uttar Pradesh.

Eight air intelligence units of the Income Tax Department have been formed in Uttar Pradesh.

Voting for the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls began on Thursday morning, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several prominent faces among the 676 candidates who are contesting on 57 seats spread across 10 districts.

Around 2.15 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.

Till now, voting for 292 of the 403 Assembly seats has been completed. The final phase of the elections in the remaining 54 seats will be held on March 7.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
The plug has been pulled on a long-running soap opera that launched the careers of two of todays biggest stars.

Australias daytime drama Neighbours has been cancelled after 37 years due to the ever-changing television landscape and financial woes.

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Margot Robbie and Russell Crowe both started their careers on the Australian series, "Neighbours."

Neighbours, set in Australia, was primarily funded by U.K. broadcasting partner Channel 5, where the show has aired since 2008.

Channel 5 pulled its financial backing of the show last month shifting its investment to original content.

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A search for alternative funding never materialized.

We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9,000 episodes broadcast we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June, the shows official Twitter account wrote on Thursday. Following the loss of our key broadcast partner in the UK and despite an extensive search for alternative funding, we simply have no option but to rest the show.

We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9000 episodes broadcast we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June. pic.twitter.com/YwlDZPb7zB  Neighbours (@neighbours) March 3, 2022

To our amazing, loyal fans, we know this is a huge disappointment, as it is to all of us on the team, the message continues. We thank you for all your messages and support and promise to end the show on an incredible high. From here on, we are celebrating Neighbours.

The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. >

Chronicling the lives of everyday people living on the on the fictional Ramsay Street cul-de-sac, Neighbours has served as a breeding ground for talent since debuting in 1985.

Academy Award winner Russell Crowe is among the shows alum, playing the role of Kenny Larkin in 1987. The New Zealander had bit roles in other Australian television series before Neighbours but was able to stretch his acting cops during a four-episode arc.

Liam Hemsworth on "Neighbours." (Fremantle)

The Reg Watson-created drama was also a launching pad for many other big names, including Academy Award nominee Margot Robbie, Emmy Award winner Guy Pearce and Hunger Games heartthrob Liam Hemsworth.

Even Grammy Award winner Kylie Minogue got her start on the serial.

The Melbourne native portrayed Charlene Robinson from 1986-88.

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Her characters wedding to live-in boyfriend Scott Robinson (played by Jason Donovan) was a ratings juggernaut, bringing in nearly 20 million viewers.

Ill be forever grateful for the experience & the friends I made on @neighbours, Minogue wrote on Twitter. We had no idea how big the show would become and how passionately viewers would take it to heart. Pure love!  I can still hear Madge calling  CHARLENE!!!!
New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy in dealing with the Ukraine crisis during a virtual meeting of Quad leaders.

Besides Modi, the meeting was attended by US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: Dos and Dont Advisory Issued by Ministry of Defense for Indian Nationals, Students in Kharkiv; Check Details Here.

"Developments in Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, including its humanitarian implications. The Prime Minister emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy," an official statement said.

In his remarks, Modi also reiterated the importance of adhering to the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Also Read | Goa Shocker: Son Kills Father For Rejecting Marriage Proposal.

The meeting reviewed the progress on Quad's initiatives since the summit talks in September.

"The leaders agreed on accelerating cooperation, with an objective to achieve concrete outcomes by the summit in Japan later this year," the statement said.

It said Modi underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

"He called for concrete and practical forms of cooperation within the Quad, in areas like humanitarian and disaster relief, debt sustainability, supply chains, clean energy, connectivity, and capacity-building," it said.

The leaders also discussed other topical issues, including the situation in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific Islands.

"The leaders agreed to stay in touch and to work towards an ambitious agenda for the forthcoming Leaders' Summit in Japan," the statement said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, Mar 3 (PTI) Ahead of the Maharashtra legislature's budget session, BJP legislators staged a protest on steps of the Vidhan Bhavan here on Thursday against the state government's decision not to remove minister Nawab Malik from his post.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War Live Updates: Russia Takes Control of Kherson; 'No Report of Indian Students Being Held Hostage in Ukraine' Says MEA.

Last week, the Enforcement Directorate arrested state Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

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On Thursday, BJP legislators, led by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Devendra Fadnavis, LoP in the Legislative Council Pravin Darekar and state BJP president Chandrakant Patil shouted slogans against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress.

This MVA government is sympathetic towards those who helped Dawood and his aides, convicted in the (1993) Mumbai bomb blasts. We condemn the decision to retain Malik as minister when there has been a precedent to remove a minister arrested under some charges, Fadnavis said.

The state legislature's budget session starting Thursday will conclude on March 25.

The opposition BJP in Maharashtra has said it wants the current session to be fruitful and wants to discuss many issues, provided the MVA government sacks Malik.

The MVA leaders have countered the BJP, claiming the saffron party was using central agencies to target the state government.

(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, Mar 3 (PTI) The Centre has asked states and UTs to consider exchange of near expiry COVID-19 vaccine vials available at private vaccination centres with long expiry vaccine doses stocked with government facilities to ensure there is no wastage.

Additional Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Vikas Sheel recently wrote to states and UTs on the issue of near expiry vaccines available at private Covid vaccination centres (CVCs).

Also Read | Realme Narzo 50 To Go on Sale Today in India, Check Offers Here.

Earlier also directions were issued to West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra in this regard.

It has also been communicated to all states that regular review is to be carried out on the status of Covid vaccines, if available, with private CVCs.

Also Read | Weather Forecast: Wet Spell Over Delhi, UP, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry.

"It is reiterated to all States/UTs that the MoHFW has no objection for states and UTs to consider exchange of near expiry vaccine vials of private CVCs with long expiry vaccine vials available with government CVCS after due diligence. Kindly ensure that no vial of Covid vaccine in government CVCs as well as in private CVCs should be wasted," Sheel said in the letter.

The provision of entry of these exchanged vaccines is available on Co-WIN portal for Covid vaccination.

(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, Mar 3 (PTI) The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Thursday said it has given in-principle approval for the design and development of nine defence equipment by the Indian industry.

Out of the total nine projects, four have been offered in 'Make-I category' under which the Centre provides 90 per cent funding in a phased manner, the ministry said in a statement.

Also Read | Rs 5K Penalty For Dumping Construction Waste at Public Places in Delhi, Says NDMC Vice-Chairman Satish Upadhyay.

The four projects are communication equipment with Indian security protocols, airborne electro optical pod with ground based system and airborne stand-off jammer for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and light tank for the Army, it mentioned.

"This is for the first time since the launch of industry-friendly Defence Acquisition Procedure-2020 that Indian industry has been involved in development of big ticket platforms such as light tank and communication equipment with Indian security protocols," it noted.

Also Read | Mamata Banerjee Having Prime Ministerial Illusions, Interfering in International Issues, Says BJP Leader Tathagatha Roy.

Five projects have also been offered in 'Make-II category' under which no government funding is provided for prototype development, it noted.

These five projects include full motion simulator for Apache helicopter, full motion simulator for Chinook helicopter and wearable robotic equipment for aircraft maintenance for the IAF, and integrated surveillance and targeting system for mechanised forces and autonomous combat vehicle for the Indian Army, it mentioned.

"The indigenous development of these (nine) projects in the country will help harness the design capabilities of Indian defence industry and position India as a design leader in these technologies," it noted.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kolkata, March 3: Veteran BJP leader Tathagatha Roy on Thursday took a jibe at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying that Banerjee is having "Prime Ministerial illusions" which is why she is "interfering in international issues".

"West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is having Prime Ministerial illusions that's why she is interfering in an international issue which is none of her business," said Former Tripura Governor and BJP leader Tathagatha Roy while speaking exclusively to ANI. Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: 'Pariwarwadi' Parties Still Stuck in Old Alliances With Mafias, Says PM Narendra Modi.

Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday blamed the Centre for delaying the evacuation of Indian students from war-torn Ukraine. She said delayed evacuation is neglect and crime.

Roy further said, "I am not surprised but it rather reminds me of a situation-- a year back during the pandemic, she hit out at the Central government for not taking adequate steps and measures despite the Centre knowing of the second and third COVID-19 waves. In the same way, now Mamata Banerjee said why the Central Government did not take any steps earlier to rescue students stuck in Ukraine despite PM Narendra Modi knowing about Russia's Ukraine invasion from beforehand. She says anything she feels like."

According to Roy, Mamata is making 'weird' statement. "The way she is targetting the Governor when the Governor himself is asking as to where he has gone wrong. She has no answer", stated Roy.

Speaking on Mamata Banerjee shown black flag in Varanasi, Roy said, "It is the right of the people to express their anger. There is nothing wrong if the workers have shown her black flag in Varanasi." Mamata Banerjee was shown black flags amid chants of "Jai Sri Ram" in Varanasi on Wednesday when she was on the way to take part in Ganga Aarti.

When asked about the downfall of BJP in Bengal, Roy held both the TMC and BJP responsible for it. He said, " That what is happening in Bengal, can't call it election results. Booth rigging and goons are been used to win the election. On the other hand, BJP's downfall in Bengal began after the State Assembly election and its continuing. They (BJP) didn't take any steps to correct their mistakes except for changing the State President."

Roy further added, "During the Bengal polls, those who were in charge of Bengal, only enjoyed a good time in five-star hotels and ticket distribution was another backdrop where only 'pretty faces' were given a chance to contest and the old party workers were left out from the list."

(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, March 3: A Delhi Court on Thursday reserved the order on the bail plea of Umar Khalid, an accused in the Northeast Delhi violence case. Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid was arrested on September 13, 2020.

The Delhi Court today reserved the order on bail plea of Khalid in Northeast Delhi violence case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The Court will pronounce the order on March 14, 2022.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat reserved the order after hearing the submissions of the special public prosecutor (SPP) and Senior Advocate Tridip Pais, Counsel appeared on behalf of accused Umar Khalid. Deep Sidhu Granted Bail by Delhi Court in Republic Day Violence Case.

The Court also reserved the orders on the bail pleas of Gulfisha Fatima and Tasleem Khan after hearing the rebuttal arguments by Advocate Mehmood Pracha, counsel appeared on behalf of them. The Court will pronounce the order on March 11.

The court has already reserved the order on the bail pleas of other accused persons.

SPP Amit Prasad on Thursday rebutted that in the case of conspiracy, "we have to see the wholesome conduct of the accused. There are multiple chats and other evidence is there. He submitted that there is adequate material on record against the accused."

He referred to the chat between Tanha and Nadeem Khan and said, "They were masking themselves. If they didn't have anything to hide why were they in a secretive manner asking others to make WhatsApp calls."

He also answered the query about stepping in of Kapil Mishra and the eruption of riots only after that. He said it is not correct. Riots were pre-planned otherwise it was not possible to accumulate the chili powder and other things, he added.

He said we have seen the dislocation and disconnection of CCTV cameras at Chandbagh and Kapil Mishra was not there but the accused were there.

He submitted on the specific question asked by the court on Umar Khalid's speech at Amaravati, that the permission for this program was rejected on 11 February 2020 by the Maharashtra police. Again on February 12, another application was filed by an office-bearer of the Welfare Party of India mentioning six dignitaries except for Umar Khalid.

The Father of the accused is the national president of the party. Permission was given only for six persons, he said. Despite this Umar Khalid went there and gave a speech on February 17. An FIR was lodged in this regard for not obeying the order.

SPP argued that the Amaravati speech was a call to 'Chalo Dilli' (let's go Delhi) during the visit of US President Donald Trump on February 24, 2020. He also referred to the meeting of February 23 meeting which was attended by some accused persons. He said we can not see the role of the accused in isolation.

Senior Advocate Tridip Pais the counsel for the accused again rebutted saying that the said order and FIR were illegal because there can not be restrictions on right to speech. There are no such restrictions in the Maharashtra Police Act, he said.

He also argued that Umar Khalid was named as accused of the said FIR registered in the Amaravati matter. Nothing happened after the speech. The prosecution can not call it an act of terror because he gave a speech there.

The prosecution is making a mockery of the prosecution of UAPA. He further argued that the prosecution referred to chats and calls of other people. Their witness is talking about some other person, not about me.

He also argued that the 'Bharat tere tukde honge' remark was not attributed to me in chargesheet filed in the JNU case 2016. But this time the prosecution has this remark attributed to me.

This case is related to the Northeast Delhi riots in which 53 people died and hundreds had got injured. Delhi police had logged the larger conspiracy case naming Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Gulfisha Fatima including others.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 3 (ANI): Third Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft carrying 208 Indian citizens from Ukraine landed at Hindon airbase near Delhi from Rzeszow in Poland on Thursday.

Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt received the Indian citizens on their arrival and interacted with them.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022 6th Phase: BJP Will Win Over 80% Seats, Says CM Yogi Adityanath After Casting Vote in Gorakhpur.

While talking to ANI, students said that they brought pets along with them.

"I have brought my friend's dog with me from Ukraine. Many people who had dogs left them behind in Ukraine but I brought back this dog along with me", said Zahid, a student rescued from Ukraine.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections 2022: Polling Begins in 57 Constituencies for 6th Phase of UP Polls.

Gautam, who has brought back his pet cat from Ukraine, said the cat had been with him for the last four months. He further said that the cat had stayed with him in the bunker.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued orders to the Air Force to pitch in the rescue operations to augment the level of Operation Ganga.

Notably, the American C-17 Globemasters and IL-76 transport aircraft are the most capable of flying long distances with around 400 passengers. The C-17 transport aircraft had helped in a big way in evacuating citizens and officials from Kabul when the Taliban captured Afghanistan and forced Americans to exit from there.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland.

"Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland, including IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3,000 Indian nationals," tweeted Jaishankar.

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.

The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials.

For the past few days, the Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue.Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help Ukraine with military weapons.

The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with students who returned from Ukraine in Varanasi today. (Photo/ANI)

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 3 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with students who returned to India from Ukraine, in Varanasi on Thursday.

These students shared their experiences with him.

Also Read | Himachal Pradesh: Two Dead, 14 Injured as Bus Falls into Gorge in Mandi.

The students were from Varanasi as well as other parts of Uttar Pradesh.

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.

Also Read | Realme V25 With Triple Rear Cameras Launched; Check Price, Features & Specifications.

In a bid to further scale up the evacuation efforts, the government has deployed 80 flights under 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate stranded Indians from Ukraine.

The government has also roped in more than two dozen Ministers to monitor evacuation missions without any hiccups, sources told ANI on Thursday.

By March 10, a total of 80 flights will be pressed into service to evacuate the stranded Indians. These flights belong to the fleet of Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Spice Jet, Vistara, Go Air, and also planes from the Air Force.

The Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue in the last few days.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. (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], March 3 (ANI): Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield, claimed Russian Embassy in India on Wednesday (local time).

This comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in Kharkiv and discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas.

Also Read | China To Maintain Normal Trade Relations With Russia Despite International Sanctions.

"According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russia. Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities," Russia in India wrote in a tweet.

"According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkov who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod," the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Defence said during the briefing.

Also Read | India Abstains From Voting on UNGA Resolution That Deplores Russia's Aggression Against Ukraine.

"In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place," he said.

He further said that Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens and send them home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes, as the Indian side proposed to do.

However, Ukraine has reacted to Russia's allegations and called on the Russian Federation to "immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy so that they can arrange the evacuation of the civilian population, including foreign students, to safer Ukrainian cities".

"There are students from India, Pakistan, China and other counties who cannot leave because of the indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on residential areas and civilian infrastructure," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that the Ukrainian government stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy.

"The Government of Ukraine stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy should Russia commit to a ceasefire. Attempting to arrange evacuations through cities that are being subjected to Russian bombing and missile strikes is extremely dangerous," read the statement.

Ukraine demanded Moscow to allow the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities.

"We urgently call on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities," said Ukraine's Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a tweet, said that the country has established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine as the tensions between Moscow and Kyiv rages on.

"We have established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine because of Russia's invasion. +380934185684 We are working intensively to ensure their safety & speed up their passage. Russia must stop its aggression which affects us all," he tweeted. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, Mar 3 (PTI) Seeking to comprehensively overhaul the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes, a bipartisan group of influential senators have introduced a legislation in the US Senate, which they argued will protect American workers and crack down on foreign outsourcing companies that exploit these popular visa programmes to deprive qualified Americans of high-skilled jobs.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: 2 Explosions Heard Near Kyivs Druzhby Narodiv Metro Station in Ukraine.

The H-1B visa programme is the most sought-after work visa among foreign professionals, including Indians. The L-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa for the purpose of work in L-1 status. It is valid for a relatively short amount of time.

The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act will reduce fraud and abuse, provide protections for American workers and visa holders, and require more transparency in the recruitment of foreign workers, the senators said.

Also Read | China To Maintain Normal Trade Relations With Russia Despite International Sanctions.

Introduced by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal, Tommy Tuberville, Sherrod Brown, Bill Hagerty, and Bernie Sanders.

The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act will require US Citizenship and Immigration Services to prioritise for the first time the annual allocation of H-1B visas. The new system would ensure that the best and brightest STEM advanced degree students educated in the United States receive preference for an H-1B visa, and also prioritise other US advanced degree holders, those being paid a high wage, and those with valuable skills.

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

The legislation explicitly prohibits the replacement of American workers by H-1B or L-1 visa holders and clarifies that the working conditions of similarly employed American workers may not be adversely affected by the hiring of an H-1B worker, including H-1B workers who have been placed by another employer at the American worker's worksite, a media release said.

Reforming the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes is a critical component to fixing America's broken immigration system, Durbin said. For years, outsourcing companies have used legal loopholes to displace qualified American workers, exploit foreign workers, and facilitate the outsourcing of American jobs. Our legislation would fix these broken programmes, protect workers, and put an end to these abuses, he said.

Congress created the H-1B and L-1 visa programmes to complement America's high-skilled workforce, not replace it. Unfortunately, some companies are trying to exploit the programmes by cutting American workers for cheaper labour. We need programmes dedicated to putting American workers first, Grassley said.

When skilled foreign workers are needed to meet the demands of our labour market, we must also ensure that visa applicants who honed their skills at American colleges and universities are a priority over the importation of more foreign workers. Our bill takes steps to ensure that the programmes work for Americans and skilled foreign workers alike, he added.

According to the senators, the legislation will target outsourcing companies that import large numbers of H-1B and L-1 workers for temporary training purposes only to send the workers back to their home countries to do the same job.

Specifically, the bill would prohibit companies with more than 50 employees, of which at least half are H-1B or L-1 holders, from hiring additional H-1B employees. The bill gives the US Department of Labor enhanced authority to review, investigate, and audit employer compliance with programme requirements, as well as to penalise fraudulent or abusive conduct.

It requires the production of extensive statistical data about the H-1B and L-1 programmes, including wage data, worker education levels, place of employment, and gender.

In addition, the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act includes several reforms of the L-1 visa programme, including the establishment of a wage floor for L-1 workers; authority for the US Department of Homeland Security to investigate, audit, and enforce compliance with the L-1 programme requirements; assurance that intra-company transfers occur between legitimate branches of a company and do not involve shell facilities; and a change to the definition of specialized knowledge to ensure that L-1 visas are reserved only for truly key personnel, the media release said.

This legislation will crackdown on the manipulation of existing vulnerabilities to ensure employers prioritize the American worker before considering any high-skilled foreign applicants. If we are going to get our economy back up and running, we need to do it correctly and that begins with utilizing the talent we have here at home first and foremost, said Senator Tuberville.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Monday announced that it has received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa US advanced degree exemption, known as the master's cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2022.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Deborah Hausman, right, is a breast cancer survivor like her mom, Dottie Lunde, 93, who is a 53-year survivor. Both have volunteered their time to support breast cancer research and education. (Deborah Hausman/Courtesy)

Thousands of walkers clad in pink will congregate at Cranes Roost Park in Altamonte Springs this weekend, gathering together to support the cause and mission behind the Susan G. Komen organization.

Though the walkers all have different backgrounds and personal connections to breast cancer, they will band together to raise awareness and support research of the disease at the More Than Pink Walk Orlando this Saturday.

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For the last two years, Chuluota resident Deborah Hausman chaired the event, fundraising for Komen even as the walk was held virtually. Her involvement in breast cancer awareness was spurred by a personal connection as her mother, aunt and grandmother are all breast cancer survivors.

Deborah Hausman has given her time as a volunteer for the Susan G. Komen organization and is now a breast cancer survivor herself. She previously walked 60 miles in three days to support the cause of breast cancer awareness and research. (Deborah Hausman/Courtesy)

This year, Hausman has an even closer relationship with Komens cause as she herself is now a breast cancer survivor.

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My mantra when speaking to so many groups is about awareness and education and, of course, early detection, she said. The only reason Im sitting here, and my mother and my aunt, is because of early detection.

Hausman was inspired to get involved with the work of Susan G. Komens breast cancer foundation after seeing her mother overcome the disease while growing up. Dottie Lunde, now 93 years old, will join Hausman to walk at Cranes Roost Park.

I was afraid I wouldnt live long and I had three children, Lunde said. But I promised God that if I could do whatever I could do to help others, I would do whatever He wanted me to do in the future. And thats the work I did for 30 years.

Deborah Hausman, center, has given her time as a volunteer for the Susan G. Komen organization and is now a breast cancer survivor herself, along with her mom, Dottie Lunde, left, and her aunt. (Deborah Hausman/Courtesy)

The 53-year survivor of breast cancer spent 30 years as a volunteer for the American Cancer Society. After all, she knows how much can be at stake for other women, especially mothers.

When Deborah was in elementary school, I was not feeling well when she came home from school. She came over to me and started crying. She says, All the girls at school say youre going to die, Lunde recalled. Here I am, 93 years old, and here she is, working for Susan G. Komen. Its a wonderful thing that shes carrying on the privilege of teaching others about breast cancer and what to look for, and the hope that we have today.

Things to Do Weekly A look at entertainment and sporting events in Orlando and around Central Florida. >

Following in her mothers footsteps, Hausman has spent countless hours giving back to Komen by meeting with lawmakers about public policy while also taking every opportunity to educate others.

Deborah Hausman, second from left, has given her time as a volunteer for the Susan G. Komen organization and is now a breast cancer survivor herself. Hausman has met with lawmakers including Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani. (Deborah Hausman/Courtesy)

The patient advocacy that we put forth in Florida is beyond comparison. Im very proud to be a part of this group, she said. We need to inspire and create hope. At 93, my mom is a 53-year survivor. I mean, that should provide hope for these women walking in.

So far, more than $80,000 has been raised toward the walks $150,000 goal. Funds will go toward breast cancer research, patient care, advocacy efforts and the community of support for those with breast cancer.

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Hausman said its not too late to get involved, as many participants show up and register the day of the event. In addition, Komen also seeks volunteers and donations.

I think there will be joy and laughter and a lot of tears. It will be emotional  I know it will be for me. As a first-time survivor, its different, Hausman said. There are people who come with concern and fear and leave with much more confidence.

If you go

The 2022 Komen Orlando More Than Pink Walk is 7-11 a.m. March 5 at 274 Cranes Roost Blvd. in Altamonte Springs. On-site registration begins at 7 a.m., followed by the opening ceremonies at 9 a.m. and the walk at 9:30 a.m. To learn more and register, visit komen.org/community/florida/#local-events.

Find me @PConnPie on Twitter and Instagram or send me an email: pconnolly@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun things, follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Warsaw, Mar 3 (AP) The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe says one of its members died during shelling in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Maryna Fenina was killed while getting supplies for her family, the group said in a news release Wednesday. Fenina worked with the organization's monitoring mission in Ukraine.

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In Kharkiv and other cities and towns in Ukraine, missiles, shells and rockets are hitting residential buildings and town centers, killing and injuring innocent civilians  women, men and children alike, it said.

The organization's chairperson, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, and Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid extended their condolences.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: 2 Explosions Heard Near Kyivs Druzhby Narodiv Metro Station in Ukraine.

Our deepest condolences and sympathies go to Maryna's family. Maryna was a valued member of the SMM team, and our colleagues in Ukraine remain in close contact with her family to offer our support, it said.

The organization launched its Ukraine monitoring mission in 2014 in response to a request from Ukraine's government and the consent of the group's 57 participating states. The mission observes and reports on the situation in Ukraine and aims to facilitate dialogue.

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Geneva The U refugee agency says 1 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion less than a week ago, an exodus without precedent in this century for its speed.

The tally from UNHCR amounts to more than 2 percent of Ukraine's population on the move in under a week. The World Bank counted the population at 44 million at the end of 2020.

The U.N. agency has predicted that up to 4 million people could eventually leave Ukraine but cautioned that even that projection could be revised upward.

In an email, UNHCR spokesperson Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams wrote: Our data indicates we passed the 1M mark as of midnight in central Europe, based on counts collected by national authorities.

On Twitter, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, wrote: In just seven days we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine to neighboring countries.

Syria, whose civil war erupted in 2011, currently remains the country with the largest refugee outflows  at more than 5.6 million people, according to UNHCR figures. But even at the swiftest rate of flight by refugees out of Syria, in early 2013, it took at least three months for 1 million refugees to leave that country.

UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said Wednesday that at this rate the outflows from Ukraine could make it the source of the biggest refugee crisis this century.

___

Kyiv In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an upbeat assessment of the war and called on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance.

We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy, he said. They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.

Zelenskyy didn't comment on whether the Russians have seized several cities, including Kherson.

If they went somewhere, then only temporarily. We'll drive them out, he said.

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.

These are not warriors of a superpower," he said. "These are confused children who have been used.

He said the Russian death toll has reached about 9,000.

Ukraine doesn't want to be covered in bodies of soldiers," he said. "Go home. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
By Ashoke Raj

Warsaw [Poland], March 3 (ANI): Amid Russia's ongoing military operations in Ukraine, Polish nationals told Team ANI on Thursday that Poland strongly stands with Ukraine in this time of conflict and they are putting up three flags: Of the European Union, their country Poland, and Ukraine.

Also Read | An Israeli Couple Has Asked for Government Help in Rescuing a Surrogate Mother Carrying   Latest Tweet by Reuters.

Team ANI is reporting from Poland and other areas.

Many hotels in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, were waving three flags. ANI asked them whether the third flag is always used or is being used just now. A hotel representative told ANI, "Poland stands in solidarity with Ukraine."

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: Tasks of Ukraine Special Operation Will Be Completed in Any Case; Vladimir Putin to Emmanuel Macron.

Near the Warsaw airport in Poland, several taxis also carried Ukrainian flags to show support for Ukraine.

The Poland Embassy in India (Delhi) has started to hashtag on Twitter, "Solidarity with Ukraine and Stand With Ukraine."

"Polish diplomats, employees of Polish Embassy and Polish Institute in New Delhi united with the people and government of Ukraine brutally attacked by Russia," Poland embassy tweeted.

The Poland Embassy in India has already announced that Poland is providing maximum support to Ukraine in the fight against Russia's aggression. Poland's envoy to India Adam Burakowski had earlier told ANI that, "Poland is supplying weapons and other humanitarian aid to Ukraine and maximum support in every way to Ukraine," he told ANI.

Thousands of Indian students are currently stranded in different parts of Poland near the border area. The Indian Embassy in Poland with Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation General VK Singh are expediting the process of evacuation of Indian students and citizens who have somehow escaped from Ukraine. India has deployed IAF's C-17 aircraft for the evacuation of Indians from Poland and it will continue in the coming days. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
By Putin Speaks With Israeli Pm

Moscow [Russia], March 3 (ANI): Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (local time) spoke to Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett and discussed the special military operation to "protect" Donbas.

Also Read | China To Maintain Normal Trade Relations With Russia Despite International Sanctions.

"Vladimir Putin discussed the special military operation to protect Donbas with Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett," President of Russia tweeted.

Earlier, Putin said special military operations are being launched "to protect" the people in the Donbas region.

Also Read | India Abstains From Voting on UNGA Resolution That Deplores Russia's Aggression Against Ukraine.

Putin also warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to "consequences".

Leaders from a number of countries including the UK, the US, Canada and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in the Donbas region.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

In response to Russia's actions, the US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, Mar 3 (PTI) Leaders of the Quad, including US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday agreed to stand up a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will enable the strategic alliance to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific and provide a channel for communication as they each address and respond to the escalating crisis in Ukraine.

Putting to rest all speculation about India and the United States not being on the same page on the issue of the Ukrainian crisis, Prime Minister Modi and American President Biden were joined by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in issuing a joint statement on the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: Tasks of Ukraine Special Operation Will Be Completed in Any Case; Vladimir Putin to Emmanuel Macron.

The Quad leaders discussed the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications, said a joint readout of the Quad leader's call issued by the White House here.

The first virtual meeting of the Quad leaders, which was closed for the press, is significant because the new grouping of these four countries, which was primarily meant for the Indo-Pacific region, talked about and commented about a raging crisis in Europe.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War: Ukraine Destroys Columns of Russian Troops, Says Defense Ministry.

According to the readout, the four leaders agreed to stand up a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will enable the Quad to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific and provide a channel for communication as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine.

The virtual meeting, being held in the backdrop of the major conflict in Europe, also puts to rest all speculation that Quad might not remain united in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis after Russia launched an all out military aggression against its neighbour.

India is the only country among this group of four big players in Quad which has abstained from the repeated United Nations votes on Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

The Biden Administration has shown its understanding of India's position and one of its officials on Wednesday told lawmakers that India's position on Russia has now evolved.

According to the readout, the four leaders convened the meeting to reaffirm their "commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected and countries are free from military, economic, and political coercion."

In November 2017, the US, Australia, India and Japan gave shape to the long-pending proposal of setting up the Quad to develop a new strategy to keep the critical sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any influence, amidst China's growing military presence in the strategic region.

China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. Beijing is also involved in a maritime dispute with Japan over the East China Sea.

The four leaders reaffirmed their dedication to the Quad as a mechanism to promote regional stability and prosperity.

In their continuing pursuit of a free and open Indo-Pacific, the Quad Leaders agreed to meet in person in Tokyo in the coming months, said the readout.

During the meeting, Modi underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

He called for concrete and practical forms of cooperation within the Quad, in areas like Humanitarian and Disaster Relief, debt sustainability, supply chains, clean energy, connectivity, and capacity-building.

Developments in Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, including its humanitarian implications. The Prime Minister emphasized the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy, said a readout of the meeting issued by the office of the prime minister.

The leaders also discussed other topical issues, including developments in ASEAN, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific Islands. The Prime Minister reiterated the importance of adhering to the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The leaders agreed to stay in touch and to work towards an ambitious agenda for the forthcoming Leaders' Summit in Japan, it said.

The very fact that both Biden and Modi shared the Quad platform to discuss the issue of Ukraine, at the end of which a joint readout was issued, is reflective of the fact that the two countries can sit and talk on issues like this.

The joint statement in itself is a message. The meeting also puts to rest questions like what happens to the Indo-Pacific and Quad in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis.

All the four leaders spoke at least three times during the meeting, which was closed for the press. The United States holding a meeting of Quad leaders at the head of state level in the middle of the Ukrainian crisis indicates their commitment to Quad.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kyiv [Ukraine], March 3 (ANI): Amid the escalating Ukraine-Russia crisis, Russian forces have seized control of the key southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, its mayor said.

"Russian forces seize the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson after taking control of the local council building, Kherson's mayor, Igor Kolykhaiev, said in a Facebook post on March 2," tweeted The Kyiv Independent.

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Indicating that the city is now under Russia's control, Kolykhaiev, in a social media post, said that the Ukrainian military is no longer in the city and that its inhabitants must now carry out instructions of "armed people who came to the city's administration", CNN reported.

Russian forces had surrounded Kherson, a strategically important city on an inlet from the Black Sea with a population of nearly 300,000, for several days, according to the media outlet.

Also Read | Australia Floods: 5 Lakh People on Flood Alert as Torrential Rain Lashes Sydney.

Also on Thursday capital city Kyiv woke up to an air raid alert with its residents being advised to take shelter in safe houses.

Air raid alerts in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, Mykolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv and Chernihiv Oblast, Volyn Oblast, Cherkasy Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa, The Kyiv Independent tweeted.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday with 141 nations voting in favour of the move and five nations against it, with 35 countries, including India, abstaining. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Arlington (US), Mar 3 (AP) A Virginia substitute teacher has been suspended after expressing approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine and urging students to read Russian propaganda outlets.

Arlington Public Schools suspended John Stanton, 65, who made the comments during a middle school Spanish class Friday, The Washington Post reported.

Also Read | China To Maintain Normal Trade Relations With Russia Despite International Sanctions.

Stanton said he offered an opposing viewpoint and told students to read as many news sources as possible, including Sputnik News, which the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency have declared a state-run propaganda machine.

The statement I think that got me was I said, I personally support the logic of Putin,' and what I meant by that is, he made a rational decision from his perception, Stanton said.

Also Read | India Abstains From Voting on UNGA Resolution That Deplores Russia's Aggression Against Ukraine.

A schools spokesperson declined to discuss Stanton's comments or employment status.

In an email to the school board, parents said Stanton's comments, expressing support for Russia and asking if anyone hated Russia, amounted to advocacy of political positions, and Russian propaganda.

Officials notified Stanton that he was suspended because of an allegation of comments made to students during instructional hours regarding sensitive world events with Russia and Ukraine.

Stanton said he doesn't plan to petition for reinstatement.

Stanton, whose resume lists roles as an American Enterprise Institute researcher and independent journalist, said he writes for outlets such as Pravda. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kosice [Slovakia], March 3 (ANI): Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is in Slovakia to oversee the evacuation of Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine, on Wednesday (local time) said that he will not leave the place till the last fellow citizen is safely evacuated from the crisis-torn country.

Rijiju is one of the four 'special envoys' deployed by the Government of India to oversee the evacuation process of Indian nationals in Ukraine's neighbouring countries under Operation Ganga. He reached the Slovakian city of Kosice on Wednesday.

Also Read | China To Maintain Normal Trade Relations With Russia Despite International Sanctions.

Interacting with Indian students who reached Kosice after crossing the Ukraine border, the Union Minister said, "Our priority is to evacuate everyone safely. We have already given our assurance to everyone that we will evacuate every Indian safely. It is Prime Minister's direction that we will not leave anyone behind. Those who are in the war zone, there are some compulsions. Even our embassy staff cannot reach there since firing and bombardment is underway. So there are difficulties. The evacuation is not that easy. The circumstances are very challenging. But still, we are making efforts."

Rijiju urged students to convey the message to their parents that the Government of India is putting all efforts to help them reach home safely.

Also Read | India Abstains From Voting on UNGA Resolution That Deplores Russia's Aggression Against Ukraine.

"I will not leave this place till the last Indian is evacuated from Ukraine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji has given a clear direction to secure our citizens and bring them home as soon as possible. India is the only country to carry out the rescue operation at this level," he said.

Taking to Twitter, Rijiju said, "Good to see huge relief in the faces of our students who have reached Slovakia from Ukraine. All of them are given proper care and kept near Kosice in Slovakia. 189 of them are leaving tonight for India. Good to see the smiles on the face of our students after a long ordeal. Have a safe journey home. Good to see the smiles in the face of our students after a long ordeal."

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said nine flights took off on Thursday from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland.

"Nine flights have taken off today from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. Includes IAF aircraft. 6 flights more are expected to depart shortly. Altogether, will bring back more than 3000 Indian nationals," tweeted Jaishankar.

A total of 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine since the advisories were issued and flights under Operation Ganga have been increased to facilitate the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.

The students who left Ukraine also included some Indians who had not registered with the Embassy of India in Kyiv previously.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting on the issue. The meeting was attended by Union Ministers S Jaishankar, Piyush Goyal, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and other officials. The Prime Minister has been chairing crucial meetings on the issue in the last few days.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia's military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia.

The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won't be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia's borders. President Putin has also signed a decree on special economic measures against the US and its allies. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Apple, the Cupertino based tech giant, will officially host an event on March 8, 2022. The company released a poster of the same on its official website.
Nature lovers and environmentalists across the globe celebrate World Wildlife Day on March 3. The occasion is observed by raising awareness about the critically endangered species of flora and fauna. The aim is to promote sustainable ways of human survival which don't destroy the natural habitat of wildlife species and thenceforth the ecosystem. This year's, theme for the day is set as 'Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration.' Check out our compilation of quotes on biodiversity and wildlife by conservationists, messages, and HD wallpapers of different animals and plants. World Wildlife Day 2022: Date, Theme, History And Significance of The Day That Celebrates Diversity of Life on The Planet.

World Wildlife Day 2022 Quotes

World Wildlife Day 2022 SMS (File Image)

HD Image For World Wildlife Day Reads: The Continued Existence of Wildlife and Wilderness Is Important to the Quality of Life of Humans.  Jim Fowler

World Wildlife Day Sayings By Conservationist

World Wildlife Day 2022 Quotes (File Image)

World Wildlife Day 2022 Quote Reads: Wilderness Without Wildlife Is Just Scenery. -Lois Crisler

HD Wallpapers For World Wildlife Day

World Wildlife Day 2022 Sayings (File Image)

World Wildlife Day Saying Reads: Wildlife Is Something Which Man Cannot Construct. Once It Is Gone, It Is Gone Forever.  Joy Adamson

Download Thoughts For World Wildlife Day

World Wildlife Day 2022 HD Wallpapers (File Image)

HD Wallpaper Reads: The Real Wealth of the Nation Lies in the Resources of the Earth  Soil, Water, Forests, Minerals, and Wildlife.  Rachel Carson

World Wildlife Day 2022 Pictures

World Wildlife Day 2022 Pictures (File Image)

Best Quote For World Wildlife Day Reads: We Can Breed Endangered Species in Captivity but With Nowhere Wild To Release Them Their Days Are Probably Numbered. -Steve Irwin

HD Photos With Texts For World Wildlife Day 2022

World Wildlife Day 2022 Quotes (File Image)

WhatsApp Message Reads: Each Species Is a Masterpiece, a Creation Assembled With Extreme Care and Genius.  E.O. Wilson

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
San Francisco: Tech giant Apple has announced it will be holding a spring special event on March 8 that will focus on a 5G-equipped iPhone SE and an update to the Mac mini. The event will start at 10 a.m. Pacific Time and will be viewable through the normal video streaming venues. This will be Apple's first special event of 2022, following after the Unleashed event from October 18, reports AppleInsider. The tech giant has a large raft of rumoured products set to launch throughout 2022. Apple Event To Take Place on March 8, 2022; iPhone SE 3, New MacBook Pro, iPad Air & Mac Mini Launch Expected.

While some are expected to arrive later in the year, such as the usual fall "iPhone 14" refresh, there's a collection of products that could appear at this earlier event.

Wonder ahead. Tune in for a special #AppleEvent on March 8 at 10 a.m. PST.  Tap the  and well send you a reminder on event day. pic.twitter.com/alsyyPz9Qg  Apple (@Apple) March 2, 2022

The main focus will probably be on the iPhone SE, with a third-generation device expected to pack 5G connectivity for the first time, the report said. Some rumours point to it consisting of a specifications bump while having the same design as the second-generation model, complete with a 4.7-inch display and Touch ID.

The iPad Air 5 is also said to be a potential candidate for the event, with speculation putting it as having similar feature upgrades as the iPad mini 6, including an upgrade to the A15 Bionic. 5G connectivity and an upgrade to the FaceTime HD camera to a 12MP ultra-wide version with Center Stage support have also been touted.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2022 12:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Mozzarella en carozza feels so French toasty, it could almost be dessert. We were fans. (Amy Drew Thompson / Orlando Sentinel)

You can probably get a glass of milk at Milkhouse.

Since its opening back in October, partner/creator Alex Tchekmeian of Foxtail Coffee says weekends have seen a crush of kiddos as local families pop in to enjoy the spoils of its menu  a wide-open fiesta of Foxtail favorites, craft beer, largely Italian-focused light bites and ice cream, courtesy of the Orlando celebs tapped for the project, a slick but fetching add for the neighborhood.

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Dogs aplenty, too. So many, says Tchekmeian, theyve taken the liberty of fencing off the grassed area to make things a little safer.

Having the kids and the pets is really great, he says. Its been one of many surprises thats had the Milkhouse team morphing the setup at light speed to accommodate guests expectations.

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On both my visits, one a while back, another more recent, the place felt like a restaurant.

Is it?

The bar program has proven so popular, it's dictated the restaurant side's setup. (Orlando Sentinel)

Interesting question, he says. The intent was to be more fast-casual, guests would order at the bar, but the cocktail program proved to be very strong.

I can see why.

I didnt order milk, rather the Baltic Boulevardier, with its base of Woodford Reserve. Its one of several house-batched cocktails on the menu, which change out regularly. Generous pour and potency. My eyes dilated a little when the thing showed up. A little more at first sip. This is not a complaint.

Full service just naturally occurred, Tchekmeian says, though he stops short of calling it a full-service restaurant. Milkhouse, he says, is still a place for small plates. No one is coming here for a giant ribeye.

Meat your match: the steak spiedini ($18) is a solid serving. The hefty skewer features cippolini and shishito. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

And yet, the steak spiedini ($18) could fill you up similarly if you dont share. My colleague and I were both impressed by the overall size and the heft of the hunks, as well as its tenderness. (Expo note: service on a warmed plate would do wonders to keep this dish at its best, in particular for larger sharing parties.) This one is a satisfying winner for the low-carb set, whom Ill warn: Milkhouse is fraught with tempting pitfalls elsewhere.

The cicchetti themselves  tasty bitty-bites on toothy toast  are the first. We chose the crimini, finely diced mushroom with Parmesan and truffle and the ricotta/honey, both $6. My companion preferred the former, I the latter, in particular the crisp contrast of spicy black pepper against the creamy, mellow sweetness, but each of us enjoyed the differentiator of these bar apps  nary a wing or a chicken tender in sight.

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They do have mozzarella sticks, though, or at least the only version Ive had in years Im still thinking about.

The mozzarella en carozza ($10) turns hunks of fresh cheese into gloriously Instagrammable pulls waiting to happen, but really  who cares? Its a crave-worthy plate of cheese-as-French-toast. I enjoyed it best sans sauce, allowing its pillowy decadence to shine.

Milkhouse is ensconced in an exceedingly beer-focused 'hood. Hit them up amid your own crawl from a neighborhood beer bar, like the Nook. The always-good Sideward Brewing sits right across the street. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

This ones proven popular, says Tchekmeian, and will definitely be among the stickier dishes, though Milkhouse is primed to switch up things up seasonally. Lunch is up and running now, too (11:30 a.m.  4 p.m.). And soon to come: a Friday-Sunday brunch.

It will be a good get for those weekend crowds, whether parents or day drinkers (or parents who day drink, no one would blame you), and something worthy of effort over the breakfast timeslot  for now.

With the departure of Bruno Zacchini and Bagel Bruno, the hole has been filled easily by Foxtail and its usual roster of fast-grab breakfast items  pastries, breakfast sandwiches and the like that come in from the commissary that serves all its locations. Milkhouse opens at 6 a.m., but early weekdays are when its slowest.

Its been better to focus on getting lunch up and running, says Tchekmeian, as weve seen things really pick up at 11 or so versus how things are at 7 or 8 a.m.

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Fritole ($6) are a yes. The sugar- and spice-coated fritters pair beautifully with coffee or ice cream, both of which Milkhouse has covered. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

Brunch, he says, will be interesting  lots of new breakfast items, but with a cicchetti flair, he notes.

Which, overall, Ive dug on the occasions Ive popped in. And the seamless evolution has been nice to see. Servers and runners alike seemed knowledgeable  both able to take orders  alternating on our table and the rest, which on a misty weeknight was a mixed bag of Gen X, Y and Z. Not full, but lively.

One of the goals here was to have something for everyone.

Something everyone should have is the wild-caught sardines ($10). Those who know me wont be surprised to learn they were the favorite on my first Milkhouse visit. Served warm and alongside rich, creamy butter, pickled cipollini cuts into all that fat. Toasty bread offers up texture. And the sambal? A spicy surprise on the side.

Honey + ricotta cicchetti. Massive boulevardier looming. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)

In the meantime, though, you might go for the new mussels dish ($14) served with toast for brothy dipping, the frito misto ($12), or the hot, new polpettone ($11), a giant meatball that dives headlong into the kitchens Italian focus.

All these dishes  including a Taleggio-laden double smash burger ($14), simultaneously elevated and comforting on its Martins potato roll  pair beautifully with a Ravenous Pig beer, which my companion preferred over the house milk punch. Zero complaints about that boulevardier, though.

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That did my body good.

More info: 201 N. Bumby Ave. in Orlando, milkhousesocial.com

Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Lets Eat, Orlando Facebook group or follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Mumbai, March 3: The ride-hailing giant, Uber has stepped up amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Uber on Wednesday announced that it would be offering unlimited free rides for refugees and their families between the Ukraine-Poland border and two Polish cities. Uber will also provide free transportation to the staff at Migrant Welcome Centers and for the delivery of goods to NGO warehouses in Poland.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that the service is part of a broader set of initiatives to support Ukraine amid the Russian military operations. Chelsea Owner Roman Abramovich Looking to Sell the Club Amid Russia-Ukraine Crisis.

The ride-sharing company said that it has collected over 60 tons of essential supplies in Romania, and has teamed up with International Red Cross to transport the supplies to communities in Ukraine. Uber Introduces Explore Feature That Will Allow Users To Buy Concert Tickets, Book Restaurants.

Later this week, Uber said it will add an in-app donation button for its US riders to make donations to the International Rescue Committee. The company is planning to make in-app donation features available to Uber users in more countries in the coming days, pledging that Uber will match donations of up to $1 million.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 03, 2022 12:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Omicron BA.2 variant has started to emerge as a subvariant of COVID-19 Omicron variant with the United States starting to impose laxer COVID-19 restrictions and mandates.

The subvariant presents new Omicron symptoms with it not yet being widespread in the U.S. However, it has been dubbed as a "variant of concern," according to an NJ News report.

Omicron BA.2 variant is believed to be 30 percent more transmissible than its original strain. In addition, it has also presented its ability to evade some tests.

The head of Africa's top public health body said in February the subvariant seems to be more infectious than the original strain of the Omicron variant, but it does not cause more severe disease.

READ NEXT: Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Getting Over Soon? Omicron BA.2 Variant Poses Threat

Omicron BA.2 Variant

Health officials found that the BA.2 variant can have two additional symptoms that do not show in the original Omicron symptoms.

Spokane Regional Health District Health Officer Francisco Velazquez said that people should look out for dizziness and fatigue in the subvariant, according to a KREM News report. He added that these symptoms can come from a number of causes.



Velazquez urged people to have their COVID-19 vaccines and boosters to decrease the risk of infection.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considered it a variant of concern under the Omicron strain despite being less than one percent of Omicron COVID-19 cases.

Meanwhile, new lab experiments in Japan found that BA.2 has a number of features that can make it capable of causing severe COVID symptoms on the same level as previous strains, according to Deseret News report.

The research published on the bioRxiv server found that BA.2 can resist COVID-19 vaccines and some treatments, such as the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab.

Dr. Daniel Rhoads, section head of microbiology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, noted that from a human's perspective, it might be a worse virus than BA.1 and might be able to transmit better and cause worse disease.

Deborah Fuller, a virologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said that the BA.2 variant looks like "we might be looking at a new Greek letter here."

COVID-19 Omicron Variant

Last December, the Omicron variant became the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States, according to a France24 News report.

U.S. President Joe Biden announced during an address that the federal government will procure 500 million at-home rapid COVID-19 tests and make them available to all Americans in January.

Omicron was first reported in South Africa in November and has been identified in dozens of countries.

Recently, the U.S. has seen lower hospitalizations, as well as the number of patients in intensive-care units, and the daily death toll.

The U.S. has averaged 52,909 hospitalizations a daily, which is a 43 percent decrease from weeks ago, with deaths averaging 1,867 a day, according to a Market Watch report.

The patients in ICU also decrease by 42 percent to 10,033 a day.

The CDC released new guidelines for mask mandates for communities where COVID is decreasing.

California announced that the state will no longer require masks in most indoor settings after March 11.

The announcement covers schools. Oregon and Washington also announced the end of school mask mandates.

READ MORE: CDC Recommends Shorter COVID Isolation Period for Health Care Workers Amid Omicron Variant

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: What You Need to Know About the BA.2 Variant of Coronavirus Omicron - from F. Perry Wilson, MD






Most American watchers of U.S. President Joe Biden's first State of the Union Address noted positive reactions, with many saying it made them feel "optimistic and proud," according to a new poll.

More than half who watched Biden's speech on Tuesday said that it made them feel like the COVID-19 pandemic is mostly behind us, while older Americans said that the speech made them feel the COVID-19 pandemic will be "with us for a while," according to a CBS News report.

About eight in 10 speech watchers approved of Biden's address, including majorities of Democrats and independents.

Biden's speech received high remarks among both liberals and moderates in members of the president's own party.

Seventy-eight percent of American watchers approved of Biden's address, while 22 percent disapproved, according to The Hill report.

Many also noted that they came away with positive feelings, with 67 percent saying they felt "optimistic" and over 50 percent saying they felt "proud."

On the other hand, 20 percent of respondents said they felt "optimistic" while 13 percent said they felt angry, and nine percent said they felt scared.

The poll also took note of the respondents with 49 percent being Democrats; 21 percent identified as Republicans; 28 percent said they were Independents.

The poll was conducted on March 1 with 1,486 adult respondents who watched Biden's address.

READ NEXT: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Ignores U.S. Pres. Joe Biden's Request for National Guard Troops at State of the Union

U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address on Tuesday

Biden has talked about mask mandates amid the COVID-19 pandemic while outlining pandemic-related announcements.

The president announced a program called "Test to Stay," which would allow an individual to get a diagnostic test from a pharmacy. If the tests were to return positive, they would immediately receive antiviral treatments preventing severe and critical disease, according to a Yahoo News report.

Biden also addressed the Russian invasion to Ukraine last week. He slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that Putin "has no idea what's coming."

The Democrat president announced that Russian airlines would be prohibited from U.S. airspace.

However, the president made clear that U.S. forces are not engaged and will not engage in conflict with Russian forces in Ukraine.

Instead, the U.S. will be imposing sanctions and international condemnation over Russia's invasion.

Biden said that Putin is "now isolated from the world more than ever," adding that the U.S. is supporting the people of Ukraine.

Six in 10 American watchers said that Biden "sufficiently addressed" Putin and the Russian invasion, according to an Independent report.

The president also discussed police funding, saying that the answer is never to defund the police.

Rather, his administration wants to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect communities amid the high rates of violent crime in most American cities.

Biden also addressed gas prices, saying that it is one of his top priorities. The president called for returning manufacturing to the U.S.

He said "let's make it in America," instead of having to depend on foreign supplies for gas.

READ NEXT: Pres. Joe Biden Would Only Get 36 Percent of Votes if Presidential Election Was Held Today, New Poll Finds

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Biden addresses Ukraine, inflation and pandemic in State of the Union - from ABC News






Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faced criticism on Wednesday after he was seen in a video telling high school students to remove "ridiculous" face masks during an event.

DeSantis made his instructions to the students at the University of South Florida, the Republican governor walked to his podium and speak for a news conference on Wednesday, Fox News reported.

In the video posted on Twitter, DeSantis pointed his fingers at the students and instructed them to remove their masks, as some of the students gushed and crackled with his statement.

NEW: @GovRonDeSantis annoyed with USF students



"You do not have to wear those masks. Please take them off. Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've gotta stop with this Covid theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous."https://t.co/7j1Pb2hV53 @WFLA pic.twitter.com/ZIOyTHLOh3  Evan Donovan (@EvanDonovan) March 2, 2022

"You do not have to wear your masks. I mean please take them off. Honestly, it's not doing anything and we gotta stop with this COVID theatre," DeSantis noted, per Associated Press.

The Florida governor then told students that it is alright to wear face masks if they want to. "This is ridiculous," the Republican governor said as he ended his conversation with the students and faced the podium to start his speech.

DeSantis' statements gathered comments from people online, criticizing what he did and said to the students. Democratic Representative Frederica Wilson lamented what the Florida governor did on Wednesday, as she cast shame on the Republican governor.

Shame on you, Governor DeSantis, for berating students who choose to wear masks and for calling the ongoing #COVID pandemic theater.



I wonder how many families of the more than 5 million people who have died worldwide with COVID-19 would describe the pandemic as theatrical. pic.twitter.com/rvXvu4kjVv  Rep. Frederica Wilson (@RepWilson) March 2, 2022

"Shame on you, Governor DeSantis, for berating students who choose to wear masks and for calling the ongoing #COVID Pandemic 'theater,'" Wilson said.

Ron DeSantis is yelling at students for wearing a mask.



Floridians deserve better. pic.twitter.com/K16IhdjXwe  Jack Cocchiarella (@JDCocchiarella) March 2, 2022

Listen to how disrespectful Ron DeSantis is when addressing high school students wearing masks during his press event.



Props to the young man who didnt listen to DeSantis. If he feels better wearing a mask, DeSantis doesnt need to be a jerk about it.pic.twitter.com/Zve5CkqoOM  Thomas Kennedy (@tomaskenn) March 2, 2022

One user commented on DeSantis' move, saying that "Floridians deserve better." Another user called DeSantis "disrespectful."

Obviously it's totally reasonable and normal to publicly berate a bunch of high school students because they're wearing masks. (The quoted tweet was corrected and they are, in fact, hs students.)  Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) March 2, 2022

Meanwhile, MSNBC host Chris Hayes sarcastically tweeted that "it's totally reasonable and normal to publicly berate a bunch of high school students because they're wearing masks."

READ NEXT: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Ignores U.S. Pres. Joe Biden's Request for National Guard Troops at State of the Union

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' Camp Defends Republican Over Actions on Face Masks

In the light of the criticism, DeSantis' camp defended him over his actions on Wednesday.

The Florida governor's spokeswoman, Christina Pushaw, backed up the DeSantis' comments on Wednesday, saying that "masks make no difference" in reducing COVID-19 transmission, Insider reported per Yahoo! Sports.

"After two years of mixed messages from health authorities and the media, the governor wants to make sure everyone is aware of the facts and data now, so they can feel free and comfortable without a mask," Pushaw said.

This is the correct attitude toward mask wearing https://t.co/0J62CCVoeg  Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) March 2, 2022

Meanwhile, others said that the Florida governor was right with what he did.

Supporters defended DeSantis as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eased the face mask mandates last month. However, Hillsborough County, the place where the University of South Florida is located, is deemed high risk by the CDC, per Associated Press.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Face Masks

It was not the first time that Governor Ron DeSantis showed that he is against wearing face masks.

Last year, the Florida governor threatened to withhold the salary of school officials who will impose face mask mandates in their school districts.

During that time, DeSantis's office highlighted the "rights of parents to make decisions" when it comes to the health and education of their children.

However, school district officials were not in favor of what the governor did, with some of the officials saying that the threat to their paycheck will not sway their decision to remove face masks.

READ NEXT: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Says He Will Not Allow 'Fauci-ism' in Their State; Promises No Lockdowns Despite Omicron's Emergence

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Written By: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Admonishes Students For Wearing Face Masks - From CBS Miami
Mexico's anti-poverty program, Sembrando Vida, continued to re-green deforested areas by paying more than 400,000 farmers in 20 states to foster trees and native plants such as agave.

Spanish for "planting life," the Sembrando Vida, which began in 2018 and will run until 2025, is considered one of the most ambitious rural anti-poverty initiatives in Mexico's history.

Small producers targeted by the program are supported by a monthly stipend of 5,000 Mexican pesos (US$247), Global Press Journal reported.

Sembrando Vida Program in Mexico Is Changing Lives

For as long as Abel Sanchez Tapia can remember, his family has depended on "tepetate," a volcanic soil typical in central Mexico.

They would apply a thin layer of compost on the stubborn rock every year before planting a subsistence crop of corn and beans. Once the land is cleared, Sanchez, 74, will embark on a new kind of farming that brings a sense of hope.

"It has never been possible to grow anything else on this poor land," he noted. But now, he said they "are going to grow agaves."

The prickly succulent has long been valued for its medical capabilities and as a source of nutrition, but it is also a key element in alcoholic drinks: tequila and mezcal.

A thriving agave farm, Sanchez said it could benefit his four adult children. He and his family were struggling to meet their basic needs before joining the Sembrando Vida program.

Sanchez's stipend covers the majority of his monthly income, including food and other necessities, as well as the cost of seeds and fuel.

"This is the first time the government has really looked at the rural people," he noted. With the advice and support from Sembrando Vida technicians, Sanchez is adopting the traditional crop-growing method of milpa, alternating his agave planting with guaje beans, peach trees, and two types of edible cacti: nopales and pitahaya.

Sembrando Vida's Agave Farming Faces Backlash

According to some critics, agave farming is only a small portion of the Sembrando Vida initiative, which has come under fire for lack of oversight.

Last year, the World Resources Institute, a global non-profit with a major presence in Mexico, released a report claiming that the program could have a "negative impact on forest cover" and the fulfillment of the carbon mitigation objectives.

However, the institute also suggests that Sembrando Vida could meet its aims by reducing early negative program impacts and strengthening compliance with its environmental objectives.

The institute's forests director, Javier Warman, said they are now comparing conditions in places that did not receive Sembrando Vida funding.

Mexican officials declined to comment. But in December, former Secretary of Welfare Javier May Rodriguez said the government was close to achieving its goal of planting more than one million hectares.

READ NEXT: Disney, Warner Bros., Sony Halt All Upcoming Film Releases in Russia Over Ukraine Invasion

The Growing Business of Agave Plant In Mexico

Sanchez believes the wait for the agaves will be worth it as eventually, he can sell his harvest to mezcal distilleries, a burgeoning business.

Mezcal draws from a broad range of the more than 159 species of agave in Mexico, but tequila is made solely with blue agave.

In 2027, when Sanchez anticipates his first agave crop to be ready, the worldwide mezcal market, which was worth $727 million in 2019, is predicted to expand to more than $1 billion.

Sanchez does not know whether he will live long enough to see that day. But what matters most to him, he added, was the future he was creating for his family.

Sanchez noted that he imagined his children encouraging their own children to continue the tradition. He said: "Do it because this is a gift from your grandfather."

READ MORE: Ukraine Vice PM Asks Elon Musk for Starlink Help Amid Russia Crisis, SpaceX Boss Gives Perfect Response!

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Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: Mexico - Reforestation and Water Protection | Global 3000 - From DW News
The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack said former President Donald Trump broke multiple laws in his effort to overturn the 2020 election.

In a court filing late Wednesday, the Democratic-led committee said its evidence has shown that Trump and his key allies tried to illegally obstruct Congress' counting of the Electoral College votes and "engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States."

According to NPR, the filing was part of a court case tied to lawyer John Eastman, who has been fighting a subpoena issued by the select committee to share additional documents.

Eastman reportedly shared a memo detailing how former Vice President Mike Pence could reject Joe Biden's win as he presided over counting the electoral votes. The panel said Eastman tried to hide several records critical to the investigation by citing privilege claims.

READ NEXT: Bill Barr Slams Donald Trump in His New Book; Questions the Former President's Leadership, Credibility

Capitol Attack Committee Says Evidence Points to Donald Trump and His Allies Illegally Obstructing an Official Proceeding

The House select committee noted that "the evidence supports an inference that President Trump, Plaintiff, and several others entered into an agreement to defraud the United States by interfering with the election certification process."

The panel added that Trump and his allies disseminated false information about election fraud and pressured state officials "to alter state election results and federal officials to assist in that effort."

According to The Guardian, the filing was intended to force John Eastman to turn over the thousands of emails related to his role in attempting to persuade Mike Pence to reject electors from states won by President Joe Biden. The former lawyer of Donald Trump has cited attorney-client privilege for not turning over the documents.

In the 61-page court filing, House counsel Douglas Letter noted that Trump knew he had not won enough electoral college votes to win the 2020 presidential election. But he still sought the former vice president to manipulate the results to sway in his favor.

House investigators added that there was evidence to imply that the conspiracy to defraud extended to the Capitol riot. They said it was plausible to argue that Trump conspired with the Capitol rioters to disrupt Biden's certification on January 6.

So far, Eastman has submitted around 8,000 pages of emails to committee investigators. However, he is still withholding roughly 11,000 documents, citing attorney-client privilege.

A panel aide noted that investigators have so far spoken to more than 650 witnesses. The select committee has publicly issued more than 90 subpoenas, mainly targeting Trump's inner circle.

The panel argued in the filing that the attorney-client privilege claims were cut by Eastman's inability to show he was formally retained as Trump's lawyer.

In a statement, committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson and vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney said the facts they have gathered "strongly suggest" that Eastman's emails may show he aided Trump to advance a "corrupt scheme to obstruct" the counting of votes.

The Washington Post reported that the latest filing of the select committee is the strongest assertion yet from the panel that it believes the former president possibly committed crimes.

Capitol Attack Committee Aims to Publish Interim Report This June

Bennie Thompson told the press Wednesday that the investigators' goal was to wrap up depositions with witnesses by the start of April.

The select committee would also hold public hearings in April, followed by the release of an interim report in June, CBS News reported.

There could be pushbacks in the timeline if investigators find out new information or seek testimony and records from other witnesses.

Meanwhile, Peter Navarro, a former Donald Trump trade adviser, failed to show up for his scheduled deposition on Wednesday.

Thompson said they are not ruling out a possibility of pursuing criminal contempt against Navarro. The committee chairman noted that "it's always an option" for witnesses who refuse to cooperate.

READ MORE: Glenn Kirschner, Ex-Army Prosecutor, Predicts Donald Trump Will Be Indicted as the Former President Faces "Five-Year" Felony Charge Over Classified White House Documents

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Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: House Select Committee Investigating January 6 Sends Letter to Ivanka Trump - From CBS Mornings






The adoptive parents of two young California boys reported missing in December 2020 have been charged with murdering them.

According to prosecutors, Trezell West, 35, and Jacqueline West, 32, killed their adopted sons Orrin and Orson three months before reporting them missing.

In a press conference in Bakersfield, California on Wednesday, Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said the pair was arrested Tuesday night on murder and other charges in an indictment returned by a grand jury, who heard testimony from 50 witnesses in three months.

Zimmer noted that direct and circumstantial evidence was presented, and the grand jury believed that the boys were already dead even though the bodies had yet to be found, Daily Mail reported.

"I would like to emphasize that the fact that law enforcement has not found their bodies does not preclude a murder prosecution," the district attorney said.

She added that "there have been many, hundreds, of what we call no-body homicides prosecuted across the United States successfully."

Police Arrest the Adoptive Parents of 2 California Boys

Bakersfield police arrested the couple at around 7 p.m. Tuesday. Cynthia Zimmer said they were charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of child abuse, and one count of a false report in an emergency.

The district attorney noted that each of the defendants could face 30 years to life in prison if convicted of both counts of murder, CNN reported.

Zimmer said the pair would be arraigned in Kern County Superior Court Thursday. It was still unclear whether the Wests had legal representation.

READ NEXT: California Church Shooting: Dad Shoots, Kills His 3 Children Before Committing Suicide Inside Church

The Missing California Boys

According to Cynthia Zimmer, Trezell West, and Jacqueline West told police on December 21, 2020 that Orson, then 3, and Orrin, then 4, had disappeared from the family's backyard.

The district attorney said police and volunteers from the community searched but were unsuccessful. In the early days of the search, the couple spoke to reporters and pleaded to the public to help them in finding the boys.

Trezell earlier said he saw the boys playing in their backyard while he was moving firewood, and his wife was wrapping Christmas gifts inside the house.

After he went into the house and came back outside, he said he did not see the boys and realized that he "left the gate open."

Trezell noted that he got into his van to search for the boys on the street. He said he came home and told his wife they needed to call the police after he could not find the boys.

In a December 2020 briefing, a reporter said the boys' biological mother thinks that the adoptive parents were involved. Trezell replied, "That's understandable. I would think the same thing."

Zimmer has declined to detail the information that led authorities to believe the Wests killed the California boys in September 2020. She said she was not permitted to reveal any facts of the case until the trial.

The couple has two other adopted children and two biological children, all in child protective services custody now.

Rosanna Wills, the boys' biological cousin, said she was devastated by the news that Orrin and Orson were believed to be dead. Wills noted that the biological mother could not even talk and cried after hearing the tragic news.

The California boys' aunt, Kiki Hoard, told KBAK that officials must bring the boys' bodies home first for them to have a proper burial.

"We're not going to have closure until they bring the babies home so we can have a proper burial," Hoard noted.

READ MORE: Ukraine Vice PM Asks Elon Musk for Starlink Help Amid Russia Crisis, SpaceX Boss Gives Perfect Response!

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Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: Missing California City Boys' Adoptive Parents Charged With Second Degree Murder - From 23 ABC News
Florida Sen. Aaron Bean, who is leading the Senate side of health care budget negotiations, on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack) (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)

Florida lawmakers are considering slashing hundreds of millions in funding from hospitals that take Medicaid  including $90 million from facilities in Central Florida  despite opposition from hospital leaders, nurses and doctors who say the cuts are unnecessary.

What is the problem that theyre trying to fix? The state has over $6 billion in unbudgeted excess revenue, said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association.

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Medicaid is health insurance for poor or disabled Floridians. Hospitals provide care for Medicaid patients then get reimbursed by the state and federal government. The reimbursement often doesnt cover the full cost of providing care, and hospitals make up for that loss in part with supplemental programs that cover the difference.

Gov. Ron DeSantis budget proposal for the 2022-23 fiscal year included nearly $310 million for critical care funding, which has for years given extra money to 28 hospitals that serve 73% of very sick children and 33% of very sick adult patients on Medicaid, according to the programs website. In total, Florida has 242 hospitals.

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The House and Senate left that money out of their initial budget proposals and, on Tuesday, Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Bryan Avila (R-Miami Springs) presented an offer to cut $188 million in Medicaid funding, Florida Politics reported.

Sen. Aaron Bean (R-Fernandina Beach), who is leading the health care negotiations, said on Wednesday hospitals are doing well financially and can access funds from the Directed Payment Program, an initiative that uses hospital taxes and federal dollars to fill gaps between costs and reimbursement for treating Medicaid patients.

Some additional money may still be given to hospitals that could not access the Directed Payment Program or still need financial assistance, he added.

It may be time to say goodbye to the critical care fund this year. The interest isnt there, Bean told reporters. Times change, were taking advantage of federal programs.

This debate comes as a record 5.1 million people have enrolled in Medicaid statewide, with about 680,000 enrolled across Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Brevard counties, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administrations tally.

Mayhew said neither the Directed Payment Program nor hospitals financial success should be used as a reason to cut funds.

Cutting us because were well managed and financially stable seems extremely shortsighted, Mayhew said. That is what allowed hospitals to weather the storm over the last two years.

The budget is almost certain to change before the House and Senate reach an agreement on March 8, with the legislative session set to end March 11.

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The Florida Hospital Association estimates that in the Florida Houses initial proposal, almost $15 million would be cut from AdventHealth Orlando; $36 million from Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center; and $13 million from Nemours Childrens Health, all of which shoulder millions of dollars of unreimbursed care for patients on Medicaid.

Nothing matters more to the future of our state than the health and well-being of our children. Unfortunately, the headwinds of the pandemic, coupled with the rising inflation in health care staffing, puts childrens hospitals in a precarious position said Robert Bridges, executive vice president and CEO for Florida at Nemours Childrens Health. We must continue to invest in Medicaid funding to support the 1 in 2 children in Florida enrolled in the states Medicaid program.

Orlando Health could lose $21.6 million and Nemours Childrens Health could lose $7.2 million in critical care cuts alone, according to the Florida Safety Net Hospital Alliance.

Dr. Kenneth Alexander, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Nemours Childrens Health Orlando hospital, estimates around 60% of the children Nemours treats are on Medicaid.

Nemours absorbed $163 million in unreimbursed costs to treat patients enrolled in Medicaid or other public health programs across its Delaware and Florida locations, according to its 2020 annual report.

Im not a health economist by any stretch, nor am I a politician, Alexander said. But I do know that there seems to be a willingness in the state to play politics with health care funding, and theres a willingness to play politics with peoples lives.

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Mayhew worries that these cuts could exacerbate the states nursing shortage by taking away funds for nurse salaries.

The Health Report Weekly A weekly update on health news in Florida. >

Complicating that criticism is a proposal by Avila to reallocate some of the cut Medicaid funds to nursing education. A previous Florida Hospital Association report said in order to avoid a potential 59,100 nurse shortfall in the state by 2035, more investment in education is needed.

Hospitals are in a unique position to combine resources with the state to solve a problem that will uniquely benefit the same hospitals and the people they serve, Avila told Florida Politics in a Feb. 4 report.

Marissa Lee, vice president of National Nurses United and a nurse at HCA Florida Osceola Hospital, formerly known as Osceola Regional Medical Center, said lawmakers should have consulted nurses before putting forth the current budget.

Education is excellent for the nurses, Lee said. But to take it out of Medicaid, what are we doing to our community? What are we doing to our people?

Mayhew said she had previously suggested the issue of nurse education should be addressed primarily at the regional level.

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If the state is going to address it, it needs to be new money, Mayhew said.

ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com
Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins speaks during the 171st Orange County COVID-19 briefing at the Orange County Administration Center, on Wednesday, February 2, 2022. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)

The Orange County School Board could pick a new superintendent at the end of June, after holding public forums and surveying residents on what they want in the next leader of the regions largest school system.

Superintendent Barbara Jenkins announced last month that she will retire at the end of the year after running Orange County Public Schools for a decade.

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Thursday, the school board discussed how they would find her replacement.

Orange County Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Jenkins speaks during a press conference at Lake Como K-8 School, Wednesday, August 19, 2020. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel)

Already, there are people making inquiries about the top job at the nations eighth largest school district, said Andrea Messina, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association, which will serve as the boards search consultant.

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Messina said Bill Vogel, a former superintendent in Seminole and St. Lucie county school districts, and John Reichert, a former human resources executive for Seminole County Public Schools, will work with her on the OCPS search as consultants for the association. The trio have worked on other recent superintendent searches, including the Polk County school districts.

Already the three of us have had phone calls from interested parties, Messina said. People know this is coming. As soon as Dr. Jenkins announced, theyve been paying attention.

Candidate applications will be made public during the search.

We never have any secrecy, Messina added.

The school board reviewed a proposed timeline for its search that likely will include nearly 10 public forums and an online public survey. Those will be used to determine what qualifications residents want to see in a new superintendent.

Every community is going to have a voice in this whole process, said board member Melissa Byrd.

The board also expects to appoint a search committee to help it decide on candidate qualifications and review applications.

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According to the proposed timeline, the board would post advertisements for the superintendents job in early May, accept applications for about three weeks and then select semi-finalists a week later.

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Those candidates would be asked to respond to several questions, in writing and by video, Messina said. Those responses will be used to select finalists.

The board as a group will conduct public interviews of the finalists, with board members also having private one-on-one sessions with each of those candidates. The finalists also will be given tours of the district and a chance to meet the public, she said.

The final interview process will be intensive, board members said, but crucial to finding the right candidate. Stamina is an important part of this job, said board member Pam Gould.

The board could select a new superintendent at its June 28 meeting. In July, it could set a salary for the new superintendent and vote on a contract.

Jenkins, who has a salary of $347,615, has not set a firm date for her departure, and board members want her successor to have a transition period where they start work while she is still on staff, too.

lpostal@orlandosentinel.com
Laois Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley raised the collapse of the School Dental Scheme and the Medical Card Dental Scheme with Taoiseach Micheal Martin in the Dail.

Deputy Stanley told the Taoiseach that, The school dental scheme has collapsed. The dental treatment service scheme, DTSS, for adult medical card patients has collapsed. There are no dentists in the county providing this service or who will take on new clients, so the dental scheme in the county is non-existent.

"The reply to a parliamentary question on the DTSS confirms that no dentists are willing to take it on. There are boys and girls of 16 or 17 years of age who have never seen a dentist. The Taoiseach saw a dentist when he was attending school, as did I. we all saw a dentist when we were in second or third class.

I raised this issue with the then Minister for Health and now Tanaiste, Deputy Varadker, eight or nine years ago as this issue was developing, and he told me they should privatise the whole thing.

"It has been privatised. We are providing the budget but we have no service. Can we train and employ a few dentists to provide this service?

An Taoiseach replied by saying, That is easier said than done. The budget is there, and I take the Deputys point but there are negotiations going on. We have to get value for the taxpayer but we do have to get a service for the public also. Those talks are continuing, and they need to be brought to a resolution

Following the Dail exchange Deputy Stanley has called for better workforce planning such as:

- Training a significant number of dentists

- Offering young dentists

- Ensure dentists that are employed in this way, work only within the public system.

In the immediate term the Department of Health must do everything possible to get a successful outcome to their negotiations with the Private Dentists representatives and get the DTSS functioning.
A Laois company has launched a cycle fundraiser for Ukraine with all money raised going to UNICEF.

Workers at Abbeyleix business Ortus Managed IT and Cloud are taking turns to cycle on a static exercise bike the distance from their office door to Kyiv, 3117km.

They have launched an online fundraiser called Race for Ukraine but buckets at their feet are already filling fast with generous local donations.

Geraldine Strawbridge explains what motivated them to begin their fundraiser.

"With the devastating events unfolding in Ukraine, we are trying to raise funds for UNICEF and the children affected by war.

"We have static bikes outside our Ortus HQ in Abbeyleix and over the course of the next few days, we'll be taking turns to virtually cycle from our office to Kyiv."

Below: Paul Mahon taking his turn on the bike.

Cian Prendergast is Ortus CEO.

Its absolutely heart-breaking watching the news unfold in Ukraine. We all feel so helpless, but as a company we wanted to do something to help raise some much-needed funds for UNICEF and the children that are affected by this needless conflict. We would greatly appreciate if people could donate to this worthy cause and support our fundraising efforts, he said.

Ortus launched their fundraising effort on Thursday morning, March 3.

They hope to reach a wide audience and raise as much money as they can for UNICEF.

Already they have topped 1,400. See their justgiving fundraiser here to donate.

The online fundraiser will remain open for the month of March.

UNICEF is working across Eastern Ukraine to scale up life-saving programmes for children. This includes transporting safe water to conflict-affected areas, prepositioning health, hygiene and emergency education supplies as close as possible to communities near the line of contact.

Below: Damien Murray, Ellen OReilly, Bryan Fitzpatrick, Mark White
A Laois organisation that works to integrate new communities to the county, is arranging a vigil and given clear advice to people on how best to help Ukraine as they continue to battle for their lives.

Laois Integration Network (LIN) is appealing for Laois people to help people in Ukraine, in partnership with local Eastern European Laois groups.

Karen McHugh is LIN Chairperson.

"We are shocked and horrified about the invasion of Ukraine and stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and all those opposed to this invasion," she said.

LIN and the Portlaoise Polish Language School and a Polish Charity known as Portlaoise WOSP are outlining three ways that Laois people can help, ensuring that funds and donations get to people who need it most and as quickly as possible.

1. Donations can be made directly to Laois Integration Network Credit Union account.

Account Name: Laois Integration Network; IBAN: IE62POCO99211710968699 BIC: POCOIE21

"Any funds donated will be given directly to a charity working on the ground in Ukraine. This charity is registered and reputable charity which is working on the ground in Ukraine with victims of war. The Charity, Vostok SOS, has been identified by one of our members Laois woman, Renata Metelicka who is currently working on the ground at the Polish/Ukrainian border.

"Vostok SOS is responding to the escalating situation with a comprehensive humanitarian campaign. They help people evacuate, and provide humanitarian aid and psychosocial support to affected people in the region," Karen said.

See the Vostok SOS website here.

2. Laois Integration Network are also supporting Medical Help Ukraine, which was established by a group of Ukrainian doctors working in the Irish Healthcare service and have set up a dedicated GoFundMe page to accept donations.

"The doctors are in contact with several Ukrainian hospitals in the active war zone, who are ready to accept desperately needed emergency supplies. The Ukrainian Embassy in Ireland is going to facilitate the transportation to Ukraine through the Polish border."

Their Gofundme page has reached an incredible 291,000 thanks to the generosity of Ireland.

See their Gofundme page here by Kateryna Kachurets : Medical Help Ukraine

3. Another way that the people of Laois can help is by dropping donations at specified locations in Portlaoise. These collections are being organised by Honorata Puslednik, a Polish person living in Portlaoise since 2007 and owner/teacher at Portlaoise Language School and teacher at the Portlaoise College.

"his is so scary for all of us. But we cannot thank the people of Laois enough for their ongoing kindness. All these supplies are greatly needed and greatly appreciated in Ukraine," said Ms Puslednik.

Donations can still be dropped to:-

- The Rainbow Castle Creche, Esker Hills Portlaoise (8am to 6pm);

- Polish Language School, at 11 Lismard Court, Well Road, Portlaoise (4pm to 7pm);

- Aldi shop, Portlaoise

- Hughes Pharmacy, Main St. Portlaoise

For those who want to donate essential items a list of the most immediate items required now include:

Disposable masks and gloves, Sterile dressings, First aid bands with dressings, Patches for corns, Bandages: regular and elastic, Painkillers (e.g. Paracetamol, Nurofen), Powerbanks, USB charging cables, Battery operated flashlights and battery packs for them.

Karen McHugh adds that there are many more ways that local people in Laois can help.

She is appealing to businesses such as pharmacies to set up an area in their shop where people could donate medical or other essential supplies. These can then be collected by Laois Integration Network members and brought to the locations for sending to Ukraine with registered couriers by the Polish Language School.

We are all united in our response and we know the people of Laois will want to help said Ms McHugh.

Laois Integration Network will be organising a vigil over the coming week in Portlaoise and will be inviting the people of Laois to join them in solidarity for peace in Ukraine.

ABOUT LAOIS INTEGRATION NETWORK: Laois Integration Network (LIN) is a community organisation in Laois that promotes cultural diversity and effective integration throughout the County of Laois. It was established in February 2016, initially under the auspices of Doras Syrian Resettlement Project and since June 2016 as a separate entity comprising of local voluntary and statutory organisations as well as individuals from Irish and migrant and diverse faith communities throughout Laois.

ABOUT VOSTOK SOS: Vostok SOS is a public initiative to help victims of the conflict in Ukraine. It was established on May 5, 2014 and it is one of the first initiatives of volunteers helping victims of military aggression. It offers assistance in finding shelter for temporary migrants, logistics for safe exit from the conflict zone, search, release and rehabilitation of abduction victims, collection and distribution of humanitarian aid, aid for displaced persons as well as delivery of humanitarian goods to front settlements, psychological and legal assistance.

ABOUT MEDICAL HELP UKRAINE: Medical Help Ukraine are a group of doctors of Ukrainian descent that work in Irish healthcare who collectively established Medical Help Ukraine with the aim to urgently deliver badly needed medical aid. They are hoping to receive donations that would be used to purchase medical and surgical supplies and ambulance cars for Ukraine. The Ukrainian Embassy in Ireland is going to facilitate the transportation to Ukraine through the Polish border. They are working closely with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and have direct links in multiple Ukrainian hospitals affected by the crisis and will be able to focus on their most pressing needs. All funds raised will go strictly towards assisting the Ukrainian citizens, who became victims of the conflict, and medical staff in their efforts to heal those wounded.
We do hope you have not given up doughnuts for Lent, because a yummy classic American brand is now available in Laois.

"Krispy Kreme, is delighted to announce the roll out of its state-of-the art digital cabinets to a further 15 stores nationally with the iconic doughnut brand now located in Tesco Portlaoise at Laois Shopping Centre."

Customers in Laois can choose their own three pack or dozen from the delicious range of single doughnuts along with Bites and Minis from Krispy Kremes state-of-the-art digital display cabinets.

The choice of melt-in-your-mouth doughnuts includes the iconic Original Glazed, Chocolate Dreamcake, Lotus Biscoff and Nutty Chocolatta that are delivered fresh daily to its retailers now including Tesco Portlaoise & Tullamore.

Declan Foley is Krispy Kreme Country Manager for Ireland.

We are delighted to bring the joy of Krispy Kreme to fans beyond the Dublin area and aim to increase our footprint to even more counties this year through our partnerships with Tesco and Circle K stores! As I have said previously, we are committed to investing in the Irish market for the long-term."

Krispy Kreme was established in 1937 when Vernon Rudolph brought to life his secret yeast-raised doughnut recipe in an old warehouse in North Carolina, USA. He originally started marking his delicious doughnuts to sell to grocery stores. However, he noticed quickly that the irresistible smell of those same doughnuts destined for delivery was wafting out onto the streets and into the noses of passers-by. So Vernon cut a hole in the wall and started selling doughnuts to people walking by  the original doughnut retail shop, Krispy Kreme, was born.
The Labour Party is in a fight for survival in the wake of Alan Kellys resignation as leader, a senator has said.

Labour senator Marie Sherlock said it has been a sad number of days but that leadership is not something to hold on to at all costs.

Mr Kelly made the shock announcement on Wednesday evening that he will step down as leader after less than two years.

Surrounded by party colleagues at Leinster House, Mr Kelly acknowledged the party has not made progress in the opinion polls under his leadership.

Ms Sherlock tipped party TDs Ivana Bacik and Duncan Smith as potential contenders to replace Mr Kelly.

She said she has worked closely with Mr Kelly for the past two years.

I know that he has given everything to being the leader of the Labour Party and of course this is a very sad number of days for the party, for him and for his family and supporters, the senator told Morning Ireland.

But leadership in the Labour Party is not something to be held on to at all costs.

Weve known for some time now that the Labour Party is in a fight for its very survival. While we in the party and our councillors across the country are working extremely hard, the reality is that were finding it very hard to cut through. Our polling numbers have stagnated.

Labours time in government is a legacy that continues to hang over.

So the reality now for the party is that we need a generational change, we need a fresh start. Radical changes are to be made and that has to start at the top of the party.

She added that Mr Kelly has shown leadership in the last number of days and years and he has listened to parliamentary colleagues.

She said he has taken on board the changes that need to be made if the party is to survive and thrive.

We need to send a message to the electorate that the party is making radical changes, Ms Sherlock added.

She said they will start a process of appointing a new leader in the coming days.

Its my greatest honour to be elected as 13th Leader of @labour and one that I dont take lightly. I want to thank @aodhanoriordain and his team & family. I know that we will work together to bring our Party forward. Huge thanks to the members for putting their trust in me. pic.twitter.com/gC0rPZXnBS  Alan Kelly TD (@alankellylabour) April 3, 2020

Mr Kelly said he would remain as leader until his successor is elected.

Were crystal clear that if were to survive and thrive, then then we do need to make changes, he said on Wednesday.

I was advised by my parliamentary colleagues on Tuesday morning that they had lost collective confidence in my leadership.

This was a surprise to me but I accept the decision.

We had a number of frank discussions in recent weeks.

I have to acknowledge that we havent been able as a party to move on in the opinion polls and I have deep regret about that.
Maynooth University will host a candlelight vigil in a gesture of support to all their Ukrainian colleagues, students, and graduates, as well as those from the entire region whose families, lives and livelihoods are affected by this crisis during this dark time.

The vigil takes place at the Freedom Sculpture, North Campus, Maynooth University on Monday, March 7 from 1pm to 1.30pm while the seminar will be held at School of Education, North Campus, lecture room SE001 from 1.30pm to 2.30pm.

Maynooth University President, Professor Eeva Leinonen, and Ukrainian PhD student at Maynooth University, Oleg Chupryna, will address the vigil.

This will be followed by a public seminar titled Putin's attack on Ukraine: Explaining the war and what is at stake' by Professor Hana Cervinkova, Dr John Paul Newman, and Professor John OBrennan, Director of Maynooth Universitys Centre for European and Eurasian Studies.

In a letter to the Maynooth University community on Thursday, Prof Eeva Leinonen, said: The invasion of Ukraine reminds us that whether they occur in Europe or anywhere in the world, violent acts that threaten democracy, trample free will and block access to essential goods and services are an affront to human rights and must be confronted. It is the responsibility of democratic institutions to speak for those whose voices have been forced underground, and as a University Sanctuary with a history of values grounded in social justice and human rights, I believe firmly that is something Maynooth University must do.
The first Active Retirement Ireland digital ambassador from Kildare graduated at a special event in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Dublin.

Volunteer John Malone from Kill, will be leading free digital skills classes for older people in their communities as part of the Vodafone Ireland Foundation Hi Digital programme, in partnership with Active Retirement Ireland and ALONE.

Over the past three months, he has undergone technology training, Hi Digital train-the-trainer training and Hi Digital platform training.

The Hi Digital programme has been developed to empower older people in Ireland to build basic and essential digital skills, and help them to stay connected in their communities. Active Retirement Ireland in-person classes will follow the Vodafone Ireland Foundation Hi Digital online learning platform and cover essential topics including using the internet, using smartphones, sending emails, keeping in touch through social media or video calling, accessing online banking and government services, and shopping and making electronic payments online.

Tuition is also provided in online communication and recreational services including how to use WhatsApp, watch television or listen to the radio online, plan driving routes and other travel, and book events, outings and holidays online.

Maureen Kavanagh, CEO of Active Retirement Ireland, said: Digital exclusion of older people is a real and growing problem in Ireland, and one that is leading to increased feelings of isolation and disconnectedness. Through this new stage of the Hi Digital programme, our digital ambassador-led, in-person classes will further support older peoples participation online. This will help ensure they have the appropriate access and skills to engage with digital services, along with expanding the possibilities on offer to them from the digital shift. We are so proud of our digital ambassadors who have given up so much of their time for training and who now want to share their skills with others in their communities.

Newly conferred digital ambassador John Malone, 84, said: The Hi Digital programme is so important and a great way for older people who may not be confident going online to get that bit of guidance and support they need, whatever their skill level. Being able to do your banking, keep in touch with people through video calls and check latest information about government services, events, even bus timetables can make such a difference and I am pleased to be a digital ambassador and support others who would like to develop their skills.

John Malone

Older people wishing to learn or refresh their digital skills can start today with the free, self-guided Hi Digital online courses, in both English and Irish, at www.hidigital.ie. The online courses can be completed at home, either independently or with help from friends, family or other people in their community.
The hand of an engaged student is raised at Sawgrass Bay Elementary School in Clermont, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Florida lawmakers want to scrap big, end-of-year standardized tests and instead give students shorter check-in exams, which they say will give teachers more timely information on student performance and reduce the time youngsters spend testing.

But some teachers and education advocates fear the proposals  announced by Gov. Ron DeSantis in September and outlined in two bills nearing passage in the Legislature  will do the opposite.

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They argue the bills would force students to take more, not fewer, tests in the coming years, adding to schools already crowded testing calendar.

Teachers, students and parents were under the impression this bill would reduce testing, and it clearly does not, said Heidi Goicoechea, an English teacher at St. Cloud High School. The Osceola County teacher was one of about a dozen educators who spoke against the bill in Tallahassee last week.

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Experts also note that progress monitoring  giving short tests throughout the school year, as lawmakers propose  is already routine practice in most schools. But research shows that test data, though reviewed regularly by teachers, hasnt led to students scoring higher on end-of-the-year state tests.

Its not showing up as its making any difference in flat-out student achievement, said Sue Brookhart, a retired professor from Duquesne Universitys school of education who is co-authoring a book chapter on the subject.

She said that is likely because the progress-monitoring data does not provide enough specific information for teachers to make meaningful changes in their lessons. And, she added, I dont need a test to tell me which kids cant read in my class.

Book reading club at Sawgrass Bay Elementary School in Clermont, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Republican lawmakers, however, insist their bills will help Floridas public schools and cut down on testing time in the years ahead. Their bills, now ready for a floor vote, advanced with full Democratic support in Senate committees, though some Democrats in the House voted against them.

I think thats a win-win for students, for teachers and for our entire state, said Rep. Rene Plasencia, R-Orlando, a former Orange County Public Schools teacher and the sponsor of the House bill (HB 1193).

DeSantis announced the new testing plan in September, calling it a big deal that would reduce testing and give teachers and parents better information about student progress. The Florida Department of Education estimated testing would be cut by 75%.

Plasencias bill and a similar Senate proposal (SB 1048) would scrap the current Florida Standards Assessments, or FSA, given in language arts and math to students in grades 3 to 10 each spring. Students would take FSA exams for the last time this spring.

In FSAs place, GOP leaders would require students to take the shorter progress-monitoring tests at the start, middle and end of the school year. The final test would be a comprehensive one.

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Sen. Many Diaz, R-Hialeah, sponsor of the Senate measure, said the bills may need more work but they have the potential to be game-changing for our students, for our teachers and for our parents.

Union reversed early support

For critics, the math doesnt add up.

They see one test being replaced by three, with the final one still a factor in high-stakes decisions such as whether students are promoted to fourth grade or earn high school diplomas.

They note the bills do not do away with state tests in algebra, biology, civics, geometry, science or U.S. history  all also given each spring  nor do they address school district-required progress-monitoring tests, which already are administered several times a year.

My kids so far have tested at least nine days. Nine solid days, said Kim Stralow, a civics teacher in the Leon County school district. Thats nine days I cant teach them civics.

She and others who testified at a House committee last week, and at Senate panels previously, said testing already eats up too much class time and the legislation will not fix the problem.

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This bill does not provide what teachers and parents asked for, specifically time for learning, said Cathy Boehme, a lobbyist for the Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers union.

The union, joining other educators, praised DeSantis when he announced he wanted to curtail testing but was critical of the bills as soon as they were filed.

But Plasencia and others said they expect school districts would drop their own progress-monitoring tests, saving them money and avoiding duplicative testing. The Polk County school district, for example, could save about $7 million a year if it skips its tests in favor of the new state ones, he said.

The bill, he added, also requires a study, to be completed in early 2025, to look at more ways to reduce the assessment footprint in coming years.

A first grade class at Sunrise Elementary in Kissimmee, Fla., Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Diaz said the study would look at whether the first two progress monitoring tests might be all that is needed for students who are learning skills as they should. That could eliminate the third test for some youngsters, he noted.

The new tests, all taken on a computer, might be adaptive, meaning they would provide new questions based on how students performed on earlier ones. That might also mean shorter tests for students mastering expected math and language arts skills.

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Plus, he added, the new tests will provide real-time reports for teachers to be able to adjust instruction.

Instructional days are gold

Schools across Central Florida, the state and the country have been using progress monitoring for years to check what students learned, hoping to provide help before children take state exams in the spring.

Orange County Public Schools, for example, notes on its testing calendar that all students in kindergarten through eighth grade take such tests in both reading and math three times a year.

This is ubiquitous in schools, teachers studying student data, said Heather Hill, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

But like Brookhart, Hill reviewed studies on the practice and found it had no beneficial impact for students.

The problem: The data doesnt tell teachers what to do next, Hill said.

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Teachers can see they need to reteach certain skills but the test data doesnt tell them how to do that in different ways that might help their struggling students. Plus, even data provided quickly comes as the class has moved on, so going back to reteach concepts isnt easy, Hill said.

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Because reviewing progress-monitoring data doesnt help, Hill said she worries such testing amounts to a harmful loss of class time.

Ashely Modesto, a math teacher at Edgewater High School in Orange, told lawmakers that was her fear. Were losing more and more instructional days, she said. Instructional days are gold.

But lawmakers who have voted for the bill in committee said it will do what Floridians want.

I think we all know a loud cheer went across the state from parents, instructors and teachers that were going to look at testing and see if we can do a better job, said Sen. Doug Broxson, R-Pensacola.

Critics, however, are not convinced.

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This is a bait-and-switch and everyone seems to be swallowing it, swallowing the governors promise, hook line and sinker, and its very discouraging, said Marie-Claire Leman, a Leon County parent and member of the Orlando-based advocacy group Fund Education Now, at a committee hearing on the bill. Because mark my words: Your constituents will notice next year an increase in testing.

lpostal@orlandosentinel.com
A man facing allegations of sexual assault and false imprisonment had his case adjourned at Naas District Court on March 2.

The defendant cannot be named for legal reasons and the court heard that he responded bullshit when one of the allegations was put to him.

Detective Garda John Faherty told of charging the defendant that day.

Read more Kildare news

He said it would be claimed that the injured party was lured to his apartment between July 1 and July 31, 2021.

He showed the injured party to his room.

Det Gda Faherty said it is claimed the defendant was wearing a housecoat and the injured party could see his penis was getting erect.

He added he grabbed her breast through her clothing and then grabbed her breast underneath her clothing. He also said he tried to grab her by her vagina and she had to fight off his advances.

Judge Desmond Zaidan adjourned the case to March 9. He certified for a French translator to be assigned to the case.
A LIMERICK artist has been selected as a finalist in the Percival Portrait Prize 2022 with his painting of actor Jared Harris.

Thomas Delohery is from the Ennis Road however he now lives in Victoria, Australia where he has had many of his paintings displayed.

In 2015, Jared Harris sat for Thomas in person for drawings which Thomas then took back to Australia to paint.

Jared is the son of actor Richard Harris who has made his own name in the film industry with shows such as Chernobyl and Mad Men.

Thomas spoke about what it was like to draw the famous actor on one of his trips to Limerick.

He said: "Jared posed a bit of a challenge on the day of the sitting. He is one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood so he has trouble sitting still, a lot of nervous energy.

"I knew what I wanted from the sitting and Jared takes direction really well which explains why he is such a good actor.

"I remember on the day Jared spent a lot of time talking about his love of rare books and first editions."

The Percival Portrait Prize opens on the 22nd of April in the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, Queensland.
A STORE which has lain idle in Limerick city centre for almost 15 years has been sold.

The former Dunnes Stores unit in the heart of O'Connell Street has been vacant since 2008 when the supermarket giant closed two of its three stores in the heart of the city.

While its former unit in Sarsfield Street is now owned by the University of Limerick, and serving as its city centre campus, nothing has yet happened to the store in O'Connell Street.

Until now, that is.

Yesterday, Gordon Kearney of Rooney's Auctioneers Tweeted a picture of the former store, and added: "And even some retail units sold."

The Limerick Leader understands that the site may in future operate as a restaurant, along the lines of a chain such as Five Guys or Nando's.

Planning permission was sought for this change of use in 2017.

With the O'Connell Street redevelopment gathering traction, the fact one of the most prominent vacant locations may be no more has been welcomed.

Mayor Daniel Butler tweeted: "Delighted to hear this. Hopefully it will lead some action on this eyesore in the heart of the city. It will be great to see it come back into use."

And Labour councillor Conor Sheehan added: "This is brilliant news."

Mr Kearney did not return calls from the Limerick Leader.
LIMERICK's city and county councillors are to meet this afternoon to discuss the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

It comes as the seven-day anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of its neighbouring country began.

Scores of people have died, with Ukraine's first major city, Kherson in the south, confirmed to have fallen to Russian forces.

Councillors are expected to discuss calls to expel the Russian ambassador to Ireland Yuri Filatov - a move which has so far been rejected by Taoiseach Micheal Martin.

A vigil to show solidarity with Ukraine took place earlier in the week, and collections for the eastern European nation have been taking place in the city.

One of the councillors who sought today's meeting, which kicks off at 4pm, was the metropolitan district leader, Cllr Catherine Slattery.

She says she has mixed feelings about expelling the ambassador immediately.

"I feel the Russian ambassador should be expelled and removed from Ireland. In saying that, I'd like to see our own people in Russia safe. I'd like to see these people come home and get out of Russia. If we expel the ambassador, will they be safe? I don't know. We need get them home safe [then] get that man out of Ireland. The people of Ireland don't want him here. I do not want him here, but we also need to keep our own people in Russia safe," said Cllr Slattery, "We do not need this man in our country. We need to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people in Ireland, and let them know we are thinking of them."

The meeting takes place at 4pm at County Hall in Dooradoyle, and will be available to view virtually. To gain access, please telephone 061-556000.
THE multi-million euro redevelopment of OConnell Street is expected to be complete by September.

Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Daniel Butler has revealed the most disruptive of the development will be over in the early autumn with the street furniture due to be in place by the following November 11.

It will bring to an end an 18-month period of change to Limericks main thoroughfare.

One of the most significant developments in Limericks recent history, traffic is to be cut to one lane and various improvements are being made to the main thoroughfare.

There will be changes to traffic routes into the city centre, with the relocation of bus stops, taxi ranks and click-and-collect bays.

As part of the 10m project, street furniture and water features are also being added.

A central plaza at Thomas Street beside Brown Thomas will offer the potential for a future artwork to be installed to create a further focal point for pedestrian gathering and on-street trading.

Dedicated cycle lanes and public transport infrastructure will also be put in place, with contractors from Shareridge working on the project.

Mayor Butler said: The ground works, the cobbling will all be done by September. Between then and November, street furnishing will be added. Youre talking about benching, planting. But the most disruptive stuff will be all done by September.

O Connell Street public realm works are due for completion without street furniture by September and with street furniture by November 11th.



Existing street signage to be removed including the large one outside the Augustinians. Street clutter has been a bug bearer of mine. pic.twitter.com/qbu73Hoj72  Cllr Daniel Butler, Mayor of Limerick (@DanielButlerFG) March 2, 2022

He welcomed the fact everything will be in place ahead of Limericks Christmas season.

And he acknowledged there has been disruption to traders and visitors to the city.

The reality is, these works were always going to be somewhat disruptive, and thats been the case. But the council has done a good job in minimising that and thats been through effective communication, particularly with the business owners who right throughout the process, knew what was happening and when. Thats been a good learning on it. Theyve done everything they can to minimise the disruption by the sequencing of the development, he said.

But the main thing is, if we wanted to get it done and get it behind us, so we are able to have a finish line in sight, I think its something exciting and something to work towards, the first citizen concluded.
LIMERICK based Redemptorists are appealing for financial support to be given to those displaced in Ukraine due to the ongoing invasion by Russian armed forces.

The Irish Redemptorists say they are deeply perplexed by the unfolding tragedy impacting the Ukrainian population as citizens courageously defend themselves in inexplicable warfare.

Fr Seamus Enright, Director of the Redemptorists in Limerick, told Live 95 FM that Ukrainian Redemptorists are about to run out of money.

We are hoping to raise funds and send those funds to Redemptorists in Ukraine, he said.

He added that civilians will be able to use the money to buy local supplies and it will also contribute to helping internally displaced refugees on the run.

The Redemptorists are offering shelter, food, and medical support in Tschernihiv in the north of Ukraine and Berdyansk, in the east of Ukraine, and Lviv as well as in several locations close to the Polish border.

At border points with Poland, Redemptorists in the Ukraine and parishioners are offering physical and spiritual support as families seek refuge in neighbouring countries.

The Redemptorists in Poland have also established a humanitarian corridor to help deliver emergency supplies and funds.

Polish and Ukrainian people that came to Limerick made a huge contribution to the life of the city and now there is an opportunity for us Limerick people to show solidarity, Fr Enright said.

The Redemptorists in Limerick are appealing for financial support for the Redemptorists in Ukraine.

Funds raised will enable the Redemptorists to continue helping the victims of this dreadful war.

There will be a collection at all Masses in the Redemptorists on Saturday/Sunday, March 5 and 6.

Donations can be made with a credit card by phoning 061-315099 or by calling to the Monastery.

Cash donations may also be made at the Monastery. It is possible to donate online at www.novena.ie

Cheques made payable to Redemptorists Limerick may be mailed to Fr Seamus Enright, Mount St Alphonsus, South Circular Road, Limerick.

If people send money to us here at the Redemptorists, we will make sure that every cent goes to Ukraine and that every cent is well spent, he concluded.
LIMERICK council are in the process of proceeding with their own Electric Vehicle (EV) based strategy, as figures reveal there are only 22 public charge locations across the county.

This is in response to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan confirming that the Electric Vehicle Strategy is due to be published in the next two months.

Currently Limerick city and county has 22 EV charge point locations and 53 charging slots, provided by the ESB and private operators.

There are 14 locations in the City with 28 charging slots available. In the County there are 8 locations with 25 charging slots available.

Deputy Kieran ODonnell and Chair of the Oireachtas Transport Committee has called on Minister Ryan to accelerate the roll-out of Electric Vehicle (EV) Charge Points across Limerick city to meet increasing demand.

Deputy ODonnell has made this request on the basis that the latest Government estimates for public services in 2022, show a clear lag behind the targets for new EV sales increases in 2022.

He also challenged the Minister about the number of EV on-street charging points to be provided by 2022.

Limerick City and County Council said that they are currently in the process of tendering for expertise in the development of a strategy for Electric Vehicle Charging Point Infrastructure and Fleet Electrification in the local authority.

Deputy O Donnell is calling for a three-to-four-fold increase as opposed to the two-fold increase proposed by the Department.

I will continue to engage with the Limerick City and County Council and the Department of Transport on fast-tracking this roll-out, the Fine Gael city representative added.
GARDAI are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic collision on the N21, close to the Limerick/Kerry border.

The incident, which involved three vehicles, occurred in the townland of Knockbrack between Abbeyfeale and Castleisland at around 5.30pm last evening.

"The driver of one of these vehicles, a man aged in his 70s, was taken to Tralee General Hospital to receive treatment for serious injuries. The man later passed away," said a garda spokesperson.



"The driver and passenger of the second vehicle were also taken to Tralee General Hospital where they received treatment for non-life threatening injuries," they added.

The road between Abbeyfeale and Castleisland remains closed this morning as Forensic Collision Investigators carry out their examination of the scene.Gardai in Listowel are investigating and they are appealing to anyone who may have information in relation to this collision to contact them."Any road users who were travelling on the N21 between Abbeyfeale and Castleisland yesterday evening between 5.15pm and 5.45pm and who may have camera footage, including dash cam, is asked to make this available to investigating gardai," said a spokesperson.Anyone with information is asked to contact Listowel garda station on 068 50820.
The Florida wildlife commission lifted a 32-year ban on killing goliath grouper Thursday, in a decision that received strong support from the fishing community and intense opposition from environmentalists.

The commission voted to allow up to 200 to be taken a year, a decision that came with a long list of restrictions that reflected the giant fishs popularity and its vulnerability to overfishing. Although goliaths can grow to 800 pounds, the plan would restrict the catch to those with lengths between 2 feet and 3 feet, which typically means a maximum weight of 32 pounds.

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A limited, highly regulated harvest is possible while the goliath population continues to rebuild and, as proposed, would provide a unique recreational fishing opportunity while accommodating a diverse range of stakeholder values, Jessica McCawley, director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissions Division of Marine Fisheries Management, said in a presentation to the commission.

The plan would continue the prohibition on catching them in South Florida, where the fish have become a popular attraction with divers who photograph large concentrations of goliaths congregating around wrecks such as the M/V Castor off Boynton Beach. Highly territorial, many goliath grouper have become familiar to their fans in the diving community, who have given them names like Wilbur, Shadow and Betty. The plan would prohibit taking them from Martin County through the Keys.

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[ RELATED: For the first time in 30 years, fishing for goliath grouper will be allowed in Florida ]

Opponents said the species recovery is tentative and far from guaranteed, making even a limited catch a poor strategy.

Now is not the time to roll back protections on one of Floridas largest and most unique fish, said Ragan Whitlock, staff attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity. Goliath grouper need our protections now more than ever, and sanctioning the death of 200 individuals per year only exacerbates the issues these fish are facing.

But supporters in the fishing community said the catch would be so restricted that it will have no impact on the goliaths overall prospects.

We believe that this proposal has been thoughtfully constructed to allow for continued rebuilding of this iconic stock while providing sustainable access to the fishery, said Gary Jennings, of the American Sportfishing Association.

Commissioner Robert Spottswood said the staff proposal represented a good strategy for using fishing to gather data about the species.

We have a stock that is rebuilding, and rebuilding in a way that allows a highly regulated, limited take, he said. There is scientific benefit from this limited take.

Weve tried, and I think successfully, to craft rules to protect the dive community, to protect the economic value of these fish for diving.

[ RELATED: Florida approves 24-hour-a-day alligator hunting ]

But Commissioner Steven Hudson, who cast the only vote against the proposal, said that while he would like to reopen the fishery, the data still wasnt there to support the plan

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We are tasked with protecting the resources and also opening the resources up at the right time. Thats something I take great pride in. Its not just close everything, he said. I appreciate when we can give access back to the stakeholders. But personally, I dont feel like this now is the right time.

Christopher Malinowski, director of research and conservation for the Ocean First Institute, said that if the commission were serious about conserving the species, it would fund research to fill the many gaps in knowledge about it: the groupers movement between the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast, their genetic diversity, population abundance, age structure and quality of habitat.

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The data are far too uncertain for reversing a decades-long conservation and management effort, he said. In fact, all the best available data indicate that even with their protection, there has been an overall decline in goliath grouper population recovery over the last decade.

[ RELATED: More than 80 starving manatees in rehab across US, officials say ]

Its not enough to simply say we dont think a harvest will have a negative impact, which is pretty much all weve heard. Management based on assumption, and not sound science, is not an effective or responsible way to manage wildlife in modern society, he said.

Dive boats, particularly in Palm Beach County, run expeditions to wrecks where goliaths gather in the dozens and often display a surprising curiosity about their human visitors.

A proposal that drew interest from members of the commission would ban fishing of any kind within 1,000 feet of three wrecks in Palm Beach County known for attracting goliaths during spawning season.

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The wrecks are the MG-111/Warrior Reef, Ana Cecilia/Mizpah, and Castor/Bud Bar, with the fishing restriction applying from July 15 through Oct. 15. The commission does not have a formal proposal, but commissioners expressed interest in seeing one.

David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sunsentinel.com and 954-356-4535.
DECLAN O'Rourke is returning to the Lime Tree stage this month as part of a nationwide tour.

The artist is embarking on a 22 date tour around Ireland and will stop off in Limerick on March 18.

Declan is an artist known as a consummate performer who captivates audiences time and time again whether commanding the stage alone with a guitar and a microphone, accompanied by a fifty piece orchestra, or surrounded by a band.

Having performed extensively in the US, Europe and Australia, ORourkes growing status is one of a significant global artist.

The highly successful artist produces soulful music, rooted in folk and trad, has attracted the praise of countless industry giants, including John Prine, and Paul Weller, among others.

His songwriting style moves faultlessly between impressionism, and storytelling, and can be at home in almost any form. A dynamic performer, he is at once as comfortable fronting a 50-piece orchestra, as playing solo with a guitar.

Declan O'Rourke will play the Lime Tree Theatre on Friday, 18 March at 8pm. Tickets are 32.
LVIV : "Go save your own Russian speakers. Not all over the world - but in your own home. There are many of them there, some 150 million. As for here -- Glory to Ukraine!" said the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a message for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky on Thursday in an official address aid that the Ukraine's defence lines were resisting the Russian attack ordered by their president Vladimir Putin. He further mentioned that the Kremlin had left no breather in their shelling of Ukraine.

"We have nothing to lose but our own freedom," Zelenskiy said. He also mentioned the daily arms supplies Ukraine was receiving from its international allies.

The comedian turned politician President of Ukraine in a tone of sarcasm called Russia's attempt as another 'virus attack'. He juxtaposed this thought with the Covid-19 pandemic that has taken the world by storm in the past three years. He said that its been two years since Ukraine recorded their first Covid-19 case, and "it's been a week now that another virus attacked".

Zelenskiy said Russia's changing tactics and shelling of civilians in cities proved Ukraine was successful in resisting Moscow's initial plan of claiming a quick victory through a land assault.

He told Russia to study the word "reparations" as Kyiv would demand Moscow makes up for all it has destroyed in its invasion.

He also said Ukraine was paying out pensions and offering handouts to those unable to work because of the war. He said 16,000 foreigners volunteered to fight for Ukraine.

In an emotional speech, Zelenskiy said Ukrainians had lived through two world wars, the Holodomor famine, Holocaust, Soviet terror, the Chernobyl nuclear explosion as well as Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in the east.

"We don't have the biggest territory ... we don't have nuclear arms, we don't provide oil and gas to international markets. But we do have our people. We do have our land. This is what we are fighting for."
Humankind is no match for the wrath of Mother Nature when it comes to these deadly natural disasters.

Every year, some of the deadliest natural disasters  earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, wildfires and droughts, on average kill nearly 60,000 people, according to Global Change Data Lab .

Violent natural disasters have been a fact of human life since the beginning of mankind, but the death counts of the most ancient of these disasters are lost to history. The ancient Mediterranean island of Thera (now Santorini, Greece), for example, experienced a catastrophic volcanic eruption that eradicated the entire Minoan civilization around 1600 B.C., according to a 2020 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences. But exactly how many lives were lost? We'll never know.

However, thanks to historical records and journals, historians can at least estimate the number of fatalities linked to disasters that occured in the common era. According to such records, the following natural disasters are the deadliest of all time, ranked from lowest to highest estimated death toll. (For those disasters for which a death toll range is given, the disaster is ranked by the highest end of the estimate.)

10. (TIE) The A.D. 1138 Aleppo earthquake

The view across the amphitheater of The Citadel in Aleppo, Syria. (Image credit: Nicholas Prins/Getty Images)

On Oct. 11, 1138, the ground under the Syrian city of Aleppo began to shake. The city sits on the confluence of the Arabian and African plates, making it prone to temblors, but this one was particularly violent. The magnitude of the quake is lost to time, but contemporary chroniclers reported that the city's citadel collapsed and houses crumbled across Aleppo. The resulting death toll is estimated at around 230,000, but that figure comes from the 15th century, and the historian who reported it may have conflated the Aleppo quake with one that occurred in what is now the modern-day Eurasian country of Georgia, according to a 2004 paper in the journal Annals of Geophysics. Still, this supposed death toll ties this event as the 10th most deadly natural disaster of all time.

10. (TIE) The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami

Aerial view of destruction caused by the 2004 tsunami that hit Indonesia. (Image credit: CHOO YOUN-KONG/Getty Images)

Tied for 10th place is a catastrophic magnitude 9.1 earthquake that struck undersea off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, on Dec. 26, 2004. The quake created a massive tsunami that killed approximately 230,000, and displaced nearly 2 million people in 14 South Asian and East African countries. Traveling as fast as 500 mph (804 kph), the tsunami reached land in as little as 15 to 20 minutes after the quake hit, giving residents little time to flee to higher ground.

In some places, especially hardest-hit Indonesia, the tsunami wave reached over 100 feet (30 meters) high, according to World Vision, a humanitarian aid organization.

Damages from the earthquake and tsunami are estimated at $10 billion dollars. This event is considered the third largest earthquake in the world since 1900, and its tsunami has killed more people than any other tsunami in recorded history, according to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

9. The 1976 Tangshan earthquake

View of the damage in Tangshan, China after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 1976. (Image credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

At 3:42 a.m. on July 28, 1976, the Chinese city of Tangshan was razed to the ground by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, according to a report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Tangshan, an industrial city with a population of about 1 million at the time of the disaster, suffered staggering casualties of over 240,000. While this was the official death toll, some experts suggest this number is grossly underestimated and that the loss of life was likely closer to 700,000. Reportedly, 85% of Tangshan's buildings collapsed, and trembles were felt in Beijing, China, more than 100 miles (180 km) away. It took several years before the city of Tangshan was rebuilt to its prior glory.

8. The A.D. 526 Antioch earthquake

1890 drawing of the "Approach to Antioch," a center of early Christianity. Artist unknown. (Image credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

As with all disasters occurring millenia ago, a precise death toll for the Antioch earthquake is hard to come by. Contemporary chronicler John Malalas wrote at the time that about 250,000 people died when the temblor hit the Byzantine Empire city (now Turkey and Syria) in May, 526. Malalas attributed the disaster to the wrath of God and reported that fires destroyed everything in Antioch that the earthquake did not.

According to a 2007 paper in The Medieval History Journal, the death toll was higher than it would have been at other times of the year because the city was full of tourists celebrating Ascension Day  the Christian feast that commemorates Jesus' ascension into heaven.

7. The 1920 Haiyuan earthquake

"The Haiyuan earthquake was the largest quake recorded in China in the 20th century with the highest magnitude and intensity," Deng Qidong, a geologist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said during a seminar in 2010.

Related: How are earthquakes measured?

The earthquake, which struck north central China's Haiyuan County on Dec. 16, 1920, also rocked the neighboring Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces. It was reportedly a 7.8 on the Richter scale, however, China today claims it was of magnitude 8.5. There are also discrepancies in the number of lives lost. The USGS reported total casualties of 200,000, but according to a 2010 study by Chinese seismologists, the death toll could have been as high as 273,400. The region's high deposits of loess soils (porous, silty sediment that's very unstable) triggered massive landslides which were responsible for over 30,000 of these deaths, according to a 2020 study published in the journal Landslides.

6. (TIE) The 1839 Coringa cyclone

People living on the Bay of Bengal are no stranger to natural disaster. Here, village people try to repair the broken dam after the landfall of cyclone Amphan in Satkhira, a town on the Bay of Bengal, in spring 2020. (Image credit: K M Asad /Getty Images)

The Coringa cyclone made landfall at the port city of Coringa on India's Bay of Bengal on Nov. 25, 1839, whipping up a storm surge of 40 feet (12 m), according to NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory Hurricane Research Division. The hurricane's wind speeds and category are not known, as is the case for many storms that took place before the 20th century. About 20,000 ships and vessels were destroyed, along with the lives of an estimated 300,000 people.

6. (TIE) The 1881 Haiphong typhoon

Tying the Coringa cyclone as the sixth deadliest natural disaster is the 1881 typhoon that hit the port city of Haiphong in northeastern Vietnam on October 8. This storm is also believed to have killed an estimated 300,000 people.

5. The 2010 Haiti earthquake

Rescuers carry a corpse just dug out from the rubble in Port-au-Prince, Jan. 14, 2010, after the devastating 7.0 earthquake that hit the country two days earlier. (Image credit: ERIKA SANTELICES/Getty Images)

The catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti just northwest of Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, 2010, ranks as one of the three deadliest quakes of all time.

Haiti's standing as one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere and its limited history of large earthquakes left it extremely vulnerable to damages and loss of life. As many as 3 million people were affected by the quake. Death toll estimates were all over the place; initially, the government of Haiti estimated fatalities stood at 230,000 people, but in January 2011, officials revised that figure to 316,000. A 2010 study published in the journal Medicine, Conflict and Survival put the number at around 160,000 deaths, while the USGS claimed even lower numbers  around 100,000. These disparities reflect the difficulty of counting deaths even in the modern era, not to mention the political wrangling that goes on over "official" numbers.

4. The 1970 Bhola cyclone

Villagers walk through a field of dead cattle and search for rice and other grains to salvage, near Sonapur, East Pakistan (later Bangladesh), in the aftermath of the massive cyclone and accompanying tidal wave that slammed the area in November 1970. (Image credit: Larry Burrows/Getty Images)

This tropical cyclone hit what is now Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) on Nov. 12-13, 1970. According to NOAA's Hurricane Research Division, the storm's strongest wind speeds measured 130 mph (205 kph), making it the equivalent of a Category 4 major hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane scale. Ahead of its landfall, a 35-foot (10.6 m) storm surge washed over the low-lying islands bordering the Bay of Bengal, causing widespread flooding.

The storm surge, combined with a lack of evacuation, resulted in a massive death toll estimated at 300,000 to 500,000 people. A 1971 report from the National Hurricane Center and the Pakistan Meteorological Department acknowledged the challenge of accurately estimating the death toll, especially due to the influx of seasonal workers who were in the area for the rice harvest. As of the writing of this article, the Bhola cyclone is considered the deadliest tropical cyclone on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. And it caused an estimated $86 billion in damages.

3. The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake

The deadliest earthquake in history hit China's Shaanxi province on Jan. 23, 1556. Known as the "Jiajing Great Earthquake" after the emperor whose reign it occurred in, the temblor reduced a 621-square-mile (1,000 square kilometers) swath of the country to rubble, according to the Science Museums of China. An estimated 830,000 people died as their yaodong  cave homes carved into the region's loess plateaus  collapsed. The exact magnitude of the quake is lost to history, but modern-day geophysicists estimate it at around magnitude 8.

2. The 1887 Yellow River flood

The flow of China's Yellow River is now closely monitored and controlled to help prevent flooding. This aerial photo taken on July 19, 2020 shows water released from the Xiaolangdi Reservoir Dam in Luoyang in China's central Henan province, in preparation of the upcoming annual flood season at the Yellow River basin. (Image credit: STR/Getty Images)

The Yellow River (Huang He) in China was precariously situated far above most of the land around it in the late 1880s, thanks to a series of dikes built to contain the river as it flowed through the farmland of central China. Over time, these dikes had silted up, gradually lifting the river in elevation. When heavy rains swelled the river in September 1887, it spilled over these dikes into the surrounding low-lying land, inundating 5,000 square miles (12,949 square km), according to "Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental Catastrophes and Human Tragedies" (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008). As a result of this flood, an estimated 900,000 to 2 million people lost their lives.

1. The 1931 Yangtze River floods

This aerial photo taken on July 28, 2020 shows a flooded sports ground along the Yangtze River in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province. In 1931, the Yangtze River flooded almost 70,000 square miles (180,000 square km) and killed at least 2 million people. (Image credit: STR/Getty Images)

Excessive rainfall over central China in July and August of 1931 triggered the most deadly natural disaster in world history  the Central China floods of 1931. The Yangtze River overtopped its banks as spring snowmelt mingled with the over 24 inches (600 millimeters) of rain that fell during the month of July alone. (The Yellow River and other large waterways also reached high levels.) According to "The Nature of Disaster in China: The 1931 Yangzi River Flood" (Cambridge University Press, 2018), the flood inundated almost 70,000 square miles (180,000 square km) and turned the Yangtze into what looked like a giant lake or ocean. Contemporary government numbers put the number of dead at around 2 million, but other agencies, including NOAA, say it may have been as many as 3.7 million people.

Additional resources

For more on natural disasters check out DK's Eyewitness Books "Natural Disasters: Confront the Awesome Power of Nature from Earthquakes and Tsunamis to Hurricanes" and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention page "Natural Disasters and Severe Weather".

Bibliography

Nicholas N. Ambraseys,  The 12th century seismic paroxysm in the Middle East: a historical perspective , Annal of Geophysics, Volume 47, June 2004.

Walter Kutschera, On the enigma of dating the Minoan eruption of Santorini, Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, Volume 117, April 2020, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004243117

U.S. Geological Survey,  Earthquakes with 1,000 or More Deaths 1900-2014 , February 2015.

Mischa Meier,  Natural Disasters in the Chronographia ofJohn Malalas: Reflections on their FunctionAn Initial Sketch , The Medieval History Journal, Volume 10, 2007

NOAA, OAR, Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, "175th Anniversary of the Coringa cyclone", November 2014.

Athena Kolbe, et al, "Mortality, crime and access to basic needs before and after the Haiti earthquake: a random survey of Port-au-Prince households", Medicine, Conflict and Survival, Volume 26, December 2010, https://doi.org/10.1080/13623699.2010.535279

Angus Gynn, "Encyclopedia of Disasters: Environmental Catastrophes and Human Tragedies", Greenwood Publishing Group, December 2007.

Chris Courtney, "The Nature of Disaster in China: The 1931 Yangzi River Flood", University of Cambridge Press, February 2018, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108278362.
A man described by his teen victim as a gentleman was arrested on sexual assault allegations, according to Laredo police.

Juan Armando Davila Jr., 21, is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old runaway girl she met via Snapchat. On Feb. 25, Davila was served with arrest warrants charging him with seven counts of sexual assault of a child. Webb County Jail records showed Davila remained in custody as of Wednesday evening.

On Dec. 2, Laredo police said they located a runaway girl in an apartment in the 3800 block of Texas 359. She was located along with a man identified as Davila. Police said the girl had multiple hickies on her neck area.

While the girl waited for her parents, she told a detective that she had sex with Davila earlier in the day. The girl stated that she did not want to undergo a sexual assault evidence collection exam at the hospital, according to police. The father then called police saying that her daughter had changed her mind about the exam.

On Dec. 9, the child underwent a forensic interview at the Childrens Advocacy Center. She stated she met Davila on Snapchat because she wanted to buy nicotine. The girl stated she and Davila would message each other and drop off nicotine at her mailbox. Davila then told the girl he had broken up with his girlfriend and began calling the girl beautiful, states the affidavit.

Davila told her he wanted to take her shopping. She then snuck out of her house the Sunday before Thanksgiving, according to police.

The suspect picked her up from her grandmothers house and cooked food for her; she stated that was when they first had sex, states the affidavit.

As per the affidavit, the girl told Davila she was 19 years old because he was 21 years old.

The victim later stated that she wanted to have sex. She stated that she told the suspect, Dont you want to touch me, states the affidavit.

She stated they had sex in Davilas bedroom, in addition to other sexual acts. Davila then drove her back to her grandmothers house.

The victim stated they had sex all week; she stated that the suspect put a ring on her on a Tuesday night. The victim described being blinded because the suspect (was) a gentleman, states the affidavit.

Investigators spoke to Davila on Dec. 9 at his residence in the 3800 block of Texas 359. He stated he would speak to his lawyer before scheduling a voluntary interview. On Jan. 11, police received a Texas Department of Public Safety lab report indicating that semen was detected on the girls vaginal swabs, according to police.

Police would then reach out to Davilas attorney, who stated that he was unaware of Davila declining to a voluntary interview. Investigators presented their findings in the case to two assistant district attorneys, who approved the issuance of warrants for Davila.
A United High School student has been arrested for allegedly assaulting two school district cops and a school administrator, according to the United ISD Police Department.

At about noon Feb. 28, United ISD police officers responded to a report of a student being aggressive toward administrators and security guards at United. The suspect was identified as Diego Cerda, 18. Cerda was in a highly combative manner due to a disagreement on an administrative issue. UISD police said his mother was present.
Taylor Rose Williams was last seen alive in her Jacksonville home in 2019. Her body was found in Alabama.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP)  A Florida woman whose 5-year-old daughter was found dead in Alabama pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Thursday.

Brianna Williams, 29, entered the plea at a pretrial hearing in Duval County circuit court, according to court records. She faces up to life in prison at a May 11 sentencing hearing.

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Williams, who had been a petty officer at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, first reported Taylor Rose Williams missing in November 2019. But the mother stopped cooperating with detectives after being questioned about inconsistencies in her story, investigators said.

Police said Brianna Williams, 27, tried killing herself hours after search teams found remains of a child in a wooded area in Alabama. The body was her missing 5-year-old daughter.

Following a massive search, police found human remains six days after the missing child report near Brianna Williams hometown in Demopolis, Alabama.

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Police documents revealed the girl last attended day care in April 2019, months before she was reported missing, and the childs grandparents said they had not seen her in more than a year.

Officials said they were able to confirm the remains were Taylor through forensic analysis. Advanced decomposition prevented them from determining her specific cause of death, but an autopsy did find evidence of illness and neglect.

While executing a search warrant at Williams apartment, investigators reported finding evidence of abuse. A cadaver dog gave a positive indication in the apartment, as well as in Williams car, officials said.
A man tried to force his ex-wife into having sex, according to Laredo police.

At about 4:40 a.m. Feb. 24, Laredo police officers responded to the intersection of Boston Street and San Dario Avenue for a report of a woman heard crying and asking for help. Responding officers observed someone trying to exit from a moving gray Ford Fusion in the 3700 block of San Eduardo Avenue.

The vehicle stopped in the 500 block of Boston. Police identified the driver as Antonio Licona-Matias, 39, who was heavily intoxicated, states the arrest affidavit. Officers then observed a woman nude and crying. Asked what had happened, Licona-Matias had slurred speech and his story did not make sense.

Licona-Matias denied arguing with the woman. He added that the woman was his ex-common law wife and that he had called her for a ride home since he was intoxicated. Licona-Matias claimed that the woman began to undress herself, became upset and called the police. He then changed his story saying that they were being intimate but started arguing, states the affidavit.

Police then spoke to the woman, who did confirm that Licona-Matias called her asking for a ride home since he was intoxicated. He went to pick him from the 3700 block of San Eduardo. He started forcing himself on her when he got into the vehicle, according to court documents.

She stated he started undressing her. When she tried to get away, Licona-Matias overpowered her and removed her clothing. He pushed her face down into the center console and tried to force her into having sex. Licona-Matias grabbed her cellphone when she tried to call the police, court documents state. She was able to call the police using her Apple Watch.

The woman refused to press charges and added she wanted Matias-Licona to stay away from her since they had been separated for a few weeks. But authorities would end up arresting and charging Licona-Matias with unlawful restraint and interfering with an emergency call.
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DAYTONA BEACH (AP)  A man convicted of killing three women 16 years ago when he was a student at studying criminal justice at Bethune-Cookman University was sentenced to life in prison.

A jury in Daytona Beach deliberated for almost seven hours Wednesday before deciding to spare Robert Hayes life and recommend that he spend the rest of his life behind bars.

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Hayes, 39, was convicted last month of three counts of first-degree premeditated murder in the killings of Laquetta Gunther, Julie Green and Iwana Patton.

FILE - This Sept. 16, 2019 photo made available by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office shows Robert Hayes under arrest. A jury has found Hayes, a former Bethune-Cookman University cheerleader, guilty in the deaths of three Florida prostitutes more than 15 years ago, on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022. A jury sentenced Hayes to life in prison on Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office via AP, File) (AP)

In order to reach a death sentence recommendation, all 12 jurors needed to agree on the death sentence and that did not happen in Hayes case, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

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Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano sentenced Hayes to three consecutive life terms without parole.

The investigation into the deaths of Gunther, Green, and Patton was rekindled in 2016 after DNA found on the body of Rachel Bey, 32, near West Palm Beach linked their cases. All had worked as prostitutes.

At the time of the Daytona Beach killings, Hayes was a student at the B-CU. Hayes was one of several men questioned in 2006 as a possible suspect based on a gun purchase similar to one used by the killer, but he told police he had given the gun to his mother and he was not arrested. His mother later told detectives he never gave her a gun.

At the time of Beys death, Hayes was working as a chef in Palm Beach County.

Hayes is also facing trial for Beys killing.
Friends of Children from Chernobyl has set up a large number of collection points across Ireland in an effort to send humanitarian aid to Belarus, where tensions are increasing as Putins war on Ukraine continues.

Local lady, Joan McLoughlin has been involved with the group for more than 20 years, bringing children to Ireland from Belarus.

There is a Ukrainian connection, Joan told the Longford Leader.

Where we deal with is close enough to the border. One of our schools out there would be quite close to the border.

Understandably, there is a great deal of concern among those who care for the children and bring them to Ireland each summer.

Between 14 and 18 children travel from Belarus to Longford annually, though due to Covid-19, this has not happened over the last two summers and will potentially be problematic should the country be caught up in the war.

Our comrades in Belarus are very scared, said a concerned Joan.

Many are from Ukraine. Some would go over the border to work there.

At the moment we are trying to coordinate some humanitarian aid to send out - good condition clothes, non-perishable foods. Were going to try and get some of these items out to them.

We got some aid out there in September and we know they use the clothing all the time, so they have something to fall back on.

Now, for the Ukrainians in the area and for the refugees, Joan and others in the organisation are looking for clothes, warm blankets, sleeping bags, hygiene items, baby items and medical equipment to send out.

There are mounting concerns that Belarus may send its troops into Ukraine to aid Russia.

My contact in Thurles speaks with the interpreter in Belarus regularly. When she last spoke with him, she could hear planes going constantly, said Joan.

There are often planes overhead but she could clearly hear them, so there was obvious air activity. But he (Putin) has troops in Belarus and he is a dictator so it is concerning.

Joan has listed her address as a collection point for local donations. Items can be dropped off at 25 Ardnacassa, Dublin Road, Longford, N39A3E5.
Two Longford National Lottery players were delighted to collect their big winnings from Lotto HQ yesterday.

The National Lottery winners room in Lotto HQ in Dublin city centre was abuzz with celebrations as five large prizes worth a total of over 6 million was claimed by players in Dublin (2), Longford (2) and Meath.

The two players in Longford made the trip to The Capital to pick-up prizes for 100,000 and 36,687 respectively.



The biggest Longford winner was collecting a 100,000 prize they won on a Money Multiplier scratch card which they bought at Farrells newsagents in Abbeylara.

The other Longford player was collecting a 36,687 prize they won in the 19.06 million Lotto draw on Saturday, January 15.

The Longford native matched five numbers in the historic draw with a ticket they purchased at the Kiosk on Dublin Street in Longford town.

The biggest winners of the day was a jubilant syndicate from Co Meath who travelled to Dublin to pick up a cheque for a truly life-changing 4,687,612 following their Lotto jackpot win on Wednesday, February 9.



The syndicate who wish to keep their win private became Irelands second Lotto jackpot winners in 2022 after they purchased their winning ticket at the Centra store in Summerhill, Co Meath.



After waiting for almost a month to collect their prize, the head of the Meath syndicate was able to breathe a sigh of relief after handing over the all-important winning Lotto slip after keeping it safe since early February. The weight is finally off my shoulders now having kept that ticket safe for nearly a month, they laughed.



The ticket has been in my wallet in my pocket in all that time and since then, not one minute has passed by that I didnt tap my pocket just to make sure that it was still there! Im looking forward to getting a good nights sleep tonight knowing I dont have to look after the ticket anymore because we now have the cash in the bank, he said.



Discussing their spending plans for their new-found Lotto fortune of over 4.6 million, the syndicate lead said: We all have our own plans for the money, but I know there will be some mortgages paid off while others will plan on buying new houses. We are a sensible bunch so we will be very careful with the money. What we do have in common however is that we all need a nice beach holiday with lots of sun so thats definitely something to look forward to.



Also claiming a large National Lottery prize in Lotto HQ was a Dublin player who claimed a 1 million top prize which they won on Thursday, February 17.



The North Dublin player who wished to remain anonymous purchased their ticket at Jays Newsagents in Artane, Dublin 5 on the day of the draw.



Another Dublin player celebrating was a EuroMillions player who picked up a cheque for a cool 184,665 after they won the EuroMillions Match 5 + Lucky Star prize on Friday, February 25 with a ticket they purchased at Rush Fuel Services in Rush, Co. Dublin.
Poetry Ireland with the Global Brain Health Institute (Trinity College Dublin) and Creative Brain Week is inviting older people across the island of Ireland to write a line of poetry for a Poemathon with Older People.

The contributions will be combined to form a collaborative poem capturing the thoughts and imaginings of older people right now on the theme of climate crisis.

Former President of Ireland and Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice at Trinity College Dublin, Mary Robinson, has penned the opening line of the poem:

Growing up we did not know; now we need to mend

Mary Robinson said, Its wonderful to see the Poemathon with Older People focusing on the climate crisis as its theme and bringing together the voices of an older generation through the shared experience of creating a poem.

As we get older, we think more often about our legacy and picture the world that will be inherited by the next generations. I look forward to seeing how the contributors to the Poemathon engage with the idea that now is the time we need to mend.

This is the second year of the Poemathon with Older People, which will again be curated and edited by poet and editor Seamus Cashman. Submissions can be made through a form on Poetry Irelands website from 1 March until 5pm on 28 March  at this link.

Niamh ODonnell, Director of Poetry Ireland, said, The Poemathon is a creative opportunity to express reflections, reactions and responses to what is happening in society, through the perspectives of older people.

Were delighted that Mary Robinson has joined us for this years project. Last years Poemathon brought together rich thoughts and feelings on the Covid-19 pandemic from hundreds of contributors - were looking forward to seeing all the lines of poetry in response to this years timely and impactful theme.

The Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College Dublin is one of the partners in the Poemathon project.

"As an Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), I work to promote brain health for the worlds aging populations," said Dr Francesca Farina. "I am delighted that GBHI is supporting the Poemathon in partnership with Poetry Ireland and Creative Brain Week. Our brain health is inextricably tied to the richness of the physical world. Addressing the climate crises is therefore essential in safeguarding the well-being of individuals and our societies at large.

Collaboration in poetry writing has a long history and tradition, often used as a method of opening the voice in poetry workshops, based on the idea that when writers share in a writing process, the outcomes often prove to be imaginative and surprising, with a creative conversation taking place within poems themselves.

A reminder that the opening line of the poem is: Growing up we did not know; now we need to mend. Entries can be submitted until 5pm on Monday 28 March on the Poetry Ireland website: at this link.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee has hinted at the prospect of Longford being afforded an additional judge to deal with a growing backlog of Circuit Court trials brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

Minister McEntee said moves were afoot within her own department to determine what areas are in need of strengthening at local judicial level with those considerations expected to be determined by mid April.

The Fine Gael minister's comments come after Circuit Court Judge Keenan Johnson recently alluded to how Longford required a full time judge of its own to deal with a backlog of over 40 criminal trials.

In an interview with the Longford Leader, following her visit to the county last Tuesday, the Fine Gael minister said she was very much cognisant of the burden courts faced and would be closely examining the unease felt by senior members of the judiciary such as Judge Johnson.

We have a body of work underway in the Department looking at the number of judges we have, the types of judges that we have, the types of courts and the judges within those and where potentially we could increase the number of judges, and the number of judges we need sitting in each of those courts, such as the Circuit Court, she said.

That work will be done hopefully by Easter and recommendations will be made to me and I will make sure that we will have a full plan in place following those recommendations.

There is a need and an understanding and a knowledge that there is a need for additional judges and in certain areas and in certain courts.

And Ill be responding to that report as quickly as possible, obviously listening to the concerns of local judges in particular.

Work of Longford Womens Link Praised

Minister McEntee also vowed to tackle the growing calls for further domestic violence services in Longford following on from a recent announcement to provide eight refuge beds for alleged victims.

In hailing the work undertaken by Longford Women's Link, Ms McEntee said: "I am clear that what we outlined as a priority when we published the Tusla accommodation review is only a start, and that we must invest more in domestic abuse services in the coming years. And we will do so.

Alongside the womens' community based organisation, the Meath East TD took in whistle stop visits to the Irish Prison Service headquarters, Longford garda station as well as holding talks with members from Longford Comhairle na nOg under the auspices of the county's Local Community Safety Partnership initiative.

Minister McEntee expressed her delight at being able to engage with the county's local youth council while likewise talking up the merits of a broader strategy which held its first meeting last September.

"The Community Safety Partnerships will work because they recognise that keeping communities safe is not just the responsibility of An Garda Siochana  it is about our Gardai working together with other State services, as well as across the community, to keep people safe," she said.

"Thats the strength of the Community Safety Partnerships  bringing everyone together to make Longford safer  and thats why I believe they will work.

More Gardai on the ground

Ms McEntee said the recent drive to swell the ranks of the Gardai on a national level was one which would likely benefit counties like Longford over the coming months.

In singling out the work of fellow party member and Longford Senator Micheal Carrigy, Minister McEntee added: "While the allocation of resources is a matter for the Garda Commissioner, and I have no doubt that this will mean more Gardai on the ground in Longford and Roscommon.

"I know the great work Gardai in the division do, and I met many of them in Longford station to discuss their work, the challenges they face and I am confident they will be supported by new recruits."
An additional 1.5m in state funding will be needed "straight away" to ensure the protracted upgrade of the N4 between Longford and Mullingar is not scrapped altogether.

It comes after local politicians held crunch talks this afternoon with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) officials after the semi-State body revealed no funding would be made available for the route this year.

Considerable lobbying has taken place in recent weeks in an attempt to force political intervention at the highest level to try and reverse that decision.

Longford-Westmeath TD Joe Flaherty and Senator Micheal Carrigy joined councillors from all three municipal districts for an online meeting which brought no meaningful breakthrough to the impasse.

"There was no commitment given, only that the matter would be brought back to the board of TII," said Senator Carrigy.

The Ballinalee postmaster said it was his belief around 1.5m would be needed without delay to ensure the project's sustainability into the future.

Senator Carrigy said while he remained "confident" Transport Minister Eamon Ryan would revisit the project, time was of the essence.

"Straight away," said Senator Carrigy, as to when the mooted 1.5m sum was needed to finance the next phase of the route.

Independent Cllr Gerry Warnock, who also sat in on the meeting expressed his desire at seeing the long talked about upgrade being brought to fruition.

"From the point of view in stressing it's (project's) importance, it (meeting) was quite good.

"They (TII) agreed to listen, but without that political and financial commitment their (TII's) hands are tied."
The governor on Wednesday was supposed to make a run-of-the-mill announcement at the University of South Florida about state investments in cyber security workforce education. A group of high-school students stood in the back wearing masks.

The governor was triggered.

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As he walked to the podium, DeSantis stopped, faced the students  and ranted.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gestures during a news conference after announcing a $20 million dollar program to create cybersecurity opportunities through the Florida Center for Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida Wednesday, March 2, 2022, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) (Chris O'Meara/AP)

You do not have to wear those masks, the leader of Florida said, jabbing his finger in their faces. Please take them off. Honestly, its not doing anything. Weve got to stop with this COVID theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous.

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He did everything but demand to speak to the manager.

How dare those youngsters ruin the governors photo op by wearing pieces of cloth or surgical fabric over their noses and mouths? After DeSantis outburst, some of the students obliged and removed their masks with embarrassed smiles.

Others kept their masks on. After all, its their choice, right, governor? You did say if you wanna wear it, fine  even though your attitude said just the opposite, as you stood there in your official capacity as governor. And as you used those young people to advance your agenda.

Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. >

The video, posted on social media, drew scathing comments, deservedly.

DeSantis attitude was classic Karen  the slang for self-centered, entitled white women who berate service workers and call 911 on Black people. During the pandemic, a new breed of Karens has emerged, the ones set off by other people wearing masks.

DeSantis likes to brag that Florida is the freest state in the United States, especially when it comes to personal choice on masks. Local governments and schools were banned from requiring them. But it appears that freedom doesnt apply to those who, despite the CDCs relaxed mask guidance, still are concerned about COVID.

Unlike anti-maskers, maskers dont put other peoples health at risk. So let them be, governor. Save your anti-mask, anti-vaccine diatribes for FOX News. The only one looking ridiculous is you.

This editorial represents the opinion of the Miami Herald Editorial Board.

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The political science show cannot go on.



Its curtain call for COVID theater. pic.twitter.com/CoUIC6NX83  Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) March 3, 2022

DeSantis doubles down

From the Orlando Sentinel editorial board: After Tampa Bays WFLA ran a story that included video of him scolding students, DeSantis used that clip in a longer video posted to Twitter. In it, the news story was followed with multiple clips of Democratic politicians who werent wearing masks, meme-ish cartoons with the catchphrase End COVID theater and footage of the governor bragging about Floridas record during the CPAC conference in Orlando.

Is the governor right to use students images in what amounts to a campaign ad? You decide  and let us know at insight@orlandosentinel.com. To see the video, click on the tweet above.
Leesburg, VA (20175)

Today

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 54F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 54F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
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Alina Holdings PLC - Warminster, England-based real estate investment trust - Hedging efforts are leading to a significant positive contribution during the ongoing market correction caused by Covid-19, central bank tightening and invasion of Ukraine.

Company expects that current market correction has further to run, with the chance of substantial economic slowdown as higher commodity prices feed into higher consumer prices.

"During the pandemic the company was able to achieve substantially better than market collections having assisted, where possible, tenants with government grants. We are pleased to report that we were able to collect better than 92% of recoverable rent," the company stated.

Current stock price: 16.00 pence

12-month change: down 22%

By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
TOKYO, March 3 (Reuters) - Japan Airlines Co Ltd and ANA Holdings Inc cancelled all flights to and from Europe on Thursday and cancelled or rerouted flights on Friday as well, citing safety concerns following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

ANA also started to cancel some flights due to run on Saturday.

The airlines, which normally use Russian airspace for their Europe flights, join a growing number of carriers that have cancelled or rerouted flights between Europe and north Asia in the wake of the crisis.

"We are continuously monitoring the situation, but given the present situation in Ukraine and the different risks, we have decided to cancel flights," a JAL spokesperson told Reuters.

ANA Cargo's website said the suspension of flights was due to the "high possibility of its operations not being able to overfly Russia due to the current Ukraine situation."

Airlines from the European Union and Canada have been banned from Russian airspace in response to their curbs on Russian airlines, but Japan has not made a similar announcement to date.

ANA and JAL operate about 60 flights per week through Russian airspace between Tokyo and London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Helsinki, according to a spokesperson for flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

Finnair, which had initially cancelled its Tokyo flights after losing access to Russian airspace, said on Wednesday it would resume four weekly Helsinki-Tokyo flights with a new route and a flight time of 13 hours, up from around 9.5 hours previously.

Longer routes by airlines will add to fuel costs and reduce the amount of cargo that can be carried in a tight market for air freight that is exacerbating pandemic-related disruptions in global supply chains.

Korean Air Lines was still flying over Russian airspace on Thursday, according to Reuters monitoring of FlightRadar24, but Taiwanese carriers are now avoiding Russian airspace and are flying over China and central Asia.

Both JAL and ANA cancelled eight flights each carrier had scheduled for Friday. The impacted routes included those to London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Helsinki.

A Tokyo-Brussels flight due to carry vaccines on the return leg will be routed over central Asia, ANA said.

Japan Airlines said it planned to reroute one of its London flights on Friday heading eastward over Alaska, Greenland and Iceland rather than flying the usual westbound route over Russia. The flight will not require a fuel stop.

It cancelled flights to and from Helsinki, Frankfurt, Paris on Friday as well as a second London flight. (Reporting by Maki Shiraki in Tokyo and Jamie Freed in Sydney; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Sakura Murakami and Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Edwina Gibbs, Kim Coghill and Susan Fenton)
(Alliance News) - The London Stock Exchange Group on Thursday announced the suspension of listings of 27 Russia-linked firms after sanctions were imposed due to the nation's invasion of Ukraine.

The exchange had already blocked a division of Russian bank VTB last week in the wake of the sanctions.

"LSEG has suspended trading in 28 Russian-listed securities," said Chief Executive David Schwimmer in a statement giving the total number.

"This has been based on sanctions and the ability to run an orderly market.

"Suspensions are driven by those decisions, so if we see any other any other securities affected by sanctions then similar actions will take place."

The suspensions comprise energy giants Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil among others.

They also include Russia's largest lender Sberbank, which announced its withdrawal from Europe on Wednesday due to the impact of tough sanctions.

The LSEG added Thursday that it was "closely monitoring" fallout from the conflict and consulting regulators and authorities.

"This is a very complex and fast-moving situation and we are working closely with regulators across all parts of our business," added Schwimmer.

Various Russian firms, including steelmaker Evraz PLC and gold miner Polymetal International PLC, continue to trade on the British capital's stock market despite outcry from politicians.

However, the LSEG had announced Wednesday that both groups will leave the FTSE 100 index after collapsing in value since Russia launched its attack on Ukraine.

Evraz and Polymetal will depart from the FTSE 100 of top companies and enter the FTSE 250 index.

The changes, part of a quarterly reshuffle of the FTSE 100, will take effect from March 21.

source: AFP

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News:

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Avation PLC - Singapore-based commercial passenger aircraft leasing company - For the six months ended December 31, pretax loss narrows to USD15.9 million from USD60.5 million, due to a much lower impairment loss on aircraft and credit losses. Revenue drops 6% year-on-year to USD57.9 million from USD61.3 million. Avation's aircraft fleet stands at 42, however fleet assets declines 7.0% year-on-year to USD1.00 billion as at December 31 from USD1.08 billion at the end of June.

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Franchise Brands PLC - Manchester-based owner of ChipsAway, Willow Pumps and Metro Rod brands - For 2021, pretax profit rises 57% year-on-year to GBP5.8 million from GBP3.7 million the year before, on revenue which grows 17% year-on-year to GBP57.7 million from GBP49.3 million, with double digit sales from Metro Rod and Metro Plumb, as well as a strong recovery from the B2C division. Declares final dividend of 0.9 pence per share, bringing total payout to 1.5p, up 36% from 1.1p. Looking ahead, reports strong start to 2022, with continued sales growth in B2B.

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Poolbeg Pharma PLC - London-based pharmaceutical company - For the period from incorporation on March 19 to December 31, posts pretax loss of GBP2.3 million and no revenue as the company continues to develop its severe influenza treatment POLB 001.

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Crystal Amber Fund Ltd - Guernsey-based investment company - As at December 31, net asset value per share increases 11% year-on-year to 143.19 pence from 128.99p. For the six month period, delivered NAV negative return of 0.8%, compared to a 4.7% positive return from the Numis Small Cap Index.

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JPMorgan Global Growth & Income PLC - invests in companies around the world - As at December 31, net asset value per share increases 6.1% year-on-year to 459.1 pence from 432.3p, while for the six month period, NAV total return is 8.2%, compared to a 7.7% return from the MSCI AC World Index.

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t42 IoT Tracking Solutions PLC - Jersey-based provider of tracking, security and monitoring solutions for containers and freight - For 2021, operating loss widens to USD2.7 million from USD1.8 million, on revenue which declines 16% year-on-year to USD4.2 million from USD5.0 million due to supply chain issues and a performance turnaround only taking place near the end of 2021.

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Allergy Therapeutics PLC - Sussex-based biotechnology firm focused on allergy vaccines - For the six months ended December 31, pretax profit drops 54% to GBP7.3 million from GBP15.8 million a year before, due to a rise in costs and a 10% year-on-year decline in revenue to GBP48.7 million from GBP54.0 million, due to the strategic streamlining of older products. Looking ahead, company has a strong outlook for the full financial year with operating profit on track to meet consensus expectations.

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Power Metal Resources PLC - London-based metals exploration company focused in North America, Africa and Australia - For the year ended September 30, pretax loss narrows to GBP623,000 from GBP1.4 million the year before, due to smaller impairment charges, and a slight rise in revenue to GBP37,000 from GBP9,000

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By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
What does freedom of choice mean to DeSantis?

I have one question for Ron DeSantis: With all your rhetoric about freedom of choice, where is my choice or anyone elses to wear a mask if that is what we choose to do (DeSantis calls out students wearing masks, March 3)? Does your freedom of choice only extend to those who think like you? I think that is called a dictatorship, not a democracy.

Judith Sanborn Winter Park

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Where are berated students parental rights?

Perhaps someone would like to try to explain to me how our governor barking at high-school students about wearing masks supports the fictitious GOP agenda of parental rights. My assumption is that these students are probably adhering to their parents wishes and recommendations. Clearly, Republicans are only interested in parental rights when it supports their personal viewpoints. Folks, you really need to wake up.

Ken Perlberg Kissimmee

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Political ads could violate First Amendment

I agree with Wes Henricksens comments in a recent guest column (Lies about stolen election show First Amendment quandary, Feb. 28) but suggest they dont go far enough. Consider political advertising and campaigning. Fraud has four elements: a false statement, intent to deceive, reliance by the victim and damage, wrote Henricksen. In much, but certainly not all, campaign advertising we see half-truths, nuances and false statements designed to deceive a victim (the voter) and cause damage to a voter who is ill-informed and casts a his/her vote in a way they would not have done with truthful information. Social media is compounding our long-standing tradition of questionable campaign rhetoric.

Henricksen says, To fix the problem we must prohibit fraud on the public. Perhaps we need to extend truth in advertising standards to politicians. The Federal Trade Commission is charged with enforcing such laws; perhaps it could be given such oversight powers  oh, wait, who gives the FTC its authority?

Bill Peeper Orlando

Stupid should hurt: Punish Putin

Vladimir Putins adventures seem to have earned worldwide condemnation. He is waging war not just on the Ukrainian military but on Ukrainian civilians. They are his brothers and sisters, to listen to his rhetoric  but not if they dont bend a knee.

Seeing Germany pledge to re-arm is one bit of sunshine in this dismal landscape. So are the broad and deep actions by many governments, especially the Brits  removing SWIFT access for Russian banks, freezing accounts, even ending the sale of Russian vodka.

Stupid should hurt, and Putin should now enter a time where Russia is an international pariah. The United States should see to it that Russia is kicked off the U.N. Security Council. Russia should be censured and isolated in every imaginable way; Putins personal fortune should be seized as much as possible.

Ron Berti Orlando
Bashkim Osmani, the Kosovar Albanian suspected of being the head of an international mafia dedicated to money laundering (the proceeds from drugs trafficking and prostitution), has been remanded in custody by a court in Palma.

On Wednesday, Osmani was extradited from Croatia, where he was arrested two weeks ago as part of Operation Casino. Centred on Mallorca, this was an international police operation that was carried out simultaneously in various countries - Belgium and the UK were two others. The scale of the operation in Mallorca was such that agents from the FBI and the US Drug Enforcement Administration were involved.

In court on Wednesday, Osmani exercised his right not to testify before the judge or to answer questions from the prosecutor. He proclaimed his innocence, answered questions from his lawyer and was ordered to prison. He was taken to the prison in Palma, where he will initially be in an isolation zone for Covid quarantine. It is understood that he will then enter a normal wing of the prison.

He owns a mansion in Camp de Mar, which is where he typically lives for most of the year.
I am ticked off at our inefficient government people and institutions. I am trying to help a young man aged out of the foster care system with discrepancies between his birth certificate and Social Security identity. The Social Security administration is an absolute nightmare to deal with. You get put on hold for 45 minutes before your call then just disconnects. You cant walk in to the office and set up an appointment, and their online process is not user-friendly. Lastly, I reached out by email to Congressman Sotos office for help over three weeks ago and have never received a reply from them. Civil servants? Ha.

I am ticked off at the stores and commercial buildings where there are no curb cuts for wheelchairs and people with mobility problems even in front of the handicap parking areas.

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It seems that Sinclair and Old Lake Wilson Road is the epicenter of scofflaw driving. Now it is the left turn lane on Sinclair that is used to bypass the long line of cars turning right onto Old Lake Wilson Road, to swing out into the intersection faking a left turn and then turn right behind the cars backed up on Old Lake Wilson Road. The stupidest drivers in Florida!

To the pseudo lottery winning attorney, get some new material and classier commercials already!

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It ticks me off so bad when people completely mispronounce my profession. I am a Realtor, not a Real-a-tor. Where the heck does the a come from? When you go to the doctor do you say I have an appointment with my doc-a-tor? I dont think so. Learn to speak correct English, please!

There is no explanation possible for the lousy condition of Lake Underhill Road. The amount of potholes and rough pavements that exists between Conway Road and Rouse Road is unbelievable Does anyone care anymore?

The flip side

Thank you to the lady who let me cut in front of her at the checkout line. She saved me from being late to work.
Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass.
MANISTEE  Northwest Michigan Health Services is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Manistee Area Public Schools Child and Adolescent Health Center's opening with an open house on March 10.

The public is welcome to visit the health center from 8:30 a.m. to noon on March 10 for a tour of the facility and a token of appreciation for the Manistee communitys support.

The official ribbon cutting of the center's brick and mortar office took place virtually on Feb. 24, 2021. The clinic has provided 322 medical visits and 265 behavioral health visits in its first year of service.

The health center began offering behavioral health and community health worker services to K-12 MAPS students through a two-year grant called CareConnect on Jan. 20, 2020. There have been 253 unique requests for behavioral health services since that time through the CareConnect portal.

As a federally qualified health center, Northwest Michigan Health Services, Inc. provides a full array of physical, behavioral and health care services to patients regardless of their insurance or ability to pay.

The MAPS center offers primary medical care, family nurse practitioner services, behavioral health from a masters level clinician and community health worker services to MAPS students in grades kindergarten through 12.

The center's services are billed to students insurance. There is no charge for Community Health Worker assistance, including assisting families to apply for health coverage. Northwest Michigan Health Services, Inc. also has a sliding fee scale based on income and family size, and no one is turned away due to lack of funds.

The health center recently changed its hours of operation to 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to accommodate families that need after-school appointments. The center is open Monday through Friday, year-round, including school closure dates.

To schedule a medical appointment, call 231-887-4801. For information about services, visit the center's website at chipslead.org/maps-behavioral-health-services.
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The Great Lakes shoreline borders eight states and two countries. In the north, small villages and towns, farmland and orchards abound. The metropolitan skylines of Detroit, Ann Arbor and Flint in southern Michigan line the I-75 corridor into the state.

All of these places and their people provide a plethora of spaces for Michigans authors. Each year, 20 titles that best represent this region are chosen by a committee to gather the Michigan Notable Books list.

The Manistee County Library carries many of the Michigan Notable Books for the current and past years. More titles are also available through the Michigan Electronic Library system.



 Set in a small town in the Upper Peninsula, a mother-daughter duos life is a series of never ending obstacles. Tin Camp Road by Ellen Airgood is their story of a struggle with poverty and their journey to find a place in the world that they can call home. The author owns and operates a diner in Grand Marais.

 Trout Water: A Year on the Au Sable written by Josh Greenberg who is the proprietor of Gates Au Sable Lodge near Grayling. In this memoir, he shares his discoveries of the rivers soothing ways and the solace found in fishing that are instrumental in helping him deal with the loss of a friend.

Photo submitted/Manistee County Library

 A young girl longs for change in her life. When Suzy meets her uncles friend and discovers ostrich riding, it may be more than she bargained for. Long Road to the Circus by Betsy Bird is a warm, funny look at farm life and chasing dreams. Originally from Kalamazoo, Betsy Bird manages Collection Development at the Evanston Public Library in Illinois.

 Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids is a short story collection by various Native writers which celebrates Native American culture. Set at a powwow, multiple nations join together to honor family and friends.

Photo submitted/Manistee County Library

 Onekama author John Wemlingers latest book, The Cut, is a historical novel set in Manistee County. When a relationship forms between a farmer and a city girl, her father is displeased. The situation deteriorates further when a group of farmers meet to dig a cut to keep their farmland from flooding but still allow mill owners to run their saws. This story is based on actual events concerning Portage Lake and Lake Michigan.

 The Dock Porter by Dave McVeigh, a native of Milford near Detroit, and Jim Bolone, who grew up in Detroit, takes place on Michigans famous Mackinac Island. Back in the day, porters were hired to use their bicycles to move luggage between the docks and the hotels. What happens when a young porter is offered a challenge brings back memories for anyone who has had the privilege of working on or visiting the island.

 Coming to terms with her boyfriends past is the premise of Early Morning Riser by Katherine Heiny, who was born and raised in Midland. Jane runs into Duncans exes everywhere! They show up at his apartment and ask for favors he readily grants. Over time, Jane creates a life of family and friends, with happiness and heartbreak amongst these people.

 The Firekeepers Daughter by Angeline Boulley, a former resident of Sault Ste. Marie, is a young adult mystery novel centered on Daunis, who decides to take a year off college and help her mother. She unwittingly becomes involved in a drug investigation after witnessing a murder. This book beautifully illustrates tribal life.

 Standpipe: Delivering Water in Flint'' by David Hardin, a lifelong Michigan resident, is a memoir of the Flint water crisis that combines the Red Cross volunteer efforts to keep the community supplied with safe drinking water and the deterioration of his mothers health due to dementia.
UPDATED: A previous version of this article had some incorrect information regarding masking policy at District Health Department # 10 offices. This story has been updated to reflect the correct information at 4:03 p.m. on March 4, 2022.

MANISTEE COUNTY  Starting March 3, many state employees will no longer be required to wear masks at work as Michigan continues to report declining COVID-19 infections.

The Office of the State Employer announced the changes Monday in an email to the states 46,000-plus workers.

Masking may still be mandated for some employees, such as those working inside prisons and state psychiatric hospitals.

That may be true for some state employees located in Manistee.

Employees at District Health Department #10 offices will still be required to wear masks, as well as everyone in common areas and clinical settings, according to Jeannine Taylor, public information officer for DHD#10. Taylor said that masking will be required until DHD#10 Health Officer Kevin Hughes deems it appropriate to do so, according to Taylor.

More changes to policies may be coming in the following weeks, Liza Estlund Olson, director of the office, wrote. We look forward to seeing more of the smiles of our coworkers as we continue with our work.

The announcement that relaxed a nearly two-year-old mandate came three days after the federal government released new guidelines saying people in counties where the coronavirus poses a low or medium threat to hospitals can stop wearing masks.

Only about 10% of Michigans population lives in 17 counties that are considered high risk, meaning people there should still wear a mask indoors in public.

The new guidance now puts most local counties in the medium to the low threat categories.

Both Manistee and Benzie counties are considered to be a medium threat, meaning most people will not need to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status. However, it is still recommended for certain groups, just not mandated for everyone. Michigan had already rescinded its mask mandate for crowded indoor places, including schools, as of Feb. 16.

DHD #10 guidance aligns with MDHHS and the Centers for Disease Control. As for guidance in the Benzie-Leelanau health district, Health Officer Lisa Peacock said the following:

The move to ease up on universal masking reflects current conditions at this phase of the coronavirus pandemic, including widespread immunity through vaccination and prior infection as well as better access to testing and treatments."

However, Peacock still recommended masks for certain groups.

Regardless, there may be groups of people who want to or should continue wearing a mask, including anyone with underlying health conditions, those who live with someone with high risk factors, anyone who is immunocompromised, as well as those who just feel safer wearing a mask," Peacock said.

The CDC lays out the following guidance for counties in the medium threat category:

 If you are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions;

 Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines; and

 Get tested if you have symptoms.

"People may choose to mask at any time. People with symptoms, a positive test or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask, according to the guidance.

The AP noted that the governor's administration has given individual state departments and offices the discretion and flexibility to determine if workers should come into the office.

Updates in your inbox The Manistee News Advocate is providing all COVID-19 news free to all readers as a public service. For more stories like this and others, sign up for our newsletters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mankato, MN (56001)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 46F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 46F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
The judge overseeing the criminal case against former state lawmaker Frank Artiles said Wednesday she plans to privately review bank records from one of the dark money nonprofits at the center of Floridas ghost candidate scandal before deciding if they should be made public.

The records would identify donors to Lets Preserve the American Dream, which provided funding used for ads promoting Artiles friend, Alex Rodriguez, and two other candidates who ran as independents for highly contested Florida Senate seats but did no campaigning of their own.

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Artiles, who has pleaded not guilty, is charged with bribing Rodriguez to run.

Lets Preserve the American Dream is a Tallahassee-based nonprofit with close ties to Associated Industries of Florida, the states largest business lobbying group, whose donors include Florida Power & Light and Florida Crystals.

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The organization was recently informed that it is being investigated for potential violations of elections and campaign finance laws, according to court records in the Artiles case.

The bank records, obtained by the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office, typically would become public, as state law requires when prosecutors provide evidence to a defendants attorneys during a criminal case. But attorneys for the dark-money group asked Circuit Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan to block their release.

Fajardo Orshan said during a hearing Wednesday she expects to issue a ruling within the next few weeks.

Fajardo Orshan also asked State Attorney Tim VanderGiesen to review requests for privacy submitted by roughly two-dozen people and entities whose communications with Artiles were found on devices seized by prosecutors. VanderGiesen is to determine if the records are related to the case against Artiles before a second hearing March 24, after which the judge will decide whether they should be made public.

Those records, which the state obtained during its investigation and have been given to Artiles defense through the discovery process, also typically would be released. But Artiles attorneys objected to their dissemination, saying the communications arent related to the states case and would violate the privacy rights of people Artiles interacted with personally and professionally.

Fajardo Orshan agreed in January that people whose messages and personal information were found on Artiles computers should have the chance to object to the public release of those files, setting a March 1 deadline for requests to be submitted.

The names of most who objected were redacted prior to being turned over to attorneys for the Orlando Sentinel and other news organizations. The requests generally provided little detail about their relationship to Artiles.

Artiles has been accused of paying Rodriguez nearly $45,000 to file as an independent candidate in a South Florida Senate race in 2020 to siphon votes from his Democratic opponent. Though Rodriguez did no campaigning, he received more than 6,000 votes, while Republican Ileana Garcia defeated Jose Javier Rodriguez by 32 votes.

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The South Florida election was one of three key state Senate races that year  including one in Central Florida won by Republican Sen. Jason Brodeur of Sanford  in which so-called ghost candidates filed to run as independents but did no campaigning.

Two political committees that received all of their funding from a dark money nonprofit called Grow United sent ads promoting the independent candidates, portraying them as progressives in an apparent attempt to undermine the Democrats in those races. Lets Preserve the American Dream gave $600,000 to Grow United that was used to pay for the ads.

Attorneys representing Lets Preserve the American Dream argued Wednesday the organization had been harmed by the attention given to the case, VanderGiesens team should not have been able to obtain the bank records and their donors should not be subjected to public scrutiny.

Nonprofit 501(c)(4) organizations like Lets Preserve the American Dream are required to report their grants to other organizations on their tax returns, but do not have to disclose their donors publicly.

Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. >

How can you put donor and beneficiary names from a 501(c)(4) in the public record? said attorney Matthew Baldwin, adding that the documents arent relevant to the states case against Artiles.

Fajardo Orshan asked attorneys representing the Sentinel and other media organizations to justify making records from other people and organizations public simply because they interacted with Artiles during the last couple of years.

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Its like an octopus, she said, comparing Artiles to the head of the animal. And then you have all of these tentacles of all of these people hes done business with, and/or communicated with, and now somehow, all of their stuff is subject to public disclosure because Mr. Artiles allegedly committed a crime.

But the attorneys for the media organizations countered that the public has a right to review records that are part of criminal cases. And, they added, Lets Preserve the American Dream is a central figure in the case against Artiles because it provided the money that paid for the ads and is now the target of an investigation by the State Attorneys Office.

This is not a random third party that happened to get caught up in the data dump, said attorney Dana McElroy, who is representing The Miami Herald and other media organizations.

Ryan Tyson, the executive director of Lets Preserve the American Dream, told investigators during an interview last September that he didnt know the money that Lets Preserve the American Dream gave to Grow United would be used to pay for ads intended to siphon away votes from other candidates.

anmartin@orlandosentinel.com
Spain Travel Rules: How to travel to Spain from the UK

Spain Travel Rules: How to travel to Spain from the UK

There is good news for people in the United Kingdom looking to go to Spain, as the country has made the entry requirements less stringent for any unvaccinated travellers.

While you had to be fully vaccinated in order to land in Spain before, a new update shared on the UK Foreign Office website shows that Spain will allow unvaccinated travellers to arrive in the country, so long as they have recovered from COVID-19 in the last six months.

Now, in order to enter Spain, any visitors will have to show a medical certificate or recovery record.

Are the rules the same for children?

These new rules are in place for anyone aged 12 or over, although for unvaccinated teenagers aged between 12 and 17, a negative PCR test taken up to 72 hours before arrival will suffice.

If your child or children are under the age of 12, they will not be subject to any testing or vaccination requirements.

What does still need to be done is for travellers to fill out a pre-travel form and to get a QR code, which will then be shown at border control.

To be classed as being fully vaccinated, you will need to have had both jabs within 270 days - nine months - before travelling to Spain. If this time has elapsed, you will need a booster jab in order to qualify.

These rules are also in place for the Canary Islands and the Balearics.

COVID rules in Spain

You still have to wear a face mask in indoor public spaces or on public transport in mainland Spain for anyone aged six or over.

Some other holiday destinations that have eased restrictions for UK holidaymakers include France, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus.

Back in February, the travel rules in the United Kingdom changed so that there would be no more COVID-19 tests for fully vaccinated travellers, as well as the end of self-isolation rules for unvaccinated arrivals.

That said, you are still required to take both a pre-departure and post-arrival COVID-19 test for the latter.

Any travellers landing in the UK are also required to fill out a passenger locator form.
The Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov said on Ukrainian TV that close sources informed the planned assassination attempt on President Volodymyr Zelensky from Russian agents.

According to the information, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation is in charge of the assault against the Ukrainian president.

Before the revelation, a Chechen paramilitary group called the Kadyrovites had the task to eliminate President Zelensky. However, those efforts failed.

Zelensky himself said that "enemy sabotage groups" had entered Kyiv and that he was their "number one target."

"I can say that we received information from representatives of the FSB, who today have no desire to take part in this bloody war," said Danilov.

"The Kadyrovites' elite group, which came here specifically to eliminate our president, was directly destroyed," he said.

The Kadyrovites refers to a Chechen paramilitary group accused of several human rights violations and abuses.

On Monday, The Times of London reported that The Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary group allied with President Vladimir Putin, flew 400 mercenaries into Kyiv to assassinate Zelensky.

United States intelligence officials warned Zelensky about the situation and recommended the Ukrainian president flee the country. Zelensky stayed saying "the fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride."

"No one is going to break us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians," said President Zelensky in an address before the European Parliament on Tuesday.

"We have a desire to see our children alive. I think it's a fair one."
Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine's Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, has claimed that a group of Chechen fighters who were plotting to assassinate president Volodymyr Zelenskiy have been eliminated by Ukraine.

The unit, named Kadyrovites, was sent into Ukraine by the Federal Security Service of the Russian government in order to kill the Ukrainian president.

Zelenskiy is Russia's number one target

Zelenskiy himself has stated that he is the "number one target" of the Russians, and Danilov stated that they were prepared for this assassination attempt.

"We are already aware of the special operation that was to be carried out by the Kadyrov forces unit," Danilov said on Ukraine 24 TV channel.

"We received the information from representatives of Russia's Federal Security Service who do not want to take part in this bloody war.

"The Kadyrovites forces unit, which came to kill our president, was eliminated."

The Kadyrovites are a Chechen paramilitary group that have been accused of various human rights violations and abuses.

Also, the Times reported on Monday that Group Wagner, a Russian paramilitary group allied with Russian president Vladimir Putin, sent 400 mercenaries to Kyiv to assassinate Zelenskiy.

Intelligence officials in the United States warned Zelenskiy about the situation and advised him to leave the country, but he refused.

"The fight is here, I need weapons, not a lift elsewhere," he said.

"No one is going to defeat us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians.

"We desire to see our children alive again.

"I believe that this this is right."
One week has now passed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the two countries have come to agreement for the first time since then, in order to allow for humanitarian corridors to be opened up.

Ukraine has been hit by bombs, as well as troops in tanks, and citizens have fled the country as quickly as they can, especially from the capital Kyiv.

Delegations from Ukraine and Russia met in Belarus to discuss terms and the first agreement struck has seen them agree on humanitarian corridors.

According to Ukranian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podoliak, there will be a ceasefire in these areas in order to allow for the opening of these routes.

What is a humanitarian corridor?

Humanitarian corridors are established in order to provide safe passage for victims of conflict and for humanitarian charities and their workers to access and escape areas hit by armed conflict.

The first time that they were discussed was in 1990, when they were defined in resolution 45/100 of the United Nations' general assembly.

In 1992, the International Institute of Humanitarian Law from Sanremo in Italy defined the concept more specifically.

"Humanitarian assistance can transit, in this case, through the so-called humanitarian corridors, which must be respected and protected by the relevant authorities and, if necessary, under the authority of the United Nations," they said.

What kind of humanitarian corridors exist?

Primarily, these corridors exist in order to evacuate residents and to provide urgent assistance, such as the provision of food or medical care.

They are often given a specifical geographical location, usually following a transport route, and define a time period for which it will be respected.

It is also important that some agreements determine exactly what materials can be transported through a humanitarian corridor, which consequently requires impartiality in order to ensure fair treatment of all who use the corridor.
Weather Alert

...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of Arkansas and Oklahoma, including the following counties, in Arkansas, Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Madison, Sebastian and Washington AR. In Oklahoma, Adair, Cherokee, Choctaw, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Haskell, Latimer, Le Flore, Mayes, McIntosh, Muskogee, Nowata, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pittsburg, Pushmataha, Rogers, Sequoyah, Tulsa, Wagoner and Washington OK. * WHEN...Through Thursday afternoon. * IMPACTS...Main-stem river flooding is expected in several locations. Extensive low land flooding will be likely in some areas, especially where the heavier rain has already occurred. Many low-water crossings will likely become flooded. Area creeks and streams are already running high and will likely flood with more heavy rain. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Additional rounds of thunderstorms with very heavy rain are expected this evening through the overnight hours. Widespread 2 to 3 inches of rain is expected with locally higher amounts of 5 to 6 inches. The heavier rain will begin to shift east of far southeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas Thursday afternoon. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor the latest forecast and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action quickly should flooding develop. Be especially cautious while driving at night. Do not drive through water of unknown depth. &&
Before she became the nursing director of Massachusetts General Hospitals Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) this past November, Kimberly (Cerrato) Whalen 93 had already made significant contributions to her field.

Through a career in nursing that has spanned several decades, Whalen has cared for countless critically ill children; she was a pediatric clinical instructor at Curry College and the MGH IHP; she was the pediatric clinical content lead for Partners eCare; published peer-reviewed articles on informatics and pediatrics; served as a nurse reviewer for Harvard Medical School; and has worked to develop innovations for pediatric care as part of MassGenerals Pediatric Innovation Committee, through which she and her team have also been awarded multiple grants to develop an app to assist with pediatric infusions, along with a provisional patent.

Along with all of this, shes been lauded by the MassGeneral team for her leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly at the beginning, when she guided the PICU through a temporary transformation into an adult intensive care unit.

A sociology major at MCLA from Plymouth, Mass., Whalen said she was drawn to nursing after working as a nursing assistant the summer after she graduated. She still keeps in touch with the friends she made at MCLA, and said that her sociology degree laid the ground for what would come next in her education and career. I definitely am a people person, she said. I love taking care of and working with people.

She went back to school to earn her bachelors degree in nursing, then spent years as a pediatric nurse, working weekend nights while she raised a family. She loved the flexibility nursing offered her; You can be a nurse for 40 years and do all different kinds of things, she said. If you get tired of one thing, you can try something different. Working in the PICU kept me always wanting to learnit keeps you always thinking.

She discovered a passion for health informaticsthe systems that power things like patient portals and electronic health recordswhile helping to build a new medical records system at MassGeneral. She ended up applying for a grant to study informatics and earned a masters degree from the University of Colorado in 2014.

MassGeneral is a special place, Whalen said. They provide a lot of opportunities for learning and growth, and its a very collaborative environment.

One opportunity for innovation led her to have a hand in developing a medical device meant for blood transfers that now has a provisional patent, and which won a MassGeneral competition focused on medical innovations.

Whalen said pediatric nurses commonly find workarounds since most medical equipment is designed for adults. I think were natural innovators, she said. Its great MassGeneral is working with us to bring some of those ideas to fruition.

When COVID hit and the PICU had to be transitioned into an adult ICU, Whalens experience and passion was put to the test again. Clad in full PPEsuits, masks, gogglesshe and her staff kept a human connection, holding peoples hands in times of distress and vulnerability. The unit used iPads to let patients visit with their families and worked to keep in contact with their family members.

It was amazing to see the teamwork. Everyone was so scared, she said. We didnt know what we were dealing with, but everyone just jumped in and worked together. Weve always done thatduring the first wave of COVID, people were cheering and calling us heroes. It was great to get that acknowledgement, but it also felt weird, because, well, of course we are going to do that! That is what nurses do, we provide care to those in need.

Whalen said her career has given her so much through her lifepurpose, flexibility, the chance to learn new things and pass them on to others, the satisfaction of caring for patients. Being able to help people through hard times is a very gratifying thing, she said. It has made me appreciate life and all the little things in life. It reminds you to enjoy everything you have. It gives you purpose and fills your soul.
TALLAHASSEE  The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the validity of new district lines for the state House and Senate, while declining to reconsider a past ruling involving 2010 constitutional amendments that were designed to prevent gerrymandering.

The decision Thursday backed districts that lawmakers redrew as part of the once-a-decade reapportionment process. The new lines are expected to allow Republicans to maintain control of the Legislature into the 2030s, though the plans could lead to GOP losing some seats in the House and Senate.

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Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, called the new Senate map a Mona Lisa.

House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, interrupted a discussion about proposed congressional maps to announce the court ruling.

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This is no small feat, and it was no small task, Sprowls said. The (House) Redistricting Committee has been working for months to make sure we got this right. But let the message be to all Floridians the message that we set out from the very beginning, which is that we would do our work. And that we would come out with constitutionally compliant maps. That the integrity of the process would be unimpeachable. And that we will always defend the rule of law. We did that.

The House and Senate still need to reach an agreement on a new congressional map before the scheduled March 11 end of the legislative session.

The House and Senate maps did not draw any opposition at the Supreme Court. But legal challenges could still be filed in other courts.

House Minority Leader Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, said in a statement that the Supreme Court ruling wasnt a surprise and that we have a long way to go before the final story is written about this redistricting process.

Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. >

Jenne also alluded to part of the 19-page ruling that declined to address an argument by the Legislature that the court should revisit a past decision related to the Fair Districts constitutional amendments approved by voters in 2010. That past decision forced lawmakers to redraw Senate districts after the 2012 reapportionment process.

This wasnt a decision on a fact-based challenge, Jenne said. Celebrating this is like running victory laps in the first quarter. We still have a lot of game left to play. One thing you didnt hear crowed from the House floor today was that the attempt by the Legislature to silence other voices of opposition to these maps was rejected. The court did not agree to the House and Senate request to overturn constitutional precedent and stop further challenges.

The Supreme Court said Thursday the Legislature has raised an important issue, but one that would be more appropriately considered in an original writ proceeding, if a fact-based challenge to the 2022 apportionment is filed.

Regardless, the ruling will help candidates for state House and Senate offices cement plans for their 2022 campaigns. All 120 House seats and 40 Senate seats will be up for election this year.

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Republicans currently hold 78 of the 120 House seats, and an issue for Democrats is that the new House map would maintain 18 protected Black districts and 12 protected Hispanic districts. Democrats contend benchmarks used by the House in redrawing districts failed to address increases in Black, Hispanic and Creole-speaking residents over the past decade.

Republicans argued the minority population increases didnt alter the overall percentages in terms of overall population.

The new House map carved 71 districts where voters supported former Republican President Donald Trump in 2020 and 49 that favored Democratic President Joe Biden. In the Senate, the Republican dominance could slip from 24 seats to 23, based on 2020 voting patterns.
This illustration made available by the European Space Agency shows the European-Russian ExoMars rover. On Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, the ESA said the planned launch of a joint mission with Russia to Mars this year is now very unlikely due to sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine. (European Space Agency via AP) (AOES medialab M.Thiebaut/AP)

BERLIN (AP)  The launch of a joint Europe-Russia mission to Mars this year is now very unlikely due to sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine, the European Space Agency said Monday.

The agency said after a meeting of officials from its 22 member states that it was assessing the consequences of sanctions for its cooperation with Russias Roscosmos space agency.

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The sanctions and the wider context make a launch in 2022 very unlikely, for the Europe-Russia ExoMars rover mission, the agency said in a statement.

The launch was already postponed from 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak and technical problems. It was due to blast off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan in September using a Russian Proton rocket. Postponing a launch often means waiting for months or years until another window opens when planets are in the right alignment.

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The goal is to put Europes first rover on the red planet to help determine whether there has ever been life on Mars. A test rover launched in 2016 crash-landed at Mars, highlighting the difficulty of putting a spacecraft on the planet.

On Saturday, Roscosmos said it was pulling its personnel from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Several European satellites have been launched with Russian rockets from there, and more were scheduled over the coming year.

French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this month that Europe needs a bolder space policy, arguing that its sovereignty is at stake if it falls behind rival powers in a key field for technology, science and military competitiveness.

While Europe has its own rockets to put satellites into orbit, it relies on Russian and American partners to send astronauts into space.

Go For Launch - Space News Weekly Fix your telescope on all space-related news, from rocket launches to space-industry advancements. >

NASAs head of space operations said Monday that the agency is operating the International Space Station with Russian support and input, as usual. Flight control teams are still communicating, training, working together, Kathy Lueders said.

Obviously, we understand the global situation, where it is, but as a joint team, these teams are operating together, she said.

The U.S. and Russia are the key operators of the space station, which is a partnership of five space agencies. Four Americans, two Russians and a German are currently at the station.

Weve operated in these kind of situations before and both sides always operated very professionally, Lueders said.

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NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is scheduled to return to Earth at the end of March with two Russians in a Soyuz capsule, and Lueders said that is still on track. Russias capsules were the only way to and from the space after NASAs shuttles retired in 2011 and until SpaceXs first crew flight in 2020.

___

AP Aerospace Writer Marcia Dunn contributed to this report.
A TBM Avenger made an emergency landing on Sunday during the Cocoa Beach Air Show. The pilot was not injured. (Courtesy Valiant Air Command, Inc. Warbird Museum)

Nearly a year after a pilot had to crash a historic Navy aircraft off the coast of Brevard County during an air show, the Central Florida museum that had originally restored the plane announced its efforts to bring it back to life have fallen short.

In a post on its Facebook page, the Valiant Air Command, Inc. Warbird Museum announced that it had sold the TBM Avenger aircraft that crashed into the waters off Patrick Space Force Base during the Cocoa Beach Airshow in April 2021.

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The crash occurred when the plane lost all engine power, forcing the pilot to ditch. The pilot was not injured, but the aircraft sat in the salt water more than 24 hours.

The insurance company, after their inspections declared the aircraft a total loss, FAA inspections also declared the aircraft was a total loss, the post on the museums page stated.

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While the museum opted to buy the aircraft from the insurance agency at a token amount, thinking it could be restored for at least static displays if not brought back to flight readiness, work to clean out the aircraft showed more problems.

After using a fire hose to flush out all the sand the VAC discovered massive internal structural damage from nose to tail as well as destruction of all magnesium parts due to saltwater corrosion, reads the psot. During this time period a few firms visited to look at the aircraft to potentially buy and restore it. The firms determined that rebuilding to flight status or static display would be cost prohibitive and time consuming.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 42 The Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum has 10 acres of property at the Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville. The museum features displays, maintains and restores all types of aircraft that were indigenous to the world's military Air Forces starting before WWI to the present. (Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel)

So with plans for its return to the museum now off the board, the group was approached by another entity that was not named with an offer to buy the aircraft and give it a home for display in its current condition.

We decided to take the offer, the aircraft and all parts and pieces including the destroyed engine have been picked up by the buyer, the post stated.

The plane was a prominent torpedo bomber for the U.S. Navy during WWII. This particular plane, TBM bureau number 91188, retired from the Navy and flew as a fire bomber for the U.S. Forestry Service based at Davis, California from 1956-1964, and then through 1969 with the Georgia Forestry Commission in Macon, Georgia.

The museum located at the Space Coast Regional Airport acquired the aircraft in 2002 and work to restore it continued for 18 years, returning to flight on Jan. 11, 2020.
Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - Dr Ignace Gatare of the Rwanda University of Technology has called for the use of technology to mitigate inequalities in Africa as part of the fourth African forum on science, technology and innovation which started here Tuesday
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Further research is needed into how human movement behaviors (the places people visit, how long they spend there and with whom) impact dengue transmission risk. This could help decision makers decide if measures like contact tracing, testing or quarantine could help control the spread of the disease.Dr Oliver Brady, Associate Professor and MRC Fellow at LSHTM and study senior author, said: "Currently dengue control efforts are focused on or around the households of people who get sick. We now know that, in some countries, we should also be focusing measures on the locations they recently visited to reduce dengue transmission. For all the harm it has caused, this pandemic has given us an opportunity to inform new interventions and targeting strategies to prevent dengue."Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by the Aedes species of mosquitoes, which causes flu-like symptoms. It is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, and is most common in urban areas.It is one of the only infectious diseases to show a sustained increase in cases each year, and the WHO now estimates that around half the world's population is at risk of contracting dengue.Transmission is closely linked to the weather, surrounding environment and human mobility. It is also closely associated with the climate, with hot and humid tropical climates ideal for transmission. Dengue season in many countries occurs around June to September, when peaks in cases can cause overcrowding in hospitals - much like with COVID-19.Dengue is only spread from mosquito to human and vice versa, and is not transmitted from humans to other humans. However, changes in people's movements and behavior may have an effect on transmission, for example through reduced exposure to mosquitoes or fewer opportunities for infected people to go out and about and pass on the virus to uninfected mosquitoes present there.COVID-19 and the restrictions on human movement that were imposed during the pandemic therefore provide a unique opportunity to explore how human movement and behavior contribute to dengue transmission.Dengue case numbers suddenly began to decline in April 2020 in many countries, following the introduction of public health and social measures targeting the spread of COVID-19 and the resulting change in human movement and shift to more time spent in residential places.In 2020, dengue cases decreased by 40.2% in Latin America and 58.4% in South East Asia, with just over two million cases recorded in the Americas and South East Asia in 2020. However, unravelling the impacts of COVID-19 disruption is complex as 2019 saw the largest global dengue outbreak in history, with more than 5.2 million cases recorded in the Americas and South East Asia region. This led to high levels of immunity which would also be expected to reduce dengue cases in 2020.Dr Brady added:The research team looked at two different measures of COVID-19 related disruption - public health and social measures, such as school and public transport closure, stay-at-home requirements, gathering restrictions; and human movement behavior through time spent at residential and public locations. They also accounted for the different strengths of restrictions in lockdowns in different countries around the world.By combining all this data and analyzing trends, they were able to show that reduced time spent in public areas was closely associated with reduced dengue risk.Nine out of 11 countries in Central America, the Caribbean and the Philippines saw a complete suppression of their 2020 dengue season, with other countries experiencing a much reduced season. In countries where the COVID-19 restriction measures began at the peak of dengue season, there was a sharper than expected decline in cases, despite above average incidence being recorded earlier in the year.This decrease in cases could also be attributed to reduced rates in people seeking treatment, a higher potential for misdiagnosis and reduced availability for laboratory testing for dengue could result in misdiagnosis. However, some countries such as Sri Lanka predicted this could be a problem at the start of the pandemic, so undertook outreach work to encourage people to get diagnosed and seek treatment. Despite this, there was no change in rates of severe cases and deaths reported, suggesting the reduction in treatment seeking was not the cause for the reduction in cases.A better understanding of how treatment-seeking behavior's change during an epidemic is needed, as access to care and rapid diagnostics change in order to fully assess and interpret the change in case numbers. The team emphasizes the need for longer term, more routine measurement of the prevalence of dengue within each population.Although overall cases declined in 2020, Peru and Singapore reported worse than average dengue incidence in 2020. This could have occurred due to the unpredictable natural year-to-year variation in dengue incidence that occurs due to, for example, the emergence of different dengue virus variants, or could hint at the greater role being bitten by mosquitoes at home plays in spreading dengue in these countries.As the climate recorded in 2020 was similar to the average climate of the last six years, the researchers did not find an association between climate and the reduction in dengue risk during 2020.The researchers note that it remains to be seen how many of the estimated 0.72 million cases were truly averted, or just delayed until later years as human movement returns to pre-COVID levels and say it's key to continue monitoring dengue trends in 2022 and beyond.The researchers acknowledge the limitations of this study, including lack of data on the different types of dengue, which can drive outbreaks, and the potential changes in dengue reporting resulting from COVID-19 disruptions.Source: Eurekalert
Only a few movies in Bollywood have managed to make a lasting impact on me, and no, I am not talking about the good ones here. Hell, I am not even talking about the bad ones here. I am talking about terrible ones, like Ram Gopal Vermas Aag, Farah Khans Tees Maar Khan and well, Yash Raj Films Tashan.

 YRF

Released back in 2008, this movie was from the era where film banners would simply pick up a starcast and begin making a movie without having so much as a clue about what they were doing. Dont believe me? Watch the movie... Or actually, on second thoughts, dont.



 YRF

The film starts with introducing Jeetendra Kumar Makhwana a.k.a. Jimmy Cliff to us who is played by Saif Ali Khan. Jimmy works as a call centre executive, however, also teaches English as a part-time gig.



Within the first few minutes of the film, Jimmy falls in love with Pooja, who had just shown up to his call centre, asking him to give her private English tutoring. Is it just me, or does this feel a little too realistic in Saif & Bebos case?..

 YRF

Jimmy, who readily agrees, later realizes that she had tricked him into saying yes, because the real student was in fact her boss - Lakhan Singh Ballebaaz a.k.a. Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor). A top-class gangster and the most cringe character in the movie. For the next couple of minutes, predictability takes centre stage and Jimmy & Pooja fall in love with each other, because what other angle does Bollywood even know?



 YRF

All is going well, until one day when Bhaiyyaji gives Pooja the bashing of a lifetime. Jimmy, who is as good as furniture in this scene, witnesses the showdown, only to later grow the balls and diss Bhaiyyaji (behind his back of course).



 YRF

Somehow, after listening to a sob story from Pooja (that barely even qualifies as one) about how she needs money to scatter her grandmothers ashes in Haridwar, the two lovebirds decide to steal Bhaiyyajis money and fly away.



 YRF

Except, Jimmys wings are clipped the moment he realises the truth behind Bhaiyyaji and his horrific criminal past. As he rushes home to warn Pooja, he finds out that hes been played like a childs Russian roulette because Pooja is long gone, dancing in a bikini on chaliya chaliya. The very song & the very golden bikini played as a thirst trap into making people watch this hideous movie.



 YRF

Enter, Bachchan Pandey aka Akshay Kumar. The rowdy goon who gets hired by Bhiayyaji to track down our desi Bonnie & Clyde. Jimmy takes about half a minute to be caught and with him, Bachchan goes to Haridwar to catch Pooja.



 YRF

Somehow, she escapes and in an attempt to find her, Bhaiyyajis car falls into the water. Turns out, she had been hiding in their car all along and is caught when she comes up to the surface of the water.



 YRF

Pooja then reveals how the money has been secured in 7 different places in India, all the while, fooling Jimmy once again by making him believe that they should run away with the money - this time without ditching the dumbhead.



 YRF

She begins seducing Bachchan in her plot to make a fool out of him but finds out that they were childhood lovers, who got separated. Feelings get in the way, Jimmy gets hit on his arse by his sheer bad luck and everything goes to hell. They recover the money, and Bachchan leaves with it to return to Bhaiyyaji. But the clever little minx that Pooja was, she had replaced it with stones.



 YRF

Knowing that it might lead to putting Bachchan in harms way, she tells Jimmy the truth (for the first time ever, not that he wouldnt believe it even if it werent) about how her father was killed by Bhaiyyaji. And that makes into the most predictable, done-to-death Hindi movie plot ever - revenge and long-lost love.



 YRF

The incompetent duo then reaches Bhaiyyajis lair and Jimmy pretends to betray Pooja, tricking Bhaiyyaji into putting his trust in Jimmy. He then asks Bhaiyyaji to hand his gun to him, so he can be the one putting a bullet in Bachchans head. And Bhaiyyaji, handed it right over to him because on top of being an absolute d**khead, he is also as stupid as apparently, the dangerous gangster that he is, gives away his gun happily because apparently, he was just that dumb.



 YRF

Jimmy points the gun to Bhaiyyaji, takes him hostage and flees with Bachchan and Pooja. Bhaiyyaji obviously jumps out of the car, because what is a movie without an expensive and pointless fight scene.



 YRF

After 10,000 explosions, 500 slo-mo shots and absolutely unimpressive action, Pooja stabs Bhaiyyaji and kills him to satiate her thirst for revenge. Clearly, the girl had daddy issues to resolve.



 YRF

As the movie finally digresses towards its end, Jimmy is shown to have opened his own call-centre where only women work and Pooja and Bachchan get married. A rather ordinary end to an underwhelming film.



The End.
Noted Industrialist Anand Mahindra on Thursday expressed interest in setting up a new medical studies institution on the campus of Mahindra University and requested CP Gurnani, Tech Mahindra MD and CEO to help implement his vision.

I had no idea that there was such a shortfall of medical colleges in India. @C_P_Gurnani could we explore the idea of establishing a medical studies institution on the campus of @MahindraUni ? https://t.co/kxnZ0LrYXV  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) March 3, 2022

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Mr Mahindra had tweeted, "I had no idea that there was such a shortfall of medical colleges in India. CP Gurnani, could we explore the idea of establishing a medical studies institution on the campus of Mahindra University?"

Anand Mahindra is an ardent Twitter user, taking time from his hectic schedules to interact with the 8.9 million followers hes amassed. And hes popular on the site for responding to real-life events and sharing his opinions on the same.

 Anand Mahindra

His tweet was directed as a response to a TOI story that showed the top destinations abroad for Indian students studying medicine with data sourced from the Ministry of External Affairs.



China topped the list with 23,000 Indian medical students already studying there, closely followed by the presently warring nations, Ukraine and Russia, at 18,000 and 15,500 respectively.

While Anand Mahindras idea was met with widespread support and glee among Twitter users, they also gave him a reality check on the unnecessarily high tuition fees that currently plague most private medical colleges in India.

A Twitter user while agreeing with Anand Mahindra reminded him of the exorbitant fees that presently exist, saying, Yes good idea but shouldn't keep fees like crores what other institutions do. To which the Industrialist succinctly replied, Noted.

Another user replied to Anand Mahindras original tweet, commenting, If you do please try to keep the fees nominal. These students go abroad not just due to lack of seats but the enormous cost.

If you do please try to keep the fees nominal. These students go abroad not just due to lack of seats but the enormous cost.  Agamoni Ghosh (@agamoni) March 3, 2022

This particular Twitter user called it a great business idea, claiming most medical colleges to be run by politicians, he said, Good idea. Its a good business sir!! Most of private medical colleges are run by politicians only. 70-80lakhs rupee for printing a degree. Very cost effective.

Good idea. Its a good business sir!!

Most of private medical colleges are run by politicians only. 70-80lakhs rupee for printing a degree. Very cost effective.  Dr. Poonia (MD,DM) (@dramipoonia) March 3, 2022

It will be more appreciated if you keep the fees of your medical college in line of these abroad countries or lower than that because many private player have colleges but they charge 1-1.25 cr for 5.5 year course, said another commenter.

It will be more appreciated if you keep the fees of your medical college in line of these abroad countries or lower than that because many private player have colleges but they charge 1-1.25 cr for 5.5 year course  Eklabaya kumar (@eklabaya) March 3, 2022

Another reason why Indian medical students opt to pursue their education abroad is due to the lack of availability of seats in Indian medical colleges.

According to the National Medical Commission, there were only 605 medical colleges offering a total of 90,825 MBBS seats a year to almost 1.6 million students that took the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for MBBS admissions in 2021.

Thus leaving a majority of the Indian medical students with no other option but to look abroad to countries like China, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Armenia, and others, for affordable education.

The ongoing debate over the state of Medical Education in India comes in the wake of the Russian-Ukraine conflict, in which an Indian Medical student in Ukraine was killed during an airstrike. His father then spoke to the media and lashed out against the system which seems to prefer money over talent.

Despite scoring 97% in PUC, my son could not secure a medical seat in State. To get a medical seat one has to give crores of rupees and students are getting the same education abroad spending less money," shared the grief-stricken father of Naveen, who was killed while he was out to get food from a nearby grocery store.

What do you think about Anand Mahindras idea? Do you think it will go some way in helping the Indian medical fraternity? Do let us know in the comments below.
It's all good folks!

Everything remotely related to science, health, and research studies regarding sexual wellness points to the fact that having some time for self-pleasure is actually a great thing for you.

This means that you no longer need to consider the process of self-pleasure a taboo!

 Istock

And it looks like your office might also think the same! Or at least some workplaces in the world.



That's right! According to an adult website and social network company called Stripchat, its employees should be provided proper opportunities to masturbate during work hours.

According to reports, Stripchat has even gone to the extent of providing all the facilities needed for their employees to ease themselves properly.

The company has reportedly ordered custom-built w*** pods so that their employees can masturbate comfortably.

 Stripchat

As per Daily Star, the company has introduced the four high-tech pods kitted out with masturbatory accessories at its workplaces in Cyprus, with over 200 employees working at the particular branch.



The high-tech pods are equipped with several accessories in order to help out the employees. Surprisingly, it is also equipped with an Oculus Quest VR headset and a 4K LED screen, so that the employees can enjoy live VR adult cams.

 Twitter

Not only that the pod also has a good stock of lotion, lube as well as tissues.



 Istock

The employees of the company will get to have 30-minute breaks to masturbate during work hours, with the company stating that its goal is to provide current and attract new employees with a safe, comfortable space to rub one out.



Now, in case you're wondering why your office doesn't have something like that, there may still be hope for you.

According to reports, Stripchat is also offering other companies a chance to lease out its pods for up to $50,000 (Rs. 37,00,000) for six months. This includes adding a VIP subscription to its platform.

So, what are you waiting for? It might actually be a good idea to suggest something to your company head, no?

We wish you luck!

Source: IndiaTimes
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





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Gloria Brown Bruister, 81, passed away on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., with her loving daughters by her side. Born on July 21, 1940, to Jay Lavell and Mattie Noblin Brown, Gloria graduated from Meridian High School in 1958. Married soon after to Hubert L. Bruist
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In November, Daviess Fiscal Court hired Colorado-based Strategic Adventures to conduct a feasibility study on creating outdoor adventures in a county park.

The company looked at ziplining, ropes challenges and canopy walks  swinging bridges in the tops of trees.

But the 43-page report basically says that aerial adventures arent financially feasible here.

The county wanted a third party to lease the land and operate the aerial adventure.

But Strategic Adventures report concluded that Yellow Creek Park is well suited for an aerial adventure park. However, the areas demographics, combined with the tourist information for the area, indicate that insufficient customer traffic can be expected, which will not yield a profitable operation.

The financial projections show that while the business would be profitable, the profit needed for a third-party operator would not be realized.

David Smith, director of legislative services for the county, said that Paul Cummings, president of Strategic Adventures, told him that even if the county operated an aerial adventure  primarily zip lines  there would be problems.

Hiring workers is a problem now, he said, and building costs are rising rapidly.

Both could impact such a park.

One of the things Cummings looked at was a canopy walkway  also called canopy walks, treetop walks or treetop walkways  at Panther Creek Park.

Basically, platforms and swinging bridges would be built in the tree tops and people could walk from tree top to tree top.

The zipline experience would cost around $46 for adults and $38 for children, the report said.

But the canopy walk would be free, Smith said.

And it would not need staff to operate it.

The report said, The water-filled forest on the south side of the park may make for an interesting canopy walk are.

It would be up to Fiscal Court to decide if it wants to go that route, Smith said.

The cost of infrastructure for a canopy walk is estimated at between $200,000 and $500,000, depending on the overall length and installation complications.

The report said that the break-even point for an aerial adventure park with ziplines would be 13,178 guests a year.

The investment needed, it said, would be $984,975.

With an average net income of $28,398, it would take 34.68 years to recoup the investment.

The report said that the south entrance at Reid Road in Yellow Creek Park is best suited for an aerial adventure park.

Smith said Cummings said the public needs more access to Blackford Creek Park on Kelly Cemetery Road and Chestnut Grove Road.

The report says, Hiking trails that are accessible to all ages and abilities could be placed around the property. These trails would be for foot traffic only, so users of the trails would not have to worry about encountering mountain bikes on the trail, which can be intimidating for some hikers.

Mountain bike trails could also be developed on a portion of the property. With the terrain available, several miles of trails could be developed.

It wasnt the report the county had hoped for.

Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301 klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com
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Judge-Executive Curtis Dame proposed to the McLean County Fiscal Court meeting Thursday to research essential pay for all county employees through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

...We have the capacities under the ARPA funds and we have the funds available to take care of all of our needs and projects, Dame said. My personal suggestion and professional suggestion to the court is to consider essential pay with APRA funds to our employees, because in our hour of need, they showed up and they still do.

Dame feels that the court has been trending well considering the countys cumulative cash balance of more than $4.4 million while the countys ARPA fund balance is $894,176 as of Thursday.

Dame also reports that with the court receiving $498,900 from U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell for a 300-foot broadband tower and the county receiving $338,137 from the Cleaner Water Program, which will help improve water and sewage issues, and using a large portion of the countys first installment of APRA funds has been able to make an essential payment option possible.

If anything has shown me with the news coming our way,  I believe our employees over the last two years  have been essential, Dame said. ...About everybody we have, at the end of the day, I consider essential.

Dame suggested to the court to consider the option of paying $750 to part-time employees and $1,500 to full-time employees, which Dame said is allowed per the U.S. Department of Treasurys Coronavirus State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) Final Rule on Jan. 6.

Based on the final ruling,  if a county receives $11 million, they can use $10 million to cover general services, essential pay , Dame said. ...You know, $1,500 in the current economic situation that were in as a county, state and country can help a lot of our employees because we all know that we dont pay them what theyre worth, and this is one way to help alleviate some of the burden that theyre all facing right now due to increase in consumer costs.

Dame said that the payment would be spread out over multiple pay periods and that elected officials will not receive the essential pay.

Dame said that he discussed essential pay previously with some of the magistrates one-on-one outside of court and has spoken to county employees about the potential option.

All magistrates voted in favor of Dame exploring the essential pay option.

The commitments that we have on these ARPA funds rely a lot on getting these grants, and so far weve had pretty good news, Dame said. ...Weve done some good with this and I hope that we continue to get good news and I thank all of our employees for their help in helping secure these funds.
A new name will be on the ballot for the upcoming election for the McLean County sheriff this May.

Livermore resident and Democratic candidate Todd Wilkerson will face Republican incumbent Kenneth Frizzell in the general election.

Both are running unopposed in the May primary.

As a young child, Wilkerson, 49, recalls when he was at his parents store, the now-defunct Wilkersons Market in Island, when he saw the officers from the sheriffs office at the bank located next store bringing a person out in handcuffs due to a domestic situation.

It was that moment that I thought, Thats what I want to do,  Wilkerson said.

Raised in Island, Wilkerson is a lifelong county resident, graduating from McLean County High School in 1990 before heading off to Owensboro Community College (now Owensboro Community and Technical College) and worked odd jobs before getting hired on by the Livermore Police Department at 27 in January 2000, where he was one of the two officers.

During his three-year stint, Wilkerson graduated from the police academy located at Eastern Kentucky University before moving onto the McLean County Sheriffs Office for over seven years and worked up the ranks to chief deputy.

He then moved onto Hartford Police Department in Ohio County for a short period before being hired on with the Owensboro Police Department for 10 years working as a patrolman and night-shift officer before becoming a detective, working on cases ranging from petty and capital crimes.

Being a police officer is something Ive always wanted as a child (and) fortunately I got to do that, Wilkerson said. ...It came true for me .

Wilkerson took an early retirement in September 2020 and began working as a farmer and pheasant hunter for John Wright and Hanley Creek Outfitters.

I feel like Im a small county, small city type guy. Thats just who I am, Wilkerson said. I just knew that it was time to do something different and I weighed all my options (to see) what was best for me .

Since announcing his candidacy, Wilkerson has outlined some of the things he plans to do if elected to the sheriffs role, such as attending and holding his own traveling town hall meetings in the communities of Beech Grove, Calhoun, Island, Sacramento and Livermore to receive input from residents.

Everybody speaks that they have an open-door policy, and I certainly will too, Wilkerson said. They can call me up and come to me, but I want to be able to go to them. As a sheriff, I feel that you need to go to the communities and address their needs there.

Wilkerson plans to meet regularly with judges and prosecutors regarding investigations to ensure they are conducted to the highest standard and notes case investigation was a priority during his time as a detective with OPD.

Additionally, Wilkerson plans to restore adequate patrols to all county communities through time management and effective scheduling, which he said is in response to comments that he routinely heard from other residents, while planning to professionalize the office by obtaining a Certificate of Accreditation from the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police.

The safety of children, who Wilkerson described as our greatest asset, plays a pivotal component of what Wilkerson plans to uphold if elected, stating that he plans to have an increase in deputies present inside every school through scheduling with existing personnel and Wilkerson himself.

Wilkerson said the idea came from his experience while with OPD, adding that the day shift patrol would go to a school in its sector to perform a school check, which Wilkerson claimed to have a positive response from teachers and staff.

...I want to be that mentor for kids, Wilkerson said. ...When Im out and about, I want to  be that person that they can look up to. They are our future.

Wilkerson also hopes that having more officers stop by the schools routinely can allow folks to build personal one-on-one relationships and see the officers are just like everybody else, while he hopes that the community at large will also see his intentions.

I just try to  show that I have compassion, Wilkerson said. When you start being able to relate and talk to people and they see that you truly, sincerely care, theyre more open to talk to you and you can kind of break down that wall . I truly think I have that.

What I like to tell people is that most people are not bad people; theyre just making bad decisions. I realized that and I try to treat everyone with respect and that compassion no matter what kind of situation theyre in.

Though he admits to finding peace in his new profession, Wilkerson said that the fire for law enforcement has been burning and looks forward to the opportunity.

I still got that passion in me to do it, Wilkerson said. I felt like I just have so much more to offer, especially now that I ended up in my career as a detective, being able to go to a few other agencies and learn things and the experience that I have . I think that I have something more to offer. I want to give back to McLean County and I think I have that passion and that experience to be that sheriff. ...I have something to offer, and I have more to give.
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TRAVERSE CITY -- Richard Brauer is planning to make a third and final film about a local legend and is seeking the community's help in raising funds for the final cost of production.

According to a press release from Brauer Productions, a Traverse City based film production company, Brauer is planning on filming "Dogman 3: Fight to the Finish," in Benzie County. Filming is tentatively scheduled for September.

Both the previous films, "Dogman" and "Dogman 2: Wrath of the Litter," left audiences with a cliffhanger ending.

Now its time to bring exciting closure to the series, Brauer, writer and director, said in the press release. This film will be scary and fun, family friendly and is surprisingly redemptive.

According to the release, some of the main cast from the first two films will return, with Larry Joe Campbell playing Hank Purvis, the man who is nearly killed by the titular creature in the first and second films. Kimberly Guerrero returns to play Francis Wellman, who knows the dogman is more than just a legend and Stacie Mitchell will be reprising her role as Meg Samuels, a sheriff's deputy.

While the main cast hails from Los Angeles, the rest of the talent is from Michigan, according to the press release.

Brauer has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise the final 37% of production cost, with 63% already secured, according to the release. The GoFundMe for the project can be found at gofundme.com/f/dogman3fight-to-the-finish; the campaign's goal is $100,000.

We did a similar method successfully in Roscommon County for our latest film 'Frozen Stupid 2: Open Water,' where community members and organizations recognized that art, theater and creative endeavors add legacy value to a community," Brauer said. "Its also an excellent opportunity for internships for the next generation of filmmakers.

According to Michelle Barefoot, executive director for the Benzie Area Chamber of Commerce, film production adds to Benzie County's economy.

"Brauer Productions specifically schedules filming during the off-season to allow our area business some respite from their heavy summer traffic," Barefoot said in the press release. "Film crews bring in lodging and restaurant revenue to the area in addition to drawing notoriety from film enthusiasts. Brauer Productions brought 38 Michigan sourced jobs to the area during the filming of Dogman2 in 2013.

Brauer has produced and directed 10 feature films, all shot in Michigan, four starring Academy Award winner Ernest Borgnine. The first two Dogman movies that Brauer filmed in 2011 and 2013.

Not only do we make a movie, but we make a lot of friends, Brauer said.

Brauer was named Michigan Filmmaker of the Year at the 2009 Traverse City Film Festival.
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For nearly eight years, Greg Dembowski has been closely monitoring the first Chick-fil-A to open in Connecticut.

Its a very successful business here in Brookfield, said Dembowski, the towns economic development director.

But thats an understatement, considering the grand opening in October 2014 saw dozens of people lined up to be part of the First 100, a promotion offering free food for a year to the first 100 customers through the door. They arrived 24 hours ahead of the official opening, prepared to camp out overnight in the parking lot with tents, TVs and video game systems.

Autumn Driscoll

Chick-fil-A is temporarily moving away from the First 100 promotions as the company navigates COVID-19, but similar scenes played out pre-pandemic at the openings in North Haven and West Hartford in 2016 and 2017.

Since opening the Brookfield restaurant, traffic woes have followed Chick-fil-As success around Connecticut.

In Brookfield, it was an easy enough solution last year as officials considered how to prevent traffic from getting bogged down at Chick-fil-A during prime ordering hours. They decided to build an extra lane for cars crossing into the restaurants entrance on Federal Road, with the federal government picking up 80 percent of the tab.

Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media

But some other towns are determining fans of that $5 chicken sandwich may not be worth the extra cost, as drivers await their turn to pull into drive-thru lanes.

In a 2019 study, the quick-service restaurant trade publication QSR tagged Chick-fil-A as having the busiest drive-thru windows of any national chain. Secret shoppers dispatched by a research firm counted at least six cars in the drive-thru lanes at one-third of the Chick-fil-A locations they observed. Of 10 major chains in the study, no other topped the 10 percent mark, with McDonalds closest at 9 percent.

Six cars is one thing  but in Fairfield, officials feared traffic would back up beyond the ability of drive-thru lanes to accommodate 36 vehicles. In November, they denied the companys proposal to take over the former Joes American Bar & Grill on Post Road. The proprietor is appealing that decision.

In reaching their decision, Fairfield officials said they considered Norwalks experience with the first Chick-fil-A in lower Fairfield County.

In Norwalk, a franchisee is taking steps to alleviate traffic flow on Connecticut Avenue, which averages nearly 25,000 vehicles daily between two exits of Interstate 95 where the Chick-fil-A is located, according to estimates in a recent real estate listing.

The busy stretch of Connecticut Avenue, where the states first Wegmans supermarket is planned nearby, traffic magnets like Costco, Home Depot, Lowes, ShopRite, Stop & Shop and Walmart have existed for years.

In 2017, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen  the first in lower Fairfield County  joined the neighborhood. Built on a comparatively tight parcel, Popeyes drive-thru traffic clogged Connecticut Avenue at the outset.

Less than a half-mile up the road, Chick-fil-A opened around the same time in 2017. In opening the Norwalk restaurant, franchisee Archer Bullock won permission from the citys zoning department to build a double set of drive-thru lanes.

But traffic worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic when the restaurant closed its indoor dining area, which can seat 120 people, and drive-thru and mobile ordering became the only options for customers. The dining area has reopened and the company has filed plans to move its drive-thru windows to another section of the building in an effort to permanently resolve the traffic issue.

Alex von Kleydorff / Hearst Connecticut Media

Besides the food and jobs, Norwalk has benefited on another front from Chick-fil-A  a sizable property tax assessment of $4.4 million. The company reached a settlement in state court last year to trim the citys prior assessment by $1 million.

While destination restaurants like Chick-fil-A offer these economic benefits for municipalities and can provide spillover business for others nearby, some communities have drawn the line at the prospect of vehicles backed up onto roadways as drivers wait to order food.

Four years ago, Stamford turned down a Chick-fil-A proposed for the busy Bulls Head intersection north of downtown.

Jacy Lewis /Reporter-Telegram

Chick-fil-A did not provide details on whether the company recommends specific property sizes and traffic profiles for restaurant locations, and whether it has made any changes as a result of the Norwalk experience, the denials in Fairfield and Stamford or others elsewhere.

In the past, the company has pointed to its Chick-fil-A Drive-Thru Innovation Team that adjusts mock drive-thru lanes at its Atlanta headquarters in the quest for fast, attentive and accurate service.

In a statement, the company touted the benefits its restaurants generate in their communities. Chick-fil-A has a dozen Connecticut locations, including the Danbury Fair malls food court and the Mohegan Sun resort.

Chick-fil-A is a purpose-driven company that seeks to have a positive impact in our communities by strengthening the local neighborhoods we serve, with a key focus on hunger and education, the Chick-fil-A statement reads. Our [operators] are integrated in their local communities and they decide where, when, to whom and how they give back outside of their restaurants ... including through hosting fundraisers to local schools and providing food donations to local soup kitchens, shelters and nonprofits.

As local officials weigh whether the traffic woes that are often associated with Chick-fil-A restaurants are worth it, for fans, the lines and parking lot campsites speak for themselves.

But an element of cultural phenomena  for better or worse  has surrounded the brand, bringing it into the forefront of consumers minds.

The founder of Chick-fil-A was a devout Baptist, hence the restaurant famously being closed on Sundays. The company has been criticized for its history of donating to anti-LGBTQ+ organizations. Headlines and boycotts surrounding the controversy go back about a decade.

But the consumer fervor for chicken continued, and other fast-food chains sat up and noticed, trying to capture their own share of the market.

McDonalds rolled out a new line of crispy chicken options in early 2021, and a few months later, Burger King introduced the hand-breaded ChKing to its menu.

Popeyes, which released its own sandwich in the summer of 2019, famously got into a social media spat with Chick-fil-A as it debuted, and then saw its supply vanish in just two weeks because of extraordinary demand. As it returned a few months later, the hype led to long lines, abuse toward Popeyes workers, verbal altercations and even physical violence between customers.

Right now, Chick-fil-A seems to be winning the chicken game, as it was named the best-performing chicken chain in the U.S. in December by Merchant Centric, an analytics firm serving the fast-food industry. The fast-food chain was also named the top overall in the U.S. by the American Customer Satisfaction Index in June 2021.
Jewelry designer Raeann Baribault-Schwartz of Glastonbury imagines Nicole Kidman wearing her creations. And this may not be such a far-fetched dream since she and her sister, Christina Baribault-Ortiz, will be showcasing their jewelry line, The Power to B, at at a two-day Oscars pre-show event this month.

The Connecticut sisters were invited to showcase their brand at an exclusive gift boutique for celebrities, influencers and VIPs that will be held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, where many of the Academy Award nominees and attendees stay, on March 25 and 26. The Oscars will be held on March 27.

Contributed by Baribault Jewelers

Celebrities like Viola Davis, Jane Lynch, Angela Bassett and Kesha have attended the event in the past, and those in attendance this year will have a chance to put a power word on their wrist courtesy of The Power to B. (While they don't know if Kidman will be in attendance or not, she is nominated for an Oscar her role as Lucille Ball in "Being the Ricardos").

Jazmin Valte, event manager and director for GBK Brand Bar, the organization running the event, invited the sisters to show their pieces after she was send a link to The Power to B website. "The collection, packaging, the message just goes with what we want to showcase and are looking for," she said.

The Power to B designs came about when both sisters were struggling to conceive. They faced miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and five rounds of IVF.

"During this journey, what helped us the most was being positive and leaving Post-its all over with power [phrases] like 'be strong' or 'be powerful'," said Baribault-Schwartz. "We then realized how strong these affirmations were and that we wanted to share it with everyone  not just those struggling with fertility."

Contributed by Baribault Jewelers

This inspired the sisters to create bracelets with powerful phrases meant to remind women that they are not alone during difficult journeys. The collections' jewelry features messages such as, "B Strong," "B Fierce," "B Badass," "B Limitless," "B Fearless" and "B You."

"Jewelry is what we know best," said Baribault-Ortiz, adding that she and her sister have worked at their family store, Baribault Jewelers in Glastonbury, for three generations. Baribault-Ortiz is now a mother of two (Scarlet, 9, and Kash, 7), and Baribault-Schwartz is a mom of three (Eva, 5, Zane, 3, and Raven, 1).

"We are so excited for Christina and Raeann to make their debut and tell Hollywood their story at the Oscar's pre-show event," said Valte.

Contributed by Baribault Jewelers

The event will showcase about 30 up-and-coming brands and vendors who will give out product samples and talk to celebrities and other attendees one-on-one. The sisters are excited to introduce their collection to Hollywood and are ready to help the stars pick a "power word" that best fits them.

"This is more than just showcasing our jewelry, it's about uplifting people's spirits," said Baribault-Ortiz.

GBK Brand Bar will also be featuring "The Power to B" collection in their gift store at La Peer Hotel in West Hollywood, and it is also available at Baribault Jewelers in Glastonbury.
The Pentagon has scrubbed a scheduled test launch this week of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile to show Vladimir Putin that the U.S. is not interested in nuclear brinkmanship after the Russian president put his own arsenal on alert.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the delay Wednesday, just three days after Putin issued the alert and introduced the specter of nuclear war amid his internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine. U.S. tests of the long-range nuclear missiles are routine and typically scheduled years in advance.

"It's not going to change our strategic deterrent posture one bit, and it is a wise and prudent decision by the secretary to send a strong, clear, unambiguous message to Mr. Putin how seriously we take our nuclear responsibilities at a particularly tense time," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a press briefing.

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Over the past few days, the military had been analyzing the wording Putin used Sunday, when he put Russian deterrence forces on a "special mode of combat duty." That phrase did not fit any terms in the country's codified military doctrine, according to a senior defense official.

There was no immediate evidence that Russia had made changes to the posture of its nuclear weapons in the days after the order. Like the U.S., Putin's government still maintains a massive stockpile of ICBMs built up by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and it could give the launch order at any moment, annihilating foreign cities and populations.

Russia's arsenal includes 6,257 nuclear warheads; the U.S. has 5,550, according to the Arms Control Association. The two nations own the vast majority of the world's nuclear weapons.

The association called Putin's move an escalation of the war and "extremely irresponsible." Daryl Kimball, executive director of the association, said earlier this week that Russia could be capable of using smaller tactical nuclear weapons in a conflict that it saw as threatening its existence.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday afternoon that he was disappointed by Austin's decision. Inhofe, who is set to retire, had called for a stronger U.S. nuclear deterrent following Putin's order.

The Minuteman III "test is critical to ensure our nuke deterrent stays effective. Deterrence means projecting strength and resolve -- not sacrificing readiness for hollow gestures," Inhofe wrote in a tweet.

-- Travis Tritten can be reached at travis.tritten@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @Travis_Tritten.

Related: Putin Nuclear Order Stirs Fears, Uncertainty in US
Soldiers in Alaska say they wait months for mental health appointments and "feel blamed" by leaders when a fellow service member takes their own life.

These challenges, along with the financial strain of living in a high-cost region and simply being "unprepared" for the state's long, dark days and sub-zero temperatures, raise concerns that the Army and the Department of Defense health system are failing soldiers at risk for suicide.

But the problems aren't confined to Alaska or the Army.

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Despite spending billions on suicide prevention programs in the past decade, the Defense Department and the military services are falling short in helping struggling service members, lawmakers and witnesses said during a House Armed Services personnel subcommittee hearing Wednesday.

"Some of the challenges are unique to Alaska, but many are not: crushing op tempo, under-manning, financial insecurity, toxic command climates, easy access to lethal means and lack of timely access to care," said subcommittee Chairwoman Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif.

Since 2014, 4,842 service members have died by suicide, including the active duty, reserves and National Guard. Suicides among active-duty personnel reached 384 in 2020, a 44% increase from 2015.

Last year in Alaska, at least 11 soldiers died by suicide, with six additional deaths under investigation. And in the last six months alone, eight troops have died of suspected suicide.

"The trends are not going in the right direction," conceded Karin Orvis, director of the Defense Department's Suicide Prevention Office, in the hearing. "Over the past two years, we've seen a slight decline nationwide for our U.S. population, but that does not hold for our young males in our U.S. population, and that's consistent with what we're seeing in the military."

Beth Zimmer Carter, a retired Army lieutenant colonel whose son Chris died by suicide in 2015, said more needs to be done at the unit level to root out toxic leaders and personnel who shame, harass or bully those who are struggling.

Carter said when her son used marijuana to self-medicate after experiencing trauma and head injuries during four deployments to Afghanistan, Army leaders isolated him, made him clean latrines and called him a "pothead."

"They did all of this just after losing another battalion member to suicide," Carter said.

Bonnie Carroll, president and founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, said the services must eliminate this type of behavior in the ranks.

"Those who stigmatize care, harass, bully, isolate or unfairly punish service members interested in their mental health care must be held accountable," Carroll said. "Leadership must endorse this help-seeking behavior as a sign of courage and strength and prioritize mental fitness."

According to Speier, the Defense Department claims soldiers assigned to Alaska can get a telemedicine appointment for mental health within seven days, or 12 days for an in-person appointment.

But "without commanders around, soldiers on the ground told me what actually is happening," she said. "They typically wait two months.  What's more, because providers routinely quit ... soldiers' treatment is often interrupted."

The crisis in Alaska has prompted leaders to mandate wellness checks with counselors for all soldiers assigned there.

During a press conference last week, Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commander of U.S. Army Alaska, said leaders will be reaching out to all troops' spouses or next of kin, and therapists will check on all soldiers.

"Mission 100 is a campaign to connect with 100% of our soldiers -- leaders connected with the soldiers and soldiers connected with each other," Eifler said, according to Stars and Stripes.

In addition, the Army has invested $214 million in its installations to improve soldiers' quality of life, with better food in chow halls and upgraded fitness centers. It is introducing monthly readiness training to improve unit cohesion through recreational activities and adventures. The service also is bringing in experts to teach soldiers coping skills and resiliency.

But more needs to be done at other installations and throughout the system to halt the troubling trend, lawmakers said.

"We need to do more," Speier said. "Providers are leaving because the conditions are so difficult and the workload or the caseload is so high."

"We must take steps needed to look at this holistically and figure out how to do better from a personnel perspective," said Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., the subcommittee's ranking member.

Orvis and Dr. Richard Mooney, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for health, said suicides are caused by a complex number of factors, making it difficult to develop prevention programs.

But, Mooney added, "data suggests that we're trending in the right direction."

"This is suggested by increased demand for mental health services, which indicates that service members feel less reluctant to get the help they need and deserve," he said.

According to DoD officials, the department is launching an initiative this month to encourage service members and military families to safely store firearms and medications in order to prevent instant access and will train non-medical providers such as counselors on suicide risk and safe storage of weapons or drugs that can be used in a suicide.

The DoD also plans to increase the number of telehealth appointments by more than 64,000 -- a number Mooney said will help roughly 8,000 service members get better access to care. And it is changing its staffing model to "match supply and demand across the system."

But Craig Bryan, director of suicide prevention at Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University, said that the majority of DoD prevention programs focus on awareness, screening, anti-stigma campaigns and mental health treatment -- an approach he said is "fundamentally flawed" because it assumes that suicide risk is a characteristic or trait of an individual.

"Suicide is not just caused by something inside service members; it is caused by complex interaction between service members and their environments. Context matters -- organizational culture, institutional practices and community conditions impact suicide risk, just as much, if not more, than the service members' internal mental resiliency," Bryan said.

Speier, who has announced she is retiring at the end of this year, promised to make the DoD's suicide prevention efforts one of her "top priorities" in the defense bill, requiring evaluations of programs and "changes to stop hemorrhaging mental health providers."

"We must do everything we can to break the chain of suicide. This problem could not be more urgent," Speier said.

Service members and veterans experiencing a mental health emergency can call the Veteran Crisis Line, 1-800-273-8255 and press 1. Help also is available by text, 838255, and via chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net.

-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patrciakime.

Related: Commanding Officers Must Help Troops Get Mental Health Care Under New Legislation
The U.S. Navy announced that it has recovered the F-35C Lightning II fighter that crashed into the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in January before sliding off and sinking into the South China Sea.

The service announced that a team from 7th Fleet's Task Force 75 and the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving embarked aboard the commercial diving vessel Picasso in order to recover the jet from a depth of 12,400 feet.

"The aircraft was recovered using a CURV-21, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), which attached specialized rigging and lift lines to the aircraft," the Navy's statement said.

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"The ship's crane lifting hook was then lowered to the seafloor and connected to the rigging, and then lifted the aircraft to the surface and hoisted it onboard Picasso," it added.

USNI News was the first outlet to report that the wreckage had been recovered.

The announcement follows weeks of secrecy and speculation since the jet's crash on Jan. 24. The Navy said it was "making recovery operations arrangements" for the downed jet in the days after the crash but wouldn't give further details. A few days later, the Japanese Coast Guard posted a maritime navigational alert to stay clear of an area about 170 miles west of the Philippine island of Luzon due to "salvage operations  until further notice."

Although the Vinson was likely operating in the area of the Philippines -- injured crew from that incident were flown to the country for treatment -- the alert did not explicitly connect it to the F-35C crash.

Two weeks ago, the Navy held a briefing on its diving and salvage capabilities but would not connect that information to any ongoing operations or events.

Experts who previously spoke to Military.com noted that such a recovery would be a normal reaction to the mishap, citing other, previous deep water recoveries, but noted that concerns over an adversary grabbing the advanced fighter from beneath the waves added to the urgency.

The Navy did not specifically say where the recovery of the F-35 occurred in Thursday's announcement but noted that the aircraft will now be taken to "a nearby military installation to aid in the ongoing investigation and evaluated for potential transport to the United States."

Task Force 75's commander, Capt. Gareth Healy, praised his team's responsiveness and flexibility in allowing the Navy to pull off "recovery operations within 37 days of the incident."

"Given the unique challenges of this problem and the unique technical capabilities that NAVSEA delivered, this was an aggressive and achievable timeline," he added.

According to photos and videos leaked by sailors aboard the ship to social media, the jet and its left wing hit the flight deck at the back of the carrier as it was coming in for a landing. The plane then skid on its belly along the length of the ship before falling off the side. The Navy has charged five sailors -- an ensign and four chief petty officers -- with "failure to follow a lawful order" over the leaks.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: Five Sailors Charged in F-35C Crash Video Leak
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin overestimated the power of his military forces when deciding to invade Ukraine, as reports of low morale among troops, equipment woes and a lack of airpower emerge from the battlefield.

But Kendall told reporters that none of Russia's failures in Ukraine has made it less of a threat in his eyes.

"Nothing I've seen so far has changed my fundamental impression [of Russia]," he told reporters at the Air Force Association's annual conference in Orlando. "I would be more inclined to put Russia in the near-peer competitor category than the peer competitor category ... with the exception of their nuclear capabilities."

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Kendall is one of the first military service branch leaders to publicly speak out about Russia's missteps since Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine last week, with the United States and NATO allies avoiding direct military confrontation.

"In my view, President Putin made a very, very serious miscalculation," Kendall said in his opening speech at the conference. "He severely underestimated the global reaction the invasion of Ukraine would provoke, he severely underestimated the will and courage of the people of Ukraine, and he overestimated the capability of his own military."

While a lot of attention has been paid to issues such as expired rations and vehicle malfunctions that have caused a massive Russian convoy to slowly inch its way to Kyiv, one of the looming questions is why Russia has yet to achieve air dominance in Ukraine.

Notably, Russia has a far larger air force than its neighbor. Flight Global's 2022 World Air Forces directory lists Russia as having 1,511 combat aircraft, while Ukraine has just under 100.

And while casualty reports and aircraft kills have yet to be confirmed by the U.S. government or independent sources, the numbers are looking bleak for Russian forces.

Ukraine has a small number of Bayraktar TB2 drones, which had destroyed at least 32 Russian vehicles as of last week, according to open-source intelligence analyst Stijn Mitzer.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry claimed that nearly 6,000 Russian troops and 30 aircraft had been eliminated by its forces as of that morning.

Russia's Defence Ministry announced a far smaller number of fatalities, 500, but has not shared what aircraft assets have been lost. Neither country's numbers have been independently verified.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity on Wednesday, told reporters that they've analyzed some of the failures Russian troops have had on the ground and are also curious why they are being timid in the skies.

"We're seeing the same sort of activity in the air," the senior official said. "There's a certain risk-averse behavior. They are not necessarily willing to take high risks with their own aircraft and their own pilots, and of course we're seeing that on the ground in the fairly slow and stodgy progress that they have made."

Kendall declined to comment on why Russia is not deploying all its aircraft in the invasion when asked by Military.com at a media roundtable, but said they should still be a concern for the Ukrainians.

"Overall, Russia has a significant capability," he said. "They have the numbers and the quality to be a viable air threat, definitely."

Kendall didn't spend much time on Russia during his speech, saying that current events in Europe should not change America's focus on China, which he considers to be the larger military adversary.

But he did say that the U.S. military needs to put Putin in his place, adding it's up to the service branches to deter further aggression from Russia.

"Where this will lead, I honestly don't know, but if President Putin thought he could divide NATO, divide Europe, and even divide the United States, he was wrong," Kendall said in his speech. "Now it's up to all of us to ensure that something like this does not happen again."

-- Travis Tritten contributed to this article.

Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.

Related: US Says No to No-Fly Zone in Ukraine
Read the original article on Business Insider.

As Russian forces wage a brutal war against Ukraine, the U.S. intelligence community is in a heated debate over whether Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent nuclear threats suggest he's losing touch with reality and becoming increasingly unhinged, according to The New York Times and CNN.

But national security and intelligence veterans caution against painting Putin as a madman with diminished mental faculties.

The Russian leader "has a clear strategy," Glenn Carle, a longtime former CIA operative, told Insider. "He may have made a miscalculation, and many of his beliefs are wrong, but he is rational, consistent, and ruthless."

Experts also rejected the notion that Putin is losing grip on reality by noting the parallels between his actions in Ukraine and his previous efforts to bring other countries into the Russian sphere of influence.

There are no major differences between what's happening in Ukraine and Putin's past actions in Chechnya, Syria, and other conflict zones, Jonathan Katz, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told Insider.

Putin has "used force like this before," committing "human rights violations that have been grotesque" and cost "countless lives," Katz said.

'Putin has to feel things closing in on him'

Gaining a window into Putin's mindset has long been a difficult task for U.S. intelligence agencies. As CNN reported, the intelligence community has been trying to figure out how the Russian leader's mind works since he effectively gained control of Russia in 1999. But the former KGB officer is still a "hard target" for officials, per CNN.

"No one can know what's going on deep inside Putin's head," John McLaughlin, the former deputy CIA director who also briefly served as acting director, told Insider. "But we do know one thing  he is under great stress."

Russia's brazen invasion, as well as its apparent disregard for distinguishing between military and civilian targets, sent shockwaves through the international community and united Western nations in unprecedented ways.

The U.S. and its European allies imposed crippling sanctions on Russia's financial institutions and central bank that could hurt its ability to finance Putin's war. Multiple European countries also reversed long-standing policies against getting involved in conflict zones and said they would send weapons and financial assistance to aid Ukraine.

Putin's actions caused such a major disruption for Russia's economy that even some of his closest allies, like the oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska, tentatively spoke out against the war. And thousands of Russian citizens have taken to the streets to protest the war under threat of arrest and imprisonment.

"The invasion of Ukraine is not going well, the Ukrainians are fighting back, there is protest at home, and Russia has just been slammed with the strongest package of economic sanctions in modern history," McLaughlin said. "Putin has to feel things closing in on him."

'He cannot lose this'

As a result, the field of options available to Putin is getting increasingly narrow, and "there is a greater chance that desperation will drive him to some reckless decisions," McLaughlin said. "That's a worry with someone who has nuclear weapons."

Carle said that the difference in how the West views international relations versus how Putin sees them is a "fundamental point in why we are in a tremendous crisis worse than just warfare here."

The Russian leader subscribes to a Eurasianist philosophy, which views the West, capitalism, and "Atlanticist" domination are an existential threat to Russia and mankind, according to Carle. Putin sees foreign policy as a zero-sum game  a gain for one side comes at the expense of its opponent  whereas the West believes strategic negotiations with other countries can be mutually beneficial.

Putin has long sought to restore what he sees as Russian greatness after the Soviet Union's collapse by reforming the "geographical and political losses its suffered since 1989, detaching the US from Europe, destroying NATO, and even potentially destroying the United States," Carle said.

"And he is consistent in that, so he believes what he says about Ukraine," he added. "A lot of the assumptions that he bases his thinking on are demonstrably wrong, but that doesn't matter when you're talking about faith and convictions. He is behaving rationally within the confines of a fundamentally irrational set of beliefs."

Kevin Ryan, a retired U.S. brigadier general and former defense attache to Russia, struck a similar chord.

Putin wants an "all-out reclaiming of greater Russia," he said. But because of the consequences of his invasion of Ukraine  crushing sanctions, a military operation that isn't going as planned, demoralized Russian forces  "all of those things mean he's backed into a corner."

"He cannot lose this. He cannot give up on his goal," Ryan said. "If he does, the people in his inner circle will come for him. And that won't end well for him."

'If this spills into something more significant, he may decide to use whatever weapon is at his disposal'

The urgency around Putin's actions ratcheted up several notches when he ordered Russia's nuclear forces to be put on high alert over the weekend.

Both the Biden administration and NATO have repeatedly said they will not send troops into Ukraine, also ruling out a no-fly zone, but there are concerns the fog of war could lead Putin to misinterpret things and take even more drastic steps.

"In war, there is always confusion and mistakes are made," Jon Wolfsthal, a senior advisor at Global Zero who previously served on the National Security Council under President Barack Obama, told Insider. "We have worried for decades that nuclear use would come via escalation in a smaller conventional conflict, and any responsible actor or watcher has to be concerned about that."

Ryan also said he's "very concerned" about Putin's nuclear threats and believes the Russian leader would be willing to use a "small nuclear weapon" to keep the U.S. and NATO out of Ukraine.

Experts said the Biden administration and other Western nations made the right call by saying the U.S. and NATO would not put boots on the ground in Ukraine to help defend it, because if they did, the result could be a catastrophic war between nuclear superpowers.

"Putin is calculating right now," Katz said. "If this spills over into something more significant, he may decide to use whatever weapon is at his disposal."

Since invading Ukraine last week, Russian forces have launched heavy shelling and missile attacks that have hit residential buildings, an orphanage, kindergartens, and a children's hospital, according to the Ukrainian government.

Ukrainian forces and civilian defense forces have put up a fiercer resistance than Putin anticipated, beating back Russian troops for days as they tried to capture the capital of Kyiv and decapitate the democratically elected government of Ukraine.

But military and intelligence analysts warned that the fight is far from over.

"Russian military is suspending unsupported thunder runs, resupplying, and reorganizing," Michael Kofman, the Russia expert at CNA, tweeted Monday. "Ukraine's military has performed rly well, but I think we're going to see a different Russian approach moving forward."

On Wednesday, Russia seized the city of Kherson, its first victory since launching the invasion.
Landmark legislation to expedite health care and disability coverage for millions of veterans who were exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service was approved by the House on Thursday.

The House voted 256-174 to pass what's being called the Honoring Our PACT Act, a $208 billion measure that would pave the way for Department of Veterans Affairs benefits for vets suffering from nearly two dozen illnesses suspected to be linked to battlefield pollutants. Thirty-four Republicans voted with Democrats in support of the bill.

Lawmakers and advocates are celebrating the vote as a major win in a years-long fight for official recognition that their ailments were caused by breathing in fumes from burn pits and other toxins. But they also acknowledge the fight is not over, with the battleground now moving to the Senate, which has opted for a narrower approach amid Republican concerns about the price tag of the House bill.

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"If we are to support the cost of starting and sustaining war, we must acknowledge the financial cost of supporting those veterans it creates," House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., said at a news conference Wednesday to rally support ahead of Thursday's vote. "We cannot renege on our responsibility because of sticker shock."

The bill approved Thursday has been heralded by supporters as a comprehensive approach to helping the 3.5 million veterans estimated to have been exposed to burn pits and other airborne hazards while serving.

Right now, the VA makes case-by-case decisions on most claims by post-9/11 veterans that their illnesses were caused by toxic exposure, requiring vets to produce proof their disease is connected with their service. Asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis are exceptions after the VA last year said it would automatically presume those illnesses were caused by burn pits.

On Tuesday, ahead of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, the VA announced it will also soon expand the list of presumptive illnesses to 10 cancers.

"I've always believed that we have a sacred obligation to equip all those we send to war and care for them and their families when they come home," Biden said in the speech.

"I'm also calling on Congress to pass a law to make sure veterans devastated by toxic exposure in Iraq and Afghanistan finally get the benefits and the comprehensive health care they deserve," added Biden, who believes his son Beau's fatal brain cancer may have been caused by burn pits in Iraq and Kosovo.

The Honoring Our PACT Act would designate 23 diseases as presumed to be linked to burn pits and other airborne hazards. In addition to post-9/11 veterans, the bill also would extend coverage to Vietnam veterans suffering hypertension; Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos; and veterans exposed to radiation during nuclear waste cleanup.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated this week the bill would cost $208 billion over the next 10 years, down from an earlier estimate of $282 billion after some tweaks to the legislation before it was brought to the House floor that did not diminish plans for increased medical coverage.

Most Republicans have bristled at the price tag even as they say they support improving care for toxic-exposed veterans.

"Anyone who has served or has a loved one who serves, like I have and do, knows what war costs," Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said on the House floor. "They also know that veterans pay taxes too. They also know that veterans have children and grandchildren whose futures they don't want to be any more burdened with debt than they already are."

An amendment offered Wednesday by House Republicans to replace the Honoring Our PACT Act with the text of a narrower Senate bill failed 203-233, largely along partisan lines.

In response to critics of the price, the Senate has decided to tackle the issue of toxic exposure in a three-pronged approach.

The first prong was easily approved by the Senate last month. The Senate bill, negotiated by Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., and committee ranking member Jerry Moran, R-Kan., would create a one-year enrollment period for VA medical care for post-9/11 combat veterans who served after 1998 and never enrolled. It would also extend the enrollment period for all formerly deployed post-9/11 combat vets from five years to 10.

Supporters of the Senate bill say it could extend health coverage to at least 1 million veterans exposed to burn pits and other types of pollution. The measure's estimated cost is $1 billion.

Tester and Moran envision the next two steps entailing the creation of a new process for the VA to determine future presumptive conditions and providing overdue benefits to ill veterans.

The Senate bill has garnered endorsements from some major veterans groups, but other veterans advocates have panned the piecemeal approach.

At Wednesday's news conference, activist John Feal called on Takano and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to push Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., for a vote on the Honoring Our PACT Act.

"If he does not do that, then I will make his life miserable," Feal said of Schumer.

Comedian-turned-veterans-advocate Jon Stewart also had a message for those seeking to water down the House bill: "F--- that. Not happening."

Takano told reporters Wednesday he had not yet spoken with his Senate counterpart, Tester, about next steps, but he's "looking forward to the meeting with John Feal."

Pelosi, while diplomatically avoiding Stewart's profanity, said she would "associate herself" with Feal and Stewart's remarks and that the House would "reject" a watered-down bill.

"If we're not willing to pay the price of war," Pelosi said, "then we shouldn't go."

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: Scaled-Down Toxic Exposure Bill Passed by Senate
The U.S. response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine is poised to cost billions of dollars, with the Biden administration asking Congress for more Pentagon funding immediately and talk already starting of beefing up next year's defense budget.

The White House on Thursday asked Congress for $10 billion to respond to the war in Ukraine, including $4.8 billion for the Pentagon.

Meanwhile, the Democratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday there's "no doubt" the invasion will mean a bigger defense budget in fiscal 2023 than previously expected.

Read Next: Navy Recovers Sunken F-35 Jet That Crashed Off the Deck of a Carrier into the South China Sea

"Without question, it's going to have to be bigger than we thought," Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., said at an event at the conservative American Enterprise Institute think tank. "The Russian invasion of Ukraine fundamentally altered what our national security posture and what our defense posture needs to be. It made it more complicated, and it made it more expensive."

The U.S. military is deploying 14,000 troops to Eastern Europe to shore up defenses for NATO allies worried Moscow will continue pushing West after Ukraine.

The Pentagon has also shipped hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine in recent months, including a $350 million package approved by President Joe Biden last week.

The White House's Thursday request for emergency Pentagon funding includes $1.8 billion to cover the cost of the troop deployments.

The White House also asked for $1.75 billion to replenish U.S. weapons stocks that are being sent to Ukraine, including the most recent $350 million package, a $200 million package approved in January and $1.2 billion for any future shipments.

The administration also wants $1.25 billion for "accelerated cyber capabilities, weapons systems upgrades, increased intelligence support and classified programs."

Lawmakers in both parties are supportive of the Ukraine funding. But the White House coupled the request with one for $22.5 billion for ongoing COVID-19 response efforts that Republicans are skeptical of, which could complicate passage of the Ukraine aid.

Still, congressional leaders said they expect to include the Ukraine funding in a broader spending bill that Congress needs to pass next week to keep the government open past March 11, when current funding expires.

"At this time, the fastest way for us to get the Ukraine money is for us to have it on this legislation," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters Thursday when asked about including it in the broader spending bill.

Amid the talk of emergency funding for Ukraine, lawmakers are still working to finalize regular funding for the Pentagon and the rest of the federal government for fiscal 2022, nearly six months after the fiscal year started.

With work still not done on fiscal 2022, the administration has not yet released a fiscal 2023 budget proposal. But reports have indicated the administration was eyeing more than $770 billion for the Pentagon prior to the Ukrainian war.

On Thursday, Smith said he hasn't settled on a specific number he thinks the fiscal 2023 defense budget should be now that war has broken out. But, nodding to his own skepticism over ballooning defense budgets, Smith said he doesn't "see much way to argue" against an increase now.

"The decision to invade Ukraine by Russia changes it, and it's going to go up," he said. "There's no doubt about it."

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: US Says No to No-Fly Zone in Ukraine
The Virginia-Class fast-attack submarine USS Washington (SSN 787) prepares to moor pier side at Naval Station Norfolk, Feb. 27, 2022. Washington returned following a six-month deployment that supported national security interests and maritime security operations at sea.
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Management of fast-rising Ghanaian artist Black Sherif has released an official statement in reaction to recent claims of the artist allegedly breaching his contract.

This comes after the news went viral that the 'Kwaku Frimpong' crooner had allegedly made a move from his current management to another without notice.

The release could however not entirely debunk the rumors of the artist allegedly signing on to another label to the tune of $50,000 but has assured fans of measures taken to ensure a clear and accurate explanation of the actual issue.

The release read, "Road Boys Association (RBA) have taken notice of ongoing conversations in the media about a supposed breach of contract by our artist Black Sherif.

"Although majority of the discussions are premised on ill-informed or inaccurate information, we will like to assure the general public and fans of our artist that measures are have been put in place to address any misunderstanding between the parties involved."
Worldwide acclaimed Ghanaian Roots Reggae star Rocky Dawuni believes players in the creative arts industry are of more importance than politicians.

During an interview with Kojo Manuel on Y FM yesterday, the Grammy Award nominee expressed stated that politicians don't last long compared to musicians who constantly make impacts in society for many years.

Musical artists are more essential than politicians, for the simple reason that musicians are the beating heart of the populace. Musicians tell the narrative of our people to others who are not familiar with it.

"The political class is only here for four years and then theyre gone, while artists music will last forever, he said.

He added that musicians are always the investments for the future of any country.

The Wickedest Sound hitmaker appealed to Ghanaians to appreciate musicians and producers as well as patronize their work in order to support them and the country as a whole.
Shortly after his death, the wife of the late Ghanaian sound engineer, Eyoh Soundboy has disclosed that all attempts to raise GHc 91,807 to undergo a kidney transplant in India proved futile leading to his demise.

According to Aisha Yussif, several calls on the general public made by her together with the help of renowned bloggers in the country did not help the situation as the producers situation kept getting deteriorating.

Last year, media platforms like Hitz FM launched a massive public appeal for the producer.

Blogger Sammy Kay made regular visits to sound engineer, music producer, and CEO of Brainworkz TV when he was in a critical state.

With a fruitful career, Eyoh Soundboy worked with artists like Samini, Dr. Slim, Dobble, Rashid Metal, amongst others.

He left behind three children.
It appears after the inception of rap and commercial music in the Ewe language, it looks as if Ayigbe Edem has shouldered a lot of claims of not being able to help young artists from that side of the country.

In a recent live Facebook session, the Over Again hitmaker has stated that he has so much wanted to help young and upcoming artistes but has so much to work on himself and his craft.

I cannot help everybody. That is the truth of the matter. Because I myself, need help to further. I am pushing myself whilst I try to lift other people. So I try my very best to make sure I hold the region down. And Im no longer making it about a particular artiste.

"Im making it about trying to find ways to bring everybody up. So the question of you not helping the Volta artistes should end because nobody comes through for my brothers than me, he stated.

He further added that nobody puts his career on the line for the upliftment of young talents.

Ayigbe Edem concluded by saying that he loves his region and Ghana at large and will continue to help any young artist who needs support.
01.03.2022 LISTEN

Actor cum politician John Dumelo has called for an improvement in the tourism sector in Ghana.

In a recent post on Twitter, the Ayawaso West Wuogon parliamentary candidate under the ticket of the NDC expressed that the industry needs an entire facelift.

John Dumelo narrated how he and his family will tour the Kakum National Park in the Central Region 30 years ago and has still not seen any change in the Central Region.

"There's been no new tourist sites, nothing!" he added.

The award-winning actor who seems to have an interest in agriculture aside from politics has made several comments on national and social issues on his Twitter page.

The very recent post was when he spoke about the need for government to legalize Marijuana and its related products as he believes fetch the country some foreign exchange.
A Yemeni Huthi rebel strike on a military camp in the country's northwest killed nine Sudanese soldiers from a pro-government coalition on Wednesday, Yemeni defence ministry sources said.

"Nine members of the Sudanese forces were killed and 30 others wounded this morning by a Huthi missile," one of the sources told AFP.

The attack targeted a military camp in Midi, in Hajjah province near the border with Saudi Arabia, the source added, requesting anonymity.

Another defence ministry official and a local source confirmed the toll.

A reported Huthi attack on coalition sites in the same province in mid-December killed 14 Sudanese soldiers.

The Saudi-led military coalition has been supporting Yemen's internationally recognised government since 2015 in its battle against the Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

The Huthis control much of the country's north, including the capital Sanaa.

Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, has sent thousands of soldiers to fight in Yemen, which lies across the other side of the Red Sea.

Map locating Sanaa, in Yemen.. By AFP

The troops include men from the notorious Janjaweed militia, which is accused of atrocities in the conflict that erupted in 2003 in Sudan's western Darfur region.

In late 2019, Sudan's transitional government said the country had reduced its troop strength in Yemen from 15,000 to 5,000 men.

In early 2020, dozens of Sudanese protested in their capital Khartoum, alleging relatives had been recruited by a firm in the United Arab Emirates to be security guards, but they had in fact been sent to war zones in Libya and Yemen.

The UAE is also a member of the Saudi-led coalition.

The Yemen conflict, which began in 2014 after the Huthis seized Sanaa, has sparked what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
02.03.2022 LISTEN

A flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kojo Poku, has prevailed on the leadership of the party to organise a debate for all aspirants seeking to lead the party for the 2024 general elections.

He explained that this will help sieve the number of aspirants.

Mr Poku was of the view that an aspirants debate is the only way for the partys leadership to know the competencies of all the people seeking to lead.

Mr Opoku made this suggestion in an interview on Accra100.5FMs morning show Ghana Yensom hosted by Kwame Obeng Sarkodie on Wednesday, 2 March 2022.

Questioned about how well he knows the strength of his competitors in the race, he said: I dont need to know the strength of my competitors; what I know well is my strength and my competencies in the race to lead the party.

He said he has been a member of the party since his student days and later played a frontline role in the party during the reign of former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

He added that he had to go into hibernation for a while to grow his private business when the party went into opposition in 2009.

He gave the assurance that he will build the base of the party if he becomes the flagbearer.

If I win the flagbearership position for the December 2024 general elections, I will make the party viable and empower all regional and constituency executives to build their own party offices across the country, he promised.

Source: Classfmonline.com
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin has said Ghanas effort at economic growth and national development will achieve very little results unless attention is paid to the development of women so they could take up their positions at the forefront of national endeavors.

He was speaking during a courtesy call on him by the Cuban Ambassador to Ghana, Her Excellency, Mrs. Annette Chao Garcia, at the Parliament House in Accra yesterday.

Rt. Hon. Bagbin said our mothers served as the very foundation for our journey up the ladder of education. They were our first teachers and guided us along the path of education. It is imperative that we facilitate their education, build their capacity and empower them, else, Ghana will labor in vain.

He paid glowing tribute to the people of Cuba, describing them as a fine example of what a determined people can achieve. He referred to the blockade of Cuba by the United States of America (USA) and how the people of Cuba have withstood the might of the USA through their fearlessness, unity and sheer determination.

Besides, he said, Cuba has over the years, identified and focused on the basic essentials of life  health, education, food, simplicity and happiness. He wondered why other countries, Ghana included, are still locked in a mad rush to acquire items of vanity in the midst of poverty.

The Speaker spoke about the stalled Mosquito Project, the delivery of which Cuba was leading in Ghana. The objective of the project was to eliminate malaria in Ghana. He was hopeful that the project will resume soon.

Mrs. Garcia was appreciative of the support Cuba has continued to receive from Ghana over the years at various international fora which has characterized the long-standing relations and strong partnership that have existed between the two countries.

The opportunities Cuba offers Ghanaians for education and the historic and continuous collaboration in the area of health, she said, was just a way of showing appreciation to the government and people of Ghana for their support.

Hon. Kofi Attor, Special Aide to the Speaker of Parliament, spoke about the various support that Cuba has extended to African countries, particularly Ghana, and said Cuba deserves the solidarity of Ghana and Africa in reciprocity.

Hon. Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahim, Member of Parliament for Salaga South, referred to the commitment of Cuban doctors to their job and their preparedness to work in very remote areas in Ghana as very supportive and exemplary.

Hon. Alhassan Abdallah Iddi, Member of Parliament for Salaga North, commended Cuba for the immense value they have delivered to Ghana through the training of a number of middle-class technicians and artisans, as well as other professional training programmes.
President Nana Akufo-Addo Wednesday presented awards to 36 pupils who passed last year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), with distinction and charged them to maintain a strong moral character as they ascend the educational ladder.

Presenting the awards at this year's President's Independence Day Awards in Accra, he urged the award winners to work to maintain the standards they had set for themselves, and not to allow their current successes get into their heads.

I urge you not to allow your current successes to get to your head because this is only the beginning. Continue to work hard in order to maintain your standards.

"Know that you can go as far as you want if you are diligent, hardworking, and holding on to a strong moral compass. "Honesty and integrity are important values in any worthwhile existence," he said.

The 2022 President's Independence Day Awards was under the theme: "Working Together Bouncing Back Better."

The award winners, drawn from schools across the 16 regions in the country, included persons with disabilities.

They all received tablets each and a year's supply of Nestle Ghana limited products.

The President asked Ghanaian students not to lose sight of the need to work hard to ensure that they rise up to the highest academic heights.

He expressed the government's readiness to commit more resources to education to help secure the country's future and pledged to expand opportunities in education for every child through the Free Senior High School education programme.

"Government intends to continue to deepen the education of our population so as to attain our industrialisation objective This means there will be increased emphasis in our educational system on science and technology education and technical and vocational training," he said.

The President's Independence Day Awards, since its inception in 1993, provides scholarships each year to young brilliant students between the ages of 14 and 19 from all the regions of Ghana.

The awardees are selected based on raw scores obtained at the Basic Certificate Examination (BECE).

GNA
The Member of Parliament for North Tongu Constituency, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has arrived in Romania to assess the conditions of Ghanaians who have escaped war-torn Ukraine.

The European country has been under attack by Russia for the past week with several people reported dead amid ongoing bombings.

As the world prays for an end to the war, Ghanaian students in Ukraine have been battling their way out of devasted Ukraine to safer grounds.

Despite the struggles, over 200 Ghanaians have already crossed the border into Romania with some ready to be evacuated back home.

In order to have first-hand knowledge of the conditions of the Ghanaians, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has arrived in Romania.

This morning I arrived in Bucharest, Romania which shares a southern border with Ukraine to visit our Ghanaian students who escaped from the conflict in Ukraine.

The visit affords me the opportunity to closely assess their conditions and to better understand from their unique perspective how our nation can be more helpful to them as I engage them directly, Mr. Ablakwa said in his Facebook post.

From the post where he is seen interacting with some students in Bucharest, the North Tongu MP applauded Ahmed Tijani Abubakr of Ghanas diplomatic mission in Prague for his impressive consular services which have been praised by the students.

He further commended the Romanians for their exceptional kindness, while noting that Ghana owes the country a debt of gratitude.
Three years ago, Akor Pelkings fled his home in western Cameroon, where a conflict raged between the security forces and rebels fighting for an independent state.

Today, the 25-year-old is one of 70,000 Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, wondering in despair when they can return.

Yet they in turn are among a million people uprooted by a conflict which is now in its fifth year yet remains largely forgotten -- even unknown -- in the rest of the world.

The violence erupted in 2017, when militants declared an independent state in Cameroon's Northwest and Southwest regions, home to most of the anglophone minority in the majority French-speaking country.

Both the separatists and government forces have been accused of atrocities in the fighting, which according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) has killed more than 6,000 people.

Pelkings crossed into Nigeria, finding shelter in one of the refugee camps that have sprung up near the border regions, although they often have less international aid than in other conflict areas.

"Why no one cares? Our lives are destroyed, and no one cares. The conflict went to days, to months, now to years," he said.

Map of Cameroon locating English-speaking regions and their capitals, Bamenda and Buea. By Valentina BRESCHI AFP

In dozens of interviews with AFP, Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria described their experience.

A common thread emerged -- a process of darkening fear, which began as neighbours, relatives and supporters of the anglophone secessionist movement were whisked away in police vans and were rarely heard of again.

Gerard Tiko'Or Akenji, who founded an agricultural cooperative at a camp operated by the UN refugee agency in Ogoja, eastern Nigeria, said the intimidation was unprovoked.

"They arrest so many youths from my community," said Akenji, 45, who added that he had been picked up four times from the start of the conflict until he finally fled in March 2019.

Terror at night

"I left the country because of fear of death," said Akenji.

"I always tied my sneakers, and lie on my bed with my legs down, and my door open, in case of any noise I have to run," he said.

"The sound of gun and explosives have killed many of old people, because they are very afraid."

Then the schools began to close as threats from separatists and the fear of violence kept students at home.

"At the beginning of the conflict, I had to stop going to high school," said Pelkings, who dreamed of going to university but now raises chickens in this camp in Nigeria.

In September 2021, the start of the academic year, two-thirds of schools in the two English-speaking regions were closed, depriving 700,000 children and adolescents of education, according to the UN.

A refugee shows the scar from what he says was a wound inflicted by the Cameroonian military. By Kola Sulaimon AFP

Hundreds of schools have been attacked there, according to the campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Almost all of those attacks were by armed separatist groups who refuse to allow French to be taught.

Even so, said a humanitarian source, "no one (in the camps) will tell you" that the separatists are to blame, because most of the refugees support their cause.

Childbirth alone

Access to health care has also deteriorated dramatically in English-speaking Cameroon.

Health centres have been attacked or occupied.

Chu Bernice Chang, a 23-year-old mother of two, had to give birth to her first child at home after her village clinic was occupied by troops. By Kola Sulaimon AFP

Chu Bernice Chang will never forget the circumstances of her first birth when at age 21 she delivered her girl, at home, without any help.

The clinic in her village was being used as a rear base for the Cameroonian army, she said.

According to the ICG, 250 villages have been destroyed in the conflict -- a punishment for being suspected of helping one side or the other.

Actions of this kind were cited by many refugees as to why they left, sometimes fleeing from one day to the next.

"My village was attacked more than six times," said Odilia Ntong, a 50-year-old. "They destroyed the house, the shooting, I had nothing, so left."

For five days she moved through the bush with nine other women, hungry and sleeping on the ground before she managed to cross the border into Nigeria.

Ntong now lives alone in Takum, a small town in eastern Nigeria, in a tiny room that she rents for 1,500 naira ($3.60, three euros) a month.

Odilia Ntong, 50, spent five days in the bush to reach Nigeria. By Kola Sulaimon AFP

To survive, she makes traditional hats that she sells on the market, and receives from the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, like all Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, 2,600 naira (five euros) per month.

"It's an invisible crisis," said Roland Schoenbauer, the spokesperson for UNHCR in Nigeria.

"The number of refugees kept increasing since 2017, while the funds made available by donors have decreased."

After five years of war, Pelkings sees little hope his life will improve.

"Here we are safe, but we are hungry," Pelkings said. "Many of my friends are back in Cameroon. Some were killed, some are still in the bush."
The Caretaker Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cecilia Abena-Dapaah has said a five-year strategic plan is being implemented by her Ministry to deal with the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy in the Upper East Region.

The five-year strategic plan was launched in 2018-2020.

According to the Care-taker Minister, the Gender Ministry is not ignorant of the high rate of teenage pregnancy rate in the Upper East Region.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, 2 March 2022, Ms Dapaah said: The Ministry is fully aware of the situation in the Upper East Region, and is implementing a five-year-strategic plan to address adolescent pregnancy in Ghana and this was launched in 2018 to 2020.

The Caretaker Minister noted that the strategic plan is to remedy the situation.

She also revealed that the Ministry together with stakeholders undertook some initiatives to reduce the phenomenon.

We formed parent advocacy groups and trained parents as advocates to support the sensitisation drive on preventing adolescent pregnancies. Formed the regional child protection committee which meets quarterly to deliberate on interventions by various stakeholders in preventing adolescent pregnancies.

We engaged traditional leaders in the districts on how to create awareness on sexual and gender-based violence including abstinence among adolescent, to curb adolescent pregnancies. We trained Queen mothers in mentoring adolescent girls on sexual and reproductive health rights, sex education and abstinence. these queen mothers serve as mentors to the adolescent youth.

We also engaged the public through radio discussions, on issues around adolescent pregnancy. We also embarked on school outreach programmes to educate pupils and students on their sexual and reproductive health rights, the Caretaker Minister explained.

The Caretaker Minister, however, indicated that some of the girls are lured, while others are defiled sometimes by people they know resulting in teenage pregnancy.

She noted that at the end of the day, people still lure the girls, despited programmes by NGOs and other agencies who supply sanitary pads to them.

Left to the purchasing and supplying of sanitary pads alone, I dont think the girls will be going in for these illicit sex, the Minister added.

Source: classfmonline.com
Government has called on political actors to feel free to differ on national issues but refrain from undermining the countrys democracy.

Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who conveyed this in response to comments by the Dean of the University of Ghana Law School, Professor Raymond Atuguba said while the administration has no problem with people expressing divergent views on policies and national developments, it abhors attempts by some to lace their commentary with anti-democratic comments and insinuations that undermine our democracy.

Comments to the effect that some conditions are rife for a coup are moat unfortunate and disappointing. They are disappointing because despite COVID-19, Ghana's current economic status is far better than the days of yesteryear when there was no global pandemic.

Even if they were worse, the constitution provides legitimate means for advocating for and executing a change. For respected persons to be purporting that such conditions legitimize coups is a terrible attack on our democracy itself and should not be condoned, the Minister said.

Background

This comes at the back of comments passed by Prof. Atuguba at a public forum last Monday suggesting that the countrys current economic situation may serve as a futile ground for a coup.

However, his comment has received widespread condemnation notably from former Attorney General, Dr. Obed Asamoah describing his comment as childish and coming from someone who is unaware of the consequences of military takeovers.

Similarly, Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K Bagbin expressed worry over the comments from the renowned professor. He said comments like that are in bad taste and does not auger well for the progress of the country.

---Classfmonline.com
France's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Thursday expressed fear that the worst phase of Russia's war on Ukraine could be yet to start, with key Ukrainian cities at risk of encirclement by Russian forces. His comments came the day after a televised address by French President Emmanuel Macron who said he would continue speaking with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to persuade him to stop the war in Ukraine.

"I have chosen to remain in contact with President Putin for as long as I can, and for as long is necessary, to unstintingly seek to convince him to renounce violence... and to prevent the contagion and spreading of the conflict," Macron said on television on Wednesday evening, a Ukrainian flag visible behind him.

But he warned: "The days to come will likely be harder and harder."

This sentiment was echoed by Jean Yves Le Drian, France's foreign minister, who suggested that Russia will look to besiege cities like after its initial expectations of a quick victory were scuppered by Ukrainian resistance.

"The Russians entered Ukraine looking for a blitzkrieg, a fast advance that would allow Russia to control Ukraine," Le Drian told France 2 TV on Thursday morning.

"It was not the case, due to the exemplary, courageous and strong resistance from the Ukrainians."

Le Drian recalled past Russian tactics in the war in Syria and also against separatists in the region of Chechnya.

"The Russians are used to this -- remember Aleppo, Grozny. This could be very grave. The disaster continues and Russia's despicable aggression continues."

The comments come as France is preparing to present a ceasefire motion at the UN Security Council later on Thursday.

"We must impose a ceasefire, at least a humanitarian one," Le Drian told the press. "We will not negotiate under terror," he said, adding that Russia was "isolating itself completely from the world and no-one trusts what the country says."

The French foreign ministry has also called on French residents in Russia to leave the country as soon as possible.

Not at war with Russia

On the diplomatic front, Macron has repeatedly spoken to Putin to try to avert conflict, and sought in vain to broker a summit between the Russian leader and US President Joe Biden.

He has also spoken to Putin on two occasions since the invasion was launched on 24 February.

In a 90-minute phone conversation on Monday, he asked the Russian leader to stop attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, and secure major roadways, in particular the road from the south of Kyiv.

"We are not at war with Russia," Macron said.

"We are aware of everything that links us to this great European people, the Russian people who sacrificed so much in World War II."

He also reached out to Russians who had protested against the war in Ukraine, hundreds of whom have been arrested.

"We are today by the side of all Russians who refuse that an unworthy war should be waged in their name and have the spirit of responsibility and the courage to defend peace."

New era for Europe

But Macron also hailed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has remained in Kyiv despite the bombardment as "the face of honour, of liberty and of bravery".

Macron said that Europe had entered a "new era" with the invasion, and would need to boost investment in its defences and energy independence.

He said the war was a throwback to "another age" and motivated by a "revisionist spirit" that was reminiscent of "the darkest hours of empires past".

Nobody in Europe had wanted war, Macron said. Instead, he said, "Putin, alone and deliberately, chose this war".

Macron confirmed that he would host a summit on 10 and 11 March of EU leaders at the Chateau of Versailles outside Paris which would be devoted to European energy independence and European defence.

"Our European defence needs to pass a new stage.... We can no longer depend on others and notably on Russian gas to move around, heat ourselves up and make our factories work," Macron said.

(with AFP)
Member of Parliament (MP) for Adansi Asokwa, Kobina Tahir (KT) Hammond has taken a swipe at the Dean of the University of Ghana Faculty, Professor Raymond Atuguba for his Ghanas rise for coup prediction.

He described the comments of the Law Professor as foolish and irresponsible.

Hon. KT Hammond said he will be surprised if Raymond Atubiga is not invited by the police for inciting coup.

If the people do not like the NPP administration because they feel that we messed up it is for the people of the country to pass their judgement, it is not for the person who thinks he knows the law and who thinks he has studied the law to go about and brandishing foolishness like that. I will be surprised if they have not already invited him. Clear foolishness, he stated.

His outburst follows a public forum organised by Solidaire Ghana on February 28, where Professor Raymond Atuguba said Ghana is ripe for coup if something is not immediately done to avert it.

We do not want coup in this country but if we do not act quickly we may have one in our hands. There is one thing to do now, prevent coup in Ghana since the climate and the environment, national and immediate international, are conducive for one. We must compel the government to acknowledge the current economic mess, they mostly, and previous governments, to a larger extent.

Ghana's economic problems started before Covid-19. On balance, Covid-19 was a good thing for Africa and Ghana. he said at the forum.

At a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday March 2, 2022, KT Hammond wonders why the NDC will always be inciting coup when NPP is ruling.

Why is it that in the course of NPP administration every opportunity that the NDC gets, not all of them to be fair, but the irresponsible ones are calling for intervention of the military?

What is it about the Military? Let me tell Professor Atuguba that he doesn't have the liberty to take leave of his brain, he does not have the liberty to take even half of his brain.

He owes it to his students and he owes it to the constitution that everybody including him has no reason to say the kind of things he has said. He is a Professor and of no other thing but of law, he understands the constitution.

This is the constitution that has made it very clear, anybody who attempts to subvert it commits the offence that he knows, he goes to make a statement like this.

He continued, The Military knows what they are up to, they are a professional institution, their responsibility is to guide the territorial integrity of this country, period, they know it, they are not interested in dabbling in politics. The group before them had dabbled in politics and we are all witnesses to these happenings. They are not interested, the officers are professionals, the rank and file, they are professionals they know their duties. It is not the likes of Atuguba to invite them to hold the country to ransom.

Clearly, he is NDC sympathizer and indeed, I do know that at a point in time he worked with the office of the president, he is an NDC sympathizer but no problem with that but the constitution allows for the people of Ghana to speak at periodic times.

The last one was 2020, we had the election, four more years, we have spent almost one and a half years thereafter, we will go for election."
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said the coup comment made by the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana, Professor Raymond Atuguba is an attack on Ghanas democracy.

He told journalists in Accra on Wednesday March 2 that the pronouncements are disappointing because, despite Covid-19, Ghana's current economic status is far better than the days of yesteryear when there was no global pandemic.

Even if they were worse, the constitution provides legitimate means for advocating for and executing a change. For respected persons to be purporting that such conditions legitimise coups is a terrible attack on our democracy itself and should not be condoned.

On this same matter, Member of Parliament for Adansi Asokwa, Kobinna Tahir (KTR) Hammond has said he will be surprised Professor Raymond Atuguba has not yet been invited by the security agencies following his coup comment.

KT Hammond condemned the comment by Professor Atuguba saying its smacks of foolishness.

Prof Atuguba has indicated that Ghana is currently a fertile place for coup due to the bad economic conditions.

He has asked the government to acknowledge the economic mess and try to deal with it.

We do not want coup in this country but if we do not act quickly we may have one in our hands. There is one thing to do now, prevent coup in Ghana since the climate and the environment, national and immediate international, are conducive for one. We must compel the government to acknowledge the current economic mess, they mostly, and previous governments, to a larger extent.

Ghana's economic problems started before Covid-19. On balance, Covid-19 was a good thing for Africa and Ghana. he said at a forum held by Solidare Ghana.

But responding to him at a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday March 2, KT Hammond said Why is it that in the course of NPP administration every opportunity that the NDC get, not all of them to be fair, but the irresponsible ones are calling for intervention of the military?

What is it about the Military?

Let me tell Professor Atuguba that he doesn't have the liberty to take leave of his brain, he does not have the liberty to take even half of his brain.

He owes it to his students and he owes it to the constitution that everybody including him has no reason to say the kind of things he has said. He is a Professor and of no other thing but of law, he understands the constitution.

This is the constitution that has made it very clear, anybody who attempts to subvert it commits the offence that he knows, he goes to make a statement like this.

He added The Military knows what they are up to, they are a professional institution, their responsibility is to guide the territorial integrity of this country, period, they know it, they are not interested in dabbling in politics. The group before them had dabbled in politics and we are all witnesses to these happenings. They are not interested, the officers are professionals, the rank and file, they are professionals they know their duties. It is not the likes of Atuguba to invite them to hold the country to ransom.

Clearly, he is NDC sympathizer and indeed, I do know that at a point in time he worked with the office of the president, he is an NDC sympathizer but no problem with that but the constitution allows for the people of Ghana to speak at periodic times.

The last one was 2020, we had the election, four more years we have spent almost one and a half years thereafter, we will go for election.

If the people do not like the NPP administration because they feel that we messed up it is for the people of the country to pass their judgement, it is not for the person who thinks he knows the law and who thinks he has studied the law to go about and brandishing foolishness like that

I will be surprised if they have not already invited him. Clear foolishness.

Source: 3news.com
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has noted that the cost of houses in Ghana is too expensive.

He has therefore asked members of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry to find innovative ways to ensure the country builds cheaper houses for the citizenry, adding housing in Ghana has become largely a monopoly of the rich.

Speaking at a meeting with members of the Ghana Chamber of Construction, Mr Akufo-Addo there is the need for partnership between government and the private sector to tackle the housing deficit in Ghana

I hear in Ghana, some small three-bedroom house in East Legon costs between $354,000 and $500,000. You get mansions for that in many parts of America. With between a $100,000 and $200,000 you get a very well appointed home because the materials that are used for construction in the UK are local, and are very cheap.

We need to find ways of building strong and cheap houses in the country, he added.

Meanwhile the government is prioritising access to affordable housing in Ghana.

On Thursday, 24th February 2022, the Ghana Statistical Service released the final five volumes of the 2021 Population and Housing Census (PHC) at the Accra International Conference Centre . The release was cochaired by the Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources , Mrs. Cecilia Abena Dapaah and the Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye (MP) whose sectors statistics were presented in three of the five reports released.

Francis Asenso-Boakye on his part stated that the Ministry of Works and Housing will engage further with the Statistical Service on the production of analytical reports that will seek to answer policy-relevant research questions for the housing sector. He also noted the Government of Ghana is prioritising access to affordable housing for persons in Ghana. In this regard, he urged the private sector to utilise this rich data for their decision-making to better serve the housing needs of the population.

---3news.com
The General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has revealed that one of the 137 MPs of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is stroke-stricken.

They keep going around as if they have the numbers to pass the e-levy by themselves but they cannot, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia told Nana Aba Anamoah on Accra-based Starr FM on Wednesday, 2 February 2022, adding: Now, you have one of your MPs struck down by stroke; he is in intensive care as we speak.

The 1.75 per cent e-levy has been a thorny issue in parliament.

The majority caucus is pushing for its passage but the minority caucus has rallied support against it.

Even though the government has reviewed it to 1.5 per cent, the minority side has still refused to play ball.

The adamancy of the opposition has forced the government to hold a series of town hall meetings with the intention to educate and sensitise Ghanaians to the rationale behind the levy.

The majority side needs the corporation of the minority caucus in the hung parliament to break the 137  137 tie.

With the MP for Dome Kwabennya, Ms Sarah Adwoa Safo, of the majority side, being out of the jurisdiction for several weeks and another majority caucus MP being bedridden by stroke, the majority side has been making efforts to lobby the minority caucus to pass the levy but to no avail.

Source: Classfmonline.com
Former Nissan executive Greg Kelly was handed a six-month suspended sentence on Thursday by a Tokyo court over allegations he helped disgraced auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn attempt to conceal income.

The 65-year-old American was detained at the same time as Ghosn in November 2018, but the former Nissan chief jumped bail and fled to Lebanon the following year, leaving Kelly alone to face charges.

Prosecutors had sought two years in prison for Kelly, accusing him of helping Ghosn under-report his income to the tune of 9.1 billion yen ($79 million, 71 million ) between 2010 and 2018.

But the court found him not guilty on the charges for the financial years 2010 to 2016, and guilty for the financial year 2017, handing down a six-month prison sentence suspended for three years.

The American has always denied the accusations, and the trial has been closely watched in Japan and abroad, with the US ambassador to Tokyo saying the case was a top priority.

Surprise and shock

After the hearing, Kelly said he was "extremely surprised and shocked" by the verdict which his lawyers said they would appeal.

"I have consistently acted by prioritising the best interests of Nissan, and I absolutely did not take part in illegal activities," Kelly said in a Japanese-language written statement.

"While the court gave a not-guilty verdict on the greater part of the allegations, I do not understand why it found me guilty for that one year," he said.

"I am innocent of all charges."

Kelly's team had argued the proposed post-retirement payments were never agreed and there were merely exploratory discussions about a "legal way" to keep Ghosn in the fold after his tenure and prevent him from joining a competitor.

But judge Kenji Shimizu ruled that by fiscal year 2017 Kelly "was aware that there was an unpaid remuneration and the court recognises that there was a conspiracy (between Kelly) with Ghosn and (Nissan executive Toshiaki) Ohnuma."

Scapegoat

Some have viewed Kelly as little more than a scapegoat in a case that centred around Ghosn, whose audacious escape hidden in an audio-equipment box in December 2019 left Japanese prosecutors red-faced.

"Kelly was arrested with the expectation that he could be 'turned' to testify against Ghosn," said Stephen Givens, a business lawyer in Tokyo who has followed the case.

"When Ghosn escaped to Beirut, the prosecutors were left with a weak, free-standing case against Kelly," he told AFP.

Nissan had pleaded guilty in a separate case, and was ordered Thursday to pay a fine of 200 million yen ($1.7 million, 1.5 million).

Kelly has been in Japan since his detention in 2018 and has been joined in Tokyo by his wife, who had to enrol in Japanese lessons to secure a visa to stay in the country.

The verdict does mean he should now be able to leave Japan for the first time in three years, which was welcomed by US ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel.

First of its kind

"We are relieved that the legal process has concluded, and Mr and Mrs Kelly can return home," he said in a statement.

"While this has been a long three years for the Kelly family, this chapter has come to an end," he added, offering no comment on the guilty verdict itself.

Japanese prosecutors have a close to 99 percent conviction rate in cases that go to trial, though experts said the outcome in Kelly's case was hard to predict because it was the first of its kind in the country.

Ghosn, who holds French, Brazilian and Lebanese citizenship, has always insisted he and Kelly are innocent and that Japanese prosecutors worked to help Nissan push him out in a "palace coup".

He says he wants to show "a conspiracy" by Nissan officials who, worried about a merger with French partner Renault, got Japanese authorities to pursue a criminal case against him. There were thugs inside Nissan, he added.

"If he's guilty, many Japanese should also be in prison," he said from Beirut during an online press conference in December.

There has been other fallout from the case, with two Americans who helped Ghosn flee the country extradited from the US to Japan and sentenced last year to between 20 months and two years in prison.

(with AFP)
Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right and a desire to know.  John Adams, 1765

Introduction

The current NPP is not a direct progeny of the Northern People's Party as has been canvassed lately by some supposed Dombo elements to hoodwink some unsuspecting "Northerners" in particular and Ghanaians in general with same hackneyed Danquah-Busia and lately, Dombo narrative.

The Northern People's Party was formed out of the CPP in 1954. It is trite knowledge that some elements of the Northern People's Party transitioned to merge with the National Liberation Movement which was founded by Baffour Akoto and led by JB Danquah to form the United Party (U.P) in 1957. History has established that the current NPP is the transmogrification of the United Party (U. P) through the United National Convention (UNC) and the Popular Front Party to the All People's Party in 1981. It is worthy to note that the United National Convention (UNC) and the Popular Front Party (PFP) were the break-ups of the United Party (U.P) before the 1979. One can easily depict the attitude of the leadership of United Party (UP).

It is therefore incumbent on Ghanaians to take serious interest in studying over and over, the emergence of this New Patriotic party. How they came, their vision and what they do currently. According to His Excellency the late president Rawlings, the NPP is the same party. They only keep changing their names and they are proud of what they do. Ghanaians need to be constantly reminded how the NPP emerged, their character traits and how to reward them when it comes to leading this country. I will journey you through some little-known historical records which under-pin the NPP as a party.

Reference is made to the DARK DAYS IN GHANA by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and also the AUTOBIOGRAPHY of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah. I was propelled to peruse these documents to properly appreciate the posturing of the Nana Addo - led government in the midst of the economic turbulence Ghana finds herself.

Background

Literature postulates that better appreciation of events, groups, individuals among others can best be done when one carefully studies their backgrounds. The background of every group gives an adequate and precise posturing of their character and vision.

The general elections that was organised in 1954 was seriously contested by the Convention People's Party. The incident leading to this general election was the determination by Dr Nkrumah to gain internal self-government to increase the membership of the Legislative Assembly and to change its composition to satisfy the Coussey Constitutional reform demand. The country was then divided into one hundred and four constituencies with the Convention People's Party contesting every one of these seats.

Dr Kwame Nkrumah toured the whole country to campaign. He got to realize a mishap within his party-some of his members put themselves up to contest the official party candidates. He lost no time in sacking them. Dr Kwame Nkrumah said, I had previously warned candidates that they should not put themselves up to oppose the official party candidates, as had happened in some previous by-elections. I discovered that eighty-one party members had put themselves up to stand against official candidates. I called these people 'rebels'. Firm action had to be taken. I expelled each of the eighty-one 'rebels' from the Party. By the time I arrived back in Accra, I learnt that a new party had been formed in the Northern Territories called the Northern People's Party. I at once dashed to the North, but this time it was too late to do very much. Candidates had been found to oppose each of the twenty-one constituencies in the North.

What is more intriguing in this piece are the incidence preceding the formation of the C.P.P and the Northern Peoples Party in 1954. Before the C.P.P and its credentials, there was a five-member group of blood relatives who came together and formed a movement called United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) on 29th December, 1947. It was quite clear that leadership of this party was deficient in organization skills because of their credibility deficit emanating from their hidden agenda. Ako Adjei explained in a letter to Nkrumah, the U.G.C.C. was being faced with the problem of how to reconcile the leadership of the intelligentsia with the broad masses of the people. In one of their meetings, Ako Adjei suggested they invited Dr Kwame Nkrumah to take up the partys secretary. He assured them how re-invigorating and lively the party would be with Dr Nkrumah as the Secretary. Ako Adjei who was a friend to Dr Nkrumah in United States and England. They met there when they went to pursue further studies. He knew how brilliant and organizational oriented Dr Nkrumah was. They wrote to Dr Kwame Nkrumah inviting him to come and take up the position of secretaryship in the UGCC. because the U.G.C.C. at the beginning lacked the support of the masses and of some of the chiefs, it is not difficult to see why it failed to make much impression. It was in an effort to make it appear a popular movement that I was invited to become its general secretary.

Deceits

The currency of deception that characterizes the Nana Addo-led government is not a new thing. It has its relics in their families. Dr J B Danquah, Ofori Atta, Edward Akuffo Addo, etc deceptionally promised to pay Dr Kwame Nkrumah a hundred pounds a month and give him a car if he accepted to be the secretary of the UGCC.

He added that the Executive Committee had offered to pay me one hundred pounds a month and to provide me with a car. This was captured in the letter inviting Dr Nkrumah to accept the secretary position in the UGCC.

When Nkrumah arrived in Gold Coast and they had their first meeting, it was deeply clear that those promises were rhetorics just to get Nkrumah to do their bidding for them. During the meeting Dr Nkrumah noted, the hundred pounds a month and the car had obviously, I realized, been used only as a bait for I soon discovered that the Convention (which itself lacked any kind of programme or mass organization) had no funds at all and had not even attempted to open a banking account. As the payment of a hundred pounds was quite out of the question, they compromised by offering me twenty-five a month instead. I realised that even this sum was going to be difficult for them to find and I proposed that I would work for nothing so long as they would take care of my board and lodging expenses.

Greed/Selfishness

What is worth-noting in this article is that, Ghanaians need to be re-awakened and very careful with this group of people calling themselves New Patriotic Party. They are a group of blood-related persons who decided to come together, camouflage few people and use them to achieve their family hidden personal and parochial agenda. Memory down the lane, shows that Nana Addos father, Edward Akuffo Addo and his relatives, Dr J B Danquah, Akoto Osei among others spearheaded the UGCC movement just to amass wealth for themselves. This is manifestly clear when Dr Nkrumah sought the emblem for UGCC after Dr J B Danquah and the rest rejected the Eagle as suggested by Nkrumah.

Dr Nkrumah stated,

We decided without much difficulty that the party colours should be red, white and gold; I then suggested that the emblem might be a soaring eagle representing the emergent Ghana. As this was not acceptable to Danquah and his two relatives, William Ofori Atta and Akufo Addo, I asked them to suggest an alternative. At the following meeting Danquah produced his design for an emblem for the new state of Ghana. 1 was completely taken aback when I saw it, for he had depicted, an animal with two heads and one, stomach which, according to the African, symbolizes selfishness, lack of interest in others and, in short, was hardly in keeping with what 1 imagined the UG.C.C. had been formed for.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Ghanaians must take interest in the last but one paragraph when we have the opportunity to elect leaders for our motherland, Ghana. The selfish vision of the founders of the UGCC-a blood-related family is being achieved by their children- Nana Akuffo Addo, Ken Offori Atta, Afriyie Akoto, Garbby Ochere Darko and many of their relatives in this Akyim-government to the detriment of the suffering Ghanaians.

I shall be back with the part II of the historical antecedent of the New Patriotic Party. It shall be centered on the hatred of Dr Kwame Nkrumahs legacies by this government.

[email protected]

0240371356
03.03.2022 LISTEN

When the People Power Movement was formed to resist the removal of presidential age limits, it did a good job of attracting more young people in politics and made them realise that politics actually do affect their lives too. For a long time, a substantial majority of the younger generation have been following Uganda politics, though, recently, so many of them have been brainwashed to think that Besigye is bad, Museveni is bad, and Kyagulanyi is good.

Nevertheless, there are no detectable differences in the political attitudes of people in their late teens and people in their early 40s. It is very rare for people to grow out of their political ideas as they get older.

Most voters born after 1979 believe that Idi Amin was a good president for Uganda, and that both Obote and Amin were better presidents than Museveni. Most of those born before 1971 see Obote as a better leader than Amin and Museveni. Most of the over 60s see Museveni as better than any other president.

I come from a generation that has grown up under only one president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni. I started primary school when he was president. I finished university and Im now a dad, and hes still president. I have taught myself Uganda political history, and I believe Amin, Obote, Museveni have all contributed enormously to Uganda one way or the other, regardless of their weaknesses.

NRM and Museveni arent bothered by your age or worried about future voters. Theyre only concerned about maintaining power. Museveni knows most young people like songs and dancing, so, he would make an Mpenkoni song and sing in it, just to make an impression on you. He knows you like music so much, so he can easily create his own opposition through a musician or musicians. He knows that regardless of the fact that Uganda has the youngest population in the world, his party will cheat at the next general election by votes going missing, excluding people from voting, and if theres a huge turnout, the polling stations will be closed before the queuing voters have cast their votes.

Museveni knows that most Ugandans are totally ignorant of politics. They stick on some slogans and words said by politicians and run with them. If, for instance, some novice politician said something, like, ebitayina Makulu tetubiwa Makulu, in response to something he had no answer for, you will find all ignorant people running with it in their responses.

It's really crass, nobodys opinion deserves to be rubbished basing on their age. A lot of young people speak as much sense as elders. I started Ugandans at heart (UAH) in my early 20s but a lot of people I meet now thought I was in my 50s or 60s, because I respected elders and learnt a lot from them.

Museveni came to power with the help of the NRA Kadogos(teens). So, he knows how the mind of a teen works very well. Your age as a teen or 20 old something, is something old people always take advantage of if you arent careful. Old people run the world and are more powerful than young people.

It absolutely bewilders me how young people can still be saying things like: " Kyagulanyi is a leader of our generation", "muntu mukulu lwakebuza magezi", e.t.c. yet they are responding to people that are in the same age bracket as Kyagulanyi, or even possibly younger than him, considering that they are question marks on his actual year of birth (1979,1980 or 1982). I am just sorry that the NUP party has allowed and manipulated the appalling character assassination of such a true and fine person as Besigye.

Ugandas main problems: ignorance, diseases, poverty and corruption, since independence havent changed. Poverty, for instance, affects a teen in the same way as a 50-year-old, and the solutions to this problem remain the same. Please respect people older than you, because, within a short time, you going to be like them or worse (Quran, Surat Yasin, Verse 68).

Whats astounding is that most NUP supporters accuse people like Besigye of being Museveni apologists not by refuting Besigyes facts (which are documented) but by arguing that whoever doesnt support Kyagulanyi is a mole. As though, the truth becomes false as soon as it doesnt serve Kyagulanyi's interests. This dirty tactic is popular with the Israel lobby. Write a piece exposing ugly facts about Israel and they'll scour the net till they find a neo-Nazi site that republished it. Then, they don't need to address the facts. Truth becomes a lie just because it serves neo-Nazis too.

By Abbey Kibirige Semuwemba, UK
03.03.2022 LISTEN

World environment ministers converging in Nairobi, Kenya for the 5th Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) have adopted a resolution on Animal Welfare. The resolution dubbed Animal Welfare  Environment  Sustainable Development Nexus was adopted in what marks the beginning of a critical global conversation regarding the inevitable interlinkages across animal welfare, the environment and sustainable development. The drafting process which began in 2019 concluded with the ultimate tabling of the resolution by Seven sponsoring countries: Ghana, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Senegal, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Democratic Republic of Congo. The resolution gained a near-universal concurrence among Member States.

Tennyson Williams, Country Director, World Animal Protection said: This is an exciting development since, animal welfare has been neglected in most international sustainable development strategies. There was no better time of adopting this resolution than now.

United Nations Environment Assembly has clearly sent a strong message demonstrating that the world is waking up especially after the ravages of Covid 19. While we might not be sure where coronavirus originated, wedo know that habitat destruction, factory farming, and wildlife trade contribute to emergence of infectious diseases.

This is a bold step that should provoke other policy bodies to recognize the sentience of animals as it is inextricably linked to the conservation of the environment and promotion of peoples livelihoods.

The task is now on the implementation of this resolution which will require transformative changes to guarantee success.
Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu has revealed that the embattled Member of Parliament for the Dome Kwabenya Constituency, Mrs Sarah Adwoa Safo, has written to Speaker Alban Sumana Bagbin seeking permission to absent herself for an additional four weeks.

According to Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, he has received a letter dated 28 February 2022 from the MP, who is also the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, seeking permission from the Speaker to absent herself from Parliament for four more weeks.

The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs was quick to add that the letter was not addressed to him but to the Speaker.

I was only copied in the letter, he explained.

The Suame MP added that the reason Adwoa Safo assigned to her request is that her daughter is not well and going through physiotherapy after recuperating from an ailment.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said the Speaker has not discussed the content of the said permission request with him.

The Majority Leader also took the opportunity to correct a statement attributed to First Deputy Speaker of Parliament and MP for the Bekwai Constituency, Mr Joe Osei-Owusu to that effect that he (Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu) had indicated to him (Joe Osei-Owusu) in a conversation that Adwoa Safo had instructed that she should not be called but only sent text messages.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said there had never been any such instruction from the Dome Kwabenya MP.

I think it was a wrong impression the First Deputy Speaker got in my interaction with him over Adwoa Safo's absence from Parliament, he stressed in an interview with Accra-based Neat FM today, Thursday, 3 March 2022.

Source: Classfmonline.com
The Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor has said parliamentarians are responsible for the fuel they use.

He indicated that MPs do not receive the service for free.

Speaking on the 'AM Show' on Joy News, he stated that people have been deceived to believe that MPs enjoy free fuel.

According to him, the current fuel hikes and economic hardship is hitting them as well.

People think that we get free fuel, its not true. Somebody told me just last week that he was horrified to hear we buy our own fuel. People think we are fed every day in parliament; we buy our own food. We are not fed everyday like others think. We are not given free fuel we buy our own fuel so the prices are biting all of us, he intimated.

Sharing his experience on the difficulties MPs face in their constituencies, he stated that even though their pockets may be a bit deeper than the average Ghanaian it is not as deep as many believed.

He stressed that a chunk of their monies are spent on their constituents who knock at their doors with all manner of financial demands.

The MP indicated that some constituents come to him for school fees, monies for hospital bills, individual building projects and other issues.

Before his monthly salary arrives, which according to him has been delayed this month, there is nothing left for him due to commitments made to his constituents.
The International Criminal Court's (ICC) chief prosecutor said Wednesday an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine "will immediately proceed" after his office received the backing of 39 countries.

The countries include all EU member states, as well as Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland and several Latin American countries.

"I have notified the ICC presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations into the situation" in Ukraine, Karim Khan wrote in a statement.

"Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced," he added.

Khan announced Monday he was opening a probe into alleged war crimes committed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week.

He said he believed there was a "reasonable basis" to believe that crimes within the court's jurisdiction had been committed.

But he needed the Hague-based court's judges to approve his decision before going ahead.

Speed up process

However, the ICC countries' referral now means that Khan's probe can continue without the judges' approval, speeding up the process.

"These referrals enable my office to proceed with opening an investigation into the situation in Ukraine from 21 November 2013 onwards," Khan said.

That would include "any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person," Khan said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "guilty of a war crime" after civilians were bombed in Ukraine, echoing an earlier accusation by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Varying success

Khan, who was recently appointed as prosecutor, said his probe will be conducted "objectively and independently" and focus on "ensuring accountability for crimes falling within ICC jurisdiction".

The Hague-based ICC was established in 2002 as an independent court to try individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC, however, can only prosecute crimes committed on the territory of its 123 member states.

Ukraine is not a member, but in 2014 accepted the jurisdiction of the Court.

Moscow withdrew from the ICC, so the court will only be able to reach Russians if they are arrested on the territory of a state that respects the jurisdiction of the court.

The ICC is also hampered by the fact that it has no police force and relies on state parties to detain suspects -- with varying success in the past.

Genocide probe

Meanwhile, International Court of Justice (ICJ) said on Tuesday it would hold genocide hearings on 7 and 8 March over the war in Ukraine.

The United Nations' top court, also based in The Hague, will open the public hearings "devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Ukraine," the court said in a statement.

More than 660,000 people have already fled abroad, the UN refugee agency said, estimating that a million people are displaced within Ukraine, which has a population of 44 million.

The ICJ, does not have a mandate to bring criminal charges against individual Russian leaders behind the invasion, but it is the world's top court for resolving legal complaints between states over alleged breaches of international law.

(with AFP)
03.03.2022 LISTEN

A civil society activist who is the chairman of the Civil Society Platform on Oil Gas, Dr Steve Manteaw, has said one of the causes of coups in most countries is the absence of an alternative to the governing party.

He explained that the people must have no other opportunity for changing the government before they will think of taking the law into their own hands. But, he said, that is not the case in Ghana.

He was reacting to a comment made by the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana, Professor Raymond Atuguba that conditions are rife for coup in Ghana.

Professor Atuguba asked the government to acknowledge the economic mess and try to deal with it.

We do not want coup in this country but if we do not act quickly we may have one in our hands. There is one thing to do now, prevent coup in Ghana since the climate and the environment, national and immediate international, are conducive for one. We must compel the government to acknowledge the current economic mess, they mostly, and previous governments, to a larger extent.

Ghana's economic problems started before Covid-19. On balance, Covid-19 was a good thing for Africa and Ghana. he said at a forum held by Solidare Ghana.

But in a Facebook post, Dr Manteaw said Professor Atuguba was candid and brutally frank. No malice. However, he omitted one precondition for coups i.e. the people must have no other opportunity for changing the govt, which is not the case in Ghana.

Adansi Asokwa Member of Parliament Kobina Tahir (KT) Hammond has also taken a swipe at Professor Atuguba following the coup comment he made.

KT Hammond questioned why, in his view, all the time some members of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) who he described as irresponsible call for the Military intervention in the administration of the country when the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is governing.

Responding to him at a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday March 2, KT Hammond said Why is it that in the course of NPP administration every opportunity that the NDC get, not all of them to be fair, but the irresponsible ones are calling for intervention of the military?

What is it about the Military?

Let me tell Professor Atuguba that he doesn't have the liberty to take leave of his brain, he does not have the liberty to take even half of his brain.

He owes it to his students and he owes it to the constitution that everybody including him has no reason to say the kind of things he has said. He is a Professor and of no other thing but of law, he understands the constitution.

This is the constitution that has made it very clear, anybody who attempts to subvert it commits the offence that he knows, he goes to make a statement like this.

He added The Military knows what they are up to, they are a professional institution, their responsibility is to guide the territorial integrity of this country, period, they know it, they are not interested in dabbling in politics. The group before them had dabbled in politics and we are all witnesses to these happenings. They are not interested, the officers are professionals, the rank and file, they are professionals they know their duties. It is not the likes of Atuguba to invite them to hold the country to ransom.

Clearly, he is an NDC sympathizer and indeed, I do know that at a point in time he worked with the office of the president, he is an NDC sympathizer but no problem with that but the constitution allows for the people of Ghana to speak at periodic times.

The last one was 2020, we had the election, four more years, we have spent almost one and a half years thereafter, we will go for election.

If the people do not like the NPP administration because they feel that we messed up it is for the people of the country to pass their judgement, it is not for the person who thinks he knows the law and who thinks he has studied the law to go about and brandishing foolishness like that.

I will be surprised if they have not already invited him. Clear foolishness.

---3news.com
A day after he was attacked by a fellow inmate in Arles prison, southern France, Corsican nationalist Yvan Colonna was still in a coma in Marseilles on Thursday morning, in a stable state, one of his lawyers said.

"It is not a question of improvement or deterioration," said Patrice Spinosi, his lawyer and that of the Colonna family, insisting that he was not brain dead.

On Wednesday evening, the Tarascon prosecutor's office said he was in a post-anoxic coma, a type of coma caused by oxygen deprivation in the brain.

Yvan Colonna was attacked on Wednesday by a prisoner convicted of terrorism while he was working out alone, the victim of "strangulation with bare hands and then choking," according to Tarascon prosecutor Laurent Gumbau.

"We are going to do everything we can to ensure that the truth is known about this attack on Mr Colonna," French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on France Inter on Thursday, noting the "tempered words" of Corsican politicians "despite the difficulties".

"I obviously believe that everyone is very shocked by this story. I want to spare a thought for the family of Mr Colonna, I also want to spare a thought for Mrs Erignac and the Erignac family as Minister of the Interior," he added.

Pro-independence activist

The 61-year-old shepherd and pro-independence activist was arrested in July 2003 for the murder of the police chief Claude Erignac, after four years on the run in the Corsican bush.

Sentenced to life imprisonment, he has always denied the facts.

There was anger in Corsica, where there had been long-standing demands for his transfer to a prison on the island.

Requests made primarily by Yvan Colonna, who has been placed under the status of "detainee of particular interest" (DPS), which prevents him from being incarcerated in the Corsican prison of Borgo, were all refused.

"The state was legally responsible for Yvan Colonna's security. If he dies, the prison administration and the entire political hierarchy on which it depends will have to be held to account," his family said on Wednesday.

The president of the Corsican executive council, Gilles Simeoni, also said the state bore "an overwhelming responsibility" for the attack.

His assailant is in custody as part of an investigation by the judicial police for "attempted murder".

On Thursday, the University of Corsica in Corte was blocked by students in support of Colonna, a student union and the university presidency said.

(with AFP)
03.03.2022 LISTEN

Students numbering 1200 at Abetifi Technical Institute (ABTEC) in the Kwahu East district of the Eastern Region have resorted to open defecation.

According to reports, the school has been out of a befitting toilet facility since the collapse of the existing one as a result of a blast.

The lack of toilet facilities in the school for both the girls and boys population as well as teachers have compelled them to resort to a makeshift pit-hole toilet.

Accra FMs reporter in the Eastern Region, Isaac Osei reported that farmers who have their farms around the school have had the course to complain to the school management about the level at which their farms are inundated with feaces by the students.

Speaking on the dire situation of the school on the Ghana Yensom morning show on Accra 100.5 FM Thursday, March 3, 2022, Chief Security Officer of the school, Benjamin Ofori Ansong said the school established in 1977 had its makeshift toilet facility overwhelmed as a result of the introduction of the free Senior Secondary School programme by president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos government.

He noted that even though a modern biogas toilet facility has been built by the Kwahu East District Assembly, it has not been handed over to the management of the school by the contractor.

The Chief Security who had been working in the school since 2003 added that the facility had been completed over a year ago but had no water.

He explained that getting water in the dry season is a problem in the Abetifi area although an empty poly tank and a pumping machine have been affixed to the facility.

He noted that the principal of the school has tried his best to have the problems of the school addressed to no avail.

The Assemblyman for Domekubase Christian-Quarters Electoral Area, Agyapong Boahen admitted that the Assembly has built a new biogas facility but the challenge is the scarcity of water in the school and for that matter the whole Abetifi area.

Source: Classfmonline.com
A Police Chief Inspector at Osiem Police Station in the Abuakwa North Municipality of the Eastern Region, James Tey, and his wife were both involved in an accident with the man dying on the spot at Akuse.

According to reports, the accident occurred near the Government Hospital at Akuse in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality where the vehicle was found in a stream.

The Police in a report said on reaching Marigo junction near the Akuse government hospital, they found a Nissan salon car with registration number GR 7365-10 in the nearby channel full of water.

The report added that, with the help of the Volta River Authority (VRA) Fire Service, the accident car was pulled out from the channel immediately and the lifeless bodies of two occupants were discovered.

The Police found a personal diary and a handcuff in the car and upon further checks, it turned out that the male deceased was Chief Inspector James Tey while the other was his wife.

The bodies have since been deposited at Akuse Government morgue pending autopsy.

Meanwhile, preliminary investigations suggest the Police Chief Inspector was crossed by a motor rider. In an attempt to avoid hitting the biker, the policeman rather crashed the vehicle, ending up in the river at Akuse.

The occupants died on the spot.

---DGN online
The Management of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) has condemned a false media report by Adom FM and Adomonline suggesting that the feeding programme which provides daily meals to over 3.4 million deprived public basic school pupils has been suspended indefinitely by the government.

According to the National Coordinator of GSFP, Mrs. Gertrude Quashigah, the report by the Akan cluster of Multimedia Group is false and highly misleading.

She noted that the false publication has the tendency to cause fear and panic among the beneficiary pupils, deprived parents and caterers working under the programme.

No! Government has not put Ghana School Feeding Programme on hold, she stated.

Her outburst follows Adom FM and Adomonlines report which emanats from a simple question posed to the Caretaker Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Cecilia Abena Dapaah on the floor of parliament by the Member for Yilo Krobo, Mr. Albert Tetteh Nyakotey seeking to know when the feeding programme will be extended to some schools he mentioned in his constituency.

The Minister in her response stated Mr. Speaker, Currently, the expansion of the programme is on hold. We are clearing all arrears of caterers and putting in place measures to ensure effective and efficient service delivery to all beneficiaries as well as caterers. We are also putting in place a Management Information System to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the system. We shall surely inform the House when we are ready to expand the programme to cover additional schools.

However, according to Mrs. Quashigah, the reporter for mischievous reasons decided to twist the facts and reported that the entire school feeding programme is put on hold by the government.

The National Coordinator said the story has caused serious damage to the integrity of the ruling government who is the sole financier of the school feeding programme in Ghana and its technical partners.

She is on behalf of the Minister calling on editors of Adom FM and Adomonline to retract and render an apology to the government, the management of the school feeding, development partners, the millions of beneficiary pupils and their parents and the general public for the false impression created by their reportage which had also been republished by other media houses.

Mrs. Quashigah said she had to sacrifice a lot of time together with her management to talk to distraught caterers of the programme across the 261 districts who were misinformed by the false publication and had felt that their jobs had been suspended indefinitely.

She appealed to parents, pupils and caterers to ignore the publication and continue to have faith in the government and the programme.

Mrs Quashigah emphasized that the Government is still committed to the implementation of the Ghana School Feeding Programme due to its significant impact on the development of education at the basic level.
03.03.2022 LISTEN

Executive Secretary of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA), Sammy Amegayibor, has welcomed the concerns raised by President Akufo-Addo regarding the high cost of houses in Ghana.

He said the concerns by the President are genuine however, these matters are not new.

The issues have been raised in the past by GREDA in series of meetings with government yet no action has been taken by the government, he said.

Mr Amegayibor mentioned the issues of high exchange rate, land guards and attitude of Ghanaians towards local materials as some of the challenges facing the sector which have been made known to the government by players in the industry.

President Akufo-Addo has noted that the cost of houses in Ghana is expensive.

He has therefore asked members of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry to find innovative ways to ensure the country builds cheaper houses for the citizenry, adding housing in Ghana has become largely a monopoly of the rich.

Speaking at a meeting with members of the Ghana Chamber of Construction, Mr Akufo-Addo there is the need for partnership between government and the private sector to tackle the housing deficit in Ghana

I hear in Ghana, some small three-bedroom house in East Legon costs between $354,000 and $500,000. You get mansions for that in many parts of America. With between $100,000 and $200,000 you get a very well appointed home because the materials that are used for construction in the UK are local, and are very cheap.

We need to find ways of building strong and cheap houses in the country, he added.

Reacting to this development in an interview with TV3s Komla Adom on the mid day news on Thursday, March 3, Mr Amegayibor said I think it is a good call, this is not the first time, the issues of housing have been discussed at several fora but unfortunately we havent done much to confront the issues. If the president is raising these issues it gives us the opportunity for further discussions.

He brought a number of issues up and I think they were all valid except to say that the collaboration to confront the the problem is not working out as is supposed to be.

So for example, cheaper materials, if we dont build the enabling environment for local production of some of our inputs it will call for importation and that is one of the areas where we are suffering.

He added As you can see now the issue of the change rate is eating us so badly that if we want to continue to depend on foreign importation which is currently around 70 per cent as against 30 of what we can find, it tells you that this is not feasible. So, we need to create an enabling environment for local productions to be able to produce as much as we can.

We have some local materials around but the way and our attitude towards local materials is not good enough. So we need to position ourselves or re-orient ourselves and begin to appreciate what we have locally.

GREDA had met presidents in the past, we have brought some of these issues up including a mortgage review, we also discussed affordable housing and also talked about how we can deal with land guard menace but we havent seen a lot from the side of the government since we met the president

We need to have that platform with the full commitment of government then the private sector will also come in.

---3news.com
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03.03.2022 LISTEN

Dr Frederick Mac Palm, an accused person in the ongoing treason trial has told the Accra High Court that the Beretta pistol retrieved from his bedroom is licensed.

The Chief Executive Officer of Citadel Hospital is not holding the gun to cause harm to any government official but for his personal protection, Mr Ephraim A. Vordoagu, his counsel revealed this during a Cross-examination of Mr Francis Aboagye, the tenth prosecution's witness.

The gun was among the alleged weapons retrieved from Dr Mac Palm upon his arrest on September 20, 2022, at the Hospital located at Alajo.

However, Dr Mac Palm has denied ownership of the other weapons namely: the locally made pistols and the Improvised Explosive Devices and others that were allegedly retrieved from the facility.

The High Court hearing the trial heard that Take Action Ghana (TAG), a Non-Governmental Organisation, was formed to mobilise Ghanaians both home and abroad to seek the betterment of the country.

TAG uses modern, a digital technological platform to mobilise citizens both home and abroad with a common goal to make Ghana better for us and generations to come.

It is an organisation that seeks to mobilise individuals to belong to a particular... such as trotro drivers, taxi drivers, civil servants, police, army, nurses, doctors, teachers, Ghanaians, abroad, engineers, scientists, economists, finance, unemployed, young graduate, pastors and imams to be placed on one major platform to share their grievances relating to important issues such as education, health, agriculture and many other socio-economic issues of national interest that will arise from time to time, he indicated.

Mr Aboagye, of the National Intelligence Bureau, disagreed with the Defense Counsel and said it was Camouflage, adding that the mission statement idea was developed by one Dr Albert Sam and sent to Dr Mac Palm on August 12, 2019.

The defence counsel said that there was no point in time that any of the accused persons including Dr Mac Palm made an announcement expressing interest or intention for the removal of the government in power and stated that the witness' investigation did not also prove the contrary.

The lawyer said Dr Mac Palm wanted to exercise his constitutional right to engage a counsel and did not make any confessions but the witness said it was false, as the accused person did not indicate that he wanted to exercise his constitutional rights during his interrogation but he confessed particularly when confronted with the facts as narrated by Kafui.

The Defense Counsel challenged that what the witness was saying about his client was conjecture and imaginative.

In a rebuttal, Mr Aboagye said it was not a conjecture and his imagination and whatever he said in court was factually supported and consistent with his professional ethics.

Again, Defense Counsel said it was Staff Sergeant Sule Kwadwo Awarf who planted the said sketch which had vital security installations allegedly targeted by the accused persons.

It is false that Staff Sergeant Awarf planted the sketch because the investigation team went to the place in the company of Dr Mac Palm's relatives.

Dr Mac Palm is standing trial with nine others: Ezor, Bright Alan Debrah, alias BB, Freight Manager, Johannes Zikpi, signaler with the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), Warrant Officer Class Two (WO2) Esther Saan, Corporal Seidu Abubakar, Corporal Sylvester Akanpewu, Lance Airforce Corporal (LAC) Ali Solomon, Colonel Kojo Gameli and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dr Benjamin Agordzo.

They are being held over charges including conspiracy to commit a crime, high treason, possession of ammunition and abetment.

GNA
03.03.2022 LISTEN

As I stated last week, this year we are going to do a lot of book discussions, summaries and reviews if possible. We really must. We must make a conscious effort to whip up the reading spirit of the country. The ignorance on our social media timelines is frightening. And as Goethe established there is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action. The ignorance we spew on our national feed is no more an abstract noun but a concrete one. We must highlight reading and literacy in national discussions. In America, Presidents speak to the whole nation and quote fictional characters from books. It is very fascinating.

That said, this week we are discussing the Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. One of the solid autobiographies written in the world. It is a refreshing read and I exhort every young person to try a grab a copy and read. It is a path to greatness. Afterall, that is what reading does. My brother Abdul Rahman Odoi, a young man bubbling with an indescribable gale of passion gives us a great summary after finishing his read few days ago. Enjoy.

Abdul Rahman Odoi

A summary of hundred pages of Luthers autobiography, impeccably edited by Clayborne Carson, hinges on a tidal wave of racial slur and the difficulty of negro existence in the Black Community of Montgomery, a capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama.

The narration took the form of his early days as a child and the parental supports, he had had from his religious parents. Followed by his college life, which was intertwined with his ultimate love for God, and subsequently becoming a Reverend. But swiftly, the reader was put to mirror the rapacious segregation the white supremacist at the time were priding themselves therewith.

Luther Jr. was only eight years when he got slapped by a white lady who couldnt say anything better than that the little him had stepped on her foot. A negro dares not to retaliate in such an instance because a white person was involved. Even so, in Atlanta, negro kids could not go to common park alone. Not to say to be enrolled in the so-called white school. Swimming too was out. He couldnt go to some of the stores at downtown to get hamburgers or coffee.

The racialism didnt stop. He would grow later in life to the realization that the negro had been submerged into a deep dirty drainage of nothingness by the white supremacist. They, through a series of waged protests, as a black community, came together and formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). And lo, Luther was elected to head the movement to restore the negros somebodiness in Montgomery.

White suprimacist had created a segregation system to demean the black colored people. They believe that negress deserves the rear seat of public transport. The negro is worthless, black and backward, hence, even in the bus, they ought to be at the rear. A negro mustnt sit on the empty seats in a bus, even when white persons arent onboard. They should stand while the bus moves about half-fulled.

The first move of (MIA) was to wrestle the strict segregation system. They led a Montgomery bus boycott riot. These agitations had taken turns and started simmering when Luther Jr. was illegally arrested for over speeding, albeit his car was moving at a normal speed. The black community didnt rest on that bad news. They had come to realize that black lives matter. Ralph Abernathy, his confidant, was the first to had arrived at the jail. And was prepared to pay some cash bond for Luthers release, because he couldnt afford to wait to see his friend tomorrow, as suggested by the jailer. They (negro) thronged in the City Jail of Montgomery. The result was Luther King Jr. release.

In order to discourage the (MIA), Luthers home was boomed. But his wife, Correta Scott, who was very instrumental with selfless sacrifices in the course of the movement, and baby, Yoki, werent injured. Thank God.

There were other tactics like divide, conquer and rule by the white supremacist to sow seeds of hostilities among members of (MIA). Also, various accusations were leveled against him. One of such was the rumor that he had purchased a brand new Cadillac for himself and Buick station for Correta. Regardless, their fight for somebodiness still continued unabated.

On December 20, 1956, the bus integration order reached Montgomery. And they won the litigation from the Supreme Court. That the bus segregation must die and be buried. Even though Luther King Jr. captured those moments as Our faith seems vindicated, the white supremacist refused to relent their myopic, hollow, and lame racial haughtiness, in their quest to prove to the negro that they are a people, for sure, born into nothingness. They (whites) deserved to reign over them (negress), not otherwise.

For instance, a white elderly man, who came on board of a bus which serviced the white residential section, the very day the court order of integration was passed, got peeved so much that he stood up, though a suggestion was made to him that there were empty seats at the rear, he arrogantly declared: I would rather die and go to hell than sit behind a nigger.

Theres also an account of a white woman who took a seat by a negro and, when she had noticed it was her negro neighbor, she jumped and radically said: I wonder what these niggers would do next?

One negro woman was also slapped by a white man after she had alighted, but she refused to retaliate. The victim remarked that: I could have broken that little fellows neck all by myself, but I left the mass meeting last night determined to do what Reverend King asked.

Her reference to Reverend Luther King Jr. was the pivotal principle he had built the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) on. And that was nonviolent resistance, which originated from Mahatma Gandhis technique, his mentor. So, they (negro) never fought back, as in giving reprisal attacks, in whichever form they were attacked, but except that they organized a mob, use the sword of their intellects, and their tongues dagger to demand equal rights and bury the unbridled whites civil disobedience.

The Montgomery bus boycott meant a lot the black community in Alabama. In 1958, a year after Luther King Jr. had graced Ghanas Independence celebration with Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, he outdoored a book, capturing the gory moments leading to the bus boycott and subsequent protests etc., and entitled it as Stride Toward Freedom.

During the 1910s and beyond, reading from Luthers autobiography, one would carefully realize that the white supremacist wished that the negro should keep quiet for them to put mud in their mouths. If they fart, the negro was supposed to enjoy its smell. Their urine had to be a sweet tonic for the negro. Their sweat, the negro should bath himself with it. And, the negro should be their camel, carrying loads of useless bigotry and imperialism.

But unluckily for them, Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King had birthed Martin Luther King Jr, who holds a maxim that: Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things which matter.

Abdul Rahman Odoi

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President Akufo-Addo has bemoaned the high cost of properties in Ghana and urged the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry to find innovative ways to build less costly properties for Ghanaian citizens so more people can own homes.

The President told the Chamber at a meeting: I hear in Ghana, some small three-bedroom house in East Legon costs between $354,000 and $500,000. You get mansions for that in many parts of America, he contrasted.

In his view, with between $100,000 and $200,000, you get a very well [apportioned] home because the materials that are used for construction in the UK are local, and are very cheap.

We need to find ways of building strong and cheap houses in the country, the president urged the Chamber.

In October 2021, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, said, to achieve the affordable housing that we all crave and further create the needed opportunity for the majority of the countrys urban population, the government, acting through his ministry, has developed a framework to drive a new affordable housing programme.

This framework intends to use an appropriate mix of public and private sector investments that meet the needs and the financial capacity of the average Ghanaian, he said at the launch of the Business 24 Real Estate Conference 2021 in Accra on Tuesday, 19 October 2021.

Accordingly, he said, the ministry has identified each of the components of cost drivers that contribute to the cost of an affordable housing unit and has mapped out specific strategies targeted at each of these with the sole objective of making housing affordable for the large section of the population.

He said the focus is to look at the entire ecosystem when it comes to housing delivery:

1. Land through the repossession of public land and engagement with traditional leaders emphasising transportation linkages to these lands and taking advantage of the infrastructural services available.

2. Provision of infrastructure through dedicated financing and synergies with other infrastructural sectors.

3. Local building materials and their impact on housing cost

4. Planning and design through the establishment of space standards to benefit from economies of scale and avoid wastage

5. And sustainable and cheaper means of construction finance as well as long-term mortgage financing

Through this, the government commits to reduce up to 40 per cent of the construction cost through the provision of land, infrastructural services and some tax incentives and exemptions in support of the affordable housing programme, the minister said.

This, we believe, will be pivotal in addressing the supply side constraints of the housing market, he noted.

Additionally, he said the government has planned to scale up the National Housing and Mortgage Fund, which was piloted in 2020, to stimulate the demand side of the housing market and create more access to affordable housing for the low- to middle-income earners.

He revealed that the government is also considering how prospective homebuyers could use their tier-2 and tier-3 pension funds, to support their mortgage, especially in the area of initial deposit.

Again, he noted, the ministry is poised to be the forebearer in the area of the use of local building materials for construction.

This drive, Mr Asenso-Boakye added, has arisen because of its attendant benefits of reducing construction cost in the long run.

It is envisaged that every developer who wants to partner the government in our affordable housing drive, will incorporate the use of local building materials such as burnt bricks, compressed earth blocks, etc., in the construction of these affordable housing units.

In his view, such an initiative will go a long way to reduce building cost and ensure the provision of affordable housing while boosting the local economy.

Certainly, this model presents the opportunity to attract long term and sustainable financing for the low- to middle-income earners without the government providing guarantees and offtakers to attract private sector developers, Mr Asenso-Boakye mentioned.

Let me take this opportunity to urge all developers within the housing sector, to embrace this current framework of the government and partner with banks and other financial institutions to invest more in the provision of affordable housing where the housing deficit is prevalent, adding: In fact, the future of real estates in Ghana is in the provision of affordable housing and I want to urge all developers to come to that direction.

He said: It is only through this that we can reach out to the majority of our citizens and positively affect the lives of the larger population.

Source: Classfmonline.com
The Appiatse portion of the Bogoso to Anyanfuri highway which was closed due to the tragic explosion that occurred in the community has been reopened to motorists.

The tragedy left a crack in the middle of the road which made it impossible for motorists to ply that route.

A detour was however created for motorists.

A ceremony was held on Thursday, 3 March 2022 to cut a tape for the reopening of the road.

Deputy Minister for Roads and Highways, Mavis Nkansah Boadu, who cut the tape, noted that the road was 85 percent complete.

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor had said the model community that the government has promised to rebuild for the people of Appiatse will begin soon and be completed within 6-12 months.

The Minister made this known in an interview with BBC on Wednesday, 16th February, 2022, during which he also announced government's robust plan to rebuild the community in three phases.

He explained that the first stage which has already been provided are tents and related materials for the victims to occupy in the interim. Stage two he said will see the provision of temporary structures and the third are actual construction blocks works and livelihood support for the people.

The entire Appiatse community was destroyed when the explosion occurred.

Various organisations have since been donating to a support fund instituted to rebuild the community.

Source: classfmonline.com
The Deputy Director-General of the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) has announced that government has injected an amount of GHS7 billion into the retooling of all 47 Technical and Vocational and Education and Training (TVET) institutions across the country.

According to Mr Peter Antwi-Boasiako, over the past four years, all vocational and technical training centres have had state-of-the-art equipment to shore up technical training in the country.

He said these are the measures the government has put in place to revamp the 47 technical institutions across the country.

Speaking on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Kwame Obeng Sarkodie on Accra 100.5 FM Thursday, March 3, 2022 Mr Antwi-Boasiako noted that through government support, the concentration on technical and vocational education is changing.

As a commission, we are changing the narrative for TVET education in the country, he stated.

Explaining on the work of the commission with the mandate to regulate vocational, technical institutions to the tertiary level, he said hitherto we had the National Vocational Technical Institute (NTVI) which was responsible for the vocational schools, Technical Examination Unit under the Ghana Education Service (GES) was also responsible for technical institutions, the National Board for Professional Examination was responsible for regulating Higher National Diploma (HND) institutions, and the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training for regulating the TVET space but all these have been merged and brought under the Ministry of Education to chart a new way forward for technical and vocational education.

He noted that in addition, some training and vocational institutions under 18 Ministries in the areas of aviation, tourism among others have all been brought under the Ministry of Education with the commission supervising all their activities.

Per this merger nobody can operate a TVET in the country without the permission of the commission, he maintained.

He said this has also corrected the situation where students complete TVETs and cannot pursue tertiary education because of some disparities in their certificates.

He stated that these are the news service for the improvement of TVETs while making sure graduates from the TVET institutions are well-rounded with entrepreneurial skills going forward such as in countries like Germany and Australia.

Source: Classfmonline.com
03.03.2022 LISTEN

Some 47 Cash for Work (CFW) beneficiaries within the Ejura Municipality under the SOS-Green Project graduated on Wednesday 2nd March, 2022.

Their passing out came into fruition consequent to a six-month successful Life Employability Skills and Orientational Technical training held within the municipality under the CFW; a sub model of the European Union funded Green project.

The project is carried out by officials of SOS Children's Villages-Kumasi in partnership with the United Nations Capital Development Fund.

Certificates of participation were presented by implementing officials to trainees plus special awards to outstanding beneficiaries.

Out of the total number that graduated, 4 were males whiles 43 were recorded as females.

Addressing the occasion as the guest speaker, Municipal Chief Executive Dr. Kingsley Osei highlighted by way of acknowledgement some initiatives undertaken by officials under the Capital Projects i.e. the construction of culvert at Badukrom and a mechanized borehole at Sabonline.

He extolled implementers on how they financially resourced beneficiaries throughout the period of training and also commended the graduates for availing themselves for the training.

Dr. Kingsley Osei challenged beneficiaries to act as ambassadors of the project by putting into productive use the knowledge you have gained from the training so that your brothers and sisters would be motivated to take up the opportunity when the door is open for another season.

Coordinator for the Project Mr. Shaibu Fuseini strongly applauded them for their commitment and admonished them to make good use of the knowledge and financial benefits earned.

Touching on the focus of the project, SOS-Childrens Villages-Kumasi, Mr. Bernard Amoako said they embraced the need to empower Ghanaians on the need to take up professions that will not impact the environment negatively.

He said that often times most human activities such as illegal mining, deforestation, bush fire among others end up affecting the environment and may impose a damaging repercussion on the next generation.

He thanked officials of UNCDF for their collaborative role in the implementation of the project.

Adding his voice, Nathan Asamoah an official of UNCDF in his address underscored the essence of the project.

He brought to light that officials after realizing that most youth are unemployed and that the effect of climate change is adversely affecting the environment, UNCDF saw the need to capitalize on the latter to resolve the former.

Though government is putting up projects in various parts of the country, he noted that the Cash for Work (CFW) model unlike the preceding has in place a mechanism that ensures that almost every community member is involved in the execution of every project.

Nathan Asamoah raised the above amidst hope that all assemblies develop similar mechanism.
The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has held a sensitization forum with tertiary education students in Damongo in the West Gonja Municipal of Savannah Region on violent extremism and youth radicalism.

The forum which took place at the premises of the Damongo Nurses' Training College aimed at equipping the students with the necessary skills to fight transnational organized crime, whilst promoting respect for human rights and rule of law.

In a short address, the Ag. Savannah Regional NCCE Director, Issaka Zitor disclosed that the NCCE was implementing such symposia with tertiary institutions across the five regions in Northern Ghana as part of its planned activities under the preventing electoral violence and providing security to the Northern border regions project.

He said the symposium seeks to equip participants with the relevant information on violent extremism and youth radicalism in order to guard them against being recruited as stooges for perpetuating violence in the region and beyond.

According to him, stakeholders are duty-bound to dialogue on ways of addressing the tensions being created by activities of violent extremists or terrorist groups in the Sahel region and make effort to prevent likely spill over to Ghana.

He added that, by adopting the 1992 Constitution, the people of Ghana have subscribed to the tenets and practice of democratic governance.

He pointed out that, all citizens of Ghana have the power to exercise political control through their involvement in the governance processes, especially where there is democracy.

He admonished the students to be ambassadors of change and counter terrorism in their conduct and utterances, stressing that, "words are like bullets, and your mouth is like a gun. When you shoot a gun, the bullet is going to come out, is there any way for you to take that bullet back? No."

The Deputy Chairman for the NCCE in charge of operations, Samuel Asare Akuamoah on his side said the potential risk faced by Ghana in the midst of recent incidents of political instability in neighbouring border countries should be a cause of worry to all concerned citizens since it was a major threat to the countrys peace and security.

According to him, the current security situation in Ghanas neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and others assumes a worrying trend and beckons on all citizens to prevent the disruption of the country's democracy.

He indicated that the event forms part of a national campaign against violent extremism which is being carried out by the NCCE, in collaboration with the Ministry of National Security with funding from the European Union (EU).

The Savannah Regional National Security Coordinator, Bismark Seidu cautioned the youth not to allow themselves to be used to perpetrate crimes by jihadist movement groups and violent extremist groups.

He further urged Ghanaians to be security-conscious at all times and to notify security agencies of any suspicious individuals living among them.

He added that, violent extremist activities such as radicalism, terrorism etcetera, poses a lot of threats to the lives of the ordinary people and on our way of life and that, it was the responsibility of the Ghanaian government to put measures in place to preserve the safety and security of the citizenry by implementing a national frame work on preventing violent extremism and terrorism in the country and in the Sahel regions.

According to him, the Ministry of National Security was a national institution that works for the nation and society.

He admonished the students to stay vigilant on strange happenings around them and also urged them to form groups to create jobs for themselves and not to be used for violent extremists activities.
As part of its efforts to help combat all forms of modern slavery in Ghana, Action Aid Ghana has taken another major step by building the capacity of some selected media personnel in Accra to help fight the canker.

The workshop was aimed at equipping members of the Ghana Agriculture and Rural Development Journalist Association (GARDJA) on issues related to human trafficking, child/forced labor, ethical reportage, and unfair contract practices.

In his presentation, Chief Superintendent Mike Baah, Commander/Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, Ghana Police Service noted that human trafficking is a global problem affecting millions of people and many countries.

According to him, modern slavery has become a serious challenge in society, necessitating a coordinated effort to put an end to the practice.

"The current tricks being used by traffickers nowadays are that victims are promised to be taken to Canada, Australia, Germany, and other countries, but they have to pass through Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and other countries for documentation.

"When you get to the aforementioned African countries, you would be abducted and your money will be seized from you. After that, you'll be instructed to lure your brother or any close relatives to attend with promises of safe arrival and that he or she should come," he disclosed.

He stressed the need for people who are planning to travel to investigative agencies to offer them such opportunities before signing a contract with them.

"Some victims returned home with mental health issues and pregnant, while others only had their dead bodies were brought home."

This he said, a lot of people are in serious trouble and are suffering in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, as a result of not verifying the authenticity of the agencies offering them the traveling opportunity.

According to Chief Superintendent Mike Baah, the fight against modern slavery is a shared responsibility hence there is the need for all sundry to collaborate with security agencies to address the canker.

He also cautioned agencies who into such dubious acts to refrain from that, adding that Human Trafficking Law Act 694 prohibits human trafficking and perpetrators. When arrested you can be sentenced between 5 to 25 years, he stated.

The ActionAid Project Manager, Combatting Modern Slavery Project, Mr. Samuel Sabuli said ActionAid Ghana with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Corporation (Norad) implemented the Combating Modern Slavery in Ghana to complement the governments efforts in eradicating modern slavery.

This he said such slavery manifests in form of forced labour, human trafficking, debt bondage, and unfair contract farming practices.

According to him, Ghana has moved from tier-two as a country hence there is the need to scale up efforts and also put measures in place to help respond effectively to issues of trafficking in modern slavery.

Mr. Abdul Hayi Moomen, a well-known broadcast journalist, also walked the participants through the ethics of journalism, which should guide journalists and media practitioners when covering issues of modern slavery.
03.03.2022 LISTEN

New funds committed to boosting COVID-19 vaccination rates to achieve 70% country target by mid-2022, consensus on need to quickly expand local manufacturing in Africa and calls to resolve TRIPS waiver WTO discussions.

Dr Ayoade Alakija, WHO Special Envoy for the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and Chair, African Vaccine Delivery Alliance (AVDA) brought Heads of State and leaders from civil society, industry and government together over a three day Ports to Arms Global Summit to smash the bottlenecks that have prevented people from being able to access distribution of vaccines, treatments and tests.

Hosted by the Emergency Coordination Centre and the African Vaccine Delivery Alliance, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Presidnt Hakainde Hichilema, President of Zambia and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General opened the meeting and outlined the urgent steps that need to be taken to end the acute stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Emergency Coordination Centre and the African Vaccine Delivery Alliance have hosted a critically important Global Summit, brought leaders from around the world together and developed clear recommendations for how to end the inequity associated with the COVID-19 pandemic said President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Vaccinating against COVID-19 has accelerated in the country and we must use any lull in the virus to increase immunity and strengthen our health system so it is ready for future waves of the virus and other potential disease threats.

Throughout 2021, supply of vaccines was hoarded by a small number of countries and manufacturers. While supply is now improving, distribution challenges also need to be tackled but with new variants on the horizon now is the moment to work together to reach the global target of 70% vaccination in all countries by mid-2022, while also making sure that next generation COVID-19 vaccines are produced and distributed in a truly equitable way.

Protecting the highest priority groups, including all health workers, older adults, and those with underlying medical conditions, must remain our urgent and immediate focus, to prevent severe disease, save lives, and safeguard essential health services, said Dr.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. We strongly support the proposal from South Africa and India for a temporary waiver of intellectual property

rights under the TRIPS agreement for the duration of the pandemic. The flexibilities in the TRIPS agreement are there to be used in emergencies. If not now, then when?

With new variants of COVID-19 inevitable, the hybrid event brought new financial commitments  including Dr. Atul Gawande, USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health, announcing $33.3 million in extra aid to Nigeria to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination via Global VAX in coordination with COVAX.

Under the drumbeat of war and with shifting geopolitical sands, now is the moment for Africa to stand together and fight to save every life, fight to protect health workers and fight to strengthen health systems, said Dr Ayoade Alakija. This Summit is about smashing the colonialism weve seen in this pandemic and breaking bottlenecks that are prolonging the pandemic and hammering home the truth that all lives are and must be treated with equal worth.

There were also clear recommendations for all efforts to be made to speed up the development of local production, including calls for international health groups to commit to sourcing health technologies from Africa and for discussion around a temporary TRIPS waiver to be concluded quickly.

Today, almost 55% of the world has been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. In Africa, only about 12% of people have been fully immunised, in part because of late and unpredictable access to vaccines. Meanwhile, six out of seven Covid-19 cases go undiagnosed amid a lack of access to testing on the continent, said Tian Jonhnson, Lead

 African Alliance. We call on the African Union, G7, and other leaders to urgently agree to a fully funded roadmap to deliver on the WHO goal of fully vaccinating 70% of people globally by mid-2022. The roadmap should be based on a comprehensive global manufacturing and distribution plan for the vaccines and all COVID-19 products and technologies. This plan must also include a regular public reporting mechanism  with meaningfully civil society oversight.
03.03.2022 LISTEN

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) branch in the Abirem Constituency has condemned the bloody violence recorded during the New Patriotic Party (NPP) polling station executives' election in the Constituency.

The Constituency is one of many that has witnessed violence since the start of the election processes for the NPP to elect polling station executives.

In a press release from the opposition party, it says it is dissatisfied with the approach and manner in which the current NPP polling stations executive elections are being marked by excessive violence and vote-buying.

The people in the Abirem constituency are worried about such growing development and living in fear, which is portraying politics not as a friendly enterprise but rather deterring dignified people in our society from joining in political activities and related issues. We, therefore, condemned the barbaric act in our body politics in the constituency and the nation as a whole, part of a press release issued by the NDC branch in Abirem reads.

In the release issued by the Communication Bureau of the NDC branch in Abirem Constituency, it calls on the Police to arrest perpetrators and ensure peace prevails in the constituency.

The NDC in Abirem Constituency is strongly calling on the police command to investigate this matter and to bring the culprits to order before it degenerates into something unexpected.

We also call on the traditional council (Nananom), clergy, and opinion leaders in the District (Birim North) to take note of these happenings and act for peace to prevail in the Abirem Constituency and the District as a whole, the release concludes.

Below is a copy of the press release:
03.03.2022 LISTEN

Ghana's policy actors have expressed their readiness to standardize evidence-use in policymaking to improve development outcomes.

Thus, they have called for a stronger collaboration among State institutions and agencies, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and academia to overcome the challenges and constraints in gathering, accessing and using data in their work.

This comes after a two-day national multi-stakeholder forum organized by the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) on institutionalizing evidence use in policy and practice.

The forum, held under the auspices of the Centers Evidence for Development (E4D) project, sought to review existing initiatives that have adopted the use of evidence and data in policymaking and also to explore opportunities and mechanisms to help in proposing a framework for multi-stakeholder collaboration to advance evidence use in practice.

The event brought together representatives from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), academics, local government officials, CSOs, and the E4D project partners.

The E4D is a pilot project initiated by CDD-Ghana to strengthen the capacity and incentives of policy actors to access and use relevant data and evidence to inform policy decision-making and program implementation to improve social development outcomes at the sub-national level in Ghana.

The project, piloted in three (3) project districts, namely, Bolgatanga East in the Upper East Region, Dormaa East in the Bono Region, and Sagnarigu in the Northern Region, has significantly contributed to developing capacities, promoting networks and partnerships, and increasing evidence use in policy and practice.

Awal Mohammed, Senior Research Analyst/Team lead, Social Accountability & SDGs Programming at CDD-Ghana, stressed the need to allow evidence to drive the State's decisions towards ensuring actual development.

"The idea of continuously talking about the need for evidence to inform the decisions that we make is important. We have to build the kinds of partnerships and coalitions that allows us to have a bigger voice and leverage on each other's resources, capacities, and social capitals to be able to drive these changes and behaviours that we want to see, he said.

Patience Ampomah, a Planning Analyst at the NDPC, highlighted the progress made by the Commission regarding evidence-based policy formulation.

There is a lot of progress that has been made with regards to acknowledgement of the institutions roles and how we can help when it comes to implementation of the plans. We are also gradually whipping up the interest of the citizenry and even at our CSOs levels too, said Ms. Ampomah explained.

The E4D project is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Government has arrested and prosecuted 15 people for engaging in illegal harvesting of Rosewood from January 7, 2017 to January 7, 2021, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, said on Thursday.

He said on the Floor of Parliament that those convicted received various punishments, ranging from fines to terms of imprisonment.

The Minister's statement was in a response to Dr Clement A. Apaak, the Member of Parliament for Builsa South, who was enquiring on whether any arrests had been made of any person or company engaging in the harvesting, transportation and export of Rosewood within the time frame.

Mr Jinapor said of the 15 culprits, eight were arrested at Lawra in the Upper West Region, two at Navrongo in the Upper East Region, and one each at Bole and Buipe in the Savannah Region, Nkwanta and Jasikan in the Oti Region, and Tamale, the Northern Regional capital.

He told Parliament that to serve as a deterrent to drivers and vehicle owners who allowed their vehicles to be used for the illegal business, the Ministry had commenced discussions with the Office of the Attorney-General for their possible prosecution and confiscation of the vehicles to the state.

Mr Jinapor said between that same period, a total of 576 vehicles carrying Rosewood were impounded, most of which were transporting the Rosewood to Accra for possible shipment outside the country.

"Mr Speaker, the owners of these trucks never show up when the vehicles are impounded. The vehicles are usually detained for over four months and if no owner shows up, the drivers are made to pay fines ranging from GHS 2,000 to GHS 5,000 depending on the volume of wood on the truck. The wood is then confiscated by the state, sold at public auctions and the vehicles released to the drivers, he said.

"Mr Speaker, since we realised that the cartels who owned these woods found ways of participating in the auction to buy and export them, we have ceased auctioning confiscated Rosewood. All Rosewood confiscated will be donated to the National Cathedral Project."

The Minister reiterated an earlier call to manage the country's natural resources, particularly Rosewood, with the highest standards of transparency, integrity and candour.

In February 2017, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources imposed a ban on the harvesting and exporting of Rosewood to preserve Ghana's forest cover.

GNA
Ghanaian youths have been urged to exploit every opportunity to properly prepare themselves for leadership as only youths that are prepared will actually become the leaders of tomorrow.

Speaking during the hand-over of a science laboratory refurbished and equiped by GH Scientific to the Gbawe Cluster of Schools, February 25, the Weija-Gbawe municipal director of education, Mr. Charles Odoom, advised Ghanaian youths not to take if for granted that all youths are leaders of tomorrow.

'Your lab will make us move from memorisation and recall to practicals; because science is the next level. And to my dear students, everybody will tell you that you are the future leaders. But I don't agree to that. If you don't prepare, you don't become future leaders. The future is for the prepared. You have a lot of gadgets; the mobile phone is one of them; your time is not like my time. Use your time wisely. Learn. Prepare your mind, prepare your heart. Science is about having a knowledge and applying it. All these facilities that have been given us are for you to help you become better than the older generation. If you don't use them, then you don't become great. So, I implore you to maximise the opportunity so that you derive the full benefits,' Odoom urged.

Established in 1990, the Gbawe Cluster of Schools is a complex of eight different basic schools in the Gbawe sub-metro of the Weija-Gbawe municipal assembly in the Greater Accra region.

With a population currently estimated at about 5, 000 pupils, the cluster hitherto had no science laboratories. The science laboratory donated by the GH Scientific is expected to ease the situation.

In his speech Dr. Thomas Tagoe, chief operating officer of Gh Scientific, challenged the beneficiary schools and students to take advantage of the new laboratory.

'There are many people outside this schools who would like to assist you. Nowadays, we talk a lot about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics); be it in class, in schools. Everybody wants to do Biology or any of the STEM subjects. It just boils down to how you can take advantage of these opportunities. For example, you have this beautiful library here; use it. Our colleagues from the Ghana Science Association are also here to make some presentations to you; take advantage of all of these. Because we are all very interested in you becoming great, and possibly even becoming better than we are today. And the last thing I'll say is that It's science. You are getting to that stage where you'll just enjoy it: ask your research questions, find ways that you can get answers. Your teachers are always at hand to help you do that,' Tagoe stated.

GhScientific is committed to building capacity in STEM through outreach and community engagement.

"We thrive on the collective effort of our community, our partners and our stakeholders to impact our audience through our programs. Whether you are a STEM professional, an early career researcher, a student, an artist, business, school, or community group, we invite you to join us on our mission," it says on its official website.

Ghscientific also provides volunteering and work experience opportunities for people from underserved communities looking to find a place in the STEM community, helps bridge the gap between the public and science, and brings hands-on science activities to hard-to-reach audiences.

The company also works with families and communities to improve the reach of their science engagement through its STEM-inspired field trips, and holds

STEM career workshops to educate and help parents and their wards make informed career decisions.

Based on a UK model, the Lab13 at the Gbawe Cluster of schools is a room converted into a laboratory by GHScientific with funding support from Ignite Futures (UK) to serve as a space for students to explore science. It represents a space where student led scientific discovery and learning is encouraged under the guidance of a scientist in residence. Lab13 is an in-school space dedicated entirely to investigation, innovation and creativity; a space managed by young people; a space where children learn to be scientists as well as learning science.

The Gbawe Cluster of Schools was chosen to receive this lab after students excelled at an interschool competition organised by GHScientific. The competition which was known as the SHAPE Project saw students research and design innovative solutions to environmental challenges within their community.

The room was refurbished to include lab benches and work surfaces, pipes, stools, and a cupboard for storing supplies.

The items that were donated include charts, a number of 3D models, pipettes, beakers, chemical reagents and 10 science sets from Dext Technology.

Founded in 2015 by sibling Scientists Dr. Thomas Tagoe and Dr. Hephzi Angela Tagoe, GHScientific is a non-profit organization focused on building capacity in STEM through public engagement and outreach activities. Over the years, GHScientific has executed 51 unique projects including an exhibition at the museum of science and technology and a yearly workshop for girls in senior high school introducing them to the practical aspects of various science professions. GHScientific currently runs a free membership program offering its members life changing experiences to enhance their educational or professional journeys in the STEM spaces.
The Caucus for Mature Democrats (CMD) has appealed to the government to take key steps to bring home all Ghanaian students escaping war-torn Ukraine.

Ukraine since last week has been under attack by Russia with several bombings in some parts of the country leaving so many people dead.

In a press release from CMD, its chairman Comrade Leslie Mensah Tamakloe has noted that the 14 Ghanaian students already evacuated from Ukraine are not adequate.

He has hence called on the government to push until all Ghanaian students in the troubled country are safely brought back home.

Comrade Leslie Mensah Tamakloe, an IT Specialist, an Industrialist, and Chairman of CMD expressed the concern, that the 14 students who have arrived are only a small fraction of over 400 and more students living in that country. Concrete steps, therefore, have to be taken to ensure they are safe, part of a release from CMD has said.

The government has shown commitment to bring home all Ghanaians that were in Ukraine when the Russian attacks started.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration continues to work with missions abroad to ensure the safe return of all willing Ghanaians.

Below is a copy of the release from the Caucus for Mature Democrats:

PRESS RELEASE 4th MARCY 2022

BRING OUR STUDENTS HOME

The Caucus for Mature Democrats (CMD), in an interview on the war between Ukraine and Russia, with its Chairman, has appealed to the Government to ensure the smooth departure, and arrival of our students from Ukraine. He made the comment in an interview with the editor of CMD.

Comrade Leslie Mensah Tamakloe, an IT Specialist, an Industrialist and Chairman of CMD expressed the concern, that the 14 students who have arrived are only a small fraction of over 400 and more students living in that country. Concrete steps therefore have to be taken to ensure they are safe.

On the war itself, the Chairman explained that Ukraine was one of the member states of the Soviet Union, which became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The euphoria after Independence was coupled with Ukraine`s desire to join the NATO. Some of these States in spite of proximity to Russia, have joined (NATO); kipping the balance of power and ignoring Russia`s protest. As often as Russia complained, so often was NATO oblivious to the realities and concerns of Russia.

NATO, a military organization, is made up of Western countries including USA, England, France, Japan, Israel and Turkey among others. It would be recalled that in the 1980`s the Soviet Union attempted to position missiles in Cuba. This was vehemently resisted and prevented by NATO because of Cuba`s (90 km) proximity to USA.

Ukraine has since the 2014 continued to express interest and desire to join the NATO despite common border to Russia. Any attempt to join NATO, brings the bases and missiles of NATO, closer to the borders of Russia. The Russians would not accept this new variant because it puts their security interest at risk. When Ukraine insisted on applying for NATO membership, Russia had no other option but to attack Ukraine.

Putin is not taking any chances with European and American leaders, who prevented Russian missiles in Cuba but now vigorously seek to admit Ukraine into NATO; a dichotomy of double standards, enigmatic to Russia`s National interest and concerns. The Chairman of CMD, Comrade Leslie Mensah Tamakloe, however pleaded for a seize fire to give peace a chance.

Dr E. K. Hayfod / Nadia Alhassan Executive Director / Deputy Executive Director

Caucus for Mature Democrats (CMD)

0277606338 / 0243609277
Fin-tech platform BharatPe on Wednesday revealed for the first time that Ashneer Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain, and their relatives were engaged in extensive misappropriation of company funds and grossly misused company money to fund their lavish lifestyles.

In a statement, BharatPe said it reserves all rights to take further legal action against him and his family.

"The Grover family and their relatives engaged in extensive misappropriation of company funds, including, but not limited to, creating fake vendors through which they siphoned money away from the company's expense account and grossly abused company expense accounts in order to enrich themselves and fund their lavish lifestyles," BharatPe elaborated.

The company said that the board will not allow the "deplorable conduct of the Grover family to tarnish BharatPe's reputation or that of its hard-working employees and world-class technology."

"As a result of his misdeeds, (Ashneer) Grover is no longer an employee, a founder, or a director of the company," the company announced.

Ashneer had sent an emotionally-charged resignation letter ahead of the crucial BharatPe board meeting as an independent PwC 'governance review' found him guilty of financial irregularities worth several crores along with his wife Madhuri Jain Grover.

The board was set to grill Ashneer over the PwC report regarding his conduct and take action based on it, which was to ultimately sack him.

Sensing what was coming his way, Ashneer decided to shoot off an emotionally-charged and lengthy resignation to the board, in a bid to salvage his image.

BharatPe said that the board is taking all necessary steps to further strengthen the company's corporate governance, including the appointment of an audit committee, an internal auditor, and the implementation of other key internal controls.

"Minutes after Ashneer Grover received notice that some of the results of the inquiry would be presented to the Board, he quickly shirked responsibility by sending an email to the Board submitting his resignation and fabricating another false narrative of the events to the public," a said the company.

The company said it has taken strong objection to Mr Grover spinning lies and hurling baseless allegations and threats.

The resignation came as top investors in the fin-tech platform declined to buy his 8.5% stake in the company for Rs4,000 crore as he had sought. Ashneer also lost an arbitration in Singapore he filed against the fin-tech platform for launching a probe against him.

According to sources, Mr Grover's valuation does not hold ground as the company is not valued at US$6bn (billion) as being projected by him.

At a US$2.85 billion valuation and at the current dollar-rupee exchange rate, his stake would be around Rs1,824 crore.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
When an investigation under this chapter is conducted by a subordinate police officer, that is, an officer other than Officer in charge of Investigation, then they shall, after conducting the investigation, submit a report of the result of the investigation to the officer in charge of the police station. The latter shall then, after verifying the same, forward it to the Magistrate.

Closure report

Thereafter, provision has been made in the Criminal Procedure Code [CrPC] to ensure that a person accused of an offence does not have to unnecessarily face a trial. This is in consonance with the principles of natural justice and also as enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

Section 169 of the CrPC deals with what is also called a Closure Report.

The section contemplates a report which is submitted by the police or the investigating authorities to the Magistrate, stating that after conducting the investigation against the accused person, no evidence or reasonable grounds for suspicion were found to connect them with the instant crime that is under investigation, and in such a case, if the accused person is in custody, then the police officer themself is empowered to release them on certain conditions; for example: after executing a bond, or furnishing sureties, or directing them to appear before the concerned magistrate who has the requisite jurisdiction. This report, referred to in section 169, is known as a closure report in common parlance.

However, the Magistrate can direct the police to conduct further investigation. The objective of the closure report is that if the investigation conducted by the police or investigating authority does not in any way connect the accused to the crime being investigated, then it is futile to prosecute the accused person. The main objective is to prevent the accused person against whom no evidence has been found, from unfair and unwarranted prosecution, thereby securing and protecting the right of an individual to a fair trial under Article 21 of the Constitution.

When sufficient evidence found upon investigation

Conversely, if upon investigation, it appears to the police officer that there is sufficient evidence or reasonable grounds against the accused, then they can commit the accused to trial. The investigating officer forwards the same to the Magistrate for taking cognizance of the offence along with the accused person, who then remains under the custody of the Magistrate. This is dealt with under Section 170 of the CrPC.

The most important term in this provision, which is often misinterpreted, is the word custody; courts have cleared this misconception about the term custody in various judgments.

Custody does not imply police or judicial custody, but merely connotes the act of the investigating officer to present the accused before the Magistrate during the time of submitting of the Chargesheet and taking cognizance. This also works hand in hand with the powers of the investigating officer to release the accused person on bail if they are able to give security, and security shall be taken from the accused to ensure their appearance before the Magistrate on a fixed day and for their attendance from day to day before the Magistrate until otherwise directed.

Further, section 170 also requires the officer in charge of the police station to forward to the Magistrate any weapon or article pertinent to the case, and shall also require the complainant and other witnesses or persons who the officer thinks are well acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case, for them to execute a bond to appear before the Magistrate, on such dates as directed, to give evidence in the matter against the accused person(s).

Moreover, the officer in whose presence the bond is executed must deliver one copy of such bond to the person who executes the bond and send the original, along with their report, to the Magistrate.

The Code also makes provision to safeguard the rights of the witnesses and the complainant from unnecessary restraint or inconvenience. Section 171 provides that no complainant or witnesses should be accompanied by the police authorities on their way to the court, and that they should not be required to give any security for their appearance other than their own bond.

However, this section contains a proviso which stipulates that if the witness or the complainant refuses to attend or execute a bond as directed under section 170 , the officer in charge of the police station has the power to forward or send them in custody to the Magistrate, who can then detain them till the bond is executed or till the hearing of the case is completed.

Case diary

The day-to-day record of the entire investigation conducted by the police is maintained in a diary called the Case Diary. This diary includes all the data pertinent to the complaint and investigation, right from the date and time of information gathered or received by the police during investigation to the contemporaneous record of all the statements recorded by the police. However, this is not accessible to anyone except for the police.

Even the courts are precluded from using the case diary as prescribed under Section 172 of CrPC as a piece of evidence. It can only be referred to for aiding in the inquiry or at the time of trial.

Further, the accused persons or their agents, that is, their advocates or attorneys, are not entitled to call for such police diaries even if the same is referred to by the court.

However, there is a proviso wherein the accused can be entitled to use the entries made in the case diary only for the purpose of cross examination as provided for in Section 145 of the Evidence Act, only in the event if the same is used by the police to refresh their memory during his testimony before the Court at the time of trial, or only when the court uses the same for the purpose of contradicting such a police officer.

As mandated under the Code, the Case Diary for each case shall be maintained in a separate volume and the same shall be paginated.

The next part of this series shall look at the most important stage of investigation, which is the completion of investigation, and explain what the Final Report, also known as Chargesheet, is.

(Advait Tamhankar is an advocate practicing criminal law across courts and legal fora in Mumbai, Thane and Panvel. Ashwini Achari is a criminal advocate practicing at the Bombay High Court and in trial courts across Mumbai and Thane.)
MISSOULA, Mont. - The Missoula City-County Health Department has been running COVID-19 vaccine clinics nonstop for over a year, just to keep up with demand. Now, the clinics are no longer needed.

Starting Monday, if you need to get a vaccine, you'll have to head to the Missoula City-County Health Department located at 301 W Alder St.

The health department's Health Promotion Division Director, Cindy Farr, said Missoula County has the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the state, with roughly 63% of the total population fully vaccinated.

"Being able to have the offsite vaccine clinic really allowed us the opportunity to vaccinate a lot of people in a short amount of time," Farr said.

With a sharp decrease in demand for the COVID-19 vaccine, Farr said they won't be offering vaccines at the West Broadway site.

"We do still have our mobile vaccine clinic; we can still do homebound vaccines. We're still going to be taking it out into the further reaches in the community [and] we're going to be offering extended hours," Farr said.

Health officials still hope to get at least 75% of Missoula's population fully vaccinated which would be considered herd immunity.

Farr stressed that even if you've had COVID, you should still get the vaccine.

"The protection from natural immunity where you get the virus and you build that immune response is still only thought to be good for about three months. So, it's still good to go ahead and come in and get vaccinated," she said.

With vaccines moving into the Health Department's main offices, offsite clinics could be a thing of the past.

"We do think that that is a good thing. We do want to eventually come out of this pandemic and be able to just wrap COVID into our normal lives and how we respond to it. So, this is just taking that first step," she said.

The Health Department will take walk-ins on Wednesdays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Or you can call 406-258-3363 to schedule an appointment.

For more information, visit the Health Department's website.
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Celia Jimenez here, remembering the young people we have senselessly lost in the past few weeks. Karina Chavez Vargas and Jesus Arias Villa who were killed near Closter Park in Salinas on Feb. 5, and more recently Jorge JD Alvarado, the police officer who was killed on Feb. 25 while he was performing a routine task: a traffic stop. All three were young, with plans and bright futures ahead of them.

Yesterday, March 1, I went to Alvarados vigil outside Salinas city hall. It was a solemn event: the flag was half-mast, there was a small altar on the ground with flowers and a framed picture of a proud Alvarado wearing his police uniform.

Over 300 people showed up to remember him. Among them were his coworkers as well as firefighters, California Highway Patrol officers, Salinas residents and local politicians. There were emotions in the gathering: People prayed, cried, held hands and some even had a face of disbelief. Alvarados death struck Salinas PD and the community across the county and beyond. Not only because he was young, but because it was unexpected and also because he was the first police officer to die in the line of duty in Salinas in nearly 80 years.

Miguel Cabrera, public information officer at Salinas PD, says he feels the department didnt lose a coworker but a family member. The first day, I think, was the toughest, Cabrera says, adding it has been an emotional roller coaster. We all grieve in different timeframes and we're trying to cope with this tragedy.

At Salinas PD headquarters there is an altar in Alvarados memory, and Cabrera says it keeps growing every day. I think that alleviates some of the pain by the fact that they appreciate the job that officers do on a daily basis.

Cabrera knew Alvarado personally. He ran Alvarados background check the first time he applied to be an officer with the Salinas PD. He didn't initially get hired by us, but the guy was persistent, Cabrera says. Before becoming a police officer in Salinas, Alvarado started his career in law enforcement at the Colma Police Department and got his feet wet. When he applied again, he was hired and placed in the patrolling division. I think part of that reason is that his brother, his older brother, has been working for us for probably over 10 years. Cabrera remembers Alvarado as an enthusiastic and goal-driven man. He always came in with a smile.

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Among the people who showed up to remember the fallen officer was Daniel Ortega, former Salinas Police chief from 1999-2009. Ortega says he didnt know Alvarado personally but nonetheless he was a family member.

I know from personal experience that a tragic event like that touches every member of the Salinas Police Department in a horrible way, Ortega says. Ortega worked for over 40 years in law enforcement and he lost several friends when he was working in San Jose. It hits you to the core because when a police officer is killed in line of duty like that, you still have to do your job. It's almost like you don't have time to grieve, he says.

Cabrera says the department is offering support to Alvarados fiance and family during this difficult time. The department will also offer group and individual counseling for Salinas officers to help them heal. The Peace Officers Research Association of California is raising funds to help Alvarados family and fiance.

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Counties in orange are deemed by the CDC as areas with "high" COVID Community Levels, which measures of the impact of COVID-19 illness on health and healthcare systems. Counties in yellow are "medium" and counties in green are "low."

Map by the CDC
Mex-Tex Family Fiesta will celebrate its 35th anniversary on June 11 at Centennial Park.

This year marks the return of the Menudo Cook Off competition. The fiesta features daytime Hispanic cultural entertainment, a cornhole tournament, local mascots, childrens area, food competitions, food trucks, arts and crafts vendors along with an evening concert featuring Tejano artists.

Adrian Carrasco, chair of the event for the Midland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the Mex-Tex Family Fiesta exists to preserve and promote Hispanic heritage, culture and tradition while proudly sharing them with all segments of the community.

We have a cornhole tournament and childrens parade that starts early in the morning and then we go on into the night with the Tejano showcase and concert, Carrasco said. We have our famous fajita and menudo cookoff and people come from all over the state and other states to compete for who has the best menudo and fajitas.

The Fiesta was the first event to open Centennial Park last year with 5,000 attendees. In the past, the event has gathered more than 10,000 attendees from Midland, Arizona, California and all over Texas. Carrasco said a line-up of Tejano artists will be announced later on social media accounts but attendees can expect mariachi groups and folklorico dancers before the headliners.

Sponsorship opportunities are available to businesses. Vendor and food truck applications will go live soon at https://midlandhcc.com/.

The Midland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce hosts the annual event, which was started in 1987. The event started as the Mex-Tex Menudo Cook-Off.
A day after being forced into a runoff, U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, R-Texas, ended his campaign for reelection Wednesday and admitted he had an extramarital affair.

About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world, the two-term Republican said in an email to supporters. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life.

Taylor led the five-candidate field for Republican nomination in the 3rd District after Tuesdays primary, but he did not clear the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff election. Retired Army officer Keith Self, a former Collin County judge, won the second runoff slot with less than 26% of the vote. Hes now the favorite to win the seat in a district that became more Republican after redistricting.

Taylor said in his email that hed spoken with Self and that, I wish him the best as he seeks to become the next congressman for this district.

Self said in a statement he respected Taylors decision.

This is a time for us all to pull together and focus on the countrys challenges and opportunities, he said.

A former Marine and state legislator, Taylor drew criticism from the far-right after he voted to certify the 2020 election and for a nonpartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Taylors infidelity became known just ahead of the Tuesday election.

Tania Joya, a woman known as the ISIS Bride after a previous marriage to an American who joined the Islamic State, said in an interview with a right-wing website National File that shed had an affair with Taylor, the Dallas Morning News reported. The Morning News said the interview had been arranged by Suzanne Harp, a third candidate in the primary, after Joya reached out to her hoping that she would persuade Taylor to drop out of the campaign and resign from Congress.

Joya told the Morning News that Taylor also gave her $5,000 to pay off a credit card as their relationship ended and that he told her not to tell anyone. The newspaper said Taylor intended to continue to serve until his term ends in January.
ALPINE  Robinson Mendoza-Gomez, 21, a Guatemalan citizen, pleaded guilty Wednesday to assaulting a federal officer, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Texas.

On Dec. 14, 2021, Mendoza-Gomez assaulted a Border Patrol agent when they were attempting to apprehend a group of suspected undocumented migrants near Van Horn. According to the release, Mendoza-Gomez demanded one of the agents release a person in the group then charged and struck the agent injuring the agents face.
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Two UPS employees were arrested by Midland County Sheriff Office deputies after burglarizing a UPS loading facility.

Deputies were dispatched Tuesday at about 10:47 a.m. to the UPS loading facility located at 2061 Market St. in reference to a burglary in progress.

The two employees  later identified as Nathaniel Alonzo, 18, and Triston Jovan Nunez, 20  were seen by other employees stealing packages off the conveyer belt as they were being loaded onto the delivery truck, according to a press release from MCSO. When confronted by UPS supervisors, Nunez took off running while Alonzo stayed on the scene.

Alonzo and Nunez were found to have stolen three firearms being shipped to local firearm dealers and an Apple Watch 7 Series being shipped to a local resident, according to the release.

Alonzo was detained when deputies arrived on the scene. Nunez was arrested Wednesday on a warrant.

Im proud of the Midland County Sheriffs Office deputies that were involved in these two arrests. Were so blessed to have a great team, Midland County Sheriff David Criner said.

Both Alonzo and Nunez were charged with three counts of theft of a firearm and one count of theft over $100 under $750.
An attorney for an Odessa man on death row has filed a motion to withdraw his execution order, stating new evidence brought forward by the Odessa Police Department could exonerate him.

Michael Dean Gonzales, who is scheduled to be executed March 8 for the 1994 murders of Manuel and Merced Aguirre, is set to have a hearing Friday with Judge John Shrode in Ector County.

The motion states Odessa police found evidence, including 136 fingerprint cards from the investigation that had been believed to be lost and a bloodstained shirt that was never introduced at Gonzales trial. At the time of his trial, police testified that they only found Gonzales fingerprints on a stereo that had been stolen from the Aguirres home.

The flannel shirt that was never photographed was seized from the bedroom of a second suspect, who was never charged in the case. In 2003 police learned that the flannel shirt had DNA from both victims, according to the motion.

It is critical that we be allowed time to conduct testing on the shirt and to make comparisons of these prints to the prints of the known suspects, Richard H. Burr, Gonzales counsel said. Without this opportunity, there is a strong likelihood the state will execute an innocent person next week.

The motion also states the execution date should be set aside because the assistant attorney general who sought the execution date was unconstitutionally appointed as district attorney pro tem.

Gonzaless application for habeas relief also states he should not be executed because he has intellectual disabilities and official misconduct prosecutors.
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Though Wayne Christian handily led the three challengers seeking his seat on the Railroad Commission, he failed to cross the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.

The incumbent, who currently serves as chairman of the three-member commission, received 765,187 or 47.17 percent of the vote. He will face Sarah Stogner, who received 245,272 votes or 15.12 percent of the vote. The two will face voters again in a May 24 runoff.
Editors Note: This is the first of two stories looking at Kevin Sparks victory in the Republican primary.

- -

We are excited to have a true oil and gas leader in Senate District 31.

That was a comment from PBPA Executive Director Ben Shepperd to the Reporter-Telegram about Kevin Sparks victory in the Republican primary for the District 31 seat in the Texas Senate.

On Wednesday, the news became official. Sparks collected 54.84 percent of the 46,132 votes across the 45-county district, according to the Secretary of States Office. Eclipsing 50 percent helped Sparks avoid a runoff.

On Tuesday night, the Sparks camp thought avoiding a runoff was likely, but the remaining votes put him over the top. Sparks collected 24,776 votes. Amarillos Tim Reid was second with 9,026 (22.78 percent of the vote). Big Springs Stormy Bradley was third with 6,979 (16.31 percent).

The theme of putting an oil and gas expert in the Legislature  and that Kevin Sparks was likely that person  started in September when Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick stated at the Permian Basin Petroleum Association Annual Meeting that what was missing from the Texas Senate is a senator whos an expert on oil and gas operations.

We have doctors, we have too many lawyers  but we dont really have any oil men or women, Patrick said last fall.

Oil and gas matters to the states economy, to the state budget and to the amount of money held in the states reserve fund, sometimes called the rainy day fund. Shepperd said in an email Wednesday that Sparks presence will help there.

In these challenging times, we really need someone with his knowledge and background to help lead Texas into the future, Shepperd said.

Don Sparks said Wednesday from his north Midland office at Discovery Operating that oil and gas is an area where the Legislature needed the expertise, but that the campaign also was about acknowledging that agriculture also matters. Combine the money that goes into the coffers because oil, gas, cattle, cotton and dairy and the elder Sparks said that impact from District 31 could be closer to 40 percent of the states budget. Commodity control is how Sparks described it.

Those go up and down, and if you dont have experience, you dont survive, Don Sparks said.

Don Sparks said his son will take advantage of the time he has before occupying the seat to work with other lawmakers, businessmen and leaders to unify the district and show what an impact that 40 percent can have legislatively.

Sparks said in a statement that he pledged to fight back against Joe Bidens relentless attacks on the energy industry that is the lifeblood of so many in our district and our nation.

--

Coming in an upcoming edition: Sparks gives Midland something it hasnt enjoyed in a while  a winner of a regional seat.

Sparks victory statement

Last night was a victory for the conservative majority of West Texas. Our victory belongs to the great people of Senate District 31  from Amarillo to Midland and Odessa; we have connected with so many old friends and made new friends on this fantastic campaign journey. I want to thank all of you for your support, prayers, and hard work.

I ran for the State Senate to give the conservative majority in West Texans a voice in Austin. I am ready to go to the State Capitol to fight for the conservative principles that I know we share  our commitment to life and protecting the unborn, our commitment to the Second Amendment, and our commitment to securing our border.

I believe in the 10th Amendment and limited government. I pledge to fight back against Joe Bidens relentless attacks on the energy industry that is the lifeblood of so many in our district and our nation.

I will stand up for our freedoms and oppose any effort to impose vaccination or mask mandates, and I will fight to strengthen the rights of every parent so that you can know what is going on in your childs classroom and that your local school board will treat you with respect.

I want to thank my wife, Jill, and my entire family. To our supporters who have been with us from the beginning  victory was only possible because of your hard work and support. I ask you to keep us in your prayers, and with Gods help, I know that we can make the communities and lives of every West Texan even better.
A court hearing about Astroworld Festival's tragedy looked into the current issues surrounding the probe.

On Tuesday, the lawyers, who currently handle nearly 500 lawsuits, appeared together for the first time after the cases were combined and consolidated before one judge. During the discussion, the judge and attendees exchanged thoughts about the probe's conflicts, including media publicity and an alleged concern over a lack of diversity among the legal representatives.

Fox News confirmed that District Judge Kristen Hawkins issued a gag order in the case. According to the Legal Information Institute, a gag order occurs when a judge prohibits attorneys and all people related to a pending lawsuit from talking about the legal issue in public.

Hawkins said that her order on Tuesday, however, allows lawyers to tell the media about factual issues that happen in court. Still, she clarified that she did not want the attorneys to turn their cases based on public opinion and influence the jury.

"This case should be tried in the courtroom and not on social media or with press releases or other statements to the media," Hawkins said.



Hawkins was appointed by a judicial panel controlled by the Texas Supreme Court. She was assigned to handle all pretrial processes in the lawsuits.

Astroworld Festival's Hearing Has Issues

Following the court hearing, the attorney who is representing 1,500 attendees Brent Coon, said that he understands what Hawkins wants. However, he noted that the ongoing lawsuit is a case of public import.

Aside from the gag order, people present during the court hearing also discussed how to proceed with the case. They also suggested having a leadership structure to represent the victims orderly.

READ ALSO: Dua Lipa Sued By Artikal Sound System After Allegedly Stealing 'Levitating'

Hawkins, on the other hand, revealed that she planned to have monthly hearings. For the following discussion, she wants the lawyers to give her a breakdown of all the lawsuits related to Astroworld and categorize it into four groups -- deaths, bodily injuries, brain injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Amid the scheduled hearings, the Houston Police are still processing the criminal investigation into the tragedy.

The court hearing came months after the House Oversight Committee launched a bipartisan probe to discover what led to the tragedy. They already sent a letter to Live Nation's CEO Michael Rapino regarding the decision.

The Congress is yet to release their findings in the separate investigation. The authorities, meanwhile, are currently processing the results of their initial investigation.

READ MORE: Jonas Brothers Confirm Five-Night Concert in Las Vegas [DETAILS]

 2015 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Muskogee, OK (74401)

Today

Occasional thunderstorms - possibly severe. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 61F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch..

Tonight

Occasional thunderstorms - possibly severe. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 61F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch.
Mount Carmel School student Aleia Hofschneider Santos was recently recognized by the College Board National Recognition Program and was awarded the Indigenous Recognition Award and the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Award based on her exemplary examination scores for the PSAT and Advanced Placement courses.
Editor

Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the Best Editorial Writer Award of the Society of Professional Journalists, and the CNMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com
Rockport, TX (78382)

Today

Cloudy skies. Windy this evening. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 77F. Winds SE at 20 to 30 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies. Windy this evening. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 77F. Winds SE at 20 to 30 mph.
A group of Grande Dunes residents have appealed a decision by the citys Community Appearance Board that supports the construction of a 305-unit apartment complex near their homes, according to court records filed this week.

The neighbors contend the CAB lacks the authority to approve these plans, which the petition says dont comply with the citys zoning code. The residents also assert that city officials withheld public records related to the project until after the CAB approved them. The petitioners are asking the circuit court to reverse the CABs decision.

The CABs decision approving its layout and design and the manner in which the CAB and the Citys Zoning Administrator administered this matter was and is in clear and direct violation of the Citys zoning code and contrary to law, the court filing states. The Petitioners also seek relief for violations of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.

City spokesman Mark Kruea declined to comment on the appeal, saying via email that the city typically doesnt discuss pending litigation.

The dispute stems from the CABs Jan. 27 approval of the design of the Cottages apartment complex in the Grande Dunes development, according to the filing. The eight petitioners listed in court records all live in the area near 76th Avenue North. The group includes former city councilman Chuck Martino, local activist and businessman Terry Livingston and criminal defense attorney Kirk Truslow.

The property at issue is a nearly 27-acre tract located near the intersection of 76 Avenue North and U.S. 17 Bypass. It fronts U.S. 17 Bypass between 71st Avenue North and 76th Avenue North.

The property is part of whats known as the Grande Dunes PUD, a district that allows different types of residential and commercial development. But the neighbors maintain this tract is not zoned for an apartment complex, though it could hold a horse farm, single-family homes or a residential care facility for people with mental or physical disabilities.
Helplessness weighs on Anastasiia Sliusarenko.

Its like if youre, youre a little child and somebody is killing your mother in front of you," she said. "This is the same feeling."

Standing by the mermaid statue beneath the blue and yellow glow from the SkyWheel on Wednesday night, she cried in the arms of fellow Ukrainians who had gathered for a peace vigil in Plyler Park.

About 75 people, some with signs and flags, wandered into the park to pray, sing, be around each other, share news and simply hug each other.

Another vigil is slated for 6 p.m. Thursday at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Myrtle Beach.

Vitaliy Miroff was one in the crowd at Plyler Park on Wednesday. He had a Ukrainian flag on a white pole slung over his shoulder as he silently walked around the edge of the park. He stopped when the Ukrainian national anthem swelled in the air.

Miroff, 43, is originally from Kyiv, Ukraines capital, which has been the focal point in Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion. While watching footage of the air strikes and aftermath on news outlets, Miroff was struck.

I can see my house, he said of feeling homesick. I wish I was there, really.

Stan Petrovsky is also from Kyiv. His parents are still there, hunkering down in a bomb shelter. Petrovsky said he hasnt rested since the invasion began on Feb. 24, and is on the phone with his parents often.

My heart, it just screams kind of like every second, Petrovsky said. I cannot do anything else except for trying to help them somehow.

Petrovsky said it was hard to find words when he saw footage of the attacks.

I dont think the right word even exists to explain that to be honest with you, he said. It was just horrible. Horrible. Horrible.

Echoing Petrovskys sentiments, Sliusarenko emotions have ranged from scared to angry to proud as the situation unfolds.

She is from Kharkiv, Ukraines former capital.
The Diocese of Springfield is creating a center at the site of the former Chiara Center to offer spiritual and intellectual formation for Catholics, whether clergy or lay people.

Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey in Orange, California, also will form a new community at the site.

We have developed a strong relationship with the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michaels Abbey over the past several years, and we are thrilled to welcome them to our diocese, the diocese's Bishop Thomas John Paprocki said. The Norbertine Fathers of St. Michaels Abbey are a vibrant and growing community of holy men, and their presence and apostolic work will be a great blessing to the people of our diocese and to this region.

On the grounds of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, The Evermode Institute will focus on formation for Catholics, offering programming for both ordained and lay teachers, including catechists, Catholic school teachers and other groups who teach the faith.

Several Norbertine priests will move to the center this summer, and serving at institute will be their primary apostolate.

The Norbertine Fathers recently completed construction of a new abbey in Orange County, California, and its monastery already is at full capacity, with nearly 50 priests and 40 seminarians.

In light of the growth in our community, we had already been discerning the possibility of establishing a new community when Bishop Paprocki approached us, Abbot Eugene Hayes said. After prayerful discernment as a community, we have joyfully accepted Bishop Paprockis invitation, and we are grateful for the opportunity to establish a presence in the Springfield diocese.

The Evermode Institute is being established under the patronage of St. Evermode, a Norbertine prelate who died in 1178 and was a close collaborator of St. Norbert. He is credited with great works of evangelization.

Earlier this year, the diocese and the Hospital Sisters reached an agreement through which the diocese established a trust to assume ownership of the sisters' buildings and grounds, though the sisters will continue to live at the convent.

We welcome the Norbertine Fathers to Springfield and to the holy ground that has been our home since 1917, said Sister Maureen OConnor, provincial superior of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis. This new chapter in the history of the Hospital Sisters and the diocese marks the beginning of what we pray will be a mutually beneficial relationship. Throughout our nearly 150 years in America, the Hospital Sisters have collaborated with others in the work of the church, and so we view this agreement between the diocese and the Norbertine Fathers as a continuation of that tradition.

A date for when The Evermode Institute will open has not been announced.
Michael Madigan, the former speaker of the Illinois House and for decades one of the nations most powerful legislators, was charged with racketeering and bribery on Wednesday, becoming the most prominent politician swept up in a federal investigation of entrenched government corruption in the state.

Madigan, 79, is charged with 22 counts, according to the indictment.

Madigan, who resigned from the Legislature a year ago amid the investigation, was the longest-serving state House speaker in modern U.S. history and was nicknamed the Velvet Hammer for his insistence on strict party discipline. A procession of top state politicians, including three governors, has been charged during his tenure, but politicians long believed the savvy Madigan would never be among them.

In 2020, the Chicago Democrat was implicated in a long-running bribery scheme involving the state's largest electric utility, ComEd. Court filings at the time didn't name Madigan directly but made it clear he was the person in documents referred to as Public Official A."

Madigan is charged with racketeering conspiracy, using interstate facilities in aid of bribery, wire fraud, and attempted extortion.

The 22-count indictment accuses Madigan of leading for nearly a decade a criminal enterprise whose purpose was to enhance Madigans political power and financial well-being while also generating income for his political allies and associates, according to a statement from the U.S. attorneys office in Chicago.

The charges allege Madigan used not just his role as speaker but also his various power positions to further his alleged criminal enterprise, including as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party and as a partner in a Chicago law firm.

ComEd admitted in court filings that it secured jobs and contracts for associates of Public Official A from 2011 to 2019 for favorable treatment in regulatory rules impacting the utility. ComEd agreed in August 2020 to pay $200 million in a settlement to defer prosecution, though that agreement did not preclude criminal charges against any individual.

The federal complaint came after more than half a dozen Democrats  including Madigan's longtime chief of staff and other confidants  who were charged with crimes or had their offices and homes raided by federal agents.

As speaker, the ever-confident Madigan tended to shrug off the political scandal of the day. A spokeswoman for Madigan last year denied the ComEd-related allegations and said Madigan would cooperate with the investigation "which he believes will clearly demonstrate that he has done nothing criminal or improper.

That wasn't good enough for members of his House Democratic caucus, many of whom weren't born when Madigan was first inaugurated in 1971. Despite his determination to win a 19th term as speaker in January, support peeled away and he was unable to garner the 60 votes needed to retain the gavel. Relegated to the rank and file of the 118-member House, he resigned his seat in the Legislature and as chairman of the Democratic Party of Illinois in February 2021.

Madigan, the son of a Chicago precinct captain, became House speaker in 1983. He was a throwback to the style of machine politics for which Illinois was once famous, especially during the 22-year mayoral reign of Chicagos Richard Daley, when patronage and party connections controlled who was hired and which projects got built.

Madigan wielded power through stern control of his caucus and meticulous knowledge of legislation, determining which bills received hearings and which quietly died. His loyalists received choice legislative assignments and campaign cash. He controlled the drawing of district boundaries after a census.

Madigans former chief of staff, Timothy Mapes, was indicted in May for lying under oath to a federal grand jury investigating ComEd. The indictment said Mapes was granted immunity to testify and that his words or evidence cant be used against him in a criminal case unless he committed perjury.

Four people, including an associate of Madigan's, were indicted in November on charges accusing them of orchestrating a bribery scheme with ComEd.

Among them was Michael McClain, who served with Madigan in the House in the 1970s and early 1980s before becoming a lobbyist. One of his clients was ComEd.

The others charged included former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggirore; lobbyist and former ComEd executive John Hooker; and Jay Doherty, a consultant and former head of the nonprofit City Club of Chicago.

All pleaded not guilty.

In addition to jobs and contracts, the defendants were accused of conspiring to have ComEd hire a law firm favored by Madigan and to accept into ComEds internship program students who resided in Madigans 13th Ward, even though some didnt meet its requirements, according to the indictment.

Former ComEd executive Fidel Marquez pleaded guilty to bribery in September and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors.

Madigan held the gavel in the House for all but two years from 1983 to 2021, driving the political agenda regardless of which party controlled the governors office or the other legislative body. He served through the terms of seven governors. One, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, complained that Madigan, not he, was in charge of the state.

His power base was a middle-class district near Midway International Airport on Chicago's Southwest Side, where his loyalists, many on government payrolls, reliably turned out to canvass neighborhoods and register voters. With an eight-figure campaign fund, he could pick and choose Democratic candidates across Illinois to run for office and finance their races. The Chicago Tribune in 2014 found more than 400 current and retired state and local government workers with campaign ties to Madigan. Madigans daughter, Lisa, served as Illinois attorney general from 2003 to 2019.

Pay-to-play allegations were raised against Madigan, but he denied them and none resulted in criminal charges. In 2013, the head of Chicago's Metra Rail transit system claimed after being forced out that Madigan pressured him to give jobs and raises to political favorites.

In September 2019, FBI agents raided the state Capitol office of a Madigan ally, then-state Sen. Martin Sandoval. Sandoval's Senate district encompassed Madigan's, and one federal subpoena sought communications between Madigan and Sandoval.

The former Senate Transportation Committee chairman pleaded guilty earlier in 2020 to taking thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from a red-light camera company in exchange for blocking legislation that would hurt it. Sandoval had agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in their ongoing corruption probe as part of his plea agreement, but he died in December from COVID-19 complications.

Court papers mistakenly unsealed in another case revealed that the FBI had placed a recording device on a businessman to secretly record a conversation with Madigan in 2014.

Prosecutors have brought charges against another veteran Chicago Democrat, City Council member Ed Burke, accusing him of taking official actions for private gain. He has pleaded not guilty.

In October 2019, former Democratic state Rep. Luis Arroyo, a Madigan lieutenant, was charged with bribing a legislative colleague with an offer of $2,500 a month in exchange for the state senators support of sweepstakes-related legislation. He pleaded guilty and resigned.

Madigan has a reputation for spurning the media and rarely speaking in public. But when reporters asked in 2019 if he was an investigative target, Madigan was emphatic.

No, Im not a target of anything, he said.

As scrutiny of Madigan intensified, he also wrote a letter to House colleagues, denying wrongdoing or personal knowledge of any bribery scheme. He has said he never expected someone to be hired for a job in exchange for an action he took.

Helping people find jobs," he said, "is not a crime.
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Some of the countrys most prominent conservative politicians spoke recently in Orlando, Florida, at the National Conservatism Conference. The dangerous rise of socialism and the overreach of our government quickly took center stage. I was shocked to hear Republican senators argue that the solution to socialism and big government is more government. Especially, greater government control of social media. We need to tread lightly when we work to rein in the platforms that serve as a digital venue for free speech and democratic values across the world.

The Florida legislatures plans to regulate social media platforms are very concerning to me. I understand the frustrations felt by my fellow Republicans toward overzealous tech firms. Still, those regulations will also extend to social media platforms that we love, such as Truth, the new platform that former President Donald Trump designed for people like us that believe in freedom.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday accused the BJP workers in Uttar Pradesh of attacking her car with sticks while she was going to take part in a Ganga aarti in Varanasi.

"Yesterday when I was going to Ghat from airport, I saw some BJP workers - who have nothing else except hooliganism in their brains - stopping my vehicle. They hit my car with sticks and told me to go back. Then I realised that they're gone," she declared.

Mamata Banerjee was in Varanasi to campaign for Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party, which is widely seen as the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party's biggest rival.

Hitting back at the BJP, Mamata told the people 'Ek dhakka aur do' and they (BJP) are gone. She said that in UP now 'Khela Hobe'.

"I am not scared. I am not a coward. I am a fighter. I faced thrashings and bullets several times in my life. But I never bowed down. Yesterday, when they were surrounding me, I got down from my car and faced them to see what they can do. They are cowards," she said.

Mounting a frontal attack on UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, she said, "He is not a saint. A saint should respect women. I am a woman. Am I not allowed to visit Varanasi, Azamgarh or Mathura? So many people from here go to Ganga Sagar in West Bengal and we welcome them."

She said that a saint should have ensured proper cremation of bodies during the pandemic.

"Bodies from here flowed into the Ganga River and reached West Bengal. We gave them a respectful cremation," she stated.

Mamata said that a true India is one who respects all shrines and religion. "They are going to villages and asking people to vote for BJP because they have taken 'namak'. The people should know that this is only till elections," she pointed out.

She asked people to vote for Akhilesh Yadav who is their own son and ensure a better life for themselves.
Jackson, CA On February 25th at close to 10:47pm, the Amador County Sheriffs Office received a call of a physical altercation between multiple subjects in the 18000 block of Highway 88 in Jackson. The caller advised that a gunshot was heard during the altercation.

Deputies responded and detained two suspects. It was then learned that a male was observed discharging a firearm into the ground during the fight and fleeing on foot prior to the arrival of deputies. Deputies began searching for the male, he was heard running behind nearby residences and into a heavily wooded area. Amador County Sheriffs Office utilized their K9 Zidan to search for him. Zidan was able to track the male through dense brush, locating him and prompting his surrender to deputies.

Deputies searched the area where the male had fled and located a loaded Ruger 9mm handgun. The male was identified as 20 year old Eliseo Noyolagalleos of Jackson, he was arrested and booked into the Amador County Jail for negligent discharge of a firearm, obstructing a peace officer, and other firearm related charges.
2017 Donnell Fire View Photo

Washington, DC  Mother Lode Republican Congressman Tom McClintock has authored federal legislation that would direct the US Forest Service to immediately suppress wildfires on National Forest System lands.

Forest managers would no longer allow fires to burn out naturally in selected areas for ecological benefit.

McClintock says, As we have tragically witnessed firsthand, it is dangerous nonsense to monitor incipient fires in todays forest tinderbox. The U.S. Forest Service was formed to remove excess growth before it can burn and to preserve our forests in a healthy condition from generation to generation. Its time they did.

The co-author of the bill is California Republican Congressman Doug LaMalfa, who argues, The Forest Services monitoring policy and watch and wait has allowed multiple catastrophic fires to unnecessarily escalate and devastate our wildlands and rural towns.

We reported earlier that the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors sent a letter to the National Association of Counties, making a similar request, at the urging of board chair Anaiah Kirk. Click here to view the earlier story. That letter was approved with a 3-2 vote.
New Restroom Planned In Groveland View Photo

Sonora, CA  Tuolumne County has successfully secured three Clean California Grants that will help with things like reducing litter, fixing sidewalks, and creating new beautification projects.

The first grant, $129,000, is for the Dont Trash Tuolumne-Cleanup and Encouragement Campaign. It has three components and the goal is to eliminate existing litter and illegal dumping hotspots. There will be a countywide marketing campaign, a related mascot design competition for school kids, and on-the-ground efforts to clean up waste and prevent future trash accumulation.

The second grant, which at $1.3-million is the largest, is focused on downtown Jamestown. A Main Street mural will be installed by local artists, damaged sidewalks will be identified and repaired, shade trees will be planted, new park furniture installed, and newly improved trash receptacles. In addition, there will be the creation of a new welcoming image for downtown, a vegetation triangle, at the intersection of Main Street and Highway 108/49. County officials note it will include low maintenance and climate-tolerant plants.

The final grant, $249,000, will make improvements to the county-owned parking lot in downtown Groveland on Ponderosa Lane near Highway 120. There will be a new mural and restroom installed, better trash receptacles, new signage, an information kiosk, and new shade trees.

District Two Tuolumne County Supervisor Ryan Campbell offers high praise to county staff for securing the grant money. He tells Clarke Broadcasting, Only 30-percent of the grant applications that were submitted to Clean California were approved, and our county had all three of our grants approved. I think the fact that we are rattling a lot of cages (at the state level) is making an impact. We are happy to see this money coming into our county.

In addition, the Groveland Community Services District was separately awarded over $1-million for park improvements.
Russian forces were on Thursday trying to encircle Kiev amid intense fighting currently underway within 20-40 km of the Ukrainian capital, a non-profit think tank said.

In a statement to the local Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, the Kiev-based Centre for Defence Strategies said: "The enemy is trying to encircle the capital with a massive gathering of troops (close to 30 tactical battalions). The biggest threat comes from the north and north west of Kiev (Ivankiv, Vorzel, Bucha, Irpin Hostomil)."

The statement further said that 'ntense fighting continues within 20-40 km of Kiev, "where the enemy is losing equipment and personnel".

The think tank said it is expected that within a short time the Russian forces will attempt to enter Kiev with the help of the air force and missile attacks.

Meanwhile in the west of Kiev, Ukrainian Armed Forces have freed the town of Makariv and established defensive positions, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

In addition to Kiev, priority targets for the Russians include large cities in Ukraine's south and Kharkiv.

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry on Thursday announced that Russian ships and rocket boats were approaching the country's third largest city of Odessa located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea.

"In the waters of the Black Sea, we are observing a landing detachment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, consisting of four large landing ships accompanied by three rocket boats, advancing towards Odessa," the Ministry said in a statement.

While Wednesday night passed peacefully for several regions of Ukraine, Russia on Thursday continued to attack Kharkiv, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

The Mayor of Kherson city claimed early Thursday morning that Russian forces have seized the city.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, Ukrainian troops have continued to defend Chernihiv and Nizhyn, but the situation in the Vyshhorod area just outside of Kiev is tense.

The night in the Donetsk region was difficult, but Mariupol held.
After four years of selling burgers, hot dogs, and shakes, Fletcher's is moving out of the Bottling Department at Pearl. The vendor, owned by Culinary Institute of America leader Sergio Remolina, was one of the tenants that opened with the food hall at Pearl in July 2017.

"From the beginning, the Food Hall at Bottling Department has been a place for dynamic and evolving culinary concepts, with the intention of seeing its tenants grow, including expansion beyond the walls of the Food Hall," a spokesperson for The Pearl said in a statement. "It is with that bittersweet understanding that Pearl announces that Fletchers Hamburgers will conclude its tenure at the Food Hall on Monday, March 21."

The spokesperson encourages patrons to stop by for a final taste of some of their signature dishes before the final day of service.

"Chef Sergio Remolina and the entire Fletchers team have been wonderful partners on this journey as one of our first partners in the Food Hall in 2017 and we wish them great success in their future endeavors," the spokesperson said. "Pearl will announce a new concept joining the Food Hall soon."

Expanding enterprises: Hot chicken chain expanding to San Antonio

Representatives for Fletcher's Hamburgers were not immediately available to return requests for comment, but the burger business shared information with fans online on Tuesday, March 1.

"These last few years have been a great challenge for us, a challenge that we have overcome every day with the help of You and everyone who has been part of our work team," the Fletcher's announcement reads. "Fletcher's has grown and transformed from day one and our next step requires a big change and a location of the size of our effort and dedication."

Ash Wednesday alternatives: Best seafood restaurants in San Antonio to try during Lent

Fans of the burger joint lamented the news in the comments of the post and asked if a new location will open elsewhere. Fletcher's did not expand on the next steps but acknowledged that the news is "sad" for their customers.

Bottling Department was launched as an incubator for local businesses to grow and create new food concepts. Names like The Good Kind, Bud's Southern Rotisserie, and Maybelle's Donuts have all been part of the food hall concept. The last remaining tenant from the original cohort of restaurants is Tenko Ramen. The current Bottling Department offerings include the ramen restaurant, Mi Roti, Chilaquil, Kineapple, and Park Bar.

For a good cause: San Antonio dessert shop donating earnings to war-torn Ukraine

Bottling Department hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Smoke's downtown plume is growing with a new location announced for La Villita. Owner Adrian Martinez tells MySA he partnered with Sam Panchevre, owner of Sams Burger Joint and the Aztec Theatre, to add a "river bar" to the patio-focused property near Arneson River Theater.

"The Riverwalk is a special place for our city and the opportunity to bring our homegrown brand to the water is priceless," Martinez says. "This move puts our name in front of a national audience and we are truly prepared for that. Timing was key as we are slowly coming out of the pandemic, conventions are starting to come back, and Fiesta is only a few weeks away. We will be ready for NIOSA."

Fiesta Countdown: New routes, new events, and more updates on your favorite San Antonio party

The opening date for the Smoke extension is planned for March 15.

Martinez started Smoke, a multi-level, nearly 15,000-sqaure-foot building that served as an anchor for St. Paul Square in March 2016. The restaurant and bar served barbecue, hosted large parties and entertained groups like the Los Angeles Lakers before closing in July 2020 amid the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Martinez quickly reopened a reimagined Smoke at 501 E Crockett Street in November, less than a mile away from the original. The outdoor concept with multiple bars and a concert stage has become a popular downtown hangout and is known to bring in early 2000s hit makers like Nelly and 50 Cent.

Smoke BBQ + Skybar

The location where the upcoming extension of Smoke will be located was originally planned to be called Rocky's on the River at 511 Villita. It's housed in the Jeremiah Dashiell House, a two-story, mid-19th century home that is owned by the San Antonio Conservation Society.

Martinez says the space can accommodate 400 guests (with seating for 80 indoors) in a cocktail setting.

"We will operate the largest patio on the River Walk and program live music sets and DJs weekly," Martinez says. "Smoke fans will be able to enjoy our great Texas barbecue with fun cocktails overlooking the Riverwalk with the Smoke signature 'vibe.' We plan to keep it simple, serve amazing barbecue, represent our city, and keep it fun."

The San Antonio businessmen are also partnering on a concept to open in the former Fig Tree restaurant. Martinez says the plan is for a high-end business with cocktails and small plates, but it will not carry the Smoke name. Martinez continues to work on a Loop 1604-area location of the Smoke footprint. He's planning to break ground this summer.

"We are going to take our time with 1604. We're planning for it to be the perfect location," the owner says. "We are building it from the ground up."
San Antonio Police Department

The San Antonio Police Department is searching for a missing 10-year-old girl, who was last seen on the 1300 block of N. Sabinas Street on Wednesday, March 2. According to a media release, Kassandra Torres is believed to be with her biological mother who does not have custodial rights.

Officials said Kassandra has brown eyes and collar-length black hair. She is 5-feet-1-inch tall and weighs 190 pounds. She was last seen wearing a grey sweater, pink jacket, black pants, and black shoes.
Texas House candidate Jeff Younger, who seeks to outlaw transgender youth care, was driven out of an event hosted at the University of North Texas by protesters on Wednesday, March 2. The event played out on a thread from Twitter user Ismael Belkoura last night, who was posting photos and video from the event. Belkoura's thread has since been taken down by Twitter.

Younger, who is running for Texas House District 63, was scheduled to speak at an event organized by UNT chapter of Young Conservatives of Texas. The room where Younger was to speak was filled by protesters who drowned out Younger and organizers with a "F**k these fascists" and "trans rights" chants.

Younger, according to the tweets, only egged on the protesters by asking them to make more noise and proceeded to call the protesters "Communists." Another tweet alleges that Younger said "Trans people don't exist."

Younger's campaign website says he is running to outlaw "Transgender Child Abuse." It's a Texas issue that is already being fought in the courts after Gov. Greg Abbott issued a directive last week to state health and family protective services officials to investigate transgender youth care as child abuse.

A Dallas jury granted Younger's ex-wife Anne Georgulas custody of his now nine-year-old transgender daughter in 2019.

The event was then cut short by "40 minutes" another tweet says, and police then asked the protesters to leave the building. The protesters remained outside the UNT building where they chanted "protect trans kids."

UNT YCT president Kelly Neidert said on Twitter that she was rushed out of the building by campus police and into a vehicle after hiding in a janitor's closet. Another video posted to Twitter says that the police vehicle escorting Neidert off campus drove toward a group of protesters, and one protester who couldn't back away from the vehicle fast enough was hit.

The Denton Police Department confirmed to MySA that a man on the scene reported being hit by a UNT police vehicle, but the incident was being investigated by UNT.

UNT-YCT distributed flyers around campus in late February saying "criminalize child transitions." The group also held an event in October last year called "What is wrong with Christian fascism?"

UNT's president said denounced the flyers campuswide email in February, calling them "intolerant." No statement in regards to last night's event has been released.

MySA reached out to UNT for comment.

Correction: This article originally published information from a statement from the Denton Police Department that misgendered the person hit by the UNT police vehicle as a woman. A transgender man reported that he was hit by the vehicle. We have corrected the story.
In a new video address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said that his country's defence lines were holding, but Russia has continued shelling major cities since midnight.

In the video posted on Facebook, the President said the change in Russia's tactic, which is to target civilian areas, shows that Ukraine has been successful in resisting Moscow's plan for a quick victory via land assault, the BBC reported.

"We have nothing to lose but our own freedom," Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine is getting daily arms supplies from its international allies.

"We will restore every house, every street, every city. And we say to Russia: teach the words 'reparations' and 'contributions'. You will repay everything you did against Ukraine. In full. And we will not forget those who died. We are with God," he added.

This video message comes hours after he posted another one late Wednesday night in which he urged Ukrainians to keep up the fight against Russia as Moscow's military assault on Kiev entered the eighth day.

The two videos were broadcast from an unknown location.

On Thursday, Kiev was reportedly hit by four explosions, while Kherson, a key port city in southern Ukraine, was seized by Russian troops.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, shelling continued which reportedly killed and wounded dozens of civilians, while troops have also surrounded Mariupol, another strategic port city.

The Ministry of Defence announced that Russian ships and rocket boats were approaching the country's third largest city of Odessa located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, the Kiev-based Centre for Defence Strategies said that Russian forces were trying to encircle the city amid intense fighting currently underway within 20-40 km of the capital.

Meanwhile in the west of Kiev, Ukrainian Armed Forces have freed the town of Makariv and established defensive positions, the local Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Since the assault began a week ago, Ukraine has claimed that more than 2,000 civilians have died, while the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said that the conflict has also led to some 1 million people to flee the country.

The UNHCR has predicted the conflict will leave some 12 million people internally displaced and in need of relief.

Meanwhile, Russia has for the first time admitted that 498 of its troops were killed, with 1,597 injured.
Patient readers, Ukraine ate Links once again, I am sorry to say. lambert

Largest shock wave in the universe is 60 times larger than the Milky Way, new study finds Space.com

Fed troubleshoots master account issue Banking Dive

Climate

#COVID19

China?

Taiwan wants to join the Quad, Lai tells delegation Taipei Times

Myanmar

India

Syraqistan

China buys more Iranian oil now than it did before sanctions, data shows Hellenic Shipping News

New Not-So-Cold War

Biden Administration

Capitol Seizure

Our Famously Free Press

In Ukraine reporting, Western press reveals grim bias toward people like us LA Times. Scratch out Ukraine, write in All.

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here
We are late to turn to a critical document obtained by FOIA by the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency Documents. Called 5.3.6 Cumulative analysis of post-authorization adverse event reports of pf-07302048 (bnt162b2) received through 28-feb-2021. The publication of what ought to be regarded as an explosive revelation of the range and frequency of its Covid vaccine side effects has gotten barely any notice, even on Twitter. Weve posted the document in full at the end of this post for your inspection.

Unfortunately, its impossible to reach any definitive conclusions about this information because it isnt a Phase IV clinical trial, where participants trials are tracked to capture any adverse effects that occur over an intermediate period of time. Instead, this report is based on a hodge-podge of voluntary reports into various systems across 63 countries, with the overwhelming majority coming from the US and UK, from December 1, 2020 through February 28, 2021. I find putting the start as of December 1 misleading, since the first shots in the US were administered starting December 14, 2020. So you wouldnt even start to see what happens after a full two-shot regime until end of December, which means this is effectively two, not three, months of data

Aside from side effect information not being gathered systematically and to a consistent standard, an even bigger problem is the lack of data about the denominator, the number and mix of vaccinated subjects. The lack of information about the underlying population means its impossible to determine the rate of these side effects. Recall that the initial rollout gave priority to the elderly, to at risk groups, and to medical workers. One of the things youll notice right away is that the side effects are far more common among women:

The fact that the reports dont even capture the gender of 7% of the respondents tells you how casual and haphazard an exercise this was. Even so, at least 71% of the total is female. Is this because the underlying population was heavily female due to overrepresenting the aged (women live longer than men) and medical workers (nursing and housekeeping staff are typically women and outnumber doctors, who skew male)? Or because one of the common side effects is the triggering or intensification of autoimmune diseases, and women are more prone to them? Or both?

However, some who took an early look at the document discredited themselves by not bothering to understand its huge limits, and naively or disingenuously making claims about supposedly horribly high levels of bad outcomes among pregnant women, when there was no information whatsoever about how many pregnant women were vaccinated. Without that number, you cant determine if those results were any worse than for a control of unvaccinated pregnant women.

Due to this document being released pursuant to the Emergency Use Authorization, as opposed to a typical drug approval process, Im not sure what if any standards governed its production. Readers who know the ins and outs of FDA regulations are very much encouraged to pipe up. The commentary from Reuters at the end of January wasnt terribly enlightening:

The document was submitted by Pfizer-BioNTech as part of its Biological License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA), Alison Hunt, an FDA Press Officer told Reuters via email. The BLA is a request for permission to introduce or distribute a new biologic product across states ( here ). The FDA reviews the information in the BLA to make sure the vaccine is safe and effective and meets the FDAs standards for approval. ( here )

This large number of reports comes despite the fact that, as Pfizer blandly warns using boilerplate language, the number of side effects is almost certainly understated:

Reports are submitted voluntarily, and the magnitude of underreporting is unknown Among adverse event reports received into the Pfizer safety database during the cumulative period, only those having a complete workflow cycle in the safety database (meaning they progressed to Distribution or Closed workflow status) are included in the monthly SMSR. This approach prevents the inclusion of cases that are not fully processed hence not accurately reflecting final information. Due to the large numbers of spontaneous adverse event reports received for the product, the MAH has prioritised the processing of serious cases, in order to meet expedited regulatory reporting timelines and ensure these reports are available for signal detection and evaluation activity. The increased volume of reports has not impacted case processing for serious reports, and compliance metrics continue to be monitored weekly with prompt action taken as needed to maintain compliance with expedited reporting obligations.

Pfizer also points out that the reporting of an adverse event does not establish causality, as in that the jab was necessarily responsible.

Nevertheless, as IM Doc said:

This is a post marketing document. in normal times, this would be in the Phase IV period. I have no idea how this is done for an EUA. These are apparently side effects reported after the vaccines were rolled out. No wonder they wanted to bury this. OMG even my cynical self is whomperjawed. I have quite frankly never seen anything like this in all my years of IRB [Institutional Review Board] work. This is absolutely unprecedented. Please look at starting at page 30. The list is overwhelming. Something about this tells me someone should be going to jail. It is vindication for all the months I have been questioning my sanity. Having these happening to patients all the while the media and colleagues screaming about 100% safety. This is not the vindication I wanted though. This is just plain sad.

To provide further evidence that the adverse events are undercounted, menstrual period irregularities and post menopausal bleeding are not listed. The only female reproductive plumbing issue listed is premature menopause. Doctors tend to downplay menstrual cycle issues, since they can be affected by stress, weight loss, and intense exercise. But a subset of women is hyper regular and changes tell them something is amiss. Other I know first or second hand report extreme change, such as going from four to five days of flow to only one and remaining there.

Even though female non-fertility is treated less seriously that female fertility, period/bleeding among menopausal women is particularly troubling, since it can be a sign of cancer. Ive had that side effect, three times, along with PMS bloating worse than I ever had in my youth. My sonogram at the top lists the bleeding as triggered by the vaccine, which means is it considered uncontroversial in NYC to link the vaccines to the resumption of periods. My doctor was sufficiently alarmed that she wanted me scraped out pronto. So I am having to have a medical procedure due to having gotten a jab. Yet if I understand Pfizers categorization correctly, they would deem a case like mine to be non-serious.

Its bad enough to see a significant category of side effects omitted. But on top of that, no one is tracking whether cases Covid-vaccine-induced post-menopausal bleeding have a higher incidence of cancer than typical instances of post-menopausal bleeding bleeding.

More from IM Doc:

I want to explain the appendix 1 starting on page 30. There is always an appendix 1 in these reports. It is a comprehensive list of the ASE (Adverse side effects) that are especially attuned in the study. In general, it is a list of all the things that came up in the animal studies and the Phase 1-3 trials in humans. It is an index of the things that they were to keep a close eye on. In general, this list in most documents like this I have ever seen is 2-3 maybe 4 pages long  NOT 10. That is what so bowled me over this AM. I can think of 2 possible things going on here  1) The list of ASE from the previous phases of research really are this overwhelming. 2) Pfizer knew they had lots of side effects and just wanted to put it all out there in an attempt to cover their ass. They may have done this because of the warp speed emergency manner in which this was done  ie  we have not had time to fully assess risk  therefore we are going to just be a sponge and take in everything. There may be other reasons I have not thought of. Whatever the case  I have never seen anything like this in my life. But the really damning parts are these tables  where very elevated numbers of patients are having these problems. I have seen any number of CHEMOTHERAPY agents with less problems than this in my life. And we have to weigh risk and benefits even in these trials. If for example a novel CHEMO agent was saving 30% but killing 5%  it would likely be approved with LARGE BLACK BOX WARNINGS. This agent  however  is not chemotherapy. It is a vaccine to be given out to everyone. It has been screamed from the rooftops for the people to hear that it was 100% safe. Any and all discussion in the media and social media of any problems has been squelched and those stating these things called quacks. It had a benefit of an absolute risk reduction of infection of 0.2%. And here we are with all these side effects. In huge numbers. Even more concerning  is two-six months of benefit worth all of these risks? I think not. My question would be  when did the FDA and CDC and CEOs and media people know this information? How can anyone at FDA or the White House think it was a good idea for nationwide mandates  with this kind of problem? This is very very troubling Someone must be held to account.

But Pfizer remains a big winner. The Biden administration is determined to move on from Covid, as if Covid doesnt have a say. And Ukraine is a huge aid in diverting attention from the ongoing pandemic.
Yves here. As positions on political issues become even more polarized, this post examines one route for creating social tolerance for expressing dissident views.

By Leonardo Bursztyn, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Chicago; Georgy Egorov, Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; Ingar Haaland, Associate Professor, University of Bergen; Aakaash Rao, PhD student in Economics, Harvard University; and Chris Roth, Professor of Economics and Management, University of Cologne. Originally published at VoxEU

Dissent plays a vital role in driving social change, but can be limited when individuals fear social sanction for expressing opinions about controversial issues. This column explores the function of rationales in facilitating dissent on both sides of the US political spectrum. Using a simple theoretical framework, it shows that liberals are more willing to post a tweet opposing movements to defund the police  and indeed face fewer social sanctions  when their tweet implies they have read scientific evidence supporting their position. Analogous experiments with conservatives demonstrate that the same mechanisms facilitate anti-immigrant expression.

Dissent is a vital driver of social change (Adena et al. 2020, Cantoni et al. 2014, Enikolopov et al. 2019, Gagliarducci et al. 2018, Manacorda and Tesei 2016). Dissenters usually draw upon rationales  narratives that provide arguments supporting dissenting causes  when expressing their views. Rationales might spur dissent because they are persuasive  that is, they change peoples private opinions and thus their behaviour. But in many situations, dissent is limited not because people support the status quo, but rather because they fear the social sanctions associated with publicly expressing their opposition. In fact, 62% of Americans agree that [t]he political climate these days prevents me from saying things I believe because others might find them offensive (Ekins 2020).

For example, consider a Democrat who opposes the movement to defund the police. She may be reluctant to express this opinion around fellow Democrats, as opposing defunding the police could be interpreted as a signal of racial intolerance. Now, suppose that a new study is widely circulated suggesting that defunding the police would encourage violent crime. This new study might increase her willingness to publicly oppose police defunding even if the study does not change her private opinions, as long as she is able to attribute her views to the study. The availability of this rationale provides an explanation other than racial intolerance for her position. Rationales can provide social cover and facilitate the expression of dissent.

In a new paper (Bursztyn et al. 2022a), we present experiments exploring the power and potential limitations of rationales. Across the political spectrum, dissent is often expressed  and suppressed  on social media, where rationales from both mainstream and fringe sources proliferate (Fujiwara et al. 2020) and where people often face large social costs for expressing controversial opinions. We experimentally investigate the expression and interpretation of dissent on social media, focusing on two controversial domains: liberals opposition to defunding the police and support for deporting illegal immigrants.

Experimental Design and Results

In a first experiment, liberal respondents read a Washington Post article written by a Princeton University criminologist arguing that [o]ne of the most robust, most uncomfortable findings in criminology is that putting more officers on the street leads to less violent crime (Sharkey 2020). They then choose whether to join a campaign opposing the movement to defund the police and, if so, whether to authorise a tweet promoting the campaign. (Importantly, our experiment is designed such that no tweets are actually posted.) The experimental manipulation varies the availability of a social cover in the tweet while holding fixed other potential motives to post. In the Cover condition, respondents tweets suggest that they were shown the article before joining the campaign, while in the No Cover condition, participants tweets indicate that they were shown the rationale after joining the campaign. The implied timing in the Cover condition provides these respondents with a social cover  the (implicit) justification that they joined the campaign because they were persuaded by the articles claims. The timing implied by the No Cover condition removes this social cover. Differences in willingness to tweet therefore cannot be explained by the persuasiveness of the rationale, as all respondents in both groups read the article; nor can such differences be explained by respondents beliefs that the rationale will persuade their followers, as both versions of the tweet contain an identical description of the article.

Figure 1 shows that the availability of a social cover strongly affects public behaviour: respondents are 12 percentage points more likely to authorise the tweet in the Cover condition than in the No Cover condition. A placebo and a number of further experiments help rule out other potential explanations for the treatment effect.

Figure 1 Willingness to post anti-defunding tweet

We conduct a second experiment, again with liberal respondents, to examine how the availability of the rationale shifts an audiences inferences about the motives underlying dissent and the resulting sanctions levied upon dissenters. Figure 2 shows that when interpreting a previous participants decision to publicly oppose defunding the police, respondents see participants in the Covercondition as less racially prejudiced than those in the No Cover condition. They are also less likely to deny the Cover participant a $1 bonus, indicating that rationales lower the social sanctions associated with dissent.

Figure 2 Fraction who believe partner donated to NAACP (top) and fraction who deny partner bonus (bottom)





We also study the effects of rationales among a different sample (conservatives), and in a different policy context (anti-immigrant policies). Here, supporting the immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants from Mexico is a stigmatised opinion that people may be reluctant to publicly express, but a similar rationale as studied previously  concerns about crime  may shift inference about motives and thus decrease social sanctions. As in our first experiment, in the Cover condition, respondents tweets indicate that they were exposed to the rationale  a clip of the Fox News Channels anchor Tucker Carlson arguing that illegal immigrants commit violent crimes at vastly higher rates than citizens  before joining the campaign, while in the No Cover condition, respondents tweets indicate that they were exposed to the rationale after joining the campaign. As shown in Figure 3, respondents are 17 percentage points more likely to post the tweet in the Covercondition than the No Cover condition. A further experiment shows that this rationale once again has strong effects on inference: as shown in Figure 4, respondents matched with a participant who chose to post the Cover tweet are 5 percentage points more likely to believe that this participant authorised the pro-immigrant donation and 7 percentage points less likely to deny their matched participant the bonus.

Figure 3 Willingness to post pro-deportation tweet

Figure 4 Fraction who believe partner donated to US Border Crisis Childrens Relief Fund (top) and fraction who deny partner bonus (bottom)

Implications

Our evidence showcases the importance of rationales in facilitating dissent on both sides of the political spectrum. Our theory and evidence highlight the mechanisms by which individuals and institutions can influence public behaviour by shaping the availability of rationales and perceptions of their credibility. Our findings have important implications for how the expression of dissent responds to the availability of new narratives that become widely known.

First, rationales are only effective when observers believe that they genuinely change the dissenters beliefs. An obscure or non-credible rationale likely fails to shift inference, and may even backfire, if it is informative of the dissenters underlying type. In the extreme, if only intolerant people tend to read a particular source, citing a novel rationale provided by this source will fail to generate social cover. Thus, the endorsement of rationales by prominent figures such as politicians or celebrities may generate particularly large social amplifiers. Such figures may not only be more credible and directly persuade more people, but they may also be able to generate common knowledge such that dissenters can claim they were exposed to the rationale without seeking it out directly from stigmatised sources. Anti-minority politicians, for example, may enable supporters to speak their mind more openly and spread propaganda through their social circle, an effect documented for Nazi propaganda in the Weimar Republic by Satyanath et al. (2017). In another paper (Bursztyn et al. 2022b), we apply this framework to understand scapegoating of minorities during crises. The strength of the social amplifier channel depends not only on the number of individuals who hold stigmatised views, but also on the number of individuals who could not express these views prior to the rationale becoming widespread.

Conversely, groups seeking to suppress dissent have strong incentives to silence or marginalise potential sources of rationales because these tactics reduce the perceived probability that people will be exposed to rationales by chance. Such tactics may include censoring certain figures or otherwise disallowing them a public platform (e.g. disinviting campus speakers), or branding particular media sources or speakers as fringe. This helps explain why censorship techniques such as Chinas Great Firewall can be very effective in suppressing dissent, even when citizens can bypass them with relative ease (Chen and Yang 2019). If successful, these tactics can create and sustain a political correctness culture in which, for better or worse, certain rationales are ineffective because citing the stigmatised source undermines social cover. By questioning the credibility of rationales or tying them to stigmatised positions, a vocal group can silence a majority.

See original post for references
My Nashville Post role has evolved since 2000 when I joined the now-defunct The City Paper. TCP became a Post sister publication in 2008 (when I began doing some Post work) and folded in 2013. I have been managing editor of the Post since late 2011.

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When a book is banned, shunned or removed from a school districts curriculum, it often says more about the setting than it does about the reading material itself. The books listed below have recently entered the news because vocal parents in Tennessee and throughout the South have objected to them being taught in schools, or even simply being available in school libraries.

Students can still find them in public libraries and bookstores  so kids, you can make the call for yourself.

Middle school/high school books

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Removed from McMinn County curriculum

To read a graphic novel as a school assignment has to be something special for students. Its too bad that Maus, a story of surviving the Holocaust based on the authors own fathers story, wont be included in the school curriculum in McMinn County, which made national headlines for its objections to the book January. But the controversy also catapulted Maus to the top of the Amazon bestseller list, and prompted extensive media coverage, especially around International Holocaust Rememberance Day. Author Art Spiegelmans graphic novel shows reverence for the experiences of our elders that young people would be wise to explore. In this way, the book still gets to serve its purpose.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Removed from Williamson County curriculum

This was easily my favorite book that I read in school  in fifth grade, to be exact. Walk Two Moons protagonist, Sal, tells a story about her close friend in a way that I longed to emulate, and had a first kiss that I thought about for years. Seeing Sal navigate losing her mother and then her grandmother and find meaning and peace in it all soothed my anxious brain. What stuck with me more than the heavy themes  the book was removed for its emotional resonation  was the Native American proverb for which Sharon Creech named her book: Dont judge a man until youve walked two moons in his moccasins.

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Removed from curriculum in multiple Southern school districts

In Nic Stones Dear Martin, a 17-year-old Black boy becomes the victim of racial profiling  its unfortunately an all too common conflict in the real world. Narrator Justyce takes a pledge to be more like Martin Luther King Jr., and he and his friends, both Black and white, have conversations about racism in America. I like that the book doesnt shy away from conversations on affirmative action, the KKK, gang violence, interracial relationships and media representation. I went to a less-than-diverse high school, and it would have been impactful for me to see the processing of these topics play out in Dear Martins pages. Even for an adult reader, its powerful to experience the point of view of a kid hearing about other kids who look like him being killed.

Dragonwings by Laurence Yep

Removed from Blount County curriculum

Dragonwings is inspired by the true story of a Chinese immigrant who made a flying machine in 1909. It follows 8-year-old Moon Shadow and his family members as they hang onto their traditions amid racism and poverty in San Francisco, and depicts the special bonds that exist between Moon Shadow and his male family members. Its banned from the curriculum in a county that is just 1 percent Asian  now students have one less opportunity to learn something about Chinese culture. This book allows readers to remember how America can give new opportunities to immigrants, but it can also make life so difficult.

Childrens books disputed, altered or taken off curriculum in Williamson County

Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea by Christine Butterworth

This books description of a male seahorse incubating its babies seemed too gender-fluid to some parents of first-graders  particularly the right-wing Williamson County group Moms for Liberty. But its really just science. This book answers how baby seahorses are made  just a nugget of information for a very curious age group.

Feelings by Aliki Brandenberg

Teachers were asked to do additional teaching about happiness to counteract the more negative emotions mentioned in Aliki Brandenburgs Feelings. I love the way these adorable comic scenes give examples of situations where kids feel jealous, lonely, angry, sad and more. It has aged very well, and recently came to mind as I stared blankly at my therapist, who was asking me to name my emotions.

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Familys Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh

I learned something new about history from this book about a trial that sought to desegregate California schools seven years before Brown v. Board of Education. The truth of what Williamson County Schools sought to cut out, about a superintendent with racist views, is an important one. What an opportunity this book presents to educate kids in the schools of today, which are increasingly resegregated by race and socioeconomic class.
This brought to bear the dichotomy between the Security Councils role with its stultifying and feckless veto constraint and the ability of all or some UN member States to take collective action to save a nation or community.

by Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne in Montreal

Ukraine has become the front line in a struggle, not just between democracies and autocracies but in a struggle for maintaining a rules-based system in which the things that countries want are not taken by force Every country in the world should be paying close attention to this." Fiona Hill, former official at the U.S. National Security Council

Whether predictive or premonitory, the portentous prospect of a nuclear war looming on the horizon is something to be concerned about. Fiona Hill stated in an interview with Politico Theres lots of danger ahead Putin is increasingly operating emotionally and likely to use all the weapons at his disposal, including nuclear ones. Its important not to have any illusions  but equally important not to lose hope. Every time you think, No, he wouldnt, would he? Well, yes, he wouldAnd he wants us to know that, of course. Its not that we should be intimidated and scared. We have to prepare for those contingencies and figure out what is it that were going to do to head them off.

The last sentence of Ms. Hill provokes much thought and inscrutable intrigue as to what nations can do to persuade Russia to retreat from Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has reportedly warned that if there were to be a third world war, it would involve nuclear weapons and be destructive. The pernicious situation in Ukraine makes the global community fearful of the ultimate evil of a global war where an aggression can progress and transcend from vituperative diplomatic rhetoric to the realm of perfidious insouciance costing millions of lives.

To make sense of the current situation we may need to go back to post World War II days when the world had to address the recrudescence of human folly. For one, the world consensually adopted the Genocide Convention with the vociferous slogan never again. Addressing the United Nations on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan stated: On occasions such as this, rhetoric comes easily. We rightly say never again. But action is much harder. Since the Holocaust the world has, to its shame, failed more than once to prevent or halt genocide.

As far back as 2001 The International Community on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) emphasized the role of the UN Security Council on the preservation of sovereignty of States as paramount. The World Summit Outcome in 2005 introduced the concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) calling for collective action of nations to protect individual States whose peoples life and limb were threatened by aggression. This brought to bear the dichotomy between the Security Councils role with its stultifying and feckless veto constraint and the ability of all or some UN member States to take collective action to save a nation or community.

More recently, on 18 May 2021, following the annual UN General Assembly debate on R2P, member States voted to adopt Resolution 75/277 on The responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. This was the first resolution on R2P adopted in the General Assembly since 2009 and it pledges to include R2P in the UN agenda with a requirement that The Secretary General gives an annual report on R2P to the General assembly. Under this umbrella The International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICR2P) works as a community of commitment made up of civil society and non-government organizations (NGOs) from around the world. The Coalition - founded in 2009 by eight organizations - currently includes members representing all regions of the world and is dedicated to the promotion of human rights, the prevention of atrocities and effective and consistent implementation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle. Additionally, there is The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect which vigorously pursues its objective of saving lives by mobilizing the international community to act in situations where populations are at risk of mass atrocity and crimes. The Centre claims to robustly uphold the R2P principle on the basis and foundation that the international community never again fails to halt the mass atrocity crimes of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

Aligned to the aforesaid trend, Richard Haas, Chief of the Council on Foreign Relations writing to Foreign Affairs introduced a concept called sovereign responsibility, which means that sovereignty should not stop at borders but extend to helping countries and their people who might suffer as a result of arbitrary and capricious decisions of leaders taken under the shroud of national sovereignty.

On Wednesday 2 March 2022 The U.N. General Assembly voted to demand that Russia stop its offensive in Ukraine and withdraw all troops, a vote which involved the most powerful States as well as the smallest member States who were largely consensual in condemning Moscows actions. The vote was 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions. The last UN emergency session of the General Assembly was in 1997 which goes to show the gravity of the current situation. Although Russia vetoed a similar vote in the Security Council on 26th February 2022, there is no veto power in the General Assembly. The only snag is that should the General Assembly adopt a Resolution with a view to ascribing legal legitimacy to the vote, it would be destitute of legal effect as United Nations Resolutions are no more than the outcome of political compromises. The only thrust of a Resolution lies in its ability to reflect the view of the global community in general.

So where does that lead us? Certainly not to resort to military conflict, where an unequivocal pronouncement as to the devastation it would cause has already been made in public. The only way to go is compromise. My take is that neither Russia, nor Ukraine, nor the NATO allies should be forced to have their backs against the wall. The focus of negotiations should be on the safety and inviolability of human life rather than historical rhetoric and who provoked who. Barbara Tuckman, in her book The March of Folly  From Troy to Vietnam (1984) attributes the moribund ineptitude of governments to progress to four factors: tyranny or oppression; excessive ambition; incompetence or decadence; and folly or perversity. The relevance of this statement might be worth to consider today.

Cataclysmic disaster that a confrontation between the then USSR and the United States was avoided in the sixties when the U.S. agreed to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchevs (1894-1971) offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising not to invade Cuba. In this spirit, the principle of adversarial collaboration, propounded by Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, although applicable in a scientific context might be a suitable analogy for diplomacy and negotiation. The principle posits that in science, adversarial collaboration is a term used when two or more scientists with opposing views work together. Kahneman says :  Why is it that we may agree in advance that a particular result is a fair test of our theory, then see so much more when the result is known? Why can't we anticipate our response to results that we do not expect to materialize? The psychology of this is straightforward. The normal flow of reasoning is forward from what you believe to a possible consequence. When someone proposes a serious critical test, you cannot get from your theory to the result without adding an extra wrinkle to the theory. The extra wrinkle is hard to findif it were easy, this would not be a serious critical test. On the other hand, the result probably follows from the adversary's theory. The lazy solution is to concede provisionally.

Taking the Khrushchev action in the Cuban Missile Crisis and Kahnemans theory together, perhaps the Russians could be persuaded to similarly make an offer and we can take it from there?
When Sheerea Yu stepped onto the stage at the Nashville Youth Poet Laureate semifinals, she had never read a poem aloud to an audience before. Later on in December, she did it again at Southern Words annual State of the Word regional poetry showcase. The event showcases the talented youth involved in the spoken-word education and youth-development organizations programming. Its also the stage where poets compete to be the citys next laureate. Yu won the competition with her poem reading newspaper headlines, which you can read below.

Now in its eighth year, the Nashville Youth Poet Laureate is a joint program of Southern Word, Metro Nashville and national youth literary-arts organization Urban Word. The Youth Poet Laureate programs goal is to include youth perspectives in civic dialogue because teens are uniquely positioned to remind us of our commitments to our children, to our future, and to our shared ideals. Youth Poet Laureates perform at functions like Metro Council meetings and the mayors State of Metro address, as well as at cultural events throughout the city.

Yu says she surprised herself by getting up on that stage, but talking with her, its easy to perceive her courage and motivation. The Scene asked Yu about the role of poetry in her life, what we should know about teens today and more.

Did you start with writing poetry or with poetry performance?

I feel like I sort of fell into everything. I dont want to say [it was] a calling at all. But sometimes I see something happening. Im like, Oh, I dont like that. And I get this phrase or this image that stays in my mind after. And I write it down, and I turn those scraps into poems sometimes. So I found [former Youth Poet Laureates] Marie Shields and Alora Young  Im like, big fans of them, but they dont know I exist. I found their performances and poems online. I was like, Whoa, this is such a cool program. You dont really share your poetry very much. Before this, my family didnt really get to read anything Id ever written. It was a surprise for me that I applied to this and I got into performance. At the semifinals that day, it was the first time I ever tried doing spoken word or reading something that I had written. It felt really right. ... I always thought poetry should be something that comments on society  that makes a point about racism or something like that. That day, I was really happy that I had unlocked this skill or leveled up or whatever. I was like, Yeah, its really important for you to be able to actually present what you write. Because society needs that.

What role has poetry been playing in your life?

I think its made me a little more aware. Like, Im always thinking, Could I turn this into a piece that could alleviate this social problem? Is what my friends are talking about, what theyre crying in the bathroom about, what theyre living through  is that something that is important that I could potentially make a difference in a way? I think Im always looking around now for scraps of images and things like that.

What do you think it means for a younger person to have a voice?

I dont know what it means to have a voice. I dont know. I think everyone has one. And when I was reading through the questions [you sent before our interview], I thought about this in conjunction with the last question [about what I want people to know about teenagers today]. Its that teenagers do have a voice. They might be the people overlooked, but we care a lot. Were doing things.

What are you looking forward to about your position as Youth Poet Laureate?

I think the main thing is a series of performances. But also I was talking with Ben [Smith, director of Southern Word] about maybe working on a poetry collection. I love interviewing people for the [University School] newspaper. I just love talking to different kinds of people and learning their stories. So I would love to try and write a poetry collection from the perspectives of different people.  [Ben] told me that you step into the position [of Youth Poet Laureate] and who you are shapes the role.

What else do you want our readers to know about teenagers in 2022?

I keep thinking about a line from one of Aloras poems.  It was about our generation, and it answers all the questions of what we should know about teenagers. But my favorite line was like, Prejudice is no match for Google Translate. And I just thought that was so perfect, because I think were growing up with different ideas of diversity and LGBTQ [life] and social norms. I feel like that changes so much. Like our lens of how we view the world ... with social media, you see a lot of things changing, but also I feel like theres more teenagers than ever who can get to that activist point. Because with technology, we know how to reach more people than ever. I always felt like I grew up knowing that. If there was something I wanted to say, there would be a way to get it out there to do it.

'reading newspaper headlines'



By Sheerea Yu

I.

i always thought democracy was guaranteed, i took it for granted, i thought if

i worked hard i could make it in

white mans

christian america,

but now i see the pot shaking

on the stove,

and i find i cannot raise my voice

over the sound

of seething.

II.

my classmate says,

these killings should have been

a bigger deal. he is angry, and i feel

so embarrassingly grateful

and relieved, that

people of other races would care about

stopasianhate because i know

white

supremacy is not the only supremacy, and even the word-asian.

do you know how much history and identity is between

those countries, who would never think

they could ever

fit together. certainly not

into just one word.

yet i stay silent.

on some level, i feel i have no

jurisdiction

over pride and protest, i

am consumed by self-doubt.

when it is the people who look like me

murdered, why do i feel the urge

to look away?

i cannot stand how my face could result

in the pattering

of gunfire.

III.

embrace

this conflict. as a reflection of facing

issues rather

than burying them, better to roar and rage than

dejected acceptance, i promise

in countries where everyone looks

the same racism never

has the chance

to bubble to the surface.

diversity

is a powerful heat.

i say

it is better to feel its burn than let racism simmer, kept to

dinner table murmurings.

only with it can we

work, can we

challenge

racism, can we turn the heat dial

until the water finally boils.

clear and sure,

cleansed.

our knees ache

from standing by the stovetop, but there-

the sudden rush of quiet,

and that moment of held breath.
The student representatives of the Metro Nashville Public Schools board are arguably more mature than some of the adults surrounding them. Twice a month, Angelie Quimbo and Abenezer Haile sit in the crossfire as adults talk  and sometimes bicker  about what they think is best for students. Unlike most of those adults, however, Haile and Quimbo must return to school and live with the consequences of the decisions the board makes.

The Scene met with the students just an hour before a particularly heated meeting at which the board voted to lift the districts mask mandate after spring break  a move that both students advised against.

Haile was born in Ethiopia and Quimbo in the Philippines, but they both grew up in the Davidson County school system. Haile is a junior at Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School and Quimbo is a senior at Hillwood High.

Youve sat in some pretty heated board meetings  what has that been like for you?

Abenezer Haile: I think its very interesting. In the heat of the moment, you might see a person say something that youre not completely in agreement with. But you also have the ability to observe the beauty of democracy, so anybody can come up and say whatever opinion that they have, as long as they do it respectfully. So like I said, in that moment, youre [thinking], What are they saying? if you dont agree, or if you do agree if youre like  This person is saying the perfect thing. But then after we leave and you reflect on the meeting that you just experienced, you get to understand that what you saw was the play of democracy in action.

Angelie Quimbo: I will say that Ive had my fair share of parents or people in the community coming after me.  I guess me being 18, Im seen as an adult and that justifies, like, I can personally attack your views. In my opinion thats not really a quality argument.  Its not going toward anything. Its basically saying, Your view is wrong, and Im right. And that doesnt really sit right with me.  But taking that into consideration as student board members, I think its important for us to be exposed to different views, different opinions, especially from our community, because thats the people we represent.

Is there something that you wish adults would understand about the student experience?

AH: The perfect way to, I think, answer that is  from both sides you have to have the ability to empathize [with] the side that youre talking to. So for example, if youre a student, and you see a lot of decisions made by your administration, or you see your parents making decisions that you might not be agreeing with, you still have to be able to empathize and see what direction theyre coming from. And its the exact same thing with parents too. If your child isnt, for example, getting the grades that you would expect them to get, it doesnt automatically mean that you have to set restrictions on them, like, Im going to take your phone. You should also be able to have that ability to say, OK, whats happening in their lives that I can put myself in and try to understand? So I think the highlighted key vocab is  try to empathize.

AQ: Maybe the saying that parents always know best, or have the best interest for their kids  Im not completely on board with that being 100 percent true. Again, like what Abenezer said, there has to be a sense of empathy both ways. I know that it comes from a place of privilege saying that; I have a really stable relationship with my parents, and I know that not every student has that.  But being able to communicate with your kids, being able to communicate with your parents, especially about grades or mental health or whats going on in school, is really important. And if I could tell one thing to parents  just check in with your kids and dont walk into your conversation with your child thinking that you know everything thats going on, because you may not. And it may take time for a student or even a parent to open up to one another, and its just about trust and time.

Parents thinking they know whats best for their kids is a concept thats been used in conversations surrounding critical race theory and censorship. What are your thoughts on that and how has it affected you?

AH: So with censorship, especially concerning the books, I dont think weve had the chance to actually be blocked from reading something thats been removed from the library. But with things like CRT, you can  see a shift in the climate in the classroom, for example, after certain laws are passed by the state government banning CRT from being taught. So I think it has a lot more effect on students than people realize, because just because youre stopping me from reading a book doesnt necessarily mean youre doing something thats in my best interest. You might be stopping me from exploring something that Im interested in  or trying to grow as a student or as a person. So theres just that really huge shift in climate  especially after all these talks have started happening on social media and stuff concerning CRT and how students, were being brainwashed into thinking a certain race is responsible for a whole other races oppression.

AQ: I know if I were a parent, to a degree, I would want to know what my child is learning, as well. So to all the parents concerned about whats being taught in schools, I completely respect that.  But with that being said, as well, just the whole controversy with CRT, with the banned books, is really problematic in my eyes  especially the no-CRT [law passed in Tennessee], it was on the grounds of not teaching kids biased history. But by restricting a sense of history that is honestly a part of our history, like deeply rooted, its not just a surface-level thing. Youre [further] restricting freedom of thought or even students ability to maybe question whats going on.

Has the censorship prompted you to seek out more information on your own?

AH: Yeah.  The irony behind it is, by you actively saying Students cant learn this,  youre advertising it. Especially with the books that theyre banning.

AQ: With that [legislation], students are actively looking up What is CRT? and thus getting more exposure to those in-depth conversations or in-depth resources.

Has your experience as a student board rep shaped what you want to do moving forward?

AH: Definitely. Yeah. You get to see how you can directly  influence peoples lives.  The policies that they pass at the board meetings, its very different from the policies that are passed at the federal level. So at the federal level, it takes a long time to actually affect someones life. With this, if something happens on Tuesday, its gonna affect the students life on Wednesday. It shows you how important, but also underrated, the municipal-level government is.

AQ: Ive always been really interested in governmental structures, and the board is a governmental entity in itself in a way, governing the different schools in the district. Its really interesting seeing policies get passed and different things like that, that you dont really get to see as a normal student.
Youth activism on both the national and local level has been particularly visible in the past few years. There were student walkouts in cities across the U.S. in January to protest the lack of COVID-19 precautions in schools. Students who survived 2018s school shooting in Parkland, Fla., have advocated for gun reform in various states, attracting other high-schoolers to the cause. In summer 2020, Nashville saw a massive protest against police brutality organized by a group of teenage girls.

While youth organizing efforts can often lead to protests in places like state capitol buildings, they sometimes start in high school clubs with students like Avery Shippen.

Shippen, a senior at Hume-Fogg, is president of her schools Save the Children Active Network chapter and the treasurer and project manager of Livable Schools, an environmental sustainability club. SCAN advocates for issues like access to education, ending child hunger and protecting the rights of children who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border. As part of that group, Shippen has helped organize postcard-writing campaigns to politicians, set up lunchtime events with U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, coordinated phone banking and more. Livable Schools advocates for a greener Hume-Fogg, and one recent project was a food-waste audit that measured the student bodys table scraps.

I like helping people, says Shippen, noting her experience doing volunteer work with Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. I knew I wanted to continue doing something that would help people, and SCAN is a really good way to do it directly.

Shippen says one of the things shes most proud of is spreading awareness about the types of topics that people dont really want to think about when theyre in high school, especially when it comes to issues facing children. She says high-schoolers usually try to distance themselves from being called children  pointing out that theyre almost adults, almost in college  but SCAN enables and encourages kids to speak up for other kids. Its been nice to see especially 17-year-olds or 18-year-olds be like, OK, yeah, its more powerful for me to talk [about these issues] from the perspective of a student who is still a child. 

The Mayors Youth Council, sponsored by the city and coordinated by youth-outreach organization Oasis Center, also gives a platform to young activists and budding policy wonks. A few members of the council are partnering with the Cumberland River Compact to organize a youth climate summit in March. The Scene spoke via Zoom to four members of the climate committee, who say being on the council amplifies their voices and shows that their generation cares.

Eleanor Taylor, a senior at Harpeth Hall, described the Mayors Youth Council as a group of youth in Nashville who are interested in various spheres of activism.

And so during the year, we pick a specific subject to research and then  present that to the mayor [as] our specific group, says Taylor, adding that in addition to the environmental group there are others focused on homelessness as well as diversity and equity.

The Nashville Youth Climate Summit is the big spring project for the committee, and the rest of the semester will be focused on creating a social media account that provides resources and information for how other students can get involved in sustainability efforts.

Grace Olson, a junior at Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet, got involved in the youth council after attending last years climate summit. In addition to helping with the 2022 summit, she also founded the MNPS Environmental Committee, which is open to students from all public schools, and has spoken to school directors about efforts like composting and food waste audits.

Apeksha Sawarkar, a senior at Hume-Fogg, says the summit also gives students a chance to hear from experts who can break the topic down in an easy-to-understand manner. She adds that members of her generation might also feel a bit more urgency about the topic.

Weve been told that its going to impact us the most, she says, so that has made it more imperative that we really care about whats being done now.

Brady Mitchell, a freshman at Martin Luther King Jr., joined the council this year and says exposure to new ideas has been one of the biggest benefits of joining the project.

It helps me understand what people are thinking and how I can help a community, such as this one, to act, says Mitchell.

I think other youth are able to see what change were making and see that they can do it themselves too, says Olson.

The Nashville Youth Climate Summit takes place on March 5, and space is limited. Find out more details and register here.
Were all accustomed to adults at home, in city hall, in the statehouse and in Washington making decisions on behalf of young people. So for the Scenes inaugural Student Issue, we decided to try something novel  to listen to young people themselves.

In the stories that follow, youll hear from student activists, Metros Student Board members and the Nashville Youth Poet Laureate. Youll also read an essay by the winner of our first student essay contest and find a list of books that  despite being removed from school curricula in some Southern counties  are very much worth a read.

As it turns out, the kids are very much all right.

The Student Issue: Youth Activism and Advocacy Speaking to student activists about why they get involved with causes like child hunger and climate justice

+8 The Student Issue: Banned Book Roundup Certain adults dont want students reading these books  so put them on your reading list

The Student Issue: Student Essay Contest Read pieces by the winners of our inaugural student essay contest, presented with The Porch Writers Collective
(Natural News) A new bill proposed in the Golden State would classify any defiance by medical professionals of the contemporary scientific consensus on the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) as unprofessional conduct.

Co-written by five California Assembly and Senate members, the proposed bill was introduced to the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions by Democratic Assemblyman Evan Low. It could be reviewed as soon as March 17 during an Assembly Committee hearing.

According to an independent review of the legislations provisions, it would subject doctors who defy the prevailing narrative surrounding the Fauci Flu to a formal review by the Medical Board of California and the Osteopathic Medical Board of California.

Existing law requires the applicable board to take action against any licensed physician and surgeon who is charged with unprofessional conduct, as provided, the bill reads. (Related: Democratic Assemblymen in California also introduced another bill to force all employees in the state to be vaccinated.)

This bill would designate the dissemination or promotion of misinformation or disinformation related to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, or COVID-19, as unprofessional conduct.

Covid fascism will never stop unless We the People unify to make it stop

The stated purpose of the bill is to punish doctors, surgeons and other medical professionals in the state who disseminate or promote misinformation or disinformation related to COVID-19, including false or misleading information regarding the nature and risks of the virus, its prevention and treatment; and the development, safety, and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.

In other states, the government is already punishing detractors and resisters of the official narrative with suspension of their medical licenses, for instance. Doctors who prescribe ivermectin, for example, are having their careers placed in jeopardy by corrupt state medical boards.

The bill is meant to quell any dissent from the lefts rhetoric on COVID and to prevent medical professionals from treating their patients as they see fit, reported 100percentfedup.coms Amber Crawford.

This bill also contradicts the central idea of the scientific process which is to share and debate ideas to reach the most accurate conclusions.

Should the bill pass, Los Angeles psychiatrist Mark McDonald is planning to sue the state of California.

I think when you stand up and you dont give an inch, in most cases, the bullies are actually cowards and they will collapse, McDonald is quoted as saying.

If only more medical professionals and Americans in general were like McDonald, this whole plandemic could have been stopped before it even began. Unfortunately, many people just fell right in line out of convenience, or because they fell for the propaganda.

Sounds like censorship of the most educated people in the population, wrote someone about how California Democrats are trying to stamp out free-thinking doctors and medical professionals from the ranks.

Isnt this a free speech issue that falls under the First Amendment? asked another.

The free speech issue, by the way, is probably the angle McDonald will take in the event that he is forced to file a lawsuit against California for infringing on his constitutional rights.

So basically they are replacing the historical authorities from the days of Inquisitions, suggested someone else. Where if you believed the earth was round or orbited the sun you could be burned at the stake.

They seek to destroy anyone who thinks differently from them. Like we have witnessed numerous times in history. Yes, it does repeat itself. The executioners just wear suits and ties now and instead of burning, you were tied to a pole as they make you a non-person and destroy you.

More related news about the government crackdown on Wuhan Flu wrongspeak can be found at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

100percentfedup.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) In the United Kingdom, there are currently 920 pending claims for injuries caused by Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines. If approved, the collective payout would amount to 35 million (about $47 million) more than the countrys 40-year total for all vaccine injuries.

Mind you, more claims are being filed all the time. These are just the ones that were filed in the one year since the injections were first rolled out by former President Donald Trump under Operation Warp Speed.

The U.K.s Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) was first launched in 1979 for those who become injured or die after getting jabbed with a vaccine. Family members of injured or dead vaccinated folks can also apply for compensation through VDPS.

Since 2007, the one-time payout has been a standard 120,000 (about $161,000). And for the four decades prior to the release of Fauci Flu injections, total payouts from the program have amounted to 75.350 million (about $101 million).

The 920 pending claims, if awarded, will result in total payouts of 110 million (about $148 million). This is an astounding figure based on historical trends for the program. (Related: The Biden regime also quietly enacted an authorization for damages caused by covid injections.)

According to reports, a jab-injured person must have been left at least 60 percent disabled  59 percent or less does not qualify, it turns out. Either that or the person must have died in order for their family to qualify for a payout.

So far, none of the 920 compensation applications linked to the COVID shot have been paid out, reported LifeSiteNews Kennedy Hall. The assessment can take months, with some victims waiting for their cases to be assessed since last summer.

How many millions of people around the world have become injured or died because of covid injections?

Data in the United States is similar. The experimental injections for covid have proven to be significantly more dangerous than all other vaccines combined, some estimates suggest.

By November 2021, there had already been 850,000 reported injuries from Fauci Flu shots logged into the U.S. governments Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

Keeping in mind that VAERS only captures about one percent of all vaccine injuries, the true number of covid jab-injured and killed victims is likely far higher than the official count.

A 2010 Harvard University-led study commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) suggested that VAERS-recorded jab injuries and deaths are just the tip of the iceberg.

In Germany, insurance data shows that covid jab injuries are at least 10 times higher than what the government of that country is claiming.

A representative from German health insurer BKK ProVita also said that between 4-5 percent of jabbed individuals among the carriers nearly 11 million insured clients have had to receive medical care for injection complications.

Huge costs are on the horizon over the next 3-5 years because of genetic damage to the vaccinated, wrote someone at LifeSiteNews.

These so-called covid vaccines are the most damaging and deadly vaccines ever inflicted on an unsuspecting populace, suggested someone else. A REAL vaccine would have been pulled from the market as too dangerous just a few months after its EMERGENCY USE rollout. These are not vaccines; they are poisons.

For governments and Big Pharma to continue to administer these things, emphasized another, is gross negligence. This whole injection operation constitutes depraved indifference to human life, this same person added.

Lots of pharma, health department, and insurance industry employees are material witnesses. Lots of research scientists and Nobel Laureate virologists and epidemiologists are expert witnesses. TRUTH must be revealed in a court of law.

More related news about covid jab injuries and deaths can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Americans set to visit Russia are advised to reconsider their plans because of its ongoing conflict with Ukraine. A new Department of State advisory tells citizens to avoid travel to Russia as fighting rages on.

The Feb. 28 advisory stated: Do not travel to Russia due to the unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces in Ukraine, the potential for harassment against U.S. citizens by Russian government security officials, the embassys limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia, COVID-19 and related entry restrictions, terrorism, limited flights into and out of Russia, and the arbitrary enforcement of local law.

This followed a Feb. 24 alert for American travelers to skip Ukraine, as well as Belarus and Moldova. Americans in Russia, on the other hand, are told to immediately take outbound flights.

International travel affected in 2022

This year was predicted to be very good for domestic and international travel, with forecasters saying people are ready to go out and see the world after the pandemic halted plans in 2020. With spring and summer just around the corner, Russias invasion of Ukraine altered these plans drastically, with the attacks affecting everything from the stock market to gas prices. (Related: Ukraine failed to prep, now having to ration gasoline as citizens desperately try to flee Kiev.)

At a time when prices are already skyrocketing, air travelers will see steeper ticket prices to compensate for the higher jet fuel prices.

When the conflict broke out on Feb. 24, U.S. crude was at $92.81 per barrel after touching the $100-mark earlier in the day. However, as fighting continued, prices also continued to surge higher, moving towards the mid-to-upper $90s for the West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery. Meanwhile, the May Brent crude delivery was up to $98.

Airlines hedge fuel prices and commit to buying a certain amount in the future at a predetermined price, so any rise in costs wont affect the passengers immediately. However, fuel prices are only going higher. The price of jet fuel was more than $107 per barrel in the last week of February, according to the International Air Transport Association. This is a nearly four percent increase from the previous month and nearly 57 percent from the previous year. By February 25, the jet fuel prices increased to an astounding $111.13 per barrel.

Scott Keyes, the founder of Scotts Cheap Flights, said higher oil prices if sustained will inevitably affect ticket costs. (Related: Reporter on the ground in Ukraine says this could boil over into WWIII.)

Jet fuel, which is derived from crude oil and fuel, is the second-largest operating expense for airlines, following labor. With fuel being such a major expense, higher oil prices would also translate into higher ticket prices, and carriers would have no choice but to pass on some of the costs.

While it is too early to figure out how the Russian invasion could increase the price of jet fuel and when those prices could affect consumers, the conflict already came at a time when jet fuel prices historically increase to meet demand from May to mid-September.

Passengers going to Asia and the Middle East may also have to travel longer as planes are avoiding the Russian airspace. Longer routes also require more fuel and labor costs, which could increase ticket prices further.

Ukraine already closed off its airspace for civilian flights, while Russia closed some portions of theirs, as well. An increasing number of airlines are also canceling their flights into and out of Russia, while many other countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency said the presence and possible use of a wide range of ground and airborne warfare systems poses a high risk for civilian flights operating at all altitudes and flight levels. Airlines were also warned not to fly over Ukraine, Belarus or Russia within 100 nautical miles of Ukraines borders to avoid the risks of international targeting and misidentification of civil aircraft.

More related stories:

Putin puts his nuclear forces on high alert in response to NATO actions, sanctions, amid ongoing Ukraine war.

Rising gas prices to hit $7 a gallon if crude oil cost spikes and tension between Russia and Ukraine escalates.

After blocking a fossil fuel pipeline, Massachusetts was so short on energy, officials had to purchase natural gas from Russia.

Russia recognizes breakaway republics of Ukraine as U.S. tries to exploit the region for global war.

Latest development on Russias attack on Ukraine and reports from Kiev: Tanks roll in from Belarus, airports and sea ports seized by Russian troops, military targets obliterated with precision missile strikes.

Watch the video below to know how air travel has become like a Russian Roulette.

This video is from the Truth or Consequences channel on Brighteon.com.

Follow WWIII.news for more updates.

Sources include:

MarketWatch.com

Travel.State.gov

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) The National Vaccine Pass has quietly rolled out, and the red states are getting on board. This move is a push toward total social credit and technocracy, but a lot of people are looking the other way.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is ditching its indoor masking guidance, and the omicron variant is loosening its grip. However, many destinations still require travelers to show proof of vaccination, and increasingly the CDC vaccination cards are no longer cutting it.

In the February 28 episode of World Alternative Media, host Josh Sigurdson told his viewers that the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) does not exist, and neither does the omicron strain. He said the COVID-19 vaccines are meant to kill as many people as possible.

While the United States government has not issued a federal digital vaccine pass, the national standard has nevertheless emerged with 21 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico offering accessible smart health cards as verifiable digital proof of vaccination developed through the vaccination credential initiative (VCI).

VCI is a global coalition of public and private stakeholders, including Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, the Mayo Clinic and other health and tech heavyweights. At least four more states will also be rolling out access to smart health cards.

Dr. Brian Anderson, co-founder of the VCI, said there is a notable uptick in vaccination in states that have officially launched public portals, where individuals can get verifiable vaccination credentials in the form of smart health cards with QR codes.

Vaccine accessibility varies by state, and this could be dangerous, especially considering that the government is advertising it.

Some reports say there is already widespread availability of smart health cards in the United States. More than 200 million Americans can now download, print or store their vaccination records as a QR code. Only when the code is pulled up that the name, date of birth and vaccination information of the individual is visible. No other medical information or personal data are shared.

The code is also digitally signed to ensure that it is issued from a verified location and to prevent forgery.

At an international level, many are also seeing continued interest in a coordinated approach, where governments are going for global social credit. For instance, Canadian provinces have now adopted smart health card verifications, as did Aruba, the Cayman Islands, Singapore, Japan and Africa. (Related: Vaccine passports becoming a reality in the US  is it the start of segregation?)

The smart health card has already rolled out in Kenya and Rwanda, just the first of 32 African countries on the list. Africans are looking to adopt a digital-first approach to healthcare records, saying that theyre trying to go cashless, pushing their countries to social credit and technocracy.

Sigurdson warned that it is likely that the stats being given by the government and mainstream media are false, as they are trying to create groupthink so that people will go along with the new mandates.

More than a dozen states have already launched their own smart health card portals, and at least seven others turned to a third-party option.

Vaccine passports as surveillance under the guise of health measures

The public needs to distinguish how these documents can be used for public health and how they may violate privacy and threaten security. Details of vaccine passports vary in different jurisdictions, so people should ask what kind of data is actually being collected, how it will be stored and if it is encrypted and protected from crime or misuse.

How the government defines necessity is one of the best indicators as to whether or not the country is adopting health policies that primarily deal with COVID, or if they are expanding mass surveillance and movement restricting activities under the guise of public health.

The vaccine passport does not need to include health information that is unrelated to a persons vaccination status, such as health card numbers or additional personal data. In New York and California, they limit the information to the holders legal name, date of birth and COVID-19 related information such as test and vaccine dates, locations and test manufacturer or vaccine type. (Related: EU pushes for extending vaccine passports as many countries start relaxing restrictions.)

While it might make sense for some to give up a certain amount of privacy for the greater good of the public, it is not as simple for those not living in democratic societies, where they can be used for mass surveillance and opposition crackdowns in totalitarian regimes.

Vaccine passports may become part of monitoring and managing outbreaks, but they also have the potential for mass surveillance, and the threat to individual security is real, especially in a totalitarian state. For more liberal democracies, it is important to practice prudent foresight to protect the privacy rights of civilians as well.

More related stories:

Protesters march against vaccine passports in London.

Vaccine passports thwarted in the UK, at least for now.

Harvard professor exposes vaccine passports as scientific nonsense.

Big Tech companies looking to normalize vaccine passports.

Texas prohibits businesses from requiring vaccine passports.

Watch the full February 28 episode of World Alternative Media below.

This video is from the World Alternative Media channel on Brighteon.com.

Read more articles related to COVID-19 vaccines on Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TheConversation.com
(Natural News) The NY Times ran a front-page, 2,600-word hit piece on RFK Jr. today. Obviously this was in retaliation for the successful Defeat the Mandates march and rally in D.C. on January 23. The NY Times assigned the article to one of their senior writers, Adam Nagourney. The article was standard paint-by-numbers drivel. And the angle of attack was the same, oh dear, Kennedys-relatives-must-be-so-disappointed-in him(TM) line that we have now seen hundreds of times.

(Article by Toby Rogers, Ph.D. republished from TobyRogers.Substack.com)

The structure of the hit piece tells us a lot about the bourgeois mind. Mr. Nagourney is trying to argue that RFK, Jr. is categorically wrong about the science of vaccines. We can have that debate, indeed we would welcome it. But Mr. Nagourney never actually attempts to evaluate the science. Instead, Mr. Nagourney interviewed RFK Jr.s relatives. Thats bizarre. Mr. Nagourney is making a SOCIAL argument in the attempt to rebut RFK, Jr.s SCIENTIFIC arguments. By way of analogy, imagine a 19th century reporter contacting the relatives of Ignaz Semmelweis to get their thoughts instead of engaging with his insights into how to reduce deaths from puerperal fever. I suppose you could, but such an approach would shed no light on the central issue.

To sane people in the real world it appears that Mr. Nagourney may have had one too many boosters. But to the bourgeoisie, Mr. Nagourneys angle of attack makes perfect sense. To embarrass the family and to be excluded from polite society is the thing they fear most. The reason the bourgeois gatekeepers write this exact same hit piece over and over again is because they think that it is the ultimate leverage point to use against Kennedy  the threat of social censure and banishment from polite society.

It literally never occurs to the bourgeoisie that one could evaluate the evidence for oneself and make an argument on the merits. Bourgeois arguments are ENTIRELY SOCIAL, their worldview consists of figuring out how to fit in and not make waves. And thats one reason why the bourgeoisie has gotten everything wrong about coronavirus from the beginning  they never actually evaluate data, they are trapped inside an epistemology that considers social standing the only valid form of evidence.

In other articles, when these mainstream reporters attempt to engage with the science, they make the same methodological mistake  they just call Hotez, Offit, Fauci etc.  the usual cast of characters with financial ties to Pharma. So even when they pretend to make a scientific argument they are actually only making a social argument (the elite tribe thinks this way, so you better obey like we do).

RFK Jr.s book, The Real Anthony Fauci, has sold over 900,000 copies. It is the best selling book in the U.S. over the last several months. It is 480-pages and has thousands of references. The NY Times and nearly every mainstream publication have refused to review it. The book presents such a threat to the governing orthodoxies that mainstream media outlets have embargoed even the mention of its title. Consistent with this pattern of journalistic malpractice, there is no evidence that Mr. Nagourney actually read The Real Anthony Fauci and the article makes passing reference to a best-selling new book but will not name the title.

The corrupt mainstream gatekeepers are terrified of what might happen if the people read the evidence for themselves.

Fascists do not deserve clicks. But Im making an exception in this case because Ive got a call to action below. You can find the article (here).

Ive had it with these know-nothing bigots who cannot be bothered to engage in proper due diligence on the most important issue of our lifetime. These stenographers for the cartel need to know that their time is up, their era is over, and we will not put up with their bullying any longer. Everyone at the NY Times has failed since day 1 of the pandemic and their grotesque cheerleading for the pharmaceutical industry has cost hundreds of thousands of American lives. We are the majority now, lets use our voice to right these wrongs.

So I am asking you to reach out to Mr. Nagourney to share your thoughts on his article. Please be respectful and polite, but he needs to be held to account for his actions. At a minimum I think it is fair to ask:

1. Did you actually read The Real Anthony Fauci?

2. Why did you fail to mention a single fact from the book? and

3. What claims from the book, if any, do you think might be incorrect?

If you are looking for a subject line for your email, I suggest: Your hit piece on RFK, Jr. failed to meet even basic journalistic standards.

Robust debate is the lifeblood of democracy and science and we deserve better from the paper of record. If Mr. Nagourney is unable to engage with the scientific arguments in good faith, then maybe he should just sit this one out. And the NY Times should be ashamed of itself  the article was clearly written for the purposes of gaining favor with pharmaceutical advertisers.

Heres Mr. Nagourneys contact information:

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @adamnagourney

Facebook: @AdamNagourneyNYT

Mr. Nagourneys bosses needs to hear from us too:

Dean Baquet

Executive Editor

The New York Times Company

620 Eighth Avenue

New York, NY 10018

[email protected]

Joseph Kahn

Managing Editor

The New York Times Company

620 Eighth Avenue

New York, NY 10018

[email protected]

Here are instructions for writing a letter to the editor (for possible publication in the newspaper):

Letters should preferably be 150 to 175 words, should refer to an article that has appeared within the last seven days, and must include the writers address and phone number.

To send a letter to the Editor:

For readers of The New York Times: [email protected]

For readers of The International New York Times: [email protected]

Read more at: TobyRogers.Substack.com
(Natural News) A New Zealand magistrate ruled that the governments Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandates for military and law enforcement personnel are unlawful.

In a 40-page decision, Justice Francis Cooke of the High Court of New Zealand ruled on Feb. 25 that the order requiring members of the New Zealand Police (NZP) and New Zealand Defense Forces (NZDF) to get the COVID-19 vaccine infringed on individual rights. He also pointed out that the mandate failed to materially advance its stated objective of guaranteeing continuity of government services.

The order issued by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood in December 2021 said any NZP and NZDF member who has not received two COVID-19 vaccine doses by March 1 would lose their jobs. However, three employees who objected to the vaccination challenged the mandate in court. Thirty-seven other employees who were in the same predicament as the first three filed sworn affidavits in support.

Cooke wrote in his Feb. 25 decision that the vaccine mandate violated the New Zealand Bill of Rights, citing two instances to back up his argument. First, forcing the vaccine  despite objections to the shots use of and testing on cells derived from human fetuses  involves a limitation on the manifestation of a religious belief. The Bill of Rights guarantees the right of individuals to manifest their religious beliefs in worship, observance, practice or teaching.

Second, the Bill of Rights declares that everyone has the right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment. However, Cooke contended that Woods mandate infringed on other recognized rights, such as the right to retain employment. (Related: NZ soldiers told: Get coronavirus vaccine or get FIRED.)

In essence, the order mandating vaccinations for NZP and NZDF staff was imposed to ensure the continuity of the public services and to promote public confidence in [them]  rather than to stop the spread of COVID-19. I am not satisfied that continuity of these services is materially advanced by the order, the magistrate penned.

Terminations suspended, reinstatement of workers urged

Attorney Matthew Hague, counsel for the plaintiffs, said the affected NZP and NZDF staff members must be allowed to work. The plaintiffs are currently suspended as of writing  with those from the NZDF set to be dismissed on March 1 and those from the NZP to be dismissed on March 7.

In my view, they should immediately be able to return to work. They asked the court to rule that the order was unlawful, which the court has now done. What that means is that the notice of dismissal that has been given to NZP and NZDF workers is now no longer in effect, said Hague.

New Zealand Police Association (NZPA) President Chris Cahill agreed with Hagues remarks. He said in a statement: The court has now clarified the legal status of the NZP mandate and deemed it to be unlawful. The [NZPA] therefore calls for all officers affected by this decision to be reinstated and returned to work as soon as possible.

Spokespersons for the NZP and NZDF said on Feb. 25 that following Cookes ruling, terminations of staff members as a result of the vaccine mandate will be suspended. As the judicial decision has only just been released, we will be taking time to consider the decision. We will be communicating with staff about [the] next steps. In the meantime, terminations of employment will not proceed at this time, they said.

Meanwhile, Wood released a statement about the decision, saying that the government will take time to consider the ruling and seek advice on the next steps to take. The requests for vaccination mandates originally came from NZP and NZDF, so before making any decision  we will go back to them to assess the implications for their operations. No terminations will proceed at this time; affected staff [members] are being advised, the ministers statement read.

More related stories:

LA cops sue city over its coronavirus vaccine mandate.

NYC police union threatens to sue if city requires cops to get vaccinated.

Alaska joins Texas in lawsuit against Covid vaccine mandate for guardsmen.

NYC fires more than 1,400 employees for refusing COVID vaccine; 10,000 more unvaccinated employees set to be terminated.

Watch New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announcing vaccine mandates for businesses below.

This video is from the WAKE UP channel on Brighteon.com.

HealthFreedom.news has more stories about justices overturning unlawful COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Sources include:

TheNewAmerican.com

NZHerald.co.nz

Brighteon.com
Do I have to say more, we Sri Lankans, know a thing or two, about No Fly Zones and Air Corridors, which hardly work?

by Victor Cherubim

On the seventh day of Putins war, a reliable friend said to me, the West knows full well that this war will not be a success for either, the West, the Russians or even for Ukraine. Even if Russia succeeded in leaving Ukraine in a smoking ruin, the overall cost to the West is incomparable.

The world will not be the same again. We heard it said, that it will have to reshape itself after COVID-19. But, after more than three to five decades of rapid globalisation, growing economic interdependence, or eighty odd years of relative peace after World War II, people all over, will need to adjust to a different style of life, living and search for comfort and happiness, as well as security. This we know, will never end.

To give you one example of this massive change seen within hours, if not days, is what we see after the world issued sanctions and Russia retaliated with ban on its airspace. Businessmen and travellers on Western airlines were overnight unable to use Russian airspace, as well as the alongside improvements in aircraft engine technology. This transformed a non-stop direct flight from London to Tokyo that took 12 hours, increased to 18 tired hours, overnight. Of course, UK and Europe banned Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot, from their skies as well. In short, there is a new form of convenience flying amid fears of Russian carpet bombing?

It is the measure of the moment. Likewise, there are other inconveniences faced by both the West and Russia. Russian Oligarchs are scrambling to sell their businesses in UK particularly, after Britains Foreign Secretary, said today: We are inflicting pain, economic pain on Russias President Putin and those closest to him. We will not rest until Ukraines

sovereignty and territorial integrity is restored. My readers will know how Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, lampooned her during her visit to negotiate peace.

Roman Abramovich announced he would want to sell Chelsea F.C. and donate the money from sale to humanitarian effort. There are other Oligarchs in London too who are jittery. They are unable to flout their wealth and they are fleeing?

President Joe Bidens response

President Biden in his first State of the Union message to Congress last night, (1.March 2022) stated; When the history of this era is written, Putins war in Ukraine will have left Russia weakened and the rest of the world stronger. There is no mention of the No Fly Zone, as no go by the US, or her Allies, afraid of getting into World War III.

On the 7th day of war in Ukraine, Russian troops are advancing on Kyiv.

Kherson, a port city in the south of Ukraine has been captured by Russia. The BabynYar Holocaust Memorial, where Nazi soldiers executed 33,771 Jews over a two day period in September 1941, has been brutally bombed. After this human tragedy, it was said: never again, but it could onlylast some 80 years.It has touched a chord in the minds and hearts of many.

Ukrainians were warned according to reports in advance to leave their homes and claimed the attack was to destroy, psychological operations. The Russians are masters in this warfare, which cannot be condoned.

Russian paratroopers have also entered Kharkiv as the war enters its day Seven.

However, something similar to WW III has already started, which the Ukrainian people are desperately asking,the West to protect their sky?

Do I have to say more, we Sri Lankans, know a thing or two, about No Fly Zones and Air Corridors, which hardly work?
(Natural News) Donald Trump believes Russian President Vladimir Putin wouldnt even think of sending troops to Ukraine if he were still the president of the United States.

President Putins genius idea to send so-called peacekeepers into Ukraine would not have happened had I been in office  not even thinkable, Trump said as quoted by Brannon Howse during the Feb. 28 episode of the World View Report on Brighteon.TV. This would never have happened if we were there.

Worse, the former president thinks Putins move has emboldened Chinese President Xi Jinping. Chinas going to be next, Trump said in a recent interview with The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. He elaborated that the Asian superpower will attack Taiwan due to President Joe Bidens weak leadership. (Related: Trump: China will DEFINITELY attack Taiwan following Russia-Ukraine example.)

Biden earlier warned that the U.S. forces will defend North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) territories if Russia broadens its assault beyond Ukraine. Thats another way of saying that he will not interfere in Russias invasion of Ukraine. The Chinese, for sure, are listening.

Even mainstream media outlets have noticed that tension in Ukraine never escalated during the Trump administration. NBCs Chuck Todd once asked, How come there was none of this happening during the Trump administration?

Its largely because Putin respects Trump  and doesnt care about Biden.

I knew Putin very well, Trump said. I got along with him great. He liked me. I liked him. I mean, you know, hes a tough cookie, got a lot of the great charm and a lot of pride. And he loves his country.

But invading Ukraine has always been a part of Putins agenda.

I think he sees this opportunity. I knew that he always wanted Ukraine, Trump said. I used to talk to him about it. I said, You cant do it. Youre not going to do it. But I could see that he wanted it. I used to ask him. We used to talk about it at length.

Bidens posturing laughable and dangerous at the same time

Putins disregard of Biden makes his posturing laughable  and dangerous to some extent. Ben Armstrong took note of that in a recent episode of The Ben Armstrong Show.

[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is never going to view Biden as not weak. I dont know why they dont understand that. How do they not understand that Putin is never going to respect Biden? So telling Biden to act tougher isnt going to work. Am I wrong? How do they not know this? So why are they saying really irresponsible things? Ive heard some irresponsible stuff that could get America blown up, Armstrong said.

Ive been saying for the greater good of humanity: The Ukraine is not worth escalating. But we have many leaders that want to act tough. And they think by acting tough, theyre going to put us in a better position. Instead, all theyre going to do is put Putin in a corner and make him lash out.

Armstrong is worried, and for good reason. Putin has said all along that he will strike first with nuclear weapons.

Putin has been saying that, and nobody believes him. Everyone thinks that hes not serious, Armstrong noted. He believes nuclear [weapon] is something that should be used as a first resort if you need to win, especially against a foe like the United States. Now, nobody wants to believe him. And everyone will think that Im hysterical for saying Vladimir Putin will use nuclear weapons for the first strike.

In fact, Russia is already on nuclear high alert.

Theyve got the codes out there for the military  they are ready. All it takes is a word. Putin has told his military to put the world on notice. The reason why is for the Western nations to see. That has nothing to do with the Ukraine. That nuclear high alert has something to do with the sanctions. Because the Western world escalated it, Armstrong said.

More related stories:

Trump blasts Joe Biden over handling of Russia-Ukraine crisis, warns that world war is now very possible.

Biden and his war hawks clamor for war with Russia; Ukraine tells him to STOP WARMONGERING and calm down.

Russias invasion of Ukraine seen as perfect opportunity for World Economic Forum to launch its Cyber Pandemic.

Ben Armstrong warns Biden administration: Acting tough now against Russia could put the world on the brink of a nuclear war.

Watch the Feb. 28 episode of World View Report below. Catch new episodes of the program from Monday to Friday at 9-9:30 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Follow WWIII.news for more news related to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com 1

DailyMail.co.uk

NYPost.com

Brighteon.com 2
(Natural News) After the better part of a century, few moments in American history still carry the gravity that the attack on Pearl Harbor does. Each year, Pearl Harbor Day is celebrated to commemorate the attack against the United States that occurred on December 7th, 1941, at least on its face. Perhaps more cynically, the value of remembering the tragedy truly lies in the sense of jingoism that the memorial reinforces in the American public. That premise is at the core of the western worlds romanticization of World War II, which always glosses over the horrors and crimes against humanity committed by all nations involved in the conflict; whether Axis of Allied.

(Article by Blueapples republished from ZeroHedge.com)

In a microcosm of that, Pearl Harbors chauvinistic characterization of wartime America notably overlooks one of the saddest chapters in the countrys history: the implementation of internment camps for Japanese-Americans. That initiative put the supposedly morally exalted United States on par with the Third Reich and USSR as states which created their own concentration camps to imprison citizens and residents of their respective countries, making innocent people the casualties of an ideological crusade. On the morning of December 8th, 1941, the owners of the Japanese-owned Wanto Grocery store rushed to their business in the wake of the attack to post a sign which read I Am An American in a display of solidarity. The effort of the Masuda family to mend cultural hostility aimed at Japanese-Americans sadly became a futile effort against a mob mentality which arises in a different iteration in 2022.

All these years later, the Hegelian axiom that the one thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history rings true with an especially daunting echo. Amidst the Russian Federations invasion of Ukraine, a growing chorus of calls to boycott Russian companies and products have gained momentum across the nation. Yet, this initiative does little more than highlight the ignorance of the American public about Russian culture and history. The US  a nation whose empty neoliberal propaganda supposedly decries xenophobia  is entirely fine with ostracizing people on national and ethnic lines when it serves their political agenda.

Perhaps the ignorance of the American NPC public backing these boycotts is made no more apparent than the collateral damage it causes for companies who are perceived to be Russian due to a lack of cultural enlightenment from the self-proclaimed noble western world. The examples of Smirnoff and Stolichnaya vodka illustrate the excruciating irony of this circumstance. While those companies products have been removed from stores, the political activists doing so neglect to consider that neither Smirnoff nor Stoli are produced in Russia. Smirnoff describes itself as being proudly made in America while Stoli is distilled in Riga, Latvia. The latter of the companies had to release an official statement elucidating its nation of origin to avoid being swept up in the rising anti-Russian cultural trend.

One would think that a civilization so enlightened which lauds diversity and inclusion would have a greater understanding of the heritage and history behind companies, organizations, and people that coalesce into the diverse make up of its populous. Instead, the hubris of that self-absorbed sense of moral superiority is a display completely lacking self awareness. All it shows is that diversity, like anything else, is only as good as the value it has for political purposes. That superficial application of the ideological position entirely undermines everything it stands for in an embodiment of the gilded state of the American empire where almost nothing has any substance behind it other than how it can advance the interests of the elite.

Case in point is made in the logical inconsistencies of our elected officials who have taken this tenor. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was one state leader who called upon businesses in his state to remove Russian products from their shelves. While Abbott openly espouses his support of boycotting Russian goods, those who join him in that initiative gloss over the fact that the governor signed a bill into law which forbids the boycott of Israeli-owned companies and their products. Since the Texas Anti-BDS Law was signed into effect in 2017, Abbott has had to reauthorize an amended version of the bill to accommodate rulings of several court cases challenging it on First Amendment grounds. So when Abbott speaks brazenly about citizens exercising their right to protest, he does so in an entirely disingenuous tone knowing full well that he would violate that same right of Texans if it came to standing up against a political interest that has enriched him.

The double standard of America takes against its opposition is readily apparent in the narrative its maintained against the Russian Federation. In highlighting their opposition to Russias invasion of Ukraine, Fox News brought in former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (who has 2 zs in her name for some reason) as a geopolitical analyst. I have argued that when you invade a sovereign nation, that is a war crime, host Harris Faulkner told Rice, as she nodded along in apparent agreement. I mean, I think were at just a real, basic, basic point there. she continued before studio cameras panned to Rice who enthusiastically nodded her head in agreement in an utter display of either party lacking any semblance of self awareness. Rice expounded upon the hosts point by concurring that the same act that she supported in Iraq was in violation of international law. She then proceeded to use the stage to return to her typical tone of calling for US intervention in a foreign region it has no business in.

Fox News, a MSM media outlet which cultivated public sentiment for the US invasion of the sovereign nation of Iraq along with one the architects of that war literally admitting that they were each complicit in what they acknowledged as a war crime shouldnt really come as any surprise. Of course, the hypocrisy of these people knows no bounds and it certainly doesnt end there. To the point, the boycott of Russian goods because of human rights considerations when China sends more imports to the US than any other nation lacks any contemplation about moral and ethical concerns. The list of contradictions from the empire of lies goes on but continuing to take note of these examples is a dangerous risk of ones sanity.

The cognitive dissonance of the American public that makes its xenophobia against Russia such a powerful tool is symptomatic of the cancer destroying this country and many others: statism. Friedrich Nietzsche famously penned God is dead but the edgelords that take that motto to heart overlook his forewarning that the church would be replaced with the worship of the state. After all, the issues that arose around religion werent because of any prophet, saint, or doctrine but because of the fallibility of man and the institutions it created which would corrupt even the most noble endeavors. Democracy is in every way on par with what religion was, its an illusory concept used to instill a false sense of class consciousness among the masses. They follow the cults of personalities of different leaders by buying into identity politics because they themselves as individuals are so often devoid of any true sense of identity.

For as long as that empty allegiance to the state exists it will be possible for world leaders to pit slav against slav for the enrichment of oligarchs or for the big guy to get his 10% for as long as he can keep an installed government in power to cover up his political corruption. Though that dynamic is the incarnation of evil, the sheeple masses fail to account for their agency in this sad state of affairs. Evil will always exist. All humanity can determine is where it exists as a challenge that serves to strengthen our virtue or if evil will triumph in the wake of apathy that is indicative of how lost we have become. Sadly, the present state of global affairs is not an auspice portending a benevolent conclusion to mans rapidly descending downward spiral.

Read more at: ZeroHedge.com
(Natural News) Last night, there were some very bizarre moments during Joe Bidens SOTU speech. Ive collected my top 5 most bizarre moments-here they are:

(Article by Patty McMurray republished from 100PercentFedUp.com)

#1. Joe Concha tweeted a hilarious video showing Senator Chuck Schumer jumping from his seat to clap for Joe Biden during his SOTU speech on Tuesday night. There was only one problemthe Dem senator immediately sat back down when he looked around and realized he had missed his cue, and it wasnt time to stand yet.

The Democrats spent so much time jumping up to clap for the most unpopular president in modern history that, amazingly, none of the geriatric, lifetime politicians were wheeled away on a stretcher.

Luana tweeted: When its all staged, and you missed rehearsal

Perhaps the greatest thing ever pic.twitter.com/kDyIP0ikYW  Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) March 2, 2022

#2. The clown show didnt stop there. Speaker Pelosi, the most powerful Democrat in Congress, made quite the scene as well. She wasnt tearing up speeches this time, but she was doing something very bizarre with her hands.

Second only to this https://t.co/nI1BSfzQW1  Brad McCloud (@McCloudOutLoud) March 2, 2022

Its even more disturbing when you put Nancy Pelosis frightening behavior into context. As Joe Biden began talking about veterans who were stationed in Afghanistan bases and were exposed to toxic smoke from burn pits, Nancy stood up behind him with a huge smile on her face and began rubbing her hands together, and looked at Joe as though shes trying to seduce him from behind.

Pelosi has been drinking again. I hope its not Russian vodka! pic.twitter.com/RKBCxokfAl  Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) March 2, 2022

#3. And then there was the incredible moment when Joe Biden attempted to make a powerful statement about the resolve of the Ukrainian people, but instead, he referred to them as the Iranian people. Kamala Harris, who is used to Joes gaffes, appears to be mouthing Ukrainian only moments after Joe misidentifies them.

LMFAO Kamala appears to mouth Ukrainian when Joe Biden said Iranian.

pic.twitter.com/E28NEmiPOv  Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 2, 2022

#4. And in this clip, Biden explains how US forces will not go to Europe to fight Ukraine. What?

Joe Biden confuses Ukraine and Russia: Our forces are not going to Europe to fight Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/6RbGEWJOUu  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 2, 2022

#5. And for no particular reason, at the end of his speech, Joe shouted, Thank youGo get em! Go get who?

If you had any doubts that someone is telling Biden what to say, this removes all doubt. After the #SOTU speech was over #JoeBiden bizarrely yells out #GoGetHim! That was his handler instructing someone to go get Biden, but Biden repeated it as if it was part of the speech. pic.twitter.com/8fUjj5jgDD  MyOwlsHoot (@MyOwlsHoot) March 2, 2022

Donald Trump Jr. nailed mumbling Joe Bidens speech with this tweet:

We are living in bizarro times. Ever since the elections shut down in key states across America and Joe suddenly stole the lead from Trump, weird things have been happening.

November 2022 cant get here soon enough

Read more at: 100PercentFedUp.com
(Natural News) Americas leaders are Marxists and the United States has become a Marxist totalitarian state, according to author and public speaker Scott Lively.

Our leaders are Marxists. Whats the first tenet of Marxism? Its atheism. Atheism is absolutely contradictory to the Judeo-Christian worldview and Christianity itself. And thats who our leaders are right now, Lively told host Dr. Alan Keyes during the February 26 episode of Lets Talk America on Brighteon.TV.

The entire Biden-Obama regime is a Marxist totalitarian state and they are trying to drag us deeper down into that hole with the plandemic, with the lockdowns, with all the things that theyve been doing, this suppression of conservative speech and Christian speech. (Related: ACLU now admits it is functioning as opposition to America; left-wing principles founded in communism and Marxism.)

Lively also discussed with Keyes the transformation of Russia from the former communist Soviet Union and the present.

Russian people deeply rooted in Christian faith

Keyes indicated that the difference between the Russia of today and the Soviet Union of yesterday was the fact that there was a major restoration that occurred  the restoration of the Christian faith. He added that God and Christianity were not abandoned by the people of Russia and they have remained deeply rooted in their faith for centuries.

Lively said Russia is a Christian nation now and it has been re-Christianized in the years since glasnost was introduced by former Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He took note that when the Berlin Wall came down and glasnost came in, Russia went through a period of social collapse and gangsterism as Russian oligarchs fought each other.

The pastor and missionary added that then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin chose Vladimir Putin to clean up and solve the problem. According to Lively, Putin got rid of gangsterism and pushed out Marxism. He added that the current Russian leader brought back into Russia the Russian Orthodox Church as the primary cultural influence of the nation.

Russia is being restored as an authentic Christian nation with essentially the Russian Orthodox Church as the state church. It is not necessarily very friendly to other denominations, thats one negative, but in terms of shaping the culture to adhere to biblical values, its been remarkable, he said.

Christian revival saved Russia from communism

Lively also emphasized that it was a Christian revival that saved Russia from the Soviet Unions communism.

It was the rise of Christianity that broke the back of the Soviet Union. The economic sanctions were important because they robbed the leadership of the ability to keep everybody in bondage. But it was Christianity that overthrew the Marxism, the communism of the Soviet Union, he said.

Lively also pointed out that what most people believe about Putin in the U.S. is the product of anti-Russian propaganda from either the liberal press or the neoconservative press.

There isnt any real solid conservative news. Both the liberals and the neocons are united against Russia. So the majority of Americans, especially those who are hostile to Putin, have a Cold War mentality because they really dont know anything anymore about the country than what they grew up with when we were in the Cold War, when it was the Soviet Union, Lively stressed.

But the Soviet Union is now in Washington, DC and the former Christian America is now in the country of Russia.

Lively also indicated that the U.S. has made Ukraine into a proxy state since the 2014 February coup, with America taking out pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych and replacing him with its own stooge. After that, Lively said, the U.S. started plundering Ukraine with then-Vice President Joe Biden leading the way.

He added that America has reshaped Ukraine into a woke-cracy since 2014 and Americanized the whole culture.

More related stories:

Investigative reporter Joshua Philipp tells Alex Newman: The whole world is living under some form of Marxism.

ALERT: 37,000 teachers use Left-wing News Literacy Project to indoctrinate children.

Parents warned: Marxism may soon be coming to an elementary school near you.

Russia recognizes breakaway republics of Ukraine as U.S. tries to exploit the region for global war.

Matrixxx Grooove: Putin, Russia want denazification, demilitarization of Ukraine.

Watch the full Feb. 28 episode of Lets Talk America with Dr. Alan Keyes below. Lets Talk America airs Monday to Friday at 1-3 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Find more stories like this at Marxism.news.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

Britannica.com

ScottLively.net

WSWS.org
(Natural News) A group called Citizens Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) is calling on Congress to scrap a plan that would limit health care access only to people who believe and share government-approved information.

In a letter addressed to deep state swamp creatures Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), CCHF is petitioning for a ban on the scheme, which has actually been in motion for many decades now under the name of Unique Patient Identifier (UPI).

The letter explains that the use of these identifying numbers will undermine the doctor-patient relationship and bring about a womb-to-tomb monitoring plan. The scheme also aims to centralize patient data into a national medical-records system, the letter alleges.

For one, the government would have a newfound ability to track care and potentially even deny treatments to individuals who lack the card.

The governments strategy with the program is also to conduct research using patient data without consent  and become the only way to access medical care in America.

If the program is allowed to be fully implemented, it will create a rich target for hackers and others, including foreign governments, wishing to steal the identity and private medical and financial details of Americans in and outside of government, the letter further warns.

In short, it will make Americans more vulnerable, violate their rights, and threaten our national security.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 laid groundwork for rationing heath care only to approved individuals

If you think this is all something new under the current regime or other recent regimes, think again. The UPI system was actually created as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act of 1996.

That legislation established procedures for private and personal medical information about patients to be shared across numerous agencies and intelligence groups for screening purposes. (Related: In the United Kingdom, the government has attempted a similar scheme that involves punishing people who eat unhealthy food and rewarding those who consume government-approved food.)

National systems beget national systems: a national patient ID will create a national data system facilitating the transition to a national health care system, where access to care is controlled by the federal government, the letter to Congress reveals.

It was Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) who singlehandedly tried to ban funding for that project way back when, but his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. To this day, it has been consistently maintained.

Now the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have struck a funding prohibition out of the proposed appropriations bill to advance a government that will identify and track every patient through the health care system, the letter further explains.

A repeal to said provision has been proposed but has not yet led to any success.

Among the signatories of the letter are Twila Brase, the chief of CCHF, along with the leaders of the American Family Association, Americans for Prosperity, John Locke Foundation, California Policy Center, Concerned Doctors of Alabama, Eagle Forum of Alabama, Foundation for Economic Education, Foundation for Government Accountability, Goldwater Institute and dozens of other groups.

Too late, suggested a commenter at WND. Bill Gates has already sold the DNA of everyone tested with the PCR to China (he probably kept a copy for himself) and the jab has made you identifiable and scannable through the nanobots that were in the death shots.

Someone else wrote simply:

Get healthy, stay healthy, and stay away from hospitals.

Another warned that phony health care can also be forced on people against their beliefs, Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines being a perfect example of this.

It is not just a question of denial, this person added. There is also forcing people.

More related news can be found at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

WND.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The fact that George Soros can live freely in any democratic society including in the United States after purposefully working to undermine and destroy those democracies should tell you how much wealth and influence he really has.

With that said, it should also come as no surprise that among his many accomplishments was playing a major role in financing the overthrow of Ukraines government in 2014 and the installment of its current leader, a former comedic actor named Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is now trying to lead his country through a Russian invasion.

As noted by Bill Kloss law blog:

George Soros acknowledged in an interview with CNN that he actively contributed to the overthrow of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. I created a foundation in Ukraine before it became independent from Russia. The foundation has functioned since then and has played an important role in current events, explains the financier who established the International Renaissance Foundation, in Ukraine, as part of the Open Society Foundations, in April 1990.

The foundation, put in Ukraine by the granddad of the New World Order globalist movement to allegedly assist in the countrys transition to a democratic, free-market society actually became more like a parallel government, Kloss noted. The foundation immediately began several projects in different parts of the country that did not really provide any benefit to the government or the people. Ultimately, the foundation helped usher in Zelenskyy (May 2019), a comedian/clown who got rich doing a Ukrainian political satire comedy TV series, though he was secretly financed by Soros friend and Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky.

His name was included in revelations regarding the investigation into the Pandora Papers, which was the worlds biggest journalism collaboration in history, involving some 600 journalists in a probe that unmasked the hidden owners of offshore companies, secret bank accounts, private jets, yachts, mansions, and precious artworks of a bunch of influential people from the New World Order elite, Kloss noted.

Exposed were more than 100 of the worlds billionaires linked to 29,000 offshore accounts, as well as 30 current and former leaders, and 300 public officials in the first leaks that came in October 2021. The findings caused many governments to launch their own investigations into financial activities exposed by the Pandora Papers investigation.

As Russian forces overrun Ukraine, Soros popped off a statement in support of the regime he created.

I have witnessed Ukraine transform from a collapsing part of the Soviet Union to a liberal democracy and an open society. It has faced countless acts of Russian aggression, but has persisted. Brave Ukrainians are now on the frontline and risking their lives in an onslaught that reminds me of the siege of Budapest in 1944 and the siege of Sarajevo in 1993, he said.

It is important that both the transatlantic alliance (the United States, Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom) but also other nations do whatever is in their power to support Ukraine in its time of existential threat. Putins actions are a direct attack on the sovereignty of all States that were once in the Soviet Union, and beyond, he continued.

Russia is in clear violation of the United Nations charter and should be held accountable. Allowing Putin to succeed on his quest will send a message across the world that nations can simply be created or dissolved by brute force. We must stand with Ukraine, as they stand for us, he added.

While Soros talks of openness and liberal democracy, in fact, the Ukraine he helped create was designated as the most corrupt nation in Europe by The Guardian in 2015, and not much changed in the ensuing years (recall, Joe Bidens son, Hunter Biden, and his corrupt dealings in Ukraine).

Soros is not a builder of democracies; he is a destroyer of them, as evidenced by Ukraine. When his time passes on earth, that will be a good day for liberty.

Sources include:

BillKloss.Law.blog

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) The fallout of Canadas largely successful Freedom Convoy has put on spotlight another evil plan by the globalists: the push for a programmable central bank digital currency (CBDC).

On February 21, the Canadian Parliament approved Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus motion to invoke the Emergencies Act in response to the peaceful trucker protest against the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandates. Under the Act, Canadian banks can seize the personal bank accounts of anyone suspected of participating in or supporting the protest.

Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who has deep ties with globalist George Soros, claimed that the government was using the Emergencies Act to broaden Canadas anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules to cover crowdfunding platforms and their payment service providers.

This broadened surveillance power requires all digital transactions, including cryptocurrencies, to be reported to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada (FINTRAC). Freeland justified the move as a way to mitigate the risk of illicit funds and increase the quality and quantity of intelligence received by FINTRAC and make more information available to support investigations by law enforcement.

According to Freeland, the Freedom Convoy had highlighted the fact that digital assets and funding mechanisms werent captured by the Canadian governments pre-existing surveillance powers. Thus, she said, the government will also bring forward legislation to provide these authorities to FINTRAC on a permanent basis. (Related: CANADA HAS FALLEN: The once-free nation is now under UN occupation and globalist control, with no mechanism remaining for peaceful return to democracy.)

That could eventually lead to the introduction of a programmable CBDC in Canada. In June last year, the Telegraph reported that the Bank of England has already started moving on a programmable CBDC. Theres no doubt that this is the plan of all central banks worldwide, including Canadas.

You will have no control over your own money

In a recent episode of Naturally Inspired Daily, host Tammy Cuthbert Garcia talked about programmable currency.

Programmable currency is digital cash programmed to ensure it can only be spent on essentials or goods that an employer or government deems to be sensible. In other words, the issuer of the money would have complete control over how you spend your own money, and could punish you for undesirable opinions or behavior by restricting your purchasing ability or seizing your funds altogether.

It involves a blockchain code, Cuthbert Garcia said, so its almost like a token system.

You wont be able to use your money just for anything. You will have to use that code, that programmable code, to buy certain things, she explained.

So, maybe, you only have 10 digital tokens to buy beef that week. And once you use those tokens, you cant buy anymore. Its a way to ration things. And so if the holder of the centralized currency, the comptroller of the centralized currency, doesnt want certain things to take place, then theyll simply not create those tokens to buy those things. Its kind of like a lock and key type thing.

An article published on the Federal Reserve website last year noted: Any programmability offered for this money, whether internally to the entity maintaining the database or exposed to its customers via an application programming interface, involves another technology system built separately from that database and then connected in some fashion.

Theyre all connected

You can clearly read vaccine passports between those lines.

This is what weve been talking about with the vaccine passports. This is what weve been talking about, for goodness sake. And we still have people out there willingly using vaccine passports, Cuthbert Garcia said.

Okay, this is not about proving your health medical injection status. This is about a centralized currency that will drastically change your ability to exchange goods and services and to move freely about the world. Please go learn about programmable currency.

Theyre all connected as if theyre all part of a grand plan. Perhaps, they really are.

Not surprisingly, the Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC of famous globalist Bill Gates registered a cryptocurrency system on March 26, 2020  just 15 days after the World Health Organization officially declared a global pandemic. (Related: Enzyme that will make Bill Gates vaccine microchip implant work known as LUCIFERASE.)

Titled Cryptocurrency system using body activity data, it gained international status on April 22, 2020. Microsoft gave it the patent code number 060606.

Under this system, the human body activity associated with the task provided to a user can be used in the mining process of a cryptocurrency. A server provides a task to a users device connected to it. A sensor attached to the users device or positioned within it can detect the users body activity.

Body activity data can be generated based on the attained body activity of the user. The cryptocurrency system connected to the users device can verify whether the data generated by body activity meet the conditions set by the cryptocurrency system, and can issue cryptocurrency to the user whose body activity data is verified.

In other words, a chip that monitors daily physical activity will be placed in your body. And if the conditions are met, you will receive certain bonuses that can be spent on something.

Again, theyre all connected.

More related stories:

Canadian government freezes single moms bank account after she donated $50 to the Freedom Convoy.

Tammy Cuthbert Garcia: Imagine the power they will exercise over us when they control one centralized currency.

Brace yourself for impact: Luciferian elite launch Great Collapse of Western civilization.

Watch this video to learn more about programmable currency and how the globalists control Canada.

Sources include:

GlobalResearch.ca

TheGlobeAndMail.com

Brighteon.com

FederalReserve.gov

ProIPPatent.com
(Natural News) Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam called for calm on Tuesday, March 1, after residents emptied supermarkets as they began stocking up on produce and other necessities following reports of a compulsory mass Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) testing and possible city-wide lockdown.

Local media reported that testing will begin after March 17, sparking concerns that many will be forced to isolate, and families with members who test positive might get separated.

Officials are planning to test 7.4 million residents three times over nine days, and the government is recommending that they stay home during the period. Exemptions, however, will be made for those who buy food, seek medical treatment and maintain societal operations. The stock market is also expected to continue to operate.

Isabella Ng Fung-sheung, associate head of the Department of Asian and Policy Studies at the Education University of Hong Kong, described Hong Kongs pandemic strategy as a disaster that was fueling fear and anxiety among communities.

Ng shared that ordinary citizens are extremely worried, and people are frantically seizing all available food in the supermarkets.

An ex-pat resident in Hong Kong said he spent four days trying to get groceries through a supermarkets online delivery service without success. When he went to a physical store, he said lines were ten to 15-people deep at each register, with supplies of fresh meat limited to non-existent. However, he said that shelves seem decently stocked on most other items.

I think the government operated on the assumption that zero COVID was always going to work and did not develop any contingency plans in case it didnt. Now they are left scrambling to catch up, the resident said.

Lam appealed to the public, saying they should not fall prey to rumors and avoid unnecessary fears being stirred as the supply of food and goods remain normal. There is no need for members of the public to worry, they should stay vigilant and pay attention to the information disseminated by the government so as to avoid being misled by rumors, she said.

Mass testing for 7.4 million residents

Lam previously said she was not considering a city-wide lockdown despite seeing coronavirus infections surge 34 times to over 34,000 on Monday, Feb. 28, from just 100 at the beginning of February. Death rates are also high, and facilities for storing dead bodies at hospitals and public mortuaries are already at maximum capacity. (Related: Coronavirus infections leap higher in Hong Kong.)

Hong Kong continues to stick to its COVID policy of dynamic zero, which is similar to that of mainland China. The territory promised to stick with a similar elimination policy that aligns with the mainland, where they are prioritizing the curbing of outbreaks at all cost. Hong Kong has implemented its own measures, including closing businesses such as bars, beauty salons and gyms, which were the strictest since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

The rules have also exacerbated separation fears among families, with many fleeing ahead of the mass testing scheme and the building of isolation centers. Lam already inspected one of the mainland Chinese-built isolation centers on Monday and said the team has raced against the clock to create a miracle.

The Tsing Yi facility, located in the northwest of the city, is to provide 3,900 rooms for infected individuals with mild to no symptoms, as well as others who need to isolate. (Related: Hong Kong residents stock up on food, supplies as COVID ravages city.)

Ng added that an earlier announcement saying the school summer holidays would be moved to March and April also caused chaos amongst schools, teachers, parents and students. Meanwhile, the strict travel and quarantine rules are scaring off investors.

More related stories:

Hong Kong experiencing a record jump in coronavirus cases.

Could coronavirus infect 80 percent of humanity? Hong Kong scientist says yes.

Hong Kong residents stand up against plan to send them to coronavirus prison camps.

Passengers on Delhi to Hong Kong flight TEST POSITIVE for the coronavirus despite testing negative before flying.

Lobby group urges Hong Kong to rethink zero-COVID policy that threatens to cripple its status as financial hub.

Watch the video below to know more about Hong Kongs move to eradicate COVID in the territory.

This video is from the Take down CCP channel on Brighteon.com.

Follow Pandemic.news for more updates.

Sources include:

ChannelNewsAsia.com

AlJazeera.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Even the prison walls and isolation in a distant land couldnt stop Mark Grenon from spreading the healing power of chlorine dioxide and the word of God.

Locked in La Picota, a penitentiary in Bogota, Colombia, for dubious charges of conspiring to defraud consumers by manufacturing and distributing a misbranded drug (Miracle Mineral Solution, or MMS), for almost 20 months now, Grenon still managed to publish three books and continued to preach the Gospel to inmates, guards and whoever cared to listen. (Related: Medical political prisoner Mark Grenon reveals the truth behind chlorine dioxide and COVID-19  Brighteon.TV.)

On February 25, Grenon, co-founder of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, was able to sneak in an interview with Bob Sisson, host of CLO2TV on Brighteon.TV using the prison phone before being abruptly told to cut off.

But for around 40 minutes, Grenon was able to clear the air on what led to the overkill raid, led by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorities, on their family compound in Bradenton, Florida.

Gregon was staying in Bogota at that time with his son Joseph, and arrested instead were his two other sons  Jonathan and Jordan  who also remained imprisoned in Miami.

The familys valuables, $65,000 in cash, gold and coins stashed in a safe, cell phones, laptops, books and other stuff, got confiscated along with the paraphernalia being used in the manufacture of MMS, which they asserted could treat the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) and other major illnesses. Their New York bank accounts were also shut down.

FDA labels MMS as toxic bleach

Although the distribution of MMS was mainly for members of their congregation and could be had by way of donations, the government, particularly the FDA, got piqued  labeling the MMS as toxic bleach and initiating court proceedings.

Grenon and his sons were indicted in April 2020 and their Florida compound was raided on July 8, 2020 by a composite team of 40 members, backed by a SWAT team and a helicopter squad.

Now 64 years old, Grenon deplored the harsh treatment they got for what Sisson depicted as preaching the gospel and helping the people recover their health.

Apart from COVID-19, MMS is also touted as a cure for cancer, Alzheimers disease, diabetes, autism, malaria, hepatitis, Parkinsons disease, herpes, HIV/AIDS and other medical conditions.

The FDA, for its part, claimed there were over 16,000 cases of chlorine dioxide intoxication in the U.S. since 2014.

Confined mostly in his jail cell, Grenon, who claimed he was instrumental in then-President Donald Trumps controversial suggestion of injecting disinfectant as a COVID cure, got ample time to analyze and reflect on what happened to his life.

I think God put us here to help people while were here, spiritually and physically. But at the same token is, believe it or not, I never thought that I would go to jail and be a better person because of it, said Grenon, a former missionary pilot based in the Dominican Republic.

And Grenon, who believes he was targeted by the government, bankers and Big Pharma, wont be silenced. Just like the 1,800 ministers of health from 145 countries, Genesis II has been able to train to administer MMS and preach the gospel as well.

I never thought Id be an author. But when you have some message [to tell], hey, well, yeah, said Grenon, whos writing the fourth book while waiting for his extradition back to the United States.

According to Grenon, who was able to conduct 63 seminars in 2o countries before getting arrested, hes hoping for a trial by jury in September.

Hes eager to face his detractors and accusers in court and prove the validity of the MMS as a universal cure-all.

More related stories:

Petition and PRAY for the release of Mark and Joseph Grenon, who were arrested for selling Miracle Mineral Solution as a coronavirus cure.

Chlorine dioxide approved as COVID-19 treatment in Bolivia  Brighteon.TV.

Following the herd: Genesis II Church titled Quacks for trying to save lives.

New study proves that chlorine dioxide (MMS) blocks SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins from binding with human receptors.

Watch below the Feb. 25 episode of CLO2TV with host Bob Sisson and featuring Mark Grenon. Catch new episodes of the program every Friday at 11-12 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

TheGuardian.com

WIONews.com
(Natural News) As the conflict between Ukraine and Russia takes much of the countrys attention and as other countries scrap Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) requirements, more states signed up for a national vaccine passport system, including several Republican-led states.

Twenty-one states, the District of Colombia and Puerto Rico have signed up for the SMART Health Card, a digitally verifiable proof of vaccination certificate developed through the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI), a global coalition of public and private organizations, including Microsoft, the Mayo Clinic and other health and tech giants. (Related: COMMIE CORPORATIONS: Pfizer partnered with CCP to develop covid vaccine passport platform, says its proud to stand with Chinas leaders.)

More than 200 million Americans already have access to the SMART Health Card. They can download, print or digitally store vaccination records via a QR code. According to the developers of the VCI, the vaccination records in its system are digitally signed to ensure that the vaccine passport of each individual isnt susceptible to forgery.

Corporations and government and public health officials are promoting the SMART Health Card as a quick way to confirm the vaccination status of Americans who are traveling and who want to enter venues that still restrict access to the fully vaccinated, including certain restaurants, bars and gyms.

In June last year, California and Louisiana became the first states to implement SMART Health Cards. The number of states and territories implementing digital vaccine passports has grown since then.

While the focus is on war 24/7, a National QR code vaccine pass has quietly rolled out right under our nose. Some Republican states are jumping on board. Full story below. pic.twitter.com/PeYhSNNAfI  Kambree (@KamVTV) February 27, 2022

Red states also quietly implementing vaccine passports

Weve seen a notable uptick in states that have officially launched public portals where individuals can get verifiable vaccination credentials in the form of SMART Health Cards with a QR code, said Dr. Brian Anderson, co-founder of the VCI and chief digital health physician at the MITRE Corporation. The beautiful thing about this is that this multistate coalition is a coalition of the willing.

Among the states that have rolled out SMART Health Cards are Utah, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Carolina, Mississippi and Arizona. These red states have officially banned vaccine passports or have opposed them in other ways in the past. Yet they are now quietly developing or have already rolled out digital vaccine passports.

Other red states like West Virginia, South Carolina and Nebraska are expected to allow access to SMART Health Card portals within their states soon.

Were starting to see some jurisdictions that had a very strict stance, Were not going to put any QR codes or anything, look at this again with fresh eyes and say, Okay, this really isnt a passport. This is really just an evolution of a record moving into the digital age,' claimed Rebecca Coyle, executive director of the American Immunization Registry Association, an organization lobbying for proof of vaccination requirements.

Josh Sigurdson, host of World Alternative Media, commented that the spread of the SMART Health Cards in America represents the countrys drift towards authoritarianism.

This is a push to total social credit, technocracy, he said. And a lot of people are looking the other way, because, well, theres a fight over a New World Order in Eurasia. Theres a lot more than that happening and it goes pretty deep. But nonetheless, its easy to distract people from whats happening. Its very easy to show people one thing and distract them.

Anderson himself confirmed Sigurdsons concerns when he stated that, at an international level, there is growing interest among government bodies to implement a coordinated international approach to proof of vaccination requirements.

What were going to see over the next month is a growing number of red states recognizing and appreciating the importance of empowering their individual citizens in their states, claimed Anderson.

More related stories:

Religious groups sue NYC mayor over citys vaccine passport requirement.

Victory for freedom! Ontario Premier Doug Ford caves to pressure, backs down from covid vaccine passport scheme.

Alberta to scrap covid vaccine passport scheme, announces plans to lift almost all restrictions.

Czech Republic scraps vaccine passport requirements and other mandates.

Western Australia premier says vaccine passport mandates could last for YEARS.

Watch this episode of World Alternative Media as host Josh Sigurdson talks about how elites used the Russo-Ukrainian War to distract people from reacting to the national vaccine pass.

This video can be found in the World Alternative Media channel on Brighteon.com.

Learn more about the national vaccine pass in America at Vaccines.news.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

BizPacReview.com
Sri Lanka

Operators Wolfgang/DK7DR (4S7DRG) and Peter/DC0KK (4S7KKG) will once again be active between March 2-9th.

They will visit the former Deutsche Welle relay station near Trincomalee. The station is now operated by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC).

They will have the unique opportunity to use the large shortwave antennas between 40-15 meters for amateur radio during the transmission breaks, which have up to 20dbi antenna gain. Also, a 104m high 2 mast medium wave antenna for testing on the lower bands.

The intended focus with both stations will be operation on SSB as well as FT8 and if necessary on FT8 F/H. They state, "The necessary, lengthy and complex approvals have been delayed, so unfortunately the announcement can only be made at very short notice."

QSL via their home callsigns
(Natural News) A former Managing Trustee of the Democratic National Committee lobbied on behalf of the Russian governments international investment fund which was recently sanctioned by the United States, The National Pulse can reveal.

(Article by Natalie Winters republished from TheNationalPulse.com)

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)  a sovereign wealth fund established while Vladimir Putin was Prime Minister  was the recent target of sanctions from the Biden White House following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Despite the Biden regimes move to sanction the fund, The National Pulse can reveal that RDIF previously retained former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Managing Trustee John Raffaelli as its American representative, according to Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings.

Broadly described as government relations consulting services, 2014 documents filed with the Department of Justice detail the scope of Raffaellis work for the Russian government-backed firm. Raffaellis firm Capitol Counsel would educate and explain to American officials RDIFs role and relationship with United States partners and investors as well as liaise with the Treasury Department on behalf of the fund.

Much of the work, which included a $45,000 per month retainer fee, appeared to be focused on sanctions.

Federal election records also reveal that Raffaelli has donated hundreds of times to Democratic campaigns, including to candidates such as Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, totaling over $500,000.

Read more at: TheNationalPulse.com
(Natural News) For more than a year, health experts and fact checkers have claimed that Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccines do not alter human DNA, but a new study has confirmed otherwise.

Published in the journal Current Issues of Molecular Biology, the paper explains that Pfizers messenger RNA (mRNA) injection  and probably Modernas, too  invades the liver and converts to synthetic DNA.

Entitled, Intracellular Reverse Transcription of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b2 In Vitro in Human Liver Cell Line, the study reveals that mRNA injections do, in fact, integrate into human cellular DNA.

This means that a shot of the Pfizer vaccine, taken even once, permanently changes the DNA of affected cells, reports Igor Chudov from The Covid World.

But wait: the Australian governments Department of Health published a report at WebMD claiming that Covid-19 vaccines cannot alter DNA. In response to the question: Is it true? Can COVID-19 vaccines alter my DNA? the Australian DoH declared the following:

No, COVID-19 vaccines do not alter your DNA.

Whoops.

Another report by a doctor asked what is the Chance That COVID-19 Vaccines Are Gene Therapy? Her answer? Zero.

Whoops again.

Covid Vaccines Dont Alter Your DNA  They Help Choose Cells To Strengthen Your Immune Response, reads another false headline that was widely circulated.

Then we have a fact check that declared: Controversial MIT study does not show that mRNA vaccines alter DNA.

Cringe.

All of this was fake news, and it was circulated across the globe. Again and again, governments and corporate-controlled media outlets have repeated the lie that Fauci Flu shots are completely safe and in no way impact human DNA, to the detriment of public health.

What the article shows is that in vitro, using a human liver cell line, the Pfizer mRNA vaccine uses a natural reverse transcriptase enzyme called LINE-1, and the genetic code of the vaccine is reverse transcribed into the DNA, reported The Covid World.

It also explains that vaccine mRNA actually does travel to the liver as one of the preferred sites (the other sites, as we heard, are ovaries and more).

Under normal circumstances, human cell nuclei, where the DNA is located, express certain DNA code based on cellular conditions. They regularly produce natural, human messenger RNA, which travels outside the nuclei to perform various functions.

These functions include the growth and repair of muscle cells, brain cells and more. This overall process is known as transcription.

Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) shots engage a process known as reverse transcription that, prior to their release, was never even thought to be possible.

Reverse transcription involves moving genetic code from RNA back into what The Covid World calls the sacred cellular nucleus in order to recode natural DNA with new synthetic programming. This is what these injections do.

Eventually, scientists realized that it is possible under various conditions, The Covid World explains about reverse transcription. For example, the HIV RNA virus is able to do so and it reprograms our DNA to produce copies of it. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has a cancer code that matches a 2017 Moderna patent

We warned about all this last April following the publishing of the MIT study that the fact checkers claimed had been debunked.

The experts largely mocked the idea that mRNA injections have the ability to re-encode human DNA, only to now be exposed as frauds. It is an undeniable fact that mRNA shots permanently damage human DNA, as was demonstrated in vitro in a human liver cell line.

In order to engage reverse transcription, enzymes known as reverse transcriptases are needed. One of them is called LINE-1 and according to the new study, Pfizers mRNA shots produce it.

Just to be sure that they did not pick up RNA instead, the researchers tested for alterations to the DNA. From this they identified a slew of genetic changes that occurred due to the Pfizer shot.

The Pfizer mRNA vaccine changes our genetic code that determines how our organisms operate, that you inherited from your mom and dad, Chudov explains in simpler terms. Now your DNA was changed from what your mom and dad gave you, by adding a little mysterious edit from Pfizer.

Your organism acts in accordance with your DNA program, and now, well, the program has been hacked and modified by Pfizer.

Another thing that has been revealed is the fact that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein contains a cancer code that just so happens to match a 2017 Moderna patent under the identifier 9,587,003.

Chudov says it is imperative that scientists learn the implications of the reverse transcription caused by both the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna jab  and probably the viral vector alternative vaccines from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and AstraZeneca as well.

Of particular interest is whether this mRNA-induced reverse transcription affects the germ-line, such as eggs and sperm cells, and whether it also affects the fetus of pregnant mothers, Chudov writes, pointing to an anonymous 4chan post from December 2020 that warned about all this long before any of this was revealed.

One person responding to the study and its findings wrote: Zombie code active!!

There will be huge consequences for this, wrote someone else. Man is now a transhuman virus hybrid!

The consequences of this vaxx will boggle the mind for years to come, suggested another about the soon-to-come horror show of the fully vaccinated.

More of the latest news about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) injections can be found at Genocide.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheCovidWorld.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Much of what the world is being force-fed right now by the corporate-controlled media concerning the Russia-Ukraine conflict is fake news.

The most viral stories right now are all laughably false. And they are being used, of course, to paint Russia as the bad guy and Ukraine as the good guy.

Many congressmen, media outlets and even conservative news and information outlets have been peddling these fake news stories, which aim to shape a false narrative in order to control public opinion concerning the conflict.

The viral, fake stories come amidst social media platforms rolling out robust fact-checking operations, often used to swiftly censor stories counter to establishment narratives or critical of the Democratic Party, explains The National Pulses Natalie Winters.

These programs, however, have routinely failed to flag the following stories as false with the same tenacity.

One of the fake stories that you may have seen is the Snake Island Martyrs fabrication. This one alleges that 13 Ukrainian border guards stationed on Snake Island, located in the Black Sea, were killed at the onset of the Russian invasion.

Audio recordings allegedly capturing their final moments seemed to suggest that a Russian warship issued the following demand:

I ask you to lay down your arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary deaths. Otherwise, you will be bombed.

The 13 Ukrainian soldiers supposedly responded with:

Russian warship: go f*** yourself.

The rest of the fake news story claimed that these 13 Ukrainian soldiers are now dead heroically because of Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian Navy, however, later fessed up that these guards had actually just been taken captive by Russian occupiers and are all still alive.

What else is the military-industrial complex lying to us about concerning the Russia-Ukraine crisis?

Then we have the Ghost of Kiev manufactured story, which claimed that a Ukrainian fighter pilot showed up in a jet to shoot down multiple Russian fighter jets, resulting in several casualties.

Big Tech social media platforms quickly blew up with content claiming that the Ghost of Kiev fighter pilot is a hero, though it was later revealed that the footage actually came from a video game.

The video was created with the 2008 game Digital Combat Simulator and was first shared via YouTube, where the original poster acknowledged the footage was from a simulator, Winters explains.

A photo you may have seen circulating of two young children standing before a Ukrainian tank is also fake (see below). Despite garnering tens of thousands of likes on Twitter, the image has absolutely nothing to do with the current conflict.

In reality, the dramatic image actually traces its roots over half of a decade back to Ukraine in 2016 and has appeared in several news stories since then, Winters reveals, explaining that pro-war congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) was caught tweeting the false image.

Another hilariously fake pro-Ukraine piece of propaganda that has been spreading across social media is the one depicting Miss Ukraine Anastasiia Lenna holding what appears to be some kind of war rifle while standing in front of an embattled building.

It turns out that the weapon she is seen holding is an airsoft gun for children.

This did not stop allegedly independent and conservative news outlets like Breitbart News from spreading it around along with the claim that Miss Ukraine is among 36,000 women who are serving in the military to fight back against the Russian invasion.

Circulation of this image went so far that Miss Ukraine herself felt compelled to respond with the following emphatic message:

I AM NOT A MILITARY, JUST A HUMAN.

So much for all the fact checking we are told is happening across mainstream and social media, eh?

More related news coverage can be found at Propaganda.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheNationalPulse.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) Former President Donald Trump has called on the Biden administration to boost oil production in the United States.

We are so foolish, Trump said during a recent phone interview with Fox Business Networks Maria Bartiromo. The whole thing with the climate is just out of control. Unless everybody is going to do it, [this] makes us noncompetitive. And everybody has to do it. That includes China and Russia and India and many other countries.

Pressed by Bartiromo to comment on the oil price surge, Trump said: Well, theyre going unlimited right now. You cant even project. It could go anything.

Trump agreed with the Mornings with Maria host when asked if reaching $200 per barrel is a possibility.

Oh yeah, Trump said. I mean, why not? You wont be able to get it. And OPEC [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries] loves it. Theyre making a fortune. Why would they do anything? They have him over a barrel. The only thing he can do is just say sorry about it with climate hoax. Sorry about it. Look, this climate situation is killing our country.

Trump pinned the blame squarely on the current administration for stupidly reversing course on his energy policy.

One of the first moves by President Joe Biden following his inauguration on Jan. 20 last year was to sign an executive order to rejoin the Paris climate agreement. The accord, which was signed 2015, tasks signatory countries with putting forward plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Biden proceeded to axe the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and ban fracking within his first week at the office.

Biden more interested in reversing everything Trump did

Thats why former United Nations (UN) Ambassador Nikki Haley called Bidens first seven days as president a good first week for Russia.

[Russian President Vladimir] Putin has to be pretty ecstatic right now, Haley told Fox News at the time. One of the things that bothered him the most was how energy independent we had become.

Haley was alluding to Trumps time as president during which the U.S. became the worlds top oil producer and maintained its position as the top global producer of natural gas. In 2019, the country became a net exporter of petroleum (crude oil and refined) products for the first time since 1949.

The former UN ambassador said Biden is more interested in reversing everything President Trump did rather than looking forward.

For context, Trump backed out of the accord and revived the pipeline project after it hit a snag under former President Barack Obama. (Related: Trump just SAVED America from the disastrous Paris Climate Treaty fraud.)

Paris accord could prove costly for US economy

Nicolas Loris, deputy director of the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, said the Paris climate agreement is flawed economically and environmentally from the beginning.

It will be very costly for American families and businesses because 80 percent of our energy needs are met [through] carbon-emitting conventional fuels, Loris told the Epoch Times last year.

Poor families are going to be hit hard because they spend the highest percentage of their budget on energy costs. But consumers, in general, will shoulder much of the burden because businesses will pass the additional expenses on them if the cost of energy is increased.

An analysis by The Heartland Institute shows that the U.S. would see a significant decrease in the production of iron, steel, natural gas in coal by 2030 if the country continues to be a part of the accord. By 2040, the U.S. would see a loss of $3 trillion worth of gross domestic product and 6.5 million jobs in the industrial sector.

Cancellation of Keystone project not going to reduce emissions

Meanwhile, the cancellation of Keystone XL pipeline permit has led to the loss of thousands of jobs. The pipeline was meant to transport Canadian crude oil to the United States without a need for trucks and freight trains.

Neal Crabtree, a welding foreman who began working on pipeline construction as an apprentice in 1997, was among the first to be laid off following the order. He and his team were in Nebraska working on a pump station for Keystone XL when the cross-border permits for the pipeline were canceled. (Related: 21 states sue Biden over cancellation of Keystone XL pipeline permit.)

This is not a time to be making political statements. We need to be finding ways to put more Americans back to work, not the other way around, Crabtree told Fox News.

Just like the rest of the country, the pandemic hurt us bad. We had a lot of projects canceled. Weve got guys that havent worked in months, and in some cases years, and to have a project of this magnitude canceled, its going to hurt a lot of people, a lot of families, a lot of communities.

Elmira Aliakbari, associate director of natural resource studies at the Fraser Institute, said the cancellation of Keystone XL pipeline permit will do virtually nothing to reduce emissions.

This cancellation will do little or nothing for the environment because it doesnt lessen U.S. oil dependency. It is likely that U.S. refineries in the Gulf Coast will increase their reliance on other countries such as Venezuela and Russia for oil imports, she explained.

More related stories:

State and federal regulations cause gas prices to surge in California.

Oil price jumps to over $80 per barrel due to energy supply shortages.

Oil prices rise to multi-year high; analysts expect price surge to continue until end of year.

Watch then-President Donald Trump calling the Paris climate agreement unfair in the video below.

This video is from the Ionstrap Provincial channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

TheEpochTimes.com 1

TheEpochTimes.com 2

FoxNews.com

TheEpochTimes.com 3
(Natural News) As Russia continued its assault on Ukraines capital Kiev, oil prices continued to rise Tuesday, March 1, with the U.S. crude reaching its highest level since June 2014.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the U.S. oil benchmark, surged 11.5 percent to $106.78 per barrel at its peak for the day. It dropped during the afternoon trading and ended the session at $103.41, for a gain of 8.03 percent.

International benchmark Brent crude reached a high of $107.57 per barrel, a cost last seen in July 2014. The contract finished the day at $104.97 per barrel, for a gain of 7.15 percent.

Prices previously topped the $100-mark on February 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine, hinting fears of supply disruptions from major exporter Russia. (Related: Ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict pushing global economy closer to collapse.)

International Energy Agency releases 60 million barrels of oil from global reserves

The International Energy Agency (IEA) approved Tuesday the release of 60 million barrels of oil from global reserves in an attempt to relieve some of the present supply constraints.

The situation in energy markets is very serious and demands our full attention. Global energy security is under threat, putting the world economy at risk during a fragile stage of the recovery, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement.

According to the IEA, that total makes up four percent of its members emergency stockpile of 1.5 billion barrels. The concerted reduction is just the fourth such endeavor in the agencys history. As a portion of the effort, the U.S. will deliver around 30 million barrels, the White House said in a statement.

Aside from the U.S., other members of the IEA are France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada.

Bob Yawger, Mizuho Securities USA director of the futures division, mentioned that 60 million barrels is too small to change the situation and it is insufficient to take in lost supply from Russia.

The number is comparable to about six days of Russian production and about 12 days of Russias exports. Sixty million barrels isnt that much. Thats the bottom line at the end of the day, Yawger said.

CIBC Private Wealth senior energy trader Rebecca Babin is more diplomatic with her comment, saying that it could provide a modest buffer in the short term.

It is not meaningless, it simply pales in comparison to a true supply disruption from Russia, Babin noted.

Canada said Monday, February 28, that it was prohibiting Russian oil imports and so far it is the only country to aim straight at Russias energy compound. The financial sanctions slapped by the U.S. and Western allies could provide a room for energy fees to remain, but the ripple effects are already showing.

Key European financiers to commodity trade houses have already begun curbing financing for commodities trades, and Chinese banks are also pulling back. Current oil price differentials are reflecting a clear unwillingness to take Russian crude, JPMorgan told its clients in a note Tuesday.

The global oil market was already tense before Russia invaded Ukraine. Demand has rebounded, while supply has stayed restrained. OPEC and its oil-producing partners, including Russia, will meet this week to talk about their output for April.

Morgan Stanley, a global leader in financial services, increased its near-term oil price forecasts on Tuesday, stating the happenings in Ukraine have brought in a risk premium in oil prices that is likely to remain in coming months.

Against a backdrop of market tightness, even small disruptions can have large price impacts, Morgan Stanley said.

Morgan Stanley presently sees Brent averaging $110 in the second quarter, up from a previous forecast of $100. Under the firms bull case, prices will rise to $125 per barrel.

US imports crude oil, petroleum products from Russia

The effects of higher oil prices at the pump are already being felt by Americans, with the national average for a gallon of gas at $3.619 on Tuesday, up 24 cents from a month ago according to AAA data.

Last year, the U.S. imported about 245 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia, which was a one-year increase of 24 percent over 2020.

According to data from the Department of Energy, nearly eight percent of U.S. imports of crude oil and petroleum products in 2021 came from Russia.

Biden announced last November a release of 50 million barrels of oil in cooperation with other energy-importing countries, but the measure had only a brief effect on oil prices that continued to rise.

CFRA Research oil analyst Stewart Glickman mentioned that the latest delivery from the SPR would only be partly useful since most of the reserves are light oil, while the U.S. mostly imports a heavier grade of oil from Russia.

More related stories:

Oil price jumps to over $80 per barrel due to energy supply shortages.

Oil prices rise to multi-year high; analysts expect price surge to continue until end of year.

Simultaneous shortages of coal, oil, propane and natural gas hint at impending US economic meltdown.

Inflation, food shortages and the ongoing energy crisis are all coinciding with escalating war.

Watch the video below to know why a global energy crisis is going to happen.

This video is from the What is happening channel on Brighteon.com.

Follow Bubble.news to know more about the rising oil prices in the international market.

Sources include:

CNBC.com

Breitbart.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) Closing educational disparities is now at the top of the list of advice coming from the mouth of CNN crisis actor Dr. Leana Wuhan Wen. The science has changed, Wen declares in order to back up her new anti-science narrative. Straight out of communist China, Wen came to America to tell us all to wear masks indefinitely to protect the world from the China flu, then she said the masks only work in one direction, which she termed one way masking, claiming the masks only protect the mask wearer, but nobody else (you really cant make this stuff up, unless youre her).

Now Wuhan Wen is saying take off those darned masks, because they interfere with cognitive and motor development, especially for children. Has she been wearing her own mask too long to understand that nothing she has said before this, for TWO YEARS, was based on science? Yes, masks are absolutely HORRIFIC for your health all around, restricting oxygen flow by as much as 20 percent all day, obstructing oxygen and nutrient flow to all parts of the body, and THAT IS based on science.

So are all the previous anti-science Americans redeemed, and will all those banned from social media be reinstated? Where are the apologies? If the science simply changes when the wind blows in a new direction, then remove every vaccine and mask mandate across the globe right now.

Crisis actor Dr. Wen now saying what Truth Media has been screaming for 2 years, which was all censored as anti-science

Wuhan Wen, CNNs favorite China Flu talking head, now says its the right time to lift mask mandates, based on nothing scientific, but rather hinged completely on the New York Times editorial board opinion of the situation. (Democrats need to get ready for mid-terms so theyre acting like they care about peoples human rights and medical choice.)

After several in-depth studies and lots of research revealing that school closures and masking are destroying childrens cognitive and motor development, including preschoolers, the scamdemic, control-tripping mask and vaccine fanatics are now pulling back, trying to save face so they dont ALL get voted out of office or put in jail for lying about deadly vaccines and slow-kill-suffocation, bacteria-breeding masks.

In fact, most of the kids that showed the most pronounced learning LOSS were the youngest ones who suffered not only from school closures, but from suffocating masks when they did attend school. Its a double-edged sword, these China flu mandates, and the talking heads at CNN lie through their teeth to push the deadly propaganda.

Wen pushes her made-up theory one way masking on Americans just before saying kids shouldnt wear them anymore

Now even the far-Left, pro-scamdemic New York Times (NYT) admits it  that mask requirements are a huge mistake for everyone, especially kids. This comes just a couple weeks after crisis actor Dr. Wen made up the one way masking conspiracy theory that masks only protect the mask wearer. Now NYT admits it all, saying this is the right time to lift the requirement for masks in schools. Its a lot to ask young children to wear masks for several hours a day, especially when so many adults seem to struggle with it.

Yet, just a few weeks back, Dr. Wen shared her expert advice about how the microscopic virus particles cannot penetrate the bandana of the mask wearer going INTO their mouth, but still have no problem coming OUT of their mouth and escaping their cotton-rigged or strap-on polyester face apparatus.

Dr. Wen thinks were all suffering from amnesia, like her. It just goes to show you that you should never listen to crisis actor advice. Stay tuned and stay frosty. Tune your internet to Censored.news for huge swaths of truth news thats being censored from the rest of media as you read this.

Sources for this article include:

CitizenFreePress.com

NaturalNews.com

TheGatewayPundit.com

Censored.news
(Natural News) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Wednesday, March 2, that World War III would be nuclear and destructive.

Lavrov, 71, came to prominence when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, and he immediately gained a reputation as President Vladimir Putins brutal, no-nonsense messenger.

The third world war will be nuclear and destructive, said Lavrov during an interview. He claimed that Russia would be in real danger if Ukraine ever became a nuclear-armed nation.

The foreign minister made this claim a day after alleging that Ukraine had been seeking nuclear weapons during a speech he made at a conference on disarmament with the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Ukraine still has Soviet nuclear technologies and the means of delivery of such weapons, said Lavrov.

He also used his speech to attack the European Union for participating in a Russophobic frenzy in the conflict in Ukraine by supplying Kyiv with thousands of tons of weaponry to fight against the invasion.

There is no clear evidence that Ukraine is trying to acquire nuclear weapons. The country used to have a nuclear arsenal since the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in the country. But when the Soviet Union dissolved, Ukraine voluntarily gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for certain guarantees from both the West and Russia. (Related: Russian ambassador to the UN claims his country does not plan to occupy Ukraine.)

Speaking after the conference, Ukraines ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Yevheniia Filipenko, said: They cannot attack our freedom. We will fight until the end and we will win.

We feel your support, we greatly appreciate all of your support and the steps we have taken today in international Geneva send a very strong signal to the Russian Federation that such actions are not acceptable and not tolerated in the 21st century.

Russias nuclear arsenal is still on high alert

It should be noted that Russia has more nuclear weapons than any other nation on the planet. It has an estimated 6,255 nuclear warheads, with more than 1,500 currently deployed on strategic long-range systems and the rest in reserve. Russia has more nuclear weapons than the rest of the world combined, excluding the United States which, by comparison, has approximately 5,500 nuclear weapons.

The risk of a nuclear conflict breaking out increased last week when Putin ordered Russias nuclear deterrent forces on high alert. Putin claimed he was doing this defensively and in reaction to aggressive statements by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as well as the severe economic sanctions from the West.

Putin earlier warned the world against attempting to intervene in Ukraine and hindering the invasion. He said those that do will see consequences you have never seen in your history. The mobilization of Russias nuclear forces implies that Putin is willing to fire nuclear weapons at countries that intervene militarily to protect Ukraine.

Biden unwilling to respond to Putins threats

For his part, President Joe Biden and his administration claimed that Americans should not be worried about the threat of a nuclear war.

We are assessing President Putins directive and at this time, we see no reason to change our own alert levels in response to the mobilization, said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday, Feb.28.

Psaki added that the U.S. will not fight back against Putin by attempting to escalate the rhetoric. We think provocative rhetoric like this regarding nuclear weapons is dangerous, adds to the risk of miscalculation, should be avoided and we will not indulge in it.

More related stories:

NATO may have just declared war on Russia with latest move to counter Putins invasion of Ukraine.

Putin demands Ukraine surrender so as to spare the country bloodshed as Kyiv mayor calls on citizens to hold the capital.

Ben Armstrong warns Biden administration: Acting tough now against Russia could put the world on the brink of a nuclear war.

Putin puts his nuclear forces on high alert in response to NATO actions, sanctions, amid ongoing Ukraine war.

Russian forces capture Chernobyl power plant; media expresses concern over possibility of radioactive leak from site.

Listen to this episode of the Health Ranger Report as Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, talks about how the West is committing economic suicide with its severe sanctions against Russia.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

Learn more about how the conflict in Ukraine could lead to a global  and potentially nuclear  war at WWIII.news.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

DailyMail.co.uk

Independent.co.uk

AlJazeera.com

WSJ.com

Brighteon.com
A Ukrainian animal sanctuary Save Wild bear sanctuary near the capital city of Kyiv has begun to evacuate its animals to the Zoo Poznan in Poland.

This comes after Russian tanks surrounded the animal sanctuary on Monday, Feb. 28, and a battle occurred near the enclosure over recent days.

The evacuation of animals is parallel to a mass number of Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn homeland since Russia started their invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24.

It has caused regional tensions affecting not only humans but also animals and their natural habitats.

Evacuation of Animals

The Zoo Poznan is expecting the arrival of a group of animals from the Ukrainian animal sanctuary as per the latest reports.

However, the travel time of the animals' evacuation is being affected due to the recurring explosions and gunfire in Kyiv and other areas across Ukraine, as per Fox News.

Officials of the Zoo Poznan are waiting for the animals near the Polish-Ukrainian border.

They are reportedly concerned since the journey is taking longer than usual. The Polish Zoo considered the incident to be remarkable since they did not expect that the animals are still alive.

Also read: Nuclear War Threat Looms amid the Russia-Ukraine War; Nuclear Winter Explored

Animals Left Behind

The evacuation of animals at the Save Wild bear sanctuary near Kyiv is only one of the many zoos in Ukraine that have already evacuated their animals to other neighboring countries, according to Euronews.

Still, there are remaining zoos in Ukraine that are yet to evacuate their animals.

At the Kyiv Zoo, there were no reported plans yet to evacuate its approximate 4,000 animals from more than 200 species, including camels, elephants, and the only gorilla in Ukraine, as per Euronews.

The process of evacuating the animals at Kyiv Zoo is challenging due to food and transportation problems.

According to ABC7 news, the zookeepers from Kyiv Zoo stayed behind to take care of thousands of animals left behind.

The majority of these animals were subjected to stress due to the sounds of bombardment and firing amid the arrival and attack of Russian military forces in the Ukrainian capital.

Russia-Ukraine War

Also called the Russo-Ukrainian war or the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war began when President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to enter eastern Ukraine on Feb. 24 as part of the so-called military operation; which included a series of airstrikes and artillery on multiple cities in Ukraine.

Prior to the Russian invasion, military tensions have been building up along the Ukrainian-Russian border.

This prompted the United States, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and their allies to be on heightened alert, with measures including deployment of standby forces outside Ukraine.

Tensions of Recent Years

Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO, was a former state and part of the Soviet Union, also known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 allowed Ukraine to gain its independence, including other countries, that were part of the USSR.

However, the conflict between the two countries erupted again when Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014. Since then, internal conflict in the form of Russian-backed separatists emerged in Ukraine's Donbas region.

Related article: Winter Weather in Europe Poses Risks for Ukrainian Refugees as They Flee Russian Invasion
The US weather forecast issued a warning that a pair of winter storms may cause travel disruption due to snow and icy conditions in the central and eastern US from late this week.

US meteorologists said the storms will also start to be felt in the Midwest and the Southern US this coming weekend.

The storms are likely to bring significant snowfall and cold temperatures, potentially halting road traffic and disrupting flights across the US.

In the coming weeks, until March ends, further storms have been forecasted but it will eventually decline as the US is coming out of its winter season.

New Weather Forecast

According to AccuWeather forecast, disruptive ice and snow may not be felt in major cities in the Midwest like Detroit, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois; but can occur in other areas, including in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The forecast added areas in the far Eastern Seaboard like New York and New England will experience winter conditions, including snow and cold temperatures, from Friday evening to Saturday evening, March 4 to March 5.

Also read: Massive Storm May Bring Thunderstorm Risks to Central, Southern US

Pair of Winter Storms

The pair of winter storms will first change the prevailing warm weather in the Western US through rainfall and mountain snow before it heads toward the East Coast of the US where its effects will last from this weekend until early next week, as per AccuWeather.

In particular, an eastward pattern of winter-related weather conditions from the first winter storm will be seen from California to northeastern Colorado and western Nebraska before heading to the regions of Great Plains on Friday evening and Great Lakes on Saturday.

Moreover, the second winter storm has been forecasted to make its way eastward from Monday to Tuesday, March 7 to March 8, affecting the cities of Albany, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, and New York with the accumulation of snow.

Although the US winter season is about to end, which spans between December and March, the US meteorologists said the upcoming twin storms may not be the last this season.

Based on the forecast, additional storms can affect the Midwest and Northeast US.

Current Weather Conditions

Currently, the US is experiencing a clipper system moving through the northern Great Plains, Great Lakes, and Northeast regions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - National Weather Service (NWS).

The NOAA - NWS issued a forecast that the system will bring rain and snow showers from Thursday, March 3, to Friday.

The US weather agency also highlighted the system has retained its unsettling weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest.

Projected Weather Throughout March

According to Chief Meteorologist, Matt Noyes, freezing temperatures will start to decrease throughout the country in March as stored cold air still remains between the Canadian-United States border, as per NBC Boston.

Noyes emphasized the severe weather which caused heavy snow and icy conditions in New England this March will no longer be comparable to the peak of the winter season back in January and February wherein several winter storms caused widespread disruption and damage across the US.

Related article: Winter Storm: Blizzard Conditions Affects 100 Million People Across the US
Joro spiders in the US state of Georgia are likely to spread and colonize the Eastern Seaboard of the US, according to the projection of a new study.

Researchers said the invasive spiders will pose a threat of spreading to the entire East Coast of the US.

In 2021, the invasive species of Joro spiders were seen thriving near houses, along with power cables, on trees, and in other areas during the summer season, which spans between June and September each year in the US, according to the researchers.

The said spiders are native to East Asia, notably China, Japan, and Taiwan.

The arachnids' first arrival in Georgia was reported approximately between 2013 and 2014. Since then, the Joro spiders have spread across the state and the southeast part of the US.

Colonization of the Eastern Seaboard

Researchers from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, published their study on the Joro spider (Trichonephila clavate) arachnids in Physiological Entomology on Feb. 17.

The study focused on the invasive spiders and their potential threat of spreading in the entire East Coast of the US.

The study acknowledged that limited data is available on the biology or physiology of the East Asia spiders, and it is not entirely clear how the arachnids arrived in Georgia.

Over recent years, the spiders significantly grew in population across the state.

The University of Georgia researchers conducted their study and acquired data by examining online records published at iNaturalist.org to determine the physical traits of the spiders and project their movement based on season and time-related factors.

Also read: Millions of Giant Yellow Spiders Invade Georgia With Webs 10 Feet Thick

Biological and Physiological Traits

The researchers collected records of female Joro spiders and analyzed their physiological traits, including heart rate, metabolic rate, and survival rate.

These traits allowed the researchers to predict the environmental tolerance of the spiders, as well as their cold-resistance physiological features.

The spread of the Joro spiders in Georgia was imminent and there are no known measures to stop the spiders when they spread beyond the state, according to Andy Davis, an author of the study and a research scientist at the University of Georgia, Ecology as cited by Phys.org.

Davis added that the spiders are not lethal and they do not have an impact on the local food web and natural ecosystem.

The scientists reminded killing the spiders is unnecessary and people will need to learn to live with them.

Spider Invasion of Georgia

In November 2021, CBS News said millions of the large Joro spider arachnids swamped their golden web along power lines, front porches, and vegetable patches in northern Georgia throughout the year.

The incident has reportedly raised concerns and panic on social media, including from affected homeowners.

The time and manner of the arrival of the East Asia native arachnids into the US are still unclear.

According to the Georgia Museum of Natural History, as cited by the University of Georgia, the best guess would be they arrived inside a shipping container along Interstate 85 (I-85) in Braselton, Georgia.

With the findings of the new study, the Joro spiders were found to survive cold temperatures and even during temporary below freezing temperatures, the basis used by the researchers to predict the Joro spiders can colonize the Eastern Seaboard of the US.

Related article: Giant 1,000-Foot Spider Web Blankets Entire Lagoon In Greece
Workshop for amateur radio operators working to advance science

Come join HamSCI, the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation, at its fifth annual workshop!

March 18-19, 2022 at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

HamSCI is a community of amateur radio operators working together to advance sciencenow a member of the NASA citizen science community!

The HamSCI workshop brings together the amateur radio community and professional scientists to advance ionospheric, radio, and space science. This years theme is The Weather Connection! The program includes presentations and demonstrations from NASAs heliophysics division, the NASA RadioJOVE project, and the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station team. Invited speakers include Dr. Tamitha Skov speaking on The Ionospheric Impacts of Space Weather and our Heightened Awareness of its Effects on Society, Mr. Jim Bacon speaking on Influences of Terrestrial Weather on Radio Propagation and the Ionosphere, and Dr. Chen-Pang Yeang speaking on Ham Radio and the Discovery of the Ionosphere.

To join HamSCI, visit https://hamsci.org/. For more details on the workshop and the complete program, visit https://hamsci.org/hamsci2022. Registration for the in-person workshop is open now until March 7, 2022. Virtual participant registration will be available in early March.

HamSci is a citizen science program funded by NASA.

NASAs Citizen Science Program:

Learn about NASA citizen science projects

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Woburn, MA (01801)

Today

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Wars are ugly, especially wars of aggression. The role of the reporter is to explain why a country goes to war, particularly an unprovoked war.

by Vijay Prashad

Surprise and horror have defined the reaction to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Thats likely because although the intervention has followed the contours of a modern land war, it has also marked a break with the past in a number of ways. The world has become used to military interventions by the United States. This is, however, not a U.S. intervention. That in itself is a surpriseone that has befuddled reporters and pundits alike.

Even as we deplore the violence and the loss of life in Ukraine resulting from the Russian intervention (and the neofascist violence in the Donbas), it is valuable to step back and look at how the rest of the world may perceive this conflict, starting with the Wests ethnocentric interest in an attack whose participants and victims they believe they share aspects of identity withwhether related to culture, religion, or skin color.

White Wars

War in Ukraine joins a sequence of wars that have opened sores on a very fragile planet. Wars in Africa and Asia seem endless, and some of them are rarely commented upon with any feeling in media outlets across the world or in the cascade of posts found on social media platforms. For example, the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which started in 1996 and which has resulted in millions of casualties, has not elicited the kind of sympathy from the world now seen during the reporting on Ukraine. In contrast, the startlingly frank comments from political leaders and journalists during the conflict in Ukraine have revealed the grip of racism on the imaginations of these shapers of public opinion.

It was impossible recently to get major global media outlets interested in the conflict in Cabo Delgado, which grew out of the capture of the bounty of natural gas by TotalEnergies SE (France) and ExxonMobil (U.S.) and led to the deployment of the French-backed Rwandan military in Mozambique. At COP26, I told a group of oil company executives about this interventionwhich I had covered for Globetrotterand one of them responded with precise accuracy: Youre right about what you say, but no one cares.

No one, which is to say the political forces in the North Atlantic states, cares about the suffering of children in Africa and Asia. They are, however, gripped by the war in Ukraine, which should grip them, which distresses all of us, but which should not be allowed to be seen as worse than other conflicts taking place across the globe that are much more brutal and are likely to slip out of everyones memory due to the lack of interest and attention given by world leaders and media outlets to them.

Charlie DAgata of CBS News said that Ukraine isnt a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan, that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilized, relatively EuropeanI have to choose those words carefully, toocity, where you wouldnt expect that, or hope that [a conflict] is going to happen. Clearly, these are the things one expects to see in Kabul (Afghanistan) or Baghdad (Iraq) or Goma (the Democratic Republic of the Congo), but not in a relatively civilized, relatively European city in Ukraine. If these are things that one expects in the former cities respectively, then there is very little need to be particularly outraged by the violence that is witnessed in these cities.

You would not expect such violence in Ukraine, said the countrys Deputy Chief Prosecutor David Sakvarelidze to the BBC, because of the kind of people who were caught in the crossfire: European people with blue eyes and blond hair being killed every day. Sakvarelidze considers the Ukrainians to be Europeans, although DAgata calls them relatively European. But they are certainly not African or Asian, people whomif you think carefully about what is being said herecertain world leaders and international media outlets expect to be killed by the violence unleashed against them by the global great powers and by the weapons sold to the local thugs in these regions by these great powers.

Worst War?

On February 23, 2022, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterresin a heartfelt statement about the Russian military intervention in Ukrainesaid, In the name of humanity do not allow to start in Europe what could be the worst war since the beginning of the century. The next day, on February 24, with Russia launching the biggest attack on a European state since World War II, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned this barbaric attack and said that it is President Putin who is bringing war back to Europe. Bringing war back to Europe: this is instructive language from Von der Leyen. It reminded me of Aime Cesaires Discourse on Colonialism (1950), where the great poet and communist bemoaned Europes ability to forget the terrible fascistic treatment of the peoples of Africa and Asia by the colonial powers when they spoke of fascism. Fascism, Cesaire wrote, is the colonial experiment brought back to Europe.

When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, neither the United Nations secretary-general nor the president of the European Commission came forward to make any immediate condemnation of that war. Both international institutions went along with the war, allowing the destruction of Iraq, which resulted in the death of more than a million people. In 2004, a year into the U.S. war on Iraq, after reports of grave violations of human rights (including by Amnesty International on torture in the prison of Abu Ghraib) came to light, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the war illegal. In 2006, three years after the war had begun, Italys Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who had been the president of the European Commission in 2003, called the war a grave error.

In the case of the Russian intervention, these institutions rushed to condemn the war, which is all very well; but does this mean that they will be just as quick to condemn the United States when it starts its next bombing campaign?

War Stenography

People often ask me, whats the most reliable news outlet? This is a hard question to answer these days, as Western news outlets are increasingly becoming stenographers of their governments (with the racist attitudes of the reporters on full display more and more often, making the apologies that come later hardly comforting). State-sponsored outlets in Russia and China now increasingly find themselves banned on social media sites. Anyone who counters Washingtons narrative is dismissed as irrelevant, and these fringe voices find it hard to develop an audience.

So-called cancel culture demonstrates its limits. DAgata has apologized for his comment about Ukraine being relatively civilized, relatively European compared to Iraq and Afghanistan and has already been rehabilitated because he is on the right side of the conflict in Ukraine. Cancel culture has moved from the chatter of social media to the battlefields of geopolitics and diplomacy as far as the Russian-Ukraine conflict is concerned. Switzerland has decided to end a century of formal neutrality to cancel Russia by enforcing European sanctions against it (remember that Switzerland remained neutral as the Nazis tore through Europe during World War II, and operated as the Nazi bankers even after the war). Meanwhile, press freedom has been set aside during the current conflict in Eastern Europe, with Australia and Europe suspending the broadcast of RT, which is a Russia state-controlled international media network.

DAgatas reliability as a reporter will remain unquestioned. He misspoke, they might say, but this is a Freudian slip.

Calculations of War

Wars are ugly, especially wars of aggression. The role of the reporter is to explain why a country goes to war, particularly an unprovoked war. If this were 1941, I might try to explain the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II or the Japanese assumption that the Nazis would soon defeat the Soviets and then take the war across the Atlantic Ocean. But the Soviets held out, saving the world from fascism. In the same way, the Russian attack on Ukraine requires explanation: the roots of it go deep to various political and foreign policy developments, such as the post-Soviet emergence of ethnic nationalism along the spine of Eastern Europe, the eastward advance of U.S. powerthrough NATOtoward the Russian border, and the turbulent relationship between the major European states and their eastern neighbors (including Russia). To explain this conflict is not to justify it, for there is little to justify in the bombing of a sovereign people.

Sane voices exist on all sides of ugly conflicts. In Russia, State Duma Deputy Mikhail Matveev of the Communist Party saidsoon after the Russian entry into Ukrainethat he voted for the recognition of the breakaway provinces of Ukraine, he voted for peace, not for war, and he voted for Russia to become a shield, so that Donbas is not bombed, and not for Kyiv being bombed.

Matveevs voice confounds the current narrative: it brings into motion the plight of the Donbas since the U.S.-driven coup in Ukraine in 2014, and it sounds the alarm against the full scale of the Russian intervention.

Is there room in our imagination to try to understand what Matveev is saying?

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian, editor and journalist. He is a writing fellow and chief correspondent at Globetrotter. He is the chief editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. He has written more than 20 books, including The Darker Nations and The Poorer Nations. His latest book is Washington Bullets, with an introduction by Evo Morales Ayma.
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NEW CANAAN  In a letter directed to town officials, Leo Karl asked for $1 million to be invested in health care from funds allocated to the town by the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal program from which the town received $6 million.

I believe this moment in time offers a clarion call for New Canaan to become a model for complete community health, said Karl, who wears many hats in town including as acting chairman of the Waveny LifeCare Board.

He was clear in his sentiment that he hopes the town will invest in both physical and mental health resources.

Investing in mental health by creating community navigator

Of the $1 million that Karl recommends the town invest in health care from the $6 million it is receiving from the American Rescue Plan Act funds, he would like to see investments in mental health, according to a letter he wrote to town officials.

The letter he addressed to the three selectmen, Town Council and Board of Finance has stimulated some healthy conversations, Karl, the Chairman of the Waveny LifeCare Network, said on Monday.

Director of Human Services Bethany Zaro said that Leos letter provided a fruitful introduction to the many ways in which our town may benefit from ARPA funding.

New Canaan has received $2.8 million and expects almost $3 million more this year from the federal program that is providing $350 billion in emergency funding for state and local governments.

While some of these funds have already been spent or earmarked for specific projects, we are fortunate to be able to have a public debate as to how a portion of the remaining funds should be spent, Karl said.

Karl would like $300,000 to support a behavioral health navigator for the next three years and $400,000 for an investment in telehealth.

The demand for mental health support due to increased stress, anxiety and substance abuse has never been higher, President and CEO of Waveny LifeCare Russell Barksdale said this week.

Though COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on health care, prior to that in 2018, when Karl was chairman of the New Canaan Community Foundation, the organization identified behavioral health as a specific area requiring focus within our New Canaan community, he said.

Karl recommends the development of a community navigator, which would allow residents to be able to find resources when facing health challenges.

In surveying the towns resources four years ago, the foundation identified a vast array of resources provided by many exceptional organizations, however, it was not necessarily easy for anyone in need to gain access quickly, Karl said in his letter. Through a series of focus groups and other work, NCCFs Behavioral Health Committee outlined a series of steps that could help bridge the gap between individuals and families to available services.

The navigator would enable a single point of contact who would be knowledgeable about the field of behavioral health and all of the various organizations and services available, the letter said. From youth to seniors and everyone in between, we have all been impacted by the effects of this pandemic. .

Behavioral health has and continues to be a major focus of the towns human services department, Zaro said. There has definitely been an increase in requests for individual and group support.

Telehealth, in collaboration with Silver Hill Hospital, could address behavioral health related issues, with 24/7 availability, according to Karls vision.

The recommendations Karl made are in line with fund requests that Barksdale has made. He has applied to the town for ARPA funds for the development of a telehealth and telemedicine technology platform that can be utilized by healthcare providers throughout New Canaan.

Barksdale said that one platform for all of these providers is the most cost-effective solution in developing improved healthcare access for the years to come.

Karl raised concerns about two populations in particular  young students and senior citizens.

Young students were affected as their daily learning and social evolution were dramatically impacted. Seniors, both in their own homes and those residing in congregate living, have endured dramatic isolation and loss of much needed social connections, Karls letter states.

APRA funds for physical health, institute for health care workers

An institute for health care workers at Waveny LifeCare Network and future health testing are two of the items that Karl would like to see as part of the $1 million in American Rescue Plan funds that he recommends the town spend on health.

The state and federal priorities for APRA funds has led Waveny LifeCare Network to consider ways to collaborate and address services that would improve health accessibility in collaboration with other providers, Barksdale said.

In the letter Karl wrote to officials, he argues the town should spend some of the $6 million it is receiving from ARPA on health initiatives including $200,000 to train certified nurse assistants and home health care workers, with an additional $100,000 for future testing to monitor disease trends.

Barksdale explained that Gov. Ned Lamont wants to ensure that the states recovery efforts were oriented toward transformative initiatives that would enable Connecticut to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic stronger, healthier and ready to resume the progress that has made the state a leader in many areas and a desirable place to live.

Much of the money that Karl requests would be targeted for programs he would expect to be administered by Waveny Lifecare Network, which has served the town for 40 years. Karl reasons that Waveny is the appropriate organization to lead these efforts, since our communitys senior population continues to be most at risk with this virus and this population was hardest hit in the early months of the pandemic. Waveny is also New Canaan's largest private employer, with over six hundred employees, according to Karl.

Nursing institute

Karl said that he would also like to see an investment in a nursing institute in Waveny LifeCares to offset a nursing shortage.

It would be a unique workplace development program that will help train the next generation of highly-trained CNAs (certified nurse assistants) and home health aides for our community, his letter states.

Barksdale hopes to fund a training program for future nurses and home health professionals by addressing both the expansion of home care and pathways to higher education. Nursing is a very noble profession and one that has been hardest hit through the pandemic, exacerbating the shortage of professional nurses prior to the pandemic.

Karl is strong in his belief that Waveny is positioned well to take on this goal, since the organizations affiliation with and merger of Visiting Nurse and Hospice of Fairfield County in 2021.

This change has allowed Waveny to expand services so there are more nursing professionals in their network, an expansive home health network and a focus on community nursing, which assisted the town throughout the pandemic with testing and vaccinations, Karl said.

Future monitoring

Karl recommends an investment in ongoing related testing and monitoring of trends to ensure our community continues to stay ahead of the curve. He envisions investing in testing as methodologies evolve so the town could quickly adapt as new variants continue to emerge.

Testing will continue to be needed, because while defeating COVID was a laudable goal, most healthcare professionals realize that COVID has transitioned from a pandemic to an endemic, Barksdale said. The virus will continue to mutate to varying degrees, existing testing and existing vaccinations will become less effective and early identification of these mutations is critical.

Telehealth

Karl and Barksdale both want to boost the use of telehealth, which offers an online connection between a nurse and individuals in their homes.

The pandemic has highlighted the tremendous strain on our healthcare system, particularly on doctors, nursing staff and hospital capacity. One bright spot has been the emergence of telehealth as a legitimate tool in our healthcare system, Karl said.

The telehealth program would be staffed by Waveny LifeCare personnel and open to New Canaan residents from youth to seniors, with a specific focus on those with special needs, medical conditions or over the age of 70, according to Karl.

With the use of telehealth resources, the town could help by pre-emptively addressing healthcare issues before they escalate to become a visit to the hospital. Karl said.

The online health care visits have become more accepted by the general public, as well as healthcare providers including physicians and specialists as the technology has become more highly advanced.

Barksdale said he supports telehealth because it gives residents access to affordable wellness and healthcare that prevents unnecessary emergency room visits and hospital admissions remains the best cost-effective strategy, as well.

Zaros said that she trusts the ARPA allocation committee to earnestly research all submissions and added that she is confident each member will be mindful of the project feasibility and qualification guidelines of each entity requesting funds.

Praising local community health leaders, Karl said it is my hope that we can wisely invest these funds in a way that has a positive impact on life, wellness and healthcare services for our New Canaan residents.
New Castle, PA (16103)

Today

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 44F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Areas of patchy fog. Low 44F. Winds light and variable.
The Ignite Youth Festival of the Diocese of East Anglia returned to Swaffham this year with an extravaganza of light, sound and teenage enthusiasm.

The Ignite Youth Festival of the Diocese of East Anglia returned to Swaffham this year with an extravaganza of light, sound and teenage enthusiasm.

Services to bid farewell to the Dean of Norwich A day of special services took place at Norwich Cathedral to bid farewell to the Dean of Norwich who is retiring after 42 years in ministry including eight years in Norwich. Read more

We should respect our individuality and identity Robert Ashton reminds us that God made us all as individuals, and feels that we should respect peoples desire not to conform, especially if it is driven by their beliefs. Read more

Dereham Baptist Church launches Support Hub for Ukrainians A Ukrainian who has been living in Dereham is helping to build a welcome for her compatriots as the Baptist Church opens a new support centre. Read more

An opportunity come aside and rest a while at Bungay David Males will be leading a series of retreats at the Quiet Waters Christian Centre in Bungay on the theme of seeking Gods healing grace. Read more

Harrys skydive raises 1K for Yarmouth church Harry Woods, Community Manager at Great Yarmouth Salvation Army has taken part in a skydive to raise fund for the centre, and its not too late to sponsor him. Read more

Volunteers success at N Norfolk Christian centre A team of volunteer gardeners have been making a big difference at The Pleasaunce Holiday Centre in Overstrand, and invite more to join them for their next work-party day later this month. Read more

Barrie's love affair with Norfolk's big blue sky Norfolk church leader and ex-dentist Barrie Lawrence has six daughters and 20 grand-children living in five different continents, but his favourite place is his life-long home under those famous big blue skies. Read more

Author Patrick is just crazy about horses The varied strands of Patrick Coghlans life as a minister, counsellor, author and former riding school owner have come together in his most recent book Crazy about Horses. Sandie Shirley reports. Read more

70 years of loving care at Christian ethos home Staff and residents at Corton House, a not-for-profit care home situated on City Road, Norwich, recently enjoyed a 70th birthday tea attended by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Norwich, Cllr. Caroline Ackroyd and guest, Mr Gareth Phillips. Read more

Sustainable fashion on Cathedral catwalk Sustainable fashion will be taking centre stage at Norwich Cathedral at a special event on May 6 encouraging everyone to be kinder to the planet. Read more

Jamie says 'thanks for being With us' as Ditchingham community closes The innovative With Community at the former All Hallows Convent at Ditchingham is set to close its doors, with staff made redundant after a lack of bookings. Read more

Dorothy dedicated 95 years to Salvation Army A Thetford Salvation Army member, who dedicated more than 95 years to the church, has died just weeks before her 100th birthday. Read more

Norwich Franciscans say farewell to a lively brother The Norwich Pax et Bonum Franciscan Fraternity held a farewell celebration this week for Brother Robert Hardie. Read more

Fuel the Fire leaders day in South Norfolk Fuel the Fire leaders day is an opportunity for Christian leaders in churches to meet one another in an atmosphere of worship and prayer and for relevant prophetic preaching or teaching. Read more

Job vacancies at Norfolk Christian holiday centre The Pleasaunce Christian holiday centre at Overstrand in North Norfolk is looking for a Cook, a Kitchen Assistant and a General Assistant. Read more

Children and Families Worker vacancy Are you excited by the prospect of sharing the gospel with children and with families? St Andrews Church, Eaton are looking for a person for this role as part time maternity cover. Read more

Christian Aid pilgrimage to Walsingham A group of Christians will be leading an informal pilgrimage from Norwich to Walsingham next month to raise funds for Christian Aid. Read more


New trustees boost charity for prison leavers New trustees boost charity for prison leavers

Community Chaplaincy Norfolk (CCN), which supports people coming out of prison, is celebrating four new additions to its Board of Trustees.

Established in 2018, the charity delivers vital support to those leaving prison in Norfolk, providing trained Volunteer Mentors to help with the transition back into wider society, with the aim of reducing re-offending.



Following an interview process, CCN has appointed four new Trustees to ensure that the charitys vision is upheld. The Chair of Trustees, Rev Matthew Hutton DL said: We are immensely proud of what CCN is achieving. The new Board Members will bring fresh perspective and energy to our vision - to see our clients become integrated, confident and fulfilled members of the community.



The newly engaged Trustees are Sarah Watson, Laura Bell, Rev Danny Doran-Smith and His Honour Stephen Holt.



With a specialism in employment and education, Laura Bell (pictured above) currently works at the University of East Anglia as an Outreach Worker. I'm really excited to be joining CCN as a trustee, she said. I like the charity's mission of meeting people where they are at and walking alongside them as they reintegrate into society following release from prison. It is such a practical demonstration of Jesus' concern for justice and care for the marginalised. I'm looking forward to bringing my experience of working in higher education, specifically around employability and widening participation, to the role.







Rev Danny Doran-Smith is both a curate and the director of a Norfolk-wide youth charity. I am delighted to become a trustee of CCN and to bring my experience to the charity, he said, especially my understanding of the relationship between providers and service users at individual, group, and community levels. As a charity founder and director, I believe I can bring my wisdom around strong strategic leadership to the team. Having had the privilege to work in different contexts, supporting various deprived, disadvantaged and marginalised groups for over 25 years, I think I'll fit the needs of CCN well.







Stephen Holt is a retired circuit judge who practiced as a barrister and was the Recorder of Norwich and Resident Judge at Norwich Crown Court from 2014 until April 2021. Having worked in the Criminal Justice System since 1978, he said I very much looking forward to using my experience to help support CCN, both volunteers and clients. I think this is a very exciting time to be joining as a trustee this hugely worthwhile charity and helping to support the excellent work it does.







Sarah Watson is a professional musician and brings a passion for supporting people facing multiple disadvantages. Commenting on her recent appointment, Sarah said: I am so delighted to be joining CCN as a trustee. Their work is of huge importance. They see the individual for who they are, not what theyve done, as is integral to the Christian faith. I am so excited to see what God has in store for the future of CCN and my role as a trustee. I studied music at university and believe that music making can have a huge positive impact on mental health and wellbeing, so I am keen to see whether this is something that could be looked at within the work of CCN.



The new Board Members are currently undertaking a training and induction process and will take the number of Trustees supporting CCN to ten. You can find out more or pledge your support for Community Chaplaincy Norfolk at www.norfolkchaplaincy.org.uk or by contacting the Manager, Melanie Wheeler, on 07710 303909.





Eldred Willey, 03/03/2022
Kings Lynn churches to hold vigil for Ukraine Kings Lynn churches to hold vigil for Ukraine

Kings Lynn Churches Together is organising a candlelit prayer vigil for Ukraine on Saturday outside the Minster.

The vigil will take place on Saturday March 5 from 6pm to 6.30pm. Participants are encouraged to wear yellow and blue. There will be an opportunity to make a donation for Ukraine.



Meanwhile Access, a charity that supports migrants in East Anglia, is collecting medical supplies at its King's Lynn building at 41 St James Lodge, Old Hospital Mews, Hospital Walk, King's Lynn PE30 5RU.



There is an urgent need of medical and first aid supplies to treat the injured. Items needed include anti diarrhoea tablets, Nurofen, activated charcoal, bandages, gauze, antiseptic spray and wipes, Sudocrem, Corvalol, Baclofen, antihistamines, batteries, torches, candles, first aid kits and sleeping bags.



Clothes can also be donated, at Vets1, The Old Bank, Hardwick Road, Kings Lynn, PE30 4NA. Vets1 is a family operated and owned veterinary hospital and has transformed its reception area into a humanitarian aid collection point. Once donated, the items will be taken to the St Olga Ukrainian Catholic Church in Peterborough, which has created a centralised donation drop off facility for East Anglia.



The donations will be driven over to refugee camps in Poland.



Pictured above are members of St Olgas church in Peterborough (image ITN news).























Eldred Willey, 03/03/2022
Homeowners who fell behind on their mortgage payments and other expenses during the pandemic can now apply for help through the Florida Department of Economic Opportunitys website.

The state is urging financially troubled homeowners to apply for assistance available to pay past-due mortgage and utility payments, property insurance, delinquent property taxes, homeowner association fees, case management services and other housing-related costs.

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Qualifying households can receive up to $50,000, but in most cases payments will be made directly to the mortgage servicer, insurance company, or utility that the homeowner owes.

Applications are being accepted at www.FLHomeownerAssistance.org. To be eligible, applicants must document that they experienced pandemic-related financial hardship after January 1, 2020. Theres no deadline, meaning the financial hardship could have begun long after January 2020 or could be ongoing.

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[ RELATED: Florida will distribute $676 million in homeowner mortgage assistance, but state isnt yet saying how you can get it ]

Florida received $676 million as part of a $9.9 billion COVID-19 relief package approved nearly a year ago by Congress and President Biden. The department has pledged to distribute at least $575 million after allocating 15% for allowable administrative expenses. More than $1 million has been provided to 137 applicants through a pilot program launched in November, the department said in a news release.

Registering online is just the first step toward approval. If the programs case workers determine that an applicant is likely to be eligible, the applicant will be asked to provide documentation of the financial hardship, as well as how much they owe.

Homeowners who suffered financial hardships during the pandemic and are past due on mortgage, utilities, insurance, taxes and other expenses can apply for up to $50,000 per household in federal homeowner assistance funding.

Homeowners eligible for mortgage assistance include those who entered forbearance. That means they stopped making payments after the federal government enacted an emergency order requiring mortgage servicers of federally backed loans  about 70% of all home mortgage loans  to allow them to do so.

In Florida, homeowners entered forbearance at rates far exceeding the national average. By June 2020, forbearance rates in South Florida peaked at at 18.9% in Broward County, 22.1% in Miami-Dade County and 15.3% in Palm Beach County. In Central Florida, rates peaked at 20% in Osceola County, 15.1% in Orange County, 10.1% in Seminole County and 11.5% in Lake County.

[ RELATED: DeSantis slammed for picking glitch-plagued unemployment agency to distribute mortgage aid ]

Federally backed loans include those guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Veterans Administration, the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Agriculture or the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The emergency order provides a number of repayment options for consumers with those loans, including shifting the unpaid months to the end of the loan.

But homeowners whose mortgage loans are not federally backed did not qualify for forbearance under the emergency order. While some lenders allowed their borrowers to skip mortgage payments, they were not required to shift unpaid months to the ends of loans and some lenders have been demanding that borrowers repay their debts in a lump sum to keep their loans in good standing.

Here are some eligibility facts

To be eligible to receive funds, homeowners must:

Own a one- to four-unit residence that is their primary residence

Have experienced a financial hardship after Jan. 21, 2020 (including a hardship that began before then but continued after that date)

Have incomes less than or equal to 150% of the area median income or 100% of the U.S. median income, whichever is greater

Funding will be prioritized to ensure assistance is delivered first to the most vulnerable homeowners (targeting incomes of 100% or less of area median income)

[ RELATED: Skipping mortgage payments? Heres what you need to know when its time to resume ]

What expenses can be covered:

Mortgage payment assistance

Financial assistance to reinstate a mortgage or pay other housing-related costs

Assistance for homeowner utilities, internet service, property insurance, etc

Delinquent property taxes

Home repairs necessary to ensure the property remains habitable

Counseling and case management services through a HUD-certified counseling agency

Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071, on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
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DEERFIELD BEACH  A Deerfield Beach man claimed his neighbor ruined his life. So on a Friday afternoon, Javier Toledo Bourego ran up on the neighbor and stabbed him five times with a kitchen knife, records say.

Toledo Bourego, 65, of Deerfield Beach, is facing one count of premeditated murder.

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Multiple witnesses watched the stabbing unfold at the apartment complex in the 100 block of Ventnor East and identified Toledo Bourego. Surveillance video captured the moments leading up to the stabbing shortly before 3 p.m. Feb. 25, the affidavit says. Toledo Bourego was arrested the next morning.

Javier Toledo Bourego, 65, of Deerfield Beach is accused of stabbing a man who lived at the same apartment complex five times with a kitchen knife, a probable cause affidavit says. He is facing one count of premeditated murder. (Broward Sheriff's Office)

The victims name is being withheld under Marsys Law, a constitutional amendment approved by Florida voters in 2018 that allows victims of crimes to shield their names and information from the public.

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In the surveillance video, Toledo Bourego ran up behind the victim on the second floor of the building, holding a knife in his hand, the affidavit says.

The victim was stabbed in the back and then several more times after he toppled to the ground, the affidavit says. The victim managed to escape down the stairs nearby, where the struggle continued.

A resident at the building heard the commotion outside her door, and when she stepped outside, saw the victim being chased by Toledo Bourego, who a kitchen knife.

She screamed for husband who came outside to see the victim lying on his back with Toledo Bourego on top of him, stabbing him several more times. Her husband ran to help and tackled Toledo Bourego away from the victim, the affidavit says, and threw the knife out of his hand.

Toledo Bourego told the man who intervened that he knew hed go to prison and that the victim ruined his life, records say.

After suffering multiple stab wounds, the victim got up and attempted to walk along the edge of the parking lot, covered in blood. Toledo Bourego grabbed the knife and went after him another time, the affidavit says.

Toledo is seen in the surveillance video again running after the victim, who tripped and fell. Toledo Bourego stabbed him several more times while the victim was on his back, the affidavit says. The neighbor intervened and pulled him off again.

When deputies arrived and handcuffed Toledo Bourego, the affidavit says both of his arms were bloody.

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First responders took the victim to Broward Health North for emergency surgery, where he died after the operation. At the same hospital, detectives interviewed Toledo Bourego who spontaneously uttered that there was a long term conspiracy involving the victim against him, the affidavit says.

Toledo Bourego said he had been seeing things and his belongings in his apartment were going missing. He believed the victim was involved, the affidavit says.

He told the woman who had plans to go to the pool with the victim the morning of the stabbing that he thought the victim was hiding cameras and bed bugs in his apartment, records say. He also told detectives the victim was disturbed by a platonic friendship Toledo Bourego had with the victims mother.

Toledo Bourego is held in the Broward Main Jail without bond.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Steve Hoffman is editor of the Piatt County Journal-Republican. He can be reached at shoffman@news-gazette.com
Fort Lauderdale  The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for two people who left Fort Lauderdale for the Florida Keys over the weekend on a plane that federal authorities now acknowledge is missing.

Details of the flight are not immediately clear, but several sources say the flight was destined for Key West. People who know the pilot and passenger reported them overdue Tuesday when the plane never arrived.

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The Federal Aviation Administration released a statement that it alerted local authorities at 1:16 p.m. Tuesday that a single-engine Vans RV-12 was missing. The FAA said the plane had a possible destination of Key West.

The U.S. Coast Guards Miami sector confirmed Wednesday that several of its assets, including air crews, have been searching for the plane in the waters off the Lower Keys since Tuesday.

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Go to Herald.com for the full report.
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Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Valleri Robinson is an associate professor of theater at the University of Illinois and an affiliate of the Russian, East European and Eurasian Center at the Illinois Global Institute.
Longview, TX (75601)

Today

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
Australian bull ants have evolved a venom molecule perfectly tuned to target one of their predators  the echidna  that also could have implications for people with long-term pain, University of Queensland researchers say.

Dr Sam Robinson and David Eagles from UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience found a bull ant venom component that exploits a pain pathway in mammals, which they believe evolved to stop echidnas attacking the ant's nests.

Venoms are complex cocktails and while bull ant venom contains molecules similar to those found in honey bee stings which cause immediate pain, we also found an intriguing new molecule that was different." Dr Sam Robinson, UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience

Whilst searching databases for similar amino-acid sequences, Dr Robinson found that the molecule matched the sequence of mammalian hormones related to Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), and of these, was most closely related to that of the echidna.

"We tested the venom molecule on mammalian EGF receptors and it was very potent  this convinced us that the venom molecule was there to defend against mammals," he said.

"We went on to show that while it didn't cause direct pain, the molecule did cause long-lasting hypersensitivity.

"Many small carnivorous marsupials, like bandicoots, eat individual ants, but only the echidna is known to attack bull ant nests and target their young  we think that making the echidna sensitive to pain, in tandem with the immediate 'bee-sting' pain, may dissuade it from returning to the nests.

"You can see clearly in the ant's DNA that it is producing a molecule that mimics a hormone of its natural enemy and is using it as a weapon against it  it brings to mind the ancient proverb 'to know your enemy, you must become your enemy.'"

The team believes the links between EGF signaling and chronic pain are building momentum and is confident this study could inspire new ways to treat long-term pain.

EGF-inhibitor drugs are readily available on the market and used in anti-cancer therapy to slow tumor growth, with evidence suggesting patients that take them experience less long-term pain.

"We hope that by highlighting the role of this signaling pathway in pain, we can encourage different strategies for pain treatment, especially long-term pain for which treatment is currently limited," Dr Robinson said.
Millions of free covid-19 rapid tests arriving in Americans' mailboxes are long-awaited vindication for Dr. Michael Mina, who, as a Harvard assistant professor, had been advocating for two years that the best way to limit covid is to identify it quickly, cheaply, and widely with rapid antigen tests so infected people know to isolate themselves.

"Rapid Tests Are the Answer to Living With Covid-19" was the headline on an October New York Times op-ed he co-authored.

The Atlantic called him "America's biggest antigen-test advocate." In much of the world, rapid tests are "free for people and sold to governments for $3 ea[ch] to offer to their residents," he tweeted last May.

On Oct. 22, he was one of a small group of experts on a Zoom call to advise the Biden administration to urgently ramp up testing by purchasing and sending Americans free tests.

But three weeks after that call, on Nov. 12, Mina announced he was leaving academia to become an executive at eMed, a startup that sells some of the most expensive rapid tests.

In doing so, he joins the list of covid authorities who are both frequently quoted experts on national pandemic policy and working for companies profiting from that advice.

Other prominent voices on covid policy with industry ties include Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner under President Donald Trump who is now a director for Pfizer, maker of a leading covid vaccine; Jeffrey Klausner, a public health professor at the University of Southern California as well as a paid adviser to the testing startup Curative; and Deborah Birx, Trump's top covid adviser who became chief medical and science adviser to ActivePure Technology, an air-purifier company.

The transitions drew criticism from some ethics authorities who cite concerns about transparency, credibility, and possible conflicts of interest.

"If Dr. Mina is acting in the capacity of a public health expert and he is financially connected to a company that could benefit from his public comments, he is in a financial conflict of interest," said Sheldon Krimsky, a professor at Tufts University and the author of "Conflicts of Interest in Science."

Mina said he is an eMed shareholder but declined to specify his holdings or say how much he is paid in his new position as the company's chief science officer.

Mina, who spent time as a young man working in a medical clinic in Sri Lanka, where he was ordained as a Buddhist monk, argues he can do much more good at eMed, which certifies test results and plans to expand to testing for other diseases, than he could have at Harvard. He strives to clarify that he has shifted to being a businessman, he said.

"I'm frustrated with this narrative that industry is the dark side," he said in an interview. "I don't think it is. I think it's where the action happens."

Those who agree with that perspective note that the government has often stumbled in its pandemic response.

"If ever there were a time when it became clear that scientists collaborating with industry can achieve tremendous good, it was during this pandemic," said Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, which promotes free markets. "The private sector is responsible for creating nearly everything that is helping reduce the harms of covid-19."

Proponents of widespread rapid testing note that it is important for controlling the pandemic because the other major diagnostic check for covid, the PCR test, can take days to process in a lab. An infectious person might spread the virus while waiting for results. Rapid antigen tests deliver results at home in 15 minutes but are somewhat less reliable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Launched in late 2020 with private capital, eMed has 123 employees, with co-founder Dr. Patrice Harris, formerly the president of the American Medical Association, serving as its CEO and Dr. Helene Gayle, known for her groundbreaking work on HIV/AIDS at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as board chairperson.

Its president is Dr. Mitch Morris, formerly the head of Optum Advisory Services, UnitedHealth Group's consulting arm.

EMed spokesperson Leigh Daniels declined to disclose the source of the company's startup funding.

The company has signed deals with Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, and Massachusetts to make what it markets as "proctored" rapid tests widely available in those states and has partnered with airlines to certify tests for travelers. In December, the CDC started allowing passengers entering the United States to prove covid negativity with a rapid test  but only if it is monitored and certified by eMed or another company.

After consumers are mailed Abbott Laboratories' Binax tests, they swab their noses in an online session with an eMed monitor, who watches the process and verifies the results for a third party such as a school, an employer, or an airline.

"What's so beautiful about eMed is that you can get tested at home, at your pool, your office, your studio, wherever you're at," musician DJ Khaled, signed as an eMed spokesperson, says in a promotional video.

EMed sells rapid covid tests made by Abbott in $150 six-packs, $25 per test, on its site  twice as much as similar Abbott tests cost in a drugstore. The tests are $35 each  $70 for two  when monitored by eMed and bought through Quest Diagnostics, a large testing company.

Mina has criticized high test prices and argued that government should pay for most tests. In other countries, rapid tests have sold for as little as $1 each.

Tests cost more on eMed's site and on the Quest site because the price includes monitoring and confirmation by an eMed "certified guide," Daniels said.

Joining eMed hasn't changed his recommendations for low-cost testing, Mina said. Widely available rapid tests could even work to eMed's disadvantage, if it prompted competition from other vendors or lowered demand for eMed's testing services, he said.

Mina has been quoted or appeared on TV dozens of times since he made the switch from Harvard to entrepreneur, often with somewhat confusing attribution by the journalists.

He makes his new affiliation clear, he said. Journalists quoting or interviewing him often note his eMed connection but usually don't mention that the company sells covid tests.

Besides planning to eventually manage other medical tests, such as for strep, eMed aims to speed treatment to patients who test positive and work with pharma companies testing new drugs in clinical trials, he said.

Some transparency advocates would like to see more in the way of disclosure: "I do think that journalists should be asking what type of interests someone might have that could be influencing the opinions that they're expressing," said Dr. Michael Carome, director of health research at Public Citizen, a left-leaning consumer advocacy organization.

Other experts who've moved into or partnered with industry have adopted their own strategies to navigate the boundary:

"My relationship to Pfizer is prominently disclosed in all my interactions with the media and I regularly make mention of it myself," Gottlieb said in an email. "I am proud of the relationship and believe it is one element of my experience that informs my perspective and helps me contribute a unique voice to the broader dialogue."

Birx was unavailable for comment, ActivePure spokesperson Jo Trizila said.

For Klausner's part, advising Curative gives him a valuable, up-close perspective on attempts to fight the virus, he said.

"Some might think such activities might increase my credibility because I am actively working in the field dealing with real-world issues versus being an armchair epidemiologist," he said.

Often professors consult for industry or own shares in startups while still holding academic positions, whereas Mina "has actually left Harvard," said Carome. "Maybe that's better. He's not wearing that hat anymore."

Mina, who was an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard, said he recognizes that scientists working for corporations might be viewed skeptically.

"When you go from Harvard to industry, it doesn't matter who you are," he said. "You lose some credibility in the public eye."

But he said he sees more of a chance to make a difference with eMed than by staying in academia and publishing research.

Academia "just doesn't allow you to build stuff. And I got frustrated with that," he said. "I've always been drawn to building and doing rather than just doing papers."
Crowdfunding has become a means for people with cancer to get help managing the financial impact of their disease. But while there's relief in paying bills, a new study finds that it comes at a cost: a sense of shame and stigma from asking for help and revealing personal health details.

The issue is particularly critical for young adults with cancer, a specific group that is understudied and yet faces distinct needs.

Young adults are at that point in life where they are beginning to achieve financial independence and finding career employment. When a cancer diagnosis hits, it can really impact that young person's financial wellbeing." Lauren V. Ghazal, Ph.D., M.S., postdoctoral nursing student at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and research fellow at the School of Nursing

To understand the role of crowdfunding, researchers surveyed 46 young adult cancer survivors who had sought financial help from friends and family. The survey asked survivors to describe both their experience with and their thoughts about crowdfunding. Results are published in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship.

Crowdfunding involves raising money from friends and family. The most commonly known platform is GoFundMe, which says it hosts more than 250,000 medical fundraisers per year, raising more than $650 million per year. People also use social media to ask for help, or may hold raffles, church dinners or other events in their community.

In the study, the average crowdfunding campaign raised just under $3,500, with about half reporting they did not meet their goal.

Participants described relief at raising money to help defray their medical expenses or living expenses while undergoing treatment. They called it "a lifesaver" and noted that they might not have been able to afford treatment or other daily living necessities without it.

But survivors also expressed unease, considering crowdfunding to be humiliating and questioning why it is necessary.

The authors describe it as the "Crowdfunding Compromise:" tensions between the vulnerable feelings of disclosing a personal situation, the stigma of asking for help and the relief of receiving much-needed funds.

"Asking for help is difficult. It's even harder for a young adult who just got diagnosed with a serious illness. This is not something a young adult cancer patient does lightly. And it's not something that necessarily should be expected  that they immediately have to disclose their whole history on a social media site to pay their bills," said Ghazal, the paper's first author.

Survivors noted feeling uncomfortable with the idea of crowdfunding, struggling with how much detail to reveal while still positioning their situation as worthy of others' support.

Expenses can stem from cancer treatment, including high insurance deductibles, or they can be a result of not being able to work during treatment. In addition, financial burden can last well beyond the end of treatment, with ongoing prescriptions and scans, mounting bills and loans, and potential challenges regaining a footing in the workplace.

The study also suggests that crowdfunding could be increasing racial and economic disparities, with people from wealthier socioeconomic backgrounds more likely to raise more money and more likely to meet their goal.

The researchers focused specifically on young adult cancer survivors, but Ghazal said crowdfunding concerns could easily extend to people with cancer in other age groups or to people with other serious medical conditions.

"Crowdfunding serves a purpose in addressing young cancer survivors' immediate needs," Ghazal said. But the authors call crowdfunding "the epitome of treating symptoms without attention to their root causes."

"Crowdfunding is an individual solution," Ghazal said. "We need to look at broader interventions to reduce financial toxicity and increase social support for young adult cancer survivors."
In 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of drug overdose deaths among Black Americans surpassed that of whites for the first time since 1999 -; a sharp reversal of the situation a decade earlier, when rates were twice as high for whites as for Blacks, new UCLA research shows.

Native Americans/Alaska Natives experienced the highest overdose death rate in 2020 and were, along with Blacks and Latinos, among the groups with the largest increase in overdose deaths per 100,000 people over the previous year. Death rates for all four racial and ethnic groups studied, including whites, not only climbed in 2020 but climbed higher than in any single year prior, the researchers said.

The grim statistics, they said, highlight not only the ways in which the pandemic has exacerbated overdose rates but the wide availability of synthetic opioids and other highly toxic drugs.

Although the overdose crisis has often been represented as a 'white problem,' that has never been further from the truth. The increasingly dangerous drug supply has disproportionately put Black and Native communities at risk. We need to reverse deep-seated inequalities in access to treatment, harm reduction and services that can help people stay safe. We also know that disproportionate policing and incarceration is playing a key role in creating the instability that leads to overdose." Joseph Friedman, addiction researcher and M.D. and Ph.D. candidate, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

The study, published today in the peer-reviewed JAMA Psychiatry, draws on the first national data released on overdose deaths by race and ethnicity in 2020.

Yet even before this data became available, Friedman said, there were indications that overdose deaths were increasing disproportionately in the Black community and among other minority groups. In a 2021 study, for instance, he and his colleagues examined emergency medical services records and discovered that in 2020, overdose deaths in emergency settings had increased most rapidly for Black patients. The new study now provides more broad and definitive evidence.

For the current research, the study authors used all available sources from 1999 to 2020 to calculate drug overdose deaths per 100,000 people for Blacks, whites, Latinos and Native Americans/Alaska Natives. They found that:

Black people had the largest percentage increase in deaths from 2019 to 2020, a jump of 49%, compared with an increase of about 26% for whites.

Black overdose death rates rose to 37 per 100,000 in 2020, 16% higher than the rate for whites -; a reversal of the Blackwhite overdose mortality gap in 2010, when the rate of 15.8 per 100,000 for whites was double that of Black Americans, at 7.9 per 100,000.

American Indians/Alaska Natives experienced the highest rates of overdose deaths in 2020, at 41.4 per 100,000, approximately 31% higher than the white mortality rate.

While overdose mortality rates for Latinos were the lowest among the groups studied in 2020, Latinos did experience a 40% surge in the number of these deaths from 2019 to 2020.

Mortality was driven largely by illicit, highly toxic drugs such as synthetic opioids (including fentanyl), benzodiazepines and high-purity methamphetamine, the researchers noted.

"The high -; and unpredictably variable -; potency of the illicit drug supply may be disproportionately harming racial and ethnic minoritized communities for various reasons," the researchers wrote. "Deep-seated inequalities in living conditions, including stable housing and employment, policing and arrests, preventive care, harm reduction, telehealth, medications for opioid use disorder and naloxone, are likely playing a key role."

The study was supported by a grant to Friedman from the UCLA Medical Scientist Training Program.

The paper was co-authored by Dr. Helena Hansen, professor of psychiatry and chair of the research theme in translational social science and health equity at UCLA.
People exposed to more green space during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic reported significantly less depression and anxiety, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research published March 2 in the journal PLOS One.

The study also found that, at a time when mental health problems soared due to financial woes, supply shortages and nonstop news coverage of the virus, people sought solace in the great outdoors, with one-third spending more time there than they did pre-COVID.

This research shows how critical it is to keep parks and green spaces open in times of crisis. It also shows that, as a public health measure, more effort should be made to put in green spaces and make them accessible." Colleen Reid, senior author, assistant professor of geography, Institute for Behavioral Science

For the study, the authors presented about 1,200 Denver-area residents with a 30-minute survey gauging their mental health and their perceptions of green space near their home, including: how much there was, whether they could see it, whether it was accessible, how much they used it and its quality. They also collected aerial satellite imagery to objectively quantify greenery in respondents' neighborhoods.

The survey ran from November 2019 to January 2021.

Once COVID-19 emerged and lockdowns ensued, Reid added additional questions, providing a rare opportunity to also look at how the pandemic influenced mental health over time and what was most stressful about it.

"Not surprisingly, we found that the pandemic impacted mental health negatively," said co-author Emma Rieves, a master's student in the Department of Geography. "But we also found that green space could have a powerful protective effect, even at a time of such extraordinary stressors."

Supply shortages and job losses stressed people out

Surprisingly, the study found no association between being diagnosed with COVID and having poor mental health. But respondents reported that having symptoms, no diagnosis and no way to test was distressing.

Those who lost income or felt they were working in an unsafe environment were also more likely to be stressed or depressed, while the strongest source of mental health problems was a fear of supply shortages (including toilet paper and food).

People who spent a lot of time scrolling the internet looking at the news reported poorer mental health. In contrast, merely having abundant green space nearby, as measured by satellite images, was associated with lower depression scores.

To get the most benefit out of nearby green space, the study found, people had to get out and use it. Those who used green space most had significantly lower anxiety and depression.

"There are many dimensions of green space, and our study looked closely at how these dimensions impact mental health," said Rieves, noting that policymakers often rely solely on objective measures, like satellite images or proximity to parks when assessing whether to invest in more greenery in a community.

On a satellite image, Rieves points out, a large patch of greenery could actually be a weed-filled lot. A 'nearby park' could be on the other side of a busy highway.

"It's not just about being able to see trees from your home. The amount, quality and accessibility of that green space matters," said Rieves.

Many public agencies closed public green spaces, including neighborhood playgrounds and national parks, at the onset of the pandemic for fear that the virus could be easily spread via surfaces. Once parks reopened, with places like gyms, bars and churches still closed, Coloradans flocked to the outdoors: 33% of respondents reported spending more time in parks or on trails than the year before.

The 'biophilia hypothesis'

The study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that green space can have a measurable impact on health.

According to one theory, known as the 'biophilia hypothesis,' humans innately tend to seek connections with green spaces, where the calming environment influences stress hormones in a way that promotes healing and fends off disease.

"The idea is that we have evolved with nature, and only in the recent past have we been living in the concrete jungle," said Reid.

One famous 1984 study even found that when hospital patients had rooms with a window looking out on green space, their wounds healed faster and they required less pain medication than those looking out on a brick wall.

Reid cautioned that correlations between green space and health have been scrutinized, in part because people with higher incomes and, thus, better access to healthy food and health care may also be more able to afford to live near green spaces.

To address that, Reid's study took sociodemographic factors into account, along with the many unique circumstances that have emerged during COVID.

After controlling for all the factors, the benefits still remained clear: "Spend more time outside," Rieves said. "Pandemic or no pandemic, it's good for your mental health."
Roadside panhandling has long been outlawed in Palm Beach County, but that could change if a new lawsuit proves successful.

The Florida Justice Institute, a legal-aid organization, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Palm Beach County, arguing that the countys ordinance against panhandling in unincorporated parts of Palm Beach County violates the First Amendment.

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The county doesnt comment on pending lawsuits, said John Jamason, a spokesman for Palm Beach County.

Palm Beach County instituted the ban in 2015. It states, No person shall be upon or go upon any road for the purpose of displaying information of any kind, and No person shall be upon or go upon any road for the purpose of distributing materials or goods or soliciting business or charitable contributions of any kind.

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[ RELATED: Palm Beach County bans panhandling, fundraising on roads ]

The County Commission passed the ban after years of reluctance. Such a ban had drawn opposition from charitable groups that solicited donations on the side of the road. Still, drivers complained about people asking for money at intersections, and county commissioners cited concerns for the safety of motorists and the people in the road or median.

Violations can result in a fine of up to $500, 60 days in jail or a combination of the two, according to the ordinance.

Named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit is Clarence Richter, 59, who is described as being homeless and unable to find full-time work, according to court documents. He sometimes stands on the shoulder or median with a sign and accepts donations when offered to him, but never blocks traffic, the lawsuit says. Since January 2020, he was cited eight times and assessed court costs totaling $2,937, according to court documents.

He and other people wrangling with homelessness often are targeted by deputies, which he calls humiliating and taxing, resulting in emotional and mental distress, and loss of money, according to court documents.

Since 2020, at least 141 people were arrested and taken to jail or cited with a notice to appear in court for a violating the ordinance, according to the Florida Justice Institute, which is representing Richter.

The organization also has sued the cities of Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and been a part of a lawsuit against the city of West Palm Beach over similar ordinances banning people from asking for money.

These laws are simply used to criminalize poverty and homelessness, Ray Taseff, an attorney with the Florida Justice Institute, said in a statement. A criminal justice response to this issue is a cruel and counterproductive strategy.

The ordinance was deemed unconstitutional by Palm Beach County Court Judge Sherri Collins in a separate criminal case heard in November 2021.

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The ordinance violates the First Amendment both on its face and as applied to the acts of the Defendant, Collins said in her dismissal of a case against another person experiencing homelessness. Soliciting for a charitable contribution does not create any greater danger to pedestrians and motorists than soliciting for a political candidate. Yet, in unincorporated Palm Beach County, one is subject to criminal sanctions and the other is not.

On Feb. 15, the organization sent a letter to Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg calling for an end to these prosecutions, but they say theyve received no response yet. The prosecutors office said Thursday that its reviewing the matter.

Wednesdays lawsuit asks for a jury trial and wants the ban on panhandling declared unconstitutional. It also wants to prohibit the county from enforcing it, and seeks for Richter to be awarded damages and reimbursed for legal fees.

Austen Erblat can be reached at aerblat@sunsentinel.com, 954-599-8709 or on Twitter @AustenErblat.
Alzheimer's disease usually is diagnosed based on symptoms, such as when a person shows signs of memory loss and difficulty thinking. Up until now, MRI brain scans haven't proven useful for early diagnosis in clinical practice. Such scans can reveal signs of brain shrinkage due to Alzheimer's, but the signs only become unmistakable late in the course of the disease, long after the brain is significantly damaged and most people have been diagnosed via other means.

But new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that a mathematical analysis of data obtained with a novel MRI approach can identify brain cell damage in people at early stages of Alzheimer's, before tissue shrinkage is visible on traditional MRI scans and before cognitive symptoms arise.

This could be a new way to use MRI to diagnose people with Alzheimer's before they develop symptoms. The technique takes only six minutes to acquire data and can be implemented on MRI scanners that are already used worldwide for patient diagnostics and clinical trials." Dmitriy Yablonskiy, PhD, senior author, professor of radiology, Washington University's Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology

Published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, the study relies on a new quantitative Gradient Echo (qGRE) MRI technique developed in the Yablonskiy lab to show brain areas that are no longer functioning due to a loss of healthy neurons.

"Using this technique in patients with Alzheimer's disease, we discovered brain areas that look normal on traditional MRI but look dark on qGRE images, which we attribute to significant neurodegeneration," said Satya V. V. N. Kothapalli, PhD, a staff scientist in radiology and the first author of the study. "We call them 'dark matter.'"

While traditional MRI is capable of showing where damaged areas of the brain have decreased in volume, the qGRE technique goes a step further, detecting the loss of neurons that precedes brain shrinkage and cognitive decline.

Alzheimer's disease develops slowly over the course of two decades or more before symptoms arise. First the brain protein amyloid beta accumulates into plaques in the brain, then another brain protein  tau  coalesces into tangles and neurons begin to die. Finally, tissue atrophy becomes visible on MRI brain scans, and cognitive symptoms arise. People at early stages of the disease can be identified via amyloid-PET brain scans or by testing for amyloid in the blood or the cerebrospinal fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, but such tests do not provide information on neuronal damage.

The study involved 70 people ages 60 to 90 who were recruited through the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center (Knight ADRC). Participants completed extensive clinical and cognitive testing to assess their level of cognitive impairment. The participant group included people with no cognitive impairment as well as those with very mild, mild or moderate impairments.

Each participant underwent either a PET brain scan or a spinal tap to gauge the amount of amyloid plaques in his or her brain. They also underwent MRI brain scans.

Researchers applied the qGRE MRI technique to scan the hippocampus, the brain's memory center and one of the earliest affected brain regions in Alzheimers. Results showed the hippocampus often contained a viable tissue section with relatively preserved neurons and a dark matter dead zone virtually devoid of healthy neurons.

These dark matter areas were present in people who tested positive for amyloid but were not yet experiencing symptoms, and they grew larger as the disease progressed. Compared with traditional MRI measures of brain atrophy, biomarkers for dark matter correlated much better with individual cognitive scores for very mild to moderate dementia.

The study builds on and corroborates findings from Alzheimer's research that took place at Washington University more than two decades ago when Alzheimer's was formally diagnosed only through autopsy.

In 2001, John C. Morris, MD, the Harvey A. and Dorismae Hacker Friedman Distinguished Professor of Neurology and director of the Knight ADRC, led a study that examined the brain tissue of deceased Alzheimer's patients and found that damaged brain regions had begun to lose healthy neurons well before the disease caused a significant loss of brain volume in these areas.

Then, in the early 2000s, Tammie L. S. Benzinger, MD, PhD, a professor of radiology and of neurosurgery, and the Knight ADRC's director of imaging studies, was among the pioneers at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology to use PET brain scans targeted against amyloid beta as a tool for detecting Alzheimer's.

In the current study, also co-authored by Morris and Benzinger, researchers documented the same relationship between neuronal loss and Alzheimer's symptoms using the non-invasive qGRE MRI technique in living patients.

Working with co-author Richard Perrin, MD, PhD, an associate professor of pathology & immunology, the research team also confirmed this relationship under the microscope by examining brain tissues that were donated after the death of a study participant. The postmortem examination showed that the neuronal loss in the hippocampus actually exceeds loss of tissue volume and that these changes are well reflected in MRI measures of dark matter.

Yablonskiy and colleagues are among the many researchers now pursuing a low-cost, easily accessible test for Alzheimer's as an alternative to the expensive PET brain scans and invasive spinal taps now used in research settings to assess the presence and progression of the disease.

Such a test, especially one that can identify people at very early stages of disease, would provide a huge boost to Alzheimer's research, drastically slashing the cost and the time necessary to screen patients for clinical trials, thus spurring the development of new treatments.

While Alzheimer's researchers continue to pursue drug treatments for the disease, most agree that successful treatment will hinge on early detection and on finding ways to head off brain damage before later stages of Alzheimer's.

While PET scans and spinal taps continue to play important roles in Alzheimer's research, both have limitations that prevent their widespread use as a screening tool for early signs of the disease.

PET brain scans are still the gold standard for detecting signs of Alzheimer's, but the machines are expensive and seldom available for routine patient diagnosis, much less widespread clinical screening. PET scans also require the injection of a radioactive tracer for brain imaging.

As Alzheimer's progresses, it can be detected by testing for tau proteins in cerebrospinal fluid, but sampling requires a spinal tap that may be too invasive for use as a general screening tool, especially for people who have no symptoms.

Another promising option for Alzheimer's screening - also under development at Washington University - is a non-invasive, relatively inexpensive blood test that has proven to be highly accurate in detecting early signs of Alzheimer's disease. A commercial version of the blood test recently became available to doctors in the United States and Europe, but it is not yet covered by health insurance.

While each testing approach has its own strengths and weaknesses, the qGRE MRI technique may be poised for early adoption since it is based on MRI technology that is widely available worldwide, is noninvasive and can be carried out without the use of radioactive tracers.

"Our qGRE test offers great potential as an early diagnostic tool for the preclinical stage of Alzheimer's disease, thus providing a large window for therapeutic intervention," Yablonskiy said. "It also has great potential as a noninvasive MRI technique available in a conventional clinical setting for the widespread screening that is necessary to get people with early Alzheimer's into clinical drug trials."
In Washington state, many counties in recent years have supplemented their revenues through court-imposed fines such as traffic citations and court processing fees.

At the same time, those counties have increased the rate at which they sentence women to jail.

This association, according to new research from the University of Washington, indicates that monetary sanctions, also known as legal financial obligations or LFOs, have far-reaching social, economic and punitive effects. In other words, what may seem like a system of low-level penalties aimed at individuals actually affects whole communities.

Here in Washington state, men's incarceration rates have been trending downward for over a decade whereas women's incarceration rates have continued to increase. This paper suggests this is because women have not benefitted from the legal system's shift away from carceral sentencing toward monetary sanction sentencing in the same ways men have benefitted." Kate O'Neill, lead author, UW postdoctoral researcher in sociology

The study is part of a volume of research on legal financial obligations, published online in January in The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. Alexes Harris, professor of sociology at the UW, spearheaded the multi-institutional study of trends and practices in eight states over five years relating to legal fines and fees.

More about the larger eight-state study, and Harris' role in that research, is here.

The UW-led study focused on Washington state, and looked at the connection between a defendant's gender and fines and fees.

Over the past two decades, women's incarceration rates have remained steady or increased nationwide. The UW researchers wanted to use Washington state data to explore what factors may contribute to this trend, and specifically, whether the expanding system of monetary sanctions could be to blame.

The authors, including sociology graduate students Tyler Smith and Ian Kennedy, used county-level statistics from the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts from 2007-2012, as well as county budget information from the Washington State Auditor and demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the United States, more women live in poverty than men, and people who are poor are disproportionately impacted not only by the legal system generally, but by monetary sanctions in particular.

Monetary sanctions, meanwhile, have contributed a growing share of local government revenues in communities around the country. The UW study found that, among Washington's 39 counties, a 1% increase in county revenue from monetary sanctions was, on average, associated with a 23% increase in the incarceration rate of women. That may be due, researchers said, to increased law enforcement around the types of lower-level offenses women are more likely to engage in than men, and to the possibility that women, due to financial precarity, are forced to opt for incarceration because of their inability to pay fines and fees.

"Not only are women are going to find financial sentences more burdensome than men, they are also more likely to commit the types of crime that make them eligible for monetary sanctions instead of incarceration," O'Neill said. "Among people who commit crime, women are disproportionately represented among misdemeanor offenders, whereas men commit more felonies. So, women who offend may be more likely to be sentenced to monetary sanctions and less likely to be able to pay than men who offend."

Given the association the study found between revenues from monetary sanctions and the sentencing of women to incarceration in Washington counties, the researchers suggest that governments look for other revenue sources, and for ways to reduce the costs of their justice systems. The authors point to a 2019 article in Governing on the spatial distribution of monetary sanction debt and revenue that suggests these findings could apply outside of Washington state as well.

"Heavy reliance on monetary sanctions as a source of revenue creates an obvious conflict of interest for local governments: They need people to violate the law in order to keep themselves out of the red," O'Neill said. "Capping the annual proportion of local expenditures derived from monetary sanctions, or earmarking the monetary sanction revenue for community programs that address the root causes of crime, would go a long way in alleviating the social problems associated with the system. Or -; even better -; get rid of the system of monetary sanctions altogether."
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant has threatened many societies worldwide since its emergence.

Study: Forecast of Omicron Wave Time Evolution. Image Credit: ZinetroN / Shutterstock.com

Although there remains a lack of sufficient information on the transmission characteristics of this variant, research has shown that the Omicron variant spreads about four times faster than the SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant and has an average doubling time of three days. Current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines also appear to be less effective against the Omicron variant as compared to earlier SARS-CoV-2 strains.

In a new COVID study, scientists forecast the temporal evolution of the Omicron wave according to a susceptible-infectious-recovered/removed (SIR) epidemic compartment model with a constant stationary ratio (k) between the infection (a(t)) and recovery rates (t).

About the study

Reliable estimates of the maximum and total percentage of infected people are crucial, as they can be compared to available medical facilities in different countries. In the current study, scientists provided estimates of these crucial variables.

The three considered scenarios were referred to as optimistic, pessimistic, and intermediate, and the resulting pandemic parameters for 12 different countries including Italy, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, and the United States were assessed.

The key parameters considered in the SIR model included the maximum rate of new infections, total number of infected persons, peak time, and maximum seven-day incidence per 100,000 individuals.

Several crucial assumptions were made regarding the stationary ratio (k) and the infection (a(t)) rate. Under the optimistic case, it was assumed that the reduction in the early doubling time of the Omicron variant, as compared to the Beta variant, was driven by a corresponding increase in the initial infection rate a(0), while the k ratio remained the same as the Beta variant. The reverse was assumed for the pessimistic case.

For the intermediate case, it was assumed that the stationary ratio and initial infection rate contributed equally to the decrease in the early doubling time.

Study findings

Among the European countries, Denmark was observed to have the smallest omicron peak time; therefore, the scientists opined that the Danish data may be better explained by the intermediate or pessimistic scenario. In Great Britain, seven-day incidence (SDI) values showed a clear peak of 1,865 on January 7, 2022, which suggested that there were a high number of Omicron infections in this country.

In the case of Germany, researchers forecasted the peak of the wave at 32, 38, and 45 days after the start of the Omicron wave in the optimistic, intermediate, and pessimistic cases, respectively. The corresponding SDI values were 7,090, 13,263, and 28,911, respectively.

The values for Switzerland were quite similar, with peak times including 30, 36, and 42 days after the start of the Omicron wave, and maximum SDI values were observed to be 8,148, 15,060, and 29,259, respectively.

With the starting date being assumed to be January 1, 2022, researchers observed that the peak of the wave was reached between January 31, 2022, and February 13, 2022. They predicted that in the optimistic scenario, the total cumulative number of Omicron infections was expected to be 0.208, but could rise to 0.824 in the pessimistic case. The latter half decay times were predicted to be 3.2 to 3.6 and 5.3 days under the optimistic, intermediate, and pessimistic scenarios, respectively.

The lower hospitalization rate during the Omicron wave is largely driven by the high percentage of vaccinated and boosted individuals within these populations. Thus, the scientists estimated that the German healthcare system would be able to sustain a maximum seven-day incidence of 2,800, which is 2.5 times smaller than the maximum SDI of 7,090 in the optimistic case.

It must be noted that in Germany, the significantly smaller mortality rates as compared to earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants have been supported by lower a hospitalization rate. However, researchers warn that the numbers could be quite different in the less likely pessimistic case.

Conclusions

Motivated by how little is known about the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, scientists used a SIR model with a constant stationary ratio between the infection and recovery rates to forecast the time evolution of this variant.

Three scenarios were considered for twelve countries, with estimates provided on key parameters including the total number of infected persons, maximum rate of new infections, peak time, and maximum seven-day incidence per 100,000 individuals. These estimated numbers ranged in order of magnitude below those which were observed for the SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant.
President Joe Biden's top Medicare official suggested Wednesday that forthcoming rules to bolster nursing home staffing won't be issued under a4 mechanism, known as interim final rules, that would allow regulations to take effect more or less immediately.

"While we want to move swiftly, we want to get comments from stakeholders," Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in an interview about the overhaul Biden promised during his State of the Union address.

"Medicare is going to set higher standards for nursing homes and make sure your loved ones get the care they deserve and that they expect," Biden said.

But Brooks-LaSure suggested the administration's sought-after nursing home changes are not considered urgent even as nursing homes and other long-term care facilities register shocking numbers of covid deaths. A KFF analysis estimated that more than 200,000 residents and staff members of long-term care facilities had died from covid as of Jan. 30, amounting to at least 23% of all U.S. deaths.

"When we do interim final rules, those tend to be things that are absolute emergencies," Brooks-LaSure said when asked whether they would be considered for nursing home staffing levels, "or tight timelines."

The White House this week said CMS will first study the issue and then propose minimum staffing standards "within one year," but officials have been otherwise vague about timing. When issuing regulations, federal agencies generally release a proposal and then seek public feedback before finalizing it. The entire process can take months or even years. But there's an exception that allows newly issued regulations to kick in much faster even if the agency allows for public comment  a move that Biden officials have exercised recently when issuing a covid vaccine mandate for health workers and implementing a ban on surprise medical bills that took effect this year.

Marjorie Moore, executive director of Voyce, a St. Louis nonprofit that advocates for long-term care residents, said "the speed of this is a little frustrating." She said she's seen situations where residents hadn't had their diapers changed for days because staffing shortages are so dire.

"That's not what we expect for our most vulnerable," she said.

Still, she said, "I think one year, knowing that this is government stuff, may be the best we can hope for. That's not going to be an overnight thing. We just knew there was no way."

Biden's proposal would amount to the biggest increase in federal nursing home regulation in nearly four decades. CMS could pursue several elements under the agency's existing authority, such as investigating the role of private equity in the sector, increasing its scrutiny of the poorest-performing facilities, and making public more information about facilities' finances and operators.

Some ideas would require congressional action. They include allowing CMS to ban from the Medicare and Medicaid programs those facilities owned by people or corporations with subpar track records and to increase penalties on poor-performing facilities from $21,000 to $1 million.

Most states have standards for nursing home staffing levels, but the minimums vary widely. Some states have been criticized for granting exemptions so facilities can provide less care for each resident.

Forthcoming federal rules on staffing must be designed to avoid "unintended consequences," said David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, who is supportive of the effort. "Figuring out the right kind of threshold for facilities is going to be challenging."

He said unintended consequences might come from boosting staffing levels by disproportionately hiring nursing assistants, who earn less and have limited responsibilities, at the expense of positions for licensed practical nurses and registered nurses, or depleting resources in other important areas like housekeeping.

Brooks-LaSure declined to say whether CMS would allow nursing homes to seek exemptions, instead arguing that minimum staffing rules will "help with retention."

"We're hearing from staff over and over about the strain that staffing is placing on them personally and on residents. And we have got to address the quality of care for people who are enrolled in our programs," she said. "We want to work with industry, absolutely, to get there, but everything we hear is about what kind of strain the insufficient staffing is putting on residents and on the workers themselves."

The industry, for its part, hasn't minced words in criticizing Biden's plan, especially after the pandemic exacerbated existing workforce retention problems. A February study in JAMA Health Forum found that compared with other parts of the health sector, nursing homes experienced the greatest relative wage growth during the pandemic yet saw the biggest drops in employment.

"By singling out nursing home care for attack, President Biden is only further demoralizing struggling providers and their workers," Brendan Williams, CEO of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, which lobbies for long-term care facilities, said in a statement. Mark Parkinson, CEO of the American Health Care Association in Washington, D.C., said in a statement that "we cannot meet additional staffing requirements when we can't find people to fill the open positions nor when we don't have the resources to compete against other employers."

Central to Biden's plan is getting facilities to open their books to make public information about their opaque finances and operating structures. Among other moves, CMS plans to create a database to identify nursing home owners and operators.

There is an international movement to more closely monitor and improve nursing home staffing levels, staff pay, and quality of care.

To achieve that, 106 investor groups and labor unions in the U.S., Canada, and Europe that manage more than $3 trillion in assets have published staffing, pay, and quality goals for nursing homes. They are pressing large companies and real estate investment trusts that operate nursing homes to publicly disclose whether they are complying with those targets. They seek greater financial transparency in nursing home operations.

Some of the investor groups have told nursing home operators that if they fail to meet the expectations, they may take shareholder actions against management and ultimately divest from the companies.

But those investors and unions are facing tough challenges in getting the information they seek, said Adrian Durtschi, head of the health care section at UNI Global Union, which spearheaded the international effort.

He noted greater cooperation from nursing home operators in European countries with more heavily regulated national health care systems and stronger unions. It's been slower in the U.S., he said, where there are so many private nursing home companies.

"Transparency is key for investors to make good investments, and unions need it for good negotiations," Durtschi said. "But it's generally not easy to access the information. Some companies are willing to disclose it, while others are more resistant."

Biden's plan could inspire others to enact similar disclosure laws and regulations, he added.

For instance, French authorities are under pressure to toughen nursing home oversight following revelations of severe quality-of-care problems at nursing homes run by Orpea, a large publicly traded operator of high-end facilities. As a result, some investment funds have reduced their nursing home holdings.

"Demands for higher standards, more transparency, and more union rights," Durtschi said, are "great to see."

In the U.S., Brooks-LaSure said CMS can use its leverage. "As part of our requirements to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid program, we have authority to require entities to report information to us," she said. However, Grabowski, noting the industry's skill at staying steps ahead of the government and weak agency enforcement, said that "it sounds like a great objective, but it's going to be really challenging."

"Im a little skeptical they'll make the necessary investment," he said of CMS.

One advocate for vulnerable older adults, who've especially suffered during the pandemic, saw hope in Biden's statement.

"Nursing homes getting literally three lines in the State of the Union is profound," said Dr. Michael Wasserman, a geriatrician in California. "Let us stop and realize that the White House has recognized improving quality in nursing homes as a priority."
Anthony Cantu, 31, counsels patients at a San Antonio health clinic about a daily pill shown to prevent HIV infection. Last summer, he started taking the medication himself, an approach called preexposure prophylaxis, better known as PrEP. The regimen requires laboratory tests every three months to ensure the powerful drug does not harm his kidneys and that he remains HIV-free.

But after his insurance company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, billed him hundreds of dollars for his PrEP lab test and a related doctor's visit, Cantu panicked, fearing an avalanche of bills every few months for years to come.

"I work in social services. I'm not rich. I told my doctor I can't continue with PrEP," said Cantu, who is gay. "It's terrifying getting bills that high."

A national panel of health experts concluded in June 2019 that HIV prevention drugs, shown to lower the risk of infection from sex by more than 90%, are a critical weapon in quelling the AIDS epidemic. Under provisions of the Affordable Care Act, the decision to rate PrEP as an effective preventive service triggered rules requiring health insurers to cover the costs. Insurers were given until January 2021 to adhere to the ruling.

Faced with pushback from the insurance industry, the Department of Labor clarified the rules in July 2021: Medical care associated with a PrEP prescription, including doctor appointments and lab tests, should be covered at no cost to patients.

More than half a year later, that federal prod hasn't done the trick.

In California, Washington, Texas, Ohio, Georgia, and Florida, HIV advocates and clinic workers say patients are confounded by formularies that obfuscate drug costs and by erroneous bills for ancillary medical services. The costs can be daunting: a monthly supply of PrEP runs $60 for a generic and up to $2,000 for brand-name drugs like Truvada and Descovy. That doesn't include quarterly lab tests and doctor visits, which can total $15,000 a year.

"Insurers are quite smart, and they have a lot of staff," said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. They are setting up "formularies in a way that looks like I'm going to have to pay, and that's one of the barriers. They are not showing this is free for people in an easy way."

Schmid has found repeated violations: bewildering drug formularies that wrongly assign copays; PrEP drugs listed in the wrong tier. Some plans offer zero-cost access only to Descovy, a patented drug Gilead Sciences tested only in men and transgender women that is not authorized by the FDA for use by women who have vaginal sex.

More than 700,000 Americans have died from HIV-related illnesses since the AIDS epidemic emerged in 1981. But compared with its devastating impacts in the 1980s and '90s, HIV is now largely a chronic disease in the U.S., managed with antiretroviral therapy that can suppress the virus to undetectable  and non-transmissible  levels. Public health officials now promote routine testing, condom use, and preexposure prophylaxis to prevent infections.

"Contracting HIV or AIDS is not a fear of mine," said Dan Waits, a 30-year-old gay man who lives in San Francisco. "I take PrEP as an afterthought. That's a huge shift from a generation ago."

Still, 35,000 new infections occur each year in the U.S., according to KFF. Of those, 66% occur through sex between men; 23% through heterosexual sex; and 11% involve injecting illegal drugs. Black people represent nearly 40% of the 1.2 million U.S. residents living with HIV.

HIV prevention drugs, including a long-lasting injectable approved by the FDA last December, are critical to reducing the rate of new infections among high-risk groups. But uptake has been sluggish. An estimated 1.2 million Americans at risk of HIV infection should be taking the pills, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but only 25% are doing so, and use among Black and Hispanic patients is especially low.

"Until we can increase uptake of PrEP in these communities, we're not going to be successful in bringing about an end to the HIV epidemic," said Justin Smith, director of the Campaign to End AIDS at the Positive Impact Clinic in Atlanta. Atlanta has the second-highest rate of new HIV infections, after Washington, D.C.

Women remain a neglected group when it comes to PrEP education and treatment. In some urban areas, such as Baltimore, women account for 30% of people living with HIV. But women have been largely ignored by PrEP marketing efforts, said Dr. Rachel Scott, scientific director of womens health research at the MedStar Health Research Institute in Washington, D.C.

Scott runs a reproductive health clinic that cares for women with HIV and those at risk of infection. She counsels women whose sexual partners do not use condoms or whose partners have HIV and women who have transactional sex or share needles to consider the HIV prevention pill. Most, she said, are completely unaware a pill could help protect them.

In the years since Truvada, the first HIV prevention pill authorized by the FDA, was approved in 2012, lower-priced generic versions have entered the market. While a monthly supply of Truvada can cost $1,800, generic prescriptions are available for $30 to $60 a month.

Even as medication costs have decreased, lab tests and other accompanying services are still being billed, advocates say. Many patients are unaware they do not have to pay out-of-pocket. Adam Roberts, a technology project manager in San Francisco, said his company's health insurer, Aetna, has charged him $1,200 a year for the past three years for his quarterly lab tests.

"I assumed that was the cost of being on the medication," said Roberts, who learned about the issue from a friend in January.

Enforcing coverage rules falls to state insurance commissioners and the Department of Labor, which oversees most employer-based health plans. But enforcement is driven largely by patient complaints, said Amy Killelea, an Arlington, Virginia-based lawyer who specializes in HIV policy and coverage.

"It's the employer-based plans that are problematic right now," said Killelea, who works with clients to appeal charges with insurers and file complaints with state insurance commissioners. "The current system is not working. There need to be actual penalties for noncompliance."

A spokesperson for the Department of Labor, Victoria Godinez, said that people who have concerns about their plan's compliance with the requirements should contact the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Even as they push for broader enforcement, HIV organizations are taking one small victory at a time.

On Feb. 16, Anthony Cantu received a letter from the Texas Department of Insurance informing him that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas had reprocessed his claims for PrEP-related lab costs. The insurance company assured state officials that future claims submitted through Cantu's plan "will be reviewed to make sure the Affordable Care Act preventive services would not be subject to coinsurance, deductible, copayments, or dollar maximums."

The news was welcome, said Schmid of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, but "it shouldn't have to be so hard."
The discrepancy between preclinical advances in breast cancer immunotherapy and poor patient outcomes is rooted in the limitations of current breast cancer models. These models often fail to mimic complex interactions between cancer cells and key immune cells present in the tumor microenvironment.

Utilizing a collaborative approach, Susan N. Thomas, associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and former doctoral student Meghan O'Melia developed a novel way to generate breast tumor models faster, more reliably, and with dramatically less immune variability than existing models. Their innovative research, published in the January issue of Advanced Materials, has the potential to revolutionize the development of immunotherapy treatments and can also help elucidate why patients with the same type of breast cancer respond differently to treatment.

By using a gel-like matrix as a scaffold to grow breast cancer tumors, Thomas and O'Melia were able to modulate how immune cells filter into a tumor's microenvironment. In doing so, they created tumor models exceptionally well-suited to immunotherapy drug testing. Moreover, by tweaking the scaffold, they were able to replicate immune microenvironments seen in treatment-resistant breast cancer patients.

This work provides us with new models to understand how tumor microenvironments influence responses to immunotherapies. We see potential for predicting, based on the immune characteristics of a patient's tumor, what therapy that person will best respond to." Meghan O'Melia, postdoctoral fellow at Harvard

Limitations of breast cancer models

Current advanced breast cancer models have key drawbacks. One type of model involves injecting human tumor cells into mice that lack a complete immune system, but this complicates the study of immune-targeting therapies. In a different approach, mice are manipulated at the genome level to make them cancer prone. Although their immune responses may closely resemble that of human patients, the rate of tumor development is highly variable, making these models suboptimal for scalable drug testing.

The most common way to generate breast cancer models for immunotherapy research, however, is by injecting mouse breast cancer cells directly into healthy mice. This method is affordable and scalable, but sometimes up to 80% of mice in an experiment will not grow tumors.

To address this, breast cancer researchers began to inject the tumor cells alongside a commercially sold gelatinous protein mixture derived from mouse cells (Matrigel), which helps tumors grow reliably. The problem with the mixture, however, is that its composition varies from batch to batch. Using the mixture therefore creates more unknown variables, affecting a mouse's immune response in unpredictable ways.

An unexpected solution presented itself when Thomas and O'Melia attended a regenerative medicine workshop. At the workshop, Edward Botchwey, associate professor in the Walter H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, introduced a bioengineered scaffold able to modulate how immune cells filtrate into a wound site to facilitate tissue healing.

"I turned to Meghan and said, 'Why don't we see if they want to collaborate to explore if we can change how immune cells are recruited to the site where we are implanting our tumors?'" Thomas said.

They set out to work with Botchwey and Andres Garcia, professor of mechanical engineering and executive director of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB), to develop a scaffold to grow breast tumors.

A novel scaffold to shape the tumor microenvironment

The team developed their own synthetic jelly-like matrix. They then injected triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells, the most aggressive type of breast cancer, alongside the matrix as a scaffold to help them grow. They found that their breast cancer tumors formed at a rate of 100% and did so faster and with lower variability in growth than when using Matrigel. Most importantly, their scaffold limited the type of immune cells that infiltrated into the tumor microenvironment. Their approach resulted in the kind of controlled environment ideal for experiments in immunotherapy drug testing.

Taking a step further, the team created different formulations of the gel matrix by incorporating biomolecular tags readily recognized by immune cells. The tags are made of peptides and serve to recruit key immune cells to the microenvironment. Incorporating the tags enabled Thomas and O'Melia to model different subtypes of immune environments often seen in treatment-resistant TNBC.

They then tested two of the most common types of immunotherapy drugs -; vaccines and immune checkpoint blockade therapy -; on the different subsets of cancer microenvironments.

"When we used different matrix components, we saw different effects of these drugs on the same type of cancer," Thomas said. "There is a lot of variability related to why some patients respond to therapy or not, and until now there was no way to incorporate that into our mouse models when developing drugs."

Looking beyond the lab

The findings demonstrate the essential role a patient's tumor immune microenvironment plays in the success of immunotherapies, stressing the importance of their new approach for future drug testing.

Thomas and O'Melia's work carries broad potential for pre-screening immunotherapy drugs for individual patients. Hypothetically, for the average cancer patient, a clinician could do a simple biopsy, determine what immune cells are present, and choose a better therapy.

They also collaborated with Levi Wood, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and investigators at IBB who contributed immune phenotyping for the experiments.

"Basically, by using an established technology but applied in a new way, we created a new tool to solve an old problem," Thomas said. "The collaborative nature of this project was spectacular, and that is really intrinsic to the Georgia Tech community."
New Mica imaging platform from Leica Microsystems brings previously inaccessible experiments to all life science researchers

The new Mica imaging system from Leica Microsystems offers true simultaneous four-label widefield, confocal resolution and AI-supported analysis, all united in a sample-protecting incubator environment. Image Credit: Leica Microsystems GmbH.

03 March 2022, Wetzlar, Germany  Leica Microsystems, a leader in microscopy and scientific instrumentation and a Life Sciences company of Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR), has launched Mica, the worlds first Microhub. A Microhub is a new type of wholly integrated imaging solution that leverages machine learning software, automation tools and unique fluorescence unmixing techniques to automate the imaging workflow for researchers, regardless of their microscopy experience levels.

Research paradigms are constantly evolving, as we have seen with the recent evolution of single cell and transcriptomics. The next frontier is about essentially putting this dissociated information into spatial context, as location is critical to understanding biological mechanisms. The trend is driving more researchers to utilize complex imaging in their research. We have built Mica for these researchers, who need to focus more on their biology than the specialism of microscopy, says James OBrien, Vice President Life Sciences at Leica Microsystems. The Microhub era will supercharge the microscopy experience for everyone.

All researchers, regardless of expertise, can now work in a single digital imaging platform, moving confidently from setup to beautifully visualized results, allowing true access for all. The Microhub intelligently automates sample-finding, parameter-setting and focus constancy, replacing manual setup with just one push of a button. Mica eliminates over 85 percent of the tedious setup steps in the conventional imaging workflow.

Users can visualize four labels simultaneously in widefield using Leicas patented FluoSync technology, which offers four times more data with 100% correlation compared to traditional fluorescence imaging methods. They can then switch seamlessly to confocal without moving the sample, to explore unexpected paths with no constraints.

Mica also fully integrates everything a researcher needs for radically simplified workflows, using automation and AI to enable deeper understanding and a faster track to publication. For example, to perform a complex experiment such as a fluorescence multi-well plate assay, the current workflow can be simplified from 24 steps using a conventional microscope to just 8 steps with the use of Mica.

Mica is now available in all regions globally. For more information, please visit https://go.leica-microsystems.com/Microhub

Image & Caption

The new Mica imaging system from Leica Microsystems offers true simultaneous four-label widefield, confocal resolution and AI-supported analysis, all united in a sample-protecting incubator environment.

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About Leica Microsystems

Leica Microsystems develops and manufactures microscopes and scientific instruments for the analysis of microstructures and nanostructures. Ever since the company started as a family business in the nineteenth century, its instruments have been widely recognized for their optical precision and innovative technology. It is one of the market leaders in compound and stereo microscopy, digital microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy with related imaging systems, electron microscopy sample preparation, and surgical microscopes.

Leica Microsystems has six major plants and product development sites around the world. The company is represented in over 100 countries, has sales and service organizations in 20 countries, and an international network of distribution partners. Its headquarters are located in Wetzlar, Germany.
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.
LOUISVILLE, Ky.  A Kentucky jury on Thursday cleared a former police officer of charges that he endangered neighbors when he fired shots into an apartment during the 2020 drug raid that ended with Breonna Taylors death.

The panel of eight men and four women delivered its verdict about three hours after it took the case following closing arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys.

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Former Louisville Police officer Brett Hankison is questioned by prosecution as he discusses his position during the attempted execution of a search warrant in Louisville, Kentucky, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (Timothy D. Easley/AP)

Hankison had been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing through sliding-glass side doors and a window of Taylors apartment during the raid that left the 26-year-old Black woman dead. Hankisons attorneys never contested the ballistics evidence, but said he fired 10 bullets because he thought his fellow officers were being executed.

Hankison, 45, testified during the trial that he saw a muzzle flash from Taylors darkened hallway after police burst through the door and thought officers were under heavy fire, so he quickly wheeled around a corner and sprayed 10 bullets, hoping to end the threat.

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But in closing arguments Thursday, prosecutors cast doubt on what Hankison said he saw, challenging whether he could have looked through Taylors front door when police broke it open with a battering ram.

He was never in the doorway, Assistant Kentucky Attorney General Barbara Maines Whaley told the jury. Referring to Taylor she added, His wanton conduct could have multiplied her death by three, easily.

Whaley also reminded the jury that none of the other officers who testified recalled Hankison being in the doorway before the gunfire began. All the shells from his weapon were found in the parking lot, among a row of cars.

She said while other officers were in the line of fire of a single shot fired by Taylors boyfriend, Hankison was over here, shooting wildly through sliding-glass doors covered with vertical blinds and drapes.

The former narcotics detective admitted to firing through Taylors patio doors and bedroom window, but said he did so to save his fellow officers. Asked if he did anything wrong that night, he said absolutely not. Hankison was fired by Louisville Police for shooting blindly during the raid.

Defense attorney Stewart Mathews told the jury in his closing argument Thursday that Hankison thought he was doing the right thing and is not a criminal who belongs in prison.

He did what he thought he had to do in that instant. This all happened in such a short span, Mathews said.

A 20-year veteran K-9 officer assigned to handle a drug-sniffing dog during the raid, Hankison said he was positioned behind an officer with a battering ram, and could see the shadowy silhouette of a person in a shooting stance with what looked like an AR-15 rifle as Taylors door swung open.

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No long gun was found  only the handgun of Taylors boyfriend Kenneth Walker, who told Louisville Police investigators he thought intruders were breaking in. Investigators determined Walker fired the shot that passed through the leg of Sgt. John Mattingly, who along with officer Myles Cosgrove, returned fire. A total of 32 rounds were fired by police. Walker wasnt hit.

Whaley said other officers next to Cosgrove and Mattingly chose not to fire, and there was no evidence of any shots from a long rifle at the scene.

Nobody got shot with an AR because there never was one, she said.

The killing of Taylor loomed over the trial, though prosecutors insisted in opening statements that the case wasnt about her death or the police decisions that led to the March 13, 2020, raid. Jurors were shown a single image of her body, barely discernible at the end of the hallway.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who had been settling down for bed when officers broke through her door, was shot multiple times and died at the scene.

Kentucky Attorney General David Camerons prosecutors asked a grand jury to indict Hankison on charges of endangering Taylors neighbors, but declined to seek charges against any officers involved in Taylors death. Protesters who had walked the streets for months were outraged.

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Taylors name, along with George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery  Black men who died in encounters with police and white pursuers  became rallying cries during racial justice protests seen around the world in 2020.

The jury of 10 men and five women was selected after several days of questioning from a pool expanded to about 250 people. Before deliberations, the jury was reduced to eight men and four women after three alternates were dismissed. The judge declined to release details about their race or ethnicity.
SOUTHERN INDIANA  It was nearly 70 degrees and sunny as people walked, ran and cycled across the Big Four Bridge into downtown Jeffersonville on Wednesday.

Thats just one of the signs theres support for tourism in Southern Indiana.

New results from a survey conducted by national research group Longwoods International echo the sentiment, showing that a majority of the more than 400 people surveyed support visitors and the revenue they bring.

About 200 adults in both Clark and Floyd counties took part in the research for the Tourism Resident Sentiment Survey last fall. They were asked about how tourism affects the area, what events theyd like to see more of and how more people can be attracted to visit the area.

Destinations The 2022 Southern Indiana Destinations magazine is available at hotels and other select locations throughout Southern Indiana.

The big takeaway for me was that our residents feel a lot more positive about tourism and its contribution to their quality of life than I wouldve ever imagined, said SoIN Tourism Executive Director Jim Epperson. Its so much of our work is marketing to people not here, to get them to come visit.

He said the hope for this survey was to see how people in Southern Indiana look at the tourism industry and if people dont support it, what SoIN can do to address any complaints.

The results show that about 75% of the people who responded think tourism is good for the area and that theyd like to see more tourists in the area.

Now SoIN has a benchmark that can be revisited in four or five years to see how communities are feeling then. Epperson said the results can be compared to other communities like Asheville, North Carolina, where theres pushback from residents about how tourists have negatively impacted the area.

We want to mature some day and we want to get to a point where theres more tourism, he said. And if we are going to work toward that...we have to know when things need to be managed differently so we dont negatively impact residents.

From here, SoIN plans to go around the community to present the findings and open up a conversation between residents and industry partners about how visitors to the area can add to more revenue. The group also plans to talk to elected officials, planning and zoning boards to make sure residents feel like theyre being asked about features that bring other people to our area.

The return of events this summer, following either canceled or toned-down versions due to the pandemic, is welcomed too.

I think normal is exciting, we are happy to just be back on track, Epperson said. We had great momentum, there were some really good things happening that COVID interrupted. We are easy to please, getting back to normal is actually exciting now.

Southern Indiana also has unique aspects SoIN hopes to share.

As a destination marketing organization we are trying to say to a person in Cincinnati, Columbus, Lexington, St. Louis, Chicago, why do you want to come here? said Chief Marketing Officer Luanne Mattson. What are the really unique aspects of our community you can experience?
(Newser)  White House officials detailed their approach to the next, less disruptive stage of life with COVID, in which Americans would mostly return to their pre-pandemic routines. But precautions and vigilance still will be required, CNN reports. "Vaccines, treatments, tests, masksthese tools are how we continue to protect people and enable us to move forward safely," said Jeff Zients, the Biden administration's COVID-19 response coordinator. The National Covid-19 Preparedness Plan has four areas of focus, per USA Today: preventing infection and treating those who have contracted the disease; preparing for the next coronavirus variants; heading off school and economic shutdowns; and supporting the global fight against COVID. The plan includes:

Test to Treat : Promised in President Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday, this initiative is to get rolling with the opening of hundreds of locations in March in CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger pharmacies; Veterans Affairs sites; and community health centers. People can take a COVID test and, if they test positive, be given free antiviral pills on the spot, officials said.

: Promised in President Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday, this initiative is to get rolling with the opening of hundreds of locations in March in CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger pharmacies; Veterans Affairs sites; and community health centers. People can take a COVID test and, if they test positive, be given free antiviral pills on the spot, officials said. Avoiding shutdowns : To keep schools and businesses open, the plan calls for funding improved ventilation and air filtration in buildings, as well as purchasing more tests and supplies. Sick leave for workers who had to stay out because they were ill or they were caring for someone who was would be included. Congress would have to approve funding for these measures.

: To keep schools and businesses open, the plan calls for funding improved ventilation and air filtration in buildings, as well as purchasing more tests and supplies. Sick leave for workers who had to stay out because they were ill or they were caring for someone who was would be included. Congress would have to approve funding for these measures. Being ready for the next one : Data collection, including wastewater tracking, would be expanded and speeded up, as would review of vaccines and treatments intended for new variants. Genomic surveillance, which can detect new variants early, also would be expanded.

: Data collection, including wastewater tracking, would be expanded and speeded up, as would review of vaccines and treatments intended for new variants. Genomic surveillance, which can detect new variants early, also would be expanded. Online help: A website will go live this month, Zients said, to help people find vaccines and masks nearby. Beginning next week, people will be able to go to COVIDTests.gov to order four free coronavirus tests.

(Read more COVID-19 stories.)
(Newser)  After listening to President Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday night, Sen. Joe Manchin outlined his own Build Back Better plan. It's much smaller than the president's proposal, but Manchin said his is a version he and other Democrats could back, the Hill reports. Many Senate Democrats could be wary of going through this again, per Politico, after negotiating with Manchin last year over the social spending legislation, only for the West Virginia Democrat to announce in December that he wouldn't vote for it.

Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, asked about whether a deal is possible, told a reporter, "I was hoping you would were going to, like, ask me to expound about Ukraine." Democrats have conceded that if anything passes, it will be nothing like the $1.7 trillion package Manchin blocked. His said his ideas haven't been formally presented to anybody. "Theres not a proposal, theres just a conversation," Manchin said. His outline includes a few new programs, provided they're permanently funded. He backs changes to the tax code but didn't specify them. "I'm talking about a fair tax system," Manchin said.

Despite their frustration with Manchin, some Democrats are willing to consider anything that would get part of the package through Congress while they control both chambers. One part of the legislation that has not won Manchin's endorsement is an expanded child credit, and he didn't applaud Tuesday night when Biden mentioned it. In fact, Manchin sat with Republican senators for the speech, the only Democrat to do so, per Yahoo News. His spokesman said Manchin did that "to remind the American people and the world that bipartisanship works and is alive and well in the US Senate." (Read more Joe Manchin stories.)
(Newser)  The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a resolution steadfastly, staunchly, proudly, and fervently" in support of Ukraine. Lawmakers said Wednesday that history was watching the way the world responds as Ukrainians fight to save their Western-style democracy from invasion by Russia, the AP reports. With intensifying urgency, many in Congress said more must be done to help Ukraine and cut off Russian President Vladimir Putins ability to wage war. In the Senate, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was also introducing a resolution that would back Ukraines claim in international court that Putin and his "cronies" have committed war crimes.

"The camera of history is rolling on all of us today," said Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee during a House floor debate. He urged his colleagues to provide a unanimous vote to overwhelmingly show "whether or not we stood up and stood out to protect freedom." All but three members of the House voted for the resolution: Republican Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Matt Rosendale of Montana. The Senate unanimously approved a similar measure in support of Ukraine last month. Graham said Wednesday that he is introducing a new resolution to hold Putin and those around him accountable for the assault on Ukraine in international courts.

"Enough of the murder, enough of the destruction and carnage," Graham said Wednesday in a press conference at the Capitol. The resolve comes after the blue and yellow colors of the Ukraine flag were on view in the House chamber for President Bidens State of the Union speech Tuesday night, a display of bipartisan common ground for the often divided Congress. Congress largely backs Bidens strategy of economic sanctions against Russia, even as lawmakers push for more. Lawmakers of both parties also want to send Ukraine more ammunition, anti-aircraft weapons and other military and relief aid.

(Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
A JetBlue pilot was pulled off a plane at a Buffalo airport after failing a breathalyzer Wednesday morning.

A spokesperson for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority told WIVB 4 that James Clifton, 52, of Orlando, had a 0.17 blood alcohol content, more than four times the legal limit for a pilot, according to the Federal Aviation Administration rulebook.

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A Jet Blue airplane at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. (Seth Wenig/AP)

The FAA also requires pilots to adhere to the rule 8 hours from bottle to throttle, wherein pilots do not consume alcohol for at least eight hours before flying. Some airlines have even stricter rules.

The flight, which was set to depart for Fort Lauderdale at 6:15 a.m. was delayed for more than four hours and did not arrive in Florida until 1:11 p.m.

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Its unclear if Clifton will be charged, but he was reportedly cooperative with police when he was removed from the cockpit after a TSA officer noticed he was acting drunk.

The safety of JetBlues customers and crewmembers is our first priority, JetBlue told WGRZ in a statement. We adhere to all DOT rules and requirements concerning alcohol at all times and have a very strict zero tolerance internal alcohol policy.

We are aware of the incident that occurred this morning in Buffalo and are cooperating fully with law enforcement. We are also conducting our own internal investigation. The crew member involved has been removed from his duties.
(Newser)  As Russian forces rolled into the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Wednesday, Mayor Igor Kolykhayev said a "miracle" was needed. It apparently did not arrive. The mayor says Kherson has fallen, making the strategic city of around 300,000 residents the first major city to be captured by the invaders in the week-old conflict, the New York Times reports. Kolykhayev tells the Times that Ukrainian forces have retreated and a Russian commander is in city hall, working on setting up a Russian administrative center. "There is no Ukrainian Army here," the mayor says. "The city is surrounded." More:

Military denied city had fallen. Earlier Wednesday, the Ukrainian military denied Russia's claim that it had taken control of the city, the Washington Post reports. The mayor said troops had visited his office to work out an agreement on limits on civilian movement, including a curfew and an order for vehicles to travel at "minimum speed."

Peace talks expected to resume Thursday . The resumption of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, earlier expected to happen late Wednesday, is now expected Thursday, reports the AP. Officials on both sides say delegations are on their way to talks in Belarus. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that while Ukraine is ready for talks to resume, his country will not accept any ultimatums from Russia.

. The resumption of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, earlier expected to happen late Wednesday, is now expected Thursday, reports the AP. Officials on both sides say delegations are on their way to talks in Belarus. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that while Ukraine is ready for talks to resume, his country will not accept any ultimatums from Russia. Reports of atrocities referred to ICC. Some 39 countries have submitted reports of atrocities in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court, a move that will speed up the investigation process, the Guardian reports. Liz Truss, Britain's foreign secretary, said Russian forces were targeting civilians indiscriminately. "An investigation by the International Criminal Court into Russia's barbaric acts is urgently needed," she said. Prosecutor Karim Khan said an investigation will be opened immediately.

Humanitarian crisis looms in Mariupol. The deputy mayor of Mariupol, another port city, told the BBC on Wednesday that Russian forces were trying to "destroy the city" with 15 hours of continuous bombardment. Serhiy Orlov said key infrastructure had been hit, parts of the city were short on food, and a residential area had been nearly destroyed. "We cannot count the number of victims there, but we believe at least hundreds of people are dead," he said. "We cannot go in to retrieve the bodies. My father lives there, I cannot reach him, I don't know if he is alive or dead."

The deputy mayor of Mariupol, another port city, told the BBC on Wednesday that Russian forces were trying to "destroy the city" with 15 hours of continuous bombardment. Serhiy Orlov said key infrastructure had been hit, parts of the city were short on food, and a residential area had been nearly destroyed. "We cannot count the number of victims there, but we believe at least hundreds of people are dead," he said. "We cannot go in to retrieve the bodies. My father lives there, I cannot reach him, I don't know if he is alive or dead." Center of Kharkiv is a "wasteland." The Russian advance on Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, has apparently stalled, but troops have surrounded the country's second city, Kharkiv, where heavy shelling has left the center a "wasteland of ruined buildings and debris," reports Reuters. Dozens of people have been killed. Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said, "Kharkiv today is the Stalingrad of the 21st century."

(At a rare emergency session, United Nations member states voted 141-5 Wednesday to condemn the Russian invasion.)
(Newser)  Update: A former Philadelphia police officer who was fired after the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old in March has been charged with murder. Prosecutors say the shot that killed Thomas "TJ" Siderio was fired from near-point blank range while the boy was unarmed and "essentially face down on the sidewalk," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The former officer, 26-year-old Edsaul Mendoza, faces charges including first- and third-degree murder. District Attorney Larry Krasner says that when Mendoza shot Siderio in the back, he knew the boy "no longer had a gun and no ability to harm him." Our original story from March 2 follows:

Philadelphia police officers fatally shot a seventh-grader in the back on Tuesday. Four plainclothes officers were in an unmarked car taking part in a weapons investigation shortly before 7:30pm when they saw a person holding what seemed to be a handgun on a street corner, according to a police statement issued Wednesday. The driver turned on the emergency lights before a bullet came through the vehicle's back passenger-side window, hitting the passenger-seat headrest, the statement added, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. Two officers exited and fired at the person they'd thought was armed. After giving chase, an officer hit 12-year-old Thomas Siderio in the back with a bullet that exited his chest, police said. He died at a hospital within minutes.

"A young child with a gun in their hand purposely fired a weapon at our officers and by miracle, none of the officers suffered life-threatening injuries," Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a statement, per the Inquirer, which reports one officer was hospitalized with an eye injury from broken glass. But at a virtual briefing, Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Naish said it wasn't certain that Thomas fired the shot that entered the vehicle. Police did note he was holding a stolen semiautomatic handgun equipped with a laser, which had one round in the chamber and five in the magazine. The fact that he was shot in the back doesn't mean "that he was fleeing and that there was not a gun being pointed toward or in the vicinity of the officer," Naish added.

Police said they were in the area in response to social media posts about a stolen gun. A 17-year-old wanted for questioning, who'd been standing with Thomas, was detained, then released, per WTXF. The teen's stepfather tells KABC that the two minors saw an unmarked car slam on its brakes and believed they were about to be attacked, "so the kid shot because he thought somebody was going to shoot him." A 20-year-old who was with the pair shortly before the shooting says they told him they were going to a nearby playground, per the Inquirer. He describes Thomas as a "good kid." Neighbors describe him as "troubled," per KABC. The two officers who fired shots are on administrative leave. None were wearing body cameras. (Read more police shooting stories.)
(Newser)  A JetBlue plane was about to depart Wednesday morning when the pilot was pulled from the cockpit and taken into police custody. James Clifton, 52, had passed through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at Buffalo Niagara International Airport when TSA agents observed that he appeared to be impaired. The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority was alerted, and NFTA police removed him from his duties, Buffalo News reports.

Authorities say he blew a 0.17% blood-alcohol level on a Breathalyzer test, more than four times the legal limit for pilots. Police say he admitted to having had seven or eight drinks the night prior, ABC 7 reports. The flight was delayed more than four hours as a result, WKBW reports. The blood-alcohol concentration for pilots is set by the Federal Aviation Administration at 0.04%, half of what it is for drivers, and a pilot is not allowed to drink alcohol within 8 hours of flying. Federal authorities were notified of the situation, and Clifton could face federal charges.

"The safety of JetBlues customers and crewmembers is our first priority," the airline says in a statement. "We adhere to all DOT rules and requirements concerning alcohol at all times and have a very strict zero tolerance internal alcohol policy. We are aware of the incident that occurred this morning in Buffalo and are cooperating fully with law enforcement. We are also conducting our own internal investigation. The crewmember involved has been removed from his duties." (Read more JetBlue stories.)
(Newser)  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was not happy to see students wearing masks when he arrived at the podium for a press conference in Tampa Wednesday. "You do not have to wear those masks," DeSantis told students lined up behind him, per Rolling Stone. "Please take them off. Honestly, its not doing anything. Weve gotta stop with this COVID theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous," he said, sighing and shaking his head. The Middleton High School students were visiting the University of South Florida for an event addressing cybersecurity in schools. Some of them removed their masks after the Republican governor's remarks, but others kept them on.

Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Addison Davis tells WFLA there were seven students from the Tampa high school at the event. "As always, our students should be valued and celebrated," she says. "It is a student and parents choice to protect their health in a way they feel most appropriate. We are proud of the manner in which our students represented themselves and our school district." DeSantis has long criticized masks and other COVID mitigation measures, NBC reports. In July last year, he banned school districts from requiring students to wear masks.

Democratic critics slammed the governor's remarks, accusing him of bullying the students. His spokeswoman, Christina Pushaw, defended him in dozens of tweets, denouncing "tyrants" and "forced-maskers," the AP reports. According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, Florida has reported 25,523 new COVID infections and 1,292 deaths over the last week. (Read more Ron DeSantis stories.)
(Newser)  US Rep. Van Taylor of Texas said Wednesday that he was ending his reelection campaign and admitted having an affair following reports that he had been in a relationship with the widow of an American-born recruiter for the Islamic State group. The North Texas congressman's announcement came the day after former Collin County Judge Keith Self forced Taylor into a runoff for the Republican nomination, the AP reports. Several days before Tuesday's primary election, some right-wing websites reported on an interview with Tania Joya, who said she had an affair with Taylor that lasted from October 2020 to June 2021. Joya, of the Dallas suburb of Plano, told the Dallas Morning News on Monday night that she had met the congressman through her work as an ex-jihadist helping to reprogram extremists.

Taylor apologized for the affair in a statement shared with supporters Wednesday. It didn't mention Joya by name or reference her late husband, the Islamic State group recruiter. About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world, he wrote. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life. The Dallas Morning News reported Wednesday that Joya contacted Suzanne Harp, another candidate opposing Taylor in the primary, hoping Harp would confront Taylor privately and persuade him to drop out and resign from Congress.

"All I wanted was for Suzanne Harp to just say, Hey, I know your little scandal with Tania Joya. Would you like to resign before we embarrass you? But it didnt happen like that," Joya told the newspaper. Instead, the newspaper reported, Harp sent a supporter to interview the woman, then shared the interview with a pair of right-wing websites. Taylor, a former Marine and Iraq war combat veteran, was considered one of the Texas delegations most conservative members when he was elected in 2018. But he has been sharply criticized by the partys right wing for voting to certify the 2020 election results and supporting a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

(Read more Texas stories.)
(Newser)  Russias foreign minister says that Moscow is ready for talks to end the fighting in Ukraine but will continue to press its effort to destroy Ukraines military infrastructure. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian delegation submitted its demands to Ukrainian negotiators earlier this week and is now waiting for Kyivs response in talks set for Thursday, the AP reports. Lavrov argued that the West has continuously armed Ukraine, trained its troops, and built up bases there to turn Ukraine into a bulwark against Russia. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday that his country was ready for talks to resume, but he noted that Russias demands hadnt changed and that he wouldnt accept any ultimatum.

Russia has stepped up its shelling of Ukrainian cities and the United Nations says more than a million refugees have fled the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said peace talks can't make progress until the bombing stops. In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Zelensky called on Ukrainians to keep up their resistance, but didnt comment on whether the Russians have seized any cities. "They will have no peace here, Zelenskyy said, calling on the Russian soldiers to go home and describing them as "confused children who have been used." He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who "go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat."

(Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
(Newser)  Two days after he was sanctioned by the European Union, Russian oligarch Igor Sechin lost his superyacht. France on Wednesday seized the 280-foot yacht Amore Vero ("True Love"), with a reported price tag of $120 million, reports CNN. The ship, reportedly owned by an entity of which Sechin is the main shareholder, had arrived in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat in January for repairs. It was expected to depart on April 1, though Reuters reports French customs officers on Wednesday noted that the yacht was "taking steps to sail off urgently, without the repair works being over." The EU sanctions "require the detention of the vessel with immediate effect," Frances Finance Ministry said in a statement, per Business Insider.

Sechin, a former deputy prime minister of Russia and current CEO of Rosneft Oil Co., was among 26 Russians sanctioned by the EU on Monday. The EU described him as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's "most trusted and closest advisors, as well as his personal friend," per CNN. Forbes initially reported that Germany had seized a $600 million superyacht owned by another of those sanctioned, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, from a Hamburg shipyard where it was undergoing a retrofit on Wednesday, prompting Ukraine's advisor to the minister of internal affairs to suggest that the yacht be sent to Ukraine to be refitted as a missile cruiser. But Hamburg authorities have since denied the seizure, per the Guardian.

At least five other superyachts owned by Russian billionaires are now anchored or cruising in the Maldives, which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US. That reportedly includes a 288-foot yacht owned by Russian oligarch and Norilsk Nickel President Vladimir Potanin, recently described as Russia's second-richest man. This comes days after the US vowed to seize the property of sanctioned individuals. "This coming week, we will launch a multilateral transatlantic taskforce to identify, hunt down, and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs: their yachts, their mansions, and any other ill-gotten gains that we can find and freeze under the law," the White House tweeted Sunday. (Read more Russian oligarchs stories.)
(Newser)  When she obtained a restraining order against David Mora in May last year, his estranged partner said he had physically abused her and she was afraid he would hurt her again. He ended up killing their three daughters in a Sacramento church Monday, along with a family friend supervising the visit, before taking his own life. In court documents seen by the New York Times, Illeana Gutierrez Rios said Mora had physically abused her over the previous 10 years, sometimes in the presence of their children. "He has not killed me because he would not know where to go with the children, she said in the documents. "I am scared and nervous. I am afraid Respondent is going to hurt me."

Rios said she moved out of the home with the "scared and crying" children after Mora became aggressive during an argument in April about her plan to work cleaning homes instead of selling tamales. She said Mora had been talking about killing himself and after police were called, he was "admitted into the hospital for a week and treated for psychosis mental stability." She told the court she was worried about her safety and the safety of the children. Rios was granted a five-year restraining order against Mora. The Los Angeles Times reports that she also sought a restraining order for the girls, but the court granted him supervised visitation on the weekends.

The order allowed for the visits to be supervised by family friend and church official Nathaniel Kong, who was killed in Monday's shooting along with 13-year-old Samia, 10-year-old Samantha, and 9-year-old Samarah Mora Gutierrez. Police say Mora used an AR-15-style rifle he was not allowed to possess under the terms of the restraining order. Days earlier, he was arrested for allegedly driving drunk and assaulting a police officer but was released on bail after one night in jail. Community members held a vigil at the church on Tuesday, the Sacramento Bee reports. A GoFundMe fundraiser for funeral expenses has raised almost $60,000. (Read more California stories.)
(Newser)  Update: Seven youths have been charged in connection with a heist last month on the set of the Netflix series Lupin. On Feb. 25, about 20 thieves descended upon production taking place in the Nanterre district of France, outside of Paris, swiping equipment worth $330,000. According to AFP, the suspects charged Friday, who range in age from 13 to 21, are facing charges of armed robbery as part of an organized gang and receiving stolen goods, per the BBC. A source tells AFP the youths are known to local authorities, per the Guardian. Three of the accused are being held in custody, with the other four are under judicial supervision. Cops say some of the equipment has since been recovered, and that they continue to search for others who were involved in the heist. Our original story from March 3 follows:

Netflix has confirmed that there was a theft from the set of French heist series Lupin last weekbut the thieves didn't use the subtle methods of the series' protagonist. According to AFP, a masked gang of around 20 people raided the set on the outskirts of Paris during filming after throwing mortar fireworks. They made off with equipment worth around $330,000. "There was an incident on Feb. 25 while filming the upcoming season of Lupin," Netflix said in a statement to Variety. "Our cast and crew are safe and there were no injuries." Netflix says filming was paused but it resumed Monday.

The theft came just a day after thieves in Britain swiped props worth around $200,000 from The Crown, another Netflix series. Lupin, now in its third season, is one of Netflix's biggest international hits. Omar Sy stars as a "gentleman thief" inspired by fictional French thief and master of disguise Arsene Lupin. The Guardian reports that a 21-year-old man who robbed the bar of a church oratory in Italy in October told police he was using methods he had seen in Lupin. But his heist was not a great success: He made off with around $23 and a bottle of soda but had to be treated for injuries he sustained while breaking through a glass door. (More on that bumbling attempt here.)
(Newser)  Blankets, clothing, and suitcases line the corridor. In one corner, a woman reads a book to a group of curious-looking children, per CNN. Some distance off, a man reads his own book in solitude in a subway train. There's an occasional bark or meow. This is the new normal in Kyiv, where the city's mayor says 15,000 people are camped out in the subwayin hallways, on platforms, in trainsin anticipation of a Russian assault on the Ukrainian capital. "It's not so comfortable," a 9-year-old girl living with her mother and cat in the Dorohozhychi station tells the New York Times. "But you see, this is the situation, and we just have to put up with it. It's better to be here than to get into a situation outside."

Above ground, Ukrainians are doing whatever they can to hinder the Russians, erecting concrete road barriers, rows of tires to burn as smoke screens, and even signs warning of antitank mines, per the Times. Though Western countries say Russia aimed to quickly overthrow Kyiv's government, a convoy of Russian tanks remains stalled about 20 miles north of the city a week into the invasion, "having been delayed by staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion," Britain's defense ministry said in an intelligence update Thursday, per Reuters. "The column has made little discernible progress in over three days."

Only the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson has been taken by the Russians, who in failing to capture other cities, "escalat[ed] its bombardment of them," per Reuters. Parts of central Kharkiv have been turned to rubble, while officials in eastern Mariupol compared the situation on the ground to the siege of Leningrad in World War II. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that the shelling of civilians proved Ukrainian resistance had thwarted early plans. "We don't have the biggest territory ... we don't have nuclear arms, we don't provide oil and gas to international markets. But we do have our people. We do have our land. This is what we are fighting for," he said, per Reuters. A second round of peace talks is set for Thursday. (Read more Ukraine stories.)
Pleading to get an exemption for victims of rape, incest and human trafficking added to Floridas plan for strict new limits on abortion, state Sen. Lauren Book dramatically described the implications of the policy in stark, personal terms  revealing publicly for the first time that she was raped by a group of men as a child.

Her Wednesday afternoon plea to colleagues went unheeded, and legislation banning almost all abortions in Florida after the 15th week of pregnancy advanced another step in the Legislature, moving closer to becoming law.

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Rape and incest happen more than people realize, Book said during the first of two impassioned speeches in the Senate chamber. But victims often stay silent, resulting in many people being unaware of the extent and the impact, she said.

[ RELATED: Will new abortion restrictions, long-sought goal of conservatives, produce a political backlash and help Democrats in 2022 elections? ]

Until youve been there you just dont get it and you dont understand, she said. And so today Im going to tell you, Im going to share with you more than Ive ever shared before, Book told her colleagues during two impassioned, sometimes tearful speeches.

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Shes had previously spoken about some  but not all  of what happened: At age 11, the familys trusted, live-in nanny  after gaining her trust for almost a year  began physically, sexually and emotionally abusing her. Book suffered years of abuse before she found the courage to speak up.

The abuser is now in prison. And Book founded the Laurens Kids child abuse prevention program. In 2016 she was elected to the Florida Senate. In 2021, her Democratic colleagues elected her as the partys leader in the Senate.

She said Wednesday that she is tired of being known as the survivor of sexual assault in the Florida Senate, but that the legislation to restrict abortion without an exemption for victims of rape, incest and human trafficking compel me to share even more about my past than Ive ever done before.

Heres the part you dont know: When I was a young teen, not much older than 13, my abuser, who was a woman, took me to a friends house. There I was drugged. I was put in a room. And I was raped by multiple men, she said. Ive not talked about this experience to anyone but my close family my close friends. Certainly never have I done so publicly. And I have never ever planned to. But for me, this is too important.

.@LeaderBookFL collects herself in a hallway outside the Senate with support from @BobbyPowellJr after she made an impassioned plea for the Senate to approve her amendment to the bill prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Wednesday at the Capitol in Tallahassee. pic.twitter.com/5TtgBTgXOw  Peter Schorsch  (@PeterSchorschFL) March 3, 2022

Some rape victims who become pregnant choose to give birth and become loving mothers or give up the baby for adoption, Book said. Others dont want to see the face of their rapists every single time they looked at their child. And that is their choice. It takes time to make those decisions.

She said the allowable time to have an abortion under the pending law, 15 weeks, isnt long enough for a victim to find out shes pregnant and make a decision  all while dealing with the trauma of the assault.

You know what I was doing when I finally disclosed my abuse after 15 weeks? Taping newspapers to every single window of my house, with my dad and my mom and my sister and my brother, because I somehow believe that the rapist could look in the house, she said. It took months for me to leave my house. I became agoraphobic and couldnt leave. I couldnt leave. There is no prescribed path for healing for this. I was in the throes of anorexia, self-mutilation. I was merely trying to get to the next moment and the next day.

And if, heaven forbid, I did find myself in a situation where I had to make that kind of decision, the kind of decision that were talking about today, my family and I would have needed more time, Book said.

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Abortion in Florida is currently legal until the 24th week of pregnancy.

[ RELATED: Poll shows most Florida voters oppose state move to ban abortions after 15th week of pregnancy ]

The pending changes would impose a 15-week limit, with exemptions in cases of a fatal fetal abnormality. An abnormality is defined as a terminal condition that, in reasonable medical judgment, regardless of the provision of life-saving medical treatment, is incompatible with survival outside the womb. Two physicians would be required to certify that such an abnormality exists.

The abortion legislation is one among a series of incendiary issues that Republicans, who control Florida government, have advanced in the 2022 session. Its close to becoming law with support from almost all Republicans and opposition from almost all Democrats. Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated he supports a 15-week limit.

Book warned that allowing an exemption for victims of rape, incest and human trafficking will be a canary in a coal mine for extremism.

The sponsor of the legislation containing the new 15-week rule, state Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, acknowledged what Book said.

I applaud your courage to come forward and to share that story, that truth. Its not a story. Its what happened, more real to you than any of us can ever, ever imagine and I dont even want to try, Stargel said.

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Stargel also shared her own intimate story, explaining as she as in the past, that she was urged to get an abortion when she was a teen but did not.

When I got pregnant at 17 and I went to Planned Parenthood, they said I would never be anything, Stargel said. So we can all stand here and cry on the floor with our stories. And Im not trying to be dramatic, but it [Planned Parenthood] is a business. But its not a business, these are babies. And its not a choice, its a child.

State Sen. Lauren Book, a Broward Democrat, speaking about abortion legislation on Feb. 2, 2022, in Tallahassee. (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat/AP)

Stargel argued forcefully against the exemption sought by Book, also explaining that to her its always the hardest to discuss because somehow its couched in a way that makes people feel that if you vote against [allowing an exemption] that you somehow support sexual abuse or that you somehow support rape.

She said 15 weeks is plenty of time, a long enough time for someone to make a decision about having an abortion. And she rejected what she said is an assumption that that child [conceived as a result of rape or incest] cant be loved, and that child doesnt have the right to exist. And then that child should be killed because of the circumstances in which it was conceived. And I will reject that. Ill reject that premise.

And, Stargel warned, an exemption would be abused. Youre going to have people who are going to be needlessly accused, that the womans going to say she was raped so she can have the abortion.

Book at the Democrats did not ask for a roll-call vote in which supporters and opponents would have to publicly declare their positions, which allowed the amendment to fail on a voice vote. First, she made a final plea: I wish it mattered. I wish that me telling my story and the reality matters. And I am asking you, I am begging you, for Little Lauren.

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Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.

Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @browardpolitics
(Newser)  The Atlantic is out with an interview of Saudi Arabia's Mohammad bin Salman, his first with a non-Saudi outlet in about two years. The 36-year-old crown prince has been keeping a relatively low profile since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and that factored heavily in the talk. Some highlights:

Wasn't me: MBS again denied ordering Khashoggi's murder, though US intelligence agencies think otherwise. It's "obvious" he didn't do so, said MBS, adding that the accusation "hurt me a lot. It hurt me and it hurt Saudi Arabia, from a feelings perspective." Asked to clarify, he said: "I understand the anger, especially among journalists. I respect their feelings. But we also have feelings here, pain here."

Odd defense: MBS suggested Khashoggi wasn't important enough to kill, writes Graeme Wood. "If that's the way we did things, Khashoggi would not even be among the top 1,000 people on the list," said the crown prince "If you're going to go for another operation like that, for another person, it's got to be professional and it's got to be one of the top 1,000." Wood writes that he and editor Jeffrey Goldberg, also part of the interview, listened to this part with "astonishment."

MBS suggested Khashoggi wasn't important enough to kill, writes Graeme Wood. "If that's the way we did things, Khashoggi would not even be among the top 1,000 people on the list," said the crown prince "If you're going to go for another operation like that, for another person, it's got to be professional and it's got to be one of the top 1,000." Wood writes that he and editor Jeffrey Goldberg, also part of the interview, listened to this part with "astonishment." US, Biden: MBS said that his nation had long-standing ties with the US and that he hoped to strengthen them. But asked about relations with President Biden, who hasn't spoken with the crown prince, he said: "Simply, I do not care." As Forbes notes, MBS also hinted at stronger ties with China, saying that "other people in the East are going to be super happy" if US-Saudi ties wither.

Read the full, wide-ranging interview . (Read more Mohammed bin Salman stories.)
(Newser)  Australia is now fully open to vaccinated travelers. On Thursday, Western Australia became the last state to lift border restrictions. The state, which covers one third of the nations land area, closed its borders to most international and interstate travelers on April 5, 2020, to slow the spread of COVID-19. But the state lifted restrictions on Thursday, four months after Sydney began its staged reopening of quarantine-free travel and more than a week after all vaccinated tourists became eligible for visas. Perths airport was the scene of emotional reunions as the first of a scheduled 22 domestic flights and five international flights began arriving on Thursday. More than 30,000 people are expected to arrive in the coming days.

Western Australia had successfully stopped the local spread of the coronavirus throughout the pandemic by contract tracing and isolating carriers until the highly contagious omicron variant arrived this year. The state, with a population of almost 2.7 million now reports more than 1,000 new infections every day, though it has recorded only 11 deaths from COVID since the pandemic began. Visitors, whether from overseas or from other Australian states, still need to be triple-vaccinated and complete a travel entry pass, the Guardian reports. Premier Mark McGowan said the 696-day border closure had workedbut he said he is aware of the hardships it has caused, especially since his parents live in another state.

"WA became the island within an island," McGowan said, per 9News. "And it worked. By only allowing travel with jurisdictions that were free from COVID-19, we could remain COVID-free ourselves." He said that with cases rising and tight restrictions in place, the state is facing a tough few weeks, but "better times lie ahead. The state is launching a "Wander Out Yonder" ad campaign to attract visitors from eastern Australian states. (Read more Western Australia stories.)
(Newser)  France's Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with Vladimir Putin for about 90 minutes on Thursday, but it yielded no progress on Ukraine. In fact, it appears that Russia is only going to get more aggressive:

From France: Our analysis of the military operations is that the Russian ambitions are to take control of all of Ukraine, said a senior French official who spoke to reporters about the call, per the New York Times. He said that Macron warned Putin he was making a "serious mistake," but that the Russian leader didn't budge. Macron expressed "pessimism" after the conversation, said the official. "We have to expect that the worst is to come, he added. There is nothing in what President Putin said that should reassure us."

The Kremlin: In its readout of the call, the Kremlin said the military operation was going "according to plan." Russia continued to insist on the "demilitarization" of Ukraine "so that a threat to the Russian Federation will never emanate from its territory," per Reuters. "It was emphasized that the tasks of the special military operation will be fulfilled in any event."

In its readout of the call, the Kremlin said the military operation was going "according to plan." Russia continued to insist on the "demilitarization" of Ukraine "so that a threat to the Russian Federation will never emanate from its territory," per Reuters. "It was emphasized that the tasks of the special military operation will be fulfilled in any event." Hope: Despite the pessimism, the French official held out hope for future talks, though he said they cannot be "under Russian control" and must instead be set up by international partner, reports CNN. The stories note that the Macron-Putin call was initiated by Putin.

(Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
(Newser)  Hurricane Harvey dumped more than 50 inches of rain on parts of the Texas coast in 2017. Then in 2020, ferocious winds from Hurricane Laura destroyed homes across coastal Louisiana. Hurricane Ida hit in 2021, leaving the entire city of New Orleans without power for days. Such extreme weather is becoming more common, and thats just one of the warnings for the Gulf of Mexico region in a United Nations report released this week, per the AP. The devastating effects of climate change in the region also include rising seas, collapsing fisheries, and toxic tides, even if humanity somehow manages to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era.

The hurricanes that we get, theres a higher probability that they can bloom up into major hurricanes, Louisianas state climatologist Barry Keim said, agreeing with the report's details on more dangerous weather. The report details numerous ways in which climate change will affect the gulf. From Texas to Florida, which has the longest coastline of any state, the entire US Gulf coast is under serious threat from rising seas as the planet's polar ice caps melt, the UN report says. In fact, people considering 30-year mortgages are already looking for homes and commercial buildings that pose lower flood risks.

One study cited by the UN says the trend is evident in Florida's Miami-Dade County, where some buyers are shying away from waterfront homes. In Miami Beach, streets already flood on sunny days, and the report says the Tampa Bay area, surrounded by shallow seas, is considered one of the most vulnerable places in the nation for storm surges. Other parts of the Gulf face different problems, the report warns. Tourism and fishing industries depend on thriving habitats off the coasts of Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula, but coral reefs are bleaching due to warming ocean waters interacting with non-climate stressors. In Florida alone, the decline of the reefs could translate into $24 billion to $55 billion in economic losses by 2100, the report said.

Sea level rise poses an existential threat to much of Louisiana, because so much of the Mississippi River delta has been sinking due to human interventions. The loss of sediment from leveeing the river and saltwater intrusion caused by coastal oil and gas development are two big culprits, Keim noted. South Louisiana is probably the most vulnerable place to climate change in the United States, Keim said. The report details efforts in the region to adapt to climate change. Miami-Dade, for example, released a strategic sea level rise response plan in 2021 that calls for adapting infrastructure, elevating roads, building on higher ground, and expanding waterfront parks and canals. (Read the full story for more.)
(Newser)  There was little movement in the Ukraine-Russia peace talks Thursday, but there was a change that could help those trying to escape the fighting flee safely. Negotiators agreed to set up humanitarian corridors for war refugees, Axios reports. Mykhailo Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, said his team went into the talks wanting the corridors for civilians and a cease-fire. "The results Ukraine needs are not yet achieved," he tweeted about the cease-fire. A timetable for establishing the path for those leaving Ukraine wasn't released. It would be coupled with cease-fires, per USA Today. In a week, more than 1 million people have left Ukraine.

In the talks in Belarus, humanitarian issues including the evacuations, food, and medicine were the focus, per NPR. On the invasion, Russia stuck to President Vladimir Putin's insistence on the "demilitarization and neutrality of Ukraine," as he had in a call Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron. President Volodymyr Zelensky called out Putin to "sit down with me" and negotiate directly. "What are you afraid of?" Zelensky asked in a press conference, adding: "It is not that I want to talk with Putin. I think I have to talk with Putin. The world has to talk with Putin because there are no other ways to stop this war."

The negotiators said only that they will meet again soon. One analyst said that Putin's refusal to yield on any of his demands shows he has no intention of negotiating. Democratic Rep. Adam Smith and others suggest the US lay out the conditions for lifting the sanctions against Russia to give Putin a way out. Radek Sikorski, a Polish politician and diplomat, argues instead that the goal of sanctions at this point should be a change of rulers in the Kremlin, per Axios. (Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.)
Here's what you need to know about weather in South Florida: There are only two seasons, wet and dry. Yes, it's humid, but you will adapt. Be aware: We are the tornado and lightning capital of the U.S. And you will become obsessed with the cone of uncertainty." (Staff/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

If youve just moved to South Florida, meet your new friend: Sweat.

An activity as trivial as taking out your dog likely will require a post-walk shower. Perspiration is sure to drip down your face and ruin your make-up at inopportune times. Its standard to see moisture stains on locals clothing. Warnings to drink lots of water and avoid unnecessary outdoor activities are a constant.

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Although the heat is a given in our tropical climes, there are numerous other weather events you are likely to experience or hear about in the coming months. Heres what you need to get used to, so you can be ready when the time comes to enjoy our balmy weather or move the party indoors.

You must learn to live with humidity.

(Mark Randall, Sun Sentinel)

The average annual relative humidity here is 83 percent in the morning and 61 percent in the afternoon; 100 percent humidity means the air is saturated with water and its likely to rain. September is the most humid month; March and April, the least. In the brutal weeks of August, the average high temperature is 90 degrees and the low 78, with feels-like temperatures, which include humidity, climbing to 100 or more.

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Humidity tends to be higher in the morning, usually because the air is cooler and more easily saturated with moisture.

If you want to know how likely you are to sweat on a particular day, check the heat index, also known as the apparent temperature, which combines heat and humidity. For instance, when the temperature is 90 degrees and the relative humidity is 60 percent, it will feel like 100 degrees.

You may only have a single day each year to wear a sweater or fire up your chimney.

January is the coldest month, with a daily high temperature averaging 75 degrees. But temperatures occasionally take a dip, as they did on Jan. 30, when they plummeted to 40 in Fort Lauderdale.

This may surprise newcomers or visitors as they may think its always 80 degrees and sunny here, said Robert Molleda, a meteorologist in the National Weather Services Miami office. He said the last time the temp dropped below 40 was in January 2020. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Fort Lauderdale is 28, which occurred twice (Feb. 6, 1917 and Jan. 20, 1977).

During these low temperature episodes, iguanas literally start falling from trees; their blood becomes cool enough that they slow down, losing their grip on tree branches. When the temperature warms up, they revive.

Of course, you can become a true South Floridian and put on a sweater if the temperature drops below 80, and hunt down your gloves and coat if it hits 60.

[ RELATED: Subscribe to the Sun-Sentinel's new newsletter, Essential South Florida ]

It may be raining at your house but not raining across the street.

Dont you love when this happens? Our moist air leads to the formation of small, isolated rain-carrying clouds.

Basically its a combination of high amounts of moisture and warm temperatures which lead to the formation of lots of small cumulus clouds, which can grow and turn into showers [and eventually thunderstorms], Molleda said. Since these clouds are typically small, the showers can be quite localized.

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Winds also influence the location of rain, said Vivian Gonzalez, a meteorologist at WSVN 7News in Miami.

The direction and intensity of the wind can keep the soggy conditions over your house and not your neighbors across the street, she said. This is part of Floridas charm.

Seasons is a relative term.

Winter, spring, summer and fall are words we use loosely. There are really only two seasons here: wet and dry. The wet season, when South Florida gets 70% of its annual rainfall, is May 15 to Oct. 15. The rainy season has three sub-seasons: mid-May through early June, the stormiest time; early July through mid-August, the hottest; and late August through mid-October, which has the highest rainfall due to tropical systems and early-season cold fronts.

The highest risk for severe weather during rainy season, which includes tornadoes, damaging winds, hail, and flooding, falls between May and August.

You will obsess over the cone of uncertainty during hurricane season.

This cone of uncertainty shows the path of Hurricane Sam in September 2021. (The National Hurricane Center)

Hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Although the last few years have been anomalies, the first named storm of the Atlantic season usually doesnt happen until July. In a typical year, there are 12 named storms, six of which become hurricanes.

As the storm approaches, weather experts begin talking about the cone of uncertainty, also nicknamed the cone of death. Thats the area, usually shaped like a rams horn, where the hurricane is predicted to possibly hit. The cone is an addicting visual but doesnt include information on storm surge, rain and winds for people living outside a hurricanes path. A tip: Although you will be tempted to check frequently on the location of the cone, an updated hurricane path is posted online only every six hours.

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Most of the named storms early in a hurricane season are weak and stay out at sea. August, September and October are the most active months. Storms are named in alphabetical order, not including Q, U, X, Y and Z; when there are more than 21 storms, the World Meteorological Association goes to a supplemental list, also in alphabetical order.

The Sun-Sentinel offers a detailed annual hurricane guide with useful tips on how to prepare for a storm, including a checklist of necessary items, what kinds of insurance are best and when to begin paying attention as the winds head towards us. Go to sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/guide/.

You will hear the term king tide.

When the sun and moon align to create a gravitational pull, our tides become higher than normal. These king tides wreak havoc on some coastal neighborhoods, which flood to ankle height and higher. Boats float onto streets, cities rush to erect barricades, storm drains bubble up and water from the Intracoastal Waterway flows over seawalls. Its an annual phenomenon, typically from September to December.

Tornadoes are not only a Midwestern phenomenon.

A resident of a mobile home park in Fort Myers moves damaged material after a tornado destroyed his home. (Andrew West/AP)

Did you know Florida is a national tornado capital? We led the country in 2020 with 12.2 tornadoes per 10,000 square miles, ahead of Kansas (11.7), which is no. 2.

Floridas tornadoes arent as intense as the Midwests in terms of miles per hour. When you rate the number of strong and violent tornadoes per 10,000 square miles, Florida rates at 0.4, while Kansas is 3.1, Texas is 2.8, and Oklahoma is 2.7, which means those states are five to seven times more likely to see a strong or violent tornado.

June is the busiest month for tornadoes in Florida. However, on April 12, 2018, a pair of tornadoes touched down in Fort Lauderdale, so we need to be alert not only in the summer but in the spring, too.

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Were the lightning capital of the United States.

A summertime storm drifts off the Florida coast at the Hillsboro Lighthouse as lightning strikes the water in this time-lapse photograph. (Sun Sentinel, file)

In 2021, Florida regained its Lightning Capital of the United States title back from Oklahoma. Theres almost an annual story about a worker or building getting hit by a random strike. Each year, Florida sees about six deaths from lightning and 39 injuries, mostly in the summer months.

South Florida is vulnerable to lightning because thunderstorms appear 80 to 100 days per year, more than anywhere else in the country, and these storms can bring hundreds of lightning strikes.

Experts advise that whether lightning is visible or not, if thunder can be heard, head inside.

Climate change is happening.

Seawater from Hurricane Dorian inundates a neighborhood in Vilano Beach on Sept. 4, 2019. Rising seas are transforming Florida's coasts.

Carbon emissions are forcing sea levels to rise, destroying coastal property, polluting major bodies of water, cracking septic tanks and increasing the potency of hurricanes. South Floridas sea levels are expected to rise another foot by 2040.

The warming climate also means hurricanes move slower and are more likely to linger  similar to what Hurricane Harvey did in 2017. It settled over the Houston area and dropped more than 4 feet of rain on some areas, flooding thousands of houses.

In addition to moving slower, future hurricanes are expected to dump a lot more rain. A study by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research looked at how 20 Atlantic hurricanes would change if they took place at the end of the century, under the average projection for global warming. The study found hurricanes would generate an average of 24% more rain, an increase that guarantees more storms would produce catastrophic flooding.

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Florida has gotten the message, sort of. The state is raising roads and buildings, installing flood pumps and getting rid of septic tanks. Still, these efforts wont have an effect on warming temperatures and rising seas.

Staff writers David Fleshler and Chris Perkins contributed to this story.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Royal Bahrain Hospital welcomes Prof Dr Bob Djavan, ConsultantUrology Surgeon, on a visitation to provide his expert services to the people of Bahrain. Dr Djavan will be available for consultation at the Royal Bahrain Hospital from March 12 to 14.

He is Professor of Urology at the University of Vienna and New York University in addition to being Chairman of the Department of Urology, Rudolfinerhaus Foundation Hospital, Vienna, Austria. Dr Djavan holds degrees in Urology from the Medical University of Vienna and has obtained the Fellowship of Department of Urology, University of Texas.

He is proficient in multiple languages and speaks English, German, French and Italian. Dr Djavan has years of experience in the field of Urology and is well experienced in managing and treating Prostate Cancer, Prostate Disease, Uro Oncology, Kidney and Bladder Cancer, Testicular Cancer, Urinary Stone Disease and Robotic & Minimally Invasive Surgery.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) chairman Sameer Nass hailed the strong ties bonding Bahrain and Algeria, highlighting the need for further stimulating trade and business ties and partnerships.

Nass named tourism, financial services, industry, food security, constructions and urban development as plausible areas of cooperation between both sides. Nass was receiving at the Chambers headquarters yesterday the Algerian Ambassador to Bahrain Abdelhamid Ahmed Khodja, and the Indonesian Ambassador to Bahrain Ardi Hermawan, in the presence of Treasurer Aref Hijris and Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Abdulla Al Sada.

Ambassador Khodja spoke about the development projects in his country and the new investment law to be launched, which aims at encouraging foreign investments and streamlining business and trade.
Arab News| Tunis

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Thousands of young Arabs who took up studies in Ukraine, often fleeing violence back home, are appealing to be rescued from a new nightmare  Russias full-scale invasion of the country.

More than 10,000 Arab students attend university in Ukraine, drawn to the former Soviet republic by a low cost of living and, for many, the lure of relative safety compared with their troubled homelands.

Many have criticized their governments for failing to take concrete measures to repatriate them and sought refuge in basements or the metro system. Few dared to cross the border into neighbouring Poland or Romania in search of sanctuary.

We left Iraq to escape war... but its the same thing in Ukraine (now), Ali Mohammed, an Iraqi student told AFP by telephone from the western city of Chernivtsi.

Mohammed said he has been calling the Iraqi embassy in Kyiv around a dozen times a day since Russia launched the invasion but no one has picked up.

We are demanding to go home. We are waiting to be rescued, he said.

According to an Iraqi government official, there are 5,500 Iraqis in Ukraine, 450 of the students.

Syrian Raed Al-Moudaress, 24, echoed him.

I arrived in Odessa only six months ago, hoping to open a new page far away from war, he told AFP by telephone.

I am lost. I dont know what to do, he said, adding he is spending most of his time hiding in a basement.

Among Arab countries, Morocco has the largest number of students in Ukraine, with around 8,000 enrolled in universities, followed by Egypt with more than 3,000.

We demand solutions. The authorities must find us a solution, to get back home to Morocco, Majda tweeted when the invasion began on Thursday.

What are you waiting for? This is World War III, she said, addressing authorities in her country, who announced measures the following day.

Hundreds of students from Lebanon, gripped by a financial crisis the World Bank says is one of the worlds worst in modern times, are also trapped in the country.

The (Beirut) authorities have not issued guidelines for our evacuation, said Samir, 25.

I left Lebanon because of the financial crisis, sold my car and took my small savings to study in Ukraine, he told AFP from Ukraines second city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border.

Ali Chreim, a restaurant owner from Kyiv who heads the Lebanese expat community in Ukraine, said he has been helping a group of young Lebanese women, who have sought shelter in the capitals metro, by sending them food.

Before the invasion, 1,300 Lebanese students were studying in the country. Half managed to flee by their means, but the rest are stuck, Chreim said.

Beirut set up a hotline but it only functions intermittently, he added.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the government was drawing up plans to help nationals trapped in Ukraine.

Planes will be sent to neighbouring Poland and Romania at a date to be announced later, he said.

Other countries like Egypt have also pledged to organize repatriation flights from neighbouring countries.

But for Tunisia which does not have an embassy in Ukraine, getting in touch with its 1,700 citizens there is complicated.

Authorities said they had been in contact with international organizations such as the Red Cross to organize departures.

We will begin the operation as soon as we have a full list of how many Tunisians wish to return home, foreign ministry official Mohammed Trabelsi told AFP.

Despairing students have posted video footage online pleading for help.

The supermarket shelves are empty, the streets have become dangerous. The embassy must help us get out of here, said two pharmacy students from Egypt stuck in the Black Sea port of Odessa.

Other Egyptian students took matters into their own hands and crossed the border into Poland, hoping to make it back home.

Oil-rich Algeria, which has strong military links with Russia, did not ask its 1,000 nationals in Ukraine to leave.

Algerian authorities have, however, urged them to stay indoors and only venture out in case of an emergency.
Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski speaks during a news conference, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, at the Archdiocese of Miami Pastoral Center in Miami Shores, Fla. Wenski was joined by business and community leaders, some of which were unaccompanied minors brought to the U.S. from Cuba during Operation Peter Pan in the 1960's, urging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislative leaders to "stop advancing anti-immigrant policies that hurt children and Florida's economy." (Wilfredo Lee/AP)

Social media erupted Wednesday after Gov. Ron DeSantis reprimanded high school students for wearing masks at the governors photo opportunity in Tampa.

However tacky DeSantis behavior, those kids are lucky. Imagine the children who could suffer so much from another of the governors political tantrums.

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They are the unaccompanied children who entered the country across the border with Mexico. Most are seeking asylum from conditions in Central America. The federal government is placing them with sponsors until their hearings.

Enter DeSantis, who bases every policy decision not on how it can help Florida but on how he believes that it can help him become the Republican presidential nominee in 2024. The governor wants to close off state-licensed shelters and foster homes to some of these children as part of his campaign to falsely claim that President Biden supports open borders.

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The governor has imposed a new rule on those agencies, and they must show evidence of need to get a license. Under his proposal, resettling those children would not qualify as evidence of need unless an agreement to house them existed between the federal and state governments. DeSantis will not approve such an agreement.

The governor has tried to create cover stories for this heartlessness. As usual, one came from press secretary Christina Pushaw.

The rule, Pushaw told the Miami Herald, will ensure Florida children can be served by state-licensed facilities without unfair competition from the federal government. Because the feds pay more than the state, she argued, agencies have a financial incentive to accept unaccompanied minors than Florida-born children.

We disagree with this cynical conclusion that child welfare agencies are only in it for the money.

But theres another problem with the governors defense.

DeSantis said last month the Biden administrations process smuggles in illegal immigrants from many different countries with no vetting, no transparency and no consideration for child and public safety. The governor claimed that Biden is enabling human smuggling.

Credible fact-checking website debunked the governors claim. Federal officials check to see whether children have been trafficked or have criminal records. Those with records cant come in, though that number amounted to just 2% of all unaccompanied children during the last budget year.

The governors border obsession backfired recently when he called any comparison between the current refugee flights and the early-1960s Pedro Pan flights from Cuba disgusting. As he did as a candidate in 2018, DeSantis is courting Cuban-American voters in South Florida, some of whom came through the Pedro Pan program.

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But Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said, Children are children, and no child should be deemed disgusting, especially by a public servant. The diocese was heavily involved in those Pedro Pan flights and has involved itself ever since in refugee resettlement, notably during the Mariel Boatlift of 1980.

Pushaw struck back quickly and self-righteously. Lying is a sin, she tweeted, alleging that Wenski had wrongly accused DeSantis of calling refugee children disgusting. But her slur confused no one who has followed the governor and his demagoguery.

A Spanish-language ad campaign followed, financed by the American Business Immigration Coalition. Its chairman is Mike Fernandez, a Miami health care entrepreneur and lifelong Republican who left the party over Donald Trump and his anti-immigrant policies.

In the ad, a narrator says, Disgusting? Disgusting is that Gov. DeSantis is trying to benefit himself politically by attacking innocent immigrant children who are only seeking refuge. The ad criticizes DeSantis for valuing Pedro Pan children more than their current counterparts.

Children are children, Fernandez said, whether they are escaping the oppressive Castro regime or violence, socialism and dictatorship in Venezuela, Haiti and Central America. None of these children are disgusting, and caring for them is an act of humanity.

For a different view from a different Republican, consider U. S Rep. Maria Elena Salazar of Miami. She has sponsored legislation that would create a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants. Many of them contribute to Floridas economy.

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Though it runs to nearly 500 pages, Salazars legislation isnt as sweeping or as helpful as the comprehensive reform bill that passed the Senate in 2013 with 68 votes, among them Lindsey Graham and John McCain. It would have passed the House  and addressed many current problems  if the GOP leadership hadnt killed it.

Unlike DeSantis, though, Salazar at least seeks solutions rather than theater on immigration. Theres a word for politicians who seek to exploit children  disgusting.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.

[ LEE EN ESPANOL: Los ninos nacidos en el extranjero aqui solos necesitan ayuda, no la crueldad de DeSantis | Editorial ]
Over 100 units of affordable housing are heading to Palm Beach County, as rents in the area have surged at least 30% in the past year.

A soft groundbreaking for an affordable apartment complex called Berkeley Landing, located in Riviera Beach, west of the Intracoastal Waterway and north of Blue Heron Boulevard, took place Tuesday.

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Planners hope the project brings some housing relief as the region struggles with low inventory and high rents, a combination that is pricing many renters out of the market.

We have recognized the need for affordable housing throughout the state of Florida, and we hope to attract new residents to the city while elevating the quality of life for existing residents, said Kevin Kroll, director of institutional funding at Wendover Housing Partners, one of the developers of the complex.

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The 110-unit three story building will have a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, set at an affordable price range based on a percentage of the area median income, while two other units will be designated as live/work lofts that will go at market rate.

The live/work lofts will be a combination of a retail space on the first floor with a internal stairwell leading to the living space on the second floor.

The building will also have amenities ranging from a clubhouse, a pool, a fitness center and a playground and a dog walking area.

Exact prices have not been set, but units have been designated by income levels:

17 units at 30% of area-wide median income (AMI), adjusted for family size

74 units at 60% AMI (adjusted for family size)

19 units at 80% AMI (adjusted for family size)

2 live/work loft units at market rate

Rents have surged in the area. In Riviera Beach, the median rent for a one bedroom apartment is $1,552, a 37% increase from the year before. Rents overall in Palm Beach County have surged to $2,248, according to numbers from Apartment List. The hikes  typical of South Florida in the past year  have made housing unaffordable for many residents throughout region.

This development will also activate the Broadway corridor by creating live/work lofts, which will assist entrepreneurs in truly living, working, and playing in our city, said Riviera Beach city manager Jonathan Evans.

The complex is being developed through a partnership between Miami-based multifamily developer Pinnacle, and Wendover Housing Partners.

Financing for the development came through a mix of Housing Tax Credits by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, with aid from the Riviera Beach CRA, impact fee relief from Palm Beach County, investment equity raised from syndicating the tax credits by the National Equity Fund, along with construction financing from Bank of America.

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Construction is expected to start either late April or in early May. The building is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

DANBURY  As Russia continues its invasion into Ukraine, the local community plans to gather in solidarity to pray for peace.

An interfaith peace vigil for Ukraine and the world will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the First Congregational Church on Deer Hill Avenue. The church and the Association of Religious Communities are co-sponsoring the vigil.
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DANBURY  When negotiations stalled between city leaders and Summit developers over the future of the career academy, Mayor Dean Esposito went back to the drawing board.

He returned with a proposal that would invest $207.9 million in local schools, with most going toward the career academy being built at a new location.

The proposal calls for buying 30.4 acres of land at the former Cartus Corp. site for $57.2 million and renovating the building. Total cost of the career academy proposal is projected at $164 million.

Another $43.9 million would go toward additional school and related facilities projects that are separate from the career academy.

Mayor Dean Esposito announced the new plan to build the career academy at the Cartus Corp. site on Monday, but costs for the project were not immediately released. A packet of information given to the City Council on Wednesday night revealed costs for the plan ahead of a scheduled Thursday night meeting.

The $57.2 million deal with the private land owners, Melvin Powers of the Powers Construction Co., includes 24 acres of land at the former Cartus Corp. headquarters. The family is donating the property driveway and a 6.4-acre parcel, according to a letter of intent.

In 2021, the city assessed the Cartus property at $24.5 million, with the property paying more than $676,000 in taxes, according to the tax assessors office.

City Council members will vote to send the bonds to pay for the project to a public hearing, and were scheduled to vote on the citys intended land purchase at Thursdays special meeting. Residents will have final say on the citys bonding at a referendum.

The career academy was initially estimated to cost the city around $99 million, which then grew to $144.5 million in early 2022, and now $164 million. The state is expected to reimburse roughly 80 percent of the project. State legislators Monday were confident reimbursement rates would hold, even with new estimates forthcoming.

Esposito called the Cartus plan a much better deal.

Obviously, its a bigger number, but the reality is were getting a lot more for our money, he said.

Im not surprised by the number, the price tag, per se, said Vinny DiGilio, City Council president. I do know itll be fully vetted and confirmed by both sides in independent appraisals.

Danbury is facing rapid enrollment growth, with more than 3,700 high school-age students expected to be enrolled in the school district next academic year. The career academy  projected to open in fall 2024 for about 1,400 middle and high school students  is expected to help with that.

I applaud the mayor and his team, obviously City Council, for recognizing and acknowledging that this investment is necessary to prepare ourselves, not only for where we are now in terms of enrolment growth in this district but for any potential enrollment growth that this district may experience, Superintendent Kevin Walston said. I applaud the investment and I think its very forward thinking of our mayor and his team to position us for this type of growth, for the potential growth that were liking to have.

The property would allow Danbury to build the career academy. But, the city could also decide to buy two other adjacent buildings for additional schools. Those potential purchases are not part of this bond.

But that land is considerable and I think allows for more potential growth, Walston said.

Esposito said the $57.2 million for the Cartus land was a maximum price that can be adjusted, hopefully, down.

The land needs to be appraised before numbers are finalized, he said. The mayor had expected final costs to be available as soon as those appraisals were completed in the next two weeks.

The city has until March 31 to finalize a contract with the Powers family, the letter of intent to purchase states. Melvin Powers has not responded to comment.

Once we get those appraisals, we can talk a more solid number, Esposito said Wednesday, adding that the appraisals would help the city get the best possible price.

In a letter included in Thursdays agenda, the citys finance director, David St. Hilaire, wrote that the city hopes to repurpose $790,000 from a former Danbury Airport land acquisition project since the sites were determined to be ineligible for a federal grant.

Second bond

The council will consider appropriating $43.9 million toward various facilities projects at the schools. Of that, $8 million will be transferred from other borrowing packages, including the career academy.

Some of this money can be used toward the creation and/or modification of classroom space to accommodate districtwide overcrowding, but the ordinance doesnt specify how much.

These capital projects include upgrades at the high school to meet accreditation requirements from the New England Association of Schools & Colleges, or NEASC. The high school would see updates, renovations and code compliance improvements to science laboratories, the nurse suite and bathrooms, as well upgrades related to HVAC equipment and duct evaluation.

There is some facility like upgrades that NEASC had requested, and the city has been working to help address for us, Walston said. The strategy was to include them in this effort, so that we can help clear some of those things up

Danbury would bring the high school and Hayestown Elementary School toward compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This includes the stadium bleachers at Danbury High School and an elevator at Hayestown Elementary School. The King Street Primary School roof would be repaired and replaced.

Academy cost

DiGilio said that while the land acquisition is a greater sum than it would have been to purchase three pods at the Summit, the cost to refurbish the building will likely be less.

I think its all very similar amounts of money being spent, he said.

As of Wednesday, City Council members hadnt known the final cost estimates for the project or purchase of the building. But council members said they expected that everyone would be in favor of sending the project to a referendum after Thursdays meeting.

Theyre excellent plans, DiGilio said Wednesday. It was something that when they came up it was unbelievable and seems like it's going to fit our needs now and well into the future.

After figures were made public Wednesday night, DiGilio called it a great investment, even at a little bit more money than perhaps anticipated.

Were very fortunate that this was available at this time, said Warren Levy, Republican majority leader. I think it will be in a very bipartisan way. I believe our delegation to the state is very supportive of it. I think it will answer a lot of our needs into the future.

Newly seated at-large council member John Esposito III didnt have cost numbers on Wednesday, but expected to learn more at the Thursday meeting.

Paul Rotello, Democratic minority leader on council, said he saw an initial purchase price that was a little too high for my comfort, but that the number has been dropping. He noted that the purchase price for the Cartus property could be greater than the cost to buy the pods at the Summit. However, the city would have needed to pay condo association fees and wouldnt have had control over building repairs, which would have driven up the cost for the Summit.

We will not be spending any money on association fees, Rotello said. We will not be worrying about not really having control over building repairs, substantial building repairs that will lead to one-time assessments.

He hopes tax revenue from the Summit could pay for the purchase at Cartus.

Assessment for the Summit is $41.3 million, with taxes hitting $1.14 million based on the 2021 mill rate of 27.6, according to the citys tax assessor.

Initially, the Summit was going to receive a tax abatement as part of the deal to develop the career academy on its property. However, since the deal fell through, Esposito said the developer was going to be taxed like any other developer in the city.

The non-deal at the Summit could pay for the new deal at Cartus, Rotello said.

The 80 percent reimbursement the city hopes to receive from the state is a greater rate than Danbury typically earns. However, Rotello said he thinks the city should argue for any even greater rate, noting Hartford is being reimbursed 95 percent for its Bulkeley High School project. Converting an existing building into a school is less expensive than constructing a new one and saves a tremendous amount of money for the state, he said.

Esposito said Wednesday that he is focused on communicating with the public about this deal, and to keep everybody informed, on the same page to get the best possible results we can get.

We bring the information to the voters, educate them on what were planning on doing with the money. And we do what we say, he said.

Im assuming theyre ready, willing, and able to make an investment in this project.

CORRECTION: This article was updated to reflect that the $43.9 million would go toward additional school and related facilities projects that are separate from the career academy.
FAIRFIELD  A new candidate for the 28th State Senate District says he plans to cut through obstructionism and partisanship if elected to office.

Tim Gavin, of Fairfield, announced his candidacy on Wednesday, setting up a race between himself and Republican incumbent Tony Hwang. The 28th includes all of Fairfield, all of Easton, all of Newtown, and most of Bethel.

Gavin said the Jan. 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack pushed him toward running for public office.

As a U.S. Army veteran, Gavin said he took an oath to support the Constitution against threats foreign and domestic, but never really thought about the domestic part before the Capitol was attacked. He said this era of extreme partisanship has been a stress test for our democratic institutions.

While that seems far away from us here in Connecticut, I was alarmed seeing our own state senator making it harder for us to vote during a pandemic, he said. Curtailing access to the polls is not serving people here in Connecticut, and its part of a problematic trend across the country. We should all be able to agree that our democracy is stronger when we include as many voices as possible.

Gavin majored in humanities at Yale University, with a focus on ethics and international affairs. It was a great education, he said, but he learned even more in the Army, where he led an infantry platoon of tanks and Bradleys, with 30 men sometimes twice his age looking to him for leadership.

From my soldiers, I learned the decisiveness and the humility needed to lead people of diverse beliefs and backgrounds to tackle extremely challenging objectives, he said.

Gavin works as a project manager on the Child Safety team at Meta, working to combat child exploitation on Facebook and Instagram. He said he works closely with law enforcement and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He also touted his ability to write code and his deep understanding of technology.

That collaboration between government, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector is very effective and definitely holds lessons for how to serve the public in other areas, he said.

Connecticut has one of the lowest percentages of veteran state legislators in our nation, Gavin said, adding he thinks the state needs to improve upon that.

Gavin said he took inspiration from former Defense Secretary James Mattis, who once noted veterans in Congress were most willing to work across the aisle on behalf of their constituents. While he does not think the job would be easy, he said, it is not impossible either.

Connecticut is a pretty level-headed place, and we have a history of people being able to agree across the aisle, he said. The problem comes when our elected representatives are more responsive to extreme trends in their parties than to their own constituents. I think everyones getting tired of extreme partisanship on both sides, and a correction is coming.

Gavin said he plans on talking and listening to as many residents as he can. He said his campaign volunteers will also do service projects out in the community.

In my experience, to earn trust, nothing beats doing the work, and spending more time listening than talking, he said.

If elected, Gavin said the first thing he wants to address is rebuilding confidence in the basic mechanics of democracy. He said that means bringing people into the fold by making voting more accessible.

This includes ensuring absentee ballot drop boxes are available, promoting legislation to allow no-excuse absentee voting, and advocating an amendment to the state constitution that will permit early voting, he said.

I believe we should make it easier to vote, not harder, he said. Our democracy needs input from everyone, but Connecticut has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the country. Unlike my opponent, Id work to expand, not restrict, ballot access here in our state.

He also wants to focus on affordability, as it is a huge concern among residents. He said one of his top priorities would be to focus on legislative efforts to create a stronger, more financially resilient post-pandemic economy.

I think its crucial to lift up both families and small businesses, he said.

Given that the adverse effects of climate change are expected to impact this region of the country disproportionately, Gavin said he would also focus on efforts to develop clean, sustainable energy solutions  both to strengthen the economy and the environment.

joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com
In their first 12 months of life, children are most at risk for critical or fatal outcomes from abuse and neglect, according to Connecticut child advocate officials.

When those outcomes turn fatal, the state Office of the Child Advocate  along with other agencies in some cases, depending on the circumstances  step in to investigate.

Sarah Eagan, who has served as the states child advocate since September 2013, said her office investigates all infant deaths in Connecticut.

The most recent incident involving OCA  which remains under review by the states chief medical examiner and under investigation by local police  is the case of an apparent pre-term baby found by first responders dispatched to a reported medical call at the Motel 6 on Hazard Avenue in Enfield.

The circumstances of the babys death are still unknown.

Data compiled by the OCA, which was formed in 1996 in the wake of a brutal child abuse and neglect case, examining child deaths from 2011 through 2020, showed that nearly all of them were among children 12 months and younger.

Were always focused on infants because they are the most at-risk for preventable child death, Eagan said.

Our data tells us that if we can get infants through the first four months of life, their chances of having a devastating outcome diminish considerably, said Faith Vos Winkel, assistant child advocate and child fatality coordinator for the OCA.

Dating back to the 1980s, more than 10 children ages 12 months or younger have died from abuse or neglect in Connecticut, based on an extensive review of news reports and OCA data.

While the homicides highlight some of the most brutal child deaths in Connecticut, there are many others investigated by the OCA and authorities that do not garner as much attention.

Most of the infant deaths are not homicide-related, Eagan said. Those deaths tend to get a lot of attention.

In 2019, OCA data indicated that 26 infants  12 months or younger  died from accidents, homicides and undetermined incidents, according to Vos Winkel. Twenty-five of those infants had one or more risk factors associated with their sleeping environment, the data showed. Twenty-two of the children were 3-months-old or younger. The remaining case was a homicide of an infant, according to the data.

In 2020, the total number of infant deaths was 21, Vos Winkel said. Fifteen of those children were 3-months-old or younger. Thirteen cases had one or more risk factors associated with their sleeping environment. There were three infant homicides.

The data for 2021 has not yet been finalized, Vos Winkel said. She said there are 10 cases that remain under further review. Data was completed for 22 cases for last year, which showed 17 cases where infants had one or more risk factors in their sleeping environment. Twenty-two cases were among children ages 3-months or younger. Two cases were infant homicides.

Eagan said most preventable infant deaths are typically classified by the medical examiner as undetermined, often in cases of sudden unexplained infant death. Eagan said the investigation typically finds one or more environmental safe-sleeping risk factors in these incidents  like the baby sleeping in an adults bed, sleeping on its stomach, in a crib or bassinet with blankets and pillows or sleeping with an impaired caregiver.

There have also been instances over the years of deaths at day care and child care facilities, from over-the-counter medicine and sudden unexplained infant death.

Adam Seagull, a 4-month-old Shelton boy, died March 22, 2016, after police said a woman who ran an unlicensed day care out of her Fairfield home for 11 years gave him Benadryl. Carol Cardillo, the owner of the day care, pleaded no contest to a manslaughter charge and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

There are also cases of illegal substance exposure. Eagan said the state has seen an uptick in young children  not necessarily just those under the age of 1  dying after fentanyl exposure.

In 2021, based on data that has not yet been finalized, three children died from fentanyl exposure in Connecticut. Each death  two 1-year-olds and one 2-year-old  was ruled a homicide, Eagan said.

It would take such a small amount of exposure, to fentanyl to cause the death of a child, Eagan said.

In 2020, there was one case of fatal fentanyl exposure among children  involving an 11-month-old, Eagan said. The case was ruled a homicide. Eagan said there were no child deaths reported from fentanyl exposure in 2019.

Its part of the landscape now, she continued. As we think about substances people use  both legally and illegally  we also have to think about the possible implications for a child in the home.

Safe Haven Act

For those who are unable to care for their baby, there are options in Connecticut for them to legally give up their child.

In Connecticut, the Safe Havens Act for Newborns allows a parent to voluntarily give up custody of an infant that is 30-days-old or younger to nursing staff of an emergency room.

Eagan said safe haven babies were definitely up during the pandemic. She said the overall number remains low, but there has been a marked increase over previous years.

When a parent surrenders a child, they are not subject to arrest for abandonment. The act, however, does not protect the parent from being arrested and criminally prosecuted if neglect or abuse is found to have occurred prior to surrendering the baby.

When a parent brings a child to surrender, a nurse meets with the parent in a private area to get information about the childs medical history to help with future care. The nurse will ask the parent questions like their name and address. Parents are not required to answer any questions.

The parent will be given a packet of information on their rights and how to contact the state Department of Children and Families. Within 24 hours of the parent leaving the hospital, the nurse will contact DCF, who will take custody of the baby. DCF will then develop a permanent care plan for the child, including a court hearing to apply for legal termination of the parents parental rights to free the child for future potential adoption.

DCF is required by law to notify both parents of its intent to seek termination of parental rights if the parents names have been given. A court officer would then notify the parents of the court action and the first hearing date. If the names and addresses of the parents is known, DCF may publish notice in a local publication.

Anyone who has questions about the safe haven protections or process can call the DCF care line at 800-842-2288.

Anyone in need of referrals to resources throughout the safe haven process can call 211.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Sarah Eagans last name.
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DANBURY  Former New Hope Baptist Church pastor and community leader, the Rev. Ivan S. Pitts is recovering after being violently attacked outside his home in California last week.

Pitts sustained a brutal attack in Long Beach the morning of Feb. 24, when he was stabbed multiple times.

In a Facebook post, Kelita Gardner  executive director of operations at Second Baptist Church in Santa Ana, Calif., where Pitts has served as senior pastor since October 2012  described the attack as random. Long Beach police could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Gardner said Pitts had returned from dropping off his son at school when a man approached him in his driveway and stabbed him seven times.

Despite having both lungs punctured and bones in his left eye socket and shoulder broken, according to Gardner, 53-year-old Pitts managed to get away and flag down some construction workers who came to his aid.

Although its been nearly a decade since he left Danbury for the West Coast, Pitts remains well known in the local community.

Its been so long since hes been in this community, but hes still so popular here, said Carrie Amos, former executive director and president of Jericho Partnership. Hes such a good guy.

During his time in Danbury, Pitts sat on the board of directors for Jericho Partnership, Pathways Danbury and the Association of Religious Communities, and was president of the Danbury branch of the NAACP and the Congress of Christian Education for the Connecticut Missionary Baptist Convention.

Amos said shes been told that Pitts is recovering well.

I have not talked to him, but a mutual friend says hes doing great, she said. It was a horrible thing that happened, but hes expected to make a full recovery.

Faye Walton of Danburys New Hope Baptist Church said shes been in touch with Pitts.

Pastor Pitts has been released from the hospital, his injuries are not life-threatening and he is recovering well, she said Thursday.

It didnt take long for police to find the man who stabbed Pitts, according to Long Beach police, who said the suspect was captured in nearby Huntington Beach, Calif., shortly after the attack.

The man had been involved in multiple crimes since Feb. 24, according to a post on the Long Beach Police Departments Facebook page that said he stabbed another person and vandalized a vehicle by puncturing a tire with a knife that same morning.

Police did not identify the man in the Facebook post, but said he was admitted to a hospital for medical attention and would be facing attempted murder, felony vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon charges.
At times, Kyle Coney cried as he explained to a judge the life-altering impact that an assault by Channy Nee Khuth and three others has had on him.

Coney was among those arguing in a hearing Thursday that Khuth, 16 years into a 30-year sentence for the 2004 Danbury beating that left Coney and Timothy LaPak seriously injured, should remain in prison.

I go through my life thinking what if Im walking to my car from dinner and brutally attacked again? Coney said.

Khuth, 35, appeared before a Superior Court judge, seeking a sentence modification to 19.5 years based on his efforts to redeem himself through schooling, work and helping others.

I extend my upmost apologies to the victims of my crime, Khuth said as he sat alone in a room at Osborn Correctional Institution appearing for the remote hearing. I take full responsibility for what Ive done.

Khuth has taken every opportunity while incarcerated to turn his life around, numerous family and friends said during the hearing.

There will never be an excuse for what happened that day, his sister-in-law Erin Khuth said. But he has dedicated himself to rehabilitating himself.

Close to three dozen of Khuths friends and family appeared for the virtual hearing with several speaking on behalf of his character and the good works he has accomplished while incarcerated.

If Judge Maximino Medina grants the requested sentence modification, Khuth could be released at any time.

But his victims and their families told the judge they will continue to suffer long after Khuth has gone home if he is released.

I want my family to feel safe and not riddled with anxiety when we go somewhere, said Timothy LaPaks mother, Maureen, who cried when she heard Coneys testimony.

If Khuth wants to be released early, Danbury States Attorney Stephen Sedensky argued he should wait for a parole hearing that would take place in about six years.

This sentence was by no means excessive, Sedensky said. We have two victims who have a life sentence of injuries.

Khuth was two months past his 18th birthday in August 2004 when he viciously beat Timothy LaPak with a small group of others in a fight over bottles thrown from two vehicles on a Danbury street.

LaPak, who was 19 at the time, suffered a traumatic brain injury, a fractured jaw and eye socket and other injuries. He had to be placed on a ventilator while in a coma for a period of time as a result of the attack, he and his parents said.

He smashed my head in and continued to attack me while I lay unconscious in a pool of my own blood, Timothy LaPak said in a statement that was read to the court by his mother.

Timothy LaPak had to have his jaw wired shut and relearn to walk during months of rehabilitation, his family said.

Coney, then 21, suffered serious injuries to his mouth that required extensive surgery and reconstruction. Those injuries still require painful treatments to this day, he said.

After the assault, Khuth and three others took the victims wallets and used their credit cards to buy cigarettes and gasoline, court records show.

Khuth, who is Cambodian, grew up in a chaotic household with several siblings. At times, the older siblings had to step in to help raise the younger ones, court documents said. His father, who served in the Cambodian military fighting against Vietnam during the Cambodian Civil War, was an abusive alcoholic who would beat him, his mother and his siblings, Khuths attorney Alex Taubes said in a document supporting the sentence modification.

Khuth said he was drunk and high when the attack occurred. The three others involved pleaded guilty, but Khuth was convicted following a trial and given a sentence of 30 years in 2006.

The first six years of his incarceration were typical as he struggled to adjust to his circumstances, his family said. But, in 2010, when he lost three family members in a short period of time he began taking his rehabilitation seriously, he told the judge.

Hes since completed over 20 programs, including anger management. Hes also received his high school diploma, taken college courses and earned two trade certificates. Khuth has also mentored other inmates and become a strong employee holding various jobs at the prison.

Correction officers spoke highly of him in evaluation reports and one penned a letter in support of his sentence modification. He wants to mentor at-risk youth when he gets out in the hopes of helping them make better choices than he did, Khuth said.

Im deeply sorry for what Ive done, Khuth told the judge. Your honor, prison has had me longer than my mother. I have gone to great lengths to rehabilitate myself. I believe I have the tools and skills necessary. I am ready to contribute to society.
Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises
Ricoh's Smart Lockers empower organizations to redefine in-office workspaces with advanced storage solutions Tweet this

Ricoh's Smart Lockers empower organizations to redefine in-office workspaces with advanced storage solutions that drive efficiency by transforming how resources are managed  from incoming mail and parcels to controlling valuable inventories. The indoor and outdoor digital lockers are intelligently controlled by integrated software for 24/7 manageable access, end-to-end usage tracking, automation, and full management reporting capabilities that ensure transparency, accountability, and security.

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Improve governance of business inventory including IT assets, consumables, and stationery. Take total control over assets to know when something has been checked out, how long it was checked out for and when it was returned.

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Provide a secure space for employees to retrieve and store packages  saving time and workload for mailroom employees.

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Meet the need of customers who want to buy online and pick up in-store (BOPiS) by making it possible to pick up their order the same day, with contactless service.

The way we work has changed and businesses of all sizes are rapidly evolving to meet the changing needs of customers and employees while creating ways to better compete in the digital age. Ricoh's Smart Lockers support the needs of businesses to adapt quickly and seamlessly to thrive in the new world of work  and redefine change. For better.

For more information on Smart Lockers, click here or engage with Ricoh Canada on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

| About Ricoh |

Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services that enable individuals to work smarter from anywhere.

With cultivated knowledge and organizational capabilities nurtured over its 85-years history, Ricoh is a leading provider of digital services and print solutions designed to support digital transformation and optimize business performance.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group has major operations throughout the world and its products and services now reach customers in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2021, Ricoh Group reported worldwide sales of 1,682 billion yen (approx. 15.1 billion USD).

For further information, please visit www.ricoh.ca

 2022 Ricoh Canada Inc. All rights reserved. All referenced product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Ricoh Canada Inc.

For further information: Eric Fletcher, Vice President, Marketing, Ricoh Canada Inc., 905.268.5525, [email protected]
This Walmart-funded program will offset an estimated 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking over 5,000 cars off the road, in its first year. This program is incremental to Walmart's global ambition to achieve Zero Emissions by 2040 without the use of offsets for scope 1 and 2 emissions. Funding carbon offsets for last-mile delivery of e-commerce purchases, including online grocery, allows Walmart Canada to make an immediate impact while working with our third-party carriers to reduce emissions along with us.

Carbon offsets allow companies and consumers to fund projects that reduce the effects of climate change, compensating for the emissions created from actions like transportation. Walmart has engaged EcoCart, a sustainability technology company, to calculate and validate the emissions created from online orders and to purchase carbon offset credits from high-quality projects in the exact dollar amount required to reduce or avoid those emissions.

"Funding carbon offsets for last-mile delivery in our eCommerce operations is an opportunity for Walmart to make an impact today as we work towards becoming a regenerative company and eliminating emissions across our business," explains Laurent Duray, SVP, eCommerce, Walmart Canada. "Minimizing the environmental impact of the last mile has been top of mind as customer behaviour has shifted towards increased reliance on our fast, easy and convenient delivery options for grocery and online orders."

The projects Walmart's offsets will support are aligned with the company's journey to becoming a regenerative company and will support a portfolio of Canadian-based initiatives that work to either actively remove carbon from the atmosphere or prevent future carbon from being emitted. The project portfolio includes initiatives that protect forests, enable composting and waste diversion, aid with refrigerant management, and turn biomass into fuel. These Walmart-supported projects will also ensure they benefit the communities as part of their scope with key economic and environmental elements such as providing jobs, education opportunities, or protecting endangered species and biodiversity.

"EcoCart is proud to collaborate with Walmart Canada as they become the first major retailer in Canada to offer a carbon-neutral last-mile delivery," said Peter Twomey, COO, EcoCart. "It's so exciting to see industry leaders like Walmart work toward a more sustainable future that benefits everyone. By funding offsets on behalf of their customers for last-mile delivery, Walmart is making a positive impact on our collective efforts to regenerate the environment."

Along with calculating and validating Walmart's last-mile emissions and sourcing and vetting high-quality carbon offset projects, EcoCart will also be providing quarterly impact and emissions reporting. This reporting will allow Walmart to track estimated emissions and establish benchmarks for its third-party carrier partners.

Walmart is committed to achieving Zero Emissions by 2040, without the use of offsets, for scope 1 and 2 emissions. Walmart Canada has already adopted a series of changes to support this goal, including:

Joining Project Gigaton, introduced in 2019, a global Walmart effort that invites suppliers to reduce emissions from global supply chain. So far, 590 of Walmart Canada's suppliers have made Project Gigaton commitments across six pillars: energy, waste, packaging, transportation, nature, and product use and design.

100 per cent of Walmart Canada's fleet will be alternatively-powered by 2028. Walmart has made one of the country's largest reservations of Tesla Semi trucks, with 130 expected.

About EcoCart

EcoCart is a sustainability technology company that enables businesses to calculate and offset the carbon emissions of their operations and then encourages consumers to engage with them through transparent and authentic front-end experiences. By vetting and partnering with various projects and organizations, such as forest protection and building clean energy sources, EcoCart determines the amount of each carbon offsetting activity needed to counteract specific amounts of carbon emissions and then matches the cost of doing so with each order's amount of emissions. EcoCart then empowers brands to leverage their offsetting initiatives into their customer experience through cart, landing page, banner, and other on and off-site experiences. Sustainability is now a driving factor in consumers' purchasing decisions. That's why 2000+ brands such as APL, Enfamil, Siete Foods, Ancient Nutrition use EcoCart. Learn more at ecocart.io or on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

About Walmart Canada

Walmart Canada operates a chain of more than 400 stores nationwide serving 1.5 million customers each day. Walmart Canada's flagship online store, Walmart.ca, is visited by more than 1.5 million customers daily. With more than 100,000 associates, Walmart Canada is one of Canada's largest employers and is ranked one of the country's top 10 most influential brands. Walmart Canada was recently recognized as a LinkedIn Top Company of 2021 and was also named one of Canada's most popular brands (based on Google searches). Walmart Canada has made a commitment to regeneration  focusing on equitable opportunity, sustainability, community, ethics and integrity. Since 1994, Walmart Canada has raised over $500 million to support communities across Canada. Additional information can be found at walmartcanada.ca and on Walmart Canada's social media pages  Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.





SOURCE Walmart Canada Corp.

For further information: Stephanie Fusco, Corporate Affairs, Walmart Canada, [email protected]; Jake Chatt, Head of Marketing, EcoCart, [email protected]
According to sources cited by ANI, the Indian government has 80 more repatriation flights under 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate approximately 17,000 Indian citizens from Ukraine by March 10.

A total of 24 flights have brought back more than 2,000 Indians stranded in Ukraine under Operation Ganga as of March 2. Four IAF C-17 Globemasters that took off from India on Wednesday returned with 798 evacuees on Thursday. According to sources cited by ANI, the Indian government has 80 more repatriation flights under Operation Ganga to evacuate approximately 17,000 Indian citizens from Ukraine by March 10.

The sources also told ANI that 35 evacuation flights have been planned from Romanias capital Bucharest, 28 repatriation flights will airlift Indians from Hungarys capital Budapest, nine flights are scheduled from Rzeszow, Poland, five flights will take off from Romanias Suceava and three flights will take off from Kosice, Slovakia. Moreover, the IAF will further deploy its C-17 planes to aid the rescue efforts.

The flights to be deployed for Operation Ganga belong to the fleet of Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, Spice Jet, Vistara, and Go Air.

On Thursday, three more IAF C-17 aircraft took off for Romania, Hungary and Poland. The IAF rescue flights have also delivered a cumulative 9.7 tons of relief material for Ukrainians on their first trip to Ukraines neighbouring countries. A tweet by Indian Air Force read, First four #IAF C-17 aircraft under #OperationGanga evacuated 798 Indian nationals using airfields in Romania, Hungary & Poland. They also supplied 9.7 tons relief material.
Operation Ganga LIVE Updates: 6,400 Indians brought back on 30 flights under Operation Ganga so far

As many as 18 flights are scheduled for the next 24 hours including three IAF C-17 and other commercials flights by private Indian carriers under 'Operation Ganga.'
Gorakhpur Sadar is one of the hot seats of this election as the current Chief Minister and BJP leader, Yogi Adityanath, is contesting the constituency for his first assembly election.

Uttar Pradesh recorded 46.70% voter turnout in the sixth phase of the state assembly elections till 3 PM today. In this phase, voting is underway in 57 Assembly seats across 10 districts of the state. Gorakhpur Sadar is one of the hot seats of this election as the current Chief Minister and BJP leader, Yogi Adityanath, is contesting the constituency for his first assembly election. With 676 candidates in the fray in the sixth phase, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is among the prominent candidates.

After casting his vote earlier today, CM Yogi Adityanath said while talking to the media, I hope people will vote in large numbers. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership, the BJP will set a record in the poll victory by winning a large number of seats. He added, We will win over 80 per cent of the seats in the state.

In this phase of UP polls, voters in 57 Assembly Constituencies spread across 10 districts, including Gorakhpur, Ambedkarnagar, Ballia, Balrampur, Basti, Deoria, Kushinagar, are casting their votes to elect their representatives in the UP Vidhan Sabha.

Polling for the seventh and last phase will take place on March 7. The counting of votes and the subsequent declaration of results will take place on March 10.




Several videos that have emerged on social media indicate that foreigners, particularly, people of colour, were meted out with discriminatory treatment by Ukrainian soldiers. A video on social media shows Ukrainian soldiers allegedly blocking Indian students from boarding a train out of Kyiv.

From Vande Bharat Mission to Operation Ganga  India has done it once again, weve achieved the incredible feat of bringing back our own, home safely, this time from war-torn Ukraine. While the world is watching in awe, India has managed to bring back around 3,000 students home on 19 flights within a short span of time. In sharp contrast to Indias magnanimity is the hypocrisy of the western world. Even at such a difficult time, the obvious bias and racism of the western world have been on full display.

While India has been unabashedly slammed by the west & needled on secularism has displayed its grit, valour and unity by bringing not just Hindus & Muslims but also Turks, Nepalese, Pakistanis and others back home safely, the western world is totally divided & split right in the middle. Several videos that have emerged on social media indicate that foreigners, particularly, people of colour, were openly discriminated against by Ukrainian soldiers.

Shocking videos where Indian students have been kicked, assaulted, and deliberately deboarded from buses and trains going to the border areas have emerged.

Videos accessed by NewsX also show Ukrainian soldiers allegedly blocking Indian students from boarding a train out of Kyiv. An Indian student studying in Ukraine told NewsX that Soldiers behaved badly with us, only foreigners were treated in such a manner. He also accused Ukrainian soldiers of manhandling female students and said, Girls were pulled by their hair. These videos emerged at a time when Indian nationals were heading towards the western part of the country in order to cross over to Ukraines neighbouring countries from where Indian repatriation flights are being operated.

A CNN journalist, Bijan Hosseini, also took to Twitter earlier this week to narrate the ordeal of her adopted sister of African origin who fled Ukraine amid the crisis there. According to Bijan, based on her sisters account of events, Ukrainian border guards at a border crossing with Poland were segregating people on the basis of skin colour and letting fair-skinned Ukrainians cross the border first.

When they arrived to the border they were not let in. Two lines were formed. One for white people, the other for everyone else. Only Ukrainians were being let over the border. Thousands of people were forced to sleep outside in the cold. Fires were started to keep people warm. pic.twitter.com/ZYMZk7M5My  Bijan Hosseini (@BijanCNN) March 1, 2022

The Western media coverage of the crisis in Ukraine has drawn flak for carrying a racist overtone. Social media users called out a CBS correspondent, Charlie DAgata, who drew comparisons between Asian and European countries during his reporting on the conflict and said, This isnt Iraq or Afghanistan This is a relatively civilized, relatively European city. While Ukraines deputy chief prosecutor David Sakvarelidze described the events in Ukraine as emotional because in his words he saw, European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed every day.

These incidents highlight not only the privileged attitude of the western world but their inherent racist mindset which rears its ugly heads even in difficult situations like the current crisis. The world must introspect if its time for them to learn a lesson in humanity from India instead of questioning us time and again.
MBABANE  Kwaluseni Member of Parliament (MP) Sibusiso Mabhanisi Dlamini has been placed under police protection.

This was after the MP told the High Court yesterday that he feared for his life after receiving threats following the leaking of a statement he recorded with Matsapha police, which was circulated on social media. The statement was recorded on June 15, 2021 after the youth, purportedly from Kwaluseni Constituency, attacked him and other members of the constituency committee when they delivered a petition at the inkhundla centre on the same day. When he informed the court about the threats he was receiving, Dlamini had completed giving evidence during the trial of Hosea and Ngwempisi MPs Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube. Dlamini said: May I say something. I have a problem. My life is at risk. I have placed my life at risk with the testimony I have given. My family is in the wilderness because of threats I am subjected to on social media that the statement I recorded with the police was leaked.

Democracy

I wonder what will happen to me. In the democracy of today if you do not agree with their opinions you become an enemy. As I leave now I dont know what will happen to me. There were five of us at the inkhundla and I did not choose to come and testify. I thought I was stating the truth about what happened when I recorded the statement. As I leave this place, I dont know what will happen to me, my home, relatives and children. I am in pain. I am asking for protection. Advocate Gareth Leppan, who represents the Crown, said he would take the matter up with the investigating officer. Mabuza and Dudes representative, Advocate Jacobus Van Vuuren said he had nothing to say about the issue. Judge Dlamini advised MP Dlamini to wait in court while the registrar called the director of crimes to attend to his matter. When the case proceeded in the afternoon, Judge Dlamini informed Deputy National Commissioner Manoma Masango that the court was handing MP Sibusiso over to him since he had asked to be provided with security. I am handing him over to you, said the judge. In his evidence, MP Sibusiso said he did not know which party Wandile Dludlu belonged to. He alleged that Dludlu addressed the gathering when the youth delivered a petition at Knwaluseni. He also alleged that Dludlu told him that his house would be bombed if their grievances were not addressed within 14 days. He informed the court that no one was injured on the day of the delivery of the petition.

Advocate Leppan asked who Dludlu is. MP Sibusiso said he knew Dludlu only as a member of political party. Which one? asked Advocate Leppan. Kunengi letintfo tabo (there are many of those). Im not aware and I dont want to channel myself, said MP Sibusiso. He disputed that he made a statement to the effect that the people of Kwaluseni loved the Tinkhundla System of Government. He said the youth wanted him to withdraw that statement. He submitted that he had summarised what had been said by an elderly woman whom the Queen Mother had built a house for. The elderly woman, according to the MP has said they were happy about what the Queen Mother had done through the Tinkhundla System of Government. I repeated what the neighbour had said in my statement. That is what they were emphasising on while they were at the constituency, he told the court. During cross-examination, Advocate Van Vuuren enquired from MP Sibusiso if a charge was laid against Dludlu.

You didnt lay a charge against Dludlu or the others, asked Advocate Van Vuuren and MP Sbusiso said he only recorded a statement with the police. You did that so the police may open a case against the people? The MP said he thought that if there was someone who had committed a crime from what he recorded in the statement, the police would have arrested them. He also said he never went to court to testify regarding the matter. Advocate Van Vuuren further asked MP Sibusiso if people who had complaints, had to submit petitions to their representatives in Parliament. Meanwhile, retired Matsapha Police Station Commander Baraba Ginindza said he did not know what PUDEMO stood for. MP Sibusiso said the delivery of petitions at constituency centres was a new phenomenon. If people have grievances, they were supposed to go to their umphakatsi and inkhundla through a meeting forum, he responded. The advocate further enquired what MP Sibusiso did with the petition. I took it to Parliament because it was not about what happened in the community but was directed to central government, he said.Did you raise these grievances in Parliament? asked the advocate. According to the MP, the petitions were to be deliberated upon. He said they had not been deliberated upon. When asked why not, he told the court that he had made a follow up and was informed that the attorney general categorised the issues first before they were discussed it in Parliament. MP Sibusiso submitted that to date the issues were not deliberated anywhere.
The development came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin's conversation on Wednesday. India has also requested Ukraine to ensure safe passage for Indian citizens stranded in conflict zones.

It is learnt that Russia on Wednesday (IST) halted military operations temporarily in Ukraines Kharkiv city to let Indian citizens evacuate the city. This came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putins conversation on Wednesday regarding the safe evacuation of Indian citizens from conflict areas. Russia is intensifying its advance on Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city.

Indian Embassy in Ukraine issued two advisories for citizens in Kharkiv on Wednesday. The second advisory strongly urged Indian citizens to leave Kharkiv immediately and reach nearby settlements before 6 PM (Ukrainian Time). The advisory asked students unable to find vehicles to proceed on foot.

Russian Ambassador to India, Denis Alipov on Wednesday, during a press briefing, had said that Russia has received Indias request for evacuation of Indian citizens from conflict zones in Ukraine via Russian territory. He stated, We have received Indias requests for emergency evacuation of all those stranded there through the Russian territory. We are actively working on all ways and means to launch such an operation and provide a humanitarian corridor for evacuation of the people there. He also stated that Russia will launch an investigation into the death of Indian student Naveen Shekharappa who was reportedly killed due to Russian shelling in Kharkiv.

India has also requested Ukraine to ensure safe passage for Indian citizens stranded in conflict zones.
A Russian defence ministry spokesperson said during a press briefing, "According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkov who wish to leave Ukrainian territory."

Russian Embassy in India claims that Ukraine has held Indian students hostage to use them as human shields. This comes after the conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday where they discussed evacuation of Indian students stranded in Ukraines Kharkiv as Russia intensifies its advance on the city.

The Russian Embassy in India tweeted, According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russia. Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities.

A Russian defence ministry spokesperson said during a press briefing, According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkov who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod, He added, In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place.

Several videos have emerged online where Ukrainian authorities are being accused of preventing Indian students from boarding trains out of Kyiv. Indian nationals have been asked to head towards the western part of the country in order to cross over to Ukraines neighbouring countries from where Indian repatriation flights are being operated.

This video is from Kyiv railway station of Ukraine, where about 100 students of India are trapped,Hitendra Chechi of Greater Noida is also trapped there, he says that only Indians are being stopped from boarding the train,Government of India help these students

#UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/HbGhYyb2pl  Momin Moyal (@itsmomin1711) March 1, 2022

Earlier, a video showing Indian students allegedly being manhandled by Ukrainian border guard personnel at a border crossing with Poland had gone viral. The video also showed the men in uniform firing shots in the air.
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HARTFORD  Connecticut will settle its longstanding lawsuit against OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners  a landmark agreement reached after years of litigation that is expected to deliver about $95 million to the state for prevention and treatment initiatives to tackle the opioid crisis.

Through the nationwide settlement announced Thursday, Purdue and the Sackler family members who own the company have agreed to pay a total of about $6 billion to states and opioid victims and survivors.

It represents a $1.675 billion increase  or about 40 percent more  than the amount outlined in the companys settlement plan that was approved last September by a bankruptcy judge, but then appealed by eight states, including Connecticut, and overturned last December by another judge.

The settlement will resolve the claims in Connecticuts lawsuit, filed in December 2018, which alleges Purdue and the Sacklers involved in the firm fueled the opioid crisis with deceptive OxyContin marketing. Connecticut will not be able to file future opioid-related lawsuits against the Sacklers, but it does not prevent potential criminal prosecution of them.

We pushed as hard as we could. We used every tool in our toolbox to pursue them, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a press conference Thursday at his offices in Hartford. I dont think $6 billion is chump change to people here in Connecticut. Its not chump change to families who are suffering right now. Its a historic recovery.

The Sacklers have denied any wrongdoing related to their involvement in Purdue, but said they support the settlement.

The families have consistently affirmed that settlement is by far the best way to help solve a serious and complex public health crisis, representatives for the Sacklers said in a statement Thursday. While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities.

The new agreement maintains key terms of the Purdue settlement plan that was approved by bankruptcy judge Robert Drain and would resolve the thousands of lawsuits filed against the company by local and state governments. Among those terms, Purdue would be dissolved or sold by 2024, and the Sacklers would be banned from involvement in opioid businesses.

In addition, Purdues settlement plan required the company and the Sacklers to make public more than 30 million documents. The new settlement terms will force the disclosure of additional records previously withheld as privileged legal advice, according to Tongs office.

More Business A timeline of opioids in America

Among other requirements of the new agreement, the Sackler family must apologize and allow institutions to remove the Sackler name from buildings, fellowships and scholarships, according to Tongs office.

Arriving about three and a half years after Purdue filed for bankruptcy, Thursdays announcement did not come as a shock. In the past two months, the appealing parties  which also include California, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state and the District of Columbia  have held near-constant talks aimed at reaching a settlement.

Overt the last couple of months, we mediated almost every day and well into the evening on most days, Tong said. As I sat at that table, I demanded all those things people said we could not get. I looked them in the eye and told them, the Sacklers lawyers, that there was no way that there could be a resolution here unless they moved significantly from where they were and acknowledged and recognized their role in the opioid-and-addiction crisis.

In response to a demand from Connecticut, the judge who has overseen those negotiations asked the bankruptcy court handling Purdues case to require the Sacklers to participate in a public hearing where victims and their survivors can directly address the family, according to Tongs office.

Tong was joined at the press conference by Southington resident Liz Fitzgerald and Manchester resident Paige Niver.

One of Fitzgeralds four sons died at age 25 in 2013 after taking heroin, and another of her sons died in 2017 after taking fentanyl. Fitzgerald said that both sons opioid addictions began after taking OxyContin. Nivers 27-year-old daughter is in recovery from opioid addiction. Niver said her daughter had become addicted to OxyContin after being prescribed the drug following a serious bicycle injury when she was 14.

I think its the best he (Tong) could have done, Fitzgerald said. I think theres still more to be done, but I will support him 100 percent.

The settlement is conditioned upon approval in bankruptcy court, an appeals courts reversal of the ruling last December to vacate Drains approval of the settlement plan and consummation of that plan, according to Tongs office.

Were pleased with the settlement achieved in mediation, under which all of the additional settlement funds will be used for opioid abatement programs, overdose rescue medicines and victims, Purdue officials said in a statement. With this mediation result, we continue on track to proceed through the appeals process on an expedited schedule, and we hope to swiftly deliver these resources.

Still critical of Purdue, Sacklers

While he framed the settlement as a victory for Connecticut and the other states, Tong did not retract his longstanding criticism of Purdue and the Sacklers.

Among his objections, Tong has repeatedly condemned the prospect of states being forced to accept legal protections for the Sacklers as a condition of them contributing to the settlement  even though the family has not personally filed for bankruptcy.

The Sacklers want the court to force us to accept this deal and force sovereign states like Connecticut to release our claims against the nondebtor Sacklers, Tong said in a hearing last July of the House Judiciary subcommittee. To permit non-debtors to abuse the bankruptcy process like this is an outrage, and Connecticut strongly encourages you to stop this abuse.

While Connecticut and other states are now agreeing to settle their current lawsuits against the Sacklers and consenting to a prohibition of future opioid-related civil claims against the Sacklers, Tong said he would keep pushing for bankruptcy law reforms.

The state might again register its opposition to legal protections for non-bankrupt parties such as the Sacklers through the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit proceedings for Purdues appeal of the ruling last December to vacate it settlement plan.

The Department of Justice, we expect, will continue that fight in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Tong said. And I have reserved the right, if this (appeal) ends up in the Supreme Court, Connecticut will be able to speak on this issue again and will be able to oppose non-consensual, non-debtor releases.

Tong also said he would support prosecution of any Sackler members or Purdue employees who might be found to have committed criminal misconduct. The Connecticut attorney generals office, however, does not have the authority to pursue criminal prosecutions.

While it has denied the lawsuits accusations, Purdue as a company pleaded guilty in November 2020 to three criminal charges of conspiring to defraud the government and violating anti-kickback law. No individuals, however, were charged in connection with that plea.

At the same time, the Sacklers involved with Purdue agreed to a $225 million settlement with the Justice Department to resolve allegations of marketing and financial misconduct at Purdue. The Sacklers did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of that deal.

The Sacklers rank as one of the richest families in the U.S., with an estimated net worth of nearly $11 billion in 2020, according to Forbes.

More settlement funds on the way

During the past year, Connecticut has played a leading role in negotiations that will deliver more than $32 billion in new opioid-settlement funds nationwide, including about $400 million to Connecticut.

Separate from the Purdue litigation, Connecticut signed on last year to a $26 billion national settlement with pharmaceutical distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. Finalized last week, the pact resolves opioid-related claims of wrongdoing against those companies.

The state will also receive $7.5 million as part of a nationwide settlement with consulting firm McKinsey & Co., resolving investigations of its alleged support of efforts to boost opioid sales of pharmaceutical companies, including Purdue.

The behavioral health care system has been woefully under-resourced for a very long time, Maria Coutant Skinner, chief executive officer of the McCall Center for Behavioral Health in Torrington, said at Thursdays press conference. For us to be able to do that healing work  it involves entire systems, whole families and communities. That requires resources. What I am hopeful about today is that this is the beginning of that.

The agreement with Purdue allows Connecticut to use a to-be-determined portion of the settlement funds to establish an Opioid Survivors Trust to directly help survivors and victims of the opioid epidemic.

Final payments in the Purdue settlement are spread over 18 years, with larger payments front-loaded so that (the) state will receive more money, sooner as compared to the previous bankruptcy plan, according to Tongs office.

The money will do so much good to fund as much treatment and prevention as possible, Niver said.

There were 1,361 confirmed drug-overdose deaths in Connecticut in 2021, as of the first week of December, according to the state Department of Public Health. There were 1,378 overdose deaths in the state in 2020, an increase of 14 percent from 2019. The synthetic opioid fentanyl and fentanyl analogs were involved in 85 percent of the states overdose deaths last year and in 2020, the data shows.

This work continues, Tong said of his offices opioid crisis-related efforts. Were not done.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
Ron Chapple / Getty Image

ENFIELD  The medical examiner has performed an autopsy of the baby found dead in the Motel 6 this week, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Thursday.

The medical examiner said the cause of death is pending the autopsy results and it could take several weeks to determine.
House Republicans futilely objected Wednesday to the confirmation of Dr. Manisha Juthani as commissioner of public health, re-litigating how Connecticut employed lockdowns, vaccinations and mask mandates to fight COVID-19.

Knowing they had no chance at denying confirmation of an epidemiologist recruited from the Yale School of Medicine during the pandemic, the GOP minority used the debate to vent over restrictions, most no longer in force.

There is no question that the commissioner is very qualified, educated, experienced for the job to which she has been appointed, said Rep. Jason Perillo, R-Shelton. But he added, Its not just about talent. Its also about trust.

The House voted 96-53 to confirm Juthani, whom Gov. Ned Lamont named as the acting commissioner on July 26, 2021  long after Connecticut lifted most restrictions on retailers, restaurants and houses of worship.

Max Reiss, the governors communications director, said the administration was lucky to have Juthanis counsel before and after she took the job.

Commissioner Juthani joined the administration at a critical time and provided valuable counsel as our state transitioned to the next phase of the pandemic, Reiss said. Her leadership has continued to be invaluable. The people of Connecticut are grateful for her confirmation.

One of the two Republicans to vote for her confirmation was Rep. William Petit of Plainville, the only physician in the House. The other was Rep. Kathleen McCarty of Waterford. Rep. Minnie Gonzalez of Hartford was the only Democrat opposed.

Perillo faulted Juthani for misleading the public about the availability of test kits, a purchase that fell through. He said she was less than forthright in how she eventually acknowledged the mistake.

Others objected to the advice she gave, both as a Yale infectious disease expert consulted by Lamont and then as commissioner.

Rep. Dave Rutigliano, R-Trumbull, a restaurant owner, took issue with her suggestion in December 2020 that people avoid dining out during a surge, despite the state having allowed indoor dining with social distancing rules.

Long after all the evidence came in that the lockdowns and the shutdowns werent working, this doctor continually called for the lockdowns of most businesses here in Connecticut, he said. She caused an immeasurable amount of damage to peoples livelihoods.

Juthani was among the physicians who had urged against indoor dining and in favor of closing gyms, not widespread business closures.

Rep. Rosa Rebimbas, R-Naugatuck, faulted her for the states requirement that health-care workers be vaccinated, saying the dismissal of unvaccinated staff exacerbated staff shortages.

The debate came on the first day the House had abandoned its requirement that masks be worn in the chamber. But Rep. Doug Dubitsky, R-Chaplin, said masks still are required in some schools, though not by state edict.

And its been two years now. Two long, ugly years that weve been put through this stuff, Dubitsky said.

Connecticut never closed manufacturing or retailers that sold food, but restaurants were hard hit both by the restrictions and, in the view of restaurant owners, fears of dining out before vaccinations were widely available.

I have very little doubt that the people in my district who lost their jobs because of the decisions and the poor judgment of this nominee would want me to vote to ensure that this nominee also lost her job, Dubitsky said.

Knowing that her confirmation was not in doubt, Democrats largely remained silent while Republicans attacked Juthani.

But Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, co-chair of the Public Health Committee, finally rose with a wry rebuttal, apologizing that his new hearing aids left him struggling to process the debate at times.

And I just want to make sure that Ive heard what Ive heard with regard to some of the testimony today, with regard to the character and the testimony of Commissioner Juthani, Steinberg said.

Steinberg said Juthani has been candid with lawmakers and the public, even when delivering an unpopular message.

Im really kind of surprised that there seems to be a lack of consensus on somebody who is going to be, has already been and will continue to be such a strong proponent of looking out for the health of the people of the state of Connecticut, he said. We could not do better.
LOBAMBA Members of Parliament (MPs) were yesterday taken aback when Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg said he did not know the amount of money used in the purchase of two aircraft by RENAC.

This happened during the portfolio committee debate of the Ministry of Finance annual performance report where the MPs demanded answers on where the money to purchase the two aircraft came from. RENAC is the Royal Eswatini National Airways Corporation. Interestingly, the minister confessed that he was and still is in support of the purchase of the two aircraft and that they were purchased at a discounted price.

Subvention

Siphocosini MP Mduduzi Matsebula was one of those who raised the issue as he first asked to know how much RENAC received as subvention, since it had been explained that it was a public enterprise. Matsebula said the amount received by RENAC as subvention should be clearly stated as he wanted to understand what the public enterprise did with it. I am concerned because right now it looks like the public enterprise has a lot of money, such that it has purchased two aircraft. We should also be provided with answers whether the parastatal does submit audited financial statements, said Matsebula. He also questioned the scope of approval of the two aircraft and whether a feasibility study was conducted. Also, he asked to know if the legal procurement policies were followed prior to purchasing the aircraft. We want to know if we will get value for money in this and further ensure that the public purse is protected, Matsebula submitted. Also raising the issue was Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo and others.

Purchase

Giving his responses to the questions and concerns raised by the MPs, Rijkenberg first confessed that he was and continued to be in support of the purchase of the aircrafts.

This, he said, was because he believed in the commercialisation of RENAC. He disputed what he termed an insinuation that the aircraft were of a luxury nature. These are commercial aeroplanes. They were bought at a reasonable price but I still do not know the price, even though I know the overall budget, he stated. He explained that all necessary feasibility studies were conducted and presented to Cabinet, which then approved the purchase of the aircraft. The minister also informed the MPs that the money used to purchase the two aircraft came from savings the public enterprise had within its budget allocations. I understand the concerns and I agree that these aircraft might not make money, but if the feasibility studies are anything to go by, then money will be made, said the minister. Explaining further, the minister stated that there was a bigger economic benefit of having a commercial aircraft. He said the bigger picture of the purchase would be seen in the investments that were being explored in various sectors, including tourism. Rijkenberg said the country had already invested in the construction of the International Convention Centre (ICC) and was on the verge of introducing a game reserve in the Lubombo Region and that all the projects aligned with the need to have a commercial airspace.

I can state that in the purchase of the aircraft, I was assured that all rules were followed, said the minister. After the responses, MP Khumalo, the Chairperson of the portfolio committee, interjected and asked the minister to state the price of the two aircraft. In response, the minister said he did not know the exact amount but was assured that they came at a reasonable price. He promised to go and verify, after which he would include the price when he submitted a report containing the full responses to the questions and concerns raised.

Advised

I can emphasise that we advised them to buy the aircraft when the market was down. The whole market for aircraft was flat due to the outbreak of COVID-19. So RENAC saw it as an opportunity, as the prices were discounted. There is nothing hidden and I have no problem bringing the information on the price, said the minister. Other concerns raised by the MPs included that the ministrys annual report made mention of public debt but did not provide a detailed analysis. Gilgal MP Sandla Fakudze asked the minister to provide a proper analysis that would give a clear picture of the loans owed, so that the country could be able to get a picture of whether the loans were justified and if they had been sought from the right organisations. Fakudze also asked the minister to ensure that the value added tax (VAT) was reduced. On another note, the minister spent time explaining the current issues in the health sector. He said it was not like government did not have medication in hospitals because of non-payment.

Shortage

He said the Ministry of Health submitted a budget and that the money was released on time. Rijkenberg said what then happened, leading to the shortage, was something that the Auditor Generals Office was currently looking into. He said he was hopeful that eventually, government would get to understand why it spent money purchasing medicine but it ended up not reaching the citizens. Another concern raised yesterday was that government did not give enough support to the AGs Office, yet it did a better job than the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Almost all the MPs who debated yesterday decried that the AGs Office only had 42 members of staff, when there were many government entities it had to audit. They also argued that the allocation for the office was released in bits and pieces yet the Audit Act was clear that the office should receive the money upfront as a lump sum. The MPs suggested that the office should be made independent and further removed from the Finance ministry. Nhlambeni MP Manzi Zwane submitted that, due to the small allocation, the officers were paid low salaries, something which rendered them prone to corruption. Other MPs made it known that they wanted the office to be removed from the Executive and be with the Legislature since the reports it produced were then used by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). In response, Minister Rijkenberg acknowledged the concern and said government tried to ensure that it released the allocation on time.

Every quarter we make sure that the funds are available. We must also understand that the law provides that government must also pay suppliers, salaries and goods and services so at times we have to do a balancing act, he said. As if that was not enough, the minister was called to explain the controversial tender which was allegedly awarded by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Also, MP Khumalo asked for an explanation into the position of the Farmers Bank. Khumalo said it was disappointing to note that a licence was issued for the Farmers Bank to operate but up to today, it had not. I am wondering why the licence was granted if the entity will not start operating. If it does not meet certain standards then why not withdraw the licence? he asked. The minister was granted the leeway to provide the rest of the responses in writing.
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NEW HAVEN  Lead paint has been a problem affecting the health and development of children, particularly minority and poor children, for too long and its time for the state to step up and do more to help, Gov. Ned Lamont, Mayor Justin Elicker and other officials said Thursday.

Were beginning to make a down payment to see what we can do to get the lead out of these old buildings, said Lamont, surrounded by about 20 preschool children as he announced a proposed new $70 million, federally-funded program to fund local inspection and abatement efforts.

He made the announcement in the Catholic Charities St. Francis & St. Rose of Lima Child Development Center at 425 Ferry St. in the Fair Haven section, thanking U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, for her work to land the funds. The building, adjacent to St. Francis Church, is in use now because of lead abatement work done in 2018, said Lamont and child development center Director Martha Canas.

For too long, Connecticut has failed to address the problem of lead poisoning in our children, a problem that impacts most deeply minority families and disadvantaged communities of our state, Lamont in a subsequent release. Childhood lead poisoning has catastrophic impacts on health and development, including irreversible learning and developmental disabilities.

Two years ago, 2,994 young children had enough lead in their blood that the CDC would have recommended an investigation of their homes, Lamont said. Our statutes required only 120 investigations. That means thousands of children are not receiving the treatment and health interventions that they need. Connecticuts standards for lead testing and treatment fall well behind the best practices and the time is now to take action.

The General Assemblys Public Health Committee will hold a public hearing on House Bill 5045 on Monday at 9 a.m. Lamont urged people to contact their legislators or write a letter to the committee to express their support.

Elicker, father of a 3-year-old and a 7-year-old, said its really exciting to be here to talk about one of the most exciting things we can do to support young people.

He praised Lamont both for introducing a plan to combat lead and for putting up money to back it up.

The governor is making a very strong statement to ensure that all the children have the support that they need, he said.

In New Haven, we have seen for many, many years the impact that has on young children  particularly children in poorer neighborhoods who often are minorities, Elicker said, pointing out that leads effects are permanent, including leading to impaired cognitive ability.

The problem, at least in New Haven, primarily is lead paint rather than lead-tainted water, Elicker said.

He talked about the fear he feels as a father when he brings his children to the pediatrician to be tested for lead and said New Haven has worked hard under the leadership of the New Haven Lead Task Force and Director of Health Maritza Bond to lower the risks to children.

The city has increased the numbers of inspectors it has working, improved and modernized its record-keeping and digitized its lead inspection and abatement records, Elicker said.

Bond, who grew up on Clay Street in Fair Haven, not far from the child development center, called the governors announcement a momentous occasion for me, and said its an immense pleasure to be in support of House Bill 5045, which she called an immense step forward.

I strongly support this bill, Bond said.

Dr. Erin Nozetz, chairwoman of the New Haven Lead Task Force, said that as a pediatrician, I have seen first-hand the effects lead has had on children in New Haven. She said lead toxicity inordinately affects minority populations.

I dont know about you, but that infuriates me, Nozetz said. She said now is the time for Connecticut to do what is necessary to combat lead toxicity and to stop using children as lead detectors.

Canas said we want to be sure that we have a lead-safe atmosphere for all the children.

I really appreciate all the help that we have had from the Health Department, she said.

April Capone, director of public affairs for the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority, said Connecticut, along with Rhode Island, has exceeded federal standards ever since the federal Environmental Protection Agency first passed standards in the 1970s.

The authority is responsible for delivering healthy water to the streets in front of homes and it is working to inventory what improvements must be made on the private side, which brings water from the street into peoples houses. The authority directs property owners to state programs that can help pay for any improvements they make, she said.

But the water coming to your home is safe, she said.

Manisha Juthani, the new commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, also pointed out that lead toxicity damage is permanent and said the state needs childrens homes and schools to be safe.

Look at these kids, she said. ... We have to take care of them.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com
Citing the financial toll that the pandemic has taken on many Connecticut residents, progressive Democratic lawmakers and advocates on Thursday renewed calls for higher taxes on the states wealthiest.

While Gov. Ned Lamont, planning re-election this year, opposes raising more revenue from the rich, the legislative Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, during a day-long, virtual public hearing, heard impassioned calls for the highest earners to pay more for state services.

Republicans on the tax-writing panel oppose the three bills that are the focus of the progressive push, including an added tax on houses worth more than $1.2 million; a capital gains surcharge of one percent on the sale or exchange of assets; and a permanent Earned Income Tax Credit of 41.5 percent of the federal EITC.

As our country and our state continue to recover from the brutal physical and emotional trauma of COVID-19, we cannot forget the financial toll it has taken on many of us, especially our working poor and middle-class wage earners who have borne the brunt of the economic crisis, said Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, who submitted all three bills. Meanwhile, many at the high end of the income scale have prospered like never before.

Under questioning from committee members, Looney quoted non-partisan legislative staff who estimated that the one-percent capital gains surcharge would generate about $131 million in annual revenue.

Similar bills in recent years failed, except for an increase in the EITC, which Looney and Speaker of the House Matt Ritter this week vowed to make permanent at 41.5 percent. Last year the committee approved a so-called consumption tax that would have hit Connecticuts wealthy, but the proposal died without action in the biennial budget-setting process.

Ed Hawthorne, president of the state AFL-CIO, said that while people such as Connecticuts 13 billionaires have gained wealth during the pandemic, most of the rest of the state has struggled.

Hundreds of thousands of working people, especially working people of color and our essential workers that went to work every day saw their lives upended, Hawthorne said. The ultra-wealthy have been allowed to rig the rules in their favor for years. Theyve skirted their responsibility to fund our schools, our education infrastructure, healthcare programs and other vital public services.

He also supports a 10-percent tax on digital advertising on corporations with income over $10 billion, to bring in about $140 million in new revenue.

Like other speakers in favor of the bills, Hawthorne had a digital backdrop of the Recovery for All CT, an umbrella group of faith, community and labor organizations, behind him as he spoke.

Across Connecticut, regardless of our race, gender, income level, or town in which we live, we have all pulled together to navigate the pandemic and its ensuing financial devastation. But not all of us suffered equally, said Beverly Brakeman of West Hartford, regional director of the United Auto Workers, Region 9A, which has 30,000 members in New England, New York City, and Puerto Rico.

In 2022, we remain a state of vast inequality despite being one of the wealthiest states in the nation, she said. This is not something of which we should be proud because the result of such disparity is despair and suffering. We see this vast inequality play out every day in income, wealth, housing, food security, health and health care outcomes, education, and access to public services.

The lowest earners of our state are paying 26 percent of their income to state and municipal taxes, while those making $1.6 million and above are only paying 6.67 percent, said state Rep. Kara Rochelle, D-Ansonia, whose district includes part of Derby. This is obviously incredibly unfair and creates a deep burden that goes beyond just the numbers. She said her district includes 12,463 households classified as the working poor. These are folks living from paycheck-to-paycheck and cannot even afford a $500 crisis.

The Connecticut Business and Industry Association testified against the legislative proposals. It is clear that towns and cities cannot rely solely on property taxes and inconsistent state aid to fund essential services and often mandated programs, the CBIA said in prepared testimony. Adding 2 mills to high-end homes is not the answer.

Republican push back on the committee was led by lawmakers including Rep. Devin Carney of Old Lyme and Rep. Laura Devlin of Fairfield.

I just think we give certain urban leaders a pass when policies that they put into place that negatively affect students and I think they did during this pandemic, Carney said during an exchange with Brakeman, who had pointed out the disparity between school systems in wealthy suburbs and those of the inner cities. I think, honestly, those leaders have gotten a pass for a long time. Coming to the Finance Committee and asking for us to make changes in the things that happen in Hartford and New Haven may be a little bit short-sighted.

I would say that I think what this committee can do, with your charges, is to look at the system of taxation, which is not fair, Brakeman replied. And that is a way to equalize how we mete out our education, housing and all those kinds of services.

Devlin during an exchange with a representative of state certified public accountants, warned that the wealthy can easily leave the state if they believe taxes are too high.

This years short, 12-week session that ends at midnight on May 4, is focused on adjusting the second year of the budget, which starts on July 1. Lamont wants to focus on property tax credits, a statewide tax rate for motor vehicles that would lower taxes for many, as well as ending income taxes for pension income.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT
HARTFORD  Student enrollment plummeted last school year by 3 percent, a decline usually seen over several years and officials said has yet to bounce back.

The state Board of Education on Wednesday heard the Condition of Education in Connecticut 2020-21, an annual report mandated by the legislature that spanned from enrollment and staff demographics to graduation metrics and college matriculation.

Chief Performance Officer Ajit Gopalakrishnan pointed to effects of the pandemic that the state Department of Education will need to address this school year and in the future as part of its broader recovery efforts.

Our student enrollment last year, in 2020-21, declined substantially, said Gopalakrishnan, who quoted the 3-percent drop. Something we normally see over a five-year period  we saw that in one year.

Total enrollment fell from nearly 528,000 students in 2019-20 to little more than 513,000 students in 2020-21, according to state data. Despite a widespread return to in-person classes in the fall, data collected earlier this school year added just 536 students to the overall count.

The decline in enrollment actually persisting  we had anticipated a bounce back, and that did not occur, said Kathy Demsey, chief financial officer of the education departments Office of Finance and Internal Operations, who noted the governors proposed budget adjustments reflect those changing student demographics.

Those enrollment changes and proposed revisions to the state grant program could result in $6.2 million less in funding next fiscal year compared to what the biennial budget has currently appropriated, according to the School and State Finance Project, a nonpartisan policy organization.

Gopalakrishnan noted the biggest declines last year were heavily concentrated in pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. State data showed together, more than 7,800 fewer students in those grades enrolled in school.

Children in Connecticut are not required to formally attend school until they turn 7 years old. But from the 2020-21 to the 2021-22 school year, fewer than 1,900 additional students enrolled in first grade, raising questions about the likelihood of an enrollment rebound.

Despite the numerical declines, the student population was increasingly diverse. Last year, more than 50 percent of students were students of color, and 43 percent were from low-income families, he reported. Still, 10 percent of educators were non-white  an increase over previous years, but far lower than the students they serve, Gopalakrishnan said.

The chief performance officer also cited student success and college and career readiness metrics, which showed varying results. Graduation rates were among the few measures not to fall, but whether that will hold true going forward and indicate graduates are prepared for next steps remains to be seen.

We looked at how ninth graders are doing in terms of their credit accumulation toward graduation four years later, Gopalakrishnan said, We saw that our on-track measure for the 20-21 year was the lowest weve seen in the last several years. It was a substantial decline.

Data also revealed worrisome trends for continued education, as many Class of 2020 high school graduates decided to forego pursuing college degrees.

Those numbers have been stable forever, said Gopalakrishnan, who said on average 72 percent of graduates matriculate to college within the year. But among the Class of 2020, only 67 percent of students enrolled in college the following school year, state data showed.

For the first time, we saw a decline in that space as well, he said.
MANZINI - You will be in good hands now!

These were the words of Eswatini Correctional Services Staff Association (ECOSSA) Interim President Simiso Ginindza, which he directed to current and prospective members of the association after they received a certificate from government which proves that, finally, it had been officially registered. The interim executive committee of the association applied for its registration in April 2021, but according to the certificate, which was signed by the commissioner of labour, it was officially registered on February 22, 2022.

Organisation

Ginindza said since government had finally registered their organisation, they would push to meet the requirements for it to be recognised by the employer. In that regard, he said they were aware that due to the uncertainty that it might not be registered, some prospective members were reluctant to fill in the joining forms. He then urged the prospective members and warders in general to join them so that by the end of the year, they would have a recognition agreement with the employer and host democratic elections for all their structures. He said once they had a recognition agreement with the employer, their members would be directly represented in the Join Negotiation Forum (JNF), where public sector associations (PSAs) negotiate with the Government Negotiation Team (GNT) for civil servants welfare. Again, he said as soon as they democratically elected their national executive committee (NEC) and branch leaders, among others, they would unpack their strategic plan, which the leadership of the association would then implement. He said details of their strategic plan, which had already been approved by the interim committee, would be unpacked when delivering it to the general membership. When he was asked what exactly delayed the registration of the association, the interim president said the office of the labour commissioner allegedly told them that this was because the department was a critical one. He added that the association was finally registered after they had engaged their lawyers.

Interim

Thereafter, he said as an interim committee, they saluted their members, structures and individuals, who had been supporting them along the way. Again, Ginindza said they had been through a lot as an interim executive committee as they were allegedly victimised. He claimed that most, if not all of them, had been transferred from their workstations. He also highlighted that one of the founding members of the association, Mzwandile Dlamini, was allegedly victimised in such a way that he was left with only one option - to resign. He said they took his resignation as a constructive dismissal. It was gathrered that resigned warder is now a member of the newly-formed Swaziland Liberation Movement (SWALIMO). Meanwhile, HMCS Deputy Public Relations Officer Senior Superintendent Mandla Sibiya asked to comment at a later stage.
Niagara Falls, NY (14301)

Today

Clear to partly cloudy. Areas of patchy fog. Low around 40F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. Areas of patchy fog. Low around 40F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
There was no backup at the Rainbow Bridge in early November as Canadians were allowed to enter the US with proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
The federal government has blamed the low water levels in the hydro dams for the erratic power supply in the country. Abubakar Aliyu...

The federal government has blamed the low water levels in the hydro dams for the erratic power supply in the country.

Abubakar Aliyu, minister of power, said the dry season resulted in the reduced hydro capacity of the dams.

The minister spoke on Thursday in Abuja during the state house ministerial briefing.

I would like to discuss the increased load shedding. You may have observed in Abuja and other areas in the country. With the reduction in hydro capacity during the dry season, additional loads need to be taken up by our gas plants, he said.

The minister said the ongoing maintenance work on some power plants around the country also contributed to the reduced power supply.

We are having maintenance work in the eastern axis around Odupami, leading to reduced power supply from the usually reliable NDPHC Calabar power plant, and we are having challenges at Okoloma gas station linked to AFAM 6 power plant, he said.

We are working with NNPC and other gas suppliers. Also to improve the pressure on the western axis, and that is precluding this unit from reaching optimum supply. These challenges are surmountable.

The minister said the government is doing everything to make available an optimum supply of gas to ensure quick restoration of power.
The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (NNPC) has begun loading of trucks at all depots to clear current scarcity being experienced...





The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (NNPC) has begun loading of trucks at all depots to clear current scarcity being experienced across the nation.





NNPC noted that there was availability of 1.7 billion litres of petrol currently in stock.





The NNPC Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari said this to journalists in Abuja, after meeting with the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petrol Tanker Drivers (PTD).





The Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) were also present at the meeting.





Kyari noted that the additional fuel would end the persistent queues which continued in Abuja and other parts of the country, with fewer stations dispensing the product.





Currently, we have over 1.7 billion litres of fuel in our hands both in marine and on land.





This means that we have the capacity to load out excessively from all depots. We have put in place measures to ensure 24hrs loading in all depots.





This will ensure that scarcity created by panic buying will now be freed so that normalcy will return to filling stations across the country, he said.





Kyari stated that very soon, the scarcity will be resolved, adding that neither the Federal Government nor the NNPC had any plan to raise the pump price of petrol.





He appealed to marketers not to sell petrol above the price approved by the government.





He noted that the NNPC would carry out necessary sanctions allowed by law on any defaulting depot owner in order for Nigerians to buy the product at the approved price.





He, however, apologized to Nigerians for the pains experienced at fuel stations and appealed to consumers to buy only the quantity they needed at fuel stations.
Former governor of Kano state, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said he is set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the New Niger...





Former governor of Kano state, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has said he is set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP).

Recall that Kwankwaso held talks with the leadership of NNPP a few days ago.

In an interview with BBC Hausa, Kwankwaso said preparations were in top gear and he would announce his next step of action before the end of March.

Although he did not give elaborate details and reasons for choosing NNPP, recently Kwankwaso said the two leading parties (APC and PDP), have nothing to offer Nigerians in 2023.

I didnt see anything that either APC or PDP will show or tell Nigerians to get convinced and vote for them in the coming 2023 elections.

So I think people should now come to think of the right party and people to support and vote for so that we can rescue the present situation.

In 2015, we gave the leadership of the state to some, thinking that they will make it, but not knowing that it wont yield any positive outcome. That is why we are back to rescue our state, Kwankwaso had said.

Also speaking to the BBC Hausa service, an associate of the former governor, said poor handling of the leadership crisis in Kano PDP forced Kwankwaso to exit the party.

Last month, Kwankwaso had joined forces with some of his associates to launch a new movement The National Movement, TNM.
An Osun State High Court on Thursday remanded in a correctional facility the owner of Hilton Royal Hotel, Ile-Ife, Dr Ramon Adedoyin, and ...

An Osun State High Court on Thursday remanded in a correctional facility the owner of Hilton Royal Hotel, Ile-Ife, Dr Ramon Adedoyin, and six others arrested in connection with the death of a Masters degree student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Timothy Adegoke.

Adegoke, as well as, Adedeji Adesola, Magdalene Chiefuna, Adeniyi Aderogba, Oluwale Lawrence, Oyetunde Kazeem and Adebayo Kunle had appeared before the court on 11 counts bordering on murder, indecent interference with a dead body, administration of extrajudicial oath and alteration to conceal evidence.

All the defendants pleaded not guilty and counsel representing them, Mr. Kunle Adegoke, SAN, and K. Eleja, SAN, moved applications for bail for the first to sixth defendants.

Adegoke however informed the court that a formal application for bail could not be filed for the seventh defendant because she was added less than 24 hours earlier to the list.

The prosecutor, M. Omosun, opposed the bail applications.

In her ruling, Justice Adepele Ojo, adjourned till Friday for the defence to file and move formal bail application for the seventh defendant.

She subsequently remanded all the defendants in Ilesa correctional facility.
The Anambra State Police Command has confirmed the burning to death of three suspected thieves at the popular Upper Iweka Junction in Onitsh...





The Anambra State Police Command has confirmed the burning to death of three suspected thieves at the popular Upper Iweka Junction in Onitsha.





The three men were burnt by a mob on Thursday morning after they dispossessed a victim of his phone and tried to escape with the tricycle, which incidentally developed a fault.





The state commands spokesperson, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, said men of the command rushed to the scene immediately they were alerted, but unlucky for the suspected thieves, their bodies were already smouldering in the fire.





A release by Ikenga stated: Anambra Police Operatives have recovered a tricycle, handbag and an Infinix phone that was allegedly dispossessed from a female victim by hoodlums operating along Owerri road, Romchi transport park, Onitsha.





Upon police arrival, an angry mob had already set three of the hoodlums ablaze and the fourth person escaped





Meanwhile, police operatives are already on the ground there and efforts are emplaced to bring normalcy to the area and possibly to apprehend the fleeing gang member.





Ikenga quoted the Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, as frowning at the act.





He thanked the members of the public for assisting the Police in apprehending suspected criminals but urged them to always exercise restraint by not taking the law into their hands. They should endeavour to take such suspects to the nearest Police Station whenever they are apprehended.





This would afford the Police the opportunity to conduct an appropriate investigation into the nefarious activities of the suspects; and bring them to justice in accordance with extant laws, Ikenga quoted Echeng as saying.
Simon Ekpa, a self-styled disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB has predicted that the embattled...





Simon Ekpa, a self-styled disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB has predicted that the embattled DCP Abba Kyari may not return to Nigeria if extradited to the United States.





Recall that the Federal Government on Thursday, approved the extradition of Kyari after the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI indicted him on alleged ties with an internet fraudster, Hushpuppi.





Reacting, Ekpa, a Finnish who constantly raised alarm over Kyaris activities in the Southeast prior to his arrest, said Americans will finish him when he finally lands in their prison.





He said this in a recent tweet on his official Twitter handle on Thursday.





He said, One of the Fulani most notorious Jihadists in Nig police that were used to advance jihad in Biafraland called Abba Kyari will finally land in US prison and in California for that matter where they will finish him.





Any lover of freedom in that prison must know that he is a jihadist.
Over 18,000 attendees and 500 exhibitors from 131 countries are expected for Middle East Energy (MEE) when the Mena regions most reputable and comprehensive event for the energy sector returns to Dubai.

Policymakers, business leaders, and industry experts from the energy industry will converge at MEE taking place at the Dubai World Trade Centre, from March 7 to 9.

The event has witnessed an uptick in international participation, with a 40% growth in visitors from Saudi Arabia rounding out the top three international visitor destinations, including Nigeria and Egypt. Other countries represented include France, Germany, Italy, China, the United Kingdom and the US. From the Mena region, Algeria, Morocco, Kenya, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan will all be represented.

Under the show theme of Guiding you through the energy transition, the event will provide a platform for the global energy industry to discover new products and the latest energy innovations, do business with exhibitors from around the world and provide the opportunity to hear from experts on developing a diverse, digitised and sustainable future.

Focusing on five key sectors - Transmission & Distribution, Smart Solutions; Renewable & Clean Energies; Backup Generators & Critical Power; and Energy Consumption & Management - the event will provide a platform for understanding more about energy alternatives and solutions including digitalisation, solar, wind, and hydro energy solutions, among others.

Azzan Mohammed, Exhibition Director, Global Energy & Utilities Forum and Middle East Energy, said: MEE has a fundamental role in supporting the global energy community adjust its sustainable strategies as we look to the future and reassess the way we use, produce and consume energy. We want to provide a platform whereby the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition can be discussed in detail and where solutions and new technology can be showcased to achieve this global goal."

This year, we have seen a surge in demand from both buyers and exhibitors eager to meet in-person to learn more about the products changing the face of the energy landscape and hear insights from leaders within the field.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, MEE is hosted by the UAE Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure, where five Ministry officials are confirmed to speak. They include Yousif Al Ali, Assistant Undersecretary for Electricity, Water and Future Energy Sector, Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure, UAE; Aisha Al Abdooli, Acting Assistant Undersecretary for Green Development & Climate Change, Ministry of Climate Change & Environment, UAE; Eng Iqbal Altayer, Director - Technical Supervision (Power & Alternate Energy) Ministry of Electricity & Water, Kuwait; Andrea Di Gregorio, Executive Director - Energy Efficiency & Renewables, Ras Al Khaimah Municipality; and Eng Nawal Yousif Ibrahim Al-Hanaee, Director of Future Energy Department, Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, UAE.

The speakers will all be participating in the Global Energy & Utilities Forum, which will provide a platform for industry experts to discuss thought leadership, collaboration, and solutions for meeting the energy shift within the sector through a series of high-level strategic panels, technical sessions, roundtable discussions and workshops.

The focus of discussion will be on developing a roadmap to decarbonisation, an insight into the energy systems of the future, the green hydrogen opportunities in the Mena region, funding of the energy transition, the rise of sustainable finance, powering the African continent with renewable energy, grids of the future, energy efficiency focus and decarbonising industries.

Other conferences taking place during the event include the Intersolar Middle East Conference and the Technical Hub, where visitors will learn more about industry best practices across key pillars of the energy sector, including Digitalisation & Smart Grids, Renewables, Green Hydrogen, and Energy Storage, and photovoltaics, PV production technologies and solar thermal technologies.

Within the five product sectors, a range of companies will be showcasing their latest innovations and cutting-edge technologies. EODev, the company responsible for developing and industrialising sustainable, reliable and affordable hydrogen-based energy solutions, will be showcasing the EODev GEH2, a hydrogen fuel cell power generator designed to replace diesel or gas gensets in both mobile, prime, and emergency standby applications. This cutting-edge generator is completely zero-emission, only rejecting water and heat as by-products.

Meanwhile, Cummins Generator Technologies will be at Middle East Energy to discuss the world-renowned Stamford S-Range and AvK alternator ranges. They will showcase the versatile Stamford S-Range alternators, upgraded with the latest features and technology, including the recently launched extension of the Stamford S7 with new enhanced options, including water-cooling and extended ratings.

This years event sponsors include Perkins, Baudouin, Newage Stamford AVK, and Riello UPS.-- TradeArabia News Service
Some 11 French businesses offering innovative, efficient, and competitive solutions are taking part in the Middle East Energy (MEE) exhibition from March 7 to 9, 2022.

The exhibiting French businesses are experts in energy storage, equipment and applications, electricity transmission and distribution, network protection products, systems and lighting, a release said.

The MEE will also be an occasion for the French companies to discover the new market demand, share their valuable industry knowledge and develop new areas of business and strengthen existing ones.

The countries in the Mena region are currently investing heavily in enhancing their electricity infrastructure and building new power lines, in order to secure supply and respond to the increasing demand for electricity by their booming economies and populations.

This includes the development of HDVC (high voltage direct current) interconnection projects, such as, for example, connecting Egypt to the interconnected networks of the GCC, or connecting Saudi Arabia to North Africa, and Egypt to Iraq via Jordan.

The strategic importance of energy cooperation between the countries of the Middle East and North Africa has therefore never been stronger.

France, as a result of its expertise in building new smart infrastructures, integrating renewable energies into the grid, and storing energy, has a definite role to play in helping the Mena region achieve its low carbon objectives. In addition, the thorough understanding of French equipment manufacturers in so far as concerns the electrification of unconnected, isolated sites, with appropriate off-grid/microgrid solutions, meets the regions specific requirements.

In conjunction with the announcement that the UAE will host COP28 in 2023, the French companies are keen to introduce new solutions and systems to support the energy transition, deliver cleaner energy and supply sustainable power.

Opportunities won by France in the region:

*A consortium of EDF, Kepco and Kyushu Electric Power Co has just signed a $3.6 billion strategic electricity transmission contract, alongside Adnoc and Taqa, to develop and operate a high voltage direct current (HVDC-VSC) subsea transmission system, which is a first in the Middle East and North Africa region. This project will reduce Adnocs offshore carbon footprint by more than 30% and contribute to the UAEs net zero carbon targets (Net Zero by 2050 Strategic Initiative).

The consortium, which will have a combined 40% stake in the project, will develop and operate the 3.2-gigawatt transmission system alongside Adnoc and Taqa over a 35-year period. Work is scheduled to begin this year, while commercial operations are planned for 2025.

*Engie and Masdar (the fastest growing renewable energy player in the world), have signed a strategic alliance to co-develop a green hydrogen hub in the UAE. Both of these businesses are seeking to deploy projects with a capacity of at least 2 GW by 2030, for a total investment in the region of $5 billion.

*The Cherbourg-based business Cerap Prevention, an expert in risk prevention in the nuclear sector, was awarded a major contract, through its subsidiary NuSAM, to support Nawah Energy Company, a subsidiary of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec), during planned outages of the Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE.

FRANCE IN THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR

*France is the 9th largest electricity producer in the world.

*EDF and Engie are among the Top 5 largest electricity producers in the world.

*France is the 7th largest exporter of electrical equipment in the world, with 20.4 billion ($22.62 billion) in 2018. In 2024, this amount is projected to rise to 25 billion.

*The electricity sector employed a workforce of 600,000 at the end of 2018, including 300,000 people in electrical systems. It is a net job creator.

*France has the expertise and diversified solutions in this sector of activity, with internationally recognised flagship companies (e.g. RTE, EDF, Schneider Electric). It also benefits from significant capacity in R&D and innovation. French businesses operate at all levels of the value chain, whether they are electricity and telecoms network operators, engineers, integrators, equipment manufacturers, component producers or ICT companies.

*The sector comprises more than 8,500 businesses, including large groups, mid-caps, SMEs and VSEs. These businesses produce, transport or distribute decarbonised electricity. They provide electrical and digital technologies, integrated services, and solutions for industry, construction, mobility, cities, and regions.

*These advantages mean that France has one of the highest quality electrical energy supplies and offers very high-level electrical equipment.-- TradeArabia News Service
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As Russia began its invasion of neighboring Ukraine last week, Charlie Thompson followed news reports with growing outrage. Then he determined there was one small, symbolic thing he could do in response at St. Joes Bar: ban Russian vodka.

Over the weekend, while Mardi Gras parades were rolling nearby, a handwritten sign went up in the window of his Uptown bar reading No Russian vodka served here.

Id like to do more but the first reaction was get rid of the Russian vodka, said Thompson.  I know were limited in what we can do but at least they won't get another penny from this.

Its one local example of many such small gestures to boycott one of Russias best-known exports that are racking up around the country and elsewhere.

In Mandeville, the liquor store Gulf Coast Spirits doesnt stock any Russian-made brands but found a different way to express support for Ukraine. The store also dispenses daiquiris, and it renamed the white Russian frozen drink the white Ukrainian.

Its just one little thing we can do to shine a light on whats going on, said store manager Phil Riley.

The move has already drawn a lot of attention and approval from customers, so Riley said that throughout March the store is pledging proceeds from the white Ukrainian to Save the Children, a global humanitarian group now working to help children in Ukraine.

States, businesses step in

The governors of a growing number of states have issued executive orders to their own alcohol control agencies to remove Russian-made liquor from shelves, while other politicians have urged people to voluntarily dump the products.

Some companies are independently making similar moves. That includes Total Wine and More, the Maryland-based retailer with 229 locations.

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At the Metairie location there were conspicuously empty spots on the shelves of the vodka section, where brands including Russian Standard, St. Petersburg Vodka and Tobaritch (Russian for "comrade") were previously stocked.

We are no longer selling any Russian-made Product, read signs posted on these shelves.

Which is Russian?

Adding complexity to the boycotts, however, is the fact that some of the most popular vodka brands have Russian names and even Russian roots, but are no longer produced by Russian companies.

Smirnoff is perhaps the leading example. The brand was founded in Moscow but is owned by the global spirits company Diageo and is now produced in Illinois.

Stolichnaya was created during the days of the Soviet Union, but the Stoli that people drink in the U.S. is now made in Latvia by a company called the Stoli Group, which is based in Luxembourg. The companys website now leads with a statement denouncing Russian aggression and proclaiming solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

And while the label of Taaka vodka has a design motif of onion domes  a feature associated with Russian Orthodox churches  this vodka is made in the U.S. by the Sazerac Co., another spirits giant with local ties, owned by New Orleans businessman Bill Goldring.

Russian-made vodka represents a small and diminishing piece of the overall vodka market in the U.S., according to a report from Forbes. Russian vodka accounted for $18.5 million in U.S. sales in 2021, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, dwarfed by imports of $660 million in vodka from France (home to Grey Goose and Ciroc) and $177 million from Sweden (home to Absolut and Svedka).

The number of locally-made vodkas has increased as the craft distilling trend has expanded. Indeed, at the Total Wine and More in Metairie, just below the shelves emptied of Russian Standard vodka were ranks of vodka from New Orleans-based maker Seven Three Distilling Co.
Entergy New Orleans said Wednesday that it will ask the New Orleans City Council for a green light to issue $150 million in bonds to cover past and future storm costs, effectively passing on the expense to ratepayers.

The move, if approved, would mean that Entergy New Orleans' customers would see a surcharge on their monthly bills that would run for the 15-year life of the bonds.

The surcharge before interest costs works out at about $4 a month, on average, for each of Entergy New Orleans' 209,000 customers.

Hurricane Ida costs rise to $200M

Entergy said in a prepared statement that customers can expect to pay higher surcharges initially that would decline after 10 months, and that charges for "typical" residential customers would be below the average. The utility wasn't immediately able to provide any further explanation of how that process would work.

The $150 million would go toward paying for some outstanding costs related to last August's Hurricane Ida, though some portion would be put into an escrow account as a prepayment for future storm costs. Entergy wasn't able to provide a breakdown.

Storm reserves allow Entergy New Orleans to access an important source of funding during a severe storm, said Deanna Rodriguez, Entergy New Orleans president and CEO, via the statement.

In September, Entergy New Orleans drained the $39 million balance that remained in its storm fund at that time, which it said would be used to cover some of Ida's costs. Also in September, Entergy executives told shareholders that it estimated New Orleans' cost for Hurricane Ida would be between $120 million and $150 million.

In the company's latest annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission, filed last week, it said it now estimates the Ida storm costs for New Orleans to be about $200 million.

The Entergy annual report also noted that the New Orleans City Council has an ongoing investigation into whether Entergy New Orleanss preparation for and response to Hurricane Ida were deficient, and whether its transmission system was properly maintained. The failure of the transmission system cut all power to the city and was a key reason, along with the destruction of power lines and other distribution infrastructure, for the prolonged blackout after Ida.

Last year's chair of the City Council's utility committee, Helena Moreno, has said Entergy New Orleans restoration costs would be withheld if it was found deficient, though it is not clear what legal mechanism could be used to do so. Moreno was out of town Wednesday and not available for comment, her spokesperson said.

In a separate move last week, Entergy Corp.'s Louisiana unit was given the go-ahead by the Louisiana Public Service Commission to issue $3.2 billion in bonds to allow it to pass on costs of the 2020/2021 storms to its ratepayers. Entergy Louisiana also said it expects to come back for $1 billion more at least before the end of the year.

The $4.2 billion in total storm costs for Entergy Louisiana's customers works out at an average monthly surcharge before interest costs of about $21 over the next 15 years. Entergy has said "typical" residential customers can expect to pay less than that.

Federal funds?

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At the LPSC meeting last week, Eric Skrmetta, member for District 1, which covers part of Greater New Orleans, raised the idea that federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development might be available to mitigate the storm costs for Entergy ratepayers. Entergy executives also have said they were lobbying for federal funds.

However, Michael Burns, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge's spokesman, this week refuted Skrmetta's claim that he had communicated with Fudge. Burns denied the commissioner's suggestion that Fudge would look favorably on waiving HUD's ban on using Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds to cover damages incurred by privately-owned utilities.

HUD allocated about $595 million of disaster block fund money to Louisiana for the 2020 storms and hasn't yet made allocations for last year's storms. However, Gov. John Bel Edwards would have to request that Fudge waive the ban on using any of that for Entergy repairs. Edwards' office didn't respond to requests for comment.

The New Orleans City Council last year initiated several investigations into Entergy after widespread power outages that occurred during hurricanes Zeta and Ida, as well as during the winter storm early last year.

Last month, the outside firm contracted by the City Council to investigate Entergy's outages determined that the utility hadn't acted "imprudently," which is the legal standard required in order to impose fines.

Instead, the report recommended some procedural changes to avoid the computer glitches it found were behind the blackouts.

Foster Campbell, the only one of LPSC's five members to vote against the bond issue last week, railed against Entergy Corp. for what he argued was a practice of prioritizing shareholders and executives over ratepayers.

Over the last two years, Entergy Corp. saw record profits and increased dividends about 6% annually, paying shareholders $1.5 billion over the period.

Entergy Corp.'s CEO, Leo Denault, saw his total compensation go from about $14 million in 2019 to more than $16 million in 2020 and to just over $17 million in 2021, according to figures in the company's annual report posted Friday.

"A $1 million raise last year (for Entergy Corp.'s CEO) is just further proof that these people are out of touch with what's going on with the people of Louisiana," Campbell said Wednesday.

Burns, the HUD spokesman, also said that Entergy has alternatives to cover costs other than ratepayers and federal money.

"Entergy could recoup these costs elsewhere, they dont have to charge ratepayers," Burns said.

Entergy officials have said that they need to maintain their dividends to keep borrowing costs low and need to offer executives competitive compensation.
A sailor stationed in Belle Chasse has been charged with multiple sexual offenses involving children, the U.S. attorney's office in New Orleans said Wednesday.

Biagio William Ambrosino, 19, who is from Queens, New York, is accused of possessing sexually explicit images and videos of children younger than 12, producing sexually explicit files of a girl born in 2004 and a boy born in 2005 and extorting a 16-year-old girl and a woman into sending him additional sexually explicit depictions by threatening them.

The indictment was returned Friday and unsealed Monday, after authorities arrested Ambrosino.
A gunman tried to carjack a woman Wednesday night in Gentilly, but New Orleans police say he couldn't start her car.

The attempted carjacking was reported at 8:18 p.m. in the 6200 block of Elysian Fields Avenue (map).

The gunman approached the woman and demanded her vehicle, according to preliminary information from police. She ran away and he got in her car and tried to start it. However, he couldn't so he also ran away, police said.

No other details were immediately available, including a description of the gunman.
Well-poised to meet the needs of the evolved luxury traveller is the inimitable creator of stylish hotels and resorts, General Hotel Management Ltd (GHM), known for delivering unrivalled lifestyle experiences.

Bringing to life its hallmark A Style to Remember, GHM has refined a series of 19 touchpoints under its Guest Experience Signatures to deliver exquisitely distinctive and exceptionally memorable guest experiences guided by six brand essences: timeless, elegant, personal, contemporary, authentic and sensorial.

Melding core elements of contemporary Asian designs with local nuances for a pronounced sense of place, each GHM property showcases the very best of each destination, an ensemble of passionate associates and unmatched personalised services.

The journey begins even before one sets foot into the hotel with a luxury transfer to the property, where a meet and greet entourage eagerly awaits each guest at the lobby with a grand welcome. The arrival experience includes a set of personalised welcome rituals and bespoke amenities that imbibes each newcomer with a sense of arrival, featuring a selection of beverages and snacks reflective of the land and warm, comforting towels that carry an artfully blended signature hotel scent.

The culinary experience is a definitive touchpoint as it invokes extensive visual and sensorial delights for an immersive gourmet indulgence. From interactive show kitchens and food stations featuring a repertoire of global flavours, to artfully crafted menus at signature restaurants and an in-room Sweet Delight button to end each day on a sweet note, every detail has been deliberated down for a truly exclusive dining experience.

Inspired by the Asian art of healing and wellness, the spa and wellness experience echoes GHMs inimitable Asian identity and style of hospitality, with a repertoire of exquisite treatments that exemplify the Chedi Spa philosophy with influences from the destination as well as The Chedi Spa Suite devoted to the enhancement of ones mind, body and soul.

The Departure Experience marks the final touchpoint of the Guest Experience Signatures as the meet & greet entourage bids fond farewell to guests. Farewell gifts encapsulating the essence of the destination are presented to commemorate their time at The Chedi and to inspire their next arrival.

For three decades, GHM has earned critical acclaim as an inimitable creator of stylish hotels and resorts. In the new era of travel, these thoughtfully enhanced touchpoints reinforce our 30-year legacy of hospitality excellence by elevating our Guest Experience Signatures so as to captivate the evolved luxury traveller. Each distinct experience has been refined to deliver unique and inspiring moments with unparalleled attention to detail, said Tommy Lai, chief executive officer of GHM.

This year, GHM will be celebrating its pearl anniversary in commemoration of 30 years of A Style to Remember. Milestones in 2022 include the highly anticipated opening of The Chedi Katara Hotel & Resort in Doha, Qatar, where GHMs Guest Experience Signatures will be incorporated as its backbone of exclusive offerings, dedicated services and personalised experiences that are unique to this landmark property.-- TradeArabia News Service
Citing the city of New Orleans' announcement that it was lifting its indoor mask mandate, the Archdiocese of New Orleans said that it would no longer require masks at its New Orleans schools, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese said in a statement.

But the New Orleans public school district said it will keep its masking requirement through March 18, about two weeks after Mardi Gras.

"As we have done throughout the pandemic the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans will follow the guidance and requirements of civic officials," archdiocese spokeswoman Sarah McDonald said. "Masks will no longer be required in Catholic schools though individual schools may choose to implement policies that go beyond what is required based on the needs and desires of their communities."

The lifting of the city's indoor mask mandate was effective Thursday. The city also plans to drop the vaccination or negative test requirement on March 21 if infection levels remain low.

At a news conference on Wednesday announcing the revised masking rules, Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the citys health director, said the city's schools could continue with a mask policy if that's what the school district wants.

NOLA Public Schools in a statement Thursday said that restrictions imposed during the omicron surge, including use of assembly spaces and increased social distancing, would no longer be required as of Monday when students return from Mardi Gras break. Isolation period for positive cases will be reduced from 10 to 5 days.

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We want to make sure we keep our students and staff safe, NOLA Public Schools Superintendent Henderson Lewis Jr. said in a statement. Keeping our many layers of protection in place  social distancing, ongoing testing, and our vaccine mandate  will continue to curb future spikes of COVID-19.

Other public school districts across the region lifted their mask policies last year.

The New Orleans public school district is the only one in the state with a general requirement that students over the age of 5 be vaccinated. The deadline for students to be vaccinated was Feb. 1, but a number of schools have said they haven't reached 100% compliance and the district has not removed unvaccinated students. The requirement allows exemptions for religious, philosophical or medical reasons.

Most schools are in the process of collecting students' vaccination status. NOLA Public Schools said the majority of schools have submitted the data, showing that more than 45% of students are fully vaccinated and 60% of students have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Gov. John Bel Edwards added the COVID vaccine to the state's required vaccine list for students beginning in the 2022-2023 school year, but the move has been challenged in court by Attorney General Jeff Landry and a Republican state lawmaker.

"School vaccinations, for generations, have been required to enter school," Avegno said. "That is purely a function of the schools, and a necessary one, unless we want to return to the days of polio and measles and mumps and COVID outbreaks."
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.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Oklahoma lawmakers Tuesday vowed that Oklahoma would be the most pro-life state in the nation after learning that the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to allow states to choose whether to allow abortion access. State abortion rights advocates at the same time said they were terrified at this point.
Harrisburg, Pa.  Car dealerships in Pennsylvania are on notice.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro issued an advisory Thursday warning of unfair and deceptive practices that violate the Commonwealths Consumer Protection Law.

Weve seen a large increase in demand for new and used cars here in Pennsylvania, and while the vast majority of dealerships are following the rules, there has also been an increase in complaints from consumers noticing bad practices. said AG Josh Shapiro. We are putting these dealerships on notice: shift gears and be sure that you are following the law and treating consumers fairly."

According to the attorney general's office, the Commonwealths Consumer Protection Law and regulations require both new and used car dealerships to:

Represent and advertise goods or services at their actual price, comply with the terms of warranties given to the buyer; and not engage in fraudulent or deceptive conduct which creates a likelihood of confusion or misunderstanding.

Honor the terms of any contract with a consumer regarding the lease of a vehicle, including a consumers right to purchase the vehicle under the specific terms of the contract.

Sell a motor vehicle under the terms or conditions, including price or warranty, which a motor vehicle manufacturer or dealer has advertised or otherwise represented.

Disclose any hidden charges in any advertised price of a vehicle, as well as the expiration date of any advertised price.

Not increase the price of a motor vehicle after the contract has been accepted by the dealer or an authorized representative, unless the increase is due to a change in the law which requires the addition of new equipment or increases transportation costs or existing taxes.

Consumers who believe that a car dealership has violated the law should file a complaint with the Office of Attorney General by visiting www.attorneygeneral.gov or by calling the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555.

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Williamsport, Pa. - On September 16, 2019, at the United States Penitentiary, Allenwood, in White Deer, Pennsylvania, an inmate aggressively confronted a Bureau of Prisons senior officer in his housing unit.

Inmate William Henry Foster, age 35, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on March 1, 2022 by United States District Court Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann for an assault of a federal officer inflicting bodily injury, according to the United States Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Fosters sentence will run consecutively to his current 300-month federal sentence for conspiring to commit murder.

The officer ordered Foster to leave the unit, but Foster became increasingly upset and refused to leave, according to a news release. The officer then attempted to physically remove Foster from the unit, prompting Foster to punch the officer in the head and torso. Prison staff ultimately subdued Foster. The officer sustained abrasions on his left hand and neck and a head contusion.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew O. Inman and Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan V. Martin prosecuted the case.

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Harrisburg -- On March 1, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation met with the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS) to discuss the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and local governments' road and bridge needs.

PennDOT committed $455.9 million in liquid fuel payments to help municipalities maintain roads and bridges, about one percent more funding than last year's commitment. The liquid fuel distribution helps with highway and bridge-related expenses including snow removal and road re-paving and is based on each municipality's population and locally-owned, public road mileage.

We have the fifth-largest state-maintained road system in the country, and the locally owned roadway network is even larger, PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Planning Larry Shifflet said. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Laws bridge funding will help with some local bridges, but we need to leverage all available state and local-funding solutions to help our municipalities.

There are 120,596 miles of public roads in Pennsylvania. Some 2,560 municipalities manage an estimated 78,000 linear miles of roadway and more than 6,600 bridges longer than 20 feet.

We appreciate that PennDOT recognizes that local government is an important partner of the transportation network in Pennsylvania, being responsible for 2/3 of the road miles in the Commonwealth, said PSATS Executive Director David Sanko. This liquid fuels distribution is an integral part of local funding, but by no means enough to cover the costs, of building and maintaining our portion of the network.

According to the Transportation Revenue Options Commission, unmet funding need on locally owned roads and bridges is about $3.9 billion per year. The value is expected to increase to $5.1 billion annually by 2030 on top of the dedicated funding from PennDOT and gas tax revenue.

The federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will supply Pennsylvania with $1.6 billion in new bridge funds with 15 percent dedicated to "off-system" local bridges, but more state and local solutions are required to meet current and future needs.

The meeting in Harrisburg included a discussion of funding options that can be implemented on a local level. One example, provided by PennDOT, involved implementing a $5 fee for each vehicle registered to an address within an affected county, which will then be used on local infrastructure. To date, 27 counties have implemented this fee. From December 2015 through December 2021, $180.8 million has been collected and distributed to the respective counties.

Another idea involved local governments applying for low-interest loans from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Bank.

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Jersey Shore -- Lorne D. Doon Greene, 50, of Jersey Shore passed away Monday, February 28, 2022 at UPMC Susquehanna, Williamsport.

He was born on July 19, 1971 and was the son of Mary H. Greene of Jersey Shore and the late Larry R. Greene, Sr.

Doon attended Jersey Shore High School and was a truck driver, during which time, he made friends all over the country. He was most recently employed by Lucky Seven Travel Plaza in Lock Haven. Doon loved watching any kind of car racing and enjoyed building and competing with his own 4x4 Jeep. He had a knack for building a great racing motor and enjoyed being his brother Kevins right-hand man and pit crew at many 4x4 races. They especially enjoyed attending the biggest 4x4 race on the East Coast, Gravelrama. Doon also was a fixture at the Clinton County Motor Speedway on Friday nights.

In addition to his mother, Mary, he is survived by brothers; Kevin Smith and his wife Wendy and Larry Greene, Jr. and his wife Mary, sister; Bonnie Herold, grandparents; Dorland and Carlene Eck, nieces/nephews and their families; Bonnie Caffrey, Barbie Bonanni, Tammy Cochran, Bill McClelland and Brock Smith, step-children; Dillian Green and Millie Green, step-grandson; Warren Baker as well as several cousins. In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by brother; Gordon Greene and sister; Connie Cataldo.

In keeping with Doons wishes, there will be no services at this time. A life celebration service will be held at a later and warmer date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the funeral home to help with funeral costs.

Arrangements are being handled by Rearick-Carpenter Funeral Home, 1002 Allegheny St., Jersey Shore, PA.

Condolences may be shared at www.rearickcarpenter.com

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flydubai, the Dubai-based airline, celebrated its inaugural service to AlUla on March 2, becoming the first national carrier of the UAE to operate flights from Dubai. The airline plans to service the route twice a week.



The flight arrived at AlUla International Airport (ULH) and was greeted with a traditional water cannon salute, marking the start of a twice-weekly service. On board the inaugural flight was a senior delegation led by Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, members of the Royal Commission for AlUla, as well as representatives from the UAE media.



Al Ghaith said: we are delighted to see the first flydubai flight land in AlUla today and we would like to take this opportunity to thank the authorities and the Royal Commission for AlUla for their support. The launch of operations to AlUla reflects our commitment to strengthening the cultural, trade and tourism ties between the UAE and Saudi Arabia and opening up new markets to more passengers.



Phillip J Jones, Chief Destination Management and Marketing Officer at The Royal Commission for AlUla, said: As AlUla continues to attract more visitors from around the globe, we are thrilled to have flydubai offer year-round direct flights from Dubai. The new twice-weekly flights will facilitate not only the movement of visitors from the important UAE market, but from throughout flydubai's extensive international network into AlUla.



There is no other destination that equals AlUla for fascinating ancient history, heritage and culture combined with high-end luxury settings and experiences - and now increasingly more easily accessible for both leisure and business visitors. We still have five exciting weeks to go of our AlUla Moments events calendar and we warmly invite flydubai customers to visit to enjoy our concerts, festivals and events.



AlUla is an unseen wonder of the world that is located close to Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage site, Hegra, which opened to global travellers for the first time in 2020. At Hegra, visitors can explore the remains of a remarkable historical and archaeological site.



With the addition of AlUla, flydubais network in Saudi Arabia has now grown to six destinations including Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh and Yanbu.



In addition, passengers have the option to choose full packages from Holidays by flydubai with affordable travel packages to AlUla, starting at AED1,899 ($517). Package prices include Economy Class return flights and accommodation for three nights per person based on two adults sharing a room, including tax (room only). Travellers can customise their travel packages and add optional extras such as travel insurance, airport transfers or sightseeing tours.



Flights from Terminal 2, Dubai International (DXB) to AlUla International Airport (ULH) will operate twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays.



Return Business Class fares from DXB to ULH start from AED3,500 and Economy Class Lite fares start from AED1,050. Return Business Class fares from ULH to DXB start from SR3,500 ($932) and Economy Class Lite fares start from SR1,050.



Passengers booking a flydubai flight to Dubai will enjoy a complimentary Season Pass to visit Expo 2020 Dubai until 31 March 2022. The initiative is valid for all bookings made from January 2020 for travel during the event dates.  TradeArabia News Service
Russia captures Ukrainian port city, faces world censure as attacks intensify

KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces Wednesday intensified a wide-ranging offensive targeting key Ukrainian cities, menacing the capital, Kyiv, with a miles-long military convoy, launching deadly strikes on the second-largest city, Kharkiv, and seizing a strategic Black Sea port city with tanks and troops.

On the seventh day of a war marked by fierce Ukrainian resistance against advancing Russian firepower, Moscow faced growing international denunciations. The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution condemning the invasion, and President Joe Biden said it was clear that Russia was deliberately targeting civilians.

The capture of the port of Kherson, a city of some 300,000 people, marked the expanding reach of Russian forces across the south.

Residents posted videos showing Russian soldiers and tanks entering the city. Drone footage taken over a bridge near Kherson appeared to depict a battle between Ukrainian soldiers and Russian troops backed by artillery.

The mayor, Igor Kolykhayev, posted a message on Facebook saying that Russian troops had entered the city council building.

In an unusual revelation, Russia  traditionally secretive about combat casualties  for the first time provided an accounting of its battlefield deaths, with the Ministry of Defense acknowledging that 498 soldiers had been killed and 1,597 wounded since the start of its assault. Ukraine has claimed that more than 10 times as many Russian soldiers have died.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said a delegation was ready to hold evening talks with Ukrainian representatives in neighboring Belarus. Ukrainian officials also confirmed their readiness to hold discussions, which would be the second such session since the conflict erupted.

In Kyiv, a city of nearly 3 million people, sirens wailed repeatedly after dark and at least one heavy explosion shook buildings. Defenders  a motley mix of regular army troops and ad hoc civilian militias  braced for an expected full-scale attack, erecting makeshift barricades from branches, cinderblocks and vehicles, stockpiling ammunition and establishing lookouts.

Daylight on Wednesday in the snow-blanketed capital revealed the destructive power of a Russian missile strike the previous evening that killed five people, wounded five others and damaged a building on the grounds of the countrys main Holocaust memorial, Babyn Yar.

In the aftermath, the citys iconic television tower, erected in 1973, remained standing, but the blast disemboweled a nearby commercial building, blowing out the windows of a gym and roasting treadmills arrayed in a line. An automotive-supply store nearby was a chaotic maw of glass shards and car parts. The shock wave burst open a billboard and left power lines dangling onto the street.

Some of the most harrowing scenes of the invasion have emerged in Kharkiv, where blasts in recent days have devastated the citys central square and other populated areas. More deadly strikes occurred Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said, with witnesses reporting explosions that shattered building facades and lit up the cityscape with fireballs.

Kharkiv lies only a few dozen miles from the border with Russia, and its largely Russian-speaking population has sometimes been considered to have closer ties to Moscow than Kyiv. But the citys mayor, Igor Terekhov, said in a video uploaded Wednesday that attitudes toward Russia had changed completely after unforgivable attacks.

All over the city of Kharkiv, theres intense fighting from all sides, and obviously this situation is very dangerous, the mayor told the BBC, adding defiantly: We are not frightened. You cannot frighten the city of Kharkiv.

Repercussions continued to widen Wednesday from the Ukraine conflict, Europes largest land war in decades. The invasion has sent more than 874,000 people fleeing Ukraine for neighboring countries, the biggest such migration wave within Europe since the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Sanctions from a reinvigorated Western alliance have begun to pummel the Russian economy, sending the ruble plunging and crippling parts of the financial sector.

Putins government has denounced the punitive steps as illegitimate. Undeterred, the Biden administration on Wednesday announced new measures punishing Russias defense industry and applying many of the restrictions to Russias neighbor and ally, Belarus.

A total of 22 entities that form part of Russias war machine including companies that produce combat aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles and military electronic systems will be denied access to any trade or dealings with U.S. money or firms, U.S. officials said.

In recent days, Russian officials from Putin on down have employed heightened, heated rhetoric of a type not heard since the Cold War. On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying that if a third world war were to erupt, it would involve nuclear weapons.

The United States was scheduled to conduct a routine test of intercontinental ballistic missiles this week, but the Pentagon announced Wednesday that it was postponing that exercise.

We have no intention in engaging in any actions that can be misunderstood, or misconstrued, spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

We recognize at this moment of tension, how critical it is that both the United States and Russia bear in mind the risk of miscalculation and take steps to reduce those risks, he said.

Russias diplomatic isolation was growing. The General Assembly resolution demanding that Moscow immediately stop using force against Ukraine and withdraw its military from the country was approved by a vote of 141-5, with 35 abstentions.

If the U.N. has any purpose, it is to prevent war, to condemn war, to end war, the U.S. permanent representative, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the assembly.

While there were no overt signs that Putins iron grip on power in Russia was loosening, jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny urged compatriots to rise up in protest against him and the war. In a Twitter statement posted by a spokeswoman, Navalny called Putin an insane tsar.

In Ukraines southern coastal regions, Russian forces can use their takeover of Kherson as a Black Sea outpost and a springboard for an attack on Odessa, the crown jewel of Ukraines port cities.

After Russian soldiers entered the city, the mayor urged the occupiers not to shoot anyone, writing on Facebook: We dont have Ukrainian Armed Forces in the city, only civilians and people who want to LIVE here!

Russian bombardment also rained down on Mariupol, a strategic city on the Sea of Azov, where the citys mayor was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying shelling had been so relentless that we cannot even take the wounded from the streets.

For Kyivs hunkered-down residents, Tuesday nights missile strike near the TV tower provided the most potent demonstration yet of the military threat facing the capital. But on Wednesday, people were out on the streets in greater numbers than in past days, with cars navigating newly erected checkpoints and pedestrians out replenishing water and food supplies.

The massive Russian convoy, which stretches for 40 miles but remains stalled about 16 miles north of the city, has become emblematic of logistical stumbles by the invading force, including what Western officials say are supply shortages that have bogged down some troop movements.

A senior U.S. Defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters the armored column had been at a near-standstill for the last few days, with Ukrainian forces taking advantage of its relative immobility to mount sporadic attacks.

But Western military analysts and officials believe that Putin and his generals, if frustrated by the initial sluggishness of the advance, might resort to overwhelming force directed at civilian areas, a hallmark of past Russian offensives elsewhere.

An all-out assault on Kyiv would probably result in a staggering degree of carnage, either in the form of blanket bombardment to pave the way for advancing Russian troops, or in bloody urban warfare as the invaders confront home-turf defenders determined to fight for every street corner.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace predicted growing brutality on Putins part in coming days.

He surrounds cities, he ruthlessly bombards them at night, Wallace said in a radio interview. And he will then eventually try and break them.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said that hundreds if not thousands of Ukrainian civilians are believed to have been killed.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that though Russian forces were moving closer to the capital, the city was prepared and that critical infrastructure, including public transportation, was still functioning.

Do not believe misinformation intended to break Ukrainians. Kyiv stands and will stand. We will fight, he said in a video message Wednesday.

Despite the looming threat, even those sheltering in the depths of a metro station near the scene of Tuesday nights missile strike said they had become accustomed to a new rhythm of life in the capital.

We felt scared in the beginning, yes, but now, after a week? said Julia Andreyivna, 25, a manager at a magazine publisher who sat on an inflatable mattress, cradling her cat, Mark. We feel OK. Its become routine.

She had no intention of leaving the capital.

Were staying, she said. This is our Kyiv.
The ninth Arab Aviation Summit (AAS), the regions leading aviation and tourism industry event at Al Hamra International Exhibition & Conference Centre in Ras Al Khaimah, concluded today on an optimistic note with industry stakeholders expecting the region to demonstrate strong recovery.

They underlined the need for greater collaboration and open dialogue between governments, regulators and operators to better support the industrys recovery. They also highlighted the need for greater investment in technology to respond to changing passenger behaviour, which is shifting towards a preference for a seamless and digital experience. Discussions also centred on the importance of sustainability and the role of the industry in achieving Net Zero carbon emissions.

In addition, experts highlighted the role of the tourism as a catalyst for economic development and pandemic recovery in the region, addressing the need to support small and medium-sized businesses moving forward.

Under the theme of Roadmap to Recovery, more than 750 international and local industry experts as well as media representatives gathered to discuss a wide array of aviation and tourism topics spread over the two-day summit.

The first day of the AAS (Feb 28) hosted industry workshops covering various topics related to regional and international practices across tourism, aviation, airports, and other sectors.

The second day of the summit (March 1) featured high-profile industry leaders speaking across panel sessions that discussed the state of air transportation and tourism in the Arab world, and its effect on the global economy. Top aviation and tourism leaders gathered to discuss how airlines are thriving in a post-pandemic world, in addition to sharing new operational models and success stories based on their unique expertise and knowledge.

Adel Al Ali, Group CEO of Air Arabia, commented on the changing consumer behaviour, especially amongst the younger generation who prioritise value-added competitive pricing over luxury, and also highlighted the importance of ensuring a seamless travel experience.

Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, discussed how re-igniting the aviation sector is central to rebuilding tourism in the region and the importance of collaboration to build a stronger, more sustainable and resilient tourism economy for future generations.

Kamil Al-Awadhi, Regional Vice President for Africa and the Middle East, IATA, said the region is very resilient and nimble in its ability to adapt to quickly. He added that he has a positive outlook for the aviation sector this year and hopes for a significant increase in demand in the next six months.

Samer Majali, CEO of Royal Jordanian Airlines, expressed cautious optimism for the aviation industry with the removal of entry restrictions across the world but highlighted the new regional and global challenges presented by the conflict in Eastern Europe.

Maen Razouqi, CEO of Kuwait Airways, raised the need for collaboration through joint ventures and partnerships within the industry to ensure the sector is resilient and sustainable.

Mikail Hourari, President of Airbus Africa Middle East, expects that the Middle East will be one of the regions to demonstrate strong recovery. He stated that the future of aviation lies in sustainability and the industry must tackle its negative perception surrounding its impact on carbon emissions.

Atanasios Titonis, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, said the pandemic was very challenging for the aviation industry but that the sector is the best crisis manager and going forward it is well prepared for future crises.

Majid Khan, Vice President of Aviation Development, Istanbul Airport, expects a full recovery for the sector by the end of the year and said the Middle East is a strong market for the airport.

Muzzammil Ahussian, Executive Vice President of Travel, Seera Group, remains extremely confident in the region, highlighted that data is positive and expects 2022 will be back to pre-pandemic levels with Saudi Arabia as a destination many tourists are interested to visit.

Omar Seraj Akbar, CEO of Zamzam.com, commented that pandemic was a key player in changing the mindset of people in the way they book, with a significant shift towards online solutions, but that there is still demand from passengers to book via a travel agent.

Endorsed by Arab Governments and previously held in many Arab countries, the AAS 2022 was hosted in collaboration with Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) and supported by global industry partners such as Airbus, CFM, Air Arabia, Alpha Aviation Academy, and others. The summit will also be hosted in Ras Al Khaimah in 2023. - TradeArabia News Service
LG has lifted the lid on the UltraGear 48GQ900, a huge gaming monitor that will be available this summer. The UltraGear 48GQ900 features a 10-bit WOLED panel, along with modern I/O and a matte finish.

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LG has revealed the UltraGear 48GQ900, a monitor that leaked last week. Thought to be arriving in July, the company decided to showcase the UltraGear 48GQ900 at its LG Convention 2022 instead. However, the monitor will not be available until the second half of the year, so we suspect that July was actually its release date.

As expected, the UltraGear 48GQ900 is a 48-inch gaming monitor that relies on a 10-bit OLED panel. According to FlatpanelsHD, LG has settled on a WOLED panel instead of its newer OLED EX technology. Like LG's OLED TVs, the UltraGear 48GQ900 operates natively at 4K and 120 Hz, although 138 Hz could be a possibility. Additionally, the monitor will offer 1 ms GtG response times, 98.5% DCI P3 colour space coverage and an anti-glare coating, unlike equivalent LG OLED TVs.
Ford plans to split into electric and gasoline units as it seeks to become one of the nation's largest electric vehicle producers.

This isnt the first time Ford has reimagined the future and taken our own path, said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford. We have an extraordinary opportunity to lead this thrilling new era of connected and electric vehicles, give our customers the very best of Ford, and help make a real difference for the health of the planet.

Ford, which operates the Chicago Assembly Plant on the far South Side and the Chicago Stamping Plants in Chicago Heights, is splitting internally into the Ford Model e, which will focus on electric vehicles, the Ford Blue, which will focus on the automaker's iconic nameplates, and Ford Pro, which will focus on commercial vehicles.

It's the latest step in Ford President and CEO Jim Farley's Ford+ transformation plan to make the company more relevant in a time of great upheaval in the auto industry.

We have made tremendous progress in a short period of time. We have launched a series of hit products globally, and demand for our new EVs like F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E is off the charts, Farley said. But our ambition with Ford+ is to become a truly great, world-changing company again, and that requires focus. We are going all in, creating separate but complementary businesses that give us start-up speed and unbridled innovation in Ford Model e together with Ford Blues industrial know-how, volume and iconic brands like Bronco, that start-ups can only dream about.

The Dearborn-based automaker, which employs thousands of auto workers in the Calumet Region, said the reorganization was taking place as a result of the small teams that developed new electric vehicles like the Ford GT, Mustang Mach-E SUV and F-150 Lightning pickup.

Ford Model e will be Fords center of innovation and growth, a team of the worlds best software, electrical and automotive talent turned loose to create truly incredible electric vehicles and digital experiences for new generations of Ford customers, Farley said. Ford Blues mission is to deliver a more profitable and vibrant ICE business, strengthen our successful and iconic vehicle families and earn greater loyalty by delivering incredible service and experiences. Its about harnessing a century of hardware mastery to help build the future. This team will be hellbent on delivering leading quality, attacking waste in every corner of the business, maximizing cash flow and optimizing our industrial footprint.

Ford will run the Model e and Blue divisions as distinct but interconnected businesses. The company is looking to maintain its traditional core business with developing new technologies like electric vehicle platforms, batteries and charging stations.

This new structure will enhance our capacity to generate industry-leading growth, profitability and liquidity in this new era of transportation, said John Lawler, Fords chief financial officer. It will sharpen our effectiveness in allocating capital to both the ICE and EV businesses and the returns we expect from them  by making the most of existing capabilities, adding new skills wherever theyre needed, simplifying processes and lowering costs. Most importantly, we believe it will deliver growth and significant value for our stakeholders.

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Gov. Eric Holcomb is getting closer to deciding exactly how Indiana will respond to Russia's unlawful invasion of Ukraine.

The Republican has begun receiving reports from state agencies and the Indiana Public Retirement System about the extent of Indiana's contracts with Russian companies and investments in Russian business enterprises, in accordance with an executive order Holcomb signed Monday.

Holcomb said Thursday once he has all the information he'll chart a path forward that's likely to include cutting off all connections with Russia and Russian-owned businesses.

"There are a full spectrum of measures you can take," Holcomb said. "The state of Indiana is not going to be part of Putin's blood-oil machine."

The governor also is encouraging Indiana businesses, universities, and other entities to evaluate their connections to Russia, and take action accordingly.

He even volunteered to help one industry signal its displeasure with Russia's continuing invasion of Ukraine.

"If you're a liquor store owner and you want to fill up a garbage can with Russian vodka, I'll throw the match and light it on fire," Holcomb said.

State lawmakers also soon are expected to give final approval to Senate Bill 388 barring any business entity organized under the laws of the Russian Federation, or wholly controlled by Russian citizens, from acquiring by any means any real property located in Indiana.

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HAMMOND  The School City of Hammond changed COVID-19 guidelines and discussed fighting in the schools at a Tuesday School Board meeting that also included public comment on the superintendents contract.

Sarah Ligon, director of SCH health services, announced the schools would go mask optional Wednesday, after staff rules went mask optional Monday. Ligon emphasized COVID-19 cases are going down in the county and within the district.

We do feel like we are moving ahead, Ligon said. She said 54% of employees have reported that they are vaccinated and 23% of the student population have reported they are vaccinated. The district does plan to launch some vaccination clinics, Ligon said.

The district will continue to monitor positive cases, and Ligon said masks will be available for those who request them. Superintendent Scott Miller said there are KN95 masks available for all staff.

Miller said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed guidance to have three different levels of COVID-19 guidance. If a county is in low or medium, masks are optional. Lake County is in the low category.

Miller said one of his concerns with masking was on its impact on students' ability to learn. He said he had spoken to a teacher who said speech and language abilities were decreasing.

I know we have to be careful about COVID  but when kids' learning is affected by it, that's where it really gets my attention, Miller said. He said while the district could have waited until the end of the school year, the impact on learning means they need to act now. He said the district will continue other COVID-19 protocols outside of the masks.

Miller also said if the county went into the orange category, where COVID-19 spread is higher, the district would mandate masks.

Trustee Cindy Murphy then asked about the availability of cleaning supplies and masks. She said teachers have expressed they do not have enough, and trustee Carlotta Blake-King said she has also heard about this issue.

Miller said staff should contact their buildings office manager or No. 1 custodian at the school. He said there are a lot of supplies available.

Blake-King said COVID-19 has hit her personally and it causes her to look at the issue differently.

I dont think we have taken it seriously enough, Carlotta Blake-King said regarding contact tracing. She then said some families were not contacted about contact tracing, a claim that was refuted by Evangelina Garcia, COVID-19 assistant, who said she has contacted a lot of parents personally and took the position very seriously.

Michael Pijarowski, a resident of Hammond, said during an outbreak in November there was not a lot of enforcement of masking. He said he had to take days off of work and lost a certain amount of hours of salary.

Rosie Recio, who works for the city of Hammond, expressed her concern about the removal of masks. She said safety is the most important.

She said her husband and son are at high risk and she does not want to take anything home to them.

Fighting at schools

Several individuals expressed their concerns about safety and violence within the schools. The closure of Gavit and Clark led to the transfer of students into Eggers Middle School. Hammond High School also closed with the opening of Hammond Central High School.

Last semester, there was a shooting at Hammond Central High School, where two students were shot.

Pijarowski said something has to be done about the violence, whether that is mental help or some other idea.

You never know when someone is pushed too far, Pijarowski said.

Amy Pijarowski, Michael Pijarowskis wife, said in an email she was concerned about communication from the district regarding the issue,

Its taken this long to get them to address very public issues at the board meeting last night. We the parents of these children need to be informed first as to how things are being handled. We also feel that because of the lack of communication parents are scared to send their children to these schools and feel that they are not getting a proper education and they are pulling their children out of these schools, Amy said in an email.

Miller said the district has taken several actions regarding the issue, including bringing in an outside security company. He also said there are community support specialists to work with kids at the elementary schools, as many issues could be rooted from when children are young.

The district also has an alternative school for students who would otherwise be expelled. There are double the amount of counselors at secondary schools.

Hammond also has made a concerted effort to remove students who are found not to be Hammond residents.

Miller listed several other things the district is doing to help work on this issue. He said some of the major challenges are social media and the impact of students being at home due to the pandemic.

Blake-King said after the meeting that it may not be enough, as fights are still occurring. She said it is almost the end of the school year and fights should not be still happening.

Superintendent contract

The School City of Hammond is considering giving its superintendent a raise of $28,000.

Millers current contract indicates he is paid $150,000 annually, with an annuity of $14,500. Under the new contract, he would have a base salary of $178,000 annually for the period that began July 1, 2021, and will conclude June 30, 2024.

Under the proposed contract, the superintendents performance will be evaluated each year. If his evaluation is effective, he will receive a $3,000 increase in his salary, or $5,000 if his evaluation is highly effective."

Some members of the public have expressed their concern about Miller's credentials for the position. Currently, Miller has a temporary superintendent license that expires in 2024.

In Indiana, for an individual to be a superintendent, he or she is required to have at least an education specialist, or Ed.S., degree, which is a postgraduate degree for professional educators, in addition to several other requirements. According to the district's website, Miller has a bachelor's degree from Indiana University Northwest and a masters degree from Purdue Calumet.

Christine Clarahan, SCH director of food service, expressed her support for the contract under consideration.

I would ask everybody in the audience and watching at home to imagine taking over a school district that immediately needed to consolidate schools to prevent state takeover, Clarahan said. If that wasnt bad enough, throw in a two-year-long pandemic that disrupted every part of our lives, especially the lives and learning of our students. The cherry on top of this perfect storm of a sundae is that there is a small, but vocal group of people who seem dedicated to seeing you fail. Could you imagine how difficult that would be?

She said she does not understand why people do not want to see Miller succeed.

As she spoke, several members of the audience began to speak over her, leading to a 10-minute recess.

Paul Walker, a resident of Hammond, said that Miller does not have the qualifications after initially having said he would get them. Walker said regardless of Millers performance, he should get the qualifications before receiving a raise.

The next board meeting will be March 15. The superintendents contract will be voted on.

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CHESTERTON  There were no injuries in a crash that closed two right-hand lanes on westbound Interstate 94 in the Chesterton area, the Indiana Department of Transportation reported.

Police responded to the wreck around 5 a.m. Wednesday at the 25.9 mile marker of westbound I-94.

The crash caused extensive delays of up to five hours on the stretch of interstate between County Road North 250 East in Chesterton and U.S. 20 in Porter, the state said. The lanes reopened around 10 a.m, said Indiana State Police Cpl. Kim Zelnis of the Lowell Post.

The crash involved two semitrailers, which Indiana State Police said can take a long period of time to clear the scene.

No one was injured in the crash and the investigation is ongoing.

Times Staff Writer Anna Ortiz contributed to this report.

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Indiana lawmakers have overwhelmingly agreed to clarify the legal definition of sexual consent and voted Wednesday to send the measure to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb to be signed into law.

Under current statutes, sexual intercourse is considered rape in Indiana when a person uses force, or the imminent threat of force, to compel sexual conduct, a person is unaware the sexual conduct is occurring, or a person is unable to consent to sex due to mental disability.

House Enrolled Act 1079 declares it also is rape when a person disregards the other person's attempts to physically, verbally, or by other visible conduct refuse the person's sexual acts.

State Rep. Sharon Negele, R-Attica, the sponsor, said the additional definition will enable judges and juries to more accurately determine whether a sex partner provided consent, while also empowering victims to speak about why and how they didn't consent.

"I have had many discussions with lawmakers, experts and victims of rape over the past few years to tackle this issue," Negele said. "I believe this legislation defines consent effectively, and will protect those who deserve justice."

Rima Shahid, chief executive officer of Women4Change, a leading advocate for sexual consent statutes, said the legislation is "definitely a step toward making Indiana a better place for women."

"Having a law that defines consent could mean that Indiana prosecutors will be more likely to take rape cases to court, and more survivors will find the courage to seek justice," Shahid said.

Rape is a level 3 felony punishable by up to 16 years in prison. The crime is enhanced to a level 1 felony, punishable by up to 40 years in prison, if committed with the threat of deadly force, use of a deadly weapon or drug, or results in serious bodily injury to the victim.

A provision creating the crime of "rape by deception," where the perpetrator successfully poses as the victim's usual, consensual sex partner, was dropped from the legislation prior to final approval.

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CROWN POINT  A judge recently denied a request for a trial outside Lake County for a man charged with killing Region attorney William "Bill" Enslen.

Jason M. Vazquez, 38, of Hammond, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, murder in perpetration of a burglary and two counts of burglary in connection with Enslen's homicide June 24 inside his Hobart home.

Lake Criminal Court Judge Natalie Bokota wrote in an order she found insufficient evidence to support an assertion by Vazquez's attorneys, David Payne and Kurt Earnst, that Vazquez could not have a fair trial in Lake County.

Enslen, 75, a partner at Enslen, Enslen & Matthews in Hammond, was recalled after his death as a well-respected attorney who was fair and honest. He served as a U.S. Marine during the Vietnam War.

Payne and Earnst were appointed to represent Vazquez after the Lake County public defender's office said it was ethically precluded from representing him because of Enslen's role on the Lake County Criminal Division Public Defender Board.

In separate motions, Vazquez requested he be moved from the Lake County Jail for his own safety and that his trial be continued.

Bokota granted both requests.

She ordered Vazquez to be moved to the LaPorte County Jail and given access to the facility's law library.

The judge also scheduled Vazquez's trial to begin Sept. 26.

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CROWN POINT  A Lake Station man could avoid prison time after admitting Monday to helping put a homicide victim's body in a car and serving as a lookout while others dumped the body in a pond.

Adam Martin, 22, appeared in court with defense attorney John Cantrell and pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal, a level 5 felony.

If Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez accepts the plea agreement, he would sentence Martin to two years in prison but suspend the term in favor of probation.

Martin is the third man to plead guilty in the homicide of 34-year-old Erik Lozano on Dec. 1, 2019, in the parking lot of a BMO Harris bank branch in East Chicago.

Christian O. Mora, 21, of East Chicago, was sentenced in January to 20 years in prison for stabbing Lozano about 20 times during an argument about money.

Casey Hall, 21, of Merrillville, was sentenced to two years in prison for helping place Lozano's body in Grand Boulevard Lake in Lake Station. The body had been doused in bleach and wrapped in garbage bags, court records state.

Nathaniel J. Ostapchuk, 23, of Hammond, has pleaded not guilty to assisting a criminal. His next court date is scheduled for March 15.

Lozano's brother, Ruben Lozano, told the judge during Mora's sentencing hearing it was painful to learn his brother had been stabbed so many times, including once through the heart, and "disregarded as nothing."

"My brother was a good guy," he said. "He's going to be missed."

Vasquez scheduled Martin's sentencing hearing for March 28.

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MICHIGAN CITY  A fundraiser made it possible for officers throughout LaPorte County to be armed with a device health care providers said is a life-saver.

On Feb. 28 police from several departments in LaPorte County were presented with 68 automatic external defibrillators at Franciscan Health Michigan City.

Todays event is about service to the community," said Dean Mazzoni, president and CEO of Franciscan Health Michigan City. "Its about a beautiful partnership between two service providers: law enforcement and health care. Getting these devices into their hands will help them save lives in our community. We at Franciscan Health could not be more excited be part of this wonderful effort."

The third annual Bolt for the Heart 5K/10K Hallowrun on Oct. 30 in Washington Park in Michigan City made the purchase possible. There were more than 500 participants of the event, which was primarily sponsored by Franciscan Health Michigan City.

Bolt for the Heart President Pierre M. Twer said the number of registrations for the fundraiser doubled from the past year and the majority of the $106,000 total raised was from sponsorships. Hometown Hero sponsors also contributed to the number of AEDs purchased.

A total of 40 AEDs were given to the Michigan City Police Department and 28 were provided to the LaPorte Police Department.

During the presentation, Twer gave accounts of two instances where AEDs saved lives in the past year.

In one incident, an Indiana State Police trooper in Elkhart used an AED to rescue a man on the side of the road who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Twer said the entire turn of events were captured on the officer's body cam video.

In Carmel, police rescued a 4-year-old girl when she went into cardiac arrest in her house.

The satisfying thing for us at Bolt is both of these situations, we placed the AEDs in those cars, Twer said.

Long Beach Police Department Marshal Mark Swistek secured 16 AED donations through the support of local business leaders. Other law enforcement leaders likewise worked to gain funds among their communities.

This was a special time for us, seeing law enforcement agencies come together for a common cause," Michigan City Police Chief Dion Campbell said. "Even those that were not recipients of the AEDs came together. Its kind of a preview of the future of law enforcement where we all know that we are dependent on one another.

LaPorte Police Department Chief Paul Brettin said the possibilities are endless with the devices in the hands of so many officers.

You can see the dedication of these officers that want to get out there and start using these AEDs," he said. "And the big winner is those unknown victims out there. We dont know how many saves well have with these.

From the start, the Play for Jake Foundation has been part of the Bolt for the Heart effort, organization leaders said. The Play for Jake Foundation was created by Julie West, whose son, Jake, died on a LaPorte High School practice field from an undetected heart condition in 2013.

Knowing that AEDs are going into the first responders vehicles just warms my heart," West said. "I know theres going to be so many lives that are saved, and thats why I do what I do with our foundation."

Twer said the the fourth annual Bolt for the Heart event will have the goal of providing the rest of AEDs needed in Michigan City and LaPorte to ensure every officer in the departments has the device in their patrol cars. Twer also plans to use donations to build a sustainability fund, which can be used to replace pads and batteries.

Our mission continues to grow and expand, Twer said.

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CROWN POINT  Lake County prosecutors dropped charges late last week against a Merrillville woman accused of staging her boyfriend's death as a suicide.

Alycia Caparelli, 37, was found by Merrillville police in a room with 35-year-old Timothy Riley after officers responded Dec. 1, 2017, to a home in the 700 block of West 73rd Avenue, according to Lake Criminal Court records.

Riley had suffered a single gunshot to the head and was lying on the floor, records state. He later died at a hospital.

Caparelli called in the death as a suicide and told investigators she saw Riley shoot himself in the head with a gun she left on a dresser, records state.

The Lake County coroner's office ruled Riley's death a homicide after determining the fatal shot was fired from at least 2 feet away, records state. A forensic pathologist also noted fresh bruises on Riley's left side and leg.

Caparelli was charged after a 10-month investigation with one count of murder. Her attorney, Michael Woods, told Judge Natalie Bokota in November that plea negotiations in the case were ongoing.

In a motion to dismiss filed Friday, Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Nadia Wardrip wrote, "Due to insufficient evidence, the state of Indiana is unable to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt."

Bokota ordered the charge dismissed without prejudice, which means the state could refile the case at a later date. Bokota also vacated Caparelli's jury trial, which had been scheduled for June.

According to court records, police found evidence of a rocky relationship between Caparelli and Riley.

She had threatened self-harm several times before Riley's death and was admitted to a psychiatric ward of a hospital after he was shot, documents state.

Caparelli's mother and stepfather, who also lived at the Merrillville home, told police they heard Riley scream from his room, records state.

The stepfather said he saw Riley on the ground with a gun in his right hand, with both hands down at his side and Caparelli in the middle of the room on her knees crying, according to a police report. The mother told police she never saw a gun.

When a detective went to the home later, he found the scene had been altered, records state. A blood-soaked rug had been folded up and put in a garage, and blood had been washed from the scene.

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CROWN POINT  Attorneys for Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. asked a judge Wednesday to prohibit the state from conducting a comprehensive search of the sheriff's cellphone, which was seized Tuesday.

In the interim, the sheriff's lawyers are asking Special Judge Jeryl Leach to stay execution of the search warrant issued Feb. 18 and renewed Feb. 28 and set a hearing on the matter.

Special Prosecutor Stanley Levco had not filed a written response by press time.

The renewed search warrant permits a comprehensive search of a Samsung Galaxy S10 from Sept. 18 to 19, which are pertinent to allegations that led to the sheriff's indictment by a grand jury on felony resisting law enforcement and misdemeanor reckless driving charges, attorneys Paul Stracci and Michael Woods wrote.

However, the search warrant also permits seizure of all photographs and videos; the complete address book; all text messages; all instant messages; owner and cellphone information; all internet-based cookies, bookmarks and sites; all call logs; all data located on any SIM card inside or with the cellphone; all data from any type of memory card inside or with the phone; and all data from applications installed on the phone, court records state.

The only data in each of those categories that would be related to any conceivable probable cause would be from Sept. 18 to 19, defense attorneys wrote.

Martinez is accused of driving at speeds up to 50 mph over the limit Sept. 18 on Taft and Main streets in Crown Point and Merrillville.

The sheriff denied the charges and pointed out he's not accused of political corruption. He said the allegations don't prevent him from holding office, and he characterized the indictment as a "political witch hunt" by a "rival politician."

Martinez's attorneys wrote software commonly used to examine cellphones can filter and extract data withing a particular time range.

Allowing a search outside of Sept. 18 to 19 could result "in the sort of fishing expedition" the Indiana Constitution seeks to prohibit, attorneys wrote.

The defense also argued prosecutors almost five months after the alleged incident to seek a search warrant for the sheriff's cellphone and didn't execute the warrant within the 10 days provided for by law.

"The state's own actions in failing to timely seek, obtain and serve a search warrant for this phone until now demonstrate low law enforcement need for the data generally and the data not from Sept. 18 and 19 particularly," the defense attorneys wrote.

They asked Leach to prohibit the search, or at least limit its scope.

Martinez's lawyers previously filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against him, because they says the grand jury proceedings that led to the indictment were "defective" and violated the sheriff's due process rights.

Leach set a hearing on the motion to dismiss for March 7.

Martinez's trial remained scheduled to begin April 11.

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MICHIGAN CITY  Work on the Double Track NWI project will complicate navigating around the city for most of the rest of the year.

The Board of Works approved closing 11th Street for 8 1/2 months for the construction project that aims to dramatically decrease travel times between Chicago and Michigan City.

Just four north-south roads along 11th Street  Wabash, Washington, Franklin and Ohio  will remain open, and even those will be closed intermittently, though not at the same time.

Mayor Duane Parry said when Ohio Street is closed for the rail project, Kentucky and Tennessee  both of them one-way streets  will serve as alternates.

Councilman Paul Przybylinski, D-2nd, told the board his concerns about closing 11th Street.

The neighborhood between Ohio and Wabash has several one-way streets.

Has there been a traffic plan put together to address the needs of that area between Barker Avenue and 11th, which is now defunct, and Ohio Street and Wabash Street for all the one-way streets in there? Przybylinski asked.

This area is heavily impacted by the closure, the complete closure of 11th Street, he said.

Councilman Paul brings up a very good point, City Engineer Jeff Wright said. During construction, one-way streets will have to become two-way streets, at least in their final block. The streets are wide enough to become two-way for the time being, he said.

I think its mostly coordination and informing the neighborhood folks about whats going to happen, Wright said.

Przybylinski asked how the project would affect emergency services in that area.

Are we going to back firetrucks down the street?

The latest drawings show either a large cul-de-sac or a service road, Parry said. Its a difficult situation, but if you look at the entire area, youll see a majority of those streets only go a block or two before they terminate anyway.

This is a project thats been ongoing since 2019, Parry added.

This is a major safety issue for providing emergency services for those people in that neighborhood, Przybylinski said.

His brother, Councilman Don Przybylinski, D-At-Large, said the City Council had noted that more entrances were needed. He was glad to see the original plans were revised. Whats been approved is a commonsense plan.

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An adult relative caring for a child after the child has been removed from a dangerous home situation soon will be entitled to directly participate in court hearings concerning services needed by the child or terminating the parent-child relationship.

Under current law, only state-licensed foster parents have a statutory right to intervene in legal proceedings pertaining to abused or neglected children.

Senate Enrolled Act 410, which won final legislative approval Wednesday and now goes to the governor to be signed into law, gives the same right to unlicensed caregivers who are related to, and taking of, an abused child.

It follows the October 2021 death of Judah Morgan, a 4-year-old in LaPorte County, who died after suffering severe injuries from blunt force trauma in his birth parents' home, notwithstanding repeated warnings to the Department of Child Services by his caregiver, a second cousin, that the child was at risk if returned again to his parents.

Under this legislation, sponsored by state Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, the caregiver would have been entitled to speak at court hearings concerning the disposition of the child.

"SEA 410 will help prevent more cases like Judah's from occurring," Bohacek said. "Caregivers will finally have the opportunity to intervene in a child's case and hopefully provide them with refuge from the abuse they face."

The LaPorte County prosecutor's office has charged Judah's father and mother in his homicide.

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CEDAR LAKE  A 17-year-old was found suffering a gunshot wound in a Cedar Lake home Wednesday afternoon.

At 3:09 p.m. police responded to a report of someone who was accidentally shot with a handgun, said Cedar Lake Chief of Police Bill Fisher.

Fisher said once police arrived, a wounded 17-year-old girl was found lying on a bed in a residence in the 8500 block of 141st Lane.

The teen had a gunshot wound in her right lower abdomen and there was no exit wound.

After officers made sure the scene was secure, Cedar Lake Fire Department paramedics aided the victim and transported her to the ER at Franciscan Health Crown Point.

The teen's condition is unknown at this time. Police said the investigation is active and limited information was immediately releasable.

Check back at nwi.com for updates.

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jane coaston

Im Jane Coaston. Alexander Vindman was three when his family fled Ukraine to build a better life in the United States. In the four decades since then, Vindman has been an officer in the U.S. Army, studied Ukrainian affairs at Harvard, and served as a member of the White Houses National Security Council specializing in Eastern Europe. And it was in that last role that America came to know Vindmans name.

archived recording (alexander vindman) On July 25th 2019, the call occurred. I listened in on the call in the situation room with White House colleagues. I was concerned by the call. What I heard was inappropriate. And I reported my concerns 

jane coaston

He was the first White House official to testify about the July 25th call between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, a call that would lead to Trumps first impeachment.

archived recording (alexander vindman) It is improper for the president of the United States to demand a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen and a political opponent.

jane coaston

After Trumps acquittal, Vindman was fired from his job at the N.S.C., and he retired from the Army the following year. He has an absolutely singular perspective on what is happening right now in Ukraine  what we can expect, how we got here, and maybe most importantly, what were still getting wrong. [MUSIC PLAYING] Alexander Vindman, welcome to The Argument.

alexander vindman

Thanks for having me on.

jane coaston

First, how are you doing? How are your family and friends in Ukraine?

alexander vindman

So I have friends there. But fortunately, I guess under the circumstances, I dont have any close family. All the close relatives have emigrated. We came as refugees. But friends, its tough. I had some conversations with some friends this morning, dealing with the circumstances as best they can, firm resolved to continue to stay there, whether theyre working nonprofit side or just trying to live their lives. And then, of course, the folks in government absolutely resolve to keep the country intact, sovereign and independent.

jane coaston

As you said, your family were Jewish refugees that fled Ukraine. Youve spent your career studying Ukraine and Russian relations. You spent time in the military, significant time in the military and in the White House. And you were on the record early saying that an invasion was likely when other people were saying that it wasnt or that it was impossible or that U.S. intelligence was incorrect, even as much as five days ago.

alexander vindman

Yeah.

jane coaston

So what has surprised you most about the events of the past week?

alexander vindman

Well, its interesting. I got to say that I did feel like at times, you know, when you make some weighty calls like that, you feel like youre out on a limb. And I kept questioning and hoping I was wrong, frankly.

jane coaston

Right. This is the kind of thing where being right sucks.

alexander vindman

Yeah. Being right sucks, and I felt it was more important to really try to get the U.S. government to pay attention and take early steps to avoid it rather than preserve my credibility, which, frankly, is why people so often head to their analysis. Because they dont want to be wrong on something like this, and then what they say is questioned. But it was too big. It was in my face. It was coming. But Im not Nostradamus, and I have been off on a couple of things. But what is amazing, what is shocking is the flawed assumptions of the Russian government. The Russian military is not incompetent. Theyve proven themselves in smaller contingencies. Theyre professional. Theyre exercised, which is different than being well-trained. But theyre pretty well-exercised. But they were operating on this very, very flawed assumption, that they would face little resistance, they may be welcomed in. And it looks like they rolled in as if they were going into a peacekeeping operation into a training area instead of rolling into combat. And the resistance that theyre faced is fierce from all across the country. Well find out eventually how much of this is designed and how much of this is fortune. But I would imagine theres quite a bit of design from the Ukrainian side. They didnt fight every inch. They let the Russian forces funnel into major cities, many, many miles away from their logistics, many, many miles from safe haven, and then stalled them and started to destroy Russian forces, and then punish the supply lines to maintain those forces in the fight. And thats something that is both a massive misjudgment on the Russian side. And the fierce resistance from the Ukrainian side is not something that I think anybody really counted for. And that includes me, because I did actually think about resolve and the willingness of the Ukrainians to fight. And I thought that they would put up a valiant fight, but this is a whole different scale. Its a long way to go. And its a really, really precarious situation. It is day by day, hour by hour. But you can almost see Ukraine leaving this war with its sovereignty and independence intact, which is hard to imagine when facing, by all accounts, the second most powerful military in the world. And this is all them, by the way. This is not like other allies coming in. This is Ukrainian fighting on their own. Theyre getting equipment now, probably later than they should have. Theyre taking more losses than they need to, but theyre getting it. And theyre going to be able to sustain themselves probably. Question is, what does Russia do?

jane coaston

Right. This seems like it has not gone at all the way that Putin may have wanted. Youre seeing these tank formations, these long columns of tanks that are breaking down, just lacking fuel. So as you said, it did look like they either expected to be coming in welcomed. They expected to be coming in so quickly that there would be no defense. There have been a lot of people talking about how this is a different Vladimir Putin. Marco Rubio tweeted this weekend, we are not dealing with 2008 Putin. Theres been a lot of conversation about that. And I dont like doing remote psychology, but can anyone be confident in our assessments of his decision-making? And whats different about the version of Vladimir Putin that invaded Georgia, that took the region of the Caucasus, and this Vladimir Putin, in your view?

alexander vindman

So let me start with talking about some of the military operations. Because we shouldnt underestimate the Russian military.

jane coaston

Absolutely.

alexander vindman

Thats dangerous.

jane coaston

Right.

alexander vindman

We should not underestimate him as a paper tiger and discount them. Because their capabilities are advanced. Theyre definitely underperforming, but I think a lot of that has to do with the political leadership. This is just my analysis. What well likely find out is that Putin gave explicit guidance on doing at least a light touch on the cities. So initially, the aerial bombardments and the cruise missile strikes were on military targets and not on populated areas. Thats now shifting. So thats the political leaderships fault. On the military side, theyve clearly been way too rigid. So those airborne operations were intended to go in uncontested. In fact, that was clear almost immediately that the Ukrainians were going to resist, and those forces were annihilated. But we also see that the Russian military operates in a consistent way, where they seem to realize that there is no appetite from the Russian population for anything more than a peacekeeping operation, or at least it wasnt before. They did not want to communicate to their soldiers that they were going into a hostile environment in Ukraine. And the POWs that are being captured consistently say, we were on a field exercise, then we were pushed across the border as peacekeepers. And they were not expecting a fight. A lot of them didnt even know that they were going into Ukraine until they arrived in Ukraine, which is shocking. From a Western military perspective, to not share that kind of stuff, to not prepare your force for combat, would be the highest form of negligence. So thats on the military front. But for Putin, Ill tell you that Marco Rubio frankly doesnt know what hes talking about. Its kind of frustrating to watch him spout off. What we would call as, you know, like secret squirrel. Hes got some secret information that hes sharing the most watered down version to indicate that hes in the know as some sort of political tool. But its kind of meaningless, except for the fact that could be significantly misinterpreted. For Vladimir Putin, over the course of his tenure, hes become increasingly belligerent. He thought he had Russian power on a side to achieve influence in his region. He tried to muck around in Ukraines elections, resulting in the Orange Revolution in 2004. Then he started to use his military force because economic coercion wasnt working. Political coercion wasnt working to retain a sphere of influence. So he went to war in Georgia to substantiate that Russia deserves a sphere of influence. And over the course of the next, more than decade, hes been increasingly, increasingly aggressive with little response. And the reason he did that is because he just wasnt facing significant opposition. He basically believed that there was a lack of resolve to face up to him. And really, what we see unfolding today is a combination of both a deep misconception of the West to defend its interests, because it was inconsistent to say the least in the past, and then a deep misunderstanding of Ukraines independence and willingness to resist, and all of these things coming together into a huge, huge trap for Vladimir Putin. Hes consolidated the entire free world against him in condemnation and inaction. So thats the sanctions that are unfolding, and these weapons provisions that are unfolding. And thats something that ultimately, he might be remembered for, both this horrendous war, but also for bringing the democratic world together in defense of our values.

jane coaston

And youre seeing it from unexpected places. A colleague of mine, Peter Baker, tweeted that in almost every way, Putin seems to have achieved the opposite of whatever he ostensibly wanted. There are more American troops back on the continent. The West is more united. Youre seeing Luxembourg and Switzerland getting involved, which if anyones paid attention to world wars, Switzerland getting involved is a pretty big deal.

alexander vindman

Yeah.

jane coaston

So what should the United States be doing now? We see broad support for sanctions. We see broad support for the types of economic means that are taking place right now. What should happen now?

alexander vindman

So first, we should probably understand that this is still early days. And Russia is getting deeply frustrated. And all of that seeming restraint is going to evaporate. We see that today already unfolding with bombardment against Ukraines second largest city, Kharkiv, with a population of almost 1.5 million, a beautiful city thats just minutes away from Russias border. And the Russians have been attacking it for five days with little success. And now theyre starting to press with MLRS  Multiple Launch Rocket Systems  and stuff like that and aerial bombardments. And theyre going to start using things like thermobarics, which are like firebombs and fire-based kind of artillery, to put it in laymans terms. And these are going to inflict significant casualties and collateral damage. And of course, theyre also doing this nuclear saber-rattling, which we need to keep in mind. The nuclear saber-rattling shouldnt be completely discounted. Of course, we need to be mindful of it, mindful of what it means for the regime that Putin feels like hes getting backed into a corner and that he needs to make these kind of warnings. But we should also be mindful of the fact that there is deep precedence for this kind of behavior. There is deep precedence for the Soviet Union and Russia and for Vladimir Putin, whos a Cold Warrior with a deep memory of the Soviet Union and the Cold War. The use of this kind of nuclear saber-rattling, its a deterrent. Its meant to signal both a seriousness, but its also meant to achieve an outcome. Its supposed to make our minds in the West race to the worst case scenario and self-deter. So the things that they cant accomplish through force, they could accomplish through coercion. We need to be mindful of it. We need to take the proper posture. We need to make sure that were serious. But we also cant simply buckle on the things that are so dear to us, because now this is not just a fight between Ukraine and Russia. This is a fight between good and evil. This is a fight between democracy and authoritarianism. And right now, the ability to kind of roll back sanctions is going to be contingent on Russian actions. Its not going to be contingent on Russian threats. You asked what we should be doing now. We should be locking down the sanctions. Were basically almost at the limits of sanctions. Weve gone a long way, but theyre still able to accumulate resources through the trade of oil. But if we develop alternatives, we could probably sanction that and really crater the entire Russian economy. Its really devastating, and thats why the markets havent opened. Thats why the ruble is at an all-time low by a wide margin. And then on the military side, I think its important to point out the kinds of things that are critical and deep need by the Ukrainians. So they actually need something as basic as helmets and body armor. Theyve had tens of thousands of people volunteer. And theyre not equipped to provide body armor and helmets to these new civilians that are now going to take up arms. So they need that kind of stuff. They need more anti-tank capabilities, because the Russians still have more resources. They need more air defense capabilities. So these stingers  the U.S. is now providing them directly, which behind the scenes, Ill tell you, this is something that I thought we should have done a long time ago. I was advocating for it in government. And again, I was getting those quizzical looks. Why? And my response is because the Ukrainians are going to need them. But were past that now. We need to drop these incremental approaches that are intended for kind of peacetime environment. Were in a new Cold War. And we need to flip the switch. If the Ukrainians are asking for resources, we give them these resources. Were not parochial about, oh, we dont know if you could use this capability. If they say they want it, and theyre fighting, and were not  theyre the ones that are bleeding  we give them what they want. Thats where we need to provide some additional help.

jane coaston

I wanted to ask about the economic question here, because weve seen Russias economy go into freefall before in the late 1990s. And as the ruble destabilizes, my concern here is that putting the Russian economy into freefall makes Putin all the more powerful in some ways. If everything is going wrong for Putin, doesnt the nuclear option become more attractive when you have him trapped in a corner, so to speak? Does that make him more of a risk?

alexander vindman

The answer is yes. The answer is absolutely yes. But thats because Putin started a war. This is why I was jumping up and down about doing more to avert this, not waiting until after the war started to start sanctioning, but doing some graduated options along the way to signal a seriousness. In hindsight, when the history books are written, well have discovered that we fell well short of what we could have done to avoid this. Were now in it. And because theres a war, the risks have increased. But what are our options? Think about from the U.S. perspective. Are we on the ground? No. Are we providing substantial material support? No. We have no place to go. Our alternative is to apply pressure on Europe. And of course, we played a significant role on the sanctions front. Thats not to be negated. But there is not much room for us to kind of backpedal. We dont have a lot of room to reverse course. And we cant do it under our fear of Russian provocation. What we need is some clarity and some signaling from Russia that theyre prepared for off ramps. Because we can start getting into our own heads and start offering things that may be meaningless. We will be negotiating ourselves, which is everybody knows is the worst thing to do. Now what we need to do is we need to keep signaling the fact that were open to conversations. Were open to some different discussions. That is a door that Putin could choose to walk through, but we absolutely cannot negotiate against ourselves. Because we dont know whats going to be effective. As soon as Putin indicates that hes realized that hes not going to be able to achieve his military objectives, that the base of his support within his population is crumbling, which is not clear yet. There are protests, but were not there yet. But hes ruled for this long on, really, the basis of two promises  one is no war, and the other is stability with some economic prosperity. Now hes failed to deliver on both. Hes basically brought around the worst thing that Russias experienced in many decades. It may very well end up being worse than the troubled 90s, as theyre known. So it is a very, very difficult situation that Putins putting himself in. Hes definitely getting backed into a corner. And our job as a US government is to indicate that there are ways out of this thing. Its not going to be what he wanted. Its going to be far from his maximalist solution. He may even have significant reversals. Even those Russian controlled territories of Luhansk and Donetsk might very well have to revert back. So its something thats much, much less. But I guess, Im giving you a bit of an optimistic view that were past this. Russia has an enormous amount of combat power. And its going to get brutal, and this fight is going to get real, real ugly. Ukraine is still outmatched in terms of capability. They have much, much greater morale, which accounts for a huge amount of the success on the battlefield. But its not a done deal, and Ukraine needs all the support we can get.

jane coaston

Im curious. How is Twitter and social media changing the conflicts? Were seeing videos and comments being taken out of context. But it almost feels like Russias losing control of the misinformation, disinformation war on the internet.

alexander vindman

Thats another really interesting question Ive been thinking about for a long time. So what was interesting that we saw unfold over the weeks preceding Russias war is every time Russia was preparing to conduct an information operation or some sort of attack or a provocation, the U.S. very, very quickly declassified the information and allowed the media to kind of magnify it. Its been highly effective. You have the U.S. closing off options for Vladimir Putin, undermining his ability to indicate that Russia is fighting a just war, which is required for his own population, and undermining the pretext for war. And that is going to be something that we learn from and carry forward. On the information and disinformation stuff, were in the fog of war. Ive been victim too, a couple of these types of things. I pick up on something, and I do what I guess Ive always done. I take some personal risk and dont look to protect myself to the maximum extent. I just try to get information out. And thats going to result in some mistakes. But were in the fog of war, and Ill take the hits.

jane coaston

So lets talk a little bit about the domestic implications of the invasion. Most people know you from your testimony in President Trumps first impeachment trial, which was, of course, about Ukraine. Thinking back on that phone call you observed between Trump and President Zelensky in 2019, how do you think back on that call now, knowing whats happened?

alexander vindman

It really does put everything in a whole new light. So it was always about national security. For me, there was no political angle, whatsoever. It was always about national security. It was always about the inevitable conflict of Russia against Ukraine, Russia seeking to retain control of Ukraine, to pull Ukraine back into its sphere of influence, and Donald Trump, undermining U.S. foreign policy, U.S. national security. Because I understood that this would be really dangerous for the U.S. for Russia to conduct a large war against Ukraine, and that the Ukrainians needed to be armed to defend themselves to deter Russian aggression. And when Donald Trump basically froze  I mean, not basically, when he froze security assistance, he was sending a signal to Vladimir Putin that its OK to attack Ukraine, that the U.S. isnt resolved to protect Ukrainians interests, that Ukraine is isolated, that Ukraine is vulnerable. That sent a signal to Vladimir Putin, kind of incrementally adjusting his calculus. Is this opportunity real? Because the needs always have been there, right? He started this war in 2014. The need to hold Ukraine back in was there its the opportunity that was unclear. And initially, he started to take the temperature checks certainly under the Trump administration. With the Ukraine scandal and the presidents corruption and abuse of power, when the Senate failed to hold Donald Trump accountable, that opened the aperture for opportunity. By the time you get to the insurrection, thats it. That was probably right about the decision point. He knew that he wouldnt have Donald Trump as president. He knew that he wouldnt have Donald Trump willing to break NATO. Theres wide reporting now that Donald Trump was keen on pulling us out of NATO. So thats what Putin was looking for. And in the absence of that, the insurrection was probably  I mean, well see. These things will have to get declassified eventually. But I think that was a big tipping point, because he saw an immense of vulnerability in the United States. He assessed that the U.S. was distracted, enfeebled, paralyzed, that the U.S. wanted to focus on long-term confrontation with China and was looking to normalize the relationship with Russia. And thats when he started to build up. Thats clear. He started to build up in the spring of 2021. And that this operation has been planned for more than a year. And he was taking the temperature of the Biden administration. And he is seeing if he could extract concessions from the Biden administration. There was a summit in December 2021. He started ratcheting up the pressure. And last thing to mention on this domestic politics, we are a superpower. What we say matters. What we say is meaningful, not just domestically, but around the world. And when Fox News, when Donald Trump, when Mike Pompeo, when Tucker Carlson encouraged Vladimir Putin, encourage Russia, thats meaningful. Thats meaningful, because it again opens the aperture of opportunity. Its what drives Putins calculus to conduct this operation. And its what undermines deterrence. So when President Biden talks about powerful sanctions coming, when we start providing assistance to Ukraine in the December-January time frame, counterbalancing that are these anti-Americans. Because theyre fighting against American national interests. That is what ultimately takes us to the point where Putin was already thinking in that direction. He sees the opportunity. Deterrence is undermined. And I imagine that somewhere, well learn that he gave a go order, maybe even weeks ago. And were putting the last pieces together.

jane coaston

Im curious as to your thoughts on that, because we have seen this seemingly rapid change of opinion from a large swath of the  what I would call kind of the anti-anti-Putin right, where its so much so anti-Biden and so much anti this administration that it becomes supportive of Putin 

alexander vindman

Yeah.

jane coaston

 this idea that he is secretly very strong and secretly very wise, which goes back to Trump and goes back to this idea of a strongman. But I do want to know like, what influence do you think that those viewpoints will have? Theyre not the majority, to be clear, among Republicans.

alexander vindman

Yeah.

jane coaston

But what influence do you think they will have on American interventions? And how does anti-war sentiment play into what America does next?

alexander vindman

So let me start with saying that this is a moment for unity. This is a moment where we need to invite the Republicans, even the ones that were denouncing Ukraine days or weeks ago. Its time to invite them to redeem themselves and to provide support to defend U.S. national security interests. This is the moment. But I could also tell you that there will be a reckoning. Its like these folks, for some reason, missed all the telltale signs of the fact that theyre walking into an ambush. And thats what they did. They walked into an ambush. They were touting and elevating and idolizing Vladimir Putin days, hours before the attack. And theyll pay. They will pay for that at the election booths, absolutely. Because they own it. I explained that Vladimir Putin was taking the temperature check to figure out if this is something you could do. And they gave all the signals, so they have blood on their hands. This war is on Putin, but they are in part responsible. And they will be held accountable. I think its hard to not see every channel, including Fox News cover this. And this may be a way that it starts to lift the fog of Trump and Trumpism. At least I hope that its the case. I think this is actually a turning point maybe for us too. [MUSIC PLAYING]

jane coaston

We have this tendency sometimes, as Americans, to make everything about us. And to see everything as being secretly about us, that like Russia invaded Ukraine, because people use gender neutral pronouns. Can you de-Americanize this conflict? Is this as much about us or Trump or Biden or Obamas action or inaction in Crimea, which is a separate point that I think is interesting about whether that gave Putin some sort of a green light in some way? Is this as much about American involvement and America as we think it is? And can you help me calibrate the degree of responsibility America should have in this conflict?

alexander vindman

So it is not about us. It is not about us. We help explain the why now, not the why. The why is between Russia and Ukraine, between Russia and the Western world, between Russia and the fear of democracy. Its the Ukrainians desire and drive towards democracy and Western integration and a lifestyle that is responsible for this conflict. Its the clash of two ideologies. Putin cannot accept the perpetual fear and danger of a thriving Ukraine on his border because the population would inevitably say, why do we not enjoy those freedoms? Why do we not enjoy that prosperity? Thats the direction Ukraine has been consistently heading in. And with regards to Donald Trump and Biden, I wouldnt say Biden was weak. Id say Biden was resolved and firm in defending U.S. interests and values. But he also was probably a bit myopic. Because we have 20 years of bilateral relationships that caused the administration to look at this relationship through a soda straw, so the options were limited. And the things that we were open to doing, even five days ago, were much, much more narrow than they are today. But President Biden deserves a lot of credit within the bounds of U.S. foreign policy of 20 years for holding the line and for now stepping up and doing the right things. I think theres more to do. I think at the end of this, Ukraine is going to need  again like, this is just to show orders of magnitude. There was a supplemental request for I think $6.4 billion. Multiply that by 10. Thats what its going to take to rebuild Ukraine. Thats what its going to take to realize a Western Ukraine thats earned its place, I think, amongst the great nations of the Euro-Atlantic alliance. Now let me deal with this Trump nonsense. Because it is ridiculous, this idea that somehow, he would have prevented this war. Yes, he would have prevented the war because he would have attempted to give away Ukraine. He would have ended NATO, and Russia would have unleashed a long-term hybrid warfare that would have probably, ultimately culminated in a military confrontation anyway. Were in this situation where there is a major war in Europe. He contributed to that in a major, major way, and he owns that.

jane coaston

So is this the beginning of a strategy by Putin to attempt to forcibly recreate the Soviet Union? We see the language that hes using about what he believes Ukraine to be, that he does not recognize Ukrainian identity? Do you think that Ukraine would be enough for him? Is there an endgame here, especially if its not about Ukraine? Theres been this idea like, oh, Ukraine bullied Russia, which no, no. I can read a map. I understand how bullying works, but that Ukraine is Russia, and that all of this is Russia. With that in mind, what is the end game?

alexander vindman

So its interesting. I mean, theres a lot that we could learn from history. Frankly, the reason the Soviet Union looked the way it did with these 15 republics is in large part because of Ukraine and Georgia. There was a strong nationalist sentiment as in sense of self, sense of language, sense of culture. And Lenin had to accommodate that. And instead of recreating a communist empire, he established a Soviet Union to allow for space for that. Vladimir Putin is not interested in that kind of enterprise, at least, not ultimately. And its hard to understand where he wants to end up. But he certainly wants Ukraine under his thumb within his sphere of influence. There is a small chance that he could have rolled in as a peacekeeper, put in a puppet regime, and rolled out. That was his objective. And that puppet regime that would slowly kind of migrate Ukraine back into Russias sphere of influence on the template of this like union state that Belarus and Russia have established, where it continues to get closer together until boundaries become so muddled and so transparent that its basically one state. So thats part of the enterprise, because for Vladimir Putin, his ideology is greater Russia, followed by little Russia, which is Ukraine, followed by Belarus. But it likely doesnt end there, because if hes successful in establishing that core, then irredentism and his desire for power would continue to manifest with acquisitions in Georgia at minimum, whos been a thorn in his side. I mean, in the worst case scenario, Ukraine could still fall. It would be a catastrophe. But it would fall in a way where Russia would have to maintain forces and conduct counterinsurgency operation for years. That would be supplied by European allies. So slowly but surely, theyd be probably bled white. Its not what he had envisioned. Under all situations now, it doesnt end the way he had conceived.

jane coaston

It seems like this is in Russia and for Russians, a lot of people are referring to this invasion as a gamble. How big of a risk do you think hes taking here, especially domestically? I mean, there have been at least 6,000 people arrested in protests across Russia. This war is incredibly unpopular. Youre hearing rumblings of objection in the Duma, oligarchs sort of speaking out. Youre seeing the oncoming crash of the Russian economy. The ruble is at an all-time low. Do you think that he underestimated the degree to which this invasion would be unpopular? Or do you think he cared at all?

alexander vindman

I dont think he cared that much, but that was another major miscalculation. You make decisions based on assumptions. A fundamental assumption was that the Ukrainians would roll over. A fundamental assumption was that the West would be weak in its response. A fundamental assumption would be that the Russian population would take it, because security services and repression of dissent. Those are three massive, massive miscalculations. Part of that is that hes been so insulated and unaccountable to anyone that there had to be people that understood that this would be unpopular or that it wouldnt be a cakewalk with regards to Ukraine or that the West wouldnt come back with some serious repercussions. But these are fundamental assumptions. And I think this is the beginning of the end of Vladimir Putin. What we havent started to bake in yet, and what the Russian public hasnt start to bake in, is this devastating human toll. This is the fact that Ukrainian cities are being bombarded. Civilians are being killed. And if, in fact, there are 4,500 Russian dead and those body bags start coming back, or mothers start to ask about their children, thats going to be untenable. That is going to cause shockwaves in Russia. Its an earthquake for Russia that potentially reformats Russia in a different direction.

jane coaston

I think my last question for you is, everything is a breaking news headline right now. I will not lie to you, I also have Twitter open. Because I was joking with our producers, like something is going to happen while we are doing this. And weve already seen horrifying news of the bombardment of Kharkiv.

alexander vindman

Yeah.

jane coaston

What is the thing we should be focusing on? Were going to be getting so much information and misinformation over the next hours, days, weeks. What should we be focusing on?

alexander vindman

Yeah. So Ill tell you that were in the fog of war. Were not going to be able to get it all right all the time. I think, unfortunately, we need to get ready for a world where there are a lot more civilian casualties. Theres going to be more nuclear saber-rattling and threats. Because Putin, we have to remember, has not faced serious opposition for 22 years. His mind is kind of locked in into a particular direction. Now hes facing it. And his instinct is going to be to double down. So were facing an acute situation. But our fight or flight reaction, we need to fight that urge to flee. Because the stakes are too high here. If we dont hold our ground here, we are setting ourselves up for even more serious confrontation down the road that doesnt have to do with Ukraine, something closer to home. And what we need to remember is that there are precedents for this. Hes not suicidal. Hes not a madman. He just needs to be recalibrated. And thats what is going on here.

jane coaston

Is there anything else you want to tell me? Anything else that you think is important for our audience to know?

alexander vindman

I would just lastly say, my thoughts and prayers go out to the Ukrainian people that are living this. Theyre fighting for their homes. Its tough to think about that, tough to think about the personal cost. But there are millions of people under threat right now. And theyre fighting for our values and our interests. Sounds hokey or something, but I think were all Ukrainians at the moment. [MUSIC PLAYING]

jane coaston
One of Rene Magrittes famed Empire of Light canvases sold Wednesday for 59.4 million pounds with fees, or about $79.7 million, almost three times the auction high price at auction for a work by the Belgian Surrealist artist. Certain to raise at least $60 million, courtesy of a guaranteed minimum price financed by Sothebys, the 1961 painting was sought by three bidders, all represented by Sothebys specialists on telephones in London.

The painting, Lempire des lumieres, which juxtaposes a nocturnal lamplit street with a serene daylit sky, is one of the most celebrated and enigmatic images in 20th-century art. Magritte painted no fewer than 17 canvases of the day-and-night subject starting in 1948.

Sothebys variant, one of the latest and largest, had been made for Anne-Marie Gillion Crowet, the daughter of Magrittes friend, patron and chess opponent Pierre Crowet. It had remained in the same family collection ever since.

Over the years, there have been numerous versions that have been sold, and they have performed extremely well, said Melanie Clore, a co-founder of the London-based art adviser company Clore Wyndham.
Unpublished sketches by Dr. Seuss will serve as the inspiration for a new series of childrens books to be written and illustrated by a diverse group of emerging artists, the company that oversees the authors estate said on Wednesday.

The line of books will be released under the name Seuss Studios, a new project from Dr. Seuss Enterprises that will publish at least two original books a year beginning in 2023, a spokeswoman for the company said in a statement.

Although a list of the authors and illustrators who will work on the books is still being finalized, the company said they will be from diverse backgrounds and include people of color.

The announcement comes a year after Dr. Seuss Enterprises said that six books that Theodor Seuss Geisel wrote under the pen name Dr. Seuss would no longer be published because of their use of imagery that portrays people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.
Bidens new Covid plan

The White House released a new coronavirus strategy today that is aimed at ushering the U.S. into a new normal.

The idea behind the new strategy is to move the nation out of crisis mode and into a stage where the virus will no longer disrupt everyday life. The president spoke in broad strokes about the way forward during his State of the Union address last night.

I know youre tired, frustrated and exhausted, President Biden said. But I also know this: Because of the progress weve made, because of your resilience and the tools that we have been provided by this Congress, tonight I can say we are moving forward safely, back to more normal routines.

The plan fleshed out the speech with details, including four main goals:

Protecting against and treating Covid-19. A test to treat program will allow Americans to get tested at a pharmacy and, if they are positive, receive antiviral pills on the spot at no cost, the president said last night. The plan includes efforts to boost American vaccine manufacturing capacity to one billion doses a year, inoculate young children when a vaccine is authorized and counter disinformation.

Preparing for new variants. The plan aims to improve the countrys surveillance capabilities to identify new variants quickly. Biden said that his administration aimed to develop new vaccines within 100 days of a variants arrival.

Avoiding shutdowns. This part of the plan aims to give schools and businesses Covid tests, guidance and supplies, including for improvements to ventilation and air filtration systems. It includes a proposal for paid sick leave for those who miss work for a case of Covid or those who care for a loved one who is infected.

Fighting the virus abroad. The plan pledges to donate 1.2 billion vaccine doses around the world and to work to solve the supplemental oxygen crisis by making emergency supplies widely available.

While some of these initiatives are new, like the test to treat program, much of the strategy draws on actions the administration is already taking. For instance, the part of the plan aimed at boosting American manufacturing of vaccines was unveiled in November. Congress will have to fund much of the plan.
TOKYO  A little more than two years after the former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn fled Japan to escape criminal charges, a Japanese court on Thursday convicted his American former deputy of helping him conceal part of his compensation from regulators.

A judge sentenced the deputy, Greg Kelly, to six months in jail for his role in hiding Mr. Ghosns pay during one fiscal year but cleared him of involvement in similar efforts during other periods spanning almost a decade. The sentence will be suspended for three years, effectively allowing Mr. Kelly to walk free. Prosecutors had asked for two years.

The verdict  effectively a rejection of much of the governments case  is likely to be the last in Japans yearslong legal battle against Mr. Ghosn, a titanic clash that many critics said illustrated serious flaws in the Japanese legal system.
Male directors have rarely had any qualms about examining the intimate lives of women, and Jacques Audiards Paris, 13th District, a punchy drama in slick black and white about the messy dating lives of young Parisians, continues that tendency. Its a pleasant surprise, though the auteurist theory explanation for a films success (or failure) is particularly questionable here. Consider the compelling performances by the films lead actresses: Noemie Merlant plays a law student whose life is thrown into shambles when her classmates mistake her for a popular camgirl; and Lucie Zhang makes her auspicious debut as a first-generation Franco-Chinese immigrant, a punkish, bedraggled young woman with a self-sabotaging romantic streak. Complex and not necessarily likable without falling into the messy woman archetype of so many pop feminist characters, the women of Paris, 13th District must have benefited from the august scriptwriting team  Audiard, Celine Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) and Lea Mysius  who temper the directors penchant for vacuous stylization with grounded humor and pathos.

The Tunisian writer-director Leyla Bouzid also takes a stirring look at the sex lives of Parisian students in her sophomore feature, A Tale of Love and Desire, only this sexual awakening drama speaks to different facets of the Arab diaspora. Ahmed (Sami Outalbali), who comes from a traditional household, yearns all the more intensely knowing the forbidden nature of his desires when he meets a forthright young woman from Tunisia. The lip-biting restraint and Bouzids surreal flourishes make the film among the most tantalizingly erotic entries of the series  a reminder that the slippery nature of desire isnt necessarily best captured by explicitly sexual means.

Last month, Xavier Giannolis staid Honore de Balzac adaptation, Lost Illusions, took home best film at the Cesars, Frances Oscar equivalent. You can check that film out at Rendez-Vous as well, but a worthwhile alternative is the pluckier costume drama Secret Name. Directed by Aurelia Georges, it follows Nelie, a maid turned sex worker turned frontline nurse at the beginning of World War I. When a bomb hits, Nelie swaps identities with someone she believes to be dead and assumes a cushy position as a reader to a noblewoman.

What the script lacks in nuance is made up for in eerie, noirish tension, eventfully building toward a climax that unexpectedly centers the relationship between Nelie (a hypnotizing Lyna Khoudri, who you might recognize from The French Dispatch) and the aristocrat who comes to love her (played by the veteran Sabine Azema).
When it leaked in January, The New York Times reported that law enforcement groups were so enraged by the tenor of the orders policy preamble, which spoke of systemic racism in the criminal justice system, that Susan Rice, the White House domestic policy adviser, was forced to make conciliatory phone calls with an eye toward more substantive discussions.

Mr. President, its March. We are still waiting for you to issue that executive order.

In the State of the Union you didnt once say the words Black or African American, white or Hispanic.

Race, as a word, magically disappeared from your rhetorical repertoire. Why? I assume because the political winds have shifted. What polled well last spring isnt polling well this spring.

Even when you mentioned increasing support for historically Black colleges and universities, you used the acronym, H.B.C.U.s. Minor? Yes. But I noticed. By the way, the best way to help the graduates of H.B.C.U.s would be to use your executive authority to cancel more student loan debt, since, according to the Education Data Initiative, Black college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than white graduates.

Student loans were not mentioned in your speech.

You did hail your Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, even if you didnt point publicly to the historical significance of her being the first Black woman nominated. Her blackness  and the history of exclusion on the court  was left unsaid in the grand chamber.

Minor? Maybe. But again, I noticed.

Some might say that simply because Jackson is Black, it was enough to mention her name, without directly addressing Black people and their interests in the speech. But it doesnt work that way. Symbols, representation and inclusion are important to me, sure, but they are no substitute for policy and legislation.

This is not to disparage Judge Jacksons nomination in any way. It is exhilarating. She is qualified and should be confirmed, and she will be an inspiration for many as well as a needed voice for another perspective on the court. Thank you for nominating her.
This article is part of the Debatable newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it on Wednesdays.

Over the weekend, as his military laid siege to Ukraine for the fourth day, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russias nuclear forces into a higher state of alert, the first time the Kremlin has done so since the Russian Federation was established in 1991.

This is unprecedented in the post-Cold War era, Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association, a Washington nonprofit, told NBC. There has been no instance in which a U.S. or a Russian leader has raised the alert level of their nuclear forces in a middle of a crisis in order to try to coerce the other sides behavior.

Since the end of the Cold War, it has been easy enough for most people to disregard the possibility of a nuclear attack; the conflict in Ukraine has thrust it back into view. How troubling is Putins escalation, and in what ways might the prospect of a nuclear exchange shape the outcome of this conflict? Heres what people are saying.

What does Putins order mean?

Russia and the United States control 90 percent of the worlds nuclear weapons. Those weapons can be delivered by aircraft  as were the two atomic bombs that the United States used against Japan in World War II  or via submarine- or land-based missiles.
The plea deal that Mr. Hopp took was a waiver of a factual basis plea, which means that the facts of the case do not relate to the crime he is pleading guilty to, according to Sarah Schielke, Ms. Garners lawyer.

Jonathan Datz, who is listed as a lawyer for Mr. Hopp, could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Chief Robert L. Ticer of the Loveland Police Department called Ms. Garners arrest deplorable, saying it was a stark reminder that no police officer is above the law, which is why Austin Hopp is no longer associated with our department.

According to Larimer County District Court officials, Mr. Hopp pleaded guilty to second-degree assault strangulation, even though there is no evidence that Mr. Hopp tried to strangle Ms. Garner. According to Ms. Schielke, the plea helps Mr. Hopp avoid the minimum 10 to 32 years in prison he would have faced had he been convicted in a trial. She said he had originally been charged with second-degree assault on an at-risk person, which under Colorado law carries mandatory prison time.

The main effect of the plea deal, Ms. Schielke explained, is to remove the requirement of a prison sentence, giving the judge the option of probation.
A bipartisan group, led by two former governors, has been pressing Mr. Biden to do more for tens of thousands of children in the United States who have lost parents or caregivers to Covid-19, and the White House apparently listened. The plan says the president will direct federal agencies to review their programs to formulate a more coordinated bereavement response for such children, who now number around 200,000.

This is all part of our commitment to be there for Americans who have long-term physical and mental health needs caused by Covid, Mr. Becerra said.

The idea behind the strategy is to get the nation out of crisis mode and to a place, Mr. Biden has said, where the virus will no longer disrupt everyday life. It includes a pledge for the administration to work with Congress to give schools and businesses guidance, tests and supplies to stay open, including tools to improve ventilation and air filtration.

In interviews, experts generally praised the plan as a good step forward. Dr. Rick Bright, the chief executive of the Rockefeller Foundations Pandemic Prevention Institute, called it a great start, adding that the plan should serve as a firm foundation to build upon, to extend our preparedness posture beyond Covid.

But Jay A. Winsten, the director of the Harvard Initiative on Media Strategies for Public Health, said the 100-day timeline for vaccine development might not be fast enough for a highly transmissible variant like Omicron. The first Omicron sample was collected in South Africa on Nov. 8, he said; the United States reached the peak of the Omicron wave just 67 days later, on Jan. 14.

Mr. Biden came into office more than a year ago with a 200-page plan to combat the pandemic, which was the most pressing challenge in his nascent presidency. But a lot has changed since then.

More than 200 million Americans have been vaccinated. Two new waves  one fueled by the Delta variant, the other by Omicron  have driven up deaths to nearly one million. Covid treatments have been developed, including the Pfizer drug Paxlovid, which will be integral to the test and treat initiative.
Fort Polk, LA (71446)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Few notions are as ingrained in political punditry as the idea that foreign crises unite Americans behind their president. Its called the rally round the flag effect and its been taken as fact by commentators and chased by White Houses for decades.

But its also something of a political urban legend. While there are examples of presidents seeing a public approval boost during a crisis, there is also evidence that the improvements are minimal and fleeting  and perhaps getting less common in our hyperpolarized politics.

That hasnt kept presidents from trying. On Tuesday night, President Biden used his State of the Union address to call on Congress to stand with him to condemn the invasion of Ukraine commanded by President Vladimir Putin of Russia. He thought he could divide us here at home, Biden said. Putin was wrong.

On one level, the president was right: Biden does have solid bipartisan backing for his policy of isolating Russia while backing Ukraine.
LAREDO, Texas  Just a few years ago, Jessica Cisneros was an intern in Henry Cuellars congressional office. Now, the representatives former intern has forced the nine-term incumbent into a runoff, providing progressives with an opening to oust a powerful moderate Democrat and upend South Texas politics.

The runoff election on May 24  the same day Ms. Cisneros turns 29  will be a rematch more than two years in the making. In 2020, she came within 2,700 votes of beating Mr. Cuellar in the Democratic primary. Her father and volunteers drove through the district after she lost, picking up her campaign signs. They held onto many of those signs knowing there might be a sequel. So some of her signs from 2020 are out on the streets again in Laredo in 2022, with the old election date painted over.

We knew from the very beginning this was going to be a very tough election, Ms. Cisneros said Wednesday morning, speaking to a crush of reporters who squeezed into her one-room campaign headquarters, a Laredo storefront tucked between a snack stand and Mexican bakery. We deserve a lot more than what were being offered. And Im really glad that over half of the voters agree that its time for new leadership.
A career National Security Council staff member under President Donald J. Trump, who was pushed out of her position after she refused to go along with an effort to use the powers of the federal government to silence one of Mr. Trumps chief critics, has been rehired for the post by President Biden, two people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.

The staff member, Ellen Knight, had told a federal judge in 2020 that senior White House lawyers had pressured her to falsely claim that a book by Mr. Trumps former national security adviser, John R. Bolton, contained classified information to keep its contents from becoming public.

Ms. Knight, a government classification expert, told the judge that after refusing to comply, she had been reassigned to the National Archives and Records Administration despite earlier expectations that she would transition to a permanent position at the National Security Council.

A spokeswoman for the National Security Council confirmed that Ms. Knight had been rehired.

Ellen Knight is a dedicated career public servant, said the spokeswoman, Emily Horne. Were thankful to have her return to the National Security Council as the senior director for records, access, and information security management, and benefit from her extensive experience in classified information management.
The select committee has responded to Dr. Eastmans efforts to discharge this responsibility by accusing him of criminal conduct, Mr. Burnham said in a statement. Because this is a civil matter, Dr. Eastman will not have the benefit of the constitutional protections normally afforded to those accused by their government of criminal conduct. Nonetheless, we look forward to responding in due course.

The panel, which is controlled by Democrats, is a legislative committee and has no authority to charge the former president  or anyone else  with a crime.

But the filing contains the clearest indication yet about the committees direction as it weighs making a criminal referral to the Justice Department against Mr. Trump and his allies, a step that could put pressure on Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to take up the case. The Justice Department has said little of substance about whether it might ultimately pursue a case.

The filing laid out a sweeping if by now well-established account of the plot to overturn the election, which included false claims of election fraud, plans to put forward pro-Trump alternate electors, pressure various federal agencies to find irregularities and ultimately push Vice President Mike Pence and Congress to exploit the Electoral Count Act to keep a losing president in power.

As the president and his associates propagated dangerous misinformation to the public, the filing said, Mr. Eastman was a leader in a related effort to persuade state officials to alter their election results based on these same fraudulent claims.

The court filing stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Mr. Eastman, who is trying to persuade a judge to block the committees subpoena for documents in his possession, claiming a highly partisan invasion of his privacy. The committee issued a subpoena to Mr. Eastman in January, citing a memo he wrote laying out how Mr. Trump could use the vice president and Congress to try to invalidate the 2020 election results.

As part of the suit, Mr. Eastman sought to shield from release documents he said were covered by attorney-client privilege. In response, the committee argued  under the legal theory known as the crime-fraud exception  that the privilege does not cover information conveyed from a client to a lawyer if it was part of furthering or concealing a crime.
He planned to light the match that would start the fire, Jeffrey S. Nestler, a federal prosecutor, said in an opening statement. He wanted to stop Congress from doing its job.

As the trial unfolds over the next several days, the government intends to offer evidence that Mr. Reffitt, 41, had a standoff with the police outside the Capitol after traveling to Washington from his home in Wylie, Texas. Prosecutors say Mr. Reffitt came to Washington with a fellow member of the Texas Three Percenters, a loosely organized militia movement that takes its name from the supposed 3 percent of the U.S. colonial population that fought against the British.

Mr. Nestler said that prosecutors would introduce messages that Mr. Reffitt had sent to other members of the group in advance of the attack, saying that the fuel is set and that he planned to strike the match in DC on Jan. 6. The Three Percenter who traveled with him to Washington, Rocky Hardy, is set to testify under an immunity deal with the government.

Prosecutors also plan to elicit testimony from two of Mr. Reffitts children, Jackson and Peyton, who were teenagers at the time of the attack. The children plan to say their father threatened them after he returned to Texas in order to keep them from turning him in to the authorities.

A large man with a barrel chest and a pigtail, Mr. Reffitt sat without showing much emotion as Mr. Nestler told the jury how he had led a large group of rioters up a staircase at the Capitol, just outside the Senate chamber, brushing off attempts by the police to stop him with pepper balls and heavier projectiles. Even after he was finally subdued with a canister of pepper spray, Mr. Reffitt urged the crowd around him to push on, Mr. Nestler said.
WASHINGTON  The Justice Department announced on Wednesday the creation of a task force to go after billionaire oligarchs who have aided President Vladimir V. Putin in his invasion of Ukraine, part of an effort by the United States to seize and freeze the assets of those who have violated sanctions.

The task force will marshal the resources of various federal agencies to enforce the sweeping economic measures that the United States has imposed as Russia continues its unprovoked assault on Ukraine.

We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue this unjust war, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.

The task force will be overseen by Lisa O. Monaco, the deputy attorney general. Andrew C. Adams, a veteran corruption prosecutor in the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan, will run the day-to-day operations, according to multiple people briefed on his new role who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose his name.
And in February 2020, the woman wrote that Mr. Mora threatened to kill her if he ever caught her cheating. She also said that Mr. Mora is a very jealous person who has choked me in the past.

The woman said Mr. Mora had not threatened her with a weapon and was not in possession of any. It is unclear how he obtained the weapon he used on Monday. The Sacramento County Sheriffs Office did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on Wednesday.

Restraining orders have become important tools for victims of domestic violence to ensure their safety, though the ability to enforce them has sometimes been challenging. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that in a study of 231 women who had been killed by their male partners, 11 percent had been issued restraining orders. Of those, about one-third of the women were killed within a month of obtaining restraining orders.

On May 19, 2021, the Superior Court of California in Sacramento granted the woman a five-year restraining order. In it, the couple agreed to let Mr. Mora visit the couples children for up to four hours per visit, supervised by a man identified by church records and the coroners office as Nathaniel Kong. (Court records spell the mans last name as Alcon.) A man who answered the phone listed for Mr. Kongs wife said on Wednesday that she was not available to speak.

In seeking a restraining order, the woman said she was concerned about Mr. Moras mental stability and wanted his visits with the children to be supervised by my friend.

If Mr. Kong was not available, the couple agreed to have an agency supervise the visits at Mr. Moras expense, according to the restraining order.

Such costs can be expensive. Professional supervised-visitation monitors can range from $40 to $100 an hour, according to April Hayes, the executive director at the Sacramento Counseling and Family Service Center, which provides monitoring and counseling.
HOUSTON  A state court in Texas on Wednesday temporarily halted the child abuse investigation of a family providing medical treatment for its transgender 16-year-old, but allowed other investigations to continue under a contentious policy initiated last week by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Soon after, President Biden issued his first comments on the Texas policy, calling it a cynical and dangerous campaign targeting transgender children and their parents. He said he had directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to take steps to keep transgender children in Texas and their families safe  putting the state of Texas on notice that their discriminatory actions put childrens lives at risk.

The intervention by the court in Austin, the state capital, came in response to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and Lambda Legal on behalf of the parents of a transgender child who were being investigated for abuse by the Department of Family and Protective Services.

That inquiry immediately followed a directive by Mr. Abbott to conduct child abuse investigations when medically accepted treatments  including hormones or puberty-suppressing drugs, which doctors describe as gender-affirming care  are prescribed to transgender adolescents.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Wednesday condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine, with the support of 141 countries out of 193 and a standing ovation in the chamber.

Russia voted against the measure, joined by Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria.

The vote was symbolic and is not legally binding. Still, the vote reflected Russias growing isolation on the international stage as war rages in Ukraine. The General Assemblys special emergency session in New York was part of a larger U.N. effort to hold Russia accountable and to find an end to the conflict.

The U.N. is being challenged, the U.S. ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the assembly before the vote. If it has any purpose, it is to prevent war and to condemn war and to stop war. That is our job here today.

The four-page resolution calls for an immediate halt to the conflict, urges diplomatic negotiations for a peaceful resolution and says that territorial gain from the threat of force will not be recognized. It demands that Russian forces withdraw immediately, protect civilians and allow the safe passage of humanitarian aid.
Brown, 55, is a formidable choreographer whose spiritual blend of contemporary dance with African and Afro-Cuban forms has made him one of the most important dance artists of his generation  or, really, any generation. For a stroke to happen to anybody would be devastating. But for a choreographer of his stature, its horrible to contemplate. Browns dancing  his body  is at the root of his poetic, rapturous works.

Until now, he has stayed quiet about the stroke. Cabuag and his family encouraged him not to make an announcement on social media, telling him, You dont want people coming out of the woodwork, wanting to come to the hospital or wanting to bring you food, he said.

There was a reason for the privacy. Brown, magnanimous and soft-spoken, didnt need any distractions from the only job that mattered: regaining mobility on the left side of his body. Other peoples worry is not helpful for me, he said. Ill be put in a position to try and take care of people, and Im trying to take care of myself.

But his condition hasnt been altogether a secret. In October, The Washington Post reported that he had attended the companys performances at the Kennedy Center in a wheelchair. I know people want a breaking story, whatever, Brown said, adding that for the most part, I havent had to deal with this kind of energy.
Yet those needs  for community, for ownership and its power, for social validation  reveal the truly artistic potential of NFTs.

NFTs as Artistic Inspiration

Art exists in a world where one is always making political choices about ones relationship to economics, said Amy Whitaker, who teaches art-world economics at New York University. The way NFTs have been bought, sold and admired automatically raises issues of ownership and its meaning. Issues of generosity (in that NFTd images are supposed to circulate freely) and greed (in that they are mostly bought to make the cryptorich richer). And issues of community in the making of NFTs, which can be a group act, and of individualism, often, in who gets the money for any one creation. With NFTs, Whitaker said, such social incidentals take center stage, whereas its just about possible to see a work of conventional fine art in glorious aesthetic isolation.

But those links to social and economic factors have in fact been central to the fine art of the last few decades at its most novel and challenging. Take the genre known as Business Art, where the act of buying and selling, in all its cultural complexity, has been turned into the work itself. The genre was pioneered some 60 years ago in projects by Yves Klein, Andy Warhol and various 1960s conceptualists, and then took off in the 1990s in work by Damien Hirst.

Last summer, when Hirst moved into NFTs  one of the first art stars to do so  he called his project The Currency: He offered NFTs that corresponded to 10,000 of his Spot paintings; one year after a purchase, a collector would be given the choice between keeping the blockchain token and watching the corresponding canvas burn, or keeping the canvas and giving up the NFT. Hirst, the Business Artist, was staging a fight between market forces and aesthetic delight. Produced with HENI, an art services business, the project grossed about $18 million from the initial sale.

NFTs by the digital native known as Pak can also be placed in the Business Art tradition: He has offered digital images with the barest visual interest  riffs on a minimal cube such as any designer could make  but which get lots of impact from the bizarre way in which they are sold as NFTs. They are offered to the public for just minutes at a time, and the total number you buy affects the kind of NFTd image you get. If were looking for true NFT art, where the NFT-ness itself is at issue, then Paks digital Business Art qualifies.
It has been two years since the Outsider Art Fair last gathered, over 60 galleries strong, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan. But now its back and the atmosphere is, not surprisingly, celebratory.

Dealers are happy to see each other again. Many participants are showing new material, works that are not well known or completely unknown. Ask them. And the more familiar works by anointed masters look fantastic in the bigger booths near the entrance: James Castle, Joseph Yoakum, William Hawkins, Martin Ramirez. These booths belong to veteran galleries like Fleisher/Ollman (Booth A5), Carl Hammer (B6), Hirschl & Adler Modern (B8) and Ricco-Maresca (A11) that are responsible for building the field, and part of outsider history too.

Yet at the same time, as with so many things post-Covid, the fair feels different, maybe a little tense. Where is all this going? This is the fairs 30th anniversary; it has been a tremendous success and all things concerning outsider art seem to be in motion, but is it simply going to be absorbed by the mainstream?
For Salvant, coming into herself as a multidimensional artist has had a feeling of return. Its like this weird optical illusion, I guess, where it does feel like suddenly now Im beginning to be on this quest  and in fact, I was always on it, she said. I remember lists of things I wanted to do as a kid: I wanted to be a playwright and I wanted to be an actress, and I wanted to design the sets of the plays that I wrote.

Salvant grew up in Miami surrounded by music, but she didnt take an immediate interest in jazz. Her parents and grandparents, who hailed from Haiti and Guadeloupe, listened to some, but it struck her as belonging to a culture that wasnt fully hers. For me, it started off as thinking that it was completely dead and dried up, she said. There was something almost as exotic about it as the Paraguayan folk music that my mom used to listen to. It was just one of many world musics in the house.

At university in France, taking classical voice lessons while studying political science and law, Salvant felt herself being pushed toward jazz  partly because of others expectations, she said, but also by her own curiosity. I was in a music school where there was a jazz program, and I was the only  she hesitated  American there. And theyre like, Its your music, you need to sing, Salvant said. Its so strange. Its like that in-between space of: This is an exotic thing, but this is also the way in which I connect back to the country that I was born in, and this homesickness that I felt.

Jazz also proved a worthy outlet for her historical drive. Even now, as she has delved into more personal songwriting, that hasnt meant abandoning her interest in the archive; much the opposite. Theres something about us being so obsessed with our own time. I think thats the tendency, and its so self-centered, so narcissistic in a way, Salvant said. Theres a lot of stuff thats been around for thousands upon thousands of years, a lot of storytelling devices. And in a way, its quite humbling, and also really inspiring.

It was her love of Baroque mad songs  a genre with its own troubling history, related to the exploitation and othering that mentally ill patients were subjected to in 17th-century England  that led her to write I Lost My Mind, from Ghost Song. It starts with a verse of jazz-genre balladry (Here am I, lounging on the sands of my hourglass/Watching the time drip, sand sketching strange glyphs/Feeling my mind slip off a cliff), then dissolves into an echoing incantation over Aaron Diehls pipe organ. Salvants voice, overdubbed upon itself, deadpans: I lost my mind/Can you help me find my mind?

On Ghost Song, shes also on a mission to punch up the jazz ballad for the 21st century, and she does two covers that could well become new standards: Stings plangent Until, and Gregory Porters triumphant No Love Dying (which she and Fortner deftly combine, on Track 2, with Optimistic Voices, a chipper tune from The Wizard of Oz).
Lupin, the hit French heist drama, was itself at the center of a heist last week when about 20 young men wearing balaclavas stole equipment valued at more than $300,000 from the set during filming in a Paris suburb, a Netflix spokeswoman said.

The theft, which was reported by the international news service Agence France-Presse and the French newspaper Le Parisien, came just over a week after more than 200 antique props valued at more than $200,000 were stolen from vehicles during the filming of the fifth season of The Crown in England, according to the South Yorkshire Police and Netflix.

Netflix said in a statement on Thursday that there was an incident during the filming of the third season of Lupin on Feb. 25.

Our cast and crew are safe and there were no injuries, the statement said. We have now resumed filming.
It seems every year or two another blazing young improviser emerges from the Chicago jazz scene, boasting some uncanny maturity and a rangy freedom within the broader acoustic-jazz tradition.

The tenor saxophonist Isaiah Collier is the latest in line. With the release last year of Cosmic Transitions, a weighty LP featuring his quartet, the Chosen Few, he has established himself as an heir apparent to both the Chicago lineage and the post-Coltrane sax tradition: Its in his rough, pinched tone and his penchant for minor-key incantation, which he uses to stir the group to action.

Collier, who last month released a darkly rousing, 13-minute-long rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing (an outtake from the Cosmic Transitions sessions), will perform on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Soapbox Gallery, an intimate concert space in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, adorned with sculptures and pictures. Collier will appear with a slightly altered version of the band from the album: Jordan Williams on piano, Jeremiah Hunt on bass and Michael Shekwoaga Ode on drums. In-person tickets are $25, and the show can be livestreamed for a price of your choosing at soapboxgallery.org.

GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO
I was on my way to the doctors office this morning when a large truck ran a light and smacked into the drivers side of my car. Im fine  all the damage was to the unoccupied back end, thank goodness  but its put me into one of those strange middle-aged moods where the colors look brighter and life feels hallowed and precarious in exactly the way the great writers tell us it is; sometimes it takes the crunch of metal to drive that home, and sometimes it takes nothing more than words and characters and stories on a page. If youre looking for the lesson without the adrenaline, you might pick up a new nonfiction book by Chris Lockhart and Daniel Mulilo Chama called Walking the Bowl, which follows a murder investigation among the street children of Lusaka, Zambia. Thats one of our recommendations this week. Also up: new novels by Sheila Heti and Marlon James and the Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk (among others), along with an account of PayPals consequential origins and counterintuitive histories of the American presidents Richard Nixon and Abraham Lincoln. Happy reading, and stay safe out there.

Gregory Cowles

Senior Editor, Books

Twitter: @GregoryCowles

THE FOUNDERS: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley, by Jimmy Soni. (Simon & Schuster, $30.) PayPals origin story features two of the more complicated antiheroes of our time: Peter Thiel, who has become a significant player in right-wing politics, and Elon Musk, currently the richest person in the world. Each has previously been the subject of big biographies, but in this account they are interviewed along with scores of PayPal personnel  sometimes known as the PayPal mafia for their ruthless insularity. The resulting history of the company, our critic Alexandra Jacobs writes, is an intensely magnetic chronicle in which ambitions and emotions run as red-hot as they did in the Facebook movie written by Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network.

WHEN IM GONE, LOOK FOR ME IN THE EAST, by Quan Barry. (Pantheon, $27.) Barrys third novel is about twins named Mun and Chuluun in Mongolia. Chuluun studies at a Buddhist monastery. Mun wears Western-style clothes and indulges in technology, tattoos, curse words and cigarettes. One of the men is placid and the other mutinous. They are brought together when tasked with the mission of roaming the country to find a tulku, the reincarnation of a great spiritual leader. As the mesmerizing and delicate novel follows them on their quest, our critic Molly Young writes, it centers on faith, history, language and yearning.

QUARRYS BLOOD, by Max Allan Collins. (Hard Case Crime, paper, $12.95.) Quarry, the Marine sniper turned professional assassin who made his first fictional appearance in 1976, is pushing 70 and ready to retire  after one last job, that is. This is a sure-footed ending to a series that marinated in the excesses of pure pulp. It goes without saying that the body count will pile up, and that Quarry, despite his aching body and slower reflexes, still operates at a more ruthless clip than almost anyone he encounters, Sarah Weinman writes in her latest crime column.
A West African pioneer

The original American advocate for inoculation against severe disease was arguably an enslaved man named Onesimus. Before being forcibly brought to Boston, Onesimus seems to have lived in West Africa, where inoculation was a common practice. There, he had been deliberately infected with a small amount of smallpox to make him immune from a more severe version.

In Boston, Onesimus told his owner, Cotton Mather, about the practice. Mather was among the colonies most prominent religious leaders in the 1720s. He was also keenly interested in science, as Burns told me when we spoke recently. Today, science and religion are often considered antithetical, Burns noted, but past religious leaders were scientific pioneers.

When smallpox began spreading in Boston in the 1720s, Mather campaigned for residents to be inoculated  and was met with fierce criticism and even an attempt to bomb his home. Some Bostonians argued that inoculation violated Gods will. Others, including doctors, argued that it was folklore that would do more harm than good.

These arguments were powerful because inoculation was so counterintuitive. Mather was claiming that people could avoid getting sick  by getting sick.

Modern vaccination is somewhat less counterintuitive, because drugs can now teach the immune system to respond to a deadly virus, without having to use small amounts of an actual virus. But vaccination is still a strange notion. It involves the injection of a mysterious cocktail of foreign substances into the human body.
As Russia is trying to cut off the flow of information in Ukraine by attacking its communications infrastructure, the British news outlet BBC is revisiting a broadcasting tactic popularized during World War II: shortwave radio.

The BBC said this week that it would use radio frequencies that can travel for long distances and be accessible on portable radios to broadcast its World Service news in English for four hours a day in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and in parts of Russia.

Its often said truth is the first casualty of war, Tim Davie, director-general of the BBC, said in a statement. In a conflict where disinformation and propaganda is rife, there is a clear need for factual and independent news people can trust.

On Tuesday, Russian projectiles struck the main radio and television tower in Kyiv. Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraines defense minister, wrote on Twitter that Russias goal was to break the resistance of the Ukrainian people and army, starting with a breakdown of connection and the spread of massive FAKE messages that the Ukrainian country leadership has agreed to give up.
In January 2019, on the day that Tlaib and Omar were sworn in, Senate Republicans added language to a bipartisan bill reauthorizing aid to Israel that affirmed state and local governments right to sever ties with companies that boycotted or divested from the country. This was a nod to the more than two dozen state legislatures that already had laws responding to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The Democratic Socialists of America, of which Tlaib is a member, endorsed B.D.S. in 2017, and both Tlaib and Omar had voiced support for the movement. In response to the Republicans bill, a version of which was previously introduced in 2017, Tlaib tweeted that the sponsors forgot what country they represent, which critics charged was perpetuating an anti-Semitic trope accusing Jews of dual loyalty.

Tlaibs timing couldnt have been worse: The Democrats had recently taken control of the House, and Republicans had already zeroed in on the Squads left-wing politics. I dont see much hope for changing where Tlaib and Omar are, but there is a battle in the Democratic Party, Norm Coleman, the former Republican senator from Minnesota who now presides over the Republican Jewish Coalition, said at the time. House Democrats will have to make choices about whether theyll quiet those voices or whether theyll remain quiet.

Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, admonished Democratic leadership for not taking action against the anti-Israel stance of Tlaib and Omar, to which Omar tweeted in reply, Its all about the Benjamins  $100 bills. The ensuing maelstrom defined Tlaibs career for the next several months. Tlaib came to the defense of Omar (who apologized the next day) even as Democratic leaders issued a statement to condemn Omar for anti-Semitic remarks. The party was already sharply divided on B.D.S.; Speaker Nancy Pelosi described it as a dangerous ideology masquerading as policy. By that summer, the House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution to oppose boycott efforts targeting Israel; Pressley broke with her Squadmates and voted in favor. The anti-Semitism charge, Lara Friedman told me, was a sharp knife that Republicans could throw and watch Democrats attack each other.

According to Tlaibs friends and staff, she hadnt expected the level of vitriol flung at her and her colleagues. Yet, at times, even her critics seemed unsure of how to respond to Tlaibs unique position as a Palestinian American member of Congress. Shortly after her election in 2018, Tlaib announced plans to lead a congressional delegation to the Palestinian territories, a tour that would focus on poverty and water access. The trip would coincide with the annual AIPAC-sponsored congressional visit to Israel led by Steny Hoyer, the House majority leader. After public encouragement from Donald Trump, Netanyahu announced on Twitter that Tlaib and Omar, who planned to join the trip, were barred from entering because of their support for B.D.S. The move drew criticism from Hoyer, and even AIPAC and several Republicans. Tlaib asked permission to at least visit her grandmother in the West Bank, who was 90 years old at the time, promising to not promote boycotts while there. Israel acceded to the terms, but in a sudden about-face, Tlaib decided not to go. In a statement, Tlaib said that visiting under oppressive conditions meant to humiliate me would break my grandmothers heart.

One aide to a Squad member, who asked for anonymity to speak freely, told me that wanting to show solidarity with Tlaib gave their boss more courage to speak on the issue. McCollum told me she receives less pushback from colleagues now than she did for her earlier efforts to recognize basic rights of Palestinians. If I can speak out about whats happening at home, she said, why cant I point out when another democracy is not behaving in a way that I think lives up to human rights norms?

Even President Biden, who during the May 2021 conflict reiterated Israels right to defend itself, made a point of speaking to Tlaib about the situation when he met her on an airport tarmac during a trip to Michigan. According to Tlaib, Biden brought up the conflict first, asking how her family was doing in the West Bank. Over the course of the eight-minute conversation that followed, the president listened as Tlaib spoke about the dire situation in the West Bank. Everything youre doing is enabling it more, she later said she told him.
RABAT, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese auto parts manufacturer CITIC Dicastal on Wednesday kicked off the launching ceremony of its third plant in Morocco.

With an investment of 200 million U.S. dollars, the new factory will create 760 jobs for the local community.

The ceremony was held in the Atlantic Free Zone in Kenitra, a port city 40 km north of the capital Rabat, with the presence of the Moroccan Minister of Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour and Chinese Ambassador to Morocco Li Changlin.

The Chinese ambassador said that the project is China's largest investment in Morocco, marking a major achievement of the Belt and Road cooperation.

Mezzour praised it as a model of China-Morocco economic and trade cooperation, which will produce economic and social benefits for both sides.

The project will be carried out in two phases, with an annual output of 5 million castings in the first phase. 
Whats so great about being human, a character asks in After Yang. Fair question! People are trouble, though not as much as usual in this muted, melancholic tale about being and belonging. Set in a future thats at once recognizable and enigmatic, the movie envisions a world so outwardly peaceful it can be hard to believe that it takes place on Earth. Tears are shed, yes, but nearly everyone is awfully nice and almost always uses indoor voices, including the clones and androids that  or, rather, who  are part of the family.

The human-machine interface is teased throughout After Yang, which was written and directed by Kogonada and tracks what happens when a familys android, called Yang, stops working. The shutdown rattles the household, especially the father, who is also the focus of Alexander Weinsteins original, tart story Saying Goodbye to Yang. In both versions, the busted android creates logistical hurdles: The parents work and need a caregiver for their child. But what animates the movie, imbuing it with rueful feeling and nosing it down some lightly philosophical byways, is that the father seems almost as broken as the android.

Soon after the movie opens, Yang (Justin H. Min) shuts down, following an amusing, wittily staged and shot family dance contest. A so-called technosapien with a human countenance and  like the people in his life  the tamped-down affect of someone who needs to cut down on his antidepressants, Yang was bought by Jake (Colin Farrell) and Kyra (Jodie Turner-Smith) to care for their young daughter, Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja). Yang teaches Mika, who was adopted from China, about her heritage, rattling off Chinese fun facts. Hes also there for her when she wakes up in the middle of the night.

Repairing Yang proves unsurprisingly more challenging than poking around under the hood of a car. Yang is a secondhand model, certified refurbished, yet used nevertheless. And while his warranty is still valid, the store where he was procured, Second Siblings, is out of business. I told you we should have just bought a new one, Kyra chides Jake with the old I-told-you-so sigh. In the future, men still take care of the big household chores; wives berate their husbands for making foolish decisions; and some families live in swoon-worthy houses with floor-to-ceiling windows and open-floor plans.
Dating is innately predatory in Fresh, a wickedly funny cannibal romance and dazzling feature debut from the director Mimi Cave. Even the run-of-the-mill rotten blind date that opens the film has stomach rumbles of menace, with crabs trapped in tanks, chefs slamming knives and ducks dangling in the window. Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a doe-like graphic designer in Portland, Ore., finds herself on the hook to split the check with a dingbat (Brett Dier) who loots her leftover noodles and leaves her feeling chewed up and spat out.

This singleton and her cynical best friend, Mollie (Jojo T. Gibbs), consider themselves alert to the warning signs of a bad boyfriend. But a charming doctor named Steve (Sebastian Stan), who scores Noas number in the produce aisle of a grocery store, manages to earn Noas trust, and ours, during two dates and a road trip. Its a substantial amount of time to savor Stan and Edgar-Joness playful chemistry  right up until Steve drugs Noa with a poisoned cocktail, handcuffs her in the basement of his vacation home and announces his hunger for a harrowing dinner. (The screenplay was written by Lauryn Kahn, who cut her teeth writing shorts for the comedy website Funny or Die.) Cue the opening credits which, coming 30 minutes into the movie, are effectively a prankish declaration that the film has played its audience for lovesick fools.

Now, the real heartbreak (and cleaving) begins. Edgar-Jones, who starred in Hulus Normal People in 2020 and who leads a feature for the first time here, can let her eyes well with wet vulnerability and, a beat later, burst into giggles at a joke about eating breast meat. She plays Noas predicament straight. Yet the frame around her performance is marvelously askew. Cave, the director, is a sharp observer of details: wet lips, nervous feet, the cocky way Stan plays air guitar on a severed thigh. Comedy sharpens the films fangs, as do Martin Pensas witty edits and Pawel Pogorzelskis bold, intelligent camera movements, which stumble and swoon and occasionally somersault to make it truly feel like Noa has gone through the looking glass of terrible dates. (As a grace note, the score includes a warbling ballad played on a musical saw.)
Hudas Salon opens with an audacious rug-pull. Behind an unassuming storefront in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the middle-aged Huda (Manal Awad), attends to a young mother, Reem (Maisa Abd Elhadi), as they gab about Facebook, frenemies and Reems controlling husband.

Then suddenly, Reem collapses, and events take a shocking turn. Huda has drugged her, and she proceeds to strip Reem and stage compromising pictures of her. When Reem awakens, Huda reveals that shes an informant for the Israeli Secret Service. Unless Reem wants the pictures to be released, she must become one, too.

This is the first of many twists in Hany Abu-Assads pulpy thriller, which cuts between two tinderbox scenarios. As soon as Reem leaves the salon, Huda is captured and interrogated by the other side, Palestinian fighters hunting down the many women Huda has recruited to spy for the Israelis. Reem, realizing that they are on her tail, paces around her tiny apartment, desperately contemplating her options: tell her husband and risk his wrath, or turn to the Israelis.
When Chloe Zhao won the Academy Awards for best director and best picture for Nomadland last year, some who felt special pride were neither her relatives nor her film industry collaborators. These delighted fans were the team behind the annual New York International Childrens Film Festival, which in 2011 showed one of Zhaos earliest projects: Daughters, a 10-minute short about a 14-year-old Chinese girl being forced into an arranged marriage.

The festival, whose 25th-anniversary edition begins on Friday evening at the SVA Theater in Manhattan, has long showcased filmmakers who either go on to distinguished careers or have already achieved them. This years opening-night titles include Where Is Anne Frank, a haunting animated feature about children affected by wars past and present, from the award-winning Israeli director Ari Folman (Waltz With Bashir). On March 19, the festival will close with Apollo 10: A Space Age Childhood, an animated examination of the 1969 moon landing by the acclaimed American filmmaker Richard Linklater (Boyhood), who will conduct a livestreamed Q. and A. with the audience.

We are a film festival first, Nina Guralnick, the organizations executive director, said in a video interview. In choosing sophisticated works, she added, we want the program and the experience to be part of a continuum of film appreciation and film discovery, and not kind of segmented as something for kids.
For much of 2021, there was a significant vaccination gap. Black New Yorkers, particularly younger adults, were less likely to get vaccinated against Covid-19 than other groups, according to health department data. That gap narrowed considerably in the past six months, largely due to vaccine mandates.

But Black New Yorkers remained less likely than other groups to get booster shots, which offered significant protection against falling severely ill with Omicron. The health department report notes that many Black New Yorkers were not yet eligible for a booster shot in time as Omicron engulfed the city, because they had only recently received their initial doses.

A graph included in the health departments report indicates that about 20 percent of Black New Yorkers overall had received a booster shot by early this year; it was not clear what percentage of eligible Black New Yorkers had received a booster dose. The rate among Hispanic New Yorkers overall was just a few percentage points higher. But more than a third of white New Yorkers overall and more than 50 percent of Asian New Yorkers overall had gotten a booster shot by then.

In accounting for the higher hospitalization rate, the report also notes that there was some evidence that Black New Yorkers often faced longer delays in getting diagnosed with Covid-19. Diagnostic delays likely contribute to delays in seeking and accessing treatment, from primary care to help manage symptoms in the community to antiviral therapies to prevent progression of disease, the report stated.

The health department said its report underscored the need to distribute more test kits and masks, raise the vaccination rate, and take steps to increase the use of monoclonal antibodies and antiviral medication among Black Covid-19 patients.
The fresh New York boundaries would make that harder, giving Democrats an advantage in 22 of the states 26 congressional districts, while potentially cutting the current number of Republican House members from New York in half and effectively eating into gains won by redistricting measures in other states. Analysts have suggested the new State Senate lines could be just as favorable to Democrats, helping the party maintain its supermajority in Albany.

Legal analysts who study redistricting said that Justice McAllister or an appeals court could still conceivably rethink his approach, but a court-ordered delay to this years elections was an increasingly unlikely scenario, now that candidates have begun collecting petitions to get on the June primary ballot.

If I were a candidate, I think the smart bet is that the maps we have today are the maps that are going to be used in November, said Michael Li, senior counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice. There doesnt seem to be the will to change them for this cycle.

Still, Republicans left the hearing room in Bath, N.Y., on Thursday with some reasons for optimism.

Justice McAllister rejected motions to dismiss the case and indicated that he was open to arguments that the maps had violated language added to the New York Constitution in 2014 that barred mapmakers from drawing lines to benefit one political party or candidate.

The judge also ordered Democrats to hand over a raft of documents by March 12 that might shed light on how the Democratic drafters settled on the lines, and he told both sides to appear a few days later to argue over the merits of the Republicans challenge.
And in January, The New York Times reported that jailers had failed to document fight nights  or the injuries that resulted when gang leaders forced detainees to participate.

Not reporting beatings correctly is more than a paperwork error, said Sarena Townsend, the jails former chief investigator.

When individuals are not held accountable, they act with impunity, and that goes for staff and incarcerated people, Ms. Townsend said. Violence is going to increase, and its just going to continue this cycle of unsafe conditions.

A new parole law is being ignored, lawyers say

The so-called Less Is More Act took effect this week. But lawyers for dozens who are being detained for parole violations said in a court filing that the state Corrections Department had disregarded parts of it.

Lorraine McEvilley, the director of the Parole Revocation Defense Unit at the Legal Aid Society, said in a statement that the department was violating the spirit and explicit intention of this transformative law by refusing to hold hearings for people detained on parole violations. The new law ended automatic jailing for minor violations like breaking curfew or missing an appointment with a parole officer.

Rachel Connors, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a statement that corrections officials did not believe state law required the hearings to be held for people detained before the parole changes went into effect. She said the department had been proactive in applying the spirit of the law, the first major criminal justice bill signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul after she replaced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo last year.

At the time, Hochul ordered the release of 191 detainees, most of whom had been held for parole violations. At least four people who died in custody in New York City during the pandemic were being detained for minor, or technical, parole violations.
To the Editor:

Re Time Is Running Out to Fix Climate, Report Says (front page, March 1):

At a time when the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made the devastating effects of unbridled climate change more apparent than ever, President Biden is fighting an uphill battle to gain congressional support for essential federal programs targeting Americas greenhouse gas emissions.

His job has only been made tougher by coal companies and a number of Republican-led states that have just taken their latest battle against meaningful federal intervention to the Supreme Court (Justices Dispute E.P.A. Power to Curb Emissions, front page, March 1).

These defenders of dirty energy ground President Obamas Clean Power Plan to a halt, and their continued goal is to stymie the Environmental Protection Agencys ability to rein in carbon pollution from outmoded power plants. What century are they living in?

The U.S. needs to meet our climate crisis head on. In that respect, Ross Douthats call for a bolstered American birthrate in My Fellow Americans: Four Times Columnists Channel Joe Biden (Opinion, March 1) is bizarrely out of place. In a country that is one of the world leaders in per capita carbon pollution, it is folly to bolster birthrates in the hope that someone will come up with the invention or figure out the big idea that makes the world a better place.
[MUSIC PLAYING] (SINGING) When you walk in a room, do you have sway?

kara swisher

Oh, wait one second. Im going to just turn off my heat.

jon stewart

Did you say turn off your heat? Shes going to freeze to death if this goes on.

kara swisher

Ill be OK. Im wearing my lesbian power jacket here.

jon stewart

Should I turn of f I have a hydraulic power drill. Should I turn that 

kara swisher

Yeah, just keep doing it. Its no problem. Whatever you want. Whatever funny noises you want to make is fine with me. [MUSIC PLAYING] Im Kara Swisher, and youre listening to Sway. My guest today is Jon Stewart, the TV icon who hosted Comedy Centrals The Daily Show for 16 years before leaving in 2015. He came back to TV well, to Apple TV Plus, with his show, The Problem with Jon Stewart, which launched last year and is back with new episodes, starting this month. I wanted to talk to him about his TV comeback, the news these days, and if he could do it all over again, whether hed choose to leave his own powerful podium just before Donald Trump became president. Jon Stewart, welcome to Sway. Why are you laughing already?

jon stewart

No, that was  would you have chosen to leave knowing Donald Trump was going to be there? And I think the answer would be a resounding, oh, most definitely.

kara swisher

Most definitely. OK, well get to that. But lets start first with whats going on in the news right now. Russias invading Ukraine on a scale we havent seen since World War II.

jon stewart

Right.

kara swisher

Putin put Russias nuclear forces on special alert. It doesnt seem to be going very well for Putin at the same time. If you were making a Daily Show right now, how would you cover this and how do you look at this crisis right now?

jon stewart

These are the kinds of things that are really difficult to cover because of the human element. Generally the first order of attack would be on the powers that be, and the second order of attack would be on the way that the media covers the powers that be. In these types of situations actually, the media generally shows what theyre capable of. Its the kind of crisis that their infrastructure in 24 hour seven days a week urgency matches the moment. So its one of those situations where you really go, oh, right, this is what theyre built for. They seem to have moved beyond the, you know, crisis in Ukraine  lets bring on Van Jones and Rick Santorum. What do you think? Theyve moved beyond that kind of paradigm, so chances are what we would do, I think, is try and find an absurdity but also recognizing that the immediacy of the human tragedy is one that you have to always be cognizant of. You cant be, you know There are a lot of times at the show where we were more comedian than man. This is one of those situations where you probably have to be more human than comedian.

kara swisher

So meanwhile, it is actually also a narrative. And Zelensky, Ukraines president, is becoming a global hero. Which of course, is pissing Putin off. Zelensky came up as a comedian. And you recently said were watching Shecky Greene, which is a great, reference, transform into Churchill. Can you talk about that?

jon stewart

Talk about Shecky Greene?

kara swisher

If youd like to, but whats your observation?

jon stewart

No, I think its

kara swisher

Well, explain Shecky Greene for the people who do not know in the back.

jon stewart

Well, Shecky Greene is sort of an old Borscht theres a strong tradition of Borscht Belt tummlers, and Shecky Greene was just one of the best. And I meant it look, comedy is reductive when it comes to its references, but just in the sense of watching someone elevate to a position to come from not to be Drake in this situation, but now we here. I think its always impressive to watch someone meet a moment no matter where they come from. But I think theres a special resonance if you feel like its one of your own. You know it feels like? You remember Working Girl? Do you remember the scene in Working Girl where she gets in the corner  Melanie Griffith gets in the corner office. And then everybody in the steno pool is like, yes.

kara swisher

She did it.

jon stewart

I think theres something like that.

kara swisher

Yeah, is that what youre all doing in the steno pool of comedy?

jon stewart

Yes.

kara swisher

Youre all going, yes?

jon stewart

Were all in steno pool going 

kara swisher

Yes.

jon stewart

But beyond that, though, I think its tinged with melancholy because of why he has to meet the moment. And the fact that like, the moments not over.

kara swisher

Right.

jon stewart

And 

kara swisher

No, hes in a lot of trouble.

jon stewart

Hes in a lot of trouble. And your fear is that the media can make a hero and a narrative out of a moment, but this is an individual who now has a 40-mile convoy of artillery facing him down. And I dont know how you Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid this thing. I dont know how you get out of this. And the other side of it is I think Im still a little bit in shock as to any time newsreels come to life, I think theres always a little sense of, oh, right, this shits way more fragile than we probably gave it credit for. And I think Im still in a little bit of that. Like, wait, are mad men still allowed to roll tanks through borders? And theres also a little chauvinism involved, I think. Because, quite frankly, you know, Saudi Arabias still bombing the shit out of Yemen. We bombed the shit out of Iraq. Im not saying its an analogous situation, but those human beings on the other end of those armaments are as human being-y as the ones in Ukraine. You know, everybodys got their flags up and their other things. And right now, around the world, there are communities in terrible suffering, from Yemen, to Palestinians, to all around the world.

kara swisher

And this story has captivated people. I mean, he is using some of the techniques of an entertainer to do that, Zelensky. Hes using photos, hes using Twitter. Hes certainly trying to avail himself to narrative, which is a good narrative which people get Dr. Evil versus the good guy, essentially.

jon stewart

Yeah, I mean, I think thats what you do when you dont have a 40-mile convoy of armaments. I have a feeling that if he didnt have to go on TikTok, he wouldnt.

kara swisher

Right, if he didnt. But hes winning the social media game, but 

jon stewart

Yeah, I mean, but thats going to be cold comfort when 

kara swisher

Yes, exactly.

jon stewart

 theres a giant crater near your house.

kara swisher

Indeed. So one of the things that  meanwhile, the Republicans led by Donald Trump have been cheering on the other guy Vladimir Putin. Are you shocked? Surprised? Neither? You had an interesting tweet last week. You said, For Fox News and Donald Trump, the American left and most of Europe are the evil empire.

jon stewart

Yeah, I mean, I think thats been for years. Thats not anything new. I think for years, its been pretty clear that they would much rather do a deal with Putin than Pelosi. I know it might be an easy and cheap thing, but Steve Bannon, thats his strategy. Hes working with those guys  you know, their Hungary and Eastern Bloc dictators are their test kitchens in the way that McDonalds will test a new sandwich in Columbus. Theyll test media strategies. Theyll test other stuff. That wing of it is in league. They view Putin as a defender of Western civilization. They view him as an ideological brother.

kara swisher

Meaning they want to be him. Thats why they cheer him on, presumably.

jon stewart

I dont know if they want to be him. But I think they see his  look, its an Orthodox Christian, generally homogeneous society, very conservative, unfriendly to gays and minorities like, kind of their world, isnt it? If they were able to say what they really wanted to say  and sometimes they do say it, depending on which hour of Fox youre watching.

kara swisher

Well, speaking of that, Tucker Carlson was one of Putins early defenders.

jon stewart

Im sorry. Whats the name?

kara swisher

Tucker Carlson. Have you ever heard of him?

jon stewart

Hmm.

kara swisher

No?

jon stewart

It sounds fictitious to me.

kara swisher

All right.

jon stewart

It sounds like something you would make up in a  its one of Holden Caulfield friends, I believe.

kara swisher

The one you dont like, right? And hes reeled it in a little now, but Russian state TV even used clips of Tucker Carlson, this person you may or may not have heard of. Fox News shows some kind of bizarre support footage. Lets play one clip here. Here, Carlson is talking about how Americans have been conditioned to hate Putin.

archived recording (tucker calrson) Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him? Has he shipped every middle class job in my town to Russia? Did he manufacture a worldwide pandemic that wrecked my business and kept me indoors for two years? Is he teaching my children to embrace racial discrimination? Is he making fentanyl? Is he trying to snuff out Christianity? Does he eat dogs? These are fair questions, and the answer to all of them is no. archived recording Right. archived recording (tucker calrson) Vladimir Putin didnt do any of that. So why does permanent Washington hate him so much?

kara swisher

So your reaction?

jon stewart

So that checklist that he ran down is actually  used to be on my dating profile. So it would always be when I was looking for a prospective mate, it was always, do they 

kara swisher

Do you eat dogs?

jon stewart

Do they manufacture fentanyl? Do they eat dog? Are they calling me a racist? If they could pass that test, we were ready to go share a meal or anything else that we might be able to come up with. When you deal with such a dishonest propagandist  and that is what he is  theres nothing you can take out of context, because none of it is real. Hes admitted when hes cornered, he lies. Its all a game and a performance. I mean, honestly, I have no idea what the fuck that guy believes, truly. How does anybody go on television and say, why shouldnt I be rooting for Russia? Which, by the way, I am. Let me just set it straight out.

kara swisher

Right, well 

jon stewart

Thats who Im rooting for in this 

kara swisher

He did not take your parking space, Jon. He did not take your  thats a red light to me. He didnt take my parking space, and I was like 

jon stewart

Well, but isnt that the way we judge dictators and atrocities  are they nice to me? This Hitler guy, yes, has he done some things? But I got to tell you something always holds the door. Very polite. In some ways, I think then you have to ask the question, why is Rupert Murdoch trying to destroy the fabric of this country? Whats in it for him?

kara swisher

Answer  why do you think?

jon stewart

I dont know. I dont know. I dont know if its ideological or he just thinks, this is where the money is. But how somebody can in good conscience put a shithead like that on television every night to say those types of things, thats where the responsibility lies in my mind. Because its, you know, I always like to look at it as the difference between ignorance and evil, right? Ignorance is an epidemic and an entirely, in some ways, curable condition. So I like to think that the majority of us are, in our own way, just trying to create the world we would prefer to live in and trying to overcome the blind spots and the ignorance that exists in all of us in different ways. And then theres a few people out there who are dishonest and using disinformation to achieve nefarious aims. And thats the category Id go there. So I try and draw a distinction, because I think if you use a broad brush, youre less safe. And I really try hard not to dismiss all.

kara swisher

But it does work. It does work with his listeners.

jon stewart

But the difference is, those listeners, many of them, are redeemable, that have potential to grow beyond that or to get out of it. Or its  cult leader is the one responsible, not necessarily the flock. The flock may be lost. They may be easily moved by that, and 

kara swisher

So how do you separate them when this stuff does resonate? My mom listens to Fox News, and shes like, well, Putin aint nothing to me. And Im like 

jon stewart

Right.

kara swisher

Not today.

jon stewart

But you love your mom.

kara swisher

Yes. Yes.

jon stewart

Kara.

kara swisher

Not when shes a 

jon stewart

Kara.

kara swisher

Not when shes a Fox News watcher, when she does this 

jon stewart

You love your mom.

kara swisher

Yes, I do. Yes, I do.

jon stewart

And there are things about your mom that are redeemable. Is your mom evil?

kara swisher

No.

jon stewart

Does she have blind spots?

kara swisher

Indeed.

jon stewart

Is she worth staying with?

kara swisher

Well, whats interesting is that the propaganda is so effective that it doesnt ever leave. You know what I mean? Its very difficult. I think a lot of people are in that position of anyone who has someone whos moved down that road. They do listen to it. And more Republicans have a negative view of Joe Biden than of Vladimir Putin, according to one 

jon stewart

Yes, thats right.

kara swisher

 the Fox News polls. This was before Russia invaded Ukraine. But 

jon stewart

But you have to try. You cant stop. My wife and I play a game. We live in an area thats very red. And so we like to play a game when were driving somewhere called Insurrectionist or Just Supporter. And so when were driving, well see somebody. And youll just be like, OK, that guys got  OK, theres a flag on the truck, but nothing else. And thats a flannel coat. Im going to go with supporter. And then youll go by and youll see somebody with, dont tread on me, no more media bullshit, and be like, OK, thats a guy who would probably take a shit in the rotunda if he had a chance to. But its an important distinction.

kara swisher

Your wife sounds very nice playing this game, even though she makes fentanyl and eats dogs, presumably.

jon stewart

She actually runs a fentanyl dog eating business. Its one of the few businesses, and its drive-thru, so its convenient.

kara swisher

No ads here now. Anyway, all right, so speaking of Tucker Carlson, your most famous moment was indeed  you know exactly who he is  on Crossfire in 2006, which, it was a long time ago. When you told him, youre hurting America. It was a big moment for you. And for him and at the time, he really was pushed back on his heels when you did that. What do you think the impact that was 

jon stewart

I didnt mean him personally. I think its become that. But I think that moment has been misinterpreted in a lot of ways.

kara swisher

All right, explain it.

jon stewart

I think people saw it as a plea for civility. And it wasnt. It was a plea for honesty. I dont care if people argue or if they get mad at each other or if they are angry. But I dont like dishonesty. I dont like dishonest debate. I have a view of the media as an important part of the immune system against authoritarianism and fascism. And against bad governance. But when you set up the polarities of the media to be purely along the lines of a theatrical fight between the right and the left, thats what I thought was hurting.

kara swisher

How would you deal with him today? Carlson, if you had another encounter with him.

jon stewart

Boy, I mean, hes very tough to deal with because he understands his own dishonesty. So I dont think that moment could occur again. I think hes developed  you know, its like jet fighters. Theyll release something that sends a thermal trail somewhere else and then the missile will follow that. I think hes developed evasive maneuvers, one of them being his, if you say anything that permeates his bullshit, he gets that look on his face like hes receiving a confusion enema.

kara swisher

Yeah. I cant explain. Youre doing the Tucker Carlson face right now.

jon stewart

Are you eating dog?

kara swisher

Right, exactly.

jon stewart

Are you taking fentanyl and 

kara swisher

Im just asking questions, sir.

jon stewart

Im just asking questions, sir. I mean, the dishonesty is so 

kara swisher

So you couldnt 

jon stewart

I think itd be a lot harder, right?

kara swisher

To pierce that.

jon stewart

Yeah, because I think in that moment, he didnt  he hadnt quite developed that. He had it to a certain extent even then. But he said himself, when hes cornered, he lies. By the way lies, when hes not cornered, too.

kara swisher

Right. You have a show, which were going to get to in a minute. But what would be your first question to him if he was a guest, if he agreed to be a guest on your show?

jon stewart

Why did I agree to do this? The first question would be to me. I would ask myself. So that gets back to, I think, the larger point, which is engagement versus non-engagement. Ignorance I think is always important to engage with directly. I have a lot of blind spots and I have a lot of ignorance. And when I  theres nothing that pleases me more than to have those illuminated.

kara swisher

All right. So in that regard, one of the things you missed, and this was talked about, this idea of disengagement, which you did when you left The Daily Show in 2015. You missed all the Trump years. You 

jon stewart

Well 

kara swisher

Did you leave at the exactly wrong moment? I know you joked about it before, but

jon stewart

No. I mean, yeah, I was  I mean, I was alive. I didnt 

kara swisher

I get that. I know youre not dead. I know you didnt miss it. But one of the things that was important was your voice. Do you think it was  that you disengaged at the wrong time when there might have been an opportunity to get through to some of these people? Im not saying youre the savior of all mankind, but you had a very important 

jon stewart

I was going to say almost everything that I believed and advocated for didnt come to pass and probably got worse. So you could almost say maybe I disengaged at exactly the right time and gave the world a chance. First of all, I think thats overinflating the importance of a voice, to a large extent. And I would say there was no dearth of people pointing out his hypocrisies and his excesses and his absurdities and his contradictions. And yet, nothing happened. And he would come out and he would say, I could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue, and not lose any votes. Although, I bet if he tried to vaccinate somebody on Fifth Avenue, he would lose votes. So it really is about  the currency that I was operating in wasnt effective against that anyway. And I do think at times we confuse cultural power with power. And a clip of  headlined with a click-baity, Stewart eviscerates Trumps hypocrisy  its pleasant, its a distraction. But ultimately feckless. In a lot of ways what happens with the show is when youre producing  and I think you probably know this from just being in media  when you have to produce content, there are times when you have to feign engagement or you have to feign an emotional connection and a visceral response to something that you dont necessarily feel. And when you get to the point where those moments are coming more frequently than youre comfortable with, when you start to become part of the dishonesty, you have to step back. And you have to remind yourself, like I have to connect to whats real.

kara swisher

I dont know. I would have to push back on you.

jon stewart

Sure.

kara swisher

There was actually a column

jon stewart

Wait, do you have to push back on me?

kara swisher

I have to. I must.

jon stewart

What kind of a program is this?

kara swisher

Going to push back on you. Because I feel like you do have an impact. You and I have. I think Tucker Carlsons never gotten more powerful by doing his version of engagement. And one of the things  this was a column. Im sure youve read it in Variety. To borrow Stewarts phrasing during a time when identifying dishonest bad actors was as urgently necessary as any in recent history, Stewart chose to give up on engagement, making his statements now feel hollow at best. I think I did have an impact on people talking about Facebook. I do think 

jon stewart

Well, I  can I push back on that for just a bit?

kara swisher

Sure, please push back.

jon stewart

So What I did was I didnt give up on engagement. I changed the modality of it. I felt there was a certain impotence to the structure in which I was operating. That there was a recognition of the tricks and gimmicks of it. Look, its what Johns done with it and what Trevors done. It was time for new approaches. Maybe, too, the DNA might still be there. But I think they created new models of it that could permeate what had become practiced. But let me push back on the other part.

kara swisher

OK.

jon stewart

Because thats not giving up on engagement. Thats leaving a television show. And what I began to do was engage in the real world in a way that felt more productive to me and more impactful and more satisfying. My wife and I began engaging with a food bank in our area and we got a farm that had rescued  we tried to express our values through action and not talk. You know, a woman named Rosie Torres from a group called Burn Pits 360 reached out because there were a lot of similarities between what we had been dealing with with the 9/11 first responders and community and what veterans had been dealing with. So three or four years ago, we got involved in that. And I found efficacy in being able to use the things that Ive learned and the whatever cloud I may still possess to elevate those 

kara swisher

Those issues.

jon stewart

Not just those issues, but those individuals. Sometimes it just means a lot to be a hype person for them.

kara swisher

Did you ever think about running public office?

jon stewart

Oh, god. How do you not? When you see the shitheads that are 

kara swisher

Yeah.

jon stewart

How do you not when you watch all that and youre like, oh my god, what is  this is terrible. Its like when you get in a car and the one drivers drunk and youre like, do you everything about taking the wheel? Youre like, yeah, I did.

kara swisher

So, and?

jon stewart

I dont know that Id have the temperament for it, and I dont know, again, that that would be 

kara swisher

What would be your temperament problem given the politicians we see arrayed before us? I mean, weve got Marjorie Taylor Greene. Over here, weve got Trump. Weve got 

jon stewart

Oh, yeah, no. Its patience with that. Its having the patience that, how come that person gets to still be here? Make that person leave.

kara swisher

Well, AOCs done a good job saying that, saying those things like that.

jon stewart

Yes. No, I, listen, I also think theres a lot that goes around that that has nothing to do with passion or care about issues or wanting to help people, that has to do with fundraising and the way the game is played and the lack of perspective on it. And sometimes I feel like, well, I can be more effective on the outside than on the inside.

kara swisher

So if its President Tucker Carlson when hes running, what are you going to do, Jon?

jon stewart

Oh, Jesus. Dont even say  thats just not even 

kara swisher

Its all over the place. Its all over Washington. You should ask around.

jon stewart

What?

kara swisher

Yeah.

jon stewart

Why? Thats the worst  thats terrible.

kara swisher

Well leave it at that.

jon stewart

Youre bumming me out, dude.

kara swisher

Im sorry. Im sorry. [MUSIC PLAYING] Well be back in a minute. If you like this interview and want to hear others, follow us on your favorite podcast app. Youll be able to catch up on Sway episodes you may have missed, like my conversation with Sacha Baron Cohen. And youll get new ones delivered directly to you. More with Jon Stewart after the break. [MUSIC PLAYING] Before discussing his Apple TV Plus show, The Problem With Jon Stewart, I wanted to talk about a problem the internet recently had with Jon Stewart. He came under heat for his comments about podcaster Joe Rogans troubles with Covid misinformation on Rogans massively popular Spotify show. As the internet was coming after Rogan and Spotify and as famous musicians were leaving the platform in protest, Stewart noted that the rhetoric was, quote, overblown. He advocated against abandonment and censorship and for engagement, which seems reasonable. But people did not want to engage with that idea. So I wanted to talk to Stewart about that controversy  if it was a controversy at all  and if nuanced debate is really possible in the age of Twitter.

jon stewart

Its hard because, unfortunately right now, the real conversations that take place for people arent based on other conversations. Theyre based on encapsulation and synopses and headlines of those conversations. What were talking about right now doesnt travel in the same way that a headline, Stewart says Carlson is a traitor and but  or whatever it is. Or, Stewart defends blah blah blah  but thats what travels.

kara swisher

Yeah.

jon stewart

But its not 

kara swisher

Meaningful.

jon stewart

Right. Because conversations arent meant to be encapsulated.

kara swisher

Reductive 

jon stewart

Its like 

kara swisher

 is the word.

jon stewart

Its so reductive. And its like  Im not a tremendous social media individual. But now that Im working again, I get a lot of emails. And its a lot of, hey, Ive got those scripts and Im going to send those over to you. And then Ill write, thanks. But when I look at it on the page, it looks shitty. Like Im going, oh, thanks. And so I find myself throwing exclamation points on to like, thanks!

kara swisher

You need to get over that.

jon stewart

What it does is encapsulations in the written word turn the inquisitive into the definitive. Right? So like with Rogan in that situation. So theres a huge headline, Stewart goes to bat again for Rogans misinformation. So thats the headline. But what it doesnt say is I wasnt defending his misinformation, I was talking to an expert in misinformation from the Harvard Shorenstein Center. And I was asking, how do you deal with misinformation? So it was a discussion about that with someone that I thought could bring some authority and some perspective to that conversation. Now that gets reduced to some sort of strange defending misinformation. So now people on Twitter are reacting to, fuck Stewart, fuck that guy for defending misinformation. Im done with that guy. Fuck that racist piece of shit both sides Stewart. And you watch this thing explode, and it has very little resemblance to what actually occurred. And you realize, the force amplifier that is these aggregators is a far more powerful actor than conversation.

kara swisher

All right, so say then what you said, from what your perspective that then got twisted. Because, you know, Ive been misquoted is a famous tune for a lot of public officials, et cetera. Its not what I meant. Im taken out of context. And sometimes we do make fun of them. Thats something you did on the show. You play the whole context. And it was exactly what people thought.

jon stewart

We worked really hard to make sure that the context was correct.

kara swisher

Right. So you thought the outrage was a mistake, correct? Or what?

jon stewart

No. So again, so lets talk about tone. Right, because thats important.

kara swisher

Absolutely.

jon stewart

An lets also talk about where its taking place. So were on a podcast. Its a bunch of comics. And Chelsea Devantez, whos our head writer says, what would you do? These guys, would you pull your music from Spotify? And so it starts off with that, where Im saying, my music is very, very powerful, and I dont know that I could pull it from Spotify. Its that kind of thing. Were fucking around.

kara swisher

Yeah.

jon stewart

But I said know, I dont know, I think its a mistake. Because I always feel engaged. And maybe thats fruitless. Now, thats very different than, this is a mistake. Because it lacks certainty. I didnt go on there to make a statement of fact that those people were wrong. My opinion was I tend to, maybe to my error or because  or naive, try to engage. I think the one constructive criticism that comes out of it is pulling your music is a form of engagement. And I wasnt considering that. But thats not what went wide. What went wide was, goes to bat for misinformation.

kara swisher

Yeah. Did you feel caught up in a tidal wave in a lot of ways or a tsunami?

jon stewart

I mean, Ive been in that before. And I know like, Im only caught up in it because the business model of the internet is arson. You cant make money unless youre setting fires. In their mind. So the way that the world works now is people have conversations. And within those conversations are small molecules of a lot of potential energy. And then theres an outer ring of, lets call them 49ers, that are panning for that gold. Ooh, he just said its an overreaction. Now, in the larger department, it was nothing. It was an offhanded comment meant to suggest that I always like to engage, but sometimes that fucking gets me nowhere, too. But boy, when you put that in a headline, it can sound pretty definitive. Now the secondary and tertiary rings, the media-ites and all those others, now they grab it. Because, look they got to eat, too. So now everybodys trying to eat. So what youve done is youve taken this thing, youve changed the meaning of it to a large extent. Youve made that now the fact. So rumor becomes fact, fact becomes canon, all through this information and context laundering system.

kara swisher

So essentially, enrichment equals engagement. Right? Correct?

jon stewart

Absolutely. And by the way thats the 24 hour news model, which is why its so destructive. Unless its 9/11 or an invasion of a sovereign country. Because now, the gravity of the situation matches the urgency that they gin up. Now the emotional tenor of their work is actually matched by the situation. But in the absence of that, they have to gin up 

kara swisher

To create the noise. To create the noise situation.

jon stewart

Thats right.

kara swisher

So 

jon stewart

So listen, and Im a big boy and Ive done this for a long time. And its easy to forget. Its a little bit of like, oh, I havent played football in a while, so I just got to get hit a little bit. But I understand that the thing that theyre reacting to is a caricature of me. Not me.

kara swisher

Right. So lets talk about The Problem with Jon Stewart. Not the problem with Jon Stewart, but The Problem with Jon Stewart.

jon stewart

What kind of a 

kara swisher

What was a name you would have called it if it wasnt that?

jon stewart

The real one that I was going to consider is, Why Not? Originally when I thought of it and I was talking to my wife about it was, Why Not? Because it was based in that feeling of, why not? So we played around with that a little bit. And there were a few other titles.

kara swisher

Whyd you dump, Why Not?

jon stewart

It felt too earnest.

kara swisher

How do you like doing it? Because it is earnest. Its quite an earnest show. I was 

jon stewart

Yeah.

kara swisher

I was surprised. Youve got your beginning part. Let me explain for people who havent seen the show.

jon stewart

All right.

kara swisher

You have a beginning part where you do your Jon Stewart thing with an audience at a Putin-esque desk, I have to tell you. Its a big desk.

jon stewart

Oh, can I tell you, its beautiful.

kara swisher

Is it? I can tell. You touch it a lot.

jon stewart

Im fidgety.

kara swisher

Youre fidgety.

jon stewart

Its in place of smoking, so.

kara swisher

But nothings on it, so its very Feng Shui. Then you do a comedy act, essentially. Observational.

jon stewart

Yeah, like more of what 

kara swisher

Traditional.

jon stewart

people would traditionally think

kara swisher

Of Jon Stewart.

jon stewart

Yeah.

kara swisher

And then you have a panel. Because every show is a different topic. And then you do an interview, a big interview. You did Gary Gensler in the one I saw. Theres not a team. Theres not a lot of people. Theres not any stunts beyond it. Its very different from The Daily Show. Talk a little bit about why you did it the way you did this.

jon stewart

Well, all it really is thats different from The Daily Show, and I think earnestness is probably a good thing, but people always viewed satire in this kind of a cynical kind of nihilist, everybody sucks. Which isnt. I think satire is generally grounded in idealism and hope and earnestness. So all weve really done with the show is remove the fictional character who gives you what they really think through an arch perspective. The thing that we all developed at The Daily Show, the whatever 

kara swisher

The formula.

jon stewart

Formula that you thought maybe was different was we turned what were more rote monologue-esque jokes that were kind of divorced from meaning into a more essayistic format. Its turning a punch line into an essay, right? And so for this show, I thought the thing that was missing is, lets set the table in the same way that I might have done in the old days. Right? And then rather than have a fictional character come on in front of a green screen, lets have actual people who have an actual stake in these actual issues, and let them talk.

kara swisher

Who youve never heard of necessarily, not 

jon stewart

Who you, yeah, generally youve never heard of. And then lets go to somebody who might be able to do something about that and say like, hey, man, how about doing something about this? This is fucking terrible. And, yeah.

kara swisher

Let me just say the people youre interviewing are surprised, too. I thought Gary Gensler was expecting funny Jon Stewart and got pokey Jon Stewart poking at him. Is that 

jon stewart

Generally, I am pokey Jon Stewart.

kara swisher

I get that. I get that. But it was funny pokey, rather. Im sure he went back to his PR people and like, what was that? Because youre like, why do you suck so much, essentially? And thats what you said. And 

jon stewart

Well, thats funny. Thats not not funny.

kara swisher

In a way. But I dont think he was expecting it. When you have the tone, it is  when I say spare, it is spare. And it is serious and earnest. So what are you going for here? Im having a hard time figuring out what youre going for. Theyre all very good shows. But 

jon stewart

Right.

kara swisher

You have to really pay attention. And theyre substantive.

jon stewart

Right.

kara swisher

What do you think youre going? Because when I think of everything I make, Im thinking about what Im going for. What am I trying? What is my goal here?

jon stewart

Sort of like what I was saying earlier, which is the goal is identify an absurdity or a problem that seems like theres a solution that could be in the offing. Hear from people that are affected by it, and then talk to somebody who might have the ability to change the calculus on it for the better. Which, to be perfectly honest, that kind of  I always find that question strange. Because we are inundated by shitty content.

kara swisher

Yes, indeed.

jon stewart

And so even if your goal was, Im trying to not make shitty content, Im trying to make something that if I think noise is the antithesis of progress. What if we tried to make something that was an equalizer? That tried to bring some clarity to a noisy conversation? In and of itself, I think thats worthy. So Im always struck by that idea that  it was like a lot of the critics, they were like, whats he doing?

kara swisher

Its vegetables. I saw a lot of that.

jon stewart

And do we need this? And Im like, theres five CSIs. What do you mean 

kara swisher

We need those.

jon stewart

How do you gatekeep television and content? What are you talking about? And I understand that I spend my career talking shit. And so you reap what you sow. And that is part of what we do. But I always find the self-justifying aspect of it a little odd.

kara swisher

So what would be successful to you and whats successful, say, to Apple? What do they  illumination?

jon stewart

Oh, well, those are very different things.

kara swisher

All right, OK.

jon stewart

Those are very different things.

kara swisher

I mean, why did you pick Apple over, say, Comedy Central, where ratings obviously are a big deal? Apple  who knows? They made more money from an iPod yesterday than youve made your entire career.

jon stewart

Yeah. But they would let me do what I wanted.

kara swisher

Right. Thats why you went with them.

jon stewart

Yeah. And it felt entrepreneurial in a way. And I also wanted to create this podcast. We wanted to try and create a universe of information, where we were boosting some of these voices and figuring things out. Its entrepreneurial to some extent. But also within that, what Apple gets out of it  Im not sure what they want out of a content company. I really dont. And in some ways, we might be antithetical to their business model.

kara swisher

Honestly, I think Apple wants to sell iPhones. I think Amazon wants to sell toilet paper.

jon stewart

Right. But thats what I mean, that it may not be in their interests to have a provocateur. But I do know theyve been incredibly supportive and have given us the resources to do it. And I think when you think about whats success, success is not just about its impact in the world. Its also about its impact on the people you work with. And their sense of satisfaction and growth and engagement. And I really want to make something that I feel like were challenging ourselves to - not to co-opt a phrase from my benefactors, think differently. But to look at issues not from the polarity necessarily of 

kara swisher

Or in the immediate. Or in the immediate. Because topicality is hard. Because everyones thinking about Ukraine right now and you have a show on the stock market of a story that was a couple months ago. You focused on one, something Ive been quite tough on, which is Robin Hood. How hard is that, to get peoples interest when thats the case?

jon stewart

Oh, that I dont know. So the one thing you can never do with content is try and figure out if someones going to be interested in it.

kara swisher

Right.

jon stewart

Like, you 

kara swisher

Well, you rush a Ukraine episode. You certainly could. You could. You know people are paying attention to Ukraine. You could rush one of those episodes out.

jon stewart

So one of the things this is also about, one of my frustrations with the media, is its eight-year-olds playing soccer. So wheres the ball? So theres this sense that theres only one story in the world. But the stock market goes on, whether Ukraine  whats the first thing they say? Russia has invaded Ukraine, and what will this mean for the stock market?

kara swisher

Right, right. Yeah, yep.

jon stewart

So not climbing on the moment I think is an advantage, not a disadvantage, for the types of things we want to talk about.

kara swisher

Right.

jon stewart

I like to think of themes, and one of the big themes for me is that we are told that we live in a free market capitalist society. And everything that I see tells me we are not. If you give corporations access to the money hose, thats stimulus. But if you give people access to the money hose, thats socialism.

kara swisher

Right.

jon stewart

This one is about if you turn on the news, you will see the stock ticker and the Dow Jones Industrial, and you would be reasonable to assume that, OK, this is  I better pay attention to this, because this is obviously the pulse and blood pressure of the American economy. But its not. Its in no way indicative of it. In fact, its an utterly skewed version of what is the actual economy. Those numbers that you see are owned by a small  10 percent of the country owns 80 percent of those assets. Its just skewed.

kara swisher

What youre trying to do here is quite substantive in topics that are not. If we were in a culture that is so twitchy and reductive, which is I think you described well, how do you break through? Because Tucker Carlson, getting back to him, has been very successful in being reductive. Can you be successful in doing what youre doing, which is vegetables in a lot of ways? Perhaps delicious vegetables, but in that way, it is.

jon stewart

So Im a firm believer that you develop an internal barometer of morality and quality. And you work with people who will be honest, who will tell you tough things that you need to hear, and will try and keep as clear and eye on that vision of funny, smart, thoughtful, interesting, as we can. And fair. But it is also reductive. Comedy is, in its purest form, an incredibly reductive  we are purveyors of bigotry. Everything we do is, hey, men, you  women do And you could be the king of disclaimers. Women, I got to tell you  I mean, obviously, not all women. But a lot of  I mean, women love to shop. I mean, there are certain women obviously in different economic stratas that would have a difficulty in terms of gathering. But in general, I guess what Im saying is upper middle 

kara swisher

Thats the woke, unwoke comic you just did.

jon stewart

Women, yeah. Thats going to be my next special. But I think one of the beautiful, frustrating things about creating something is it is no longer yours when it leaves your purview. And its why you have to work with the people you work with as well as you can to create content that best exemplifies the intentions that you wanted to put into it and are the right recipe of fun and interesting and smart and thoughtful as best you can do. But when it goes, it goes. And how that breaks through or how its received is no longer within your control.

kara swisher

So you took over The Daily Show in 1999 when Bill Clinton was in office. Facebook wasnt a thing. Fox News was only a few years old. When youre coming back, is it fundamentally different now? So do you think about making things as fundamentally different?

jon stewart

No. I dont  I mean, part of it is my brain is maybe not as elastic as  technology to me is still an alien force. So that part didnt change. And the elements of what youre talking about now were there when I left. They might not have been there to the same extent, but they were certainly there. I mean, I find the only thing that really has changed is you have to be more cognizant. A lot of times, we have a young staff. And theyll say, that thing you said, thats going to cause a problem. And Ill say, is it a is it a problematic thing? And theyll say, well, I dont necessarily think its a problematic thing, but I know how it may be taken. And then Ill have to say either, all right, well, lets do that. But what I try and tell them is, you cant outsmart the mob. Because the mob exists in so many different  every interest group has a mob. People say, is there a cancel culture and a woke culture? But in truth, the internet is just a random wandering of a variety of mobs. Every interest, everything you have, has people who want to engage honestly, people who want to engage with interest, people who are open, and villagers with pitchforks and torches. So the right has it, the left has it. Music has it. Comedy has it. Its a feudal system.

kara swisher

So when you look at this, has  I dont mean to say has time passed you by, but you were talking about it differently. You were talking about it differently.

jon stewart

Thats quite a throwaway. Has time passed you by?

kara swisher

You have the Twitters, the Facebooks. All this stuff has gotten this enormous power and enormous damage. And youve got a population thats addled and streaming and getting all kinds of stuff in it. Can you catch their attention? A lot of your stuff reminds me of Tom Snyder. Theres all kinds of shows I see in this. Charlie Rose with 100 percent less sexual harassment, for example. But has  that should be your tagline. What do you think? Will Apple like that? No.

jon stewart

Yeah. Well, let me address the first thing first, which is, has time passed you by? Yes. Time passes all of us by. Im not going to pretend that Im not 60 next year. We had a moment on The Daily Show. The kind of moment that is beautiful and surprising. And it was a moment that came. I was already 35, 40 years old. So it was one that I could really appreciate. But what I appreciate more than any of it is the opportunity to have lived a life, a creative one, that I never thought would have been possible. And in the moments when I was working for a plate of hummus down at the Comedy Cellar and walking home and down to Canal Street at 3:00 in the morning and just looking up at the sky and thinking, Im the luckiest motherfucker around. And I dont think Ive ever lost that. I dont have a yearning to be, I guess what you would consider on top or relevant. Im grateful that my mind still works the way it works and that theres people that are willing to let me explore topics and do things that I think are worthwhile. And theres streaming and technology and all these other things. But maybe that means theres also still room. In some ways, I feel like its a better pursuit now than it was before. But I also would say, whats my choice? Is your choice then to not make things? If you think to yourself, the world has passed me by and its like  and by the way, you get that online. Shut the fuck up, go away.

kara swisher

Yeah. Yep.

jon stewart

But theyre not  why would I listen to them? Why wouldnt I continue to make things if I am allowed to? And by the way, if Apple didnt allow me to, maybe somebody else would. Or now with the democratization of content, maybe you end up back at the cellar working for hummus and still  because ultimately, its a pursuit of expression.

kara swisher

Yeah, 100 percent. Jon Stewart on Substack. I see it. I see it.

jon stewart

Patreon. Im going to go OnlyFans.

kara swisher

Anyway, Jon, this has been great. What an interesting discussion.

jon stewart

Ive enjoyed it, Kara. Thank you. Its very, very nice to meet you. [MUSIC PLAYING]

kara swisher
OneWeb, a satellite internet company partly owned by the British government, has canceled an upcoming satellite launch using a Russian rocket and suspended all future launches that relied on Russia, the company announced on Thursday after a tense public standoff with Roscosmos, Russias space agency.

Also on Thursday, Roscosmos announced it would stop selling rocket engines to American companies.

The moves, both fallout from Moscows invasion of Ukraine, stand to further isolate the Russian space agency from its Western space partners, and limit Russias private space activities dramatically. OneWebs loss of a reliable rocket provider for launches also poses novel challenges for the company as it had aimed to complete its constellation of 648 satellites in orbit later this year.

OneWeb was rescued from bankruptcy in 2020 by the British government and other investors. It was scheduled to launch 36 satellites aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan on Friday. The company has sent roughly 400 satellites to orbit since 2019, every time using Soyuz, a workhorse rocket thats been active since the days of the Cold War space race.

But on Wednesday, just after the Soyuz rolled out to the pad ahead of its launch, Dmitry Rogozin, Russias space chief, announced two conditions aimed at countering the sanctions placed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine: The space agency would not proceed with the satellite mission unless Britain withdrew its multibillion dollar stake in OneWeb and the company provided a guarantee that its satellites will not be used for military purposes.
ADDIS ABABA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on Wednesday said the desert locust upsurge that had ravaged the Horn of Africa for more than two years has ended.

"The current desert locust upsurge has finally ended in the Horn of Africa after more than two years of intensive survey and control operations carried out by ground and air with generous support from the international community," the FAO said in its latest dessert locust situation update.

According to the FAO, for nearly the second consecutive month, no significant locust infestations had been detected in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya during February.

The UN agency, however, stressed that although rain has not fallen recently and ecological conditions are dry, small groups of immature adults were seen moving southwards in eastern Ethiopia, which suggests that a few residual infestations may still be present.

"Therefore, surveys and vigilance should be maintained," the FAO said.

This year's winter breeding along both sides of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden has been very poor due to a lack of rainfall.

China, which has been helping deal with natural disasters in the Horn of Africa region, had been helping countries in the region in their efforts to effectively respond to the desert locust upsurge.

When Ethiopia suffered from the worst desert locust invasion in about 25 years for much of 2019 and 2020, the Chinese government had donated batches of what the Ethiopian government described as "timely and much-needed" anti-locust materials.

The batch of anti-locust donations by the Chinese government included 72 metric tons of pesticides, 2,000 units of hand-held ULV sprayers as well as 20,000 sets of personal protective gear.

The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), considered as the most dangerous of the nearly one dozen species of locusts, is a major food security peril in desert areas across 20 countries, stretching from west Africa all the way to India, covering nearly 16 million square kilometers, according to the UN. 
Dr. Matache, who was born in Romania, first learned about the moths offensive name when she moved to the United States in 2012. I felt devastated, she said. It was created by white Europeans, it carries a painful history and its offensive, she added, noting that some Romani groups in Britain embrace the term.

The Entomological Society of America maintains a list of approved common names for insects in order to standardize how people refer to species. In early 2021, the society adopted new rules banning references to ethnicities, races or groups of people in common names.

The lengthy renaming process began last July. The society officially removed the pejorative from L. dispar and Aphaenogaster araneoides, formerly called the gypsy ant. To select a new name, it assembled a group of entomologists, researchers and professionals who work with the species, and people who identify as Romani, including Dr. Matache. The society also formed the Better Common Names Project, to review other common names that may be offensive or inappropriate.

The working group received hundreds of submissions from the public. It dropped some, such as frowny cyclops, because they were not serious suggestions. Many others were dropped because they were further variations on pejorative names or stereotypes of the Romani people. It felt like they were insisting to keep this insect related to Romani people, Dr. Matache said, adding that she was grateful to non-Roma members of the group who pointed out this racism.

After the working group debated seven finalists, spongy moth emerged as the winner. The new name refers to the 10 months the insect spends in the egg cycle of its short life.
Personally, Im a softy for switching where children are involved, and less so for adults (if I have a great seat). I suggest that stewards look elsewhere for volunteers if fellow passengers try to shame me from the sidelines. And I always ask if an upgrade is available. The complimentary wine and warm nuts of business class are a balm to many wounds.

Image Credit... Miguel Porlan

Not Him

Our wedding is approaching. My future husband has four siblings, one of whom is single. As we finalized our guest list, it was obvious to me that his single sister would not get a plus one for the wedding. But my fiance objected. His sister occasionally brings a male friend to family events, and they engage in public displays of affection that are awkward for everyone. Also, our wedding is taking place across the country, and including this man in wedding events over several days doesnt sit right with me. Am I being old-fashioned?

BRIDE-TO-BE

This is your wedding. You are allowed to be as old-fashioned as you and your fiance agree to be. Keep in mind, though, that his sister may be very important to him. And since you are asking people to fly across the country to spend several days celebrating your wedding, he may want to offer his sister the courtesy of a companion.

Still, you have an equal vote here. Im not exactly clear whether your objection to the plus one is that his sister is unmarried, her P.D.A. with her boyfriend makes you uncomfortable or you just dont want to see this guy at your wedding. (Maybe its all three!) Be straight with your fiance and talk this through. Sadly, it will not be the last compromise you two have to reach.

How Many Times Do I Have to Say It?

I made friends with a woman whom I see at my kids play dates and in the park. I find myself bristling at how pushy she is: insisting that I parent like she does or attend events Ive already told her I dont want to go to. Im happy to be cordial when I see her, but she isnt taking the hint when I respond to her invitations by saying Im busy. They keep coming. What should I do?
What about the rumor that she had undergone interviews to be his girlfriend? Ridiculous. Did she ever sign anything, like a nondisclosure agreement? No.

Were they, as Ms. Fox previously said on the podcast Call Her Daddy, really referring to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend?

I dont think those words ever came out of my mouth, actually, she said (though they did, on the podcast). It definitely felt like I was his girlfriend. But it also felt like I was being cast in the role of his girlfriend  and he was casting me. He was the orchestrator of it all. It really did feel like a movie.

Is she ever concerned that Mr. West might publicly air details of their personal lives or private communications on Instagram, as hes done with other exes, friends and family members?

I dont think that he would want to open that door with me, she said. If you come for me, Im going to come for you. And Im really good at coming for people. I just go straight for the jugular. I dont think he would be dumb enough to do that.

The truth is, Ms. Fox was ready to be famous a few years before she started dating Mr. West. She had plans to blow up in 2020, with a team and strategy in place at the time of her breakthrough role in Uncut Gems opposite Adam Sandler.
Performance wear may seem like a departure for Loewe. After all, the Spanish house has specialized in leather goods for over 175 years now, and yet its latest collaboration  with the cult Swiss running brand On  was the Loewe creative director Jonathan Andersons idea. I felt there was a precision in what they do that connects to the Loewe Puzzle bag, he says, referring to the iconic trapezoidal purse. This idea of aerodynamics. (It probably didnt hurt that Anderson has been wearing On shoes, which are beloved for their patented cushioning system and lightweight feel, for years.) Launching next week, the collection consists of two sneaker styles, versions of Ons Cloudrock and Cloudventure trail-running shoes, that are made with recycled materials and come in five colorways each  as well as clothes, from temperature-regulating T-shirts to a customizable three-layer parka. In addition to being adaptable and high-tech, of course, the pieces are also nice to look at. Some of the shoes and a unisex moisture-wicking anorak all feature a celestial print of light blue constellations set against a navy background that mimics sashiko  the traditional Japanese needlework style characterized by geometric patterns  and just might inspire night runs. From $275, loewe.com.

LOOK At This

A Re-Examination of the Nude
By 2024, the British director Katie Mitchells latest project A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction, will have been shown in 10 countries. Yet neither Mitchell, nor any cast or crew, will cross a single border.

The experiment is part of Sustainable Theater?, an initiative of the Vidy-Lausanne Theater in Lausanne, Switzerland, in conjunction with a network of 10 European producers. Mitchell has created a touring score  an online handbook with detailed instructions on every aspect of the production  that is handed to local artists in theaters at each stop. But those artists have creative control, too: A Play for the Living in a Time of Extinction, a monologue by the American playwright Miranda Rose Hall about a young theater worker reckoning with man-made damage to the environment, will have a different director and look everywhere it goes.

This commitment to zero travel is part of the theaters efforts to adapt for climate change. In recent years, a growing number of artists and venues have started to rethink their reliance on easy, yet environmentally costly, international travel.

At the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, where the show opens Thursday, Mitchells vision has been reinterpreted by the Rome-based collective lacasadargilla. You have the artistic freedom to make your own show, Mitchells instructions read, while working within the parameters outlined below. Those include casting, music and technical requirements  down to a video tutorial explaining how to build a power meter.
Another young German director, Elsa-Sophie Jach, attempts something like a feminist version of Dionysos Stadt with The Outrageous Ones: Technoid Love Letters for Ancient Heroines, at Munichs Residenztheater. With its long narrations, installation-like set and percussive live music, theres much about the production that feels similar to Rupings work.

In the intimate confines of the Marstall, a small Residenztheater stage in the former imperial stables, six actresses cavort around a hot-pink fountain as they recount the myths of Echo, Medusa, Cassandra, Medea, Philomela and Penelope  some of antiquitys best-known and bloodiest. Theres no shortage of killing, sexual violence and wanton cruelty in these tales, often narrated in the first person, about women who suffer at the hands of gods and men. (The performing text is itself a patchwork of ancient and modern texts, from Homer, Aeschylus, Euripides and Sappho up to modern feminist authors, including Christa Wolf and Helene Cixous.)

Although these stories are well known, the actresses succeed in making us feel discomfort and rage at the sickening violence enacted against women over and over. By giving voice to wronged or misunderstood female figures, The Outrageous Ones sticks it to the patriarchy, as represented by Zeus, Poseidon and Apollo.

Its a stylish and assured production. An onstage band, Slatec, helps to channel the female fury with its dynamic improvisations. The eclectic quartet  two sets of percussion, synthesizers and a trombone  performs what might best be described as techno meets big band.

The musicians drive the evening with momentum and energy, while the bands colorful outfits contrast with the somber black worn by the actresses for most of the performance  as does the blood that shoots out of the fountain by the gallon toward the end of the evening. Aleksandra Pavlovics playful set and Barbara Westernachs stark, dramatic lighting help turn the small brick interior of the Marstall into a kooky nightclub with a haunted-house vibe.

As the performance draws to a close, however, it strains for relevance by including the real-life story of Nevin Yildirim, a woman who in 2015 was sentenced to life imprisonment in Turkey for killing a man who had raped her. Jachs decision to add Yildirim to the pantheon of cruelly mistreated queens, princesses and nymphs feels out of place. Such editorializing seems tendentious, as if Jach and her performers lacked faith in their classical material. Before this modern-day interpolation, however, the production speaks up for the silenced women of antiquity in sensitive, eloquent and artistically unexpected ways.
The woman, Chelsey Napper, testified at trial that it felt as if bullets were flying everywhere as she frantically went to check on her son and cowered with him on the floor. The bullets struck Ms. Nappers kitchen table, a wall and a glass patio door.

Mr. Hankison testified that when he heard the 22 bullets fired by his two fellow officers, he mistakenly thought they were engaged in a gunfight with someone inside the apartment; he also wrongly interpreted the sound of the handgun fired by Mr. Walker as coming from a much more dangerous semiautomatic rifle. He said he believed that someone was firing at the officers as they tried to help the officer who had been shot in the leg.

I knew they were trying to get to him, and it appeared to me that they were being executed with this rifle, Mr. Hankison said.

The police chief of the Louisville Metro Police Department fired Mr. Hankison three months after the raid, saying he had violated department policy by shooting blindly into the apartment through the window and door, which were covered by blinds. Mr. Hankison testified that he had fired after seeing muzzle flashes illuminate the window, not knowing that they were coming from the officers weapons.

The attorney generals office, which led the prosecution of Mr. Hankison, did not pursue charges against either of the officers whose bullets struck Ms. Taylor, Detective Myles Cosgrove and Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly. Mr. Cosgrove, who the F.B.I. said fired the fatal shot, was eventually fired from the department, as was a detective who prepared the search warrant. Mr. Mattingly, the officer whom Mr. Walker shot, retired last year.

Hours after Mr. Hankison was acquitted, about 50 protesters gathered in Jefferson Square Park, the nucleus of the citys protest movement in 2020. Leaders expressed outrage, saying that the system unfairly protects police officers, before the group marched through downtown while chanting, We wont let this go.

In closing arguments on Thursday, Mr. Mathews, the lawyer for Mr. Hankison, sought to shift blame for what happened partly to Mr. Walker, who he said was the common denominator of the case because he had fired at the officers as they entered the apartment.
The war in Ukraine escalated on Wednesday with Russian forces capturing Kherson, a strategically important city and the first to be overcome since the invasion began last week.

It probably goes without saying that this is just the latest in a series of developments that merit our attention. So today Ill be pointing you to our latest coverage of the crisis as well as stories of its impact on California and beyond.

To start, todays front page of The New York Times features articles about the thousands of Ukrainians sheltering in the Kyiv subway and the alarm spreading across Eastern Europe as Russia seeks to reclaim a sphere of influence lost at the end of the Cold War.

Our reporters stationed in Russia also wrote about the reality of war dawning on that countrys citizens.
The Navy has recovered a stealthy F-35 warplane that fell into the South China Sea after it crashed while trying to land on a Navy aircraft carrier, the service announced on Thursday.

The Navys Japan-based Seventh Fleet said a remote-operated vehicle attached lines to the plane, which was then lifted 12,400 feet to the surface of the ocean and winched aboard the deck of a civilian vessel called the Picasso that the Navy contracted to assist in the operation.

This deliberate approach resulted in the correct capabilities conducting recovery operations within 37 days of the incident, Capt. Gareth Healy, the commander of the salvage task force, said in a statement.

Given the unique challenges of this problem, he said, this was an aggressive and achievable timeline.
Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona reaffirmed his decision Thursday not to run for the Senate this year, dealing a blow to Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, while delighting former President Donald J. Trump, who for months had warned Mr. Ducey to stay out of the race.

Mr. Ducey, who is term-limited as governor, was one of the most sought-after Republicans that Mr. McConnell had been trying to recruit. In a letter to donors, Mr. Ducey seemed to allude to Mr. Trumps hectoring, saying: These days, if youre going to run for public office, you have to really want the job.

Angry that Mr. Ducey would not overturn Joseph R. Biden Jr.s narrow 2020 victory in the state, Mr. Trump has rampaged for over a year, complaining about Mr. Duceys certification of the electoral results and threatening him about the Senate race.

Right now I have the job I want, Mr. Ducey wrote, and my intention is to close my years of service to Arizona with a very productive final legislative session and to help elect Republican governors across the country in my role as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
JAKARTA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian resort island of Bali on Friday officially reopened international direct flights carrying foreign tourists from all countries for the first time after two years, but mandatory quarantine is still required.

The overseas travelers are required to show COVID-19 vaccination certificates taken at least 14 days before departure and show negative results of RT-PCR tests from their countries of origin at a maximum of 48 hours before departure.

The quarantine period is five days for fully vaccinated travelers and seven days for travelers who have received only the first dose. It should take place in a hotel or on a liveaboard certified by the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

Bali has actually opened to foreign visitors from China, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates since mid-October 2021, but there have been no direct flights since then.

Indonesia recorded a drastic slump in the number of foreign visitors up to 1.6 million people last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the pandemic struck, Bali alone could welcome 6.2 million foreign visitors a year on average, according to data from Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.

Famous for its beaches, surfing, temples and nightlife, the resort island usually accounts for 54 percent of Indonesia's economy for the tourism sector.

The Southeast Asian country expected the reopening of flights to the world-renowned holiday island to help bounce back the country's tourism sector after it was hit hard by the pandemic.

"I hope the reopening can help revive the people's economy on the island," Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in a written statement on Friday.

Bali's reopening came amid a steady increase in COVID-19 cases in the country.

As of Friday, Indonesia confirmed 32,211 new COVID-19 infections, raising its tally of infections to 4,446,694, while the total number of confirmed Omicron cases in the archipelagic country has increased to 3,161, according to data from the country's Health Ministry.

"All steps we've taken have undergone calculation and careful considerations. But remember that all travelers must strictly comply with the health protocols regulated by the Indonesian COVID-19 Task Force. All of this will be meaningless if we are not disciplined," Pandjaitan said. 
WASHINGTON  Republicans and Democrats in Congress are pushing President Biden to ban Russian energy imports as they search for new ways to punish Moscow for its bloody invasion of Ukraine, even as the White House resists the idea, which it argues would drive up the price of gasoline and other energy costs for Americans.

The effort reflects a furious, bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and his unprovoked offensive in Ukraine, an attack that has left thousands dead and sent 1 million Ukrainians fleeing from their country in just a week.

The growing momentum behind the effort, which experts have said would be largely symbolic, also underscored how few tools both Congress and the White House have at their disposal as they grasp for new ways to weaken Mr. Putin.

Russian energy represents a small fraction of American imports, and Moscow is already having trouble exporting its oil even in the absence of sanctions, as traders, insurance companies and refiners slash purchases of Russian crude for reasons ranging from reputational risk to the safety of tankers in a war zone.
WASHINGTON  The Supreme Court on Thursday shut down efforts by a detainee at Guantanamo Bay to obtain information from two former C.I.A. contractors involved in torturing him, ruling that the inquiry would impermissibly expose state secrets.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for a badly fractured court, said the main question was whether the information sought by the detainee, known as Abu Zubaydah, would confirm the location of a C.I.A. black site, which is widely known to have been in Poland.

The justices split 6 to 3 on the question of whether the case could proceed. In dissent, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said the government sought to avoid further embarrassment for past misdeeds.

The facts are hard to face, he wrote. We know already that our government treated Zubaydah brutally  more than 80 waterboarding sessions, hundreds of hours of live burial and what it calls rectal rehydration. Further evidence along the same lines may lie in the governments vaults. But as embarrassing as these facts may be, there is no state secret here.
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Kentuckys attorney general, a Republican, may step in to defend a state abortion law struck down by a federal appeals court after the governor, a Democrat, refused to pursue further appeals.

The question in the case was procedural, and the court did not address the constitutionality of the abortion law. The court has in recent months allowed a Texas law banning most abortions after six weeks to go into effect and heard arguments in a case from Mississippi about that states 15-week ban.

Questions from the conservative justices in the Mississippi case suggested that they may be preparing to overrule Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion.

Thursdays decision, in Cameron v. EMW Womens Surgical Center, No. 20-601, concerned a Kentucky law that challengers said effectively banned the most common method of abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy, dilation and evacuation.
A fire broke out early Friday at a complex in southern Ukraine housing Europes largest nuclear power plant after Russian troops fired on the area, and the Russian military later took control of the site, Ukrainian officials said.

Security camera footage verified by The New York Times showed a building ablaze inside the Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex near a line of military vehicles. The videos appeared to show people in the vehicles firing at buildings in the power plant. Ukraines state emergency service later said the blaze went out after 6 a.m.

The fire did not affect essential equipment at the plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Twitter, citing its communication with the Ukrainian government.

About an hour after dawn, Ukraines nuclear regulatory inspectorate said in a statement that Russian military forces were now occupying the complex. It said that all of the sites power units remained intact and that no changes in radiation levels had been observed.

The fire broke out after a Russian attack on a training building outside the perimeter of the plant, according to a statement by Ukraines state emergency service. A spokesman for the nuclear plant, Andriy Tuz, was quoted by The Associated Press as telling Ukrainian television that shells had set fire to one of the plants six reactors that was under renovation and not operating.

Ukraines nuclear inspectorate later said in its statement that one unit of the six units was operating, another was in outage, two were being cooled down, and two others had been disconnected from the grid.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had accused the Russian military of deliberately attacking the complex and said an explosion there would have been the end for everybody, the end of Europe.

Only immediate actions by Europe could stop the Russian army, he added.

President Biden spoke with Mr. Zelensky about the fire and joined him in urging Russia to cease its military activities in the area and allow firefighters and emergency responders to access the site, the White House said. Local reports later said that emergency crews had gained access.

Mr. Bidens energy secretary, Jennifer M. Granholm, said on Twitter that the United States had not detected elevated radiation readings in the area, echoing an earlier assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The plants reactors are protected by robust containment structures and reactors are being safely shut down, she said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said he would seek an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council about the blaze at the complex, according to his office.

Before the fire was reported by Ukraines foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, the director general for the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement that a large number of Russian tanks and infantry had entered Enerhodar, a town next to the plant. The director general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said that troops were moving directly toward the reactor site.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex, on the Dnieper River roughly a hundred miles north of Crimea, is the largest in Europe. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, its six reactors produce a total of 6,000 megawatts of electric power.

In comparison, the Chernobyl plant in northern Ukraine produced 3,800 megawatts  about a third less. (A megawatt, one million watts, is enough power to light 10,000 hundred-watt bulbs.) The four reactors of the Chernobyl complex were shut down after one suffered a catastrophic fire and meltdown in 1986.

The reactors cores are full of highly radioactive fuel. But an additional danger at the Zaporizhzhia site is the many acres of open pools of water behind the complex where spent fuel rods have been cooled for years. Experts fear that errant shells or missiles that hit such sites could set off radiological disasters.

For days, social media reports have detailed how the residents of Enerhodar set up a giant barrier of tires, vehicles and metal barricades to try to block a Russian advance into the city and the reactor site. Christoph Koettl, a visual investigator for The New York Times, noted on Twitter that the barricades were so large that they could be seen from outer space by orbiting satellites.

Starting this past Sunday, three days into the invasion, Ukraines nuclear regulator began reporting an unusual rate of disconnection: Six of the nations 15 reactors were offline. On Tuesday, the Zaporizhzhia facility was the site with the most reactors offline.

John Yoon , Marc Santora and Nathan Willis contributed reporting.
NAIROBI, Kenya  Since the days of Nelson Mandela, South Africas leaders have rejected American criticism of their friendships with autocrats like Fidel Castro of Cuba and Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya, whose countries backed them during the most desperate moments of the anti-apartheid struggle.

Now South Africans are defending their loyalty to another autocrat  Vladimir V. Putin  and sitting out the global outcry over his invasion of Ukraine.

At the United Nations on Wednesday, South Africa was among 24 African countries that declined to join the resounding vote denouncing Russian aggression: 16 African countries abstained, seven didnt vote at all and one  Eritrea  voted against it, keeping company only with Russia, Belarus, Syria and North Korea.

The striking tally reflected the ambiguous attitude across much of the continent where, with a handful of exceptions, the Ukraine war has been greeted with conspicuous silence  a sharp contrast with Western countries that are expanding sanctions, seizing oligarchs yachts, pressing for war crimes investigations, and even openly threatening to collapse the Russian economy.
RIO DE JANEIRO  A young man sat alone with a beer and his tuba. One by one, his co-conspirators arrived. A man in a leotard with a trumpet. A shirtless drummer in a wizard hat. Another tuba player in a leopard-skin bra.

They were a ragtag group, convening near a popular downtown plaza to break the rules and start a party. In their view, they were here to save Rio de Janeiros Carnival.

After Omicron brought a new wave of Covid cases to Brazil, Rio banned the roving bands known as blocos that fuel the free, impromptu street parties that make this citys Carnival such a democratic revelry. City authorities had been scouring social media for planned blocos and vowed to break up any that violated the order.

Instead of the blocos, the city was allowing private, paid parties that could check for vaccinations. That left many Rio residents worried that Carnival  one of the few institutions where Rios social classes still mingle  was becoming more private and elite. Some of them wondered whether it would be much of a Carnival at all.
A two-year investigation led by the authorities in New Zealand has resulted in the arrests of hundreds of people around the globe on charges of possessing and sharing child sexual abuse material, officials said on Wednesday. Dozens of children were moved out of harms way as a result, the authorities said.

The investigation, the largest of its kind led out of New Zealand, found a secret global networks that shared child sexual abuse images on a wide scale. In some cases, the pandemic provided cover for the illegal activity, as lockdowns kept children isolated at home and predators took to the web in search of victims, a British official said.

The investigation, called Operation H, involved 12 countries and began in 2019, after an unnamed online service provider reported that its platform was being used to share horrific images of child sexual abuse. About 90,000 accounts were linked to the activity.

That led to the discovery of 32 gigabytes of files, some of which included sadistic acts of sexual abuse of infants and children, according to a statement from the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, known as Europol.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand  For much of the past two years, Covid-19 was a phantom presence in New Zealand, a plague experienced mostly through news reports from faraway lands.

Now, suddenly, it has become a highly personal threat.

New Zealand is being walloped by a major outbreak of the Omicron variant, with the virus spreading at what may be the fastest rate in the world. On Thursday, the country reported 23,194 new cases, a once unthinkable number in a small island nation of about five million people where the record daily case count before the current wave was in the low hundreds.

The explosion in cases has come as the government, under political pressure, loosened its strict regulations meant to prevent the spread of the virus, and as the highly transmissible Omicron reduced the effectiveness of the controls that remained.

That has filled many New Zealanders with anxiety as they learn to live with the pandemic-related risk that the rest of the world has grappled with since early 2020.
BRUSSELS  The Council of Europe, the continents main institution governing human rights, has suspended Russia from participation because its invasion of Ukraine goes against everything we stand for and is a violation of our statute and of the European Convention on Human Rights, its secretary general, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, said in an interview Thursday.

I know what war is, said Ms. Buric, a former foreign minister of Croatia who is originally from Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

I stand in full solidarity with Ukraine and its people, and I really hope that the Russian Federation will reverse this action and use dialogue and diplomacy to address the issues they have, she said, calling the war a dark hour for Europe and everything it stands for.

The Council, which was established in 1949 after World War II, now has 47 member states across Europe, dedicated to upholding democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and is separate from the European Union. It has a large parliamentary assembly and governs the European Court of Human Rights, which decides cases brought under the convention from any member country.




KABUL, March 2 (Xinhua) -The U.S.-led coalition forces may have run from Afghanistan last year, but the indiscriminate killing and widespread atrocities committed against the Afghan people during the occupation will haunt the victims and their families for years.

Abdul Wajid witnessed whole-scale slaughter in southern Helmand Province. "For 20 years, we watched killing, destruction and terror. Our business, trade, economy and agriculture were reduced to zero," Wajid, who is in his thirties, told Xinhua recently.

Following the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington D.C., the United States accused Afghanistan of harboring Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and invaded the country in October 2001.

During the Afghan war started by the U.S., more than 30,000 innocent civilians were killed and about 11 million people have become refugees.

Countless Afghans were killed, thousands in Sangin. Abdul Ghani was already old when the U.S. forces arrived in town many years ago. "They killed six of my family and drove me out of my house. I had to leave everything, including the children, behind," he said.

Ghani, and many like him, need support just to get through his daily life, let alone rebuild the ruins of his home. "The Americans didn't come here to build the country, they came here to destroy it," he said.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
PARIS  Only days ago, Ugo was sitting in a classroom in northern France studying for his final exams. But, now, he is making plans to travel to Ukraine to help the country in its fight against Russia.

Ugo, 22, who asked to be identified by only his first name for fear of potential repercussions, said on Tuesday that he did not have extensive financial resources that could provide relief to Ukraine.

The only thing I think I can do for them is to go there, he said.

And Ukraine is welcoming him and other volunteers with open arms. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has implored people across Europe to help, and hundreds have responded, according to news reports from countries like Britain and Sweden.

The volunteer response seems to be the latest and perhaps most striking development in a growing wave of international support for Ukraine, just as Russian forces are moving to encircle Kyiv, Ukraines capital, and as shelling in and around key cities is intensifying.
On Thursday, a day after Kyivs central railway station was damaged by a Russian missile strike, Ukrainians continued to pack trains in an effort to escape the city.

Several children were among those who returned to the station to board the evacuation trains, which are still traveling west to Lviv despite the apparent damage to the station. Ukrainian security forces patrolled the station platforms, in case of further attacks.
A phone conversation between President Emmanuel Macron of France and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday offered little hope that the fighting in Ukraine would abate any time soon, with the Kremlin saying it had no intention of backing down from a war that is going according to plan and the French presidency warning that Mr. Putin appeared determined to invade the entire country.

Our analysis of the military operations is that the Russian ambitions are to take control of all of Ukraine, said a senior official in the French presidency, who briefed reporters on the 90-minute conversation between the two leaders and said Mr. Macron expressed pessimism after the call.

Nothing is certain about the success of Russias operations, but we have to expect that the worst is to come, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in keeping with French government practice. There is nothing in what President Putin said that should reassure us, the official added.

The call, which the French presidency said came at the Kremlins request, was the third discussion between the two leaders since the start of the war. Mr. Macron, who was expected to announce his candidacy for re-election in April later on Thursday, has positioned himself at the center of the diplomacy in Europe, burnishing his stature in France and abroad by becoming an interlocutor with Mr. Putin.
As President Vladimir V. Putin wages war against Ukraine, he is fighting a parallel battle on the home front, dismantling the last vestiges of a Russian free press.

On Thursday, the pillars of Russias independent broadcast media collapsed under pressure from the state. Echo of Moscow, the freewheeling radio station founded by Soviet dissidents in 1990 and that symbolized Russias new freedoms, was liquidated by its board. TV Rain, the youthful independent television station that calls itself the optimistic channel said it would suspend operations indefinitely.

And Dmitri A. Muratov, the journalist who shared the Nobel Peace Prize last year, said that his newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which survived the murders of six of its journalists, could be on the verge of shutting down as well.

Everything thats not propaganda is being eliminated, Mr. Muratov said.

Precipitating the outlets demise were plans by the Russian Parliament to take up legislation on Friday that would make news considered fakes about Russias war in Ukraine punishable by yearslong prison terms. The Russian authorities have already made it clear that the very act of calling it a war  the Kremlin prefers the term special military operation  is considered disinformation.
LVIV, Ukraine  One week into their invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces are ramping up assaults on civilian areas, making strategic advances in the coastal south and beginning to lay siege to major cities.

The invasion by President Vladimir V. Putins troops, which began on Feb. 24, kicked off Europes largest ground war since World War II.

In the days since, parts of towns and cities along Ukraines eastern border with Russia have been reduced to rubble by Russian forces, according video evidence verified by The New York Times and interviews with residents who fled. Major cities, including the capital, Kyiv, have faced significant onslaughts, with Ukrainian officials saying Russian forces had taken control of the first major city in the war, the strategic southern port of Kherson.

As the war moves to an increasingly brutal phase, Russian artillery and rocket fire have cut off electricity, water and heat to many communities. Reports are also multiplying of Russian strikes against hospitals, schools, apartment complexes and critical civilian infrastructure. And a humanitarian crisis looms: More than a million people have already fled the country, according to the head of the United Nations refugee agency.
This week, Ukraines ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, read out before the General Assembly what he said were text messages a Russian soldier sent to his mother moments before he was killed. They were obtained, he said, by Ukrainian forces after the soldier died.

Mama, Im in Ukraine, the ambassador read. There is a real war raging here. Im afraid. We are bombing all of the cities together, even targeting civilians. We were told that they would welcome us and they are falling under our armored vehicles, throwing themselves under the wheels and not allowing us to pass. They call us fascists. Mama, this is so hard.

The messages  read out under the global spotlight of a high-profile United Nations meeting  offered a poignant reminder of the human cost of war. They also served as a potent example of how central the battle is for public opinion around the world in a lopsided war between Russias military machine and a scrappy, increasingly better-armed Ukraine.

Both sides efforts to influence the narrative and perception of the war are striking.

Ukrainian officials are using the reports and images on social media of Russian casualties to try to undercut the morale of the invading forces. President Vladimir V. Putin, meanwhile, has described the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky as a band of drug addicts and neo-Nazis. And at least some Russian soldiers appear to have imbibed the misinformation emanating from the Kremlin that their invasion would be welcomed.
VIITIVTSI, Ukraine  The families staggered in, bleary-eyed, to a two-room kindergarten around 1 a.m., exhausted after a long journey from their home in Cherkasy, about 300 miles away. Fearful of the threat from the Russian invasion, they had decided it was time to leave, and make their way along with tens of thousands of others to the safer regions of western Ukraine.

It was slow going. The roads were jammed with Ukrainians making a similar exodus. As they settled in for a few hours of sleep on a set of cots sized for 4-year-olds, air raid sirens blared from the administrative building next door.

The next morning, as snow fell outside, 11-year-old Karolyna Tupytska and her younger sister Albina brushed their teeth, played with a small Terrier and braced themselves for another long day of travel. They were headed to Poland with their mother, Lyuba.

My grandparents and my dad are still in Cherkasy, Karolyna said. She said she was sad to leave behind her white hamster, Pearl.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has launched an immediate criminal investigation of possible war crimes in Ukraine.

The prosecutor, Karim Khan, said late Wednesday that he would fast-track the investigation after receiving requests from 39 member countries, most of them European. Such a move is unprecedented at the court, where prosecutors typically wait months for approval from a panel of judges.

More than 120 countries signed the treaty that created the International Criminal Court, which is the only permanent international court designed to address genocide, wars of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The United States is not a member of the court.

I have notified the I.C.C. presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations in the situation, Mr. Khan said in a statement. Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced.
KYIV, Ukraine  Unshaven and wearing a military T-shirt, a haggard President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Thursday hosted his first news conference since the war began, inviting journalists into his office building, now fortified with sandbags.

In an animated briefing, Mr. Zelensky, whose defiance has made him a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion, laid out the state of negotiations with Russia, voiced pride in his people, pleaded for a no-fly zone and spoke frankly about fear of dying.

Beyond the answers Mr. Zelensky provided to questions, pulling a chair close to attending journalists, the news conference seemed intended to signal that his battered government is at least still functioning a week into the war, despite increasingly dire conditions in Kyiv.

Mr. Zelensky said he was particularly proud of ordinary Ukrainians resistance to the Russian attack, a seething, angry uprising by much of society even as Russian tanks bore down on major cities and the capital.
Press Release

March 3, 2022 Dispatch from Crame No. 1,228:

Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the cases filed against COMELEC's permit system and OPLAN Baklas 3/3/22 To paraphrase Charles De Gaulle when he said that "politics is too serious a matter to be left to politicians", I must say that elections are too serious a matter to be left to the COMELEC alone. I applaud and fully support the petition filed by the residents of Baguio City questioning COMELEC rules that require permits to conduct election campaign activities. This is the first time the COMELEC imposed such a requirement in election campaigning purportedly in light of the "new normal" conditions under the COVID-19 pandemic. However, COMELEC can only issue rules that it is authorized to promulgate under the Constitution and election laws. This does not include the power to require permits in the conduct of election campaign activities. I agree with the petitioners in the Baguio case that the permit system of the COMELEC unnecessarily curtails their freedom of speech and expression in campaigning for their chosen candidates, even if they are just ordinary citizens and do not formally belong to any campaign machinery of the candidates. To campaign for chosen candidates is a most basic right of citizens. COMELEC simply has no business pre-conditioning the exercise of such right on the existence of a permit. In the same vein, I also fully support the petition filed with the Supreme Court against the COMELEC questioning its Operation Baklas that removes even campaign materials put up on private property by the owner himself. The regulation size provided in the Fair Elections Act clearly applies only to campaign materials put up by the candidates on public places and common poster areas, and not those put up by ordinary supporters on their own property. The COMELEC has gone overboard in its zeal to administer the elections and election campaigning. However, it should not do this at the expense of the basic rights of citizens to express their support and campaign for their chosen candidates. ### (Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_no._1228)
Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca speaks at a meeting of Turkey's COVID-19 science board in Ankara, Turkey on March 2, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Xinhua)

ANKARA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday.

"I would like to emphasize that the pandemic currently affects our social life much less than before," the minister told reporters at a press conference in the capital Ankara.

The fight against the coronavirus will rely especially on vaccines, Koca said after a meeting of Turkey's COVID-19 science board.

The country will fight the pandemic by individual measures and the citizens without symptoms will not be tested, he said.

Accordingly, the outdoor mask requirement is lifted, while masks will not be mandatory indoors when there is enough ventilation and if the distance rule is respected, Koca said.

A contact tracing app code will no longer be required while entering shopping malls or other public venues. It will be enough to isolate infected students and education will continue in their classes.

Turkey has been gradually easing coronavirus restrictions since 2021, while Omicron has become the dominant variant in the country. In January, the Turkish government abolished the PCR test requirement for screening purposes and for close contacts of COVID-positive individuals.

The test requirement for unvaccinated individuals is lifted to access public events.

Furthermore, Turkey has shortened the isolation period of COVID-19 patients to seven days.

Turkey on Wednesday confirmed 56,780 new COVID-19 cases and the death toll from the virus rose by 189. 

Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca speaks at a meeting of Turkey's COVID-19 science board in Ankara, Turkey on March 2, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Xinhua)

A meeting of Turkey's COVID-19 science board is held in Ankara, Turkey on March 2, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Xinhua)

People shop at a market in Ankara, Turkey, March 3, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

A fish seller is seen in a market in Ankara, Turkey, March 3, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

People shop in a market in Ankara, Turkey, March 3, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Photo by Mustafa Kaya/Xinhua)

Tourists visit Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, March 4, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Tourists visit the Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkey, March 4, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Tourists visit the Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkey, March 4, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Tourists visit the Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkey, March 4, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Tourists visit the Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkey, March 4, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Tourists visit the Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkey, March 4, 2022. Turkey eased several COVID-19 restrictions in public spaces as the country has entered a new phase in the fight against the pandemic, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Shadati)
The mask mandate remains in place in health care settings and on public transit, and businesses and other institutions are allowed to require masks or proof of vaccination if they choose to do so.

Masks will no longer be required in Philadelphia schools starting March 9, if the situation continues to improve.

Philadelphia is unique in that we are the poorest big city in the country, making us more vulnerable to Covid-19 than many other places, Dr. Bettigole said. She added that Philadelphians had shown a commitment to each other during the pandemic, perhaps best demonstrated by our willingness to wear masks for the past six months to help decrease transmission to those that remain at risk.

Almost 70 percent of Philadelphians are fully vaccinated, according to a New York Times database, but the number of people receiving their first doses has stalled, as they have nationally.

Other places in the United States that announced changes to mask policies this week:

Children were allowed to shed their masks on Wednesday in public schools across New York State where there were no local mandates, after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Sunday that she was rolling back the statewide school mask mandate. Children in some child care centers can now also go maskless.
For five years, Krista Gutierrez rented the top floor of a two-family home in the Bronx for herself and her two children. The four-bedroom apartment cost $2,800 a month, but because it was in a detached house, she said, I felt like a homeowner.

One thing, though, always reminded her that she was a renter: the parking situation.

The house had a one-car garage with a driveway so steep it was unusable. It faced a service road off Bruckner Boulevard, which meant there was no parking across the street.

The parking was tough, and the neighbors werent nice about it, Ms. Gutierrez, 48, said. There is an unspoken thing that you dont park in front of anybody elses house. Cones, pails, every sort of thing they could put in the street to block the front of the house, they did. If I parked in front of the house that I rented, they would give me a hard time. It gave me anxiety.

[Did you recently buy or rent a home in the New York metro area? We want to hear from you. Email: thehunt@nytimes.com]

Two years ago, Ms. Gutierrez  who is divorced and lives with her daughter, 27, and son, 17  landed a job as an executive assistant at a financial technology company. It was time to buy a house, and she told herself: You will have a driveway that you own.

She also needed three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and she wanted a yard for Major, her poodle. Her initial budget ranged up to $600,000.

In her Country Club neighborhood, on the shore of Eastchester Bay, inventory was low as the pandemic buying frenzy took hold. She considered Westchester, but then she made a trip to an open house in New Rochelle, and the line at the door was so long that she never made it inside.

There were whole families going to see this house, she said. I was shocked by the fact that people bring the kids, they bring grandma, they bring everyone.

She didnt want to show her children a house that was out of reach, and she couldnt compete with all-cash offers and waived inspections. Even as her budget rose, she told her agent, Israel Sanchez of Keller Williams Realty NYC Group, not to bother showing her houses that already had multiple offers.

I didnt have the stomach for a bidding war, she said. I felt like I was never going to find anything.

For a while, she didnt. At one point, Ms. Gutierrez gave up and renewed her lease, which added another year to the search. But she persevered.

Among her options:
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Hematogen, or gematogen, is a Soviet-era supplement notorious for containing at least 5 percent black food albumin, a technical term for cows blood.

In the Soviet Union, even sweet treats had a practical purpose. In the case of Hematogen, its controversial secret ingredient helped consumers treat anemia, malnutrition, and fatigue. It was consumed by both children and adults, who loved both its sweet vanilla flavor and the effect it had on their health and overall food. Once only sold to the public in pharmacies, Hematogen can now be found in a variety of stores and shops in ex-Soviet countries like Russia and Ukraine, and even as far as the US and Canada. You can even order them on Amazon.

Photo: Sergey Frolov/Wikimedia Commons

According to RBTH, the first version of Hematogen was developed in 1890, in Switzerland. Back then, it was a mixture of cow blood and egg yolk known as Gomels Hematogen, but in the 1920s, the Soviet Union adapted the recipe to its own needs, using at rations for its soldiers. Over time, because of its sweetness and chocolate taste, it became a treat that kids and adults alike adored.

Hematogen bars were often produced by slaughterhouses, as a way to monetize the bovines blood, which would have otherwise been wasted. The production process took about 24 hours. First, the condensed milk, sugar, glucose syrup, and vanillin were mixed together, then the mixture would be left to cool, as adding the cow blood when the mixture was still hot caused it to coagulate. The next day, the sludge was molded into bars.

Contrary to popular belief, most people in Soviet Russia knew very well that Hematogen bars contained cows blood, but didnt have any problem with it. The iron-rich treat was delicious, and it helped treat the anemia of small children and pregnant women, as well as speed up the recovery of injured soldiers.

Because of the high iron content, Hematogen bars left an oddly metallic aftertaste in your mouth, but that was a small price to pay for the sugar rush it offered. Nowadays, because of the high sugar content, it is no longer seen as a healthy source of iron, with doctors recommending red meat instead.

Hematogen may have reached the peak of its popularity in the Soviet era, but you can still get your hands on it today. Its common in Russia and other former Soviet Union countries like Ukraine, but you can also find it important in the US and Canada, as well as listed on Amazon. Its not the same as the original, as manufacturers today use powdered blood instead of the real thing, but the taste still brings back memories if you used to eat it as a kid.
In what may be one of the creepiest, most disturbing stories weve ever featured on Oddity Central, a young man was arrested for stalking a New Hampshire woman, hiding in her attic and filming her as she slept.

Mauricio Damian Guerrero, a 20-year-man from Philadephia, was arrested last month on the roof of a house from which he had allegedly been stalking an OnlyFans woman he had become obsessed with. The young man had reportedly gotten his hands on the womans keys, made copies of it, which allowed him to come and go from her house as he pleased, and hid in her attic, waiting for her to go to sleep so he could come down and film her. The victim only realized something was wrong when her mother started hearing strange sounds from the attic.

Guerreros victim, only referred to as NR by the media, told investigators that she had been contacted by the Philadelphia man in October of last year, on OnlyFans, where she published adult content for paying members. At one point, he promised to buy NR a television set and a fireplace, so she gave him her address, for shipping purposes. Then he began being pushy, asking to meet her in person, despite her best efforts to make him understand that she wasnt interested.

Photo: Michael Fortsch/Unsplash

The stalked woman said that Guerrero had previously driven 400 miles to New Hampshire, and slept in his car, outside her apartment. She later moved to her mothers house, and although its unclear how Guerrero learned of her new address, he found her and started acting all creepy again.

One day, Guerrero allegedly video-called his victim, and she was shocked to see him outside her mothers home. She told him to leave and never come there again, but a few hours later she woke up to him allegedly standing in the hallway staring at her. It was one of the most frightening moments of her life.

NR told investigators that at one point she briefly lost her keys, only to later find them in the place she assumed she had originally left them. It turned out that the 20-year-old managed to get inside the house using a prybar, make copies of the keys, and then put them back as if nothing happened.

From that moment on, Mauricio Damian Guerrero, could get in and out of the house as he pleased, which he proceeded to do. He allegedly hid in the attic of the house, waiting for the right time to get out and start stalking his obsession. The womans mother told authorities that things seemed off on the week of his arrest, with some windows allegedly open when she herself had previously closed them.

Guerrero seemed to be living in the attic of the house for some time, as the victim herself found food, headphones and a cup with urine in it. She and her mother had called police when they heard footsteps coming from the attic, and the stalker was caught on the roof of the house as he was trying to flee.

NR was shocked to learn that police had found videos of her sleeping naked in her bed, on Guerreros phone. Apparently, the creepy youth climbed down from the attic when his victim fell asleep, carefully removed the sheets from her bed and filmed her naked body, focusing on the genitals.



During questioning, Guerrero admitted to breaking into the New Hampshire home, but claimed to have done it only to retrieve a TV and fireplace he had previously left at NRs apartment. He also admitted to filming her at night as she slept. He claimed that the OnlyFans user had told him that she wanted a man to be obsessed with her and stalk her.

Guerrero was charged with four felony counts of burglary, but no other charges were filed. He was released from jail last week after posting a $2,500 cash bail, and made to wear a tracking bracelet to ensure that he didnt get close ot NR, or even travel to New Hampshire anymore.
Propel, a PR software startup closes a $4.5 million seed round that brings the company's total funds to $6 million. CEO Zach Cutler told Business Insider that the funds would be used to hire marketing and salespeople in New York, Florida and London. He also plans to implement more machine learning to help the platform determine which pitches resonate the most with journalists. Propel counts Real Chemistry, Google and Antenna among its clients. Its media database includes more than one million journalists and 50 million influencers. The lead investor in the deal was NFX.

The Public Relations Society of America National Capital Chapter introduces their Early Career Fellowship for Professionals of Color. The program, which is sponsored by global marketing, communications and digital transformation agency ICF Next, will provide four fellows with benefits that include a one-year mentorship with a PRSA NCC member, a three-month 2022 summer internship with ICF/ICF Next, payment of PRSA and PRSA NCC chapter dues for one year, and a $500 stipend for PRSA NCC events. The fellowship will run from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, and applications will be accepted online through April 30. "This fellowship provides diverse young professionals the opportunity to learn, grow and gain early traction in the field, and inspires us to continue to make positive change," said ICF Next senior partner, multicultural communications Vickie Gogo.

Andrew Graham

Bread & Law is launched by Clear founder and PRSA New York's immediate past president Andrew Graham. The new PR agency is "designed to help companies thrive either despite or because of the erosion of trust in institutions and expertise." The firm will provide counseling and advisement to heads of communication and marketing, with a focus on helping them realize their agendas. Bread & Law will also serve as an incubator of specialized agencies, starting with a practice for start-to-finish thought leadership campaigns with fixed pricing and guaranteed results and an influencer marketing practice that targets micro-influencers. "Competition for attention is absolutely fierce today, and I've spent a lot of time coming up with a blueprint for what works," said Graham.

My Code, a digital media company that connects brands, agencies, publishers and storytellers with diverse audiences, starts up W Code, which focuses on delivering authentic messaging and content to female audiences. W Code joins My Code's other platforms, which include H Code (directed at Hispanic consumers), B Code (which targets Black audiences), and A Code (which delivers messaging to the AAPI community). Its offerings include high-impact media across audio, CTV, video and display, robust creative content solutions, and first-party data from My Code's Intelligence Center. W Code is targeting brands within lifestyle, cooking, health and wellness, beauty and fashion, wedding and parenting verticals. "Brands must put in the work to understand the nuanced differences across female audiences and mold their messaging accordingly," said My Code COO Jennifer White.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has confirmed to Independent TD for Laois Offaly, Carol Nolan, that the Government is to review issues surrounding the level of fuel rebates currently available to Irish hauliers as part of efforts to address the rising cost of living.

The Tanaiste was responding in the Dail to a request from Deputy Nolan that Irish fuel rebate levels are brought in line with those of other EU states, which in some instances are up to three times the rate available in Ireland.

Deputy Nolan also raised the need for Government to actively support the upgrading of the national haulage fleet to EURO 6 engines which have a dramatically increased capacity to reduce emissions:

I have been in continuous contact with the Irish Road Hauliers Association recently and they have made it clear to me that there is an urgent need to immediately revise the fuel rebate system, Deputy Nolan said.

For the last number of years, the rebate system here has been placing our hauliers at a serious competitive disadvantage. If the status quo is maintained that disadvantage will deepen significantly, especially as the Ukrainian crisis is likely to push up energy and transportation costs right across the board.

I have repeatedly highlighted the fact that the National HGV Fleet, which is about 24,000 vehicles, do 86% of the movement of goods for the Irish economy.

They travel over 5 million KMs per day and use over 1.5 million litres of fuel per day. This works out to nearly 500 litres per truck per week, which supports the statement that a haulier's artic burns in a week what a house burns in a year in fuel oil.

"Given this level of fuel consumption, and the strategic importance of the haulage and transportation sector, it is absolutely critical that the rebate and the upgrading issues are acted on as soon as possible, concluded Deputy Nolan.
"There are currently 27,000 farmers registered on the Departments database with equine premises. These farmers, in Tipperary and across rural Ireland, would greatly benefit from the inclusion of their sector in TAMS, to be funded under the new CAP regime from January 2023", stated Deputy Michael Lowry when addressing An Taoiseach, Micheal Martin during Promised Legislation in the Dail on Wednesday.

"A number of recent economic reports into the Irish horse sector have shown that the vast majority of people involved in this industry, horse breeding in particular, have small holdings with 5 breeding mares or less.

"The equine sector comes under the remit of the Department of Agriculture, but has not benefited from any Capital Investment Grants or direct support from CAP. Essential infrastructure such as stabling, arenas, horse fencing, out-wintering paddocks and horse handling facilities should be incorporated and eligible for funding under the new scheme", he said.

Deputy Lowry asked that the Minister for Agriculture examine inclusion of this integral part of Irish agriculture in such a scheme, and engage directly with representatives of the Thoroughbred and Sport Horse sectors.

An Taoiseach responded that Grant Aid is available for horse stocks under the Animal Welfare and Nutrient Storage Scheme and the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme, in addition to a variety of measured under the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme.

"That said, I will talk with Minister McConalogue in terms of the issues you have raised to see if more can be done", he said.
Alan Kelly has announced he is to resign as Labour Party leader after less than two years after being informed by parliamentary colleagues that they had lost confidence in him.

Delivering a public statement at Leinster House on Wednesday evening, Mr Kelly acknowledged that the party had not made progress in the opinion polls under his leadership.

Surrounded by his party colleagues, he said: I am resigning as leader of the Labour Party.

I was advised by my parliamentary colleagues on Tuesday morning that they had lost collective confidence in my leadership.

This was a surprise to me but I accept the decision.

We had a number of frank discussions in recent weeks.

Mr Kelly added: I have to acknowledge that we havent been able as a party to move on in the opinion polls and I have deep regret about that.

We didnt get the bounce I would have hoped for over the past two years, and the pandemic restricted my ability to put forward my politics and bring forward the progress I had really hoped for.

It is also a reality that it has been hard for us as a party very much associated with 2011-2016, for those of us who were involved in that government to move on.

I think it is time now that we did.

Mr Kelly was linked to the Fine Gael-Labour coalition between 2011-2016 and the introduction of tough austerity measures.

Mr Kelly said he would remain as leader until his successor is elected.

He said: I have been involved in Labour Party politics literally all of my life. I dont remember not being in the Labour Party.

Every election I have ever contested, I have been very, very fortunate to have won.

I would have appreciated the opportunity to have led us into the next general election to show what I could have done as leader.

But I respect that will not be the case.

Mr Kelly appeared emotional as he added: Becoming leader of the Labour Party was the best political day of my life. I was very humbled and overwhelmed by the support I got.

The parliamentary party have expressed their collective view and for that reason I have decided to step down.

I want to wish whoever is the next leader the very best of luck and I sincerely mean that.

I have no interest in a rancorous or divisive debate within the party and I wont be engaging in one.

When the new leader is elected in a short few weeks I guarantee I will do everything I can to support that leader.

The PA news agency understands that Ivana Bacik, who won a seat in the Dublin Bay South constituency last July, is tipped to succeed Mr Kelly.

Mr Kelly, known for his at-times combative exchanges in the Dail, has not been able to reverse the partys static polling rates, which have hovered in the low single digits in recent months.

He took over the party two years ago from Brendan Howlin as the country grappled with the Covid-19 pandemic in the wake of the Irish general election in 2020.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Kelly had been quizzing Taoiseach Micheal Martin in the Dail on the Governments decision not to expel the Russian ambassador.

One major success for the party during his time as leader was the election of Ms Bacik last summer.
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From bustling cities with action-packed calendars to coastal locations where you get the best of both worlds to exploring the regional and remote areas that not many people get to experience.

On top of that, Australia offers lucrative pay rates for international nurses with a large range of incentives - both to get here and ongoing. Nurses, in particular, are in very high demand in Australia thanks to rapid population growth, and our governments' commitment to Covid recovery.

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A freight train loaded with anti-COVID-19 supplies departing from Shenzhen arrives in south China's Hong Kong, March 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

The arrival of the freight train amid Hong Kong's escalating COVID-19 pandemic marked the resumption of railway transport of the mainland supplies, 15 years after the decades-old regular service ended.

HONG KONG, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A train carrying goods from the mainland arrived in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) as part of the Chinese central authorities' efforts to help Hong Kong combat COVID-19.

The arrival on Wednesday marked the resumption of railway transport of mainland supplies to Hong Kong, 15 years after the decades-old regular service of sending fresh food to Hong Kong by rolling stock ended amid the rapid development of highway transportation.

The freight train loaded with anti-epidemic supplies in 18 containers arrived from Shenzhen. The goods include 1.1 million COVID-19 virus test kits, 20,000 pieces of protective clothing and other medical supplies. The supplies will be distributed to the anti-epidemic front on the same day.

A freight train loaded with anti-COVID-19 supplies departs for Hong Kong from Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, March 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

The Shenzhen-Hong Kong freight train service is planned to run once a day at the current stage, and more times daily possibly according to the needs of Hong Kong. A single train trip takes 35 minutes.

The Chinese mainland has already sent epidemiologists, isolation facility builders, and virus testers to support Hong Kong's ongoing fight against a raging wave of COVID-19 infections.

In addition, a new squad of 38 meat processing specialists arrived in the HKSAR on Wednesday and will pick up the slack to kickstart the normal supply of pork and beef to the local residents after virus' outbreaks forced the shutdown of Hong Kong's two major slaughterhouses on Feb. 25.

The team consists of experienced practitioners from Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanning, and Xilingol League -- regions in all four directions of the Chinese mainland.

People wearing face masks purchase meat at a market in Hong Kong, south China, March 11, 2021. (Xinhua/Lo Ping Fai)

They are expected to be stationed in Hong Kong for two months inside a closed loop, said Ng Fung Hong, a top food distributor and slaughterhouse operator in Hong Kong.

The suspension of butcher service has already weighed on Hong Kong's supply of fresh meat. Ng Fung Hong said the 38 specialists, who have volunteered to join the task force, will get down to work once Hong Kong's food watchdog gives the go-ahead.

Zhou Guoming, the team leader, said he came well-prepared and has got support from both his company and family.

"With my skills, I feel honored to do something practical for the people of Hong Kong, so that they can take home fresh meat as soon as possible," Zhou said.

Staff members check vegetable supplies to Hong Kong at Dachanwan wharf of Shenzhen port, south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 21, 2022. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

On the last day of February, the supply of fresh food from the mainland to the HKSAR largely returned to the normal level.

On Feb. 28, about 2,100 tonnes of vegetables were transported from the mainland to Hong Kong by land and water, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the daily average vegetable supplies in the previous year. The supply of chilled meat from the mainland has been recently maintained at a higher level than usual, reaching about 1.4 times the daily average amount on Monday, official data showed. 
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A group of parents and caregivers of African, Caribbean and Black identifying students in Waterloo region has launched a new council aimed at addressing systemic racism in local schools.
Rumble 01 Apr 2022

"I'm known as the 'Nostradamus of the Art World' because my paintings foreshadow events but..
Lawyers representing participants in the inquiry looking into the mass shooting in Nova Scotia that killed 22 people and injured others are debating whether the gunman's spouse should be called as a witness.
UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and partners are supporting the Madagascar government's response following the passage of Tropical Cyclone Emnati, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Wednesday.

Emnati, which hit Madagascar on Feb. 23, destroyed, damaged or flooded at least 23,400 houses and more than 5,400 classrooms. These figures could rise in the days ahead as further information becomes available from remote areas, said OCHA.

More than 420,000 people have been affected by tropical cyclones Batsirai and Emnati in southeastern Madagascar, and over 322,000 are in urgent need of assistance, according to preliminary assessments, it said.

Initial estimates indicate that 60,000 hectares of rice fields have been flooded twice -- first by Batsirai and then by Emnati -- raising concerns about the upcoming harvest and food security across affected areas, it said.

The death toll from the storms and cyclones that have hit Madagascar in the past two months has now risen to 205, it said.

The United Nations and partners are distributing food assistance, water and hygiene kits and emergency health supplies, and supporting the Ministry of Education to rehabilitate schools. They are also working on shelter solutions, said OCHA.

Nongovernmental organization partners and the government plan to provide cash transfers to over 108,000 households to support essential needs and shelter repairs. Efforts are under way to deploy response teams and deliver assistance to hard-to-reach areas, supported by a UN Humanitarian Air Service helicopter and a helicopter provided by the Airbus Foundation, it said. 
The N.W.T.s minister of infrastructure confirmed in the Legislative Assembly Wednesday that a plane carrying Russian civilians en route to the High Arctic was grounded in Yellowknife on Tuesday.
ODN 28 Apr 2022

The defence secretary says the next few weeks are "vital" for Ukraine to ensure Russia's momentum "doesn't grow again" and that..
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov referenced Napoleon, Hitler, Hollywood's battle between "absolute evil and absolute good" and Ukraine's "neo-Nazi" regime as he made his latest attempt to justify his country's invasion.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly announced more Russian sanctions today and met with some of the Ukrainians fleeing Vladmir Putin's bombs on a visit to a Polish-border aid operation. Those arriving are traumatized, and hoping their displacement is temporary.
In an expected move, the Black Sea nation of Georgia has applied to join the European Union. The application comes after the European Parliament backed a similar move from Ukraine amid a Russian invasion on its soil.
Security, trade and oil ties make it hard for states like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to openly condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Instead, they're hedging their bets.
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The Japanese government will freeze assets held by four more Russian banks following the European Union's latest financial sanctions against Moscow imposed in response to Russia's invasion of
PRWeek 29 Apr 2022

The former Pentagon spokesperson and White House correspondent is leaving Disney as it is engaged in a legal and political battle..
A volunteer explains the structure and function of ears for children in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Meng Delong/Xinhua)

Children learn ear-protecting tips at a kindergarten in Handan, north China's Hebei Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Li Hao/Xinhua)

A medical worker examines a child's ears in Yuqing County, Zunyi City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Mu Mingfei/Xinhua)

A medical worker explains the structure of ears in Zhongguan Township, Deqing County, Huzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Wang Zheng/Xinhua)

A medical worker shares knowledge of ear protection for children at a kindergarten in Jiangyong County, Yongzhou, central China's Hunan Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Tian Rurui/Xinhua)

A medical worker shares knowledge of ear protection in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Wang Jianmin/Xinhua)

A resident tries an earphone in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Wang Jianmin/Xinhua)

A medical worker shares knowledge of ear protection for pupils at an elementary school in Qinhuangdao, north China's Hebei Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Cao Jianxiong/Xinhua)

Children give performance themed on ear protection in Zhuji, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Guo Bin/Xinhua)

A medical worker explains the structure of ears and relevant precaution knowledge in Xianju County, Taizhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Wang Huabin/Xinhua)

A medical worker examines the ear canal for a resident in Zaozhuang, east China's Shandong Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Sun Zhongzhe/Xinhua)

Pupils learn about the structure of ear through an ear model at an elementary school in Zigui County of Yichang, central China's Hubei Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Wang Huifu/Xinhua)

A medical worker shares knowledge of ear protection for pupils at an elementary school in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Fang Dongxu/Xinhua)

A medical worker examines the ear canal for a resident in Qinglong Village, Xiaxi Township, Tongren City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Xiao Hao/Xinhua)

Children observe an ear model in Zhuji, east China's Zhejiang Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Guo Bin/Xinhua)

A medical worker carries out an examination for a child who is hard of hearing in Neiqiu County, Xingtai, north China's Hebei Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Liu Jidong/Xinhua)

A volunteer carries out an ear examination and hearing test for a resident in Fuyang, east China's Anhui Province, March 2, 2022. March 3 marks China's national Ear Care Day. Various activities were held to promote public awareness of hearing protection. (Photo by Wang Biao/Xinhua)
Oskaloosa, IA (52577)

Today

Becoming cloudy with occasional rain late. Low around 50F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Becoming cloudy with occasional rain late. Low around 50F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Ottumwa, IA (52501)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low around 50F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low around 50F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
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Photo provided/Delta College Planetarium

Delta College Planetarium will premiere the award-winning production Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries, a new feature show about the worlds largest observatories in South America and the people who run them at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 4.

The program travels to three world-class observatories in Chiles rugged Andes Mountains and arid Atacama Desert  remote, extreme regions with the perfect conditions for astronomical research. Along the way, audiences meet an inspiring cast of astronomers, engineers, technicians and support staff who keep these mega-machines running.
Almost a month after plans for a telecommunications tower in Hume Township were rejected, Agri-Valley Communications has plans for another one.

This time, the proposed tower would be in Rubicon Township two miles south of Port Hope, where Agri-Valley hopes to expand cellular and internet coverage.

The proposed tower from Sabre Industries will be located at 3821 Ruppel Road in Rubicon Township, on a 500-by-500-foot area of a 5.41-acre parcel leased from Robert and Candace Oeschger. It would be 330 feet tall, guyed, and would allow for co-location, meaning that other cellular and broadband providers can put their equipment on it.

The site will also have a 12-by-20-foot equipment shelter that, along with the tower, would be on a 100-by-100-foot area surrounded by a 7-foot-high fence. There will also be a 30-foot-wide access and utility easement from Ruppel Road to the fenced area. The tower would have an engineered fall zone radius of 163 feet.

We have a significant hole in our cellular and internet coverage in the Port Hope area and would like to provide both those services there, said Carol McCarty, the operations director for Agri-Valley Communications.

The tower could also help any fire, police, and ambulance services that operate in the area that would have mobile phones.

McCarty also clarified that services from the tower would be wireless, though offering fiber optic services from it can be something offered in the future. A fiber connection for the tower is currently planned for communicating back to Agri-Valleys main headquarters in Pigeon.

Randy Miller, the countys emergency services director, expressed his support for the project during Wednesdays Huron County Planning Commission meeting, having nothing but good things to say about Agri-Valley.

If they tell you theyll do something, thats what will be done, Miller said.

The planning commission approved a special use permit for the tower on the condition that Agri-Valley Communication submits the necessary documentation on operating the tower on land enrolled in the states Farmland Preservation program, or P.A. 116.

Chairman Bill Renn said some further documents needed to be put together before the full permit issuance can take place. They include a document from the landowner requesting approval for a cellular tower to be built on the enrolled land, a copy of the farmland agreement for the land proposed, a site plan showing the proposed location of the tower including the sites dimensions, its footprint, and guidewires associated with the tower, and a document from the local governing body indicating approval for the cellular tower to be built on enrolled land.

Along with approval from the planning commission, the tower has a determination of no hazard from the Federal Aviation Administration and a tall structure permit from the Michigan Department of Transportation Aeronautics.

McCarty said that Agri-Valley plans on starting construction of the tower within a year, as required by the special use permit.
A member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe who expanded mental health services for Native American children in Mount Pleasant represented Michigan as a guest of the first lady at Tuesday's State of the Union address.

The White House announced the eight Americans invited by the first lady to join her in the viewing box for President Bidens State of the Union Address on Tuesday afternoon. Melissa Isaac, known as Gizhwaasod, according to the White House, was chosen for her work with the Michigan Department of Education's Indigenous Education Initiative. Gizhwaasod translates to "protector of the young" in the Anishinaabe Ojibwe language.

"Each of these individuals, with their resilience, innovation, service and courage, were chosen by the White House because they represent policies or themes to be addressed by the President in his speech," the White House stated in a press release.

Photo provided/Melissa Isaac's LinkedIn

Isaac posted to her LinkedIn page that she was "honored to be selected as a special guest to First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden for the State of the Union Address."

As an elementary school teacher at Saginaw Chippewa Academy, Isaac recognized the need to support the mental health of her students and families, according to the release. She successfully applied for a Project AWARE grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Using the $9 million grant, Isaac was able to create the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe's Project AWARE program to expand mental health services for children at Saginaw Chippewa Academy, Mount Pleasant Public Schools and Shepherd Public Schools. The program helps students deal with mental health issues, specifically grief and loss.

Project AWARE is also helping to maintain and preserve the tribes language and culture, citing the damage done by a local government boarding school that tried to separate Native American children from their culture, according to Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe Chief Tim Davis.

Last October, the first lady and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy met Isaac in Mount Pleasant when they hosted a listening session focused on youth mental health with members of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, educators and families.

Watch Biden's 62-minute speech below, which was split between attention to Russia's war on Ukraine and worries at home.

The State of the Union is typically an address targeted to a national audience, but this years had the world watching. In an interview with CNN and Reuters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Biden to deliver a strong and "useful" message about Russias invasion, according to The Associated Press.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova also joined first lady Jill Biden in the House gallery for the speech.

J. Scott Applewhite, Pool/AP

A February AP-NORC poll found that more people disapproved than approved of how Biden is handling his job, 55% to 44%. Thats down from a 60% favorable rating last July.
The video screenshot taken on May 7, 2021 shows World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attending a press briefing in Geneva, Switzerland. (Xinhua)

The global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25 percent in the first year of the pandemic, according to a scientific brief released by the WHO.

GENEVA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday of a sharp increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression related to the COVID-19 pandemic, caused largely by social isolation. Young people and women are the worst hit.

According to a scientific brief released by the WHO, in the first year of the pandemic, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25 percent. Ninety percent of the countries surveyed included mental health and psychosocial support in their COVID-19 response plans, but major gaps and concerns remain.

Unprecedented stress has been caused by the social isolation resulting from the pandemic, the WHO said. This constrained people's ability to work, seek support from loved ones and engage in their communities. Exhaustion has been a major trigger for suicidal thinking among health workers.

People wait in line for COVID-19 tests at a mobile testing site on Times Square in New York, the United States, Dec. 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

"The information we have now about the impact of COVID-19 on the world's mental health is just the tip of the iceberg," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. "This is a wake-up call to all countries to pay more attention to mental health and do a better job of supporting their populations' mental health."

The WHO brief said that young people, whose mental health has been affected by COVID-19, are disproportionally at risk of suicidal and self-harming behaviors. Women have been more severely impacted than men, and people with pre-existing physical health conditions, such as asthma, cancer or heart disease, are more likely to develop symptoms of mental disorders when infected with COVID-19.

The pandemic has severely disrupted mental health services worldwide, leaving huge gaps in care for those who need it most. Though the situation had somewhat improved by the end of 2021, too many people today remain unable to get the care and support they need for both pre-existing and newly developed mental health conditions.

Photo taken on Dec. 20, 2021 shows an empty shopping street in Haarlem, the Netherlands. (Photo by Sylvia Lederer/Xinhua)

According to a recent WHO survey, 90 percent of countries are working to provide mental health and psychosocial support to COVID-19 patients and responders alike, but a chronic global shortage of mental health resources still continues today.

The WHO's most recent "Mental Health Atlas" showed that in 2020, governments worldwide spent on average just over two percent of their health budgets on mental health, and many low-income countries reported having fewer than one mental health worker per 100,000 people.

COVID-19 has "revealed historical under-investment in mental health services. Countries must act urgently to ensure that mental health support is available to all," said Devora Kestel, director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use at the WHO.

A bus with Delta as its "terminal" is seen on the street in Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)
Gearing up for this weekend's Midland Mall Comic Con, Shane Jackson isnt revealing his superpower for the upcoming convention, but promises it will be amazing.

Ive been looking forward to this one since the last one, Jackson, 35, of Midland, said in reference to the 2020 Comic Con, where he donned a Superman outfit. Its just fun to play someone else for a day.

Organizer Paul King is eager for this years event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 5 and 6 inside the Midland Mall. Building upon the success of the previous event, the annual gathering for enthusiasts of comics, anime, sci-fi and other pop culture niche is sure to draw a large crowd, King said.

Shelly Haley of Midland isn't sure how she is dressing for the event, but is definitely going.

"It awakens your mind to so much creativity," she said. "There is so much talent displayed at Comic Com."

King said already there are many more vendors and supporters involved than last time around, with plenty of room to grow even more.

Among the attractions are Michigan groups who merge fun-loving geekery with charitable pursuits. King said such groups include the GI Joe Team, which come to shows and raises money for service dogs for veterans. For King, a retired 20-year veteran, this is near to his heart.

Also in attendance will be the Tri-Citys Undercover Angel Animal Network, which fosters lost animals and helps with their care and needs along with much more.

Just a phone call away, or a trip to the mall, will be the Ghostbusters Coalition, headed by Dan Holroyd and Norm Labarge of the Central Michigan Area branch of Ghostbusters, who are bringing their customized hearse for the event.

Holroyd said his group, which attends Comic Cons along with paying visits to childrens hospitals among other places, is excited for the event. He said members will be on hand from 12 Michigan Ghostbusters groups and an honorary Ohio group.

We like to share smiles with people and share our passions, said Holroyd, noting that group members come from all walks of life, including law enforcement, doctors, lawyers, firefighters, nurses and more.

He said its a group of men and women who fell in love with the namesake movie. They dont aim to portray a certain character from the film; they are all just Ghostbusters.

When asked why the group chose Ghostbusters, he said you can be yourself and still be a new personality. Also, it shows you dont have to be afraid of things and can face your fears with comedy. Plus, they like the suits, boots and power packs.

We give everybody love and welcome them in, Holroyd said, noting that all they ask of members is not to be mean and to have no felonies or offenses against women or children.

Also expected to appear are many cosplay and fandom participants, along with Transformers and Monsters Inc.

In addition, King said there will be laser tag, a Ladys Lane (vendors aimed at pampering women), collectible toy vendors, comic boosk galore, and much more.

There will be a lot of hands-on events, King said. Also, many crafty things to do.

King said its very important to encourage peoples art skills, whether they are the next Picasso or not.
As Russian forces invade Ukraine and assault major cities, one young woman from Kyiv watches in horror from afar. Thankfully, Iryna Trystan, a senior and tennis student-athlete at Northwood University, is receiving support from her community.

Trystan, 21, was born in Donetsk, Ukraine. Her family eventually moved to Lviv before settling in Kyiv, the capital. Trystan came to Midland in 2018 to study at Northwood. She explained that she decided to go to Northwood after talking with a member of the universitys tennis team who grew up in Trystans hometown.

Trystan got the news of Russia invading Ukraine when she was studying late one night last week for her exams.

I started crying. I was really upset and scared for my country and my family. I am still not happy with everything thats happened, she said.

Trystan is seeking to apply for asylum in the United States. Meanwhile, her parents, 14-year-old brother and grandparents live in Kyiv. Trystan keeps in contact with them every day. As of Tuesday, her family was safe and well-stocked with food, supplies and documents in case they need to escape. But they are currently unable to leave their apartment.

Northwood University President Kent MacDonald voiced his support of Trystan, her family and international students from both Ukraine and Russia during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. MacDonald announced the launch of a major fundraising effort for international students as well as the people of Ukraine.

MacDonald also voiced the universitys support for Russian citizens who are standing up against the invasion as well as Russian students at Northwood. Of the universitys estimated 75 international students, one is from Ukraine and three are from Russia.

Over the last couple of decades, we have educated dozens of individuals from Ukraine, and we feel very committed to this (effort) for that reason, MacDonald said. People around the world are good. Parents want their children to live a free and better life than they did. The problem that we have is that people hungry for power get in the way.

The university is offering support through two endeavors, one of which is the Freedom through the Aspire Fund. The fund is meant to support Ukrainian students who seek a life-changing education at Northwood. As of Wednesday, 69 donors had raised nearly $13,000 for the fund.

We hope at Northwood that we can continue to attract people from Ukraine here, we continue to attract young people from Russia here. We want to be a destination for people around the world who believe in what we believe in: freedom, free enterprise, free markets, limited government, democracy, MacDonald stated.

Northwood also launched the Freedom through Choice campaign, which will help address the acute needs of Ukraine citizens. Donors are directed to give through the Human Rights Foundation, which has a list of Ukrainian organizations providing humanitarian relief.

More information about both funds can be found at https://bit.ly/3tq0eEd

We believe in choice and a free society and encourage you to consider what options best for you in terms of your giving. We encourage you to make a choice where you believe your funds will be used as you intend. We also ask all of you who believe in a free Ukraine to please consider giving a donation to one or both of these options, MacDonald said.

Local and state representatives, including U.S. Congresswoman Lisa McClain, a Northwood alumna; State Rep. Annette Glenn; and Michigan State Senator Jim Stamas, a Northwood alumnus, offered their support of Trystan and Ukraine in a short video.

MacDonald read a message from Trystans father which he received on Monday. The message outlined the destruction inflicted on cities, lives lost, and how citizens are preparing to protect their homes.

We dont know what will happen to us, whether well be alive, MacDonald read from the message. In this situation, our beloved daughter is completely alone, far from us and her home. We dont have anyone in the U.S.A. to help her, so I appeal to you with a request to help our daughter in such a difficult time to continue her studies in the U.S.A. I really want to believe everything will be fine.

Trystan expressed her gratitude to Northwood and MacDonald for their support through the fundraiser, stating it will greatly help Ukrainian students and citizens. She also thanked President Joe Biden, the U.S. and other countries who are in support of Ukraine.

I just really hope the war will be over soon. I pray for my country, for my people. It breaks my heart to see them suffer. But we are a strong nation and I love my people. Im pretty sure we will fight to the end and were not going to give up. The world hopefully will help us to gain our independence as well, Trystan said.

To donate to the Freedom through the Aspire Fund, visit https://bit.ly/3MdDMXP
Ann Brown, age 67, of Palestine, Texas, passed away Sunday, May 1, 2022 in Palestine, Texas. Funeral service will be held at 10AM on Friday, May 6, 2022 at Evangelistic Temple. Burial will follow at Tennessee Colony Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6PM to 8PM on Thursday, May 5, 2022 a
NAIROBI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) on Thursday announced a new funding mechanism to boost the health of local and indigenous communities through enhanced protection of biodiversity hotspots.

The German government will provide a seed capital totaling 50 million euros (55 million U.S. dollars) to stimulate investments in nature protection and boost human health, UNEP executive director Inger Andersen said.

The fund was launched on the sidelines of a special session to commemorate the UNEP's 50th anniversary in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

"The nature for health fund seeks a holistic approach to mitigating pandemics that are of zoonotic nature. It will enable us to strike harmony between human and planetary health," Andersen said.

A ministerial declaration adopted at the just-concluded fifth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) on Wednesday called for enhanced protection of habitats and wild animals to ward off risks of lethal pathogens spreading to human population.

The environment ministers, in their resolution, stressed that integrating ecosystem protection with public health policies will unleash positive outcomes including less disease burden on the population, food security and clean air.

Andersen noted that more than 70 percent of emerging infectious diseases are linked to man's predatory relationship with nature, adding that shielding habitats from human encroachment will boost public health security.

The fund will support development of policies, technology transfer, research, capacity-building and advocacy required to mainstream habitat conservation in the new global public health agenda.

Elizabeth Mrema, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said that with adequate funding, it is possible to come up with a new roadmap for protecting biodiversity and achieving health-related universal goals. 
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Prime Minister Fathi Bachagha has said his government will carry out its duties "by the force of law and not by the law of force" from the capital, Tripoli, rejecting the option of shedding a drop of blood to achieve this
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, announced on Thursday a letter addressed to the House of Representatives and the High Council of State to develop a consensual constitutional basis to hold elections in Libya
Photo: (Photo : David Becker/Getty Images )

"Pawn Stars" celebrity Rick Harrison is embroiled in a legal battle with his 81-year-old mother, Joanne Harrison, over their family fortune and investments. However, the reality TV star said that his mother was being manipulated into suing him.

Through her lawyers, Joanne filed her lawsuit in a Las Vegas court this week with allegations that Rick convinced her sometime in 2000 or 2001 to sign over 51 percent of her share in the family business, G&S Coin Shop. During this time, Joanne was also recovering from a coma and claimed she did not fully understand her deal with her son.

Rick's father, Richard Harrison, also known as The Old Man, owned 49 percent of the shares in a business that he built with his wife since 1981. When Joanne got better, he advised his wife to let go of the issue with Rick as their son took over half of the business. Years later, Rick, Richard, and their business partners would lead the successful show "Pawn Stars" that made more money for the family. In 2018, the Harrison patriarch died following his battle with Parkinson's disease, with Joanne inheriting 49 percent of her husband's stake in the business.

Joanne, however, said that her son had not provided her with any documentation of their family's finances, including loans made using her assets. Her lawsuit further claimed that she had not been given what was due to her when The Old Man died.

Read Also: Leviev Family Sues 'Tinder Swindler' Simon Leviev for Impersonating Billionaire Family

The Money Stopped Coming In

Before the pandemic, Joanne received a monthly allowance of $25,000 from her son, but this was reduced to $20,000 in early 2020. When the pandemic halted most business operations, Joanne claimed that her money stopped coming in altogether for at least six months. She has also sued her son for breach of contract and wants the court to ban her son from using money that belongs to her.

In a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Rick said that someone manipulated his mother for their gain. He did not name any person or clarify the legal issues.

Following Richard's death, reports revealed that Christopher Harrison, the youngest brother of Rick, was cut out of his father's will. Richard changed the details of his will in 2017, or a year before his death, and noted in the documents that, while he has love and affection for his youngest child, he decided to leave him out of the will on purpose. Richard did not state his reasons but kept other sons, Joseph and Rick, as benefactors. He also made Rick the administrator of his will.

Rick's Divorce from Deanna Burditt

Amid his problems with his mother, Rick also dealt with a personal blow in his marriage during the pandemic. He quietly divorced his third wife, Deanna Burditt, in mid-2020 and stated that they have grown incompatible over the years.

Rick, however, said that he's grateful for his marriage to Burditt because he gained three daughters. Burditt has three kids from a previous relationship, but they are close to Rick.

Meanwhile, Rick's eldest son, Corey Harrison, has been learning the ropes of the business. Corey has been helping out at the pawnshop since he was in his teens and could soon take charge when his father retires. Rick's other adult kids have pursued different careers even as they helped in the pawnshop a few times as well.

Related Article: Joe Petito, Gabby Petito's Father, Opens Domestic Shelter in Florida to Honor Her Memory
Photo: (Photo : Getty images )

Sketches created by Dr. Seuss that have never been published before will be published in new books written and illustrated by an inclusive group of authors and artists, the company that owns the intellectual property rights to Dr. Seuss announced.

The announcement came one year after the business founded by the family of Dr. Seuss said that it would stop publishing Dr. Seuss's titles because it featured racist and insensitive images, a decision that earned praise and disappointments, Associated Press reported.

The new line of books will feature original stories from previously unpublished illustrations from the author's archives.

Doctor Enterprises announced that the new authors and illustrators would show diverse racial backgrounds to represent as many families as possible.

In a statement, Susan Brandt, President and CEO of Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said that the new illustrators and authors would be spotlighting a new generation of talent, which will bring unique voices and style to the page. It also draws inspiration from the works of Dr. Seuss.

The books will be published by Random House Children's books and will be designed for readers from ages four to eight.

The original Dr. Seuss sketch that serves as the inspiration for each of the New Seuss books will also be a part of the new books, with a note from the creator explaining how they were inspired and their process.

Read Also: Peanut Butter: What's the Real Score?

Inspired by Dr. Seuss's Creativity

Images featured in the book would include a catlike creature with big ears and a series of colorful hummingbirds with pointy noses.

The new book hopes to continue Dr. Seuss' legacy, which started in 1957. The book has inspired young readers, writers, and artists to begin publishing careers.

Pamela Good, the president of Beyond Basics, a non-profit promoting literacy, said that the company seems genuine in addressing inclusiveness.

According to Good, Dr. Seuss Enterprises is trying to find "thoughtful" and "heartfelt" ways, embracing everyone and allowing everyone to be celebrated. She also said that the company is a step in the right direction.

The company has not yet disclosed its new writers and illustrators who will work on the books because contracts still need ironing.

Dr. Seuss Enterprises aims to publish new books next year, and it also aims to publish at least two new books per year.

Books that were shelved for racism

Last year, Dr. Seuss Enterprises stopped publishing six of the author's books, including And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo, portraying people in hurtful ways.

The decision to stop the publishing and licensing came after a review by a panel of educators and other experts. Other books include McElligot's Pool, On Beyond Zebra!, Scrambled Eggs Super!, and The Cat's Quizzer.

The company said that the decision was made to support "all children and families with messages of hope, inspiration, inclusion, and friendship," NPR reported.

On the other hand, its classic books, Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat, remain popular even after the author died in 1991.

He earned around $35 million in 2021, making him the fifth-highest dead celebrity of the year.

Related Article: Mom Raises Awareness About Her Son's Rare Uncombable Hair Syndrome
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This week, Apple launched its inaugural Entrepreneur Camp for Hispanic and Latin founders, inviting leaders and developers from nine app companies from the US, Brazil, Guatemala, and Portugal to build the next generation of cutting-edge apps.

We are so excited to bolster the impact of Entrepreneur Camp with the addition of this new cohort for Latin technologists, said Lisa Jackson, Apples vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. Its an honor to support these founders and developers on their journeys as they build amazing apps that connect, inform, and inspire us.

During this immersive tech lab, developers receive one-on-one code-level guidance from Apple experts and engineers to help accelerate their apps. Participants also receive mentorship, inspiration, and insights from the companys leaders.

The first Entrepreneur Camp was held in 2019 for app-driven companies founded and led by developers from underrepresented backgrounds in technology. The first cohorts focused on female founders and developers, and last year, Apple welcomed its first group of Black founders.

Program alumni have gone on to secure major funding rounds, garner awards and accolades, and successfully sell their companies in major acquisitions. Previous app participant BookSloth recently became the first-ever acquisition of a female-led technology company in Puerto Rico.

More apps from Entrepreneur Camp alumni can be found on the App Store here. You could read the full Apple press release here to read about some of the developers.

Apple Welcomes the 5eturn of in-person 'Today at Apple' Sessions across US Stores

Beginning March 7, Apple Store locations around the country will resume in-person Today at Apple sessions for the first time since the start of the pandemic, and just in time to celebrate Womens History Month. Music fans and creators of all skill levels are invited to visit their local Apple Store to explore the art of remixing with GarageBand  Apples music creation app  using music from award-winning pop star Lady Gaga.

(Click on image to Enlarge)

Deirdre OBrien, Apples senior vice president of Retail + People: "We cant wait to welcome more of our communities back to our stores to experience Today at Apple, led by our incredible Apple Creatives. Weve missed experiencing this connection in our stores, and were so happy that Today at Apple is back in person."

During the hands-on session, participants will remix Lady Gagas song Free Woman by experimenting with Live Loops, Remix FX, and more. At the end of the free 30-minute session, attendees can share and celebrate their unique mixes. Participants can register today at apple.co/remix-lady-gaga.

Today at Apple Remix sessions feature todays best and brightest artists, and allow fans to learn how to deconstruct hit songs and then create their own unique versions using GarageBand. During these sessions, offered in both the GarageBand app and now in person, customers experience how the power of iPhone and iPad, combined with GarageBands easy-to-use interface, provides them with all the tools they need to make music right in the palm of their hand. Whether they are GarageBand experts or just trying it for the first time, Today at Apple Remix sessions have something for everyone. Previous Today at Apple in-store Remix sessions have featured top artists, including Alicia Keys, Billie Eilish, Khalid, Madonna, Pu Shu, and Taylor Swift.
Despite a controversial lack of availability in the United States, Huaweis svelte laptop designs have been turning heads all over the world for the last few years. The companys latest flagship model is the MateBook X Pro 2022, and its a stunner of an ultraportable. Dominic Preston went live at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to give us an early look at this sleek new notebook.

You can check out Doms impressions live on PCWorlds YouTube channel:

Huawei is a big fan of minimalist designs, shown here in this mostly featureless slab of aluminum. That doesnt mean that the MateBook X Pro is boring; with a deep blue-green finish it stands out in a sea of silver and gunmetal, even before you notice the 14.2-inch screen with teeny tiny bezels. That embiggened screen is also improved. The 3K resolution panel is boosted to 90 hertz, and it now has the 720p webcam in the proper spot (instead of hiding under a keyboard key), avoiding the dreaded nose cam. The whole thing looks a lot like a smaller, sleeker take on Microsofts Surface Laptop line. Dont worry, itll be available in silver too if you want something a little more buttoned-down.

The MateBook X Pro isnt skimping on the internals, either. The MWC demonstration build boasts an 11th-gen Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. A discrete graphics card wont fit in a laptop this tiny, but it features Intels more-than-capable Iris Xe integrated graphics system. While the slim build drops any USB-A ports (keep a dongle handy), it can be charged from any of the four USB-C ports at up to 90 watts.

This kind of portable hardware doesnt come cheap. The MateBook X Pro 2022 will cost an estimated 1900 euro in the Core i7 configuration when it launches later this year.
The AU group of Opoku Ware alumni, which graduated from the school in 1996, has donated a duplex for staff accommodation to the school at a brief but colourful inauguration ceremony held on campus yesterday. The two unit-accommodation, which is valued at GHS300,000, each has a two-bedroom facility.



The President of the group, Katakyie Andrew Osei Adu Akoto (AU247) explained that the group had embarked on the project to mark the silver jubilee of their graduation from the school and also as a 70th-anniversary birthday gift to the school. He explained further that the group selected staff accommodation because they were away many of the tutors live off-campus, which in turn affects discipline on campus, especially after classes.



 We had to do something to demonstrate our support for the teachers who work so hard to bring up these young boys and try to make an impact on their lives and also lift the schools image, he said.



The headmaster of the school, Rev. Fr. Stephen Owusu-Sekyere, expressed his gratitude on behalf of the school for the kind gesture and praised the AU group for their selflessness and love for their school. He stated that he was very gratified by the relationship he has had with the alumni fraternity since assuming office and prayed this relationship would endure in the times ahead.



A member of the schools governing board, Kat. J B Danquah (AL53) who is also the alumnis immediate past president and a member of the 70th anniversary planning committee, also commended the group for their project and indicated that the board will continue to work hand-in-hand with management to ensure that staff accommodation on campus is given priority attention.



A pioneer student of the school, Kat Lawrence Gyempeh (K36) was also full of praise for the group and noted that over the years, the schools population, like that of many schools in the country, had grown in leaps and bounds. He was confident that the school, together with important stakeholders like its old boys, will continue to cooperate to make the school a much better place.



The building was blessed and formally inaugurated by the Vicar-General of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kumasi, on behalf of the Archbishop, Most. Rev Gabriel Anokye, who is an old boy of the school.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Afghan men wait for work in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Feb. 12, 2022. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

There remains an enduring distrust between the Taliban and much of the international community, and even the regional countries and neighbors, a top UN envoy said.

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The international community has no choice but to deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan, said Deborah Lyons, the top UN envoy for the war-torn country, on Wednesday.

"Let me make clear that we do not believe that we can truly assist the Afghan people without working with the de facto authorities (of the Taliban)," she told the Security Council in a briefing. "This must be difficult for some to accept. But it is essential."

There remains an enduring distrust between the Taliban and much of the international community, and even the regional countries and neighbors, said Lyons, the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

"The Taliban feel misunderstood and complain to us that our reports do not reflect the reality as they see it. They tell me that we underappreciate their achievements and that we exaggerate the problems -- problems which they acknowledge and which they claim they are trying to solve," she said.

Above all, the Taliban believe that they should receive greater acknowledgment for the security that prevails in Afghanistan. In the six months since the Taliban takeover on Aug. 15, 2021, there has been a 78 percent decline in civilian casualties as a result of the reduction of the conflict. They also note that their amnesty declaration has been honored for the most part and that violations are not state-sanctioned and that those violators will be punished, she said.

The Taliban also highlight progress on the economic front, including strong revenues despite decreased economic activity, reduced government corruption, and a budget that does not require donor resources. They also point to public universities being reopened and their desire to see Afghans, all boys and all girls, educated to a high international standard, she said.

Deborah Lyons (on the screen), UN secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan, briefs the Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan at the UN headquarters in New York, Jan. 26, 2022. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

On Tuesday, on the anniversary of the signing of the Doha Agreement between the Taliban and the United States, the Taliban reiterated their declared commitment to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a threat to any country, and their desire for good relations with all states and international organizations, she noted.

"This complements another important point made to me recently by the de facto foreign minister, namely that their diplomatic policy is to ensure that Afghanistan also does not become an arena of competition between other powers or countries," said Lyons.

Most importantly, they complain that these positive achievements are being undermined by an undeclared economic war against them by the international community that has greatly affected and resulted in choking of the economy and they know also exacerbating the suffering of the population, she said.

"This clash of perspectives forms the basis of a serious gap, gulf and distrust that must be addressed. And that is what UNAMA has been doing these past six months and what we hope you will be giving us the mandate to continue to do in the year ahead -- to bridge this gulf for the betterment of all Afghans," she said, referring to the planned renewal of UNAMA's mandate later this month.

In response to the complaints, UNAMA has articulated to the Taliban the concerns of the international community and most notably, the instructions from the Security Council, said Lyons.

"As UNAMA, we must continue to report on what we see, even as we continue to build an understanding and the working relationship with the de facto authorities. We are concerned by restrictions on women and girls' fundamental rights, on extrajudicial killings, on enforced disappearances, on arbitrary detention, on respect for minorities, and on freedoms of assembly and expression," she said.

Afghan security force members stand at a security checkpoint during a clearance operation in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2022. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

UNAMA's advocacy and collaboration with the Taliban have produced results, citing the release of the disappeared women protesters and their family members.

Afghanistan presents a complicated situation, with positive and negative trends occurring simultaneously. UNAMA has so far been able to address many issues through constructive engagement and cooperation with the Taliban, both on the humanitarian delivery as well as on some of the sensitive issues, said Lyons. "We believe, as a political mission, that we can do much more to work with the de facto authorities on the main issues facing Afghan society."

UNAMA's purpose is ultimately to see Afghanistan, one of the original members of the United Nations, rejoin the organization as a member in good standing, benefit from the resources of the international community, and contribute to the global discussion on issues of common concern, she said.

"Naturally, working with the de facto authorities in no way means condoning everything that it does. But this will give us the opportunity, on behalf of all of you and the rest of the international community, to help shape a future for the people of Afghanistan, free of conflict and where they can peacefully pursue their quest for prosperity, participation, and respect for their rights," she said.

The Security Council is scheduled to vote on the renewal of UNAMA's mandate on March 17. Lyons called on the council to design a proper mandate to fit the purpose of UNAMA.

"The mandate you adopt for UNAMA will send a signal from the international community to the Afghan people that they have not been forgotten, and to the Taliban de facto authorities that the world does not desire future conflict in Afghanistan but that they will need to recognize basic standards of global citizenship in order to be accepted by the international community," she said.

Afghan students are seen in an university reopened in Herat city, Herat province, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2022. (Photo by Mashal/Xinhua)

If UNAMA is appropriately equipped and empowered by the Security Council, a busy but worthwhile agenda awaits the UN mission: addressing the economic crisis; working with the Taliban to ensure education for all girls and boys to help the country move forward; promoting human rights; engaging in a discussion about political inclusion to ensure the concerns of all Afghans are reflected in decision-making; supporting a structured policy dialogue with the Taliban that supports the process of securing domestic legitimacy and addresses the key international concerns of narcotics, terrorism and regional security, she said.

These elements combined will allow UNAMA to work with the Taliban and other Afghans and the Security Council to establish a pathway for the Afghan state to rejoin the larger international community, said Lyons. "Your deliberations and decisions on the mandate in the coming weeks have immense consequences. They will resonate across the region and the world, but more importantly, they will be felt in every village in Afghanistan."

"I would be remiss if I did not remind you that you are about to approach a critical moment in your relationship with Afghanistan. You have the opportunity in the next two weeks to develop and design a much-needed, relevant and solid political mission that will help to build back the country, that will help to build the capacity, that will help to attract back the all-important development dollars and will avoid the constant collapse of Afghanistan into a humanitarian crisis," said Lyons. "I implore you to give us a strong, solid mandate that will be required. Without it, I fear for the future." 
Education giant, Excel- Plus Education will host its Second edition of the Study Abroad Fair on March 21st, 2022 at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Accra, the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.



The fair aims to partner institutions in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany to give a vast opportunity to Ghanaian students to meet representatives from various institutions to get firsthand information directly from the schools concerning fees, scholarships opportunities, programs, accommodation, and work opportunities after school and many others.



Speaking to the media, Head of Business and Operations at Excel- Plus Education, Joseph Quainoo says, this privilege will enable most students to have direct access to certain important briefings to guide them in terms of choosing better education abroad.



According to him, this chance is to bring quality education and other opportunities to the doorstep of every young Ghanaian who wants to travel abroad for quality education.



" I am humbled to create such wonderful opportunities for free to my colleague brothers and sisters who seek to study abroad. I hope this privilege will go a long way to assist everyone who participates to get firsthand information about most institutions outside to enable them to make the right choice ", he said.



Joseph Quainoo also took the opportunity to explain to the general public that, Excel- Plus Education will provide free students counselling, placement of students, applications, fees information, pre- department briefing, visa counseling and many others.



" Our services are free of charge and includes students counseling, placement of students, applications, fees information, scholarships information and many others. I entreat everyone to attend", he added.



Excel- Plus Education is a reputable organization that represents international Universities with partners across the globe.



The company has assisted thousands of students across Ghana and the African continent with the aim of providing quality education for a better future

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayokor Botchwey, has revealed that there are some Ghanaians in Ukraine who have indicated that they do not want to come back home.



She said at a meeting in Accra on Tuesday, March 1, with parents and guardians of Ghanaian students in Ukraine, that the government is evacuating persons who are willing to return.



As at 5 PM on 28th of February, an estimated number of 527 Ghanaian nationals have crossed the Ukrainian border to various neighboring countries and they will soon be with us in Ghana as long as they are willing to be evacuated, it will be at no cost to them. I say that because there are some who have indicated that they do not wish to come back home.



"So after a couple of days, they will be on their own because the government cannot cover those people forever. What we are covering is to pick them to a safe place to bring them back home as many of you parents have indicated that you want your children back home, so the government will do that, she said.



The first batch of Ghanaians evacuated from Ukraine has arrived in Accra on Tuesday, March 1.



This morning the first batch of Ghanaians evacuated from Ukraine arrive in Accra, Information Minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah said in a tweet.



Madam Ayokor Botchwey had earlier indicated that over 220 Ghanaians living in Ukraine were expected to arrive in Ghana soon.



I am pleased to inform you that, a good number, over 220 of our compatriots have exited Ukraine and should be with us in Ghana soon, and we are earnestly facilitating the safe return of a lot more.



24 have arrived in Bucharest, Romania, and our officer on the ground is procuring tickets for them to leave tomorrow Monday en route to Accra, she said at a press conference in Accra on Sunday.





Source: 3 news









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The government has called on political actors to feel free to differ on national policies but refrain from undermining the countrys democracy.



Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who conveyed this in response to comments by the Dean of the University of Ghana Law School, Professor Raymond Atuguba said while the administration has no problem with people expressing divergent views on policies and national developments, it abhors attempts by some to lace their commentary with anti-democratic comments and insinuations that undermine our democracy.



Comments to the effect that some conditions are rife for a coup are moat unfortunate and disappointing. They are disappointed because, despite COVID-19, Ghana's current economic status is far better than the days of yesteryear when there was no global pandemic.



Even if they were worse, the constitution provides legitimate means for advocating for and executing a change. For respected persons to be purporting that such conditions legitimize coups is a terrible attack on our democracy itself and should not be condoned, the Minister said.



Background



This comes at the back of comments passed by Prof. Atuguba at a public forum last Monday suggesting that the countrys current economic situation may serve as a futile ground for a coup.



However, his comment has received widespread condemnation notably from former Attorney General, Dr Obed Asamoah describing his comment as childish and coming from someone unaware of the consequences of military takeovers.



Similarly, Speaker of Parliament, Alban S.K Bagbin expressed worry over the comments from the renowned professor. He said comments like that are in bad taste and does not auger well for the progress of the country.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a mass exodus of civilians, including thousands of international students from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.



Ukraine was home to over 76,000 foreign students, according to government data from 2020.



Nearly a quarter of the students were from Africa, with the largest numbers coming from Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt.

India easily accounts for the highest portion with over 20,000 students.



The students - studying medicine, engineering and business - are an important part of the country's economy.



But, as Russia launches the biggest European invasion since the Second World War, thousands of them have fled, hundreds are still trapped, and many remain uncertain about the fate of their education.



What was the attraction of Ukraine?



Ukraine has long appealed to foreign students, which can be traced back to the Soviet era, when there was a lot of investment in higher education and a deliberate attempt to attract students from newly independent African countries.



Now, Ukrainian universities are seen as a gateway to the European job market, offering affordable course prices, straightforward visa terms and the possibility of permanent residency.



"Ukrainian degrees are widely recognised and offer a high standard of education," said Patrick Esugunum, who works for an organisation that assists West African students wanting to study in Ukraine.



"A lot of medical students, in particular, want to go there as they have a good standard for medical facilities," he added.



Desmond Chinaza Muokwudo, a Nigerian student who had been based in the city of Dnipro, said he was attracted by the relaxed admission requirements and the cheap cost of living compared to other European cities.



He enrolled at the University of Customs and Finance less than three months ago.



Many courses are offered in English, but the 30-year-old was undertaking a preliminary Ukrainian language course, before moving on to study international relations.



"I was a welder back in Nigeria and I needed the education to accomplish things," he told the BBC from a hostel in Poland after fleeing the conflict.



"Ukraine was the best option for me."

Source: BBC









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Parents and relatives of Ghanaian students in Ukraine have appealed to the government to consider putting in measures to enable the returnee students, especially the medical students, to continue their education in the country.

They said some of them had been studying for between six and 10 years in Ukraine and were left with a few months to complete their education when the Russian invasion of Ukraine occurred



It would, therefore, not be in order for their education to be truncated just because of what had happened, the parents and relatives said.



They called on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to immediately constitute a committee involving other ministries to see what could be done for the students to continue their education on their return.



One of the parents, Dr Collins Tay, whose daughter is in her fourth year of a six-year medicine programme, said the University of Ghana Medical School could be called in to help organise some form of training for them, depending on the level the students had reached so that they could be integrated into the system.



He said some of the students studying in Ukraine were refusing to come home, probably because they did not know of their fate after their return.



The parents expressed their concerns during interactions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration at the Accra International Conference Centre.



Background



That was after the first batch of Ghanaians from Ukraine had arrived at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra on Monday, March 1, 2022.



Numbering 17, the evacuees were received by a delegation, led by a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Kwaku Ampratwum-Sarpong, and a Deputy Minister of Information, Ms Fatima Abubakar.



They arrived in Accra aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul, Turkey, and Qatar Airways via Doha, the capital of Qatar.



While the Turkish Airlines flight, operated with Airbus A330-303, landed at 6.27 a.m., the Qatar Airways flight, operated with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, touched down at exactly 7:30 a.m.



The government has entered into an agreement with Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines to evacuate Ghanaians stranded abroad as a result of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.



The move is part of plans being explored by the government to evacuate Ghanaians who have been able to cross the Ukrainian border to neighbouring countries, such as Poland, Romania, Hungary, Turkey and Slovakia, and are willing to return home.



Students held up in bomb shelters



Some parents who have their children or relations studying at Sumy University, an area close to the Russian border considered one of the hotspots of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, expressed concern that their children there were held up in bomb shelters where they had run out of food.



They, therefore, wanted to know the attempts the ministry was making to evacuate such students.



The parents also appealed to the government to organise psychological counselling for the students who were arriving, especially because some of them might be traumatised by the experience of the war.



Efforts by the ministry



Responding to their concerns, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said the continuing education of the evacuees would be the responsibility of their parents.



However, she explained that the current exercise was meant to evacuate the students.



Some of the students answering questions from the media. Picture: GABRIEL AHIABOR



She, therefore, appealed to the parents to allow the government to do that exercise, so that afterwards, it would see what it could do about their education.



However, for those doing their clinicals (practicals), online studies will be a bit difficult, she admitted.



On counselling for the evacuees, Ms Botchwey gave an assurance that the ministry was liaising with the Ghana Psychological Association to provide such a service.



Earlier at the meeting, Ms Botchwey had expressed the commitment of the ministry to ensure that all Ghanaians in Ukraine, including those who had successfully exited the country, avoided harm and travelled back home.



Ghanaian students in Ukraine



She disclosed that as of 5 p.m. last Monday, 527 Ghanaians had crossed the Ukrainian border to various European countries and they would soon be home as long as they were willing to be evacuated, at no cost to them.



She said unconfirmed information indicated that about 1,200 Ghanaians were in Ukraine, with 945 of them being students registered with the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS), Ukraine, with 29 of them on government scholarships.









Source: graphiconline.com









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Ghanaian passengers who were admitted into the country for the first time with the Ghana Card, instead of passports, have described the system as fast and convenient.



Numbering 14, the passengers, who arrived at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) about 11:15 a.m. on Monday, March 1, 2022, onboard an Ethiopian Airline flight (ET 921) from Addis Ababa, went through the process, which was conducted by officials of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS).



This came to light when officials of the GIS took some journalists to the arrival hall of Terminal 3 of the KIA to observe the process as part of the official introduction of the use of the Ghana Card, March 1, as an ICAO-compliant travel document.



In separate interviews, two of the passengers, Mr Dennis Bekoe, who arrived from the United Kingdom (UK), and Ms Akua Mansa from South Africa, said the card was easier to use, as against the passport, since they spent less time going through the arrival processes.



Designated booths



The Deputy Head of the Management Information Systems (MIS) Department at the GIS, Chief Superintendent Sharif Karikari, told the media after the observation of the arrival process that some booths had been designated as places to admit Ghanaians with Ghana cards into the country.





On arrival, he said, the identity of the Ghana Card holders would be verified against the national identity register before we go ahead to admit the passenger to be sure the owner is, indeed, the rightful owner of the card.



He added: When one has only the card, we process the person through the system, and after verification, the person is processed through the embarkation card and then he is admitted into the country.



Furthermore, Chief Supt Karikari said all the airlines had been communicated to on boarding with Ghana cards.





Responding to a question on foreigners with the Ghana Card, he said those with non-citizen cards who are foreigners can not use it because they are other nationals.



He said once a Ghanaian passenger was successfully verified, that person would be admitted into the country.



First step



The Head of Public Affairs at the GIS, Supt Michael Amoako-Atta, said the first step was for Ghanaians travelling into the country.



He said the next step was for the country to have a bilateral agreement with any other country that would want to have that kind of reciprocal travel agreement.



What we are doing now is to help Ghanaians who come to Ghana and most importantly also for dual national card holders. They do not need to apply for visas, they just come and they will be cleared, he stated.



He further indicated that the GIS had data that were accurate and easily accessible and added that the use of the card was also for the convenience of travellers because it was electronic.





Background



The GIS last Monday announced that it would, from March 1, 2022, begin to admit Ghanaian passengers and dual nationals returning to Ghana on a valid Ghana Card as a result of the official recognition of the Ghana Card as an ICAO-compliant travel document.



It said the Ghana Card would serve as an optional travel document, but reminded the public that until bilateral agreements were signed with other countries, the card could not be used to travel outside the ECOWAS sub-region.



Ghanaians who have renounced their Ghanaian citizenship to obtain the citizenship of another country are not eligible to travel on the Ghana Card, while dual nationals holding the Ghana Card will not require visas to enter Ghana, it stated.



On departure, the Ghanaian who entered Ghana with the Ghana Card would be required to show the card to Immigration officials at the Immigration Departure Control.



The statement said a passenger who arrived in the country with a fraudulently acquired or fake Ghana Card would be denied entry and/or arrested and prosecuted in accordance with applicable laws.



It said it was an offence under Section 52 of the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573) for a person to fraudulently acquire or use a forged or fake travel document, and that convicted offenders might be fined and/or imprisoned.









Source: graphiconline.com









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Ukraine has invited mums to come and collect Russian troops captured during the battle. In an apparent attempt to embarrass Moscow, the Ukrainian defence ministry said in a statement: A decision has been taken to hand over captured Russian troops to their mothers if they come to collect them in Ukraine, in Kyiv.



Kyiv Independent reports that Ukrainian civilians are providing captured Russians with tea and food, and are letting them call their mothers via video chat.



It comes after Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk asked for the International Red Cross to help repatriate the dead bodies of Russian soldiers.



Last week she said: There are thousands of invaders bodies. This is a humanitarian need. We ask for the bodies of the invaders to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Russia. We call upon Russians again to make it so that there are fewer bodies of your sons, of your men, otherwise, there will be thousands of them. I say it again, victory will be ours.



Last week a platoon of Russian soldiers who surrendered claimed they werent aware they had been sent out to kill, according to the Ukrainian military.

In a statement released, the platoons commander is said to have claimed he only learned of the invasion the day before and believed they were going to return home. A quote attributed to the commander, named as Konstantin Buynichev, said: Nobody thought that we were going to kill. We were not going to fight  we were collecting information.



The claims were reiterated by Ukraines ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, at a press conference in Washington. Russia is now on its seventh day of its invasion of Ukraine and is no where near running to schedule.









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The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey, has said that he has engaged the Director of Urban Roads to, as a matter of urgency, move to work on one of the two footbridges at Madina Zongo Junction to salvage the deteriorating facility.



He said renovation works must begin as soon as possible to forestall any disaster.



Today, it came to our attention that the adjoining link to the footbridge is weak, so I have spoken to the Director of Urban Roads, and as soon as possible, the agency in charge of footbridges should move to the site to see how best we can work on it immediately, he said.



The minister gave the directive in Accra last Monday during a follow up visit to the Madina Zongo Junction as part of the Operation Clean Your Frontage exercise under the Lets Make Accra Work agenda.



Madina market



During the visit, Mr Quartey and the Chief Executive of the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal Assembly (LANMA), Mrs Jennifer Dede Afagbedzi, inspected the demolition of illegal structures belonging to people who traded along the stretch of the Madina Zongo Junction road.



They also visited the new 22-acre Madina Market to assess the relocation of the traders and their resettlement at the market.



The market has a child care facility for the traders.



It also has bathrooms, washrooms and a biogas facility.





Mr Quartey commended the chief executive of the municipality for the work done, and urged others to do same.



Redevelopment



Addressing the traders, Mr Quartey commended them for voluntarily moving to the new market area.



He said his outfit was engaging the Coastal Development Authority (CODA) to redevelop the market and build more sheds for them.



An excavator demolishing some structures at Madina Zongo Junction



We have not deprived traders of their livelihood; we only asked them to move and allow free flow of traffic. We may at some stage consider a night market and work with waste management companies to ensure that the place is clean to allow motorist to go about their duties the next day, he added.



Lets make Accra work



Regarding the situation at the over 80 acres former Agbogbloshie Market, the regional minister told journalists that a contractor was on site.



He urged the public to disregard reports that part of the Agbogbloshie land had been sold, noting that the only allocation done was for the construction of a hospital under the governments Agenda 111 project to support the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.



Mrs Afagbedzi urged the traders to desist from going back to sell on the pavement, warning that they would not be spared, if they were caught selling on the pavement.

Source: graphiconline.com









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Mr Ras Mubarak, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Kumbungu, has petitioned the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, to refer four MPs to the Privileges Committee for breaking the rules of the house on absenteeism.



Mr Mubarak in his petition cited Madam Sarah Adwoa Safo, MP for Dome-Kwabenya; Mr Henry Quartey, MP for Ayawaso Central; Mr Ebenezer Kojo Kum, MP for Ahanta West and Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, MP for Assin Central, as MPs who had absented themselves from Parliament for more than fifteen sittings without the Speakers permission.



According to him, their conduct required immediate action as it breached Constitutional Provisions and Standing Orders of Parliament.



It has come to my notice through parliaments Hansard, newspaper and radio report that four Members of Parliament have all absented themselves from Parliament for more than fifteen sittings of a meeting of Parliament without the permission of Mr Speaker in writing.



"Given this reported breach of the constitutional provision, I respectfully petition your high office to direct for their conduct to be referred to the Privileges Committee for consideration and necessary action, segments of the petition said.



The petition comes following concerns over Madam Safos absence from Parliament.



It is reported that Madam Safos last appearance in Parliament was in December 2021.



However, the Minority Caucus alleges that "she had been impersonated to enable the majority to secure the right numbers to vote on the contentious Electronic Transaction Levy."



Mr Mubarak explained that the petition was necessary to regain the publics confidence in Parliament.



He has therefore indicated the hope that Parliament would unite to support his petition.



I humbly submit that democracy can only work if Parliament puts the common good ahead of the party and personal interest.



"At a time of seeming collapse of trust in politics and Parliament as an institution, it is my fervent prayer that the House would rise to the occasion and be united on this matter, to uphold our constitution and also win back waned public confidence," the petition said.



Speaker of Parliament, Mr Bagbin, has dismissed media reports suggesting he permitted Madam Safo to be absent from parliamentary proceedings on health grounds.



Its important I diffuse some fake news, which is being circulated that I granted an interview to say that Adwoa Safo received permission from me to absent herself from Parliament on health grounds.



"I want it to be known by all; that I have not granted any such interview anywhere. I have not said anything like that anywhere," he said on the floor of Parliament.

Source: GNA









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Yaw Buaben Asamoa, the communications director of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) of attempting to bastardise state institutions including the judiciary.



Asamoas comment comes after the NDC petitioned the Commonwealth Secretariat in the UK over what it called human rights violations, criminal persecutions and harassment of its members.



Its premature, all that they are doing is premature. What do they want us to do, abandon the judicial system with processes ongoing based on their opinion of the way justice is meted out in this country, Buaben told Asaase News on Tuesday (1 March).



They have never edified the judiciary in this country. They have consistently attacked the judiciary in and out of power.



Asamoa added: They want to operate above the law and they want to operate in a way that sets them apart from the rest of us. So, in what way is the Commonwealth going to benefit us when we have a judiciary.



Petition



The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has petitioned the Commonwealth Secretariat in the UK over what it called human rights violations, criminal persecutions and harassment of its members.



Addressing the media in Accra on Monday, the general secretary of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia says the judiciary is being used by the Akufo-Addo-led government to harass its members and fears most of the cases against NDC officials will not go in their favour.



The NDC has, therefore, petitioned the Commonwealth to bring a team of investigators and lawyers to assess the adequacy and quality of the justice being administered to its members.













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ZHENGZHOU, March 3 (Xinhua) -- An ancient bustling street market brimming with pavement stalls and hawkers peddling goods as depicted in Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, a masterpiece by Zhang Zeduan from the Song Dynasty (960-1279), has been found in Dengzhou City, central China's Henan Province.

During excavation, archaeologists discovered special construction structures in some building ruins at the Dengzhou street market site. The structures were designed to support the house foundation above the drainage pipes. They also unearthed a lot of copper coins and ironware near the pipes. All the findings suggest that the house owners used to run shops along the street.

In ancient China, drainage pipes belonged to urban public facilities and many dynasties strictly separated residential areas from specialized markets, and citizens were not allowed to open shops in residential areas.

However, the shops found alongside the street at the site made full use of public facilities and took part of the street as their own extension areas, which is a typical embodiment of the development of commodity economy in the Song Dynasty, explained Bao Weike, a researcher with the provincial cultural relics and archaeology institute, who is also in charge of the excavation project.

The new discoveries in Dengzhou can serve as the physical evidence of the ancient economic transition from emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce to promoting the development of commodity economy at that time, said Sun Yingmin, president of Henan's cultural relics and archaeology society.

Previously, as the ancient capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) was buried underground by sediments from the Yellow River, it was difficult to excavate its ruins and unearth relics. The new findings have helped to fill in the blanks of evidence for the relevant history.

During the Song Dynasty, Dengzhou was also a border city and had set up a border market. "The large amount of fine porcelain unearthed at the site indicates that it was probably also a market where the porcelain produced in the famous Deng kiln during the Song Dynasty was sold," said Sun Xinmin, head of China ancient ceramics society.

Currently, more than 1,200 square meters of the site have been excavated. To figure out the remaining mysteries, further excavation of the Dengzhou site is still underway. 
The former Member of Parliament (MP) for Gomoa Central constituency, Rachel Appoh wants Ghanaians to stop attacking Dome/Kwabenya MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo, over her absence in Parliament.



According to her, Ghanaians must rather pray to support the former Gender and Social Protection Minister instead of subjecting her to harsh public criticisms.



Wondering if Adwoa Safo is the only MP absent in Parliament, the NDC former Legislature is sure the Dome/Kwabenya MP is still serving her constituency wherever she is.



Adwoa Safo was last seen in Parliament in December 2021, when she appeared in the House to dismiss claims by the Minority Caucus that she was impersonated.



She has since not returned to the Chamber. Her action has infuriated her colleagues who have accused her of blackmailing government with a list of demands, including the Deputy Majority Leader post.



But the former Gender Minister in a video that has since gone viral on social media said she is not surprised at the attacks on Adwoa Safo because she was also subjected to similar fate when she was a Gender Minister.



She stated that women in Ghanaian politics are always tagged to their disadvantage indicating that the posture defeats calls on more women to join politics.



Urging, those who know the truth in the whole saga to confess noted that the frustration is too much especially when some people are paying loosing bonuses for Adwoa Safo to lose her seat.



Ms Appoh further intimated on her Instagram page, stop the unnecessary politics on Adwoa Safo and E-levy saga and tell Ghanaians the truth. May God bless all female activities and those supporting women in politics especially we the young ones. Our story would be told one day. God has spoken wherever you find yourself hon. Adwoa Safo# pray for women in politics. God bales you all.









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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James Kwabena Bomfeh, a former Acting General Secretary of the Convention People's Party (CPP), has lashed out at the National Democratic Congress (NDC) over their petition to the Commonwealth Nations to investigate what they term as violations of human rights under President Nana Akufo-Addo's regime.



The NDC has appealed to the Commonwealth Nations to monitor the human rights situation in Ghana and what they believe is the criminal persecution of its members.



The General Secretary of the NDC, Johnson Aseidu Nketia announced the petition at a press conference in Accra on Monday, February 28, 2022.



He stated the petition was necessitated by the "harassment, criminal persecution and human rights violations" against some NDC leading members including their National Chairman, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo.



"There are some practices that are not in accordance with good governance and the principles of the Commonwealth so we have petitioned them to take the appropriate action," he said.



Background



Mr. Asiedu Nketia cited some cases that are currently prosecuted in court which they find to be persecution and harrassment of their members by the current administration.



Citing the case of the Republic v Stephen Kwabena Opuni and two others, the NDC General Secretary stated that the Judge, Justice Clemence Honyenuga, hearing the case, made some pronouncements which "in any fair legal system would warrant his recusal from the case on the ground of real likelihood or appearance of bias".



He also made reference to the case involving the Republic vrs Samuel Ofosu Ampofo and Anthony Kwaku Boahen and the Republic Vrs Cassiel Ato Forson among others as examples of the criminal persecution of NDC members saying ''the conduct of the government of Ghana in this matter has been dreadful leaving no doubt the government is bent on a conviction regardless of the quality of the evidence".



"This is a brazen abuse of power by the government," Mr Nketia added.



Regime Change



Addressing the issue during a panel discussion on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', James Kwabena Bomfeh, popularly called Kabila, was of a firm belief that the NDC petition is all about one thing; that's to change the current regime.



Other than seeking a regime change, he sees nothing tangibly right in petitioning the Commonwealth Nations if not for the purposes of deception, he noted.



"Much of the talk is about regime change and nothing more", he asserted, emphasizing '' . . we live deception. We live deceitful lives. The theatre and theatricals are too many. That is our problem. The insincerity with which we discuss our problems in Ghana".



In relation to the human rights violation claims raised by the NDC, Kabilla rhetorically asked; ''Is it indeed true there is insecurity in Ghana? People cannot speak?"



''You cannot always be right just as you won't always be wrong," he replied the NDC.



He however called on President Akufo-Addo and his Ministers handling the security of Ghana to sit up.



"I will call on the President, the National Security Minister, Defence Minister; you should be on your toes . . . Look at who is policing the Police and how they are doing their work."





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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US president, Joe Biden has announced the closure of US airspace to Russian aircraft and pledged to go after Russian oligarchs in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine.



The move, which follows European allies, has been considered for several days and was revealed after discussions with US airlines on the possible repercussions.



Biden said on Tuesday night that the moves would further isolate Vladimir Putin. The Ruble has lost 30% of its value, he said. The Russian stock market has lost 40% of its value and trading remains suspended. Russias economy is reeling and Putin alone is to blame.



The president said the US would also join its European allies in pursuing oligarchs and seizing their wealth.



We will join our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights, further isolating Russia and adding additional squeeze on their economy, President Biden said.



In a moment ad-libbed to the speech he said: He has no idea whats coming.



Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, warned about retaliation from Russia when asked at Mondays press briefing whether the US was considering a ban on Russian aircraft over the US.



"No option is off the table," Ms. Psaki said. "I would note that there are a lot of flights, US airlines, that fly over Russia to go to Asia and other parts of the world and we factor in a range of factors.









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In this handout photo taken from video released by Ukrainian Police Department Press Service released on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, firefighters inspect the damage at a building following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. Russia is pressing its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital. That comes a day after it unleashed airstrikes on cities and military bases and sent in troops and tanks from three sides. (Ukrainian Police Department Press Service via AP)
Did people from Xinjiang watch the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics? Who were their favorite athletes? Our reporter heads to a ski resort in Xinjiang to find out more.
Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium leadership will give a presentation at the next Petersburg Medical Center Hospital Board meeting on March 24 according to PMC CEO Phil Hofstetter.

The board voted in September to invite SEARHC leadership to speak at a future meeting to give the public an opportunity to hear more information on SEARHC's vision for local health care and discuss Petersburg's need for a new medical facility.

Questions from board members and staff at the hospital were collected and sent to SEARHC leadership to give them a basis for what to present during the meeting.

S...
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Sizing varies depending on the manufacturer.

Larger brands like Trek and Specialized build six sizes in their most popular platforms, like the Top Fuel and Stumpjumper, to bridge shorter gaps between rider heights. It's not a practice that is put into play for all models in their line ups though. Both companies offer limited sizing choices on their downhill frame.

There's more to bike fit than just looking at reach numbers.

Brands like Works Components machine reach and angle adjusting headsets in the U.K. for just about every head tube and fork combination. 9point8 created the Slack-R headset to work with tapered head tubes that have the bearing cups built into the frame.

Here you can see the decrease in reach and other geometry changes with the 9point8 Slack-R.

There are other companies that use modular frame components, like Atherton Bikes' 3D printed titanium lugs and carbon tubes, or Starling Cycles' steel fabrications, that allows for custom geometry inputs.

Guerrilla Gravity currently offers a range of reach adjustment to close the gap between each size frame. Canyon also introduced this system, but limited it to their Sender DH bike.

Frames with effective reach adjustments make things easier.

If medium means middle and I stand at a sliver over the American average height of 5'9" (175 cm) for males twenty years and older , why do I always find myself stuck in between frame sizes? I recently wrapped up a review on the Specialized Status 140, a quick handling, shorter travel bike, and the length of the S3 size and its 465mm reach felt perfect. When I set up my next test bike, going from a 465mm reach to 480mm didn't concern me, but boy was the handling vastly different on the trail. Factor in a larger rear wheel, longer chainstays and wheelbase, more travel... OK, it was an enormous departure in terms of fit and function. However, stepping down to a medium would result in a much shorter 455mm reach, lower stack, and all the rest that comes along when you shrink a size.On the big 29er's first ride out, questions began flying through my head, quickly flooded by geometry charts and scenes from a Moores menswear commercial where a tailor is taking all sorts of measurements. What is the best size frame for me? How do I find that Goldilocks size? What would happen if I went down a size and kept all other parts equal? Stability would be hindered, so I would have to run wider bars and possibly raise my seat post. Do I run my suspension stiffer? I might have to slow the damping to account for my positioning getting jostled around more. How exactly do you size a modern mountain bike anyway when body proportions vary as much as riding techniques?Sure, they have a single letter to denote target rider size, but that's just like trying to buy clothes from the internet before you've tried them on. One manufacturer's medium isn't standard across the industry.Road cyclists have it easier - stand up, sit down. Their center of mass doesn't shift nearly as drastically over undulating terrain and the frames roughly run in narrower two centimeter increments. A professional road bike consultant can set them up based on their inseam and wing span, making further adjustments with stem lengths after that to make them as comfortable as possible. Changing stem lengths is a possibility on a mountain bike too, but I've found it to have more of a negative impact on steering than a positive influence on fit.The most vital piece of the puzzle is the frame, which has the least adjustment - sometimes zero. The gaps in reach between a medium and a large frame these days varies depending on the manufacturer, and in some cases there may be up to a 35mm difference between sizes - that means if a size medium has a 450mm reach the large will have a 485mm reach, a pretty substantial change.Those longer, limousine-length bikes can sail straight through anything in their path, however they take negotiating to get through tight corners and a forward weight shift to avoid understeering, at my height.Rewinding back to our Summer Field Test, curious readers were interested to find out why the two smaller length bikes went faster on our test track than the lengthy high pivot sleds. This wasn't a huge surprise to me. If you take a look at current Enduro World Series trends, the majority of racers, ignoring anyone racing a Geometron or Pole bike which are known for pushing the upper limits on sizing, are swaying towards an undersized bike for maneuverability and letting their skills make up for the lack in stability.Thankfully, Orbea, Specialized, and Transition, amongst other brands, design their bikes around low standover heights with short seat tubes that accommodate long dropper posts so the rider can choose between reach lengths based on their riding style and not be limited to one frame size, but I could still use that "extra-medium" size. Not too big, not too small.I love that theory, but I'd still like more options to hit that my Goldilocks number of the 465-470 mm reach zone for trail/enduro and roughly 10 mm shorter for downhill bikes. Surely, I can't be the only one stuck in the middle. Remember when Loris Vergier, who only communicates through bird noises and beat boxing, couldn't decide between a medium or large V10 29 ? There must be other riders that find themselves stuck between a small and medium, or large and extra large frame too, right? A few brands, such as Devinci, Santa Cruz, We Are One Composites still offer the main four sizes; small, medium, large, and extra large, but stagger the jumps in reach compared to the conventional 420, 450, 480, 510 mm sizing.Just when you've picked out your favorite color with complimenting anodized components and think you have it figured out, you may realize there is more to the fit than just reach. Stack is another number to look at that is based on the bottom bracket, so don't forget that these are measurements primarily focused on riding while standing up. Yet that number will shrink, theoretically, if you start loading up on stem spacers. You also have to look at seat tube height, top tube length and relate those associated numbers with a seated position too.Throw in head angle altering or reach adjust headset cups and the spreadsheet plot thickens. If you're thinking about sizing up and adding an "angle set" to slacken the head tube angle, keep in mind that this will only make the front center (BB to front axle) distance longer on a bike that may be already too big. You can stretch or shrink the reach by up to 10 mm, like I did on my downhill bike , if you have a 1.125" steer tube, dual crown fork. Here you can compensate for the increase in BB and stack height, plus the decrease in head angle, by sliding the crowns down the stanchion leg. I chose to lean towards a medium and add the half size option. Thankfully, Commencal's Supreme MX uses a ZS56 headset that allows for that full 10 mm extending cup to step up from a 445 mm reach to 455 mm. Otherwise, the jump would have been a 32 mm gap up to a size large.These components exist for single crown forks too, but due to the 1.5" base of the tapered steer tube, you will be limited to about 5mm of reach in the plus or minus direction and the increased stack will be unavoidable, unless you opt to reduce the fork's travel. Ah, ...the geometry matrix.If we jump back to Matt Wragg's article that dissects perfect riding posture , then you'll begin to understand the pros and cons of being squeezed onto a smaller bike or stretched out on a longer frame: too short and you'll start to fatigue your legs and core because you are in a cramped position, while too long will leave you stuck like you're doing the splits, unable to spring out of harm's way fast enough. You need some tension on the rope, but not too much. The right balance is needed to keep your hips just behind your feet to drive enough leverage through the pedals and muscle the bike around while your upper body remains relaxed, but in a strong position.So, what is the solution? First, credit is due to brands who have worked tirelessly to think and test which geometry will suit the nature of each bike and divide that amongst a size run. Their sizing charts are a helpful place to start, but some outliers exist, both in poor geometry choices and less than ideal physical limitations - short inseams with long seat tubes is an obvious one.More adjustable geometry can be complex for those that aren't fully up to speed on the stats of their ride, but Specialized has made it dead simple to show the small changes in reach. Their Stumpjumper EVO Geometry Calculator lets you choose the setting based on your style or terrain or pick out the numbers yourself, plus there are other handy websites to compare bikes, like Geometry Geeks The diagonal bottom bracket to top tube does de-mystify stack and reach numbers a little further - essentially how much leverage you have from the pedals to the handlebars. Isak Levison touched on the idea of keeping his body position comfortable and balanced relative to the axles on one of his homemade bikes which meanstall handlebars for his towering stature to offset the short reach of the frame.Another extremely tall rider is Ben Cathro, who explains all of the sizing parameters without the need for a mathematics degree. His in-depth analysis goes to great lengths to show why those changes might work best for you.You could go for a fully custom tailored fit, [if] you know precisely understand what characteristics those measurements will produce on the trail. Remember Canyon's GeoBend concept that was created by Marvin Henschel? Unfortunately, that's not a reality yet. Limited options exist if you are dreaming of custom geometry in the form of carbon frame construction and they aren't cheap. 3D printing technology has helped brands like Atherton Bikes cut carbon tubes to length and bond titanium lugs together at custom lengths and angles, or use their suggested sizing guide to build your own geometry. Due to the simplicity and availability of steel tube sizes, there are plenty of frame manufacturers offering this kind of custom work to bring your perfect geometry to life.The true heroes of reach adjustment are Canyon and Guerrilla Gravity that incorporate built-it reach adjusting headset chips on some of their bikes. There is no need for aftermarket installs here. The reach adjustment reduces the jump and builds a "half-size". The Canyon Sender can rotate the headset chip in either direction to produce an increase or decrease of 8 mm in reach and has an additional chainstay length adjustment.It's the descending portion of mountain biking that we enjoy the most and that all hinges around how comfortable you are in the standing position. That's 'Reach 101.' I hate when a medium T-shirt is too short, but the large one is too baggy. Slim fit medium shirts exist, so where are the extra-medium bikes? Of course, bike frames aren't as cheap or simple to manufacture as a cotton T-shirt, but don't tell me to slap a 50 mm stem on my short offset fork to stretch out the fit. That's not solving the source of the problem.I'm all for these kinds of flip-chips to hone in on that magical size, but it's back to the spreadsheets, geometry calculators, and bodging aftermarket tweaks until more accommodations in reach becomes the norm.
Negreanu Wins Again! Impressive High Roller Form Continues

March 03, 2022 Matthew Pitt Editor

GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu is no stranger to playing high-stakes poker. "Kid Poker" has battled with the best players in the world for more than two decades, and has accumulated almost $46 million in live tournament cashes. He boosted his winnings tally by $216,000 on March 2 by taking down a $15,300 high roller event at the Wynn Millions festival in Las Vegas.

Wynn $15,300 High Roller Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Daniel Negreanu Canada $216,000 2 Sergi Reixach Spain $144,000 3 Ren Lin United States $96,000 4 Brock Wilson United States $66,000 5 Sean Winter United States $48,000 6 Ali Imsirovic Bosnia & Herzegovina $30,000

Negreanus return to form in high roller and super high roller events is impressive to say the least. Taking down the $50,000 No-Limit Holdem Event at the 2021 PokerGO Cup in November for $700,000 seems to have reignited Negreanus passion for high-stakes tournaments.

Check out Negreanu's $1M 2022 WSOP schedule Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2022 WSOP is here. Click here

Negreanus $10K+ Tournament Results Since His PokerGO Cup Victory

4th place in the $100,000 PokerGO Cup #8 for $230,000

3rd place in the $10,000 Poker Masters #2 for $103,200

1st place in the $10,000 Poker Masters #5 for $178,200

3rd place in the $25,000 Poker Masters #10 for $152,000

9th place in the $10,000 Dealers Choice for $25,741

3rd place in the $50,000 Pot-Limit High Roller for $519,764

3rd place in the $50,000 No-Limit Holdem High Roller for $661,041

1st place in the $25,000 PokerGO Cup #6 for $350,000

5th place in the $50,000 PokerGO Cup #8 for $112,000

5th place in the $10,000 Aria High Roller #2 for $28,800

4th place in the $15,000 Aria High Roller #3 for $54,450

Negreanus latest high roller victory came in the second high roller event of the Wynn Millions festival, a $15,000 buy-in affair that drew in a crowd of 40 entries. Only the final six players received a slice of the $600,000 prize pool, with Sergio Aido being the unfortunate soul to pop the money bubble.

Ali Imsirovic was struggling to keep his head above water and was the sixth place finisher despite doubling through both Sean Winter and Ren Lin. Imsirovic finally came unstuck when he three-bet all-in over the top of a Negreanu raise with a pair of red kings in the hole. Negreanu looked him up with ace-king, flopped an ace, and won the pot.

Winter crashed out shortly after Imsirovic. He committed his last 5,000 chips with queen-five on a ten-high flop only for Sergi Reixach to snap-call with pocket aces. The turn and river were void of drama, and Winter headed to the cashiers desk.

Redraw Leads to $100,000 Envelope at 2022 Wynn Millions Mystery Bounty

Fourth-place and $66,000 went to Brock Wilson who called off his short stack from the big blind with ten-five of clubs after Lin opened from the small blind. Lin put in calling chips with his pair of sevens, which held to reduce the player count by one.

Heads-up was set when Negreanu sent Lin to the showers in third place, a finish worth $96,000. Negreanu min-raised to 100,000 with pocket nines before calling Lins 820,000 all-in bet. Lin turned over ace-six of diamonds, but could not find an ace on the jack-high board.

That hand gave Negreanu a 2,570,000 to 1,430,000 advantage over Reixach but victory was far from assured, such is the talent of Negreanus final opponent. Negreanu had Reixach on the ropes but the Spaniard fought back and refused to be beaten. Something had to give and it did when Negreanu moved all-in with what turned out to be nine-eight and Reixach called off his short stack with pocket fours. A nine appeared as the door card, and it proved enough to bust Reixach and hand another high roller title to Negreanu.

Back to my winning ways and it feels good! 3am finish with all the chips in the $15k for $216,000 and 216 points to https://t.co/edP61hpAVF  Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)

Negreanu will be back in action on for the $10,000 buy-in $10 million guaranteed Wynn Millions Main Event on March 3, although his celebratory tweet states he will be buying in during late registration.

You can follow all the action from the $10 million guaranteed Main Event right here at PokerNews. Our live reporting team is on the ground from the first hand being dealt to the champion being crowned. Will that champion be Negreanu? We do not have long to wait to find out.
As the demand for in-person COVID-19 testing has given way to at-home testing, South Carolina's top health agency will start scaling back testing sites across the state.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control said the reduction is based on declining appetite as at-home tests have become more readily available.

Testing site reduction, DHEC said, also signifies the state and nations transition out of a pandemic, and into an endemic, as public health officials provide guidance on how to live normal, safe lives with an ongoing presence of COVID-19.

By March 14, three in-person testing locations in Aiken County will have closed: Gregg Park Civic Center, USC Aiken Convocation Center and the Aiken County Health Department.

Residents can still get at-home COVID-19 rapid tests at the health department, located at 222 Beaufort St. N.E. It is recommended to call ahead for availability at 803-642-1687.

DHECs testing locator, scdhec.gov/covid19/covid-19-testing-locations, will be updated in real time to reflect when a specific site is no longer open.

On March 15, DHEC will begin only reporting COVID-19 data once per week rather than each weekday to "best track where the virus impact is most severe."

This change comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it is changing its approach to tracking COVID-19 by reducing focus on daily case counts and putting emphasis on severe cases that result in hospitalizations.

We announced last month that our goal is to bring cases down to a level that allows us to live our normal lives with very little interruption, stated Dr. Edward Simmer, DHEC director. The CDCs announcement reflects that thinking by using severe COVID-19 cases to measure how the virus is impacting local communities. We agree with this methodology, especially as cases continue declining and rapid at-home tests become even more accessible.

Specifically, DHEC is switching its focus from eliminating transmission entirely to recommending prevention measures.

COVID-19 Community Levels combine hospital capacity and COVID-19 hospital admissions with cases to identify when a community is facing a low, medium, or high level of risk from COVID-19, according to DHEC.

The updated guidance also provides masking suggestions for when a community is experiencing high, medium, or low levels of transmission.

For low-level transmission in a community, masking is not needed in most settings, according to the CDC, but remains optional for individuals.

In times of medium transmission, individuals who are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, as well as those who are regularly around immunocompromised individuals, are encouraged to mask up, while it is optional for others.

In times of high transmission, community masking is recommended in indoor settings, including schools and workplaces.

Recent state and federal guidelines are geared toward creating a sense of normalcy weve all been waiting for, Simmer added. But this new normal has to account for the fact that COVID-19 is still a deadly virus that is here to stay. We must continue following updated guidance and doing our part to protect ourselves and our loved ones.
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HONG KONG, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Ambulances kept moving in and out of Tuen Mun Hospital as COVID-19 patients were rushed into the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department. Chan Chi-chung, the A&E operation manager, finally got a moment of relief between busy shifts for an interview.

"I can only afford 15 minutes," the nurse told a press pool in the hospital's open space. "The department is understaffed. Almost 20 percent of the staff have been infected, and the number is growing."

Hong Kong's ongoing fifth wave of infections from the virus has set grim milestones of daily case tallies, with the death toll keeping climbing. Medical workers like Chan are feeling overwhelmed.

The math is ominous: the number of patients keeps going up, and more and more colleagues have gone down with the coronavirus.

"I have been a nurse for 28 years, but have never experienced such a tough time," Chan said. "It is tough for all the medical workers in Hong Kong."

On Thursday, the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) reported 56,827 new COVID-19 cases, another record high, with 144 more deaths, official data showed.

Soaring infections are stretching the workload at the hospital to the limit. A shift at the A&E department used to take eight hours, but now over-10-hour shifts are a new normal.

"I hope to get help from other departments in the hospital and try our best to take care of the patients," Chan said.

Tang Tsz-ha, who works at Tuen Mun Hospital's intensive care unit, said she and her husband have not been home for a long time, for fear of infecting family members.

"Our mom and dad are old and have underlying diseases, and our brothers and sisters have their hands full taking care of their kids (and can not help)," said Tang, whose husband is kept busy at the A&E Department.

Hong Kong's Hospital Authority (HA) on Tuesday activated five more designated clinics to cope with the rapid and sharp increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients, which has overwhelmed the capacity of isolation facilities of public hospitals and the community treatment as well as isolation facilities.

"The HA once again thanks the public for their patience and being accommodating in compiling with the arrangements so that the isolation facilities in public hospitals can accord priority to the elderly, young, and patients with special medical needs," the HA said in a statement.

Help from the mainland is pouring in.

A mainland-aided, newly built community isolation facility (CIF) started admitting its first batch of COVID-19 patients in Hong Kong on Tuesday evening. The facility located in Tsing Yi, which is capable of accommodating about 3,900 patients, was completed within just one week on Monday.

Also on Monday, the third team of mainland health experts and personnel arrived in Hong Kong to work with the HKSAR government in fighting the latest COVID-19 outbreak. The team leader is Liang Wannian, head of the COVID-19 response expert panel under China's National Health Commission (NHC).

Chan said the medical staff were moved by the support of Hong Kong people, as well as the support from the country. "Now we work together to win the battle." 
An Upstate-based butcher shop soon will have five locations in the Charleston area.

New York Butcher Shoppe plans to open at the end of March or early April at 1108 Oakland Market Blvd. in the Market at Oakland Shopping Center, giving it a second location in Mount Pleasant, according to spokeswoman Anna Tindal.

In addition to select cuts of beef, chicken, pork, veal and lamb, the shop will offer frozen and fresh prepared dishes and sides along with a selection of wines, local beer and specialty items such as cheeses, exotic sausages and international groceries.

The Greenville-based New York Butcher Shoppe chain has nine locations in South Carolina, including three in its home town. Others are on Daniel Island and the Isle of Palms and in Summerville, Columbia and Indian Land near Charlotte. The other Mount Pleasant site is on Ben Sawyer Boulevard.

The Market at Oakland venue will make 10. Another will open in May in Lexington.

Seven others are in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Another will open in March in Crabapple, north of Atlanta.

The new East Cooper store will be open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.

It also will be the company's ninth corporate-owned location. Others, including the Nexton Square location in Summerville that opened last fall, are franchise operations.

Springing back

The Charleston Farmers Market is ready to reopen.

The new season starts March 5 on Marion Square. It's open 8 a.m.-2 p.m. through Nov. 26.

It will be closed March 26 to prepare for the Cooper River Bridge Run. It also will be closed April 2 for the event, which stages its "Finish Festival" in Marion Square.

The market features Lowcountry growers with fresh produce, plants, herbs and cut flowers. Attendees also will find breakfast and lunch vendors, artisans, crafters, live performers and community groups and activities.

For more information, go to charlestonfarmersmarket.com.

New sprout

A North Charleston floral business that started 10 years ago as a mobile vendor broke ground March 1 for a new three-story building that will house the shop and include upstairs apartments.

Roadside Blooms will occupy 2,640 square feet on the ground floor of a new building with four apartments at 4491 Durant Ave. near the entrance to the Mixson neighborhood.

Shop owner Toni Reale is partnering with investor Brady Quirk-Garvin on the new building.

Reale started the business in 2012 as a one-woman shop, operating out of a 1971 British ice cream truck. Now at 4610 Spruill Ave., beside The Station, Roadside Blooms has grown to 12 employees.

Reale hopes to be in the new location by the end of the year or by the end of January 2023.

Dollars and cents

A new discount store is now welcoming customers in North Charleston.

Dollar General recently opened at 6240 Rivers Ave. The shop offers essential household items as well as home decor and an expanded party preparation selection.

In addition, customers will find fresh fruits and vegetables, including lettuce, tomatoes, onions, apples, strawberries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lemons, limes, salad mixes and other items.

As part of the opening, the company will donate 100 new books to a nearby elementary school. The donation is through a partnership with the Kellogg Co. to give away more than 100,000 books across the U.S. to celebrate new Dollar General store openings.

In addition, nonprofits and libraries within a 15-mile radius of the new store can apply for Dollar General Literacy Foundation grants.

New gem

A new jewelry shop is now open on the Charleston peninsula.

Hart, by jewelry designer Hart Hagerty, can be found at 650 King St.

The shop offers ready-to-wear pieces, including topknot tassel earrings, beaded intention bracelets and custom charm jewelry. Necklaces can be ordered for pick-up the next day. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.

The store opened in December, but it was only by appointment.

Stretching out

A new yoga studio is now open in downtown Charleston.

Grayce Body & Breath can be found at 359 King St., above housewares shop Williams-Sonoma.

The studio is a project of mother-daughter duo Erin Gray and Daisy Gray Moses.

"The GRAYCE method is based on our mission  strong body, still mind, soft heart," said Gray, both founder and head yoga teacher. "Our goal is to teach our students how to create strength and stillness within, and how to move in a sustainable, biomechanically thoughtful way while doing it."

It's open seven days a week. Free community classes are offered at 4 p.m. on the fourth Friday of each month for residents of Charleston County. For more information or to book classes, go to grayceyoga.com.

Driving in

A new car dealership recently rolled into the Charleston suburbs.

Goose Creek Mitsubishi is now open at the former site of Mitsubishi Motors at 208 S. Goose Creek Blvd., across the street from Infinger Furniture.

Baton Rouge, La.-based Smith Holdings LLC bought the nearly 3-acre property in December for more than $2.1 million, according to Berkeley County land records.

The 5,400-square-foot property includes a showroom, office space, parts rooms and four service bays.

The commercial real estate firm NAI Charleston represented the seller, NWB Properties LLC, of Mount Pleasant. Bellcore Commercial represented the buyer.

Wheels and deals

A South Florida automotive dealer recently opened its first pre-owned location in South Carolina in Charleston.

AutoNation Inc. of Fort Lauderdale now operates a 31,500-square-foot, used-car dealership at 2250 Savannah Highway in West Ashley.

It's the company's 11th site in the U.S. for pre-owned sales after it signed a 10-year lease that expires in 2031. The lease includes five, five-year extension options.

The new site's name is AutoNation USA, the brand for its used-car shops. The company, under the AutoNation-only name, has nine new vehicle dealerships and one collision repair center in South Carolina. Two are in Columbia. The rest are in the Hilton Head/Hardeeville area.

The company's used-car sites offer a "1Price Pre-Owned" plan to make used-car purchases haggle-free. It also will buy cars, with no purchase necessary, on the same day.

Plans call for 130 pre-owned stores across the nation by the end of 2026.

The West Ashley dealership is open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Rangina Hamidi is all smiles. Twinkling brown eyes dance within the folds of her muted headscarf, instantly warming the glare of the Zoom frame.

She is set to discuss her coming trip to Charleston, brought to town by the Ibu Foundation for Global Champions  Afghanistan. Taking place on March 8, the event is the first of a planned annual gathering timed with International Womens Day to celebrate womens achievements.

From another frame, Ibus founder Susan Hull Walker smiles back, greeting her friend and fellow advocate of women in far-flung places.

Walker, a fiber arts specialist and former minister who studied religions at Harvard Divinity School, founded the Ibu Movement. A Charleston-based textile enterprise with a flagship store on King Street, Ibu collaborates with over 100 women's groups of artisans in 40 countries, as a way to uplift women by disrupting poverty and bringing about change through their own artistry.

Now, the two women are joining forces in Charleston to share Hamidi's story.

Forever in flight

A quick glance at the bona fides and backstory of Hamidi renders her easygoing manner in marked contrast to the hot seats and harsh blows that have punctuated her 44 years.

She is a self-described three-time refugee, with a flight pattern zigzagging and ocean-hopping from Afghanistan to Pakistan to America, then back to her homeland and again to the States, where she lives now.

It's not just the cross-cultural migration that confers her intensity of life experience.

I never planned on becoming who I have become, she said. Ive just become, based on the decisions of my life.

Returning to Afghanistan, Hamidi pulled off the barrier-breaking feat of heading the countrys Ministry of Education  the first woman to do so in a country that relegates most to the confines of family compounds.

When that was upended by the 2021 Taliban takeover, she successfully negotiated the continuation of Kandahar Treasure, her woman-powered and woman-empowering collective centered on textiles embellished with traditional khamak embroidery.

And theres this: She did it despite knowing that the Taliban was responsible for her fathers violent death.

But those life choices did have a fine thread wending in and out, and intricately creating a pattern: Most of the events and decisions have hinged upon a call to change all womens lives for the better.

It has informed much of the flight, compelling her to destinations with more opportunities for women or to those in need of change.

Her family initially fled the Russian invasion of her birth country, Afghanistan, to Pakistan in the late 1970s. But in third grade, when she and her sister were forced out of school as it was deemed unnecessary for girls, they landed in Virginia, where she stayed through college.

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, prompted Hamidi to return to her home country in 2003, doing so as an Americanized Afghan and hardcore feminist set to change womens lives, aiming to do so by offering inroads to financial independence.

After the Taliban was toppled, there was something in me that said I needed to go back home  home that I didnt remember, but I thought I knew.

Hamidi then realized the foundation of the problem: It was the lack of education Afghan women face by not being permitted to go to school. As a mother of a young daughter, she discovered there were few opportunities. Next stop, Kabul, where she established an international school.

I did it for the sake of my daughter, she said. Then, in 2020 Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani called her with the offer of an appointment as minister of education. Viewing it in part as a way to further demonstrate the effectiveness of a woman in such a role, she accepted.

The strength of a stitch

But what could possibly be an enterprise that could pave the way to an Afghan woman's financial freedom?

In a word, embroidery. The quiet, seemingly benign task of pulling a threaded needle through fabric, the age-old artistry that is part of traditional Afghan culture, or Pashtunwali, was its hallmark khamak handiwork.

In bordered patterns that Hamidi felt mirrors the womens own social boundaries, with minute stitches that can number as many as 70 in a single inch, embroidery is a cultural touchstone in Afghanistan.

It swaddles Afghan babies as they enter the world. It adorns the men who freely walk about in it. It elevates the homes these invisible women stitch together, often in silence, stripped of voice.

Hamidi found that for Afghan women, their needle and thread come together as a form of expression.

To this particular group who only had the opportunity to learn embroidery, for them this is their expression of love, of communication, of precise beauty that they envision the world to have.

Hamidi also sees the power of these women through their embroidery, which enables them to earn a dignified living.

While the men are busy destroying various components of community and society and families, its the women that are constructing, whether its through their love or through their creation of embroidered pieces.

The Ibu collaboration

This khamak embroidery is some of the finest, more refined embroidery in the world, said Walker said.

She met Hamidi at a Santa Fe Folk Art Market and they became fast friends. Joining forces with Kandahar Treasure, Walker determined their collaborative piece should showcase khamak on something that could be studied up close.

For Ibu, thats our job, to be able to see, know and learn the skills, this embroidery language of these women," Walker said.

They landed on a decidedly Western application  the cocktail napkin. Each Kandahar Treasure set progressively demonstrates the intricacy of the handiwork, while also offering a way for a host to tell the story.

New pieces are set to debut at the March 8 event, where "Embroidering within Boundaries: Afghan Women Creating a Future," the book Hamidi co-wrote with Mary Littrell, will also be on sale, with proceeds benefiting the Ibu Foundation.

Enter the Taliban

In the midst of all Hamidi's momentum, the Taliban violently overthrew the U.S.-backed government in August 2021.

The Taliban do not want women to be educated simply because education opens minds, hearts, ears and eyes, and thats something they dont want to do, Hamidi said.

Financial opportunities prevailed over those politics. After the Taliban takeover, Hamidi found she was able to communicate to the Taliban, welcoming them to the Kandahar Treasure facility and underscoring the great financial need in the region.

After some back and forth about it, they said, As long as the women dont make a big fuss about it, we have no problem for them to go and continue doing this beautiful work, Hamidi said.

Embroidery strengthened her own case. When she met with the Taliban five days after the fall, she learned they had watched her and approved her choice of dress, which often shows off khamak, saying it spoke a great deal about who she was.

This particular embroidery has always been attached to who we are as Afghans.

Rising above

Still, coming to agreements with the Taliban is no small undertaking for Hamidi.

"People questioned, 'How can you go back to a country where your father was so violently taken away from you, and even then, how can you talk to the very elements who took your father away from you?'  the Taliban."

"I think there is something incredibly powerful that all we women have," she said. "We learn to forgive."

She has learned she cannot stop a whole nation from benefiting from her devotion, commitment and work all because of hatred for the people who killed her father.

"We can't afford to have this animosity anymore."

The three-time refugee refuses to give up, believing the collective power of women around the world can change the male narrative of destruction to one of beauty and creation. And, yes, embroidery.

"I can't afford to give up."

Spoken like a true global champion, and a true woman, too.
At a Feb. 17 lunch at the Harbour Club, cellist Natalia Khoma and pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky came bearing candy.

It was not just any confection. The gilt Cyrillic that topped a red oval box spelled out the name of the Roshen chocolates, a favorite from the married couple's native Ukraine. There, Khoma owns and maintains a family home with her sister.

Box in hand, she went into gleeful detail about the chocolates' horn-shaped gold wrapping and the excellence of her country's delicacies, which always impress visitors.

The internationally renowned classical musicians had recently returned from Ukraine, spending a month there in December. And their stateside sweet proffering is par for the course for the natives of Lviv, a western Ukraine city, who met in America.

They came to Charleston 17 years ago to teach music at College of Charleston, Khoma as associate professor of cello and Vynnytsky as professor of piano. Since then, they have shared their culture often with the Charleston community.

At the college, Khoma founded the Charleston Music Fest, regularly hosting artists from Ukraine and presenting works created or informed by Ukrainian composers, which have proven to resonate with Charleston audiences unfamiliar with the works.

"The Ukrainian folk songs are the most beautiful in the world," Khoma said.

Vynnytsky cites many composers inspired by Ukrainian music: Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Bach.

Watching from afar

Less than two weeks after their Harbour Club lunch, on a March morning in their Mount Pleasant home, Vynnytsky holds up a mobile phone livestreaming his family from Lviv. From the frame, his mother, who is in her 90s, waves hello.

A laptop on a kitchen table blares Ukrainian-language reports, coupled with video of an august building engulfed in flames. This is now their primary, all-consuming focus: The single 24-hour channel that has merged Ukraine's media outlets.

"They destroyed even the music school in Kharkiv, which one of the best," Vynnytsky said.

They learned that their native Lviv, which is in western Ukraine and contains checkpoints along the Polish border, surges both ways: Refugees, mainly women and children, are leaving the country even as others return to join the resistance against Russia's invasion.

Images show ad hoc production lines of Molotov cocktails. "Now they call this cocktail for Putin," Vynnytsky said.

The news reports flag new hazards concocted by the Russian army. They are said to approach Ukrainians with a white flag, only to then start shooting. They warn mothers hiding with children in shelters that stray toys concealing devices are exploding.

Ukrainians in Charleston

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The night before, on March 1, the couple attended a rally at City Hall in Charleston, where they connected with friends and fellow Ukrainians.

Their daughter, who was born in Lviv and raised in Charleston, called in from New York to take part with them via the phone. Khoma has often noted the similarities of Lviv and Charleston, both beautiful, historic and cultural hubs that she feels could be sister cities.

They have long instilled a pride in their Ukrainian heritage, teaching her the language. Just about every surface is testament to this devotion: Finely embroidered decorative pillows share intricate embroidery in reds and oranges, yellows and greens, their patterns often telegraphing regions. A handmade clock in the kitchen comes from Lviv.

"It warms our heart," Khoma said of these reminders of Ukraine.

And there is the art. Vibrant, expressionist landscapes by renowned Ukrainian artist Volodymyr Patyk enliven the walls, sharing pastoral church-spired scenes and sunflowers akin to those of Van Gogh.

When Khoma won her first national competition as a teenager, the artist quickly made a work featuring a cello painted in the blue and yellow of the Ukraine flag at a time when such flags were forbidden in the former Soviet Union.

On the stovetop, a deep pink liquid simmers. The couple often prepares soup before heading out to teach class. This day it is borscht, a Ukraine signature due to the exceptional quality of beets sprung from the land's rich, black soil.

Versions vary from region to region, with the recipes signifying locale the way barbecue does in the Southeast. Theirs is from the West, topped off with sour cream and then enhanced with meat.

The connection plays on

That abiding connection with their homeland plays out in their art, too.

The two are frequent featured artists on American tours of the internationally acclaimed National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, which travels the United States to perform in concert halls and campuses across the country and has garnered a significant following.

They also return to Ukraine to perform concerts and are honorary professors at the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, or the Kyiv Conservatory, the Lviv State Academy of Music and the Odessa State Music Academy.

Two grand pianos gleam in their elegant living room, but it is difficult for Vynnytsky to practice when he thinks of what his countrymen are enduring.

The couple underscored that, historically, the country has had no interest in invading other territories. The impulse, they said, is only to protect their land. Since the invasion, Ukrainians of every stripe and mother tongue have come together in a unified front of resistance, and they are impressed by the leadership of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in that effort.

If youre kind, youre gentle and strong, and your love is so big, said Khoma. Vynnytsky sees a direct correlation between the scope of such kindness and the power of the resistance. It is what it takes to hold fast and strong to country and culture in the darkest days.
Five candidates are vying for the top education position in South Carolina after the scrutiny on schools has grown more intense in the last couple of years.

The candidates, four Republicans and one Democrat, will have to tackle issues like learning gaps that were exacerbated during the pandemic and low teacher retention rates.

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Those fighting for the role of state superintendent are doing so when education has become increasingly politicized as decisions are made about mask mandates; banned books; and critical race theory, the academic framework that explores how racism has shaped public policy and legal institutions in the United States. The analysis is taught typically in law schools, not in K-12 curriculums.

The Post and Courier spoke with the five candidates running to replace Superintendent Molly Spearman now that she will retire after eight years in office. The primaries will be held on June 14.

Gary Burgess

Gary Burgess isnt a stranger to running for superintendent. In 2010 and 2014, he ran in the primaries for state superintendent as a Republican.

This time, he has joined the race as a Democrat.

I don't see myself as anything other than a South Carolinian running on that ticket in order to advance education for all children in South Carolina, Burgess said.

Burgess serves as the spokesperson for Florence County School District Fours board of trustees. That district is in the process of being consolidated with Florence School District One. He is also a member of the Anderson County Board of Education for the five Anderson school districts. Previously, he worked as a social studies teacher in Spartanburg, a high school principal in Anderson Four and then superintendent of Anderson Four.

Burgess, who attended Wofford College, said he wants all students to be treated and taught as though theyre going to attend college, too. He also wants to boost teachers salaries and cut down their clerical work and non-teaching responsibilities so they can focus on the classrooms.

He dismissed the conversations around critical race theory as a straw man argument and said the framework is not being taught in public schools. He added that he wants people to understand the history of South Carolina and the country, and come together as a family to try to understand each other.

Pointing to his work in Florence Four, Burgess wants the state Department of Education to be a resource for school districts and communities rather than act like a dictatorship, he said. The Department of Education started managing the district in 2018 due to financial instability.

Look all around the state, children are in poverty and are not doing very well, Burgess said. Be they Black students, White students, Hispanic students. Theyre simply not doing well.

Cindy Bohn Coats

Cindy Bohn Coats, a three-term board member of Charleston County School District, said she's observed a growing and alarming mistrust around the education system.

A defining moment, she said, was when the National School Boards Association wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden in fall 2021 that said parents disturbing school board meetings should be investigated for domestic terrorism. Coats disagreed with the organization and officials that called parents threats. (The organization apologized in October 2021 for the letter).

Parents are simply saying, Wait a minute, I have an inherent right to know what you were doing with my child,' Coats said, explaining why many have approached school boards and teachers with criticisms about curriculums.

Coats has served on CCSDs board of trustees since 2010, including as chair from 2012 to 2015. Professionally, she has worked as a multi-unit manager for Bojangles restaurants and in the banking industry. Shes running as a Republican.

Coats said her approach is putting parents first. She opposes COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates  a position she has maintained on CCSDs board. She framed requiring masks and vaccines, which many school districts enforced to stop the spread of the virus, as adding barriers to access public education.

Her other platform items include protecting the independence of home-school families from government control and continuing to support school choice, or policy proposals that would give parents the option to use public funding to enroll their children in schools outside their districts or even for private schools. During a call with The Post and Courier, she asked why education wasnt more collaborative between teachers and parents.

Coats added that she believes critical race theory is being taught in schools, citing conversations she had with parents who said their children had to answer a survey where they were asked if they had ever seen an adult treat another child differently because of their race. On her campaign website, she wrote that she doesnt want students to be taught racial division.

She also plans to act as a fiscal watchdog, particularly for determining how COVID-19 relief funds were spent.

Kizzi Gibson

As a visual arts teacher at Carolina Springs Elementary School in Lexington, Kizzi Gibson said shes seen some students struggle with virtual learning and others excel. Even with her own two children, shes experienced that duality.

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That experience fuels her belief in school choice policies.

Parents are the No. 1 stakeholder, Gibson said. Like, we're educating their children, so they should definitely have a voice in where their children are educated, how they're educated.

Gibson, who grew up in Orangeburg, has been teaching since 2003. She serves on the board of directors for a new public charter school that operates virtually and is president of the West Metro Republican Women organization.

In addition to promoting school choice, Gibson thinks masks and COVID-19 vaccines should be optional for students. She said she wants to address the low retention rates for teachers by increasing salaries and ensuring educators have access to professional development, mentorship and instructional assistants.

In a press release announcing her candidacy, the Republican denounced liberal social beliefs. During a call with The Post and Courier, she said she believes critical race theory is being taught in South Carolinas schools and cited books in school libraries such as Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You as teaching children critical race theory.

The book, written by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, explores the history and persistence of racism in the U.S. and discusses ways in which kids can actively oppose discrimination in their daily lives. According to the online library catalog for Gibson's school, Carolina Springs Elementary, the library doesn't have the book. Carolina Springs Middle School in Lexington does offer the book in its library.

We have children who can't read, we have adults who are working cash registers and they can't do basic math, Gibson said. The focus should not be one dividing by skin color and making one group of people who are responsible for the sins of their fathers.

Kathy Maness

Kathy Maness is the head of the Palmetto State Teachers Association, one of the most prominent teachers groups in the state. Before that, she was a teacher.

What ultimately pushed her to join the race was her granddaughters educational future. The next superintendent will be overseeing the Department of Education when her granddaughter, who is currently 2 years old, starts school.

Maness, who is running as a Republican, taught at an elementary school in Lancaster for nearly a decade before joining the staff of the teachers association. The group advocates on behalf of teachers, but, as Maness clarified, the organization is not a union.

Upon being asked what key issues she would want to address as superintendent, Maness responded quickly: teacher recruitment and retention. She believes the issue requires a multipronged approach.

Doing away with paperwork, having a strong leader and raising teacher salaries? she said. Oh, man, wouldnt that be awesome?

Maness added that more education decisions need to be made at the local level by parents, teachers and principals, rather than politicians in Columbia or Washington, D.C. Her other goals include increasing mentorship in schools and ensuring students are ready for either enlistment in the military, enrollment in college or employment by strengthening career and technical education programs.

She said South Carolinas standards currently do not include critical race theory, nor does she plan on incorporating it. Maness also strongly supports public charter schools and school choice legislation.

Ellen Weaver

The learning loss Ellen Weaver witnessed during the pandemic spurred her decision to run for superintendent.

Weaver, a Republican, is the executive director of the conservative think-tank Palmetto Promise Institute, which was founded by former U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint in 2013. Weaver previously worked for the former politician in his Washington, D.C. and Columbia offices for 12 years. She also chaired the South Carolina Education Oversight Committee, the state's education watchdog agency, from 2019 to 2021.

She believes that the continuation of school closures and lockdowns into fall 2020 and beyond were an overreaction.

When seven in 10 of our children in third through eighth (grade) are not doing math and basic reading on grade level, that's a catastrophe, Weaver said, referring to the Education Oversight Committees study that projected the gap in student learning for spring 2021.

Weavers also an advocate for school choice. At the Palmetto Promise Institute, she's pushed for fast-tracking charter school applications and educational scholarship accounts, which would give parents funding they can use towards a private education for their children. The Greenville native also wants to address the states education funding system, which she called broken, and to simplify South Carolinas education standards, believing that theres too much jargon and bureaucratic paperwork.

I've seen how the process in Columbia works firsthand, she said. I understand what is necessary to work constructively with the governor and the General Assembly in order to make the changes that need to be made.

Weaver said she's heard accounts from parents that critical race theory is being taught in classrooms. She said the theory denies the power of the American dream and divides students by their skin color.

Critical race theory scholars try to understand the persistence of racial disparities by analyzing laws and institutions for bias. In a June 3, 2021, statement on Twitter current Superintendent Molly Spearman said the Department of Education has no current standards that include critical race theory, nor does it plan to adopt any.

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The teacher shortage crisis continues to worsen in South Carolina as a growing number of educators resign in the middle of the school year.

There were 1,121 teacher vacancies in South Carolina as of February. That's up from the 1,033 vacancies reported in the fall, which at the time was the most vacancies the state had in 20 years. The numbers were provided by the nonprofit Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement.

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Patrick Kelly, a teacher and the director of government affairs for the Palmetto State Teachers Association, said there is no greater threat to South Carolina education than the teacher shortage.

"The teacher vacancies continue to grow and this should be setting off alarm bells in the General Assembly and district offices across the state," he said.

Teacher retention has historically been a problem in South Carolina since educators in the state face low salaries and large classroom sizes. The problem was exacerbated during the pandemic, when teachers had to juggle both in-person and virtual learning, as well as take on additional duties around their schools.

The 74 school districts that responded to CERRA's survey reported an additional 977 teachers left their jobs since they completed the last survey at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year. Of the vacancies, 178 empty positions were newly created jobs.

"Therefore, most vacancies occurred as a result of teacher resignations," CERRA wrote in the report.

Sherry East, president of the South Carolina Education Association, found the number of teachers who left in the middle of the year was the survey's most disconcerting finding. She'd been hearing that a lot of teachers were looking to leave their jobs, but leaders expected them to hold out until June, after the school year ended.

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"For a teacher to leave midyear, that means conditions were so rough they couldn't make it until the end of the year," she said. "If you're seeing those kinds of numbers midyear, that's a problem, and still, what are we doing about it?"

This is the second year CERRA has released a midyear survey. Jennifer Garrett, CERRA's coordinator of research and program evaluation, wrote in an emailed statement the organization started doing a midyear survey because it wanted to see what impact COVID was having on districts more than halfway through the school year.

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She wanted to be clear the numbers were not COVID-specific. While that was the midyear survey's original focus, districts were not necessarily able to tell them how many teachers were leaving specifically due to the pandemic. They continued releasing the numbers because they believed they were important regardless of departure reasons.

"The focus became more about the what versus the why," she wrote.

The previous CERRA survey found 6,900 educators who taught during the 2020-21 school year didn't return to teach this school year. It asked districts to report why those educators left. According to the responding school districts, 34 percent said they left for external reasons, 27 percent for personal reasons, and 18 percent said they retired.

Education authorities said this isn't a complete picture of why teachers left. Many teachers are uncomfortable telling their school district the real reasons for their departure because they're afraid it might burn their professional contacts, or because they might lose the opportunity to return to a job teaching in the district in the future.

A separate survey released by the South Carolina Teacher Education Advancement Consortium in October found 14 percent of teachers surveyed said they left their jobs because they were dissatisfied with their school's administration.
It takes some time and patience to master the skill of eating a burrito.

Each bite is like removing the next piece from a Jenga tower; one wrong move, and the whole thing falls apart.

But that's not the case for patrons who order from The Press, a lunchtime concept based solely on the mastery of the griddled burrito. Located in the single-story structure on Coming Street that was once home to the Taco Spot, The Press serves chicken ($10), steak ($12) and bean ($9) burritos.

Charlestonians in the know will recognize the man behind the new takeout-only project for his burrito prowess at a popular Mexican restaurant that will make its return on Johns Island later this year.

But that doesnt mean the burritos at The Press, 221 Coming St., are like the ones once served at Minero, which will reopen on Johns Island this spring.

In fact, some believe they're better.

Alex Yellan, executive chef of The Press and neighboring wine bar The Tippling House, both of which are owned by Matthew Conway and Carissa Hernandez, had two separate stints at Minero. He also spent time in the kitchens at Xiao Bao Biscuit and Tu, a now-closed Meeting Street restaurant with a rotating menu that had several fan favorites, including a riff on the crunch wrap supreme.

Suffice it to say that Yellan has experience cooking locally loved handhelds wrapped in tortillas.

At The Press, each burrito is filled with cheese, pico de gallo, avocado and crispy french fries, along with the guests choice of protein and salsa. Yellan loosely bases his offering on the California burrito, served with french fries instead of rice.

I grew up in Arizona. Despite it being Arizona, the California burrito is pretty popular there as well, Yellan said. Although some of the places would call it an Arizona burrito, it still is just french fries, pico de gallo, avocado.

The flour tortillas are an essential component of The Press burrito, the lunch counters signature and only dish, aside from Lays potato chips served with a packet of Chilula (and a note encouraging customers to pour said Chilula in the bag of chips).

Yellan uses El Milagro flour tortillas procured from a Mexican purveyor at the Ladson Flea Market that supplied to Minero, along with a handful of other local restaurants like Santis in downtown Charleston.

The tortilla is definitely huge. I mean thats really the only thing thats the same that we were doing at Minero, Yellan said. That was one of the things that was kind of crucial. They tend to be thicker  because of that chew and that flakiness, it works nice.

During a Feb. 10 interview, Yellan was rolling burritos before putting them on the flat top Conway installed when he took over the two Coming Street buildings that house The Press and The Tippling House in March 2021. After coming off the grill, the burritos are wrapped, sliced and handed to Conway for bagging. Customers can snag a burrito at The Press open window or order ahead online for fast and easy pickup.

Its more of a challenge than you think, said Conway of making burritos "the Yellan way."

I say this sincerely, I dont think making a burrito sounds very hard, but I think theres a lot more that goes into it (than people think).

The scene is a far cry from whats going on next door at The Tippling House starting at 4 p.m. There, Yellan serves small plates to pair with Conways curated wine list that features labels from around the world.

Yellans Tarvin Seafood shrimp toast with fried bread and green tomato chili sauce will likely never depart the small menu, which features a selection of plates that aim to mimic some of the courses you might discover at a chefs tasting menu.

Recent hits have been the Hoppin John arancini, mushroom-onion dip and steak tartare with gochujang, served resting in a cup of local bibb lettuce.

Were utilizing his skills, Conway said. Not many chefs could cook burritos by day and also make a little steak tartare cup thats Korean influenced.

Conway recently added limited outdoor seating, beer and wine for patrons of The Press, open from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Next door, The Tippling House serves customers starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.
Fountain Inn is beginning to add detail to its plans for downtown improvement through a partnership with a state Municipal Association Program.

The city in southern Greenville County announced in December that it was advancing from the "friend" level to "aspiring" with Main Street South Carolina, an initiative aimed at helping municipalities throughout the state enhance their downtowns. That change gave Fountain Inn access to new resources, training and grant opportunities.

City Administrator Shawn Bell said the driving motivation behind the partnership is to make sure the city's downtown was preserved as the area around Fountain Inn experiences significant residential growth.

"It's important that we protect and enhance what is most dear to Fountain Inn and, to me, that's our downtown," he said. "Obviously, everybody loves the current downtown, but we definitely need to make some enhancements."

In recent months, the city and representatives of the program have hosted multiple public sessions to gather input on what improvements they would like to see along the Main Street corridor.

The steering committee overseeing the partnership used that input to formulate a list of goals for the downtown area. The plan, which was released March 1, is broken into four categories: organization, promotion, design and economic vitality.

Kate Kizito, the city's public relations manager and director of its Main Street South Carolina initiative, said Fountain Inn is already making progress in many of those areas.

The city is working to strengthen communication between the city and partners like the Fountain Inn Museum, the Younts Center for the Performing Arts, the Fountain Inn Chamber of Commerce and business owners in downtown. Kizito said there are meetings scheduled with those groups in the coming months and there will be regular sit downs with them in the future.

To enhance promotion, the city plans to begin implementing changes such as using a more formal process for evaluating existing events, creating a more uniform branding guide, and making branded merchandise available.

Kizito said the city has already created a facade improvement grant program to enhance design elements downtown. Fountain Inn also plans to increase public art exhibits, install pop-up parks and gathering places, and strengthen current design guidelines.

To promote economic vitality, Kizito said the city plans to create a comprehensive guide for anyone hoping to start a business in the downtown area.

"I'm not aware of too many cities in the whole country that are doing what we plan to do," she said. "It will really be a step-by-step guide to taking you from 'here's what I want to do' to opening a store in our downtown."

Fountain Inn will also develop a database for retail space along the Main Street corridor, create a business retention and recruitment plan, and implement a business incubator program.

Kizito said Main Street SC in the coming weeks will provide the city with a more detailed report on the city's goals that will lay out more comprehensive descriptions and markets analyses for each item.

"The heart of this is making sure Fountain Inn stays mom and pop, stays local, stays somewhere that people are actually going," she said. "And also that we're promoting that thriving atmosphere that Fountain Inn is experiencing right now."
Press Release

March 3, 2022 De Lima slams Calida's attack vs COMELEC-Rappler MOA on May polls Re-electionist Senator Leila M. de Lima slammed Solicitor General Jose Calida for bullying the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) into rescinding the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the poll body and online news site Rappler on providing election-related information on the May 2022 polls. De Lima, a former election lawyer, maintained that Calida's attacks against COMELEC and Rappler's MOA is baseless, lamenting how the latter has taken a page from Russian President Vladimir Putin's book and resorted to attacking COMELEC and Rappler. "Of course, Calida is the last person we expect to be objective when it comes to Rappler. The Duterte Administration is well-known for its attempts to shut down Rappler for being critical of the government and its policies, especially its reporting on Duterte's role in the Davao Death Squad," she said. "Calida and his boss are still waging their war against Rappler up to now, even as the time of the Davao Mafia in power begins to shorten by the day. They are the last desperate acts of a regime whose time is about to run out," she added. The COMELEC recently announced that it entered into a partnership with Rappler on "voter engagement and fighting disinformation in relation to the 2022 National and Local Elections." The poll body reportedly said that Rappler committed its resources to help them disseminate information and engage the public. "An online show, podcast, workshops and seminars are also in the pipeline," its statement read. Calida, in a statement, claimed that the MOA unlawfully gives Rappler, whom he alleged as a foreign entity, access to confidential data on registered voters and the power to decide the election. The Solicitor General further threatened to file a case in court "to declare the nullity of the MOA." He said COMELEC has until March 4 to withdraw from the arrangement with Rappler. De Lima maintained that the MOA appears to be the regular agreement on cooperation entered into by COMELEC and its media partners during the election period, meaning, said agreement is not exclusive to Rappler. "It is doubtful that the Solicitor General even has the power to bring such kind of action against the COMELEC which is an independent constitutional commission. It is definitely supposed to be independent of Malacan~ang and cannot be told to do the latter's bidding, especially if it amounts to favoring a candidate in the elections," she said. De Lima said she is confident that Calida's attempt to bring the case in court will only be futile. "There is no basis for Calida's tirades on the COMELEC-Rappler MOA. I am confident that even if brought to the Supreme Court, Calida's case will just be thrown out like the piece of garbage that it is," she stated.
A Tibetan antelope is pictured at the Qiangtang National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Sept. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)

LHASA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China has become an ideal habitat for wild animals over the years amid the region's thriving biodiversity protection endeavors.

With people giving more living space to wildlife, the relationship between human and nature is getting increasingly harmonious in Tibet, said Norgyel, head of the region's ecology and environment department, on the eve of this year's World Wildlife Day.

Since 2013, World Wildlife Day has been observed every year on March 3, aiming to raise public awareness of protecting wild animals and plants globally. This year's theme is "Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration."

Tibet has seen a steady increase in endangered wildlife population, thanks to its continuous efforts over the past decades.

Compared to statistics released by the regional wildlife conservation society in the 1990s, the population of Tibetan wild ass has risen to around 90,000 from 50,000 previously.

The population of black-necked cranes has exceeded 10,000 from 1,000 to 3,000 previously, while the number of wild yaks rose to about 10,000.

Meanwhile, the population of Tibetan antelopes has surged from 50,000 to more than 300,000 over the past decades.

Last year, China downgraded the status of Tibetan antelopes from "endangered" to "near threatened," owing to proactive anti-poaching and biodiversity protection efforts.

Besides, more than 9,600 varieties of wild plants have been spotted in Tibet, among which 214 are endangered plants listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), according to official statistics released in 2020.

Tibet forms the main body of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is dubbed the "source of river and ecology" in Asia. To secure the local ecosystems, the region has spent over 20 billion yuan (about 3 billion U.S. dollars) in ecological protection from 2016 to 2020, more than double the spending in the previous five years.

The funds were mainly used in conservation projects aimed at afforestation, wetland protection and restoration, nature reserve construction, natural forest protection, sand control measures and wildlife protection, among others.

So far, Tibet has built 47 nature reserves covering a total area of about 412,200 square km, which accounts for more than one-third of the region's total area, Norgyel noted. 
BEAUFORT  A Marine Corps fighter jet crashed March 3 near Halfmoon Island on property owned by former Gov. Mark Sanford, where two of his siblings ran to the aid of the pilot and co-pilot.

The F/A-18D Hornet went down at about 3:15 p.m. in an uninhabited section of Coosaw Plantation in Beaufort County, authorities said.

The jet was in the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. It had just taken off from the base  across the Coosaw River from the Sanford home  for a routine flight.

There were no fatalities as a result of the crash, according to a news release from the Air Station. Both Marines safely ejected with no injuries, and there was no damage to civilian property, the release said.

The jet, an all-weather fighter and attack aircraft, is assigned to Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533, Marine Aircraft Group 31.

A safety investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the mishap, the Marines said.

Sanford was not on the property at the time of the crash, but his brother and sister heard and witnessed the entire ordeal.

Sarah Sanford Rauch recalled looking up at the sky and watching the unidentified jet take off. Within minutes she saw its engine catch fire and turn nose-down toward the earth.

"I said to my brother, 'No, no, no, this is bad,' " Rauch told The Post and Courier. "And then about a second later there was a colossal explosion."

Rauch and her brother John raced out of the main house to see if they could find the two aviators.

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"We ended up at the crash site," she said, adding they found the two people and helped them back inside the house. Both of the crew were able to walk on their own, she said.

Emergency and military personnel rushed to the crash site. Medical workers were checking anyone exposed to jet fumes, Rauch said.

A fire was still "raging" an hour after the crash despite firefighters' efforts, she added.

The crash site was about a mile away from the main house, close to where Rauch and Sanford's father is buried, Mark Sanford said.

A lot of the massive, old oak trees around his grave were destroyed in the blaze, Rauch said.

The Navy and Marine Corps deploy the F/A-18. Several Hornet squadrons operate out of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.

Both services can launch the jets from aircraft carriers, but the Marines are moving solely to the F-35 for carrier duty.

Military air accidents have been seen in the Lowcountry before. In 2015, two people were killed in a single-engine, two-seat Cessna airplane following a collision with an F-16C jet from Shaw Air Force Base over Lewisfield Plantation in Berkeley County.

In 2005, two pilots on a training mission ejected from an Air Force F-16D seconds before the jet crashed and burned along the Ashley River. The airmen parachuted into the marsh near The Citadel and were rescued.
A city of Charleston real estate deal is on hold after concerns were raised about Mayor John Tecklenburg's personal connections to the property's owners.

Although city legal counsel said the mayor did not run afoul of state ethics laws, the proposed transaction sparked a heated debate about how elected officials separate their personal, professional and public lives.

Councilman Keith Waring said the mayor should have recused himself from the discussion of the proposed property purchase because it involved two of his son's colleagues.

But because the property was a personal investment of his son's colleagues and his son would see no financial gain from the deal, the mayor dismissed the idea of recusing himself. The city's legal council agreed.

"Under what I would believe to be a fairly reasonable reading of the state ethics laws, it does not seem to me that that would be a conflict of interest," city legal counsel Wilbur Johnson said.

By the time Johnson was able to weigh in at the Feb. 22 council meeting, the allegation had escalated into a spirited back-and-forth. It highlighted a broader issue in South Carolina: Elected officials often struggle to navigate the state's comparatively weak ethics laws, and do so mostly at their own discretion.

Punctuated by the mayor banging his gavel, Tecklenburg and Waring spoke over each other, each accusing the other of speaking out of order.

All of the facts about this matter need to be brought forward, Tecklenburg said to Waring.

I am not out of order, Waring said. If you have a conflict, lets root it out and the mayor pro tem should preside, not you.

Staying out of the discussion to keep up appearances would have been an abdication of his duties, the mayor said.

"As long as I dont have a conflict of interest, which I dont, I view it as my job to advocate for what my staff put together," he told The Post and Courier.

The dispute ultimately prompted City Council to vote 11-1 to defer their vote on the matter. The mayor voted against the deferral. Councilman William Dudley Gregorie was absent.

Council members did so to give themselves more time to evaluate both the mayors connection to the property's owners and its appraised value.

Beyond Councilman Waring bringing that to my attention, I would not have known that otherwise, so that's why I seconded the motion to defer, Councilwoman Caroline Parker said during the meeting of the mayors relationship to the property owners.

After visiting the property himself and reading through its appraisal, Councilman Peter Shahid said during the meeting that he had grown concerned that its $1.3 million appraised value was too high for its location.

There is something with that appraisal that makes us uncomfortable, said Shahid, a member of council's Real Estate Committee that first reviewed the proposal.

It was not the first time City Council and the mayor have had to interpret where state law draws the line between his former career in real estate, his personal connections and his role as a public official. In 2019, council voted to commission an audit of the mayors office. The estimated $50,000 effort culminated in a report that found no evidence of self-dealing.

Johnson said City Council members have the ability to file a complaint with the State Ethics Commission if they disagree with his assessment. So far, Waring has not chosen to file a complaint but said he is considering proposing an amendment to the City Council Code of Conduct to address the issue.

It's an age-old question. Is the appearance of impropriety equal to impropriety itself, said Glen Halva-Neubauer, a professor of political science at Furman University who specializes in state and local government.

The land deal

Warings concerns at the Feb. 22 council meeting centered on the proposed $1.3 million purchase of an upper peninsula office building at 11 Cunnington Ave., near where the northeastern edge of the Charleston peninsula sprawls into a group of historic cemeteries. The property is located next to another lot where the city plans to build affordable housing. The citys Housing and Community Development Department proposed purchasing the office building to relocate its homeless outreach service hub, The Navigation Center.

The Navigation Center, which the city plans to rename the Hope Center, is currently located in an office building at 529 Meeting St. under a month-to-month lease, Housing and Community Development Director Geona Shaw Johnson said.

When the building's owner told city leaders that he planned to sell or redevelop the building, Shaw Johnson said that led her to inquire about the office on Cunnington.

Local real estate professional Robert Clement III bought the building as an investment property in 2019 with his associate Stuart Coleman, county tax records show. The two of them rent the space out to their real estate firm, Clement, Crawford & Thornhill Inc. Clement is co-founder and president of CC&T and Coleman is the vice president and head of brokerage. The mayor's son, Joseph Tecklenburg, is currently a principal and stockholder at the firm as well. The mayor was a commercial real estate agent there before he ran for office.

Clement and Coleman created an LLC together when they first bought the property as they typically do when purchasing an investment property for personal purposes, Coleman said.

"Robert Clement and I have bought a ton of stuff together," Coleman said. "We bought 11 Cunnington Avenue three years ago with the intent to lease it out because it seemed like a good investment. We bought it, renovated it and decided to move CC&T in there with the intent to move in there and never move again."

When the city proposed buying it and using it for homeless outreach services, Clement said he felt an emotional connection to the idea. He is chair of the Mayors Commission on Homelessness and Affordable Housing, a regional group that fundraises for homelessness prevention efforts in Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant and Summerville.

Although Joseph Tecklenburg works at Clement and Coleman's office, he said he will not gain any financial benefits from the transaction. The proceeds would go to Clement and Coleman's LLC, not the real estate firm.

"The comment that I had a financial interest in this seems kind of out of left field," Joseph Tecklenburg said. "It's pretty simple. I have no interest in the ownership. I would not benefit in any shape or form."

The mayor reiterated this point to the council. Not only would his son see no financial gain from the transaction but he would also have to relocate to a new office with the rest of his colleagues.

"The real impact on my son will be the inconvenience of having to move his office," the mayor said at the meeting.

But Waring was not convinced that the office's location next to a cemetery made it worth its $1.3 million appraisal, especially because the same property was sold to Clement and Coleman for $650,000 in 2019. The mayors son's relationship with the owners added to his skepticism.

I said, Wow, 100 percent appreciation in less than three years.' I know our real estate market is hot, but it's not that hot, particularly for a property that is surrounded by graveyards," Waring told The Post and Courier.

Waring said he wants a second set of eyes on the property to ease his concerns about its valuation. When City Council voted to defer the decision, they agreed to commission a second appraisal.

As of March 3, the property purchase was not on the March 8 council agenda. Shaw Johnson said the appraisal will likely take longer than two weeks to commission.

The mayor pushed back on the claims that the original appraisal, done by Charleston Appraisal Co., was inaccurate, especially because Clement and Coleman gutted and renovated the building, a former crematorium.

"I am not an appraiser but I am very familiar with the real estate market. Everyone can concur that prices are going up in that area," he told The Post and Courier. "The cost of new construction has ballooned as well."

It's not unusual for these kinds of overlapping interests to appear in local politics, Halva-Neubauer said.

"So much of local government are land-use decisions," he said. "The mayor is probably going to have to use his best judgment. If he recused himself in every kind case because of the appearance of impropriety, the people lose the expertise that they voted him in there to have."

On the other hand, he said, even an appearance of conflict of interest can be politically damaging.

"There's old adage in politics, 'If you are explaining, youre losing,'" he said. "And I think here there is a lot of explaining that you have to do when a recusal isnt legally necessary."

Conflicts of interest

After working for over a decade in real estate, the mayor voluntarily rescinded his license. But his connections to the industry do not disappear overnight, especially in a city of 150,000 residents.

"The kind of people who can be really dynamic and robust leaders and are attracted to being elected officials at the local level are often people who have been deeply involved in civic life," Halva-Neubauer said. "The most prominent kind of people in a growing sunbelt city such as Charleston are going to be those that are involved in the real estate and the development business."

The way state ethics laws are structured, elected officials are responsible for evaluating their own conflicts of interest and whether they call for a recusal.

Since these laws did not force the mayor out of the conversation, the onus is on Charlestonians to decide if their mayor is behaving ethically, Halva-Neubauer said.

"The real tricky thing for the voters to asses is if a mayor's motivation to do this kind of work is to line their pockets and get better deals or to use the kind of expertise they have to better Charleston," he said.

In some cases, the mayor has offered to recuse himself.

In August, the citys Real Estate Committee met to review a proposal to buy a 10-acre tract on Sewanee Road in the Neck Area to house its public works division.

In that instance, the mayor recused himself from the discussions. The reason, he said, was that his son was a stockholder of CC&T Real Estate Services, which was representing the seller and would be paid a commission if the $6.18 million deal went through.

Also, the property owner, Shipyard Creek Associates LLC, included Clement, his son's business partner and CC&T co-founder, though that was not disclosed at the meeting.

"Even though (Joseph Tecklenburg) wasn't the agent involved, his company that he had an interest in would be getting some portion of a commission so I felt that I should recuse myself," Tecklenburg told The Post and Courier.

Waring challenged the deal but not over the Tecklenburg family connection to the seller and its real estate agency. He was mostly concerned about the price, the location, environmental complications and the fact that other less-expensive properties werent being considered.

I think we need to seek several sites and make a decision from there, Waring said at the Aug. 16 meeting. I dont think we should have one site and one site only to choose from.

The proposed purchase was scuttled the next day after North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey sent a letter saying the city would not allow Charleston to annex the property.

John McDermott contributed to this report.
NORTH CHARLESTON  Police officials called an emergency meeting with members of its community committee and the public to discuss a recent increase in shootings.

North Charleston Police Chief Reggie Burgess asked for the meeting on Feb. 28 following a violent weekend. Two fatal shootings  one which left a 15-year-old boy dead and the other a 34-year-old man  shook different neighborhoods in the city on Feb. 26.

"This is what it looks like for us," Burgess said after playing 911 audio from both shootings. "This is what we're up against."

The chief made a desperate plea to his community, assuring them the problem could be solved if neighbors worked together  and with police.

Around two dozen community members and police officials gathered in the North Charleston City Hall on March 2 to watch Burgess' presentation, which highlighted several recent fatal and nonfatal shootings. He cycled through slides titled with the incident location, when the 911 call was made and at what time officers arrived.

Burgess played several audio clips from the 911 calls, including the most recent homicides, one at South Allen Drive and the other on Hanahan Road.

"Listen to the kids in the background," Burgess said at one point, alluding to one of the South Allen victims who was shot in the head as she worked inside her nonprofit dedicated to helping local children.

A breathless woman's voice filled the auditorium next, describing the other shooting, in which she and her roommate heard "10 or 11 gunshots" as they sat in their living room at the Highland Exchange apartment complex on Hanahan Road. The woman looked out her window and saw a person who appeared to be dead lying in the grass, she told a dispatcher.

One way Burgess plans to solve the problem is by working with local leaders, such as the ones who volunteered to be a part of the Police and Community Committee. The group is tasked with working alongside law enforcement to implement recommendations made in the city's 2021 racial bias audit. The report, compiled by Virginia-based CNA, found racial and demographic disparities in a number of police practices, including traffic stops, use of force, arrests and field interviews.

Community members raised concerns about police transparency, accountability and community engagement in listening sessions held by the racial bias auditors.

Holding events such as the Wednesday night meeting is one way to directly involve the public, Burgess said.

Cookie Belle owns four properties in the Dorchester Terrace neighborhood, where the South Allen Drive shooting took place. Belle attended the meeting because she wanted to connect with police officers and community leaders to better understand what happened and how she could help as a landowner.

"I want to know, what is the plan?" Belle said. "And where can we fit?"

The chief initially wished to host a private meeting with community members  which would be closed to media  following his presentation on gun violence. He hoped the more intimate environment would make people feel comfortable enough to share with police any tips or leads they had to work on unsolved shootings, including the two over the weekend.

Burgess was concerned about members of the media attending the meeting if neighbors discussed sensitive crime information, he said.

"People don't want to be told on," Burgess said. "And I don't want the people who are telling us  how are we going to solve these cases if they don't tell us?"

The chief ultimately canceled the private meeting. He will continue to meet with the Police and Community Committee as they sift through the audit's recommendations, working together to swap notes until they reach an agreement, Burgess said.

Steve Garrison contributed to this report.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
Theres a lot we can debate concerning Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Did President Joe Biden take the right tone during his State of the Union Address Tuesday? Was he right to release 30 million barrels of oil from our strategic reserves?

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday, was the American president forceful enough? Should he have employed heavier sanctions? Should he have started sooner?

Did the European Union and our other allies dither too long waiting on Germany to acknowledge the threat Russia poses? Did the whole Western world lead Vladimir Putin to believe he could get away with rolling tanks into a non-aggressive neighbor after he got away with sending in troops to aid insurgencies in the Donbas region of Ukraine?

Was Mr. Putin emboldened by President Bidens disastrous departure from Afghanistan? (Our exodus, it should be noted, would have led to the same ghastly human rights abuses even if U.S. troops had left in an organized way, in keeping with the plans of both Mr. Biden and the architect of withdrawal, then-President Donald Trump.)

Was Mr. Putin emboldened by Mr. Trumps repeated compliments, his open hostility to NATO and his effort to use security aid for Ukraine as a bargaining chip to dig up dirt on Mr. Bidens son?

Was he emboldened by then-President Barack Obamas failure to act in response to the annexation of Crimea; to Russia's shooting down a civilian airliner in 2014; or to his refusal to enforce his own red line in Syria after Putin ally Bashar Assad crossed it?

Was he emboldened by the worlds acquiescence when he poisoned political rivals? When he set his bot farms to work on social media, seeding division in the electorate in the United States and countless other democracies? When his minions launched their cyberattacks across the world?

Wherever we come down on those questions, theres one thing we should all agree on: There was no legal or moral justification for Vladimir Putins brutal effort to redraw the map of Europe. None. Not even a hint of a smidgen of a dubious justification.

This is Saddam Hussein seizing Kuwait. Benito Mussolini invading Ethiopia. It is Adolf Hitler overrunning Poland and Belgium en route to France and the second "war to end all wars."

It is brute force of the kind that the modern world has rejected for generations: to take a sovereign nation simply because you want to, and believe you can. It is brute force exercised by an autocratic dictator who masquerades, although unpersuasively for years, as the leader of a democratically elected government. It is brute force exercised by a tyrant who is not so much cold and calculating as evil, overcome by the small man need to domineer, dominate and control.

The one gratifying thing to come from Mr. Putins invasion  admittedly cold comfort to the Ukrainian people  has been world's reaction. NATO is stronger and more horrified  and thus more united  than it has been at any point since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Germans were so shaken by the invasion that their nation vowed to build up its military and abandon its decades-long refusal to export weapons to conflict zones. Finland and Sweden appear ready to abandon their neutrality and join NATO.

Here at home, Democrats and Republicans are united in their condemnation of the invasion, even if they arent united in their assessment of how we got here, or what we should do next.

Everybody is in agreement it seems except for such autocratic outliers as China, Syria, North Korea  and Donald Trump. Vladimir Putin is savvy, he gushes, a genius. The evil little man has great charm and a lot of pride and loves his country, Mr. Trump crows. The former U.S. president has since acknowledged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is brave and denounced the invasion  while still speaking highly of Mr. Putin, and bragging about his great relationship with the Russian tyrant.

Was he using his praise as a setup to attack Mr. Biden? Possibly. But praising Mr. Putin was a consistent, baffling thread throughout Mr. Trump's presidency, in response to actions that every other president in the past century would have condemned. And this is far too serious a matter to leave any doubt about.

Mr. Putins actions are a rejection of what former U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, a Pennsylvania Republican, describes as the internationalist orientation of constructive global engagement as advanced by Republican Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and both Bushes, which prevented great powers from engaging in conflict over these past 75 years.

There should be no equivocation or doubt about what any patriotic American thinks about the Ukraine invasion  or the invader.

No matter what Mr. Trump says as he recognizes that his misplaced admiration isnt playing well in a nation that actually does value freedom over tyranny, its important to remember that when Vladimir Putin sent his tanks into a sovereign country to steal the freedom of 43 million people, when the Western world and much of the non-aligned world condemned him, it was Donald J. Trump who heaped praise on him.
COLUMBIA  A controversial bill to impose an abortion ban in South Carolina is on pause after a Democratic senator threatened to walk out of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee, robbing the Republican-dominated panel of a quorum.

Before a packed committee room on March 3, Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, told lawmakers he planned to walk out with his party's five proxy votes if the committee took up discussion on several pieces of abortion legislation, including a mandate for doctors to push a risky "abortion reversal" procedure and legislation that could charge abortion providers with murder.

Hutto's list also included proposed legislation that would void the city of Columbia's ban on "conversion therapy," or counseling intended to change an individual's sexual orientation.

Hutto described the move to the Republican-led committee as the "only card we had left," and that the committee's Republican members shouldn't fault him for playing it.

They did.

"I want to point out that he wants to skip the pro-life bills," Sen. Richard Cash, R-Powdersville, said. "Bills that deal with the conscience of Christian counselors. This is an obvious attempt to stall and defeat these bills and for my part, although he has the right to do whatever he's doing, it's really to be held hostage to that position."

Hutto later walked out of the committee room after his motion to adjourn the meeting failed. He was joined in the vote by Charleston Republican Sen. Sandy Senn, who followed him out of the room.

I'll be walking with him, Senn added, as quoted by The Associated Press.

Senn, who considers herself pro-life but "anti-forced birth," told The Post and Courier after the vote she believed the legislation to be an improper use of the Senate's resources at a time when the state is already defending its ban on abortions after six weeks, in court.

She added the Senate had more pressing issues to consider, including topics like election integrity and tax reform that should take precedent.

"It takes up so much time every year," said Senn. "It is literally like Groundhog Day. There were a lot of other bills behind that one that are just as worthy. One of them being my bill dealing with Parkinson's research. We would have never gotten to that. We would have been fighting on one bill all day."

Senn also voted against last year's bill that banned most abortions in the state by requiring doctors to check for a so-called fetal heartbeat. That measure was signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster and its implementation has since been on hold as federal courts determine its constitutionality.

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The display prompted a harsh rebuke from the committee's chairman, Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, who said he would "aggressively pursue" a motion on the Senate floor to recall the bill and assign it to another committee.

"When you get into controversial matters  and it seems like everything in this committee is  I'm gonna follow rule and precedent of the Senate," Verdin said. "When challenged, I want to stand on the most solid ground I can find. That being said, I will also, probably more than ever, seek to exercise all the rules of the Senate in forwarding legislation out of this committee that I believe enjoys significant support."

A recall motion would require a two-thirds vote of the Senate to be successful.

"They probably do have enough to do that," Hutto said in an interview. "But if they do that, they do that. We can make our statements, and they can make theirs."

The March 3 hearing further stalls what had already been a slog for the two abortion bills, which had been held up in committee since first passing out of subcommittee in late January.

Before the hearing, the Senate Medical Affairs Committee had failed to advance a single piece of legislation to the floor, and had primarily been focused on vetting McMaster's appointees to various boards and agencies.

The abortion bills have also attracted significant attention from groups like Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and the Women's Rights and Empowerment Network, which co-organized a rally on the Statehouse steps ahead of a previous Medical Affairs Committee meeting on Feb. 17 to oppose the bills.

"We're in full crisis mode, and to spend this kind of time debating abortion bills and all kinds of ridiculous bills is insane and tone deaf to the needs of everyday South Carolinians," Sen. Mia McLeod, D-Columbia, said at the time.

It is unclear when the bills will be taken up for another vote. Advocates for abortion access urged supporters to remain vigilant.

We are grateful to the many abortion rights advocates who filled the Senate Medical Affairs committee room to take a stand against these harmful bills," Vicki Ringer, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, said in a statement.

"Today we call on our Senate champions and supporters alike to remain vigilant and continue the fight as the anti-reproductive health majority has demonstrated time and again that they will stop at nothing to deny South Carolinians the health care they want and need, the statement said.
GREER  BMW Manufacturing plans yet another expansion, adding a shop that will make stamped metal body parts to its campus in Spartanburg County.

The German automaker will invest more than $200 million and create 200 jobs. Its new 219,000-square-foot press shop will take steel coils, cut them into blanks, and stamp sheet metal parts for X Model vehicles, such as the four doors, fenders and exterior body sides.

The jobs to be created will include tool and die technicians, electrical and mechanical maintenance workers for automated machinery, and specialized line operators. More than 45 Spartanburg BMW employees are currently training at existing BMW Group press shops in Leipzig, Germany, and Swindon, England, according to the company.

"For us, it's very important we have a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, especially for the press shop here in Spartanburg. It's a new technology so we have to train upfront this technique here in the BMW network, mostly in Europe and Germany," said Robert Engelhorn, president and CEO of the Upstate plant.

Construction on the press shop is currently underway, with production slated to begin in summer 2024.

The 11,000-worker Greer campus is already in the midst of another $100 million expansion that BMW announced in November. The company is expanding its operations to include a new 1 million-square-foot logistics center, sitting on 120 acres in Spartanburg County. The center will supply parts to its plant with the goal of making its internal supply chain smoother. The expansion also includes two private bridges over Freeman Farm Road and Interstate 85.

The company is also opening a $20 million, 67,000-square-foot training center in the fall of 2022.

Engelhorn announced the latest investment at the 11th annual South Carolina Automotive Summit being held in downtown Greenville from March 1-3.

Engelhorn came to the Upstate last year from his former role as head over BMW's main plant in Munich, taking his current position on Sept. 1. In May 2021, his predecessor, Knudt Flor, announced his retirement from the role he had held since 2016.

Gov. Henry McMaster gave remarks immediately following Engelhorn's speech. McMaster recalled that before BMW arrived in the state in the early 1990s, South Carolina's automotive industry was just ramping up. The state now has more than 72,000 workers across hundreds of companies.

He said the automotive sector in the state is "growing like weeds."

BMW's Upstate campus was established in 1992 and is known for its production of X-model vehicles.

Spartanburg County has the only manufacturing plant for BMW in the United States, and last year 257,876 vehicles valued at $10.1 billion were sent overseas. This made it the nation's top vehicle exporter by dollar value for the eighth consecutive year. Many of the cars are loaded on trains in the Upstate taken to the Port of Charleston.

While exports of South Carolina-made products fell in 2021 for the second year in a row because of pandemic-related disruptions, the Palmetto State led the nation production of cars and tires based on their dollar value.

BMW Manufacturing also produced a record number of cars last year. The automaker built 433,810 X-class vehicles in Greer 2021, surpassing its last record in 2019 by more than 22,000 automobiles.
As Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine continues, people around the world have shown solidarity for the Ukrainian people.

That's been true in South Carolina, too.

In the last week, Ukrainians and their supporters gathered in Falls Park in Greenville and held a prayer service was at a Ukrainian church in Spartanburg. A small group held a vigil outside the S.C. Statehouse in Columbia, and the SkyWheel in Myrtle Beach was lit blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. On Wednesday, Charleston-area residents rallied for peace outside City Hall, also illuminated with blue and yellow lights.

This week, Post and Courier Greenville editor Ryan Gilchrest and reporter Nathaniel Cary share what's being done in the Upstate, and Marina Butenko, who moved from Ukraine to Greenville in 2016, shares her experience of watching this war from afar and what she's doing to help.

Find Butenko's website of resources at ukrainiansinsc.com.

The music featured at the end of the episode is a recording by Gavin McIntyre of cellist Natalia Khoma and pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky, Ukrainian natives and professors at College of Charleston, playing Brahms Cello Sonata No.1 in E minor inside their Mount Pleasant, S.C., home on March 2, 2022. The video can be viewed here and is featured in a story by Post and Courier arts critic Maura Hogan.

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Understand SC is a weekly podcast from The Post and Courier that draws from the reporting resources and knowledge of our newsroom to help you better understand South Carolina.

Are there any stories you'd like to hear on the show? Contact us at understandsc@postandcourier.com.

Related reading:
There have been contradictions about our local government's strategy on COVID-19 testing and limitations for those who have come in close cont Read more
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Addressing population aging and building an elderly-friendly society have attracted great attention from the whole society, Guo Weimin, a spokesperson for the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said Thursday.

"It is a major task concerning the country's long-term development," Guo told a press conference, adding that progress has been achieved in the sector thanks to the efforts made by all regions and departments.

"The CPPCC National Committee will work with all departments to enhance the sense of fulfillment, happiness and security of the elderly," Guo said. 
Melanie Phillips draws attention to the Twitter thread by Gabriel Noronha, a former State Department Iran official. His Twitter account is here. I am taking the liberty of simply copying the Twitter thread Phillips quotes for your information. In the thread Noronha refers to Reuters reporting on Iran. I think he must be referring to this story and others compiled there.

Phillips calls her Substack post Perfidy in Vienna? If true, she writes in her conclusion, it represents an act of supreme treachery Although it harks back to the strategery of President Obama, with the Russian twist this seems to me to represent the madness of Slow Joe. We shall see.

1. NEW: My former career @StateDept, NSC, and EU colleagues are so concerned with the concessions being made by @RobMalley in Vienna that theyve allowed me to publish some details of the coming deal in the hopes that Congress will act to stop the capitulation. [Long thread]  Gabriel Noronha (@GLNoronha) March 2, 2022

1. My former career @StateDept, NSC, and EU colleagues are so concerned with the concessions being made by @RobMalley in Vienna that theyve allowed me to publish some details of the coming deal in the hopes that Congress will act to stop the capitulation.

2. Whats happening in Vienna is a total disaster one warned. The entire negotiations have been filtered and essentially run by Russian diplomat Mikhail Ulyanov. The concessions and other misguided policies have led three members of the U.S. negotiating team to leave.

3. This is a long and technical thread, but heres what you should know: the deal being negotiated in Vienna is dangerous to our national security, it is illegal, it is illegitimate, and it in no way serves U.S. interests in either the short or long term.

4. Heres why: Led by Rob Malley, the U.S. has promised to lift sanctions on some of the regimes worst terrorists and torturers, leading officials in the regimes WMD infrastructure, and is currently trying to lift sanctions on the IRGC itself. Lets dive in.

5. First, Bidens team is preparing to rescind the Supreme Leaders Office Executive Order (E.O. 13876) as soon as this coming Monday, and lift sanctions on nearly every one of the 112 people/entities sanctioned under it, even if theyre sanctioned under other legal authorities.

6. We sanctioned some of the worst people you can possibly imagine under this authority, like Mohsen Rezaei, who was involved in the 1994 AMIA bombing that killed 85 people in Argentina. Hell be able to live free of sanctions next week if Malley proceeds.

7. Also under this action, the U.S. will lift sanctions on IRGC Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, who led IRGC forces in Lebanon and Syria when Hezbollah bombed the Marine compound in Beirut and killed 241 U.S. service members in 1983.

8. Who else? Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Khamenei, who was charged in Argentina for homicide for the 1994 AMIA bombing and as one of the ideological masterminds behind the attack. He also helped prop up Assads brutality in Syria.

9. This would also lift sanctions on Khameneis personal slush funds known as bonyads, including Astan Quds Razavi and Execution of Imam Khomeinis Order, which confiscated houses and billions from political dissidents and religious minorities to enrich Khamenei and his goons.

10. Sanctions also to be lifted on Bonyad Mostazafan, a massive conglomerate that systematically confiscated property from Jews and Bahais after 1979. It is enmeshed with the IRGC and is a corruption network used to enrich top Iranian terrorists.

11. Its important to note that the Supreme Leaders Office EO was not at all related to Irans nuclear program, and the removal of these sanctions under a so-called nuclear deal is a ridiculous farce. The State Departments lawyers know better but were forced into this by Malley.

12. Our lawyers were clear when we released this EO: it was a response to actions by Iran & its proxies to destabilize the Middle East, promote international terrorism, advance Irans ballistic missile program, & Irans attack against U.S. military assets + civilian vehicles.

13. Theres much more: sanctions will be lifted on huge swaths of the regimes economic and financial arms (close to 40 major entities) that support the Iranian terror, repression, and WMD infrastructure and were sanctioned under those legal authorities.

14. For example, they are lifting sanctions on economic arms of the Mehr Eqtesad network and Bonyad Taavon Basij which directly funds the Basij Resistance Force that recruits and trains child soldiers forced into combat.

15. The U.S. is not lifting sanctions on the Basij (responsible for killing thousands of Iranian protesters) itself, because the Iranians didnt care  they just wanted sanctions on the funding mechanisms lifted because thats what actually matters. Malley obliged.

16. These sanctions are also not related to Irans nuclear program, but were about to lift sanctions on them anyways. These are not inconsistent with the JCPOA as Blinken and Malley claim  they targeted the institutions that kill thousands of innocent Iranians and Arabs.

17. More: Every individual and entity that was de-sanctioned under the JCPOAs Annex II Attachment 3 will have all sanctions stripped again, EVEN THOUGH close to 100 of them were later sanctioned for terrorism, human rights violations, and participation in Irans WMD activities.

18. Take Ghavamin Bank for example. It was sanctioned under human rights authorities in November 2018 for involvement supporting the Iranian Law Enforcement Forces that tortured and drowned Afghans. That wont matter anymore  theyll be free from sanctions.

19. Same for Sepah Bank, sanctioned in 2007 as the financial linchpin of Irans missile procurement network. That first sanction was lifted by the JCPOA, but Sepah was later sanctioned for their support of the Iranian Ministry of Defense. Now, both sanctions would be lifted.

20. The JCPOA lifted sanctions on the Attachment 3 list under the guise that they were nuclear-related sanctions. But now, Malley and co. are effectively trying to codify their permanent exemption from sanctions even if they are complicit in gross violations of human rights.

21. This is akin to criminal prosecution. The Attachment 3 lists were all previously indicted for nuclear crimes. But a bunch of them later committed human rights and terrorism crimes and were sanctioned accordingly. But now Malley is giving them a full-on pardon.

22. Sanctions will also be lifted on the Central Bank of Iran and the National Development Fund, which were sanctioned under counterterrorism authorities for providing billions of dollars to the IRGC, the Qods Force, and Hizballah. These organizations STILL fund terrorism.

23. The CBI and NDF were sanctioned after Iran brazenly attacked Saudi Arabia in September 2019 in the attacks on Saudi Aramco in an act of war. Again, these sanctions are not related to Irans nuclear program  they are about terrorism.

24. Also to be lifted: sanctions on the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) that fund the Qods Force, responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of Syrians and for the death of at least 603 Americans in Iraq from 2003-2011.

25. NIOC and NITC were sanctioned under counterterrorism authorities approved by interagency career lawyers, including from DOJ and Treasury. Why? Because they were involved in the funding of terrorism. They never stopped that activity, but sanctions are still getting lifted.

26. The @StateDept has no legal basis to rescind the sanctions on the Central Bank, NDF, NIOC or NITC as they still continue to support terrorism. To remove those sanctions, you typically have to prove they arent supporting terror. They cant. In other words, this is all illegal.

27. Speaking of lawyers, States lawyers are said to be working on very creative ways to try and bypass Congress right to review (or even see the deal) under INARA. The political appointees working this deal are said to strongly distain Congress and view them as a nuisance.

28. Perhaps most troubling is Malleys attempt to remove sanctions on the IRGC. Malley was initially rebuffed by the interagency after he tried to get them to let him offer the removal of IRGC sanctions to the Iranians. That hasnt stopped him.

29. Malley has proposed to the Iranians that the U.S. will remove the IRGC from the Foreign Terrorist Organization list & sanctions if the Iranians simply promise to talk to the United States in new negotiations about their regional activity (aka terrorism).

30. This is one of the last issues still on the table in Vienna. The Iranians apparently have not accepted Malleys offer, because they want an unconditional removal of the IRGCs FTO designation. But even if the Iranians caved, wed still be removing the IRGC sanctions!

31. Over the past four decades, the IRGC has plotted and carried out terrorist attacks in 35 countries, and they continue to do so today. As Pompeo disclosed last year, they are currently providing safe haven and logistical support for Al-Qaeda in Iran.

32. For all these concessions, we havent gotten anything at all from the Iranians. The JCPOAs sunsets have not been extended at all. Some restrictions, like the UN arms embargo, have already expired. All the meaningful restrictions will expire in the next 9 years.

33. Iran wont make any concessions on its ballistic missile activity, its terrorist activity and support for proxy groups, or taking further hostages from the United States and other countries. But it will get money anyways  lots and lots of money.

34. Iran is set to get a massive windfall in access to cash: the latest estimate is $90 billion in foreign exchange reserves, and then $50-55 billion in extra revenue each year from higher oil/petrochemical exports, with no restrictions on where itll be spent.

35. My sources confirm @ReutersIrans reporting that Malley is imminently set to release $7 billion in funds frozen in South Korean banks as the first part of the deal in a massive hostage payment to get four Americans  and possibly some British citizens  out of jail in Iran.

36. Im glad that well have Americans coming home  they are innocent victims. But make no mistake: Bidens payment will only supercharge Irans hostage-taking industry. More Americans will land in Evin prison soon. This is a massive unforced error.

37. Malley has designed this process to bypass Congress from having any say. How? Because the Iranian banks Malley is lifting sanctions on as soon as Monday will be able to access and repatriate tens of billions of $$ immediately  before Congress can vote on any deal.

38. Even if Malley later submitted a deal to congress, the b[u]lk of the damage would already be done  Iran will have control of billions and the US will have no more leverage. This is pure diplomatic malpractice, and congress needs to investigate this attempted fait accompli.

39. The Biden administration is claiming that they are going back to the JCPOA [the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a/k/a the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran] and therefore do not need to submit the deal to Congress under the 2015 INARA law. Thats not true  this deal is not the JCPOA. It is much, much worse.

40. The degree of capitulation happening here is staggering  especially for people like me who worked in the technical trenches of this stuff for years, Thats why these non-partisan career staffers are coming out the woodwork and desperately asking for oversight from Congress.
BAGHDAD, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The International Security and Defense Exhibition kicked off on Wednesday in the Iraqi capital Baghdad with the participation of 68 weapon production companies from different countries.

Advanced equipment such as unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), rocket launchers, missiles, cannons, and different ground support equipment were presented at the exhibition.

Spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces Yahia Rasoul told Xinhua that holding such an exhibition is important because it contributes to building the capabilities of the Iraqi armed forces.

"The Iraqi military leadership is serious about building a professional military system capable of defending the sovereignty of Iraq and its people," Rasoul said, adding that the participation of foreign companies reflects their interest in signing contracts to arm the Iraqi forces.

The four-day exhibition is aimed to meet Iraq's security and counter-terrorism needs and improve the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces.

The security situation in Iraq has improved since the Iraqi forces defeated the extremist Islamic State (IS) group in 2017. Yet, the IS remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. 
In his review of Stalins Library: A Dictator and His Books, by Geoffrey Roberts, Nigel Jones writes in the Spectator:

Roberts takes us through Stalins life and shows how his reading molded his actions. Books transformed the bright seminary student into a ferocious revolutionary, prepared to sacrifice family, friends and a vast array of enemies  capitalists, kulaks, fellow Bolsheviks, imperialists, Trotskyist deviationists and millions of ordinary Soviet citizens  on the altar of his rigid dogmas. * * * * * Stalins Library tilts our image of a paranoid killer interested only in power towards a more nuanced  but even scarier  one: of a deep thinker prepared to turn his ideas into bullets to mow down those who thought differently. As the world anxiously waits to see whether another ruthless Russian ruler with a similar fixity of purpose will go to war in his effort to reconstruct Stalins state, this brief but penetrating book offers an object lesson: a little learning may be a dangerous thing, but so is a lot.

Bad books can do a lot of damage. Earlier this week, after quoting Leo Strausss extemporaneous tribute to Churchill on learning of Churchills death in 1965, I took a break to pull down books by Strauss from my own library. Reading Strauss in college rescued me from the suffocating historicism and relativism that were carried in the air we breathed. If you know a bright young student who might benefit from an exposition of the paradoxes of relativism, I recommend the first two chapters of Strausss Natural Right and History. They strike with something like surgical precision.

If you know a bright young student who has an open mind and/or who needs to be disabused of the doctrinaire racism and other orthodoxies that permeate the left, the academy, the mainstream media, and just about every other significant institution in American life, I have five books to recommend (plus one from my teacher). The first such book that put me on the path was Edmund Burkes Reflections On the Revolution in France, a classic of political analysis, yet it doesnt quite fit in here.

These five books have a Lincolnian emphasis because Lincoln provides such a powerful antidote to the new racism and old hatred of our country that is at the heart of the current orthodoxy. They are extremely unlikely to harm young men and women trying to think things through for themselves. On the contrary

1. Harry Jaffa, Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates.

2. (a) Robert Johannsen, editor, The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858.

2. (b) Paul Angle, editor, The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858.

2. (c) Harold Holzer, editor, The Complete Lincoln-Douglas Debates: The First Complete, Unexpurgated Text.

3. Roy Basler, editor, Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings.

4. Leo Strauss, On Tyranny.

5. Thomas Sowell, A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles.

Plus one: I meet weekly with a friend to study political philosophy under the tutelage of an outstanding college teacher who is younger than I am. I asked him this week what book turned him to political philosophy. It fits right in here. He cited:

* Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Todays Students.

UPDATE: A trusted friend writes to recommend the Audiobook edition of the Lincoln-Douglas debates, with David Strathairn delivering Lincolns remarks and Richard Dreyfuss delivering the remarks of Senator Douglas.
When I was growing up, the USSR and Communist China formed the original Axis of Evil. Then, in later years, the Sino-Soviet split changed the geopolitical calculus. Now, it seems that a Russian-Chinese alliance may be re-forming.

A week ago, it was reported that American diplomats went to their Chinese counterparts with evidence of an impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, in hopes that President Xi would try to talk Putin out of it:

Over three months, senior Biden administration officials held half a dozen urgent meetings with top Chinese officials in which the Americans presented intelligence showing Russias troop buildup around Ukraine and beseeched the Chinese to tell Russia not to invade, according to U.S. officials. Each time, the Chinese officials, including the foreign minister and the ambassador to the United States, rebuffed the Americans, saying they did not think an invasion was in the works.

You could say it never hurts to try. Or you could say that hopeless naivete is a bad thing in international relations.

Today, it is being reported that China asked Putin to delay the invasion until the conclusion of the Winter Olympics:

China asked Vladimir Putin to delay any invasion of Ukraine until after the Winter Olympics in Beijing, according to a Western intelligence report.

***

The Olympic closing ceremony took place on Feb 20. On the following day Putin recognised two breakaway areas in Ukraine and sent troops in to help separatists. Then, on Feb 24, the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Earlier, at the start of the Olympics, Putin visited Mr Xi and they signed a strategic partnership aimed at countering US influence.

As Western sanctions against Russia take effect, closer economic cooperation between Russia and China appears inevitable. Whether a full-blown strategic alliance is in the works remains to be seen, and of course Putins futureperhaps shaky if the oligarchs are sufficiently angry about losing their international lifestylescould be an important factor. But for now, signs of a re-emergence of the original, and most sinister, Axis of Evil seem ominous.
The Nigerian police have re-filed charges against the proprietor of Hilton Hotel and Resorts, Ile Ife, Osun State, Rahmon Adedoyin, and eight others over the death of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife.

Court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES show that the case, earlier withdrawn from the FCT High Court in Abuja last month, has been re-filed at the Osun State High Court, Osogbo, the state capital.

Mr Adegoke was reportedly killed after lodging in the Hilton Hotel and Resorts, Ile Ife, in November last year.

Police investigations fingered some members of the hotel staff in the alleged murder and accused Mr Adedoyin of moves to destroy evidence.

The police initially filed the criminal case concerning the alleged murder at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, in January this year, but later withdrew it in February.

The withdrawal came after the lawyer to the deceased persons family, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, wrote the police authorities to demand that the charges be filed in the state where the alleged offences occurred.

Modupe Osho-Adebiyi, a judge of the FCT High Court, in Gudu, Abuja, struck out the old charges shortly after the prosecuting counsel, Ochogwu Ogbeh, applied for its discontinuance on February 8, 2022.

Court documents seen by our reporter late Wednesday show that the case was refiled at the Osun State High Court in Osogbo on February 17.

The newly filed case is a replica of the old one that was withdrawn from the Abuja court.

PREMIUM TIMES understands that the defendants have been scheduled to be arraigned today (Thursday).

Defendants, charges

Charged alongside 64-year-old Mr Adedoyin, the hotel proprietor, include Adedeji Adesola, 23; Magdalene Chiefuna, 24; Adeniyi Aderogba, 37; Oluwale Lawrence, 37; Oyetunde Kazeem, 38; Adebayo Kunle, 35.

The ither defendants  Raheem Adedoyin (Mr Adedoyins son), Esther Asigo, and Quadiri Moshood  were said to be at large.

The case has 11 counts of conspiracy to commit murder, murder, unlawful killing, attempted felony, accessory after the fact, improper and indecent interference with a dead body, and administering extra-judicial oath, among others.

The police said the offences violated and are punishable under the Criminal Code applicable in Osun State.

Mr Adedoyins name does not feature in the counts of conspiracy to commit murder and murder.

His name appears in six of the charges.

The six charges are attempted felony in Count 4, conspiracy to indecently or improperly interfere with the deceased persons body in Count 6, conspiracy to alter and cancel the receipt issued to the deceased in Counts 8 and 9, as well as conspiracy and administering extra-judicial oath to some of the hotel workers in Counts 9 and 10.

Those whose names feature in the charge of conspiracy to commit murder are Magdalene Chiefuna, Adeniyi Aderogba, Oluwale Lawrence, Oyetunde Kazeem, Adebayo Kunle, and others said to be at large.

But only the names of Ms Chiefuna and Mr Kazeem along with those said to be at large appear in the other charge of murder, an offence punishable under section 306 of the Criminal Code.

Case summary

Mr Adegoke, a postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), reportedly lodged at the Hilton Hotel in Ile-Ife on November 5, 2021.

He had reportedly travelled to the university town of Ile-Ife to sit an examination at the OAU Distance Learning Centre, Moro campus, only to be declared missing on November 7, 2021, about two days after lodging at the hotel.

The police said Mr Adegoke was later found to have been murdered and his corpse thrown into a bush.

In the case summary filed along with the charges, the police said the management of the hotel owned by Mr Adedoyin, as well as his son and managing director of the hotel, Raheem Adedoyin, and some other staff members of the hotel illegally disposed the deceased body and that they also destroyed the CCTV camera in the floor of hotel room 305 with a view to cover up.

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That the receipt No. 9316 issued to the deceased while he checked into the Hotel room was found to have been altered, the police said.

They added that investigation revealed that the deceased persons body was discovered lifeless in room 305, and the chairman was informed, and he told them his MD, Raheem Adedoyin, would handle the situation.

The corpse, according to the police, remained where it was disposed of for about 10 days before it was picked up by the Environmental Unit of Osun State Environmental Department.

The police added that the autopsy later conducted on the corpse showed that the deceased did not die of natural consequence.

They also cited the report of consultant pathologists stating that the cause of death was not through violence means.

The police described Raheem Adedoyin, the managing director of the hotel and Mr Adedoyins son, as the prime suspect. He was said to have allegedly removed the CCTV camera of the hotel in an effort to erase evidence.

He and other suspects, the police said, remain at large, the police said.

Investigation, according to the police, established the offences of conspiracy, murder among others, against the defendants, including the alleged accomplices on the run.
The Federal Government has commenced moves to extradite a suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, to face fraud charges in the United States of America.

Vanguard Newspaper reports that the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami filed an extradition application at the Federal High Court in Abuja following a request by the Diplomatic Representative of the U.S. Embassy in Abuja.

The request from the U.S. authorities, according to Mr Malami, is for the surrender of Abba Alhaji Kyari, who is a subject in a superseding three counts indictment.

The AGF said in the application that he was satisfied that the offences in respect of which Mr Kyaris surrender was sought were neither political nor trivial.

This comes some weeks after Mr Malami said in an interview on Channels Televison that there were ongoing extradition talks between the Nigerian and U.S. governments over the pending charges against the suspect in the U.S.

Mr Malami said in the interview that reasonable grounds were already established to proceed against Mr Kyari on the basis of the allegations against him.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the U.S. government, in July 2021, named Mr Kyari, a celebrated police officer, among co-conspirators of Ramon Abass, aka Huspuppi, an Instagram celebrity, in a multi-million-dollars money laundering fraud.

Hushpuppi is awaiting judgement after pleading guilty to the charges in a separate case at the Central District Court of Central District of California.

Mr Kyari is named among five of Hushpuppis conspirators in a $1.1 million fraud charge approved by a U.S. grand jury.

Mr Kyari, while on suspension over his roles in the Hushpuppis case, was fingered by the NDLEA in a 25kg cocaine deal earlier this year.

Kyari wont suffer racial discrimination

In the application marked, FHC/ABJ/CS/249/2022, filed under the Extradition Act, Mr Malami assured that the request by the U.S. authorities was not made to persecute punish Mr Kyari on account of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions but in good faith and the interest of justice.

If surrendered, the AGF said Mr Kyari will not be prejudiced at his trial and will not be punished, detained or restricted in his personal liberty, by reason of his race, nationality or political opinions.

He also assured the court that given the nature of the offences he was being requested for, it will not be unjust or oppressive, or be too severe a punishment, to surrender him.

The AGF also said there were no criminal proceedings pending against Mr Kyari in Nigeria on the same offences he was being sought for in the U.S.

Request from U.S. government

Earlier, the Diplomatic Representative of the U.S. Embassy in Abuja, had in its request to Mr Malami, noted that a warrant for Mr Kyaris arrest issued by a U.S. District Court remains valid and executable to apprehend Kyari.

Vanguard quoted the request as reading, On April 29, 2021, based on the indictment filed by the grand jury and with the approval of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, a deputy clerk of the court issued a warrant of arrest for Kyari.

The arrest warrant remains valid and executable to apprehend Kyari for the crimes with which he is charged in the indictment.

Kyari is wanted to stand trial in the United States for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, and identity theft.

Kyari is the subject of an indictment in case Number 2:21-cr-00203 (also referred to as 2:21-MJ-00760 and 2:21-CR-00203-RGK), filed April 29, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Mr Kyari, along with five other defendants, faces three charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft.

U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alleged that Mr Kyari and co-conspirators were part of a scheme spearheaded by Hushpuppi to defraud a businessperson in Qatar between November 2019 and April 2020.

The charges read: Count 1: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years;

Count 2: Conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 1956(h), carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

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Count 3: Aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting that offence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028A(a)(1) and 2(a), carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of two years.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, on Thursday, gave reasons for initiating the moves to extradite, Abba Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police (DCP), to face fraud charges in the United States of America.

Mr Malamis explanation, in a statement by his spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, came shortly after the news of the extradition application he filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja broke on Thursday.

As you are aware, extradition is a process that involves multifaceted components, the statement said.

The minister said the extradition application was filed following a request by the U.S. authorities.

The components are usually multi-territorial; international, local and judicial.

Submission of request from the concerned party to the relevant authorities constitutes one of such components.

The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice received the extradition request in respect of the officer in question, the statement read in part.

It added that the AGF office, after receiving the request, studied and reviewed it thoroughly before filing the extradition application in court.

After thorough studies and reviews of issues regarding the application and components thereof, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice processed the application and forward same to the relevant authorities for further necessary action, the statement stated.

The extradition application is based on Nigerias extradition law. The law requires the Federal High Court to make an order for the extradition to take effect. Some extradition cases have gone on appeal up to the level of the Supreme Court.

Background

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the U.S. government, in July 2021, named Mr Kyari, a celebrated police officer, among co-conspirators of Ramon Abass, aka Huspuppi, an Instagram celebrity, in a multi-million-dollars money laundering fraud.

Hushpuppi is awaiting judgement after pleading guilty to the charges in a separate case filed at the Central District Court of Central District of California.

Mr Kyari is named among five of Hushpuppis conspirators in a $1.1 million fraud charge approved by a U.S. grand jury.

While on suspension over his role in the Hushpuppis case, was fingered by the NDLEA in a 25kg cocaine deal earlier this year.

The anti-narcotic agency, on February 22, 2022, obtained an order from the Federal High Court in Abuja to detain him and his co-suspects for two weeks.

The two-week period is yet to lapse.

Arrest warrant, charges

There is a pending arrest warrant issued against Mr Kyari by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in July last year.

The judge, Otis Wright of the U.S. District Court, issued the order of arrest while ordering the unsealing of the docket, essentially opening up the records for public accessibility, on July 26, 2021.

The judge, in issuing the unsealing order, also granted the U.S. governments request for a detention order and an arrest warrant against Mr Kyari and others.

In the three charges filed against him and others, Mr Kyari, and other alleged co-conspirators were said to have been part of a scheme spearheaded by Hushpuppi to defraud a businessperson in Qatar between November 2019 and April 2020.

In the indictment, Mr Kyari, who was leading the Intelligence Response Unit of the Nigeria Police until the scandal broke out last year, is alleged in the charges to have conspired with Hushpuppi together with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, knowingly conspired to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

He, along with others, is also accused of conducting financial transactions involving proceeds of unlawful activity and aiding and abetting illegal use and transfer of a means of identification.

Others named along with Mr Kyari in the indictment are; Abdulrahman Juma (aka Abdul and Rahman), Kelly Chibuzo Vincent, Rukayat Motunrayo Fashola (aka Morayo), Bolatito Takakalitu Agbabiaka (aka Bolamide), and Yusuf Adeyinka Anifowoshe (aka AJ and Alvin Johnson).

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Abba Kyaris alleged involvement

PREMIUM TIMES had detailed Mr Kyaris alleged involvement in the scheme based on records filed in the U.S. court by American investigators and prosecutors.

Mr Kyaris alleged role in the scheme, according to court documents, was to help Hushpuppi to detain one of the aggrieved conspirators based in Nigeria who has threatened to spill the beans regarding the scheme.

The arrest of Kelly Chibuzo Vincent, investigators said, prevented him from warning the victim of the fraud. This led to further fraud perpetrated against him, the U.S. authorities said.

According to court documents, this started when Hushpuppi, a resident of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), until his arrest in June 2020, contacted Mr Kyari to arrange the arrest of one of the arrowheads of the heist, Chibuzo (Vincent), who was unhappy over his share of the proceeds of the fraud, and was prepared to hint the victim, a Qatari businessperson, to stop payments.

CHIBUZOs messages to ABBAS during that time show that he was unhappy with the amount that, and/or speed with which, ABBAS was paying him, so he contacted the Victim Businessperson directly, a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Andrew John Innocenti, said in an affidavit filed in support of the charge.

Mr Innocenti, whose account was based on message conversation extracted from Abass telephones, added, CHIBUZO told the Victim Businessperson that JUMA and ABBAS were fake, in an attempt to convince the Victim Businessperson to stop making fraudulent payments to ABBAS and JUMA, and to make fraudulent payments to him instead.

When JUMA and ABBAS learned of CHIBUZOs interference, ABBAS arranged to have KYARIa highly decorated Deputy Commissioner of the Nigeria Police Forcearrest CHIBUZO for interfering with the fraud scheme.

ABBAS asked KYARI to have the police administer the serious beating of his life and arranged with KYARI to pay to keep CHIBUZO imprisoned for at least a month, so that the fraud scheme could be successfully executed, and the money could be obtained.

Mr Kyari was said to have arrested Mr Chibuzo and held him in custody for about a month as instructed by Hushpuppi.

He sent Mr Chibuzos photograph in custody to Hushpuppi, the federal agent said, and also facilitated payments from ABBAS to the Nigeria Police Force personnel, who arrested CHIBUZO.

This, according to Mr Innocenti, was to ensure CHIBUZOs continued arrest, thereby preventing CHIBUZO from notifying the Victim Businessperson of ABBAS and JUMAs fraudulent scheme and preventing CHIBUZO from hijacking the scheme for his own benefit.

The decorated Nigerian cop was also said to have told ABBAS that he would not allow CHIBUZOs girlfriend to pay money to get CHIBUZO out of custody as he would have done for a normal arrest.

After Mr Chibuzos arrest, the special agent said, JUMA and ABBAS convinced the Victim Businessperson to make the payments of $299,983.58 described above.

KYARIs knowing involvement in the scheme allowed ABBAS and JUMA to continue defrauding the Victim Businessperson undetected and receive money obtained from the Victim Businessperson after it was laundered, the document added.
The National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has charged Abba Kyari, a suspended deputy commissioner of police, and six others with offences of illegal cocaine dealing.

The agency announced via its Twitter handle on Thursday that it filed the charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, February 28.

This came as the Attorney-General of the Federation began the move to extradite Mr Kyari to the United States over separate charges of fraud.

PREMIUM TIMES reported earlier on Thursday that the AGF has filed an application for Mr Kyaris extradition following a request for him by the U.S. authorities.

U.S. authorities had last year named Mr Kyari among five alleged conspirators of Ramon Abass a.k.a Huspuppi, an Instagram celebrity, in a $1.1 million fraud perpetrated against a Qatari businessperson.

While Mr Kyari was still on suspension over the fraud allegation, the NDLEA announced in February that he had been fingered in an illegal cocaine dealing.

The anti-narcotic agency, on February 22, 2022, obtained an order from the Federal High Court in Abuja to detain him and his co-suspects for two weeks.

Mr Kyari who filed a N500 million rights enforcement suit against the NDLEA, denied involvement in the illegal drugs dealing and describe the allegation as fictitious.

Kyari and his co-defendants

The NDLEA, on Monday, filed eight charges against Mr Kyari and his six co-defendants at the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing them of illegal dealing in cocaine between January 19 and 25, 2022.

Four of Mr Kyaris co-defendants are said to be police officers belonging to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), a police unit that was being led by Mr Kyari until he was suspended following the charges filed against him in the U.S. last year.

The four IRT operatives charged along with Mr Kyari are: Sunday J. Ubua, an assistant commissioner of police; Bawa James, an assistant superintendent of police; Simon Agirgba, an inspector; John Nuhu, also an inspector.

The other co-defendants are Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne.

NDLEAs Director of Legal Services, Joseph Sunday, signed the charges, noting than the various offences are contrary to and punishable under various provisions of the NDLEA Act.

The agency Mr Kyari and the IRT members of unlawfully dealing with and tampering with cocaine.

The prosecutors also accused Mr Kyari, in a count which features only him as the sole defendant, of attempting to obstruct the NDLEA and its authorised officers by offering $61,400 to a senior anti-narcotic operative as inducement to prevent the testing of the 17.55kg of cocaine.

The two non-police officers among the defendants  Messrs Umeibe and Ezenwanne  were accused of conspiring with others at large, and importing 21.35kg of cocaine into the Nigeria.

Charges in full

In Count 1, Mr Kyari and his co-defendants were said to have between January 19 and 25, 2022, dealt in 17. 55 kilograms of cocaine and committed and offence contrary to and punishable under section 14 (b) of the Natural Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, CAP 30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

In Count 2, Mr Kyari and the IRT members were said to have, between January 19 and 25, 2022, dealt in 17.55kilogrammes of cocaine without lawful authority and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 11(c) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, CAP N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004

The rest of the charges read as follow:

COUNT 3

That you DCP Abba Kyari, ACP Sunday J Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu, all male, all male, Adult on or about the 19th to 25th January 2022, within the office of the Inspector-General of (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired amongst yourselves and with ASP John Umoru (now at large) to unlawfully tamper with 21.35 kilogramames of cocaine seized from Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphons Ezenwannne in the custody of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT), by removing and disposing 17.55 kilogrammes of the cocaine and by substituting same with some other substance and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 14(b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ACT CAP N30 Laws of the Federation 2004

COUNT 4

That you DCP Abba Kyari, ACP Sunday J Ubua, ASP Bawa James, Inspector Simon Agirgba and Inspector John Nuhu, all male Adult on or about the 19th to 25th January 2022, within the office of the Inspector-General of (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable unlawfully tampered with 21.35 kilogramames of cocaine seized from Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwannne in the custody of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Intelligence Response Team (IRT), by removing and disposing 17.55 kilogrammes of the cocaine and substituting same with some other substance and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 16 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ACT CAP N30 Laws of the Federation 2004.

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COUNT 5:

That you Chibunna Patrick Umeibe, male adult and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne, male adult on or about the 19th January 2022 at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu Nigeria, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court without lawful authority imported 21.35kilogrammes of cocaine and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 14(b) of the National Drug Law enforcement Agency ACT CAP N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

COUNT 6:

That you Chibunna Patrick Umeibe, male, adult; and you Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne, male adult on or about the 25th January 2022 at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court without lawful authority imported 21.35kilogrammes of cocaine and thereby committed an offence contrary to an punishable under section 11(a) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ACT CAP N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

COUNT 7:

That you Chibunna Patrick Umeibe, male, adult; and you Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne, male adult and one IK, now at large, on the 25th January 2022, at Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court knowingly possessed 21.35 kilogrammes of cocaine and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 11(d) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

COUNT 8:

That you DCP Abba Kyari, on or about 25th January 2022, at a restaurant on Port Harcourt Crescent, Area 11, Garki Abuja, within the jurisdiction of the court, attempted to obstruct the Agency and its authorised officers in the exercise of their duties by offering the sum of $61,400.00 USD (sixty-one thousand, four hundred United States of America Dollars) to a senior officer of the Agency as inducement to prevent the testing of the

17.55kilogrammes of substance used to replace the cocaine seized from Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 23 and punishable under section 49 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act Cap N30 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The case has yet to be assigned to a judge for arraignment.
The 2022 Global Terrorism Index (GTI) report has some cheery news about Nigeria  attacks by the deadly terror group, Boko Haram, appears to have declined in the country, as the group is now preoccupied with attacks on neighbouring West African countries.

Nigeria has also gone down to the sixth position globally, among the countries that have been hard hit by terrorism in 2021, according to the report. It had occupied the third position for more than three years before now.

Afghanistan tops the list of countries most impacted by terrorism in 2021, followed by Iraq and Somalia.

The fourth and fifth positions are occupied by Burkina Faso and Syria.

Boko Haram

Boko Haram, for more than a decade, has been waging an armed insurgency against Nigeria, especially in the countrys North-east region, leading to loss of thousands of lives.

The GTI report, released on Wednesday, said Boko Haram was responsible for only 69 deaths in Nigeria in 2021, a decrease of 77 per cent from the previous year.

This is the lowest number of deaths by the group for a decade, the report said.

Total deaths from terrorism in Nigeria fell to 448 in 2021, the lowest level since 2011, according to the report.

The report, however, said the number of terrorist attacks increased by 49 per cent between 2020 and 2021.

36 per cent of attacks were claimed by ISWA, Boko Haram being responsible for eight per cent and 44 per cent not attributed to any group, it added.

The report attributed Boko Harams decline to the attacks against it by a rival terror group, Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA), and the counter-terrorism efforts of the Nigerian government and foreign military forces.

Attacks by ISWA as well as counter-terrorism efforts by the Nigerian government and foreign military forces have significantly weakened Boko Harams impact in Nigeria.

These external pressures resulted in an increase in Boko Haram attacks in neighbouring countries, particularly Cameroon which recorded 37 attacks and 58 deaths in 2021.

Cameroon recorded more Boko Haram attacks than Nigeria in 2021 for the second consecutive year, the report said.

The report also said the death of Boko Harams leader, Abubakar Shekau, significantly affected the group.

Boko Harams decline coincides with a number of factors, most significantly the death of the groups leader, Abubakar Shekau, who committed suicide by detonating an explosives vest during a confrontation with ISWA in May 2021.

Given the demise of their leader, Shekaus followers were faced with the decision to either continue Shekaus ideology or join ISWA. It has been reported that as many as 18 former Boko Haram commanders have joined ISWA after Shekaus death, the report said.

Although it has overtaken Boko Haram in terms of the number of terror attacks, the lethality of ISWA attacks has continued to decline from 10 deaths per attack in 2018 to almost three deaths per attack in 2021, the report said.

ISWA was responsible for Nigerias deadliest attack of 2021, with gunmen killing over 30 soldiers at an army base in the Borno region.

ISWAs main target continues to be military personnel, with the military being the target of over half of all attacks, resulting in 45 per cent of casualties attributed to the group in 2021.

Despite the civilian death toll decreasing, ISWA continues to increase its attacks on civilians, from 11 in 2020 to 19 in 2021.

Rise of IPOB

The GTI report attributed the increase in attacks on police and other security agencies in Nigeria to clashes between law enforcement and the separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Law enforcement, including police and prison officers overtook both military and civilians as the most targeted group of 2021. Attacks against police and prisons increased substantially from one recorded attack in 2020 to 75 in 2021, accounting for over a third of all attacks in Nigeria in 2021.

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This was largely driven by an increase in clashes between law enforcement and separatist groups, such as the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

IPOB, an outlawed group, is leading the agitation for the creation of an independent state, Biafra, to be carved out from Nigerias South-east and parts of the South-south.

The IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu has been detained in Abuja where he is standing trial for alleged treasonable felony and terrorism.

The GTI report, which is in its ninth edition, tracks terrorism incidents across the world.

It is produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace, an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank which is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.
The Bayelsa State Government on Wednesday directed chairmen of the eight local councils to create sub-committees to partner with its Anti-Open Grazing Law Implementation Committee to check the activities of errant herders.

The Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, gave the directive during a meeting at Government House, Yenagoa, with a delegation of women from Otuasega community, top security officers and others.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the meeting was necessitated by recent cases of herdsmen violation of the anti-open grazing law at Otuasega in Ogbia Local Government Area, and other parts of Bayelsa.

Mr Ewhrudjakpo urged the various local councils to constitute the sub-committees within one week as part of proactive steps necessary to checkmate the encroachment on farmlands and destruction of crops by cattle breeders.

He explained that the sub-committees would work under the close supervision of the State Anti-open Grazing Law Implementation Committee headed by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, David Alagoa.

The deputy governor stressed the need for the police in the state and the 16th Brigade of the Nigerian Army to set up a swift response team to work closely with the committee.

According to him, the government was resolute in its resolve to enforce the anti-open grazing law, warning that violators of the law would be arrested and prosecuted.

Addressing the protesting women of Otuasega, Mr Ewhrudjakpo advised them to always channel their grievances to the government rather than resort to blocking of roads as a means of protest.

He gave them the assurance that the doors of the state government were always open to them for dialogue and resolution of issues.

Speaking on behalf of the women, the Otuasega women leader, Amiena Agiobu, said the women blocked the major road on Monday to protest the unrestrained destruction of their farms and crops by herdsmen.

She pointed out that the herdsmen had attacked one of the community youths and that the situation was gradually getting out of hand, hence the protest to draw the governments attention to the issue.

In their contributions, Mr Alagoa and the Special Adviser on security, Akpoebi Agberebi, identified Okarki, a neighbouring Rivers State community, as the major route through which herdsmen entered the state.

They promised to beef up security in the area.

They noted that security operatives had had shoot-outs with errant herdsmen in the state, resulting in the seizure of over 150 cattle and arrest of suspected violators.

The duo added that some of the culprits were still in confinement at the Okaka Correctional Centre.

(NAN)
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Oyo State branch, has said it lost two of its members to Lassa Fever within 72 hours.

Its Chairman, Ayotunde Fasunla, made this known in a statement on Thursday in Ibadan.

Mr Fasunla said: The NMA announces, with deepest regret and sorrow, the demise of two of her members from Lassa Fever.

The tragic deaths occurred within a space of 72 hours. It is indeed a sad week, and our eyes are still soaked in tears.

While we thought that COVID-19 had done its worst, we are now dealing with another onslaught of a Lassa Fever outbreak.

Furthermore, we are worried about other health workers who have had contact with the diseased unknowingly. We have advised them to quarantine and report if they develop any symptoms of viral hemorrhagic fever.

According to him, the NMA has urged its members to treat all febrile illnesses with a high index of suspicion.

He said the body had also instructed its members to be cautious and vigilant at all times.

Not only for the sake of their health and safety, but also in the interest of the patients and public health.

Members, especially the frontline doctors and other health workers, must wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) at all times.

We appeal to the management of health institutions in the state to make PPEs readily available, as well as soap and running water for handwashing immediately after attending to patients.

This is to protect our members and other healthcare workers from contracting transmissible infections.

We appeal to the Oyo State Government to conduct intensive surveillance and sensitisation on Lassa Fever outbreaks in the affected communities as well as across all local government areas in the state.

We commiserate with the families of our colleagues who lost their lives in the course of performing their professional duties to the service of humanity. May their gentle soul rest in peace, Mr Fasunla said.

(NAN)
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese spokesperson on Thursday criticized the American democracy, saying that the United States uses democracy as a pretext to serve its own interests.

Guo Weimin, spokesperson for the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, made the remarks at a press conference.

China will kick off this week the annual sessions of the CPPCC National Committee and the National People's Congress, the top legislature.

The purposes for the United States to convene the so-called "Summit for Democracy" are to suppress others, divide the world while maintaining its hegemony, Guo said while answering a question about whether China and the United States are vying for a greater say in democracy.

"Democracy is diverse in its forms, and is not a patent held by a few countries," the spokesperson said. "The democratic systems of countries should be chosen independently by their own peoples based on national conditions."

Guo criticized some Western countries for imposing their democratic systems on other countries through "color revolutions," which have caused serious disasters.

He also hailed China's "whole-process people's democracy" and the roles the CPPCC has played in facilitating scientific and democratic decision-making through consultation, oversight, participation, and cooperation. 
A former senator and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaduna State, Sulaiman Hunkuyi, has announced his decision to dump the opposition party.

Mr Hunkuyi, who represented Kaduna North Senatorial district in the last Assembly, was also in the All Progressive Congress (APC) before he left for the PDP in 2019.

The former lawmaker alongside former senator, Shehu Sani, left the governing APC due to conflicts with Governor Nasir El-Rufai in the build-up to the 2019 general elections.

Mr Hunkuyi joined the PDP and contested the governorship primaries in 2018. He lost the partys ticket to a former House of Representatives member, Isah Ashiru.

In a letter seen by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Hunkuyi informed the Chairman of the Hunkuyi ward in Kudan local government area of Kaduna State of his resignation from the party.

This is to officially communicate to you my decision to withdraw my membership from Peoples Democratic Party PDP today the 25th of February 2022.

Please kindly take notice, as the leader of the PDP which my membership resides for your notice and necessary action, he said.

Mr Hunkuyi did not specify which party he would be joining.

The PDP Secretary in the state, Ibrahim Wosono, said the party has accepted the former senators resignation letter.

Daily Post quoted the partys scribe thus: We confirmed from his ward that they have received his letter.

So, we wish him well, because it is not the first time he is leaving our party. His exit this time will not affect the party in any way.
The Nigerian police, on Thursday, shunned the #EndSARS panel investigating cases of police brutality in Abuja.

The panels hearing, which generally begins at 10 a.m., had to be delayed for about two hours for the police legal team to arrive for Thursdays proceedings.

But despite the delayed commencement, the police team had yet to arrive as of the time the proceedings started about 12 p.m.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the panel, on Wednesday, lamented the abandonment of the panels sittings by the police.

Only one member of the police legal team, Kenneth Egbochua, appeared for the police on Tuesday and Wednesday. But none of the team members had appeared for hearing as of the time of filing this report on Thursday.

The panels secretary speaks

The panels secretary, Hilary Ogbonna, told journalists on Thursday that he had received information from Mr Egbochua that other members of his team had gone on special assignments, the same point the lawyer made when he appeared on Wednesday.

He said the commission had to call the leader of the police legal team over the matter earlier on Wednesday.

Mr Ogbonna said the team leader assured that some other members would join the hearing, but only one additional lawyer came for the Wednesdays sitting.

We had to call the leader of the police and legal counsel who promised that the police counsel would join the sitting, but they came late, Mr Ogbonna said.

He added that he was shocked to find out that none of the lawyers showed up for Thursdays sitting.

Mr Ogbonna said the executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to ensure full participation of the police legal team in the proceedings of the panel.

He also said some of the police lawyers had confided in some NHRC officials that they were grappling with the challenges of logistics and congested schedules.

We hope that the issue will be sorted out and that the police will join later today or tomorrow because the panel needs them. This, however, will not in any way affect the dispensation of justice, Mr Ogbonna assured.

The NHRC had on Wednesday lamented the abandonment of the panels sitting by the police, threatening to invoke its power under the NHRC Act to address the situation.

But the commission was not specific on the steps it intended to take.
A prosecuting witness told the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja, on Wednesday, how some Fidelity Bank staff members allegedly stole N874 million from the bank its customers in within three days.

Peter Ige, an Information System Auditor with Fidelity Bank, testified as the second prosecuting witness presented by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to testify against the accused staff members.

He told the judge, Oluwatoyin Taiwo, how the four accused persons hacked the banks database and cloned more than 22 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards to steal N874 million, according to a statement by the EFCC, on Wednesday.

The defendants  Omidiji Joseph, Olusegun Babasola, Abisola Ahmed, Uchechukwu Uma and Jude Aphaeus  are being prosecuted by the EFCC on two counts of fraud involving N874 million they allegedly stole from the bank within three days.

EFCC said the money belongs to five corporate customers  American International Insurance Company Limited (AIICO); Interswitch; OVH Energy Marketing Ltd.; Fidelity Bank Sinking Fund Account and FSL Securities Ltd.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges. The anti-graft agency presenting Mr Ige as its second prosecution witness on Wednesday.

How alleged fraud was discovered

Mr Ige told the court how his department was asked to investigate the massive fraud in July 2019.

Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Nnaemeka Omewa, the witness identified the four defendants in the dock and gave details of the findings of the internal investigation carried out by his team.

On July 15, 2019, as a System Auditor, my team was called upon to look at an instant of ATM fraud reported to the Internal Audit and to investigate same, he said.

He explained further that his team reviewed the systems, the affected accounts as well as those who must have carried out the activities on the accounts. We observed that the accounts were linked to a set of ATM cards, with their daily withdrawal limits increased from N150,000 to about N150million.

He added that the permitted frequency of withdrawal was also increased, saying, This was very abnormal; and so, it aided the commission of the fraud.

The witness also stated that the investigation focused on the members of staff who had authorised privilege and login details to view the accounts of customers and also increase such frequency and limits on withdrawals.

Normally, there should be a request either from the customer or another department requesting the services.

In this case, from our investigation conducted, there was no evidence provided by the defendants to go into these accounts.

He told the court that after the investigation by his department, an activity log was compiled, which formed part of the internal investigation.

The case has been adjourned till Thursday for the continuation of the trial.
The Edo State Government has started the process of abolishing the law of sedition and criminal defamation to engender freedom of speech and media practice.

Commissioner for Communication and Orientation in the state, Andrew Emwanta, said this in Benin on Thursday in a keynote address at the maiden edition of the Radio Nigeria, Bronze FM Benin inaugural lecture and award.

Mr Emwanta, who represented Governor Godwin Obaseki in the event, spoke on the role of the media in deepening Nigerias democracy.

He said the bill to abolish sedition and criminal defamation had been sent to the House of Assembly.

Last Wednesday, the Edo State Executive Council considered and approved five executive bills for onward transmission to the Assembly for legislative action. One of the bills is the Edo State Criminal Law 2022 Bill.

Under the proposed law, the provisions on Sedition and Criminal Defamation were taken out in line with decisions of appellate courts, which align with Constitutional provisions on the right to freedom of expression and the press, he said.

Chris Isiguzo, the national president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, charged the media to help Nigerians to choose the right candidates in the 2023 general elections.

Without the media, there is no democracy. We normally say the judiciary is the last hope of the common man, but the current reality is that the media is the last hope of the common man.

The media must be alive to its role as we move forward to the 2023 election.

Virtually every state today has a presidential aspirant but the media must bring these characters to the people and help them to decide the right people, he said.

In her remarks, the National President of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists, Ladi Bala, expressed regret at the non-passage of women-related provisions at the on-going constitution review by the National Assembly.

Mrs Bala stated this while contributing to the lead paper which was delivered by Yemi Kolapo, the publisher of the Points newspaper.

In her welcome address, the General Manager of Radio Nigeria, Bronze FM, Abimbola Oyetunde, said the lecture series was instituted to impact more on the stations immediate environment and on the larger society.

(NAN)
The Anambra community where several people were recently gunned down at a funeral has appealed to the public for financial assistance for the medical treatment of those injured in the attack.

Paul Nnatuanya, who is the president of the community union, Ebenebe Town Union, made the appeal in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Nnatuanya said the number of deaths from the attack had risen to 15, and that many were still in critical conditions.

As of today, we have recorded about 15 deaths arising from the incident, with many still in critical conditions, in spite of the efforts of the community and the doctors so far.

These people are in need of urgent intervention for their survival and you and I are expected to make it happen for them, Mr Nnatuanya said in the statement.

He said the community has set up a committee to oversee the medical treatment, as well as how to strengthen security within the community.

Mr Nnatuanya regretted the rising insecurity in Anambra State, but said it was imperative the residents unite to reverse the situation.

He said the governments efforts in tackling insecurity in the area have been frustrated by inter-village squabbles.

The Youth President of Ebenebe community, Chinedu Adu, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES, Thursday, made a similar appeal for help.

He said the community has been doing its best to cater for the victims treatment.

There is no amount that is too much or too small. The community already has been doing something to see that the victims medical bills are footed. It will be good to have more assistance, he said.

Ozor Chukwuka, 34, a suspected cult leader whose funeral was being held during the attack, was said to have been gunned down by a rival cult group in December.

Two persons from the late Chukwukas family are said to be among the injured persons currently receiving treatment in undisclosed hospitals.

Not aware of warning from cultists

There was a report earlier this week that the community and late Chukwukas family were warned against giving late Chukwuka a proper burial.

The report was credited to a Facebook user who claimed to be an indigene of the area.

Mr Nnatuanya, who is also the secretary of the security council in the community, told PREMIUM TIMES the community was not aware of such a warning.

I am not aware (of the warning) as the president general of the town. Even our Igwe has no knowledge of that. Except if the warning was given to the guys village, he said.

If we had known, we would have, at least, set up security men to prevent the incident from occurring, Mr Nnatuanya added.
Russia has captured Kherson, a city south of Ukraine, head of regional administration Gennady Lakhuta said in a Telegram message, Al Jazeera reported.

The (Russian) occupiers are in all parts of the city and are very dangerous, he wrote.

Kherson is the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast and an economic centre. It is an important port on the Black Sea and on the Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry.

With this confirmation from local officials, the Ukrainian city of Kherson becomes the first major urban centre to fall since Moscow invaded.

As bombings continue, Russian military attacks have hit three schools and a cathedral in the northeastern town of Kharkiv, local media reported, adding that several shops near the city council building were also damaged.

In Okhtyrka, dozens of residential buildings were destroyed as a result of artillery blasts, the reports said.

No injuries have been reported.

On the eight day of the invasion. Ukrainian media say several massive explosions have been heard in Kyiv, triggering air raid sirens amid fighting on the outskirts of the capital, Thursday morning.

Residents were told to seek shelter immediately, the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency reported, without providing more details.

Kyivs Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a Telegram post that the enemy is trying to break through into the capital. He said no casualties had been reported.

According to Bangladeshs state shipping company, a Bangladeshi sailor on Tuesday was killed in a rocket or bomb attack on his vessel in the Black Sea port of Olvia.

The Banglar Samriddhi, a bulk carrier, arrived in Ukraine a day before Russia invaded, and has since been unable to leave.

The ships remaining 28 crew members  all Bangladeshis  remain safe, an official at the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation told AFP news agency.

At least one million people have fled Ukraine since Russias invasion, the United Nations said, warning that at this rate the exodus could become the biggest refugee crisis this century.

This number is more than two percent of Ukraines population, which the World Bank said was 44 million at the end of 2020.

The United Nations General Assembly Wednesday approved a non-binding resolution condemning Russia for the invasion of Ukraine and demanding an immediate withdrawal, Al-Jazeera reported.

The vote saw 141 countries in favour, five against and 35 abstaining.

People in Ukraine desperately need peace and people around the world demand it, UN chief Antonio Guterres said in an interview after the vote.

China, India and South Africa were among the 35 countries that abstained, while Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus and Russia, voted against it.
The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, has explained the reasons behind the recent poor power supply, citing hydro capacity during dry season and maintenance work at gas plants.

Since February, most parts of the country have been experiencing poor power supply  worse than it used to be.

The minister at a press briefing Thursday in Abuja said the outage experienced around the country is being addressed through three approaches.

I would like to discuss the increased load shedding you may have observed in Abuja and other areas in the country. With the reduction in hydro capacity during the dry season, additional load needs to be taken up by our gas plants, he said.

We are having maintenance work in the Eastern Axis around Odukpani leading to reduced power supply from the usually reliable NDPHC Calabar Power Plant and we are having challenges at Okoloma Gas Station linked to Afam VI power plant.

We are working with NNPC and other gas suppliers also to improve the pressure on the Western Axis that is precluding units from reaching optimum supply.

In addressing the challenges, the minister said the government is working on more gas supply contracts for the power sector backed by improved funding. He said the contracts will have stiff financial penalties for underperformance.

READ ALSO: Nigerians hit by electricity outage as fuel scarcity continues

He also said there will be an increased energy mix to improve energy security.

We will complete the Zungeru Hydro plant, the Katsina Wind plant, Kashimbila Hydro as well as ensure the challenges with Gurara are permanently resolved (partnering with the Ministry of Water). We are also working to resolve issues that have prevented large on-grid solar from taking off in Nigeria.

We are re-tooling the system operator for improved dispatch optimization based on technologies and improved maintenance schedule alignments across generators.

The challenges have been identified and we have short term solutions as well as long term solutions, he said.
The House of Representatives has again rejected a bill to prohibit public officials from sending their children and wards to schools abroad without approval of Minister of Education.

Sergius Ogun (PDP, Ogun), the sponsor of the bill , had introduced a similar bill in the 8th Assembly, but the lawmakers rejected the bill.

He also sponsored a bill to make it mandatory for public officials to get medical care in Nigerian hospitals. This bill was equally rejected by the lawmakers at the time, citing breach of fundamental rights.

The bill by Mr Ogun proposed that a public officer can only send his/her children or wards to foreign schools after approval of the Minister of Education. It also requires that the officers must provide proof of ability to pay the school fees of his/her wards.

This bill is coming on the heels of yet another shutdown of federal universities occasioned by strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the 2009 agreements.

Highlights of the bill

Section 4 of the rejected bill provides that a public officer shall not send his ward or children oversea for studies without declaration of interest subject to approval.

Section 6 of the bill provides the steps for getting approval. It said, A public officer declaring interest in sending his ward or child abroad for further studies shall submit the following documents for consideration:

(a) A complete form stating the name and address of the public officer, the name and age of the child or ward, his level of education, name of intended school abroad, duration of study, and number of children studying abroad;

(b) Letter of appointment

(c) Bank statement of account

(d) Salary pay slip

(e) Declaration of assets form; and

(f) Sworn affidavit stating that he is financially capable of sponsoring his education.

Section 7 says (1) The minister shall conduct investigation to verify the authenticity of the documents submitted for approval

Section 9 of the bill provides a fine of N1 million or three years imprisonment for breach of the law.

The debate

Leading the debate on the bill, Mr Ogun drew a nexus between the dilapidating facilities in public schools and thirst for foreign schools.

He argued that the bill has the capacity to address the resources allocation to the public schools.

The trouble with this is that most of those who patronize private owned educational institutions or those that travel abroad to study are children and wards of Nigerian public officers. These are the officers who should take responsibility for building our public institutions, the lawmaker said.

He raised the concern on the outflow of scare foreign resources to finance these expenditures. The lawmaker noted that over N1 billion goes into the economy of Ghana from Nigeria.

Chiyere Igwe (PDP, Rivers), while opposing the bill, said the content of the bill offends the spirit of the 1999 constitution which grants every Nigerian the right to move anywhere.

He stated that the Code of Conduct Act is sufficient to determine if a public officer has the means to send his/her wards to schools abroad.

As far as I am concerned, this bill offends the fundamental human rights of Nigerians, which guarantee freedom of movements. The constitution gives you absolute rights to move about. So, by this bill, you are offending the constitution, hence, it is null and void.

The public officers that send their wards to schools, not all of them are in control of public funds. I stand as Chiyere Igwe, and I can say that I do not control public. If I send my children to school abroad, have I done any wrong?

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He added that By the Code of Conduct Act, you are only allowed to farm, with this bill, you are infringing on the constitution.

Leke Abejide (ADC, Kogi) also spoke against the bill on the basis of the 1999 constitution. He argued that many have had their wards in such schools before being elected.

He should step down this bill. It is against my right. Most of us, before getting here, we have our children schooling abroad. So it is not because we are public officers, we should not send our children abroad. If you say because I am now a member of the House of Representatives, I should go and withdraw my children, from where they are schooling, when we all agree that the schools are not in order.

Other who spoke against the bill were Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta) and the Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu).

While exercising his right of reply, Mr Ogun, who was visibly displeased with his fellow lawmakers, urged them to read the bill properly to understand the content of the bill. He noted that regulation is needed to address the challenges facing public education in Nigeria.

He was, however, cautioned by the presiding officer, Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase (APC, Plateau), who asked him to watch his language on the floor of the House.

When the bill was put to vote, members overwhelmingly rejected it.
Nigerian lawmakers from the House of Representatives Thursday arrived in Romania, to commence oversight and assist in the process of evacuating Nigerians fleeing Ukraine.

This was announced in a press statement by Nkem Anyata-Lafia, a media aide to Yusuf Buba, chairman of House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The move has, however, been condemned by a diplomat who said it is a waste of taxpayers money.

The delegation is led by the House Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa.

The lawmakers were mandated by the House leadership to proceed to the war-torn region to ensure that every Nigerian that desires to return home from the epicentre of the conflicts is given the support to do so.

We do not have a return date yet, for now, we are here until we are sure everyone who wishes to return to Nigeria is home and safe, Mr Buba told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview.

He added that the delegation has also been to the hotels where the Nigerians, mainly students, are residing; to ensure that they are well and healthy.

The House of Representatives, last Thursday, resolved to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Air Peace to commence the evacuation of Nigerians in Ukraine following the invasion of the country by Russia.

@HouseNGR Majority Leader, Rep. @aadoguwa-, and the Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Yusuf Buba, with some Nigerian students in Romania preparatory to the evacuation of the students to Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/kgfNgrXx7f  House of Reps NGR (@HouseNGR) March 3, 2022

Whose Job

The responsibility of evacuating stranded Nigerians rests on the Ministry of foreign affairs its departments and agencies including the countrys foreign missions.

However, lawmakers believe that the foreign ministry was slow to react to the Ukraine crisis and that bureaucratic bottlenecks may slow down any evacuation.

Last Thursday, the House of Representatives mandated the Doguwa team to be involved in the evacuation of the stranded Nigerians.

The lawmakers resolution came shortly after PREMIUM TIMES reported that Nigerian students in Ukraine called for help after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Jide Osuntokun, former Nigerian ambassador to Germany, in reaction to the lawmakers trip, said it was irresponsible of the lawmakers to jet off to Romania as they had no reason to be there.

It is absolutely irresponsible of them to have gone to any of the countries. What role will they be playing there? They are not welfare officers, they should have allowed the right people to go.

He added that they just went there to earn estacodes; absolute irresponsibility on their side. They dont belong there. Which other country has their legislator there?

According to Mr Osuntokun, this act is part of the general irresponsibility in the country.

The Evacuation

Nigerias foreign affairs ministry had on Wednesday announced that it expects to receive the first batch of evacuees from Ukraine on Thursday.

Mr Buba told this reporter Thursday afternoon that Nigerian students were at the airport awaiting the arrival of the aircraft.

According to the foreign ministrys statement, over 2,000 Nigerians fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, as of Tuesday night, had been received by Nigerian missions in countries around the area, including Slovakia, Romania, Poland and Hungary.

There are about 5,600 Nigerian students in Ukraine, the Nigerian foreign affairs ministry had confirmed.

Eight days into the war, at least one million people have fled Ukraine since Russias invasion, the United Nations said, warning that at this rate the exodus could become the biggest refugee crisis this century.

This number is more than two per cent of Ukraines 44 million population.
An investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told a Lagos court on Thursday how four bank officials cloned ATM cards and linked some accounts to them to steal N874 million belonging to Fidelity Bank and its customers in 2019.

Chimdinma Peter appeared as the third prosecution witness in the trial of the four bank officials and an alleged external conspirator at the Special Offences Court in Ikeja, Lagos.

Mr Peters testimony focused on the findings of EFCCs investigations into the alleged fraud, the anti-graft agencys spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement.

The four bank officials facing the fraud charges are Olusegun Babasola, Abisola Ahmed, Uchechukwu Uma, Jude Aphaeus.

The non-staff member standing trial along with them is Omidiji Joseph.

EFCC had said the money stolen through the hacked Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards belonged to five corporate customers  American International Insurance Company Limited (AIICO); Interswitch; OVH Energy Marketing Ltd.; Fidelity Bank Sinking Fund Account and FSL Securities Ltd.

How alleged fraud was perpetrated

Testifying on the alleged fraud on Thursday, the third prosecution witness, Mr Peter, told the court that EFCC received a petition from Fidelity Bank on the alleged fraud and immediately swung into action.

Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Nnaemeka Omewa, the witness said his team of investigators found out that the alleged fraud was perpetrated using the Postillion App.

He said: We accessed the banking app domiciled in the server to ascertain the IP address used.

It pointed to a System domiciled at the Virtual Unit of the bank domiciled in Lagos.

The system was identified and we found out it was used to de-link already existing ATM cards, and link them to some other accounts.

The witness said investigations along revealed that the ATM cards were linked to the five victimised accounts from which N874 million was withdrawn at different times.

The system used was identified and we observed that for it to be accessed, login details must be used.

We found out that the profile used belonged to the third and fourth defendants.

We reviewed the activities of the Virtual Unit and found out that three members of staff of the Unit also viewed the affected accounts prior to the withdrawals when they had no reason to do so, the witness said.

He added: For the Virtual Unit of the bank to view an account, there must be a request from the Qserve, but a review for the period from 9th to 15th July 2019 did not reveal any request to the Virtual Unit of the bank.

Mr Peter said the third and fourth defendants claimed ignorance of the use of their profile login details to access the Postillion App during the period the alleged fraud was perpetrated.

The application was used to increase the daily withdrawal limit from N150,000 to N100 million, the witness added.

An Information System Auditor with Fidelity Bank, Peter Ige, has testified in the case as the second prosecution witness on Wednesday.

Mr Ige had testified on the findings of the banks internal investigation into the alleged fraud in 2019.

The witness, who said he was part of the internal investigative team, told the trial judge, Oluwatoyin Taiwo, how the four officials allegedly hacked the banks database and cloned more than 22 ATM cards to steal N874 million within three days.

How proceeds were distributed

Mr Petet said when the accounts were linked to the ATM cards, money was withdrawn in cash and also transferred to other bank accounts including that of one King Dommy Enterprise.

King Dommy Enterprise received several inflows of tranches of N908,000 totalling N136 million debited from FSL.

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From this, N50 million was transferred to the account of the fifth defendant, Omidiji Joseph Olanrewaju on 15th July, which was thereafter disbursed to different accounts including Findrex Aviation business school and Waltham BDC.

The third prosecution witness also tendered more exhibits against the defendants, including a DVD of the banks CCTV footage on Thursday.
KIEV, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian delegation has left for talks with the delegation of the Russian Federation, Advisor to the Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak said on Thursday.

"(Leaving) for negotiations with Russia. Already in helicopters," Podoliak posted on Twitter.

According to him, the immediate goal is to agree on the creation of humanitarian corridors, while the rest will depend "on circumstances."

After Russia and Ukraine concluded their first round of negotiations in Belarus on Monday with no clear breakthrough, the second round of talks are expected to be held later Thursday. 
The high-level framework proposed provides that this should start with defining funding priorities that align with the updated NDCs, and include soliciting project concepts directly from the ministries, departments and agencies of government, MDAs, while aligning these project concepts with available climate finance sources, elaborating full proposals for project concepts with clear pathways to financing, and ensuring that the efficient approval, implementation and MRV processes are in place to ensure that the intended outcomes

President Muhammadu Buhari announced Nigerias commitment to net zero by 2060 at COP26. On the return to Nigeria, he subsequently signed the Climate Change Bill 2021, passed by the National Assembly in October of that year, which then became law.

Nigerias Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) provide a high-level strategic vision for climate action in Nigeria. Despite lower-than-expected economic growth, the updated NDCs submitted in July 2021, reflect an increase in ambition from the Intended NDCs submitted in 2015. The updated NDCs reflect an unconditional contribution of 20 per cent below business-as-usual by 2030, and now proposes a 47 per cent lower contribution  around 100 MtCO 2 e below 2018 levels. This is more ambitious, and consistent with a global 1.5oC pathway, but conditional on international support. As such, the mobilisation of the requisite international support and private sector investment is critical to enabling Nigeria meet its commitments and initiate an irreversible downward trend in GHG emissions this decade.

The implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing nations continue to be constrained by a lack of financial resources. For example, access to finance in developing countries is typically hindered by a lack of bankable projects. While the global community has made a clear commitment to supporting developments in their efforts to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change, it is important to note that climate finance is subject to project concepts being well established and developed to be able to scale the finance providers bankability requirements.

Climate Finance Mechanisms and Instruments

Climate finance mechanisms and instruments are evolving, growing in significance, and they continue to remain central to achieving low-carbon, climate resilient development. Target funds are projected to come from a range of sources, including financial and non-financial, public and private, national and international (see Fig 1 above). Fundamentally, access to the $100 billion per annum committed by the G8 countries at COP26 and other funding sources, will determine if Nigeria is to achieve its commitment to net zero by 2060.

Developing a Climate Finance Strategy for Infrastructure Development

Irrespective of the climate credentials of prospective projects, the Investment and Credit Committees of most financiers will need to establish (or work to restructure a project to ensure) that it is financially viable. Consequently, all potential projects must follow the acceptable bankability principles before climate finance can be accessed.

With support from UK Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (UKNIAF), the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funded programme, the Federal Government of Nigeria is developing a Climate Finance Strategy for Infrastructure Development. Developing a country-specific climate finance strategy is critical and must align with the NDCs implementation plan, which is represented in Nigeria by Sector Action Plans, which presumably should have been reflected in the Medium-Term National Development Plan 2021  25 (MTNDP 2021-25), that alongside the NDCs, have established the low-carbon transition policy agenda in Nigerias medium term planning processes.

The proposed Climate Finance Strategy for Infrastructure Development seeks to build on the governments commitment to transition to a low carbon, climate-resilient economy, and outlines the sources of climate finance available to Nigeria, and how NDC-aligned project concepts can be positioned to satisfy relevant climate finance provider requirements. It also includes a summary of the emerging institutional landscape for climate finance in Nigeria, which is still evolving (see Table 1), and may need to be revisited as part of the process of finalising the proposed climate finance strategy for infrastructure development.

Implementation considerations for the proposed Climate Finance Strategy

The proposed Climate Finance Strategy for Infrastructure Development is distinct from the broader Climate Finance Strategy being developed by the Federal Ministry of Environment with support from the UNDP, and proffers that an iterative process is adopted to govern the financing of NDC-aligned infrastructure projects as part of the medium-term planning and annual capital budgeting process.

The high-level framework proposed provides that this should start with defining funding priorities that align with the updated NDCs, and include soliciting project concepts directly from the ministries, departments and agencies of government, MDAs, while aligning these project concepts with available climate finance sources, elaborating full proposals for project concepts with clear pathways to financing, and ensuring that the efficient approval, implementation and MRV processes are in place to ensure that the intended outcomes of these projects are monitored, recorded, and validated (see Fig 3 below).

In addition, it is expected that successful implementation of the Climate Finance Strategy for Infrastructure Development will revolve around the following:

Establishment of the proposed National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), with cross-sectoral representation and engagement, and recognition of the importance of private-sector representation;

Development and implementation of NDC Sectoral Actions Plans in National (and sub-national) Planning and Budgeting Processes that will form the basis for a credible pipeline of NDC-aligned projects that can be positioned for climate finance;

Adoption of a Whole of Government Approach by harmonising and establishing the complementary roles of the Federal Ministry of Environment, the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and others;

Establishment of a Monitoring Review and Validation process for climate finance with cross-sectoral and cross-agency support and engagement to be overseen by the (NCCC);

Development of a cross-sector community of practice, and promote incentives and capacity development across the public, private and civil society.

Gori Olusina Daniel is the Infrastructure Finance Lead at UKNIAF, a 72.8m an FCDO funded Infrastructure Advisory Facility committed to supporting the Government of Nigerias transition to the planning and implementation of low carbon, climate resilient infrastructure. He can be contacted at Gori.OlusinaDaniel@UKNIAF.ng.
I challenge anybody to check from Europe, America and Asia; between 1999-2014, Nigeria was producing 2.1 million barrels of crude oil per day at an average cost of 100 USD per barrel and it went up to 143 USD. When we came, it collapsed to 37  38 USD and later was oscillating between 40 and 50 USD,  Buhari (2018)

We should remind ourselves of the recent journey from 1999-2015 when our country happily returned to democratic rule. However, in spite of oil prices being an average of $100 per barrel and about 2.1 million barrels a day, that great piece of luck was squandered and the countrys social and physical infrastructure neglected.  Buhari (October 1, 2017)

For 16 years and eight consecutive governments of the other party, you know that there was unprecedented revenue realised. The oil projection which can be verified was 2.1 million barrels per day. 1999-2015, the average cost of each Nigerian barrel of oil was $100 per barrel. When we came it fell to less than $30 per barrel and is now oscillating between 40 and 50.  Buhari (2016)

In almost all his speeches since he became President in 2015  and that is several times a year  President Buhari has always reminded Nigerians that his government was unlucky to have come at a time when crude oil prices are at a slump. He also overinflates the numbers to make others look bad and himself look good. My concern though is why rather than rejoice that crude oil prices, which has averaged $80 in the past few months and has now surpassed $106 with prospects of reaching $150 if the Ukrainian war continues, is expected to bring a serious economic crisis, in the words of Timipre Silva, Buharis junior Minister in the Petroleum Ministry which Buhari heads. What does Buhari want from Nigerians? Why is it heads you lose, tails you suffer with Muhammadu Buhari? This is what he said was the main problem behind his non-performance and the throwing of millions of Nigerians under the poverty bus. Now, the same issue is being expected to throw Nigerians into even more poverty. I am challenging Buhari and Osinbajo on behalf of every Nigerian. We are tired.

Hear Timi Silva:

We hope (the price of crude oil) will move around, maybe $80, maybe $70. We are hoping it will come down to somewhere around $70 to $80, which will be sustainable for us to the end of the year We are working hard on that (production increase). What happened to us was the fact that we had to cut back at the time, and, of course, in such a way you cant really cut back mathematically. So, you want to cut back 100,000 barrels that you shut out, maybe well shut down about 200,000 to 300,000 barrels. So, at the end of the day, we over-complied because we just couldnt achieve it mathematically. In trying to cut down, we cut down too much. And now to come back, its not been easy for us to get the wells back to production Its not very easy these days to get the investments in. We really are not able to meet up our quota now. But I believe that were working so very hard to ensure that, because we are not happy at all I mean, with the kind of prices we are seeing. We are obviously not happy about it. So we would like to definitely be back on track by later this year. Its not been very easy to get investments. A lot of people cant get investments into the sector.

Mr Silvas tone is surprising, and shocking. I have never seen any seller of any commodity, who falls sad as his margins increase. Even Nigeria has never experienced this. Check this out: We started producing crude in 1956 on a small scale. We hit the big league in 1973 in the Yom Kippur (Egypt/Israel) War. We joined OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and the price of crude moved for the first time ever, from $3.00 per barrel, to an equivalent of $50. We cashed out. Gowon allegedly said our problem was not about money but how to spend. He was correct. We could have planned better but we started flexing. The market went into a slump, and we started borrowing. Circa 1978 to 1980, there were issues between Iran and the USA, and then the Iran/Iraq War, leading to cutbacks. That was probably when we started importing Akinloye Champagne as Shagaris ministers went crazy. Under General Babangidas government around 1990, the Gulf War happened. Iraq invaded Kuwait, and the USA had to bomb Iraq. Prices shot up to a mere $40 and all the journalists in Nigeria will not allow Babangida rest from the clamor for the Gulf oil windfall. In 2006, stagnating production in Saudi Arabia coincided with large demands from Asia (China Rising), and crude prices shot up to $148. That was when we got our reserves up to $62 billion  the highest ever. Honest man Umaru YarAdua was president then. Again, there was a brief spike in 2011 as a result of the Arab Spring and the bombing of Libya. By then YarAdua was down, Goodluck was in, and was the first African leader that signed the agreement for the westerners, with which Gaddafi was eventually slaughtered on the streets. That windfall missed us. But this is the first time in history that we are being asked to go into mourning over the rise in crude oil prices. Note that without crisis, crude prices will hover around $9 to $11 as it did under Abacha, who was able to employ General Buhari as Chair of PTF and they built quite a few infrastructures.

Even foreigners expect us to smile to the bank. On BBC I found an analysis about the effect of this Ukrainian War on African nations. This is what they had to say:

The budgets of oil-producing countries like Nigeria and Angola might get a boost from the rising prices, but the cost of transport is likely to rise for people across the continent. This will have a knock-on effect on the prices of nearly all other products.

The editor of the UK-based Africa Confidential publication, Patrick Smith, said: Europe has to rapidly find alternatives to Russian gas, and the most reliable alternatives are in Africa. Its a great opportunity for African states to move in, and get new deals done quickly, he added.

I get some sense out of Mr Silvas rather convoluted explanations. The concerns are that there are no new investments in upstream production, and they (his ministry) miscalculated when they cut down earlier at OPECs request. This is incompetence admixed with corruption. The key challenge is that the government will come under pressure with subsidy on local sales of PMS and aviation fuel, diesel, kerosene which have since been deregulated will get more expensive. But the margins on the normal production of at least 1 million barrels of crude oil daily (after we back out local consumption which is swapped) will increase significantly. The minister says rather than produce 1.65 million barrels a day, Nigeria cannot do more than 1.4 million. Nigeria claims to use $30 to extract one barrel of crude (incredibly high as it should not be more than $4). My knowledge of petroleum economics says that there are more investments when prices rise  all of the time. So, like Patrick Smith recommended above, this is the time to look for the investments  given that we are so dependent on foreigners and never invest our own gains in our own country. The minister also expressed fear that shale producers will come on stream (you see, higher prices only spur higher production, which then depresses prices at a point in the future). But what is our own with shale producers? Its a free market, and prices are going to go crazy. Another thing that is obvious is how we are so helpless without foreign investment and technical knowhow. Yet, we are the loudest and lousiest of all oil producing nations.

By all means, Buhari, Osinbajo and Silva, you owe Nigerians. You have to declare the dividends of our good luck. And I am not talking of the unfortunate bombing of Ukraine and the loss of innocent lives there please. The price of crude had been on the upwards trajectory for quite some months now. Average price of crude oil this year is $86. Last year, average price was close to $70. So, Buhari, where is your excuse this time? This is simply incredible and totally annoying.

Tope Fasua, an economist, author, blogger, entrepreneur, and recent presidential candidate of the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), can be reached through topsyfash@yahoo.com.
As for Africa, the restriction of colonial boundaries is not the only reason it is often confused about its self-interest. Years of mental slavery, poor cultural attitudes, weak and heavily dependent institutions and poor leadership have combined to create boundaries of iron worse than anything that drawers of the geographical boundaries contemplated Whats Africas interest in Ukraine? A bit more history could be of service in the continents quest for an answer.

War is messy and never fails to spread responsive misery. When Adolf Hitler asked for safe passage to East Prussia through the Polish corridor and also for the occupied port of Danzig, not many could have imagined that it would spiral into a world war that would cost 85 million lives and leave an unspeakable trail of devastation in its wake.

More than one million Africans died. They were not in Danzig, Berlin or London. They had no idea what Hitlers request was or why Britain refused to listen to him. They were enlisted for the war by force from Nigeria to Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta), and from Senegal to the Democratic Republic of Congo. On the 75th anniversary of that war, two years ago, the few survivors on the continent still bore the scars like yesterday, yet not knowing the reason they went to fight in the first place.

There has been nothing like that ever since. On the whole, large scale conflicts have declined, even though Iraq, Syria, Darfur and Yemen remind us that the world is never too far away from the base instincts that invited the past atrocities.

Exaggerated comparisons of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hitler have surfaced since the outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. But lets be clear, Putin is not Hitler.

What is not in doubt, however, is that after decades of Russian humiliation, following the collapse of the Soviet empire, Putin has been obsessed with the glory of a Russian past, which Europe and America have not only stirred but inflamed by aggressively besieging the wounded bear.

Its a bit like the Treaty of Versailles all over again. After defeating Germany during the First World War, the Allies were not content with the imposition of heavy retribution, including the excision of the mineral rich regions of Alsace and Lorraine from Germany. They went ahead to impose a financial penalty of 6.5 billion on Germany, which would have taken the country decades to pay. The victor wanted the vanquished vanquished, never again to rise.

The crushing weight of that humiliation was too much for the Germans to bear. The result, of course, was Hitler and the Second World War.

The West may not have imposed heavy financial costs on Russia after the collapse of the USSR, but Putin, who was at that time an officer in the KGB, saw, first hand, the humiliation that followed the collapse of his country, the triumphalism of the West and its relentless efforts since to crush whatever is left of Russias pride and spirit.

That is the source of Putins rage. Of course, to understand it is not to excuse or justify the current invasion. But to ignore it, as the West has mockingly done, is foolish.

There have been noises here and there, including, in fact, the threat of sanctions against Russia by a few African countries. The strongest argument from Africa against the invasion is perhaps the one by Kenyan diplomat, Martin Kimani, to the United Nations: This situation, he said, echoes our history. Kenya and almost every African country, was birthed by the ending of an empire. Our borders were not of our own drawing. They were drawn in the distant colonial metropoles of London, Paris and Lisbon.

Putin insists that after the former Soviet Union broke up into 15 states, there was an agreement between President Mikhail Gorbachev and the West that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) will not expand Eastward. NATO has denied the existence of such an agreement, but has barely hidden its subversive encouragement in bringing three countries under the former Soviet Union into its fold, virtually encircling Russia. For Putin, the invasion of Ukraine is his last stand, his push, after Crimea, for Russias modern-day Danzig.

How is that any of Africas business?

There have been noises here and there, including, in fact, the threat of sanctions against Russia by a few African countries. The strongest argument from Africa against the invasion is perhaps the one by Kenyan diplomat, Martin Kimani, to the United Nations: This situation, he said, echoes our history. Kenya and almost every African country, was birthed by the ending of an empire. Our borders were not of our own drawing. They were drawn in the distant colonial metropoles of London, Paris and Lisbon.

Kimani was right about that historical fact. However, the truth now as it was in 1884, during the scramble for and partition of Africa, is that in spite of the significant progress that the world has made to establish a rules-based system, the strong, in pursuit of self-interest, will continue to lord it over the weak.

African states are content to leave the colonial boundaries largely untouched, not because they love good neighbourliness any less than Israel loves its Arab neighbours, for example, against whom it has waged one of the longest, bloodiest modern-day wars. Unlike Israel, however, perhaps many African countries do not feel sufficiently threatened by their neighbours or even where such threats may exist, the consequences of aggressive expansion far outweigh the benefits of remaining within their present borders.

In short, Africa has remained what it is because of the lack of capacity among its state actors to exact any meaningful change in its border status, however much they may desire it.

In 2006, for example, Nigeria chose peace instead of war with Cameroon over the Bakassi Peninsula dispute, not only because the judgement of the International Court of Justice was unfavourable, but more importantly, because it knew that the negative consequences of taking Bakassi by force far outweighed the benefits. Cameroon, just like the other Francophone states in the subregion, has a defence pact with France, which might have been activated if Nigeria, or any other aggressor, attacked.

Its not because Morocco loves Saharawi Arabs or out of deference for the original Spanish-drawn boundaries that it has been unable to seize the territory after decades of a bloody conflict; no. Its simply because Rabat has lacked the military capacity to enforce and maintain its will.

What Putin is doing is insane, reprehensible and extremely dangerous but both Putin and those who oppose him in the West bear collective responsibility for the horror playing out in Ukraine today. At a time when Ukrainians ought to start getting their lives back after nearly 20 years of corrupt oligarchic reign, followed by a genuine yearning for change, which brought Volodymyr Zelensky to power three years ago, the West has escorted Ukraine into a war it will not recover from in a long time.

Africa, with perhaps the weakest capacity for a nimble response, waited till war broke out before acting. And yet, this task, far less mundane than contemplating the redrawing of its boundaries, reveals just how hopelessly incompetent these continents leaders can be in figuring out their own self-interest.

African speeches must not cut the U.S. or its Western allies any slack. Cuba was exercising its democratic right as an independent country in 1962 when it permitted the USSR to place missiles on its soil. But President John F. Kennedy said it was over his dead body that this would happen in his backyard. He threatened war until Nikita Khrushchev removed the missiles and pulled back from what would have been the worlds first nuclear war.

According to American historian, Christopher Kelly, and British historian, Stuart Laycock, the U.S. has invaded or fought in 84 countries of the 193 countries recognised by the UN and has been militarily involved with 191 of the 193.

A story in the Washington Post in March 2016, not counting Americas familiar atrocities, said the U.S. government tried to change other countries governments 72 times during the 45-year-long Cold War, an average of more than one every year, possibly earning itself the title of historys all-time meddler-in-chief. And, of course, the consequences of the atrocities of the U.S. and its allies, whether in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya, have not always been pretty.

But Im concerned here about what Russias invasion could mean for Africa, especially thousands of students from the continent currently schooling in Ukraine. Although the statistics are scanty, there are reports of at least 8,000 Moroccans and 4,000 Nigerians studying in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities, a good number of them in the medical sciences.

Unfortunately for these students, their leaders back home will not be in any of the major European capitals where the decisions already being taken to resettle refugees prioritise Ukrainian Europeans over other nationalities. Even before the shooting war started, other countries had taken advantage of intelligence and early warning systems to evacuate their citizens and minimise the disruption to their lives.

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Africa, with perhaps the weakest capacity for a nimble response, waited till war broke out before acting. And yet, this task, far less mundane than contemplating the redrawing of its boundaries, reveals just how hopelessly incompetent these continents leaders can be in figuring out their own self-interest.

Russia knows why it is invading Ukraine, in spite of global condemnation and the unprecedented sanctions it must endure: It is self-interest. And the U.S. and its allies know why, in spite of their frustration and anger, they can only watch Russia invade from the sidelines: It is self-interest.

As for Africa, the restriction of colonial boundaries is not the only reason it is often confused about its self-interest. Years of mental slavery, poor cultural attitudes, weak and heavily dependent institutions and poor leadership have combined to create boundaries of iron worse than anything that drawers of the geographical boundaries contemplated.

Whats Africas interest in Ukraine? A bit more history could be of service in the continents quest for an answer.

Azu Ishiekwene is Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP.
Nigerians had an idea of why the FG-ASUU impasse has lingered for so long from the conduct of the education minister Adamu Adamu on Monday. For some Nigerians, that was probably their first time seeing the minister publicly display interest in the crisis bedevilling Nigerias education sector. Throughout the nine-month strike embarked upon by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in 2020, the minister remained in the background, most times, speaking through the junior minister in the ministry.

Perhaps, the minister should have continued to keep to himself and save some of us from the unnecessary drama we saw at his meeting with the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) in his office in Abuja on Monday.

Nigerias Columbian trained minister of education who is also widely known as a polyglot walked out of a meeting with the university students, who were protesting over the incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The students had barricaded the entrance of the federal ministry of education at the Central Area in Abuja. So, the minister decided to meet with the leadership of the student body.

NANS national president, Comrade Sunday Asefon, had told the minister that students were the victims of the FG-ASUU crisis. He also said the ASUU strike was killing Nigerias education and that the government should find a lasting solution to the problem. He also pointedly told the minister that their parents could not afford to send their children to the UK as the minister did to his own children.

He had said: This is your second term in office, your salary will be paid. The salaries of the lecturers will be paid. We want to really know what is really happening.

Honourable minister, you celebrated your son who graduated from a university outside this country. We appreciate that. Our parents do not have that money to send us outside the country, but we are in this country. We should enjoy what we are paying for.

We want adequate funding of education in this country, honourable minister, our message is that we want to go back to class. We want the federal government and ASUU to as a matter of urgency, call off this strike while negotiation continues. We want to go back to classes, if not this will be more than #EndSARS protest.

I guess the minister must have been piqued by the half-truths and perhaps absolute falsehood in the NANS presidents speech and felt the best thing he could do was to rubbish him. In a terse style, he referred the students back to their lecturers. Perhaps the only point that you made that is even worthy of attention is that you said students should be involved in this (discussion) and I think its probably a good thing.

And its the only thing Im going to take from everything you have said here. Thank you.

The minister then stood up and walked out of the meeting.

Truth be told, the student union president failed to do his homework well. Firstly, I am not aware that the education minister recently celebrated any of his childrens graduation on social media. Yes, his daughter, Barrister Fatima (Zara) Adamu got married at a ceremony in Azare, Bauchi State, early this year and that was in the news. His medical trip to Germany to fix his health issues also got some media attention, but there was nothing on him celebrating any child graduating from a foreign university.

The student union president must have been referring to the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Adamu Rasheed, whose son bagged a PhD in Engineering from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, in 2017. The graduation picture went viral with Nigerians criticising the former Bayero University, Kano vice chancellor for sending his son abroad when Nigerias education system is in decay.

Secondly, another blunder by the NANS leader is his verdict that since their parents cannot send them to universities abroad, they should be allowed to enjoy what they are paying for here in Nigeria. That is about the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard! It is almost unbelievable that a student union leader in Nigeria could utter such a statement  Nigerian students in federal universities paying tuition? Which tuition? How much are they paying? Was he referring to the N90,000 accommodation fee students pay or registration fee for courses as tuition? If the leadership of the Nigerian university body does not know what constitutes tuition, then, that is worrisome indeed.

I have always said it and it is worth repeating. Public funding of tertiary education by the Federal Government is one of the major problems confronting the federal university system in this country. Nigeria can simply no longer afford to provide free tertiary education. People often refer to the humongous salaries of our lawmakers and use that as a justification for free tertiary education. But, the truth is there is nothing very big about Nigerian lawmakers salaries. The average salary of a senator is about N1.5 million while that of a member of the House of Representatives is N1.3m. Their ostentatious lifestyle isnt a product of their legitimate earnings. Most often, it is a product of graft, pure corruption and sometimes outright theft. Lawmakers, like other public officers in Nigeria, are just living fat on the countrys corrupt system which is very sad though.

As rich as they are, the US, UK and many other developed countries in the world are not providing free tertiary education for their citizens. They can give grants, scholarships and loans but not free university education. And in Scandinavian countries where tertiary education is free, the citizens pay for it in heavy tax. How can Nigeria, whose national budget is comparable to what just a company in the US, Apple spends on R&D give quality, free university education? The earlier the students understand this and begin to drive conversation around how best Nigeria can close funding gaps in its public tertiary institutions, the better it would be for everyone.

However, the NANS presidents limited knowledge notwithstanding, the reaction of the minister was very rude and condescending. Adamu behaved like a mini-god. His demeanour towards the students was like that of a master to a slave.

The viral video of that encounter shows a very arrogant minister who thinks he is doing students a favour by even giving them attention in the first instance. He acted like a god, the omnipotent, the kabiyesi (all in all), the one that speaks and no one dares to talk, the almighty of Nigerias education sector who should be worshipped and adored.

Do we now know why Nigerias education sector is getting worse by the day? The people at the helm of affairs dont care. They dont feel the heat. They are too disconnected. In a normal clime, the minister should be having sleepless nights on how to find a solution to the problem of the ASUU-FG impasse. He should be seen to be leading a conversation with stakeholders on how to find permanent solutions to the continuous strikes by university lecturers. The minister should be lobbying the student body to make them understand the need to introduce tuition in our public universities.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time the minister would be treating Nigerians with disdain. He exhibited the same attitude when the whole world was working out solutions to the problem posed to learning by COVID-19. All through that period, the minister appeared quite unruffled. He was simply carrying on as if all was well, hiding under the ASUU strike. In fairness to the minister, his attitude is typical of many people in power. Nigerian leaders consistently display contempt, impunity and disdain for the concerns, fears and will of the people. They behave like what my late mum would describe as the attitude of who can catch me, who can query me.

But I dont blame them. I blame the citizenry that worships and adore the people in power just to get the crumbs from their masters tables. Watching the video, one could see some staff of the ministry trying to prevail on the students not to complain. They were too afraid of the minister, they did not want anything that would further provoke him.

The same reason is why a ministry would organise a bogus reception and chant Mummy Oyoyo, the kind we saw when the minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed, got a second term appointment. We are just too used to hero-worshipping in this part of the world, so people in positions of authority in all spheres- get away with murder- robbery in broad daylight, etc. Maybe, its a cultural thing, whatever it is, such an attitude prevents us from holding our leaders accountable for their misdeeds.

The ASUU strike has been affecting students lives since 1999. Now students are saying their interest should be considered, they should be part of the discussion between the federal government and ASUU to find a lasting solution to the matter, what is wrong with that? The minister could have told the students governments efforts at solving the problem and corrected all the wrong misrepresentations. That is the least expectation from a servant-leader.

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As for NANS, I think the leadership should work on its public speaking technique. Understandably, the students have every right to be emotional and angry with the Nigerian system, but those in power can easily capitalise on their poor public presentation skills and dismiss them, just like the minister did on Monday.

Olabisi Deji-Folutile is Editor-in-Chief, franktalknow.com and member, Nigerian Guild of Editors. Email: bisideji@yahoo.co.uk.
Bandits identified with notorious kingpin, Dankarami, have killed eight of the 10 men they kidnapped in Zurmi in Zamfara State for the failure of their relatives to pay a N6m ransom, residents of the town have said.

The bandits abducted the victims on September 1, last year after a failed attempt to attack the local government headquarters.

Having failed to access the town, residents said the bandits laid siege and abducted the 10 people in the early morning of the following day.

Zamfara, like many states in the Nigerian Northwest, is beleaguered by security threats, especially kidnapping and banditry. The crime has become rampant and the bandits are seemingly irrepressible.

Thousands of people have been killed or kidnapped 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.

Two escaped

A youth leader in the Zurmi, Abdullahi Muhammad, told PREMIUM TIMES over the phone that two weeks after the abduction, two of the 10 victims escaped from the bandits hideout not far from Zurmi town.

I was among those who received them (victims) at the local government secretariat after they escaped. They told us that the bandits were torturing them for their refusal to give them the numbers of their relatives to discuss ransom, he said.

He said the bandits later got the numbers of some of the relatives of those still being held and started communicating with them.

Eight killed

According to Mr Muhammad, the bandits kept changing the ransoms and how to deliver the money, which delayed the response from the relatives.

Only those two who escaped made it, the other eight were tortured to death by the bandits. First, they said N50 million but changed it to N20 million the following money. After those two phone calls, they didnt call for close to 10 days, then called back again, he said.

According to the youth leader, the bandits kept threatening that they would kill the victims if the families did not respond to their demands, but the dilemma of the families was that they (bandits) were not even straightforward in their demands.

The victims

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the eight slain victims were all men.

They were named as: Idi Mijin Hajia, Malam Zubairu, Murtala Nagoma, Umar Muhammad, Siddi Na umara, Habibu DanBala, Yahaya Attah and Zayyanu Nagoma.

Efforts by PREMIUM TIMES to speak with any of the relatives of those killed failed. But another resident of Zurmi, Usman Kabiru, said he was part of the initial negotiations through Idris Nagoma family.

The family lost two members, Murtala and Zayyanu.

Even when they called to announce the death of the victims, I was there also. We felt they wanted to kill them because they were not straightforward in the dealings from the beginning, he said

On how the bandits finally settled for N6 million, Mr Kabiru said the relatives of those killed came together to accept the final ransom by the bandits.

We pleaded with the bandits during the negotiations and we were happy that they accepted the N6m ransom but they later called to say that the victims had all died. They even told us that they tortured them to death because we were not serious in the ransom negotiations and that some of the victims tried running away, he said over the phone.

The Zamfara police command spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu, did not respond to calls and SMS sent to him on the issue.
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel, has directed the payment of one year leave grant to primary school teachers in the state.

The State Commissioner for Information, Ini Ememobong, said the governor gave the directive Wednesday during the State Executive Council meeting in Government House, Uyo.

Mr Ememobong, in an excerpt of the meeting posted on Facebook, said the gesture is a compassionate intervention by the state government.

The meeting was the first since Mr Emmanuel picked the Commissioner of Lands and Water Resources, Umo Eno as his preferred successor in the 2023 governorship election and the second since the beginning of the year.

Mr Emmanuel has always maintained that payment of salaries and other entitlements to primary school teachers are within the purview of the local government, and not the state government.

The state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in February issued a 21-day ultimatum to the state government to wade into their demands for the payment of their entitlements.

The workers demands include payment of five years leave grants and staff promotion.

When contacted, Anestina Iweh, the leader of NULGE in Akwa Ibom, described the governors gesture as a good start.

She, however, said she was not happy that only one out of the eight years leave grants owed to primary school teachers in the state would be paid.

I wouldnt say I am happy because out of the eight years leave grant, they are giving them one year. It is a good start. Theres hope that the remaining seven years will be paid.

Mrs Iweh said the state government did not say anything about the entitlements owed to other local government officials.

The governor would always say that it is not his responsibility to pay us. I accept it. The responsibility to pay us is in the hands of local government areas who always sit there at the joint account to disburse our funds.

She said the leadership of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state met with NULGE on Wednesday, and that she was anticipating positive results as negotiation continues.

By the grace of God the ALGON leadership in the state started talking to us (NULGE) yesterday but the meeting was not concluded.

The excerpt of the State Executive Council meeting did not say which particular year the state government intervention would take care of, regarding the teachers leave grants.

Also, the intervention would not accommodate retired primary school teachers in the state.

PREMIUM TIMES reported last year how the police used tear-gas to disperse the relatives of late primary school teachers who protested in Uyo over non-payment of the late teachers entitlements.
Two persons, suspected to have stolen a cell phone and other valuables from a woman, were on Wednesday night set ablaze by an angry mob at Upper Iweka motor park in Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigerias South-east.

A witness and commercial bus driver, Papa Uchenna, said the suspects, who were three in number and operating with a tricycle, attacked and dispossessed the woman of her cell phone and other valuables.

He said as they jumped into the tricycle and were about to drive off, the tricycle engine failed to start and they were apprehended by some men at the park.

Mr Uchenna said as the suspects were being beaten, other people around brought tyres and petrol and set them ablaze.

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Confirming the incident, the police spokesperson in Anambra State, Tochukwu Ikenga, said the third suspect escaped.

Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said that police operatives recovered the tricycle, handbag and Infinix cell phone, allegedly stolen from the woman by the suspects.

He said efforts were in place to apprehend the fleeing gang member.

(NAN)
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has urged the newly elected local council chairmen in the state to reside within their council areas in order to tackle the security challenges in the local communities.

The governor stated this during the swearing in ceremony of the 17 new chairpersons in Enugu on Thursday.

I reiterate that all local government chairmen and deputy chairmen should reside in their constituencies. They should strive to improve the security of their local government areas, Mr Ugwuanyi said.

He urged the new council heads to establish a holistic security arrangement which would involve traditional rulers, neighbourhood watch groups, as well as forest guards, among others, to tackle insecurity in their areas.

If you secure all the local government areas, our dear state would be secured. As the chief security officer of your local government areas, you must be vigilant, deliberate and proactive by sharing security intelligence with security agencies, the governor added.

Mr Ugwuanyi said the elections were adjudged to be fair, credible and transparent by various observers and civil society organisations.

He said the landslide victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the elections was a testament of the trust and confidence reposed on the party by the people.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the PDP won in all the 17 local councils, including all the councillors seats in the election.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission to develop special interest in the upcoming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States as well as the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria.

PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, made the call when he received the European Union (EU) Election Observation Follow-up Mission, led by the Head of EU Observation Mission, Maria Arena, at the PDP headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

Mr Ayu, who commended the mission on its recommendations on 2019 General Elections, said the recommendations were not only useful to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), but also assisted in deepening Nigerias democracy.

I think your observation across the country should be based on helping not only INEC but also the security services to do their Job which constitutionally they have been provided to do.

It is wrong for agencies which are supposed to be independent to help see credible elections, to subvert the electoral process.

So we have serious apprehensions particularly in those areas where details will be made available.

I will also want more observers provided to go around because it is a big country.

We have two very important state elections for governorship in the southwestern part of the country in Ekiti and Osun. One will take place in June and the other one will take place in July.

We urge you to take special interest in those elections because they are very important elections.

I believe that the way you did in 2019, you will be able to put down your observations which we make available to INEC to help them improve on their performance, so that when we come to 2023 some of the lapses will be reduced.

 So, we think your visit is very much welcomed we have no problem with it. We believe it will help not just Nigerians but the whole process of democracy in the country, he said.

Mr Ayu said though the PDP performed well in the Federal Capital Territory Area Councils election as well as in the just-concluded by-elections in Imo, Plateau and Cross River, the party still has evidence of electoral malpractices in some of the elections.

He disclosed that the party already petitioned INEC on cases of alleged intimidation in the case of by-election held in Imo, stating that PDP would take legal action if its petition was not properly addressed.

In Imo where PDP National Secretary comes from, we are going to make a report which is submitted to INEC in that particular election available to your agency.

In that particular state, we face a lot of harassment, particularly from the security agencies, we have submitted a petition to INEC.

We intend to take necessary legal action if nothing is done because it is not in the interest of our country that the will of the people is not respected.

Mr Ayu said that PDPs recent performance across the country was consistent and strong.

Our people are determined to promote, mobilise and make sure that Nigerians vote because they have seen the difference between us and the other party,  he said. 5

Earlier in her remark, Ms Arena said the mission was in the country to access the level of implementation on the recommendations made after the conduct of 2019 General Elections.

She said they were also at the PDP secretariat, as a critical stakeholder to hear their concern about the 2023 elections.

I am the chief observer for the elections in 2019. We are here for follow-up mission. As you know, we have made a report with 30 recommendations in this report.

This follow-up mission is to assess how these recommendations have been taken on board by the different authorities in the country.

It is important to meet with all the stakeholders as much as possible because its not easy in five days meeting with stakeholders, but we have met with civil society, with media, with the government and the political parties.

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It is important because you are playing a very important role in the electoral process. And so for us, it is important to listen to you about the main concern that you have for 2023 future elections, Ms Arena said.

.(NAN)
The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, has assured the government of Qatar that investors and investment from the country are safe in Lagos State.

Mr Obasa gave the assurance in a statement issued in Lagos on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that he is quoted as giving the assurance during the Qatar-Nigeria Business Matchmaking Event, attended by government officials of both countries on Wednesday.

The event, held in Lagos, also had businessmen and prospective investors in attendance.

Mr Obasa said the state was one that guaranteed the safety of investors and their businesses, since the government took seriously the protection of lives and property.

The speaker, represented by Adewale Temitope, Chairman, House Committee on Transportation, said the growth and advancement of Lagos in various areas of the economy were the result of true leadership.

He said that for investors in Lagos, it had always been a symbiotic relationship since the State had the needed human capital and the market while they had the resources.

Mr Obasa said: Investing in the state will bring symbiotic relationship between Qatar and Nigeria.

I want to urge prospective investors to also consider the transportation and health sectors of the state in view of governments successful effort to create an enabling environment.

The speaker noted that the meeting was aimed at deepening trade between the two countries in manufacturing, construction, oil and gas, technology and other related areas.

Speaking at the event, Ali Ghanem Al-Hajri, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Nigeria, said the meeting would strengthen bilateral relations between Nigeria and his country.

We believe this meeting will further deepen bilateral relations that will build an economic bridge between the two markets.

Nigeria is the biggest market in West Africa, and there are lots of potentials and opportunities to deal with the Qatari market.

I can see a huge economic bridge between the two countries, he said.

Mr Al-Hajri said Qatar Development Bank (QDB), which organised the business matchmaking event, used the opportunity to engage with Nigerian businesses on strengthening investment ties across diverse sectors.

(NAN)
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The development of China's AG600 large amphibious aircraft has gained support from the financial-leasing sector, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) announced Thursday.

China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of AVIC, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Everbright Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. on Thursday to jointly boost research and development of the AG600 and its future operation, said AVIC.

According to the agreement, the two sides will explore innovative financial plans to support further research on the AG600, as well as purchasing the first batch of aircraft products.

Both sides will also explore building an innovative industry-finance community to boost the country's aviation emergency-rescue system, said the agreement.

The move represents a major step forward for the AG600 in entering the market and playing a role in the country's emergency-rescue system.

The two sides will hold further discussions on the leasing plan for the first batch of AG600 aircraft and the signing of the purchase agreement, said AVIC.

They will join efforts in exploring the integration of industry and finance, actively carry out business-model innovation, and fully promote "independent innovation" activity, with the aim of boosting the development of the AG600 and its related industrial chain, AVIC added.

Codenamed Kunlong, the AG600 is a key piece of aeronautical equipment in China's emergency-rescue system.

As a model of special-purpose aircraft, the AG600 has been developed by AVIC to meet the needs of firefighting and marine-rescue missions, as well as other critical emergency-rescue operations.

The AG600 successfully completed its maiden flight in 2017, its first take-off from a water reservoir in 2018, and its maiden flight over the sea in 2020.

For 2022, the AG600 project has set a target of seeing three new aircraft enter the final assembly phase and three aircraft to take maiden flights, according to AVIC. 
Budding trees and blooming flowers.

The return of robins, loons and other migrating birds.

The return of bees, butterflies and frogs.

Melting snow and lake ice.

Longer days and light in the evening.

Shedding the winter garments.

The myriad scents of flowering trees and plants.

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PHOTO PROVIDEDIn lieu of supporting Cape Airs bid to, once again, offer flights to Boston through the Essential Air Service program, the Clinton County Legislature intends to develop a grant proposal that could result in air service from Plattsburgh International Airport to Philadelphia through Contour Airlines.
Southbury, CT (06488)

Today

Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. High around 70F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies in the evening, then becoming cloudy overnight. Low 48F. Winds light and variable.
DAR ES SALAAM, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Amani Nature Reserve, established by Tanzanian authorities in 1997 to preserve the unique flora and fauna of the East Usambara Mountains, is threatened by gold mining activities, an official said on Wednesday.

Fikiri Maiba, a chief conservator with the Tanzania Forest Services Agency (TFS), said over 20 hectares of natural forest cover has been destroyed by artisanal miners in recent years.

The Amani Nature Reserve is a source of water for more than 200,000 people living in Tanga region, Maiba told environmental journalists who visited the protected area.

He said the youth are actively involved in gold mining activities in the nature reserve, adding that TFS has formed a task force that conducts frequent patrols to protect the reserve.

According to the official, the small-scale artisanal miners have invaded the forests, causing severe environmental destruction by felling valuable old indigenous trees to dig up gold.

An influx of gold diggers from across the country rushed to the nature reserve in recent years after gold was discovered in the East Usambara Mountains along a stream running adjacent to one of the forest reserves. 
LONDON, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IFS, the global cloud enterprise software company, today announced that EDF Renewables UK and Ireland, the leading renewable energy company, has chosen the IFS Cloud platform to deliver Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) to support their ambitious growth plans.

EDF Renewables UK and Ireland is a joint venture between EDF Renewables Group (EDF's global renewable business) and EDF Energy (EDF's UK generation business) and specialises in wind, solar and battery technology. To support their plans to increase total green energy output produced by their onshore and offshore operations, EDF Renewables UK launched the project in 2021.

During the engagement with IFS, the teams on both sides developed mutual trust and a joint vision of the optimal way to achieve the project's goals and objectives. EDF Renewables UK and Ireland chose IFS Cloud due to its clear operational and commercial advantages. IFS provides a future-proof solution built around a concept of composable enterprise, which gives EDF Renewables UK and Ireland the operational flexibility and business agility that is critical for innovative businesses with a high growth rate.

IFS will power the company's Enterprise Asset Management, including Operation & Maintenance, Work Order Management, Contract Management and Mobile Workforce Management - a key aspect for the energy company that puts their employees at the heart of their business. As IFS Cloud is a single platform with a single data model supported by key value drivers such as Asset Performance Management, Internet of Things (IoT), mobile work execution and live dashboards and KPIs, the company will be able to provide end-to-end visibility across multiple organisational structures and business units. IFS Cloud will be deployed to 380 full users, with 90 mobile technicians.

"We are proud to be able to power EDF Renewables UK and Ireland in supporting a vision for the growth of clean energy," says Alan Laing, Managing Director UK&I, at IFS. "IFS Cloud was designed to offer companies with a high growth rate an uncomplicated path towards becoming more data-driven, improve innovation, and, ultimately, deliver a better Moment of Service to their customers. We couldn't be more excited to partner with EDF Renewables UK and Ireland on this mission."

Piero Maggio, Director of Asset Operations EDF Renewables UK & Ireland, also expressed his excitement to be partnering with IFS.

"Delivering IFS Cloud forms a key part of our future growth strategy. The new platform will allow us to scale our business more efficiently and consistently, whilst also capturing the richer management information needed to drive continuous improvement and inform key decision-making. Using IFS Cloud will enable us to optimise the quality and utilisation of our assets, as well as create shareholder value through improved information flows. I couldn't be more pleased to be working with IFS."

CONTACT:

IFS Press Contacts information:

MEA& APJ: Adam Gillbe

Corporate Communications

Email: press@ifs.com

Phone: +44 7775 114 856

USA: Mairi Drysdale

Corporate Communications

Email: press@ifs.com

Phone: +1 520 396 2155

Europe: Marie-Christin Hansen

Corporate Communications

Email: press@ifs.com

Phone: +44 755 306 1878

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/ifs/r/edf-renewables-uk-chooses-ifs-cloud--to-power-ambitious-growth-plans,c3516071

The following files are available for download:

https://news.cision.com/ifs/i/edf-renewables-two,c3017902 EDF Renewables two

SOURCE IFS
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Breakthrough India's Pan-Asia Summit 'Reframe' kick-started today with an insightful discussion on what it will entail to end Gender-Based Violence in the next 10 years. The 3-day Pan-Asia summit 'Reframe' has brought together non-profit organizations, industry experts, thought leaders and media to discuss ways to create a future without Gender-based Violence.

Sohini Bhattacharya, in her welcome address, said, "The aim of this regional summit is to co-create a future agenda in the Asian context, including setting priorities, sharing of strategies for achieving and measuring progress on preventing Gender-Based Violence and Discrimination. Leveraging the opportunity provided to us with the launch of Generation Equality Forum, in 2020, advancing a shared agenda on Gender-based Violence specifically for Asia is important in the current context."

The surge of violence has disproportionately affected those who were already most likely to experience GBV  those facing intersecting and compounding oppressions on the basis of gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation and other characteristics. Adolescent girls, in particular, have faced a range of issues that are likely to increase their risk of facing GBV across their lifetimes.

Zharin Zhafrael - Co Director  Musawah, said, "Organizing a structural movement is key to addressing Gender-Based Violence. GBV needs to be tackled at all levels to build a gender-equal society. Egalitarian law and favourable family conditions are critical for economic empowerment of women in the Arab world."

An Oxfam International analysis in 70 countries over 40 years has found that the most vital and consistent factor driving policy change has been feminist activism. Feminist movements and organizations have changed the way we think about GBV, drawing attention to the issue and stirring hearts and minds globally, while also deepening our understanding of its root causes and the interventions that are most effective in addressing it.

World Health Organization's (WHO) regional estimates suggest that South Asia and South-East Asia regions have the highest rate of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the world, at 43 percent and 33 percent respectively. Four South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal in order of prevalence) feature among the top fifteen countries with the highest national prevalence of physical intimate partner violence as reported by the Demographic and Health Surveys.

SOURCE Breakthrough India
Growing up on a farm, Jeong Kwan developed a respect for seasonal produce from an early age. At 17, she left home to join a Buddhist monastery and immersed herself in the centuries-old traditions and cooking techniques of temple cuisine. Jeong Kwan's impeccably crafted dishes reflect her innate creativity, technical skills, and deep respect for seasonal ingredients.

Jeong Kwan's cuisine came to the world's attention when French chef  and fellow Buddhist  Eric Ripert of New York's famed Le Bernardin visited Baekyangsa, the seventh-century temple which Jeong Kwan calls home. Enchanted by her dishes, in 2015 he invited her to New York to prepare a meal for select guests. The subsequent profile in The New York Times described her dishes as "the most exquisite food in the world." Her fame grew when she was featured in a 2017 episode of Netflix's Emmy Award-winning Chef's Table series.

Jeong Kwan continues to cook at the hermitage she shares with her fellow nuns and attracts a growing number of devotees to Baekyangsa Temple. Within her modest kitchen, visitors are educated on the Buddhist principles that underpin authentic temple food. Although she has never worked in or owned a restaurant, Jeong Kwan's innovative cuisine places her in the vanguard of visionary chefs.

William Drew, Director of Content for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, says: "A guardian of Korean temple cuisine, Jeong Kwan is confirming her status as an international culinary icon thanks to her refined mastery of flavours and spiritual approach to cooking."

Accepting the award, Jeong Kwan said: "I am extremely honoured to receive the 2022 Icon Award. I am aware of the difficulties caused by the global pandemic and hope that the situation will improve so we can meet again to share food and positive energy."

Jeong Kwan's achievement will be highlighted as part of the online ceremony for Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2022 on 29th March, which will be broadcast to a global audience via Asia's 50 Best Restaurants Facebook and the 50 Best Restaurants TV YouTube channels.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1757974/50_Best_2022_Icon_Award.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1746199/50_Best_Asia_2022_Logo.jpg

SOURCE 50 Best
CHICAGO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 1WorldSync, the leading provider of omnichannel product content solutions, today announced the acquisition of Swogo, an award-winning e-commerce bundle technology that helps retailers in over 30 countries drive profitable growth. Retailers like Staples, Decathlon, Office Depot, Sephora and others leverage Swogo's technology to display the highest converting bundle offers to consumers shopping on their websites.

"There's a lot to love about Swogo," said Steve Sivitter, CEO of 1WorldSync, a company backed by global investment firm Battery Ventures. "Firstly, they enable significant upsell and cross-sell revenue to their clients, and we look forward to introducing their capabilities to a wider set of retailers and categories. Secondly, they greatly expand 1WorldSync's footprint in Europe, with offices in the United Kingdom and Portugal. This acquisition is yet another milestone in 1WorldSync's strategy to provide our 14,000-plus customers with best-of-breed technology and support via an end-to-end platform for omnichannel commerce."

Driving profitable growth and building bigger shopping baskets is a priority for all retailers, yet most struggle to effectively bundle products in a way that is compatible, relevant and personalized. Too often they rely on manual suggestions within their legacy systems, or on what their consumers are frequently buying together. Both approaches lead to incompatible and irrelevant matches. By combining an understanding of the retailer's product range alongside consumer behavior, Swogo's technology drives immediate results for its customers, while eliminating manual work for their teams.

"The Swogo team is thrilled to join forces with 1WorldSync," said Anthony Ng Monica, Founder and CEO of Swogo. "Our bundling technology can provide immediate margin and sales growth benefits to their vast, growing network of retail customers."

To learn more about 1WorldSync's omnichannel product content solutions, or about Swogo, please www.1worldsync.com and www.swogo.com.

About 1WorldSync

1WorldSync is the leading provider of omnichannel product content solutions, enabling more than 14,000 companies in over 60 countries to share authentic, trusted content that empowers confident commerce and intelligent consumer purchasing decisions. Through its technology platform and expert services, 1WorldSync solves revenue-impacting product content challenges faced by leading brands and retailers in the CPG/retail, DIY, consumer electronics, healthcare, and foodservice industries. 1WorldSync is one of the only product content providers and GDSN Data Pools to achieve ISO Certification 27001. For more information, please visit https://www.1worldsync.com.

About Swogo

Swogo is an award-winning provider of bundle product recommendations, enabling more than 100 retail customers in over 30 countries to increase their margin and basket size. Through the Swogo Product Graph technology, Swogo is able to guarantee compatible and relevant bundles at scale - driving immediate value for the world's leading retailers, like Staples, Decathlon, Office Depot and Sephora. For more information, please visit https://www.swogo.com.

Media Contact

Matt Galassini

[email protected]

SOURCE 1WorldSync
JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Verified Market Research recently published a report, "4D Printing in Healthcare Market" By Component (Equipment, Programmable Materials, Software & Services), By Application (Medical Models, Patient-specific Implants, Surgical Guides), By Technology (Polyjet, Fused Deposition Modelling, Selective Laser Sintering), and By Geography. According to Verified Market Research, the Global 4D Printing in Healthcare Market size was valued at USD 17.99 Billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 73.81 Billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 19.20 % from 2021 to 2028.

Download PDF Brochure:

https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample/?rid=29871

Browse in-depth TOC on "4D Printing in Healthcare Market"

202 - Pages

126  Tables

37  Figures

Global 4D Printing in Healthcare Market Overview

Global 4D Printing In Healthcare Market is likely to witness exponential growth due to its extensive application in the industry and constant technological innovations. The 4D printing technology brings substantial transformation in the medical industry. It has increased its scope of application in self-assembling human-scale biomaterials, chemotherapy, and tissue engineering. Riding on the back of technological innovations, a move from 3D medical devices to 4D such as orthodontic devices, stents, bioprinting, and biomedical splints.

The focus of market players to develop 4D printing applications for targeted drug delivery may boost the market growth. For instance, in May 2019, 3D Systems launched Simbionix ANGIO Tab Pro endovascular simulator. However, the high development cost, strict government regulations for the implantable devices and smart materials used for the product, and low awareness among low- and middle-income countries are some of the stagnating factors of the market.

The diseases like cancer, cardiovascular and others necessitate the development of novel remedies throughout time. It has also resulted in the development of cancer-fighting nanorobots, transforming them into a molecular 'delivery truck' capable of transporting molecules to particular cells in the body. With the power to reshape, 4D printing has a large scope in orthopedics. One of the restraints is lack of expertise and low adoption rate which may hamper the market.

Key Developments

May 2021 : ROKIT Healthcare market announced the opening of a high-end anti-aging wellness facility in Hungary . It hopes to integrate 4D bioprinting, single-cell RNA, intelligence-based anti-ageing goods, and individualized regenerative medicine services in this facility.

Key Players

The major players in the market are Organovo Holdings Inc., Dassault Systems, Materialise, Envision TEC. Poietis, Fit3D.

Verified Market Research has segmented the Global 4D Printing in Healthcare Market On the basis of Component, Application, Technology, and Geography.

4D Printing in Healthcare Market, By Component

Equipment



Programmable Materials



Software & Services

4D Printing in Healthcare Market, By Application

Medical Models



Patient-specific Implants



Surgical Guides



Others

4D Printing in Healthcare Market, By Technology

Polyjet



Fused Deposition Modelling



Selective Laser Sintering



Stereolithography



Others

4D Printing in Healthcare Market By Geography

North America



U.S





Canada





Mexico



Europe



Germany





France





U.K





Rest of Europe



Asia Pacific



China





Japan





India





Rest of Asia Pacific



ROW



Middle East & Africa

&



Latin America

Browse Related Reports:

3D Bioprinting Market By Material (Hydrogels, Extracellular Matrices, Living Cells), By Application (Research Applications, Clinical Applications), By Technology (Magnetic 3D Bioprinting, Laser-Assisted Bioprinting, Inkjet 3D Bioprinting, Microextrusion Bioprinting), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

3D Printing Medical Devices Market By Component (Software And Services Equipment, 3D Printers, 3D Bioprinters, Biomaterials), By Type (Surgical Guides, Dental Guides, Craniomaxillofacial Guides, Orthopedic Guides, Surgical Instruments), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

Personalized 3D Printed Orthopedic Implants Market By Material Type (Plastics, Biomaterial Inks, Metal & Alloys), By Technology (Stereolithography (SLA), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)), By End-User (Hospitals and Diagnostic Centers, Academic Institutions, Ambulatory Surgical Centers), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

3D Printing Market By Offering (Printer, Material, Software, Service), By Process (Binder Jetting, Direct Energy Deposition, Material Extrusion), By Technology (Direct Metal Laser Sintering, Fused Deposition Modelling), By Vertical (Automotive, Aerospace and Defense, Healthcare, Industrial, Printed Electronics), By Geography, Forecast, 2021-2028

Top 10 3D Printing Material Companies  Manufacturing made simpler

Visualize 4D Printing in Healthcare Market using Verified Market Intelligence:-:

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Edition: 18; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 3422

Companies: 75 - Players covered include Diebold Nixdorf, Inc.; ECR Software Corporation; Fujitsu Frontech North America, Inc.; Fujitsu Limited; IER SAS; International Business Machines Corporation; ITAB Group; NCR Corporation; Pan-Oston Company; Slabb Inc.; SPAR International; Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions; Toshiba Tec Corporation and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Component (Systems, Services); Type (Cash, Cashless); Application (Supermarkets & Hypermarkets, Department Stores, Convenience Stores, Other Applications)

Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.

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ABSTRACT-

Global Self-Checkout Systems Market to Reach US$5.9 Billion by the Year 2026

Self-checkout devices are a category of systems that assist in processing transactions. Such devices perform a cashier's job and deliver other services. Self-checkout technology is more beneficial to customers as compared to cash registers and provides greater customer satisfaction owing to factors, such as ease of operation, higher efficiency, greater transactional speed and perceived control. Growth in the global market is set to be driven by the technology's ability to reduce waiting time at retail stores like supermarkets and convenience stores, thus enhancing customers' shopping experiences and lowering operational expenses of stores. The growth of the self-checkout system market is likely to be significantly impacted by the expansion of retail industry, and the level of technology adoption by retail industry players. The growing reliance of consumers on digital payment technologies and the provision for the such payments to be made in self-checkout systems augurs well for the market. The growth in the market is likely to be significantly impacted by the expansion of retail industry, and the level of technology adoption by retail industry players. The growing reliance of consumers on digital payment technologies and the provision for the such payments to be made in self-checkout systems augurs well for the market. With labor shortage becoming a major issue for all industry verticals particularly in view of the ongoing pandemic, the role of self-checkout technologies is likely to play a role in addressing the labor shortage issue facing retail industry to some extent.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Self-Checkout Systems estimated at US$3.6 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$5.9 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 11.5% over the analysis period. Systems, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 10.8% CAGR to reach US$3.6 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Services segment is readjusted to a revised 12.5% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 41.8% share of the global Self-Checkout Systems market.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $1.5 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $814.8 Million by 2026

The Self-Checkout Systems market in the U.S. is estimated at US$1.5 Billion in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 41.38% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$814.8 Million in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 16.4% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 9.3% and 11.5% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 10.5% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$930.8 Million by the end of the analysis period. Developed regions of North America, Europe, and Japan account for a major share of the market. The well-established and widespread presence of retail networks like supermarkets and hypermarkets and the high level of digitalization in the regions are presenting opportunities for adoption of self-checkout systems.

Amid the Pandemic, Food Retailers Move Towards Self-Checkout Technologies

A new normal in food retail that may become permanent brings grim news and tepid post COVID-19 outlook. The pandemic has emerged to be massive disruption for food supermarkets and grocery stores worldwide. The pandemic has strained traditional retail. There have been widespread closures of department stores around the world since the beginning of the year. At the height of global lockdowns, the pandemic widened the gap between brick-and-mortar and online commerce as consumers were pushed fully online. The early days of the pandemic which engulfed Europe and North America taking an unprepared world by storm, people rushed to the supermarket stockpiling on food, groceries and daily essentials. To manage the unprecedented spike in demand, supermarkets had to introduce online queues and wait-list new customers. 12 months into the pandemic, food supermarkets are now facing their worst ever crisis. Infection spread has led consumers to critically re-examine the way groceries are procured.

Changes in consumer behavior will affect stores that are already struggling with low profitability and declining footfall. Fashion, furniture, and electronics retailers have been hit hardest as consumers forego discretionary purchases in favor of stocking up on food and household supplies. Because of the continuing safety concerns around COVID-19, consumers that switched to online shopping will be resistant to going back to stores as they reopen with social distancing and other restrictions in place. Digital transformation grants huge opportunity for traditional retail. As retailers shift their strategies due to the impact of the pandemic, they are quickly adapting to a new set of consumer behavior and ecommerce solutions. Department store retailers will need to pivot to omnichannel fulfilment capabilities in order to remain competitive in the new environment. Offering an expanded set of ship-from-store services will drive traffic to stores.

Omnichannel approaches such as Buy Online, Pick Up in Store (BOPIS) have thrived and these new practices are here to stay as consumers intend to continue using BOPIS after the pandemic. For instance, large retailers like Walmart and Target have embraced omnichannel fulfilment to their advantage and as a result witnessed stellar earnings due to earlier investments in e-commerce. Consumers are also increasingly using contactless and mobile payments ahead of handling cash or touching POS terminal keypads. An integrated POS system across both online and offline stores will help streamline and enable contactless payments. More

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CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a leader in the global specialty chemicals industry, announced today that Kent Masters, chief executive officer, and Scott Tozier, chief financial officer, will participate in a virtual fireside chat hosted by RBC Capital Markets on March 8, 2022, scheduled to begin at 9:20 a.m. ET.

The presentation materials will be accessible at the time of the event through the Events and Presentations page on Albemarle's website at http://investors.albemarle.com. Webcast replays will be posted to the company's website approximately 48 hours following the conclusion of the event.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company with leading positions in lithium, bromine and catalysts. We think beyond business as usual to power the potential of companies in many of the world's largest and most critical industries, such as energy, electronics, and transportation. We actively pursue a sustainable approach to managing our diverse global footprint of world-class resources. In conjunction with our highly experienced and talented global teams, our deep-seated values, and our collaborative customer relationships, we create value-added and performance-based solutions that enable a safer and more sustainable future.

We regularly post information to www.albemarle.com, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, non-GAAP reconciliations, SEC filings and other information regarding our company, its businesses and the markets it serves.

SOURCE Albemarle Corporation
Vendor Landscape

The market structure is expected to remain fragmented during the forecast period. Vendors are deploying different organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market.

Alcon Inc., Bausch Health Companies Inc., Bionic Eye Technologies Inc., Bionic Vision Technologies, Carl Zeiss AG, Nano Retina, NIDEK Co. Ltd., PIXIUM VISION, and Second Sight Medical Products Inc. among others are some of the few key vendors competing to maintain their market position in the market.

Various players in the market are engaging in strategic partnerships and joint ventures coupled with launching differentiated products to up their game in the Artificial Retina industry.

View more about the market's vendor landscape highlights with a comprehensive list of vendors and their offerings.

Key Market Segmentation

Segmentation by Disease Type:

Macular Degeneration



In patients with macular degeneration, artificial retinas are utilized to replace dead photoreceptors. Second Sight Medical Products' Argus II artificial retina is one of the artificial retinae that gives rudimentary vision for blind individuals. Patients who have lost their central vision due to age-related macular degeneration are unlikely to gain much from an Argus II because their peripheral vision is still superior to the devices. During the forecast period, the macular degeneration category will boost its artificial retina market share significantly.



Diabetic Retinopathy

Request a FREE Sample of this report for more highlights into the market segments.

Regional Market Outlook

North America will contribute to 38% of the market growth during the forecast period. The growth of this region can be attributed to the exponential growth of the real estate industry owing to the high prevalence of retinal disorders.

Apart from regions, if we look at the country-wise market growth, the US, Canada, Germany, Spain, and France will contribute to the highest market growth.

Download our FREE sample report for more key highlights on the regional market share of most of the above-mentioned countries.

Latest Trends, Driving the Global Artificial Retina Market

Market Driver:

The rise in prevalence of retinal diseases:

The growth in risk factors is linked to the rise in the prevalence of retinal disorders. RVO is most common in adults over the age of 50, and the prevalence rises with age. The chance of developing advanced AMD rises from 2% in the 50-59 age group to approximately 30% in those over 75. Because of the increase in average life expectancy, the world's senior population is fast expanding. Around 810 million people over the age of 65 are estimated to be living in the world by 2025.

Market Trend:

Escalating investment in ophthalmological R&D and innovations:

Another factor driving artificial retina market expansion is increased expenditure in ophthalmological R&D and innovations. Various countries, such as the United States, are focusing on using modern technology and innovation to reduce the prevalence of blindness in their countries.

Find additional information about various other market drivers & trends mentioned in our FREE sample report.

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Artificial Retina Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 12.54% Market growth 2022-2026 $ 9.43 billion Market structure Concentrated YoY growth (%) 11.38 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World (ROW) Performing market contribution North America at 38% Key consumer countries US, Canada, Germany, Spain, and France Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled Alcon Inc., Bausch Health Companies Inc., Bionic Eye Technologies Inc., Bionic Vision Technologies, Carl Zeiss AG, Nano Retina, NIDEK Co. Ltd., PIXIUM VISION, and Second Sight Medical Products 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.

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Application



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by Application

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on Application - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on Application - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Application

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by Application



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by Application

5.3 Angiography - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on Angiography - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on Angiography - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Chart on Angiography - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Angiography - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Angioplasty - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on Angioplasty - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Angioplasty - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Chart on Angioplasty - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Angioplasty - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by Application

Exhibit 36: Market opportunity by Application ($ million)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 37: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 38: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 40: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 42: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 43: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 44: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 45: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 Asia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 46: Chart on Asia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 47: Data Table on Asia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 48: Chart on Asia - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 49: Data Table on Asia - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 50: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 51: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 52: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 53: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 54: Chart on Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 55: Data Table on Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 56: Chart on Rest of World (ROW) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 57: Data Table on Rest of World (ROW) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 58: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 59: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 60: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 61: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 62: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 63: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 64: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 65: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on India - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 68: Chart on India - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on India - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 70: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 71: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 72: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 73: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 74: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 75: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 76: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 77: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 78: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 79: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 80: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 81: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 82: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 83: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 84: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 Abbott Laboratories

Exhibit 85: Abbott Laboratories - Overview



Exhibit 86: Abbott Laboratories - Business segments



Exhibit 87: Abbott Laboratories - Key news



Exhibit 88: Abbott Laboratories - Key offerings



Exhibit 89: Abbott Laboratories - Segment focus

10.4 Argon Medical Devices Inc.

Exhibit 90: Argon Medical Devices Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 91: Argon Medical Devices Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 92: Argon Medical Devices Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 93: Argon Medical Devices Inc. - Key offerings

10.5 B . Braun Melsungen AG

. Braun Melsungen AG Exhibit 94: B. Braun Melsungen AG - Overview



Exhibit 95: B. Braun Melsungen AG - Business segments



Exhibit 96: B. Braun Melsungen AG - Key news



Exhibit 97: B. Braun Melsungen AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 98: B. Braun Melsungen AG - Segment focus

10.6 Boston Scientific Corp.

Exhibit 99: Boston Scientific Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 100: Boston Scientific Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 101: Boston Scientific Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 102: Boston Scientific Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 103: Boston Scientific Corp. - Segment focus

10.7 Freudenberg SE

Exhibit 104: Freudenberg SE - Overview



Exhibit 105: Freudenberg SE - Business segments



Exhibit 106: Freudenberg SE - Key news



Exhibit 107: Freudenberg SE - Key offerings



Exhibit 108: Freudenberg SE - Segment focus

10.8 Galt Medical Corp.

Exhibit 109: Galt Medical Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 110: Galt Medical Corp. - Product / Service



Exhibit 111: Galt Medical Corp. - Key offerings

10.9 Isla Lab Products LLC

Exhibit 112: Isla Lab Products LLC - Overview



Exhibit 113: Isla Lab Products LLC - Product / Service



Exhibit 114: Isla Lab Products LLC - Key offerings

10.10 SCW Medicath Ltd.

Exhibit 115: SCW Medicath Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 116: SCW Medicath Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 117: SCW Medicath Ltd. - Key offerings

10.11 Shenzhen Antmed Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 118: Shenzhen Antmed Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 119: Shenzhen Antmed Co. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 120: Shenzhen Antmed Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

10.12 Teleflex Inc.

Exhibit 121: Teleflex Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 122: Teleflex Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 123: Teleflex Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 124: Teleflex Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 125: Teleflex Inc. - Segment focus

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 126: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 127: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 128: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 129: Research methodology



Exhibit 130: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 131: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 132: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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SOURCE Technavio
RADNOR, Penn., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Avantor Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Avantor, Inc. (NYSE: AVTR), has surpassed $6 million in giving to support greater access to healthcare and advance STEM education since its inception in 2009. The Foundation grants, in conjunction with Avantor's product donations and recently launched associate volunteer program, are strengthening communities where the Company operates around the world.

"Our collective philanthropic work through our 'Science for Goodness' platform continues to make a positive, lasting impact on our society and planet," said Michael Stubblefield, President and CEO of Avantor. "We're driven by our mission to set science in motion to create a better world which includes creating a platform for our passionate associates to directly engage with organizations and the communities in which we operate. This mirrors the way we collaborate with customers around the world, side by side to advance life-changing science."

In 2021, the Avantor Foundation donated more than $1 million to 16 organizations across 12 countries. Volunteer programming also was piloted in 2021 as Avantor created opportunities for associates to assemble STEM and hygiene kits for donation. For example, while visiting the Company's headquarters for team meetings, many global associates created 500 STEM kits, some of which were donated to Girls Inc., Greater Philadelphia and Southern NJ, an Avantor Foundation grantee. Each kit allows for fun, hands-on learning and exploration for students grades K-6 to complete at home or at school.

In addition, the Avantor Foundation organized volunteer opportunities for company associates to work with Stemettes, a Foundation grantee, to inspire young women to pursue STEM careers. Associates in the U.S., United Kingdom and Ireland participated and additional opportunities with Stemettes and other Foundation grantees are underway in 2022.

As a global life sciences company, Avantor also donates much-needed materials and consumables to communities around the world.

More details will be highlighted in Avantor's' 2022 sustainability report later this year. To learn more about Science for Goodness, visit the Company's sustainability website.

Avantor

Avantor, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. Our portfolio is used in virtually every stage of the most important research, development and production activities in the industries we serve. Our global footprint enables us to serve more than 225,000 customer locations and gives us extensive access to research laboratories and scientists in more than 180 countries. We set science in motion to create a better world. For more information, please visit www.avantorsciences.com and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook .

About the Avantor Foundation

As the philanthropic arm of Avantor, the Avantor Foundation's mission is to create a better world by advancing science education and providing healthcare to those in need. Since 2009, the Avantor Foundation has been making a difference in the science community by supporting organizations aligned to its mission. Learn more at avantorfoundation.org.

Media Contact

Petro Kacur

Director, PR and External Communications

Avantor

M: 404-408-0663

[email protected]

SOURCE Avantor and Financial News
KHARTOUM, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Deputy Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Daqlu stressed that dialogue is the only solution to the current political crisis in the country.

Daqlu made the remarks during a press conference at Khartoum airport upon his return on Wednesday from a visit to Russia.

He urged all the Sudanese political components to show wisdom, saying "the one who protests against us is the one who rejects dialogue, and we extend our hands for dialogue."

"We want consensus, and we hope to return to dialogue, because eventually we will reach dialogue, and therefore it is better to start now," Daqalu said.

Daqalu noted the country has landed in a political impasse, "with no consensus reached or a government formed, no prime minister and no one wants elections," urging political factions to achieve reconciliation so the country can start an election.

Daqalu started an official visit to Russia on Feb. 23 in response to an invitation from Russian government.

He stressed that "the Russian-Sudanese ties are historic, deeply-rooted and based on cooperation and mutual respect."

Sudan has been suffering a political crisis after the General Commander of the Sudanese Army Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on Oct. 25, 2021, and dissolved the Sovereign Council and the government.

Since then, opposition groups have been staging regular mass protests in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and other cities to demand civilian rule. 
The J.D. Power Financial Health Support Certification Program, developed in collaboration with Financial Health Network, a leading authority on financial health, focuses on measuring and understanding customer experiences through the lens of financial health. Drawing on data and insights collected as part of the J.D. Power Financial Health and Advice Program, the J.D. Power Financial Health Support Certification recognized Bank of America for outstanding levels of customer satisfaction with financial health support offerings.

"At Bank of America, we have centered our entire client experience around the goal of financial health. We listen to our clients and respond with the personalized advice and tools they need to achieve financial wellness," said Holly O'Neill, President of Retail Banking at Bank of America. "This certification recognizes our commitment to supporting financial health using a multifaceted approach. We provide educational resources and financial solutions that help clients build sound financial habits, manage their cashflow and pursue their goals."

In its analysis, J.D. Power compared 96 best practices among banks, assessing vision, performance, infrastructure, and solutions. They looked at leadership commitment and strategic direction to support customers' financial health and assessed internal capabilities, collaborative tools, and product development processes that can lead to it.

Bank of America uses a holistic framework for supporting the financial health of its clients, providing advice and guidance to address five key pillars of financial health:

In the J.D. Power Financial Health and Advice study, released in June 2021, Bank of America ranked number one nationally for retail banking customer satisfaction with the advice and guidance provided by national and regional banks in the United States.

J.D. Power 2021 Financial Health Support CertificationSM is based on exceeding customer experience benchmarks using client surveys and a best practices verification. For more information, visit jdpower.com/awards.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,200 retail financial centers, approximately 16,000 ATMs, and award-winning digital banking with approximately 41 million active users, including approximately 33 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and approximately 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Banking products are provided by Bank of America, N.A. and affiliated banks, Members FDIC and wholly owned subsidiaries of Bank of America Corporation.

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.

Reporters May Contact:

Susan Atran, Bank of America

Phone: 646.743.0791

[email protected]

SOURCE Bank of America Corporation
"Bill is a veteran journalist dedicated to impactful and trustworthy journalism," said Local Media President Brian Lawlor. "His deep experience in broadcasting will help drive WPTV's continued success."

During his tenure, WSFL partnered with WPLG, the market leader in Miami, to launch new local newscasts. Siegel also worked with Scripps leaders across the state to develop and launch Florida 24, a free statewide news channel streaming 24/7 with headlines, breaking news, and in-depth reporting.

"I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish in Miami, and I know that our teams will continue to advance local journalism in South Florida," said Siegel. "I look forward to continuing my Scripps journey in West Palm Beach, and I am thankful to be given the opportunity to lead the great team at WPTV."

Siegel received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Iowa and a master's in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University.

About Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is a diversified media company focused on creating a better-informed world. As one of the nation's largest local TV broadcasters, Scripps serves communities with quality, objective local journalism and operates a portfolio of 61 stations in 41 markets. The Scripps Networks reach nearly every American through the national news outlets Court TV and Newsy and popular entertainment brands ION, Bounce, Defy TV, Grit, ION Mystery, Laff and TrueReal. Scripps is the nation's largest holder of broadcast spectrum. Scripps runs an award-winning investigative reporting newsroom in Washington, D.C., and is the longtime steward of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Founded in 1878, Scripps has held for decades to the motto, "Give light and the people will find their own way."

SOURCE The E.W. Scripps Company
Bob Evans Farms Awards Total Of $75,000 To Three Veteran Entrepreneurs Tweet this

H2C is an annual contest promoted through Bob Evans Farms' Our Farm Salutes initiative, a national philanthropic mission dedicated to supporting U.S. military heroes and their families through awareness, donations, strategic partnerships, grant opportunities and volunteerism.

Hampden Farms: As a Veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Zephrine Hanson founded Hampden Farms. Hampden Farms focuses on accelerating food security and community wealth building for underserved communities in the Denver metro area. Hampden Farms does this through investing in agricultural entrepreneurship, value-added crops and products.

Sterilogy: Founded by Hal Zaima, a Veteran of the U.S. Army, Sterilogy has the only patented body-worn personal hand hygiene system designed to reduce hospital infections. The product alerts hospital staff at the appropriate time to dispense and use Sterilogy's hand sanitizer, recording the event into Sterilogy's cloud, reducing patient exposure and the traditionally high costs associated with high infection rates in the U.S.

Backpacks for Life: Backpacks for Life was founded by United States Marine Corps Veteran Brett D'Alessandro and his spouse, Alexa Modero. The organization provides unique and personalized support to homeless and at-risk Veterans currently struggling to reintegrate into civilian life. Backpacks for Life assembles and distributes backpacks filled with daily essentials, shelter, and mental health counseling care, and provides guidance through their mentorship program.

"I am inspired by the brave men and women who serve our country, and we are honored to continue our Heroes to CEOs program for a sixth consecutive year," said Mark Delahanty, President and CEO of Bob Evans Farms. "We believe that no Veteran should be left behind, and that is why we chose to revisit past submissions and award three deserving Veteran organizations whose missions are aligned closely with Bob Evans Farms."

Delahanty added: "We are proud to offer each of these veterans $25,000, as well as professional mentoring by some of the most inspiring Veteran entrepreneurs in the U.S. We look forward to working together with this year's winners, helping them to progress in their business endeavors and in their lives."

Bob Evans Farms has funded a total of $450,000 to Veteran-owned businesses and organizations since the Heroes to CEOs program started in 2017.

For more information on OFS and the Heroes to CEOs program visit bobevansgrocery.com/our-farm-salutes and for more information about Bob Evans Farms, visit www.bobevansgrocery.com. For a complete list of finalists, visit bobevansgrocery.com/our-farm-salutes/heroes-to-ceos.

About Bob Evans Farms, Inc.

Bob Evans Farms, Inc. is a brand born and raised on the promise of farm-fresh goodness. For more than 70 years, the company has been making delicious, quick-to-table, farm-fresh food that is sold in grocery stores all over the country. Today, Bob Evans brand mashed potatoes and macaroni & cheese products are the #1 selling refrigerated side dishes in the United States*. Based in Columbus, Ohio and owned by Post Holdings, Inc., a consumer-packaged goods holding company, Bob Evans Farms is also a leading producer and distributor of refrigerated potato, pasta and vegetable-based side dishes, pork sausage, and a variety of refrigerated and frozen convenience food items under the Bob Evans, Owens and Pineland Farms brand names. For more information about Bob Evans Farms, Inc., visit www.bobevansgrocery.com.

* SOURCE: IRI Total US MULO Latest 52 W/E 01/23/22

SOURCE Bob Evans Farms, Inc.
DUBLIN, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Butane Gas Cartridges Global Market Report 2021: COVID-19 Growth and Change" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global butane gas cartridges market.



This report focuses on butane gas cartridges market which is experiencing strong growth. The report gives a guide to the butane gas cartridges market which will be shaping and changing our lives over the next ten years and beyond, including the market's response to the challenge of the global pandemic.



Reasons to Purchase

Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 12+ geographies.

Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates.

Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.

Identify growth segments for investment.

Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.

Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.

Benchmark performance against key competitors.

Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.

Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high quality data and analysis

Description:

Where is the largest and fastest growing market for butane gas cartridges? How does the market relate to the overall economy, demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The Butane Gas Cartridges market global report answers all these questions and many more.



The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider butane gas cartridges market, and compares it with other markets.

The market characteristics section of the report defines and explains the market.

The market size section gives the market size ($b) covering both the historic growth of the market, the influence of the COVID-19 virus and forecasting its growth.

Market segmentations break down market into sub markets.

The regional and country breakdowns section gives an analysis of the market in each geography and the size of the market by geography and compares their historic and forecast growth. It covers the growth trajectory of COVID-19 for all regions, key developed countries and major emerging markets.

Competitive landscape gives a description of the competitive nature of the market, market shares, and a description of the leading companies. Key financial deals which have shaped the market in recent years are identified.

The trends and strategies section analyses the shape of the market as it emerges from the crisis and suggests how companies can grow as the market recovers.

The butane gas cartridges market section of the report gives context. It compares the butane gas cartridges market with other segments of the butane gas cartridges market by size and growth, historic and forecast. It analyses GDP proportion, expenditure per capita, butane gas cartridges indicators comparison.

Major players in the butane gas cartridges market are Taeyang Corp, Ultracare Products, Coleman, Aspire Industries, Marina Corporation, Kampa, Zhejiang Jinyu, Balkan Gasovi, Iwatani Corporation, Gasmate, Do-Well Aerosols, Kovea Co. Ltd, Seo Young Corporation, and Praxair Inc.



The global butane gas cartridges market is expected to grow from $402.67 million in 2020 to $431.99 million in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3%. The growth is mainly due to the companies resuming their operations and adapting to the new normal while recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities that resulted in operational challenges. The market is expected to reach $535.97 million in 2025 at a CAGR of 5.5%.



The butane gas cartridges market consists of sales of butane gas cartridges by entities (organizations, sole traders, and partnerships) that contain liquified butane gas mixed with a much smaller amount of Propane. These are manufactured using metal for better storage function and are most commonly used for camping and picnics, sealing poly bags, metalworking, pest control, and fumigation.



The main types of butane gas cartridges are below 220g/unit, 220-250g/unit, and above 250g/unit. Below 220g/unit cartridges are mainly used for portable gas stoves, fogging machines, and butane lanterns, and others. The different applications include medical, stoves, food and beverages, commercial, others and used in various verticals such as pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies, chemical and petrochemical companies, food and beverage companies, others.



The Asia Pacific was the largest region in the butane gas cartridges market in 2020. The regions covered in this report are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, and Africa.



Strategic collaborations are a key trend gaining popularity in the butane gas cartridges market. Major companies operating in the butane gas cartridges sector are focused on strategic collaborations and partnerships to strengthen their position.



The increase in population density in urban areas across the globe is contributing to the growth of the butane gas cartridges market. Butane gas cartridges are used to store the butane gas or a mixture of butane and propane gas. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a mixture of butane and propane is used for cooking and higher population density is associated with the higher usage of LPG. For instance, countries in East Asia and the Pacific region saw the highest growth in their urban populations in the historic period.



The countries covered in the butane gas cartridges market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary



2. Butane Gas Cartridges Market Characteristics



3. Butane Gas Cartridges Market Trends and Strategies



4. Impact Of COVID-19 On Butane Gas Cartridges



5. Butane Gas Cartridges Market Size and Growth

5.1. Global Butane Gas Cartridges Historic Market, 2015-2020, $ Billion

5.1.1. Drivers Of the Market

5.1.2. Restraints On the Market

5.2. Global Butane Gas Cartridges Forecast Market, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

5.2.1. Drivers Of the Market

5.2.2. Restraints On the Market



6. Butane Gas Cartridges Market Segmentation

6.1. Global Butane Gas Cartridges Market, Segmentation by Type, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

Below 220g/Unit

220-250 g/Unit

Above 250 g/Unit

6.2. Global Butane Gas Cartridges Market, Segmentation by Application, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

Medical

Stoves

Commercial

Others

6.3. Global Butane Gas Cartridges Market, Segmentation by End User, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

Pharmaceutical and Biotechnological Companies

Chemical and Petrochemical Companies

Food and Beverage Companies

Others

7. Butane Gas Cartridges Market Regional and Country Analysis

7.1. Global Butane Gas Cartridges Market, Split by Region, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

7.2. Global Butane Gas Cartridges Market, Split by Country, Historic and Forecast, 2015-2020, 2020-2025F, 2030F, $ Billion

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/e497or

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



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CHICAGO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of global market infrastructure and tradable products, today reported February monthly trading volume statistics across its global business lines.

The data sheet "Cboe Global Markets Monthly Volume & RPC/Net Revenue Capture Report" contains an overview of certain February trading statistics and market share by business segment, volume in select index products, and RPC/net capture, which is reported on a one-month lag, across business lines.

Trading Volume for Current Month Year-To-Date

















Feb

2022 Feb

2021 %

Chg Jan

2022 %

Chg Feb

2022 Feb

2021 %

Chg Multiply-listed options (contracts, k) 10,805 11,178 -3.3% 11,573 -6.6% 11,199 11,381 -1.6% Index options (contracts, k) 2,403 1,944 23.6% 2,553 -5.9% 2,480 1,967 26.1% Futures (contracts, k) 270 269 0.4% 303 -10.9% 287 271 6.2% U.S. Equities - On-Exchange (matched shares, mn) 1,758 2,305 -23.7% 1,794 -2.0% 1,777 2,293 -22.5% U.S. Equities - Off-Exchange (matched shares, mn) 105 100 5.3% 105 0.0% 105 106 -0.6% Canadian Equities (matched shares, k) 37,792 88,355 -57.2% 42,651 -11.4% 40,284 75,679 -46.8% European Equities (, mn) 12,672 7,532 68.2% 11,737 8.0% 12,193 7,102 71.7% EuroCCP Cleared Trades (k) 140,562 93,040 51.1% 132,328 6.2% 272,889 181,282 NM EuroCCP Net Settlements (k) 874 771 13.3% 889 -1.6% 1,763 1,511 NM Australian Equities1 (AUD, mn) 893 N/A

844 5.7% 868 N/A

Japanese Equities1 (JPY, bn) 162 N/A

158 2.7% 160 N/A

Global FX ADNV ($, mn) 42,926 37,346 14.9% 37,320 15.0% 40,055 36,276 10.4%

1Australian Equities and Japanese Equities data reflects Cboe's acquisition of Chi-X Asia Pacific effective on July 1, 2021.

ADV = Average Daily Volume ADNV = Average Daily Notional Value NM = Not Meaningful

February 2022 Trading Volume Highlights

Total volume across Cboe's four options exchanges was 250.9 million contracts, the highest February volume on record. Total options ADV was 13.2 million contracts for the month.

Trading in S&P 500 Index (SPX) options during Global Trading Hours reached a new high in February, with a record ADV of 31,846 contracts.

MSCI EAFE Index (MXEA) options set a new daily volume record with 6,793 contracts traded on February 25 .

. Cboe BIDS Canada, Cboe's new Canadian equities block-trading offering, successfully launched on February 1 with strong buyside demand.

with strong buyside demand. Cboe Periodic Auctions reported record ADNV traded of 2.0 billion in February, beating the previous record of 1.9 billion ADNV traded in January 2022 .

About Cboe Global Markets, Inc.

Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of market infrastructure and tradable products, delivers cutting-edge trading, clearing and investment solutions to market participants around the world. The company is committed to operating a trusted, inclusive global marketplace, providing leading products, technology and data solutions that enable participants to define a sustainable financial future. Cboe provides trading solutions and products in multiple asset classes, including equities, derivatives and FX, across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more, visit www.cboe.com.

CBOE-V

Cboe, Cboe Global Markets, Cboe Volatility Index, and VIX are registered trademarks and Cboe Futures ExchangeSM is a service mark of Cboe Exchange, Inc. or its affiliates. Standard & Poor's, S&P, SPX, and S&P 500 are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services, LLC, and have been licensed for use by Cboe Exchange, Inc All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Any products that have the S&P Index or Indexes as their underlying interest are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Standard & Poor's or Cboe and neither Standard & Poor's nor Cboe make any representations or recommendations concerning the advisability of investing in products that have S&P indexes as their underlying interests. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and its affiliates do not recommend or make any representation as to possible benefits from any securities, futures or investments, or third-party products or services. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. is not affiliated with S&P or MSCI Inc. Investors should undertake their own due diligence regarding their securities, futures, and investment practices. This press release speaks only as of this date. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. disclaims any duty to update the information herein.

Nothing in this announcement should be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell any securities or futures in any jurisdiction where the offer or solicitation would be unlawful under the laws of such jurisdiction. Nothing contained in this communication constitutes tax, legal or investment advice. Investors must consult their tax adviser or legal counsel for advice and information concerning their particular situation.

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and its affiliates make no warranty, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, any warranties as of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, completeness or timeliness, the results to be obtained by recipients of the products and services described herein, or as to the ability of the indices referenced in this press release to track the performance of their respective securities, generally, or the performance of the indices referenced in this press release or any subset of their respective securities, and shall not in any way be liable for any inaccuracies, errors. Cboe Global Markets, Inc. and its affiliates have not calculated, composed or determined the constituents or weightings of the securities that comprise the third-party indices referenced in this press release and shall not in any way be liable for any inaccuracies or errors in any of the indices referenced in this press release.

Options involve risk and are not suitable for all market participants. Prior to buying or selling an option, a person should review the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (ODD), which is required to be provided to all such persons. Copies of the ODD are available from your broker or from The Options Clearing Corporation, 125 S. Franklin Street, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60606.

Futures trading is not suitable for all investors and involves the risk of loss. That risk of loss can be substantial and can exceed the amount of money deposited for a futures position. You should, therefore, carefully consider whether futures trading is suitable for you in light of your circumstances and financial resources. You should put at risk only funds that you can afford to lose without affecting your lifestyle. For additional information regarding futures trading risks, see the Risk Disclosure Statement set forth in Appendix A to CFTC Regulation 1.55(c) and the Risk Disclosure Statement for Security Futures Contracts.

SOURCE Cboe Global Markets, Inc.
CHANDLER, Ariz., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Chandler Innovations, the city's business incubation, and entrepreneurial development program, has been selected to orchestrate the statewide representation of events during the Global Entrepreneurship Network's annual Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Global Entrepreneurship Week is a massive campaign to celebrate and empower entrepreneurs in every country and community around the world  especially those individuals who face structural barriers or may have never considered the idea of launching their own startup. Each November, ten million people take part in tens of thousands of activities, competitions, and events that inspire them to act and provide them with the knowledge, experience, and connections they need to succeed.

Arizona is a growing player in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, with many resources for founders.

For Diana White, CEO of Chandler Innovations Incubator, helping organizations across Arizona host events to celebrate GEW is an honor and privilege.

"Chandler Innovations was asked to coordinate for Arizona once again after a successful showing in 2021," said White. "Each year, we have more participants and increasingly exciting events. I find immense joy in helping the state showcase our entrepreneurial strength and the breadth of our support for the ecosystem."

GEW will be from November 14th through the 20th this year. Last year, Arizona hosted over thirty events in seven cities across the state.

"It is my hope that we can continue to expand engagement and involve more rural Arizona communities," said White. "There are founders all over the state that need resources and a sense of community. GEW-AZ allows us to bring everyone together."

Visit https://www.genglobal.org/gew to learn more about Global Entrepreneurship Week and the Global Entrepreneurship Network.

For more information about Chandler Innovations, visit innovationsincubator.com.

About Chandler Innovations: Chandler Innovations is a business incubation program for tech-focused businesses. The program is sponsored by the City of Chandler and powered by Moonshot at NACET. Chandler Innovations offers programs for entrepreneurs and founders throughout the year. It also provides entrepreneurship mentoring and community events.

Contact:

Diana White

CEO, Chandler Innovations

[email protected]

SOURCE Chandler Innovations Incubator
CHICAGO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Civis Analytics, a data science firm innovating at the intersection of public good and scientific best practices, today announced the launch of its cloud-based Digital Equity Intelligence Center, a comprehensive suite of data and interactive tools enabling a precise understanding of broadband affordability, access, and adoption issues across communities.

The Digital Equity Intelligence Center leverages Civis's ability to create a single source of data truth, and scales the expertise of Civis's best-in-class data analytics consulting practice, encapsulating its models in a user-friendly application. From there, teams can create specific audiences for campaign activation.

"We know we need to close the digital divide, but effective, efficient programs start with a precise understanding of who is impacted  something that's currently lacking," said Crystal Son, MPH, Managing Director of Government Analytics at Civis Analytics. "We also need to look holistically at digital equity. It's not just an access issue. Over the last few months we surveyed more than 10,000 US adults, and almost 20% said they had trouble paying for internet in the past year, and only half rated their knowledge and skills of how to use the internet 'very strong.' If someone can't afford broadband, or if they don't know how to use the internet safely, those are also problems we need to address. We built the Digital Equity Intelligence Center with these challenges in mind."

The Digital Equity Intelligence Center provides a library of data and models alongside an interactive map-based application, allowing teams to skip the back-end data work and get straight to identifying key audiences for outreach. Benefits of the SaaS tool include:

All the data you need, all in one place: Digital Equity Intelligence Center combines all relevant data sources  existing data, publicly available geographic data, and Civis-modeled data  to create a single source of data truth. The tool provides a holistic view of digital equity in a community, with data on access, affordability, and adoption.

Digital Equity Intelligence Center combines all relevant data sources  existing data, publicly available geographic data, and Civis-modeled data  to create a single source of data truth. The tool provides a holistic view of digital equity in a community, with data on access, affordability, and adoption. No coding or analytics expertise required : Data analytics and models created by Civis's data scientists are surfaced in an easy-to-use interface, so any team member can use it to understand populations of interest and then create custom lists for campaign activation.

: Data analytics and models created by Civis's data scientists are surfaced in an easy-to-use interface, so any team member can use it to understand populations of interest and then create custom lists for campaign activation. Easy customization with white glove support from the Civis team: Our team of analytics experts will configure the tool so it matches each organization's community and goals. This includes laying down key points of interest (libraries, churches, etc.) and configuring the map display to the right geographic unit (i.e. neighborhood view vs. a county view).

The Digital Equity Intelligence Center leverages the same Civis technology used across the country to guide campaigns for the COVID-19 vaccine and the 2020 Census, and recognized by organizations like Fast Company and Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL). Civis technology is SOC 2 Type II certified and aligns to HIPAA controls.

"This approach is applicable to many government programs," Son added. "With a more precise understanding of who is in need and where to reach them, government teams can proactively connect critical services with those they're intended for."

On Friday, March 4, at 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET, Civis is hosting a free webinar with Governing which will explore the critical importance of connected communities and how agencies can deliver more opportunities to their constituents.

To learn more, visit Civis's website, where you can view a demo video, read related blog posts, and view a sample dataset.

About Civis Analytics

Civis Analytics's cloud-based platform gives organizations a competitive advantage in how they identify, attract, and engage people using data. With technology that's augmented by proprietary data and advisory services, and an interdisciplinary team of data scientists, developers, and survey science experts, Civis helps organizations turn data into campaigns that compel action. Learn more about Civis at www.civisanalytics.com.

SOURCE Civis Analytics
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Engagement Labs released its fifth annual ranking of America's "most loved" brands. Carter's, the retailer of children's apparel ranks first while Trader Joe's, the American grocery store, moved down to the second top spot of the list of brands most positively talked about in offline conversations, ahead of more than 650 brands across all consumer categories.

Meantime, Great Value, a Walmart brand, and American Family Insurance also switched places for the top positions for the most loved brands in online talk.

"This year's TotalSocial Most Loved Brands exhibit the vital consumer emotional connection with brands and demonstrates how the brand marketers have built and found opportunities even during the past two years of pandemic," said Steven Brown, president of Engagement Labs. "Brand love has been a major part of our work with Fortune 500 brands and continues to be a focus in 2022."

Costco's Kirkland is the only brand to rank among brands both online and offline that shows the importance of marketing strategies that seek to activate both channels in driving business performance. Gillette's improvement in offline brand love grew the most last year than any other top 10 brand. Gillette has not been shy of the weighing in real-world conversations in social issues with ads such as toxic masculinity that demonstrates that when it comes to offline, its positive word of mouth rise above and resonates to consumers.

Last year's net sentiment of consumer conversations is positive for everyday categories such as beauty and personal care, children's products, food and home. The importance of positive sentiment prevails as the "Great Resignation" ensues and more people adjust to hybrid lifestyle and preferring to stay at home to work remotely.

This analysis ranks the most loved brands based on net positive conversations happening online (via social media) and offline (via face-to-face conversations as well as phone, emailing, texting, IM'ing, video chat  in other words, via any channel other than posting on social media) to determine its annual TotalSocial Brand Awards winners.

MOST LOVED BRANDS OFFLINE Rank* Brands Rank Change

vs. 2020 1 Carter's +1 2 Trader Joe's -1 3 Dawn +8 4 Oreo n/c 5 Dove Men + Care +3 6 Dove -1 6 Lego +1 8 Gillette +68 8 Kirkland +22 10 Nivea n/c *Source: Engagement Labs' TotalSocial. Based on brands with the

highest net sentiment offline in 2021.

MOST LOVED BRANDS ONLINE Rank* Brands Rank Change

vs. 2020 1 American Family +1 2 Great Value -1 3 Lush +22 4 TripAdvisor +11 5 Mary Kay +8 6 Kirkland -3 7 Kenmore +46 8 Clean & Clear n/c 9 Express +18 10 Clinique +1 *Source: Engagement Labs' TotalSocial. Based on brands with the

highest net sentiment online in 2021.

The Difference Between Offline and Online Conversations

Online and offline discussions are two entirely different conversations, generally unrelated to each other, as Engagement Labs articles have shown in the Journal of Advertising Research and the MIT Sloan Management Review. Both types of conversations have an impact that leads to sales, but they do so very differently, and they require different marketing strategies. According to Engagement Labs data and analytics 19 percent of all consumer purchases are driven by these kinds of consumer conversations.

"The modified life and return to some normality during 2021 reflect the brands on our 'most loved' brands list and brand landscape of who's earning the most positive recommendations from consumers," said Brown. "The rise of Lush, Trip Advisor, Kenmore, Mary Kay and Express online, as well as Dawn, Gillette, and Kirkland in the offline space reveals what consumers engage and talk about with great sentiment for the past year."

"The goal of marketers is to be successful in achieving more positive conversations, both online and offline, to ultimately become "Conversation Commanders," as we have labeled the most successful brands in both conversation arenas. To achieve this, marketers need to have two separate measurement and marketing strategies, to make sure these separate, but equally important conversations are maximized."

To learn more about Engagement Labs and how to increase your brand's consumer conversations in real life and online, reach out at: [email protected].

About Engagement Labs

Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company's TotalSocial platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients.

To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.

About TotalSocial Brand Awards  Most Loved Brands

The awards are based on the Company's proprietary TotalSocial data and analytics platform, which continuously measures the online and offline social metrics that are proven drivers of business performance. These metrics, including both online and offline conversations against the following major conversation dimensions: net sentiment (the difference in the percent positive conversations minus negative), brand sharing (the extent to which people are sharing or talking about a brand's marketing or advertising), volume (a measure of how many conversations mention a brand) and influence (the extent to which an influential audience is talking about a brand). The Most Loved Award is given to brands with the highest net sentiment scores online and offline in 2021.

For media inquiries please contact:

Vanessa Lontoc, VP of Marketing

Engagement Labs

[email protected]

SOURCE Engagement Labs
Dale Medical Products becomes 100% Employee Owned Tweet this

John Brezack commented on Dale's history; "Since our founding in 1961 and as President since 1997, my philosophy has been to empower our employees to produce our products and work with our suppliers and customers as if they were direct stakeholders in Dale. I am extremely pleased that my vision has become fully realized. Our employees can now have an additional level of confidence that Dale is here to serve the needs of its customers over a much longer horizon. I am excited to sell the company to our employees themselves, so they could continue our Dale brand, our vision, and our unity as a unique company and culture."

Bob Simpson, the new President and Chief Executive Officer of Dale comments "As an employee-owned company, we will preserve the Dale legacy of providing highly trusted medical products to help caregivers and patients worldwide. Our employees have always taken extraordinary pride in the positive impact we have on patient care, and now they can benefit further as stakeholders in our company."

Dale Medical Products, Inc. was founded in 1961, in Sharon, Massachusetts. From a modest beginning the company has grown into an industry leader in the market niches it serves worldwide. Today, Dale is headquartered in Franklin, Massachusetts where their corporate office and manufacturing facilities are located. Dale Medical Products, Inc. is an ISO 13485 registered company.

For more information, please see www.dalemed.com or call 800-343-3980.

SOURCE Dale Medical Products, Inc.
APOPKA, Fla., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sanctuary Medicinals today announced Dan Krentzman has been promoted to Director of Development. Krentzman, hired in June 2020, was one of the first employees to join the team in Florida and was initially brought on as a Project Manager to establish Sanctuary's dispensary footprint in the state. His background of military leadership, design and construction of healthcare facilities and recent development projects in Florida's medical marijuana industry made him a perfect fit for this role. Krenztman hit the ground running, managing design professionals, consultants, purchase and leasing requirements, multiple properties, permitting, construction and more.

To date, Krentzman has completed construction of six dispensaries for Sanctuary with an additional four under construction, eight in permitting and several others in various stages of design development. In his day-to-day, Krentzman coordinates with internal and external stakeholders, managing the complete life cycle of over 20 projects from site selection through opening day and beyond. He is vital to Sanctuary's expansion across the state and contributes to more than just statewide development.

Krentzman is also an Army veteran of 13 years with three deployments as an Infantry Officer to Iraq and Afghanistan and leadership roles in multiple units. With his experience in various industries, the military and a Master of Business Administration from the University of South Florida, Krentzman contributes to process improvement across several facets of the business including compliance, operations, strategy and security.

"Sanctuary is proud of Dan Krentzman's service to our country and his commitment to quality and professionalism," said Sanctuary's President James Alex. "He is an asset to Sanctuary and to the patients we serve, and we're excited to watch him continue his excellent work in this new role."

Krentzman resides in Tampa, where he is a proud father of a three-year-old daughter and husband to wife Jessica, who works in the education industry and is just a few months away from earning her PhD. He hails from New Jersey originally but has lived in New York, Georgia, Germany and North Carolina. Krentzman and his family enjoy traveling and spending time together as much as possible.

About Sanctuary Medicinals

Sanctuary Medicinals is a vertically-integrated, multi-state cannabis company with operations in Florida, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The company was also recently awarded a provisional retail license in New Jersey. Sanctuary is rapidly expanding into new markets, bringing its high-quality, award-winning products including flower, vapes, concentrates and edibles to patients and consumers across multiple states, with a steadfast commitment to creating positive impact in the communities in which it operates.

For more information, please visit SanctuaryMed.com

Follow us at on social media:

Facebook: @sanctuarymedicinalsfl

Instagram: @sanctuarymedicinalsflorida

Media Contact

Loren Hynes

978.301.6600 x 1111

[email protected]

SOURCE Sanctuary Medicinals
CAIRO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Aty held talks in Cairo with visiting European Union's special envoy for the Horn of Africa Annette Weber on the developments of Ethiopia's grand dam built on the Nile River.

During the meeting, the two officials discussed the current situation of tripartite negotiations between Egypt, Sudan, and their upstream counterpart Ethiopia regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), said the Egyptian Water Ministry in a statement on Wednesday.

Abdel-Aty highlighted "the great flexibility shown by Egypt during the various stages of negotiation due to its desire to reach an agreement and build confidence," according to the statement.

He added that achieving cooperation requires "political will and seriousness" on the part of Ethiopia to reach an agreement regarding the filling and operation of the GERD.

The Egyptian minister stressed that "reaching an agreement on the GERD would pave the way for achieving regional cooperation and integration."

For her part, Weber said the EU seeks to advance negotiations regarding the Ethiopian dam with a bid to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties and guarantees the stability and development of all concerned countries.

The EU envoy urged reaching a tripartite agreement that would also meet the requirements of regional integration through the interconnection between water and energy, infrastructure and trade in light of climate change.

Ethiopia started building the dam in 2011, while Egypt is concerned it might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the Nile water and Sudan is also worried about its 18.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share.

Decade-long tripartite negotiations failed to reach an agreement regulating the filling and operation of the dam, including those mediated by the United States and the African Union.

In February, Ethiopia announced it began operation of the first two turbines of its multi-billion-dollar hydropower dam to generate electricity. Egypt, in response, sent a new letter to the United Nations Security Council to protest the move. 
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- dClimate , a decentralized climate information ecosystem, today announced a partnership with Namibia through the University of Namibia to become a verifier for the country's carbon impact and sustainability initiatives. As part of this partnership, dClimate will establish a blockchain-native registry and verification system for quantifying the country's carbon sequestration, carbon emissions, and carbon credits from green hydrogen projects within Namibia.

dClimate is the first transparent, decentralized network for climate data, forecasts, and models. It aims not only to make climate information more accessible and reliable, but to incentivize new innovation, product development, and research as part of an open and decentralized climate data ecosystem.

"We are excited to partner with the Republic of Namibia through the University of Namibia to use transparent satellite monitoring to create a scalable, blockchain native verification and registry system for quantifying Namibia's overall carbon impact," said Sid Jha, founding partner, dClimate. "By working together with the staff, researchers, and academics at the University of Namibia, we will be able to verify the country's carbon credits to help support ongoing green hydrogen projects within the country. This not only represents an exciting use case for how blockchain technology can power climate action, but for how countries can leverage decentralized climate data to support sustainability projects."

Green hydrogen is a renewable, clean source of energy which reduces greenhouse emissions (GHG's). These benefits are considered crucial for helping support decarbonization and net zero efforts across continents. Green hydrogen can be used to power mining, vehicles, trains, aircrafts, buses, and maritime vessels. Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV's) for example can run on green hydrogen, and companies like Hyundai have announced its intention to manufacture 500,000 hydrogen-powered vehicles by the end of this decade. Namibia has become a leader in recent years for green hydrogen production. It awarded a contract late last year for a $9.4 billion project to produce 300,000 tons of green hydrogen annually to support growing global demand for clean energy.

"Namibia's green hydrogen ambitions are testimony to its commitment to combat climate change through its efforts to decarbonize local, regional and global industrial clusters," said James Mnyupe, Namibia Presidential Economic Advisor and Hydrogen Commissioner. "dClimate's data platform promises to accurately capture Namibia's effort to fight climate change and enable us to monetize green hydrogen in a scalable manner. This partnership is inline with Namibia's intentions to diversify its funding sources as articulated in its Integrated National Financing Framework."

"We are excited to be partnering with the dClimate team and leveraging their cutting-edge data infrastructure and expertise in the ESG sector to support green hydrogen projects in Namibia," said Prof. Kenneth Matengu, Vice Chancellor, University of Namibia. "Using blockchain technology and advanced satellite monitoring, we look forward to working with the dClimate team to help advance forward looking sustainability initiatives within Namibia. This adds to the University of Namibia's Multilateral Environmental Agreement unit in terms of monitoring of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) targets."

dClimate is closely integrated with Chainlink's decentralized oracle network to support independent, on-chain data validation in addition to support for the network's governance layer. In addition to its free climate data API , dClimate's flagship data marketplace will launch soon on testnet. The data marketplace serves as an iTunes store for climate data, making critically important climate information like forecast data and models more accessible, available and accountable. By making it easy to access and work with climate information, dClimate enables anyone to contribute to a decentralized ecosystem of products, applications, and tools like its WorkSight app that help businesses, governments, and communities build climate resilience.

About dClimate:

dClimate is the world's first transparent, decentralized marketplace where climate data, forecasts, and models are standardized, monetized, and distributed. The marketplace connects data publishers directly with data consumers, making climate data more accessible and reliable. When data providers share data and forecasts with the market it is automatically scored for reliability, which helps consumers to shop for information. In exchange, dClimate creates a simple, direct-to-consumer distribution mechanism to monetize their work. Visit the dClimate website or join our growing community on Discord to learn more!

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE dClimate
"We are proud to have closed another year with a high double-digit growth, overpassing our international competitors. Becoming the world's leading D2C sleep brand involves more than just high revenues: We have been improving people's sleep and lives around the globe and will continue to do so. We aim to make good sleep accessible to everyone," said Dr Dennis Schmoltzi, co-founder and CEO of Emma  The Sleep Company.

Expansion strategy and omnichannel approach

With more than 30 active markets, Emma is the most international D2C sleep brand. Having expanded to 18 countries since 2019, Emma prioritized growing its market share in its active markets in 2021, resulting in increased brand awareness in different countries, reaching up to 62 per cent.[1] In 2021, Emma products continued to be awarded by reputable test institutes such as Stiftung Warentest (Germany), Which? (UK) and Consumentenbond (Netherlands), adding to a total of more than 75 product awards won.

Emma's omnichannel strategy has been one of the key growth levers in 2021. The approach is about offering sleep products across different channels to meet the customer's needs both online and in retail stores. In 2021, Emma strengthened its team of more than 850 "Emmies" with international management key hires in the retail team. In addition, it launched its retail-specific product assortment "Emma Select" and established a pan-European partnership with the interior giant JYSK, meaning Emma now collaborates with more than 200 different retail partners worldwide and is present at more than 3,500 physical touchpoints.

Sustainable sleep revolution in 2022

The year 2022 kicked-off with yet another milestone in Emma's omnichannel strategy as the first worldwide flagship store in Shanghai opened its doors to customers in January. Omnichannel will remain one of the top priorities in 2022. The company is aiming to strengthen both retail and marketplaces teams for a holistic omnichannel approach. The recently opened office in Mexico City will be Emma's anchor to drive expansion in Latin America as well as in the US.

Another goal for 2022 will be strengthening the product team and bringing to market new sleep innovations. "Good sleep is fundamental to our health and we believe that science and innovative sleep products can contribute much more to improving sleep quality. Our ambition is to awaken people's full potential and help them become the best version of themselves. Following our customer-centric business approach, we will continue to foster the R & D-competence in-house," said Manuel Mueller, co-founder and CEO of Emma  The Sleep Company. Furthermore, the sustainability of the sleep industry is something Emma has put on the agenda for the years to come: "We will invest into a sustainability strategy  not only on a product level, but as a company. As this remains one of the key challenges in our industry, we have the ambition to be forerunner in this field as well to usher the next revolution within the sleep industry," continued Mueller. To drive this ambition, the company is currently building up a dedicated sustainability team.

Photo Caption: Dr. Dennis Schmoltzi and Manuel Mueller, founders and CEOs of

Emma  The Sleep Company (LTR). Photographer: Moritz Reich. Copyright: Emma Sleep GmbH 2021

About Emma  The Sleep Company (Emma Sleep GmbH):

Emma  The Sleep Company is a founder-managed company and the world's leading Direct-to-consumer sleep brand. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Dennis Schmoltzi and Manuel Mueller in Germany, the company is active in more than 30 countries and achieved a turnover of EUR 645 million (USD 731 million) in 2021, a growth rate of 59 per cent from the previous year. Emma products are sold via an omnichannel approach, including D2C/online, marketplaces and more than 3,500 brick-and-mortar stores. Emma successfully collaborates with over 200 retailers. Emma's 850+ team members are working across the world, with offices in Frankfurt (Germany), Manila (Philippines), Lisbon (Portugal), Mexico City (Mexico), and Shanghai (China).

For more information about Emma- The Sleep Company, please visit

team.emma-sleep.com/press

https://www.team.emma-sleep.com

Press Contact

Philipp Krueger

HOSCHKE & CONSORTEN Public Relations GmbH

Phone: +49 40 36 90 50-35

E-mail: [email protected]



Katharina Staiger

Phone: +49 176 61 30 41 47

E-mail: [email protected]

[1] Representative survey (n=1000) conducted by Emma  The Sleep Company together with a market research institute, conducted in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1758954/Emma_The_Sleep_Company.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1758955/Emma_The_Sleep_Company_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Emma - The Sleep Company
LOS ANGELES, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Trusted Advisor, a tight-knit association of advisors with A-list celebrity clients, influencers, pro-athletes, musicians, creators and producers, announced today its newly created advisory board that includes Equinox Strategy Partners' Founder and Managing Partner Jonathan Fitzgarrald.

"The latest 24 months has created an unbelievable amount of disruption in many business communities, including business management," said Fitzgarrald, who looks to undervalued professionals, untapping their potential to grow revenue, market visibility and their practices. Many of the professionals he advises report up to a 20 percent increase in revenue within the first year. "If there is ever a time when professionals and companies alike need cutting edge strategies to stay visible and competitive it is now."

Fitzgarrald is a longtime leader of the Legal Marketing Association and served on the board of advisors of the Legal Sales and Service Organization. Fitzgarrald spent nearly 20 years in-house at various firms, directing business development, marketing, public relations and communications. Nearly eight of those years were spent as Chief Business Development Officer at Greenberg Glusker, a full-service law firm. Fitzgarrald is a Fellow in the College of Law Practice Management. In 2021, Fitzgarrald was named to Consulting Magazine's "Top 25 Consultants" and the Los Angeles Business Journal named him to their list of "Leaders of Influence: Thriving in their 40's."

Fitzgarrald's personalized business strategies lead clients to discover their own business motivations. He enjoys empowering professionals to succeed and believes that leaders are made and not born. In 2015, Fitzgarrald established Equinox Strategy Partners to advise professionals, including business managers, nationwide to tap into their own potential to generate revenue.

EQUINOX STRATEGY PARTNERS provides service professionals in law, accounting and business management firms with strategies for growth. With offices in Los Angeles and in New York, their professionals provide firms nationwide with strategies for driving revenue and boosting market visibility. For more information, visit EquinoxStrategy.com.

SOURCE Equinox Strategy Partners
What's New for 2022?

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Edition: 8; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 5211

Companies: 266 - Players covered include AbbVie, Inc.; AstraZeneca PLC; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Eli Lilly and Company; F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG; GlaxoSmithKline PLC; Pfizer, Inc.; Sanofi; Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Type (Innovative, Generic); Synthesis (Synthetic, Biotech); Application (Cardiovascular Diseases, Endocrinology, CNS & Neurology, Oncology, Gastroenterology, Orthopedic, Other Applications)

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.



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ABSTRACT-



Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Market to Reach US$265.3 Billion by the Year 2026

APIs represent biologically-active substances and primary components for drug manufacturing. The production of APIs globally is mainly concentrated to developing nations due to their capability to scale production as per customization and low-cost manufacturing. The API market is slated to gain from increasing focus on generic and branded drugs as a result of rising prevalence of non-communicable and chronic medical conditions due to lifestyle changes and rapid urbanization. The market growth is anticipated to be augmented further from the transition away from conventional manufacturing techniques, rising investment in drug discovery, and strong adherence to product quality. The market is also benefitting from increasing influx of generic drugs that are produced following permission of a pharmaceutical company for creating the own version of the medicine. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting disruptions in supply chain are driving various governments to boycott sourcing of APIs from China. Despite these challenges, the API market is bound to progress ahead swiftly due to positive factors like pending approval of various generic and blockbuster drugs that rely on APIs.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) estimated at US$213.2 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$265.3 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 6.7% over the analysis period. Innovative, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 6.4% CAGR to reach US$190.9 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Generic segment is readjusted to a revised 7.4% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 30.2% share of the global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) market. As patents for branded APIs expire, opportunities for generic APIs increase, resulting in an augmented API market demand.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $77.1 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $35.4 Billion by 2026

The Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) market in the U.S. is estimated at US$77.1 Billion in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 36.3% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$35.4 Billion in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 7.6% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 6.1% and 6.5% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 6.1% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$37.5 Billion by the end of the analysis period. China is a leading producer and exporter of APIs, accounting for about 20% of global API production. The country's strong presence in API production could be attributed to factors such as low cost of utilities and strong government support. COVID-19 has highlighted various vulnerabilities associated with sourcing of APIs from other regions or countries, such as fractured supply chain and limited scope for immediate response to changes. These challenges are now prompting a number of European nations and the US to focus on relocation of pharmaceutical and API production back to home country.

Personalized Medicine Spurs Demand for Complex API

Known alternatively by the terms targeted medicine or precision medicine, the personalized medicine science involves precision diagnosis of patients through non-invasive sample collection and analysis for better stratification of diseases using genetic and other markers and subsequent selection of drugs for treatment that suits to the individual based on personal information secured. While the idea has of personal medicine is not totally new given that doctors use patient profiles, environmental factors and diagnostic information to determine the most appropriate treatment, what defines the modern day personalized medicine is the technological advancements that provide genetic level information of patients never before available for the doctors. Improved molecular and genetic tests are enabling doctors to understand DNA and RNA level variations in patients with same diseases, enabling them to choose therapies that target these variations to affect a desirable outcome.

Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) developed for personalized drug products are more complex and require specialized handling. Personalized 3D printing drugs facilitate personalized drug dosing, novel drug release profile and distinct dosage form production. Active pharmaceutical ingredients are compounded in a polymer matrix in pharmaceutical hot melt extrusion (HME).

Today, personalized medicine is a key area of research within the healthcare industry. Having become an integral part of mainstream clinical practice, personalized medicine is transforming the way a large number of diseases are identified, categorized, and treated. At present, over 150 personalized medicines are on the market. Furthermore, some 40% of drugs under development target biomarkers. Over the past five years, investments in personalized medicines have doubled and are expected to clock significant growth in the foreseeable future. Oncology is presently the largest therapeutic category in personalized medicines. The unmet need and potential in this space can be further assessed by the fact that three-fourth of the cancer drugs under development are personalized medicines. More



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Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

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Email: [email protected]



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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
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Edition: 20; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 9542

Companies: 110 - Players covered include AeroVironment Inc.; BAE Systems plc; Boeing Company; Boston Dynamics; Clearpath Robotics Inc.; Elbit Systems Ltd.; Endeavor Robotics; General Atomics; General Dynamics Corporation; Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI); Lockheed Martin Corporation; Northrop Grumman Corporation; Oceaneering International Inc.; QinetiQ Group plc; Saab AB; Textron Inc.; Thales Group and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Mode of Operation (Human Operated, Autonomous); Type (Airborne, Marine, Land)

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.



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ABSTRACT-



Global Defense Robotics Market to Reach $22.4 Billion by 2026

Defense robotics, or military robotics, refers to the unmanned systems designed to execute military functions without the need for physical presence of personnel during military operations. While the interest towards defense robotics remained strong among governments of leading countries since early 20th century, wider rollout of such systems materialized only during the past two decades. Thanks to full-fledged efforts from the governments of the US, Israel, the UK, France and Russia, defense robotics have achieved significant progression from experimental, remote-operated surveillance machines to autonomous technologies capable of executing combat operations. A primary factor steering momentum in the defense robotics domain is the reduced need for human involvement during military operations and subsequently reduced casualties in combat operations. Being mechanical systems powered by digital technologies, defense robotics can penetrate into enemy territories in stealth mode and independently execute given task, thus potentially minimizing casualties that usually occur in conventional manned missions. Further, these advanced systems come with unique attributes such as fatigueless functioning, high precision, support for any type of terrain, continued functioning despite damaging bomb/weapon attacks, and ability to fit into spaces not possible with mechanical systems or humans, which fully recommend their deployment in military applications. Robotics, when inducted into defense forces, seamlessly improve operational performance, efficiency and efficacy of troops in ground, aerial and maritime operations.

Defense robotics are utilized in various forms including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned marine vehicles (UMVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). UAVs, the pilot-less aircraft, constitute the most widely used form of defense robotics. The US has been a pioneer in development of military UAVs, and currently holds a large fleet of UAVs supplementing its military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq & Syria, and other parts of the world. Similarly, UMVs are mostly made available in the form of USVs (or Unmanned Surface Vessels) and UUVs (or Unmanned Underwater Vehicles) and extend superior capabilities to naval forces in maritime operations. On the other hand, UGVs are ground robots designed with wheels or tracks mainly to supplement the on-foot troops in harsh conditions. Whichever robot deployed the purpose remains the same, i.e., supplementing or replacing the personnel in reconnaissance, combat, logistics and other military tasks, while bestowing the warfighter with greater capabilities in battlefield operations.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Defense Robotics estimated at US$15 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$22.4 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9.5% over the analysis period. Human Operated, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 9.3% CAGR to reach US$15.1 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Autonomous segment is readjusted to a revised 9.9% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 38.6% share of the global Defense Robotics market.

World market for defense robotics, despite its visible exposure to ongoing COVID-19 crisis, exhibited a moderate level of resilience, as governments continued to maintain or increase their defense and homeland security budgets. Militaries hold a pivotal role in protecting national interests and stay firm for their operations irrespective of consequences. The role of militaries goes beyond safeguarding borders and thwarting invasion attempts to other emergency scenarios like floods, natural disasters and terrorist activity. The COVID-19 health emergency highlighted the significant of militaries and enabled them to assume a central role in the fight against the COVID-19 virus that has left scores of people infected globally. However, the pandemic has also thrown serious challenges for the defense & military sector by disrupting routine operations. Defense robotics markets continued to display relative stability in 2020. Robots have gained importance amid the pandemic for current and future combat, and military actions. In countries such as Russia, while the pandemic led to imposition of certain limitations on the concepts of operations (CONOPS), and tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), it had a moderated impact on armed forces training and fighting. The military is moving towards advanced unmanned weapons development.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $5.7 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $4.5 Billion by 2026

The Defense Robotics market in the U.S. is estimated at US$5.7 Billion in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 38.69% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$4.5 Billion in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 12.1% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 7.2% and 7.8% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 7.5% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$5.1 Billion by the close of the analysis period.

In the coming years, demand for defense robotics will continue to expand at a faster pace with a number of factors contributing to increased adoption of these advanced technologies by militaries around the world. Rising emphasis on robotic solutions in command, control, communications and computers (C4); intelligence, surveillance & reconnaissance (ISR); and battlefield combat operations are consistently fueling momentum in the defense robotics space. At the same time, growing concerns over rising human casualties in military operations and sustained focus on reducing warfield deaths through advanced strategies are creating strong business case for military robotics. Defense robotics market is sensing large-scale opportunities through ongoing expansion in global defense spending and drive towards military modernization programs among governments, worldwide. On the other hand, progressive improvements in underlying technologies and functional scope of robotic systems are paving way for wider proliferation of defense robotics.

Increasing number of nations are making investments on robotic solutions on the back of growing terrorist and border encroachment activities. About 90 countries have already deployed defense robots in military operations in one form or the other. Future success of defense robotics market would be directed by progressive advancements in sensing technology, computer programming, communication capabilities, and material science, which would help defense robotics to refine their functionality, performance, efficiency and effectiveness to attract wider audience. Advancements in key parameters such as integration, interoperability, commonality and affordability, and full-scale warfield readiness would also play important role in global adoption of defense robotics. With such robots projected to be the ultimate weapons in the future battleground, military bodies around the world are making heavy investments in research and development of weapon systems that are increasingly automated. However, automated weapons require human intervention in the form of inputs at certain points to avoid targets within areas of restricted fire as per the laws of the Geneva Conventions. This limitation prevents automated weapons from being fully autonomous.

By Type, Airborne Segment to Reach $15.2 Billion by 2026

Global market for Airborne (Type) segment is estimated at US$10.1 Billion in 2022, and is projected to reach US$15.2 Billion by 2026 reflecting a compounded annual growth rate of 9.6% over the analysis period. The United States constitutes the largest regional market for Airborne segment, accounting for 40.2% of the global sales. China is poised to register the fastest compounded annual growth rate of 12.3% over the analysis period, to reach US$3.3 Billion by the end of the analysis period. More

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Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android



About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]



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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
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Edition: 19; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 6844

Companies: 87 - Players covered include ACI Worldwide; Bottomline Technologies Inc.; Communications Data Group Inc.; CSG Systems International Inc.; CyberSource Corporation; eBillingHub; ebpSource Limited; Enterprise jBilling Software Ltd.; FIS; Fiserv Inc.; Jack Henry & Associates Inc.A; Jopari Solutions Inc.; Pagero AB; PayPal Inc.; SIX Payment Services Ltd.; Sorriso Technologies Inc.; Striata and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Segment (Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP))

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.



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ABSTRACT-



Global Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) Market to Reach 35 Billion Bills by 2026

EBPP can be defined as provision of billing information through electronic media to the end customers, while offering requisite electronic payment options in order to facilitate swift settlement Originally created by the Council for Electronic Billing and Payment of the National Automated Clearing House Association, the EBPP model is a type of electronic billing, wherein billers create electronic bills for customers to view and pay the bills using an electronic medium (Internet). Also termed e-billing or e-invoicing, EBPP solutions are being commonly used by utility, financial services and telecom companies. Unlike paper bills and statements that are capable of providing static and one-way communication, electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) allows interactive, personalized and real-time delivery of statements and bills. The implementation of EBPP systems ensures automation, streamlining and management of bill payment processes.

The technology has the ability to cut down cost and saves time for payments processing, eliminating the need to use paper mails and enhance marketing capabilities in an intensely competitive marketplace. Further, cost of customer service is also reduced as instances of errors are relatively low in electronic transactions when compared to paper-based transactions. The technology can also ensure settlement of disputes through the presentation of interactive bills and by reducing telephonic conversations. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) estimated at 23.8 Billion Bills in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of 35 Billion Bills by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 9.8% over the analysis period.

A key factor driving growth in the EBPP market is the convenience offered by the technology. Driven by the high level of convenience it offers to consumers, while enabling business establishments to cut down on bill dispatch, EBPP services are increasingly favored by customers as well as businesses alike. Mobility is the new buzzword among technology savvy smartphone oriented young adults. Growing emphasis on any-time convenience, transparency in transactions, simplicity in use, safe and secure time-saving options are fueling adoption of e-billing. EBPP enables customers to exercise better control over the billing process and ensures faster and secured payment of bills. E-billing is widely being appreciated by consumers, as the technology contributes significantly in protecting the environment by allowing consumers to shift towards paperless bills.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at 6.8 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach 6.5 Billion by 2026

The Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) market in the U.S. is estimated at 6.8 Billion Bills in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 27.18% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of 6.5 Billion Bills in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 13.8% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 9.8% and 10.2% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 1.9% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach 7.3 Billion Bills by the close of the analysis period.

Electronic bill payment today, more than ever, is viewed by the consumers as a cost-effective and efficient way of managing their cash flow and ensuring timely payments of their bills. The market will continue to benefit from the shift towards newer payment modes such as mobile based payments. Forward-thinking organizations with a focus on establishing trusted, eco-friendly customer relationships, and those leveraging the power of Internet will continue to score high gains over other organizations. Through EBPP, service providers are able to provide a convenient platform for customers to view and remit bills online. Time starved customers are finding EBPP more convenient and easy to use to pay bills, while gaining access to the same account as supplier contact center. EBPP systems will witness increased adoption supported by benefits offered by the technology in comparison to competing technologies. Driven by factors such as developments in technology, lesser cost of e-payments and the benefits offered to the consumers as well as organizations, EBPP is all set to become a vital factor for the success of any modern organization.

Factors such as increased control, assured security, privacy and convenience have and will continue to drive growth of e-billing and payment systems. EBPP will continue to appeal to financial services and insurance companies (including credit card issuers, retailer banks, and investment banks), and telecommunications industries that typically generate hundreds to millions of bills per month. Other major businesses expected to step up adoption of EBPP include energy and utilities, government, education, transportation, retailers, and health care organizations. Even in the pre-pandemic period, EBPP was rapidly emerging as a lucrative alternative for mobile operators specifically for those in quest for novel solutions to minimize operational costs. More

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Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android



About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.



CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]



LINKS

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

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Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

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Edition: 8; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 6097

Companies: 131 - Players covered include Philips Lighting Holding B.V.; Hubbell Lighting Inc.; Cooper Industries; Schneider Electric SE; Emerson; Legrand S.A.; Acuity Brands; Beghelli S.p.A.; Daisalux; Zumtobel Group; Digital Lumens; Fulham Co. Inc.; Arrow Emergency Lighting Limited; Arts Energy; Taurac and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Battery Type (Lithium-Ion, Ni-MH, Ni-Cd, Other Battery Types); Light Source (LED, Fluorescent, Induction, Other Light Sources); Power System (Self-Contained, Central, Hybrid); End-Use (Industrial, Commercial, Residential, Other End-Uses)

Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Spain; Russia; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Australia; India; South Korea; Rest of Asia-Pacific; Latin America; Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; Rest of Latin America; Middle East; Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; UAE; Rest of Middle East; Africa.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-

Global Emergency Lighting Market to Reach $7.3 Billion by 2026

Emergency lighting systems are designed for automatically illuminating the building in the event of electricity failures and assisting in safe and efficient evacuation of the building, thereby preventing occupants from panicking, and suffering emotional distress and injury. By improving visibility, these lighting systems also assist emergency and rescue teams in performance of their tasks. The various types of emergency lighting include safety lighting and stand-by lighting. Stringent safety and fire prevention regulations have and will continue to provide new opportunities for growth of emergency lighting systems. For example, BS:5266, the British Standard regulations, are designed for assisting with the designing and installation processes associated with emergency lighting systems. Expected recovery in construction activities the world over, post pandemic will power growth in the near future. Additionally, rapid urbanization, together with increasing disposable incomes of the global middle-class will also fuel growth in the coming years. The primary factors influencing growth for emergency lighting systems' batteries include rapid technological advancements, environmental regulations, intense competition, and frequently changing government policies. Recent years are also witness to rapid advancements in battery technology, with the lithium ion technology enabling the development of smaller, more powerful batteries and other back-up solutions. Another emerging technological trend is the increased demand for nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries for use in both exit-signage and pathway lighting.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Emergency Lighting estimated at US$5.4 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$7.3 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 6.5% over the analysis period. Lithium-Ion, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 7.9% CAGR to reach US$3.6 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Ni-Mh segment is readjusted to a revised 5.8% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 24.6% share of the global Emergency Lighting market. Demand for lithium-ion battery-based emergency lighting systems is being driven by sustained decline in the prices of Li-ion batteries and advancements in lithium ion technology.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $1.6 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $1.2 Billion by 2026

The Emergency Lighting market in the U.S. is estimated at US$1.6 Billion in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 30.67% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$1.2 Billion in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 8.1% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 5.1% and 5.6% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 6% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$1.3 Billion by the end of the analysis period. The primary factor driving the dominance of the North American market is the sustained increase in the use of emergency lighting systems in residential, industrial and commercial constructions. Spurred by high consumer awareness about the benefits that emergency lighting systems offers over other alternatives, including UPS, during emergency situations, the region is projected to retain its dominance. Growth within the Asia-Pacific region will continue to be propelled by sustained rapid pace of urbanization being witnessed in developing countries such as China and India, which is resulting in the region experiencing a higher demand for infrastructure, including emergency lighting systems.

Modern emergency lighting solutions are continuing to deliver on the common expectations of reliability, optimum efficiency, high performance, and complete compliance, while additionally supporting a wide array of advanced functionalities. One area where the evolution of emergency lighting systems has been prominent is their battery system. Early emergency lighting systems operated on a centralized battery system, with each building having a large battery bank as well as a fire-rated cabling system that connected all emergency lights to a central source. Over the years, self-contained systems replaced several of these centralized battery systems, offering the benefit of each fitting having its own battery to operate in case there was a power failure. Though these batteries were much larger in size as compared to their currently available counterparts, they were easier to maintain than centralized battery systems, maintaining which required specialized skills. The large self-contained batteries in emergency lights were gradually replaced with nickel-cadmium batteries, which were smaller and had the capability of handling more heat.

The use of these batteries in emergency lighting fittings made these units more compact and smaller. Over the past few years, nickel-cadmium batteries are being increasingly replaced with nickel-metal hydride batteries, and even lithium-iron phosphate batteries, which offer significantly high energy density and environmental benefits, as they are devoid of carcinogens or toxic metals. Another major technological breakthrough in the emergency lighting system was the development of LEDs. These lighting types offered significantly higher energy efficiency and environmental benefits, allowing manufacturers to utilize smaller batteries for powering these light fittings for them to be able to supply the same level of illumination. The longer lifespan of LED lamps also benefitted emergency lights in operating for an extended period of time without requiring maintenance.

Ni-Cd Segment to Reach $1.4 Billion by 2026

In the global Ni-Cd segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 5% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$878.5 Million will reach a projected size of US$1.2 Billion by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. Led by countries such as Australia, India, and South Korea, the market in Asia-Pacific is forecast to reach US$112.9 Million by the year 2026, while Latin America will expand at a 5.5% CAGR through the analysis period. More

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

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Edition: 2; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 382

Companies: 68 - Players covered include 3M Company; Alpha Pro Tech Inc; Ansell ltd; Cambridge Mask Co; Cardinal Health, Inc; Honeywell International Inc; JIANGSU TEYIN IMP. & EXP. CO., LTD; Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc; Makrite; Moldex-Metric, Inc; Prestige Ameritech; Reckitt Benckiser; Shanghai Dasheng; The Gerson Company; Vogmask and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Distribution Channel (Offline, Online); End-Use (Hospitals & Clinics, Ambulatory Surgery Centers, Other End-Uses)

Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Spain; Russia; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Australia; India; South Korea; Rest of Asia-Pacific; Latin America; Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; Rest of Latin America; Middle East; Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; UAE; Rest of Middle East; Africa.

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ABSTRACT-

Global N95 Masks Market to Reach $11.8 Billion by 2026

The growth in the global N95 masks market has traditionally been impacted by serious emergency health conditions and periodic pandemic outbreaks. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an exponential global demand for personal protective equipment (PPE). The deadly coronavirus infected millions of people worldwide leading to hundred-thousands of deaths. In such grave circumstances, it became extremely important for healthcare manufacturers to develop highly advanced PPE products that helped prevent the transmission of COVID-19. The outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in an enormous demand for N95 masks as an effective measure to prevent spread of the infection. As conventional medical masks hold limited effectiveness against viruses such as COVID-19, medical institutions and healthcare organizations are recommending the use of N95 masks capable of filtering around 95% of materials. N95 masks are a part of the personal protective gear and protect users from airborne particles or liquids contaminating the face. Some of the other masks that are oil-proof include R99 and P100 capable of filtering at least 99% and 99.97% of airborne particles, respectively. N95 masks with replaceable filters offer protection for a longer period. These benefits of N95 masks make them a suitable option to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for N95 Masks estimated at US$9.1 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$11.8 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 18.9% over the analysis period. Offline distribution channel, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 17.8% CAGR to reach US$8.1 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Online distribution channel segment is readjusted to a revised 21.1% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 30.4% share of the global N95 Masks market.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $2.6 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $2 Billion by 2026

The N95 Masks market in the U.S. is estimated at US$2.6 Billion in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 29.54% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$2 Billion in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 20.7% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 18.1% and 19.8% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 19.2% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$2.1 Billion by the close of the analysis period.

Market growth is expected to be spurred by stringent regulations for occupational safety, particularly in developed economies and rise in number of surgeries and ICU admissions. Continuously increasing number of physicians in both public and private healthcare facilities along with growing number of procedures performed in the healthcare sector are driving the demand for disposable facemasks. The demand for face masks is anticipated to be also propelled by increasing number of cataract surgeries, orthopedic surgeries and ophthalmologists globally. Medical professionals perform over 23 million surgeries globally, including 53% of minimally-invasive procedures. In addition, the percentage of minimally-invasive hysterectomy performed in the US grew significantly over the last decade. The trend is playing an important role in bolstering global demand for N95 masks. Also infections acquired in hospitals are emerging to be one of the critical drivers of demand for various face masks. Hospital acquired infections or HAIs continue to be a major concern for the healthcare sector that requires the medical staff to use disposable medical gloves for preventing spread of HAIs. Hospitals, ambulatory care, long-term care and home care centers are at high risk of HAIs owing to rising mortality rates and morbidities, extended stay at hospitals, transmission of superbugs, inadequate infection-control programs and disease outbreaks.

By End-Use, Hospitals & Clinics Segment to Reach $7.9 Billion by 2026

Hospital acquired infections or HAIs continue to be a major concern for the healthcare sector that requires the medical staff to use disposable medical gloves for preventing spread of HAIs. Hospitals, ambulatory care, long-term care and home care centers are at high risk of HAIs owing to rising mortality rates and morbidities, extended stay at hospitals, transmission of superbugs, inadequate infection-control programs and disease outbreaks. These factors require healthcare staff to wear PPEs including medical gloves, face shields, face masks, gowns and protective eyewear to minimize transmission of infection. Global market for Hospitals & Clinics (End-Use) segment is estimated at US$6 Billion in 2022, and is projected to reach US$7.9 Billion by 2026 reflecting a compounded annual growth rate of 19.5% over the analysis period. The United States constitutes the largest regional market for Hospitals & Clinics segment, accounting for 28.5% of the global sales. China is poised to register the fastest compounded annual growth rate of 20.9% over the analysis period, to reach US$1.5 Billion by the end of the analysis period More

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Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

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Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
"Nothing beats MWC in person, and it was exciting to bring our community  which is so passionate about connectivity  back together to discuss the opportunities that lie ahead." John Hoffman, CEO GSMA Ltd. said. "On behalf of the GSMA, I would like to thank all of our attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, and partners who came together to make MWC22 so productive, safe, and successful. I also want to thank Barcelona City Council, Generalitat de Catalunya, the Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation, Fira de Barcelona, Tourism de Barcelona (the Host City Parties), the L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Mobile World Capital, and the people of Catalonia and Spain. Your support is unwavering, and your creativity, hospitality, and perseveclrance continually inspire us."

Connectivity Unleashed

Over four days, more than 1,900 companies joined MWC22 Barcelona to showcase the role of mobile technology in unleashing connectivity, exploring 5G Connect sponsored by Salesforce, Advancing AI, Internet of Everything, CloudNet by Kyndryl, FinTech, and the Tech Horizon.

Thought leadership from entrepreneurs, government ministers, and extraordinary people pushing the boundaries of our imaginations spoke from stages across the event. From traditional industries to award-winning filmmakers speakers challenged and inspired attendees to think about new ways of leveraging technology.

Vertical collaboration, startup innovation, and much more at MWC22

Again this year, the Ministerial Programme at MWC was the centre of global digital policy debate. With more than 160 delegations from countries and international institutions around the world, policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, and the international development community exchanged experiences and views on how to build policies for a digital world, maximise the potential of 5G, close the digital gap, and meet global climate targets. As the world becomes increasingly digital, there was broad agreement that we need more collaboration and cooperation amongst all stakeholders to expand digital inclusion for all. This year, leaders like Jessica Rosenworcel, Chairwoman of the U.S. FCC, and Minister Paula Ingabire of Rwanda not only contributed to the conversation in the Ministerial Programme, but brought their policy priorities to the MWC keynote stage.

All-new for this year's edition, Industry City, co-delivered with Knowledge Partner Accenture showcased demos from the FinTech, Manufacturing, and Automotive sectors. With a buzz of activity, Industry City was a must-see space at the event. Visitors had the opportunity to experience a range of Summits covering robotics and smart mobility topics through interactive metaverse tours and demonstrations from partners and the GSMA Foundry programme.

Focus on the local entrepreneurial startup community returned with the 4YFN (Four Years from Now) programme  supported by platinum sponsor BStartup Banco Sabadell  as it welcomed over 500 international startups and over 300 speakers to share insights on how to drive the ecosystem forward. Competing for more than 24 billion of investment, 200 startups pitched to leading funds, VCs, and CVCs during the event.

MWC22 by the numbers

Over 60,000 unique people attended in person

Around 500,000 unique virtual and daily viewers on MWC22 and partner platforms

Representation from almost 200 countries and territories

Over 1,900 exhibitors, sponsors, and partners

Over 1,000 speakers, 97% in person and 36% women

More than 50% of attendees were Directors and C-Suite executives, 20% were CEOs and founders, 25% were women

Millions tuned into MWC22 Barcelona content via Mobile World Live global syndication and official national and international broadcasters.

More than 1,600 international journalists were onsite

Our gratitude

"The momentum leading into MWC22 was palpable, and it delivered," said Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA. "In the spirit of our theme 'Connectivity Unleashed', we saw how industries were going beyond simple connectivity to deliver meaningful connectivity, deploying technology in ground-breaking ways that will shape industry and society. I thank every person who helped make MWC Barcelona 2022 an unmissable event  and as we move to a 'digital everything' world, I look forward to seeing what we achieve next year!"

MWC22 was covered by Mobile World Live, CNBC, Euronews, Financial Times, TIME, The Wall Street Journal Barron's Group, and more than 1,600 international journalists. Featured Media Partners include C114, Insider Intelligence, Radio + Television Business Report, Technology Record, and TeleSemana. A huge thank you to all our MWC22 partners and sponsors. Your collaboration and support contributed significantly to the buzz and excitement of being together at this time.

Local initiatives like, Meet and Eat and Beat Barcelona showcased the best of the city. A preliminary economic analysis indicated that MWC will have contributed more than 240 million to Barcelona's economy and created more than 6,700 part-time jobs in 2022. And once again, MWC was a carbon-neutral event.

Looking to the future

Following a successful MWC22 Barcelona, the GSMA is working hard to deliver the full MWC series in 2022. The next event, MWC Shanghai, will take place from 29th June  1st July, followed by the inaugural MWC Las Vegas from 28th-30th September and rounded off by MWC Africa from 25-27th October  which will return in person to Kigali for the first time since 2019.

As the mobile industry gathered this week at MWC22, our thoughts have been with those suffering hardship and loss. Businesses, governments, and individuals alike are wrestling with meaningful ways to help, even as the conflict continues to escalate. Many of our members are responding by facilitating communication with loved ones and by addressing humanitarian needs.

Find out more about MWC Barcelona: www.mwcbarcelona.com.

About GSMA

The GSMA is a global organisation unifying the mobile ecosystem to discover, develop and deliver innovation foundational to positive business environments and societal change. Our vision is to unlock the full power of connectivity so that people, industry, and society thrive. Representing mobile operators and organisations across the mobile ecosystem and adjacent industries, the GSMA delivers for its members across three broad pillars: Connectivity for Good, Industry Services and Solutions, and Outreach. This activity includes advancing policy, tackling today's biggest societal challenges, underpinning the technology and interoperability that make mobile work, and providing the world's largest platform to convene the mobile ecosystem at the MWC and M360 series of events.

We invite you to find out more at gsma.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1759161/GSMA_at_MWC22.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1385555/GSMA_Logo.jpg

Media Contacts:

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SOURCE GSMA
DENVER, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthpeak Properties, Inc. (NYSE: PEAK) announced today that Tom Herzog, its Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to present at the Citi 2022 Global Property CEO Conference.

The presentation is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. You can access the webcast by visiting our website at https://ir.healthpeak.com/webcasts. A replay of the webcast will be available on our website through March 8, 2023.

ABOUT HEALTHPEAK PROPERTIES

Healthpeak Properties, Inc. is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) and S&P 500 company. Healthpeak owns and develops high-quality real estate in the three private-pay healthcare asset classes of Life Science, Medical Office and CCRCs. At Healthpeak, we pair our deep understanding of the healthcare real estate market with a strong vision for long-term growth. For more information regarding Healthpeak, visit www.healthpeak.com.

CONTACT

Andrew Johns, CFA

Senior Vice President  Investor Relations

720-428-5400

SOURCE Healthpeak Properties, Inc.
JUBA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's permanent ceasefire is increasingly at risk of unraveling following the recent intensified fighting in the oil-rich states of Upper Nile and Unity states, the country's ceasefire monitors said Wednesday.

Asrat Denero Amad, the new chairperson for the Ceasefire Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM), the body monitoring the December 2017 Cessation of Hostilities (COH) Agreement, warned it risked unraveling due to intermittent violence.

"Pertaining to the very critical issues of permanent ceasefire, there is concern that the ceasefire is under pressure and it could be fracturing, there are areas where it is apparently being undermined," Amad told members of the ceasefire body in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan on Feb. 26 appealed to national and local leaders, and armed groups to immediately stop the violence in Unity state. It was responding to the fighting that began in Mirmir Payam, Unity State between the Sudan People's Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) and armed youths that spread to several villages in Koch, Mayiandit and Leer.

In January, fighting erupted in Upper Nile state between SPLA-IO under First Vice President Riek Machar and soldiers led by Ochan Puot who defected late last year from the latter joining the South Sudan army (SSPDF).

Amad disclosed that similar fighting occurred in Toroche, Upper Nile state between the SPLA-IO Kitguang faction led by Machar's former Chief of Staff Simon Gatwech Dual and SPLA-IO forces.

He urged international partners to continue supporting CTSAMVM in order to salvage the now fragile ceasefire at this critical phase of the peace process.

Teshome Gemechu Aderie, the outgoing CTSAMVM chairperson, expressed worries over the delay in implementation of the critical pending tasks such as the security arrangements.

"The dynamic of the security environment and the spectrum of tasks in the remaining phase of the peace implementation are going to make our operation far more complex compared with the previous one," said Aderie.

South Sudan descended into conflict in December 2013 following a political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his then deputy Riek Machar leading soldiers loyal to the respective leaders to fight.

The conflict killed tens of thousands and displaced millions more both internally and externally.

The 2015 peace agreement signed to end the conflict collapsed following renewed violence in July 2016.

The 2018 revitalized peace deal signed under international pressure eventually saw the former warring parties form the transitional unity government in 2020. 
Market Scope

The industrial peristaltic pumps market covers the following areas:

This report presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters. Technavio categorizes the global industrial peristaltic pumps market as a part of the global industrial machinery market. This report provides extensive information on the value chain analysis for the industrial peristaltic pumps market, which vendors can leverage to gain a competitive advantage during the forecast period.

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Vendor Insights

The industrial peristaltic pumps market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as pricing and marketing to compete in the market. Companies are launching products and solutions to gain a competitive advantage over the other players. For instance, Cole-Parmer offers Masterflex peristaltic pump systems that provide superior accuracy and repeatability and ensure optimal performance when used with the proper tubing.

The report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors, including:

AxFlow Holding AB

Cole-Parmer

Dover Corp.

Flowserve Corp.

Gilson Inc.

Graco Inc.

Heidolph Instruments GmbH & CO. KG

IDEX Corp.

Ingersoll Rand Inc.

Neles Corp.

ProMinent GmbH

RAGAZZINI srl

Randolph Austin Co.

SEKO Spa

Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc

TAPFLO AB

The Weir Group Plc

Wanner Engineering Inc.

Welco Co. Ltd.

Verder International BV

Find additional highlights on the growth strategies adopted by vendors and their product offerings, Read Free Sample Report .

Geographical Market Analysis

APAC was the largest revenue-generating regional segment of industrial peristaltic pumps market from 2021. The region will continue to contribute to 43% of the growth during the forecast period. China and Japan are the key markets for industrial peristaltic pumps market in APAC. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions. Increasing populations with exponential growth in urbanization will facilitate the industrial peristaltic pumps market growth in APAC over the forecast period.

Furthermore, countries such as the US, Russia, Germany are expected to emerge as prominent markets for industrial peristaltic pumps market's growth during the forecast period.

Know more about this market's geographical distribution along with the detailed analysis of the top regions. https://www.technavio.com/report/industrial-peristaltic-pumps-market-industry-analysis

Key Segment Highlights

The water and wastewater segment held the largest industrial peristaltic pumps market share in 2021. Peristaltic pumps are widely used in this industry and form a basic component for carrying the wastewater to treatment plants besides for internal processes within the plant. Their ability to transport slurry and even untreated water make them an integral part of this industry. Water quality is a big issue in industries such as mining, chemicals, oil and gas, and power. Thus, new environmental regulations on wastewater disposal have compelled companies to make new investments in water and wastewater treatment, in turn, boosting the segment to continue contributing to the growth.

View FREE Sample : to know additional highlights and key points on various market segments and their impact in coming years.

Key Market Drivers, Trends & Challenges:

The need for cost-effective pumping solutions is one of the key drivers supporting the industrial peristaltic pumps market growth. Peristaltic pumps are often used to transfer fluids containing 70 to 80% of slurries due to their efficiency compared to specialized slurry pumps. These pumps can be used in areas involving the use of aggressive chemicals as they have a gentle pumping action, causing minimal damage to bio-oxidation techniques. In addition, the demand for metering pumps that incorporate digital technology is another factor supporting the industrial peristaltic pumps market growth. Innovations in metering pumps such as the incorporation of digital technology allow these pumps to monitor conditions such as pressure and flow of the liquid and simultaneously process the output with motor readings in a continuous manner.

However, the availability of a large number of substitutes is one of the factors hindering the industrial peristaltic pumps market growth. As many end-users are not familiar with or comfortable with peristaltic pumps, it becomes a hindrance to the market. As there are a large number of substitutes for peristaltic pumps available in the market, manufacturers experience challenges in realizing the potential industrial end-user market, which leads to a lower generation of revenue from the sale of industrial peristaltic pumps, especially as end-users have a wide range of pumps to choose from.

Download free sample for highlights on market Drivers & Challenges affecting the industrial peristaltic pumps market.

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Related Reports:

Industrial Pumps Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

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Industrial Peristaltic Pumps Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.05% Market growth 2022-2026 $ 520.02 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 5.64 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 43% Key consumer countries US, China, Japan, Russia, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled AxFlow Holding AB, Cole-Parmer, Dover Corp., Flowserve Corp., Gilson Inc., Graco Inc., Heidolph Instruments GmbH & CO. KG, IDEX Corp., Ingersoll Rand Inc., Neles Corp., ProMinent GmbH, RAGAZZINI srl, Randolph Austin Co., SEKO Spa, Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc, TAPFLO AB, The Weir Group Plc, Wanner Engineering Inc., Welco Co. Ltd., and Verder International BV 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.

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by End-user



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by End-user

5.3 Water and wastewater - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on Water and wastewater - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on Water and wastewater - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Chart on Water and wastewater - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Water and wastewater - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Chemical and petrochemical industry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on Chemical and petrochemical industry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Chemical and petrochemical industry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Chart on Chemical and petrochemical industry - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Chemical and petrochemical industry - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Mining industry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 36: Chart on Mining industry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Mining industry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 38: Chart on Mining industry - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Mining industry - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.6 Food and beverage industry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 40: Chart on Food and beverage industry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Food and beverage industry - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 42: Chart on Food and beverage industry - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on Food and beverage industry - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 44: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 45: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 46: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.8 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 48: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 49: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 50: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 51: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 52: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 53: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 54: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 55: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 56: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 57: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 58: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 59: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 60: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 61: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 62: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 63: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 64: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 65: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 68: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 70: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 71: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 72: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 73: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 74: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 76: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 77: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 78: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 79: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 80: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 81: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 Russia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 82: Chart on Russia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 83: Data Table on Russia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 84: Chart on Russia - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 85: Data Table on Russia - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 86: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 87: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 88: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 89: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 90: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 91: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 92: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 93: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 94: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 95: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 96: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 97: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 98: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 99: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 100: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 Cole-Parmer

Exhibit 101: Cole-Parmer - Overview



Exhibit 102: Cole-Parmer - Product / Service



Exhibit 103: Cole-Parmer - Key offerings

10.4 Dover Corp.

Exhibit 104: Dover Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 105: Dover Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 106: Dover Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 107: Dover Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 108: Dover Corp. - Segment focus

10.5 Gilson Inc.

Exhibit 109: Gilson Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 110: Gilson Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 111: Gilson Inc. - Key offerings

10.6 Graco Inc.

Exhibit 112: Graco Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 113: Graco Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 114: Graco Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 115: Graco Inc. - Segment focus

10.7 Neles Corp.

Exhibit 116: Neles Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 117: Neles Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 118: Neles Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 119: Neles Corp. - Segment focus

10.8 ProMinent GmbH

Exhibit 120: ProMinent GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 121: ProMinent GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 122: ProMinent GmbH - Key offerings

10.9 SEKO Spa

Exhibit 123: SEKO Spa - Overview



Exhibit 124: SEKO Spa - Product / Service



Exhibit 125: SEKO Spa - Key offerings

10.10 Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc

Exhibit 126: Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc - Overview



Exhibit 127: Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc - Business segments



Exhibit 128: Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc - Key offerings



Exhibit 129: Spirax-Sarco Engineering Plc - Segment focus

10.11 Verder International BV

Exhibit 130: Verder International BV - Overview



Exhibit 131: Verder International BV - Product / Service



Exhibit 132: Verder International BV - Key offerings

10.12 Welco Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 133: Welco Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 134: Welco Co. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 135: Welco Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 136: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 137: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 138: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 139: Research methodology



Exhibit 140: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 141: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 142: List of abbreviations

About Us:

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com

SOURCE Technavio
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Insider today announced a new editorial feature series, Financing a Sustainable Future. It will spotlight how sustainable finance can scale the environmental transition and accelerate social opportunities. The series will explore the critical need to create a healthier and more equitable future for all and how through the collective efforts of nonprofits, governments, public and private sectors, and our communities, we can scale capital to effect positive change and support a more sustainable economy.

This innovative editorial hub is created with Bank of America, which has a long-standing commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainable finance. Its $1.5 trillion by 2030 sustainable finance goal is helping to advance the environmental transition and supports inclusive social development.

The Financing a Sustainable Future series will address sustainable finance topics along four major themes, all of which align with those proposed by the World Economic Forum (WEF): (1) "People," reflecting a company's equity and its treatment of employees; (2) "Planet," covering impact on the environment; (3) "Prosperity," examining the impact of corporations on the well-being of their communities; and (4) "Principles of Governance," suggesting ways and tools to measure a company's purpose and behavior to ensure corporate accountability.

"Our goal is to shine a light on the need for organizations and their leadership to take seriously environmental and social challenges impacting the planet, and not just with symbolic gestures but through rigorous efforts that are transparent and measurable," said Matt Turner, Executive Editor of Insider. "Now more than ever, transitioning to a sustainable economy is a priority around the globe, and we're proud to highlight the issues, the challenges and the opportunities."

"The collaboration with Insider brings forward how sustainable finance on a global scale can help accelerate the environmental transition to a low-carbon future through new technologies and innovation, while advancing societal goals of inclusion and equity," said Karen Fang, Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at Bank of America. "The private sector has an important role to play, and Bank of America is mobilizing a significant amount of capital with our clients and partners to address some of the toughest and most urgent global development challenges we face today, including climate change."

To help shape the editorial focus of the new platform and identify its most critical themes and stories, Insider has convened an editorial advisory council of prestigious leaders in the fields of sustainability, business, and finance.

Council members will contribute thought-leadership articles that will run alongside editorial stories and will participate in the series of 4 virtual events that will also be included, aligned with each pillar. All of the content from the council members and Insider's writer of the series will be available on an editorial hub. The hub will also feature articles from Bank of America discussing how it's marshaling its resources to finance transformation found on insider.com/sustainablefinance.

Council members include:

Ezgi Barcenas , Chief Sustainability Officer, AB InBev

, Chief Sustainability Officer, AB InBev Karen Fang , Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Finance, Bank of America

, Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Finance, Bank of America Eunice Heath , Corporate Director of Sustainability, Dow

, Corporate Director of Sustainability, Dow Bob Holycross , Vice President, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, at Ford Motor Company

, Vice President, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, at Ford Motor Company Ravi Kumar , President, Infosys

, President, Infosys Kathleen McLaughlin , Chief Sustainability Officer, Walmart Inc. and President of the Walmart Foundation

, Chief Sustainability Officer, Walmart Inc. and President of the Walmart Foundation Sophia Mendelsohn , Chief Sustainability Officer and Global Head of ESG, Cognizant

, Chief Sustainability Officer and Global Head of ESG, Cognizant Caroline Roan , Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President of Global Health & Social Impact, Pfizer

, Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President of Global Health & Social Impact, Pfizer Durreen Shahnaz, Founder & CEO, Impact Investment Exchange and Impact Investment Exchange Foundation

Megan Starr , Global Head of Impact, Carlyle

, Global Head of Impact, Carlyle Jennifer Steinmann , Global Climate and Sustainability Marketplace Leader, Deloitte

, Global Climate and Sustainability Marketplace Leader, Deloitte Evan van Hook , Chief Sustainability Officer, Honeywell

, Chief Sustainability Officer, Honeywell Martin Whittaker , CEO, JUST Capital

About Insider

Insider is one of the world's most popular and influential news brands. Launched in 2007 as Business Insider, Insider covers the news and stories of interest to the digital generation, from travel and lifestyle to finance and technology, the subjects that first put Business Insider on the map.

Insider generates more than 250 million unique monthly visitors across the globe and has hundreds of millions of video views each month. Insider has 14 editions around the world in seven languages. Insider is a subsidiary of Axel Springer SE.

About Bank of America

At Bank of America, we're guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We're delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It's demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact.

SOURCE Insider
DUBLIN, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Automotive Radar Market (2021-2026) by Range, Frequency, Application, Vehicle Type, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Automotive Radar Market is estimated to be USD 4.73 Bn in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 12.42 Bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 21.3%.



Key factors such as the rise in demand for safety features and increasing sales of luxury cars are driving the market growth. Technological advancements and increasing awareness among people provide growth opportunities to the market.



However, high cost and complex structure factors are likely to restrain the market growth. Moreover, lower efficiency and shorter wavelength are major challenges in the market.

Company Profiles

Some of the companies covered in this report are Denso, Fujitsu, Infineon Technologies, NXP, Robert Bosch, STMicroelectronics, etc.



Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Automotive Radar Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary

4 Market Influencers

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Rise in Demand and Government Regulations for Safety Features

4.1.2 Increase in Adoption of ADAS Technology by OEMs

4.1.3 Increasing Sales of Luxury Cars

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 Usage of Radar Detectors Considered as Illegal in Some Countries

4.2.2 High Cost and Complex Structure

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Technological Advancements

4.3.2 Digital Transformation Instead of Analog/RF

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Issues Related to Equipment Calibration and Testing

4.4.2 Shorter Wavelength



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Regulatory Scenario

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Automotive Radar Market, By Range

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Short Range Radar (SRR)

6.3 Medium Range Radar (MRR)

6.4 Long Range Radar (LRR)



7 Global Automotive Radar Market, By Frequency

7.1 Introduction

7.2 24 GHz

7.3 77 GHz

7.4 79 GHz



1. Global Automotive Radar Market, By Application

2. Introduction

3. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)

4. Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB)

5. Blind Spot Detection (BSD)

6. Forward Collision Warning System (FCWS)

7. Intelligent Park Assist



8 Global Automotive Radar Market, By Vehicle Type

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Passenger Car (PC)

8.3 Commercial Vehicles (CV)



9 Global Automotive Radar Market, By Geography

9.1 Introduction

9.2 America

9.2.1 Argentina

9.2.2 Brazil

9.2.3 Canada

9.2.4 Chile

9.2.5 Colombia

9.2.6 Mexico

9.2.7 Peru

9.2.8 United States

9.2.9 Rest of Americas

9.3 Europe

9.3.1 Austria

9.3.2 Belgium

9.3.3 Denmark

9.3.4 Finland

9.3.5 France

9.3.6 Germany

9.3.7 Italy

9.3.8 Netherlands

9.3.9 Norway

9.3.10 Poland

9.3.11 Russia

9.3.12 Spain

9.3.13 Sweden

9.3.14 Switzerland

9.3.15 United Kingdom

9.3.16 Rest of Europe

9.4 Middle East and Africa

9.4.1 Egypt

9.4.2 Israel

9.4.3 Qatar

9.4.4 Saudi Arabia

9.4.5 South Africa

9.4.6 United Arab Emirates

9.4.7 Rest of MEA

9.5 Asia-Pacific

9.5.1 Australia

9.5.2 Bangladesh

9.5.3 China

9.5.4 India

9.5.5 Indonesia

9.5.6 Japan

9.5.7 Malaysia

9.5.8 Philippines

9.5.9 Singapore

9.5.10 South Korea

9.5.11 Sri Lanka

9.5.12 Thailand

9.5.13 Taiwan

9.5.14 Rest of Asia-Pacific



10 Competitive Landscape

10.1 Competitive Quadrant

10.2 Market Share Analysis

10.3 Strategic Initiatives

10.3.1 M&A and Investments

10.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

10.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



11 Company Profiles

11.1 Analog Devices

11.2 Autoliv

11.3 Continental

11.4 Delphi Automotive

11.5 Denso

11.6 Fujitsu

11.7 HELLA

11.8 Infineon Technologies

11.9 Infineon Technologies

11.10 Mitsubishi Electric

11.11 Nidec Elesys

11.12 NXP

11.13 RadSee Technologies

11.14 Robert Bosch

11.15 Rohde & Schwarz

11.16 Symeo

11.17 STMicroelectronics

11.18 Texas Instruments

11.19 TungThih Electronic

11.20 Valeo

11.21 Veoneer

11.22 ZF Friedrichshafen



12 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/85t0ky

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets
DURHAM, N.C., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- James S. Farrin, the CEO, President, and Founder of the Law Offices of James Scott Farrin, was named to the 2021 "Power List" by Business North Carolina for building one of the largest personal injury and product liability firms in North Carolina. The "Power List" reflects some of the most powerful figures in the state, with members of the list having been chosen for prestigious leadership positions by their peers.*

The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin helped over 4,800 clients last year, with more than $155 million total recovered.** The firm has over 60 attorneys, more than 175 staff, and 11 attorneys that are North Carolina State Bar Board Certified Specialists in their fields.

According to Business North Carolina, the "Power List" is a one-of-a-kind report on the state's most influential leaders and their affiliated institutions, covering key industries such as law, finance, health care, real estate, and technology. The respected publication's editorial team created the list by seeking nominations, talking with dozens of sources, and doing extensive research.

ABOUT THE LAW OFFICES OF JAMES SCOTT FARRIN

The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin is one of the largest personal injury firms in North Carolina and has helped over 55,000 injured people since 1997. Operating from 16 offices in NC and one in SC, many of the firm's 60+ accomplished attorneys are recognized professionals in their fields. The firm focuses on providing quality legal services to as many people as possible in the following practice areas: personal injury, car accidents, workers' compensation, nursing home abuse, whistleblowing, defective products, eminent domain, mass torts, class actions, and Social Security Disability.

Contact Information:

David Chamberlin

280 S. Mangum Street

Suite 400

Durham, NC 27701

866-900-7078

https://www.farrin.com/

Offices in Durham (main), Raleigh, Charlotte, Greensboro, NC and Greenville, SC. Attorney J. Gabe Talton: 280 South Mangum St., Suite 400, Durham, NC.

*For more information regarding standards of inclusion for the "Power List," visit https://www.farrin.com/business-nc-power-list/

**Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes because each case is unique and must be evaluated separately.

Related Link: https://www.farrin.com

SOURCE Law Offices of James Scott Farrin
KYIV, Ukraine , March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), together with Ukrainian businesses and state-owned companies, have launched a direct humanitarian aid campaign for Ukraine, to purchase necessary non-military supplies, first aid and protective kits for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Ukrainian Paramedic Association, and the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces  mostly civilians who have volunteered in their country's time of need  to shield them against Russian aggression.

KSE is bringing protective kits to Ukraine's civilians, and more are urgently needed.

The crisis has worsened this week, as Russia has intensified its attacks: thousands more first aid and protective kits are urgently needed. Accordingly, KSE and its partners have located suppliers for additional kits and have raised the fundraising goal to $10 Million USD, from its initial $2.5 Million USD goal.

"The Ukrainian government announced the official toll of civilian deaths  over 2,000 people, and that is only the beginning. I am afraid to think what the count will be in the next several days. We need support for humanitarian relief now: first aid kits, food supplies, transportation and protective gear. This all costs money," said Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics, former minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, and Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Pittsburgh.

"I appeal to the rest of the free world for which we are fighting now  support us with resources, stand with Ukraine," Dr. Mylovanov said.

Multiple companies and individuals from all over the world have joined the campaign and supported the humanitarian needs of Ukrainians. Contributions are arriving from the United States, Poland, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, India, Brazil, and many other countries.

The KSE Charitable Foundation was established in 2007 as a subsidiary of its non-profit corporation in the United States, with a focus on humanitarian aid. The Russian invasion has added new urgency. We also aim to help NGOs, volunteers, and public initiatives to fight for our sovereignty.

Ukrainian companies, businesses with Ukrainian roots (including Roosh, Influ2, JKR Investment Group, tech/uklon, and more), along with the Ukrainian offices of top global consulting firms and teams of state-owned companies, have already donated either in funds or services or both, and are calling on any partners or individuals to help protect Ukraine's sovereignty  and especially, its people. The past few days have been spent locating suppliers and setting up infrastructure for payment and for distribution to the Territorial Defense Forces. All help is gratefully received, and any donation will go directly to protective kits.

SLAVA UKRAINI!

GLORY TO UKRAINE

Here are the details for supporting the foundation's efforts to provide protective kits to Ukrainian Territorial Defense volunteers.

Link to support: https://kse.ua/support/donation

For bank transfers: https://kse.ua/donation-bank

SLAVA UKRAINI!

GLORY TO UKRAINE

About the Kyiv School of Economics:

In a world of colliding economic, political, technological, and nature-led forces, the Kyiv School of Economics is one of Ukraine's strongest business education institutions. The Kyiv School of Economics helps build the intellectual foundation for a strong and innovative economy of Ukraine, combining real-world practitioners, leading experts in business education, intellectual rigor, and academic excellence.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Daria Ivanova

[email protected] (primary)

380-97-775-7675

Svitlana Denysenko

[email protected]

Merredith Branscombe

[email protected]

SOURCE Kyiv School of Economics
Karma and Luck's longest charitable partnership is with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada. For every Feng Shui Tree sold, Karma and Luck donates a portion of the proceeds to help the nonprofit grant wishes for local children with life-threatening conditions. To date, the company has donated almost $25,000, including $16,487 in 2021.

Karma and Luck also helps local food bank Three Square fight hunger throughout Southern Nevada. Every Karma and Luck Red String Protection bracelet sold provides three meals to feed the hungry in Southern Nevada. Karma and Luck donated $14,717 to Three Square in 2021.

During 2021, Karma and Luck helped more than 32,000 local children and families through these two community partnerships.

Additional philanthropic efforts include Karma and Luck employees coming together last October to support The American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Southern Nevada.

For Giving Tuesday on Nov. 30, Karma and Luck turned their attention to the environment and donated $1 to reforestation for every order made that day. This resulted in more than 4,000 mangrove trees being planted in a dedicated plot in Madagascar. These trees will remove over 2.7 million pounds of CO2 over their lifetime, the company reported.

According to Karma and Luck founder and CEO Vladi Bergman, "Acting responsibly and giving back is ingrained in everything we do and is how we drive sustainable business that makes a genuine and positive impact for our customers, employees and communities."

About Karma and Luck

Karma and Luck was founded to connect cultures through fair trade and beautiful, handmade products featuring symbols of peace, kindness, and protection. Every Karma and Luck piece is designed to bring good fortune to your home and to surround you with protective energy wherever you go.

In 2021, Karma and Luck was named to Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America. Karma and Luck currently has 9 retail locations in Las Vegas and Houston, with new brick-and-mortar experiences coming soon to New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.

Learn more at www.karmaandluck.com or on Instagram at @karmaandluck.

Contact: Denyce Tuller, B&P, (702) 375-5539, [email protected]

SOURCE Karma and Luck
PITTSBURGH, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kennametal (NYSE: KMT) announced today that they will virtually attend the Bank of America Global Industrials Conference 2022.

Details of the conference are as follows:

When: Thursday, March 17, 2022

Attendees: Damon Audia, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Kelly Boyer, Vice President, Investor Relations

About Kennametal

With over 80 years as an industrial technology leader, Kennametal Inc. delivers productivity to customers through materials science, tooling and wear-resistant solutions. Customers across aerospace, earthworks, energy, general engineering and transportation turn to Kennametal to help them manufacture with precision and efficiency. Every day approximately 8,600 employees are helping customers in more than 60 countries stay competitive. Kennametal generated approximately $1.8 billion in revenues in fiscal 2021. Learn more at www.kennametal.com. Follow @Kennametal: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

SOURCE Kennametal Inc.
Stuart Day, dean of the KU Edwards Campus and School of Professional Studies , says these new programs offer unique opportunities for students looking to advance their careers.

"By offering the program through the School of Professional Studies, we are able to ensure an interdisciplinary approach to project management, which allows students to explore a variety of emphasis areas and ensures that they take a broad approach to project management," said Day. "Offering these programs online gives more students the chance to succeed."

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), organizations across sectors and geographic borders steadily embrace project management. As a growing profession, it is on track to gain nearly 2.2 million new jobs globally each year through 2027.

"Project management's significant and sustained growth across many industries has increased the demand for project managers, and we have expanded our existing project management offerings to help address this growing need." said John Bricklemyer, professor of the practice and director for engineering management and project management programs in the KU School of Professional Studies. "Students looking to finish their degree in project management will learn how theory and practice work together to solve real-world problems in a wide variety of fields."

About The University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. Its mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities, and making discoveries that change the world. The KU Edwards Campus at 127th Street and Quivira Road in Overland Park brings the high-quality academic, professional, and continuing education programs as well as research and public-service benefits of KU to the Greater Kansas City community in order to serve the workforce, economic and community development needs of the region.

Media Contact:

Hannah Lemon

Phone number: 9138978755

Email address: [email protected]

SOURCE University of Kansas Edwards Campus
"Mack Trucks, the market leader in the refuse industry, is also a leader in e-mobility, and this is another step forward in our ongoing electrification journey," said Jonathan Randall, Mack Trucks senior vice president of sales and commercial operations. "Customer feedback about the Mack LR Electric has been extremely positive, and we look forward to continuing to advance electrification to fulfill the needs of our customers."

The next generation LR Electric features 42 percent more energy and a standard 376 kWh total battery capacity offering an increased range. Featuring twin electric motors, the Mack LR Electric offers 448 continuous horsepower and 4,051 lb.-ft. of peak output torque from zero RPM. The LR Electric has a two-speed Mack Powershift transmission, Mack mRIDE suspension and Mack's proprietary S462R 46,000-pound rear axles.

Easily identifiable by a copper-colored Bulldog on the cab denoting the electric drivetrain, the LR Electric's vehicle propulsion is offered through four NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide) lithium-ion batteries that are charged though a 150 kW, SAE J1772-compliant charging system. The four batteries also provide all power for every onboard accessory, driven through 12V, 24V and 600V circuits. The two-stage regenerative braking system helps recapture energy from the hundreds of stops the vehicle makes each day with an increasing load.

"Mack continues to make investments in e-mobility, and we are pleased that this next generation LR Electric further improves our offering," said Scott Barraclough, Mack senior product manager of e-mobility. "Our dealers also are becoming EV certified, so customers will have the same level of service and support they have come to expect from Mack and its extensive dealer network."

Mack has EV-certified dealers in California, Idaho and Montreal, Quebec, and many more are working toward achieving EV Certification status. Mack and Mack Financial Services also recently announced the Mack Vehicle-as-a-Service (VaaS) program to help customers better manage the purchase process for the Mack LR Electric model, and Mack also is partnering with all body builders.

VaaS includes the vehicle chassis, the refuse body, applicable taxes and a comprehensive vehicle protection plan - the Mack Ultra Service Agreement. Qualified customers have the option to bundle a charger and associated installation costs into a single invoice, an all-inclusive offer that is unique in the industry. VaaS is offered as a five-year lease with single monthly payments and the option to renew.

The Mack Ultra Service Agreement includes all preventive and corrective maintenance, excluding accidental repairs, Mack GuardDog Connect uptime services, roadside assistance, battery monitoring and an industry-leading battery performance guarantee. GuardDog Connect monitors vehicle systems, including battery health and performance and checks for fault codes and defects reported by the battery and electric components of the energy storage system.

When a critical fault code is detected, Mack GuardDog Connect proactively contacts Mack OneCall agents at the Uptime Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. OneCall agents support Mack customers by coordinating repairs and service with the Mack dealer network during planned and unplanned service events.

For more information about the next generation Mack LR Electric, please contact your local Mack dealer or visit www.macktrucks.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: This photo can be viewed and downloaded at https://press.macktrucks.com.

Dedicated to durability, reliability and meeting the needs of customers, Mack Trucks has provided purpose-built transportation solutions for more than a century. Today, Mack is one of North America's largest producers of heavy-duty trucks, and Mack trucks are sold and serviced through an extensive distribution network in more than 45 countries. Mack trucks, diesel engines and transmissions sold in North America are assembled in the United States. Mack manufacturing locations are certified to the internationally recognized ISO 9001 standard for quality, ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems and OHSAS 18001 standard for health and safety management systems. Mack is also a proud sponsor of Share the Road, an American Trucking Associations public information campaign aimed at enhancing the safety of our nation's roadways.

Mack Trucks is part of the Volvo Group, which is driving prosperity through transport and infrastructure solutions, offering trucks, buses, construction equipment, power solutions for marine and industrial applications, financing and services that increase customer uptime and productivity. Founded in 1927, the Volvo Group is committed to shaping the future landscape of sustainable transport and infrastructure solutions. The Volvo Group is headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, employs 95,000 people and serves customers in 190 markets. In 2021, net sales amounted to about $43 billion. For more information, please visit www.volvogroup.com .

For more information about Mack, visit our website at www.macktrucks.com

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT

KIMBERLY PUPILLO

DIRECTOR  PUBLIC RELATIONS

MACK TRUCKS, INC.

336-662-1787

[email protected]

SOURCE Mack Trucks
GUANGZHOU, China, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- MINISO Group Holding Limited (NYSE: MNSO) ("MINISO", "MINISO Group" or the "Company"), a fast-growing global value retailer offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2022 ended December 31, 2021.

Financial Highlights for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2022 ended December 31, 2021

Revenue was RMB2,772.8 million ( US$435.1 million ), exceeding the high end of the Company's guidance range of RMB2,500 million to RMB2,700 million , representing an increase of 20.7% year over year and 4.5% quarter over quarter.

was ( ), exceeding the high end of the Company's guidance range of to , representing an increase of 20.7% year over year and 4.5% quarter over quarter. Gross profit was RMB862.9 million ( US$135.4 million ), representing an increase of 34.2% year over year and 18.5% quarter over quarter. Gross margin was 31.1%, compared to 28.0% in the same period of 2020 and 27.4% in the previous quarter.

was ( ), representing an increase of 34.2% year over year and 18.5% quarter over quarter. was 31.1%, compared to 28.0% in the same period of 2020 and 27.4% in the previous quarter. Operating profit was RMB255.4 million ( US$40.1 million ), compared to RMB54.3 million in the same period of 2020 and RMB213.5 million in the previous quarter.

was ( ), compared to in the same period of 2020 and in the previous quarter. Profit for the period was RMB184.1 million ( US$28.9 million ), compared to RMB20.8 million in the same period of 2020 and RMB154.5 million in the previous quarter.

was ( ), compared to in the same period of 2020 and in the previous quarter. Adjusted net profit[1] was RMB214.4 million ( US$33.6 million ), representing an increase of 155.4% year over year and 16.4% quarter over quarter. Adjusted net margin[1] was 7.7%, compared to 3.7% in the same period of 2020 and 6.9% in the previous quarter.

Operational Highlights for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2022 ended December 31, 2021

Number of MINISO stores increased to 5,045 as of December 31, 2021 , representing a quarterly net addition of 174 stores, compared to a quarterly net addition of 184 stores in the same period of 2020 and 122 stores in the previous quarter, respectively.

increased to 5,045 as of , representing a quarterly net addition of 174 stores, compared to a quarterly net addition of 184 stores in the same period of 2020 and 122 stores in the previous quarter, respectively. Number of MINISO stores in China increased to 3,168 as of December 31, 2021 , representing a quarterly net addition of 133 stores, compared to a quarterly net addition of 135 stores in the same period of 2020 and 96 stores in the previous quarter, respectively.

increased to 3,168 as of , representing a quarterly net addition of 133 stores, compared to a quarterly net addition of 135 stores in the same period of 2020 and 96 stores in the previous quarter, respectively. Number of MINISO stores in overseas markets increased to 1,877 as of December 31, 2021 , representing a quarterly net addition of 41 stores, compared to a quarterly net addition of 49 stores in same period of 2020 and 26 stores in the previous quarter, respectively.

increased to 1,877 as of , representing a quarterly net addition of 41 stores, compared to a quarterly net addition of 49 stores in same period of 2020 and 26 stores in the previous quarter, respectively. Number of TOP TOY's offline stores increased to 89 as of December 31, 2021 , representing a quarterly net addition of 17 stores, compared to a quarterly net addition of 39 stores in the previous quarter.

The following table provides a breakdown of the number of MINISO and TOPTOY stores as well as their year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter changes of the relevant dates:



As of

December

31, 2020 September 30, 2021 December

31, 2021 YoY QoQ Number of MINISO stores[2] 4,514 4,871 5,045 531 174 China 2,768 3,035 3,168 400 133 Directly operated stores 5 4 5 - 1 Third-party stores 2,763 3,031 3,163 400 132 Overseas 1,746 1,836 1,877 131 41 Directly operated stores 105 108 117 12 9 Third-party stores 1,641 1,728 1,760 119 32 Number of TOP TOY stores[3] 5 72 89 84 17 Directly operated stores 1 6 5 4 (1) Third-party stores 4 66 84 80 18























[1]See the sections titled "Non-IFRS Financial Measures" and "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Financial Measures" in this press release for more information. [2]"MINISO stores" are any of the stores operated under the "MINISO" brand name, including those directly operated by the Company ("Directly operated stores"), and those operated by third parties under the MINISO Retail Partner model and the distributor model ("Third-party stores"). [3]"TOP TOY stores" are any of the stores operated under the "TOP TOY" brand name, including Directly operated stores and Third-party stores.

Mr. Guofu Ye, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of MINISO, commented, "We delivered another solid quarter and strengthened our leading position in industry. During calendar year 2021, we executed our strategy well, adding 615 stores to our global store network and increasing revenue by 34% year over year."

"Looking ahead in the post-pandemic era, we are more capable and highly confident in constantly delivering long-term values to consumers and investors with our constant offering of products that are more appealing, useful and playful." Mr. Ye continued.

Mr. Saiyin Zhang, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of MINISO, commented, "We are encouraged by our financial performance in both top line and bottom line in December quarter, adjusted net profit of MINISO reached RMB214 million, increased by 155% year over year, adjusted net margin recovered to 7.7%, compared to 3.7% in the same period in 2020."

"The latest waves of the pandemic in China are still evolving. We currently estimate that our sales will continue to be pressured by the lingering effects of the pandemic in the short term. However, we have reasonable faith in the rapid recovery of our business in China and overseas market in the second half of calendar year 2022, we will continue monitoring the pandemic recovery and rapidly adapt our expansion plan as necessary to embrace a full recovery." Mr. Zhang concluded.

Recent Developments

Impact of COVID-19

The resurgences of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact the Company's operations and results in the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

In China, sales growth continued to be challenged by multiple waves of pandemic from late October across the country. The Company estimates that the GMV loss from those influenced stores was comparable to the loss in the previous quarter. Going into the quarter ending March 31, 2022, the Company currently expects the effects of COVID-19 to persist and local governments' zero-tolerance policy to maintain relative strict public health measures in some cities. In overseas markets, 76 stores had not resumed operations as of December 31, 2021, compared to 157 such stores as of September 30, 2021. Although the Company has been observing marginal sales improvements in overseas markets in the past several quarters, it remains cautious in its outlook in terms of sales and store expansion.

Unaudited Financial Results for the Second Quarter of Fiscal Year 2022 ended December 31, 2021

Revenue was RMB2,772.8 million (US$435.1 million), representing an increase of 20.7% year over year, primarily driven by the growth of the Company's domestic operations and the recovery of its international operations.

Revenue generated from domestic operations was RMB2,055.5 million (US$322.6 million), increasing by 12.0% year over year. Revenue generated from domestic operations of the MINISO brand was RMB1,876.7 million (US$294.5 million), increasing by 6.4% year over year. Revenue generated from the TOP TOY brand was RMB131.1 million (US$20.6 million), compared to RMB2.6 million in the same period of 2020.

Revenue generated from international operations was RMB717.3 million (US$112.6 million), representing an increase of 54.9% year over year, which reflects an improved recovery of sales in international markets.

Revenue per MINISO store, which is calculated by dividing the revenue of the MINISO brand by the average number of MINISO stores of the relevant period, was RMB523.2 thousand (US$82.1 thousand), representing a year-over-year increase of 3.9%. Revenue per MINISO store for the Company's domestic operations decreased by 7.4% year over year, reflecting the impact of the pandemic and the dilution effect of the newly added stores in lower-tier cities in China in this quarter, while revenue per MINISO store for our international operations increased by 43.7% year over year.

Cost of sales was RMB1,909.9 million (US$299.7 million), representing an increase of 15.4% year over year.

Gross profit was RMB862.9 million (US$135.4 million), representing an increase of 34.2% year over year.

Gross margin was 31.1%, compared to 28.0% in the same period of 2020. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to 1) revenue contribution of international operations increased from 20.1% in the same period of 2020 to 25.9% in this quarter, typically international operations have higher gross margin than domestic operations, and 2) our expanding co-branded IP product offering and its associated higher gross margin in this quarter.

Other income was RMB2.5 million (US$0.4 million), compared to RMB7.8 million in the same period of 2020. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to a decrease in government grants received by the Company in this quarter.

Selling and distribution expenses were RMB384.8 million (US$60.4 million), representing an increase of 12.9% year over year. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, selling and distribution expenses were RMB370.7 million (US$58.2 million), representing an increase of 21.0% year over year. The year-over-year increase was primarily attributable to increased personnel-related expenses, licensing expenses and marketing expenses that were in line with the year-over-year revenue growth and brand awareness improvement for both MINISO and TOP TOY.

General and administrative expenses were RMB221.4 million (US$34.7 million), representing an increase of 17.1% year over year. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, general and administrative expenses were RMB214.7 million (US$33.7 million), representing an increase of 34.0% year over year. The year-over-year increase was primarily due to increased depreciation and amortization expenses of land use right related to the Company's headquarter building project, and to a lesser extent, increased personnel-related expense and professional service fees.

Other net income was RMB12.3 million (US$1.9 million), compared to other net loss of RMB55.1 million in the same period of 2020. The Company recorded other net loss in the same period of 2020 mainly due to an appreciation of Renminbi against U.S. dollar during that period, which resulted in foreign exchange losses. Increase in investment income also contributed to the change from net loss to net income in this quarter ended December 31, 2021.

Operating profit was RMB255.4 million (US$40.1 million), compared to RMB54.3 million in the same period of 2020.

Profit for the period was RMB184.1 million (US$28.9 million), compared to RMB20.8 million in the same period of 2020.

Adjusted net profit, which represents profit for the period excluding (i) equity-settled share-based payment expenses, and (ii) impairment loss on non-current assets, was RMB214.4 million (US$33.6 million), representing an increase of 155.4% year over year.

Adjusted net margin was 7.7%, compared to 3.7% in the same period of 2020.

Basic and diluted earnings per American Depositary Share ("ADS") were RMB0.60 (US$0.08) in the quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB0.08 in the same period of 2020. Each ADS represents four of the Company's Class A ordinary shares.

Adjusted basic and diluted earnings per ADS were RMB0.72 (US$0.12) in the quarter ended December 31, 2021, compared to adjusted basic and diluted earnings per ADS of RMB0.28 in the same period of 2020.

See the sections entitled "Non-IFRS Financial Measures" and "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Financial Measures" in this press release for more information about adjusted net profit, adjusted net margin, and adjusted basic and diluted earnings per ADS.

As of December 31, 2021, the combined balance of the Company's cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash and other investments amounted to RMB5,367.1 million (US$842.2 million).

Business Outlook

For the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 ending March 31, 2022, the Company currently estimates its revenue to be between RMB2,400 million and RMB2,700 million, representing an increase of 7.7% to 21.1% year over year. This estimate represents management's current and preliminary views on the market and operational conditions as of the date of this press release, which does not factor in any of the potential future impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and is subject to change.

Conference Call

The Company's management will hold an earnings conference call at 7:00 A.M. Eastern Time on Thursday, March 3, 2022 (8:00 P.M. Beijing Time on the same day) to discuss the financial results. The conference call can be accessed via the following zoom link or by dialing the following numbers:

Access 1

Zoom link:

https://dooyle.zoom.us/j/84860705976?pwd=ckh3OW1oeXkydzAwaXlHYnVYeEpBZz09

Meeting Number: 848 6070 5976

Meeting Passcode: 888666

Access 2

Listeners may access the call by dialing the following numbers with the same meeting number and passcode with Access 1.

United States Toll Free: 833 548 0276 (or 833 548 0282) Mainland China Toll Free: 400 182 3168 (or 400 616 8835) Hong Kong, China Toll Free: +852 5803 3730 (or +852 5803 3731) United Kingdom (Charge Fees): +44 203 901 7895 (or +44 208 080 6591) France (Charge Fees): +33 1 8699 5831 (or+33 1 7037 2246) Singapore (Charge Fees): +65 3158 7288 (or +65 3165 1065) Canada (Charge Fees): +1 613 209 3054 (or +1 647 374 4685)

Access 3

Listeners can also access the meeting through the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.miniso.com/.

A replay will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live event at the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.miniso.com/.

About MINISO Group

MINISO Group is a fast-growing global value retailer offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. The Company serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores, and promotes a relaxing, treasure-hunting and engaging shopping experience full of delightful surprises that appeals to all demographics. Aesthetically pleasing design, quality and affordability are at the core of every product in MINISO's wide product portfolio, and the Company continually and frequently rolls out products with these qualities. Since the opening of its first store in China in 2013, the Company has built its flagship brand "MINISO" as a globally recognized retail brand and established a massive store network worldwide. For more information, please visit https://ir.miniso.com/.

Exchange Rate

The U.S. dollar (US$) amounts disclosed in this press release, except for those transaction amounts that were actually settled in U.S. dollars, are presented solely for the convenience of the readers. The conversion of Renminbi (RMB) into US$ in this press release is based on the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as of December 30, 2021, which was RMB6.3726 to US$1.0000. The percentages stated in this press release are calculated based on the RMB amounts.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

In evaluating the business, MINISO considers and uses adjusted net profit, adjusted net margin, adjusted basic and diluted earnings per share and adjusted basic and diluted earnings per ADS as supplemental measures to review and assess its operating performance. The presentation of these non-IFRS financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with IFRS. MINISO defines adjusted net profit as profit for the period excluding (i) fair value changes of redeemable shares with other preferential rights, (ii) equity-settled share-based payment expenses, and (iii) impairment loss on non-current assets. MINISO calculates adjusted net margin by dividing adjusted net profit by revenue for the same period. MINISO computes adjusted basic and diluted net earnings per ADS by dividing the adjusted net profit attributable to the equity shareholders of the Company by the number of ADSs represented by the number of ordinary shares used in the basic and diluted earnings per share calculation on an IFRS basis and retrospectively adjusting for the effect of the issuance of Series A preferred shares by the Company that are deemed to have been converted into ordinary shares since July 1, 2019. MINISO computes adjusted basic and diluted net earnings per share in the same way it calculates adjusted basic and diluted net earnings per ADS, except that it uses the number of ordinary shares used in the basic and diluted earnings per share calculation on an IFRS basis as the denominator instead of the number of ADSs represented by these ordinary shares.

MINISO presents these non-IFRS financial measures because they are used by the management to evaluate its operating performance and formulate business plans. These non-IFRS financial measures enable the management to assess its operating results without considering the impacts of the aforementioned non-cash and other adjustment items that MINISO does not consider to be indicative of its operating performance in the future. Accordingly, MINISO believes that the use of these non-IFRS financial measures provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating its operating results in the same manner as the management and board of directors.

These non-IFRS financial measures are not defined under IFRS and are not presented in accordance with IFRS. These non-IFRS financial measures have limitations as analytical tools. One of the key limitations of using these non-IFRS financial measures is that they do not reflect all items of income and expense that affect MINISO's operations. Further, these non-IFRS financial measures may differ from the non-IFRS information used by other companies, including peer companies, and therefore their comparability may be limited.

These non-IFRS financial measures should not be considered in isolation or construed as alternatives to profit/(loss), net profit/(loss) margin, basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per share and basic and diluted earnings/(loss) per ADS, as applicable, or any other measures of performance or as indicators of MINISO's operating performance. Investors are encouraged to review MINISO's historical non-IFRS financial measures in light of the most directly comparable IFRS measures, as shown below. The non-IFRS financial measures presented here may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Other companies may calculate similarly titled measures differently, limiting the usefulness of such measures when analyzing MINISO's data comparatively. MINISO encourages you to review its financial information in its entirety and not rely on a single financial measure.

For more information on the non-IFRS financial measures, please see the table captioned "Reconciliation of Non-IFRS Financial Measures" set forth at the end of this press release.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "is/are likely to," "potential," "continue" or other similar expressions. Among other things, the guidance for the fiscal year 2022's third quarter ending March 31, 2022 and quotations from management in this announcement, as well as MINISO's strategic and operational plans, contain forward-looking statements. MINISO may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about MINISO's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: MINISO's mission, goals and strategies; future business development, financial conditions and results of operations; the expected growth of the retail market and the market of branded variety retail of lifestyle products in China and globally; expectations regarding demand for and market acceptance of MINISO's products; expectations regarding MINISO's relationships with consumers, suppliers, MINISO Retail Partners, local distributors, and other business partners; competition in the industry; proposed use of proceeds; and relevant government policies and regulations relating to MINISO's business and the industry. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in MINISO's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and MINISO undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

Investor Relations Contact:

Raine Hu, Mengru Wang

MINISO Group Holding Limited

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +86 (20) 36228788 Ext.8039

MINISO GROUP HOLDING LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION (Expressed in thousands)































As at

As at June 30, 2021 December 31, 2021 (Audited) (Unaudited)



RMB'000

RMB'000

US$'000 ASSETS











Non-current assets











Property, plant and equipment

76,316

376,021

59,006 Right-of-use assets

689,887

2,391,803

375,326 Intangible assets

61,005

53,319

8,367 Goodwill

19,640

19,640

3,082 Deferred tax assets

168,552

161,018

25,267 Prepayments

138,481

203,390

31,916 Interest in an equity-accounted investee

352,062

-

-

















1,505,943

3,205,191

502,964













Current assets











Other investments

102,968

208,289

32,685 Inventories

1,496,061

1,360,994

213,570 Trade and other receivables

824,725

1,113,506

174,733 Cash and cash equivalents

6,771,653

5,151,456

808,376 Restricted cash

3,680

7,347

1,153

















9,199,087

7,841,592

1,230,517













Total assets

10,705,030

11,046,783

1,733,481













EQUITY











Share capital

92

92

14 Additional paid-in capital

8,289,160

7,982,522

1,252,632 Other reserves

928,005

999,697

156,874 Accumulated losses

(2,558,291)

(2,245,972)

(352,442)













Equity attributable to equity holders of the

Company

6,658,966

6,736,339

1,057,078 Non-controlling interests

(6,812)

(4,562)

(716)













Total equity

6,652,154

6,731,777

1,056,362













LIABILITIES











Non-current liabilities











Contract liabilities

59,947

53,572

8,407 Loans and borrowings

6,925

6,369

999 Lease liabilities

483,144

411,304

64,543 Deferred income

20,005

16,729

2,625

















570,021

487,974

76,574













Current liabilities











Loans and borrowings

13,669

5,182

813 Trade and other payables

2,809,182

3,189,086

500,437 Contract liabilities

266,919

276,537

43,395 Lease liabilities

321,268

268,425

42,122 Deferred income

6,060

5,980

938 Current taxation

65,757

81,822

12,840

















3,482,855

3,827,032

600,545













Total liabilities

4,052,876

4,315,006

677,119













Total equity and liabilities

10,705,030

11,046,783

1,733,481

MINISO GROUP HOLDING LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF PROFIT OR LOSS (Expressed in thousands, except for per share and per ADS data)





























Three months ended December 31

Six months ended December 31



2020

2021

2020

2021 (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)



RMB'000

RMB'000

US$ '000

RMB'000

RMB'000

US$ '000 Continuing operations























Revenue

2,297,721

2,772,793

435,112

4,369,860

5,426,908

851,600 Cost of sales

(1,654,953)

(1,909,893)

(299,704)

(3,204,716)

(3,835,566)

(601,884)

























Gross profit

642,768

862,900

135,408

1,165,144

1,591,342

249,716 Other income

7,811

2,510

394

43,804

18,586

2,917 Selling and distribution expenses

(340,751)

(384,813)

(60,386)

(627,492)

(725,622)

(113,866) General and administrative expenses

(189,032)

(221,421)

(34,746)

(441,163)

(432,696)

(67,899) Other net (loss)/income

(55,084)

12,337

1,936

(70,755)

45,964

7,213 Credit loss on trade and other

receivables

(11,419)

(6,544)

(1,027)

(17,387)

(19,091)

(2,996) Impairment loss on non-current assets

-

(9,536)

(1,496)

-

(9,536)

(1,496)

























Operating profit

54,293

255,433

40,083

52,151

468,947

73,589 Finance income

13,874

13,380

2,100

23,044

26,437

4,149 Finance costs

(6,760)

(8,457)

(1,327)

(13,860)

(17,266)

(2,709)

























Net finance income

7,114

4,923

773

9,184

9,171

1,440 Fair value changes redeemable shares

with other preferential rights

-

-

-

(1,625,287)

-

- Share of (loss)/profit of equity-

accounted investee, net of tax

-

(270)

(42)

-

(8,162)

(1,281)

























Profit/(loss) before taxation

61,407

260,086

40,814

(1,563,952)

469,956

73,748 Income tax expense

(40,639)

(75,996)

(11,925)

(91,615)

(131,338)

(20,610)

























Profit/(loss) for the period

20,768

184,090

28,889

(1,655,567)

338,618

53,138

























Attributable to:























Equity shareholders of the Company

20,762

184,741

28,991

(1,651,857)

336,779

52,848 Non-controlling interests

6

(651)

(102)

(3,710)

1,839

290

























Earnings/(loss) per share for ordinary

shares























-Basic

0.02

0.15

0.02

(1.52)

0.28

0.04 -Diluted

0.02

0.15

0.02

(1.52)

0.28

0.04

























Earnings/(loss) per ADS























(Each ADS represents 4 Class A

ordinary shares) -Basic

0.08

0.60

0.08

(6.08)

1.12

0.16 -Diluted

0.08

0.60

0.08

(6.08)

1.12

0.16



























MINISO GROUP HOLDING LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (Expressed in thousands, except for per share data)































Three months ended December 31

Six months ended December 31



2020

2021

2020

2021

(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)





RMB'000

RMB'000

US$ '000

RMB'000

RMB'000

US$ '000





























Profit/(loss) for the period

20,768

184,090

28,889

(1,655,567)

338,618

53,138





























Items that may be

reclassified subsequently to

profit or loss:

























Exchange differences on

translation of financial

statements of foreign

operations

(12,031)

1,459

229

(47,773)

9,177

1,440





























Other comprehensive

(loss)/income for the

period

(12,031)

1,459

229

(47,773)

9,177

1,440





























Total comprehensive

income/(loss) for the

period

8,737

185,549

29,118

(1,703,340)

347,795

54,578





























Attributable to:

























Equity shareholders of the

Company

8,199

185,845

29,164

(1,698,955)

345,545

54,224

Non-controlling interests

538

(296)

(46)

(4,385)

2,250

354



MINISO GROUP HOLDING LIMITED RECONCILIATION OF NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURE (Expressed in thousands, except for per share and per ADS data)





























Three months ended December 31

Six months ended December 31



2020

2021

2020

2021 (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited)



RMB'000

RMB'000

US$'000

RMB'000

RMB'000

US$'000

























Reconciliation of profit/(loss)

for the period to adjusted net

profit:























Profit/(loss) for the period

20,768

184,090

28,889

(1,655,567)

338,618

53,138 Add back:























Fair value changes of

redeemable shares with other

preferential rights

-

-

-

1,625,287

-

- Equity-settled share-based

payment expenses

63,189

20,759

3,258

216,379

50,400

7,909 Impairment loss on non-current

assets

-

9,536

1,496

-

9,536

1,496

























Adjusted net profit

83,957

214,385

33,643

186,099

398,554

62,543

























Attributable to:























Equity shareholders of the

Company

83,951

215,036

33,745

189,809

396,715

62,254 Non-controlling interests

6

(651)

(102)

(3,710)

1,839

289



















































Adjusted net earnings per

share for ordinary shares[4]























-Basic

0.07

0.18

0.03

0.17

0.33

0.05 -Diluted

0.07

0.18

0.03

0.17

0.32

0.05

























Adjusted net earnings per

ADS























(Each ADS represents 4 Class

A ordinary shares) -Basic

0.28

0.72

0.12

0.68

1.32

0.20 -Diluted

0.28

0.72

0.12

0.68

1.28

0.20



[4] The adjusted basic and diluted net earnings per share are computed using adjusted net profit attributable to the equity shareholders of the Company, and the number of ordinary shares used in GAAP basic and diluted earnings per share calculation after retrospectively adjusting for the effect of Series A preferred shares issued by the Company that are deemed to have been converted into ordinary shares since July 1, 2019.

MINISO GROUP HOLDING LIMITED UNAUDITED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (Expressed in millions, except percentages)



Three months ended December 31





Six months ended December 31







2020

2021

2021

YOY

2020

2021

2021

YOY (Unaudited) (Unaudited)

(Unaudited)

(Unaudited) (Unaudited)

(Unaudited)





RMB

RMB

US$



RMB

RMB

US$



































Revenue































Domestic

Operations

1,835

2,056

323

12%

3,557

4,086

641

15% -MINISO

Brand

1,764

1,877

294

6%

3,424

3,750

588

10% -TOP TOY

Brand

3

131

21

4,267%

3

240

38

7,900% -Others

68

48

8

(29%)

130

96

15

(26%) International

Operations

463

717

113

55%

813

1,341

210

65%



2,298

2,773

436

21%

4,370

5,427

851

24%

SOURCE MINISO Group Holding Limited
Press Release

March 3, 2022 Dispatch from Crame No. 1229:

Sen. Leila M. de Lima on Calida's attack against the COMELEC-Rappler MOA 3/3/22 Solicitor General Jose Calida appears to have taken a page from Putin's book and has resorted to bullying COMELEC and its media partners. Calida has threatened the COMELEC with a lawsuit unless it rescinds its Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Rappler. Calida says that COMELEC should not have chosen Rappler to participate in COMELEC's election activities because of its bias against the Duterte Administration. The MOA appears to be the regular agreement on cooperation entered into by COMELEC and its media partners during the election period. It's not something exclusive to Rappler. It is doubtful that the Solicitor General even has the power to bring such kind of action against the COMELEC which is an independent constitutional commission. It is definitely supposed to be independent of Malacan~ang and cannot be told to do the latter's bidding, especially if it amounts to favoring a candidate in the elections. What is even bewildering is why would Calida even go through all the trouble of bullying COMELEC and bringing it to court, when it is Duterte himself who will be appointing the next Chairperson and the two members of the COMELEC. Of course, Calida is the last person we expect to be objective when it comes to Rappler. The Duterte Administration is well-known for its attempts to shut down Rappler for being critical of the government and its policies, especially its reporting on Duterte's role in the Davao Death Squad, featuring the highly explosive Lascanas affidavit submitted to the ICC. Calida and his boss are still waging their war against Rappler up to now, even as the time of the Davao Mafia in power begins to shorten by the day. They are the last desperate acts of a regime whose time is about to run out. There is no basis for Calida's tirades on the COMELEC-Rappler MOA. I am confident that even if brought to the Supreme Court, Calida's case will just be thrown out like the piece of garbage that it is. (Access the handwritten version of Dispatch from Crame No. 1229, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_no._1229)
CAIRO, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian and French naval forces held joint military drills in the Red Sea, said the Egyptian army on Thursday.

"The joint exercises aim at consolidating the Egyptian-French bilateral relations and enhancing the prospects for military cooperation between the two countries," Egyptian Military Spokesman Tamer al-Refai said in a statement.

The drills effectively contribute to preserving maritime security and stability in the region and exchange of expertise, he said.

The military activities covered various training programs, including protection of a vital target in the sea against potential threats, air defense activities, and exchange of helicopter landings on helidecks of marine units and destroying marine mines, he added.

Egypt regularly holds joint military exercises with other countries to boost military collaboration and exchange military expertise.

The joint drills between Egypt and France conducted in the past few years reflected the deep bilateral ties, the spokesman added. 
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The COVID-19 crisis has illustrated the need for a better understanding and management of the multitude of available data sources to drive decision making. For businesses and organizations to be able to thrive in the current environment, they will need to take advantage of this information to innovate and seek out new opportunities. A highly skilled work force with the knowledge to lead this change is the first opportunity. For managers in Peru and the Andean region, the MIT Sloan School of Management is partnering with Universidad del Pacifico to design a Data Analytics and Business Innovation Certificate within Universidad del Pacifico's Executive MBA program. The program is MIT Sloan's first partnership with a university in Peru.

Enhanced knowledge sharing for managers is vital for the Peruvian economy to accelerate growth and promote shared prosperity for all sectors. "MIT Sloan's relationship with Peru started several years ago with our MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP) team. This engagement presented opportunities to create a future through designing strategies with measurable and sustainable results. Complementing Peru's culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, the timing is ideal for MIT Sloan to continue our relationship and partner with a leading university in the country to help accelerate the growth of future business leaders," says MIT Sloan Assistant Dean of Global Programs David V. Capodilupo.

Giuliana Leguia, Director of Universidad del Pacifico Business School, pointed out that "the university is proud to announce this alliance with MIT Sloan because it means being able to collaborate with an institution that, like Pacifico Business School, is committed to training responsible leaders who generate positive change in society but also because it means that, hand-in-hand with the best in the world, we can help Peruvian professionals enhance those skills in management, data analysis, and innovation necessary to lead, from a different perspective, the transformation that both their organizations and the country demand."

Lee Ullmann, Senior Director of the MIT Sloan Latin America Office, adds, "Peru is an exciting place to be for MIT Sloan. Prior to the pandemic, there was a great deal of economic and social growth in the country. Education was key for the expanding middle class. We look forward to partnering with Universidad del Pacifico to offer a novel certificate program in Data Analytics and Business Innovation to accelerate knowledge in an essential area."

The new program starts in October 2022, with up to 45 students attending classes in Lima at Universidad del Pacifico. In the following year, students will take classes for one week at MIT Sloan in Cambridge, MA.

Faculty from Universidad del Pacifico and MIT Sloan will focus on data analytics and innovation in a range of areas such as retail, healthcare, mobility, banking, and operations research.

Graduates of the program will receive a master's from Universidad del Pacifico. Graduates will also receive a certificate from MIT Sloan for the MIT Immersion Program in Data Analytics and Business Innovation.

For more information, please visit: https://bit.ly/33wsaxv

The certificate program is part of MIT Sloan's commitment to supporting the advancement of management education and practice in Latin America. Founded in 2013, the MIT Sloan Latin America Office strives to develop and nurture meaningful activities throughout the region, such as faculty and student visits, admissions recruiting events, and conferences.

About the MIT Sloan School of Management

The MIT Sloan School of Management is where smart, independent leaders come together to solve problems, create new organizations, and improve the world. Learn more at mitsloan.mit.edu .

Contact: Jacqueline Paris Taylor, [email protected], 617-253-0477

SOURCE MIT Sloan Global Programs
-- Conditional Approval Makes Quick, Precise Test for Presence of Antibodies to

SARS-CoV-2 Available in the US --

TORONTO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - SQI Diagnostics Inc. ("SQI" or the "Company") (TSXV: SQD) (OTCQB: SQIDF), leaders in the science of lung health, announced today that New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) has given conditional approval to its diagnostic testing partner, KSL Diagnostics, Inc. in Buffalo NY, for the EXACT COVID-19 Antibody Test.

"The EXACT COVID-19 Antibody Test is the next generation of tools in the fight against COVID-19. It gives peace of mind because it can detect an immune response in both vaccinated and previously COVID-19 infected people. It also has the potential to give the health care system key insights and data into the relationship between antibody levels and breakthrough infections and reinfections," says Andrew Morris, CEO of SQI Diagnostics. "We're bringing these tests to market now because we are determined to do our part to end the pandemic."

NYSDOH, under the Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program, evaluates and authorizes lab-developed tests for use in New York State certified clinical laboratories, which are subject to requirements equal to or more stringent than the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). "KSL is proud to partner with SQI in delivering this test and is licensed to test specimens from anywhere in the United States," says Kevin Lawson, President and CEO of KSL.

Access to the EXACT COVID-19 Antibody Test will now be available to physicians and their patients in the United States through AZOVA Inc, a telemedicine testing company that makes healthcare accessible and affordable to Americans through innovative solutions.

The EXACT COVID-19 Antibody Test is an advanced COVID-19 antibody test that provides semi-quantitative measurements of six distinct antibodies produced by the immune system in response to exposure to the SARS CoV-2 virus or to COVID-19 vaccination. The small volume blood sample can be collected in a home or office setting with a fingerstick. A positive test result could indicate the presence of antibodies arising from a prior COVID-19 infection or COVID-19 vaccination.

"The EXACT COVID-19 Antibody Test is a key part of SQI's growing ability to offer unparalleled clinical insight through varied and improved COVID-19 testing," said Morris. "We currently sell Health Canada-approved testing kits for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR molecular testing and point of care antigen testing products, which enable rapid serial testing of asymptomatic populations. We have also filed with Health Canada  for review under the Interim Order SQI's RALI-Dx IL-6 test, a hospital-based respiratory triage test for COVID-19 positive patients."

About SQI Diagnostics

SQI Diagnostics are leaders in the science of lung health. We develop and manufacture respiratory health and precision medicine tests that run on SQI's fully automated systems. Our tests simplify and improve COVID19 antibody monitoring, Rapid Acute Lung Injury testing, donor organ transplant informatics, and immunological protein and antibody testing. We're driven to create and market life-saving testing technologies that help more people in more places live longer, healthier lives. For more information, please visit www.sqidiagnostics.com.

About AZOVA

AZOVA is a globally connected Digital Health System providing telehealth and digital health services through globally connected provider, pharmacy, and laboratory networks. AZOVA provides innovative COVID testing and vaccination solutions for employers, schools, government entities, airlines, the travel industry, and the consumer. AZOVA has created the world's first truly connected global laboratory network to enable travelers to access COVID testing anywhere in the world. For more information, visit azova.com.

About KSL Diagnostics

KSL (www.ksldx.com) operates New York State Department of Health / CLIA certified clinical laboratories licensed throughout the US, including Beutner Laboratories and the Robert Guthrie Laboratory. The rapidly expanding menu integrates standard of care tests and novel assays, developed at KSL and through partnership with innovative diagnostic companies. KSL provides superlative regulatory compliance and industry-leading standards of service.

Contact:

Morlan Reddock

Chief Financial Officer

437-235-6563

[email protected]

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words "will", "may", "expects", "intends", "anticipates" and other similar expressions which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current expectation and assumptions, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. The forward-looking statements in this news release include without limitation, statements with respect to the Private Placement, the Debenture Repayment and the use of proceeds of the Private Placement. These forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, risks related to the failure to obtain necessary regulator and stock exchange approvals for the Private Placement, general economic and market factors, competition, the development and commercialization of the Company's diagnostics tests, the effect of the global pandemic and consequent economic disruption, and the factors detailed in the Company's ongoing filings with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com.

Although the forward-looking statements contained herein are based on what we consider to be reasonable assumptions based on information currently available to us, there can be no assurance that actual events, performance or results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements, and our assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements either as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable laws.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE SQI Diagnostics Inc.
Nivel intends to continue growing the business with a seamless transition of System 3's talent, vendor relationships and distribution partnerships. Craig Petersen, founder and former owner, said "We are very excited to join the Nivel team; the transition is a great fit for System 3. Nivel's resources will position System 3 to further accelerate product innovation, brand strategy and strengthen distribution relationships."

Nivel recognizes the growth in the UTV market and understands the importance of a well-rounded product portfolio appealing to all UTV segments. Through the acquisition of System 3, Nivel expands into the UTV Tire & Wheel market with a well-recognized brand built on providing an excellent customer experience and high-quality products.

Nivel CEO Brett Hankey commented, "We are thrilled to welcome System 3 into Nivel's family of brands. The System 3 team has proven their ability to leverage their experience, design talent, and engineering skills to bring best-in-class products to the market. We look forward to continue building on this success and delivering must-have products to our UTV enthusiast customers."

About Nivel

Founded in 1968, Nivel is a global manufacturer, distributor, and seller of aftermarket parts and accessories for vehicles in the Personal Transportation Vehicle (PTV), Utility Terrain Vehicle (UTV), Heavy Duty, and Automotive sectors. It is a trusted business partner to thousands of dealers, distributors, and consumers in the U.S. and international markets. Nivel owns the most valuable brands in the aftermarket niche vehicle parts and accessories categories: MadJax , Red Dot , GTW , Jake's , Reliance , Seizmik , Highlifter , and Falcon Ridge.

About System 3 Off-Road

System 3 Off-Road designs, develops, and manufactures high-quality radial tires and cast aluminum wheels for the UTV market. The System 3 brand has quickly become recognized as an industry leader in tire and wheel products for ATV/UTV replacement and high-performance applications. System 3 has raised the bar in product innovation, design and performance, earning preferred shelf space at Dealership's throughout US and Canada.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Nivel Parts & Manufacturing Co.
Old Bridge Cellars provides our small winery with synergistic opportunities to strengthen our brand awareness in the US. Tweet this

Bob Craig founded his eponymous winery in 1990 with three friends from business school. CEO Elton Slone joined the winery in 2004, became a full partner in 2007 and has continued to move the business forward with the other three founding partners since Bob's retirement in 2012. Slone says, "Our boutique brand has been independently fighting for a share of mind for thirty years. Despite the challenges of the pandemic and wildfires, we have continued to grow and strengthen our brand presence through brute quality and an ever-increasing consumer desire for mountain wines. Old Bridge Cellars provides our small winery with many more synergistic opportunities to strengthen our brand awareness with restaurateurs, retailers, national accounts and distributors while maintaining the culture and esprit de corps that we value as an artisanal producer."

Old Bridge Cellars will promote ten small-production wines across the US market with Affinity Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($70 SRP) and Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon (SRP $110) being the most widely available. Rob Buono, president of Old Bridge Cellars, is thrilled to welcome another Napa Valley winery to the portfolio. "We are pleased to be associated with the original group of founders who have refined their efforts of offering mostly high-altitude Cabernet Sauvignon. Old Bridge Cellars now offers highly-rated, age-worthy Cabernet Sauvignon wines from diverse regions around the globe: Napa Valley, Bordeaux and Australia," says Buono.

About Old Bridge Cellars

Old Bridge Cellars imports, produces and markets wines from a handful of independent wineries in the world's leading wine regions. Our portfolio, while anchored in Australia, boasts 200 different wines from 26 applauded winemaking regions across the globe. Our 23 winemakers travel home to one of five countries (AU, FR, IT, NZ, USA), so from Hunter Valley Semillon to Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, we have it expertly covered. All our wineries are independently owned and operated.

PR contacts:

Old Bridge Cellars: Lara Abbott [email protected]

Robert Craig Winery: Elton Slone [email protected]

SOURCE Old Bridge Cellars
LONDON, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, OnlyFans, the social platform empowering creators to own their full potential, announces the OnlyFans Creative Fund Fashion Edition , a fashion-focused initiative that will serve as a platform for rising talent. Fashion powerhouses Law Roach, Maeve Reilly and Sir John will evaluate the contestants' work for a series documented for OFTV. Three winners will be announced with the fund's first place winner receiving $50,000 USD to be used towards furthering their fashion career, and second and third place winners receiving $25,000 USD each.

"The Creative Fund allows us to develop opportunities for creators in a particular field. OnlyFans gives all creators a platform to express themselves and by focusing on fashion we're able to shine a spotlight on a new wave of creators in this inventive category as they look towards the future," said Ami Gan, OnlyFans CEO.

"The OnlyFans Creative Fund is a great opportunity for those looking to jump into a fashion-related career. It gives contestants an opportunity to showcase their work and get advice from people that they might not be able to reach otherwise, like Law, Sir John and me. I'm excited to see what the finalists bring to the table!" explains Maeve Reilly, celebrity stylist and founder of the brand The Local Love Club.

Those seeking to apply for the OnlyFans Creative Fund: Fashion Edition can enter five of their best designs or stylized looks alongside a short submission video via online application. The lucky six who make the cut will then be flown out to Los Angeles to participate in the final stages of the Creative Fund selection process. This experience will also be documented on OFTV, the platform's free streaming service and app.

In addition to the aforementioned roster of judges, fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff will be joining the initiative as a mentor to these aspiring creatives. To further guide contestants and viewers, actress and designer Francesca Farago will serve as host of the selection process.

OnlyFans prides itself on the platform's unwavering commitment to support creators across a range of verticals. The US-based, fashion-focused initiative is the platform's second fund iteration. OnlyFans first launched its inaugural fund in the UK in 2021 with an emphasis in music, and subsequently awarded funds to four UK-based musicians.

To learn more about OnlyFans and for official terms and conditions surrounding the OnlyFans Creative Fund, please visit https://start.onlyfans.com/creativefund .

ABOUT ONLYFANS:

OnlyFans empowers creators to own their full potential. We empower creators from all genres and are committed to building the most inclusive and safest social media platform in the world.

OnlyFans is a space for creators to express themselves freely, monetize content, and develop authentic connections with their fans. We continue to put power into the hands of creators by developing unparalleled opportunities for our community. onlyfans.com

SOURCE OnlyFans
TORONTO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX: ORV) (the "Company" or "Orvana") announced today that, at its annual shareholders' meeting (the "Meeting") held on March 3, 2022, the individuals noted below were elected as directors of the Company. The report on proxies provided by the Company's transfer agent indicated the following:

George Darling received 73,731,151 votes (representing 99.97% of votes cast); Alan Edwards received 73,718,951 votes (representing 99.95% of votes cast); Alfredo Garcia Gonzalez received 73,731,751 votes (representing 99.97% of votes cast); Ed Guimaraes received 73,724,751 votes (representing 99.96% of votes cast); Sara Magner received 73,721,251 votes (representing 99.96% of votes cast); and Gordon Pridham received 73,718,951 votes (representing 99.95% of votes cast).

Mr. Gordon Pridham was re-appointed as chairman of the board of directors; Mr. Juan Gavidia was re-appointed Chief Executive Officer; Ms. Nuria Menendez was re-appointed Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. Binh Vu was re-appointed Corporate Secretary/VP Legal Affairs, immediately after the Meeting.

The Company received 78,109,269 votes (representing 99.99% of votes cast) to re-appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the Company's independent auditor for the ensuing year and to authorize the directors to fix the auditor's remuneration.

For full voting details please see Orvana's voting results as filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

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 achieve improvement in free cash flow; the ability to maintain expected mining rates and expected throughput rates at El Valle Plant; the potential to extend the mine life of El Valle and Don Mario beyond their current life-of-mine estimates including specifically, but not limited to, in the case of Don Mario, the processing of the mineral stockpiles and the reprocessing of the tailings material; Orvana's ability to optimize its assets to deliver shareholder value; the Company's ability to optimize productivity at Don Mario and El Valle; estimates of future production, operating costs and capital expenditures; mineral resource and reserve estimates; statements and information regarding future feasibility studies and their results; future transactions; future metal prices; the ability to achieve additional growth and geographic diversification; future financial performance, including the ability to increase cash flow and profits; future financing requirements; mine development plans; and Orvana's ability to address the deficiencies raised by staff of the Ontario Securities Commission and to complete and file the Amended Technical Report (Don Mario) within the time frame set out above.

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; the challenges presented by COVID-19; fluctuating operational costs such as, but not limited to, power supply costs; 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.
"Relay was selected for its adaptive technology that will provide safety measures, allow for improved communications between staff members and provide a flexible platform that will allow us to locate and implement more efficiencies," said Scott Lockwood, KHC Director of Purchasing/Technology. "We are eager to further streamline our back-of-house work to continue to improve our high-touch customer experience."

Headquartered in Coralville, Iowa, Kinseth Hospitality represents award-winning select and full-service hotels, restaurants, catering and meeting facilities across 15 states. Kinseth Hospitality represents widely recognized, award-winning brands in the hotel and events industry including Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Radisson, Best Western and Wyndham, as well as, The Sioux City Convention Center, Twelve01 Kitchen & Tap, Rock Island Ale House, River Rock Kitchen & Tap, and McKnight's Kitchen & Tap.

"We are thrilled to partner with Kinseth Hospitality and provide their employees with technology that will streamline day-to-day operations and prioritize workplace safety," said Barbara Sharnak, Vice President, Business Development & Marketing Strategy at Relay. "Kinseth is a leader in recognizing that employee satisfaction and security at work collectivity influences not only positive guest experiences, but substantial improvements across all areas of the business."

This partnership establishes Relay as Kinseth Hospitality Companies exclusive alert device partner, deploying Relay's next generation, voice-first technology in Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The pocket-size, easy to use device will be readily available for Kinseth Hospitality employees working in management, guest services, housekeeping, maintenance and restaurant front-of and back-of-house staff.

The partnership expands its growing portfolio of properties, management companies, and brands who have selected Relay because it provides all-in-one functionality. Relay's sophisticated technology is a significant upgrade from traditional walkie-talkies and do not burden employees with carrying multiple devices.

Unlike traditional two-way radios, limited by range and repeaters, Relay devices operate on WiFi and 4G networks that enable users to benefit from uninterrupted communications. The data, analytics, and mapping capabilities of the devices and their ability to integrate into sophisticated operations systems are recognized for aiding national operations like Kinseth Hospitality in finding operational efficiencies. Relay features include:

Panic Alert: A single-button panic button solution to provide employers with the tools they need to give their employees the added protections they desire

GPS and 3D-Mapping Capabilities: Allow logistics to better distribute staff quickly via a cloud-connected dashboard feature

Accountability & Verification: Validates employees responsible for delivery or receiving of goods and services via auto-capture

Language Translation: 15 languages for team members to use to communicate more effectively internally and externally

Team Communications: Notifications via pre-recorded messages for the start and end of shifts

Hotel unions, state and local governments across the nation are proposing legislation for the safety of hospitality staff by mandating panic buttons for hospitality workers. Bills have been passed in eight states. The state of Pennsylvania ( HB1944 ) and Georgia ( SB389 ) are the latest to introduce panic button legislation. Relay provides ongoing updates on all legislative moves on Twitter and LinkedIn and will be releasing an update to their Legislative Guide on Panic Buttons this spring.

About Kinseth Hospitality Company

Kinseth Hospitality Company is a leading hotel management, development and ownership company. KHC has a proven track record of developing and operating award-winning hotels, restaurants and meeting facilities. Kinseth Hospitality Company is based in Coralville, Iowa and currently operates 101 hotels and multiple restaurants in 15 states. For more information, visit kinseth.com

About Relay

Relay is a communications tool for frontline teams that replaces the smartphone and makes the walkie-talkie obsolete. A product of the team behind Republic Wireless, the push-to-talk, voice-first hand-held Relay device is easier to use than a simple walkie-talkie, has nationwide range with 4G LTE and WiFi, and is built upon a powerful and flexible software platform that can rapidly adapt to the needs of virtually any team. Relay's vision is to empower frontline teams with technology that allows them to safely and quickly connect to the people and information they need to get their jobs done more efficiently. For more information, visit www.relaypro.com .

SOURCE Relay
RICHMOND,Va., March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ChildFund applauds President Biden and his administration for highlighting in last night's state of the union address the importance of tech platform accountability for keeping children and youth safe online. In his speech, President Biden outlined his Unity Agenda, which included tackling the mental health crisis, particularly among children. He acknowledged the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on young people "whose lives and education [have been] turned upside down," but noted that children were struggling before the pandemic with "bullying, violence, trauma and the harms of social media." He then recognized Facebook whistleblower Francis Haugen, who was in attendance and was given a standing ovation for her courage in standing up to Big Tech. Biden stated, "We must hold social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they are conducting on our children for profit. It's time to strengthen privacy protections, ban targeted advertising to children, and demand tech companies stop collecting personal data on our children."

The administration released a detailed fact sheet ahead of the address to outline further details of its strategy to keep children safe online, including " prioritizing safety by design standards and practices for online platforms, products, and services." The fact sheet also states, "The President believes not only that we should have far stronger protections for children's data and privacy, but that the platforms and other interactive digital service providers should be required to prioritize and ensure the health, safety and well-being of children and young people above profit and revenue in the design of their products and services."

ChildFund continues to lead the fight against the online sexual exploitation and abuse of children (OSEAC). Each day, more than 175,000 children go online for the first time, and reports of online sexual exploitation and violence have skyrocketed in the last few years. This crisis has been further exacerbated by the pandemic that forced millions of the world's children online for education and social interaction during lockdown and ongoing school closures. In 2021, there were 29.3 million reports of online child sexual abuse materials, including nearly 85 million videos, files and images. Children are online more and with less supervision than ever, and it is imperative that tech companies take responsibilitiy for the platforms they have created, which are designed to be addictive and, in many cases, heighten online dangers from cyberbullying and harassment to child sexual exploitation and trafficking.

The U.S. lags behind other countries such as the U.K. and Australia, which have already instituted strict data and privacy restrictions and strong legislation around internet safety. The time is now for decisive action and leadership in the fight against OSEAC.

ChildFund's senior director for External Engagement, Erin Kennedy, says, "We welcome the commitment from President Biden last night. The online abuse of children has been ignored for far too long. When young people learn how to drive, we support them with instructions and adult-supervised practice to learn how to safely navigate a vehicle. But when children go online, we have no such guardrails. Illegal and exploitative images that show or encourage child sexual abuse continue to traumatize child victims and leave parents scared and confused. I hope this is the start of a national commitment to raise awareness about OSEAC and hold the technology companies and platforms enabling this horrific abuse accountable." Kennedy stresses that while regulation is one side of the solution, it is also important to work with parents, children, teachers and communities to raise awareness of this crime in all spaces where children and caregivers gather.

These words from the president and the outlined agenda are a positive step in the right direction toward the ultimate goal of ending OSEAC for good. The U.S. Congress should follow the lead of the president to center children's health and safety online. ChildFund fully supports these and any future measures the administration takes to keep children safe online. Children all over the world have been victimized and are suffering  inaction can no longer be tolerated.

For more information about OSEAC and how ChildFund is responding to this threat, visit https://www.childfund.org/oseac/.

About ChildFund

Founded in 1938, ChildFund works throughout Asia, Africa and the Americas  including the United States  to connect children with what they need to grow up healthy, educated, skilled and safe, no matter where they are. Last year, we reached 16.2 million children and family members in 24 countries. About 200,000 Americans support our work by sponsoring individual children or investing in ChildFund programs. Find out more at www.ChildFund.org.

SOURCE ChildFund International
The event has become an annual showcase for the future of life science technologies as well as the latest in market intelligence. Over 150 presenting Medtech startup companies and over 100 investors will convene at the Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, CA. Having reached capacity the event is extending virtual badges for attendance.

Proximie's mission is to save lives by sharing the world's best clinical practices. The platform combines human expertise with the power of augmented reality (AR), machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced telecommunications.

"LSI not only provides an event with valuable market insights, but a space for Medtech market leaders and investors to be at the forefront of timely conversations and access strategic intelligence. I always look forward to it" shared Proximie CEO and founder Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram.

As Proximie continues to accelerate its expansion in the U.S. and European markets, Dr. Hachach-Haram will present the latest about the company on stage before investors.

"The strategics and investors that attend our meetings are looking for quality deal-flow and cutting edge innovators, like Proximie. Many innovators have been inspired by Dr. Hachach-Haram's leadership and how Proximie has challenged the status quo " commented Scott Pantel, Founder and CEO of LSI.

About LSI USA '22 Emerging Medtech Summit

Held annually in Southern California, the Emerging Medtech Summit brings together the industry's most innovative startups, active investors, and strategic buyers so they can connect, collaborate and build the future of healthcare. Learn more at https://www.lifesciencemarketresearch.com/medtech-summit-2022.

About Life Science Intelligence (LSI)

LSI is a market intelligence & consulting company focused on covering the global medtech and healthtech markets. We help healthcare executives make more informed strategic decisions by better understanding market dynamics, trends, opportunities, and the competitive landscape. https://www.lifesciencemarketresearch.com

SOURCE Life Science Intelligence
MONTREAL, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing sanctions imposed under the Special Economic Measures Act, in order to respond to the gravity of Russia's violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and grave human rights violations that have resulted, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) states that:

PSP Investments does not have material exposure to Russian investments and does not hold any private direct investments in Russia. The exposure that PSP Investments has is mainly through passive index replication activities and external investment manager activities. PSP Investments has taken steps as of late last week to divest of all its Russian investments. All residual positions will be written down to zero and PSP Investments is committed to exiting this market as soon as market conditions permit.

PSP Investments is deeply concerned about the humanitarian impact inflicted by this situation on the people of Ukraine. As part of our PSP Gives Back Program, PSP Investments will support the humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine by partnering with the International Committee of the Red Cross. PSP Investments has set up a matching donation program and will match employee donations (up to C$2,000 per employee) toward Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

About PSP Investments

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) is one of Canada's largest pension investment managers with $204.5 billion of net assets under management as of March 31, 2021. It manages a diversified global portfolio composed of investments in public financial markets, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources and credit investments. Established in 1999, PSP Investments manages and invests amounts transferred to it by the Government of Canada for the pension plans of the federal Public Service, the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Reserve Force. Headquartered in Ottawa, PSP Investments has its principal business office in Montreal and offices in New York, London and Hong Kong. For more information, visit investpsp.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE PSP Investments
KIGALI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The Akagera National Park located in Rwanda's eastern province has embarked on improving conservation efforts to protect wildlife, natural habitat and increase tourism revenues.

The park which is Rwanda's only protected savannah region with a wide range of animals has intensified efforts to ensure that it is run for the public benefit.

"In order to boost wildlife conservation at Akagera National Park, in 2010, the government of Rwanda entered into public-private partnership with African Parks to effectively manage the park," said Jean Paul Karinganire, assistant tourism and marketing manager of Akagera Management Company in an interview with Xinhua at the park.

He said that along with wildlife conservation and community engagement, the park has evolved in the last decade.

"We have put in much efforts in engaging the communities surrounding the national park to participate in activities of the park which has boosted wildlife conservation efforts and reduced poaching in the park," said Karinganire.

According to him, the park has seen re-introduction of lions in 2015, black rhinos in 2017 and white rhinos in 2021 as part of the efforts to ensure wildlife conservation and increased tourism revenues.

"Akagera National Park reintroduced seven lions 2015 and now the number has grown to around 40. We introduced black rhinos in 2017 and they have had calves. Last year, we received white rhinos and they have now adapted to the park conditions," explained Karinganire.

In order to secure the park, Karinganire said that the park has ensured effective law enforcement, good working team of rangers and collaboration with the communities around the park.

"Our efforts to ensure animals to thrive in the park will lead to increased tourism activities and revenues. We are doing all these in line with the government of Rwanda's policy of becoming a conservation destination having a national park which is well protected and benefiting the people surrounding the national park," he said.

According to Karinganire, following the lion and rhino reintroductions, Akagera officially became a "Big Five" park in 2017.

In order to ensure security and safety of the wildlife in the Akagera, the park also introduced K9 unit, which is used for rapid deployment in conjunction with law enforcement patrols on the ground.

K9 unit is tasked to combat poaching and human-wildlife conflict, which continue to represent a threat to Akagera's people and wildlife.

"Everyday at K9, we work with dogs in patrol and also train them the knowledge of obstacle crossing, obedience exercise and human scent tracking and detection," William Habimana, deputy head of K9 unit told Xinhua in the interview.

He added that K9 is a law enforcement unit in Akagera National Park which has been effective in apprehending people doing illegal activities in the park.

In January this year, the Akagera park launched the first hot air balloon as part of the efforts to boost wildlife conservation and tourism promotion at the park.

In 2010, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) and African Parks signed a joint management agreement establishing the Akagera Management Company to manage Akagera, transforming the park into one of the most coveted wildlife destinations in Africa and a sustainable revenue source for the region's communities. 
Tomorrow, the international Christian relief organization will airlift an Emergency Field Hospital and a team of disaster response specialistsincluding doctors, nurses, and additional support staffto Poland on its DC-8 aircraft. The field hospital will then be transported to Ukraine where it will provide specialized trauma care to people impacted by the conflict. This unit will have the capacity to treat more than 100 patients each day, and it will be made up of 30 in-patient beds, an operating room, and Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

A 747 cargo plane will depart next week, carrying additional components of the Emergency Field Hospital and the equipment to establish two additional medical clinics. These clinics will be deployed to areas receiving an influx of refugees. Assessment teams continue to work to identify the most strategic locations for these units. These health clinics will equip Samaritan's Purse medical staff to meet minor trauma needs and provide general medical care for some 200 patients each day.

"Ukrainian families are hurting and in desperate need of physical aid and prayer during this difficult time," said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan's Purse. "We are deploying life-saving medical care to aid people who are suffering. We want to meet the needs of these families in their darkest moments while pointing them to the light and hope of Jesus Christ."

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

Thursday, March 3rd

2:00 p.m.  Loading of the Samaritan's Purse DC-8 at the ministry's hangar located at 1 Samaritan Lane, Greensboro, N.C.

Friday, March 4th

6:00 a.m.  Interview Opportunities

 Interview Opportunities Interview Edward Graham , vice president of operations for Samaritan's Purse, departing for Ukraine on the DC-8 aircraft

, vice president of operations for Samaritan's Purse, departing for on the DC-8 aircraft Interview Dr. Elliott Tenpenny , director of the international health unit for Samaritan's Purse, traveling to Ukraine to manage the Emergency Field Hospital

, director of the international health unit for Samaritan's Purse, traveling to to manage the Emergency Field Hospital 6:45 a.m.  DC-8 Takeoff

Ukraine Response Press Kit

B-roll of Previous International Relief Work

B-roll of Previous Emergency Field Hospital Deployments

Submit a Media Request

In addition to medical care, Samaritan's Purse is preparing to distribute 20 tons of food inside Ukraine. Disaster Assistance Response Team members have also begun distributing water and food in Poland as Ukrainian families cross the border. Samaritan's Purse will continue to assess additional needs in the countries surrounding Ukraineready to respond in further capacities to aid hurting families.

Since 1996, Samaritan's Purse has distributed more than 12 million shoebox gifts to children in Ukraine through its Operation Christmas Child program. The organization consistently works in partnership with more than 3,000 churches to share the Hope of Jesus Christ with communities across the country.

Based in Boone, North Carolina, Samaritan's Purse responds to the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations in Jesus' Nameespecially in locations where few others are working. Led by President and CEO Franklin Graham, Samaritan's Purse works in more than 100 countries to provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and persecution. For more information, visit SamaritansPurse.org.

SOURCE Samaritan's Purse
HOUSTON, March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sienna Sauce, a black-owned, family-based brand that was created by 18 year old Tyla-Simone Crayton, has launched their crowd investing campaign to raise $500,000 on Republic.co, a private investment platform for investors seeking high growth potential.

Sienna Sauce's first round of equity crowd investing on Republic.co experienced significant traction with the support of Grammy-winning recording artist and startup angel investor, Chamillionaire. They raised 789% of their minimum goal, or $197,372 from 1,418 investors. Sienna Sauce is an "Everything Sauce" that can be used as a dip, marinade, glaze, or an added ingredient. The award winning Sienna Sauce comes in 4 delicious flavors for every palette. Sweet & Tangy(the original flavor), Lemon Pepper, Spicy it Up and just recently released, Smokey Brown.

Tyla-Simone and her mother, Monique, who serves as president of Sienna Sauce, pitched Sienna Sauce on ABC's Shark Tank and were offered a deal in February. Since then, Sienna Sauce has WOWed so many customers, (to the point) the family based company had to create a subscription program so the Sienna Sauce addicts wouldn't run out of their favorite sauces.

"Even with all I have accomplished thus far, I still struggle with people taking me seriously in business as a young black woman," the CEO of Sienna Sauce, Tyla-Simone Crayton shares. "I think it is important to know your own intentions and stay relevant in people's faces until they have no choice but to see you and respect you."

One of Sienna Sauce's biggest supporters and early investors, Chamillionaire says, "I'm proud to be a Sienna Sauce supporter because the team is great at executing, they really value the relationship they have with their customers, and their product offerings simply just taste good."

For a limited time, you can invest in Sienna Sauce and participate in building the future of a health-conscious sauce that aligns with your health goals.

Go to https://republic.com/sienna-sauce for more information about Sienna Sauce and how to participate as an investor for as little as $100.

ABOUT SIENNA SAUCE

Sienna Sauce was created with your health in mind. Made with just a touch of sugar, Sienna Sauce is a great choice for those looking for bold flavor without the high fructose corn syrup and other unhealthy additives. Sienna Sauce is universal; it can be used on meat, seafood, poultry, tofu and vegetables. Perfect for chefs or people who just love to eat.

Sienna Sauces' website: https://www.siennasauce.com

For PR Inquiries, please contact (832)-598-7621 or email [email protected]

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/12907371

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Sienna Sauce
GLENDALE, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Slick Cash Loan, the loan service that stands apart for its fast and reliable approvals of various loan instruments, offers a new way of meeting emergency funding needs. The company offers no credit check loan with guaranteed approval across the USA.

No credit check loans with guaranteed approval from Slick Cash Loan

"We are happy to help our customers with yet another simple way of accessing money when they need it the most," says the spokesperson for Slick Cash Loan. "Our no credit check loan is designed to help you meet your emergency funding needs. Our lenders are offering guaranteed approval across the USA and quick disbursal into your account."

The no credit check loans guaranteed approval slick cash loan can help applicants get funds up to $5,000 instantly regardless of their financial history or credit score.

Borrowers can get a personal loan to meet any unexpected and unforeseen expenses without submitting to a traditional credit score check. Lenders conduct a soft credit check that involves aspects such as current employment, income status, unpaid loans, and recent repayment history. They will also look at the borrower's overall credit utilization to decide how much money they are eligible to receive under the no credit check loan service.

Borrowers can apply for the no credit check loan online conveniently through the Slick Cash Loan website. The online application process is fast, user-friendly, and hassle-free. The processing takes little time as the lenders do not evaluate the applicant's credit record. Once approved, they can get the funds in their account immediately. Go now to Slick Cash Loan and apply for the no credit check loan for instant approval.

Anyone satisfying the basic qualifying criteria can apply for a no credit check loan from Slick Cash Loan. They must be 18 years or above and a permanent US resident with a permanent US address. They must provide a valid contact number and must be currently employed with a steady income. Borrowers must also have a bank account to receive the approved loan amount directly.

Slick Cash Loan is the preferred lending service for people who need funds at short notice to meet any emergency financial situation. The company is a technology-forward lender. They leverage the power and convenience of technology to process and approve loan applications quickly and disburse funds directly to the borrower's account.

For details about no credit check loan with guaranteed approval, visit https://slickcashloan.com/personal-loans/no-credit-check-loans.php

For more information about Slick Cash Loan, visit slickcashloan.com

About Slick Cash Loan:

Slick Cash Loan is the best resource for finding the right solution for quick and reliable loans. The loan experts can help borrowers find the best lenders and ensure fast and easy access to the money when needed. Slick Cash Loan has a wide network of partners across the USA. The company stands apart with its easy approval and quick funding of loans of all types.

Media Contact:

Mark Snow

[email protected]

888-200-7445

SOURCE Slick Cash Loan
Social Media Marketing Services Procurement report explains key category management objectives that should form the base for sourcing strategy, including:

Top-line growth

Scalability of inputs

Green initiatives

Category innovations

Supply base rationalization

Demand forecasting and governance

Minimalization of ad hoc purchases

Adherence to regulatory nuances

Cost savings

Customer retention

Reduction of TCO

Supply assurance

Sign Up for a Sample Social Media Marketing Services Procurement Market Report: www.spendedge.com/report/social-media-marketing-services-sourcing-and-

procurement-intelligence-report

This report evaluates suppliers based on provision for applicable insurance policy, real-time analysis, pipeline software solutions, and conduct pipeline surveys. In addition, suppliers are also shortlisted based on business needs, technical specifications, operational requirements, security compliance, regulatory mandates, legal requirements, quality control, change management procedures, pricing models, penalty clauses, SLA nuances, acceptance criteria, and evaluation criteria.

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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

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

Contact

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

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Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

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SOURCE SpendEdge
NEW YORK, March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "As a global company that aims to root out corruption, K2 Integrity emphatically condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's efforts to combat corruption and embrace democracy in his country represented a clear threat to Ukraine's neighbor. Russia is now facing unprecedented pressure as a result of the economic and financial sanctions taken by the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union, and we fully support all efforts to freeze, seize, and recover ill-gotten assets.

"The safety and well-being of our colleagues and their families living and working in the region is paramount. We are deeply troubled by these events and thinking, as a company, not just about the ways in which we can help here, but also about how we can contribute through our unique work and expertise to others around the world whose lives have been upended and threatened by military action.

"In the short-term, we remain focused on advising our clients via frequent Policy Alerts being issued over the course of the first weeks of the invasion. As noted in our most recent alert:

Industries should be prepared for a potential full-scale trade embargo and should analyze their exposure to Russia and Belarus. While the short-term impact of sanctions and restrictions are hurting the Russian economy, the broader message from the EU and United States indicates that these restrictions will not stop until Russia ceases fire and retreats from Ukraine.

In light of its rapidly diminishing access to the global market, we anticipate that Russia will pursue efforts to evade various sanctions prohibitions. In addition to traditional nontransparent practices, evolving sanctions evasion techniques may emerge, which may require adjustments to client and transaction monitoring programs to detect these evasions tactics.

"K2 Integrity's Washington, London, and New York teams have deep expertise on sanctions-related matters and regularly advise governments and financial institutions on this complex topic. On March 3rd, we will be hosting a webinar entitled Sanctions Against Russia: Understanding the Evolving Picture and What It Means at 12:30pm ET.

"As President Joseph Biden once said, 'Corruption is a cancer, a cancer that eats away at a citizen's faith in democracy.' We at K2 Integrity can stand by our colleagues in Ukraine by battling corruption in all of its ugly forms."

About K2 Integrity

K2 Integrity is the preeminent risk, compliance, investigations, and monitoring firmbuilt by industry leaders, driven by interdisciplinary teams, and supported by cutting-edge technology to safeguard clients' operations, reputations, and economic security. The firm helps clients understand and manage risk so they can lead with confidence in a complex worldand build organizations that are safer, more transparent, and more resilient. By encouraging and enabling organizations to act with integrity, we aim to increase trust in institutions and promote prosperity and growth throughout the world.

K2 Integrity represents the merger of K2 Intelligence, founded by Jeremy M. Kroll and Jules B. Kroll, the originator of the modern corporate investigations industry, and Financial Integrity Network (FIN), founded by Juan Zarate and Chip Poncy, former senior Treasury and U.S. government officials responsible for helping shape the modern AML/CFT regime.

To learn more about how K2 Integrity is revolutionizing the management of risk, visit www.k2integrity.com, or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE K2 Integrity
ROCKLIN, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- tab32 , the dental industry's #1 cloud-based, fully integrated technology platform, today announced that CEO Kiltesh Patel has been accepted into Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs, and technology executives.

Patel, a 20-year veteran in the enterprise technology and medical informatics space, was vetted and selected by a review committee based on the depth and diversity of his experience, and on his track record of personal and professional achievements. A recognized subject-matter expert in Health Information Technology (HIT) strategies, Patel led several large-scale NIH funded projects at the San Diego Super Computer Center, and previously served as director of Health Sciences at the University of California, where he utilized data for health informatics and translational scientific research.

As founder and CEO of tab32, Patel uses his expertise and technological insights to deliver complete, customizable cloud solutions for practices and Dental Services Organizations (DSOs) across the United States. As a member of the Council, Patel will use his leadership position to connect and collaborate with other respected tech thinkers in a private forum, and to contribute to public Q&As and expert panels. He will also work with Forbes editors to publish original articles sharing his expert insights on issues including cloud technologies, open data warehousing, healthcare AI, and the changing face of medtech and dental tech solutions.

"We are honored to welcome Kiltesh into the community," said Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, the collective that includes Forbes Technology Council. "Our mission with Forbes Councils is to bring together proven leaders from every industry, creating a curated, social capital-driven network that helps every member grow professionally and make an even greater impact on the business world."

"At tab32, we know that it takes a village to drive change and accelerate technological innovation, and we're committed to using cutting-edge technological innovation to improve dental care and support the needs of both practices and patients," Patel said. "As a member of the Forbes Technology Council, I'll build on that commitment, and work to drive our industry forward by bringing dental tech into conversation with the best and brightest minds from across the cloud-tech and software sectors."

About tab32

Headquartered in Sacramento, California, tab32 is the industry's #1 technology platform for patient-first cloud dental electronic health record software (Dental EHR), Dental Practice Management System (Dental PMS), and Open Data Warehousing. DSOs have used tab32 platforms to track 13 million appointments, 9 million patients, and 100 million radiology x-rays, along with 15 million annual patient engagement messaging and, billion dollar of annual production revenues are managed by the platform. The platform is developed ground-up leveraging modern cloud architecture and design needs for scalability using Google GCP.

The all-in-one cloud platform delivers comprehensive and engaging patient experiences through the entire value-chain of care, allowing dental practices to achieve long-term sustainable growth and profitability. With a leadership team of former researchers, data scientists, and engineers from University of California, tab32 has pioneered many first-to-market innovations such as integrated texting, VoIP, e-forms, mobile payments, cloud imaging, and a Standard Model for open data sharing in dental.

About Forbes Councils

Forbes Councils is a collective of invitation-only communities created in partnership with Forbes and the expert community builders who founded Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC). In Forbes Councils, exceptional business owners and leaders come together with the people and resources that can help them thrive. For more information about Forbes Technology Council, visit forbestechcouncil.com . To learn more about Forbes Councils, visit forbescouncils.com .

SOURCE tab32
TAMPA, Fla., March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tampa General Hospital has been named one of the top 100 hospitals in the United States, according to Newsweek. The 1,041-bed academic medical center was recently ranked as one of the news magazine's World's Best Hospitals 2022.

Tampa General is the top-ranked Tampa Bay area hospital and one of only three Florida hospitals to appear in the nation's top 100 on Newsweek's list.

"Our entire Tampa General team is focused on our vision to be the safest and most innovative academic health system in America," said John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General. "It is because of the unwavering commitment of our team members and physicians to providing world-class, compassionate care that we are ranked as one of the top hospitals in Florida and top 100 in the nation by Newsweek. I am deeply grateful on a daily basis to be working with such a dedicated and outstanding group of health care professionals."

The World's Best Hospitals 2022 ranking lists the best hospitals in 27 countries: U.S., Germany, Japan, South Korea, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Canada, India, Australia, Mexico, The Netherlands, Austria, Thailand, Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Israel, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Colombia. The countries were selected based on multiple comparability factors, including standard of living/life expectancy, population size, number of hospitals and data availability.

Hospitals were selected based on three data sources:

Over 80,000 medical experts  doctors, hospital managers, health care professionals in 27 countries were invited to participate in the online survey. Participants were asked to recommend hospitals in their own country as well as in other countries. Recommendations for a participant's own employer/hospital were not allowed.

 doctors, hospital managers, health care professionals in 27 countries were invited to participate in the online survey. Participants were asked to recommend hospitals in their own country as well as in other countries. Recommendations for a participant's own employer/hospital were not allowed. Results from patient experience surveys  publicly available data from existing patient surveys was used to analyze patient experience. Patient surveys are typically conducted by insurance companies among patients after hospitalization. Examples of survey topics include general satisfaction with the hospital, recommendation of the hospital and satisfaction with medical care.

 publicly available data from existing patient surveys was used to analyze patient experience. Patient surveys are typically conducted by insurance companies among patients after hospitalization. Examples of survey topics include general satisfaction with the hospital, recommendation of the hospital and satisfaction with medical care. Medical key performance indicators (KPIs)  were collected on a variety of public sources for most countries. KPIs differed between the countries. Examples of included data are quality of care for specific treatments, data on hygiene measures and patient safety and data on number of patients per doctors and per nurse.

According to Nancy Cooper, Newsweek's Global Editor in Chief, "the goal of this study is to provide the best data-based comparison of hospital reputation and performance across countries. We hope this will be useful not only to patients and families seeking the best care for themselves and loved ones, but also to hospitals as they benchmark themselves against their peers during a period of unprecedented change."

Newsweek compared scores between hospitals in the same country because different sources for patient experience and medical KPIs were examined in each country. The U.S. ranking listed 414 hospitals in total that participated.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL

Tampa General Hospital, a 1,041-bed non-profit academic medical center, is one of the largest hospitals in America and delivers world-class care as the region's only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care. Tampa General Hospital is the highest-ranked hospital in the market in U.S. News & World Report's 2021-22 Best Hospitals, and one of the top 4 hospitals in Florida, with five specialties ranking among the best programs in the United States. The academic medical center's commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by two prestigious 2021 Forbes magazine rankings  America's Best Employers by State, third out of 100 Florida companies and first among health care and social organizations and 13th nationally in America's Best Employers for Women. Tampa General is the safety net hospital for the region, caring for everyone regardless of their ability to pay, and in fiscal 2020 provided a net community benefit worth more than $182.5 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is one of the nation's busiest adult solid organ transplant centers and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General Hospital transports critically injured or ill patients from 23 surrounding counties to receive the advanced care they need. Tampa General houses a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It also is home to the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed Level IV neonatal intensive care unit, and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General Hospital's footprint includes 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices, TGH Family Care Center Kennedy, TGH Brandon Healthplex, TGH Virtual Health and 19 outpatient Radiology Centers. Tampa Bay residents also receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care powered by Fast Track network of clinics, and they can even receive home visits in select areas through TGH Urgent Care at Home, powered by Fast Track. As one of the largest hospitals in the country, Tampa General Hospital is first in Florida to partner with GE Healthcare and open a clinical command center that uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to improve and better coordinate patient care at a lower cost. For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

Media Contact: Beth Hardy

Senior Communications Specialist

(813) 844-7322 (direct)

[email protected]

SOURCE Tampa General Hospital
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tarsier Pharma, an advanced clinical stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for blinding ocular diseases, has expanded its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The two new appointments of Prof. Thorne and Prof. Sen will boost support for Tarsier as the Company focuses on phase-3 clinical trials in non-infectious anterior uveitis including uveitic glaucoma, and, on earlier stage development of its pipeline for back-of-the-eye diseases with inflammatory underlying pathologies. They will join existing Scientific Advisory Board members Prof. Cunningham, Prof. Nguyen, and Prof. de Smet.

Prof. H. Nida Sen (left) and Prof. Jennifer Thorne, new members of the Scientific Advisory Board of Tarsier Pharma.

"This is the dream team we need to help drive Tarsier's success," says Dr. Daphne Haim-Langford, CEO and chairperson of Tarsier Pharma. "Prof. Thorne and Prof. Sen are both renowned ocular immunologists, with clinical management experience, alongside research, drug development, and clinical trials expertise, that will serve us well as we go forward in development and commercialization of novel Ophthalmic drugs. They are both key figures in various American and international uveitis forums, which will be essential in helping to increase awareness to the devastating rare condition uveitic glaucoma. We are thankful to add them to our existing exceptional Scientific Advisory Board."

Prof. Jennifer Thorne, M.D., Ph.D., is the Cross Family Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, where she is also chief of the Division of Ocular Immunology and Uveitis. Prof. Thorne holds a joint appointment as professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. An internationally recognized and board-certified ophthalmologist, Prof. Thorne is an expert in the evaluation and management of patients with uveitis and other related immune-mediated disorders.

"Tarsier Pharma has done incredible work to develop new drugs for patients with ocular inflammatory diseases. There is a substantial unmet need for such drugs, that would be local and potent anti-inflammatory treatments, yet without negative side effects that we know too well from steroidal existing treatments. Unfortunately, uveitis patients usually wait last in line for new therapies, but with Tarsier, they are first, and I am happy to join this important effort", said Prof. Thorne.

Prof. H. Nida Sen, MD, MHS is Professor of Ophthalmology at the George Washington University and Clinical Leader at Janssen Retina R&D, Johnson and Johnson. She has been an investigator at the National Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), focusing on mechanism and treatment of uveitis. There she has served as a Lasker Clinical Research Scholar, an NIH Distinguished Scholar, and the Head of Uveitis Clinic and Clinical and Translational Ocular Immunology Section. As a prominent investigator in the field of uveitis and ocular immunology Prof. Sen led many clinical trials and natural history studies throughout her career. She is a board-certified ophthalmologist recognized worldwide as an expert in the field of uveitis and ocular immunology.

"Indeed, we know from our everyday experience in the clinic, how much such novel therapies for uveitis are desperately needed, for the patients who seek treatments without significant side effects, and for the healthcare providers who currently have limited tools. I was excited with Tarsier's story and development, years ago when Tarsier's CEO first approached me at a uveitis meeting. I am very excited to become now officially part of the journey", said Prof. Sen.

Tarsier's existing SAB members are:

Emmett Cunningham , Jr, Prof. MD, Ph.D, MPH is an Operating Partner in the Blackstone Life Sciences group. Dr. Cunningham has led investments in medical technology and biotechnology, including partnerships with pharmaceutical companies. Previously Dr. Cunningham was the Senior Vice President, Medical Strategy at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he led the team that developed Macugen, a first-in-class product for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. Prior to Eyetech, Dr. Cunningham was at Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE: PFE). Dr. Cunningham is an internationally recognized specialist in infectious and inflammatory eye disease with over 400 publications.

Dr. Cunningham is a member of the Board of Directors of Galera Therapeutics and the SFJ Pharmaceuticals Group. Dr. Cunningham was the founder and chairman of the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) symposium held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Dr. Cunningham received an MD and MPH in epidemiology and statistics from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in neuroscience from the University of California at San Diego for work done at The Salk Institute.

, Jr, Prof. MD, Ph.D, MPH is an Operating Partner in the Blackstone Life Sciences group. Dr. Cunningham has led investments in medical technology and biotechnology, including partnerships with pharmaceutical companies. Previously Dr. Cunningham was the Senior Vice President, Medical Strategy at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where he led the team that developed Macugen, a first-in-class product for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. Prior to Eyetech, Dr. Cunningham was at Pfizer, Inc. (NYSE: PFE). Dr. Cunningham is an internationally recognized specialist in infectious and inflammatory eye disease with over 400 publications. Dr. Cunningham is a member of the Board of Directors of Galera Therapeutics and the SFJ Pharmaceuticals Group. Dr. Cunningham was the founder and chairman of the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) symposium held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Dr. Cunningham received an MD and MPH in epidemiology and statistics from and a PhD in neuroscience from the for work done at The Salk Institute. Quan Dong Nguyen , MD, MSc currently is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, where he has an active uveitis and ocular inflammatory diseases as well as clinical and surgical retina practice, while he continues his research in pharmacotherapy and ocular imaging. Dr. Nguyen serves as principal investigator on multiple clinical trials sponsored by the National Eye Institute and other organizations for macular edema (from diabetes and uveitis), neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and ocular inflammatory and uveitic diseases, as well as co-investigator on numerous other clinical trials involving novel therapeutic agents. Dr. Nguyen is known for his innovative work in early proof-of-concept, first-in-human clinical trials to evaluate potential pharmacotherapeutic agents for retinal vascular and uveitic diseases.

Prof. Nguyen is part of various ocular international forums, such as the IOIS (International Ocular Inflammation Society) and the FOIS (Foster Ocular Immunology Society).

, MD, MSc currently is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the Byers Eye Institute, School of Medicine, where he has an active uveitis and ocular inflammatory diseases as well as clinical and surgical retina practice, while he continues his research in pharmacotherapy and ocular imaging. Dr. Nguyen serves as principal investigator on multiple clinical trials sponsored by the National Eye Institute and other organizations for macular edema (from diabetes and uveitis), neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and ocular inflammatory and uveitic diseases, as well as co-investigator on numerous other clinical trials involving novel therapeutic agents. Dr. Nguyen is known for his innovative work in early proof-of-concept, first-in-human clinical trials to evaluate potential pharmacotherapeutic agents for retinal vascular and uveitic diseases. Prof. Nguyen is part of various ocular international forums, such as the IOIS (International Ocular Inflammation Society) and the FOIS (Foster Ocular Immunology Society). Marc de Smet , Prof., is the former department head of Ophthalmology at Amsterdam University, and currently the Founder and head of MIOS sa, Switzerland , a private group practice focused on retina and inflammatory disorders. He is also the current chief medical officer of Preceyes, a company which has developed a robotic surgical platform for eye surgery. Prof. de Smet has authored and co-authored more than 175 papers, 25 books and book chapters, given numerous lectures and named lectures. Treasurer of the international uveitis study group (IUSG), he is member of the Jules Gonin club, the macula society and heads a division of the EViCR.net  a European clinical research network.

About Tarsier Pharma

Tarsier Pharma is a phase-3 pharmaceutical company, focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of first-in-class pharmaceutical therapies to treat ocular blinding diseases. TRS is a bio-inspired breakthrough proprietary technology platform, based on a new chemical entity with novel mechanism of action, that demonstrated safety and efficacy in a rare debilitating and blinding indication. Currently Tarsier is running TRS4VISION phase-3 clinical trial in subjects with non-infectious anterior uveitis including uveitic glaucoma.

Lead product candidate for uveitic glaucoma

Non-infectious uveitis is an autoimmune blinding ocular inflammation, considered the third leading cause of blindness in the developed world. Tarsier's TRS01 is a potent fast-acting immunomodulator, delivered as eye drops, for the treatment of non-infectious anterior uveitis in patients with uveitic glaucoma  that is considered an end-stage condition of uveitis. Once a uveitis patient has also developed glaucoma (uveitic glaucoma), the only available treatments for active inflammation, which are steroids, should be avoided due to their side effects of expediting glaucoma and vision loss. Thus, TRS01 has the potential to become the standard of care for uveitic glaucoma.

Contact Details:

Investor Relations

Tarsier Pharma

[email protected]

SOURCE Tarsier Pharma
Collaboration Aims to Drive City-wide Blockchain Adoption and Allow Citizens to Pay Annual Taxes and City Services in Bitcoin, Tether and Selected CHF-Based stablecoins

LUGANO, Switzerland, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tether Operations Limited ( Tether ), the technology company supporting the blockchain-enabled platform that powers the largest stablecoin by market capitalisation (USD), in collaboration with the vibrant Swiss city of Lugano today announced the establishment of a center of excellence for blockchain adoption in Europe.

Together, Tether and the City of Lugano will work toward the shared goal of scaling the city's blockchain capabilities and promote Lugano as a major hub for European blockchain adoption.

Tether and Lugano

The goal of this collaboration is to demonstrate real-world use of blockchain technologies by applying it practically to local communities in Lugano. To date, most blockchain projects have focused on foundational efforts that give little attention to local communities and deliver practical applications.

The city is home to several innovative initiatives, including the Lugano Living Lab , which implement projects in the innovation and digital fields through experimentation and prototyping on an urban scale. Lugano's ecosystem allows Tether to stretch beyond most current blockchain implementations and work hand-in-hand with Lugano for the first full-scale urban practical use case. The application in Lugano will be exhibited through localized services with tailored use cases that can reduce infrastructure costs and expand accessibility to global markets.

Future Scalability

In the near future, the city aims to scale its efforts to enable citizens and companies to fully pay their annual taxes and all goods and services in cryptocurrency. Formal approvals were obtained for only Bitcoin, Tether, and select CHF-based stablecoins to be accepted for such payments, whereby funds will be converted in local FIAT currency via different service providers. This move makes Lugano one of the first in the world to implement a full cryptocurrency payment economy.

The City of Lugano will begin working with Tether and other service providers to help local businesses integrate their existing payment services with the permitted stablecoins to ensure the technological infrastructure is in place to support this.

Lightning Network will be one of the solutions that the City, with the support of Tether, will integrate into the services. Lightning Network has grown to become a prominent, highly scalable and robust payment system overcoming scalability obstacles associated with the blockchain without surrendering security, trustlessness, or privacy.

Lugano and Tether's Memorandum of Understanding

Lugano and Tether signed a memorandum of understanding which launches a strategic collaboration through several initiatives, including a centrally located specialized hub hosting companies and startups and acting as catalyst for everything related to blockchain to facilitate their establishment and daily operations. Lugano aims to become a home for the crypto community where it can grow and prosper.

A group of prominent companies in the crypto industry led by Tether, will create a multi-million dollar fund to help finance blockchain based startup companies focused on building blockchain services in the region. Additionally, Tether will contribute its expertise, knowledge and support to the City focusing on the education of the new generations through collaborations with local universities and research institutes (500 scholarships will be made available in the immediate future).

The initiative will also serve as a beacon of green financing. The joint effort will focus on using natural resources and environmentally friendly alternatives to power bitcoin mining, allowing for bitcoin to act as a strong accelerator for renewable energy development. This will be another example of how a city, investing in Bitcoin, can use the proceeds of mining to re-invest in the growth of local infrastructure.

"Lugano is investing in its future," said Michele Foletti, Mayor of Lugano. "In recent years, the city has already implemented blockchain-based solutions including the MyLugano app and its LVGA Points payment token, the Lugano digital franc and the 3Achain blockchain infrastructure. We strongly believe in this technology, the potential to scale the technology,  and our integrated collaboration with Tether  will build a better and more open, transparent and smart city."

"Lugano is a vibrant city, filled with innovators and future-forward thinkers," said Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Tether. "As the world's largest stablecoin, we envision a future where businesses of all sizes and scale are able to leverage blockchain platforms to improve the quality of life of local citizens providing more sustainable, transparent, and reliable financial and day-to-day services. We look forward to Lugano becoming a model for global adoption."

This is the latest development of a process started by Lugano over one year ago with concrete actions aimed at positioning itself as the destination of choice in a rapidly growing sector. In addition to the already mentioned LVGA Points local payment system, Lugano developed a city blockchain, 3Achain, EVM compatible, which already counts about thirty partners across the most important public and private companies in Switzerland, as well as a number of blockchain related events open to the public in the fall of 2021.

Upcoming Events

The City also announced an October 2022 event, titled Bitcoin World Forum, which will promote deep conversation around freedom of communication and finance. This event will delve into topics such as disintermediation of finance, accessibility of financial services, unbanked persons, and regulation. Tether will support the conference by bringing the industry's foremost thought leaders and creators from the world of digital finance together for collaboration and networking.

Additional details about the event and attendance will be available in the coming weeks.

About Tether

Created in October 2014, Tether was the first stablecoin in existence, and remained the sole stablecoin in the market until March 2018. Tether is disrupting the legacy financial system by offering a more modern approach to money. By adding fiat currency-digital cash to the bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains, Tether makes a significant contribution to a more connected ecosystem by introducing digital currency benefits, such as instant global transactions, to traditional currency and incorporating traditional currency benefits like price stability to digital currency. With a commitment to full transparency and compliance, Tether is the most secure, fastest, and cheapest way to transact with money.

About the City of Lugano

Lugano is the economic capital of Southern Switzerland, strategically located between the metropolitan areas of Milan and Zurich. Set in an exceptional natural context and landscape, Lugano is the ideal place for living and working.

The city hosts an important financial center and vibrant pharmaceutical, commodity trading and fashion hubs and remains a sought-after tourist destination.

A university town since 1996, Lugano is home to world class research institutes and infrastructure, including the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA) and the Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS).

Among the safest cities in the Country, Lugano offers business friendly legislation, great infrastructure and political stability typical of Switzerland, combined with a Mediterranean flair.

SOURCE Tether Operations Limited
As of March 1, approximately 660,000 residents have fled into neighboring countries. So far, Ukraine's Health Ministry reports that more than 350 civilians have been killed, including 14 children. Observing events as they unfolded, Dharma Master Cheng Yen, the founder of Tzu Chi, highlighted the plight of refugees to Tzu Chi volunteers worldwide on February 28:

"Looking at them fleeingsome carrying young children on their backs, holding them in their hands, older ones holding smaller oneslarge families are escaping in crowds. We do not know what their destination is."

Currently, Dharma Masters at the Global Tzu Chi Foundation Headquarters' Jing Si Abode in Taiwan are chanting a portion from the sacred Lotus Sutra called the "Universal Gate Chapter on Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva." It is believed to bring peace and harmony to the world. Yet, Master Cheng Yen has invited the global community to contribute their goodwill and blessings to those suffering as a result of this crisis:

"Only when the heart is peaceful and peaceful can this man-made disaster be quelled."

At the same time, Tzu Chi volunteers in Europe have connected with local agencies and partners along the Polish-Ukrainian border. It's currently estimated that more than half of refugees noted have crossed into Poland. With this great need, we are planning donations of humanitarian relief items that will provide immediate physical comfort, including but not limited to emergency goods, medical supplies, DA.AI Technology eco-blankets, and food.

Reflecting on Tzu Chi's past support of people who are displaced, Powen Yen, the Chief Executive Officer of the Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, noted refugee crises extending from Syria and recently Afghanistan. In both instances, where the threat of danger was high, Tzu Chi sent humanitarian aid where possible to comfort those seeking safety and refuge.

While it is difficult to predict what will happen next, Tzu Chi volunteers continue to monitor the situation and are assessing its humanitarian relief efforts accordingly. Regardless, Tzu Chi USA calls on the public to contribute to our fundraiser, "Love & Compassion for Ukraine." Donations will go to support the above relief items, but also send a clear message to those seeking refuge: in the face of crisis, you are not alone.

Donations are accepted in the following ways:

online: donate.tzuchi.us/ukraine

by mobile app, Tzu Chi Connect: tzuchi.us/app

by check: made payable to "Tzu Chi" and mailed to the Tzu Chi chapter nearest you. See the list at tzuchi.us/offices

About Us

The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation is a global non-profit humanitarian organization founded in 1966 by a Buddhist nun named Dharma Master Cheng Yen in Taiwan. Its missions of medicine, charity, education, and humanistic culture has brought relief to 127 countries and counting. In 1989, Tzu Chi USA was established and now has 62 offices across the US. The heart of Tzu Chi is embedded in its name: in Chinese, "tzu" means compassion and "chi," relief.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE TZU CHI
SUVA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Tonga reported 290 new COVID-19 cases in recent days, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases recorded in the South Pacific island nation to 645.

According to Tonga's news website Matangi Tonga Online on Thursday night, Tonga's Minister for Health Saia Piukala confirmed that the new cases were reported between last Friday and Thursday.

Of the 645 COVID-19 cases, 637 were reported on Tonga's main island of Tongatapu, the minister said, adding that Tonga now has 342 active COVID-19 cases.

The minister urged Tongans to keep social distancing of two meters, wash or sanitize hands often, and wear a mask in efforts to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus.

The minister said that the new target population for vaccination in Tonga has increased from 76,911 to 79,806, which also means vaccination rates in the island nation have slightly fell.

Tonga has a population of more than 100,000. Currently, about 88 percent of Tonga's target population have received their second dose, 97 percent have received their first dose, and 40 percent have received their booster shot. 
WALTHAM, Mass., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Uptycs announced today it has added capabilities to their XDR solution to provide improved detection and triage of advanced attacks and APT threat actors. Now, security teams have access to comprehensive tooling to detect, remediate, and protect against advanced external attacks.

"Working from home has created unforeseen challenges for security teams worldwide," said Ganesh Pai, CEO, Uptycs. "The push to support remote workforces has accelerated cloud migration, and therefore expanded companies' attack surfaces. These new capabilities reflect our ongoing commitment to stay ahead of potential threats so enterprises can run their businesses in the cloud with confidence."

Uptycs' new capabilities its XDR solution include:

Contextual detections. This feature provides analysts more context to understand the severity of a detection, specifically in-depth details around the toolkits used by threat actors. The Uptycs endpoint agent uses a highly optimized approach to scan the process memory using the YARA rules and then populates the profile of each detected malware/tool to provide details about the malicious software capabilities. The Uptycs threat research team continuously updates the YARA rules, and toolkit and threat profiles. Customers can also add their own custom YARA rules, toolkits descriptions, and threat profiles to track and hunt APT threat actors that may be targeting their organization. Automated threatbooks: The Uptycs threat research team provides threat intelligence to the product on a daily basis. Some portion of this intelligence is associated with high-profile attacks. The Uptycs platform automatically creates associated threatbooks and scans historical data to identify any previous infections. Lateral movement correlation enhancements: When an analyst is evaluating a detection, one crucial thing they need to know is whether a threat actor has moved laterally within the environment. Lateral movement detection feature of our correlation engine tries to detect the attack progression based on the proximity of other systems to the system that is under attack. We have added enhancements to identify close-proximity systems based on login attempts. Ransomware detection: Uptycs XDR agent now provides generic detection and protection against ransomware attacks on Windows operating systems. The capability is directly built inside the endpoint agent so it can protect against the attacks in offline mode as well. Additionally, Uptycs XDR provides Linux-targeted ransomware attacks detection via the Uptycs cloud Process code injection / DLL injection: The Uptycs XDR agent now provides generic detection to process code injection on both Windows and Linux endpoints. Process code injection is a technique used by attackers to inject malicious code inside a trusted running process to evade detection. Process hollowing: A sub-technique of process injection is process hollowing , where malicious actors attempt to evade defenses by injecting malicious code into suspended and hollowed processes. The Uptycs XDR agent now provides generic detection for process hollowing on both Windows and Linux endpoints. Master boot record (MBR) overwrite: The Uptycs XDR agent now provides generic detection of MBR overwrite on Windows-based endpoints. MBR overwrite is a technique used by adversaries where the goal is to disrupt operations and make the system unusable. Lsass.exe memory credential dumping: To detect attacker attempts to steal credentials, Uptycs XDR agent now provides generic detection of lsass.exe (Local Security Authority Subsystem Service) memory credential dumping on Windows-based endpoints.

About Uptycs

Uptycs provides the first unified, cloud-native security analytics platform that enables both endpoint and cloud security from a common solution. The solution provides a unique telemetry-powered approach to address multiple use casesincluding Extended Detection & Response (XDR), Cloud Workload Protection (CWPP), and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM). Uptycs enables security professionals to quickly prioritize, investigate, and respond to potential threats across a company's entire attack surface.

SOURCE Uptycs
One hundred thirty-three Washington students in kindergarten through 6th grade submitted posters showing how Mr. Yuk and the Washington Poison Center help keep everyone safe from harmful substances. This year, the Washington Poison Center partnered with Seattle Children's on promoting the poster contest and developing new online poison safety curriculum for elementary-aged students. A panel of judges from Seattle Children's selected Brook's poster as the winner: "Brook's poster makes it clear that Mr. Yuk is available to help everyone," stated Isabell Sakamoto, Suicide and Injury Prevention Program Manager at Seattle Children's. "We love how Brook included different poisonous products to be on the lookout for, like medicine, cleaning products, and fungus. This poster is a great reminder that help is always available by calling the Washington Poison Center!"

Brook's artwork was transformed into the official Washington State Poison Prevention Poster for National Poison Prevention Week, March 20-26, 2022. Organizations may download the poster here or order print copies by contacting [email protected]. Mr. Yuk and Brook will also virtually meet with Washington state legislators to discuss her artwork, poison prevention, and how legislators help keep Washingtonians safe.

The Washington Poison Center encourages organizations and communities to participate in National Poison Prevention Week. Download the partner toolkit, order free materials, and visit the Washington Poison Center's Facebook page for educational events and activities.

About the Washington Poison Center: The Washington Poison Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, has assisted Washingtonians for over 65 years with information and expert treatment advice on poisonings, drug overdoses, and toxic exposures. Through its emergency telephone helpline, staffed 24/7/365 by nurses and pharmacists with expert-level training in toxicology, the Washington Poison Center helped over 53,000 patients in 2021. In addition, as part of its core mission and services, the Washington Poison Center provides public education, community outreach, and assistance with emergency preparedness and response.

Media contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Washington Poison Center
In October 2016 a 688-class submarine entered the shipyard for a planned 6-month overhaul. This ship finally completed its overhaul and left the shipyard in October of 2021  more than five years later . In the meantime, the next submarine scheduled for that dry dock slot sat, waiting at the pier for 4 years  completely inoperable because its dive certification had lapsed . With a 35-year planned service life, that ship is going to go more than a decade between operational deployments due to the delays in starting its overhaul. These are not isolated cases  between 2008 and 2018 the submarine force lost 10,363 operational days at an added cost of more than $1.5 Billion, according to GAO Report 19-229. This National Security problem also keeps getting worse. Just last year, according to Pacific Submarine Force Commander Rear Admiral Jeffrey Jablon, the fleet lost nearly 1,500 submarine operational days to idle time.

According to the Commander of Fleet Forces Command, Admiral Daryl Caudle, "I don't have enough capacity. I don't have enough dry docks, and I don't have enough shipyards."

The Bartlett Maritime Plan is a proactive immediately actionable public-private-partnership designed to solve this problem and to restore National Security. The plan includes building American Naval Shipyard in Lorain, OH and American Naval Depot in Lordstown, OH and training a ready workforce in greater Northeast Ohio/Northwest Pennsylvania to staff these urgently required new maintenance facilities.

While there is an exceptionally challenging shortage of skilled trades personnel along the Nation's Ocean coasts, there is an abundant, ready pool of skilled trades personnel and apprentice candidates along the North Coast. Bartlett Maritime has partnered with the Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO to develop this entirely new workforce.

Capital for this project will be provided by an innovative and unique public-private-partnership between Bartlett Maritime Corporation and both the State of Ohio and the US Navy, applying existing federal and state laws. The Goldman Sachs Public Sector and Infrastructure Banking group has been retained to advise in the establishment of the project capital structure.

Squire Patton Boggs, through its Cleveland, OH and Washington, DC offices, is providing outside legal counsel to Bartlett Maritime Corporation to support development and execution of the Bartlett Maritime Plan.

Submarines to be overhauled at American Naval Shipyard at Lorain will require buoyancy assistance through the St. Lawrence Seaway. Fincantieri Marine Group's Bay Shipbuilding of Sturgeon Bay, WI will develop and build the Oceangoing Transit Carriers (patent pending) for this project, basing this new vessel on an existing vessel type now built at Sturgeon Bay.

Commenting on the project, Dario Deste, President and CEO of Fincantieri Marine Group here in the U.S., stated, "We believe this plan represents a potential 'win-win' for the Navy and for numerous Midwest communities, specifically in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. We support this plan, and we are keenly interested in partnering in any way possible."

Lordstown, OH Mayor Arno Hill and Lorain, OH Mayor Jack Bradley will each discuss what these projects will mean to their communities.

US Navy Submarines are currently built by General Dynamics Electric Boat in Quonset Point, RI and Groton, CT and by Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, VA. The 4 existing Naval Shipyards are in Portsmouth, VA; Kittery, ME/Portsmouth, NH; Bremerton, WA and Pearl Harbor, HI. The new facilities proposed in the Bartlett Maritime Plan will collaborate with these 6 shipyards, not compete with them  providing the additional industrial capacity and capability which is so desperately required to restore the US Navy's attack submarine force to full operational readiness.

RSVPs are requested at [email protected].

Media Contact: Edward Bartlet, 216-379-0033, [email protected]

SOURCE Bartlett Maritime Corporation
In 2013, the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed March 3rd as World Wildlife Day, an annual celebration to raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora. Yanjun received official recognition as part of today's virtual celebration . The award was introduced by renowned wildlife and conservation artist Sophie Green .

Drawing attention to endangered as well as critically endangered wildlife while highlighting the power of conservation efforts, this year's theme and contest tap into the creativity of global youth artists, encouraging them to embrace their sense of stewardship through conservation while also raising awareness of the threats faced by so many of the world's species today.

Through vibrant artworks that depict a stunning range of ecosystems and endangered wildlife from elephants to orangutans to polar bears, thirteen semi-finalists were selected by a panel of judges which included representatives from IFAW, CITES, and UNDP, and guest judges including celebrated syndicated cartoonist Jim Toomey, journalist and documentary filmmaker David Abel, Chief Brand Officer & Creative Director for Munchkin, Inc. Diana Barnes (db), and Jackson Wild Executive Director Lisa Samford.

"The talent displayed as well as the overall response from this year's contest was extraordinary," said Danielle Kessler, U.S. Director of IFAW. "Choosing one winner was no easy task for this year's panel. Generating nearly three times the number of entries as in past years, the depictions of both flora and fauna created by such young artists not only exquisitely captures this year's theme, but also vividly reflects their deep sense of connection to the natural world. It is an honor to continue hosting this global international contest that provides them with a platform for such expression."

"I'm very pleased to congratulate our winner Yanjun," said CITES Secretary-General, Ivonne Higuero, "and I would also like to recognize the talent and commitment of all our entrants. It is uplifting to see so many young people, from so many countries, engage with this year's theme of "Recovering Key Species for Ecosystem Restoration". It is clear that our young people appreciate the conservation challenges we face but with their support, energy and passion, I'm sure we will reach our goals for this UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration."

"UNDP would like to warmly congratulate Yanjun Mao," said Midori Paxton, Head of Ecosystems and Biodiversity at the United Nations Development Programme. "His painting captures not just the interconnectedness between humans and our natural world, but how a young person might see their place in it - smaller and more surrounded by nature than our global societies seem to assume, and yet wanting to help, despite the enormity. In a year when the theme of World Wildlife Day is "Recovering Key Species for Ecosystem Restoration", it offers a beautiful, timely message."

The winning artwork, "Return Home", as well as all the finalist's entries, are currently viewable on the IFAW website .

For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact:



IFAW: Abby Cohen (Rosen Group) at +1 973-224-0403 or [email protected]

CITES: David Whitbourn at +41 79 477 0806 or [email protected]

UNDP: Sangita Khadka at +1 212 906 5043 or [email protected]

About IFAW

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is a global non-profit helping animals and people thrive together. We are experts and everyday people, working across seas, oceans, and in more than 40 countries around the world. We rescue, rehabilitate, and release animals, and we restore and protect their natural habitats. The problems we're up against are urgent and complicated. To solve them, we match fresh thinking with bold action. We partner with local communities, governments, non-governmental organizations, and businesses. Together, we pioneer new and innovative ways to help all species flourish. See how at ifaw.org .

About CITES

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was signed in on 3 March 1973 and entered into force on 1 July 1975. With 183 Parties (182 countries + the European Union) it remains one of the world's most powerful tools for wildlife conservation through the regulation of international trade in over 36,000 species of wild animals and plants. CITES-listed species are used by people around the world in their daily lives for food health care, furniture, housing, tourist souvenirs, cosmetics or fashion. CITES seeks to ensure that international trade in such species is sustainable, legal and traceable and contributes to both the livelihoods of the communities that live closest to them and to national economies for a healthy planet and the prosperity of the people, in support to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

About the United Nations' World Wildlife Day

On 20 December 2013, the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 3 March as World Wildlife Day to celebrate and raise awareness of the world's wild fauna and flora. The date is the day of the signature of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973. World Wildlife Day has quickly become the most prominent global annual event dedicated to wildlife. It is an opportunity to celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the various challenges faced by these species. The day also reminds us of the urgent need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts.

SOURCE International Fund for Animal Welfare
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

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Edition: 20; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 159524

Companies: 300 - Players covered include Accenture; AIBrain, Inc.; Amazon Web Services; Baidu, Inc.; BIGO Technology; ByteDance Ltd; Cisco Systems, Inc.; CloudMinds; Dell Technologies; eGain Corporation; Esri; Facebook, Inc.; General Electric Company; Google, Inc.; Habana Labs Ltd; Inspur; Intel Corporation; International Business Machines Corporation (IBM); IPsoft Inc; Micron Technology, Inc.; Microsoft Corporation; Mobileye, an Intel Company; NetEase Fuxi Lab; NetEase, Inc; Next IT Corporation; NICE inContact; Nuance Communications, Inc.; NVIDIA Corporation; Omron Robotics and Safety Technologies, Inc; Oracle Corporation; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Salesforce.com, inc.; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.; SAP SE; SAS Institute Inc.; Siemens AG; Smartron India Private Limited; The Hewlett-Packard Company; Trifo; Xilinx, Inc. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Component (Services, Software, Hardware); Technology (Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Context Aware Computing, Natural Language Processing); End-Use (Advertising & Media, BFSI, Healthcare, Retail, Automotive & Transportation, Manufacturing, Agriculture, Other End-Uses)

Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Spain; Russia; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; India; South Korea; Rest of Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.

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ABSTRACT-

Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Market to Reach US$291.5 Billion by the Year 2026

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as one of the promising technologies, against the backdrop of fast paced digitalization and rapidly evolving technology landscape globally. AI technology is associated with making machines and related processes intelligent through the use of advanced computer programming solutions. The AI technology market is poised to grow at a robust pace driven by its increasing adoption in an expanding range of applications in varied industries. A major factor driving demand for AI is the digitization trend, which is affecting all sectors of the economy including agriculture, education, healthcare, and banking among others. The growing need to analyze and interpret burgeoning volumes of data and the escalating demand for advanced AI solutions to improve customer services are expected to fuel growth in the AI market. With significant improvements being seen in data storage capacity, computing power and parallel processing capabilities, the adoption of AI technology in various end-use sectors is on the rise. The rising adoption of cloud-based services and applications, rapid growth of big data, and the increasing need for intelligent virtual assistants are also contributing to the rapid growth of AI market. The advent of face, image, and voice recognition technologies is further favoring growth in the global market.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Artificial Intelligence (AI) estimated at US$97.1 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$291.5 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 34.3% over the analysis period. Services, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 34.1% CAGR to reach US$154.8 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Software segment is readjusted to a revised 31.7% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 37.9% share of the global Artificial Intelligence (AI) market. The increasing penetration of chatbots or virtual assistants for providing customer assistance in various end-use industries including e-commerce and banking is expected to further enhance demand for AI-based software and systems.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $39.8 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $53.6 Billion by 2026

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) market in the U.S. is estimated at US$39.8 Billion in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 41.4% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$53.6 Billion in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 40.9% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 28.8% and 30.2% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 32.5% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$70.9 Billion by the end of the analysis period. The dominant share of the US is mainly attributed to the widespread adoption of AI technology in several end-use industries including media, e-commerce and manufacturing. Increased funding for developing and advancing AI technology and applications, and a robust technical adoption base are also favoring growth. Europe, is the second largest regional AI market. Europe is expected to witness a significant increase in the deployments of cloud-based AI solutions, driven by the growing consumer demand for on-demand and faster access to data and relatively easy document control. Europe's AI market is likely to benefit from the European Commission's plans to invest 20 billion for AI research during the period 2018-2020 in order to fuel R&D initiatives for businesses and government. Growth in Asia-Pacific including China is propelled by the increasing adoption of natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning technologies in sectors such as marketing, finance, law, and agriculture. The market also benefits from the rapid pace of improvements being seen in computing power, data storage capacity and processing capabilities, which facilitate adoption of AI technology in sectors such as healthcare and automotive.

Hardware Segment to Reach $71.2 Billion by 2026

The constant decline in hardware costs is fueling growth in the hardware segment. By type of hardware, processor captures the largest share of the AI chipsets market, due mainly to the rising demand for high computing processors for running AI algorithms in servers and for the development of edge devices. In the global Hardware segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 38.2% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$7.8 Billion will reach a projected size of US$74.8 Billion by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. Led by countries such as Australia, India, and South Korea, the market in Asia-Pacific is forecast to reach US$9.8 Billion by the year 2026. More

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REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Agiloft, the global standard in no-code contract lifecycle management (CLM), today announced an alliance with HBR, a consulting firm focused on the legal industry, aimed at helping legal teams improve contract management operations, increase revenue, and gain insights into contract data.

HBR Consulting provides law firms and corporate law departments with strategic guidance, operational improvement, and technology solutions that drive innovation while managing cost and mitigating risk. This mutually beneficial partnership enables clients to tap into HBR's extensive expertise to achieve the best outcomes as they digitally transform their contract processes through the implementation of Agiloft.

With contracts governing relationships, expenditure, and revenue across the enterprise, companies are realizing the importance of a CLM system to streamline the complex workflows surrounding the contract processes to save time, reduce cost, mitigate risk, and gain visibility into data essential to the business.

HBR's experience working with legal and business teams helps clients clearly define their CLM strategy, processes, and design systems, while Agiloft's flexible no-code CLM platform provides the most robust and configurable capabilities for creating solutions that adapt to business needs over time. Additionally, Agiloft's new Connected Experiences enable an extensible solution that can integrate with existing applications and into large enterprise ecosystems.

"Our expanding partner program includes the best and brightest in the legal industry, and we are delighted to bring HBR into our network," said Elisabeth Bykoff, VP of Global Alliances at Agiloft. "We continually seek new opportunities to strengthen our client relationships, and HBR can help our users transform their contract operations to best drive efficiency, improve collaboration, and create a connected system of record that unlocks the strategic value of CLM across the enterprise."

"Providing top solutions for our legal clients is our priority, and we are very pleased to partner with Agiloft, a leader in the contract lifecycle management software market," said Rohit Gulati, Senior Director of CLM at HBR. "Our mission is to help our clients make faster, better, and more cost-effective decisions while operating more efficiently. Legal and business stakeholders are increasingly recognizing the value of transitioning to a CLM system, and Agiloft's user-friendly platform provides flexible capabilities for tailored implementation and integration to accelerate digital transformation."

About Agiloft

As the global leader in agile contract lifecycle management software, Agiloft is trusted to provide significant savings in purchasing, enable more efficient legal operations, and accelerate sales cycles, all while drastically lowering compliance risk. Agiloft's adaptable no-code platform ensures rapid deployment and a fully extensible system. Using contracts as the core system of commercial record, Agiloft's CLM software leverages AI to improve contract management for legal departments, procurement, and sales operations. Visit www.agiloft.com for more.



Media Contact:

Jeffrey Miesbauer

Agiloft

650-587-8615 ext 4003

SOURCE Agiloft
The IAF will accommodate the Puget Sound region's increasing demand for international air travel on Alaska, our fellow one world member airlines and our additional global airline partners. After a period of testing and transition, all arriving passengers who need customs clearance after international flights are scheduled to make their way through the new facility.

"Alaska is a global airline  backed by the expansive network of the oneworld alliance and our added partner airlines," said Nat Pieper, senior vice president of fleet, finance and alliances at Alaska Airlines. "The International Arrivals Facility offers a stunning welcome to all our guests arriving in Seattle from destinations worldwide. It dramatically raises the bar with tremendous improvements that modernize the arrival experience."

The opening comes just in time for increased summertime travel. oneworld airlines will offer the most nonstop flights to international destinations from SEA this summer  an average of 22 daily international flights starting in June, which includes Alaska's nonstop flights to Canada and Mexico. From oneworld global hubs, guests can connect to hundreds of other cities.

Nonstop international flights on oneworld partners from SEA this summer:

oneworld Partner Nonstop Destination Frequency British Airways London Heathrow 2x Daily Finnair Helsinki 3x Weekly Japan Airlines Tokyo Narita Daily Qatar Doha Daily

"As global travel recovers, the new International Arrivals Facility will provide a world-class experience to oneworld customers returning to the skies," said Rob Gurney, oneworld CEO. "With Alaska's leading network and new service launched by other oneworld members, the facility will strengthen the status of Seattle as a global hub for oneworld."

The new IAF is expected to reduce connection times by at least 15 minutes with more predictable and less stressful arrival and customs processing, making it easier and more convenient for arriving international passengers to continue their travels on Alaska's domestic flights.

"While this facility is brand new, it reflects some of the oldest and most enduring values of our region," said Ryan Calkins, Port of Seattle Commission President. "We are more committed than ever to making our airport one of the best connected, most convenient, most sustainable, and most welcoming airports in the world."

The IAF solidifies SEA as a gateway to the world. The new structure includes a marquee, first-of-its-kind aerial walkway  with dramatic views 85 feet above an active taxi lane  that connects guests arriving on international flights at the S Concourse to the IAF. That's where they pick up their checked bags first and then go through customs processing  a single checkpoint to clear customs.

Another big change: The number of international capable gates has increased from 12 to 20 to allow for more flights during peak periods. The Port of Seattle says the new IAF is four times larger than the old facility and it will more than double peak international arrival capacity to 2,600 passengers an hour. Plus, the spacious baggage claim area now has seven carousels instead of four and each is larger than before.

Alaska joined oneworld one year ago  a global airline alliance that provides flyers with a superior, seamless travel experience. Many of the benefits that Alaska's MVP elite flyers currently enjoy with their status seamlessly carry over to the oneworld tiers when they travel on any of the other 13 member airlines. Those guests can take advantage of a variety of privileges, including priority check-in, access to international first and business class lounges, preferred boarding, fast track through security, baggage benefits and more.

With oneworld and our additional airline partners, our guests can earn and redeem miles with our highly acclaimed Mileage Plan program to fly on more than 20 oneworld and partner airlines all around the globe.

As part of our commitment to Next-Level Care, we've partnered with health safety experts to adopt strict cleaning measures to ensure the comfort and safety of guests and employees. Alaska continues to enforce the federally mandated mask policy, even for those who are fully vaccinated.

About Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines and our regional partners serve more than 120 destinations across the United States, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. We emphasize Next-Level Care for our guests, along with providing low fares, award-winning customer service and sustainability efforts. Alaska is a member of the oneworld global alliance. With the alliance and our additional airline partners, guests can travel to more than 1,000 destinations on more than 20 airlines while earning and redeeming miles on flights to locations around the world. Learn more about Alaska at newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com . Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).

SOURCE Alaska Airlines
TUCSON, Ariz., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on an appeal of a 21-year prison sentence of Dr. Xiulu Ruan, after lower courts denied him a good-faith defense for his pain-management prescriptions. As the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons ("AAPS") argued in its amicus brief, such prison sentences should not be imposed against a physician who acts in good faith in treating pain.

Most of the justices expressed disagreement with convicting a physician for pain prescriptions without allowing him a good-faith defense. Justice Brett Kavanaugh properly expressed his dismay that "if you're on the wrong side of a close call about what you believed, you go to prison for 20 years?" Justice Neil Gorsuch continued that line of questioning.

Dr. Ruan holds a record eight board certifications, and yet is imprisoned for being a high-volume prescriber of pain medication. "There is always a top prescriber of something, but that statistic does not make him guilty of a crime," observes AAPS General Counsel Andrew Schlafly. "The top prescribers become scapegoats for wrongdoing by others, and eliminating the top prescribers does not alleviate the misuse of pain medications."

"These draconian prison sentences for practicing good-faith medicine are uncivilized," Mr. Schlafly continued.

"While doctors languish in prison, and other doctors are deterred from prescribing needed medications, patients suffer," stated AAPS executive director Jane Orient, M.D.

The good-faith defense is allowed in the First, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, as Dr. Ruan's attorney explained. The Supreme Court could establish the good-faith defense nationwide in this case.

"Nearly all the Justices appeared to agree, as they should, with requiring courts to allow a good-faith defense for physicians who write pain prescriptions," observed Mr. Schlafly about oral argument.

The High Court consolidated this case of Ruan v. United States, No. 20-1410, with that of Dr. Shakeel Kahn in Kahn v. United States, No. 21-5261. Dr. Kahn received an even more egregious prison sentence of 25 years for his pain-management practice.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943. Its motto is omnia pro aegroto (everything for the patient).

SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)
ATLANTA, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta Magazine released its annual special publication, The Atlanta 500, recognizing the 500 most influential business and civic leaders in Atlanta. For the third consecutive year, Nicholas Wealth Management's President and Founder, David Nicholas, has been recognized to The Atlanta 500 list for 2022.

"What makes this list of corporate, non-profit, civic, entrepreneurial, religious, and creative leaders the cream of the crop is more than their titles or stations at the top of their organizations. It is the thoughtful way that they have gone about considering their work and the work of their companiespeople first. Finding the value in people from their employees to the customers they serve and the communities they call home is what undergirds the organizations they head." -Katrice L. Mines, Guest Editor

"It is a privilege to be recognized to this list, alongside many impactful and visionary leaders in Atlanta. This honor reflects the positive impact we have provided for our clients and the local community."

Named under the Business portion of The Atlanta 500 list, David Nicholas founded Nicholas Wealth Management where he has helped clients and corporations nationwide navigate the financial markets. David innovated the idea of wealth management by creating financial portfolios uniquely designed for retirement planning by optimizing strategies based on specific goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance with a focus on preserving capital during volatile times in the market.

David was recognized alongside other notable business leaders including Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Chairman of Chick-fil-A, Dan Cathy, and Raphael Bostic, President and CEO of Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

A sought-after commentator on financial and economic matters, David's opinions and commentaries are featured frequently on Fox Business with Stuart Varney and Charles Payne, Fox & Friends, CNN, CNBC, and CBS News. David also brings fresh insight and timely market news to Atlanta as the host of the weekly Retire Ready radio show Saturdays at 7:00 pm on 95.5 FM WSB.

Securities offered through World Equity Group, Inc. (WEG), members FINRA and SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Nicholas Wealth, Bluepath Capital, and LLC. Nicholas Wealth, Bluepath Capital, and LLC are separate entities and are not owned or controlled by WEG.

SOURCE Nicholas Wealth Management
The expansion -- anticipated to be completed in May of 2023 -- will allow BIO-CAT Microbials to continue to scale its high-tech microbial fermentation production by adding state-of-the-art fermentation manufacturing facilities, quality labs, and a research and development center. It will also include custom-designed fermentation equipment that will allow for both small and large batch manufacturing. This expanded capacity will provide the potential for BIO-CAT Microbials to grow its current fermentation production by more than 400%.

"This expansion will be a huge boon for our fermentation capabilities, allowing us to further scale our production to supply customers and partners, both old and new, with the best microbial products on the market," BIO-CAT CEO and Co-Founder Chris Schuler said. "The plans we have in place will make our Troy facilities truly best-in-class. We're looking forward to breaking ground and getting started."

Already one of the industry's leading microbial manufacturers, BIO-CAT Microbials currently manufactures a dozen proprietary Bacillus microbial strains for the human probiotic, production and companion animal, and crop science markets. It sees this investment and corresponding state-of-the-art expansion as an opportunity to cement BIO-CAT Microbials as the premier source for breakthrough microbial solutions across a myriad of industries.

The company currently performs all fermentation in its Shakopee, Minnesota manufacturing site, but the expansion of the Troy, Virginia facility will provide BIO-CAT Microbials' customers with manufacturing redundancy that will further solidify supply chain reliability, which has become increasingly important in today's market.

The company's model will revolve around the continued development, blending and contract manufacturing of Bacillus strains for customers in its Minnesota and Virginia facilities. BIO-CAT Microbials has also identified an additional 13 high-performing Bacillus strains that are currently in development, with several on target to launch within the next 12 months.

An added benefit of BIO-CAT Microbials' new, state-of-the-art facility will be attracting some of the best talent to work with the industry's microbial leader. The company plans to create an additional 20 full-time roles in its manufacturing, R&D, and quality departments during the initial expansion phase.

"To continue to be viewed as a premier employer, we need to continually look at ways to attract and retain the best talent, and some of the campus improvements are perfect examples of these efforts," Stephen Schuler, AVP of Operation at BIO-CAT Microbials, said. "This investment reflects both our confidence in the team we have assembled, as well as our commitment to providing our customers with the very best product and service in the industry."

In addition to the new production and manufacturing facility, BIO-CAT's 25-acre campus will also include walking and running trails, sand volleyball courts, and a technology-enabled employee pavilion for outdoor meetings and other gatherings.

About BIO-CAT Microbials

BIO-CAT Microbials, LLC was founded in 2004 by BIO-CAT Inc., an enzyme industry leader located in Troy, Virginia. For 17 years, BIO-CAT Microbials, LLC has focused on three core life science verticals: human, animal, and crop nutrition. BIO-CAT Microbials, LLC continues to be an innovative global biotech leader that supports customers with advanced microbial solutions. As industry experts, their science-led team specializes in strain development, fermentation, and product development. For more information, please visit www.bio-cat.com.

Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE BIO-CAT, INC.
NEW DELHI, March 2 (Xinhua) -- India's exports in February 2022 stood at 33.81 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 22.36 percent over 27.63 billion dollars in February 2021, according to data issued by the federal Commerce and Industry Ministry on Wednesday.

The country's exports in April 2021-February 2022 were 374.05 billion dollars, an increase of 45.80 percent over 256.55 billion dollars in April 2020-February 2021.

According to official data, India's imports in February 2022 were 55.01 billion dollars, an increase of 34.99 percent over 40.75 billion dollars in February 2021.

The trade deficit in February 2022 was 21.19 billion dollars, while it was 176.07 billion dollars during April 2021-February 2022.

President of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations A. Sakthivel said in a statement that the latest data has once again showcased the continuous resilience of India's exports sector.

"The enthusiasm with which the Exim (export import) community has impressively performed has not only given a boost to the sector, but has also helped the economy's growth recovery process," he said.

"With monthly exports crossing the 30-billion mark (U.S. dollars) for the 11th consecutive time during the fiscal, we are on course to cross the 400 billion U.S. dollars exports target for the fiscal," he added. 
SHANGHAI, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Boqii Holding Limited ("Boqii" or the "Company") (NYSE: BQ), a leading pet-focused platform in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022 (the quarter ended December 31, 2021).

Fiscal Q3 2022 Operational and Financial Highlights

Total revenues were RMB 332.6 million ( US$ 52.2 million ), representing an increase of 6.3% from RMB312 .9 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

were ( ), representing an increase of 6.3% from .9 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. Net loss was RMB28.8 million ( US$4.5 million ), representing an improvement from net loss of RMB81.9 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

was ( ), representing an improvement from net loss of in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. Adjusted net loss was RMB25.4 million ( US$4.0 million ), representing an improvement from adjusted net loss of RMB30.5 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

was ( ), representing an improvement from adjusted net loss of in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. EBITDA [1] was a loss of RMB25.6 million ( US$4.0 million ), representing an improvement from a loss of RMB79.2 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

was a loss of ( ), representing an improvement from a loss of in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. Total GMV [2] was RMB816.5 million ( US$128.1 million ), representing an increase of 6.9% from RMB763.8 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

was ( ), representing an increase of 6.9% from in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. Active buyers were 1.9 million, representing an increase of 26.3% from 1.5 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

[1]EBITDA refers to net loss excluding income tax expenses, interest expense, interest income, depreciation and amortization expenses. EBITDA is a Non-GAAP financial measurement. Please refer to "Non-GAAP financial measurement". [2]GMV refers to gross merchandise volume, which is the total value of confirmed orders placed with us and sold through distribution model or drop shipping model where we act as a principal in the transaction regardless of whether the products are delivered or returned, calculated based on the listed prices of the ordered products without taking into consideration any discounts. The total GMV amount (i) includes GMV of products sold by Xingmu, (ii) excludes products sold through consignment model and (iii) excludes the value of services offered by us. GMV is subject to future adjustments (such as refunds) and represents only one measure of the Company's performance and should not be relied on as an indicator of our financial results, which depend on a variety of factors.

CEO & CFO Quote

Mr. Hao Liang, Boqii's Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, "We maintained continuous topline growth in the third fiscal quarter of 2022 amidst challenging market conditions. On top of that, we are pleased to report fast-improving profit margins, highlighting the progress we made in achieving profitability. We also announced a strategic partnership with Evetsoft Pet Hospital Software and furthered our pet care supply chain readiness, to provide pets with better care at more accessible price points."

Ms. Yingzhi (Lisa) Tang, Boqii's Co-Founder, Co-CEO and CFO commented: "Continuous growth momentum from online marketing, information services, and other revenue once again exhibited the strength of our vertical platform and unique value propositions to other players in the industry chain. Our improved gross margin also demonstrated our ability to achieve profitability. We are committed to bringing the best-in-class products and services closer to our ever-increasing customer base and industry partners, to capture the enormous opportunities in the pet industry."

Fiscal Q3 2022 Financial Results

Total revenues were RMB332.6 million (US$52.2 million), representing an increase of 6.3% from RMB312.9 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. The increase was primarily due to the continued organic growth of our business.

Revenues

(in million) Three Months Ended December 31 % 2021 2020 change RMB RMB YoY Product sales 317.4 312.3 1.6%  Boqii Mall 121.3 114.1 6.3%  Third party e-commerce platforms 196.1 198.2 (1.1%) Online marketing and information services and other revenue 15.2 0.6 2433.3% Total 322.6 312.9 6.3%

Gross profit was RMB76.9 million (US$12.1 million), representing an increase of 37% from RMB56.1 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

Gross margin was 23.1%, representing an increase from 17.9% in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

Operating expenses were RMB108.2 million, representing a decrease of 28.1% from RMB150.5 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. Operating expenses as a percentage of total revenues was 32.5%, representing a decrease from 48.1% in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. The decrease was primarily due to share-based compensation expenses incurred in fiscal year 2021. Pursuant to the Amended and Restated 2018 Global Share Plan, the performance condition for options granted thereunder was satisfied upon completion of our IPO; and as a result, the company, upon the completion of the IPO, recorded RMB44.1 million of cumulative share-based compensation expenses for those options for which the vesting conditions had been satisfied as of such date.

Fulfillment Expenses were RMB37.7 million, representing an increase of 12.2% from RMB33.6 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. Fulfillment expenses as a percentage of total revenues was 11.3%, compared to 10.7% in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. The increase was primarily due to the increased handling expenses and packaging cost.

were RMB37.7 million, representing an increase of 12.2% from in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. Fulfillment expenses as a percentage of total revenues was 11.3%, compared to 10.7% in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. The increase was primarily due to the increased handling expenses and packaging cost. Sales and marketing expenses were RMB48.3 million , representing a decrease of 12.4% from RMB55.1 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of total revenue was 14.5%, representing a decrease from 17.6% in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease of share-based compensation expense of RMB11.4 million compared with the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

were , representing a decrease of 12.4% from in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. Sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of total revenue was 14.5%, representing a decrease from 17.6% in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease of share-based compensation expense of compared with the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. General and administrative expenses were RMB22.3 million , representing a decrease of 64% from RMB61.8 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. General and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenue was 6.7%, representing a decrease from 19.8% in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021. The decrease was primarily due to: (i) the decrease of share-based compensation expense of RMB35.7 million compared with the same quarter of fiscal year 2021; (ii) the decrease of professional fees of RMB3.9 million incurred in connection with our IPO in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

Operating loss was RMB31.3 million (US$4.9 million), representing an improvement from a loss of RMB93.6 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

EBITDA was a loss of RMB25.6 million (US$4.0 million), representing an improvement from a loss of RMB79.2 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

Net loss was RMB28.8 million (US$4.5 million), representing an improvement from to net loss of RMB81.9 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

Adjusted net loss was RMB25.4 million (US$4.0 million), representing an improvement from adjusted net loss of RMB30.5 million in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

Diluted net loss per share was RMB0.41 (US$0.06), representing an improvement from diluted net loss per share of RMB1.61 in the same quarter of fiscal year 2021.

Total cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments were RMB315.7 million (US$49.5 million), compared to RMB339.4 million as of September 30, 2021.

Conference Call

Boqii's management will hold a conference call to discuss the financial results at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, March 3, 2022, U.S. Eastern Time (9:00 PM on Wednesday, March 3, 2022, Beijing/Hong Kong Time).

To join the conference, please dial in 15 minutes before the conference is scheduled to begin using below numbers.

Phone Number International 1-412-317-6061 United States 1-888-317-6003 Hong Kong 852 800-963976 Mainland China 86 4001-206115 Passcode 9147363

A replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following numbers until March 10, 2022.

Phone Number International 1-412-317-0088 United States 1-877-344-7529 Replay Access Code 8462589

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.boqii.com/.

About Boqii Holding Limited

Boqii Holding Limited (NYSE: BQ) is a leading pet-focused platform in China. We are the leading online destination for pet products and supplies in China with our broad selection of high-quality products including global leading brands, local emerging brands, and our own private label, Yoken and Mocare, offered at competitive prices. Our online sales platforms, including Boqii Mall and our flagship stores on third-party e-commerce platforms, provide customers with convenient access to a wide selection of high-quality pet products and an engaging and personalized shopping experience. Our Boqii Community provides an informative and interactive content platform for users to share their knowledge and love for pets.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, and a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "target," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan," "believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" or other similar expressions. The Company may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding such risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company uses non-GAAP financial measures, namely adjusted net loss, adjusted net loss margin, EBITDA and EBITDA margin, in evaluating its operating results and for financial and operational decision-making purposes. The Company defines (i) adjusted net loss as net loss excluding fair value change of derivative liabilities and share-based compensation expenses, (ii) adjusted net loss margin as adjusted net loss as a percentage of total revenues, (iii) EBITDA as net loss excluding income tax expenses, interest expense, interest income, depreciation and amortization expenses, (iv) EBITDA margin as EBITDA as a percentage of total revenues. The Company believes adjusted net loss, adjusted net loss margin, EBITDA and EBITDA margin enhance investors' overall understanding of its financial performance and allow for greater visibility with respect to key metrics used by its management in its financial and operational decision-making.

These non-GAAP financial measures are not defined under U.S. GAAP and are not presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. As these non-GAAP financial measures have limitations as analytical tools and may not be calculated in the same manner by all companies, they may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. The Company compensates for these limitations by reconciling the non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest U.S. GAAP performance measures, which should be considered when evaluating the Company's performance. For reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, please see the section of the accompanying tables titled, "Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results." The Company encourages investors and others to review its financial information in its entirety and not rely on any single financial measure.

Exchange Rate

This press release contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("USD") at specified rates solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise stated, all translations from RMB to USD were made at the rate of RMB 6.3726 to US$1.00, the noon buying rate in effect on December 31, 2021 in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board. The Company makes no representation that the RMB or USD amounts referred to could be converted into USD or RMB, as the case may be at any particular rate or at all.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:



In China:

Boqii Holding Limited

Investor Relations

Tel: +86-21-6882-6051

Email: [email protected]

DLK Advisory Limited

Tel: +852-2857-7101

Email: [email protected]



Boqii Holding Limited Unaudited Consolidated Balance Sheets (In thousands, except share and per share data) As of

March 31,

2021 As of

December 31,

2021 As of December 31,

2021 RMB RMB US$ ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 292,237 176,026 27,622 Short-term investments 168,546 139,648 21,914 Accounts receivable, net 45,732 53,991 8,472 Inventories, net 91,551 123,316 19,351 Prepayments and other current assets 85,261 106,650 16,736 Amounts due from related parties 11,465 23,430 3,677 Total current assets 694,792 623,061 97,772 Non-current assets: Property and equipment, net 8,386 7,403 1,162 Intangible assets 29,537 26,544 4,165 Operating lease right-of-use assets 29,234 42,065 6,601 Long-term investments 74,330 94,887 14,890 Goodwill 40,184 40,684 6,384 Other non-current asset 4,111 4,140 650 Total non-current assets 185,782 215,723 33,852 Total assets 880,574 838,784 131,624 LIABILITIES, MEZZANINE EQUITY AND SHAREHOLDERS' DEFICIT Current liabilities Short-term borrowings 85,566 152,426 23,919 Accounts payable 71,848 100,235 15,729 Salary and welfare payable 6,309 8,619 1,353 Accrued liabilities and other current liabilities 30,055 35,474 5,567 Amounts due to related parties, current 910 9,981 1,566 Contract liabilities 3,866 10,534 1,653 Operating lease liabilities, current 8,063 10,197 1,600 Derivative liabilities 9,996 9,635 1,512 Total current liabilities 216,613 337,101 52,899 Non-current liabilities Deferred tax liabilities 8,958 8,216 1,289 Operating lease liabilities, non-current 19,997 30,565 4,796 Long-term borrowings 68,075 - - Other debts, non-current 433,292 251,141 39,410 Total non-current liabilities 530,322 289,922 45,495 Total liabilities 746,935 627,023 98,394 Mezzanine equity Redeemable non-controlling interests 5,946 6,374 1,000 Total mezzanine equity 5,946 6,374 1,000 Stockholders' equity: Class A ordinary shares (US$0.001 par value; 129,500,000 shares authorized, 54,505,108 and 55,703,708 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31 and December 31, 2021, respectively) 364 372 58 Class B ordinary shares (US$0.001 par value; 15,000,000 shares authorized, 13,037,729 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31 and December, 31, 2021, respectively) 82 82 13 Additional paid-in capital 3,272,612 3,295,010 517,059 Statutory reserves 3,047 3,203 503 Accumulated other comprehensive loss (20,172) (33,675) (5,284) Accumulated deficit (2,759,882) (2,866,435) (449,807) Receivable for issuance of ordinary shares (413,377) (235,556) (36,964) Total Boqii Holding Limited shareholders' equity 82,674 163,001 25,578 Non-controlling interests 45,019 42,386 6,652 Total shareholders' equity 127,693 205,387 32,230 Total liabilities, mezzanine equity and shareholders' equity 880,574 838,784 131,624

Boqii Holding Limited UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (All amounts in thousands, except for share and per share data, unless otherwise noted) Three Months Ended December 31, Nine Months Ended December 31, 2020 2021 2021 2020 2021 2021 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$ Net revenues: Product sales 312,371 317,439 49,813 778,186 895,022 140,449 Online marketing and information services 555 15,166 2,380 2,368 41,550 6,520 Total revenues 312,926 332,605 52,193 780,554 936,572 146,969 Total cost of revenue (256,784) (255,686) (40,123) (638,507) (747,566) (117,309) Gross profit 56,142 76,919 12,070 142,047 189,006 29,659 Operating expenses: Fulfillment expenses (33,557) (37,655) (5,909) (96,225) (100,174) (15,719) Sales and marketing expenses (55,107) (48,257) (7,573) (121,393) (137,711) (21,610) General and administrative expenses (61,811) (22,282) (3,497) (95,376) (65,056) (10,209) Other income, net 740 20 3 1,045 87 14 Loss from operations (93,593) (31,255) (4,906) (169,902) (113,848) (17,865) Interest income 5,471 3,470 545 11,674 13,334 2,092 Interest expense (6,990) (4,935) (774) (20,549) (16,994) (2,667) Other (losses)/gain, net 12,552 3,254 511 16,328 3,659 574 Fair value change of derivative liabilities - 920 144 10,409 1,331 209 Loss before income tax expenses (82,560) (28,546) (4,480) (152,040) (112,518) (17,657) Income taxes expenses 603 159 25 412 1,406 221 Share of results of equity investees 22 (382) (60) (55) 452 71 Net loss (81,935) (28,769) (4,515) (151,683) (110,660) (17,365) Less: Net income/(loss) attributable to the non-controlling interest shareholders 1,242 (1,011) (159) 2,138 (4,694) (737) Net loss attributable to Boqii Holding Limited (83,177) (27,758) (4,356) (153,821) (105,966) (16,628) Less: Accretion on convertible redeemable preferred shares to redemption value 195,935 - - 120,873 - - Less: Accretion on redeemable non-controlling interests to redemption value - (145) (23) - (428) (67) Less: Deemed dividend to preferred shareholders - - - (12,547) - - Net income/(loss) attributable to Boqii Holding Limited's ordinary shareholders 112,758 (27,903) (4,379) (45,495) (106,394) (16,696) Net loss (81,935) (28,769) (4,515) (151,683) (110,660) (17,365) Other comprehensive loss: Foreign currency translation adjustment, net of nil tax (24,062) (7,738) (1,214) (35,579) (13,503) (2,119) Unrealized securities holding gains - - - 1,195 - - Total comprehensive loss (105,997) (36,507) (5,729) (186,067) (124,163) (19,484) Less: Total comprehensive income/(loss) attributable to non-controlling interest shareholders 1,242 (1,011) (159) 2,138 (4,694) (737) Total comprehensive loss attributable to Boqii Holding Limited (107,239) (35,496) (5,570) (188,205) (119,469) (18,747) Net earnings/(loss) per share attributable to Boqii Holding Limited's ordinary shareholders  basic 1.68 (0.41) (0.06) (0.68) (1.57) (0.25)  diluted 1.61 (0.41) (0.06) (0.68) (1.57) (0.25) Weighted average number of ordinary shares  basic 67,156,580 67,861,419 67,861,419 67,156,580 67,735,744 67,735,744  diluted 70,041,375 67,861,419 67,861,419 67,156,580 67,735,744 67,735,744

Boqii Holding Limited Reconciliation of GAAP and Non-GAAP Results (In thousands, except % and per share data) Three Months Ended

December 31, 2020 Three Months Ended

December 31, 2021 Nine Months Ended

December 31, 2020 Nine Months Ended

December 31, 2021 Net loss (81,935) (28,769) (151,683) (110,660) Fair value change of derivative liabilities - (920) (10,409) (1,331) Share-based compensation 51,422 4,312 51,422 14,215 Adjusted Net Loss (30,513) (25,377) (110,670) (97,776) Adjusted Net Loss Margin (9.8%) (7.6%) (14.2%) (10.4%) Three Months Ended

December 31, 2020 Three Months Ended

December 31, 2021 Nine Months Ended

December 31, 2020 Nine Months Ended

December 31, 2021 Net loss (81,935) (28,769) (151,683) (110,660) Income tax expenses (603) (159) (412) (1,406) Interest expenses 6,990 4,935 20,549 16,994 Interest income (5,471) (3,470) (11,674) (13,334) Depreciation and amortization . 1,784 1,905 5,135 5,790 EBITDA (79,235) (25,558) (138,085) (102,616) EBITDA Margin (25.3%) (7.7%) (17.7%) (11.0%) Notes for all the condensed consolidated financial schedules presented: Note 1: The conversion of Renminbi (RMB) into U.S. dollars (USD) is based on the certified exchange rate of USD1.00=RMB6.3726 on December 31, 2021 published by the Federal Reserve Board.

SOURCE Boqii Holding Limited
ALBANY, N.Y., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global carbon black market was valued over US$ 18.6 Bn in 2020. The market is predicted to rise at a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period, from 2021 to 2031. The global carbon black market is anticipated to surpass the value of US$ 29.9 Bn by 2031. Growing uses of carbon black in different end-use industries, particularly tires, paints & coatings, and rubber, are likely to drive the global carbon black market. In order to reap revenue opportunities in developing countries, companies in the global carbon black market are focused on product advancements. The market is being driven by a rise in demand for carbon black in the automobile industry.

Manufacturing firms are concentrating on addressing problems in the carbon black market, including raw material price volatility. Crude oil prices have a direct impact on the raw ingredients utilized in carbon black. Market players are improving the productivity and enhancing efficiency of their operations in order to achieve consistent growth.

Carbon black is in high demand in a variety of applications, including battery electrodes, rubber reinforcement, plastics, paints & coatings, and inks & toners. Carbon black is being widely used in the tire business, which is likely to emerge as a key market driver. Carbon black is commonly utilized in tire and non-tire rubber compositions as a reinforcing filler. Vehicle sales and manufacturing are increasing all over the world, which is likely to support growth of the market. Carbon black is commonly used to strengthen rubber in tires. It can account for up to 30% of the tire's weight. Carbon black is used in a variety of automobile rubber parts, including anti-vibration parts, hoses, seals, and engine mounts.

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Key Findings of Market Report

The global carbon black market is driven by industrial expansion, urbanization, and rise in the number of construction as well as manufacturing industries globally. Carbon black is also utilized as a performance enhancer in inks and pigments, paints and coatings, and the plastics industry.

Carbon black is in high demand in the rubber industry, since it renders rubber stronger and more resistant to stress and tear. Rubber tires are additionally protected from UV radiation and oxidation by carbon black, which is utilized in the manufacturing process. As a result, carbon black is becoming more widely used as a filler in rubber composites. Rubber gains volume, strength, and physical qualities as a result of this additive. Carbon black is utilized in mechanical rubber products such as membrane roofing, industrial rubber goods, and automotive rubber parts including anti-vibration parts, hoses, and sealing systems among many other things.

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In the next few years, Asia Pacific is projected to lead the global market. Carbon black is in high demand in numerous end-use industries of Asia Pacific . This factor is likely to boost regional output of carbon black. Expanding automotive industry, rising demand for vehicles, and rapid regional industrialization are factors that have contributed to the region's large market share.

is projected to lead the global market. Carbon black is in high demand in numerous end-use industries of . This factor is likely to boost regional output of carbon black. Expanding automotive industry, rising demand for vehicles, and rapid regional industrialization are factors that have contributed to the region's large market share. Existence of several competitive market players focused on boosting carbon black output in response to a greater demand from diverse fields is likely to help in the growth of the global carbon black market

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Global Carbon Black Market: Growth Drivers

Market expansion is being fueled by extensive research and development initiatives aimed at finding new and cost-effective techniques to generate carbon black. The global market is being bolstered by technological advancements.

Increasing use of carbon black in plastic processing, printing inks, and coatings is likely to generate revenue for carbon black producers

Global Carbon Black Market: Key Players

Some of the key market players are

Shandong Huadong Rubber Types Co., Ltd

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)

Phillips Carbon Black Limited

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation

OMSK Carbon Group

Tokai Carbon Co Ltd.

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Global Carbon Black Market: Segmentation

Grade

Standard

Specialty

Type

Furnace Black

Lamp Black

Thermal Black

Acetylene Black

Application

Rubber Reinforcement

Paints & Coatings

Plastics

Battery Electrodes

Inks & Toners

Others

Chemicals & Materials Industry battles Tangible Impact of Economic and Cultural changes, Explore Transparency Market Research's award-winning coverage of the global Chemicals & Materials:

Carbon Fiber Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/carbon-fiber-market.html

Carbon Dioxide Monitors Market - https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/carbon-dioxide-co2-monitors-market.html

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SOURCE Transparency Market Research
Although the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, limitations in traditional organ transplantations fueling demand for cell therapies, and increasing funding in cell-based research will offer immense growth opportunities. However, high cost and failure rate in clinical trials, strict regulatory approval for product launch, and ethical concerns in stem cell research will challenge the growth of the market participants.

Cell Therapy Market 2022-2026: Segmentation

The Cell Therapy Market is segmented as below:

Type

Autologous



Allogenic

Application

Malignancies



Musculoskeletal



Cardiovascular



Others

Geography

North America



Europe



Asia



Rest Of World (ROW)

Learn more about the additional trends impacting the future of the market and the positive and negative consequences on the businesses, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/report/cell-therapy-market-industry-analysis

Cell Therapy Market 2022-2026: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our cell therapy market report covers the following areas:

This study identifies the increasing focus on cell therapy products as one of the prime reasons driving the cell therapy market growth during the next few years.

Cell Therapy Market 2022-2026: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the Cell Therapy Market, including some of the vendors such as Astellas Pharma Inc., Athersys Inc., Avita Medical Inc., BioCardia Inc., Bone Therapeutics SA, Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Caladrius Biosciences Inc., and others. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the Cell Therapy Market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

Find additional highlights on the growth strategies adopted by vendors and their product offerings, Read Free Sample Report .

Cell Therapy Market 2022-2026: Key Highlights

CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2022-2026

Detailed information on factors that will assist cell therapy market growth during the next five years

Estimation of the cell therapy market size and its contribution to the parent market

Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior

The growth of the cell therapy market

Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors

Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of cell therapy market vendors

Customize Your Report

Don't miss out on the opportunity to speak to our analyst and know more insights about this market report. Our analysts can also help you customize this report according to your needs. Our analysts and industry experts will work directly with you to understand your requirements and provide you with customized data in a short amount of time.

We offer USD 1,000 worth of FREE customization at the time of purchase. Speak to our Analyst now!

Related Reports:

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Drugs Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026

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Cell Therapy Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 56.79% Market growth 2022-2026 $ 21.061 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 56.3 Regional analysis North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of World (ROW) Performing market contribution North America at 40% Key consumer countries US, Germany, UK, China, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Astellas Pharma Inc., Athersys Inc., Avita Medical Inc., BioCardia Inc., Bone Therapeutics SA, Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Caladrius Biosciences Inc., Capricor Therapeutics Inc., Castle Creek Biosciences Inc., CellPraxis, CellSeed Inc., Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc., Celyad Oncology SA, Gilead Sciences Inc., Lineage Cell Therapeutics Inc., Mesoblast Ltd., Novartis AG, Pharmicell Co. Ltd., Sanpower Group Co. Ltd., ThermoGenesis Holdings Inc., and Vericel Corp. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table Of Contents :

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Type



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by Application



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 09: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 10: Parent market



Exhibit 11: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 12: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 13: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 14: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 16: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 17: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 18: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 20: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 21: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 22: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 23: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 24: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by Type

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 25: Chart on Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 26: Data Table on Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by Type

Exhibit 27: Chart on Comparison by Type



Exhibit 28: Data Table on Comparison by Type

5.3 Autologous - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 29: Chart on Autologous - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Data Table on Autologous - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 31: Chart on Autologous - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 32: Data Table on Autologous - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Allogenic - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 33: Chart on Allogenic - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Data Table on Allogenic - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 35: Chart on Allogenic - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 36: Data Table on Allogenic - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Market opportunity by Type

Exhibit 37: Market opportunity by Type ($ million)

6 Market Segmentation by Application

6.1 Market segments

Exhibit 38: Chart on Application - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Application - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

6.2 Comparison by Application

Exhibit 40: Chart on Comparison by Application



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Comparison by Application

6.3 Malignancies - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 42: Chart on Malignancies - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on Malignancies - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 44: Chart on Malignancies - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 45: Data Table on Malignancies - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

6.4 Musculoskeletal - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 46: Chart on Musculoskeletal - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on Musculoskeletal - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 48: Chart on Musculoskeletal - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 49: Data Table on Musculoskeletal - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

6.5 Cardiovascular - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 50: Chart on Cardiovascular - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 51: Data Table on Cardiovascular - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 52: Chart on Cardiovascular - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 53: Data Table on Cardiovascular - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

6.6 Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 54: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 55: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 56: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 57: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

6.7 Market opportunity by Application

Exhibit 58: Market opportunity by Application ($ million)

7 Customer Landscape

7.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 59: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

8 Geographic Landscape

8.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 60: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 61: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

8.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 62: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 63: Data Table on Geographic comparison

8.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 64: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 65: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 66: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 68: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 70: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 71: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.5 Asia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 72: Chart on Asia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 73: Data Table on Asia - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 74: Chart on Asia - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on Asia - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.6 Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 76: Chart on Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 77: Data Table on Rest of World (ROW) - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 78: Chart on Rest of World (ROW) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 79: Data Table on Rest of World (ROW) - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.7 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 80: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 81: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 82: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 83: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.8 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 84: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 85: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 86: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 87: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.9 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 88: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 89: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 90: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 91: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.10 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 92: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 93: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 94: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 95: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.11 Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 96: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 97: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 98: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 99: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

8.12 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 100: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

9.1 Market drivers

9.2 Market challenges

9.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 101: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

9.4 Market trends

10 Vendor Landscape

10.1 Overview

10.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 102: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

10.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 103: Overview on factors of disruption

10.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 104: Impact of key risks on business

11 Vendor Analysis

11.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 105: Vendors covered

11.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 106: Matrix on vendor position and classification

11.3 Astellas Pharma Inc.

Exhibit 107: Astellas Pharma Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 108: Astellas Pharma Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 109: Astellas Pharma Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 110: Astellas Pharma Inc. - Key offerings

11.4 BioCardia Inc.

Exhibit 111: BioCardia Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 112: BioCardia Inc. - Key offerings

11.5 Bone Therapeutics SA

Exhibit 113: Bone Therapeutics SA - Overview



Exhibit 114: Bone Therapeutics SA - Product / Service



Exhibit 115: Bone Therapeutics SA - Key offerings

11.6 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Exhibit 116: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. - Overview



Exhibit 117: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. - Product / Service



Exhibit 118: Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. - Key offerings

11.7 Castle Creek Biosciences Inc.

Exhibit 119: Castle Creek Biosciences Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 120: Castle Creek Biosciences Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 121: Castle Creek Biosciences Inc. - Key offerings

11.8 CellPraxis

Exhibit 122: CellPraxis - Overview



Exhibit 123: CellPraxis - Product / Service



Exhibit 124: CellPraxis - Key offerings

11.9 Gilead Sciences Inc.

Exhibit 125: Gilead Sciences Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 126: Gilead Sciences Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 127: Gilead Sciences Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 128: Gilead Sciences Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 129: Gilead Sciences Inc. - Segment focus

11.10 Novartis AG

Exhibit 130: Novartis AG - Overview



Exhibit 131: Novartis AG - Business segments



Exhibit 132: Novartis AG - Key offerings



Exhibit 133: Novartis AG - Segment focus

11.11 Sanpower Group Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 134: Sanpower Group Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 135: Sanpower Group Co. Ltd. - Product / Service



Exhibit 136: Sanpower Group Co. Ltd. - Key offerings

11.12 Vericel Corp.

Exhibit 137: Vericel Corp. - Overview



Exhibit 138: Vericel Corp. - Business segments



Exhibit 139: Vericel Corp. - Key news



Exhibit 140: Vericel Corp. - Key offerings



Exhibit 141: Vericel Corp. - Segment focus

12 Appendix

12.1 Scope of the report

12.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 142: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 143: Exclusions checklist

12.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 144: Currency conversion rates for US$

12.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 145: Research methodology



Exhibit 146: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 147: Information sources

12.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 148: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
RAMAT GAN, Israel, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Checkmarx , the global leader in developer-centric application security testing (AST) solutions, today announced that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has named the company to its annual Security 100 list and The 20 Coolest Web, Application and Email Security Companies Of 2022 . These lists recognize leading IT channel security leaders that bring a combination of channel focus and trailblazing, innovative technology to solution providers.

As development environments continue to evolve and grow in complexity, Checkmarx is working to drastically reduce risks by delivering seamless security management from app setup to deployment, to day-to-day management. Integrating and automating directly into DevOps processes through its Cloud Native AST platform or as a standalone offering, the company's SAST, SCA, Container, Infrastructure as Code, IAST and Codebashing solutions let developers address security flaws more quickly. This enables organizations to confidently manage and mitigate more securely in less time.

Recipients chosen for this year's Security 100 list have been specifically selected by CRN editors for their outstanding channel-focused security offerings across five categories: Identity Management and Data Protection; Endpoint and Managed Security; Network Security; Web, Email and Application Security; and Security Operations, Risk and Threat Intelligence. This list serves as a comprehensive guide for solution providers, helping them to identify the top security vendors to team with as they build innovative solutions for their customers.

"Checkmarx is proud to have been named to be honored again by CRN," said Emmanuel Benzaquen, CEO of Checkmarx. "Our mission is, and will always remain, to empower organizations to make software and security inseparable. More than ever, organizations need centralized tools and processes that make security simple and highly effective. We hope that our advancements in application security will have a lasting impact on the ways that developers secure the code that the world relies upon."

"With all the unexpected changes organizations have faced since the beginning of COVID-19, security still remains the most critical factor in business today. This year's Security 100 list acknowledges industry-leading companies that deliver pioneering security offerings to the IT channel that can withstand a wide range of threats. These companies are laying the groundwork for the most advanced cybersecurity solutions," said Blaine Raddon, CEO of The Channel Company.

The 2022 Security 100 list will be featured in the February 2022 print issue of CRN and online at www.crn.com/security100.

About Checkmarx

Checkmarx is constantly pushing the boundaries of Application Security Testing to make security seamless and simple for the world's developers while giving CISOs the confidence and control they need. As the AppSec testing leader, we provide the industry's most comprehensive solutions, giving development and security teams unparalleled accuracy, coverage, visibility, and guidance to reduce risk across all components of modern softwareincluding proprietary code, open source, APIs, and infrastructure as code. Over 1,600 customers, including half of the Fortune 50, trust our security technology, expert research, and global services to securely optimize development at speed and scale. For more information, visit the Checkmarx website, check out the blog or follow the company on LinkedIn.

About The Channel Company

The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequaled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com

Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook .

 2022 The Channel Company, LLC. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Checkmarx
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CIRCA Scientific, Inc. announced today that its S-CATH M Esophageal Temperature Probe is now cleared for sale in the United States. The new S-CATH M Probe can be visualized on 3D Cardiac Mapping Systems, which may help physicians reduce their dependence on fluoroscopy. It is the only commercially available multi-sensor esophageal temperature probe that provides high-density, edge-to-edge coverage of the esophagus and is visible on 3D cardiac mapping systems.

Esophageal temperature probes can be used to alert physicians to critical esophageal temperature changes that may occur during cardiac ablation procedures performed in the operating room (OR) or electrophysiology (EP) lab. However, many physicians currently depend on fluoroscopy to place, position, and reposition their esophageal temperature probe during a procedure. The use of fluoroscopy requires physicians and lab personnel to wear protective lead aprons to shield themselves from radiation exposure.

The new S-CATH M has four electrodes that are placed down the centerline of the probe, enabling it to be placed, positioned, and visualized on 3D mapping without depending solely on fluoroscopy.1 In addition, S-CATH M features a proprietary micro-electrode design that limits the amount of exposed metal to only what is absolutely necessary to be detected on 3D cardiac mapping systems, minimizing the opportunity for radiofrequency (RF) interaction. Research has shown that esophageal temperature probes with fully exposed metal electrodes may be inadvertently heated when used in close proximity to the RF field.2-4

"We designed S-CATH M to support physicians' efforts to minimize the amount of radiation their patients and staff are exposed to during their procedures without compromising on the features that set our portfolio of products apart" said Lee Geist, President, and CEO of CIRCA Scientific. "CIRCA Scientific is proud to join a growing community of medical device manufacturers meeting the demand for technology that enables reduced fluoroscopy use in the OR and EP Lab."

About CIRCA Scientific

For the last 10 years, CIRCA Scientific has been the global leader in Advanced Esophageal Temperature Monitoring Solutions. CIRCA's Esophageal Temperature Monitoring Systems provide physicians with rapid, reliable data to help them avoid excessive heating/cooling of the esophagus during therapeutic procedures performed in the OR or EP Lab. For more information, visit www.circascientific.com and connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn .

Media Contact: [email protected]

CS-PR001-0322  CIRCA Scientific, Inc., 2022. All rights reserved. S-CATH, CIRCA Scientific, and the CIRCA Scientific logo are trademarks of CIRCA Scientific, Inc. U.S. Patents 9,155,476 B2 and 9,668,655. Other U.S. and foreign patents pending. CAUTION: US law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician. Before use, consult instructions for use supplied with this device for indications, contraindications, side effects, warnings, and precautions.

1 Always make sure to have a primary and secondary imaging source available, and retain the ability to verify probe location with fluoroscopy if needed. 2 Perez, J. J., et al. "Electrical and Thermal Effects of Esophageal Temperature Probes on Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation: Results from a Computational Modeling Study." Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology (2015): 556-564. 3 Muller, P., et al. "Higher incidence of esophageal lesions after ablation of atrial fibrillation related to the use of esophageal temperature probes." Heart Rhythm (2015): 1464-1469. 4 Halbfass, P., et al. "Incidence of asymptomatic oesophageal lesions after atrial fibrillation ablation using an oesophageal temperature probe with insulated thermocouples: a comparative controlled study." Europace (2017): 385-391.

SOURCE CIRCA Scientific, Inc.
CALGARY, AB, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Crescent Point Energy Corp. ("Crescent Point" or the "Company") (TSX: CPG) and (NYSE: CPG) confirms the filing of its Annual Information Form ("AIF") for the year ended December 31, 2021, with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the System for Electronic Analysis and Retrieval ("SEDAR"). In addition, Crescent Point has filed its Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2021, which includes the AIF, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval ("EDGAR") system. The AIF contains the Company's reserves data and other oil and natural gas information, as required under National Instrument 51-101.

An electronic copy of the AIF may be obtained on Crescent Point's website at www.crescentpointenergy.com, on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and on the Company's EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov/edgar.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CRESCENT POINT ENERGY, PLEASE CONTACT:

Shant Madian, Vice President, Capital Markets, or

Sarfraz Somani, Manager, Investor Relations

Telephone: (403) 693-0020 Toll-free (US and Canada): 888-693-0020 Fax: (403) 693-0070

Address: Crescent Point Energy Corp. Suite 2000, 585 - 8th Avenue S.W. Calgary AB T2P 1G1

www.crescentpointenergy.com

Crescent Point shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CPG.

SOURCE Crescent Point Energy Corp.
CLIFTON, N.J., March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Damascus Bakery OPCO LLC is voluntarily recalling one production lot (#12031) of Bantam Classic Bagels due to an incorrect item being placed in the carton with an undeclared egg allergen. People who have an egg allergy run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the items in this product lot.

Bantam Bagels were distributed to retail stores nationwide via distributors.
The two infill holes intersected the highest grade REE mineralization intersected to date at Wicheeda with drill hole WI21-38 returning 6.01% TREO over 23.4 metres 1 and significant widths of mineralization above the 0.5% TREO (total rare earth oxide) mineral resource lower cut-off in good agreement with geology and block modelled TREO grades.

The Company expects to receive additional assay results from the 2021 Wicheeda REE Deposit resource expansion and delineation campaign in the coming days and weeks.

Luisa Moreno, President and Director of Defense Metals commented: "We continue to be encouraged results of 2021 resource expansion and infill drilling campaign. The two holes reported today have returned the highest grade REE intercept to date at 6.01% TREO, while also confirming significant widths of potentially economic grade REE's consistent with our geological and resource models."

Resource infill drill holes WI21-37 (-45o dip / 108o azimuth), and WI21-38 (-70o dip / 220o azimuth), drilled on section, established continuity of significantly REE mineralized dolomite carbonatite at depth in accordance with block modelled TREO grades, with WI21-37 yielding 3.19% TREO over 138 metres1, including 4.00% TREO over 55 metres1; and WI21-38 intersecting a mixed-country rock bearing interval grading 3.08% TREO over 81 metres; including the highest grade interval to data at Wicheeda of 3.45% TREO over 35 metres1 and 6.01% TREO 23.4 metres1, respectively (Table 1 and Figure 1).

Table 1. Wicheeda REE Deposit 2021 Diamond Drill Intercepts

Hole ID From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) TREO2

(%) Ce 2 O 3

(%) La 2 O 3

(%) Nd 2 O 3

(%) Pr 2 O 3

(%) Sm 2 O 3

(ppm) Gd 2 O 3

(ppm) Eu 2 O 3

(ppm) Dy 2 O 3

(ppm) Tb 4 O 7

(ppm) Ho 2 O 3

(ppm) WI21-37

(108/-45) 2.00 139.85 137.85 3.19 1.56 1.10 0.35 0.12 351 144 66 30 11 3 including 2.00 57.00 55.00 4.00 1.96 1.38 0.42 0.15 427 164 76 35 12 3 WI21-38

(220/-70) 1.35 82.00 80.65 3.08 1.50 1.07 0.33 0.12 346 154 70 40 13 4 including 1.35 24.75 23.4 6.01 2.91 2.14 0.62 0.23 607 246 114 60 20 6 WI21-33

(350/-80) 5.00 201.00 196 3.17 1.52 1.07 0.37 0.13 382 181 81 42 14 4 including 5.00 55.25 50.25 3.63 1.74 1.26 0.41 0.14 396 181 84 52 16 6 including 146.00 201.00 55.00 4.29 2.07 1.48 0.47 0.17 489 232 112 52 18 5 WI21-34

(040/-55) 3.00 117.00 114.00 2.97 1.46 1.02 0.33 0.11 323 134 58 23 9 2 including 3.00 70.00 67.00 3.84 1.89 1.34 0.41 0.15 379 160 69 29 11 3 WI21-35

(080/-55) 1.20 121.00 119.80 3.87 1.87 1.34 0.43 0.15 434 200 88 52 17 6 WI21-36

(108/-80) 1.10 174.00 172.90 2.34 1.14 0.78 0.27 0.09 293 134 59 35 11 4 including 1.10 35.65 34.55 3.45 1.66 1.21 0.38 0.13 374 170 72 37 13 4 including 136.00 174.00 38.00 3.02 1.46 1.05 0.33 0.12 337 157 68 40 13 4

Figure 1. Drill Section Holes WI21-37 and WI21-38

Data Table Correction

The Company notes that in its March 2, 2022, News Release drill intercept table column headers for rare earth oxides Eu 2 O 3 , Gd 2 O 3 , Tb 4 O 7 and Dy 2 O 3 were inadvertently transposed. Drilled intercepts, TREO%, and major rare earth oxides values for CeO 2 , La 2 O 3 , Nd 2 O 3 , Pr 6 O 11 , and Sm 2 O 3 and Ho 2 O 3 were unaffected. The corrected values for Eu 2 O 3 , Gd 2 O 3 , Tb 4 O 7 and Dy 2 O 3 are reported in Table 1 above.

About the Wicheeda REE Property

The 100% owned 2,008-hectare Wicheeda REE Property, located approximately 80 km northeast of the city of Prince George, British Columbia, is readily accessible by all-weather gravel roads and is near infrastructure, including power transmission lines, the CN railway, and major highways.

The Wicheeda REE Project yielded a robust 2021 PEA that demonstrated an after-tax net present value ([email protected]%) of $517 million, and 18% IRR3. A unique advantage of the Wicheeda REE Project is the production of a saleable high-grade flotation-concentrate. The PEA contemplates a 1.8 Mtpa (million tonnes per year) mill throughput open pit mining operation with 1.75:1 (waste:mill feed) strip ratio over a 19 year mine (project) life producing and average of 25,423 tonnes REO annually. A Phase 1 initial pit strip ratio of 0.63:1 (waste:mill feed) would yield rapid access to higher grade surface mineralization in year 1 and payback of $440 million initial capital within 5 years.

Methodology and QA/QC

The analytical work reported on herein was performed by ALS Canada Ltd. (ALS) at Langley (sample preparation) and Vancouver (ICP-MS fusion), B.C. ALS is an ISO-IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015 accredited geoanalytical laboratory and is independent of the Defense Metals and the QP. Drill core samples were subject to crushing at a minimum of 70% passing 2 mm, followed by pulverizing of a 250-gram split to 85% passing 75 microns. A 0.1-gram sample pulp was then subject to multi-element ICP-MS analysis via lithium-borate fusion to determine individual REE content (ME-MS81h). Defense Metals follows industry standard procedures for the work carried out on the Wicheeda Project, with a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program. Blank, duplicate, and standard samples were inserted into the sample sequence sent to the laboratory for analysis. Defense Metals detected no significant QA/QC issues during review of the data.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release as it relates to the Wicheeda REE Project has been reviewed and approved by Kristopher J. Raffle, P.Geo. (BC) Principal and Consultant of APEX Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, AB, a director of Defense Metals and a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101. Mr. Raffle verified the data disclosed which includes a review of the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information and opinions contained therein.

About Defense Metals Corp.

Defense Metals Corp. is a mineral exploration and development company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral deposits containing metals and elements commonly used in the electric power market, defense industry, national security sector and in the production of green energy technologies, such as, rare earths magnets used in wind turbines and in permanent magnet motors for electric vehicles. Defense Metals owns 100% of the Wicheeda Rare Earth Element Property located near Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Defense Metals Corp. trades in Canada under the symbol "DEFN" on the TSX Venture Exchange, in the United States, under "DFMTF" on the OTCQB and in Germany on the Frankfurt Exchange under "35D".

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This news release contains "forwardlooking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, statements relating to advancing the Wicheeda REE Project, drill results including anticipated timeline of such results/assays, the Company's plans for its Wicheeda REE Project, expanded resource and scale of expanded resource, expected results and outcomes, the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its project and other matters. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of rare earth elements, the anticipated costs and expenditures, the ability to achieve its goals, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration results, risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and cost estimates, the potential for unexpected costs and expenses and those other risks filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, adverse weather and climate conditions, failure to maintain or obtain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, failure to maintain community acceptance (including First Nations), risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters), risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions, decrease in the price of rare earth elements, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, an inability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to, the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel and supply chains, loss of key employees, consultants, or directors, increase in costs, delayed drilling results, litigation, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The Company does not undertake to update forwardlooking statements or forwardlooking information, except as required by law.

_______________________________________

1 The true width of REE mineralization is estimated to be 70-100% of the drilled interval. 2 TREO % sum of CeO 2 , La 2 O 3 , Nd 2 O 3 , Pr 6 O 11 , Sm 2 O 3 , Eu 2 O 3 , Gd 2 O 3 , Tb 4 O 7 , Dy 2 O 3 and Ho 2 O 3 . 3 Independent Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Wicheeda Rare Earth Element Project, British Columbia,

Canada, dated January 6, 2022, with an effective date of November 7, 2021, and prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada)

Inc. is filed under Defense Metals Corp.'s Issuer Profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

SOURCE Defense Metals Corp.
TORONTO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Denison Mines Corp. ('Denison' or the 'Company') (TSX: DML) (NYSE American: DNN) today filed its Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and Management's Discussion & Analysis ('MD&A') for the year ended December 31, 2021. Both documents will be available on the Company's website at www.denisonmines.com or on SEDAR (at www.sedar.com) and EDGAR (at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml). The highlights provided below are derived from these documents and should be read in conjunction with them. The Company's results are highlighted by earnings attributable to Denison shareholders of $0.02 per share for the year ended December 31, 2021. All amounts in this release are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. View PDF Version.

David Cates, President and CEO of Denison commented, "Our results from 2021 reflect a significant improvement in the uranium market, as well as continued operational progress advancing Wheeler River's Phoenix uranium deposit ('Phoenix') towards a development decision.

Less than twelve months ago, Denison completed a novel project financing initiative in support of the future development of the Wheeler River project, involving the purchase of 2.5 million pounds U 3 O 8 in physical uranium holdings at an average cost of US$29.66/lb U 3 O 8 . The financing was designed to position our shareholders to benefit from the additional financial stability of our uranium holdings, while remaining fully leveraged to any future appreciation of uranium prices that might occur prior to the completion of a project financing for Wheeler River. Since then, the uranium spot market has improved considerably, with continued support from financial investors, leading to a significant increase in the spot price in 2021 and a $41.4 million gain on Denison's physical uranium holdings.

The improvement in the spot price was not only positive for Denison's balance sheet, but it also appears to have catalyzed further fundamental developments in the long-term supply market. We have seen nuclear utilities seek to address significant future uncovered requirements in an environment with reduced visibility to available sources of supply  leading to increased long-term contracting activity and prices. Combined with positive demand signals coming from a growing chorus of support for the critical role nuclear must play in the clean energy transition, the narrative for the development of new top tier new uranium mining projects has become quite positive.

Now several years into Denison's long-term plan for the advancement of Wheeler River, our Company is uniquely aligned with the improving uranium market, as we continue to successfully demonstrate the potential for the Phoenix deposit to emerge as the first In-Situ Recovery ('ISR') uranium mine in the Athabasca Basin region. Our de-risking efforts at Phoenix have involved extensive field and laboratory testing since completion of the Pre-Feasibility Study in 2018, which to date culminated in the completion of the installation and field testing of a 5-spot commercial-scale ISR test pattern in 2021. The field test was highly successful and confirmed key technical assumptions made in the PFS. Taken together with our positive metallurgical results, our work in 2021 has demonstrated tangible support for our selection of the ISR mining method for Phoenix and our decision to initiate a formal Feasibility Study.

Our plans for 2022 are ambitious  with a primary focus on driving towards the completion of key technical and regulatory milestones for Wheeler River, while also supporting a secondary focus of unlocking value from Denison's vast project portfolio, including continued exploration amongst our many highly-prospective property interests, and the initial evaluation of potential development plans for both the Midwest and McClean Lake projects."

Highlights

Completed highly successful ISR Field Tests at Phoenix , resulting in significant de-risking and supporting the decision to advance to a formal Feasibility Study ('FS')



The Company continued its systematic approach to de-risking the technical risks identified for the ISR mining operation for Phoenix at the Wheeler River Uranium Project ('Wheeler River'), following completion of the 2018 Pre-Feasibility Study ('PFS'). Notably, in 2021 the Company completed a highly successful ISR field test program including the installation and testing of a pattern of five commercial scale wells ('CSWs'). The results from the field test were highlighted by the following:





The Company continued its systematic approach to de-risking the technical risks identified for the ISR mining operation for at the Wheeler River Uranium Project ('Wheeler River'), following completion of the 2018 Pre-Feasibility Study ('PFS'). Notably, in 2021 the Company completed a highly successful ISR field test program including the installation and testing of a pattern of five commercial scale wells ('CSWs'). The results from the field test were highlighted by the following: Achieved commercial-scale production flow rates consistent with those assumed in the PFS;



Demonstrated hydraulic control of injected solution during an ion tracer test;



Established breakthrough times between injection and recovery wells consistent with previously prepared estimates; and



Demonstrated the ability to remediate the five-spot CSW test pattern ('Test Pattern').

Additionally, positive results from ongoing metallurgical test work supported the decision to increase the anticipated ISR mining head-grade for Phoenix by 50%.

Given consistently positive results from field testing and laboratory testing, Denison and the Wheeler River Joint Venture approved the initiation of the formal FS report process for the Phoenix ISR project, and appointed Wood PLC as independent lead author of the FS.

Secured funding to complete the Environmental Assessment ('EA') and FS process for Wheeler River



Denison completed a series of equity financings during 2021 intending to fund the EA and FS processes for Wheeler River. These financings raised gross proceeds of $48.2 million (including $11.9 million from At-the-Market offerings) from the issuance of 39.7 million common shares and 15.8 million common share purchase warrants. Based on current estimates, the net proceeds from these financings are expected to be sufficient to fund the completion of the FS and EA processes for Wheeler River.





Denison completed a series of equity financings during 2021 intending to fund the EA and FS processes for Wheeler River. These financings raised gross proceeds of (including from At-the-Market offerings) from the issuance of 39.7 million common shares and 15.8 million common share purchase warrants. Based on current estimates, the net proceeds from these financings are expected to be sufficient to fund the completion of the FS and EA processes for Wheeler River. Executed a Wheeler River project financing initiative involving the strategic acquisition of physical uranium and recorded significant uranium investment gains



In March 2021 , Denison successfully completed a public offering of units for gross proceeds of $107.9 million . The majority of the net proceeds of the offering were used to fund the strategic purchase of 2.5 million pounds of uranium concentrates ('U 3 O 8 ') at a weighted average price of US$29.66 per pound U 3 O 8 . The uranium is being held by Denison as a long-term investment, which is intended to support the potential future financing of the advancement and/or construction of Wheeler River.



The uranium spot price appreciated to US$42.00 per pound U 3 O 8 by December 31, 2021 , resulting in a fair value gain on the Company's physical uranium holdings of $41,440,000 for the year ended December 31, 2021 .





In , Denison successfully completed a public offering of units for gross proceeds of . The majority of the net proceeds of the offering were used to fund the strategic purchase of 2.5 million pounds of uranium concentrates ('U O ') at a weighted average price of per pound U O . The uranium is being held by Denison as a long-term investment, which is intended to support the potential future financing of the advancement and/or construction of Wheeler River. The uranium spot price appreciated to per pound U O by , resulting in a fair value gain on the Company's physical uranium holdings of for the year ended . Obtained funding for high-potential exploration programs in 2021 and 2022



The Company raised gross proceeds of $8.0 million in March 2021 , from the issuance of common shares on a flow-through basis, to fund eligible Canadian exploration activities in 2021 and 2022.





The Company raised gross proceeds of in , from the issuance of common shares on a flow-through basis, to fund eligible Canadian exploration activities in 2021 and 2022. Acquired 50% of JCU ( Canada ) Exploration Company, Limited ('JCU') for $20.5 million



In August 2021 , Denison completed the acquisition of 50% of JCU from UEX Corporation ('UEX') for cash consideration of $20.5 million following UEX's acquisition of 100% of JCU from Overseas Uranium Resources Development Co., Ltd. for $41 million . JCU holds a portfolio of 12 uranium project joint venture interests in Canada , including a 10% interest in Wheeler River, a 30.099% interest in the Millennium project (Cameco Corporation, 69.901%), a 33.8123% interest in the Kiggavik project (Orano Canada Inc., 66.1877%), and a 34.4508% interest in the Christie Lake project (UEX, 65.5492%).





In , Denison completed the acquisition of 50% of JCU from UEX Corporation ('UEX') for cash consideration of following UEX's acquisition of 100% of JCU from Overseas Uranium Resources Development Co., Ltd. for . JCU holds a portfolio of 12 uranium project joint venture interests in , including a 10% interest in Wheeler River, a 30.099% interest in the Millennium project (Cameco Corporation, 69.901%), a 33.8123% interest in the Kiggavik project (Orano Canada Inc., 66.1877%), and a 34.4508% interest in the Christie Lake project (UEX, 65.5492%). Advanced actions to support reconciliation with Indigenous peoples



Denison formally adopted an Indigenous People's Policy ('IPP') in 2021, which reflects the Company's recognition of the important role of Canadian business in the process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada and outlines the Company's commitment to take action towards advancing reconciliation.



Also in 2021, the Company entered into a Participation and Funding Agreement and Letter of Intent with the English River First Nation ('ERFN') in connection with the advancement of the proposed ISR operation at Wheeler River, as well as an Exploration Agreement in respect of Denison's exploration and evaluation activities within the ERFN traditional territories. These agreements reflect Denison's desire to operate its business in a progressive and sustainable manner that respects ERFN rights and advances reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. The agreements provide ERFN with economic opportunities and other benefits, and establish a foundation for future collaboration in an authentic, cooperative, and respectful way.





Denison formally adopted an Indigenous People's Policy ('IPP') in 2021, which reflects the Company's recognition of the important role of Canadian business in the process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in and outlines the Company's commitment to take action towards advancing reconciliation. Also in 2021, the Company entered into a Participation and Funding Agreement and Letter of Intent with the English River First Nation ('ERFN') in connection with the advancement of the proposed ISR operation at Wheeler River, as well as an Exploration Agreement in respect of Denison's exploration and evaluation activities within the ERFN traditional territories. These agreements reflect Denison's desire to operate its business in a progressive and sustainable manner that respects ERFN rights and advances reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. The agreements provide ERFN with economic opportunities and other benefits, and establish a foundation for future collaboration in an authentic, cooperative, and respectful way. Discovery of high-grade uranium outside of the Phoenix Zone A high-grade domain



Drill hole GWR-045, completed as part of the ISR field test program as a monitoring well to the northwest of the CSW Test Pattern, was, based on the mineral resources currently estimated for Phoenix , expected to intersect low grade uranium mineralization on the northwest margin of the deposit. The drill hole, however, intersected a thick interval of high-grade unconformity-associated uranium mineralization grading 22.0% eU 3 O 8 over 8.6 metres. Follow up drilling returned multiple additional intersections of high-grade uranium mineralization, including 24.9% eU 3 O 8 over 4.2 metres in drill hole GWR-049. Taken together, these results are expected to expand the volume of the high-grade domain to the northwest in the Phase 1 area of Phoenix Zone A.





Drill hole GWR-045, completed as part of the ISR field test program as a monitoring well to the northwest of the CSW Test Pattern, was, based on the mineral resources currently estimated for , expected to intersect low grade uranium mineralization on the northwest margin of the deposit. The drill hole, however, intersected a thick interval of high-grade unconformity-associated uranium mineralization grading 22.0% eU O over 8.6 metres. Follow up drilling returned multiple additional intersections of high-grade uranium mineralization, including 24.9% eU O over 4.2 metres in drill hole GWR-049. Taken together, these results are expected to expand the volume of the high-grade domain to the northwest in the Phase 1 area of Phoenix Zone A. Sold shares and warrants in GoviEx Uranium Limited ('GoviEx') for proceeds of up to $41.6 million



In October 2021 , the Company sold 32,500,000 common shares of GoviEx, previously held by Denison for investment purposes, and 32,500,000 common share purchase warrants, entitling the holder to acquire one additional common share of GoviEx owned by Denison at an exercise price of $0.80 for a term of up to 18 months (the 'GoviEx Warrants'). Denison received gross proceeds of $15,600,000 on the sale of the shares and warrants and continues to hold 32,644,000 common shares of GoviEx. If the GoviEx Warrants are exercised in full, Denison will receive further gross proceeds of $26,000,000 and will transfer a further 32,500,000 GoviEx common shares to the warrant holders.





In , the Company sold 32,500,000 common shares of GoviEx, previously held by Denison for investment purposes, and 32,500,000 common share purchase warrants, entitling the holder to acquire one additional common share of GoviEx owned by Denison at an exercise price of for a term of up to 18 months (the 'GoviEx Warrants'). Denison received gross proceeds of on the sale of the shares and warrants and continues to hold 32,644,000 common shares of GoviEx. If the GoviEx Warrants are exercised in full, Denison will receive further gross proceeds of and will transfer a further 32,500,000 GoviEx common shares to the warrant holders. Received $5.8 million in connection with the conversion of Uranium Participation Corporation ('UPC') into the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust



In April 2021 , UPC announced that it had reached an agreement with Sprott Asset Management LP ('Sprott') for the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust to acquire UPC (the 'UPC Transaction'). Upon completion of the UPC Transaction on July 19, 2021 , Sprott became the manager of the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust, and the management services agreement ('MSA') between Denison and UPC was terminated. In accordance with the terms of the MSA, Denison received a cash payment of approximately $5.8 million in connection with the termination.

About Denison

Denison Mines Corp. was formed under the laws of Ontario and is a reporting issuer in all Canadian provinces and territories. Denison's common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (the 'TSX') under the symbol 'DML' and on the NYSE American exchange under the symbol 'DNN'.

Denison is a uranium exploration and development company with interests focused in the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The Company has an effective 95% interest in its flagship Wheeler River Uranium Project, which is the largest undeveloped uranium project in the infrastructure rich eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin region of northern Saskatchewan. A PFS was completed for Wheeler River in late 2018, considering the potential economic merit of developing Phoenix as an ISR operation and the Gryphon deposit as a conventional underground mining operation. Denison's interests in Saskatchewan also include a 22.5% ownership interest in the McClean Lake Joint Venture, which includes several uranium deposits and the McClean Lake uranium mill, which is contracted to process the ore from the Cigar Lake mine under a toll milling agreement (see RESULTS OF OPERATIONS below for more details), plus a 25.17% interest in the Midwest Main and Midwest A deposits and a 66.90% interest in the Tthe Heldeth Tue ('THT,' formerly J Zone) and Huskie deposits on the Waterbury Lake property. The Midwest Main, Midwest A, THT and Huskie deposits are located within 20 kilometres of the McClean Lake mill.

Through its 50% ownership of JCU, Denison holds additional interests in various uranium project joint ventures in Canada, including the Millennium project (JCU, 30.099%), the Kiggavik project (JCU, 33.8123%) and Christie Lake (JCU, 34.4508%).

Denison's exploration portfolio includes further interests in properties covering approximately 297,000 hectares in the Athabasca Basin region.

Denison is also engaged in mine decommissioning and environmental services through its Closed Mines group, which manages Denison's Elliot Lake reclamation projects and provides third-party post-closure mine care and maintenance services.

Prior to July 19, 2021, Denison also served as the manager of UPC, a publicly traded company listed on the TSX that invested in U 3 O 8 and uranium hexafluoride ('UF 6 '). In April 2021, UPC announced that it had entered into an agreement with Sprott to convert UPC into the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust. This transaction closed on July 19, 2021, and the MSA between Denison and UPC was terminated.

Technical Disclosure and Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by David Bronkhorst, P.Eng, Denison's Vice President, Operations and/or Andrew Yackulic, P. Geo, Denison's Director, Exploration, each of whom is a Qualified Person in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101.

Follow Denison on Twitter @DenisonMinesCo

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain information contained in this press release constitutes 'forward-looking information', within the meaning of the applicable United States and Canadian legislation concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Denison.

Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as 'plans', 'expects', 'budget', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'forecasts', 'intends', 'anticipates', or 'believes', or the negatives and/or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will be taken', 'occur', 'be achieved' or 'has the potential to'.

In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the following: projections with respect to exploration, development and expansion plans and objectives, including the plans and objectives for Wheeler River and the related evaluation field program activities and exploration objectives; the interpretation of the results of the ISR field test, metallurgical and other assessment and de-risking activities at Wheeler River; the interpretation of the results of its exploration drilling programs; plans and objectives for the feasibility study and agreements with third parties related thereto; its use of proceeds of recent financings; its investments in uranium; the estimates of Denison's mineral reserves and mineral resources or results of exploration; expectations regarding Denison's joint venture ownership interests; expectations regarding the continuity of its agreements with third parties; and its interpretations of, and expectations for, nuclear energy and uranium demand. Statements relating to 'mineral reserves' or 'mineral resources' are deemed to be forward-looking information, as they involve the implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions that the mineral reserves and mineral resources described can be profitably produced in the future.

Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made, and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Denison to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For example, the results and underlying assumptions and interpretations of the PFS as well as de-risking efforts such as the ISR field programs discussed herein may not be maintained after further testing or be representative of actual conditions within the applicable deposits. In addition, Denison may decide or otherwise be required to extend the EA and/or the FS and/or otherwise discontinue testing, evaluation and development work if it is unable to maintain or otherwise secure the necessary approvals or resources (such as testing facilities, capital funding, etc.). Denison believes that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and results may differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information. For a discussion in respect of risks and other factors that could influence forward-looking events, please refer to the factors discussed in Denison's Management's Discussion & Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2021 under the heading 'Risk Factors'. These factors are not, and should not be, construed as being exhaustive.

Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking information and the assumptions made with respect thereto speaks only as of the date of this press release. Denison does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information after the date of this press release to conform such information to actual results or to changes in Denison's expectations except as otherwise required by applicable legislation.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors Concerning Estimates of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves: This press release may use terms such as "measured", "indicated" and/or "inferred" mineral resources and "proven" or "probable" mineral reserves, which are terms defined with reference to the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves ("CIM Standards"). The Company's descriptions of its projects using CIM Standards may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. United States investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable.

SOURCE Denison Mines Corp.
IRVINE, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynabook Americas, Inc., formerly Toshiba PC Company, today announced the all-new Portege X40L-K, a hyperlight 14-inch modern laptop that takes premium, high-performance computing to new extremes. The Portege X40L-K is among the first wave of new laptops from Dynabook to benefit from the enhanced performance, efficiency and security offered by hybrid architecture 12th Gen Intel Core P-Series 28W processors, LPDDR5 memory and Windows 11 Pro.

"The all-new Intel Evo based Portege X40L-K is truly a masterpiece every way you look at it and serves as an impressive demonstration of Dynabook's nearly four decades of experience in engineering premium laptops for mobile professionals," said James Robbins, General Manager, Dynabook Americas, Inc. "It's compact, powerful, durable, uniquely stylish, and secure. While all impressive, none of these qualities sum up the magic of this laptop. You must hold it to truly appreciate the incredible engineering and craftsmanship that went into making it the lightest and highest-performing 14-inch laptop in our history."

Ultraportable and Extra Durable

Building upon the success of the company's gravity-defying Portege X30L that debuted in 2020, the all-new Portege X40L is the thinnest and lightest 14-inch laptop Dynabook has ever created. Weighing 2.3 pounds1 and measuring in at just 15.9mm thin, the elegant Tech Blue magnesium alloy chassis doesn't just take style and portability to new extremes, it is also built to endure the rigors of daily business use and engineered to meet MIL-STD-810H standards for strength and durability.

Faster and More Efficient Than Ever

Delivering unprecedented speed and efficiency, this Intel EVO laptop is configurable with new hybrid architecture 12th Gen Intel Core P-Series i5 and i7 processors Intel Iris Xe graphics and up to 32GB of onboard LPDDR5 memory. Integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics ensures crisp and smooth video performance and support for up to four external 4K displays, while also adding enhanced security and faster AI processing capabilities to the system. Wi-Fi 6E and Thunderbolt 4 enhance the laptop's performance further by ensuring wireless and wired connections are blistering fast. It also packs HDMI, Gigabit LAN, and two USB-A ports (with Sleep & Charge) for seamless, adapter-free wired connectivity.

Maximum Productivity from Anywhere

Beyond its modern styling, space-age materials and ground-breaking technology, this laptop also offers users a plethora of features designed to maximize productivity from literally anywhere. With an 85-percent screen-to-lid ratio, the vibrant 14-inch Eyesafe 16:10 IPS display is perfect for those who put in the hours. Developed in conjunction with doctors, Eyesafe technology selectively filters out high energy visible (HEV) blue light while maintaining crisp and vivid color performance to reduce the impact on the eyes. Doubling down on sound, it features a premium, four-speaker Dolby Atmos audio system tuned to deliver a premium listening experience with an elevated soundstage for movies, music, and games. Great for field use and travel, it's equipped with a large 65Wh battery that allows it to remain productive through the workday.

Fostering a collaborative workspace, Dynabook Online Meeting Assist utilizes AI to ensure faces are bright and visible in a wide spectrum of lighting conditions, blur backgrounds and automatically keep the users face centered in frame. Since these enhancements are built into our software, users can easily turn on and off these features with a quick hotkey with any video conference software. 360-degree dual-array microphones allow voices to be picked up omnidirectionally with equal gain from all directions giving the user the ability to roam freely around a room or to serve as the hub for multi-person conference calls. Improving overall call quality, the AI Noise Reduction isolates and filters out background noises at near and far ends of calls to ensure participants can be heard clearly and effortlessly.

A Refreshed Portege X30L Laptop and Portege X30W 2-in-1 Convertible

Dynabook today also refreshed its hyper-light 13-inch Portege X30L laptop and ultra-flexible 13-inch Portege X30W 2-in-1 convertible. Both devices feature the new hybrid-architecture 12th Gen Intel Core P-Series 28W processor options, LPDDR5 memory, Wi-Fi 6E, and Intel Iris Xe graphics.

The Portege X30L-K features a small footprint chassis engineered with premium materials and a 180-degree hinge design, to create the perfect mix of style, form, function, and durability. Housing a vivid 13.3-inch IGZO or multi-touch display and a backlit keyboard, the Portege X30L-K offers the tools to work in a variety of environments. This hyper-light laptop is well-equipped for productivity and collaboration, through a variety of common ports, dual pointing devices, HD webcam, dual microphones, DTS audio system and more.

For artists, entrepreneurs, and everyone in between, the Windows 11-powered Portege X30W-K 2-in-1 laptop is designed to foster next-level creativity and take care of business from literally anywhere. Boasting a super-light, magnesium alloy chassis weighing under 1kg1, the Portege X30W-K takes ultra-light portability to new extremes.

With a premium, modern laptop design that offers the robust flexibility of a tablet, the Portege X30W-K provides the perfect platform for converting ideas into reality. The 13.3-inch multi-touch display is reinforced Corning Gorilla Glass and offers crisp colors and sharp detail, while also being the perfect canvas with natural pen-to-paper feel, thanks to its precision pressure sensitivity, tilt recognition and lag-free response of the bundled Wacom digital ink pen.

Windows of Opportunity

The Portege X40L-K, Portege X30L-K and Portege X30W-K can be pre-configured with Windows 11 Pro, which provides enhanced productivity features that deliver users a more personalized and intuitive user experience than previous generations of the operating system. Built on the consistent and compatible Windows 10 foundation, Windows 11 can be managed with familiar tools and processes, making it a natural upgrade path for any PC user. For businesses that haven't yet migrated, these laptops can also be ordered with Windows 10 Pro and would be eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 11 Pro when ready.

Secure and Manageable for Both IT Manager and Worker

Among the most secure laptops in the world, all three Portege models meet Microsoft's strict Secured-core PC requirements and address the security and manageability challenges posed by the accelerated shift towards flexible working patterns. Dynabook's proprietary BIOS offers another extensive security layer to mitigate BIOS-level security threats, while numerous integrated features like Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0, enterprise-grade encryption and optional Windows Hello fingerprint and face authentication help provide unrelenting protection against data, device and identify threats.

Even with a dispersed workforce, IT departments can support and manage these premium devices featuring 12th Gen Intel Core vPro processors through intelligent manageability capabilities. The Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) enables easy management of devices  even remotely. Dynabook's proprietary BIOS can also be upgraded and managed remotely to maintain the highest levels of security.

The Best Warranty in the Business

Backed by Dynabook's proven reliability and industry-leading +Care Service Warranty2 with On-site all Portege laptops from Dynabook are sure to provide years of worry-free reliability. Featured SKUs are backed by three years of coverage while Build-to-Order configurations are backed by four years. With additional access to an extensive service and support network, Dynabook +Care Service warranties help businesses minimize downtime and reduce IT costs.

Dynabook will offer multiple configurations of the Portege X40L-K, Portege X30L-K and Portege X30W-K laptops from the company's network of resellers or at us.dynabook.com. MSRP pricing will start at $1,379.99 for the Portege X30L-K, $1,599.99 for the Portege X30W-K and $1,799.99 for the Portege X40L-K and all will include three-years of Dynabook's +Care Service Warranty with On-site.

New Dynabook Thunderbolt 4 Dock Expands Capabilities

Dynabook has also released a versatile new Thunderbolt 4 Dock that expands the viewing area, connectivity and capabilities of any compatible laptop while eliminating desktop cable clutter. With data transfer rates of up to 40Gb/s3, the Thunderbolt 4 Dock features two HDMI 2.0, two DisplayPort 1.4 and Thunderbolt 4 port connections to boost screen real estate massively by supporting a variety of external display configurations  including four 4K displays or a single 8K display. Additional expansion includes a Gigabit LAN, four USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and two USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports, making connections to networks and modern peripherals and accessories blazing fast, while an integrated SD Card reader and combo audio jack offer added convenience.

To help IT teams better manage deployed assets, the Dynabook Thunderbolt 4 Dock supports features like PXE Boot4 and Wake-on-LAN. The Dock not only maximizes the number of things you can connect to your laptop, but it charges it quickly too! With 90 watts of power delivery, the dock ensures a connected laptop's battery is quickly recharged, with plenty of power to spare for connected accessories.

Pricing for the Thunderbolt 4 Dock is $349.99 (MSRP) and includes a three-year warranty.

Connect Online

Visit our website for the latest product details and specifications. Connect with us on our social media channels: LinkedIn and Twitter.

Press kit: https://bit.ly/Dynabook_AlderLake_Products

About Dynabook Americas, Inc. (formerly Toshiba America Client Solutions, Inc.)

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., Dynabook Americas, Inc., provides a diverse portfolio of enterprise-grade hardware and software offerings, including awarding-winning mobile computers, innovative wearable devices, augmented reality applications and security solutions. Dynabook designs, engineers, and manufactures its offerings in its own-operated facilities to ensure quality and reliability. Dynabook Americas is an independent operating company wholly owned by Dynabook, Inc., of Japan, a wholly owned company of Sharp Corporation. For more information on Dynabook Americas, visit https://us.dynabook.com/.

About Dynabook Inc. (formerly Toshiba Client Solutions Co., Ltd.)

For over 30 years, Dynabook laptops and technologies have set the standard for innovation, quality, and reliability. Now wholly owned by Sharp Corporation, Dynabook Inc., continues that tradition by delivering rich value and services that support our partners and customers in achieving their goals.

1. Weight. Weight may vary depending on product configuration, vendor components, manufacturing variability and options selected.

2. +Care Service Warranty with On-Site. Dynabook's standard limited warranty terms and limitations apply. Visit https://support.dynabook.com/warranty for details.

3. Thunderbolt 4 Transfer Rates. 40Gbps is the maximum theoretical interface transfer rate per the specification of the Intel Thunderbolt 4. Actual transfer rate will vary depending on your system configuration and other factors. For more information on Thunderbolt 4 technology, visit https://thunderbolttechnology.net.

4. PXE Boot is only supported on Dynabook laptops.

 2022 Dynabook Americas, Inc. Dynabook is a trademark of Dynabook Inc. All other product, service and company names are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective owners. Information including without limitation product prices, specifications, availability, content of services, and contact information is subject to change without notice. All rights reserved.

Media Contact:

Eric Paulsen

Dynabook Americas, Inc.

[email protected]

(949) 583-3541

SOURCE Dynabook Americas, Inc.
SUVA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Fiji has confirmed a total of 138 COVID-19 related deaths in the island nation's third wave which began in January this year.

According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) on Thursday, the Ministry of Health said that of the 138 deaths, eight children died in the third wave. Seven of these children had significant pre-existing medical conditions while one child had no known underlying medical condition.

James Fong, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health, said that an analysis of the total 138 deaths recorded in the third wave showed that while the central part of the country had the highest absolute number of deaths, the northern part of the country had the highest rate of death when adjusted for population.

He also confirmed that since the last update, Fiji has reported 62 new COVID-19 cases, of which, 55 new cases were recorded on Tuesday and seven new cases in the last 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

Currently, there are 256 active cases of COVID-19 in the island nation but this does not include the Rapid Antigen Tests done by people at home or those that self-isolate and take necessary action based entirely on their symptoms.

On Thursday, the Fijian government also said in a statement that in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Fiji's stance on adapting to the new normal, the COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Taskforce (CRMT) continues to encourage adherence to COVID-Safe protocols for the safety of the Fijian population, and travelers to Fiji.

"While Fiji has a high level of vaccination, we continue to emphasize ventilation, masking, physical distancing, cough/sneeze etiquette, hand washing, and isolating from others if you have symptoms," the government said.

In Fiji, 93.2 percent of adults have so far received both doses while 98.3 percent have at least received the first dose.

Fiji, with a population of around 900,000, has a total of 63,999 COVID-19 cases now with 834 deaths since March 2020. 
BANGALORE, India, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Electric Motor Market is Segmented by Motor Type (Alternate Current (AC) Motor and Direct Current (DC) Motor), Output Power (Integral Horsepower (IHP) Output and Fractional Horsepower (FHP) Output), and Application (Industrial, HVAC, Medical Equipment, Industrial Machinery, Home Appliances, and Others). The report covers global opportunity analysis, regional outlook, growth potential, industry forecast from 2021 to 2030.

The global electric motor market size was valued at USD 106.3 Billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 207.3 Billion by 2030, with a CAGR of 6.7% from 2021 to 2030.

Major Factors Driving The Growth Of The Electric Motor Market:

The electric motor market is growing due to an increase in demand for superior machine control in the automotive industry, which is fueled by the high efficiency of AC synchronous motors.

Regulations such as the Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) have prompted the development of new energy-efficient motors in order to maximize their output. This has led to the adoption of energy-efficient motors in appliances, propelling the global electric motor market forward.

Furthermore, because of features such as high torque and low noise, electric motors have seen an increase in demand in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) applications, which in turn is propelling the electric motor market growth.

Get your sample today: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/ALLI-Manu-2B89/Electric_Motor_Market

Trends Influencing The Growth Of The Electric Motor Market:

The electric motor market is growing due to an increase in demand for superior machine control in the automotive industry, which is fueled by the high efficiency of AC synchronous motors. Furthermore, government regulations requiring energy efficiency are expected to propel the electric motor market even further.

The electric motor market is expected to grow due to the increasing use of electric motors in various industries. Pumps and fans in industries frequently use electric motors. Because of their dependability and low cost, three-phase AC induction motors account for the majority of industrial motors.

Increasing Adoption for HVAC Application to Propel the electric motor market Growth. The heating and air-conditioning (HVAC) industry has grown in response to increased demand for heating and cooling in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. As a result, new construction activities are focusing on the HVAC equipment supply in buildings as a key feature during construction. Furthermore, it has fueled the demand for the deployment of electric motors in the long run. As commercial spaces grow in tandem with rising standards of living, developing economies are the leading contributors to the HVAC industry's growth.

Companies are becoming more involved in government-led energy management initiatives. Businesses benefit directly from lower costs, reduced exposure to energy price fluctuations, and increased competitiveness by participating in such programs, in addition to contributing to national energy and carbon savings. During the forecast period, this will be a significant opportunity for the electric motor market to grow.

Industrial motors with high power ratings, on the other hand, produce significant vibration, strain, and heating during operation, which could have a significant impact on electronic components and cause them to fail. Furthermore, during the forecast period, the electric motor market is expected to be hampered by a lack of awareness of the benefits associated with smart motors among small and medium business owners for various applications.

Browse the Table of Contents and List of figures at: https://reports.valuates.com/reports/ALLI-Manu-2B89/electric-motor

Electric Motor Share Analysis

Based on region, Asia-Pacific is expected to be the most lucrative. This is due to rising demand from industries such as manufacturing, automotive, and power generation. Furthermore, the region serves as a hub for automation and has a high demand for electric vehicles. Due to China's and India's rapid urbanization, the region is also seeing a significant increase in power demand.

Based on motor type, the alternate current (AC) motor segment is expected to be the most lucrative. Due to the widespread use of AC motors in a variety of applications ranging from irrigation pumps to advanced industrial operations, the AC motors segment is expected to hold a significant market share.

Based on output power, the integral horsepower (IHP) output segment is expected to be the most lucrative.

Based on application, the automobile segment is expected to be the most lucrative.

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Key Market Players:

ABB

ARC Systems Inc.

Denso Corporation

Emerson Electric Co.

Johnson Electric Holdings Limited

Maxon

Nidec Corporation

Regal Rexnord Corporation

Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Siemens

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SIMILAR REPORTS

- The global Outboard Electric Propulsion Motor market was valued at USD 55 Million in 2020 and it is expected to reach USD 100.2 Million by the end of 2027, growing at a CAGR of 8.9% during 2021-2027.

- The global automotive motors market was valued at USD 28.72 Billion in 2019, and is projected to reach USD 36.66 Billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 6.5%.

- The global AC Motor market was valued at USD 17650 Million in 2020 and it is expected to reach USD 19730 Million by the end of 2027, growing at a CAGR of 1.6% during 2021-2027.

- The global Electric Power Steering Motor market size is estimated to be worth USD 2479.5 Million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 2808.8 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 2.1% during the review period.

- The global Micro DC Motors market was valued at USD 14770 Million in 2020 and it is expected to reach USD 22060 Million by the end of 2027, growing at a CAGR of 6.2% during 2021-2027.

- Global Electric Vehicle Flat Wire Motor Market Outlook 2022

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- Global Electric Motor Enclosures Market Research Report 2021

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- Global Low Speed Industrial Motor and Generator Market Insights and Forecast to 2028

To see the full list of related reports on the Electric Motor

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PORTLAND, Ore., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Electronic Health Records Market by Product (On-premise Software and Cloud-based Software), Type (Inpatient EHR and Ambulatory EHR), Application (Clinical Application, Administrative Application, Reporting in Healthcare System, Healthcare Financing, and Clinical Research Application), and End User (Hospitals, Clinics, Specialty Centers, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212030." According to the report, the global electronic health records industry generated $30.55 billion in 2020, and is estimated to reach $63.84 billion by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 7.7% from 2021 to 2030.

For Right Perspective and Competitive Insights, Get Sample Report at:

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/4542

Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities

Advancements in software technology in the healthcare sector and introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) in the development of EHR software drive the growth of the global electronic health records market. However, high cost of EHR services and concerns regarding patients' personal data and safety restrain the market growth. Contrarily, surge in R&D activities in cloud storage technology and increase in the number of EHR service providers create new opportunities in the coming years.

Covid-19 Scenario

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the hospitalization of patients suffering from Covid-19 infection increased considerably. This led to increased demand for EHR for efficient management of patients and data. EHR software and systems played a crucial role in management and recording of patients data.

The cyber threats on EHR systems increased significantly during the pandemic as the utilization increased. These threats became more sophisticated and complex than before.

The on-premise software segment to continue its lead position during the forecast period

Based on product, the on-premise software segment contributed to the highest share in 2020, accounting for more than half of the global electronic health records market, and is estimated to continue its lead position during the forecast period. This is due to surge in number of hospitals worldwide. However, the cloud-based software segment is projected to witness the highest CAGR of 8.0% from 2021 to 2030. This is due to advancements in cloud-based technologies.

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The hospitals segment to continue its dominance in terms of revenue throughout the forecast period

Based on end user, the hospitals segment held the highest share in 2020, accounting for more than two-fifths of the global electronic health records market, and is expected to continue its dominance in terms of revenue throughout the forecast period. This is attributed to adoption of advanced healthcare systems and increase in number of hospitals across the globe. However, the specialty centers segment is estimated to manifest the largest CAGR of 9.1% from 2021 to 2030, owing to rise in chronic diseases such as cancer and wide presence of specialty centers.

North America to maintain its leadership status by 2030

Based on region, North America accounted for the highest market share in 2020, contributing to nearly half of the global electronic health records market, and is expected to maintain its leadership status in terms of revenue by 2030. This is due to rise in presence of key players for development of electronic health records systems and advancements in technology. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to portray the fastest CAGR of 8.7% during the forecast period, owing to surge in healthcare expenditure by patients and adoption of advanced healthcare services.

Leading Market Players

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc.

Cerner Corporation

Computer Programs and Systems Inc.

CureMD Corporation

eClinicalWorks

Epic Systems Corporation

General Electric Company

Greenway Health, LLC

Meditech

Praxis EMR

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"We have also published few syndicated market studies in the similar area that might be of your interest. Below are the report title for your reference, considering Impact of Covid-19 Over This Market which will help you to assess aftereffects of pandemic on short-term and long-term growth trends of this market."

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SOURCE Allied Market Research
JERSEY CITY, N.J., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Verified Market Research recently published a report, "Enteral Feeding Devices Market" By Product Type (Enteral Feeding Pumps, Enteral Feeding Tubes), By Application (Oncology, Gastroenterology, Neurology), and By Geography. According to Verified Market Research, the Global Enteral Feeding Devices Market size was valued at USD 3.1 Billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 4.9 Billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 5.76% from 2021 to 2028.

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/download-sample/?rid=28002

Browse in-depth TOC on "Enteral Feeding Devices Market"

202 - Pages

126  Tables

37  Figures

Global Enteral Feeding Devices Market Overview

The rising geriatric population suffering from neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, and dementia that impact swallowing, is the biggest target population for this market. Thus, the provision of nutritional support in the form of oral nutrition supplements and enteral nutrition feeding tube support mitigates the challenges of nutrition deficit among these diagnosed populations. Additionally, the rise in the use of enteral nutrition to support patients with head and neck cancer who are at high risk of malnutrition is among key factors anticipated to drive the market for enteral feeding devices. Patients diagnosed with these types of cancer have usually decreased oral intake owing to mouth or throat pain or difficulty in swallowing which further leads to poor nutritional status among these patients. Therefore, enteral feeding is recommended to maintain the essential nutrients in the body or to provide medication and fluids to these patients.

The high unique-ability of pre-mature births, especially in developing economies are among the key factors driving the Enteral Feeding Devices Market. One in every ten births is preterm, affecting families around the globe. Rise Incidence of pre-term births in emerging economies with continuously improving healthcare infrastructure, healthcare expenditure, and patient awareness levels is expected to serve this market as a high-impact rendering driver. Also, patient safety risk, rising cases of feeding and medication errors; and the complications associated with enteral feeding tubes such as misconnections, tube dislodgement, and infections are restricting the growth of this market to a certain extent.

Key Developments

 In May 2018, as a result of this acquisition of the Halyard surgical and infection prevention business, a recognized leader in its segment, Owens & Minor takes a significant step in transforming its business into a global healthcare solutions provider.

 In July 2017, Cardinal Health acquired the patient recovery business of Medtronic in July 2017. The patient recovery business comprises patient care, deep vein thrombosis, and the nutritional insufficiency business of Medtronic. The acquired business of Medtronic includes about 23 product categories across various markets

Key Players

The major players in the market are B. Braun Melsungen Ag, Boston Scientific, CONMED Corporation, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Fresenius Kabi, Nestle S.A., Danone, Cardinal Health, Inc., Moog, Inc., and Cook Medical, Halyard Surgical.

Verified Market Research has segmented the Global Enteral Feeding Devices Market On the basis of Product Type, Application, and Geography.

Enteral Feeding Devices Market, By Product Type

Enteral Feeding Pumps



Enteral Feeding Tubes

Enteral Feeding Devices Market, By Application

Oncology



Gastroenterology



Neurology

Enteral Feeding Devices Market By Geography

North America



U.S





Canada





Mexico



Europe



Germany





France





U.K





Rest of Europe



Asia Pacific



China





Japan





India





Rest of Asia Pacific



ROW



Middle East & Africa

&



Latin America

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Top 10 Diabetes Care Devices keeping diabetes at bay internationally

Visualize Enteral Feeding Devices Market using Verified Market Intelligence:-:

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NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Entreprenista, a media company and membership community dedicated to the advancement of women-led businesses, is proud to celebrate and empower women across the globe in partnership with Hershey Brazil, Hershey India, Hershey Canada, and Hershey Mexico through their #HerSHE campaign in celebration of International Women's Day (March 8th).

The Hershey Company's award-winning #HerSHE campaign, which originated in Brazil in 2020, will transform its iconic Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar wrapper into a celebration of cultural female icons, or "Sheroes", their accomplishments, and the impact these Sheroes have made in their communities. The celebratory packs of Hershey Canada, Hershey Mexico, Hershey Brazil, and Hershey India represent women supporting women's talent, and the bars showcase artwork from local artists and spotlight and celebrate local women who deserve global recognition.

"As a company that embraces diversity and equity, we saw a unique insight into how we can make visible the role of forgotten or somewhat invisible women who make such an important difference in our society," said Santhi Ramesh, CMO for Hershey International. "These campaigns celebrate women while communicating our brand values and the values we share with our consumers. The user generated content is real and authentic, and as a result is able to break through and resonate strongly with consumers."

"Entreprenista is proud to support Hershey's activities in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and India with the shared mission of empowering and celebrating women across the globe," says Stephanie Cartin, CEO of Entreprenista. "We invite all women to participate this month, by nominating inspirational women in your life on social media, to get featured on Entreprenista's website and social media platforms!"

Hershey is also providing Scholarships to the Entreprenista League for women of Brazil, Mexico, and Canada to create lasting community among this year's Sheroes.

Entreprenista is leveraging the award-winning influencer work of Socialfly , the leading social media marketing and influencer agency to share stories of women in Brazil, Mexico, and India, along with Entreprenista 's website, and membership community ( The Entreprenista League ), and podcast network, including their latest show, Startups in Stilettos launching March 8th, to amplify the voices of women being featured across the world.

Join the movement!

Share a post on social media to nominate women in your life who inspire you using the hashtags #HerforShe and #HerSHE. Tag 2+ inspirational women who deserve to be celebrated and ask them to nominate women who inspire them too. Tag @entreprenistas to be featured on Entreprenista's site and social media platforms, and tag Hershey Mexico @hersheys_mx or Hershey Brazil @hersheysbr, to get featured on their HerForShe galleries!

If you live in India, please visit: https://www.hershe.co.in/, scroll down to select your template, and create a share card on social media.

If you live in Canada, please use the hashtag #HerForShe and tag @hersheycanada and @entreprenistas to help us make stories more visible!

Hershey is also supporting Entreprenista's Global Virtual event this year on International Women's Day, March 8th at 11 am EST, where Entreprenista will bring together a panel of successful and innovative women to showcase their talents, and to discuss gender equality and gender balance as an economic issue. To join the virtual event, and join the movement #HerforShe, please visit: partners.entreprenista.com/hershey

About Entreprenista

Entreprenista empowers and inspires the current and aspiring generation of women leaders and entrepreneurs to pursue their dreams and celebrate their success. The community is made up of founders and decision makers, and aspiring Entreprenistas who learn the secrets to running a business from women who've done it. Entreprenista's Podcast network, which includes shows like The Entreprenista Podcast and Startups in Stilettos Podcast, host successful female leaders each week, and gets into the nitty gritty of what it's like really to run a business. Entreprenista's membership community, The Entreprenista League , provides direct access to Socialfly and Entreprenista founders Stephanie Cartin, Courtney Spritzer and their inner circle of successful founders and entrepreneurs, along with virtual networking events, and discounts to the business tools and solutions that have helped them scale their businesses. For more information, visit www.entreprenista.com .

SOURCE Entreprenista
AMSTERDAM, March 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation has awarded the Erasmus Prize for 2022 to the Israeli writer David Grossman. The theme of this year's prize is 'mending a torn world'. No one embodies this theme better than Grossman. In his work he seeks to understand people from within, and to regard the other with love, across borders of war and history. The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation wants to honour his craft and offer readers an opportunity to discover his work (once again): "as consolation, and as a guide to how to be human."

Born in Jerusalem in 1954, David Grossman has some twenty publications to his name, ranging from novels and children's books to collections of essays and travel books. He has demonstrated extraordinary courage in tackling uncomfortable political subjects, among them daily life in occupied territories and the Palestinian minority in Israel, as well as themes such as friendship, living with the past, and the bonds that link generations. In his writing Grossman connects the personal and the universal. He shows mourning, violence and the loss of humanity, not as specifically geographical problems, but as universal human struggles. That makes him, like Erasmus, a true humanist: Grossman reveals the nakedness and fallibility of humankind, noble and monstrous in equal measure. His forgiving way of capturing characters changes readers.

David Grossman started out as a radio presenter before rising to international prominence in 1989 with his novel See Under: Love, about the Shoah as seen through the eyes of a child. He has frequently voiced his support for peace in the Middle East. In 2006 he joined with Amos Oz in calling for an end to attacks on Lebanon, soon after which his own son was killed in action in the same war. That event became the subject of his 2011 book Falling Out of Time, which was adapted for the stage on numerous occasions. Grossman has been the recipient of various literary awards, including the Prix Medicis Etranger, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the Geschwister-Scholl-Preis. His 2015 novel A Horse Walks Into a Bar won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize and received rave reviews around the world.

To mark the awarding of the Erasmus Prize in 2022, the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation will organize a varied programme devoted to David Grossman and the theme of 'mending a torn world'.

The Erasmus Prize is awarded annually to a person or institution that has made an exceptional contribution to the humanities or the arts. His Majesty the King of the Netherlands is Patron of the Foundation. The Erasmus Prize consists of  150,000. The prize will be presented in autumn 2022.

Note to editors:

EMBARGO UNTIL 3 MARCH 2022 at 24:00 hours.

SOURCE The Praemium Erasmianum Foundation
AMSTERDAM, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Valtech, a global business transformation agency, today announced the acquisition of B2B digital consultancy, Evident.

Digital now touches every part of a B2B business, and with an industry facing more complexity than at any other time, companies are rightly investing in their digital experience. They are seeking digital solutions to drive smarter, faster, and more intuitive interactions.

Already positioned as a leader in the commerce and B2B sectors, in welcoming Evident, Valtech is now set to become a true B2B digital powerhouse.

"Evident and Valtech's businesses are fully complementary, from a business and technology perspective. We are delighted to welcome the talented Evident teams to Valtech, with whom we have found mutual values and culture. Partnering with Evident and Valtech's clients, we will continue to be a leading strategic transformation partner, accelerating growth for B2B companies across the region and beyond."

David Gompel, EVP Europe, Valtech

The Netherlands- and Portugal-based digital consultancy Evident brings over two decades of experience delivering transformative solutions for B2B clients including Atlas Copco, Vanderlande, Aalberts Industries, NCOI and Mazars. Valtech is already recognized as a strategic digital partner for leading B2B companies including Linde, Henkel, Grundfos and Wavin. Strengthening forces with Evident elevates Valtech's B2B presence across the European region and globally.

'I am really looking forward to the opportunity to grow our international business even faster in the B2B market, within the context of Valtech. The timing of us getting together couldn't have been better, given the growth momentum in the B2B market.'

Ferry Meijndert, CEO, Evident

Evident's deep relationships with Microsoft Azure and Intershop both broaden and deepen the scope of technology partnerships Valtech can offer their clients, which already include SAP Hybris, commercetools, VTEX, Optimizely and Salesforce, among others. Listed as one of the most significant commerce services providers by leading analysts, the addition of these B2B specialists is also set to supercharge Valtech's already impressive global commerce footprint.

'The cultural match between our two companies feels great from the start. The entrepreneurial 'can-do' mentality combined with an open and warm culture is a great fit. And personally, I am very much looking forward to another shared tradition, that is to celebrate successes together with our clients.'

Herbert Pesch, Founder and CCO of Evident

ABOUT VALTECH

Valtech is a global business transformation agency delivering innovation with a purpose. We enable clients to anticipate tomorrow's trends and connect more directly with consumers across their digital and physical touch points while optimizing time-to-market and ROI.

We are a network of more than 4,700 innovators, design thinkers, marketers, creatives, and developers spanning 5 continents with offices in 19 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, UK, Ukraine, USA).

While our expertise is experience design, technology and marketing, our passion is in addressing transformational business challenges for our clients. Challenges where we re-imagine the customer journey and build new connected experiences. Challenges where we make data work in this new era and help our clients transform the way they operate.

Our services including strategy consulting, service design, technology services, and optimization of business-critical digital platforms for multichannel commerce and marketing.

For more information, visit VALTECH.COM

CONTACT:

Rebecca Pilkjaer

European PR & Communication Manager

+45 40 22 93 75

[email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/valtech/r/evident-joins-valtech--creating-a-b2b-digital-powerhouse-in-europe,c3517818

The following files are available for download:

https://news.cision.com/valtech/i/evident,c3019023 Evident https://news.cision.com/valtech/i/david-gompel,c3019022 David Gompel https://news.cision.com/valtech/i/amsterdam-office,c3019024 Amsterdam office

SOURCE Valtech
NETANYA, Israel, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NTT DATA, one of the leading global players in IT consultancy, has unveiled 5G SEPP (Security Edge Protection Proxy) at MWC 2022, its latest product in the 5G portfolio of NTT DATA. 5G SEPP combines several technologies into a robust security solution to address the needs of global corporations for high-speed wireless connectivity. Exaware, a leading provider of Open Network routing solutions for mobile and fixed telecommunications service providers, plays a central role providing the vital routing functionalities for the 5G SEPP connectivity requirement at the 5G core sites.

This collaboration between NTT DATA and Exaware gives birth to a certified Cloud-native solution to enrich current Edge/Cloud Computing-based scenarios and enables applications that require high efficiency and low latency. Mobile Service Providers and Roaming Carriers will be able to use NTT DATA 5G SEPP to offer companies and Public Institutions a new service delivery model in the implementation of 5G roaming solutions, capable of enabling technologically advanced deployment scenarios automatically, quickly and reliably.

"It's time to rethink the way we design, build and manage networks." - commented Ben Afshari, VP of Global Sales at Exaware - "Our Partnership with NTT Data is a significant milestone in Exaware's journey to deploy open networking solutions in Carrier Networks. We are pushing the edge of disaggregated networking towards new horizons by integrating 3rd party applications and network functions to our telco-grade NOS, our unique technology allows service providers to innovate and reduce time to market, by simply turning old school routers to extendable routers".

"We are thrilled to be attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona 2022. NTT DATA is ready for the 5G revolution" - says Francesco Petulla, Vice President and Head of Network Engineering at NTT DATA - "and this was made possible also thanks to the collaboration with Exaware, a partnership that will allow the two companies to act synergistically to offer the market increasingly advanced technological solutions."

About Exaware

Exaware is a leading provider of open and disaggregated routing solutions. ExaNOS, Exaware's Network Operating System, is designed from the ground up to power up a selection of Whitebox routers for various Telco use cases, from Access to Core applications. ExaNOS is a feature-rich routing stack, designed to meet carrier scale, performance and reliability. ExaNOS cloud-based architecture enables for the first time to integrate a wide range of third-party applications and Network Functions. www.exaware.com

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA Italia is part of the Japanese multinational NTT DATA, one of the world's leading players in IT Consulting and Services. Digital, Consulting, Cyber Security and System Integration are just some of the main lines of business. Our mission is to create value for our customers through innovation. NTT DATA has a global presence in over 50 countries, 130,000 professionals and an international network of research and development centers in Tokyo, Palo Alto and Cosenza. NTT DATA is present in Italy with over 5000 employees and 11 offices in Milan, Rome, Turin, Genoa, Treviso, Pisa, Naples and Cosenza.

Media Contacts:

Exaware

Ben Afshari

Vice President Global Sales

[email protected]

NTT Data

Alessia Carpinelli Tricarico

Media Relations Manager - NTT DATA Italia

[email protected]

SOURCE Exaware
MONTREAL, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - As today's companies face global competition for talent and greater needs in terms of executive recruitment, they need headhunters who understand the issues at stake and can give them international visibility. Established in Montreal in 2016, the executive search firm PIXCELL is proud to join the international network of CFR Global Executive Search as an exclusive Canadian partner.

This strategic partnership will allow PIXCELL to draw on CFR's international executive network and enhance its service offering. As the shortage of skilled labour persists, there is a growing need for executive recruitment in Canada. It has thus become crucial for companies to have access to a large pool of highly qualified, specialized talent.

In a study conducted during the pandemic by Lifeworks and Deloitte Canada (July 2021), nearly a quarter (23%) of the 1,200 executives surveyed said that they were considering quitting, and 82% said that they felt physically and mentally exhausted at the end of the workday. Yet, now more than ever, companies need talented executives and managers to manage organizational transformation by guiding their teams and navigating the next stages of growth with tact and care.

"We are very pleased to be working with CFR Global Executive Search. This partnership will bolster our support for clients who are looking to expand their operations globally, giving them better access to an international pool of candidates. The demand for competitive positions is growing, especially in the current climate, in which so many executives are experiencing burnout and leaving their jobs. Now that technology allows us to collaborate and manage affairs remotely, our work has become global, and this partnership with CFR represents another lever for overcoming our challenges. On a personal note, I am delighted to be able to work with Jorge Segovia Fernandez and Carl Denny, our exclusive partners in Mexico and the United States. Together, we are creating a strong North American network."

 Francois Piche-Roy, President and Managing Partner, PIXCELL

"CFR Global Executive Search is extremely pleased to be expanding its reach in Canada with PIXCELL. We are delighted to be working with this elite firm, which has a proven track record in its local market and a solid understanding of global challenges. We have been building an international network of independent recruiters for over 20 years. Given the unprecedented shortage of skilled labour caused by the pandemic, building bridges across borders is more critical than ever."

 Raso Pazarkic, Chief Executive Officer, CFR Global Executive Search

About PIXCELL

Founded in 2016, PIXCELL is a Montreal-based executive search firm. Established in leading Canadian markets (Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City), PIXCELL's team of five consultants has expertise in numerous industries, including information technology, manufacturing, retail and distribution, finance and the public and parapublic sectors. For more information, visit pixcell.co.

About CFR Global Executive Search

Founded in 1997, CFR Global Executive Search is a growing alliance of independent executive search firms. With its network of over 350 consultants from 30 countries across the world, it has the reach of an international headhunter network and the personalized services of a local executive search firm.

SOURCE PIXCELL
Leading global suppliers can assist buyers in realizing high-cost savings through their efforts on areas such as forward integration, reducing total ownership cost, manage ad hoc spend, negotiate on pricing and contractual terms, conference participation, managing labor price volatility, level of automation, quality management, and reduction in ad-hoc spend. Collaborations with global suppliers will also help buyers in cost-saving and ensure high-quality procurement in the dynamic market.

Financial Advisory and Consulting Services Market in India: Key Price Trends

The pressure from substitutes and a high level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the moderate bargaining power of suppliers. This makes it extremely important to get the pricing and pricing model right. Buyers should align their preferred pricing models for Financial Advisory and Consulting Services with the wider industry and identify the cost-saving potential.

Per-user licensing pricing, subscription-based pricing, and single-license plus service fee pricing are the most widely adopted pricing models in Financial Advisory and Consulting Services. Each pricing model offers optimum benefits and fitment in specific situations. Buyers should identify the model that suits their operations in the best manner and link supplier performance to the pricing models.

The report also offers information on the upcoming trends and challenges that will influence market growth.

www.spendedge.com/report/financial-advisory-and-consulting-services-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report

Insights Offered in this Financial Advisory and Consulting Services Market Report

Top Financial Advisory and Consulting Services suppliers and their cost structures

Top Financial Advisory and Consulting Services suppliers in the US and their cost structures

Financial Advisory and Consulting Services market spend analysis in the US

Financial Advisory and Consulting Services price trends, and forecasts

Cost drivers influencing the Financial Advisory and Consulting Services prices

Some of the Top Financial Advisory and Consulting Services suppliers listed in this report:

This Financial Advisory and Consulting Services procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Deloitte

KPMG International

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Know More About Major Financial Advisory and Consulting Services Suppliers

Regional Analysis

Further breakdown of the market segmentation at requested regions.

Market Player Information

Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players, vendor segmentation, and vendor offerings.

Know the strategies adopted by vendors during the COVID-19 Recovery Phase.

View Free Sample Report

Best Selling Procurement Research Report :

Fruits and Vegetable Processing Equipment - Forecast and Analysis : The fruits and vegetable processing equipment will grow at a CAGR of 5.52% during 2021-2025 . Click the above link for a free sample report.

The fruits and vegetable processing equipment will grow at a . Click the above link for a free sample report. Amusement Park Construction Services Sourcing and Procurement Report : This report evaluates suppliers based on quality of services to ensure safety of drugs and medical devices, therapeutic expertise, reputation and level of experience, and global reach and capacity.

This report evaluates suppliers based on quality of services to ensure safety of drugs and medical devices, therapeutic expertise, reputation and level of experience, and global reach and capacity. Waste Management Equipment- Sourcing and Procurement Intelligence Report: This report evaluates suppliers based on warranties, low lifecycle costs, proximity to the buyers location, and manufacturing performance. The pressure from substitutes and a high level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the moderate bargaining power of suppliers.

To access the definite purchasing guide on the Financial Advisory and Consulting Services that answers all your key questions on price trends and analysis:

Am I paying/getting the right prices? Is my Financial Advisory and Consulting Services TCO (total cost of ownership) favorable?

How is the price forecast expected to change? What is driving the current and future price changes?

Which pricing models offer the most rewarding opportunities?

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

Contact

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
HONG KONG, March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fore Elite Capital Management Limited ("Fore Elite") gladly announced that it has successfully obtained the approval of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (the "SFC") on January 18, 2022, which allows Fore Elite to manage and distribute 100% virtual asset funds under the SFC's "Proforma Terms and Conditions for Licensed Corporations which Manage Portfolios that Invest in Virtual Assets" ("T&C").

It makes Fore Elite the fourth virtual asset management company approved by the Hong Kong SFC. The company is also one of the few approved to issue multi-strategy virtual asset funds in Asia.

In the meantime, the company revealed that it has successfully issued an actively managed virtual asset fund that is designated for professional investors.

Meanwhile, Fore Elite (February 28, 2022) closed 100 million USD seed funding from the Founder and CEO of Fore Elite, Mr Ejoe Ye and Huobi Group. Fore Elite plans to open its multi-strategy funds to professional investors.

Looking back, last year has been a defining year for virtual assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The emerging industry, which evolved at an unprecedented rate, steps into the limelight for many institutional investors.

Mr Ejoe Ye says: "Virtual assets are playing important role in the world economy. Legality and compliance are the irreversible historical direction of the virtual asset sector. After more than two years of communication, we are much honoured to be granted the license by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. In the future, we will continue to actively and closely cooperate with regulatory authority to promote the healthy development of the whole industry."

About Fore Elite

Fore Elite was established in 2017 by Mr Ejoe Ye, who graduated from Columbia Business School, with over 12 years' hedge fund working experience in Wall Street and Hong Kong. The company holds Type 4 (Advising on securities) and Type 9 (Asset Management) licenses of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. In addition, On January 18, 2022, Fore Elite was approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to manage portfolios that invest in virtual assets under the SFC's "Proforma Terms and Conditions for Licensed Corporations". For more information, please visit www.foreelite.com

NB: Professional investors are defined as in the Securities and Futures Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation.

SOURCE Fore Elite Capital Management Hong Kong
Security personnel work at the blast site in Quetta, Pakistan, on March 2, 2022. At least three people were killed and 24 others injured on Wednesday evening in a blast in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city, said an official. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)

ISLAMABAD, March 2 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed and 24 others injured on Wednesday evening in a blast in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city, said an official.

Media Coordinator of Health Department of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province Waseem Baig said in a statement that three people, including a police officer, died in the blast.

Local police told media that the blast took place near a police vehicle in a busy market located at the Fatima Jinnah Road of the city.

Police, security forces and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and the injured to a hospital.

The death toll might further rise as five of the wounded were in critical condition, added the police.

The police said that a deputy superintendent of police lost life, while two other police personnel were seriously injured in the blast, according to the local reports.

The bomb disposal squad of police is investigating to ascertain the nature of the blast.

Several vehicles parked nearby were also damaged while a shop was engulfed in fire following the blast, said local reports.

Police and security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.

No group or individual has claimed the blast yet. 

Fire rages from the blast site in Quetta, Pakistan, on March 2, 2022. At least three people were killed and 24 others injured on Wednesday evening in a blast in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city, said an official. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)

People gather at the blast site in Quetta, Pakistan, on March 2, 2022. At least three people were killed and 24 others injured on Wednesday evening in a blast in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city, said an official. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)

Security personnel and medical workers work at the blast site in Quetta, Pakistan, on March 2, 2022. At least three people were killed and 24 others injured on Wednesday evening in a blast in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city, said an official. (Photo by Asad/Xinhua)
DENVER, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Furnished Finder, a leading online housing marketplace for traveling professionals, is pleased to announce the addition of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts to its nationwide network of furnished accommodations. Wyndham has nearly 490,000 rooms at over 6,000 affiliated hotels across 17 brands in the United States appealing to all types of travelers and commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry.

"Hotels are important part of the travel nurse industry," says Brian Payne, Co-Founder and CEO of Furnished Finder. "And while an average stay on Furnished Finder is about 90 days, travelers book hotels for all durations including nightly, weekly, and monthly." He also states, "in addition to the healthcare segment, there are just more remote workers than ever before so demand for all types of monthly furnished rentals has skyrocketed."

Travelers can start taking advantage of negotiated discounts on Wyndham Hotels affiliated properties by booking at www.furnishedfinder.com/hotels. Plus, with Wyndham Rewards, named the number one hotel rewards program by U.S. News & World Report, travelers can earn a guaranteed 1000 points with every qualified stay! Join for free at www.wyndhamrewards.com.

About Furnished Finder

Furnished Finder is the leading housing platform for traveling professionals and remote workers looking for monthly furnished housing in the US. With more than 70,000 properties and representing a potential of 20M bookable nights per month, Furnished Finder is the source of direct bookings for landlords, property managers, and hoteliers. Fueled by their strategic industry partnerships and high search ranking, traveling nurses, remote workers, and other traveling professionals depend on Furnished Finder for monthly furnished rentals. Furnished Finder also owns KeyCheck, a site that provides tools for landlords, including online rent payment, free tenant screening, and custom residential leases. For more information, visit www.furnishedfinder.com

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties, with approximately 9,000 hotels across nearly 95 countries on six continents. Through its network of approximately 798,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveler, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 21 hotel brands, including Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, Microtel, La Quinta, Baymont, Wingate, AmericInn, Hawthorn Suites, Trademark Collection and Wyndham. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is also a leading provider of hotel management services. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers 89 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For information on Wyndham's total value for all types of groups and business travelers, visit www.wyndhambusiness.com.

SOURCE Furnished Finders
VANCOUVER, BC, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SaveRxCanada.to, a leading Canadian pharmacy intermediary since 2002 continues to see a rising trend in Americans buying generic drugs. Generic drugs contain the same active ingredients at the same strength and purity as their brand-name counterparts but come at a fraction of the cost.

The Rx Select program from SaveRxCanada was one of the first programs of its kind launched back in 2004 to provide access to generic drugs. By adding several international pharmacies to their network, patients were able to find many generic and brand name medications not available in Canada.

The RxSelect program offers free shipping and 5% in rewards points that can be redeemed on future orders.

In the United States, 76 million patients look at least one prescription medicine in 2020.

The 2021 U.S. Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Savings Report highlighted the increase in generic drug savings. Some key research findings:

$338 billion : U.S. health care system savings

U.S. health care system savings 90%: Portion of U.S. prescriptions filled by generic drugs

Portion of U.S. prescriptions filled by generic drugs $6.61 : The average generic copay

The average generic copay $7.9 billion : biosimilars savings

biosimilars savings $109.6 billion : Medicare savings

Savings for individual consumers and the health care system as a whole continue to grow, reaching $338 billion in 2020. Tens of millions of Americans entrust their health to generics and biosimilars. These savings are the major component of an often-overlooked public health success story.

About SaveRxCanada.to

SaveRxCanada.to has been a trusted, affordable and reliable Canadian pharmacy intermediary for over 18 years.

The company has been committed to providing affordable prescription drugs to worldwide patients through their network of licensed Canadian pharmacies and International pharmacies.

Visit SaveRxCanada.to to learn more about the company.

Customer Service

Toll Free Calls: 1-866-799-3435 - Use ref #100048

Monday-Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm (EST)

All orders required a valid prescription from a licensed physician or doctor.

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

SOURCE SaveRxCanada.com
RESTON, Va., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Gibbs & Cox, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leidos has been awarded a contract to provide Surface Combatant Ship Design Engineering Services in support of Future Surface Combatant Programs by the U.S. Navy. The award has a potential value of $318,742,913 with performance through 2027, if all options are exercised.

The Gibbs & Cox team will provide services supporting future surface combatants design, with initial focus on the Program Executive Office Ship's DDG(X) Program Office (PMS 460) industry engagement, DDG(X) design development, and technology integration efforts.

"As a key member of the original DDG 51 class design team, we are proud to continue our legacy of support to this cornerstone of the U.S. Navy's capability," said Gibbs & Cox chief operating officer Ray Sheldon.

About Gibbs & Cox

Gibbs & Cox, a wholly owned subsidiary of Leidos, is an industry leading naval architecture and marine engineering firm headquartered in Arlington, VA. Since our founding in 1929, 24 classes of combatants and nearly 7,000 vessels have been built to Gibbs & Cox designs. We proudly support military and commercial clients in the U.S. and internationally with all phases of marine design, construction, and lifecycle management. Our passion is solving our customers' 21st century maritime challenges with quality and integrity.

About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500 technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets. The company's 43,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $13.7 billion for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com.

Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2021, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

SOURCE Gibbs & Cox
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- On Saturday February 26th, Vladislav Nikolaichuk knew he had to do everything possible to help the people of Mykolaiv, Ukraine, a city under attack by Russian Forces -- he is doing exactly that by starting a GiveSendGo campaign. Mykolaiv, Ukraine is in dire need of food, water, medical supplies, and shelter due to the lethal Russian assault being suffered by its citizens for the past eight days.

GiveSendGo Campaign Raises $100k CAD in 3 Days for Humanitarian Aid in Mykolaiv, Ukraine

Vladislav Nikolaichuk works for GeeksForLess, a company that has almost 1,000 employees including a large portion of people that work and reside in the city of Mykolaiv. He and his team are in direct contact with employees and their relatives and have already began distributing aid using their personal funds along with money now being donated via the GiveSendGo.com/ForUkraine campaign.

GeeksForLess is not new to charitable ventures as his company has donated over $1 million USD worth of supplies to the local hospital over the course of the last 8 years since the Crimean annexation by Russia. Their pre-existing infrastructure is being leveraged to its full extent to support the acquisition and distribution of aid in Mykolaiv, Ukraine thus making them uniquely positioned to step in and quickly help.

Vladislav Nikolaichuk states: "When things first broke out and people offered their help, I was shy to ask for money, and simply thanked them for their kind words. I thought it wouldn't be a problem since my company was committed to getting people to safety. But on the second day of the invasion the reality of wartime expenses set in, and I could see we couldn't do it alone."

If you would like to donate to this campaign, please go to GiveSendGo.com/ForUkraine. As of March 1st, the campaign has raised over $100K CAD on GiveSendGo and has more than 100 donors. The campaign has caught the attention of a number of large donors.

Vladislav Nikolaichuk states: "I don't care about raising the money myself - I just want people to get the help they need. I knew I had to do this because I can get the funding directly to the people in need. My hope was that friends would be more comfortable donating knowing that I'm giving them my personal guarantee that the funds will be used to their maximum efficiency."

100% of all the funds are being deployed directly for humanitarian purposes. To donate please go to GiveSendGo.com/ForUkraine.

For questions contact Vladislav Nikolaichuk at [email protected]

About Vladislav Nikolaichuk

Vladislav Nikolaichuk was born in Mykolaiv, Ukraine where he resided until the age of 6 when he migrated to Canada with his family. He is President at GeeksForLess Canada, a company involved in supporting the local hospital and infrastructure of Mykolaiv since 2014. He is currently leading a donation campaign to help Ukraine in its time of need.

Contact Name: Vladislav Nikolaichuk

Contact Email: [email protected]

Contact Phone: 416 277 9975

SOURCE Vladislav Nikolaichuk
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

Online interactive peer-to-peer collaborative bespoke updates

Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

Complimentary updates for one year

Edition: 8; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 1206

Companies: 65 - Players covered include 3M; Align technology; Argen Corporation; Clarus Company; Danaher Corporation; Dentsply Sirona; Henry Schein Inc.; Institute Straumann; Patterson Companies Inc; TP Orthodontics Inc.; and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Age (Teenager, Adult); End-Use (Standalone Practices, Group Practices, Hospitals, Other End-Uses)

Geographies: World; United States; Canada; Japan; China; Europe (France; Germany; Italy; United Kingdom; Spain; Russia; and Rest of Europe); Asia-Pacific (Australia; India; South Korea; and Rest of Asia-Pacific); Latin America (Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; and Rest of Latin America); Middle East (Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; and Rest of Middle East); and Africa.

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ABSTRACT-

Global Clear Aligners Market to Reach $6.2 Billion by 2026

Orthodontics deals with the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of dental irregularities. Corrective devices such as braces, retainers, headgear, plates etc. are designed to properly align teeth, lips and jaws, in order to achieve facial balance. Such devices are typically used for enhancing appearance of teeth. Among the most notable advancements in the orthodontics market is the launch of invisible clear aligners. Clear aligners are a transparent, plastic form of dental braces capable of aligning the teeth without the need to use braces, mini-implants and mini-screws. The history of Clear aligners can be traced back to 1946, when Dr. Harold Kesling introduced the use of a series of thermoplastic tooth positioners to achieve tooth alignment. The treatment approach has evolved over the past 15 years with development of new technologies and materials. Clear aligners are tight-fitting customized dental braces or orthodontic devices intended to correct misaligned and crooked teeth. Made using thermoformed materials such as polycarbonate plastic or co-polyester and CAD 3D printing, these orthodontic devices present a removable and virtually discreet alternative to conventional braces. Designed around patient flexibility and comfort, clear aligners appropriately position misaligned teeth by applying a gentle, continuous force to treat mild and moderate malocclusion.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Clear Aligners estimated at US$3 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$6.2 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 19.1% over the analysis period. Teenager Category, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 20.8% CAGR to reach US$5.9 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Adult Category is readjusted to a revised 14.1% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 28.8% share of the global Clear Aligners market. Demand for orthodontic procedures is also attributed to the growing popularity of invisible braces among both adults and teenagers. Developing economies are also beginning to witness growing demand for invisible braces, especially among the teenagers. Teenagers account for a major share of the overall market, due mainly to the large number of people in the category affected by malocclusions and jaw disorders. Teenagers want aesthetically appealing braces and avoid metal braces owing to associated discomfort, creating strong demand for clear aligners.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $1.6 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $348.1 Million by 2026

The Clear Aligners market in the U.S. is estimated at US$1.6 Billion in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 53.66% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$348.1 Million in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 24.6% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 16.4% and 17.3% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 18.3% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$435.8 Million by the close of the analysis period.

Growth in the market is driven by the growing adoption of orthodontic treatments among adults and teenagers in both developed and developing economies. Due to the fact that suppliers undertake treatment planning and manufacturing of aligners, a growing proportion of GPs are likely to take up aligner-based treatments due to the potential for generating high profit margins and the fact that training requirements for the process are fairly limited. On the other hand, for orthodontists, the aligners business proves to be less profitable compared to traditional braces, as the acquisition costs are about 8 to 15 times higher than ordinary braces, with treatment costs or revenues being on the same level. Gains will also be spurred by market-driven factors such as rising consumer disposable incomes in developing countries, increasing per capita spends on appearance enhancing products and solutions, rise in the number of dental clinics, and growing social acceptance of procedures aimed at enhancing facial aesthetic appeal. The growing volume of orthodontic procedures being performed among adolescents, technological advancements in the orthodontics specialty are also driving demand for a variety of orthodontic supplies. Demand for orthodontic procedures is also attributed to the growing popularity of invisible braces among both adults and teenagers. The expanding dental tourism industry presents another opportunity for the orthodontic supplies market across developing regions.

The booming cosmetic dentistry market also presents a significant growth driver for the market, as more and more people seek therapies and procedures aimed at enhancing physical appearance by improving alignment of gums, bite and teeth. Cosmetic dentistry continues to gain popularity led by the increasing affluence of people, whereby an increasing proportion of the population is now in a position to avail not just corrective treatment procedures but also cosmetic procedures, presenting considerable opportunities for the orthodontic supplies market.

Latest clear aligners are witnessing increasing acceptance among orthodontists for correcting oral flaws including crooked teeth and overbites. These advanced devices are significantly better than their earlier versions that were primarily intended to treat acute dental issues. On the other hand, new versions of clear aligners are also suitable for treatment of serious problems, pushing the adoption of these devices to treat class-I and class-II misalignment. Invisible aligner systems are developed using CAD/CAM, virtual digital models and thermoformed plastic materials. These clear aligners are known to achieve incremental tooth movement of around 0.25-3mm within few weeks. More



MarketGlass Platform

Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

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Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

Online interactive peer-to-peer collaborative bespoke updates

Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

Complimentary updates for one year

Edition: 10; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 62850

Companies: 98 - Players covered include ABB Group; Bayshore Networks, Inc.; Broadcom, Inc.; Cisco Systems, Inc.; CyberX; Forescout Technologies, Inc.; Honeywell International, Inc.; IBM Corporation; Tenable, Inc.; Kaspersky Lab; McAfee LLC; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Schneider Electric S.A. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: End-Use (Power, Energy & Utilities, Transportation Systems, Chemical and Manufacturing, Other End-Uses); Product (Gateways, Routers, Industrial Ethernet switches); Type (Network Security, Application Security, Endpoint Security, Wireless Security, Other Types)

Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Rest of World.

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ABSTRACT-

Global Industrial Cybersecurity Market to Reach $22.3 Billion by 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the need for remote operations of industrial facilities and production floors across the globe. The major economic impact of this pandemic has compelled businesses to reset their budgets. The 'Work from Home' trend required establishment of an array of procedures and security tools for ensuring that industrial facilities can perform remote operations. For manufacturers, the importance of cybersecurity has grown considerably with industrial companies connecting plant-level devices and software to internet-connected enterprise systems. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has greatly strengthened operations on the plant floor. However, it has also introduced many novel vectors for possible cyberattacks. Increasing movement of data from plants could boost the vulnerability of localized networks. Such new loopholes are being exploited by criminals for stealing sensitive information such as intellectual property for extortion purposes. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated such kinds of attacks owing to the adoption of 'work from home' approach. Home offices lack robust cybersecurity protections. Remote access also provided hackers a wider surface to attack. Additionally, attackers have also exploited the sense of uncertainty and fear of this pandemic to carry out phishing attacks as well as other kinds of social engineering for tricking users to provide access to various proprietary information and systems. Supply chains, healthcare sector and manufacturing facilities are becoming vulnerable to cyberattacks. At present, the biggest risk faced by the healthcare sector is phishing attacks wherein attackers employ an array of techniques and tactics for gaining access to private information of people involved.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Industrial Cybersecurity estimated at US$17 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$22.3 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 6.6% over the analysis period. Services, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 7.3% CAGR to reach US$10 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Software segment is readjusted to a revised 6.3% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 36.1% share of the global Industrial Cybersecurity market.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $5.2 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $3.8 Billion by 2026

The Industrial Cybersecurity market in the U.S. is estimated at US$5.2 Billion in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 31.11% share in the global market. China, the world second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$3.8 Billion in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 9.6% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 3.5% and 4.7% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 4.4% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$4.2 Billion by the close of the analysis period.

Amidst heightened cyber threat levels, industries are investing increasingly on deploying a wide range of security solutions like firewalls, antivirus, and intrusion detection systems (IDS) for securing assets, and to prevent any operational disruption due to cyberbreaches. Spending is also on the rise on security appliances and software solutions to ensure security of industrial control system networks, critical infrastructure facilities and data centers. Rise in government funding and increased spending by organizations to tackle rise in cyber threats will continue to present favorable growth opportunities for the industrial cybersecurity market. The growing adoption of big data, 5G network technology and artificial intelligence in industrial settings will influence market growth in the coming years. The market will also be impacted by the rising demand for advanced solutions like firewalls, intrusion detection systems and antivirus, as industrial facilities focus on boosting cybersecurity in their units. Routers and Ethernet switches are widely used in industrial cybersecurity market, due to the growing number of security breaches targeting sensitive data in industrial processes and manufacturing operations. Growing penetration of Internet connectivity, trend towards IIoT, continuous advances in connected systems are all driving use of various components for cybersecurity. With incidents of cyberattacks continuing to grow, vendors are focusing efforts on the development of advanced hardware with enhanced security features. Demand for various components will also benefit from the rising number of connected devices and remotely managed industrial systems.

The BYOD (bring your own device) trend in industrial facilities, aimed at improving work culture, is exposing companies to greater risk of security breaches. The increasing cost of cyberattacks on industries specifically critical infrastructure facilities is driving governments to enhance budgetary allocations for dealing with security threats emerging due to the rising use of IT systems in industrial operations. With cyber-physical attacks emerging as a major concern, strict cybersecurity regulations have been implemented across the world. The need to comply with government regulations is also driving growth of industrial cybersecurity market. The emergence of cybersecurity standards is also expected to play a critical role in enabling industries to manage cyber risks. With the cyber threat landscape evolving constantly, demand continues to grow for scalable and flexible cybersecurity solutions. Service providers are also moving towards cybersecurity-as-a-service (CSaaS) business model, which is a service based approach to cybersecurity where pay-as-you-go strategy and subscription plans allow companies to benefit from continuous monitoring and assessment of threats in their industrial environments.

Hardware Segment to Reach $5.1 Billion by 2026

In the global Hardware segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 5% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$2.7 Billion will reach a projected size of US$3.9 Billion by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. Led by countries such as Australia, India, and South Korea, the market in Asia-Pacific is forecast to reach US$643.4 Million by the year 2026. More



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Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android

About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
What's New for 2022?

Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

Online interactive peer-to-peer collaborative bespoke updates

Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

Complimentary updates for one year

Edition: 19; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 12003

Companies: 144 - Players covered include Ambu A/S; Armstrong Medical Ltd.; ConvaTec; Flexicare; Intersurgical Ltd.; KARL STORZ GmbH & Co. KG; Medline Industries, Inc.; Medtronic Plc.; Salter Labs; Smiths Medical, Inc.; SourceMark; SunMed; Teleflex, Inc.; VBM Medizintechnik; Verathon, Inc. and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Product Segment (Resuscitators, Infraglottic Devices, Supraglottic Devices, Other Product Segments); Application (Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Other Applications); End-Use (Hospitals, Home Care, Other End-Uses)

Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Spain; Russia; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Australia; India; South Korea; Rest of Asia-Pacific; Latin America; Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; Rest of Latin America; Middle East; Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; UAE; Rest of Middle East; Africa.

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ABSTRACT-



Global Airway Management Devices Market to Reach US$2.2 Billion by the Year 2026

Airway management is an important aspect of perioperative care and emergency medicine. The process of airway management provides an open pathway between the lungs and exterior environment as well as ensures safety of lungs from aspiration. Airway management is considered critical during conditions, such as emergency medicine, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, intensive care medicine, and anesthesia. Major factors fueling growth in the airway management devices market include aging global population, rising incidence of chronic respiratory diseases, rise in the number of patients who can afford advanced medication, and increase in the number of surgical procedures. The global market for these devices is bolstered by increasing incidence of chronic respiratory conditions and broader acceptance among anesthesiologists. Rising cases of preterm birth and the need to manage the airway in newborns is another growth factor creating strong demand for airway management devices. The market expansion is also favored by rising funding and investments to improve emergency care services and associated infrastructure.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Airway Management Devices estimated at US$1.7 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$2.2 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 6.2% over the analysis period. Resuscitators, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 6.1% CAGR to reach US$728.9 Million by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Infraglottic Devices segment is readjusted to a revised 5.6% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 28% share of the global Airway Management Devices market. Resuscitator is a device designed to keep unresponsive patients oxygenated and alive by inflating the lungs using positive pressure. The critical role of resuscitators played in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and technological advancements such as advanced features like Flow-Restricted and Oxygen-Powered Ventilation Device (FROPVD) are expected to spur boost growth in the Resuscitators segment. Infraglottic devices set up a conduit through the mouth for administering drugs, passing through the glottis to be placed into the trachea. The market for Infraglottic Devices is poised to benefit significantly from the growing healthcare spending.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $563.3 Million in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $243.6 Million by 2026

The Airway Management Devices market in the U.S. is estimated at US$563.3 Million in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 31.7% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$243.6 Million in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 8% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 5.1% and 5.8% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 6.4% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$257.5 Million by the end of the analysis period. North America is the largest market owing to high prevalence of COPD and asthma and also a large geriatric population base. Other growth factors include high incidence of major respiratory diseases, supportive government measures, and strict implementation of clinical guidelines for airways management and proper ventilation. Rising cases of COPD, increasing healthcare expenditure, improving healthcare infrastructure and enhancing healthcare policies, is leading to increased demand for the devices in the Asia-Pacific region.

Supraglottic Devices Segment to Reach $523.7 Million by 2026

The use of advanced devices such as supraglottic airway in preoperative airway evaluation is expected to increase the demand for airway management devices. With supraglottic devices tracheal placement is much easier, which results in improved patient safety. In the global Supraglottic Devices segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 6.2% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$299.2 Million will reach a projected size of US$461 Million by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. Led by countries such as Australia, India, and South Korea, the market in Asia-Pacific is forecast to reach US$36.2 Million by the year 2026, while Latin America will expand at a 6.8% CAGR through the analysis period.

Technology Innovations Remain Crucial to Growth

Airway management market continues to witness the rising proliferation of more advanced airway management devices. Advanced airway management basically involves invasiveness, and advanced training and skill, and encompasses advanced techniques to clear the patent airway and restore normal breathing mechanism. This is achieved by preventing or clearing the airway obstructions, the cause of which can be patient's own tongue, airway anatomical components, excessive amounts of body fluids and blood, food particle aspiration, and foreign bodies.

Unlike basic mechanisms such as chin lift, jaw-thrust, head tilt maneuvers, advanced airway management mostly involves the use of medical equipment and fully trained professionals. A core component in ICU procedures, anaesthesia, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and emergency medicine, advanced airway management may involve the use of certain invasive airway management techniques with visualization of the glottis. The glottis visualisation can be carried out through use of a laryngoscope blade or by using latest video enabled devices.

Advanced supraglottic devices are known to improve the invasiveness in airway management. Devices such as nasopharyngeal airways, oropharyngeal airways, and laryngeal mask airways are some examples of advanced supraglottic devices that ensure high-quality results in airway management.

Similarly, laryngeal mask airways can be used to deliver general anesthesia, followed by infraglottic techniques like tracheal intubation, before finally administering the surgical methods. Going forward, the market is likely to see proliferation of advanced airway management solutions such as fibreoptic laryngoscopes, laryngoscope handles & blade, video laryngoscopes, cricothyrotomy, and stylets and light wands, are some of the advanced airway management devices currently available in the market. More



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Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

Our platform is free for qualified executives and is accessible from our website www.StrategyR.com or via our just released mobile application on iOS or Android



About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.



CONTACTS:

Zak Ali

Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

www.StrategyR.com

Email: [email protected]

LINKS

Join Our Expert Panel

https://www.strategyr.com/Panelist.asp

Connect With Us on LinkedIn

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Journalists & Media

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SOURCE Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
Global competitiveness and key competitor percentage market shares

Market presence across multiple geographies - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial

Online interactive peer-to-peer collaborative bespoke updates

Access to our digital archives and MarketGlass Research Platform

Complimentary updates for one year

Edition: 7; Released: February 2022

Executive Pool: 983

Companies: 112 - Players covered include Ahlstrom-Munksjo; Asahi Kasei Corporation; Berry Global Inc.; DuPont; Fibertex Nonwovens A/S; Fitesa; Freudenberg Group; Glatfelter Company; Johns Manville; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; Lydall Inc.; PFNonwovens; Suominen Corporation; TWE Group and Others.

Coverage: All major geographies and key segments

Segments: Technology (Spunbond, Dry Laid, Wet Laid, Other Technologies); Application (Healthcare & Hygiene, Building & Construction, Filtration, Automotive, Consumer Products, Other Applications)

Geographies: World; USA; Canada; Japan; China; Europe; France; Germany; Italy; UK; Spain; Russia; Rest of Europe; Asia-Pacific; Australia; India; South Korea; Rest of Asia-Pacific; Latin America; Argentina; Brazil; Mexico; Rest of Latin America; Middle East; Iran; Israel; Saudi Arabia; UAE; Rest of Middle East; Africa.

Complimentary Project Preview - This is an ongoing global program. Preview our research program before you make a purchase decision. We are offering a complimentary access to qualified executives driving strategy, business development, sales & marketing, and product management roles at featured companies. Previews provide deep insider access to business trends; competitive brands; domain expert profiles; and market data templates and much more. You may also build your own bespoke report using our MarketGlass Platform which offers thousands of data bytes without an obligation to purchase our report. Preview Registry

ABSTRACT-

Global Non-Woven Fabrics Market to Reach $62 Billion by 2026

Non-woven fibers are laid in patterns and bonded using pressure, heat and chemicals. Increased demand for the fabrics in the healthcare and medical sectors constitutes the major growth promoting factor for the market. The current pandemic has increased awareness among people with regard to the many benefits of non-wovens. The market for non-woven fabrics, used in the manufacture of masks, PPE and other medical-grade products, witnessed significant growth over the past one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For meeting the rising demand, non-woven manufacturers across the world were seen expanding production capacities and investing money in purchasing new equipment. Disposable non-wovens are able to offer inexpensive and effective protection from microorganisms because of their multilayered construction. The geotextile industry is also one of the key end-users of non-woven fabrics. Non-woven geotextiles are used in road building and dry laid processes where they improve longevity of roads. The automotive industry also uses the fabrics for many applications. There are now many interior and exterior automotive components made of non-woven fabrics.

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Non-Woven Fabrics estimated at US$44.6 Billion in the year 2022, is projected to reach a revised size of US$62 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 8.4% over the analysis period. Spunbond, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 8.7% CAGR to reach US$30.1 Billion by the end of the analysis period. After a thorough analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Dry Laid segment is readjusted to a revised 9.6% CAGR for the next 7-year period. This segment currently accounts for a 28.9% share of the global Non-Woven Fabrics market. Spunbond non-woven fabric, the largest segment, finds application in the manufacture of hygiene products and in coating substrates, building, battery separator, filtration and wipers among others. The technique of spunbond is the most used manufacturing method as it enables production of material with superior quality and greater strength.

The U.S. Market is Estimated at $8.9 Billion in 2022, While China is Forecast to Reach $14.1 Billion by 2026

The Non-Woven Fabrics market in the U.S. is estimated at US$8.9 Billion in the year 2022. The country currently accounts for a 20.31% share in the global market. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach an estimated market size of US$14.1 Billion in the year 2026 trailing a CAGR of 10.9% through the analysis period. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 5.4% and 7.1% respectively over the analysis period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 5.7% CAGR while Rest of European market (as defined in the study) will reach US$15.5 Billion by the end of the analysis period. Strong growth in developing countries is being driven by increasing geriatric population and birth rate, rising awareness among people about the benefits from using the fabrics, and increasing automotive industry demand among others. Asia-Pacific (including China and Japan) is the largest non-woven fabrics market currently, driven mainly by the Indian and Chinese markets. High birthrate in both the countries, raw material availability; and strong growth of the geotextile, automotive, agricultural, medical, healthcare, construction and military sectors promotes market growth in the region.

Wet Laid Segment to Reach $9 Billion by 2026

Wet laid mat is made of heavy wet chopped denier fibers with diameter in the range of 6-20 micrometer. Wet laid mats are resin bonded with curtain coater.

In the global Wet Laid segment, USA, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the 6.3% CAGR estimated for this segment. These regional markets accounting for a combined market size of US$4.2 Billion will reach a projected size of US$6.4 Billion by the close of the analysis period. China will remain among the fastest growing in this cluster of regional markets. Led by countries such as Australia, India, and South Korea, the market in Asia-Pacific is forecast to reach US$1.4 Billion by the year 2026, while Latin America will expand at a 7.8% CAGR through the analysis period.

Automotive Applications in the Spotlight

Nonwoven fabrics enjoy wider acceptance in automotive manufacturing. The growing requirement to replace plastics for achieving weight reduction and contributing to sustainability makes nonwovens a perfect option for automotive makers. Majority of companies are paying attention to make components and vehicles more efficient and lighter, and betting on nonwovens for new applications and performance attributes while lowering the use of plastics. In addition, the use of ultrasonic welding allows easy conversion of non-woven materials into automobile components. Nonwoven fabrics offer an adaptable material that is cost-effective and easy to develop and support new functionality. Nonwovens also present new design opportunities for manufacturers. Based on their superior versatility, these materials add value to numerous functions and components. The desirable variation is highly beneficial for production businesses and OEMs, mainly for diverse SKUs and products. Nonwovens are conformable to dimensional and space constraints, and allow manufacturers to explore new design options for vehicle parts and components. The demand for nonwovens in the automotive industry varies on the basis of primary focus of manufacturers across different regions. For instance, sustainability drives automakers in North America to focus on naturally-derived resins. On the other hand, European companies consider materials that can be easily repurposed at end of their life. In addition, the Asia-Pacific market is witnessing rising demand for materials that can be conveniently recycled into alternative or same products. By functionality, the market is becoming more price-sensitive to derive profit margins. While nonwovens attract few companies in North America for their aesthetic appeal, players in Asia-Pacific, most notably in India, consider nonwovens for value addition. These products are commonly used by automakers for specific benefits such as antimicrobial qualities, easy cleaning, softness and odor absorption. These benefits are prompting manufacturers to shift their attention away from expensive, complex and time-intensive plastic moulding dies and explore more nonwoven solutions. More

MarketGlass Platform

Our MarketGlass Platform is a free full-stack knowledge center that is custom configurable to today`s busy business executive`s intelligence needs! This influencer driven interactive research platform is at the core of our primary research engagements and draws from unique perspectives of participating executives worldwide. Features include - enterprise-wide peer-to-peer collaborations; research program previews relevant to your company; 3.4 million domain expert profiles; competitive company profiles; interactive research modules; bespoke report generation; monitor market trends; competitive brands; create & publish blogs & podcasts using our primary and secondary content; track domain events worldwide; and much more. Client companies will have complete insider access to the project data stacks. Currently in use by 67,000+ domain experts worldwide.

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About Global Industry Analysts, Inc. & StrategyR

Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (www.strategyr.com) is a renowned market research publisher the world`s only influencer driven market research company. Proudly serving more than 42,000 clients from 36 countries, GIA is recognized for accurate forecasting of markets and industries for over 33 years.

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Director, Corporate Communications

Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

Phone: 1-408-528-9966

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IRVINE, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- GoDocs, a leader in commercial loan document automation for the commercial real estate industry today released a "Construction Loan Issues Guide for the Commercial Loan Market" (https://godocs.com/guide-to-commercial-loan-issues-for-the-commercial-loan-market/). This guide provides a comprehensive look at current market conditions for construction lenders and details the potential pitfalls associated with commercial construction lending. This is a must-have reference for anyone looking to capitalize on the expanding construction loan market while also mitigating risks. "Construction lending can present a minefield of potential risks for lenders, however, all of which can be addressed and reduced by careful loan documentation and disciplined project oversight," notes GoDocs Senior Counsel, Ren R Hayhurst.

Visit godocs.com to get your comprehensive A go-to reference to help navigate the construction lending process.

Looking forward, 2022 will be marked by an increase in commercial real estate projects as developers work to meet the growing demand for new housing. Following the 2020 recession, housing inventory reached historic lows, resulting in high rental and sales prices across the country. With a more stable economy and a scarcity of housing inventory, developers are preparing to provide a variety of housing solutions.

Securing commercial real estate loans for these development projects and protecting the interests of all parties involved can be complicated; however, it is entirely possible to address the risks faced by construction lenders with the right strategies in place. That is why this guide from GoDocs is such a valuable resource.

"We are seeing major shifts in the real estate market and 2022 will be ripe with growth. As a leader in the commercial real estate industry that has always worked to stay at the forefront and provide cutting-edge solutions, our guide is just another way to support both lenders and developers," says GoDocs CEO, Stephen Butler.

As commercial real estate development projects heat up over the coming months, GoDocs' "Construction Loan Issues Guide for the Commercial Loan Market" will serve as a go-to reference to help navigate the construction lending process.

About GoDocs

GoDocs (https://godocs.com), the automation leader in commercial loan document generation, offers a next-generation software platform for banks, credit unions, and private lenders that creates a streamlined process for closing commercial loans. The first and only purely SaaS system for automated loan document generation, GoDocs provides lenders with a pay-as-you-go digital solution that requires no training to use. The company has the #1 NPS customer satisfaction score in the industry and is trusted by industry-leading banks as well as community banks, Federal and local credit unions, and private lenders of all sizes. GoDocs is proud to back its solutions with 100% onshore support.

Media Contact

Virginia Bush

VP of Marketing

GoDocs

949.274.7907

[email protected]

SOURCE GoDocs
AUSTIN, Texas, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Hydrogen International (GHI) has unveiled plans to create the world's largest green hydrogen production and storage hub in South Texas.

Hydrogen City, Texas - World's Largest Green Hydrogen Production and Storage Hub

Hydrogen City, Texas will be an integrated green hydrogen production, storage, and transport hub growing to 60GW in size and producing over 2.5 billion kilograms of green hydrogen per year. The project is centered around a hydrogen storage facility in the Piedras Pintas Salt Dome located in Duval County. Pipelines will deliver the green hydrogen to Corpus Christi and Brownsville where it will be turned into green ammonia, sustainable aviation fuel and other products, or delivered by pipeline directly to hydrogen power plants and other users around the state.

The project will be powered by 60GW of behind the meter solar and wind power with additional renewable energy drawn from the ERCOT grid during periods of low prices.

"Hydrogen City is a massive, world class undertaking that will put Texas on the map as a leading green hydrogen producer. Texas has been the world leader in energy innovation for over 100 years and this project is intended to cement that leadership for the next century and beyond," says GHI's founder and CEO Brian Maxwell.

The project will be built in phases with the first phase expected to commence operations in 2026, consisting of 2GW of production and two storage caverns at the Piedras Pintas salt dome. Access to salt storage is critical to the scaling-up of green hydrogen production as it allows for maximum utilization of electrolysers and serves as a buffer between variable wind and solar production and final delivery of green hydrogen to customers. Eventually, over 50 caverns can be created at the Piedras Pintas salt dome, providing up to 6TWh of energy storage and turning the dome into a major green hydrogen storage hub, similar to the role Henry Hub plays in the natural gas market.

Negotiations are ongoing with respect to end-use options for GHI produced green hydrogen. These options include:

Green ammonia for export markets : GHI is exploring the opportunity to export green ammonia to Asia . Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) plans to add 30 million tonnes per year of renewable ammonia to the country's fuel mix by 2050. "Japanese and Korean companies are interesting partners for us in this project given their countries desire to shift to green ammonia" says Maxwell.

: GHI is exploring the opportunity to export green ammonia to . Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) plans to add 30 million tonnes per year of renewable ammonia to the country's fuel mix by 2050. "Japanese and Korean companies are interesting partners for us in this project given their countries desire to shift to green ammonia" says Maxwell. Green ammonia for the fertilizer market: Higher natural gas prices has led to skyrocketing fertilizer costs for farmers. Fertilizer produced from green hydrogen can help remove unexpected price volatility.

Higher natural gas prices has led to skyrocketing fertilizer costs for farmers. Fertilizer produced from green hydrogen can help remove unexpected price volatility. Sustainable aviation fuel: GHI is in discussions with potential off takers of green hydrogen as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). GHI believes Corpus Christi is well placed to become a major SAF production hub.

GHI is in discussions with potential off takers of green hydrogen as a feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). GHI believes is well placed to become a major SAF production hub. Sustainable Rocket Fuel: The company is looking at combining hydrogen with CO 2 at the Port of Brownsville to create a green methane rocket fuel for launch operations in South Texas .

The company is looking at combining hydrogen with CO at the Port of to create a green methane rocket fuel for launch operations in . Fuel switching power plants: H 2 can also be used as a natural gas substitute at power plants. Over 4GW of new gas power plants have been proposed in the US that can burn a combination of hydrogen and natural gas.

The plans for Hydrogen City are large enough that eventually the project could supply multiple types of customers. "We see Hydrogen City becoming one of the largest H 2 production centers in the world, supplying many different customers with 100% clean H 2 fuel," says Maxwell.

According to a top global consulting firm, the market growth for hydrogen will be enormous. A recent sector report estimates annual global sales for hydrogen and related technology at $2.5 trillion per year by 2050.

"Hydrogen City is a project perfectly positioned near low-cost renewable resources, plenty of available land, salt domes, and proximity to the large energy port of Corpus Christi. It will be a world cost leader and position GHI to take advantage of the growing demand for green hydrogen," says Andy Steinhubl, a former McKinsey Senior Partner and GHI board member.

Australian based renewable energy developer Energy Estate is assisting GHI on the development of Hydrogen City.

About Green Hydrogen International

Founded in 2019 by long-time renewable energy entrepreneur Brian Maxwell, GHI is the world's leading green hydrogen development company with a global pipeline of large-scale projects located near low-cost renewable energy, salt storage, and large markets.

The company intends to play a leading role in the energy transition from a hydrocarbon world to a world powered by sustainable energy and green hydrogen. To learn more, visit ghi-corp.com.

Follow GHI on Twitter and LinkedIn

Contact

Brian Maxwell

Green Hydrogen International Corp.

Phone: 512-965-6239

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Green Hydrogen International Corp.
PORTLAND, Ore., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research recently published a report, titled, "Hands-Free Power Liftgate Market by Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars (SUV, Sedan, and Others) and Commercial Vehicles), Propulsion (Gasoline, Diesel, and Electric), and Sales Channel (Original Equipment Manufacturer and Aftermarket): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212030". As per the report, the global hands-free power liftgate industry was accounted for $1.12 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach $2.35 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2021 to 2030.

Major determinants of the market growth

Rise in demand for luxury vehicles, integration of connectivity and advanced features in vehicles, and need to offer improved customer convenience and comfort have boosted the growth of the global hands-free power liftgate market. However, high initial cost and degradation of sensing mechanisms over time hinder the market growth. On the contrary, rise in adoption of electric and autonomous vehicles and technological advancements are expected to open new opportunities for the market players in the future.

Download Report (220 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, Figures) at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/4089

Covid-19 scenario:

The Covid-19 pandemic created uncertainty in the market, leading to disruption of supply chain, shutdown of industries, and decline in overall production and sales of automotive vehicles.

The shortage of microchips and electrical components and disruption of supply chain hampered the manufacturing of hands-free power liftgate during lockdown. However, manufacturing activities are expected to get back on track post-lockdown.

The passenger cars segment dominated the market

By vehicle type, the passenger cars segment held the largest share in 2020, accounting for more than 90% of the global hands-free power liftgate market. In addition, the segment is estimated to register the highest CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period, owing to high demand for passenger vehicles and need for comfort and luxury to enhance driving experience. The report includes analysis of the commercial vehicles segment.

Request for Customization at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/4089

The aftermarket segment to portray the highest CAGR through 2030

By sales channel, the aftermarket segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 8.4% from 2021 to 2030, owing to focus on integrating advanced features into vehicles to enhance passenger experience and comfort. However, the OEM segment held the largest share in 2020, contributing to more than 90% of the global hands-free power liftgate market, due to rise in demand for hands-free power liftgate by consumers for increased comfort.

North America to manifest the highest CAGR by 2030

By region, the market across North America is expected to register the highest CAGR of 9.0% during the forecast period, due to rise in sale of luxury vehicles and integration of connectivity and advanced features in vehicles. However, the global hands-free power liftgate market across Asia-Pacific dominated in 2020, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the market, due to demand for premium cars & advanced features in vehicles, increased disposable income in countries such as India & China, and rise in development of autonomous vehicles in the region.

Interested to Procure the Data with Actionable Strategy & Insights? Inquire here at https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/4089

Major market players

Aisin Corporation

Autoease Technology

Brose Fahrzeugteile SE & Co. KG

Continental AG

Hi-Lex Corporation

Huf Hulsbeck & Furst GmbH & Co.

Johnson Holdings Limited

Magna International Inc.

Stabilus GmbH

Woodbine Manufacturing Co. Inc. ( Tommy Gate )

Purchase Full Research Report Now! https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/cf10358c7f4d013f5ab6319796369361

Similar Reports We Have on Automotive Industry:

Automotive Tailgate Market by Type (Hydraulic/Manual Operated and Power Operated), Vehicle Type (Passenger Vehicle and Commercial Vehicle), and Sales Channel (Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Aftermarket): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20192030.

Automotive Door Frame Market by Type (Front Door, Rear Door, and Tailgate), by Material (Iron, Steel, Aluminum, Magnesium, Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoset, and Carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic), by Vehicle Type (Passenger Cars and Commercial Vehicles), and by Sales Channel (OEM and Aftermarket): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202030.

Automotive Door Check Market by Application (Side Door Latch, Hood Latch, Tailgate Latch, and Back Seat Latch), Lock Type (Electronic Latch and Non-Electronic Latch), Vehicle (Passenger Vehicles and Commercial Vehicles), and Sales Channel (Aftermarket and OEM): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212027.

Automotive Closure Market for EV & ICE by Application (Power-Window, Sunroof, Tailgate, Convertible Roof, Sliding Door, and Side Door), Component (Switch, ECU, Latch, Motor/Actuator, and Relay), Type (Manual and Powered), and Vehicle Type (Passenger Vehicle, Light Commercial Vehicle, Heavy Commercial Vehicle, BEV, PHEC, and HEV): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212030.

Automotive Door Hinges Market by Hinge Type (Butt, Concealed, Continuous, Latch, Slip Apart, Scissor, Spring, Weld-On, Die-Cast, Strap and Others), Material (Steel, Aluminum, Composites and Others), Vehicle Type (Passenger Vehicles and Commercial Vehicles), Application (Front Door Hinge, Rear Door Hinge, Tailgate Hinge, Bonnet Hinge and Others), Sales Channel (OEM and Aftermarket): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20212030.

About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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SEOUL, South Korea, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Following announcement covered by Hankyung.com, Hanteo Global is a company that attracts attention with its differentiated services by combining K-pop and data technology. They are a startup company using artificial intelligence for big data in music and have been selected as a "Baby Unicorn Enterprise" by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development (KISED), showing fast growth and promising potential. Their main services include the real-time music chart "Hanteo Chart" and a mobile application "Whosfan," and the company is also operating Hanteo News and Whosfan Cafe.

https://img.hankyung.com/pdsdata/pr.hankyung.com/uploads/2022/02/20220301_01.jpg

(Photo: Hanteo Global at the CES 2022)

Hanteo Chart is a real-time music chart based on technology that collects and processes album sales data in real-time. Its technology collects and analyzes data from social media, portals, and broadcasts, and they have also introduced an accelerating business model for K-pop artists. Furthermore, they applied the HATS (Hanteo Aided Tracking System) model, which creates global album charts by directly authenticating K-pop fans.

Whosfan is a mobile application that enables global voting events based on blockchain voting technology and large-volume traffic distributed processing technology. It has become an essential app among K-pop fans, attracting 6.4 million global subscribers within one year of its official launch.

Hanteo Global introduced Hanteo Chart and Whosfan at the CES 2022 (Consumer Electronics Show), the world's largest IT and home appliance fair, held in Las Vegas from Jan 5th ~ Jan 8th. They promoted the excellence of K-pop and attracted visitors' attention with their differentiated technology and strong business model.

Hanteo Global's technological prowess has been recognized in Korea by receiving the Ministry of Science and ICT Award for 2021 DATA-Global overseas expansion. They also received the Minister of Science and ICT Award for the 2021 SW High Growth Club 200, which honors high-growth companies, in recognition of their future growth potential.

An official from Hanteo Global said, "We had an obligation to show the status and excellent business model of K-pop at international fairs. This year we will make additional advances by introducing new services including a vertical commerce business specializing in K-pop."

SOURCE Hankyung.com
In 2022, and thereafter, Havenpark will expand the program, pledging at least $500,000 annually to support the scholarships and other education initiatives on a recurring basis. This unique program is an opportunity for Havenpark Community residents to receive competitive financial awards of up to $10,000 per year that can be used towards postsecondary educational expenses for colleges, universities, trade, and vocational schools.

"Havenpark's mission is to create caring communities and this scholarship program is one of the signature ways that we are delivering on that mission for our residents," says J. Anthony Antonelli, Chairman and Co-Founder of Havenpark Communities. "I grew up in a mobile home park and faced several educational barriers during my own childhood. I know, firsthand, the importance of postsecondary education as a means to improve opportunities and quality of life."

The financial support is making a meaningful difference in the lives of our two scholarship recipients. Catherine had always planned to attend college, though she is now able to focus on her studies and less on finances as a result of the scholarship. "I don't have to work long hours to get money to pay for school," Catherine said.

Matthew said he learned of the scholarship from the manager of his Havenpark community in southern Indiana after he had already been accepted to college and was figuring out how to pay its costs. He said it has made a huge impact, particularly with the high costs of food and books, in addition to tuition. "It could be the difference between someone going to college or not," he said, adding that he would recommend others apply for Havenpark's annual scholarship.

"We are extremely proud and excited for Matt and Catherine," said Dr. Jason Hale, Havenpark's Director of Education Success. "They will also be part of our new mentoring program which will aid them in their success and provide more structured support throughout their academic journey."

Hale keeps in regular contact with both recipients through calls and texts and hopes to see that network of Havenpark scholars continue to grow as more residents become aware of the opportunity.

The program will greatly expand in 2022. Havenpark received many promising applicants for this year's awards and scholarship winners are expected to be announced later this month. In order to be eligible, applicants must be residents of a Havenpark Community, or have parents who are residents.

The scholarship program is just the beginning of the work Havenpark will do to advance educational success for its residents. Hale and his team intend to create additional academic support and college access programs across Havenpark's communities in the coming months.

For more information on the Havenpark scholarship program please visit the education page of Havenpark's website: https://havenparkcommunities.com/education/

Havenpark Communities is an operator and developer of manufactured home communities and makes caring communities attainable for responsible residents across America. Havenpark Communities believes in respectful and professional management, well-maintained communities, and attainable homeownership. Havenpark Communities makes long-term investments in its communities, providing enduring value for current and future residents.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Jenny Werwa

[email protected]

SOURCE Havenpark Communities
BANGALORE, India, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Healthcare Fabrics Market is Segmented By Type (Polypropylene, Polyester, Viscose, Polyamide), By Application (Hygiene, Dressing, Clothing, Curtains, Blanket & Bedding). The report covers global opportunity analysis and industry forecasts from 2023 to 2028.

The Healthcare Fabrics market was valued at USD 9972 million in 2022, and it is anticipated to reach USD 13590 million by 2028, registering a CAGR of about 5.3% during the forecast period (20232028).

Major Factors Driving The Growth Of The Healthcare Fabrics Market Are :

The rising consumer awareness of hygiene products, combined with the improved quality of healthcare fabrics, is driving the growth of the healthcare fabrics market.

Furthermore, properties, such as their ability to reduce the spread of drug-resistant bacteria, viral, and blood-borne diseases, are expected to drive healthcare fabrics' market growth.

Healthcare Fabrics' ability to be tailored to medical specifications and requirements, as well as their environmentally friendly nature, which allows them to be disposed of without harming the environment, is expected to fuel the healthcare fabrics market's growth.

Get your sample today: https://reports.valuates.com/request/sample/QYRE-Othe-4N455/Healthcare_Fabrics_Market

Trends Influencing The Growth Of The Healthcare Fabrics Market:

Hygiene products, such as baby diapers and sanitary napkins, are the most common use of healthcare fabrics. The healthcare fabrics market is expected to be driven by increased spending on personal hygiene items such as sanitary napkins, baby diapers, and adult diapers, as well as continued technological advancements aimed at improving quality and performance parameters. Many manufacturers are focusing heavily on promotions and advertising to raise consumer awareness of this hygiene product.

Due to the rising number of hospitalizations, healthcare fabrics are primarily used in hospitals to prevent the spread and spread of bacterial diseases. This in turn is expected to further boost the healthcare fabric market growth. Nonwoven fabrics made of polyester and polypropylene are two of the most common types. Needle punching is used to create polyester nonwoven fabrics. These fabrics have a good heat setting ability, excellent elasticity, high wet strength, and good drape. These fabrics are also resistant to humidity changes and retain their physical properties when wet. Medical/surgical gowns, masks, and drapes all contain them.

Browse the Table of Contents and List of figures at: https://reports.valuates.com/reports/QYRE-Othe-4N455/healthcare-fabrics

Healthcare Fabrics Market Share Analysis:

Based on region, Asia Pacific is expected to be the most lucrative region because of the rising use of female hygiene products in countries such as India, China, and others.

Based on type, polypropylene is expected to be the most lucrative. It is in high demand for the production of hygiene products such as baby diapers and sanitary napkins. Furthermore, the use of non-woven polypropylene fabric to add layers to face masks to improve filtration has grown in popularity.

Based on application, the hygiene segment accounted for the largest share of the healthcare fabrics market, owing to increased global demand for sanitary napkins and baby diapers.

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Key Market Players:

Designtex

Brentano

Arc-Com

Knoll

Carnegie Fabrics

Kimberly-Clark

Avgol Industries

Maharam Fabric

Architex International

Paramount Tech Fab Industries

Advanced Fabrics

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SIMILAR REPORTS

- The global Smart Fabrics and Textiles market size is estimated to be worth USD 4187.2 Million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 11020 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 17.5% during the review period.

- The global Medical Fabrics market size is estimated to be worth USD 60 Million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 87 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 6.5% during the review period.

- The global Disposable Medical Textiles market size is estimated to be worth USD 6077.6 Million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 9223.6 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 7.2% during the review period.

- The global Medical Nonwovens market size is estimated to be worth USD 3234.1 Million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 4459.4 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 5.5% during the review period.

- The global Industrial Protective Clothing Fabric market size is estimated to be worth USD 9122.8 Million in 2022 and is forecast to be a readjusted size of USD 12510 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 5.4% during the review period.

- The global Nonwoven Fabrics for Medical Protective Clothing market size is estimated to be worth USD 371.9 Million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 470.5 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 4.0% during the review period.

- The India disposable protective clothing market was valued at USD 448.2 Million in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 1,426.2 Million by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 15.5% from 2020 to 2027.

- The global Alcohol Free Disinfectant Wipes market size is estimated to be worth USD 1843.8 Million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 2660.2 Million by 2028 with a CAGR of 6.3% during the review period

- The global personal hygiene market was valued at USD 508.5 Billion in 2020 and is projected to reach USD 720.7 Billion by 2030 registering a CAGR of 3.6% from 2021 to 2030.

- Global Medical Protective Clothing Market Insights and Forecast to 2028

- Global Protective Clothing Fabrics Market Insights and Forecast to 2028

- Global Polypropylene Fiber for Nonwoven Fabrics Sales Market Report 2021

- Global Medical Device Outsourcing Market Insights and Forecast to 2028

To see the full list of related reports on the Healthcare Fabrics

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ZUG, Switzerland, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hypery, a European NFT start-up in the music industry and Concordium, a public, proof-of-stake blockchain with a built-in identification layer to meet the regulatory requirements, announce today a cooperation set to revolutionize the future of distribution in the music industry by offering artists the opportunity to offer their music as NFT (non-fungible tokens).

The music industry has been traditionally one sided in terms of distribution. In return for promoting, distributing and advertising music, the labels could enjoy major returns on investment, while the artists themselves received limited payment in the form of royalties. In the transition to the digital world with various streaming services, the underlying distribution issues remain the same with many middlemen operating and benefitting from the artists. In fact, it is estimated that musicians enjoy only 12% of the music industry's revenues.

Hypery is building the world's first music NFT `store', open to artists across Europe and the globe. With the help of Hypery, artists will be able to sell direct-to-consumer whether it be a general release, an acoustic track, a concert recording, or a backstage experience. This is set to create a fair ecosystem for music creators that will enjoy a more transparent and democratic share of income, without middlemen and `corporate-centric for-profit' approach. Moreover, with Hypery tokens, the fan base can also benefit from the growth of their favorite artist. Hypery's creators become self-sovereign by joining the ecosystem.

This offers completely new opportunities to express oneself artistically, and also new commercial opportunities and greater engagement with fans and followers. Hypery offers an additional earnings channel for the benefit of both artists, fans and record companies.

Lone Fnss Schrder, CEO, Concordium, commented: "Music distribution has traditionally been a touchy subject for many artists. With the help of blockchain technology, we can ensure that artists will have greater control in the distribution and of the proceeds of their passion. Concordium has set its sights on bringing blockchain to the masses. This is just one of the many use cases we have lined up for our ecosystem."

Karl Oliver Goedicke, CEO, Hypery, commented: "We are delighted to be working with Concordium. In Concordium we have found a business partner, and a platform for turning our dream into reality. Concordium's unique identity protocol ensures compliance, accountability and trust."

Concordium, based in Switzerland, is defining a new category of compliance facilitating blockchains. Concordium is a Web 3.0 based, sustainable and science-proven blockchain. It is the first decentralized blockchain with identification at the protocol level which helps facilitate regulatory compliance. This identity layer offers transactional privacy while supporting regulatory accountability, and, as such, is a great match with use cases of this nature.

Concordium and Hypery share a common vision of a legitimate and secure ecosystem in which every right holder (or artist) receives their fair share of proceeds. The first exciting artists have already joined the Hypery platform including: Ida Corr who has been streamed 2.5B+ times to date on TikTok, and DJ's Boilers and DJ Thoby and many more.

CONTACT:

Media Contact

Sigal Biran-Nagar

VP Marketing

[email protected]

+972 54 9222 634

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/concordium/r/hypery-and-concordium-set-to-bring-the-music-industry-into-the-web3-era,c3518180

SOURCE Concordium
TORONTO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Info-Tech Research Group, a global IT research and advisory firm, has published new service desk research blueprint that will enable organizations to leverage service desk ticket data to gain insight on how to improve operations.

Organizations that leverage a data-driven approach to their service desk can efficiently allocate resources and communicate their current and future value of the service desk to the business.

"Service desks can improve their services by leveraging ticket data to inform their actions," explains Research Analyst Benedict Chang. "However, many organizations don't know where to start. It's tempting to wait for perfect data, but there's a lot of value in analyzing your ticket data as it exists today. Start small. Track key tension metrics based on the out-of-the-box functionality in your existing service desk tool. Review the metrics regularly to stay on track."

Slow and steady improvements of the service desk can add business value and positively impact customer satisfaction. Some of the benefits outlined in this new research are as follows:

IT Benefits  The discovery and implementation of proper metrics to improve the service desk, as well as increased visibility within the business and other IT departments in a structured manner. Business Benefits  More effective support and quicker resolutions to incidents and service requests, as well as better visibility into the current state, challenges, and goals of the service desk.

"By reviewing your ticket data, you're going to get better organically," adds Chang. "You're going to learn about the state of your environment, the health of your processes, and the quality of your services. Regularly analyze your data to drive improvements."

The research blueprint includes Info-Tech's methodology for a data-driven approach to service desk optimization. The firm recommends continuous analysis of ticket data to improve the service desk. The data-driven recommendation will:

Reduce noise and allow for the standardization of ticket data in a format that will ease analysis.

Define ticket expectations and keep data up to date.

Implement low-effort improvements for quick successes.

Create better communication of findings to the business through a data-driven approach

To learn more about Info-Tech Research Group and to download all our latest research, visit www.infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

For more research and insights, media professionals are encouraged to register for Info-Tech's Media Insiders program. This complimentary program provides unrestricted, on-demand access to IT, HR, and software industry content and the ability to speak with subject-matter experts from a group of over 200 research analysts. To register for access, contact [email protected].

Supporting Resources

Download the Analyze your Service Desk Ticket Data blueprint.

About Info-Tech Research Group

Info-Tech Research Group is the world's fastest-growing information technology research and advisory firm, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. Info-Tech partners closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

Media Contact

Sufyan Al-Hassan, Senior PR Coordinator

Info-Tech Research Group

[email protected] | +1 (888) 670-8889 x2418

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group
DUBLIN, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Data Center Switch Market (2021-2026) by Type, Technology Bandwidth, End User, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Global Data Center Switch Market is estimated to be USD 15.2 Bn in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 19.9 Bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 5.6%.



Advancement in cloud computing, edge computing, government regulations regarding localization of data centers, and increasing demand for data is significant development assisting the data center switch market. The rise of artificial intelligence, virtual reality systems, and 5G networks has boosted the number of data centers, propelling the data center switch market forward.

Furthermore, technological advancements in various devices, such as smartphones and smart TVs, are driving demand for advanced connection and better networking solutions. An increase in internet multimedia content and web applications is anticipated to further fuel the market growth. Some variables, such as the availability of virtual switches, may impact market growth.



The increasing demand for faster speeds, bandwidth, and lower latency is expected to generate untapped opportunities for market participants.

Company Profiles

Some of the companies covered in this report are Huawei Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Arista Networks, Juniper Networks, AT&T, Lenovo, Nokia, Nvidia, etc.



Countries Studied

America ( Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Chile , Colombia , Mexico , Peru , United States , Rest of Americas)

, , , , , , , , Rest of Americas) Europe ( Austria , Belgium , Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Russia , Spain , Sweden , Switzerland , United Kingdom , Rest of Europe )

( , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Middle-East and Africa ( Egypt , Israel , Qatar , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Rest of MEA)

and ( , , , , , , Rest of MEA) Asia-Pacific ( Australia , Bangladesh , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , Singapore , South Korea , Sri Lanka , Thailand , Taiwan , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Data Center Switch Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Market Size and Segmentation

3.3 Market Outlook



4 Market Influencers

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Increases in Demand of Data Center Management

4.1.2 Government Regulations Regarding Localization of Data Centers

4.1.3 Surge in Internet Multimedia Content and Web Applications

4.1.4 Advancement in Edge Computing and Cloud Computing

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Data Center Operational Cost

4.2.2 Presence of Self-Reliant Enhanced Servers

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Surges in Demand for Smart Devices

4.3.2 Increasing Investments in Data Center

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Presence of Substitute

4.4.2 Complex Architecture and Compatibility Issues



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.2 Impact of COVID-19

5.3 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Data Center Switch Market, By Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Core Switches

6.3 Distribution Switches

6.4 Access Switches



7 Global Data Center Switch Market, By Technology

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Ethernet

7.3 Fiber Channel

7.4 Infiniband



8 Global Data Center Switch Market, By Bandwidth

8.1 Introduction

8.2 ?1 GBPS

8.3 >1 GBPS to ?10 GBPS

8.4 >10 GBPS to ?40 GBPS

8.5 >40 GBPS



9 Global Data Center Switch Market, By End User

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Enterprises

9.3 Telecommunication Industry

9.4 Government Organizations

9.5 Cloud Service Providers



10 Global Data Center Switch Market, By Geography



11 Competitive Landscape

11.1 Competitive Quadrant

11.2 Market Share Analysis

11.3 Strategic Initiatives

11.3.1 M&A and Investments

11.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

11.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



12 Company Profiles

12.1 Arista Networks

12.2 Aruba Networks

12.3 AT&T

12.4 Centec Networks

12.5 Cisco Systems

12.6 Dell EMC

12.7 D-Link

12.8 Extreme Networks

12.9 H3c Technologies

12.10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise

12.11 Huawei Technologies

12.12 Juniper Networks

12.13 Lenovo

12.14 Marvell

12.15 Nokia

12.16 Nvidia

12.17 Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT)

12.18 Ruijie Networks

12.19 Silicom

12.20 ZTE



13 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/vhsdpe

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

Laura Wood, Senior Manager

[email protected]



For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900



U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904

Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

SOURCE Research and Markets
SEATTLE, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Blood pressure measurements routinely taken at home are more likely to provide the basis for accurate diagnoses of hypertension than those taken in a clinic setting, according to a new study led by Kaiser Permanente investigators.

The findings come from a randomized controlled trial of 510 adults who visited one of 12 Kaiser Permanente primary care centers in Western Washington between 2017 and 2019 published today in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

"Blood pressure varies a lot over the day  about 30 points systolic  and 1 or 2 measurements in clinic may not reflect your average blood pressure," said Beverly B. Green, MD, MPH, the study's first author, who is a senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute and a physician at Washington Permanente Medical Group. "Home blood pressure monitoring allows you to collect many more readings and average these."

To conduct the study, researchers used electronic health records to identify potential participants who were at high risk of having hypertension based on a recent clinic visit. They then randomly divided the participants into 3 groups based on the method for obtaining follow-up blood pressure measurements: in clinic, at home, or at kiosks in medical clinics or pharmacies.

In addition to these measures, every participant received 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, or ABPM, the gold standard test for making a new diagnosis of hypertension. ABPM uses a full upper-arm cuff connected to a waist-carried device that is worn continuously for 24 hours and inflates every 20 to 30 minutes during the day and every 30 to 60 minutes at night. ABPM provides the most precise diagnostic information but is not available for widespread use. The researchers were able to determine the accuracy of the 3 other methods by comparing their results with the ABPM results.

The study found:

Blood pressure readings taken at home were consistent with ABPM

Blood pressure readings based on follow-up clinic visits were significantly lower for the systolic measure, leading to over half of the people with hypertension based on ABPM being missed

Blood pressure readings from kiosks were significantly higher than measures based on ABPM, resulting in a higher likelihood of overdiagnosis of hypertension

"Home blood pressure monitoring was a better option, because it was more accurate than clinic blood pressure readings," Dr. Green said. "Furthermore, a companion study found that patients preferred taking their blood pressure at home." The companion study findings were presented at an American Heart Association Hypertension meeting.

The number of people in the United States with undiagnosed hypertension is likely to be in the millions. One recent analysis published in JAMA estimated that 23% of U.S. adults with high blood pressure were unaware that they had the condition and were not receiving treatment.

Proper diagnosis of hypertension can save a patient's life. When hypertension is identified, physicians will typically prescribe medication to lower blood pressure. Without treatment, hypertension can cause heart attack, stroke, and kidney damage, among other problems.

Current guidelines for diagnosing hypertension recommend that patients who have high blood pressure readings in clinic have another test to confirm the results. While the guidelines recommend ABPM or home blood pressure monitoring before making a hypertension diagnosis, research shows that providers continue to use in-clinic measurement when conducting the second reading.

While previous studies have found similar benefits to home blood pressure reading, this one may offer the most powerful evidence to date because of its large number of participants, its involvement of primary care clinics, and its use of real-world practitioners to take blood pressure measures instead of research personnel. Also, this study is the first to compare kiosk and ABPM results.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.5 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery, and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health. For more information, go to about.kp.org

For more information, contact:

Lauren Davitt, [email protected], 212-886-2228

Caroline Liou, [email protected], 206-200-4512

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente
MINNEAPOLIS, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Women with migraine may have a higher risk of pregnancy complications like preterm delivery, gestational high blood pressure and preeclampsia, according to a preliminary study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 74th Annual Meeting being held in person in Seattle, April 2 to 7, 2022 and virtually, April 24 to 26, 2022. Researchers also found that women with migraine with aura may have a somewhat higher risk of preeclampsia than women with migraine without aura. Auras are sensations that come before the headache, often visual disturbances such as flashing lights. Preeclampsia involves high blood pressure with additional symptoms, such as protein in the urine, during pregnancy, which can threaten the life of the mother and baby.

"Roughly 20% of women of childbearing age experience migraine, but the impact of migraine on pregnancy outcomes has not been well understood," said study author Alexandra Purdue-Smithe, Ph.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "Our large prospective study found links between migraine and pregnancy complications that could help inform doctors and women with migraine of potential risks they should be aware of during pregnancy."

For the study, researchers looked at more than 30,000 pregnancies in roughly 19,000 women over a 20-year period. Of those pregnancies, 11% of the women reported that they were diagnosed by a doctor with migraine before pregnancy.

Researchers examined women's complications during pregnancy such as preterm delivery, defined as a baby born before 37 weeks gestation, gestational diabetes, gestational high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and low birthweight.

After adjusting for age, obesity, and other behavioral and health factors that could affect the risk of complications, researchers found that when compared to women without migraine, women with migraine had a 17% higher risk of preterm delivery, a 28% higher risk of gestational high blood pressure, and a 40% higher risk of preeclampsia. Of the 3,881 pregnancies among women with migraine, 10% were delivered preterm, compared to 8% of the pregnancies among women without migraine. For gestational high blood pressure, 7% of pregnancies among women with migraine developed this condition compared to 5% among pregnancies in women without migraine. For preeclampsia, 6% of pregnancies among women with migraine experienced it, compared to 3% of pregnancies among women who did not have migraine.

In addition, when looking at migraine with and without aura, women who had migraine with aura were 51% more likely to develop preeclampsia during pregnancy than women without migraine, while those who had migraine without aura were 29% more likely.

Researchers found that migraine was not associated with gestational diabetes or low birthweight.

"While the risks of these complications are still quite low overall, women with a history of migraine should be aware of and consult with their doctor on potential pregnancy risks," said Purdue-Smithe. "More research is needed to determine exactly why migraine may be associated with higher risks of complications. In the meantime, women with migraine may benefit from closer monitoring during pregnancy so that complications like preeclampsia can be identified and managed as soon as possible."

A limitation of the study was that although migraine history was reported prior to pregnancy, information on migraine aura was not collected until later in the study, after many of the pregnancies ended. So the findings for migraine aura may have been influenced by participants' ability to accurately remember their experiences. Another limitation is that information on migraine attack frequency and other migraine features was not available. Additional studies will be needed to address these limitations and better inform how pregnant women with a history of migraine should be screened and monitored for potential pregnancy complications.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more about migraine at BrainandLife.org, home of the American Academy of Neurology's free patient and caregiver magazine focused on the intersection of neurologic disease and brain health. Follow Brain & Life on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

When posting to social media channels about this research, we encourage you to use the American Academy of Neurology's Annual Meeting hashtag #AANAM.

The American Academy of Neurology is the world's largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals, with over 38,000 members. The AAN is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, concussion, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit AAN.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

SOURCE American Academy of Neurology
OAKLAND, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente has launched an employee and physician giving campaign to help with the urgent Ukrainian refugee crisis for physicians and employees who wish to personally support organizations helping with the relief effort, providing refugees with food, shelter, warm clothing, medical care, and supplies. Employees and physicians can choose to support these efforts by donating to any of 3 organizations selected by Kaiser Permanente, and the nonprofit integrated health care organization will match individual donations dollar for dollar, up to a total of $200,000.

The program was announced March 1, and in less than 2 days employees and physicians donated more than $200,000 in relief funds, ensuring the organization will contribute at least $400,000 for Ukraine relief. Donations continue to come in to support the 3 nonprofit relief organizations included in this matching effort, who are all providing direct aid: Direct Relief, Global Empowerment Mission, and World Central Kitchen. They were chosen based on a successful track record in disaster situations, and all 3 are on the ground in the region working to assist the refugees.

"Kaiser Permanente's mission compels us to take action in response to the events unfolding in Eastern Europe. We are deeply saddened for the people in Ukraine, and for the loss of lives, destruction of communities, and displacement of families," said Greg A. Adams, chair and chief executive officer, Kaiser Permanente. "This worsening humanitarian crisis merits our immediate response. We ask that you join us with your donations and solidarity for the people in Ukraine. This is a moment and cause that connects us regardless of our background or ethnicity. This is a time for unity, and for us to stand together as an industry and as a nation."

The war in Ukraine already has caused more than 1 million refugees to leave the country and stream into neighboring nations. The United Nations estimates a total of 4 million people will eventually leave the country in the coming weeks. The scale of the humanitarian crisis is expanding significantly, and disaster relief agencies are struggling to meet the needs. While neighboring countries are welcoming the refugees, they are overwhelmed by their numbers.

The damage caused by this conflict continues to change every day. Kaiser Permanente will continue to closely monitor the situation as it continues to develop.

Kaiser Permanente has physicians and employees who have ties to Ukraine, Russia, and other countries in the region. Many of the people in the communities we serve also have connections to those affected by the war. This diversity is a source of strength and provides an opportunity to seek mutual understanding, offer support, and work together for a better future.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and nonprofit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.5 million members in 8 states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists, and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health. For more information, go to about.kp.org .

Contact: Marc Brown

[email protected]

510-407-2592

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente
LVIV, Ukraine, March 3 (Xinhua) -- "I hope it could be over soon, and my baby will be born in peaceful time," Nadia Pletenna, a local mother-to-be in Lviv, told Xinhua in a shelter of Ukrainian Catholic University.

Pletenna, who is expected to deliver her child in late March, was resting on a couch with her husband amidst a group of students and volunteers. A short while ago, they were outside arranging and packing supplies for displaced people when an air raid siren pierced the air in this westernmost Ukrainian city.

The ongoing conflicts have displaced numerous people. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, an estimated 4 million people may flee Ukraine in the coming weeks and months.

While many fled Kiev and used Lviv as a conduit for safety, those who stayed and local residents were quickly adapting to the massive upheavals.

There was an almost peaceful atmosphere in the university's underground shelter. A white-haired lady was on a chair in the corner, absorbed in a book. A girl was holding a plate, finishing her last bite of food. And yet many other young people were sitting or lying on the floor, with their eyes fixed on cell phone screens.

Classes have been suspended on campus since the conflicts intensified. As a university staff member, Pletenna has been helping distribute supplies.

Though somewhat disturbed by the loud blaring sound of the sirens, she touched her belly and was cheered at the thought of herself becoming a mother. She said her name, Nadia, means hope, and she hopes that the fighting will stop and life return to normal.

Supermarkets and pharmacies remain open, but some restaurants and shopping centers are closed. Vladysav Rozental, a young man from Kiev, walked in a Thai restaurant.

He is a logistics manager sheltering in Lviv after businesses of his company came to a stop due to the conflicts.

The 24-year-old planned to be reunited in Lviv with his girlfriend, who was leaving the capital city. With his eyes shining with happiness, he showed Xinhua photos of his beloved one.

"Lviv is a very good city to live," he said, expressing hope that the conflicts "can be over as fast as possible." While waiting for the end of the fighting, he said he wants to write a romance during his stay in Lviv.

After Russia and Ukraine concluded their first round of negotiations in Belarus on Monday with no clear breakthrough, the second round of talks are expected to be held on the Belarus-Poland border soon.

For many civilians in Lviv, lending a helping hand to each other is the best way to spread hope.

Lviv National Art Gallery has been turned into a temporary site for supply donation and distribution.

Serhii Hirilovich, a mobile game developer, contributed some clothes and diapers. "I want to help people," he said.

A few days ago, he drove to the border and sent his wife and children to Poland. He voiced hope that peace will be restored. "I want peace, and I hope my wife and children will be back home."

Alina, who came from Kiev and did not give her surname, has been donating food at the site everyday, while her child has been a volunteer. "We will be home," she said. 
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Koibito Poke, the leading healthy, fast casual concept known for its award-winning, build-your-own Hawaiian poke bowls, announced today the opening of its newest location in Charlotte, North Carolina. Located at 4701 Park Road, Suite B, the new franchise location is expected to open in July 2022.

Koibito Poke Bowls Koibito Poke

"We are excited to bring our award-winning poke concept to North Carolina," says Todd Stottlemyre, Co-Founder and CEO of Koibito Poke. "It's our passion to bring fresh, healthy, and accessible dining to cities around the country, and we are thrilled to be introducing our concept to the Southeast."



The new 1,469 square-foot location in Charlotte will feature similar design elements of its flagship locations, with indoor and outdoor seating to accommodate approximately 30 guests both inside and outside. The franchise's open visibility model gives customers easy access to direct views of the menu and ready-to-serve ingredients. Koibito Poke offers a customizable build-your-own bowl experience that allows each diner to make every bowl to their liking with the freshest seafood, toppings, and nine unique sauces. The award-winning concept also serves a handful of Signature Bowls for an easier selection.

"We are excited to partner up with Koibito's world class team," says franchisee, Adam Daniel. "The Koibito team's heart, passion, and brilliant business execution is contagious. Our family values are aligned with the company's mission and we are blessed to bring this award-winning Hawaiian poke concept to Charlotte and throughout the Carolinas. We will have the opportunity to serve thousands of residents, employees, and students in this highly accessible location. We expect this to be a staple in the community for years to come."



Koibito Poke recently partnered with True Capital Partners LLC to expand the brand from metropolitan Phoenix area to over 300 locations in eight states, including North Carolina. The company anticipates the first 120 stores will be in place in the next 24-30 months with this new partnership.

Koibito Poke, which currently has four locations in Arizona, sets itself apart from other fast casual concepts by serving healthy food that has great advantages to building the body's immune system. The company is committed to creating a new standard of excellence in healthy, nutritious, and delicious dining in the Poke space.

For more information on Koibito Poke and its franchise offerings, visit https://koibitopoke.com/franchise or follow them on social media @koibito.poke.



About Koibito Poke:

Founded in 2018, Koibito Poke is the leading Arizona poke restaurant, influenced by traditional Hawaiian and Japanese flavors and ingredients. Koibito Poke (Koibito meaning "love" in Japanese) to show their bodies some love  by providing them with fresh, clean whole foods that are good for them and taste good, too. Koibito Poke is co-founded by former MLB Pitcher and three-time World Champion, and two times bestselling author, Todd Stottlemyre, who has led the brand's expansion throughout Arizona. The restaurant is expanding its concept with franchises across the country. For more information, visit https://koibitopoke.com/.

Media Contact:

Robyn Patterson

480-242-8001

[email protected]

SOURCE Koibito Poke
MainStreet Bank is a community bank that serves the greater Washington D.C., metropolitan area. The Company has $1.65 billion in assets and $189 million in stockholders' equity as of December 31, 2021. The Company is focused on using technology to best serve its customer base, and also offers a high personal touch to those who aren't as comfortable using technology.

ABOUT MAINSTREET BANK: MainStreet Bank will launch its proprietary Fintech Banking as a Service (BaaS) solution called Avenu later this year to provide a comprehensive solution for the Fintech community. Go to Avenu.bank for more information and to join the queue.

MainStreet operates six branches in Herndon, Fairfax, McLean, Leesburg, Clarendon, and Washington D.C. MainStreet Bank has 55,000 free ATMs and a fully integrated online and mobile banking solution. The Bank is not restricted by a conventional branching system, as it can offer business customers the ability to Put Our Bank in Your Office. With robust and easy-to-use online business banking technology, MainStreet has "put our bank" in thousands of businesses in the metropolitan area.

MainStreet Bank has a robust line of business and professional lending products, including government contracting lines of credit, commercial lines and term loans, residential and commercial construction, and commercial real estate. MainStreet also works with the SBA to offer 7A and 504 lending solutions. From sophisticated cash management to enhanced mobile banking and instant-issue Debit Cards, MainStreet Bank is always looking for ways to improve our customer's experience.

MainStreet Bank was the first community bank in the Washington, DC metropolitan area to offer a full online business banking solution. MainStreet Bank was also the first bank headquartered in the Commonwealth of Virginia to offer CDARS  a solution that provides multi-million-dollar FDIC insurance. Further information on the Bank can be obtained by visiting its website at MainStreet.bank.

This release may contain forward-looking statements, including our expectations with respect to future events that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "could," "should," "expect," "plan," "project," "intend," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "pursuant," "target," "continue," and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations include: fluctuation in market rates of interest and loan and deposit pricing, adverse changes in the overall national economy as well as adverse economic conditions in our specific market areas, future impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, maintenance and development of well-established and valued client relationships and referral source relationships, and acquisition or loss of key production personnel. We caution readers that the list of factors above is not exclusive. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release, and we may not undertake steps to update the forward-looking statements to reflect the impact of any circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statements are made. In addition, our past results of operations are not necessarily indicative of future performance.

Contact: Jeff W. Dick, Chairman & CEO

(703) 481-4567

SOURCE MainStreet Bancshares, Inc.
IRVINE, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Approximately two out of three people over the age of 70 have difficulty hearing, increasing their risk of developing dementia, depression, and the likelihood of death. MBK Senior Living and Eversound have teamed up to lessen those odds. Today, on World Hearing Day, the companies announce their partnership to enhance resident hearing and engagement through Eversound listening systems and content-driven platform, Eversound member's portal.

Eversound's wireless listening system is designed specifically for seniors with hearing impairment or concentration issues. The Eversound headphone systems can be used in large groups, small groups, and one-on-one interactions. In addition to improving seniors' quality of life, Eversound technology helps break down communication barriers between others, aids residents in feeling connected, and supports social, educational, and physical endeavors.

According to Christy Van Der Westhuizen, vice president of sales and marketing for MBK Senior Living, lifestyle activities that can reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia are difficult for those with hearing loss. Seniors who find it hard to hear often are more withdrawn, intellectually understimulated, at risk for depression, and can negatively impact their memory and thinking systems by straining to hear.

"Residents who avoided activities because they couldn't hear instructions clearly or participate in conversations can now join in with ease using the Eversound headphones," said Van Der Westhuizen. "While we're in the initial roll-out stage at 34 MBK communities, what we're hearing from our Resident Enrichment Directors is music to our ears. There is an increase in resident participation in activities, and those that utilize the Eversound headphones are happier and more engaged."

A recent study published by Front Porch Center of Innovation and Wellness showed the efficacy of Eversound's ability to increase engagement, participation, and in some cases, mood by upwards of 60 percent.

Resident wellness has long been a component of MBK Senior Living's approach to care but utilizing technology helps to elevate the offerings and benefits to residents. MBK's Mind+Body Wellness program offers a robust calendar of social, spiritual, physical, and educational opportunities daily. From continuing education classes and book clubs, from group fitness to personal training, from scenic guided tours to cultural outings, the opportunities for MBK residents are as entertaining as they are impactful on brain health and overall wellness.

"Improving seniors' quality of life is a driving force behind Eversound technology," said Matt Reiners, co-founder of Eversound. "Partnering with MBK amplifies the number of lives we can touch and experiences we can impact."

"We are dedicated to improving the health and longevity of our residents. Through our partnership with Eversound, we can add value to residents' days, help them pursue passions, enhance their lifestyle and reduce cognitive decline," added Van Der Westhuizen.

About MBK Senior Living

Ranked among the Top 50 "Best Workplaces in Aging Services" by Fortune magazine, MBK Senior Living (MSL) owns and operates Independent Living, Assisted Living, and Memory Care services senior living communities throughout the Western United States. Based in Irvine, CA, MBK Senior Living is a subsidiary of MBK Real Estate LLC, which is supported by the vast financial strength and global resources of its parent company, Mitsui & Co., Ltd. For more information, please visit the company's website at mbkseniorliving.com or on Twitter and Facebook.

About Eversound

Eversound provides easy-to-use hearing solutions that enable senior living communities to combat the untreated hearing loss affecting 65% of their residents resulting in improved health and quality of life. Our enhanced wireless listening system is designed specifically for seniors with hearing impairment or concentration issues. The headphone systems can be used in large groups, small groups, and one-on-one interactions to address the untreated hearing loss throughout your community.

Our solution breaks down communication barriers between residents, their loved ones, and staff. This allows communities to deliver exceptional care and keep residents connected to what is most important to them. As part of your Eversound membership, you also receive access to our members portal, a growing library of 100s of different activity programming ideas, including recorded video programs and turn-key guided programming. For more information, visit eversoundhq.com.

Photos:

https://www.prlog.org/12907376

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE MBK Senior Living
RIVERSIDE, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP, (MWA)  a nationally recognized law firm specializing in Consumer Rights, Class Actions, and Financial Services  has filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Riverside County on behalf of a plaintiff alleging that County Supervisor, Jeffrey Hewitt, and his Chief of Staff, Matthew "Boomer" Shannon, sexually harassed and wrongfully terminated the plaintiff during her tenure as Legislative Assistant and Public Safety Liaison with the County of Riverside.

The plaintiff, Brenda Dennstedt, worked for the County of Riverside reporting to Hewitt and Shannon from March 2019 to October 2020. The complaint alleges that while the plaintiff was initially valued due to her extensive law enforcement experience and understanding of ethics, her ethical and policy advice allegedly fell on deaf ears. According to the claim, the plaintiff allegedly attempted to notify Shannon and Hewitt of policy and ethical violations, and concerns regarding sexual comments and conversations. Unfortunately, the pair allegedly closed ranks by shunning the plaintiff in the workplace, humiliating her, icing her out of her job duties, and ultimately, firing her for speaking out. The plaintiff has retained legal representation through MWA, which specializes in matters on behalf of employees in protected classifications.

The complaint alleges that, because Supervisor Jeffrey Hewitt is an elected official and Chief of Staff Shannon is Hewitt's appointed official, there is an expectation of honorable and ethical practice while in these roles. This is, allegedly, not the first complaint which has claimed that Hewitt and Shannon have fostered a hostile work environment. "[The plaintiff] was committed to helping the Supervisor conduct the people's business honorably and honestly. In response, she received resentment, roadblocks, and power plays by the County, through Mr. Shannon, and acquiescence by the Supervisor," remarks MWA Partner Joseph L. Richardson, "Ultimately, the expertise that she was hired to bring to the staff was not valued, and her recommendations based on her relevant knowledge brushed aside. She came to be seen as a threat to be eliminated, and not a worker dedicated to the Supervisor's success. We look forward to Ms. Dennstedt's day in court."

Partner Joseph Richardson leads a Practice Group that specializes in employment law and handles matters on behalf of those that have been harassed, retaliated against, and terminated against public policy. They have represented many women making claims of hostile workplace environment conditions.

About McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP: McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP has a deep history of success for its clients, including a $203 million verdict against Wells Fargo Bank, recovery of over $1 billion for its clients, and over 100 contingency cases with recovery of $1 million or more. MWA maintains California offices in Ontario, San Bernardino, Palm Desert, and Irvine and supports its national practice with offices in Arizona, Illinois and New Jersey. For over 30 years, MWA has successfully represented clients involved in general complex and commercial litigation, as well as personal injury and class action matters. Visit mccunewright.com for more information.

Media Contact:

909-233-7787

[email protected]



SOURCE McCune Wright Arevalo, LLP
DETROIT, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Last week, Eastpointe Middle School students participated in No One Eats Alone Day, a positive prevention initiative designed to promote inclusion and build a culture of belonging among students, with the help of Meridian Health Plan of Michigan.

Dozens of Eastpointe Middle School students participated in activities designed to teach them about social isolation and the negative impact it can have on health and academic performance. Students were able to participate in fun and engaging activities, paired with video demonstrations and promotional items for school staff to use with them. Representatives from Meridian hosted the hybrid event in honor of No One Eats Alone Day, created by the nonprofit Beyond Differences.

"At Meridian, we're committed to helping children lead healthier lives, and that includes providing them with safe environments to discuss challenges, especially amid COVID-19," said Sean Kendall Plan President & CEO. "We are proud to partner with Beyond Difference to celebrate No One Eats Alone Day and give students in Michigan the tools they need to remain focused on their health and social lives."

Social isolation affects millions of students and has been identified as a precursor to bullying, self-harm, and community violence. Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, promoting mental health has gained increased importance, as students deal with the additional stressors from the pandemic and quarantining. Through No One Eats Alone, students have shown that if they are given the tools, they will stand up for others as empathetic and caring activists, not passive bystanders.

"The last two years have been beyond challenging for students, particularly when it comes to their own mental health and well-being. No One Eats Alone is truly an exceptional Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum because our high school Teen Board has helped shape it, ensuring that it will resonate with middle schoolers. It contains all the activities they need to reconnect with classmates and create belonging for everyone," said Laura Talmus, co-founder and executive director of Beyond Differences.

Eastpointe Middle School joined thousands of schools across the country that celebrated No One Eats Alone Day. The initiative reached more than 1 million students in all 50 states.



No One Eats Alone Day is sponsored by the Centene Charitable Foundation.

About Meridian

Meridian in Michigan provides government-sponsored managed care services to families, children, seniors, and individuals with complex medical needs primarily through Medicaid (Meridian), Medicare Advantage (WellCare), Medicare-Medicaid Plans (MeridianComplete), Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (WellCare), and the Health Insurance Marketplace (Ambetter from Meridian). Meridian is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a leading multi-national healthcare enterprise committed to helping people live healthier lives. For more information about Meridian, please visit www.mhplan.com.

SOURCE Meridian of Michigan
WARSAW, Poland, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Change.org announced today that approximately one week after Russia's military advanced over Ukraine's borders, more than 4 million people spanning 196 countries around the world have turned to massive petitioning as a way to raise their voices and demand specific actions in the wake of one of the largest military escalations in recent history. To date, more than 1 million people have signed a Russian petition on the platform opposing war with Ukraine . This conflict is currently the biggest and fastest-growing issue being addressed on Change.org across the globe with thousands of petitions being created on the platform within the last seven days.

"We've seen political leaders around the world stepping up to de-escalate and hopefully put an end to this conflict, but many individual citizens also want to do their part, both in speaking up to demand an end to the current conflict but also to voice other concerns," said Anya Ayvazyan, Country Director, Change.org Russia. "For everyday citizens on the ground, they see the impact of the conflict from a perspective that many political leaders either may not or just can't prioritize. This may include anything from the amplified mistreatment of select segments of the population to how brands and businesses should do their part to respond to the crisis. Our platform gives them a way to collectively voice those perspectives."

Change.org, the world's largest tech platform for social change, has been a powerful tool for everyone from everyday citizens to the most passionate activists addressing the world's top political, societal and economic issues. The organization has created a global movement page compiling the most active petitions around the world in response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict available at change.org/m/stand-with-ukraine .

"For many in Russia, it's truly heartbreaking to witness this conflict. This is why more than a million Russians have asked the government to stop the war immediately by signing a petition on Change.org," Ayvazyan continued. "In the days to come, we anticipate a growing wave of campaigns showcasing solidarity and compassionand most importantly, a strong desire to put an end to this devastating military conflict."

Among the countries petitioning as a way to voice their concerns, more than half a million people have signed an Italian petition rallying people in Europe, Turkey, Indonesia and Japan who oppose the war and another more than 200,000 are demanding humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees . In the United States, more than 40,000 people are urging YouTube to pull Russia Today's (RT) channel as was successfully done in Europe in an effort to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Change.org offers free support to petition starters, helping them to develop campaign strategies, secure media coverage, organize protests, and get in touch with powerful decision makers while also working to promote their petitions worldwide. As an independent, nonprofit-owned organization, this is part of the open platform's commitment to creating a civic infrastructure that empowers people everywhere to build healthier, more participatory and responsive societies. Through robust user guidelines and a dedicated legal and policy team, Change.org maintains a strong commitment to user privacy and safety and ensuring the rights and responsibilities of its half a billion users worldwide remain protected and enforced.

About Change.org

Change.org is the world's largest tech platform for people-powered social change. More than half a billion people across more than 196 countries use our technology-driven petition and campaign tools to speak up on issues they're passionate about. Approximately 70,000 petitions are created and supported on our platform every month, with 1.7 million new people joining our global network of users every week. People on Change.org have powered tens of thousands of campaign victories worldwide, and more are winning every week.

Every day, our users collaborate to organize on local, national and global issues; hold corporations to account; and demand action from decision makers at the highest levels of government and business. Our platform is free to use, open to all, and completely independent because it's funded by the people who use it. Our independence makes us a trusted resource for decision-makers, who turn to the platform to hear from and respond to the communities they represent.

The nonprofit Change.org Foundation oversees both the Change.org Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), a wholly owned corporate subsidiary focused on technology, innovation and growth; and the Change.org charitable programs focused on empowering the most marginalized people and communities globally. This hybrid structure of two mutually supporting organizations enables us to combine the ambition and growth trajectory of a tech company with the mission-focused stewardship of a nonprofit.

As an organization, Change.org is committed to providing the tools, resources and support needed to empower anyone, anywhere to create the change they want to see in the world.

SOURCE Change.org, PBC
MIM SureCalc MonteCarlo has been selected by Stanford Health Care to perform second check for Accuray CyberKnife plans. Tweet this

"We are excited to expand our long-standing relationship with Stanford Health Care," said Andrew Nelson, Chief Executive Officer of MIM Software Inc. "With the growth of advanced treatment delivery methods such as CyberKnife, there is a need to evolve quality assurance methods to adequately evaluate these complex plans. MIM SureCalc MonteCarlo empowers patient-specific QA to meet these demands, fulfill task group recommendations, and drive an automated and efficient clinical workflow."

Monte Carlo simulation-based validation prevents systematic discrepancies in dose calculation while reducing dependence on manual quality assurance. Institution-specific beam models derived from validated base data can be utilized in MIM SureCalc MonteCarlo for superior plan second check accuracy.

About MIM Software Inc.

MIM Software Inc. is a privately held company with a dynamic working environment. It is headquartered in Cleveland, OH, with international offices in Beijing, Chengdu, and Brussels.

MIM Software sells its products globally to imaging centers, hospitals, specialty clinics, research organizations, and pharmaceutical companies. The company's products are used in over 3,500 centers worldwide.

MIM Software Inc. is committed to enhancing patient care by providing customer-centered and innovative imaging solutions in the fields of Radiation Oncology, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine, Neuroimaging, and Cardiac Imaging.

To learn more about MIM SureCalc MonteCarlo, click here .

SOURCE MIM Software Inc.
they made our online contest a fairer one Tweet this

MonitorEDU previously worked with the MATHCOUNTS contest in 2021 and proctored their final round using our traditional live proctoring service. That round included over 220 students, and all were proctored remotely due to the pandemic

"MonitorEDU helped MATHCOUNTS maintain its competition integrity during the pandemic," said Kristen Chandler, executive director of the MATHCOUNTS Foundation. "Their team helped us streamline and personalize the process of connecting students with proctors, and they made our online contest a fairer one."

Don Kassner, president of MonitorEDU, added, "When MATHCOUNTS came to us with the challenge of testing a large group of students in a few hours, we chose a combination of Invigil, backed by our existing video platform, along with our professionally trained staff. The event was a tremendous success and we look forward to the next round of the contest."

About MonitorEDU - Founded in 2018 by the "Godfathers of Remote Proctoring", Don Kassner and Patrick Ochoa, the company specializes in providing professionally trained proctors who proctor remote exams globally. The company provides its own technology and also offers its proctors to perform their duties on any platform. The company is based in Tennessee.

Media Contact: Don Kassner [email protected]

SOURCE MonitorEDU
WASHINGTON, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD), the leading rare disease advocacy organization, released a dynamic new resource to educate healthcare nonprofit and advocacy leaders on how a lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is affecting marginalized groups in the rare disease community. This expansive resource  the first in a series of three toolkits  offers tools and strategies for implementing DEI within rare disease nonprofit organizations to help address current barriers and expand the communities being served.

"NORD has long advocated for adequate, accessible, equitable and affordable healthcare coverage, especially considering the rare disease community includes a number of marginalized patient communities. Social determinants of health  including income, education, and even one's own zip code  create significant barriers that lead to delays in diagnosis, difficulty accessing treatments, and increased mortality rates," said Peter Saltonstall, President and CEO of NORD. "NORD's vision is to help build a more equitable future in which all of the more than 25 million Americans living with a rare disease have access to the care they need to survive and thrive."

NORD brings together rare disease patients, caregivers, leaders, researchers, clinicians, regulators, advocates, and industry to better understand and fight for diversity, equity and inclusion within the rare disease community.

The "Part One: Navigating DEI in Rare Disease Nonprofits," toolkit is based on NORD's 2021 DEI Webinar Series for Rare Disease Nonprofits, a three-part series focused on the foundation of diversity, equity, and inclusion, their applicability to the rare disease community, and how rare disease nonprofits can increase engagement with marginalized communities.

View or download the full toolkit.

About the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)

The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) is the leading independent advocacy organization representing all patients and families affected by rare diseases in the United States. NORD began as a small group of patient advocates that formed a coalition to unify and mobilize support to pass the Orphan Drug Act of 1983. Since then, the organization has led the way in voicing the needs of the rare disease community, driving supportive policies, furthering education, advancing medical research, and providing patient and family services for those who need them most. Together with over 300 disease-specific member organizations, more than 17,000 Rare Action Network advocates across all 50 states, and national and global partners, NORD delivers on its mission to improve the lives of those impacted by rare diseases. Visit rarediseases.org .

SOURCE National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)
SAN FRANCISCO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, global consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Fountain , the world's leading all-in-one applicant tracking system for high volume hiring, unveiled new strategies organizations can use to attract more job applicants, while improving hiring conversions. BCG's report , titled "Surviving the Great Resignation," finds that winners in today's intense competition for talent will be those who can extend a job offer in days  not weeks, and those whose applications are mobile-friendly.

BCG Fountain Hiring and Retention Exhibit 1 BCG Fountain Hiring and Retention Exhibit 2

Employers face a daunting hiring challenge: 4.5 million people left their jobs last November, and there are 10.6 million active job listings in the US along with a net labor shortage of 4.3 million workers. In 2020 and 2021, the vast majority of turnover occurred in the hourly service sectors like hospitality, retail and food service. In response, many companies have gotten creative to compete in the hiring war for hourly workers, incentivizing potential employees with sign-on bonuses, increased wages and additional PTO. But this latest BCG report finds that employers need to adopt an analytical, data-backed approach to their pipeline to truly attract more job applicants and improve their hiring rates.

Companies Need to Expedite Hiring Processes to Compete

BCG's analysis of Fountain's proprietary data found that employers that present job offers in less than seven days yield 80% more hires on average than organizations with longer timelines. What's more  each day removed from the hiring process improves that rate. The best candidates looking for work are applying to multiple positions, and the employer presenting jobseekers with their first offer are more likely to win that talent.

Employers Must Broaden Their Screening Qualifications

BCG's analysis found that the quality of candidates can vary greatly across various job boards, and with myriad options to choose from, employers that explicitly balance hiring quantity and yield will improve business outcomes. Eighty-four percent of applicants reported applying for a position using their smartphone, so companies need to make sure they are targeting candidates more strategically. Location is a common screening tool that employers use when searching for candidates. While 70% of applicants seek jobs less than 15 miles from their homes, BCG found that applicants willing to travel farther were hired at an equivalent or higher rate.

Job Postings Should Articulate Company Benefits to Stand Out

According to BCG's report, 46% of job postings analyzed did not mention benefits provided. Yet analysis showed that offering certain benefits improved applicant yields and resulted in higher quality applications. Benefits that increased hiring rates most significantly included bi-weekly pay (34%), 401k (34%), medical leave (27%), tuition reimbursement (25%) and PTO (25%).

Businesses That Reevaluate or Revise Job Requirements Have an Advantage

BCG found that employers need to continuously analyze certain criteria throughout the process of crafting job listings to increase the likelihood of improved hiring results. For example, positions without explicit age requirements generated more applicants but resulted in a lower hiring rate than positions with age requirements. Additionally, BCG found that companies attracted more applicants when they relaxed requirements tied to work experience, but saw double the hiring rate when they specified that experience. Finally, education requirements like a GED or high school diploma decreased applicant pools by 40% without improving the hiring rate.

"Our analysis shows that many successful companies employ a 'test-and-learn' approach to hiring. The right data that is accessible to the right people is critical to success, " said David Welch, managing director and senior partner at BCG.

"So many companies are struggling to hire hourly workers, which number around 82 million and represent more than half of all wage and salary workers in the US alone," said Sean Behr, CEO of Fountain. "Fountain's solutions enabled businesses to make more than two million hires in 2021 by simplifying, optimizing and automating as much of the candidate journey as possible to decrease time-to-hire."

About Fountain

Fountain's all-in-one high volume hiring platform empowers the world's leading enterprises to find and hire the right people through smart, fast and seamless recruiting. Candidates can apply anytime, anywhere in minutes, right from their phone. Automated and customizable processes streamline the candidate experience and save time for recruitment teams so they can scale with growing hiring needs. Advanced analytics provide end-to-end process visibility so managers can make swift, data-driven decisions. Throughout the candidate journey, the openly integrated platform enables companies to find, qualify and convert more applicants. Fountain's global customers hire over 2 million workers annually in 78 countries.

Learn more on Fountain's website or connect via Twitter , LinkedIn or the Fountain blog .

Media contact

Jessica Jaffe at Sift PR

[email protected]

415-497-9474

About Boston Consulting Group

Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholdersempowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage and drive positive societal impact.

Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them to make the world a better place.

SOURCE Fountain
GENEVA, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict is likely to drive COVID-19 transmission ever higher and in turn increase the risk of large numbers of people developing severe disease.

"WHO is deeply concerned about the unfolding humanitarian emergency in Ukraine," said WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesu at a press briefing.

"Prior to the conflict, Ukraine had experienced a recent surge of cases of COVID-19. Low rates of testing since the start of the conflict mean there is likely to be significant undetected transmission. Coupled with low vaccination coverage, this increases the risk of large numbers of people developing severe disease," he said, adding that critical shortages of oxygen will have an impact on the ability to treat patients with COVID-19 and many other conditions.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as of Tuesday, more than 870,000 people had left Ukraine, and that number is expected to increase rapidly, the WHO chief said. "Mass population movements are likely to contribute further to transmission of COVID-19, potentially increasing pressure on health systems in neighboring countries."

Also at the briefing, Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, warned that mass population movements as a result of the conflict could possibly not only drive COVID-19 transmission higher but also favor the emergence of new variant of COVID-19 virus.

WHO is delivering essential medical supplies from the hub in Dubai. The first shipment will arrive in Poland on Thursday, including 36 metric tonnes of supplies for trauma care and emergency surgery to meet the needs of 1,000 patients, and other health supplies to meet the needs of 150,000 people. However, it urges to establish a corridor to ensure humanitarian workers and supplies have safe and continuous access to reach people in need. 
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) and Cox Media Group announced a multi-year renewal agreement for television and audio measurement services covering Cox Media Group local television stations in 10 full service television markets and Cox Media Group local radio stations in 10 full service radio markets. With this agreement, Cox Media Group stations will continue to utilize a comprehensive suite of Nielsen measurement services to demonstrate audience value to advertisers. The agreement also includes CoxReps, a nationwide network of media professionals, which provides television sales representation of broadcasters with a wide network of advertising agencies.

Included in the agreement is Nielsen Local Media Impact , which has been licensed by CMG radio stations in Atlanta, Houston, Jacksonville, Fla., Miami, Orlando, San Antonio and Tampa, to help optimize advertising campaigns. CMG radio stations will also have access to the National Regional Database (NRD), a customizable tool of radio listening information for every market that Nielsen Audio surveys. The agreement also renews access of CMG radio stations to Nielsen Scarborough , which provides local market research and measures 2,000 market categories. Additionally, the stations will continue to have access to Scarborough MARS Healthcare Module to help maximize advertising strategies for CMG's growing healthcare segment. CoxReps, along with CMG television stations, have also renewed with Nielsen Scarborough.

CMG television stations also subscribe to Arianna which delivers local market overnight TV audience estimates providing analytics on program performance as well as trending programs and time periods, and Nielsen's Local TV View (NLTV). Additionally, CMG will also utilize Grabix, a web-based application marrying Nielsen's minute-by-minute television audience metrics to actual audio and video content. Cox also subscribes to Nielsen Radio County Coverage data, which provides local insights by breaking out of the standard Nielsen Radio metro boundaries for a broader understanding of listeners.

About Nielsen

Nielsen shapes the world's media and content as a global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics. Through our understanding of people and their behaviors across all channels and platforms, we empower our clients with independent and actionable intelligence so they can connect and engage with their audiencesnow and into the future.

An S&P 500 company, Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) operates around the world in more than 55 countries. Learn more at www.nielsen.com or www.nielsen.com/investors and connect with us on social media.

About Cox Media Group

Cox Media Group, Inc. (CMG) is an industry-leading media company with dominant brands, award-winning content, and exceptional people. CMG provides valuable local content to viewers in the communities in which it serves. The company's operations primarily include 33 high-quality, market-leading television stations in 20 markets, 53 top-performing radio stations delivering all genres of content in 11 markets, and numerous streaming and digital platforms. CMG's portfolio includes primary affiliates of ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Telemundo and MyNetworkTV, as well as several valuable news and independent stations. Additionally, the company also offers a full suite of national, regional, local and digital advertising services with CMG Local Solutions , CoxReps and Gamut . For more information about CMG, visit www.coxmediagroup.com .

SOURCE Nielsen
FELTHAM, England, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nomad Foods Limited (NYSE: NOMD) announced today that its annual report on Form 20-F, including its audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 (the "Annual Report"), filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on March 3, 2022, can be accessed through the Investors  SEC filings link on its website, www.nomadfoods.com, as well as on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Shareholders may request a hard copy of the Company's Annual Report, free of charge, by contacting the Company at Nomad Foods, No. 1 New Square, Bedfont Lakes Business Park, Feltham, Middlesex TW14 8HA, Attention: Investor Relations. If shareholders prefer, they can also request a hard copy by emailing [email protected].

About Nomad Foods

Nomad Foods (NYSE: NOMD) is Europe's leading frozen food company. The company's portfolio of iconic brands, which includes Birds Eye, Findus, iglo, Ledo and Frikom, have been a part of consumers' meals for generations, standing for great tasting food that is convenient, high quality and nutritious. Nomad Foods is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Additional information may be found at www.nomadfoods.com.

Nomad Foods Contact

Investor Relations Contact

John Mills

ICR, Managing Partner

+1-646-277-1254

SOURCE Nomad Foods Limited
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- One Rock Capital Partners, LLC ("One Rock") today announced that one of its affiliates has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Therm-O-Disc, a subsidiary of Emerson (NYSE: EMR).

Therm-O-Disc is a leading designer and manufacturer of safety-critical sensors, thermal cutoffs and sealed connecting components primarily used in heating, ventilation and air conditioning, appliance, water heater, industrial, aerospace & defense, and transportation applications. Headquartered in Mansfield, Ohio, Therm-O-Disc has over 4,000 employees globally.

"Therm-O-Disc is well-positioned as a leading global manufacturer of branded, essential sensor and safety products," said R. Scott Spielvogel, Managing Partner of One Rock. "We are excited to collaborate with management to drive innovation, enhance strong operational capabilities and serve Therm-O-Disc's customers, building on the long history as an industry leader."

"As a firm, One Rock has a depth of experience in corporate carve-outs, which we look forward to applying to establish Therm-O-Disc as a strong, independent company well-positioned for growth," added One Rock Managing Partner Tony W. Lee.

"Our partnership with One Rock marks an exciting next chapter for Therm-O-Disc, and their knowledge and experience of global engineering-driven industrial businesses will align well with our aim to bring innovation and superior service to our customers," said Vicki Dawkins, President of Therm-O-Disc. "We look forward to leveraging One Rock's strategic and operational expertise as we continue to scale our offerings."

Completion of the transaction, which is expected in the first half of 2022, is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

ABOUT ONE ROCK CAPITAL PARTNERS, LLC

One Rock makes controlling investments in companies with potential for growth and operational improvement using a rigorous approach that utilizes highly experienced Operating Partners to identify, acquire and enhance businesses in select industries. The involvement of these Operating Partners affords One Rock the ability to conduct due diligence and consummate acquisitions and investments in all types of situations, regardless of complexity. One Rock works collaboratively with company management and its Operating Partners to develop a comprehensive business plan focused on growing the enterprise and its profitability to enhance long-term value. For more information, visit www.onerockcapital.com.

ABOUT EMERSON

Emerson (NYSE:EMR), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global technology and engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and residential markets. Our Automation Solutions business helps process, hybrid and discrete manufacturers maximize production, protect personnel and the environment while optimizing their energy and operating costs. Our Commercial and Residential Solutions business helps ensure human comfort and health, protect food quality and safety, advance energy efficiency, and create sustainable infrastructure. For more information, visit www.emerson.com.

MEDIA CONTACT

Hallie Erlich

Prosek Partners for One Rock Capital

[email protected]

SOURCE One Rock Capital Partners, LLC
"It is fantastic that Amazon is leading the way in providing high quality education as a benefit to their employees at no cost," said Aaron Rasmussen, founder and CEO of Outlier.org. "This previews a future when many forward-thinking businesses will empower their employees with for-credit education and foundational pathways for career advancement. Together, we can increase access to education and reduce student debt."

Through Outlier.org's Employee Pathways program, partners like Amazon are able to expand access to high-quality higher education for their employees, make a bigger impact with existing education assistance program allowances, and offer ultimate flexibility and effectiveness in online education delivery. Outlier.org courses are cohort-based with rolling start dates every two weeks, include all course materials needed, maintain open admissions, and produce student outcomes that exceed on-campus national averages. These results point to online college education being just as effective as in-person learning, with the added benefits of flexible time, space, and peer collaboration.With this latest announcement, Outlier.org courses will enable Amazon employees to establish the academic foundation needed to pursue and succeed in higher education degree completion, risk-free.

Created with a mission to expand access to high-quality education and reduce student debt, Outlier.org is building on-ramps to higher education one thoughtfully designed cinematic course at a time. Founded by Aaron Rasmussen (co-founder of MasterClass), Outlier.org was named one of TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of 2020. By combining cinematic video, thoughtful pedagogy, student support, and technology, Outlier.org builds the best online versions of general education college courses that earn transferable credit from the University of Pittsburgh.

Amazon's Career Choice program is an education benefit that empowers employees to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere. The program meets individual learners where they are on their education journey through a variety of education and upskilling opportunities including full college tuition, industry certifications designed to lead to in-demand jobs, and foundational skills such as English language proficiency, high school diplomas, and GEDs. In the U.S., the company is investing $1.2 billion to upskill more than 300,000 employees by 2025 to help move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs.

Amazon's Career Choice program has a rigorous selection process for third-party partner educators, choosing partners that are focused on helping employees through their education programs, assisting them with job placements, and overall offering education that leads to career success.

"We're looking forward to Outlier.org coming on board as an education partner for Career Choice, adding to the hundreds of best-in-class offerings available to our employees," said Tammy Thieman, Global Program Lead of Amazon's Career Choice program. "We're committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether that's with us or elsewhere. We have intentionally cultivated a partner network of third-party educators and employers committed to providing excellent education, job placement resources, and continuous improvements to the experience. Today, over 50,000 Amazon employees around the world have already participated in Career Choice and we've seen first-hand how it can transform their lives."

For more information on Amazon's Career Choice, visit: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/career-choice

For more information on Outlier.org, visit: https://bit.ly/outlier-amazon .

About Outlier.org

Created by the Co-Founder of MasterClass, Outlier.org offers beautiful, effective online courses that earn students transferable college credit for a fraction of the cost. In addition to featuring cinema-quality lectures, Outlier.org courses are taught by some of the most charismatic figures in academia, including instructors from Yale, MIT, and Columbia, and are transcripted by the University of Pittsburgh, a top 60 school. Students enjoy a top-quality learning experience that includes access to 1-on-1 tutoring for math courses, AI-proctored assessments, dynamically-generated problem sets, and cutting-edge, active learning materials. In keeping with the company's mission to increase access to top-quality higher education and reduce student debt, each course is priced at just $400.

Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Outlier.org
CRANBURY, N.J., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Palatin Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American: PTN), a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class medicines based on molecules that modulate the activity of the melanocortin and natriuretic peptide receptor systems, today announced that it will host a key opinion leader (KOL) webinar on the unmet medical need in treating patients with dry eye disease (DED) on Monday, March 7, 2022 at 10:30 am ET.

The webinar will feature a presentation from KOL Eric D. Donnenfeld, M.D., from OCLI Vision, who will discuss the current treatment landscape and unmet medical need in treating patients with DED.

Palatin Technologies' Chief Medical Officer Michael Raizman, M.D. will also discuss their Phase 3 trial for PL9643 in patients with dry eye disease. MELODY-1 clinical study is a multi-center, randomized, doublemasked and vehiclecontrolled study evaluating the safety and efficacy of the melanocortin agonist, PL9643 ophthalmic solution, compared to vehicle in subjects with DED. The study is designed to enroll up to 400 patients at multiple U.S. sites, and top-line results are currently expected second half calendar 2022.

The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Dr. Donnenfeld, Dr. Raizman and Palatin senior management. To register for the webinar and participate in the webcast, please refer to Palatin's website at www.palatin.com or click here.

Eric D. Donnenfeld, M.D. is an internationally recognized expert and pioneer in refractive, cornea and cataract surgery and one of the leading refractive and cataract surgeons in the United States. Dr. Donnenfeld graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1977 and first in his class at Dartmouth Medical School in 1980. He was Chief Resident at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and completed a Cornea and Refractive Fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital. Dr. Donnenfeld is on the Board of Overseers of Dartmouth Medical School and a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at New York University Medical Center.

Dr. Donnenfeld was the 2013-2014 President of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Dr. Donnenfeld is the Chief Medical Editor of EyeWorld, the official publication of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. He is on the Executive Boards of ASCRS and ACOS and is a member of the Refractive Committee of ASCRS and Cornea section of Ocular Surgery News. Dr. Donnenfeld is a National Medical Director of TLC Laser Eye Centers and Surgical Director of the Lions Eye Bank for Long Island. He is a past president of the Ocular Microbiology and Immunology Group. Locally, Dr. Donnenfeld has also served as a board member of the Nassau Academy of Medicine, the American College of Surgeons Long Island Chapter and the Nassau Surgical Society and is a past president of the Nassau Surgical Society, where he is the youngest person to ever receive their Lifetime Achievement Award.

Michael B. Raizman, M.D. is a cornea and cataract specialist at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston and the New England Eye Center at Tufts Medical Center. He is Chief Medical Officer at Palatin Technologies.

Dr. Raizman received his medical training at the University of Michigan and Harvard Medical School. He completed two fellowships at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, followed by three years of post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical School, funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Raizman served on the full-time faculty at Harvard Medical School from 1988-1991. Dr. Raizman is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine, where he has directed the Corneal Fellowship Program and the Cornea and Cataract Service since 1992. In that capacity, he has trained over 50 Cornea Fellows. He is on the medical staff of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Tufts Medical Center.

About Dry Eye Disease (DED)

Dry eye disease is a common inflammatory disease that, left untreated, can become extremely painful and lead to permanent damage to the cornea and vision. Dry eye disease affects the cornea and conjunctiva of the eye resulting in irritation, redness, pain, and blurred vision. It is estimated to affect over 20 million people in the United States. The disease is characterized by insufficient moisture and lubrication in the anterior surface of the eye, leading to dryness, inflammation, pain, discomfort, irritation, diminished quality of life, and in severe cases, permanent vision impairment. Existing therapy for dry eye disease is generally regarded as inadequate by many physicians and patients, and often requires weeks or months to demonstrate activity.

About Melanocortin Receptor Agonists and Inflammation

The melanocortin receptor ("MCr") system has effects on inflammation, immune system responses, metabolism, food intake, and sexual function. There are five melanocortin receptors, MC1r through MC5r. Modulation of these receptors, through use of receptor-specific agonists, which activate receptor function, or receptor-specific antagonists, which block receptor function, can have medically significant pharmacological effects.

Many tissues and immune cells located in the eye (and other places, for example, the gut and kidney) express melanocortin receptors, empowering our opportunity to directly activate natural pathways to resolve disease inflammation.

About Palatin

Palatin is a biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class medicines based on molecules that modulate the activity of the melanocortin and natriuretic peptide receptor systems, with targeted, receptor-specific product candidates for the treatment of diseases with significant unmet medical need and commercial potential. Palatin's strategy is to develop products and then form marketing collaborations with industry leaders to maximize their commercial potential. For additional information regarding Palatin, please visit Palatin's website at www.Palatin.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements about future expectations of Palatin Technologies, Inc., such as statements about market potential of Vyleesi and other Palatin products in development, clinical trial results, potential actions by regulatory agencies including the FDA, regulatory plans, development programs, proposed indications for product candidates, market potential for product candidates, and potential adverse impacts due to the global COVID-19 pandemic such as delays in regulatory review, manufacturing and supply chain interruptions, adverse effects on healthcare systems and disruption of the global economy, are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Palatin intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause Palatin's actual results to be materially different from its historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Palatin's actual results may differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements for reasons including, but not limited to, Palatin's ability to establish and maintain the capability for manufacturing, marketing and distribution of Vyleesi, sales of Vyleesi in the United States and elsewhere in the world, results of clinical trials, regulatory actions by the FDA and other regulatory and the need for regulatory approvals, Palatin's ability to fund development of its technology and establish and successfully complete clinical trials, the length of time and cost required to complete clinical trials and submit applications for regulatory approvals, products developed by competing pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, commercial acceptance of Palatin's products, and other factors discussed in Palatin's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Palatin is not responsible for updating for events that occur after the date of this press release.

SOURCE Palatin Technologies, Inc.
By replacing its in-house travel booking solution with an omnichannel self-service platform, PAL can deliver employees the flexibility to book and amend travel plans through desktop or mobile channels. The iFly Staff solution also allows flexible payment options, including integration with e-wallets such as PayMaya and GCash.

PAL will also benefit from significant operational benefits through iFly Staff. Automating the travel booking process greatly reduces manual processes, reducing the administrative burden while improving quality of service. It also allows the PAL staff travel team to create and roll out new policies and process in real-time, and dynamically implement policy changes quickly and efficiently, using the configuration capabilities of iFly Staff.

"At PAL we fully support our employees. Their wellbeing and happiness could not be more important to us. We're delighted to be able to roll out such an innovative and forward-looking platform to our employees," said Mr. Danreb M. Oira, Senior Vice President for Human Capital at PAL.

"Ensuring staff have maximum flexibility over their travel and the ability to manage it effectively is a must-have for modern airlines. We're thrilled to be partnering with PAL, who are dedicated to supporting their employees and committed to delivering them with cutting-edge technology to put their travel plans in their own hands," said Sunil George, Vice President and Regional Head at IBS Software. "Through iFly Staff, employees can book flights and hotels themselves in a single flow, while administrators get full management control to create policy-based rules without the need for any technical support. That's a powerful combination for progressive airlines like PAL and we look forward to a long and successful partnership."

More information on iFly Staff can be found here.

About Philippine Airlines

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the Philippines' flag carrier and only full-service network airline. PAL was the first commercial airline in Asia and is celebrating its 81st anniversary in March 2022. PAL's young fleet of Boeing 777s, Airbus A350s, Airbus A330s, Airbus A321s and De Havilland DHC-8-400 Next Generation aircraft operate out of hubs in Manila and Cebu to 29 destinations in the Philippines and 31 destinations in Asia, North America, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. PAL was rated a 4-Star Global Airline by Skytrax in 2018 and was voted the World's Most Improved Airline in the 2019 Skytrax worldwide passenger survey with a ranking of 30th best airline in the world.

www.philippineairlines.com

About IBS Software

IBS Software is a leading SaaS solutions provider to the travel industry globally, managing mission-critical operations for customers in the aviation, tour & cruise and hospitality industries. IBS Software's solutions for the aviation industry cover fleet & crew operations, aircraft maintenance, passenger services, loyalty programs, staff travel and air-cargo management. IBS Software also runs a real time B2B and B2C distribution platform providing hotel room inventory, rates and availability to a global network of hospitality companies and channels. For the tour and cruise industry, IBS provides a comprehensive, customer-centric, digital platform that covers onshore, online and on-board solutions. IBS Software is a Blackstone portfolio company and operates from 15 offices across the world. Further information can be found at https://www.ibsplc.com/.

SOURCE IBS Software
PHILADELPHIA, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- March 3, 2022  Picwell, leading provider of benefits decision support, is pleased to announce it has entered into a partnership with Bentek , the benefits administration and enrollment solution for the Public Sector.

Through this partnership, Picwell's innovative solution will be made available to Bentek's customers, making it easier than ever for employees to select and use their healthcare benefits.

"We couldn't be happier to announce this new partnership with Bentek," said Matthew Sydney, President and CEO of Picwell. "With healthcare benefits becoming increasingly complex and confusing, providing a solution that will help consumers better understand and select their benefits has never been more critical. Partnering with Bentek will allow us to deliver our technology to help hundreds of thousands of consumers make smarter benefits decisions."

Picwell's unique tool utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to determine the optimal plans for an employee's individual needs and guides them to the right plans based on their personal preferences - all in just a few minutes.

Bentek's cloud-based platform provides all-inclusive services to the Public Sector, simplifying the benefits experience for employers, employees, and retirees so they can focus on their work within the communities they serve.

"We are excited that our partnership with Picwell will help round out our product," said Kurt Gehring, CEO of Bentek. "Selecting the right benefits is more important than ever before, and this self-service helps our clients make the best decisions for themselves and their families."

Together, Picwell and Bentek will work to provide both employers and employees with a streamlined, seamless benefits administration and enrollment experience.

About Picwell

Picwell is a healthcare technology company providing enterprise solutions to enhance health insurance and employee benefits and improve consumer experiences. Its flagship offering, Picwell DX, is a SaaS-based decision support product that uses artificial intelligence to match individuals to the right health benefits during enrollment by predicting future care considerations, estimating out-of-pocket expenses, and accounting for individual preferences. Visit picwell.com to learn more.

About Bentek

With more than 150 public sector clients, Bentek is the trusted benefits administration and enrollment solution for local municipalities. Bentek's audit tools keep data clean, while the self-billing feature saves staff reconciliation time. Bentek's services include unlimited consultative service, technical support, comprehensive project management, and year-round management of system configurations. Bentek's proven implementation methodology guarantees 100% client success. Visit mybentek.com to learn more.

Media Contact:

Stormy Mayersky

Communications Director

Picwell, Inc.

[email protected]

Michela Vaccaro

Marketing Communications Manager

Bentek

[email protected]

SOURCE Picwell, Inc.
HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) has donated COVID-19 diagnostic test kits and protective equipment worth RMB10 million to the Hong Kong SAR Government through the Ping An Foundation. Ping An is proud to support Hong Kong's fight against the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and protect the health and safety of frontline medical staff and anti-pandemic workers.

Ping An has donated various supplies including COVID-19 diagnostic test kits, KN95 masks, protective clothing, face shields, surgical caps, shoe covers, and gloves. The supplies are expected to arrive in Hong Kong before March 15.

Mainland China is wholly committed to helping Hong Kong SAR in the pandemic. Hong Kong and Shenzhen are inseparable from each other and will always bear trials and hardships together. Amid the pandemic outbreak in Hong Kong, Ping An, as a responsible corporate citizen, wants to support the fight against the pandemic to help meet the most urgent needs of frontline staff and medical workers.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, Ping An has introduced several initiatives in insurance protection, public welfare donations and medical services. To date, Ping An has donated more than RMB180 million in supplies and cash. The Group has also provided more than RMB18 billion in financial support to affected enterprises, customers and frontline medical institutions. It has introduced innovative services such as an online end-to-end insurance policy process through a green claims channel and special pre-claims services, and extended insurance coverage to COVID-19 for policyholders. Ping An Good Doctor has provided free COVID-19 consultations and pandemic protection guidance for the public, attracting a total of 1.11 billion visits during the peak of the pandemic. Also, Ping An Healthcare Diagnostics Center is a designated institution for pandemic prevention and control. To date, its medical laboratories across China have performed nucleic acid tests for COVID-19 on more than 25 million samples.

About Ping An Group

Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. ("Ping An") is a world-leading technology-powered retail financial services group. With over 225 million retail customers and nearly 634 million internet users, Ping An is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Ping An focuses on two over-arching domains of activity, "pan financial assets" and "pan health care", covering the provision of financial and health care services through our integrated financial services platform and our ecosystems in financial services, health care, auto services and smart city services. Our "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" transformation strategies aim to provide customers and internet users with innovative and simple products and services using technology. The Group is committed to becoming the world's leading integrated finance and healthcare service provider. As China's first joint stock insurance company, Ping An is committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate reporting and corporate governance. The Group is listed on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Ping An ranked 6th in the Forbes Global 2000 list in 2021 and ranked 16th in the Fortune Global 500 list in 2021. Ping An also ranked 49th in the 2021 WPP Kantar Millward Brown BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list.

For more information, please visit www.group.pingan.com and follow us on LinkedIn - PING AN.

SOURCE Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.
BUDAPEST, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Hungary will remove the majority of its restrictions introduced against the COVID-19 pandemic, Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Prime Minister's Office said Thursday.

"The obligation to wear a mask will end next Monday," said Gulyas, adding that the wearing of masks will stay obligatory in social and health care institutions.

He said that the government decided to remove the measures because the fifth wave of the pandemic was coming to an end.

The government also revoked the rule that allowed employers to make vaccination against the coronavirus compulsory, the minister added. The regulations concerning the vaccination certificate will also be canceled.

The government will maintain the "health emergency situation" in Hungary for fear of the risk of a possible sixth wave.

On Thursday, the country registered 3,862 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour span, raising the national total to 1,796,982, according to official data.

In the past 24 hours, 77 people died from the disease, taking the cumulative death toll to 44,211 in the country. Currently, 3,120 patients are being treated in hospitals, including 126 on ventilators, the government's website said.

As of Thursday, 6,395,509 people had received at least the first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. 
SAN DIEGO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Point Predictive Inc., the San Diego-based company that provides artificial intelligence solutions to lenders, announced today its strategic partnership with MeridianLink, Inc. (NYSE: MLNK), a leading provider of modern software platforms for financial institutions. MeridianLink is integrating Point Predictive's Artificial + Natural Intelligence solutions to provide MeridianLink customers with additional data to use in the loan underwriting process to increase operational efficiency and streamline the auto lending experience.

"We've partnered with MeridianLink to greatly enhance the automation and efficiency of the auto lending process," said Tim Grace, CEO of Point Predictive. "We offer the only AI-based solutions that leverage data from a consortium of leading auto lenders to streamline the loan approval and funding process while protecting lenders from not only identity fraud, but all five types of lending fraud: income misrepresentation, employment misrepresentation, identity, collateral and straw borrower. With our solutions, MeridianLink customers will be able to minimize losses, accelerate loan throughput, and increase loan origination rates. We are thrilled to be a part of MeridianLink's Partner Marketplace, designed to improve the entire digital lending experience."

For Point Predictive, the strategic partnership with MeridianLink is growing proof that shared data, intelligence and AI is the future of auto lending digital transformation and fraud and risk mitigation.

"Since the beginning, we have been a leader at adapting to change with unique, innovative lending solutions, and Point Predictive follows that same approach," said Chris Maloof, chief product officer of MeridianLink. "This partnership is another example of the quality offerings within our Partner Marketplace and it will help the lenders we serve automate and accelerate their processes during financial transactions."

"We are thrilled to provide best in class fraud detection paired with improved automation, so lenders can operate faster and more efficiently while also identifying more cases of fraud before loans are booked," says Andrew Stamps, Director of Partnerships at Point Predictive. "Because of our seamless integration with MeridianLink, it will be very easy to activate our solutions and immediately help lenders."

For more information on Point Predictive, please contact [email protected].

About Point Predictive Inc.

Point Predictive powers a new level of lending confidence and speed through the unique combination of artificial and natural intelligence using decades of risk management expertise. The company's technology solutions quickly and accurately identify who is reporting truthfully on their loan applications and who is not. As a result, lenders are now able to fund loans easily without asking the vast majority of applicants for onerous documentation such as paycheck stubs, utility bills or bank statements. This improves funding rates by 40-50% while reducing overall early payment default losses by more than 30%. Borrowers get loans faster and we significantly boost profits to a lender's bottom line. Located in San Diego, California, more information about Point Predictive can be found at www.pointpredictive.com.

About MeridianLink

MeridianLink (NYSE: MLNK) is a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, mortgage lenders, specialty lending providers, and consumer reporting agencies. Headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, MeridianLink provides services to more than 1,900 customers, including a majority of the financial institutions on Forbes' 2021 lists of America's Best Credit Unions and Banks. Further information can be found at www.meridianlink.com.

SOURCE Point Predictive
DUBLIN, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Priothera, a late-clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of its S1P receptor modulator drug, mocravimod, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have both granted orphan drug designation (ODD) to mocravimod for the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). EMA's ODD follows a recommendation from the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP).

Florent Gros, Co-Founder and CEO of Priothera, commented: "The orphan drug designations we received for mocravimod from both the FDA and EMA are important milestones towards addressing the urgent, unmet needs of AML patients. Allogenic stem cell transplantation is the only potentially curative approach for AML patients but has unacceptably high mortality rates with current treatments. We are looking forward to initiating the global Phase 2b clinical trial with mocravimod in multiple centers in the US, Europe and Asia in the coming months."

Mocravimod, a sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator which has been previously tested in multiple autoimmune indications, is being developed to enhance the curative potential of HSCT. Moreover, it has shown a clinically relevant benefit in an early clinical study in patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing HSCT.

A multicenter Phase 2b study evaluating the efficacy and safety of mocravimod as an adjunctive and maintenance therapy to HSCT in adult AML patients is planned for the second half of 2022. The study will include approximately 250 patients in several countries in Europe, the US and Asia, upon approvals from respective health authorities.

Orphan drug designation is reserved for medicines treating rare, life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases.

About mocravimod

Mocravimod (also known as KRP203), is a novel, synthetic, sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor (S1PR) modulator with a long duration in the body. Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials successfully assessed mocravimod for safety and tolerability in several autoimmune indications. Promising data from a Phase 1b/2a clinical study in patients with hematological malignancies led Priothera to further develop mocravimod for the treatment of blood cancers.

Mocravimod will be investigated in a Phase 2b/3 study as a potential treatment for patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) receiving allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Allogenic HSCT is the only potentially curative approach for AML patients, but current treatments have unacceptably high mortality and morbidity rates.

Priothera leverages S1PR's unique mode of action to maintain anti-leukemia activity - graft-versus leukemia (GVL) - while reducing tissue damage resulting from graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a consequence of allogenic HSCT. This novel treatment approach  the only S1PR modulator treating blood cancers  tackles a high unmet medical need and intends to add quality life to patients.

About Priothera

Priothera is leading the way in developing orally applied sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P) receptor modulators for the treatment of hematological malignancies. S1P receptor modulators are known to largely reduce egress of T cells from lymphatic tissues and not being immunosuppressants, thereby allowing for inhibition of graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) while maintaining graft-versus-leukemia benefits in patients receiving HSCT.

Priothera which was founded in 2020 by an experienced team of drug development experts is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The Company is backed by international founding investors Fountain Healthcare Partners (Dublin, Ireland), funds managed by Tekla Capital Management, LLC (Boston, Massachusetts), HealthCap (Stockholm, Sweden) and EarlyBird Venture Capital (Berlin, Germany).

For more information please visit: www.priothera.com

Contacts

Priothera Florent Gros, CEO E: [email protected] MEDiSTRAVA Consulting Sylvie Berrebi, Sandi Greenwood, Frazer Hall E: [email protected] T: +44 (0)7714 306525

SOURCE Priothera
Series is designed to give orgs, activists and voters tools to understand the complex gerrymandering process. Tweet this

"Gerrymandering is a complex process that can often seem inaccessible to most Americans. This series is designed to give grassroots organizations and voters the tools to understand the impact of redistricting and the pivotal role gerrymandering will play in the 2022 midterm elections. Public Wise believes that understanding the realities of our political landscape is key to creating evidence-based strategies to achieve a more equitable democracy," said Dr. Jessica Kalbfeld, Research Director of Public Wise.

"With Congress unable to pass critical gerrymandering reforms like the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act, partisan gerrymandering will majorly shift midterm election outcomes and disenfranchise millions of Americans, particularly communities of color," said Christina Baal-Owens, Executive Director of Public Wise.

You can access the three-part series below:

About Public Wise



Persistent and unyielding in our commitment to a just multiracial democracy, Public Wise fights to secure a government that reflects the will and protects the rights of the people.

We accomplish this through education, research, organizing, funding, and partnerships that support more voting and more equitable representation.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Addie Bullock, [email protected]

Mila Jasper, [email protected]

SOURCE Public Wise
TORONTO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Quarterhill Inc. ("Quarterhill") (TSX: QTRH) (OTCQX: QTRHF) a leading provider of tolling and enforcement solutions in the Intelligent Transportation Systems ("ITS") industry today announced that Mr. Rusty Lewis has been appointed to Quarterhill's Board of Directors (the "Board") effective March 3, 2022. Further changes to Board composition are expected to be made at Quarterhill's annual meeting of shareholders to be held on April 21, 2022.

"Having held board, CEO and senior executive leadership roles at companies in the ITS, technology and finance industries, Rusty is well suited to provide guidance and counsel on operational, financial and governance-related areas of the business," said John Gillberry, Chair of the Board at Quarterhill. "As we continue Quarterhill's transformation to that of a pure-play ITS business, we look forward to Rusty's contributions as we pursue both organic and acquisition-related opportunities in an industry he helped to pioneer."

From 1986 to 1994, Mr. Lewis owned and led Syntonic Technology (the predecessor company to Transcore, an ITS company that provides electronic toll collection systems). In 1994, he sold that business to Science Applications International Corporation, renamed it Transcore and was its CEO until its sale to private interests in 1999, after which he remained on the Transcore board of directors until 2005. Subsequently, Transcore was purchased by Roper Industries who have announced that it will be sold in early 2022 for US$2.68 Billion.

Mr. Lewis is currently a Senior Advisor to Brown Brothers Harriman Capital Partners. He is also Chairman of the board of directors of Binswanger, a US private, full-service commercial real estate company. Previous executive roles include CEO of Zinio, a digital magazine newsstand application, from 2011 to 2014. From 2000 to 2011, Mr. Lewis held leadership positions at VeriSign, including Executive Vice President of Strategic Development and Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Naming and Directory Services business unit. Mr. Lewis is a graduate of Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania, USA and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

About Quarterhill

Quarterhill is a leading provider of tolling and enforcement solutions in the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) industry, as well as, through its Wi-LAN Inc. subsidiary, a leader in Intellectual Property licensing. Our goal is global leadership in ITS, via organic growth of the Electronic Transaction Consultants, LLC and International Road Dynamics Inc. platforms, and by continuing an acquisition-oriented investment strategy that capitalizes on attractive growth opportunities within ITS and its adjacent markets. Quarterhill is listed on the TSX under the symbol QTRH and on the OTCQX Best Market under the symbol QTRHF. For more information, visit www.quarterhill.com.

SOURCE Quarterhill Inc.
MIAMI, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at the opening of The U.S. Conference of Mayors' (USCM) Winter Leadership Meeting in Miami, USCM President Miami Mayor Francis Suarez virtually hosted Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko for a discussion on the current situation unfolding in Ukraine. Mayor Suarez made clear that America's mayors stand with the Ukrainian people and the mayors of Ukraine as they fight for their lives and in defense of democratic values. Mayor Klitschko called on his American counterparts to work in their own cities to establish economic sanctions against Russia where possible, and he reiterated the need for additional weapons from allied nations. Mayor Suarez conveyed to Mayor Klitschko that America's mayors remain inspired by the resolve of everyday Ukrainian citizens as well as their leaders. He pledged that America's mayors will do everything they can to support the Ukrainian people.

About the United States Conference of Mayors -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are more than 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

SOURCE U.S. Conference of Mayors
Download FREE Sample: for more additional information about the key countries in APAC

Regional Market Outlook

43% of the market's growth will originate from APAC during the forecast period. China and Japan are the key markets for reed sensors in APAC. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions.

The presence of major electronics and automotive manufacturers in Countries such as China, South Korea, and Japan will facilitate the reed sensor market growth in APAC over the forecast period.

Download our FREE sample report for more key highlights on the regional market share of most of the above-mentioned countries.

Reed Sensor Market Facts at a Glance-

Total Pages: 120

120 Companies: 10+  Including Aleph America, Celduc Relais, Comus International, Coto Technology, GE Ding Information Inc., Hong Kong Aleph Co. Ltd, HSI Sensing, Littelfuse Inc., OMRON Corporation, PIC GmbH, Pickering Electronics Ltd., Pit Radware Sa, Reed Relays and Electronics India Ltd., RMCIP, SMC Corporation, Standex Electronics Inc., STG Germany GmbH, TE Connectivity Ltd., Thomas White Leicester Ltd., and Zhejiang Xurui Electronic Co.Ltd among others

10+  Including Aleph America, Celduc Relais, Comus International, Coto Technology, GE Ding Information Inc., Hong Kong Aleph Co. Ltd, HSI Sensing, Littelfuse Inc., OMRON Corporation, PIC GmbH, Pickering Electronics Ltd., Pit Radware Sa, Reed Relays and Electronics India Ltd., RMCIP, SMC Corporation, Standex Electronics Inc., STG Germany GmbH, TE Connectivity Ltd., Thomas White Leicester Ltd., and Zhejiang Xurui Electronic Co.Ltd among others Coverage: Key drivers, trends, and challenges; Product insights & news; Value chain analysis; Parent market analysis; Vendor landscape; COVID impact & recovery analysis

Key drivers, trends, and challenges; Product insights & news; Value chain analysis; Parent market analysis; Vendor landscape; COVID impact & recovery analysis Segments: End-user (automotive, electronics, industrial, construction and security, and others)

End-user (automotive, electronics, industrial, construction and security, and others) Geographies: APAC ( China and Japan ), North America (US), Europe ( Germany and France ), South America , and Middle East and Africa

Vendor Insights-

The reed sensor market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market.

Aleph America- It is a privately held company headquartered in the US. Its revenue from the global reed sensor market contributes to its overall revenues along with its other offerings, but it is not a key revenue stream for the company. The company offers reed sensors that can be mounted in a very limited space making it ideal for use in miniatured equipment, under the brand name Aleph.

Find additional highlights on the vendors and their product offerings. Download Free Sample Report

Latest Drivers & Trends of the Market-

Reed Sensor Market Driver :

Applications in smart home appliances:

One of the key factors driving the global reed sensor market growth is its applications in smart home appliances for detecting position, proximity, level, flow, and speed controls and to help in delivering improved accuracy and reliability. The growing consumer demand for home automation is driving the need for smart home appliances that are equipped with smart sensors. The global demand for cost-effective and energy-saving home appliances continues to grow. The sensors send signals to the control unit of the appliance to activate or deactivate the LED in the appliance in case the door of the appliance is not shut properly. Vendors such as Standex Electronics, Inc. offer reed sensors that can be used in household appliances, including air conditioners, dishwashers, coffee makers, among others. The applications of reed sensors in a wide range of home appliances will have a positive impact on the growth of the global reed sensor market during the forecast period.

Reed Sensor Market Trend :

Use of AI and chatbots:

Market trends such as the growing use of robots for automation across industries will lead to the increased use of reed sensors. In addition, IoT is being deployed across several industries by incorporating sensors, such as reed sensors, into numerous types of manufacturing equipment. These sensors allow the collection of data on the performance of the machinery. Vendors such as Reed Switch Developments Corp. offer magnetic reed switches and reed sensors for industrial automation and robotics. Industry 4.0 is a current trend of automation in manufacturing technologies. In January 2022, The International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT), a non-profit, environmental, social, and corporate governance organization, was launched in Singapore to accelerate the transition to Industry 4.0 in manufacturing. Such factors will be driving the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Find additional information about various other market Drivers & Trends mentioned in our FREE sample report.

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Reed Sensor Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 6.98% Market growth 2022-2026 $ 637.26 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 5.94 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 43% Key consumer countries US, China, Japan, Germany, and France Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Aleph America, Celduc Relais, Comus International, Coto Technology, GE Ding Information Inc., Hong Kong Aleph Co. Ltd, HSI Sensing, Littelfuse Inc., OMRON Corporation, PIC GmbH, Pickering Electronics Ltd., Pit Radwar Sa, Reed Relays and Electronics India Ltd., RMCIP, SMC Corporation, Standex Electronics Inc., STG Germany GmbH , TE Connectivity Ltd., Thomas White Leicester Ltd., and Zhejiang Xurui Electronic Co.Ltd Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization preview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by End-user



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by End-user

5.3 Automotive - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on Automotive - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on Automotive - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Chart on Automotive - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Automotive - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Electronics - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on Electronics - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Electronics - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Chart on Electronics - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Electronics - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Industrial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 36: Chart on Industrial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Industrial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 38: Chart on Industrial - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Industrial - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.6 Construction and security - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 40: Chart on Construction and security - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Construction and security - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 42: Chart on Construction and security - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on Construction and security - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.7 Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 44: Chart on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 45: Data Table on Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 46: Chart on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.8 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 48: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 49: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 50: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 51: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 52: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 53: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 54: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 55: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 56: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 57: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 58: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 59: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 60: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 61: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 62: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 63: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 64: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 65: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 68: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 70: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 71: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 72: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 73: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 74: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 75: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 76: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 77: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 78: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 79: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 80: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 81: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 82: Chart on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 83: Data Table on Japan - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 84: Chart on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 85: Data Table on Japan - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 86: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 87: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 88: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 89: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 90: Chart on France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 91: Data Table on France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 92: Chart on France - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 93: Data Table on France - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 94: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 95: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 96: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 97: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 98: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 99: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 100: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 Aleph America

Exhibit 101: Aleph America - Overview



Exhibit 102: Aleph America - Business segments



Exhibit 103: Aleph America - Key offerings



Exhibit 104: Aleph America - Segment focus

10.4 Coto Technology

Exhibit 105: Coto Technology - Overview



Exhibit 106: Coto Technology - Product / Service



Exhibit 107: Coto Technology - Key offerings

10.5 HSI Sensing

Exhibit 108: HSI Sensing - Overview



Exhibit 109: HSI Sensing - Business segments



Exhibit 110: HSI Sensing - Key offerings



Exhibit 111: HSI Sensing - Segment focus

10.6 Littelfuse Inc.

Exhibit 112: Littelfuse Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 113: Littelfuse Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 114: Littelfuse Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 115: Littelfuse Inc. - Segment focus

10.7 PIC GmbH

Exhibit 116: PIC GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 117: PIC GmbH - Product / Service



Exhibit 118: PIC GmbH - Key offerings

10.8 Pickering Electronics Ltd.

Exhibit 119: Pickering Electronics Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 120: Pickering Electronics Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 121: Pickering Electronics Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 122: Pickering Electronics Ltd. - Segment focus

10.9 RMCIP

Exhibit 123: RMCIP - Overview



Exhibit 124: RMCIP - Business segments



Exhibit 125: RMCIP - Key offerings



Exhibit 126: RMCIP - Segment focus

10.10 Standex Electronics Inc.

Exhibit 127: Standex Electronics Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 128: Standex Electronics Inc. - Product / Service



Exhibit 129: Standex Electronics Inc. - Key offerings

10.11 STG Germany GmbH

Germany GmbH Exhibit 130: STG Germany GmbH - Overview



Exhibit 131: STG Germany GmbH - Business segments



Exhibit 132: STG Germany GmbH - Key offerings



Exhibit 133: STG Germany GmbH - Segment focus

10.12 Zhejiang Xurui Electronic Co.Ltd

Exhibit 134: Zhejiang Xurui Electronic Co.Ltd - Overview



Exhibit 135: Zhejiang Xurui Electronic Co.Ltd - Business segments



Exhibit 136: Zhejiang Xurui Electronic Co.Ltd - Key offerings



Exhibit 137: Zhejiang Xurui Electronic Co.Ltd - Segment focus

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 138: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 139: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 140: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 141: Research methodology

Exhibit 142: Validation techniques employed for market sizing

Exhibit 143: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 144: List of abbreviations

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

Contact

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media & Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.technavio.com/

SOURCE Technavio
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time in three years, St. Patrick's Day celebrations are coming back into full swing. To help adults across the US prepare for the holiday's return, Roe & Co is reminding fans exactly what they love most about the holiday, Irish heritage, and of course, whiskey with a bit of a trivia twist.

While winners wont be announced until after the holiday, fans can celebrate St. Patricks Day with the brands delicious Roe & Co Irish Coffee Recipe. Once the quiz is completed, entrants will have the chance to enter the IrishQ Test sweepstakes where one lucky winner will receive a 3-day trip to Dublin for them and a friend, including round-trip air travel, hotel accommodations, a cash prize of $1,000 to aid their adventures and a private tour of the Roe & Co distillery lead by Head Distiller, Lora Hemy.

As part of the brand's festivities for the holiday, the premium Irish whiskey distilled by Lora Hemy is unveiling a quiz for adults (21+) in select markets to test if everyone is a bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day and expand their horizons. Do you love trivia and want to learn about the following areas? If you answered yes, then the 'IrishQ Test' has everything you need to be ready to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year.

Delicious Irish Whiskey cocktail recipes

The location of the first St. Patrick's Day parade

The original color associated with the holiday

The best part? The fun and exploration doesn't stop after participants answer the final question! Once the quiz is completed, entrants will have the chance to enter the 'IrishQ Test' sweepstakes where one lucky winner will receive a 3-day trip to Dublin for them and a friend, including round-trip air travel, hotel accommodations, a cash prize of $1,000 to aid their adventures and a private tour of the Roe & Co distillery lead by Head Distiller, Lora Hemy.

"After three long years, we are thrilled to finally celebrate St. Patrick's Day the way it is meant to be celebrated  bringing people together through connection and unity while applauding both modern Irish culture and honoring traditional Irish heritage," said Lora Hemy, Head Distiller at Roe & Co Distillery in Dublin. "Roe & Co is proud to be a part of the resurgence of Irish Whiskey and cocktail exploration, and we can't think of a better way to share more about our story than by inviting our fans to take part in the #IrishQTest trivia."

To bring the campaign to life on social media, Roe & Co is also partnering with Anna Roisman, TV Host and Comedian, to help fans test their knowledge on social media. Roisman will be promoting the trivia and 'IrishQ Test' challenge on her social media (@annaroisman) so be sure to stay tuned so you don't miss any of the fun!

Starting today, the 'IrishQ Test' sweepstakes is available for entry on http://www.roeandcowhiskey.com/stpatricksday , ending at 11:59:59 pm ET on March 17, 2022. Not ready to travel just yet? The sweepstakes winner and their guest have until July 15, 2024, to take their dream trip to Dublin, or winner may choose to receive a check for $6,000 as Prize in lieu of trip by advising Sponsor accordingly at time of prize acceptance. While winners won't be announced until after the holiday, fans can celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the brand's delicious Roe & Co Irish Coffee Recipe.

Roe & Co is a premium Blended Irish Whiskey, named in honor of George Roe, a true pioneer of Irish Whiskey. Aged in ex-bourbon barrels, non-chill filtered and bottled at an ABV of 45 percent (90 proof), Roe & Co can currently be purchased for all of your St. Patrick's Day across the US in California, Connecticut, District Of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York State, Ohio or Rhode Island.

No matter how you choose to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Roe & Co this month, please remember to drink responsibly. For more information, visit roeandcowhiskey.com or follow Roe & Co at @RoeandCoWhiskey on Facebook and Instagram.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. OPEN ONLY TO LEGAL U.S. RESIDENTS, 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER, WHO RESIDE IN ONE (1) OF THE FOLLOWING STATES: CALIFORNIA, CONNECTICUT, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ILLINOIS, MARYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW JERSEY, NEW YORK STATE, OHIO OR RHODE ISLAND (COLLECTIVELY, "ELIGIBLE AREA"). VOID ELSEWHERE AND WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

Roe & Co Irish Coffee Recipe

1.5 oz Roe & Co

2 tsp light brown sugar

1 cup hot or cold brewed coffee

Whipped cream

HOT: Add Hot coffee and sugar, stir and mix well. Once combined, add the Roe & Co Irish Whiskey. Top with Whipped Cream.

COLD: Mix sugar and cold brew coffee well. Stir in Roe & Co. Irish Whiskey and pour over ice filled Irish coffee mug. Top with Whipped Cream.

About Roe & Co

Roe & Co is named in honor of George Roe, the once world-famous whiskey maker who helped build the golden era of Irish Whiskey in the 19th century. His distillery, George Roe and Co, extended over 17 acres on Thomas Street in Dublin and was once Ireland's largest distillery.

Diageo will now build on this rich heritage with the creation of a new distillery by converting the historic former Guinness Power House on Thomas Street. Roe & Co is made from the finest hand-selected stocks of Irish malt and grain whiskies and aged in bourbon casks. It has the signature smoothness of Irish Whiskey with remarkable depth of flavor  a luxuriously smooth blend, with a perfect harmony between the intense fruitiness of the malt and the mellow creaminess of the grain whiskies. The first blend of Roe & Co debuted in key European cities as part of Diageo's growing Reserve portfolio. For more information, visit roeandcowhiskey.com or follow Roe & Co at @RoeandCoWhiskey on Facebook and Instagram.

About Diageo North America

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos, DeLeon and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO ) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: DGE) and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, their people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com . Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com , for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice. Follow on Twitter and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

TAYLOR

Roe&[email protected]

SOURCE Diageo
BEIJING, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- RYB Education, Inc. ("RYB" or the "Company") (NYSE: RYB) announces that its subsidiaries have entered into termination agreements with certain variable interest entities, a decision made after careful consideration of the regulatory landscape and the Company's development needs. By entering into those termination agreements, RYB will no longer have contractual control over its directly operated kindergarten business (the "Divesture"). The Divesture aims to fully address compliance requirements with regard to relevant laws and regulations (including the Opinions of the State Council on Deepening Reform and Standardized Development of Preschool Education, the Regulations on the Implementation of the Law on the Promotion of Private Education, and the Preschool Education Law (Draft for Comments)). Concurrently, the Company is proposing to change its name from RYB Education Inc. to Gravitas Education Holdings Inc., subject to approval at the next extraordinary general meeting.

This Divestiture improves the Company's ability to adapt to evolving industry trends, enhance compliance with regulation, expand its range of products and services, and be a strong sector leader. The Company will continue to develop its preschool education business in Singapore and overseas, and its domestic business will undergo a strategic transformation: Leveraging its long experience and deep insight in the early childhood education industry and its strength in curriculum development, teacher training and management process, the Company is well-positioned to provide end-to-end services across brand, content, systems, training, and more, to educational institutions. The divested kindergartens will continue to be operated by the current management team, ensuring consistency and continued delivery of high quality education to students.

This Divesture includes the termination of agreements by and among Beijing RYB Technology Development Co., Ltd. ("our WFOE"), Beijing RYB Children Education Technology Development Co., Ltd. ("our VIE") and its shareholders. As compensation for the termination of VIE agreements, an aggregate amount of RMB158.5 million will be paid in installments to our WFOE. At the same time, to ensure ongoing stability and sustained provision of quality kindergarten education, our WFOE has entered into service agreements at arm's length terms, following market prices and conditions, with our VIE. The audit committee of the board of the directors of the Company, with the assistance of a third-party financial advisor, has independently reviewed and approved the Divesture as a related party transaction at arm's length terms. The Divesture proposal was submitted to the board of directors of the Company, and was officially approved on February 21, 2022.

About RYB Education, Inc.

Founded on the core values of "Care" and "Responsibility," "Inspire" and "Innovate," RYB Education, Inc. is a leading early childhood education service provider in China. Since opening its first play-and-learn center in 1998, the Company has grown and flourished with the mission to provide high-quality, individualized and age-appropriate care and education to nurture and inspire each child for his or her betterment in life. During its two decades of operating history, the Company has built "RYB" into a well-recognized education brand and helped bring about many new educational practices in China's early childhood education industry. RYB's comprehensive early childhood education solutions meet the needs of children from infancy to 6 years old through structured courses at kindergartens and play-and-learn centers, as well as at-home educational products and services.

For more information, please visit http://ir.rybbaby.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's brand recognition and market reputation; the Company's growth strategies; trends and competition in China's early childhood education market; changes in its revenues and certain cost or expense items; the expected growth of the Chinese early childhood education market; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Company's industry and general economic conditions in China. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

RYB Education, Inc.

Investor Relations

E-mail: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Yang Song

Tel: +86 (10) 6508-0677

E-mail: [email protected]

In the United States:

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

Tel: +1-212-481-2050

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE RYB Education, Inc.
BEIJING, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- RYB Education, Inc. ("RYB" or the "Company") (NYSE: RYB), a leading early childhood education service provider in China, today announced that it will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders (the "EGM") at 4/F, No. 28 Building, Fangguyuan Section 1, Fangzhuang Fengtai District, Beijing 100078, People's Republic of China, at 10:00 am (Beijing Time) on May 13, 2022.

The purpose of the EGM is for the Company's shareholders to consider, and if thought fit, approve the change of the Company's legal name from "RYB Education, Inc." to "Gravitas Education Holdings, Inc." The proposed name change will not affect any rights of shareholders or the Company's operations and financial position.

The board of directors of the Company has fixed the close of business on March 14, 2022 as the record date (the "Record Date") in order to determine the shareholders entitled to receive notice of the EGM or any adjourned or postponed meeting thereof.

Holders of the Company's ordinary shares whose names are on the register of members of the Company at the close of business on the Record Date are entitled to attend the EGM and any adjournment or postponement thereof in person. Holders of the Company's American depositary shares ("ADSs") who wish to exercise their voting rights for the underlying shares must act through Citibank, N.A., the depositary of the Company's ADS program.

The notice of the EGM is available on the Company's website at http://ir.rybbaby.com.

About RYB Education, Inc.

Founded on the core values of "Care" and "Responsibility," "Inspire" and "Innovate," RYB Education, Inc. is a leading early childhood education service provider in China. Since opening its first play-and-learn center in 1998, the Company has grown and flourished with the mission to provide high-quality, individualized and age-appropriate care and education to nurture and inspire each child for his or her betterment in life. During its two decades of operating history, the Company has built "RYB" into a well-recognized education brand and helped bring about many new educational practices in China's early childhood education industry. RYB's comprehensive early childhood education solutions meet the needs of children from infancy to 6 years old through structured courses at kindergartens and play-and-learn centers, as well as at-home educational products and services.

For more information, please visit http://ir.rybbaby.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the Company's brand recognition and market reputation; the Company's growth strategies; trends and competition in China's early childhood education market; changes in its revenues and certain cost or expense items; the expected growth of the Chinese early childhood education market; Chinese governmental policies relating to the Company's industry and general economic conditions in China. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the SEC. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

RYB Education, Inc.

Investor Relations

E-mail: [email protected]

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Yang Song

Tel: +86 (10) 6508-0677

E-mail: [email protected]

In the United States:

The Piacente Group, Inc.

Brandi Piacente

Tel: +1-212-481-2050

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE RYB Education, Inc.
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Saatva Hybrid Classic Mattress By Saatva provides greater support, cooling, and comfort. The 12 inches & 4-layer Saatva Mattress has a BeCool cooling layer, which works hard to keep the user cool & comfortable. The Macro Air pressure-relieving foam layer is also included in the Saatva Mattress. MacroAir is a high-end foam with one of the highest airflows available. It's exceptionally long-lasting and delivers pressure relief that follows the contours of the body.

The 10 inches and 3-layer Saatva Mattress is good for side sleepers, back sleepers, and stomach sleepers as it has a graphite-infused BeCool cooling layer. Saatva Mattress has spent hundreds of hours developing the most advanced and comfortable cooling layer available, one that offers unrivaled cooling, comfort, and support.

One of the USPs of Saatva's is a special cooling layer. Hundreds of hours have gone into developing the greatest and most comfortable cooling layer on the market. The user will feel as though they're sleeping on a cloud. In Saatva Mattress, there is only one use of CertiPUR-US certified foam. All Saatva Mattress & Hybrid Classic mattresses are proudly created in the United States and comply with the highest production standards.

Saatva Mattress offers a Lifetime Warranty, however many mattresses manufacturers only provide a 10-year warranty. Saatva cares about the consumers and wants them to know that they can count on their products for the rest of their lives. One of the best trails in the industry is Saatva's 150-night trial. We're convinced that the user will enjoy the Saatva Mattress & Hybrid Classic mattress, and the company wants to give them plenty of time to try it out.

Saatva Mattress & Hybrid Classic Mattress are made of five layers. The first layer is cool to the touch layer which is a polyethylene-infused cover and is cooler to the touch, repels heat, and retains coolness.

It has a softer and breathable second layer that works hard to collect excess heat from the body and then channel it away. The graphite substance draws heat away from the body and improves ventilation substantially.

The Macro Air pressure-relieving foam which is the third layer has a high-quality, long-lasting memory foam that molds to the body for superior pressure relief and performance. It also offers one of the highest air flow rates on the market, ensuring a cooler night's sleep.

This extra-breathable performance fourth layer works in tandem with the foam base to prevent sinkage and give back and side support. This layer provides the perfect blend of comfort and support, as well as helping to straighten the spine for improved pressure relief. Read More Here

The last layer support foam is an open-cell, long-lasting base foam that maintains its shape and provides a breathing environment. It gives optimal support for all the upper layers and aids in the proper alignment of the spine for a pleasant sleeping position.

Saatva: A Mattress Like No Other is designed to provide optimum comfort & support to the user body.

Contact the Saatva Classic Hybrid Mattress Team:

Contact Person: Lynn Heatherton

Role: Sale's Manager Head

Address: 1920 Whitestone Expy New York, US

Postal code: 1920

City: NY

Country: United States

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (877) 597-0583

Related Links: Saatva Hybrid Mattress Official Website

SOURCE Saatva Mattress
Google mandates workers back to Silicon Valley, other offices from April 4

Alphabet Inc's Google from April 4 will require employees back about three days a week in some of its U.S., U.K. and Asia Pacific offices, its first step to end policies that allowed remote work because of COVID-19 concerns.









The logo for Google LLC is seen at their offices in Manhattan, New York City



An internal email on Wednesday seen by Reuters told employees in the San Francisco Bay Area that "advances in prevention and treatment, the steady decline in cases we continue to see and the improved safety measures we have implemented ... now mean we can officially begin the transition to the hybrid work week."



Google joins a wave of technology and finance companies that have begun mandating a return to office. While some big employers have embraced voluntary work-from-home policies permanently, others including Google are betting that it is best to push in-person interactions among colleagues.



Google expects most employees will be in offices about three days a week, with some variance by team and role.



Everyone coming to the office must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved exemption, according to the email from John Casey, Google's vice president of global benefits. Unvaccinated workers without an exemption will be given an option to seek one or apply for permanent remote work.



Fully vaccinated workers will not have to wear masks in Bay Area offices, Casey said.



Google declined to specify the other locations returning to normal on April 4, pending formal announcements to workers at those sites.



Employees not prepared to return April 4 also can seek a remote-work extension, Google said.



Since last June, Google has approved nearly 14,000 employees globally to transfer to a new location or go fully remote, Casey said. About 15% of applications have been denied, he added.



Google largely has restored office perks such as free meals, massages and transit. But while business visitors and meetings are permitted, employees cannot yet bring back families or children to dine or visit with them.
Press Release

March 3, 2022 Bong Go reiterates importance of fire safety awareness, honors Filipino firefighters as PH observes Fire Prevention Month Senator Christopher "Bong" Go on Tuesday, March 1, once again underscored the importance of fire safety awareness especially in fire-prone communities as the Bureau of Fire Protection kicked off its activities for the Fire Prevention Month. "It is an honor to join you as we welcome the Fire Prevention Month. Isa sa mga adbokasiya ko bilang tagapaglingkod ang kaligtasan ng bawat Pilipino," Go began in his video message. "Kaya naman napakahalaga na magkaroon tayo ng Fire Prevention Month para ipaalala natin sa bawat isa ang importansya ng fire safety awareness," he stressed. The senator went on to recognize the sacrifices of the country's firefighters who continue to risk their lives in the line of duty. "Let this month also be the time to honor our courageous firefighters who continue to put their lives at risk to keep our communities safe. I express my deepest gratitude for your commitment to protect your fellow Filipinos especially at this time of crisis," he remarked. "Sa ating mga bumbero at sa mga namumuno ng BFP, ipagpatuloy niyo lang po ang paglilingkod dahil mas lalong kailangan po tayo ng ating mga kababayan," he added. The lawmaker then vowed to continue supporting the fire bureau to improve its capabilities to better respond to fire incidents and protect more Filipinos. Go is the principal author and co-sponsor of the bill that became Republic Act No. 11589 or the BFP Modernization Act. The law provides for a ten-year modernization program, transforming BFP into a modern and world-class institution by purchasing and upgrading fire equipment, recruiting more fire personnel, and providing specialized training, among others. BFP, in coordination with the Department of Interior and Local Government, is also conducting a fire safety awareness campaign across the country as part of the Fire Prevention Month celebration and also as mandated by RA No. 11589. The senator then recalled the numerous times he visited fire-hit communities nationwide, saying, "Sa aking pag-iikot, marami na akong nabisita at natulungan na mga nasunugan kaya naman po alam ko kung gaano kasakit para sa ating mga kababayan ang mawala ang kanilang mga pinagpaguran." "Pero katulad ng palagi kong sinasabi, mas importante na buhay po tayo. Ang pera naman po ay kikitain, pero ang buhay ay hindi nabibili ng pera. A lost life is a lost life forever," he added. Finally, the senator reiterated his commitment to help more fire victims recover and rebuild their lives. "Bilang inyong Kuya Bong Go, asahan niyo po ang aking patuloy na suporta at kaakibat ninyo sa pagsisiguro na ligtas ang ating mga kababayang Pilipino sa kahit na anumang sakuna," Go assured. "Muli, Happy Fire Prevention Month at mabuhay po kayong lahat! Maraming salamat po!" he ended.
WASHINGTON, March 2 (Xinhua) -- More than 46,000 people died on U.S. roads in 2021, according to preliminary data released by the National Safety Council (NSC) on Wednesday.

The nonprofit safety advocate's estimate of total motor-vehicle deaths for 2021 is 46,020, up 9 percent from 42,339 in 2020 and up 18 percent from 39,107 in 2019, the data showed.

"This devastating news serves as yet another wake-up call for this country," Lorraine Martin, president and CEO of the NSC, said in a statement.

"We are failing each other, and we must act to prioritize safety for all road users," Martin said.

Mileage in 2021 rebounded 11 percent from COVID-19 lows in 2020 and only lags 2019 mileage by 1 percent, the NSC also reported. There were 1.43 deaths per 100 million miles traveled in 2021.

The NSC data is preliminary as the National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports official mortality estimates in the nation.

U.S. President Joe Biden has made the improvement of the nation's infrastructure a key piece of his domestic agenda.

Biden visited Superior, the midwestern U.S. state of Wisconsin, on Wednesday to discuss infrastructure, a day after he emphasized the issue in his first State of the Union address. 
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sabre Corporation, a leading software and technology company in the travel industry, today announced that it has terminated its distribution agreement with Aeroflot, the largest government-majority owned carrier in Russia. Sabre is taking immediate steps to remove Aeroflot flight content from its global distribution system (GDS), a marketplace used by travel agencies, travel websites and corporations around the world to shop, book and service flight reservations.

"Sabre has been monitoring the evolving situation in Ukraine with increasing concern. From the beginning, our primary focus has been the safety of our team members in the impacted region, as well as doing our part to support the much-needed relief efforts," said Sean Menke, CEO of Sabre. "We are taking a stand against this military conflict. We are complying, and will continue to comply, with sanctions imposed against Russia. In addition, today we announced that Sabre has terminated its distribution agreement with Aeroflot, removing its content from our GDS."

The Company will continue to monitor the ongoing situation and will evaluate whether additional actions would be appropriate, taking into account legal considerations and any counter measures that could be implemented in response.

To help support humanitarian programs in the region, Sabre, which has approximately 1,500 team members in Poland, has donated $1 million to the Polish Red Cross, a 100-year charity that does exemplary work in conflict zones and for supporting displaced people. The funds donated by Sabre will be used by the Polish Red Cross to purchase, among other materials, much-needed food, hygiene products and sleeping bags, and will support the provision of medical assistance to those seeking shelter in Poland.

About Sabre Corporation

Sabre Corporation is a leading software and technology company that powers the global travel industry, serving a wide range of travel companies including airlines, hoteliers, travel agencies and other suppliers. The company provides retailing, distribution and fulfilment solutions that help its customers operate more efficiently, drive revenue and offer personalized traveler experiences. Through its leading travel marketplace, Sabre connects travel suppliers with buyers from around the globe. Sabre's technology platform manages more than $260B worth of global travel spend annually. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world. For more information visit www.sabre.com.

SABR-F

Sabre Contacts:

Media

Kristin Hays, Senior Vice President, Global Communications

[email protected]

Heidi Castle, Senior Director, Global Communications

[email protected]



Investors

Kevin Crissey, Vice President, Investor Relations

[email protected]

SOURCE Sabre Corporation
The PFAFF  creative icon 2, available after March 22, 2022, is the first sewing machine to be engineered with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to perform and evolve in response to the sewist to what and how they sew. In true AI fashion, the PFAFF  creative icon 2 is set up to continually chase perfection, getting smarter with each task, in bold, new ways. It eagerly awaits the sewist's voice commands and imagination. It is one of the most technologically advanced machines in the industry. Compatible with Alexa, other voice assistants, and mySewnet apps, the machine can update functions, download templates, transfer designs between devices, and more. With speech and presser foot recognition, stitch prediction, hands-free commands, and an active Virtual Sewing Assistant on the digital screen, this machine will lead sewing into a new high-tech era.

The PFAFF creative icon 2 advanced technology helps the sewist deliver precise stitches (including embroidery) even while using the most challenging threads. Built-in sensors measure the fabric thickness to regulate the amount of thread needed to achieve the perfect balance between the needle and bobbin threads. Results are perfect on both sides of the fabric. The ultra-powerful lighting and 150 newtons (33.7 pounds) piercing power combine with the baseplate to increase stability, reduce vibrations and provide excellent visibility. With the built-in projector, camera, and touch screen, designs can be seen before stitching, allowing for instant help placing a design. The days of counting and guessing stitch numbers are gone.

Dean Brindle, CMO, SVP Worldwide, the parent company of PFAFF, says the creative icon 2 features and technological breakthroughs defy imagination. "It is the world's first and only sewing machine to be voice-controlled with speech recognition. Hands-free commands offer sewists more flexibility, creativity, and time savings. The machine is able to work alongside the sewist and the large interactive display acts as a virtual assistant, customizing and assisting throughout the project. The Artificial Intelligence capabilities are an amazing feat of technology combined with honoring the history of the craft."

Another groundbreaking feature, the creative Embellishment Attachment, is the first of its kind, allowing the sewist to embroider ribbon, beads, rope, or cording directly and precisely onto fabrics as the attachment guides the material into place. It's the first attachment in the industry capable of offering this feature. The Multi-Function Foot Control gives the user control over a project by using the sewist's feet to activate different functions of the machine-like thread cut or reverse.

To learn more about the PFAFF creative icon 2 please visit www.pfaff.com . For High-Res Imagery of the machine, please visit DROPBOX LINK .

ABOUT PFAFF

With a celebrated history of superior design and engineering, PFAFF sewing machines are the world's premier precision machines that sewists aspire to own. The PFAFF brand has more than 160-years of sewing heritage focused on the continued development and design of high-quality sewing and embroidery machines. Known as the perfecter of the craft, PFAFF machines deliver precision to the most demanding sewists by offering maximum control and customization. PFAFF machines are catalysts for passionate sewers, producing the highest quality results in all aspects of sewing. To learn more, visit www.pfaff.com

PFAFF, CREATIVE ICON, and CREATIVE are registered trademarks of KSIN Luxembourg II, S.a.r.l.  2022 KSIN Luxembourg II, S.a.r.l.

SOURCE PFAFF

Related Links

http://www.pfaff.com


MILWAUKEE, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Ademi LLP is investigating Cedar Realty (NYSE: CDR) for possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law in its series of transactions to sell all of Cedar Realty's assets.

Click here to learn how to join the action: https://www.ademilaw.com/case/cedar-realty-trust-inc or call Guri Ademi toll-free at 866-264-3995. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Ademi LLP alleges Cedar Realty's financial outlook and prospects are excellent and yet Cedar Realty shareholders will receive only $29.00 per share. The merger agreement and various other asset purchase agreements unreasonably limit competing bids for Cedar Realty by prohibiting solicitation of further bids, and imposing a significant penalty if Cedar Realty accepts a superior bid. Cedar Realty insiders will receive substantial benefits as part of change of control arrangements.

We are investigating the conduct of Cedar Realty's board of directors, and whether they are (i) fulfilling their fiduciary duties to all shareholders, and (ii) obtaining a fair and reasonable price for Cedar Realty.

If you own Cedar Realty common stock and wish to obtain additional information, please contact Guri Ademi either at [email protected] or toll-free: 866-264-3995, or https://www.ademilaw.com/case/cedar-realty-trust-inc.

We specialize in shareholder litigation involving buyouts, mergers, and individual shareholder rights throughout the country. For more information, please feel free to call us. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contacts



Ademi LLP

Guri Ademi

Toll Free: (866) 264-3995

Fax: (414) 482-8001

SOURCE Ademi LLP
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of his continued leadership and innovative approach to human capital solutions, Pride Global Founder and CEO Leo Russell has been honored with inclusion on the 2022 Staffing 100 North America list published by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA). Previously named to the 2021 list, Russell's bold approach to navigating a dynamic employment market and establishing his company's new Decidedly Diverse initiative secured his spot for the second year running.

In its announcement of the list's publication, SIA highlighted the unique challenges faced by staffing industry leaders in 2021. "Working relentlessly to move their companies and the workforce solutions ecosystem forward," said SIA editor and publisher Subadhra Siriam, "these intrepid professionals have done what it takes to ensure the workforce solutions ecosystem continues to thrive."

"Helping people find work in Americaand now, around the globeis truly as good as it gets," said Russell. "I'm honored to be included among so many incredible professionals in our industry, and I'm looking forward to doing my part to ensure we're helping the world work in every possible way."

Russell launched Pride Global in 1983 as Pride Technologies, initially focusing on providing IT services to the financial industry. In the decades since, Russell oversaw the company's transformation to an international enterprise with more than 4,500 associates across 10 brands. In addition to his work with Pride Global, he has founded Pride in Education, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that offers a full range of vocational training and educational opportunities for diverse communities, as well as the Diversified Staffing Alliance trade association, which provides firms with diverse ownership access to business opportunities with leading corporate clients.

About Pride Global

Pride Global is a minority-owned integrated human capital solutions firm that helps companies solve complex human resource challenges from its headquarters in Manhattan. The Pride Global network of companies operates throughout the U.S., U.K., India, and Brazil, offering a comprehensive range of human resources solutions, including managed services, vendor management, payroll programs, business process optimization and staffing for both direct hire and contingent labor, among others. Learn more at prideglobal.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kaltrina Riley, Chief Marketing Officer

(212) 235-5300 | [email protected]

SOURCE Pride Global
OSTERSUND, Sweden, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Skanska has signed a contract with Welput, the specialist central London office fund managed by BentallGreenOak (BGO), to deliver a mixed-use commercial development in Victoria, London, UK. The contract is worth GBP 235M, about SEK 2.9 billion, which will be included in the order bookings for Europe for the first quarter 2022.

The 43,700 square meter (470,000 square feet) building will provide commercial office space over sixteen floors, along with retail units at ground level. Skanska will deliver the building construction, along with mechanical and electrical engineering services.

The project will pioneer innovations in sustainability to create a healthy, green building fit for the future. It will focus on carbon reduction through attention to detail at every stage - from material selection, site operating efficiencies to modern methods of construction. The building is designed to meet Energy Performance Certification, EPC, A and WELL `Platinum' certification and exceed The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) 2030 sustainability targets. The scheme also targets several other certifications, such as BREEAM `Outstanding'.

Construction is due to start on site in the third quarter of 2022, with completion expected during the second quarter of 2026.

CONTACT:

Caroline Denholm, Senior Communications Business Partner, Skanska UK, tel +44 330 105 2783

Andreas Joons, Press Officer, Skanska AB, tel +46 (0)10 449 04 94

Direct line for media, tel +46 (0)10 448 88 99

This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/skanska/r/skanska-builds-innovate-mixed-used-development-in-london--uk--for-gbp-235m--about-sek-2-9-billion,c3517801

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/95/3517801/1543568.pdf 20220303 UK mixed-use development Victoria ENG

SOURCE Skanska
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Specialty Food Association hosted 10 graduate students and two professors from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), Harrah College of Hospitality during the 2022 Winter Fancy Food Show. Running from February 6-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Show featured over 800 exhibitors and thousands of products from around the world.

The Show featured over 800 exhibitors and thousands of products from domestic and international exhibitors. Tweet this UNLV Harrah College of Hospitality Graduate Students and Professors at the Specialty Food Association 2022 Winter Fancy Food Show

"It was great to experience the exciting trends fueling innovation in food and beverage. The networking and engaging relationships between people, products, and business ideas is certainly inspiring to see first hand. With the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Hospitality College involved, it is extra special since our students and faculty had the opportunity to connect with this specialty event that helps us develop new ideas along with innovative and cutting-edge research to inform our academics," said Joseph Lema, Ph.D, Professor/Chair, Food & Beverage and Event Management. "The size, scale, and organization of this complex event was impressive in itself, and we appreciate the support of the Specialty Food Association in connecting us with this important aspect of elevating the food and beverage experience in Las Vegas that so many visitors and residents have come to expect. Las Vegas is a great place to have the Fancy Food Show!"

The Winter Fancy Food Show Junior Trendspotters identified the following top five trends:

Animal Protein Alternatives , jackfruit dumplings, and plant-based versions of cheese and yogurt

, jackfruit dumplings, and plant-based versions of cheese and yogurt Focus on Allergens , edible cookie dough that meets top allergen needs, and a natural date spread for those with nut allergies

, edible cookie dough that meets top allergen needs, and a natural date spread for those with nut allergies Single Serving Portions For Convenience , everything from individual fondue to granola bites, and pourover coffee

, everything from individual fondue to granola bites, and pourover coffee Sustainability and Environmental Awareness , including packaging materials, production methods, and actual products (edible cutlery)

, including packaging materials, production methods, and actual products (edible cutlery) Unexpected Flavors, ranging from gummies flavored with chile to oatmeal in toasted black sesame

The SFA 2022 Winter Fancy Food Show Junior Trendspotter Panel was composed of 10 UNLV William F. Harrah College of Hospitality grad students, under the guidance of Professor Lema, Seyhmus Baloglu, Ph.D. Professor/Chair, Margaret Hausbeck, Assistant Dean, and Dr. Cervantes Lee:

Mallory Bali

Huying ( Sophie) Zhang

Kyle Bledsoe

Yuang-Sheng (Ken) Chiu

Shaihong ( Jade) Huang

Alaa (Michael) Huwaykim

Jihyun (Jennet) Kim

Yuanchi ( Jerry) Li

Jehun ( Hoon) Moon

Whitney Mulaj

A full Trendspotter Panel report from the Winter Fancy Food Show can be found online here.

The next Fancy Food Show will be held June 12-14 in New York at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Open only to the trade, the Summer Fancy Food Show requires registration and qualification. For additional information visit specialtyfood.com.

About the Specialty Food Association

The Specialty Food Association (SFA) has been the leading trade association and source of information about the $170.4 billion specialty food industry for 70 years. Founded in 1952 in New York City, the SFA represents manufacturers, importers, retailers, distributors, brokers, and others in the trade. The SFA is known for its Fancy Food Shows; the sofi Awards, which have honored excellence in specialty food and beverage for 50 years; the Trendspotter Panel Show reports and annual predictions; the State of the Specialty Food Industry Report and Today's Specialty Food Consumer research; the ecommerce enabled SFA Product Marketplace, where members showcase products and sell directly to qualified buyers; SFA Feed, the daily source for industry news, trends and new product information, and Spill & Dish: A Specialty Food Association Podcast.

Facebook: Specialty Food Association

LinkedIn: Specialty Food Association

Twitter: @Specialty_Food

Instagram: @specialtyfoodassociation

Hashtags: #FancyFoodShow #ShapetheFutureofFood #SFATrendspotterPanel #VivaFancyFood

About UNLV Harrah School of Hospitality

The UNLV Harrah College of Hospitality is consistently ranked as one of the top hospitality programs in the world (#1 in the nation and #2 globally by QS Top Universities). Studying just blocks away from the epicenter of the hospitality industry -- the Las Vegas Strip, Hospitality College students enjoy unparalleled access to hands-on, industry-relevant professional experience. Each year the college helps organize nearly hundreds of internships, welcomes more than 100 national hospitality brands to recruitment events, and pairs an average of 175 industry mentors with students. And with the completion of the college's state-of-the-art academic building Hospitality Hall, students are ushering in a new era of excellence in hospitality education. Visit unlv.edu/hospitality to learn more.

SOURCE Specialty Food Association
STANFORD, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanford Children's Health and John Muir Health have extended their health care operating agreement to 2032 to further deepen a partnership that continues to meet the unique needs of pediatric and neonatal patients in the East Bay. This agreement provides John Muir Health pediatric patients with high-level care that is not only local but also seamlessly supported by a top-10-rated children's hospital in the nation if a higher level of care is required.

Stanford Childrens Health and John Muir Health extend their operating agreement to 2032

"Ten years ago, we worked closely with our pediatricians and listened to families about the need to expand the availability of children's services in our community, said Jane Willemsen, executive vice president and president of hospital operations at John Muir Health. "Our successful partnership with Stanford Children's Health allows our young patients to receive the very best care, ranging from routine to complex, close to home."

Stanford Children's Health and John Muir Health first began the successful partnership in pediatric urology before adding a growing number of surgical and medical services in 2012. The collaboration expanded to include outpatient, inpatient, neonatal, and emergency care; and in 2015 the two health organizations opened Contra Costa County's first pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), offering critical care for children in local and surrounding communities.

In addition to the PICU and a Level III NICU, the 10-year partnership has grown to include cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology/oncology, infectious disease, general surgery, nephrology, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, otolaryngology, pulmonology, and rheumatology to help specialize in diagnosing and managing children with routine and life-threatening, critical illnesses.

The renewed collaboration allows families to continue to have access to:

Pediatric and neonatal critical care transport with highly trained and skilled staff.

A full set of medical and surgical subspecialists.

A regional premier spine center with EOS imagingthe only program in the East Bay.

A pediatric quality program with collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics, California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative, and Society of Critical Care Medicine.

Neonatal intensive care and pediatric intensive care services that have quality certification from California Children's Services.

"A partnership of this type provides a tremendous benefit for children and families in Contra Costa County and surrounding communities," said Paul A. King, president and CEO of Stanford Children's Health. "Stanford Children's Health has long been committed to successful community partnerships with Bay Area health care providers. We have always known that expanding local access to pediatric specialized care is an important way to serve the needs of the children throughout Northern California."

Media contact

Elizabeth Valente

Stanford Children's Health Media Manager

[email protected]

(650) 269-5401

About Stanford Children's Health

Stanford Children's Health, with Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford at its center, is the Bay Area's largest health care system exclusively dedicated to children and expectant mothers. Our network of care includes more than 65 locations across Northern California and more than 85 locations in the U.S. Western region. As part of Stanford Medicine, a leading academic health system that also includes Stanford Health Care and the Stanford University School of Medicine, we are cultivating the next generation of medical professionals and are at the forefront of scientific research to improve children's health outcomes around the world. We are a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the community through meaningful outreach programs and services and providing necessary medical care to families, regardless of their ability to pay. Discover more at stanfordchildrens.org.

About John Muir Health

John Muir Health is a nationally recognized, not-for-profit health care organization east of San Francisco serving patients in Contra Costa, eastern Alameda, and southern Solano counties. It includes a network of more than 1,000 primary care and specialty physicians; 6,200 employees; and medical centers in Concord and Walnut Creek, including Contra Costa County's only trauma center and a Behavioral Health Center. John Muir Health also has partnerships with UCSF Health, Tenet Healthcare/San Ramon Regional Medical Center, Stanford Children's Health, Carbon Health, and Optum. The health system offers a full range of medical services, including primary care, outpatient, and imaging services, and is widely recognized as a leader in many specialties: neurosciences, orthopedics, cancer, cardiovascular, trauma, emergency, pediatrics, and high-risk obstetrics care.

SOURCE Stanford Childrens Health and Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford
ARLINGTON, Va., March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier today, the Biden Administration released its "National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan," outlining the path forward for America in the COVID-19 pandemic. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) CEO Michael Fraser released the following statement in response.

"For over two years, public health officials have worked tirelessly to protect the health of their jurisdictions. Along with their healthcare partners, state and territorial health leaders are committed to doing everything possible to continue to prevent COVID-19 related illness and save lives.

State and territorial public health officials, in conjunction with public health and healthcare partners, are assessing what the next phase of the pandemic will look like. ASTHO is pleased that the Biden Administration has addressed the changing nature of the COVID-19 virus and continues to support the need for all states and territories to remain vigilant and prepared in efforts to prevent COVID-19 related illness. Many of the elements in the plan reflect the current priorities of state and territorial health officials including furthering efforts to vaccinate more Americans, activities to increase access to testing and therapeutics, and to prevent future economic and educational shutdowns.

We are seeing a new phase of the pandemic in the United States and around the world. As such, our strategies and tactics need to change. State and territorial health leaders are cautiously optimistic that this spring will bring fewer hospitalizations and deaths but remain uncertain about potential COVID-19 outbreaks in the summer and fall seasons. The virus is here to stay, and we consider this to be the next phase of our work to prevent COVID-19, not the end. This plan will help inform efforts in this new phase of response and help guide states in their actions to keep every American healthy."

ASTHO is the national nonprofit organization representing the public health agencies of the United States, the U.S. territories and Freely Associated States, and Washington, D.C., as well as the more than 100,000 public health professionals these agencies employ. ASTHO members, the chief health officials of these jurisdictions, are dedicated to formulating and influencing sound public health policy and to ensuring excellence in public health practice.

SOURCE Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
Statement by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on President Biden's State of the Union Address Tweet this

As part of Biden's strategy to strengthen system capacity, he highlighted the importance of successfully launching the three-digit 988 suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline and strengthening community-based crisis response. This suicide prevention and mental health crisis service hotline will be available later this year, connecting callers throughout the U.S. to immediate crisis care. AFSP has shown its continued support for increasing federal and state funding for the 988 crisis response system and firmly believes that crisis call centers be an invaluable resource that connect individuals to services that can save lives. We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for investing an additional $700 million to build infrastructure within local crisis centers at a time when many are underfunded and struggling to meet current service demand.

Biden's mental health strategy is one of the many building blocks our community needs to help lower the national suicide rate and falls in lockstep with AFSP's Project 2025, a partnership-driven, nationwide initiative aimed at reducing the annual rate of suicide in the U.S. by 20% by 2025. While new CDC data shows that the suicide rate decreased by 3% from 2019 to 2020, we do not yet have a full understanding of the longer term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and suicide and we need to continue to create programs, support research and advance policies that contribute to a decrease in suicide.

Let's take this new Presidential initiative as a reminder that we all have mental health, just as we do physical health, and that we can all work together to get people the help they need and deserve. For those currently struggling with mental health, know that you are not alone, there are people and resources available to help, and there are proactive steps to protect your mental health and that of loved ones.

Media interested in learning more about suicide, warning signs, and prevention can visit our website at www.afsp.org. For insight on how to report on suicide: https://afsp.org/for-journalists . It is important to NOT mention the method of suicide in reporting as this can lead to possible suicide contagion.

If you need help right now, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide, including those who have had a loss . AFSP creates a culture that's smart about mental health through education and community programs, develops suicide prevention through research and advocacy, and provides support for those affected by suicide. Led by CEO Robert Gebbia and headquartered in New York, with an Advocacy office in Washington, DC, AFSP has local chapters in all 50 states with programs and events nationwide. Learn more about AFSP in its latest Annual Report, and join the conversation on suicide prevention by following AFSP on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

SOURCE American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
"The reality and uncertainty of this war is immense and we are identifying immediate ways we can support Ukrainians," commented Damian McKinney, Global CEO, Stoli Group. "WCK, and Chef Jose Andres, have repeatedly demonstrated that they are fast and efficient at providing extraordinary care and relief during disaster situations. We are pleased to provide financial support to be used for their efforts in Ukraine and will be announcing long term financial support as Ukrainians grapple with this atrocity."

Within hours of the invasion, World Central Kitchen began serving hot, nourishing meals at a 24-hour pedestrian border crossing in southern Poland. They quickly expanded their efforts to provide meals to Ukrainians in need who are staying in their cities as well as refugees fleeing to the neighboring countries of Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova, and soon Slovakia. WCK is working with local restaurants, caterers, and food trucks in the region to provide nourishing meals at border crossings, shelters, and other refugee communities. Good food provides not only nourishment, but also comfort and hope, especially in times of crisis.

In addition to WCK, Stoli is providing support to Ukrainian employees, partners and distributors as they face extraordinary difficulties. While some are choosing to relocate, others have decided to stay and are in need of financial, emotional and tactical support.

"This is very personal to us," continued McKinney. "As a former Royal Marine Commando, I know all too well, the desire to take action. We have the resources and ability to sponsor in the near term, and are establishing plans for the long haul to continue help the region that has been so good to Stoli for many years."

About Stoli Group

Stoli Group was established in 2013 and is responsible for the production, management, and distribution of SPI's global spirits and wines portfolio. Mainly known for the Stolichnaya Vodka brand, Stoli Group has expanded its portfolio in recent years to appeal to luxury on-premise and more sophisticated global consumers. Signature brands are: Stoli Vodka, elitVodka, Bayou Rum, Kentucky Owl, Villa One, Gator Bite Rum Liquers, Cenote Tequila, Tulchan Gin, Se Busca Mezcal and Stoli Group's wine division, Tenute del Mondo. With a presence across a network of more than 176 markets, Stoli Group works with a passionate team of 200 distributors around the world. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Stoli has production facilities in Spain, Italy, Argentina, and the United States, some of which are steeped in history dating back to the early part of the last century. For more information, visit stoli-group.com.

SOURCE Stoli Group
Photo taken on March 2, 2022 show the scene of a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan at UN Headquarters in New York. The international community has no choice but to deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan, said Deborah Lyons, the top UN envoy for the war-torn country, on Wednesday. (Mark Garten/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The international community has no choice but to deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan, said Deborah Lyons, the top UN envoy for the war-torn country, on Wednesday.

"Let me make clear that we do not believe that we can truly assist the Afghan people without working with the de facto authorities (of the Taliban)," she told the Security Council in a briefing. "This must be difficult for some to accept. But it is essential."

There remains an enduring distrust between the Taliban and much of the international community, and even the regional countries and neighbors, said Lyons, the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

"The Taliban feel misunderstood and complain to us that our reports do not reflect the reality as they see it. They tell me that we underappreciate their achievements and that we exaggerate the problems -- problems which they acknowledge and which they claim they are trying to solve," she said.

Above all, the Taliban believe that they should receive greater acknowledgment for the security that prevails in Afghanistan. In the six months since the Taliban takeover on Aug. 15, 2021, there has been a 78 percent decline in civilian casualties as a result of the reduction of the conflict. They also note that their amnesty declaration has been honored for the most part and that violations are not state-sanctioned and that those violators will be punished, she said.

The Taliban also highlight progress on the economic front, including strong revenues despite decreased economic activity, reduced government corruption, and a budget that does not require donor resources. They also point to public universities being reopened and their desire to see Afghans, all boys and all girls, educated to a high international standard, she said.

On Tuesday, on the anniversary of the signing of the Doha Agreement between the Taliban and the United States, the Taliban reiterated their declared commitment to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a threat to any country, and their desire for good relations with all states and international organizations, she noted.

"This complements another important point made to me recently by the de facto foreign minister, namely that their diplomatic policy is to ensure that Afghanistan also does not become an arena of competition between other powers or countries," said Lyons.

Most importantly, they complain that these positive achievements are being undermined by an undeclared economic war against them by the international community that has greatly affected and resulted in choking of the economy and they know also exacerbating the suffering of the population, she said.

"This clash of perspectives forms the basis of a serious gap, gulf and distrust that must be addressed. And that is what UNAMA has been doing these past six months and what we hope you will be giving us the mandate to continue to do in the year ahead -- to bridge this gulf for the betterment of all Afghans," she said, referring to the planned renewal of UNAMA's mandate later this month.

In response to the complaints, UNAMA has articulated to the Taliban the concerns of the international community and most notably, the instructions from the Security Council, said Lyons.

"As UNAMA, we must continue to report on what we see, even as we continue to build an understanding and the working relationship with the de facto authorities. We are concerned by restrictions on women and girls' fundamental rights, on extrajudicial killings, on enforced disappearances, on arbitrary detention, on respect for minorities, and on freedoms of assembly and expression," she said.

UNAMA's advocacy and collaboration with the Taliban have produced results, citing the release of the disappeared women protesters and their family members.

Afghanistan presents a complicated situation, with positive and negative trends occurring simultaneously. UNAMA has so far been able to address many issues through constructive engagement and cooperation with the Taliban, both on the humanitarian delivery as well as on some of the sensitive issues, said Lyons. "We believe, as a political mission, that we can do much more to work with the de facto authorities on the main issues facing Afghan society."

UNAMA's purpose is ultimately to see Afghanistan, one of the original members of the United Nations, rejoin the organization as a member in good standing, benefit from the resources of the international community, and contribute to the global discussion on issues of common concern, she said.

"Naturally, working with the de facto authorities in no way means condoning everything that it does. But this will give us the opportunity, on behalf of all of you and the rest of the international community, to help shape a future for the people of Afghanistan, free of conflict and where they can peacefully pursue their quest for prosperity, participation, and respect for their rights," she said.

The Security Council is scheduled to vote on the renewal of UNAMA's mandate on March 17. Lyons called on the council to design a proper mandate to fit the purpose of UNAMA.

"The mandate you adopt for UNAMA will send a signal from the international community to the Afghan people that they have not been forgotten, and to the Taliban de facto authorities that the world does not desire future conflict in Afghanistan but that they will need to recognize basic standards of global citizenship in order to be accepted by the international community," she said.

If UNAMA is appropriately equipped and empowered by the Security Council, a busy but worthwhile agenda awaits the UN mission: addressing the economic crisis; working with the Taliban to ensure education for all girls and boys to help the country move forward; promoting human rights; engaging in a discussion about political inclusion to ensure the concerns of all Afghans are reflected in decision-making; supporting a structured policy dialogue with the Taliban that supports the process of securing domestic legitimacy and addresses the key international concerns of narcotics, terrorism and regional security, she said.

These elements combined will allow UNAMA to work with the Taliban and other Afghans and the Security Council to establish a pathway for the Afghan state to rejoin the larger international community, said Lyons. "Your deliberations and decisions on the mandate in the coming weeks have immense consequences. They will resonate across the region and the world, but more importantly, they will be felt in every village in Afghanistan."

"I would be remiss if I did not remind you that you are about to approach a critical moment in your relationship with Afghanistan. You have the opportunity in the next two weeks to develop and design a much-needed, relevant and solid political mission that will help to build back the country, that will help to build the capacity, that will help to attract back the all-important development dollars and will avoid the constant collapse of Afghanistan into a humanitarian crisis," said Lyons. "I implore you to give us a strong, solid mandate that will be required. Without it, I fear for the future." 

Deborah Lyons (C), the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), speaks at a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan at UN Headquarters in New York on March 2, 2022. The international community has no choice but to deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan, said Deborah Lyons, the top UN envoy for the war-torn country, on Wednesday. (Mark Garten/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
SEATTLE, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, members of Teamsters Local 174 who have been on strike for more than three months were joined by community supporters as they demonstrated outside Japan's General Consulate in Seattle. They called on Japan-based Taiheiyo Cement to push its U.S. subsidiary, CalPortland, to quickly resolve the ongoing concrete strike that has crippled Seattle's construction industry.

The Teamsters held signs and banners that read, "Taiheiyo Cement and Japan: Don't Turn Your Back on American Workers," demanding that Taiheiyo stop CalPortland's ongoing effort to purge union workers from the Seattle construction industry.

"CalPortland concrete workers in Seattle have been on strike for over three months to demand that the company stop violating U.S. labor law. CalPortland's unlawful conduct has devastated Seattle's construction industry, endangering the health of our region's economy and leaving up to 15,000 workers without jobs," said Rick Hicks, Secretary Treasurer of Teamsters Local 174. "CalPortland's actions in Seattle could jeopardize Taiheiyo's future in the United States and draw the attention of federal regulators."

Additionally, Teamster Local Unions throughout the United States including Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Portland, and San Francisco will be demonstrating at Japan's diplomatic offices in the coming days and weeks and delivering letters asking Taiheiyo Cement to open dialogue with its American workers in Seattle.

"I don't understand Taiheiyo's business plan for CalPortland," said Teamsters Construction Director Marion "Bubba" Davis. "CalPortland is destroying Seattle's $26 billion construction industry and drawing the attention of regional, state, and federal government agencies, including the Washington State Attorney General's office, the Washington State Department of

Transportation, the City of Seattle, King County, and the U.S. Department of Labor. That is difficult to understand."

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

Contact:

Jamie Fleming

[email protected]

SOURCE Teamsters Local 174
Market Scope

The structured cabling market covers the following areas:

This report presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources by an analysis of key parameters. Technavio categorizes the global structured cabling market as a part of the global electrical components and equipment market. Our report provides extensive information on the value chain analysis for the structured cabling market, which vendors can leverage to gain a competitive advantage during the forecast period.

Subscribe to our "Lite Plan" billed annually at USD 3000 to join a community, who are eligible to view 3 reports monthly and download 3 reports annually.

Vendor Insights

The structured cabling market is fragmented and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as differentiating their product offerings with improved quality and the introduction of technological developments to compete in the market. Companies are engaging in strategic partnerships and launching innovative products to strengthen their position in the market. For instance, CommScope Holding Co. Inc. offers structured cabling product brands such as NETCONNECT, SYSTIMAX, and Uniprise.

The report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors, including:

ABB Ltd.

Anixter International Inc.

Belden Inc.

Cisco Systems Inc.

CommScope Holding Co. Inc.

Corning Inc.

Datwyler Holding Inc.

Eland Cables Ltd.

Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd.

Hubnetix Corp.

Legrand SA

Nexans SA

Nutmeg Technologies

Panduit Corp.

Prysmian Spa

Schneider Electric SE

Superior Essex Inc.

TE Connectivity Ltd.

The Cabling Co.

The Siemon Co.

Find additional highlights on the growth strategies adopted by vendors and their product offerings, Read Free Sample Report .

Geographical Market Analysis

North America was the largest revenue-generating regional segment of structured cabling market from 2021. The region will continue to contribute to 34% of the growth during the forecast period. US and Canada are the key markets for the structured cabling market in North America. Market growth in this region will be slower than the growth of the market in other regions. The increasing number of data center establishments will facilitate the structured cabling market growth in North America over the forecast period. In addition, the increasing use of cloud computing is driving the demand for data centers. Therefore, various firms are investing in and launching new data centers.

Furthermore, countries such as China, UK, and Germany are expected to emerge as prominent markets for structured cabling market's growth during the forecast period.

Know more about this market's geographical distribution along with the detailed analysis of the top regions. https://www.technavio.com/report/structured-cabling-market-industry-analysis

Key Segment Highlights

The data center segment held the largest structured cabling market share in 2021. The significant reason contributing to the extensive growth of the market is the increasing amount of data being generated across industries. Several transactions are generating copious amounts of data. Servers are required to manage and hold the generated data. This has increased the number of data centers across the globe. The investments in data centers are increasing at an explosive rate. This is due to the tremendous amount of data generated across several industries. Thus, the need for data center infrastructure will drive the growth of the market in focus during the forecast period.

View FREE Sample : to know additional highlights and key points on various market segments and their impact in coming years.

Key Market Drivers, Trends & Challenges:

The increasing investments in data centers is one of the key drivers supporting the structured cabling market growth. The launch of new data centers, along with investments for future facilities, will create a demand for efficient data center generators. They enable data center operations to run efficiently by providing a continuous power supply. Hence, there is an increasing adoption of structured cabling across the data center industry. In addition, emerging cloud computing technology is another factor supporting the structured cabling market growth. Cloud computing helps companies in hiring talent across the globe and pursuing new business opportunities, irrespective of the geographic location. End-user industries, such as healthcare and life sciences, can use cloud-enabled technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to allow unprecedented data analytics solutions to be delivered.

However, volatile raw material prices is one of the factors hindering the structured cabling market growth. Vendors try to recover the instability in the cost of metals by changing the final product prices. The implementation of necessary modifications to the customer pricing strategy is time-consuming and leads to a period wherein the selling price is lesser than the price of metals. This results in a loss for vendors.

Download free sample for highlights on market Drivers & Challenges affecting the structured cabling market.

Customize Your Report

Don't miss out on the opportunity to speak to our analyst and know more insights about this market report. Our analysts can also help you customize this report according to your needs. Our analysts and industry experts will work directly with you to understand your requirements and provide you with customized data in a short amount of time.

We offer USD 1,000 worth of FREE customization at the time of purchase. Speak to our Analyst now!

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Structured Cabling Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 8.61% Market growth 2022-2026 $ 5.73 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 7.38 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 34% Key consumer countries US, Canada, China, UK, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled ABB Ltd., Anixter International Inc., Belden Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., CommScope Holding Co. Inc., Corning Inc., Datwyler Holding Inc., Eland Cables Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd., Hubnetix Corp., Legrand SA, Nexans SA, Nutmeg Technologies, Panduit Corp., Prysmian Spa, Schneider Electric SE, Superior Essex Inc., TE Connectivity Ltd., The Cabling Co., and The Siemon Co. 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.

1 Executive Summary

1.1 Market overview

Exhibit 01: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Overview



Exhibit 02: Executive Summary  Data Table on Market Overview



Exhibit 03: Executive Summary  Chart on Global Market Characteristics



Exhibit 04: Executive Summary  Chart on Market by Geography



Exhibit 05: Executive Summary  Chart on Market Segmentation by End-user



Exhibit 06: Executive Summary  Chart on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 07: Executive Summary  Data Table on Incremental Growth



Exhibit 08: Executive Summary  Chart on Vendor Market Positioning

2 Market Landscape

2.1 Market ecosystem

Exhibit 09: Parent market



Exhibit 10: Market Characteristics

3 Market Sizing

3.1 Market definition

Exhibit 11: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition

3.2 Market segment analysis

Exhibit 12: Market segments

3.3 Market size 2021

3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021-2026

Exhibit 13: Chart on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 14: Data Table on Global - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 15: Chart on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 16: Data Table on Global Market: Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

4 Five Forces Analysis

4.1 Five forces summary

Exhibit 17: Five forces analysis - Comparison between 2021 and 2026

4.2 Bargaining power of buyers

Exhibit 18: Bargaining power of buyers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers

Exhibit 19: Bargaining power of suppliers  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.4 Threat of new entrants

Exhibit 20: Threat of new entrants  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.5 Threat of substitutes

Exhibit 21: Threat of substitutes  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.6 Threat of rivalry

Exhibit 22: Threat of rivalry  Impact of key factors in 2021 and 2026

4.7 Market condition

Exhibit 23: Chart on Market condition - Five forces 2021 and 2026

5 Market Segmentation by End-user

5.1 Market segments

Exhibit 24: Chart on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 25: Data Table on End-user - Market share 2021-2026 (%)

5.2 Comparison by End-user

Exhibit 26: Chart on Comparison by End-user



Exhibit 27: Data Table on Comparison by End-user

5.3 Data center - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 28: Chart on Data center - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 29: Data Table on Data center - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 30: Chart on Data center - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 31: Data Table on Data center - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.4 Telecommunications - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 32: Chart on Telecommunications - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 33: Data Table on Telecommunications - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 34: Chart on Telecommunications - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 35: Data Table on Telecommunications - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.5 Industrial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 36: Chart on Industrial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 37: Data Table on Industrial - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 38: Chart on Industrial - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 39: Data Table on Industrial - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.6 Buildings - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 40: Chart on Buildings - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 41: Data Table on Buildings - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 42: Chart on Buildings - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 43: Data Table on Buildings - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

5.7 Market opportunity by End-user

Exhibit 44: Market opportunity by End-user ($ million)

6 Customer Landscape

6.1 Customer landscape overview

Exhibit 45: Analysis of price sensitivity, lifecycle, customer purchase basket, adoption rates, and purchase criteria

7 Geographic Landscape

7.1 Geographic segmentation

Exhibit 46: Chart on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 47: Data Table on Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%)

7.2 Geographic comparison

Exhibit 48: Chart on Geographic comparison



Exhibit 49: Data Table on Geographic comparison

7.3 North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 50: Chart on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 51: Data Table on North America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 52: Chart on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 53: Data Table on North America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.4 Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 54: Chart on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 55: Data Table on Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 56: Chart on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 57: Data Table on Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.5 APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 58: Chart on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 59: Data Table on APAC - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 60: Chart on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 61: Data Table on APAC - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.6 South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 62: Chart on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 63: Data Table on South America - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 64: Chart on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 65: Data Table on South America - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.7 Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 66: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 67: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

and - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 68: Chart on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

and - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 69: Data Table on Middle East and Africa - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.8 US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 70: Chart on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 71: Data Table on US - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 72: Chart on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 73: Data Table on US - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.9 China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 74: Chart on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 75: Data Table on China - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 76: Chart on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 77: Data Table on China - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.10 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

Exhibit 78: Chart on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 79: Data Table on UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)



Exhibit 80: Chart on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)



Exhibit 81: Data Table on UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.11 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 82: Chart on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 83: Data Table on Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 84: Chart on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 85: Data Table on Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.12 Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 Exhibit 86: Chart on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 87: Data Table on Canada - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

- Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ million)

Exhibit 88: Chart on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

- Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

Exhibit 89: Data Table on Canada - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%)

7.13 Market opportunity by geography

Exhibit 90: Market opportunity by geography ($ million)

8 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

8.1 Market drivers

8.2 Market challenges

8.3 Impact of drivers and challenges

Exhibit 91: Impact of drivers and challenges in 2021 and 2026

8.4 Market trends

9 Vendor Landscape

9.1 Overview

9.2 Vendor landscape

Exhibit 92: Overview on Criticality of inputs and Factors of differentiation

9.3 Landscape disruption

Exhibit 93: Overview on factors of disruption

9.4 Industry risks

Exhibit 94: Impact of key risks on business

10 Vendor Analysis

10.1 Vendors covered

Exhibit 95: Vendors covered

10.2 Market positioning of vendors

Exhibit 96: Matrix on vendor position and classification

10.3 ABB Ltd.

Exhibit 97: ABB Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 98: ABB Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 99: ABB Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 100: ABB Ltd. - Segment focus

10.4 Anixter International Inc.

Exhibit 101: Anixter International Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 102: Anixter International Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 103: Anixter International Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 104: Anixter International Inc. - Segment focus

10.5 Belden Inc.

Exhibit 105: Belden Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 106: Belden Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 107: Belden Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 108: Belden Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 109: Belden Inc. - Segment focus

10.6 CommScope Holding Co. Inc.

Exhibit 110: CommScope Holding Co. Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 111: CommScope Holding Co. Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 112: CommScope Holding Co. Inc. - Key news



Exhibit 113: CommScope Holding Co. Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 114: CommScope Holding Co. Inc. - Segment focus

10.7 Corning Inc.

Exhibit 115: Corning Inc. - Overview



Exhibit 116: Corning Inc. - Business segments



Exhibit 117: Corning Inc. - Key offerings



Exhibit 118: Corning Inc. - Segment focus

10.8 Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd.

Exhibit 119: Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. - Overview



Exhibit 120: Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. - Business segments



Exhibit 121: Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. - Key offerings



Exhibit 122: Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. - Segment focus

10.9 Nexans SA

Exhibit 123: Nexans SA - Overview



Exhibit 124: Nexans SA - Business segments



Exhibit 125: Nexans SA - Key offerings



Exhibit 126: Nexans SA - Segment focus

10.10 Prysmian Spa

Exhibit 127: Prysmian Spa - Overview



Exhibit 128: Prysmian Spa - Business segments



Exhibit 129: Prysmian Spa - Key news



Exhibit 130: Prysmian Spa - Key offerings



Exhibit 131: Prysmian Spa - Segment focus

10.11 Schneider Electric SE

Exhibit 132: Schneider Electric SE - Overview



Exhibit 133: Schneider Electric SE - Business segments



Exhibit 134: Schneider Electric SE - Key news



Exhibit 135: Schneider Electric SE - Key offerings



Exhibit 136: Schneider Electric SE - Segment focus

10.12 The Siemon Co.

Exhibit 137: The Siemon Co. - Overview



Exhibit 138: The Siemon Co. - Product / Service



Exhibit 139: The Siemon Co. - Key offerings

11 Appendix

11.1 Scope of the report

11.2 Inclusions and exclusions checklist

Exhibit 140: Inclusions checklist



Exhibit 141: Exclusions checklist

11.3 Currency conversion rates for US$

Exhibit 142: Currency conversion rates for US$

11.4 Research methodology

Exhibit 143: Research methodology



Exhibit 144: Validation techniques employed for market sizing



Exhibit 145: Information sources

11.5 List of abbreviations

Exhibit 146: List of abbreviations

About Us:

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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SOURCE Technavio
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunshine Health is accepting grant applications from nonprofits that are helping Floridians by addressing housing, homelessness services, mental health, short-term financial needs and food insecurity. Grants will be awarded in amounts of up to $2,000 each.

"Community organizations across Florida are working every day to strengthen the social safety net," said Nathan Landsbaum, Sunshine Health Plan President & CEO. "These grants allow local partners to serve even more people and make their communities stronger and healthier."

Sunshine Health's Community Connections Resource Grants are designed to improve the social determinants of health for Floridians. Healthcare experts recognize that people who are hungry or worried about where they are going to live are less likely to take care of their health.

Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status are encouraged to apply to support their programs addressing food, financial assistance, housing or homeless services, or behavioral or mental health services. Find the form and FAQ at this link and send it to [email protected]. The application deadline is March 15, 2022 by 5 p.m. ET.

Sunshine Health offers many programs and benefits to improve the social determinants of health of its members, including expanded use of telehealth, a monthly stipend for over-the-counter wellness items and partnerships with more than 500 community groups.

In 2021, Sunshine Health awarded $200,000 in various grants to 54 Florida nonprofits working to improve social determinants of health. Additionally, the Sunshine Health Community Resource Database connects members and caregivers with local programs and supports. Floridians can also call the Community Connections Help Line at 1-866-775-2192 for assistance.

About Sunshine Health

Headquartered in Broward County and with offices across the state, Sunshine Health is among the largest healthcare plans in Florida. Offering coordinated care and a network of support for our members, Sunshine Health is transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. Sunshine Health is a wholly owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation, a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise. We offer government-sponsored managed care through Medicaid, Long Term Care, the Health Insurance Marketplace (Ambetter), and Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans (Wellcare). Our specialty plans include the Child Welfare Specialty Plan serving children in or adopted from the state's Child Welfare system; the Serious Mental Illness Specialty Plan for people living with serious mental illness; and the Children's Medical Services Health Plan, operated by Sunshine Health on behalf of the Florida Department of Health for children and adolescents with special healthcare needs.

For more information, visit SunshineHealth.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter @SunHealthFL.

SOURCE Sunshine Health
WASHINGTON, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Asia Group (TAG) is excited to announce the next step in its "Asia Expansion Initiative"  the formal launch of a Vietnam office along with a set of strategic partnerships with leading business consultancy firms in key Southeast Asian markets. These investments underscore TAG's commitment to helping its clients seize new opportunities in markets throughout Southeast Asia, by integrating local knowledge and connectivity to forge industry-leading consulting capabilities.

Led by TAG's CEO and Co-Founder Nirav Patel, Vietnam Country Director Hung Manh Nguyen, Vice President John Lichtefeld, and Associate Tra Hoang, with support from Senior Advisor and former Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States Pham Quang Vinh, TAG's Vietnam practice has grown rapidly and led to client success across multiple sectors. Located in central Hoan Kiem District, TAG's Hanoi office provides clients with a platform to engage both the Government of Vietnam and the Vietnamese business community to manage regulatory challenges, develop joint venture partnerships, and advance core business objectives.

Building on the success of its flagship office in Hanoi, TAG is also excited to announce strategic partnerships with information and communication technology firm Optel in the Philippines, led by Donald Felbaum, and media and public relations firm Black Dot in Singapore, led by Nicholas Fang. TAG's strategic partnerships complement its industry-leading team in Washington, DC, and growing service network in Southeast Asia, which includes TAG's Senior Advisor in Indonesia, former Indonesian Ambassador to the United States Dino Patti Djalal.

"Both Don and Nick bring a wealth of experience and demonstrated leadership of complex initiatives," said TAG CEO and Co-Founder Nirav Patel. "We are excited by our continued expansion in Southeast Asia and look forward to working with Optel and Black Dot to support our clients to execute market entry, sales, and dispute resolution efforts across ASEAN's dynamic markets."

TAG recognizes that Asia is not a part-time market and continues to place a premium on hiring world-class talent and forging partnerships for its clients in Southeast Asia and across the Indo-Pacific. Over the coming weeks, TAG will announce and continue to pursue additional hires, partnerships, and offices as part of its Asia Expansion Initiative.

The Asia Group is the premier strategic advisory firm to the world's leading companies seeking to excel across the Indo-Pacific. With a team of dynamic and experienced professionals  from consultants and former senior government officials to lawyers and investment bankers  The Asia Group supports companies with end-to-end integrated strategies for market entry and expansion. To learn more about The Asia Group, please visit www.theasiagroup.com or reach out at [email protected] .

SOURCE The Asia Group
"When women are empowered, they lift their communities with them," said Alicia Petross, Chief Diversity Officer of The Hershey Company. "Our global programing for International Women's Day and Women's History Month helps us celebrate and highlight how powerful female entrepreneurs, business owners and role models can be within their community. We strive to showcase the power of women both within our company and in the world and give them a platform to keep achieving greatness."

Celebrating Women & Girls in the U.S.

To mark the milestone, Hershey released limited-edition packaging on its iconic Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars that recognize the central role women and girls play in all of our lives. The packaging serves as a reminder to celebrate the impact that women and girls make and encourages amplification on social media using the hashtag #CelebrateSHE. The full-sized bars are available nationally through May while supplies last.

In the U.S., The Hershey Company has donated $150,000 to Girls on the Run, a U.S. based nonprofit organization with a mission focused on supporting, empowering, and inspiring girls to realize their limitless potential. This donation will help to further advance Girls on the Run's program delivery, support and expansion, including financial assistance so that any girl has access to participate. Through a council network of 175 local councils serving all 50 states and Ottawa, Canada, Girls on the Run offers fun and inclusive lessons designed to meet the unique needs of each girl, no matter her circumstances, ability or background. For over 25 years, Girls on the Run has ignited confidence and purpose to support girls when they need it most proudly serving over 2 million girls and counting.

Recognizing Women on a Global Stage

This year, The Hershey Company's award-winning #HerSHE campaign, which originated in Brazil in 2020, will be activated in seven international markets, aimed at making the invisible woman visible. Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Philippines, and Saudi Arabia will transform the iconic Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar wrapper into a celebration of cultural female icons in each country, their accomplishments, and the impact they've made in their respective countries.

To further extend women-forward storytelling, Hershey has donated $100,000 and is partnering with Girl Up, a nonprofit committed to advancing girls' skills, rights, and opportunities to be leaders, to amplify the voices of girls and women who are making a difference around the world on digital and social platforms. Founded by the United Nations Foundation in 2010, Girl Up's leadership development programs have impacted more than 125,000 girls through 5,000 Clubs in 130 countries and all 50 U.S. states, inspiring a generation of girls to be a force for gender equality and social change.

The Hershey Company is also leveraging innovative digital marketing partnerships to amplify women's achievements on social media. In partnership with Entreprenista, a media company and membership community dedicated to helping women-owned businesses succeed, Hershey will spotlight and celebrate inspiring women in business across the globe through a user-generated social media campaign. Five trailblazers from each market will receive a scholarship to the Entreprenista League, a community of women business owners, investors, co-founders, and thought leaders that are given access to top tier business tools and solutions.

Hershey's Ongoing Commitment to Gender Equity

Gender equity is a central focus of The Hershey Company's diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. Hershey is proud to be led by female CEO Michele Buck, who recognizes her fifth year at the helm this month, and to be named the #1 World's Top Female-Friendly Companies by Forbes in 2021, recognized for its efforts to create an inclusive culture with benefits such as paid parental leave, its Women's Business Resource Group and a commitment to equal pay. In 2020, Hershey achieved 1:1 aggregate gender pay equity, and in 2021, 1:1 aggregate people of color (POC) pay equity for salaried employees in the U.S. By 2025, Hershey aims to achieve aggregate dollar-for-dollar pay equity for salaried employees worldwide. The company currently reports 48 percent female representation globally and seeks to increase representation to 50 percent by 2025. To learn more about The Hershey Company's efforts to advance gender equity, click here.

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 90 brands around the world that drive $8 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, and Pirate's Booty. For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed.

SOURCE The Hershey Company
NEW DELHI, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The study undertaken by Astute Analytica foresees a growth in revenue of the Global Third-Party Logistics Market from US$ 1,032 Bn in 2021 to US$ 1,656.7 Bn by 2027. The market is registering a growth at a CAGR of 8.2% during the forecast period 2022-2027. Third-party logistics (abbreviated as 3PL, or TPL) in logistics and supply chain management is an organization's use of third-party businesses to outsource elements of its distribution, warehousing, and fulfillment services. Third-party logistics providers typically specialize in integrated operations of warehousing and transportation services that can be scaled and customized to customers' needs, based on market conditions, to meet the demands and delivery service requirements for their products. Services often extend beyond logistics to include value-added services related to the production or procurement of goods, such as services that integrate parts of the supply chain.

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The growing impetus of the third-part logistics market is attributed to factors such as increase in trade activities due to globalization and rising focus of manufacturers and retailers on core competencies. Rise in globalization has aided in setting up a worldwide network of manufacturing activities. To maintain it efficiently, the demand of 3PL services is expected to rise. 3PL services are becoming extremely vital for price-sensitive customers who require a wider choice of high-quality products with timely delivery. Furthermore, 3PL model provides greater asset utilization and asset sharing alliances, which is increasing its demand, thereby contributing toward the growth of the global market. Moreover, pooled warehousing is an emerging opportunity in the market.

Segmental Analysis

Roadways holds the highest share in the third-party logistics market

In terms of mode of transport, the roadways segment has the highest market share in 2021 and is further estimated to continue its dominance over the forecast period. Several government initiatives are fueling the growth of the road transportation segment. The recent regulations imposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that allow the use of the cameras as a substitute for rearview mirrors are expected to benefit the truck drivers, in terms of safety.

DTM has the highest share in the market in terms of services

Based on services, the global third-party logistics market is categorized into dedicated contract carriage (DCC), domestic transportation management, international transportation management, warehousing & transportation, and others. Among these, Domestic Transport Management holds the highest share in 2021. The increasing trade movement among the unloading docks to a warehouse, escalating carrier rates, a surge in cross-docking services, and rising fuel surcharge are driving the growth of the DTM segment.

Technological segment is the highest user segment in the market for third-party logistics

Technological segment is the highest end user segment of the third-party logistics market in 2021 and also registers the highest CAGR during the forecast period 2022-2027. Mobile technology is revolutionizing 3PL. Many 3PL companies have already begun using mobile devices and apps to improve agility. Due to this technology customers can order, process, and track freight shipments any time.

Asia Pacific dominates the Global Third-Party Logistics Market

Asia Pacific is the highest shareholder in the Global Third-Party Logistics Market in 2021 and is further estimated to continue its dominance over the forecast period. Rapid urbanization and increase in digitization in emerging countries such as India and China are key factors responsible for the growth of third-party logistics in Asia Pacific region. Furthermore, the growing trans-regional trade corridors and gateways are expected to create a huge opportunity for the 3PL providers.

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Impact of COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic has affected supply chain operations globally. The crisis placed an unprecedented strain on transportation and logistics resources. The logistics networks have been disrupted due to the supply/demand imbalance and lack of capacity for the long-haul and last-mile fulfillment services. The limited staff and reduced working time have further limited the logistics activities. Road transportation was majorly affected by the health crisis. However, this situation is improving and the market is experiencing a growth in the post-pandemic period.

Competitive Insight

DHL International GmbH is a Germany -based company, which provides international delivery and logistics services. It offers air freight, overland transport, and sea freight services. In addition, it provides supply chain management services.

-based company, which provides international delivery and logistics services. It offers air freight, overland transport, and sea freight services. In addition, it provides supply chain management services. Kuehne+Nagel Inc. is a world-leading logistics company, which along with its subsidiaries, provides integrated logistics services worldwide. It operates through four segments, including sea freight, airfreight, overland, and contract logistics. In addition, it offers import & export documentation, door-to-door, and logistics supply movement arrangement services.

DB Schenker operates as a division of DB Group. It functions as a freight transportation company. It is involved in transportation of chemicals, mineral oil, paper, metal, and coal. In addition, it provides services such as time & cost-optimized services for general cargo and partial & full load transport along with door-to- door solutions across Europe . Its services offered cover all stages of value-added chain from supplier to producer/trade, to end customers, and spare parts service.

. Its services offered cover all stages of value-added chain from supplier to producer/trade, to end customers, and spare parts service. Nippon Express is one of the leading providers of logistics service providers to various industries such as automotive, food, art, electric & telecommunication, aerospace & aviation, fashion & retail, and railway. It provides services related to transportation, and specialized transport. Transportation services includes cross-border freight, ocean freight, air freight, and railway freight.

FedEx Corporation is a U.S.-based company, which provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services worldwide. It operates through four segments, which includes express, freight, ground, and service. In addition, it provides services, including sales, communications, marketing, information technology, and technical support services. Furthermore, it offers FedEx mobile, a suite of solutions to create shipping labels, track packages, view account-specific rate quotes, and access drop-off location information.

Segmentation Overview

The following are the different segments of the Global Third Part Logistics Market:

By Mode of Transport segment of the Global Third party Logistics Market is sub-segmented into:

Railway



Roadways



Waterways



Airways

By Service segment of the Global Third party Logistics Market is sub-segmented into:

Dedicated Contract Carriage (DCC)



Domestic Transportation Management



International Transportation Management



Warehousing & Distribution



Others

By End User segment of the Global Third party Logistics Market is sub-segmented into:

Technological



Automotive



Retailing



Elements



Food & Groceries



Healthcare



Others

By Region segment of the Global Third party Logistics Market is sub-segmented into:

North America



The U.S.





Canada





Mexico



Europe



Western Europe





The UK







Germany







France







Italy







Spain







Rest of Western Europe





Eastern Europe





Poland







Russia







Rest of Eastern Europe



Asia Pacific



China





India





Japan





Australia & New Zealand

&



ASEAN





Rest of Asia Pacific



Middle East & Africa (MEA)



UAE





Saudi Arabia





South Africa





Rest of MEA



South America



Argentina





Brazil





Rest of South America

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About Astute Analytica

Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us.

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SOURCE Astute Analytica
BOSTON, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Brattle Group has welcomed Toby Bishop to its Boston office as a Principal with the firm's Regulatory Economics, Finance & Rates practice. Mr. Bishop brings over 25 years of consulting experience working with the electric and natural gas industries, specializing in regulatory and civil litigation matters.

Toby Bishop, The Brattle Group

"Toby is a welcome addition to Brattle's Electricity group and our firm more broadly," said Brattle President & Principal David L. Sunding. "With his regulatory expertise and breadth of experience working with electric and natural gas utilities, he will add depth to our firm and be a vital asset to clients."

Mr. Bishop's expertise extends to strategic, regulatory, financial, and transactional matters for electric and natural gas utilities, natural gas pipelines and storage developers, and independent energy project developers. He has worked on federal and state rate case proceedings, valuations for ad valorem tax disputes, utility municipalization efforts, contractual disputes, purchase and sales transactions, regulatory strategy and policy matters, and competitive and market power concerns.

He has provided expert testimony and other filings in over 50 administrative and civil proceedings in the US and Canada, including before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), and state and provincial regulatory agencies.

"I am thrilled to join the respected team of economists at The Brattle Group, especially during this pivotal time for the energy industry," Mr. Bishop said. "I look forward to helping the firm continue its success and collaborating on regulatory economics and finance matters."

Previously, Mr. Bishop was a Senior Vice President at an economic consultancy, and he also held positions at two management consultancies.

To learn more about Mr. Bishop, please see his full bio.

ABOUT BRATTLE

The Brattle Group answers complex economic, finance, and regulatory questions for corporations, law firms, and governments around the world. We are distinguished by the clarity of our insights and the credibility of our experts, which include leading international academics and industry specialists. Brattle has 500 talented professionals across four continents. For more information, please visit brattle.com.

SOURCE The Brattle Group
NEW YORK, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Unite Us, the enterprise technology company providing the digital infrastructure to power integrated health and social care, today announced the launch of its Social Care Payments solution , a first-of-its-kind solution designed to bridge the gap between healthcare funders and community-based organizations (CBOs), enabling social care funding at scale. It is the only end-to-end solution for social care that streamlines the implementation and management of paid social care programs for all healthcare funders, including health plans and managed-care organizations.

We know from research* and intuition that people are healthier when they have safe housing, access to healthy food and steady employment. Despite this reality, there has been a historical lack of funding for organizations addressing these social determinants of health in communities.

"We're seeing the healthcare system recognize the power community organizations have to improve health and address health equity in a way clinical care alone can't," said Melissa Sherry, Vice President of Social Care Integration at Unite Us. "Funders and managed care organizations want to work with community groups to help their members and improve outcomes, and the Social Care Payments solution will make it easier for them to do that."

Policy changes  including The American Rescue Plan, the CARES Act, and changes to State Medicaid 1115 Waivers  have provided CBOs with much-needed funding; however, there's never been a simple model to fund, track and manage payment for the work they do within communities. Unite Us' Social Care Payments solution solves this problem by introducing a new industry standard, elevating social care to the same priority level as clinical care.

Until now, governments, health plans, providers and foundations have struggled to identify and partner with CBOs, contract with them, coordinate care and collect the data they need to prove the value of social care. The Social Care Payments solution allows all stakeholders to access and pay for social care through an integrated process and technology platform. The solution offers payers the ability to partner effectively with social care providers, manage programs for efficiency and increase program impact.

They can:

Access a contracted network of community-based organizations

Streamline eligibility and authorization processes

Simplify invoicing and billing to reimburse community partners for services

Measure the effectiveness of social care funding and reduce preventable medical costs with robust data and improved visibility

With a Q1 2022 launch by Healthy Opportunities in North Carolina, the Social Care Payments solution is uniquely positioned to provide the necessary infrastructure across the country for Medicaid programs looking to fund social care.

CBOs and not-for-profit social service agencies that provide important, nonclinical services spend their days serving communities, and should not dedicate their limited resources to navigating the complex medical billing ecosystem. Among the obstacles these groups face are unfamiliarity with medical coding and billing and the inability to collect data health plans need to demonstrate the value of their interventions. The Social Care Payments solution was designed so CBOs can tap sustainable funding streams without changing the way they operate. This frees them up to do what they do best  help people.

The Unite Us Payments solution also includes technology to track local government funding, grants and philanthropic investments, as well as hospital community benefits dollars. To find out more about the full scope of offerings, visit uniteus.com/invest .

About Unite Us

Unite Us is a technology company that builds coordinated care networks of health and social service providers. With Unite Us, providers across sectors can send and receive secure electronic referrals, track every person's total health journey and report on tangible outcomes across a full range of services in a centralized, cohesive and collaborative ecosystem. Unite Us' dedicated team builds authentic, lasting partnerships with local organizations to ensure their networks have a solid foundation, launch successfully, and continue to grow and thrive. This HITRUST-certified social care infrastructure helps communities transform their ability to work together and measure impact at scale. Follow Unite Us on LinkedIn , Twitter , Instagram and Facebook .

* Hood, C. M., K. P. Gennuso, G. R. Swain, and B. B. Catlin. 2016. County health rankings: Relationships between determinant factors and health outcomes. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 50(2):129-135.

Media Contact

Next PR

[email protected]

SOURCE Unite Us
BOSTON, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Veolia North America today announced it has completed its partnership with DuPont to convert the utility infrastructure at the DuPont Spruance manufacturing facility in Richmond, Virginia from coal to natural gas to produce steam and electricity more efficiently. The new cogeneration facility will help optimize energy yields to ensure global environmental performance while achieving at least 50% reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared with the use of coal, equating to the removal of 44,000 cars off the roads.

"This project serves as a great example of how converting from coal to gas can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of industrial activity and accelerate ecological transformation while supporting climate goals in the U.S. At Veolia, we are proud to leverage our expertise in energy management solutions, to allow our industrial partners like DuPont to move further towards achieving their sustainability goals while maintaining reliability and competitiveness of their energy use-related processes," said Frederic Van Heems, Veolia North America President and CEO.

"We were thrilled to work with Veolia on such a significant project that is enabling us to operate the facility more efficiently and helping to achieve the company's 2030 climate goals," said Dan Mattson, DuPont Spruance Site Services Leader.

The conversion at the Spruance site power generation system is expected to result in reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually of more than 220,000 tons.

The Spruance utility infrastructure provides heating, cooling and electricity for the site's operations and technical resources. DuPont and Veolia North America signed a long-term agreement for Veolia to acquire, upgrade, operate and maintain the site's utility infrastructure, apply best practices, improve efficiencies and reliability. The project agreement included repurposing a 200 megawatt cogeneration facility from power production to the efficient production of 500,000 pounds per hour of steam, converting from coal to natural gas and upgrading chilled water capacity, water networks, industrial wastewater treatment and new compressors.

About Veolia: Veolia Group aims to be the benchmark company for ecological transformation. With nearly 179,000 employees worldwide, the Group designs and provides game-changing solutions that are both useful and practical for water, waste and energy management. Through its three complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, preserve available resources and replenish them. In 2020, the Veolia group supplied 95 million people with drinking water and 62 million people with wastewater service, produced nearly 42 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 47 million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of 26.010 billion in 2020 (USD 29.7 billion). www.veolia.com

About Veolia North America: A subsidiary of Veolia group, Veolia North America (VNA) offers a full spectrum of water, waste and energy management services, including water and wastewater treatment, commercial and hazardous waste collection and disposal, energy consulting and resource recovery. VNA helps commercial, industrial, healthcare, higher education and municipality customers throughout North America. Headquartered in Boston, Mass., Veolia North America has more than 7,000 employees working at more than 250 locations across the continent. www.veolianorthamerica.com

About DuPont: DuPont (NYSE: DD) is a global innovation leader with technology-based materials and solutions that help transform industries and everyday life. Our employees apply diverse science and expertise to help customers advance their best ideas and deliver essential innovations in key markets including electronics, transportation, construction, water, healthcare and worker safety. More information about the company, its businesses and solutions can be found at www.dupont.com. Investors can access information included on the Investor Relations section of the website at www.investors.dupont.com.

SOURCE Veolia North America
SAN FRANCISCO, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global veterinary artificial insemination market size is anticipated to reach USD 7.4 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a lucrative CAGR of 6.5% from 2022 to 2030. The key factors driving the market growth include increasing consumption of animal protein, growing demand for livestock productivity, and adoption of sexed semen. In September 2021, LIC- an agritech co-operative based in New Zealand launched a sexed semen lab in the country to meet the growing demand. This boosted the co-operative's capabilities to artificially inseminate about 4.5 million cattle between Spring mating season of September to December 2021.

Key Insights & Findings from the report:

The market was valued at USD 4.2 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 6.5% during the forecast period.

By animal type, the cattle segment held the largest share of the market in 2021 owing to rising consumption of beef, milk, and milk products.

The swine segment is projected to grow the fastest owing to the rising adoption of AI techniques and growing consumption of pork in key markets.

The normal semen segment accounted for the largest revenue share in the products segment in 2021, owing to the low cost of the product compared to sexed semen and wide availability.

The sexed semen segment is expected to show the fastest growth during the forecast period. In 2016, ST Genetics produced 4 million X chromosomes into an AI straw. The company sells sexed semen for five species of animals, including cattle, deer, sheep, horses, and goats. The rate of semen straws ranges between USD 65 and USD 250 for apiece as of 2018, depending on the quality, species, and use of the animal.

and for apiece as of 2018, depending on the quality, species, and use of the animal. The animal husbandry segment accounted for the largest revenue share in 2021 and is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. The growth can be attributed to most semen collection as well as artificial insemination procedures performed on-site on farms.

North America dominated the market in 2021 while Asia Pacific is anticipated to grow the fastest in the coming years.

Read 140-page market research report, " Veterinary Artificial Insemination Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Animal Type (Cattle, Swine, Ovine & Caprine, Equine), By Product (Normal Semen, Sexed Semen), By End-user, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030 ", published by Grand View Research.

Veterinary Artificial Insemination Market Growth & Trends

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many challenges including dampened growth, decreased sales and marketing activities, supply chain hurdles, and delay in delivery of AI services. The erratic and uncertain consumption patterns in several key markets exacerbated by sporadic lockdowns and logistical bottlenecks further increased the uncertainty in the market. The growth was also dampened by other factors such as the African Swine Fever. Genus for instance, reported labor shortages, adverse impact on retail food service demand and meat packing capacity, and international logistics delays due to the pandemic. The company indicated that in near-term, feed input costs, ASF, and COVID-19 implications would continue to exert pressure on the global porcine industry, in particular in China and Europe. In North America, the pandemic led to packing plant slowdowns during H1 of 2021.

To fulfill the continuously increasing demand for meat and dairy products, market players are expanding artificial insemination solutions to breed high-quality livestock and enhance production. For example, in August 2020, Cogent with AB Europe launched a novel sexed semen service for the U.K. sheep producers. Developing regions such as Latin America are also contributing to the growth of the market for veterinary artificial insemination. For instance, Brazil, one of the major countries in the region has been adopting AI increasingly for the past decade. The country has also deployed Fixed-time Artificial Insemination (FTAI) techniques to increase profitability and success rate. According to the Brazilian Association of Artificial Insemination (Asbia) from January to September 2018, 306,052 doses of national sexed semen were marketed for beef and dairy cattle while it reached 503,078, an increase of 30.83% in 2020.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) publication 2019, livestock contributed almost 40% of the global value of agricultural output in developed countries and 20% in developing ones, and it provides food security and livelihood to more than 1.3 billion people worldwide. Increased adoption of artificial insemination procedures in cattle, rising milk consumption, and production of beef are other factors responsible for the significant growth of the market. For instance, according to data published by the UN FAO in 2018, beef and buffalo production increased from 69.56 million tons in 2017 to 71.61 million tons in 2018. Furthermore, the rising consumption of milk and milk products is positively impacting the market growth.

Favorable government regulations, intended to improve productivity, are also leading to growth; For instance, the Indian government approved an Agriculture Export Policy in 2018 to enhance agricultural economic growth in the nation. The new policy is aimed at boosting India's agricultural output to USD 60.0 billion by 2022 and USD 100.0 billion with a predictable foreign policy framework in the next few years.

Veterinary Artificial Insemination Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global veterinary artificial insemination market on the basis of animal type, product, end-user, and region:

Veterinary Artificial Insemination Animal Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2030)

Cattle

Swine

Ovine & Caprine

Equine

Others

Veterinary Artificial Insemination Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2030)

Normal Semen

Sexed Semen

Veterinary Artificial Insemination End-user Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2030)

Animal Husbandry

Others

Veterinary Artificial Insemination Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2017 - 2030)

North America

U.S.



Canada

Europe

Germany



U.K.



France



Italy



Spain



Netherlands



Denmark



Russia

Asia Pacific

China



India



Japan



Australia



South Korea

Latin America

Brazil



Mexico



Argentina

MEA

South Africa



Saudi Arabia



Israel

List of Key Players of the Veterinary Artificial Insemination Market

Genus

URUS Group LP

CRV

SEMEX

Viking Genetics

Select Sires Inc.

Swine Genetics International

Shipley Swine Genetics

Stallion AI Services Ltd

STgenetics

Check out more related studies published by Grand View Research:

Veterinary Chemistry Analyzers Market - The global veterinary chemistry analyzers market size is expected to reach USD 1.3 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., progressing at a CAGR of 8.2% during the forecast period. Rising animal healthcare expenditure and increasing pet ownership are some of the major factors contributing to the growth of the market.

The global veterinary chemistry analyzers market size is expected to reach by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., progressing at a CAGR of 8.2% during the forecast period. Rising animal healthcare expenditure and increasing pet ownership are some of the major factors contributing to the growth of the market. Veterinary Dental Equipment Market - The global veterinary dental equipment market size is expected to reach USD 580.1 million by 2026, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., exhibiting a 7.7% CAGR during the forecast period. Growing incidence of periodontal diseases in pets is expected to drive growth over the forecast period. Moreover, increasing companion ownership in developing economies is propelling the market. According to a 2017 American Veterinary Medical Association report, around 46% of U.S. households had various types of pets.

The global veterinary dental equipment market size is expected to reach by 2026, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., exhibiting a 7.7% CAGR during the forecast period. Growing incidence of periodontal diseases in pets is expected to drive growth over the forecast period. Moreover, increasing companion ownership in developing economies is propelling the market. According to a 2017 American Veterinary Medical Association report, around 46% of U.S. households had various types of pets. Veterinary Imaging Market - The global veterinary Imaging market size is expected to reach USD 3.3 billion by 2026, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Expanding at a CAGR of 6.8% over the forecast period. The veterinary medicine field experienced immense technological developments in the last 20 years.

Browse through Grand View Research's Animal Health Industry Research Reports.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research Helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: 1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

Grand View Compass | Grand View Pipeline

Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The following are the schedules for the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) and the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) on Friday.

-- At 3 p.m., the fifth session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee will hold its opening meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

-- Wang Yang, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, will deliver a report on the work of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee.

-- A preparatory meeting for the NPC session will be held to elect the session's presidium and secretary-general, and vote on a draft agenda of the session.

-- Presidium of the fifth session of the 13th NPC will hold its first meeting.

-- The spokesperson for the NPC session will give a press conference at noon. 
The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise are a part of the Vilcek Foundation Prizes Program. Awarded annually since 2006, the Vilcek Foundation Prizes are awarded in biomedical science, and in a rotating category in the arts and humanities. The Vilcek Foundation Prizes recognize and celebrate the contributions of immigrants in the United States, and highlight the value of immigration for a robust society.

The Vilcek Foundation Prizes recognize and celebrate the contributions of immigrants in the United States.

"The United States has long been a bastion for scientific research and discovery," says Vilcek Foundation Chairman and CEO Jan Vilcek. "Scientists have a freedom here to pursue research they are passionate about, and to collaborate with individuals from some of the world's top scientific institutions. With the Creative Promise Prizes, we aim to recognize and provide support for young, foreign-born scientists at a pivotal point in their careers."

Adds Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel, "We owe a debt to immigrant scientists, and the Vilcek Foundation Prizes allow us to honor their work."

For example, Kinsel says, "The scientific advances that have had some of the most tremendous impacts over the past two years have been pioneered by immigrant scientists in the United States. Most notably, we celebrate the work of Katalin Kariko, whose dedicated research led to the development and deployment of mRNA vaccines."

To be eligible for a Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science, candidates must hold a doctoral degree and be a principal investigator with an academic institution or accredited scientific research organization. Past recipients include Ibrahim Cisse, Viviana Gradinaru, Harmit Malik, Pardis Sabeti, and Feng Zhang.

Candidates must have been born outside the United States to non-American parents, and be living and working in the United States. DACA recipients, asylees, and asylum seekers are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applicants must have been born on or after January 1, 1984. Exceptions will be made for applicants who were born on or after January 1, 1982, and experienced career interruptions due to caregiving, medical, military, or parental leave.

Applications for the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science will be accepted through June 10, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Full application details and eligibility requirements are available at the Vilcek Foundation and at vilcek.org.

Individuals with questions about the application process or the Vilcek Foundation Prizes program should direct their questions to Chief Program Officer Shinnie Kim at [email protected].

The Vilcek Foundation

The Vilcek Foundation raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters appreciation of the arts and sciences. The foundation was established in 2000 by Jan and Marica Vilcek, immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia. The mission of the foundationto honor immigrant contributions to the United States, and more broadly to foster appreciation of the arts and scienceswas inspired by the couple's respective careers in biomedical science and art history. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded over $6.4 million in prizes to foreign-born individuals and supported organizations with over $5.6 million in grants.

The Vilcek Foundation is a private operating foundation, a federally tax-exempt nonprofit organization under IRS Section 501(c)(3).

Contact

Elizabeth Boylan

The Vilcek Foundation

212-472-2500

[email protected]

SOURCE The Vilcek Foundation
VANCOUVER, BC, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Visier , the recognized leader in people analytics and planning, today announced the appointment of Fionna Song as the company's Chief Financial Officer. Fionna previously served as Visier's Senior Vice President of Finance and Operations, leading the company's recent Series E funding round of $125M USD.

"Fionna has proven to be an invaluable member of Visier's leadership team," said Ryan Wong, CEO and co-founder of Visier. "Her leadership, judgment and expertise have been essential in our growth, steering us through multiple investment rounds and the last few years of turbulent market changes. We are very excited to welcome Fionna as our new CFO as we enter our next chapter of accelerating growth."

Fionna brings over fifteen years of experience in the tech industry, encompassing high growth multinational organizations. Fionna's expertise includes financial planning and analysis, capital strategy and fundraising, business operations, governance and reporting. Prior to Visier, Fionna held senior Finance roles at organizations including Crystal Decisions/Business Objects, ACL Services, and ResponseTek.

This appointment comes at a time of record growth and change for Visier, marked by the best fiscal year in the company's history and a recently announced vision for the next act of the people analytics category. Dubbed the People Cloud , this initiative builds upon Visier's category defining people analytics platform, bringing data-driven insights to a variety of different roles, including HR, people managers and executives, to make better decisions on behalf of both the employee and the business..

About Visier

Visier is the recognized global leader in people analytics and on-demand answers for people-powered business. Founded in 2010 by the pioneers of business intelligence, Visier focuses on what matters to business leaders: answering the right questions, even the ones a person might not know to ask. Questions that shape business strategy, provide the impetus for taking action, and drive better business outcomes through workforce optimization. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC with offices and team members worldwide, Visier has 15,000 customers in 75 countries around the world, including enterprises like Adobe, BASF, Bridgestone, Electronic Arts, McKesson, Merck KGaA, Uber, and more.

For more information, visit www.visier.com .

SOURCE Visier
The Stewart family sisters - Jeanette O'Brien, Keanya Phelps, KarenElaine Stewart, and Shawna Cooper  have all taken part, or will be joining, in Shawna's case later this month, Momentum's immersive full stack engineering program to change careers to become full-time career software engineers. Momentum's program offers those interested in a new career in tech the opportunity to undertake an immersive coding bootcamp geared towards the most in-demand skills and technologies in today's market. Momentum has an all-female leadership team and is a recognized and well-respected source of technology talent and training for businesses and individuals nationwide.

The dedication to learning, development, and growth in the engineering field runs deep in the Stewart family. The only brother in the family, James Stewart, PhD, recently earned his doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering and was awarded the Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) as a Modern-Day Technology Leader after his nomination by the United States Navy, and their father is a retired software engineer.

"As Black women ranging in age from 34 to 51, with different levels of education and diverse professional backgrounds, changing our careers at this stage in our lives is definitely risky and it takes courage. But my family and I support, challenge and inspire each other to continuously grow into our best selves and to be the best in our fields. We're proud to be recognized as trailblazers, and we hope to encourage others to pursue their dreams," said KarenElaine.

The Stewart sisters are already leveraging their experience with Momentum and software engineering, and writing their story for their futures in technology:

Jeanette O'Brien graduated from the second Momentum cohort in 2018 and is now a software engineer on the Ansible team at Red Hat, the world's leading provider of enterprise open-source solutions. Prior to joining the Ansible team, Jeanette sought to pay her coding skills forward by teaching four Momentum cohorts and continues to play a role as a mentor for current students, including sister KarenElaine. Sister Keanya Phelps graduated Momentum in February and was immediately asked to join Caktus Consulting Group, an employee-owned web development agency based in Durham.

A third sister, KarenElaine Stewart, is midway through the full-stack Momentum program as a LexisNexis scholar, mentored by engineering leadership of the foremost global provider of legal, regulatory and business information and analytics.

"We are enormously proud of Jeanette, Keanya, and KarenElaine and look forward to welcoming Shawna to the Momentum program! This extraordinary family is an inspiration to us all," said Momentum CEO Jessica Mitsch.

As the fourth sister, Shawna Cooper, joins Momentum's upcoming March 21st full-stack engineering programming course, the entire Stewart family is well-aware of the source of their inspiration. When asked about where she draws her inspiration from, Keanya shared, "We recently lost our sister, Kenyattah, to sickle cell anemia and our mother, Doris, to Covid. Both of them, in their own ways, constantly reminded us to aspire for better, aspire for more and to disrupt the norm! I can speak for all of my siblings in saying that our inspiration comes from them."

Learn more about Momentum's fullstack engineering March 21st course here , visit us at momentumlearn.com , or email [email protected] .

About Momentum

A leader in talent identification, cultivation, and transformation in tech and related skill sets, Momentum conducts a full complement of tech training and talent transformation courses for individuals - career changers, talent from under-represented groups, and others looking to advance their careers. Momentum also partners with companies of all sizes to build a resilient workforce with an always-learning personal and professional growth mindset. Momentum provides a host of services to help companies identify, cultivate, and train internal talent, and sponsor net new job-ready talent. Momentum has upskilled and placed employees at companies nationwide - specializing in giving candidates a non-traditional pathway into high-impact and high-earning technology careers. For more information, please email [email protected] .

SOURCE Momentum
Poolbeg Pharma CEO Jeremy Skillington and chairman Cathal Friel joined Proactive London to talk about making 'excellent progress post IPO as momentum builds'.

The results follow the companys spin-out from Open Orphan PLC (AIM:ORPH, OTC:OPORF) and the subsequent listing on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in July 2021.

Poolbeg Pharma is a clinical stage infectious disease pharmaceutical company with a capital light clinical model which is looking to develop multiple products faster and more cost effectively than the conventional biotech model.
Sovereign Metals Limited (ASX:SVM, AIM:SVML) has entered a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hascor International Group for the potential supply of 25,000 tonnes of natural rutile per annum from its Kasiya Rutile Project in Malawi to Hascors processing plants and clients across the world.

The MoU contemplates a supply agreement to cover an initial five-year period from the commencement of nameplate production.

Notably, the premium chemical parameters of Kasiyas natural rutile produced indicates the product is suitable for all major end-use markets including welding, titanium dioxide pigment feedstock and titanium metal.

Moving forward, Kasiya continues to attract significant offtake interest as the largest undeveloped natural rutile project in the world and the first major rutile discovery in more than half a century.

Premium rutile products

Sovereign managing director Dr Julian Stephens said: We are very excited to have signed this MoU with a major rutile supplier like Hascor about a future offtake agreement and to provide input on marketing for our premium rutile products from Kasiya.

Hascor is a market leader in natural rutile product development and distribution for the welding industry across five continents.

The offtake MoU with Hascor points to the quality and strategic nature of our world-class Kasiya Rutile Project.

Maiden MoU

This maiden MoU is part of Sovereigns product marketing strategy as the demand and pricing for natural rutile are both very strong as the global structural deficit in supply continues to widen.

Consequently, Hascor will provide Sovereign with strategic advice on marketing and product development.

The MoU is non-exclusive and non-binding and remains subject to negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement to give effect to the MoU.

It will expire on December 31, 2023, but can be extended by agreement by both parties should a definitive agreement not have been reached by that time.

Watch: Sovereign Metals signs first offtake agreement for rutile from the Kasiya Rutile Project in Malawi

About Hascor

Hascor International Group is a key producer of nitrogen-bearing ferroalloys, metal powders and specialty minerals.

The company brings several decades of experience as a processor and global distributor of natural rutile products including rutile flour, calcined rutile and rutile sand for the welding industry.

Demand from welding industry

Natural rutile is classified as a high-grade titanium feedstock, with high-grade titanium feedstock market consuming about 2.8 million tonnes of contained titanium dioxide with strong demand driven from the welding, pigment and metal sectors.

Major natural rutile producers have noted over recent years that very strong demand from the welding market is outstripping supply.

Interestingly, bagged rutile sales into the welding and other non-pigment sectors achieve significantly better pricing, often with significant premiums to bulk rutile pricing.
Infinity Lithium Corporation Ltd (ASX:INF)s wholly-owned Spanish subsidiary Extremadura New Energies has strengthened provincial ties by joining the Circulo Empresarial Cacereno (CEC) as a member organisation.

The CEC is one of the pre-eminent business groups in the town of Caceres, Spain, and represents 3,500 businesses in Caceres province, providing a voice for local businesses and promoting growth, opportunity and accessibility for its members.

In addition to membership access, Extremadura New Energies has signed a cooperative agreement outlining how it can work with the CEC for the benefit of the people of Caceres.

Infinity chairman Adrian Byass and CEC president Diego Hernandez.

Promoting local economic development

The primary purpose of this agreement is to promote economic development in the general interest of Caceres through the promotion of business initiatives within the lithium-ion battery value chain.

The groups will also be looking towards any other business and industrial initiatives that could generate an ideal ecosystem for economic growth.

CEC president Diego Hernandez said: This is an opportunity for the city and for the province. This project is a generator of employment and wealth, and it can also provide an opportunity in the future for the retention of talent and a way to combat depopulation.

Infinity chairman Adrian Byass was in Caceres with Extremadura New Energies general manager David Valls to sign the agreement.

We are very happy to be working alongside the CEC and its members so we can really understand how we can best deliver the San Jose Project for the people of Caceres, Byass said. We are humbled by the support and hospitality we have been shown in Caceres over the past few weeks.

We believe this, and other relationships like this which we are forging will help us as we work towards ensuring maximum benefits from the project are realised by the town.

Employment and service opportunities

Extremadura New Energies and the CEC will be looking to involve business members in a series of events that will provide regular project updates, introduce local businesses to Extremadura New Energies, and highlight some of the employment and services opportunities the project will bring to the town.

The two groups will also work together to identify relevant skills shortages locally and collaborate with local training and education institutes to develop future programs or opportunities.

About Infinity Lithium

Infinity Lithium is an Australian listed minerals company seeking to develop its 75%-owned San Jose Lithium Project in Spain.

The proposed fully integrated industrial project is focused on the production of battery-grade lithium chemicals from a mica feedstock that represents the EUs second-largest JORC-compliant hard rock lithium deposit.

The availability of critical raw materials and the production of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in the EU is essential to ensure the long-term production of lithium-ion batteries for electric mobility and the transition of the EUs automotive industry towards electric vehicles.
Strickland Metals Ltd (ASX:STK) has intersected high-grade zinc-lead mineralisation at Iroquois prospect within the Earaheedy Basin in Western Australia.

The companys drilling has delivered encouraging results including 8 metres at 5.2% zinc from 95 metres and 5 metres at 10.1% zinc + lead from 110 metres.

Looking ahead, Strickland has follow-up drill programs underway with Native Title heritage surveys scheduled for early April 2022.

Substantial base metal project

Strickland managing director Andrew Bray said: Its very pleasing to see Iroquois delivering further excellent results.

In line with our growing knowledge of the mineralisation, we are becoming increasingly optimistic about the potential for Iroquois and its surrounding areas to develop into a substantial base metal project.

The drilling results to date, coupled with the geochemical and geophysical programs weve undertaken over the last nine months, have outlined a clear priority area for follow up drilling to the northeast of the existing mineralisation.

This will be the focus of the next RC program at Iroquois, potentially to commence as early as next month.

Mineralisation at Iroquois

Strickland is continuing to develop a stronger understanding of the Iroquois mineralisation.

The latest results from IQRC010 confirm the previously observed upper zinc only zone and the lower zinc + lead zone.

Notably, IQRC010 was drilled 100 metres east of discovery hole IQRC001 towards the feeder zone structure, confirming Stricklands emerging model of zinc-lead mineralisation.

Importantly, it appears as though elevated copper soil anomalism is an effective marker of possible feeder zones, with a potential second one having been located to the southeast of this mineralisation.

Plan view of mineralisation and key target areas.

Forward plan

Strickland has scheduled a heritage survey to occur in early April 2022 over the Iroquois prospect and surrounding areas.

Upon receipt of a Heritage Clearance report, the company is planning for follow-up RC drilling to commence possibly as early as next month.

Looking ahead, Strickland will have rigs full-time on-site for the remainder of 2022, providing maximum flexibility around further programs at Iroquois and the surrounding areas.

Bray adds: Between Stricklands discovery at Iroquois and Rumble Resources Ltd (ASX:RTR)s fantastic success at its various discoveries, the Earaheedy Basin is shaping up as a very exciting base metal province.

Most pleasingly, Strickland controls approximately 30 kilometres of strike along the basin contact.

Overall, Strickland is in the enviable position of having an incredibly exciting 23,000 metres resource drill-out program fully underway at our primary Millrose Gold Project, but also an equally exciting early-stage base metal discovery in the Earaheedy Basin with Iroquois.
Oil & Gas Daily Flow

Non-Independent Research; Marketing & Sales Commentary - MiFID II exempt information  see disclaimer below

The FCA is to scrap MiFID rules on small company research for companies with a market capitalisation of under 200m from 1 March 2022

The FCA is also to allow exemptions for third party research on commodities instruments and research from research providers which do not supply execution services

Our research is and remains MiFID II compliant

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Market Update: Thursday 3 March 2022

ATOME Energy PLC (AIM:ATOM) *: ATOME Mobility appoints AECOM to provide engineering consultancy

Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd (AIM:ECO, TSX-V:EOG): Drilling contact initiated for the Gazania-1 well, offshore South Africa

Energy Prices

Brent Oil US$119.1/bbl vs US$111.0/bbl yesterday

WTI Oil US$115.9/bbl vs US$109.5/bbl yesterday

Henry Hub Gas US$4.90/mmbtu vs US$4.72/mmbtu yesterday

UK NBP Futures 430p/therm vs 424p/therm yesterday

Oil Price News

Additional sanctions targeting Russian refineries, disruptions to shipping and a fall in US crude stocks to multi-year lows has pushed benchmark oil prices to their highest in almost a decade

As expected, OPEC+ has agreed to maintain an increase in output by 400kbopd in March despite the price surge, snubbing calls from consumers for more crude

Following the conclusion of the 26th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, held via videoconference on 2 March 2022, and based on internal consultation held exclusively by the OPEC and participating non-OPEC oil-producing countries in the Declaration of Cooperation, it was noted that current oil market fundamentals and the consensus on its outlook pointed to a well-balanced market, and that current volatility is not caused by changes in market fundamentals but by current geopolitical developments.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will visit Tehran on Saturday, suggesting this could help pave the way to a revival of Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement with major powers

Elsewhere, US oil inventories continued to decline

Inventories at Cushing are at their lowest since 2018, while US strategic reserves dropped to a near 20-year low

Gas Price News

The benchmark Dutch front-month gas contract at the TTF hub hit a record intra-day high of 185/tn yesterday, just beating the previous high of 184.95 seen last December when Russian flows through the major Yamal pipeline began sending gas eastwards in reverse

Russia supplies 40% of Europes gas supplies, and concerns that flows could be disrupted after Moscows invasion of Ukraine saw the price surge almost 70% on Thursday

But prices cooled on Friday as traders analysed US president Joe Bidens decision to include in his sanctions package a carve-out for energy payments, a crucial source of revenue for Moscow

Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its coast after President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in the east

Company News

ATOME Energy PLC (AIM:ATOM)*: ATOME Mobility appoints AECOM to provide engineering consultancy

Share Price: 72.9p, Market Cap: 23m

BUY, 114p/share TP

CLICK FOR INITIATION REPORT

ATOME has provided an update on mobility operations in Paraguay.

ATOME Mobility is dedicated to providing a clean energy solution for road transport and shipping, two hard-to-abate industries where battery alternatives cannot provide effective solutions using present technology.

The Company has appointed AECOM to provide engineering consultancy services in respect of UK procurement of core equipment for ATOME Mobility.

AECOM is a US based multi-national Fortune 500 infrastructure consultancy firm with nearly 50,000 employees worldwide.

Significant progress is being made in the procurement of core equipment for ATOME Mobility, with the business on track to commence transport operations, initially in Paraguay, before the end of Q2 2023.

At the same time, material progress is being made in discussions on the sourcing of non-equity funding for core equipment procurement and the Company has well-founded confidence that this can be put in place at the appropriate time.

In parallel, discussions have taken place with a number of potential end users and the Company is clear that the significant interest being shown in ATOME Mobility can be converted into concrete offtake arrangements.

Our take: The appointment of AECOM as the provider of engineering services is an important step in maturing ATOMEs mobility business, with more substantive news to follow. ATOME Mobility aims to provide an integrated solution to accelerate the path for transition to zero emission green energy for all stakeholders. In addition, progress continues on the Companys core projects now totalling 350 MW in Iceland and Paraguay, with the next key catalyst being FID potentially later this year. We reiterate our BUY rating and 114p/share TP.

*SP Angel acts as Corporate Broker to ATOME Energy PLC (AIM:ATOM)

Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd (AIM:ECO, TSX-V:EOG): Drilling contact initiated for the Gazania-1 well, offshore South Africa

Share price: 33.5p, Market Cap: 69m

Eco has confirmed that the Joint Venture partnership of Block 2B, offshore South Africa, has entered into a drilling contract for the Island Innovator semi-submersible rig with Island Drilling Company AS for the upcoming drilling of the Gazania-1 well.

The Block 2B JV partners are Africa Energy, with a 27.5% WI, a subsidiary of Panoro Energy, holds a 12.5% WI and Crown Energy AB indirectly holds the remaining 10%WI.

Eco will become Operator and hold a 50% WI, subject to near completion of its 100% acquisition of Azinam.

The Gazania-1 well is located in the Orange Basin in South Africa.

Our take: Success offshore South Africa could add transformational value to Ecos portfolio, augmenting an already significant discovered resource base offshore Guyana. The Orange Basin straddles the offshore waters of Namibia and South Africa, where major discoveries on both the Graff-1 well, drilled by Shell, and the Venus-1 well, drilled by TotalEnergies, have recently been announced. Offshore Gayana, Orinduik continues to offer significant upside for investors, especially as the JV partners move into the crucial phase of prospect selection.

Research  Oil & Gas

Sam Wahab - 0203 470 0473 / 0784 385 5037

sam.wahab@spangel.co.uk

Sales

Richard Parlons  020 3470 0472

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Rob Rees  020 3470 0535

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SP Angel

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+SP Angel employees may have previously held, or currently hold, shares in the companies mentioned in this note.

Sources of commodity prices

Oil Brent, WTI

ICE

Natural Gas

NYMEX

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Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) and NatWest PLC remain Credit Suisses top picks in the UK banks sector, with the geopolitical risks from Ukraine underlying their defensive appeal.

The key risks that the Swiss broker sees to the sector are lower Bank of England rate hikes than expected, a larger spillover effect from geopolitical risks such as Ukraine than currently assumed and more competitive pressure than we anticipate in key product markets.

Both Lloyds and NatWest, however, are rated as 'outperform' by Credit Suisse, which suggests that at present the ratings still offer good value..

Lloyd showed the best underlying trends in the recent banking earnings season and driven by revenues notes the broker while, along with its peers, net interest income was comfortably better than consensus.

Natwest meanwhile has the highest CET1 ratio of the UK bank group according to the brokers forecasts followed by Lloyds, suggesting the pair have the most leeway for returns to shareholders.

Shares in Lloyds were up 0.2% to 46.2p while Natwest was unchanged at 220p.
Cryptocurrency companies have been informed they must step up their efforts to enforce sanctions on Russia over concerns that digital tokens are being used to sidestep measures.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into non-fungible token (NFT) markets and creators for violating securities legislation, according to reports. The SEC demanded information on certain NFTs in past months, particularly surrounding the use of fractional NFTs, according to Cointelegraph.
MOSCOW, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Russian delegation has arrived at the site where the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine are expected to take place, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation, said Wednesday.

The Ukrainian side is expected to arrive tomorrow morning, and both sides are expected to meet in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on the Belarus-Poland border, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing the official.

Medinsky said Russia and Ukraine agreed upon the location for the second round of talks together, adding that Russia's military has established a safe corridor to allow the Ukrainian delegation to move through Ukrainian territory.

The possibility of a ceasefire would be discussed during the talks, among other things, according to Medinsky.

Russia and Ukraine concluded their first round of negotiations in Belarus on Monday with no clear breakthrough. 
Galileo Mining Ltd (ASX:GAL) has confirmed the prospectivity of multiple electromagnetic (EM) conductors at the Norseman Project in Western Australia with highly anomalous nickel-copper-cobalt-palladium mineralisation revealed in assays.

Some of these results originate from a point up-dip from the Jimberlana EM conductor dubbed J1, and provide strong support for a new drill target at shallow depth:

12 metres at 0.13% nickel, 0.11% copper, 0.01% cobalt and 0.12 g/t palladium from 8 metres in NAC068; and

5 metres at 0.15% nickel, 0.11% copper, 0.02% cobalt and 0.11 g/t palladium from 24 metres also in NAC068.

Holes adjacent to the same J1 conductor returned:

16 metres at 0.15% nickel, 0.10% copper, 0.01% cobalt and 0.20 g/t palladium from surface in NAC066; and

11 metres at 0.22% nickel, 0.05% copper, 0.02% cobalt and 0.14 g/t palladium from 16 metres in NAC076.

A second new drill target was identified 400 metres east of J1, with a notable bottom-of-hole assay of 1-metre at 0.19% nickel, 0.13% copper, 0.16% cobalt and 31 parts per billion (ppb) palladium from 49 metres.

Similarly, a third target 500 metres to the west of a previously reported massive sulphide intersection included 1-metre at 0.39% nickel, 0.17% copper, 0.03% cobalt and 73ppb palladium from 38 metres in bottom of hole.

Very encouraging target size

Momentum continues to build at our Norseman project with aircore drill assays showing we have nickel-copper-cobalt-palladium close to previously reported highly conductive EM targets at the Jimberlana prospect, Galileo Mining managing director Brad Underwood said.

The range of targets also continues to expand with the identification of new anomalies up to 500 metres away from known massive sulphide mineralisation.

The scale of the targets is very encouraging with potential for the development of significant magmatic nickel-copper-cobalt-palladium at a number of locations.

Standout areas of interest are currently the conductive EM anomalies which are well supported by the latest aircore drill results.

These are modelled to start between 20 and 80 metres below surface and are easily tested with reverse circulation (RC) drilling.

We have additional aircore drill results due to be received from the laboratory over the coming weeks. With the results in hand, and those to come, we expect to be very busy at our Norseman and Fraser Range projects over the coming months.

RC drilling of existing nickel-palladium targets at the Mt Thirsty prospect is planned for April while drill testing of the Jimberlana prospect will be undertaken after the completion of heritage surveys and receipt of statutory approvals.

About Galileo Mining

Galileo Mining is focused on the exploration and development of nickel, palladium, copper and cobalt resources in Western Australia.

The company has joint ventures with Creasy Group over tenements in the Fraser Range which are highly prospective nickel-copper sulphide deposits similar to the operating Nova mine.

Galileo also holds tenements near Norseman with more than 26,000 tonnes of contained cobalt and 122,000 tonnes of contained nickel in JORC-compliant resources.
Orion Minerals Ltd (ASX:ORN, JSE:ORN) is set to deliver first copper production from its two flagship projects - the Prieska Copper-Zinc Project and Okiep Copper Project  both in Northern Cape, South Africa, within the next 24 months.

Together with the advanced feasibility studies for the Flat Mines at the Okiep Project and the Prieska Project early production scenario, the company aims to determine the optimal route for its first copper production to take advantage of strong copper market conditions.

The company is well-positioned to deliver critical metals for the global energy transformation with copper prices close to record highs and demand set to outstrip production for the foreseeable future.

Orion managing director and CEO Errol Smart said: To capitalise on the current positive market conditions, we have fast-tracked our assessment of an early production strategy for the Prieska Copper-Zinc Project based on moving the open pit development to the start of the mine plan.

Early open pit production at Prieska, together with the opportunity for early production from the Okiep Flat Mines, that we added to our portfolio earlier in 2021, could enable us to deliver first copper production from both the Prieska and Okiep mining operations within the next 24 months, while also significantly de-risking both projects and providing a profitable production platform with strong near-term growth from advanced expansion projects.

Our two base metals hubs in South Africas Northern Cape Province position us to deliver critical metals for the global energy transformation with opportune timing. With copper prices close to record highs and demand set to outstrip production for the foreseeable future, the timing is perfect for Orion.

Exercising the option to acquire and consolidate Okiep was a major step forward in our strategy to become a diversified, new-generation base metals producer.

Fast-tracking Prieska Project

Investigations are now underway into an early production scenario that re-schedules production from open pit mining to occur concurrent to the 33-month development phase of the Prieska Deeps Mine, rather than at the end of the project life, as planned in the 2020 Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS-20). The report is due for completion by mid-2022.

The focus of the investigations is on bringing forward production and phasing the implementation of the BFS-20 plan.

An underground drilling campaign to upgrade the mineral resources categories supporting the BFS-20 open pit plan and to evaluate the potential to extract the pillars left unmined for structural support during previous mining operations is currently mobilising.

The program was scheduled to commence in February 2022 with completion anticipated by June 2022.

An updated mineral resource and ore reserve estimates will be available shortly thereafter.

Orion is also assessing the option to phase the implementation of the BFS-20 full-scale mine dewatering plan, so that a reduced-scale first phase can be commissioned in 2022, as part of pre-construction project preparation works.

The assessment is expected to be completed for investment decision by June 2022.

Smart added: This alternative scenario is looking increasingly like the route we should go down.

Importantly, this early production scenario relies on the material assumptions for the mine plan already incorporated in the 2020 Bankable Feasibility Study.

Early production scenario plan

The early production scenario plan will evaluate whether the sulphide ore processing plant can be commissioned by month 19, about 14 months ahead of the original BFS-20 schedule.

As with the BFS-20, the processing plant would treat open pit material at a reduced throughput compared to steady-state operations for the Deeps, using one of the two mills that have already been secured in preparation for full-scale production from the Prieska Deeps.

In this scenario, the second mill, together with additional flotation concentrators, would likely be installed later, as part of a phased expansion to accommodate feed from mining of the Deeps at the increased throughput rate.

The opportunity to place almost all tailings from the ore processing plant as backfill in historic and planned mining voids, hence reducing the size of the required, lined, tailings storage facility and thereby further reducing upfront capital outlay and funding is also being assessed.

Prieska Deeps Mine funding

While funding discussions for the Prieska Project, based on the BFS-20 plan, are in progress with banks and finance institutions, investigations into further enhancing the technical and commercial aspects of the project are being advanced.

In addition, discussions have been initiated with potential financiers, who have expressed interest in funding the early dewatering and production plan.

New copper discovery

In February 2022, the company made a significant new copper discovery within the Okiep Project, intersecting mafic-intrusive-hosted copper sulphide mineralisation.

This is the first drill hole designed to test one of several SkyTEMTM geophysical anomalies identified within the Okiep Project from an extensive SkyTEMTM survey flown last year.

The mineralisation intersected occurs as blebs, veins and massive sulphide (80-100%) lenses of pyrrhotite-chalcopyrite over widths of 1-25 centimetres in drill core within the magnetite rich, mafic intrusive host.

Noting that the early exploration success underscores the huge potential upside in the Okiep region, Smart said: Remarkably, this is the first discovery in the district in more than 40 years  and it is directly attributable to the use of modern geophysics, followed by mapping and detailed ground surveys.

What is really exciting, however, is that a further eight selected high priority SkyTEMTM targets are currently being followed up with systematic ground surveys at the Okiep Copper Project and will be drilled over the next 12-24 months.

The potential for new discoveries and significant additions to what is already an area with enormous copper endowment, is huge.

Surging demand for green metals

Base metals performed strongly in 2021 with copper ending the year 25.7% higher and zinc gaining 31.5% during the year.

Demand for base and battery metals continues to be driven by the global transition towards greener and cleaner technologies, while ongoing supply-side constraints helped support significant price increases.

The metal last set a record in 2011 around the peak of the commodities supercycle, sparked by Chinas economic growth and internal infrastructure investment.

The renewed interest in copper has been fuelled by global efforts to cut carbon emissions. This surging demand for green metals has put a strain on supply while new mine production has been slow to arrive.

Copper the new oil

Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) has described copper as 'the new oil because electric cars need several times more copper than their internal combustion engine-powered counterparts.

CRU has noted that demand from green energy applications is expected to account for 40% of the growth in refined copper demand in 2022 and that this will remain the key demand driver in the coming years.

Copper prices are forecast to moderate slightly in 2022, yet remain supported over the long-term, as demand outpaces supply.

Zinc prices to remain elevated

The surge in zinc prices came on the back of news that Belgium-based Nyrstar was cutting production by up to 50% at its three European zinc smelters and Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN), which also has three zinc smelters in Europe, planned to adjust production to save energy costs.

Supply concerns are expected to continue to support zinc prices into 2022.

S&P Global believes zinc prices will remain elevated throughout the year with fewer mines expected to start up in 2022-2025  especially in China, where mined zinc is estimated to decline to 3.8 million tonnes in 2022.

Green metals and green energy

In line with its commitment to play a key role in the green metals revolution, Orion has commenced consultations with juwi Renewable Energies Pty Ltd and the Central Energy Corporation (CENEC) to ensure that the Prieska Project is powered entirely by renewable energy and green hydrogen sources.

CENEC plans to construct a mega-scale renewable energy hub for the Prieska district.

in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The Prieska PowerTM Reserve is a large-scale initiative aimed at generating electrical energy from renewable sources and storing this energy as green hydrogen and ammonia on a long-term basis.

The project is targeting energy independence from the national electricity grid.

Having access to this hub would help achieve carbon net-zero at the Prieska Project and could establish Prieska as one of the worlds lowest carbon emission sources of copper and zinc.

Orion already has an agreement with the renewable energy company juwi to investigate the construction of its own renewable energy generation plant at the mine and the CENEC collaboration is advancing as an extension of the work already done to establish a bespoke solar and wind power generation project for the Prieska Mine.

Fraser Range  nickel-copper projects

Orion maintains a sizeable tenement package in the Fraser Range Province of Western Australia in a joint venture with IGO Ltd.

Under the terms of the joint venture, IGO is responsible for all exploration on the tenements.

Orions exposure to the ongoing exploration and development of the Fraser Range Project is without additional financial commitment, given that Orion is free-carried through to the first pre-feasibility study on any of the tenements.

A drilling program aimed at testing a number of high-priority magmatic nickel-copper targets within the joint venture tenement E28/2367 has commenced in the current quarter.

Other planned works include planning and logistics preparation for the 2022 field season, rehabilitation of the drill pads and access around Kanandah and Boonderoo stations and detailed geological logging and sample selection for geochemical assay for the Hook 1, Hook 2 and Bilby drill holes.

This will then lead to geological and structural interpretation of core logging, geophysical surveys (such as DHEM) and geophysics data from Hook 1, Hook 2 and Bilby and subsequent conclusions and recommendations.
Lake Resources NL (ASX:LKE, OTCQB:LLKKF)s modular demonstration plant designed and built by the engineering team at Lilac Solutions Inc, has been dispatched from California, US, to the Kachi Lithium Project in Argentina.

The disruptive lithium processing technology will cut operating costs and boost lithium recovery from Kachi Project brines while protecting scarce water resources.

Lilac Solutions, Lake's technical partner. assembled the ion-exchange modules and supporting equipment for the demonstration plant within five x 40 feet (12-metre) shipping containers.

The modular design allows for a 'plug and play' approach, once brine feed, power and reagents are connected.

Truly disruptive technology

Lilac chief executive officer Dave Snydacker said: Our technology is truly disruptive; weve taken ion exchange, a non-mining technology solution that is ubiquitous in the water treatment industry, and with cutting-edge innovations have created a unique technology for lithium extraction, which we strongly believe will reduce operating costs and boost lithium recovery for production of lithium chemicals from the Kachi brines.

Relative to conventional technology, our production process is lower cost and offers higher lithium recovery rates of 80-90% to produce battery quality lithium carbonate, while also protecting the local environment, including water resources.

Our process is modular, produces high purity lithium, and can be ramped up quickly from pilot to commercial stages  our equity stake ensures a rapid commercialization of the Lilac technology at what is a globally significant lithium resource.

Weve worked extensively with this brine, generating the data needed for engineering studies, and it is a fantastic fit for the Lilac technology."

Inform final engineering design

The demonstration plant will operate for around three to four months to produce lithium chloride (eluate) representing 2.5 tonnes of lithium carbonate.

This will be converted into high purity battery-quality lithium carbonate for potential offtakers and battery qualification later in the year.

The demonstration plant operations on-site will also inform final engineering design prior to construction of the commercial-scale project.

Meanwhile, test-work at Lilac Solutions facility in California continues to produce the data required for the definitive feasibility study and lithium carbonation test-work continues at Hazen Research in Colorado.

Shares higher

Lake shares today have been as much as 8.21% higher to A$1.055 while the company's market cap is approximately A$1.27 billion.
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Frontier Energy Ltd (ASX:FHE) has recommenced trading on ASX following strong demand for an $8 million capital raising validating its new strategy focused on clean energy.

The company is developing the Bristol Springs Solar Project (BSS Project), a large-scale solar energy project with initial production of 114MW dc of electricity planned in Western Australias South West, 120 kilometres south of Perth and near several industrial precincts.

BSS Project well advanced

BSS Project is significantly advanced with development approval granted, electricity connection application in progress and world-class supporting infrastructure ensuring rapid advancement towards production.

This project is the first step in the companys strategy to become an integrated clean energy company. FHE was formerly Superior Lake Resources.

Growth opportunities

Managing director Mike Young said, The renewable energy industry offers significant growth opportunities, particularly to support nearby aluminium mining and the Collie and Kwinana industrial precincts, all of which require massive decarbonisation. This is why we decided to transition from mining exploration and focus on clean energy opportunities.

The BSS Project is strategically located in the heart of WAs southwest, one of the fastest-growing regional areas in Australia. The local population and the WA Government are extremely supportive and progressive regarding the future requirement for renewable energy solutions in the region.

The BSS Project is close to the Port of Bunbury and is well located near excellent supporting infrastructure including, roads, water, airports, multiple ports, and a highly-skilled local workforce, giving it an advantage over similar but more isolated projects.

Initial focus for FHE will be assessing the potential expansion of the BSS Project and additional clean energy alternatives in the future, including wind energy, storage as well as green hydrogen production.

Latest generation technology

BSS Project will incorporate the latest generation technology to deliver a relatively low-cost energy solution connected into the backbone of the South West Interconnected System (SWIS).

Aerial view of the Bristol Springs Solar site.

The project has received development approval from the WA Regional Development Assessment Panel, and an application for an electricity transfer access contract (ETAC) is in progress with Western Power. The ETAC will provide the company with access to the SWIS.

Additional land acquisition opportunities are available that could allow an increase in solar power generation of up to ~490MWdc.

Experienced board

MD Mike Young, former BC Iron and Vimy Resources chief, is part of a strong and experienced board and management team, including Grant Davey as chairman, experienced Chartered Accountant Chris Bath as executive director and chief financial officer and senior WA media and advertising executive Dixie Marshall as a non-executive director.

We have assembled a balanced and well-respected board of directors and management team, with extensive Western Australian experience in project development and capital markets, Young said.

Importantly, we have strong relationships with key stakeholders, including major players in the Western Australian electricity market, end-users, local communities and both State and Federal government.

FHEs capital raising was strongly supported with the board and management team contributing ~$1.9 million of the total $8 million capital raising, including $1 million from chairman Davey. BW Equities was lead manager to the raising.

Funds will enable FHE to continue development of the BSS Project, including payment of land option and lease fees, complete solar front end engineering design (FEED), undertake a range of studies relating to the project and for working capital and transaction expenses.

Landwehr Terminal  33/330kV transformer.

Assessing clean energy alternatives

The company will also assess other renewable energy projects, including wind, solar and green hydrogen.

One area we are keen to assess is production of green hydrogen," Young added. "This is in line with the WA Governments plan to produce and export green hydrogen by 2030 in the same quantity as LNG gas produced for export.

"This strategy, led by Hydrogen Minister Alannah MacTiernan, has highlighted the need for WA green energy projects and hydrogen manufacturing capability.

We will also look at investing in other renewable energy projects, such as wind projects or other solar projects.

The company has re-complied with ASX Listing Rules Chapters 1 and 2 reflecting the change in its principal activities from a mining exploration company to a clean energy company.

Shares opened at $0.165 and traded from $0.155 to $0.222 with more than 3.241 million changing hands before closing at the opening price.
Corazon Mining Ltd (ASX:CZN) is out to raise A$12.7 million to accelerate its nickel exploration and development activities.

The resources stock has secured firm commitments from fellow ASX-lister Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX, OTCQX:BLSTF) to raise A$2 million via placement at A$0.04 per share.

Corazon also hopes to bring in A$10.7 million through a non-renounceable entitlement offer, executed on a one-for-one basis at A$0.03 per share.

Through the cap raise, Blackstone will become a cornerstone investor, while major shareholder Delphi also plans to take up its entitlement.

Ultimately, Corazon hopes to establish a funding runway that will support exploration and development across its nickel sulphide portfolio in Australia and Canada.

The company hopes to recommence drilling at its Lynn Lake asset this month as mining and processing studies progress.

Watch: Corazon Mining Ltd enters deal with Blackstone Minerals; extends rights offer targeting $10.7 million

Foundation of support

Speaking to the raise, Corazon chair Terry Streeter said: The Corazon share registry has evolved significantly over recent months, with nickel focused groups like Delphi and Blackstone seeking to cornerstone the company.

This provides the foundations of support required to accelerate exploration and project studies on the potential re-development of the Lynn Lake Nickel Sulphide Project.

We are also pleased to offer Corazon shareholders the opportunity to support the advancement of our nickel assets via the entitlement offer, at a time of strong nickel prices and increased demand for product from the emerging rechargeable battery sector.

Placement

Under the placement, Corazon plans to isuue just more than 51 million ordinary shares at A$0.04 apiece  a 25% mark-up on CZNs closing share price on March 2.

Shares are slated for issue on Friday, March 4.

Entitlement offer

Those who participate in Corazons non-renounceable entitlement offer will receive one new share for every security they currently own, priced at A$0.03 each.

This represents a 7.8% discount to the 15-day volume-weighted average price of CZN shares prior to March 3, as well as a 6.25% discount to the securities last closing price.

Corazon will issue up to 356.3 million new shares to its investors under the offer.

Of course, being non-renounceable, current shareholders cannot transfer their right to participate in the offer to another subscriber.

Use of funds

Corazon intends to apply funds from the placement and entitlement offer to:
Nova Minerals Ltd (ASX:NVA, OTCQB:NVAAF) says that the definition of a number of targets at the high-grade RPM Gold Project in Alaska will assist it to prove up and increase its current inferred resource.

The initial scoping study outlines a starter operation that provides a solid platform for growth and identifies clear opportunities for improvements, which the company now intends to aggressively pursue.

The company has planned an extensive drilling program for 2022, designed to delineate additional high-grade indicated resources to include in the production schedule for the Korbel Central Processing Facility. Subject to weather, it is anticipated that drill rigs will be onsite at the RPM Project in April.

The RPM high-grade resource provides an opportunity to deliver a higher average mill feed grade to substantially increase and improve the gold production profile over the life of the project.

RPM resource drilling program for 2022.

As part of Phase 1, two rigs are drilling for 5,000 metres at the RPM North deposit to infill around a drill hole that has returned bonanza past assay results of 132 metres at 10.1 g/t gold and an overall average grade of 3.5 g/t gold over 400 metres from surface within the RPM North mineralised zone.

For Phase 2, three rigs are conducting step-out drilling for 15,000 metres at the RPM North deposit to increase the current resource, which remains wide open along strike, depth, and thickness.

Initial drilling will also test the highly prospective RPM South zone which shows a much larger surface footprint from rock chip sampling and geological observations.

Korbel Central Processing Facility

The Korbel Central Processing Facility, as designed in the scoping study, will provide the flexibility to schedule feed from numerous ore sources that are expected to come online over the life of the project.

Nova Minerals is prioritising the inclusion of high-grade RPM resources to feed the centralised 6-million-tonnes-per annum mill, in order to take advantage of the high sensitivity to grade (see chart below) and to improve the overall project economics. Each 10% increase in grade alone potentially adds US$200 million to the NPV.

The gold production rate and project mine life have the potential to grow significantly with continued resource definition and expansion, as demonstrated in recent announcements at the Korbel and RPM projects.

The companys ongoing exploration activities across the wider Estelle Gold Trend are planned with a clear intent to prove up the high grade  1.5 million ounces at 2.0 g/t gold  resource at the RPM North deposit for an indicated resource estimate, as well as further expanding the resource at Korbel.

Sensitivity analysis

Major milestone

CEO Christopher Gerteisen said: The company reached a major milestone in the recent announcement of its maiden scoping study.

While constrained by the amount of indicated resources available from a single ore source within a starter pit at Korbel Main, we were very pleased to report strong and positive results that show the flowsheet we have developed works better than expected and can support a viable project with exceptional flexibility to maximise opportunities from multiple ore sources that will ultimately come online as we continue to develop the Estelle Gold Trend.

To clear up the capex component, Korbel Main is a key to the rapid development of the Estelle Gold Trend and has now demonstrated itself as a viable standalone project expected to contribute a significant portion of future gold production utilising a centralised processing infrastructure which is scaled for the greater project to receive feed from multiple ore sources from across the entire Estelle Gold Trend as the years progress.

Ore feed from RPM deposits

While this ore feed will initially mainly come from the Korbel and the high-grade RPM deposits, where we have existing resources that will come online sooner in the production profile as studies are completed, later it is anticipated that ore feed will also come from the Train, Shoeshine and Stoney prospects, as well as from additional discoveries that we expect to be made in the future.

One must understand the big picture and potential that Nova is developing a gold trend which is endowed with numerous deposits that will eventually be sources of ore to feed into the Korbel Central Processing Facility as designed in the scoping study.

As we move forward, it is expected that minimal extra capital expenditure will be required, mainly going towards material haulage infrastructure to bring in ore from sources across the project area to the centralised Korbel Plant site.

RPM to Korbel Central Process Facility conceptual outline of material haulage.
The number of unique non-fungible token (NFT) buyers fell below 800,000 for the first time since October, according to data.

Research from CryptoSlam, an NFT data aggregator backed by Mark Cuban, found that were 796,000 buyers on the secondary market last month, down 12% from January.

That accounted for roughly US$2.6bn worth of sales, 40% less than the previous month.

Analysts have suggested, however, that January was an unusually large month for the world of NFTs, and the decline in buyers points towards a healthy pullback.

January saw a record number of secondary buyers with over 900,000 and around US$5bn worth of sales according to OpenSea, the NFT marketplace.

However, Andrew Steinwold, the proponent and managing partner of NFT investment fund Sfermion, compared the pullback to the bull market and subsequent crash of 2017-2018, and is unsure whether interest will pick up anytime soon.

Google trends also highlighted how keyword search has also dropped significantly, with the word NFT being searched somewhere between 60%-70% less frequently than the final week of January, according to CoinTelegraph.

Reasons for the drop-off are unclear, although OpenSea was the victim of a US$1.7mln hack in the last month.

Tensions in Ukraine and Russia have also seemingly shifted the focus towards cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, as a means of storing value, making digital payments, and raising funds.
Whitehorse Gold said that Lorne Waldman has been appointed as chair of its board replacing Dr Mark Cruise who has resigned

Whitehorse Gold Corp has announced the appointment of Alex Zhang, a professional geoscientist, as a director of the company and also revealed a change of chairman for its board.

The company noted that Zhang has more than 30 years of experience in mineral exploration and has worked with Eldorado Gold Corporation, African Mining Corp, Sino Gold Mining Ltd, Silvercorp Metals Inc (TSX:SVM, AMEX:SVM), and most recently New Pacific Metals (TSX:NUAG, NYSE:NEWP) Corp.

It pointed out that he has supervised exploration activities of multiple major gold projects and silver-lead-zinc polymetallic projects in China, Canada and Bolivia at various stages from exploration through development to production with roles as senior exploration geologist, senior resource geologist, exploration manager, chief geologist and vice president of exploration.

The company said Zhang brings a full range of technical and managerial skills related to mineral exploration and mining projects.

The company also announced that Dr Mark Cruise has resigned as its chairman and from the board and Nikki Graham has resigned as General Counsel and corporate secretary. The company thanked Dr Cruise and Ms Graham for their service and wished both well in future endeavors.

Whitehorse said that Lorne Waldman has been appointed as chair of its board and Jean Zhang, the company's CFO, has been appointed as corporate secretary of the company.

The company also said it has granted, subject to regulatory approval, an aggregate of 1,475,000 stock options to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the company, under the terms of its stock option plan.

The options are exercisable for a period of 5 years from the date of grant at price of $0.50 per share, being the closing price of the common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V) on February 24, 2022. The options vest in six equal tranches over a period of three years. The options are subject to the provisions of the plan and the policies of the TSXV.

The company also announced the cancellation of an aggregate of 1,673,333 stock options. The cancelled stock options are comprised of 1,233,333 stock options previously granted on November 18, 2020 at an exercise price of $0.315 and 544,167 stock options previously granted on May 6, 2021 at an exercise price of $1.38.

Whitehorse Gold is a responsible mineral exploration and development company focused on a 170 square kilometre (km) project located in southern Yukon, approximately 55 km south-southwest of Whitehorse.

The project hosts the advanced-stage Skukum Creek and Goddell deposits, and the formerly producing Mt. Skukum high-grade gold mine, all of which remain open for expansion, plus additional untested mineralized occurrences.

Project infrastructure includes an all-weather access road, a 50-person camp, approximately 6 km of underground development, and a previously operating 300-tpd mill and associated support facilities. Underground operations by a previous operator at Mt. Skukum from 1986 to 1988 saw 233,400 tons of ore mined and processed to recover approximately 79,750 ounces of gold (Total Energold Corporation, 1989).

The company is also reviewing other mining assets in jurisdictions that provide year-round access.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
Effective April 4, 2022, AIM ImmunoTech said, Dickey will become CFO and current CFO Ellen Lintal will transition to serve as a finance and accounting consultant for the company

AIM ImmunoTech Inc (NYSE:AIM) has announced the appointment of Robert Dickey IV, as its chief financial officer (CFO).

Effective April 4, 2022, AIM ImmunoTech said, Dickey will become CFO and current CFO Ellen Lintal will transition to serve as a finance and accounting consultant for the company.

The company noted that Dickey has more than 25 years of experience of C-suite financial leadership for life science and medical device companies, both private and public, ranging from preclinical development to commercial operations and across a variety of disease areas and medical technologies. Earlier in his career, Dickey spent 18 years in investment banking, primarily at Lehman Brothers, with a background split between mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and capital markets transactions.

In a statement, Thomas Equels, the company's chief executive officer said: "On behalf of the team at AIM and our board, I would like to thank Ellen for her many contributions as CFO. AIM is very well positioned for a transformational year and I am thrilled to strengthen our leadership team's depth and breadth with the appointment of Rob as CFO. Over the course of his career, he has built a vast network within Wall Street and industry, and has demonstrated successful execution of financial, licensing, and M&A strategies, all of which we believe will prove to be invaluable to AIM."

"Rob's successful track record and expertise is perfectly aligned with the vision we share for AIM. I look forward to working closely with Rob and executing on our plan as well as seizing opportunities to propel AIM into its next phase of growth," Equels added.

Dickey commented: "With six ongoing oncology clinical trials with multiple data readouts expected over the next 6-12 months, AIM is entering a pivotal time for the Company and I look forward to leveraging the insight and perspective I've amassed over the course of my career to help capitalize on and create catalytic events to maximize value for all stakeholders."

The company pointed out that Dickey is experienced in all stages of the corporate lifecycle, including start-up and early fundraising, going public, high growth, turnarounds and exit strategies. Career fundraising highlights include raising over $100 million in private company financings, over $200 million for public companies and over $1 billion as an investment banker. His expertise includes public and private financings, M&A, partnering/licensing transactions, project management, overseeing company's finance and accounting functions, and Chapter 11 reorganizations, as well as interactions with Boards, VCs, shareholders and Wall Street.

Dickey currently serves as an advisor to life science companies through Foresite Advisors, LLC which integrates his decades of finance experience with advanced business insights. Prior to becoming an advisor, he served as full-time CFO for Caladrius Biosciences, Tyme Technologies, StemCyte, Locus Pharmaceuticals and Protarga Inc, among others.

He also currently serves on the Board and Audit Committee Chair of Emmaus Life Sciences, a public company with an approved drug for sickle cell disease, on the Board of Angiogenex Inc. a public company out of Memorial Sloan Kettering, Chief Corporate Development Officer of BCI LifeSciences LLC, and part of the Leadership Team at Cell One Partners. Previously, he served on the boards of Sanuthera and Protarga, which he sold to Daiichi Sankyo.

The company noted that Dickey holds an AB from Princeton University and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

AIM ImmunoTech is an immuno-pharma company focused on the research and development of therapeutics to treat multiple types of cancers, immune disorders, and viral diseases, including COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com
BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Delegations of the deputies to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, have all registered for the NPC annual session scheduled to open in Beijing on Saturday.

Preparations for the fifth session of the 13th NPC have been completed, according to the press center of the session. 
Snowline is planning to drill at least 8,000 metres at several targets and advance other targets to a drill-ready stage through surface exploration

Snowline Gold Corp said it is well positioned with over C$8.5 million in its treasury to help advance its Yukon property portfolio in 2022.

In a shareholder letter, the Vancouver-based firm recapped its first year as a public company as it looks ahead to a transformative 2022.

Our core assets were seven carefully selected greenfield gold projects in Canadas Yukon Territory. After listing, we immediately set to launch a safe, efficient, and effective field campaign during a pandemic, relying largely on local expertise and relationships with First Nations owned and partnered companies, the company wrote.

Remarkably, our first two drill programs  both on never-before drill tested targets  resulted in two new and significant gold discoveries: Jupiter and Valley. These discoveries serve as strong proof-of-concept towards our thesis of a new North American gold district within our project portfolio.

The company is now hoping to further consolidate its land position in Yukon, home to Snowlines Rogue, Einarson, Ursa and Cynthia projects.

It is also planning to drill at least 8,000 metres at several targets and advance other targets to a drill-ready stage through surface exploration.

While 2021 was a big year for us, we are just getting started, the company told investors.

We are already well underway with preparations for the upcoming field season. Key pieces in place include a drill on site at our Valley target, a second drill under contract, and a permit secured for a new, centralized exploration camp that will allow for more cost-effective exploration.

Snowline has a seven-project portfolio covering over 100,000 hectares. The company is exploring its flagship 72,000-hectare Einarson and Rogue gold projects in the highly prospective yet underexplored Selwyn Basin.

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas
Prior to joining ION, Li served as general manager of International Trade for Noble Resources and general manager of Marketing for SouthGobi Resources

ION Energy Ltd announced that it has named Wendy Li as director with a focus on strategic relationships across Asia.

"We are very proud and excited to welcome Wendy to the ION team. She brings significant experience in the resource sector, international trade and supply chain management, said ION CEO Ali Haji in a statement.

Wendy's exceptional track record of business development and forging long-term partnerships across Asia, including Mongolia and China, will enhance ION's aggressive growth plan as we strive to play a pivotal role in Asia's battery metals supply hub.

The company said Li has more than 18 years of extensive commercial and business development experience in Asia, including Mongolia and China, spanning commodity branding and trading, supply chain management, and asset development.

Prior to joining ION, Li served as general manager of International Trade for Noble Resources Ltd and general manager of Marketing for SouthGobi Resources Ltd (TSX:SGQ).

Meanwhile, the company said that, along with this new addition to the team, preparations are being made for an in-country site visit in April now that travel restrictions have been eased. CEO Haji will be joined by other members of our senior leadership team, including lead technical advisor, Don Hains.

The company's technical bench strength and 2021 capital strategy ensures that our team can now embark upon a capital-intensive exploration program at our flagship Baavhai Uul site. We look forward to sharing updates from the site visit next month," ION said.

ION is committed to exploring and developing Mongolia's lithium salars. ION's flagship 81,000-plus hectare Baavhai Uul lithium brine project represents the largest and first lithium brine exploration licence award in Mongolia.

The company also holds the 29,000-plus hectare Urgakh Naran highly prospective Lithium Brine licence in the Dorngovi Province of Mongolia.

Contact the author: patrick@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow him on Twitter @PatrickMGraham
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New Delhi, March 3 : Actor-director Sean Penn who was in Ukraine to shoot a documentary has walked towards the Poland border after abandoning his car, according to reports.

The Academy Award-winning took to Twitter and mentioned that he and two colleagues walked "miles" to the Polish border after abandoning their car on the side of a road, along with a photo from the situation.

Penn, in a tweet on Monday, wrote: "Myself & two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road. Almost all the cars in this photo carry women & children only, most without any sign of luggage, and a car their only possession of value." It was earlier reported a week ago that Penn has been working on a documentary in Ukraine after he was photographed at a news conference held at the Presidential Office in Kiev amid Russia's attack on Ukraine.

He had also shared a statement on Twitter, saying: "President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have risen as historic symbols of courage and principle. Ukraine is the tip of the spear for the democratic embrace of dreams. If we allow it to fight alone, our soul as America is lost."
Kiev, March 3 : The Mayor of Kherson, a key port city in southern Ukraine, on Thursday claimed that Russian troops have seized control, making it the first major city to be taken by Moscow as it continued to wage it war on Kiev for a seventh straight day.

In a Facebook post, Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said that Russian forces were now in control of Kherson and that the troops had forced their way into the city council building and imposed a curfew on residents, reports the BBC.

Kolykhaev urged Russian soldiers not to shoot at civilians, saying there were no Ukrainian forces in the city, which is located on the banks of the Dnieper River and has a population of over 280,000 people.

He further called on residents to follow conditions set by Russian forces in order to "keep the Ukrainian flag flying".

The conditions include observing a strict curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.; only going out in groups of two at most; allowing only cars carrying food, medicine and other supplies to enter Kerson; and driving at a minimum speed.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine started on February 23, several key cities, including the capital Kiev and Kharkiv, have come under heavy shelling and bombing, claiming the lives of thousands of civilians.

Wednesday marked one of the most destructive days of the fighting with continued intense shelling, said the BBC.

Since the assault began a week ago, Ukraine has claimed that more than 2,000 civilians have died, while the UNHCR has said that the conflict has also led to some 1,000,000 people flee the country.

Meanwhile, Russia has for the first time admitted that 498 of its troops were killed, with 1,597 injured.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New York, March 3 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to be able to retain its support in the current round of state elections in India, according to a US State Department official in charge of the region.

"I think we're going to see in the election returns that come out in March, later this month, that the current ruling coalition retains a lot of authority in India," Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, said at a Senate panel hearing in Washington on Wednesday.

"Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and his party appear to me as an observer from the outside to retain a lot of support within the country," he said.

The BJP held the government by itself in four of the six Indian states are having their elections, and in one in a coalition, while the Congress was the ruling party in one.

Lu said that for the opposition to be effective, the Congress party will have to find its message and its leadership.

"I think the Congress Party is really trying to find its identity again, I think it's searching for its appropriate leaders and its message to the Indian public. And I think until the Congress Party is able to do that, it's gonna be very hard for the opposition to coalesce and to reform," he said.

Democratic Party Senator Chris Murphy, who chaired the hearing, wondered if Modi's electoral performance was due to "organic popularity of the ruling party or because of tactics that would not be the norm in the US".

Murphy heads the Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism that held the hearing on US relations with India.

Earlier he had raised reports that Modi used Pegasus spyware made by the Israeli company NSO group, to infiltrate telephones of the opposition, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Lu said that while serving overseas for almost 30 years, "I have seen some terrible elections in parts of the globe. I've never seen that in India".

"Honestly, I haven't seen the kind of dirty tricks and the stealing of elections and the use of anti-democratic tools that I have seen in many, many places." He said that the Indian election system operates without a challenge to its legitimacy and "I feel confident about as somebody who spent a lot of time in India, is that the electoral system itself is very strong".

"India's politics as it was meant to be: It's a bloodsport. They are ruthless in their politics." But, he said, "one of the great things about Indian democracy is despite the fact that it's winner take all between political parties, the electoral system, the biggest in the world, is able to function so efficiently that without any sense of a challenge of legitimacy of this massive system that operates around the country, including in places like Kashmir, and the north northeast that have had security problems".

In the US, the results of the last presidential results are being vehemently questioned with Donald Trump, who lost it, claiming it was "stolen".

A University of Massachusetts Amherst poll showed that 33 per cent of Americans consider the 2020 presidential elections illegitimate.

Asked by Murphy about Kashmir, Lu said: "We do see the Indian government taking some steps to restore normalcy. Prime Minister had outreach to a range of Kashmiri Indian politicians in June. We've seen visits by cabinet ministers to Kashmir.

"We saw the rest restoration of 4G connections for cell phones which is the way most people would get their information. In the Kashmir Valley." At the same time, he said that Assembly elections have not been held there and some prominent journalists in the Kashmir Valley have been detained.

"We believe all Kashmiris deserve the right to live in dignity, enjoy the protections afforded to them by the Indian constitution (and) we look forward to continuing to encourage India to fulfil those commitments." Lu also said that cross-border terrorism originating from Pakistan has gone down over the past two years.

He said that in meetings with Pakistani Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa Pakistan took "credit for closing off that border for militant groups".

They have "sealed the border in a way we haven't seen before" and that was partly because of the actions by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which can impose punitive financial sanctions for supporting terrorism.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)
New Delhi, March 3 : An Indian doctor has claimed to be stuck in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev along with his family members even as the government in New Delhi said that all Indian students and citizens have been safely evacuated from the conflict-hit nation.

Dr. Rajkumar Santalani, a resident of Jaipur, his wife Dr. Mayuri Mohan Andhare and their two children are still in Kiev.

Speaking to IANS, he also shared the address of his residence where he is stranded.

Rajkumar said that he spends the night mostly on the balcony of his house to safeguard his family members.

Addressing reporters on Wednesday, India's Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that there was no Indian left in Kiev and added that a total of 12,000 Indians have been rescued from Kiev.

"We were very sad when we came to know that it was being said in New Delhi that all Indians have been evacuated from Kiev. We have been in contact with the Embassy for the last six days... The embassy kept telling us to wait," he told IANS.

"We tried to take a taxi but even the taxi drivers are over-charging. I don't even have money... the local (Ukrainian) residents are helping us.

"There have been bomb blasts for four days. There was peace for the last two days but again, there was a huge explosion after which the warning sirens are buzzing continuously. The cold is also increasing... We have also taken rice from our neighbours to eat," he said.

Rajkumar further claimed that help was also sought from a leader in India, and "he also assured to get us out of here soon, but now we are all trying to get out ourselves".

"Our neighbours are fighting with guns in their hands. I was also given a gun but I refused to take it," Rajkumar, who is also pursuing his Ph.D, said.

The Central government, meanwhile, has intensified the efforts to rescue Indian citizens stuck in Ukraine.

In the next two-three days, 26 aircraft will operate to bring back Indians from the neighbouring countries of Ukraine.

Around 20,000 Indians were stranded in Ukraine.

The government has launched Operation Ganga to ensure the safe return of Indians stranded in war-torn Ukraine.
Lucknow, March 3 : Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have launched a protest against banners put up by law students, associated with the Ambedkar University Dalit Students Union, targeting a particular religion.

The ABVP activists held a demonstration at Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU) on Wednesday to protest.

"When we came to the university on Wednesday, we saw that objectionable posters, spreading religious hatred, were put up at various places. These posters were pasted by students of the law department. We went to the Vice Chancellor's office to lodge a complaint, but he was not available," said a BBAU student Abhinav.

He added that since no authority was available to listen to them, they had no option but to stage a protest.

Meanwhile, an official of the BBAU said that the matter is being investigated and action will be taken against those found guilty.
Prayagraj, March 3 : Dr S.P. Singh, Director of the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and principal of the MLN Medical College (MLNMC) in Prayagraj, has set a new record by conducting 107 phacoemulsification surgeries with intraocular lens (IOL) implant free of cost within a span of 16-and-a-half-hours.

"The surgeries were performed between 6 a.m and 10.30 p.m. continuously for 16-and-a-half hours on February 25. All the patients are doing fine now after a week of observation," he told reporters.

"I am happy at having performed so many surgeries at one go and hope that this would inspire more younger surgeons to work for excellence and public welfare." The doctor has written to the Limca Book of Records, intimating them about the achievement along with the requisite proofs as required.

Earlier, then Brigadier (Dr) J.K.S Parihar of the Army Hospital Research and Referral in New Delhi, had performed 34 phacoemulsification surgeries in October 2011 in eastern Ladakh and made a place for himself in the Limca Book of Records.

On March 5, 2001, Singh had set a record, which was registered in the Limca Book of Records, by performing 81 operations in 11 hours at one go.
Prayagraj, March 3 : The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition seeking quashing of criminal proceedings against the admin of a WhatsApp group where someone had sent a morphed photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The court observed that "he was a group admin and also a co-extensive member of the group".

Dismissing a petition filed by Mohd Imran Malik of Muzaffarnagar, who was managing a WhatsApp group in which one of the members, Najam Alam, sent a morphed photo of the Prime Minister, Justice Mohd Aslam said: "From the perusal of the record, it appears that the applicant was a 'group admin' and he is also a co-extensive member of the group. In view of the above, I do not find any cogent reason to interfere." The petitioner's contention was that the said message was not sent by him and it was sent by one Najam Alam. He was only the group 'admin'. Hence, no case against him was made out and the proceeding was liable to be quashed.

However, the state government counsel opposed the petition, saying that liability of the sender of the message and that of the 'group admin' is co-extensive and it cannot be said no offence under Section 66 (computer related offences) of the Information Technology Act was made out against petitioner.

Having heard the arguments advanced from both sides, the court declined to interfere in the matter.
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The Alachua County Environmental Protection Department (ACEPD) is offering the Florida Stormwater, Erosion, and Sedimentation Control Inspector Training and Certification Program on March 29 and 30, 2022, at Gainesville Regional Utilities (4747 N. Main Street, Gainesville). The training is free, but participants must register online by March 26.





Participants will learn why it is important to prevent construction site sedimentation from polluting local water bodies and will become familiar with techniques to minimize erosion. This certification program was developed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and will be team-taught by numerous professionals. This class is co-sponsored by Alachua County, the City of Gainesville, and the Florida Department of Transportation.





Qualifying participants can earn eight Continuing Education Units for their contractors license and eight Professional Development Hours for their Florida Professional Engineers license.




Lucknow, March 3 : Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav said that people will get free ration along with milk, sugar, oil and ghee for the whole year if he forms the government in Uttar Pradesh.

Akhilesh said that people are getting free ration only up to March in the incumbent BJP government, but if they come to power people will get free ration along with 1kg each of oil, ghee and milk powder, for the whole year.

He attacked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying that the latter had become restless after seeing SP's growing popularity.

He added that 300 units of electricity and medical treatment for poor will also be free.

The SP chief said that when Yogi Adityanath was not able to bring his home on the track how he could make others' homes better.

"Drainage channels and sever were not made in Gorakhpur. Instead of going in the metro, people travelled in boats during monsoon and now people have made up their mind to write history," he said in a statement.

"BJP leaders are liars. No farmer got double income and no one even got full payment of crops. They stole 5kg from bag of 10kg of ration and the price of cylinder reached to Rs 1,000 from 400. They claim to give 24-hour power supply but the power units were made by SP government." He said that as many of the youth had to suffer due to lack of recruitment during the BJP government and promised to relax the age limits for youth in government jobs when he comes to power.

Akhilesh also ridiculed the BJP by saying that those who claim to make missiles were not able to make even matchsticks.
United Nations, March 3 : The UN Security Council (UNSC) held a conference to discuss the situation in Afghanistan as the country is continuing its struggle with the ongoing humanitarian and economic crisis.

Addressing the meeting on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General's special envoy for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons said that perhaps the worst fears over the humanitarian crisis were averted but any gains were short-term, and "only to buy a little time", TOLO News reported She told the Council that assisting the Afghan people will not be possible without working with the Taliban authorities and acknowledged this will be difficult for some, but it is essential.

However, she said that they were concerned by the arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, as well as house-to-house searches in Kabul, but pledged to "raise this with the de facto authority".

Lyons said that the Taliban's Islamic Emirate regime stated that their policy was Afghanistan does not become an arena for the competition.

The Charge d'affaires of Afghanistan's permanent mission to the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, welcomed the issuing of the new general license for expanding the authorization of commercial activities in Afghanistan.

"I wish to request that the council members, the UN and donors, establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism to ensure transparent, accountable and effective implementation of any humanitarian project," Faiq said.

Mariam Sapai, a civil rights activist, told the UNSC that "as this Council is well aware" there has been a rapid deterioration of women's rights.

She called on the international community to not trust the Islamic Emirate's words but monitor its actions.

According to Sapai, nearly 70 per cent of media activities have been stopped and more than half of women employed become jobless.

Speaking at the meeting, the US Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Acting Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs, said the Islamic Emirate must "put an end to reprisal killings and forced disappearances as well as to respect freedom of expression" .

"Our attention to Afghanistan's immense humanitarian and economic needs cannot distract us from continuing to demand that women, girls and members of minorities groups fully be able to enjoy their life and participate in political and economic and social life in Afghanistan," he said.

"As public schools reopen throughout Afghanistan this month, we will be watching carefully to see if girls and women are able to access education at all levels as the Taliban have publicly committed. Girls have been denied the right to access education for too long now." The UK representative told the UNSC members that the Taliban needs to address the international community's concerns over reports of increased "reprisals against former security forces, government officials" as well as attacks against minority groups and the detention of civil society representatives.
New Delhi, March 3 : Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Quad leaders will hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the developments in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Ministry of External Affairs said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate along with the US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a Quad Leaders' virtual meeting.

The four countries have an informal alliance called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, that positions itself as being committed to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.

"The Leaders will have an opportunity to continue their dialogue after the September 2021 Summit in Washington D.C.," the ministry said.

They will exchange views and assessments about the important developments in the Indo-Pacific.

The Quad leaders will also review the ongoing efforts to implement the Leaders' initiatives announced as part of the Quad's contemporary and positive agenda.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has entered the eighth day after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a military operation.

In the meantime, in a resolution, backed by 141 of its 193 members, the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday deplored in the strongest terms Russia's aggression in Ukraine, reaffirmed its commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and demanded that Russia immediately cease its use of force and "completely and unconditionally" withdraw all its troops.

Five countries -- Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea, and Syria -- voted against the resolution, and 35 abstained.

India had abstained from the vote on the resolution titled 'On aggression against Ukraine'.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
San Francisco, March 3 : In its bid to catch up with Elon Musk-run Tesla, Ford Motor Company has announced to increase its electric vehicle (EV) investment to $50 billion through 2026, up from the previous $30 billion investment announcement by 2025.

The automaker aims to produce more than 2 million electric vehicles annually by 2026, representing about one-third of Ford's global volume, rising to half by 2030.

Ford said it will create distinct electric vehicle and internal combustion businesses to compete and win against both new EV competitors and established automakers.

The company expects to spend $5 billion on EVs in 2022, including capital expenditures, expense and direct investments, a two-fold increase over 2021, the automaker said in a statement late on Wednesday.

"This isn't the first time Ford has reimagined the future and taken our own path," said Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford.

"We have an extraordinary opportunity to lead this thrilling new era of connected and electric vehicles, give our customers the very best of Ford, and help make a real difference for the health of the planet," he added.

Ford reiterated its commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and to use 100 per cent local, renewable electricity in all of its manufacturing operations by 2035.

Last May, Ford President and CEO Jim Farley introduced the Ford+ plan, calling it the company's biggest opportunity for growth and value creation since Henry Ford scaled production of the Model T.

The formation of two distinct, but strategically interdependent, auto businesses -- Ford Blue and Ford Model e -- together with the new Ford Pro business, will help unleash the full potential of the Ford+ plan.

"We are going all in, creating separate but complementary businesses that give us startup speed and unbridled innovation in Ford Model e together with Ford Blue's industrial know-how, volume and iconic brands like Bronco, that startups can only dream about," said CEO Jim Farley.
Kiev, March 3 : At least four explosions were reported in Kiev on Thursday as Russia continued its assault on Ukraine for the eighth day.

Air raid sirens were heard in the capital city following the explosions -- two reportedly went off in the city centre, and the two others near a metro station, the BBC reported.

Footage of the blasts that took place at around 3 a.m. shared on social media showed a huge fireball lighting up the night sky in the capital.

The targets of the explosions however remained unknown, while there were no confirmation on any casualties or injuries.

Besides Kiev, intense shelling was also reported in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine.

Deputy Mayor Volodymyr Matsokin said that the city centre sustained significant damage and that police were injured when a government building was hit, the BBC reported.

Earlier, Matsokin wrote on his Facebook page that residents died when a shell hit their apartment building.

Also on Thursday morning, Mayor Igor Kolykhaev of Kherson, a key port city in southern Ukraine, claimed that Russian troops have seized control, making it the first major city to be taken by Moscow since it began its invasion on February 24.

He further said that there were no Ukrainian forces in the city, which is located on the banks of the Dnieper River and has a population of over 280,000 people.

In a defiance against Moscow's invasion, protests continued in the streets of St. Petersburg, the hometown of Russian President Vladimir Putin, leading to the arrest of hundreds of participants.

According to the BBC, the police have resorted to tear gas to disperse the protesters.

Alexey Navalny, Russian opposition figure and Putin critic, has called for daily protests against Moscow's assault, saying Russia should not be a "nation of frightened cowards".

Since the assault began, Ukraine has claimed that more than 2,000 civilians have died, while the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said that the conflict has also led to some 1 million people to flee the country.

The UNHCR has predicted the conflict will leave some 12 million people internally displaced and in need of relief.

Meanwhile, Russia has for the first time admitted that 498 of its troops were killed, with 1,597 injured.

Addressing the media on Wednesday, US Defense Department Spokesman John Kirby said that hundreds of Russian armoured vehicles heading for Kyiv currently "remain stalled" en route, the BBC reported.

"They haven't from our best estimates made any appreciable progress in the last 24 to 36 hours." He said that the delay may be due to the forces "regrouping themselves and reassessing the progress that they have not made and how to make up the lost time".

He added that "logistics and sustainment challenges" and "resistance from the Ukrainians" were also factors.

Unverified reports indicate that the soldiers are running out of fuel and food.

Officials in regions that have fallen to Russia have claimed that troops are ransacking supermarkets for provisions and that the meals provided to them by the military are expired.
Los Angeles, March 3 : Streaming giant Netflix's co-founder, chairman and co-CEO Reed Hastings has announced a $1 million donation to an organisation providing emergency relief to Ukraine.

"$1m donation on the way for emergency relief to Razom," wrote the Netflix executive, "thanks to @evgeny_director. Every dollar helps".

"@evgeny_directora is Russian-born Evgeny Afineevsky, who directed the Oscar-nominated documentary Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedomfor Netflix in 2015." The film documents the unrest in Ukraine in 2013 and 2014 as student demonstrations supporting European integration grew into a violent revolution calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich, an movement that is not unrelated to the Russian invasion and the stiff resistance it now faces.

"These people will not be slaves. They will not go back into the former Soviet Union," Afineevsky told Deadline last week, reports deadline.com.

"They have a taste of freedom. They became a part of the European society, and they wanted to go a completely different direction (than Moscow)." "That's the direction that they are fighting toward since Maidana... Believing in their freedom, believing in the freedom for the future of their own kids, it just proves that these people will not put their weapons down. They will be fighting until the last drop of blood." The Ukrainian Revolution prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to seize Crimea in 2014 and then to foment revolt in Ukraine's eastern provinces next to the Russian border. Putin declared those provinces part of Russia shortly before he ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine last week.

The organisation to which the donation is going, Razom for Ukraine, describes itself as "a non-profit supporting Ukrainian people in their pursuit of democracy with dignity, justice, and human rights".

Last week, it posted the following tweet about its work in the country: "Razom, together with about 20 orgs, has created a trusted corridor from the US to Ukraine for the delivery of life-saving supplies. The channel connects two warehouses in Poland and Ukraine, from which supplies can then be delivered further".

Today, the organisation retweeted Hastings' announcement with a photo of Afineevsky and a caption that reads, "This is Razom with @evgeny_director what fees like ages ago. But this picture also represents a great friendship that has sustained throughout the years, and until now, when we're so glad to have Evgeny on our side. Thank you." Last month, Hastings and wife Patty Quillin, who is a producer, donated $10 million to scholarship programs at Tougaloo College and Brown University. In 2020, the couple made a combined $120 million donation to the United Negro College Fund, Morehouse College and Spelman College.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New York, March 3 : Hours after India had abstained on a UN General Assembly vote on Ukraine, an influential Republican Senator has cautioned that it would be "foolish" to harm bilateral ties because of it.

During a Senate panel hearing on relations with India on Wednesday where India's abstention, the fourth on a UN vote relating to Ukraine, was highlighted, Indiana Senator Todd Young said: "It would be foolish and deeply short-sighted for the United States to harm our relationship with India over what is occurring in Ukraine".

He and other senators at the hearing stressed India's importance to the US because of its strategic position and the size of its population and economy.

Donald Lu, the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, who was testifying at the hearing on US relations with India, said that India's position on Ukraine has been "evolving" and that there has been a backlash in India against Russia after an Indian student was killed in Russian shelling.

He mentioned India airlifting humanitarian supplies to Ukraine and its call at the UN "for all states to abide by the UN Charter to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states", which he said was a very clear reference to Russia's violations.

Lu said that Washington has tried to leverage New Delhi's relationship with Moscow "to try to call for a Russian withdraw and ceasefire" and Prime Minister Modi has "called both President Vladimir Putin and President (Volodymyr) Zelensky to call for an end to the fighting".

He said that the US had been "relentlessly conducting very serious, high-level dialogue" with India on Ukraine.

President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials have been in touch with their Indian counterparts, and in the past 24 hours he had himself had contacted Indian officials, including Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

Asked by Democrat Chris Van Halen about what was External Affairs Minister S. Jaishanker's reason for abstention when Blinken spoke to him, Lu said that he wanted to leave open possibilities of a diplomatic solution and that he was concerned about the fate of 20,000 Indians in Ukraine and was working with both Ukraine and Russia to protect them.

Several of the senators on the panel expressed concern over India's abstention on UN votes on Ukraine.

"At a time when democracies are closing ranks to condemn Russia's invasion (it) is troubling to say the least to see India, the world's largest democracy, sitting on the sidelines," said Democrat Chris Murphy, who heads the panel that held the hearing, the Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism.

Democrat Senator Jeanne Shaheen said: "India should be on notice that this is a time when to stand up for its values." But Republican Senator Ted Cruz blamed the Biden administration for India's abstention.

"Past year under the Biden administration, relations with India have worsened significantly, as was manifested, among other things in their latest abstention in the United Nations on the issue of Russia and Ukraine." He said that it was due to the Biden administration changing the priority of the Quad that is made up of India, the US, Japan and Australia from countering China to issues like climate change and development.

Lu took issue with that characterisation and said that at the Quad foreign ministers' meeting in Melbourne, countering China was on the agenda along with Covid and other issues.

But he said that "one of the key ways that we will help our Indian partners to become more aligned with the world's position towards condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine is by making sure we continue to talk about the Russia-China axis. This is critical in terms of India's interests".

On questions whether India would be sanctioned under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), Lu said that it was still under consideration and that he did not want to "prejudge the decisions of the President or the Secretary on the waiver issue or on the sanction issue, or whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine will bear on that decision".

India's purchase of the Russian Triumf S-400 missile defence system makes India vulnerable to sanctions under CAATSA.

Lu, however, said that it would be difficult for India to continue to buy Russian equipment because of the financial sanction imposed by the US and its allies on that country restricting its ability to receive payments.

India has already cancelled its orders for Russian MiG 29 jets, helicopters and anti-tank weapons, he said.

"Since 2011, India has reduced its arms imports from Russia by 53 per cent and increased its defence purchases from the United States and other partners, as well as increasing its own domestic production capability.

"Over the last 22 years, US defence sales to India have grown to over $20 billion, and India is considering purchasing six additional P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft for $2.1 billion," Lu added.

Family planning and abortion rights are a major item on the Democratic Party agenda and Shaheen appeared to be belabouring under stereotypes of India when she asked Lu about "access to family planning" in India asserting that "it's struggled to make modern contraception available countrywide to families".

Lu did not have a ready answer for her and said he would get back to her.

Unlike in the US where abortions are still a matter of political polarisation and states are imposing restrictions on it, it is legal throughout India and is not a major political issue, while the total fertility rate -- the average number of children born to a woman -- has fallen to two, which is below the replacement rate of 2.2, portending a population implosion.

"We need to be a little careful about being too preachy these days," the panel's chair, Democrat Chris Murphy noted earlier while asking about improving the health of India's "big, thriving but still young democracy".

"We've got a lot of work to do here at home to strengthen American democracy." (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, March 3 : The US State Department may try to find a way to boot Russia from its permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC), shaking up the international bodys balance of power amid outrage over the war in Ukraine, RT reported.

Washington is "investigating the prospects" of expelling Russia as one of the five permanent Security Council members, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told American lawmakers on Wednesday.

No decision has been made on whether to try to achieve such an outcome, which would likely require changes to the UN's charter.

Sherman's comments came after the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia for last week's invasion of Ukraine and demand that Moscow withdraw its forces from the country immediately.

The rebuke was issued through a non-binding resolution after a failed vote last Friday by the Security Council, where Russia used its veto power as a permanent member to block the resolution, the report said.

Talk of stripping Russia of its status at the UN has escalated since the Ukraine invasion began.

Some US lawmakers have called for removing Russia from the Security Council, RT reported.

Ukraine's government has repeatedly urged the UN to reconsider Russia's status on the Security Council.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Thiruvananthapuram, March 3 : 'Locky', the cat, has had a bumpy ride from Ukraine along with its owner Anju Das, a student who owns the pet. But after reaching Delhi, the local flight refused to fly the cat under the pretext that pets are not allowed.

Das, a student, said she just could not think of leaving her best mate in Ukraine, and she decided to bring it along with her. Now she is determined that if she could bring it all the way from war-torn Ukraine, then she can take it to her home in Kerala's Chengannur.

The two had to take a long walk to reach the Romanian border where Anju Das met with the Indian Embassy staff, who were kind enough to allow Locky to board the special Indian Air Force flight. The flight reached Delhi on Wednesday night and then her problems began.

"I got the boarding pass and the airline, after initially agreeing, later said I cannot take Locky. They did not even give me a hearing and the only thing they said is that pets are not allowed. So I decided to opt out of the flight. If I could bring my cat with a lot of hardships from Ukraine, I can take her to my home also," said Das.

She said there are two flights on Friday from here to Kerala and will make the effort again. Anju Das says she is determined to take her pet, which stood with her in the worst of times, to her home in Kerala.
Los Angeles, March 3 : The former 'Dancing With the Stars' professional Maksim Chmerkovskiy was in Kyiv filming 'World of Dance' when Russian president Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine but he managed to board a train and arrived in Poland on Tuesday following a gruelling 23-hour journey.

The 42-year-old star said he is "confused" and "terrified" as he called for people to rally together against Putin, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

In a lengthy video shared to Instagram, he said: "I'm scared, I'm confused, I'm terrified and I just lived through some s*** that I'm going to need a lot of therapy for.

"But I know this - it's us little guys against the big guy. I don't care how big (Russian President Vladimir Putin) is. I don't care how mean he is. When we're together, I can see what can happen." "We can have a little guy finally win and it will be a joint effort and after that, we can figure out how to make sure that there's never again one f****** person, one man, who can do whatever he's doing."Currently, a mobilisation order reportedly stops men aged 18-60 from leaving Ukraine so it is unclear how Maksim was allowed to do so.

The dancer admitted the experience of getting to Poland was "like out of a movie".

He said: "When the train car got packed and packed and it kept getting more and more packed, I was like, hold on. I'm thinking to myself there's no air. There's no way that we can travel (this way)." Chmerkovskiy, who stood at the back of the train so others more in need could have a seat, admitted he feels "guilty" for having escaped the war-stricken region.

He said: "I thought about it, my guilt. I started to think about this and I came up with this analogy.

"In '94, I was put up for adoption and I got adopted by a beautiful, young, vibrant, exciting, forward-thinking country and I fell in love and I left Ukraine in '94 (as) a sad, sad person because I felt like I was getting unrooted. ... I was in this new country.

"But I turned around and said, 'You know what? This is what I'm going to do.' The 14-year-old Maks, with his family and all the love and support that he had, did stuff and here we are." Chmerkovskiy, who has five-year-old son Shai with wife Pete Murgatroyd, had "reconnected" with his native country after years of living in the US and had a "very f****** hard time" leaving this week.

He said: "I'm having a horrible time. I'm having very mixed emotions. I have my friends there, my friends in [the] frontline. ... I can't hear from some of the people. I can't get in touch with them. I don't know if they're dead."
Page Content

This press release was published on behalf of the Florida Department of Equal Opportunity.





Tallahassee, FL - Secretary Dane Eagle of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) announced that the Department has launched the states next phase of the Homeowner Assistance Fund program, a registration portal for homeowners to begin the first step in determining their eligibility to receive assistance, which went live on February 28, 2022, and can be found at - Secretary Dane Eagle of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) announced that the Department has launched the states next phase of the Homeowner Assistance Fund program, a registration portal for homeowners to begin the first step in determining their eligibility to receive assistance, which went live on February 28, 2022, and can be found at www.FLHomeownerAssistance.org . Florida launched its Homeowner Assistance Fund Pilot Program on November 8, 2021, and is one of only twelve states that proactively launched a pilot program while waiting for the U.S. Treasurys approval of their needs assessments and plan. To date, DEO has provided more than $1 million in assistance to 137 Florida homeowners through the pilot program to mitigate financial hardships following the pandemic.





The state of Florida is proud to announce the launch of the next phase of the Homeowner Assistance Fund program. This is another important step forward to continue helping Florida homeowners who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic through no fault of their own, said Secretary Dane Eagle. These funds will help the states homeowners become current on their mortgages and other homeowner expenses and will help prepare Florida families for future financial stability.





This next phase of the state of Floridas Homeowner Assistance Fund program comes on the heels of the United States Department of the Treasurys (U.S. Treasury) approval of the states Homeowner Assistance Fund Needs Assessment and Plan on February 9, 2022. DEO submitted its Homeowner Assistance Fund Needs Assessment and Plan to the U.S. Treasury, the federal administrator of the program, on August 20, 2021. DEO will administer its pilot program concurrently with the statewide Homeowner Assistance Fund program to ensure the Department is able to assist as many homeowners as possible.





Through the pilot program, DEO works with service providers in banking, property insurance, and utilities industries to identify customers who may be eligible to receive assistance. DEO, in turn, works directly with those homeowners to determine their eligibility for the program and provide assistance.





Duke Energys collaboration with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has been instrumental in connecting our customers to financial assistance through the Homeowner Assistance Fund pilot program, said Melissa Seixas, president of Duke Energy Florida. Our customers remain our top priority. Many continue to face economic adversity. We want to be thoughtful and the pilot program provides customers with resources and payment options to avoid power interruptions.





With the pandemic continuing to affect so many, we understand some folks are experiencing financial hardship, said Karen Sparkman, vice president of Customer Experience at Tampa Electric and TECO Peoples Gas. We are proud to be a strong community partner in this pilot program that connects homeowners with critical utility assistance and other funding to support their needs.





We are looking forward to the opportunity to work with DEO to connect customers with critical relief in their time of need, said Steve Whitworth of Florida Power & Light.





Florida homeowners who are eligible for the program include those who have experienced a financial hardship after, or that continued after, January 21, 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, meet the income qualifications, and are homeowners requesting assistance for their primary residences. This registration process will help to ensure that eligible Florida homeowners receive assistance as quickly and efficiently as possible. Florida homeowners who believe they may be eligible are encouraged to register. Many Florida homeowners have already experienced the positive impact that this fund can offer other eligible participants in the program.





I fell and broke my hip and was unable to pay for my homeowners insurance. If I could not make that payment, I would have been in default with my mortgage, said Linda T., a homeowner assisted by the Homeowner Assistance Fund pilot program through Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. Thankfully the HAF program helped me with my payment, so I did not lose my house. It came in at the right time for me, thats for sure!

It helped me a lot because I had gotten an extension on my electricity bill, but it had come due and I did not know how I was going to pay it, said Leah B., a homeowner assisted by the Homeowner Assistance Fund pilot program through Duke Energy. Then the HAF funds came in just in time. The process was painless and very easy.





Once a homeowners registration has been reviewed and the homeowner is determined as potentially eligible, an email with detailed information will be sent for the homeowner to complete the next step of the application process. The Homeowner Assistance Fund was created to mitigate financial hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic by preventing homeowners mortgage delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, and displacement, as well as loss of utilities, home energy services, and insurance.





Learn more and register to participate by visiting www.FLHomeownerAssistance.org




New Delhi, March 3 : Parcels containing a "suspicious" white powder were sent to the Russian Embassy in the Australian capital of Canberra, according to police and diplomatic staffers, prompting a hazmat team to respond to the scene.

Two mysterious packages containing an "unknown white powder" were discovered outside the embassy early on Thursday morning, RT News quoted the diplomatic mission as saying, noting that local authorities are now inspecting the envelopes.

The Australian Capital Territory Police (ACT) later confirmed that the "contents of the package are currently being assessed" in a statement cited by local media, adding that a "cordon" is now in place around the embassy "and the public is urged to avoid the area until further notice".

A number of emergency vehicles were later seen at the embassy, including a hazardous materials response unit, whose members were shown clad in special protective gear in images circulating in Australian media.
Varanasi, March 3 : Within 48 hours of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's asking the party workers to take his 'pranam' (regards) to every family of his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, BJP social media volunteers have reached around seven lakh voters through 35,000 whatsapp groups.

On various social media platforms, video clips of Prime Minister Modi's greeting to voters have registered around 17 lakh impressions till now.

While interacting with the party workers during 'Booth Vijay Sammelan' in Varanasi, Prime Minister Modi appealed to booth level workers to take his 'pranam' to 'ghar-ghar' (door to door) in Kashi.

Within hours of the Prime Minister's appeal, the BJP social media volunteers swung into action and made his remark viral on the social media platforms.

Co-convenor of UP BJP's social media department Shashi Kumar told IANS Prime Minister's greeting has reached to around seven lakh people in Varanasi within 48 hours.

"During his address in Varanasi, Prime Minister Modi had asked the BJP workers to meet the people of Kashi and go door to door to convey his regard. To reach out to the people with the Prime Minister's message, we have started a social media campaign. We have shared the clip with 36,000 whatsApp groups and through these groups we have reached seven lakh people in 48 hours," Kumar said, expressing confidence that the message will reach each voter and family before the polling.

Polling in Varanasi will be held in the seventh phase on March 7.

On various social media platforms, Prime Minister Modi's pranam to voters has registered around 17 lakh impressions till now. "The clip of the Prime Minister shared on various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has registered over 16.5 lakh impressions and is counting,"Kumar said.

Whole campaign is supervised by UP BJP's social media department convenor Ankit Singh Chandel, Kumar, head of party IT department of Kashi region Vijay Gupta, head of social media in the region Kunwar Pushpendra Kumar and other key office-bearers.

While sharing the Prime Minister's greeting to people in Varanasi, a team of around 100 volunteers are also overseeing BJP's social media and online campaigns from Gulab Bagh locality.

"Our volunteers are managing the party's online and social media activities. They are circulating content for social media, monitoring social media and coordinating with booth-level workers and providing them relevant information and at the same time taking feedback on whether they have received, say, the voter list, campaign material. etc.," Kumar said.
Moscow/Kiev, March 3 : A new round of talks between Russia and Ukraine is expected to take place on Thursday in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on the Belarus-Poland border, as Moscow's military assault continued on Kiev for the eighth day.

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said the delegation headed by him arrived at the negotiating site Wednesday evening, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Ukrainian side is expected to arrive on Thursday, Medinsky said, adding that Moscow and Kiev agreed upon the location for the new round of talks.

Russia's military has established a safe corridor to allow the Ukrainian delegation to move through Ukrainian territory, he said.

The possibility of a ceasefire, among other things, would be discussed during the talks, according to the official.

However, David Arakhamia, parliamentary faction leader of the Party of Servant of the People in Ukraine, said on Facebook that "information that the talks will be held in Belovezhskaya Pushcha is not true. Indeed, the talks will take place, but in another venue. All details will be provided later", the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

The first round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine concluded on Monday with no clear breakthrough.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Facebook that Kiev was ready to negotiate, but would not comply with "Russian ultimatums".

Kuleba and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed new sanctions against Russia and a new supply of defensive weapons for Ukraine in a phone conversation on Wednesday.

Kuleba emphasized that Ukraine is committed to finding diplomatic ways for settling the conflict with Russia, but Kiev's allies must show unity in increasing pressure on Russia "until Moscow demonstrates its readiness for constructive negotiations".

On the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin held several telephone conversations on the situation in Ukraine with foreign leaders, including Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The Russian Defence Ministry announced on Wednesday that 498 servicemen have been killed in the course of the "special military operation" in Ukraine, while around 3,700 Ukrainian servicemen have been injured and 2,870 others died.

Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said 1,502 Ukrainian military facilities have been destroyed in the Russian operation.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, March 3 : The Supreme Court on Thursday told a counsel that the court feels bad for people who are suffering and the Indian students, who are stuck in Ukraine amid the ongoing war, but it cannot direct the Russian President to stop the war.

A plea was mentioned before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana claiming that the Indian government is only focussing on evacuating students from a certain part of Ukraine.

The counsel submitted that students are stranded in other parts of the war-torn country. The bench, also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli, said "What can the court do?... Can we issue a direction to the President of Russia to stop the war?" The counsel further added that these students should also be evacuated and the government should also provide care for them.

The bench asked the counsel, "Ask, which government to take care?" The bench said it has all sympathies with the students in Ukraine, and the Indian government is doing its work. The bench added that it will seek the Attorney General's view in the matter.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday: "Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine... We have requested support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country.

"We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region, including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova. A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Jaipur, March 3 : As many as 207 of the about 1,008 migrant citizens and students from Rajasthan living in Ukraine, have returned to the state safely, State industry and Commerce Minister Shakuntala Rawat said here.

She said that the state is making all-out efforts to bring back the remaining students and migrants.

A serious situation has arisen after Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24 threatening the lives of the people, she said in the state Assembly. It is very important to bring them back from the war-torn nation. About 1,008 citizens and students of Rajasthan were stranded in Kharkiv, Kyiv and other places in Ukraine, of which 207 have been evacuated, the minister stated.

On Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's direction, Commissioner of Rajasthan Foundation Dheeraj Shrivastava has been appointed as the nodal officer for the safe return of the stranded people.

He has been given the task of coordinating with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Embassy of India in Ukraine for the safe return of the people, Rawat said. Besides, the state government is also bearing the travel expense of all the students returning, while arrangements for their boarding, lodging and dropping them homes are also being made free of cost.

The Chief Minister had sent a request letter to the Prime Minister and the External Affairs Minister on February 28 for the safe evacuation of the stranded migrants and students from the state. The State Chief Secretary and Principal Residential Commissioner are also in constant touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Cabinet Secretary.

Help desks have been set up at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, Mumbai Airport and Jaipur International Airport for the convenience of Rajasthani citizens and students returning from Ukraine, she stated.

From February 23 to March 2, a total of 207 citizens, students of Rajasthan were received at the airport and accommodated in Jaipur, New Delhi and Mumbai. Vehicles were arranged to send them to their respective districts.

Rawat informed that an email has been sent from the Commissioner, Rajasthan Foundation to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Embassy of India in Ukraine on February 24, requesting them to ensure all possible measures for the safety and return of the stranded Indians.

Apart from this, on March 1, the Chief Minister spoke to the people of the state who came to Poland from Ukraine and inquired about the situation. He said that the state government is making efforts at every level for the safe return of its people.

IANS arc/shb/
The evacuees were received by Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve-Patil with flowers and words of solace as they trooped out lugging their belongings.(photo:Twitter/Raosaheb Danve-Patil) Image Source: IANS News

The evacuees were received by Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve-Patil with flowers and words of solace as they trooped out lugging their belongings.(photo:Twitter/Raosaheb Danve-Patil) Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, March 3 : An Air India Express flight from Bucharest, carrying 183 Indians from the war-torn Ukraine, landed here on Thursday, officials said.

The flight IX-1202 with 183 passengers, including an infant, arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at around 5.40 a.m.

The evacuees were received by Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve-Patil with flowers and words of solace as they trooped out lugging their belongings.

Outside the airport, the returnees were given a warm welcome by their families, relatives and friends anxiously awaiting their arrival since midnight.

This was the third flight of evacuees in the past six days to Mumbai and a few more are expected to be operated this week as part of the Operation Ganga launched by India.

While one flight from Bucharest is likely to reach here at 1.50 a.m. on Friday, another is scheduled from Budapest the same day at 8 a.m., said officials.

Till date, Danve-Patil said around 4,000-5,000 Indians, mostly students have safely returned home and the operations will continue till all those stuck there are brought back.
Rawalpindi, March 3 : Rain washed out Australia's final practice session on the eve of Frida's first Test in Pakistan for 24 years with the team still mulling whether to go into the match with two spinners or with three quicks.

Skipper Pat Cummins told the media on Thursday that they will name the playing XI on Friday morning after having another look at the pitch for the match. The curator has prepared two pitches and the Australians were left guessing on Thursday which of them will be used and how it will behave after being under covers for most of Wednesday and Thursday.

The question that the Aussie think tank on tour is facing is whether they should go into the match with a second spinner or take Nathan Lyon as the sole spinner and three quicks. The selectors are expected to meet on Thursday afternoon and decide the playing XI but the announcement will be only at the toss.

That dilemma resulted in the team failing to announce their playing XI a day before the start of the match like they had done during the recent Ashes series at home.

"Don't have an XI yet," Cummins told reporters on Thursday morning. "We're pretty sure but we just want to have another look at the wicket, which we probably won't get the chance today," Cummins was quoted as saying by the Australian media.

"Later this evening, we'll work out the exact XI, or tomorrow morning," he added.

Cummins refused to say who has a good chance of joining Lyon in the playing XI should Australia decide to go in with a second spinner, and said both Mitch Swepson and Ashton Agar were "ready to go" if called up.

In case they decide to go in with three quicks, Cummins can turn to Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to provide leg-spin options. "But two spinners, three quicks, we have a fair idea of what we want to do but don't want to make the call too early without fully knowing what the wicket is." If the visitors decide to go in with three quicks, it would be a toss-up between Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland and Cameron Green with two of them joining the skipper.
Thiruvananthapuram, March 3 : At the CPI-M's 23rd state party conference underway in Kochi, Higher Education Minister R. Bindhu is reported to have expressed her displeasure at the attitude of the male leaders towards the women members.

Sources mentioned that Bindhu minced no words and said the attitude of male leaders towards the women members in the party is bad.

She went on to add that things go from bad to worse, if a complaint is raised.

Bindhu, now a retired college teacher, is a first time legislator and was a surprise choice in the second cabinet of the Pinarayi Vijayan government.

Earlier, she had served as Mayor of the Trissur Corporation.

Bindhu is wife of former Rajya Sabha member A. Vijayaraghavan, who is the convener of the ruling CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front.

The four-day conference will end on Friday and is being held after a break of four years.
Seoul, March 3 : South Korea's mission in Ukraine is preparing to resume operations in Chernivtsi, near Romania, after moving out of the capital city of Kiev in the wake of Russia's military assault, an official from the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said on Thursday.

Ambassador Kim Hyung-tae and other embassy staff arrived in Chernivtsi on Wednesday night, along with six South Korean nationals who expressed intent to move out of the Ukrainian capital, Yonhap News Agency quoted the official as saying.

The Ministry earlier announced the mission will be relocated as it became "difficult to continue embassy operations and guarantee the staff's safety due to heightening military threats in the city of Kiev".

Chernivtsi is where the Seoul ministry has been running a temporary office to support South Korean residents in the European country, along with another office in Lviv, near the Polish border.

As of Thursday morning, 40 Korean nationals remained in Ukraine, with 26 of them wishing to staying there.
March 03 : Akshay Kumar on Wednesday announced the new release date for his upcoming film Prithviraj. The film is a biopic of warrior king Prithviraj Chauhan. The story revolves around the First Battle of Tarain, in which he fought Muhammad of Ghor.

Taking to his Instagram handle, Akshay announced that Prithviraj will arrive in theatres on June 3 this year. Sharing a new poster, Akshay wrote, Elated to announce that Samrat #Prithviraj Chauhans grand saga is arriving sooner on the big screen on 3rd June in Hindi, Tamil & Telugu. Earlier, the film was slated to hit the threatres on January 21. Later it was scheduled to June 10, 2022.

Written and directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, Prithviraj also stars Sanjay Dutt and Sonu Sood in pivotal roles. The film marks Manushi Chhillars debut, where she plays the role of Sanyogita. The film also stars Ashutosh Rana, Sakshi Tanwar, Manav Vij and Lalit Tiwari in important roles.

The film faced a number of blockades. Recently, the Delhi High Court gave some relief to the film and refused to entertain a petition that sought to modify the name of the name. The film is produced by Yash Raj Films.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna on Monday said it was inclined to dismiss the public interest litigation (PIL) with costs. Hence, the petitioners counsel sought permission to withdraw the plea unconditionally. The petitioner said in the plea that Samrat Prithviraj was a great emperor and calling the title of the film just Prithviraj hurts the sentiments of public at large. It suggested that the great emperors name should be taken with respectful. The plea also suggested that the films name should be changed to Great Emperor Prithviraj Chauhan. It also claimed that using the great kings name without respectful prefixes is contrary to the Cinematograph Act. The High Court, however, refused to entertain the plea.

The film faced other road blocks as well. The Gurjars in Rajasthan had threatened in December last year to stop the release of the film over the term Rajput used for Prithviraj Chauhan.
Los Angeles, March 3 : It was only a few months ago that actress Ivanna Sakhno had every reason to celebrate, when it was announced the 'Pacific Rim: Uprising' actor would be joining highly anticipated Star Wars limited series 'Ahsoka' opposite Rosario Dawson.

But last week Sakhno's world came crashing down when, during an evening out with friends in New York's East Village, she found out Russia had invaded her native Ukraine. Sakhno immediately called her mother, Ukrainian director Galina Kuvivchak-Sakhno, and her father Anatolii Sakhno, a cinematographer who remains in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital city.

Sakhno spoke to Variety about the devastating situation unfolding in her homeland, reports variety.com.

Asked how her family is and Where are they in Ukraine, she replied: "My father has been relocating children and their mothers from Kyiv to safer parts of Ukraine where they have created a base for orphans and families of soldiers. His mother is in Crimea, a part of Ukraine that has been occupied since March 2014 - I have not been able to see her ever since. My other grandmother is hiding in a bunker that was used in World War II and up until now functioned as a city gym. The rest of my extended family is in Kyiv." How often are you in contact with them?

"I try to stay in contact with them as much as I can, although at times it has been difficult due to lack of service. I am mostly able to check how they are doing through the 24-hour news channel in Ukraine. They're updating on where the most heated conflicts are occurring, which at least gives me a sense of how safe they are whenever we can't be in touch." Talking about how did you first find out Russia had invaded Ukraine last Thursday, she said: "I was in the East Village in New York at a movie night with my close friends. My best friend, Giullian, had just read the news and quietly advised that I should call my family. I don't really remember much of what happened afterwards, I remember opening the map of Ukraine and seeing where the attacks began happening." "I remember my world going silent, like a distant echo. I couldn't get in touch with my father nor my grandmothers, only with my mother (who is in the US) who simply reminded me that now is not the time to cry, but to keep a clear head and take action.

How are you feeling? "To be honest, I wouldn't be able to answer this question right now. My head is in Ukraine and my body is at the protests (against Russia taking place in New York). There are too many Ukrainian children in bunkers being shelled for me to be concerned about my feelings at the moment. But looking into the eyes of those thousands on the streets, Ukrainians and otherwise, coming together in solidarity; all the while witnessing the bravery of those in Ukraine, instills in me a deep pride in my people. In the face of such needless hatred and destruction, they are a beacon of the unshakeable Ukrainian courage." Does she think the US and the rest of Europe are doing enough to help Ukraine, she said: The turnout of the people on the streets and the response of citizens around the world has been the reaction one would hope for when an independent nation gets invaded.

"The important thing right now is the response of the world leaders: to send more military support, establish no fly zones over part or all of Ukrainian territory, isolate Kremlin oligarchs and their families (revoke their visas, keep their accounts frozen), boycott Russian businesses in America/Europe (see Governor Abbott's action in Texas), ask American companies with significant activity in Russia to withdraw their employees and provide humanitarian support. This is the help we need as we defend our country night and day, because if [Russian president Vladimir] Putin is not stopped, our land may not be the last he puts his foot on." Have you ever met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy? What do you think of his leadership and resistance against Russia?

I met President Zelenskyy for the first time when I was 8 years old at his comedy show "??????? 95." I was just a small kid that loved watching him as he is one of the best comedians in Ukraine and came up to him after the show to take a picture. 16 years later, just prior to the current situation, we were planning to meet to speak on the future development of our country's film industry.

I'm extremely proud of how he's been leading us through the toughest imaginable time. He's doing everything within his power and displaying unparalleled courage, from his speech at the Munich conference to making the choice to stay in Kyiv with the people despite being the No. 1 target.

This is, of course, not the most pressing concern at the moment - but in terms of looking toward the future, what impact do you think this war will have on Ukraine's film and television industry? War has been a clear theme in Ukrainian cinema in recent years, due to the Russian Federation's desperate attempts to tear and reshape Ukrainian history - and I think at this global turning point, the cinema of Ukraine will be of great educational importance for both Eastern Europe and the rest of the world.

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Tokyo, March 3 : Former Nissan Motor Co. executive Greg Kelly and the automaker itself were found guilty on Thursday on charges connected to the underreporting of ousted CEO Carlos Ghosn's pay.

The former Nissan representative director was sentenced by the Tokyo District Court to six months in prison, suspended for three years, reports Xinhua news agency.

The court ordered Nissan, Japan's third-largest automaker, to pay 200 million yen ($1 million) in fines, in line with prosecutors' demands.

Kelly, a US citizen and former close aide of Ghosn, however, had a number of other charges by prosecutors facing him dropped.

He was accused of colluding with Ghosn in understating Ghosn's remuneration by around 9 billion yen over eight years through March 2018.

Nissan was also found guilty of violating Japan's financial instruments and exchange law.

Prosecutors, since the trial kicked-off in September 2020, have argued that Kelly's role was a decisive one in plotting the scam to enable Ghosn to be compensated with deferred payments, These deferred payments were in addition to his regular pay and were aimed at making Ghosn's earnings look lower than was in fact the case.

Kelly, maintaining that there was no agreement between Ghosn and himself for the alleged deferred payments, said he wanted to retain Ghosn so the once-feted auto bigwig could continue providing services for Nissan.

These deferred payments were in addition to his regular pay and were aimed at making Ghosn's earnings look lower than was in fact the case.

In June 2021, two US citizens charged with helping Ghosn flee Japan in 2019 while on bail awaiting his trial pleaded guilty in court.

Michael Taylor, a former Green Beret, and his son Peter, had already admitted to helping Ghosn flee Japan so the former auto tycoon could avoid trial for charges of financial misconduct.

The Taylors were charged with providing Ghosn illegal passage to Lebanon, one of three countries he is a national of, by smuggling him out of his residence in Tokyo and to Kansai International Airport via two hotels in late December 2019.

The father and son team, in full knowledge that Ghosn was prohibited from leaving the country as part of his bail terms, hid Ghosn in a large box, which cleared Kansai airport security, and the illicit cargo was flown to Turkey on a private jet.

At the request of Japanese prosecutors, the Taylors were arrested in Massachusetts in 2020 by US authorities.

They had fought extradition to Japan in US courts but ultimately lost their battle when their appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court.

Michael Taylor ended up receiving a two-year sentence, and Peter Taylor received a sentence of one year and eight months at the conclusion of their trial.

Japan has since been trying to detain Ghosn with the help of Interpol as Lebanon does not have an extradition treaty with Japan.

This means that Ghosn cannot be legally handed over to Japan without Lebanon first agreeing to it.
New Delhi, March 3 : The Swedish Armed Forces said that four Russian fighter aircraft have violated the country's airspace.

In a statement, the Forces said that it conducted an operation with JAS 39 Gripen aircraft of the rapid readiness unit, which documented and photographed the incident.

"This demonstrates that our readiness is good. We were on site to secure the territorial integrity and Sweden's borders. We have complete control of the situation", said Air Force Commander Carl-Johan Edstrom.

The Swedish airspace was violated by two Russian SU 27 and two Russian SU 24. The incident was brief and took place east of Gotland, out at sea.

"With the current situation as backdrop, we take this incident very seriously. Russia's conduct is unprofessional and irresponsible", says Air Force Commander Edstrom.
Amaravati, March 3 : In a setback to Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government's plans to develop three state capitals, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday directed it to complete implementation of Amaravati capital city master plan in six months.

The court also asked the government to hand over developed plots with all basic amenities to farmers within three months. The government was also asked not to alienate lands in Amaravati for any work other than development of state capital.

It also made it clear that the Assembly has no powers to make laws on state capitals.

A bench of three judges headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra pronounced the judgment on 75 petitions filed by Amaravati farmers and others challenging the government's move for trifurcation of state capital.

The court directed the government to keep it informed about the development works taken up as per capital city master plan.

Counsel of one of the petitioners told media persons that the bench directed the government not to shift any office from Amaravati as the earlier interim order in this regard will remain in force.

The government was directed to pay Rs 50,000 each to the petitioners towards legal costs.

The Andhra Pradesh government on Nov 22, 2021 repealed two laws enacted last year to create three state capitals but announced that it will come out with a new comprehensive legislation.

The Assembly passed Andhra Pradesh Decentralization and Inclusive Development of all Regions Repeal Bill 2021. The Bill repealed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralization and Inclusive Development of all Regions Act 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region development Authority Repeal Act 2020 Act.

The government, however, had made it clear that it had not gone back on the decision to have administrative, legislative and judicial capitals at Visakhapatnam, Amaravati and Kurnool respectively.

The development had come as the High Court was to resume hearing on a batch of petitions challenging the two legislations made in 2020.

After coming to power in 2019, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) had reversed the decision of the previous TDP government to develop Amaravati as the only state capital. This had triggered massive protest from farmers of Amaravati, who had given 33,000 acres of land for the capital and were hoping to reap its economic benefits.

The farmers, women and others have been protesting against the trifurcation for more than 800 days.

Soon after the High Court pronounced its orders on Thursday, celebrations erupted in Amaravati. Farmers hailed the court orders as victory of truth and justice.
New Delhi, March 3 : The Ukrainian Defence Ministry on Thursday announced that Russian ships and rocket boats were approaching the country's third largest city of Odessa located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea.

"In the waters of the Black Sea, we are observing a landing detachment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, consisting of four large landing ships accompanied by three rocket boats, advancing towards Odessa," the Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry also claimed that Ukraine's Armed Forces have neutralised a Russian landing operation near the town of Balovne, the Ukrainska Pravda reported.

On Wednesday, the Forces deployed anti-aircraft missiles to destroy three Russian planes and two helicopters.

While Wednesday night passed peacefully for several regions of Ukraine, Russia on Thursday continued to attack Kharkiv, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

The Mayor of Kherson city claimed early Thursday morning that Russian forces have seized the city.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, Ukrainian troops have continued to defend Chernihiv and Nizhyn, but the situation in the Vyshhorod area just outside of Kiev is tense.

The night in the Donetsk region was difficult, but Mariupol held.

Meanwhile, Volnovakha is close to a humanitarian crisis as the Russian forces have refused to guarantee safe passage for humanitarian aid.

The Ukrainian Catholic University addressed the Pope with a request for assistance in creating a "humanitarian corridor".

In the Kharkiv region, Russia attacked the Shevchenko plant and more residential buildings, including in the Izium district, throughout the night.
Mumbai, March 3 : Bollywood filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan has joined the interactive comedy game show- 'The Khatra Khatra Show' along with hosts Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa.

Joining the 'Khatra' wagon, Farah said, "In today's stressful times we need a dose of laughter and fun and The Khatra Khatra Show is just that. I'm so happy to be joining this season (without revealing more). I was already a fan of Bharti and Haarsh's brand of humour and now that they are hosting and producing it is just an added bonus." "I am looking forward to some thrilling games, giving hilarious tasks and getting my favourite celebrities and contestants to really entertain the audiences on Voot. Kripya Humein Seriously Na Lein." 'The Khatra Khatra Show' which will premiere on Voot from March 13, followed by Colors from Monday to Friday.

Written and produced by Haarsh Limbachiyaa, the comedy-game show will feature Haarsh and Bharti as hosts and Farah Khan as the Friday Special Host, raising the fun quotient.

Talking about the show, Haarsh said, "'The Khatra Khatra Show' is a show which gives you the creative liberty that one wishes for as a writer and a host. You can create fun games just to torture contestants and increase their difficulty level. It is a lot of fun for us and the audiences but clearly not for the contestants. Is baar contestants ko phasayennge hum aur hasenge aap. (This time we will get the contestants and you will laugh)" Adding to it, Bharti said, "Have you ever seen me serious, no right! aur kabhi dekhoge bhi nahi. The format of this show demands us to give games and tasks to all the contestants. That will be so much fun, I love torturing people - Kyunki, Woh Phasenge Aur Hum Hasenge'. The audience has always supported us whenever we have started something new."
New Delhi, March 3 : The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Attorney General K.K. Venugopal to look into a petition seeking evacuation of Indian students stranded in the war-torn Ukraine.

The petitioner's counsel submitted that his client with 250 other students from National Medical University in Odessa, Ukraine, are stranded near the Ukraine-Romania border and they are facing issues crossing over to Romania.

The counsel submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana that students are stranded amid freezing temperatures, and struggling to access food and water.

The AG asked the petitioner's counsel why his client and others are struggling to cross the Ukrainian border, what is the hindrance? He added that the Indian ministers have gone to the neighbouring countries of Ukraine to coordinate the evacuation process of Indians stuck in the war-torn country.

The AG asked, "Why are they not crossing over?" The counsel replied, "They are not allowed to cross over (the Ukrainian border)".

The AG pressed that Ukraine is allowing Indians to cross over to neighbouring countries. The counsel added that flights are only operating from Poland and Hungary.

The Chief Justice asked the AG to look into the contents of the petitions and "see if something could be done".

Earlier, during the day the top court had told the counsel that the court feels bad for the people who are suffering and the Indian students, who are stuck in Ukraine amid the ongoing war, but it cannot direct the Russian President to stop the war.

A plea was mentioned before a bench headed by the Chief Justice claiming that the Indian government is only focussing on evacuating students from a certain part of Ukraine.

The counsel submitted that students are stranded in other parts of the war-torn country. The bench, also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli, said "What can the court do?... Can we issue a direction to the President of Russia to stop the war?" The counsel further added that these students should also be evacuated and the government should also provide care for them. The bench asked the counsel, "Ask, which government to take care?" The bench said it has all sympathies with the students in Ukraine, and the Indian government is doing its work. The bench added that it will seek the Attorney General's view in the matter.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday: "Our Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in Ukraine... We have requested support from the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country.

"We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region, including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova. A large number of Indian nationals have been evacuated from Ukraine in the last few days.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, March 3 : The depression over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Equatorial Indian Ocean on Thursday is likely to intensify into a deep depression during next 24 hours bringing in thundershowers and more rains over Tamil Nadi coastal areas.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD)'s 1 p.m bulletin, the depression is likely to move north-westwards along & off east coast of Sri Lanka towards north Tamil Nadu Coast during next 48 hours.

The well marked low pressure area from Wednesday over Central parts of South Bay of Bengal & adjoining Equatorial Indian Ocean has concentrated into a depression over southwest Bay of Bengal & adjoining Equatorial Indian Ocean on March 3 morning (5.30 a.m) and continued to be at the same region at 8.30 a.m at about 420 kms south-southeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), 760 kms south-southeast of Nagappattinam (Tamil Nadu), 820 kms south-southeast of Puducherry (Tamil Nadu) and about 900 kms south-southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

"It is likely to intensify further into a deep depression during next 24 hours. It is likely to move northwestwards along and off east coast of Sri Lanka towards north Tamil Nadu Coast during next 48 hours," the IMD said.

Under its influence, light to moderate rainfall/thunder shower at a few places are likely over coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal on Thursday itself; light to moderate rainfall/thunder shower at many places with isolated heavy rainfall likely over coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal, while light to moderate rainfall/thunder shower are expected at a few places over south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema on Friday.

The IMD also said, there will be light to moderate rainfall, thunder shower at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places very likely over north coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal; light to moderate rainfall/thunder shower at many places with isolated heavy falls very likely over south coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema over the weekend.

It has warned of squally winds and rough to very rough seas and already issued warnings for fisherfolk for coastal Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh.
Chennai, March 3 : A 26-year-old Constable with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) shot himself dead at the rest room at the Chennai International Airport on Thursday.

The deceased constable, Yashpal was a native of Rajasthan and police on preliminary inquiry said that it was a case of suicide and that the actual reason for his death was not known.

Police said that Yashpal fired from his Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) on his forehead and died on the spot. He was on duty at the departure terminal. He had joined the CISF service in 2017.

CISF Authorities told IANS that they did not know the reason for his death and that an internal probe will be conducted on the death of the constable.

Police said that they were searching to find out if he left behind any suicide note.
Kiev, March 3 : Russian forces with high-precision weapons have disabled a reserve radio and television centre in Kiev, spokesman of the Defence Ministry in Moscow Igor Konashenkov claimed on Thursday.

He said the centre had been used by the Security Service of Ukraine for "psychological operations", reports Xinhua news agency.

The Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 1,612 Ukrainian military infrastructure objects since the start of the military operation on February 24, said Konashenkov.

More than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the conflict, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted the State Emergency Service of Ukraine as saying on Thursday, adding that hundreds of transport infrastructure facilities, residential buildings, hospitals and kindergartens were destroyed.
Seoul, March 3 : Mobile phones, cars and other consumer goods are not subject to the United States' sweeping restrictions on exports to Russia, South Korea's trade ministry said on Thursday.

Last week, the US government announced the Foreign Direct Product Rule (FDPR) for "all of Russia" as part of its export controls to block Russia's access to global high-tech products and other major items, such as semiconductors, over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The measure calls on companies to receive a license from the US for tech-related items using US technology before they can be shipped to Russia, which is feared to affect major South Korean exporters, as they use US technology and software.

During a working-level meeting between Seoul and Washington, the U.S. Commerce Department confirmed that smartphones, cars, washers and other consumer goods are exceptions to the FDP rules as long as they are not shipped to military-related users, South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, reports Yonhap news agency.

South Korean firms could also get approval for planned shipment to their factories in Russia through the U.S.' case-by-case examinations, according to the ministry.

South Korea is seeking to receive an exemption from the FDP rules, as it was not included in the U.S.' exception list of 32 nations.

Meanwhile, the government said it will devise measures to help resolve difficulties facing exporters and South Koreans residing in Russia, after Seoul decided to suspend financial transactions with Russia's seven major banks and affiliates in line with international sanctions against Moscow.

The measure to exclude Russia from the SWIFT global payment network will come into force on March 12.

Local banks' exposure to Russia, including potentially risky loans and investment, accounted for 0.4 percent of their total external exposure, so the sanctions will have limited impact on the country's financial sector.

But the government has received more than 400 complaints and questions from companies regarding the recent export controls and payments, the ministry said, vowing to extend active support and to strengthen the monitoring over growing uncertainties and possible ripple effects.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Thiruvananthapuram, March 3 : Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Thursday announced free medical help to students returning from Ukraine.

The state has intimated the Centre that there are 2,320 Kerala students in Ukraine, of which around 500 have arrived and the remaining are also expected in a few days.

A team of medical professionals have been stationed at the four airports in the state and would reach out to those needing immediate medical attention.

"They are coming from a war-torn country after enormous amount of mental and emotional stress and hence we have decided to give them medical and even counselling sessions if anyone needs," said George.

"A special control room will be set up at all the state-run Medical Colleges where those arriving from Ukraine can contact and seek remedial measures, which will be provided by a medical team," said George.
New Delhi, March 3 : Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday stressed on the importance of collaborative efforts for enhancing awareness among communities regarding hearing disorders and impairment on World Hearing Day.

"With 'Jan Bhagidari' ( people's participation) and 'Jan Andolan' (people's movement), everyone can effectively contribute to adding to the existing knowledge among communities regarding benefits of early identification, and timely treatment of hearing disorders," Mandaviya said. He added that when left undetected and untreated, hearing ailments can transform into disabilities, thereby adversely impacting the productivity and quality of life of the people.

The Union Minister was addressing the 10th anniversary of the World Hearing Day celebrations at Ambedkar International Centre in the presence of Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health.

He virtually inaugurated neonatal hearing screening facilities for the hearing impaired at AIIMS and 11 outreach service centres (OSC) at the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH), Mysuru, and released a book of guidelines for hearing and screening for children and the elderly along with the last two-years' screening report on newborns, school children and adults.

While releasing the guidelines, Mandaviya highlighted that more than one lakh infants per year in India are diagnosed with hearing problems.

"This shows it is an emerging challenge. These guidelines would benefit various age groups and hence must be promoted. With the launch of Neonatal Hearing Screening Facility, AIIMS, New Delhi, and eleven OSC at AIISH, Mysuru, the capacity for screening, early identification and prevention will immensely increase," the Minister said.

Acknowledging the role of ASHAs and ANMs, doctors, NGOs and nurses in creating awareness in this regard, Mandaviya urged them to educate the communities and parents of young children for early screening and identification of the hearing impaired persons.

He cautioned everyone that "We should not self-medicate, but consult with doctors and proper caution should be taken before taking any medication related to hearing problems." The Union government is committed to the welfare of all people and especially the elderly. He also informed that the Health Ministry has a programme dedicated to addressing the various health-related problems of the elderly called the 'National Programme for the Health Care of Elderly'.
New Delhi, March 3 : Russian forces were on Thursday trying to encircle Kiev amid intense fighting currently underway within 20-40 km of the Ukrainian capital, a non-profit think tank said.

In a statement to the local Ukrainska Pravda newspaper, the Kiev-based Centre for Defence Strategies said: "The enemy is trying to encircle the capital with a massive gathering of troops (close to 30 tactical battalions). The biggest threat comes from the north and north west of Kiev (Ivankiv, Vorzel, Bucha, Irpin Hostomil)." The statement further said that 'ntense fighting continues within 20-40 km of Kiev, "where the enemy is losing equipment and personnel".

The think tank said it is expected that within a short time the Russian forces will attempt to enter Kiev with the help of the air force and missile attacks.

Meanwhile in the west of Kiev, Ukrainian Armed Forces have freed the town of Makariv and established defensive positions, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

In addition to Kiev, priority targets for the Russians include large cities in Ukraine's south and Kharkiv.

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry on Thursday announced that Russian ships and rocket boats were approaching the country's third largest city of Odessa located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea.

"In the waters of the Black Sea, we are observing a landing detachment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, consisting of four large landing ships accompanied by three rocket boats, advancing towards Odessa," the Ministry said in a statement.

While Wednesday night passed peacefully for several regions of Ukraine, Russia on Thursday continued to attack Kharkiv, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

The Mayor of Kherson city claimed early Thursday morning that Russian forces have seized the city.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, Ukrainian troops have continued to defend Chernihiv and Nizhyn, but the situation in the Vyshhorod area just outside of Kiev is tense.

The night in the Donetsk region was difficult, but Mariupol held.
Kiev, March 3 : In a new video address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said that his country's defence lines were holding, but Russia has continued shelling major cities since midnight.

In the video posted on Facebook, the President said the change in Russia's tactic, which is to target civilian areas, shows that Ukraine has been successful in resisting Moscow's plan for a quick victory via land assault, the BBC reported.

"We have nothing to lose but our own freedom," Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine is getting daily arms supplies from its international allies.

"We will restore every house, every street, every city. And we say to Russia: teach the words 'reparations' and 'contributions'. You will repay everything you did against Ukraine. In full. And we will not forget those who died. We are with God," he added.

This video message comes hours after he posted another one late Wednesday night in which he urged Ukrainians to keep up the fight against Russia as Moscow's military assault on Kiev entered the eighth day.

The two videos were broadcast from an unknown location.

On Thursday, Kiev was reportedly hit by four explosions, while Kherson, a key port city in southern Ukraine, was seized by Russian troops.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, shelling continued which reportedly killed and wounded dozens of civilians, while troops have also surrounded Mariupol, another strategic port city.

The Ministry of Defence announced that Russian ships and rocket boats were approaching the country's third largest city of Odessa located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, the Kiev-based Centre for Defence Strategies said that Russian forces were trying to encircle the city amid intense fighting currently underway within 20-40 km of the capital.

Meanwhile in the west of Kiev, Ukrainian Armed Forces have freed the town of Makariv and established defensive positions, the local Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Since the assault began a week ago, Ukraine has claimed that more than 2,000 civilians have died, while the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has said that the conflict has also led to some 1 million people to flee the country.

The UNHCR has predicted the conflict will leave some 12 million people internally displaced and in need of relief.

Meanwhile, Russia has for the first time admitted that 498 of its troops were killed, with 1,597 injured.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Patna, March 3 : Expressing concern over the expensive medical education in India, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that he was not aware of students going to Ukraine in such large numbers for medical studies.

"In our country, students have to pass competitive examinations for selection in medical colleges, while in Ukraine, no such exam is required. This is a new revelation in the wake of Russia-Ukraine war," Kumar said.

"I also learnt that medical studies in Ukraine costs much less. If it is true, then it calls for a discussion at the national level," he stated.

Elaborating on it, he said the private colleges in the country charge more than Rs 1 crore as fee, whereas in Ukraine, the same MBBS course costs somewhere between Rs 20 and 25 lakh.

Even the middle class families also struggle to send their children abroad to study. They get the required information through social media and send their children for medical studies, Kumar said.

On evacuation of people stranded in war-torn Ukraine, he said the process is underway, adding that the Centre has made adequate arrangements in countries adjoining Ukraine.

A large number of students have returned to Bihar after Russian aggression in Ukraine.

According to sources, several of them are still stuck in the capital city of Kyiv, Kharkiv and other eastern cities due to intense shelling of Russia.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, March 3 : Meta has expanded a ban on Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik on Facebook and Instagram globally to stop the flow of misinformation as Russian forces make deeper inroads into Ukraine.

In addition to restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the European Union, the company announced to "globally demote content from Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts from Russian state-controlled media outlets and make them harder to find across our platforms".

"We have also begun to demote posts that contain links to Russian state-controlled media websites on Facebook," Meta said in a statement.

In the days ahead, "we will label these links and provide more information to people before they share or click on them to let them know that they lead to Russian state-controlled media websites. We plan on putting similar measures in place on Instagram".

The company is already labelling Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts from Russian state-controlled media outlets so people know where this information comes from.

"By providing this additional transparency, we aim to give people more context if they want to share direct links to Russian state-controlled media websites or when others see someone's post that contains a link to one of these sites," it added.

Most Big Tech platforms like Meta, Twitter, Google (and YouTube) and Microsoft have banned Russian state media outlets in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.

Meta said that since February 23, more than $20 million has been raised for nonprofits on Facebook and Instagram in support of humanitarian efforts for Ukraine.

"We've also seen Facebook Groups created to help those in need, including a group of 200,000 Romanian volunteers and donors coordinating transportation and accommodations for refugees. And a group of more than 300,000 in Poland is offering housing, clothing, medication and rides from the border to help those in need," the company informed.

As part of its 'Data for Good' programme, Meta is making aggregated data on social connections available to trusted organisations working to provide medical services and support to refugees, like Direct Relief.
Bengaluru, March 3 : In a reflection of the changing times, leading tech player ABB India has announced a gender-neutral and inclusive parental programme. The policy recognises the importance of both parents to be present with their newborns or a new adoptive child under three years of age.

The inclusive approach extends similar benefits to LGBTQ couples and co-habiting partners, adoptive, and surrogacy commissioning parents.

Under this programme, each employee who is the secondary caregiver will be entitled to take four weeks of parental leave while the primary caregiver is eligible to take 26 weeks, as per the country's maternity law.

Sanjeev Sharma, Country Head and Managing Director, ABB India said: "At ABB, we are committed to creating a diverse and equitable workplace where our employees feel valued and cared for. This gender-neutral and inclusive approach, we truly hope, will provide our people the much-needed time to be fully invested in their families and be present for important milestones. We believe the focus on such gender-neutral programmes will cascade across various sectors to build more inclusive workplaces, as the Indian industry strides into the next level of sustainable growth." The parental leave programme in India, forms part of ABB's "Global Diversity & Inclusion Strategy 2030", and is in line with the company's global parental programme introduced last year.

This programme aims to offer much-needed support to families so as to help them bond with their children and balance their personal and professional responsibilities, a company statement observed.
New Delhi, March 3 : Under 'Operation Ganga', the Indian Air Force has avoided the Pakistan airspace to bring back stranded Indian nationals from countries bordering Ukraine as the war entered eighth day. The Indian Air Force till Thursday brought 798 citizens from Hungary, Poland and Romania.

The force had sent four C-17 transport aircraft on Wednesday to bring back the Indian nationals who had crossed the Ukraine border.

All four transport aircraft returned with the 798 citizens to the Hindon airbase in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad bordering Delhi on Thursday early morning.

The force has also sent three more aircraft to bring another lot of stranded citizens. The Air Force was called in to augment the commercial flights.

About avoiding the Pakistan airspace, a military source said that the decision was taken by the government not to take any military favour from Islamabad. What it costs is an additional around 30 minutes of travel.

"To fly military aircraft from any nation's airspace, there is a requirement of various permissions from that country so it was decided to avoid it," source said.

The same aircraft was used to evacuate Indian nationals from Afghanistan after the Taliban took over in August last year. Under Operation Ganga, India has sent 15 aircraft, both commercial and military, till Wednesday. A total 15 more aircraft are also scheduled to land in India on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that around 17,000 Indian nationals have left war-torn Ukraine borders since the Indian embassy in Ukraine issued its first advisory.

The ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had stated, "We now estimate that nearly 17,000 Indian nationals have left Ukraine borders since our advisories were issued in the last week of January." He further said that the embassy in Kyiv has been asked to set up a temporary office in Lviv to facilitate border crossing by the Indian nationals.

He also said that a mechanism has been established for issuing emergency certificates to those who lost their Indian passports which will also help many students.
Varanasi : , March 3 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday accused the BJP workers in Uttar Pradesh of attacking her car with sticks while she was going to take part in a Ganga aarti in Varanasi.

"Yesterday when I was going to Ghat from airport, I saw some BJP workers - who have nothing else except hooliganism in their brains - stopping my vehicle. They hit my car with sticks and told me to go back. Then I realised that they're gone," she declared.

Mamata Banerjee was in Varanasi to campaign for Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party, which is widely seen as the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party's biggest rival.

Hitting back at the BJP, Mamata told the people 'Ek dhakka aur do' and they (BJP) are gone. She said that in UP now 'Khela Hobe'.

"I am not scared. I am not a coward. I am a fighter. I faced thrashings and bullets several times in my life. But I never bowed down. Yesterday, when they were surrounding me, I got down from my car and faced them to see what they can do. They are cowards," she said.

Mounting a frontal attack on UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, she said, "He is not a saint. A saint should respect women. I am a woman. Am I not allowed to visit Varanasi, Azamgarh or Mathura? So many people from here go to Ganga Sagar in West Bengal and we welcome them." She said that a saint should have ensured proper cremation of bodies during the pandemic.

"Bodies from here flowed into the Ganga River and reached West Bengal. We gave them a respectful cremation," she stated.

Mamata said that a true India is one who respects all shrines and religion. "They are going to villages and asking people to vote for BJP because they have taken 'namak'. The people should know that this is only till elections," she pointed out.

She asked people to vote for Akhilesh Yadav who is their own son and ensure a better life for themselves.
New Delhi, March 3 : Russia has captured its first major city in Ukraine after a week of fighting, with Kherson - a regional capital of 300,000 people on the Black Sea - now under the control of its forces, Daily Mail reported.

Igor Kolykhaiev, the city's Mayor, said in an update that "armed visitors" had stormed a council meeting and imposed new rules including a strict curfew and urged citizens to follow them. But it was far from clear whether Ukrainian forces had totally withdrawn, with the UK MoD saying Thursday the situation is "unclear".

If Kherson is under full Russian control, then it opens up Odessa - Ukraine's main port city and primary naval base - to an assault. Amphibious landing ships were seen forming up off the west coast of Crimea Thursday morning as US officials warned a major assault from the sea could come later in the day, Daily Mail reported.

Meanwhile, Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine's two largest cities, remained under a heavy bombing campaign overnight with missiles striking civilian areas - including a train station in the Ukrainian capital being used to evacuate people from the city and as a shelter for those who cannot or have chosen not to leave.

Chernihiv, in the north west, and Mariupol, in the south, also remain under Ukrainian control despite being all-but surrounded by Russian forces and coming under heavy bombardment. The Mayor of Mariupol said Thursday that Russian artillery fire has been so intense that they cannot even remove wounded people from the streets.
Gandhinagar, March 3 : The Gujarat government admitted in the Assembly on Thursday that liquor and drugs worth more than Rs 600 crore have been seized in the 'prohibited' and 'dry state' during the last two years.

The opposition Congress, however, created a ruckus during the ongoing Budget session of the 14th Assembly, on the issue of a major drug seizure amounting to Rs 21,000 crore from Kutch's Mundra port, dismissing the state government's reply.

Replying to a series of questions asked by the Congress' legislators on the second day of the budget session, the Minister of State (Home) Harsh Sanghvi informed that the Gujarat government had seized liquor and drugs worth more than Rs 600 crore in the last two years.

The Gujarat police confiscated Rs 215.63 crore worth 1.06 crore bottles of indian made foreign liquor, Rs 4.34 crore worth 19.34 crore litres of country liquor, Rs 16.2 crore worth 12.20 lakh bottles and cans of beer, and Rs 370.25 crore worth narcotropic drugs consisting of hashish, ganja and charas in 2020 and 2021.

There was uproar by the Congress in the House over these figures tabled by the government, particularly the data of drugs seized from Kutch.

Raising a point of order on the figures tabled in the House pertaining to a question on drugs seized from Kutch district, Punja Vansh, the Congress legislator from Una, pointed out that the government was deliberately trying to hide the drugs seized from the Adani Mundra port estimated to be around Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 crore in the international drugs market.

"Why is the Gujarat government shying away from the Mundra port drugs seizure? The crime committed has been registered in Gujarat by the state police and has been obliterated from the written answer in the Assembly," Vansh asked.

"The House has the right to know the truth. The Gujarat government has committed the sin of hiding the truth. Why are you not admitting it on record about the drugs seized from the Mundra Port," said the former Leader of the Opposition Party (LoP), Paresh Dhanani.

There was an uproar by the BJP over the words 'committed sin' made by the Congress. Former Home Minister Pradeepsinh Jadeja asked for the withdrawal of these words and sought an apology from the Congress legislator. The BJP started shouting, demanding an apology from the former LoP.
Chennai, March 3 : The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday announced that four DMK lawmakers and four bureaucrats will travel to Europe to coordinate and bring back Indian students in Ukraine.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister M.K.Stalin.

In a statement issued here, the government said MPs Tiruchi Siva, and M. Mohamed Abdulla (both from Rajya Sabha), and Kalanidhi Veeraswamy (Lok Sabha), MLA T.R.B. Rajaa, and four bureaucrats will travel to Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia.

The team will coordinate with the officials of Indian Embassies there to bring back the students from Tamil Nadu who had gone to Ukraine and now found shelter in the four countries.

Indian students in Ukraine are leaving that country after Russian military action and finding shelter in the neighbouring nations so that the Indian government can bring them back safely.

On Thursday morning, 193 students from Tamil Nadu studying in Ukraine reached here and the state government sent them to their native districts by bus.
New Delhi, March 3 : A special CBI court in Ahmedabad has awarded different jail sentences to a former official of United India Insurance Company (UIIC) and his wife in connection with a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

The court awarded five-year rigorous jail term to Jagdishchandra Bhagwan Raut, an ex-official of the insurance firm, besides slapping a fine of Rs 20,000 on him.

The court also awarded two-year jail term along with a fine of Rs 20,000 to his wife Hina Jagdishchandra Raut.

The CBI had registered the case in 2004 against Raut, who worked as a development officer with UIIC then, on allegations that the accused had acquired disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 46,01,786 between 1990 and 2004.

Searches were conducted at the premises of the accused and evidences were recovered. After investigation, a charge-sheet was filed in 2009 against the accused and his wife.
New Delhi, March 3 : Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has repeated his warning that World War Three would be nuclear as he accused the West of fixating on his dire threats, Daily Mail reported.

The Russian Foreign Minister also compared the US to Nazi Germany in his latest rant after Russian forces seized the Black Sea regional capital of Kherson in Ukraine, its first major city after a week of fighting.

"I would like to point out that it's in the heads of Western politicians that the idea of a nuclear war is spinning constantly, and not in the heads of Russians. Therefore I assure you that we will not allow any provocation to throw us off balance," he said.

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's nuclear forces be put on high alert, accusing the West of taking "unfriendly" steps against his country.

Moscow has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and a huge cache of ballistic missiles which form the backbone of the country's deterrence forces, Daily Mail reported.

The move was followed up by comments from Lavrov in which he warned another World War would be "nuclear and destructive".

In separate comments, Lavrov accused the US of trying to conquer Europe. He told Sky News: "Napoleon and Hitler had the objective to have the whole of Europe under their control, now Americans have got Europe under their control." "We see the situation what role the EU is really playing in the context of the global situation, they are just fulfiling a role." "We see that there's a picture like in Hollywood of absolute evil and absolute good and this is unfortunate."
Thiruvananthapuram, March 3 : Welcoming the change in positions adopted by the ongoing 23rd CPI-M party Conference with regards to availing loans, and te education policy, the Congress on Thursday said the Kerala's ruling party is always like this and before they adopt these changes, they should render a public apology.

"They realise things very late and the fresh changes adopted is the latest example the way the CPI-M goes about doing things. For them, it's always late realisation of things of what's good," said Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday spelt out the policies at the Conference and party General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri on Thursday told the media that Kerala cannot stand away from revamping the education sector.

Satheesan went on to say that not long ago the CPI-M workers had thrown black paint on Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials who came to the state to discuss about their loan proposals with the then Congress led government led by Oommen Chandy.

"During the Chandy regime, all saw how the student activists of the CPI-M badly manhandle the former Indian Ambassador T.P.Sreenivasan who headed the Higher Education Council and was going to have discussions for revamp of the education sector. Likewise many years ago when the then Congress government wanted to set up autonomous educational institutions, the CPI-M staged a huge protests against it leading to a police firing which killed a few of their party workers and now since they are changing, they should first make a public apology for all what they did in the past," he added.
London, March 3 : Electronic gadgets like Apple AirPods Pro charging case, Pencil 2nd Generation, and the Microsoft Surface Pen can interfere with life-saving heart devices and stop them from working, researchers have warned.

Researchers from the University of Basel in Switzerland claimed that AirPods, 'pencils' and iPhones have powerful magnetic fields that could potentially stop implanted cardiac devices (ICD) working, Daily Mail reported.

According to the team, 'any' electrical device containing a magnet could theoretically pose a 'danger' to patients who rely on ICDs to jolt their heart back into rhythm, the report said.

"The public need to be aware of the potential risks of portable electronic devices," Dr Sven Knecht, from the varsity was quoted as saying.

"These devices can cause a problem when carried in your shirt or jacket pocket in front of the chest, as well as when you are lying on the couch and resting the electronic device on your chest," he added.

The study, published in the journal of the American Heart Association, showed the Apple products could not be placed closer than 0.78inches, or 2 cm, without interfering with ICDs.

But the Microsoft product, which costs 70 pounds, could not be within 1.1 inch (2.9 cm), the report said.

The team advised patients fitted with the pacemaker-like gadgets to not keep electronics in pockets near their chest. According to American Heart Association guidelines, all mobiles should be kept at least 15 cm away from pacemakers to minimise the risks.

Microsoft, in a statement, recommended customers to "follow previously published guidance which recommends the device is kept at least 6inch (15cm) from pacemakers and ICDs".

In a separate study, researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, found that most Apple Watch users won't get health benefits of getting an alert about atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heart rhythm, the Verge reported.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, showed only 0.25 per cent of people wearing an Apple Watch would qualify for anticoagulants if they had atrial fibrillation flagged by the device.

"Most of the people who are connecting their devices wouldn't have anticoagulants recommended anyway, even if they were found to have atrial fibrillation, so it wasn't going to change any prescribing," Josh Pevnick, co-director in the division of informatics at Cedars-Sinai was quoted as saying.

"It can cause anxiety for people who it identifies, and if there's no treatment, then you're maybe not bringing much benefit," he added.
London, March 3 : Formula One has terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix, confirmed the world body of sport on Thursday.

"Formula One can confirm it has terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix promoter meaning Russia will not have a race in the future," the statement said.

The race in Sochi scheduled for September 25 this year has already been cancelled. There will now no longer be a race in St Petersburg, where it was due to move in 2023. It is a decision that is very different to the one made by the governing body, the FIA, earlier this week which ruled to allow Russian competitors to take part in global motorsport events.

The decision comes in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and follows F1's decision last week not to race in Russia in September this year. F1's original deal to race in Russia was struck in 2014 between President Vladimir Putin and the sport's then CEO Bernie Ecclestone. Putin handed out trophies on the podium to the top three finishers in 2014 and 2015.

The Russian Grand Prix was due to relocate from Sochi Autodrom to the Igora Drive circuit outside St Petersburg in 2023.

The FIA has already faced a backlash from the decision by its world motorsport council on Tuesday. The following day UK motorsport's governing body banned all Russian licence holders from competing in the UK.

The FIA justified its decision by saying it was in line with the policy of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
New Delhi, March 3 : Riding on a possible supply disruption of foodgrains - especially wheat -- due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, wheat's prices have hit a record high in India.

Both Russia and Ukraine are major producers of wheat.

In the key market of Madhya Pradesh's Indore, the foodgrain was sold at Rs 2,400 per quintal against Rs 2,000-2,100 until recently.

"There is a heavy demand from exporters apparently because of the talks that the supply line from Russia and Ukraine may dry up if the tensions persist," said an Indore-based veteran trader.

"Prices typically remain low during this time of the year as freshly harvested rabi crops make their way into the markets. However, the war propped the prices up this time," the trader said.

He sees the wheat prices going up by another Rs 100-200 per quintal in the near term.

In the US market too, wheat futures have risen nearly 50 per cent in the past one month, which in a way is also making Indian wheat attractive for buyers.

India usually produces surplus foodgrains as against its domestic requirements and the fresh export demand comes in as a shot in the arm for the wheat traders.
Chennai, March 3 : The BJP which has got decent results in the recent urban local body elections - winning 308 seats - is however now facing dissent from several leaders at the district level. This follows the party Tamil Nadu state president K. Annamalai, who is also a former Indian Police Service officer, cracking the whip on district leaders and presidents to give a proper explanation about the non-performance of the party in many districts.

The party had fielded 5594 candidates for the 12,838 seats, winning 308 of them. In the Kanniyakumari district the party won 200 seats.

In a meeting held at the party state committee office in Chennai on Wednesday, the party president said that the leaders including district presidents and mandlam presidents who are not performing will have to bear the brunt for it. He added that these leaders would be axed from party positions.

A senior party leader in Tiruchi told IANS that the "BJP is a political party which has gained ground in Tamil Nadu through hard toil, carving out a space for itself against the two major Dravidian parties. The party will not get results easily and will take time but there is a steady growth at the grassroot level and things have improved by winning in almost all the places in the state. The state president is a newcomer and he doesn't know how the party growth happens. It is not overnight and we strongly object to such a move on his part." The BJP which has always prided itself on being a cadre-based party with proper discipline, was shocked to find several leaders speaking against the utterances of the state president.

Another senior leader said that the district presidents and mandal presidents were elected by the cadres and have time till December 2022. Removing them precipitously is not advisable.

However, leaders close to Annamalai said that the president wanted to prepare the party for the 2024 general elections and he has to be tough with the district functionaries to get better electoral results. This section also advocates the idea that underperformers have to be booted out and those who can at least work full time at the ground level should be inducted replacing all non-performers.

Party state spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy told IANS, "The party state president has given the district presidents full powers and his only contention was to make the mandal presidents perform and to equip the party for the next polls."
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Amaravati, March 3 : Andhra Pradesh's main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Thursday hailed the High Court verdict on Amaravati as the state capital.

The TDP Politburo meeting, presided over by party President and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, discussed the High Court's latest verdict and described it as a big blow to the 3 capitals plan of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.

Briefing media about the decisions of the Politburo, former minister Kalva Srinivasulu said by directing the government to implement the CRDA Act, the court has upheld the merit and value of the Act passed by the previous government. It welcomed the court's decision to review the future progress of capital city works.

Srinivasulu said the Jagan Reddy regime has "destroyed the future of the whole state by going ahead with its ill-conceived Capital shifting plan in the past three years".

"As a result, over 136 institutions have stopped investing despite agreements reached with the previous TDP government led by Chandrababu Naidu," he said, adding that the state also lost Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 13,000 crore revenue from Amaravati.

The Politburo deplored how Rs 2 lakh crore worth assets and 10,000 acres government land in Amaravati Capital turned into non-performing assets. The court judgement once again made it clear that nobody would be able to shift Amaravati Capital. It was conceived and developed to meet the aspirations of Andhra Pradesh people and in accordance with the Reorganisation Act.

The TDP leaders hailed the latest CBI probe into the Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy's murder and slammed the CM and his family's media for trying to suppress real facts even now. From the beginning, all fingers were pointing towards YSRCP MP Avinash Reddy. But CM Jagan and his associates continued to weave new and false stories as part of a politically motivated and selfish agenda, it said.

The Politburo urged the CBI to hasten its investigation and arrest the real culprits as early as possible. The manner in which Jagan Reddy and his coterie tried to malign and implicate Chandrababu Naidu in the Vivekananda Reddy murder conspiracy was highly condemnable.

Majority TDP leaders wanted their party to boycott the Assembly as the ruling YSRCP was not allowing democratic debates and not listening to what the opposition had to say on any subject of public concern. Under the leadership of Jagan Reddy, the AP Assembly has been turned into a 'Kuru Sabha'. A final decision on attending the House would be taken at the TDLP meeting.

The TDP Politburo condemned the YSRCP regime for cancelling Anna Canteens and over 35 welfare schemes implemented by the Chandrababu Naidu led government.

Meanwhile, other opposition parties BJP, Jana Sena, CPI and CPI-M have welcomed the court verdict.

BJP leader and former Union Minister D. Purandareswari said BJP remained committed to development of Amaravati as the state capital.

She recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone for Amaravati and the Centre also released Rs 2,500 crore for providing basic amenities in Amaravati region.

The BJP leader also listed out various road development projects cleared by the Centre to improve connectivity to Amaravati.
New Delhi, March 3 : In the seven days since the conflict began, southern Ukraine has become a critical defensive front against Russia's advances, BBC reported.

Moscow has chosen to lay siege to multiple cities there, viewing the region as strategically vital to the success of the invasion as a whole.

Not only would controlling the coast sever the rest of Ukraine from the sea, it would also create a direct connection between Russian-annexed Crimea and the Russian-speaking Donbas region, BBC reported.

Kherson has a population of 280,000 and is so far the largest city to fall to Russian forces. It sits on the banks of the Dnieper River, giving those in control access to critical canals supplying water to Crimea.

Another large port is Mariupol with a population of 4,30,000, which is being shelled and encircled. If successfully seized, Russia will have established a direct link between eastern Ukraine and Crimea, both of which are already Russian-controlled, BBC reported.

Crimea is a Russian-speaking part of Ukraine that was annexed by Moscow in 2014. It's where Russia launched much of this southern offensive from one week ago.

Odesa is Ukraine's third-largest city and the country's most important port on the Black Sea, as well as being a major oil terminus.

So far its one million residents have escaped the worst of the fighting. This is because Russia has currently made no concerted effort to advance west of Kherson - beyond isolated reports of paratrooper landings, the report said.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Bhopal, March 3 : A week-long Hindu religious programme in Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district, the hometown of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was cancelled due to which the latter has received criticism from the Congress as well as senior BJP leaders.

Since the cancellation of the 'Rudraksh Mahotsav', Chouhan, who would often be seen participating in religious events and performing rituals at different occasions, is facing flak.

The development comes after a religious event was organised at Chitavalia Hema village in Sehore district, nearly 50 km from the state capital Bhopal, but the programme which was scheduled for a week, was called off within a few hours on Monday.

The event organised on February 28, a day before Mahashivratri, witnessed a massive footfall which resulted in an 18-hour traffic jam on the Indore-Bhopal highway. A number of VIPs, including State Minister Inder Singh Parmar, were stuck in the traffic congestion.

The hours-long traffic snarls kept the district administration and local police on their toes. Subsequently, godman Pradeep Mishra, who was the 'katha-vachak', announced the cancellation of the programme.

"I would urge you all to receive 'prasad' (offering) and leave the place and not come again," Mishra urged the gathering of devotees with teary eyes.

The district administration later said Mishra had informed the local authorities that he was expecting nearly 20,000 people at his katha-vachan programme called 'Rudraksh Mahotsav', but nearly one lakh people had gathered.

Sehore District Collector Chandramohan Thakur later in a tweet said there was traffic congestion as more vehicles turned up than expected for the programme organised at Chitavalia Hema village along the Bhopal-Indore highway. He also denied any political pressure behind calling off the programme on Monday.

However, once the programme was cancelled, Congress leaders accused the district administration and the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government of being insensitive to Hindu sentiments.

Congress leaders claimed that the godman was threatened by the district administration to call off the event. Former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who is the Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh, has appointed a five-member committee (of Congress leaders) to visit Sehore and the organisers of the seven-day Rudraksh Mahotsav.

"This is the first time in the history of Madhya Pradesh that a religious function was stopped under political pressure. This is against 'Sanatan Dharma' and religious sentiments have been hurt," Nath said.

Attacking the state government, Nath said, "A priest had to tell the truth (about the cancellation) to the devotees with tears in his eyes, and nothing can be more shameful for the state than this. This is happening under a government which calls itself religious." BJP leaders, too, questioned their own government over the issue. BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya wrote a letter to Chouhan, asking him why the Sehore administration had compelled the godman to call off the event and described the administration's act as criminal.

Senior BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti, too, demanded that both the Chief Minister and Home Minister Narrotam Mishra must launch an investigation into the matter.
Thiruvananthapuram, March 3 : The Congress on Thursday alleged corrupption to the tune of Rs 1,600 crore in various purchases made during the Covid-19 pandemic period in Kerala and has demanded a probe into it.

Former State Congress president Mullapally Ramachandran said, "It was a shame on the part of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to have totally ignored this when it surfaced." "Outgoing Health Minister K.K. Shailaja herself has gone on record to state that all the purchases during the Covid pandemic time was done with the full knowledge of Vijayan and yet he is silent," said Ramachandran, a former Union Minister.

Shailaja was the Health Minister from 2016 to 2021, and even though she won the 2021 Assembly polls, Vijayan did not took her into the cabinet.

The Congress leader further said that the purchases, during the pandemic, were effected through the Kerala Medical Service Corporation.

"The purchases were made without inviting tenders, and a PPE kit costing Rs 550 was purchased for Rs 1,550. This cannot be tolerated. Even more intriguing is the news that most of the documents related to purchases, which were stored in the computers of the corporation, have all disappeared," added Ramachandran.
New Delhi, March 3 : A Russian MP has said Moscow started planning for an invasion of Ukraine 12 months ago, BBC reported.

"We did not prepare this, this operation spontaneously," State Duma member Rifat Shaykhutdinov said on state-controlled Channel One TV on Wednesday.

"It had been in preparation for a year, maybe more. We understood what [was happening] and had been warning them in advance," he said in remarks on Channel One's daily talk show Time Will Tell.

He suggested that Russia would have come under attack had it not invaded.

"As soon as intelligence data arrived... that we would beat them by two days by attacking, of course we are defending our citizens there above all."
New Delhi, March 3 : Over 7,400 Indian nationals are expected to be evacuated under the 'Operation Ganga' in the next two days, the government said on Thursday.

The Centre has initiated an airlift operation to evacuate Indians, who have found their way to the neighbouring countries of war-torn Ukraine. It has deployed a number of special charter as well as Indian Air Force flights to ferry back the citizens.

On Friday, 3,500 are expected to be brought back, while over 3,900 will be ferried back on Saturday.

As per a Ministry of Civil Aviation statement, a total of 17 flights are expected to land in India -- 15 in New Delhi and 2 in Mumbai -- on Friday.So far, the Centre has brought back over 6,200 citizens, including the 2,185 coming on Thursday alone through 10 special civilian flights, since the evacuation process began on February 22.

On Wednesday, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that over 4,000 Indian students will be evacuated from Romania in the next three days.

Scindia is one of the four Union Ministers, along with Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju and Gen V.K. Singh (retd), who have gone to countries adjoining Ukraine to support and supervise the ongoing evacuation operations.

Similarly, six flights each will be operated on Thursday and Friday.

Furthermore, he said that flights will also be operated from Suceava, Romania.

According to an estimate, a total of 18,000 students are stranded in war-torn Ukraine. However, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday said that so far, 12,000 Indians have been evacuated from Ukraine, which is 60 per cent of the country's total population in the war-ravaged nation.
New Delhi, March 3 : Russias credit ratings have been downgraded deep into the 'junk' territory by Moodys Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, with the duo highlighting the economic toll inflicted by wide-ranging sanctions and rising doubts about whether Moscow will honour its debts, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"The severity of international sanctions in response to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine has heightened macro-financial stability risks, represents a huge shock to Russia's credit fundamentals and could undermine its willingness to service government debt," Fitch said in a statement issued.

Both the credit-rating companies cut their assessment of Russia by six notches, to a single-B rating in Fitch's case and to B3 for Moody's. The two rating firms, which had previously given Russia low investment-grade ratings of BBB and Baa3, respectively, both signaled further downgrades could follow, WSJ reported.

Fitch warned that sanctions on Russian banks were likely to be ratcheted up. It also cautioned that Western sanctions, plus the large fall in the ruble, "markedly increase the risk of a broad-based loss of domestic confidence triggering bank deposit outflows and dollarisation." "The significant concerns around Russia's willingness to service its debt are a reflection that Russia's institutional strength has very materially weakened with increasing evidence that the executive faces few checks and balances," Moody's said in a statement on Thursday, WSJ reported.

The moves mean all three of the world's major ratings firms now judge Russian debt to be sub-investment grade, after S&P Global Ratings downgraded Russia last week.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, March 3 : The police on Thursday registered an FIR over an alleged assault on a Christian pastor in the national capital, four days after the latter had filed a complaint.

"An FIR has been lodged under sections 365 (Kidnapping or abduction with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) M. Harsha Vardhan said.

According to the complainant, the incident took place on February 25 when he had gone to meet a friend in south Delhi. The victim alleged that some unidentified persons stopped him and accused him of being involved in forced religious conversions. The victim was then allegedly taken to a crossroad where the accused persons tied his hands to the divider and incited people by saying that the complainant was indulging in forceful religious conversions.

As per the complaint, the victim was also thrashed and forced to chant religious slogans. A video of the incident is doing the rounds on the social media where the pastor can be seen surrounded by several people. However, in the video, no one can be seen beating the victim.

Further investigation is in progress, the official added.
New Delhi, March 3 : The government has accorded in-principle approval to four projects which are under Make-I (this is funded by the government) and five projects under Make-II (this is industry-funded) categories of Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence, Collegiate Committee of the ministry, the projects received qpproval in-principle. Under this, industry will be provided financial support for prototype development of these projects.

For the Indian Air Force (IAF), the approval has been given for communication equipment with Indian Security Protocols. This includes the switches, routers, VoIP phones and their software and encryptors.

Also, there is the airborne stand-off jammer, airborne electro optical pod with the ground based system, for the IAF.

For the Army the long awaited light tank got approval. In 2021, the MoD had released a Request for Information for 350 light tanks.

According to the Defence Ministry, this is the first time that Indian industry has been involved in the development of big ticket platforms like communication equipment with Indian Security Protocols as well as light tanks. Larsen and Toubro and a South Korean company are already talking about these tanks.

Five projects which will be funded by the industry under the Make-II procedure also received approval.

For the IAF, the full motion simulator for Apache helicopters; wearable robotic equipment for aircraft maintenance; and the full motion simulator for Chinook helicopters have received AIP.

For the Indian Army one of the biggest projects that received the AIP is the Autonomous Combat Vehicle and Integrated Surveillance and Targeting System for mechanised forces.

Under this, the government does not provide any funding for the development of the prototype.

The industry has to fund the whole prototype development of the equipment or system and their platform.

The expenses have to be met by the industry for their upgrades or their sub-systems, sub-assembly, assemblies or components.

These are mainly going to help as import substitution and innovative solutions.

The indigenous development of these projects will help harness the design capabilities of the Indian defence industry and position India as a design leader in these technologies.
New Delhi, March 3 : Western countries have increased the dispatch of mercenaries from private military companies to the combat areas in Ukraine, said Major General Igor Konashenkov, official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Western countries have increased the number of private military company contractors sent to combat areas," he said, RT reported.

On Thursday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the arrival of the first of 16,000 foreign mercenaries on the territory of the state.

Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia Alexander Bastrykin instructed the investigators of the central office of the department to register the facts of the participation of mercenaries in the commission of crimes on the territory of Ukraine, the report said.

Russia has captured its first major city in Ukraine after a week of fighting, with Kherson - a regional capital of 300,000 people on the Black Sea - now under the control of Putin's forces, Daily Mail reported.

Igor Kolykhaiev, the city's mayor, said in an update that 'armed visitors' had stormed a council meeting and imposed new rules including a strict curfew and urged citizens to follow them. But it was far from clear whether Ukrainian forces had totally withdrawn, with the UK Ministry of Defence saying on Thursday the situation is 'unclear'.

If Kherson is under full Russian control, then it opens up Odessa - Ukraine's main port city and primary naval base - to an assault. Amphibious landing ships were seen forming up off the west coast of Crimea Thursday morning as US officials warned a major assault from the sea could come later in the day, Daily Mail reported.

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, March 3 : Students stuck in war-torn Ukraine have almost "run out" of food and essentials.

An Indian medical student, Faisal, sent a video to IANS narrating his ordeal in the north-eastern city of Sumy in Ukraine.

In the video, he said that around 500 Indian students are stuck in Sumy, which is 350 km from Kiev.

"We ran out of rice and flour. I went to buy flour, salt, potatoes and other basic items but all the department stores here are empty," he said. The local authorities have imposed a curfew in the area and the students here are in touch with the Indian Embassy.

Faisal, who is from Bihar's Motihari, said that the students are forced to drink soda water and tap water as there is scarcity of potable water, due to which "they could contract typhoid".

Another student from Sumy, Manas said that students are scared amidst the constant sound of gunfire.

"We are students of Sumy University. All the students are stuck in the war zone. We call the Indian embassy daily and get the same reply - 'to wait'. Other students who were in the western part (of Ukraine) have left for India, only we, the students of Sumy, are left. I urge the Indian government to evacuate us," he said.

The students are presently residing in Sumy University's building.

Manas said that the embassy has warned them not to go out as a student was killed in the firing. "Everyday we hear the siren three to four times and we all rush to the shelters." "There is no source of water and food. Other students have reached India and students in Sumy have been left, this triggers more panic among us," he asserted.
Patna, March 3 : Two brothers, including a local cooperative society chief, were killed over a fishing dispute in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district on Thursday, police said.

The deceased, identified as Rajesh Sahani alias Bhola, the Primary Agriculture Credit Societies President, and his brother Mukesh Sahani, were gunned down in Bairia village under Sahebganj police station.

Their family members alleged that Manish Singh, a village strongman, accompanied by dozen men, reached a pond belonging to Rajesh Shahani, and claimed that they have the legal right to fish there.

This was the second clash between Rajesh Sahani and Manish Singh in the last 10 days.

"On Thursday, Manish Singh, along with his men, arrived at the pond and threatened Rajesh Shahani to go away from there. This led to an altercation between them and it soon took an ugly turn. Manish Singh and his men opened fire on Rajesh Sahani. When his brother came to his rescue, they also shot him as well. Besides them, over half a dozen persons including main accused Manish Singh also injured in a clash," said R.K. Singh, an investigating officer of this case.

"Both Rajesh and Mukesh Sahani sustained gunshot injuries on the chest and abdomen. The family members have taken them to the common health centre at Sahibganj where doctors declared them dead on arrival," he said.

"We have registered an FIR against Manish Singh and others. Some of them, including Manish Singh, have been arrested. Hunt is on to nab others," he said.
Mumbai, March 3 : Setting a new trend in public outreach, newly-appointed Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey on Thursday issued a public message and shared his personal mobile numbers on social media, soliciting peoples' cooperation for better policing.

Recalling his long 30-year-old association with Mumbai Police in different capacities, he said he was very much familiar with the city's requirements, though policing has changed over the years.

"And it is with this in mind that I am reaching out to you, seeking your support to work towards maintaining safety and security for all in our city of Mumbai," urged Pandey, who took charge of the hot seat from March 1.

Sharing his personal mobile number, he called upon citizens to contact him on his WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter with suggestions, etc., and promised to respond to all as far as possible.

"I too will share with you what work we are doing on a weekly basis on Facebook and working towards our motto of 'safety and security to all' in Mumbai," he assured.

Pandey, who was the Acting Director-General of Police for nearly a year, was named as the new Mumbai Commissioner of Police, a DGP-rank posting on February 28.

Even as acting DGP, Pandey had shared his mobile number with even police constables, interacted with them in person and via social media platforms, flagging off a new style of inclusiveness, which he has now extended to the common citizens.

Occasionally, Pandey - reputed as a no-nonsense, upright IPS officer of the 1986 batch - also voiced his concerns on social media over the shortage of officers plaguing certain key departments and urged his senior colleagues to opt for such postings.

An IIT-Kanpur alumnus, Pandey was always considered a 'political hot potato', but earned laurels for his handling of the tense Dharavi during the 1992-1993 communal riots that engulfed the city in the wake of the demolition of the disputed structure of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
New Delhi/Srinagar, March 3 : Amid the dwindling support for terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has ordered the formation of Village Defence Groups (VDGs) to fight Pakistan-sponsored ultras, who are trying to create fear psychosis by targeting unarmed civilians.

The MHA has written to the J&K Chief Secretary informing about the revised scheme of VDGs. In more vulnerable areas, persons leading the VDGs would be paid of Rs 4,500 per month and other members of these VDGs on voluntary basis will be paid Rs 4,000 per month. The VDGs will function in the district under the directions of the concerned Superintendents of Police.

Revival of erstwhile Village Defence Committees as VDGs could prove to be the last nail in the coffin of the 32-year-long Pakistan-sponsored insurgency in J&K.

Preparing local populace to tackle the terrorists could serve as a deadly blow for terror bosses and terrorist handlers sitting across the Line of Control (LoC). The terrorists will have to face armed civilians, who would remain present in every village to protect the unarmed denizens.

The Village Defence Committees were first formed in 1990 in Chenab Valley, when the Pakistan-sponsored insurgency broke out in J&K and terrorists started intruding into the frontier districts of Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar and Reasi in Jammu region. They resorted to indiscriminate killings of civilians, which led to people migrating from their native villages.

In order to resist the moves of the terrorists, VDCs supplemented the efforts of the security forces in combating terrorism in J&K during its peak period. The VDCs played a crucial role in fighting terrorism in the remote and border areas of J&K, particularly in Jammu region, wherever density of security forces was thinner.

The members of these committees fought the ultras, armed with sophisticated weapons, with .303 riffles of World War-II vintage. The VDC members acted as the eyes and ears of security forces due to their familiarity with the area and their access to local intelligence.

MHA's nod will supplement efforts The MHA giving its nod to constitute the Village Defence Groups would supplement the ongoing efforts of the security forces to wipe out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir. It would also help in dealing with the acts of subversion/terror and trans-border movements.

Above all, it will be a manifestation of the will of the people to actively participate in the efforts to thwart the threat being posed to national security and integrity from within and outside.

Another important factor is the desire of the people to get rid of the terrorists so that peace could prevail. Everyone in J&K is fed up of violence and bloodshed. These groups can prove very effective in securing the vulnerable areas.

They need to be provided with sophisticated weapons, strengthened and trained to use them effectively. Ex-servicemen are available everywhere and they are a trained resource. Their services can be utilized to train youngsters. This trained and readily available manpower should be utilised in whatever manner it can best be used.

Politics over VDCs In December 2015, a minister of then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had demanded that the VDCs should be disbanded. He had claimed that the force created to fight militancy had served its purpose. But the Bharatiya Janata Party, a coalition partner of PDP, had favoured its continuation.

The PDP at that point of time had seconded the demand of opposition National Conference (NC) and separatist groups for disbanding the VDCs. However, the then Deputy Chief Minister of J&K and senior BJP leader, Nirmal Singh, had rejected the demand of the Kashmir-based parties, stating that VDCs have played a big role in stamping out militancy and defending the population in remote and rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir.

In December 2015, separatists called for a shutdown in Kashmir to press for disbanding the VDCs. The issue had snowballed into a major controversy following the killing of three people by VDC members in Rajouri district over some personal feuds.

Nirmal Singh had said: "Disbanding of VDCs is an irrelevant demand. If an Army jawan or a policeman does something bad, will army or police be disbanded?" The separatists like late Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani and so-called JKLF chief, Yasin Malik, tried their best to instigate violence in Kashmir on the pretext of disbanding the VDCs, as the members of their committees were instrumental in fighting Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in the frontier districts of Jammu region.

BJP, RSS leaders killed in Kishtwar After the row over VDCs broke out, the then J&K government slowly started curtailing the powers of the VDCs. In the first instance, their wages were stopped and in the second phase the members of these committees were disarmed.

The VDC members staged many protests and voluntarily deposited their arms. After the VDCs were dismantled, terrorists in November 2018 killed BJP's state secretary Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit Parihar in Kishtwar town. The duo was shot dead when they were returning home after closing their stationery shop. The killings had triggered angry protests in the town.

In April 2019, ultras again appeared in Kishtwar town and shot dead a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) leader, Chanderkant Sharma, and his personal security officer inside a hospital.

After Jammu, Kashmir may also follow suit After J&K's transition into a Union Territory on August 5, 2019, the local BJP leaders were relentlessly pursuing the revival of the VDCs. A delegation of BJP leaders from J&K recently called on Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi and reiterated its demand to revive these committees.

After the meeting, the MHA issued directions and rechristened the VDCs as Village Defence Groups and announced their formation.

During the past two years, Kashmir has witnessed a surge in civilian killings as ultras have chosen the soft targets. On Wednesday, an unarmed Panch was shot dead in south Kashmir's Kulgam district.

The people in Kashmir too have started demanding setting up of self defence groups so that terrorists face resistance. For the time being, the VDGs will be activated in the areas near Line of Control in Jammu region. If the people of Kashmir exhibit the will and voluntarily come forward to fight the terrorists, the Village Defence Groups can come up in the Valley as well.
New Delhi, March 3 : Russian President Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the tasks of the Russian special operation in Ukraine would be fulfilled in any case.

It was emphasised that the tasks of the special military operation will be fulfilled in any case, the Kremlin said, RT reported.

Putin also detailed the fundamental approaches and conditions in the context of negotiations with representatives of the Ukrainian side.

He confirmed that, first of all, they were talking about the demilitarisation and neutral status of Ukraine so that a threat to Russia never comes from Ukrainian territory.

In addition, Putin, in a conversation with Macron, warned that the Russian side would continue to uncompromisingly fight against militants of nationalist armed groups in Ukraine.

"It was noted that during the special operation to protect Donbass, Russia intends to continue the uncompromising fight against militants of nationalist armed groups who commit war crimes, including placing military equipment in residential areas and using the civilian population as human shields," the Kremlin press service said.

In the telephone conversation, the Russian leader gave Macron "reasoned explanations about the significant role of neo-Nazis in the state policy of Kiev".

According to French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Jean Castex, the heads of state also discussed humanitarian issues in connection with the situation in Ukraine.
New Delhi, March 3 : The Supreme Court on Thursday quoted the principle of governance by Chanakaya in his "Nitishastra", as it set aside the appointment of Vice Chancellor of Sardar Patel University in Gujarat.

A bench comprising Justices M.R. Shah and B.V. Nagarathna said: "The appointment of respondent No 4 as a Vice Chancellor of the SP University - respondent No.2 herein, is contrary to the UGC provisions, namely, UGC Regulations, 2018. We hence allow the present writ petition and issue a writ of quo warranto quashing and setting aside the appointment of respondent No.4 as the Vice Chancellor of SP University." Justice Shah, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench, said: "Against the backdrop of principle of governance as quoted by Chanakya in his 'Nitishastra', 'Yatha Raja Tatha Praja', the sense of morality must begin from the door of the leader who preaches it".

The bench said the universities are autonomous and the VC is the leader of a higher education institution. "As per the norm, he/she should be an eminent academician, excellent administrator and also someone who has a high moral stature," it added.

Justice Shah said a VC needs to be one who understands and handles the affairs of the university as ethical business and maintains pellucidity in his conduct towards the betterment of the university as well as the students therein. "A Vice Chancellor should be one who can inspire students and guarantee entry of high-quality teachers into the university system. A Vice Chancellor functions as a bridge between the executive and academic wings of a university as he is the head of both a teacher and an administrator," said the bench in its 58-page judgment.

The top court judgment came on a writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution challenging the appointment of the VC of Sardar Patel University and sought quashing of the notification issued on August 29, 2019.

The bench said it is clear that Gujarat has failed to take note of the communication from the UGC and instead ,the university has left to the sweet will of the search committee to prescribe eligibility criteria for the appointment of the VC. The UGC counsel argued that in a search committee for appointment as Vice Chancellor, one of the members of the search committee shall be a nominee of the Chairman of the UGC.

"It has been clearly stated that the UGC has prescribed minimum qualifications for the appointment of a Vice Chancellor and therefore, such an appointment must be in accordance with the provisions laid down in the aforementioned regulations of the UGC," said the bench.

The bench said the university's VC does not fulfil the eligibility criteria as per the UGC Regulations, 2018, namely, having ten years of teaching work experience as a professor in the university system.

Petitioner Gambhirdan K. Gadhvi argued that ignoring a regulation of the UGC, a search committee was constituted under Section 10(2)(b) of the Sardar Patel University Act, 1955 on July 29, 2016, with no nominee of the Chairman of the UGC.

The Gujarat High Court dismissed the plea by the petitioner in July 2018, holding that the UGC regulations had not been adopted by Gujarat and thus were not binding upon respondent university. The petitioner moved the top court against the high court order.
New Delhi, March 3 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said that it has seized assets worth Rs 4.79 crore including 2.4 crore cash and immovable properties worth Rs 2.75 crore belonging to two brothers, Sumit Agarwal and Sachin Agarwal, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

During the investigation being conducted by the ED into the remittance of foreign exchange to Hong Kong based companies in the guise of Import Advance remittances by the dummy entities located in India, searches were conducted at the premises of the beneficiary owners of Hong Kong based entities in November 2021.

During the searches, Rs 2 crore cash was seized from the premises of Agarwals in Delhi.

Incriminating documents were seized from premises located in Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala, Rajasthan and Chennai.

"The investigation revealed that out of the Rs 20 crore remitted by one such entity under investigation, Rs 2.85 crore was received by the Hong Kong based entities wherein the promoters, shareholders and Directors were the accused," said the ED official.

The official said that the ED has learnt during the investigation that the duo has acquired the assets in the form of foreign exchange and foreign security in Hong Kong in contravention of provisions of Section 4 of FEMA.

"Out of Rs 4.79 crore seized under FEMA, 1999, Rs 2.85 crore is foreign exchange received from Indian proprietorship firm Spring Infotech and Rs 1.94 crore is the foreign security held by the brothers in the form of foreign securities in Hong Kong," said the official.

Accordingly, the ED seized the properties worth Rs 4.79 crore located in India equivalent to the assets held in Hong Kong by the brothers in exercise of the powers conferred under FEMA, 1999.
New Delhi, March 3 : International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday released a 10-point plan for the European Union to wean off its dependence on Russian gas.

The move comes as a way to ease the energy crisis that may come due to Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The IEA's plan for the EU recommends accelerated deployment of renewable energy such as wind and solar. The plan highlights that depending on existing coal infrastructure will be extremely costly and not in line with EU's climate objectives.

Fatih Birol, IEA Executive Director, released the plan via virtual press conference along with the French Minister for Ecological Transition Barbara Pompili and European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson.

Birol highlighted that energy efficiency, increasing gas storage requirement, accelerated wind and solar energy deployment, temporary use of existing low carbon infrastructure, and reducing wasteful consumption, could reduce Russian gas imports by one-third within this year.

He further stated that continued investments and cutting red tape in renewable energy deployment could help the EU reach its decarbonisation goal in accordance with EU's climate policy.

IEA's analysis acknowledged that relying on coal-fired power plants and oil as substitutes for Russian gas imports would not only go against the EU's green policy but also prove to be extremely costly.

Financing new coal projects has become increasingly difficult as financial institutes and banks are increasingly moving away from coal projects due to financial and reputational risk.

IEA's recent report on methane highlighted how coal mines are now the single largest source of methane emissions from the power sector.

At the press meet, Barbara Pompili, French Minister for Ecological Transition, stressed the importance of having long-term clean energy measures alongside short-term diversification.

"More than ever, getting rid of Russian fossil fuels and of fossil fuels in general, is essential... Each additional wind turbine or solar panel in Europe is a step forward for our energy independence." As Russia-Ukraine conflict intensifies and extends, global commodity prices have skyrocketed. Highlighting the need for countries to move towards low-carbon sources such as wind and solar as a way for energy independence.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner called "renewable energy is freedom energy" while supporting Germany's new pledge to reach 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2035.
New Delhi, March 3 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao met BJP MP Subramanian Swamy and farmer leader Rakesh Tikait in the national capital on Thursday.

The three leaders discussed the current political situation in the country, party sources said.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, has been camping in the national capital for the past few days. He is due to visit Ranchi on Friday, party sources said.

The Telangana CM has lately intensified efforts to take on the ruling BJP at the Centre. He has been reaching out to regional leaders in different states as part of his plans to forge an anti-BJP alliance at the national level.

Ahead of his arrival in Delhi on Monday night, there were talks that KCR would meet leaders of opposition parties, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav.

It was also speculated that he is likely to join West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee at a Samajwadi Party election rally in Varanasi on Thursday. There have been no developments on this front so far.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait had led the farmers' protests against the three Central farm laws, which have been since repealed by the government. Tikait has been critical of the BJP.

Of late, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has been critical of the Central government's handling of different issues.

As part of his exercise to reach out to political leaders in other parts of the country, KCR had recently travelled to Mumbai where he met Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiva Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray. He had also met NCP chief Sharad Pawar on that occasion.

With the BJP trying to emerge as an alternative to the ruling TRS in Telangana, relations between the two have taken a turn for the worse over the last few months.
13 year old Atharva Nakhre, of Kelwe, who drowned in the Kelwe Beach tragedy with 3 other teens from Nashik. Image Source: IANS News

13 year old Atharva Nakhre, of Kelwe, who drowned in the Kelwe Beach tragedy with 3 other teens from Nashik. Image Source: IANS News

Palghar, March 3 : In a tragic incident, 4 teens, including 3 from Nashik on a picnic, drowned at the Kelwe Beach while trying to rescue a 13-year-old boy who was being swept away in strong currents of a whirlpool during high tide, here on Thursday, police said.

One 17-year-old boy, Abhilekh Devare, who was also sucked in by the swirling waters, but could swim, was pulled ashore with a rope thrown by a local tongawala (cart owner), said an official.

The 3 victims were part of a 39-strong group of junior college students, including 11 girls, accompanied by 5 teachers, who arrived here in a tourist bus for a day's picnic at the picturesque Kelwe Beach, when the tragedy struck.

The deceased have been identified as Deepak Vadkate, Om Vispute and Krishna Shelar, all aged 17, and residents of Brahma Valley in Nashik, besides the local boy Atharve Nakhre.

According to Palghar Dy SP Nita Padvi, the picnickers were enjoying on the isolated Arabian Sea beach, presently lined with sandbags stacked on a km long stretch to prevent erosion.

At that time, a local village boy Atharva Nakhre, who was playing with his young friends, was trapped in Arabian Sea waters as the levels suddenly rose in the high-tide.

Hearing his screams for help, some of the Nashik boys jumped in the water to rescue him, but they could not battle the currents and were swept off in the Arabian Sea.

Their college-mates and teachers raised cries for help but there were no people around on a weekday, though the tongawala, Rashid Khan managed to reach and save one boy from the waters.

After several hours of search by police and local villagers, the bodies of all the victims were fished out of the waters and after autopsy, shall be handed over to their families, said Patil.

A local resident, R. Mukne claimed that in the past over a decade there have been at least 15 incidents of drownings on the Kelwe Beach which is mostly deserted, and frequented by few from other cities like Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Nashik, etc.

The local village panchayat has erected warning signs and appointed two lifeguards to man the beach, but many visitors prefer to go to the far end of the beach and risk their lives where deadly whirlpools are known to form regularly, he said.
Amaravati, March 3 : Andhra Pradesh's minister for municipal administration Botsa Satyanarayana said on Thursday that the state government remains committed to its decision to develop three state capitals.

He told reporters that three capital Bills will soon be tabled in the Assembly. His statement came hours after Andhra Pradesh High Court pronounced its orders on petitions filed by Amaravati farmers challenging trifurcation of the capital.

He said the government would react to the verdict after going through the judgment. He said the government will examine the details in the judgment and then decide whether to challenge it in the Supreme Court or not.

The minister said that the YSR Congress Party government's policy is to develop three capitals to ensure decentralization and development of all regions.

The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday directed the state government to complete implementation of Amaravati capital city master plan in six months.

The court also asked the government to hand over developed plots with all basic amenities to farmers within three months. The government was also asked not to alienate lands in Amaravati for any purpose other than development of state capital.

The court said that the Legislature has no legislative competence to pass any resolution/law for change of capital or bifurcating or trifurcating the capital city.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra pronounced the judgment on 75 petitions filed by Amaravati farmers and others challenging the government's move for trifurcation of state capital.

The court directed the government to keep it informed about the development works taken up as per capital city master plan.

"How can the plots be given in three months. We have to see whether this is practical or not," the minister remarked.

Botsa Satyanarayana also argued that state legislature and Parliament have the right to make legislation. He also contended that the state legislature can also make laws with regard to the state capitals.
New Delhi, March 3 : A 45-year-old man, who was declared a proclaimed offender 11 years ago in a case of theft, was finally arrested by the Delhi Police, an official said on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Hansraj alias Raj, a resident of Krishna Nagar, was booked in a case under Sections 380 (Theft in dwelling house) and 457 (Lurking house-trespass or house-breaking by night in order to commit offence punishable with imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code in 2004.

According to the police, six years later, the accused was then declared a proclaimed offender by Saket court in 2010 as he was absconding.

On February 17 this year, an information about Hansraj was received by the staff of Saket police station following which a team was set up to nab him. It was found during the surveillance that he was living under a false identity in the area of Krishna Nagar, and the area was raided and he was apprehended.
Panaji, March 3 : Still smarting from the humiliation of being pipped to the post after the 2017 Assembly elections in Goa, the Congress in the coastal state appears to have prepared a choreographed programme for claiming power on March 10, when votes polled in the February 14 Assembly polls are scheduled to be counted.

According to former Ports Minister Michael Lobo, the Congress is confident of coming to power in Goa and has even set a timeline for making a claim to form the government this time around.

"The Congress candidates who become MLAs will not split this time. We will give a good government. By 3 pm on March 10, the results will be out, and the Congress will stake claim to form the government by 5 pm," Lobo told reporters.

"Those in power now will go to the opposition soon... They need not worry," Lobo said.

"But they should not think that we will split this time. No one will split. We are all strong. People from other parties are in touch with us. They have told us that they do not want to go to the other side," he added.

Interestingly, Lobo was a BJP MLA from 2012-2022 and joined the Congress just ahead of the February 14 Assembly elections.

After the 2017 Assembly poll results were declared, Lobo was one of the key BJP leaders who was instrumental in shepherding some non-BJP legislators into the saffron camp, enabling late Manohar Parrikar to stake claim to form a BJP-led coalition government.

After the Assembly polls in 2017, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party, but delay on its part to approach the Raj Bhavan with requisite numbers helped the BJP stake claim to power.

Lobo, who was appointed as a Ports Minister during the BJP's second stint in power, quit the BJP accusing the state leadership of neglecting the party's cadre.
New Delhi, March 3 : The Congress on Thursday attacked the government and alleged that it is seeking publicity over the humanitarian crisis due to the war in Ukraine.

Congress Deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said, "It's a pity to see that the humanitarian duty of the government of India towards its citizens has become a self-seeking publicity drive for their supreme leader. The scripted speeches and the flashlight of a dozen cameras debase what is essential public service." Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too said that it is the duty of the government and is not a favour.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday said that all members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) gave strong and unanimous support to the government for its efforts to bring back all the Indians from Ukraine.

Soon after the the meeting, he said, "Just completed a MEA consultative committee meeting on developments in Ukraine. A good discussion on the strategic and humanitarian aspects of the issue. Strong and unanimous message of support for efforts to bring back all Indians from Ukraine." According to sources, the members of the Parliamentary Committee were briefed by Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on the steps taken by the government to bring back the stranded Indians from war-torn Ukraine.
New Delhi, March 3 : Two people were arrested for killing a 40-year-old man in the national capital while the third and prime accused in the case was believed to have fled to Nepal, an official said on Thursday.

The accused were identified as Gopal Bahadur alias Milan, Sonu and Devendra, all natives of Nepal.

DCP (North) Delhi, Sagar Singh Kalsi said, an information was received from Lady Hardinge Medical College Hospital on February 27 that one person identified as Mangal, a resident of Sadar Bazar, Delhi, was admitted with multiple injuries. According to the Medico Legal Case, the injured man was found lying unconscious at Sadar Bazar around 5 a.m. on that day.

Brutal injuries were found on the Head and eyes of the victim. He had a cut on his scalp that was at least 5 cm long and 2 cm deep. As the condition of the victim was critical, he was shifted to the Safdarjung Hospital.

During enquiry, it was learnt that the nephew of the injured, who was identified as Bhuvan had brought him to the hospital. Bhuvan told police that at about 5 a.m. on February 27, when he was going to meet his father who is a security guard at Shiv Market Sadar Bazar, Near Rui Mandi, he saw his uncle Mangal lying unconscious, in a pool of blood after which he rushed him to the hospital.

Based on the nephew's statement, the police initially registered a case under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code, however, as the man succumbed to his injuries the next day, the section was converted to 302 (punishment for murder) of the IPC.

The police said they analysed over 100 CCTV footage in the area and identified all the three accused involved in the crime.

"Raids were conducted at all possible hideouts and accused Sonu was apprehended from Krishna Nagar on February 28," the official said. The accused Sonu was then taken on a police custody remand for two days during which he disclosed the location of second accused Gopal, who was also then apprehended on March 1, Tuesday.

At the instance of accused persons, the weapon of offence i.e. an iron rod was recovered. During interrogation, the arrested duo disclosed that the prime accused Devender and deceased Mangal belonged to the same family and had a quarrel last year during which Devender and his father Bharat were beaten by Mangal and his family.

The prime accused, who is still absconding, then hatched a conspiracy to eliminate the victim and committed the offence. Further probe is on, the official added.
Dhaka, March 3 : Liton Das (60) and Nasum Ahmed's (4/10) brilliant performance helped Bangladesh thrash Afghanistan by 61 runs in the 1st T20I and take 1-0 lead in the two match series, here on Thursday.

Having opted to bat first, Bangladesh were pegged back by early wickets inside the Powerplay. Fazalhaq Farooqi trapped opener Mohammad Naim in front of the stumps with a brilliant inswinging yorker. Initially given not out, DRS came to Afghanistan's rescue as the tracker showed three reds to bring an end to Naim's short stay.

Munim Shahriar then tried to counter-attack, smashing consecutive fours off Mujeeb Ur Rahman's bowling, but the introduction of Rashid Khan became his undoing, as he too was adjudged leg before wicket.

Shakib Al Hasan's stay at the crease didn't last long either, but Liton Das at the other end kept the scoreboard ticking for Bangladesh. He stitched a crucial 33-run stand with skipper Mahmud Ullah in just 19 balls to give some much-needed impetus to the innings.

His sublime touch with the bat continued, as he posted his third 50 plus score of the tour so far. Afif Hossain and Das added 46 runs for the fifth wicket to help Bangladesh build towards posting a respectable total. Das eventually fell to Farooqi for 60, after which Afghanistan fought back to restrict Bangladesh to 155/8.

During Afghanistan's run chase, Nasum Ahmed ran riot with the ball early on, scalping four wickets in his three overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz made room to cut over the field on the offside but the miscued slash went into the hands of Yasir Ali at cover-point. In his next over, Ahmed removed the dangerous Hazratullah Zazai and Darwish Rasooli before scalping Karim Janat in his third over, finishing the powerplay with dream figures of 4/7, an ICC report said.

Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi were cautious in their approach and bailed Afghanistan out of trouble. However, with the run-rate climbing over 10 runs an over at the halfway point, the 37-run partnership eventually came to an end when Nabi holed in the deep trying to up the ante.

Zadran too would follow suit, going for a hit but only finding a leading-edge as Shakib struck again to bring an end to his knock of 27. Azmatullah Omarzai tried his best (20 off 18) but perished Mustafizur and Rashid Khan also contributed 1 run to the cause as the match was slipping away from the visitors.

They would eventually fall short by 61 runs, being bowled out on 94 in only 17.4 overs as the hosts went 1-0 up in the series.

Brief scores: Bangladesh 155/8 in 20 overs (Liton Das 60; Fazalhaq Farooqi 2-27) beat Afghanistan 94 in 17.4 overs (Nasum Ahmed 4-10, Shoriful Islam 3-29) by 61 runs.
New Delhi, March 3 : India's Defence Ministry on Thursday issued survival guidelines for Indian nationals stranded in Ukraine, especially Kharkiv, while warning them of aerial raids and drone attacks.

The ministry also told stranded Indian citizens to learn a few sentences in Russian language, such as telling people they were students from India.

"Here are the sentences in Russian: 'Ya student iz Indii (I am a student from India)', 'Ya nekombatant (I am a non-combatant)', 'Pazhalusta Pamagite (please, help me)'," the ministry said in advisory for Indian nationals in Ukraine's Kharkiv about potentially dangerous and difficult situations to be expected.

This advisory, prepared by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, warns about aerial raids, missile attacks, artillery shelling, small arms and gunfire, grenade explosions and 'Molotov cocktails', including by local people/militia.

It also warned of building collapse, falling debris, internet jamming, lack of electricity and food and water, exposure to freezing temperature, psychological trauma, feeling of panic, injuries and lack of medical support, as well as lack of transportation, and coming face-to-face with armed fighters and military personnel.

Providing round rules and things to do, it asked nationals to compile and share information with fellow Indians, remain mentally strong and do not panic.

"Organise yourselves in small groups/squads of ten Indian students/within that organise a buddy/pair system/nominate a coordinator and a deputy coordinator in each group of ten persons," said the ministry advisory, adding that their presence and whereabouts must always be known to their buddy and small group coordinator.

The ministry also told Indian nationals make a Whatsapp group, compile details, names, address, mobile numbers and contacts in India and share geolocation on WhatsApp with control rooms in the Embassy or in New Delhi.

It asked the to update information every eight hours, keep frequent head count every eight hours, and group, and squad coordinators must report their location to control rooms and helpline numbers.

The advisory also stressed that they must avoid stepping out from their bunker, basement, or shelter at all times.

"Stay indoors, preferably in designated safe zones, basements, bunkers. If you find yourself in the streets, then walk on the sides of the roads, close to cover of buildings, crouch low to avoid being targeted, do not cross streets, avoid city centres, or downtown areas. Turn around street corners in urban areas with great caution," it said.

"Do not go to downtown and crowded areas. Do not join local protestors or militia. Refrain from commenting on social media. Don't pick up weapons or any unexploded ammunition/shells," it said.

The ministry also advised them not to take pictures/selfies with military vehicles, troops, soldiers, check posts and militia.

"Do not try and film live combat situations. In the event of warning sirens, take immediate shelter wherever possible. If you are in the open, lie flat on your stomach and cover your head with your backpack," it said.

"Avoid unstable/damaged buildings and be mindful of falling/flying debris. Stay away from glass windows to avoid injury from flying glass during explosions or gunfire," it said.

The ministry also advised they not consume alcohol and refrain from substance abuse.

"Do not wear wet socks to avoid chill blains/frostbite. Wherever possible, remove your shoes and dry your socks and other wet belongings," said the ministry said.

Indians were asked to keep ready a small kit of essential items on persons or at hand round the clock, with the emergency kit containing passport, ID cards, essential medication/life-saving drugs, torch, matchbox, lighter, candles, cash, energy bars, power banks, water, first-aid kit, headgear, muffler, gloves, warm jacket and warm socks and a comfortable pair of shoes.

"Conserve and share food and water: avoid full meals, eat smaller portions to extend the rations. Stay hydrated. If you find yourself in an open area/field, melt snow to make water.

"If available, keep one large garbage bag per person to use as ground matting/cover against exposure to rain/ cold/storm/during forced march/evacuation." If injured or ill, intimate condition and seek advice from control room, helpline and WhatsApp group, the advisory said.

Indians were also asked then delete all unnecessary apps in mobile, limit conversations to low volume, and audio mode to conserve battery life.

"Pack minimum personal belongings (other than the emergency kit) preferably in small backpack suitable for long trek and walking," said the ministry.

Be ready to move under instructions at short notice, do not carry large bags to avoid slowing down, fatigue and crowding, it said.

"If stopped by military check-post or by police/armed personnel/militia - cooperate/ obey/raise your hands with open palms facing forward above your shoulders/remain polite/provide necessary information/contact the control room/helpline when possible without confrontation," it said.
Jaipur, March 3 : The controversy over the distribution of iPhone-13 to state MLAs in Rajasthan intensified when BJP MLA and former Education Minister Vasudev Devnani on Thursday expressed apprehension of spying on MLAs.

He alleged that a chip was put into iPhone-13 distributed to the MLAs.

The state government had distributed iPhones to all MLAs after the budget presentation.

The BJP, however, decided to return the phones citing the huge debt of the state government.

On Thursday,, Devnani said that the BJP is exposing the government.

He argued that legislators could have been asked to deposit bills after purchasing iPhones on their own.

"Why was the iPhone gift considered during the fourth budget after 3 years? There certainly seems to be a possibility of espionage. The nature of the government has been to spy on Congress MLAs. If it even thinks of spying on the MLAs of the opposition, then it is not a big deal. This is one of the reasons behind returning the iPhone. In the earlier budget, the legislators themselves had presented the bill by buying laptops, so there was no possibility of spying in it," said Devnani.

Devnani said that out of the total 71 BJP MLAs, 57 have returned iPhones so far. 7 MLAs did not even take mobiles. Rest 7 MLAs are out of work. The remaining MLAs will also return the iPhone in a day or two.

State Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas meanwhile said that returning the iPhone is a drama of BJP MLAs. There is a fight in the BJP legislature party.

Congress MLA Prashant Bairwa said that if there is such a danger of chip in the iPhone, then BJP MLAs should also return the flats. Will there be CCTV cameras inside them too? There could be espionage there too. Devnani should respond in Pegasus case instead of pretending to return the iPhone. MLA Prashant Bairwa said that iPhones are considered the most secure.
New Delhi, March 3 : US military intelligence has launched a large-scale campaign to recruit contract soldiers from private military companies (PMC) to be sent to Ukraine, said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov.

"US military intelligence has launched a large-scale campaign to recruit PMC contractors to be sent to Ukraine," he said.

First of all, employees of the American PMCs -- Academi, Cubic and Dean Corporation -- are recruited, Konashenkov said, RT reported.

The representative of the ministry also noted that Britain, Denmark, Latvia, Poland and Croatia have legally allowed their citizens to participate in the hostilities on the territory of Ukraine.

"The command of the French foreign legion plans to send military personnel - ethnic Ukrainians - to help the Kiev regime," he said.

Foreign mercenaries who have arrived in Ukraine are committing sabotage and raids on Russian convoys of equipment and supplies, as well as aircraft covering them," Konashenkov said.

The Russian armed forces surrounded and destroyed the main groups of Ukrainian nationalists, and it was against this background that mercenaries from other countries began to arrive in Ukraine, he said.

"We draw your attention to the fact that against the backdrop of the encirclement and destruction of the main groups of Ukrainian nationalists by the Russian armed forces, Western countries have increased the dispatch of contract soldiers from private military companies to the combat areas," he said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has warned that all mercenaries who come to Ukraine to help the Kiev regime are not combatants and are not eligible for prisoner of war status, RT reported.

"I want to officially emphasise that all mercenaries sent by the West to help the Kiev nationalist regime are not combatants under international humanitarian law. They are not entitled to prisoner of war status," he said.

"The best thing" that awaits foreign mercenaries upon arrest is criminal prosecution, Konashenkov added.

"We urge citizens of foreign countries planning to go to fight for the Kiev nationalist regime to think twice before the trip," the representative of the defense department concluded.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
New Delhi, March 3 : The Supreme Court on Thursday said the state government was only empowered to levy excise duty on alcoholic liquor for human consumption, and it has no power to levy excise on wastage of liquor after distillation.

A bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and B.R. Gavai said: "This court held that the state was only empowered to levy excise duty on alcoholic liquor for human consumption. This court held that the state has no power to levy excise duty on wastage of liquor after distillation." Referring to the seven-judge Constitution bench judgment in Synthetics and Chemicals Ltd and others vs State of UP and three-judge bench decision in Uttar Pradesh and others vs Modi Distillery, te bench said the Constitution bench had held that the state legislature had no authority to levy duty or tax on alcohol, which is not for human consumption and that could be levied only by the Centre.

Utkal Distilleries Ltd was granted a license by the Odisha government for the purpose of manufacturing, bottling, blending, and reduction of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL). The company, as required under license, installed an extra natural alcohol (ENA) column to purify the rectified spirit, which is used in the manufacturing of IMFL. The company said during the manufacturing process, a "weak" spirit was generated, which was not potable.

The company sent a sample of this spirit for examination to the State Drugs Testing and Research Laboratory, Odisha, and this declared it unfit for human consumption.

However, the state government sent multiple demand notices to the company asking it to pay excise duty on the weak spirit, which was in excess of two per cent allowable wastage. The Odisha High Court stayed the demand notices issued by the state government, which it challenged in the Supreme Court.

The bench said alcoholic liquors, which are for human consumption, are put in Entry 51 List II authorising the state legislature to levy tax on them, whereas alcoholic liquors other than for human consumption have been left to the Central legislature under Entry 84 for levy of duty of excise.

Dismissing the appeal of the state government, the bench said: "In view of the legal position as settled by the Constitution Bench of this Court in the case of Synthetics and Chemicals Ltd (supra) and the three Judge Bench in the case of Modi Distillery (supra) and the statutory provisions contained in the said Act, we see no reason to interfere with the impugned judgment and order."
New Delhi, March 3 : A module of cyber crooks, who used to defraud people pan-India by hacking their Gmail accounts, has been busted by Delhi Police with the arrest of two M.Com students, an official said here on Thursday.

The accused have been identified as Anurag Kumar Singh and Vikas Kumar Maddheshiya, both pursuing their M.Com in Prayagraj.

The duo reveled that they were trained to compromise Gmail accounts by a pan-India gang over Zoom meetings. The police termed it as a "major internet security issue and a matter of concern".

Furnishing details about the matter, DCP Brijendra Kumar Yadav said that a case was registered based on a complaint received on the NCRP portal, which said that a man was defrauded of Rs 89,100 in a clandestine manner.

A transaction was made from his SBI account even though he did not share the OTP with anyone, as he was sleeping at that time.

Accordingly, the police registered a case under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and took up the investigation.

"Information was sought from Flipkart which provided two email accounts that were used by the fraudsters to purchase Google gift cards. SBI Credit Card officials provided data of the transactions carried out by the fraudsters," the DCP said.

From both the links, a common IP address was identified. Cyber-tracking conducted after information was received from Flipkart helped the police trace the accused persons to the ADA Colony in Prayagraj. A raid was conducted at the specified location from where both the accused were arrested.

During interrogation, the duo revealed that they hacked the Gmail accounts of the victims, and once access was obtained, they committed financial fraud using the bank/credit/debit card details with the help of their associate, Prabhakar Vikram Singh, who is yet to be arrested.

It was further revealed that so far, they compromised more than 25 Gmail accounts and defrauded people of lakhs of rupees.

A search is on to nab the remaining accused person.
New Delhi, March 3 : The MMTC-PAMP, India's only London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) good delivery gold amd silver refinery, on Thursday launched limited-edition silver coins in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature India (WWF India) to raise awareness about key wildlife species in India on the World Wildlife Day.

The WWD theme for 2022 is 'Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration' to draw attention to the conservation status of some of the most critically endangered species of wild fauna and flora, which will drive discussions towards imagining and implementing solutions to conserve them.

The limited-edition silver coins of 'Nature and Nurture' series showcases togetherness between the adult and young of select wild animals. Through this association, MMTC-PAMP is supporting WWF India in its mission to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

"The newly launched beautifully illustrated coins come in fine silver of 999.9 purity and feature some of India's most iconic species," a release from WWF India said.

MMTC-PAMP MD & CEO Vikas Singh said: "Our collaboration with WWF India is a significant stride towards driving awareness around their conservation efforts. As the leading trusted brand for precious metals in the country, we are pleased to present the purest silver 999.9 collectibles featuring India's most iconic and endangered species, crafted to the highest standards of purity with MMTC-PAMP's unmatched Swiss craftsmanship." These limited-edition silver collectibles are ideal for gifting, he said, adding: "The purchase of each coin furthers a strong message that can be your contribution towards preserving nature and raise awareness towards excellent initiatives undertaken by WWF India." WWF India Secretary-General and CEO Ravi Singh said: "World Wildlife Day is an occasion to raise awareness and understanding about wildlife, their habitats, and the ecosystems they represent. MMTC-PAMP's limited edition coins launch is a continuing initiative in our partnership, showcasing threatened and iconic wildlife species in their unique representation. With this collaboration, both organisations hope to take ahead the cause of wildlife conservation." MMTC-PAMP is joint venture between Switzerland-based bullion brand, PAMP SA, and MMTC Ltd, an India government undertaking.
Hyderabad, March 3 : Telangana police on Thursday announced the arrest of six persons in connection with the killing of two realtors on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said the police cracked the case within 48 hours from the time the crime was committed.

M. Matta Reddy, a realtor, is the key conspirator in the case. He hired killers to eliminate N. Srinivas Reddy and K. Raghvender Reddy, with whom he had some land dispute.

The other arrested persons are Khaja Mohiuddin, Burri Bikshapathi, Syed Raheem, Sameer Ali and Raju Khan. Two other accused -- Chandan Siban and Sonu, both from Bihar -- are absconding.

The police seized two 7.65 mm country-made pistols, 19 live cartridges and two empty cartridges from the possession of the accused persons.

The victims were gunned down at around 6 am on March 1 when they were visiting Cherlapatelguda village under the limits of Ibrahimpatnam police station.

According to the police, Matta Reddy had a dispute with Srinivas Reddy who along with his friend Raghavendra Reddy took a piece of land for development adjacent to the Lake Villa Orchards Pvt Ltd, where Matta Reddy owned some plots.

As Srinivas Reddy was meddling in the adjacent plots and was even claiming ownership, Matta Reddy saw him as a potential trouble and hatched a plot to eliminate him.

Matta Reddy offered a house plot each to his watchman Khaja Mohiuddin and the latter's friend Bhikshapathi for killing Srinivas Reddy. He also roped in Mohiuddin's uncle Syed Raheem. Another accused, Sameer Ali, acted as the commission agent and procured two firearms from the two accused in Bihar.

The investigation revealed that Matta Reddy has a criminal history and had changed his name to hush up his criminal antecedents. The deceased were also involved in a few criminal cases.
Chennai, March 3 : Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister S. Durai Murugan on Thursday urged his Kerala counterpart Roshy Augustine to restore permission for felling 15 trees in Mullaperiyar dam site, saying this was part of the directive of the Supreme Court to strengthen the dam.

In a letter to Augustine, he said that the Kerala Water Resources and Forest Departments were denying permission to convey the materials and machinery to the dam site for carrying out routine maintenance works, which were. as per the guidelines of the Central Water Commission as well as in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court dated February 27, 2006, and May 7,2014.

The Tamil Nadu minister said that the Kerala government must revoke its order dated November 11, 2021, at the earliest and restore the permission issued for the felling of 15 trees.

He said that the Kerala government has been requesting the installation of a seismograph and accelograph in the dam site which was also recommended by the Central Water Commission.

The senior DMK leader said that while the machines are ready for installation through the National Geo Physical Research Institute, Hyderabad, the Kerala Forest Department has not permitted the transport of materials for installing them.

Durai Murugan wanted the Kerala minister to personally intervene in the matter and requested an urgent and positive response from him, noting that Mullaperiyar is vital for the farmers in his state's five drought-prone districts - Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Sivagangai, and Ramanathapuram - for drinking water needs and for their livelihood.
New Delhi, March 3 : Centre on Thursday said that the Arunachal Pradesh's Hollongi airport is expected to become operational from August 15.

The 'greenfield airport' in Hollongi is 15 km from the state's capital Itanagar and is being developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The airport is planned for operationalisation on August 15, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement, adding that the project, with an estimated cost of Rs 645 crore, includes construction of airport pavements, airside work, terminal building and city side works.

According to the ministry, the proposed airport is designed for operations of A-320 category of aircraft and future extension of runway by 500 metre length to cater A-321 type of aircraft. Besides, the airport will feature a terminal building that will be able to handle 200 passengers during peak hours.

"Equipped with eight check-in counters, the terminal building will have all modern passenger facilities," the statement said.

"Development work is in full swing and almost 80 per cent of airside works is completed," the ministry said.

Furthermore, the progress of construction of new interim terminal building is 30 per cent, it added.

As per the ministry, the terminal will be an energy efficient building provisioned with 'Rain Water Harvesting' system and sustainable landscape.

"The development work also includes construction of ATC tower cum technical block, fire station, medical centre and other ancillary works," it added.
New Delhi, March 3 : Most members of the Russian elite are now busy evacuating their relatives and loved ones from Moscow to Georgia, Israel and the UAE, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

"The top political leadership of the Russian Federation continues to panic and the level of mistrust of the President of the Russian Federation is increasing. Most members of the Russian elite are deciding to evacuate their relatives and loved ones from Moscow to Georgia, Israel and the Arab Emirates, and are specifying places of refuge in case of a nuclear war," as per intelligence data, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

From a conversation held with the advisor-envoy of the Russian Embassy in the United States, Artur Rushanovich Lyukmanov, with an unidentified person named Vladislav Lutsenko, the probability of a nuclear conflict (not war) is present, but small.

At the same time, according to Lutsenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin has already lost the war with Ukraine. It is also believed that the Russian President has currently "lost his mind and his condition is not adequate", the report said.

Ukraine's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, warned that Russia may resort to provocation as the country points its own rockets stationed in Ukraine towards Russian territory.

In a Twitter post, Kuleba said, "Worrying reports: Russians might have pointed multiple rocket-launching systems in the Russian border village of Popovka towards their own territory.

"Knowing the barbaric nature of Russian actions, we fear a false flag operation might be prepared in order to accuse Ukraine." (Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
Chennai, March 3 : The sanctions imposed by the US and other nations on Russia may not have any major abrasive effect on India's Carborundum Universal Ltd (CUMI) and its Russian subsidiary Volzhsky Abrasive Plant, officials said.

Last week, Russia launched a military attack against Ukraine, resulting in sanctions imposed by the US and other European countries.

The Volzhsky Abrasive Plant makes silicon carbide, abrasive tools and refractories.

Speaking to IANS on condition of anonymity, an industry source said: "As per the current situation, there will be no major impact on the business. The Russian company deals with different banks and will not be affected by the financial sanctions imposed on that country by the US and others." At an investor call last month, N. Ananthaseshan, Managing Director of CUMI, had said that 40 per cent of Volzhsky Abrasive Plant's sales gets done in Russia CIS and Ukraine is part of that sales group.

"We also buy raw materials from Ukraine for our abrasives in Russia. So, the equation with the Russian suppliers and customers are pretty normal as of now. And that's why I said we don't see a major disruption happening on the ground while there are definitely a lot of noise in terms of the geopolitical equations," Ananthaseshan had said.

Further, about 60 per cent of Volzhsky Abrasive Plant's production is shipped out to Europe and other countries, and as there are no sanctions on the products, so the company will not be affected, the industry official said.

According to the official, what may impact Volzhsky Abrasive Plant is logistics if Russia's military action in Ukraine extends for a longer period of time, with shipping lines saying they may not call on Russian ports.

However, CUMI did not respond to the questions sent by IANS.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Imphal, March 3 : The over two-month-long hectic poll campaign for the second phase of the 60-member Manipur Assembly elections came to an end on Thursday afternoon ahead of voting on Saturday for the remaining 22 seats in six districts.

Election Officials said that more than 300 companies of Central paramilitary forces have been deployed in the second phase in Thoubal, Jiribam, Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati and Tamenglong districts for Saturday's polling.

Thoubal falls in the valley area while the other five districts are in the mountainous areas bordering Assam and Nagaland, as well as Myanmar, making security forces maintain high vigil along both the international and the inter-state borders.

According to the election officials, an electorate of 8,47,400, including 4,28,968 women, would cast their votes in 1,247 polling stations to decide the electoral fate of 92 candidates including two women.

Eelection officials said that as part of a series of measures for a Covid-safe election, mandatory sanitisation of the polling stations was done in all six districts.

Saturday's balloting would settle the electoral fortunes of three time (2002-2017) Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, of the Congress, as well as several BJP ministers and sitting MLAs.

The 74-year-old veteran leader, Singh is contesting from the Thoubal Assembly seat in Thoubal district and is locked in a four-corner contest against BJP's Leitanthem Basanta Singh, Janata Dal-United's Irom Chaoba Singh and Shiv Sena's Konsam Michael Singh.

The main opposition Congress did not field candidates in four of the 22 Assembly seats -- Chandel, Mao, Tadubi, Tamenglong and the political circles observed that it is tacitly supporting the candidates of National People's Party (NPP), headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, which is an ally of the BJP in both Meghalaya and Manipur since 2017, but contesting separately in Manipur this time.

The campaign has seen Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP President J.P. Nadda, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, his Tripura counterpart Biplab Kumar Deb, NPP supremo Sangma, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rajya Sabha Member Jairam Ramesh canvassing for their respective party candidates.

The BJP had bagged 21 seats in 2017 and came to power in the state for the first time, after stitching together a coalition government, with various parties including the NPP and the Naga People's Front (NPF). However, this time, all three are contesting separately and put up candidates against each other.

The Congress, which governed the state for 15 consecutive years till 2017, had formed a Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance after forging a pre-poll alliance with four Left parties and Janata Dal-Secular.

The first phase of polling was held in 38 seats on February 28, when 88.63 per cent of 12,09,439 voters exercised their franchise.

Votes will be counted on March 10.
Nairobi, March 3 : A series of regional conventions and policies are playing an essential role in monitoring climate change and preparing for extreme weather events, preventing oil spills, reducing plastic and other waste, saving coral reefs, and providing overall ocean protection and restoration of marine ecosystems.

These are the key findings of a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report, whose authors call for expanding the scope of collaboration on regional seas in the coming decade.

The report -- Contributions of Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans to a Healthy Ocean -- draws on a series of case studies which examine the cumulative impact of these conventions and policies over the past 45 years.

Through a robust body of evidence, the UN-led Regional Seas Programme -- which produced the report -- convenes and coordinates countries and institutions, and undertakes ecosystem-based planning and management to progress towards a healthy ocean and healthy people.

The Regional Seas Programme aims to bring all relevant stakeholders together to address the accelerating degradation of the world's oceans and coastal areas through a "shared seas" approach.Since its establishment in 1974, 146 countries have joined 18 Regional Seas.

Through cultivating joint scientific research, policy development and implementation, this network of regional policies has become one of the cornerstones of protection, conservation, and restoration of marine and coastal environments, it said.

Susan Gardner, Director of UNEP's Ecosystems Division, said: "Marine pollution, invasive species and natural habitat loss, excessive extraction, and ocean acidification all share one common trait: they do not respect national borders.

"Regional Seas demonstrate what can be achieved by working together for common goals at a regional scale. To secure the livelihoods of over three billion people, Regional Seas must not only be recognised, but their mandate ought to be expanded." Activities across regions are organised through Regional Action Plans for data collection and sharing best practices, addressing capacity needs (including of women, youth and indigenous peoples), mobilising financial and technical resources to support research and implementation, as well as monitoring and evaluation of ocean conditions and policy responses.

Some of the impacts of Regional Seas are in marine pollution, biodiversity protection, and scientific knowledge-sharing.

As many as 21 legally binding agreements relating to marine pollution have been adopted. These have, for example, increased preparedness to combat oil pollution incidents and spills in the Caspian Sea and the South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP) has successfully mitigated the impacts of an oil tanker collision outside of Kamarajar Port in India in 2017.

The 2013 Barcelona Convention for the Mediterranean has dramatically improved marine litter management across 10 Mediterranean countries, contributing to a 39 per cent reduction in beach marine litter and seafloor macro-litter from 2016 to 2019.

In the Pacific, the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) Elsewhere, Regional Seas have been integral to the development of early warning systems, nutrient reduction, and the adoption of the Polluter Pays principle.

Regional Seas play a pivotal role in the creation of Marine Protected Areas across the world, and the Green Fins Initiative in the East Asian Seas, the Caribbean, Red Sea and Pacific regions brings together over 600 marine tourism companies in 11 countries.

Studies show that consequently dive operators have significantly lower reef contact (and hence reef damage), the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has introduced legal requirements for port inspection to prevent illegally landed fish from entering trade, mapping of capture and trade hotspots and a threats assessment have been jointly undertaken in west Africa, thanks to the Abidjan Convention, and in the Southern Ocean, Illegal Unregulated Unreported activities have decreased from around 33,000 to under 1,000 tons in less than a decade.

The UNEP report called on decision makers, policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders to enhance collaboration across all Regional Seas, including establishing formal coordination with other types of organisation such as Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, UNESCO and the International Maritime Organisation, increased awareness raising campaigns on the value of a healthy natural environment to sustainable economic development and human wellbeing.

It concludes with a call to donors, the private sector, and NGOs to recognise and prioritise Regional Seas as a solution to some of the key risks facing the oceans.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
New Delhi, March 3 : The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service has received data indicating the intention of the United States and the Ukrainian regime to drag out the Russian military operation in Ukraine as much as possible and turn it into a positional war.

"Today it is already clearly visible, including from the intelligence information that comes to us, that the American administration and the Ukrainian regime obedient to it are betting on the maximum prolongation of the conflict, its development into a positional war of a high-degree of intensity," the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, said in a statement, RT reported.

He stated that groups of armed militants were sent to Ukraine from Western countries, who were tasked with organising and supporting the so-called "partisan underground".

"Washington hopes very much that we will get bogged down in this operation and perish, and they will be able to calmly do a 'cleansing' of the Middle East, Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region. This will not happen -- the ancient has passed, now everything is new," Naryshkin said.

"As for the future of Ukraine, it will, of course, be determined by the Ukrainians themselves. But it will be a completely different Ukraine and a different story," Naryshkin added.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the tasks of the Russian special operation in Ukraine would be fulfilled in any case, RT reported.

Putin also detailed the fundamental approaches and conditions in the context of negotiations with the representatives from the Ukraine side.

He confirmed that, first of all, "we are talking about the demilitarisation and neutral status of Ukraine so that a threat to Russia never comes from the Ukrainian territory".

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
Nairobi, March 3 : Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Stockholm address linking environmental conservation and poverty reduction was echoed in the high-level opening ceremony of the special UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) beginning here on Thursday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of UNEP.

"Friends, today we are standing on the shoulders of the Stockholm giants," said UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen in her opening ceremony remark.

"Maurice Strong, who led the conference and became UNEP's first Executive Director... Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, whose speech linked environmental conservation and poverty reduction -- one of the key principles of the Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs.

"Prime Minister Olof Palme, whose call for concerted international action resonates even today. President Jomo Kenyatta, who gave a UNEP a home at the first United Nations headquarters in the global south -- where we stand today, with his son, President Uhuru Kenyatta," Andersen said.

The UNEP chief added, "Their memories live on in us. Their deeds live on with us. Because these pioneers, and others like them -- including former UNEP Executive Directors, such as Achim Steiner, with us here today -- made everything we do possible. So let us remember how they put the environment on the global socioeconomic map." In the presence of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Leila Benali, President of the Sixth UN Environment Assembly, among others, the UNEP chief said, "Back then, carving out relevance for a little-known subject was not easy.

"People sent telegraphs, not emails. They took flights to advocate change, instead of placing video calls. There were no universities offering degrees in environmental studies." In her speech, she explained how these pioneers succeeded.

"They laid the foundations for the awareness we see today. They wove the tapestry of multilateral environmental agreements that hold us to account -- on everything from protecting species to slowing global warming. The obvious example is the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Yes, you've heard this one before, but don't stop me. Instead, pause to reflect on this achievement.

"The world united to repair a hole in the sky. Not a hole in a sock, a hole in the road, a hole in a budget. A gaping hole in the blue vastness above us. Yes, human technology carved out this hole. But we didn't double down on our mistake. We doubled back. We fixed the error, saving millions of lives and protecting nature. We showed that environmental multilateralism does deliver," she said.

"This is a lesson that should still inspire us," Andersen stressed.

Tracing 50 years of environmental milestones, she highlighted the launch of scientific bodies, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC.

"The phase-out of lead in petrol. And, just yesterday, the resolution starting negotiations on a global plastic pollution deal," Andersen said.

"But let's zoom out and see one overarching success: Today, UNEP is at the heart of protecting the asset upon which we all rely, the environment. The world has realised that we cannot pollute our way to development and clean up after.

"We have a human right to a healthy environment. Youth are demanding change. Governments, cities and regions are acting. Businesses are acting. Investors are acting," she said.

None of this was in place 50 years ago, she added.

"However, our journey will only conclude when we ensure that humanity can thrive without skewing the delicate balance of life on this glorious planet," Andersen said.

"A thread that UNEP and the environmental community have thickened, strand by additional strand, into a guide rope strong enough for us all to grasp. We must now hold fast to this rope, and follow it into blue skies, azure seas and verdant nature -- thrumming with life in all its forms. Into peace, prosperity and equity. Into a world where humanity lives as part of nature, not above it.

"We owe this to our past, to our present and to our future," Andersen added.

Just hours after 175 nations endorsed a historic resolution to end plastic pollution by creating an intergovernmental committee to negotiate and finalise a legally binding agreement by 2024, the special session of the UN Environment Assembly began here.

To mark UNEP's 50th anniversary, a year-long series of activities and outreach events are taking place under the UNEP@50 banner. These recognise the significant progress made on the global environmental matters and address the planetary challenges to come.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
Srinagar, March 3 : To create a platform for intellectual debates on Kashmir, the Indian Army on Thursday conducted a seminar at the Badamibagh Cantonment headquarters of Chinar Corps.

A defence statement said, "A one-day seminar titled 'Kashmir at Historic Crossroads' was conducted by Chinar Corps in conjunction with a Kashmiri think-tank, 'Kashmir Chapter of International Centre for Peace Studies.

"The seminar was third in the series of seminars organised to create platforms for intellectual debates on issues pertaining to Kashmir. The seminar had six speakers from cross section of intelligentsia speaking on topics relevant to ushering in permanent peace in Kashmir." Speaking on a faltering and isolated Pakistan, Ashok K. Behuria from the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies explained that it is a strategic opportunity for building lasting peace in Kashmir.

Ashok Aima, ex-Vice Chancellor of Central University of Kashmir and member of International Centre of Peace Studies, highlighted how Pakistan-induced propaganda politically and religiously misleads the youth.

Muzaffar Khan from J&K Police Rehabilitation Centre, Srinagar, spoke about increasing drug abuse and narco terrorism fuelling conflict in Kashmir.

He talked about the "denial of the society to accept the problem" and explained the various initiatives undertaken by the government to tackle the drug menace.

Javed Ahmad Beigh, a young leader, peace activist and journalist from Badgam, talked about the problem of continued refugee status of Kashmiri Hindus.

He took the opportunity to highlight that return of Kashmiri Hindus would enable the Kashmiri society to regain its multi-ethnic and multi-religious heritage.

Kashmiri journalist Saleem Pundit highlighted the role of free and fair media as a pillar of democracy in J&K. He also spoke about the added dimension of social media and its impact.

Saba Sheikh, an advocate who also works working with the White Globe NGO, spoke on the issue of impact of conflict on women and the role of women in reconciliation and peace.

On the sidelines of the seminar, Sheikh Khalid Jehangir's latest book on Kashmir titled 'Why Article 370 Had To Go' was released.

Jehangir, who is the Secretary General of International Centre of Peace Studies, had previously written a book titled 'They Snatched My Playground', which was well-received by the literary world.

Lt Gen D.P. Pandey, GOC Chinar Corps, said that Kashmir has been impacted by geo-political maneuverings, resulting in the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley.

"Pakistan's continued use of Kashmir as a tool to hit at idea of India and continued propaganda to misguide the youth has had severe impact on the outlook of peace-loving and progressive Kashmiri society," Pandey said, as he outlined the emerging geo-political forces and developments, which will have an impact on India, including Jammu and Kashmir.

He listed out: "Firstly, force of moderation and modernisation in West Asia's Islamic countries; secondly, rise of China entwined with West's plans to counter balance her; thirdly, rise of India post the Covid-19 pandemic; and lastly, unfolding of new realities of Pakistan under the impact of exit of US-led forces from Afghanistan."
Hyderabad, March 3 : Denying any involvement in the conspiracy to assassinate Telangana cabinet minister V. Srinivas Goud, BJP leader and former MP A.P. Jithender Reddy on Thursday demanded a thorough probe in the entire episode.

He said if the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has no confidence in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), it should order a judicial probe.

Talking to reporters, he took strong exception to the allegations made against him and called it a political conspiracy to defame him and the party.

The National Executive member of BJP said he had apprised the national leadership of the developments in the state.

The former MP said people of the state should know why a conspiracy was hatched to kill the minister.

"We all saw the body language of the Cyberabad Police Commissioner. He was given a script; he was acting," tweeted Jithender Reddy.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner Stephen Ravindra on Wednesday night announced the arrest of eight accused in the case. Four of the accused were arrested from the residence of Jithender Reddy in New Delhi.

Police also seized two weapons and some bullets from the accused.

According to police, the accused had offered Rs 15 crore to a person with a criminal record for killing the minister.

The Police Commissioner said Jithender Reddy's driver Tilak Thapa and personal assistant Raju provided shelter to the accused in servant quarter at the former MP's house.

Stephen Ravindra said they were probing the role of Jithender Reddy in the case. Police on Thursday moved a court seeking custody of the accused for further questioning.

Meanwhile, Jithender Reddy's driver was released on a personal bond. After the release, Thapa came to the state BJP office where party's state President Bandi Sanjay felicitated him.

Sanjay alleged that since minister Srinivas Goud's corrupt activities were becoming public, the TRS government came out with a conspiracy theory to protect him. He claimed that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was scared of BJP's growing popularity and he was trying to tarnish the image of the party by making false allegations against its leaders.

Meanwhile, Raghavendra Raju is reported to have told police that he hatched a plot to kill Srinivas Goud as he was targeting his businesses. The accused alleged that the minister not only got him implicated in false cases but damaged his real estate business and ordered closure of his bar.

--IANS ms/vd

A
Bhubaneswar, March 3 : The Odisha government on Thursday nominated special representatives in four countries to coordinate the smooth evacuation of people from the state stuck in different border points of war-torn Ukraine.

Issuing an order to this effect, Odisha Chief Secretary S.M. Mahapatra said that owing to the crisis prevailing in Ukraine, a number of people, especially students, from Odisha are still stranded in Ukraine who need to be evacuated.

Also, a number of students/professionals from Odisha have crossed over to the neighbouring countries like Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia from where they are being evacuated by the Ministry of External Affairs by special flights, Mahapatra said.

In this backdrop, the Odisha government has decided to nominate four special representatives to the four countries to coordinate with the Resident Commissioner, New Delhi, and the respective countries to ensure smooth evacuation of students and other Odia people from Ukraine, especially from the border locations.

Vice President of KIIT University, Vikramaditya, has been nominated for Poland, while Arushi Ray, who works for UNHCR, has been appointed for Hungary.

Similarly, Baishali Mohanty, UN policy officer, WFP, Rome, will make necessary coordination for evacuation of Odia people at the Romania border, whereas Anurag Pattnaik, a consultant based in Hungary, will look after the evacuation of Odia people from the border point in Slovakia.

The Resident Commissioner's office in New Delhi will be the nodal office for the purpose. The entire expenses for the purpose will be met out of the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF), said the Chief Secretary.
New Delhi, March 3 : A prominent carpet businessman from Srinagar has been arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Ludhiana branch, for allegedly claiming incentive of Rs 30 crore for the export of carpets worth Rs 190 crore.

The businessman allegedly cheated the government by exporting carpets of inferior quality, showing them as silk carpets.

The accused businessman has been identified as Irfan Rashid. The DRI teams were given instructions to look into the matter by Nitin Saini, Afditional Director General of DRI.

The carpets were of inferior quality, while the businessman had claimed that they were made using silk and had demanded incentives.

On silk materials, the government pays high incentives whereas on other materials, less incentives are paid.

The DRI officials have produced Rashid before a concerned court, which remanded him to 14-day judicial custody.

Sources have suggested that many Srinagar-based firms export carpets and the DRI teams will look into their claims and the materials supplied by them. If found guilty, action will be taken against them.

The accused, who reportedly ran four firms, exported carpets to Dubai since 2018.
New Delhi, March 3 : Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhaylo Podolyak has tweeted that he and other officials have started talks with Russian representatives in Belarus.

He has outlined the key issues on the agenda -- immediate ceasefire, armistice and humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from destroyed or constantly shelled villages and cities.

"The talks will take place," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier in a video conference, CNN reported.

Lavrov claimed -- without evidence -- that the Ukrainian side had deliberately delayed their arrival, and suggested that Ukraine is a puppet state of the United States.

Also on Thursday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said a Russian delegation was in Belarus waiting for their Ukrainian counterparts.

"Our delegation was in place last night. It was expecting Ukrainian negotiators last night, all night, then in the morning. They are still waiting," he said.

"But as you know, the talks have not started. Ukrainian negotiators are clearly in no hurry. Let's hope they arrive today," added Peskov, CNN reported.

Delegations from both countries were due to meet on Wednesday for a second round of talks.

The first round of talks on Monday lasted for five hours and ended without a breakthrough.
New Delhi, March 3 : French President Emmanuel Macron is "pessimistic" after his exchange with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and Macron thinks that "the worst is yet to come" in Ukraine.

The French and Russian presidents spoke on Thursday morning for nearly an hour-and-a-half over telephone. Putin stuck to his guns and refused any "compromise", BFMTV reported, quoting a spokesman for Macron.

The Russian President expressed "his great determination" to continue his offensive, the aim of which is "to take the control" of the whole country, the Elysee reported, according to BFMTV.

During the discussion, the Russian President told his French counterpart that the operation of the Russian army is developing "according to the plan" and that it is going to be "worse "if the Ukrainians do not accept his conditions", the French presidency said.

Putin also confirmed that he intended to carry out a "denazification" of Ukraine, as he had announced ahead of the beginning of the war.

"The President's (Macron) intuition is that the worst is yet to come given what President Putin told him," according to the Elysee.

"The Russian ambition is to take all of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin's war aims have not changed," said the same source, BFMTV reported.
New Delhi, March 3 : Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he will never give up the belief that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.

"I will never give up my conviction that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. Even despite the fact that some of the inhabitants of Ukraine were intimidated. Many are fooled by Nazi, nationalist propaganda, and someone deliberately, of course, followed the path of Bandera, other Nazi henchmen who fought on the side of Hitler during the Great Patriotic War," he said, RT reported.

Putin said that the special military operation in Ukraine is proceeding strictly according to the schedule, all the assigned tasks are being successfully solved. The President said this as part of his opening speech before the meeting of the Security Council.

He noted that the course of hostilities in Ukraine shows that the Russian Federation is fighting precisely with neo-Nazis who place equipment in residential areas and take people hostage.

The Russian armed forces have provided corridors in all the fighting zones in Ukraine, but the nationalists do not allow civilians to travel to a safe place, Putin said.

According to him, hundreds of foreigners are trying to leave the war zone, but they are not allowed to do so.

"Our servicemen have provided corridors in all clash zones without exception," Putin said, RT reported.

The Russian military also provided transport for the evacuation of civilians and foreigners to a safe place.

"I emphasize again that the nationalists do not allow this to be done," Putin said.
New Delhi, March 3 : Russian forces are relentlessly shelling the town of Manhush located on the west of Mariupol in the Donetsk region. A woman was killed in the shelling of Mayorsk. Krasnohorivka near Donetsk was also hit by Russian missiles.

Head of Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said the Russians are deliberately trying to create a humanitarian crisis in the Donetsk region, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

The administration said along with Volnovakha and Mariupol, the citizens of Manhush are also under fire. On Wednesday, Manhush was heavily shelled. The exact number of victims is impossible to determine since the town has no telephone signal. For the last three days, the town has been without electricity or water.

On Thursday, Russian forces have been firing on Mayorsk, where Russian troops have already killed a woman.

In the Ocheretynska district, the town of Krasnohorivka was shelled.

"Despite everything, we have managed to restore electricity to Zhelanne, Orlivtsi, Lastochkyne and Verhnyotoretske. Today we organised a delivery of drinking water to Vodyane, and yesterday we also delivered water to Horlivka, Lastochkyne and Semenivka. Today we should receive medicines from the Red Cross in Verhnyotoretsk and Oleksandropil. We are doing everything we can to avoid a humanitarian crisis," the head of the Military-Civilian Administration said, as per the report.

According to him, Russian troops continue to spread lies about the creation of "green corridors".

"In reality, we have no 'green corridors' here: It is a trap - they want to use the peaceful residents of the Donetsk region as a human shield to hide from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In no circumstances should you believe in information about evacuations if it does not come from official sources," Kyrylenko said.
New Delhi, March 3 : Leaders of the Quad nations -- the US, Japan, India and Australia -- on Thursday discussed ongoing developments in Ukraine, including its humanitarian implications.

The meeting came was the conflict between Russia and Ukraine entered its eighth day after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Office, in a statement, said that he participated at a virtual summit of Quad leaders, along with US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The meeting reviewed the progress on Quad initiatives since their September 2021 Summit, and agreed on accelerating cooperation, with an objective to achieve concrete outcomes by the summit in Japan later this year.

Modi underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

He called for concrete and practical forms of cooperation within the Quad, in areas like Humanitarian and Disaster Relief, debt sustainability, supply chains, clean energy, connectivity, and capacity-building.

"Developments in Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, including its humanitarian implications," the PMO said.

Modi also emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy.

The leaders also discussed other topical issues, including the situation in Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean Region, and the Pacific Islands.

Modi reiterated the importance of adhering to the UN Charter, international law and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The leaders agreed to stay in touch and to work towards an ambitious agenda for the forthcoming Leaders' Summit in Japan.

The four countries have an informal alliance called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, that positions itself as being committed to a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
New Delhi, March 3 : Indian researchers have refuted a recent claim of the discovery of a radio wave signal from cosmic dawn, the time in the infancy of the Universe when the first stars and galaxies came into existence, an official statement said on Thursday.

A team of researchers from Arizona State University (ASU) and MIT in the US had in 2018 detected a signal from stars emerging in the early universe using data from the EDGES radio telescope. The study published in journal Nature had then created much excitement in the astronomy community around the world.

The ASU/MIT team had claimed the discovery of a radio wave signalling the birth of the first stars, which was also hailed by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb as worthy of two Nobel prizes. However, the world awaited confirmation from independent researchers.

"Utilising the indigenously invented and built SARAS 3 radio telescope, researchers from Raman Research Institute, an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology refuted this claim," a release from Ministry of Science & Technology said.

The SARAS 3 radio telescope invented and built by the astronomers at the RRI is the first telescope worldwide to reach the required sensitivity. The signal claimed to have been detected by the ASU/MIT team required exotic and non-standard physics and caused astrophysicists worldwide to invent new theories, which are all now redundant.

"This research of the Raman Research Institute restores confidence in our understanding of the evolving Universe, re-establishing the prevailing cosmological model of the cosmos," it said.

The RRI findings are now published in Nature Astronomy.

SARAS is a niche high-risk high-gain experimental effort of the RRI initiated and led by Professor Ravi Subrahmanyan, along with Professor N. Udaya Shankar. It was a courageous attempt to design, build and deploy in India a precision radio telescope to detect extremely faint radio wave signals from the depths of time, from our "Cosmic Dawn" when the first stars and galaxies formed in the early Universe.

The CMB Distortion Laboratory at RRI has pioneered the development of state-of-the-art radio telescopes which are designed to detect faint cosmological signals, especially radiation emitted by hydrogen atoms at the 21-cm wavelength (1.4 GHz) arising from the depths of the cosmos.

The signal from Cosmic Dawn is expected to arrive on Earth stretched in wavelength to metres and lowered in frequency by the expansion of the Universe to lie in the radio frequency band 50-200 MHz.

"Detecting a faint signal from such an early period of the Universe is extremely difficult. The celestial signal is exceptionally faint - buried in sky radio waves that come to us from the gas in our own Galaxy, the Milky Way, which are a million times brighter," the release said.

Besides, this cosmic signal is in a radio wavelength band used by numerous terrestrial communications equipment and TV and FM radio stations, which makes detecting the extra-terrestrial signal extremely difficult, it added.

However, RRI scientists and engineers have risen to the challenge and designed and calibrated the SARAS radio telescope to discern signals from Cosmic Dawn. It is one of the most sensitive instruments in the world in this field of research today.

After a rigorous statistical analysis led by Dr Saurabh Singh, a research scientist at RRI, SARAS 3 did not find any evidence of the signal claimed by the EDGES experiment. The presence of the signal is decisively rejected after a careful assessment of the measurement uncertainties.

Therefore, the finding implies that the detection reported by EDGES was likely contamination of their measurement and not a signal from the depths of space and time. SARAS 3 was indeed the first experiment to reach the required sensitivity and cross-verify the claim of the signal detection, the release added.

--IANS niv/vd

A
New Delhi, March 4 : Moscow and Kiev have reached an understanding on the joint provision of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilian population and for the delivery of medicines and food to the places of hostilities in Ukraine, said Mikhail Podolyak, a member of the Ukrainian delegation for the talks between the two countries.

"There is a possibility of a temporary ceasefire for the period when the evacuation will be carried out in the sectors where it is being carried out," he said, RT reported.

According to Podolyak, during the talks between the representatives of Kiev and Moscow, the humanitarian aspects of the situation in Ukraine were discussed in detail.

The Russian and Ukrainian delegations at the talks discussed all three blocks of issues related to the situation in Ukraine, said the head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky.

"We discussed in detail all three blocks of issues: the military issue, the international humanitarian issue, the third issue is the issue of the future political settlement of the conflict," he said.

The positions are "absolutely clear", they are written down point by point, the head of the delegation added.

"For some of them, we managed to find mutual understanding, but the main issue that was resolved today is the issue of saving people, civilians who found themselves in the zone of military clashes," Medinsky said, RT reported.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky noted that the Russian side raised questions during the negotiations to which they had already prepared their answers, and on which compromise is impossible, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

"Well, you can't just go and say 'Ukraine is part of Russia now' - this is just impossible. Why would you offer that," he asked.
Hyderabad, March 4 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will visit Ranchi on Friday to fulfill his promise to extend support to the families of Army personnel killed in Galwan Valley clashes on the border with China.

KCR along with his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren will hand over cheques of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of two soldiers. The event will be held at Soren's official residence at Ranchi.

KCR had announced Rs 5 crore for the family of Col B. Santosh Babu, who who along with 19 soldiers, was killed in the clash with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley of Ladakh on June 15, 2020. Santosh Babu was a resident of Suryapet town in Telangana.

KCR had also announced that the state government would give Rs 10 lakh each to the families of 19 soldiers who hailed from various states.

To keep his promise, the Chief Minister would go to Jharkhand and give financial assistance to families of the two jawans who were martyred, said the CMO here.

Since the model code of conduct is in force in various states due to the ongoing Assembly elections, the Chief Minister will extend help to families of other Jawans later.

KCR, also the president of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), is camping in Delhi for the last three days to hold talks with leaders of various parties as part of his efforts to forge an alliance against the BJP.
Bengaluru, March 4 : Karnataka Congress, on conclusion of its Mekedatu padayatra 2.0, urged the BJP-led state government to work towards the implementation of the Mekedatu project.

Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar and Opposition leader Siddaramaiah, addressing people at the National College Grounds on Thursday, urged to implement the Mekedatu project at the earliest.

"The ruling BJP has tried lodging 10 FIRs on me and pledged to send me to jail. They have also lodged complaints on Rajya Sabha Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC General Secretary and Karnataka in-charge of Congress Randeep Singh Surjewala. Mr Chief Minister, we are ready to face these police cases for implementation of the Mekedatu project," State Congress President D.K. Shivakumar stated.

Addressing the gathering, Shivakumar further stated that "this is not an agitation by the Congress party".

"This struggle is dedicated to people. The police have started serving warrants. Charge sheets have been filed against us. All Congress leaders are ready to go to jail for the good of people," he said.

"The water does not have colour or shape. Water symbolises life and we are fighting for life. People of Bengaluru might have faced problems for the last three days from padayatra, but this foot march is going to provide them drinking water for the city for 30 years," he said.

"Calls have gone from Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's office to film stars telling them not to take part in Mekedatu Padayatra. Bommai is able to get clearance from the ministry of Environment though he has 25 MPs from the state by his side," he said.

"Tamil Nadu will not lose even one acre of land for the project. CM Bommai himself stated that it is our water, our land and our money as far as the Mekedatu project is concerned. We do not require any consent to implement the project as per the Supreme Court. However, no action is being taken even after 2.6 years have passed," he said.

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah stated that the Mekedatu project was cut short by two days in the backdrop of the budget session.

"People have extended their support for the foot march from Ramnagar to Bengaluru. What is wrong in utilizing the water which is going to waste by building a balancing reservoir at Mekedatu?" Siddaramaiah questioned.
New York, March 4 : The leaders of the Quad who met in a sudden virtual summit will have their national security teams follow up on the Ukraine crisis, according to White House Spokesperson Jen Psaki.

She said at her briefing on Thursday that Biden "asked members -- he suggested -- or they'll discuss, I should say, having members of their national security team follow up from there".

The joint statement of the summit of Prime Ministers Narendra Modi of India, Scott Morrison of Australia and Fumio Kishida of Japan, and US President Joe Biden made no mention of the national security teams.

It only said, "They discussed the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications." Psaki did not elaborate on what the teams will follow up or how.

She avoided answering a reporter's question if India's military relationship with Russia was discussed at the summit and if the US plans to talk to India about it or what it plans to do.

Psaki said: "The President felt it was a constructive conversation." A statement on the summit by Modi's office said, "Developments in Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, including its humanitarian implications. The Prime Minister emphasised the need to return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy." According to their joint statement, the leaders agreed to set up a humanitarian assistance programme for response to Ukraine.

"They agreed to stand up a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will enable the Quad to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific and provide a channel for communication as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine," the statement said.

India has begun sending humanitarian relief to Ukraine.

Tucked in the middle of a paragraph on the Indo-Pacific, the statement said in general terms that the Quad leaders affirmed their commitment to countries being "free from military, economic, and political coercion".

In a break with the other Quad members, India has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine but made broad statements calling for upholding the territorial integrity of nations and the United Nations Charter.

India has abstained on the four UN resolutions on Ukraine, and another resolution on humanitarian assistance to that country is set to come up in the Security Council and the US would want India to vote for it.

India agreeing to humanitarian assistance on Ukraine at the meeting would likely pressure it to vote for the humanitarian resolution at the Security Council.

The joint statement said that the Quad leaders reaffirmed "their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected and countries are free from military, economic, and political coercion".

It added: "They reaffirmed their dedication to the Quad as a mechanism to promote regional stability and prosperity." The statement from Modi's office said that they reviewed the progress on Quad initiatives since the in-person summit in Washington in September and "agreed on accelerating cooperation, with an objective to achieve concrete outcomes by the summit in Japan later this year".

"Prime Minister underlined that the Quad must remain focused on its core objective of promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. He called for concrete and practical forms of cooperation within the Quad, in areas like Humanitarian and Disaster Relief, debt sustainability, supply chains, clean energy, connectivity, and capacity-building," it added.

The joint statement's reference to territorial integrity in the Indo-Pacific is directed against China, yet New Delhi has found itself on the same side as Beijing in abstaining on the UN resolutions.

Kishida tweeted about his participation in the summit: "Unilateral changes to the status quo by force or coercion like the recent Russian aggression against #Ukraine are also unacceptable in the Indo-Pacific region. It is critically important for us to bring about a free and open Indo-Pacific." The summit appeared to be an attempt to ensure that the US retained a focus on China and the Indo-Pacific, which could be overwhelmed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and potentially benefit Beijing.

(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis)

Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War
New Delhi, March 4 : The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) was awarded the 'Special Jury Award' for "bringing about a paradigm shift in water management" at the 7th India Industry Water Conclave and 9th edition of FICCI Water Awards.

"The Jury wishes to recognize the extremely important work NMCG is engaged in, to bring about a paradigm shift in water management, even as they endeavour to revive river Ganga. The Jury would like to emphasize the need to work even further on involving primary stakeholders to build a real Jan Andolan around the river Ganga and to pay greater attention to bringing together all departments and agencies whose joint efforts are needed to revive the river Ganga, recognizing that rejuvenating the river requires working on its entire riverscape, with its inter-connected hydrological and ecological systems, not limited only to the main stem of the river but also including all different orders of streams and their catchments, as also the aquifers that provide base-flows to the river," read the citation with the award.

The award was given at the event held virtually, from March 2 to 3, a release from the Ministry of Jal Shakti said on Thursday.

The Jury of the FICCI Water Awards consists of eminent people such as Distinguished Professor, Shiv Nadar University and Chair of the Jury, Mihir Shah; Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT, Delhi, Prof. A.K. Gosain; Founder Trustee and Executive Director Advanced Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM), Dr. Himanshu Kulkarni, and Chief Executive, WaterAid India VK Madhavan.

The citation underlines the complexity of the task of rejuvenation of the entire Ganga basin and the importance of engaging with diverse stakeholders particularly the people-river connect which forms the basis of NMCG's approach to the challenging task, the release added.
Jacquinot Bay Airport, Jacquinot Bay, Papua New Guinea [ JAQ / ]

If you are planning to travel to Jacquinot Bay or any other city in Papua New Guinea, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Jacquinot Bay Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Jacquinot Bay Airport Map showing the location of this airport in Papua New Guinea. Jacquinot Bay Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided.

Jacquinot Bay Airport Info:

Jacquinot Bay Airport IATA Code: JAQ Jacquinot Bay Airport ICAO Code: Latitude : -5.65698 Longitude : 151.507 City : Jacquinot Bay Country : Papua New Guinea World Area Code : 804 Airport Type : Small Jacquinot Bay Airport Address / Contact Details :

Jacquinot Bay (JAQ), Malmal, Papua New Guinea Timezone : Pacific/Port_Moresby Jacquinot Bay Airport Timezone : GMT +10:00 hours Current time and date at Jacquinot Bay Airport is 14:11:37 PM (+10) on Thursday, May 5, 2022

Looking for information on Jacquinot Bay Airport, Jacquinot Bay, Papua New Guinea? Know about Jacquinot Bay Airport in detail. Find out the location of Jacquinot Bay Airport on Papua New Guinea map and also find out airports near to Jacquinot Bay. This airport locator is a very useful tool for travelers to know where is Jacquinot Bay Airport located and also provide information like hotels near Jacquinot Bay Airport, airlines operating to Jacquinot Bay Airport etc... IATA Code and ICAO Code of all airports in Papua New Guinea. Scroll down to know more about Jacquinot Bay Airport or Jacquinot Bay Airport, Papua New Guinea.

Jacquinot Bay Airport Map - Location of Jacquinot Bay Airport Load Map Papua New Guinea - General Information Country Formal Name Independent State of Papua New Guinea Country Code PG Capital Port Moresby Currency Kina (PGK)

 1 PGK = 0.284 USD

 1 USD = 3.525 PGK

 1 PGK = 0.267 EUR

 1 EUR = 3.745 PGK

 More PGK convertion rates Tel Code +675 Top Level Domain .pg

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JAQ - Jacquinot Bay Airport IATA Code
These new degrees were designed to meet the needs and gaps in knowledge within the space industry" Haroon Oqab CEO of Kepler Space Institue

The Kepler Space Institute meets the rising demand for professionals with new Master of Science Degree Programs in Interdisciplinary Space Studies. The programs are set to launch in Spring 2022, geared toward students who are looking to enter the rapidly growing Space Industry  or those who are already in the industry looking to further their education.

We were seeing demand in the market, as well as from our own faculty, who expressed interest in developing academic offerings in space studies from a variety of perspectives, says Edward Kiker, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kepler Space Institute, Our graduate programs take an interdisciplinary approach to provide students with the necessary skills to drive innovation in the private and public sectors.

The masters degree program is 36 credit hours and is structured for full-time students to complete their courses in two years. The degrees will be offered in an online format that provides students a flexible learning style for working adults and allows industry professionals to share their insights through teaching.

KSI is seeking applicants from a diverse range of academic disciplines, but they should have a Bachelors Degree from a college or university accredited by the appropriate regional association with a minimum grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale or equivalent work experience in professional academic and/or government or private industry positions and achievements. Each applicants specific experience will be evaluated by the KSI Admissions Committee. Admission requirements also include a completed admissions application, copies of transcripts, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) revised General Test score or a Millers Analogy Test (MAT) score at or above the 50th percentile, and three letters of recommendation.

These new degrees were designed to meet the needs and gaps in knowledge within the space industry and offer coursework, project-based, and thesis-based study options that will equip students with the tools to define, research and solve emerging challenges supporting the migration of humans to space, said, Haroon Oqab, Chief Executive Officer for the Kepler Space Institute. The new masters degrees provide graduates with insights gained through problem-solving and continues to enhance the schools mission to benefit society and advance human knowledge and expertise.

Professionals in the program will be exposed to a wide array of topics, such as human space exploration, entrepreneurship and space sustainability, Mr. Oqab adds. With a vast approach to space education, KSIs new degree programs will feature five technical specializations  space studies, space agriculture, space architecture, space health and space resources.

M.S. PROGRAM OPTIONS

MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE (M.S. COURSE-BASED)

Complete a total of 36 credit hours, with all 21 credit hours comprised of Core Courses, and 15 additional credit hours from the Technical Specialization Tracks. The program is designed for professionals who have been with government, industry, or private practice and who wish to return for upgrading and specialization.

MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE (M.S. PROJECT-BASED)

Complete a total of 36 credit hours, with all 21 credit hours comprised of Core Courses, and 15 additional credit hours from Technical Specialization Tracks, including the completion of a project under the supervision of a faculty member. Students will select a research topic, perform experiments, computation, or analysis relevant to the topic, and report their results. The project-based degree is designed to train academics in planning, conducting, evaluating and reporting leading original research with a high degree of competence and integrity.

MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE (M.S. THESIS-BASED)

Complete a total of 36 credit hours, with all 21 credit hours of comprised Core Courses and 15 additional credit hours from the Technical Specialization Tracks, including the completion of a thesis under the supervision of a faculty member. Students will select a research topic, perform experiments, computation, or analysis relevant to the topic, and report their results. The thesis-based degree is designed to train academics in planning, conducting, evaluating and reporting leading original research with a high degree of competence and integrity.

KSI is currently accepting applications for the Summer 2022 semester for its new Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Space Studies.

For more information, visit https://keplerspaceinstitute.com/iss/.

ABOUT KSI

Kepler Space Institute is a privately held institution specializing in higher education, and the development and delivery of programs in support of human space exploration. Kepler Space Institute, is a Florida corporation founded in 2012, has been serving the Community with space research programs publicized in its ground-breaking on-line publication The Journal of Space Philosophy. KSI has a vision for helping deserving students to pursue their education. The school offers online programs that encompass focused Interdisciplinary Space Studies proving students with an industry-recognized Graduate Certificate and or Master of Science Degree. Our students will join industry leaders to help guide the sustainable development of Space and with the support of commercial and international partners will create employment opportunities and enhance the expertise of global citizens to benefit society.
The Bar at JACX&CO provides a multifaceted gathering place for friends, family, co-workers, and visitors in Long Island City, says JACX&CO General Manager, Shana Watts. We love our vibrant neighborhood and aim to be a true community hub."

Today, JACX&CO announces the official opening of The Bar at JACX&CO (28-17 Jackson Avenue), a vibrant new gathering place within the design-forward food hall. Offering 215 indoor seats, JACX&CO is located on the plaza level of The JACX, a 1.2 million square-foot creative office campus developed by Tishman Speyer in Long Island City thats accessible by the 7, N, W, E, M, R, and G trains.

The full-service bar features a dynamic mix of cocktails, wine, cider, and beer, curated by the JACX&CO team to complement the vendors culinary menus. With approachability at the forefront, cocktail highlights include the Sunnyside (gin, fresh lime juice, mint), Tale of 2 Cities (aged rum shaken with apricot liqueur, simple syrup, fresh lime juice, orange bitters), and Highlander (Japanese whisky, simple syrup, bitters). The Bar will feature a rotating list of beer and cider from local makers like Graft, LIC Beer Project, Bronx Brewery, and others. Red, white, sparkling, and rose wine options will also be available, as well as a selection of sake.

Regular programming like trivia, comedy, and more, will launch in the warmer months. Private and semi-private events can also be accommodated.

The food hall and bar both facilitate orders via Bbot, an order-and-pay platform, which allows guests to order from multiple eateries for dine-in, delivery, and pick-up.

The Bar at JACX&CO provides a multifaceted gathering place for friends, family, co-workers, and visitors in Long Island City, says JACX&CO General Manager, Shana Watts. We love our vibrant neighborhood and aim to be a true community hub, offering a diverse collection of food, beverages, and event programming.

Acclaimed culinary vendors at JACX&CO include Beebes, BIAO Sugar, Ghaya, Lotus + Cleaver, Mexology, Taim, and Temakase.

Collaboratively designed by INC Architecture & Design and Tishman Speyer, JACX&CO features an expansive dining room reminiscent of a modern, airy courtyard. The space is grounded in its Long Island City locale, recalling the industrial past but elevated with modern refinements. The seating area is surrounded by a black steel mesh scrim forming a series of arches which frame the vendors booths, lining the perimeter of the space. The design, incorporating a mix of influences, uses materials like terra cotta, reclaimed wood flooring, and exposed concrete, to tell the story of an emerging Long Island City and a space worthy of a destination in its own right.

The Bar at JACX&CO is open Sunday - Thursday from 12PM - 9PM with extended hours on Friday and Saturday, from 12PM - 11PM. JACX&COs food vendors are open seven days a week from 11AM - 9PM, with extended hours for all-day cafe, Ghaya from 7AM - 5PM. Further details about JACX&COs COVID-19 protocols can be found via http://www.jacxandco.com and guests can reach the food hall at 929-510-7040. For ongoing updates, guests can follow JACX&CO on Instagram @jacxandco and on Facebook /jacxandco.

For media inquiries, please contact RVD Communications at jacxandco@rachelvandolsen.com.

About Tishman Speyer (tishmanspeyer.com)

Tishman Speyer is a leading owner, developer, operator and investment manager of first-class real estate in 30 key markets across the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. We develop, build and manage premier office, residential and retail spaces for industry-leading tenants, as well as state-of-the-art life science centers through our Breakthrough Properties venture. With global vision, on-the-ground expertise and a personalized approach, we are unparalleled in our ability to foster innovation, quickly adapt to global and local trends and proactively anticipate our customers evolving needs. By focusing on health and wellness, enlightened placemaking and customer-focused initiatives such as our tenant amenities platform, ZO., and our flexible space and coworking brand, Studio, we tend not just to our physical buildings, but to the people who inhabit them on a daily basis. Since our inception in 1978, Tishman Speyer has acquired, developed, and operated 484 properties, totaling 219 million square feet, with a combined value of over $121 billion (U.S.). Our current portfolio includes such iconic assets as Rockefeller Center in New York City, The Springs in Shanghai, TaunusTurm in Frankfurt and the Mission Rock neighborhood currently being realized in San Francisco.
Thomas experience, network, and leadership will help us expand our client roster and broaden our expertise in the software and services market.

Citisoft, a global investment management consulting firm, has announced the hire of Thomas Eikrem as Managing Director in its EMEA practice.

Citisoft has grown its EMEA business significantly since 2020, doubling revenue and more than doubling its delivery staff over the past two years. To meet the demands of this rapid growth and to accelerate business development, Citisoft is excited to announce the hire of Thomas Eikrem as a Managing Director in London.

Were excited to announce Thomas hire during a time of significant global growth for our practice. Thomas brings over 20 years of industry expertise and a deep network among asset managers and solutions providers, particularly in Europe and Asia Pacific, said David Higgins, Citisoft Partner and EMEA Practice Lead. Thomas experience, network, and leadership will help us expand our client roster and broaden our expertise in the software and services market.

Thomas joins Citisoft after successfully leading business development for several consultancies focused on asset management technology and operations. He has deep expertise in professional services, product strategy, strategic partnerships, and systems implementations.

Thomas experience and strong industry relationships will be invaluable as we expand our EMEA practice to new markets and geographies, said Paul Migliore, CEO of Citisoft. With Thomas focus on business development, we look forward to servicing new clients, expanding our delivery team, and meeting the needs of our increasingly global client portfolio.

Since 2020, Citisoft has seen steady growth in both their client-base in North America as well as Europe and the UK. Citisoft has operated in London since 1986. This key hire will help the firm meet their goals for continued expansion of the EMEA business in 2022.

About Citisoft

Citisoft is a global consulting firm dedicated to servicing the investment management industry. Our staff and management bring credibility and hands-on knowledge to every facet of our client relationships, backed by a history of successful partnerships with leading investment management firms and industry service providers. With our deep understanding of all aspects of the investment management process, our clients benefit from our ability to identify industry trends and accurately assess their effects. Through our Advisory and Delivery services, we offer a full complement of consulting capabilities ranging from strategy formation through guiding and implementing successful business change.
"Comprehension Through Conversation" Literacy Solution. Bamboo Learnings innovative Comprehension Through Conversation approach to literacy has a solid grounding in existing research. By inviting students to use their voice to engage in reading & listening comprehension activities, the product has a clear pathway to improving student literacy.

Bamboo Learning, Inc. today announced that Bamboo Learning EDU, the first Comprehension Through Conversation learning application for students in grades K through 5 introduced in January 2022, has been selected for an innovative student literacy pilot at the John Rex Charter School (JRCS) in Oklahoma City. JRCS, which was recognized as a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School, seeks to determine the Bamboo Learning EDU solutions impact on reading achievement, speaking fluency, vocabulary acquisition, and content knowledge-building among its economically and racially diverse student body. All JRCS students in grades K1 have iPads for use at school, making the Bamboo Learning EDU iPad app an excellent fit.

Bamboo Learning also announced today that LearnPlatform, a nationally recognized edtech research company, has certified that the Bamboo Learning EDU solution meets the evidence requirements of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) aligning with Level IV Demonstrates a Rationale status. LearnPlatforms team of researchers analyzed Bamboo Learning EDUs foundational pedagogy, concluded that Bamboo Learning EDUs Logic Model is informed by high-quality research, and outlined the expected short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes.

Bamboo Learnings innovative Comprehension Through Conversation approach to literacy has a solid grounding in existing research, said Dr. Mary Styers, Director of Research at LearnPlatform. By offering fiction and nonfiction books leveled by grade, and inviting students to use their voice to engage in reading & listening comprehension and vocabulary building activities, the product has a clear pathway to improving student literacy.

Finally, Bamboo Learning announced that the Anthem Awards have selected Bamboo Learning as a Bronze winner in the category of Education Innovation. This is the inaugural year of the Anthem Awards, a new global award designed to honor the breadth of purpose & mission-driven work worldwide across causes in an effort to amplify the voices that spark global change. The Inaugural Anthem Awards were set up by The Webby Awards, a globally renowned organization recognizing The Best of the Internet since 1996.

We are so grateful to see Bamboo Learning EDU make such great progress in the few short weeks since its introduction this January, said Irina Fine, Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer, Bamboo Learning. We have a fantastic, dedicated team at Bamboo Learning committed to lifting up childrens literacy, and that has enabled us to earn the JRCS pilot in Oklahoma City, the ESSA Level IV certification from LearnPlatform, and the Anthem Award for Education Innovation.

Educators can download the Bamboo Learning EDU iPad app at http://www.bamboolearning.com/eduapp.

Parents can download the consumer version of the Bamboo Learning iPad/iPhone app at http://www.bamboolearning.com/iosapp.

For more information, visit Bamboo Learnings website at http://www.bamboolearning.com.

About Bamboo Learning

Based in Seattle, Bamboo Learning is the six-time award-winning leader in voice-powered education with a mission to bring engaging, high-quality learning experiences to customers worldwide. Bamboo Learning pioneered Comprehension Through Conversation applications based on K5 standard curriculum that enable children to have fun learning and practicing different academic subjects. Bamboo Learning applications, including the Bamboo Learning iPad/iPhone app, the Bamboo Learning EDU iPad app, and the Bamboo Learning Alexa skill, offer a range of challenging and engaging activities to help children master different levels of subjects including reading and listening comprehension, language arts, and math.

Bamboo Learnings co-founders are Ian Freed, CEO, and Irina Fine, COO. Freed is a thirty-five-year veteran of the technology industry, including twelve years at Amazon, having served as vice president of Amazon devices, leading both the Amazon Echo & Alexa and the Amazon Kindle businesses, and serving as technical advisor to Amazon founder and former CEO, Jeff Bezos. Irina Fine is a thirty-year veteran of curriculum development and teaching, having worked in public and private sectors of education in New York, Washington DC, London, and Moscow.

Connect with Bamboo Learning and learn more at: http://www.bamboolearning.com, Instagram: @learnwithbamboo, Facebook: facebook.com/BambooLearning, Twitter: @learnwithbamboo, YouTube: bamboolearning.com/youtube

Press Inquiries:

Ian Freed for Bamboo Learning

info@bamboolearning.com

+1 218-4BAMBOO
ISC-CX completely understands our continuous focus on the delivery of a very responsive, personal service to our customers enhanced by the real-time information collaborative platforms for agents, buyers and sellers, said Dario Castiglia, CEO & Founder RE/MAX ITALIA

ISC-CX, the leading provider of customer experience programs worldwide for over 20 years, announced today that RE/MAX ITALIA selected ISC-CX as their digital customer experience company of choice. RE/MAX will leverage ISC-CXs technologies and teams in Italy to measure and further optimize the high-end experience of RE/MAX customers.

We are very pleased to partner with RE/MAX as both companies have a commitment to utilizing the latest technologies to deliver a superior customer experience, said ISC-CX Global Client Service Director Christian Steinhauser. RE/MAX ITALIA is already known for its high-quality customer experience. We are going to support their excellence with CX measurement and analysis, our upgraded reporting system LIVEBOARD, and our team of experienced service testers. RE/MAX will benefit from the deep, actionable insights we will generate for them to act upon.

"ISC-CX completely understands our continuous focus on the delivery of a very responsive, personal service to our customers enhanced by the real-time information collaborative platforms for agents, buyers and sellers, said Dario Castiglia, CEO & Founder RE/MAX ITALIA. Similar to RE/MAX, they provide personal service and a collaborative technology platform to their own clients, making them the perfect customer experience partner for us.

ABOUT RE/MAX ITALIA: RE/MAX is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. RE/MAX ITALIA is a growth market for the brand with transactions totaling a record EUR 3.6 billion in 2021. The network is comprised of 4500 agents and growing. In addition to personalized service, the agents deliver a high-end experience to customers via proprietary analysis tools, such as Maximizer, MAX/Connect, RE/MAX HAL, which analyze massive amounts of property data and customize reports to connect agents, buyers and sellers through the sharing of property information in real time.

ABOUT ISC-CX: ISC-CX is a leading provider of in-store and omni-channel customer experience analysis programs for global retailers based around the world. The multilingual, local teams on the ground in over 120 countries collect and analyze many millions of data sets per year.

You can find our client references and CX solutions at ISC-CX.com
In the picture: the first samples arrive in our stockroom where they are carefully stored and anonymized. Selections such as 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls have a fundamental importance to give an increasingly international breath to the world of wine [...].

5StarWines & Wine Without Walls has benefited from a long collaboration with Assoenologi, the Association of Italian Oenologists, which represents 4,500 professional technicians in the wine sector from all over Italy. The Association supports the Selection Team in the preparatory phases of the event.

During the three days of tasting, Assoenologis own experts judge together with international judges, to support and supervise the activities. The collaboration continues in the preparation of the results at the end of the three-day event.

The president of Assoenologi, Riccardo Cotarella, one of the most important oenologists in the world, remarked: Selections such as 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls have a fundamental importance to give an increasingly international breath to the world of wine. They allow Italian wines to be evaluated by world-class professionals and experts and this obviously constitutes a strong incentive for producers to give the best of themselves in terms of quality. And the difference in international markets will be dictated precisely by the quality of our products, especially after two years of pandemic emergency and also in light of what is happening in Ukraine these days.

Preparations for the 6th edition of 5StarWines & Wine Without Walls are well underway. Together with the Assoenologi team, the special stockroom is now receiving samples from participating producers. The anonymization phase of the samples is an important part of this process. The team of experts carefully divides the wines into batches, covering the bottles and preparing them to serve. Each participating producer sends 6 bottles of each registered label. All the information about the shipping process can be found in the FAQ section of the official Event website at: https://www.5starwines.it/faq/?lang=en.

The deadline to register wines is March 4th 2022. Samples must be received by March 14th 2022. Online registration is open on the official Event website at: https://www.5starwines.it/registrazioni/?lang=en.

The Selection consists of three days of blind tasting, where an international jury, divided into panels, assigns scores to each participating wine. The judges' task is to discuss and evaluate the key organoleptic characteristics and technical particularities of every wine. The selected wines that obtain a score of 90 or above are included in the official guide 5StarWines  the Book, with a dedicated tasting note. The Book was created with the aim of offering wine producers an effective promotional and marketing tool for their companies and rewards the quality of the wines and producers presented in it.

The different geographical backgrounds and the variety of professional profiles of the judges, as well as the blind tasting process itself, guarantee the objectivity of the Selection. The international jury includes a panel of highly qualified international experts, selected from Masters of Wine, Master Sommeliers, WSET Diploma holders, VIA experts and ambassadors, oenologists and journalists. This year the jury is composed of more than 70 judges, coming from all over the world, including the USA, South Africa, Canada, the UK, South Korea amongst others.

Among the various panels of judges, the panel of the General Chairs is the most important and has a different task from the international jury. The six General Chairs taste all the wines awarded a score of 90 or higher by the first panel. The panel of General Chairs can then confirm the score assigned or revise it. The General Chairs of this edition are: Caro Maurer MW, the first woman to obtain the prestigious title of Master of Wine in Germany; Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW, Master of Wine and VIA Ambassador; Robert Joseph, wine business consultant and editorial consultant for Meiningers Wine Business International; Bernard Burtschy, wine columnist for Le Figaro and several French magazines; Daniele Cernilli, known as the co-founder and Director of the online magazine Doctor Wine, and Gabriele Gorelli MW, the first Master of Wine in Italy, and a wine marketing expert, designer and brand builder.

Producers included in 5StarWines - the Book will receive a number of additional benefits. For example, if a wine is selected and its producer is an exhibitor at Vinitaly, it will be possible to insert the selected wines in the official Catalog and in the Vinitaly App, giving them increased visibility to important foreign buyers at the Fair and providing a distinct competitive advantage. For registration assistance or more information, email: 5star@justdothework.it.

About: 5StarWines  the Book is the annual wine Selection organized by Veronafiere, held in the lead-up to the biggest Italian wine fair in the world. The Event is now in its sixth edition. 5StarWines  the Book is a blind tasting aimed at shedding light on wineries investing in the improvement of their products. During the Event, a highly qualified panel of wine professionals will taste and score  using a 100-point scale  participating wines. In the 2021 edition, over 2000 bottles took part in the competition and 510 were selected for inclusion in 5StarWines  the Book. The Guide is a useful tool both on the promotional and commercial side. It introduces international buyers and wine lovers to new wine products of great value. It guarantees wine quality and it maintains and certifies their value at an international level.
A scathing email sent to the wrong person or sensitive information leaking outside the company can damage your reputation and maybe even your career.

Messaging Architects, an eMazzanti Technologies Company and Microsoft 365 expert, outlines seven common email mistakes that can damage a professional reputation in a new article. The informative article first discusses the problem of using email when another method works better.

The author then reviews other common errors, including hitting Reply All without thinking, mis-using CC and BCC, and writing a novel instead of an email. He concludes by discussing bad writing, including sensitive or inappropriate information, and neglecting email security.

A scathing email sent to the wrong person or sensitive information leaking outside the company can damage your reputation and maybe even your career, stated Greg Smith, Vice President of Services Delivery at Messaging Architects.

Below are a few excerpts from the article, 7 Common Email Mistakes That Kill Your Professionalism And How to Avoid Them.

Using Email When Another Method Works Better

Email works great for non-urgent communication, for communicating with groups of people and for maintaining a documentation trail. For instance, email may be just the ticket for communicating follow-up details to team members after a meeting.

Mis-using CC and BCC

Likewise, be careful how you use the To, CC and BCC fields. Recipients listed in the To field generally need to take action on the email. Include someone as a CC when they simply need to be kept in the loop. In fact, you may be including people in the email who do not need to be included at all. Think carefully about who needs to be involved in the discussion.

Including Sensitive or Inappropriate Information

Some information has no place in business email. Ever. Never send suggestive content through business email, no matter who you send it to. Likewise, never send passwords, financial data, or other sensitive information through email without encrypting the email.

Neglecting Email Security

Finally, know how to email safely and follow cybersecurity best practices for email. For instance, use a strong password for your email and consider enabling multi-factor authentication. Never use email on public Wi-Fi or log into your business email on a public computer. And learn how to recognize the signs of a phishing email.

More email mistakes to avoid>>

Avoid Email Mistakes

Everyone makes email mistakes from time to time. But a regular refresher course in email security can minimize the human factor. The email consultants at Messaging Architects help business leaders implement a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that includes effective security awareness training for employees.

Have you read?

Microsoft 365 for Law Firms Improves Client Relationships and Powers Office Productivity

Microsoft Editor in Outlook Promotes More Inclusive and Professional Email

About Messaging Architects

Messaging Architects specializes in effectively managing and securing an organizations most precious asset, its information. With over 20 years of information management and technology consulting experience, the Messaging Architects team has provided corporations, educational intuitions, health care facilities and nonprofits with methodologies, procedures, and technology to keep their data organized, compliant and secure.

About eMazzanti Technologies

eMazzantis team of trained, certified IT experts rapidly deliver increased revenue growth, data security and productivity for clients ranging from law firms to high-end global retailers, expertly providing advanced retail and payment technology, digital marketing services, cloud and mobile solutions, multi-site implementations, 247 outsourced network management, remote monitoring, and support.

eMazzanti has made the Inc. 5000 list 9X, is a 4X Microsoft Partner of the Year, the #1 ranked NYC area MSP, NJ Business of the Year and 5X WatchGuard Partner of the Year! Contact: 1-866-362-9926, info@emazzanti.net or http://www.emazzanti.net Twitter: @emazzanti Facebook: Facebook.com/emazzantitechnologies.


Ive spoken with women across the industry about the issues they are facing and the incredible opportunities theyre seeing for growth.

Leading Ladies Of... a movement that focuses on women breaking the glass ceiling, will hold its second annual Leading Ladies Of Defense Virtual Summit on March 17th, supported by the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition. Themed "Leading Through the Changing Landscape," the half-day event features global leaders from Fortune 500 companies, in addition to subject matter experts and active Military, that will address gender parity in defense while helping women and allies up-level their industry knowledge and advance their careers in the A&D industry.

"I am proud to once again bring together Leading Ladies Of Defense to unite women in the defense industry and provide learning and networking opportunities for women at every stage of their career, said Leading Ladies Of founder Fiona McKay. "Over the past year, Ive spoken with women across the industry about the issues they are facing and the incredible opportunities theyre seeing for growth. Im proud to host our second annual summit to discuss these important issues.

In 2021 over 500 women and allies from more than 220 companies in ten countries signed up to participate. This years attendees can look forward to lively discussions on industry outlooks, new technologies, leadership, talent, and allyship from the likes of Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, L3Harris Technologies, GM Defense, Boeing, Raytheon Technologies, Spirit AeroSystems, Leonardo and more.

Carrie Mead, Garrison Manager of the U.S. Armys Detroit Arsenal, will deliver the keynote address, which will focus on staying true to your leadership values in times of upheaval. Several panels of industry leaders will then address a variety of industry, technology, and leadership topics such as Tools for the Talent Crisis, which will include Christine Miska, Business Area Engineering Director of BAE Systems, a company recognized as one of Americas best large employers by Forbes, among various other accolades. Nearly 30 years of my life have been dedicated to developing products to protect our men and women in the military, said Miska. Throughout my career, I have also been committed to mentoring a new generation of engineers, particularly those from communities underrepresented in the STEM fields, and I look forward to discussing the importance of this and a wide variety of other topics at the summit.

Attendees can also look forward to hearing from



U.S. Army Chief of CI Initiatives and Readiness Counterintelligence CW5 Traci Goodwin

Aerojet Rocketdyne Chief Operating Officer Amy Gowder

L3Harris Technologies President of Mission Networks Kathy Crandall

Rolls-Royce CTO Grazia Vittadini

UK Ministry of Defense Assistant Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Jim Macleod

Raytheon Intelligence & Space President of Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Systems Barbara Borgonovi

For more information about Leading Ladies ofDefense Virtual Summit, please visit http://www.LeadingLadiesOf.com.
We are excited to be able to help AireSpring deliver industry leading solutions by adding VMware Edge Network Intelligence to their VMware SD-WAN offering.

AireSpring, a leading Managed Services Provider specializing in Unified Communications, Managed IT and Network Services, is pleased to announce that it will be offering VMware Edge Network Intelligence (ENI) as part of its Managed SD-WAN services product offering.

VMware Edge Network Intelligence is a highly secure, machine learning (ML) analytics engine and artificial intelligence IT operations (AIOps) solution developed to identify, monitor, and diagnose problems with devices connected to the enterprise edge. Developed to operate in real-time, ENI enables end-user and internet of things (IoT) devices to be performing optimally, more secure, and self-healing enabled through wireless and wired LAN, SD-WAN as well as secure access service edge (SASE). VMware ENI auto-discovers end-user and IoT devices, recording baselines and monitoring for deviations and anomalies to deliver actionable data and deep insight into networks, devices, and applications that IT operations teams can proactively address and remediate. As part of its value-add managed SD-WAN offering, AireSpring will be providing an ENI license to each customers VMware SD-WAN hardware device at no additional cost.

VMware SD-WAN is a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge infrastructure  helping enterprises worldwide in solving the challenges created by the complexity of Operational Technology (OT) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, as well as any number of work from anywhere (WFA) connections, commented Avi Lonstein, CEO, AireSpring. The challenge of managing thousands of WAN devices and edge connections is daunting for IT Operations teams, added Lonstein. We are proud to be one of the first Managed Services Providers partnered with VMware to offer these advanced capabilities to our customers at no additional cost.

Key Benefits of VMware ENI

-Closes the Visibility Gap  ENI enables insights and analytics for end users and IoT devices. ENI empowers IT teams to measure each user and IoT device experience for applications, understand their behavior, and establish a baseline for their performance.

-Correlates Across the Application Stack  ENI is vendor agnostic and applies advanced machine learning to correlate across the application stack, then proactively recommends actions and predicts benefits of changes in the network that could improve performance or improve the user experience.

-Facilitates a Self-healing Network  ENI enables an organization to move toward a self-healing network that can automatically remediate issues and policy violations. It establishes a feedback loop, to ensure that actions taken are effective in addressing issues.

-Increases Security  VMware ENI improves the extended threat landscape created by the increase in devices and connection points by using high-level encryption and access control technologies and storing data in a secure cloud environment.

-Complements VMware SD-WAN and VMware SASE  The VMware ENI Client App provides data from end users who work from anywhere (WFA) and devices that operate remotely. The VMware SASE solution, which AireSpring will include in its Managed services offering in 2022, together with VMware SD-WAN, provides a unified edge and cloud service model, with a single point for managing business policy, configuration, and monitoring.

We are excited to be able to help AireSpring deliver industry leading solutions by adding VMware Edge Network Intelligence to their VMware SD-WAN offering, said Abe Ankumah, VP Product Management VMware SASE. VMware Edge Network Intelligence enables app performance for distributed workforces and provides business continuity across enterprises by delivering a complete understanding of the enterprise systems behavior - from detecting anomalies to performing automatic security incident remediation and self-healing.

About AireSpring

Founded in 2001, privately held and debt-free AireSpring, is an award-winning Managed Services Provider specializing in Unified Communications, Managed IT and Network Services, serving thousands of businesses worldwide. AireSpring provides fully managed and connected end-to-end, next-generation solutions and high-touch customer service to multi-location enterprise customers. Services include Global Managed SD-WAN, AirePBX UCaaS, SIP Trunking, MPLS, Disaster Recovery, Managed Security, and Business Internet. AireSpring offers its solutions through a diversified network of channel partners that includes distributors, master agents, managed service providers (MSPs), and value-added resellers (VARs).

As part of its fully managed solution, AireSpring provides access to thousands of carriers and cable companies in the US and around the Globe, delivering a seamless single-source solution experience with one bill and one point of contact for AireSpring partners and their customers.

AireSpring has received numerous industry awards for Excellence in Customer Service, Next-Gen Solution Provider, Top Midmarket Vendor Executive, UCaaS and SD-WAN Product of the Year, Best Telecom Deal, Best in Show, and Top Channel Program. For more information, or to become an AireSpring partner, please visit http://www.airespring.com or contact us at 888-389-2899.

Media Contact

AireSpring

Ellen Cahill

Senior VP Marketing

ellen.cahill@airespring.com

(818) 738-1913

 Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure, Jonathan Forest, Naresh Singh, Andrew Lerner, Evan Zeng, September 20, 2021 - Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartners Research & Advisory organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER and MAGIC QUADRANT are trademarks and service marks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
This new collaboration with Amazon Career Choice will enable us to unlock the benefits of college access and completion for more working adults throughout the United States. - Dr. Michael R. Cunningham, Chancellor, National University System.

National University (NU), the flagship institution of the National University System, which comprises three universities serving more than 45,000 students, has been selected by Amazon to serve as a national provider for the companys Career Choice program, which provides full tuition to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere. Amazon will pay its employees full tuition for more than 40 bachelors and associates degree programs offered by National University.

Amazons Career Choice program is an education benefit that empowers employees. The program meets individual learners where they are on their education journey through a variety of education and upskilling opportunities, including full college tuition, industry certifications designed to lead to in-demand jobs, and foundational skills such as English language proficiency, high school diplomas, and GEDs. In the United States, the company is investing $1.2 billion to upskill more than 300,000 employees by 2025 to help move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs.

We have a profound opportunity to provide working adults with educational experiences that help them excel in their current roles while building the skills and credentials they need to pursue their long-term career aspirations, said Dr. Michael R. Cunningham, chancellor of the National University System. This new collaboration with Amazon Career Choice will enable us to unlock the benefits of college access and completion for more working adults throughout the United States, creating pathways to long-term social and economic mobility.

In joining the Career Choice program, National University brings its unique expertise in developing workforce-relevant degrees and credentials designed specifically for working adults. National University will provide Amazon employees throughout the United States with online courses and some onsite classes at Amazon fulfillment centers, with tuition fully funded through the companys assistance program. In addition, City University of Seattle, one of the National University Systems affiliates, has been chosen as a regional provider for the Amazon Career Choice program and will offer classes in the state of Washington.

Were looking forward to National University coming on board as an education partner for Career Choice, adding to the hundreds of best-in-class offerings available to our employees, said Tammy Thiemann, Global Program Lead of Amazons Career Choice program. Were committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether thats with us or elsewhere. Through our rigorous selection process, we have intentionally cultivated a partner network of third-party educators and employers committed to providing excellent education, job placement resources, and continuous improvements to the experience.

The announcement comes at a time when demand for employer-funded education benefits is growing rapidly among working-age adults in the United States. The recent Amazon-Gallup American Upskilling Study found that 70 percent of workers interested in upskilling say they would switch to a new job if offered free skills training. Young adults entering the labor market even rate employer-funded upskilling as more important than paid vacation time.

To help Amazon employees complete their degrees faster and make the programs as accessible as possible, National University will offer new start dates every month through flexible courses designed to be completed in four weeks. Every student who enrolls in NU courses through Amazon Career Choice will be paired with an academic advisor throughout the experience  along with career counseling and job placement services to help them prepare for opportunities in their industry or career of choice.

Helping working adults achieve their professional aspirations has been the core of our university mission for more than 50 years, said Randy C. Frisch, interim president of National University. As we continue to grow and serve that population at a substantially larger scale, this partnership is an example of how we can not only meet students needs in the short run, but  more importantly  create educational offerings that will sustain career and professional growth for years to come.

This expansion of Amazon Career Choice builds on the companys 10 years of supporting employees through education benefits and opportunities for upskilling. Since its launch in 2012, more than 50,000 Amazon employees have participated in the Career Choice program. The company has built more than 110 on-site classrooms for employees working in Amazon fulfillment centers across 37 states.

Amazon and National University also share a commitment to serving military veterans and families. Approximately 30 percent of National University students are either active duty or retired service members. Amazon employs more than 40,000 U.S. military veterans and military spouses and recently announced plans to hire 100,000 more by 2024, many of whom will benefit from access to training and education opportunities offered by the Career Choice program.

This initiative is incredibly well-aligned with our longtime focus of developing partnerships with employers to design programs that are tightly coupled with the needs of workers  and the workplace, said Chris Graham, president of Workforce Education Solutions at the National University System. Just as importantly, its also reflective of the essential role that employers themselves can play in expanding educational access, particularly at a time when the majority of new jobs being created require some type of postsecondary education or training.

For more information on Amazons Career Choice program, visit: nu.edu/amazon

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About National University: National University, a veteran-founded nonprofit, has been dedicated to meeting the needs of hard-working adults by providing accessible, affordable, achievable higher education opportunities since 1971. As San Diegos largest private nonprofit university, NU offers over 75 online and on-campus programs and flexible four-week classes designed to help students reach their goals while balancing busy lives. Since its founding, the NU community has grown to over 30,000 students and 185,000 alumni around the globe, many of whom serve in helping industries such as business, education, health care, cybersecurity, and law and criminal justice. Learn more at NU.edu.

About the National University System: The National University System (NUS) is a network of accredited nonprofit education institutions serving a diverse population of students including pre-K-12 students and working professionals. NUS higher-education institutions serve more than 45,000 students through National University, Northcentral University, and City University of Seattle. NUS education-focused initiatives include Workforce Education Solutions, Harmony SEL, Inspire Teaching & Learning, and Fundraising Academy Cause Selling Education. Learn more at nusystem.org.
American International College in Springfield, MA, has named Susan Henrichon, EdD, dean of the School of Education. Dr. Henrichon has been recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for her exceptional work.

American International College (AIC) has appointed Susan Henrichon, EdD, dean of the School of Education.

Henrichon joined American International College in 2018, bringing more than thirty years of experience in PK-12 public education with more than fifteen years spent in senior leadership roles. Most recently, Henrichon served as the associate dean of academic programs while teaching extensively in the School of Education, and additionally serving as a senior instructor and program supervisor for graduate students.

Prior to coming to AIC, Henrichon was an assistant superintendent of schools in Oxford, MA, and director of Special Education and Student Services for the Oxford Public Schools system.

In advance of working in the Oxford school system, Henrichon was the director of pupil personnel services in Monson, MA; director of special education in Easthampton, MA; director of student services for the Southwick-Tolland-Granville school district; special education team leader in the Holyoke Public Schools; and assistant department head of quality assurance at the Monson Developmental Center.

Henrichon has been recognized by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for her exceptional work. Her professional affiliations include the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents; Worcester County Superintendents Association; Massachusetts Administrators for Special Education; Western Massachusetts Special Education Directors Association; the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; and the Council for Exceptional Children.

Henrichon received a doctor of education in educational administration at Northcentral University in Phoenix, AZ; her certificate of advanced graduate studies (CAGS) in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts; a masters degree in education, special education, from Westfield State University; and bachelor of science from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH.

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Founded in 1885, American International College (AIC) is a private, co-educational, doctoral granting institution located in Springfield, Massachusetts, comprising the School of Business, Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, and the School of Health Sciences. AIC supports and advances education, diversity, and opportunity for its students and the community.
Since October 2019, Brenntag Specialties has been the exclusive distributor for the Baxxodur portfolio in the Eastern, Western, and Southwestern United States and has now expanded to include all of the United States and Canada, effective May 1st, 2022. The portfolio includes Polyetheramines (PEAs) and Isophorone diamine (IPDA) falling under the names below.



Baxxodur EC 130

Baxxodur EC 201

Baxxodur EC 301

Baxxodur EC 302

Baxxodur EC 303

Baxxodur EC 310

Baxxodur EC 331

We are proud to expand our relationship with BASF. This collaboration provides our customers the convenience of developing and sourcing their entire formula from one source. In addition, customers are fully supported with a dedicated team of industry experts and a broadened product portfolio, states Ted Davlantes, President of Material Science, Brenntag Americas.

The Baxxodur curing agents and chain extenders can be used in various epoxy-based coating applications and sealing compounds, and are used in composites, adhesives, and flooring industries. In addition, the portfolio allows flexibility in formulation with various amine systems and more benefits to meet formulator and end user requirements.

The collaboration with Brenntag Specialties perfectly aligns with our growth strategy for Baxxodur and the Polyetheramines portfolio in North America, says Kevin Anderson, Vice President  Business Management Amines, Acetylenics, and Carbonyl Derivatives, Chemical Intermediates, BASF North America. They will become an extension of the BASF sales team and add technical expertise and extensive market knowledge for customers.

About BASF:

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has approximately 17,000 employees in North America and had sales of $18.7 billion in 2020. For more information about BASFs North American operations, visit http://www.basf.com/us. At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 110,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of 59 billion in 2020. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at http://www.basf.com.

About Brenntag:

Brenntag is the global market leader in chemicals and ingredients distribution. The company holds a central role in connecting customers and suppliers of the chemical industry. Headquartered in Essen, Germany, Brenntag has more than 17,000 employees worldwide and operates a network of more than 670 sites in 77 countries. In 2020, Brenntag generated sales of around 11.8 billion EUR. The two global divisions, Brenntag Essentials and Brenntag Specialties, provide a full-line portfolio of industrial and specialty chemicals and ingredients as well as tailor-made application, marketing and supply chain solutions, technical and formulation support, comprehensive regulatory know-how, and digital solutions for a wide range of industries. In the field of sustainability, Brenntag pursues specific goals and is committed to sustainable solutions in its own sector and the industries served. Brenntag shares have been listed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2010, initially in the MDAX and since September 2021 in the DAX. In addition, the Brenntag SE shares are listed in the DAX 50 ESG and DAX ESG Target. For more information, visit http://www.brenntag.com.
Claire Lamarche and Jean-Francois Joyal of UniglassPlus/Ziebart Carleton Place We are so proud of Claire and Jean-Francois, they are certainly deserving of this recognition and a role model for our entire Uniban Canada family, said Maurice Filion, president, Uniban Canada.

The International Franchise Association (IFA) today named Claire Lamarche and Jean-Francois Joyal, owners of UniglassPlus/Ziebart Carleton Place in Carleton Place, ON, as Franchisees of the Year. Lamarche and Joyal were honored at IFAs 62nd Annual Convention in San Diego, California, for being outstanding franchise establishment owner-operators.

Franchisee of the Year Awards are the highest honors presented to individual franchisees, said Matthew Haller, President, and CEO of the International Franchise Association. These local business owners, like Claire and Jean-Francois, represent some of the best entrepreneurs in the country, and we are proud to recognize their contributions to their communities, their employees, and all those they serve.

The Franchisee of the Year Award, sponsored by IFAs partner Paychex, recognizes leading franchisees who exemplify at least one of IFAs Open for Opportunity core pillars: Community, Workforce, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Veterans.

We are so proud of Claire and Jean-Francois and their accomplishments, said Maurice Filion, president, Uniban Canada. They work very hard to deliver excellent customer experience and the highest level of auto glass repair quality, not to mention their commitment to giving back to the community they serve. They are certainly deserving of this recognition and a role model for our entire Uniban Canada family.

Lamarche and Joyal were nominated by Driven Brands, the parent company of the Uniban Canada family of brands, and selected by IFA for their involvement in the local Carleton Place community, including donations to the Breakfast Club of Canada, support of the Lanark Food Bank, and contributions to the Carleton Place hospital and other local charities. They also are active supporters of the UniglassPlus marketing and business initiatives and have built a strong local network among other business owners.

A recent IFA study showed that franchising helped lead U.S. economic recovery in 2021, with an exceptional job and business growth across all franchising sectors. The industry on average provides higher wages, better benefits, and more leave than non-franchised businesses, as well as greater opportunities to underserved communities and aspiring entrepreneurs, according to Oxford Economics research.

Visit UniglassPlus.com for more information.

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About Uniban Canada

Uniban Canada is a leading technology-based provider of automotive glass repair, replacement, and ADAS calibration services. Through its leading brands like UniglassPlus, VitroPlus, Go! Glass and Docteur du Pare-Brise, it serves vehicle owners, fleets, and insurance carriers. Uniban Canada also offers technology-enabled glass claims management services for insurance carriers. Uniban Canada is a part of the Driven Brands family of automotive aftermarket companies.

About Driven Brands

Driven Brands, headquartered in Charlotte, NC, is the largest automotive services company in North America, providing a range of consumer and commercial automotive needs, including paint, collision, glass, vehicle repair, oil change, maintenance and car wash. Driven Brands is the parent company of some of North Americas leading automotive service businesses including Take 5 Oil Change, Meineke Car Care Centers, Maaco, 1-800-Radiator & A/C, and CARSTAR. Driven Brands has more than 4,400 locations across 15 countries, and services over 50 million vehicles annually. Driven Brands network generates more than $1 billion in revenue from more than $4 billion in system-wide sales.
Cybereason, the XDR company, today announced the release of the Attack Flow Project in collaboration with the Center for Threat-Informed Defense. The project seeks to develop a common data format for describing sequences of adversary behavior in order to improve defensive capabilities. The Attack Flow Project will enable the broader security community to better visualize, analyze andmost importantlyshare attacks sequence actions and the assets they impact, ultimately advancing our understanding of TTPs and how to detect them earlier and remediate against them faster.

The goal of the Attack Flow Project is to generate a machine-readable representation of a sequence of attacker actions and context along with specific descriptive attributes of those actions and assets composed of five main objects: the flow itself, a list of actions, a list of assets, a list of knowledge properties, and a list of causal relationships between the actions and assets.

To help the community, we are building several tools to make working with Attack Flows easier. This includes a visualization tool, allowing users to easily communicate flows to each other and also to leadership, said Jon Baker, Director of Research and Development at the Center. There are a number of ways Defenders can use the Attack Flow, and it is our hope that the format becomes a standard used throughout the industry to better define use cases within threat intelligence, adversary emulation, detection, assessments, and more.

Cybereason joined the Center as a Research Participant to conduct research and development to support further evolution of the MITRE Engenuity ATT&CK framework, widely accepted as the foundation for a threat-informed defense approach in countering the latest techniques being leveraged by todays most advanced threat actors. Cybereason and the Center work to provide Defenders with a deep understanding of adversary tradecraft and advances in the development of countermeasures for prevention, detection and response to complex threats.

Defenders often have to track adversary techniques individually, meaning they can only focus on only one specific activity at a time, but adversaries use complex sequences in their attack flows to hide in the network seams and avoid detection until its too late, said Sam Curry, Cybereason CSO. Being able to understand the context and correlations across those sequences by chaining together the otherwise disparate Indicators of Behavior (IOBs), allows Defenders to surface complex attacks earlier in the attack sequence and creates the opportunity to respond faster as threats are emerging.

It is the intention of this ongoing collaboration between the Center and Cybereason that the effort will result in a significant reduction in the mean-time-to-detect (MttD) and the mean-time-to-respond (MttR) to the most complex attacks before any material damage can occur.

Cybereason is dedicated to teaming with Defenders to end attacks across the enterprise to anywhere the battle is taking place. Contact us today to learn how your organization can benefit from the Attack Flow Project.

About the Center for Threat-Informed Defense

The Center is a non-profit, privately funded research and development organization operated by MITRE Engenuity. The Centers mission is to advance the state of the art and the state of the practice in threat-informed defense globally. Comprised of participant organizations from around the globe with highly sophisticated security teams, the Center builds on MITRE ATT&CK, an important foundation for threat-informed defense used by security teams and vendors in their enterprise security operations. Because the Center operates for the public good, outputs of its research and development are available publicly and for the benefit of all.

About Cybereason

Cybereason is the XDR company, partnering with Defenders to end attacks at the endpoint, in the cloud and across the entire enterprise ecosystem. Only the AI-driven Cybereason XDR Platform provides planetary-scale data ingestion, operation-centric MalOp detection, and predictive response that is undefeated against modern ransomware and advanced attack techniques. Cybereason is a privately held international company headquartered in Boston with customers in more than 40 countries.

Learn more: https://www.cybereason.com/

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Media Contacts:

Bill Keeler

Senior Director, Global Public Relations

Cybereason

bill.keeler@cybereason.com

(929) 259-3261
Living by Faith, Not by Feelings: Sickness, Surgery, Suffering, and Sorrow as a Person of Faith 31-Day Devotional: a moving look into the authors personal experience with a significant health scare paired with thoughtful reflections on scripture. Living by Faith, Not by Feelings: Sickness, Surgery, Suffering, and Sorrow as a Person of Faith 31-Day Devotional is the creation of published author Dale Funderburg.

Funderburg shares, Living by Faith, Not by Feelings is an account of what seemed to be an insurmountable circumstance. The lighthearted approach reveals an outlook that communicates Gods grace with a southern and country charm as well as a humorous outlook on life, no matter how dire the circumstances. Living by Faith, Not by Feelings began as a labor of love to honor the authors church family of First Baptist Church in West Point, Mississippi. This church family faithfully prayed and supported the Funderburgs through an almost unbelievable timeline of medical drama, emotional trauma, and personal sorrow as told in each chapter as My Story.

Since developed into this thirty-one-day devotional, including Our Story, the work has been organized to testify to Gods sufficient grace to enable the reader to apply biblical principles into their own daily lives. Pain in life is complicated. This author attempts to describe how faith can govern our feelings by confidence in the sovereignty of God.

Living by Faith, Not by Feelings is also a tribute that attempts to honor and remind our heroes who work in the medical field of the importance of their role to not only address the physical body but also to comfort the fearful soul.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Dale Funderburgs new book will draw at the heartstrings and inspire as readers consider the authors powerful testimony.

Funderburg shares in hopes of aiding others coping with the tribulations of life to keep the faith and lean into Gods love.

Consumers can purchaseLiving by Faith, Not by Feelings: Sickness, Surgery, Suffering, and Sorrow as a Person of Faith 31-Day Devotional at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Living by Faith, Not by Feelings: Sickness, Surgery, Suffering, and Sorrow as a Person of Faith 31-Day Devotional, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.


If youve ever dreamed about opening a coffeehouse, Id love to help you get started. Weve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs take the leap from dreaming about a coffee shop to opening their doors. Chances are, we can help you! - Scott Fullerton, Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea

Looking to open a coffee shop? Then discover the book and proven system that have launched over 300 independent coffee shops in 30 states.

To get started, you can download a free recorded introduction to Seven Steps to Success: A Common-sense Guide to Succeed to Specialty Coffee, recorded by author Greg Ubert.

The Founder and President of award-winning coffee roaster Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea, Ubert used the book as the basis for the companys 7 Steps to Success coffee shop startup program.

He and his 7 Steps to Success coffee shop startup consulting team help entrepreneurs with little or no coffee experience open independent coffee shops.

We set up new business owners to reach their goals, Ubert said. Whether it's to have a successful business, to have delighted customers, or to support their local community, our 7 Steps team can help you get there.

As a one-stop shop for independent coffee shops, Crimson Cup also supplies award-winning coffee, the best coffee shop supplies in the business, and ongoing support to help their businesses thrive.

After a new coffee shop opens, the 7 Steps team supports the owners and managers through grand opening celebrations and beyond to ensure ongoing success.

Crimson Cup customer Kim Krantz opened Coffee Chaos in Midland, Michigan in 2004.

The approach that Crimson Cup takes is to make me, at Coffee Chaos, the best shop that I can possibly be, he said. That I can sell the most coffee that I can sell. That Im giving the best product, the best service. All of those things are what they are helping me do.

They want to make me successful. Because if Im successful, Crimson Cups successful. That business model is so unique. Thats what sets them apart.

Ubert said he continues to see strong opportunity for new coffee shop owners.

There are so many cities and towns that lack a good coffee shop, he said. Were here to help anyone who wants to get started in specialty coffee.

7 Steps Sales Leader Scott Fullerton is the first contact for all new coffee shop owners. Reach him by emailing sfullerton@crimsoncup.com or by calling 1.888.800.9224.

If youve ever dreamed about opening a coffeehouse, Id love to help you get started, Fullerton said. Weve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs take the leap from dreaming about a coffee shop to opening their doors. Chances are, we can help you!

About Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea

Founded in 1991, Crimson Cup is at the forefront of the coffee industry. Its attentive roasting, startup support and global partnerships are consciously designed for the greater good of communities around the world. Among other national recognitions, the company has earned 2020 and 2017 Good Food Awards, the 2019 Golden Bean Champion for Small Franchise/Chain Roaster and Roast magazines 2016 Macro Roaster of the Year.

Crimson Cup travels the world searching for the perfect cup  driven by meaningful relationships, honesty and a shared vision for the future. Its Friend2Farmer initiatives foster respect and decency through mutually beneficial collaboration across local and global communities.

Through its 7 Steps to Success coffee shop startup program, the company teaches entrepreneurs to run independent coffee houses in their local communities. By developing a coffee shop business plan, entrepreneurs gain insight into how much it costs to open a coffee shop.

Crimson Cup coffee is available through over 350 independent coffee houses, grocers, college and universities, restaurants and food service operations across 30 states, Guam and Bangladesh. The company also owns several Crimson Cup Coffee Shops and a new CRIMSON retail flagship store. To learn more, visit crimsoncup.com, or follow the company on Facebook and Instagram.
The strength of Express exists within its experts at the ground level who are invested in workforce solutions for their local communities. - Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller

Nearly 1,200 Express Employment Professionals franchisees and their staff recently gathered in Orlando, Florida, to celebrate record-breaking sales for 2021 that continue to climb in 2022.

This was part of the global staffing companys 39th annual International Leadership Conference (ILC), which featured inspirational speakers, workshops and trainings focused on staffing and workplace issues and a chance to network with fellow business entrepreneurs.

The strength of Express exists within its experts at the ground level who are invested in workforce solutions for their local communities, Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller said. Im so proud of all their efforts to get people back to work after a challenging season, and it was a joy to honor them in front of their peers at ILC.

One of those who took home the top awards included Chief Financial Officer Tony Bostwick.

Bostwick was recognized with the Gordon Blair Heritage Award, presented to those who possess extraordinary enthusiasm, a positive attitude and integrity. Recipients of this award have contributed significantly to the overall development and success of Express.

Tony has a remarkable wit, a positive attitude, a razor-sharp mind and a deep and authentic love of people and information, Stoller said. During his tenure at Express his work has benefited franchisees, associates, clients and the entire Express organization. No matter who he meets, their impression of him is always the same: a likable and approachable guy who tells the truth and who is always prepared.

Express boasts more than 850 franchise locations across the globe in five countries, garnering $4.16 billion in sales and employing 586,000 associates in 2021.

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If you would like to arrange for an interview with Bill Stoller to discuss this topic, please contact Sheena Hollander, Director of Corporate Communications and PR, at (405) 717-5966.

About Bill Stoller

William H. "Bill" Stoller is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment International. Founded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the international staffing franchisor supports the Express Employment Professionals franchise and related brands. The Express franchise brand is an industry-leading, international staffing company with franchise locations in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

About Express Employment Professionals

At Express Employment Professionals, were in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Our international network of franchises offers localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, employing 586,000 people globally in 2021 and 10 million since its inception. For more information, visit ExpressPros.com.
Kim Pace My heart is pouring out for the President and people of Ukraine. They need supplies, shelters, medicine, prayers and support. I was watching the news and feeling helpless when I realized that, as a small business owner, I could help. - Kim Pace

Kim Pace, the local owner of Fresh Coat Painters Serving Marin, is eager to announce that she will be making a donation to Red Cross Ukraine for each new contract signed with her company through the end of March.

My heart is pouring out for the President and people of Ukraine. They need supplies, shelters, medicine, prayers and support. I was watching the news and feeling helpless when I realized that, as a small business owner, I could help, Pace said. I think its important for businesses to leverage their networks to drive social impact, locally and globally, and this is an opportunity I can create to help contribute to those in need.

As part of this effort, Pace will donate $50 to Red Cross Ukraine for every new contract signed in March, as long as that contract is at least $3,000 in value. The national Fresh Coat Painters franchise office is also going to match that donation, for a total of $100 for each new contract. Fresh Coat Painters Serving Marin offers high-quality interior and exterior painting for Residential and Commercial customers in Sausalito, Tiburon, Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Ross, Larkspur, San Anselmo, San Rafael and Novato. Pace launched the business back in 2020.

Pace is no stranger to philanthropic work. Shes active in the companys national Fresh Coat Cares program and launched a subsidiary program called Doors of Hope, which allows customers to bring a new splash of color to their front door while providing local employment and giving back to one of three charitable organizations in the county.

"Kim's initiative to support the people of Ukraine comes as no surprise. She's not one to sit on her hands in business, philanthropy or otherwise. She launched her business during the height of the pandemic, and despite the stress and uncertainty of that undertaking, she created Doors of Hope. I couldn't be more proud of her, said Fresh Coat Painters President Tara Riley.

Fresh Coat Painters Serving Marin is known for the companys high-touch approach to customer service, from their focus on customer communication and transparency to their high-quality painting team and their attention to detail. To learn more about Fresh Coat Painters Serving Marin and to get a free, detailed quote, visit https://www.freshcoatpainters.com/marin/.


In close collaboration with some of the most innovative leaders in the industry, we have developed Genedata Selector to enable biopharma organizations to bring innovative biotherapeutics like CGTs as quickly as possible to patients

Genedata, the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biopharmaceutical R&D, today announced the release of Genedata Selector 8, the latest version of its innovative platform for NGS-based assay analytics. The software enables biopharmaceutical R&D teams to digitalize and automate complex experimental workflows and specifically leverage Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data for deep bioprocess and biotherapeutic characterization as well as adventitious agent detection.

In particular, the development of effective cell & gene therapies (CGTs), but also other biotherapeutics, requires fully integrated software solutions that speed up complex data analytical processes, while generating results of the highest quality. Furthermore, biological materials (e.g., raw material including cells, gene delivery systems like AAV, vectors, and growth media) require continuous quality assessment at the molecular level. Typical quality assessment challenges include in-depth host cell characterization, clone validation, in-process confirmation of material identity, early detection of adventitious agents within the bioreactor, as well as sterility assessment of the final biotherapeutic product. NGS has become a key technology in biopharma R&D to address such challenges and Genedata Selector is emerging as the platform of choice to support all NGS-driven workflows in biopharma R&D within GxP compliant environments.

Genedata Selector is a future-proof platform that automates analytical workflows of NGS-based assays with out-of-the-box playbooks, guided interfaces for running analyses for a variety of applications. The solution is applied to establish critical quality attributes of CGTs and other biotherapeutics throughout research, development, and manufacturing. The platform reduces workflow complexity by offering:



Easy and flexible integration of new technologies (CRISPR, TLA, ScRNA-Seq) and automated analysis and visualization of NGS data.

Complete tracking of all sample information (including genomic and phenotypic information) maintaining full data integrity.

Genedata Selector 8 has been developed in close collaboration with innovative leaders in the biopharma industry to address the rapidly emerging needs of an exciting field in bioprocess development. Preliminary ROI analyses show considerably reduced project times e.g., for clone selection or adventitious agent detection, and significantly improved team productivity. By having all data and results at the fingertips, decision-making, reporting, and regulatory submissions have become simpler, faster, and more transparent.

We have recognized the need to speed up highly complex NGS-driven experimental workflows in bioprocess development. In close collaboration with some of the most innovative leaders in the industry, we have developed Genedata Selector to enable biopharma organizations to bring innovative biotherapeutics like CGTs as quickly as possible to patients, said Othmar Pfannes Ph.D., CEO of Genedata. We are committed to contributing to this exciting field and collaborating with other innovators to further improve analytical approaches for accelerated safe and efficacious therapy development.

About Genedata

Genedata transforms data into intelligence with innovative software solutions that incorporate extensive biopharma R&D domain knowledge. Multinational biopharmaceutical organizations and cutting-edge biotechs around the globe rely on Genedata to digitalize and automate data-rich and complex R&D processes. From early discovery all the way to the clinic, Genedata solutions help maximize the ROI in R&D expenditure. Founded in 1997, Genedata is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland with additional offices in Boston, London, Munich, San Francisco, Singapore, and Tokyo.

http://www.genedata.com

LinkedIn | Twitter| YouTube

________________________________________

Contact

Allison Kurz

Genedata

Public Relations

pr@genedata.com

Disclaimer

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events, or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties related to contract cancellations, developing risks, competitive factors, uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for the Company's products and services. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.
Ian C. Ballon, co-chair of the Global Intellectual Property (IP) & Technology Practice at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, will speak at Howard University Law Schools 4th Annual HBCU Tech Law Summit and 19th Annual IP and Social Justice Program on March 4. Ballon will be a speaker during the opening session of the IP and Social Justice program, delivering the copyright law update on the Year in Review: Patent, Trademark, and Copyright panel.

The HBCU Tech Law Summit is a program for diverse legal professionals that aims to educate on issues regarding the accountable development of artificial intelligence services and technology. The IP and Social Justice CLE program discusses updates in IP law regarding diversity and social justice and features a panel of sitting federal judges.

Ballon, an internet and IP litigation shareholder in Greenberg Traurigs Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. offices, has been included in The Daily Journals annual list of Top IP Litigators in California every year that the list has been published, from 2009 to 2021, and was named Lawyer of the Year for Information Technology Law in the 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2016, and 2013 editions of Best Lawyers in America. In 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 and 2018 he was recognized as one of the Top 1,000 trademark attorneys in the world for his litigation practice by World Trademark Review. He is included in the Lawdragon list of the Top 500 Lawyers in America and has been listed on The Daily Journals list of the Top 100 Lawyers in California. In 2019, he was named one of the top 20 cybersecurity lawyers in California and, in 2018, one of the top cybersecurity/artificial intelligence lawyers in California by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal. Ballon received the 2017 Trailblazer Award, Intellectual Property from The National Law Journal and has been recognized as a Groundbreaker in The Recorders 2017 Litigation Departments of the Year Awards. He was also the recipient of the California State Bar Intellectual Property Law section's Vanguard Award for significant contributions to the development of intellectual property law. Ballon is an elected member of the American Law Institute and served as an advisor to its international IP jurisdiction project and a member of the consultative group for the American Law Institutes Data Privacy Principles of Law project. Ballon also is the author of Wests bestselling five-volume legal treatise, E-Commerce and Internet Law 2d ed. (http://www.ianballon.net/).

About Greenberg Traurigs Intellectual Property & Technology Practice: With more than 225 intellectual property attorneys and patent agents in the United States, Asia, and Europe, Greenberg Traurig provides a broad range of patent, trademark and copyright protection and strategic counseling. Greenberg Traurig was named Law Firm of the Year for Trademark Law and a National Tier 1 Law Firm for IP Litigation, Patent Law and Litigation, Copyright Law, Technology Law, and Information Technology Law by U.S. News and Best Lawyers, 2022 Best Law Firms."

About Greenberg Traurig: Greenberg Traurig, LLP has more than 2400 attorneys in 42 locations in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm, often recognized for its focus on philanthropic giving, innovation, diversity, and pro bono, reported gross revenue of over $2 Billion for FY 2021. The firm is consistently among the top firms on the Am Law 100, Am Law Global 100, NLJ 250, and Law360 (US) 400. On the debut 2022 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard, it is a Top 15 firm. Greenberg Traurig is Mansfield Rule 4.0 Certified Plus by The Diversity Lab and net carbon neutral with respect to its office energy usage. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com.
Were delighted to work with organizations like MSK who are obvious leaders in their field. Our ability to add value by streamlining processes and reducing procedural errors in a very rigorous environment made GRM the obvious choice. - Avner Schneur, CEO, GRM Information Management.

GRM Information Management continues to build its Pathology blocks and slides storage business with a recently awarded multi-year contract from New Yorks Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). The contract includes storage and active management of tens of thousands of cubic feet of blocks and slides for the hospitals clinical and research departments.

In addition to being HIPAA, CLEA, and CAP-certified, and offering superior storage facilities,

GRMs ongoing commitment to staff its business with seasoned account service representatives who are capable of building familiarity with the collection, managing it intelligently, and rapidly fulfilling requests for retrieval and delivery of samples continues to be a defining and valuable differentiator.

GRMs eAccess online inventory management system and dashboard can serve as the tool for online management, review, and processing of a volume of ongoing delivery and pick-up requests. The inventory management function of eAccess is enabled by the inventorying and barcoding of every sample to deliver flawless traceability.

GRM CEO, Avner Schneur, commented, Were delighted to work with organizations like MSK who are obvious leaders in their field. Our ability to add value by streamlining processes and reducing procedural errors in a very rigorous environment made GRM the obvious choice. Schneur added, Whether its the storage of blocks and slides, document storage or managing critical digital enterprise content management services, clients choose GRM because our people and our technology clearly exceed the requirements of the demanding environments in which they operate.

GRMs blocks and slides storage business is a natural extension of GRMs core document storage offering, as well as the companys growing digital healthcare solutions and patient data management solutions. Counting many of the countrys largest healthcare organizations as clients, GRM employs their secure cloud-based content services platform, VisualVault, to deliver a broad and growing set of digital data managements and workflow automation solutions that are powered by sophisticated data extraction technologies, robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI) and valuable analytics tools.

A leader in enterprise content management (ECM) and business process automation (BPA), GRM is well-suited to architect and deliver document and content-centric business processes via its cloud-based content services platform (CSP). These digital solutions fundamentally change the way businesses execute internal, partner and customer-facing business processes. Theyre defined by the creation of structured digital data delivered by extraction, imaging/scanning, and employing that data to execute workflow automation processes and providing an elevated level of insight and intelligence delivered via sophisticated analytics.

About GRM

GRM Information Management is a leading provider of document storage services and information management systems. GRMs robust, cloud-based content services platform serves as the centerpiece of the digital solutions that GRM provides its clients. Serving a diverse base of industries such as healthcare, government, legal, finance and human resources, GRM delivers its clients services such as digital conversion, advanced data capture solutions, document management systems, workflow automation, legacy data archiving, compliance and governance, business process management and advanced analytics capabilities, as well as a full suite of document storage, scanning and physical records management services.

GRM maintains offices in 14 major metros across the U.S., including Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey/New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. GRM also has facilities in Lima, Peru; Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Bogota, Medellin and Cali, Colombia. For more information, visit http://www.grmdocumentmanagement.com.

Press Contact:

Mike Aaron

GRM Information Management

Phone: 201-798-7100 x637

maaron@grmdocument.com
Our team at GuideCX continues to inspire me every day as they undertake the work needed to revolutionize the onboarding process and help us fulfill our mission to change the business world one customer at a time.

GuideCX, the premier client onboarding software for business professionals everywhere, is proud to announce that Chief Operating Officer Harris Clarke has been named COO of the Year in this years Silicon Slopes Hall of Fame Awards. Clarke, who has been with GuideCX since its inception in 2018, received the award for his achievements and contributions to the growing success of Utahs economy and the Silicon Slopes region as a whole.

The award comes on the heels of a pivotal year for the customer onboarding SaaS, which debuted its highly anticipated Navigator Reporting Engine tool in late December. Clarke led the GuideCX team through the formation and rollout of the one-of-a-kind enterprise reporting enhancement, which sets the standard for internal and external teams. Clarkes vision led to the creation of a tool that provides standard metrics and forecasting through simplified data, which has already garnered the praise of customers around the world.

Likewise, he has continued to help GuideCX elevate the B2B experience and deliver world-class service, pushing past the barriers of traditional client onboarding. His efforts have helped propel GuideCX to new heights, including its recent $25 million Series B funding round, which will help the company double its workforce by the end of 2022. Additionally, GuideCX continues to earn No. 1 rankings on G2 in multiple categories like the coveted Relationship Index, thanks to its heightened brand awareness.

It is truly humbling to live and work in an ecosystem like that of the Utah Silicon Slopes community that encourages you to push past what you believe is possible, said Clarke. Likewise, our team at GuideCX continues to inspire me every day as they undertake the work needed to revolutionize the onboarding process and help us fulfill our mission to change the business world one customer at a time.

As just one of three finalists in the COO of the Year category, Clarke received the designation during a gala held in late February at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. Categories represented industries ranging from software to health, architecture and fashion. To view the complete list of this years finalists, visit https://halloffame.siliconslopes.com/.

ABOUT GUIDECX

GuideCX is a client onboarding and project management platform that keeps your clients at the center of every project by providing complete visibility into the work. Invite everyone to the projectinternal resources, customer teams and third-party vendors. Guide each step and stay on track with automated tasks, reminders and updates. Engage teams by enabling them to interact with the project in the way they prefer. They can complete tasks, view status, send updates, make notes and morethrough the portal, the mobile app or email. GuideCX helps you deliver projects faster with fewer issues and accelerate time to value for your customers. For more information, visit GuideCX.com.


Advanced analytics and machine learning technology can improve the accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness of any drug diversion prevention program and goes far beyond what can be addressed manually, especially when dealing with large amounts of data.

Invistics, the leading provider of cloud-based software solutions that improve inventory visibility and analytics across complex healthcare systems and global supply chains, announced the publication of its groundbreaking scientific study, Detecting Drug Diversion in Health System Data using Machine Learning and Advanced Analytics, in the latest edition of the peer-reviewed American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

The retrospective study, published Feb. 9, compared the use of machine learning and advanced analytics software to uncover drug diversion with traditional means of detection  including the use of monthly anomalous usage reports  within 10 acute-care inpatient hospitals across four independent health systems.

Study co-authors included: Tom Knight (CEO, Invistics Corporation), Bernie May (SVP Healthcare Systems, Invistics Corporation), Don Tyson (Director of Pharmacy, Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center; Scott McAuley (Executive Director of Pharmacy, Piedmont Healthcare) Pam Letzkus (Senior Director of Pharmacy, Scripps Health); and Sharon Murphy Enright (Principal, EnvisionChange, LLC).

Researchers extracted two datasets from each participating health organizations health technology systems, and then applied supervised machine learning models to analyze 24 months of historical data. This included 27.9 million medication movement transactions by 19,037 nursing, 1,047 pharmacy, and 712 anesthesia clinicians  and 22 known, blinded diversion cases. Researchers then gauged when the machine learning model would have found, or detected, evidence of those known diversion cases.

The advanced analytics and machine learning technologies detected known diversion cases (n=22) in blinded data an average of 160 days faster than existing, non-machine learning detection methods had. Additionally, the machine learning model demonstrated 96.3% accuracy, 95.9% specificity, and 96.6% sensitivity detecting transactions at high-risk of diversion in the dataset.

"For healthcare systems that dont yet utilize a drug prevention and detection program leveraging machine learning and advanced analytics tools, the research speaks for itself," said Don Tyson, Director of Pharmacy at Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center. "Advanced analytics and machine learning technology can improve the accuracy, efficiency and effectiveness of any drug diversion prevention program and goes far beyond what can be addressed manually, especially when dealing with large amounts of data."

"Identifying drug diversion quickly is critical to patient safety. Advances in technology have made it possible to detect and investigate potential diversion months earlier," said Pam Letzkus, Senior Director of Pharmacy at Scripps Health. "As such, the research has big implications for patients and healthcare providers.

Drug diversion in healthcare settings is a silent, yet pervasive epidemic with financial, clinical, and legal consequences. A May 2021 Porter Research survey indicates 96% of healthcare workers agree that drug diversion is occurring in U.S. hospitals, and nearly three-quarters (73%) of survey participants rated machine learning as an effective tool in identifying or preventing drug diversion  up from 65% in 2019.

The findings prove that advances in machine learning and analytics are a real gamechanger  and can improve the detection of drug diversion in hospitals and other healthcare settings, says Tom Knight, CEO, Invistics. This is really important, considering the huge financial, clinical, and emotional burden that medication theft imposes on healthcare systems, patients, and families.

To view the full study, click here.

About Invistics

Invistics is the leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for healthcare inventory visibility, providing advanced analytics and actionable insights for hospitals and health systems who want to detect and prevent drug diversion. Invistics solution, called Flowlytics, tracks the movement of drugs across the complex supply chain  from the time they are shipped from the wholesaler to a healthcare facility, then each time drugs are moved throughout the hospital and administered to patients. Atlanta-based Invistics Corporation also provides inventory visibility for manufacturers, distributors, re-packagers and controlled substance registrants, helping to reduce inventory costs and compliance risks within a single facility or across the extended enterprise. Please note any research reported for publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R44DA044083. Content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. To learn more, visit https://www.invistics.com.
Rural Leaders at Georgia Capitol It is one thing to look just at the numbers and make decisions, but it is another thing to meet the hands, feet and faces of these hospitals and realize that there is always more to the story than numbers alone.

HomeTown Health, LLC a collaborative network of rural hospitals throughout Georgia and the Southeast brought together more than 30 rural hospital leaders to visit the Georgia Capitol on February 10, 2022. This annual event brings hospital leadership including CEOs, CFOs, COO and other prominent hospital leaders to the Capitol to network together and engage with the legislative process at the grassroots level. State leaders are invited to share their understanding of rural healthcare needs as well as insights on the state budget and legislation that affects rural healthcare. State leaders have the opportunity to engage with the group and hear directly from rural hospital leadership about their needs, concerns and opportunities.

Throughout the day, rural leaders had the opportunity to meet with their respective Senators and Representatives in one-on-one appointment, as well as hear from various state leaders on the topic of rural healthcare in Georgia and take part in the daily activities within the Capitol building.

The attending executives represented various rural and community hospitals spread throughout Georgia and came together with the purpose of meeting with their legislators and important committee members to share the plight of rural hospitals in Georgia, to thank the legislature for the positive steps it has made in supporting local hospitals, and to ask for their continued consideration in upcoming bills and legislation that affects healthcare funding and rural community impacts in the state.

This years hospital representatives heard from Rep. Debbie Buckner, Member of Ways & Means Committee who welcomed the participants and kickstart the day together; Rep. Bill Werkheiser Rep. Butch Parrish, Chairman of Appropriations  Health (Swainsboro); Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities; Commissioner Caylee Noggle and Dept. Commissioner Ryan Loke of the Department of Community Health; Senator Blake Tillery, Chairman of Appropriations (Vidalia); and Jason Bearden, CareSource. The group also engaged with Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan.

For 15 years, the annual CEO Day organized by HomeTown Health has served to connect the faces of state leadership with the faces of rural healthcare throughout Georgia. This day is of great value not only to our hospital attendees - who get to be in the room with some of the most influential state leaders in healthcare legislation - but also for our legislators who get to meet the people and hear the stories of what is happening in hospitals around the state. says HomeTown Health CEO Jimmy Lewis. It is one thing to look just at the numbers and make decisions, but it is another thing to meet the hands, feet and faces of these hospitals and realize that there is always more to the story than numbers alone.

The following week, on February 16, 2022, HomeTown Health hosted the Rural Caucus Luncheon which gathered more than 35 state leaders in the State Agricultural Building. The Rural Caucus Luncheon is designed to further engage legislators and state leaders on the status of rural healthcare and the impacts of state funding, legislation and action in rural communities as it relates to healthcare.

This year, Anthems Kelley Grayson and Nick Dejong shared on the rural strategy and support of mental health initiatives within the state. HomeTown Health CEO Jimmy Lewis presented a rural state-of-the-state' highlighting rural hospital closures throughout the state historically, new initiatives and solutions being implemented, work force shortages, telehealth and transformation initiatives, field trip opportunities for visiting hospitals as well as funding considerations to best impact rural facilities.

On behalf of the hospitals in our network, and other rural hospitals in the state, we want to sincerely thank the state leadership for your support through the Georgia Hospital Tax Credit and ask for your continued support in legislative and funding efforts that bring not only restoration, but invigoration, to our rural communities and their healthcare services. shared Jimmy Lewis as he reflects on the value of this annual luncheon and the support of state leaders.

About HomeTown Health: HomeTown Health, LLC is a network of rural hospitals, healthcare providers, and best practice business partners who collectively pursue ways to help its membership survive in the environment of constant change in reimbursement, operations and technology. HomeTown Health, LLC is committed to providing legislative representation, best practice solutions and continuing education and training through research and the continuous improvement of processes for healthcare providers.
With the release of the SECs new marketing rule, advisors can now highlight their most valuable asset  their clients  in being able to tell their unique value proposition directly from the individuals who have experienced the tremendous work advisors do on their behalf.

Indyfin, an innovative fintech company, announced today the launch of its new Investor Experience Platform. This new and innovative digital marketplace will redefine the way investors find, research, review and interact with financial professionals. Similar to how consumer-centric digital platforms such as Yelp have transformed how consumers discover and trust small businesses, Indyfin is leading the way in helping investors connect with quality, professional financial advisors most suited to their needs, wealth levels, and long-term goals.

Historically, financial advisors have been prohibited from using their client endorsements, testimonials and online reviews due to antiquated regulations, said Akshay Singh, Founder of Indyfin. However, with the release of the SECs new marketing rule, advisors can now highlight their most valuable asset  their clients  in being able to tell their unique value proposition directly from the individuals who have experienced the tremendous work advisors do on their behalf.

Indyfins platform is designed to provide intuitive search and easy-to-read advisor profiles that clearly differentiate each advisor highlighting their unique credentials and experience along with ratings and reviews from existing clients. Financial advisors looking to grow their business partner with Indyfin to build credibility and trust with clients and prospects through Indyfins investor experience platform.

indyfin brings easy-to-use dashboards and automated workflows to quickly build a robust Advisor Profile that shows their unique value. In just minutes advisors can request, respond to, maintain, and share reviews from existing clients, all in a compliant manner. Indyfin has been vetted by experienced investment advisory attorneys and designed with relevant provisions to make it easy for advisors to comply so advisors and their compliance officers can leverage the platform with confidence.

A key aspect of Indyfin is that not every financial advisor can join the marketplace. Advisors must go through a rigorous vetting process to qualify as one of Indyfins network of advisors. Once approved, advisors receive marketplace referrals of well-suited clients. What sets Indyfins referral network apart is that financial advisors do not pay for getting meetings with prospective clients on their calendar. They are only charged a fee when they win a client.

Advisors using the Indyfin platform are seeing dramatic results for their businesses and their growth, said Mr. Singh. So much so, that many of them are embracing what we have termed zero marketing in that they no longer need to invest their scarce resources in traditional marketing activities that really only the mega-firms with expertise and scale can execute on effectively. Indyfins investor experience is becoming their growth engine and we look forward to continuing to expand the platform so that more and more investors can find and connect with the right financial advisor ideally suited for their needs and circumstances.

To facilitate the launch of Indyfins platform, Leo Capital, a Venture Capital firm and several other veterans from financial services have invested $2.2 million. Proceeds of the capital raise will be used for investor experience development, scaling of the platform as well as raising awareness of Indyfin across all digital channels to drive investor engagement.

To learn more about the Indyfin platform, log onto http://www.indyfin.com; and to download our recent financial advisor practice management guide, Grow Your Business with Zero Marketing logon to: https://hub.indyfin.com/zero-marketing-download

About Indyfin

Indyfin is the worlds first investor experience platform redefining how consumers find, research, and connect with financial advisors. Financial Advisors partner with Indyfin to gather feedback, ratings, and reviews, which helps them to build credibility and trust online. Advisors utilize Indyfins proprietary technology to create data-rich profiles, which enables accurate matching to new clients while offering investors transparency into what makes an advisor unique. Headquartered in Dallas, TX, Indyfin is a fast-growing fintech company committed to helping investors meet their financial objectives with help from a trusted financial advisor. To learn more, visit http://www.indyfin.com
Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. with Kathy Ireland. Image Courtesy of Jon Carrasco

The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF), a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating childhood cancer, is launching Music Funds the Cure in support of the 43 children diagnosed with pediatric cancer daily. Supermodel turned super mogul Kathy Ireland, who serves as NPCFs International Youth Chair, proclaims the relevance of merging the joy of music in support of the fight against pediatric cancer.

Music is something that everyone enjoys, and cancer is something that everyone despises. Engaging people to share their passion for music and align it with raising awareness and funds to support pediatric cancer research is the intent of Music Funds the Cure. We are so excited to join Kathy Ireland and the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, to lift our voices and talents to benefit this extraordinary organization for children who are battling cancer. This is our third year of supporting Kathy, as International Youth Chair of NPCF, and we are grateful for the opportunity to participate in such a meaningful way, said eight-time Grammy Award-winners, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr, heralded as the First Couple of Pop & Soul, stars of the Academy Award-nominated film, Summer of Soul directed by Questlove, and recording artists, whose latest album, blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons on EE1 BMG, produced by Nic Mendoza, returned the duo to the Billboard charts after an absence of over 40 years.

Funding research will help save the lives of children fighting cancer, says Kathy Ireland, whose record label, EE1 (under music giant BMG), recently returned music icons Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. to the top of the album charts with their first studio album in over thirty years, Lennon-McCartney Icons. Music Funds the Cure has various ways for people to get involved. Artists and corporations can donate a percentage of their proceeds for their product or services. Musicians of all ages can post a donate link to their social media and challenge their network to listen to their music and donate to the NPCF, adds the philanthropist.

Orpheus Academy of Music in Austin, Texas, https://secure.qgiv.com/event/orpheusacademy/ is currently raising funds with students demonstrating to their network their skills and requesting support for their classmate Theo who lost his battle with cancer. The Academy will also be hosting a concert on March 6th to celebrate Theos life and passion for music. This event is being streamed live.

Actor and musician Gabriella Graves is also supporting pediatric cancer research by encouraging patients to be courageous and continue to dream. She is hosting a video dream series via YouTube highlighting participants in the NPCFs Fashion Funds the Cure events across the country. Gabriella is known for her recurring role as Delaware, the quirky best friend, on Disney Channel's Coop and Cami Ask the World. When she is not working, Gabi's passions are creating YouTube videos of cover songs (singing to piano, ukulele, and guitar).

To put in perspective how important the support of this program is -- only four percent of the billions of dollars annually spent on cancer research is directed towards treating childhood cancer, and yet childhood cancer is the number one cause of death by disease in children. Moreover, fewer than 10 drugs have been developed for use in children with cancer since 1980. These are staggering statistics that we, as a society, cant ignore. As the top-rated cancer charity, the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation is dedicated to putting 100% of our efforts towards developing safer, more effective treatment, to ensure these children not only survive but thrive after treatment.

Since its inception, the NPCF has been working to develop these treatments through their innovative Sunshine Project, a business model unlike any other in the field of pediatric cancer research. Consisting of a consortium of over 32 leading pediatric hospitals nationwide, the Sunshine Project was founded with the goal of leveraging collaboration, both scientific and philanthropic, to identify promising, less toxic, novel therapies to treat and eliminate childhood

To join - log onto: https://nationalpcf.org/programs/music-funds-the-cure/

About National Pediatric Cancer Foundation

The National Pediatric Cancer Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to funding research to eliminate childhood cancer through the Sunshine Project, the Foundations collaborative research initiative. By partnering with doctors and researchers from the countrys top institutions, the Sunshine Project is fast-tracking the development of new drugs and therapies that will ultimately lead to the cure of childhood cancers. The NPCF has received a perfect 100% score for financial health and transparency and is recognized as the top-rated cancer charity in the U.S. by Charity Navigator. For more information, visit http://www.NationalPCF.org or connect via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Laynes Chicken Fingers, the soon to be famous chicken finger franchise, has wrapped up a successful first year in franchising, with a total of 5 deals for 40 units. Now, the brand is looking to ride that momentum to even more growth in 2022, with plans to open 8 new locations and sign 45 new franchisees by the end of the year.

Garrett Reed, Laynes CEO, says the brands initial growth in Texas is central to its long-term development strategy.

"We were founded in College Station and still have that rich hometown culture in all of our locations, said Reed. We know we have a special brand here, with serious fans across Texas, and we see a bright future for franchisees who want to bring smiles to families in their communities. It's hard to resist our hand-fried chicken and specialty sauces, and after their first visit, people tend to become loyal guests."

Already a legend in Texas with a 30-year history and an army of brand fanatics who stayed loyal during the pandemic, the rapidly expanding chicken finger concept plans to partner with franchisees to open 100 new locations by 2025. Territories across the nation are wide open for development, and the brand has its sights set on further growth in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona to start.

Laynes Will Bring 6 New Locations To Dallas-Fort Worth By Spring of 2022

In line with the brands initiative to expand first in Texas, it was announced in late 2021, that Scott and Heather Davis, would bring six locations to Burleson, Arlington and Mansfield.

We are super excited about the opportunity to partner with Laynes Chicken Fingers, said Scott Davis. Its going to be a lot of fun working closely with them on crafting how we go to market and grow.

Laynes Is Making Its Way To the Texas Capital in 2022

Furthering the brands Texas expansion is Texas-native Noah Kara, who is bringing the chicken franchises first location to Austin in early 2022.

Originally from Houston, Kara has spent his life dreaming of becoming a business owner. After spending some time working in corporate America as a business analyst at Accenture, he discovered franchising and Laynes Chicken Fingers. Kara soon fell in love with Layne's delicious chicken and decided to move to Austin to develop the brand. This is the first of three locations Kara is opening with Laynes. After opening in Austin, he says hell focus next on opening a new location in Corpus Christi.

Its a very family-based culture, which is exactly what I was looking for, Kara said. I want to be able to grow this business with people who really care.

Laynes Announced the Opening of Its First Houston Area Location in 2021

Masroor Fatany opened the first Laynes location in Katy, Texas in 2021.

Fatany is a Houston-native and seasoned restaurateur who owns and operates multiple Halal Guys restaurants in the Houston area, but he just couldnt shake his love for Laynes, which he says was a college staple when he attended Texas A&M in College Station.

After experiencing massive success with Halal Guys, Fatany decided it was finally time for him to bring Laynes to Houston as the brands first franchisee. Fatany plans to open five more locations of the Aggie favorite in the Houston Area over the next few years.

I had been looking for another concept for some time, but I wanted to find a brand that I really enjoyed, Fatany said. The menu is simple. Thats important. And then there is the connection to my alma mater in College Station, so I knew Laynes would have that built-in following. Everyone at A&M knows Laynes. It's just good food at a great price. I mean, who doesnt want that?

Why 2022 Is the Time To Invest in Laynes

Since the brands founding in 1994, it has grown from a local phenomenon to a Lone Star State icon. Laynes expansion began in 2017, when Reed and fellow entrepreneur Matt OReilly approached Laynes then-owner, Mike Garratt, about expanding the brand through franchising. With Reeds real estate development experience and OReillys finance background, the team brought in operational and franchising expert Samir Wattar as COO. Wattar has created a smooth and efficient operating template, helping the brand to thrive with multiple corporate-owned and soon-to-be franchised stores in Texas.

With a proven track record behind it already, that expert corporate team is now welcoming investors who are ready to bring the brand to more people in more places.

I believe in franchising, but I dont believe in simply selling franchises, Watter said. I believe in opening successful restaurants. I and the rest of the leadership team want to open strong restaurants and help someones dream to own a business come true.

The brand is looking for franchise candidates with heart and passion who can help launch the brand to the next level, get involved in their communities and bring exceptional service and food to new markets.

We dont want people to just invest, OReilly said. Wel do everything in our power to make sure that a franchisee opens with a strong showing and continues to do what they need to have a successful restaurant.

Franchise opportunities range from $737,000 to $1,217,500 with different buildout options available. The brand is looking to grow throughout the country and will concentrate on Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona. Learn more about franchising: https://www.layneschickenfingers.com/franchising/.

ABOUT LAYNE'S CHICKEN FINGERS

Founded in 1994 in College Station, the original location became a Texas A&M legend known for its small-town charm, friendly service, iconic chicken fingers and secret sauce. While opening corporate locations across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the leadership team focused on fine-tuning its operations and starting to franchise. Now, the company is planning to bring Laynes Soon to be Famous Chicken Fingers to the rest of the world with plans to open 100 locations by the next four years.
LRS Contract to Install US Capitol Complex Razor Wire After January 6

LRS Federal and Hill International, Inc. are pleased to announce they have formed a joint venture to pursue construction management contracts for U.S. Federal government infrastructure and facilities projects worldwide. The LRS-Hill joint venture combines the diverse range of technical offerings of LRS, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) providing engineering, environmental, field response and training services with the depth and breadth of Hill International, one of the largest program, project, and construction management firms in the world with more than 3,000 employees.

The joint venture was approved by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the governments Mentor-Protege program and will allow the joint venture to compete for contract awards that are set-aside for small business. The SBAs Mentor-Protege Program also provides for developmental assistance, as Hill will offer specific business support to enhance LRS growth and capabilities. Both companies are already working together on large Federal construction management contracts and this joint venture will deepen the working relationship to form a powerful engineering and construction management team.

According to LRS Federals CEO Sean Logan, LRS has a vision for our continued growth as a reliable engineering service provider for our many federal government customers. With the excellent relationship we are building with Hill, we will get there quicker and in a more sustainable manner. The demand for infrastructure modernization was already high before the recent surge in Federal funding and now our team is positioned to meet the frantic pace of engineering and construction that our clients are expecting. With Hill as our partner, we can leverage their stability and market position to handle the explosive growth in the Federal marketplace.

Hill International First Vice President, Federal Programs Ed Newman said of the LRS-Hill partnership: Hill is always looking for promising, qualified small businesses to team with on our Federal projects, and when the opportunity to formalize our relationship with LRS arose, we were thrilled to cement our partnership. Hill is looking forward to helping LRS grow into the business they want to be, and we know LRSs professionals bring skillsets and expertise we can both leverage to help our Federal clients plan, launch, and execute their infrastructure projects successfully.

About LRS Federal

LRS Federal, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), with headquarters outside Annapolis, Maryland supports Federal healthcare and facilities projects nationwide with a focus on construction management, engineering, environmental services, green energy initiatives, and program/project management support.

LRS Federal

565 Benfield Road | Suite 400

Severna Park, MD 21146

Tom Scott, PMP

President

About Hill International

Hill International, with more than 3,000 professionals in over 100 offices worldwide, provides program management, project management, construction management, project management oversight, facilities management, and other consulting services to clients in a variety of market sectors. Engineering News-Record magazine recently ranked Hill as one of the largest construction management firms in the United States. For more information on Hill, please visit our website at http://www.hillintl.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein may be considered "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and it is our intent that any such statements be protected by the safe harbor created thereby. Except for historical information, the matters set forth herein including, but not limited to, any statements of belief or intent, any statements concerning our plans, strategies, and objectives for future operations are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and assumptions and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although we believe that the expectations, estimates, and assumptions reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results could differ materially from those projected or assumed in any of our forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in our forward-looking statements are set forth in the Risk Factors section and elsewhere in the reports we have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including that unfavorable global economic conditions may adversely impact our business, our backlog may not be fully realized as revenue, and our expenses may be higher than anticipated. We do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statement.

Hill International, Inc.

Elizabeth J. Zipf, LEED AP BD+C

Senior Vice President

(215) 309-7707

elizabethzipf@hillintl.com
My Car Auction, a business that lets you sell your car online, is pleased to announce the opening of their new office in North Miami Beach, Florida. The new office will enable better and improved communication for their customers on the east coast.

In the past, trying to sell a used car involved advertising in private or trading in on a used or new car for less value. The entire process seemed to be a time-sensitive practice that would often lead to stress, frustration, and a lot of wasted time. Thats why My Car Auction was created to simplify the car selling process. They are ready to assist their customers receive the best value for both used and new cars, regardless of their condition.

Located at 15807 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 103, North Miami Beach, FL 33160, My Car Auction will now focus be able to assist customers across southern Florida when receiving an instant offer to sell their car online.

According to a spokesperson from My Car Auction, The development and growth of our company is indicative of how our customers are seeing the accessibility of our services and how simple it can be to sell their car. With the opening of our South Florida location, we will have additional locations and expand to northern and western Florida by the end of the year. We are proud to become part of and grow along with this amazing community.

The companys online process and customer-first policy are made to make the entire car selling experience not just hassle-free but enjoyable as well. All a customer needs to do is follow their valuation process, think about My Car Auctions offer, and make a vehicle inspection appointment. Customers also dont need to worry because the company will take care of all the DMV paperwork and help you with any payoffs or lease buyouts.

My Car Auction is looking forward to offering Floridas residents the highest level of service. Opening their North Miami Beach, Florida location is an exhilarating milestone for the company, but it is only the beginning of their planned growth in the state.

About My Car Auction

My Car Auction is a company that provides an online car auction platform, allowing customers to receive the highest price for their vehicles. The company established its process to be stress-free, convenient, and completely concierge. They do this through their advanced technology and their current relationship with Americas biggest car auction company.

To learn more about My Car Auction and how to sell my car online, call the office at (954) 799-5540 or send an email at info@mycarauction.com. Visit the companys official website at https://mycarauction.com to get a free estimate.

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The United States Navy Memorial will honor American military leader Christine H. Fox with the 2022 Naval Heritage Award at the Lone Sailor Awards Dinner on September 22, 2022.

The Naval Heritage Award is presented to distinguished Americans who have significantly supported the nation's Sea Services, and whose lives and career exemplify the core value of Honor, Courage and Commitment.

During her decades supporting the Department of the Navy and her service inside and outside the Department of Defense, Christine Fox has made our nations defense stronger, said retired Rear Admiral Frank Thorp, President & CEO of the US Navy Memorial. And along the way, Ms. Fox has earned the immense respect of the thousands of people with whom she has served.

I am deeply honored to be recognized with this award, Ms. Fox said. To be in the company of those whove carried this honor before me, and to truly understand the criteria for this award and the values it espouses is humbling. I am grateful to the United States Navy Memorial Foundation for this wonderful recognition.

The Honorable Christine H. Fox served as the Assistant Director for Policy and Analysis of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory from May 12, 2014 until January 28, 2022. As the nations largest University Affiliated Research Center, APL performs research and development on behalf of the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other federal agencies. Currently, Ms. Fox continues as a Senior Fellow at APL, supporting the Laboratory and its more than 8,000 staff members who make critical contributions to a wide variety of nationally and globally significant technical and scientific challenges.

Previously, she served as Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense between December 2013 and May 2014 and, prior to that, Ms. Fox served as the Director, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation from 2009 to 2013. In that position, she was the principal civilian advisor to the Secretary of Defense for analyzing and evaluating plans, programs, and budgets in relation to U.S. defense objectives and resource constraints.

Ms. Fox served as the President of the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center, and as the scientific analyst to the Chief of Naval Operations prior to her government service. During her 28-year career at CNA, Ms. Fox oversaw analysis of real-world operations, from the first Gulf War and the operations in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, to the operations in Afghanistan immediately following the September 11th attacks, and the operation in Iraq in early 2003.

From 2003-2005, Ms. Fox served as a member of NASAs Return to Flight Task Group, chartered by the NASA Administrator to certify the recommendations made by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Currently, Ms. Fox serves on the governing committee for the Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences for the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She also serves on the oversight board for the U.S. Naval Institute and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ms. Fox earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and a Master of Science degree in applied mathematics from George Mason University. She is a three-time recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal. She has also been awarded the Department of the Armys Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service.

Ms. Fox joins an impressive list of Naval Heritage Award recipients who have distinguished themselves with their tremendous support of the sea services while exemplifying the Navys Core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment.

Ms. Fox will receive the Naval Heritage Award at the U.S. Navy Memorials Lone Sailor Awards Dinner on September 22, 2022. Additionally, the United States Navy Memorial's 2022 Lone Sailor Awards Program will air online on September 27, 2022.

For information on attending or sponsoring the 2022 Lone Sailor Awards Dinner and 2022 Lone Sailor Awards Program, please email the Navy Memorial at LoneSailorAwards@NavyMemorial.org or go to http://www.NavyMemorial.org.

For more information concerning the Lone Sailor Awards Dinner previous award recipients or sponsorship opportunities, contact Erin Harroun at EHarroun@NavyMemorial.org or visit http://www.NavyMemorial.org.

The US Navy Memorial is a not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to Honor, Recognize and Celebrate the men and women of the Sea Services, past, present and future, and to Inform the public about their service. The Navy Memorial is located at 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20004.
Without access to information about the ways cases are processed through the system, practitioners, advocates, and researchers are left unequipped to make decisions necessary for their work."- Amy Bach, CEO, Measures for Justice.

A new report conducted by nonprofit Measures for Justice and funded by the Tow Foundation, reveals that, with few exceptions, the mechanisms for criminal justice data collection and release in New York State are broken. A Look Inside the Black Box of New York States Criminal Justice Data, covers the ways New York States criminal justice data infrastructure fails to meet basic levels of transparency that are requisite for evidence-based decision making and general accountability.

Key findings from the report show efforts to put data to use across the state are frequently hampered by obscure systems, antiquated technologies, arduous request processes and a degree of partiality that allows data access to some and not others.

Watch the video summarizing the report and listen to audio* of interviews with key stakeholders about the state of criminal justice data in New York State

With heated criminal justice reform debates underway, there is a clear need for data that can speak to system performance. Without access to information about the ways cases are processed through the system, practitioners, advocates, and researchers are left unequipped to make decisions necessary for their work. Moreover, the public is left in the dark about basic information pertaining to their local justice system, noted Amy Bach, CEO of Measures for Justice.

Findings drew from a review of state law and departmental policies governing access to criminal case information as well as other sources including data sharing agreements, obtained from state agencies. Researchers conducted a series of interviews with criminal justice stakeholders throughout New York State including researchers, policy advocates, and practitioners at both the state and local levels.

In the report, a local prosecutor is quoted discussing their offices attempts to access court data. Weve tried for several years to get access to the data but we cant. We cant even say, Can you show us the available queries? Can you just tell us what youre collecting so we can tell you what we want? Honestly, were not even sure what OCA [Office of Court Administration] collects.

In another example, Julie Ciccolini, the Director of Law Enforcement Accountability at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, recalled requesting case-level data from the Department of Criminal Justice Services while at her previous role at the Legal Aid Society. It was a really difficult process with such a long waiting time that made it almost impossible to investigate certain patterns. If you wanted to figure something out and had a deadline of say, six months, that wouldnt happen.

The report concluded with four specific next steps that New York State should consider:

-Rethink the purpose of data collection and consider ways to more accurately account for peoples experience with the system.

-Establish data standards through statewide legislation and by encouraging agencies to prioritize data standardization.

-Address ad hoc transparency by mandating collection of certain data elements.

-Alleviate capacity issues by resourcing agencies tasked with data collection.

With data we have the power to uncover trends in the way cases are processed through the system, hone in on problems, and identify effective solutions. The extent to which stakeholders in New York State have difficulty obtaining data they need, either due to poor quality or a lack of accessibility, suggests that a lot of what unfolds in criminal justice agencies across the state goes unseen. This opacity prevents evidence-based discussions related to criminal justice policies and practices.

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Measures for Justice is leading a movement to change the future of criminal justice by developing tools that help communities reshape how the system works. Since 2011, Measures for Justice has worked together with communities to shine a light on what criminal justice looks like nationwide; collaborated to standardize and improve criminal justice data nationwide; and created tools, provided services, and led research to help create a criminal justice system that is fully transparent, accessible, and accountable.

*Audio clips were recorded by representatives, not the original speaker of each quote.
Irvin B. Sherman, DDS MScD

At his modern office in Avon, New Jersey, Dr. Irvin B. Sherman and his team at Shore Childrens Dental Care provide children of all ages with a comfortable dental environment. Dr. Sherman ensures that his office is not overwhelming or intimidating for his young patients.

Since 1979, Dr. Sherman has been a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. He is a member of the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the New Jersey Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the New Jersey Society of Dentistry for Children, the American Academy of Hospital Dentistry, the American Academy of Dentistry for the Handicapped, the American Association of Orthodontists, Middlesex County Dental Society, the Monmouth/Ocean Dental Society and several other organizations.

Serving the broader community since 1976, Dr. Sherman has been an active attending pediatric dentist at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and St. Peters University Hospital, both in New Brunswick, NJ.

Dr. Sherman has also been Chief of Pediatric Dentistry at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital since 1980. Among academia, he is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Pediatrics at the Rutgers Medical School, since 1980. Dr. Sherman is also Chief of Pediatric Dentistry at the Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune.

Dr. Sherman has also lectured extensively over the last 35 years on all aspects of Pediatric Dentistry.

Dr. Shermans practice offers a unique pediatric and orthodontic dental experience that is affordable, interactive and fun.

To learn more about Dr. Sherman and Shore Childrens Dental Care, please visit: https://njtopdocs.com/nj-dentists/drirvinsherman/

You can also contact Shore Childrens Dental Care directly at 732-775-1492 or online at shorechildrensdentalcare.com.

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About Us

NJ Top Dentists is a division of NJ Top Docs. NJ Top Docs is a comprehensive, trusted and exclusive healthcare resource featuring reviewed and approved Top Doctors and Dentists in New Jersey online in an easy to use format. NJ Top Docs only reviews and approves providers based on merit after they have been extensively vetted.

NJ Top Docs is a division of USA Top Docs which allows patients to meet providers online before making their appointment.

For more information, please click here to contact us or visit http://www.NJTopDocs.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.
The Board of Directorsall PPA members themselveswill shape the association's vision.

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) welcomes New Hampshire-based photographer Jeffrey Dachowski, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, as its new President. On March 1, Dachowski began his year-long term that extends through the end of February 2023.

"When I look back on my career, it doesn't take long to realize the impact PPA members, volunteers, and staff have had on me," Dachowski said. "From the business education to the long friendships I've enjoyed, so many people in my life come from the PPA community. It is an honor and privilege to serve this organization as President."

Dachowski becomes the nonprofit's President after serving last year as the Vice President. The new Treasurer, Mark Campbell, began his service as well. The previous Treasurer, Kira Derryberry, assumes the current role of Vice President. The previous President, Mary Fisk-Taylor, takes the role of Chair of the Board, with the previous Chair, Gregory Daniel, rotating off the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directorsall PPA members themselveswill shape the association's vision until February 28, 2023. The new board composition is as follows:



Chair Mary Fisk-Taylor, M.Photog.Hon.M.Photog.M.Wed.Photog.Cr., CPP, ABI, API, EA-ASP, from Richmond, VA

President Jeff Dachowski, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, from Bedford, NH

Vice President Kira Derryberry, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, from Tallahassee, FL

Treasurer Mark Campbell, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API from Wheeling, WV

Director Trish Gilmore Cr.Photog., CPP from Warwick, RI, beginning her second term

Director Phaneendra Gudapati, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, from Plano, TX, beginning his first term

Director Makayla Jade Harris, CPP, from Saratoga Springs, NY, beginning her second term

Director George Joell III, Cr.Photog., from Fayetteville, NC, beginning his second term

Director Kesha Lambert from New Rochelle, NY, beginning her second term

Director Larry Lourcey, M.Photog.M.Artist.Cr., CPP, from Plano, TX, beginning his second term

Director Pete Rezac, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, from Reno, NV

Director Ronan Ryle from Clondalkin, Ireland, beginning his second term

Director Allison English Watkins, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, from Park City, UT, beginning her second term

As a nonprofit, PPA's board is an essential component of the organization. It takes an active role in PPA's legal and financial responsibilities, visioning, and policy. Each member is an active professional photographer and brings a unique set of skills, talents, and experiences to their leadership role. They each serve three two-year terms and become eligible to run for the executive board after completing their first term.

"Looking ahead to 2022, I am excited to have a leadership role as PPA continues to develop programs for our members that create long-term benefits that aid, support, and educate photographers," Dachowski said.

About PPA:

Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the largest and longest-standing nonprofit photography association. Founded in 1868, PPA helps over 33,000 creative professionals elevate their craft and grow their business with resources and education, all under PPA's core guiding principle of bridging the gap between photographers and consumers. To learn more, visit PPA.com.


Salesians are providing emergency assistance to refugees fleeing to nearby countries as well as those still working in Ukraine to help those in need. Many of them are children. Salesian Missions photo This situation continues to be tragic. We do not know how long this war will continue, and we must be ready for a long period. There are many victims among the soldiers, but also among civilians.

Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, has launched an emergency appeal to aid Ukrainian refugees. The Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund will provide support to provide shelter, nutrition and supplies to refugees in need. Salesian missionaries living and working in Ukraine and surrounding countries who are sheltering refugees are doing everything possible to help those in need during this difficult time.

UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency, has said that more than 660,000 refugees have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries, the majority of whom are women, children and the elderly. Families have been torn apart as fathers, husbands and brothers have remained in Ukraine to fight. The U.N. has estimated the conflict could produce as many as 4 million refugees.

Working within their local communities, Salesians are providing shelter in their houses and schools while also calling on the international community for aid. Several Salesian provinces around the globe have already pledged support, including Salesian Missions.

Salesian missionaries are doing everything possible to help those in need including providing emergency transport and shelter, said Father Gus Baek, director of Salesian Missions. There are Salesian missionaries still working in Ukraine and in the neighboring countries risking their lives while helping families in need. To do that most effectively, we need donor support.

In addition to Salesian centers welcoming refugees, Salesians in Ukraine are sheltering minors and their families who have remained in the country. Father Chaban Mykahylo, superior of the Mary Help of Christians Vice-Province of Ukraine of the Greek Catholic Rite, said, This situation continues to be tragic. We do not know how long this war will continue, and we must be ready for a long period. There are many victims among the soldiers, but also among civilians. Throughout Ukraine, there is a danger of bombing. Our capital, Kyiv, is suffering a lot, as well as the areas bordering Russia. People are fleeing their homes and are in need of our help.

To help support refugees, donate to the Salesian Missions Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund.
Salt Lake Community Colleges flexible class schedules, convenience and affordability all make for a perfect fit for Amazon employees looking to expand their career options and take advantage of the incredible benefits Career Choice provides them.

Today, Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) announced they have been selected as an education partner for Amazons Career Choice program, providing Amazons hourly employees access to associate degree programs, industry certifications for in-demand jobs, and foundational skills such as ESL proficiency certifications.

We are truly excited to be the preferred educational provider for Amazon employees in the Salt Lake Valley, said Ryan Farley, Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management. Salt Lake Community Colleges flexible class schedules, convenience and affordability all make for a perfect fit for Amazon employees looking to expand their career options and take advantage of the incredible benefits Career Choice provides them.

SLCC is Utahs largest open-access college with classes offered at more than 11 locations throughout Salt Lake County, and online. SLCC serves the states most diverse student body of all Utahs higher education institutions and many of SLCC graduates transfer to four-year institutions.

Amazons Career Choice program is an education benefit that empowers employees to learn new skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere. The program meets individual learners where they are on their education journey through a variety of education and upskilling opportunities including full college tuition, industry certifications designed to lead to in-demand jobs, and foundational skills such as English language proficiency, high school diplomas, and GEDs. In the U.S., the company is investing $1.2 billion to upskill more than 300,000 employees by 2025 to help move them into higher-paying, in-demand jobs.

Amazons Career Choice program has a rigorous selection process for third-party partner educators, choosing partners that are focused on helping employees through their education programs, assisting them with job placements, and overall offering education that leads to career success.

Were looking forward to Salt Lake Community College coming on board as an education partner for Career Choice, adding to the hundreds of best-in-class offerings available to our employees, said Tammy Thieman, Global Program Lead of Amazons Career Choice program.

Were committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether thats with us or elsewhere. We have intentionally cultivated a partner network of third-party educators and employers committed to providing excellent education, job placement resources, and continuous improvements to the experience. Today, over 50,000 Amazon employees around the world have already participated in Career Choice and weve seen first-hand how it can transform their lives.

For more information visit Amazons Career Choice website.

For more information on Salt Lake Community College visit our website.

ABOUT SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Salt Lake Community College is Utahs largest open-access college, proudly educating the states most diverse student body in 8 areas of study at 11 locations and online. The majority of SLCC graduates transfer to four-year institutions, and thousands more are trained in direct-to-workforce programs. In 2023, the institution will celebrate 75 years of providing Utahns with education and training in fields that contribute to the states vibrant economy and high quality of life.
Sandler Partners is excited to announce the 2022 National Summit will take place September 15 on the waterfront in beautiful San Diego. For years attendees, Partners and technology Providers alike, have enthusiastically provided positive feedback about the event and always enjoyed the SoCal locations. In response, the Sandler team is thrilled to bring attendees together at the Hilton Hotel on the San Diego Waterfront this year.

Sandler's community of Partners are leaders in bringing technology and cloud services to American Businesses. At the Summit they will gain the unique industry insights they need to remain ahead of the technology challenges their clients need to overcome for their organizations to succeed. Gathering together is also a great opportunity to network, advance best practices, and forge the alliances necessary to advance their businesses  plus, the event includes several technology tracks of programming focused on Next Gen Technology and Network Services as well as Sales and Marketing Education. As always, Sandler Partners never forgets the importance of offering Partners the ability to connect 1 on 1, meet with Providers, and enjoy some R&R with fun experiences like outings and mixers.

Education will be front and center on September 15, with a full day of sessions covering everything from sales strategy and marketing to discussions emphasizing current technologies and how customers are shifting their technology spend. Programs have been created to empower Partners with the tools they need to serve their customers and grow revenue. Partners should RSVP early when registration becomes available, this annual event always fills up quickly.

Alan Sandler, Managing Partner, states, From our humble beginnings, Sandler Partners was designed, including our name choice, to treat our agents as Partners, and while we started by offering voice and data, we have continued to evolve for all our members to make sure we can always provide our community with all the solutions a customer could require  the technology organizations are looking for, to survive and thrive. If youre hacked, you could go out of business. If you go down, it looks bad. If customer experience causes friction, theyll go somewhere else. Our Partners are the consultants who bring the right solutions, at the right time, and in the right combination to save money, and more importantly, to save business.

Partners who have attended this event in the past know its valuehow it energizes, inspires, and informs. Technology is now one of the most important relationships any organization can have, continues Sandler, every seat in the C-suite knows, and now actively engages, in these conversations. Its a very exciting time. The National Summit brings our community together to share the latest information, knowledge, and solution developments. Every year our summit evolves and advances, just like the industry, and just like our Partners. Attend, and youre going to leave this place on fire!

A little more about the venue  the Hilton San Diego Bayfront is a 30-story convention resort, just steps from the downtown Gaslamp Quarter. Recently renovated, the resort features a heated bayfront saltwater pool, the eforea Spa, modern event spaces, and rooms with incredible views of the bay and downtown city skyline.

About Sandler Partners

Sandler Partners is Americas fastest-growing technology solutions brokerage and distributor of connectivity and cloud services. In 2021, Sandler Partners was included on the Inc. 5000 list of Americas Fastest-Growing Private Companies for the 12th straight year. Over the years, weve expanded beyond our telecom roots to deliver best-in-class cloud, colocation, mobility, continuity, and security solutions from 200+ suppliers through a network of 9,000+ industry leading expert technology sales Partners  agents, VARs, and MSPs  to solve the challenges for thousands of small, medium, and enterprise organizations nationwide.

How Our Partners Benefit  Independently owned. Independent spirit. Our Partner community gains access to our industry leading support network of sales, marketing and engineering professionals, plus the Sandler Portals Marketing Center, and sales tools like SCOUTs real-time cable pricing and the Solution Finder to help Partners narrow in on the best solutions with the right Providers. We also have the industrys strongest agreements and a team with a proven track record of ensuring all commissions are found, tracked, and paid.
The boutique commercial real estate transactional and business services law firm of Fragner Seifert Pace & Winograd, LLP is pleased to announce that seasoned corporate lawyer Robert M. Mintz has joined the firm as a named partner, and that the firm has changed its name to Fragner Seifert Pace & Mintz, LLP. Mintz has opened a Texas location for the firm near Austin.

I'm delighted to welcome Rob to the firm and am excited to introduce a person of his talent and accomplishment to our clients, said Matthew C. Fragner, a founding partner at Fragner Seifert Pace & Mintz, LLP. Ive had the good fortune of knowing Rob for many years, watching his law career flourish and joining forces with him on a number of community service efforts.

Rob is a highly experienced business lawyer, with a background in accounting, finance and business, who advises clients on a wide variety of matters, including the creation of new businesses, private equity and debt venture capital offers, and with business acquisitions, dispositions and liquidations. In his corporate transactional practice, Rob represents domestic and international banking and financial institutions, privately and publicly held businesses, international companies with business interests in the United States and venture capital funds. He also serves as outside general counsel to several real estate, food, and transportation/logistics companies, bringing creativity and financial solutions to those businesses. Prior to joining FSPM, Rob was a partner with Dickinson Wright PLLC and before that, the Co-Managing Partner of Stahl Cowen Crowley Addis LLC, which merged with Dickinson Wright PLLC.

"My clients will benefit greatly from the synergies that this relationship creates," added Rob Mintz. "I'm looking forward to growing my practice and to working with the high caliber lawyers at FSPM, all of whom have a well-known high reputation in the commercial real estate industry.

Active in the community, Rob presently serves as an Executive Board Member (Austin), and is the former Chairman of the Board and President (Chicago), of the Jewish National Fund. He is a former Chairman of the Board of the City of Highland Park, Illinois Business and Economic Development Commission, a Host of the City of Highland Park, ILs Business Summit and member of the City of Highland Park, ILs Beautification Task Force. He was a longtime Board member and officer of The Standard Club in Chicago.

Admitted in Illinois and Texas, Rob has been named in Illinois Super Lawyers in Banking and Finance from 2022-2019 and 2015-2013. He is also an Illinois Leading Lawyer in Banking. Rob earned his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law and his B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University.

Founded in 2005, Fragner Seifert Pace & Mintz, LLP is a boutique law firm with offices in and around Los Angeles, CA, in suburban Philadelphia, PA and Austin, TX. The firm focuses on a wide array of commercial real estate transactional matters and business services for startups, real estate owners, tenants, developers and investors, high net worth individuals, banks and financial institutions and publicly and privately held companies in the United States and internationally. For more information, please visit https://www.fspmlaw.com/.
SEOblog.com, a fast-growing website providing the latest SEO news, tips and resources and helping business owners connect with leading SEO agencies, has released its exclusive 2022 ratings naming the best Amazon SEO companies in the United States.

SEOblog analysts determined the 15 best Amazon SEO companies in the U.S. based on dozens of key quantitative and qualitative factors. SEOblog industry experts examined each digital marketing agencys website, industry experience, market presence, client list, portfolio, expert certifications and authorship, among other factors in its ranking system.

SEOblog has provided an in-depth view of companies in a particular city or focus area on various directory pages to help business owners find the expert help they need to grow. This was a new, free offer added by SEOblog in 2019.

The United States boasts several top Amazon SEO companies that provide a very competitive digital marketing landscape.

We believe 2022 is the year of the SEO comeback, said Robb Fahrion, partner and co-founder of Flying V Group. With prospects being inundated with ad after ad after ad, we are finding more conversion attribution coming from organic search across the board and industry-to-industry. At the end of the day, there is no replacement for high-quality content and information that answers users' search queries. Not only that, but SEO has a far higher multiple in terms of ROI when compared to that of paid advertising channels. The SEO industry is still unique because it rewards the best information and not the business with the most cash in their pockets.

Tanner Rankin, founder of The Source Approach, also added:

The SEO industry is entirely unique from any other industry in marketing because of the direct impact it has on other marketing mechanisms. Showing up at the top of Google searches builds trust and credibility while increasing the perceived value of your product or service and building brand awareness at the same time."

SEOblog.com rankings are updated regularly as the market shifts and new players emerge. SEOblog.com has published more than 2,300 agency listings, with more added every day. There is no fee to participate, and the website welcomes all qualified agencies to apply.

SEOblog.coms 15 Best Amazon SEO Companies in the United States in 2022:

Coalition Technologies, WebFX, HigherVisibility, K2 Analytics INC, Over the Top SEO, Ventura Web Design & Marketing, JS-Interactive, Flying V Group, SEO Ninja, Intellitonic, Rise Interactive, Enventys Partners, Brandastic, HUNTER and The Source Approach.

Link: https://www.seoblog.com/best-amazon-seo/

About SEOblog.com

SEOblog.com is a leading thought leadership site with a rich history of publishing educational and informative articles about SEO and digital marketing topics. In early 2019, SEOblog.com answered the call from buyers of digital marketing services that lacked unbiased, informative online resources and launched a comprehensive directory to highlight the best SEO companies in the United States  https://www.seoblog.com/best-seo-companies/.

SEOblogs mission is to connect businesses with qualified digital marketing agencies while also offering further SEO education, best practices and industry trends.

SEOblog.com is a one-stop shop for educational SEO and digital marketing content, research, ratings and reviews for the best agencies in each local market across the United States and Canada. The website will be increasing its coverage of U.S. and Canada SEO agencies and accepting more guest blog posts in the coming months. Contact SEOblog if youre interested in getting involved.
Fact Check: Do It Yourself Guide to Investigative Online Research and Journalism: a comprehensive resource for learning how to verify information found online. Fact Check: Do It Yourself Guide to Investigative Online Research and Journalism is the creation of published author Shaun Pritchard.

Pritchard shares, Shaun A. Pritchard is a problem-solver who can see all the angles. He is a devoted Christian, father, author, avid meditator, patriot, disabled veteran of the United States Air Force, entrepreneur, computer scientist, ethical hacker, and full stack web developer, pursuing his PhD in quantum computational mathematics and computer data science with a minor in business and constitutional law.

Over the years Shaun has also studied political psychology, constitutional and business law. Currently, Shaun is studying computational science and artificial intelligence as a graduate student and researcher in south Florida. The combination of his expertise in computer engineering and advanced research has enabled him to produce this book and other publications to help educate people and reveal the truth about finding facts.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Shaun Pritchards new book is a concise resource for those who seek accurate information on many hot-topic issues in the modern day.

Consumers can purchaseFact Check: Do It Yourself Guide to Investigative Online Research and Journalism at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Fact Check: Do It Yourself Guide to Investigative Online Research and Journalism, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.


#SpainFoodTechNation prepares for this years Expo West trade show that will explore the future of the $300 billion natural and organic industry. Several Spanish brandsthat exemplify Spain's most developed, innovative and high-quality products across different food chain categorieswill take over the Spanish Pavillion at the Anaheim Convention Center from Thursday (10th) to Saturday (12th).

Expo West is the largest natural and organic products event in the United States held annually where leading retailers, innovative exhibitors, pioneering sponsors and changemaking industry partners gather to discover the latest industry trends. The Spanish Pavillion will educate attendees on how Spain is disrupting the industry and revolutionizing the approach to healthy living with the latest technological advancement in nutrition and innovation. Five premium brands will be present to educate attendees on the regions strive to distribute high quality and healthier products:

1. Camoco Foods produces organic sugar specialty products made from natural sugars and fruit concentrates at top of the line facilities for artisan, food and non-food industry products.

2. Cubiq Foods S.L developed Go!Drop, an emulsion of vegetable oil and water with healthy fat that lowers the overall caloric content by reducing the saturated fats and total fat content in processed foods such as meats.

3. Milola Gluten-Free SL offers a selection of gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and vegetarian cookies made from whole grains such as sorghum, millet, teff, rice, buckwheat and almond meal.

4. Soria Natural S.A, a company that has mastered new therapeutic alternatives made from plants, will highlight Spains shift towards natural solutions, vitamins and supplements for better health.

5. Aceites Garcia De la Cruz SL boasts 150 years of success and crafts 100% organic, extra virgin olive oil with the utmost respect for the land by utilizing sustainable practices and advanced agricultural techniques, including monitored drip irrigation and fertilization methods.

Spains food industry is booming with more than 30,000 companies in food transformation, 50 specialized universities, 20 cutting-edge technological centers, and 407 Foodtech startups. Foodtech refers to all economic factors associated with innovation in the food industry, ranging from food production to food consumption. Spain has one of the most prolific ecosystems in the industry and is paving the way through various initiatives (see this years Foodtech report).

The report reveals the international potential of #SpainFoodTechNation across the different initiatives that have been developed throughout the last year, says Maria Pena Chief Executive Officer of ICEX Spain Export and Investment. The Foodtech sector within the food chain in Spain is consistent with the power of our Food Industry, which has broken export records in the increasingly competitive market.

In the past year there was a significant increase in investment in both domestic and foreign funds specialized in the ecosystem and firm commitment of the Spanish Administration to promote innovation in the food system through the Next Generation Funds. Spain is the fourth largest agri-food power in Europe and tenth in the world with top quality products in the agri-food sector across international markets. #SpainFoodTechNation is tackling the sustainability concerns of the meat industry with the wave of alternative protein, which is gaining traction in the market with meat alternatives as one of the fastest-growing categories.

This year, there will be more than 2,000 participating exhibitors exploring trends in the natural foods community as they return to the first in-person industry event following COVID-19. The event will include 8 halls, a natural and speciality foods arena and a fresh ideas organic marketplace for a robust lineup of events and exhibitors.

For more information and registration to visit Spain at the event, visit the website.

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About Spain Foodtech

Spain is rich in history, passion, imagination, gastronomy and creativity.

FoodTech encompasses the complete ecosystem building the next generation of food through the application of cutting edge technologies and improved food production methods, from production to distribution to consumption, innovating on products, logistics, marketing and business, all while offering a new and improved food value chain that embodies food safety and efficiency as well as new, sustainability boosting solutions. By applying more innovative methodologies including robotics, blockchain, AI and big data we can start to build a more resilient food ecosystem, together. Learn more via the website.

About Foods and Wines from Spain

ICEX Spain Export and Investment (ICEX) is the Spanish Government Agency that promotes exports and investment, enhances competitiveness, and assists Spanish businesses in international markets. Foods and Wines from Spain are ICEXs brands for a wide range of promotional activities designed to inform trade and consumers about Spains wines, food products and gastronomy. For more information about Foods and Wines from Spain, please visit the Foods and Wines From Spain website.


"Removing the financial barriers to higher education for our Presidential Scholars is an essential part of Stetsons mission, and we are doing this by providing need-based financial assistance that is directly tied to each students and familys financial resources.

Stetson University announced it will meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for students who qualify as a Presidential Scholar and are enrolling for Fall 2022. The move is part of a strategic priority to minimize student debt; reduce the financial barriers for low-income, historically underrepresented populations; and allow students to focus on their future.

Moving toward meeting 100% of a students demonstrated financial need is part of our strategic initiative to provide an affordable education for all students who will benefit from the unique, private education Stetson offers, said Raymond Nault, vice president of Enrollment Management. Removing the financial barriers to higher education for our Presidential Scholars is an essential part of Stetsons mission, and we are doing this by providing need-based financial assistance that is directly tied to each students and familys financial resources.

At Stetson, President Scholars receive a scholarship of up to $31,000 per year, awarded based on high school record, standardized testing and community service. The awards are given to incoming first-year students and cover eight semesters or until undergraduate graduation, whichever comes first. Eligibility is decided by the admissions committee upon completion of the students application.

To learn more details about how Stetson University can help meet your familys financial need contact an admission representative at admissions@stetson.edu or call (386) 822-7100.

Scholarship information is available at http://www.stetson.edu/scholarships.

Stetson Early Filing Award

Nault also announced all first-time in college and transfer students are eligible to receive a $3,000 early filing award for Fall 2022, regardless of their demonstrated financial need. To qualify, a student must submit their financial aid application by their admission application deadline. This award is renewable in subsequent years as the students complete their financial aid application by the financial aid deadline each year.

Stetson Promise

In addition to the newly announced Stetson Presidential Scholars program, Stetson University is known for the Stetson Promise, which, regardless of financial circumstances, provides qualifying students with guaranteed access to a Stetson experience that is truly life changing. All eligible students will benefit from a premier private, liberal arts, residential education where students are more than just a number. Stetson University students thrive in an exciting and engaging community, interact closely with faculty and embark on real-world, experiential educational opportunities including field and lab research, internships, national competitions, national conferences and campus leadership positions. If a student is unable to graduate in four years or less, through no fault of their own, the university covers up to one full semester of tuition to allow them to complete their degree without any additional tuition expense.

The Stetson Promise and Stetson Presidential Scholars program are examples of the ways in which the university is addressing the needs of high achieving, underrepresented students to access the benefits of a private education, said Christopher F. Roellke, Ph.D., president. We know a high percentage of our students graduate in four years or less, and we want to remove financial barriers if they are unable to do that.

Calculating Demonstrated Financial Need

Demonstrated financial need is the difference between the cost of attendance and the amount your family is expected to contribute.

Student demonstrated financial need is determined through a comprehensive needs assessment of a familys financial strength. This information is obtained through the financial aid application process, which includes both the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the College Board CSS Profile.

For more information on how this might work for you, contact Stetsons financial aid and student financial planning office at finaid@stetson.edu, or call (386) 822-7100 and request financial planning or visit http://www.stetson.edu/finaid

About Stetson University

Founded in 1883, Stetson University is the oldest private university in Central Florida. Stetson focuses on intense learning experiences in a supportive community that allows students to develop their voice in a connected, inclusive environment. Stetson ranks in the top five on U.S. News & World Reports list of Best Regional Universities (South) and is consistently recognized as one of The Princeton Reviews Best Colleges. Stay connected with Stetson on social media.

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With a focus on helping our clients build resilience, SPS has leveraged its core values  Clients First, Delivering Excellence and Innovative Thinking  to deliver transformative solutions that help organizations meet current challenges and drive long-term success.

Swiss Post Solutions (SPS), a leading outsourcing provider for business process solutions and innovative services in document management, announced today that it has been named to the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) Global Outsourcing 100 list for the tenth consecutive year.

The 2022 Global Outsourcing 100 recognizes the worlds best outsourcing service providers and advisors across the full spectrum of outsourcing solutions, including business process outsourcing, facilities services and information technology. Judging is based on a rigorous scoring methodology that includes an independent review by a panel of IAOP customer members with extensive experience in selecting outsourcing service providers and advisors for their organizations. Applications are assessed in four categories: Customer References, Awards and Certifications, Programs for Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Joerg Vollmer, CEO Swiss Post Solutions, commented, With a focus on helping our clients build resilience, SPS has leveraged its core values  Clients First, Delivering Excellence and Innovative Thinking  to deliver transformative solutions, such as our Smart Hybrid Workplace Services, that help organizations meet current challenges and drive long-term success. This recognition as a top global provider of document management and business process outsourcing solutions by IAOP confirms the success of our approach.

"A big thank you and congratulations to the companies named to The 2022 Global Outsourcing 100 for rising to the occasion in a particularly challenging year, said IAOP CEO, Debi Hamill. "Your tenacity, grit and leadership were critical to ensuring our industry came out the other side of the global pandemic and were pleased to recognize you for your quality and performance excellence.

The official listing, which is composed of Leaders, Rising Stars and Advisors, is expected to be released in May.

About SPS

We connect the physical and digital worlds

Swiss Post Solutions (SPS) is a leading outsourcing provider for business processes solutions and innovative services in document management. A strong international client base relies on SPS ability to envision, design and build end-to-end solutions, and to be its trusted advisor for the key value drivers in BPO: location strategy, process optimization and technology, such as intelligent automation. Part of the Swiss Post Group headquartered in Bern, Switzerland, SPS approximately 8000 employees and specialized partners span the full range of the industry with a focus on banking, insurance, telecommunications and healthcare, addressing customer needs in more than 20 countries.

About IAOP

IAOP is the global association that brings together customers, providers, and advisors in a collaborative, knowledge-based environment that promotes professional and organizational development, recognition, certification, and excellence to improve business service models and outcomes. Our members and affiliates worldwide are digging deep at IAOP conferences, learning at IAOP chapter meetings, getting trained and certified at IAOP courses and workshops, and connecting through IAOP social media, all with one goal: better business results. Whether you are a customer, provider or advisor, new to collaborative business models like outsourcing, or you are an experienced professional, IAOP connects you and your organization to our growing global community and the resources you need to get the results your company deserves and demands. For more information and how you can become involved, visit http://www.IAOP.org.

About The Global Outsourcing 100

As the global, standard-setting association and advocate for outsourcing professionals and the organizations they support, IAOP annually produces subsequent research to help companies in their outsourcing decisions:

The Global Outsourcing 100  the annual listing of the worlds best outsourcing service providers  in its 16th year

The Global Outsourcing 100 and its sub-lists are essential references for companies seeking new and expanded relationships with the industry's best companies. The list includes companies worldwide that provide the full spectrum of outsourcing services  not just information technology and business process outsourcing, but also facility services, real estate and capital asset management, manufacturing and logistics. They include not only today's leaders but tomorrow's rising stars.

Companies of all sizes, from around the world and from across the entire outsourcing industry - information technology outsourcing, business process outsourcing, facility services, real estate, design, testing, manufacturing and logistics, to name a few  can apply for inclusion on this list. IAOP Membership IS NOT REQUIRED, nor is it considered in compiling the final list.

To help ensure participation by a broad cross-section of the industry, The Global Outsourcing 100 list includes larger established global firms, referred to as 'Leaders,' smaller, faster-growing firms with less than $50 million per year in revenue and/or fewer than 5,000 employees, referred to as 'Rising Stars,' as well as 'Advisors,' regardless of size. Companies are first organized by Leader, Rising Star or Advisor criteria, then evaluated based on the four judging categories. The final list is composed of the top-scoring companies, regardless of type.
Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that presents what events are covered by comprehensive car insurance and why is important for drivers to obtain this policy.

For more info and free quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/the-benefits-of-comprehensive-auto-policy/

Comprehensive insurance is a type of coverage that pays if the policyholders vehicle is stolen or damaged in events that are not related to a collision. Although this policy is optional, if the vehicle is still financed, the lender will probably insist for this coverage to be purchased.

Comprehensive insurance will reimburse the policyholder in the following situations:



Stolen vehicle. Comprehensive insurance will reimburse a policyholder that got his car stolen. However, this policy will only pay the actual cash value of a vehicle at the moment it got stolen and not the price for a brand-new car.

Damage caused by severe weather events. Vehicles can easily be damaged by weather events like hails storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, lightings, avalanches. In many cases, the damaged cars are declared totaled. Comprehensive insurance is the only policy that will pay to repair or to replace vehicles that got damaged by extreme weather.

Animal collision. Vehicles that hit an animal can easily be damaged, especially if they hit a large animal like a moose, horse or a bull. Comprehensive insurance will also pay if a herd of animals decides to attack the car and destroy it.

Flood damage. Water can easily enter a vehicle and destroy its interior and mechanical components. In many cases, the damage is too severe and the car is totaled.

Vandalism or riots. Although drivers believe they parked their cars in a safe place, vandals will think otherwise. It only takes a few moments for them to scratch the paint, make dents, deflate the tires or smash the windshield. If a protest degenerates and turns into a riot then the vehicle owned by a policyholder is in big trouble. Is not uncommon for rioters to set ablaze vehicles.

For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.
Emiliano is one of our brilliant All-Stars, and his internship exemplifies putting forward incredible talent in this industry.

Today, The TASC Group, an independent and mission-driven public relations firm, is excited to announce its second recipient of a scholarship in partnership with the Advertising and Public Relations Program at The City College of New York (CCNY). The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship is devoted to providing hands-on experience and promoting diversity in the public relations industry through elevating talented and gifted multicultural students. The TASC Group is pleased to officially announce Emiliano Garcia as the scholarship recipient for this year. Veronica Vaccaro was the first scholarship winner (2021), setting a high standard for academic and community success.

As a senior in the Advertising and Public Relations program at CCNY, Emilianos passion for advocacy through communication stems from personal experience. Immigrant rights groups have had a powerful impact on DREAMers like him, inspiring him to advocate for others over the years. Emiliano was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status  which offers work authorization and protection from deportation  due to multi-faceted campaigns led by immigrant youth that have helped establish and protect the provisions of DACA. During his internship, Emiliano hopes to explore and address various causes, including the climate crisis, human rights and domestic violence. In the same way that advocacy has helped him, Emiliano hopes to help communities share their stories and positively impact their lives.

What fascinates me about PR is the life-changing effect it can have on communities that are often underserved, stated Emiliano. I am thankful to The TASC Group for letting me partake in work that matters this summer.

Were so delighted to finally announce Emiliano as the recipient of The TASC Groups Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scholarship at CCNY, said Rida Bint Fozi, Managing Director of The TASC Group. His application stood out from a pool of spectacular applicants and we were incredibly inspired by his commitment to serving his community and his particular understanding of public relations and advocacy. Were happy to welcome Emiliano aboard this summer, and were looking forward to our continued partnership with CCNY to support and promote diversity and inclusion within the public relations industry.

With the inception of this program in 2021, The TASC Group partnered with CCNY to develop a program to award and recognize extraordinary and mission-driven multicultural students to impart remarkable career development opportunities and first-hand experience within public relations. The TASC Group is well-known for working with social justice and nonprofit clients that center around the youth, such as The Trayvon Martin Foundation, The Eagle Academy Foundation and The Gathering for Justice. This scholarship dedicated to furthering diversity, equity and inclusion in public relations is one of the many ways TASC continues to engage in mission-driven efforts.

"Addressing the need to prioritize diversity in PR is one of the many reasons why we continue to have a strong relationship with The TASC Group, said Lynne Scott Jackson, Distinguished Lecturer & Director of Internships, Industry Relations and Professional Development for CCNYs Ad/PR Program. Emiliano is one of our brilliant All-Stars, and his internship exemplifies putting forward incredible talent in this industry.

Emiliano will receive $2,500 toward tuition fees along with a paid semester-long internship at The TASC Group that includes professional development and mentoring by TASC employees. The internship will begin in summer 2022 and run through fall 2022.

Media interested in learning more about The TASC Group and its work should contact Sabrina Bazelais at sabrina@thetascgroup.com.

In the tradition of The TASC Group, corporates and organizations interested in developing a partnership with CCNY Ad/PR should contact Lynne Scott Jackson at lscottjackson@ccny.cuny.edu. For more information, http://www.ccnyadpr.wixsite.com/website.

About The TASC Group

The TASC Group (TASC) is an independent, full-service communications and public relations firm. TASC was founded as a progressive-minded company dedicated to working with some of the most dynamic and inspiring clients in the world. The company is passionate about and committed to helping its clients achieve their goals. TASC represents mission-driven private and public companies, organizations, nonprofits, labor groups and community organizations. The companys services include media relations, crisis communications and issues management, corporate social responsibility campaigns, thought leadership development, cause-related marketing, red carpet and celebrity events, SEO and online reputation management and social media. For more information, visit http://www.thetascgroup.com.

About The City College of New York

Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.2% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNYs annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the for dollar return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.
It is always an honor to be included on this list with so many talented physicians. I am truly passionate about achieving exceptional outcomes for my patients, says Dr. John M. Anastasatos.

For the 4th year in a row, Dr. John Anastasatos of Los Angeles Plastic Surgery in Beverly Hills has been featured as a "Top Doctor" for 2022 by Castle Connolly. Those who receive this prestigious award are among the very best in their specialties. The mission of Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. is to help consumers find the best healthcare. The top doctors who are listed in their books and directories were nominated by peers in an extensive survey process. Medical education, training, hospital appointments and disciplinary histories are rigorously screened by the physician-led research team. Doctors do not and cannot pay to be included in any Castle Connolly guide or online directory.

At Los Angeles Plastic Surgery, Dr. John Anastasatos offers a full menu of services and is highly regarded for his extraordinary success in cosmetic, reconstructive and revision procedures, including gold-standard facelifts, advanced breast augmentations, rhinoplasty, body lift procedures, liposuction and non-surgical treatments. Widely known as an innovator in his field, he is always on the front line of plastic surgery. Dr. Anastasatos provides patients with beautiful, natural-looking results, using cutting-edge methods to minimize downtime and promote longer-lasting outcomes. Not only does Dr. Anastasatos carry elite credentials in his field, but he also implements his refined knowledge and expertise using a compassionate, patient-centered approach.

It is always an honor to be included on this list with so many talented physicians. I am truly passionate about achieving exceptional outcomes for my patients, says Dr. John M. Anastasatos.

More about Dr. John M. Anastasatos:

Dr. Anastasatos was raised in the United States, but his family roots are in Athens, Greece. He earned his degree in economics from Brown University in only three years and was accepted to their School of Medicine. He then completed his general surgical training at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, an affiliate of Columbia University. After finishing his cosmetic and reconstructive residency at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, he also completed a fellowship in hand surgery, upper extremity and microsurgery. During this time, Dr. Anastasatos served as an attending surgeon at UAB Hospitals, The Childrens Hospital and Veterans Administration Hospital. He established his own practice in Southern California in 2007. As his reputation grew, he opened a second location in Athens, Greece. Dr. Anastasatos is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. To schedule a consultation with Dr. John Anastasatos or for more information about his practice locations in Beverly Hills, CA, or Athens, Greece, please call (310) 888-4048, or visit his website http://www.LosAngelesPlasticSurgery.com.


Ukrainians of Colorado Our goal for this first round of fundraising is $100,000.00. This is a drop in the bucket with regard to the needs of Ukraine right now, but it is a starting point for us.

Ukrainians of Colorado is a 501c(3) non-profit representing Ukrainians, Ukrainian Americans, and those who have lived or worked in Ukraine from throughout Colorado. The organization is proud to announce a major fundraising campaign to support people in Ukraine who are suffering from the horrific devastation of the unprovoked invasion of this peace-loving nation.

As the voice of the diaspora in Colorado, we have our finger on the pulse of the brave citizens of Ukraine fighting to defend their nation, said Marina Dubrova, president of the organization. Many of us were born in Ukraine, and we have contacts throughout the country with whom we are in touch daily, so we know what their most pressing needs are, and we have the means of getting critical supplies into their hands as quickly as is possible.

The first round of support involves working with Project Cure (projectcure.org) to ship medical supplies to Ukraine. Project Cure is the world's largest distributor of donated medical supplies, equipment, and services to doctors and nurses serving the sick and dying in more than 135 countries. Donors to Ukrainians of Colorado can either purchase medical kits from Project Cure and designate them for Ukraine, or donate directly to Ukrainians of Colorado. The organization will not be taking any administrative or processing fees, so all monies donated will go directly to support those in need in Ukraine.

Additional monies will fund the purchase of supplies and humanitarian aid for Ukrainians through a network of established providers in Ukraine. Ukrainians of Colorado is also accepting donations of goods and medical supplies, as specified on its website: https://ukrainiansofcolorado.wpcomstaging.com.

Our goal for this first round of fundraising is $100,000.00, said Andy Lenec, a Ukrainian American volunteer who also served in the US Peace Corps in Ukraine and is coordinating the fundraising campaign and handling media relations. This is a drop in the bucket with regard to the needs of Ukraine right now, but it is a starting point for us. Given our knowledge of Ukraine and her people, and our numerous contacts across the country, we feel that we are the most appropriate and efficient agency to collect money and supplies for the relief effort.

Information on how to donate is on the organizations website: https://ukrainiansofcolorado.wpcomstaging.com.
Through extraordinary times, we have remained committed to retaining a strong, fun company culture that delivers amazing experiences for our employees and customers alike

Venminder, the leading provider of third-party risk solutions, has today been named a 2022 Best Place to Work in Kentucky, recognizing its exemplary standard of excellence for both employee engagement and business success.

Were very excited for Venminder to receive this recognition for the third consecutive year," said James Hyde, CEO of Venminder. "Through extraordinary times, we have remained committed to retaining a strong, fun company culture that delivers amazing experiences for our employees and customers alike. We truly have built something so special here. We are surrounded by the most incredible employees who inspire us literally daily with their passion for what we do, their ability to provide meaningful ideas and valuable feedback, and their unwavering commitment to our mission. We feel incredibly lucky to have each and every one of our employees by our side through this exciting journey.

Venminder is a leading provider exclusively dedicated to third-party risk management. Their innovative platform combines best-of-breed software functionality and subject matter expertise with the human element to support and meet the needs of a growing customer base. Venminder has a strong history of rapid growth, now amassing more than 1,000 customers in its mission to help solve the many challenges organizations face when managing risks from outsourcing to third parties. The Venminder SaaS platform empowers customers to build a comprehensive, end-to-end view of the risks their vendors may pose, enabling them to seamlessly track, automate, assess and report on all vendor activity in a centralized repository to serve as their vendor system of record.

The Best Places to Work competition is a multi-year initiative designed to motivate companies in the Commonwealth to focus, measure and move their workplace environments toward excellence. The selection process, managed by Workforce Research Group, is based on an assessment of the companys employee policies and procedures and the results of an internal employee survey.

For more details about Venminder, visit https://www.venminder.com.

About Venminder

Venminder offers a world-class SaaS platform that guides and streamlines third-party risk management. Venminders platform helps users collaborate on all things vendor-related and guides through critical processes such as oversight management, contract management, risk assessments, due diligence requirements, questionnaires, SLA management, vendor onboarding and more. Robust and configurable reporting can be generated from the tool to give clear visibility into the management and ongoing monitoring of third parties. Completed vendor risk assessments can be found in the Venminder Exchange and include thorough assessments of a vendors information security, SOC reports, contracts, financials, business continuity/disaster recovery and more. Venminder also powers Third Party ThinkTank, an online free community dedicated to third-party risk professionals. For more information, visit http://www.venminder.com.


The Russian militarys unprovoked war against Ukraine has elicited a global outpouring of condemnation against the violence and concern about the resulting humanitarian and refugee crisis. With the world witnessing the war in real time, many psychological scientists across diverse disciplines are beginning to grapple with the implications for how their research might inform our collective understanding of, and ability to prevent, further brutality and devastation.

Heres a look at some research on war, conflict, and authoritarianism published in the APS journals Perspectives on Psychological Science, Current Directions in Psychological Science, and Psychological Science between 2008 and 2020.

Hanne M. Watkins (2020)

What is morally right and wrong in war? Despite many decades of research on moral psychology and the psychology of intergroup conflict, social psychology does not yet have a good answer to this question, which would have implications for decision-making in war, public policy, and international law, according to Watkins. Psychological researchers should adopt a new way to study war, she said, that combines the strengths of philosophical just-war theory (JWT)which identifies the moral principles that govern the conduct of war as discrimination between civilians and combatants, the proportionality of strength used given the target, and the prohibition of means that are bad in themselves, such as biological weaponswith experimental techniques and theories developed to study morality in general.

In a commentary on Watkinss article, Sheila B. Frankfurt and Alanna Coady argued that JWT describes what should guide moral judgments but not how people actually make those judgments. Instead of framing war as a distinct context, they wrote, researchers should frame war as involving particular social factors that may share features with nonwar contexts. Watkins responded that the disagreement between their arguments and hers appeared to involve whether using JWT will have a positive or negative impact on war research and global affairs.

Norman R. Brown, Peter J. Lee, Mirna Krslak, Frederick G. Conrad, Tia G. B. Hansen, Jelena Havelka, John R. Reddon (2009)

Memories of war, terrorism, and natural disaster play a critical role in the construction of group identity and the persistence of group conflict. Brown and colleagues argued that personal memory and knowledge of the collective past become entwined only when public events have a direct, forceful, and prolonged impact on a population. They supported this position with a cross-national study in which participants thought aloud as they dated mundane autobiographical events. Bosnians often mentioned their civil war, and Izmit Turks made frequent reference to the 1999 earthquake in their country. In contrast, participating Serbs, Montenegrins, Ankara Turks, Canadians, Danes, and Israelis rarely mentioned public events. Taken together, these findings indicate that it is personal significance, not historical importance, that determines whether public events play a role in organizing autobiographical memory.

Gerald R. Patterson (2008)

Societies have engaged in warfare for millennia, but what accounts for some societies frequent warfare and others relative peace? Moreover, what environmental and other factors place individuals and societies at risk of becoming violent, and how does the functionality of warits effectiveness in securing the likes of territory, markets, or economic resources, particularly for the initiatorsperpetuate it? One reason that violence occurs so often is that it works so well, wrote Patterson, an APS James M. Cattell Fellow. His review found that individual violence is the outcome of a pathological process that often begins in childhood but can be altered (or reinforced) by familial and societal interventions. In contrast, societal violence rests on two or more contingencies, potentially including the soldiers compliance with training and relationships with and reinforcement by peers.

Alan J. Lambert, J. P. Schott, Laura Scherer (2011)

National threats often provoke changes in sociopolitical attitudes. An example of such a change is the rally-round-the-flag effect, characterized by dramatic spikes in the popularity of leaders such as the U.S. president. Although these effects are often thought to reflect a desire for security and safety driven by anxiety, Lambert and colleagues described a conflicting view in which sociopolitical shifts are mediated by anger. The central role anger plays in their model leads to the implication that other things being equal, positive events (e.g., military victories/accomplishments) may be less likely to trigger rally effects than negative events (e.g., terrorist attacks), to the extent that the former class of events are less likely to involve the activation of anger, they wrote. They provided evidence supporting this viewpoint and explored implications of, and future directions for, this research.

Sam McFarland, Derek Brown, Matthew Webb (2013)

The concept of one humanity characterizes the quality of caring deeply about human beings without regard for their race, religion, nationality, or other distinctions. A prominent example involves those who risked their careers or even lives to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. In this review, McFarland and colleagues summarized recent work with a new measure of that caring: the Identification With All Humanity Scale. Research with this scale establishes that identification with all humanity is more than an absence of prejudice and its sources or the sum of positive qualities, such as dispositional empathy and principled moral reasoning. The authors also offered a brief discussion of how identification with all humanity may develop or could be taught.

Michal Bauer, Alessandra Cassar, Julie Chytilova, Joseph Henrich (2013)

Does the experience of war generate an enduring elevation in peoples egalitarian motivations toward their in-group? To explore this question, Bauer and colleagues administered social-choice tasks to more than 1,000 children and adults differentially affected by wars in the Republic of Georgia and Sierra Leone. They found that greater exposure to war created a lasting increase in peoples egalitarian motivations toward their in-group, but not their out-groups, during a developmental window starting in middle childhood and ending in early adulthood. Outside this window, war had no measurable impact on social motivations in young children and had only muted effects on the motivations of older adults, they wrote. These war effects are broadly consistent with predictions from evolutionary approaches that emphasize the importance of group cooperation in defending against external threats, though they also highlight key areas in need of greater theoretical development.

Taya R. Cohen, Chester A. Insko (2008)

Cohen and Insko explored four potential ways to reduce intergroup conflict: consideration of future consequences, independent leadership, outgroup empathy, and coordination. They reviewed relevant empirical findings for each method and discussed how each can be used to promote intergroup cooperation. Acknowledging that future research should address many issues, they highlight the importance of considering how various approaches to conflict reduction might be implemented. How might psychological processes that reduce intergroup conflict play out in protracted conflicts throughout the world?

Arne Roets, Evelyn W. M. Au, Alain Van Hiel (2015)

Authoritarianism refers to a willingness to submit to authorities who are perceived as established and legitimate, to confirm to norms and traditions endorsed by society, and to have a general aggression toward and dislike of people who do not conform to those norms. Roets and colleagues examined whether the association between authoritarianism and dislike of out-groups would still hold in countriesSingapore, in this casewhere the established authorities explicitly endorse multiculturalism. In assessing Singaporean and Belgian students for their authoritarian values, out-group views, and perceptions of the governments stance on multiculturalism, the researchers found that students from Singapore, but not Belgium, associated authoritarianism with positive attitudes toward out-groups. The researchers attributed this link to government support for multiculturalism.

Feedback on this article? Email apsobserver@psychologicalscience.org or comment below.
In a new funding round, the Rebel Girls brand has raised $13 million to build "an immersive online/offline experience designed to inspire a generation of confident girls to shepherd in a more gender equal world," according to the announcement. Lead investors include Owl Ventures and Base10 Partners, with other investors including Mindshift Capital, Emmeline Ventures, and such individuals as Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Joelle Kayden, Deborah Mei, Wenda Millard, Brit Morin, Simone Otus Coxe, and Kat Taylor.

The company has also named four people to its board of directors: Christina Miller, former head of WarnerMedia's kids and family division; Tory Patterson, cofounder of Owl Ventures; Rebel Girls cofounder Elena Favilli; and Rebel Girls CEO Jes Wolfe. Adeyemi Ajao, cofounder of Base10 Partners, serves as board observer. An advisory board has also been established, with director Jill Culton, former Gymboree CEO Lynda Gustafson, Pendo senior v-p of product Tatyana Mamut, Refinery29 founder Justin Stefano, Broadway producer Randi Zuckerberg, and more.

Confidence is the single most important predictor of how kids see their future. Right now, girls think they are less smart and less capable than boys. Girls are twice as likely to suffer depression than boys and three times as likely to experience cyberbullying.  said Wolfe. Its time for this to change. Rebel Girls will be relentless in leading and innovating until the confidence gap has disappeared. We are proud to be a trusted source for parents and an inspiring brand for girls.

Over the past few years, the Rebel Girls brand has grown from a self-started book series into a budding multimedia empire. In 2016, its founders, Francesca Cavallo and Elena Favilli, made crowdfunding history by raising more than $1.2 million from close to 25,000 backers in 75 countries in a combined Kickstarter and Indiegogo InDemand book ordering campaign for their first illustrated childrens book, Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls.

The book, which they published and distributed themselves through their childrens media start-up, Timbuktu Labs, stayed in the top 10 of the New York Times bestsellers list for 42 weeks. Other books have followed in multiple series, including those published under the Rebel Girls imprint, established in 2019.

The Rebel Girls cofounders were named PW Star Watch Superstars in 2018. Since then, Cavallo has split off from the brand, going on to launch her own children's media company, Undercats, Inc.
In her mesmerizing new book, Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free, Sarah Weinman does a masterly job resurrecting a stranger-than-fiction chapter in American criminal justice. In 1957, unemployed veteran Edgar Smith was convicted of killing 15-year-old Victoria Zielinski in New Jersey and sentenced to death. After conservative intellectual William F. Buckley learned Smith was an admirer of Buckleys magazine, National Review, Buckley began corresponding with Smith, leading to an unlikely friendship and financial support for legal efforts to spare Smiths life. Smith, who published both a book about his case and a mystery novel from behind bars, was released in 1971 for time served. Five years later, he stabbed a woman nearly to death in California. Weinmans dogged research, which included correspondence with Smith, who died in prison in 2017, enables her to craft a deeply unsettling narrative about how a clever killer manipulated the justice system and the conservative media to his benefit.

How long do moments last? For the genre of true crime, this current moment is roughly seven and a half years old, dating to the immense popularity of the podcast Serial's first season since it dropped in the fall of 2014. But crime and murder is a perennial fascination, dating back centuries. Think of the preacher Cotton Mather's pamphlets in the late 17th century, or Benjamin Franklin's early yellow journalism. Or, well, the Bible. We love to consume stories about the worst humanity can do and seek to understand how and why it happened.

Murder is, of course, an awful, ugly business, and Americans in particular continue to crane their necks to get a peek at the worst of the wrecks. We want answers, we want justice, we want heroes, we want villains, and real-life crime offers so many of these and then some. Crime fiction may desire order out of chaos, but true crime grapples with the chaos while hoping for catharsis in the meantime.

These larger issues, and the connections between crime and society and human behavior, have preoccupied me for much of my life. Peering into the abyssand hoping that same abyss doesn't swallow me up if I take the wrong step, or cross a gossamer-thin line. These 10 books helped me make sense of the world's darkest corners.

1. Classic Crimes by William Roughead (1951) Modern-day true crime could not exist without the writings of Roughead (18701952), a Scottish lawyer with an avid interest in criminal trials. His write-ups of the legal proceedings he attended and cases he researched, collected in this single volume, are infused with delight and brio, as well as bursts of outrage at obvious wrongs (including that of Oscar Slater, subject of Margalit Fox's outstanding Conan Doyle for the Defense.)

2. Crime and Science by Jurgen Thorwald (1966) My freshman college roommate gave me a copy of this book for my birthday, and I know it played a huge role in why I pursued a masters degree in forensic science (even if its one I never used, except as fodder for writing about crimes of all kinds.) Thorwald writes with exceptional clarity about cases obscure and famous solved with forensic techniques like blood typing and elemental analysis of gunshot residue. DNA and CSI-style glamorization make those older techniques seem quaint, but current criminalists owe a lot to their chemically minded pioneers. It still amazes me that this book and its earlier companion volume, The Century of Detectivewhich lost the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime to In Cold Bloodhave yet to be rescued from out-of-print oblivion.

3. A Death in Canaan by Joan Barthel (1977) This infuriating story of a son wrongfully convicted for the murder of his mother, and the campaign by the likes of William Styron, Renata Adler, Philip Roth, and Arthur Miller to free him, was on my mind a great deal as I wrote Scoundrel. Barthels book, first published in 1977 and reissued in digital format in 2016, focuses on the 1973 murder of Barbara Gibbons in Connecticut, and how her 18-year-old son, Peter Reilly, ended up in the crosshairs of local police and prosecutors. Their continuous bungling means that it's unlikely, if impossible, that we'll ever know (with proof) who killed Gibbons.

4. The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm (1989) That searing opening paragraph. That excoriating criticism of Joe McGinnisss methods where he gained access to Jeffrey MacDonald, presumed killer of his wife and children, by professing belief in his innocence only to turn on him in print. But Ive always thought Malcolm's brilliant, merciless book didnt really care much about the MacDonald caseit was just a perfect, legally fraught example of the failures of the journalist-subject relationship. And its why I returned to it while working on Scoundrelmy own account of the porous bonds between a journalist and a murderer.

5. Redrum the Innocent by Kirk Makin (1992) I wish this watershed true crime account from Canada, admittedly an 800-page doorstopper, was more widely available, or that it would be reissued with updates. It deals, exhaustively and comprehensively, with one of the most troubling criminal chapters in that countrys history. Nine-year-old Christine Jessop was raped and strangled to death in 1984, and law enforcement convinced themselves that neighbor Guy Paul Morin killed her. He was acquitted, then convicted (Canada doesnt have double jeopardy), and then DNA testing freed him for good in 1995. Jessop's real killer was finally discovered via genetic genealogy, and knowing this makes the systemic failure to capture a suspect living in plain sight all the more infuriating.

6. Under the Bridge by Rebecca Godfrey (2005) Here is another standout true crime work by a fellow Canadian. Godfrey, whose novel The Torn Skirt is an underground classic, essentially taught herself journalism in order to report this harrowing account of the 1997 murder of Reena Virk, an Indigenous teenager living in Victoria, B.C., and the subsequent arrests and trials of several classmates. Godfrey renders the victim and the perpetrators in stunning, three-dimensional detail, an acuity made more sensitive as befitting a novelist.

7. True Crime edited by Harold Schechter (2008) When a genre finally makes it into the hallowed halls of the Library of America, that is a sign of its growing respectability. (Psychological suspense did with my own two-volume set, Women Crime Writers, in 2015.) As a writer, Schechter has done more work and research on historical serial murderers than anyone else (and become, alas, ripe for pilfering by true crime podcasters.) Editing this volume demonstrates the breadth of his knowledge and his astute choices of other nonfiction crime writers and their pet cases. Someday, I hope, there will be a follow-up anthology.

8. The Five by Hallie Rubenhold (2019) The more time passes, the more in awe I am of this book. Rubenhold flips the usual script and elevates the stories of the five women known to have been murdered by a man roaming the streets of East London's Whitechapel neighborhood in 1888. In doing so, she restores themPolly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine, and Mary-Janeas complex, flawed, human figures struggling to live in a world rife with poverty, homelessness, and cruelty towards women, while shattering a great many myths about who and what they were not.

9. We Keep the Dead Close by Becky Cooper (2020) I thought of this book often in the wake of the recently-launched sexual misconduct lawsuit from three Harvard anthropology graduate students, an eerie reminder that this same departmentand the schoolhave been rife with gross power imbalances, sexism, and criminal misdeeds for decades, if not longer. Cooper delves into the life of Jane Britton, abruptly cut short by her murder, at age 21, in 1969, and unsolved for decades. There is resolution, but what matters more is the unsettled aftermath, lingering suspicion, and permanent culpability.
After opening its first bookstore with much fanfare on November 3, 2015, this week Amazon confirmed a report from Reuters that it is closing all of its physical bookstores, as well as its 4-star and pop-up stores, which carry a mix of items, including some books. All told, Amazon will close about 68 stores, including its 24 bookstores.

The first Amazon Books outlet was opened in the University Village shopping mall in Seattle, and the chain continued to grow, with stores popping up in 12 states as well as in Washington, D.C. Numbering 24 outlets, Amazon Books had been one of the largest bookstore chains in the country.

The company said closing dates will vary by location, and that to alert customers, it will post signs in the local stores. Employees will be given the option to work at other nearby Amazon stores, or to receive severance.

In its official statement, Amazon said that it would continue to operate other physical stores, and that it plans to open more stores. Weve decided to close our Amazon 4-star, Books, and Pop Up stores, and focus more on our Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go, and Amazon Style stores and our Just Walk Out technology, the statement read. We remain committed to building great, long-term physical retail experiences and technologies.

Although each Amazon Books store has some local touches, the outlets share many of the same characteristics, such as displaying their books face out, carrying digital devices and accessories, and only stocking books that receive high ratings from Amazon reviewers. Most stores, which range from 3,500 to 6,000 sq. ft., carry 5,000 to 6,000 titles, and employ around 20 people.

The opening of its first store and subsequent national rollout gave rise to widespread speculation about what Amazons goals and motives were in opening the outlets, as well as a guessing game about where Amazon Books would next appear. Despite rumors that the company planned to open hundreds of bookstores, the chains impact on the overall bookstore business has been negligible.

Many industry observers believed Amazons goal in opening the stores was to experiment with new shopping technologies, showroom its book and book-related offerings, and examine consumer behavior. Indeed, after the launch of Amazon Books, the company became much more involved in physical retail, highlighted by its $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods in 2017.

Amazon has said that physical retail remains an important part of its business, since it gives customers more choice on how to shop with the company. Bricks-and-mortar stores, however, remain a small part of Amazons total business, representing less than 4% of its revenue in 2021.
Dr. Bentley checks Dakotas vitals and reflexes during a follow-up appointment. Research from both Bentley and Knapp demonstrates how naturally occurring canine cancers act similar to cancers in humans, making canines better candidates for clinical treatment than lab animals. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca McElhoe).

French bulldog trekked from Texas to receive treatment for aggressive form of cancer

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Dakota, a 4-year-old French bulldog from Justin, Texas, has pushed the boundaries of what it means to be humanitys best friend. She developed a glioma, a form of brain tumor that is particularly dangerous to both canines and humans. By working with veterinary scientists at Purdue University, Dakota received treatment for her cancer while also contributing to cancer research that may benefit both humans and canines.

The Purdue University Center for Cancer Research (PCCR) is one of only seven basic research laboratories recognized by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is the only basic science center with an affiliated veterinary college, says Timothy Ratliff, the centers Robert Wallace Miller Director and Distinguished Professor of Comparative Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The PCCR connects more than 130 researchers from across the university to collaborate on advancing all areas of cancer research. The distinctive partnership with veterinary scientists, including veterinary doctors Timothy Bentley and Deborah Knapp, makes Dakotas treatment possible and positions PCCR to make the most of its findings.

Canine patients in clinical trials at Purdue's College of Veterinary Medicine (PVM), including Dakota, are contributing to a situation that helps pets, their owners and cancer patients of both species.

We call it a win-win, says Bentley, an associate professor, veterinary neurologist and neurosurgeon, who is overseeing the trial. The clinical trials were able to conduct mean that dogs receive treatments for their diseases that would normally be cost-prohibitive for their owners, and meanwhile, were developing new treatments for both adult and pediatric patients around the world.

For this particular study, Bentley has teamed with Dr. Renee Chambers, a clinician scientist and neurosurgeon from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, who received funding from the NCIs PRECINCT program for the work.

Dakota and her owners, Kaitlin and Erik Murphy, made multiple trips from Texas to participate in the study, which includes the initial surgery and routine follow-ups. As a dose-escalation study, the trial aims to gauge how well and at what dosages a conditionally approved immunotherapy is useful against gliomas. Glioblastoma, the most common glioma in humans, is almost invariably fatal  95% of patients die within five years, according to the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States.

Gliomas are likely to be the top pediatric cancerous killer. Its not as common as other cancers, but developing effective treatments has been extremely slow going and frustrating, Bentley says.

Unlike traditional radiation or chemotherapy, which attack both cancerous and healthy cells, immunotherapies use a drug to mobilize the body's immune system into attacking only unhealthy cells. After surgically removing the glioma, Bentley injects a virus that has been genetically modified so that it is capable of targeting and infecting only cancerous cells.

Surgery alone is never, ever going to be a cure for glioma, because even though we remove everything visible, the disease persists on the microscopic, cellular level, Bentley says. That's where the virus works. We remove the formed tumor, and the virus attacks the cells that will continue trying to rebuild.

Because studying the efficacy of immunotherapies relies on an otherwise functioning immune system, they can be studied effectively only in natural settings.

We need a real patient with a real cancer and real immune system in order to see if it works. This is exactly where pets come in, Bentley says.

Canine patients expand scope of cancer data

For the past 10 years, Bentley, alongside Knapp, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Oncology and the Dolores L. McCall Professor of Comparative Oncology, has been mapping the molecular and cellular similarities between some forms of canine and human cancers. Their research shows the benefit of funding canine cancer research for both canines and humans, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is in agreement. Though the FDA has approved the virus used on Dakota as an investigational agent, meaning it can be used in clinical trials, the treatment cannot move forward without testing in naturally occurring canine cancers.

The FDA said they needed to see the dose escalation in pet dogs with naturally occurring cancers  not in a lab animal, Bentley says. This is exciting for me and Dr. Knapp because weve been shouting from the rooftops for years that our patients are the model the field has been looking for. Cancer in dogs has been proven to be more realistic and more predictive than lab animals.

Knapp, who focuses on a devastating form of bladder cancer, has advanced a number of drug delivery treatments, including a project with other PCCR scientists using a modified strand of an Anthrax toxin.

While her previous work has shown how similar these cancers are on the cellular level, Knapp has recently partnered with colleague Deepika Dhawan, a research scientist in Purdues Comparative Oncology Program (PCOP), to show how human cancer research can also benefit from canine study at the molecular level. New information becomes visible at the molecular level, including the cancers subtype, which can help predict how aggressive, how fast and how far a cancer is likely to metastasize or spread, Knapp says.

Subtype identification is emerging as one approach to begin to customize a patients care, which can improve quality of life and quality of treatment. No one wants to just guess how aggressive we need to be, so this has the potential to allow us to personalize care in the future, she says.

Studying canine tissue samples and observing patients in research and clinical settings innovates the trajectory of cancer research for both canines and humans by increasing the amount of available data.

Knapp, a distinguished professor, is also director of PCOP and chairs a steering committee for the NCIs Integrated Canine Data Commons focused on facilitating the link between veterinary and cancer research. She plays a leading role in the colleges residency training, citing the importance of training the next generation of doctors and researchers.

As a center of excellence in Purdues College of Veterinary Medicine, the oncology program is making immense progress in four areas of research that seek to improve the outlook for people and animals facing cancer: targeted drugs, immunotherapy, early detection and intervention, and individualized care, Knapp says.

That the Murphys committed to traveling from Texas is evidence of the College of Veterinary Medicines reputation as a center of excellence in comparative oncology research. Because of innovations by PVM and PCCR scientists, like Bentley and Knapp, and their rich collaborations with scientists like Chambers, new therapies are being developed and dogs like Dakota are receiving more quality time with their families. The dosage study has reached the maximum amount without any related side effects, and is, by all accounts, a success, Bentley says.

We cannot say enough good things about Dr. Bentley and Purdue, Kaitlin Murphy says. Unfortunately, Dakota recently died of complications from pneumonia, unrelated to the cancer or procedure. The extra months he gave us with Dakota are priceless. We are so lucky to have found him and this study and are so very thankful for the extra time and memories we had with Dakota.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked in each of the last four years as one of the 10 Most Innovative universities in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://stories.purdue.edu.

Writer and Media contact: Christy McCarter, mccarter@purdue.edu

Sources: Timothy Bentley, rbentley@purdue.edu,

Deborah Knapp, knappd@purdue.edu,

Timothy Ratliff, tlratliff@purdue.edu
A bill that allows certain books deemed harmful to children to be banned from public schools and libraries was discussed by Indiana state representatives last month.

Senate Bill 17 removes schools and certain public libraries from the list of entities eligible for a specified defense to criminal prosecutions alleging: the dissemination of material harmful to minors; or a performance harmful to minors, according to the Indiana General Assembly website.

A citizen can go to their local prosecutor to ask for a book to be banned, and the prosecutor can then take action against the library.

The bill passed the Indiana Senate with a 34-15 vote on Feb. 1 and was referred to the House Committee on Education.

The bill follows a recent national trend of banning books in public libraries and schools.

The American Library Association said in a preliminary report that it received an unprecedented 330 reports of book challenges, each of which can include multiple books, last fall, according to reporting from the New York Times.

It would really diminish the opportunities for our folks, said Indiana State Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-27.

Klinker is a former school teacher who taught in the Lafayette School Corporation for more than 34 years and is a minority member in the committee of education, within the Republican-supermajority House.

I feel that (the bill) is absolutely an affront to teachers and librarians who work very hard.

Klinker said libraries and schools already have processes in place to regulate what books reach the hands of students.

Our librarians at Miami Elementary School, that Ive worked with for several years, and at Tecumseh were very careful about the material that the children were reading and studying.

Theyve worked so diligently to try to get the right material for the right subject, and I honestly have never been chastised or have seen the librarian chastised for having bad material in the library.

The American Library Associations website lists a series of requirements for books in school libraries, including that the book Be appropriate for the subject area and for the age, emotional development, ability level, learning styles and social, emotional and intellectual development of the students for whom the materials are selected.

Jos Holman, Tippecanoe County Librarian and former president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, said he believes there are already systems for parents to express concerns about library materials.

There is a formal process already in place, so anyone and everyone can use that process to challenge any materials that we might have.

Holman and Klinker said they believe the motivations behind the creation of the bill come from parents who want to censor content from their children.

I think (the bill) comes from a conservative group of people that dont want their children to know some of the real facts, Klinker said. They didnt want the students reading about LGBTQ situations or gender differences. Thats where it started from.

The motivation has to do with a legislator or multiple legislators who believe that they would serve their local constituents well by pushing this bill through, Holman said. Communication from parents has gotten to those legislators where they believe it would be a public service to keep this from happening and keep that topic of critical race theory from being discussed, from being explored and being taught again.

Bert Chapman, a political science librarian at Purdue and the Purdue Young Americans for Freedom advisor, said he believed a students education should be determined by their parents.

I think its vitally important that parents be the ultimate determiners of what their children are not allowed to read or view, Chapman said.

Many libraries have a board of directors with parents on it who determine whether a book is fit for an age group or not, he said. Nevertheless, legislatures are allowed to make regulations to public resources if they believe it benefits their constituents.

Anything that a government can give individuals or communities can be taken away by the government, he said.

Klinker said the bill was referred to the committee of education last week but was not heard and was most likely dead.

Its possible (the authors of the bill) are going to try to put it in another bill, she said.

Klinker said she was going to continue to oppose all bills with similar rhetoric and believes people will not stand for content censorship.

I think its scary and I think that therell be a pushback, and folks will not accept the fact that (they) cannot (read) the truth, Klinker said.

Holman said he is not currently worried about the bill and believes that the people of Tippecanoe County will oppose this bill.

I cant speak for the local school system. I cant speak for the entire community, Holman said. I think its unlikely that there will be the same type of traction in terms of a bill taking hold.

Senator James Tomes, the author of the bill, said he was unable to schedule an interview as of Wednesday afternoon, due to his unavailability, because the second reading deadline for Senate bills is this week.

Senators Jeff Raatz and Michael Young, the other authors of the bill, did not respond to calls or emails for comments.
The Rev. Simone Lord Marcelle, above, a juice bar owner, is working with a team to conduct health and wellness classes in South Jamaica in March.
The AD 37 race is shaping up as candidates like Juan Ardila, left, Johanna Carmona and Brent OLeary enter the ring.
To the displeasure of the union president of the United Probation Officers Association, left, Dalvanie Powell, Mayor Adams said that he will be reappointing Ana Bermudez as the commissioner of the Department of Probation.
The NYPD on Sunday arrested William Blount at a Manhattan shelter, charging him with beating Nina Rothschild with a hammer in a Queens subway station and robbing her.
Service with smiles: Department of Transportation personnel made fast work the citys down payment on myriad safety improvements for the intersection of Cooper and Cypress avenues in Glendale.
Assemblyman Ron Kim has been an advocate for the homecare workers in his district who are employed by CPC. He attended a rally for the cause Jan. 12.
NYPD Deputy Inspector and 105th Precinct Commanding Officer Igor Pinkhasov said he is waiting on headquarters to learn more about the departments new anti-crime units.
The myth asserting that as the rich get richer the poor get poorer isnt true. Contrary to headlines about wealth inequality, were winning the war on poverty. The business of creating wealth lifts over 50 million people a year out of poverty.

China serves as a telling example of the effect that wealth creation has on poverty. After Chinas revolution in 1949, Chairman Mao installed a centralized system that he claimed would allow everyone to share in the wealth. The results werent good. Between 1958 and 1962, 20 million died from famine. When Chinas new leader, Deng Xiaoping, visited the U.S. in 1979, 88 percent of the population in China lived below the poverty line. China was poor, broken, and trending further downward.

After his U.S. visit, Deng Xiaping created four Special Economic Zones (SEZ) within which those with talent and ideas, if successful, could create businesses, export goods, bring in foreign investment, and earn money for themselves. Today, China has 20 SEZ, creating substantial wealth for the country. China is now the second-largest economy on the planet and home to 626 billionaires. Over the 40-plus-year timeframe, the population living below the poverty line has decreased from 85 percent to less than 1 percent as the rich grew richer and the poor became substantially less poor.

Some on the left still decry large companies and the entrepreneurs who created them as greedy and larcenous, hording cash for themselves to the detriment of the rest. Many believe that companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google make everyone else poorer. This is a mistaken belief. These successful companies make the majority of their money for the rest of us in multiple ways every day.

For example, here are three ways Amazon benefits our overall economic status.

1. Creates jobs  Anyone creating wealth has to hire and pay a lot of people along the way. In 2021, Jeff Bezos was one of the richest people on the planet. At the same time, Amazon employs and pays 1.6 million employees. These arent just warehouse staff, but also some of the most sophisticated computer engineers on the planet. Amazon is a human potential factory giving meaningful work to people at all levels. Imagine the economic lift and multiplier created by 1.6 million workers buying groceries, contracting services, paying taxes, and enriching a community. Amazon paid more than $46 billion to its workforce last year. These are new jobs and real money that hadnt existed prior to Amazons creation.

2. Pays shareholders  Although Bezos created it and brought it into existence, he owns less than 10 percent of Amazon. Banks, pension funds, labor unions, insurance companies, and other institutional investors own 60.7 percent of Amazon. When you get a loan for a car, a pension as a teacher, strike pay from a union, or home insurance after a fire, theres a little bit of Amazon wealth making each transaction possible. Amazon makes money primarily for the institutions that own it, and they are good institutions providing value to society. In the last decade Amazon has risen in value by 1,588 percent. That means every $1,000 invested by the pension fund paying for your teachers retirement is now worth $16,881.75  very good value for a very good cause and real money moving into the economy to benefit multitudes.

3. Funds research and development  When it comes to research and development, NASA is usually considered the gold standard. It put a man on the moon, and it keeps extending space technology further. Research and development is good for the economy. In 2019, NASA generated $64.3 billion in economic output, supported 312,000 jobs, and generated $7 billion in tax payments. Amazon invested $42.74 billion in research and development in 2020  two-thirds of NASAs budget! Research and development has more benefit than just the economic wealth it creates. Its how society creates better medicine, computers, MRI machines, global telecommunications, and an overall better global standard of living.

The proof that wealth creators benefit the poor is in the numbers. As the world went from 15 billionaires in 1980 to 2,755 today, the percentage of the global population living below the poverty line declined from 45 percent to 22 percent, and the trend continues downward. Poverty remains an important issue and we still have substantial work to do. Thats undeniable.

Perceived inequality and excessive wealth fuels anger and speculation that the system is rigged for only a few, but it isnt. Jeff Bezos created a company that spins billions in new wealth for the benefit of many millions. In return he keeps a small piece of it, which is fair. Inequality cant be ignored, but neither should it become the false context for bad policy. Wealth creation leads to an improved standard of living for everyone.
By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 03/02/2022



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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.

alum Maksim Chmerkovskiy has announced that he safely escaped Ukraine after Russia's invasion, although he's currently feeling traumatized and guilty.After enduring a 23-hour train ride from Ukraine, Maksim, 42, wrote Tuesday, March 1 on his Instagram Stories, "I'm in Poland," along with emojis of the Ukrainian flag, the Polish flag and praying hands.The pro dancer and choreographer also confirmed in a lengthy Tuesday Instagram post that he finally arrived safely in Poland after fleeing Ukraine and having a "traumatizing" experience -- including 36 hours without sleep -- trying to escape the Russian invasion.Maksim, who is Ukrainian-American, captioned his near 26-minute Instagram video, "I'm in Warsaw. I'm in hotel. I'm not ok.""The war is just heating up... It's going to get worse," Maksim said in the video, explaining how he had taped footage of a rocket killing a man, woman and their two kids in Ukraine among other graphic and horrible videos.Maksim said, "It's so traumatic and it's so crazy. It's not right... I'm scared, I'm confused, I'm terrified and I just lived through some sh-t that I'm going to need a lot of therapy for. But I know this -- it's us little guys against the big guy.""I don't care how big he is, I don't care how mean he is. When we're together, I can see what can happen. We can have the little guy finally win and it will be a joint effort."Maksim said it felt "wrong" leaving his fellow Ukrainians behind and he "still feels guilty" about getting out of that turmoil alive, especially when so many other innocent civilians, children included, are suffering and/or wounded.Maksim recalled being "freezing" for 12 hours on the train and not wanting to "take up space" from a woman and her children."In 94, I was put up for adoption, and I got adopted by a beautiful, young, vibrant, exciting forward-thinking country, and I fell in love. And I left Ukraine in 94 a sad person because I felt like I was being unrooted," Maksim shared.Maksim said while he grew to love the United States, especially when he became a cast member of , he still carried a banner for Ukraine and will always defend the country."I'm having a really f-cking hard time leaving. I'm having a horrible time," Maksim lamented. "I'm having very mixed emotions. I have friends there, my friends are in the front line."Maksim was in his native country on Thursday, February 24 when Russia President Vladimir Putin publicly announced a "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine, which resulted in missiles striking locations across the country, including its capital city Kyiv, and Russian forces invading.Maksim, who had been in Ukraine serving as a judge for a new Ukrainian edition of World of Dance, was staying at a hotel in Kyiv when the Russian invasion began.Maksim began documenting his experience trying to escape Ukraine in a Friday, February 25 video on Instagram. While he said he was "safe" in Kyiv, Maksim noted the situation was "dire" and he was waiting for instructions on what to do or where to go next.On Monday, Maksim shared on Instagram Stories how he had been arrested in Ukraine, briefly, and then managed to grab a seat on a train that was "hopefully" heading to Warsaw, Poland, according to Us Weekly."Train to Lviv was not an option. The situation at the train station is insane," Maksim shared in a series of videos."At first it feels manageable but gets A LOT worse when it comes time to actually board the train. Long story, but all I can say now is that I'm a big man with nothing but a backpack... currently I'm in a cabin with four adults and seven kids (ages 2-11) which usually is only occupied by a maximum of three people."He added, "There's usually up to 30 people in this particular wagon. We were told we have to fit 135. Walkways are packed. People everywhere. It's sweaty and claustrophobic."Maksim went on to recall his breaking point during his journey, when an eight-year-old boy started "hysterically crying" on the train and didn't want to let go of his father.The train also apparently "stopped to change wheels" before arriving at the Polish border."There's five cars, about 130 some people each. There's one cart that's all sicker kids and people so it's not as packed, but all the others are packed," Maksim revealed.Maksim's wife Peta Murgatroyd , 35, who is the mother of his five-year-old son Shai, reposted Maksim's train update on Monday and wrote on Instagram, "@maksimc YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!!! Get back home! I am so f-cking proud of you for helping those kids on board!"Peta has seemed extremely worried about her husband ever since Russia began its attacks last week.Peta, who married Maksim in 2017, had initially asked fans to pray for Maksim while he was still stuck in Ukraine."My pain is overwhelming and I'm struggling, but you sending your positive light and love to him would be the world to me," Peta wrote Thursday on Instagram."Truly, I wish for nothing more... Please pray that he has a swift, safe exit. I have FAITH. I have HOPE and I have PRAYED so hard. Please pray for Ukraine and the innocent civilians who's lives are being greatly uprooted."As of Wednesday, March 2, more than 870,000 refugees have fled Ukraine during Russia's invasion, according to CNN, and the U.N. estimates this number could grow to five million.Ukraine's State Emergency Service also said there have been more than 2,000 civilian deaths thus far, although there have been conflicting accounts about the death toll in Ukraine.The U.N. human rights office has tallied 136 civilian deaths, with the toll likely being "much higher," CNN reported.Russia has ramped up assaults on key Ukrainian cities this week, including the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv.Maksim won ' 18th season with Meryl Davis and last competed on the show as a pro dancer on Season 25, but he has also served as a guest judge over the years.
Actress and model Pamela Anderson will tell her story in a documentary coming to Netflix.

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"I can only surprise you -- not a victim, but a survivor and alive to tell the real story," the Canadian-American actress and model known for her appearances in Playboy magazine, Home Improvement and Baywatch, film Barb Wire and infamous sex tape scandal, said in a lipstick stained note attached to a Netflix announcement of the documentary on Twitter.

Along with acting and modeling, Anderson has been involved in activism as a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, and later admonished the same cosmetics company for testing on animals as an activist for animal rights. She has also been critical of pornography, speaking about danger of porn addiction in a 2016 Wall Street Journal op-ed.

The documentary film will provide "an intimate portrait," of her life "as she looks back at her professional path and prepares for next steps on her journey," a Netflix statement said.

Director Ryan White (The Keepers, Ask Dr. Ruth) will direct and produce the film, and other producers include executive producer Josh Braun, and producers Jessica Hargrave, Julia Nottingham, Brandon Thomas Lee.

The film will be produced by Dorothy St Pictures and Tripod Media.

Meanwhile, a series about how Anderson and Tommy Lee's sex tape scandal, affected the pair's personal lives and careers, Pam & Tommy, is currently streaming on Hulu.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  A political operative who in November 2020 twice visited Antrim County via private jet as part of a team consulting on a local election-related lawsuit, has been subpoenaed by the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Katherine Friess, of Arlington, Virginia and Vail, Colorado  listed in court documents as an expert witness in a since-dismissed civil suit accusing Antrim County of voter fraud  must produce documents and appear for a deposition March 29, a letter from Committee Chair Bennie G. Thompson to Friess and dated March 1, states.

Antrim County election lawsuit Record-Eagle coverage of the lawsuit related to the 2020 general election in Antrim County:

The letter references documents already on file with the committee, as well as previous reporting by Politico and the Record-Eagle.

Between mid-November 2020 and January 6, 2021 (and thereafter), you actively promoted claims of election fraud on behalf of former President Trump and sought to convince state and federal officials to take steps to overturn the results, the letter from Thompson to Friess states.

You were also involved in efforts to subpoena voting machines from county election boards and, at one point, traveled to Michigan in an attempt to obtain voting machine data directly from local officials, the letter states.

Members of the Select Committee last month subpoenaed Friess phone, text, private message and other communication records, sent or received between Nov. 1, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2021, a timeframe which includes dates Friess traveled to Antrim County.

Friess did not respond to a request for comment nor did her attorney, Raymond A. Mansolillo, of Boston.

Local officials previously said Friess was among out-of-state visitors who arrived in Antrim County on or about Nov. 27, 2020, and visited municipal offices in Star Township and the Village of Mancelona as well as Central Lake Township, where they were shown tape from a precinct tabulator.

A sign-in sheet, provided to the Record-Eagle in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, also lists Friess as among those at the Antrim County Building Dec. 6, 2020, to conduct a forensic examination of the countys election equipment.

Antrim County Clerk Sheryl Guy predicted the phone records, if provided to the Select Committee, would show several calls in November 2020 from Friess to Guys office.

She called me several times and wanted me to open everything up, open up the machines, Guy said Monday, of calls she received from Friess, where Friess requested access to the countys voting equipment.

This was before the lawsuit was filed and Bill Bailey was the one who put her onto me, Guy said. He wanted me to talk with her. I told her I did not have the authority to do what she wanted. Then I stopped taking her calls.

Bailey is a local realtor and former member of the countys planning commission, who, on Nov. 23, 2020, filed suit in 13th Circuit Court, accusing the county of violating his constitutional rights and of using voting equipment which he claimed had been pre-programmed for fraud.

Bailey deferred comment to his attorney, Matthew DePerno.

DePerno did not return a request seeking comment.

Antrim County has been the subject of repeated and false claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election, following acknowledged mistakes by Guy and staff in her office.

In November 2020 Guy acknowledged her office did not properly update Dominion Voting Systems software to accommodate ballot changes in some precincts prior to the election.

Days after Bailey sued the county in 2020, Judge Kevin Elsenheimer granted a request filed by Baileys attorney, DePerno, allowing the Dec. 6, 2020 exam of the countys voting equipment.

Guy said Monday it was her understanding Friess was the organizer of this team; a resulting report, authored by Russell Ramsland, of Texas-based Allied Security Operations Group, accusing Dominion Voting Systems of deliberately altering election results, has been repeatedly debunked by state and national elections experts.

An aide to then-President Trump emailed a copy of the ASOG report to Jeffrey A. Rosen, then the incoming acting U.S. Attorney General, emails posted on a public government website show.

The same report was also referenced in other documents provided to the Select Committee, including a Strategic Communications Plan of the Giuliani Presidential Legal Defense Team seeking to put pressure on Republican senators in six states  including Michigan  between Dec. 27, 2020 and Jan. 6, 2021, the plan states.

Bernard Kerik, a former New York City Police commissioner hired by Trumps legal team as an investigator tasked with looking into claims of election fraud, provided the plan document to the Select Committee in December.

Friess is listed in a related privilege log, also provided by Kerik to the Select Committee, describing additional documents in Keriks possession he planned to withhold, citing attorney work product privilege held by former President Trump.

Friess is fighting the phone records subpoena in court, last month arguing in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Colorado, it violates her First Amendment rights and attorney-client privilege.

Since November 2019, Katherine Friess has counseled the President and his legal team full time in her position as a staff attorney to President Donald Trump, the complaint seeking to quash the subpoena, filed Feb. 22 by Mansolillo on behalf of Friess, states. She also derives meaning and satisfaction from her work outside politics as an attorney.

Friess said in an affidavit filed with the complaint she volunteered as an election integrity attorney, observing ballot counting for the 2020 national elections while continuing to serve other clients.

Friess is not the first attorney to assist as a volunteer in Trumps effort to discredit the results of the 2020 Presidential election, then argue attorney-client privilege in an apparent attempt to deflect a subpoena by the Jan. 6 Select Committee.

Attorney John Eastman, an ally of Trump who promoted a strategy that then-Vice President Mike Pence could decline to certify the 2020 Presidential election results, received notice from Verizon Communications Dec. 3, 2021, that his calls, texts and emails during the same three-month period had been subpoenaed by the Select Committee.

Eastman, too, filed suit against Thompson, the Select Committee and a cellphone carrier  in this case Verizon  and also states in court filings the subpoena violates attorney client privilege.

An attorney for the Select Committee, House Counsel Douglas Letter, has argued in court filings Eastman has provided no evidence of any legal relationship with the former president, however.

Eastman did, in court filings, provide a Dec. 5, 2020 engagement letter for legal services to Trump and the Trump campaign, but it was not signed by Eastman or Trump.

Baileys lawsuit was dismissed in May by Judge Elsenheimer, who also stayed other pending legal issues.

In June, DePerno appealed that decision, on behalf of Bailey, to the state Court of Appeals.

Appellate briefs have been filed and oral arguments requested; it is unclear when the Court of Appeals will hear the case and rule.

In the meantime, DePerno in July announced his candidacy in the Republican primary for Michigan Attorney General and in September was endorsed by Trump.
Looking for a fairly easy scenic winter outing? Ransom Lake Natural Area fits the criteria.

Located just south of Lake Ann it offers an effortless trail thats a little more than 2 miles round trip along a beautiful swift flowing creek and around a small lake that, in my opinion, is the essence of a northern Michigan winter outing. You can hike or cross-country ski the trail. With fresh snowfall that accumulates a few inches snowshoes would be the way to go, which covers all aspects of a winter outing.

On the Trail A collection of columns from Record-Eagle Outdoors Columnist Mike Terrell:

Ive hiked around the 200-acre natural area in the warmer months. This was my first winter trip, and I think its the most beautiful time to experience the striking scenery that includes the bubbling creek, frozen expanse of lake, snow-covered hills and the silence and beauty of winter. Other hikers seemed to agree, which were also out enjoying a sunny afternoon. When Ive hiked this in spring and summer Ive had it to myself. On this winter day I talked with four or five hiking groups I encountered along the way and saw others across the lake following the trail on the other side. Some had kids in tow, and others had dogs in tow. Lulu, my golden-doodle also in tow, enjoyed meeting the other dogs.

There are three trailheads, two off Bellows Lake and one off Lake Ann Road. I prefer the latter trailhead, because it follows Ransom Creek up to the circular trail around the lake. The other two come down woodland hills to join the circle trail. They are shorter access trails, but they dont offer the eye-catching creek to follow in and out.

Ransom Creek, a beautiful, quick-flowing creek, tumbles down through a small valley between wooded hills as it rushes from the small lake surrounded by a northern Michigan forest to join Lake Ann in less than a mile. As soon as you leave the trailhead parking area to hike along the creek you leave behind any signs of civilization and road noise. It was a very windy winter day when I recently hiked the trail, and the other advantage of hiking this trail was that the hills surrounding the lake and trail dramatically cut down on the wind. On a winter day thats a big bonus helping to keep wind-chill at a minimum. I was very comfortable and actually warmed up on the hike out of the wind.

Although I didnt try hiking on the frozen lake, it appeared very solid except where the creek flows out of the lake and another, Bellows Creek, draining from another small lake with the same moniker. Both areas had a small patch of open water surrounding the openings.

I did see a couple pulling a sled out across the ice to set up for some ice fishing.

It was an enjoyable afternoon hiking around this alluring landscape, and watching other people enjoying the same thing, the peaceful quiet feeling and beauty of the area.

It was a respite from the horrible, numbing feeling of what is happening on the other side of the world.
Ukrainian pop music could be heard across the University of Georgias North Campus Wednesday afternoon as UGA community members gathered for a rally in support of Ukraine. Decked in yellow and blue and carrying signs in both English and Ukrainian, the demonstrators voiced opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putins Feb. 24 invasion and expressed support for those affected by it.
As students at the University of Georgia get ready for the first spring break in two years, some plan to travel while others must stay in Athens to work. This raises concerns about mental health and productivity, with time off being proven to benefit people.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, electronic devices have played a larger role in many students academic careers. Professors have noticed it has become increasingly more convenient for students to type notes on their laptops during class instead of handwriting them.
Georgia Beer Day will return to Athens, Georgia, for its second year on March 5. Local members of the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild including Athentic Brewing Company, Creature Comforts Brewing Co. and Southern Brewing Company will be participating in this years event. The breweries are selling commemorative pint glasses to support the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild and to celebrate craft brewing in Georgia.
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To the editor: Regarding the story ("Keep on truckin': Area residents support truck convoy traveling to DC," March 3) about locals standing on
Beckley, WV (25801)

Today

Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. High 76F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early with showers later at night. Low near 60F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
TORRINGTON  The Meals on Wheels Program, sponsored by the Litchfield Hills Northwest Elderly Nutrition Program, The City of Torrington and partially funded by the Western CT Area Agency on Aging, announces the kickoff of the annual Buy A Wheel fundraiser, to benefit the local Meals on Wheels Program that delivers two meals each day to homebound seniors.

The following stores are showing their support by participating in this event: Bantam Market IGA March 1-31, and LaBonne's Market, Salisbury location, March 1226.

Stores are offering customers the Meals on Wheels wheel for a $1 donation. The wheels, listing each donors name will be displayed at the store. The campaign will run for two weeks or more throughout the month of March during store-selected weeks.

For more information on the Buy A Wheel event or meal services, contact Christine Trudeau-Brown or any Nutrition Staff member @ 860-482-4151 or email at christine_brown@torringtonct.org.

Post 44 to honor Silver Star recipient

LITCHFIELD  American Legion Post 44 of Bantam Veteran of the Month ceremony will be hosted by American Legion Post 27, 400 Bantam Rd, Litchfield at 10 a.m. March 5, due to ongoing repairs at Bantam Borough Hall.

The ceremony begins with the flag retirement for Izzy Taddielo, World War II veteran of the United States Navy and a Pearl Harbor survivor. The children of Mr. Taddielos generation were told stories of men and women returning from World War II  they were celebrated with parades, community dinners, job offers, lots of hugs and could never pay for their own cup of coffee.

Vietnam era soldiers and sailors returning home were told not to wear their uniforms or make any acknowledgement of their service. They were called names and shunned even though they served honorably with patriotic spirit.

This month, the traditional month to celebrate Vietnam veterans, post members ask residents to seek out Vietnam veterans in your community; buy them a cup of coffee, give them a gift certificate to a coffee shop or a restaurant. Welcome them home from the war. We as a country owe them an apology for our failure to thank them for their service when they returned.

The March 2022 Veteran of the Month is Vietnam veteran Marine Lance Corporal Frederick J. Falk, formerly of Torrington. Falk joined the Marines after graduating from Oliver Wolcott Technical School in 1966.Falk, a member of the Third Battalion, First Marine Division, was killed in Vietnam when he attempted to save a wounded Marine and move him to a secure position.

Veterans, especially Vietnam veterans, and civilians are encouraged to attend the ceremony where Frederick Falk will be honored. Light refreshments will follow the ceremony. Bill Spring will have a display of military artifacts from both the World War II and Vietnam eras.

Winsted Lions holding Palm Sunday breakfast

WINSTED  The Winsted Lions Club will hold a Palm Sunday Takeout Breakfast fundraiser at Crystal Peak, Winsted Road, Winsted, from 8-10:30 a.m. April 10.

The club is a non-profit organization, and the money generated allows members to run a scholarship program and eye-screenings, and donating to other organizations such as Fidelco Guide Dogs, ECAD, Cris Radio and The American School for the Deaf.

Tickets are $9 per person and include pancakes, sausage links, cheese frittata, blueberry muffins and orange juice. Raffle tickets are $5, with prizes donated by local businesses including dinner for 30 at Crystal Peak. For tickets, go to www.facebook.com/WinstedCTLions23B or purchas at the door.

Litchfield Democrats elect committee members

LITCHFIELD  At its caucus in January, the Litchfield Democrats elected the following Democrats to serve on the Democratic Town Committee for the 2022-2024 term:

Sandra Becker, Bob Berson, Diane Blick, Gayle Carr, Darlene Clouther, Bill Conti, Kara Cruoglio, Pat Donovan, Matt Dyer, Barbara Ellis, Betsy Glassman, Michael Kelly, Jennine Lupo, Robert Lupo, Steve Malo, Joe Manes, Kristin Mostowy, Kathleen Orr, Dave Pavlick, John Post, Barbara Putnam, Stephen Simonin, Lynn Stone, Harmony Tanguay, Jodiann Tenney, Gary Waugh, and Jeff Zullo. The new committee began its term at the March 1 Town Committee meeting.

The Litchfield Democratic Town Committee works to encourage citizens to become voters, voters to become Democrats, and to support the best possible Democratic candidates to run for public office. Meetings are at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month.

To learn more, visit www.litchfielddemocrats.com, Litchfield Democrats on Facebook, or email litchfieldtc@gmail.com

Cactus, succulent show coming in April

BRISTOL  The Connecticut Cactus and Succulent Society will hold its 37th annual show and sale April 9-10 at the Bristol Senior Community Center, 240 Stafford Ave., Bristol. Saturday hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Members say it is the largest show of its kind in the Eastern U.S., with more than two thousand visitors each year. The judged show has more than 100 categories with more than 500 entries.

In addition, there will be at least 12 vendors with a large selection of C&S plants, pots, soils, and books. Admission to the show and sale is free.

Free plants will be given to the first 50 families entering the show on both days. Specimens and rarer succulent plants will also be auctioned.

Details of the Show and Sale will be available at www.ctcactussociety.org
STONINGTON  Police are looking for a group that attempted to break into a Stonington home Tuesday night, officials said.

The Stonington Police Department received a call from a home on Liberty Street around 9:45 p.m. in which the callertold police that several armed individuals came to their back door and attempted to gain entry, Captain Todd Olson said in a press release.

When confronted by the residents, the suspects ran off and a suspect discharged a firearm toward the house as they left the property, Olson said.

Once police were at the scene, officers found a suspicious van on Liberty Street that was later determined to be stolen out of New York. Officers approached the van and one person took off on foot while police placed another person under investigative detention, according to Olson.

The Stonington Police Department, along with Westerly Police and Connecticut State Police, closed a section of Liberty Street to search the area for the other suspects. Officers used police dogs, and the Pawcatuck Fire Department used a drone with infrared imaging to try and track down the suspects, Olson said.

Officials also sent a message to the area explaining the police activity and requested suspicious activity be reported to police. Another message was sent later saying the area had been searched, according to Olson.

Police determined the person placed under investigative detention was one of the suspects in the attempted home invasion and placed them under arrest, Olson said.

Police are still investigating the incident. Anyone with information should contact the Stonington Police Department at 860-599-4411.
TORRINGTON  James Steck, an attorney in Torrington, announced his candidacy March 2 to run for Judge of Probate for the Torrington Area Probate District, serving the towns of Torrington, New Hartford, Goshen, Winchester, Barkhamsted, Colebrook and Hartland.

He was recently endorsed by the Torrington Republican Town Committee.

Steck is a partner with Ebersol, McCormick, Reis & Steck, LLC, where his practice is focused on residential and commercial real estate, land use and zoning, probate, wills and trusts, and litigating property disputes.

Prior to joining the firm, Steck served as a legal research clerk for the Connecticut Superior Courts. He is serving his second term as Selectman for the City of Torrington. He is also a Zoning Enforcement Hearing Officer, a Blight Hearing Officer, and is a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals.

Ive always admired the role that the Probate Court plays in our community, and would love the opportunity to serve in that capacity, he said in a statement.

He has plenty of experience working with the probate court. I have handled a variety of matters before the Probate Court, including voluntary and involuntary conservatorship applications, termination of parental rights hearings, as well as decedents estates, he said. I think that my time as President of the Board of Directors of The Arc of Litchfield County (LARC) also gives me perspective on the challenges and difficulties faced by the intellectually disabledpopulation and their families, and the burdens of navigating the system. I hope to be able to assist those individuals as Judge of Probate.

Steck said he has spent many years serving on various non-profit boards in the community. He is a member of the Torrington-Winsted Rotary Club, a Corporator for CharlotteHungerford Hospital and Brooker Memorial. He also volunteers with various events and efforts of the United Way of Northwest Connecticut and the Northwest CT Chamber of Commerce.

He and his wife, Michelle Steck, have three young children and reside in Torrington.
Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

TORRINGTON  During the Board of Educations recent meeting in February, Superintendent of Schools Susan Lubomski presented her proposed budget for 2022-23 at $79.1 million.

Torrington schools approved budget for the current school year is $76.9 million; the proposed budget for the coming year reflects a difference of $2.16 million, or 2.81 percent.
WEST HARTFORD  The West Hartford Pride planning committee has announced that its third annual Pride festival will be held this June.

Johanna Schubert, who is co-chair of the committee, said the first Pride event was held virtually in 2020, before being able to go hybrid with in-person and online events in 2021. This year, theyll repeat that, giving people a chance to participate in whatever way theyd like.

The month-long event kicks off June 1 with a Pride flag raising event on the towns Unity Green at 6 p.m. That marks the start of a visible month that means a lot to the committee, Schubert said.

Theres so much diversity here in West Hartford and it felt like it was time to celebrate that, Schubert said. So many of us have formed these terrific bonds and celebrate among ourselves, but really our town is so wonderfully aware of celebrating people who are different than each other and bringing them together over commonalities. We want to celebrate and we want to do it publicly.

The most important thing, Schubert said, is making sure people feel represented in the festival. This year, theyre increasing inclusivity by giving focus to older residents of West Hartford who are part of the LGBTQ community.

We want folks to see themselves reflected back in this festival, Schubert said. A lot of towns in Connecticut are hosting their own Pride, and whats terrific is that each one gets to celebrate and platform what it is about their town that makes them feel special. In West Hartford, thats families. We have families with LGBTQ identifying parents or children. We are focusing this year on our LGBTQ elders, who can tell us what it was like growing up in West Hartford.

Schubert said Pride is part celebration and part education, and that they hope to do that through various events.

We want to make sure we spotlight what exactly it is about West Hartford that makes living here as an LGBTQ or ally really special, Schubert said. Its more than a party. Were using this as an opportunity to teach us about what brought us here. The first Pride was a protest. There was oppression and there was discrimination. Certainly that still exists. We have a beautiful chance for the people who are living that history right now to share that and to remember the history.

A months worth of events will culminate in a community-wide celebrate on June 25, Schubert said. That day, she said, was special last year - their first chance to do it in-person.

We didnt know who would come or how they would take advantage of the platform we were giving them, Schubert said. For us to see a huge group of youth just dancing and feeling free and celebrating, but also listening and learning and understanding why we were there was one of the most beautiful moments of the day.

Schubert also credited the town for their support in the planning of Pride.

West Hartford has been nothing but incredibly supportive, Schubert said. The leadership of the mayors officeand town hall in general  weve had terrific support. Theyve all been super engaged and ready to help whenever we need them and ready to show up.
Lebanon, IN (46052)

Today

Cloudy with occasional rain in the afternoon. High 62F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Periods of rain. Low 56F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a half an inch.
The people of Myanmar may be in solidarity with their Ukrainian brethren, but they have every reason to be infuriated by the contrasting response from the international community to the crisis they face at home.

Western nations and key Asian allies responded within days to Russias invasion of Ukraine with tough sanctions and weapon supplies. The international reaction to the bloody military takeover in Myanmar one year ago has been half-hearted by comparison.

The citizens of Myanmar have been bravely resisting the military through civil disobedience and armed insurrection since a Feb. 1, 2021, coup. The exiled civilian administration, the National Unity Government, has also been quick to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine, while the junta, which counts Russia as one of its few international partners, has slovenly supported the invasion as an appropriate measure to preserve its (Russias) sovereignty.

And yet, the NUG, which enjoys a broad popular mandate to establish a federal democracy in Myanmar, is largely fighting on its own. It may still hold Myanmars seat in the United Nations, from which it voted to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but no governments formally recognize it, although some like the United States are increasing their engagement with it.

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on top junta leaders and family members, the militarys conglomerates, and crony corporations. Recent European Union sanctions have focused on the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, which is the key revenue earner for the junta.

But key international partners including Japan, South Korea, Australia and Singapore have imposed no sanctions. While the U.S. government quickly froze some $1 billion in Myanmars foreign reserves that was parked in the Federal Reserve, allies like Japan and Singapore refused to follow suit.

Some governments, like the United States, have directed humanitarian aid away from the junta and towards the NUG, or affiliated civil society organizations. But the NUG has not gotten access to any of the frozen Myanmar assets abroad, nor have they been allowed to borrow against it. And unlike Ukraine, the NUG has not received lethal assistance.

All of this is in incredibly sharp contrast to how democratic nations are imposing a swath of crippling economic, banking, and travel sanctions on Russia. International actions have put more than 40 percent of Russias $630 billion beyond reach, propelling its economy into freefall.

An aerial photo taken on Feb. 3, 2022 shows burnt buildings from fires in Mingin Township, in Myanmar's Sagaing division, after an arson attack by junta forces. Credit: AFP Why the Difference?

So whats the difference? Why have countries like Singapore and Australia that have refused to impose costs on Myanmar moved so quickly to sanction Russia? Why are states like Finland and Sweden jettisoning neutrality to arm Ukraine? Why are offshore banking centers like Switzerland and Monaco moving to freeze the assets of Russian oligarchs?

The first reason is that Russia has invaded a sovereign state. By doing so, Russia has upended core principles of international law and the foundations of international peace and security.

Myanmar had a violent overthrow of a democratic government. The junta has clearly committed egregious war crimes, but its actions have been within Myanmars sovereign territory. Its neighbors in Southeast Asia and other states can hide behind their avowed principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of states.

Second, there are very real concerns that the Ukraine conflict will escalate. Russia has threatened a wider war in Europe, and should they get bogged down in an insurgency in Ukraine, they could target NATO members who are supplying Ukraine with lethal assistance. Former members of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc states have every reason to fear Putins justifications for war.

Russias use of military force is also of different magnitude. While the Myanmar military has provoked outrage by torching hundreds of homes at a time, Russia has resorted to dropping thermobaric weapons and cluster munitions, leveling cities. Russia has even made veiled threats to use nuclear weapons.

Third, Myanmar is of marginal global importance. It was once a darling of much of the international community because of its brief period of democratization after decades of direct military rule. But it is otherwise strategically and economically insignificant in the eyes of most nations.

Compare with Ukraine, which is a key supplier of food to Europe, an industrial power, and an important supply route for energy. More to the point, and one of the reasons for President Vladimir Putins decision to invade, is that Ukraine was becoming even closer and more interdependent with Europe.

Fourth, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has won over the West through his leadership. While civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi may maintain broad support in Myanmar, she has discredited herself in the West due to her defense of the militarys ethnic cleansing of minority Rohingya Muslims. It is striking how little international sympathy there has been for her since the coup despite her prosecution in closed, kangaroo court trials.

Finally, there is a degree of racism. The West is quick to defend a fellow and easily identifiable Western state. In part, it speaks to diaspora politics in the West, given the presence of Ukrainian communities in the U.S. and across Europe, something Myanmar does not enjoy to the same extent.

A local resident smokes at the remains of a residential building destroyed by shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Zhytomyr, Ukraine March 2, 2022. Credit: Reuters What can the NUG learn from Ukraine?

The NUG has every reason to feel slighted, and should be cognizant that the situation in Ukraine is going to dominate international attention. But it does present some opportunities.

The United Nations recently reported that Russia and China remain the two most important arms suppliers to the junta since the coup. As Russian forces get bogged down in Ukraine, and Moscow struggles to service its own needs for armaments and ammunition, middling clients like Myanmar will be a low priority. That will force the Tatmadaw to become even more dependent on China, a country they distrust.

Even if Moscow were able to sell arms and ammunition to Myanmar, there are questions about how the junta could pay for it given international banking sanctions. The international community could also begin to impound ships that are caught violating sanctions against Russia.

Second, the Russian invasion has reinvigorated international support for the defense of democracy. Myanmars military thought they could get away with their coup because democracy and the liberal international order were in retreat. That is no longer the case. Ukraine has been able to remind its neighbors that the economic pains caused by the sanctions were worth it. The NUG has to do the same in Myanmar. We started to see this with Total and Chevrons divestments, but more has to be done.

Third, despite improvements in their messaging, the NUG could learn from the Ukrainian governments success in controlling the narrative. Their cyber operations, psy-ops, and other information campaigns have been effective in reaching Ukrainian, Russian and Western audiences.

Fourth, the International Criminal Court has already announced investigations into Russian war crimes in Ukraine. That immediate response should terrify despots around the world, especially those waging war against civilian populations.

Finally, the NUG and citizens of Myanmar would be empowered by knowing that they are not the only ones fighting for their freedom. They too want to chart their own political and economic future, rather than be dictated to by a capricious tyrant.
ASEAN states that had not condemned Moscow voted for a U.N. resolution demanding Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine.

Members of the United Nations General Assembly vote on a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine during a special session of the assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, March 2, 2022.

A new ASEAN statement about the situation in Ukraine calls for a ceasefire without naming Russia or using the word invasion  in puzzling contrast to most of the blocs members supporting a strongly worded U.N. resolution that condemned Moscow the day before.

The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in the collective statement they issued on Thursday, said they were deeply troubled by the intensifying gravity of the situation resulting from the military hostilities in Ukraine.

We therefore, call for an immediate ceasefire or armistice and continuation of political dialogues that would lead to sustainable peace in Ukraine, the statement said.

We underline the importance of a ceasefire to create an enabling environment for negotiations to address the current crisis and avoid expanding suffering of innocent people.

By contrast, the U.N. General Assembly resolution deplored the aggression by Russia against Ukraine.

The General Assembly demands that the Russian Federation immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine and to refrain from any further unlawful threat or use of force against any member state, the resolution said.

It also demands that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, the resolution added.

General Assembly resolutions, though non-binding, have political heft and reflect international opinion. So the fact that 141 of the assembly's 193 member-nations supported the resolution means showed there is overwhelming support for Ukraine worldwide.

Syed Mohamad Hasrin Aidid, Malaysias ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during the 11th emergency special session of the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on Russias invasion of Ukraine, at U.N. headquarters in New York, March 1, 2022. Credit: Reuters Statement on Ukraine invasion was weak

In Southeast Asia, too, there was similar overwhelming support for the former Soviet republic as eight of 10 ASEAN countries voted in favor of the forcefully worded U.N. resolution, even though the regional bloc itself issued what one political analyst called a weak statement.

Among the ASEAN member-states, Vietnam and Laos abstained from voting in favor of the resolution. In ASEAN, Vietnam has the strongest historical ties with Russia. Laos also has had a close relationship with what was the Soviet Union and has been expanding military ties with Russia.

But Southeast Asian nations such as Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, which individually did not condemn Russia, voted in favor of the strong U.N. resolution. The Myanmar ambassador to the U.N. was among those voting for the resolution, but he opposes Myanmars junta, which has voiced support for the Russian invasion.

In Thailand, apparently, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told the cabinet on Tuesday that the kingdom would be neutral in the Russia-Ukraine affair, because the longstanding relations between Thailand and Moscow must be factored in, a source told The Bangkok Post.

Therefore, not surprisingly, Thailands statement at the U.N. did not mention Russia or invasion, and yet Thailand did vote for the resolution condemning Russia.

But the statement by Suriya Chindawongse, permanent representative of Thailand to the U.N., said Thailand was gravely concerned with the worsening violence as a result of the use of military force in Ukraine.

Also, the kingdom has particular respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of states, and refraining from the use of force or threat of use of force against another state, he said.

Similarly, Malaysia, which had until two days ago not condemned Russia or even mentioned it by name in its statements at home, voted in favor of the U.N. resolution in New York, saying the principles of sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states were sacrosanct to the country.

And yet, it also said that it had strong and close relations with both Russia and Ukraine.

Cambodia, ASEANs chair this year, also had said at home that it was staying neutral, but voted for the U.N. resolution noting that its firm position was that U.N. member-states must respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of other member states.

ASEAN statement on Ukraine invasion was weak, as were most national responses apart from Singapore, Ben Bland, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney think-tank, said on Twitter.

On Monday, Singapore broke from ASEANs line by saying it would impose sanctions on Russia and suspend exports of items that could be used as weapons in Ukraine, as well as block some banking and financial transactions linked to Russia.

Analysts called the city-states move unprecedented.

As for ASEANs statements, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said on Twitter that their real value is [they] allow  its members to duck and hide, and avoid taking a stand on sensitive issues.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news service.
Luo, a Taiwanese national currently in Poland after fleeing Ukraine. RFA

Residents of the Ukrainian city of Lviv are suspicious of strangers, and often ask people shooting video or taking photos to show their passports, an exiled Chinese dissident who traveled to Ukraine to document the resistance told RFA."I am currently in Lviv, a city in the west of Ukraine," U.S.-based dissident He Anquan told RFA. "Both the authorities and the people are very nervous, but it's a fairly orderly kind of tension, because the war hasn't gotten here yet.""The fighting is mostly around Kyiv, the capital, and Kharkiv, the second city, but this city is also prepared," He said. "If someone who looks like a stranger starts taking photos on the streets, people there will want to know where they're from and ask for their passport.""Restaurants here are basically closed, but bakeries and supermarkets are still open," he said.He said he took a flight via Poland in a bid to report from the front line of the war, but that he was finding it harder than he expected."I was disgusted with Russia's use of force ... [so] I wanted to express my opposition to this violence by going to Ukraine in person," He said."The biggest difficulty has been ... blending in with my surroundings, because people are on a war footing," he said. "This means that I haven't been able to shoot sometimes ... I'd like to be able to share more video and photos."He said Lviv has become a transit point for refugees -- now more than a million -- fleeing Ukraine."I saw some food supply stations at the train station, as well as big tents to give refugees some shelter from the wind and rain," He said. "It's still pretty cold [here], with the average temperature around zero."He said the Chinese government appears to have picked a side already in the conflict, owing to its "quasi-alliance" with Russia.He said the mood on the streets is currently a mixture of fear and defiance."They are extremely angry about the Russian invasion, and while there is fear mixed in with that, there is more of a sense of courage and shared hatred," He said.Meanwhile, a Taiwanese national who is currently in Poland after fleeing Ukraine called on his 23 million compatriots to stand firm in the face of aggression from China."I used to think that if there was a war in Taiwan, I would be the first to support surrender," the man, who gave only the surname Luo, told RFA."But when your homeland is invaded, your people's lives and property destroyed, and your relatives and friends become casualties, the hatred in your heart doesn't allow you to surrender, and you just want revenge, and an outlet for your anger," he said."The biggest revelation for me is that Taiwan may have to recognize that freedom may not be free," Luo said. "There is another country with different values right next door who don't accept our values, our choices.""That's why Taiwan could be in danger," he said. "The enemy is the one with their guns pointing at us."China has stepped up its military saber-rattling in the Taiwan Strait, flying regular incursions into Taiwan's air defense zone, and refuses to rule out annexing democratic Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), nor formed part of the People's Republic of China.Luo said he was surprised at how soon the missiles started landing, and had the impression that China was caught off guard by the war."I had always thought that given China's close relationship with Russia, they would be the first to know [about a war], but China never said anything to its nationals about evacuating, so I thought Russia probably wouldn't start military action," Luo said."When it started, I found out that China was completely in the dark about it from start to finish, so I guess Russia and China never communicated on the matter [beforehand]."The first group of Taiwanese were evacuated from Ukraine on the afternoon of the first day, Feb. 24, while the first group of Chinese didn't leave until Feb. 28, sources told RFA.A Taiwanese national who gave only the nickname Jacky said he was evacuated to the Baltic by the Taiwanese foreign ministry, although some photos of the group were posted online by Chinese nationals, who claimed they were being evacuated by China."To be honest, I can't understand, since Russia and China are such good allies, even brothers, why the news was so slow in getting to them; why they got it so badly wrong," Jacky said. "Did Xi Jinping and Putin even talk about this?"The first group of Taiwanese -- 19 adults and two children -- arrived in Warsaw at about 10.00 p.m. on Feb. 26 local time, after 53 hours in transit, he said.Luo, who lived in Kyiv, said his evacuation was also slow, with a journey that would usually take 30 minutes taking six hours, and amid long lines outside ATMs everywhere."War is so cruel," Luo said. "You can't sleep at night for the sound of artillery fire, and your life is in danger every single day.""Even the most pro-Russian people in Ukraine are going to hate Russia and hate Putin now," he said.Meanwhile, CCP internet censors have deleted the social media accounts of a TV host who called Putin a "crazy Russian," and called for an end to the war.Host Jin Xing, who has more than 13 million followers on Weibo, also pointed out that a news anchor for state broadcaster CCTV had appeared wearing yellow and blue, taking her choice of clothing to mean tacit support for Ukraine.Current affairs commentator Sun Dazhi said everyone is expecting to toe the party line on the war in Ukraine, which China declines to describe as an invasion."There can be no dissenting voices; we have to be of one mind, and fall in with what the government is saying," Sun told RFA. "There is only the voice of the party in China now."Jin Xing, 54 , is also a modern dancer with about 13.58 million followers on Weibo . Jin Xing's last blocked anti-war post received 45,000 likes and nearly 10,000 retweets.Jingdezhen-based scholar Pang Xinhua cited media reports as saying that people making critical comments about the war on social media are being detained for up to 15 days' administrative detention."There is a lot of information about internet users being detained or punished for making some comment," Pang said. "They post a few complaints on the internet, on WeChat Moments or on Weibo ... then they are detained for 5-15 days or fined."




British human rights lawyer Paul Harris was summoned by national security police, the pro-CCP Wen Wei Po reported, saying he declined to respond when asked if he was suspected of violating a national security law that outlaws public criticism of the government, as well as political opposition activities.



Harris was seen entering Wanchai police station at 11.00 a.m. on , later appearing at Hong Kong International Airport and boarding a flight to Turkey with his wife and children, the paper said.



Harris told Reuters he was on his was to visit his mother in England, but gave no further details, the agency reported.



Harris resigned as chairman of the HKBA, which represents some 1,500 barristers in Hong Kong, in January without seeking re-election, following repeated criticisms in the pro-CCP media and from Hong Kong and Chinese officials, who said he was "anti-China."



He had been involved in a number of cases under the national security law. His replacement, Victor Dawes, is seen as more sympathetic to Beijing.



The attacks followed his public comments on the sentencing of several democracy activists, and on the draconian national security law imposed by the CCP on Hong Kong from , 2020.



The Wen Wei Po said Harris had spoken out against the charging of pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, currently in jail awaiting trial under the national security law, when Lai was charged with separate counts of "illegal assembly" in connection with a peaceful protest in .



British human rights lawyer Paul Harris, the former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA), in an undated studio photo. Credit: Paul Harris 'Revolution of our Times' The former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA), who resigned following a string of attacks on the organization from media backed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has left the city after being interviewed by national security police.British human rights lawyer Paul Harris was summoned by national security police, the pro-CCP Wen Wei Po reported, saying he declined to respond when asked if he was suspected of violating a national security law that outlaws public criticism of the government, as well as political opposition activities.Harris was seen entering Wanchai police station at 11.00 a.m. on, later appearing at Hong Kong International Airport and boarding a flight to Turkey with his wife and children, the paper said.Harris told Reuters he was on his was to visit his mother in England, but gave no further details, the agency reported.Harris resigned as chairman of the HKBA, which represents some 1,500 barristers in Hong Kong, in January without seeking re-election, following repeated criticisms in the pro-CCP media and from Hong Kong and Chinese officials, who said he was "anti-China."He had been involved in a number of cases under the national security law. His replacement, Victor Dawes, is seen as more sympathetic to Beijing.The attacks followed his public comments on the sentencing of several democracy activists, and on the draconian national security law imposed by the CCP on Hong Kong from, 2020.The Wen Wei Po said Harris had spoken out against the charging of pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai, currently in jail awaiting trial under the national security law, when Lai was charged with separate counts of "illegal assembly" in connection with a peaceful protest in

The paper said Harris' U.K. law firm, Doughty Street Chambers, "has strong political overtones," and had recently offered to defend Lai at his forthcoming court hearing on .



It cited sources as saying that the Chinese-language version of Harris' book about the Hong Kong protest movement "may have content that smears the rule of law in mainland China and promotes independence for Hong Kong."



Meanwhile, documentaries about the 2019 protest movement that sought to resist the erosion of Hong Kong's promised freedoms will be shown in the U.K. after being banned in Hong Kong under the national security law.



Tickets are selling fast for the first Hong Kong Film Festival in the country, where thousands of Hongkongers have taken up the offer of a safe haven and pathway to citizenship under the U.K. government's British National Overseas (BNO) visa scheme.



The festival will open with "Revolution of our Times," a documentary about the protest movement that uses a slogan once chanted by protesters that has resulted in arrests and jailings under the law. "Inside Red Walls," a documentary about the siege of Hong Kong's Polytechnic University, will also be screened.



Documentary filmmaker and writer Wong Ching, a co-curator of the festival, said the film is a testament to the struggles of young people in Hong Kong over the past two or three years.



"We have some fairly commercial mainstream films, and some independent films as well," Wong told RFA. "Some would be pretty marginal back in Hong Kong, and have little chance of being released."



"But there are more art cinemas in the UK, and the festival also wants to include Hong Kong stories from a more indy perspective, so the audiences gets a wider exposure to different takes, and different film languages," Wong said.



The festival is also hoping that the films will be seen by everyone, not just exiled Hongkongers.



"We have focused on how to show the reality of Hong Kong at different levels, presenting multiple versions of the story," Wong said.



The festival runs from through in London, Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
They were promised steady supplies of fresh produce, but the food is instead being shipped to elites in Pyongyang

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un participates in the ground-breaking ceremony for construction of Ryonpho Greenhouse Farm Held in Ryonpho area of Hamju County, South Hamgyong Province of the DPRK, North Korea in this photo released on February 18, 2022 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

A North Korean greenhouse project promised to provide citizens of a rural province with more vegetables than they could ever eat. But two years later, the food is bypassing their mouths and being shipped to the capital Pyongyang to be served to the countrys elites, sources told RFA.

Authorities started the greenhouse farm project, the first of its kind in North Korea, in Jungphyong village, which is part of Kyongsong county in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong. The farm sits on 490 acres of land and includes about 300 greenhouses.

The authorities loudly propagated that the residents of North Hamgyong and Kyongsong county would greatly benefit from the greenhouse construction project, but the vegetables ended up not being for people like us, a resident of the county told RFAs Korean Service.

Last week, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported that the Jungphyong Vegetable Greenhouse Farm had produced about 10,000 tons of fresh produce, including cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and crown daisy, said the source. Crown daisy is a popular leafy vegetable.

The newspaper report said that the vegetables were delivered to the people of the province last year, according to the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

But in actuality, ordinary residents of Kyongsong county have never been given a single vegetable grown from those greenhouses, he said.

The dismay is all the greater because authorities relied on residents of the county to build the project.

They worked for over a year. Not many people complained because they had the hope that they would be able to eat their fill of vegetables in the very near future, the source said.

None of the vegetables went to the province. I heard from a friend who works at the greenhouse farm that most of the vegetables were selected as a No. 9 product and loaded onto the train to Pyongyang, he said, using the government designation for items intended for use by the Kim family.

The Jungphyong Vegetable Greenhouse Farm was a pilot program. Now that it has been consistently producing, the government has plans to expand the program.

Another greenhouse farm is already under construction in nearby South Hamgyong provinces Hamju county, another Kyongsong resident told RFA.

The residents of Hamju county have been mobilized for the construction work. Even when they complete their new greenhouse farm, they will never have a chance to eat any of the veggies, said the second source, who requested anonymity to speak freely.

When they were building the greenhouse farm up here in Jungphyong, the local housewives supported the construction effort, even sending in homemade soil for use in the farms. Despite their personal sacrifices, the housewives never received any vegetables, she said.

High-ranking officials who live nearby instead call up the farm and take the vegetables as they please, the second source said.

They never lifted a shovel, but they are taking full advantage of the farms. Even in the middle of winter, a car will come to their house every few days loaded with fresh cucumbers, crown daisy and lettuce from the greenhouses, she said.

Occasionally, if you pass in front of a greenhouse farm, you will see vehicles with license plates from powerful organizations.  As with everything in North Korea, the greenhouse farm wasnt really for the local people as they said. It is only for the privileged and the elite, the second source said.

The authorities have plans to expand greenhouse farms to other provinces.

Following North and South Hamgyong, they are talking up how they will have these greenhouse farms in every province in the near future. No matter how many they build, what will change? For ordinary folks like us, vegetables are still a pie in the sky dream, she said.

Translated by Claire Lee and Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
Anti-junta protesters stage a flash demonstration in Yangon, Myanmar's largest city, as part of the the 'Six Twos Revolution' nationwide strike, Feb. 22, 2022.

Authorities in Myanmars commercial capital Yangon used information obtained on activists phones last month to arrest dozens of youths who they targeted in connection with anti-junta flash protests, RFAs Myanmar Service has learned.

Sources in the city told RFA that security forces detained at least 85 youths in February using tactics that included posing as fellow activists on social media to find information on their locations. They said the arrests marked a new high for the number of Yangon protesters detained in a single month, adding that while a few have been released, most remain detained at various police stations, and some have been taken to military interrogation camps.

Many of those arrested were taken into custody for taking part in the so-called Six Twos Revolution strike in a show of resistance to the junta, despite its brutal crackdown on critics. During the strike, civilians joined monks in the streets displaying banners with the numbers to signify the continuation of mass strikes and demonstrations a year after a protest on Feb. 22, 2021, in which millions of people participated, three weeks after the military overthrew the countrys elected government.

Speaking to RFA on Wednesday, a young man from Yangons Shwepyithar township said that the military was increasingly using traps to arrest young people.

They have been arresting people continuously since the protests. Once a person is arrested, they obtain information from his or her cellphone and make more arrests, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Suppose a person is caught, they could get info about people linked to him through his phone. His contacts will get arrested like that.

Some youths said arrests were also made after security forces checked Facebook profiles or other social media posts that show whether someone espouses anti-military views or if they contacted people to donate money to the resistance. Others were arrested when they communicated with friends who were released but remained closely watched by the junta.

As many as 17 youths were arrested during a three-day period beginning on Feb. 17 in Shwepyithar township, they said.

A deserted street in Myanmar's largest city, Yangon, amid a "Silent Strike" to protest the one-year anniversary of the country's military coup, Feb. 1, 2022. Credit RFA Increasingly at risk of arrest

A woman who took part in a Yangon city protest told RFA that she has become more cautious after learning that junta forces had used phones confiscated from people they had detained to make additional arrests.

After arresting a protester, they often would use his phone and pretend he had been released and set a trap to catch his contacts, said the woman, who also declined to be named.

Of course, many methods are being used. And so, we are now more cautious when we are asked to reconnect with each other on the assumption that they had been captured but released. We are trying our best not to get anyone arrested.

Sources told RFA that in Yangons Mayangon township, a group of anti-junta youths dispersed after a protest only to be followed home by junta operatives. An eyewitness said that at least one youth was killed, and six others arrested when the military raided a house in Mayangons Ward No. 3 on Feb. 25. RFA was unable to confirm the name of the man who was killed. On the same day, sources said, authorities also arrested five women in the township.

Nan Lin, a spokesman for the Yangon University Old Students Association and a protest leader, told RFA that the youths arrested in Mayangon are some of the staunchest comrades of the movement.

As our protest groups in Yangon plan out various forms of protests to create a strong powerful movement, the other side is also trying to find new ways to suppress these situations, he said.

So, we can see that some of our comrades have been hit hard amid this power struggle.

Protesters in Yangon said the military and police have become even more vigilant using patrol cars and CCTV cameras.

Alleged terrorist activities

Junta Deputy Information Minister Zaw Min Tun told RFA the arrests were part of a bid to stabilize the situation in Yangon.

What we are doing is giving priority to restoring stability throughout the country, he said. Most of the arrests were made in connection with terrorism-related activities. Many arrests of terrorists and bombers have been made according to information gathered from those associated with them.

But a female member of the Pazundaung and Botataung Township Youth Strike Committee said that the young protesters had risked their lives in opposing the junta, knowing they could be subject to a harsh military crackdown.

Once you step on the [protest] ground, your life is in a state of uncertainty, she said. I realize I may never be able to return home. It could be a lifelong journey. Or I might get arrested. The reason we are risking ourselves to continue these protests is to nurture a constant awareness of the revolutionary spirit among the people.

RFA was able to confirm the arrests last month of 85 youths from the Yangon townships of Shwepyithar, Mingalar Taungnyunt, Thaketa, Hlaing, South Dagon, North Dagon, Thingangyun, Kamaryut, Mayangon and Yankin. However, sources said that the number of arrests is likely be much larger.

Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
The logo of the mobile messaging and call service Telegram is seen on a smartphone screen in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 8, 2021.

Myanmars military regime has turned to digital messaging accounts operated by nationalist supporters to target and track down opponents, more than a year after it seized control of the elected government of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, watchdog groups and political activists said.

Well-known social media users of the messaging app Telegram have provided information to authorities about the profiles and activities of pro-democracy anti-junta activists, journalists and rights activists.

When junta supporters and the Myanmar military were removed from Facebook, the most widely used social media platform in Myanmar, after the Feb. 1, 2021, coup, they switched to the less regulated Telegram social network, which is based in Russia.

Military authorities now use Telegram both to disseminate junta propaganda and for intelligence from supporters who list the profiles, activities and locations of pro-democracy celebrities, anti-junta activists, journalists and rights activists, activist groups said. Authorities have come to rely on the online information to help them plan crackdowns on anti-junta activists nationwide, they said.

The regime apparently heavily relies on popular pro-military social media personalities Han Nyein Oo, Kyaw Swar and Thazin Oo to target anti-junta civilians for arrests.

Han Nyein Oos channel openly requests that the military target the civilian protesters, Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Committee of Representatives (CRPH) supporters and shadow government National Unity Government (NUG) members that it names.

Activist groups said that over the past two months, the arrests of regime opponents was preceded by posts on the channels just a few days before.

The connection has led some regime critics to believe that the social media accounts are actually run by military officers, Aye Myint Aung, a protest leader from Mandalay, Myanmars second-largest city, said.

If they want to find out some information, it will not take long as they have a long reach in many places, she said. I think the account owners of these channels are from military intelligence.

London-based Burma Campaign UK added Telegram to its blacklist of businesses over the links to the Myanmar military, saying that the company allows military propagandists to use its platform and allows the spread of hate speech.

Telegram and the owners of the popular pro-military accounts did not respond to requests for comment.

Many followers on Telegram

Junta forces have used information on the pro-military accounts since late 2021 to promote distorted doctrines, and attacks on democracy, human rights activists, and opposition politicians in the interest of the junta, observers and political activists said.

Following the coup, Facebook paid more attention to monitoring content, and these people switched to Telegram where they gained many followers, said a spokesman for a Yangon-based civil society watchdog, who requested anonymity because of safety concerns.

There are popular channels like those of Kyaw Zwar, Thazin Oo and Han Nyein Oo, he added. We are now closely watching the Han Nyein Oo Channel.

RFA monitored the channels of these users and found that they re-posted pro-junta news and propaganda, although it was not clear if the Telegram channels are controlled by a single person or a particular group.

Thazin Oo, a reporter who regularly attends junta press conferences, has more than 36,000 subscribers to his account, while Kyaw Swar has more than 50,000 followers, and Han Nyein Oo has over 100,000.

Han Nyein Oo posted the home addresses, businesses and property owned by anti-military dissidents and CRPH and NUG supporters who usually post messages on Facebook.

There also are reports of political activists who had been arrested and their property confiscated by the military in the past two months after their whereabouts were disclosed on Telegram.

On Feb. 1, Han Nyein Oos account posted the personal information of people who wrote posts supporting the anti-military Silent Strike on Facebook and called for their arrest. More than 200 people were detained by the military council after the post.

Han Nyein Oo posted a statement on her account stating that she was in support of the Silent Strike, and my husband was immediately arrested, said a Mandalay-based housewife who did not want to be named for safety reasons.

She said that her husbands business had to close and that he had been charged with causing fear, spreading false news and agitating crimes against a government employee. He faces up to three years in prison.

It is meant to intimidate the people

Another Yangon resident who ran an online small business and spoke on condition of anonymity told RFA that after Han Nyein Oo published a screenshot of her profile and business location, she was afraid to stay at home and fled to the border. On the day she left, junta forces searched her home and sealed off the house because she was a NUG and PDF supporter.

After Kyaw Swars Telegram channel accused the owner of Yangon Lanmamyer, a book publishing house, of leaking information on Facebook about Air Force servicemen who led a nationwide air raid campaign against PDFs, the regime confiscated the business. The owner escaped arrest, however.

Award-winning film director Htun Zaw Win, whose professional name is Wyne, was arrested in February hours after the same Telegram channel posted information about him, according to local media reports. The junta had placed him on a wanted list nearly a year before after he encouraged government employees to join the protests against the Myanmar military.

There were also reports that model and actress Thin Thin was arrested after a similar posting on a Telegraph channel.

Many people whose personal information have been posted on the Telegram accounts also have had homes and property confiscated.

Pencilo, a pro-democracy political activist and well-known influencer on social media now living in the United States, said her home in Yangon was taken in February.

When the military wants to confiscate a house, they will let the Han Nyein Oo channel post something about it, even though they already have the required information from their intelligence services, he told RFA. Only after that, will they shut down the house or make arrests. It is meant to intimidate the people, kind of psychological-war style. They want to hinder or stop peoples agitations through Telegram.

Han Nyein Oo states on her Telegram account that he is a citizen who tries to find out information that pertains to the national interest.

Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun told RFA that the Telegram channels were not affiliated with the military and that the junta did not monitor them.

There are individuals who monitor pages on social media, he said. They may be people who are doing research on their own. The military does not have to form such a group. Some of the information just comes up through their sharing of posts.

Zaw Min Tun did not deny that the military had arrested those who wrote anti-military messages online, however.

Translated by Khin Maung Nyane for RFAs Myanmar Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
Chinese workers are shown tunneling into Asal Dzari, a mountain sacred to Tibetans living in Sichuan's Kardze prefecture, in an undated photo.

Chinese crews working on a government-ordered railway line are tunneling through a mountain sacred to Tibetan residents of Sichuan, using artillery fire to weaken the rock face and speed their work, Tibetan sources say.

The destruction of Asal Dzari mountain, located in the Toe township of Nyakchu county in the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, has now been under way for several months, according to sources in Tibet and in exile.

Tunnels being built through the mountain will help extend new rail lines connecting Nyakchu with the Tibetan regional capital Lhasa, a Tibetan living in the region told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

The Chinese government has said that Asal Dzari mountain stands in the way of these two regions where they are building the railroads. Therefore, there are many tunneling projects being carried out around the mountain at the moment, he said.

At the same time, the government is extracting valuable minerals from the mountain and harming the regions fragile ecology, RFAs source said. However, it is unclear which minerals are being taken out, and local Tibetans are not allowed to go near the work sites, he added.

Tibet has become an important source of minerals needed for Chinas economic growth, and Chinese mining and infrastructure operations in Tibetan areas have led to widespread environmental damage, including the pollution of water sources for livestock and humans and the destruction of sacred sites, experts say.

Asal Dzari mountain is sacred to local Tibetans and contains many valuable mineral deposits, a Tibetan living in exile confirmed, citing sources in the area and speaking on condition of anonymity to protect his contacts.

And the Chinese are now using artillery against the mountain to help extract its minerals, leaving local residents in immense difficulties and causing the death of some of their livestock, he said.

Another railway now being built between Sichuan and central Tibets Nyingtri prefecture will boost tourism and trade along a previously unconnected southern route, but will also strengthen Beijings control over a disputed region bordering India, state media and other sources say.

The project is the second major railway to be built by China in Tibet after a northern line connecting Golmud in northwest Chinas Qinghai province with Lhasa was completed in 2006. The line is the highest railway in the world.

Regional experts say that the Chinese rail lines, when completed, will tighten Beijings grip on Tibet, a formerly independent Himalayan country invaded by China more than 70 years ago and governed by Chinas ruling Communist Party ever since.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Baimhan Mamut was first detained in 2017 and arrested again in 2020.

A retired Uyghur postal worker in Chinas Xinjiang region who had been released from an internment camp because of health problems was rearrested in 2020 and sentenced to another 10 years in prison for participating in illegal religious activities, her daughter, who lives in the U.S., and officials in the region said.

Baimhan Mamut, a retired postal worker in Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture, was first detained in 2017 and spent two years in a camp before her release, said her daughter Nurbia, who declined to be identified by her full name for safety reasons.

Nurbia said she lost contact with both of her parents in 2017. Baimhan Mamuts identity card listed her last address as 297 Qingfeng Street in Saybagh district in Urumqi (Wulumuqi).

Previously, Baimhan lived for many years in Hotan while she worked for the prefectural post and telecommunications bureau, Nurbia said.

Nurbia found out through her network of contacts on social media inside China that her mother had been taken to an internment camp in 2017 and later released while in critical condition. She was told her mother and other detainees were stripped of their socks and shoes while being held in cold cells.

I later learned that my mother was taken to a concentration camp and learned that it was a camp in Hotan, Nurbia told RFA. I dont know which one exactly.

China has held up to 1.8 million predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in a network of government-run detention camps since 2017, saying that they are vocational training centers meant to prevent religious extremism and terrorism in Xinjiang.

Nurbia said she believes that her mothers health may have been affected by the conditions inside the camp.

She was later released due her health condition, particularly not being able to stand or walk, Nurbia said. I learned that even the detainees in camps were not given socks let alone shoes.

Baimhan Mamut had been treated for a health problem following her release in 2019, but authorities picked her up again in 2020 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison in 2021, Nurbia said.

Her mother is serving her sentence at a womens prison in Kashgar (Kashi), Nurbia said.

RFA has reported that Uyghurs held in re-education camps who become ill are treated under the supervision of local police and returned to the camp once they have recovered.

When RFA contacted police in Urumqis Saybagh district for more information about Baimhan, staff said that they needed a written request for her whereabouts and refused to provide information over the phone.

If you want to search for information on her, you have to bring a government notice from your relevant government office, then I can help you search for the information, he said.

A security official at the Hotan post office said that he was unaware of Baimhans condition.

It has been a year since she has been in prison, he said.

A police officer from the Qingfeng Road police station in Urumqi told RFA to contact authorities in Hotan for information about Baimhan after learning that the woman was originally from that prefecture. He said that people taken to re-education centers have since been handed over to police in their original hometowns.

An officer from a police station near the Hotan prefectural post office confirmed that Baimhan had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for involvement in illegal religious activities, but said he did not know where she was being detained.

She is over 60 years old, he said. She has been sentenced to 10 years for her crime of religious extremism.

Translated by RFAs Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.
The Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam is forecast to experience early salinity in the 2021-22 dry season.

The Mekong River Delta along Vietnams southern coast will show increased levels of salinity this March due to upstream dams on the river and high seas during the dry season, the Vietnamese government said of a recurring problem that has worsened in recent years.

The intrusion of salty seawater into the freshwater Mekong Delta, a 65,000 sq km (25,100 sq mile) region that is home to more than 20 percent of Vietnams 98 million people, threatens the survival of crops, marine life and farmed seafood.

The General Directorate of Water Resources (GDWR), under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, told local media Monday that high sea levels in March will cause increased salinization of four grams per liter as far as 35 to 50 kilometers (20-30 miles) inland along the deltas estuaries, possibly reaching as far as the Vam Co River, or about 55 to 65 km (35-40 miles) inland.

Salinization levels will, however, likely decrease starting in April, GDWR said.

Based on monitoring upstream water flows, GDWR determined that March would likely show the highest sea levels during the dry season, local outlet BNews quoted Luong Van Anh, deputy general director of GDWR, as saying.

Upstream water flow at an area near the town of Kratie in eastern Cambodia, as well as at Tan Chau and Chau Doc in Vietnams southwestern An Giang province, decreased this month, the DDWR said.

Also on Monday, Vietnams National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said that water levels of the Mekong Rivers main water flows have been changing slowly and are about 0.1-1.0 meters (4 inches to 4 feet) lower than the avarage levels over the past few years.

On Feb. 7, Vietnams Southern Institute of Water Resources Research (SIWRR) said that the Mekong Delta had been suffering from early salinity instrusion since the begining of the dry season as China had been limiting water discharge from its upstream hydropower plants.

According to SIWRR, Chinas decision to cut water discharge from its storage reservoirs to generate electricity has been one of the key causes of the salinity levels.

The institute also said water flows would quickly decrease soon as water discharge from storage resevoirs in the basin continued to be limited.

Water flow during the current dry season, between November 2021 and April 2022, depends heavily on the operation of upstream hydropower plants, the institute said.

Salinity intrusion is an increasingly serious issue caused by climate change and upstream water resource management, Vo Tong Xuan, director of Can Tho Univerity in the countrys south, told local media.

He also said that if China could not be forced to discharge water, Vietnam should use its own fresh water resources to reduce the risks of salinization.

The Mekong Rivers water levels were alarmingly low last year, and reduced water flow from Chinas upstream dams was partly to blame, the Mekong River Commission (MRC), which includes representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, said in June 2021.

The MRC therefore called on China to share all its data on water flows.

China is reported to have built 11 major hydro-power dams along the Mekong River. According to environmental experts, the dams not only affect the rivers flows but also reduce the flows of fertile silt and fish downstream as well as overall biodiversity.

Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Eugene Whong.
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
On March 3, a key Russian parliamentary committee approved a draft law that would impose prison terms of up to 15 years for disseminating "fake" information about Russian military operations.



The same day, the board of directors of the legendary Ekho Moskvy radio station voted to liquidate the channel and its website under intense pressure from the Russian government over its coverage of the invasion of Ukraine. The station was taken off the air and its site blocked on March 1, as was the liberal television station Dozhd.



And, also on March 3, Russia's Education Ministry held an "online lesson" to explain to schoolchildren and their teachers "why the liberation mission in Ukraine was necessary."



With President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war on neighboring Ukraine entering its second week, his government has stepped up its battle at home -- seeking not only to control the narrative about the war and the consequences of unprecedented Western sanctions, but also to impose a Soviet-style national unanimity.



"This war is changing Russia in a very bad way," Sergei Utkin, head of the Strategic Assessment Section of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations, wrote on Twitter.



Sam Greene, director of the Russia Institute at King's College London, has written that Putin is "effectively fighting two wars," one in Ukraine and one at home.



"Putin is fighting a rear-guard action to prevent the economy and the war from spilling over into the minds of too many ordinary Russians," he wrote in a blog post.

Ivan Zhdanov, the former director of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's banned Anti-Corruption Foundation who left Russia in 2021, expressed urgency in comments to Current Time, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA.



"Either Russia changes now, or it never will," he said. "This is the moment after which it will be too late. Either everything changes now -- in the coming days and weeks -- or Russia will become another North Korea, without the Internet, without access to the outside world."



Military Censorship But No 'War'



Navalny has called on Russians to protest daily against the war. According to OVD-Info, a nongovernmental organization that monitors political repression, more than 7,600 people have been detained for anti-war protests since the February 24 invasion. More than 800 people were detained for anti-war activities in 36 cities on March 3.



Perhaps not coincidentally, Ekho Moskvy was founded in 1990, and the only other time it was shut down was briefly in August 1991 when hundreds of thousands of Russians took to the streets to oppose the KGB-inspired coup against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. The station's journalists have vowed to continue reporting using Ekho Moskvy's social-media accounts.



Earlier, the state media-monitoring agency Roskomnadzor ordered media to stop using words like "war" and "assault" to describe the invasion of Ukraine and threatened to block many independent media outlets, including Current Time and other RFE/RL Russian-language sites.



Ekho Moskvy First Deputy Editor in Chief Sergei Buntman told RFE/RL that the government is, in fact, imposing "military censorship in the absence of a war or state of emergency" because the Kremlin insists on calling the Ukraine invasion a "special military operation."



'Deglobalizing' Russia



Russian security analyst Pavel Luzin told Current Time shortly after the invasion of Ukraine was launched that the decision to intervene was part of a larger "ideological shift" noticeable in Russia since 2020 and driven by the Federal Security Service (FSB), heir to the Soviet KGB.



"I am more than convinced," he said on February 25, that we are seeing a domestic political situation in which the FSB is not only participating in the ideological debate, but has begun to act. FSB operatives -- current and former --are not only present in the abstract among the ruling elites. They are in the General Staff and on all the corporate boards."



Putin was a longtime KGB officer and headed the FSB in 1998-99.



"In general, as I see it, they have decided to realize their idea of a deglobalized Russia," Luzin added. "The idea that it is time to stop all these games of the last 30 years and just put the entire former Soviet space under their thumb and, in short, pull into their shell and live on their own."

Stifling Ekho Moskvy and other media outlets was "a completely expected step on the part of the authorities," said economist and former Russian central bank official Andrei Cherepanov.



"If they allowed them to keep broadcasting such programs, then the public would have learned the truth about what is happening in Putin's war in Ukraine," he told RFE/RL's Russian Service. "And as soon as they learned, it would produce revolts calling for an end to the war."

At the same time, Russia's state-controlled television and other media are pushing the Kremlin's risible claims that Ukraine is ruled by "Nazis and drug addicts" doing NATO's bidding and committing "genocide" against Russian-speakers.

"I talk to a lot of people," said television critic Aleksandr Melman. "Until recently, before the Ukraine war, I was surprised that all of them -- people with various educations, ages, Muscovites and non-Muscovites -- supported Putin, but we could converse normally. Now, speaking to the same people, I see how high the level of aggression has risen, how they simply demandthat you have to support Putin, support the war."



"It makes me think, unfortunately, not of [Soviet dictator Josef] Stalin, but of how in 1933 or thereabouts the German people, the most cultured people in the world, turned into the image of their leader, Adolf Hitler," he added.



'I Didn't Feel Safe In My Own Room'



In addition to strictly controlling information in a bid to prevent an anti-war movement from gelling, Russian security forces have rushed to quash manifestations of protest. Many of the one-person pickets that have popped up in Russian cities were ended by police within minutes.



Students in the Akademgorodok suburb of Novosibirsk, for instance, have learned the consequences of speaking out. On February 25, the morning after the invasion was launched, one student was detained for hanging a Ukrainian flag and the slogan "No War" on a dormitory window. Four other students were detained the same day for posting anti-war flyers (after police identified them from security-camera footage), and several more were detained for holding one-person pickets.

Live Briefing: Russia Invades 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.

"In the evening, I watched the news," the student who was detained for hanging a Ukrainian flag and who asked to be identified only as Sergei, said of the events of February 25. "And then I decided to go for a walk. I was too scared to conduct a picket against the war, but I felt like I had to do something. War is a red line that our government has crossed."



Later he hung the flag in his window and went to bed. At 9 a.m. someone knocked on his door and said he intended to report the flag to the institution's FSB overseer. A short while later, university officials came and demanded that he remove the flag -- threatening him with expulsion and criminal charges. Then the police showed up and took him away.



Sergei was released after several hours of intimidating interrogation.



"Until I can afford to be expelled from the dormitory, I am going to stop any [public protests]," he told RFE/RL's Siberia.Realities. "But it is impossible not to follow the news. I consider February 24 to be a point of no return."



Kristina, one of the students detained for posting anti-war flyers who also asked to be identified only by her first name, told RFE/RL that her ordeal was emotionally "exhausting."



"I returned to my room and sat there for several hours, not knowing what to do," she recalled. "And when someone knocked on my door, I was really afraid. I realized I didn't feel safe in my own room."



"I hope this passes quickly," she added. "It is a horrific feeling."

On March 2, Dozhd television Editor in Chief Tikhon Dzyadko announced he and several other Dozhd journalists were leaving Russia after their station was blocked.



"After the illegal blocking of Dozhd and Dozhd's social media accounts, and also following threats against several employees, it has become clear that the personal safety of many of us is under threat," he told Current Time.

RFE/RL's Russian Service, Siberia.Realities, and Current Time contributed to this report.
[March 03, 2022] Kraft Heinz CISO Ricardo Lafosse to Headline Cloud Security Alliance Summit at RSA Conference 2022 The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world's leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today announced that Ricardo Lafosse, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Kraft Heinz, will headline CSA's upcoming CxO Trust Summit on June 6. The event, held in conjunction with the 2022 RSA Conference (June 6-9, Moscone Center, San Francisco) will explore the C-Suite's biggest challenges in today's cloud computing environment and how CSA's CxO Trust Initiative can help mitigate risk. "Cloud security is increasingly becoming the foundation for cybersecurity and a key enabler of the global economy. Executives and boards of directors are more focused on cloud and cloud security than ever before and CSA's CxO Trust Summit provides key insights relevant to leaders within the private and public sector at this critical moment," said Jim Reavis, co-founder and CEO, Cloud Security Alliance. "Protecting a company's cloud-based infrstructure is not without its challenges, and so we are extremely pleased that Ricardo Lafosse will be joining us to share his first-hand experience in how to best move a company forward while simultaneously contending with myriad threats, vulnerabilities and governance challenges." In his keynote, "Embracing a Cloud-First Model," Lafosse will share the methodology his organization leveraged in moving to a cloud-first model, which in turn enabled the company to be more nimble, effective, fortified, and positioned for success even as the cyber threat landscape continues to grow more complex and far-reaching. Attendees will walk away with actionable tips on engaging with high-ranking company officers and hear from key industry leaders, who will examine how various solutions and standards have advanced to meet the cybersecurity challenges confronting all C-level stakeholders, their executive teams, and governing bodies. The agenda will feature such sessions as: CxO Panel Discussion: The Industry's Best: Designing the Perfect Cloud Strategy . Panelists: Rick Doten, Vice President/Information Security, Centene Corp., and CISO, Carolina Complete Health (Charlotte, NC); Peter Campbell, Director/Cloud Security Engineering, Cigna; Larry Whiteside Jr., co-founder and President, Cyversity. This panel will explore the factors that must be taken into account when creating a robust cloud protection strategy and examine how cybersecurity, cloud, IT, and other organizational teams must work together to implement and oversee the strategy.

. Panelists: Rick Doten, Vice President/Information Security, Centene Corp., and CISO, Carolina Complete Health (Charlotte, NC); Peter Campbell, Director/Cloud Security Engineering, Cigna; Larry Whiteside Jr., co-founder and President, Cyversity. This panel will explore the factors that must be taken into account when creating a robust cloud protection strategy and examine how cybersecurity, cloud, IT, and other organizational teams must work together to implement and oversee the strategy. Aligning Cloud Risk with Business Risk. This panel discussion will examine the cybersecurity risks organizations face in today's digital world and whether security teams are properly supporting business transformation decisions. Space is limited - those interested in attending must first register for an RSAC pass and apply the code "52ECLDSCALXP" at the top of the conference pass selection page on RSA's registration site. This pass will provide access to attend the CSA CxO Trust Summit. The CSA CxO Trust is a first-of-a-kind initiative that brings together a community of C-suite executives to evolve cloud and cybersecurity understanding, knowledge, and needed solutions in response to enterprise challenges. Those interested in participating in the CxO Trust Advisory Council should contact Illena Armstrong at cxotrust@cloudsecurityalliance.org or visit CxO Trust for more information. About Cloud Security Alliance The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world's leading organization dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. CSA harnesses the subject matter expertise of industry practitioners, associations, governments, and its corporate and individual members to offer cloud security-specific research, education, training, certification, events, and products. CSA's activities, knowledge, and extensive network benefit the entire community impacted by cloud - from providers and customers to governments, entrepreneurs, and the assurance industry - and provide a forum through which different parties can work together to create and maintain a trusted cloud ecosystem. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org, and follow us on Twitter @cloudsa. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220302005015/en/

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Russia is coming to talks with questions it has formulated answers to long ago, said Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who believes this hinders talks. The Ukrainian president was speaking to a group of local and international journalists in Kyiv on March 3 as Ukrainian and Russian delegations were about to meet on the border with Belarus for a second round of discussions. As the Russian military invasion of Ukraine enters its eighth day, Zelenskiy spoke in favor of talks, although, in his words, Ukrainian sovereignty simply cannot be a starting point.
As shock and panic hit Kyiv in the first few hours of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Yilisen Aierken, a 24-year-old ethnic Kazakh asylum-seeker from China, issued a desperate plea on his Twitter account.



Please rescue me. Im currently in Ukraine, he said in a February 24 video posted on social media platforms as crowds of people with packed bags passed in the background outside a bus terminal in the Ukrainian capital. I dont want to die. I am lonely and helpless, please help me.

Aierken (aka Ersin Erkinuly) applied for asylum in Ukraine after fleeing Chinas western Xinjiang Province, where he believed he would be interned as part of a dragnet by the Chinese government that has put more than 1 million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities into detention camps and prisons.



Now, after a week of war across Ukraine that has caused more than 2,000 civilian deaths and sparked a refugee crisis that the UN estimates could see 4 million people leave the country, Aierken has once again had to flee, this time joining the masses of Ukrainians heading west to countries like Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia on the European Unions eastern flank.

Live Briefing: Russia Invades 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.

I have no country anymore and [I feel] that I can no longer control my own destiny, Aierken told RFE/RL as he left Kyiv. I [do not] want to be waiting to die, I want [safety].



Upon leaving Kyiv, Aierken made a high-stakes, multiday journey and arrived at the Polish border on March 1.

After a chaotic experience at the border and waiting multiple days in a separate line designated for foreigners and non-Ukrainians fleeing the war, he made it to a Ukrainian checkpoint and was stamped out of Ukraine on March 3 without problems, despite no longer having a passport and few other official documents.



After reaching the Polish side, he was detained and briefly moved to an asylum center where the Polish authorities are currently holding those crossing from Ukraine without proper documents or who are stateless, Leila Nazgul Seiitbek, a lawyer and chairwoman of the NGO Freedom For Eurasia who is assisting Aierken, told RFE/RL.



After several hours with border authorities and a review of his case, his asylum application was logged and Aierken has now been released into Poland.



He must now reenter the entire asylum process, Seiitbek said. Hes still in quite a vulnerable position. Aierken and others like him have no embassy or anyone able to take care of them in their home countries.



The Journey From China



As he now begins what is likely to be a long and complicated asylum process in Poland, the endeavor has brought back feelings for Aierken of his arduous journey leaving China.



I just want to be able to live a life and have freedom, Aierken said in a WhatsApp audio message before entering Poland. I hope I do not go back to China.



The risks waiting back in China are real for Aierken.



Chinese authorities have been accused of using forced birth control, indentured labor, and torture in the camp system in Xinjiang, where ethnic Kazakhs are the second-largest Muslim group after Uyghurs.



Beijing has repeatedly denied the allegations -- despite a growing wealth of evidence -- saying the camps were established to fight extremism and their use is justified.

For Aierken, the decision to leave became clear in 2019, as many people he knew -- especially other young men -- began to disappear into the vast camp network. To avoid being sent himself, he left Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, and took a flight to neighboring Kazakhstan.

After arriving in Kazakhstan in December 2019, he initially planned to stay in the country and received a residence permit. But he became dismayed and fearful as a result of his interactions with security services, who expressed hostility toward him and pressured him over his experiences in Xinjiang, Aierken said.



The Kazakh government enjoys a warm relationship with China and has walked a tightrope with Beijing over the issue of the Xinjiang internment camps, where many ethnic Kazakhs have been sent.



Kazakhstan has accepted some asylum applications from ethnic Kazakhs who crossed the border from China, but they have faced intimidation and pressure to stay quiet about their ordeal.

Worried about his future, Aierken flew to Ukraine in October 2020, where he initially tried to enter Poland, but was arrested and sent back to Ukraine, where he was also detained while stuck in the legal system until eventually logging an asylum application.



While waiting for a decision on his asylum status in Ukraine, Aierken faced intimidation and the prospect of being returned to China before a Ukrainian court ruled against it.



The Chinese Embassy in Kyiv also petitioned for his return to the country, writing in a letter to Ukraines State Migration Service, of which RFE/RL has obtained a copy, that Aierken wished to be returned to China and was lying about any persecution he faced in Xinjiang.

We ask you to decline to grant refugee status to the above-mentioned individual in order to preserve a positive dynamic of constructive development between our two governments, the letter states.



While waiting on a final ruling on his status in Ukraine, Aierken was allowed to live freely there, but says that he became scared about staying in the country after two strangers threatened to kill him unless he returned to China.



Fearful and panicked, he decided to leave Ukraine for Slovakia in August 2021, where he was arrested and initially faced deportation to China before the intervention of Rayhan Asat, a Connecticut-based Uyghur human rights lawyer who argued for his release back to Ukraine, where he stayed until the outbreak of the war.

He was still in [legal] limbo, but at least he was safe, Asat told RFE/RL. He thought he could have a new life in Ukraine, but hes had to rethink everything and once again run for his life.



Another Crisis



The United Nations Human Right Commissioner said on March 3 that at least 1 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its war, with more than 505,000 people going to Poland.



Makeshift accommodation is being set up across the country, and Poles are helping Ukrainians on a massive scale, transporting them across the border, hosting them in their homes, and feeding and clothing them.



But a more arduous and perhaps less-welcoming path lies ahead for Aierken and other asylum-seekers fleeing Ukraine.

In the years leading up to the Russian invasion, Polands government has taken a hard line on migrants trying to enter the country. The army and border guards also have pushed asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa back into Belarus in December after Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenkas government flew in migrants and funneled them to the borders of EU member states like Poland.



Amid the mass exodus from Ukraine, many international students and other foreigners attempting to leave the country also say they have experienced racist treatment by Ukrainian security forces and border officials.



The UN Refugee Agency raised the issue on March 2 and pleaded for more compassion for non-Europeans and refugees from other nations fleeing Ukraine.

Asat says that -- now that an application for asylum has occurred -- Aierken must wait in Poland for a ruling on his case, which could take anywhere from months to years as the Polish government deals with a massive influx of refugees and asylum-seekers that could overburden the countrys immigration system.



Weve entered into a bit of uncharted territory now with the refugee crisis, said Asat. But he should have some protection now.



Upon being released by Polish authorities, Aierken sent RFE/RL a text message that he had crossed into Poland successfully:



I am free, the note read.
Richmond, KY (40475)

Today

Partly cloudy skies during the morning hours will become overcast in the afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Showers early then thundershowers developing late. Low 63F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Written By

Joe Schulz served as the reporter of the Green Laker in 2019 and 2020, before being hired as a reporter for the Commonwealth in October 2020. He is from Oshkosh and graduated from UW-Oshkosh in December 2020 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

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Roanoke Rapids, NC (27870)

Today

Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. High 72F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will become overcast later during the night. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.
by Chris Devonshire-Ellis

The CIS and EAEU countries could soon be receiving a new wave of Russian manufacturing investment

Sanctions and tariff wars always result in the movement of cross-border businesses, most recently seen with China during the US trade war -the imposition of increased tariffs motivating many Chinese and other international investors based in the country to shift part, or all, of their production to neighboring Vietnam.

The same situation will occur in Russia, as Russian and international companies impacted by the imposition of sanctions will relocate elsewhere. There are additional compounded difficulties with the Russian situation as enhanced Know-Your-Client protocols will be aimed at preventing Russian-ownership via additional banking restrictions. That will introduce an interesting dynamic  as Russian businessmen and operators will be forced to enter into contractual agreements signing off their direct ownership to other proxies. Trust will be the new watchword for Russian businessmen abroad; lawyers will be busy, as side agreements and undated contractual transfers of equity and assets start to emerge into the cross-border new Russian business environment. It will usher in not just a Know-Your-Client methodology for banks, it will usher in a Know-Your-Business-Partner mantra for Russian investors too.

There are immediate destinations that Russian manufacturers can look at in the EAEU and CIS. This includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan in the EAEU and Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in the CIS.

We discuss these as follows:

The Eurasian Economic Union

The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan as well as Russia. It is a free trade bloc, and has FTA with Iran, Serbia, Singapore, and Vietnam and is negotiating many others, most notably with India and China. We can look at the individual members and what they can offer Russian manufacturers as follows:

Armenia

Armenias main exports are Copper Ore, Gold, Ferroalloys, Tobacco and Liquor, suggesting it could be used for automotive, aviation and rail construction, all sanctioned businesses in Russia today. Interestingly, it has a Comprehensive Economic Partership Agreement (CEPA) deal with the European Union, which came into force in March last year.

Armenia also has free trade agreements with Commonwealth of Independent States countries, and a free trade agreement with neighboring Georgia. Armenia is able to export certain products to the United States and European Union under generalized system of preferences programs.

Belarus



Belarus is also under and facing new sanctions from the United States and EU so wont be of much use in accessing these markets. However, it is a major exporter of fertilizers, with Brazil recently signed an agreement with Russia to supply these. It also has an excellent Free Trade Zone near Minsk, the Chinese Great Stone Industrial Park and there will be opportunities for Russian JVs with China in this area, which is mainly automotive driven.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has an export-oriented economy that is highly dependent on shipments of oil and related products (73% of total exports). In addition to oil, its main export commodities include natural gas, ferrous metals, copper, aluminum, zinc, and uranium. China, Italy, and the Netherlands are major clients. Kazakhstan has Free Trade Agreements with the CIS nations and is a major route east-west from the Caspian Sea and overland rail to China.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstans major exports include gold, cotton, wool, garments, meat, mercury, uranium, electricity, machinery, and shoes, its largest markets are China, the UK, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey. There are mining and smaller opportunities in the fabrics industry.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

The CIS also includes Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Unlike the EAEU it operates slightly differently to the EAEU as a closed economic space, but does have partial free trade between all members. That eliminates export and import duties on numerous goods but also contains exemptions that will ultimately be phased out, but this is not as extensive in coverage as the EAEU, and are negotiated on a bilateral basis rather than the multilateral basis of the EAEU bloc. Several CIS countries possess other trade agreements that will be of interest to Russian manufacturers.

Azerbaijan



Azerbaijan is an energy play with its top exports being Crude Petroleum, Petroleum Gas, Refined Petroleum, Tomatoes, and Gold, exporting mostly to Italy, Turkey, Israel, Germany, and India. Russia is a major investor in its energy sector. Azerbaijan has CIS trade agreements with all members and an additional trade agreement with Turkey. It is growing its trade relations with Iran and is jointly developing export processing zones on the border with its southern neighbour. Aside from energy, Baku is a key port for the International North-South Transportation Corridor and there are opportunities here for Russian processing, logistics, transportation, and packaging businesses here with connections through Central Asia, the Caucasus, European Union, Iran, the Middle East, East Africa, and India.

Georgia

The top exports of Georgia are Copper Ore, Automotive, Ferroalloys, Wine, and Packaged Medicaments, exporting mostly to Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bulgaria, and China. It has been attracting Chinese investments looking at EV automotive manufacturing for the EU markets  Georgia has a Deep & Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with the EU that is specifically targeted at industrial goods, agriculture, and transport manufacturing sectors. It has access to markets in the Caucasus and Turkey as well as Central Asia and the INSTC via rail links through to Baku.

Moldova

The top exports of Moldova are Insulated Wire, Sunflower Seeds, Wine, Corn, and Transportation Seats, exporting mostly to Romania, Russia, Italy, Germany, and Turkey. Like Georgia, Moldova also has a DCFTA with the EU making the EU Moldovas largest trade partner. There are opportunities in Moldova for automotive components manufacturing, IT services and agriculture processing exports.

Tajikistan

Tajikistan has negotiated free trade agreements with CIS members, and exports mainly Gold, Raw Aluminum, Raw Cotton, Zinc Ore and other Ores, mostly to Turkey, Switzerland, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China. It is looking to develop added value and processing facilities, and if much-discussed rail connectivity to China can be agreed, would become an important Belt and Road Initiative transit route between China and Central Asia.

Turkmenistan

The top exports of Turkmenistan are Petroleum Gas, Refined Petroleum, Crude Petroleum, Non-Retail Pure Cotton Yarn, and Nitrogenous Fertilizers exporting mostly to China, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Romania. Its Caspian Sea Port and trans-national rail provide connectivity to the rest of Central Asia and it is looking to diversify its economy away from traditional energy and into new energy such as solar and wind power. There are opportunities here in these industry sectors as well as in logistics and light manufacturing industries.

Uzbekistan

The top exports of Uzbekistan are Gold, Petroleum Gas, Non-Retail Pure Cotton Yarn, Refined Copper, and Ethylene Polymers, exporting mostly to Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It has FTA with other CIS members and recently became an observer to the EAEU. The European Union accepted Uzbekistan as the ninth beneficiary of its expanded General System of Preferences (GSP+) trade arrangement, which removes tariffs on two thirds (6,200 titles) of the product lines covered by GSP. The United Kingdom has signed a similar agreement with Uzbekistan, with the country becoming increasingly popular with European investors following relaxation of its domestic investment laws and a desire to follow a more open market economy. Of all the Central Asian states, Uzbekistan is currently the more open and forward-looking in adapting to Western style reforms and development. It should be noted that the Russian subsidiary of Volkswagen (VW) have been discussing the establishment of several potential joint venture projects including EV production.

Summary

Sanctions on Russia mean that many Russian businesses will now need to consider expanding overseas. In the longer term this may not be a bad thing, as Russian investment and technologies can help develop Central Asian economies, while at the same time avail themselves of the Trade Agreements some of these countries have that are now off-limits to Russian businesses in Russia.

Partner Risk Analysis

There needs to be a two forked approach, one the legal aspect and implications of using a separate, holding company structure to hold the overseas facility and to arrange either direct or proxy control. Contractual terms in the event of local partners taking control need to be sound, possibly secured against other assets and if not, certainly passed through a sound due diligence and risk analysis evaluation.

Free Trade Market Research

Local research also need to be conducted into the extent of Free Trade and related DCFTA agreements that respective countries have in force and especially with a view to rules of origin criteria. This requires professional assistance and a business case built up as required.

Dezan Shira & Associates are experienced in this field and may be hired to evaluate specific market sectors and the opportunities, the firms business intelligence unit is hired by international Governments and regional businesses to conduct bespoke research and has been in this market for 30 years. Please email the practice at asia@dezshira.com

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This Local Creates North Park's Most Iconic Buildings out of Legos

Ben Smith gives us a glimpse into his process of creating micro versions of San Diego institutions
Its been nearly a decade since so much water cascaded during the summer over Three Sisters Falls in the Cleveland National Forest, and now the novelty is drawing throngs of hikers unprepared for the blistering heat and the steep climb.

Update: Both Three Sisters and the Cedar Creek Falls trails have been closed due to high heat Sunday and Monday.

Since June 15, sheriffs helicopters have made 24 rescues near the falls, mostly for people suffering dehydration and heat stroke. With temperatures expected to reach the low 100s Sunday and Monday, authorities are considering closing down the trail for the second time in a week.

Many of the hapless visitors may have been lured by a video that went viral in May showing ebullient hikers sliding down a portion of the falls between the second and third pools.

It got about 2 million views in about a week, said Joey Martin, an assistant recreation director for the U.S. Forest Service. But the video didnt say anything about trail conditions or how difficult the trail is. It just said there is an awesome waterfall at the end and to bring a bathing suit and have a good time.

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As many hikers have already discovered, the six-mile round-trip trek can be deceptive and dangerous.

Getting down to the waterfalls isnt necessarily the problem, despite a quarter mile-section with a 40-degree drop that plunges the trail 800 feet downward in a very short distance.

Its getting back thats the tough part. Hikers, now traveling the route in reverse, hit that steep incline and sometimes try to pull themselves up with ropes.

A lot of these people are not in the physical condition to be tackling something like that, said Sheriffs ASTREA pilot Tim Johnson, whos made several rescues at the falls. They start later in the day at its hottest, they are not dressed appropriately and they dont bring enough water.

Martin agreed.

Just about anybody can hike down but coming back up is a whole different beast, especially if youve been swimming all day, he said.

Its markedly worse if temperatures reach above 100 degrees like they did on June 17 and on Tuesday, when officials closed the trail and gated the parking lot off Boulder Creek Road after numerous rescues.

The trail reopened Thursday, but Martin said if temperatures creep back up this weekend another closure may be warranted.

Helicopter crews rescued eight people on June 17, hoisting some out of the canyon by basket. Several other people were able to make it back to the parking lot, but required medical attention. On Tuesday  one of the hottest days on record for that date  there were four more rescues in a five-hour stretch, and more than a dozen medical aids in the parking lot.

Getting people out by helicopter is no easy feat, experts said. In fact, just flying into the Three Sisters area is difficult, said Johnson. Cables as long as 200 feet may be lowered to the stranded hikers while the copter hovers above.

Three Sisters is shaped like a fish bowl, he said. You go in and theres a round area where the three falls are. The wind tends to swirl around in there quite a bit and its usually anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees hotter.

Martin said on Tuesday the air temperature near the falls was around 112 degrees and the ground temperature was about 160 to 170 degrees.

Thats hot enough to cook brisket, he said.

When he woke up Tuesday morning, Martin said, he immediately realized he should get to Three Sisters.

Im going to save somebodys life, he remembers thinking. He started hiking about 10 a.m. and soon heard reports of a woman who was throwing up and unable to walk.

I got to her and gave her some crackers and water. She threw up again. He was able to call in a helicopter and she was lifted out.

The trailhead is about nine miles southwest of Julian and 10 miles southeast east of downtown Ramona in the Palomar Ranger District. Its just off Boulder Creek Road, which is best accessed from state Route 78 near Julian via Pine Hills Road.

One of the problems navigating the trail is that its unofficial, created by users over several decades who have installed ropes in some places to help climbers scale the rocks.

Improvements will begin in November when  after years of planning and red-tape  the forest service will rebuild the trail and create a passage that will lessen the steepness in the most dangerous spots.

In the past year, the agency also constructed a 60-car parking lot near the trailhead, where as many as 270 cars previously parked along Boulder Creek Road, occasionally blocking access to emergency vehicles.

The popularity of Three Sisters has grown since the authorities implemented a permit system at another dangerous hiking spot, the Cedar Creek Falls trail a few miles away.

That area  also frequently highlighted on social media  had become party central, with hundreds of young hikers drinking, getting high and jumping off cliffs into swimming holes.

Now hikers must purchase a permit in advance to access the trail, and only 75 are issued each day. One permit costs $10 and is good for up to five people which means the most hikers on any given day is 375.

Thats another reason people are going over to Three Sisters  because it is free, Martin said.

So far a permit system for Three Sisters has been rejected, but authorities arent ruling it out if the conditions warrant.

It may get to that point, Martin said. There is a lot of erosion down there and a lot of graffiti and trash  we would like to retain the wilderness character.

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jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com; 760/529-4931; Twitter: @jharryjones
Fusion IV owners Eric Fitch and Bettyjean Cabe, along with staffers Madison Lee and Tiffany Carpenter behind the counter, help clients get back a healthy feeling.
The job of a poet is to find the precise word to convey a feeling, but David Melnick had a workaround for that. He made up his own language and spent his career splicing it into his published works.

Melnick, a linguist of the highest order, was nationally known as a pioneer among a group of experimental poets in the 1960s and 1970s who developed a style that came to be known as language poetry, combining made-up and real words to elicit an emotional response in the reader.

my royal tables taste of breathe. cannot weep. clocks. know the slowest clocks in the universe, begins the Regulars, the first poem in his first collection, Eclogs, published in 1972.

By his second book, Pcoet (1975), the language became even more abstract. thoisu thoiea ackorn woi cirtus locqvump, the collection begins. icg ja cvm woflux.

But poetry does not pay in any language, even his own invented one. So Melnick became a copy editor at The Chronicle. He was also a co-founder of the Gay Artists and Writers Kollective, a publishing house and cultural organization that worked in all corners of the arts. GAWK created a spectacle whenever its members dressed in period costume to attend performances of the San Francisco Opera.

David had an encyclopedic knowledge. You could ask him about an obscure 10th century pope and he would know, said his friend David Greene, GAWKs co-founder. Ever kind, if also curmudgeonly, Melnick was given the nickname Nice by his friends, and he was witty enough to adopt it. He used to introduce himself as I am Nice, as if that were his name, Greene said, but he lived up to it for the next 45 years.

Melnick died Feb. 15 in a skilled nursing home in San Francisco, said his nephew, Robin Melnick. The cause of death was a progressive neurological disorder that had left him in convalescent care for years. He was 83.

Melnicks literary output was compiled in five volumes, but a sixth is coming, Nice: The Collected Poems of David Melnick, to be released in 2023 in hopes of introducing the power of language poetry to a new generation.

David Melnick was ... one of the most fearless and well-read avant-garde poets in the U.S. said Ron Silliman, a lecturer in English at the University of Pennsylvania and editor of Melnicks forthcoming collection. Almost as fierce as his poetry was his sense that he should not become famous, and he often had to be coaxed into any public performances.

David John Melnick was born Feb. 16, 1938, in Urbana, Ill. His father, Perry, was a pathologist at the University of Illinois who left academia to volunteer for the Army after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He uprooted the family and moved around before ending up in West Los Angeles. He was also a trained violinist who played in a physicians orchestra, and he instilled in his son an interest in classical music.

David studied the piano and violin and developed a side hobby inventing words and languages.

I first started using private language when I was six or seven years old, he said during an interview in 2019 for Open Space, a publishing platform for artists and writers at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. And then when I was thirteen or fourteen, I had a friend with whom I co-invented a language.

They also co-invented the land where it was spoken, Meldmonia, but before it could gain wider usage, the language vanished when Melnicks father took a position at a hospital in Detroit, which moved the family to Michigan.

Upon graduation from University High School in Ann Arbor, in 1954, Melnick enrolled in the University of Chicago to study mathematics and pursue his dream of becoming a concert violinist. But after his sophomore year, he abruptly withdrew and sold his violin to finance a yearlong tour of Europe by rail.

He ended up in Paris where he came to terms with his sexuality, said his brother Daniel, and when he returned he informed his parents that he was gay. He then transferred from the University of Chicago to UC Berkeley, arriving just in time for the Free Speech Movement in 1964. He was part of the Sproul Plaza sit-in around the police car holding Jack Weinberg, a leader of the movement, and was arrested and sent off to Santa Rita Jail.

He was already pretty left-wing, said his brother, but after that he remained left-wing for the rest of his life.

In 1965, Melnick earned his bachelors degree in mathematics, then performed another about-face by returning to the University of Chicago, this time to pursue his masters degree in English. After earning his masters, in 1970, he returned to Paris to begin pursuit of his life as a poet.

He became fluent in French and his bilingual (or perhaps trilingual, counting the language he invented) skills got him a job as a reporter and classical music reviewer at the International Herald Tribune. While on hiatus in Crete, Melnick composed his first book of poems, Eclogs.

That same year he returned to UC Berkeley to pursue his doctorate in English. He wrote a 50-page prospectus for his dissertation on the influence of Shakespeares language on 20th century poetry. He didnt care about finishing the dissertation, said Daniel Melnick, who earned his own doctorate in English in Berkeley. He said what he had to say about it.

By then he had met his partner, David Doyle, and they moved in with David Greene, in an apartment in the Castro district of San Francisco.

His third collection was published in 1983. Men in Aida tweaked Homers Greek language into a homophonic, homoerotic bathhouse satire, said Michael Davidson, professor emeritus of literature at UC San Diego. A polymath, musician, and classicist, Melnick brought enormous erudition, and a good deal of humor, to his poetry.

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Always a reluctant public reader of his work, Melnick liked to create plenty of diversion. At one 1978 poetry event at a coffeehouse on Haight Street, Melnick stood up front and whistled in perfect pitch the theme to the opera Lucia, while a musician wailed on a saxophone out on the street and a third man set off fireworks in the restroom sink, all to distract from the reading at hand.

These antics were sanctioned by GAWK, which formed in October 1973 when Greene and Melnick and a few others built a small cadre of poets, photographers, performance artists and bon vivants.

At Melnicks urging, they purchased standing-room tickets for the Russian opera Boris Godunov and wore fur capes and hats, which Melnick accessorized with a rhinestone necklace and tiara. He was going for the czar look in a gender-playful way, Greene said.

San Francisco Opera thus became a GAWK tradition, with a different set of costumes for each new production. When theyd spy empty seats during intermission, they would sneak down to the orchestra level. But it was hard to blend in while wearing costumes and 19th century Italian ball masks, as they did for Un Ballo in Maschera.

The head usher, Miss Beverly, was a fearsome presence, Greene recalled. If she found us where we werent supposed to be, shed send us back to standing room, with a stern look.

Melnick and Doyle, who were never able to legally wed, lived for a year on an 18-foot sailboat with a small forward cabin, docked at an East Bay harbor.

It was a testament to their relationship because there were no conveniences and it was just the two of them with nowhere to hide, Greene said. The sailboat prepared them for a year spent wandering around Greece. Doyle died of AIDS in 1992, and Melnick was single thereafter, living in a rent-controlled apartment at 14th and Sanchez streets.

On Melnicks 83rd birthday last February, Greene called him, and though Melnick was forlorn and subdued, he was still as nice as hed always been, said Greene, who had planned to call him again on his 84th birthday. But Melnick died the day before.

Survivors include his brothers, Philip Melnick of Albuquerque and Daniel Melnick of Beachwood, Ohio; nephew, Robin Melnick of Cupertino; and the remaining members of the Gay Artists and Writers Kollective, several of whom had their works of fiction and books of poetry edited by him.

Davids legacy was a generation of gay artists and writers who had an impact on the culture, Greene said. Some of it began with GAWK.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@samwhitingsf
A driver died Wednesday in a van that was engulfed in flames as he fled from Oakland police, who had used a deflation device to puncture the tires, which apparently caught fire as the driver continued driving on them, police said.

Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong said police officers were dispatched to the 8400 block of Ney Avenue and came in contact with a vehicle that was reported stolen out of Oakland. Officers tried to resist engaging in a pursuit by deploying stop strips to prevent the driver from driving away, Armstrong said in a video police released on Twitter.

When police officers approached the driver after deploying the device, Armstrong said, the motorist drove away on punctured tires. Officials did not follow the vehicle in patrol vehicles but instead used a police helicopter to follow and monitor the van from above, Armstrong said.

That van continued to flee and continued to drive with these punctured tires and at some point, it appears the tires caught fire, Armstrong said.

Oakland police said police in the helicopter observed sparks coming from the vehicle, which eventually came to a stop and caught on fire.

Unfortunately, within the van were other accelerants. Once those tires caught fire, the entire van was engulfed in flames, Armstrong said, adding that officials are investigating the type of accelerants in the van. The individual inside the van was unable to extract himself from the van.

The motorist died as a result of the fire, Armstrong said. The drivers name will be released by the coroners office once his family is notified.

Two police officers were taken to a local hospital for treatment of burns and other injuries they sustained while trying to rescue the driver, police officials said.

This is very unfortunate, Armstrong said. We did everything we could, it appears, to prevent a pursuit form occurring by following the vehicle. Unfortunately this incident ended in the most tragic way.

Armstrong said Oakland Fire Department responded to the scene and assisted with the investigation with relation to the accelerants in the van, adding that additional information will be revealed through an investigation.

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The timeline of the entire incident, including the moment at which the tires caught fire and the moment the van became engulfed in flames, will be investigated, Armstrong said.

Well look at the entire path that the van took, including whether it hit another vehicle, damaged any other property as a result of it driving with those tires on fire, Armstrong said. I think its early on in the investigation. Well be back-tracking on everything.

Officials with Oakland polices Internal Affairs Division and Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the incident per Oakland police policy, Armstrong said.

The Community Police Review Agency, the civilian investigative group as part of the Oakland Police Commission, will also review the incident, Armstrong said.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez
Anticipating an increase in people coming to California to seek abortions should Roe vs. Wade fall, state Senate leader Toni Atkins announced a bill Thursday that would enable nurse practitioners to perform first-trimester abortions without being under a doctors supervision.

The measure is one of 10 bills moving through the Legislature that are designed to strengthen abortion protections and provide services for tens of thousands of people expected to travel to California from the 26 states where the procedure probably would become illegal should the U.S. Supreme Court kill or severely gut the landmark abortion rights measure when it decides a case before it this year.

The courts conservative 6-3 majority might move to limit abortion rights when it decides a Mississippi case it heard last year that proposes to ban abortions after 15 weeks. The 1973 Roe decision allows a woman to terminate a pregnancy before 24 weeks, after which a fetus could survive outside the womb.

Atkins, D-San Diego, said clinics around the state are already seeing clients traveling from other states seeking abortion services. While it is unknown how many women would be traveling to California should Roe fall, the number of out-of-state women of childbearing age who would find their nearest clinic in California would increase from 46,000 now to 1.4 million, many of them from Arizona, according to a report from the Guttmacher Institute.

If you had asked me 30 years ago, when I was managing a clinic services for womens reproductive health center, if Id still be talking about defending Roe v. Wade and fighting for abortion access in 2022, I would have just said, I certainly hope not, Atkins said this week. But here we are.

Nurse practitioners are advanced practice registered nurses. They hold masters or doctorate degrees and can diagnose and prescribe medications, conduct physical exams and order screening or preventative therapies.

The measure would enable nurse practitioners who have been practicing at least three full-time equivalent years or 4,600 hours as of Jan. 1, 2023, to meet the requirements to be able to perform the procedure without a doctors supervision. It is unknown how many of the 30,000 nurse practitioners in California are expected to qualify under those conditions, according to the California Association for Nurse Practitioners.

Atkins and other abortion rights advocates said that the measure would also help people living in rural and underserved communities. Advocates say 40% of California counties do not have clinics that provide abortion services.

The measure will create a host of qualified providers who can fill that gap, providing care not only for Californians, but for those who may seek care outside of their own states should Roe fall, said Shannon Olivieri Hovis, director of NARAL Pro-Choice California.

Patti Gurney, president of the California Association for Nurse Practitioners, said federal guidelines recommend that there be 60 to 80 primary care physicians for every 100,000 people. But in California there are only 50 per 100,000, she said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Over the next decade, there is expected to be a shortfall of more than 4,100 primary care providers of all kinds  mostly in rural counties, according to the California Future of Health Workforce Commission.

This shortage is only growing. This bill will expand access to care for those who need it most, Gurney said.

The California Medical Association has pushed back on previous attempts to expand the roles of non-physicians. Atkins said she has had preliminary discussions with the organizations leaders about the measure.

At this early point, we dont have a position on the bill yet, California Medical Association spokesperson Shannan Velayas said.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli
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Scientists estimate that only 6% of the eggs that wild winter-run chinook salmon laid in the Sacramento River last summer survived the punishing drought, so wildlife officials are taking drastic actions to keep the endangered population going. On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released 400,000 juvenile salmon from a hatchery into the river, after releasing almost 125,000 last month.

Thats more than double the number of fish they released in 2020  the first year of the drought  and 220,000 more than last year, to bolster the struggling population of winter-run chinook. Federal scientists are monitoring this years cohort to see how well the smolts survive the 352-mile journey from the base of Shasta Dam to the Golden Gate by attaching acoustic tags to hundreds of hatchery fish.

That monitoring program has been around for a while, but scientists are particularly keen to watch the fishs movements amid a three-year drought. Large fish releases usually occur during big rainstorms, to help speed the young fish down the river and give them cover. But the warm, dry weather in recent months is making their situation even more perilous than usual.

When theres a rain event, that creates a lot of sediments to create cover for them, said Rachel Johnson, who leads a team focused on salmon at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Johnson likened the turbidity in the water after rain to an invisibility cloak for the little fish. A lot of the things that eat baby salmon are visual predators.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The fish were reared in the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery at Shasta Dam, which was built to make sure the endangered winter-run chinook have a backup during emergency situations like this. Because of the drought, the hatchery produced twice the usual number  typically 200,000 to 250,000  of baby fish to release this year, which has made it more crowded and reduced its water quality. Thats why wildlife officials decided to go ahead and release the rest of the salmon on Wednesday, with only a little rain in the forecast.

The fish were released into the river just south of Lake Shasta at the lower Keswick Dam, the same spot that wild winter-run chinook salmon spawn each spring and summer. Because of the drought, federal water managers released less water into the river during the last spawning season, causing river temperatures to rise. The hot water, along with a nutritional deficiency observed in some female salmon, killed all but 2.6% of the endangered salmons eggs, according to state Department of Fish & Wildlife estimates.

As a result, only 572,000 wild juvenile salmon on their way to the sea have been counted passing a dam at Red Bluff, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service surveys show. Half a million sounds like a lot, but its a fraction of the potential, considering the unusually high number of adult salmon  10,269, the most since 2006  that showed up to spawn last year, Johnson said.

Those wild baby fish, along with the ones released from the hatchery, still need to survive the two- to six-week journey to the ocean, where they will spend about three years before returning to the river as adults to spawn.

Theyre going through the river for many, many miles where theyre having to avoid getting eaten, said Arnold Ammann, research fish biologist at the NOAAs Southwest Fisheries Science Center. At the same time, their natural predisposition is to stop in areas to eat and grow.

The fish face natural predators like pikeminnows and larger trout in the water, and birds such as cormorants and egrets. Then there are the nonnative predators like striped bass.

Ammann began tagging and tracking juvenile winter-run chinook salmon about a decade ago to learn more about how the 4-inch-long fish survive the journey and what more could be done to protect the population.

He surgically implants each fish with a transmitter about the size of a large pill. When the fish pass receivers placed along the river and in the delta, signals sent by their transmitter are picked up. Each fish has a unique code, so if one disappears, Ammann assumes it is dead.

Theres an exception  sometimes a fish gets eaten by a larger fish and continues to send signals for a few days, which is obvious when the fish moves in the opposite direction of its natural migration, he said.

Ammann implanted 140 of the fish that were released on Feb. 9 with acoustic tags, and another 430 that were released Wednesday. The public can track the progress of the fish along the route on a real-time map created by the NOAA.

One of the fish released last month has made it as far as Sacramento. But some are hanging out in an area between Red Bluff (Tehama County) and Colusa, which Ammann said is a spot they often linger for up to a couple weeks to fatten up before moving on to the delta, a particularly dangerous spot that is full of nonnative fish like black bass, spotted bass and catfish.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Based on Ammanns studies so far, only 2% to 25% of juvenile fish survive the entire trip each year from the Keswick Dam to the Golden Gate. The indication so far is that this year will be on that lower side, unless theres an atmospheric river in the next few weeks.

Weve had miracle Marches before, he said.

Unfortunately, the outlook for spawning this upcoming season is even worse than last year, said Johnson, based on recent reports from the Bureau of Reclamation about cold water reserves in Lake Shasta.

Still, Johnson maintains hope that things could still turn around for the fish currently making their out-migration to the Pacific.

Im still a little bit rooting for the underdog, she said, and looking at the website and hoping more fish make it to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taraduggan
The second installment of New in Wine Country is here and this time a new month comes with a new uber-pricey wine-tasting experience in Napa, among other developments.

Heitz Cellar debuted its remodeled tasting room and is now charging $1,000 per person for its top-tier tasting. Elsewhere in Wine Country, a high-end Basque restaurant opened in Sonoma, Sicilian wines are the latest addition to Healdsburgs unstoppable renaissance and the Bay Areas beloved Puerto Rican restaurant Sol Food expanded to Petaluma. Plus, dough is trending, theres a new wine tour for design lovers and a new riverfront seafood grill in Napa serving crab enchiladas.

Read on for details on all the notable openings in Napa and Sonoma counties. Check back in April for the next edition and you can find Februarys installment of this series here.

Historic Napa winery finally reopens  but its no longer free

Up until a few years ago, Heitz Cellar was one of the last remaining Napa Valley wineries offering free tastings. Now, its new Vineyard to Bottle Experience costs $1,000. It includes two vineyard visits, a stop at the original 130-year-old wine cellar and a tasting with library selections. Founded in 1961, Heitz is one of the most iconic wineries in Napa. It sold in 2018 to the Lawrence Family and Carlton McCoy Jr.  the same buyers of Napas Stony Hill and Burgess  and was closed for renovations until last month. In line with the price tag, the interior design of the stone tasting room has gone from a dark and dated room with a lone tasting bar to a bright and elegant space that looks more like a fine dining restaurant than a winery. Visitors who dont want to pony up $1,000 can opt for the winerys single-vineyard Cabernets (paired with cheese and charcuterie) tasting for $125-$150 per person.

436 St. Helena Hwy., St. Helena, heitzcellar.com

Basque-Korean fusion makes waves in Sonoma

Sonomas newest fine-dining restaurant has found an unlikely home, sandwiched between a McDonalds and an auto repair shop off Highway 12. Wine Country residents are flocking Animo, a Basque-Korean restaurant that opened without much fanfare in February. Owners John Smookler and Heidi Hu ran popular New York City ramen destination Mu Ramen before they moved to the Bay Area during the pandemic. Their new restaurant, centered around a wood-fired hearth, is cozy and understated. There are a handful of tables positioned a few feet apart from one another and the open kitchen. Incorporating Korean flavors and ingredients like kimchi rice, the menu includes dishes such as seared Iberico pork loin, anchovy toasts and lobster with XO sauce.

18976 Sonoma Hwy., Sonoma, instagram.com/animo_restaurant

Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle

Puerto Rican food arrives in Petaluma

After years of rumors and anticipation, San Rafael favorite Sol Food has opened a location in Petaluma. The Puerto Rican mainstay is known for serving up hearty plates of rice and beans and fried plantains with prawns. The restaurant also serves tostones and sandwiches like a Puerto Rican Po Boy, best enjoyed with a cold fresca. The new spot feels a long way from Sol Foods colorful 12-seat shack in San Rafael. Its spacious, industrial and seats several more people along a wooden bar and at large tables throughout the space.

151 Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma, solfoodrestaurant.com

SingleThread temporarily launches farm boxes

Healdsburgs three-Michelin star SingleThread is currently closed after sustaining damage in a small fire last month. Now, in an effort to not let their fresh produce, like squash, turnips and brassicas, and seasonal flowers go to waste, the restaurant is selling farm boxes ($95). They can be purchased on Tock and will be available for pickup at the restaurant only on March 10 and 17 between 2 to 6 p.m. Pantry items, like SingleThreads barrel-aged ponzu, and the restaurants 5th Anniversary Ale, made in collaboration with Russian River Brewing, can be added on to the box for an extra cost.

exploretock.com/singlethreadfarms

Photo CB4K48MQ newwine0304

New tour pairs wine with design

A new Wine Country tour highlights wineries that take architecture and design just as seriously as winemaking. Priced at $565 per person, the Wine & Design tour from Bohemian Highway Travel Co. is based on the coffee table book The New Architecture of Wine by Marin native Heather Herbert. It features 25 modern California wineries designed by top architects. Bookings for the tour include a signed copy, transportation in a luxury SUV or Land Rover Defender, tours and tastings at two to three design-forward wineries  such as Napa Valley's Faust Haus and Sonoma's Aperture Cellars and Flowers Vineyards & Winery  and a multi-course lunch.

Bohohwy.com

Seafood spot bolsters Napas riverfront

Napas sleepy waterfront is coming alive. In January, the taqueria and margarita hot spot Los Agaves moved in and February brought a new seafood restaurant.The Waterfront, with outdoor tables looking out on to the Napa river, comes from Matthew Cordeiro, the same owner behind Cordeiros, a beloved local steakhouse. The new restaurant  with chef Jesus Mendez, formerly of Coles Chop House, at the helm  has a raw bar serving oysters, lobster and a caviar and salmon parfait. Mains include cioppino, crab enchilada and blackened swordfish.

720 Main St., Napa, thewaterfrontseafoodgrill.com

Pizza pop-up opens brick and mortar

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This Sebastopol pizza shop does things al taglio style, meaning the pies are baked in large pans and then sliced and sold by weight (yes, you can order the whole pan). Psychic Pie started as a Santa Rosa pop-up that sold 30 pans a week and has now blossomed into a full-service establishment. It sources ingredients from Sonoma purveyors to create its pillowy, yet crisp-on-the-bottom pies with traditional toppings like cheese and pepperoni, and unusual pizzas like beet and coppa and chili crunch cauliflower. Dine in the pizzerias new pink, light-filled space and grab a beer or glass of wine along with your meal or take it all to go.

980 Gravenstein Hwy., Sebastopol, psychicpie.com

Jess Lander

Sicilian wines land in Healdsburg

Chronicle Senior Wine Critic Esther Mobley recently reported on the opening of Aeris, a tasting room in downtown Healdsburg focused on Sicilian wines. This is the second winery from vintner Kevin Harvey, best known for his other brand Rhys Vineyards, which produces some of Californias most sought-after Pinots. Harvey believes that Aeris is the first winery in California to produce Carricante, a white grape variety thats one of the most coveted in all of Italy. In addition to Carricante (taste one made in California and another from Sicily), the winery produces some Sicilian reds and will soon release a Nebbiolo. Rhys has never been open to the public, but Aeris welcomes visitors into its unpretentious tasting room for wine flights starting at $40.

337 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, aeriswines.com

Bagels fill the hole left by Napas ABC Bakery

Winstons Cafe and Bakery has opened in Napa in the former ABC Bakery location, a longtime local hot spot that closed during the pandemic. Winstons focus is hand-shaped bagels in flavors like sesame, cinnamon raisin, everything and chocolate chip. They offer schmears like scallion and preserved lemon from artisan bagel maker Paul Brown of Paulies Bagels, which finally got a permanent home. Winstons plans to expand its menu with classic diner fare, but until then, you can order coffee, bagels and baked goods like maple sticky buns and sour cream citrus rolls.

1517 Third St., Napa, instagram.com/winstonsnapa

Plant-based bakery expands Wine Countrys vegetarian, vegan options

Magdelenas Savories & Sweets, a new Petaluma bakery, specializes in vegetarian and vegan treats. Think cinnamon rolls made with turmeric milk and chai cream cheese frosting or a Soyrizo roll with pickled jalapeno, cheese and cilantro. Theres also sheet-pan focaccia pizza served in three sizes. The Black Sheep Greek comes with plant-based lamb, shawarma spice and feta, among other ingredients. Enjoy the baked goods in Magdelenas cozy dining room or take the baked goods to go.

5306 Old Redwood Hwy., Petaluma, magdalenas.com
Regarding Teachers union officials Ukraine post causes stir (Bay Area & Business, March 1): Frank Lara, executive vice president of the United Educators of San Francisco, is a good citizen. He shared a post that expressed his apparent views about what contributed to the current crisis in Ukraine: that the U.S. and NATO share some responsibility for this crisis by having provoked Russia.

Lara lives in a country with the right to express his views freely. He doesnt live in the former Soviet Union or in China or in Hungary, for instance, where that right is not available to citizens. Rather than marching in lock step toward war, Lara has asked his fellow citizens to examine the history behind this crisis.

Agree with him or not, he has the right to express his opinion. Those calling for his resignation, especially elected officials who have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, should know better. Those who are shocked by his views have the opportunity to disagree with him but not the right to silence him.

Sherry Gendelman, San Francisco

Prosecute criminals

I found it ironic in Sundays Chronicle that Justin Phillips column promoting aggressively progressive Alameda County district attorney candidate Pamela Price appeared right next to an article about a spike in homicides in San Francisco and Oakland.

As the Bay Area suffers from increases in many kinds of crime  including gun violence  progressive district attorneys are under scrutiny not just from so-called outside Republican groups, but also from local citizens, the ones suffering from soaring rates of auto theft, catalytic converter thefts, anti-Asian hate crimes, robberies and shootings.

How many more people have to die or be victimized by criminals because progressive district attorneys dont believe in incarceration? I dont like incarceration, either, except when it comes to criminals.

Steven Gorman, Alameda

Untold story of WWII

Regarding America needs all of its stories (Open Forum, Feb. 21): I agree. So why were only Japanese American families living on the West Coast interned while those living in Hawaii, 3,000 miles closer to Japan werent?

According to the Washington Post, based on an accumulation of evidence, we now know that the governments action was partially initiated by California corporate agribusiness interests hoping to satisfy their own lust for land while ridding themselves of competition from the states most productive family farms. Austin Anson of the Salinas Vegetable Grower-Shipper Association, only hours after Pearl Harbor, headed to Washington and wove lies about Japanese American sabotage and urged the federal government to evacuate people of Japanese descent.

He told the Saturday Evening Post, Were charged with wanting to get rid of the Japs for selfish reasons. We might as well be honest. We do. ... If all the Japs were removed tomorrow, wed never miss them in two weeks, because the white farmers can take over and produce everything the Jap grows. And we do not want them back when the war ends, either.

Yes, America needs all its stories, especially those that tell less well-known truths.

Tom Kahan, Oakland

End the war in Yemen

Even as the world watches in horror as Russia launches an unprovoked attack on Ukraine, we, citizens of the U.S., must remember Yemen. Every day for over seven years, bombs have been dropped on Yemen. Millions of Yemenis face famine, and millions of Yemeni children under 5 are malnourished.

Yemenis call it the U.S.-Saudi war on Yemen. We are complicit in creating this humanitarian disaster. And we the people, must demand that U.S. involvement in this war ends NOW. Even as we watch the Russian war on Ukraine unfold, we can bring the war with Yemen to a close. Lets do it.
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WASHINGTON  Republicans in the Senate on Thursday voted through a resolution that would end the COVID-19 emergency, capitalizing on the absence of Californias two Democratic senators.

The resolution passed the Senate 48-47 on a party-line vote. Sen. Dianne Feinstein did not vote, as she is at home in San Francisco after the death of her husband of 42 years this week, and Sen. Alex Padilla was absent after testing positive for the coronavirus Monday.

The resolution wont become law  the House is unlikely to pass it, and President Biden has pledged to veto it even if it did.

But the episode demonstrates the fragile majority Democrats have in the 50-50 Senate, which they control by virtue of Vice President Kamala Harris being the tie-breaking vote.

Feinstein and Padilla were not the only two senators absent. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Republican Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma also missed the vote.

But had either of Californias senators been present, it would have been enough to force a tie and have the vice president reject the resolution.

Its disappointing to see Republicans exploit the personal circumstances of their colleagues for hollow political posturing, Padilla said. This shortsighted measure wont actually help anyone, and its exactly why the president has already said hell veto it.

Most Senate business requires 60 votes to advance, and Democrats control the floor calendar, but this resolution was subject to a simple majority and the vote was forced by the procedures of the National Emergencies Act, under which the pandemic emergency was declared in March 2020.

The vote to repeal the state of emergency comes as case rates are plummeting, the nation is emerging from the omicron variant-fueled surge and the Biden administration and California state government are rolling back restrictions and proposing new strategies to move into a new phase of the pandemic.

Its clear we need new approach to COVID as we learn to live with it. That new approach starts with putting an end to the COVID national state of emergency, the resolutions author, Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, said in a statement.

But the White House has issued a veto threat on the legislation and said it strongly opposes the proposal. Democrats say its premature to repeal the authorities granted by a state of emergency.

Continuing to protect against COVID-19 and ensuring that our response remains nimble are top priorities of this administration, the White House said in a statement. The national emergency enables the administration to more effectively respond to COVID-19 ... at a time when our health system has been under tremendous and prolonged stress. These authorities are critical not only to continue responding to the Omicron variant, but also to be prepared to respond to potential future variants.

Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan
UPDATE: UC Berkeley said Friday it will slash next falls in-person enrollment by 2,629  not the 3,050 it originally estimated.

UC Berkeley must cut enrollment by about 3,000 students for next fall after the California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower courts order that the prestigious university freeze enrollment at 2020 levels.

In a case that has drawn national attention, the ruling deals a blow to thousands of applicants to the prestigious public university and will cost millions in lost tuition, the university says. The decision favors neighbors who are trying to get the campus to stop adding new students without providing enough housing for them.

The ruling also means UC Berkeley will withhold acceptance letters from more than 5,000 qualified freshmen and transfer applicants, not all of whom would have enrolled.

This is devastating news for the thousands of students who have worked so hard for and have earned a seat in our fall 2022 class. Our fight on behalf of every one of these students continues, the campus wrote in a statement following the Supreme Court decision.

On a 4-2 vote, in a one-sentence order, the court refused to lift the enrollment freeze ordered by an Alameda County judge and denied review of an appellate ruling requiring the university to conduct further environmental review of an off-campus construction project while it limits incoming enrollment. Justice Goodwin Liu dissented, voting to remove the freeze, and urged a neighborhood group and UC Berkeley to negotiate a settlement.

California and our broader society stand to lose the contributions of leadership, innovation, and service that would otherwise accrue if several thousand students did not have to defer or forgo the benefit of a UC Berkeley education this fall, said Liu, joined by Justice Joshua Groban.

If the suit cannot be settled and thousands of students miss the opportunity to attend one of our premier public universities, Liu said, state lawmakers may respond by exempting on-campus housing at state public colleges from California environmental laws, as Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, proposed last month in a bill, SB886.

The courts majority that left the freeze in place consisted of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and Justices Carol Corrigan, Leondra Kruger and Martin Jenkins.

I think the law is really, really firmly on our side  and the court recognizes it, said Phil Bokovoy, president of Save Berkeleys Neighborhoods, which is suing the university over the enrollment and housing imbalance.

Several notable university supporters had filed briefs against cutting enrollment  including state Attorney General Rob Bontas office, the city of Berkeley, the Bay Area Council and Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is also a UC regent.

We cant let a lawsuit get in the way of the education and dreams of thousands of students who are our future leaders and innovators, Newsom said in a statement last month after filing his brief.

UC Berkeley has already sent out many freshman offers of admission, with the remainder to be sent March 24. Offers to transfer students will go out April 2.

In response to the order, UC Berkeley said it may ask new incoming students to delay enrolling until January, and increase online enrollment to accommodate more students.

UC Berkeley currently enrolls 45,057 students at all academic levels. In August, Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman ordered the campus to cap enrollment at 42,237  the fall 2020 number  and to halt construction of its Upper Hearst project at 2698 Hearst Ave.: two buildings intended to house professors and add classrooms for the Goldman School of Public Policy. Neighbors had argued that the university failed to properly plan for the increased noise, traffic and other quality-of-life problems the project would bring.

To get the Upper Hearst project going again, the university would have to persuade the judge that it had adequately analyzed and planned for the environmental impact of those buildings and of rising enrollment on the areas housing.

UC Berkeley is appealing the ruling. On Feb. 14, the campus separately asked the state Supreme Court to lift the enrollment cap while that appeal proceeds.

Save Berkeleys Neighborhoods, a group of residents who want UC Berkeley to build more housing on its own campus rather than displacing low-income city residents, sued UC Berkeley and the University of California system in 2019 over the $126 million Upper Hearst project.

The suit isnt trying to stop the project, said Bokovoy, the groups president. Its to make UC (Berkeley) do an adequate enrollment analysis.

Wed like to assure deserving California high school students that we are as disappointed as they are that UC has tried to use them as pawns in UCs attempts to avoid mitigating the impacts from the massive enrollment increases over the past few years, Bokovoy said in a statement after Thursdays court order.

He said his organization has repeatedly offered, unsuccessfully, to settle its lawsuit in exchange for UC Berkeleys agreement to a legally binding commitment to increase housing before they increase enrollment.

The suit says the campus improperly assessed the impacts of rising enrollment on police, fire and health services needed to handle the side effects of noisy parties and extra-crowded parks and streets, all in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act. That law, known as CEQA, requires public agencies to study the significant environmental impacts of its actions  including, the suit notes, rising enrollment  and propose ways to reduce those impacts.

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin also sued in 2019 to force the university to pay the city more to offset the impact of its rising enrollment on local services. The sides settled in June, with UC Berkeley agreeing to pay $82.64 million over 16 years, and the mayor agreeing to withdraw the citys objections to the Upper Hearst project.

Now, Arreguin and the city are supporting the universitys efforts to lift the admissions cap.

When fewer of our children are able to pursue higher education, we all lose out, Arreguin said in a statement last month after the City Council voted to file court papers supporting the university.

On Thursday, Wiener called it tragic that California allows courts and environmental laws to determine how many students UC Berkeley and other public colleges can educate and said he is determined to change the law so that colleges and universities are exempt.

For its part, UC Berkeley says its environmental analysis was done properly, and that the Upper Hearst project would increase enrollment by just 30 graduate students, even though it would add 225 new dorm beds.

In August, Judge Seligman disagreed and ordered UC Berkeley to halt the project and re-do its flawed analysis. Seligman said the university failed to consider the impact of expanded enrollment on housing and homelessness in Berkeleys poorest neighborhoods, and ordered the campus to limit its 2022-23 enrollment to the level in 2020: no more than 42,237 undergraduates and graduate students.

The UC regents appealed on Oct. 18, claiming the court lacked the jurisdiction to suspend UC Berkeleys enrollment.

The appeal has yet to be argued. But while thats moving forward, the university says it should not have to cap enrollment, disappoint thousands of students, and forfeit an estimated $57 million in lost tuition revenue.

So the university filed a separate appeal over enrollment, asking the court to let it continue adding students while it argues the Upper Hearst matter.

But on Feb. 10, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco said no, and ruled that the enrollment freeze would remain in place.

The campus tried again on Feb. 14 and asked the states high court for an immediate order allowing it to increase enrollment. Forcing the university to decrease enrollment would be a tragic outcome for thousands of students who have worked incredibly hard to gain admission to Berkeley, university officials said in a public statement after filing the latest appeal.

UC Berkeleys enrollment has grown by 20% in the last decade  to 45,031 from 36,137  with nearly 9,000 more students studying there now than in 2011. The school also has the lowest student housing rate of UCs nine undergraduate campuses: roughly 23%.

Yet the universitys own analysis concludes that the campus operates well below the level of environmental impacts, despite rising enrollment, and credits its environmentally friendly policies.

In their statement, officials cited the universitys efforts at nearby Peoples Park as evidence that they work hard to mitigate the effects of rising enrollment on low-income city residents. The university plans to build supportive housing for about 100 homeless people alongside new dorms in Peoples Park, which it owns, and has employed a social worker there since 2017.

There was therefore no need for the university to have considered reducing enrollment in order to minimize adverse impacts, campus officials said in the statement.

But in case it lost this latest round, officials emailed some 150,000 applicants assuring the hopefuls that the school was doing all it could to avoid a dire situation that would have a devastating impact on their ability to serve California students.

Save Berkeleys Neighborhoods called the universitys argument unsupported hyperbole.

The group has already thwarted the university twice on similar issues.

In 2019, the residents sued to stop UC Berkeley from building a 14,000-foot beach volleyball complex on its Clark Kerr campus at Dwight Way, and forced UC Berkeley to create a more detailed environmental impact report. The suit is ongoing.

A year earlier the residents also won in court, requiring the university to include the effects of rising enrollment in its state-mandated environmental impact reports.

Nanette Asimov and Bob Egelko are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com, begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov, @BobEgelko
San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney has scored the endorsement of his former opponent, political newcomer Bilal Mahmood, in the Assembly District 17 runoff race against former Supervisor David Campos on April 19.

Mahmood, a tech entrepreneur and philanthropist, received 22% of the vote in the Feb. 15 primary election  a surprisingly large chunk for someone with no political experience. Haney came in first with 36.4% of the vote, and Campos followed closely behind with 35.7%, according to the latest vote count. The two well-known progressives are now jockeying in an increasingly ugly fight.

Mahmoods endorsement could help convince voters who want to see more housing of all kinds built to embrace Haney. Some of Mahmoods supporters, including pro-housing organizations California YIMBY and YIMBY Action, have already switched their endorsement to Haney. SF YIMBY said its email list numbers around 10,000, support that could matter more in what is predicted to likely be a low-turnout election.

Mahmood said in a statement Thursday that he was confident that Matt will champion progress over stagnation and deliver on bold solutions to urgent challenges, like our housing shortage and climate crisis.

Matt has proven that he has the experience, vision, and grit to get the job done, from passing transformational legislation on guaranteed income to net zero infrastructure, he said.

Haney said he has respect for Mahmood, his supporters and campaign. He added the pair plan to work closely together to pursue the big ideas that Mahmood put forward during the primary, including guaranteed income and addressing climate change.

Mahmood said he has no plans to run for the Assembly seat in June, when the race will be on the ballot again for a full-term primary, or for Haneys District 6 seat if the supervisor wins.

Mahmood told the Chronicle he met with both candidates and decided to support Haney because he viewed him as the most pro-housing candidate in the race right now. To him, that meant vowing to ban exclusionary zoning to build denser housing, pushing for market-rate and affordable homes and being open to modular housing that can reduce time and costs to build.

In a tight race, the two progressives have tried to differentiate on housing, although political observers said they share many similar views.

While Campos was a supervisor and in his current campaign, he pushed eviction protections, tenants right to counsel and affordable housing, but he faced some flak for his proposal on a temporary moratorium on construction that was not 100% affordable in the Mission when he represented the district.

Campos supported the Board of Supervisors decision to vote down a nearly 500-unit project, with 24% of the units qualifying as afffordable, because of environmental and gentrification concerns. Haney backed the project. Campos more recently told the Chronicle both affordable and market-rate housing - not just more and more luxury towers - are needed to prevent gentrification.

There is an important distinction on housing. Im for affordable housing being part of housing production, Campos told the Chronicle on Thursday. I am willing to stand up to developers...After taking the support of realtors, landlords and developers, Matt Haney is taking their side. Ill do whats best for working people, not whats best for developers.

While the California Realtors Association has spent big against Campos, Haneys largest donor as of last month was the state building and construction trades councils political action committee, and he has received smaller donations from some real estate developers. Haney is a renter and former pro-bono attorney representing tenants who has said he wants to strengthen tenant protections.

Campos campaign manager Daniel Anderson said Thursday that the real issue isnt Bilal backing Supervisor Haney but that many of Haneys campaign donations come from powerful trade unions and political action committees - a main talking point in Campos race.

For example, the California Dental Association PAC, which maxed out a contribution to Haney, has gone on record opposing single-payer health care. Haney has stated his support for Medicare for All and previously said he was proud to earn the support of worker groups, but would do whats best for the people he represents.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

As of Thursday, Haney had raised $911,671 compared to Campos $620,576.

Independent expenditures, which are formed in support of or against a candidate but not run by them, spent big against Campos - more than $272,896. Independent expenditures led by unions spent roughly $791,820 to support Haney.

Campos has said he has less money because he hasnt accepted donations directly from corporations (Haney took money from local businesses). However, Campos has also picked up some notable donations from people who work in the corporate world, such as $4,900 from a regional president for AT&T.

David McCuan, a professor of political science at Sonoma State University, said that Mahmoods support was a good get for Haney, although endorsements tend to matter more to political elites.

In terms of votes or bang for the buck, we dont have any measure of that, he said. But there is a potential, since Mahmood is new, different and represents tech, for this to pay some benefit.

McCuan also said Mahmoods endorsement could put a pause on escalating attacks between the candidates and allow Haney to point to positive support and distance himself from negative campaigning that could turn off average voters.

More support for Haney will require a response by Campos, either to roll out an endorsement or two, or to go on the attack, McCuan said.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench
What San Francisco officials described as a historic staffing shortage at the citys Police Department prompted Mayor London Breed to withdraw her request for an extra $7.9 million to fund police overtime.

With so few officers on duty, the city could instead pay for the overtime needs with money left over from what officials said is a dire attrition issue at the Police Department.

The issue also reflects a national trend, as law enforcement agencies across the country report difficulties recruiting and retaining officers.

Breed initially proposed the budget supplemental in January, saying the overtime was needed to fill the gaps left by hundreds of vacant police positions. But the omicron variant and a wave of recent unexpected departures provided enough salary and projected overtime savings that the spending boost was no longer needed, said Breeds spokesperson, Jeff Cretan.

Or, as Police Department spokesperson Matt Dorsey put it, The problem was solved by a much bigger problem.

Cretan said that a few factors reduced the need for overtime spending. For one, the omicron variant forced some big events like New Years Eve celebrations to be canceled, and also sidelined some of the officers who would have been eligible for overtime.

But more significantly, Cretan said, about 30 officers left the department in early January for varying reasons, a loss that came as a surprise to the city.

You cant budget for someone who no longer exists, Cretan said. So you not only get back their salary, but you get back their projected overtime.

Breeds proposed overtime funding for the firefighters was still in place, Cretan said, since their department doesnt have the same attrition problems.

San Francisco police over the last few years have reported continuously falling staffing numbers as the department struggles to recruit and retain their forces. Similar shortages have been seen in law enforcement agencies nationwide, coinciding with both rising levels of violence and calls to strip funding from police following high-profile incidents of police brutality.

In San Francisco, sworn police staffing dropped from nearly 1,900 in mid-2019 to fewer than 1,650 by January of this year. On Wednesday, there were 1,636 officers, according to the Police Department.

These figures fall well below the 2,176 officers recommended by a consulting group, which the Police Department is using as a target.

San Francisco police Capt. Jack Hart, who led the citys Police Academy for years before recently becoming night captain, said the department is graduating only a fraction of the recruits seen in previous generations.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Fewer officers on the streets will not likely affect policing for things like violent crimes or crimes in progress, but may cause delays for low-priority calls or cut the amount of time an officer can spend building an investigation, police officials said.

Some officers are making lateral moves to other departments for a lower cost of living or to avoid some of the stresses that come with big-city policing, Hart said. Others are leaving the profession altogether.

Hart said police departments across the country have seen waning interest in policing following brutal, high-profile police killings like those of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014 and George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

However, Hart stressed, the department has embraced reforms in use-of-force and diversity training, creating a police force that is actually quite good.

Through reform, we are ready to go with really well-trained police officers that are more empathetic ... more diverse and more ready to meet people, Hart said. Were just not able to fill the seats of people.

Megan Cassidy is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @meganrcassidy
Mayor London Breed has pulled back a ballot measure that would have asked San Franciscans to expand and clarify the circumstances under which police can monitor surveillance cameras in real time, opting instead to continue conversations at the Board of Supervisors about other ways to achieve similar goals.

Breeds spokesman Jeff Cretan said the mayor withdrew the measure Monday as the deadline approached for getting it on the June 7 ballot since the two parties were having good conversations. Supervisor Aaron Peskin also withdrew his competing measure that would have affirmed the landmark law he authored in 2019 that governs city surveillance policies.

If Breed and Peskin negotiate a deal, supervisors would still need to approve the departments policy or any changes to the existing law.

Breed had filed her ballot measure in the wake of promises in December to crackdown on crime citywide following high-profile mass looting incidents in Union Square and an escalating drug crisis in the Tenderloin. Police welcomed the mayors push to allow greater and quicker access to surveillance that they said would help them curb crime in real-time.

But Peskin and advocates lambasted the effort as gutting privacy and argued the ballot measure was unnecessary given that city departments can get specific policies approved by the board under existing law. Police had not asked the board for approval of their surveillance use policy since Peskins law was adopted in 2019.

Breed had wanted two main changes to the surveillance law. First, her measure would add certain property crimes like organized retail theft, looting and rioting to a list of critical events that qualify police to access live feeds. Current law states that only emergencies that involve danger of death or serious injury can bypass an approval process by the board. Second, it would allow police camera access in public safety crisis areas, which would include spaces known for open-air drug markets or where theres been a documented spike in violent crimes.

Cretan said the mayors office was still seeking those specific changes via an ordinance proposed to the board that would amend the existing law, but Peskin countered that an ordinance wouldnt be necessary if police submit a policy that supervisors approve. He said police as of Wednesday had committed to doing so and shared a draft plan with him a couple weeks ago.

Peskin didnt commit Wednesday to supporting the mayors proposals, but pointed out the board previously approved the SFMTAs policy to do live surveillance that was well-thought-out with training and qualifications for employees and guidelines on how long the data would be stored.

Peskin said the board would review polices policy fairly and accurately. He also wants to amend the law to streamline approval for department policies.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The ACLU of Northern California and a couple dozen other civil rights organizations who supported the 2019 law had condemned the mayors ballot measure in a letter to supervisors and in public hearings. The ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the city in 2020 over police accessing Union Square business district cameras during the George Floyd protests, arguing the department didnt get approval from the board, but a judge ruled last month that police were entitled to do so because they had been granted access before the 2019 law passed.

On Tuesday, advocates cheered the news that the mayors ballot measure was pulled.

The ACLU and our community partners will remain on guard to ensure SFPD follows the law and to prevent any future efforts by the Mayor and SFPD to eradicate surveillance oversight in the future, the group said in a statement.

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench
An effort by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone to lead Catholics in prayer for people suffering in Ukraine may have been the victim of a cyberattack, the San Francisco Archdiocese said.

Cordileone, heeding the call of Pope Francis, scheduled a rosary  a set of prayers  to be conducted virtually on Ash Wednesday, a Catholic holy day of prayer and fasting.

But when people tried to virtually join the archbishop in prayer, they were unable to connect to the archdioceses website despite repeated attempts, said Rev. Patrick Summerhays, vicar general and moderator of the curia for the archdiocese.

Summerhays and other archiocese staffers were at a retreat when they were unable to connect to the website to join the archbishops Rosary for Peace in Ukraine. He contacted the archdioceses technology director who said that an unusually large volume of attempts to visit the site caused it to crash.

The archdioceses internet service provider said it suspected a type of cyberattack known as a distributed denial of service, in which a website is swamped by heavy volume of traffic, causing it to slow down or shut down.

All signs pointed in the direction of it being a cyberattack, Summerhays said.

The archdiocese notified the FBI of the incident, as the internet service advised, he said. The FBIs San Francisco office did not return requests for comment.

Viewers who wanted to join the archbishop in prayer were able to do so on You Tube. Several notified the archdiocese on Thursday that they had been unable to connect to the website, Summerhays said.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Neither the archdioceses internet provider nor Summerhays knew the source of the attack. Summerhays admitted to being surprised that a rosary in San Francisco would be dragged into an international conflict.

I was somewhat shocked, he said. Here we are trying to pray. But this is a major political event in the world and this is a new form of warfare, cyberwarfare. I never thought wed get caught up in it. But I guess we are part of the battle now.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com
The misery experienced on San Franciscos sidewalks has long offered a case study in the failure of Californias mental health care system. Now, the dire situation is inspiring a proposal for a sweeping overhaul.

Gov. Gavin Newsoms plan, to be unveiled Thursday, seeks to tackle two big flaws in the system: the shortage of desperately needed care and the strict limitations on compelling treatment for people who are too sick to understand they need help.

His proposal, called Care Court, would create a mental-health-focused arm of the civil courts in every county. For the first time, the state would require counties to provide comprehensive treatment to those suffering from debilitating psychosis  and risk sanctions if they dont. The people in the program, in turn, would be obligated to accept the care.

In an exclusive interview Wednesday, Newsom grew visibly angry as he discussed his hometown  the city he presided over as mayor more than a decade ago  which prides itself on its so-called compassion as it lets people wither and die on its streets.

Previous efforts to compel treatment have often run into opposition from mental-health advocates who worry about a return to institutionalization, and say governments should focus on expanding voluntary care. But the governor said theres no more time to debate peoples civil rights as they endure degradation, and no more time to argue over how to fund the much-needed help.

Theres no compassion with people with their clothes off defecating and urinating in the middle of the streets, screaming and talking to themselves, Newsom said. Theres nothing appropriate about a kid and a mom going down the street trying to get to the park being accosted by people who clearly need help.

Im increasingly outraged by whats going on in the streets, he said. Im disgusted with it.

Newsom, who has battled homelessness and mental illness in his official capacities for two decades  and has faced pressure to do more  sounded optimistic that this proposal could yield dramatic change.

Under his vision, people suffering from psychosis  whether from a mental illness such as schizophrenia or triggered by severe drug addiction  could be brought before a Superior Court judge under three scenarios: Either they are suspected of a crime, an involuntary hold in a psychiatric emergency room is ending, or a family member or outreach worker believes they cannot care for themselves. A public defender would represent them.

A county clinical team would create a care plan with input from the person and their supporter, a county case manager who would help them navigate the process and make decisions.

The plan would likely include clinical services such as visits with a psychiatrist, prescriptions for medications and housing such as at a board-and-care facility. The person wouldnt need to be homeless to qualify. If a judge ordered the plan, the county would be mandated to provide whats needed and the person would be required to accept it.

If the person suffering from psychosis refused at any point to participate, their criminal case would proceed. If no crime was committed, they could face the existing state process, in which people who are gravely disabled or deemed to be a danger to themselves or others are placed under involuntary holds and eventual conservatorship. Medication could be court-ordered, but would not be forcibly given.

Failure to take mandated medications could mean the person reverts to the criminal court or eventual conservatorship. The idea is to help people long before either of those outcomes is necessary.

Care Court would need legislative approval, which Newsom hopes to secure by June for implementation in January. The legislative process will include debate over how much additional money to provide to the courts.

A loud contingent has fought increases in involuntary treatment and conservatorship for years  and may fight the governors plan, too. They include advocates for homeless and disabled people who say forcing people to accept treatment is cruel, as well as some politicians and mental health clinicians who say increasing the number of conservatorships without far more treatment beds and staff isnt viable.

Newsom brushed off those concerns Wednesday, saying the status quo is intolerable.

Its unclear whether his sweeping, expensive idea will pan out, but whats certain is that the current system is failing miserably.

Every week in San Francisco seems to bring new, horrifying stories of people suffering because they are experiencing crippling mental illness or drug addiction. Last week, a homeless woman and mother of three whose ex-husband said she suffered from severe drug addiction, and whose friend said she had behaved erratically, died in a fire while taking shelter from the cold under a freeway overpass in Glen Park.

On Sunday, Leonard Krubner was riding a Muni train when another passenger shoved him, screamed about him being in the FBI, called him anti-gay slurs and brandished a switchblade. Krubner darted off the train and reported the incident to a Muni agent  who said a similar report had been made the night before.

Hello! Somebody, do something! Krubner said in an interview. I try to be sympathetic to people with problems. Nevertheless, we just cant have them coming onto public transit and brandishing knives.

On Saturday, a group of seven women and girls were celebrating a birthday at Ocean Beach when a man who they said seemed profoundly ill or high approached them, grabbed their food and threw it into the sand. He then grabbed a can of soda and hurled it into the face of Karla Flemmings, one of the celebrants, who passed out.

I laid there and I literally asked, God, am I dying today? Flemmings, 50, said. Then I thought Id lost my eye. I didnt think it was even still there.

A man sitting nearby called 911. Police responded and booked a 46-year-old man on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor vandalism. He remains in jail.

Flemmings was diagnosed with a concussion and multiple fractures in her nose. Her face was severely swollen and her eye was shut for days. She spoke compassionately about the assailant, who she said appeared to be homeless and clearly needs help.

Im born and raised in San Francisco, and Ive seen the drastic changes that have occurred firsthand, she said. So many people dont have money when theres so much wealth and opulence in the Bay Area. Something better has to be done  real services and real support.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

Last year, the state approved spending $12 billion to address homelessness and mental health. Newsoms proposed budget for this year includes another $2 billion. Of the $14 billion total, $4.5 billion is tagged specifically for mental health treatment.

The states Mental Health Services Act, a 1% income tax on the wealthy that passed in 2004, will provide another $3.8 billion this year to counties for treatment, a pot thats grown significantly from last year as incomes of the wealthiest Californians have soared.

Whether the money will be enough to provide the huge amount of care Newsom envisions is a big question, but the governors team says the program would save money elsewhere in pricey jails and hospitals.

Darrell Steinberg, the Sacramento mayor who authored the Mental Health Services Act when he was in the state Legislature, said he supports the Care Court concept because it would finally compel counties to provide services on the states dime.

Everything that cities and counties are called upon to do in providing help and treatment is voluntary and optional, Steinberg said. We dont say to our local communities, You know, provide a free public education to kids or dont, whatever you choose. We require it.

Clearly, the up-to-you approach for counties when it comes to mental health isnt adequate. Under Lauras Law, the program designed to compel outpatient treatment for seriously mentally ill people, just 218 people in the entire state were subject to enter court-ordered treatment in 2018-19, according to the governors office.

The foundation for mental health treatment remains the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, signed by Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1967 in a bid to empower people experiencing mental illness. It allows for short, involuntary psychiatric holds if a person is deemed potentially dangerous, and allows a judge to appoint a longer-term conservator to make decisions for people who are gravely disabled.

But in 2019-20, though there were more than 55,000 short-term holds around the state, just 5,584 long-term conservatorships were put in place. Some of those could have been renewals in cases that are years or even decades old.

Last year, judges found 4,531 people incompetent to stand trial on felony charges, meaning they couldnt understand the nature of their case or assist in their defense. Two-thirds of them were homeless, and nearly half had received no mental health treatment in the previous six months.

In June 2019, San Francisco opted into a controversial state law to expand eligibility for conservatorship to include those suffering from severe drug addictions and mental illness. But nearly three years later, just two people have been conserved.

Newsom called all of these initiatives small ball compared to Care Court, asserting that many of them involved years of fights for few results.

This is a moral exercise, he said. The risk here is not taking one.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight usually appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf
High winds, rain, pea-sized hail and lightning strikes were expected across the Bay Area Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

Its going to be a mixed bag today depending on where youre at, described Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the weather service.

A slow-moving weather system will travel from the North Bay to the South Bay, bringing light, spotty showers, hail and evening lightning across the region Thursday.

Downpours were reported in the North Bay and the Peninsula, and even as far south as Santa Cruz early Thursday, weather officials said.

In the South and East Bay, showers and thunderstorms were reported from Palto Alto to Concord, the weather service said.

The combination of dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning this time of year, pea-sized hail and high winds across the East Bay prompted weather officials to issue special weather statements for the cities of Fremont, Hayward, Concord, Walnut Creek, Danville, San Ramon, Antioch, Brentwood, Byron, Bethel Island and Clyde.

When we get lightning in the Bay Area, its not something that we see everyday, said Garcia. We dont want people walking outside and trying to view the lightning.

Weather models show the rain will continue into Friday afternoon as the weather system continues moving south.

We should be pretty much all out of the rain (Friday afternoon) and then well be off to the wind, said Garcia.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

High winds were forecast Friday morning through the evening in San Francisco and along the coast and the San Francisco Peninsula coast, the weather service said. A windy advisory will go into effect Friday at 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. with winds expected at 25 to 35 mph and gusts 40 to 50 mph, weather officials said.

Temperatures will likely start to drop Friday afternoon, with weekend morning lows dipping into the mid 30s and low 40s across the region. Highs on Saturday and Sunday will be in the upper 50s to mid 60s, said Garcia.

We might see some frost on roofs again Saturday and Sunday mornings, said Garcia.

Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
The average price of a gallon of gas hit the $5 mark in five San Francisco Bay Area counties for the first time ever on Thursday, AAA said. Others are close.

Marin ($5.071), Napa ($5.109), San Francisco ($5.067), San Mateo ($5.042) and Sonoma ($5.087) all reached the threshold. Other counties are inching close: Alameda ($4.999), Contra Costa ($4.976) and Santa Clara ($4.974). Solano County at $4.952 a gallon has the cheapest gas in the Bay Area.

California has the highest gas price in the United States at $4.940 a gallon as of March 2. The Bay Area has some of the highest prices, but remote Mono County east of the Sierra Nevada has the highest average in the state at $5.680.

The price of a barrel of crude oil is the main driver of gas prices, and it rose steadily last year due to an imbalance in supply and demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Demand came back from the pandemic very quickly, in part because many people are avoiding public transit, Severin Borenstein, an energy economist at UC Berkeleys Haas School of Business, told SFGATE last week. Supply is not coming back as quickly, but drilling is now accelerating.

After Russia launched an invasion against Ukraine last week, the price of oil took another big leap, rising over $110 a barrel and trigging another big jump in prices.

AAA spokesperson Aldo Vazquez said the price of a barrel of oil was about $60 in August and last month was hovering around $90 a barrel for several weeks. Last week, it rose to $100 and this week, it hit $110 a barrel.

Now that Russia has invaded Ukraine, the United States and its allies have imposed more significant financial sanctions on Russia, Vazquez said. Russia is retaliating by keeping away its oil from the global oil market, and that is having significant impact on the price of crude oil.

Vazquez said he doesn't see prices coming down anytime soon. "The longer this war goes on, the more it's going to have impacts on a lot of aspects of our lives and the price of gas is one of those," he said.
This article was first published on NerdWallet.com.

Businesses buoyed by coronavirus relief funding may face a new wave of uncertainty this tax filing season as rules about how that money should be reported on federal and state income taxes continue to shift.

Congress made coronavirus relief programs like the Paycheck Protection Program and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant tax-exempt, while still allowing companies to deduct business expenses paid with the funds they received, effectively creating two layers of tax relief for struggling businesses.

But, not all states followed suit  and many have been inconsistent with the tax treatment of COVID-19 funding at the state level  causing confusion for businesses owners.

Here's how various types of COVID relief funding may impact your 2021 business taxes. When in doubt, consult with a tax professional to decode any changes or nuances in your states tax code.

Paycheck Protection Program

Forgiven PPP loans aren't taxable income as far as the IRS is concerned. And expenses that normally would be deductible are still deductible, even when paid with a PPP loan. But some states deviate from the federal code on one or both of these points.

In Utah, for example, forgiven PPP loans are considered taxable income on state returns. And in California, only private companies that experienced a 25% drop in gross receipts can deduct expenses paid with a PPP loan.

Other states altered their tax treatment of PPP loans and expenses in 2021, meaning businesses may need to file amended returns.

COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans

Funds lent through the Small Business Administrations EIDL program aren't taxed as income, says Armine Alajian, a certified public accountant and founder of the Alajian Group, an accounting firm with offices in Los Angeles and New York.

EIDL loans are pure loans paid in 30 years at 3.75% interest. This is not taxable because it's not income, it's a loan to pay back, Alajian says. The payments are not tax-deductible either.

Businesses that received a targeted or supplemental EIDL advance don't need to report those funds as income for federal tax purposes either. While those funds are technically grants, they are excluded from taxable income.

State and federal COVID Grants

Grants are typically treated as income on business tax returns. Thats not the case with two large-scale federal COVID grants: the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

Money received through either program isn't taxed as income on federal returns, and you can deduct expenses paid with your grant money. You may need to report these funds on your state taxes, though, as some states dont align with the federal government on this.

State grants are a different story. These funds are often considered income on both state and federal returns, but some states have made exceptions for COVID-relief grants.

If youre unclear on your states rules, check your tax documents and consult a tax professional, says Talibah Bayles, founder and CEO of Birmingham, Alabama-based TMB Tax & Financial Services.

Be very intentional about looking at any 1099s you receive due to a grant, Bayles says. That form will indicate if the grant is taxable. If you have a 1099 and it is taxable, talk to a tax professional. What were the program requirements? Are there any nuances at the state level that would allow you to treat it as not taxable on the federal level?

Employee Retention Credit

The Employee Retention Credit has gone through several iterations over the past two years, causing headaches and heartburn for many small-business owners.

Originally, business owners couldnt double-dip on PPP and ERC. This was later amended, retroactively, so businesses that took out a PPP loan could claim the tax credit, just not on wages already covered by their PPP loan.

The amount of the credit also changed. Businesses could qualify for up to $5,000 per employee for wages paid between March 12, 2020, through the end of 2021. That figure changed to $7,000 per employee, per quarter, for wages paid from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, 2021, making it a much more enticing option for small-business owners.

I do think it is a gem for business owners," Bayles says. "Its a great opportunity for trying to positively impact your cash flow.

The problem: Most small businesses dont have payroll.

Especially your solopreneurs or even single-member LLCs, she says. Most business owners dont have a formal payroll or have themselves on a formal payroll, so it still leaves out a chunk of people that it was intending to help.

Businesses that qualify and want to cash in on ERC changes retroactively will need to amend prior years' tax returns to lower accompanying payroll expenses.

You need to reduce the expense in the year in which youre claiming [the credit], not the year youre receiving it, says Ryan Losi, a certified public accountant and the executive vice president of Piascik, an accounting firm headquartered near Richmond, Virginia. The IRS says some [ERC] claims will take a year to process.

That means business owners need to amend personal and business returns from the prior year without actually having cash in hand  and in their books  from the credit.

A previous version of this article misspelled Armine Alajian's name. It has been corrected.

Kelsey Sheehy writes for NerdWallet. Email: ksheehy@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @KelseyLSheehy.

The article How COVID Grants, Relief Programs Impact 2021 Business Taxes originally appeared on NerdWallet.
SOCHI, Russia  On Feb. 23, Razil Malikov, a tank driver in the Russian army, called his family and said he would be home soon; his units military drills in Crimea were just about wrapping up.

The next morning, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Malikov hasnt been heard from since. On Monday, Ukraine published a video of a captured soldier in his unit, apologizing for taking part in the invasion.

He had no idea they could send him to Ukraine, Malikovs brother, Rashid Allaberganov, said in a phone interview from the western Russian region of Bashkortostan. Everyone is in a state of shock.

The reality of war is dawning across Russia.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry for the first time announced a death toll for Russian service members in the conflict. While casualty figures in wartime are notoriously unreliable  and Ukraine has put the total of Russian dead in the thousands  the 498 Moscow acknowledged in the seven days of fighting is the largest in any of its military operations since the war in Chechnya, which marked the beginning of President Vladimir Putins tenure in 1999.

Russians who long avoided engaging with politics are now realizing that their country is fighting a deadly conflict, even as the Kremlin gets ever more aggressive in trying to shape the narrative. Its slow-motion crackdown on freedoms has become a whirlwind of repression of late, as the last vestiges of a free press faced extinction.

This week, lawmakers proposed a 15-year prison sentence for people who post fakes about the war, and rumors are swirling about soon-to-be-closed borders or martial law. The Education Ministry scheduled a video lesson to be shown in schools nationwide Thursday that described the war against Ukraine as a liberation mission.

And in Moscow, the regional office of the Committee of Soldiers Mothers of Russia has been fielding 2,000 calls a day since last Thursday.

The parents first question is: What happened to my child? said Alexander Latynin, a senior committee official. Is he alive?

Seizing on the worries of Russian families, Ukraine has pushed to publicize the fact that many young Russian soldiers were dying or being taken prisoner  a reality that the Russian military did not acknowledge until Sunday, the fourth day of the war. Ukrainian government agencies and volunteers have published videos of disoriented Russian prisoners of war saying they had no idea they were about to be part of an invasion until just before it began, and photographs and footage showed the bodies of Russian soldiers strewn on streets and fields.

The videos are reaching some Russians directly. Yevgeniya A. Ivanova, for instance, identified a friend of hers, Viktor A. Golubev, who appeared in one of the videos. In it, Golubev said he feels guilty for his wrong actions on Ukrainian soil and calls on Putin to find a compromise to avoid war.

To some Russians, the toll in human lives is reason enough to oppose the war, and OVD-Info, an activist group that tallies arrests, has counted at least 7,359 Russians detained during seven days of protests in scores of cities across the country.

Its the third decade of the 21st century, and we are watching news about people burning in tanks and bombed-out buildings, Alexei Navalny, an opposition leader, wrote in a social media post from prison Wednesday, calling on Russians to continue to rally despite the withering police crackdown. Lets not be against war. Lets fight against war.

Members of the Russian elite also continued to speak out. Lyudmila Narusova, a member of Russias upper house of Parliament, told the independent Dozhd television channel Sunday that dead Russian soldiers in Ukraine lay unburied; wild, stray dogs gnawing on bodies that in some cases cannot be identified because they are burned.

I do not identify myself with those representatives of the state that speak out in favor of the war, Narusova said. I think they themselves do not know what they are doing. They are following orders without thinking.

The Russian International Affairs Council, a government-funded think tank, published an article by a prominent expert describing the war as a strategic debacle. The expert, Ivan Timofeev, said Ukrainian society would now see Russia as an enemy for several decades to come. He added a veiled warning directed at government officials who were now cracking down on people speaking out against the war.

History shows that those who look for traitors sooner or later themselves become victims of enthusiasts and well-wishers, wrote Timofeev, the councils program director.

But the discontent showed no sign of affecting Putins campaign, as Russias assault on Ukraine widened, with heavy fighting reported for the port city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov. The government signaled it would only intensify its crackdown against the wars critics  including those who called it a war rather than, in the Kremlins anodyne term, a special military operation.

Individuals who carry out falsification must be punished in the most severe way, said Vasily Piskaryov, a senior lawmaker in Putins party. They are discrediting the absolutely rightful and understandable actions of our armed forces.

His proposed punishment: 15 years in prison. The Parliament, which is controlled by the Kremlin, will take up the law Friday.

Some feared that Putin could go even further, repressing dissent to an extent unseen in Russia since Soviet times. Tatiana Stanovaya, a scholar who has long studied Putin, wrote it was more than logical to expect that lawmakers this week would approve the imposition of martial law in order to block the open internet, ban all protests and restrict Russians from being able to leave the country.

Such speculation, fed by how quickly the Kremlin was moving to block access to individual news media outlets and arrest protesters, has led increasing numbers of Russians to flee the country.

Echo of Moscow, Russias flagship liberal-leaning radio station, was taken off the air Tuesday for the first time since the Soviet coup attempt of 1991. Leading staff members of Dozhd, Russias only remaining independent television channel, left the country Wednesday after access to its website was blocked.

Its clear that the personal security of some of us is under threat, wrote Tikhon Dzyadko, the channels editor-in-chief, explaining why he had decided to temporarily depart.

There was also evidence that, even though the war took many Russians by surprise, significant numbers had come to accept it as unavoidable or forced upon Russia by an aggressive NATO. The economic crisis touched off by the Wests harsh sanctions reinforced that narrative for some. On Wednesday, the ruble plumbed new lows as more companies like Siemens and Oracle announced they would reduce their operations in Russia and as the central bank ordered the Moscow stock exchange to remain shut Thursday for the fourth straight day.

At a Moscow shopping mall Wednesday, a young couple lining up for cash at an ATM said they opposed the war. And yet they said that the way the world was punishing them for it was not fair, either, considering that the United States had fought its own wars in recent decades without coming under harsh international sanctions.

Just as you can criticize the government, you can criticize Western countries, said Maksim Filatov, 25, who manages a hookah bar business. When there were analogous situations in other countries involving the United States, there were no such attacks, and they didnt drive the country into crisis.

And the Committee of Soldiers Mothers, despite being a firsthand witness to the tragedy wrought by the war, had decided to support it, according to Latynin, the senior official. He echoed the words of Putin, who last week described his special military operation as one of self-defense.

We understand that no armed conflict comes without victims, Latynin said. But this was a necessary step, because it was impossible to go on like this.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
PARIS - Russian President Vladimir Putin called French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, in what appeared to have been a markedly more tense exchange than previous conversations between the two leaders.

The 90-minute call failed to deliver a diplomatic breakthrough, and a senior French official said it left Macron convinced that "the worst is yet to come" and that Putin aims to take control of all of Ukraine.

"Your country will pay dearly because it will end up as an isolated country, weakened and under sanctions for a very long time," Macron told Putin, according to a French official, who added that Macron "called on Vladimir Putin to not lie to himself."

The conversation, which the French presidency said was initiated by Putin, came as Ukrainian officials were set to hold talks with a Russian delegation, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials. But based on the two leaders' exchange, there was no indication on Thursday that a diplomatic solution could be in sight, according to French officials.

The Kremlin's news service cited Putin as having told Macron that the objectives "of the special military operation" - the term the Kremlin has used to refer to Russia's invasion of Ukraine - "will be fulfilled in any case."

"Attempts to gain time by dragging negotiations will only lead to additional requirements for Kyiv in our negotiating position," Putin told Macron, according to the readout.

A senior French official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because it is French government practice, said Putin's remarks reflected a "determination to continue the military operation, and to continue it to the end."

According to the Kremlin's news service, Putin also took issue with an address to the nation Macron had given on Wednesday evening, in which he had condemned Putin's "brutal attack" on Ukraine and said "Putin chose the war."

In his speech, Macron had also said Putin's claims that he wants to "denazify" Ukraine are "a lie" and "an insult to the history of Russia and Ukraine, to the memory of our elders who fought side by side against Nazism."

Responding directly to those comments on Thursday, the Kremlin news service said Putin disagreed "with many points" raised in Macron's address, and he denied that Russia was behind the shelling of major Ukrainian cities - despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Macron is the only Western leader who has been in consistent public contact with Putin since the invasion of Ukraine, in an effort the French presidency has described as an attempt to keep the doors to meaningful negotiations open. Putin and Macron also spoke on Monday, and last Thursday.

Before the invasion, Macron had led Western efforts to prevent an escalation of the crisis through diplomatic channels, traveling to Moscow last month to keep Putin engaged. Since mid-December, the two leaders have spoken over a dozen times, according to the French presidency. Macron has also been in frequent contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky - the last time on Thursday, following his call with Putin.

- - -

The Washington Post's Robyn Dixon contributed to this report from Moscow and Claire Parker contributed from Washington.
[March 03, 2022] Bell enters into a strategic engagement with the Vector Institute to advance artificial intelligence research and applications MONTREAL, March 3, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Bell today announced it has entered a five-year strategic engagement with the Vector Institute, an independent, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Bell's collaboration with the Vector Institute is part of its objective to remain at the forefront of technology and innovation in telecommunications services, and encourage the development of, and expertise in, new, emerging technologies right here in Canada. Bell has invested over the past decades in developing extensive data, analytics capabilities, and AI applications in multiple areas of its operations. The collaboration will help to continue accelerating the development and adoption of AI applications across Bell. Tapping into Vector's diverse talent community and AI engineering capabilities to accelerate the application of advanced AI within Bell, is important for Bell's continued focus on innovation that will benefit its customers and Canadian industry in the years to come. This collaboration will enable Bell to be part of Vector's community of AI leaders in Canada. "Bell is thrilled to collaborate with Vector and the work they're doing in developing new research and expertise in artificial intelligence in Canada. Fostering the development of new technologies within our borders helps Canadian industry, and in turn benefits Canadians. We are proud to help accelerate innovation in this field so that we can harness AI for applications at Bell." - John Watson, Group President, Customer Experience, Bell Bell has built an AI practice through developing in-house talent, forging relationships with universities, working with industry leaders, and engaging in partnerships with organizations like Vector. Bell currently has AI use cases applying to every line of business and continues to identify areas where machine learning can help improve the customer experience and operations. "We are excited to welcome Bell as our newest industry sponsor. They are a highly engaged partner, and we look forward to working with them on several fronts, including talent recruitment. Together we hope to leverage AI and unlock new innovations for Canadian industry and ensure that all Canadians benefit from its transformative power." - Garth Gibson, President and CEO, Vector Institute About Bell

Bell is Canada's largest communications company, providing advanced broadband wireless, TV, Internet, media and business communication services throughout the cuntry. Founded in Montreal in 1880, Bell is wholly owned by BCE Inc. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca or BCE.ca. Through Bell for Better, we are investing to create a better today and a better tomorrow by supporting the social and economic prosperity of our communities with a commitment to the highest environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. This includes the Bell Let's Talk initiative, which promotes Canadian mental health with national awareness and anti-stigma campaigns like Bell Let's Talk Day and significant Bell funding of community care and access, research and workplace leadership initiatives throughout the country. To learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk. About Vector Institute

Launched in 2017, the Vector Institute works with industry, institutions, start-ups, and government to build AI talent and drive research excellence in AI to develop and sustain AI-based innovation to foster economic growth and improve the lives of Canadians. Vector's Three-Year Strategy aims to advance AI research, increase adoption in industry and health through programs for talent, commercialization, and application, and lead Canada towards the responsible use of AI. Programs for industry, led by top AI practitioners, offer foundations for applications in products and processes, company-specific guidance, training for professionals, and connections to workforce-ready talent. Vector is funded by the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada through the CIFAR Pan-Canadian AI Strategy, and industry sponsors. Media inquiries

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On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis mocked high school students for wearing masks, leading some to remove them. On Thursday, after a torrent of criticism, he doubled down, sending out a tweet saying, "It's curtain call for covid theater."

After the event, parents of some of the students said they were angry at DeSantis's actions. Dawn Marshall, whose son Eric took off the mask after the governor's scolding, told WFLA, Tampa's NBC station: "It's just shocking that the governor told these kids take off your mask. He pretty much said take off your mask, it's stupid, and take off your mask your parents don't matter."

On Thursday, he pressed on, tweeting: "The political science show cannot go on. It's curtain call for covid theater." DeSantis, a Republican, also released a fundraising letter, lamenting the "liberal attack" on him following his Wednesday comments.

This latest episode of DeSantis political drama began at the University of South Florida when the governor announced a $20 million cybersecurity education initiative. Before he started his news conference, he noticed that a group of Middleton High School students who were standing behind the podium to take part in the event were wearing masks.

He scolded them, saying: "You do not have to wear those masks. Please take them off. Honestly, it's not doing anything. We've got to stop with this covid theater. So if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous."

A few students removed their masks while others left them on. Eric Marshall, a senior, said he felt "a little" pressure to remove his mask. He told WFLA: "It was more of pressure of an adult figure asking me to do something and it's just like all right."

DeSantis sent out a fundraising appeal by email on Thursday, according to Politico's Gary Fineout, that says in part: "While in Tampa, I told a group of students masks were ridiculous, and they didn't have to wear them if they didn't want to. Predictably, the leftist propagandists in our media had a meltdown and called me a 'bully' for allowing children to breathe fresh air."

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased recommendations on mask-wearing for much of the country in an attempt to allow individuals to assess personal risk based on their health status and conditions in their community, including case counts and hospital admissions and capacity. The goal is to protect people from severe illness and to prevent health-care systems from being overwhelmed. The move came as many state and local officials had already taken such steps.

Hillsborough County, according to the county covid-19 dashboard, has a coronavirus positivity rate of 6.8%. Public health experts say that high-quality masks do, in fact, provide significant protection against contracting the coronavirus, despite DeSantis's claim that masks don't do "anything."

DeSantis's comments were immediately spread on social media - millions of people viewed a video on Twitter. Critics on Twitter said it was hypocritical for DeSantis to push students to take off their masks when he prides himself on supporting "choice" and being the governor of the "freedom state."

Michelle Todd, host of the "He Said, She Said" podcast and a self-declared moderate, tweeted: "This should've been an exciting day for these high schoolers. No hello, nice to meet you from the Governor. Instead a lecture because his props for his announcement didn't look how he wanted them to."

Addison Davis, superintendent of Hillsborough County Public Schools, issued a more subtle statement saying that the district was "excited" that Middleton students were highlighted as part of the cybersecurity education initiative. Then he said this: "As always, our students should be valued and celebrated. It is a student and parent's choice to protect their health in a way they feel most appropriate. We are proud of the manner in which our students represented themselves and our school district."

DeSantis has been decidedly anti-mask for much of the pandemic, taking steps last year to block school districts from issuing mask mandates and going as far as withholding state funds from districts that defied his orders not to impose masking requirements. He recently said that parents should be given the power to sue school districts if their child was "illegally forced-masked this year."
WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Thursday that Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and other Republicans who heckled President Joe Biden during his State of the Union address Tuesday should "just shut up."

During his address, Biden spoke about his late son, Beau Biden - an Iraq War veteran who died of brain cancer in 2015 - as he called on Congress to pass legislation to aid veterans exposed to toxins while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The toxins, he said, lead to cancers "that would put them in a flag-draped coffin."

For years, Biden has said his son's death might have been caused by exposure to toxins while he served in Iraq and Kosovo. Beau Biden was an officer in the Army National Guard.

Boebert interrupted him as he mentioned the flag-draped coffins, yelling from her seat: "You put them there. Thirteen of them!"

She appeared to be referencing the 13 U.S. troops killed in a suicide attack last year during the final days of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Lawmakers around Boebert appeared annoyed and discomforted by her outburst. Democrats booed her, and one shouted, "Kick her out!"

Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., was seen seeming to mouth, "Oh, shut up."

On Thursday morning, when a reporter asked Pelosi what she made of Boebert's outburst, she echoed Graham's sentiment.

"Let me just say this, I agree with what Senator Lindsey Graham said: 'Shut up,'" Pelosi told reporters at her weekly news conference. "That's what he said to them. I think they should just shut up."

In response to Pelosi's comments, Boebert tweeted a clip Thursday of the speaker tearing up a copy of then-President Donald Trump's 2020 State of the Union speech, an image that went viral and encapsulated a tumultuous year in the relationship between Pelosi and Trump.

"So Fancy Nancy is upset about me speaking out at the State of the Union," Boebert tweeted. "What's she so torn up about? I will not 'shut up' about Biden's failure in Afghanistan and the 13 heroes we lost because of it."

By the end of Biden's address, Boebert tweeted, "When Biden said flag-draped coffins I couldn't stay silent. I told him directly he did it. He put 13 in there. Our heroic servicemen and women deserve so much better."

Boebert's outburst wasn't the only one of the night. Some in the chamber - including Boebert and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. - seemed to mock the president as he went on with his speech. Boebert and Greene led a chant of "Build the wall!" - a slogan popular among supporters of Trump - when Biden talked about his plans to tackle immigration.

Boebert's actions Tuesday night drew immediate rebuke from other lawmakers, including fellow Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat, who told CBS Local that Boebert's behavior showed she "doesn't understand service and doesn't understand sacrifice."

Boebert, Crow said, "doesn't know what she's doing," and "is not interested in legislating or even knowing the issues or knowing the facts."
A besieged Ukraine has adopted a gruesome tactic in hopes of stoking anti-government rage inside Russia: posting photos and videos of captured and killed Russian soldiers on the Web for anyone to see.

On Telegram, Twitter and YouTube, Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs since Sunday has posted a constant stream of extremely graphic images showcasing the horrors of war and inviting Russians to examine them to determine whether the images feature a missing loved one.

In many of the images, soldiers' corpses can be seen burned, ripped apart, mangled in wreckage or abandoned in snow; in some, their faces are featured in bloody close-ups, frozen in pain.

In others, prisoners are interrogated by captors about the invasion as they shake with emotion. Some of the men sit crumpled, hands bound, eyes blindfolded with tape.

The images are viewable by anyone with a Web browser or a smartphone and have been shared widely across the Internet. The Telegram channel where they are displayed now has more than 620,000 subscribers.

While not unprecedented - North Vietnam shared photos and film of imprisoned U.S. service members, including the late Sen. John McCain, in hopes of inflaming antiwar sentiment in the United States - the Ukrainian effort, thanks to the Internet, is playing to an audience rarely available in the annals of war.

Anyone can scroll through hundreds of faces of people the government says were killed just hours earlier or who remain captive, their darkest moments immortalized in video for the world to watch. And because it's on Telegram, viewers can get a notification and react, with emoji, any time a new video is added.

Ukrainian officials have argued that the chilling images will alert Russians to a devastating war effort the Kremlin has sought to conceal. In videos they've shared of the phone calls they've allowed prisoners to make to their families, Ukrainians can be heard urging the soldiers to ask their parents to rally against Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the bloodshed.

But the tactic also could be interpreted as a violation of the Geneva Conventions, which say governments must "at all times" protect prisoners of war from "insults and public curiosity."

Such violations might seem minor compared with evidence suggesting Russian military forces have killed civilians and indiscriminately bombed residential neighborhoods, said Rachel E. VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School who has studied war crimes. But they could chip away at Ukraine's ability to hold Russia accountable for violating international law.

"The law doesn't allow for, 'They're doing bad things, so we can, too,'" VanLandingham said. "They don't want to turn the international community against them. They've got to be on the straight and narrow here. It's really dangerous for them in desperation to do things that are clearly prohibited."

The campaign shows the extent to which Ukraine is seeking to exploit all technological options to undermine Russia's military onslaught. Officials have created an online form where the parents of Russian soldiers can enter their children's personal information to help identify or confirm the young men's fates.

They've also told parents they can send in their own DNA to help determine whether their son has been killed in combat. There is a fee for the service, according to a YouTube video outlining it.

The online form includes a government estimate of Russian losses. As of Wednesday, it claimed 5,840 Russian soldiers had been killed and more than 200 were held captive. The numbers cannot be confirmed.

Spokespeople for Ukraine's Defense Ministry and its embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

The authenticity of the campaign's photos and videos cannot be independently verified. Ukrainian officials say all of the dead and captured are Russian soldiers, but that also cannot be confirmed.

The Kremlin has banned discussion of an invasion they have falsely described in state propaganda as a limited military operation. Some Russian soldiers' family members contacted by the Ukrainians told The Guardian that they hadn't even realized the men had gone to war.

The treatment of soldiers has been a flash point in Russia since the brutality of wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya helped fuel a parent-led movement advocating for more visibility into military conditions.

The Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, a human rights group, has said young conscripts were forced into signing contracts and taken to fight in the assault on Ukraine.

"Eight out of 10 calls that we get are about the same question: 'Is my child alive? Where is he?'" Andrey Kurochkin, the organization's deputy chief, told The Washington Post in a recent interview.

Ukrainian officials said Russia has blocked the campaign's website, but some people inside the country could still access it Wednesday. Russia has restricted access to Twitter, Facebook and other sites as part of a crackdown on what it calls disinformation.

The Ukrainians' online campaign is called, roughly, "Look for Your Own." Its website domain name, 200rf.com, probably refers to Cargo 200, a Soviet military term for how soldiers' bodies are shuttled back from war.

In addition to the Telegram channel, some of the recordings have been posted to a Twitter account and a YouTube channel, where the videos - some of which have been edited into short, TikTok-like clips - have been viewed more than 1.3 million times.

The Ukrainians have also launched a phone hotline and Telegram channel with information on how Russian mothers could free their sons from imprisonment by traveling to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. The Defense Ministry said in an announcement Wednesday that "Ukrainians, unlike Putin's fascists, do not fight mothers and their captive children."

In a YouTube video directly addressing Russian viewers, a man identified as an adviser in Ukraine's Interior Ministry said the captives are treated humanely, that most could not otherwise call home because they had no phones and that the Ukrainian government could help get soldiers' bodies back to their families.

In another video, a Ukrainian official holding a rifle says some of the dead Russian soldiers cannot be easily identified from the photos due to "the horrors of war that your president caused," but that they have posted them anyway in case viewers could recognize their loved ones through other means. The family members, he said, should do everything they can so that their husbands and sons no longer die in Ukraine.

The government's top law enforcement agency, the Security Service of Ukraine, has also posted videos of captured soldiers to its Facebook page, some of which showed men explaining that they had not realized they were going into battle.

The video captions say the men have been given medical care but will be held responsible for their actions. It could not be independently determined whether the soldiers were speaking under duress.

Russia has mandatory year-long military service for all men under age 27, and Russian regulations say conscripts can be sent to a combat zone no earlier than four months into their training. But the soldiers' mothers group says it has received a barrage of calls from Russian parents saying some conscripts were coerced or misled into signing up for service, or that they had barely served two months before being sent unprepared onto the battlefield.

Some conscripts told their mothers, according to Kurochkin, that they believed they were heading toward the Ukrainian border for drills, which is how Russia for weeks explained its massive buildup.

"Then they are being told: 'Now you are contractors'," he said. "And everyone's phones are being taken away, while moms are crying and in panic."

The use of conscripts had already become an issue before Russian troops surged into Ukraine when a local news outlet in the Russian region of Belgorod circulated photos of more than 100 soldiers sleeping on the floor of a small train station 40 miles from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Russia's Defense Ministry has denied that it sent conscripts to war zones.

Thousands of antiwar protesters have been arrested in the streets of Moscow and other Russian cities in the past week. Russian military officials on Sunday, for the first time since launching the invasion, acknowledged that some of their soldiers were dead or wounded.

On social media, unverified videos showing what appear to be surrendering Russian soldiers have gone viral in recent days. One video shows a man drinking tea and talking through a video call to someone identified as his mother. Off camera, someone can be heard saying, "Get up, woman, and take the whole world on foot with you."

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine for years has tested the boundaries of international law. In 2014, pro-Russian separatists paraded captured Ukrainian prisoners through Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, which human rights activists said violated Geneva Conventions against "humiliating and degrading treatment."

The "public curiosity" rule was cited in 2019 after Pakistan's Information Ministry posted, and later deleted, video of a captured Indian pilot whose fighter jet had been shot down on Pakistani-controlled land.

The United States officially protested when captured soldiers were shown on TV days after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and a U.S. military commission convicted a German lieutenant general in 1946 for marching American prisoners through the streets of Rome during World War II.

More recently, the United States has been accused of violating the law of war by showing photos of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

- - -

The Washington Post's Alex Horton contributed to this report.
TAIPEI, Taiwan  Growing up in Taiwan, Huang Yu-lin has become accustomed to chatter about potential military conflict with mainland China. But it wasn't until Russia invaded Ukraine that she started to seriously consider what she would do in such a scenario.

"Hearing it so often, it was a bit like crying wolf," the 32-year-old energy policy researcher said. Now, with a war raging in Europe and deteriorating cross-strait relations, she's begun looking into medical training and browsing war survival manuals. "I've become more and more worried. This is something that needs to be taken seriously," she said.

For days, the world has been captivated by the invasion of Ukraine, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought control of the former Soviet republic's capital, Kyiv, and ordinary citizens have taken up arms to defend their country. In Taiwan, the apprehension comes with added anxiety over its own precarious geopolitical standing, under the shadow of an aggressive neighbor pushing a territorial claim.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is determined to eventually bring the democratically ruled island back into the Communist Party's fold. While Beijing has called for peaceful reunification, record incursions by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone are a regular reminder that Xi hasn't ruled out the use of force.

"We feel totally related because of the Chinese Communist Party's threats to Taiwan every day," said Chen Kuan-ting, chief executive of Taiwan NextGen Foundation, a think tank politically aligned with the governing Democratic Progressive Party. "We need to invest more in our own national defense, and that is the only way to deter aggression."

Officials and defense specialists in Taiwan have pointed to Ukraine as a potent warning to step up military training and preparation at home. At the same time, leaders have sought to allay concerns about any imminent threats from China, as well as the island's defense capabilities.

"Our military is committed to defending our homeland and continues to improve its ability to do so, and our global partners are contributing to the security of our region, giving us strong confidence in Taiwan's security," Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said in a statement condemning Russia's attack on Ukraine.

Experts point to several differences that diminish the likelihood of an imminent attack on Taiwan, an island of about 23 million people. One key factor is the Taiwan Strait, which acts as a natural geographical buffer against mainland forces. Strong diplomatic ties with other democratic governments such as Japan and the U.S., along with Taiwan's vital role in the global economy and supply chain in semiconductor production, could also help deter aggression.

To help preserve the status quo, the U.S. does not formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation and has been intentionally ambiguous about how much military support it might provide if China attacked the island. As younger generations of Taiwanese develop a stronger sense of identity that sets the island apart from China, some worry that a more defiant stance against unification or an explicit declaration of support from the U.S. could provoke Beijing into action.

Beijing has also stressed the differences between Ukraine and Taiwan, in particular arguing that the latter has always been a part of China.

"It is unwise of certain people of the Taiwan authorities to latch on to and exploit the Ukraine issue to their advantage," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a briefing transcript from last week. "'Taiwan independence' only leads to a dead end."

While many have brushed off fears of confrontation, to others the visceral violence in Ukraine has suddenly made China's threats much more tangible.

"A lot of scenarios now happening in Ukraine, those were not imaginable for a lot of people," said T.H. Schee, 44, a tech and policy worker who hosts lectures in Taiwan on civil defense.

Schee's events have traditionally focused on natural disaster response, but many recent participants have been drawn to the seminars because of Ukraine. Among the questions he's received from concerned Taiwanese are whether they can learn to hack computers or shoot rifles, Schee said, despite Taiwan's strict laws on gun ownership.

"It's like the Wild West. People have just got no idea what will happen, or what other resources you need," he said.

Chiang Chia-hung, a master's student in international relations at National Taiwan University, was pleasantly surprised to find less politically minded friends and family also closely following the news in Ukraine. Even the local shopkeeper raised the issue with him while he was out buying tofu and sausages, during a weekend trip home to the central city of Taichung.

Chiang, who spent two out of his four months of conscription in the Matsu Islands about 10 miles from China's coast, said he hopes this kind of attention will lead Taiwanese people to take the possibility of outside aggression more seriously.

"There, the risk of China was always present," he said of his time in Matsu. "Add on these developments, and I feel like it's made me more aware that you really can't underestimate the danger of China."

As Chinese pressure has mounted over the last few years, Taiwan has worked on bolstering national security and defense, including adding billions of dollars in spending to a record defense budget and increasing training for military reservists.

Lai Yu-sheng, a 25-year-old from New Taipei City, said the invasion of Ukraine may boost interest in military affairs or service among younger generations. Given his own health exemption from service, Lai said he plans to get his EMT certification instead. "I want to find other areas I can be ready to help out in," he said.

Lai and others are still counting on the United States for assistance in the event of a conflict, an assumption that has been tested by America's messy withdrawal from Afghanistan and a lack of U.S. military support for Ukraine. Military experts agree that Taiwan would be hard-pressed to hold off a full-scale invasion on its own.

"Internationally recognized countries, if they can so easily be invaded like this, then couldn't Taiwan be too, without any reason?" said Chang Ya-chu, a 21-year-old medical student in Taipei. "We need to work to defend our land ourselves first. Whether others are willing to help us is another matter."

Amid the heightened debate over the implications for Taiwan, President Biden sent a delegation of former U.S. Defense officials to Taipei this week. "Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is not just a U.S. interest, but also a global one," former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael G. Mullen said on arrival in a statement that praised Taiwan's democracy.

At antiwar gatherings in Taipei over the weekend, some attendees brought sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine. The bloom also holds significance for proponents of democracy in Taiwan, stemming from the 2014 Sunflower Movement of student protests against closer trade with China.

Cindy Chang, a 36-year-old Taichung resident, said her deep affinity for Ukraine dates back to that movement, which coincided with tumultuous antigovernment demonstrations in Ukraine.

"At that time, many of the ways that Taiwanese citizens actively spoke to the world were learned from Ukrainian citizens," she said. "Ukrainians are very brave. I just hope under similar circumstances we can be just as brave as them."
By Kalpana Mohan

Bay City News Foundation

Dhaya Lakshminarayanan is unapologetic about being smart.

"I think the sexiest body part is the gray and white matter," she says.

Early on in her career, as Lakshminarayanan considered her brand and her career, this sassy San Francisco comedian (a management consultant and Silicon Valley venture capitalist in her previous avatar) asked her girlfriends if they had ever tried to seem vacuous simply in order to be accepted.

The answer was a resounding "yes."

It was a revelation to Lakshminarayanan; all too often women feel compelled to hide their intellects in order to be accepted. This realization honed her vision for her own brand of stand-up.

In "Dhayatribe," the debut album she launched last week, Lakshminarayanan can't help riffing on established properties from elementary mathematics. Everyone knows that if "A=B and B=C, then A=C". This mathematical property is basic to understanding of the world, according to Lakshminarayanan.

Yet her mother doesn't see it quite as plainly, after all. Therein lies the rub -- and all that terrific material for a stand-up comedian.

Over the years, Lakshminarayanan's own immigrant family background and the cultural values her parents instilled in her brother and her became the treasure trove for jokes in a cutthroat industry where the first rule is to be out-and-out funny.

"Embedded in your job title is 'funny,'" she observes. "The second it becomes unfunny you're not doing your job!"

Breaking the glass ceiling

For scores of American women before Dhaya Lakshminarayanan, the path to stand-up comedy has seldom been smooth. To be accepted in an industry that all too often called for a display of bravura packed with ample testosterone, it meant that a woman would have to be unique enough to be remembered, yet mundane enough to be relatable.

For Lakshminarayanan, being noticed has been no mean feat. Despite the strides America may have made as a society with regard to female empowerment, for a woman to speak uninterrupted is still never a given in a mansplaining cosmos.

"It's extremely powerful for a woman to have the microphone and talk about the things she wants to talk about," she says.

Specifically, one of the ideas Lakshminarayanan has always returned to is how she's not sorry for being a graduate of the hallowed Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for loving numbers and science and, as it follows, for being a total nerd.

It's a shtick Dhaya Lakshminarayanan is proud of because it makes her stand out in the rarefied atmosphere of standup humor.

Her hard work has been rewarded. In 2016, she was the winner of the prestigious Liz Carpenter Political Humor Award presented by the National Women's Political Caucus. In 2018, she was named one of 20 "Women to Watch" in a KQED series celebrating creative women in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In spite of her own accolades and the hard-earned successes of women before her -- of Phyllis Diller or of Moms Mabley in the past, or of Tina Fey or Ali Wong in the present, female stand-ups continue to get pushback. In late night comedy, for instance, it's still rare to see more than a couple of female writers among a dozen or more male writers.

The keys to the kingdom of stand-up often required funny women to make a name for themselves by furthering their cause. In the '70s, for instance, Robin Tyler and Pat Harrison acknowledged their homosexuality and made feminism a central component of their repertoire.

Ali Wong was noticed because of her acerbic take on the issues surrounding motherhood and womanhood. In almost every instance, women in comedy have engaged in a crusade. They've brought difficult conversations to the table.

For Lakshminarayanan, her own campaign has been centered on the intellect. She believes it's relevant in a country in which being scientific has been received with skepticism.

"Anthony Fauci has received a lot of criticism," she says. "Now more than ever, if I were to say I have a brand, it's to be unapologetic about being nerdy, about liking to read, about liking those subjects that are often pooh-poohed in our media, like math and science and learning."

Embracing her Indian American identity

Out of the scant group of female writers peddling humor, there are fewer artists from the minority groups. This is another reason Lakshminarayanan has set out to embrace, boldly, her Indian-Americanness and her South Indianness, along with the countless "A's" in her name and all of the syllables in between.

On her album, she talks about how a long name such as Lakshminarayanan may have helped her father's case when he showed up in court for a ticket. The judge in session was flummoxed by the pronunciation of her father's last name, at which point he told the judge that upon expansion of his initials (A.V.), his name would be even longer still: "Arasaanipalai Venkatachari Lakshminarayanan."

The name made all the difference. "Case dismissed!", Lakshminarayanan declares as her audience members laugh out loud.

Each of us understands the vexations of that certain kind of name that makes people stall or apologize. Everything is contained in a name. A whole world of insecurities -- over birth, identity, race, personality, character and bad nicknames.

Every Indian, Russian, Sri Lankan, Brazilian -- and possibly scores of others in the audience -- must've felt an instant connection to Lakshminarayanan in that moment.

That's exactly how the creator of "Dhayatribe" drives home the point about universality. What she has to say must mean something to everyone, she points out. "At the end of the day, I'm getting the audience to feel something."

Over the years, Lakshminarayanan has polished her act and owned it. Her real voice has emerged. When starting off as a comedian, a performer is hungry for the laughter, thinking only about how to make people laugh.

"But as you mature, you're like, 'Here is what I want to say,'" she says. "How do I get people to laugh at this?"

No topic is off-limits today for this sprightly stand-up, but she certainly won't talk about things onstage that she does not believe in. She won't say something simply to provoke. While creating her spiel, Lakshminarayanan insists on asking herself the one question that keeps her grounded:

"Is this true to who I am?"

Find Dhaya Lakshminarayanan's debut album "Dhayatribe" on the Blonde Medicine label at https://www.blondemedicine.com/bm072-dhayatribe. Follow the San Francisco comedian at https://www.dhayalive.com/ or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/dhayalive.

Kalpana Mohan lives in Saratoga. She is the author of "Daddykins: A Memoir of My Father and I" (Bloomsbury, 2018) and "An English Made In India: How A Foreign Language Became Local" (Aleph, 2019).

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.
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Nothing I tell you in this post is going to stop you from seeing The Batman. Certain pop culture institutions have become so deeply embedded as to be not only critic-proof, but everything proof. Vladdy Putin could unleash hydrogen bombs a week from now and, in the fallout, someone out there would still cobble together $200 million to make a new Batman movie where the latest flourish is that Alfred is played by a Portuguese woman. You cant kill Batman. Even if you did, theyd just bring him back in a reboot anyway.

Speaking of reboots, here now is Matt Reeves The Batman, which clocks in at a hefty 170 minutes and stars Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader. If youre a Batfan  and the Census Bureau tells me you very much are  youre already waiting in line to see the movie, even though we have Fandango for that kinda st now. Perhaps you have questions about The Batman or, more likely, youre a deranged asshat who wants to yell at me for writing about the movie before youve even had the chance to see it. I respect your intentions either way, so lets ditch this already-lengthy intro and get down to business.

Warner Bros. Pictures / DC Comics

Is The Batman good?

Yes. Its a good movie. VERY good in parts. Im gonna try to keep the spoilers to a minimum for this post. But if youre still wary, read no further. I liked The Batman, and you probably will, too. There were multiple moments where I jerked around in my seat and went OH ST. Thats the hallmark of any quality action movie.

Is it gritty?

Oh my God, its so gritty. Gotham City looks like crap. Everyone is addicted to something called drops, which is dumb when they could have just used heroin for the plot instead. R-Pattz has messy bangs. It rains every second of every hour, even in subway stations that appear to be indoors but turn out to just be poorly lit. Something in the Way by Nirvana serves as the bedrock music, only this time the studio ponied up for the real (great) song and not some awful cover. The composition and production design are both excellent, but the palette for The Batman is so washed out that it makes Saving Private Ryan look like a Skittles ad.



There IS an upside to all that grit, though.

What is it?

It helps The Batman look like an actual film and not like other DC/Marvel movies where the effects are lousy and the actors spend all their time doing glorified voice acting in front of a green screen. Theres texture to this movie, and thats no small thing. The effects are seamless. The violence, especially in the opening, is genuinely brutal. If the stunts arent legit, they certainly appear to be so (the centerpiece car chase is probably the best Ive seen in any Batman movie). All of that gives the story a bigger impact. I dont jump out of my seat watching a CGI Spiderman loop-de-loop around a CGI spaceship four times in a row. I need to feel the hurt.

Also, Reeves has crafted The Batman as a grisly murder procedural  the influence of David Finchers Se7en, a better film, abounds  with Batman lost in his work tracking down the Riddler, who just assassinated the mayor of Gotham City. Comic book movies are so dominant and so isolated that fans reflexively only compare them to OTHER comic book movies and not movies as a whole. The Batman, thankfully, steps outside of the usual Batman movie restraints of the series and, to its credit, works as a straightforward thriller you can enjoy even if you arent a DC fanservant.

Jonathan Olly / DC Comics

Hows Pattinson in the title role?

Pattinsons Batman is a character defined less by who he is than by what everyone else in Gotham, near and close, thinks of him. Thats the whole meta subtext to The Batman, which I will leave for more annoying critics to pore over. All Ill say is that a lot of people call Batman a freak in this movie, and theyre entirely correct. Pattinsons Bruce Wayne is more than aware of this, and on a certain level agrees with it. This Batman knows he sucks. One of his supposedly badass lines in the opening sequence even gets thrown back in his face as a taunt multiple times throughout the rest of the story, which I liked. But he works hard, even though hes not confident in himself at all. Thats how Pattinson is able to make the role his own.

To a point. Theres still an overabundance of requisite frowning: the kind that started with Christian Bales Batman and has refused to abate. Im getting very, very tired of it. Reeves even tosses in a Travis Bickle-style journal narration for Bruce Wayne that adds nothing to the proceedings. Pattinson is a debonair fellow. I have no clue why you wouldnt USE that trait for a character who, at one point in time, had actual charm in his arsenal. One goddamn joke. Thats all I ask. Have the poor guy tell a joke for once. Michael Keaton was the best Batman of my lifetime for a reason.

OOOH ARSENALS! DOES BATMAN HAVE KEWL WEAPONS IN THIS?

He does, but Reeves made a point of outfitting his Batman with a more grounded, DIY aesthetic. There are no Batarangs. Theres no magical Bat Harrier jet popping out of an alleyway. Reeves stays firmly in the No seriously but what if superheroes were REALLY real? phase of storytelling thats been en vogue for roughly a decade now. In this case though, I liked seeing all of Batmans ad hoc weapons and supplies, including the Batmobile itself.

Again, its about details. You can tell that Reeves put thought and care into every aspect of The Batman. The production design has a backstory girding it. Gotham City looks spiritually run down, even in its moneyed enclaves. Nightclubs look realistically unpleasant. Wayne Manor is properly dilapidated. Bruce Wayne looks tired all the time. And the cast itself is fantastic. Again, when used properly.

What do you mean?

I told you about the frowning thing, but there are other missed opportunities. Jeffrey Wright is one of the best actors in the universe, so its enervating to watch his Jim Gordon spend every scene turning to Batman and going, What does this mean? Motion capture legend Andy Serkis plays Alfred and does so quite well. But hes also saddled with typical Alfred soliloquies that any classy British actor could deliver in their sleep. Also, the guy in the movie who looks like Russell Crowe is NOT Russell Crowe. That pissed me off.

Jonathan Olly / DC Comics

What was the worst part of the movie?

Definitely when Arnold Schwarzenegger came out of nowhere as Mr. Freeze and tells Batman, Now you will be known as DA FROZEN ONE! That was kinda beat.

OK Mister Grumpy Pants, what didnt piss you off?

Everything else. Lets take the rest of the supporting cast one by one. Paul Dano is your Riddler, whos been Jokerfied by a robust 78% and spends almost all of the movie wearing what appears to be a retrofitted gimp mask. But gimp Riddler makes for a fine villain, especially toward the end when Dano takes off his mask. Dano has arguably the most punchable face in movie history, and hes never afraid to exploit that fact. So this is easily the best iteration of the Riddler Ive encountered. Apologies to Frank Gorshin. If anything, theres not enough of gimp Riddler in this movie. Just as in The Dark Knight, which I love nearly as much as everyone else does, the main villain remains off screen for long stretches to accommodate a plot thats two degrees too complicated. At one point I wondered if Reeves forgot that Dano was even in his movie.

Thankfully, the other plot distractions are compelling in their own right. Zoe Kravitz is your Catwoman, and this moviell make her even more famous than her parents already are. Kravitz plays Catwoman as bisexual, but Reeves doesnt make that part of her terribly explicit. This is a shame not only for the usual reason  for real studio heads, you can have a gay character now, its normal  but because her sexuality is relevant to the plot in two critical ways. Muting it washes those plot elements out, not unlike rain in an underground rail station.

Also, John Turturro plays a mob boss. Id watch John Turturro read a nursing home pamphlet to me. In fact, I once paid him to do so.

Jonathan Olly / DC Comics

What about the Penguin?!

Ah yes, carrying on the tradition of Batman movies having at least one villain too many, the Penguin is also here to make Bruce Waynes life far too complicated. Hes played by Colin Farrell, who remains unrecognizable all the way throughout. Even at the end, I was still like, THATS Colin Farrell? Farrell even gives his Penguin a Bugs Bunny Joisey accent that helps lighten up the mood when its desperately, desperately needed. I look forward to more of this Joisey Penguin.

Is the Joker in this bad boy, too?

You know he is, and I dont count that as a spoiler because this is now the third Batman movie Ive watched where the Joker appears in the denouement. Its tradition now. Your future Joker this time around will be played by Green Knight scumbag Barry Keoghan. My man has promise, especially with Reeves remaining at the helm through a planned trilogy. Why Ive already bought tickets for The Dark Batman, probably coming to theaters in 2024!

Was there a post-credit scene?

Kinda. Very brief.

Will this review have a bonus paragraph after IT has ended?

No.

Jonathan Olly / DC Comics

Will you see this movie in the theater 50 times like a true dork?

No. Once was enough. Im not certain just yet that The Batman will prove as rewatchable as the Christopher Nolan Batman movies, which had their own issues but had such iconic characters and moments in them  particularly the final two entries  that they became addictive. The Batman has that kind of potential. But again, this movie is nearly three goddamn hours long, with a lot of detours. Im used to endless blockbusters now. I dont really have a beef with them, but Im only human. There were roughly five times in the final 30 minutes of The Batman when I thought the screen would cut to black, and then it didnt. And the thing is, I still would have thought it was a good movie had it ended at any of those points.

But it didnt. Batman will never end. I can complain about that all I want, but when Reeves and Pattinson make another one of these, you better believe Ill have regained my appetite.
If city politics or the gradual pace of progress start to wear you thin, reignite some of that San Francisco fire by simply hooking a KLM train that zips through the Twin Peaks Tunnel and disembark at Forest Hill Station.

Take a few minutes to absorb the architecture as other train lines rhythmically arrive then depart from the timeless station.

The century-old building is a Classical Revival-style monument that continues to stand as a civic emblem of progress for our mighty city upon the hills. Its a reminder that we can bore through peaks and come out on the other end without losing a sense of style. Its often cited as a favorite among transit enthusiasts and heralded as one of America's oldest stations, outside of East Coast metropolises, thats still in operation.

Charles Russo

Moreover, we own this station  along with the tracks, trains and the occasional whiff of gunky tar that blasts through the tunnel  as Muni was established in 1912 to become the first publicly owned and operated transit agency in a major American city.

No other station celebrates the peoples railway quite like Forest Hill. The 23-foot-high ceiling supports a Mission-style red clay tile roof thats stacked on a facade adorned in ornate embellishments. Its more grand than it is central, tucked in the foothills behind Sutro Tower and Twin Peaks and in the shadow of the Laguna Honda Hospital across the street.

When the tunnel and station were officially envisioned, the purpose was to unite the eastern side of the city with its undeveloped western counterpart. With the devastation of the 1906 earthquake still a recent memory, city planners wished to open up the west for development. Twin Peaks, however, blocked the way.

OpenSFHistory / wnp27.4707

A transportation plan in 1913 created by Bion Arnold, a pioneer in designing street railways across the country, set the project in motion when his composite plan arrived at the office of city engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy.

Construction costs, reaching over $4 million, were levied on property owners whod benefit from the train line, enhancing that sense of communal ownership whether those landowning San Franciscans liked it or not.

The bore for the tunnel was dedicated in July 1917 following two and a half years of construction, and the tunnel line was officially opened in February 1918. Mayor James Rolph operated the first car that rode from City Hall to St. Francis Circle in West Portal. A silent film in the public domain captures the revelry of that opening day.

OpenSFHistory / wnp36.02646

The tunnel, from end to end, is about 2.25 miles, and both sides have their historical intrigue. Next time youre on the eastern end near the Castro Street Station, keep close watch as the Bay Areas only ghost station reveals itself within the dust.

Slim and shrouded in darkness, the Eureka Valley Station is an abandoned tomb to metropolitan engineering.

The station was first proposed in Arnolds 1913 transportation plan as a transfer point between tunnels for Twin Peaks and Sunset, near Duboce Triangle. However, the plan to branch off never materialized and the station became a small neighborhood stop for some 50 years. When the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency began construction on the Market Street subway in the early 1970s, the Eureka Valley Station met its demise and entered transit retirement.

Today, the station is a blink-and-youll-miss-it footnote in Muni history. Akin to the abandoned Old City Hall subway station in New York City, these stations can only be viewed when in motion on the train with faces pressed up against the window.

Bill Owyang/Public Utilities Co

Westbound from Castro Station towards Forest Hill Station features a gradual incline through the burrows of Twin Peaks to reveal, perhaps, one of the deepest points in the city.

According to historical tome The Peoples Railway by Anthony Perles, the tunnel train line does not dip below sea level. Therefore, the deepest point in the city would likely exist offshore.

Nevertheless, the weight of Twin Peaks is discerned while passing between the east and west portals.

Carmen Magana/Public Utilities

Youre under the mountain, says West Portal historian and resident Richard Brandi. When youre in the tunnel under Twin Peaks, youre several hundred feet underground. Twin Peaks is over 900 feet tall.

Brandi literally wrote the book on his neighborhood: 2005s San Francisco's West Portal Neighborhoods, part of the Images of America series. Hes studied the area extensively and has passed through those portals countless times.

They made it go from Castro Station slightly upwards to meet Forest Hill Station then down a little bit so that the streetcar motor would not burn out on too steep of a grade, he says of the tracks. You can feel it when you ride, its subtle.

Charles Russo/SFGATE

It takes 2 minutes and 57 seconds to ride from station to station. Looking out from the back of the train while in motion reveals the extensive depth of the tunnels shaft as it flickers in the lights passing by.

Emerging on the other side reveals Forest Hills Station, a landmark that was designated by the city in 2004. The stations historic architecture is preserved, but adjustments were inevitable. There was a multimillion dollar upgrade in 1985, and the station underwent a name change. However, its original moniker, Laguna Honda Station, is carved on the stations head house.

Charles Russo

In 2019, there were 3,900 average weekday passengers who passed through, and each of them would likely tell you about the 113 steps it takes to reach street level.

The sound of a departing Muni ringing its clackity bell mutates with the Doppler effect as you begin this ascent. The steep staircase has multiple levels, zigzagging to the top, as it shuffles to the beat of commuting hordes.

Upon reaching the street, some folks hang by the steps for a Muni bus to continue on their journey. Not overlooked is the 44 O'Shaughnessy bus line that commemorates the city engineer who helped build this city on rocks and knolls.

Charles Russo

Forever tethered to the Forest Hill Station history is the compact shopping center around the bend of Laguna Honda Boulevard. The buildings shell is still in its original design, which evokes the Mission-style architecture of the metro station. It was devised by the areas main developers, Newell-Murdoch, as part of the attraction for prospective buyers of the western city land.

There was nothing out here, Brandi says. The nearest store was over the hill. In order to sell lots, Newell-Murdoch needed a couple of stores so people knew it was worthwhile to buy out here.

Charles Russo

Businesses have come and gone, including a Safeway market that operated out of the shopping center in the 1930s. That unit has since become the spiritual guidance business Psychic Solutions, adding yet another sparkle of intrigue to this ever-progressing metro station.
Simon Fraser University is moving full speed ahead in 2022 on its landmark responsible investment commitments.

Since announcing the universitys commitment to full divestment last fall, SFUs Global equity portfolio, valued at $450 million as of December 2021, is 100 per cent fossil fuel free. The university has already achieved its 2025 target to cut the carbon footprint of the investment portfolio by 45 per cent from 2016s baseline.

SFUs Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) funds were also increased by 30 million to $53 million in December. This accounts for eight per cent of the endowment and makes SFUs allocation to SRI funds among the highest in Canadian universities. SFU plans to further its commitment by increasing SRI funds allocation to 10 per cent of the endowment by the end of 2022.

Responsible investment has been a priority for the university since 2014 but with the SFU Boards recent declaration of a climate emergency and new climate action commitments, we re-doubled our efforts to accelerate our ambitious plans, says Alison Blair, associate vice-president, finance. Weve taken the momentum generated last fall and have been busy putting the foundation in place to ensure we can meet targets that will benefit the university, its students and create a more sustainable world for future generations.

SFUs two student managed funds (Student Investment Advisory Service Fund and Beedie Endowment Asset Management Fund), the largest student managed funds in Canada at a combined $34 million, have now committed to be fossil fuel free by the end of 2022.

And SFUs Treasury department continues to make progress to achieve the target of full divestment in all of its endowed and non-endowed funds by 2025.

Following the SFU Boards formal recognition of the climate emergency last fall, the Responsible Investment Committee of the Board  which was responsible for helping guide SFUs investment portfolios environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration was converted into the new Climate Action and Sustainability Committee. The expanded role of this committee will provide oversight and direction to the universitys sustainability initiatives, including climate action and responsible investment, rather than focusing solely on responsible investment strategies.

While much of this progress was already underway, it has been driven by many students, faculty, and staff at SFU that care deeply about this issue, and who continue to raise questions and opportunities with the institution. The university would like to acknowledge and thank these individuals, student groups, and SFU350, for advocating for responsible investment and divestment over the past eight years.

SFU350 is proud to see fossil fuel divestment gain momentum after years of student advocacy - but were not stopping here. We look forward to working with students, faculty, and staff at SFU to reinvest in local communities and climate change solutions, says SFU 350 student member Brennan Strandberg-Salmon.

Along with joining the United Nations-backed Race to Zero global campaign and committing to achieving net zero carbon emissions before 2050, SFU launched a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) website to track progress and share how the institution is advancing in these areas. The UNs SDGs are the worlds call-to-action to end poverty, to protect the planet and to leave no one behind. Universities have an important role to play in achieving these goals through leadership, knowledge generation, education, campus operations and public engagement.
Cai Rang Floating Market (Source: SGGP)

According to the article, travelling to distant countries has not been easy for globetrotters in the past two years. However, from mid-March, vaccinated and recovered people will be allowed to enter the popular Southeast Asian holiday destination without quarantine.

It wrote that one of the five reasons why Vietnam is worth visiting is incredibly delicious food. Vietnamese cuisine is one of the tastiest in the world, it wrote, adding that fish and meat are among the main ingredients. But vegetarians need not fear as many restaurants offer meat-free options.



The second is that Vietnam is a country with plenty of sun and beautiful beaches thanks to the long coastline. The author chose Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO-recognised World Heritage Site, and Phu Quoc island as attractive destinations that are worth visiting.

The Mekong Delta is also a reason for Germans to visit Vietnam. According to the article, in order to really experience the tranquility of life in the Mekong Delta, holiday-makers should plan at least three days. The fertile soil allows farmers here to harvest rice three times a year. That's why there are an incredible number of rice fields to admire. A special highlight is Cai Rang floating market where hundreds of wooden boats filled with mangoes, sugar cane and other foods float on the water and people trade their goods.



Other interesting things in Vietnam are narrow streets, old temples and magnificent buildings. A pearl in the heart of Vietnam is the city of Hoi An, as the historic old town is the only one that was not completely destroyed during the war and that is why it was also named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The capital city of Hanoi is also worth a detour, the article wrote, adding that here travellers can see the typical life of the Vietnamese.



The fifth reason, according to the German newspaper, is Vietnams beautiful landscape with green rice terraces and sand dunes. They are advised to visit Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Nui Chua National Park if they really want to immerse themselves in nature.

Vietnamplus
Shippensburg, PA (17257)

Today

Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High 71F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early with showers later at night. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
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In France, the legal workweek is 35 hours (that is, 1,607 hours per year) and applies to all salaried employees, regardless of the activity carried out and the type of employment agreementindefinite term or fixed term. Over the years, however, more flexible working time arrangements have been introduced to increase the working time of employees. As a result, today more than half of full-time employees work more than 35 hours per week, particularly executives.

In merger-and-acquisition (M&A) transactions, consideration of the financial impact and legal consequences of a violation of French rules governing working time is one of the key points of the social audits carried out as part of the due diligence process on the company or business being sold. It is very rare, if not exceptional, not to discover multiple instances of noncompliance with the applicable regulations. From experience, the risks involved in this area are generally poorly understood and often unknown.

This article highlights the main issues that are likely to arise during an audit on working time and the most common violations, many of which can have serious financial and criminal consequences.

How to Calculate the Legal Working Hours?

Legal working time is calculated on the basis of the time actually worked by the employee, which is defined by the labor code as "the time during which the employee is available to the employer and complies with his directives without being able to freely go about his or her personal activities." Therefore, time involved with breaks, transport, dressing and undressing in uniform or protective clothing are normally not considered as actual working time and are not taken into account in the calculation of the 35 weekly hours, unless otherwise specified in a companywide agreement or in the applicable national collective bargaining agreement.

This is also the case for the travel between the employee's home and his or her workplace, meaning that the employer does not pay the employee when traveling and the time spent traveling cannot give rise to a claim for overtime pay. However, if the employee spends traveling longer than the usual travel time between home and the workplace the situation is different. So, for example, itinerant employees, such as sales representatives, who spend a significant amount of travel time between their home and their first and last clients must be compensated either in money or additional rest time.

What Is the Impact of Exceeding the Legal Working Hours?

While 35 hours is the legal workweek, an employer can arrange for employees to work longer by agreeing to pay overtime.

To limit the performance of overtime, the employer must have opted for specific arrangements, such as the annualization of working time. This scheme allows employees to work hours above the legal workweek over certain periods of the year, which will be compensated by working fewer hours during off-peak periods. It is also possible to arrange working time based on a specific number of days to be worked per year.

Key points: When contemplating implementing any of these specific working time arrangements that would be more applicable to meet the demands of its business than a 35-hour week, the employer must first check that the applicable national collective bargaining agreement allows such an arrangement. If it doesn't, implementation of the arrangement is subject to the negotiation of a companywide agreement. It should be noted that the absence of a collective agreement is a point often discovered in social audits. Absent a collective agreement, the implementation of an annualization of working time or a counting of working time in days for example is null and void. The employees are then considered to actually work 35 hours a week, meaning that they are entitled to be paid overtime for the additional hours worked at an increased rate.

How Is Pay for Overtime Calculated?

Overtime is paid at the rate of 125 percent of the hourly rate for each of the first eight hours (that is, from the 36th to the 43rd hour) and 150 percent for any additional hours. A companywide agreement may provide for different rates of increase provided they are at least 110 percent of the hourly rate. Overtime hours are paid each month and must be separately listed on the pay slip for the month during which they were performed.

Overtime increases are calculated on the basis of the actual hourly wage paid to the employee, including bonuses and allowances that are the direct result of the work undertaken (for example, performance bonuses) as well as benefits in kind. Overtime benefits form a favorable social and fiscal regime for employees since they are exempt from employee social-security contributions up to a limit of 11.31 percent of salary and income tax up to the annual limit of 5,000 euro (approximately 5,665 USD) net. Only overtime hours worked beyond this limit are subject to income tax.

Payment of overtime may be replaced by additional days of rest (the so-called "RTT days") if this option is provided for in the applicable collective bargaining agreement or in a companywide agreement, or by the decision of the employer in companies that do not have union representatives to negotiate such an agreement and provided that the social and economic committee (CSE), if it exists, does not oppose it.

Key point: Any hour worked by the employee must be remunerated or compensated by additional days of rest. However, it is often observed in social audits that all overtime worked by employees has not been paid to them. In that case, the employees are entitled to ask for payment of the arrears of salary. The statute of limitations for such claims is three years calculated from the date the employee should have received the salary payment or the date of termination of the employment contract for terminated employees. In the latter case, a terminated employee could also claim for an indemnity equal to six months of his or her gross salary for undeclared work resulting from the fact that his or her pay slips made no mention of the overtime hours worked by the employee. Failure to comply with overtime rules is also subject to criminal sanctions for undeclared work, theoretically up to three years of imprisonment for the company's legal representatives and a fine of 45,000 euro (approximately 50,981 USD) or 225,000 euro (approximately 254,904 USD) when a legal entity is convicted.

Who Decides on Whether Overtime Is Required? Can the Employer Require the Employee to Work Overtime?

Working overtime is decided by the employer. In principle, the employee cannot refuse to perform overtime hours except in certain cases, for example if too short period of notice is given or because of the employee's confirmed medical condition. Otherwise, the employee's refusal may justify a disciplinary sanction, or even dismissal for misconduct, when there is a history of refusal or refusal has caused a disruption to the company (for example, the work to be done was urgent).

Key points: Employers must pay particular attention to the regulation of overtime. It is recommended that the employment contract specifies that only overtime hours worked at the employer's request will be paid. Also beware of the workload that you entrust to your employees. If the employee works overtime that has not been requested by the employer but without objection from the latter, the employer is deemed to have given its implicit agreement and the overtime must be paid. The same applies if the overtime could not be avoided given the tasks assigned to the employee.

Are There Any Limits to the Performance of Overtime?

The number of overtime hours that an employee can perform each week is limited by the maximum daily and weekly working hours, namely 10 hours per day and 48 hours per week or 44 hours on average over 12 weeks (which may be increased to 46 hours in specific circumstances). Above these limits, no effective work can be requested, except in exceptional circumstances and according to specific procedures provided for by law. The performance of overtime hours is also limited by the annual quota of overtime set by the applicable collective bargaining agreement. In the absence of such an agreement, this quota is set by law at 220 hours per employee, but it is possible to reduce or increase the quota by way of a companywide agreement. Any overtime worked beyond the annual quota must be paid at the appropriate rate. In addition, the employees concerned must benefit from mandatory compensatory rest time. It should also be noted that the CSE must be consulted if the annual quota of overtime is exceeded.

Key point: Noncompliance with the provisions relating to the maximum weekly working time is punishable by a fine of 750 euro (approximately 850 USD) for each applicable employee, or 3,750 euro (4,249 USD) in the case of a legal entity. Employees who do not enjoy the mandatory compensatory rest time for hours worked beyond the annual quota of overtime (which from experience is quite often the case) are entitled to be paid for this period of time and for damages which compensate the possible prejudice suffered by the employee who did not benefit from his or her additional rest time (for example, consequences on his or her health, balance between professional and personal life, etc.)

Are Executives Subject to Overtime Regulations?

Under French labor law, only senior executives are excluded from working time legislation. They are not subject to the regulations on overtime, nor entitled to daily and weekly rest periods. They benefit only from paid leave. However, this provision is subject to strict conditions aimed at limiting its application.

A senior executive is defined by the labor code as an employee (i) having autonomous decision-making power and a great independence in the organization of his or her work, (ii) receiving a remuneration among the highest of the company and (iii) who is actively involved in the management of the company. Should one of these conditions not be met, the employees concerned could challenge the application of the provision to them and claim that they work on the basis of the legal workweek of 35 hours. For the company, the financial risks are those referred to above for nonpayment of overtime and more generally for noncompliance with working time legislation.

Other less senior executives are entitled to payment for their overtime as they are salaried employees of the company. Nonetheless, their functions often lead them to work more than 35 hours per week and therefore to work overtime on a regular basis. This situation may lead to opting for a more flexible scheme for both the employer and the executive, the so-called "forfait-jours."

In this case, working time is no longer counted in hours but in number of days per year, up to a limit of 218 days. The applicable collective bargaining agreement or a companywide agreement may provide for a lesser number of days. In any case, as there is no longer any hourly reference for this type of working time arrangement, there is no payment of overtime. Instead of this payment, employees benefit from additional days off. These days of rest are compulsory and must be strictly observed. The executives also benefit from the minimum rest periods provided for by law. Like other employees, they are therefore entitled to a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours per day and a minimum weekly rest period of 35 consecutive hours per week.

In 2020, more than half of all executives worked under forfait-jours, indicating that this arrangement is attractive to both employers and employees. But here again, it is subject to strict conditions. It applies only to executives who in fact work autonomously, which means that they must be effectively free in the way they organize their work and their working time. Moreover, the forfait-jours scheme must be provided for in the national collective bargaining agreement applicable to the company or in a companywide agreement. In this regard, certain collective bargaining agreements provide for conditions relating to the hierarchical level, coefficient or compensation that employees must meet in order to be subject to a forfait-jours scheme.

Finally, each employee concerned must sign an agreement with mandatory clauses, including the exact number of days worked and the methods of control of the employee's workload. In other words, forfait-jours cannot be imposed on the employee.

Key points: The most frequent violations identified in social audits relate to (i) the implementation of a forfait-jours in the absence of a collective agreement, (ii) the absence of individual agreements or agreements that do not include all the mandatory information, (iii) the absence of a proper control of working time and the workload of the employees.

In each of these situations, the forfait-jours is null and void and the employees concerned are entitled to claim that they work on the basis of the legal workweek of 35 hours. They can claim payment for overtime for the previous three years, for the period corresponding to the time off they should have benefited from and potential damages if the annual quota of overtime has not been complied with. Moreover, in case of termination of the employment contract for any reason whatsoever, the terminated employee can also claim for an indemnity equal to six months of gross salary for undeclared work.

It should be noted that litigation in this area is increasing, and the financial impact can be substantial for the company often representing several hundred thousand euro. It is therefore strongly recommended that companies using the forfait-jours scheme ensure that they meet the applicable legal and conventional requirements and that the drafting of the individual agreement is as precise and detailed as possible.

Based on experience, the noncompliance of such agreements is most often raised when disputes arise before industrial tribunals on the termination of the employment contract. Unfortunately, it is then too late to regularize the situation. Therefore, it may be advisable to have individual agreements provided for a forfait-jours reviewed by an employment lawyer experienced in litigation without waiting for litigation to arise. A review will identify the matters that need to be addressed and may include an estimate of the financial risk incurred in the event of noncompliance.

Who Is Responsible for Controlling Working Time and Workload for Executives?

The employer is responsible for controlling the workload, the number and the length of the working days of the executives. This responsibility cannot be transferred to the employee. In practice, the employer must set up a system to regularly monitor the number of working days and the workload of the employee. For example, the employee may be required to complete a time sheet on a monthly basis or to enter his or her working days digitally in a program set up for this purpose. The employer must also hold at least one annual interview (unless additional interviews are provided for in the applicable collective agreement) with the employee during which the latter's workload must be discussed as well as the balance between his or her working and personal life.

Key point: Controlling the workload of executives is a sensitive topic in France and gives rise to a large number of claims with very serious financial consequences. Social audits often highlight the lack of control required by legal or conventional provisions. It is therefore strongly recommended in M&A transactions that noncompliance with French regulations on the matter be the subject of specific representations and warranties by the seller.

Is There a General Obligation to Monitor All Employees' Working Time?

From a legal standpoint, there is no general obligation for employers to monitor the working time of all employees, except employees working a certain number of days per year or employees submitted to individualized working hours (that is, those who are not subject to the collective working time in effect within the company).

Key point: In practice, nonetheless, it is strongly recommended to provide for such monitoring (for example, through badge systems recording the entry and exit times of all employees) in order to avoid claims relating to the duration of working time and the payment of overtime. Based on experience, many employees regularly note their daily working hours (in particular, the hours which could be considered as overtime) and keep all supporting documents proving these hours worked. In the event of a claim, it is up to the employer who disputes the alleged overtime to prove the hours actually worked. Failing that, the employer will be considered as not having complied with the regulations on working time.

To conclude, working time is an essential topic in any social audit, whether this audit is prior to an acquisition transaction (thereby allowing for a negotiation on price or the inclusion of specific warranties) or is carried out for other reasons. In each case, the aim is the same: assessing the compliance of the company's HR practices with the applicable legal rules, employment contracts or collective agreements, identifying and quantifying the major areas of risk, and recommending the appropriate solutions to minimize them.

Joelle Hannelais is an attorney with Vivien & Associes in Paris.  2022 Vivien & Associes. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission of Lexology.
In a reflection of the changing times, leading tech player ABB India has announced a gender-neutral and inclusive parental programme. The policy recognises the importance of both parents to be present with their newborns or a new adoptive child under three years of age.

The inclusive approach extends similar benefits to LGBTQ couples and co-habiting partners, adoptive, and surrogacy commissioning parents.

Under this programme, each employee who is the secondary caregiver will be entitled to take four weeks of parental leave while the primary caregiver is eligible to take 26 weeks, as per the country's maternity law.

Sanjeev Sharma, Country Head and Managing Director, ABB India said: "At ABB, we are committed to creating a diverse and equitable workplace where our employees feel valued and cared for. This gender-neutral and inclusive approach, we truly hope, will provide our people the much-needed time to be fully invested in their families and be present for important milestones. We believe the focus on such gender-neutral programmes will cascade across various sectors to build more inclusive workplaces, as the Indian industry strides into the next level of sustainable growth."

The parental leave programme in India, forms part of ABB's "Global Diversity & Inclusion Strategy 2030", and is in line with the company's global parental programme introduced last year.

This programme aims to offer much-needed support to families so as to help them bond with their children and balance their personal and professional responsibilities, a company statement observed.
One of the flagship events of the Karnataka government, "Bengaluru India Nano" having "Nano for Sustainable Future" as its theme, scheduled to be held from March 7-9, will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Addressing a press meet on Wednesday, C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for IT/BT and Science & Technology, told that the annual event is being conducted virtually for the first time.

Over 10 countries including Israel, Japan, Germany, Canada will be participating and the event is being organised in association with 5 leading industries, including IESA, TIE Bangalore and others, he said.

Dr C.N.R. Rao, Bharat Ratna awardee scientist and Honorary Chairperson of State Vision Group for Nano Technology, and Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Union Minister of State for IT/BT will be present, he added.

"The 12th edition of the 'Bengaluru India Nano' summit focuses on nano-medicine, nano-photonics, nano-textiles, hydrogen technology among others. 75 eminent speakers, 2500 delegates, 25 sessions, and over 4000 attendees are expected to participate", Minister Narayan elaborated.

For the first time, programmes like "nanotech quiz" and "nano for young" have been introduced with the objective of sensitising young minds about futuristic nanotechnology.

Around 650 students belonging to 23 states and 5 Union Territories have already registered for the quiz event. Sessions that will be held on the final day are designed in a tutorial model keeping students in mind, he told.

On the occasion, the "Nano Excellence Award" by the Government of Karnataka will be presented to 5 young researchers, who are pursuing a PhD in Nano Technology. During the event, Dr C.N.R. Rao sponsored awards will also be presented.

"This Summit will bring academia, industry, experts, entrepreneurs, startups into one platform. Further, it also allows collaborations with foreign countries and interactions on startups, large industries, MSMEs, Venture Capital, etc are part of the event," Narayan said.

Prof Navakanta Bhat, Chairman, State Vision Group for Nano-Technology, said, the integration of nanotech, life sciences, and health sciences has resulted in revolutionary innovations like mRNA vaccine and many such innovations are in the pipeline to be unleashed.
In 2021, time spent by users outside India on apps and games created by Indian firms grew by 150 per cent compared to 2019 on Google Play, a sign of the potential and opportunity Indian startups and developers today have to drive app and game innovations for the world. Aiming to help Indias next generation of innovators unlock this growth opportunity, MeitY Startup Hub, an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and Google today proclaimed a cohort of 100 Indian early to mid-stage startups it aims to support build high-quality global apps and games as part of the Appscale Academy.

A growth and development program by MeitY Startup Hub and Google, the goal of the Appscale Academy is to identify, and support promising Indian startups and help them grow into successful global businesses. The 100 startups were chosen from over 400 applications following an in-depth selection process that took into account their creative ideas and innovation, product quality, product scalability, and talent diversity.

Bhuvnesh Kumar, joint secretary, MeitY, said, "Startups and developers are key drivers of Indias digital transformation journey. We are seeing them drive meaningful solutions for India and the world. We at MeitY value our partnership with Google, and it gives me immense delight to further boost this spirit of innovation with the Appscale Academy Program.

Startups of the Appscale Academy cohort are solving for some of Indias daily, critical, and unique needs through creative homegrown solutions, including BitClass (a live learning platform), Farmyng Club (a social platform for farmers to improve their livelihood), Kutuki (preschool learning app), Sunitas Makerspace (a community to foster innovation), Stamurai (a platform offering affordable and high-quality speech therapy), LearnVern (a job-oriented skilling app offering courses in vernacular languages), Vivasayam (an app promoting organic farming), and many more.

The cohorts main segments span Education, Health, Finance, Social, E-commerce, and Gaming. It also includes startups supporting core communities in India through creative apps across agriculture, B2B, parenting, and more. Representing the talent diversity emerging among Indias startup and developer ecosystem, 35% of the cohort come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, including Surat, Vadodara, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Morbi, and many others. 58% of the cohort have a woman in a leadership role.

During her address at the programs launch, Purnima Kochikar, Vice President, Play Partnerships, Google, stated, Today, India is uniquely positioned to become a leading hub for global app innovation with tremendous opportunity for Indian startups across the country, regardless of size and location, to thrive in the global app ecosystem. We thank MeitY Startup Hub for their partnership and vision and look forward to taking another step towards growing a diverse app ecosystem in India together.

Jeet Vijay, CEO, MeitY Startup Hub, stated, Our mission with Appscale Academy is to empower early to mid-stage startups with the right knowledge and mentorship to drive app and game innovations for the world. Our cohort of 100 Indian startups are ensuring that a homegrown solution for many of our daily, critical, and unique needs is today just an app away. Congratulations to all the startups and thank you for being core drivers of Indias digital journey.

As part of the 6-month programme, 100 startups will be trained through a customised curriculum designed to help them drive high-quality apps for a global market, including sessions on UX design, business model and monetization strategies, international expansion best practices, and data safety and security practices. The startups will get access to virtual instructor-led webinars, self-learning material, and mentorship sessions with leading local and global industry professionals. Select startups will also get an opportunity to pitch to leading venture capitalists.
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Liquidators for failed cryptocurrency exchange MyCryptoWallet claim the business may have traded whilst insolvent for three years before its collapse, and have drawn into question $3.4 million in unfair or preferential transactions made by the companys founder.

MyCryptoWallet was a Melbourne-based exchange founded in 2017 by Jaryd Koenigsmann, which allowed users to buy and sell popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. It collapsed in December following concerns first raised in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald last April that users had been unable to access funds or receive any customer support.

A screengrab of the MyCryptoWallet website as it appeared on April 1.

On Thursday, SV Partners managing director Terry van der Velde issued a report to the companys creditors, revealing the exchange owes nearly $4 million to customers who had funds invested in the exchange.

Mr van der Velde also claimed that MyCryptoWallets founding director - Mr Koenigsmann - may have committed numerous offences whilst operating MyCryptoWallet in the past five years.
The head of major office supplies seller Officeworks has said she expects hybrid home/office working to be a permanent fixture even after the pandemic, as major companies across Australia prepare their workers for a flexible future of work.

Sarah Hunter, Officeworks managing director, told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald the business absolutely expected the hybrid model being trialled by workplaces following last years COVID lockdowns to be a permanent feature of office jobs in years ahead.

Sarah Hunter, managing director of Officeworks, has backed a permanent move to hybrid work. Credit:

What were seeing is that employers are recognising this is what employees want. And so, its going to become - and has already started to become - a really core part of their employment proposition, she said.

We think the office environment is going to become very much about that collaborative connection, whereas the home environment is about quiet work time.
You dont need to look at how close crude is getting to its all-time record high of $147.50 a barrel to know what a world struggling with elevated oil prices looks like. For most of humanity, were already there.

In nominal local-currency terms, countries accounting for at least a third of global oil consumption are already paying more than they ever had. Members of the euro zone and India, the largest consumers of crude after the U.S. and China, surpassed their previous record prices on Wednesday and Monday, respectively. Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia are all in the same boat:

With the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries promising only a modest increase in crude supplies next month and an unknown but possibly large slice of Russias 11 million daily barrels a day coming off the market as economic sanctions start to bite, the prospect of demand destruction starts rising. Thats a fancy term for what, to most of us, will look like a recession.

Global oil prices have pushed to seven-year highs with retail petrol prices across Australia at record levels. Credit:AP

Oil itself usually suffers last from energy price shocks, because households and businesses have no choice but to spend money filling up their cars, or buying cooking gas, or running generators. Instead, consumers will cut back on discretionary spending and businesses will limit investments. That situation worsen if inflation gets bad enough that central banks start to raise rates.

Governments arent quite as powerless in the face of this as they may seem, however. Indeed, if they move rapidly, theres an opportunity to close budget gaps, reduce petroleum demand, and cut emissions, all at once. The answer lies in public transit.

Retail fuel prices are rarely all that close to the price of gasoline and diesel coming out of a refinery. Across Europe and the wealthier Asian nations, taxes mean transport fuel typically costs close to double what it does in the U.S. That mutes the effect of price rises.

Elsewhere, the fiscal thumb is on the other side of the scale. Most oil exporters and many emerging economies subsidise their dirtiest sources of energy. Direct subsidies for fossil fuels amounted to $760 billion in 2018, according to a study last year by the International Monetary Fund. That will probably be considerably higher this year, since the subsidy bill rises along with oil and gas prices.(1)

Already last year, elevated crude prices have pushed some emerging-market governments to reconsider reforms carried out when prices were lower after the 2014 commodities crash. In India, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the opportunity of the collapse in crude prices that same year to add excise duties, which now make up nearly a quarter of the government budget  but last November it cut those levies and urged state governments to cut sales taxes too, to ease pressure on road users.

Theres a similar situation in Brazil. Since 2016, government-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA, with a near-monopoly on local production, has set prices based on the cost of crude in the global market. Thats often been a source of tension with the government, given the effect of a weakening local currency on locally priced oil. Former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whos challenging incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the election due later this year, has called for the government to act to lower costs. Congress is considering legislation that would have the same effect.

At these crude prices, that policy could be costly. In Indonesia, one of the few large emerging oil importers to heavily subsidise retail prices, the government last week took the opposite tack, saying its likely to let costs rise because of concerns that the current situation would lead to either too great a drain on the budget or cause state-owned Pertamina Persero PT to collapse.

Theres a better solution out there. In most of the world, public transport networks are still well down on typical ridership levels, two years into the Covid-19 pandemic. That risks creating a vicious circle, where low patronage cuts revenues, driving service cuts which in turn reduce patronage.

Central governments are typically reluctant to get too involved in this, especially as urban transport is often run by politically opposed local officials. Weeks after announcing a 9.1 billion pound ($12.2 billion) annual package to reduce household energy bills, the U.K. government last month offered 200 million pounds to keep Londons transport network from bankruptcy for four months.

Thats a mistake. With oil prices at these levels, governments are already looking at using their budgets to ease cost-of-living pressures on households. Encouraging citizens back onto underutilised public transit would be a far better use of subsidy funds than stoking demand for oil in the middle of a supply crisis.

Bloomberg
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size A change is always an opportunity and Sydneys Museum of Contemporary Art is set to begin a new chapter with the departure of long-term director Elizabeth Ann Macgregor and senior curator Rachel Kent. Yet, the transition has been complicated by two years of pandemic, and the impending opening of the Art Gallery of NSWs Sydney Modern  a new wing that will duplicate much that goes on at Circular Quay. The pressure is on the new director Suzanne Cotter, an Australian who has worked in Luxembourg, Portugal, the Middle East and the UK, to quickly come to terms with the nature of the museum and its audience. In her first few weeks, Cotter has said all the positive things one might expect from a new incumbent and raised a few warning signs. She has spoken of the need to implement urgent reforms with respect to social justice, equity, inclusion, and now COVID which has had a particular impact on the financial models of museums. In theory, nobody could object to such goals, but terms such as social justice, equity and inclusion can mean replacing one set of prejudices with a different but equally narrow variety. When we try to understand how this translates into attendance figures, sponsorships and patronage, there is a danger of principle outstripping practicality. Its indisputable that public museums and galleries have historically favoured male artists over females, but does that mean todays museums should deliberately reverse the trend? The same applies to Indigenous work, which was often treated as amateur or folk art. Should museum collections now give precedence to Indigenous art over more cosmopolitan expressions? Move too far, too fast, in the direction of affirmative action and the museum runs the risk of alienating more people than it attracts. Theres no consolation in feeling virtuous when your paymasters are asking why attendances and revenues are down. Suzanne Potter, inset, is the new director of the Museum of Contemporary Art. In countries such as France and Germany, the arts are taken seriously by a more cultured set of politicians. In Australia, with a few notable exceptions, our MPs are rank philistines who see the visual arts as part of the tourist industry. For the average politician, who would probably prefer arts funding to be handled by the private sector, the quality of a show is judged by its attendance numbers.

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Corporate sponsors are equally keen on the big numbers when it comes to deciding how they distribute their largesse. When a museum has to reconcile a commitment to social justice with the need to raise revenue, the financial models are more complex to navigate. Cotter dramatised this dilemma when she was quoted in The Australian as saying: Today, if you are a white male artist, you are not so interesting... It doesnt mean to say youre not a great artist  I think its more that this isnt what is relevant for people now. You have to think in a timely way. This sounds like bad news for white male artists, but it also raises the question of relevance. All contemporary institutions act as tastemakers, imposing their ideas about whats relevant, fashionable, politically correct, etc, on their exhibition programs. But what a curator believes to be relevant, may be completely contrary to the views of the average gallery-goer. The museum needs to strike a balance, avoiding populism without venturing too far into the realms of the esoteric. It needs to recognise minoritarian concerns, but pitch exhibitions to the broadest possible audience. In recent years the MCA has got its best results from projects with a touch of the wow factor. Im thinking of solo shows by artists including Pipilotti Rist, Cornelia Parker and Sun Xun. Neither should we discount major retrospectives by David Goldblatt and John Mawurndjul that may not have been crowd-pullers but deserve the highest accolades. Sun Zun, Cornelia Park and Pipilotti Rist (clockwise from top) shows are among the MCAs recent highlights. There have been plenty of occasions when the museums choices failed to connect with the public or the critics, but if I had to assess how the MCA was travelling pre-pandemic, Id say the standard of exhibitions had been steadily rising. The Art Gallery of NSW, in comparison, has been haphazard in its displays of contemporary art, and less willing to publish significant catalogues. It remains to be seen whether this will be corrected when the long-drawn-out saga of Sydney Modern is finally concluded.

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Its almost impossible to say which institution may claim to be the worlds first museum of contemporary art. In the 20th century, museums styled themselves as modern, with the term contemporary only coming into vogue as a catch-all for whatever came after Modernism. At the time the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago opened in October 1967, Modern art was breaking down into Conceptual Art, performance, political activism, and a range of anti-art gestures. With its militant attachment to the New, the museum was greeted with a mixture of enthusiasm and scepticism. In an essay titled Museum of the New, critic Harold Rosenberg pointed out the obvious contradictions of a museum devoted to the avant-garde project of dissolving the boundaries that separate art from life. Exhibit A was Allen Kaprow, the pioneer of happenings, who saw the museum as a fuddy-duddy remnant from another era and called for such institutions to be turned into swimming pools and nightclubs. Loading Kaprows iconoclasm didnt prevent the Chicago MCA from including his work  or at least documentation of his work  in its opening display. Its a gesture that has been repeated countless times in the decades that followed: the artist who declares that art and its institutions are either dead or deserve to be killed, is celebrated and collected by those same institutions. The logic is explained in Chicagos mission statement of 1966: A museum of contemporary art is different from the general art museum where the values of the past are enshrined. Instead, it is a place where new ideas are shown and tested. But if the new idea is that museums must be abolished, how can this be reconciled with a bricks-and-mortar institution caught up in the familiar round of exhibition and collection development, fund-raising, tourist initiatives and public education?

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Perhaps the only option is to invoke Ralph Waldo Emerson, who once wrote: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. Following Chicagos lead, museums of contemporary art mushroomed around the world. Sydneys version opened in 1991, with two inauspicious exhibitions: TV Times and Caravans of the Future, which may have been ill-judged attempts to reach out to a popular audience  breaking down those barriers between art and life. Loading Today, the frantic worship of the New that distinguished the launch of the Chicago MCA has given way to a more realistic assessment of the role of the museum as a prestigious showcase rather than an arena for revolutionary activity. It is a safe space where conceptual bombs may be detonated without anyone in the outside world ever noticing. In the late 1960s the idea of an avant-garde was still very much alive, which meant that much of the work being shown implicitly challenged the museums raison detre. There was a belief that artists should no longer simply make objects such as paintings or sculptures that could be sold as valuable commodities and support the capitalist system. As a movement, Post-object art was never destined to endure. So long as there is a market for objects there will always be artists to supply them. As Rosenberg noted, the museum that adhered to the logic of the avant-garde would soon cease to exist. By the end of the 1980s while talk about art as commodity still lingered, a booming art market had established itself as the supreme arbiter of institutional taste.

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FRESH 

94 minutes, Disney+ Once upon a time, the rom-com was a reliable genre. You could relax into it and be transported to a place where happy endings were guaranteed after a few predictable hiccups in the second act. It was a genre full of comfortable rituals, one of which was the meet cute, an unlikely but serendipitous accident serving to bring the future lovers together for the first time. Steve (Sebastian Stan) seems like a normal guy when he asks Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) on a date in Fresh. Fresh has one of these. Bored to the point of despair by a series of fruitless internet dates, Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is doing a spot of late-night supermarket shopping when shes approached by a personable stranger who asks her if she lives in the neighbourhood, adding that he lives on aisle six. Its a lame pick-up line, as he instantly admits, but it gets them talking. Pretty soon she thinks shes found someone who knows the meaning of self-deprecation. Wrong. By the time the opening credits are rolling, romance has been knocked out of the frame and rom-com is rapidly morphing into nightmare as Noa wakes from a drugged sleep chained to a bed in her new dates fortress-like house somewhere in the countryside.

Edgar-Jones is best known for her leading role in the series adapted from Sally Rooneys novel Normal People, a love story built around the lovers shared case of chronic indecision. Will they or wont they? was the question Rooneys plot played with over several years of diffidence and doubt. Dont expect any delicate emotional nuances of that kind in this film. Loading Like Emerald Fennells Promising Young Woman, Fresh is a feminist satire about the callous exploitation of womens bodies, but writer Lauryn Kahn and director Mimi Cave pitch their theme at such a visceral level that satire veers uncomfortably into torture porn. Noas captor, Steve (Sebastian Stan), has a consuming passion so gross that you should be laughing, but the urge is stifled by Caves directing style and tone and its eerily cool and weirdly elegant understanding of the mechanics of horror. To put it crudely, Steve is a cartoon villain with bite. Stans poster boy handsomeness and his unassailable air of self-satisfaction combine with the mad glint in his eye to create a character bereft of any sense of kinship with his fellow human beings. Capering around in his kitchen to rock music while he goes about his macabre work, hes terrifying in his absurdity. But he is vain and Noa has enough guile to take advantage of it. She talks him into letting her out of the room where shes been imprisoned and we get a look at the rest of the house, which is a bit like peering into his mind. And eventually, he begins arranging dinners for two which play out like a bizarre parody of Noas early dates with him.
Netflix has commissioned an eight-part series based on Boy Swallows Universe, Trent Daltons bestselling novel about a young boys harrowing experiences in suburban Brisbane in the 1980s.

The news comes almost three years after the screen rights were bought by a consortium including Australian filmmaker Joel Edgerton, US-based Anonymous Content, UK-based Chapter One and Australias Troy Lum and Andrew Mason.

Best-selling author Trent Dalton at his Brisbane home. Credit:Paul Harris

At that time, just nine months after publication, Daltons semi-autobiographical debut novel had reportedly sold more than 160,000 copies in Australia alone. The book has since been published in 34 countries and was also adapted as a stage play for the 2021 Brisbane Festival, where it sold a record-breaking 40,000 tickets across its (thrice-extended) six-week run.

According to publisher HarperCollins, Australian sales have now topped 650,000 copies, with around 100,000 copies sold in foreign territories  a number that is sure to be boosted once the Netflix adaptation takes the story to a global audience.
Q&A host Stan Grant took the extraordinary step of expelling a member of the audience from the studio on Thursday night after the young man, named Sasha, expressed support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The young man, identified only as Sasha, said he was someone who comes from the Russian community here in Australia as he began his question for the panel.

He said he had been pretty outraged by the narrative created by our media depicting Ukraine as the good guy and Russia as the bad guy. Believe it or not, there are a lot of Russians here and around the world that support what Putin is doing in Ukraine, myself included.

Sasha then went on to claim that Ukrainians had been responsible for the deaths of 13,000 ethnic Russians living in the country since 2014. Where was your outpouring, or even concern, for those thousands of mostly Russians, he asked.

After discussing Sashas question, the conversation then moved on to the Lismore floods, but around 10 minutes later, Grant returned his attention to Sasha.

Something has been bothering me, I have to admit, since we had Sasha, he said.

People here have been talking about family who are suffering, and people dying, and I understand you wanted to ask your question about is there some reasoning for this. But you supported whats happening, hearing that people are dying. And can I just say Im not comfortable with you being here. Could you please leave.

The audience broke out in applause at that point, and as Sasha protested, Grant stood firm.

You can ask a question but you cannot advocate for violence, he said. I should have asked you to leave then, its been playing on my mind, but I do have to ask you to leave.

Read more: Please leave: Stan Grant ejects pro-Putin audience member from Q&A set
The deputy mayor of Mariupol has urged NATO leaders to send in troops to Ukraine, saying the conflict is a war against democracy, against freedom.

Sergei Orlov told BBC Radio 4 Russian President Vladimir Putin was standing ready to kill as many civilians as he needs to.

The basement of a maternity hospital in Mariupol on Tuesday. Credit:Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

There is no way to stop Putin from killing our civilians from the sky until NATO wakes up and understands that its not a regional conflict - its a war against democracy, against freedom, against one of the biggest European nations, Orlov said on Friday.

It looks like [NATO leaders] dont understand that Putin will not stop, they are scared and this is a pity. And we expect that some day NATO leaders will understand that its totally necessary to provide direct military support to Ukraine to stop Mr Putin or at least to close our sky to protect us from the threat from the sky.

The southern port town of Mariupol is strategically important for the Russians. It is located 10 kilometres from the areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists in Donbas. If Moscow captured the town, it would enable the creation of a land corridor from Luhansk to Donbas and down to Crimea, and allow the Kremlin to control the Ukrainian coast on the Sea of Azov.

Earlier on Friday, the British Ministry of Defence said while Mariupol remained under the control of Ukraine, it had been encircled by Russia.

The citys civilian infrastructure has been subjected to intense Russian strikes, it said.
Accused murderer Constable Zachary Rolfe has told a jury how he fired fatal rounds into Indigenous man Kumanjayi Walker because he believed his police officer partner was in danger of being stabbed to death.

The Northern Territory Supreme Court also heard on Thursday that Mr Walker had reached for Constable Rolfes holstered Glock pistol during the ill-fated 2019 attempt at arrest at Yuendumu, a Warlpiri community north-west of Alice Springs.

The scissors used to attack Constable Zachary Rolfe. Credit:NT Supreme Court

His hand was on my Glock, and I twisted my hips back, which were trained to do with speed, to knock that hand off my Glock, Constable Rolfe said.

He added that as soon as he stepped back, Mr Walkers focus turned to the other officer, Constable Adam Eberl, and I immediately feared for Eberls life.
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While many students around the nation use their spring break to relax or go have fun, a group at Auburn University involved in the service organization Alternative Student Breaks, or ASB, will spend their break making a difference in three southeastern communities.

ASB is a student-led service organization on Auburns campus that seeks to promote active citizenship by fully engaging Auburn students in an affordable and educational service experience. ASB provides students with the opportunity to become involved in community-based service projects that allow them to help members of other communities.

The 34 Auburn ASB members serving this spring break will spend March 6-11 split into three groups heading for three different places. One group will travel to Memphis, Tennessee, one to Port St. Joe, Florida, and the other to Greenville, South Carolina.

Participating in service opportunities like ASB teaches Auburn students the value of serving and selflessly loving others, Caroline Condon, president of Auburn ASB, said. It is important that our students learn this compassion within the Auburn community, but also any community they may be a part of.

Community is crucial to life, and its important that we recognize the power of the human touch as students, so that as we graduate, we continue to reach out to our communities when they are in need.

In Memphis, a group will work with Serve901 to partner with local organizations that will give them perspective into past and present topics facing Memphis. The group will assist the organizations that Serve901 partners with to address and help with issues prevalent throughout the Memphis community.

The group traveling to Port St. Joe will serve at the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve. They will assist in preserving areas of research that are critical to the preserve such as geology, fire history, botany and herpetology.

The location of service for the group traveling to Greenville, South Caroline, is the Greenville Free Medical Clinic, a nonprofit organization that provides free medical care to eligible low-income and uninsured Greenville County residents. There, that group will help set up and confirm appointments for patients, create new patient medical records, organize existing records and provide other basic health care and administrative services.

All of the locations for ASBs trips are chosen by site leaders, who are assigned a topic such as health care, environmental advocacy or education reform. They then research and seek out locations where Auburn ASB could make an impact. Each trip ASB takes involves a team consisting of a site leader, trip advisor and Auburn students.

ASB was one of the first organizations that ASB site leader Elise Fitzgerald joined on the Plains.

Any trip you go on will impact you for the better, Fitzgerald said. Not only did I find community with the people I volunteered with, but I came back to Auburn with a new perspective. I was more aware of social issues facing my own community and truly desired to be an active citizen. I cant speak highly enough of ASB.

ASB spent the 2021 winter break serving at locations in North Carolina, Tennessee and Louisiana. Earlier in the spring semester, ASB and Auburns Black Student Union, or BSU, co-led the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. The organizations traveled on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to Selma, Alabama, where they volunteered at several locations and served at the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation.

I recommend ASB to any Auburn student that has the desire to learn and be challenged, Condon said. ASB has changed the way that I pursue knowledge and prioritize service. I have learned sympathy, gained friendships and seen new places around the world [through ASB].

Students looking to volunteer with ASB can find more information about the organization here.
Perth father Stewart Maddison is in tears as he stands holding a bunch of Australian native flowers to his chest, his hand trembling as he keeps his eyes focused on the Perth Airport arrivals door.

Its 5.30am and he and his wife havent seen their daughter and four-year-old granddaughter in 2 years.

The last time I saw my granddaughter she was about two, shes a bubbly little thing and, yeah, I just cant wait to see them, he said.

The first time [Premier Mark McGowan] opened the borders [on February 5] and then closed them, that was a bit shocking because I had them already booked to go on the plane and next thing it was closed again.
During his sabbatical at University College London in 1974 under Professor Robin Clark, Fellow of The Royal Society, he first experimented with Raman spectroscopy. Yet, it was a lecture he attended that profoundly influenced the direction of his research. In Armstrongs words: The 1974 period in London gave me the opportunity to be among the large audience at The Royal Society to hear Tom Spiro (Princeton University) introduce his ground-breaking work on the resonance Raman spectroscopy of heme proteins. So, I returned to Sydney inspired.

He established the leading laser Raman laboratory in Australia, efforts which began in the late seventies. He developed a longstanding partnership with Alex Stanco, director of Lastek in Adelaide, who had some of the first commercially available lasers in Australia. For the 2003 testimonial dinner celebrating his career, Stanco recalled: Bobs expeditions into techniques requiring lasers were never uneventful, but always succeeded in the end.

The vibrational spectroscopy lab he established has continued to grow since his retirement and today is a major component of Sydney Analytical, a University of Sydney core research facility. Facility director Emeritus Professor Peter Lay: Bob was a visionary with respect to what facilities should be.

It was his experience as a post-doctoral fellow at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1965-1966 which drove him to build state-of-the-art facilities. Under Walter S. Koski, who had gained fame and a lot of funding from being involved in the Manhattan Project of WWII [that produced the first nuclear weapons], Bob worked in a laboratory filled with cutting-edge technologies. This period also sparked his political activism. When he wasnt in the lab, he was protesting the Vietnam War in Washington DC.

Robert Sowerby Armstrong was born in 1934 in Sydney, the son of Bill and Mary Elizabeth who both had emigrated from High Spen near Newcastle in northern England. Along with elder sister Betty, he grew up in a modest hard-working family in Wollongong. He excelled at Wollongong High School and won a scholarship to attend the University of Sydney.
There is not just the immediate business of saving your own life, and those of your family and neighbours. There is not just the loss of furnishings and memories, either, or the records and equipment of a business, or a farms livestock, crops and machinery.

The radio was reporting the sodden agony of thousands up north. The TV showed floods in Queensland and NSW so vast youd wonder how recovery could ever be achieved.

Each day I wander out and tap the water tanks, checking the level. It seemed a bizarre thing to do this week.

The electricity is switched off when a flood hits. With water everywhere, there is the paradox of going thirsty. Water purification and reticulation plants fail. Sewage plants, too.

For months to come, there will be stinking, toxic mud to be washed away and homes and lives to be rebuilt. Where do you find a new bed when hundreds of thousands of others have lost theirs at precisely the same time? And what if your insurance does not cover floods, or offers only limited compensation - or if you dont have insurance at all?

Such life-and-death questions flooded the airwaves as I tapped my rainwater tanks this week.

One tank was all but empty. The other was half full, but how long would that last?

Here was another of those paradoxes, familiar to anyone who lives in Australia, and particularly those of us from country districts where there is no town water piped to our homes, requiring us to rely on sweet rain falling upon our roofs.
The pilot charged over the murder of two elderly campers who vanished from Victorias High Country in 2020 is suing his employer Jetstar for unfair dismissal.

Greg Lynn, a 55-year-old father of three, has lodged papers in the Fair Work Commission after the budget airline sacked him in January.

A four-wheel-drive impounded by police and (inset left) missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay, and (inset right) Greg Lynn, who has been charged with their murders.

Mr Lynn, from Caroline Springs, was charged in November with two counts of murder, after police alleged he killed Russell Hill and Carol Clay in the Wonnangatta Valley on March 20, 2020.

The Transport Workers Union is assisting with Lynns unfair dismissal claim. In a January 20 letter bearing the signature of Victorian branch secretary John Berger, the union appealed the decision, and told Jetstar the sacking should be rescinded.
In 1955, he married Melbourne-born Shirley Shulman, who introduced Moss to a world of bohemians, artists and filmmakers  free thinkers eager to discuss the progressive causes of the day. They moved to London, where Moss worked at Guys Hospital with Sir Russell Brock developing open-heart surgery techniques. In Australia, Moss built the first heart-lung machine in the country.

Moss was born in Narrogin, Western Australia, the eldest of three sons of Jewish Russian emigres Ben and Esther Cass. Ben was a GP, and all three brothers pursued medical careers.

He became increasingly concerned at the capacity for the Murdoch and Fairfax press to make or break governments. He got the press barons to sign up to a press council. Moss was a fan and defender of the irreverent new ABC station 2JJ, established a few months earlier, and was eager to increase diversity on the airwaves. He bypassed the Broadcasting and Television Act to issue 12 experimental licences to educational institutions. Cass dirty dozen laid the basis for todays thriving community radio sector.

A showdown with his leader over Fraser Island caused Moss to be moved to the media portfolio in June 1975. Once there, Moss exhibited a particular urgency to push through policies that were as significant as his environmental reforms.

In 1964, Moss was recruited to head the Trade Union Clinic and Research Centre, a pioneering community health facility established in Footscray by the Meatworkers Union to deliver free treatment and promote preventative care to workers. The clinic heightened his awareness of social inequality and connected him with the left wing of the Victorian trade union movement, which supported his appointment to the Victorian ALP executive.

In 1961, he made a tilt at the federal seat of Kooyong, held by Robert Menzies, then La Trobe in 1963. Moss was finally preselected for the Liberal-held seat of Maribyrnong in 1969. Some party insiders were sceptical that a progressive Jewish intellectual, who lived outside an electorate with a large Catholic population, could prevail. Moss won, and served as a popular local member until his retirement in 1983. Maribyrnong has remained a safe Labor seat since.

Moss brought to parliament a calm, reasoned rhetorical style and a compassionate insight into social issues. Not shying from controversy, he devoted his maiden parliamentary speech to abortion law reform. Federal parliaments jurisdiction over the ACT allowed Moss to sponsor pioneering private bills that would legalise abortion and decriminalise homosexuality in the territory. And, as an early proponent of evidence-based policy, in 1971 he invited members of the Senate committee on drug abuse to drop by his house and smoke some joints.

Moss Cass, centre, as part of the second Whitlam government ministry.

After 1975, Moss served as opposition spokesman on health, then immigration and ethnic affairs. The former saw him having to defend the Whitlam governments Medibank scheme against onslaughts by the Fraser government. Moss had a long engagement with health policy and is renowned for introducing Whitlam to the health economists who would design Medibank  now Medicare  so hes often mistakenly remembered as the father of our universal health insurance system. Moss thought Medibank was socialised medicine lite. He advocated for a nationalised health system based on salaried medical staff rather than the retention of a fee-for-service system that simply shifted the cost from individuals and private insurers to the government.
With the arrival of Labor leader Anthony Albanese into Perth on Thursday morning, the federal election starting gun finally fired in Western Australia  and his party can sense the state, locked away in a COVID-proof bubble for more than two years, could be the boost it needs for victory.

Mr Albanese visited target seats of Pearce and Hasluck on the first of a three-day blitz on the Perth hustings, his pitch to voters leaning on the pandemic track record of Labor colleague and state Premier Mark McGowan.

Anthony Albanese speaks to a rail worker at Aries Rail on Thursday in Perth. Credit:Getty Images

At the toughest of times we see the best of Australians, he said.

Weve seen that during the pandemic, where people have made sacrifices to look after each other, including Western Australians who made sacrifices with the border restrictions and other restrictions, in order to keep the population safe, he said.
The Morrison government has hit back at Labor claims that it has given preferential treatment to LNP-held seats when responding to south-east Queenslands devastating floods.

Several Brisbane-based Labor MPs, including Terri Butler (Griffith) and Graham Perrett (Moreton), have taken to social media to accuse federal agency Services Australia of selectively putting staff on the ground in LNP seats.

Flooded Torwood Street, Auchenflower, on Thursday morning. Credit:Peter Wallis/Getty Images

The Morrison government has emphatically denied any political motivation in selecting where to send staff and accused Labor of playing cheap politics during a natural disaster.

Services Australia deployed staff to 11 locations across south-east Queensland on Wednesday to assist flood victims, none of which were in the flood-affected Labor seats of Griffith, Moreton, Oxley or Rankin.
A factional contest is brewing inside Victorian Labor over who will replace federal veteran MP Anthony Byrne in the outer south eastern Melbourne seat of Holt, after he revealed his plans to retire at the federal election following facing months of backroom pressure to quit.

Mr Byrne, who helped expose a branch stacking racket allegedly run by disgraced Victorian MP Adem Somyurek, announced his resignation as the member for Holt to the party on Thursday after more than 20 years in the Federal Parliament. Mr Byrne also admitted to a Victorian anti-corruption hearing that he had also been involved in branch stacking.

Anthony Byrne is leaving Parliament at the upcoming election. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Victorian Labor Left faction is pushing to snatch the seat from the Right, with the partys national executive to formally select the new candidate in the coming weeks after the Victorian branch was placed in administration following the Somyurek scandal.

The Right-aligned Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, which has historically controlled the seat, is floating Stephen Parnis, an ER doctor and former vice president of the Australian Medical Association, as a potential candidate.
Kyiv: Sitting on a temporary bed set up along a gloomy underground passageway, expectant mother Alena Shinkar reads a book to try to stay calm.

The Ukrainian has been at a Kyiv maternity hospital since before the Russian invasion began on February 24 waiting to give birth, but with the Ukrainian capital city under siege from rockets and missiles, her nerves are fraying.

A mother holds her newborn baby in the bomb shelter of a maternity hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. Credit:Getty Images

I should not be stressed now so I am trying to cool myself down, but of course it is terrible what is happening, she told Reuters in English.

We are living in real hell. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the 21st century.
Washington: Bill Gates relationship with evil and abhorrent Jeffrey Epstein was a factor in Melinda French Gatess decision to divorce the Microsoft founder, she revealed yesterday.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the couple announced their split in May last year, French Gates, 57, said she made it very clear how uncomfortable she felt with her then-husbands interactions with the convicted paedophile, but that the warning appeared to fall on deaf ears.

It was not one thing, it was many things. I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, she said, when asked why they broke up.

Philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, left, and his wife Melinda in 2017. Credit:AP

Speaking on CBS Mornings, French Gates said she went to meet Epstein because she wanted to see who this man was.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in a Central Committee meeting on March 3, 2022.

The Central Committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 14.00 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda points are:

1. Advice regarding changes to the composition of Permanent and Ad hoc Committees of the Parliament of Sint Maarten

2. Approval composition delegation and provision for International Workshop of Academics on the Role of Parliaments in the Challenges of the 21st Century, April 7-8, 2022 in Villa La Angostura, Argentina (IS/585/2021-2022 dated February 22, 2022 and IS/610/2021-2022 dated February 28, 2022)

3. Discussion with the WICSU/PSU regarding the current situation of their members of the Air Traffic Services at PJIAE NV (IS/544/2021-2022 dated February 9, 2022)

Agenda point 3 is conveyed upon the request of the Board of the Windward Island Civil Servants Union & Private Sector Union (WICSU/PSU) on behalf of their members of the Air Traffic Services at PJAE NV.

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. All persons visiting the House of Parliament must adhere to the house rules and all health and safety protocols, including the wearing of a mask.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on TV 15, SXM Bulletin (Cable TV 120), via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, and www.pearlfmradio.sx
PHILIPSBURG:---The Committee for Constitutional Affairs and Decolonization (CCAD), of Parliament, will meet on March 3, 2022.

The Committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 9.30 hrs. in the General Assembly Chamber of the House at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg.

The agenda point is:

Filing of amended and restated petition (IS/598/2021-2022 dated February 24, 2022)

Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. All persons visiting the House of Parliament must adhere to the house rules and all health and safety protocols, including the wearing of a mask.

The House of Parliament is located across from the Court House in Philipsburg.

The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on TV 15, SXM Bulletin (Cable TV 120), via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet www.sxmparliament.org, and www.pearlfmradio.sx
PHILIPSBURG:--- The ONE SXM Association met with the Ad Hoc Committee for Electoral Reform of the Parliament of St. Maarten on Tuesday, March 1 to submit a draft resolution calling for a consultative referendum within two years, or latest simultaneously with the next parliamentary election.

The ONE SXM Association implored the Parliament of the southern part or Dutch territory of the Caribbean island of St. Martin, to make use of its constitutional authority to convene the referendum with the sole question of Independence: Yes, or No?

Giving the presentation was Dr. Rhoda Arrindell, Mr. Alston Lourens, and Mr. Nelly Blaise, while Mr. Theophilus Thompson was also present.

According to Arrindell, the ONE SXM Association is not a political organization, and it was not the first organization to call for a new consultative referendum on the matter of independence for the territory.

Arrindell said the Independence for St. Martin Foundation appeared before Parliament in May 2016 with the same plea and wrote a petition upon advice of some Members of Parliament at the time.

Arrindell reminded Members of Parliament (MPs) that Aruba had carried out a similar referendum with the same question in 1977, so there is a legal precedent.

Nelly Blaise emphasized the importance of youth empowerment and involvement in the future of the island, and added that a consultative referendum given to the people is a democratic process and should be coupled with a mechanism for public discourse.

For the most part, the MPs present agreed that the people should be consulted. UP leader, MP Rolando Brison (UP) said that a consultative referendum is the highest form of democracy. He posed several questions to the ONE SXM delegation, which were answered by Alston Lourens.

Brison further stated that the MPs could at least agree on the need for a referendum and consult organs such as the Advisory Council for legal advice on how to proceed and make it happen.

Addressing the session, MP George Pantophlet (NA) said that he believed that independence is the way to go.

Both MPs Sarah Wescot-Williams (UD) and Raeyhon Peterson (PFP) acknowledged the competence of Parliament to convene a referendum but noted that the Constitution only provides for a referendum to be held on a decision that has already been taken.

However, MP Melissa Gumbs (PFP) said she had no issue with a consultative referendum and suggested that students abroad should be allowed to vote in it, adding that the voting age could be as low as 15.

MP Ludmila Duncan (NA) said that everyone could agree that the territorys autonomy had been trampled upon and said it was time to consult the people on their views on independence.

Arrindell quoted from the United Nations Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, which states that inadequacy of political, economic, social or educational preparedness should never serve as a pretext for delaying independence.

She further said the question before Parliament should be whether the MPs believed in consulting the people or not and if so, to do it. On the contrary, she asked who was Parliament accountable to.

Arrindell concluded that the ONE SXM Association was looking forward to doing its part in helping to bring about the referendum on the critical issue of independence for St. Martin.

The following is the full text of the Draft Resolution proposed by ONE SXM Association and submitted to the territorys Parliament:

THE PROPOSED RESOLUTION

 Considering that the last referendum for St. Maarten was held in 2000 and that a new generation of St. Martiners has not had a say about the islands constitutional future;

 Considering that a child born in 2000 could have voted in the last parliamentary election;

 Considering that the hallmark of any democratic process is for the people to be consulted on matters of public interest;

 Considering that Article 92 of the Constitution says that consultative referendums are conducted at the initiative of Parliament;

 Considering that St. Maarten has exhausted all other viable statuses in previous referenda;

 Considering that the only other question to be put to the people is whether they want independence or not;

The Parliament of St. Maarten resolves to convene a consultative referendum on the matter of political independence for St. Maarten.

Parliament further resolves that the referendum shall have one question: Yes or No to independence for Sint Maarten.

The Referendum shall be convened within the current parliamentary term or at the latest simultaneously with the next parliamentary election.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Nature Foundation St. Maarten has presented crucial information at local schools as well as conducted beach clean-ups with small groups of students on four different beaches, Kimsha Beach, Mullet Bay, Belair, and Great Bay beach. These activities are part of the In-No-Plastic Project, a European Union-funded global initiative that raises awareness about plastic waste and innovative clean-up methods. The presentations teach students how to reduce their plastic usage and the effects plastic has on the islands ecosystem. The Nature Foundation has hosted five clean-ups in the last three weeks collecting a total of 897.5lbs (407kg)! The clean-ups offer students the opportunity to see first-hand the amount of trash that is littering our coastline, how it negatively affects the environment, as well as an organized way for them to learn how to safely collect and remove the litter.



Conducting clean-ups with young students is a very rewarding task. The younger education starts, the more information regarding litter and why it has a negative effect on our environment will be observed by the students. This allows them to think about the litter more passionately and how it can be removed from our environment, stated the project coordinator, Alice Manley. The students participating in the clean-ups often have a lot of competitiveness to see which group can collect the most trash. This is a great reaction that we look forward to as the students end up collecting more litter and tend to walk away with a big feeling of accomplishment.



The goal of In-No-Plastic is to prevent, remove, and repurpose marine plastic litter. A variety of strategies for reducing plastic use on the island will be presented by In-No-Plastic staff and the Nature Foundation through various social media platforms and presentations to schools, organizations, and businesses. As time passes, our staff will continue to monitor the amount of plastic found in our coastal areas.



The Nature Foundation is eager to organize outdoor activities such as clean-ups with local schools. Providing students, the opportunity to assist with cleaning their island and keeping our native species safe and healthy is a large component of the work we do. Our goal is to preserve and enhance St. Maartens environment for generations to come, stated Zakiya Peterson, Project Assistant of the Nature Foundation. We look forward to the next generation as they get older and continue with their passion of protecting the environment.



Presentations for the In-No-Plastic Project include topics such as the environmental tasks of the Nature Foundation, In-No-Plastic tasks, then differences between single-use and multi-use plastic, Sint Maartens plastic ban, and further information about the plastics environmental impact. Students participate in hands-on activities, and presentations can focus on practical applications, such as organizing clean-ups.

The clean-ups organized by the Nature Foundation include the use of reusable bags and gloves and trash disposal if the clean-ups are conducted at a beach without public garbage. Involved with the clean-ups, the Nature Foundation discusses with students the effects plastic has on the environment, and what they can do to minimize their plastic footprint. Over the last three weeks, the Nature Foundation in participation with local schools conducted five clean-ups with students ranging in ages from six years old to 19 years old. The Nature Foundation is proud of the efforts provided by local and visiting students and looks forward to increasing this number throughout the year.



Schools, groups, and businesses are welcome to reach out to the Nature Foundation to request a presentation or assistance from the Nature Foundation for any educational activity. These activities could take place in a class, or at another location by the groups organization. If you would like to request a presentation from the Nature Foundation, please, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .



A consortium of 17 partners and 10 different countries in Europe and the Caribbean make up the project. The Nature Foundation will work alongside the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA), a partner participating in the In-No-Plastic project. In-No-Plastic started October 2020 and is a three-year project funded with a 7.4 million Euro grant from the EU H2020 research project, funded under the call Pilot action from the removal of Marine plastics and litter, Topic ID: CE-FNR-09-2020 (Grant Agreement 10100612).



To learn more about this project, you can check out https://naturefoundationsxm.org/education/in-no-plastic-project/. You can also follow the Nature Foundation on social media to keep up to date with our work and learn when future clean-ups will occur. If you are interested in joining the Nature Foundations volunteer list to receive emails about volunteer opportunities, reach out to us at https://naturefoundationsxm.org/about-us/contact-us.
MARIGOT:--- After the 5th wave of COVID-19 of unprecedented magnitude, the health situation has improved remarkably for several weeks. In particular, the pressure on hospitals due to the epidemic is decreasing sharply, allowing the lifting of white plans and a gradual resumption of scheduled activities.

Under these conditions, and while scientific modeling does not foresee any change in this favorable trajectory in the coming weeks, the Prime Minister today announced new relief measures.

These relaxations are consistent with the Government's strategy aimed, since the beginning of the crisis, to take only strictly proportionate and necessary measures.

Also, two changes will occur at the deadline of next Monday, March 14:

 The application of the vaccination pass will be suspended in all places (restaurants, bars, nightclubs, cinemas, theaters, performance halls, stadiums, fairs and exhibitions, transport interregional) where it is required today. With regard to the Overseas Territories, consultations will be initiated in the coming days with the local authorities to decide on the procedures to be adopted for the suspension of the pass according to the evolution of the health situation in each of the territories.

The health pass (presentation of proof of vaccination, a negative test, or a recovery certificate) will however remain at the force at the entrance to hospitals, retirement homes, and establishments for the disabled, in order to protect the most fragile of our fellow citizens while the virus continues to circulate.

 Wearing a mask, already lifted in outdoor spaces as well as, since February 28, in places subject to the vaccination pass, will no longer be compulsory in any place, with the exception of all public transport, in which it will remain required until further notice.

This means in particular that wearing a mask will no longer be required from Monday, March 14 in the workplace or in classrooms.

However, wearing a mask is still recommended for positive people and at-risk contact cases, symptomatic people, and healthcare professionals.

The Minister of National Education will provide the necessary details on these developments in the school environment, during the meetings which will be held next week with the unions and representatives of the parents of pupils.
Edith (Edi) Marie Smith, daughter of the late Glen Lester and Dorothy Jane Allison, was born in Youngstown, OH on Friday, October 11th, 1963, and she departed this life on Saturday, April 30th, 2022, having attained the age of 59 years. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death b
An employee from the Emergency Situation Inspectorate soothes the crying baby of a family fleeing the conflict from neighbouring Ukraine at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. Romania, which shares around 600 kilometres (372 miles) of borders with Ukraine to the north, is seeing an influx of refugees from the country as many flee Russia's attacks. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)
Ambulance paramedics move a wounded in shelling civilian onto a stretcher to a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Russian forces have seized a strategic Ukrainian seaport and besieged another. Those moves are part of efforts to cut the country off from its coastline even as Moscow said Thursday it was ready for talks to end the fighting. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Enterprise, AL (36331)

Today

A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 66F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

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New York (United Nations), 2 March 2022 (SPS)  The Frente POLISARIO has condemned the wave of repression unleashed by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians in the Occupied Territories of Western Sahara.

Member of the National Secretariat, Representative of the Frente POLISARIO to the United Nations and Coordinator with MINURSO, Dr Sidi Mohamed Omar, addressed yesterday a letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Antonio Guterres, in which he expressed the strong condemnation by the Sahrawi authorities of the recent wave of repression carried out by the occupying sate of Morocco against peaceful Sahrawi demonstrators and human rights activists in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories.

The letter also denounced strongly the continued criminal acts perpetrated by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians and renewed the urgent call upon the Secretary-General to operationalise the legal and moral responsibility of the United Nations towards the Sahrawi people especially Sahrawi civilians in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories.

The following is the full text of the letter as received by SPS:

H.E. Mr Antonio Guterres

Secretary-General of the United Nations

United Nations, New York

New York, 1 March 2022

Your Excellency,

Upon instructions from my Authorities, I am writing to you again to express our strong condemnation of the continued, egregious, and systematic human rights violations perpetrated with complete impunity by the occupying state of Morocco in the Sahrawi Territories under the Moroccan illegal military occupation.

On 27 February 2022, Sahrawis of all ages took to the streets in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories to commemorate peacefully the 46th anniversary of the proclamation of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) by raising the SADR flags and chanting slogans in support of the right of the Sahrawi people to freedom and independence.

They also expressed their utter rejection of the continued illegal military occupation by the Moroccan state of parts of the SADR as well as their strong condemnation of the gross violations committed by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians and particularly human rights activists.

As usual, the security forces of the occupying state responded to the peaceful demonstrations with brutal and indiscriminate violence and, as a result, dozens of Sahrawi civilians were brutalised and beaten severely at the hands of Moroccan security agents and state-sponsored thugs.

In the occupied city of Bojador alone Moroccan security forces violently assaulted a group of largely Sahrawi women and human rights activists who intended to demonstrate peacefully in front of the beleaguered house of the family of Sid Brahim Jaya to express their solidarity with human rights activist Sultana Sid Brahim Jaya and her family on the SADR 46th anniversary.

As documented by testimonies backed by photographic evidence, the Sahrawi women were severely beaten, maltreated, dragged through the street, and sexually harassed by a group of Moroccan security agents including those permanently stationed by the house of the family.

The Frente POLISARIO strongly condemns this recent wave of repression unleashed by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi peaceful demonstrators and human rights activists, which is a continuation of the parallel and retaliatory war waged against Sahrawi civilians in Occupied Western Sahara since the occupying state violated and torpedoed, with complete impunity, the 1991 ceasefire on 13 November 2020.

The Frente POLISARIO also denounces strongly the continued criminal acts perpetrated by the occupying state of Morocco against Sahrawi civilians in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories including the latest heinous crime targeting Sahrawi citizen Habib Aghrichiin the occupied city of Dajla.

Once again, weurgently call upon you, Mr Secretary-General, to operationalise the legal and moral responsibility of the United Nations towards the Sahrawi people especially Sahrawi civilians in the Sahrawi Occupied Territories. This entails taking practical measures to ensure their safety and security and establishing an independent and permanent UN mechanism for the protection and regular reporting on the human rights in Occupied Western Sahara where the UN Mission, MINURSO, is present on the ground in the Territory.

As we have already warned, the persistence by the occupying state of Morocco in its heinous crimes and blatant human rights violations against Sahrawi civilians, without being held accountable or punished for that, seriously undermines the prospects of the already stalled peace process, and closes the door on the desired peaceful solution.

Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Dr Sidi M. Omar

Ambassador

Representative of the Frente POLISARIO at the United Nations

Coordinator with MINURSO
Geneva, Switzerland, 02, March 2022 (SPS)  The South African Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ms. Naledi Pandor, expressed Wednesday concern about Morocco's use of advanced military technology to violate international humanitarian law and the violation of human rights in the occupied areas of Western Sahara.

The statements of the South African official were made during a recorded speech for the Virtual Conference held in Geneva on "The Use of Advanced Technologies for the Violation of International Humanitarian Law in Western Sahara".

The head of South African diplomacy expressed her country's deep regret for the new situation in the occupied areas of Western Sahara, particularly after the resumption of the armed conflict between the Saharawi Republic and the Kingdom of Morocco, expressing her hope that this Conference and the efforts of the Working Group contribute to shedding light on the serious violations of international humanitarian law in Western Sahara and the suffering of the victims and their families.SPS

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STAMFORD  Two-thirds of tenured classroom teachers at the districts biggest school signed a vote of no confidence in the school districts superintendent, citing a lack of teacher involvement in decision making.

More than 70 teachers at Westhill High School wrote that they have no confidence in Superintendent Tamu Lucero and Associate Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Amy Beldotti, in large part because of how district administrators are handling the implementation of a new block schedule at the school in the fall.

Teachers at the school have repeatedly criticized the district for not involving them in the decision. The district presented the plan to move to a schedule known as the four-by-four model at a January meeting.

After a number of concerns were brought up by teachers, including that certain classes would not work well with the proposed model, the district shifted to a modified version, which officials refer to as the hybrid four-by-four.

The plan now is to incorporate classes in a four-by-four schedule, meaning they only last for one semester  either in the fall or the spring  and would meet every day for 90 minutes, while allowing for certain classes such as Advanced Placement and performing arts to operate in an A/B model, which means they would meet every other day and last the duration of the school year.

In both the hybrid and A/B models, students could take up to eight classes during a school year.

Currently at Stamford High and Westhill, students take seven classes per school year, meeting every day for 48 minutes.

Teachers are especially worried that the new hybrid block schedule would compel teachers to cram a full years curriculum in all core classes into a single semester, read a press release from Westhill teachers who supported the vote of no confidence. Administrators acknowledge that curricula will need to be redesigned to accommodate any new block schedule, but teachers would not receive the new curricula until the start of the new school year, leaving little time for appropriate lesson planning.

Westhill boasts 180 Stamford Education Association members, which includes teachers as well as counselors, school psychologists, social workers, and speech pathologists. Of them, 101 are tenured classroom teachers.

In all, 71 teachers at the school signed the letter, which was intended only for tenured classroom teachers, according to Westhill teacher Drew Denbaum.

Kate Tobin, a Westhill teacher and SEA union representative for the school, said non-tenured teachers were advised not to participate in the vote of no confidence because of the fear of retribution and because they are too easily fireable if they were to speak out.

Diane Phanos, the president of the Stamford Education Association teachers union, said the organization stands behind the Westhill teachers who signed the letter.

Weve appealed to the superintendent to allow for collaborative decision making, she said. We feel she has not listened to that plea.

Originally, Beldotti and other district officials said they wanted all three high schools to have the same schedule.

But during a presentation Tuesday night, administrators walked back that plan, allowing the smallest high school in the district to have a different set-up than Westhill and Stamford High School.

On Tuesday, AITE Principal Tina Rivera announced during the school board meeting that the school would largely maintain its current schedule, with only a few classes operating in a four-by-four pilot next semester.

At the Academy of Information Technology & Engineering, students have been taking 90-minute classes in an A/B block schedule for roughly 20 years. Teachers and students at that school have been vocal in their opposition to the districts hybrid model.

Ten students at the school conducted their own online panel to present data and argue against the hybrid schedule. Last week, the Stamford Board of Education voted in favor of recommending to Lucero that she preserve the schools current block schedule. The board can only recommend. It is up to Lucero to set the schedule.

Tobin said the district leaving AITEs schedule mostly intact has left many Westhill teachers feeling even more frustrated.

Theyre outright admitting that their schedule is superior, Tobin said, referring to district officials deciding to preserve most of AITEs model. So why are you giving us the inferior schedule?

Tobin, however, did not lead the charge to issue a vote of no confidence. She said a group of teachers at the school who are not union representatives crafted the wording of the letter and disseminated it to teachers. Tobin was one of the teachers who signed.

A previous survey conducted by Westhill teachers showed nearly unanimous support for implementing AITEs A/B block schedule over the hybrid model preferred by Lucero and Beldotti.

To date, that survey has failed to influence decision-making by administrators, and Westhill teachers resorted to their vote of no confidence as a last-ditch effort to have an A/B schedule, or at least postpone implementation of the new hybrid schedule, along with other policy changes, to allow for greater teacher involvement in the decision-making process, read the release.

Schools spokesperson Justin Martin declined to comment on the vote of no confidence, but said the district intends to implement a new block schedule next semester.

We are moving forward with implementation, he wrote in an email. This is a project years in the making and one that has strong support from building administrators, teachers and parents alike.

The no confidence vote also references other planned changes to the high schools, including a new grading for equity system and moving toward mastery-based learning for students as other areas where teachers said they believe their input was not considered.

Our objections have been heard but not listened to, and we feel that changes are being made to teaching and learning in (Stamford Public Schools) that are not in the best interests of our students, reads the letter.

ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com
STAMFORD  A Stamford man is facing a felony child pornography charge after police seized a large number of images and video showing the sexual abuse of children, police said.

Ralph Conte was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a first-degree possession of child pornography charge after police executed a search warrant at his Wells Avenue home. Police discovered photos and video of child sexual abuse on his computer, according to Stamford Police Capt. Diedrich Hohn.

The images that were found on Mr. Contes computerwere incredibly disturbing in nature, said Assistant States Attorney Elizabeth Moran during Contes arraignment on Wednesday.

Moran said the images and videos portrayed some of the youngest victims she had ever seen in a case like this.

Police began an investigation in May 2021 when Internet Crimes Against Children investigators alerted a Stamford Police investigator of a large number of child sexual abuse images being downloaded to a home in Stamford.

After a months-long investigation, police executed a search warrant at the home on Tuesday, Hohn said. There, investigators seized numerous laptops, phones and thumb drives belonging to the 54-year-old Conte, Hohn said.

Hohn said that because of the large number of images and files that have to be extracted, there will be additional charges added to the case in the future.

Conte was held on $750,000 bond and was arraigned on Wednesday afternoon.

At the arraignment, attorney Alex J. Martinez argued that Conte should have the bond lowered to $250,000 because he was the sole caretaker of his 86-year-old mother, a Holocaust survivor, who he lives with in Stamford.

Moran, on the other hand, argued that bond should be set no lower than $500,000, given the disturbing nature of the allegations.

Ultimately, Judge Gary White split the difference and set the bond at $350,000.

Conte, who Martinez said works in New York as a chemist, was released after posting bond Wednesday afternoon.

He is next expected to appear in court on April 20.
STAMFORD  A city teen involved in an armed robbery-turned-shootout accepted a deal on Thursday that could see him serve up to three years in prison.

Saequan McCandies, 16, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal attempt at first-degree robbery before Judge John Blawie in a remote hearing held at state Superior Court in Stamford Thursday.

In return for the guilty plea, Assistant States Attorney Daniel Cummings recommended a 12-year prison sentence, suspended after three years. The actual sentence, however, will be decided by a judge on April 28.

Under the deal, McCandies will also be required to undergo up to five years of probation.

McCandies was one of three teenagers arrested on May 6, 2021 on charges of criminal attempt at first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in connection to an attempted robbery-turned-shootout that happened two days earlier.

According to an arrest warrant, McCandies and two other individuals  Kevin Piersaint, 18, and Erik Chico, 19  conspired to rob a local marijuana dealer on May 4.

The warrant states that Chico set up a drug deal in a parking lot on Liberty Street. Once set in motion, McCandies and Piersaint hid in nearby bushes and waited to ambush the alleged dealer, the warrant said.

When the alleged dealer arrived, a shootout ensued, according to the warrant.

Investigator Damien Rosa wrote in the warrant that Piersaint was the one seen on surveillance footage exchanging shots with the targeted individual.

No one is believed to have been struck by the gunfire, according to police.

Attorney Barry Butler, who represents McCandies, said on Thursday that he believes his client is one of the most intelligent people hes ever represented and he has high hopes for his future.

It is my guess that he is going to survive well on probation and go to college, Butler said. This is a really bad start for someone to get in trouble for the first time.

In October, the state made a similar offer of a 12-year jail sentence suspended after five years to Piersaint in return for a guilty plea to attempted first-degree robbery in connection.

Cummings said he expects Piersaint and his attorney, Kevin Black, to decide on whether or not to accept that deal at his next court hearing on March 21.

The third co-defendant, Chico, has a pending application for accelerated rehabilitation, a pretrial probationary program that could result in the charges hes facing being dropped. He is next expected to appear in court on March 30.
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STAMFORD  For the first time in two years, students in Stamford were able to go mask-less inside school buildings on Wednesday, and at one school in Springdale, reaction from parents and students was mixed.

Santino Aguilar, a second grade student at Springdale Elementary School, said he was happy to ditch the masks.

My glasses get foggy, Aguilar said, describing the experience of wearing the face coverings.

But for Springdale third grade student Mariah Elias, masks are no big deal.

Im so used to them right now, they dont even bother me, she said. But I would rather be safe than sorry.

Stamford students and teachers are now able to shed their masks inside school buildings for the first time in about two years.

The Stamford Board of Education voted on Tuesday night to suspend the districts policy on mask wearing, clearing the way for masks to become optional for both students and staff.

The states mask mandate for schools was lifted Monday due to decreasing numbers of COVID-19 cases across the state, leaving local school boards with the authority to decide if they want to continue the mandate or not.

Initially, Stamford Director of Health Jody Bishop-Pullan had proposed March 15 as the end of the mask mandate.

A number of factors  including the decreased spread of the COVID-19 virus, and lower hospitalization and death rates  have led city school officials to consider eliminating the mandate sooner.

However, the school district and city Department of Health recommend that staff and students continue to wear masks.

In recent weeks, the mask debate has heated up in Stamford. Parents and students protested the mandate outside Stamford Government Center, while Board of Education members seemed open to ending the practice.

On the other end of the spectrum, members of the board and Superintendent Tamu Lucero have stated that some parents have sent messages to district officials in favor of maintaining the mandate.

Jannette Blancovitch, the mother of Springdale kindergarten student Brailyn Blancovitch, said she wants her daughter to keep the mask on in school.

I told her not to take it off even if shes being asked to because its my family I have to protect, she said.

Brailyn, sporting a mask with a bunny face drawn on it, said she likes wearing it.

Nastia Boiko said she had mixed feelings about her son Roman Boiko, a first grade student at the school, wearing a mask in the building. On one hand, she was happy that the requirement had been lifted, but she said she wasnt entirely comfortable with eliminating the mandate.

For now, I think we will be keeping it on, she said.

For Kim Cassette, a reading interventionist at Springdale, eliminating masks was great news.

Im happy in that the children that we work with struggle, and not having to wear the masks is going to help, she said.

ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com
Ben Shapiro, 38, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of The Ben Shapiro Show, and editor-in-chief of DailyWire.com. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers How To Destroy America In Three Easy Steps, The Right Side Of History, and Bullies. To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2022 CREATORS


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Starkville native and current Mississippi State student Ellis Ann Jackson was crowned as this years Miss Hospitality for Starkville.
The news saying that the municipality is taking steps to identify Bucharesters who are bound to military service are fake, with only the employees of the Capital City Hall being taken into account, in no connection with the war in Ukraine, says the Inforadar platform of the Ministry of Defence (MApN).

According to the Ministry, these steps are only about the military obligations of ministries, central and local public administration authorities, other public institutions and economic operators, to ensure the continuity of economic and social activities in case of mobilization or war, Agerpres.ro informs.

The Defence Ministry pointed out that "a series of fake news and misinformation" appeared in the context of the imminence of a conflict in the neighbouring country and, subsequently, of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation.

According to the Ministry of Defence, most likely, the intention behind these actions is to induce "panic" and "uncertainty" among the population, based on "speculations and interpretations that have nothing to do with reality."

The Ministry reiterates its recommendation to citizens to consult official sources.

The Capital City Hall on Wednesday announced that the municipality's directorates have been asked to update their personnel's military records, and that this has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday stated that Romania is an extraordinary example of solidarity in Europe, mentioning that our country did not only help the refugees from Ukraine, but also the Republic of Moldova.

Romania offered a touching example to the entire world when the war started. Romania helped all the refugees entering the country through the Siret Customs, by offering them blankets, water, food. People opened their doors to the refugees, organized themselves by using the media platforms to raise money. The Romanian people are ready to receive refugees. Romania does not only welcome the refugees in its homes, but it also helps the Republic of Moldova and provides it electricity generators that are especially important for Moldova. Romania sends medicines to Ukraine. You are an extraordinary example of solidarity in Europe. I thank you with all my heart for the given example, Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint press statement with President Klaus Iohannis.

She thanked Romanians for welcoming the refugees with open arms.

Mr President, I am here to thank you and to congratulate, from the bottom of my heart, all the Romanians who welcomed the refugees fleeing the war with their open arms. This is a time when we need to show unity, solidarity with Ukraine and the victims of this atrocious war. And you offered them a ray of light. Hundreds of thousands of persons are now running away from Putin's weapons, leaving their families or their entire wealth behind, sometimes leaving with their children to find a safer place in the European Union. At least one million inhabitants in Ukraine have fled in the past few days, and Romania provided shelter and food to 55,000 persons, said the head of the EC, Agerpres.ro informs.

Ursula von der Leyen also sent condolences to the families of the military who died in the helicopter crash on Wednesday night.

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Thursday was welcomed by President Klaus Iohannis at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.

The head of the European Commission arrived in Romania on Wednesday evening, when she had a meeting with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.
The humanitarian centre that is operational in Romania supporting Ukraine will play a very important role, as a medium-term approach, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Thursday.

Romania provides humanitarian aid to Ukraine through this humanitarian centre. It is important for us to be able to gather all the resources here, as close to Ukraine as possible. These resources come from all member states and will be channeled from the hub as fast as possible, to the regions in need in Ukraine, said Ursula von der Leyen at the Cotroceni Palace, where she was welcomed by President Klaus Iohannis.

She added that this centre will play a very important role, noting that when it comes to crises such as the one in Ukraine, very strict coordination is needed, Agerpres.ro informs.

With the support of the United Nations, the United States and other entities, such as non-governmental organizations, this humanitarian centre will play a very important role. When it comes to crises like this one, very strict coordination is needed. It is a medium-term approach and, with all our experience in crisis management, we enjoy all of Romania's support, flexibility and pragmatism. You have been prepared to start this work immediately and I am glad that it has progressed so well, said the President of the European Commission.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be welcome on Thursday at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace by Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

The two officials have scheduled, starting 10:00, head-to-head conversations and official talks, followed by joint press statements.The EC head has been in Romania since Wednesday evening, when she had a meeting with Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca."The EC President will visit Romania and Slovakia to talk to these countries' leaders about the situation in Ukraine and Europe's support for the refugees from Ukraine," EC deputy spokesperson Dana Spinant wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Bucharest launched on Wednesday the uni4Ukraine platform, available at http://uni4ukraine.unibuc.ro, informs a press release sent to AGERPRES.

The project aims to identify, monitor and present in a single place and in an easily accessible form the existing initiatives that support people who have left or intend to leave Ukraine via Romania. The platform includes information, resources and contact details relevant to those taking refuge from Ukraine in/via Romania, regardless of citizenship, the list and contact details of all initiatives at the University of Bucharest (information, accommodation, volunteer recruitment, donation collection, fundraising, translations for public authorities), as well as a list of reputable international initiatives to support members of the academic community in difficulty or at risk, Agerpres.ro informs.

Moreover, for those who want to provide support as volunteers, including blood donation, information and contact details of reputable public authorities and organizations that can efficiently manage resources and can also identify people who could take advantage of/misuse the situation, are available on the uni4Ukraine platform, at the address http://uni4ukraine.unibuc.ro.

On Thursday, at 13.00, 173 people, foreign students and Ukrainian citizens were accommodated in the dormitories of the University of Bucharest and at the "Academica" Guest House. To these are added the more than 60 people housed in the Baptist Theological Institute hall of residence, the Ruth Center, as well as in the CEREFREA Villa Noel spaces. Another 40 people are expected to arrive during the day.
The substantial potential for growth of the commercial-investment relations between Romania and Poland was emphasized on Thursday by the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Constantin-Daniel Cadariu, during a meeting with the Polish Minister for Economic and Technological Development, Piotr Nowak.

"On the sidelines of the Romania - Poland Governmental Consultations, taking place in Warsaw on March 3, current year, Constantin-Daniel Cadariu, Minister of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, had a bilateral meeting with Piotr Nowak, the Polish Minister for Economic and Technological Development and presided, together with him, the Romania - Poland Business Roundtable. The bilateral meeting was an occasion for a review of the evolutions and perspectives to amplify commercial, investment relations and cooperation in production between our countries, noting priority domains, the impact of the pandemic and the measures implemented by the two governments for economic relaunch, support programs for entrepreneurship and investors, current files in the domain of commercial policies at the level of the European Union and the World Trade Organization, as well as the effects of the crisis generated by the Ukraine - Russian Federation conflict," mentions a release sent on Thursday, to AGERPRES.

According to the quoted source, for the support at the institutional level of the development of bilateral relations, the two ministers agreed on several activities, among which: the organization of a new round of consultations on economic topics at the level of state secretaries for foreign trade in the course of this quarter and the opening in Warsaw, in the coming period, of a Romanian-Polish economic forum, by which to facilitate contacts between the business environments of the two countries and better present the opportunities offered by Romania, Agerpres.ro informs.

Thus, the possibilities to amplify the bilateral economic cooperation were analyzed during the Business Roundtable presided by the two ministers. The Romanian side saw the participation, at the leadership level, of the Authority for Romania's Digitization, EximBank, Romarm, ROMAERO, Rombat, Hidroelectrica and Bitdefender.

In the first 11 months of 2021, the Romanian-Polish commercial exchanges rose by 25% over the same period of 2020, totaling 8.36 billion euro, of which 2.75 billion euro in exports (+29%) and 5.6 billion euro imports (+23%). According to estimates, throughout the entirety of 2021 the bilateral commercial exchanges totaled 9 billion euro.

Poland occupies the 19th spot among foreign investors in Romania, with 1,359 companies registered (0.57% of the total number of registered companies with foreign capital) and a total value of the social capital in currency equivalent of 311 million euro (0.68% of total investments in Romania).
European Union's dependence on Russian gas must end, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis told a joint news conference with visiting EC President Ursula von der Leyen, adding that short-, medium- and long-term energy supply approaches are needed for the European Union and for prices not to suffocate the economy.

He said that von der Leyen had informed him of the steps taken to increase the European Union's energy security, Agerpres.ro informs.

"This is a strategic goal for all of us. Interconnection, liquefied natural gas imports, massive investment in renewables and the civilian nuclear sector must continue to be supported. To us, these energy issues are extremely important and we have discussed these matters thoroughly. A short-term approach is needed to ensure the energy supply of all the member states of the European Union. A medium-term approach is needed to secure enough energy so that prices will not surge and the European economy will not be suffocated. In our case, obviously, we must be careful that these prices do not suffocate the Romanian economy, and, yes, we need a long-term approach. It is clear and I want to emphasise that the European Union's dependence on Russian gas must end!," said Iohannis.

He added that there was a need for more and better emphasis on alternative energy sources.

"And I found total understanding when I said that, to Romania, the decision is clear: we need to move towards energy independence by investing in renewables and the civilian nuclear sector," Iohannis added.

He emphasised how important the delegated act proposed and approved by the European Commission on the taxonomy of gas and energy generated in nuclear power plants was in order to guarantee a smooth transition to a green economy.

According to Iohannis, the talks also focused on concrete ways to provide support to Moldova, which is also facing an increased wave of refugees, but also other economic or energy difficulties.

"Romania will continue to work closely with the European Commission. Unity, coordination and rapid response to help Ukraine are our main strengths in these difficult times we are all experiencing," Iohannis said.

The chief of state said that "we are in an unprecedented situation, generated by the unjustified, illegal and unprovoked armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in which not only the security of Ukraine, but also the transatlantic one is strongly threatened."

"I want to take this opportunity to once again praise the courage of the Ukrainian people, who are fighting for freedom and resisting the deadly shots of an invader," added Iohannis.
More than 1,400 Ukrainian citizens have applied for asylum in Romania since the beginning of the conflict in the neighboring country, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) reported on Thursday.

"Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, 1,408 Ukrainian citizens have applied for asylum in Romania. These citizens enjoy all the rights provided by the national legislation," a MAI release sent to AGERPRES informs.

Throughout the procedure, according to the quoted source, asylum seekers can benefit from accommodation in the centers of the General Immigration Inspectorate, if they so wish, as well as material, financial, medical assistance, psychological and legal advice, access to labor market and cultural adaptation activities.

In addition, they can benefit from the support of international and non-governmental organizations working in the field of migration, Agerpres.ro informs.

At the moment, the occupancy rate of relevant accommodation centers is 64.8%, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
More than 5,200 persons, half of them Ukrainian citizens, have entered Romania through the Sculeni border crossing point in the past 24 hours, according to a press release of the Iasi County Prefect's Office.

According to the same source, a total of 1,174 cars and 5,267 persons, 2,630 of whom were Ukrainian citizens, came in through the Sculeni customs.Also, two trains entered Romania carrying out 198 people, 104 of whom were Ukrainian citizens.
Over 1,000 refugees, Azerbaijani citizens, from Ukraine, have arrived to the Cristesti station in the county of Iasi, where they will embark on a train for Bucharest, the Ministry of Transport announced on Thursday.

"Over 1,000 refugees from Ukraine have arrived in station of Cristesti - Iasi county. They will embark on 11 carriages heading for Bucharest. The refugees will be grouped in Romexpo exhibition complex in northern Bucharest, where they will be accommodated," the Ministry report mentions, Agerpres.ro informs.

According to the quoted source, the refugees will travel for free.
More than 22 tonnes of products were donated by the inhabitants of Bucharest, in less than a week, to the three centers opened by the Capital City Hall in support of the Ukrainian refugees, the PMB (Bucharest Mayoralty) reports, in a Facebook post.

Also, over 2,400 refugees of several nationalities who arrived by train at the Nord Railway Station were assisted by DGASMB (Bucharest Municipality Social Assistance General Directorate) teams at the Information and Coordination Point. Of these, 105 are accommodated in the centers of the Capital City Hall, Agerpres.ro informs.

The center of the Nord Station was opened starting with February 26th and operates 24/7, in order to support the Ukrainian citizens who arrive in Bucharest, in terms of orientation to the access roads or means of transport, respectively to ensure accommodation. Most of them are in transit in Romania, being sheltered for a few days, until they go to the countries of origin or other countries where they have relatives, the quoted source said.
Poland is joining the NATO forces for the defense of the Eastern flank, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced on Thursday.

"We've discussed together the internal, institutional mechanisms that we can use and, also, the mechanisms of the European Union that we can also access so that we may facilitate the stay and the integration, as well as possible, in the Romanian and Polish societies, respectively. Surely, we have had discussions on all the measures that were taken, so that we may strengthen discouragement and defence on the eastern flank of the Alliance. We have already measures that we have conducted together, there is a Polish military structure that is part of the Multinational Brigade in Romania, we have a structure that is part of the battlegroup that is present on Polish territory and we've discussed with Mr. Prime Minister that, with the increase in Allied forces' presence in the region of the Black Sea and, of course, in Poland and in the Baltic Sea region, we will analyze and may have a new package of forces, that could be deployed to our country and in this way we've received his approval so a sub-unit be part of the battlegroup that is to be led by France," said Nicolae Ciuca, at the end of the Romania-Poland government sitting, Agerpres.ro informs.

The Romanian prime minister mentioned that he also appreciates that it is an activity that takes place the same day that 101 years ago saw the signing of the Convention of Defensive Alliance, which, practically, represents the founding act of the strategic partnership and which, through joint activities, continues to be consolidated.

"Today's discussions allowed, at the same time, the review of the progress that our countries have made and, also, allowed us to establish an entire series of benchmarks at the level of line ministries, convening thus agreeing that together we follow up on what was discussed today, what was signed today so that it may yield concrete results," Prime Minister Ciuca added.
The Republic of Moldova's request for accession to the European Union is a historical step, PM Nicolae Ciuca said.

"Romania will continue working alongside the Republic of Moldova on its road towards EU," the Executive head said, on the Government's Facebook page, on Thursday.

The president of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, signed a decree to accede to the European Union, where the document will be dispatched shortly to the leaders of European institutions.

Maia Sandu specified that the Republic of Moldova's accession request to the European Union is addressed to the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, country who currently owns the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union and that it will be submitted in Brussels in the following days, Agerpres.ro informs.

Georgia also submitted a request to join the EU on Thursday, after a similar decision was taken a few days ago in Ukraine, in the context of the Russian invasion on its territory.
The Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, sent a message of condolences to the Romanian counterpart, Nicolae Ciuca, at the end of the joint government meeting for the loss of life of the eight soldiers in plane crashes in Dobrogeaon the night of March 2, Agerpres.ro informs.

"He sent me condolences for the loss of life of the eight Romanian soldiers in the Air Force. Thank you very much for the message of condolences, and in this way I want to convey again the regret for the loss of life of eight Romanian soldiers and also send my own and the Government's condolences and support for the bereaved families. May God rest them in peace," the Romanian prime minister said at the start of a joint news conference with the Polish prime minister.
Poland and Romania are doing their utmost for peaceful coexistence, setting all their diplomatic and political actions in agreement, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday in Warsaw at the end of the joint meeting of the Polish and Romanian governments, as he renewed his call on European partners to implement a courageous package of sanctions capable of seriously unsettling the Russian economy, following this country's aggression against Ukraine.

Our countries have changed a lot in the last 20-30 years since they acquired freedom, but one thing has not changed. The conditions of our security have not changed, the security conditions are in direct dependence on Russia's action, on whether it acts as an aggressor country, as it happens now, as a country that invades a neighbor, or if it acts as a country wherewith one can coexist in peace. Poland and Romania are doing everything for us to coexist in peace. (...) At the inter-ministerial consultations we devoted most of our time to discussions on the situation in Ukraine and the direct threats arising from there. In order to counteract these threats, we are putting in efforts for all our diplomatic and political actions in the field of security to be in agreement. Today we had a new round of adjustments and we are calling again on our partners in the European Union, in the European Commission to implement a courageous package of sanctions, a package to really seriously affect the Russian economy, Mateusz Morawiecki said in a press statement delivered together with Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca.

Mateusz Morawiecki said that he and his Romanian counterpart also discussed the development of a joint strategy to ensure energy independence from Russia in the coming years, Agerpres.ro informs.

The head of the Warsaw Executive said that other subjects approached during bilateral consultations included preventing the escalation of the conflict triggered by Russia in Ukraine, as well as strengthening NATO's eastern flank in the face of new threats deriving from this aggression and managing the situation of Ukrainian refugees.

He also stressed that Poland is very close to Romania and backs its Schengen accession bid.

Romania is one of Poland's main partners to take action and call on the conscience of the West. This is what we are doing. We are trying to awaken the conscience of the West. This is what I also said in Berlin - that it's not just gas that will flow through the Nord Stream 2 and Nord Stream 1 pipelines. Today we see that the blood of innocent people is flowing through these pipelines and our Western partners must be aware of this and stop financing the Russian war machine, and I am glad that we are on the same page with our friends in Romania in this regard. For us, solidarity and partnership are not empty words, they are words we will replete with significance today, in Warsaw, and in the future in Bucharest, said Prime Minister Morawiecki.
President Klaus Iohannis sent on Wednesday evening a message of condolences following the crash of an IAR 330 Puma helicopter in the area of Gura Dobrogei, Constanta County.

"I want to express my deep regret and full compassion for the loss of life of seven soldiers of the 57th Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, following the crash of an IAR 330 Puma helicopter, in the area of Gura Dobrogei, Constanta County. The helicopter was on a rescue mission to evacuate a MiG21 LanceR aircraft, when it disappeared from the radar. On this tragic night for Romanian aviation, my thoughts turn to the grieving families hard hit by this dramatic loss. My condolences to them, wishing them lot of strength in these painful moments," reads the President's message, according to the Presidential Administration.
President Klaus Iohannis welcomed on Thursday, at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, with whom he discussed the support given to refugees from Ukraine, but also to the Republic of Moldova, faced with a massive influx of Ukrainians out of the country.

"The President of Romania reiterated our country's support for the combined global efforts, including those coordinated by the UN, in support of refugees following the Russian invasion, while appreciating the adequate and rapid response of the international community to the current situation," said the Presidential Administration.

The cited source reports that President Iohannis welcomed the historic vote in the UN General Assembly that strongly condemns Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

The head of state also expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by the High Commissioner and his team in Romania, as well as for the collaboration with the Romanian authorities.

President Klaus Iohannis briefed on the current situation, the preparation and the response of our country to this crisis, including the decision to operationalise in Romania a logistics center, a hub, for the coordination of humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.

From this perspective, the Romanian president pointed out that Romania's response is being carried out in close coordination with the European Commission, the Member States of the European Union, other international partners, international organizations (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Red Cross, International Organization for Migration) along with non-governmental organizations and volunteers.

Discussions also focused on concrete ways to support the Republic of Moldova, which is facing a massive influx of refugees, Agerpres.ro informs.

According to the Presidential Administration, High Commissioner Filippo Grandi welcomed the rapid reaction of the Romanian authorities and the efforts made to manage the exceptional situation of refugee flows.

"The senior UN official voiced appreciation for Romania's handling of this difficult situation, stressing the openness to continue cooperation with the Romanian side to identify the best ways to manage the crisis in the light of future developments. The High Commissioner also stated that he will get involved in providing support to the Republic of Moldova," informs the cited source.
President Klaus Iohannis welcomes his Chisinau counterpart, Maia Sandu's demarche to sign the application for Moldova's accession to the European Union and stresses that Romania will give its full support in this endeavor.

"I warmly welcome today's historic demarche of President Maia Sandu. Romania will continue to be a sincere, constant and active supporter of the Republic of Moldova's place in the European Union family. We will give our full support to the Republic of Moldova in this endeavor," the head of state wrote on Thursday, on Twitter.

Maia Sandu stated that Moldova's European Union membership application is addressed to the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, country that is currently holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, and that it will be submitted in Brussels in the coming days, Agerpres.ro informs.

Also on Thursday, Georgia submitted its application to join the EU, following a similar decision by Ukraine a few days ago in the context of the Russian invasion of its territory.
On Thursday, President Klaus Iohannis had a telephone conversation with his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis, in which context he welcomed the opening of this country to support the humanitarian center that will be operationalized in Romania.

"Very good telephone conversation with Swiss President Ignazio Cassis regarding the coordination of actions between Switzerland [and Romania] and to severely sanction the invasion of Russia and to support Ukraine. I welcomed Switzerland's openness to support the Romanian humanitarian aid hub in helping Ukrainian refugees," Iohannis wrote on Thursday on Twitter, Agerpres.ro informs.
President Klaus Iohannis conferred posthumous honors to the eight servicemen that lost their lives, on Wednesday evening, following the aviation accidents that took place in Constanta county, the Presidential Administration announced.

According to the quoted source, "in order to honor the memory of officers that sacrificed their lives during acts of exceptional devotion during the fulfillment of the missions they were entrusted with," President Klaus Iohannis will confer posthumously:

* Order of Aeronautic Virtue in the rank of Knight, with peace markings, for servicemen, to Captain-Commander Bogdan Dumitru Florin, Lieutenant-Commander Nita Gheorghe Iosif-Costinel, Captain Patrascu Gheorghe Gheorghe-Sorin, Second Lieutenant Banu Ion Gelu, Second Lieutenant Lates Gheorghe-Nicu Eduard-Catalin, Second Lieutenant Marinescu Victor Ionut

* Order of Maritime Virtue in the rank of Knight, with peace markings, for servicemen, to Second Lieutenant Bosoi Mihai Sergiu and Second Lieutenant Carp Vasile Vlad, Agerpres.ro informs.

On Wednesday evening, a MiG-21 LanceR with the 86th Airbase, which was executing an air patrol mission over Dobrogea, lost radio contact with the control tower and disappeared from radar. Emergency search and rescue procedures were started, and one IAR-330 Puma helicopter took off towards the area of the possible impact. The helicopter lost radio contact with the tower around 20:44 and crashed in the area of the locality Gura Dobrogei, Constanta County, at approximately 11 km from the airfield.

The double aviation accident saw the loss of life of the MiG's pilor, the five crew members of the search and rescue helicopter and two other rescue divers with the Romanian Naval Forces.
Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu told his Azerbaijani counterpart that Romania is interested in importing gas from this country, according to a post on the Facebook page.

"Today [Thursday - ed.n.] we had a new working meeting with Parviz Shahbazov, Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan. We discussed in detail about the concrete cooperation with regard to energy, to priority areas. I conveyed that Romania is interested in importing volumes of gas from the Republic of Azerbaijan, given the strengthened Strategic Energy Partnership between the two countries. At the same time, I reiterated that in the current security context, the Southern Corridor is a factor in strengthening European energy security and especially a long-awaited instrument for diversifying gas supplies, with Azerbaijan and Europe now connected by a direct, secure and reliable energy connection," specified the Romanian minister.

During the meeting, the project to build a submarine cable for the transport of electricity under the Black Sea was also considered, Agerpres.ro informs.

"Our country has been invited to join the ongoing working group to launch this very important project. Minister Parviz Shahbazov emphasized the importance of the project in expanding electricity export opportunities between the region and the European market and highlighted Azerbaijan's potential and plans for "green energy" exports," Virgil Popescu said.

"At the same time, we exchanged views on other perspectives of bilateral energy cooperation, including in the field of nuclear energy," the Romanian official added.
Romanian and Polish prime ministers Nicolae Ciuca and Mateusz Morawiecki discussed on Thursday the electricity and gas situation affecting both countries.

"We discussed the issues of what we can do together to solve the electricity and gas situations affecting both countries, and we also sought together to find solutions and continue to support the two countries that may also be affected by the electricity crisis and the gas crisis - Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. In all this set of discussions, we are practically in the third round of inter-governmental consultations, it is important and relevant to emphasize that together we have decided to continue to support both Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and Georgia in their accession path to the European Union," prime minister Nicolae Ciuca said at the end of a joint meeting of the governments of Romania and Poland.

The prime minister said that it is very important everything that both countries do together both within the European Union and within the North Atlantic Alliance.

"It is also very important to underline that together we are looking for solutions that the two projects within the Three Seas Initiative - we are discussing the road infrastructure Via Carpatia and Rail2Sea - can be materialized, and at the level of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania, as well as the one in Poland, today, at the joint meeting, we were able to find a lot of determination and a lot of decision that very soon, the both sides be able to carry out the activities where the foundation stone is practically laid for this infrastructure that we want together," said Nicolae Ciuca.

Considering the security situation, the prime minister reiterated that Romania and Poland are two pillars of security on the eastern flank, Agerpres.ro informs.

"Again, taking into account the security situation, I want to reiterate that Romania and Poland, as we both like to recognize, are two pillars of security on the eastern flank, will continue to work together and together to develop their capabilities and also together to find solutions, so that the safety of the citizens of the two countries is ensured. And, under the umbrella of the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union, we will continue to face any aggression, even an aggression from the Russian Federation," prime minister Ciuca concluded.
The National Tax Administration Agency (ANAF) is the competent authority for asset freezing sanctions taken against Russian individuals or legal entities in Romania as part of international sanctions imposed on Russia, government spokesman Dan Carbunaru said.

"With regard to the international sanctions imposed on Russia, in accordance with the provisions of OUG No. 202/2008 on the enforcement of international sanctions, the National Tax Administration Agency is the competent authority for freezing the assets owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by natural or legal persons identified as designated persons or entities. According to information received so far from competent authorities, ANAF is conducting specific procedures for three legal entities that could be related to two individuals, and one legal entity, listed in the European Regulations/Decisions," Dan Carbunaru said, Agerpres.ro informs.
Traffic through the Siret Border Crossing Point (PTF) into Romania has increased from the previous day, with most of the people crossing being Ukrainian nationals.

Spokesperson for the Suceava Local Border Police Service (STPF) Ilie Poroch Seritan informed on Thursday morning that on March 2, between 00:00hrs-24:00hrs a number of 9,888 people crossed through PTF Siret, as against 8,285 in the previous report, of which 7,041 were Ukrainian nationals, as against 5,840 the day before.At the same time, 1,272 vehicles entered the country.Traffic at the entrance to Romania through PTF Siret is increasing, to an average of 412 people per hour, up from 345 a day before.
WENTZVILLE  New designs in Kristin Littles line of irreverent apparel usually cook in her brain for months. But in January, after watching the Wentzville School Board ban The Bluest Eye, Little stayed up all night, churning out four new T-shirts.

I wanted to say something, and not stay quiet, she said.

Her home-based Little Bear Boutique got 32 orders in 24 hours  about what she sells in a typical month.

The boards vote to remove Toni Morrisons acclaimed novel from the districts high school libraries  along with a spate of book challenges across the country  has ignited buying sprees at local bookstores and even depleted Amazons stock. Two St. Louis nonprofits are raising funds to get banned titles into the hands of readers who cant afford them. The publicity has also kindled the creative juices of local crafters. At least four, including Little, whipped up shirts, bookmarks and backpack patches for sale.

And did they sell.

Barbara Hansen of St. John doesnt usually wear T-shirts to her office job in Hazelwood. But she is making an exception for the Read Banned Books top she bought last month from Little Bear Boutique.

The former English teacher wants to be sure everyone knows where she stands. And treading lightly is not in her nature.

Oh, to be a thorn in some peoples side! Hansen said.

Books with racial, political or sexual content have stirred controversy for decades, but the frequency of book challenges in the past year has reached an unprecedented level, according to the American Library Association. Books have been pulled from shelves in Virginia, Utah, Wyoming and Pennsylvania. In Texas, a group of librarians spearheaded a grassroots awareness campaign and sold almost a thousand #FReadom tees and hoodies.

New York-based Out of Print Clothing has promoted a banned-book line of apparel and accessories since the literary-themed company started 12 years ago. When book challenges make the news, sales skyrocket. After Maus, a graphic novel about the Holocaust, was ousted by a Tennessee school district in January, Out of Print sold three times its usual anti-censorship socks, totes and pins.

Our customers want to show that they are on the side of free speech, said co-owner Todd Lawton. This is both a fashion and political statement.

For Briana Morales of the Tower Grove South neighborhood, what she wears is a way to get her high school students talking.

I think kids are excluded from the conversation, she said.

Morales enlisted one of her colleagues to design a T-shirt that pronounces: Words have power. Read banned books.

Bans are an equity issue, Morales said. Most of the students at her school in East St. Louis cant buy a book if its not available at the library. But they read other frequently contested bestsellers, such as The Hate U Give, during her classes.

Aggression relievers

The novels Meaghan Lorenz read as a teenager two decades ago set her forth on vicarious globetrotting adventures and introduced her to different perspectives.

I got a little bit of a better world view, said Lorenz, who lives in St. Peters.

When she heard about the Wentzville dictate, her frustration threatened to boil over. So she took to her trade, stamping letters onto the bowls of spoons and bending their handles flat.

Lorenz opened Beat It Boutique four years ago, pounding metal into pendants, bracelets and keychains.

Its a little bit to make money and also let out a tiny bit of aggression, she said.

She made a single Facebook post about her Read Banned Books spoon-bookmarks and sold 20 in less than a week.

Bethany Steck of St. Peters formed Red Panda Arts last year to market her hand-sewn dresses, quilted bags and hair scrunchies. Her 8-year-old nephews worry that his favorite stories might vanish from the library inspired her newest offerings: statement patches.

The $5 iron-ons  including a nod to lightning-rod LGBTQ topics  are not meant to be a linchpin for her business, but a way to feel useful.

This was something I could do quick, Steck said. To promote reading these books.

Ashley Miller of OFallon, Missouri, started Cre8tive Soul Designs to save herself money. The music teacher had been buying head-turning tees to wear to school from other crafters and decided she could do it just as well herself.

Im kind of a statement person, Miller said. She whipped up three anti-censorship prints in late January and added them to her wardrobe rotation, selling a few to admirers.

Any time something is in the news, people want it, she said.

A way to be seen

Wentzvilles decision-making process has been on Julie Scotts mind for months. The Lake Saint Louis mother of two decided last summer to run for a seat on the board in Aprils election.

Her purchase from Little Bear provides a sartorial counterpoint to the voices that have turned board meetings into performance theater, she said. Scott and three of her friends wore their matching navy T-shirts to the February meeting when a challenge to Gabi, Girl in Pieces was rejected.

Sometimes people think that if theyre not the loudest, theyre not being heard, said Scott. This is a way to be seen.

Little, who also has two children in Wentzville schools, was there, too. She was heartened by the Gabi decision and even more energized a week later, when the board  facing an American Civil Liberties Union-backed lawsuit  reversed The Bluest Eye removal during a special meeting.

Little knows the book-banning narrative is not over yet. At least four other titles in the Wentzville School District have been pulled from school libraries, and there have been recent challenges in other local districts, including Kirkwood, Lindbergh and Francis Howell.

But she is optimistic.

Im hoping this is the start of opening minds, said Little. Now we just have to keep the momentum going.

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You know the summer concert season is really back in swing with the return this week of Live Nations Lawn Pass. The Lawn Pass gives concertgoers access to shows all summer at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre.

Lawn Passes are $199. Each buyer receives a personalized credential that serves as their ticket for each show.

Passes are on sale now at lawnpass.livenation.com while supplies last.

Among the acts coming to Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre this coming season are Lil Durk (April 29), Tim McGraw (April 30), Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town (May 20), Pointfest (May 21), AJR (May 31), REO Speedwagon (June 3), the Lumineers (June 8), the Chicks (June 14), Chicago and Brian Wilson (June 18), Josh Groban (June 26), Santana and Earth, Wind and Fire, (July 1), the Black Keys (July 15), Train (July 16), Backstreet Boys (July 30), Big Time Rush (July 31), OneRepublic (Aug. 6), Zac Brown Band (Aug. 12), Keith Urban (Aug. 19), Kid Rock (Aug. 20), Sammy Hagar (Aug. 26), Morgan Wallen (Aug. 27), Luke Bryan (Sept. 9).

Lawn Passes are available at 30 Live Nation venues across the country.

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President Joe Bidens top Medicare official suggested Wednesday that forthcoming rules to bolster nursing home staffing wont be issued under a4 mechanism, known as interim final rules, that would allow regulations to take effect more or less immediately.

While we want to move swiftly, we want to get comments from stakeholders, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in an interview about the overhaul Biden promised during his State of the Union address.

Medicare is going to set higher standards for nursing homes and make sure your loved ones get the care they deserve and that they expect, Biden said.

But Brooks-LaSure suggested the administrations sought-after nursing home changes are not considered urgent even as nursing homes and other long-term care facilities register shocking numbers of covid deaths. A KFF analysis estimated that more than 200,000 residents and staff members of long-term care facilities had died from covid as of Jan. 30, amounting to at least 23% of all U.S. deaths.

When we do interim final rules, those tend to be things that are absolute emergencies, Brooks-LaSure said when asked whether they would be considered for nursing home staffing levels, or tight timelines.

The White House this week said CMS will first study the issue and then propose minimum staffing standards within one year, but officials have been otherwise vague about timing. When issuing regulations, federal agencies generally release a proposal and then seek public feedback before finalizing it. The entire process can take months or even years. But theres an exception that allows newly issued regulations to kick in much faster even if the agency allows for public comment  a move that Biden officials have exercised recently when issuing a covid vaccine mandate for health workers and implementing a ban on surprise medical bills that took effect this year.

Marjorie Moore, executive director of Voyce, a St. Louis nonprofit that advocates for long-term care residents, said the speed of this is a little frustrating. She said shes seen situations where residents hadnt had their diapers changed for days because staffing shortages are so dire.

Thats not what we expect for our most vulnerable, she said.

Still, she said, I think one year, knowing that this is government stuff, may be the best we can hope for. Thats not going to be an overnight thing. We just knew there was no way.

Bidens proposal would amount to the biggest increase in federal nursing home regulation in nearly four decades. CMS could pursue several elements under the agencys existing authority, such as investigating the role of private equity in the sector, increasing its scrutiny of the poorest-performing facilities, and making public more information about facilities finances and operators.

Some ideas would require congressional action. They include allowing CMS to ban from the Medicare and Medicaid programs those facilities owned by people or corporations with subpar track records and to increase penalties on poor-performing facilities from $21,000 to $1 million.

Most states have standards for nursing home staffing levels, but the minimums vary widely. Some states have been criticized for granting exemptions so facilities can provide less care for each resident.

Forthcoming federal rules on staffing must be designed to avoid unintended consequences, said David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, who is supportive of the effort. Figuring out the right kind of threshold for facilities is going to be challenging.

He said unintended consequences might come from boosting staffing levels by disproportionately hiring nursing assistants, who earn less and have limited responsibilities, at the expense of positions for licensed practical nurses and registered nurses, or depleting resources in other important areas like housekeeping.

Brooks-LaSure declined to say whether CMS would allow nursing homes to seek exemptions, instead arguing that minimum staffing rules will help with retention.

Were hearing from staff over and over about the strain that staffing is placing on them personally and on residents. And we have got to address the quality of care for people who are enrolled in our programs, she said. We want to work with industry, absolutely, to get there, but everything we hear is about what kind of strain the insufficient staffing is putting on residents and on the workers themselves.

The industry, for its part, hasnt minced words in criticizing Bidens plan, especially after the pandemic exacerbated existing workforce retention problems. A February study in JAMA Health Forum found that compared with other parts of the health sector, nursing homes experienced the greatest relative wage growth during the pandemic yet saw the biggest drops in employment.

By singling out nursing home care for attack, President Biden is only further demoralizing struggling providers and their workers, Brendan Williams, CEO of the New Hampshire Health Care Association, which lobbies for long-term care facilities, said in a statement. Mark Parkinson, CEO of the American Health Care Association in Washington, D.C., said in a statement that we cannot meet additional staffing requirements when we cant find people to fill the open positions nor when we dont have the resources to compete against other employers.

Central to Bidens plan is getting facilities to open their books to make public information about their opaque finances and operating structures. Among other moves, CMS plans to create a database to identify nursing home owners and operators.

There is an international movement to more closely monitor and improve nursing home staffing levels, staff pay, and quality of care.

To achieve that, 106 investor groups and labor unions in the U.S., Canada, and Europe that manage more than $3 trillion in assets have published staffing, pay, and quality goals for nursing homes. They are pressing large companies and real estate investment trusts that operate nursing homes to publicly disclose whether they are complying with those targets. They seek greater financial transparency in nursing home operations.

Some of the investor groups have told nursing home operators that if they fail to meet the expectations, they may take shareholder actions against management and ultimately divest from the companies.

But those investors and unions are facing tough challenges in getting the information they seek, said Adrian Durtschi, head of the health care section at UNI Global Union, which spearheaded the international effort.

He noted greater cooperation from nursing home operators in European countries with more heavily regulated national health care systems and stronger unions. Its been slower in the U.S., he said, where there are so many private nursing home companies.

Transparency is key for investors to make good investments, and unions need it for good negotiations, Durtschi said. But its generally not easy to access the information. Some companies are willing to disclose it, while others are more resistant.

Bidens plan could inspire others to enact similar disclosure laws and regulations, he added.

For instance, French authorities are under pressure to toughen nursing home oversight following revelations of severe quality-of-care problems at nursing homes run by Orpea, a large publicly traded operator of high-end facilities. As a result, some investment funds have reduced their nursing home holdings.

Demands for higher standards, more transparency, and more union rights, Durtschi said, are great to see.

In the U.S., Brooks-LaSure said CMS can use its leverage. As part of our requirements to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid program, we have authority to require entities to report information to us, she said. However, Grabowski, noting the industrys skill at staying steps ahead of the government and weak agency enforcement, said that it sounds like a great objective, but its going to be really challenging.

Im a little skeptical theyll make the necessary investment, he said of CMS.

One advocate for vulnerable older adults, whove especially suffered during the pandemic, saw hope in Bidens statement.

Nursing homes getting literally three lines in the State of the Union is profound, said Dr. Michael Wasserman, a geriatrician in California. Let us stop and realize that the White House has recognized improving quality in nursing homes as a priority.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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ST. LOUIS  The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention got her fill of St. Louis Thursday in a uniquely extensive visit to a city that included speaking to medical students, meeting with the citys health director, hearing from clinic leaders and touring one of those clinics in one of the citys most impoverished areas.

We in the CDC are only as good as our public health partners are in the community, and so as I travel, I really want to see whats working in public health in the community and whats not working, and I want to hear and learn, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who became director just as COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out over a year ago.

When Walensky was asked to speak on the medical campus of her alma mater Washington University as part of an annual lecture by a visiting professor, she also sought a meeting with Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, director of the St. Louis Department of Health.

Davis said she saw an opportunity to not just meet with Walensky but also use her visit to inspire an overworked and burned-out staff, showcase the citys success in fighting COVID-19 and highlight the critical work of federally qualified health centers  community clinics that care for those on Medicaid or without insurance.

What was originally planned to be an hour meeting with Davis turned into a day of touring the citys no-cost testing center for sexually transmitted diseases, new COVID-19 testing locations and the CareSTL Health center on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in north St. Louis. Walensky also met with all four leaders of the citys community clinic systems.

Davis said they discussed ways to bolster the public health workforce and improve the large racial disparities in the citys vaccination rates among children  less than 20% of vaccinated children between the ages of 5 and 11 are Black.

Davis said Walensky was extremely gracious.

We need days like this, Davis said. We need help, but we also need hope.

Walensky said the 1,400 federally qualified health centers across the country deliver care to one in three people living in poverty. Over the past year, these clinics have vaccinated about 20 million people.

I wanted to hear how theyve been able to do it, some of the challenges that theyve had, they are going to be so key to the next chapter of COVID-19 but also the next chapter of equity and health around the country.

Angela Clabon, the chief executive of CareSTL Health, said she was thankful to have Walensky acknowledge the struggles the clinics face in caring for the citys most vulnerable residents through the pandemic.

Its an honor to know our voice will be heard in making decisions, Clabon said. We feel appreciated.

Lesson learned

Walensky began her visit to St. Louis Thursday morning speaking with medical students and faculty at Washington University about the challenges facing public health officials as the U.S. enters a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. She fielded questions posed by Dr. William Powderly, co-director of the infectious diseases division at the Washington University School of Medicine.

Walensky received a bachelors degree in chemistry with a concentration in biochemistry from Washington University in 1991 before earning a medical degree at Johns Hopkins University. She was invited to speak as this years Medoff Visiting Professor in the Department of Medicine.

Walensky, 52, said her experience as a medical provider and researcher has made her keenly aware of the challenges in a much broader role as CDC director, a job shes held since January 2021.

We provide guidance that has to be implementable in New York City, and the Navajo Nation and rural Montana and Guam  thats the spectrum of our public health recommendations, and increasingly through this pandemic people have wanted our public health guidance to say to them, Can I visit Grandma this weekend? Walensky said. Nobody goes to the CDC guidance to say, Can I have the fries at Shake Shack today? but thats what they really want from us in this moment.

She has experience advising patients as a physician, but balancing the need for individualized information with the need for sweeping public health guidance has been a really interesting line to walk, she said.

The CDC has to base its COVID-19 guidance on competing risks and benefits, constantly weighing the impact on things like mental illness, addiction and delays in medical care, Walensky said. In rolling out guidelines, the agency seeks feedback from local government and school officials and balances that with the latest science from its experts.

Sometimes the CDC decisions are criticized as caving to economic interests, such as when the CDC shortened the quarantine length just as the omicron variant was causing a surge.

Walensky said the country was about to see a million new cases a day and hospitals were in danger of not being able to get the supplies they needed, and something had to be done.

We might be faulted for not making exactly the right decision in the moment, but I dont want to be faulted for not making a decision, because that in and of itself is a decision, she said.

Looking back over the pandemic Walensky praised the extraordinary effort to deliver 550 million vaccines in one year and the CDCs increased ability to gather and quickly release large amounts of data. The CDC now has the ability to look at how vaccines impact cases and deaths, broken down by types of vaccine and age, within four weeks, she said.

What the CDC did not do well at was communicating what was not known yet about vaccines, she said. Experts did not talk enough about how immunity can wane, or how another variant could diminish effectiveness.

When the vaccine came out, it was 95% effective. So many of us wanted to say, OK, this is our ticket out. Yeah, were done. So, I think we had perhaps too little caution and too much optimism for some good things that came our way, she said. I think all of us wanted this to be done.

Going forward, she said the CDC can do better at explaining how science is nuanced and can change when more is learned. Health guidance is based on what is known at the time.

Weve always said, We are going to lead with science. That is entirely true, but I think the public heard that as science is foolproof, science is black and white. ... Truth is, science is gray  and science is not always immediate. And sometimes it takes months or years to actually find out the answer, but you have to make decisions in a pandemic before you have that answer, she said.

When asked how the universitys medical school and its students can help the CDC, Walensky said they can help ensure the next generation of providers is as diverse as the population, which helps improve health outcomes for everyone.

She also urged them to use their voices to promote trust in public health and listen to the needs of the individuals they care for.

Walensky told the students and staff that this was their Super Bowl moment.

We are all tired, she said, but this is what we were called to do. This is what we were trained to do.

Walensky said her visit to St. Louis was nostalgic and encouraging.

We were talking today about equity in action, she said, and I absolutely saw that, and it was really inspiring.

Originally posted at 12:45 p.m. Thursday, March 3. Updated at 7:50 p.m.(tncms-asset)461c5180-9a89-11ec-bcd1-00163ec2aa77[4](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)e984d4c2-95ee-11ec-a679-00163ec2aa77[5](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)c6fd4e18-9033-11ec-acb9-00163ec2aa77[6](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)d7b91e24-9053-11ec-9c17-00163ec2aa77[7](/tncms-asset)(tncms-asset)6c58a058-8f88-11ec-948e-00163ec2aa77[8](/tncms-asset)

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ST. LOUIS  During the first year of the pandemic, Diane Southard was grasping at straws. Her nonverbal daughter with autism spectrum disorder, then 9 years old, had changed. Clare went from being a happy child who loved to play and dance to one who was frustrated, banging her head and running away.

Virtual school in the Parkway School District had taken away time playing with friends at recess, her one-on-one assistant in class and access to therapists. Clare had trouble wearing masks properly; they also made interacting with others confusing.

Nothing Southard tried for Clare worked. Their psychiatrist could only do so much. Clare had to start taking strong medications to calm her. In November 2020, Clare spent her 10th birthday in the hospital with mysterious compression fractures.

Its so difficult when you are watching your child just fade away and theres nothing you can do, said Southard, 47, of Des Peres.

For children in distress like Clare, help may be on the way.

A $15 million gift to St. Louis Childrens Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine from St. Louis-area couple Bob and Signa Hermann aims to change how pediatric mental health care is provided in the St. Louis area by identifying and managing childrens behavioral health problems before they turn into crises.

The gift will fund the Hermann Center for Child and Family Development, which combines years of research and clinical studies by the university together into one program that will identify kids as young as newborns at risk for mental illness and provide continuous support for them and their families throughout their childhood.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 5 kids will experience a behavioral health problem during their school years. In St. Louis, that translates to an estimated 125,000 kids.

We could put all of our money and resources into the crises, or we have to start doing something about getting in front of them, and thats what this gift is all about, said Dr. John Constantino, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Washington University School of Medicine. This is a rare and unique opportunity to direct funding and resources toward and support the other side of this story, which is on the front end.

Behavioral health care in the U.S. has long been inadequate, fragmented and difficult to access. Even before the pandemic, depression and suicidal behaviors among kids were on the increase. The stress and anxiety of the pandemic  caused by isolation, sickness, death and job loss  have exacerbated problems and further strained the system.

After Clare ended up in the hospital, next came more hospital visits, more missed classes and more loss of the activities she loved. Southard has since been fighting for more help through school and has hired therapists after spending months making calls and getting added to waiting lists. She feels her daughters health did not have to spiral out of control.

If someone is showing they are having a regression, there are interventions you can put in place at that time, to prevent it from exacerbating, Southard said. Thats what we didnt have.

Sounding the alarm

In spring of last year, emergency rooms nationwide reported seeing an overwhelming number of families in need of help.

In July 2021, the four major childrens hospitals in the St. Louis and Kansas City areas also sounded the alarm about a significant increase in patients coming to their emergency departments with behavioral health needs.

There were not enough providers or psychiatric beds to care for and treat children, the hospital officials wrote in a joint letter to the community. They asked for plans and funds to address the decades of underinvestment in pediatric mental health services and infrastructure.

In October, the American Academy of Pediatrics joined other doctors groups and American and Childrens Hospital Association declared a national emergency in youth mental health. In December, the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory on the youth mental health crisis, calling for a swift and coordinated response to this crisis.

President Joe Biden laid out an ambitious plan to address the crisis as part of his State of the Union speech Tuesday night. The plan includes expanding the mental health care workforce, establishing a crisis line and pushing insurance companies to improve their coverage.

SSM Health opened a Behavioral Health Urgent Care Center on the campus of DePaul Hospital in Bridgeton to adults in August 2020. Patients in need can walk in and get immediately connected to behavioral health specialists, who can refer them to follow-up services in the community.

The center started seeing children four months later and has since cared for over 1,000 kids ages 5 to 17. The busiest month was November of last year. The center has seen about 4,000 adults.

Constantino said children are usually diagnosed and treated for mental conditions six to seven years after they start. The necessary interventions for them and their families are not only provided too late, but then are provided sporadically through fragmented programs.

The new Hermann Center, he said, will work with primary care providers and pediatricians on how to identify the earliest signs of mental impairments in children and refer them to the center. Children recently experiencing traumatic events can also be referred to the center.

In addition, parents can be screened after the birth of a child for mental illness and referred to the center for treatment, home visits and parent education classes.

We find that there are many, many moms and dads that are starting their interval of life as a parent with an untreated mental health condition, Constantino said, and that puts the baby at risk from Day One.

Care will also not stop there. The funding will allow for 2,000 families to be served over the next 10 years.

This is going to be an intentional effort to begin early, to make sure we unfragment the fragmentation in care, that we are very comprehensive about what kids get, he said. And its not just a one-stop, one-time implementation of support. We will follow families and children as they age up, and we are managing those things putting their minds and brains at risk.

The $15 million gift by the Hermanns also includes a challenge to the community to donate an additional $5 million to the centers long-term programs.

Pediatric behavioral health has been underfunded for some time, Bob Hermann said. Signa and I want to ensure the future of children with a variety of conditions is limitless and families receive transformational care that leads to long and healthy lives.

Originally posted at 7 a.m. Thursday, March 3.

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Joe Holleman Joe Holleman is a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Joe Holleman Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

The auction block determined last week that a collection of personal items once belonging to famed dancer/activist Katherine Dunham was worth $21,000.

But since that gavel fell on Feb. 22, Dunhams daughter and the president of Dunhams museum in East St. Louis have concerns about how the sale went down.

Its a sacrilege, Marie-Christine Dunham Pratt said. I didnt even find out about the sale until a few days before the auction.

Pratt, who lives in France, noted that no one at the museum or at the auction house ever notified her of the pending sale.

The auction was conducted by Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers in downtown St. Louis and was titled Divine Technique: Katherine Dunham Archive.

Pratt, Dunhams only child, said the papers should have come to her because she is the sole heir to her mothers estate.

Until I decline something, all of her personal belongings belong to me, Pratt said in a telephone interview. Its in her will.

When asked if she would have approved the sale of her mothers personal items, she said, No, never. No. They belong with the museum.

Originally projected to sell for between $5,000 and $10,000, the collection included photographs of homes Dunham owned in East St. Louis and Haiti; personal letters to friends and associates; and financial records for her and John Pratt, her husband.

One of the more compelling items, at least to Pratt, was a hard-copy edition of The Minefield, Dunhams unpublished memoir.

I have three unedited manuscripts, but I did not have the bound edition, she said, adding that she had considered getting the memoir edited and published.

Pratt said she sent emails to both Bryan Laughlin, Selkirks executive director, and Lorenzo Savage, board president of the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, which also includes the museum.

I did not hear back from either man, she said.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Savage conceded that he did not respond to Pratt but said he endorses her position.

Savage said, They should have returned those items to Ms. Dunhams daughter.

Savage joined the museum board as president in July. A short time later, he was part of the museums summer cleanup of Dunhams homes. He said the items auctioned last week were not recovered from the cleanup.

The vacant houses had become dilapidated after running into financial trouble following Dunhams death in 2006. At one point, St. Clair County officials considered demolishing them.

Savage said he had never seen the auctioned items at the museum. He also stressed that the board did not give them to Selkirk and that the museum is not in line to receive any money from the sales.

I called Selkirk to try to find out how they got them, and they said the information was confidential, Savage said.

Laughlin repeated that position Wednesday in a phone interview, saying that the auction house is legally bound to honor the consignors request to remain anonymous.

Laughlin did say that he is confident that the auction was conducted in a professional and legal manner.

Dunham was born in Chicago in 1909, reared in Joliet, Illinois, and attended the University of Chicago as an anthropology major.

She decided in the 1930s to pursue a dancing career instead of academia, although she took periodic breaks in her time as an entertainer to pursue anthropological studies into cultural rituals, mostly in Haiti.

As a dancer and choreographer, experts credit Dunham with pioneering the introduction of Afro-Caribbean elements into modern American dance.

In the early 1960s, Dunham moved to East St. Louis when she became an artist in residence at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

She also founded a performing arts center at the SIU Edwardsvilles campus in East St. Louis, where she taught dance, language, cultural history and anthropology.

Pratt said she has only suspicions about how the items turned up missing, but she said a substantial number of the items were at the museum when she last visited the area in 2014 or 2015.

Pratt said her attorney is looking into the matter and that she is considering calling the police.

Distraught is not even close to what Im feeling right now, Pratt said. It is terribly painful for me to realize that people have betrayed my mother.

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CALLAWAY COUNTY  An 8-year-old St. Louis boy was killed in a crash Tuesday night on westbound U.S. Highway 54 in Callaway County, about 40 miles southeast of Columbia.

A 2-year-old boy was also injured.

Missouri Highway Patrol troopers reported a Mazda carrying the children and two women was stopped in the right lane at 9:40 p.m. when a Chrysler Town and Country hit it from behind.

The Chrysler rolled, landing on its wheels in the highway median, according to police.

The women and children in the Mazda were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, police said.

The 8-year-old boy was taken by ambulance to Capital Region Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:29 p.m.

The driver of the Chrysler, Elizabeth Miller, 40, of Fulton, was seriously injured and taken by helicopter to a hospital, troopers said.

The driver of the Mazda, 23-year-old Anisya Wilson of Jefferson City, and the other passengers, 20-year-old Paula Wilson of St. Louis, and a 2-year-old Jefferson City boy, were injured and taken to a hospital by ambulance.

The highway patrol does not release the names of juveniles injured or killed in car crashes.

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ST. LOUIS  A man from OFallon, Missouri, was sentenced in federal court here Thursday to life in prison for providing the fentanyl that killed someone at a casino hotel in 2019.

A federal jury in November convicted Gerald E. Cardwell Jr., 50, of distributing fentanyl that resulted in a death. Under the law, the only possible sentence was life for the crime.

Prosecutors say the victim, Ryan Leahy, also of OFallon, picked up Cardwell from the Hollywood Casino Hotel on the night of July 25, 2019.

Cardwell gave Leahy a special mix of fentanyl and Adderall early the next morning, and Cardwell said in a text message to a third person that Leahy was TKO in the car, prosecutors said.

Cardwell, Leahy and the third person entered the hotel shortly before 2 a.m., and that third person left about 10 minutes later. When Cardwell checked out, he told hotel staff that Leahy was sleeping and should not be awakened. Housekeepers found Leahy dead in the room about five hours later.

Cardwell and Leahy had known each other for years.

Its unconscionable. Its incredible that you would leave him in that hotel room in the condition that he was in, U.S. Judge John Ross said during Thursdays sentencing hearing, adding that it wasnt clear whether Leahy was alive or dead when Cardwell left.

Charging documents say Cardwell stayed at the casino for about 90 minutes, then went to the Ameristar Casino, where he was found passed out in the bathroom with a bag of fentanyl at his feet.

Cardwell continued to sell drugs after Leahys death, Ross said.

U.S. Attorney Sirena Wissler said Cardwell was a drug dealer who also threatened to kill a witness or have the witness killed.

Cardwell and his lawyer, Jeff Goldfarb, declined to make a statement to Ross during the hearing. Goldfarb said Cardwell would appeal his conviction.

Leahy is survived by a wife and two daughters who were 16 and 13 when he died.

Sammye Leahy said her husband was too trusting, which ultimately led to his death.

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ST. CLAIR COUNTY  A 47-year-old man died after his vehicle crashed into a light pole and rolled multiple times along Interstate 55.

Illinois State Police said Jason C. Mayes, of Ava, Illinois, was driving a 2005 GMC truck and pulling a trailer around 7:35 p.m. Wednesday near Collinsville at mile marker 20 when he left the road and hit the pole.

Mayes was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
ST. LOUIS  A jury Wednesday found a St. Louis man guilty of murdering the mother of his child during a fight at a clothing store in 2020.

Jurors found Nolin N. Holder, 25, guilty of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the July 2020 killing of Malasia Pruitt, 21, at the Gen X clothing store at 1315 Aubert Street.

Prosecutors had sought convictions of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

Jurors were shown store surveillance video of Holder exiting the front door and shooting Pruitt in the chest at point-blank range as he ran out. Police said he fired a Draco assault pistol concealed inside his backpack that he wore over his chest.

Holder fled; police later found him hiding under a porch. Police also found a backpack police said matched the one used to obscure the gun.

Holder testified that he shot Pruitt but said the gun accidentally discharged as he fled the store. He also claimed self-defense in an attempt to get away from Pruitt by running past her.

His lawyer, Phil Eisenhauer, criticized the police for not collecting surveillance video inside the store to show what preceded the shooting.

Assistant Circuit Attorney Alex Polta told jurors in closing arguments Wednesday that Holder killing Pruitt was no accident after she confronted him in the store about sleeping with other women.

Holder was on probation at the time of the killing.

Sentencing for Holder is set for May 2 before Circuit Judge Michael Noble. Second-degree murder carries a term of 10 years to a life term calculated at 30 years.

Joel Currier  314-340-8132 @joelcurrier on Twitter jcurrier@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS  A 19-year-old man was shot dead Wednesday morning in the Ville neighborhood, police said.

JaDun Byrd was found about 11 a.m. in the 2400 block of Whittier Street suffering from gunshot wounds, police said. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call the police homicide division at 314-444-5371. Those who wish to remain anonymous or possibly receive a reward can contact CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477).
ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis man was given an 18-year prison term for kidnapping and assaulting a woman in downtown St. Louis in 2019.

Lavell Benford, 28, pleaded guilty in November to charges of kidnapping, assault, attempted robbery and armed criminal action. Circuit Judge John Bird sentenced Benford on Wednesday.

The woman had just parked her vehicle about 2 a.m. Jan. 6, 2019, in the 900 block of Market Street when Benford hopped into the vehicle, pistol-whipped her and tried to sexually assault her, police said.

Benford ordered the woman, then 34, to drive, but she fought back and managed to push him out of her vehicle before calling police, authorities said.

Police said they tracked Benson with the help of a license-plate reading camera mounted atop a patrol car at North Tucker Boulevard and Convention Plaza.

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ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis man will serve up to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty in two separate homicide cases.

Ricardo Jones, 36, pleaded guilty Monday in separate killings in St. Louis in December 2019 and March 2018. Circuit Judge Teresa Burke accepted Jones' pleas to reduced charges and sentenced him to concurrent 22-year terms. His sentence includes time already served.

Jones admitted beating and fatally shooting Bryan Scroggins on Dec. 21, 2019, after holding him and three others at gunpoint in the 5700 block of Kingsbury Place.

Jones also admitted fatally shooting Xavier Everett, 23, on March 28, 2018, in the 4700 block of St. Louis Avenue.

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ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis man was charged with driving while intoxicated in a deadly crash in 2020.

Jose Martinez, 34, of the 1100 block of Hodiamont Avenue, was charged Wednesday with DWI-death of another in a crash Aug. 9, 2020, that killed David Lopez.

Martinez was driving a GMC Terrain at 49 mph south in the 200 block of South Skinker Boulevard in a 35 mph zone when he lost control and struck a tree, charges said.

Lopez, 33, a passenger in Martinez's vehicle, died.

Martinez's blood alcohol content was .131% after the crash, police said. The legal limit to drive a vehicle in Missouri is .08%.

A judge ordered Martinez held without bail. He did not yet have a lawyer.

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Updated Thursday night with the name of the man who was shot.

COLLINSVILLE  Illinois State Police are investigating after Collinsville officers fatally shot an East Carondelet man who reportedly fired at them first on Wednesday night.

The shooting happened just after 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 100 block of Arnold Street in Collinsville when officers responded to a report of a home invasion, according to an Illinois State Police statement.

Officers said they saw a man inside the residence with a firearm, and police then repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapon, the state police said.

Instead, the state police said, the man opened the door and fired at officers, who then shot back. The man died at the scene. Police identified the man on Thursday as Kevin C. Steinhauer, 45.

No officers were injured in the incident, which is being investigated by the Illinois State Police. No additional details about the shooting have been released.

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CLAYTON  Some members of the St. Louis County Council are questioning the county executives authority to appoint members of a key economic development agency in a dispute reminiscent of a battle fought four years ago.

While the arguments are similar, the leader of the councils fight back then is now the county executive.

In 2018, Sam Page, then the council chair, pushed through an ordinance that gave the council sole authority to make appointments to the St. Louis County Port Authority.

The Port Authority, as the Post-Dispatch disclosed at the time, played a central role in advancing then-County Executive Steve Stengers pay-to-play schemes, which ultimately led to his indictment, resignation and conviction.

Page, who was named in 2019 by the council to succeed Stenger and was later elected by voters to complete Stengers term, recently asked the council to approve four new appointees to the Port Authority, which had been reformed since Stengers resignation.

But some on the council are questioning whether Page should have played any role in making the new appointments.

Under the 2018 ordinance Page championed, each of the councils seven members gets to nominate someone to represent their legislative district on the seven-member Port Authority board. Those nominees are subject to council approval. The ordinance does not mention the county executive.

At the time it was passed, Page was leading the council in a fight to wrest control of the Port Authority from under Stenger, who was under a federal investigation on corruption charges. The council even set up a separate Port Authority board that ran parallel to Stengers.

Stengers administration sued in an attempt to retake control of the Port Authority, arguing that the ordinance couldnt stand against the county charter, the countys governing document, which generally gives the executive branch power to make appointments to boards and commissions. Stengers resignation effectively ended the lawsuit.

In recent weeks, County Council members Ernie Trakas, Lisa Clancy, Shalonda Webb and Kelli Dunaway put forward nominees to fill four of seats on the Port Authority board: two vacancies from recent resignations and two appointments that would replace members serving on expired terms. Clancy, Webb and Dunaways nominees were formally recommended to the council by Page.

At Tuesdays council meeting, Webb asked the body to approve her nominee.

But Councilman Tim Fitch objected, questioning why Page was involved in this discussion.

Why does he have to say that he is appointing them and he is handling this  because there is nothing in the ordinance that says the county executive is involved at all, Fitch said.

Fitch raised concerns about legal guidance from County Counselor Beth Orwick that declared Page could make appointees to the Port Authority if necessary.

Orwick, in her memo responding to questions from Fitch, said she agreed with an argument from Peter Krane, former county counselor under Stenger, that the county charter trumped the ordinance.

The Countys legal opinion remains unchanged, Orwick wrote.

Since the legal dispute was never settled in court, the compromise was for Page to acquiesce to support individuals nominated by council members, who would then be appointed with full council approval, she said.

You raised the question as to what happens if there is no such acquiescence, Orwick wrote to Fitch.

The answer, based upon the charter, is that the County Executive appoints Port Authority members, those individuals can serve in an acting capacity until confirmation by the Council at which point the individual is a board member, not an acting board member.

Fitch said Tuesday that Orwicks response, left a legal dispute here on who actually has this authority.

I think that we need to stand up for that ordinance. It was sponsored and passed by this council, sponsored by Sam Page himself, and now hes trying to say, no, that doesnt apply, Fitch said. I have no problem with moving these appointments forward but understand that if Sam Page disagrees with any of us on who our nominee is, he can cancel it.

Council Chair Rita Days said the council members nominees should never have gone to Pages office.

The first thing that happened was the letters actually went to the county executive which they should not have gone, Days said. They should have gone to this council. This council would have acted on those.

Councilman Mark Harder pointed out that Page had pushed the law to come up with a new board authority in the wake of the disaster of the Stenger administration.

Its funny they (Page and Orwick) take the opposite approach when it comes to this, Harder said.

Harder, who had previously asked Days for a hearing to interview all four nominees, urged her to delay confirmation until a meeting could be scheduled.

We should have authority over who we want to represent us and our district on this Port Authority, Harder said.

Its a very important commission, Harder said.

The Port Authority, which owns real estate including Jamestown Mall, receives roughly $5 million per year in rent from the River City Casino. It vets and approves grants for community organizations and economic development projects.

Trakas, who along with Harder is the only council member who was on the body when it passed the Port Authority ordinance, agreed to delay confirmation until a council hearing, Perhaps some of it in closed session to have frank discussion with the county counselor with respect to the questions raised by Councilman Fitch.

Webb agreed to hold the nomination but urged Days to make it a priority.

Webb said she wanted a voice in the Port Authoritys decisions over Jamestown Mall, which is currently under contract for abatement.

Page, who was not present at the council meeting, said Wednesday that hes only signing off on nominees recommended by individual council members; the appointees are subject to approval by the County Council.

What Ive tried to do in my administration is respect the will and the intent of the ordinance and turn to the council members for their suggestions, but still make the appointment from my office because thats what the charter requires, Page said.

Asked about council allegations he was turning back on his own ordinance, Page said the law at the time was only necessary because Stenger was under federal investigation for corruption and refused to let go of the Port Authority board.

Page said his council critics made the process an issue Tuesday because of the election year.

The Port Authority has a process that weve worked out, he said. Yes, the ordinance doesnt line up with the charter in any sort of ideal way. But weve worked it out over the past three years and its worked fine. Whats different now is that its an election year.

Originally posted at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 2.

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JEFFERSON CITY  The Missouri House Thursday urged President Joe Biden and Congress to take a strong stance against Russian aggression.

In a resolution designed to show unity with Ukraine, the action is the first formal statement from the Missouri Legislature about the invasion of the country, marking a rare moment of bipartisanship in the often contentious chamber.

The resolution calls on the federal government to tighten sanctions and reaffirm support for Ukraines sovereignty.

The United States should take prudent and responsible measures to ensure that the required force posture is present in Europe to deter and, if necessary, defeat Russian aggression against any NATO member, the resolution notes.

It was approved on a 143-0 vote.

Rep. Michael ODonnell, a south St. Louis County Republican who serves as a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, said he is ready to fight against Russia if needed.

Im ready. Ive made the shift to the warrior ethos, ODonnell, 53, told his colleagues.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Mike Haffner, R-Pleasant Hill, is among a number of mostly symbolic steps being taken by Missouri officials a week after Russia attacked Ukraine.

Under a bill sponsored by House Majority Leader Dean Plocher, R-Des Peres, state and local governments would be barred from doing business with Russian governmental entities, organizations and businesses.

I dont believe we should be supporting Russia and putting money into the Russian funds to help fund the war in Ukraine, against the Ukrainian people who are fighting for their freedom and democracy, Plocher told members of the Missouri Press Association, who were gathered at the Capitol Thursday.

Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, for example, is encouraging retailers to remove Russian products from their stores.

Even if its a single small sale, it still is a symbol of faith and hope to Ukrainians that we stand with you, Kehoe said Wednesday.

Treasurer Scott Fitzpatrick is leading a push by the Missouri State Employees Retirement System to divest state pension funds of any Russian assets, which were worth about $13 million last week.

We dont want the state of Missouri or public funds being used to support the Putin regime for right now, especially while hes invading Ukraine. I also call out other state pension plans to do the same. There are a lot of pension plans in Missouri, and I think that all of us should be acting in concert on this to show support for the people of Ukraine, Fitzpatrick said.

Republican Gov. Mike Parson ordered the Capitol dome to be lit in blue and yellow  the colors of Ukraines flag.

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo filed legislation asking voters if they want to bar state and local governments and the states pension systems from doing business with Russian entities.

Rep. Wes Rogers, D-Kansas City, filed a proposal to prohibit Missouri governments and organizations from buying or selling products made in Russia.

The legislation is House Resolution 3658.

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ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis alderman said Wednesday that he turned down an offer from the citys police chief to void a ticket issued against him during a traffic stop last month.

The alderman, Joe Vaccaro, said his exchange with Chief John Hayden came during a telephone discussion Feb. 10 after he was stopped earlier that day for speeding on Interstate 44 near Jefferson Avenue.

Vaccaro said in an interview that the point of his call wasnt to try to get a ticket canceled but to complain about the failure of the officer involved to wear a mask.

Vaccaro said because the officer was coughing as he talked to Vaccaro through Vaccaros rolled-down truck window, Vaccaro feared he might become exposed to COVID-19.

My only complaint was the (lack of a) mask and him being rude, Vaccaro said of the officer.

Vaccaro said he had told the officer during the stop that he would call Hayden and the assistant chief, Lt. Col. Lawrence OToole, about his failure to use a mask.

Vaccaro said he believes he also told the officer he was an alderman driving to a meeting at City Hall but isnt sure. In any event, he said, he didnt try to use his position to get out of a ticket.

Thats absolutely 100% not true, Vaccaro said.

A police department spokeswoman, Evita Caldwell, declined to comment Wednesday on Vaccaros assertion that Hayden had offered to take care of a ticket.

Caldwell said only that she could confirm that Vaccaro was stopped on Feb. 10 and that a ticket to Vaccaro was not voided. A spokesman for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, Nick Dunne, said its a police matter.

Vaccaro said he actually was issued two tickets, one for driving 76 mph in a 60 mph zone and another for failing to show an auto insurance card. He said he assumed that Hayden was referring to both tickets.

Vaccaro, of the 23rd Ward, chairs the aldermanic Public Safety Committee, which often handles legislation dealing with police issues. Vaccaros son is a city police homicide detective, and his daughter is a 911 dispatcher for the department.

Vaccaro said after his conversation with Hayden, the officer, at Vaccaros request, was given an initial COVID test, and the department reported back that the officer tested positive.

A few days later, Vaccaro said, the department informed him that the officer tested negative on a follow-up test. Vaccaro said he tested negative himself.

Vaccaro said the officer was rude in his handling of the proof-of-insurance issue. He said when the officer first approached him, he asked him for his drivers license, registration and the insurance card.

Vaccaro said he initially couldnt find the card but did locate it and showed it when the officer returned with the tickets. Instead of dropping that ticket, the alderman said the officer told him to show it in court and try to get the ticket thrown out then.

Caldwell, the police spokeswoman, said the department has no policy or procedure to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 specifically related to traffic stops. The city since last fall has required police and other city employees to get fully vaccinated against COVID or tested weekly.

Originally posted at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 2.

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Thirty-seven states now allow adults to use marijuana medically, recreationally or both. But in most of those states, people can be fired or denied a job for using cannabis in their free time.

Cannabis legalization advocates want states to do more to protect workers. They note that workplace drug tests dont measure whether someone is high at the time of the test, just whether theyve used recently. And they say workplace drug testing is an equity issue, as tests are more common in blue-collar jobs and disproportionately affect non-white workers.

But certain employers are required to test for marijuana under federal law  the federal government classifies marijuana as a dangerous drug akin to heroin  and others want to make sure they dont employ drug users who could threaten workplace safety.

So far, 14 states and Washington, D.C., have banned employers from discriminating against workers who use marijuana for medical reasons. New Jersey and New York ban employers from discriminating against workers who legally use marijuana medically or recreationally. And Nevada bans employers from refusing to hire someone solely because they fail a marijuana test. The laws generally make exceptions for certain employers and occupations.

But bills have stumbled elsewhere because of opposition from business groups and disagreements over how to measure marijuana intoxication. A bill filed in Washington state this session already has been tabled. A California bill faces an uphill battle. And, in light of opposition, a Colorado bill will be softened to studying the issue.

The initial version of the Colorado bill would have affirmed the right of medical marijuana patients to use cannabis products at work and would have prevented employers from firing or refusing to hire workers who use marijuana off the job.

It was always going to be a heavy lift: The bill raised legal questions  particularly about the medical marijuana provisions  since Colorados 2012 ballot measure that legalized pot sales affirmed employers right to restrict worker marijuana use.

Within two weeks of filing the bill in early February, state Rep. Edie Hooton, a Democrat, told Stateline she planned to scrap it. Instead, shell propose that state officials convene employers, medical cannabis users and prescribers to study the workplace testing issue.

I knew it was going to change, Hooton said of her initial bill, which she said was modeled on draft legislation backed by medical cannabis advocates in other states. I dont want to be in opposition with organized labor or employers, like the Chamber of Commerce or organized business interests.

Several employer groups had opposed Hootons initial bill, including the state Chamber of Commerce and the Colorado Mining Association. The Colorado Mining Association has consistently opposed bills that would prevent employers from maintaining a drug-free workplace, said association President Stan Dempsey.

Drug use can create workplace safety issues, he said. Going back many, many years, companies have had employees who have either been hurt or killed, unfortunately, with marijuana in their systems.

Colorado state Sen. Chris Holbert, a Republican who last year backed a law that allows school personnel to administer medical cannabis to children while theyre in school, said employers should be able to drug test workers for marijuana if they choose. He emphasized that when Colorado voters legalized pot, they wrote that authority into the state constitution.

But employers should make an informed decision, he added. What I really encourage employers to understand is, if theyre testing for drug use, then what is the test or those tests looking for?

If employers are worried about someone coming to work high, he said, they should be asking whether workplace drug tests measure that  and whether, for instance, they also penalize employees for using non-psychoactive cannabis products, such as a hemp extract.

To test, or not to test?

Federal contractors and businesses that employ certain regulated professionals such as airline pilots and school bus drivers must drug test workers for marijuana. Other employers have a choice. They might decide to drug test workers as part of a job application, randomly, after an accident, if they suspect a worker is intoxicated, or in all four situations.

Today most of the nations largest private-sector companies have some sort of drug testing program, said Barry Sample, senior science consultant for employer solutions at Quest Diagnostics, a global laboratory company that processes workplace drug tests for employers.

Of the tests Quest Diagnostics processes that arent federally required, Sample said, roughly three-quarters are part of job applications.

Quest Diagnostics data suggests that drug testing for marijuana is becoming less common, with the number of urine tests to screen for the drug declining by 5% between 2015 and 2020.

Amazon, the nations second-largest private employer after Walmart, announced plans last summer to stop requiring job candidates to pass a marijuana drug test (the company will still test at other times, such as after workplace accidents). Amazon executives have said that the growing number of states legalizing marijuana, equity concerns and the tight labor market all factored into their decision.

Weve found that eliminating pre-employment testing for cannabis allows us to expand our applicant pool, Beth Galetti, Amazons senior vice president of human resources, said in a January memo posted online.

Dropping marijuana tests allows employers to consider hiring and retaining the small but growing share of applicants who use the drug. Nationwide, 4.4% of workers failed tests Quest Diagnostics processed in 2020, up from 3.5% in 2012. The rate was slightly higher, 4.8%, in states that allow adults to buy recreational marijuana.

Its not surprising that in our testing were seeing year-over-year increases in marijuana positivity, Sample said. Clearly, societal views on marijuana use are evolving.

Companies ongoing struggles to recruit and retain workers may encourage more of them to drop marijuana tests, said Melissa Moore, director of civil systems reform at the Drug Policy Alliance, a national nonprofit that advocates for ending punitive drug laws.

During the labor crunch right now, some employers are taking a look at: Is this something thats not actually accomplishing the goal of workplace safety? she said.

Employers may be unnecessarily blocking people from certain positions, Moore said.

She also noted that a 2013 Yale School of Medicine study found that Black and Hispanic workers were more likely than White workers to be employed by a workplace that requires drug testing.

Lets make sure were not putting up artificial roadblocks that end up impacting, especially, Black and Latinx employees, she said.

Safety first

Legislative debates over whether to protect workers who legally use cannabis often get bogged down in debates over workplace safety and how to measure cannabis intoxication.

Its a problem with no solution. Theres no Breathalyzer for marijuana, and no national legal limit for whether someone has an unsafe level of psychoactive cannabis compounds in their body.

No drug test, in urine, oral fluid or hair, measures impairment, Sample said. Just to set the record straight. None of these tests can tell you how much, how frequently, whether or not someones impaired. It just tells you that you have used it.

Cannabis legalization advocates point out that cannabis compounds can linger in the body for weeks, if not months. That makes failing a marijuana drug test akin to failing a sobriety test because you had a glass of wine two weeks ago, said Moore, of the Drug Policy Alliance.

Meanwhile, employer groups say business owners should be able to maintain a drug-free workplace if they want.

The Colorado Restaurant Associations primary concern with Hootons original bill was language allowing employees to use medical marijuana at work, said Mollie Steinemann, manager of government affairs for the association, in a phone interview.

Restaurants involve tight working spaces and hazards from knives to open flames and deep fryers, she said. Allowing workers to use intoxicating substances on the job could lead to accidents and potentially the loss of an establishments liquor license. The same goes for other intoxicating substances, including prescription drugs and alcohol, Steinemann added in an email to Stateline.

What were concerned about is making it so that all employees, regardless of position, or regardless of potential risk within a restaurant, would just be allowed to use medical marijuana, Steinemann said.

Sample, of Quest Diagnostics, argued that although workplace marijuana tests dont measure impairment, they may nevertheless flag behavior that could predispose someone to accidents at work. Workers are more likely to fail marijuana tests after a workplace incident than when theyre applying for a job, he said.

Correlation doesnt always equal causation, and Im not trying to say it does in this case, Sample said. But it certainly appears that there may be some association.

Worker protection laws that have been successful in other states typically include exemptions for certain jobs.

Nevadas 2019 law that stops employers from discriminating based on a pre-employment marijuana test, for instance, exempts candidates subject to federal drug testing and who, in the employers view, are applying for jobs that could adversely affect the safety of others.

Such exemptions led groups that previously opposed the legislation, such as the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Nevada Trucking Association, to take a neutral stance on it instead.

Hooton, the Colorado state lawmaker, said past Colorado bills that aimed to protect cannabis users at work failed because sponsors didnt do enough to get employers, unions and other interest groups on board.

You cant have a bill that significantly impacts employers without having them be central to the legislation, she said  unless theyre doing something egregious. This is absolutely nothing like that. This is: We need employers feedback. We need their participation.

2022 The Pew Charitable Trusts. Visit at stateline.org.
The latest version of the Israeli Gabriel anti-ship missile, Gabriel 5, has evolved into a basic design that, because of co-development deals between IAI, the Israeli developer and a Singapore defense firm (ST Engineering), produced the Blue Spear missile. A separate arrangement with British firm Thales produced the Sea Serpent missile. Gabriel 5 entered service in 2020 and was adopted by Israel and Finland. Blue Spear followed in 2021 and was purchased by Estonia and Singapore. Sea Serpent is a modified Blue Spear missile competing to become the new Sea Serpent missile for the Royal Navy. Blue Spear is based on Gabriel 5, the latest model of the Gabriel missile but is now a multi-purpose missile for use against land targets as well as ships.

The first version of Gabriel appeared in 1973 as a 430 kg (950 pound) anti-ship missile similar to the later (1977) American Harpoon but with a shorter range (20 kilometers). Gabriel 2 appeared in 1976 and Gabriel 3 in 1978 with a range of 36 kilometers and 30 percent heavier than Gabriel 1. Gabriel 3 was also available for use from aircraft, which gave it a range of 60 kilometers. These early models sank nine enemy ships in the 1970s and were rightly feared by Israels enemies.

Israel did not need an anti-ship missile with a long range, like Harpoon which could travel 120 kilometers, because Israel had a coastal navy that might have to fight neighbors like Egypt to the south or Lebanon to the north. From the start Gabriel had a system which allowed the missile to move low (a few meters above the water) making it difficult to detect.

Gabriel 4 was different as it had a range of 200 kilometers and a small turbojet, similar to cruise missiles, for sustained flight. Gabriel weighed nearly a ton (960 kg) which made it similar to a a cruise missile. The Gabriel 4 warhead was much larger but the multiple guidance systems were similar to the earlier Gabriels.

It took nearly two decades for the larger and much more capable Gabriel 5 to appear. The three guidance systems were upgraded but remained fire and forget, or fire and update, via an encrypted data link, midway to the target. Finally, there was fire and onboard radar update as the target area was approached. The guidance system could detect the desired target and head for it. Gabriel 5 had more countermeasures for enemy electronic defenses. Blue Spear had ST Engineering added stealth features as well as upgrades to other components. The partnership with Thales for Sea Serpent introduced modifications of Blue Spear capabilities to meet Royal Navy requirements,

The Blue Spear has counter-measures, a very capable guidance system and a range of 290 kilometers. It is a 1.3-ton missile that is 5.5 meters (18 feet) long and travels as low as 2.5 meters (8.1 feet) over water while moving at over 800 kilometers an hour. The 150 kg (330 pound) warhead has insensitive (difficult to detonate by accident) explosives.

Britain wants a replacement for Harpoon on its new frigates. IAI has a joint marketing arrangement with Thales to develop a candidate for the competition to replace Harpoon. The Thales partnership will also help with other export and co-development deals.

Gabriel has been exported to 14 countries and survives because it was developed by a country that was constantly under threat of attack and is quicker to modify their weapons to better deal with a threatening neighbor.
The February 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine is revealing to the rest of the world problems the Russian military has suffered from for over a century. Its all about conscription and, since 1917, the Russian government not trusting their troops and Russians now going to extremes to avoid being conscripted. This widespread opposition to peacetime conscription was unique to Russia. Other European nations adopted conscription as early as the 1800s, but none had as much popular dislike of conscription and some very real reasons to avoid conscript service.

Even the United States, which rarely used peacetime conscription, had it during peacetime for about fifteen years between 1940 and 1973. Americans tolerated conscription in wartime as long as all young men were subject to it. During the civil war it was possible for families with money to pay a relatively large sum to keep their sons out of uniform. This led to violence in many areas. By 1940, when peacetime conscription was once more used, there were no problems with selectivity. The who should serve problem returned in the 1960s. This is often attributed to the unpopular Vietnam War (1965-72) but conscription was also unpopular during the earlier (1950-53) Korean War. Both wars were unpopular with most Americans because the United States was not threatened with attack, unlike the two World Wars. In Korea the government used reservists as much as possible and kept the war from escalating, so few conscripts were sent into battle. The 1960s was different because the large Baby Boom generation, of children born after World War II, were reaching 18 in large numbers throughout the decade and even without a war in Vietnam, there would have been growing popular support for eliminating conscription because there were far more young men available for conscription than the military needed. Even with the Vietnam War, by 1970 politicians had to heed demands for an end to peacetime conscription and that was done by 1973. Britain, alone among European nations, also had a tradition of avoiding peacetime conscription. Britain had conscription during World War I but dropped it in 1920. Conscription returned in World War II but despite the Cold War, Britain ended conscription in 1960.

When the Cold War ended unexpectedly in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union, European voters began demanding an end to conscription. That happened throughout Europe during the 1990s, but was reversed after 2014 when a much-reduced Russian military again became a threat. This was a different threat because post-Soviet Russia had a military one fifth the size of the Cold War Soviet forces and most of the troops were very reluctant conscripts who only had to serve one year. Even that was worth a large bribe, if your family could afford it, to buy an exemption. One of the many causes of the Soviet Union collapsing was increasing public protests against Russian conscripts being killed in an unpopular eight-year war in Afghanistan. Some 15,000 Russian died in Afghanistan, most of them conscripts. There were unprecedented public protests by parents who had lost sons as well as parents who did not want their conscripted sons sent there.

In the 1990s there were more protests, this time by Russian voters in a democratic Russia that sent thousands of conscripts into the Caucasus to put down a Chechen uprising. Many conscripts were killed and Russian leaders finally remembered that they lowered their losses in Afghanistan by depending more on commandos and airborne troops, who were all volunteers. Some of those volunteers were conscripts who felt up to the challenge of being a spetsnaz commando or paratrooper and the Afghans feared these troops. By 2014 Russian leaders realized that getting conscripts killed in combat outside of Russia was not worth the political trouble and formed all-volunteer combat units that were only about ten percent of the military and that was but one of many problems that still existed in the Russian military.

Since the 1990s Russia has been trying, without much success, to address these many problems. For example, since 2019 the Russian Army was once more trying another approach to create enough sergeants to match the Western success with this form of troop leadership. The 2019 effort was an experiment with the use of a senior sergeant (starshina or sergeant major) similar to those that have long existed in Western armies, and Russian forces until World War I. This was the latest post-1991 attempt to revive the authority and respect NCOs (non-commissioned officers) had in the Russian army until the early 1920s. In theory, Russia reintroduced NCO (sergeant) ranks in 2011 but that system was never accepted or able to sustain itself. The 2019 plan took place in only one of the five military districts took part. It involved selecting 370 soldiers who met high standards for special training and encouraged enough to become effective NCOs willing to make a career of being an NCO. This was supposed to provide enough competent NCOs who could select and train other young soldiers to be NCOs. The starshina effort was only partially successful because only troops in the elite spetsnaz and airborne units provided satisfactory career opportunities for veteran NCOs. The rest of the military has rather less accepting.

China took a different approach under similar circumstances. Initially, in the 1940s, the Chinese used the old Soviet (communist era) rank system but still kept some lower NCO ranks and a tradition of career NCOs. As a result, China never lost its old school tradition of sergeants. In 2009 China switched over to the Western system with nine enlisted soldier ranks. Six of those ranks were for NCOs with the top one being sergeant major. China has been successful with this system and Russia has not.

Until World War I the old czarist army had an impressive number of effective NCOs. In part, this was because the czarist era conscription took in young men, who were not volunteers, for twenty years. This enabled most young men to avoid military duty altogether. The ablest of the conscripts could become senior NCOs and these sergeants were respected and received post-service benefits. During World War II Russia produced many effective NCOs because of all the combat experience and lack of time to train outstanding troops as officers. But right after both World Wars Russia got rid of these experienced sergeants by offering officer ranks for those who wanted to stay in the military and thereby eliminated the experienced wartime NCOs.

After 1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia noted their post-World War II experience and the Chinese system. In 2011, after over a decade of false starts and failure, the Russian Army believed it had a workable plan to create an efficient NCO force. That first effort did not work, despite the fact that for most of the last century, the peacetime Russian Army has been a mess, and the main reason has been the lack of NCOs. Conscription has been a contributing factor, as too many troops were just there for two or three years, and left just as some were becoming useful and capable of being a career NCO. The 2011 plan tried to take advantage of this by offering selected conscripts a competitive (with civilian jobs) wage if they agreed to continued service, with the option of promotion to better paying NCOs rank. There were many volunteers, or "contract" ("kontrakti" in Russian) soldiers, and those deemed NCO material were sent to special NCO schools. Russian officers examined such methods in Western armies and adopted the Western techniques they believed would work in Russia.

The army generals also accepted the fact that Western NCOs come in many different flavors. Most of these NCOs are just technical specialists, while a smaller number are supervisors and leaders. Russia accepts that NCOs must be trained to be able to take over command if all the officers are killed or disabled. This actually happened during World War II, but that made Communist Party leaders nervous. They noted that during the communist revolution in 1917, many of the rebel leaders had been NCOs in the Czarist army. The communists also noted that this was not the first time this had happened. It had occurred several times in the last two centuries, most notably during the French revolution of the 1790s. For monarchists and despots of all flavors, NCOs were a flaw, not a feature of an effective peacetime military. That decision was a long-term failure because the NCOs are essential for knowing what is going on with the troops (morale, skills, loyalty and so on) and are sensitive to any changes. Officers can rarely do that even though, on paper, Russian junior officers are supposed to take care of this. Trying to use lieutenants in place as older and more experienced sergeants missed the point that the key NCOs are the older ones, with a decade or more in service. These are the platoon sergeants and company first sergeants, as well as key members of headquarters staffs. After all, who do you think trains the new officers and enlisted soldiers joining these organizations? Same with teams of technical personnel. The most obvious example is the team of maintainers who look after aircraft and helicopters and are supervised by an NCO crew chief, who is the guy the pilot talks to before taking off and after returning.

After World War II, the ratio of officers to troops was expanded in the Russian military and professional NCOs practically disappeared. With that, morale plummeted and discipline disintegrated. The dismal effects of this policy were obvious whenever Russian troops came under fire, as in Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968) and Afghanistan in the 1980s. But the problems were ignored. Russian leaders continued to believe that "quantity had a quality all its own." It does, but with the rise of the machines, it no longer works with poorly trained and led armies. It definitely does not work when parents can vote and publicly protest abuse of conscripts or the continued use of conscription.

Since the 1980s Russia also had a declining birth rate to contend with, which meant there were far fewer young men to recruit. The end of the Russian police state made it easier to evade conscription, which most potential conscripts do. Russia can no longer rely on quantity or make up for a lack of quality. The 2011 Russian plan failed because not enough young men (or women) were interested in joining the army as anything but an officer.

Russia has tried to avoid going with an all-volunteer force, as most other European nations have done. Partly it was a lack of money and partly a reluctance to do away with the tradition of conscription. Because of the lack of NCOs, conscripts have had an awful time for decades, and this has become a source of popular and legendary discontent about military service. The Soviet government managed to suppress popular unrest over this. But even before the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, fathers, and grandfathers, and especially their wives, were no longer quietly enduring this mess, and the abuse their sons were exposed to. The 2011 plan was to simultaneously eliminate the hazing of new recruits while flooding the army with competent NCOs. The latter was the real cure for the hazing, as NCOs spend a lot more time in the barracks, and with the troops. A competent NCO can sort out problems in the barracks. In the West, they do it all the time. It is one of their primary functions. Even with Russian conscription now one year for most soldiers, there is still the hazing of new conscripts by those who have been in a few months. Eliminating this debilitating hazing has proved much more difficult than anyone anticipated.

The 2011 reforms failed in part because Russian conscripts only serve 12 months, hardly enough time to turn young civilians into anything militarily useful. Most of the kontrakti were trained in the old army and easily slipped into the old bad habits like hazing and bullying younger troops, even fellow kontrakti. The new, trained, NCOs arrived slowly and found themselves in an uphill battle against "tradition." Many of these new NCOs reacted by not renewing their contracts and leaving. Change does not come easily in the Russian army. But if the Russians are ever to have a capable military, they have to create credible platoon and 1st Sergeants as well as Sergeants Major. The experiment in the Southern Military District was another new approach that worked better than earlier efforts, but was not successful enough to be considered a major sign of progress.

Russia was reminded of these problems after 2014 when they sent troops, in unmarked uniforms, into eastern Ukraine (Donbas). There the fighting continued and local forces, paid like kontrakti, were inadequate to the task and many were simply quitting and leaving Russian-controlled areas of Donbas. Russia thought they could send some conscripts into Donbas as support troops. Some of these were killed and a few captured by Ukrainian forces. The Russian conscripts complained that they were deceived and not told they were going into a combat zone, although the unmarked uniforms were rather suspicious. Russia outlawed public discussion of military casualties but this did not stop the bad news from circulating via the Internet and social media. Currently Russia is arresting thousands of civilians protesting the war in Ukraine, even though few conscripts have been killed yet. The army planned to send in units with conscripts into Ukraine to handle transportation and distribution of supply as well as for policing parts of the Ukraine that are considered free of Ukrainian resistance. Since 2015 Ukraine has organized, trained and armed thousands of volunteers as local defense forces. Weapons were stockpiled for distribution to volunteers if the Russians invaded. The Russians came and the local volunteers are making Russian travel through many liberated areas dangerous. The volunteers shoot at any armed Russians, be they conscripts or kontrakti. In some cases, the Russian combat units were told to just bypass this unexpected resistance and let units full of armed conscripts take care of it. Old traditions die hard in Russia.
JERSEY CITY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Organon (NYSE: OGN), a global womens health company, today announced the appointment of Meghan Rivera as US Managing Director. With over 20 years of commercial experience in bio-pharmaceutical organizations and digital therapeutics, Ms. Rivera will be responsible for leading Organons 400-strong US Commercial Operations team, maximizing growth potential across the companys portfolio of womens health, biosimilars, and established brands treatment areas.

Ms. Rivera has significant commercial experience including roles in bio-pharmaceutical and digital therapeutic organizations and agency partners. She has extensive womens health expertise, having held leadership roles in commercial and general management. Most recently she was Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Commercial, Akili Interactive. She previously worked at AMAG Pharmaceuticals with responsibility for the womens health business unit and at Boehringer Ingelheim where she led the team responsible for customer engagement activities. She holds a Bachelor of Science, Business Management, at the University of Atlanta as well as a Certification in Corporate Finance and Accounting at the Columbia Business School.

Susanne Fiedler, Chief Commercial Officer, Organon, stated I am delighted to welcome Meghan to Organon and know that she will be an inspiring leader for our US operations. With her strong track record and focus on execution of commercial strategies, she is ideally placed to provide the strategic direction to enable our teams to realize our vision of delivering a better and healthier every day for every woman.

Ms. Rivera commented I am thrilled to join Organon at such an exciting point of the companys journey. From my experience working with transformational companies and across the womens health sector, I know that our US commercial operations have significant potential for growth and development. I look forward to leading and learning from this experienced, innovative and collaborative team, ensuring we maximize the potential of our strong portfolio of pharmaceutical products and medical devices as we set up this one-of-a-kind company.

About Organon

Organon is a global healthcare company formed through a spin-off from Merck, (NYSE: MRK) known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, to focus on improving the health of women throughout their lives. Organon has a portfolio of more than 60 medicines and products across a range of therapeutic areas. Led by the womens health portfolio coupled with an expanding biosimilars business and stable franchise of established medicines, Organons products produce strong cash flows that will support investments in innovation and future growth opportunities in womens health. In addition, Organon is pursuing opportunities to collaborate with biopharmaceutical innovators looking to commercialize their products by leveraging its scale and presence in fast growing international markets.

Organon has a global footprint with significant scale and geographic reach, world-class commercial capabilities, and approximately 9,500 employees with headquarters located in Jersey City, New Jersey.

For more information, visit http://www.organon.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220301005183/en/

Media:

Karissa Peer, (614) 314-8094

Source: Organon & Co.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - African Energy Metals Inc. (TSXV: CUCO) (FSE: BC21) (OTCQB: NDENF) (WKN: A3DEJG) ("African Energy Metals" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the Company has acquired an interest in a project in the prolific Manono area of the DRC with high prospectively for lithium, tin, and tantalum.

Manono Tin, Tantalum, Lithium Project

The project is comprised of one Exploitation Permit covering approximately 30 sq kms and is situated in Tanganyika province, Manono district in the territory of Kiambi, in the southeast of the DRC. The concession is at about 90 km Northeast of Manono in Kiambi. It is about 440 kms aerial distance to the north of Lubumbashi. The district was heavily mined for tin going back to the early 1900's. Most recently AVZ Minerals Limited (AVZ) ($2.4B market cap) made a potentially world class lithium rich LCT (lithium, caesium, tantalum) discovery which is 30 kms due west of the African Energy Metals project. The AVZ Roche Dure Mineral Resource is reported at 400 million tons grading 1.65% Li2O and world class in scale. Contiguous to AVZ are the lithium prospects of Tantalex Resources Corporation. Yves Kabongo, the Company's CEO was involved in the original founding of AVZ.

A principal of Liberty is a metallurgist who previously worked at AVZ and is very familiar with the AVZ style of mineralization including the pegmatite host rocks. The project has artisanal mining and an internal report based on exposed mineralization in artisanal pits prepared for Liberty indicates a potential of up to 25,200 contained tonnes of tin at a grade of 5%*. This was contained in a small 24000 m2 area covered by 20 pits in the southern part of the project adjacent to current active large scale artisan mining. There appears to be excellent potential for additional expansion in this area. This shallow mineralization may be highly amenable to small scale mechanized mining and part of the due diligence process will be to evaluate and plan small scale mining activities concurrent with more regional exploration activities for lithium, tin, and tantalum. The most recent spot price for tin was US$43,000 per tonne.

* The Company obtained the above estimates from an internal report prepared for Liberty by a party who has an interest in the project. This report included the above estimates of tonnes and grade. The Company is of the opinion the estimates are reliable and relevant, however the Company at this time has not completed due diligence on the estimates. Additional recommended work for the Company would be to review any available data in greater detail, duplicate sample data and re-assaying any available sample material. It is the Qualified Person's opinion that there is a potentially significant risk associated with the lack of supporting data and the Company should dedicate resources to reviewing the issue. The Qualified Person considers the risk to be acceptable, however cautions investors to rely on this non-compliant historical data only as an indicator of the future potential of the Manono Project until further reviews have been completed.

African Energy Metals entered into an Assignment Agreement with Whiskey Cobalt Mining SASU (WCM) pursuant to which WCM has agreed to assign to African Energy Metals 100% of WCM's interest in an exclusive option agreement with Liberty Mining and Investments Sarl (Liberty) to enter a 50/50 joint venture with Liberty. The agreement is structured as a binding Memorandum of Understanding to be converted into a Definitive Agreement during the 60-day due diligence period. The shareholders of WCM are arms length to the Company. In consideration of the assignment, African Energy Metals will reimburse supported prior expenses, assume certain financial obligations, and issue 2500,000 common shares of African Energy Metals as directed by WCM. A further 2,500,000 common shares of African Energy Metals will be placed in escrow only to be released when positive lithium results are obtained from preliminary testing during the due diligence period. A small royalty of 5% on net revenue from any small-scale tin production will be paid to WCM and is also tied to similar escrow provisions and capped at US$500,000. The Company will pay a finder's fee in common shares to arms length parties in accordance with TSXV policies. The closing of the transaction is subject to completion of a satisfactory due diligence review by African Energy Metals, other industry standard conditions and regulatory approvals including the Toronto Stock Venture Exchange.

Qualified/competent person -- National Instrument 43-101 and JORC code

The geological information in this announcement has been reviewed by Mr. Shu Zhan, Member and Registered Professional Geoscientist of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), a competent person (as defined in the JORC code, 2012 edition) who is a practicing member of the Association of Professional Geologists of Ontario (being a recognized professional organization for the purposes of the Australian Securities Exchange listing rules). Mr. Zhan is also the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 who has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release. Mr. Zhan is a Director of African Energy Metals. He has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralization, the type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a competent person as defined in the JORC code and under National Instrument 43-101.

Stephen Barley, Executive Chairman stated: "The Manono project has great potential for expansion of the tin and tantalum deposit and high prospectively for lithium. The presence of artisanal miners is typically an indication of easily recovered high grade mineralization. The Manono region is developing into a large area play for tin, tantalum, and lithium. The continuing strategy of African Energy Metals is to acquire interests in areas with high potential for energy metals and to explore and define resources of significant economic interest."

About African Energy Metals

African Energy Metals is a natural resource company with a focus on the acquisition, exploration, development, and operation of copper, cobalt, and lithium energy metals projects in the DRC. The Company is implementing a carbon credit program complementary to mining operations. The carbon credit program will meet important ESG requirements and present an opportunity for a significant early and long-term revenue stream. African Energy Metals has the intention of acquiring interests in additional concessions or relinquishing concessions in the normal course of business. African Energy Metals has an experienced management team located in the DRC.

For further information, please contact:

Stephen Barley, Executive Chairman

Phone: (604-834-2968)

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.africanenergymetals.com

Reader Advisory

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Although the Company believes, considering the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. The resource estimates contained in this statement are based on the best available information however are non-compliant and actual results may vary significantly from the current estimates. There is no assurance the Company will complete positive due diligence or enter into definitive agreements in the timelines set out in this statement. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of the Company its securities, or its financial or operating results.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115480
By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan on Thursday charged a television producer for Konstantin Malofeyev, described as a Russian oligarch, with violating Crimea-related sanctions.

The producer, U.S. citizen John Hanick, was arrested in February in London, and the United States is seeking his extradition. Prosecutors said Hanick was charged with violating U.S. sanctions arising from Russia's 2014 invasion of the Crimean peninsula.

Lawyers for Hanick, Roger Burlingame and Jeffrey Brown, did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Malofeyev owns Tsargrad TV, a Christian Orthodox television channel. He was placed under U.S. and EU sanctions in 2014 over accusations that he funded pro-Moscow separatists fighting in Ukraine, which he denies. Russia considers such Western sanctions illegal.

"Konstantin Malofeyev is closely tied to Russian aggression in Ukraine," Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement. "The indictment unsealed today shows this office's commitment to enforcement of laws intended to hamstring those who would use their wealth to undermine fundamental democratic processes."

The indictment was unsealed the day after the U.S. Department of Justice launched a task force, known as KleptoCapture, aimed at seeking civil and criminal forfeitures of assets belonging to Russian oligarchs who Washington says are enabling Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Hanick, 71, moved to Moscow in 2013 to begin working for Malofeyev and continued to work for him after he was sanctioned the next year, prosecutors said. Malofeyev oversaw his compensation, and Hanick wired some of the payments he received to a bank account in New York, they added.

Hanick stopped working for the television network in 2017, and made false statements about his work with Malofeyev during a February 2021 interview with the FBI, prosecutors said.

Tsargrad TV was involved in a protracted legal dispute with Alphabet Inc's Google after the channel said YouTube had blocked its account in July 2020 without providing a reason. Google said at the time it has a policy of suspending accounts found to violate sanctions or trade restriction rules.

A Moscow court said in April that Google must restore Tsargrad's account or face a daily 100,000 rouble ($918.32) fine, which would double each week that Google failed to comply.

($1 = 108.8950 roubles)

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Cynthia Osterman)
The Navy has recovered the advanced F-35C Lightning II fighter jet from the bottom of the South China Sea that it lost after a crash aboard an aircraft carrier more than a month ago, service officials announced Thursday.

The stealth jet was lifted Wednesday from a depth of 12,400 feet using a remotely operated diving vehicle and a crane from a diving support construction vessel known as Picasso, according to the 7th Fleet, which is based in Yokosuka, Japan. U.S. officials have said in recent weeks that it was critical to recover the F-35, which crashed Jan. 24 during normal training operations aboard the carrier USS Carl Vinson. Some Pentagon officials worried China would attempt to find the downed fighter before the United States.

Navy Capt. Gareth Healy, who commanded the task force which recovered the plane, said in a statement that his team encountered unique challenges to find and recover the jet on an aggressive and achievable timeline. He credited his team with success in accomplishing that goal in 37 days.

The Navy on Thursday released photos of the wrecked $103 million plane that showed aircraft sitting on Picassos deck wrapped in a protective covering after it was hoisted from the sea. The service said the plane would be taken to an unnamed nearby military facility for evaluation. Officials plan eventually to return it to the United States, according to 7th Fleet.

Officials are investigating the cause of the wreck, the Navy said. Leaked video of the incident that appeared on social media in the weeks after the crash showed the F-35s wing striking the deck of the Carl Vinson before the plane burst into flames and slid off the deck into the water.

The crash left the pilot  who ejected  and six other sailors injured. The Carl Vinson has since returned to its homeport in San Diego, according to the Navy.

At least five sailors have been charged with disobeying a lawful order or regulation for their roles in the leaked video, the Navy has said. Videos were captured on cell phones and uploaded to websites, including Reddit, Navy officials said.
WASHINGTON  Members of the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday questioned the culture and readiness of the Navys surface fleet after a government watchdog report showed crew shortages, overworked sailors and other issues continue to abound years after several costly disasters.

The report issued by the Government Accountability Office last month found the Navys maintenance process for ships is plagued by insufficient staffing and equipment, inadequate training, low morale and missing data.

In a hearing with Navy officials, House lawmakers said they were disheartened to read about the same problems that surfaced during investigations of the 2017 crashes of the USS John S. McCain and USS Fitzgerald and the 2020 fire aboard USS Bonhomme Richard. The collisions killed 17 sailors while the fire injured 63 sailors and civilians.

I worry that the Navy's progress in implementing findings from these accident investigations might mostly be on paper, and that in practice, they're not translated into lasting change, said Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif. Im worried that the surface Navy is not thinking deeply enough about how to change the culture, to evaluate morale and to empower officers and sailors to voice concerns when they see problems.

Adm. William Lescher, vice chief of naval operations, and Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, commander of the naval surface force in the Pacific Fleet, pointed to several new programs to improve training and maintenance delays but acknowledged challenges and shortcomings.

In 2017, junior officers boarding a ship received 150 hours of a training in simulators and now they receive 750 hours, Kitchener said. Every sailor is also now required to enroll in an engineering course.

The Navy is increasingly turning to artificial intelligence technology and data collection to cut down on maintenance delays and reduce the amount of time sailors spend performing maintenance during 67-hour work weeks, Lescher said. For the past year, commanders have tracked every individuals proficiency and experience level to fill experience gaps on ships, Kitchener said.

There is no lack of understanding of the power of data, Lescher said.

Technology is also being harnessed to tackle chronic fatigue. Most sailors sleep five or less hours per night, according to the GAO report. Kitchener said the Navy set a goal last year to bring that number to 7.5 hours and is using wearable sleep trackers to document progress.

Data shows sailors are now sleeping about 6 hours per night so clearly theres a lot more work to be done, Kitchener said.

There is also room for improvement with maintenance, he said. The Navy struggled with continuous maintenance of ships in the past due to requirements that ships be operational but has now established a better balance. However, some problems persist at the naval base in Sasebo, Japan, due to capacity issues, Kitchener said.

In general, we are not deferring maintenance, he said. If we do defer any kind of maintenance, that decision is done at the highest level.

Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., urged the Navy officials to adopt a simpler system for soliciting feedback from sailors and communicate clearly with the public without acronyms or buzzwords.

You have done so much, but were not there. We are not there, and we need to be there and we need to stop with the acronyms and create a feedback loop that gives it back to you immediately, Bergman said. Dont try to BS this group because were here to help you.

Luria added: Reading your statement, hearing you speak, you seem to be choosing your words very carefully, but they dont really sound like normal people in the Navy speak. They dont sound like words the normal public would listen to.

Lescher and Kitchener did not respond to the criticism.

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., said he was disturbed to see the disconnect between the initiatives cited by the Navys leaders and the comments of sailors who were interviewed for the government's report.

Despite your actions  and I want to give credit for many of those actions  were still receiving these troubling reports, he said. I do understand some of these issues are going take time but here we are almost five years from the McCain and Fitzgerald incidents. That was a wake-up call then. And I think we're getting a wakeup call in Europe right now that this type of high-end conflict isn't a thing of the past.
NAPLES, Italy  U.S. Navy fighter planes from a carrier strike group in the Mediterranean Sea are patrolling southern Europes skies as part of NATOs effort to check Russian aggression and support alliance members, Navy officials said Thursday.

Over the past month, U.S. and allied pilots have flown air policing and training missions originating from the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, the Navy said in a statement.

The Navy did not say how many flights are involved, but the level of support is consistent with what carrier air wings have provided during similar missions, said Lt. Cmdr. Shawn P. Eklund, a spokesman for the Harry S. Truman/Carrier Strike Group 8.

Bottom line, the entire air wing of more than 60 aircraft are supporting the NATO (enhanced air patrol) mission, Eklund said.

Its also unclear over which southern European locations the flights occurred or whether any planes had encountered Russian jets.

However, the air wing hadnt experienced any unsafe or unprofessional interactions with Russian jets since they have been in theater, said Lt. Tyler Barker, a spokesman for U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet.

Last month, U.S. officials acknowledged three dangerous encounters between Russian jets and Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol planes over international waters in the Mediterranean Sea during the Feb. 12-13 weekend.

The Truman policing and training flights have been carried out by fighter attack squadrons 11, 211, 81 and 34, and Electronic Attack Squadron 137, the Navy said.

The Air Forces 48th, 52nd and 31st fighter wings as well as the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing out of Ramstein Air Base in Germany and the 606th Air Control Squadron from Aviano Air Base in Italy supported the flights, according to the statement.

The air policing flights began Feb. 24, Eklund said.

Training flights with the Romanian air force occurred Feb. 8-15 and included four U.S. F/A-18 Hornet jets based at Borcea Fetesti Airfield in Romania.

The training missions were a critical jump-off point for NATOs enhanced air policing and demonstrate the work of the air wing and the Truman with allies to defend territorial integrity, Capt. Patrick Hourigan, the carrier wings commander, said in the statement.

Enhanced, or augmented, air policing is part of a multi-pronged approach developed by NATO after Russia invaded and annexed Crimea in 2014.

Baltic air policing is continuously augmented by a second detachment based at Amari, Estonia, according to NATOs website.

In southern Europe, various allied air force detachments temporarily augment Romania and Bulgarias forces, according to NATOs website.

Its a good mission, VFA-11 pilot Lt. Cmdr. Richard Watkins said about the policing flights in a statement. We have a unique ability to operate from an aircraft carrier, and by working with our NATO allies, we really get to showcase our cohesive unified force."

Pilots from the Truman also have trained with the U.S. and Italian air forces under Italian tactical command and control, according to the Navy statement.

In early February, the Truman sailed alongside the French Charles de Gaulle and Italian Cavour carrier strike groups in a show of NATO strength prior to Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. (Tribune News Service)  A U.S. Navy medical team ended a one-month mission at BJC Christian Hospital on Wednesday, and average daily COVID admissions in the region's hospitals tumbled past a key threshold, both signs of the coronavirus' continued recession here.

Sarah Droege, an emergency room manager at Christian Hospital, said that before the Navy arrived, the hospital was in "probably one of our darkest moments." At one point, the emergency department even took over a waiting room from the radiology department.

"Our volume just skyrocketed," said Droege, from Troy, Ill. "We could not keep up with the volume of patients that were coming in."

At the peak in January, the state reported almost 4,000 COVID-19 patients in its hospitals  1,000 more than last winter's peak and 1,500 more than the delta-variant-driven summer wave. Hospitals across the region were scrambling. Eleven requested emergency aid from the federal government in January. But the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told area officials then that it could only send help to one.

The team of 44 doctors, nurses and therapists arrived at Christian, off Interstate 270 between Spanish Lake and Black Jack, in the midst of a snowstorm. After training over the weekend, they started work on Jan. 31 in the COVID-19 ward, intensive care unit, the emergency room and throughout the hospital, said Lt. Cmdr. Josh Corbridge.

Corbridge, 40, a 10-year Navy veteran from Utah, was working as a health care administrator in Monterey, Calif., when he was called to St. Louis County. Most of the team came from Washington or California and had never been to St. Louis before, Corbridge said. On days off, some went to the Gateway Arch, St. Louis Blues games or visited the aquarium.

It made permanent staff feel good, Droege said, for outsiders to come in and recognize how hard they were working and validate the difficulty of the situation. Patients were more severely ill than some of the Navy personnel were used to, Droege said. Many patients in the area have underlying issues like diabetes or heart conditions that put them at risk of more serious illness.

"They came at a good time," said Droege, the emergency room manager. "Things were starting to dwindle down, but it was just such a breath of fresh air."

Kelly Wesley, a charge nurse in the emergency department, said usually the department sees about 120 patients per day. During the surge, including patients with COVID-19 and those with other ailments, it saw about 200. Casey Ballard Jr., a travel nurse from Lawrence, Kan., who is working in Christian Hospital's emergency department, said he has "never, never come close to seeing that volume."

But by February, case numbers were dropping precipitously. On Wednesday local hospitals reported a seven-day average of 38 new COVID-19 admissions, down from more than 200 in mid-January  the first time in three months that the daily average fell below 40, a threshold at which officials warned hospitals could get overwhelmed.

And total virus patients tumbled on Wednesday to 203 across area BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Luke's Hospital facilities  down from 1,444 in mid-January. The data, which is provided by the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, lags two days.

That all made early Wednesday morning something of a celebration at Christian Hospital. Dozens of U.S. Navy doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists gathered in a room off the hospital lobby for a sendoff by hospital leadership. Later, hospital staff lined one of the front hallways of the hospital and applauded as the Navy personnel departed.

"You've gone through a couple ice storms," said Rick Stevens, the hospital's president. "You have completed your mission."

In Missouri, 55% of the population is fully vaccinated, compared with 65% nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Wednesday, the state reported 779 new cases on average each day over the past week and 72 deaths, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis of state data.

(c)2022 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
It's impossible to enter the coastal resort of Hastings in East Sussex, England, and not be schooled in its medieval history.

While I was buying our train tickets, posters reminded me that the town is close to the point at which the Normans invaded England in longboats and overthrew King Harold II in the gruesome Battle of Hastings in 1066. It's a defeat so firmly etched into British minds that local insurance providers have incorporated the date into their TV jingles.

On arriving in the town and entering an underpass, I saw a mosaic celebrating the town's heritage: charging knights, windsurfers, and a kite-flying mother and child. The images were rendered in brown and blue tiles, and looked as vivid as the bingo halls lining the town's seafront.

My girlfriend and I were visiting Hastings for some stone skimming, sea glass collecting and arcade death matches with our 7-year-old daughter. We were keen to see the town's recent regeneration.

Hastings wasn't always the marketable mix of tourist facilities and medieval lore it is today. As package holidays to the continent became the choice vacation of many Brits in the 1970s, English seaside resorts faced economic hardship.

A recent $34 million investment boost has rejuvenated the area's arts and culture scene. During our visit, tourists dashed between museums focused on true crime, crafting artificial flowers from velvet, and beach fishing. The last was once key to the area's economy, but it faces an uncertain future due to Brexit, which was favored by local voters in the 2016 referendum.

Despite it being the October offseason, the Hastings streets were sunny as we began exploring. Our daughter ran across the beach, and I got flashes of my childhood trips to the sea.

Because we live in East London, a visit to the southeast coast meant an 80-mile drive, and it felt like landing in a different continent. I can remember my dad teaching me how to trap crabs in a jar; picking up the neighboring army base on my transistor radio; and seeing so many ice cream flavors available on the beach that my neck would ache reading the menu that towered above me on the wall. Knowing I had the potential to make my daughter as excited as I had been felt like a big responsibility.

After checking in at our guesthouse - where the friendly receptionist was happy to take us in early and show us to our room atop a spiral staircase - we headed for our first destination: the "Old Town" of Hastings. Parts of the area date to the 8th century; today, its narrow cobbled streets are teeming with bubble tea boutiques, mussel cafes, Tudor houses and modern bistros with tables made from galvanized steel, their interiors lit by multicolored lanterns.

You can buy coffee and cake for about $7, or try one of the cocktails listed on brown paper menus: Whistling Gypsies, Hello Sailors.

We climbed the cliffs via side streets to reach the St. Clements Caves, formed around 14,000 B.C. and used as a lair by buccaneers in the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, they're explorable as part of the Smugglers Adventure.

A vampire at reception sold us passes - it was nearly Halloween - and we walked downhill through tunnels draped in luminous cobwebs that extended more than an acre underground. Blue spotlights gave the rock walls a lunar quality, while effigies of Joseph Golding, who dug into the caves in the 1820s, loomed from stone hollows like gargoyles.

We spent about an hour underground, posing by notices offering 100 guinea rewards (about $30,000 today) for the capture of smugglers dead or alive "by order of the Crown." Our daughter loved pushing the different language buttons on the talking pirates, as well as typing vowels into a reproduction Morse key to signal model Royal Navy boats.

After pizza on the seafront, we took an evening walk along the shoreline between lifeguard huts, which glowed white in the moonlight and seemed sinister with their flags lowered. Waves shattered on the beach, the sound blurring with traffic as we walked back to our guesthouse.

In the morning, we enjoyed breakfast at the Hanushka Coffee House among rows of old books, green glass reading lamps, and old-fashioned radios playing wartime swing tunes. We had planned to ride the funicular railway (cable cars) - the steepest in the United Kingdom - to the clifftops, but the West Hill Lift terminal was closed for maintenance.

A shame: I had traveled on one in my childhood and hoped to re-experience the cream-and-brown carriages from a bygone era. You can't enjoy their diagonal ascent and not feel a little like James Bond fighting Jaws at a high altitude in the 1979 film "Moonraker."

Instead, we took the steps, occasionally looking below us at beached trawlers with names such as "Christine" and "Moonshine." The wet sand beyond them shone like a lens; a little farther were the jutting remains of the old pier and its restored counterpart. Pieces of timber rose from the sea like fingers.

It was hard not to think of the infamous original Smalls Lighthouse, which was erected on oak pillars off Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the 1770s. One of its keepers had died on duty, and his trapped bunkmate had become unhinged. I had listened to a musical interpretation of their ordeal by the local experimental composer Plinth, and now couldn't get the album's striking cover art out of my head.

Eager for a more cheerful marine experience, we climbed down to Rock-a-Nore Road and visited the Blue Reef Aquarium. Halloween celebrations continued here with glow-in-the-dark skeletons positioned between tanks of gleaming mullet.

Our daughter loved seeing the creatures from the 2016 animated movie "Finding Dory" up close, and arriving at feeding time meant we got to look up from the observatory tunnel as sharks darted to and fro, chasing descending flakes of food. Side rooms offered salamanders, poison dart frogs and tarantulas in reassuringly sturdy terrariums.

Outside, the free Shipwreck Museum housed a charming collection of artifacts from the hundreds of vessels wrecked in the English Channel. Visitors could peruse the 400-year-old salvaged cannons, French muskets from 1820, and 16th-century Portuguese maps (on which Australia wasn't depicted). Each exhibit had been recovered by local divers; patrons could test whether they would make efficient treasure hunters by trying to haul cargo on a reproduction rope pulley.

Returning to the seafront, we followed the music and cotton candy to the Flamingo amusement park. Our daughter picked her way through a mechanical funhouse, then fed twopenny coins into slot machines. Thirty years ago, I had visited a similar arcade at the nearby Camber Sands and blown all my pocket money (plus everything I could beg from my mom) on a RoboCop game and a light-gun shooting range. I was delighted to see the same gleeful abandonment in my child.

We left Hastings a few days before Nov. 5, or Guy Fawkes Night as it's known in Britain. Despite the popularity of Halloween, winter nights in the United Kingdom are dominated by communal bonfires commemorating the failure of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up the House of Lords and assassinate King James I. The nearby town of Lewes proudly boasts "Britain's most dangerous Guy Fawkes celebration."

Per tradition, the town bonfire had involved the burning of "Guys": effigies of Fawkes and unpopular media personalities. As we crossed Romney Marsh, I wondered how many burned Boris Johnsons would be found among the ashes.

IF YOU GO

Where to Stay

Alexander's

2 Carlisle Parade

011-44-1424-717-329

Online: alexandershotelhastings.co.uk

A Georgian guesthouse located about a two-minute walk from the beach and five minutes from Hastings's railway station. WiFi, smart TV, private check-in and breakfast available. A family room with a sea view costs about $160 per night.

Where to Eat

Bella Napoli

14-15 Pelham Crescent

011-44-1424-465-353

Online: bellanapolihastings.com

This Italian restaurant serves pizza, burgers, salads and fresh fish. Gluten-free and vegan options available. Open daily 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Torta al cioccolato (warm fudge cake) about $7.

What to Do

Smugglers Adventure

St. Clements Caves, West Hill

011-44-1424-422-964

Online: smugglersadventure.co.uk

Underground tunnels that were used to conceal contraband now feature more than 70 life-size smuggler characters. Natural cave areas can be dark with uneven floors. Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (In March, it closes at 4 p.m. and is closed every Tuesday.) Adults about $14, with family tickets (two adults and two kids ages 3 to 12) about $47.

Shipwreck Museum

Rock-a-Nore Road

011-44-1424-437-452

Online: shipwreckmuseum.co.uk

An independent charitable museum of the Nautical Museums Trust. Multisensory exhibits include fossils and salvage; a gift shop sells wares by local artisans. Open daily 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (November through March, times are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends, Wednesdays and Thursdays.) Free.

Blue Reef Aquarium

Rock-a-Nore Road

011-44-1424-718-776

Online: bluereefaquarium.co.uk

An aquarium offering more than 250 sea species and 3,500 animals with emphasis on conservation promotion. Four daily live talks and feeding sessions. (Check website for information.) Open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry at 4:30 p.m. Adult entry about $17, with family tickets about $58.

Information: Online: visit1066country.com
Mannheims venerable art museum, the Kunsthalle, opened its doors in 1909 in a beautiful art nouveau edifice built two years earlier.

It was the brainchild of a young man named Fritz Wichert, whose vision was to assemble a public collection of modern art under the motto art for all.

Now, the original Kunsthalle has been joined by a new, modern building, adding more than 38,000 square feet of exhibition space.

Called the Hector Bau (building), after the patron who donated 50 million euros ($56 million) for its construction, the structure has a sign on the wall reading Open for Art.

The first major work acquired by the museum was Edouard Manets Execution of Emperor Maximillian, in 1910. Since then, its collection has grown to include works by such artists of renown as Paul Cezanne, Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee and Niki de Saint Phalle, just to name a few.

But the Kunsthalle also has temporary exhibits, and the one showing now, titled Mindbombs, is a powerful display of what the museum calls a highly topical artistic perspective on the history and political iconography of modern terrorism.

It runs until April 24. At its center is Kader Attias The Culture of Fear: An Invention of Evil, an installation consisting of bookshelves and magazine or book covers pertaining to terrorism.

A visit to the Kunsthalle begins in the 72-foot-high atrium, where a clock, part of an Alicja Kwade work called The Void of the Moment in Motion, spins above your head.

The nine exhibition spaces, which are called kubus, or cubes, are connected by stairs and bridges over the upper two stories. The original art nouveau building is joined to the Hector Bau by an enclosed walkway.

Manets painting of the unfortunate emperor is in Kubus 1, along with sculptures by Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas.

Kubus 0 is filled with art from the museums collection, including a Max Lieberman self-portrait and a mesmerizing painting of the apostle Paul by Lovis Corinth.

If you dont mind flashing lights and loud sounds, dont miss William Kentridges installation The Refusal of Time on the floor above. It takes up the whole cube.

Most museums dont have enough room to display all their treasures, so much is kept in their depots for storage. The Kunsthalle has dedicated one cube to works from its depot. The art is displayed in a jumble, reminiscent of a second-hand art shop.

Kubus 6 is dedicated to three giant works by Anselm Kiefer, one of Germanys leading contemporary artists. Jaipur, The Fertile Crescent and the The Lost Letter are on display.

A floor of the art nouveau building is devoted to an exhibit that traces the history of the Kunsthalle through its collection. Here, check out Ernesto De Fioris delicate bronze sculpture Youth (The Sufferer) or Umberto Boccionis Unique Forms of Continuity in Space.

One of the highlights here, though, is Max Beckmanns fascinating 1925 painting Carnival (Pierrette and Clown). The work was one of many pieces considered degenerate art by the Nazis and confiscated from the museum.

With paintings, sculptures and installations that follow the history of art over the past 150 or so years, the Kunsthalle Mannheim gives the serious art lover or casual viewer a lot to see.

On the QT

Note: 2G coronavirus restrictions are in place, meaning visitors need to be fully vaccinated or recovered. FFP-2 masks are mandatory.

Directions: The Kunsthalle is at Friedrichsplatz 4, 68165 Mannheim. Exit A6 at Mannheim-Mitte and follow the road straight into town. When you see the citys trademark water tower, look for the Kunsthalle parking garage. It is about an hours drive from Kaiserslautern and Wiesbaden and about two hours from Stuttgart. It is about an eight-minute walk from the citys main train station.

Open hours: Tuesday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., but until 10 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month (free admission starting at 6 p.m.); Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Prices: Admission is 12 euros for adults. A family ticket for two adults with children under 18 years of age costs 20 euros. Parking at the Kunsthalle garage is 2 euros per hour.

Food: There is a restaurant, Luxx, inside the museum.

Information: Online: kuma.art/en. The Kunsthalle also has an excellent app for Apple and Android phones.
In recent days the world has watched with astonishment and admiration as the people of Ukraine have put up fierce  and so far, successful  resistance against Vladimir Putins brutal invasion of their country.

Putin has united the world against him like never before. Unexpectedly severe sanctions are starting to bite deeply into the Russian economy. Even thousands of brave Russians have taken to their own streets to protest the war.

It may be that Russia will still manage to win some sort of military victory in Ukraine. But even if it does, the future does not look good for Putin. Occupation of a defeated Ukraine will face the insurmountable obstacle of a mobilized and angry population. Russias growing isolation and economic hardships will spread discontent to powerful business and even military interests, who could threaten Putins hold on power.

All of this is good news for world democracy. But it also creates a very real danger. Last weekend Putin ordered Russias nuclear forces to go on high alert and issued military threats against Finland and Sweden. In doing so he is following an old pattern: Dictators are always at their most dangerous not when they are winning, but when they fear they are about to lose.

The most fateful example is Adolf Hitler.

In the late summer and autumn of 1941 Hitler had a clear sense that world events were moving against him. Britain and the United States were drawing ever closer together, with America supplying Britain with weapons and other resources through the Lend-Lease program. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter, which became the founding document of the United Nations. In the Soviet Union, the German invasion, which had started in June, bogged down in the face of unexpectedly stiff Soviet resistance.

Hitlers response was to step up persecution of European Jews. First, Jews in all of Nazi-controlled Europe were forbidden to immigrate to safety anywhere. Then a program of deportations began in which Jews were sent from Germany and other Central European locations to ghettos and camps in Poland and the occupied Soviet Union.

In late November 1941, Fritz Todt, who was in charge of German military contracting and construction, told Hitler bluntly, this war can no longer be won militarily. Hitler asked Todt how he should end the war. When Todt told him that there needed be a political solution, Hitler replied that he didnt see how he could do that.

Two weeks later, in the wake of Pearl Harbor, Hitler significantly widened the war he had been told he could not win: He declared war on the United States before Roosevelt had made any effort to get Congress to declare war on Germany.

In early 1942, the Nazi regime began the comprehensive genocide in which Jews from all over Nazi Europe were sent to specialized camps to be murdered with poisonous gas. Hitlers statements and actions through the fall and winter of 1941-42 make it clear that both the widening war and the genocide were his responses to an increasingly desperate situation.

Hitlers example is the most devastating, but we see the same desperation in other dictators when they face the reality of failure. They become more brutal and repressive. Dictators are psychologically fragile: They need adulation and a sense of mastery, and they cannot tolerate loss. We have seen this pattern with Augusto Pinochet in Chile, Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia and Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. But another example may point even more directly to where we are right now.

In the autumn of 1989, the communist dictatorship of East Germany was crumbling in the face of economic crisis and increasingly large protest demonstrations. The strongman of that regime was not the head of the government, Erich Honecker, but Erich Mielke, the head of the infamous Stasi, the security forces.

As protests began to draw crowds in the tens of thousands, Mielke considered a Chinese solution, referring to the Tiananmen Square massacre of a few months before. Mielkes memos and orders stressed that the security forces were in a desperate fight for their own lives, justifying the most violent response. Only the intervention of some prominent citizens (including the famous conductor Kurt Masur) and some in the Communist Party leadership kept Mielke from having his way and creating a bloodbath. Things could easily have gone differently.

Watching all this very carefully was a young Soviet KGB officer stationed in East Germany. People who know him say that this officer was profoundly shaped by the experience of seeing the East German regime fall without a fight, and that he would have done things very differently. The young KGB officers name? Vladimir Putin.

Benjamin Carter Hett is a professor of history at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, and the author of The Death of Democracy and The Nazi Menace: Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Road to War.
TOKYO  The European Unions ambassador to Japan condemned Russian aggression against peaceful, independent Ukraine during a news conference in the nations capital Thursday.

The EU stands firmly by Ukraine and its people, Ambassador Patricia Flor told reporters at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan in central Tokyo.

Flor praised Japans help getting energy to Europe during the crisis and its decision, along with EU nations and the United States, to impose sanctions on Russia.

The EU is providing aid and weapons to Ukraine and will offer refuge to people fleeing the conflict, she said.

The bloc is taking steps to integrate Ukraine, which has requested EU membership, into its common market, Flor said.

The Ukrainian people belong with us, she said, noting that the path to EU membership is challenging and takes years.

The EU is calling on all countries, including China, which has not joined the sanctions regime, to help punish Russia economically, Flor said.

The same day, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel applauded Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishidas decision to freeze Russian oligarchs assets.

Japans resolute action demonstrates clearly to Russias oligarchs and corrupt leaders that they can no longer enjoy the benefit of [Russian President Vladimir] Putins violent regime, he said in a statement.

Japans sanctions and export controls on Russias ally, Belarus, and its leadership, including President Alexander Lukashenko and defense officials, is further evidence of a unified global response to hold accountable those enabling the war in Ukraine, Emanuel said.

Together, we are isolating Russia as it continues its descent as a pariah state, and we are committed to imposing unprecedented economic costs for Putins cronies and enablers, he said.

A day earlier, a suspected Russian helicopter entered Japanese airspace off its northernmost main island, Hokkaido, Japans Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

The helicopter was detected at around 10:23 a.m. Wednesday offshore of Nemuro Peninsula, prompting a scramble of Japan Air Self-Defense Force jets.

The incident was extremely regrettable, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that day. He said the Japanese government lodged a protest with Russia through diplomatic channels.

Russian activities are increasing around Japan, Matsuno said.

Increasing activities by Russia in waters and airspace near our country, including this violation of the airspace, is something to be concerned with under the current state of affairs, he said.

Meanwhile, about 70 Japanese, mostly former members of the Self-Defense Forces, have answered a since-deleted Twitter post from the Ukrainian embassy in Tokyo soliciting volunteers to fight against invading Russian forces, Kyodo news reported Thursday, citing an unnamed embassy official.

The post was removed Wednesday, with the embassy now seeking volunteers to help with things such as health care, disaster prevention, information technology and communications, Kyodo reported.

At his press conference, Matsuno asked Japanese citizens not to travel to Ukraine "regardless of purpose," the agency reported.

The Ukrainian embassy said on Twitter that more than 60,000 Japanese people had donated a combined $17.3 million as of Tuesday.

Photographs posted Thursday on Twitter showed landmarks all over Japan  including Kobe Port Tower, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building and Kumamoto Castle  illuminated in Ukraines blue and yellow national colors.

Likewise, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo was lit up with the Ukrainian colors Wednesday night.

The embassy grounds are normally reserved for red, white and blue, Emanuel said in a statement that evening.

It is important for us to show strong U.S. support for the Ukrainian people at this hour, and our strong condemnation of President Putins unprovoked, unjustified, and unwarranted war, he said.

Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.
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TOKYO  Workplace disputes involving Japanese employees at U.S. military bases in Japan are being drawn out due to staff shortages and people working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, a union representative recently told Stars and Stripes.

There have been several reports in recent months of Japanese workers alleging mistreatment at U.S. bases near Tokyo.

At Camp Zama, headquarters of U.S. Army Japan near Tokyo, a pair of clerical workers at an aviation battalion filed claims with the Atsugi Labor Standards Inspection Office in September and December, the Yomiuri newspaper reported Feb. 5.

They are accusing their supervisors of power harassment, a type of workplace bullying that often involves someone in a more senior position asking lower-ranking employees to do things outside their job description, causing emotional or physical harm.

In December, the Tokyo District Court ordered the Japanese government to pay $4,840 to a Japanese worker at Naval Air Facility Atsugi to settle her claim of verbal abuse and other forms of harassment by her American supervisor, The Mainichi newspaper reported Dec. 14.

The court ruled that Japan is responsible when the U.S. military violates its obligations to workers' safety, because the military is exempt from civil lawsuit jurisdiction under international customary law, according to the report.

The regular turnover of U.S. managers and a shortage of Japanese personnel officers with experience handling such cases slows the resolution of workplace complaints, All Japan Garrison Forces Labor Union president Satohiro Konya told Stars and Stripes during an online interview Feb. 9.

The union represents about 25,000 Japanese workers on U.S. bases and another 15,000 workers nationwide.

Most issues are solved at the local level, often simply by talking, and few reach the national union, Konya said.

The union hasnt noted an increase in disputes involving base workers but there are issues related to the pandemic, Konya said.

Some complaints are exacerbated because many employees are teleworking, he said. For example, it may be tougher for workers to schedule in-person meetings to talk about problems since staff may not be in their offices.

The U.S. militarys Japanese employees are in a unique situation. Theyre hired by the Japanese government but work for the U.S. forces. In the event of workplace disputes, the union negotiates with the Japanese government, which then negotiates with the U.S. military, Konya said.

That can lead to miscommunication, he said. Something thats considered harassment in the United States may not be under Japanese regulations.

There are some differences in perspective, he said.

Talks involving all three parties would help, and even casual discussions and more interaction would also be helpful, especially in building trust, Konya said.

Unfortunately, too few Japanese government personnel officers have experience dealing with the U.S. military, Konya said.

There have been some cases which could have been less complicated if counseling had been given at an earlier stage, he said.

The transfer of administrative work related to the management of Japanese base workers from local governments to a national organization has meant fewer staff dealing with personnel issues, Konya said. Cuts of national government workers due to reforms has also caused staff shortages.

Likewise, limited tours, usually between three and five years, for some U.S. personnel overseas means less familiarity with Japanese rules for managing their Japanese employees.

An appropriate work environment is an important part of the U.S. forces mission in Japan, a spokeswoman for Japans Ministry of Defense said Feb. 16. Japanese government spokespeople typically speak to the media on condition of anonymity.

Based on such thought, the Ministry of Defense has worked on solving issues appropriately as we have been holding plenty of talks between Japan and the U.S. in order to secure an appropriate labor environment and employment stability for the workers, the spokeswoman said.

Building a relationship of mutual trust between U.S. forces, Japanese employees and the Japanese government is important so that issues can be solved early, and management can be streamlined, the spokeswoman said.

We are currently coordinating to be able to hold talks between the three parties, she said.

Japanese base workers enable daily operations necessary for the security of Japan, U.S. Forces Japan spokesman Air Force Maj. Thomas Barger said in a Feb. 23 email to Stars and Stripes.

Japanese employees at US installations throughout Japan are vital to overall mission success and are often the first ambassadors to Japan encountered by US servicemembers and their families stationed in Japan, he said. As vital and valued team members in the US-Japan Alliance, we remain committed to working together to ensure any concerns are heard and resolved appropriately.
An overwhelming vote by the United Nations on a resolution condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine may increase the pressure on China to take a clearer position on the issue.

The UN General Assembly passed the measure urging Russia to immediately halt its aggression by a vote of 141 to 5 in an emergency session Wednesday. Russia was joined by only Belarus -- a key launching point for its invasion -- Eritrea, North Korea and Syria in opposition to the non-binding resolution.

The vote cast a spotlight on Chinas continued effort to avoid taking a clear stance against the military action by its close diplomatic partner, despite Beijings frequent advocacy for upholding sovereignty rights guaranteed by the UNs charter. The country -- one of five veto-wielding members on the UN Security Council -- was among 35 states who abstained from the vote.

Chinas UN ambassador envoy, Zhang Jun, said the resolution had not undergone full consultations within the whole membership, nor did it take full consideration the history and complexity of the current crisis, according to the official Xinhua New Agency. These are not in line with Chinas consistent positions. Therefore, China had no choice but to abstain, Zhang said.

The war is testing Chinese President Xi Jinpings commitment last month to a no limits relationship with Putin, as the U.S. and its allies pile on sanctions and press Beijing to take a stand against military aggression. In recent days, Xi has urged Putin to pursue negotiations and China also abstained from a binding UN Security Council resolution condemning the attack.

The overwhelming condemnation from 141 states in opposition to Chinas strategic partner, Russia, is a clear signal to China that other states are watching how a leading state, like China, responds to blatant abuse of Ukrainian sovereignty, said Courtney Fung, an associate professor at Macquarie University and an associate fellow at Chatham House. Rhetoric over Cold War mentality is one thing, but condoning invasion is another.

While Foreign Minister Wang Yi described the conflict as a war and urged the protection of civilians in a call with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba this week, China has refrained from publicly calling for a ceasefire or using the term invasion. China hasnt criticized Russia, and continues to voice support for its security concerns and blame the U.S. for precipitating the crisis.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (Tribune News Service)  Growing up in Taiwan, Huang Yu-lin has become accustomed to chatter about potential military conflict with mainland China. But it wasn't until Russia invaded Ukraine that she started to seriously consider what she would do in such a scenario.

"Hearing it so often, it was a bit like crying wolf," the 32-year-old energy policy researcher said. Now, with a war raging in Europe and deteriorating cross-strait relations, she's begun looking into medical training and browsing war survival manuals. "I've become more and more worried. This is something that needs to be taken seriously," she said.

For days, the world has been captivated by the invasion of Ukraine, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought control of the former Soviet republic's capital, Kyiv, and ordinary citizens have taken up arms to defend their country. In Taiwan, the apprehension comes with added anxiety over its own precarious geopolitical standing, under the shadow of an aggressive neighbor pushing a territorial claim.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is determined to eventually bring the democratically ruled island back into the Communist Party's fold. While Beijing has called for peaceful reunification, record incursions by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan's air defense identification zone are a regular reminder that Xi hasn't ruled out the use of force.

"We feel totally related because of the Chinese Communist Party's threats to Taiwan every day," said Chen Kuan-ting, chief executive of Taiwan NextGen Foundation, a think tank politically aligned with the governing Democratic Progressive Party. "We need to invest more in our own national defense, and that is the only way to deter aggression."

Officials and defense specialists in Taiwan have pointed to Ukraine as a potent warning to step up military training and preparation at home. At the same time, leaders have sought to allay concerns about any imminent threats from China, as well as the island's defense capabilities.

"Our military is committed to defending our homeland and continues to improve its ability to do so, and our global partners are contributing to the security of our region, giving us strong confidence in Taiwan's security," Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said in a statement condemning Russia's attack on Ukraine.

Experts point to several differences that diminish the likelihood of an imminent attack on Taiwan, an island of about 23 million people. One key factor is the Taiwan Strait, which acts as a natural geographical buffer against mainland forces. Strong diplomatic ties with other democratic governments such as Japan and the U.S., along with Taiwan's vital role in the global economy and supply chain in semiconductor production, could also help deter aggression.

To help preserve the status quo, the U.S. does not formally recognize Taiwan as an independent nation and has been intentionally ambiguous about how much military support it might provide if China attacked the island. As younger generations of Taiwanese develop a stronger sense of identity that sets the island apart from China, some worry that a more defiant stance against unification or an explicit declaration of support from the U.S. could provoke Beijing into action.

Beijing has also stressed the differences between Ukraine and Taiwan, in particular arguing that the latter has always been a part of China.

"It is unwise of certain people of the Taiwan authorities to latch on to and exploit the Ukraine issue to their advantage," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a briefing transcript from last week. "'Taiwan independence' only leads to a dead end."

While many have brushed off fears of confrontation, to others the visceral violence in Ukraine has suddenly made China's threats much more tangible.

"A lot of scenarios now happening in Ukraine, those were not imaginable for a lot of people," said T.H. Schee, 44, a tech and policy worker who hosts lectures in Taiwan on civil defense.

Schee's events have traditionally focused on natural disaster response, but many recent participants have been drawn to the seminars because of Ukraine. Among the questions he's received from concerned Taiwanese are whether they can learn to hack computers or shoot rifles, Schee said, despite Taiwan's strict laws on gun ownership.

"It's like the Wild West. People have just got no idea what will happen, or what other resources you need," he said.

Chiang Chia-hung, a master's student in international relations at National Taiwan University, was pleasantly surprised to find less politically minded friends and family also closely following the news in Ukraine. Even the local shopkeeper raised the issue with him while he was out buying tofu and sausages, during a weekend trip home to the central city of Taichung.

Chiang, who spent two out of his four months of conscription in the Matsu Islands about 10 miles from China's coast, said he hopes this kind of attention will lead Taiwanese people to take the possibility of outside aggression more seriously.

"There, the risk of China was always present," he said of his time in Matsu. "Add on these developments, and I feel like it's made me more aware that you really can't underestimate the danger of China."

As Chinese pressure has mounted over the last few years, Taiwan has worked on bolstering national security and defense, including adding billions of dollars in spending to a record defense budget and increasing training for military reservists.

Lai Yu-sheng, a 25-year-old from New Taipei City, said the invasion of Ukraine may boost interest in military affairs or service among younger generations. Given his own health exemption from service, Lai said he plans to get his EMT certification instead. "I want to find other areas I can be ready to help out in," he said.

Lai and others are still counting on the United States for assistance in the event of a conflict, an assumption that has been tested by America's messy withdrawal from Afghanistan and a lack of U.S. military support for Ukraine. Military experts agree that Taiwan would be hard-pressed to hold off a full-scale invasion on its own.

"Internationally recognized countries, if they can so easily be invaded like this, then couldn't Taiwan be too, without any reason?" said Chang Ya-chu, a 21-year-old medical student in Taipei. "We need to work to defend our land ourselves first. Whether others are willing to help us is another matter."

Amid the heightened debate over the implications for Taiwan, President Biden sent a delegation of former U.S. Defense officials to Taipei this week. "Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is not just a U.S. interest, but also a global one," former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael G. Mullen said on arrival in a statement that praised Taiwan's democracy.

At antiwar gatherings in Taipei over the weekend, some attendees brought sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine. The bloom also holds significance for proponents of democracy in Taiwan, stemming from the 2014 Sunflower Movement of student protests against closer trade with China.

Cindy Chang, a 36-year-old Taichung resident, said her deep affinity for Ukraine dates back to that movement, which coincided with tumultuous antigovernment demonstrations in Ukraine.

"At that time, many of the ways that Taiwanese citizens actively spoke to the world were learned from Ukrainian citizens," she said. "Ukrainians are very brave. I just hope under similar circumstances we can be just as brave as them."

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WASHINGTON  Russian forces invading Ukraine are becoming increasingly brutal as fighting intensifies despite a 40-mile convoy stalled outside the capital city of Kyiv, a senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday.

Though the logjam of Russian military vehicles on the outskirts of Kyiv remain stopped, Russian troops are firing "an increase in missiles and artillery targeting the city, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Ukrainian resistance and Russian supply issues with fuel and food have slowed troop movement for days and U.S. officials say they dont believe Russia is moving as fast through Ukraine as they had anticipated.

The northern push by the Russians down south toward Kyiv remains stalled, chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday. "They haven't  from our best estimates  made any appreciable progress geographically speaking in the last 24 to 36 hours.

The U.S. believes Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to topple Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys government and supplant it with one of his own, Kirby said.

In order to do that, [Putin] believes he has to take Kyiv, he said. He continues to want to advance on Kyiv  that advance has been stalled, [but] they are working through that."

Much of the international community has protested the assault on Ukraines sovereignty, with NATO allies imposing economic sanctions and other penalties on Russia for Putins decision to invade.

I believe that, quite frankly, the future of Ukraine should be up to the Ukrainian people, Kirby said. And they are making their choice: it's pretty clearly known through the resistance that they're offering to this unlawful and unprovoked invasion of their country."

Increased aggression

The increased aggression from Russian troops comes after its defense ministry on Tuesday warned civilians to leave Kyiv as they planned strikes on Ukrainian technological and security facilities there to thwart informational attacks against Russia, according to the Russian state-owned TASS media outlet.

This increasing aggressiveness in terms of the iron they're lobbing into the city is certainly aligned with source reporting that the [Russian] Ministry of Defense has decided to become much more aggressive with its targeting in Kyiv, the U.S. official said.

Similar increased Russian missile and artillery fires are also happening in and around Chernihiv to the north and Kharkiv to the northeast, according to the official. Both cities are continually under assault, but with again no appreciable movement by the Russians to take either one. They appear to be stalled outside of those two cities as well and they are clearly meeting resistance [from Ukraine].

Russian troops have been achieving more progress in their advance in southern Ukraine, the official said, noting the progress has been measured.

The Russians claim that they've taken Kherson, the Ukrainians counter claiming that they have not, the official said. Our view is Kherson is very much a contested city at this point.

The Russian forces moving on Kherson in southern Ukraine came from the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine during its last invasion of country in 2014, Kirby said.

Kherson is still a very contested fight, he said. I know the Russians have claimed that they've got the town  [but] we're not in a position to call it either way. The Ukrainians are certainly fighting for the town."

About 310 miles to the east, Russian troops continue to advance on Mariupol, but the U.S. does not believe that theyre in the city center, and we have every indication that Mariupol will be defended, Kirby said.

The Russians have not taken any of the major population centers in Ukraine that they appear to want, he said.

We think that there's a variety of reasons for that, and not least of which is the bravery and the skill and the activity of Ukrainian fighters, Kirby said.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday claimed it had killed more than 2,870 Ukrainian troops and lost nearly 500 of its own since the war began, according to TASS. It also said 3,700 Ukrainian and 1,597 Russian troops had been wounded.

However, the U.S. official warned the public should be extremely skeptical over any information that the Russian Ministry of Defense puts out there."

The official declined to provide more accurate figures on the number of casualties, noting the estimates are all over the map  some are very low, and some are pretty high.

The Ukrainian State Emergency Service reported Wednesday that more than 2,000 civilians in Ukraine had been killed in the war.

Pragmatic

Roughly 82% of the more than 170,000 troops and military equipment that Putin spent months amassing along Ukraines borders with Belarus and Russia are now inside Ukraine, the official said, up slightly from Tuesdays estimate of 80%.

There hasn't really been a lot of significant change on the ground since yesterday, the official said. So again, not a significant influx of additional combat capability into Ukraine [in the last day.]

While Russian troops have "lost a sense of momentum here" due to its slower-than-anticipated advance "it doesn't mean that they still don't have the power at their disposal, the official said.

They have a significant amount of combat power applied in Ukraine and they still have some significant combat power that they have not engaged in the fight, Kirby said.

However, the U.S. does not believe Putin has contributed additional military resources to the war outside of those he amassed along the Ukrainian borders in the months leading up to Russias invasion, he said.

We haven't seen any indications that Mr. Putin feels the need to bring in additional reinforcements from elsewhere in the country, Kirby said.

In addition to the fuel and food sustainment problems, Russia has made other missteps in its fight, such as failing to properly integrate its combined arms capabilities with air and ground troops, the official said.

A good example of [how] we've not seen good integration is the [lack of] integration of air and missile defense suppression and support from the air of ground forces in advance of their movement, the official said.

Additionally, Russia likely failed to consider how fiercely the Ukrainians would defend their sovereignty, Kirby said.

They have been surprised by the resistance that they're facing by the Ukrainians, and I don't believe that they fully factored that in, he said. "Ukrainians are fighting for their country. And they're making a difference."

However, he warned the public to be "pragmatic" because Russia will try to learn from these missteps to overcome them as the war rages on.

International response

Ukraine continues to request additional military equipment from Western countries to help defend against Russia. The U.S. has provided about $1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine during the past year, including Javelin anti-tank missiles and other ammunition.

The U.S. has also sent about 14,000 troops to Eastern Europe to support NATO allies near Ukraine. In total, there are approximately 90,000 U.S. troops arrayed across Europe, including those who were already stationed on the Continent or there on a rotational basis.

President Joe Biden has promised he will not send U.S. troops into Ukraine to fight the Russians. He also has declined to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine at the request of its government.

Instead, Biden announced a ban on all Russian aircraft from U.S. airspace during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night after multiple countries including Canada, Austria, Germany, Hungary and France enacted similar restrictions.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, is perfectly postured to enforce the ban should Russia attempt to fly planes through U.S. skies, Kirby said.

This is the mandate for NORAD to protect our homeland, the North American homeland and airspace, he said. And they're ready to do their contribution to the president's order."
MEDYKA, Poland  Kateryna Marchenko and her elderly mother spent days getting from Ukraines capital of Kyiv to this Polish border town before clearing a security checkpoint and stepping into the unknown as war refugees.

The angst over what awaited them in Poland, she said, was outweighed only by the danger of staying behind in Kyiv, where Russia has stepped up its attacks.

We needed to get here. What the Russians are doing shouldnt be happening in our century, said Marchenko, who arrived in Medyka on Wednesday after spending multiple nights in freezing temperatures en route.

Luckily for the Marchenkos and another Ukrainian family with three children, as they stepped across the border they bumped into a prominent German politician with Polish ties.

Parliamentarian Paul Ziemiak had driven to the crossing at Medyka, wanting to see for himself what was happening on the ground. He met the two Ukrainian families as they entered Polish territory and helped walk them across the border.

I asked them where they wanted to go. They said Germany, said Ziemiak, who was born in Poland and also has ancestral ties to Ukraine.

About an hour after their arrival, the refugees loaded their suitcases into Ziemiaks van, bound for Germany courtesy of the parliament member from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

We were very lucky, Marchenko said.

The refugee crisis has entered unprecedented territory, with more than 1 million people fleeing Ukraine in a weeks time, according to the United Nations. More than half of them have landed in Poland.

I have worked in refugee emergencies for almost 40 years, and rarely have I seen an exodus as rapid as this one, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement Thursday. Hour by hour, minute by minute, more people are fleeing the terrifying reality of violence. Countless have been displaced inside the country.

If the conflict doesnt end immediately, millions more are likely to be forced to flee Ukraine, he said.

The border crossing at Medyka is perhaps the busiest of them all. A steady stream of people flows across the border each day, some on foot, others by car or bus.

The area also has become a makeshift relief site, with donated supplies and refreshments for the uprooted new arrivals as they plan their next moves.

Oleksandr Shevchuk, a Ukrainian living in Poland, volunteers at one of the relief camps, where people huddle around wood-burning fires in trash cans to stay warm. He said people are giving as much support as they can, whether its a bowl of hot soup or assistance in connecting the refugees with relief agencies.

These are people who have been waiting in line for two, three days just to get in, he said.

Shevchuk said he has relatives who are still in Ukraine, and they talk with him daily by phone.

It gets more dangerous by the day, he said.

For the hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Ukraine, the journey to border countries has been fraught with long waits in subzero temperatures at night.

Its mostly women and children because Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are required to stay behind and help fend off the Russian military.

Foreigners also are in the mix, and allegations have emerged that people of color waiting in lines have faced longer delays than their Ukrainian counterparts.

At the Medyka border crossing Thursday, European Union officials rejected the allegation of preferential treatment.

Janez Lenarcic, the EUs commissioner for crisis management, said his office has not corroborated any instances of official discrimination at the border, adding that preferential treatment based on race wont be tolerated.

As for the Marchenkos, their journey to Germany appears to have gone without a hitch. Ziemiak provided this update from the road:

Intense days in Poland. Now on the way back to Germany  together with Ukrainian women from Kyiv and their children who asked me for help at the border, he wrote in a tweet that was accompanied by a photo of a McDonalds tray loaded with food.

Help where you can, Ziemiak wrote. Ukraine needs each and every one of us.
A global race to secure coal sparked by fears of a shortfall in supply from Russia, one of the biggest producers, has sent prices to levels never seen before.

The rush by utilities in Europe, which import more thermal coal from Russia than any other country, along with consumers in Japan, South Korea and China is pressuring a market already in tight balance after outages and other curbs this year at major production hubs.

Newcastle futures, the benchmark for top consuming region Asia, soared 46% to a record of $446 a ton Wednesday, the highest level in data back to 2008, according to ICE Futures Europe. That added to startling recent gains for European contracts, and advances for prices in Indonesia and China.

Buyers in markets including Europe, Japan, South Korea, and China are scrambling to address their exposure to Russian supply as a result of the war in Ukraine, Wood Mackenzie Ltd. said in a Thursday note. Russia accounted for almost 18% of global coal exports in 2020, according to BP.

Global commodities markets have been convulsed since Russias invasion of Ukraine began last week, as traders rush to secure alternative supplies of fuels and raw materials even without specific sanctions in place covering energy. Oil has extended a rally above $110 a barrel, while natural gas has also added to recent gains.

Coal consumers are grappling with concerns that Russian cargoes wont be delivered because of curbs on some vessels unloading at European ports or disruption to rail lines, and the impact of restrictions on banks or other entities that could prevent trade with their usual suppliers.

Producers of the fuel surged Thursday. Whitehaven Coal, a supplier to markets including Japan and South Korea, rose 11% in Sydney to the highest since May 2019, while Coal India Ltd. jumped as much as 7% in Mumbai to the highest since October.

Whitehaven has had inbound inquires from Poland and coal tenders seem to be excluding Russian supply, which will further tighten the market, the producer said in a statement.

Coronado Global Resources Inc., which operates metallurgical coal mines in Australia and the U.S., said it had seen an increase in approaches from European buyers, while New Hope Corp. has been contacted by purchasers who traditionally rely on Russia.

Officials in Australia, the worlds biggest thermal coal shipper after Indonesia, are helping connect producers to markets outside usual demand hubs, the countrys Resources Minister Keith Pitt said in a statement.

Global power plants or steel mills configured to use Russias high quality raw materials will face a challenge to find suitable substitutes with global demand already elevated, Wood Mackenzie said in its note.

Europe, Japan and South Korea together imported about 90 million tons of thermal coal and 25 million tons of metallurgical coal from Russia last year. The materials cannot conceivably be replaced in the currently tight global supply market, the research company said.

In China, the top coal consumer and producer, demand from power plants and heavy industry has increased since the Lunar New Year holiday, causing inventories to decline, according to the China Coal Transportation and Distribution Association. Importers now face more competition to procure fuel from their main foreign supplier, Indonesia.

Chinas benchmark thermal coal futures are up about 15% this week, while Indonesian coal futures traded in Singapore rose above $100 a ton on Wednesday, the highest since October.
As world leaders step up the enforcement of sanctions on Russian oligarchs to put pressure on those close to the Kremlin in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, government officials are hitting the oligarchs where it hurts: Some ultrawealthy Russians are having to deal with efforts to seize their luxury yachts valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Russian oligarch Igor Sechin, the CEO of oil giant Rosneft, docked the Amore Vero - true love in Italian - in the French Mediterranean port of La Ciotat in early January, and he had planned to leave on April 1. The 281-foot-long super yacht, which can accommodate 14 guests and 28 crew members, has an estimated value of $120 million, according to Superyacht Fan, a website tracking luxury yachts.

But with invasion forces wreaking widespread destruction in Ukraine, the French Finance Ministry announced Thursday that it seized the Sechin-owned yacht on Wednesday night. Sechin, who was deputy prime minister of Russia between 2008 and 2012, is among the oligarchs who have maintained close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the European Union. Once described by a Moscow journalist as the nations Darth Vader, Sechin is considered to be one of the most powerful members of the Russian political elite, the E.U. said this week.

Thank you to the French customs officers who are enforcing the European Unions sanctions against those close to the Russian government, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire wrote on Twitter.

Sechins Amore Vero is among the luxury yachts targeted by countries in the wake of the invasion. The fate of the Dilbar remains uncertain after German authorities denied a Forbes report that the vessel had been seized. The 512-foot super yacht worth hundreds of millions of dollars is owned by Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, who was also among the Russian elite placed under E.U. sanctions this week.

Another $600 million super yacht, Solaris, a 461-foot-long vessel owned by oligarch Roman Abramovich, is one of several Russian yachts docked in Barcelona as the country continues to probe potential sanctions.

In response to the sanctions and seizure threats from President Joe Biden and leaders abroad, a handful of luxury yachts owned by Russian billionaires have reportedly reached the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. Some of the oligarch-owned ships that have been moving toward the Maldives and Montenegro in recent days are estimated to be worth between $65 million and $150 million each.

The movement of the luxury yachts comes as the White House and Treasury Department are expanding the number of Russian oligarchs subject to U.S. sanctions, aiming to punish the financial elite close to Putin. Biden said in his State of the Union address Tuesday night that the United States would join Europe in efforts to punish Russian oligarchs and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets.

The Justice Department on Wednesday announced the creation of Task Force KleptoCapture to coordinate prosecutors and other federal investigators in the effort to enforce sanctions against corrupt Russian oligarchs. In a round of new sanctions against Russian oligarchs announced Thursday, the National Security Council announced Thursday that all property from Usmanov, the Dilbar yacht owner whom Forbes has estimated to be worth more than $15 billion, is blocked from use in the United States and by U.S. persons.

Were coming for your ill-begotten gains, the president said this week.

Questions have been raised surrounding whether its legal for the U.S. government to seize yachts from Russian oligarchs because of their ties to Putin. As The Washington Posts Philip Bump wrote, Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gives the federal government authorization to issue documents empowering private individuals to legally seize foreign vessels. While the practice known as privateering is archaic, the idea has come up in recent decades. Perhaps the most notable example came after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when then-Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, proposed legislation that would allow privateers to seize the person and property of Osama bin Laden and any other individual responsible for the attacks.

Data from the global intelligence group MarineTraffic shows that several yachts owned by Russian oligarchs have been moving toward the Maldives and Montenegro in recent days. According to shipping tracking data, two pleasure vessels owned by aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska and iron-and-steel mogul Alexander Abramov entered the waters near Male, the capital of the Maldives, on Wednesday.

The Clio - 238 feet long with nine cabins for guests - has an estimated value of $65 million, according to Superyacht Fan, and is owned by Deripaska, a longtime ally of Putin who has been under U.S. sanctions since 2018. Abramovs Titan is 263 feet long and has seven cabins for guests, with an estimated value of $100 million.

Three more yachts owned by Russian magnates were also seen sailing in the island nations waters, Reuters reported, including one belonging to Vladimir Potanin, a Russian nickel tycoon whose net worth is more than $25 billion. Potanins Barbara, which is named after his youngest daughter, is a 290-foot super yacht with an estimated value of $150 million. Also sailing to the Maldives is a super yacht owned by oil executive Vagit Alekperov, data shows. At 230 feet long with six cabins for guests and a glass-bottom swimming pool, Alekperovs Galactica Super Nova has an estimated price tag of $80 million.

Its no easy task to move these super yachts docked in European ports to the Maldives. For instance, if Sechins Amore Vero were able to get out of the French port and head toward the Maldives, thats a distance of nearly 5,000 miles. Its a slightly longer trek for Abramovichs Solaris, if it were to leave from Barcelona.

Some Russian oligarchs have made public pleas to Putin to stop the invasion. Days after the invasion began, Deripaska called for negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv. Billionaire Evgeny Lebedev appealed to Putin in the Evening Standard, a British newspaper he owns, asking that Russian troops stop killing their Ukrainian brothers and sisters.

Even as more oligarchs have their super yachts seized because of the invasion, the Russian presidents own yacht is reportedly doing all right. According to CBS News, a satellite image shows a yacht believed to be owned by Putin docked at a Russian port - and out of reach of any possible sanctions or seizure. John Smith, former director of the Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Assets Control, told the outlet that Putin was crafty in knowing where to put his yacht.

He knows how to hide when he needs to, Smith said.
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Some U.S. military bases in Europe have dropped mandatory face mask wear for fully vaccinated people, while other bases are reviewing their rules based on new Pentagon and host nation guidance.

Army bases in the German cities of Stuttgart and Wiesbaden no longer require masks at most locations indoors for fully vaccinated individuals.

Air Force bases in Germany have yet to ditch the face covering requirement, but officials said that could change.

We do expect new guidance soon, Tech. Sgt. Levi Rowse, a spokesman for the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base, said Thursday.

In the United Kingdom, face masks are not required for the fully vaccinated at RAF Lakenheath and Feltwell, with some exceptions. That policy has been in place since early last month.

The Defense Department directed commanders Wednesday to begin following new COVID-19 guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to determine mask polices on their bases.

As of Wednesday, fully vaccinated people can go maskless at posts in Stuttgart, home to the U.S. European and Africa commands.

The change stems from the updated CDC guidance and declining numbers of cases in the Stuttgart military community, said John Campbell, a garrison spokesman.

Masks are still required indoors at medical facilities, child and youth facilities, school buildings, scholastic activities and at on-post service providers where German law requires masks, such as barber shops and nail salons.

People who have received a COVID-19 booster shot or received a second Pfizer or Moderna shot within the last six months are considered fully vaccinated by the Stuttgart garrison.

Those who received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson inoculation must have been vaccinated more than 14 days ago but not less than two months ago.

People who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 90 days may also go without a mask there as long as they have recovered.

Wiesbaden, home of U.S. Army Europe and Africa headquarters, relaxed its garrison indoor face mask policy for vaccinated individuals on Feb. 24, with exceptions similar to those at Stuttgart.

The policy allows some unvaccinated individuals to go maskless, including children 5 and younger. People who are exercising on individual workout equipment at the gym and some others are also exempt from wearing masks.

Germany expects to end most coronavirus restrictions by March 20.

On Thursday, 210,673 new COVID-19 cases and 2,039 hospitalizations were reported across Germany, according to the Robert Koch Institute, the countrys public health agency. A week ago, there were 216,322 new daily infections and 1,596 new hospitalizations.

Some states, such as Rheinland-Pfalz, home to the largest U.S. military community in Europe, will soon phase in more relaxed COVID-19 rules, including less strict mask rules for German schoolchildren.

Last month, Department of Defense Education Activity-Europe schools eased mask wear rules for elementary school students on the playground, but masks must still be worn indoors.

Were coordinating with our military partners on the way ahead, DODEA-Europe spokesman Stephen Smith said Thursday.

At Ramstein Air Base, the largest U.S. military base in Rheinland-Pfalz, the mask policy is under review, Lt. Col. Will Powell, an 86th Airlift Wing spokesman, said in a statement Thursday.

Masks are still required to be worn in work centers and in all common areas on Ramstein Air Base, he said.

The CDC recommends the removal of face coverings indoors as long as the number of community coronavirus hospitalizations remains low. More than 70% of Americans live in places where masks are no longer needed, the CDC said last week.

Overseas, commanders should consult community-level data or, if thats unavailable, countrywide numbers when issuing mask guidance, the Pentagon said in a memo issued Tuesday.

Stars and Stripes reporter Kyle Alvarez contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  The southern Ukraine city of Kherson became the first to fall to Russian troops since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a war against the neighboring country one week ago, the citys mayor said Wednesday.

Russian armed forces entered the Kherson city council building, Mayor Igor Kolykhayev said in a post on Facebook. Kherson sits about 75 miles northwest of the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed during its last invasion into Ukraine in 2014.

My team and I are peaceful people. We had no weapons or aggression on our side, Kolykhayev said in a translated statement. We have shown that we are working to secure the city and are trying to eliminate the consequences of the invasion.

The Pentagon has not independently verified the reports, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday, adding we dont always know as fast as [reporters] seem to see it.

This gets right to the heart of the limit of our ability to see everything in real time, the official said. All we can tell you is what we assess now, and we are not ready to assess that the city has fallen.

The Kherson mayor said he made no promises to the Russian invaders and he is only interested in the normal life of our city, which has a population of nearly 300,000, according to the United Nations.

I just asked [the Russians] not to shoot people, Kolykhayev said in the statement. We don't have Ukrainian armed forces in the city, only civilians and people who want to live here!

We are experiencing enormous difficulties with collecting and burying the dead, delivering food and medicine, garbage removal, accidents removal, etc., he added.

The news comes as Russia enters its second week of waging war on Ukraine. The fighting has intensified in recent days as the Russian troops battle major food and fuel sustainment issues and a fierce Ukrainian resistance, which has slowed the invading force from advancing throughout the country.

One of the things we have certainly seen [Russia] do in places like Kyiv and Kharkiv is hitting government infrastructure with increasing bombardments  as they've gotten somewhat geographically [closer] to some of these large population centers, the U.S. defense official said.

As of Thursday morning, the Pentagon had counted more than 480 Russian missile launches of all sizes and stripes since the invasion began Feb. 24, the official said. Most were launched from within Ukraine, but about 160 came from Russia and another 70 were shot from Belarus.

Still, Ukrainian air and missile defense systems remain intact and they remain effective as the airspace above Ukraine continues to be contested, the official said. Ukraine has asked the U.S. to enforce a no-fly zone over the country, but President Joe Biden has declined to do so to avoid putting American troops in combat with Russian troops.

[Ukrainian forces] continue to be able to fly their airplanes and to employ air defense assets, the official said.

About 90% of the more than 170,000 troops that Putin had amassed along Ukraines borders with Russia and Belarus for months are now inside the country, the officials said. Thats up from about 82% on Wednesday.

"Just because they're drawing more on [their forces] every day, you should not take away from that that their combat power is being diminished to such a point inside Ukraine that [Russian forces] feel like they're running out of juice here, the official said.

The U.S. believes Russian forces still have an awful lot of capability left to them inside and outside Ukraine, the official said.

However, the Russian advance on Kyiv remains delayed as a 40-mile convoy of combat vehicles is still stuck about 15 miles outside of Ukraines capital city, the official said. The U.S. believes Putin wants to take Kyiv to overthrow Ukraines government and replace it with his own.

It's probably been three days [since] the last time we thought that they made any major geographic [advance] towards Kyiv, the official said. We still assess that the convoy that everybody has been focused on is stalled and we have no reason to doubt Ukrainian claims that they have contributed to it being stalled by attacking it.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has so far refused to leave Kyiv, reportedly denying U.S. offers to help him evacuate, the Ukraine embassy in Britain said Saturday on Twitter.

"The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride," Zelenskyy told the U.S., according to the embassy.

The U.S. has not confirmed reports it offered the Ukrainian president a way out of his country, but the senior defense official commended him for his courage.

Obviously, we remain concerned about his safety, the official said. It's incredibly noteworthy that he has stayed there in Kyiv and continues to have command and control over his forces, and we commend his bravery.

So far, the Russians have made the most progress in southern Ukraine, not only in Kherson but also about 260 miles to the west in Mariupol, where Russian forces are advancing on the city from the north and south, the official said.

Our assessment is that Mariupol is still under Ukrainian control although we have seen and observed Russian forces advancing on Mariupol with, as I said yesterday, the apparent attention to isolate the city, the official said.

The U.S. is also keeping an eye on Odessa in southwestern Ukraine, but the official said there was no naval activity to speak to or any moves by the Russians with respect to that city.

We're watching it as closely as you can, but we just haven't seen any appreciable activity, the official said.

Ukraine continues to request additional military equipment from Western countries to help defend against Russia. The U.S. has provided about $1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine during the past year, including Javelin anti-tank missiles and other ammunition.

Some of those deliveries have continued within the past several days, but the defense official declined to confirm reports the U.S. has sent FIM-92 Stinger missiles in those packages.

"I can only say that we continue to provide Ukraine systems that they need to defend themselves, and that includes systems and weapons that they can use to deal with the threats on the ground as well as airborne threats," the official said.
RUSSIA-TECH 1536 words U.S. tech dominance could offer leverage over Russia - or backfire (c) 2022, The Washington Post  Craig Timberg  NATIONAL, WORLD, TECHNOLOGY, EUROPE  Mar 03, 2022 - 10:48 AM The world runs largely on American tech: Intels chips, Microsofts code, Googles searches, Apples phones, Amazons cloud. And this fact can give the United States extraordinary leverage in geopolitical conflicts.

But as U.S. officials seek to thwart Russian aggression in Ukraine, they are again encountering the limits of this leverage, experts say.

Withholding technology can be a soft-power weapon to potentially turn a population against its leaders. Yet it also can be costly to the U.S. economy, slow to deliver results and scattershot in its impacts - much more likely to affect ordinary Russians using their iPhones than generals firing missiles into Ukrainian cities.

There is another cost as well: Americas dominance of global technology, experts warn, was built over generations but could be eroded in just a few years as rival powers - and especially Russia and China - invest billions of dollars to develop alternative technologies at home, in part to decrease American leverage at moments such as these.

Even as Russians furiously buy iPads, Android devices and Windows-based computers, President Vladimir Putin is pushing hard to wean the country from Western technologies. And if Russia and other U.S. rivals succeed, there also could be long-term damage to the ability of American intelligence agencies - particularly skilled in exploiting U.S.-made tech - to track developments in the next conflict, experts say.

The upshot is that while technology sanctions can be unquestionably powerful, its a power that, when deployed, can spark backlashes that undermine its long-term utility. Depriving rivals of American-made technology also threatens the future global prospects of an industry that has driven U.S. economic growth for most of this century. The rise of a Russian Google - or a Chinese Facebook or an Iranian YouTube - are not theoretical developments. They are happening already.

When you cut them off from American tech, they will find alternatives, said Peter Micek, general counsel for Access Now, a human rights group that lobbies to keep Internet services available to people worldwide. They might suck for a while, but give them time, and theyll figure it out.

U.S. officials and technology executives are attempting to navigate this chessboard of risk and reward as they assemble a potent set of punitive moves against Russia.

The result has been growing restrictions on hardware, with Apple joining others in blocking sales to Russia, and moves by major social media platforms to curb the spread of Russian propaganda through its state-funded RT information service - often in response to the demands of Western governments. Digital purchasing tools, such as Apple Pay, also have stopped working as Western sanctions cut off Russian banks for ordinary operations.

But calls by Ukrainian officials to deprive Russians in general of access to social media and even the Internet itself have sparked significant resistance from both the companies and digital rights groups, which argue that the likes of Twitter, WhatsApp and Telegram are key to delivering information in Russia. They often are the only sources of news on the horrors Putin is inflicting on Ukrainians at a time when his control over national news media is nearly total.

The Russian government, meanwhile, has been squeezing these same companies, throttling Facebook and Twitter, and threatening action against Google in retaliation for its YouTube subsidiary limiting access to RT in response to demands by Western governments.

But as this battle plays out, the idea of depriving Russia of software updates or online support from American companies has not gained traction even though such moves could gradually erode the functioning of technological tools used every day by the Russian government and its citizens.

Such actions might heighten frustration with Putin, experts say, but also could intensify animus against Western powers, convincing political leaders to pursue more aggressive strategies to undermine Silicon Valleys technological hegemony. Another risk for the United States is more aggressive adoption by Russia of Chinese technology, which increasingly is offering viable alternatives to American products and has made massive financial investments in becoming independent from Silicon Valley.

These shifts could be felt especially by Russian consumers long acclimated to iPhones and other American technology. Rarely, say experts, are political leaders the main victims of sanctions, despite efforts to target their wealth. More often it is ordinary citizens of a country who lose access to cash, imported goods or, potentially, the technological conveniences of modern life - including information from unofficial sources.

Youre ultimately going to be putting pressure on populations. Thats inevitable, said Richard Nephew, a former U.S. State Department sanctions official, now a senior research scholar at Columbia Universitys Center on Global Energy Policy. The real question is whether what you are doing in country is making life more difficult, as opposed to life threatening.

In the absence of broader U.S. sanctions on consumer technologies in Russia, Ukrainian government officials have been mounting their own social media pressure campaign to push Western tech companies to cut their products and services from Russia. Alex Bornyakov, Ukraines deputy minister of digital transformation, said they believe cutting off popular tech products would be a powerful way to turn public opinion in Russia against Putin - especially among young people.

They dont want to be disconnected from the rest of the world, Barnyakov said in an interview. They want to use Instagram. They want to use other social media. They want to use iPhones or Android phones. They want to be part of the global community. If he starts a war and this leads to complete isolation, I think there would be a time they start asking questions, why did we do that?

For several years Russia - like China - has pushed policies and investments to insulate itself against American technology and the geopolitical leverage that comes with it. That has helped Yandex, for example, become Russias most popular search engine.

Just this week, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin called for more import substitution to reduce the nations reliance on Western products, especially from technology companies, news reports said.

Russia also has developed alternatives to the Windows operating system and Intels chips, though its Zhores supercomputer - one of Russias fastest - uses graphics accelerators made by Nvidia, based in northern California, according to Samuel Bendett, an expert on Russian military technology for CNA, a research group.

Russia requires the use of homegrown software on some products sold there and has a list of approved technology that government purchasing agents are supposed to favor, said Justin Sherman, an Atlantic Council fellow who studies Russia and Internet security.

These efforts, however, have run into the head winds of economics and efficiency because American tech tends to be cheaper, better, more readily sourced and more easily integrated with other systems. Silicon Valleys technical standards prevail worldwide - for now.

This domestic tech push has been a mess, said Sherman. Much of the Western software that the Kremlin wants gone or replaced is still there.

Bendett, the CNA researcher, noted in a tweet Wednesday that Russian energy giant Gazprom just this week announced a major infusion of new technology, including computers and tablets running Apple and Google-made software.

Import substitution? Doesnt look like it for now for Russias Gazprom, which decided on March 1 to provide its subsidiaries across the country with foreign-origin IT and computer equipment, Bendett tweeted.

In an interview, he said the important exception to the dominance of Western technology is within the Russian military. While government, corporate and consumer tech remains heavily dependent on the United States and Western companies generally, military systems are mostly built within Russia, despite the use of some foreign-made microchips.

Even the most aggressive sanctions regimes would have little chance of slowing the militarys shelling of Kharkiv or the tank convoy headed toward Kyiv - though many observers have noted the apparent use by Russian soldiers of smartphones, presumably connected to Ukraines own cellular network. That system, experts say, is dominated by European technology.

But the experts agree that such advantages are unlikely to be permanent and are vulnerable to the tides of global events, and especially conflicts in which Western nations use their power to try to bring rivals to heel.

Chinas investments in new chip technologies and the aggressive expansion of telecommunications supplier Huawei have changed the technological balance of power worldwide, despite U.S. sanctions blocking the expansion of Huawei.

In Iran, amid the Trump administrations intense sanctions to prevent that nation from acquiring nuclear weapons, the government ordered disconnection from the global Internet during political protests in November 2019. That cut off Iranians from the outside world while also allowing the countrys leaders to test its so-called halal Internet, an internal network already under development for several years by that point, along with a suite of apps built domestically.

The disruption hurt businesses and complicated the lives of Iranians. But, said Micek of Access Now, at least some of the homegrown apps worked, allowing digital life to proceed, if less efficiently.

This really does play into the dictators hands, he said. We are actively helping catalyze the development of a viable alternative Internet, and I dont want to see that happen in Russia.

- - -

The Washington Posts Cat Zakrzewski contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON  The United States has postponed its planned nuclear missile tests that were to take place this weekend in a move meant to avoid escalating tensions with Russia, chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday.

The Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test launch would have been one of several that the U.S. conducts each year, Kirby said. The launches are typically planned three to five years in advance.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the decision in an effort to demonstrate that we have no intention in engaging in any actions that can be misunderstood or misconstrued as Russia continues to wage war on Ukraine, Kirby said.

We did not take this decision lightly, but instead to demonstrate that we are a responsible nuclear power, he said. It is not a step backwards in our readiness, nor does it imply that we will necessarily cancel other routine activities to ensure credible nuclear capability.

The decision comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin during the weekend said he placed his nuclear forces on high alert, claiming he deployed extra military personnel to staff the countrys nuclear arsenal.

However, senior defense officials this week have said they have not observed any evidence of Russia upping its nuclear posture.

In this time of heightened tensions, the United States and other members of the international community rightly saw this as a dangerous and irresponsible and, as I've said before, an unnecessary step, Kirby said. Such provocative rhetoric and possible changes to nuclear posture involving the most consequential weapons and our respective arsenals is unacceptable.

The U.S. has not taken similar steps to raise its nuclear posture in response, Kirby said Wednesday.

We recognize at this moment of tension how critical it is that both the United States and Russia bear in mind the risk of miscalculation and take steps to reduce those risks, he said.

Russia as recently as Jan. 3 agreed a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought in a joint statement with the U.S., China, France, and the United Kingdom.

However, some Republican lawmakers, such as Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, condemned Austins decision to cancel the missile test.

Disappointing @SecDef decision to cancel routine unarmed reliability test of Minuteman III in the face of Russian bluster, Inhofe wrote on Twitter. Test is critical to ensure our nuke deterrent stays effective. Deterrence means projecting strength and resolve  not sacrificing readiness for hollow gestures.

Despite postponing the missile launch, Kirby said the U.S. remains confident in our strategic posture  and our ability to defend the homeland and our allies and our partners remains fully intact and ready.

It is a wise and prudent decision by the secretary to send a strong clear, unambiguous message to Mr. Putin how seriously we take our nuclear responsibilities at a particularly tense time, he said.
(Tribune News Service)  Jury selection is expected to begin Monday in the trial of an Army sergeant accused of murder in the strangulation slaying of his girlfriend, a Fort Valley State University student who disappeared on Valentine's Day in 2020.

The body of Anitra LaShay Gunn was found four days later in a pine thicket in southern Crawford County.

Investigators have said that Gunn, a 22-year-old agriculture major from Atlanta, was strangled.

Her vanishing two years ago on the eve of shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic attracted statewide news coverage as police searching for her combed the countryside along the Crawford-Peach county borders.

Seven days after she disappeared, her boyfriend, Demarcus Devantae Little, now 25, an Army sergeant stationed in Augusta, was charged with murder.

As is common before a case makes it to trial, authorities have not publicly divulged any potential evidence they may have gathered that allegedly links Little to the killing.

Gunn was last seen at a house where Little's aunt lived on the north side of Fort Valley, where Little, who grew up in Houston and Peach counties, often stayed.

Gunn's body was found less than two miles away on Feb. 18, 2020, after a Peach sheriff's investigator noticed a disturbed patch of roadside grass and brush that looked like a car had rumbled through it.

Little was questioned at least three times by investigators early in the probe. He was first jailed on charges that he slashed the tires on Gunn's car, a 2013 Chevrolet Cruze, and smashed her apartment windows with a brick a week and a half before she went missing.

After she vanished, her car, which had roadside grass and vegetation jammed in its grille, turned up near her apartment with its front bumper broken.

Because investigators believe Gunn was killed in Peach, the case will be tried there, in Fort Valley, with Judge Connie L. Williford presiding.

If convicted of murder, Little faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

Soon after Little was charged in the case, his lawyer, Benjamin Davis of Atlanta, spoke to reporters at a first-appearance hearing and lauded his client's military background.

"We believe that in time what will be shown is that he's really not capable of committing this kind of offense," the attorney said. "If he were the kind of person that would commit a malice murder ... like this, that would have been borne out in the military."

Davis said his client had no criminal history.

"If you look at his character, from all we know about him right now," Davis said, "he is not the kind of individual that would go out and commit a cold-blooded murder. Certainly not strangle somebody."

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report.

(c)2022 The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Ga.)

Visit The Macon Telegraph (Macon, Ga.) at www.macon.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
WASHINGTON  The Pentagon has established a communication line to the Russian Defense Ministry in attempts to reduce the risk of dangerous misunderstandings as Russia wages war on Ukraine, a U.S. defense official said Thursday.

The Defense Department set up the deconfliction line on Tuesday "for the purposes of preventing miscalculation, military incidents and escalation," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"The United States retains a number of channels to discuss critical security issues with the Russians during a contingency or emergency," the official said.

Its the second attempt by the Defense Department this week to avoid miscommunication and misunderstandings with Russia as its troops attack Ukraine.

Chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby announced Wednesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin postponed a planned nuclear missile test launch scheduled for this weekend in an effort to demonstrate that we have no intention in engaging in any actions that can be misunderstood or misconstrued.

We recognize at this moment of tension how critical it is that both the United States and Russia bear in mind the risk of miscalculation and take steps to reduce those risks, Kirby said. We did not make this decision lightly, but instead to demonstrate that we are a responsible nuclear power.

Some Republican lawmakers, such as Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, condemned Austins decision to cancel the missile test.

Disappointing @SecDef decision to cancel routine unarmed reliability test of Minuteman III in the face of Russian bluster, Inhofe wrote on Twitter. Test is critical to ensure our nuke deterrent stays effective. Deterrence means projecting strength and resolve  not sacrificing readiness for hollow gestures.

The decision came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he placed his nuclear forces on high alert, claiming he deployed extra military personnel to staff the countrys nuclear arsenal.

However, senior defense officials this week have said they have not observed any evidence of Russia upping its nuclear posture.

As U.S. defense officials look to avoid causing an escalation in tensions with Russia, Ukraine continues to request additional military equipment from Western countries to help defend against Russia. The U.S. has provided about $1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine during the past year, including Javelin anti-tank missiles and other ammunition.

Some of those deliveries have continued within the past several days, but a senior U.S. defense official on Thursday declined to confirm reports the U.S. has sent FIM-92 Stinger missiles in those packages.

"I can only say that we continue to provide Ukraine systems that they need to defend themselves, and that includes systems and weapons that they can use to deal with the threats on the ground as well as airborne threats," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ukraine has also requested the U.S. enforce a no-fly zone over the country, but President Joe Biden has declined to do so to avoid putting American troops in combat with Russian troops.

The decision not to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine is yet another way the U.S. is attempting to avoid escalating the conflict, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.

"It would require, essentially, the U.S. military shooting down Russian planes and causing or prompting a potential direct war with Russia  the exact step that we want to avoid, Psaki told reporters.
WASHINGTON  A group of senators expressed concern Thursday about the impact of Russias invasion of Ukraine on the mental health of American veterans struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, led an effort to urge the Department of Veterans Affairs to reach out to veterans and offer mental health resources to them in the wake of the invasion. Ernst, an Iraq War veteran, said the disturbing images coming out of the invasion could be troubling for veterans who served in Vietnam and the post-9/11 wars.

Ernst and eight other senators signed a letter requesting the VA intervene.

As you know, images of the invasion of Ukraine have been widespread in the news and on social media, the letter states. As veterans who have been exposed to life-threatening and dangerous experiences view these images, it is critical that the VA ensure they receive the appropriate support.

Russia launched a large-scale invasion into Ukraine, its neighbor to the southwest, on Feb. 24. Ukrainian officials said more than 2,000 civilians had died as of Thursday, one week after the attacks began.

Ernst applauded the VAs outreach to veterans following Americas withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer, and she said a similar effort was needed now.

Calls to the Veterans Crisis Line had increased 7% and online chats increased by nearly 40% during the last two weeks of August, the VA said. The department attributed the increase to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, as well as the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

At the time, the VA encouraged veterans to seek mental health care. The department said it sent millions of emails, posted blogs, and held town hall meetings and support groups.

Its entirely natural to feel a range of emotions about the latest developments in Afghanistan  and if you are feeling depressed, angry, heartbroken, or anything else, we at VA are here for you, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said at the time.

The VA did not immediately respond to questions Thursday about whether there had been any increase in calls or chats to the Veterans Crisis Line because of the invasion of Ukraine.

It was not evident that the department had started reaching out to veterans about the conflict.

We appreciated the VAs efforts to distribute information about mental health resources following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the lawmakers wrote in their letter. As veterans once again observe images of violence, we urge the VA to conduct a more comprehensive outreach campaign to ensure veterans receive detailed information about supports available, including for PTSD, and are connected to community-based support systems.
Stillwater, OK (74074)

Today

Showers and thunderstorms likely - heavy rainfall is possible, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 59F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Showers and thunderstorms likely - heavy rainfall is possible, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 59F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
Daniel Hutchinson

From The Hutch

What a crazy week we are having. The writing was literally on the wall for the Wellington protests this week as Police sought to restore order to the centre of the countrys democracy.

Really, the Government needs to be firmly focused on managing a pandemic which is sweeping the country at a phenomenal rate. There are also international events that we need to be keeping a close watch on as well.

Those unhappy with the way our elected members are handling things get a vote, like everyone else, at the next election. In the meantime, they are perfectly entitled to make themselves heard, demonstrate and lobby for change.

They dont have the right to permanently occupy public areas, shut down businesses, abuse people who are exercising their own right to walk through town. They are not entitled to pelt Police with paving stones and set fire to a childrens playground.

Lactose intolerant

At the end of it all there was more milk than blood flowing down Molesworth St as protestors relied on their trusted online sources for a pepper spray remedy.

Milk is not a proven remedy for pepper spray although many protest movements swear by it in their online forums. Doctors dont recommend using it as it is not sterile.

Bottled water is apparently a better option for rinsing out pepper spray, although the thing that stings  oleoresin capsicum  is an oil derived from peppers and not easily displaced by water alone, or milk.

So, my best tip for violent protestors is to carry plenty of water and some baby shampoo because it wont irritate the eyes like ordinary soap does.

What with pitchforks and Fonterras secret pepper spray remedy, it did manage to be a very Kiwi-flavoured riot.

Make butter not war

Meanwhile, New Zealand is always destined to be a bystander in the battle for old Soviet territory, but well do what we can to help David fight Goliath.

The Ukrainians fight for the right to live life on their own terms puts our little riot into perspective.

While we are being urged to stay home and mask-up, Ukrainians are being asked to make Molotov cocktails and hurl them at the enemy. A Kyiv-based brewery has switched from bottling beer to making these improvised weapons.

Perhaps we could send some of our protestors over there  the ones that just went there to fight.

This is a dangerous game being played, with the spectre of nuclear war hanging above it all and New Zealand might finally have to take a stand on something.

In the past we have been able to simply go along with sanctions imposed by the United Nations. We dont even have a mechanism in place to enforce our own tailored sanctions on another country.

Taking a stand

Thats about to change with new legislation being rushed through Parliament. In the past we have been able to avoid pressure from our traditional allies to take sides, hence our cosy trade relationship with China.

Russia is only our 27th largest export market and worth a mere $293 million in the 12 months to June 2021. Half of that was butter, which is probably not critical to their war effort.

It is good stuff though so any chef that works for a high-ranking government official or an oligarch will be very nervous indeed.

Hi, Im Covid

The somewhat bewildering onset of Omicron means we probably all know someone who has it.

With cases well into the tens of thousands a day, all we can do is go along for the ride, never trust a sneeze and occasionally pop our head up to ask, Are we there yet?.

Its hard to get your head around the loosening of border restrictions at the same time as the pandemic reaches its zenith but it makes sense, I guess. The enemy is everywhere already so a few thousand more vaccinated, and probably previously infected people coming in isnt going to change things much.

Managing the pandemic to protect the economy is a pretty big shift from the policy to date but this variant is proving to be far less deadly than previous versions.

Heres hoping the next week will bring more hope and less violence.

daniel@thesun.co.nz
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Tahlequah, OK (74464)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low near 60F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. A few storms may be severe. Low near 60F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
Weather Alert

...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of Arkansas and Oklahoma, including the following counties, in Arkansas, Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Madison, Sebastian and Washington AR. In Oklahoma, Adair, Cherokee, Choctaw, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Haskell, Latimer, Le Flore, Mayes, McIntosh, Muskogee, Nowata, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pittsburg, Pushmataha, Rogers, Sequoyah, Tulsa, Wagoner and Washington OK. * WHEN...Through Thursday afternoon. * IMPACTS...Significant and potentially life threatening flash flooding is ongoing just south of I-44 across Okfuskee and Okmulgee counties. Numerous main-stem rivers will likely rise above flooding. Extensive low land flooding will be likely, especially where the heavier rain has already occurred. Many low-water crossings will likely become flooded. Area creeks and streams are already running high and will likely flood with more heavy rain. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Additional rounds of thunderstorms with very heavy rain are expected this evening through the overnight hours. Widespread 2 to 3 inches of rain is expected with locally higher amounts of 5 to 7 inches. The heavier rain will begin to shift east of far southeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas Thursday afternoon. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop. &&
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akhil_007 BHPian



Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 137 Thanked: 287 Times

Re: Impact of the Russia-Ukraine war Quote: C300 Originally Posted by



https://Youtu.be/W2Cugn8JZfk Straight from the horse's mouth. He doesnt mince any words



1. If you look at Putin's stand in isolation, he has every justification to start this war. There are arguments that countries are sovereign and they are free to make their own decisions. What about US invasion of Iraq then? Iraq had sovereign right to build weapons for their own security. While war is least preferred among all the options, it's not something that is off the table.



2.Morals and Principles do not exist in Geopolitics. I heard a quote recently something along these lines -> "If I am a person, I have shame, morals and principles. As a country, I have NO Morals, NO Shame and NO principles".



3. I think Russia had the plan of slowly increasing the cost of damage on Ukraine and that's exactly what they have been doing. Ukraine President did a PR blitzkrieg thinking Russians will retreat and UN/Nations will come in for them. That backfired big time.



4. Ukraine should go to the negotiating table ASAP. They might not lose the war but the severity of economic damage on their people will be catastrophic. Its always better to live to see another day. Best case, they can negotiate for a status quo



5. India's stand is right(mostly) and wrong(minimally) in not talking about world events. India is like a Middle Class Family in the World. Neither too rich to spend on whims and fancies Nor too Poor to think about big picture and be not taken seriously. Everything runs on a tight Budget, with minimal variations. We are still in Economic growth phase. Anything out of ordinary will throw our progress out of the way. Ofcourse, once in a while, we can indulge in Ice Cream/Party/Pizza (read: Surgical Strikes) but not frequently. Because the kids(read:Citizens) will ask for more(POK,Aksai Chin) and we cant let our economy derail because of that.

If there is some issue/problem with any country, we try to make it go away by dealing it under table/behind a curtain :-)



6. India also cannot take a bold stand in world affairs because, internally, it will set a new benchmark (Very bad for Optics). And our citizens do not take lightly if anything goes below the benchmark. It will be termed a drastic failure.



7. Unlike China, India is a growing economy. Taking sides either ways, will lead to degrowth. We are incapable of weathering any storm that might arise due to this. Maybe 50-60 years down the line when we are an economic powerhouse, we can voice our opinions openly.



8. What India can do is to tactfully handle the situation(like incase of Israel -Palestine). Openly offer no support to Israel but do not oppose operational aspects of Israel in the backend



9. In the new world order, most probably China will replace Russia at the other end of the spectrum (atleast on paper/media). West/Europe might sanction Russia publicly but I m sure these sanctions will be revoked silently after an year or two. So much data to consume, digest and ingest. And here goes my summary.1. If you look at Putin's stand in isolation, he has every justification to start this war. There are arguments that countries are sovereign and they are free to make their own decisions. What about US invasion of Iraq then? Iraq had sovereign right to build weapons for their own security. While war is least preferred among all the options, it's not something that is off the table.2.Morals and Principles do not exist in Geopolitics. I heard a quote recently something along these lines ->3. I think Russia had the plan of slowly increasing the cost of damage on Ukraine and that's exactly what they have been doing. Ukraine President did a PR blitzkrieg thinking Russians will retreat and UN/Nations will come in for them. That backfired big time.4. Ukraine should go to the negotiating table ASAP. They might not lose the war but the severity of economic damage on their people will be catastrophic. Its always better to live to see another day. Best case, they can negotiate for a status quo5. India's stand is right(mostly) and wrong(minimally) in not talking about world events. India is like a Middle Class Family in the World. Neither too rich to spend on whims and fancies Nor too Poor to think about big picture and be not taken seriously. Everything runs on a tight Budget, with minimal variations. We are still in Economic growth phase. Anything out of ordinary will throw our progress out of the way. Ofcourse, once in a while, we can indulge in Ice Cream/Party/Pizza (read: Surgical Strikes) but not frequently. Because the kids(read:Citizens) will ask for more(POK,Aksai Chin) and we cant let our economy derail because of that.If there is some issue/problem with any country, we try to make it go away by dealing it under table/behind a curtain :-)6. India also cannot take a bold stand in world affairs because, internally, it will set a new benchmark (Very bad for Optics). And our citizens do not take lightly if anything goes below the benchmark. It will be termed a drastic failure.7. Unlike China, India is a growing economy. Taking sides either ways, will lead to degrowth. We are incapable of weathering any storm that might arise due to this. Maybe 50-60 years down the line when we are an economic powerhouse, we can voice our opinions openly.8. What India can do is to tactfully handle the situation(like incase of Israel -Palestine). Openly offer no support to Israel but do not oppose operational aspects of Israel in the backend9. In the new world order, most probably China will replace Russia at the other end of the spectrum (atleast on paper/media). West/Europe might sanction Russia publicly but I m sure these sanctions will be revoked silently after an year or two. Last edited by akhil_007 : 2nd March 2022 at 19:30 .
[March 03, 2022] SNAP Home Finance Announces the Launch of a Lead Generation Program Exclusively for SNAP Home Finance Dealers SNAP Home Finance officially launches the SNAP All-Star Alliance - a proprietary program designed to generate significantly more leads, sales, and revenue for SNAP Home Finance dealers across various industry verticals. The SNAP All-Star Alliance is the first of its kind in Canada and represents a substantial advantage for participating Canadian dealers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005337/en/ SNAP Home Finance generates thousands of new leads for All-Star Alliance members and the experience for them is effortless. Through an integrated marketing approach with highly engaging content, members receive qualified, pre-approved, leads from SNAP Home Finance. Every prospect that enters the ecosystem is pre-screened according to a set of comprehensive criteria and receives a customized experience based on the needs of each All-Star Alliance member, including pricing, intake forms, questionnaires, and agent scripts. Pre-approvedleads are then booked by SNAP Home Finance through an integrated management system.

"In my 16 years in the Home Improvement Finance industry, I haven't seen a more innovative program. We're focused on helping our dealers generate record-breaking growth, and the SNAP All-Star Alliance is a perfect example of a program designed to do exactly that. We're already generating thousands of highly motivated prospects for All-Star Alliance members, without them having to put in any extra work," said Kevin Stout, Senior Executive Vice President of Sales of SNAP Home Finance. "This is a groundbreaking program in the home renovation financing space and is a gamechanger for our dealer network." "This program represents a significant strategic shift for us," added Stout. "We are laser-focused on transforming the B2C infrastructure that we have developed over time to generate exactly what our valued dealers want - more sales and revenue." The SNAP All-Star Alliance is exclusively brought to Canadian dealers by SNAP Home Finance. Dealers looking to learn more can contact their Business Development Manager or visit www.snap4home.com/all-star-alliance/. With more than $1.7 billion home improvement loans to thousands of Canadians from coast to coast, SNAP Home Finance provides consumers with innovative financing solutions to modernize their residential properties, while proudly delivering industry-leading dealer experience and support. SNAP Home Finance knows that its dealers are its greatest asset. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005337/en/

[ Back To SIP Trunking Home's Homepage ]
The big picture: Amazon hasn't shied away from experimenting with brick-and-mortar concepts in recent years, which is a bit ironic considering the Internet shopping pioneer's role in disrupting traditional retail in its formative years. Its 4-star stores, for example, only sell items that have a four-star or higher rating, are top sellers or are new and trending on Amazon.com.

The e-commerce giant confirmed to CNBC that it will be shutting down all of its Amazon Books physical stores in the US and UK, along with its Amazon 4-star and remaining Amazon Pop-Up stores. Closure dates will vary by location, the company said. All told, nearly 70 stores will be going away.

An Amazon spokesperson said they will help impacted employees find roles elsewhere in the company. Those who decide to move on will be given severance.

Growth at Amazon has slowed as of late, however, which is reflected in the company's share value. Year to date, the stock is down nearly 11 percent.

One of its bigger acquisitions, Whole Foods, is still going strong. Amazon earlier this week opened its first Whole Foods store with Just Walk Out technology, allowing shoppers to grab what they need and skip the checkout line thanks to the combined magic of computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning.

The company is also planning to launch an apparel store called Amazon Style in Glendale, California later this year featuring clothing and high-tech changing rooms.

Image credit Tim Mossholder
Why it matters: Reviewers have been praising Mini LED displays for their ability to combine qualities of both LCD and OLED panels, so Apple is preparing for an increase in demand as it introduces more products that integrate the new tech. At the same time, the company may be working with Samsung on more advanced OLED panels with higher brightness levels and longer lifespans.

If a DigiTimes report is to be believed, Apple is currently ramping up Mini LED production and diversifying its supply chain to ensure it can meet demand for upcoming products. The Cupertino company is reportedly in the process of certifying the production lines of Chinese company Sanan Optoelectronics for Liquid Retina XDR display manufacturing, with the first shipments expected to starting in Q2 2022.

Meanwhile, Apple is said to be working with Samsung on more advanced OLED panels for future iPad and Mac models. According to Korean publication The Elec, the two companies are developing new "T-series" OLED displays that have a "two-stack tandem structure." Essentially, the new display technology involves two emission layers that allow for greater peak and sustained brightness, as well as a longer lifespan for the display itself.

Mass production is expected to start next year, and the "T2" version of the new display could show up in new iPads, iMacs, and MacBooks sometime in 2024. Renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously said Apple had been planning to develop a 10.86-inch OLED iPad Air for a 2021 release, but the project was eventually scrapped due to concerns related to yields and manufacturing costs.

As you'd expect, Samsung will be the first to use the more advanced OLED panels, with the "T1" version expected to debut in future Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Book devices.
Editor's take: The first smartphone from Carl Pei's Nothing could be unveiled to the public as early as April. Producing a set of earbuds is one thing, but finding success in the cutthroat smartphone industry is a far tougher task. That's especially true today as smartphones have evolved from novelty items to ubiquitous gadgets, with quality devices available across a range of price points.

A source familiar with the company's plans told TechCrunch that Pei met with several key industry executives at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week and showed off a prototype version of the upcoming handset. The publication said it even viewed a photo of Pei meeting with Qualcomm's CEO.

Not a whole lot is known about Nothing's debut phone at this stage, although the source did say it would share a similar design language with the company's first product, a set of semi-transparent earbuds. Those launched for $99 last July to middling reviews, although they do look neat if you are into the see-through look.

Android 12 is nice! @lockheimer --- Carl Pei (@getpeid) February 15, 2022

In an interview with TechCrunch last year, Pei said they have a lot of products in the pipeline across multiple categories. Unfortunately, he wasn't ready to discuss them publicly at the time.

Several longtime players as well as newcomers including LG and Essential have dropped out of the smartphone race in recent memory. Pei does have experience, though, having co-founded OnePlus with Pete Lau in 2013.
In brief: This week, Microsoft released a Windows 11 insider preview build that has found an interesting way to help reduce a PC's carbon footprint. It also adds phone linking, Microsoft 365 subscription management, and enhancements to various parts of the Windows 11 interface.

The main addition of Windows 11 insider build 22567 is the ability to schedule updates for times of the day when the local energy grid is pulling more from renewable energy sources. It uses regional carbon intensity data from electricityMap and WattTime if available. Windows hasn't rolled out the optional feature to all insiders yet but will expand it based on initial feedback.

Another new feature appears to be a follow-up to Microsoft's subscription information page that rolled out last month. Now it takes one less click to view a user's Microsoft 365 subscription, located in Settings > Accounts. The new UI also displays subscription payment information.

Microsoft 365 still seems to be the only subscription this feature helps you keep track of so far. Microsoft hasn't mentioned whether it plans to add Game Pass or non-Microsoft subscriptions to the informative page. However, the account pages will now more prominently display free services included with Microsoft accounts, like OneDrive or Office on the web. Microsoft will likely use this to advertise 365 more aggressively.

In the new build, users can link an Android phone to Windows 11, allowing users to handle many of the handset's functions with a keyboard and mouse. These include making calls, sending texts, and using apps.

The new build also brings several smaller tweaks to the "Open With" dialog box, the start menu, touch gestures, voice typing, and more. The release notes have all the details for those interested.
Starlink's internet capabilities and connections are now available in Ukraine, and an engineer said that it only took him around ten seconds to get a signal from its satellites.

Elon Musk previously announced that it would extend its availability of the Starlink internet to the European country, making it possible for people to connect to high-speed internet.

Starlink's Internet Can Connect in 10 Seconds Says Ukraine Engineer

An engineer named Oleg Kutkov from Ukraine said that Starlink's internet satellite connected to its partners from the skies around 10 seconds after he installed the dishes. According to an interview by The Verge, after Elon Musk's announcement, Ukraine got its fair share of orbiting satellites to bring to the country the service it needs for connections.

Before the CEO's announcement in the past week, Ukraine did not have access to Starlink satellite connections despite purchasing the dish receivers off eBay.

It has been noted that unofficial eBay purchases of the satellite dish cost the engineer around $2,000 to $3,000 as it was not yet available in the country until last week.

Read Also: SpaceX: Starlink Satellites Disintegrate Without Debris and Parts Falling Back to the Earth [WATCH]

Starlink's Satellite Internet in Ukraine

Musk and Starlink made sure that they were able to hand out assistance to Ukraine by giving the country access to a fast internet connection. However, it is not yet widely available as the satellite dishes needed to receive the signal from the skies are not yet in the country.

Those fortunate to purchase the satellites from the US via eBay can now use them, but others would have to wait for their official arrival.

Starlink's Satellite Internet Capabilities

Starlink is a massive platform in the country now, but it aims to reach for the stars, figuratively, as it seeks to provide service to the whole world. The 700 satellites that are now live and service the United States and other regions will soon have a massive 42,000 fleet that will give users a fast internet connection from anywhere.

However, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, is already complaining about the crowded low-Earth orbit that has 30,000 satellites that causes concerns over other LEO spacecraft. Starlink's primary purpose is to beam the internet back to the surface with its services from the LEO satellites. Still, it already gives astronomers a dilemma over its connections.

Nevertheless, Starlink aims to help countries with slow connections to the worldwide web have access to its services. An example of such a country is Ukraine.

It is known that Ukraine is now facing hardships as the tensions it has with its Russian neighbors have affected the citizens' daily life. Because of this, Musk and the Starlink team are aiming to help send over satellites to beam the connection to the country as fast as possible.

Related Article: SpaceX Starlink: Elon Musk Reveals Over 250,000 User Terminals-Ground Stations to Improve Internet

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Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Pixabay from Pexels)

Can AI and Machine Learning create positive social change?

Data-labeling companies of all sizes create job opportunities and improve the well-being of others. Since identifying and categorizing data for machine learning programs requires large volumes of manually curated and annotated data, the companies working in the field often crowdsource the task. The entry barrier is virtually non-existent, meaning that marginalized communities, such as the temporarily unemployed, people with disabilities, refugees, and others can get the income they need whenever and wherever. All you need is access to the world wide web.

Below are the five data-labeling companies that have positively impacted society.

Isahit

Co-founded and managed by Isabelle Mashola, Isahit is a French data labeling platform that connects women from disadvantaged backgrounds and companies seeking to outsource part of their digital tasks. The platform links artificial and human intelligence and provides companies with solutions for data processing. It divides projects into micro-tasks, offering integrated quality control mechanisms and a secure API.

It also aims to improve the living conditions of different people, enable women to move from the informal to the formal economy, and reduce inequalities. The company works with almost 1800 women, primarily based in Africa, as well as Latin America and Asia across a total of 32 countries. They all work on the platform to finance their higher education or to earn a supplementary income for a maximum of 100 hours of work per month.

Toloka

Toloka is an innovation-driven, US-based international company. Its CEO, Olga Megorskaya, recognizes the value of flexible earning opportunities and solutions that are replicable and applicable in every region of the world. Toloka's reach spans across Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa. Some of the people living in these parts of the world are Tolokers, a nickname the platform gives to their performers.

Olga, who has a personal stake in the matter, has always been determined to make a social impact by helping others find a stable source of income wherever they are. Her pet-company Toloka is empowering workers, academics, and industry actors, to be able to better cooperate with each other and ensure that each actor can reach their goals. Some of its users have praised the company for evangelizing crowdsourcing, AI, and ethical treatment of workers. Others have used it as a part-time job before landing a full-time one and footing minor household expenses.

Today she is spearheading Toloka's mission to advance the AI industry through empowering people and enabling universally available data ownership. The lack of original data being fed into AI models is hampering growth. The current options for sourcing data are inefficient, expensive, and cannot supply enough data for top-notch algorithms, which is why crowdsourcing is a great option.

Toloka's second mission is to enable people to be part of the global AI production chain and make money while they help their community thrive. For example, in Africa, there are over 360,000 Tolokers, many of whom reside in Ghana, which is one of the three top countries with the most activity in pedestrian challenges. In total, Tolokers have inspected 6,000 places in Accra and gathered data to improve navigation and maps.

CloudFactory

CloudFactory is a UK-formed company, which offers human-powered data processing solutions for AI, automation, and business operations. CEO Mark Sears started the company in Nepal, where he saw first-hand the massive lack of opportunity for workers, many of which had to move abroad to find a job. That prompted Sears to found CloudFactory with the mission to create meaningful work for people in Nepal and connect them to the digital economy.

CloudFactory's goal is to create one million high-quality jobs for people in the developing world while raising them as leaders to address poverty in their communities. Through their data processing work, they can earn, learn, and serve their way to become leaders worth following. The company states that they solve over one million tasks on the platform each month.

Sama

Sama is a San Francisco-based training data and validation company, founded by Wendy Gonzalez. It is driving change with their "human-in-the-loop" work model that ensures that advanced technology is paired with human involvement.

Sama targets underserved areas of the world and uses its impact sourcing model to provide people with opportunities otherwise unavailable. So far, Sama has helped over 55,000 thousand people escape poverty and earn 4.3 times more than others in the regions where they are located.

Sama partnered with MIT and Innovations for Poverty Action to conduct a three year study to measure their social impact. The main finding is that those individuals who received training from Sama or had the chance to work at Sama were more likely to experience better outcomes than other groups.

iMerit

iMerit is a company that unites the technologies, processes, and people that, together, deliver accurate and nuanced annotations that companies depend on to get to production. Being a double-bottom-line for-profit company, its metrics relate to the company's social impact, such as inclusion and diversity, as well as traditional fiscal ones.

Its employees are continuously rewarded for working at the company. The company's co-founder and CEO Radha Basu notes that those who have worked at the company for several years have moved up the ladder to serve as team leads, project managers, and domain trainers. Women, who constitute 50% of the employees, can get up to six months of maternity leave.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Ford Motor decided to increase its EV spending by up to $50 billion. This is around a 60% increase from its previous electric vehicle spending, which is $30 billion.

The giant automaker said that the latest spending increase on its zero-emission cars will last until 2026. This means that it will still change depending on the revenues Ford will generate from its EV models.

On the other hand, Ford Motor Inc. also announced that it now has separate divisions for its traditional car and EV productions.

Ford's EV Spending Increases

According to Reuters' latest report, the increased EV budget of Ford Motor shows that the electrification strategy of the company's Chief Executive Jim Farley is now becoming more serious.

Also Read: Subaru Solterra EV: Reservations are Now Open for First Electric Car from Japanese Company

The automaker's financial change is also expected to enhance the company's EV production, allowing it to produce more than 2 million electric cars in 2026.

The sudden EV spending increase is also possible, thanks to the rising Ford shares. On Wednesday, Mar. 2, the car maker's shares increased by 7.2%.

Because of this, the company's shares are now $17.90. Although Ford Motor is focusing on its EV transition, the automaker's Chief Financial Officer John Fawler said that the car developer will not really benefit from its electric cars until its 2025 production begins.

Ford Model E, Ford Blue

Aside from increasing its EV spending, Ford Motor also confirmed that it now has two separate production divisions for its traditional cars and electric vehicles.

These are specifically the new Ford Blue (gas-based cars) and Ford Model E (electric cars) divisions. This is just one of the major efforts made by the company as it transitions to EV making, as reported by Crunchbase News.

Back in 2019, the automaker invested in Rivian, which is one of the rising electric truck makers in the car industry. It also invested in the electric cell company Solid Power.

In other news, Ford's driverless parking assistant feature is now rumored to be under development. Meanwhile, Ford's North American plants reduced production output.

For more news updates about Ford and other giant automakers, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: Ford Mustang Mach-E is now the Top EV Pick of the Year for Consumer Reports-Beats Tesla Model 3

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Meta is shutting down its college social media application, Campus, which it launched last 2020 under Facebook. The social media platform focused on bringing a different experience for students, particularly college enrollees, with the "@__.edu" on their student email addresses that were used by students for access to creating an account.

Meta is Shutting Down Campus Pilot from Facebook

According to a Social Media Consultant known as Matt Navarra, Meta is shutting down its Campus pilot application come March 10, and the platform will no longer be accessible for its current users. Users of the Campus pilot will receive (if they have not already) a message from Facebook regarding the app shutdown that will happen next week.

Each message contains a short explanation from Meta, and it will also let users download their data via a tool that will also help give users a chance to import it to other platforms. Users can ignore the download of their data if they do not need it, but not doing so means that their information here will be lost for an indefinite time.

Read Also: Meta: Mark Zuckerberg Wants Help in Building the Metaverse with Networks Partnering with the Company

Meta's Campus: Is it a Flop?

The social media company first introduced the Campus pilot back in September 2020 to all college students so that they will have a community to express themselves and connect to friends or colleagues. Meta wanted to bring a new experience for users that will not keep them focused only on social media but also reliving their college experiences as the pandemic kept everyone at home.

Meta's Ventures

Meta has a lot of ventures now, but its roots trace it back to its origins, where it offered the social media platform for Facebook to students and teenagers back in 2004. Facebook changed its company name to Meta in October 2021, and since then, the company has shifted its focus from its social networking platform to the multi-tech metaverse.

Since its origins as a college-centered social media, Facebook rolled out different features that evolved the use of the platform for various purposes, including videos, gaming, streams, and more. Facebook upgraded itself to a new social media experience known as the "Reels," which first started with Instagram.

Facebook, now Meta, came a long way from its origins as a college social media, which also gave the world the Campus pilot that went online last 2020. However, there are developments for this, and it includes the cancellation of the Campus social media less than two years since it started, but with a good note on why it is leaving.

Related Article: Meta Investor Accuses Mark Zuckerberg of $2.5 Billion Insider Trading; Civil Lawsuit Launched

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Written by Isaiah Richard

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Venezuela says despite sanctions it will maintain trade at all levels with Russia - Ecuadorian fish farmers expect a drop in shrimp sales to Russia and Ukraine due to conflict - the U.S. remains open to diplomacy with Russia, says Blinken - No-fly zone in Ukraine would draw U.S. into war with Russia, Pentagon says

00:00 EST:

Russian Duma proposes to introduce criminal liability for false news about Russian Army

Several Russian deputies submitted to the State Duma (lower house of the Russian Parliament) amendments on criminal liability for the deliberate spreading of false information about the actions of the Russian Armed Forces.

According to one of their authors, the head of the Duma for security, Vasily Piskariov, the creation and propagation of false information in this regard will be punishable by three years' imprisonment.

If a person commits these actions with the use of his official position or the Internet, he will face 5 to 10 years in prison, and if the publications have dangerous consequences for society, 15 years.



21:15 EST:

Ukrainian officials confirm fall of Kherson to Russian hands

Ukrainian officials on Wednesday night confirmed the Russian army's capture of Kherson, a port city of 290,000 inhabitants in the south of the country.

"The occupants are in all parts of the city and are very dangerous," the head of the regional administration, Gennady Lakhuta, said on Telegram. In the morning, Moscow had announced its control over this city.

21:00 EST:

U.S. remains open to diplomacy with Russia, says Blinken

The United States remains open to the diplomatic track with Russia in the framework of the conflict with Ukraine, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.

"The United States continues diplomatic efforts. We keep the doors open for a diplomatic path," Blinken told a press conference.

.@SecBlinken: The United States is continuing our diplomatic efforts. We are keeping the door open to a diplomatic solution. #UnitedWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/alBKzMlf1w  Department of State (@StateDept) March 2, 2022

Uruguayan Press Association condemns suspension of Russian signal on state-owned platform

The Uruguayan Press Association (APU) expressed its concern Wednesday over the suspension of the Russian channel Russia Today (RT) from the streaming platform of the state-owned telephone company Antel.

"The CDC (Central Directive Council) of APU expresses its concern over the decision of Antel president Gabriel Gurmendez to remove RT (Russian signal) from the Vera TV grid and condemns the persecutory action of the social network Twitter against several journalists from Uruguay and the region," the organization wrote on its Twitter account.

In a statement, the APU considered "inadmissible this act of plain and simple state censorship of an international media outlet that disseminates information from one of the parties to the conflict in question."

"Beyond the government's position on the conflict, the State as such should not incur in a decision that directly affects the right of Uruguayan citizens to seek and receive information from all sources they deem relevant".

Prensa Latina denounces European censorship of RT and Sputnik as a threat to objectivity

The Latin American news agency Prensa Latina denounced on Wednesday that the censorship promoted by the European Union against the Russian media RT and Sputnik is an attack against informative objectivity and the rights of its professionals.

"The actions adopted in recent days by the EU bloc and digital platforms against these journalistic organizations move away from confronting false news and deprive objectivity in information," said Luis Enrique Gonzalez, president of Prensa Latina.

Gonzalez added that such boycott deprives audiences of access to alternative news and visions to those disseminated by Western information monopolies, at a time when the conflict in Ukraine is the focus of the world's attention.

19:30 EST:

No-fly zone in Ukraine would draw US into war with Russia, Pentagon says

Establishing a no-fly zone in Ukraine, as requested by the Kiev government, would draw the United States into a war with Russia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday.

"(U.S.) President (Joe) Biden has been clear that U.S. troops will not fight Russia in Ukraine, and if a no-fly zone is established, surely for that no-fly zone to be enforced, you have to come into contact with Russian aircraft, and again, that would put us at war with Russia," Austin said in an interview with NBC.

19:00 EST:

Venezuela says despite sanctions it will maintain trade at all levels with Russia

Despite unilateral sanctions against Russia, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday that he will maintain trade exchanges at all levels with the Eurasian country.

"Modestly, Venezuela is going to maintain all its trade at all levels. The economic war is the main war that imperialism is waging against Russia to destroy it," the president said.

The Venezuelan president denounced the existence of an economic war against Russia with the aim of destroying it.

Ecuadorian fish farmers expect a drop in shrimp sales to Russia and Ukraine due to conflict

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine could slow down the external sales of Ecuadorian shrimp to those countries, said a leader of the aquaculture sector on Wednesday.

"In the coming weeks there will be a loss of profits because the shrimp sector exports more or less 12 million dollars a month to Russia," said the executive president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture of Ecuador, Jose Antonio Camposano, to the Teleamazonas television network.

The union leader expressed his concern about what might happen to the financial entities that can no longer make payments with the Swift system, the payment platform that connects some 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and serves as the basis of the international financial system.

An additional problem is that most of the wheat used for shrimp farming comes from Russia and Ukraine.
In the first four months, the issuance of new special bonds was about 1.35 trillion yuan, and the small climax of bond issuance is approaching
Madisonville, KY (42431)

Today

Clear skies this evening will give way to mostly cloudy skies overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable..

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Clear skies this evening will give way to mostly cloudy skies overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable.
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'I knew I had to bring big comedians in order to grow my scene, not only the audience, but also to get more comedians,' Jason Leonard says.

Jason Leonard
Bracelets on the wrist of James Tullier, father of wounded East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office Deputy Deputy Nick Tullier, who was shot in the July 17 ambush of law enforcement offiers in Baton Rouge, seenafter an interview Thurs., Oct. 27, 2016. The family has encouraged people to invoke the power of prayer for Nick and others, and believe it has made a difference in Nick's ability to survive, and improve.
James Finn writes for The Advocate as a Report For America corps member. Email him at JFinn@theadvocate.com or follow him on Twitter @RJamesFinn.

To learn more about Report for America and to support our journalism, please click here.
Ronald Greene smiles in an undated photo provided by his family. Text messages obtained by The Associated Press show Louisiana's governor was informed within hours of the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene that troopers engaged in a violent, lengthy struggle that ended with the Black motorists death. (Courtesy of the Greene family via AP)
Melbourne start-up Starpharma is at loggerheads with the medicines regulator over the approvals process for its COVID nasal spray, which is not available in Australia despite being widely sold overseas for more than a year.

Starpharma started developing its nasal spray Viraleze in 2020 as a preventative tool against coronavirus, to be used alongside vaccination.

Dr Jackie Fairley, CEO of Starpharma. Credit:Eamon Gallagher

Viraleze has since been launched into several overseas markets, but the company does not yet have clearance to sell the spray in Australia.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that it had received an application from Starpharma for the product, but the regulator believes the company has applied for the wrong therapeutic goods category.
In wars and other crises, governments sometimes appeal to the patriotism of their citizens to cover financing gaps. So through history theyve sold so-called war bonds to raise funds rapidly for military operations or other emergencies.

Ukraine quickly turned to the idea and tapped into global support in its fight against Russia, selling its first batch of war bonds on March 1 to raise money for the armed forces and civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shakes hands with a soldier as he visits the war-hit Donbas region, in eastern Ukraine. His government has started selling war bonds to raise funds for the countrys defence. Credit:AP

1. What are war bonds?

Theyre debt instruments sold to finance military operations and production in wartime, sometimes alongside a propaganda campaign that promotes their direct purchase by individuals as a civic duty. They can also be sold to institutional investors, as was the case with Ukraines sale, which raised 8.1 billion hryvnia ($379 million).
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Its easy to gush over Adam Nathaniel Furmans The Royal Family, an artwork comprising a chair and two shelving units. Brimming with vibrant personality, the work is more like portraiture than furniture design. Unsurprisingly, this British artist is used to getting lavish responses to his exuberant pieces: Ohmygod, its so colourful! or Its just like Memphis! or Your works so camp, I LOVE it! He rolls his eyes at such flattery. And he puts his hands over his face at the mention of Susan Sontags Notes on Camp (1964), in which Sontag lists 58 indicators of campness. Her essay, he says, is like reading a slightly grossed-out white colonial on safari in Africa for the first time. Its kind of icky-fascinating. While camp remains difficult to define, queer is even more challenging to pin down  which is, perhaps, the point. In the new exhibition, Queer: Stories from the NGV collection, there are more than 400 artworks spanning antiquity to the present, and they include the beautiful chair from Nathaniel Furmans luscious (and, yes, colourful) Royal Family. The vast show takes up an entire floor and covers periods when the words queer and camp were used negatively, and also when they were reclaimed to celebrate, notably with the popular chant at rallies, Were here, were queer, get used to it. Adam Nathaniel Furmans <i>Gioioso</i>, seat from the <i>Three Characters in the Second Act: The Royal Family collection<i> 2019. Credit:Federico Floriani, Courtesy Camp Design Gallery One of the things we wanted to do was to think of queer as a term that applies beyond gender and sexuality  with queerness as an aesthetic category and a political strategy, says Angela Hesson, the NGVs Australian art curator, one of five curators who rigorously investigated the NGV collection looking for relevant works and hidden or overlooked stories by applying a queer lens. She and her colleagues wanted to interrogate the very idea of a queer art history, challenging the presumption that there is a linear trajectory from suppression and invisibility to pride and liberation. In many cases, it is a much more meandering path, where you have ebbs and flow of discrimination and acceptance, she says. For example, there was far more liberty in the classical world than in the 20th century.

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NGV director Tony Ellwood says the idea for the exhibition emerged in 2017 during the marriage equality debate, and Queer also follows the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Victoria in 1981. While both events are momentous and deserving of celebration, they are also salient reminders of how only recently the world, for some, was so different, he says. The show is a rarity  a cultural institution putting itself under the microscope to reflect on how it can be more inclusive  but Ellwood notes there has never been a more expansive and historically comprehensive investigation into queer art and narratives by a major cultural institution in Australia. The NGVs catalogue for Queer, which the curators consider an important 628-page second half to the physical exhibition, opens with a quote from Christoph Ribbat, Professor of American Studies at Germanys Paderborn University: Queer as a concept runs against all definitions, all fixed meaning, forever questioning, redeploying, twisting terms, texts and itself from conventional usage. Yet there is an anchor amid all that latitude: another of the curators, Myles Russell-Cook (senior curator of Indigenous art), says all marginalised communities have one thing in common: the experience of being marginalised. He emphasises the shows reclamation of queer stories  not necessarily labelling work queer, but being mindful of how aspects of the queer experience can be over- or under-represented in contemporary culture. Peter Behrens, The kiss (Der Kuss), 1898, from Pan, vol. 4, no. 2, JulySep. 1898. Credit:NGV Its fascinating to note that even back in 1972, queer was a malleable concept. Bruce Rodgers landmark lexicon, A Queens Vernacular (later published as Gay Talk), ranges across usages, from a word of self-mockery or being truly perverted to a simple epithet for male homosexuals. As for camp (covering two pages), Rodgers explores its 16th-century origins when camping referred to young men wearing womens costumes in a play, to the burlesque, obnoxiously effeminate, and discovering the worthiness in something seemingly without value (hence camps connection with kitsch). For Nathaniel Furman, co-author of Queer Spaces (2022), a bustling array of historic cultural references is layered into his art. My work  like most artists  is an expression of me in my fullness. But the world tends to decide at different periods how to respond to your identity, and one aspect tends to trump the others. Thus, a few years ago, the focus was on the queerness in his work.

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That, he says, is just one element of it  he explores hidden architectural histories, classical forms, the diasporic (he lives in London and is of Argentine and Japanese heritage), the sensuality of colour and materials, and my absolute love of designing in three dimensions. Its as much about pleasure and colour as it is about diversity, multiculturalism and the beautifully crafted. My entire take on what I think of as queerness is extremely personal and is never intended to be applied to the broader community. While Queer takes in astonishing breadth of territory, from iconic works by Keith Haring or David McDiarmid to the more obscure, there is also an exciting array of recent acquisitions such as Germaine Krulls Daretha (c.1925), Paul McCanns Gumnut Ball (2021) and Bessie Davidsons Girl in a Mirror (1914). For the curators, one aspiration was exploring how big art institutions such as the 160-year-old NGV have revealed, celebrated and omitted queer stories in their collections, and how queer artists have worked around that. They have included artists identifying as queer, those who lived in periods when such identification was not possible, and those who are not queer but have some connection to queer histories. J.S. MacDonald, self-portrait 1922, lithograph. Credit:NGV A surprising inclusion is a 1922 self-portrait by J.S. MacDonald (NGV director 1936-40), a notorious enemy of modernism in art, who has also been documented as misogynist and homophobic. He famously claimed in 1939 that the NGV trustees should refuse to pollute our gallery with this filth  modernist art created by degenerates and perverts. He would have been horrified by this exhibition, says Ted Gott, senior curator of international art. Yet, as Hesson adds, some works in Queer were acquired during MacDonalds directorship, slipped into the collection without him recognising the stories they conveyed. Certainly, this man  whose stern-faced self-portrait (and comb-over) says much  would have had kittens at inclusions such as Peter Behrens The kiss (Der Kuss) (1898) or Hoda Ashfars photograph of men embracing in a Turkish bath house (Untitled #4 from the 2015 Behold series). Ponch Hawkes untitled 1973 photo of women in front of graffiti that reads Lesbians are lovely would have enraged him, and he simply wouldnt have comprehended Gilbert Bakers rainbow flag (designed in 1978), Destiny Deacons Wheres Mickey? (2002) or Tourmalines video Atlantic is a sea of bones (2017).

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Yet, as former High Court justice Michael Kirby observes in the Queer catalogue, MacDonald had some good qualities: Within the limits of his passions, he wrote well about art. He was kind to animals and to little children. He just hated queers and their female supporters. <i>Untitled #4</i> by Hoda Ashfar. Credit: Under the more embracing directorship of Ellwood, the shows five curators have brought a breadth of experience from their specialist areas. Gott brought an interest in representations from ancient Greece and Rome  Queer includes Apollo and the Python (1771, no prizes for guessing the symbolism), Napier Wallers The Amazons (c1924) and images of Julius Caesar (the emperor known as every womans man and every mans woman). Gott says these images portray periods when there were no terms for homosexual, gay or lesbian. There was simply human sexuality, and it was pretty much pansexual, he says. Virtually all of their gods and goddesses had sex with both genders, and it just wasnt an issue. Caesar had four wives, and the famous affair with Cleopatra, but had a lot of boyfriends along the way. According to many records, he was extremely effeminate and dressed in a very gender-fluid fashion: hes never been portrayed like that in any movie I know of. As for Achilles and his male lover, Petroclus, Gott says that after all these centuries it remains controversial. What has been interesting in documenting this is how many scholars still try and heterosexualise queer stories and deny their very existence, even though ancient writers were perfectly happy with Achilles and Petroclus being lovers. In 2004 [Troy], Brad Pitt is an aggressively heterosexual Achilles, but in Troy: Fall of a City [the 2018 Netflix series] he is in love and sexually involved with Petroclus. In the latter, too, he is neither white nor blond like Pitt. Zanele Muholi, Ntozakhe II (Parktown), 2016. Credit: ZaneleMuholi, courtesy of the artist, Yancey Richardson, New York, and STEVENSON, Cape Town/Johannesburg Even so, while it may have seemed a free-for-all in ancient Rome or Greece, recent years have brought dramatic changes with the concept of non-binary gender identification. Take, for example, the extraordinary work of South African art activist Zanele Muholi, whose self-portrait Ntozakhe II (Parktown) shows us skin darkened to deepest black, a headdress made of scouring pads, and a questioning of gender.

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Writing in Queer about the work, Columbia University professor of gender studies, Jack Halberstam, positions it as highly provocative:  In the end, Muholis work tells us, it is not enough to know whether a work is queer, whether its author was gay or whether the erotic content shocks or confronts, the work must operate at many different levels at once; disrupting, transforming, twisting and destroying the visual practices, frames and systems that have held everything in place for far too long. Leigh Bowerys <i>The Metropolitan</i> c1988. Credit: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Queer covers intersecting territories such as love and desire, sensuality, community, classicism, performance, royalty, activism, anxiety, discrimination and loss, but among the Australian tales are some delicious queerings of fashion. One concerns performance artist and designer Leigh Bowery (1961-94) wearing his outfit The Metropolitan (c1988) to a Lucian Freud exhibition opening at the Met in New York in 1993 (Freud had painted nudes of Bowery). Someone described it as an erection in a convent, says Meg Slater (assistant curator of international exhibition projects). She says the outfit, merging the sort of 1950s ballgown popularised by Christian Dior with a cheap floral sateen from a discount fabric store, was typical of Bowery, who went beyond traditional male and female dress codes, disrupting boundaries and binaries. Just as wonderfully outrageous is Lizzy Gardiners The American Express* gold card dress (1995-98). It is described as having created a notorious red-carpet moment when Gardiner wore it in 1995 to the Academy Awards to accept her Oscar for best costume design for The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Lizzy Gardiners <i>The American Express  gold card dress</i>. Credit: Slater says this was an important moment in queer history for Australia. Made of 220 expired Amex gold credit cards, it was supposed to appear in the film alongside the famous thong and Aussie flora-and-fauna costumes. Cosmopolitan slated it as one of the worst Oscar dresses of all time, but Winchester School of Art lecturer Shaun Cole writes that Gardiners choice to wear a dress designed to be a drag queens costume raises questions about the relationship between biological bodies and gendered identities. (Audiences will note that Amex is the principal partner for Queer.)

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Q&A host Stan Grant took the extraordinary step of expelling a member of the audience from the studio on Thursday night after the young man, named Sasha, expressed support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The decision was greeted by cheers from the studio audience and met largely with approval on Twitter, though some dissenting voices saw it as an alarming attempt to restrict the conversation of one of the most serious global conflicts of our times.

The young man, Sasha Gillies-Lekakis, said he was someone who comes from the Russian community here in Australia as he began his question for the panel.

He said he had been pretty outraged by the narrative created by our media depicting Ukraine as the good guy and Russia as the bad guy. Believe it or not, there are a lot of Russians here and around the world that support what Putin is doing in Ukraine, myself included.
Ansett staff leaving on a flight out of Adelaide on its way to Melbourne Credit:Peter Mathew

It was, at least, a festive funeral. At Adelaide airport yesterday kilted members of a local pipe band played passengers aboard Ansett flight 350 to Melbourne.

Ansett staff flooded the terminal to see an Australian symbol take off for the last time. Drinks in hand, eyes puffy, Fragile stickers draped about them like sashes, they soaked up the sympathy.

Alison Brown, 20 years an Ansett customer, came with her husband, daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren. Golden Wing loyalty cards were pinned to her T-shirt. Jo, her daughter, held up a banner reading, Thank you, Ansett. The airline had been part of their lives and they felt compelled to say goodbye, she said. Ansetts fate was sealed by bloody, dirty politics.

Then came the final boarding call: Our customers, we thank you. Our staff, we thank you. And our colleagues who have come to say goodbye, we thank you too. Thank you for the memories.

Ansett staff celebrate at Tullamarine after the arrival of one of the final flights from Brisbane Credit:Michael Clayton-Jones

There were similar scenes around Australia yesterday, as 7000 passengers flew with Ansett for the last time. The sense of loss was all the deeper because hopes of a revival had been briefly raised, only to be sunk when the Tesna deal unravelled last week.
Loading KPMG partner Scott Guse said the recent downpour was certainly shaping up to be the largest insurance flood claims event in Australian history, with more than 60,000 claims already lodged and more to come. Without curbing development in flood-prone areas, he said insurance premiums could become unaffordable in parts of Australia, particularly coastal or river areas. There are already parts of Australia where its uninsurable, or cost prohibitive. Youre starting to see governments act  but we need to see a lot more of it. NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said cities needed to adapt to the reality of climate change, including [changing] where we live and obviously those areas that could be impacted by extreme weather events.

Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall said data gathered since 2015 showed 2 to 3 per cent of homes are now in frequent flood zones and 15 per cent were susceptible to flood. Floodwaters along the Hawkesbury River in the Richmond and Windsor region of NSW in March, 2021. Credit:Getty He said the community had to face the fact some of those areas could not be covered by the private insurance market unless there were other interventions. Those interventions varied between Sydney and Brisbane, but could include building higher levies, rebuilding raised houses and, in some areas, not rebuilding at all. The council is calling on state and federal governments to commit to spending $2 billion over the next five years on infrastructure to make communities more resilient to floods.

Mr Hall said the increasing financial toll of fires, floods, cyclones and hail was evidence of the changing climate. Regardless of anyones views around climate, the facts we can see through insurance claims over the last decade show year-on-year catastrophic losses are being incurred. Climate Council research director Simon Bradshaw said the increased rainfall delivered by the La Nina system was being supercharged by climate change because the warmer atmosphere could hold more moisture and discharge more energy. Dr Bradshaw said the United Nations IPCC report published this week demonstrated that compounding climate impacts were already been felt in Australia, leaving some communities that had not yet recovered from fire now battling flood.

According to a report published by the Insurance Council on February 22, flooding is not uncommon in the Hawkesbury-Nepean region where 70,000 residents already live on the floodplain, but the NSW government has plans to increase that to 130,000 by 2050. Loading He said that after a series of one-in-a-hundred year floods over the past few years he had seen a change in community attitudes towards flood plain development. Im in Brisbane now and there is such a shift in community attitude towards this. Enough is enough. What do we need to do to get a different outcome? Senior state government members this week used the extreme weather to support a controversial plan to raise the Warragamba Dam wall by 14 to 17 metres as a flood mitigation scheme.

The proposal has attracted fierce opposition over concerns it would cause severe inundation in sensitive parts of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area including hundreds of Indigenous sites. Modelling conducted by Infrastructure NSW of the March 2021 flood with a raised dam found peak flood levels at Penrith and Windsor reduced by 5.3 metres and 3.4 metres, respectively. The model suggested a wall would have delayed outflows from Warragamba Dam by 3.7 days, while also delaying closure of the new Windsor Bridge by around 11 hours. Premier Dominic Perrottet on Thursday said the government had been working on versions of the plan for 10 years and it remained in the pipeline. It would be remiss of any government following all of this, to not be sitting back and saying, OK, what can be done better on prevention? he said.

The proposal also has the strong backing of Minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres, while Mr Kean said he supported any measure that keeps communities safe. If youre asking me to choose between inundating the national park and peoples homes, then I am going to side with the people every time, he said. Mr Hall said mitigation dams were only part of the solution and often can provide false comfort. Jamie Pittock from the Australian National University said it was notable the insurance council now opposed the dam project, given they were true experts on risk management. He called for a major reconsideration of planning strategy for western Sydney.
A dark and quiet corner of a western Sydney industrial estate backing onto the M4 motorway was on Thursday night the scene of what police believe was an ambush that left one man dead and another seriously injured.

Rain was falling so heavily when officers found 40-year-old Mohammad Chami lying dead with obvious gunshot injuries on Fox Street, Holroyd, they had to put up a shelter to stop his blood washing into the gutter.

An injured man lies in the gutter where he collapsed after driving from the scene of a fatal shooting in Holroyd in Sydneys west. Credit:Nine News

But if the shooting was an ambush, it didnt quite go to plan: a second man, who police understand is an associate of Mr Chami, was shot in the buttocks and got away.

Police believe the injured man, 39, drove a dark-coloured hatchback about six blocks towards the Merrylands shopping strip before crashing it into another car outside a service station on the corner of Pitt and Neil streets.
Deputy Premier Paul Toole launched an extraordinary attack this week on those who oppose the NSW governments push to raise Warragamba Dam as a flood-mitigation initiative to protect the communities of the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley.

Toole suggested his opponents get out of the way and stop coming up with excuses as to why the dam should not be raised. He went on to say that those who oppose the governments proposal were focusing on protecting some moth rather than looking after human lives and property, and demanded that people look at the images of people in desperate straits during this weeks flooding in the north of the state, standing on roofs, losing everything, losing their homes.

Warragamba Dam this week. Credit:Water NSW

We dont want to see that happening, he said, and thats why we should be building more dams and raising dam walls.

It was an amazing spray. Toole was confused about the moth: nobody has raised it in discussion about the dam.
Brisbanes volunteer mud army has been ordered to stand down, delaying the flood clean-up following wild weather and more uncertainty over the rest of the week, as an emergency alert was issued for the city.

The Brisbane City Council issued an emergency alert about 4pm, advising isolated severe thunderstorms could continue on Friday and into the weekend across the city, warning creek catchments would remain saturated and further rainfall could result in flash flooding.

Rumbling thunderstorms and rain returned to the states south-east on Thursday morning, and more severe conditions were forecast for areas north of Brisbane to Bundaberg, including the Moreton Bay, Sunshine Coast, Gympie and Wide Bay.

About 3pm, more storms were detected west of Toowoomba and moving east, forecast to bring large hail and damaging winds.
A public health alert has been issued following a confirmed human case of a potentially deadly form of mosquito-borne encephalitis, which has travelled from the tip of Queenslands Cape York to Victoria.

Experts were worried the recent wet weather might put more people at risk, and late on Thursday, Queensland Health confirmed a case had been detected in a person who had recently travelled in regional southern Queensland.

Culex annulirostris, the mosquito which spreads Japanese Encephalitis virus in Australia. Credit:QIMR Mosquito Control Laboratory

The person is currently being treated in a Brisbane hospital for the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV).

Hospital staff were warned to be alert to the possibility of JEV in people presenting with encephalitis or similar illness.
The man accused of stealing a car with a baby inside and driving the infant through Melbournes south-eastern suburbs has again refused to take part in a court hearing, amid concerns over his mental health.

Dean Robertson, 46, allegedly stole a white Toyota RAV4 from Putt Grove, Keysborough, about 2.10pm on Tuesday while an 11-month-old boy was inside.

The baby boy and his mother are reunited at Cranbourne police station on Tuesday. Credit:Nine News

The boys mother had pulled over near a pile of hard rubbish and got out of the car leaving the engine running. Police allege Mr Robertson got in the car and drove away with the baby.

The baby was found safe in Cranbourne at 5.40pm, about 3 hours after he went missing, and was reunited with his family.
Vladimir Putin has already achieved a major policy goal by turning the now nuclear-armed Belarus into a vassal state. More so to further intimidate the Baltic states and Poland. The concerted actions (or inactions) of the people in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine are probably the most important factor in whether the dire situation can be resolved in favour of the liberal democratic tradition. Also, it is important to distinguish between the actions of the dictators of Russia and Belarus from those of their people, the latter apparently unwilling to support invasion of a neighbouring country linked by many historical and cultural ties. The complacency of the European Union, coupled with the complicity and duplicity of the English  the London-based financial sector and the Tory Party being a major, long-term beneficiary respectively of laundering of money by Russian oligarchs  has laid the groundwork for Putins aggression.

Robert Pettit, Glen Iris A chance to treat all refugees with compassion The Ukrainian conflict is a stark reminder that refugees are ordinary people seeking safety and that Australia has a moral obligation to help those fleeing conflict and persecution, no matter what mode of transport they use. And by help, I do not mean confining them to a hotel room for years with no fresh air or hope for a better future.

We must take this opportunity to rethink Australias expensive and inhumane refugee program. Instead of further traumatising people who have been through so much, we can and should use our lucky country to help them rebuild a safe, productive life that will benefit us all.

Kate Robertson, Pascoe Vale South World is standing by while a nation is destroyed Nobody wants to fight a war, nobody wants to pay the price. But what price are we willing to pay for a nations right to freedom? If China were bombing Auckland, would Australians do nothing? We have all seen on television the 60-kilometre-long armada of armoured vehicles the Russians are sending to Kyiv. European nations could donate their air force planes, manned by Ukrainian pilots and in the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine, to attack these convoys. The planes would not enter Russian airspace and so offer no excuse for World War III. We cannot just sit and do nothing while a nation is exterminated.

Wayne Alexander, Eltham THE FORUM

Call him what you will... When Vladimir Putin attacked Ukraine, I thought of him as a megalomaniac war criminal. Peter Hartcher (Opinion, 1/3) described him as a psychopathic mass murderer. Maybe both descriptions are apt.

Barry Hughes, Frankston ...Putin needs to go Julius Caesars took matters into their own hands when they realised his lust for power was unstoppable. Perhaps Vladimir Putins mates will do the world a service by repeating history.

Meg McPherson, Brighton In support of the UN

Your correspondent is mistaken about United Nations peacekeeping (Letters, 3/1). The US does not provide the backbone. It contributes very few military personnel. Only 31 of the 75,085 uniformed personnel serving with the UN at December 31, 2021, were from the US, and that included 26 staff officers. Australias contribution was 26. Your correspondents dismissive comments about UN peacekeeping bear no resemblance to the good work that has been done, and continues, under the UN flag.

Maurice Critchley, former chief of mission support, United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea Time to respect traders It is distressing to read of traders at the Queen Victoria Market who will be relocated for this weeks Melbourne Fashion Festival and the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival later this month (The Age, 2/3). The traders are the backbone of a treasured institution and national heritage site. Management seem to treat them very shabbily, with respect and consideration light on the ground. The traders, small family businesses, need to be treated as valuable contributors to our market with its vibrant theatre of spruiking and the movement of produce around the stalls. Management should focus on caring for them rather than using their spaces for events; a double-edged sword. They have suffered enough over the last two years.

Liz Aird, Princes Hill Facing up to the facts

The Pope has lamented that denial of parenthood diminishes us, it takes away humanity (World, 3/3). Has he at last admitted that the celibacy of priests and nuns may have anti-humanity consequences? And possibly contributed to the widespread abuse of children by priests?

Bronwen Bryant, St Kilda West The right to campaign Tim Wilson, the MP for Goldstein, has argued successfully that political signs cannot go up in his electorate until the federal election has been called. However, candidates in other electorates are already putting up their signs. Is this an underhand move by Mr Wilson to limit the exposure of Zoe Daniel, an independent candidate in Goldstein, and who has now launched a Supreme Court case against Bayside Council (The Age, 3/3)?

Rachel Ferris, South Melbourne Unreasonable, imprecise

We should be rightly sceptical of Dominic Perrottets claim that the NSW flood is a one in 1000-year event. Firstly, we do not have direct data for 1000 years (or longer). Secondly, even if such an estimate comes from a statistical model, it will be estimated, in the extreme tail of the distribution, very imprecisely. Thirdly, the estimate is likely to assume a stable, long-term environment. Given the predictions of increasing extreme weather events that are made by the climate scientists, very long-term statistical stability is an unreasonable assumption. The planet is changing.

Ian Gordon, professor of statistics, University of Melbourne Our right to know more Australians deserve to know which of our increasingly frequent, life-threatening, extreme weather events are attributable to climate change. In the United Kingdom, pressure to do this came from media organisations. More than ever we need transparency as the federal government approves more gas projects, discounts Scope 3 emissions, and gets in the way of carbon pricing and even billionaires who come up with market-based solutions.

Australians deserve better, particularly in the wake of the current scenes unfolding on the east coast. It would be great to see The Age leading this.

Marianne Cannon, Carlton A very dangerous trend Ross Gittins (Opinion, 2/3) is right in questioning whether there is any real appetite in Australia for action to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. However, I note his comment did not include the significant contribution to carbon emissions made by domestic wood burning. As reported in The Age last August, Recent studies have suggested pollution from wood heaters has been underestimated, with a 2020 report finding wood heaters produced more air pollution than all cars and power sources in Sydney combined. Yet the trend for wood heaters, fire pits and wood-fired barbecues/pizza ovens continues unabated with no major party willing to address this issue.

Karina Kanepe, Northcote

Generational learning Robert Morans article about the television series, Euphoria (Opinion, 3/3), was hard to digest. I am 52 and have watched the first two seasons. While I was uncomfortable at times, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of the flawed and damaged characters and could relate to it using my past life experiences. It also forced me to be in touch with the generation my three teenaged boys live in with regards to the complexity of relationships, drugs, pornography and family. Our generation are not too old to watch and learn from it, to keep our finger on the pulse on ideas that matter to this new generation. I watch Sex Education for the same reasons. And for the record: my boys know every lyric to Biggie and 2Pacs songs simply because I too have shared with them the impact and effect that hip hop had on my generation.

Lucrezia Mecca, Brighton Case of mismanagement

The Liberals sell themselves to the electorate as good economic managers. How is it good economic management to hand over more than $460 million of our taxes to private aged care facilities without an effective mechanism to ensure that it is actually spent on nourishing meals rather than merely being another source of profit for operators (The Age, 1/3)?

Suzette Miller, Ashburton Cowed governments The World Bank defines state capture as the exercise of power by private actors  through control over resources, threat of violence, or other forms of influence  to shape policies or implementation in service of their narrow interests. And so social housing in Victoria is stalled and a chance to address disadvantage is sabotaged by the property lobby using a fear campaign and misinformation (The Age, 2/3). It is alarming to think how often governments are shaped by narrow corporate interests. The first step is to call it out when we see it.

Cathy Wheel, Castlemaine Stand for what matters

Labor aged care spokeswoman Clare ONeil says she was told when she took the shadow portfolio that aged care doesnt swing votes (The Age, 3/3). Neither, presumably, does the plight of detained refugees. Or emission targets. Or public housing. A party that wants to win an election must convince voters that some things do matter and that some real changes will take place. What matters to the ALP?

Mirna Cicioni, Brunswick East Illogical from the start The decision by Josh Frydenberg, the federal Treasurer and MP for Kooyong, not to proceed with funding for up to 2000 spaces at new car parks at the Surrey Hills, Canterbury, Glenferrie and Camberwell stations highlights the ludicrous nature of the plan. For example, why would anyone drive several kilometres to Glenferrie, park in a large multi-deck car park and then catch a train to the city? Also, why didnt Boroondara Council see the fallacy of the plan and reject it out of hand, rather than cause unnecessary stress to many residents?

Leo Slattery, Hawthorn

Unhealthy waterways The impacts of flooding on the flood plains of rivers in eastern Australia can be catastrophic, financially ruining and a threat to mental health. They are also preventable. Why are housing developments still being approved on wetlands and flood plains in Victoria? Given the likelihood of extreme rainfall events in Victoria is increasing with climate change, the Victorian Planning Authority must implement the Healthy Waterways Strategy developed by Melbourne Water for all urban and regional areas of Victoria. The desire for developers to fill and build on flood plains and wetlands needs to be strongly resisted. Retaining natural wetlands and flood plains are part of a sustainable future. These allow environmental restoration and they are wonderful places for simple recreational activities, as was shown during the lockdowns.

Bruce McGregor, Brunswick A firm no to racing and kids

Racing Victoria says it has given up trying to get into schools to promote the sport to children (The Age, 2/3). I suspect for every one parent who wants the racing industry present in schools, there will be at least 50 who are horrified at the thought. Would Racing Victoria be happy to line up in schools beside drug dealers keen to introduce students to their wares? Both drugs and racing and their related activities have ruined lives and families. Besides, I doubt that use of the term wokeism amongst parents by Racing Victorias chief executive enhances the argument.

Terry Bourke, Newtown Importance of a smile In a world filled with much suffering, I am grateful for the smiles of passersby in the street. May peace, safety and health come to all.

Betty Alexander, Caulfield AND ANOTHER THING

Credit:Illustration: Matt Golding Ukraine Zelensky, the former comic, is now the hero and Putin, the former hero, is now the comic.

Tony Cass, Canterbury Surely the invasion of Ukraine is a war crime.

Fiona Watson, Creswick Sanctions are not enough. Its time to stand up to Putin.

Barry Revill, Moorabbin

Look over your shoulder, Putin. If youre targeting Zelensky, youre fair game yourself.

Mary Klein, Caulfield South We need another Russian revolution. This time they need to get rid of Putin, not Rasputin.

Bianca Aarons, Brighton Can we please name the next COVID variant the Putin strain?

Ralph Frank, Malvern East Dont forget to destroy the libraries, Vlad.

Ian Smith, Sale Politics

Morrisons daily RAT tests must be costing him a fortune. Theyre not cheap.

Malcolm Odam, Newtown How much does it cost to not do anything about climate change, Barnaby?

Damon Ross, St Kilda East Your editorial (3/3) is wishful thinking. As long as scare tactics work, no party will advocate tax reform before an election.

Michael Brinkman, Ventnor Furthermore ABC journalist to distressed flood victim: Hows it left you feeling? What an insensitive question.

Rosemary Lithgow, Maryborough
In the cartoon category, The Age won two out of three nominations: Matt Davidson for AUKUS Bombshell; and Jim Pavlidis for Net Zero, Zero Net. Editor Gay Alcorn said the number of nominations was a testament to staff. This is a remarkable result for The Age, which dominates nominations for the Quills across so many categories  sport, investigations, health and science reporting, commentary, artwork and photography, news, business, features and Indigenous reporting, she said. Justin McManus photograph of Gunditjmara and Bunganditj man Uncle Johnny Lovett, nominated in the features photograph category. Credit: Its a testament to our staff and to their commitment to high-quality and ambitious journalism that serves our community.

Finalists were also announced for the 46th Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year, which honours the memory of celebrated Age editor Graham Perkin. It carries a $10,000 cash prize. The nominees are: Samantha Maiden, news.com.au, for coverage of abuse in Parliament House; Gerard Ryle, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, for originating and leading the Panama Papers story; and Sally Sara, ABC News, for coverage of the Talibans return to power in Afghanistan. The winners will be announced on March 18. Full list of nominees: ARTWORK

Matt Davidson, The Age, Science fiction or fact  will we meet aliens?

Richard Giliberto, The Age, Under the Canopy

Richard Giliberto, The Age, Working the Network/Out of the Loop

Tia Kasambalis, The Saturday Paper, Twenty years on BREAKING NEWS 7NEWS Melbourne, 7NEWS, Construction Protests

Christine Ahern, Nine News, CFMEU Protests

Matt Johnston, Shannon Deery, Kieran Rooney, Mitch Clarke, Herald Sun, Victorias COVID-19 restrictions

Caroline Wilson, Footy Classified, Alastair Clarkson departs Hawthorn BUSINESS NEWS/FEATURE Sarah Danckert, The Age, Secrets at Stake.com: The Australian origins of the worlds biggest crypto casino

Konrad Marshall, Good Weekend magazine, Playing hardball

John Stensholt and Nick Evans, The Australian, Twiggys Green Dream

CARTOON Matt Davidson, The Age, AUKUS Bombshell

John Ditchburn, Ballarat Courier, Theres someone tailgating us dear!

Jim Pavlidis, The Age, Net Zero, Zero Net COVERAGE OF AN ISSUE OR AN EVENT Shannon Deery, Matt Johnston, Kieran Rooney, Mitch Clarke, Herald Sun, Restrictions revealed

Clay Lucas, The Age, Broken homes: aged care and the horror of St Basils

Ben Schneiders and Royce Millar, The Age, Class Divide: Sacked for being gay

Cassie Zervos, 7NEWS, Missing Campers COVERAGE OF WOMEN IN SPORT sponsored by VicHealth

Genevieve Alison, Ashley Argoon, Andrea Thiis-Evensen, Jon Burton, Herald Sun, Class Act podcast

Bethany Atkinson-Quinton and Madison Griffiths, Tender, Tender: Roia Atmar

Mahmood Fazal, ABC Radio National, The infiltrator who helped hatch a terror plot

John Silvester, Margaret Gordon, Anu Hasbold, and Cormac Lally, The Age, Naked City RADIO CURRENT AFFAIRS Norman Hermant, ABC AM, Hidden Homeless

Charlotte King, ABC Background Briefing and AM, The memo that erased a scandal

Neil Mitchell, 3AW, The fall of Tim Smith RADIO NEWS Nicole Asher, ABC Radio Melbourne Drive, Violence on the steps of the Shrine of Remembrance

Bridget Rollason, 774 ABC Radio Melbourne, Victorias construction industry shutdown for two weeks

Richard Willingham, ABC News, Purpose-built quarantine hub to be built in Mickleham

REGIONAL AND RURAL JOURNALISM Charmayne Allison and Catherine Grey, Shepparton News, Beyond the Addiction

Emma Field, Andy Burns and Charlotte King, ABC Gippsland, Countryhour and News, Pet food investigation reveals dodgy racehorse burials

Harrison Tippet, The Geelong Advertiser, Out in the Cold

Dale Webster, The Regional, Big four banks casting a dangerous shadow REPORTING ON DISABILITY ISSUES sponsored by Victorian Government Adam Carey, Sunday Age, Autistic siblings removed from specialist school after good results

Luke Henriques-Gomes, Guardian Australia, Reporting on the National Disability Insurance Scheme

Jessica Longbottom, ABC News, The Australian-born children the government wants to deport because they have a disability

Jewel Topsfield, The Age, It doesnt define me: What is it like to live with dementia? REPORTING ON MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS sponsored by Victorian Government

SPORTS NEWS Greg Baum, The Age, Shane Tuck

Sam McClure and Peter Ryan, The Age, Walker racism probe

Paul Sakkal and Scott Spits, The Age, Tennis Australia fights vaccine mandate to allow Djokovic entry

Michael Warner, Herald Sun, Do better: The secret Collingwood racism report SPORTS PHOTOGRAPH Alex Coppel, Herald Sun, Jess Fox

Jay Town, ausopen.com, Eye on the ball

Darrian Traynor, Getty Images, Bigger than sport

Michael Willson, AFL.com.au, Air-O-Smith TV CAMERA WORK (CREATIVE)

Glenn Edwards, Nine News, Runway Revamp

Ryan Mason, Nine News, Plane Graveyard

Steven Ramplin, A Current Affair, Dingo Whisperer TV CAMERA WORK (SHOT OF THE YEAR) Oli Bourguignon, 7NEWS, Wild Scenes: Union Protest

Glenn Edwards, Nine News, Melbourne Protests

Jason Edwards, Herald Sun, Anti-Lockdown Protests

Hamish Russell, 10 News First, Gippsland Flood Rescue TV/VIDEO FEATURE Alexis Daish, A Current Affair, Doyle Talks

Georgia Done, Lisa Wilkinson, Anthony Hawwa and Josh Wedd, The Project, Enough is Enough

Adele Ferguson, Klaus Toft, Lauren Day, ABC Four Corners, Cosmetic Cowboys

Nick McKenzie and Joel Tozer, 60 Minutes / The Age, Nazis Next Door

TV/VIDEO NEWS Cameron Baud, 7NEWS, Delta Removalists Uncovered

Lana Murphy, Nine News Melbourne, Contact Tracer Predator

Michael Slezak and Laura Kewley, ABC 7.30, Lawless loggers

Cassie Zervos, 7NEWS, Greg Lynn arrest THE MPC STUDENT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR Ruth Brooke, Monash University, May the end be beautiful

Amalya Hart, University of Melbourne, Earths orbital space: whos in charge?

Warwick Jones, RMIT, The battle over Australias tough new vape ban

Petra Stock, University of Melbourne, National Treasure

Fia Walsh, University of Melbourne, On the land, between phosphate rock and a hard place YOUNG JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR sponsored by Wilnic Family Trust
The Andrews government has taken the art of targeting taxes at specific groups or for specific purposes to new heights.

No other state has imposed so many taxes on specific groups, and no other state has been so willing to use taxation to pay for specific social policy objectives.

Premier Daniel Andrews. Credit:Joe Armao

There was the mental and wellbeing health levy, announced in last years state budget, under which businesses with more than $10 million in wages pay a payroll tax surcharge from this year. That tax is expected to net an average of $843 million a year.

There was the so-called windfall gains tax, also part of last years budget, under which developers and land speculators who reap windfall gains when their property is rezoned will be hit with a 50 per cent tax if the gain is worth $500,000. That measure is expected to raise an average of about $41 million a year, once it starts on July 1, 2022.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has stood by his decision to visit Western Australia for the first time in 11 months as his home state deals with widespread flooding and evacuations.

Mr Albanese arrived in Perth just after midnight local time on one of the first domestic flights into the state as the McGowan governments controversial hard border came down.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese speaks to media in Perth. Credit:Getty Images

The Opposition Leader last visited WA in April 2021, but neither he nor Prime Minister Scott Morrison have travelled west since due to the hard border policy, which got progressively stricter as COVID outbreaks in New South Wales and Victoria worsened in the latter half of the year.

Widespread flooding across NSW in recent days has triggered evacuation warnings for about 500,000 NSW residents including 300,000 people in Sydney.
The veteran federal MP whose whistleblowing prompted one of the biggest purges of suspected corruption in the Labor Party in years will not contest the upcoming federal election, after facing months of backroom pressure to quit Parliament.

Victorian MP Anthony Byrne helped expose a branch stacking racket allegedly run by disgraced Victorian MP Adem Somyurek and involving the suspected abuse of public funds.

Labor MP Anthony Byrne will quit parliament at the upcoming election. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Byrne did so by encouraging other ALP whistleblowers to contact Victorias anti-corruption agency, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, in 2019, as well as making his own disclosures to IBAC behind closed doors and then, sensationally, in a public hearing last October.

Mr Byrne, the member for Holt, also revealed his own misconduct in paying for other peoples party memberships as he exposed a larger scheme of branch stacking.
Australian support for Ukraine has surged at the sight of Russian tanks burning at the side of the road and the people of Kyiv making Molotov cocktails, but that support will not be enough against an invasion that will become a steadily worsening war crime.

The setbacks for Vladimir Putin might encourage Australia, like people in other democracies, to believe the resistance to the Russian President can force him to rethink his attack. Those watching the war closely, however, know the Russian forces will only become more aggressive.

Illustration: Simon Letch Credit:The Sydney Morning Herald

They will regroup, they will adjust, they will change their tactics, a Pentagon official said in a briefing on Tuesday. And so they did. The Russians bombed the main square of Kharkiv into flames and rubble the next day.

The Australian response started small and was scaled up quickly when the intelligence briefings from Five Eyes partners  especially the intense monitoring by the Pentagon and other parts of the US security apparatus  confirmed the scale of the assault. On the Pentagons count, the Russians fired 400 missiles over the first four days and deployed at least 150,000 Russian troops inside and just outside Ukraine.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has told some of the worlds most powerful technology companies to immediately remove Russian state media organisations from their platforms in Australia over concerns they are facilitating the spread of disinformation and promoting violence over the invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Fletcher issued a warning to the social media platforms in comments to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age earlier this week, urging the sites to remove posts from the Russian state-owned news outlets. He has now sent letters to platforms including TikTok; Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram; and Google requesting the immediate removal of the content.

Apple and Snapchat were also told to remove RT, formerly known as Russia Today, and Sputnik, the successor to Voice of Russia.

Russias invasion of Ukraine has been furious, but Russian state media has instead described it as a security response to purported Ukrainian aggression. Credit:AP

I am writing to ask that [your company] takes action as a priority to suspend the dissemination on your platform[s] in Australia of content generated by Russian state media organisations, given that there has been a significant volume of such content promoting violence, extremism and disinformation in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mr Fletcher said in a letter sent on Thursday afternoon.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size A Russian tank sits obliterated on a highway in Ukraine. Another, bogged and abandoned, is dusted in snow. During the first week of Russias invasion of Ukraine, images of destroyed vehicles and both unexploded and exploding armaments have dominated social media, as terms such as Stingers, MiGs and thermobaric stud reports of fighting. Much of the equipment on both sides is a mix of modern and legacy technology. The military of Ukraine, formerly part of the Soviet Union, still drives and flies adapted instruments of war they inherited when the union broke up in 1991  but training from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada since 2015 is one reason their style of fighting (if not their equipment) is unique, says Dr Marcus Hellyer from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. In fact, since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Ukraines military has become one of Europes biggest. When the US offered to help President Volodymyr Zelensky flee the Russian invasion, he responded: The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride. How are the weapons being used by both sides in the conflict? Whats a Kalashnikov? Youre looking at two forces armed with AK-47s, the famed Kalashnikovs [named after the rifles inventor, Mikhail Kalashnikov] and a range of similar infantry small arms, says Christopher Flaherty, an intelligence and defence analyst.

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The former eastern bloc is awash with weapons, says Hellyer. The standard AK-47, there are millions of them, which is how the Ukrainian government could hand out a rifle to anyone that wanted them. Loading Guns have also come from the West over time, including a sprinkling of sniper rifles with advanced sights, and equipment such as night-vision goggles. Most recently, the Czechs, for example  as one of about 20 countries now funnelling weapons into Ukraine  are sending machine guns, sniper rifles, pistols and ammunition not only to repel the Russians but to arm an insurgency, if it comes to that, The New York Times has reported. What types of tanks are being used? Footage of a Ukrainian driver jokingly offering a lift home to Russian soldiers whose tank had run out of fuel went viral earlier this week. It was a microcosm of supply chain and technical issues that have impeded Russian forces so far. Those abandoned vehicles show the Russians miscalculation, says Hellyer. Meanwhile, a 64-kilometre-long column of tanks, towed artillery (huge mobile guns) and 15,000 or so Russian soldiers was seen in satellite images inching towards the capital, Kyiv.

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Russian main battle tanks include the T-90, T-80 and the T-72. A number of those Soviet-made battle tanks go back to the 80s, Flaherty says. There are a lot of older vehicles mixed in with newer vehicles, which is not uncommon. You see the more up-to-date tanks up the front because theyre expecting them to protect their older ones. Russian soldiers mostly ride in armoured personnel carriers, or battle taxis, attacks on which might explain the high casualty rate of the Russian military at the start of the conflict, Flaherty says. The Ukrainians have been able to catch convoys on open roads or bridges, in vulnerable situations, and have been effective. Ukraine appears to be fighting from ground positions in smaller teams and are effective using anti-tank weapons to destroy the Russian weapons. What are Javelins and what missile systems are in use? One counter to tanks are rocket-propelled explosives, such as the Ukrainian-designed, portable, guided-missile system RK-3 Corsar, which are light, portable and accurate. The Ukrainian army has access to a wide range of NATO anti-tank weapons too. US donations of the shoulder-fired Javelin missile systems have been put to use; the Estonians have also sent Javelins. (Their efficacy has birthed another symbol of Ukrainian resistance, Saint Javelin.)

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Larger, truck-mounted missile-launching devices such as the Russian BM-30 Smerch and the Tornado-S are also a common sight. The BM-30, a slightly older Soviet technology similarly causes mayhem during brute-force bombardments. Often what theyre trying to achieve is to cover the field with as much firepower as possible, says Flaherty, in order to drive out as many of the opposition as possible and create disorder. Its a very traditional war fighting tactic. The Russians are also starting to deploy heavy towed howitzer artillery that carry large munitions, for bombarding larger cities. Several metres long, they are the heaviest calibre and fire very long range. These guns are the backbone of the Russian military, says Flaherty, they really are a tactical strategic weapon of the Russian army. They bring massive amounts of firepower to the battlefield which can break up defensive positions. This is going to start playing an increasingly significant role if the Russians establish a siege of Kyiv. What are cluster bombs and thermobaric weapons? A spotlight this past week has been on the prospect of Russia using cluster munitions and vacuum bombs. Vacuum bombs, also known variously as thermobaric weapons, fuel-air bombs and aerosol bombs, are a two-stage explosive device: an explosive charge spreads an aerosol  for example, a carbon-based fuel or fine metallic particles, and the second stage is its ignition. While versions of them can destroy an entire airfield, says Hellyer, they can be used against enemies hunkered down in confined spaces because the aerosol can penetrate small areas.

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The use of these bombs in this conflict could become part of an investigation into possible war crimes by a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. Hellyer is particularly worried about the Russians deploying a TOS-1 multiple-launcher device, which can send out several thermobaric weapons at once, with the potential to cause massive casualties. Up to now the Russians have used standard explosives but its clear they have the TOS-1s, that they have them in the Ukraine, but its unclear if theyve been used, he says. Hellyer says evidence strongly suggests that Russia is using cluster bombs in Ukraine. Cluster bombs are typically a larger munition, a missile, which scatters a large number  potentially hundreds  of much smaller munitions. There are a lot of pictures of unexploded ordnance that have buried their tip in the ground and not exploded, says Hellyer. Theyll be a problem for a long period of time because theyre dangerous and unstable. Meanwhile, some Ukrainian civilians have been making the weapon of the underdog, Molotov cocktails (named after Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov by the Finns in 1939.) Whats a MiG? The Russians are using a range of military aircraft in Ukraine. Some are designed for air-to-air combat, and some designed for ground attack role, and large bombers, which we havent seen much thus far, says Hellyer. Yet Russia has so far failed to control the skies. Early in the conflict, it used helicopters to try to insert soldiers but sustained heavy losses. On Thursday, videos surfaced of Ukrainian army forces shooting down a MiG-29, which is a Russian fighter jet also used by the Ukrainian forces.

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Rumors of a sleepier theater season are overstated  especially for Marjan Neshat. In fact, this is proving to be her busiest year ever: In November-December she starred in Sylvia Khoury's Selling Kabul, playing Afiya, a woman trying her hardest to protect her brother from the Taliban. This spring she will play Nazanin, one of a circle of Iranian friends living through the 1979 revolution and the subsequent Iran-Iraq War, in Sanaz Toossi's Wish You Were Here. Both of those shows are part of the Playwrights Horizons 2021-22 season. But right now, she's performing at Atlantic Theater Company in Toossi's English, in which she portrays an Iranian English teacher who happens to also be named Marjan.

We spoke to Neshat about her very big year, her unique childhood, and the surprising through-line connecting all three of her characters.

Marjan Neshat is an actor living and working in New York City.

( Gigi Still)

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Is this your busiest theater season ever?

Without question. I won't have another day off until March 27, because I start rehearsals for Wish You Were Here on Monday [March 7].

You'll be rehearsing during the day and then going to performances of English at night. Have you ever done anything like that?

Not to this extent. We ended up closing Selling Kabul three days early because of Omicron. But if that had run as long as it was supposed to go, it would have been eight months straight. I've done a couple of plays in a year before, but never overlapping like this.

I imagine Covid creates another layer of complication when you're working with multiple companies. How many tests have you taken so far this season?

I'm the most tested woman in town. At Atlantic we've been testing four times a week. During Selling Kabul, we were testing two times, and then when Omicron came around we ramped up to three. So most days I wake up and test.

Mattico David and Marjan Neshat starred in Sylvia Khoury's Selling Kabul, directed by Tyne Rafaeli, at Playwrights Horizons.

( Joan Marcus)

In Selling Kabul, your character Afiya cares deeply about her brother, who has been targeted by the Taliban. But she expresses that love with a smothering amount of caution. Was your performance based on anyone you know?

I had a director tell me, "Afiya thinks faster than you." I began to understand that when you're in this critical situation, you're always forced to think ahead, because you are always trying to stave off disaster. I'm definitely a younger sister, so I probably drew some from my older sister. As an actor, I feel like you constantly borrow from everywhere.

Selling Kabul was meant to debut in March 2020, but Covid pushed that off until fall 2021. Did that change the way you experience the play?

Covid informed our show more than anything by making us all familiar with this feeling of being trapped. Everyone in our audience knew that feeling of being in a small apartment with people you love. You love them, and their lives matter to you, and they start to drive you crazy. That felt so much more palpable to us after Covid, and we were sharing it with an audience who had just experienced that.

In English, you're playing Marjan, a woman who learns English in Iran, lives abroad in England for a period, and then returns to Iran. This is somewhat similar to your own mother's story, right?

My mom's a psychiatric nurse and she attended nursing school in England, but then we returned to Iran. So she's like Marjan in that way, but I don't think she had the relationship to language in the way my character does. Marjan is one of the most complex characters I've ever played. There's such a conflict in her idea of herself and where she felt most alive. She's not at peace with where she is, but she's also not at peace with where she was.

Hadi Tabbal and Marjan Neshat star in Sanaz Toossi's English, directed by Knud Adams, at Atlantic Theater Company.

( Ahron R. Foster)

Do you remember when the English language came into your life in a significant way?

When I was 1, we moved to England and California, but we moved back to Iran and got stuck for a while. I finished third grade in Iran. So when we moved back to America, I was in fourth grade, and the only thing I knew confidently how to say was, "I don't know English." We were in this very small, suburban, predominately white part of Seattle. People were talking to me like I was deaf. I have a line in the play where I say, "Your head hurts and the days feel longer," and I felt that those first four months. It's this frustrating feeling of understanding what is going on, but not being able to respond. I'm now much more comfortable in English than I am in Farsi, but I will never forget that feeling.

Wish You were Here is about a group of Iranian Women living through the 1979 revolution and the subsequent war years. Is it meaningful to be telling this story about your parents' generation?

Sanaz always said she wrote this as a love letter to her mom and all of her friends. It's just the beginning of the revolution, and the story is about who left and who stayed. So many people upended their lives so their children could have a better life. They have this forced distance, and the play shows what this does with their lives.

Is that growing apart something every group of young women experiences?

Young women and men! I feel like our closest childhood friendships are really the first people we fall in love with. I feel this way about my childhood best friend. It's this time when you are free to feel as hugely as possible, so our identities are forged together. And if that relationship ends before its time, it becomes idealized.

There's an undercurrent of regret for all three characters you are playing this season.

The spine of each character has some element of lost potential. All of them are very aware of who they could have been, both by circumstance and choice. Afiya breaks my heart enormously, because that possibility is taken from her by other people's choices. It's a very human experience  contemplating the gap between what we imagine we will be and what we are. I cannot imagine how many therapists hear about this day in and day out.
Biden Using Your Money to Insure Radical Dem's Electric Mobility Monopoly







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SEE ALSO: Official Details Of Biden New Green Deal Manifesto

SEE ALSO: EV's Will Deliver No Meaningful Emission Reduction Unit We Are Dead

SEE ALSO: Biden's plan spikes EVs interest in Americans

SEE ALSO: Electric Vehicle Content Archive

Buy Marketplace Interest In Electric Vehicles By Underwriting Charging Stations ($15 Billion), Instituting Tax Rebates ($100 Billion) and Subsidizing Electric Generation ($100 Billion)

CHICAGO, April 22, 2021 -- Leading automotive digital marketplace and solutions provider Cars.com (CARS) today revealed new research that Americans' interest in electric vehicles is on the rise. Sixty-six percent of respondents in Cars.com's national survey stated an increased desire to buy an EV after hearing President Biden's infrastructure plans to invest $174 billion in the EV market, including a national network of 500,000 EV charging locations by 2030.1 However, 81% of respondents report that barriers remain, obstructing the path to purchase.1

"Interest in EVs is growing, yet remaining barriers indicate mainstream adoption is still about a decade away," said Aaron Bragman, Cars.com's Detroit bureau chief. "Tens of millions of car shoppers are on Cars.com, making us an excellent barometer for the industry. Today, only 1% of total search share on Cars.com is for EVs.2 However, the growing lineup of electric pickup trucks and SUVs, plus the current administration's support of the EV market, will continue to accelerate much-needed consumer awareness and could lead to a positive shift in buying habits in the near future."

Nearly 20% of Americans report the lack of SUVs in the current EV lineup as a critical factor in the desire to purchase a traditional gasoline vehicle.1 But excitement is growing with the highly anticipated release of affordable electric SUVs such as the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 and the Tesla Model Y; that interest is further enhanced by the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E all-electric SUV, Cars.com's 2021 Best Eco-Friendly Car of the Year. Since hitting local dealership lots in December, the Mach-E accounts for 34% of total EV search share on Cars.com, the highest among any EV or hybrid vehicle on the site.2

Bragman added, "In addition to its national availability and range as far as 300 miles, the Mach-E is what American buyers prefer but haven't been able to find in electric form: a small SUV."

Additional trends uncovered by Cars.com's research that impact the EV market include:

Barriers prevent EV ownership. The primary obstacles preventing consumers from buying electric vehicles are cost (34%), limited range (32%) and a lack of charging stations (32%). 1

Urban buyers lead the way. Cars.com search data found that urban buyers are three times more likely to buy EVs. 3 Of the 1% of total EV search share on Cars.com, Los Angeles accounts for 9% of searches; followed by Chicago (8%); Washington, D.C. (6%); New York (5%); and Dallas (4%). 2

Of the 1% of total EV search share on Cars.com, accounts for 9% of searches; followed by (8%); (6%); (5%); and (4%). Rising fuel prices nudge consideration. If gas prices continue rising, 76% of car owners would assess switching to an EV. Coincidentally, 35% of current EV owners cited gas savings as one of the factors that led to the purchase. 1

Environmentally friendly, slick tech and sleek style are the tickets to purchase. The main reasons for purchasing an EV are environmental benefits (48%) and the tech features and updated vehicle style (45%). 1

EV adopters are loyal. For those who have made the switch to an EV, it could be permanent: 86% of EV owners say they would buy an EV for their next car purchase.1

Federal EV Charging Network Could Push U.S. to Electrification

ALEXANDRIA, Va.March 2, 2022; President Bidens State of the Union address on Tuesday touted the administrations efforts to build an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, which includes 500,000 chargers, and according to a recent Fuels Institute study, public funding may be responsible for up to 26% of the difference in charging infrastructure between markets with and without such funding.

The combination of funding programs, whether they're grants or rebate programs, and a state-run program that aims to reduce transportation-related emissions, was associated with some of the highest levels of market development, ICF Lead Transportation and Energy Consultant Jonathan Norris told Utility Dive. ICF partnered with the Fuels Institute on the report Evaluation of Policies for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Deployment.

Though the push for an EV charging infrastructure is there, it will be a stretch to make the Presidents goal to have half of new vehicle sales to be electric in less than a decade, according to John Eichberger, executive director, Fuels Institute.

I don't think we're going to get to 50% by 2030, the federal goal, but I think we're going to get a pretty good number, he told Utility Dive.

The U.S. is making progress toward that goal, however, with light-duty EV sales in the United States almost doubling last year, rising 85%, while sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles grew 138%, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Amid Russias attack on Ukraine causing oil prices to soar, the president said EVs can save Americans $80 a month in gas, while also calling for a price reduction on the cost of an EV. He also praised American companies choosing to build new EV factories in the U.S., including Ford and General Motors.

There's been a huge push toward renewable fuels and electric vehicles, said Doug Kantor, NACS general counsel, on a Convenience Matters podcast episode set to release next week. The vulnerability of Europes dependence on natural gas from Russia, but also the world's dependence on petroleum products from Russia, is causing some political pushback where people are saying, ?Look we have to develop traditional U.S. energy sources, petroleum and natural gas more to insulate us from those dangers.

In order for more Americans to get on board with EVs, the charging infrastructure must be sufficient, which means initially, the U.S. may need to build more chargers than are being utilized, says Eichberger. The Fuels Institute expects the U.S. will need a mix of 1.8 million public Direct Current fast chargers and Level 2 chargers by 2030.

Not only do we need to build the infrastructure, we need to tell people the infrastructure exists. They need to see it, they need to experience it, he told Utility Dive. They need to be reassured ... And that's going to require probably an overbuild of the market, relative to what's actually necessary, to provide that customer assurance that they they're never going to stranded.

The upcoming federal funding is important because it gives that kickstart, to start building the necessary infrastructure, Eichberger said.

The Fuels Institute report found that the most effective charging infrastructure had state management of rebates and incentives, and states employing a broader set of policy approaches will see stronger development of EV charging, in particular when combined with emissions reductions goals or mandates for the transportation sector.

Also, simplicity, clarity, ease of use, and speed of delivery of funding, as aspects that make for successful programs, said Eichberger. If they're cumbersome, if they're not organized and structured properly, then they're not going to do their job.

Last month, the Biden Administration released details of its plan to build an EV charging infrastructure. In late January, prior to the plan announcement, NACS filed comments with the FHWA on its upcoming guidelines for this alternative fueling infrastructure.

Here are EV charging infrastructure myths debunked.
DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Wired Charging Market by Type, Charging Type, Application and Sales Channel: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2021-2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global wired charging market was valued at $11.1 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach $15.9 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 3.9% from 2020 to 2030.

Wired charging is the charging done by wires and it is the integral part of wire coated with plastic. Wired charging is widely used to charge mobiles, laptops, tablets, and other gadgets. In addition, rise in the technological advancement in automotive sector led to increase in demand for electric vehicle, which also boosts the demand for wired charging. Moreover, European & Japanese electric vehicle manufacturers play a vital role in the EV game, with the launch of Audi E-Tron, Mitsubishi i-MIEV and Nissan LEAF more than a decade ago.

The cars were supported by incentives, and the rollout of AC charging points and DC fast chargers that utilize the Japanese CHAdeMO standard (for several years the standard was spreading globally, including in Europe and North America). The massive deployment of CHAdeMO chargers, through high government subsidies, allowed to increase the number of fast chargers to 7,000, which creates wide opportunities for the global wired charging market.

Wired charging is also widely used in the gadget's major players such as Sony, Mitsubishi, Panasonic and many others, have a significant role in the global wired charging market. In addition, rising use and demand for mobile, laptops and other gadgets also led to increase in demand for the wired charging market. Moreover, COVID-19 creates wide opportunities for the market due to the work from home culture. Furthermore, rise in wireless charging may act as the restraining factor for the market.

The global wired charging market is segmented on the basis of type, charging type, application and sales channel. Depending on type, the market is categorized into Type C, Micro USB, lightning and others. On the basis of charging type, it is divided into standard and fast charging. On the basis of application, it is classified into personal care, consumer electronics, automotive, energy & power, healthcare and others. Sales Channel-wise, it is categorized into online and offline.

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Rise in demand and sustainable development in electronics gadgets

Rise in demand for electric cars

Rise in demand for daily use electronic products

Restraints

Introduction of wireless charging

Low range of electric vehicle

Decomposition of wires and toxic effects of gadgets on human body

Opportunities

Rise in pollution by crude products and high oil prices led to enhance EV market

Rise in urbanization and tourism development

Key Market Segments

By Type

Type C

Micro USB

Lightning

Others

By Charging Type

Standard

Fast

By Application

Personal care

Consumer Electronics

Smartphones

Tablets

Others

Automotive

Energy & Power

Healthcare

Others

By Sales Channel

Online

Offline

By Region

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

LAMEA

Key Market Players

ABB

AOYAMA Elevator Co., Ltd

Apple Inc.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Delta Electronics, Inc.

Huawei Technology Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Sunvalley Group

Tesla

Webasto

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3mbfew

Contacts

ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470

For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630

For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900
Its no secret that journalism is struggling. News deserts exist where local publications have folded, and in other places corporate ownership has replaced hometown family-owned newspapers. Policy that reaches back to the Nixon administration and beyond played its part.
Anti-vaccine mandate activists walk past Phoenix City Council chambers after the city paused implementation of a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the 14,000 city workers, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, in Phoenix.
Shannon Hayes is an education advocate and member of the Black Mothers Forum in Phoenix.
This Feb. 28, 2019 file photo shows a storage tank near a well pad located in a field near a housing development in Broomfield, Colo.
Staff Reporter

Nyamekye Daniel has been a journalist for five years. She was the managing editor for the South Florida Media Network and a staff writer for The Miami Times. Daniel's work has also appeared in the Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald and The New York Times.
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Partly cloudy in the evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers after midnight. Low 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
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Today

Cloudy with occasional showers for the afternoon. High 64F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%..

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[March 03, 2022] Merkle Response Management Group (RMG) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Celebrate 13 Years of Partnership on Nationwide CRS Rice Bowl Campaign Merkle Response Management Group (Merkle RMG), a subsidiary of Merkle, dentsu's leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company, marks its 13th year providing order processing, contact center and fulfillment support for Catholic Relief Services' (CRS) annual Rice Bowl program. In January, Merkle RMG and CRS distributed nearly 3 million sets of program materials to 14,000 Catholic parishes nationwide in support of CRS' initiative to fight global hunger and poverty. CRS Rice Bowl is a core program of CRS, an international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community that assists people in need in over 100 countries. Taking place each year during Lent, the program invites Catholic families in the U.S. to learn about families overseas who are experiencing poverty and hunger. Through their school or parish, millions of U.S. families receive a cardboard collection box-known as a "Rice Bowl"-that they fill with alms throughout Lent. These monetary donations support CRS programs in targeted countries. Beth Martin, director of Mission and Mobilization campaigns at CRS, commented on Merkle RMG's role in distributing Rice Bowls to millions each year. "As one of our longest-running U.S. programs, CRS Rice Bowl is critical to our larger mission to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas," said Martin. "Since 2009, Merkle RMG's cost-effective, high-quality, and comprehensive services have allowed us to supply millions of families with the program resources they need to impact the lives of others." Each year, the Rice Bowl campaign (www.crsricebowl.org) spotlights the stories of families from three different countries. The collection box comes with a Lenten calendar and a variety of meatless Lenten recipes from each country. All program materials are updated with new content each year and are available in both English and Spanish. With nearly 3 million Rice Bowl items to distribute before Lent, CRS relies on Merkle RMG's expertise in high-volume order processing and fulfillment to ensure the materials are picked, packed, and shipped correctly and on schedule. "The items ordered and the quantities of each that need to be fulfilled vary for each of the 14,000 orders we process, so accuracy is critical," said Merkle RMG President Kent Grove. "It also requires a highly coordinated approach to order capture, customer service, and bulk fulfillment. Merkle RMG works closely with CRS at every stage of planning and production to ensure a seamless, timely operation. By keeping our services efficient and scalable, we help the CRS Rice Bowl team manage their high-volume distribution requirements with less cost and a high level of quality." In addition to fulfillment support, Merkle RMG provides contact center services to receive and process Rice Bowl orders from participants across the U.S. Merkle RMG also supports CRS with data management and reporting, equipping both teams with insights that inform strategic decisions throughout the year-long production cycle. "Because of our long history working in tandem, Merkle RMG is able to help us anticipate and proactively address our operational needs for the upcoming year," said Martin. "Merkle RMGs account managers intimately understand our mission, and their tailored, strategic guidance has directly contributed to our success over the years."

About Merkle Response Management Group Merkle Response Management Group (RMG) is a processing, data, and technology-driven company. By combining best-in-class direct-response processing, customer care, and fulfillment solutions with actionable data insights, Merkle RMG drives one-to-one relationships for an improved donor and customer experience that increases retention and revenue. Applying best practices learned during 39 years in business, the company employs a high-tech/high-touch approach that helps minimize costs while ensuring a high level of donor and customer satisfaction through fast, accurate, secure, and responsive service that is tailored to each client's requirements and strategic objectives. RMG serves more than 200 clients in the nonprofit, government, and commercial markets. For more information about Merkle RMG, please visit www.merkleresponse.com, or follow us on Twitter @MerkleRMG. About Merkle Merkle, a dentsu company, is a leading data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The company's heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive hyper-personalized marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With more than 14,000 employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 50+ additional offices throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com. About Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS' relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding. For more information, visit crs.org or www.crsespanol.org and follow Catholic Relief Services on social media in English at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube; and in Spanish at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005230/en/

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Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration Reform analyst who has written about immigration for more than 30 years. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
Silver Lake - Loren Miller fought to let anyone - of any color - buy a home anyplace they could afford.

Now, the two-story home where the pioneering African-American attorney lived during the peak of his career has been nominated as a historic city landmark.

In many ways, its a fairly ordinary house with a bay window, chimney and backyard. But the modest home has been nominated to become a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument because of the man who lived in it during the peak of his career.

A Journalist and Lawyer

The Nebraska native also worked as a journalist for Black-owned papers, eventually becoming the owner of the now-defunct California Eagle.

But his biggest impact was in the realm of civil rights.

Miller lived in the Micheltorena Street house while he defended Oscar-winning actress Hattie McDaniel and other Black homeowners from being kicked out of the Sugar Hill section of West Adams by white homeowners. This is where he returned - this wood-and-stucco two-bedroom - after arguing twice in front of the Supreme Court, still in a furious crusade against housing discrimination. Here is where he rested after writing most of the briefs in the case of Brown v. Board of Education.

This is where Loren Miller lived when he came to be a judge in the Los Angeles Municipal Court. Its where he died three years later, at the age of 64.

Civil Rights Legend

At his death in 1967, Loren Miller was considered one of the nations greatest civil rights attorneys, barely second in importance to his friend and colleague and sometime co-counsel Thurgood Marhall, said author Amina Hassan in Loren Miller: Civil Rights Attorney and Journalist.

As he rose to prominence in the late 1930s, Miller and his wife, Juanita, commissioned their friend and architect James H. Garrott to design their new home. Garrott, who had an office on Hyperion Avenue, was a pioneer in his own way, being the second African-American to be admitted to the American Institute of Architects.

The Miller Residence at 647 Micheltorena St. was completed in 1940.

The Cultural Heritage Commission is scheduled to decide whether to take the nomination under review today.
Russias attack in Ukraine could dramatically change the balance between the worlds three largest powers. But what is Chinas role in the crisis?

How does the United States view Chinas threat? In his State of the Union, President Joe Biden mentioned China twice. And at the same time, a U.S. delegation is visiting Taiwan, reaffirming Americas commitment to the island.

And for those watching our full episode: The Chinese communist regime has announced major plans for its space activities this year, and theyre more ambitious than ever before. But whats Beijings goal?

Another human trafficking case triggers outrage in China. One mans livestreaming hobby exposed the story of one mother of twolocked in a cage by her husband.

Have other topics you want us to cover? Drop us a line: chinainfocus@ntdtv.org

And if youd like to buy us a coffee: https://donorbox.org/china-in-focus

Subscribe to our newsletter for more first-hand news from China.

For more news and videos, please visit us on Gettr and Twitter.
8 Romanian Military Personnel Die in Plane, Helicopter Crashes

BUCHARESTThe pilot of a Romanian military MiG 21 LanceR and the seven soldiers sent to find him on a search-and-rescue helicopter mission all died when their aircraft were involved in separate crashes late on Wednesday, the defence ministry said.

The MiG was on an air patrol when it dropped off the radar in eastern Romania between the villages of Cogealac and Gura Dobrogei.

The pilot of the IAR 330-Puma helicopter sent to find him had reported unfavorable weather and had been called back to base before it too crashed, the ministry said.

Romania, a European Union and NATO member, plans to phase out its MiG planes and is flying F-16s.
Dr. Christopher Lockhart with his mother, Judy Lockhart, at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Chester Fritz Auditorium in Grand Forks, N.D., on March 2, 2022. (Sherry Dong/The Epoch Times)

GRAND FORKS, N.D.The joy of dancers in perfect unison and the sound of a live ensemble brought warmth to theatergoers attending Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Chester Fritz Auditorium in North Dakota on March 2.

Christopher Lockhart, a doctor and musician, attended the performance with his mother, Judy Lockhart, and expressed that he could see the collective determination of the artists of Shen Yun.

I think that anytime you have a group of people together who are collectively praying or experiencing something that touches their soul, something magical happens, Mr. Lockhart said.

He expressed his gratitude to New York-based Shen Yun for coming to Grand Forks and giving the city a greater sense of diversity.

Its wonderful because were rather isolated in this part of the country. Theres perhaps not as much ethnic diversity as there might be on the coasts. So its a great broadening experience for us to be able to have people from another culture come and let us experience what is tradition for them that we might not otherwise get a chance to see, he said.

The cold weather in Grand Forks gave Mr. Lockhart an extra appreciation for Shen Yuns Plum Blossom dance. Plum blossoms are known for blooming spectacularly in the cold of late winter.

I think that spring is so intoxicating here upon the cold prairie that when the trees start to blossom in the spring, as perhaps they do in China, when they were shaking their pink and golden fans, that reminded me of the way that the blossoms tremble here in the spring breezes, and thats something that we share with them, he said.

Im hearing percussion and string instruments that are native to China that we dont usually have here.  Dr. Christopher Lockhart

Mr. Lockhart has a degree in piano performance and expressed his appreciation for the Shen Yun Orchestra.

Im enjoying it very much. I think that it has some of the traditional fullness and sound that Im used to hearing as a performer. But then I think that it sounds so authentic. Im hearing percussion and string instruments that are native to China that we dont usually have here, he said.

The instruments that he was referring to are the two-stringed erhu and the pipa. The Shen Yun Orchestra also uses a range of Chinese percussion instruments.

Mr. Lockhart appreciated that the music was presented by a live orchestra.

I think that its completely different because the music is live rather than recorded. The instrumentalists put their own spirit into the sound thats created fresh, just for this moment. And it comes to us and I feel it too, he said.

Reporting by Sherry Dong and Maria Han.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yuns inception in 2006.
Joshua A. James (right) meets with other Oath Keepers outside of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Department of Justice/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Alabama Member of the Oath Keepers Pleads Guilty to Seditious Conspiracy

Joshua A. James, one of the Oath Keepers charged with trying to prevent the counting of Electoral College votes at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, pleaded guilty on March 2 to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official government proceeding and will face 7.25 to nine years in prison when hes sentenced this summer.

As part of a plea agreement, James, 34, of Arab, Alabama, will cooperate with investigators and could sit for questioning before a grand jury on the role that the Oath Keepers played at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Joshua A. James pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Department of Justice/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

The guilty pleas are an important win for federal prosecutors, who first introduced sedition-related charges into the investigation after the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach. As part of his plea agreement, James admitted that he was part of a seditious conspiracy that had the goal of disrupting the certification by Congress of the Electoral College votes.

After walking James through all the elements of the plea agreement, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta accepted the pleas and found James guilty of the two felony counts. Prosecutors said theyll ask the court to dismiss four other charges against James at a sentencing hearing later in 2022.

Prosecutors said James and other Oath Keepers coordinated a trip to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, with the intent to breach the Capitol building and disrupt or prevent the counting of electoral votes. Ten other individuals in the alleged conspiracy have pleaded not guilty, including Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III.

The statement of offense prepared as part of the plea states that James and others took part in a plan developed by Rhodes to use any means necessary, up to and including the use of force, to stop the lawful transfer of presidential powers, Mehta said.

Rhodes asked James and others to prepare to come to the White House after Jan. 6, 2021, to secure the perimeter, use lethal force if necessary against anyone who tried to remove President Trump from the White House, Mehta said.

Do you agree that statement describes your conduct? the judge asked.

Yes, your honor, James answered quietly.

Clash with Police in the Capitol

James was accused of illegally entering the Capitol through the east Rotunda doors at about 3:15 p.m. to hinder or delay the certification of President-Elect Joseph R. Biden as president of the United States, Mehta said. Before answering the accusation, James spoke to his attorney, Joan Robin, who said James had multiple motives for going into the Capitol that day, but acknowledged that hindering the vote was one of them.

James was also accused of assaulting a Metropolitan Police Department officer described in court records as J.M., by grabbing his vest and pulling him toward the mob. James then shouted at the officer, This is my [expletive] building. This is not yours, this is my Capitol, according to Mehta. James said the statement was true.

Joshua A. James (left) with other Oath Keepers near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (U.S. Department of Justice/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

James was also accused of using force against law enforcement with the intention of preventing, hindering, or delaying the lawful transfer of presidential power. Robin told Mehta that James wanted to clarify that he didnt have premeditation to attack law enforcement before entering the building. However, when he did engage police, that was an intentional act.

James met with Rhodes at a restaurant in Alabama on Jan. 8, 2021, prosecutors said. Rhodes expressed gratitude for Jamess actions and told Mr. James to alter his physical appearance to conceal his identity, Mehta said.

Is that an accurate statement? the judge asked.

Yes, sir, it is, James replied.

In February 2021, James picked up firearms, ammunition, scopes, magazines, burner phones, night vision equipment, and other tactical gear at Rhodess instruction, prosecutors alleged.

Mr. Rhodes told you to be prepared to transport and distribute the equipment to others upon his instruction and to be prepared for violence in the event of a civil war, Mehta said.

James said the statement was correct.

Prosecutors asked Mehta to delay sentencing for at least 90 days in the hopes that James will cooperate with law enforcement in its ongoing investigation of the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Mehta agreed and has set a status hearing for June 2.
An instructor trains members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 22, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

Americans Shouldnt Join War in Ukraine, Blinken Says

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said March 2 that Americans should refrain from traveling to Ukraine to help in that countrys conflict with Russia.

Blinkens warning came the same day Ukraine temporarily lifted visa requirements for foreign volunteers to enter the country. On Feb. 28, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the formation of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, calling for citizens of the world to join the fight against Russias invasion.

At a March 2 press conference, Blinken said the State Departments position on the matter remains unchanged.

Weve been very clear for some time in calling on Americans who may have been resident in Ukraine to leave, and making clear to Americans who may be thinking of traveling there not to go, Blinken told reporters.

Rather than joining the fight in Ukraine, Blinken said Americans can find alternative ways to help the war-torn nation.

For those who want to help Ukraine and help its people, there are many ways to do that, including by supporting and helping the many NGOs that are working to provide humanitarian assistance; providing resources themselves to groups that are trying to help Ukraine by being advocates for Ukraine and for peaceful resolution to this crisis that was created by Russia, he said. Those are the most effective ways that people who want to help can do so.

Blinkens advice is in accordance with the State Department issuing a Level 4: Do Not Travel warning for Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Despite that, Americans and other Westerners are reportedly joining the Ukrainian cause. Reuters reported Feb. 28 that a U.S. Air Force veteran is one of those volunteers.

I feel guilty to not go, said the man, who declined to provide his name for security reasons, according to Reuters.

Canadian Bryson Woolsey also quit his job as a cook after seeing Zelenskys appeal. Reuters said Woolsey has no military training, but plans to buy a plane ticket to Poland and cross into Ukraine to volunteer for combat.

Canadas Foreign Minister Melanie Joly reportedly said on Feb. 28 that individual Canadians can choose whether they wanted to join Ukraines international brigade.

Domestic terrorism researchers have expressed concerns in the past about Americans traveling to Ukraine to train with the countrys infamous neo-Nazi Azov Battalion. According to the SITE Intelligence Group Enterprise, U.S. neo-Nazi groups have been amplifying Azovs recent calls for foreign volunteers.

To the extent that this would provide an opportunity for individuals to gain combat experience and the potential to radicalize, then you could very well see those people coming back and integrating those types of tactics and tools into their existing, or new, domestic extremist groups here, said Bellarmine University professor Abigail Hall, a researcher on extremism and militarism.

According to the FBI, U.S. extremist groups have traveled to Ukraine to train with Azov. The FBI said this during the prosecution of right-wing Rise Above Movement (RAM) members for allegedly assaulting protesters in 2017.

The Azov Battalion  is believed to have participated in training and radicalizing United States-based white supremacy organizations, according to the FBI.
Anti-vaccine mandate protesters are seen outside Parliament House in Wellington, New Zealand, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AAP Image/Ben McKay)

Anti-Mandate Protestors Clash With Police in New Zealand

New Zealand police have dispersed anti-mandate protesters who had set up an encampment outside the countrys parliament, towing away vehicles and making dozens of arrests.

Following three weeks of confrontations between the protesters and police at parliament, hundreds of officers in riot gear stormed the encampment on Wednesday morning, tearing down tents, using pepper spray and sponge bullets to disperse the protestors. They also towed away up to 50 vehicles and made 38 arrests.

While many protesters retreated from the aggressive tactics, other demonstrators fought back, using water bottles, fire extinguishers, paint-filled projectiles, pitchforks, and chairs as weapons. They also set fire to tents, mattresses and chairs at the protest site.

A total of 100 people have now been arrested in relation to the mandate protests violent end, with charges including arson, rioting and inciting violence.

Seven NZ police officers were also hospitalised overnight on Wednesday with non-life-threatening injuries.

Police would once again like to thank the Wellington community for the support shown to our staff and for their patience with the disruption to our city, a police statement on Thursday said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Arden condemned the protest, saying, it was an attack on our front-line police, it was an attack on our parliament, it was an attack on our values, and it was wrong.

She said the fires had destroyed, among other things, a childrens playground, which is open to the public on parliament grounds.

I was both angry and also deeply saddened to see parliament, your parliament, our parliament desecrated in that way.

NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to the media with Minister Nanaia Mahuta in Hastings, New Zealand, on July 08, 2020 (Kerry Marshall/Getty Images)

On Thursday, police set up a crime scene around Parliament grounds and surrounding areas as part of a significant investigation to track down those who committed arsons and other crimes during Wednesdays protest.

Aitken St remained closed to vehicles from Mulgrave St on Thursday evening, while Parliaments grounds and parts of Hill St and Molesworth St were blocked. Police officers were stationed around the perimeters of the CBD area to monitor the grounds.

Police commissioner Andrew Coster said the protest escalated over time: In the last week, we have seen a changing mix in the makeup of the crowd, in particular, we have become concerned that those with good intentions have become outnumbered by those with a willingness to use violence to affect their means.

Protest leaders said in a statement the group was united in wanting mandates scrapped and to make their own informed choices regarding their health, free from coercion and punishment.

They noted the vast majority of protesters had been well-behaved and had chosen to camp as a last resort after constructive talks were not progressing.

We are fighting for our standard of life. We want our sovereign right to our bodies, anti-mandate activist Kate Siegert said.

Registered nurse Julie Thompson, who has chosen not to get a COVID-19 vaccine, described the protest as the end result of not talking to your people.

It has galvanised people, she told Reuters.

The protest began as a stand against COVID-19 vaccine mandates but was later joined by groups calling for an end to all pandemic restrictions.

Council contractors and NZ Defence Force personnel cleared the debris from the end of Lambton Quay on Wednesday night.

New Zealand has imposed strict COVID-19 restrictions and border controls since the start of the pandemic. At present, it has 146,486 positive cases of COVID-19 in the community and has a double dose vaccination rate of 94 percent.
Across the country, there are some fascinating spring exhibitions that highlight great European art and craftsmanshipfrom the Renaissance art of painting on stone, on show in St. Louis, Missouri, to luxury silver animals on permanent display in Hunstville, Alabama.

Renaissance Gems: Paintings on Stone

For around 150 years, some Renaissance artists painted on stone as if it were a canvas or panel. Its a wonderful yet little-shown art form.

Over 70 paintings on stone, by 58 artists from worldwide collections, are now on display in the exhibition Paintings on Stone: Science and the Sacred 15301800 at the St. Louis Art Museum. The museums curator for European art to 1800, Judith Mann, curated the exhibition, which includes her research into the art and geological information.

Manns 15-year quest to find out more about paintings on stone began in 2000, when the museum acquired a stunning Perseus Rescuing Andromeda on lapis lazuli. It is included in the exhibition.

Perseus Rescuing Andromeda, circa 15931594, by Italian painter Cavaliere DArpino. Oil on lapis lazuli; 7 15/16 inches by 6 1/8 inches by 1/4 inch. St. Louis Art Museum. (St. Louis Art Museum)

Around 1530, Venetian artist Sebastiano del Piombo began the practice when he found a way to prime the stone surface for oil painting. He lived in Rome where artistic competition was fierce. Among his contemporaries were Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. Mann explains, in the exhibition audio guide, that Sebastiano may have experimented with a variety of painting supports, other than traditional canvas or panel, to differentiate his art from that of other artists.

Stone may be a novel painting surface, but artists painted the same subjects as they would have on traditional canvas and panel: portraits, religious images, and mythological scenes.

The exhibitions visitors will be able to see how paintings on stone developed. When artists first began painting on stone, they completely covered the surface in paint. But artists toward the end of the 16th century incorporated the stones inclusions as part of their compositions. Concentric markings on alabaster became heavenly realms. Blue lapis lazuli became a starry sky. Striations in lined jasper became ocean waves. The only limit was the artists imagination.

The Rest on the Flight Into Egypt, circa 16291630, by Jacques Stella. Oil on marble; 13 3/4 inches by 18 1/2 inches. Private collection. (Courtesy of The Eric Coatalem Gallery, Paris)

Artists also used the mystical meanings and physical characteristics of certain stones to strengthen a paintings meaning. For example, Bartolome Esteban Murillo rendered his painting The Nativity on black obsidian, volcanic glass that the Aztecs in Mexico believed was a conduit to supernatural realms. Another example is the stark gray of slate; it could reaffirm the strong qualities of a soldier that a more delicate stone could not.

Art and geology lovers will revel in this gem of an art.

The Paintings on Stone: Science and the Sacred 15301800 exhibition runs until May 15. To find out more, visit SLAM.org

Little-Known Yet Great: Italian Women Artists 15001800

Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi may be the best-known 17th-century female painter. The spotlight has lingered on her, most recently at The National Gallery in Londons solo exhibition. But theres a whole raft of lesser-known female artists whose work is just as great. They too excelled in their time, and, if we ignore its political bias, an exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 15001800, tells these artists tales.

The DIA and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, collaborated on the exhibition, which shows nearly 60 great Renaissance and Baroque artworks loaned from public and private collections in the United States and Europe. Self-portraits, still-lifes, and religious scenes are all featured in a variety of mediums from painting to print.

Glass Tazza With Peaches, Jasmine Flowers and Apples, 1607, by Fede Galizia. Oil on panel; 11 7/8 inches by 16 3/8 inches. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Michal Hornstein; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts)

Among the 17 artists featured are court artist Sofonisba Anguissola (15321625), Bolognese portrait painter Lavinia Fontana (15521614), Milanese still-life painter Fede Galizia (15781630), Bolognese painter and printmaker Elisabetta Sirani (16381665), Italian miniaturist Giovanna Garzoni (16001670), as well as works by Venetian pastel artist Rosalba Carriera (16731757).

Gentileschis work is at the center of the exhibition, and the DIAs own Gentileschi masterpiece Judith and Her Maidservant With the Head of Holofernes features prominently.

Judith and Her Maidservant With the Head of Holofernes, 15231525, by Artemisia Gentileschi. Oil on canvas; 73 11/16 inches by 55 7/8 inches. Detroit Institute of Arts. (Detroit Institute of Arts)

The By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 15001800 exhibition runs until May 29. To find out more, visit DIA.org

A Luxury Menagerie: Buccellatis Animals

The Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, Alabama, holds the worlds largest public collection of Buccellati animal sculptures, all of which were donated by the late Huntsville artist Betty Grisham.

Italian luxury jewelers Buccellati began in 1919, when Mario Buccellati opened his first jewelry store in Milan. The world-renowned company continues to create fine jewelry using engraving, Renaissance techniques, and new innovations.

Marios son, Gianmaria, invented a silverworking technique called lavorazione a pelo (hair-like workmanship), which enables artisans to create realistic works by welding silver filaments of different lengths and thicknesses, one atop the other, to their works. The hair-like technique works well for creating fur, skin, scales, and feathers.

Heron, 1988, by Gianmaria Buccellati; 800 silver, gold vermeil (gilded silver); 36 inches by 28.5 inches by 10.5 inches. Gift of Betty Grisham; Huntsville Museum of Art collection. (Huntsville Museum of Art)

Betty Grishams collection of Buccellati animal pieces are on permanent display in the museums exhibition Buccellati: A Silver Menagerie. Theres almost an ark full of animals on view, including a lion, deep-sea creatures, and a 4-foot flamingo. The museum even commissioned Buccellati to make a piece, a doe and fawn, in honor of Grisham.

Doe and Fawn, 2005, by Gianmaria Buccellati; 925 sterling silver. Doe: 15.5 inches by 15 inches by 5.5 inches. Fawn: 8.25 inches by 6.5 inches by 3.5 inches. Museum purchase in honor of Mrs. Betty Grisham; Huntsville Museum of Art. (Huntsville Museum of Art)

Many of the animals are made in 800 silver, which is 80 percent silver and 20 percent alloy, as welding melts sterling silver. But after 1995, the artisans discovered how to make the animals in pure sterling silver.

Buccellati: A Silver Menagerie is on permanent view at the Huntsville Museum of Art. To find out more, visit HSVMuseum.org

In addition to these great spring shows, theres still time to visit great American art exhibitions that weve previously featured.
Australia Approves Huge $560 Million Cobalt Mine To Boost Battery Industry

Australia has given the green light for a massive $560 million (US$410 million) cobalt mining project, aligning with the nations plan to become a global battery powerhouse amid an increasingly battery-dependent world.

It also comes amid reports that current cobalt supplies are being sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in deadly conditions using child slave labour.

The Broken Hill Cobalt Project aims to mine cobalt ores and produce 16,700 tonnes of battery-read cobalt sulphate each yearenough for the lithium-ion batteries in more than a million electric vehicles.

In all, Australia holds around 20 percent of the worlds cobalt, lithium and nickel depositsthe three key minerals used in lithium-ion batteries.

Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction said the project helped Australia strengthen its position as the go-to for the worlds supply of critical minerals.

The Broken Hill Cobalt projects pilot plant has already produced samples for shipping to battery precursor manufacturers across the country and the world, said Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction, Angus Taylor.

Minister for Energy Angus Taylor at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on May 14, 2020. (Photo by Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

And now were helping to supercharge its potential.

The site itself is located 23 km west of Broken Hill in New South Wales, with project owner Cobalt Blue (COB) hoping to leverage the approval to attract investment before beginning development.

Granting Major Project Status to the Broken Hill Cobalt Project will greatly assist COB to raise development capital by recognising the strategic importance given to this project by the Australian government, Cobalt Blue CEO Kaderavek said.

Broken Hill has a long history as a crucial mining town in Australia, holding the largest single source of silver, lead and zinc ore ever discovered. It is also the origin of the name for one of the biggest mining companies in the world, Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) Limited.

The project falls in line with the Australian Critical Minerals Strategy and Australias Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan, part of an overall transition to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Ethical Cobalt

Growing fears of blood cobalt sourced from the Congo have worried battery makers, including Tesla, who has gone so far as to make its electric vehicle batteries cobalt-free.

In December, a report released by the Australian Human Rights Commission highlighted concerns of slave labour and poor conditions brought on by a rapid uptake of green-energy technology, including solar, wind, and batteries.

Modern slavery risks are heightened when there is a change in procurement strategy, and high volumes of manufactured goods are required at short notice, the report reads. The shift to renewable energy has revealed a number of areas of emerging modern slavery supply chain risk for energy companies.

More than half the worlds supply is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where a significant proportion comes from artisanal mines, where minersmany of them childrenwork in dangerous conditions for minimal reward, the report continues.

A child walks past a truck carrying rocks extracted from a cobalt mine at a copper quarry and cobalt pit in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 23, 2016. (Junior Kannah/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, more than 70 percent of the worlds cobalt is produced in the DRCof which 15 to 30 percent is produced by artisanal and small-scale mining.

A class-action lawsuit had previously been filed on behalf of a group of mothers and children from the DRC against five U.S.-based big tech giants, which had alleged incidents of significant bodily harm and death stemming from cobalt mining operations.

The young children mining defendants cobalt are not merely being forced to work full-time, extremely dangerous mining jobs at the expense of their educations and futures; they are being regularly maimed and killed by tunnel collapses and other known hazards common to cobalt mining in the DRC, the lawsuit reads.

To this end, Cobalt Blue has made it its goal to help the global battery production industry and produce ethically-sourced cobalt.

As the world decarbonises, cobalt is criticalit stabilises batteries, makes them more powerful, and last longer, COB states on its website. With the green revolution and appetite for cobalt growing, so is the demand for ethical practices.

Bringing Battery Building to Australia

Australias abundant reserves of minerals used in batteries has brought with it calls to develop the battery-making industry here, rather than solely exporting the goods overseas.

Western Australia (WA) alone boasts most of the countrys cobalt, lithium, and nickel deposits, most of which is exported to the worlds biggest battery manufacturerChina.

WAs Curtin University Professor of Sustainability Peter Newmanand the lead author for transport on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changebelieves that WA is in a perfect position to establish a complete battery manufacturing supply chain.

There are huge opportunities right through the value chain, and at this stage, were just digging it up and sending it off, Newman told The Epoch Times on Jan. 21.

We have the largest lithium mine in the world, and that is now going to be processed in two places: in Bunbury and in Kwinana, to a very high-quality lithium that can go straight to a battery manufacturer, he said.

[And] in Australia, we have high quality science, analytical, and engineering capabilities to make and run these factories.

Currently, Australia has virtually no battery, solar, and wind manufacturing capabilities of its own and exports vast quantities of the goods from China.

And we do it on the site, so we dont waste that energy, were doing it very close to where the product is being mined  thats the next economy, Newman said.
Australia Given Dire Warning of Climate Change While Fears of Alarmism Grow

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned Australians they will need to brace for an increase in hot days, heatwaves, bushfires, droughts, sea-level rise, ocean warming, ocean acidification, and other extreme events, while others fear the conclusion is alarmist, irresponsible, and misleading.

Part two of IPCCs sixth assessment report (pdf) predicted that further climate change in the Australasia region was inevitable and argued that it could only be solved by rapid reduction in emissions

The region faces an extremely challenging future, the report said. Reducing the risks would require significant and rapid emission reductions to keep global warming to 1.5-2.0 degrees celsius, as well as robust and timely adaptation.

The report also pointed to what it called a cascading effect that had already led to the risk of irreversible change in some instances, such as species extinction, through events like bushfires that has led to excess deaths and increased rates of many illnesses.

Young boy taking photos of the aftermath of the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires in New South Wales, Australia. (Caseyjadew/Adobe Stock)

Another example is the 2019-2020 southeastern Australian wildfires which burned 5.8 to 8.1 million hectares, with 114 listed threatened species losing at least half of their habitat and 49 losing over 80 percent, over 3,000 houses destroyed, 33 people killed, a further 429 deaths and 3,230 hospitalizations due to cardiovascular or respiratory conditions.

Bushfires, like the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020one of the worst in Australias recent history are a predominant aspect of the Australian landscape, and over the last century have occurred at least once every decade, with the worst in 1974-1975 which burned 117 million hectares15 percent of Australias total land area.

Australia Responds

The findings of the report have spurred discourse amongst Australian environmental groups over the need for Australia to accelerate its emissions reduction efforts, which includes cutting coal and transitioning to more renewable energy generation.

But a spokesperson for Prime Minister Scott Morrison noted that Australia had officially reduced emissions faster than some of its allies.

On a per person basis, we are forecast to achieve a similar or greater reduction than what the US, Japan, Canada, New Zealand and others are simply hoping to achieve at this point, the spokesperson told AAP.

We are also one of only a handful of countries to set out a detailed plan to achieve our target of net zero emissions by 2050.

Australias Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) meets Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R) during the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, England on Jun. 12, 2021. (Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)

Australias reduction in emissions has relied almost entirely on controversial carbon offsets created through land management practices, such as by paying farmers millions of dollars to not chop down forests on their land.

However, climate change communications organisation, the Climate Council (CC), believes the report clearly spells out that governments should drastically cut emissions and cease the extraction and burning of fossil fuels this decade.

Right now, communities in Southeast Queensland and Northern NSW are being pummelled by extraordinarily intense rainfall and flooding, said CC Director of Research Simon Bradshaw. These communities have hardly had time to recover from past disasters and again theyre facing profound heartbreak and loss.

Increasingly, we see that communities are being hit with one disaster after another, like drought followed by fire, followed by flood. The compounding effect of these disasters is taking a heavy toll.

The report is very clear: any further delay in global action will miss the brief and closing window to secure a liveable future, he said.

Concerns of Climate Alarmism

However, the IPCCs warnings that nobody is safe from human-caused climate change are irresponsible and misleading, according to longtime environmental activist Michael Shellenberger.

Shellenberger, who is the founder and president of the nonprofit Environmental Progress and the author of Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, noted that while the natural science reviewed by the IPCC is accurate, the vast majority of the distortions and the pessimism regarding climate change appears in the summary in the statements by those who helped assemble the report.

Climate change is real. The world is getting warmer, its gotten about one degree Celsius warmer since the pre-industrial period. But on so many other environmental metrics, things are going in the right direction, Shellenberger said in an interview with EpochTVs Jan Jekielek on American Thought Leaders.

Michael Shellenberger, author of San Fransicko, in Washington on Oct. 20, 2021. (York Du/The Epoch Times)

The hottest period of the worst heat waves, for example, was in the 1930s. It has been a hot decade, but the 1930s remained the highest magnitude of heatwaves. The chance of dying from an extreme weather event has declined over 99 percent for the average human being.

Deaths from natural disasters overall are 90 percent down, we produce 25 percent more food than we need. Theres no estimate of running out of food  Sea level rise is something that weve done a very good job adapting to and well continue to do a good job adapting to.

So what I object to is the painting of humans as sort of fragile or super vulnerable. Weve never been more brilliant, weve never been less vulnerable, at least at a physical level.

I think the message that people need to hear that theyre not hearing is that the vast majority of environmental trends are going in the right direction, including on climate change.

Famously, the IPCCs fifth assessment report has been criticised for being selective and biased after the authors of the report failed to consider the effect of the sun on changing temperatures.

Ocean Acidification Research Biased and Overinflated

The impact of climate change on Australias reef system has been a considerable source of alarm for climate activists, but analysis by academics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found research published on ocean acidification prior to 2014 was at great risk of bias and inflated results.

Ocean acidification is a product of climate change; around one-quarter of carbon dioxide released through greenhouse emissions are dissolved into the sea and increases the acidity of seawater.

It is believed to be problematic for marine organisms such as coral and some plankton, which require molecules such as carbonate to form skeletons and shells. When the seawater becomes more acidic, the carbonate of their skeletons become neutralised and therefore dissolves in the water.

Assorted reef fish swim above a staghorn coral colony as it grows on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Cairns, Australia, on Oct. 25, 2019. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

But authors noted that studies published after 2014 all showed a very drastic decline in the magnitude of the effect on fish, causing the authors to theorise that previous results were affected by bias.

Researchers selectively publishing impressive results in prestigious journals and also to journalsparticularly high-impact journals can result in the proliferation of studies reporting strong effects, even though they may not be true and can fuel citation bias, the study said.

As results showing strong effects are often published more readily, and in higher-impact journals, than studies showing weak or null results, the authors wrote.

The authors argued that journals that show high impacts are often published in journals that favour striking effects and therefore have a lot of influence due to being more frequently cited than studies showing weaker relationships, with early studies with large effect sizes remain the most highly cited among all articles in our dataset.

U.N. Gives China a Pass

Regardless of fears of climate alarmism, the IPCCs overseer, the United Nations, has been criticised for giving China a pass to burn coal until 2040 while pushing Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other OECD countries to halt its use by 2030.

In September 2021, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Action Selwin Hart unveiled a new climate road map that set a strict deadline for developed nations to cut coal.

Yet despite being the worlds largest producer of greenhouse gases, China was not included in the stringent 2030 deadline set by the U.N.

This comes following prior calls from the U.N. for Australia to establish a concrete deadline for reaching net-zero, including decries from former U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon.

Smoke billows from stacks as Chinese men pull a tricycle in a neighbourhood next to a coal-fired power plant in Shanxi, China, on Nov. 26, 2015. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

The U.N. has exposed their real agenda, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan told The Epoch Times on Aug. 7. This isnt about changing the climate, it is about changing our society.

Concern has also been raised regarding Beijings influence within the U.N. As a permanent member with veto powers, China is the U.N.s largest financial backer, allocating $470 million (US$350 million) in its 2021 budget.

As the worlds biggest emitter, China produces more carbon dioxide in 16 days than Australia does in one year.

And a report by the global energy monitor (pdf) outlined that in 2020 China built on average one large coal power station per week, totalling over three times the amount of new coal capacity compared to other nations in the world, combined.

The report determined that, as of February 2021, China had 247 gigawatts of coal plants in developmentaround five times Australias total energy generation capacity.

Marina Zhang and Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.
FILE PHOTO: A maze of crude oil pipes and valves is pictured during a tour by the Department of Energy at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Freeport, Texas, U.S. June 9, 2016. REUTERS/Richard Carson

Australia Joins IEA in Releasing Oil Reserves to Stabilise Global Markets

Australia will join 31 members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) to release 60 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves to stabilise global energy markets.

Angus Taylor, the minister for industry and energy, said the global oil market was showing signs of uncertainty amidst the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We are continuing to work constructively with our partners to build confidence in the market and help stabilise prices, he said in a statement.

Australia will contribute to the collective action and release stocks held on our behalf in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he added.

This significant actionone of four ever taken by the IEAwill increase supplies to the market, helping to put downward pressure on prices both globally and here at home.

Previous collective actions were taken in 1991, 2005, and 2011.

Currently, the IEA holds 1.5 billion barrels, and the release of the stock is expected to increase supply and lower petrol prices.

The minister also said international gas markets were also impacted.

Australia can be relied upon to continue to meet our contractual obligations and contribute important liquidity to the global gas markets, he said.

The move comes following an emergency meeting held on March 1 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The military attack has spotlighted European, and global dependencies, on Russian energy sources and how it can potentially be leveraged if disputes arise, given Russias powerful position as a major supplier of world energy.

In fact, over the course of last week, current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was forced to make sweeping changes to the government energy policy, announcing on Feb. 27 that Germany would build two terminals to import LNG from other sources, begin building a national gas reserve, and consider prolonging the operation of its nuclear and coal power operationswhich was on course to be entirely shut down by 2030.

Russia is the worlds third-largest oil producer and exportersending 5 million barrels of crude oil per day, roughly 12 percent of global trade. It also exports 2.85 million barrels of petroleum products per day, representing around 15 percent of international trade.

Additionally, around 60 percent of Russias oil exports go to Europe and another 20 percent to China.
A bucket-wheel dumping soil and sand removed from another area of the mine in Newcastle, Australia, the world's largest coal exporting port, on Nov. 5, 2021. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)

Australian Coal Prices Jump Almost $100 in One Day as Countries Find Alternatives to Russian Coal

The price of Australian thermal coal has skyrocketed by US$99, or 33 percent, in one day as countries traditionally reliant on Russian coal scramble to secure alternative sources.

Newcastle coal, the benchmark for thermal coal in the Asia-Pacific region, ended at US$400 (A$549) per tonne on March 2 after peaking at US$446 per tonne during the day.

Resources Minister Keith Pitt confirmed the government was facilitating access between interested parties and Australian thermal coal producers.

Australias coal producers have indicated they are willing to help our friends and allies if they can, Pitt told The Australian.

Poland currently in talks with Australia for coal supply, as the country is pushing for the European Union to stop importing coal from Russia.

I talked about it today with the prime minister of Australia  to transport coal to Poland from there, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday.

Morawiecki said Poland just needed assurance from the European Commission that it would not get penalised for introducing an embargo on Russian coal.

A blockade on various types of hydrocarbons from Russia oil, gas, and coalshould be part of the sanctions package, he said. I am calling once again for the European Commission to decide on an embargo on Russian coal.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki addresses a press conference in Budapest on April 1, 2021. (Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images)

Around 65 percent of Polands energy grid in 2021 relied on coal. In the first half of 2021, the country important 6.2 million tonnes of coal of which 4 million of tonnes was from Russia and another 1.2 million tonnes from Australia.

The rest of the European Union similarly relies on Russia for coal, the third biggest exporter of the resource, accounting for over 40 percent of the regions total coal imports in 2021.

While Australian and Polish authorities are currently in trade talks, other European nations may soon follow.

Current flooding across the east coast of Australia is also causing challenges for ports, with the Port of Brisbane closed.

Coal futures jumped US$161 during the first seven days of the Russian invasion into Ukraine, from $239 on Feb. 24 to $400 on March 2.

It previously surged in late 2021 after the Chinese Communist Party placed a ban on Australian coal as part of its trade war with Australia, which led to rolling blackouts across the nation.

Europe was also facing large energy shortfalls as countries moved towards renewables without a reliable energy grid.

At the time, it reached a peak of US$269 before plummeting back down.
In this photo illustration a man uses a COVID-19 rapid antigen test kit at home in Sydney, Australia on September 29, 2021. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Australian Company Launches Revolutionary COVID-19 Self-Test For Vulnerable Aussies

Vulnerable Australians will be able to access COVID-19 rapid antigen tests far more easily after the release of a new one-step saliva rapid antigen test.

The test which is the brainchild of the Australian-based digital health company Gardian took 12 months in the making and is a non-invasive, saliva-based rapid antigen test that is suitable for all ages and abilities including those with low-vision, are elderly, have issues with physical dexterity or have cognitive disabilities.

The testing kit is easy to use and repeatable with a one-step process for extracting the sample with the kit only needing users to uncap the lid and put the testing cassette under the tongue to collect the saliva. The kit is also supported by a self check app that according to the video on the companys website, takes the users step-by-step through the instructions to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Graham Gordon, CEO of Gardian in a media release on March 2 that the new test is the first of its kind that is simple enough for a child to do it.

In our experience, there are not a lot of products offering a significantly high level of sensitivity and specificity while featuring functionality simple enough to suit users from age four, he said.

The company also said that the test is capable of identifying all current variants identified by the World Health Organisation and is listed as very highly sensitive.

Intended for use in the first 7 days of symptom onset, the test promises a 96.64 percent sensitivity and 98.95 percent specificity from a clinical trial that included 594 participants (pdf), though no clinical reports were published verifying this.

Each kit will also be QR coded which can be traced back to its manufacturing, transportation, and distribution, details from the app will also be linked with a users contact details, time and location of testing so that users can be contacted if needed.

However, the testing kits will not be manufactured in Australia with the company instead using the Jiangsu Medomics Medical Technology Co Ltd in China (pdf).

The announcement comes after testing kits previously in collaboration with Gardian were suspended by the TGA after a post-market review in 2022 over concerns about their performance and safety.

Nonetheless, the Sheriff of NSW Department of Communities and Justice, Tracey Hall voiced her support for the Gardian RATs.

She said that they use the user-friendly Gardian T3 tests as the health and wellbeing of all staff, court and tribunal users is of paramount importance.

Gardian T3 is currently available for distribution in Australia from Feb. 22 but has yet to enter pharmacy shelves.

Meanwhile, recent studies on rapid antigen testing have shown conflicting data on the accuracy of using saliva-based samples with a Japanese study in 2021 showing that salivary samples are not a suitable replacement to nasopharyngeal swabs for rapid antigen detection.

Another 2021 study conducted in Europe argued that though RAT companies may report a high sensitivity and specificity in the clinical studies, that number can drop dramatically in real-world situations due to users making errors in the process.
In this photo provided by the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, water floods land and buildings near Gympie, north of Brisbane, Australia Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. Heavy rain is bringing record flooding to some east coast areas and claimed seven lives while the flooding in Brisbane, a population of 2.6 million, and its surrounds is the worst since 2011 when the city was inundated by what was described as a once-in-a-century event. (Queensland Fire and Emergency Services via AP)

Australian State Faces Billion Dollar Repair Bill After Flooding Disaster

Extreme flooding in Queensland, Australia, may have left the state in need of up to one billion dollars (US$730 million) to repair the damage wrought by the natural disaster.

Queensland Deputy Premier, Steven Miles, told AAP on March 3 that early estimates for the disaster have placed the figure around the billion dollar mark.

Its clear that the flooding disaster emergency here in the southeast is not over yet, but the recovery process has begun, Miles said. Early estimates suggest that the damage bill for this disaster could be up to a billion dollars.

The flooding, which started after a weather system described as a rain bomb brought days of torrential rain to Queensland, has forced thousands from their homes and wrought widespread destruction around the southeastern regions of the state.

The Insurance Council of Australia said that although they believe it is too early to determine the total overall cost of the damages of the Queensland floods, there were indications the figure was going to be high with more than 37,800 SEQ insurance claims being lodged by March 2. While insurance company, Suncorp, had above 13,000 claims on March 2, a number that the company expects to increase.

Thats an extraordinary number of claims in a very short period of time, CEO of Suncorp, Steve Johnston told AAP.

Johnston said that the state was clearly facing large losses after the flood and should build back the buildings that were lost or damaged in a more flood-resistant fashion to limit the damage of future floods.

The inevitability here is that we are going to be repairing homes that have been repaired three or four times, he said.

Despite the bill to repair the flood damage being high, the clean-up process has already begun, with Queenslands Mud Army 2.0 collecting tonnes of the flood-damaged items piling up outside of businesses and homes. The Mud Army is a volunteer group that was established after the devastating Queensland floods back in 2011, it is run by Brisbane City Council and helps clean up after detrimental flooding.

A man removes debris from his flood-affected car mechanic business in Lismore, Australia, on March 2, 2022. (Dan Peled/Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner told AAP that he thought the cost of this flood would not exceed the cost of the devasting floods that struck the city in 2011.

I dont expect that it will be at that level. I think it will be less than 2011 but we still dont have a figure at this point. This will be something that takes time, he said.

It is still too early to determine the damage figuretheres a lot of assets that we havent been able to get onto yet, Schrinner told AAP. Ferry terminals, river walkstherere a lot of parks that have had significant damage so this will take some time to get the figures together.

A farmhouse is surrounded by floodwater in Tumbulgum, on the NSW North Coast, Australia on March 01, 2022. (Photo by Dan Peled/Getty Images)

This comes as Glen Hartwig, the Mayor of the Central Queensland City, Gympie, said that local businesses are going to need long-term recovery.

Theres a desperate need to show some care and compassion to these individuals who often will mortgage a kidney just to get involved and have a bit of an entrepreneurial go at life, Hartwig told AAP. Its quite likely that a lot wont get back into Mary Street, so in the coming time well be talking with all the relevant people to see what can be done to assist them.

Theyre good people, theyre hardworking people, they love the region and they love the community and we want to see them thrive, he said.

Queensland Disaster Reconstruction Authority CEO Brendan Moon said that the current goal is to repair vital infrastructure whilst getting people back to their homes and businesses, reported AAP.

This will be a big task for Queenslanders, but we have done this before. The community, local government and state government and the Commonwealth Government will come together to support the recovery of our communities just as weve been done before, Moon said.

Additionally, financial assistance and support services, including the Emergency Hardship Assistance grants are now accessible to residents of Gold Coast and Gladstone local government areas (LGA) affected by severe flooding.

The grants are designed to cover the cost of essential items such as food, medication, and clothing; they can go up to $180 (about US $130) per person and $900 (about US $660) per a family of five or more.

Properties in the suburb of Goodna in the far south-western outskirts of Brisbane are seen inundated by floodwaters in Brisbane, Australia on March 01, 2022. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Queensland Minister for Communities and Housing, Leeanne Enoch, said in a media release on March 3 that the availability of the grants was going to continue for residents of the most impacted areas who are experiencing financial hardship.

We are continuing to make grants and supports available to the people who need it as we receive requests from local authorities for assistance, Enoch said in the March 3 media release.

Thousands of people across Queensland have had their homes or businesses inundated, thousands have been isolated and many Queenslanders are now beginning the arduous task of cleaning up.

We are seeing the continuing impacts of a very serious and significant flooding event and sadly parts of the Gold Coast and Gladstone have not been spared, she said.

Enoch said that grants would become accessible to further areas as the floods affected them and encouraged Queenslanders to monitor the Queensland government website for updates.

The Queensland government said that financial assistance and grants for uninsured Australians who experienced certain loss or damage from the flood are available. Financial assistance is accessible under the jointly funded Commonwealth/State-Disaster Relief Funding Arrangements (DRFA). The grants for uninsured Australians are income tested and they include the Essential Household Contents Grant, Structural Assistance Grant and Essential Services Safety and Reconnection Grant.

Meanwhile, Suncorp CEO Steve Johnston said in a Feb. 28 media statement that the insurance company was carefully monitoring the situation, and was ready to help their customers.

Right now, safety is the number one priority as we continue to face significant and dangerous weather conditions,  he said. Customers should lodge their claims when it is safe to do so, with online lodgement fast and easy. We can arrange emergency repairs, organise temporary accommodation for customers whose homes have been severely damaged and provide cash payments to make emergency purchases.

Johnston said that the next few weeks would challenge residents as they return to their homes and begin to assess the damage, but he noted that the companys staff would be ready to help them on their way to recovery.
Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, answers questions at a press conference prior to his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference at The Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 26, 2022. (Tal Atzmon/The Epoch Times)

Beijing Will Invade Taiwan Sooner Rather Than Later, Trump Predicts

Beijing is likely to launch an invasion of Taiwan sooner rather than later, in response to the Biden administrations handling of both the Afghanistan pullout and Ukraine crisis, according to former U.S. President Donald Trump.

The former president was asked by Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on March 2, Do you expect China to invade Taiwan sooner rather than later?

Trump replies: I do because theyre seeing how stupid [sic] the United States is run. Theyre seeing that our leaders are incompetent.

The former president also claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken actions that Putin would not have felt emboldened to take if Trump still occupied the White House. Biden said such weak statements at the beginning that Putin said Oh wow, this is my time to go, he said.

Trump added, And by the way, Taiwans going to be next. Just watch Taiwan. President Xi is watching it with glee, referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The Chinese communist regime considers self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory to be seized by force, if necessary. Thus analysts have noted that Beijing is keenly observing the unfolding conflict and the United States and allies response to inform its future actions against the island.

Xi, according to Trump, may feel further emboldened by the United States chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, an event widely considered one of the lowest points of American foreign policy in recent years.

President Xi happens to be a man with a high intelligence level, and he looks what happened in Afghanistan, the way we pulled out, Trump said. He saw the way that we left Afghanistan, like a surrender, and left $85 billion in debts behind and left American citizens there that are still trying to get out. And he sees that, and this is his opportunity to do what he wants to do, and hes wanted to do that, and Chinas wanted to do that for decades.

Trumps comments echo statements he made last week before Russias full-scale invasion, when he said that Xi would invade Taiwan after taking a cue from Putin, characterizing the two leaders as twin sisters.
Canada Calls for Suspension of Russia From Interpol

Canada is calling for Russia to be suspended from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on March 3.

Trudeau said Canada is working with other allies in support of the move amid Russias ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Today, Canada and other close partners are calling to suspend Russia from Interpol, he said in a press conference in Ottawa.

Were supporting this because we believe that international law enforcement cooperation depends on a collective commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and mutual respect between Interpol members.

Should the call to suspend Russia be heard, the country would lose access to the law enforcement organizations network of investigative support and expertise shared among its 195 member countries.

When asked whether he would support discontinuing Russias participation in the G20 forum, Trudeau said Russias previous expulsion from the G8 in 2014, after its invasion into Crimea, demonstrates the value of such a countermeasure.

The expulsion of Russia from the G8 demonstrates that there is value in the worlds leading democracies being together to work things out, he said.

Trudeau noted that he has spoken with a number of G20 leaders about what the countries can consider in terms of holding Russia to account or demonstrating concerns while also continuing to engage in a constructive way in the global economy.

This is a conversation we will have over many months as we look to the Fall for the G20 meetings. There are no hard and fast decisions yet, but certainly, its a reflection we need to have, he said.

Earlier on March 3, Defence Minister Anita Anand announced that Canada will be supplying more military equipment to Ukraine, including 72 rocket launchers and grenades, which Trudeau said come in addition to other previous commitments to support the country, such as plans to ban imports of Russian crude oil.

Meanwhile, Trudeau said Canada will create a new immigration pathway, the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel, to allow more Ukrainians to come to Canada temporarily.

This will eliminate many of the normal visa requirements, and it will be the fastest and safest way to come to Canada, he said.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a press release, that all Ukrainian nationals will be able to apply through this new path. Pending a background check and security screening, their stay in Canada could be extended by at least 2 years.

The agency is expected to have the extended pathway open for applications in 2 weeks. In the meantime, it continues to encourage Ukrainians to apply through all other programs, and their applications will be prioritized.

IRCC will implement a separate special family reunification sponsorship pathway for Ukranians with family members who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents. Details of this program will be announced in the coming weeks, according to the release.

Trudeau did not respond directly when asked if his government will declare the Russian ambassador to Canada and his staff to be persona non grata and expelled from the country, saying that such a decision will have to be made in the best interests of Canada and its allies.

Were, of course, looking at what our allies are doing, looking at what we need to do, to yes, send the strongest signals, but also be as effective as we can in pushing towards an end to this [invasion], he said.
A woman comforts her baby at a temporary shelter set up in a market hall for displaced persons fleeing Ukraine, in Przemysl, Poland, March 3, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Czarek Sokolowski)

Canada Expedites Temporary Visas for Ukrainians, Imposes New Sanctions on Russia

Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression can find a safe haven in Canada using expedited temporary visas for emergency travel, the federal government announced Thursday while it also ratcheted up the economic pressure on Russias oligarchs.

The government will provide fast-tracked visas for an unlimited number of Ukrainians who wish to come to Canada to work, and then return home when it is safe, said Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. He said these visas will take just weeks to process, instead of the usual year.

The primary motivation for this program is that it provides the fastest way for us to start welcoming as many Ukrainians as possible, he said.

Fraser said a refugee resettlement program would have taken years, and he learned from his conversations with the Ukrainian community that many people will want to return to their home country when the conflict ends.

The application process is expected to open in about 14 days.

The United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, says the refugees who have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries since Russia launched its attacks last week now number one million.

The agency warned that without an immediate end to the conflict, millions more will be forced to leave their country.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced at the same Thursday news conference that the government has imposed a 35 percent tariff on all Russian exports to Canada.

She said there are also new sanctions against 10 executives with Gazprom, a major Russian state-owned energy company, and Rosneft, Russias leading oil company.

This will bring the total number of people and entities sanctioned, or in the process of being sanctioned, by Canada since Russias illegal occupation of Crimea in 2014 to more than 1000, Freeland said.

Freeland said this will increase the pressure on Russias oligarchs, whom she called the sycophants and enablers in the Putins inner circle who have lived luxurious lives in the West.

On top of the economic pressure, Canada plans to send more lethal aid to Ukraine. Canada will send 4,500 rocket launchers and 7,500 hand grenades from its existing weapons stockpile.

Canada has also pledged $1 million for the purchase of high-resolution modern satellite imagery.

This capability will provide Ukraines military with a strengthened ability to monitor the movement of Russian forces in and around their territory, Defence Minister Anita Anand said.

Fraser also announced a new reunification program for Ukrainians with family in Canada who wish to come and remain here permanently.

The government has encouraged refugees to continue to apply to come to Canada through traditional immigration streams, and says their requests will be expedited too.

About 6,000 expedited applications from Ukraine have been approved since January.

By Laura Osman and Mike Blanchield
In this photo taken from video and released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Jan. 26, 2022, the Russian navy's missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov sails off for an exercise in the Arctic. (The Canadian Press/AP-Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Canada, Six Other States Pull Back From Arctic Council in Protest Over Ukraine

Seven countries that ring the North Pole have pulled back from the international body that seeks to build co-operation on the development of the Arctic in protest of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Canada, the United States, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland announced Thursday that they wont participate in the work of the Arctic Council or attend any of its meetings until further notice. The only other member state is Russia, which currently leads the council.

Our representatives will not travel to Russia for meetings of the Arctic Council, said a joint statement from the seven countries. Additionally, our states are temporarily pausing participation in all meetings of the council and its subsidiary bodies.

The Arctic Council has been the main group fostering international co-operation in the Arctic since its founding in Ottawa in 1996. Although it doesnt have treaty-making powers, its work has led to important agreements on search and rescue, oil spill preparedness and scientific co-operation.

Its also an important international forum for northern Indigenous people, who are permanent participants at council meetings and take part in its debates.

The councils six working groups provide important research on the Arctic environment, its people and the sustainable development of its resources.

A spokeswoman for the councils secretariat in Tromso, Norway, said the council remains in operation, and its too early to know what the withdrawal means for the bodys scientific work.

The statement from the seven countries says the withdrawal is temporary, pending consideration of the necessary modalities that can allow us to continue the Councils important work in view of the current circumstances.
Capitol Report (March 2): China Threat Not Mentioned in SOTU; US Reps Worry China Could Invade Taiwan

U.S. lawmakers are pushing for a fresh wave of penalties against Russia, from hitting its energy exports to opening a war crime probe. What could some of the next steps be?

Michael Caputo was campaign adviser to former President Donald Trump, and he spent several years in Russia during the Clinton administration. His family is still in Ukraine trying to make their way out. He gives us an update and shares his thoughts on what he thinks will be the fate of Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russian forces close in.

President Joe Bidens Supreme Court nominee met with key senators Wednesdayher first step toward confirmation to the nations highest court. How much support does she have and how soon could she be sworn in?

The White House is announcing its latest plan for handling the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus global pandemic. The plan is expected to have four parts.

Tuesday night, Biden gave his State of the Union address. He talked a lot about Ukraine but did not mention one of Americas greatest threats.

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Jean Charest speaks walks through the halls at the Canadian Aerospace Summit in Ottawa on Nov. 13, 2019. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Charest Waiting on Rules to Decide on Tory Run

OTTAWAFormer Quebec premier Jean Charest says hes waiting to see party rules before deciding whether he will run to be the next Conservative leader.

Charest met Wednesday night with MPs and senators at a hotel in downtown Ottawa at a reception planned by two people who want him to run.

On his way in he told reporters hes waiting for the party to release the rules of the race to see how long it will last.

Charest said he wants to make sure it runs long enough for him to be able to properly campaign.

So far Pierre Poilievre, the well-known Conservative MP from the Ottawa area, is the only declared candidate in the race.

As Charest met behind closed doors with MPs and senators, Shannon Stubbs, a Poilievere supporter, tweeted out an image attacking Charest for supporting carbon pricing and the long-gun registry.

Im with grassroots Conservative Party members. Our leader must share our values and respect our policies. Im against the carbon tax, the long-gun registry, and for tax cuts, not tax takes, she wrote.

Conservative MP and former leadership contender Michael Chong said Wednesday he hasnt ruled out another potential run for the job.

In 2017, he placed fifth in the crowded race to replace former Conservative leader and prime minister Stephen Harper, in which Andrew Scheer was ultimately elected.

Chong told reporters his first priority now is his foreign affairs critic role, which he holds as Canada and other world powers respond to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The second focus, he said, is thinking about, in the coming weeks, what I can do to help my party and my country.

As Conservatives wait to find out their options for party leader, many of their 119 MPs have already thrown their support behind Poilievre.

The contest hasnt officially begun. A committee of Conservatives struck to establish the rules of the race is to meet again in the coming days. It must decide the criteria for membership sales and entrance fees, not to mention make the all-important decision about how long the competition will last.

Quebec Conservative Sen. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu said earlier Wednesday he believes the race should run until September to provide candidates from outside caucus a chance to enter, including Charest, as well as political commentator Tasha Kheiriddin, who is considering becoming a candidate.

Others considering running include Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who formerly led Ontarios Progressive Conservatives, and Leslyn Lewis, the Ontario MP who placed third behind former leader Erin OToole in the 2020 contest, thanks to considerable backing from social conservatives and members from Western Canada.

One factor that hangs over the races timing is the fact that Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau governs in a minority Parliament, which means an election could happen any time.

The lack of official party rules hasnt stopped different camps of Conservatives from coalescing around prospective candidates and Poilievre from kicking off his fundraising.

Hes also been hitting the road. He attended an event in Montreal earlier in the week and on Friday plans to hold a rally in Regina.

Poilievre has also been staking out his own policy positions. Recently, he released a video in which he called Europes response in the lead-up to Russias invasion of Ukraine weak.

Theres a reason much of Europe has cowered in this face of this thug  oil and gas, he said in the roughly six-minute video.

Some of those in caucus backing his leadership defended his wording, while at least one characterized it as divisive.

I think that we dont have to divide, we have to be very solid with Ukraine. And I think we have to be very prudent with comments, said Boisvenu.

Chong added the Conservative position is that Canada, alongside Europe, the United Kingdom and United States, have presented a united front to counter Russias aggression.

Our view is also that NATO has been brought together by this threat coming from President (Vladimir) Putin and the Russian federation and it is working more cohesively and more strongly than it has in the past 10 years.

By Stephanie Taylor
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk toward a hall in the Kremlin to hold talks, in Moscow on June 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)

China Asked Russia to Postpone Ukraine Invasion Until After Olympics: Report

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials allegedly knew of Russias plans to invade Ukraine in advance, and requested that the war be postponed until after the Beijing Olympics had concluded, according to Western intelligence obtained by the New York Times (NYT).

The NYT report said that the information, which was collected by Western intelligence agencies, was classified but that Senior Biden administration officials and one European official confirmed their authenticity on the condition of anonymity.

The information was allegedly collected and studied in the lead up to Russias invasion of Ukraine, but those involved did not agree on how far up knowledge of the impending invasion spread among CCP officials.

As such, the intelligence does not directly implicate Russian President Vladimir Putin and CCP General Secretary Xi personally. The NYT report said that it was likely officials from both nations briefed their higher-ups, however.

If the report is credible, it could vindicate earlier warnings that China and Russia are working closely with one another to undermine the rules-based international order and to facilitate one anothers plans for Taiwan and Ukraine, respectively, behind the scenes.

Putin and Xi met on Feb. 4 in Beijing on the opening day of the Winter Olympics, which ran until Feb. 20. The meeting culminated in the release of a lengthy statement declaring a partnership between the two nations that had no limits, and expressing their shared opposition to the further expansion of NATO, a key justification of Russias invasion.

The statement came even as Putin moved massive numbers of troops to western Russia and Belarus to prepare for the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin ordered troops to be moved into eastern parts of Ukraine one day after the end of the Olympics.

Putin initially described the invasion as a special military operation to secure the independence of breakaway provinces in Ukraines eastern Donbas region, and to deNazify its government.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish.

The truth quickly made itself known, however, when Putin demanded that Ukraine overthrow Zelenskyy, and brought former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych into Belarus, suggesting that his real goal is regime change to ensure a Ukrainian government favorable to Russia.

Yanukovych fled Ukraine during the Maidan Revolution of 2014, after signing an agreement that would return Ukraine to a parliamentary-presidential form of government.

In the week since the beginning of the war, Russia has carried out mass fires on civilian infrastructure including schools and hospitals, and has been accused by the international community of committing war crimes.

The CCP has censored information about the war within mainland China, and does not acknowledge the conflict as an invasion.
A view of the square outside the damaged local city hall of Kharkiv, Ukraine, destroyed as a result of Russian troop shelling, on March 1, 2022. (Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese Citizens in Ukraine Struggle to Find Ways to Flee While Beijing Trumpets Its Evacuation Efforts

Amid Russias invasion of Ukraine, when many countries had already evacuated their citizens and students from the war, Chinese nationals were surprised to find that the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) promise to evacuate people was unreliable, and that the official number of evacuations it claimed to have made included the Chinese who fled from Ukraine on their own.

The Chinese Embassy in Ukraine said on Feb. 28 that it had organized the evacuation of the first batch of 400 Chinese students from Odessa, Ukraine. On the same day, some 200 Chinese students would leave Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

Yet Chinese nationals in Ukraine have complained of a lack of support from the embassy, with some forced to find their own ways out of the war-torn country.

Ding Jianwei, press counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine, was quoted by guancha.cn as saying that nearly 1,000 more Chinese would leave Ukraine on Mar. 1, including Chinese students and overseas Chinese who voluntarily left [that is, left on their own].

Another Chinese in Ukraine said, The embassy is currently only in registration mode. There is no charter flight for evacuation, so all the planes you see online that have already returned to China or are about to return to China are just rumors.

Chinese media reports say charter flights are difficult as the situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate and airspace has been closed. But some Chinese students said in WeChat groups that India is evacuating its students to neighboring countries and then flying them home from there on chartered flights.

The CCP embassy in Ukraine said more than 6,000 overseas Chinese had registered to leave, adding that the embassy had called to confirm one by one to ensure that all of them could be evacuated in time through different channels.

But one student said he couldnt get through to the embassy by phone. My classmate told me to gather in front of the Red University Building in Kyiv after receiving the notice from the embassy, but many of us didnt know that We dont understand why only a few people were notified of the evacuation, not all of them.

We were hoping that our mother country would be able to take us home as quickly as the West, [but] now I feel so disappointed. Some people in the group said [we] have to understand mother country, but I cant understand. I dont want to become part of the casualty number.

Another expressed disappointment and helplessness at the CCP authorities: Thailand has withdrawn all its nationals. India has also withdrawn its 16,000 people, yet Ukraine still has more than 6,000 [Chinese] students. I feel a little helpless.

One Chinese in Odessa, Ukraine, told The Epoch Times, We are all in a panic. Everyone is trying to find a way to escape. Some people are still waiting for the embassy to make arrangements; many are discussing how to run away in a makeshift WeChat group.

I heard that the subway is too crowded now to get on. I dont dare to go out. I dont know whats going on outside.

Its not easy to even find a bus now when a war is going on.

Another Chinese named Mu Feng (pseudonym) told The Epoch Times, There are Chinese people in bomb shelters in both Kharkov and Kyiv in Ukraine. The situation is dangerous. [Theyre] under shelling and bombing now.

Its early morning in Ukraine. People are sleeping in fear, wondering every moment if theyre going to be bombed.

A Chinese man, whose wife is Ukrainian, described his familys situation this way: I could see the armored vehicle through the window. My child woke up because of the alarm. My wife was sealing the window with tape

There are civil society men with guns 100 to 200 meters [about 109 to 218 yards] away on the street, said Mr. Lv in Kyiv. There is nothing in the supermarket, and there are lines at the door.

Another Chinese posted in a WeChat group that it was becoming more and more expensive to flee Ukraine as the war dragged on. It cost $1,000 for a [train] seat yesterday, so I didnt leave. I continued to stay in a basement, an air-raid shelter in Kyiv, and have prepared food for one month.

The escape fee rose to 10,000 yuan ($1,584) yesterday. Now you cant get on the train even if you have money. The railway station is full of people.

Ellen Wan contributed to this report.
Detained Chinese nationals, accused of involvement in a trafficking gang to lure Pakistani women into fake marriages, try to shield their faces while they are escorted by Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency officers to court in Lahore, Pakistan, on May 11, 2019. (K.M. Chaudary/AP Photo)

Chinese Law Professor Censored After Speaking Out for Victims of Women Trafficking

The Iron Chain Woman human trafficking scandal in Xuzhou City of Chinas Fengxian County, Jiangsu Province, has been receiving unabated attention on Chinas intranet-like Internet. Lao Dongyan, a professor of law at Tsinghua University, was silenced after posting a comment about this scandal.

Lao had been following theIron Chain Woman scandal since Jan. 31 and was reposting related articles on WeChat every day.

In one of the WeChat posts, she wrote, The Fengxian scandal will definitely be recorded in history, and we are witnessing history and participating in it. Although I dont have much expectation for the result, I am glad that we did not give up.

Later, Laos WeChat was banned and all the teachers of Tsinghua University also received a notice demanding that they keep silent on the case.

According to a whistleblower teacher, the administration of Tsinghua University posted in the teachers WeChat group on Feb. 21 a notice that read: All teachers this semester will be notified verbally, it is forbidden to discuss the Xuzhou Iron Chain Woman scandal in the classroom. The offenders will bear the consequences.

On the afternoon of Feb. 25, The Epoch Times contacted the Office of the President of Tsinghua University to inquire about the notice. A staff member who answered the phone said that the principals office did not issue this notice, nor did it send this notice to teachers in the name of the school.

Zhuge Mingyang, an independent commentator, said of the incident, Oftentimes, in order not to leave evidence, many notices from the Chinese government at all levels are communicated orally over the phone. Once exposed or held accountable, they can prevaricate and deny, leaving people unable to find the source of the notice.

The reason why Laos WeChat was blocked is that she wrote and posted an article Facing the Real World on Jan. 29, in which she documented Chinese peoples struggles in 2021. Anyone could have faced strict lockdown measures at anytime in this year, she said. Many patients needing urgent care died because the system prevented them walking through the hospital door. Blinded by the authoritys regulations, people turned a blind eye to the suffering of others causing further suffering, Lao wrote.

Lao said that in a society full of discourse about positive energy, the sense of unease spreads rapidly, and the pursuit of freedom often becomes the object of ridicule. The gradual centralization of power, various restrictions in the name of security, and big tech domination based on data tracking are increasingly manifested in Chinese society, she said. People are increasingly showing an attitude of indifference or even welcome.

Lao also wrote that, in a dream, I heard the sound of the state machine crunching and turning, lacking warmth, but appearing rational and cold. If one day I cant speak anymore, I dont regret that I have spoken.

As a result, Laos WeChat was blocked. On Feb. 19, she opened a Weibo account to discuss the Iron Chain Woman scandal, but was banned after only two posts.

Mr. Yang, a lawyer in Changsha City, Hunan Province, who isnt releasing his full name due to potential repercussions, told The Epoch Times that the CCP has always called itself the worlds second largest economy; how could it allow such a humiliating affair as the Iron Chain Woman to continue to spread? So it is blocking it, he said.

Lawyer Yang said, Freedom of speech in China is only limited to the words in the provisions of the Constitution, and it is for foreigners to see.

The Iron Chain Woman scandal is still unresolved, and many cases of missing women have been reported across China.

Recently, the family of Yu Chunhong, a female doctor from Xian Jiaotong University who has been missing for 28 years, also sought help online. Yu Chunhong was admitted to the universitys Department of Energy and Power Engineering in 1986, majoring in nuclear reactors. In 1990, she continued her masters degree in the major. In 1993, she was admitted to the university for a doctoral degree. After the Chinese New Year in 1994, she disappeared on her way back from campus. It has been 28 years since she was last seen by her family.

According to a report by The Paper on Feb. 23, the family of Wu Lina, a female college student from Chuzhou, Anhui, who has been missing for 20 years, also began to search through the Internet. Wu Lina disappeared near the old railway station in Chuzhou on May 6, 2002, when she was only 20 years old. The Paper then deleted the relevant content, but did not provide a reason for its removing the news story.

Reports have also documented numerous kidnapping incidents of women from the streets of Harbin in Heilongjiang Province. On the afternoon of Feb. 20, a ten-year-old girl on a street in Harbin was followed by a strange man on her way home. She was hugged from behind and almost kidnapped. The girl struggled desperately, and was rescued by a good Samaritan who was passing by.
The TikTok logo is displayed outside a TikTok office in Culver City, Calif., on Aug. 27, 2020. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Coalition of US States Launches Probe of TikTok Over Harms to Children

The popular video-sharing app TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, is now the subject of a probe by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general who are concerned about the effects of the app on children and teens.

The attorneys general of California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Vermont are spearheading the investigation.

The investigation will look into the harms such usage causes to young users and what TikTok knew about those harms. The investigation focuses, among other things, on the techniques utilized by TikTok to boost young user engagement, including increasing the duration of time spent on the platform and frequency of engagement with the platform, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, a Republican, said in a March 2 statement.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat, said in a statement: As children and teens already grapple with issues of anxiety, social pressure, and depression, we cannot allow social media to further harm their physical health and mental wellbeing. State attorneys general have an imperative to protect young people and seek more information about how companies like TikTok are influencing their daily lives.

TikTok said in a statement that its focused on the safety of younger users and limits features by age.

We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens, the statement reads.

The company said in early February that it was working on ways to rate and restrict content by age in order to prevent adult content from reaching teenage users of its short-video app.

Even before the announcement of the probe on March 2, TikTok had been the target of a number of separate actions in the United States and abroad over data security and privacy concerns.

Legislation has been introduced in both houses of Congress to ban the app from government devices because of national security risks, while the Commerce Department is considering a rule change that would expand federal oversight of foreign-owned apps to those that could be used by foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain data.

Several lawsuits have been launched against the platform, including a class-action suit by parents in Holland over the sites culling of their childrens personal data, seeking more than $1.7 billion damages.

TikTok has also received criticism for sharing user data with third parties to a far greater extent than its rivals in the tech space.

The latest move by the state attorneys general stems from a probe launched in November 2021 of Instagram, a site owned by Meta, formerly known as Facebook. A coalition of 44 attorneys general made a request to Facebook in May 2021 that the site scrap its plans to promote a version of Instagram catering to children younger than age 13.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Convoy Organizer Lich Remains Behind Bars as Defence Says Bail Judges Past Ties to Liberals Ground for Reversal

Legal experts debate whether there's an issue of bias in Lich's case

Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich remains behind bars until at least March 7, marking 19 days in custody, as the judge overhearing her bail review on March 2 said the next hearing session would be the following week.

Among the arguments raised by Lichs defence is that the judge who denied her bail was biased against her cause due to the judges former ties to the governing Liberal Party, a point of debate among legal experts.

Drew Barnes, an independent Alberta MLA in Lichs hometown riding for Cypress-Medicine Hat, has called Lich a political prisoner and asked for her release.

She freely admits to taking part in non-violent civil disobedience in her role with the Freedom Convoy to Ottawa. She faces mischief charges, and nothing more, he said in a statement on Feb. 27.

She has been portrayed in the media as a violent criminal, a foreign operative, and an anarchist. Nothing could be further from the truth. She is a former energy worker of Metis heritage, a mother, and grandmother, and sometimes plays guitar in a local band.

Lich, one of the organizers who spearheaded efforts to encourage truckers to join the protest in Ottawa against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, was arrested on Feb. 17 and charged with counselling to commit mischief.

A day later, police escalated their efforts to remove protesters from the nations capital, leading to 196 arrests and 115 vehicles towed by the morning of Feb. 21.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the protest an illegal occupation after he invoked the Emergencies Act to quash the demonstration on Feb. 14.

Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois denied Lich bail on Feb. 22, deeming her a risk to reoffend.

On Feb. 18, Bourgeois had granted bail to another key convoy organizer, Chris Barber, on several conditions and a $100,000 bond.

Vocal protester Pat King has been denied bail as well.

Some critics have questioned the impartiality of Bourgeoiss decision, while others say she made her decision without any political influence.

During Lichs bail hearing, Bourgeois said there was a substantial risk that she was likely to reoffend by continuing to organize truckers against Canadas COVID-19 mandates.

I cannot be reassured that if I release you into the community that you will not reoffend. Your detention is necessary for the protection and safety of the public, Bourgeois said.

Before Bourgeois was appointed as a judge in the Ontario Court of Justice in 2015, she worked as a Crown attorney and assistant Crown attorney for 16 years.

In Canadas 2011 election, she ran as a Liberal candidate in the Glengarry-Prescott-Russell federal riding, coming in second place, losing to former Conservative MP Pierre Lemieux.

When Trudeau was running as the incumbent MP for Papineau during the 2011 campaign, he said he had great admiration for Bourgeois.

Her vision, her authenticity, her strength is going to be an amazing asset, Trudeau said in a video, before he became Liberal leader.

From 2009 to 2014, Bourgeois donated 71 times to the Liberal Party of Canada for a total of $9,936.01, according to Elections Canada records.

What Would a Reasonable, Informed Person Think

Vivian Bercovici, a former law professor at the University of Toronto who was appointed ambassador of Canada to Israel during the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, raised concerns about Bourgeoiss impartiality.

Media should be all over this, Bercovici said on Twitter on Feb. 22. Independent judiciary is a critical pillar of any democracy.

Id expect [Canadian] media to be asking how it is that such a sensitive case was assigned to a judge who may be perceived as being biased, Bercovici added.

David Anber, a criminal defence lawyer in Ottawa whos defending some of the people charged in the protest, wrote in an article in Newsweek that he disagrees with Bourgeoiss decision. He said he believes she did not correctly apply the legal principles concerning bail in concluding that there is a substantial likelihood Lich would continue to break the law.

There were tools available to the judge, including a high cash requirement (cash being unusual in Canadian bail) and strict house arrest terms, Anber wrote. Any risk of re-offence and breaching the conditions of her release could have been managed.

But Anber said on Twitter that hes absolutely certain that she [Bourgeois] made her decision without any political influence.

Justice Bourgeois is an honest, hardworking judge who always strives to direct herself to the correct legal principles, Anber said on Twitter on Feb. 22. While I disagree with her ultimate application of those principles to the facts before her, I believe it was a closer call than most freedom protesters realize.

Herb Dunton, an attorney based in B.C., points to a precedent on judicial bias set by a 2015 Supreme Court of Canada ruling in a case between the Yukon Francophone School Board and the territorys attorney general.

The board had sued the Yukon government in 2009 for what it said were deficiencies in the provision of minority language education, and the trial judge ruled in the boards favour on most issues.

Canadas top court was asked to weigh in on the Court of Appeals conclusion that there was a reasonable apprehension of bias on the part of the judge based on a number of incidents during the trial as well as his involvement as governor of an Alberta francophone community organization.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court reiterated that the test for a reasonable apprehension of bias is what would a reasonable, informed person think.

Joshua Clarke, an Ottawa criminal defence lawyer with Armoured Suits, says allegations that Bourgeois was biased is an interesting question but one likely to fail, while noting that she is unlikely to be the trial judge.

Judges are presumed to be impartial so you have to demonstrate how her affiliation could have impacted the decision, not some vague possibility, he said in an email. Shes been a judge for many years already, as time passes, the connection becomes weaker.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Charlie Gerow, vice chairman of the American Conservative Union which hosts CPAC, speaking at the Florida event on Feb. 27, 2022. (Courtesy Gerow campaign)

CPAC Leader Charlie Gerow: Conservative Values Must Guide Next Pennsylvania Governor

Fresh on the heels of last weeks Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, Charlie Gerow, vice chairman of the American Conservative Union which hosts CPAC, talked with The Epoch Times about values, policies, and his campaign for Pennsylvanian Governor.

Conservative values, Gerow says, include the fundamental belief in individual liberty.

That matters now as never before. We were always told that eternal vigilance was the price of our liberty, and we have reason to be especially vigilant right now with the Biden administration, [Pennsylvania Gov.] Tom Wolf, and others trying, on a daily basis, to strip our liberties away, Gerow told The Epoch Times. The values that Ive promoted and espoused for years are the values of most Pennsylvanians. They want to see those values implemented through public policy on a consistent basis.

The harsh pandemic mitigation measures implemented in Pennsylvania by the Wolf administration were bad public policy, Gerow said, because they overlooked the essential values of liberty and individual decision making, and have had a significant impact on individual lives.

Wolfs values, big spending and big taxing, have left a mark on Pennsylvanians, Gerow added, and have hurt our society, economy, and job creation. In addition to his different view on what would be the best economic policies for the state, Gerow also pointed to a difference in values that see him prioritize the human right to be born.

Where there was a cry for unlimited access to abortion, the number of abortions dramatically increased, to the point where now, across the country, we have more than 60 million aborted babies since Roe vs. Wade. Thats another place where policy and values have to meet, he said.

Pro-life Gerow, 66, was born in a Brazilian slum to an impoverished single mother who gave her son to American missionaries with the hope that he would grow up in the United States and learn how to read. They adopted him and raised him in Pennsylvania where he grew up to attend Villanova Law School, work with President Ronald Reagan, and own a business, Quantum Communications. He is now devoting all his time to his election campaign.

I believe its fundamentally wrong for politicians to try to move up, while jobs and people are moving out of the state, Gerow said. Taking a taxpayer check while youre running around the state running for governor is, in my judgment, an insult to the taxpayers. Josh Shapiro has done this consistently throughout his career. And yes, I do believe that that same problem extends to some of my Republican friends, but thats an issue for which theyll have to answer to the voters.

As Pennsylvanias Attorney General, Shapiro, earns $177,237 annually. He is the only Democrat running for governor. Republican gubernatorial candidates currently employed by the state are senators Jake Corman, who earns $148,978, and Doug Mastriano who earns $95,432.

Energy Gold Mine Under Our Feet

Gerow says he coined the phrase gold mine under our feet, which a lot of candidates are now using on the campaign trail.

Charlie Gerow (Courtesy Gerow campaign)

We have literally trillions of cubic feet of natural gas underneath Pennsylvania soil. Not just the Marcellus Shale, about which a lot of people talk, but the Utica shale underneath that, and yet another level underneath thathundreds of years potentially of life-sustaining natural gas, Gerow said.

Ive been a proponent of the safe and responsible development of natural gas. I believe its a gift from God that we ought to use wisely and responsibly, and so Ive promoted it from day one. In fact, long before people were talking about the Marcellus Shale, I was writing and speaking around the state in favor of the job creation, the cost savings, the energy independence, and ultimately the national security that our natural gas resources provide.

As governor, Gerow says he would remove Pennsylvania from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade program that will raise consumer energy costs. He believes Pennsylvania entered RGGI improperly.

As the new Shell Chemicals ethane cracker plant for plastics production nears completion in Beaver County, it hires around 8,000 daily construction workers. When done, the plant will produce products ranging from automotive parts to food packaging, and will require about 600 permanent on-site workers, according to Business Journal Daily. Gerow says Pennsylvania has room for a few more such facilities.

I would aggressively go after the opportunity to have those in Pennsylvania and all of the benefits those types of facilities would bring, he told The Epoch Times.

When it comes to state agencies, Gerow would make some changes, including at the Department of State.

There are only nine states in the union where the governor appoints the Secretary of State. And the Secretary of State through the Bureau of Elections runs our statewide elections. I would make sure that anybody I appointed Secretary of State knew how to run elections and is completely committed to the rule of law, and to following the rulesnot making them up as we go.

He would look at reducing the size of the Department of Environmental Protection, where he says the bureaucrats drag their heels on virtually everything and overstep regulations too often.

And, Gerow says, he would reform the Department of Education. He has heard many complaints from voters that the schools are not doing for students what theyre supposed to be doing.

We are in a battle for the heart and soul of our country, and I know that we cannot lose that fight, and those battle lines run right through Pennsylvania this year. We can choose to get away from the big government, lockdowns, shutdowns, mandates, edicts, and arbitrary and capricious rules of Tom Wolf and Josh Shapiro, and choose a path of liberty, individual freedom, economic growth, prosperity, and hope, and thats why Im running, he said.
DeSantiss Office Responds to Remarks on Masking and COVID Theater

PUNTA GORDA, FloridaFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis rolled into Hillsborough County to announce a $20 million cyber security education initiative, but left in a media storm after asking masked high school students sharing the podium with him to please take them off, a request that was described as an act of bullying by some news outlets.

The Republican governors press secretary Christina Pushaw told The Epoch Times that the media got it all wrong, and missed the point of what the governor said on March 2 at the news conference at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She shared her perspective of what she saw:

Gov. DeSantis directly told them what the science says, and gave them permission not to wear masks, if they did not want to, she said. Most of them removed their masks, smiled and laughed, and two chose to keep their masks on.

Pushaw said that the two who left their masks in place were allowed to remain on the podium and be part of the event, and were there primarily because they are interested in cybersecurity and the program the Governor announced.

In reference to some media outlets reporting that the governor had bullied the students into removing their masks, she said:

I wish the media would  stop trying to make this into a culture war to advance a partisan agenda. [The students] were well-behaved, respectful, and impressive young people. I do not believe that the kids were there to engage in political activism or be any part of a political stunt.

While approaching the lectern to make his announcement, the governor told students: You do not have to wear those masksplease take them off. Honestly, its not doing anything; weve gotta stop with this COVID theater. So if you want to wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bills countering vaccine and mask mandates in Brandon, Fla., on Nov. 18, 2021. (Jannis Falkenstern/The Epoch Times)

In November 2021, a special session of the Florida Legislature passed a measure making masks optional. At a Nov. 18 press conference, after signing the bill into law, the governor said he believes that masking students is detrimental to their educational and social development, especially those students who have speech, emotional, and physical problems.

The students on the podium at the University of South Florida were later identified as being from Middleton High School in Tampa.

Hillsborough County Superintendent Addison Davis released a written statement: It is a student and parents choice to protect their health in a way they feel most appropriate. We are proud of the manner in which our students represented themselves and our school district.

Pushaw said that Hillsborough County was one of the few districts that had defied the law and the Governors Executive Order making masks optional in 2021, following the law the governor signed to strengthen parents rights.

When the kids returned from Winter break in January, Hillsborough County Schools officially advised students and families that mask-wearing is strongly encouraged, she said.

She also said that kids are impressionable and bend to peer pressure, especially from authority figures.

We understand teens are susceptible to peer pressure and pressure from authority figures, including school administrators, she said. I believe thats why the teens were wearing masks at the event; they have been conditioned to think its the right thing to do.

On Feb. 24 DeSantis and the states Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo jointly announced new COVID-19 guidance that pushed back on what they called unscientific corporate masking. The new measures call for reducing isolation for all Floridians, including schoolchildren and day-cares. It also recommends that physicians should exercise their individual clinical judgment and expertise, based on their patients needs and preferences.

Ladapo has always maintained that there has never been any evidence that masks work.

Less than a day after his confirmation by the Florida Legislature, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo (L) announced new state guidelines related to COVID-19 in a video made with Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Screen shot from video by the Florida Governors Office)

Evidence suggests that most secondary transmission occurs early on, Ladapo said in a press release on Feb. 24. Our state will continue to make decisions for Floridians rooted in sound science, not fear, whether they are working or in school.

Pushaw blames politicians for some of the COVID-19 directives and cited the case of 8-year-old Fiona Lashells, whose refusal to wear a mask caused her to be suspended 36 times from her Florida elementary school during the 2021 school year.

This is in contrast to what forced-masker politicians have done in Florida, she said. For example, Palm Beach County Schools suspended a second-grader for 40 days because she didnt wear a maskthey denied her the right to an education by denying her entry into the classroom. Gov. DeSantis condemns this petty tyranny.

Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidates swiftly took to Twitter to condemn the governors comments.

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said: As governor, I wont bully students. You can judge someones character by how they treat waitersand high school students. Shame on [DeSantis].

Representative Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), another Democrat running for governor, said in a tweet: Young people in our state deserve to be treated with respect, not dunked on by a heartless, egotistical Governor with a political agenda.

Pushaw said that, after the press conference, several of the studentsmasked and unmaskedrequested a photo with DeSantis.

They asked if they could have their picture taken with the governor, in which he compliedwith masks off, of course, she said. They laughed about it, the ones wearing masks took them off and they had their photo taken with the governor.
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen (R) speaks as Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen (C) listens during a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, March 2, 2022. Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is "not just a U.S. interest, but also a global one," former Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen said Wednesday during a visit to Taiwan that comes amid the backdrop of Russia's war against Ukraine. (Taiwan Presidential Office/via AP)

Differences and Similarities Between Russia-Ukraine and China-Taiwan Crises

News Analysis

As the entire world is paying close attention to the Russia-Ukraine war, Taiwan has become a highly searched keyword on the internet. Many are saying they are worried that Taiwan will become the next Ukraine.

In addition to Ukraine, Putin, and NATO, Taiwan also became a Twitter trend on Feb. 25. By evening that day, the number of tweets containing the word Taiwan reached 465,000.

Taiwans presidential office issued a statement on Feb. 25 announcing its decision to join democratic countries in imposing sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. In response, the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) Taiwan Affairs Office criticized the statement as a stance of Taiwan Independence and issued a warning. This news also made the top five on Weibos hot search list, with more than 120 million page views on that day. Weibo is a Twitter-like social media platform in China holding a monopoly position, as Twitter is completely banned in the country.

Taiwans geopolitical status with respect to the CCP, indeed has certain similarities with Ukraine being taken over by Russia.

On the evening of Feb. 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized in a televised speech at the Kremlin that Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.

The CCP has repeatedly made similar statements on the issue of Taiwan, saying that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. The CCP has long been eyeing Taiwan, and has frequently dispatched military aircraft flyovers to threaten Taiwan in the past two years.

However, Frank Xie, a Professor of Business at University of South Carolina Aiken, believes that the outcome of Russias attack on Ukraine may affect Chinas attitude towards Taiwan.

In a Feb. 25 interview with The Epoch Times, Xie said that if the West cowers and dares not stand up to Russias attack on Ukraine, it will give Beijing a clear signal that Europe and the United States are not a daunting threat, and thus give Beijing the audacity to attack Taiwan.

Former White House senior strategist Robert Spalding also said on Twitter on Feb. 25, in plain language, Taiwan is next.

However, Xie mentioned there are also differences between Russia-Ukraine relations and China-Taiwan relations.

Putins only goal is to overturn the current Ukraine administration and replace it with a pro-Russia president who will promise that he will never join NATO. As soon as this promise is attained, Putin may withdraw Russian troops immediately, he said.

The situation is very different for the CCPs goal with Taiwan. Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Oct. 9, 2021 vowed to reunify Taiwan, claiming that reunification is a historical task that must be accomplished and that Beijing reserves the rights of use of force and the option to take over Taiwan with all necessary measures.

Yao Cheng, a former lieutenant colonel of the Chinese Navy Command, who left China and defected to the United States years ago, said on Twitter that he thinks Putin does not intend to expand the Russia-Ukraine war, nor does Russia plan to fight against NATO on the long term. Yao believes that Russia will withdraw its soldiers before NATO sends any troops. The important thing now is to pay close attention to the trends of the Chinese military. Once a war begins across the Taiwan Strait, it will be a real world war, he wrote.

Toronto-based senior Chinese commentator Shi Tao said in his Youtube program on Feb. 22 that Putin chose to act immediately after the Beijing Winter Olympics, which indicates he had likely communicated with Chinas Xi. That was also one of the reasons Putin went to Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic games, he said, Then, next, whether Xi will take concrete action on Taiwan is a very reasonably inference.

According to Shi, if Xi and Putin echo each other, and if the CCP subsequently provokes disputes in the Taiwan Strait, Western society may not be able to deal with both incidents at the same time.

The level of sanctions imposed on Russia by the Western society is going to be a test version, not to mention that Russias overall strength is far inferior to that of China, Shi said. Will the United States and the European Union be able to bear the harm brought upon themselves by sanctioning China? All these concerns will make them hesitate.
Russian oil giant Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin (R) and President of ExxonMobil Exploration Company Stephen Greenlee, sign documents as Russia's President Vladimir Putin watches at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, on Feb. 13, 2013. (Sergei Karpukhin/AFP/Getty Images)

Europe Officials Seize Multi-Million-Dollar Superyachts of Russian Billionaire Businessmen

Authorities in Europe have seized two superyachts belonging to Russian businessmen with alleged close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to multiple reports.

Authorities in France on Thursday seized a yacht they linked to the CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft, Igor Sechin, in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.

Thanks to the French customs officers who are enforcing the European Unions sanctions against those close to the Russian government, Le Maire said on Twitter alongside a letter.

According to Agence France-Presse, the letter states that French authorities seized the Amore Velo yacht in La Ciotat on March 2 in compliance with sanctions by the European Union against Russia.

The 280-foot (85.6-meter) yacht, which includes a swimming pool that turns into a helipad, was owned by a company in which Sechin is the main shareholder, the letter reads.

Sechin is yet to publicly comment on the seizure.

In a separate seizure on Thursday, French authorities took another cargo vessel in the port of Loiret, Brittany, which was also linked to Russian interests, Reuters reported.

Elsewhere, on Wednesday, German authorities also reportedly seized a $600 million superyacht belonging to Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

Usmanov was among a string of billionaires sanctioned by the European Union in response to Moscows Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. The sanctions target Russias financial, energy, and transport sector, as well as its export controls and visa policy.

The Uzbek-born Russian business-magnate and oligarch owns a 49 percent stake in USM, a Russian investment group that controls Metalloinvest, one of the worlds largest iron ore producers, and telecommunications company MegaFon.

Usmanov, who is the sixth-richest Russian, with a fortune of $19.5 billion according to Bloombergs wealth index, also has stakes in JD.com and Uber Technologies and controls Kommersant, a Russian newspaper.

The businessman had his assets frozen by the EU on Tuesday and his yacht, the Dilbar, was seized by authorities in Hamburg where it had been undergoing refitting since late October, according to multiple reports.

The 512-foot (156-meter) yacht was built in 2016 and is regarded as the largest motor yacht in the world by gross tonnage, Forbes reported. It is typically manned by a crew of 96 people and has been designed to comfortably accommodate up to 24 guests in 12 suites. The boat is estimated to be worth $594 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

EU officials branded Usmanov a pro-Kremlin oligarch with particularly close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he has been referred to as one of Vladimir Putins favorite oligarchs.

He is considered to be one of Russias businessmen-officials, who were entrusted with servicing financial flows, but their positions depend on the will of the president. Mr. Usmanov has reportedly fronted for President Putin and solved his business problems, officials said.

According to FinCEN files he paid $6 million to Vladimir Putins influential adviser Valentin Yumashev. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and former president and prime minister of Russia, benefited from the personal use of luxurious residences controlled by Mr. Usmanov.

Therefore he actively supported materially or financially Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine, EU officials said.

Usmanov hit out at the decision in a statement on Tuesday in which he said the EUs actions were unfair and claimed he had become the target of restrictive measures by the EU.

The reasons employed to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity, and business reputation. I will use all legal means to protect my honor and reputation, he said.
The logo of Raiffeisen Bank on top of a building is seen behind a statue of Soviet state founder Vladimir Leninin in Moscow, on June 14, 2016. (Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

European Bank Shares Halt Slide, Russias Sberbank Exits Europe

FRANKFURT/LONDONEuropean bank shares halted their slide on Wednesday after dropping to their lowest level in nearly 11 months on fallout from the Ukraine crisis, which has forced the European arm of Russias Sberbank to close.

Russia has shown no intention of stopping its Ukraine attack, which has triggered heavy sanctions against Moscow and led to an exodus of big companies from the Russian market.

U.S. President Joe Biden has warned Vladimir Putin that the Russian leader has no idea whats coming. Russia calls its Ukraine actions a special operation.

On Wednesday, the European Union said it was excluding seven Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, but stopped short of including those handling energy payments.

Meanwhile, Sberbank, which reported record profits in 2021, said it was leaving the European market as its subsidiaries faced large cash outflows and threats to the safety of employees and property.

The move by Russias biggest lender seemed inevitable after its European arm was closed by order of the European Central Bank.

Sberbank operated in Austria, Croatia, Germany, and Hungary, among other countries, and had European assets worth 13 billion euros ($14.4 billion) on Dec. 31, 2020. Its London depository receipts have plunged 99.9 percent so far in 2022. All sellers, no buyers, said one London trader on Wednesday.

Regulators are also preparing for a possible closure of the European arm of Russias second-largest bank, VTB Bank, amid growing concerns about the impact of sanctions, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Credit rating agency Fitch said western European banks asset quality will be pressured by the sanctions fallout and that they also face materially increased operational risk.

An index of leading European bank stocks was up 1.39 percent on Wednesday, erasing early losses that came on top of a 5.6 percent drop on Tuesday and 4.5 percent on Monday. Earlier on Wednesday, the index hit its lowest level since April 2021, down 27 percent from last months highs.

Austrias Raiffeisen Bank International, which has operated in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union thirty years ago, has been one of the biggest fallers so far this week.

The bank is exploring leaving Russia, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, a move that would make it the first European bank to do so since Moscows Ukraine invasion.

Raiffeisen shares, which are half the value of a month ago, pared some earlier losses on Wednesday to close down 2.66 percent.

Some finance officials are trying to reassure markets.

The capital position of Hungarys OTP Bank, central Europes largest independent lender, is excellent and the bank can withstand further possible market shocks in Russia and Ukraine, Hungarys central bank said in an emailed reply to Reuters.

Citigroup, which has $10 billion in exposure to Russia, could face billions of dollars of losses under the worst case scenario, although it expects its actual losses to be less than that, Chief Financial Officer Mark Mason said on Wednesday.

Shedding Assets

Germanys market regulator BaFin said it was closely monitoring the European arm of VTB Bank, which was no longer accepting new clients.

The bank, headquartered in Frankfurt, had 8.1 billion euros of assets at the end of 2020.

On Tuesday, Russia said it was placing temporary restrictions on foreigners seeking to exit Russia assets, as it tried to stem an investor exodus.

But investors are continuing to shed assets. Avivas fund management business will divest its small exposure to Russia as soon as we practically can, chief executive Amanda Blanc said on Wednesday.

Financial companies are scrambling to keep up with the situation.

Dubais Mashreqbank has stopped lending to Russian banks and is reviewing its existing exposure to the country, Reuters reported.

The move is one of the first reported instances of a bank in the Middle East halting ties to Russia and underscores growing global nervousness about falling foul of Western sanctions.

Frances BNP Paribas said it was working to maintain its activities as much as possible at its Ukraine arm Ukrsibbank, which has close to 5,000 employees.

A task force at Germanys Commerzbank, which has a subsidiary in Russia, is meeting multiple times a day, a board member has said.

($1 = 0.9022 euros)

By Tom Sims and Carolyn Cohn
Police stand guards as a prison van arrive High Court on the first day of trial of Tong Ying-kit, the first person charged under a new national security law, in Hong Kong, on June 23, 2021. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Ex-chief of Hong Kong Barristers Says He Left City After Police Interview

HONG KONGA British human rights lawyer and former head of Hong Kongs Bar Association said he left the city on Tuesday evening, hours after the Chinese regimes state-backed media said he was summoned to a local police station and interviewed by national security police.

The Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po reported that Paul Harris had been summoned to a police station in the citys Wanchai district, with Harris shown walking into the police station in a video posted on its website.

The report on Wednesday also carried a second video of Harris at Hong Kong International Airport pushing a trolley with suitcases. In the video, Harris was asked by a reporter whether he was afraid of being arrested, but he didnt comment. Reuters could not confirm when either video was filmed.

Another state-backed newspaper, Ta Kung Pao, said in a separate report on Wednesday that Harris had left Hong Kong after being called in to meet police for an alleged violation of the national security law.

Harris confirmed to Reuters in a phone message that he had left the city, but gave no further details.

Yes, on way to see my mother in England, he said. Harris declined to answer any further questions from Reuters.

Harris stood down in January from the Bar Association, a professional body representing Hong Kongs 1,500 barristers, without seeking reelection.

Harriss year-long term was marked by criticism from Hong Kong and Beijing officials and repeated attacks in state-backed media.

Harris, a senior counsel, had commented on jail terms for several democracy activists last year and the sweeping national security law that the Chinese regime imposed on the city in June 2020.

Two of Harriss fellow barristers said he had been planning for some time to leave Hong Kong in March, but it was not known for how long.

The national security law expands police powers of search and surveillance, and punisheswith up to life imprisonmentacts of what the Chinese communist regime deems as subversion, terrorism, collusion with foreign forces, and secession.

Harris had been involved in several cases related to the law.

A Bar Association spokesperson said the group was ascertaining the situation and has no comment at this stage.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testifies at a House hearing in Washington on July 31, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

Fauci Agency Knew Chinese Authorities Were Withholding COVID-19 Data in January 2020, Documents Show

The U.S. State Department and the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) were aware in January 2020 that Chinese authorities were withholding COVID-19 data, according to government documents obtained by a legal watchdog organization.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) also sent experts from the NIH-supported P4 lab at the University of Texas Medical Branch to train Wuhan Institute of Virology technicians in lab management and maintenancenearly two years before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemicthe records obtained by Judicial Watch through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit show.

Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said he believes the 90 pages of communication records between the NIH and the Wuhan lab show that Dr. Anthony Faucis agency, NIAID, has been hiding information on Chinas failure to provide essential data on COVID-19.

On Jan. 8, 2020, staff at NIH and NIAID, led by Fauci, circulated an email from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, PRC Response to Pneumonia Cases Shows Increased Transparency Over Past Outbreaks, but Gaps in Epidemiological Data Remain.

Hi, here is the cable from US Embassy Beijing reporting on the pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China. It has ruled out SARS, MERS, and flu. [Redacted] confirmed it is viral infection, reads an email to colleagues from Dr. Ping Chen, who had been NIAIDs top official in China.

Embassy officials in the email said they were concerned that a lack of epidemiological data hindered better risk assessment and response by public health officials. The officials noted that because of gaps in [detailed] information provided by the Chinese regime and lack of a final confirmed pathogen, the risk to the United States and global health is difficult to assess at this time.

The flow of official PRC information on this outbreak is limited to that coming from the Wuhan Health Commission and National Health Commission, the email reads. China CDC is referring queries to the three official notices issued to date by the Wuhan Health Commission.

The first known cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, were reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China.

As of January 7, the Wuhan Health Commission has reported 59 local cases of pneumonia with unknown cause, the email reads.

Workers are seen inside the P4 laboratory in Wuhan, China, on Feb. 23, 2017. (Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

Lab technicians from the Wuhan Institute of Virology were also directly trained by NIH-supported experts in April 2018.

In addition to French assistance, experts from the NIH-supported P4 lab at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston have trained Wuhan lab technicians in lab management and maintenance, an April 19, 2018, email reads.

The Wuhan institute plans to invite scientists from the Galveston lab to do research in Wuhans lab. One Wuhan Institute of Virology researcher trained for two years at the Galveston lab, and the institute also sent one scientist to U.S. CDC headquarters in Atlanta for six months work on influenza.

Another email between the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and NIH headquarters on Feb. 23, 2018, shows that NIH officials were flagging China Health News from Chinese Media.

Among these media reports is an article from state-run outlet Xinhua, Chinese scientists find how bats carry viruses without getting sick.

Chinese scientists have identified bats that harbor highly pathogenic viruses like Ebola, Marburg and SARS coronavirus but do not show clinical signs of disease, according to the report.

According to researchers, in humans and other mammals, an immune-based over-response to one of these and other pathogenic viruses can trigger severe illness, the report reads.

U.S. intelligence officials and numerous experts have obtained evidence suggesting that the CCP virus originated in a lab, but other officials maintain that it originated naturally.

In September 2021, records obtained by The Intercept via a FOIA lawsuit against NIH showed that nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance funneled U.S. funds to scientists at the Wuhan Institute of Virology to research bat coronaviruses.

The slow-rolling and stonewalling by Faucis agency on China, gain of function, and its COVID response generally is pure obstruction, Fitton said.

NIAID and State Department officials didnt respond to requests for comment by press time.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland participates in a media availability to discuss Canadian sanctions on Russia, as Russia continues to invade Ukraine, in Ottawa, on March 1, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Justin Tang)

Federal Government Warns Canadians Against Fighting for Russia in Ukraine

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is warning Canadians against fighting for Russia in Ukraine, saying anyone who does so could face severe consequences.

Freeland issued the warning during a news conference in Ottawa today, where she announced further sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The deputy prime minister said Canada believes Russias attack is illegal, implying anyone fighting for the Russian side could be breaking international law.

Defence Minister Anita Anand, however, acknowledged there are uncertainties around whether it is legal for Canadians to fight for the Ukrainian side.

Many Canadians have been answering the Ukrainian governments call for volunteers to join an international brigade to help defend the country.

Anand instead encouraged people to enlist with the Canadian Armed Forces, which is in the midst of a recruitment drive as it deals with a shortfall of thousands of service members.
Florida to Allow Doctors to Use Off-Label Drugs for Early Treatment of COVID-19

Repurposed drugs that have been shown to prevent or treat COVID-19 may be prescribed by physicians, the Florida Department of Health said in its new COVID-19 guidance for health care practitioners.

The guidance, published on Feb. 24, says that health care practitioners are encouraged to provide early treatment for COVID-19 patients with federally approved generic drugs that they find will work. Thats in addition to the outpatient treatments granted emergency authorization usage (EUA) for people at risk of developing a serious illness.

When recommending COVID-19 treatment options for patients individualized health care needs, physicians should exercise their individual clinical judgment and expertise based on their patients needs and preferences, the guidance states. These options may include emerging treatments backed by quality evidence, with appropriate patient informed consent, including off-label use or as part of a clinical trial.

The new guidance is an effort by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to offer health care practitioners protection from lawsuits. He said that its important for doctors to be able to have access to these drugs.

We want people to be able to have a right to access these medications, especially if theyre in a situation where nothing else has worked, DeSantis said in a video announcing the new changes to the COVID-19 guidance.

The guidance also states that doctors can make a report to the Agency for Health Care Administration if their hospital prevents them from treating their patients who wish to try certain medications not recommended by the federal health agencies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (L) announced Floridas new surgeon general Dr. Joseph Ladapo on Sept. 21, 2021. (Courtesy of Governors Press Office)

So now doctors who practice medicine in the way that they think is most appropriate for their patients, when they receive pushback from hospitals, we have an avenue for them to file a complaint with our Agency for Health Care Administration, said Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo.

Florida is the first and only state to go against the Centers for Disease and Preventions (CDC) recommendation of staying home and only going to the emergency department when symptoms become severe unless the individual is at high risk, then they may be eligible for treatment with an authorized antiviral or monoclonal antibody.

The CDC did not reply to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

Dr. Pierre Kory, president and co-chief medical chief officer of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care (FLCCC) Alliance, claims that many people have died unnecessarily during the pandemic, as COVID-19 is a treatable disease. He also said that it didnt make sense that the government continues to focus only on pushing the vaccines.

We know there have been hundreds of thousands of deaths in the U.S. and all for a treatable disease, Kory said at a panel discussion on COVID-19.

We have identified effective treatments, for now two years, and those effective treatments that are widely available generic repurposed [drugs], they continue to increase. And yet, we are still trying to vaccinate people with a 2-year-old vaccine against an Omicron variant, which is absolutely absurd, he added.

As early as March 2020, doctors at FLCCC Alliance developed a COVID-19 treatment protocol for hospitalized patients, later adding the I-MASK+ protocol, using ivermectin as a core medication for the prevention and early treatment of COVID-19 in October 2020.

Kory also alleged that the EUA antiviral drugs for early treatment of COVID-19 are toxic.

Were still perpetuating these toxic novel pharmaceutical company concoctions like Paxlovid and molnupiravir. Molnupiravir does not work and Paxlovid is poisonous, Kory said.

Paxlovid, a Pfizers coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pill, is seen manufactured in Ascoli, Italy, in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on Nov. 16, 2021. (Pfizer/Handout via Reuters)

Paxlovid can be fatal when taken with common medications such as blood thinners, statins, and some antidepressants. One component of Paxlovid prevents the breakdown of other drugs leading to an increased level of these drugs causing toxic effects.

There are also concerns that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus that causes COVID-19 may develop resistance to the antiviral drugs because each only attacks one part of the virus instead of multiple fronts like its inexpensive federally approved competitor, ivermectin.

For an antiviral to successfully eliminate the CCP virus, it must target two key pieces of a viruss biological machinery, a polymerase and a protease, both of which are essential for viral replication, according to an article in Nature.

Molnupiravir, developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, targets only the RNA polymerase, while Pfizers Paxlovid just inhibits the viruss main protease.

For a 5-day treatment course consisting of two pills per day, molnupiravir costs the United States government $530 and $700 for Paxlovid. Whereas ivermectin costs as low as $29.72 and as high as $93.77 for 20 tablets, according to GoodRx.

In a report (pdf) examining the outpatient treatments for COVID-19 from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), a drug-pricing research organization, the authors raised concerns about the effectiveness and safety of the drugs due to lack of long-term data.

While the clinical trials of all four agents [Paxlovid, molunupiravir, the monoclonal antibody treatment sotrovimab, and fluvoxamine that is waiting for a EUA] demonstrate statistically significant benefits of treatment, there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the comparative effectiveness of each drug in the current U.S. landscape, the authors wrote. Some of this uncertainty is due to the preliminary nature of the evidence base, which for several drugs include only data that has not yet progressed through peer review.

They added, As of January 2022, the Phase III RCT [randomized control trial] evidence for sotrovimab is only available as a pre-print (i.e., without peer review) and the evidence for Paxlovid is based on the manufacturers press release and the EUA factsheet for health care providers. This lack of data makes it difficult to fully evaluate these drugs.

Such issues are compounded by each treatment being supported by only one Phase III RCT.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued emergency authorization usage for both molnupiravir and Paxlovid in December 2021 and recommends against ivermectin for COVID-19. The drug regulator says the most effective ways to limit the spread of COVID-19 include getting a COVID-19 vaccine and following current CDC guidance.

Pfizer and Merck did not reply to a request for comment by the time of publishing.
German Green party co-leader Robert Habeck delivers a speech at a two-day party congress of the German Green party in Bielefeld, western Germany, on Nov. 16, 2019. (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany Opposes Ban on Russian Energy Imports

BERLINGermanys economy minister has spoken out against an embargo on Russian energy imports, saying it could endanger social cohesion in the country.

Germany gets about half of its coal and gas from Russia, and a third of its oil.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is also Germanys vice chancellor, said Thursday that his country needs to free itself from imports of Russian energy but acknowledged that doing so will take time.

Habeck told reporters in Berlin that the government is working on a series of measures to quickly increase energy independence, including securing new suppliers and ramping up the use of renewables.

He played down the suggestion that Germany should extend the lifetime of its three remaining nuclear power plants, which are scheduled to be shut down this year. But he left open the possibility that this might be considered, if it helps.

Habeck said the government would also work on energy efficiency measures to reduce demand and encouraged Germans to do their bit, too.

If you want to hurt Putin a bit, then save energy, he said.
A couple from San Antonio, Texas, who decided to adopt a 4-year-old boy with cerebral palsy from Eastern Ukraine flew to meet him and found themselves in the middle of a brewing war zone. With the boy sick, flights getting canceled, and American citizens urged to evacuate, they almost didnt make it out in time.

However, weeks on, parents Kelci and Theron Jagge and their adopted son, Ruslan, are back in the United States with a gripping story to tell.

The Jagges found Ruslan, who was born with cerebral palsy and had spent his life in an orphanage, through Reeces Rainbow, a nonprofit for special needs advocacy, in the fall of 2020. It was love at first sight.

Kelci and Theron Jagge with Ruslan. (Courtesy of Kelci Jagge)

My husband and I had never talked about adopting before, Kelci told The Epoch Times, so once I saw [Ruslans] picture and started researching more into the situation of special needs orphans in Ukraine, we started donating  but it just didnt feel like enough.

Its very rare for special needs children to be adopted in Ukraine, unless an American family adopts them. For a lot of those kids, if they get sent to an institution, they will die.

Initially agreeing that they would adopt when their finances improved, Kelci and Theron, who have a biological daughter and son aged 11 and 3, were soon burdened by a need to help. They decided, Theres no better time than now, and started Ruslans adoption process in February 2021.

Before our first trip in November we knew that things were getting worse over there, Kelci said, but we considered Ruslan to be our son already; if our son is in a war zone, were gonna do whatever we have to do to get him out.

The first time the parents met Ruslan. (Courtesy of Kelci Jagge)

In mid-December, the couple flew to Kramatorsk, Ukraine, to meet Ruslan in his orphanage for the very first time after just seeing a picture of him over a year ago.

Recalling the moment, Kelci said that, while at the orphanage, as the director was briefing them about Ruslans special needs, they heard a stroller rolling into the doorway.

I started crying the second I heard the stroller  it was a surreal experience to finally see him with our own eyes, Kelci said.

Ruslan was really sedated, said Kelci, and soon fell ill with pneumonia. With political tensions brewing, leaving Ukraine became a matter of urgency.

The family attended court on Feb. 3, and the judge approved a waiver of the standard 30-day wait owing to Ruslans health condition.

On Feb. 8, the paperwork was finalized, and Kelci and Theron got Ruslan out of the orphanage. Amid a rumored airstrike, the family headed to Kyiv to work with another nonprofit, Exodus, to get Ruslans visa for travel.

The couple, in front of the courthouse after they passed court. (Courtesy of Kelci Jagge)

(Courtesy of Kelci Jagge)

Kelci recalled: Our driver was racing down roads to try to get us to the embassy in time  it was five oclock, people were going home, but one lady and a couple of guards stayed behind.

At around 5.20 p.m., they called us up to the window and said, Heres his visa  its a miracle that you got this today. We didnt know at the time, but the next day the embassy was evacuated.

The family also felt it was miraculous, as Ruslan got the last visa from the embassy in Kyiv. They were then all prepared to leave for the United States the very next morning. Kelci along with Theron and Ruslan arrived at the airport early, checked in for the flight, and passed through security.

However, panic intensified when passport control claimed Kelci and Therons court waiver was invalid and that they couldnt leave the country for the next 30 days. They then went back to their apartment on the advice of the U.S. Embassy, and their facilitation team in Ukraine then hired a lawyer.

Kelci said they were told that there was a 50 percent chance that things would work in their favor.

We were just praying that the Lord would make a way for us to get out, said Kelci. I was really thankful to have my husband there, and our nurse; both of them were much emotionally stronger than I was, and the Lord was there and helped us through.

Ruslan and his parents with their nurse at the Atlanta airport. (Courtesy of Kelci Jagge)

There was a very, very likely chance that our nurse was not going to go with us, added Theron. She didnt get her [renewal] passport until a week before the trip. This is the ninth child she had brought out of Ukraine, so she knew all the ins and outs  while were frantically packing, I was just praying at the same time, God, show us a path, give us a path, help us out of here.

In the nick of timewith Ruslans condition getting worse and them running out of medicationthe Jagges denial was rescinded, and kind passengers allowed the couple and their sick child to jump the queue for their Feb. 16 flight home.

Landing in the United States, said Kelci, was a kiss the ground moment.

The couple rushed Ruslan to the emergency room where he was admitted to intensive care.

Theyve been treating him for a couple of parasites that cause pneumonia, said Kelci, speaking to The Epoch Times at the end of February. Theyve run every test on him; hes had seizures in the past, so they wanted to check seizure activity, and obviously he was malnourished so they made sure he didnt have re-feeding syndrome.

(Courtesy of Kelci Jagge)

Its been challenging, she conceded, claiming Ruslan may have hospital trauma from his time in Ukraine. We just try to hold him and comfort him. Were just trying to learn what makes him comfortable; hes getting used to us, and so were learning together. But any time I see him smile, that is just the best part.

Kelci and Theron dont pretend to understand how Ruslan feels but have learned to recognize when hes in real pain. Seeing him smile, said Theron, is like a glimpse into the future. The couple have been told by doctors that Ruslan should make some progress regardless of his condition and, for this, the parents are hopeful.

Ruslan has since been downgraded from the ICU. Kelci, an interior designer, and Theron, a service manager for a truck company, made plans to take him home within days, provided his condition remains stable.

(Courtesy of Kelci Jagge)

On Feb. 27, the Jagges woke up to devastating news. The head of their Ukrainian facilitation team, Serge Zevlever, a U.S. citizen with dual citizenship, lost his life fighting for Ukraine.

We would not have gotten out of Ukraine without him; he hired the lawyer for us, went with her to battle with the border guards, and then went with us to the airport to make sure we made our flight in time, Kelci said. He was a huge part of the adoption community and helped hundreds of orphans in Ukraine find families.

In the wake of their profound loss, Kelci, who shares the same birthday as her adopted son, hopes that Ruslan grows up safe in the United States knowing how much he is loved. Before and after photos of other adopted children give her hope that the 4-year-old may one day move his body, and communicate, in ways she never dreamed of.

Just looking back now I see so many miracles, things that shouldnt have happened; God opened the door for us to get out, she said.

(Courtesy of Kelci Jagge)

Both Kelci and Theron hope their story encourages others to open their hearts and homes to adoption. They are both united in raising their three kids with love, as their faith prescribes.

Were definitely here to help guide them and build them up through our faith, said Theron. Its not always easy, and we definitely run into it on a daily basis, but being a parent with all of its challenges is still one of the most rewarding things in the world  theyre such a blessing, and every day is a new adventure with them.

He added: Theres real possibility that we could see [Ruslan] flourish in our home with a family that loves him, but also in the care of people that know how to help him grow. Were really excited to see what that could look like.

(Courtesy of Kelci Jagge)

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
The logo for Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York, on Nov. 17, 2021. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Google Employees Told to Come Back to Offices, Vaccinated Dont Need to Wear Masks

Google is asking employees in the United States, Asia-Pacific, and the UK to return back to offices for three days per week beginning April 4, marking the end of the companys full-time remote working option instituted during the pandemic and a transition toward hybrid work.

Googles approach to the hybrid work week was inspired by Googler feedback and is designed to maximize flexibility for Googlers while still facilitating the innovation, collaboration and camaraderie of our in-office experiences, Google told The Epoch Times by email.

Most employees will spend approximately three days in the office and two days working where they choose. Since in-office time will be focused on collaboration, Googles product areas and functions have determined which days their teams will come together in the office.

The Bay Area is one of the U.S. locations where Google will adopt the hybrid model that combines office and remote work. The tech giant currently employs around 45,000 in the region.

Google has asked employees to use this month and adjust to the updated work policy. Workers will have access to 15-minute counseling sessions to help them return back to the office.

Employees coming to offices must be fully vaccinated or should present an exemption approval. In the Bay Area, fully vaccinated employees need not wear masks, unlike unvaccinated individuals, who would also be required to test regularly. Those who are not vaccinated and do not have an exemption will be given a chance to apply for permanent remote work.

We understand that some employees cannot be vaccinated due to medical or other protected reasons, and have a process in place for approved accommodations to support them, said the company.

Employees who might not want to return to offices by April 4 can also request for extending the remote work option. Roughly 14,000 of the companys 156,500 full-time employees worldwide have either shifted to remote work or moved to a new location. Google has approved 85 percent of such requests since June, the company claims.

Perks like massages, transit, and free meals have largely been restored in some offices, with business visitors and meetings now allowed. But employees cannot bring their families with them for a visit.

Based on current conditions in the Bay Area, were pleased that our employees who choose to come in now have the ability to access more onsite spaces and services to work and connect with colleagues, Google told employees in an email last month.

Many other companies are also requiring workers to return back to offices. However, most employees working from homes want to continue with the remote working option, according to a report by Pew Research published on Feb. 16.

Among those who have a workplace outside their home, 61 percent said they chose to do remote work, a big change from earlier in the pandemic when only 36 percent said they were working from home as a personal choice.
A man walks his dog through a flooded street in Ballina, Australia, on March 3, 2022. (Dan Peled/Getty Images)

Half a Million Australians Under Emergency Flood Evacuation Orders or Warnings

Half a million residents in New South Wales (NSW) are under emergency flood evacuation orders or warnings as the east coast rain bomb weather event continues to moves south.

We have 76 evacuation orders in place covering 200,000 people and we have 18 evacuation warnings across New South Wales covering nearly 300,000 people combined, Emergency Services Minister Stephanie Cooke told reporters on Thursday.

Cooke said Greater Sydney, the Hunter, and the Central Coast regions need to brace for treacherous weather conditions.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet asked all residents subject to the evacuation order to follow instructions and get out as soon as possible.

Those instructions are not there for the sake of it. Theyre there to keep you and your family safe, he said.

Currently, four people have died from the flooding in NSW.

NSW Health told people isolating for COVID-19 to evacuate their homes immediately if ordered to.

NSW Acting Chief Health Officer Marianne Gale said under no circumstances should people isolating due to COVID-19 infections remain in their residence.

Start putting together your medicines, extra drinking fluids and comfort items ready to go with you, she said.

Where possible, people isolating should stay with friends and family who have enough space and do not have elderly or any immunocompromised person at home.

People also should not hesitate to go to an evacuation centre if there are no alternatives, as NSW Health said the centres have plans to manage the risk.

Premier Dominic Perrottet addresses the media at Sydneys International Airport in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 21, 2022. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

A man removes debris from his flood-affected car mechanic business in Lismore, Australia, on March 2, 2022. (Dan Peled/Getty Images)

Perrottet said the disaster was going to get worse before it gets better.

We do expect particularly in the Hawkesbury region, the floods will be worse than they were last year and well see more torrential rain and flooding in Newcastle and the Hunter over the course of the day, he said.

Flooding along the Hawkesbury-Nepean river is expected to be worse than the flooding in March 2021.

The Hawkesbury River will reach 14 metres (46 feet) on Thursday night and the Nepean River has already reached levels higher than the 2021 floods.

Warragamba Dam, the primary reservoir of water supply for Sydney, reached capacity and started spilling at noon on Wednesday.

This prompted renewed calls to raise the walls of the dam as it is expected to continue spilling for two weeks.

Perrottet said the state government has been working on the proposal since 2011 and he wanted to see the project delivered, but that the construction would take years.

Meanwhile, towns in northern NSW have moved from rescue to recovery efforts, after the rain bomb left a trail of destruction and a surge in insurance claims.

The Insurance Council of Australia began conducting aerial surveys in areas where water has subsided to verify the impact and scale of the event.
J-10 fighter jets from the August 1st Aerobatics Team of the People's Liberation Army Air Force perform during the 10th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province on Nov. 11, 2014. (Alex Lee/Reuters)

Intelligence Agencies Very Concerned China Will Invade Taiwan: Canadas Military Intelligence Chief

Defence intelligence agencies were worried that Moscows invasion of Ukraine would embolden China to do the same with Taiwan, says the chief of Canadas military intelligence branch, noting the Wests swift response to the conflict could deter China.

Prior to a week ago, we were very concerned about China and in fact wondering if China would take the opportunity to accelerate their own plans for greater control of their near abroad, specifically Taiwan, Major-General Michael Wright told the Standing Committee on National Defence (NDDN) on March 2.

The NDDN meeting was the second session the committee has held since Russia launched its attack on Ukraine on Feb 24. MPs from the four parties are studying the threats facing Canada and what capacity the country has to support Ukraine and engage in conventional warfare should the threat hit home.

In response to the invasion of Ukraine, Western nations have imposed a barrage of economic sanctions targeting Russias banking system, state-controlled companies, and oligarchs, with an aim to cripple the Kremlins ability to fund their military campaign.

Canada has moved to prohibit the imports of Russian crude oil, and announced on Feb. 28 an additional $25 million in aid to support Ukraine, along with providing two C-130J tactical airlift aircraft and a team of about 45 personnel to assist NATO efforts.

Companies in Europe, Canada, and the United States have followed suit by refusing to export Russian consumer goods. Major oil companies such as Shell also announced on Feb. 28 that it will exit all of its Russian operations, following in the footsteps of BP who said it will sell its shares in Russian state firm Rosneft.

Asked by NDP MP Lindsay Mathyssen whether the response from Western nations to the Ukrainian conflict has in any way given China pause in its Taiwan ambitions, Wright said Beijing should take note.

I would hope that with the reaction of the international community, and specifically NATO and the West, that China would have pause for any of their authoritarian plans for the future, he said.

Beijing has long considered Taiwan to be a breakaway province, despite the fact that Taiwan is a de facto independent country. Since March 2019, the Chinese regime has been ramping up military aggression in Taiwan, sending military aircraft into the islands Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

Within hours following Russias invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Chinese Communist Party sent nine aircraft into Taiwans ADIZ.

The Feb. 24 sortie marked the 13th incursion in Taiwans airspace in February. In a large-scale incursion in late January, the Chinese military sent 39 aircraft into Taiwans ADIZ in an apparent attempt to intimidate and exhaust Taiwans military.

Andrew Thornebrooke and Andrew Chen contributed to this report.
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan speaks to reporters in Khartoum, Sudan, in a file image. (Ebrahim Hamid/AFP via Getty Images)

International Criminal Court Opens Probe Into Possible War Crimes in Ukraine

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine.

Karim Khan, the courts prosecutor, said the probe was requested by 39 countries, including Belgium, Canada, and Iceland. The referrals from the member-states enable Khan to launch the investigation.

The probe, which will cover actions in Ukraine taken since Nov. 21, 2013, will look into allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide committed in Ukraine by any person.

Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced, Khan said in a statement.

He called on all those engaged in hostilities in Ukraine to adhere strictly to the applicable rules of international humanitarian law.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, and Russian troops and Ukrainian personnel have been battling since then. While reports have indicated that Belarusian troops joined the fray, Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, has denied those reports.

Khan told Reuters that an advance team left the court, which is located in The Hague, Netherlands, and was en route to the Ukraine region.

Yesterday, I formulated a team, and today, they are moving to the region, Khan said.

Khans team had already found in a preliminary review a reasonable basis to believe crimes were committed in Ukraine and had identified potential cases for investigation.

Local residents remove debris of a residential building destroyed by shelling amid Russias invasion of Ukraine in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, on March 2, 2022. (Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters)

While U.S. President Joe Biden said its too early to say Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) introduced a resolution supporting the action.

The whole international community [needs] to condemn this. This is criminal. This is pure killing of [individuals]. Its not a war, Spartz told a briefing in Washington.

Multiple leaders have said that Russia is carrying out war crimes, including UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irelands Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney.

Although neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, Ukraine gave it authorization over war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of committing war crimes. In one instance, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said Russia shelled a kindergarten and an orphanage in the city of Okhtyrka. Kuleba described the shelling as war crimes and violations of the Rome Statute, noting that officials were collecting evidence to send to the ICC.

Russian officials have defended the invasion and have accused Ukraines military of committing atrocities in the Donbas region, which Russian President Vladimir Putin recently recognized as independent from Ukraine.

Several times we sent signals to Kyiv and its Western puppet masters on the need to stop the violence in Donbas, to comply with the Minsk package of measures, and we have not been heard. After Russias recognition of the independence of these republics the shelling did not stop, but in fact, it increased and the shelling is ongoing today, Gennady Gatilov, Russias representative to the U.N., said during a meeting in Geneva.

In these conditions, the decision to conduct a special operation to stop the tragedy in Ukraine was taken. We had no other choice. This operation is targeted in nature, and there is no fire on civilian sites.

Isabel van Brugen contributed to this report.
National Rifle Association members listen to speakers during the NRA's 142 annual Meetings and Exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston on May 4, 2013. (Johnny Hanson/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)

Judge Blocks New York Attorney Generals Attempt to Dissolve NRA

A New York judge on March 2 dismissed an attempt by state Attorney General Letitia James to dissolve the National Rifle Association (NRA), saying the allegations against the organization didnt meet the requirements for ordering its dissolution.

James, a Democrat, has claimed that top executives of the gun advocacy and education group have siphoned millions of dollars from the organization, and shes seeking restitution and other financial relief from four current and former officers. She also moved for dissolving the NRA, arguing that doing so is in the interest of both the public and NRA members.

But state Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen said in his ruling that the allegations concern primarily private harm to the NRA and its members and donors, which if proven can be addressed by the targeted, less intrusive relief she seeks through other claims in her complaint.

The complaint does not allege that any financial misconduct benefited the NRA, or that the NRA exists primarily to carry out such activity, or that the NRA is incapable of continuing its legitimate activities on behalf of its millions of members, he wrote.

In short, the complaint does not allege the type of public harm that is the legal linchpin for imposing the corporate death penalty.'

Dissolving the NRA, the nations largest group of its kind, could impinge on its members free speech and assembly rights, according to the judge.

NRA President Charles Cotton said in a statement: This is a resounding win for the NRA, its 5 million members, and all who believe in this organization. The message is loud and clear: the NRA is strong and secure in its mission to protect constitutional freedom.

William Brewer, a lawyer representing the organization, alleged that James has pushed a contrived narrative about the NRA in her attempt to support a dissolution claim that is improper.

Cohen did decide that the remaining portions of the case, which accuse the NRA and the defendants of violating several laws, can move forward. Those allegations, he said, are sufficient to withstand motions to dismiss them.

Today, the court affirmed my offices right to pursue its long-standing claims that fraud, abuse, and greed permeate through the NRA and its senior leadership, James said in a statement.

While were heartened that the judge rejected the NRAs attempts to thwart most of the claims in our case against the NRA, we are disappointed that the judge ruled against the dissolution portion of the case.

We are considering our legal options with respect to this ruling. We remain committed to enforcing New York law regardless of how powerful any individual or organization may be.
Paul Bellar (L), Joseph Morrison (C), and Pete Musico (R), who are accused of being involved in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her CCP virus restrictions. (Jackson County Sheriff's Office via AP)

Judge: No FBI Entrapment for 3 in Gov. Whitmer Kidnap Plot

A judge ruled Tuesday that three men charged in a plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer before the 2020 election were not entrapped by the FBI.

Joseph Morrison, Pete Musico, and Paul Bellar will face a tentatively scheduled pretrial examination in August and trial in September, Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson said during a video conference.

They are accused of providing materials to support terrorist acts, attempting to commit a felony as an associate or member of gang, and gun charges.

They are accused of aiding six others who are charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer, including two men who pleaded guilty and four who are scheduled to stand trial March 8 in Grand Rapids. Five more are also charged in state courts. The FBI said it broke up a plot.

This ruling makes clear these defendants were not pressured by law enforcement into committing these crimes, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. These were very serious threats to our elected officials and the public, and the perpetrators of these crimes must be held accountable.

Investigators have described Morrison, Bellar, and Musico as anti-government extremists who were angry over coronavirus policies and restrictions imposed by the governor during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a court affidavit, Musico and Morrison are founding members of the Wolverine Watchmen, which authorities described as an anti-government, anti-law enforcement militia group.

An FBI informant identified Monday in court only as Dan testified about his communications and conversations with the defendants. Defense attorneys said some of their clients activities were initiated by the informant who was controlled by the FBI.

Wilson said he found no basis for entrapment.

I just cannot, in reviewing this matter, (see) that the government  somehow pressured any one of these individuals to participate in anything, or to get in line with this way of thinking, Wilson said, referring to ideology espoused by the Wolverine Watchmen. That was the very reason that we got the confidential informant in the very beginning was as soon as he had joined the group and learned that they were talking about harming police officers and potentially politicians that he contacted the FBI because of his concern out of what potentially could happen.

Dan initially turned down the FBIs request to help, Wilson said.

They asked him if he would reconsider, Wilson said. He did.

By Corey Williams
LA Council Seeks to Prevent Catalytic Converter Theft From City Vehicles

The Los Angeles City Council is trying to prevent the theft of city property after 39 catalytic converters were stolen from city vehicles in one weekend last December.

Council unanimously approved a motion on March 2 to investigate the risk of theft from city vehicles, and at security measures at locations where the thefts occurred.

Especially in light of the value of the city assets contained in these yards, these break-ins raise serious concerns about whether adequate security and loss-prevention practices are being implemented, the motion reads, which was introduced by Councilmembers Paul Krekorian and Monica Rodriguez.

The December theft of catalytic convertersa device that mitigates toxic exhaust emissioncost the city an estimated $74,000, according to the motion. In addition, catalytic converters were stolen from more than 68 city vehicles during a break-in at a Lincoln Heights city facility in March 2021.

The theft of catalytic converters in particular is widespread nationwide and has gotten worse because of recent dramatic increases in the salvage value of their components, the motion stated. Theft of other metal items similarly has increased for the same reason. The risk to the taxpayers of theft of city vehicles and other assets therefore continues to be significant.

Each catalytic converter can be sold for up to $1,200 each, according to the LA County District Attorneys Office.

Last week, LA County District Attorney George Gascon, along with LA Police Department (LAPD) Chief Michel Moore, expressed their support for a state measure that would attempt to reduce the theft of converters.

These crimes are costly to consumers in both repairs and insurance costs. They also make us feel unsafe, Gascon said in a press conference last week. The solution to this problem, interestingly enough, is very simple to a great extent. When a catalytic converter is stolen, it is untraceable. That means that those crimes cannot be solved unless someone is literally caught in the actsomething that is very difficult for the police to do.

State senators Anthony J. Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge) and Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) earlier this month introduced Senate Bill 986, a measure that combats catalytic converter theft by requiring dealers to apply a vehicle identification number to the catalytic converter of each vehicle listed for sale.

Catalytic converter thefts are rising and serious, Portantino said in a statement. We must enact tougher law enforcement strategies and penalties to combat it. SB 986 offers a simple common-sense solution to eliminating the legal challenges of prosecuting the theft of catalytic converters. The bill will also result in a reduction of thefts of used converters, which is good news for both victims and law enforcement.

As for the city councils efforts to stop the theft, the March 2 motion also instructs the citys Department of General Services to look into thefts of city facilities in the last two years that have resulted in significant losses or damage to city assets and directs the department to report back to the council with recommendations on cost-efficient measures to reduce asset losses and damage.

In addition, Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson added an amendment to the motion that will direct the Board of Public Works and the LAPD to report on potential methods to apprehend suspects who steal the devices or purchase the salvaged goodsincluding using GPS tracking systems on catalytic converters.

Each of the reports will return to the council on April 1.
Missouris Attorney General Eric Schmitt during his interview with The Epoch Times on March 1, 2022. (The Epoch Times)

Missouris Lawsuit Against CCP, Wuhan Lab Moving Forward, States AG Says

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt says hes determined to hold the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) accountable for misleading the world about the transmission of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schmitt told The Epoch Times that although its an arduous process, the lawsuit is beginning to move forward.

Weve sued the Peoples Republic of China, that is a process where you have to go through to serve the state, through the Hague Convention, which they objected to, its taken us a while to get service, he told Roman Balmakov, the host of EpochTVs Facts Matter, in a recent interview. Same on the non-government actors, like the Wuhan lab, and so were getting to a place finally now, weve got service.

Missouri was one of the first states to file a lawsuit against the CCP and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) for their alleged coverup of the pandemic. Its taking a long time but Schmitt says his state will continue the effort to get accountability from the CCP.

And that is what were going to do once we get a judgment here, Schmitt said. So, were not letting up. Its just taken a while to make its way through the courts when a state like Missouri is suing the Peoples Republic of China. Its not like serving the florist down the street, you know, its a different animal.

We filed the lawsuit and heres what we allege: that they covered this up. They sat on the information, they knew about the human-to-human transmission in November, December, [and] didnt tell the world about it until the end of January in 2020.

An officer gestures in front of one of the roads blocked by the police to restrict people leaving Wuhan in Chinas Hubei Province on Jan. 25, 2020, during the beginning of a virus outbreak that would become a pandemic. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)

Schmitt said the regime in Beijing took steps early on to halt domestic flights (while not limiting international flights), and hoard and import a massive amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) before sharing information about the viral outbreak.

So, the Chinese Communist Party which, of course, runs the Peoples Republic of China, is directly responsible for the proliferation of this virus across the world, killing people and upending the economy.

At the start of the outbreak, U.S. national security adviser Robert OBrien said he thought Chinas lack of candor likely cost the world two months toward limiting its spread.

It originated in Wuhan in Hubei Province in China; it originated some time ago, OBrien said in March 2020 during an event at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

Unfortunately, rather than using best practices, this outbreak in Wuhan was covered up. Theres lots of open-source reporting from China, from Chinese nationals, that the doctors involved were either silenced or put in isolation or that sort of thing, so that word of this virus could not get out.

Both the CCP and the WIV have been served with the lawsuit and Schmitt says hes waiting for a response.

They have not answered the complaint thats been filed and so were going to continue to move forward, and if that means getting a judgment and seizing their assets, were going to do it, he said.

The P4 laboratory, designated as the highest level of biological safety, at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, on April 17, 2020. (AFP via Getty Images/Hector Retamal)

Wuhan was the early epicenter of the pandemic when a cluster of infections emerged near a local wet market there. Now, two years later, the origins of the CCP virus, the pathogen that causes COVID-19, remain unknown, but many suspect the virus originated from the WIVa lab that has researched bat coronavirus for more than a decade and is located near the epicenter of the first outbreak.

Schmitt explained the next step in the legal action against the CCP and the Wuhan lab.

We had a court filing just last week with the judge to explain why everything has been completed, and we look forward to having those judgments entered so we can move forward with collecting on it, he said.

Schmitt said the CCP threatened to sanction him but he wont be deterred in his effort to hold them accountable.

I dont care. I dont care because China is a huge threat on the world stage as were seeing and what they did with the coronavirus, they need to be held to account on that, he 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.
Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver in a February 2022 interview with NTD's "The Nation Speaks" program. (NTD/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Liberty Counsel Questions Biden Administrations Use of Database of Religious Exemption Applicants

Mat Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel, says that 55 federal departments and agencies now track people who applied for religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Staver questions the reason for creating such a database, saying its like a blacklist to purge people of faith.

Liberty Counsel is a Christian legal organization fighting for religious freedom. A recent notable case is that they represent 35 Navy members, many of them SEALs, against the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. A federal court granted an injunction against the mandate in January, and a federal appeals court stayed the injunction last month.

There should be no reason to permanently archive whether any individual asked for a religious exemption. That is none of the governments business, and there is no good purpose for which to use that information, Staver told NTDs The Nation Speaks.

On Sept. 9, 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order requiring COVID-19 vaccination for federal employees. On Oct. 4, 2021, the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued guidance to federal agencies regarding collecting information for medical and religious accommodations.

Staver said now there are 55 federal departments and agencies that have been collecting such data. According to a review of Federal Register notices by The Epoch Times, the agencies include the departments of Defense, Justice, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, the Treasury, the Social Security Administration, and the Federal Election Commission.

Why do they need to have this permanent database that will be archived in the National Archives on a permanent record? There is no real good answer to that, Staver said.

Most of the Federal Register notices cite the Privacy Act of 1974 as their justification for collecting such data, with some saying to implement Bidens COVID-19 executive order.

Why all of the sudden, during this administration, do we need to track every single person who asked for a religious exemption? How can it be used against those individuals? asked Staver.

He said the database can be used to deny those federal government employees who transfer to another agency or department, either because of career advancement or change of positions.

They can look at that database, in part of that transfer and reviewing somebody. And if they have a religious exemption, they can just simply be denied. You may not know thats why youre being denied but thats part of the database that the place would be looking at, said Staver.

The same applies to those federal government employees transferred into the private market. For example, many military people transition out because of their expertise. They could be blocked, too, said Staver.

In other words, this could be used as a blacklist for many people. And it would apply in all cases to the employees of these departments and agencies, said Staver.

Being tracked are not only federal government employees, but also contractors, interns, guests, or even visitors, said Staver.

If you have an event sponsored by one of these agencies, if you attend that event, and theres a proof of vaccination requirement, and you wanted to ask for an exemption, you could also be logged as a private individual in this permanent database.

The information being collected is very intrusive and extensive, said Staver.

They are tracking not only whether you apply for a religious exemption, but even your doctrinal views, even kinds of conversations or verbal information that they may obtain through this process, including information from your clergy and your particular doctrinal or church or synagogue beliefs. Its very intrusive, and it is quite extensive, and it has happened within the last year.

Theres no precedent in our lifetime for creating such a database, except for the Nazi regime documenting the Jews, said Staver.

Im not saying thats whats happening here, but I can say that that is how those Jewish individuals were identified. It was through a private cooperation with IBM and the Nazi government. And you have to ask yourself, why do they want this?

Staver said people in the military had been abused for asking for religious exemptions.

A U.S. service member prepares to get a COVID-19 vaccine at Fort Knox, Ky., on Sept. 9, 2021. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

Men and women in the military have been abused, and they have not been treated humanely in many of these cases, Staver said.

To date, the military only approved minimal religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, despite tens of thousands of applications.

Some whistleblowers told The Epoch Times last month that the military has discriminated against them for asking for religious exemptions.

I think what you see is a purging of people of faith, said Staver. So these are all people of various kinds of faith. And its a wide variety. And I think what weve seen in some of these places of employment, including the military, is a purging of these devout religious individuals. And I think this is another aspect along that same line. This could be used to purge individuals from federal employment, from even the private sector because of their religious faith.

In January, Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) and Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) introduced a bill, seeking to bar the use of federal funds for any such database. Another 20 GOP House members have cosponsored the bill.

Staver said if the bill couldnt pass in the Congress, his organization would bring the federal government to court.

Certainly wed like to have this law passed in Congress to defund it, said Staver. But certainly if that didnt happen, we would litigate and not only stop it, but as for these lists to be destroyed. There should be no reason to permanently archive whether any individual asked for a religious exemption.

The Epoch Times has contacted Safer Federal Workforce Task Force and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for comment.

Efforts to prevent agencies from collecting information about religious exception requests, including through the willful dissemination of misinformation, are tantamount to efforts to prevent employees from receiving religious exceptions, an OMB official told Fox News in January.

Harry Lee Follow Harry Lee is a New York-based reporter for The Epoch Times. Contact Harry at harry.lee@epochtimes.com
A representation of the virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin is seen in this picture illustration taken on Oct. 19, 2021. (Edgar Su/Reuters)

Like China, Russia Will Use Digital Cash to Evade US Sanctions

Commentary

Unless you happen to live under a rock, you are no doubt aware that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has rolled out its own digital currency, the digital yuan. Designed to directly compete with the U.S. dollar, the digital yuan was also designed for another reasonto evade U.S. sanctions, according to experts.

Another country that has chosen to take a leaf out of the digital currency playbook is Russia, a close ally of China. Like Beijing, Moscow will likely use this digital avenue to inflict further misery on the world and circumvent U.S. sanctions.

To understand Russias plans, we must first discuss cryptocurrencies. Of course, one cannot discuss cryptocurrencies without discussing bitcoin, the king of cryptocurrencies. Contrary to popular belief, bitcoin is amoral. Like a rolling pin, bitcoin can be used as a tool for good as well as bad.

In Eastern Europe, for example, the people of Ukraine continue to benefit greatly from bitcoin donations. Since the country was invaded by the Russians on Feb. 24, nongovernmental organizations have raised more than $11 million in cryptocurrency donations, most of it in bitcoin. Ukraine, perhaps acknowledging the inevitably of an invasion, recently opted to legalize bitcoin.

As Ukraine, one the largest countries in Europe, crumbles before our eyes, and people struggle to withdraw cash from banks, cryptocurrency donations offer many citizens an invaluable lifeline. However, the likes of bitcoin also offers another country a lifeline, and that country is Russia. Yes, the very country that invaded a sovereign nation, the very country responsible for the murder of innocent Ukrainians, stands to benefit from bitcoin.

Evading Sanctions

On Feb. 22, a couple of days before the invasion took place, President Joe Biden, to his credit, hit Russia with a number of economic sanctions. On Feb. 24, after Russian soldiers crossed the Ukrainian border, the Biden administration updated the list of targets. Some economists believe that U.S. sanctions alone could cost Russia $50 billion per year.

The Russian economy is suffering, and the Russian people, many of whom vehemently opposed the invasion, are suffering the most. Ukraine is crumbling, but, with the help of other countries, it will rise again. Russia, on the other hand, is a pariah. Patriam non grata, if you will. It may very well become the next hermit kingdom. Nevertheless, Vladimir Putin knew the invasion of Ukraine would be met with incredibly severe economic sanctions. His administration, one imagines, has planned accordingly.

This brings us back to the most popular cryptocurrency on the market, bitcoin. The decentralized nature of crypto allows the decentas well as the indecentto benefit from pseudonymous peer-to-peer transactions. To quote Matthew Sigel, a global investment expert, neither dictators nor human rights activists will encounter any censor on the bitcoin network.

In other words, God may very well judge Putin harshly for his actions, but the bitcoin network certainly wont. Remember, bitcoin (and its 10,000 imitators) was created as a direct response to fiat currencies, and as a means of avoiding central banks. This works in Russias favor, a country that mines a staggering amount of bitcoin; cryptocurrencies now account for a large chunk of Russias financial market.

Of course, Russia wont be the first country to use bitcoin to evade U.S. sanctions, and it wont be the last. North Korea, another country intimately familiar with U.S. sanctions, also has a soft spot for bitcoin. Last year alone, North Korean hackers stole nearly $400 million in cryptocurrencies. According to a recent BBC report, the stolen loot was then used to fund the countrys missile programs.

Which brings us back to the crisis playing out in Eastern Europe. Although bitcoin has helped (and continues to help) many Ukrainians weather the financial hardships of war, it may also help the Russians continue to wage the most expensive of wars.

More worryingly for the Ukrainians, even if the Russians dont use the likes of bitcoin to circumvent U.S. sanctions, they have one other digital card up their proverbial sleevesthe digital ruble, which was literally designed to mitigate the risks of foreign sanctions.

This is both the blessing and the curse of digital money. It is an amoral tool that can be used by the good, the bad, and the downright dangerous.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
This image made from a video released by Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant shows bright flaring object landing in grounds of the nuclear plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine Friday, March 4, 2022. (Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant via AP)

Russia-Ukraine (March 3): Ukraine Says Fire at Biggest Nuclear Plant Extinguished

The latest on the RussiaUkraine crisis, March 3. Click here for updates from March 2.

Ukraine Says Fire at Biggest Nuclear Plant Extinguished

Ukrainian authorities said Friday that a fire at Europes biggest nuclear plant ignited by Russian shelling has been extinguished, and that Russian forces have taken control of the site.

The regional military administration said in a statement that the fire at the Zaporizhzhia plant in Enerhodar was extinguished, and that there is damage to the compartment of reactor No. 1 but it does not affect the safety of the power unit.

No information was immediately available about casualties.

The military administration said Russian forces took control of the site and that operational personnel are ensuring its safe operation.

Earlier plant officials had said that shelling hit an administrative building and reactor No. 1.

The town mayor and state emergency service also said the fire was extinguished.

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China Asked Russia to Postpone Ukraine Invasion Until After Olympics: Report

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials allegedly knew of Russias plans to invade Ukraine in advance, and requested that the war be postponed until after the Beijing Olympics had concluded, according to Western intelligence obtained by the New York Times (NYT).

The NYT report said that the information, which was collected by Western intelligence agencies, was classified but that Senior Biden administration officials and one European official confirmed their authenticity on the condition of anonymity.

The information was allegedly collected and studied in the lead up to Russias invasion of Ukraine, but those involved did not agree on how far up knowledge of the impending invasion spread among CCP officials.

As such, the intelligence does not directly implicate Russian President Vladimir Putin and CCP General Secretary Xi personally. The NYT report said that it was likely officials from both nations briefed their higher-ups, however.

If the report is credible, it could vindicate earlier warnings that China and Russia are working closely with one another to undermine the rules-based international order and to facilitate one anothers plans for Taiwan and Ukraine, respectively, behind the scenes.

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Macron Says Putin Refuses to Halt Attacks

French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that he has again asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to halt attacks on Ukraine, but that Putin wont do it.

At this point, he refuses, Macron wrote in Twitter post.

He confirmed that he had spoken to Putin on the phone earlier on Thursday and said he will continue the dialogue to prevent more human tragedy.

We must prevent the worst from happening, Macron also said in his post. Dialogue has to continue to protect the (civilian) population, to obtain good will gestures  to put an end to this war, Macron said.

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US Imposes Sanctions on More Russian Oligarchs

The United States on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions against Russian oligarchs, including on those active in the oil and real estate sectors, as Washington takes aim at those close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to Moscows invasion of Ukraine.

The United States imposed full blocking sanctions on eight oligarchs and officials, as well as some of their companies, the White House said, targeting Russias super-rich who have amassed fortunes and political influence through their close ties to Putin.

Washington has so far imposed several rounds of sanctions, including against Putin and the central bank.

Washington imposed sanctions on Alisher Usmanov, a Russian tycoon and founder of Russian mining company Metalloinvest, whom the White House described as a one of Russias wealthiest individuals and a close ally of Putin.

The move blocks his property from use in the United States and by U.S. persons, including his luxury yacht that the White House said was seized by Germany, and his private jet.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, whom the White House accused of being a top purveyor of Putins propaganda, was also targeted.

Nikolay Tokarev, the chief executive of energy giant Transneft, was also designated along with his wife, daughter and his two luxury real estate companies. Billionaires Boris and Arkady Rotenberg and several family members were also hit with sanctions.

The United States will also impose visa restrictions on 19 Russian oligarchs, their family members, and associates, the White House said in a statement, and will also issue sanctions against Russian entities and individuals who enable the countrys spread of disinformation.

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Ukrainian Forces Are Attacking Stalled Convoy: General

Ukrainian forces are attacking the 40-mile-long military convoy that is heading towards Kyiv, according to a general.

We are striking the enemys columns, Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told Military Times. We burn many columns of the enemy. He did not elaborate on how many vehicles were destroyed or how many Russian troops may have been killed.

Ukrainian forces are using Su-24 and Su-25 fighter jets, artillery, and missile strikes against the convoy, Budanov said in a Wednesday interview, adding that his intelligence officers and agents are directing and calling the strikes.

Read the full article here

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Maintaining Regulatory Control Over the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

The United Nations atomic watchdog says Ukraine has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that staff who have been kept at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant since Russian troops took control of the site a week ago are facing psychological pressure and moral exhaustion.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi received a joint appeal from the Ukraine Government, regulatory authority and the national operator which added that personnel at the Chornobyl site have limited opportunities to communicate, move and carry out full-fledged maintenance and repair work, the IAEA said in a statement.

Grossi has repeatedly stressed that any military or other action that could threaten the safety or security of Ukraines nuclear power plants must be avoided.

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Ukraines Mariupol Under Russian Siege

Russian forces are trying to blockade the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, knocking out power, water, and heating supplies with bombardment that is preventing residents from fleeing, local authorities said on Thursday.

As Russias invasion of Ukraine enters its second week, the port city is seeing some of the fiercest fighting with constant shelling for the past 24 hours, Mayor Vadym Boichenko said in a video broadcast.

The city authorities likened the Russian onslaught to Nazi Germanys protracted deadly siege of the then-Soviet city of Leningrad during World War Two.

Mariupol remains under fire. Women, children and the elderly are suffering. We are being destroyed as a nation. This is genocide of the Ukrainian people, the citys council said in a statement.

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Ukraine, Russia Agree to Create Safe Corridors

A member of Ukraines delegation in talks with Russia says the parties have reached a tentative agreement to organize safe corridors for civilians to evacuate and for humanitarian supplies to be delivered.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky who took part in Thursdays talks in Belarus near the Polish border, said that Russia and Ukraine reached a preliminary understanding that cease-fires will be observed in areas where the safe corridors are established.

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Putin Says Fight in Ukraine Going According to Plan

Russias fight against Ukraine is going according to plan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 3.

Putin made the remarks as he chaired a virtual meeting with members of his Security Council from an unidentified location.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, claiming the operation was needed to demilitarize and denazify the neighboring country, in addition to putting on trial people who allegedly carried out crimes against civilians.

Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union but declared its independence in 1991.

Putin spoke as negotiators met in Belarus but ended a second round of talks with no pact, though the sides did agree to carve out so-called humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from areas struck by bombs.

From The Epoch Times

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Top Russian General Killed in Ukraine

Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division, was killed in fighting in Ukraine earlier this week.

His death was confirmed by a local officers organization in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia. The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear.

Sukhovetsky, who was 47, began his military service as a platoon commander after graduating from a military academy and steadily rose through the ranks to take a series of leadership positions. He took part in Russias military campaign in Syria.

He was also a deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army.

A funeral ceremony will be held in Novorossiisk, but further details werent immediately announced.

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Zelenskyy Calls for a Face to Face Talk With Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him, salting the proposal with sarcasm.

Sit down with me to negotiate, just not at 30 meters, he said Thursday, apparently referring to recent photos of Putin sitting at one end of an extremely long table when he met with French President Emmanuel Macron.

I dont bite. What are you afraid of? Zelenskyy said at a Thursday news conference.

Zelenskyy said it was sensible to have talks: Any words are more important than shots.

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Ukraine Seeks Ceasefire, Humanitarian Corridors at Talks With Russia

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met on Thursday and Kyiv said it would call for a ceasefire and humanitarian corridors to evacuate its besieged citizens, as the war entered its second week with Ukrainian cities surrounded and under bombardment.

Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak posted on Twitter a picture of the delegations at a conference table in an undisclosed location. The Ukrainians wore battle fatigues and winter jackets; the Russians wore suits and ties.

Podolyak said Ukraine would demand an immediate ceasefire, armistice, and humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from destroyed or constantly shelled villages/cities.

Neither side has suggested it was expecting breakthroughs after a first round of talks held in Belarus on Monday led to no progress.

Despite an initial battle plan that Western countries said was aimed at swiftly toppling the Kyiv government it describes as dangerous nationalists who threaten its security, Russia has captured only one Ukrainian city so farthe southern Dnipro River port of Kherson, which its tanks entered on Wednesday.

With its main assault force halted for days on a highway north of Kyiv, Russia has shifted tactics, escalating its bombardment of major cities. Swathes of central Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million people, have been blasted into rubble.

Mariupol, the main port of eastern Ukraine, has been surrounded under heavy bombardment, with no water or power. Officials say they cannot evacuate the wounded. The city council compared the situation to the World War Two siege of Leningrad.

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Russian, Belarusian Athletes Barred From Beijing Paralympics

Russian and Belarusian athletes were barred from the Winter Paralympics in Beijing on the eve of the Games following threats of boycotts by other teams over Russias invasion of Ukraine, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said.

Thursdays decision comes a day after the IPC gave athletes from the two countries the green light to participate in the March 413 Games as neutrals, saying the athletes were not the aggressors.

But that led to an outcry and threats from other countries National Paralympic Committees (NPC) to boycott the Games, IPC President Andrew Parsons told a news conference in Beijing.

Russian news agency TASS reported Russia is drafting a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against IPCs decision.

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Russian Forces Take First Major Ukrainian City

Russian forces have taken a strategic Ukrainian seaport and set siege to another as Moscow tries to cut its neighbor off from the Black Sea.

The Russian military said Thursday it had control of Kherson, which has a population of 280,000 people, making it the first major city to fall since a Russian invasion began last week.

Russian armored vehicles were seen in the otherwise empty streets of Kherson, in videos shared with The Associated Press by a resident.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued in Mariupol, in the outskirts of the strategic Azov Sea port city. Electricity and phone connections are mostly not working in Mariupol, which faces food and water shortages.

The Russians are pressing their offensive on a variety of fronts, even as the Kremlin says it is ready for talks to end the fighting that has triggered more than 1 million refugees.

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Lavrov Says Moscow Ready for Talks Over Ukraine

Russias foreign minister says that Moscow is ready for talks to end the fighting in Ukraine but will continue to press its effort to destroy Ukraines military infrastructure.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian delegation submitted its demands to Ukrainian negotiators earlier this week and is now waiting for Kyivs response in talks set for Thursday.

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Zelensky: 16,000 Volunteers Coming to Fight

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said 16,000 foreign volunteers were traveling to Ukraine to help the countrys cause.

Speaking in a video address he said the soldiers were coming to defend liberty and life.

Im sure it will be successful, he added.

Zelensky was also skeptical of Moscows intention to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine, urging Russia to learn words of reparation and contribution.

You will pay back the full price for everything that you did to us, to our country, and to every Ukrainian, he said.

Zelensky made the comments during an address filmed by the Ukrainian Presidential Office. In the message he spoke in Russian to soldiers from the invading force, telling them to go home, to your home.

With a column of tanks and other vehicles apparently stalled for days outside the capital of Kyiv, fighting continued on multiple fronts across Ukraine.

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Lavrov Says Russia Will Continue Ukraine War Till The End

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday he believed some foreign leaders were preparing for war against Russia and that Moscow would press on with its military operation in Ukraine until the end.

Lavrov also said Russia had no thoughts of nuclear war.

He also said he had no doubt that a solution to the crisis in Ukraine would be found, and a new round of talks were about to start between Ukrainian and Russian officials.

But he said Russias dialogue with the West must be based on mutual respect, accused NATO of seeking to maintain supremacy, and said that while Russia had a lot of goodwill, it could not let anyone undermine its interests.

Moscow would not let Ukraine keep infrastructure that threatened Russia, he said.

Moscow could also not tolerate what he called a military threat from Ukraine, he said, adding that he was convinced that Russia was right over Ukraine.

The thought of nuclear is constantly spinning in the heads of Western politicians but not in the heads of Russians, he said. I assure you that we will not allow any kind of provocation to unbalance us.

Russia did not feel politically isolated, and the question of how Ukraine lives should be defined by its people, he said.

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No Ukrainian Forces Left in Key City, Mayor Says as Russian Forces Advance

No Ukrainian armed forces remain in the southern city of Kherson, its mayor said, as Russian forces infiltrated the council building more than a week after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion against Ukraine.

The mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said in a statement that he urged Russian soldiers not to shoot civilians after they infiltrated the city administration building.

I simply asked them not to shoot at people, said Kolykhaev. We dont have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.

His remarks came after days of heavy fighting in Kherson, a key port city of 280,000 on the Dnieper River near the Black Sea. As of March 1, Ukraine has suffered 752 civilian casualties, including 227 killed and 525 injured, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Read the full article here

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Vaccine Manufacturer Braces for Complications With Russia

A South Korean pharmaceutical company manufacturing Russias COVID-19 vaccine says its bracing for business complications as the U.S.-led West escalates sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Recently expanded U.S. sanctions include targeted measures against the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund run by a close ally of President Vladimir Putin that globally markets the Sputnik vaccines.

Kim Gi-young, an official from Seoul-based GL Rapha, said the sanctions wont directly impede its production of the shots as the measures arent aimed at essential medical supplies.

However, the company is concerned about potential problems rising from the financial side as South Korea joins the United States and many European countries in a move to cut off key Russian banks from global payment systems.

Right now, we are watching how the situation develops, Kim said.

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UAE Says Ukrainians Can Still Enter Without a Visa

The United Arab Emirates says Ukrainian passport holders continue to be eligible for visas on arrival to the Gulf state.

The UAEs Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday came in response to media coverage quoting Ukraines Embassy in the UAE saying that the Gulf country is reimposing visa requirements on Ukrainians and suspending an agreement for visa-free travel between the two countries.

The energy-rich UAE, which relies on Russian and Ukrainian wheat exports, is home to some 15,000 Ukrainian residents among its roughly 8 million foreign residents and 1 million Emirati citizens. Before the coronavirus pandemic, around a quarter-million Ukrainian tourists visited the UAE.

The UAE, like other Gulf Arab states, does not recognize individuals fleeing war and has not permitted refugees from Syria, Iraq, and other wars to seek asylum or seek resettlement.

The UAE, which is home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, abstained in a U.N. Security Council vote late last week condemning Moscows invasion of Ukraine. It is also chair of the Security Council.

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OSCE Member Dies During Kharkiv Shelling

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says one of its members died during shelling in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Maryna Fenina was killed while getting supplies for her family, the group said in a news release Wednesday. Fenina worked with the organizations monitoring mission in Ukraine.

In Kharkiv and other cities and towns in Ukraine, missiles, shells, and rockets are hitting residential buildings and town centers, killing and injuring innocent civilianswomen, men, and children alike, it said.

The organizations chairperson, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, and Secretary-General Helga Maria Schmid extended their condolences.

Our deepest condolences and sympathies go to Marynas family. Maryna was a valued member of the SMM team, and our colleagues in Ukraine remain in close contact with her family to offer our support, it said.

The organization launched its Ukraine monitoring mission in 2014 in response to a request from Ukraines government and the consent of the groups 57 participating states. The mission observes and reports on the situation in Ukraine and aims to facilitate dialogue.

Isabel van Brugen, Zachary Stieber, Jack Phillips, Andrew Thornebrooke, The Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.
Los Angeles Board Moves Closer to Overhauling County Jail

LOS ANGELESAs Los Angeles County moves closer to reimagining the criminal justice system and closing the Los Angeles County Mens Central Jail, the Board of Supervisors passed a motion Tuesday to create a new justice reform department that will adopt and centralize incarceration alternatives to avert people away from the jail system.

The motion brought forth by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl will direct the county CEO to report back in 90 days with a staffing plan to catapult the Justice, Care, and Opportunities Department, which will be the countys central hub for programs created to levy their Care First, Justice Last initiative (pdf).

The initiative seeks to divert those with mental illnesses, the homeless, and substance abuse away from jails, claiming that the justice system is ill-equipped to respond to these conditions.

Unfortunately, as this hard work has progressed, it has become clear that standing up programs and housing advisory bodies through multiple departments has not integrated service delivery to the extent needed to achieve true justice reform, the motion reads (pdf). The system that is meant to serve the most vulnerable becomes too cumbersome to deliver the integrated, holistic services that our county residents need.

Supervisors also requested that the county CEO compile a separate report on the planned July introduction of the Department of Youth Developmentmade up of community-based organizations that seek to divert minors from the jail system upon arrestand how it will be coupled with the countys Justice, Care, and Opportunities Department, in addition to developing a Justice Advisory Board. This board would be comprised of members from existing advisory bodies the county currently employs.

In 2015, the board adopted the Office of Diversion and Reentry, which is a division focused on harm-reduction and jail-based diversion programs. But Kuehl said this is only one part of overhauling the countys criminal justice system and will be an addition to the Care First, Justice Last process.

Kuehl wrote in the motion that the County repeatedly designs, develops, and implements strategies and programs that impact the periphery but rarely reach the center of service-delivery challenges, and that this central department will cut through bureaucracy within the county system.

But if we stop for a moment of critical reflection, we have to really acknowledge that process is not the same as progress, Kuehl said during the board meeting. And what we need now is progress, we need movement.  Its time to make things happen, and to do that, in my humble opinion, we have to improve our county infrastructure.

But even proponents of an overhauled criminal justice system opposed Kuehls motion. Several public comments submitted, including a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said the county should focus on the resources it already has in placesuch as the Office of Diversion and Reentryto strengthen the Care First, Justice Last initiative.

A new Department that completely reshapes the provision of service in the County cannot be established on such a short timeline without guidance from those who are invested and working toward the Care First vision, the ACLU wrote in a letter sent to the supervisors (pdf).

Justice LA, a coalition of organizations aiming to halt the expansion of jails, sent an email to the board saying that while this motion seeks to address the need for pretrial services independent of probation, it underutilizes existing county infrastructure and dismantles effective health driven models.

The county jail houses more than 14,000 inmates daily, according to the last count in 2020.

Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva said during a Facebook Live on March 2 that supervisors would likely fund the Care First, Justice Last initiative through budget cuts from the sheriffs department.

Were a part of the criminal justice system, but obviously we have no part in any of this, Villanueva said. In fact, they want to hire consultants to engage with existing advisory bodies.

Steve Cooley, former Los Angeles District Attorney from 2000 to 2012, told The Epoch Times that the boards philosophy towards jails is based upon failed ideology.

The criminal justice system requires a place to house pre-trial detainees, which are some of the most violent criminals in society, he said.
A Mexican flag is seen over the city of Tijuana, Mexico from San Ysidro, a district of San Diego, California, U.S., April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake

Mexicos Ambassador to Ukraine Leaves the Country

Mexicos ambassador to Ukraine, Olga Beatriz Garcia Guillen, left the country on Wednesday, along with other Mexicans and their families fleeing the Russian invasion.

Garcia Guillen and the refugees entered Romania at Siret, a town on the border with southwestern Ukraine, under an operation by the Mexican government.

After a 19-hour journey from Kyiv, the ambassador said many Mexicans were still unable to leave because of the state of emergency.

The group of Mexicans, their partners, and several diplomatic staff members were expected to depart for Mexico on a military plane on Thursday.

However, Garcia Guillen indicated she would remain in the Romanian border area in order to support repatriation operations.

The U.N. refugee agency said Sunday about 368,000 people have fled Ukraine, many into bordering nations like Romania, Poland, Hungary, Moldova, and Slovakia.

Amid the horrors and chaos, volunteers from far and wide are showing support by extending help to those whose lives are being shattered by war.

Captain Marius Ruz of the Romania Ministry of Interior said they were prepared to support the huge influx of refugees.

We all work as a team, and we make sure everyone gets the assistance they need, Ruz said.
An armed man stands at the Independent Square (Maidan) in the center of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 2, 2022. Ukraines leader decried Russia's escalation of attacks on crowded cities as a blatant terror campaign, while U.S. President Joe Biden warned that if the Russian leader didn't pay a price for the invasion, the aggression wouldnt stop with one country. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

More Nuclear Weapons Are Required to Deter Russia and China

Reduce US vulnerability to Russia-China nuclear blackmail

Commentary

America has failed to deter Vladimir Putins brutal invasion of Ukraine. His looming military failure, and the coalescing opposition of the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), led to Putins Feb. 27 order to put his nuclear forces on high alert, a general nuclear threat against the United States and NATO.

Very soon, that failure to deter could extend to the Taiwan Strait.

Following decades of military buildup, Russia and China have simply lost their fear of the United Statesthey are not deterred. This now justifies an immediate U.S. move to re-MIRV or replace multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) nuclear warheads removed from its land and sea-based nuclear missiles.

It is crucial to review how Russia and China have justified such a U.S. nuclear rearmament.

Against Ukraine, Putin massed a force of 160,000 or more troops and on Feb. 24 commenced a massive multi-axis invasion for the purpose of turning a neighboring democracy into a Soviet-era-like client state. A similar fate could await the Baltic States and even Poland.

Instead of adhering to the 2010 New START nuclear reduction treaty negotiated with President Barack Obama that committed both sides to a deployed nuclear warhead count of 1,550, Putin has spent the last decade building new nuclear weapons not covered by New START, like the Avangard nuclear hypersonic glide vehicle and the Poseidon large nuclear torpedo.

President Barack Obama makes a statement during a meeting on the New START in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Nov. 18, 2010. (Dennis Brack/Pool/Getty Images)

This is in addition to Russias estimated 2,000 (or many more) theater nuclear weapons mainly threatening NATO, which may include new sub-kiloton low yield nuclear weapons designed to destroy concentrations of NATO ground forces or to obliterate villages.

Russia and China also have spent the last decade deftly assembling a military alliance based on clear opposition to the United States and democracy, and mutual support for their respective imperialist ambitions, including Moscows restoration of Soviet-era dominion in Europe, and Beijings invasion and destruction of the democracy of Taiwan.

Also, having for decades touted its preference for a small nuclear arsenal, by early 2021, it became clear that China had a new goal of achieving nuclear superiority. Building 350 or more missile silos, each of which could be armed with 10 warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), along with more submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) and intercontinental bombers, points to a possible 4,000 warheads by the late 2020s.

This may become the greatest ever nuclear threat to the United States, as Russia and Chinas growing cooperation over the last decade in missile defense could mirror a much more threatening cooperation in missile offense in which they combine their nuclear warheads for coercive or massive nuclear strike operations against America.

In one of his first major foreign policy decisions, in a Jan. 26 phone call with Putin, President Joe Biden agreed to extend the New START Treaty by five years to 2026, locking the United States into a deployed warhead count of 1,550.

However, should China and Russia proceed with their nuclear modernization and buildups, by 2026 their combined nuclear forces could exceed 3,000 warheads, which, along with their many thousands of theater nuclear weapons, would enable overwhelming nuclear superiority to blackmail or strike America and its allies.

To build a greater sense of fear/deterrence in Moscow and Beijing, it is necessary to reverse the U.S. nuclear reductions of the 2010 New START Treaty, which saw the United States reduce its deployed warheads from 2,200 to less than 1,550.

By some counts, if the United States puts three warheads on its 400 Minuteman ICBMs (now reduced to one warhead), and rearmed its 280 Trident II SLBMs on 14 Ohio class nuclear ballistic missile submarines, it could deploy up to 3,200 warheads.

To be clear, when Putin issued his Feb. 27 order of placing his nuclear forces on high alert, he was asserting his ability to use nuclear weapons to destroy Ukraines democracy in the face of valiant opposition by Ukrainian military and mobilized civilian forces.

Putin made a vaguer nuclear threat in a Feb. 24 speech, warning, Those who may be tempted to interfere in these developments from the outside  they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrive to pose for a photograph during their meeting in Beijing on Feb. 4, 2022. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Putin was also seeking to deter NATO from providing Ukraine with new fighter jets, and to deter the United States, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Romania, the Netherlands, and others from providing new lethal assistance.

But what if U.S. and NATO efforts to supply a long-term resistance in Ukraine requires combat air support to ensure weapons and supplies cross borders into Ukraine, or even air delivery closer to the fighting in Ukraine?

While the United States has dispatched additional combat aircraft and will soon send 7,000 more troops to Europe, Biden, in his Feb. 24 press briefing reacting to Russias invasion, stated, Our forces are not and will not be engaged in the conflict with Russia in Ukraine.

Placing such limits on the scope of American military options may seem prudent to some, but to others it can be a signal that Putin is successfully limiting the ability of the United States to support Ukraine, even as Russian military forces indiscriminately murder civilians while trying to decapitate the government in Kyiv.

Chinas Xi Jinping, who may be preparing for an invasion of Taiwan by mid-decade, or sooner, will take note: superior regional and strategic nuclear weapons can help deter the Americans from defending their friends and allies.

To prevent Russia and China from deterring U.S. support, or limiting U.S. military options for defending its interest and its allies, it is necessary to build up the U.S. deployed nuclear force to about 3,000 warheads by replacing those reduced after the year 2010.

It also should be considered that in this decade the United States may require the deployment of 5,000 warheads on ICBMs and SLBMs, and up to 1,000 theater nuclear weapons each for Europe and Asia. Britain and France should also be urged to increase their total nuclear warheads to at least 1,000.

There is much else that is needed to deter Russia and China. But the key to getting their attention, and convincing them to decide against war in Europe and Asia, is to build up U.S. nuclear forces to a far greater level.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A memorial for the three young girls, who were slain by their father at The Church in Sacramento, is seen outside the church in Sacramento Calif., on March 1, 2022. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo)

Mother of 3 Girls Slain by Father Feared for Their Safety

SACRAMENTO, Calif.A mother of three children who were killed by their father at a Sacramento church had sought a restraining order out of fear for their safety, court documents indicate.

David Mora, 39, also fatally shot a male chaperone who was supervising a visit with his daughters Monday afternoon before taking his own life at The Church in Sacramento, a nondenominational Christian place of worship, officials said Tuesday.

Mora had been living at the church, Sacramento County sheriffs Sgt. Rod Grassmann told KXTV-TV.

Moras estranged girlfriend had been with him for about 15 years but she sought a domestic violence restraining order against him last April, describing him in court documents as jealous and mentally unstable.

He threatened to kill me if he ever caught me cheating.  He has choked me in the past, the filing said.

Mora said that he has not killed me because he would not know where to go with the children, said the woman, whose name was withheld by The Associated Press because she was abused.

The woman also said he was hospitalized for a week in April after expressing a desire to commit suicide.

Mora, who also was identified as David Fidel Mora Rojas in court papers, was taken into custody for a mental health evaluation last April 17, and nine days later a temporary restraining order was granted. It banned him from possessing a gun or ammunition, and investigators were trying to discover how he obtained the weapon.

Candles and a note are part of a memorial left for the three young girls who were slain by their father at the Church in Sacramento, Calif., on March 1, 2022. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo)

A five-year restraining order was imposed on May 19. It stipulated Mora only has supervised visits with his daughters for up to four hours per week with a mutually agreed-upon chaperone. He also was required to take anger management courses.

Authorities identified Nathaniel Kong as the chaperone for the visitation. Kong, 59, was shot to death at the church along with the three girls, ages 13, 10 and 9. Business records show Kong had been an executive in the church. Court records show that he served Mora with the May restraining order.

Sandi Davis said she was taking her dog outside when she heard a gunshot. She immediately let go of the leash and dropped to the ground to protect herself.

Our church body is devastated and heartbroken by this senseless tragedy and we ask for continued prayer for the victims, their family and our faith community as we grapple with this unexpected loss and trust the Lord for His strength in our grief, a church statement said.

The girls attended schools in the Natomas Unified School District in northwestern Sacramento. Counselors and chaplains were at the schools Tuesday to provide support.

There are very few words that can give comfort right now for this unspeakable tragedy, the school district said in a statement.

On Tuesday morning, a small memorial with flowers, balloons, stuffed animals, a candle and a piece of paper that read Prayers for peace, may your souls rest was set up outside the church.

Faith Whitmore, chief executive of the Sacramento Regional Family Justice Center that provides services to victims of domestic abuse, said the girls mother sought help through the agency last April. A case manager and an attorney worked with her to obtain the restraining order.

She came in, she needed crisis intervention, she needed resources, she needed help, said Whitmore, who did not work directly with the woman.

Whitmore said their organization will now push for their other clients to have visits supervised by professionals, and they plan to seek funding to cover the costs.

Just a few days before the killings, Mora was arrested in Merced County, south of Sacramento. He was taken into custody on charges of resisting arrest, battery on a police officer, and driving under the influence after he assaulted a California Highway Patrol officer.

He was drunk and while they were arresting himor trying tohe decided he wanted to fight and ended up with felony charges because he assaulted a CHP officer, causing injuries, Deputy Daryl Allen, a spokesman for the Merced County Sheriffs Office, told The Sacramento Bee.

By Kathleen Ronayne and Stefanie Dazio
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman kicks off his guns-for-Ukraine initiative at SP Firearms in Franklin Square, NY, on March 3, 2022. (Dave Paone/The Epoch Times)

Nassau County Executive Blakeman Organizing Guns to Send to Ukraine

'How can we sit by silently and not do our part?'

FRANKLIN SQUARE, New YorkNassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman kicked off his guns-for-Ukraine donation initiative at SP Firearms in Franklin Square, New York, on March 3.

The plan will go through to March 7 and owners of legal weapons may donate them at the gun store.

Only long firearms (rifles, shotguns, AR-15s, or a derivative of one) which are unloaded and in working condition will be accepted.

Another option is for supporters to purchase a weapon at the store. All donated weapons will be shipped to Ukraine.

Blakeman, a Republican, said whats happening in Ukraine makes us motivated to do something and not just sit on our sofa and let things unfold without us taking part in what is clearly a struggle between good and evil.

There are people that will scoff at what were doing here today, Blakeman said. Well, I want you to think about the French Resistance in World War II, where citizens took up arms against the Nazis, he said.

Blakeman also cited the Warsaw Uprising in Poland.

We cant help but think about how this is so similar to 1939 when the Nazis invaded Poland but nobody stopped them, he said. Nobody gave the Polish people the weapons to defend themselves.

Blakeman donated the first gun in the program when he purchased a Zastava M-70 assault rifle for about $2,000.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman makes a purchase of a Zastava M-70, assault rifle to be donated in his guns-for-Ukraine initiative at SP Firearms in Franklin Square, NY, on March 3, 2022. (Dave Paone/The Epoch Times)

Misha Migdal of the Ukrainian-American Chamber of Commerce purchased an assault rifle as well.

Im in contact with people in Ukraine pretty much every other minute, the Ukrainian native told The Epoch Times.

Theyre fighting. They want to be free. They dont want to be under the Soviets, under the Russians, they want to be part of a free world.

All theyre asking right now is just help us to protect ourselves, to defend our country. Nothing else.

Migdal spoke about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Hes a hero, Midgal said. Hes a humble guy. A humble guy that loves his country, has the tremendous support of his own people, and now finally has respect from all the world leaders.

I just hope they help him to defend his country and be safe and alive.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman (R) and Misha Migdal of the Ukrainian-American Chamber of Commerce, show off the receipts of their recently purchased assault rifles on March 3, 2022. (Dave Paone/The Epoch Times)

Blakeman is hoping Nassau County will inspire a national movement.

We are doing a small part here, he said. But if we do this across the United States, this can be something that is of tremendous help to the people of Ukraine. To the peace-loving people of Ukraine.

Once the guns are collected, getting them to Ukraine is a big hurdle. The transport and delivery of them are in the hands of the federal government, although no taxpayer money will be spent on the effort.

The only way they can be transferred is to a federally approved, licensed distributor in a foreign country, Blakeman said. Its a long process to get that done. So thats why were asking for help from the federal government.

Should the weapons not find their way to Ukraine, theyll be returned to the donors.

I think the only problem is going to be were going to get a lot of stuff that we cant use, Jerry Sperduto, owner of SP Firearms, told The Epoch Times. An example of this would be a gun that doesnt have readily available ammunition.

Navy veteran Brian Valenza of the Long Island Chaplin Task Force collected $25,000 in donations for the Ukraine Defense Fund.

President Zelensky  has been begging for weapons, begging for help, Blakeman said. How can we sit by silently and not do our part?
Net Zero, 100 Percent Putin

Commentary

The French essayist of Romanian origin, Emil Cioran, once said that it was astonishing that no one had ever renounced his life because of the prospect of having a biography written about him.

What he meant by this, of course, was that no one would want everything about himself to be revealed to others; we all have much to hide. As it happens, Cioran himself had quite a lot to hide, for as a young man in Romania he had been an admirer of Hitler and Hitlers Germany and an intellectual supporter of Romanias very nasty fascist movement. Much of his work in France after the war fell halfway between atonement and cover-up.

The life of a Western politician is dogged by something even worse than the prospect of a posthumous biography, however; namely, of being so incessantly in the public arena that every word he utters is taken down and used in evidence against him by one political enemy or another (not necessarily from a political party different from his own).

No quarter is given, no exception made. A politicians every mistake, his every word out of place, becomes the object of mockery or moral condemnation, with the result that only those with the thickest skins and the most ravening ambitions survive in politics. This was always the case, no doubt, but instantaneous communication and social media have magnified the necessity for a thick skin a hundred-fold. No wonder our politicians are on the whole a sorry lot, being both ruthless and boring: its a miracle when any of them emerges unscathed and comparatively decent.

I wouldnt like to say that in private conversation or in a public presentation I had never made a verbal gaffe such as President Joe Bidens when, in his recent State of the Union address, he called the Ukrainians Iranians. Actually, what he said was, strictly speaking, correct: Its indeed unlikely that President Vladimir Putin will ever win the hearts and souls of the Iranians. He isnt really a hearts-and-souls-capturing type of person. Recently, indeed, he has emerged as more of a mind-concentrating kind of person, especially of German minds.

Its of course rather worrying that the second or third most powerful man in the world (Biden) appeared to confuse the names of the inhabitants of a hostile and friendly nation merely because they happened to share three of four syllables. One wouldnt make a clinical diagnosis solely on this basis, but it can hardly have convinced Vladimir Vladimirovich that he was faced by a mentally very formidable interlocutor.

Once the Russians have flattened and occupied Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv, etc., as surely they will (for anything less would be a defeat), the question will be asked in the West, Who lost Ukraine?as once the question, Who lost China? was asked. My preferred answer would be Greta Thunbergor perhaps I should say, to be a little fairer, Greta Thunberg and people like her.

The Thunberg episode must have been of great aid and comfort to the man in the Kremlin, for it must have convinced him, as it convinced his apologists in the West, of the almost total decadence and fundamental unseriousness of the West. Here was a spoiled upper-middle class Swedish girl claiming that her childhood had been stolenby whom and by what, exactly?and no one in any position of power or responsibility had the guts to tell her to shut up and to stop broadcasting her disgusting self-satisfied and highly privileged self-pity. Instead, she was the object of deference and almost of adulation, as if she were being brave in the way that anti-war demonstrators in Russia have been brave.

Why did no one in any position of power or responsibility take on little Greta and tell her to go away? The answer, probably, is sentimentality: She was young, and everyone knows that adolescence is the springtime of idealism. To destroy the fatuous illusions of the ignorant and inexperienced is cruel; therefore, we must submit meekly to be lectured, or hectored, by them, and to do as they say. The fact that the person in question may have been as manipulated as a cruise missile was not allowed to enter anyones mind.

One can just imagine little Greta Thunberg trying to hector Putin or Xi: The whole idea is so absurd that it cant be entertained for a moment. Its precisely for this reason, that Putin wasnt decadent enough to take her seriously even for a moment, that some so-called conservatives in the West admired Putin: the enemy of my enemy being supposedly my friend. As we now see, Putin is not anyones friend: But Greta Thunberg was his friend, in what Stalin would have called the objective sense.

She was his friend because she, and those who thought like her, assisted in creating Europes extreme vulnerability to Russias control over its energy supplies. We dont want nuclear; we dont want coal; we dont want gas; we dont want oil. The reality, however, is that the population does want to be warm over winter, it doesnt want the factories to close down, and its quite attached to the continuous electricity supply that so far renewables cant guarantee. Thus, the political class paid lip service to the Greta Thunbergs and their like while continuing, and indeed extending, the continents dependence on energy from Russiaa potentially, and now actually, hostile power. Of Prime Minister Boris Johnsons Net Zero policy, I can barely bring myself to speak.

Putins hand would have been much weaker had Europe not chosen to be so abjectly dependent on Russian energy. How he must have giggledif giggling is in his repertoireto see the fawning reception of Greta Thunberg in the West. With what contempt must he have regarded us, he, an ex-KGB operative who believes that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical tragedy of the 20th century. Thunberg and her ilk must therefore bear some of the responsibility for bringing about the war in Ukraine.

They wanted net zero: What they got was the scramble for more nuclear power stations, more oil and gas exploration, and even a resort to coal, plus Russia into the bargain.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A military tank is seen on a street of Kherson, Ukraine, on March 1, 2022. (Screenshot via Reuters)

No Ukrainian Forces Left in Key City, Mayor Says as Russian Forces Advance

No Ukrainian armed forces remain in the southern city of Kherson, its mayor said, as Russian forces infiltrated the council building more than a week after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion against Ukraine.

The mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said in a statement that he urged Russian soldiers not to shoot civilians after they infiltrated the city administration building.

I simply asked them not to shoot at people, said Kolykhaev. We dont have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.

His remarks came after days of heavy fighting in Kherson, a key port city of 280,000 on the Dnieper River near the Black Sea. As of March 1, Ukraine has suffered 752 civilian casualties, including 227 killed and 525 injured, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Russias defense ministry claimed as early as Wednesday morning that it had taken control of Kherson, but an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the city was still being defended by Ukraine forces.

By late Wednesday, Kolykhaev said there were armed visitors in the city executive committee.

My team and I are peaceful peoplewe had no weapons and there was no aggression from our side, he said in a statement.

I didnt make any promises to them I just asked them not to shoot people, the mayor wrote.

Kolykhaev didnt specify whether the city had fallen to Russian forces, but said he is thinking about how he could rebuild the city after the attacks. Ukrainian officials have also yet to confirm whether the city is now under Russian control.

We have shown that we are working to secure the city and are trying to eliminate the consequences of the invasion, the mayor said, noting that officials are experiencing enormous difficulties with the delivery of food and medicine and the collection and burial of the dead.

I am interested only in the normal life of our city! he said.

The mayor outlined a list of six requirements citizens must adhere to, to ensure that the Russian military is not provoked.

Citizens may only go to the city center in the afternoon and adhere to an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, he said. Only cars with food and medicine may go to the city, and public transport will resume allowing certain workers to get to work.

People may walk in groups of no larger than two, the mayor said, urging citizens not to get into conflict with Russian forces. Cars must be driven slowly and drivers must be prepared at any time to show what they are transporting.

So far so good. The flag above us is Ukrainian. And to keep it the same, these requirements will have to be met, the mayor said.

Russian forces first infiltrated the strategically located city on Feb. 24, the first day of the Ukraine invasion. If taken by Moscow, Russian forces could unblock a water canal and restore water supplies to the Crimean Peninsula, according to the Associated Press.
Vials labeled "COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and syringe are seen in front of displayed Novavax logo in this illustration taken on Feb. 9, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Novavax Approved as Booster Alternative for Australians 18 and Over

The Novavax COVID-19 protein vaccine has been approved by the ATAGI as a booster alternative to mRNA vaccines for Australians aged 18 and over.

The ATAGI stated (pdf) that the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine currently has limited evidence on its safety and immunogenicity as a booster, but is acceptable as a third shot if no other COVID-19 vaccine is suitable for that individual.

Since the protein vaccines rollout on Feb. 11, the country is seeing encouraging uptake of first-course vaccination in Australians who had chosen, for whatever reason, not to be vaccinated earlier, Deputy Secretary of the TGA, John Skerritt said on Feb. 23.

The vaccine is the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to be provisionally approved by the TGA and the Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed on Mar. 2 that the organisation is also considering the vaccine to be approved as a heterologous booster for all Australians following a primary course of either Pfizer, Moderna or the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The news of this comes as the Skerritt revealed on Feb. 23 that the TGA is in discussions with Novavax leaders to see if the vaccine can be provisioned as boosters for adults following high uptake of the vaccine since its approval on Feb. 11.

Currently, heterologous booster studies in the UK have shown Novavax administered after a primary shot of Pfizer or AstraZeneca boosted immunity and had an increased cellular immunity when boosted after an AstraZeneca primary course.

Novavax known as Nuvaxovid in Australia, was approved for adults aged 18 years and over in January 2022 and is the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine in the countrys vaccine arsenal.

It is advised to be used as a primary vaccine only as studies into using Novavax as a booster shot are still in progress.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said in January he hoped Nuvaxovid would increase the nations vaccination rates.

We know that some people have waited for this vaccine, and  hopefully, this will encourage those people in the last five percent to come forward, Hunt said.

Australia secured 51 million doses of the vaccine to complement the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout with Hunt noting on Feb. 23 the federal government had seen a huge uptake of the protein-based jab.

Weve seen an uptake of about 12,000 Novavax so far, well ahead of what wed anticipated in this time frame. And so thats providing an additional option for people who, for whatever their circumstances, may not have been confident or may not have been able to have taken one of the other vaccine options thats available, he said.

Discussions On Novavax For Children

Skerrit also revealed on Feb. 23 that the TGA is in discussions with Novavax to see if the vaccine can be provisioned for children.

Novavax has announced previously that its vaccine showed 82 percent efficacy against the Delta variant in the 12- to 17-year-old cohort according to new clinical trial data involving 2,200 adolescents across the United States.

We are encouraged by the results in this adolescent population given the ongoing need for alternative vaccine options for COVID-19, Novavax Chief Medical Officer Filip Dubovsky said.

We believe the Novavax vaccine offers a differentiated technology and option for this younger population given its established protein-based technology already used in other vaccines, and the positive responses demonstrated against variants.

This comes after it a U.S. study found that Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine was not effective in preventing infection among children in the 5-year-old to 11-year-old cohort and that the vaccine effectiveness against severe disease also plummeted.

The researchers, with the New York State Department of Health and the University at Albany School of Public Health, examined outcomes among children using three-state databases, including two systems that collect vaccination data. They assessed two outcomes: COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 hospital admissions, regardless of whether the patients were admitted for other reasons.

The results demonstrated that Pfizers vaccine dropped from 68 percent in mid-December 2021 to just 12 percent in the last full week in January.

The data also suggested the protection against severe disease plummeted, from 100 percent in mid-December to 48 percent in late January.

In the Omicron era, the effectiveness against cases of BNT162b2 declined rapidly for children, particularly those 5-11 years, the study said.

The TGA and ATAGI promised that they will continue to monitor emerging evidence on all COVID-19 vaccines.

Skerrit said that the TGA is also looking into the Australian-made protein vaccine COVAX-19, which has already been approved for use in Iran.

Epoch Times reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this article.
A Polish border guard assists refugees from Ukraine as they arrive to Poland at the Korczowa border crossing, Poland, on Feb. 26, 2022. (Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo)

One Million Refugees Have Fled Ukraine in 7 Days: UN

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded the country last week, according to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

In just seven days we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine to neighboring countries, Grandi wrote on Twitter on March 2.

For many millions more, inside Ukraine, its time for guns to fall silent, so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can be provided.

Refugees have been fleeing west from the warzones in Ukraine at a rate of more than 100,000 per day since Russia began its invasion. Roughly half have ended up in Poland. Most of the rest have crossed into Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova.

The Polish government is offering Ukrainian asylum-seekers free travel on some intercity metro trains, transfer services, basic medical care, and shelter.

While Moscow claims its forces are not firing on civilian targets, videos posted on social media show shattered residential buildings and rocket attacks on civilian infrastructure.

Roughly 44 million people lived in Ukraine prior to Russias invasion.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said the war in Ukraine is shaping up to be one of the biggest humanitarian emergencies in Europe for years to come.

The vast majority of Ukrainians fleeing are women and children because men aged 18 to 60 are restricted from leaving the country until further notice.

In response to the escalating crisis, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres released $20 million in emergency funding for Ukraine last week.

The U.N. Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner estimated that as of Sunday 102 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, including seven children. Authorities in Ukraine estimated the civilian death toll at 352 killed, including 14 children. Russia maintains that its forces are not targeting civilian areas.

The figures on the number of military casualties vary greatly depending on the source. For the first time since the invasion, which Moscow calls a special military operation, Russia released a casualty count on Wednesday. A spokesman for the defense ministry said 498 Russian soldiers have been killed since the conflict began. The same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than 9,000 Russian soldiers had been killed.

Autumn Spredemann and Reuters contributed to this report.
The PayPal logo is seen on a smartphone in front of the same logo displayed in this illustration taken Sept. 8, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

PayPal Stops Accepting New Users in Russia

Online payments company PayPal Holdings Inc stopped accepting new users in Russia on Wednesday given current circumstances, a company spokesperson told Reuters.

PayPal, which only allows cross-border transactions by users in Russia, had already blocked some users and some of the countrys biggest banks following sanctions by the United States and other countries in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine. Russia has called the move a special operation.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Ukraines deputy minister for digital transformation Alexander Bornyakov called on PayPal to take more sweeping action and shut down entirely in Russia.

If PayPal supports democratic values, it should go out from Russia, he said.

The PayPal spokesperson said the company, like many of its peers, is still actively navigating the implications of sanctions.

U.S.-based payment card firms Visa Inc, Mastercard Inc, and American Express Co along with mobile payment proivders Apple Pay and Google Pay, have blocked multiple Russian financial institutions due to government sanctions. It could not be immediately learned whether any have blocked new Russian accounts.

Moscow has responded to sanctions by blocking foreign investors, who hold tens of billions of dollars worth of Russian stocks and bonds, from exiting.

Ukraines Bornyakov and his colleagues also have sought PayPals help in soliciting donations.

But Ukraines emailed request to PayPal, seen by Reuters, focused on raising funds for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. PayPal bars uses tied to ammunition and firearms.

PayPal is supporting users in Ukraine through cross-border transactions and its Xoom service for international money transfers, the spokesperson said.

Since this crisis began, PayPal has actively worked to enable donations to non-profit fundraising efforts in support of Ukrainian humanitarian relief efforts, the company said in a statement.

By Paresh Dave, Elizabeth Culliford and Sheila Dang
Russian military convoy passing through scorched countryside, northwest of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 28, 2022. (Blacksky/Handout via Reuters)

Russian Military Convoy Aimed at Kyiv Remains Stalled: Pentagon

A U.S. Department of Defense spokesman said the miles-long Russian military convoy heading to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, is stalled.

They havent, from our best estimates, made any appreciable progress in the last 24-36 hours, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday of the Russian forces moving towards the capital. Nothing very significant.

Satellite imagery from Maxar showed what appears to be a 40-mile-long convoy of Russian tanks, artillery, and military equipment outside of Kyiv.

Kirby told reporters that the stall is likely due to Russian forces deliberately regrouping themselves and reassessing the progress that they have not made and how to make up the lost time, adding that there appear to be logistics and sustainment challenges amid resistance from the Ukrainians.

Kirby noted that in southern Ukraine, Russian forces are facing less resistance and are seeing greater success.

But the Pentagons assessment is, as they get closer to these two population centers down in the south, we believe they are facing more resistance, Kirby said.

Russian forces said they captured one those southern population centers, Kherson, located along the Black Sea.

The city is now under Russian soldiers complete control, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. Those claims were denied by the Ukrainian military on social media.

An elderly man passes by wreckage of a building after reported shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 2, 2022. (Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images)

Konashenkov claimed that the citys civilian infrastructure, essential facilities, and transport are operating as usual, and that there are no shortages of food or essential goods.

There is no Ukrainian army here, Kherson Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said on Wednesday, reported the New York Times. The city is surrounded.

Kolykhaev said that Ukraines military had pulled out of the city and moved to the area of Mykolaiv, located northwest of Kherson.

A senior U.S. defense official told AP on Wednesday that they have seen claims that the Russians have taken Kherson, but they also noted that the Ukrainian military is rejecting that allegation.

For the first time in the conflict, Russias Ministry of Defense revealed the number of troops who have died or were injured during the invasion, which started nearly a week ago. About 500 Russian soldiers were killed and 1,600 were injured, although Ukrainian defense officials have said that nearly 6,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and more wounded.

But Konashenkov on Wednesday also told reporters that his ministry rejects reports about incalculable losses among Russian forces as disinformation.

Neither claim from Russia or Ukraine could be independently verified.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Purdue Pharma Mediator Extends Talks to Resolve Sackler Liability for Opioid Epidemic

NEW YORKA U.S. mediator on Wednesday extended a deadline for negotiations by the owners of Purdue Pharma LP to resolve litigation alleging that they fueled the opioid epidemic, and bring the OxyContin maker a step closer to exiting bankruptcy.

Members of the wealthy Sackler family, who own Purdue Pharma, have been trying to reach an agreement with eight states and the District of Columbia, after they had blocked a previous settlement that included a $4.3 billion cash payment.

In a filing with the bankruptcy court in White Plains, New York, the mediator Shelley Chapman said she will file another mediation report at the appropriate time. She did not say how long talks might continue. Chapman was appointed in January.

Purdue filed for Chapter 11 protection in September 2019 after being hit with thousands of lawsuits claiming that the company and members of the Sackler family used deceptive marketing to fuel a nationwide opioid epidemic.

The company pleaded guilty to misbranding and fraud charges related to its Oxycontin marketing in 2007 and 2020. Members of the Sackler family have denied wrongdoing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via teleconference call at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia on March 3, 2022. (Andrey Gorshkov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Putin Says Fight in Ukraine Going According to Plan

Russias fight against Ukraine is going according to plan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on March 3.

Dear comrades, I want to say that the special military operation is proceeding strictly in line with the timetable, according to plan. All the tasks that have been set are being successfully resolved, Putin said.

According to some officials, including the British Ministry of Defense, Russian troops have met staunch resistance from Ukrainian forces and a large column that is advancing on Kyiv from the north has made little progress in recent days.

Putin also said he would never give up my conviction that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, adding that some Ukrainians have been duped by Nazi and nationalist propaganda.

Putin made the remarks as he chaired a virtual meeting with members of his Security Council from a residence outside Moscow.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, claiming the operation was needed to demilitarize and denazify the neighboring country, in addition to putting on trial people who allegedly carried out crimes against civilians.

Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union but declared its independence in 1991.

Putin spoke as negotiators met in Belarus but ended a second round of talks with no pact, though the sides did agree to carve out so-called humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from areas struck by bombs.

Local residents react in front of a burning building after shelling said to be by Russian forces in Ukraines second-biggest city of Kharkiv on March 3, 2022. (Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine wants Russia to agree to a ceasefire and the total withdrawal of its troops while Russia has called for Ukrainians to disarm.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said around the same time Putin spoke, during a briefing in Kyiv, that the Kremlin should treat Ukraine as an equal and negotiate in good faith.

Zelensky also appealed to Putin to meet with him directly while sarcastically referring to a long table Putin used for his recent meetings with foreign leaders and Russian officials.

Sit down with me to negotiate, just not at 30 meters, adding, I dont bite. What are you afraid of? Zelensky said.

Russia will look to expand into Baltic countries if successful in defeating Ukraine, the Ukrainian president warned, reiterating a call for Western countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

The Baltic states include Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Sergei Lavrov, Russias foreign minister, meanwhile, told a briefing in Moscow that we are ready to talk, but we will continue our operation.

We cant allow ourselves to preserve infrastructure threatening the safety of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Demilitarization, in this sense, I mean the destruction of the infrastructure that threatens us will be completed. Even if we sign the peace treaty, it must include such an article, said Lavrov, who also alleged that outside countries were plotting to join the fray on Ukraines side.

So far, no outside troops have been confirmed as entering the war, though reports claimed Belarusian personnel started fighting against Ukrainians.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Correction: The Baltic states were incorrectly named. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
Quebec Public Health Solicited Help to Justify Second Curfew Just Hours Before Announcement, Emails Show

A series of emails obtained by Radio-Canada revealed that Quebecs former public health director was looking for scientific explanations to justify imposing a curfew mere hours before the province announced on Dec. 30, 2021, that it would enforce the measure on New Years Eve.

It was the second curfew in Quebec since the pandemic began.

In an email time-stamped at 10:31 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2021, the assistant to Dr. Horacio Arruda wrote to Quebecs public health institute and Marie-France Raynault, a senior strategic medical adviser for the provinces public health, asking them to come up with an argument that could help the government justify the need for a second curfew provincewide at a press conference later that day, reported Radio-Canada on March 2.

Horacio would like you and your teams (!) to provide him with an argument in relation to the curfew in anticipation of questions from journalists at the 5 p.m. press conference this evening, Renee Levaque wrote.

Dr. Arruda wants to know two things: 1) What are the studies? 2) What is being done elsewhere?

He wanted it all in a tight argument, she added.

Eric Litvak, vice-president of scientific affairs at the Institut national de sante publique du Quebec (INSPQ), replied about four hours later saying it was not possible.

On the INSPQ side, we dont have an existing analysis that specifically addresses the curfew and we are unfortunately unable to produce one today with such short notice, he wroteless than three hours before the press conference commenced.

Litvak, however, did send over some studies that he had used to back his suggestion for the first curfew, imposed on Jan. 9, 2021.

The provinces health ministry shared four of those studies in a press release issued that same evening: two from France, one from Ontario, and another one from Jordan, which examined the effects of curfew in those locations.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the governments decisions have been largely based on the opinions of experts, the press release said.

On Jan. 10, Arruda tendered his resignation, citing a certain erosion in public support for health measures.

Recent comments about the credibility of our opinions and our scientific rigor are undoubtedly causing a certain erosion of public support, Arruda wrote in a letter. In such a context, I consider it appropriate to offer you the possibility of replacing me before the end of my term of office.

Radio-Canada reported it also questioned the health ministry under the Act Respecting Access to Documents in January what studies the ministry had used to determine that a curfew was effective in slowing down the spread of COVID-19.

The ministry replied on Feb. 7 that it is not their mission to conduct scientific research or improve legal argument.

The decisions adopted are based on evidence collected by various organizations, including the Institut national de sante publique du Quebec (INSPQ) and the advice of experts from other organizations, the ministry said.

In another request to INSPQ by Thomas Gerbet, a journalist at Radio-Canada, on the efficacy of Quebecs vaccine passport and curfew, the institute said it has no documents to prove that.

We do not have any documents to this question, said the institute, whose reply was posted by Gerbet on Twitter on Feb. 9.

During the press conference on Dec. 30, 2021, Premier Francois Legault said the use of curfew was necessary because the COVID-19 situation in Quebec was dire.

Its an extreme action to take because the situation is extreme, he said.

We have to act rapidly, the situation is evolving rapidly, the premier added. As deciders, we have the responsibility to act. We can wait for all sorts of studies and more details, but its better to act and adjust a little later.

A day before Legaults announcement, Radio-Canada obtained another email exchange that showed an ethical opinion was circulated internally among government officials, but the two-page document was completely redacted.

It was a formal request by Montreals public health director Dr. Mylene Drouin, who asked Arruda for an ethical assessment of the curfewsomething which she was against due to its effect on the vulnerable populations.

The media outlet said it is not possible to know whether an actual assessment was conducted eventually as the document was being redacted.

Voici l'avis ethique prepare pour la sante publique du Quebec au sujet du couvre-feu. Etait-il favorable ou defavorable? On l'ignore, car il a ete entierement caviarde, a la suite d'une demande d'acces aux documents. Plus de details : https://t.co/55gpAf7Rp4 #polqc #arruda #covid pic.twitter.com/ALyMHmZxsy  Thomas Gerbet (@ThomasGerbet) March 2, 2022

In an email statement to The Epoch Times on March 2, the health ministry said that observational studies show curfew can prevent gatherings, which proved useful at a time when the number of cases remained high among the general population.

The curfew, when it was applied, certainly had a dissuasive effect on the population from going out after a certain hour, spokesperson Marjorie Larouche wrote.

She added that most public health decisions are discussed between provincial and regional officials. Different views are taken into account, but officials at the provincial level have the final say.

We are of the view that the curfew is a severe measure which should apply only when other transmission reduction measures have been put in place and do not demonstrate the desired effects as was the case at the beginning of the month of January, she said.

Noe Chartier, Andrew Chen, and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
Quebec to Relax Masking Mandate in April, End Other Measures Early

Quebec is planning to lift its mask mandate in public spaces by mid-April and remove most other COVID-19 measures earlier than previously announced.

The Quebec government said in a March 2 release that as of March 12, all public places can return to 100 percent capacity and resume normal business hours, with no table capacity limits in restaurants, bars, taverns, and casinos.

By that date, proof of vaccination will no longer be required to access the places where it was previously instituted.

Restrictions on the number of participants for social activities in a rented room will also be lifted, as well as the registration requirement for visitors to private seniors residences.

Relaxation of the public health measures comes two days ahead of the original schedule of March 14, following recommendations from Quebecs Minister of Health and Social Services Christian Dube.

Within ten days, most of the measures will finally be lifted. This is a very important step, and we can be proud of all our efforts to achieve this. However, we must learn to live with the virus, which is still circulating, and remain cautious, he said in the release.

Wearing a mask, even when it is no longer compulsory, will, among other things, be part of the arsenal we have to reduce the risk of transmission in certain circumstances.

The province has proposed a gradual withdrawal of its masking requirements, though the specific dates were not released and will be confirmed later based on the evolution of the epidemiological situation, the health ministry said.

The statement noted mandatory masking will be dropped in all public places by mid-April at the latest, with 10 days notice before the mandate is lifted. Public transportation is the only exception where masks will still be required, which will be lifted at the earliest in May.

On March 2, Quebecs public health research institute said in a news release that the provinces gradual reopening plan should not cause a significant rise in new COVID-19 infections or hospitalizations in the greater Montreal area, compared to the peak in January 2022.

The Institut national de sante publique du Quebec (INSPQ) said these projectionsmade by the INSPQ and a research group from Laval Universityshowed that vaccination coverage coupled with the fact that many people were infected by the Omicron variant should keep new cases and hospitalizations relatively low at least until May.

Marc Brisson, director of the Laval University research group in mathematical modelling and health economics related to infectious diseases, said Quebec still needs to be cautious and monitor new variants as well as vaccine efficacy. He estimated that if the Omicron subvariant BA. 2 is 1.4 times as contagious as the original Omicron mutation, Quebec could see a rise in new hospitalizations and COVID-related deaths in March.

We made projections in the event that the BA.2 variant would be 1.4 times more transmissible than Omicron. The model predicts that cases, new hospitalizations and deaths could increase in March, but would not reach the peaks seen in January 2022 even under a pessimistic scenario, he said in the March 2 statement.

On March 3, Quebec saw a continued drop in COVID-19 hospitalizations, with a further decrease of 17 people being admitted to hospital, resulting in a current total of 1,364.

The Canadian Press contributed to this article.
Los Angeles school children run to see a giant puppet porcupine named Percy at Elysian Park in Los Angeles on March 1, 2022. (Richard Vogel/AP Photo)

Quills and Thrills as Prodigious Porcupine Puppet Unveiled

LOS ANGELESIt was a quilling experience for all.

Percy, a porcupine puppet of prodigious proportions, emerged from her giant stump home for an audience of schoolchildren and media members at a Los Angeles park on Tuesday.

The adorable beast inspired oohs and awwws as she blinked her droopy eyes and opened her mouth to show her buck teeth. She stood nearly two stories tall with a nose the size of a car.

A joint project of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and Jim Hensons Creature Shop, Percy was let out to celebrate next weeks opening of the zoos new Wildlife Explorers Basecamp.

Six months in the planning, the puppet is modeled on the prehensile-tailed porcupine, native to South America. It has a circumference of nearly 40 feet, and has 2,000 foam quills that it took a house-worth of paint to put stripes on.

Weve done some fantasy creatures a little bit bigger, but in terms of duplicating an animal its the biggest weve ever done, said Peter Brooke, creative supervisor for Jim Hensons Creature Shop.

The prehensile tail that gives the tree-dwelling, fruit-eating species its name exists in this case in the imagination only. Just the front half exists and pokes out, the rest appearing to stay safely inside the log.

Its essentially based on a big inflatable with the addition of a mouth, a jaw and mechanical eyes, Brooke said.

A real prehensile-tailed porcupine was at the scene at Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium. The porcupine got lost before emerging in her giant puppet form, after the kids brought out bunches of bananas to lure her.

I think shes getting close, I think I know just the thing for her, Basecamp performer Jennifer Popagain said before bringing out a giant banana of her own.

The kids counted down, then mobbed Percy once she emerged.

Los Angeles school children reach out to touch a giant puppet porcupine named Percy at Elysian Park in Los Angeles on March 1, 2022. (Richard Vogel/AP Photo)

After another media stop, Percy will make her way down the coast to her permanent home at the San Diego Zoo.

The Wildlife Explorers Basecamp is a 3.2-acre area of the zoo intended to teach families about the interactions and interdependence of humans, plants, animals, and their habitats.
Resistance and SufferingPreparing Ourselves to Stand for Truth in a Time of Lies

The key to resilience in the face of persecution is the willingness to suffer, says Rod Dreher, not just to bear it stoically, but to find a way to transform it and purify it into something good.

In this episode of American Thought Leaders, host Jan Jekielek speaks about soft totalitarianism, wokeness, and ways to resist both with Rod Dreher, author of Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents.

Mr. Jekielek: Ive been reading Live Not by Lies. I think there are a lot of people who would wonder what youre talking about.

Mr. Dreher: Well, it sounds crazy to Americans to think our liberal democracies could be turning totalitarian.

But whenever I travel to conferences, if I meet someone who has immigrated to America from a communist country, I ask them, Do the things youre seeing today, such as cancel culture and wokeness, remind you of what you left behind? Every one of them says yes.

And if you talk to them long enough, they get really angry that Americans dont take these issues seriously.

And now were seeing the expansion of this wokeness. It has to do with identity politics, critical race theory, gender theory, all of these things.

It has conquered universities, the media, sports, law, medicine, big business, even the military and the CIA. The government doesnt have to get involved to enforce wokeness, when you have all the other institutions doing it.

The people who grew up under communism know that when you live in a society where people are afraid to say what they think for fear of losing their jobs or being sent to the social margins, its totalitarian.

These people are telling us if we dont wake up to whats happening, were going to lose our freedom.

Mr. Jekielek: You have some pretty incredible stories in Live Not by Lies. You open with Father Kolakovic.

Mr. Dreher: Father Tomislav Kolakovic is one of the unsung heroes of the Cold War.

He understood communist thinking and told his students: The good news is the Germans are going to lose this war. The bad news is when its over, the Soviets are going to be ruling this country. And the first thing theyre going to do is come after the church, so we have to be ready.

He brought together groups for prayer and study. Most of them were young Catholics with a few priests involved. Soon each town of any size had one of these groups, and they laid the groundwork for the underground church. Father Kolakovic and his followers prepared people for what was to come.

I believe here in the West today, were living in a Kolakovic moment, when anyone who falls into the category of dissident under the soft totalitarian regime is going to be persecuted.

We see parents finally waking up to whats being done to their children in the schools and pushing back. I hope this happens everywhere. But overall, the elites in our society are all-in on wokeness.

The old totalitarianism depended on inflicting pain and terror and fear on people to make them conform. Thats not what were dealing with now. Were dealing with a totalitarian state that gets people to conform by making them comfortable.

Were so afraid to be poor. Were so afraid to be anxious, to be unhappy. So many of us will do just about anything to avoid trouble and protect our middle-class comfort.

Mr. Jekielek: In your book, you reference Hannah Arendts landmark work, The Origins of Totalitarianism.

Mr. Dreher: After the Second World War, Hannah Arendt, a German Jewish refugee, tried to understand the totalitarianism of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. What aspects of life made these people susceptible to totalitarianism?

Arendt concluded that massive atomization and widespread loneliness helped open these countries to totalitarianism. Along comes Hitler in Germany and Lenin in Russia to say: We can provide you with meaning in life. We can provide you with a sense of purpose and a sense of solidarity. And people who felt alone and isolated rallied to that.

Well, we have that today, too, here in the West.

Other factors were the loss of institutional authority, religions lost authority, everything that had given people meaning in life and a sense of direction. Also, there was a willingness to believe any lie, as long as it conformed to what people wanted to believe in the first place.

We somehow think our wealth and our democratic history are going to protect us from this. But as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said: People around the world think that what happened in Russia cant happen here. In fact, it can happen in any country on earth, under the right set of circumstances.

Mr. Jekielek: Your book is named after Solzhenitsyns essay, Live Not by Lies. And this has made me think a lot about the family, which you focus on in the book as the basic unit of community. And on the flip side, theres this assault on the family by these totalitarian ideologies.

Mr. Dreher: Its important to totalitarian governments that they eliminate the family, the traditional family, as part of eliminating anything that gets between the individual and the state. The traditional family has to be destroyed in order to liberate the individual, which really means liberating the individual for slavery. We see the same thing happening now with the left in our own country.

You have schools in this country taking children and filling their heads with critical race theory, propaganda, and gender ideology.

This is straight out of totalitarian societies, and its happening right here.

In Live Not by Lies, I talk about The 1619 Project, which tries to reframe the American founding by tainting it with slavery. Its an attempt to make an entire generation of young Americans disbelieve in their countrys ideals.

Its very clear whats happening. And if we Americans dont wake up, were going to lose our country.

Mr. Jekielek: In your book, you talk about the value of suffering.

Mr. Dreher: This is the secret to resistance, the way you deal with suffering. In Moscow, I interviewed an elderly pastor, a Russian Baptist pastor. At one point he looked at me and said, You go home to America, and you tell the church that if theyre not prepared to suffer for the faith, then their faith is worthless.

This is a man who knew what he was talking about. And I found this over and over again, that the key to resilience in the face of persecution is the willingness to suffernot just to bear it stoically, but to find a way to transform it and purify it into something good.

Most of the people in Eastern Europe, I was told, ended up conforming and going along to avoid trouble. Those relative few who had the courage to embrace suffering for the truth were the ones who made it, and they werent just Christians. I wrote Live Not by Lies as a Christian for Christians, but Ive been delighted that people who dont share my faith have found a lot of value in my book because it talks about the importance of being willing to suffer without despairing and to have the courage to stand up.

I believe God has a purpose for every one of us, even those who dont believe in him, and that purpose may involve a willingness to accept suffering and not let the suffering destroy us. Instead, we can use it to purify our conscience, become more compassionate, and help other people who are struggling.

Mr. Jekielek: Its a beautiful vision. Im sure a lot of people are coming to you right now and, having read Live Not by Lies, say, Rod, what can I do?

Mr. Dreher: The most important thing is to found groups like Kolakovic did. Whether youre religious or not, you need to form these groups to talk about whats coming and what you can do.

We can read the stories of heroic men and women who have resisted totalitarianism and come through with their faith and their integrity intact. I would also advise people to find those who came to this country to escape communism, to talk to them and make it possible for them to tell their stories.

Finally, I would say to parents: prepare your children. You want them to become young men and women of vision, faith, and courage. Share with them whats happening. Read them the classics. Help them to understand the virtues in these stories.

If we can resist without losing our faith, our integrity, and our souls, then God can, in some sense, use our sacrifice and our suffering to make the world a better place and inspire people to be brave and compassionate.

Jan Jekielek Senior Editor Follow Jan Jekielek is a senior editor with The Epoch Times and host of the show, "American Thought Leaders." Jans career has spanned academia, media, and international human rights work. In 2009 he joined The Epoch Times full time and has served in a variety of roles, including as website chief editor. He is the producer of the award-winning Holocaust documentary film "Finding Manny."
Tamara Lich, one of the organizers of the Freedom Convoy protest demanding an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on Feb. 3, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

Rex Murphy: Tamara Lich Doesnt Deserve the Humiliation Shes Been Subjected To

Commentary

The world is naturally, and justly, absorbed in the reckless and cruel invasion of Ukraine. And anyone with even the mildest taste of history will know that Ukraine for much of the last 100 years has been a site of great cruelties imposed by communism and its most savage tyrant Stalin. Putin is doing his best to offer some rivalry to that demented butcher.

It is with no intent to bypass this moment, and there will be time for much comment on the great and grim moment we are enduring. Yet it is also, even in such straitened timesperhaps especially in such straitened timesto pay attention to our own conduct. Scale does not give a permit to bypass more local outrages.

Following the impositionin my judgment without justification and certainly without publicly exhibited justificationof the Emergencies Act, the authorities in Canada swept down on the trucker protest in Ottawa with speed and force. Remember the act was brought in under the flimsy claim that this protest had as its goal the overthrow of the government. A sillier pretext could not be imagined.

There were even speculations on the venerable but greatly enfeebled national broadcast service, the CBC, that perhaps the Russians were behind it. That dark Lord Putin had reached into Red Deer and Weyburn and pointed West, manipulating the convoy for his fiendish purpose. A Confederate flag, a single one, became the point symbol for much media coverage.

But for reporters not ossified in their point of viewreporters who actually went into the Ottawa streets and met and mingled with the insurrectionistsno such alarms had the most meagre of justifications: This was not 1917. The whole and vast majority were what they said they were: protesters against imperatives and edicts from the federal government that hit their livelihood. And they behaved, as in no other protest in the last decade of any seriousness, with politeness, good cheer, patriotism, regard for civility, and no violence whatsoever.

Hence when Mr. Trudeau unloaded his volley calling them racists and homophobes, and Jagmeet Singh, his political dance partner, weighed in even more callously, and columnists reached for the lower drawers of their vocabulary and declared them yobs and loutsthese characterizations provided at least some cover for the gross overreach of that emergency declaration.

It was not justified. But it went into effect, the occupation was cleared, the leaders arrested or threatened to be, bank accounts of protesters frozen as if they were terrorists, and some sent straight to jail.

Among them, perhaps the first to see the iron bars from the inside, was Tamara Lich, one of the convoy organizers. I do not know Miss Lich but during the insurrection did follow her on Twitter. I was impressed by the stability and calmness of her postings, and never once heard a call to arms, a cursing of the police (so essential to every other kind of protest), nowhere an incitement to violence, and nowhere a call for direct action (the black bloc euphemism for vandalism, street mayhem, and physical assault).

However, upon being taken to court she was denied bail. Tell me differently if I am wrong, but Miss Lich had neither committed nor incited any violent behaviour whatsoever. She was not arrested carrying a gun, or after some shooting offence, which is a common reason for arrest in many Canadian cities, and frequently a repeat offence, for which bail is granted.

But not Miss Lich. She was deemed by a judge who was once a federal Liberal candidate too dangerous for bail. She was immured for the time being.

On March 2, she appeared again for a second bail hearing. And here is the hard part.

She was brought into court shackled with leg chains. What was that about, and who ordered such a wickedness?

Was this woman a danger to the court? Was she expected to leap upon the guards and rush the bench? Was she such a danger to the Canadian state that even at a bail hearing she had to be shackled?

O sweet, sweet Canada that witnessed such pathetic overreaction.

The judge, may he be praised, ordered the shackles removed.

It is, as I said at the beginning, a small thing in this time of global ignominy, but it should not be let pass. Miss Lich deserved much better, and our justice systemto give it a term that in this case it does not deserveneeds to answer for the humiliation, the mistreatment, of a citizen before her case has even been heard.

And not, by any measurement, incidentally; she is being charged with mischief.

Mischief! While gang shooters get bail in a minute and dance back to the streets, a woman exercising the rights of a democracy to protest is denied bail and perp-walked in chains to a court hearing.

It is so wrong.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Russia takes its first major Ukrainian city, as defensive weapons pour in from Ukraines Western allies, and the second round of peace talks are set to begin.

Russian media outlets are being censored for their reporting on Ukraine. And Moscow rejects the term invasion for its actions in Ukraine.

New documents emerge about Dr. Anthony Faucis agency. They show that officials knew Chinese authorities were withholding data on COVID-19 back in January 2020, before the pandemic started.
An armed man stands in the center of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 2, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo)

Russia Warns Western Volunteers as Ukrainian Foreign Legion Reportedly Grows

The influx of possibly thousands of Western volunteers who are trying to enter Ukraine to fight Russian soldiers received a dire warning from Moscow.

None of the mercenaries the West is sending to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime in Kyiv can be considered as combatants in accordance with international humanitarian law or enjoy the status of prisoners of war, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian state media outlet TASS on Thursday.

Konashenkov alleged that fighters from other countries were involved in attacking Russian assets inside Ukraine, including supply convoys and aircraft. He did not elaborate.

At best, they can expect to be prosecuted as criminals. We are urging all foreign citizens who may have plans to go and fight for Kyivs nationalist regime to think a dozen times before getting on the way, Konashenkov said.

Across social media, a number of Americans, Canadians, and others said they wanted to go to Ukraine to fight.

Some users on a sub-Reddit called VolunteersforUkraine claimed that they reached the PolandUkraine border but ultimately turned around after Ukrainian officials said they had to sign a three-year contract to fight. The Epoch Times could not immediately verify the accuracy of their claims, and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has not responded to a request for comment.

File photo of Russias defence ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov (R) and the Chief of the Main Rocket and Artillery Department Lt. Gen. Nikolai Parshin at a press briefing in Moscow on Sept. 17, 2018. (Vasily Maximov/AFP/Getty Images)

In late February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a plea on social media for foreigners to fight in Ukraine. And during a news conference on Thursday, Zelensky claimed that 16,000 have volunteered. The Epoch Times could not independently verify his claims.

Ukraine receives weapons from its partners on a daily basis, Zelensky said Thursday. From real friends. More and more powerful weapons every day. Ukraine is already meeting foreign volunteers who are going to our country. The first of 16,000. They are going to defend freedom. Defend life. For us. For all. And it will be successful. Im sure.

Amid the pleas, the White House on Wednesday recommended that Americans not go to Ukraine to fight.

Ukrainians have shown their courage and they are calling on every resource and lever they have to defend themselves. We applaud their bravery, however our travel advisory remains. U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine, deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference when asked about whether the White House supports Americans fighting in Ukraine.

The U.S. Department of State has a Level 4: Do Not Travel warning for Ukraine in effect for the conflict and COVID-19.
A office worker walks from the Lloyd's Building, the home of the insurance institution Lloyd's of London on September 25 2008 in London, England. (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Russian Companies Barred From UK Insurance Market, Isolation Proving Costly to Economy

London has announced its decision to prohibit Russian entities in the aviation and space industries from accessing its insurance market as part of sanctions against Moscow for invading Ukraine.

The UK Government will bring in legislation to prohibit UK-based insurance and reinsurance providers from undertaking financial transactions connected with a Russian entity or for use in Russia, the treasury department said on March 3.

Further details of the legislation will be available in due course. Coupled with similar actions by the EU, this move further isolates Russias economy from the international financial system, it said, adding that the sanctions demonstrate the UKs commitment to subject Russia to severe economic sanctions.

The UK is a leader in insurance and reinsurance services with firms like Lloyds of London, a major player in aviation insurance. Insurance services for marine, aviation, and transport netted Lloyds 3 billion pounds ($4.01 billion) in gross written insurance premium in 2020, with reinsurance bringing in an additional 1.5 billion pounds ($2 billion).

We are in regular communications with the UK government and international regulators, and are working closely with the Lloyds market to uphold the implementation, at pace, of sanctions applied by governments around the world, said Patrick Tiernan, Lloyds Chief of Market, reported Reuters.

It is unclear whether the UKs new rules would require insurers to only avoid new transactions or cancel existing contracts. The legislation will be brought forth before the parliament in coming days, with the rules potentially being implemented as early as next week. The UK, like the European Union, has avoided imposing sanctions on Russian shipping as it would add upward pressure to already-high energy prices.

Cut off from UK insurance providers, Russian aviation businesses are likely to look for coverage elsewhere, such as China. Fearful of sanctions, other western insurers are expected to avoid getting into Russia-related contracts.

Global insurers have stopped issuing certain insurance to companies that trade with Russia. When Jerry Paulson, senior vice president at Chicago insurance brokerage HUB International Ltd., attempted to secure political-risk coverage for an industrial client from the United States that has a factory and several distribution centers in Russia, he found it difficult to secure insurance, with six insurers turning down his client or pausing talks.

Its amazing how quickly the spigot turns off in our world, Paulson told The Wall Street Journal. Everything is coming to a halt, and this is just one more thing that will negatively affect commerce with Russia.
Emergency services are seen at Russias Embassy after a suspicious package was found, in Canberra, Australia, on March 3, 2022. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)

Russian Embassy in Australia Evacuated After Suspicious Package Found

The Russian Embassy in the Australian capital, Canberra, has been evacuated after two suspicious packages were delivered to the building on March 3.

Emergency services were dispatched to investigate the substance, with authorities placing an emergency filtration tent around the item.

ACT Policing confirmed with The Epoch Times that local law enforcement and emergency services were notified of the package at 10.05 a.m. Australian EST.

The contents of the package are currently being assessed, a spokesperson said. A cordon is in place, and the public is urged to avoid the area until further notice.

Investigators could also be seen wearing HAZMAT suits around the Russian embassy which is located in the suburb of Griffith, just a short distance from Parliament Housethe site of protests days earlier in response to Russian President Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine.

People protest against Russias invasion of Ukraine outside the Russian embassy in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 26, 2022. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)

The cordon was removed at 3.30 p.m., and an investigation is currently underway.

ACT Policing reminded the community that malicious or threatening material sent in the mail is an offence and would be taken seriously by law enforcement.

The Australian community and businesses have expressed solidarity with Ukrainians caught up in the invasion started by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Parliament House and the Sydney Opera House have been lit up with the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

Meanwhile, the federal government has moved in lockstep with democratic nations in sending aid (lethal and non-lethal) to Ukraine forces, rolling out tough sanctions against Putins inner circle, as well as taking countermeasures to soften the shock the Ukraine conflict is having on the world economy.

On March 2, the energy minister announced Australia would join 31 other nations of the International Energy Agency in releasing 60 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves.

This significant actionone of four ever taken by the IEAwill increase supplies to the market, helping to put downward pressure on prices both globally and here at home, according to Angus Taylor.

Australia has also pledged US$50 million to assist Ukraine with the purchase of military equipment and weapons.

We will be answering the call from (Ukrainian) President Zelensky. He said, Dont give me a ride, give me ammunition, and that is exactly what the Australian government has agreed to do, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Screenshot of the Voice of America (VOA) and the Radio Free Asia (RFA) logos. (Epoch Times)

Russias Governments Media Regulator Threatens to Block VOA Unless It Halts Ukraine Coverage

Voice of America (VOA) on Wednesday said it is refusing to comply with the requests of Russian officials after they allegedly threatened to block their Russian-language website in the country unless it removes coverage of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

VOA, the state-owned international radio broadcaster of the United States, said in a statement that the Russian governments media regulator, Roskomnadzor, claimed that VOAs news site in Russia, www.golosameriki.com, contains false messages about terrorist attacks or other kind [sic] of information of public concern.

The regulator allegedly threatened to block VOAs Russian language services news website unless it pulls coverage of the Moscow-led invasion.

The media regulator demands that the VOA Russian service remove a news story from its site that provided factual reporting on the second day of the Russian invasion, VOA said. The article included widely reported facts regarding Russian bombardment of cities, a Russian claim to have captured an airport close to Kyiv, and statements from witnesses as well as reporters inside Ukraine.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced on Wednesday that he will be investigating alleged war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.

Any attempts to interfere with the free flow of news and information are deeply troubling. We find this order to be in direct opposition to the values of all democratic societies, said Acting VOA Director Yolanda Lopez.

VOA said it will not be complying with Roskomnadzors request.

The Russian people deserve unfettered access to a free press and, therefore, we cannot comply with the Roskomnadzors request, said Lopez.

In its statement on Wednesday, VOA noted that Russian regulators had also shut down two Russian news organizations, Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd, both of which it said reach a large audience, as well as Current Times website, a joint production of Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Regulators had accused both Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd of calling for extremist activity and violence and sharing deliberately false information about the actions of Russian military personnel in Ukraine.

Russias news coverage is closely monitored by President Vladimir Putins government, who is reportedly planning an even tougher crackdown on what it views as unofficial reporting, according to a statement on Wednesday from State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

Price said Russias parliament will hold a special session this Friday to consider a bill that would make unofficial reporting on Russias further invasion of Ukraine punishable by up to 15 years in prison, adding that the people of Russia did not choose this war. Putin did.

Russia is engaged in an unprovoked war on Ukraine. At home, the Kremlin is engaged in a full assault on media freedom and the truth, and Moscows efforts to mislead and suppress the truth of the brutal invasion are intensifying, Price said.

Russias government is also throttling Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram platforms that tens of millions of Russias citizens rely on to access independent information and opinions and to connect with each other and the outside world, he added. These partial blockages further limit where and how Russian citizens can see and share evidence of the truth of Russias invasion of Ukraine.
Russias War on Ukraine Requires Chinas Tacit Approval: Spalding

Russias war on Ukraine could not continue without support from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), according to one former Air Force Brigadier General.

The real leverage point here is China, Gen. Robert Spalding, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told The Epoch Times on March 3. Its not really the Russians, because the Russians could not do what theyve done without the tacit approval of China.

China basically told the Russians dont invade during the Olympics. They knew they were going to invade. They just didnt want it to upstage the Olympics.

Spalding noted that the CCP was not joining sanctions issued by Western nations. He added that Russias dependence on the CCP to carry out its war on Ukraine raised a vital question: Whether the West had the economic fortitude to impose related sanctions on China.

The question here is whether or not were going to actually put economic sanctions and isolate China for their support of Russia, Spalding said.

He added that China was acting as a relief valve for Russia, providing a much craved-after cash flow even as the rest of the world was trying to turn the tap of Putins war machine off. On the first day of Russias invasion, the Chinese regime lifted restrictions on wheat imports from Russia, and has since said that trade with Moscow would continue as normal.

Retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general Robert Spalding in Washington on May 29, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Meanwhile, the United States and its allies in Europe and elsewhere have announced a slew of sanctions on Moscow, including banning some big Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments system and limiting its central banks access to $640 billion in foreign currency reserves.

For his part, Spalding doubted whether the West could unite on punishing CCP leadership for its support of Russia. He said that Western elites relied too heavily on Chinese business ties to allow for such action to take place.

The Chinese Communist Party has done a great job of basically enlisting the elites of the free world, Spalding said. A lot of their wealth is tied up in this relationship with China.

If you want to essentially get a nation to do what you want, you have to put pressure on the elites of that nation. And, essentially, thats what China has done by entwining themselves into the fortunes of the elites. Theyre able to then push on them and lean on them, and this is the problem.

Spalding said that the belief that business ties to the CCP needed to be maintained at any cost was undermining democracy throughout the world, and that Americas dependence on China was encouraging authoritarianism at home.

People say, Oh, well, we cant cut ourselves off from China, because they make everything now, Spalding said. Well, that becomes a real problem if the requirement to continue to receive those goods is that you transform your society from one of a democratic society to  more of an authoritarian society.

Thats the compact weve made with these regimes. And, unfortunately  if were not willing to confront that, and the pain that comes along with that, then were going to slowly slide into this abyss where  authoritarianism will win, and you will see authoritarianism continue to grow throughout the world.

As the West dithers about sanctioning China for its role in the invasion of Ukraine, meanwhile, Spalding noted that the violence in Ukraine continues to escalate.

There are now reports that the Russian military is intentionally bombing civilian infrastructure. And Russian actions over the first week of the invasion have led to accusations that it is actively committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Despite the apparent horror of current events on the ground, Spalding says that things will likely only get worse from here.

People forget what the Russians did in Chechnya, Spalding said, referring to Russias largely indiscriminate bombing campaigns during the Second Chechen War from August 1999 to April 2000, which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians.

I suspect were starting to see that a lot of the same tactics that eventually were used in Chechnya to level cities are going to be used by the Russians, Spalding said.

To prevent future slaughters, Spalding said that it was vital the United States and its allies recognize the threat posed to the international order by growing alliances between authoritarian states.

This is a long-term effort that really hinges on whether the free world recognizes that China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other authoritarian regimes have to be confronted and have to be isolated economically, or this is going to consume the world, Spalding said.

Andrew Thornebrooke Reporter Follow Andrew Thornebrooke is a reporter for The Epoch Times covering China-related issues with a focus on defense, military affairs, and national security. He holds a master's in military history from Norwich University.
Police tape blocks off the crime scene outside church in Sacramento, Calif., on Feb. 28, 2022. (Andri Tambunan/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

Sacramento Schools Attended by 3 Sisters Killed by Father Offer Support

By Sam Stanton

From The Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO, Calif.The three girls killed by their father Monday night in an apparent domestic violence incident at a Sacramento-area church were students at the Natomas Unified School District, which issued a statement Tuesday offering counseling and support.

The girls, ages 9, 10, and 13, were not identified by name, and authorities had not released the identities of the shooter or another man killed during the rampage at The Church in Sacramento on Wyda Way in Arden Arcade.

The district said it learned late Monday that the girls were students at Bannon Creek Elementary and Leroy Greene Academy charter school. Officials said in a statement to parents and staff that counselors and chaplains from the Sacramento Police Department were on hand Tuesday to offer support.

There are very few words that can give comfort right now for this unspeakable tragedy, the district said. There will be a range of emotions from our students and staff, particularly at the schools where the students attended.

We will have our Social-Emotional Support Team and Chaplains from the Sacramento Police Department available at those two schools this morning to provide grief counseling and support. This support extends to anyone in the district who may need it. We are aware of some family members in other parts of our community, but we know there will be others in Natomas whose lives were touched by this sadness.

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said Monday night that the shooting occurred inside the church about 5 p.m. during a supervised visit between the 39-year-old father and the girls. The shooterwho killed himself after shooting his daughters and the meetings chaperonewas the subject of a temporary restraining order and should not have had access to a weapon.

(c)2022 The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.) Visit The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.) at www.sacbee.com, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
San Francisco Homeowners, Beware

Commentary

Dean Preston, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, has set the wheels in motion to put a residential vacancy tax on the November ballot.

His proposed Empty Homes Tax is a direct threat to one of the fundamental tenets of our American way of life: the concept of private property. Whats at stake here is the basic right of private persons to accumulate, hold, delegate, rent, or sell their legally held property as they choose.

Preston, who identifies himself as a Democratic Socialist on his website, and others who favor such a tax say they are creating housing and money to subsidize housing. But what they are really after is your housing and your money to fuel their own movement.

A San Francisco vacancy tax would put down deep new roots of government control over private property and set the stage, even, for confiscation. This is a plan that completely ignores the benefits that a free market economy provides in creating stable prices and rents, accessible mortgages, and long-term rentals supported by good jobs and steady incomes.

Here is how the tax would work. Beginning in 2024, owners of San Francisco residences would pay a new tax on any unit left vacant six months or more per year. The amount of the tax depends on square footagea blatant trick to rewrite the intention of Proposition 13 that protects homeowners from local taxes based on assessed value. The amount of the tax also depends on how many years in a row you report a vacancy.

The tax in the first year is $2,500 for a unit under 1,000 square feet, $3,500 for a unit from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet, and $5,000 for a unit over 2,000 square feet. Each of these taxes doubles if the property owner reports a vacancy again for a second consecutive year. And the taxes double again in the third year. (The taxes stop going higher after that.) So a homeowner faces a vacancy tax of up to $10,000, $14,000, or $20,000 per year!

Cleverly, the advocates for this vacancy tax exempt properties with just one or two units. But that is nothing but a smokescreen to encourage approval of the measure by such property owners. As it turns out, the language appears to allow the Board of Supervisors to eliminate such exemptions without public approval once the measure is passed.

Public advocates of the tax quote an inflated and misleading 40,000 vacancies in San Francisco. They claim that most of those vacancies are immoral and that the units will return to the housing sector if the city simply taxes the wealthy and privileged owners.

In addition, they think they will raise almost $40 million to subsidize housing. Bingo! Homelessness solved. Voila! Our housing needs are fulfilled.

Back now to reality. What is the actual number of vacancies in San Francisco? Why are the units vacant? How many might be subject to the tax? Well wade into the details and cut through the nonsense.

The most recent U.S. Census Bureau five-year American Community Survey (2019) puts the San Francisco housing stock at 406,399 residential units, with 35,458 gross vacancies, down from the 2010 figure of 36,604 gross vacancies.

Gross vacancies break down into categories youd expect to see in any dynamic housing market with social and economic mobility and freedom of association. These categories are: 1. Residential units for sale or rent (8,040); 2. Rented, not yet occupied (2,581); 3. Sold, not yet occupied (4,833), 4. Seasonal, occasional, or recreational use (8,316) and 5. Other vacant (11,688).

Other vacant is a catch-all that includes units in foreclosure or probate, condemned, being renovated or upgraded, and owner in care. This is also the category that includes most of the residences held vacant by owner choice that Preston wants to target.

The survey counts a residence as vacant if there is no occupant or if whoever lives there intends to depart within two months, so this does not pinpoint six-month vacancies. Also, the survey does not count how many units might be exempt.

Where in these vacancy categories do the magical numbers exist that make their tax workable?

Policy wonks who work for Preston have shared their aggressive projections: They say that the tax would be paid on about 7,300 residential units, to fund annual revenue of $40 million, and that an additional 9,700 vacancies will convert to housing. Thats a total of 17,000 units of SF housing stock, or about one half of all the vacant units in the city in all five of the above categories!

It appears that Preston and his ballot measure are not really targeting long-term vacancies that could, in their eyes, be put to better use; they are actually targeting half of the vacancies of every kind, for any reason, at any moment in the city.

The goal of this vacancy tax proposal is not to provide more housing, but to promote a certain agenda that favors government control of private assets. The architects of this vacancy tax do not acknowledge free market forces of any kindhomeowners and landlords set prices and rents too high, and take too long to sell, rent, or renovate. Real estate investors who develop or acquire housing are all speculators who hoard it. Owners who choose to keep their units vacant must compensate the community.

This tax will have to be paid by many owners with legitimate and justifiable reasons not to occupy or rent their properties on a full-time basis, but Preston and his supporters dont acknowledge that.

San Francisco has already committed to building over 82,000 additional residential units in the next seven years under California state mandates that set specific affordable housing goals. In fairness to Mayor London Breed, she has tried three times to knock down barriers to new housing construction.

She recently attempted to place on the June 2022 ballot a measure to greatly streamline approvals of new buildings with 25 or more units, in exchange for a higher affordable housing requirement. The Board of Supervisors killed that plan last November, and several similar plans before that. Todays Board of Supervisors is an impediment to growing the housing stock.

Two men walk past a new apartment building on Mission Street in San Francisco. (Eric Risberg/AP Photo)

Its not for lack of funding. Through taxes and local bond measures, San Francisco taxpayers have already funded $1.8 billion for affordable housing in 20192023 alone! Yet Preston argues that his (unrealistic) projection of $40 million is significant additional revenue.

The vacancy tax is an insidious distraction that has nothing to do with building more housing. It casually asserts government control over the domicile, which in the vast majority of cases is the most significant investment in a persons lifetime.

Has it worked in other cities? In 2018, Oakland imposed a vacancy tax on all propertyresidential, commercial, and industrialbut applied it only after 10 months of annual vacancy. Residents awakened too late to the fine print. The city is now in an uproar because the tax applies to vacant lots zoned residential, many owned by middle-class families with long-deferred dreams of building homes. In some cases, the vacancy tax is more than state and local property taxes! Revenue from Oaklands vacancy tax is 30 percent below projections.

Advocates cite Vancouver as a great success story. Free from the constraints of Proposition 13 we have here in California, Vancouver in 2017 levied an annual tax of 1 percent on assessed value of residential units with a six-month vacancy. First year revenue exceeded projections, and tenanted properties rose from 2017 to 2018; but this reflected a real estate market recovering from a temporary collapse of home sales that had left residences empty.

As its residential market stabilized in 2018 and 2019, Vancouvers vacancy tax revenue declined. So the city tripled the tax rate to 3 percent of assessed value per year. On top of that, British Columbia Province has imposed its own vacancy tax rate of 2 percent, on foreigners only.

Washington, D.C. is a frightening American tale of the residential vacancy tax unleashed. A 30-day residential vacancy triggers an annual tax of 5 percent of assessed value. Homeowners are required to list the address on a publicly available online registry and to place a large purple sticker on the front of the building. There is a vacancy hotline and organized neighborhood watch groups.

Elsewhere? Paris recently tripled its vacancy tax. Barcelona has begun to seize residences left vacant and sell them for half of fair market value.

If this vacancy tax passes in San Francisco, what might happen down the road?

There is bad news in the fine print of Dean Prestons ballot measure. The Empty Homes Tax authorizes the Board of Supervisors to make changes without another vote of the people.

If the measure passes, the California Constitution offers some, but very little, actual protection. Under Article XIII(C), the Board is bound only by the maximum penalty in the ballot measure. The supervisors might attempt to apply the maximum penalty of $20,000 per year to lower square footage residences or in the first year of a vacancy, or to eliminate the exemption of two or fewer units, or to reduce the number of vacant months that triggers the tax.

Such changes by the Board, if made without seeking voter approval, might be challenged in the courts, with the supervisors represented by recently appointed City Attorney David Chiu. In 2019, as a member of the California State Assembly, Chiu authored the legislation that imposed rent control statewide.

Dean Preston did not ask his fellow supervisors to co-sponsor the Empty Homes Tax, who by a vote of 7 out of 11, could have placed the measure directly on the earlier June ballot. Instead, Preston chose the path of signature petition, which requires only about 9,000 signatures from registered voters (in this case, by Aug. 17) to place the measure on the November ballot.

We speculate that the signature gathering might be coordinated with canvassing to fight the recall of progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin and other political misadventures on the San Francisco far left this year, and so we expect this ballot measure will qualify for a vote this November.

There is a reason Preston chose the signature petition path. California courts have ruled that signature petition ballot measures that raise taxes require only majority approval of the voters. Had this gone on the ballot through the Board of Supervisors, passage would have required two-thirds approval by the voters.

It is critical that voters inform themselves about the realities of this Empty Homes legislation and the harm it will do to ownership and the market forces that truly determine the number of affordable housing units available in San Francisco.

Let us remember that the top of the California Constitution, Article I, Section 1, the Declaration of Rights, states: All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.

San Francisco should also update for the 21st century two British maxims: For a mans house is his castle (Sir Edward Coke, 1628) and The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the crown. It may be frailits roof may shakethe wind may blow through itthe storm may enterthe rain may enterbut the King of England cannot enter (British Prime Minister Pitt the Elder, 1763).

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.

Tony Hall Follow Tony Hall is a former supervisor for San Francisco's District 7. He has held executive and administrative positions positions in seven different City departments in all three branches of government- Executive, Legislative, and Judicial over a 33 year period. He is also a highly regarded vocalist-entertainer in the Bay area.
Russian and Ukrainian officials take part in the talks in the Brest region, Belarus, on March 3, 2022. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA via Reuters)

Second Round of Russia-Ukraine Talks Begins

The second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine began on March 3 in Belarus.

Ukraines delegation includes Ukrainian politician Davyd Arakhamia, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, and Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov.

Russia sent a group headed by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Podolyak wrote on Twitter that key issues on the agenda include an immediate ceasefire, an armistice, and humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from cities that have been destroyed or damaged by shelling.

He shared a picture showing the Ukrainian side donning jackets and pants and the Russians in suits and ties.

Medinsky told reporters Wednesday that the negotiations would include a series of proposals by Russia related to an immediate ceasefire.

The first round of talks saw the sides reach common ground on several points, officials have said.

On several more crucial points, the Ukrainian side took out time for consideration and consultations with Kyiv, which was quite expected, Medinsky said.

We have the chunk of suggestions in three parts, related to military, technical, international humanitarian and political aspects, he added.

Ukrainian officials have said they want Russia to agree to unconditionally withdraw all their troops.

Andrey Goncharuk, 68, a member of territorial defense wipes his face in the backyard of a house that was damaged by a Russian airstrike, according to locals, in Gorenka, outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine on March 2, 2022. (Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraines foreign minister, told reporters Wednesday that we are ready for talks, for diplomacy.

But we are not ready to accept any Russian ultimatums at all, Kuleba said, adding that Russias demands are essentially the same as when Putin delivered a speech that launched the war.

The groups were meeting in Brest in Belarus, which shares borders with Russia and Ukraine.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The fighting since then has claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers and what is estimated to be over 2,000 civilians. Parts of major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, have been decimated by bombing, and hundreds of thousands of people have fled to neighboring countries like Poland.

Putin said the war was started to denazify Ukraine and has demanded Ukrainians disarm and commit to not joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Many countries have condemned the invasion, including the United States, but none have sent troops to assist Ukraine. Many have shipped arms and other military assistance to aid Ukraine; a small number have stood by Russia or declined to take a side.
Seeking Clarity About the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Commentary

I happened to catch part of a segment on Fox News a couple of nights ago where a popular host urged all of us, and the U.S. government in particular, to think very carefully about what we do in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He raised the specter of World War III, which would be colossally catastrophic for millions, perhaps billions, of people.

Could World War III happen? Its certainly possible. Can you think of a prospect more daunting, sobering, or horrible? I cant. Should our response be thoughtful, as the celebrity host exhorted? Well, of course, but that goes without saying. Its difficult to think of a more obvious truism than an admonition to proceed with care and clarity.

Theres one major hitch to the advice to our government to slow down and consider the possible ramifications: They say, Time waits for no man, and thats especially true in times of war where chaos reigns and circumstances can change hourly. Delay can be lethal. The Russian military certainly isnt going to take a timeout to let us gather our thoughts. If our leaders dont know whats at stake; if they didnt think out ahead of time what financial and military actions are appropriate in response to various contingencies; if theyre paralyzed into inaction by indecisiveness; if deliberation and delay lead to the destruction of an independent Ukraine and the death of a large percentage of its population, then the counsel to think through things that should have been thought through beforethe geopolitical, strategic, and moral dimensions of potential actionscould guarantee disaster.

Last week, I received an email from a cousin (a clergyman) that put forth a pacifist position. After correctly identifying Russia as the aggressor, the letter called for a diplomatic, i.e., nonviolent, response. I share pacifists abhorrence of war. What could be more wicked and wrong than for large numbers of innocent people to be murdered?

Yes, murdered. Ukraine didnt attack Russia. Vladimir Putin and his military henchmen are not waging a just war of self-defense; they were the aggressors, conducting an unprovoked (yes, unprovokeddetails farther down) invasion of a neighboring country. Every Ukrainian killed by the Russian invaders is morally, if not legally, a case of premeditated murder. Why should that surprise us? Given Putins record of eliminating Russians in Russia who dare to oppose him or expose his corruption, what compunctions would he feel, what hesitations would he have to murder Ukrainians and other non-Russians?

I agree with pacifists that its a moral abomination for Russians to be murdering Ukrainians. The problem is, what do you do when diplomacy and nonviolent measures dont stop the carnage? Is it more just, more moral, to forcefully intervene, defeat, or at least check the aggressors, and so put a stop to the murder of innocentsor to stand aside and allow the murders to continue while congratulating oneself for refraining from using force and saying prayers for the victims?

In Alexander Solzhenitsyns Warning to the West speech at Harvard in 1978, the Nobel Prize-winning Russian author was warning not only about communists, but also about aggressors everywhere. The basic message was that a failure to resist and thwart international aggression, subversion, and conquest would only embolden the aggressor to continue its predatory behavior. We should ask today whether Solzhenitsyns warning applies to Russia today. If the West, and especially the United States, doesnt stop Putin today in Ukraine, will there be a similar scenario in the future, whether in the Baltic States, other newer and easternmost members of NATO and/or the EU, or even (since Putin himself ominously threatened them last week) Sweden and Finland? And if the United States stands by and concedes a Russian conquest of Ukraine, is it possible that Putins Chinese cousin, Xi Jinping, could conclude that the time is right to invade and conquer Taiwan?

So far, the Biden administrations response to Russian aggression has seemed reactive rather than proactivea day late and a dollar short. (News flash: In his State of the Union address, Biden banned all Russian aircraft from American airspace. Putin must be trembling in his bootsnot!) Recently, Biden authorized $350 million of military aid to Ukraine, and last week he requested $6.4 billion in additional aid, both military and humanitarian. I cant help but remember that a mere six months ago, Biden essentially gave the Taliban tens of billions of dollars worth of military hardware by abandoning it during the inept withdrawal from Afghanistan. $350 million also seems quite paltry compared to the untold billions of dollars that Biden essentially channeled to Russia via his wacky energy policies. By curtailing the domestic production of fossil fuels, the United States had to import more oil from Russia at increasingly higher prices672,000 barrels a day, a 24 percent year-over-year increase. Putin is now repaying Bidens generosity by using billions of dollars of windfall earnings to help fund the invasion of Ukraine.

Above, I described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as unprovoked. Numerous critics on the right and left rationalize Russias aggression by saying that Russia feels threatened by the creeping eastward expansion of the EU and NATO. Yes, there was Obama State Department skullduggery in the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, which led to the deposing of an allegedly corrupt president who was a pro-Russian stooge and replacing him with an allegedly corrupt pro-U.S. stooge. And yes, there emerged after that someahemproblematical ties between Bidens son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company. But the current president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was elected with over 73 percent of the vote in 2019, so its difficult to challenge his legitimacy.

Polls show that more Ukrainians would rather pin their future economic prosperity on closer ties with Europe than with Russia. All theyre doing is exercising their right of self-determination, whereas Russia wants to obliterate that right and compel Ukraine to serve as a buffer state. What rubbish. A buffer state from whatEuropean aggression? American domination? This is what Putin would have us believe, but those allegations dont pass the laugh test. The EU countries have been models of peace-loving nations (as you can see from looking at their minimal defense spending). And the United States has done anything but dominate Europe, with our EU allies all being free to forge their own policies and vote against the United States in the UN. Putin has projected his own bellicose, expansionist ambitions onto Europe and the United States.

Those who have tried to make excuses for Putins desire to have Russia surrounded by buffer states are drawing a spurious moral equivalence between Russia and NATO. Consider this fundamental historical difference: No nation-state that has joined the EU and NATO has been coerced into joining these institutions. Not a single one has been threatened, much less invaded. Contrast that with the former USSR, which expanded its land mass through subjugation and conquest.

Russia/USSRs historical treatment of Ukraine was particularly vicious. In 193233, Stalin brutally imposed tyrannical rule on Ukraine, conquering it via the Holodomorhis diabolical strategy of seizing Ukrainian seed and grain stores, then sealing the border, resulting in approximately 4 million Ukrainians starving to death. Is it any wonder why most Ukrainians dont want to be under Russias control? And yet Putin has the arrogance to claim that Ukraine is a natural part of Russia and that its Russias irrevocable right to use Ukraine as a buffer state. No, Mr. Putin, you do not have such a right. And shame on those American apologists who assert that Putin does have that right.

War shows what values a society has. We can see the values of Ukrainians, fighting to the death in defense of their country, but what are Americas values in 2022? How far are we willing to go to try to prevent the annihilation and/or subjugation of Ukraine? We will soon find out. I dont know what the optimal course of action is, but were less likely to find it if our thinking is clouded by propaganda myths, historical misunderstandings, and moral confusion.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
South Korea's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party poses for a photo before a televised debate for the upcoming March 9 presidential election at KBS studio in Seoul on March 2, 2022. (Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

South Korean Presidential Candidate Faces Backlash After Controversial Remarks on Ukraine

Ruling party candidate said political inexperience of Zelensky led to invasion of Ukraine

South Korean presidential candidate for the ruling Democratic party faces backlash after placing blame on the Ukrainian president for the Russian invasion during a presidential debate.

The 2022 South Korean presidential election is scheduled for March 9, less than a week away. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has come into the international spotlight as the situation intensifies.

Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party (DP) made the controversial remarks during a televised presidential debate on Feb. 25, attributing the Russian invasion to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys political inexperience.

In Ukraine, a novice politician of six months became president and declared [Ukraines] accession to NATO, which provoked Russia and eventually led to a clash, Lee said, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The next day, Lee walked back his remarks and apologized, saying his intention was to highlight his main political rivals inexperience in diplomacy and not to mock the Ukrainian leader.

I plainly criticize Russias invasion and expressed my support for Ukraine  However, if I unintentionally caused even a partial misunderstanding among the Ukrainian people, it was due to my lack of ability to express myself, Lee wrote on Facebook on Feb. 26.

Lees remarks, nevertheless, triggered international outcries as the crisis unfolds half a world away, unleashing a firestorm of criticism on social media as the global community condemns Moscow for its actions.

Yoon Seok-youl, Lees main political rival and candidate for the conservative People Power Party (PPP), wrote on Facebook, calling Lee an international disgrace and apologized on Lees behalf to the Ukrainian people.

South Koreas presidential candidate, Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party, looks on before the televised presidential debate for the forthcoming March 9 presidential election at KBS studio in Seoul, South Korea, on March 2, 2022. (Jung Yeon-Je  Pool/Getty Images)

Local media commentators also responded to Lees remarks. South Korean political commentator Chin Jung-kwon, a former professor at Dongyang University, accused Lee of not being able to appreciate the Ukrainian peoples struggle and suffering.

The conservative-leaning Korea Herald in an editorial on March 2 called Lees remarks terrible logic.

Another editorial published by the Seoul Economic Daily on Feb. 28 asked, Lee blames the Ukrainian president a novice, but who is to blame for North Koreas missile provocations? rebuking Lees remarks citing North Koreas continued aggression.

According to the article, on Feb. 27, North Korea test-launched another ballistic missilethe eighth missile test this year.

The DP had rushed to their candidates defense.

President Zelenskyy is inexperienced in many ways. Thats a fact, Rep. Woo Sang-ho, chief of the DP campaign committee, said during a radio interview, according to the Yonhap report.

But at this point in time, when [Ukraine is] under attack, I believe that regarding this issue, it would have been correct to emphasize the invasion, Woo added.

On Feb. 25, South Korea joined an intergovernmental announcement to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, denouncing Moscows blatant violation of the United Nations Charter.

The country has also pledged to join economic sanctions imposed by the international community against Moscow. However, it has not considered separate sanctions apart from the coordinated response.

On Feb. 28, South Korea announced its decision to ban exports of strategic materials to Russia and join the multinational move to exclude the country from the SWIFT global payment network.

South Koreas foreign ministry also said on Feb. 28 that it would promptly provide $10 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

On March 1, Lee came out with a hard-line statement strongly condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine, saying he was shocked that a U.N. Security Council member carried out such an incursion in direct violation of the U.N. Charter, Yonhap reported.

Appeasement vs. Strength

The Ukraine crisis has also reinvigorated South Koreas long-standing debate over the deployment of THAAD.

THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) is a U.S.-designed and manufactured anti-missile system installed in South Korea between 2016 and 2017 to defend against North Koreas nuclear missile build-up. However, Beijing has insisted that the deployment of THAAD affects Chinas security and has since adopted a series of countermeasures against South Korea.

U.S. President Donald Trump takes a look at a Lockheed Martin THAAD anti-ballistic missile launcher while touring his Made In America product showcase with company CEO Marillyn Hewson (2nd L) at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The system became operational in 2017. But Moon briefly suspended the deployment in wary of Beijing but later reversed that decision due to increased North Korean threats and public pressure.

Yoon openly endorsed the additional deployment of THAAD and purchasing THAAD batteries from the United States. However, Lee opposed the idea and proposed developing a homegrown missile defense system in fear of a backlash from Beijing.

Lee stressed the need for practical diplomacy as South Korea relies on China for 25 percent of its trade.

Why redeploy such a useless thing [referring to THAAD] that also causes a backlash from China and harms [our] economy? Lee said while citing DP President Moon Jae-ins Three Nos policy.

In 2017, in an attempt to appease Beijing, the Moon government outlined three principles for security known as the Three Nos: no additional deployment of the U.S. missile system known as THAAD; no participation in a U.S.-led regional missile defense system; and no morphing a trilateral security alliance with the United States and Japan into a military alliance.

Yoon said in response to the DPs policy, Only when deterrence is maintained  can South Koreas national security risk be reduced.

Yoon pointed out that it would take considerable time to deploy South Koreas homegrown missile defense system, which is still under development.

Meanwhile, on the issue of foreign policy, Lee is running on the policy that South Korea should continue to develop a strategic cooperative partnership with China due to the countrys high level of dependence on Chinese trade.

In contrast, Yoon has committed to further strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
Starbucks Becomes Target of Chinese State Media Bashing US Firms

A small altercation at a Starbucks coffee shop in China has turned into a flashpoint for Chinese state-run media to bash the American enterprise.

According to a series of screenshots posted on Chinese social media Sina Weibo in the morning of Feb. 14, an employee at a Starbucks shop in the city of Chongqing asked four policemen, who were eating next to the entrance, to leave because it affected the brand image. The policemen allegedly objected, and called Starbucks condescending.

State-run Peoples Daily, launched a full page article on the same day titled, Put Down Your Arrogance Please, Starbucks, saying Starbucks was provocative in excluding the officers from the community, and had again become a target of the people.

Other state media outlets and individuals jumped on the bandwagon, with some calling on people to flood the internet with low ratings and reviews of the Starbucks shop, and a few throwing eggs at the coffee shop, and others dropping off white flowers, a symbol for death in Chinese culture.

Starbucks released an official statement on Weibo, in which the company denied dismissing the officers and apologized for miscommunication between cafe partners and local police.

The incident prompted a lot of discussion on social media.

Some people questioned the rationale behind the story, saying its illogical for the policemen to claim to be victims of condescension when they enjoy the privilege of eating anywhere they want.

Yuanhua Li, a former professor at Capital Normal University in Beijing, considers it unusual for the CCP to mobilize so much state-run media coverage on such a minor incident.

Its actually a very small conflict, and the solution is also easy, as its nothing but merely a question of attitude between the two parties, Li told the Epoch Times. However, CCP state-run media outlets are stirring up the public by provoking nationalist sentiments against foreign enterprises.

Li concluded that perhaps the CCP is doing this to redirect peoples attention away from its own misdeeds toward foreigners, as its confronted with sanctions and criticism from democratic countries right now.

In the context of Lis statement, foreign businesses in China, including Tesla, Intel, Walmart, and Starbucks, have faced growing criticisms and pressures from the CCP.

In December last year, Walmart and Intel were denounced for their compliance with United States sanctions against products made in Xinjiang, with the latter being forced to apologize on Weibo.

Starbucks was also criticized by Beijing News for selling expired food and beverages, in the same month that Walmart and Intel were denounced.

Epoch Times reporter Kane Zhang contributed to this report.
Supreme Court Reverses 6th Circuit, Allows Kentucky Attorney General to Defend Abortion Law

Kentuckys Republican attorney general should be allowed to continue to defend a state abortion law struck down as unconstitutional by lower courts after the states Democratic governor refused to do so, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in an 81 decision on March 3.

Although Kentuckys abortion law itself wasnt at issue in the case, this is the courts first opinion in an abortion-related case since Justice Amy Coney Barretts addition to the bench in October 2020 gave its conservative wing a 63 majority.

The high court examined only whether Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron should be allowed to intervene in the case on behalf of his state after the trial court invalidated the law, and its decision was upheld by an appeals court.

Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, had refused to defend the statute in court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit turned down Camerons request to take over state representation in the case.

The case revolves around Kentuckys 2018 ban on dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortions on unborn children.

After the Supreme Court hearing, Cameron described the procedure as gruesome, adding that it rips the baby apart.

Then-Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, signed House Bill 454, the Human Rights of Unborn Children Act, which stopped such abortions after 11 weeks of pregnancy and was subsequently enjoined by federal courts.

Cameron welcomed the Supreme Courts ruling, calling it a victory for the rule of law.

At every turn, weve maintained that Kentuckys law banning live-dismemberment abortions is worth defending and should receive a full defense from the challenge brought by the ACLU and an abortion clinic, Cameron said in a statement.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed. This is a ruling that many in the commonwealth [of Kentucky] have hoped for, and we will proudly continue to carry the mantle for this important pro-life law by going back to the 6th Circuit and litigating the case.

The court found that our office is the fail-safe for defending the commonwealths laws when they come under attack.

Oral arguments in the case Cameron v. EMW Womens Surgical Center were heard Oct. 12, 2021. The respondent, EMW Womens Surgical Center, in Louisville, is Kentuckys only licensed abortion clinic.

The courts opinion (pdf) was written by Justice Samuel Alito.

In the document, Alito noted that The importance of ensuring that States have a fair opportunity to defend their laws in federal court has been recognized by Congress.

He wrote that the 6th Circuit panel erred by failing to account for the strength of the Kentucky attorney generals interest in taking up the defense of HB 454 when other state officials chose not to continue defending the statute.

Paramount among the states retained sovereign powers is the power to enact and enforce any laws that do not conflict with federal law, Alito wrote, adding that a state has a legitimate interest in perpetuating the enforceability of its own statutes.

This means that a states opportunity to defend its laws in federal court should not be lightly cut off.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissenting opinion, arguing that the majoritys holding in this case would promote uncertainty.

The Supreme Court has bent over backward to accommodate the attorney generals reentry into the case, Sotomayor wrote.

I fear todays decision will open the floodgates for government officials to evade the consequences of litigation decisions made by their predecessors of different political parties, undermining finality and upsetting the settled expectations of courts, litigants, and the public alike.

Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, ACLU senior staff attorney and lead counsel for the Kentucky abortion clinic, told Axios the ruling was disappointing.

Politicians in Kentucky are working overtime to force people to continue pregnancies against their will, instead of doing what is best for the people they are supposed to serve, she said.

And it is not just in Kentucky.

In Texas, most people are already being blocked from getting an abortiona nightmare that could soon become reality for nearly half of this country, as the Supreme Court seems poised to gut or overturn Roe v. Wade.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has yet to decide two separate cases that directly challenge abortion laws in Texas and Mississippi.

Oral arguments took place in the two cases on Nov. 1 and Dec. 1, 2021, respectively.

The Texas case, which has garnered intense media coverage, has led to boycotts and demands for the repeal of the states unique fetal-heartbeat abortion law that relies on citizen participation for enforcement.

The high court voted 54 on Sept. 1, 2021, to deny a request to halt its enforcement, prompting President Joe Biden to claim the court was engaged in an unprecedented assault on a womans constitutional rights, as The Epoch Times reported.

A chain of abortion clinics argues the Texas statute violates Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), in which the Supreme Court discovered a constitutionally protected right to obtain an abortion before the fetus is viable, at around the 24-week mark.

The chain is also challenging the novel enforcement mechanism that relies on individuals filing lawsuits.

The Epoch Times also previously reported on oral arguments in the Mississippi case.

Mississippis only licensed abortion clinic is challenging the states Gestational Age Act, which allows abortions after 15 weeks gestation only for medical emergencies or severe fetal abnormality.

Citing Roe v. Wade, lower courts held the statute was unconstitutional.
[March 03, 2022] Persolvent Wins Three 2022 Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service Persolvent, a Minnesota-based technology and software company, was presented with a Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award in the 16th annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. The team was recognized for a strong display of innovation, customer experience, and leadership, winning a Stevie Award in the category of Customer Service Training Professional of the Year, Customer Service Leader of the Year, and Best Customer Feedback Strategy. Key Facts: Gold Stevie Winner: AJ Kurkowski, Implementation Manager, in the category of Customer Service Training Professional of the Year

Silver Stevie Winner: Marit Fastner, Senior Director of Payment Operations, in the category of Customer Service Leader of the Year

Bronze Stevie Winner: Eleyo Customer Experience Strategy (CES) in the category of Best Customer Feedback Strategy

More than 2,300 nominations from organizations of all sizes and industries, in 51 nations, were considered in this year's competition.

Winners were determined by the average scores of more than 150 professionals worldwide on eight specialized judging committees. Supporting Quotes: 2022 Stevie Award Judge:

"[Persolvent made] excellent improvements for the customers, employees, and business. This trifecta is a great set of achievements."

2022 Stevie Award Judge:

"I love the positivity and innovation AJ has brought to his role and the company's clients." 2022 Stevie Award Judge:

"[Marit] more than rose to the challengefound strength in doing so and enabled her team and customers to be as successful as possible as they faced challenges together." Jay Bruber, CEO:

"Congratulations to our team on a job well done. At Persolvent, our mission is to make life easier through innovation and technology, and our goal is to earn the right to be recommended. We pride ourselves in accomplishing this through award-winning customer service." About Stevie Awards The Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service are the world's top honors for customer service, contact center, business development and sales professionals. The Stevie Awards organizes eight of the world's leading business awards programs, also including the prestigious American Business Awards and International Business Awards. Details about the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service and the list of Stevie winners in all categories are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Sales. About Persolvent With over a decade of experience in payments and financial technology, Persolvent is dedicated to making our customers' lives easier through innovation and technology. Whether by powering software platforms with our payment technology and award-winning support, or empowering merchants to accept card payments and grow their business, we are ready to earn the right to be recommended. Learn about our innovative technology and the core values that drive us at www.Persolvent.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005046/en/

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Supreme Court Urged to Shield Border Patrol Agent From Liability in Incident Near Canada Border

The Supreme Court was urged on March 2 not to allow an innkeeper near the Canadian border, who sued for being injured by a U.S. Border Patrol agent, to pursue a lawsuit against the agent.

The court granted the petition for review (pdf) on Nov. 5, 2021, in Egbert v. Boule, court file 21-147.

The case concerns whether the half-century-old Bivens Doctrine, which shields federal agents from legal liability for actions performed in the course of their work, should be expanded to new contexts, such as those with national security implications, something legal observers say the Supreme Court seems unlikely to do.

In Hernandez v. Mesa (2020), the Supreme Court called Bivens lawsuits a disfavored judicial activity.

And for almost 40 years, we have consistently rebuffed requests to add to the claims allowed under Bivens, Justice Samuel Alito wrote (pdf) for the majority.

The 2020 case concerned a Mexican teen who was shot and killed by a U.S. border agent who fired from the U.S. into Mexico, allegedly to defend himself from rock-throwing individuals. The high court held in a 54 decision that a Bivens claim couldnt be extended to that case in which there could be significant foreign affairs and national security repercussions, as The Epoch Times reported at the time.

During a smuggling investigation at the ironically named Smugglers Inn Bed and Breakfast in Blaine, Washington, about 10 feet from the Canadian border, U.S. Border Patrol agent Erik Egbert allegedly injured innkeeper Robert Boule. Boule had previously been a paid government informant whose tips led to multiple arrests of his guests; he had also been charged by Canadian authorities with human trafficking, but the charges were eventually dismissed.

The case goes back to March 2014, when Boule tipped off Egbert about a Turkish national who would be arriving at his establishment later that day. Egbert suspected the Turkish man might be planning criminal activities and waited for him to arrive. When the man showed up in a car, Boule asked Egbert to leave the property, but the agent refused and stood between the car and the man. Egbert allegedly pushed Boule to the ground and then confirmed the Turkish man was lawfully present in the United States.

Boule sought medical treatment for a back injury he claimed Egbert caused him, and complained to Egberts superiors. Boule alleged that Egbert then retaliated by reporting Boule to the IRS, claiming tax evasion by Boule, which led to the agency investigating and auditing Boule.

Boule sued Egbert in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in what has become known as a Bivens action, claiming his rights under the Fourth Amendment and his First Amendment right not to be retaliated against for complaining to Egberts overseer were violated. That court ruled in favor of Egbert, but a fractured U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reversed, finding for Boule.

In Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents (1971), the Supreme Court recognized a cause of action under the U.S. Constitution for damages against Federal Bureau of Narcotics agents for alleged violations of the Fourth Amendment. The bureau, created in 1930, was a forerunner of todays U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

When it decided to hear Egbert v. Boule, the Supreme Court indicated it wanted to look at whether a valid cause of action exists under Bivens for claims against federal officers engaged in immigration-related functions for allegedly violating a plaintiffs rights under the Fourth Amendment. The court also agreed to consider whether the Bivens precedent could be used to pursue a claim for First Amendment retaliation claims, but pointedly refused the petitioners request to look at whether the court should reconsider Bivens.

Although some courts in recent years have been moving away from judge-made rules, preferring to let lawmakers decide how constitutional violations should be handled, the Supreme Court has resisted overturning Bivens.

During oral arguments, Egberts attorney, Sarah M. Harris, urged the court not to expand Bivens for the first time in 40 years.

To do so would clash with modern precedent, she said. Bivens interpreted federal courts jurisdiction over federal questions as authorizing courts to fashion new damages actions. Decades of intervening cases reject that premise and remove any doctrinal basis for Bivens extensions.

The Constitution vests Congress alone with the power to create damages actions.

Boules lawyer, Felicia H. Ellsworth, said the court should allow the case to move forward because her clients Fourth Amendment claim is materially indistinguishable from Bivens itself.

A federal law enforcement agent entered private property without a warrant and used excessive force, just like the federal agents in Bivens, she said.

Barring the lawsuit from proceeding would contravene the historical foundations allowing individual damages to right a federal officers constitutional wrong.

Justice Clarence Thomas suggested to Ellsworth that her client was swimming against the tide.

Arent you up against the fact that we have declined to apply or extend Bivens in recent history? Weve almost universally declined to expand it into new contexts.

Although the events in question took place near an international border, Ellsworth told Thomas this isnt a new context.

This is an unlawful entry without a warrant, and this is excessive force on private property against a U.S. citizen on domestic soil, the lawyer said.

Justice Neil Gorsuch pushed back against Ellsworths reasoning.

Gorsuch noted that when it heard the case, the 9th Circuit said this is a new context and you say it is not a new context because the actions of the officers here are pretty similar to those in Bivens.

What is a good and faithful judge supposed to try and do  acknowledging the fact too that this court hasnt recognized a new Bivens action in decades? the justice told Ellsworth.

U.S. Department of Justice attorney Michael Huston urged the Supreme Court not to extend Bivens to this case.

This court has recognized that agents effective policing of the border has a clear and strong connection to national security, and Congress has also determined that law enforcement at the border is different from other kinds of law enforcement, he said.

All those features give ample reason to doubt that Congress would have wanted an individual damages remedy in the circumstances here.

Justice Elena Kagan asked Huston: How is this a case about national security?

Borders have something to do with national security, but every time  a border agent checks on immigration status of a person, we kind of wave our arms and say national security and say theres no Bivens remedy because of that?

Huston replied that in Hernandez v. Mesa, the Supreme Court said that the protection of the border, the prevention of the unlawful entry of persons and drugs and other contraband, has a clear and substantial connection to national security.

Kagan suggested the Hernandez ruling took place in a very different kind of case  a cross-border shooting and  it clearly had implications for the relationship between the United States and Mexico.
Russian fighter jets in Swedish airspace east of the Swedish Baltic Sea island of Gotland, on March 2, 2022. (Swedish Air Force/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)

Sweden Says Russian Violation of Its Airspace Unacceptable

Swedens defense minister on Wednesday condemned Russias violation of Swedish airspace.

The Swedish Armed Forces said in a statement that four Russian fighter jets briefly entered Swedish territory over the Baltic Sea.

Two Russian SU27 and two SU24 fighter jets briefly entered Swedish airspace east of the Swedish island of Gotland, the statement said, adding that Swedish JAS 39 Gripen jets were sent to document the violation.

The Russian violation of Swedish airspace is of course completely unacceptable, Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist told news agency TT. It will lead to a firm diplomatic response from Sweden. Swedish sovereignty and territory must always be respected.

The situation was under control, and Swedish preparedness was good, said Swedens Armed Forces.

This demonstrates that our readiness is good, Air Force Commander Carl-Johan Edstrom said in a statement. We were on site to secure the territorial integrity and Swedens borders. We have complete control of the situation.

In the light of the current situation we view this event very seriously, it said on its website.

Sweden is sending medical equipment to Ukraine, including 5,000 anti-tank weapons, government officials said Sunday.

Canada on Sunday also accused Russia of violating a ban on aircraft from the country using Canadian airspace.

Transport Canada said Russian airline Aeroflot violated a prohibition that was put in place in Canada earlier that day.

Transport Canada said it will launch a review into the conduct of Aeroflot and Canadas air-traffic control service provider Nav Canada following the violation.

We will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action and other measures to prevent future violations, the Canadian regulator said.

The measures were imposed as part of a response to Russian President Vladimir Putins decision to authorize a special military operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24. As of March 1, Ukraine has suffered 752 civilian casualties, including 227 killed and 525 injured, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Reuters contributed to this report.
A sign outside the headquarters of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), in Terhulpen, near Brussels, Belgium, on Feb. 25, 2022. (James Arthur Gekiere/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images)

SWIFT Ban Is a Major Blow on Russia and Puts China in a Dilemma: Experts

As Russias invasion of Ukraine continues, in addition to the United States, Britain, Canada, and the European Union (EU), more countries have agreed to exclude Russia from the SWIFT banking system. Experts believe the ban is expected to bring a major blow to the Russian economy and put China, as a supporter of Russia, in a dilemma.

EU countries, including Germany, Hungary, and Italy, have agreed to exclude some Russian banks from the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) system, as part of the sanctions against Russia for its aggression toward Ukraine, which will further isolate Russia from the international financial system.

Chiou Jiunn-rong, a Taiwanese economist and former professor at the Department of Economics at Central University, Taipei, told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times on Feb. 28 that many Russian goods must be traded with other countries through exchange, including oil and natural gas, which are Russias main energy export. If the ruble is kicked out of the SWIFT system, Russia will not be able to settle and clear transactions with the currencies of other countries and it will have a great impact on the entire Russian economy.

Among the entire sanctions, the most drastic and serious is to kick Russia out of SWIFT, which is equivalent to cutting off Russias financial ties with Western countries. Now it seems that the West has decided to do so.

The most important thing is that once Russias foreign exchange reserves are frozen, it has absolutely no way to obtain the funds and materials it needs from the Western world, Chiou said.

Chiou estimates that after Russia is excluded from SWIFT, Russia will only be able to do exchanges with China in the future financial system.

Chinas renminbi cross-border interbank payment system (CIPS), launched in 2015, may serve as an alternative. Both China and Russia have aimed to use CIPS as a financial system between the two countries without involving a third party.

However, according to mainland Chinese media reports, in 2021, the settlement method of Sino-Russian bilateral trade was mainly in U.S. dollars, accounting for more than 80 percent of transactions. Payments in RMB are 17 percent, and the proportion of payments in rubles is still low.

Hours after Russia launched its military invasion of Ukraine, China announced that it would lift the import restrictions on Russias wheat.

Chiou pointed out that the first government to provide assistance to Russia after the war broke out was the Chinese regime, which indicates that in the future, when Russia faces a shortage of supplies caused by Western sanctions, China will provide major assistance.

Su Tze-yun, director of the Institute of National Defense Strategy and Resources of the Taiwan Institute of National Defense Security, told The Epoch Times on Feb. 27 that although Russia has increased its natural gas and oil exports to China, Chinas help to Russia is still limited. In addition, Ukraine is an important country as it is part of the Chinese regimes Belt and Road Initiative. Russias invasion of Ukraine disrupted Chinas geopolitical layout in the region.

As for the major importers of Russias energy, EU countries that rely on SWIFT to pay, are now supporting the SWIFT sanctions on Russia. Chiou said that with the tension and confrontation between China and the United States, China is quite dependent on European Union countries in terms of trade and investment. Offending the EU will further hurt Chinas investment and trade in Europe.

According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, the total value of imports and exports between China and the EU in 2021 reached $828.11 billion. China is currently the EUs largest trading partner. Chiou said that, in contrast, the economic scale and importance of China and Russia are far less important than Sino-European trade. This is indeed the main reason why China has not dared to explicitly express its position regarding Russias invasion of Ukraine so far.

Lin Cenxin and Luo Ya contributed to the report.
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen with former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after he was bestowed with an Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon at the Presidential Building in Taipei on March 3, 2022. (Taiwan Presidential Office/Reuters)

Taiwanese President Honors Pompeo for His Support During Tenure as Secretary of State

The Taiwanese president honored former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on March 3, praising Pompeos backing of the democratic island during his time under former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Just now, the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon was presented to Mr. Pompeo for his contributions to advancing TaiwanU.S. relations, President Tsai Ing-wen announced during the meeting with Pompeo, expressing her deepest gratitude on behalf of the Taiwanese people.

Secretary Pompeo is not only a long-term supporter of Taiwans international participation; he has also facilitated multiple breakthroughs in TaiwanU.S. relations, Tsai said following the award ceremony at the Presidential Building in Taipei.

Pompeo said he was honored to meet with Tsai and accepted the privilege.

The former secretary of state arrived a day earlier on a four-day visit, as another five-member delegation sent by President Joe Biden wrapped up a two-day visit to Taiwan after meeting with Tsai.

Marking his first visit to the democratic island, Pompeo said he had long been looking to meet the people of Taiwan, who he said were noble and caring and loving and freedom-demanding.

Its wonderful, most of all, to be here with the Taiwanese people, who I have come to know and love, albeit from afar, Pompeo said, wearing special masks printed with both the Taiwanese and U.S. flags, as well as traditional Chinese characters that read rock-solid, referring to the bilateral partnership.

The Trump administration deepened ties with Taiwan from 2018 until the end of Trumps presidency, including arms sales and laws to help Taiwan deal with pressure from China, and support for Taiwans participation in major international organizations.

As one of his final acts as secretary of state, Pompeo announced the removal of all self-imposed restrictions on contact with Taiwanese officials in early 2021, which he said had been used to appease the communist regime in Beijing. For decades, China has claimed the self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and deemed the island the most sensitive issue in its ties with the United States.

Pompeo said in a U.S. radio interview in late 2020 that the island, which the Chinese Communist Party hasnt ever ruled, has not been a part of China under Beijings governance.

One of the things I learned, now some 40 years ago, when I was a young soldier, Pompeo said on Thursday, was that to do the right thing is both proper and necessary, and to demand the leaders provide their citizens with freedom and prosperity and stability matters an awful lot.

Madam President, you have done that in such a noble, wonderful way, he added in his remarks to Tsai.

Those who are mistaken or complacent about the risks to freedom should learn from the currently unfolding crisis in Eastern Europe, Pompeo said, calling for deep, concerted, focused leadership from freedom-loving allies.

The former diplomat has won recognition and popularity across Taiwan, according to Tsai, who called him a close friend of the country.

Thank you for this warm greeting sign! Susan and I are looking forward to being with you  the freedom-loving Taiwanese people soon! pic.twitter.com/L4iNcz2uPz  Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) March 1, 2022

In 2021 China imposed sanctions on Pompeo in response to his tough-on-China policies, along with 27 other top Trump-era officials, barring them and their immediate family members from entering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. It came a day after Pompeo declared Beijings repression of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region a genocide as Biden was sworn into office as the 46th U.S. president.

Chinas top newspaper lambasted him again on March 3 as an anti-China politician and a liar.

The visiting delegation in Taipei included Pompeos wife Susan, former Pompeo adviser Miles Yu, and the Championing American Values PAC Executive Director Jim Richardson. Taiwans Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo, and Secretary-General to the President David T. Lee also attended the ceremony.

Im going to enjoy the dried pineapple very much, Pompeo said, expressing his happiness at being in Taiwan.

And I know that Im going to enjoy even more than that, the opportunity to meet the Taiwanese people and thank them for all they have done [and] all theyre doing today.

Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo walk together at the Presidential Building in Taipei on March 3, 2022. (Taiwan Presidential Office/Reuters)

As power outages hit large parts of Taiwan earlier on Thursday, a live meeting broadcast was temporarily canceled an hour before the meeting began.

Pompeo is expected to give a keynote speech at a think tank on March 4.
Texas Rep. Van Taylor Ends Reelection Campaign, Admits to Extra-Marital Affair With Widow of ISIS Convert

Rep. Van Taylor (R-Texas) has ended his reelection campaign after admitting to having an affair with Tania Joya, the widow of an American who joined ISIS.

Taylor, who was bidding for a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, made the announcement shortly after he was forced into a runoff for the Republican nomination after garnering 48.7 percent of the vote in the primary, just shy of the 50 percent needed to win his partys nomination.

In an emailed statement to supporters, Taylor called his extra-marital affair the greatest failure of his life.

About a year ago, I made a horrible mistake that has caused deep hurt and pain among those I love most in this world. I had an affair, it was wrong, and it was the greatest failure of my life, he said in a statement.

I want to apologize for the pain I have caused with my indiscretion, most of all to my wife Anne and our three daughters. I have let down so many other family members, friends, colleagues, supporters, and the people of the 3rd Congressional District whom I have had the great honor and privilege to represent. I am truly sorry, and I hope in time I can earn their forgiveness.

Taylor, who represents a northeast Texas district, noted that he had spoken with primary runner-up Keith Self, and I wish him the best as he seeks to become the next congressman for this district.

Taylor, a Harvard graduate, has been married to his wife, Anne Coolidge, since 2004. They share three daughters.

However, the Republican candidate allegedly had a nine-month-long affair with Joya, whos the widow of John Georgelas, a convert to Islam from Plano, Texas, who joined ISIS in 2013.

In September 2020, Joya spoke to The Guardian, where she described how she met Georgelas in the early 2000s and got married before he took her and their children to Syria.

While there, Joya, who has been dubbed the ISIS bride by British tabloids, said Georgelas played an essential part in establishing the caliphate and was a leading propagandist for Islamic State, helping to groom other westerners.

Joya said she later discovered that Georgelas had died in 2017, most likely during U.S. bombing. She has since remarried IT executive Craig Bruma.

According to Joya, she and Taylor met when she was working with a program called Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE). She told The Dallas Morning News that the affair went on between October 2020 and June 2021 and that they were very close.

Joya told National File that she and Taylor became sexually intimate soon after meeting and that Taylor had provided her with financial help, even agreeing to purchase her home for $600,000.

The affair was allegedly exposed with the help of a third Republican candidate, Suzanne Harp, a banker endorsed by former President Donald Trump, according to Joya.

Joya claimed that she wasnt even aware the primary was just five days away when she contacted Harp for her help because she was fed up with seeing her former lovers face on billboards as she drove around Plano.

All I wanted was for Suzanne Harp to just say: Hey, I know your little scandal with Tania Joya. Would you like to resign before we embarrass you? But it didnt happen like that, Joya told The Dallas Morning News.

Taylor didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.

Taylor now has until March 16 to withdraw his name from the runoff ballot, which a spokesperson said he plans to do. Self will then become the automatic nominee for the district.

If he withdraws by 5 p.m. on March 16, then the other candidate is declared the nominee and the runoff election is canceled, Sam Taylor, spokesman for the Texas secretary of state, told The Dallas Morning News.

Following Taylors announcement, Self published a statement on Twitter.

I hope to earn your trust as we move towards our common goal of restoring integrity to Congressional District 3, and I want you to know that there is a place for you at our table, Self wrote.
The Uluru in central Australia is one of the worlds greatest natural wonders, with its striking magnificent natural form, unpredictable colors, and divine inspiration. These features draw the hearts of explorers to the dreamlike wonderland. The origin of the rock is also shrouded in mystery.

Uluru, a Sacred Place of Origin for Aboriginal Culture

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is one of Australias most famous landmarks. Its located in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and stands 1142 feet high, two miles long, one mile wide, and boasts a circumference of 5.8 miles. Some people have alluded to Uluru as a land iceberg because the visible portion is only the portion showing above the earths surface. The vast majority of it lies hidden deep undergroundan estimated 3.7 miles below the surface. Geologists believe that Uluru is 550 million years old, and Australian Aborigines consider it to be one of the oldest rocks on Earth.

Whether from a frontal or birds-eye view, Uluru looks magical, lying quietly in the middle of the Central Australian desert. It is unique and distinctive compared to the surrounding rough wilderness. In the morning, when the sun shines, Uluru glows red; in the evening, when it sets, the red glow becomes darker and richer. Whats even more amazing is that the rocks color changes with the weather and is thus sometimes unpredictable. However, at closer proximity, one can see that Uluru is actually brown with a grayish tinge.

Uluru, Northern Territory, Australia  Aug 23, 2019: Wave shaped rock formation along Mala Walk at base of Ayers Rock in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. This popular walk to Kantju Gorge. (Benny Marty/Shutterstock)

The explanation for Ulurus bizarre color may be found in its composition: sandstone that contains iron powder. After oxidation, the iron powder turns red, giving Uluru its red appearance and its coined name as the red heart of Australia.

According to archaeological speculation, the Aboriginal people of Australia have been living on the surrounding land for 60,000 years, making them one of the oldest surviving civilizations in the world. The Aboriginal people of this area, the Anangu, practice a set of ancient laws and hold reverence for the natural world, as they believe that everything that happens in the world has a mystical meaning.

Like other Aboriginal regions in Australia, the Anangu people believe in Tjukurpa, also known as Dreamtime. They believe that Dreamtime is a separate system, parallel to the real worlda mystical zone between life and deaththat exhibits all the innate rules of man and nature.

The Anangu believe that their ancestors are the spirits who created the world. In the ancient days of Dreamtime, these spirits roamed the Australian continent and recorded everything they saw through words or song. While roaming, the ancestors created the land, rivers, streams, hills, rocks, plants, animals, and people. The Uluru is thought to be the documentation of their work on earth. The experiences of the ancestors in Dreamtime took place in Uluru. In the Pitjantjatjara dialect of the indigenous people, Uluru means the meeting place of reality and dreams.

Kings canyon  Australia. (Stanislav Fosenbauer/Shutterstock)

For the Anangu people, Uluru is not just a spectacular rock, but also their starting point of Creation and the place where their ancestors reside. Therefore, Uluru is a sacred place of origin for the indigenous culture. With the energy left behind by the ancestors after the creation of the world, there was no doubt that it was sacred and inviolable.

Around the caves, cliffs, and crevices of Uluru lie countless engravings and strokes that record the stories of the Aboriginal ancestors. It is said that certain parts of the rock represent the spirits of the ancestors, and that by touching it, the Anangu can enter Dreamtime, communicate with the ancestors, and receive their blessings.

Ancient Legends About Uluru

The culture and history behind Uluru, as well as its mysterious color, are fascinating. There is also a lesser-known origin story of the Uluru, one that is an ancient legend from the world of cultivation practice.

This story was told by Dr. Owen Yao, a specialist in superconductive materials. He said he first heard it over two decades ago from someone of a high level in the cultivation world, in May of 1999. He later recounted the story that he heard.

Before we get into the story, it might be best to elaborate on some of the concepts of space and time that Yao mentions.

The smallest particle known to scientists today is the quark. Although measuring particles by size isnt condoned by scientists, its known that quarks are found inside a proton. Beyond the quark, its unknown how small the smallest particle is.

If we imagine an atom, the nucleus is at the center of the atom, and electrons orbit the nucleus. Protons are what make up the nucleus, and quarks make up the proton.

By a little stretch of the imagination, we can see how the atom is similar to a solar system, with planets rotating around a sun. If we imagine expanding the atoms nucleus to the size of a galaxy, perhaps we would find numerous solar systems inside it. If it were expanded to the size of a universe, maybe it would contain many galaxies.

Scientists are able to see objects in the universe that emit light much more easily than those that dont. So what can be seen through a microscope is still highly limited.

Yaos story contains ideas like this small universe, which is not difficult to understand. Likewise, atoms of differing masses also have differing lifespans. So if this principle were applied to cosmic bodies, different universes and galaxies also have different lifespans. The lifespan of a universe can be very long; longer than the largest number known to man, while the lifespan of certain atoms may only be a few seconds. Time and space are relative.

Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia on September 12, 2016: The Australian Outback comes to live when colorful wildflowers cover the dry ground at Valley of the Winds. (Julian Peters Photography/Shutterstock)

Different dimensions have different units of time. As time passes at one speed in another dimension, time is passing at a much different speed here on earth. In Yaos reiteration of the story he heard, he mentions a time that is in the middle of the history of the universe. There is no way to calculate exactly when that was because we cant accurately know how old the universe is or what unit of time the universe goes by.

Yao tells the story he heard: Perhaps it was a coincidence, and although I stand by my belief that this story is a real-life account, others may very well regard it as another piece of fiction. The story takes place in the mid-level of the universe, during a time that can be considered the middle of the history of the universe.

The universe that we reside in is a small one. So small that it can only be seen as a speck of dust within a bigger universe. If we cant even see the edge of our own small universe, can you imagine just how large the bigger encapsulating universe must be?

In the early days of the bigger universe, all lives were good, and the universe was free of anything evil and bad. However, this golden period of time could not be everlasting, according to a concept known among Buddhists as formation, stasis, degeneration, and destruction. At the beginning of all life, everything was wonderful and pure. Bad didnt exist, and there werent any bad lives. When the universe reached the middle period in its development, the bad began to appear, and evil arose in the form of a demon with the sole purpose of committing horrible acts. There were many beings in the universe, especially Buddhas, Taos, and Gods, who wanted to rid the universe of the demon, and thus engaged it in combat. Because this demon belonged to the middle tier, it was quite capable and had great abilities. Many beings failed to defeat it and were even injured in battle.

Finally, when everyone thought the demon was undefeatable, a Holy King suddenly arrived, carrying a Dharma Wheel. He was bestowed the name Enlightened One, or Holy One. The Holy One with the Wheel arrived with the purpose of destroying the demon, since the demon had committed countless heinous crimes that caused enormous ripple effects throughout the universe. The two fought and fought. It was a colossal battle. At the time, the lives of the universe referred to the clash as the great battle between good and evil in the large universe.

Valley of The Winds Walk  Northern Territory  Australia. (Adwo/Shutterstock)

They fought vigorously to the end, using various weapons, perhaps even magic and spells. There were so many details, and I heard this story over 20 years ago, so it is impossible for me to accurately or specifically recount the exact methods with which they fought. Nonetheless, in the end, the Holy One killed and destroyed the demon. However, while the demon was destroyed, the Holy One was also wounded. A drop of the Holy Ones blood and a drop of the demons blood fused together and fell toward earth, entering the atmosphere in the form of a big red rock, and finally landing in Australia. This big red rock eventually became known as Uluru.

One thing that I wish to make clear here is that this story occurred during the middle period of development of the bigger universe. But, according to archeologists, the rock was deemed to be at most 500 million years old. One might ask how this can be. Well, the concept of time that we have today is limiting. Time is relative, and the time of different universes is also relative. So it would be inaccurate to equate our own concept of time to the larger universes concept of time. In other words, a million years on earth could equal far more or far less time in other dimensions. Since that drop of blood fell to earth, the time that it passed and experienced was not something that can be measured so absolutely with a machine.

So the drop of blood coming to earth was a very, very long time ago. Although the fused drop of blood turned into the giant rock we see today, at the microscopic level, the blood of the righteous and the blood of the evil are still in battle. Sometimes you can even hear the sound of swords and spears clashing against each other, and the movement of soldiers and horses, when in close proximity to the rock. The rock also changes colors at different times.

If this rock really has such a long history, is there any special meaning behind the legend?

My summary of this story was that there is good and evil in the universe. Because good and evil are opposites, good should conquer evil as long as it is within the ability of the good. This is what the good should do. This reflects on Uluru, its surface, its history, and the fighting microscopic battles inside. I feel that it has this layer of meaning; that the evil must be eliminated.

Yao said he was able to grasp a special meaning through the legend, but that he also believes that when everyone looks at the same thing, theyll have different interpretations.

He said: The story of the rock, of course, is longer and older than the indigenous people. The indigenous people believe a different legend, and people all have the desire to tie unexplained phenomena to their ancestors. This desire is very normal. From the point of view of modern-day scientists, Uluru is not just the largest intact piece of rock in the world, but it also doesnt blend into its surrounding environment whatsoever. It is truly as if a large object had fallen from outer space and remained entirely whole when it landed. Its completely different from the topography around it.

Uluru Ayers Rock with wispy clouds. (Stickybeak TV/Shutterstock)

Of course, there may be varying theories and conjectures out there, but if you look at it from a cultivation perspective, Uluru is actually an object from the future. It stands before our very eyes, yet what we humans are able to truly understand and comprehend from it is still very limited. Like what I mentioned before regarding the relativity of time and the various levels in the universe, science is unable to explain all observed phenomena.

Whether its the legend of the Aboriginal Dreamtime or the ancient legend Yao heard, they both leave us with lingering questions: Where did the universe come from? How were humans created? And how did the Creators intend for humans to flourish in the world as we know it today? The Aborigines understood Dreamtime as a beginning that had no end. They saw it as a period of continuity between the past, the present, and the future. The ancient legend through Yao allows us deeper insight into the universe of formation, stasis, degeneration, and destruction.
A person walks in Brooklyn while lower Manhattan looms in the background in New York City on March 28, 2020. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Big Apples Finances Are Rancid, Accounting Group Contends

Are the books balanced in New York City and in other big cities? A difference of accounting philosophy

The New York City government, says financial watchdog Truth in Accounting (TIA), is a money mess.

Its finances are the most troubled in America, TIA charges, although other cities also have problems.

New Yorks books, TIA claims, arent balanced as required by law. Thats because it doesnt currently count all its bills, it says. For decades. the citys leaders, TIA says, have disguised how much the taxpayers owe for pension and health care debts, called other post-employment benefits (OPEB).

New York Citys leaders disagree. They say city finances are good, citing strong bond ratings.

But TIA, in its new report, Survey of the Cities 2022, gave the Big Apple the worst grade and bad grades to other big cities.

Based upon the citys fiscal year 2020 audited financial report, New York City had a Taxpayer Burden of $71,400, earning it an F grade from Truth in Accounting. New York Citys elected officials have repeatedly made financial decisions that left the city with a debt burden of $204.4 billion.

The city, the TIA report continued, had set aside only 78 cents for every dollar of promised pension benefits and three cents for every dollar of promised retiree health care benefits.

An official of a New York City fiscal group, the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC), told The Epoch Times the citys current budget is balanced but the long-term pensions/health care funding problem is a real concern. Still, CBC Deputy Research Director Ana Champeny says New York is making progress on long-term budget problems.

One of the biggest factors leading to NYC poor showing, says Champeny who read the TIA report, is its postemployment benefit (OPEB) unfunded liability, which currently exceeds $100 billion. She adds that this is both a function of the Citys generous retiree benefits and the lack of funding for this liability. CBC has advocated for both reducing the cost of benefits and higher funding.

Champeny agrees New York has OPEB problems, but adds the city is on course to catch up on these debts by 2034. She contends the city is more than able to pay current bills.

Others examining the spending practices of big cities like New York are skeptical.

Sheila Weinberg, TIA founder, says, While the city is committed to wiping out the pension debt by 2034, it doesnt negate the fact that they have a liability now. Think of it like a credit card balance. While you plan to pay it off over the coming years, it doesnt mean you dont have a balance now.

New York City leaders say finances are sound, citing strong current bond ratings. City Comptroller Brad Lander declined interviews with The Epoch Times as did Mayor Eric Adams.

However, in previous comments and reports, Lander and other city officials point to a strong bond rating (pdf).

The debt and liability profile incorporates pension and OPEB funding and analysis. When we consider the citys rating, we compare it to other municipal governments across the U.S. also rated AA/stable, according to the most recent S&P report.

The AA/stable reflects many things including our view of the citys economy, management, budgetary performance, flexibility and debt and liability profile, Nora Wittstruck, S&P Global primary analyst for New York City, told The Epoch Times. Moodys also gives the city a strong bond rating.

Last year, as S&P and Moodys affirmed the citys healthy bond ratings, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, declared the city economically healthy.

New York City is resilient and were coming back strong, he said.

Lander, in a December report on city finances, said debt service will rise in a few years.

The November 2021 Plan projects debt service will consume 10.9 percent of local tax revenues in FY2022, 12.2 percent in FY2023, 12.3 percent in FY 2024, and 12.8 percent in FY2025, Lander wrote.

The reason for higher debt, Lander stated, is spending growing faster than tax revenue. Debt service is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 9.3 percent from FY2022 to FY 2025 while tax revenue during this period is projected to grow 3.6 percent annually.

Ultimately the debt debate depends on accounting systems. Cities are using cash basis accounting. Critics contend accrual accounting gives an accurate picture of an institutions debts.

The difference between the two types is when revenues and expenses are recorded. In cash basis accounting, revenue is recorded when cash is received, and expenses are recorded when they are paid, regardless of when. By contrast, in accrual accounting, the expense is recorded immediately, rather than deferred.

Cities, which are legally required to have balanced budgets, use cash basis accounting. Critics, such as TIA, say they should be using the more stringent accrual standard. Publicly held corporations, they note, must use accrual.

Champeny says New York City is using a modified accrual standard. Privately, some TIA critics say it is ridiculous to impose strict corporate accounting standards on cities and states. Cities arent corporations; cities dont go out of business, one CPA privately told The Epoch Times.

Nevertheless, Weinberg says the use of cash basis accounting and budgeting or a modified accrual accounting system is misleading. It means that inaccurate information is used to make decisions that have economic consequences. If the city had to properly fund its retiree health care promises, then to balance the budget other spending might have to be cut or taxes increased. But because of bad accounting those hard decisions dont have to be made.

Weinberg ultimately blames the government and industry groups for allowing cities and states to use poor standards.

Like Illinois, NYC uses the modified accrual basis of accounting to calculate its budget. Yes, this hybrid is an acceptable accounting basis under GASB, Weinberg says. But she warns that it allows a city to claim a balanced budget using that standard while the city has accumulated more than $200 billion in debt.

GASB, which is the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, told The Epoch Times through spokesman Kip Betz, we do not have any comments to share with you for the story you are working on. A spokesman for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants also declined comment.

Most elected officials and bond raters also wont discuss these issues. TIA says bad accounting methods are used in most of the 75 biggest cities.

Cities, in general, did not have enough money to pay all of their bills, the report said. Based on our latest analysis, the total debt among the 75 most populous cities amounted to $357 billion. For FY 2020, pension debt accounted for $194.9 billion, and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) totaled $164.8 billion.

For now, New York City officials can handle these debts, CBCs Champeny says. However, she notes that the risk of these debts requires a long-term strategy that reduces benefits to sustainable levels and funds them.

For instance, city money managers did well last year in pension fund investments. Their stated goal is to get a seven percent a year return. In 2021, a great stock market year, the citys pension funds earned 27 percent. However, critics ask, what would happen in a bear market.

Are city officials or accounting critics right about the fiscal health of New York City and dozens of other big cities?

Two academics looked at the budgetary practices of municipalities and labeled cash basis accounting dangerous and misleading.

The regime is misleading because it omits foreseeable long-term consequences from reported financial numbers, wrote James P. Naugton and Holger Spamann.

It is dangerous because the omission of consequences blinds citizens and perhaps even politicians, they write in a UCLA Law Review article that calls for the Securities and Exchange Commission to provide oversight on the quality of city and state bonds.

The authors point to the gap between state pension fund assets and obligations.

It is as if one were to balance the inflows and outflows in a checking account by drawing on a credit card. The checking account would not reveal any trouble even while large debts amassed on the credit card.

Naugton and Spamann contend accrual versus cash basis accounting is more than an exotic accounting debate. The taxpayer, they write, is part of it.

If the government, they write, improves its performance such that it can reduce taxes by one dollar, the citizen is also one dollar richer. As far as finances are concerned, an extra dollar earned or saved by the government and passed on through tax reductions is as useful as an extra dollar earned or saved by the business and passed on through dividends.
Members of Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Northern Army applaud their comrades after participating in a Type-90 tank live firing competition at the Hokkaido Great Maneuvering Ground in Eniwa, Hokkaido Prefecture, on Dec. 7, 2021. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP via Getty Images)

To Defend Against China, Japan Should Go Nuclear

Other frontline democracies in Asia and Europe should consider the same

News Analysis

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe surprised his fellow citizens on Feb. 27.

Speaking to a television audience, he said that in light of the invasion of Ukraine, which has no nuclear weapons, Japan should discuss the idea of sharing nuclear weapons with allies by letting them base some of the weapons on Japanese soil.

NATO has a similar arrangement in Europe, in which the United States maintains some nuclear weapons on the territory of its allies. Abe said, Many people in Japan probably dont know about the system.

During Abes time as prime minister up to 2020, he oversaw the rise of defense spending to record levels, called for a revision of the pacifist constitution to allow for a more robust defense of the country, and said a major conflict between China and Taiwan would be seen by Japan and the United States as an emergency, given which they could not stand by. Abe has called on the United States to unambiguously commit to the defense of Taiwan as it is only 68 miles from Japans westernmost inhabited territory.

Japan currently relies on American promises of a nuclear umbrella for its security. But as should be clear from the Ukraine situation, in which the United States and Britain guaranteed Ukraines territorial integrity in 1994 in exchange for the country giving up its nuclear weapons to Russia, London and Washington can respond with half-measures, depending on who is in power. Deterrence can fail against nuclear-armed adversaries who pose existential threats to all involved.

The same is true of American defense commitments to the Philippines. While the United States often claims that its alliance commitments are rock solid, China occupied Philippine territory on Mischief Reef since 1995, and built a major military base there. Washington has not provided Manila with the muscle or leadership, in response, to roll back Beijings forced acquisitions.

There is too much at stake for the United States, in blood and treasure, to lightly oppose China and Russia with direct military force. With Chinas economic rise in the early 21st century, it is building a powerful military that newly challenges U.S. conventional and nuclear dominance in Asia.

So American allies on the frontlines with China and Russia must increasingly consider acquiring their own independent nuclear deterrent forces.

Performers dressed as military perform in front of a screen showing rockets being launched during a mass gala marking the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party at the Olympic Birds Nest stadium in Beijing, China, on June 28, 2021. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

One first step toward an independent nuclear deterrent is nuclear sharing with the United States, though it could be extended to other allied nuclear powers, like France or Britain.

In NATO, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy take part in nuclear sharing, hosting American nuclear weapons, Abe said. We need to understand how security is maintained around the world and not consider it taboo to have an open discussion.

Abe continued, We should firmly consider various options when we talk about how we can protect Japan and the lives of its people in this reality.

Having been the target of the only two nuclear weapons used in war, which destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan has been a long-time proponent of the abolition of nuclear weapons. So Abe is not treading this path voluntarily. Russian and Chinese aggression is backing Japan against a walland forcing it to search for the weapons necessary for self-defense.

Its important to make progress toward that goal of abolishing nuclear weapons, Abe observed, but when it comes to how to protect the lives of Japanese citizens and the nation, I think we should conduct discussions by taking various options fully into consideration.

Until Russia and China democratize, a nuclear free world is likely impossible. It would only advantage these two autocracies, and others with large and technically-sophisticated conventional armies.

Abes support for increased nuclear deterrence for Japan is absolutely necessary, most importantly because it would improve deterrence against China, which has proven itself territorially expansionist, both over Taiwan and Japans Senkaku Islands.

Improved nuclear deterrence would also help deter Russia, which conquered Japans four Kuril Islands at the end of World War II, and agreed in 1956 to return two of them. Moscow never honored its promise. Japan calls the Kurils the Northern Territories.

Both China and Russia frequently test Japans air defenses with military flights that force the Japanese to scramble fighter jets. Between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2021, Chinese military planes approached Japanese airspace 187 times, each of which required Japan to scramble its own fighter jets.

North Korea, which is a de facto ally of both China and Russia, regularly threatens Japan with nuclear weapons and missile tests, some of which flew over the entire territory of Japan, to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on the other side.

Ukraine is riveting analysts attention in Japan in part because Kyiv used to have nuclear weapons. The Russian invasion helps analysts realize that had Ukraine kept its strategic deterrent, it likely would not have been invaded. During a period of peace and transition, Kyiv allowed Russia, the United States, and Britain to convince it to let its nuclear deterrent slip through its fingers.

The counterfactual of it not having done so, is a stark reality that should be confronting countries in the Indo-Pacific, like Japan, Australia, Taiwan, and South Korea, as well as those in Europe, like Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, that face powerful dictators across their borders.

Democracies on the frontline of territorially aggressive states, like Russia and China, need independent nuclear deterrents. Being a democracy, or in an alliance with a nuclear power, is demonstrably insufficient to guarantee a countrys security and territorial integrity.

Ukraine and the Philippines both show that democracies cannot solely rely on their closest allies and friends for protection. They need robust and independent conventional and nuclear military forces under their own control.

As an adversary ramps up and mobilizes its military forces, unfortunately, so must democracies to maintain deterrence. This is peace through strength. Democratic alliances are a critical link in the chain, but they are not the whole chain.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Greg Kelly, former representative director of Nissan Motor Co., arrives for the first trial hearing at the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo, on Sept. 15, 2020. ( Kiyoshi Ota/Pool via Reuters)

Tokyo Court to Rule Whether Deputy Helped Former Nissan Chief Ghosn Hide $80 Million

TOKYO A Japanese court will on Thursday deliver its verdict on former Nissan Motor director Greg Kelly who is accused of helping the automakers ousted chairman, Carlos Ghosn, hide $80 million of income from financial regulators.

The judgment, which comes after an 18-month trial and more than three years since Kellys arrest alongside Ghosn, maybe the closest a Japanese court gets to ruling on the culpability of Nissans ex-chairman in alleged financial crimes.

Kelly has taken center stage in the Tokyo District Court because Ghosn is beyond the reach of Japanese prosecutors after fleeing to Lebanon in 2019 hidden in a box on a private jet.

Kelly has sat through months of testimony from ex-Nissan colleagues including former CEO Hiroto Saikawa, and senior legal affairs executive Hari Nada, with prosecutors submitting emails and stacks of documents they say show Kelly illegally devised ways to defer payments to his boss.

The charges spring from a financial regulation change in 2010 that required executives earning more than 1 billion yen ($8.71 million) to disclose their pay.

Kelly has denied breaking the law and testified that his only intent was to give Ghosn, who was also the chief executive at Renault, a compensation package that would dissuade him from defecting to a rival automaker.

Both Kelly and Ghosn also allege they are victims of a boardroom coup by former colleagues worried that Ghosn wanted to merge Nissan with alliance partner and largest shareholder Renault SA.

The Nissan company, which was charged alongside Kelly and Ghosn, pleaded guilty at the start of the trial to allow Ghosn to hide earnings from Japanese authorities. It is awaiting a court ruling. Prosecutors are seeking a 200 million yen ($1.74 million) fine for the carmaker.

Fugitive former car executive Carlos Ghosn, gestures as he talks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon, on June 14, 2021. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

Watching

Released on Christmas day in 2018 after a month in jail, Kelly has had to remain in Japan under conditions set in his $600,000 bail. His wife Dee joined him and has attended most court sessions

The case has captivated a country astonished by Ghosns transformation from feted auto executive to international fugitive. It is also being watched closely by the new U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, amid concern about the Americans treatment by a justice system that some western observers view as overly harsh.

Suspects in Japan are not allowed to have a lawyer present during interrogations and can be detained for up to three weeks without charge. And 99 percent of cases that go to trial end with a conviction.

Mr. Kelly is a citizen of the United States and this comes with an obligation as the ambassador of the United States to advocate on his behalf, Emanuel said during a press briefing in Tokyo last week.

The former mayor of Chicago and one-time chief of staff to U.S. President Barack Obama said he had called Kelly and his wife soon after arriving in Japan in January.

Prosecutors have asked the three judges to convict Kelly and send him to jail for two years. That would make him the third American connected to Ghosn to be locked up.

A Japanese court in July sentenced U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor to two years in prison and his son Peter to one year and eight months for their part in helping him escape Japan.

For now, the once globe-trotting Ghosn is stuck in Lebanon, unable to travel overseas without risking arrest and a return to Japan.

In addition to the charge of hiding $80 million of earnings over eight years, Ghosn is also accused of enriching himself at his employers expense through $5 million of payments to a Middle East car dealership, and for temporarily transferring personal investment losses to his former employers books.

Ghosn has denied all the accusations against him.

By Tim Kelly
Toyota Becomes Latest Japanese Company Suspending Operations in Russia

Japanese automaker Toyota has announced its suspending operations at its only Russian plant, joining other manufacturers from the country who are restricting trade or planning such a move in Russia.

Toyota Motor Russia will stop production at its St-Petersburg plant from 4 March and has stopped imports of vehicles, until further notice, due to supply chain disruptions, the company said in an announcement on March 3.

The St. Petersburg plant is the sole manufacturing facility Toyota has in Russia, which makes Camry and RAV4 models mainly for the domestic market. With 168 retail locations, Toyota is the biggest Japanese car brand in Russia. The St. Petersburg plant employs 2,000 workers and outputs 80,000 vehicles.

Toyota does not have any factories in Ukraine, but has 37 retail locations. Activities in these outlets were suspended on Feb. 24 when Russia initiated the war. Manufacturing and sales operations in the rest of Europe continue functioning as usual.

Like everyone around the world, Toyota is watching the ongoing developments in Ukraine with great concern for the safety of people of Ukraine and hopes for a safe return to peace as soon as possible. As a company with operations in Ukraine and Russia, our priority in dealing with this crisis is to ensure the safety of all our team members, retailer staff, and supply chain partners, the company added.

Honda, which sold 1,406 cars in Russia in fiscal year 2020, has suspended the export of motorcycles and cars to Russia citing difficulty in shipping the vehicles and payment issues.

Mitsubishi announced the possibility of suspending sales and manufacturing activity due to supply chain disruptions triggered by sanctions against Moscow, while Nissan is monitoring the situation and has currently decided to continue its operations. It sold around 53,000 vehicles in Russia last year.

Mazda announced that its export of parts to the companys plant in Vladivostok would soon wind up. The brand had sold 30,000 cars in Russia in 2021.

More than 50 percent of Japans exports to Russia in 2020 were accounted for by automobiles and related parts.

Japan, on Tuesday, had announced freezing the assets of six Russians, two Russian state-owned banks, and the central bank. Exports to 49 Russian entities are now prohibited.

Eighteen more Russian officials, as well as seven Belarusian officials, were charged with asset freezes on Thursday. Tokyo plans to impose stricter export controls against Belarus.

Four additional Russian banks will have their assets frozen. Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said that Tokyo supports the European Unions sanctions. By freezing the assets of Russian banks, Japan seeks to make sure that measures to block Russia from the international payment system SWIFT are effective.
Trudeau Questioned About Canadas Preparedness in Case of Russian Retaliation

Conservative Party MP and public safety critic Raquel Dancho sought answers Wednesday from the prime minister on Canadas state of readiness if Russia decides to retaliate.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said when announcing the military operation in Ukraine on Feb. 24 that whoever would try to stop us and further create threats to our country, to our people, should know that Russias response will be immediate and lead you to such consequences that you have never faced in your history.

So I ask the prime minister, is Canada prepared if Putin follows through on his threat? Dancho asked during question period on March 2.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not answer directly, saying that Putin has underestimated the resolve of the Ukrainian people and that of countries who have responded.

I asked about Canadas emergency preparedness, pressed Dancho, mentioning that Putin placed his nuclear forces on high alert.

Canadians have every right to know what our emergency preparedness plan is should Russia launch, for example, a major cyberattack or move in on our Arctic territory, or, God forbid, launch a military response on Canada.

Trudeau said Canada is prepared for any and all eventualities, citing its foundational NATO membership and participation in North American continental defence.

But the best way is not to hunker down and wait for it. The best way is to be leaning forward as we are with all of our NATO allies, reinforcing the eastern flank of NATO, being present with troops and investments that demonstrate that the world stands together, that NATO stands together and will not tolerate this kind of Russian aggression, Trudeau said.

While Russia said it placed its nuclear forces on high alert on Feb. 28, NATO said on March 1 that it sees no need to change its own nuclear alert levels, reported The Associated Press.

As Trudeau alluded to, the United States has sent 5,000 additional troops to Poland and Romania to bolster NATOs eastern flank. France is also sending 500 troops to Romania.

Canadas training mission in Ukraine, Op UNIFIER, has been temporarily relocated to Poland before the Russian invasion, and the Department of National Defence has not said it would be employed there in a defensive role.

Canada leads a NATO battlegroup in the Baltic state of Latvia, with approximately 800 Canadian Armed Forces personnel deployed there under Op REASSURANCE. The government announced on Feb. 22 it was authorizing the deployment of an additional 460 troops.

As Canada and NATO increase their involvement in the conflict, without themselves directly taking part in the war, questions remain as to if and how Russia will react to unprecedented sanctions crippling its economy and the shipping of military hardware to Ukraine.

The Epoch Times contacted Global Affairs Canada (GAC) at the beginning of the invasion to ask if it has concerns about Russian retaliations and, outside cyberattacks, what those could entail. GAC did not responded directly and answered with a generic statement about measures taken by Canada against Russia.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland acknowledged on March 1 that there would be economic collateral damage for Canada resulting from the conflict, but she said Canadians should accept that the cost is lower than the consequence of Putin taking over Ukraine.

If Russia were permitted to succeed in this, we would be in a very different world from the world we have all known. And it would be a world very dangerous to Canada, said Freeland.
The OneWeb launch was due to use Russian Soyuz rockets at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (Gareth Fuller/PA)

UK Government-Backed OneWeb Suspends Satellite Launch at Russian-Run Spaceport

A satellite launch by a communications firm with UK government backing will not go ahead after the companys board suspended use of a Russian-operated spaceport.

OneWeb was due on Friday to launch 36 broadband satellites in Kazakhstan, in an operation that would have used Russian Soyuz rockets and have been overseen by the Russian space agency.

But following political pressure after the Kremlins invasion of Ukraine, the board of the London-based company voted to suspend all launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in a move welcomed by the UK government, which is a major shareholder.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng wrote on Twitter: The UK government supports OneWebs decision.

In light of Russias illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we are reviewing our participation in all further projects involving Russian collaboration.

Darren Jones, Labour chairman of the Commons Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Committee, had written to ministers this week to question whether the collaboration between a company with UK government investment and Russia should be deemed inappropriate given Moscows attack on its neighbour.

The UK took a 400 million ($535 million) share in the failed digital firm to rescue it from bankruptcy in July 2020, as part of a consortium with Indias Bharti Global, following a bidding war.

The move allowed OneWeb to continue its role in the race to beam internet access across the globe from satellites in low Earth orbit.

As well as domestic pressure on the company, demands had been exerted on OneWeb and the UK government by the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, before the launch at the Moscow-run Baikonur launchpad.

On Wednesday, agency chief Dmitry Rogozin said it wanted guarantees the satellites would not be used by Western military and called for the removal of the British government from the list of shareholders, according to press agency Interfax.

Rogozin also told the Rossiya 24 television channel that Russia would keep the money paid by OneWeb in the event the launch was cancelled, citing the force majeure created by the aggressive policy of the West and the anti-Russian sanctions.

Kwarteng responded by saying the UK would not be selling its OneWeb share, with the companys board voting on Thursday morning to suspend Fridays launch.

Asked about the situation on Wednesday, Downing Street said it was right that questions were being raised about space cooperation with Moscow and that it had been carefully monitoring the OneWeb launch before its subsequent cancellation.

As of last month, OneWeb had 428 satellites in orbit, with another third of its LEO satellite fleet still to be readied as part of its mission to provide high-speed, low-latency global connectivity.

The firm is aiming to have 558 satellites, plus in-space spares, in operation to provide global coverage.

It is currently in talks with French partner Arianespace about where future launches can take place, with five satellite launches, paid for in 2020, still to take place.

The PA news agency understands that the US, Japan, and India are all being considered as locations for future take-offs.

Chris McLaughlin, chief of government, regulatory and engagement at the company, said: I can confirm OneWeb has suspended all of its launches from Baikonur. Our emphasis was on getting our staff out safely.

He said advice received by the company about how best to comply with Itar (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) rulesUS defence regulationswas to get the satellites into space, which is why we were trying to get the launch going.

By Patrick Daly
The scene of a fire at the Economy Department building of Karazin Kharkiv National University, hit during recent shelling by Russia, on March 2, 2022. (Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images)

UK Pressured to Speed up Russia Sanctions, Seize Oligarchs Assets

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was under pressure to go faster in targeting Russian oligarchs and seizing their assets in Britain.

Downing Street said on Thursday it would consider possible changes to speed up the process as ministers sought to apply pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.

Senior Tories called for the immediate seizure of oligarchs assets in the UK, such as luxury yachts and property, and the return of them to the Russian people as soon as possible.

Questions continued over why billionaires such as Roman Abramovich, who has announced he will sell Chelsea FC, have not been hit with sanctions.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich (Jed Leicester/PA)

Visiting Lithuania to show support to NATO allies, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in an interview that the government must make sure we have the right evidence to put in place those sanctions.

But she added: Im very clear that legal threats will have no impact on our ability to sanction oligarchs and we will continue to work through our list, we will continue to sanction oligarchs, and there is nowhere for any of Putins cronies to hide.

Downing Street sought to downplay the issue, with the Prime Ministers official spokesman insisting: We are not being held back from introducing sanctions.

But he said we do have laws that we need to abide by when applying the economic restrictions.

When it comes to individuals it is the case that we need to do the preparatory work, the requisite work, to make sure it is legally sound before introduction, the spokesman added.

Like I said, we will keep that under review and if there are ways to further speed it up then we will.

He also sought to argue that sanctions on the banks funding the Russian presidents military machine will exert more pressure than going after his wealthy allies.

Our judgment is placing sanctions particularly on large banks and companies  that is what we believe will exert the most pressure on Putins regime and will throttle off funding for this illegal war against Ukraine, he said.

But Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, called for the government to go further to follow European allies to seize oligarchs assets.

We should be looking immediately to seize those assets linked to those who are profiting from Putins war machine, holding it in trust, and returning it to the Russian people as soon as possible, he told PA.

Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood echoed the call, warning there will be increasing public anger that were not doing enough to help our fellow Ukrainians in their hour of need.

The chairman of the Commons Defence Committee told PA: Theres a race to squeeze Putin given the war crimes hes now committing in Ukraine and London continues to be seen as ground zero as to where oligarchs investments sit. So we need to be impounding these assets in days, not weeks or months.

Every day we wait offers more time for the oligarchs to move their wealth to other parts of the world. Dont forget its not their wealth, this is the stolen wealth from the Russian people which is utilised to keep Putin in power.

French authorities have said they seized a yacht linked to Igor Sechin, an ally of Mr Putin who runs oil giant Rosneft, under EU sanctions. It was also reported Germany had seized another megayacht.

Abramovich, the Russian-Israeli billionaire who has owned Chelsea since 2003, announced he would sell the club, with the net proceeds going to a charity he would set up to benefit of all victims of the war in Ukraine.

His statement, which avoided any criticism of Putin, came after politicians including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for Abramovich to face sanctions.

Labours shadow foreign secretary David Lammy called for new legislation to be brought to the House of Commons early next week so the UKs sanctions regime on individuals can catch up with our allies and partners.

It is totally unacceptable that a week after Putins illegal invasion of Ukraine just 11 oligarchs have faced sanctions by the UK government, he said.

Speaking during a visit to Estonia, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the prospect of a normal diplomatic relationship with Russia is almost impossible.

The consequences of what we are seeing in Ukraine will ripple through Europe and NATO for not just weeks but months and years to come.

He said it will be very hard for the international community to engage with Putin in the long term following his invasion of a sovereign country at huge scale, inflicting huge damage and violence.

By Sam Blewett
Ukrainian nationals arrive by train from Kyiv, Ukraine at the main train station in Przemysl, Poland, on Feb. 28, 2022. (Omar Marques/Getty Images)

Ukraine Calls on India, Pakistan, China to Demand Release of Students Allegedly Held Hostage by Russia

Ukraines foreign ministry on Thursday called on the governments of India, Pakistan, China, and other counties to demand the release of students who have allegedly become hostages to Russia, while Russian officials claimed that Ukraine is keeping them hostage.

In a statement, Ukraines foreign ministry asked governments to demand that Moscow allow a humanitarian corridor to be opened in Ukraine so that civilians can be taken to other safer cities amid the Moscow-led invasion.

We urgently call on the governments of India, Pakistan, China, and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities, the ministry said.

The ministry also urged Russian forces to immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy so that civilians, including foreign students, can be evacuated to safer Ukrainian cities.

There are students from India, Pakistan, China, and other counties who cannot leave because of the indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on residential areas and civilian infrastructure, the ministry said.

The Government of Ukraine stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy should Russia commit to a ceasefire. Attempting to arrange evacuations through cities that are being subjected to Russian bombing and missile strikes is extremely dangerous.

Ukraines government is committed to providing foreign students currently stranded in the country with all of the necessary assistance they need to leave and return safely to their home countries, the ministry added.

The ministrys statement comes after the Russian government claimed that Ukrainian forces are keeping a large group of Indian students as hostages in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Kharkiv, Ukraines second-largest city, continues to be bombarded with Russian missiles, many of which are reportedly striking civilian infrastructure.

Footage released by Ukraines Ministry of Emergency Situations on Wednesday showed the regional headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kharkiv in flames as firefighters battled to put out the blaze.

On Tuesday, the regions administrative building on Freedom Square in Kharkiv was hit by what is widely believed to be a missile, leaving six people dead.

According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkiv who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday.

In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place, the ministry said. Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens. And send them home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes, as the Indian side proposed to do.

The Indian government on Thursday morning local time denied such reports from Russia and said its embassy in Ukraine was in constant communication with Indian nationals who were still in the country.

We have not received reports of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a statement.

Bagchi added that India has been coordinating with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Moldova and that a large number of Indians have been evacuated from Ukraine in recent days.

Around 8,000 Indians, the majority of the students, are believed to still be stranded in Ukraine. The Indian government has asked its nationals to leave Kharkiv urgently to three nearby places even on foot if they cannot take other means of transportation.

The students who cannot find vehicles or buses and are in Railway station can proceed on foot to Pesochyn, Babai and Bezlydivka, the Indian embassy in Ukraine said on Wednesday. Proceed immediately. Under all circumstances, Indians must reach these settlements by 1800 hours (Ukrainian time) today, it said.

The government officials of Pakistan and China have not yet commented on the statement from Ukraines foreign ministry.
Men work at the construction site of the so-called Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Lubmin, northeastern Germany, on March 26, 2019. (Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine Invasion Should Push Australia to Embrace Nuclear Energy: Former State Leader

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a lesson to Australian leaders on the need for energy independence and should spark the development of its nuclear energy industry, according to Australian Senate candidate Campbell Newman.

The former Queensland premier and now-candidate for the Liberal Democrats was also critical of tech billionaire and green activist Mike Cannon-Brookes attempts to continue calling for more renewable technology as a means to shore up Australias energy sovereignty.

Newman said the slow response by European leaders to Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine was in part due to an over-reliance on Russian energy sources, which they were reluctant to disrupt.

I believe very strongly that one of the big reasons that Putin has gambled on this is because he thought that the energy dependence of Western Europe, particularly Germany, meant they wouldnt oppose him, he told The Epoch Times. He thought he had them on the energy issue, and he does have them on the energy issue.

Former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman speaks to media at Qld Parliament House in Brisbane, Australia, on Jan. 6, 2015 (Glenn Hunt/Getty Images)

If we then turn to Australia, we have plentiful fossil fuel resources, which the green movement and indeed now sadly, large sections of the (Australian) Labor Party and potentially the [governing Liberal-National] Coalition want to shut down while not even being prepared to embrace nuclear power.

The former engineer said Australias abundance of gas, coal, and uranium should make it the producer of the cheapest baseload electricity in the world.

Its a problem not only for independence, but its also a problem of competitiveness when businesses are competing against companies paying [for electricity] in places like Texas, he said. The southern state has some of the cheapest electricity prices in the United States and the developed world.

Australias energy providers have responded to increasing pressure to shut down emissions-heavy power sources, like coal, for the sake of climate change action.

Yet, ongoing concerns have been raised that the move to renewable energy such as wind and solar will prove costly and end up being an unreliable source of electricity.

The issue has been exacerbated by strong opposition to emissions-free nuclear energy development in Australia, which is currently banned under a 1990s moratorium.

Electricity poles in Ayr, Queensland, Australia, on March 27, 2017 (Peter Parks/Getty Images)

National energy sovereignty has come under the spotlight amid increasing threats to global supply chains in recent times.

For example, since 2000, the German government, led by Angela Merkel, has sunk over 189 billion euros (US$222 billion) into renewable energy subsidies while moving to shut down all nuclear power plants by this year and coal plants by 2030. Yet, emissions levels have remained the same since 2009.

Further, the policy contributed to Germanys increasing reliance on Russian LNG importsa potential diplomatic lever against German authorities if a geopolitical dispute arose.

Over the course of last weekamid Putins invasion into Ukrainecurrent Chancellor Olaf Scholz was forced to make sweeping changes to its energy policy, announcing on Feb. 27 that Germany would build two terminals to import LNG from other sources, begin building a national gas reserve, and consider prolonging the operation of its nuclear and coal power operations.

Meanwhile, the Ukraine crisis has led tech billionaire and Atlassian co-founder, Mike Cannon-Brookes, to claim that if European nations had a heavier reliance on renewable energy, it would have freed them from their dependence on Russia.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes is pictured during the announcement of a new Tech Hub near Central Station in Sydney, Australia, on June 25, 2020. (Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

A reminder as petrol, gas and coal prices soar due to a horrible war  the price of the sunshine and wind powering 30 percent of our grid and all our electric vehicles  hasnt changed. Its still a $0 cost input. Energy independence comes from renewable abundance, he wrote on Twitter.

Cannon-Brookes has led the charge for Australias energy transition, which culminated in an ambitious AU$8 billion takeover bidalong with asset manager Brookfieldfor AGL Energy, responsible for providing energy to 4.5 million households and businesses. He was hoping to buy-out the company to speed-up decarbonisation efforts. The bid was rejected, however.

Steve Baxter, tech investor and star of Australias Shark Tank television series, responded to the move saying Cannon-Brookes needed to prove it was viable.

I have no problem with it unless on their path to this clean energy utopia they need the government to tilt the field in their favour, he told The Epoch Times in an email.

This could be more or continued energy subsidies for green energy, requirements for transmission investments that favour unreliable energy projects over others, and in general anything that requires the government to favour any interference in the energy market.

Solar panels are seen on the rooftop at AGLs new Docklands office in Melbourne, Australia, on August 20, 2015. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Newman meanwhile said the bid was not driven by an altruistic motivation based on climate change action, but was in fact driven by profit.

When someones making money, I would suggest in this case that the Australian people are going to be worse off and lose money, he said.

Newman also pointed out that Australias renewable energy industry was still heavily reliant on Chinese manufacturing.

If hes advocating for solar panels to be purchased from the Peoples Republic of China, then I fail see how that provides energy reliability, he added.

My challenge to Cannon-Brookes is to put your money into producing solar panels here in this countryit has to be a big plant to provide our needs and employ Australians herenot import stuff, all the stuff has to be made here.
Russian and Ukrainian officials take part in the talks in the Brest region, Belarus, on March 3, 2022. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA/Handout via Reuters)

Ukraine, Russia Agree on Humanitarian Corridors for Civilians

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations on Thursday ended without a ceasefire agreement, but the two sides agreed to set up humanitarian and evacuation corridors, according to a top Ukrainian official.

Ukraines presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the two sides will together provide humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians, deliver food, and deliver medicine to areas with heavy fighting across the country.

The second round of negotiations is over, Podolyak wrote on Twitter. Unfortunately, the results Ukraine needs are not yet achieved. There is a solution only for the organization of humanitarian corridors.

Previously, the Ukrainian delegation said they were seeking an immediate ceasefire, a temporary peace agreement, and the humanitarian or evacuation corridors for civilians. The first round of talks held in Belarus on Monday resulted in no progress.

The announcement comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin said his countrys military has offered safe corridors to civilians to allow them to leave. During a call with members of his Security Council, Putin alleged without evidence or details that Ukrainian nationalist groups are preventing civilians from leaving areas.

Putin again said the Russian military is fighting neo-Nazis, while asserting that some Ukrainians were fooled by nationalist propaganda.

During a news conference on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the prospect of another round of talks between the two sides lacks promise. But he said that the two still need to negotiate because any words are more important than shots.

Drone footage shows destroyed infrastructure in Bordyanka, Ukraine, on March 3, 2022. (Reuters/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Video shows the aftermath of airstrikes in Ukraines Chernihiv on March 3, 2022. (Reuters/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

Hundreds of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers, as well as civilians, have died since Russia invaded the country starting in the early morning hours of Feb. 24. The move prompted widespread condemnation and a number of Western countries hit Russias financial sector with significant sanctions, with likely more on the way.

The United Nations reported more than 1 million refugees have fled the country in the past week, adding that the humanitarian crisis on the ground appears to be growing worse.

Washington has repeatedly warned that it is prepared to take further measures to hold Moscow to account over its invasion of Ukraine.

With its main assault force halted on a highway north of Kyiv, the capital, Russia has changed its strategy and has opted to bombard cities such as Kharkiv and others, according to the U.S. Department of Defense officials and independent military analysts.

The EU on Monday imposed sanctions on 26 prominent people over Russias invasion of Ukraine, including oligarchs and businesspeople active in the oil, banking, and finance sectors.

Several people included on the EUs list on Monday have not yet been designated by the United States, including Nikolay Tokarev, the chief executive of energy giant Transneft, Dmitry Chernyshenko, Russias deputy prime minister, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The United States and its allies last week announced they would launch a task force to identify and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs.

Reuters contributed to this report.
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a military convoy near Invankiv, Ukraine on Feb. 28, 2022. (Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies via AP)

Ukrainian Forces Are Attacking Stalled Convoy: General

Ukrainian forces are attacking the 40-mile-long military convoy that is heading towards Kyiv, according to a general.

We are striking the enemys columns, Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told Military Times. We burn many columns of the enemy. He did not elaborate on how many vehicles were destroyed or how many Russian troops may have been killed.

Ukrainian forces are using Su-24 and Su-25 fighter jets, artillery, and missile strikes against the convoy, Budanov said in a Wednesday interview, adding that his intelligence officers and agents are directing and calling the strikes.

Russian officials have not made any public remarks about why the convoy hasnt moved.

Marine Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman, told the Military Times that he would not speak to intel assessments after Budanovs claims. The Epoch Times has contacted the Department of Defense for comment.

Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that Russian forces havent made appreciable progress toward the capital in two to three days.

As for the last time we saw them make appreciable [gains], its probably been two to three days before the last time that we thought that they made any major geographical distance toward Kyiv, Kirby said, adding the convoy remains about 15 miles from Kyiv.

Pentagon officials believe the Russians are deliberately, actually, regrouping themselves, and reassessing the progress that they have not made, and how to make up the lost time, Kirby told reporters, but he added that the troops have experienced logistics and sustainment challenges, challenges that we dont believe they have fully anticipated.

Russian troops have more success in the southern and eastern portion of Ukraine, Kirby noted. Some analysts have suggested that Russian forces have been able to link the Crimean Peninsula with the Donbas separatist region in eastern Ukraine.

They launched these offenses in the south out of Crimea, where they have been occupying for eight years. So they have infrastructure there. They already had a not insignificant force presence in Crimea to draw from, as well as infrastructure and sustainment capability down there, Kirby said. Its been more refined than the expeditionary kind of sustainment they had to put in place in the north.

Ukraine and Russia have been embroiled in fighting for more than a week as of Thursday. Russia has declared control over one major city, Kherson, although Ukrainian officials dispute the claim.

Starting earlier this week, Russian forces escalated their bombardment of Kharkiv, located near the UkraineRussia border.

During remarks on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the invasion is going according to schedule.

I would like to say that the special military operation is being conducted strictly in accordance to the plan and the schedule. All objectives that were set are being resolved or achieved successfully, Putin said.

Meanwhile, talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations for a ceasefire or peace treaty came up empty on Thursday. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the two sides agreed to create humanitarian and evacuation corridors.
(L) House Administration Committee chairperson Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and (R) House Administration Committee ranking member Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.)) speak during a hearing on "2020 Election Security-Perspectives from Voting System Vendors and Experts." before the Committee on Jan. 9, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images).

Unworkable, Impractical: Congressional Staffer Unions Would Bring More Dysfunction to Capitol, House Panel Told

Letting Capitol Hill staffers organize in collective bargaining unions will be unworkable and impractical, and prompt more dysfunction in Washington, while undermining the independence of Congress, according to Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.).

Unions can, and do, play a significant role in assuring a fair working environment, Davis said in his opening statement before a March 2 hearing of the House Committee on Administration, which is considering a Democratic proposal to allow congressional staff to form unions for collective bargaining on Capitol Hill workplace conditions.

Davis, the ranking Republican member of the committee, said he supports unions on Capitol Hill where they make sense, such as the Capitol Hill Police or the Architect of the Capitol, but unions among personal and committee staffs would be unworkable and impractical.

Hill staffers already have some of the best benefits in the country, he said, but unions are simply not feasible for congressional offices, not only because most congressional staff already have the kind of benefits most unions fight for.

Allowing staff unions would lead to even more dysfunction in Washington, Davis said. This is a concept that could create numerous conflicts of interest and impact members constitutional responsibilities to the American people without the guarantee that any improvements in staff well-being would actually materialize.

Staff unions were first authorized by the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA) of 1995, and while employees of congressional agencies such as the Library of Congress and U.S. Capitol Police were then able to form unions, personal and committee staffers werent subsequently authorized to do so.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the administration committee chairman, told the hearing she voted for CAA on her first day as a freshman member of Congress in 1995, and that the measure was approved unanimously. She was referring to the Contract with America Congress elected in 1994 as the first in more than 40 years with Republican majorities in the Senate and House.

House Democratic leaders recently resuscitated the staff union movement, which has been endorsed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

There are approximately 20,000 congressional staffers, all of whom work either for individual senators and representatives, or congressional committees. The executive branch has more than 2.1 million career civil servants, with nearly half being represented by unions. There are also more than 4,000 political appointees in the executive branch.

Congressional Institute President Mark Strand told the panel the proposal would undermine the independence of each member of Congress.

The essential problem with unionization is that the union will share control over terms and conditions of employment with the elected representative that intersect at vital points with the ability of a member to represent his constituents, Strand told the committee.

The classic example is the right to discharge an employee. A lawmaker hires a legislative aide to assist with that members primary committee assignment. The aide performs adequately on most issues but develops a contentious relationship with committee staff, which, in turn, threatens the members ability to participate in the committee process.

Is there just-cause to discharge the employee and hire someone who can get along with committee staff and thereby ensure the members legislative agenda is achieved? How do you prove that in some kind of grievance procedure?

Do you get affidavits from committee staff? What if, while that process is going on, the committee is passing a comprehensive reauthorization that wont occur again for another 10 years? How will the member explain to voters that internal staff disputes led to legislative failures but that member still deserves to be reelected.

Strand reminded the committee that former Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) opposed allowing congressional staff to form a union.

Senators will no longer have the ability to structure and manage their staffs consistent with the unique needs of the states which they represent without first consulting with union representatives, Byrd said, according to Strand.

Senator Byrd was known to champion the rights of union employees so his opposition should give pause to anyone wanting to form congressional staff unions, Strand said.

Testifying in favor of the proposal was John Uelmen, general counsel of the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights (OCWR), which would issue regulations for how a congressional union could function.

Uelmen said there are approximately 500 employing offices that would each become bargaining units.

What this means, of course, is that because union organizing must take place at the employing office, it must be done separately within each members office or committee staff, Uelmen told the hearing. Can there be one bargaining unit to represent all House staffers? No, it is not possible to create one bargaining unit representing all or most House employees.

On congressional committees, which typically have separate staffs for the majority and minority party members, Uelmen said it is likely that there would have to be separate bargaining units based upon party affiliation. Disputes about the appropriateness of bargaining units would be resolved by OCWR.

Asked during the questioning period by Davis about whether the OCWR has produced any guidance for union formation and bargaining, Uelmen said that will be a challenge. The general counsel then went on to acknowledge that its very hard to predict how many petitions [to form bargaining units] were going to get.

Its still going to be extremely difficult for a union to organize, and its going to be even more difficult to get a collective bargaining agreement, he said.

Under questioning by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Uelmen said the CAA explicitly prohibits strikes or work stoppages by congressional staff unions.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks about Russia's unprovoked and unjustified" military invasion of neighboring Ukraine in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 24, 2022. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

US Announces Export Curbs on Belarus, Russian Oil Refining Equipment

Stops short of direct bans on Russia's energy sector

The Biden administration on Wednesday unveiled a wave of export controls targeting oil refining, a key revenue source that supports the Russian military, a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin began his invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

The White House outlined additional economic costs on Russia and Belarus in response to Putins brutal invasion of Ukraine.

The United States will take actions to hold Belarus accountable for enabling Putins invasion of Ukraine, weaken the Russian defense sector and its military power for years to come, target Russias most important sources of wealth, and ban Russian airlines from U.S. airspace, it said.

Among the measures are restrictions extending export control policies to Belarus, and preventing the country from diverting items such as technology and software in the defense, aerospace, and maritime sectors to Russia.

The new round of sanctions announced by the White House would ban the export of specific refining technologies, making it harder for Russia to modernize its oil refineries.

However, at this stage, it has stopped short of direct sanctions on imports of Russian oil.

The United States and our Allies and partners do not have a strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy, which is why we have carved out energy payments from our financial sanctions, the White House said of its sanctions.

Meanwhile, Biden has said that he remains open to banning Russian oil in order to penalize Moscows invasion of Ukraine. Were considering it. Its very much on the table, but we need to weigh what all of the impacts will be, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told MSNBC.

The U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees U.S. export controls, said the export controls will degrade both nations ability to sustain military aggression.

The photos, videos, and reports coming out of Ukraine are heart wrenchingboth due to the brutality of the Russian assault, and for the amazing resolve of the Ukrainian people, Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said in a statement. Their resilience in the face of unimaginable aggression has galvanized a robust international response.

Raimondo added, The Commerce Department will continue to lead strong, coordinated action with our global allies and partners to apply maximum pressure on Russia, its enabler Belarus, and any other parties that may seek to support them.

The White House said that the United States, its partners and allies share a strong interest in degrading Russias status as a leading energy supplier over time.

The statement added, These actions will help further that goal, while protecting American consumers.

The European Union also approved new sanctions against Belarus for its supporting role in Russias invasion of Ukraine, effectively banning about 70 percent of all imports from the country, the EU said on Wednesday.

The United States has steadily increased sanctions on Moscow after Putin began the Duma-approved invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Belarus has allowed Russian troops to use its territory as a staging ground for the assault.

The U.S. State Department will also impose sanctions targeting 22 Russian defense-related entities, including firms that make combat aircraft and missiles for the countrys military, to further restrict Putins war machine, the White House said.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the conclusion of military operations in Afghanistan and plans for future counterterrorism operations on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 28, 2021. (Patrick Semansky-Pool/Getty Images)

US Senators Want Crippling Sanctions on China Should It Follow in Putins Footsteps by Invading Taiwan

On day seven of Russias invasion of Ukraine, three U.S. senators introduced legislation that would impose devastating financial sanctions against the communist regime in China if it were to try to follow in Putins footsteps and invade democratic Taiwan.

As Beijing quietly watches Putins invasion of and assault on Ukraine, America must stand strongly behind our partners in democracy and leave no ambiguity as to our resolve to condemn and punish tyrants who attack our partners, said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), one of the lawmakers who introduced the bill, according to a March 2 press release.

Passing the bill would send a signal to the leader of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping that if he mimics Putins invasion then he will be met with economic isolation and severe financial sanctions, said Scott.

The bill, named Deterring Communist Chinese Aggression Against Taiwan Through Financial Sanctions Act, would sever all financial transactions between the United States and China should the regime invade or blockade Taiwan, or attempt to change the status of Taiwans governance through the use of force.

The move comes amid growing fear that the Ukraine crisis could be used by the communist regime in China to hasten its designs to seize Taiwan.

The regime views the self-ruled island as its own territory to be taken by force if necessary.

Over the past two years, Taiwan has been bearing escalated military harrassment from Beijing, which continues to send warplanes flying near the island on a regular basis. The latest incursion occurred on March 1, when eight Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwans southwest in its air defense identification zone.

Amid the Ukraine invasion, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen ordered its military forces to strengthen their combat readiness during a high-level national security meeting on Feb. 24.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet in Beijing, on Feb. 4, 2022. The two leaders proclaimed a no limits friendship during the summit. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Experts suggest that Beijing is closely watching how the United States and its allies respond to Russias invasion to inform its strategy toward Taiwan.

Lawmakers have raised concerns over Washingtons longstanding policy towards Taiwan, known as strategic ambiguity, meaning that U.S. administrations have been deliberately vague on whether it would defend the island in the event of a Chinese invasion.

Now more than ever, we must make it clear to the Chinese Communist Party that armed aggression towards Taiwan would deal a devastating blow to Chinas economy, said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). Kennedy, Scott, and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) jointly proposed the bill.

Sanctions outlined in the bill include a ban on transactions of property, revocation and restriction of visas of Chinese nationals involved in the use of force against Taiwan, prohibition on transfers of credit or payments between financial institutions with China, and a ban on investment in equity or debt of sanctioned persons.

Additionally, it would also ban financial engagements with Chinese military companies, software companies, financial messaging systems, and digital currencies, according to the press release.

If it becomes law, this bill will obligate the president to implement such sanctions 30 days after a triggering event launched by Beijing.

As we know, waiting too long to sanction bad actors can create major national security risks at home, said Kennedy.

We cant let China seize the moment to attack one of Americas key partners in the Pacific, he added.

Washington has maintained robust ties with the democratic Taiwan under a framework set out in the Taiwan Relations Act, which obliges it to provide Taipei with the means to defend itself.

The Biden administration sent former top defense officials to the island on March 1, an effort to show that the United States stands firm behind its commitments.
West Must Band Together to Protect Taiwan From China, Like What Its Doing for Ukraine: Lawmakers

Beijings territorial designs on Taiwan present a parallel to Russian belligerence toward Ukraine. And as the autocratic regimes of China and Russia grow more unified, protecting Taiwans sovereignty will require the same kind of unity that Western nations have adopted in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putins aggression.

Thats according to two lawmakers Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) who spoke to NTDs Capitol Report program on March 2. NTD is an affiliate of The Epoch Times.

As we start to see Russia and China become more aligned, the countries that oppose the aggressive nature of both those nations are going to have to band together, just as we see in Europe, said Guest. Were going to have to have those same allies in the Far East, and be prepared, if we see China make any move toward Taiwan.

U.S. lawmakers Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) told Epoch Times affiliate TV station NDT on March 2.

Given the growing danger to Taiwans de facto independence, Guest said it is not too soon for President Joe Biden to look at supplying more arms to Taiwan preemptively. Trying to do so after the fact, when a nation or territory is under invasion or occupation, is much more difficult, he argued.

So I believe that the President should take an aggressive stance, and should again reaffirm our commitment to Taiwan and immediately begin supplying them with the arms that they need, so that they could defend against any possible attack from China, he said.

The United States is Taiwans largest arms supplier and is bound by federal law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

Amid the Ukraine crisis, the Biden administration sent former top defense officials to the island on March 1, an effort to show that the United States stands firm behind its commitments.

Gimenez, meanwhile, warned against letting the Ukraine conflagration distract from the menace posed by the communist regime in Beijing.

The threat to America and the world now and in the future is the Chinese regime, he said. One reason for this assessment is the vast economic power that Beijing can put to use on behalf of its military. Gimenez contrasted Beijings economic might with that of Russias. China is the worlds second-largest economy after the United States, and its economy is about 10 times larger than Russias.

China is now starting to be a much greater economic power. Theyre also accelerating their military expansion. They want to be the dominant military power over the United States by 2050, and they want to be the dominant economic power in the world, he warned.

Gimenez cautioned strongly against mistaking the nature of the regime in Beijing. For all the market reforms undertaken under predecessors of leader Xi Jinping, the communist character of the political and economic system in China is unmistakable, he said.

They may be disguised as a capitalist nation, but theyre not, Gimenez said.

I dont want my children or my grandchildren living under the boot of the Chinese Communist Party, and so Im going to do everything in my power to see that never happens, he added.

Michael Washburn China Reporter Follow Michael Washburn is a New York-based reporter who covers China-related topics. He has a background in legal and financial journalism, and also writes about arts and culture. Additionally, he is the host of the weekly podcast Reading the Globe. His books include The Uprooted and Other Stories, When We're Grownups, and Stranger, Stranger.
West Too Dependent on Russian Energy to Apply Sanctions That Could Halt Ukraine Invasion, Says Rep. Ted Budd

Congressman and candidate for the U.S. Senate Ted Budd (R-N.C.) said its too late for the most severe sanction to be used to mitigate the Ukraine crisis because the U.S. and Europe are too dependent on Russian energy.

Well, were looking at, you know, heavy sanctions right now, the problem is its a little bit too little too late, Budd told host of NTD Capitol Report, Steve Lance in a Feb. 26 interview.

The North Carolina Rep. criticized the Biden administrations cancellation of the many American energy projects, including the Keystone XL pipeline, which Biden halted through executive order soon after taking office.

Well, he already shot himself in the foot when it comes to what he did with the Keystone pipeline, we need to make sure that we are a net energy producer so that we can export to places like Germany. Theyve gone on such a green energy plan that 78 percent of their energy has to be imported.

According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, Europe is Russias main market for its oil and natural gas exports, and by extension, Europe is its main source for revenues.

In addition, data from the EIA show that the United States increased its oil imports from Russia by about 28 percent in the first 11 months of 2021, while doubling the amount of crude oil it imported from Moscow.

Leaders from Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued a joint statement on Feb. 26, unveiling further sanctions against the Kremlin which include sanctioning some of the Russian banks.

The United States and its allies have so far, stopped short of sanctioning Russias massive energy sector for concerns over exacerbating already high oil and gas prices.

And right now, they realize the sanctions that weve put out on Russia, were not on petroleum, said Budd.

But had we been stronger producing our own petroleum, had Biden not had such an anti-energy, platform, and direction, and such a pro-leftist progressive, radical environmentalism agenda, over the last many months, then we would have been stronger and better positioned to sanction their energy, which is nearly their sole source of income in Russia, said Budd.

Besides being dangerously dependent on Russia for energy, Budd believes the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan emboldened Americas many adversaries around the world.

A view of the square outside the damaged local city hall of Kharkiv on March 1, 2022, destroyed as a result of Russian troop shelling. (Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images)

It really opened the door to not just the Ukrainian crisis that were seeing with Russia invading, but it also it emboldened Iran, that spinning up their centrifuges, emboldened North Korea test ICBMs, its emboldened China now that those in  the South China Sea and  Taiwan Strait, theyre tremendously concerned, and its just leading to a very aggressive posture for those that are not a force for good in this world, Budd said.

In particular, Budd said that it will be very important to keep an eye on what China does because the Chinese Communist Party is watching how the West deals with Russia invading Ukraine.

But we have to make sure we dont take our eye off the ball of China, especially with the One Belt, One Road initiative, and theyre on a plan for 2030. I mean, its a very aggressive posture, and theyre going to use the cover of the drama of Russia to move aggressively as they have, said Budd.

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.
Chinese women walk past an advertisement featuring teen idol Lu Han, also known as China's Justin Bieber in Beijing on Oct. 21, 2017. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

While China Bans Sissy Men, American Men Are Criticized for Toxic Masculinity: Analyst

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is trying to clamp down on men that it considers not masculine enough, said John Mac Ghlionn, a psychosocial specialist and Epoch Times contributor.

However, masculine qualities are being criticized as toxic in the United States and this causes many problems, Mac Ghlionn said on EpochTVs Crossroads program.

The recent clampdown on sissy men in China is driven in part by the CCPs concern that more and more men are in poor physical shape, said Mac Ghlionn, who used to live in China for a period of time.

Obesity is a massive issue. Now, this has nothing to do with feminine or masculine qualities, but there is understandable concern from Beijing: more and more men are  struggling with basic fitness requirements. And of course, that should be a concern to any country.

Related Coverage Beijing Unleashes Sweeping Bid to Remold Society

The Chinese communist regime banned effeminate men from appearing on TV in September 2021.

The clampdown aims at the elimination of feminine portrayals of men such as men with makeup or earrings, or men wearing female attire, Mac Ghlionn said.

Taking into consideration the demographic crisis that has affected the country, the CCP tries to preserve what it means to be a man; masculine traits, he said.

Mac Ghlionn described a sissy man as one who shies away from everyday bravery, which is having a commitment to something greater than himself. It may mean having a job, having a relationship such as being a father or a husband, or both, he explained.

More and more men shy away from these responsibilities, possibly isolating themselves or turning to recreational activities that have become a sort of a staple of their lives, he pointed out. This is what I meant by sissy men.

Mac Ghlionn clarified that his description of sissy men is not related to homosexuality.

Toxic Masculinity

Meanwhile, in America the term toxic masculinity has been used in recent years to characterize manly traits as harmful.

Traditional masculinity was deemed harmful by the American Psychological Association in its 2019 report. Among the traits it directly condemned were emotional stoicism and self-reliance.

Mac Ghlionn believes that although there are some very harmful characteristics possessed by men, the term itself has been used to troll. The term deems all male qualities as toxic and he thinks that a lot of the problems stemmed from the use of that term.

Social stability starts in the home, Mac Ghlionn said.

When looking at the association between broken homes on one side and violence, aggression, and criminal activity on the other side, theres a really strong association there between people who come from broken homes, who didnt have a strong father figure in their life, and future rates of crime in their teenage years and their 20s, Mac Ghlionn said.

Ninety-three percent of our prisoners are male, but of those 93 percent males, more than 90 percent of them are dad-deprived males, Warren Farrell, an American educator and author of the book The Boy Crisis, told The Epoch Times in a 2019 interview.

Since Columbine, about 90 percent of the mass shooters are not just boys, but theyre dad-deprived boys, Farrell said.

In a fatherless home, although a child might grow up with a nurturing, sensitive, and caring mother, he doesnt have an authoritative male role model to look up to, Farrell explained.

Mac Ghlionn considers family an important pillar of society and stability. It helps to be surrounded by good people in hard times.  It helps to have a loving mother and father, [and siblings], he said.

Jan Jekielek contributed to this report.

Ella Kietlinska Reporter Follow Ella Kietlinska is a reporter for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S. and world politics.
President Joe Biden speaks during an event in Superior, Wis., on March 2, 2022. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

White House Says Biden Will Veto Bill Ending COVID-19 National Emergency If Passed

The White House opposes a measure that would end the COVID-19 national emergency, it announced on March 3, hours before a Senate vote was planned on the legislation.

Senate Joint Resolution 38 would terminate the emergency declared by former President Donald Trump on March 13, 2020, which has been extended multiple times by President Joe Biden.

Terminating the declaration would unnecessarily and abruptly curtail the ability of the Administration to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Executive Office of the President said in a statement.

COVID-19 has posed an unprecedented public health challenge for the United States. Although we have made tremendous progress in combating the virus and are moving forward safely, the virus continues to pose a risk to the American people and our health care system. We must also be prepared for possible future variants, the statement reads.

Approving the legislation would be a reckless and costly mistake, according to the White House.

White House officials said that if Congress approves the measure, Biden will veto it.

Trump invoked the emergency in 2020 and Biden extended it once in February 2021 and again before it was set to expire on March 1. Declaring an emergency enables presidents to take certain actions, including closing crossings along the southern and northern borders.

Biden said in a recent statement that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause significant risk to the public health and safety of the nation.

Under the National Emergencies Act, Congress is able to determine whether such an emergency should continue. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), whos also a doctor, introduced the resolution in February.

Marshall said during an appearance on Fox News that the sharp drop in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks means the emergency is over.

With COVID cases and hospitalizations on the decline, 94 percent of Americans having immunity to COVID, mask mandates falling by the wayside, and 70 percent of Americans agreeing its time we accept that COVID is here to stay and that we just need to get on with our lives, its clear we need a new approach to COVID as we learn to live with it. That new approach starts with putting an end to the COVID national state of emergency, Marshall said.

The continuation of the emergency is one reason trucker convoys are headed to the Washington area, in addition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Senate Republicans were able to approve the resolution with a 4847 vote.

In a vote on March 2, Republicans approved a measure that would block enforcement of the Biden administrations vaccine mandate. No Democrats voted for the resolution.

Democrats control the House of Representatives, which would have to approve any measure the Senate passes for it to be sent to the presidents desk.

Congress can only override a veto if two-thirds of both the House and Senate vote to do so.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki holds a press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 25, 2022. (Paul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

White House Signals Caution Against Russian Oil Ban

The White House is signaling restraint in imposing a ban on Russian oil as an addition to the list of sanctions meant to punish President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.

Several members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have criticized a carve-out in U.S. sanctions exempting gas and oil, saying that it is helping fund Russias war in Ukraine with billions of dollars from Europe, the UK, and the United States.

But on March 3, White House press secretary Jen Psaki cautioned against the impact that a ban on Russian gas would have on the already heightened prices Americans are paying at the pump.

Our objective and our focus is making sure that any step we take maximizes the impact on President Putin and minimizes it on the American people. And, anyone who is calling for an end to the carve-out should be clear that that would raise prices, said Psaki.

Russia provides 10 percent of the U.S. supply of natural gas and oil, and roughly 40 percent of the European Unions.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, on March 3 introduced a bill that would ban the import of Russian crude oil and petroleum products into the United States.

On the same day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) joined the list of congressional members voicing support for a ban on Russian oil. After telling reporters that she doesnt want gas prices to rise any higher, Pelosi went on to endorse the ban saying: Im all for thatban it. Ban the oil coming from Russia.

President Biden must stop American dollars from funding Putins war machine by cutting off U.S. imports of Russian oil, said Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) at a Foreign Affairs Committee meeting on March 2. Energy exports are the lifeblood of the Russian economy. And we should not be allowing Putin to use that lifeblood to spill blood in Ukraine.

The price of crude oil has spiked in recent days, settling at more than $110 per barrel on March 2the highest its been since at least 2014. And gas prices continue to rise in the United States with the national average sitting at more than $3.72 a gallon Thursday.

Manchin, along with several Republicans, has called for the United States to increase its domestic oil production as a means of stabilizing gas prices, though this would run contrary to the Biden administrations effort to move the United States away from natural gas consumption.

What this is all a reminder of, in [President Joe Bidens] view, is our need to reduce reliance on oil, said Psaki on March 3. The Europeans need to do that. We need to do that. If we do more to invest in clean energy, more to invest in other sources of energy, thats exactly what we need to prevent this from happening in the future.

Biden on March 1 authorized the Department of Energy (DOE) to release 30 million barrels of oil from the U.S. strategic petroleum reserves, representing half of a coordinated 60-million-barrel release from International Energy Agency (IEA) member states.

The 60 million barrels represent 4 percent of the 1.5 billion barrels of emergency stockpiles held by IEA members, according to an IEA press release, and is equivalent to 2 million barrels a day for 30 days. The United States consumes an average of about 20 million barrels per day.
Shoppers walk beneath lanterns strung up as people prepare for Chinese New Year at Dihua Street in Taipei, Taiwan on Feb. 10, 2021. (An Rong Xu/Getty Images)

Widespread Power Outages Across Taiwan Affect 5 Million Households

Widespread power outages were reported across Taiwan on the morning of March 3, leaving millions without electricity after an alleged accident at a power plant in the southern part of the country.

The blackouts began at about 9 a.m., affecting the areas of Taipei, New Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Changhua, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hualien, and Miaoli, according to local reports.

According to Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower), the outages were caused by an equipment failure at the Hsinta Power Plant in Kaohsiung City, which provides around a seventh of Taiwans power.

Taipower officials told Taiwan News that the equipment malfunction at the plant in Kaohsiung Citys Yongan District caused an imbalance in the southern power grid, which in turn triggered the Longci substations self-protection mechanism to disconnect from the grid.

There was an instant loss of 10.5 million watts, the company told local news outlets, and prompted the self-protection mechanisms of power plants across southern Taiwan to disconnect from the southern grid, in turn, prompting the northern and central grids protection mechanisms to kick in. That led to widespread power outages across central and northern Taiwan as well.

Taiwan Power Co. officials didnt respond by press time to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.

It is expected that normal power supply will be available before noon, and power supply will be resumed in the south at noon, Taiwan Power Co. said later on March 3.

Netblocks, a watchdog organization that monitors cybersecurity and internet governance, said on Twitter that the outages had taken the internet offline in much of the country, including its capital city of Taipei.

Confirmed: A power outage has knocked out internet connectivity across much of #Taiwan including Taipei; real-time network data show national connectivity falling to 68% of ordinary levels from ~9 a.m. local time; incident ongoing, the organization said.

President of Taipower Chung Bin-li said that 5 million households had been affected by the power outage.

The power outages came as former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Taipei on Wednesday evening for a four-day visit to the country where he was set to meet Taiwans President Tsai Ing-wen.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference at The Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida, on Feb. 25, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks at a rank conferral ceremony for military officials from the Army, Navy, and Air Force, at the defense ministry in Taipei, Taiwan, on Dec. 28, 2021. (Annabelle Chih/Reuters)

A spokesperson for Tsai said that a scheduled livestream of her meeting with Pompeo had to be temporarily canceled as a result of the power outages.

Tsai has ordered an investigation into the outages.

However, officials said power should start being restored back to southern Taiwan from mid-day.

While the equipment failure at the Hsinta Power Plant was cited as the reason for the outages, cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng said authorities could not rule out the possibility that the plant had been hacked

It all needs further proof and investigation, which requires evidence, Ping-cheng said.
A wildfire breaks out in the Cleveland National Forest on March 2, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Wildfire Continues to Burn in Cleveland National Forest

TRABUCO CANYON, Calif.Firefighters worked through the night and this morning, monitoring and constructing containment lines in order to limit the damage of a wildfire that broke out in the Cleveland National Forest near the Riverside-Orange County line that has consumed approximately 553 acres.

Overnight, fire crews observed little fire activity while constructing containment lines. Ground crews assisted by bulldozers will work to extend those lines Thursday and utilize three water-dropping helicopters to assist in extinguishing hot spots. Air tankers were also on stand-by to respond if needed.

The wildfire has not threatened any homes or other structures so far, fire authorities said.

The Jim Fire broke out at approximately 11:20 a.m. Wednesday in the Trabuco Ranger District in the Holy Jim Canyon area, according to an incident report from the National Wildfire Coordinating Group. U.S. Forest Service firefighters responded with fire engines, hand crews, and air resources, assisted by the Orange County Fire Authority and Cal Fire resources.

The fire started in a drainage bottom and spread uphill, according to the coordinating group.

A Riverside County Fire Department strike team, consisting of about 30 personnel, assembled in South Corona on Wednesday to assist with the fire, while the San Diego and Los Angeles County fire departments sent air assets.

Around 250 firefighters have been assigned to battle the wildfire. It was about 15% contained as of Thursday morning.

Were expecting rain later tonight and tomorrow, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said Thursday, adding that cooler temperatures and the humidity will help firefighters gain more ground.

One firefighter was injured Wednesday by a bee sting, but was back on the line Thursday, Concialdi said.

The blaze sent a thick plume of smoke into the air, visible across most of Orange and Riverside counties, and in northern San Diego County.

That prompted a flurry of 911 calls, many originating from Lake Elsinore and Corona. The Corona Fire Department posted statements on social media assuring residents that the vegetation fire is not a threat to Corona.

The OCFA posted similar messages, insisting the flames were not presenting a threat to Orange County.

While no structures were being threatened by the flames, the blaze was initially moving slowly toward the complex of radio/communication towers atop Santiago Peak. Crews on the scene reported that flames in that area had died down by mid-afternoon.

The fire was burning near the scene of the 2018 Holy Fire that scorched more than 23,000 acres and forced evacuations in multiple communities.

The cause of the Jim Fire was unknown, but was under investigation by the Forest Service.
Wings and Lois & Clark Actress Farrah Forke Dies at Age 54: Family

Farrah Forke, a star of Wings and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, died at age 54, her family confirmed.

Farrah was fierce, tender, loyal, loving, strong, funny, smart, protective, kind, passionate and utterly irreplaceable, they said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter and other outlets on Wednesday. She brought a light so great to the world that even after her passing, the light remains.

An unnamed friend of Forkes told People magazine that she had been battling cancer. Her family also told the outlet that they have requested that any donations be made to the American Cancer Society or to a charity of their choice.

Steven Weber, who also starred in Wings, confirmed her death and posted a tribute for Forke on Instagram Wednesday.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Steven Weber (@actuallystevenweber)

Farrah Forke has passed, Weber wrote. She was every bit as tough, fun, beautiful and grounded as her character Alex on Wings.

Forke starred in Seasons Four, Five, and Six of the NBC sitcom that aired between 1990 and 1997. She also had a role on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and made appearances in a number of films and shows, according to her IMDB page.

No other details about her death were provided.

According to reports, she is survived by her two sons, her mother and stepfather, and her three sisters.
Recently Ive been thinking about the happiest periods of my life, and what I might be able to do to replicate some of those experiences in my life today.

So far, the three best years of my life have been:

my freshman year of college

the year I studied abroad

my first year of marriage

By highlighting those years in particular, I mean to take nothing away from the really good childhood I had or the unique, indescribable joy of raising children myself. Those 3 years, all bunched into a 5 year window, just happened to be a very formative period of my life. They are nostalgic to me in many ways.

In Defence of Nostalgia

Some people think you should ignore nostalgia. Or they accuse it of being an overly-sentimental longing for an idealized version of the past.

Theres truth to that. We tend to form a golden-age in our minds for some period of our life and remember what was best about that period. But I dont think thats always a bad thing.

The period we get nostalgic for was typically full of something we sense is missing (to some degree) from our current lives. And so by looking back we can learn what really makes up the good life and what things weve added that we never really needed.

What most struck me in my reflection is how little I actually need in terms of material possessions, nice things, or wealth to enjoy the lifestyle that I now consider to be the best Ive ever enjoyed. The good ol days were good for a handful of reasons that have nothing to do with how much I could afford.

My Personal Recipe for the Good Life

So what do those three years of my life have in common, if anything? I sat down with a pen and paper to really think it through, and I discovered that there were at least a handful of themes that tied together those periods:

Close Friendships

Looking back, friendships absolutely formed the bed-rock of these three amazing years of my life. Not only did I have close friends that I could share anything with and be completely myself around, we were spending nearly every free minute together. Of course, not every day was perfect because humans arent perfect but by and large we got along and had a great time together. I sometimes wonder if humans were made for a more communal form of living than simply every family in their own four walls and with their own yard. Who knows?

Lots of Laughter

When I think of heaven, I think of laughter shared among friends. Think about it, I bet the best laughs of your life have come with your best friends nearby. That might seem like common sense, but is it really? With the internet, were just a click away from the worlds best comedy, but still our best laughs tend to be over dumb stuff that happens when youre with close friends. Theres something about the trust, intimacy, and shared experiences of friendship that produce the perfect recipe for laughter. Those three years of my life packed in some of my longest and deepest laughs.

Novel Experiences

The first year of college, my first travel abroad experience, my first year of marriage these were all hugely novel experiences in my life. I think novelty heightens your emotions and memories of an event, and that partly explains why these years were best of my life. Of course, there is a danger in chasing novelty all the time. It might lead you to be unfaithful to your spouse or restless at a job, or who knows what. But there must be a healthy way to pursue novelty in your life in smaller, more frequent doses while still holding onto some of the advantages that come with the stability of adulthood.

Work I Enjoyed

In college I had tons of free time relative to my life today, but I also had a purpose and structure to my day that I enjoyed. I went to classes, took care of my coursework, and met daily for cross-country or track and field practice. I was particularly motivated and disciplined about my training and all that it entailed. After college, I was so blessed to have a job that I loved in doing online marketing for an ecommerce company. I was learning so much and excited to go to work each day. It is truly good for the soul to have work or a goal that you are excited about even if it involves hard work.

Strenuous Physical Activity

In college I was running 50+ miles a week. When we studied abroad in England I was going on multi-hour hikes every week, running, and playing lots of ultimate frisbee. Is it any wonder I felt so good? Its well known that endorphins are a powerful, natural feel-good chemical that get released during exercise. But best of all, nearly all of my exercise was done with friends and felt much more like recreation than something I had to talk myself into. Most of us who exercise regularly as adults, do it alone or out of a desire to stay in shape and the result is that we dont do it nearly as much as we should to reap the benefits.

Frugal Living

Sure, I was going to a nice college and studying abroad, but the actual feet-on-the-ground experience of those years of my life was one of being relatively tight on cash. Even during our first year of marriage, we lived super frugally to help pay down about $30K in student loans. Funny thing is that I have never felt richer in my life than I did during those years. I felt like there was always enough (and thankfully, there always was). And the things that mattered most were free anyway. As the years have gone by, our income and discretionary spending has gone up, but so too have our expenses thanks to a degree of lifestyle creep. This is something that we are actively pushing back against and, in the process, rediscovering some of the joys of limits.

You Need Less than You Think

If youve been stuck on the treadmill of a constantly rising standard of living and all the expectations that go along with it, maybe this post can be a reminder that you really dont need much to live a happy and satisfied life. For me personally, Ive found that all I need are some friends to laugh with, something to give my days meaning and purpose, plenty of physical activity, and a spirit of contentment.

Mike (and his wife, Mollie) blog at This Evergreen Home where they share their experience with living simply, intentionally, and relationally in this modern world. You can follow along by subscribing to their twice-weekly newsletter .

This article was originally published on ThisEvergreenHome.com.
Bailey, CO (80421)

Today

Snow showers this evening. Breaks in the overcast later. Low 32F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 60%..

Tonight

Snow showers this evening. Breaks in the overcast later. Low 32F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 60%.
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Fairfield Countys Center for Housing Opportunity in partnership with the Regional Plan Association will host a free webinar conversation for Darien residents on Equitable Transit-Oriented Communities at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The panelists will be:

David Kooris, Regional Plan Association co-chair, president of Stamford Downtown, and former deputy commissioner for economic and community development for the state of Connecticut;

Peter Harrison, director of Desegregate CT, a coalition advocating for more equitable, affordable and environmentally sustainable land use policies in Connecticut;

Mark Barnhart, director of the Office of Community and Economic Development for the town of Fairfield; and

Alyssa Norwood, program manager for the Institute for Sustainable Energy at Eastern Connecticut State University.

The event will be moderated by Evonne Klein, a former commissioner of housing for the state and a former Darien first selectwoman.

The panel will explain the concept of transit-oriented development in detail and answer questions about their environmental impacts; the potential impacts on a communitys affordable housing stock; and any other questions raised at the event.

To register, visit us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_23v4JNZWQ7a4uSvPu4i17g.

Power Squadron donates to Historic Rowayton

Historic Rowayton has received a $1,000 donation from the Darien Sail and Power Squadron.

The squadron is supporting the mission of the Raymond Boathouse Museum, according to squadron commander Mark Dam.

The Board of Trustees of Historic Rowayton recently opened the museum with a goal of conserving the maritime heritage of the community.

The squadron is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to teaching boat safety, offering courses for the Connecticut Boating Certificate and many others.

Christian Science church holds talk on prayer, healing

Nate Frederick, a practitioner of Christian Science healing, will present a talk on Learn To Pray and Heal: A Spiritual Adventure at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 10, at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, at 2331 Post Road.

The talk is free and open to the community.

The event will focus on universal healing precepts and teachings of the Christian Science beliefs. Frederick will share examples of healing from his own life and professional practice of Christian Science. He will also touch on the life of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science movement.

For more information, visit christiansciencect.org/darien.

DAR names winners of history essay contest

The Good Wifes River Daughters of the American Revolution announced the winners of its 2022 American history essay contest for fifth grade students.

The winners are: Elizabeth Abelson of Ox Ridge School, first place; Seren Samy of Ox Ridge School, second place; and Pavana Attonito of Hindley School, third place.

Three students earned honorable mention: Cole Coghlin of Tokeneke School, Victoria Brupbacher of Hindley School and Simona Sordoni of Ox Ridge School.

The essay topic was The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Tomb in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 11, 2021. Students were asked to imagine losing a brother in World War I and to explain why it is important to remember people who gave their lives to serve the U.S.

The annual contest is sponsored by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Winning essays go on to compete at the state, northeast and national levels.

Exhibit features Impressionist art created in CT

An opening champagne reception will be held at 7 p.m. March 18 at the Museum of Darien for a new art exhibit called State of Inspiration: Connecticuts Art Colonies.

The exhibition will feature 40 paintings from the private collection of Tom and Marianne Davies of New Canaan.

Connecticut became a magnet for artists looking for inspiration as the Impressionaist movement took hold in the U.S. during the late 1800s century. The exhibit will explore the unique appeal that Connecticut offered to young artists returning after studying abroad.

To register for the reception, visit museumofdarien.org or call 203-655-9233. The cost is $40 for members, $50 for nonmembers. The museum is located at 45 Old Kings Highway N.

Thriving Youth Task Force hosts workshop

The Thriving Youth Task Force in Darien will host a free virtual workshop at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Creating a Family Frame: How to Set the Boundaries Your Child Needs to Thrive.

The event will feature Georgette Harrison, a licensed professional counselor with Child Guidance Center of Southern Connecticut, and Tracey Masella, a licensed clinical social worker with Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan.

It will be an interactive discussion, with time for questions. Parents will learn how to navigate challenging conversations about substance use with their children, while building strong and healthy relationships.

To register, visit communityfunddarien.org/tytf-programs-and-events. A recording of the program will be available after the event.

Library offers course for Food Explorers

Join the Darien Library for a virtual course on Food Explorers: Chocolate Chickpea Truffles from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 8.

Dont be fooled by the chickpeas, they make the truffles creamy and delicious  you wont even know they are there. Turn cooking time into family time when you cook along on Zoom.

Participants will need a food processor and the following ingredients for this recipe: Choice of nut butter (peanut, almond, cashew, or sunbutter); rolled oats; one can of chickpeas; maple syrup; two cups of chocolate chips; sea salt (optional); sprinkles (optional); and any other toppings (optional).

Registration is required at www.darienlibrary.org/event/5649.

Learn more about taxes, retirement

The Darien Library will offer an in-person workshop on Taxes, Upcoming Changes, and Your Retirement from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, in the Community Room.

The workshop will discuss current tax law, potential changes to tax law and strategies to get to as close to tax-free in retirement as you can. Samples of retirement analysis and strategies to transition to a more favored tax position with your savings and tax-free legacy concepts to consider.

The presenter will be Michael Alimo, an investment advisor who has devoted the past 18 years to serving clients around the state and New England at his USA Financial & Tax Services LLC.

To register, visit www.darienlibrary.org/event/5463.
After months of requests and one motion to compel, the attorney representing Michelle Troconis in the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, has received documents and other evidence from co-defendant Kent Mawhinneys domestic violence cases.

Troconis and Mawhinney were both charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the death and disappearance of Jennifer Dulos, a New Canaan mother of five who has been missing since May 24, 2019.

Her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, died by suicide in January 2020 while facing murder and other charges in her death.

Mawhinney, a close friend of Fotis Dulos, is expected to testify for the prosecution if Troconis takes her case to trial.

For months, Troconis attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, has been requesting evidence from two criminal court cases pending in Hartford against Mawhinney, who was accused in 2019 of sexually assaulting his estranged wife and then violating a protective order barring him from contacting the woman.

Those cases languished on the court docket for nearly three years until Mawhinney pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine to violation of a protective order last week. Under the Alford Doctrine, Mawhinney does not admit guilt, but agrees there is sufficient evidence for a potential guilty verdict.

The Hartford States Attorney has provided me with much of the documents and video files I was looking for, Schoenhorn said in an email. It will take my office a while to go through it all. It reveals a lot about Mawhinneys true character. Although I can see why the state would want to keep this information out of the public arena, theres a lot about his relationship with Fotis Dulos, and I intend to delve into all of this if Mawhinney ever testifies at Michelles trial.

Schoenhorn wanted the material to use as part of his defense of Troconis, who was living with Fotis Dulos when Jennifer Dulos disappeared. Schoenhorn was also looking for any evidence that Mawhinney had received a deal on the Hartford cases in exchange for his testimony against Troconis.

But Hartford States Attorney Sharmese Walcott had not turned over the files to Schoenhorn until a judge ordered her last month to provide the court with a detailed list of items related to the Mawhinney cases.

Rather than submit the list to the court, Schoenhorn said Walcott turned the items over to him on Tuesday.

The same Hartford Superior Court judge that ordered Walcott to compile the list presided over Mawhinneys guilty plea last week. Under the terms of the plea, he will be sentenced to three years probation on April 20. He is also the subject of a criminal protective order, barring him from contacting his ex-wife for five years.

Mawhinney has been accused of trying to provide an alibi for Fotis Dulos the morning of the disappearance on May 24, 2019, according to a warrant for his arrest.

Mawhinney was arrested in January 2020 and held on $2 million bond until he was released in October that year on a reduced amount of $246,000. The release came weeks after Mawhinney was interviewed by state police about Jennifer Dulos, Schoenhorn said in court filings.

As part of Troconis defense, Schoenhorn had repeatedly asked whether Mawhinney is working out a deal on the domestic violence charges in exchange for his cooperation in his clients prosecution.

Schoenhorn wanted all arrest reports and evidence in the domestic violence cases, along with any other evidence indicating whether Mawhinney struck a deal to testify against his client.
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NORWALK  Outside City Hall erupted in Ukrainian song Wednesday evening as more than 100 people gathered to take part in a vigil showing solidarity amid Russias continued invasion.

Stamford resident Viktor Lahodyuk, who moved to Connecticut from Ukraine in 2005 when he was 23, led an impromptu performance of the Ukrainian national anthem.

Lahodyuk, who is originally from the city of Truskavets in western Ukraine, was among about eight people elevating a large Ukrainian flag that spanned the length of City Halls entrance. Lahodyuk said when he left Ukraine for the United States, the leaders were not like the countrys current president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Back then, it wasnt easy to stay there because leaders just came to put money in their pockets, Lahodyuk said. But Zelenskyy is a hero and if it is needed, we will go back there and fight.

Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling condemned the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying he is guilty of war crimes under the Geneva Convention.

Over the past couple of days, my wife and I have been glued to the television looking at the horrors that we cant believe are occurring, Rilling said. Out of the Geneva Convention developed international humanitarian law and that law says children cannot be killed, civilians cannot be killed, women must be protected against the horrors that we know can happen when theres an invading force coming into their country. I say to you that Putin is guilty of war crimes right now.

Putin has shown he has an insatiable appetite, Rilling said, likening Russias president to Germanys Adolf Hitler.

Remember what happened back in the late 30s and early 40s when another despot appeared in Europe and slaughtered millions, Rilling said. We want to make sure we stand by our Ukrainian friends.

The Geneva Convention was established in 1949, in the aftermath of World War II, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The conventions grew following the Soviet Union fallout to include Russia, according to the committee.

For Ukrainian native Oleksandr Levus, the war hits particularly close to home. Levus, who attended the Norwalk vigil with his two young sons, moved from his home in western Ukraine, near the border of Poland, to Connecticut in 2007.

Since leaving Ukraine, Levus lived throughout Fairfield County, including Norwalk, before settling in Milford. Though he moved 15 years ago, Levus has returned to his homeland, showing his sons the country where he was raised and where his family still lives.

Im getting up at 4 a.m. for my job, but I cant go to sleep until its 6 a.m. in Ukraine when everyone is waking up and can tell me, We survived another night. There were no bombings here, Levus said.

As the ceremony came to a close, the hoard of Connecticut residents marched around City Hall and down the street, a mass of blue and yellow, with some draping Ukrainian flags across their shoulders and others wearing shirts that read, I am Ukrainian.

Pastor Artie Kassimis, of World Alive Bible Church on West Avenue, shared the grim details on the damage Russia has caused Ukraine so far.

On Monday, Feb. 21, Russia began an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and as of Sunday, Feb. 27, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health has reported that 352 innocent civilians have died so far and that includes 14 children. Sixteen-hundred people have been wounded, Kassimis said.

Following the vigil and march, Ukrainians lingered outside the building, singing, laughing and thinking of home.

abigail.brone@hearstmediact.com
According to a new report from personal finance website WalletHub, Illinois pays one of the highest real estate property tax rates in the United States at 2.27%, below only New Jersey at 2.49%.

The average American household spends $2,471 on property taxes for their homes each year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The report found that Illinois households can expect to spend $4,419 on the median home value in the state ($194,500) and $4,942 on the median home value in the country ($217,500).

"The property tax is the primary means by which governments fund local public services, in particular, public education," Steven Lanza, associate professor in residence at the University of Connecticut, said in a statement. "Hence, the tax is a kind of user fee that residents pay voluntarily by their decision to locate in a particular community."

According to the National Tax Lien Association, more than $14 billion in property taxes go unpaid each year. WalletHub found that while 36% of households are renters in the U.S., all households pay property taxes, whether directly or indirectly, as property taxes impact the rent paid as well as the finances of state and local governments.

WalletHub also found that Illinois is one of 23 states that don't pay property taxes on vehicles. Meanwhile, neighboring Missouri is one of the states that pay the most in property taxes on vehicles, with its 2.6% tax rate being fourth-most among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The report also found that Illinois has had one of the largest property tax rates in the country since 2012.

The way the property tax system is used to finance schools today makes it impractical, or even impossible, to have a complete conversation about property tax without discussing schools, Jonathan Rosenbloom, a professor of law at the Albany Law School and Vermont Law School, said in a statement.

"In many states, property tax revenue accounts for a huge percentage of school revenue. Across the country, property tax pays for 37% of school budgets, which also feeds into property values and a downward or upward cycle."

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, local sources, mainly due to local property taxes, accounted for 43.5% of elementary and secondary education funding. The state raised more than $19 billion in local property taxes for calendar year 2020. State sources accounted for 31.9% of education funding for the 2020-21 school year and federal funding 24.7%, the most since data began in 1999-2000.
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From a period stretching beyond the vast reaches of memory, Anambra State has been plagued by the corrosive menace of gully erosion. To many communities across the state, the rainy season comes with a mix bag of pleasure and pain. For the rain that nourishes farmlands for crops to grow also washes away homes, livelihoods and large swathes of history when it suddenly turns into storm water and races through fragile soil surfaces with deadly velocity.

Researchers claim that gully erosion became a living nightmare in Anambra State when the first deep gullies appeared in Nanka in 1850. Today, Anambra is riddled with over 900 gully erosion sites. Successive administrations have struggled to stem the dangerous tide of this menace. But it would seem that the more efforts are made, the more the gully sites multiply. With over 900 gully erosion sites Anambra is probably the most ecologically devastated location in West Africa. This grim reality had led to repeated calls by Governor Willie Obiano, for Anambra to be declared an Ecologically Endangered State.

Governor Obiano did not stop at the call for Anambra to be declared an ecologically endangered state. In fact, he took bold steps to confront the menace by setting up the Anambra offices of the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), shortly after he was sworn in as governor. He also quickly provided the necessary counterpart funding to enable the project take-off immediately. The results were amazing. Headed by ebullient Project Coordinator, Engr Mike Ivenso, Anambra NEWMAP had turned the tears of so many folks displaced by gully erosion to cheers.

Through a combination of grit, focus and a cold resolve to make a difference, Anambra NEWMAP has left indelible footmarks across Anambra State, once frightening gully erosion sites like the St Thomas Aquinas/Nero Plaza, Awka, the Amachalla Site, Awka, the New Heritage/Omagba Site, Onitsha, the Ekwueme Square/Federal Secretariat Complex, Awka, the Uga Amuma Site in Obosi, the Ikenga Ogidi site, the Enugwu-Ukwu site, the Abidi Umuoji Site, the Nkpor Flyover Site, the Nnewichi Site, the Ojoto Site, the Ire Obosi Site and the Abagana Site. There are also the Nkisi Aroli Site, the Ezinifite Site and then the most dreaded of them all; the 100-Foot Road site in Nnewi which once threatened to swallow the famous Nkwo Market which is the leading auto spare parts market in Nigeria.

Indeed, the Obiano administration had tackled the threat of gully erosion in a bold and pragmatic manner that would serve as a benchmark to future administrations. For instance, under Obianos watch, the fight against erosion was combative and humane. People who were whimsically uprooted by the menace were quickly reintegrated back to society under the Livelihood Support Scheme of the fight back. In essence, it was not only eroded landscapes that are resuscitated through bio-remediation but broken lives were also healed with large sums of money that would help residents whose homes and businesses were swept away by erosion to find their economic feet again. This component of the fight against gully erosion had enriched many lives and turned the proverbial gnashing of teeth to songs of praises for the Obiano administration.

Another aspect of the fight back is the establishment of a Road Design Committee by the Anambra State Government. This is because research has shown that most of the gully erosion sites across the state were caused by poorly terminated drainages. The Road Design Committee was set up to ensure that all drainages from road projects across the state were properly terminated in nearby streams or natural waterways. That move took care of future threats to the environment from roads built without attention to proper channeling of water.

Yet another masterstroke of the Obiano administration is the successful establishment of Anambra State Erosion, Watershed and Climate Change Agency tackle the threat of gully erosion on a permanent basis. The Agency is the states response to clear and present threats to its delicate ecology in a structured and sustainable way. With an institution like this, Governor Willie Obiano has shown himself as a strategic thinker who had a deep understanding of the threat of gully erosion to Ndi Anambra and knew exactly what to do to solve the problem.
When the People Power Movement was formed to resist the removal of presidential age limits, it did a good job of attracting more young people in politics and made them realise that politics actually do affect their lives too. For a long time, a substantial majority of the younger generation have been following Uganda politics, though, recently, so many of them have been brainwashed to think that Besigye is bad, Museveni is bad, and Kyagulanyi is good.

Nevertheless, there are no detectable differences in the political attitudes of people in their late teens and people in their early 40s. It is very rare for people to grow out of their political ideas as they get older.

Most voters born after 1979 believe that Idi Amin was a good president for Uganda, and that both Obote and Amin were better presidents than Museveni. Most of those born before 1971 see Obote as a better leader than Amin and Museveni. Most of the over 60s see Museveni as better than any other president.

I come from a generation that has grown up under only one president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni. I started primary school when he was president. I finished university and Im now a dad, and hes still president. I have taught myself Uganda political history, and I believe Amin, Obote, Museveni have all contributed enormously to Uganda one way or the other, regardless of their weaknesses.

NRM and Museveni arent bothered by your age or worried about future voters. Theyre only concerned about maintaining power. Museveni knows most young people like songs and dancing, so, he would make an Mpenkoni song and sing in it, just to make an impression on you. He knows you like music so much, so he can easily create his own opposition through a musician or musicians. He knows that regardless of the fact that Uganda has the youngest population in the world, his party will cheat at the next general election by votes going missing, excluding people from voting, and if theres a huge turnout, the polling stations will be closed before the queuing voters have cast their votes.

Museveni knows that most Ugandans are totally ignorant of politics. They stick on some slogans and words said by politicians and run with them. If, for instance, some novice politician said something, like, ebitayina Makulu tetubiwa Makulu, in response to something he had no answer for, you will find all ignorant people running with it in their responses.

It's really crass, nobodys opinion deserves to be rubbished basing on their age. A lot of young people speak as much sense as elders. I started Ugandans at heart(UAH) in my early 20s but a lot of people I meet now thought I was in my 50s or 60s, because I respected elders and learnt a lot from them.

Museveni came to power with the help of the NRA Kadogos(teens). So, he knows how the mind of a teen works very well. Your age as a teen or 20 old something, is something old people always take advantage of if you arent careful. Old people run the world and are more powerful than young people.

It absolutely bewilders me how young people can still be saying things like: " Kyagulanyi is a leader of our generation", "muntu mukulu lwakebuza magezi", e.t.c. yet they are responding to people that are in the same age bracket as Kyagulanyi, or even possibly younger than him, considering that they are question marks on his actual year of birth (1979,1980 or 1982). I am just sorry that the NUP party has allowed and manipulated the appalling character assassination of such a true and fine person as Besigye.

Ugandas main problems: ignorance, diseases, poverty and corruption, since independence havent changed. Poverty, for instance, affects a teen in the same way as a 50-year-old, and the solutions to this problem remain the same. Please respect people older than you, because, within a short time, you going to be like them or worse(Quran, Surat Yasin, Verse 68).

Whats astounding is that most NUP supporters accuse people like Besigye of being Museveni apologists not by refuting Besigyes facts (which are documented) but by arguing that whoever doesnt support Kyagulanyi is a mole. As though, the truth becomes false as soon as it doesnt serve Kyagulanyi's interests.This dirty tactic is popular with the Israel lobby. Write a piece exposing ugly facts about Israel and they'll scour the net till they find a neo-Nazi site that republished it. Then, they don't need to address the facts. Truth becomes a lie just because it serves neo-Nazis too.
Ebonyi state Governor, Chief David Umahi has called on the people of South East to always invest within the region to ensure consistent transformation of the zone.

The Governor made the call while performing the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a Computer Village Estate at Uda Odeji, Abakaliki.

He maintained that If the Igbos can bring ten percent of their investment home, Igbo land will pbecome the Jamaica of Africa knowing fully well that they are set for business.

Umahi commended the Amike Aba and Ntezi Ava Villages for the donation of the land for the project

"Let me commend first the Commissioner for Lands, the Commissioner for Trade and Investment, the Chairman of Ebonyi Local Government, His Highness, Eze Oketa, and all those who made this to happen.

"I will say with God working with you you have made today a possibility, this place we are going to give you every assistance so that this place can develop so fast.

"You have seen our Mall, it is second to none in the whole West Africa, we have the Airport, it is second to none in Nigeria and it is going to be deployed in May/June."

"If the Igbos can bring ten percent of their investment home then this place can become the Jamaica of Africa, we are set for business."

Governor Umahi also announced plans to affiliate the Ebonyi State College of Education Ikwo with the Ebonyi State University Abakaliki for the total revitalization of the Institution.

"The College of Education in Ikwo, we want to revive it, because everyone is interested in Degree, you have to look for a kind of affiliation with Ebonyi State University, so you have to start the process.

"Why we do big things is because we were neglected in the past and let me tell every Igbo man to rise and condemn this thing called Unknown gunmen, businesses are moving away from ala Igbo, for what? I have gone to Mr. President and we have initiated moves for a political solution for our brother Nnamdi Kanu, so we have to rise against this sit-at-home.

"Let me commend Ebubeagu, Ebonyians must know the good work these people are doing in supporting the security.

"If you are obedient and willing, Ebubeagu will help you but if you are troublesome, Ebubeagu will handle you within the limit of the Law."

In her opening remarks, the Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Barrister Chioma Nweze congratulated the State on the realization of the project.

"We are happy that this event is taking place today, today they have come to actualize our dream, so we thank them and we thank you for making this happen."

The President General Association of Computer Village Merchants of Nigeria, Chief Tony Nwakeze noted that the establishment of the project in the State would further develop the State.

"Your Excellency, if I tell you how I feel we will not go here today, Computer Village is a technology hub in Africa, Computer Village is all about technology, the computer comprises artificial intelligence, security, and all the things needed to make life very easy.

"The only Governor with a listening ear, what we are coming to do here must benefit our people, we are going to do things and take care of our social responsibility."

The representative of AG Mortgage Bank pledged to support the Association to realize the project.

"We are here to fulfill a promise, we made a promise to support this project and today is the beginning of the fulfillment of this project, we are investing here in the project and we are also making shops available for investors."

He commended Governor David Nweze Umahi for the conducive environment fit for the investment made possible by the efforts of his administration.

The Traditional Ruler of Nkaleke Echara Unuphu Community, Eze Sunday Oketa thanked the Governor for the choice of the Community for the project and assured of their support for the project.

The Chairman of South East Council of Traditional Rulers Council, Eze Charles Mkpuma thanked the Governor for the initiative and prayed for the grace to complete the project.

The representative of the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Professor George Obiozor congratulated Ebonyians on the milestone of the commencement of the project.

"Your Excellency, there is a quantum leap from what Ebonyi State used to be to what it is at the moment.

He commended Governor Umahi for domesticating the Ebubeagu Security outfit in the State to complement activities of conventional Security in tackling insecurity in the State.

Professor Obiozor also eulogized Governor Umahi for prudent management of resources.

"Ohaneze Ndigbo is very much happy with you, we are happy because when others were hiding, you came out boldly to make a statement that South East should produce the next President of Nigeria, Professor Obiozor loves you because of your creativity, because of your sagacity and because of your ingenuity."
Members of the House of Representatives has rebuffed a bill seeking to strengthen the country's educational institutions and to regulate international studies for the children of public officials.

The bill which was sponsored by Hon. Sergius Ogun representing Esan North-East federal constituency of Edo was outright seeking to stop public office holders from using public funds to send their children abroad for schooling.

However, members of the House alleged that the bill was an affront to their fundamental human rights.

The bill titled A Bill for an Act to Regulate International Studies for Wards and Children of Nigerians Public Officers, So as to Strengthen Indigenous Institutions to Provide Efficient Educational Service for National Development was all around debated by House members but eventually voted against in the end.

While leading the debate on the bill, Hon. Sergius Ogun stated that the objectives of the bill included; boosting the economy by reducing cash flight and foreign exchange; strengthening indigenous educational institutions to meet global standards; reducing brain drain and instituting good welfare conditions for indigenous academics, experts and professionals based abroad to come back home and develop their country with their skills and expertise; building a better society by developing formidable educational institutions and facilitating the realization of the fundamental objectives and policies of state enshrined in Chapter two of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended).

According to him: The bill does not prevent public officers or private citizens from sending their children/wards for studies abroad, it only seeks to ensure that a public officer who desires to send his/her child/ward abroad, does not divert public funds to so do. Thus, such a public servant must first show that he/she has the legitimate means to sponsor his/her child/ward on such foreign education trips.

The bill will help in fostering the development of our educational institutions as it will instil accountability and seriousness into public servants at all levels who are saddled with the responsibility of implementing the policies and programmes of government.

The bill when enacted will help to redirect the huge funds that fly out to other countries, into the relevant sectors of our economy. It will bring about better facilities in our national life.

"Policy Implementation: This bill when passed into law will foster the fight against corruption which is one of the cardinal policies of this current administration.

This bill when passed into law will engender the actualization of the provisions of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, to which Nigeria is a party. Article 5 of the Convention provides that; Each State Party shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its legal system, develop and implement or maintain effective, coordinated anti-corruption policies that promote the participation of society and reflect the principles of the rule of law, proper management of public affairs and public property, integrity, transparency and accountability.

This bill when passed into law will foster the realization of the directive principle of state policy contained in chapter two of the Constitution which provides that;

(1) Government shall direct its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels. (2) Government shall promote science and technology (3) Government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy; and to this end Government shall as and when practicable provide:

(a) free, compulsory and universal primary education; (b) free secondary education; (c) free university education; and (d) free adult literacy programme.

This bill does not infringe on the right to family and private life as well as other fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. The bill only seeks to regulate the practice of public servants sending their children/wards abroad for studies, while neglecting the development of our indigenous educational institutions.

The fact that there is no similar legislation in other jurisdictions does not obviate us (Lawmakers) of the duty to make laws to address peculiar challenges that bedevil us as a nation and correct ills when they exist, as required of us, by section 88(2) of the Constitution (Supra). For instance, the Republic of China introduced the one-child birth policy in late 1970, so as to reduce the massive growth rate in Chinas population, which the Chinese government thought to be too high.

"The policy helped to cut down the population. In a report credited to the Chinese government, it was stated that an estimated 400 million births were prevented by the policy. This bill is an example of such drastic policies required to tackle national problems. Also, the absence of similar legislations in other climes, only shows that they have built their educational institutions to a point of global admiration and have thus become educational tourism destinations for underdeveloped nations.

Mr Speaker, Honourable Colleagues, as I speak now, students of Nigerian Universities are sitting at home doing nothing, due to the strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), in protest against poor remuneration, poor infrastructure and poor conditions of service, under-funding of universities, delay in the payment of the elongated salary structure amongst others. These and other sundry issues will be addressed when this bill is passed into law and its provisions properly implemented. We may not be able to quantify the worth of quality education in terms of its impact on the individual, family and nation. But there is no gainsaying the fact that without quality education, a nation has no future.

Some lawmakers, in their opinions, said they possessed the right to train their children anywhere without public funds.

A lawmaker, Honourable Chinyere Igwe (PDP, Rivers), said: It offends fundamental human rights which guarantees freedom of movement. Most public officers that send their children to school abroad dont do that with public funds. I also dont agree that is the reason the educational system in Nigeria is failing. I urge him to withdraw the Bill.

In the support of Hon. Igwes stance, Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP, Delta), said: Its against the constitution in terms of discrimination. My children have the right to be educated anywhere in the world. The bill should not see the light of the day. He should just step it down".

In the end, the bill was rejected as majority of the House shouted no when the bill was required to pass for second reading.
All five on boat with Tangmo face charges

BANGKOK: All five people on the speedboat with TV actress Nida Tangmo Patcharaveerapong when she fell overboard to her death last Thursday night (Feb 23) will likely face charges of negligence leading to death and giving false statements to the police, according to a police source.

deathmarine

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 3 March 2022, 09:16AM

A woman grieves at Pibul 1 pier in Nonthaburi near where TV actress Nida Tangmo Patcharaveerapong is believed to have fallen to her death from a speedboat last Thursday night. Fans laid garlands at the pier in tribute. Photo: Nutthawat Wicheanbut

Her five companions were: Idsarin Gatick Juthasuksawat, Tangmos manager; Wisapat Sand Manomairat; Nitas Job Kiratisoothisathorn; Tanupat Por Lerttaweewit, the boat owner; and Phaiboon Robert Trikanjananun.

Mr Tanupat and Mr Phaiboon have already been charged with operating an unlicensed vessel and negligence leading to death, reports the Bangkok Post.

New evidence emerged when the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) traced Mr Tanupats phone and found he had admitted to one of several people he consulted via phone that Mr Phaiboon was driving the speedboat when Nida fell off, a source at the Provincial Police Region 1 said yesterday (Mar 2).

Due to his lack of experience in manoeuvring the boat, Mr Phaiboon reportedly lost control of the boat, which prompted Nida - who was in the back of the boat - to grab hold of Ms Wisapat for fear she would fall into the river, said the source.

Afraid she would also be dragged into the river, Ms Wisapat claims she shook her legs, causing Nida to fall overboard, resulting in Nidas right thigh being hit by a blade of the boats propeller, said the source.

The police will summon all five to face charges of negligence leading to death and providing a false statement to investigators, said the source.

Another source who is a member of the Provincial Police Region 1s team probing the Nida case, said Mr Nitas had given a conflicting statement about how the boat was operated that night.

He was the only witness who told investigators the boat jerked suddenly, causing Nida to fall into the river, said the source.

Mr Phaiboon was the only one who failed to attend the polices reenactment of Thursday nights incident, using a speedboat of the same model. He claimed he was suffering from high blood pressure, said the source.

In another reenactment, the police plan to take the exact same boat on the river to simulate the trip in exactly the same manner as it happened that night, based on the GPS record they retrieved from the boat, said Pol Lt Gen Jirapat Phumjit, head of Provincial Police Region 1.

The boat will run at the same speeds and on the same course as it did that night, and the investigators will test a claim by those aboard that they didnt hear any sound when Nida fell overboard, he said.

More DNA tests from samples collected on the boat will be handed to investigators soon and more witnesses will be questioned in addition to the 12 already interrogated, he said.

The phones of all six aboard the boat have been sent to the TCSD to find more clues, the second source said.
Cabinet to review COVID scheme

BANGKOK: The Public Health Ministry plans to seek cabinet approval for a new scheme that will cover the costs for COVID-19 sufferers who require emergency treatment for moderate to severe symptoms.

CoronavirusCOVID-19health

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 3 March 2022, 08:32AM

People seek COVID-19 treatment services for outpatients at Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok on Tuesday (Mar 1). Photo: Somchai Poomlard

Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he will present the Universal Coverage for Emergency Patients (Ucep) Plus scheme next week, reports the Bangkok Post.

He said the Department of Health Service Support on Tuesday (Mar 1) submitted for cabinet consideration a new set of criteria for spending on emergency treatment for those infected with the virus.

The new rule will provide treatment in all categories under the Ucep Plus scheme, and their rights to treatment will remain intact, Anutin said.

People infected with COVID are divided into three categories: green (mild or no symptoms), yellow (moderate), and red (severe).

Anutin insisted the new rule is not intended to cut costs, but will pave the way for service, hospital beds and medical supplies to be made available for those in need.

He said doctors will make a diagnosis and decide how patients should be treated.

It is not right for people who do not need to be hospitalised to scramble for beds reserved for those who require more intensive care, Anutin said.

When we know how to control the pandemic and treat people appropriately, we should manage hospital resources to ensure their optimal use so people who need hospital care can access it straight away.

Anutin said the Public Health Ministry can issue regulations and criteria for Ucep coverage for COVID-19 patients without requiring cabinet approval.

However, the latest announcement must go before the cabinet because it involves some changes in budget management for the new Ucep Plus scheme.

Without cabinet endorsement, spending for the scheme cannot be disbursed, Anutin said.

Regarding a review of the Ucep scheme he approved earlier, which was originally scheduled to go in effect Tuesday, Anutin said the secretariat of the cabinet is expected to publish an announcement in the Royal Gazette on March 16 or April 1.

Under the Ucep scheme, patients can seek treatment at any medical facility for three days, after which they will be transferred to a hospital where their state welfare and/or health insurance scheme is registered.

However, the Public Health Ministry recently announced that as of March 1, COVID-19 treatments would no longer be covered, except for patients who are in critical condition.

At present, all costs associated with COVID-19 treatments are covered by the scheme, meaning patients can seek treatment at any hospital free of charge.

But the government previously decided to delay a plan to exclude COVID-19 coverage from the Ucep scheme as the number of new infections caused by the Omicron variant continues to rise, sparking concerns about the health system.

Dr Jadet Thammathat-aree, secretary-general of the National Health Security Office (NHSO), said yesterday its 1330 hotline will assume a new role of screening people who test positive using antigen test kits, in addition to taking calls inquiring about beds for COVID-19 sufferers.

Dr Jadet said if those who test positive do not want to go to hospital, they can contact the hotline so the NHSO will work with hospitals to monitor their condition.

If they are not among several at-risk groups such as the elderly or people with underlying health conditions, they will be advised to self-isolate at home as outpatients, and will be looked after via the tele-health system, Dr Jadet said.

Thailand logged 22,197 new cases and 45 more COVID-19 fatalities during the previous 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported yesterday morning.
National debt commission probes impact of informal loans in Phuket

PHUKET: A fact-finding study on the impact of the economic crisis has found at least 21 cases of people in Phuket taking out informal loans to repay loans already outstanding, and being unable to repay the informal loans.

economicsCOVID-19

By The Phuket News

Thursday 3 March 2022, 12:46PM

Chaichana Dejdecho, chairman of a subcommittee of the House of Representatives National Debt Resolution Commission, in Phuket on Monday (Feb 28). Photo: PR Phuket

Phuket Vice Governor Pichet Panapong related the news on Monday to Chaichana Dejdecho, chairman of a subcommittee of the House of Representatives National Debt Resolution Commission tasked with investigating the handling of the national problem of asset management operations and debt management by law enforcement and the problem of informal debt, namely people owing money to loan sharks.

The subcommittee is particularly focussed on the impact on business owners and the general public, Mr Chaichana explained.

The subcommittee arrived in Phuket on Monday to conduct a three-day inspection visit, he added.

The specific objective of the visit is to assess the impact of debt conditions on business owners and the general public due to the spread of COVID-19, Mr Chaichana said.

In addition, another objective is to collect information on government assistance measures, and suggestions for solutions to debt problems from the general public and related agencies, he added.

This is to clarify and express opinions on the situation of debt problems of entrepreneurs and the general public, solutions for debt problems, overall performance, obstacles, as well as useful policy recommendations to optimize a sustainable debt resolution, he said.

Relevant agencies have provided assistance, said a report by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket) marking Mr Chaichanas visit.

There has been assistance of informal debt problems to the general public through the relevant agencies, repeated the report three times.

There has been mediation with informal creditors in the last year, amounting to 21 cases in which each debtor had borrowed money from many informal creditors as well as taken out loans that charged daily interest, the report said.

In this regard, the provincial police has set up an informal debt suppression center to help people under the orders of the Royal Thai Police, the report added, without identifying exactly which police in Phuket has set up which office or how it may be contacted.

Repeated calls by The Phuket News today (Mar 3) to the Phuket Provincial Police to confirm such a police task force exists went unanswered.

For other problems, Phuket has assigned relevant agencies to help and solve peoples problems continuously in all matters in order to treat peoples suffering and improve happiness during COVID-19 pandemic, the PR Phuket report added.

The report did not mark any of Mr Chaichanas findings.
TAT looks to short-haul markets

BANGKOK: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) aims to attract at least 1.5 million tourists from short-haul destinations to compensate for the Chinese market by teaming up with airlines to spur demand.

tourismeconomics

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 3 March 2022, 11:18AM

International passengers prepare to check in at Suvarnabhumi airport on Feb 27. Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul / Bangkok Post

The current situation in East Asia has made it impossible to generate demand, unlike more promising markets such as Southeast Asia, South Asia and Australia, said Thanet Phetsuwan, TAT deputy governor of marketing for Asia and South Pacific, reports the Bangkok Post.

Assuming that travel rules in the region are eased and tourists from Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and Singapore can travel without quarantine on their return, Thailand should gain 800,000 tourists this year from Southeast Asia, he said.

Meanwhile, an air travel bubble with India is to become effective as 12 airlines from both countries are ready to operate from this month.

Mr Thanet said Indian travel agents already launched sales and marketing for trips to Thailand.

TAT estimated around 500,000 Indian travellers will visit Thailand this year based on 70% airline capacity.

Meanwhile, Australia is another potential market as Thai Airways and Qantas connect cities in the two countries.

The agency targets attracting 200,000 tourists, particularly during the Easter holidays.

Some 1.5mn tourists from short-haul markets are within our reach, but we still want to have at least 5mn arrivals from overall 10mn this year. However, the target will be revised in the second half after we follow developments in East Asia, Mr Thanet said.

If China eases travel rules by the third quarter, Japanese tourists start to visit Thailand during the Golden Week or the virus situation in South Korea improves, there will be more pent-up demand to visit Thailand.

Nearby countries might not be directly impacted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but higher oil prices triggered by political unrest will push up airfares, he said.

On Wednesday (Mar 2), the TAT signed a letter of intent with Thai Vietjet for one year to generate demand in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam and Cambodia.

There will be joint promotions for special packages to Thailand from March with approximately 20,000 packages to be sold in the next two to three months.

Mr Thanet said the TAT continues to create partnerships with airlines, including Thai AirAsia, which will operate international flights to Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia this month, plus the Cambodia route that has already started.

Woranate Laprabang, Thai Vietjet chief executive, said the key factors to attract tourists are the relaxation of travel rules, the number of new COVID cases and appealing promotional campaigns.

Thai Vietjet will resume the Bangkok  Danang route from Mar 27 with three flights a week, while the Bangkok  Phnom Penh route will start from Mar 16.

At present, the airline also flies from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City with six flights per week.

He said the next possible destinations are Singapore in May, Fukuoka in June, Taipei in July and Ahmedabad around mid-2022.
Thailand backs UN resolution against Russian invasion

BANGKOK: Thailand has joined 140 other countries to vote for a United Nations resolution demanding an immediate withdrawal of the Russian forces from Ukraine and deploring Russias aggression against Ukraine.

UkraineRussianmilitaryVaccinedeathdisasterspolitics

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 3 March 2022, 02:12PM

Members of the General Assembly vote on a resolution during a special session of the General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

The kingdom voted to support the resolution during an emergency meeting of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday (Mar 2), reports the Bangkok Post, citing an AFP report.

After the debate, 141 out of 193 member states voted for the resolution, 35 abstained and five voted against.

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding.

Seven other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) voted for the resolution, while Cambodia and Laos were among the abstentions.

Although Thailand supported the UNGA move, the country did not mention Russia by name in a statement showing its position on the issue.

"Thailand is gravely concerned with the worsening hostilities and violence as a result of the use of military forces in Ukraine, which has led to the loss of life, including of innocent civilians and destruction of property and civilian infrastructure," Suriya Chindawongse, ambassador and permanent representative of Thailand to the UN, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Thailands stance is in line with the statement issued by Asean foreign ministers on Saturday that omitted to mention Russia in their statement.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has insisted Thailand will maintain its neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to a government source.
Three arrested over Chinese COVID medicine

PHUKET: Phuket Provincial Police have arrested three people, including two Chinese nationals, for illegally selling Lianhua Qingwen capsules, a traditional Chinese medicine used for the treatment of cold and influenza symptoms.

ChineseCOVID-19crimedeathpatongpolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Thursday 3 March 2022, 10:41AM

Chinese national Bai Jifu, 54, and Thai national Pennapha Srathonghan, 36, were arrested at a house on Phra Metta Rd in Patong at 3:30pm yesterday (Mar 2).

The pair were found in possession of 55 boxes of Lianhua Qingwen capsules with 24 capsules per box, totalling 1,320 capsules, and 146 boxes with 36 capsules per box, giving another 5,256 capsules seized.

The officers, led by Maj Suvisit Khirirak, also seized an iPhone X and an Oppo A54 as well as 18 packs of Nanjing brand cigarettes and 25 packs of Hongtashan brand cigarettes, from China.

Both were taken to Patong Police Station and charged with jointly selling regulated medicine without a permit, selling regulated medicines that are not registered as drug formulas, selling herbal products without a permit, advertising herbal products or the benefits of herbal products without a license and jointly hiding and selling items that have not been imported via the Customs Department

Also arrested yesterday, at 4:10pm, was Chinese national Yang Ligin, 36, at a house at the Phuket Villa Suanluang housing estate in Wichit.

Yang was found in possession of 74 boxes of Lianhua Qingwen capsules, with 24 capsules per box, giving a total of 1,776 capsules seized.

Yang was taken to Wichit Police Station and charged under Section 246 of the Customs Act 2017, which stipulates that it is an offence to assist in hiding goods that were imported into the country without having passed through Customs formalities.

Lianhua Qingwen capsules have been approved by the Thailand Food & Drug Administration for sale within the country, but the capsules must be sold by a registered pharmacy and must be imported only by Inway Group Co Ltd.

The Chinese government has approved the medicine to be used, promoted and exported as a treatment for COVID-19.

However, the Thai FDA has specifically warned that the medicine in Thailand has been approved for the treatment of fever and other symptoms of cold or influenza only, but not specifically for treatment of COVID-19.
Regardless of which side of the fence you're on about the Wellington Anti-Mandate Protest, we can all agree - this is pretty f**king funny.

Things got ugly in Wellington yesterday, when the NZ Police moved in to force the anti-mandate protestors away from their three-week camping spot at the Parliamentary Grounds.



The big question was - why did the cops finally move in after 23 odd days of this protest? What was the spark, what was the trigger that got them into action?

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said they wanted to try and descalate the situation in a peaceful manner, and also because many of the "good protesters" had gone, they had to act yesterday.

But....we did some investigating, and we found out the real reason.

A great New Zealander that you definitely will know, 20 F**king Whacks Karen - well, it turns out she delivered a speech to all of the police yesterday morning, which sparked them into action.

Related: K Hole meets his real life mum, 20 F**king Whacks Karen

We replayed some of her speech in the video above. And believe it or not, we played the heavily edited and censored version of it.

If you want the uncensored and extended version, watch below. And don't say we didn't warn you about the language.
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Hundreds rallied in downtown Montreal in solidarity with Ukraine

Hundreds of Montrealers gathered at Place du Canada on Sunday to demonstrate in solidarity with Ukraine as Russias president Vladimir Putin continues his military attacks on several Ukrainian cities.

Ukrainian demonstrators joined by Montrealers have not ceased to speak out since Thursday denouncing Russias attack on Ukraine and urging Ottawa to act swiftly with more sanctions in defence of their homeland, following the start of the invasion Wednsday. Many demonstrators waved Yellow and Blue flags, while others carried signs with slogans such as Free Ukraine, Stop shedding innocent blood and Russian people against war.

I am Russian born in Ukraine and I am against Putin, one demonstrator told The Suburban while standing next to a Ukrainian man whom she described as her brother. We want peace, no more war, he said. I was born in Ukraine and she was not and my heart bleeds. I am broken, but I want to be here to support, a young mother named Alona said to The Suburban while standing next to her daughter Mila who drew a heart and hand on a sheet with a blue and yellow background.

A Kiev Native named Olga who attended the demonstration told The Suburban through sobs that she has family in Russia who called her to apologize as they do not stand by Putins actions against Ukraine while her family in Ukraine is too difficult to reach. My sister, my brother and my family, it is so difficult to contact them.

We need to defend ourselves and we need as much support as possible. I have family and friends there, I have family around the world, we are all standing together united against this aggression. Its disgusting, its horrible and it hurts a lot, third generation Montrealer Roman who is a French teacher in an English school said to The Suburban.
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EDWARDSVILLE  A class action lawsuit has been filed against a Shipman woman who pleaded guilty to providing inadequate concealed carry classes for several hundred people.

The suit, filed Feb. 9 by attorney Thomas Magg on behalf of Madison County resident Lucinda Klotz, claims Terry Lumma, 61, of Shipman, offered more than 200 people interested in obtaining an Illinois concealed carry permit classes that did not meet state standards, and that the certificates issued were false.

Illinois requires 16 hours of training, with eight hours of classroom training and eight hours of practical education.

Lumma was charged with the Class 3 felony offense of forgery and the Class A misdemeanor offense of providing false concealed carry weapon certification.

According to officials, the Illinois State Police's Firearms Services Bureau received a complaint in December 2020 alleging Lumma was not teaching the concealed carry license classes according to state law. After a five-month investigation, the bureaus investigators said they found evidence to support the allegation.

That information was presented to Macoupin County States Attorney Jordan Garrison who filed criminal charges against Lumma. On Jan. 5, Lumma pleaded guilty to instructors providing false certifications, a Class A misdemeanor, on Jan. 5. She was sentenced to one year of probation, fined and ordered to pay $3,990 in restitution.

State police also said the concealed carry certification courses hosted by Lumma did not satisfy the state's mandatory requirements for concealed carry firearm training. Anyone receiving certificates through Lumma were given a grace period to retake the course.

The civil suit filed against Lumma claims each person who took the course paid about $120. The suit covers people who took Lummas course starting in Jan. 1, 2018 through the present.

A motion to certify the case as a class action lawsuit was filed Feb. 14. The class action suit is seeking in excess of $50,000.
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ALTON  Four people were hurt when a full-size Chevrolet pickup truck slammed into the rear of a GMC Yukon on Wednesday afternoon on Illinois 140 in Alton about a quarter mile west of Stanley Road.

The crash, which occurred about 4 p.m. Wednesday, sent four people to local hospitals.
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COLLINSVILLE  An Ava man has died following a Tuesday night accident on Interstate 55.

According to Illinois State Police, at about 7:35 pm. Wednesday Jason C. Mayes, 47 of Ava, was driving a 2005 GMC truck pulling a trailer near I-55 northbound milepost 20 when he left the roadway to the right for an for unknown reasons, struck a light pole and rolled multiple times.
Anyone with access to the news and a moral sense knows who is responsible for the unfolding tragedy in Ukraine. Yet realistically many of those confronting Russian President Vladimir Putins tanks wont survive their heroic effort.

So instead of waiting for historys verdict, this is the moment to thank the Ukrainians for coming to freedoms defense by nominating them for the Nobel Peace Prize.

It was a flood of deja vu that suggested the potential of a nomination campaign for the Ukrainians. Kyivs devastation triggered memories of similar scenes in the 1940s: Nazi bombers attacking long lines of refugees fleeing Paris and the ruins of Warsaw and Berlin.

Todays news is a haunting replay of the overture to World War II. Adolf Hitlers conquests began with his demand that Czechoslovakia give up a border region populated with German speakers. They were persecuted, he claimed. He would be their liberator, much as Putin says he is not invading, but liberating, Ukraine.

Frightened out of pacifism, France and England posed as mediators in 1938. In fact, they legitimized Hitlers demands. Having given him a slice of Czechoslovakia, the British prime minister proclaimed the Munich meeting with the Nazi dictator a success.

I believe it is peace for our times, Neville Chamberlain told a welcoming London crowd. Now I recommend you go home and sleep quietly in your beds.

The following year, Hitler annexed the rest of Czechoslovakia. Poland was next.

This time, Russias aggression has been widely denounced. About the only cheerleader for Putin is former President Donald Trump, who said: I mean, hes taking over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. Id say that is pretty smart.

Trump proved no better at cost accounting than ethics. The devastating sanctions President Joe Biden promised have shaken Russias economy, sending its stock market into a nose-dive. BP PLC and Shell Oil have pulled out of joint ventures in Russias energy sector. Russian ships and airplanes are not welcome in other countries.

That is new. Talk of sanctions often ends when war begins. American corporations continued to do business with Germany right up to World War II, some even longer. Ford claimed compensation for the European factories the U.S. bombed.

Now, its not just nations that are launching reprisals on Russia. Ordinary folks are venting their anger. A Michigan tavern owner took Russian vodka off his shelves. The director of La Scala told a Russian conductor that unless he denounced Putins invasion, hed never wave another baton in the Milan opera house.

Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy openly intervened in the Spanish Civil War, using it as a proving ground for the airplanes and troops they would deploy in World War II. The Western democracies self-righteously declared an embargo on arms shipments to Spain, which crippled the elected government and aided Gen. Francisco Francos rebels.

Other nations are rushing military supplies to Ukraine. Expatriate Ukrainians are free to join their embattled brethren, some with military kits provided by the countries of their residence. Like Hitler before him, Putin is a crybaby. Both claimed to be victims, not aggressors, even as their bombs were killing innocent civilians. But this time, that linguistic sleight of hand isnt working.

When Switzerland and Sweden shed their long-standing neutrality, something is clearly afoot. Ditto when protesters in Russia risk arrest.

The Ukrainians have become the worlds home team. Im not alone in rooting for brewery workers filling beer bottles with gasoline and delighted by the name Molotov cocktails, a borrowing from Russias guerrilla resistance to Nazi invaders.

I see my grandmother who fled the czars tyranny when a babushka-wrapped Ukrainian woman tells Russian soldiers, Go home!

Clearly, the Ukrainian resistance has awakened our collective moral sense. Its no longer fashionable to dismiss civilian war casualties with a wave of the hand and a disclaimer: Thats just politics. Or to put profits ahead of saying No! to murderous dictators.

Predicting historys next twist or turn is risky business. But I have a gut feeling  fortified with prayer  that the era of accepting dictators as an unpleasant fact of life is drawing to a close.

Let us mark it with a Nobel Peace Prize. The citation could read something like:

To the Ukrainians of 2022. For reminding us that while dictators mouth the shibboleths of democracy, their real vocabulary is a pack of lies. For unhesitatingly shedding their own blood in freedoms cause. For asserting the principle that the earth does not belong to kings or tyrants. And for demonstrating in their trenches that workaday folks have an inalienable able right to shape their destiny.
London, KY (40741)

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IVY GOODMAN, Stonington, Girls, Lacrosse, Senior; Goodman scored 12 goals and had 13 assists in three games. Her seven assists in the Bears win over Waterford established a school record. She surpassed the 50-goal mark for the season in Stoningtons victory over Ledyard.

DEAN PONS JR., Westerly, Baseball, Senior; Pons, a senior, struck out 14 batters in the Bulldogs five-inning win against Wheeler School/Rocky Hill. Pons had an assist on the remaining out, throwing out a runner on a groundout. Pons allowed just one hit and walked only two.

KATIE PIERCE, Wheeler, Girls, Lacrosse, Sophomore; Pierce scored five goals and the Lions beat Griswold to earn their first victory of the season. Wheeler avenged an earlier loss to the Wolverines this season with the 15-4 victory.

WEEKO THOMPSON, Chariho, Girls, Track Sophomore; Thompson, a sophomore, bettered her school record in the discus at the Classical Classic meet. She finished first in the event and also won the shot put.

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Pressure is mounting on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to cast out Russian companies as the corporate and financial world turns against the Kremlin.

Politicians and experts said it has a responsibility to join other businesses and institutions who have severed ties with the country following the invasion of Ukraine.

Dozens of Russian firms are listed in London, from Roman Abramovich-backed steel company Evraz to energy giants Rosneft and Gazprom, and the countrys biggest bank Sberbank.

Pressure: Politicians and experts said the London Stock Exchange has a 'responsibility' to join other businesses and institutions who have already severed ties with Russia

Their value has nosedived, with an index tracking London-traded Russian stocks plunging by 428billion  or 98 per cent  in the last two weeks. Russian lender VTB Banks shares have been suspended after UK and US authorities blacklisted its parent company.

But no firms have yet been removed from the Official List of stocks overseen by City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) despite many being run by, or having close ties with, oligarchs close to President Putin.

Chris Bryant, an MP on Parliaments foreign affairs committee, said: There is a war of aggression being waged against the people of Ukraine and anything that is directly, indirectly, tangentially or slightly connected with the Russian state regime should be rooted out of British political, economic and cultural life.

Anybody who isnt doing that now is letting down the people of Ukraine. And obviously that applies to the stock exchange, the financial institutions of the UK and to every glass-fronted, plush-carpeted, multi-layered office in the City of London.

Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith MP said companies should be delisted immediately if any suspicions were raised about possible links to Putin, his associates, or their sources of income.

Western nations have rolled out sanctions against Russia, targeting individuals, its central bank and banning certain lenders from the Swift payments system.

Companies taking a stand range from BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil, who have severed their ties with major energy companies, to Airbus, Boeing and JCB.

Others include Apple, Sony, Disney and Warner Bros, car firm Ford, payments groups Mastercard and Visa, and shipping line Maersk.

More sanctions are expected if the warmongering ramps up.

There are two possible avenues  one is to suspend shares, which stops a company being able to trade its stock, the other is to be delisted entirely.

The LSE can suspend shares for a range of reasons and delist stocks on the junior Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

But it cannot unilaterally eject a group from the main market that is also included on the FCAs Official List. It is likely that the LSE and FCA would need to reach a joint decision to eject a firm.

City sources said the Treasury may also be able to intervene, but there is no precedent for the current situation.

Bill Browder, a long-time campaigner on Russia who championed anti-corruption law the Magnitsky Act, said: I think there should be total isolation of the Russian government, Russian oligarchs and Russian companies until Russia withdraws from Ukraine and compensates Ukraine for the atrocities and damage it has inflicted.

Sam Armstrong, of foreign affairs thinktank the Henry Jackson Society, said: The trading of their shares while the war rages on increasingly feels immoral and ethically wrong. The LSE and FCA declined to comment.
Cybersecurity group Darktrace has increased its full-year outlook for the second time in three months, reflecting strong customer growth and retention.

The firm, which listed in April last year, now expects a year-on-year boost in constant currency annualised recurring revenue in 2022 of between 38.5 per cent and 40 per cent, against previous guidance of 37 per cent to 38.5 per cent.

That implies a year-on-year increase in net constant currency annualised recurring revenue of between 24 per cent and 29 per cent, against previous forecasts of between 19 per cent to 24 per cent.

Darktrace shares rose sharply today, and were up 10.87 per cent or 50.00p to 510.00p this afternoon.

Boost: Cybersecurity group Darktrace has increased its full-year outlook

Chief executive Poppy Gustafsson, said: 'The current geopolitical situation has heightened the urgency for businesses and governments to improve cyber resilience.

'We are laser-focused on our mission to protect organisations around the world from cyber-attacks, and on our ambition to create a continuous AI loop for our customers.'

Revenue growth was forecast at between 44.5 per cent and 46.5 per cent, against 42 per cent to 44 per cent previously.

This increase is also partly driven by lower than previously predicted forecasts for foreign exchange headwinds, which accelerates the conversion of constant currency ARR to US dollar denominated revenue.

Darktrace has incorporated the expected impact of its recent purchase of Cybersprint into its guidance.

Full year adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin was forecast at between 10 per cent and 12 per cent, up from 3 per cent to 6 per cent previously.

In the six months to 31 December, the group's adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $46.7million on revenue up 52.3 per cent to $192.6million.

The group saw strong revenue growth across all geographic markets and customer sizes. Its customer base swelled nearly 40 per cent to 6,531.

It warned that costs were expected to increase again in the medium term but the outlook was strong enough to retain healthy margins across the firm.

At the top: Poppy Gustafsson is the chief executive of Darktrace

Dan Lane, a senior analyst at Freetrade, said: 'Consistency is key now for Darktrace. Earnings and customer numbers might be booming compared to December 2020 but costs will come back eventually as salespeople jet round the globe and showcase the cyber defence tech.

'Thats to be expected but what needs to more than offset that is the steady stream of new and returning customers. On that front, there will clearly be renewed interest.

'If the cyber threat from hacker-heavy aggressors wasnt already factored into corporate and government spending, the past few weeks will have put it firmly on the table.'

Darktrace was founded in Cambridge nine years ago by a group of ex spies from GCHQ, mathematicians and artificial intelligence experts.

Within months of its flotation on the London Stock Exchange last April, the group's market value hit nearly 7billion. But, it has since endured a turbulent period, and was relegated from the FTSE 100 to the FTSE 250 Index.

In January, Darktrace shares fell following reports it had come under attack from short seller ShadowFall.

The hedge fund bet against Darktrace in October and labelled the cybersecurity giant as 'watery thin' in a note.

ShadowFall said: 'We believe that the quality of the Darktrace business is watery-thin, driven by an aggressive, promotional, sales focus, which we doubt will stand the test of time.'

Last month, British tech tycoon Mike Lynch resigned as an adviser to Darktrace. He stepped down from Darktrace's science and technology committee a week after Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered the former Autonomy boss's US extradition to face criminal charges.
Oil soared towards $120 a barrel yesterday and the rouble crashed to an all-time low as war in Ukraine continued to send shockwaves through financial markets.

As Russia stepped up the assault on its neighbour, Brent crude rose to $119.84, a level last seen in 2012, before falling back.

At the same time, the rouble crashed to an all-time low as the Russian economy plunged deeper into crisis.

Oil rose to $119.84 a barrel, a level last seen in 2012, before falling back. Russia normally ships more than seven million barrels per day (Pictured: A Russian oil platform in the Caspian Sea)

Stock markets around the world tumbled with the FTSE 100 down 2.6 per cent, or 190.71 points, to 7238.85.

Russia competes with Saudi Arabia for the title of biggest crude and refined oil products exporter and ships more than seven million barrels per day (bpd), with about half going to Europe.

Although sanc-tions have steered clear of energy, companies are starting to self-sanction and avoid Russian oil. At least ten tankers failed to find buyers on Wednesday.

We expect that Russian oil exports will plunge by one million bpd from the indirect impact of sanctions and voluntary actions by companies, said Rystad Energy chief executive Jarand Rystad. He said oil prices could go beyond $130 per barrel.

The rally to close to $120 took gains for the year so far to more than 50 per cent and raised fears of further price rises on British forecourts.

Petrol hit a record high of 151.25p a litre last Sunday, while diesel hit 154.75p at the end of February.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: The RAC is now calling on the Treasury to look at an emergency, temporary cut in the VAT rate levied on fuel.

Oil fell back in later trading amid hopes of a breakthrough in talks to revive an Iran nuclear deal which could see Iranian barrels back on the market.

But RBC Capital analyst Helima Croft warned: The sums entailed would simply be too small to backfill a major Russian disruption.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and its allies, known as OPEC+, stuck to a plan for a gradual output rise of 400,000 bpd a month, snubbing consumer calls for more.
Rangers provide vital nourishment to Tibetan antelopes during bout of heavy snow, low temperatures

People's Daily Online) 15:05, March 02, 2022

In recent days, rangers in Gerze county, Ngari prefecture of southwest Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region have fed thousands of Tibetan antelopes, which are under first-class state protection in the country, with the animals being at risk of starvation due to heavy snowfall.

Photo shows a flock of Tibetan antelopes. (Peoples Daily Online/Tsering Norbu)

Since October last year, snow and low temperatures have swept across the countys Changtang Grassland, a natural habitat for rare animals like Tibetan antelopes. Heavy layers of snow stayed on the ground for an extended period of time and prevented herds of the animal from grazing, while temperatures meanwhile dropped down to 30 to 40 degrees Celsius below zero.

After learning about the situation, Rigzin Norbu, director of the forestry and grassland bureau in the county, decided to deliver some food to the Tibetan antelopes nearby. Rigzin and his colleagues first purchased hay from a cooperative in the county and then transported the feed for the antelopes to different management and protection stations near those areas inhabited by the animals.

Then officials from the bureau and rangers began to feed the antelopes roaming around the grassland that stretched over 100,000 square kilometers. They delivered more than 10 tons of feed to the many starving Tibetan antelopes in about half a month. There are currently over 200 rangers working at 23 management and protection stations in Gerze county.

According to Rigzin, patrolling the vast high-altitude grassland to protect wild animals is an arduous task. But all the hard work has been worth it because the grassland has become a paradise for wild animals, he said. The grassland is now home to more than 100,000 Tibetan antelopes.

Staff members unload a truck with feed for Tibetan antelopes. (Peoples Daily Online/Tsering Norbu)

Rangers distribute feed for Tibetan antelopes. (Peoples Daily Online/Tsering Norbu)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
[March 03, 2022] With Strong Momentum and a New Suite of Customer Service Productivity Features, Level AI Raises $20 Million in Funding Level AI, whose AI-driven technology is modernizing customer service and experience, announced today new product features amid soaring demand for its platform. New features include much-requested agent screen monitoring and recording, which are powered by Level AI's state-of-the-art artificial intelligence technology. This product release comes as Level AI has experienced a significant surge in sales of its software, adding customers like OpenTable, Toast, and Carta as the adoption of hybrid and remote work models push many enterprise customer contact centers into the cloud. In the last six months, headcount at the company has tripled and annual recurring revenue increased multiple times over as Level AI scales to meet demand. Additionally, Level AI closed a $20 million Series B financing round, led by Neeraj Agrawal at Battery Ventures, who also led the company's Series A round. Previous investors ENIAC and Village Global also participated. The latest funding represents a four-fold increase in valuation from the company's Series A, which closed just six months ago. To date, the company has raised $35 million. "When we launched our platform in late 2020, amid COVID-19, we knew there would be demand for smarter, more nimble technology that would leverage conversational artificial intelligence to help enterprises more quickly and efficiently solve customer issues in the cloud and improve the overall customer experience," said Ashish Nagar, Level AI's chief executive and a former Amazon Alexa product manager. "But we could not have predicted how fundamental this technology would become for enterprises and the response we would get from customers who are hungry for innovation in this space after being sold to by legacy companies who have not innovated for decades." Customer Service forthe Modern Enterprise

With remote work becoming more mainstream, many customer service agents now don't work in centralized locations and have limited avenues for continuous quality enhancement, training and growth. Level AI's new screen monitoring capabilities were designed with this in mind, allowing quality assurance and learning managers to monitor and record agent performance, compliance and overall activity. Level AI already offers industry-leading real-time agent assist, analytics, automation and 100% quality assurance capabilities. Now its vision-based desktop monitoring and screen recording enable Level AI to deliver a complete suite of intelligent customer service capabilities to its customers. Level AI's proprietary technology is well-suited to today's customer contact industry and its roughly 4 million workers, as many of these representatives are continuing to work from home and require a more modern software platform to serve customers. Level AI integrates with the entire customer service stack, including cloud telephony providers like Five9 and Twilio; CRMs like Salesforce, Zendesk and Kustomer; and ticketing and chat providers like Helpshift and Zendesk. The move to the cloud in the customer service space is significant but still represents less than 20% of contact center technology in use today, creating a huge, untapped market for Level AI and its customer intelligence platform. Level AI's platform gives contact centers new powers, through data, to unearth valuable customer insights that weren't previously captured to drive analytics, automation and quality assurance use cases. "We continue to be unbelievably impressed with the Level AI team's ability to develop groundbreaking new technology to help large brands serve customers better," said Neeraj Agrawal, general partner at Battery Ventures and Level AI board member. "The company's continued innovation and significant traction in the market are a testament to the depth of the team's expertise. They are transforming this space in a very exciting way." Learn more at www.thelevel.ai. About Level AI Level AI is redefining how the modern customer contact center works. Leveraging conversational intelligence to provide real-time insights, it empowers agents to provide the kind of help customers want at the moment they need it with the utmost efficiency. Level AI is backed by leading investors including Battery Ventures, ENIAC and Village Global. The company is based in Mountain View, California. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005945/en/

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The London Stock Exchange has frozen trading in another 27 Russian companies as British directors face mounting pressure to quit the boards of firms linked to Moscow.

LSE bosses banned investors from buying or selling shares in a host of Russian entities including energy giants Gazprom, Rosneft and En+, retailers Fix Price Group and Lenta International, and the countrys biggest lender Sberbank. It took the total suspensions to 28.

And the LSEs FTSE Russell arm  which runs indexes such as the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250  said it will exclude Russian businesses whose shares are still trading in London from Monday.

Crackdown: LSE bosses banned investors from buying or selling shares in a host of Russian entities including Gazprom, Rosneft, En+, Fix Price Group, Lenta International and Sberbank

This will deny stocks such as Roman Abramovich-backed steelmaker Evraz the air of respectability that membership of a leading index affords  and mean funds that track an index will not have to hold their shares.

But the measures fell short of calls from MPs and business leaders to kick Russian companies off the stock exchange entirely.

It came as the Institute of Directors urged British business leaders to stand down from the boards of Russian companies.

IoD director general Jonathan Geldart said: We believe that it is no longer tenable for British directors to be involved in governance roles in the Russian economy.

The 27 companies targeted by the LSE have primary listings on the stock market in Moscow, which has been closed all week as the Russian economy and financial system teeters on the brink of collapse.

But they have secondary listings in London and these shares have tumbled in recent days  some by as much as 99 per cent.

The invasion of Ukraine has shone a light on the lucrative connections the British establishment has cultivated with Russia. Lord Barker is executive chairman at En+, whose owners include the oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

Barker, 55, was a businessman before he became a Conservative MP in 2001  developing close relationships with a number of Russian oil companies.

Lord Barker: EN+ Former energy minister Lord Barker has worked for Russian aluminium giant En+ since 2017 and became executive chairman in 2019. He made 3million last year. Now a peer, he was a Tory MP from 2001 to 2015.

Xavier Rolet: Phosagro Frenchman Xavier Rolet was boss of the LSE from 2009 to 2017, when he was ousted in a boardroom row. He holds a slew of directorships and earned 325,344 in 2020 as chairman of Russias PhosAgro.

He served as energy minister in David Camerons government and is now a Conservative peer.

But in recent days he has come under fire from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace for his role at En+, which he has held since 2017 and earned him 3million last year alone.

Prince Charless former principle private secretary Sir Michael Peat has also been urged to ditch his job on the board of Evraz.

The 72-year-old has earned 1.9million since he took the role in 2011.

Sir Michael Peat: Evraz Prince Charless former adviser Sir Michael Peat has made 1.9million since becoming a director at steel giant Evraz in 2011. He was formerly the Queens Treasurer and is credited with slashing Palace spending.

And the freezing of shares in PhosAgro, a Russian fertiliser company, will come as a humiliation to its chairman Xavier Rolet  who was the boss of the LSE before being ousted in 2017.

The LSE Groups boss David Schwimmer said he suspended the Russian firms either due to sanctions or because a flood of investors had created a disorderly market by rushing to sell out. Around eight more Russian companies are under scrutiny, he added.

Schwimmer said: This is a very complex and very fast-moving situation. We have had an unprecedented level of sanctions launched by governments around the world.

We are working with regulators and various authorities in terms of making sure we are implementing the sanctions across the different parts of our business.

The LSE had already suspended trading in VTB Bank, Russias second-largest lender, earlier this week. It also barred VTB  which is 61 per cent owned by Vladimir Putins government  from its clearing house yesterday, meaning the lender will effectively be unable to do business in the West.

But the LSE has been urged to go further and ban Russian stocks from the exchange altogether.

Chris Bryant, an MP on the Commons foreign affairs committee, said anything directly, indirectly, tangentially or slightly connected with the Russian state regime should be rooted out of British life.

Schwimmer declined to comment on whether companies would be booted off the stock exchange entirely.
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Barre, VT (05641)

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Kingsport, TN (37660)

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David Kashdan, Ph.D., is retired director of Eastman Chemical Research Division and a senior consultant with RISE: Research Institutes of Sweden. Email him at davidkashdan@yahoo.com.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with his counterparts from Lithuania and Poland following their talks in Kyiv on Feb. 23, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)
Black ink, white paper. That was the essence of most fine art printingengraving, etching, lithographyup to the 1890s. Prints reveled in the unique nuances and textures possible in that simple, monochromatic high-pressure chest bump between printing plate and rag paper.

But what about color? Indeed, what about color? That is the very simple focus of Hue & Cry, the clever and instructive look at late-19th-century French printmaking at the Clark.

Lets start in the middle of all this with an obvious success story: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. His coy and decadent prints, many of them posters that were plastered around Paris in the 1890s, are outrageously expressive masterpieces of design. They remain the archetypal evocation of Moulin Rouge cabaret nightlife. But they are also adventurous experiments in multicolored lithography, using stone blocks as printing plates.



Provided, courtesy of The Clark



Toulouse was something of a crossover artist, adapting his art to a mass-market printing methodology. Likewise with Jules Cheret, who whipped up the more outwardly commercial designs in the exhibit. The publics embrace of graphic poster design in the 1890s, something not emphasized in this show, explains part of how color also triumphed in the fine arts. Elsewhere many of us have been wowed by the great poster art for bicycles and liquors from that period, but here the Clark is concerned with the finer arts.



The show begins with a large hall of background works from the 1700s that are frankly, often, soporific (unless Debucourt is your thing). We are revived with a slap in the brazenly yellow room that follows, amid the many winning Toulouses and Cherets. Then we arrive in a large glowing gallery with lesser-known revelations.

Photo by William Yaeger

Hue & Cry really takes off here. You realize now the show is seriously insightful and sweeping.



Yes, youll find the necessary Paul Cezannes (two versions of his bathers) but also three lovely moments, captured like snapshots with tender perception, by Pierre Bonnard. These are color lithographs, with the palette pushed, especially by Cezanne, for expressive rather than depictive needs. We are a long way from worrying about fidelity to the real world, and from any outwardly graphic art showmanship.



Provided, courtesy of The Clark



Further on this expands with delicacy in a whole series of glimpses of ordinary life from 1899 by Edouard Vuillard called Landscapes and Interiors. These are fully realized views of a range of subjects around Paris, from domestic quietudes to bustling urban moments. Color is applied in delicate patterns overall, or in little specific jolts defining a bit of cloth on a person in a crowd.



This idea that life, plain and simple (if there was such a thing, for us looking back on Belle Epoque Paris) makes for the most touching art, finds its apotheosis in a series of 13 lithographs Bonnard made in 1898: Some Aspects of Life in Paris. Here we feel like we are plopped into that world, where we access all the little important things: an evening view of busy carriages, a glimpse up a long street, people clustered in a dim theater, shoppers going about their day. They are partial and incomplete, but also necessarily finished works.



For me  a photographer at heart  this resonates truly, and deeply. If this seems worlds away from Toulouse and the sensational sounds and sights he would offer us, in truth we are just a few blocks across town, and a few hours away in the day.



There are more than 100 works in the impressive Hue & Cry, with many individual pieces that need real scrutiny and many more that reward at least a passing, intent moment: the Camille Pissarro etchings, a characteristic Mary Cassatt mother and child aquatint, a pair of expert etching and aquatint illustrations of children by Eugene Delatre.



And then, after a decade or two of color in printed form, interest faded away. The flirtation was just that, and it was gone.

Provided, courtesy of The Clark
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LATHAM  Plug Power (Nasdaq: PLUG) said it ended 2021 recording its highest quarterly revenue ever.

The green hydrogen producer reported fourth-quarter revenue of roughly $162 million, according to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) Tuesday. However, its investors have yet to see a profit come from that.

Their total 2021 revenue was $502 million, in contrast to steep losses in 2020.

Its diluted earnings per share was $0.33 for the final quarter in 2021 and $0.82 for the year.

Plug Power creates fuel cells that power machinery, such as forklifts, in addition to what it has dubbed green hydrogen for the energy sector using electrolyzer technology.

Plug Power balances new business with expenses

Plug Power attributed over 20 percent of the final quarters revenue to new business that raked in more than $10 million in electrolyzer sales.

The company also acknowledged sustaining a onetime charge of $56 million for service costs related to its fuel cell-powered vehicles, the SEC report showed. Its expenses alone came in just under $113 million.

With this charge, coupled with the superior performance for units deployed in 2021, we believe the service business will approach profitability in the near term, Plug Power said in a news release.

In its SEC filing, the company said its delivery of 5,000 green units to customers with enhanced technology allowed it to cut service costs by 50 percent, part of which it plans to funnel back into making its legacy units  fuel cell-powered vehicles - to positively impact its financials.

Company leaders said Plug Power remains dedicated to reducing service costs per unit by 30 percent in the next year and by 45 percent by 2023s end.

We expect this improvement on our service costs to materialize in our margin run rates in 2022, potentially resulting in break even service margin run rates by year-end, the release read.

The fuel business is under pressure

Plug Power made it a point to address how fuel margins were down due to higher natural gas prices causing its hydrogen molecule costs to rise.

The company predicted its average molecule costs will drop throughout 2022 as capacity ramps up at its recently expanded hydrogen plant in Tennessee and others begin operating.

It forecasts fuel margins will break even come 2023 and hopes that by 2024 the business will begin generating cash flow and approaching corporate margin targets with potential for upside, the release noted.

CEO Andy Marsh told investors he has also been watching the situation in Ukraine unfold. He said the crisis is showing nations that autocratic governments cannot be the gas stations to the world.

Liberal democracies will be accelerating the energy transition because of this horrible event and Plug is uniquely positioned to create the future as we can help people, companies and governments transition to a carbon-free solution, not in some distant future, but today, he emphasized.

Aiming high in 2022

As Plug Power pushes forward toward its goal of creating 70 tons of green hydrogen per day by 2022s close, it assured investors the company is on track to produce 500 tons per day by 2025, and 1,000 tons per day by 2028.

Leadership credited its progressive strides to several partnerships, such as that with Renault, Fortescue and Fertiglobe, key acquisitions and its ability to attain five major customers in its material handling business, a target it reached three years ahead of schedule.

Plug Power plans to deliver on that promise by establishing a green hydrogen generation network in North America. Marsh said building out its network to certify it reaches that goal is a key priority.

At present, several hydrogen plants are being constructed with the expectation they come online by the end of the year, including a factory in Rochester that Plug Power said will generate 380 new jobs in Monroe County, while the company breaks ground on multiple other sites to complete the network by early 2024.

The company also reaffirmed its commitment to achieving revenue of at least $900 million in 2022 and $3 billion by 2025.

(In) 2021 Plug Power grew revenue over 50 percent despite the constraints of supply chain and the impact of the pandemic. In 2022, Plug will almost double revenue, Marsh said.
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ROTTERDAM  Spectrum is waiving customer fees on calls to Ukraine  both from its landline and mobile phones  in response to Russia's invasion of the country.

Spectrum officials said that the Capital Region is one of the top metro areas in the U.S. in terms of outgoing calls to Ukraine by its customers.
Sandy Cook grew up playing in the dirt with her brother, followed by sweeping the floor and making deliveries at the company her dad ran, Machnick Builders in Green Island. Today, she's the majority owner of the business, still working alongside her brother.

She's always been comfortable at job sites and around the men who dominate the construction field, but Cook would like to see more women enter the trades.

"When I hear of a young woman who wants to be in the field, I give her all the push in the world. There are doors open for women, but you have to have strong shoulders and a thick skin. It's construction, there's shop talk, and you have to be able to handle it."

Cook remembers being the only woman on sites when her job was to make deliveries, and even now, people direct questions to her brother even when it's her project. Cook is not one for confrontations, but said when problems arise, she makes sure people know who's boss  in a professional manner.

Despite a push by unions and trade organizations to get more Americans into the trades, women are still underrepresented in the construction field. According to the most recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2019, there were 11 million people in construction and 10.3 percent were women, up slightly from 2018 when 1.1 million women were employed in various occupation sectors of the construction industry for a total of 9.9 percent.

For Becky Kasselman, president and CEO of Kasselman Electric, building the number of women in the field means actively recruiting women. She's seen a gradual increase over the 14 years she's been in charge as the second generation of her family to lead the Menands-based company with approximately 200 employees. Back when she started with the company, there were no women project managers. Today, Kasselman has a mix of college-educated project managers and women who were promoted from the field.

"I'm a big believer in opening doors for everyone to build a career, not just a job," Kasselman said. "As a woman in leadership, I feel it's my responsibility to bring more women in."

Kasselman said she mentors women at the company and works hard to have good communication and bolster teamwork.

Architect Tenee Casaccio, president of JMZ Architects and Planners in Glens Falls, has also worked to foster a diverse workforce. Attracting new talent starts with what a candidate sees the first time they bring up the company's website, she said.

"If a woman is job hunting and goes to a website where she sees women in leadership, it makes a difference. It sends a message when it's a mix of people as opposed to all white men," Casaccio said.

More than half of JMZ's 25 employees are women, and the company is certified by the state as a woman-owned business, or WMBE, a designation also earned by the other businesses in this story.

Casaccio said part of her company's appeal is the recognition people have "full, complete and demanding lives" outside of work. JMZ has a family room employees' children use for homework after school or a place to hang out if school is canceled. Casaccio, president of JMZ since 2009, said the approach didn't start with her, but the company's founder, Bob Joy, more than 40 years ago.

"He put family-forward policies in place and he was sincere about giving equal opportunities in a growing field," Casaccio said.
ALBANY  The Latino Cannabis Association, a nonprofit trade group, this week launched its efforts to empower competitive license applicants of Latino heritage to enter New York's marijuana marketplace.

The group will also seek to "guide policy" and "promote sustainability," according to a news release.

"The expansion of the regulated cannabis industry in New York is moving very fast," said Jeffrey Garcia, the association's president. He hopes to help cannabis license applicants "successfully navigate the process" on their way to building profitable enterprises.

The group's announcement comes before state regulators have introduced draft regulations for the industry. Most cannabis business hopefuls will only be able to apply for licenses once those regulations are set in stone.

However, a new law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul last week kicked off a parallel process in which current hemp farmers will be able to apply for conditional licenses to grow marijuana in the meantime. Hemp is also a cannabis plant, defined by its low concentration of the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Other businesses keen on entering the new cannabis marketplace  which is most likely to begin operating in early- to mid-2023  have been laying groundwork in spite of the lack of regulations, including garnering favor with local and state politicians, investing in land and facilities, and promoting their proposed future business plans among potential workers and customers.

"The moment for Latinos to have a voice ... is now," said the Latino Cannabis Association's vice president, Melissa Guzman, "when policies are being determined."

The organization held an event for its launch on Tuesday, March 1, where it introduced its board and 25 founding members. Its new website focuses on Latino representation within the category of social and economic equity applicants, describing the opportunity as their "Bitcoin moment."

New York law sets a target that regulators should aim to grant 50 percent of all cannabis licenses to equity applicants  including minority- and women-owned businesses, distressed farmers and service-disabled veterans  with a focus on "communities disproportionately impacted by the enforcement of cannabis prohibition."

The association is one of a number of trade groups and coalitions that have formed in the wake of the state's legalization of cannabis use for adults.
Storm King is a particularly gorgeous spot on the western side of the Hudson River across from Breakneck Ridge  the northwest gateway to the Hudson Highlands and beloved by the Hudson River school of painters, notes Ned Sullivan, president of Scenic Hudson, a nonprofit environmental organization.

But in 1962, this vista was at risk of being destroyed when ConEd proposed building a massive hydroelectric power plant that would have been carved into Storm King Mountain near Cornwall.

At the time, citizens didnt have a voice when it came to projects like these; only the proponents and the power authority had a seat at the table. That didnt deter Franny Reese.

Franny was the voice of citizens in that case, says Sullivan.

Today the 251-acre Franny Reese State Park in Highland gazes down at the Mid-Hudson Bridge and across at Poughkeepsie, a perpetual reminder of her force.

Much of the regions roam-able space and unparalleled views are here today because Reese fought to protect them. In her 2003 obituary, The New York Times called Reese, then 85, a defender of the Hudson Valley. But her grassroots environmental work rippled far beyond the banks of the Hudson.

Creating Scenic Hudson  and stopping a power plant

Scenic Hudson archives/ScenicHudson.org

A mom of five and wife to a law professor, Reese fell in love with the region by way of her husbands family home, Obercreek Farm, set on 250 acres of former dairy farmland in the hamlet of Hughsonville in the Town of Wappinger.

Her advocacy began after ConEd proposed its power plant.

Reese gathered a crew of citizen allies  which later became Scenic Hudson and launched an effort to block the energy companys plans, persistently writing letters, soliciting donors, communicating with supporters, and canvassing communities and events with news of the negative environmental impacts.

Residents worried the blasting required to build the power plant would destroy the beauty of the Hudson Highlands. New York City, initially in support of the project, soon feared its construction would harm the aqueduct delivering the citys drinking water from the Catskills. But the biggest deciding factor was the potential damage to the rivers striped bass, which could have decimated commercial and sport fishing operations on the Hudson and along the Atlantic coast.

Scenic Hudson made the convincing case of the dire threat to the striped bass fishery. This was a great example of that aspect of Franny Reeses credo: Do your research so you dont have to backtrack from a position, said Sullivan.

Ultimately the fight took 17 years, with an early breakthrough ruling in 1965 known as the Scenic Hudson Decision, in which the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals sided with Scenic Hudsons appeal that the proposed plant would impact the scenic, historical and recreational values of the region. The ruling forced the Federal Power Commission to allow public participation in a restarted licensing process.

There were long periods of seeming inactivity between ensuing court cases and hearings, said Sullivan. It takes a special kind of person to sustain grassroots enthusiasm and funding for a campaign that goes on for so long.

Without Reeses fundraising and arm-twisting skills, the mission would have failed. Its unlikely Scenic Hudson would have stayed financially afloat, capable of securing the top-notch scientific and public relations expertise so critical for its eventual success in stopping the plant, he adds, calling her the tip of the spear in fight against the proposed power plant.

Her son, Alexander Reese, who is a board member of Scenic Hudson and chair of its land trust, says, My mom was a pioneer and a visionary. She couldnt abide by the idea of a power plant in one of [the Hudson Valleys] most beautiful and iconic spots  It would have taken down half the mountain.

From petitions to the start of modern environmental policy

Scenic Hudson archives/ScenicHudson.org

Her efforts changed environmental law forever. The precedent-setting rulings in the Scenic Hudson Decision made their way into the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

One of the central rulings in the Scenic Hudson case that was later codified in NEPA was the need to mandate environmental impact studies for these kinds of projects. This means developers have to document the potential environmental issues of proposed projects before breaking ground and, if deemed environmentally unsound, look for alternatives with less impact  and not just in New York State.

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In the interim, there was created a body of environmental law which gave teeth to the environmental movement, her son says.

She was unrelenting in determination, energy, and zeal and she knew she couldnt do it by herself, says Sullivan. She was magnificent at building friendships and coalitions and interest groups that would all rally together.

Reeses granddaughter, Francesca Olivieri, didnt fully realize the impact of her grandmothers work until she was an adult, though she witnessed it when spending weekends and summers at Obercreek.

All of the grandchildren would be pulled along to events, Olivieri says. She had pancake breakfasts along the river. It was a grassroots environmental movement. She was such a humble, not-bring-attention-to-herself kind of lady. She was not about being the loudest voice in the room, but she got her way. She cared about the valley so much.

These days, Scenic Hudsons mission has broadened to conserve land, including farmland. The nonprofit owns, protects or helps to preserve more than 46 parks, as well as other preserves from the Capital District all the way down to Yonkers, on both sides of the river.

Obercreek Farm, where Olivieri was married, is now her uncle Alexanders home. He bought the house from his four siblings after his mother died in a car crash. In 2007, he fixed it up with his wife, Alison Spear, an architect.

Alexander Reese has re-envisioned Obercreek with community in mind, adding an organic vegetable operation with a CSA and a farm stand in 2012. The farm team at Obercreek, they could not be a cooler group, says Olivieri, who also did a stint on Scenic Hudsons Board. It ages me! Each one of them is more of a rock star than the next.

Today she works for a reusable food packaging start-up called ReDish. Its got Granny written all over it.

Reese is now working with Duchess Land Conservancy to place agricultural easements on 200 acres. I think my parents would have really appreciated it, but more importantly its one of the last farms left in this part of the world and the community appreciates it and will appreciate it being a farm in perpetuity, Reese says.

When anyone stops to gaze at any of the regions iconic landscapes  like at Poets Walk or Olana or Storm King  Reese hopes they realize the views are only here because his mom and Scenic Hudson convinced government and state that they were worth preserving. He also hopes citizens continue to get involved in protecting the valley.

It takes vigilance, he says. I encourage everyone to go to town boards to see who is doing this and that and whatever  and make your wishes known.
Burgeoning filmmaker and Troy resident Angela Sheil wanted to bring the screenplay for her haunting short film The DoubleWalker to life for years. What started as a classroom assignment nine years ago had become a long-gestating idea she was determined to one day complete. But it wasnt until the dread year 2020 that she got the push she needed.

Now, after emptying out her life savings and recently launching a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to finish off post-production work, The DoubleWalker is on the verge of release.

During the pandemic, I was laid off from my corporate job and everything shifted, she said. I said, What am I doing? The whole world is suffering immensely and I have all the time in the world to do something.

It was a big, scary jump deciding to self-fund and invest in myself and my art, Sheil added. I always knew the last iteration (of The DoubleWalker) needed to be on film. It was something I had to make, and there was no time like the present. Just as a human navigating the pandemic and life, you have to make things happen. No one is going to open doors for you, especially as a woman.

For Sheil, writing, directing and producing a short film was almost predestined.The Niskayuna native was just born with a film geek gene and possessed a love of storytelling that she traces back to the family newspaper she and her four older siblings would create and distribute.

After deciding she really needed to get out of my comfort zone, Sheil moved out to the West Coast to study film. Sheil wrote the first draft of The DoubleWalker while pursuing a degree at the San Francisco, CA-based Academy of Arts.

I had a rough childhood, between being around mental and physical illness, addiction and being a child of divorce, she said. But I found the one place that everyone would come together was the movies. Movie theaters were a sanctuary and I just became very attached to them.

Cinematography was always the thing I was drawn to; Id watch movies and go Whos responsible for that?  she recalled.

But in between classes and after working as a lighting operator and grip, Sheil got the writing bug and pursued that track in her studies. When tasked with writing an eight-page short, The DoubleWalker came to her in a dream.

I had a full course load, working about 30 hours a week at a grocery store, had just gone through my first traumatic break-up and my aunt had died, she said. I was 20, 21 years old and having nightmares every single night. One night I dreamed about this futuristic world with clones hunting down their original being. It was a death-of-self for me, and this story just exploded out of me.

She completed the story, but filming it went on the backburner after returning to the Capital Region in 2016. Sheil got involved in the local film community, acting in music videos and collaborating on projects with Chromoscope Pictures.

After making the decision to film The DoubleWalker, Sheil got to work on fleshing out the plot. Working with a writers group in early 2021, the story transformed to that of a grieving 20-something that returns to her childhood home and finds she may be part of a family curse and grew to include themes of cultural erasure, guilt and indigenous rights.

After reaching out to friends in the local arts community and recruiting a 12-person crew of friends, professional actors and specialists, work commenced on The DoubleWalker in September 2021 at a house in Sedgwick, Maine, for a relatively smooth six-day shoot.

During principal shooting, when you work with people and friends that are so talented, challenges become temporary, Sheil said. It was another big growing point, balancing my professional and personal relationships, having to lead the project and get everyone together to achieve a vision.

I had to navigate how and when to put on the director hat, she continued. Most of the crew was pro bono, but we paid reparations to BIPOC crew. But everyone was there for a love of filmmaking and Im very, very grateful. Im so humbled by the cast and crew, doing this in a pandemic. Im very fortunate.

Sheil is now finishing up post-production. This includes composing and recording a score, final sound and visual edits, submitting The DoubleWalker to festivals, paying for screenings in Albany and Brooklyn and paying the rest of the crew for its efforts. To fund these costs, Sheil launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo that runs through April 3.

Shes hoping the short film will serve as proof-of-concept and garner the necessary attention at festivals to receive funding for a feature-length film. With the help of cultural educator Lilah Akins, Sheil is already at work on expanding The DoubleWalker to that longer format.

I have a really chilling grand finale in mind, she enthused. "I had to adapt the ending for the short and I was only able to focus on the white family component, Sheil continued. The feature would explore the indigenous side. Im very motivated and excited to jump into it.
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March 3, 2022, is the 50th anniversary of the Mohawk Airlines crash that killed 17 people. The plane took off from LaGuardia Airport earlier that Friday evening in 1972, and as it was headed for the Albany County Airport in Colonie it developed mechanical trouble and crash-landed short of the airport, striking a house on Edgewood Avenue. A number of passengers and occupants of the home also suffered wounds, including spinal injuries, broken legs and ankles.



An NTSB investigation reviewed what happened and how, and included the captain and first officer's last words to the control tower as the plane plunged. "Tell 'em we're gonna land short, we're in trouble," the pilot advises the copilot to tell the airport second before the crash. Then, seconds later, "NO CHANCE ! !" one of them says, before the recording ends.

They were killed; a flight attendant was among the survivors.

This is the story the Times Union ran on the 25th anniversary of the crash.

ALBANY  Mohawk Flight 405 passenger Don Cornell remembers the treetops. Daniel Leyden recalls his 23rd birthday party and his father who never made it.

Dick Lewis remembers the bodies stacked on a driveway.

Police Chaplain James Lefebvre remembers the screams.

And as for Joseph and Marcia Rosen and their sons, this week is the 25th time they will gather to reflect on the tragedy that visited their home, grateful to look back, together.

Twenty-five years after a twin-engine turboprop plowed into 50 Edgewood Ave., the horror of that snowy Friday evening lingers in the minds of those who were there.

The Mohawk Airlines flight crashed March 3, 1972, killing 17, injuring 36 and turning a neighborhood into chaos. Ambulances were unable to maneuver through mobs of sightseers who blocked the streets, while rescue workers turned a neighbor's garage into a makeshift morgue, stacking bodies in rows on a blacktop driveway and covering them with sheets from the neighbor's home.

At 8:48 p.m., the plane, 4 miles from the Albany County Airport, hit the two-family house on Edgewood Avenue. The 45 passengers were prepared for landing. The flight, with a crew of three, departed LaGuardia Airport at 8:05 p.m.

Those on board were unaware the plane had lost altitude and was having serious propeller trouble.

More for you A nightmare fell from the sky: '72 Mohawk Airlines crash killed 17

"Really, the only thing I remember is we were coming in and I saw some treetops, and I thought it was the beginning of the runway, and, of course, it wasn't," said Donald H. Cornell, of Niskayuna, 81, and a retired General Electric Co. engineer. "There was an impact, and I have no recollection  I blacked out then."

"For a very brief period, I became conscious and knew there were people around me and knew there had been a crash," said Cornell who was returning from a business trip. "I was still in the plane. The next thing I recall I was in an ambulance, and I heard the siren. I thought, `I have never been in an ambulance before.' My body was numb."

He spent five months at Albany Medical Center Hospital, 11 weeks in traction with both legs broken. He had a broken arm, ribs and nose. After his release, he was a patient at a rehabilitation center for a week and an outpatient for four months.

The National Transportation Safety Board held hearings in Albany following the crash of the Fairchild-Hiller 227-B turboprop and concluded pilot error, along with confusion in the cockpit over trying to remedy a mechanical problem with a propeller, caused the accident. The pilot and co-pilot were killed. The flight attendant survived.

Among those killed was Robert D. Leyden, 55, executive vice president of Bankers Trust Co. His wife, Eileen, 53, was injured. The couple, returning from a convention and vacation, were on standby. Leyden, the father of six, had called to say they had made it on.

A son, Daniel J. Leyden, was celebrating his 23rd birthday. His siblings had gathered at a sister's home on Edgewood Avenue, a block from where the plane went down. His parents were to join them.

"Our first indication was when the fire trucks came around the corner," recalled Leyden, personnel administrator for the Albany County Department of Social Services. He walked to the crash site, not knowing it was his parents' plane.

"As time went by and we did not hear from them, we became more concerned," he said. "We had an idea of what time they were due in. They hadn't called."

"We first heard about my father around 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning." His mother, who died a few years ago, was in surgery that night. The family remained close, relying on her strength, he said.

"I don't know if I could put into words what that experience was all about," he said.

The flight was routine until 4 minutes and 41 seconds before impact, the NTSB concluded. Because the pilot was preoccupied with a malfunctioning cruise pitch lock, a device on the propeller, he was not attentive to the rapid loss of altitude. Attempts by the crew to feather the troublesome left propeller, preparing it for landing, proved futile.

Mohawk subsequently was bought by Allegheny Airlines. Allegheny became USAir, which has just changed its name to US Airways.

Tom Devane, 68, recalled witnessing the crash from his house three doors away at Edgewood and Melrose avenues. He was paneling the family room when he looked up and saw the plane so close "you could almost see the people looking out."

From a clear vantage he watched in horror as the airliner plunged into the home of Joseph and Marcia Rosen. He heard a "muffled poof" and called police, whose lines were busy. He then told the fire department.

"It hit right in the middle of the house; lifted the house right up, and it came back down again" on top of the plane, Devane said. He went to the site; it was eerily silent. He tried but couldn't open a door on the plane.

"The theory was he was trying to land on the State Office Campus parking lot a couple blocks over," said Charles Dumas, then Capitol Bureau chief for the New York Daily News, and the first reporter on the scene. "But he was too low."

People along the flight path over Albany spotted the low-flying plane for miles.

One was Jack Cassidy, then communications director at Albany Med. Traveling west on Delaware Avenue, Cassidy saw Flight 405 and said, "Gee, that Mohawk plane is awfully low on its approach."

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

"That was a foreboding observation," he said last week from his home in Venice, Fla. He arrived home, put on a hamburger for dinner, and within minutes a nurse called to say the hospital was invoking its disaster plan.

Meanwhile, what occurred at the Rosen home was miraculous.

The family, Joseph and Marcia Rosen and their sons, Lawrence, 9, and Roger, almost 7, were watching "The Partridge Family" in the rear family room. Joe Rosen, a contractor and developer, had been at a seminar, and it was the first night the family was together. They had turned on the back floodlights to catch the softly falling snowflakes. It was 13.

"All of a sudden, I heard a pop and then everything went quiet for a long, long time," Joe Rosen recalled.

At impact, the family was thrown clear of the house, landing in the back. Joe Rosen, 68 and now of Slingerlands, figures the floor-to-ceiling windows along the back wall were blown out, and they were sucked out.

Marcia, now 60, fell in and out of consciousness and remembers lying on the ground freezing.

Rosen was in a daze, searching for his family. He spent a few days hospitalized with soreness. She was hospitalized for a week with an ear concussion.

Young tenants lived upstairs. Peter Surgent died. His wife, Hannah, suffered minor injuries.

An empty lot stood at the site for 12 to 15 years until the Rosens sold the land. Another home stands there today. The neighborhood has remained the same, Devane said.

Every March 3, and this year will be no exception, the Rosens have their sons, who live out-of-town, home for dinner. Marcia Rosen said the family is grateful it can look back after 25 years. They also realize "materialistic things are not very important."

Cornell, the retired GE executive, feels the same. "I've changed my evaluation of life, on what I thought was important." He's become more involved in community service.

Down the block that night, Heidi Lewis heard a thump, went outside and told her husband, Dick, a tail of a plane was sticking out of a house.

Dick Lewis walked to the site. "It had the look of shooting a movie, until you got close up and you saw the remains of human beings being stacked up on the lawn."

Dr. Richard Balsam was a few blocks away at the home of his partner, Dr. David Pankin, to celebrate Pankin's birthday. They heard sirens and a news report and rushed to the scene.

"Before I knew it, I was in the plane," Balsam said, without any regard for his own safety. There were fears the plane could explode, "but I didn't think of those things at the time. We had to get to the people."

Balsam attended to passengers, flashlights piercing the dark. Pankin set up a triage station outside, assessing extent of injuries.

It was hectic in the emergency room, Albany Med's spokesman Cassidy recalled, with media and relatives converging. In the confusion, it was initially reported 18 died.

The Rev. James L. Lefebvre, police chaplain, left a banquet when the call came in. He remembers anointing dead passengers and hearing others scream.

Volunteer firefighters were using a metal saw to cut into the plane, he said. Concerned about kerosene fumes from the plane's leaking fuel tanks, he waved firefighters away. They thought the priest was a passenger and shouted, "Hang on  we'll be right there."
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Children and teens across the state were allowed to show their faces in school on Wednesday for the first time since 2020.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Department of Health announced that masks would become optional in K-12 schools last week citing declining COVID-19 numbers and updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Despite worries, there was no COVID-19 surge in schools following the February break, according to analysis from the Times Union.

The CDC now only recommends masking in indoor settings, including in schools, in areas with a high community transmission rate.

Local educators and parents say that so far, some kids are choosing to keep the face coverings on as they adjust to the new rules. Schools have advised parents and students that bullying over mask preferences won't be tolerated.

But even with relaxed masking requirements, state health officials say most other COVID-19 mitigation strategies remain in place, and in some cases, masking is still required.

There will also be some key changes to contact tracing and quarantining, according to March 1 guidance from the state Department of Health. Notably, students and school staff who are exposed to someone with the virus will no longer have to isolate, regardless of vaccination status.

Teachers who are unvaccinated, however, are still required to be tested for COVID-19 weekly.

Here is the status of some other COVID-19 protocols as mask wearing has largely ended:

High-risk areas

P-12 schools are required to offer COVID-19 testing to unvaccinated students on a weekly basis in geographic areas identified by the CDC as having moderate, substantial, or high transmission rates. Parental consent is required for testing a student at school.

County health departments are advised by the CDC and "strongly encouraged" by the state to implement universal masking when the COVID-19 burden is high.

Currently, 10 New York counties have high COVID-19 rates, according to the CDC. It is up to county health officials to impose masking requirements in schools.

Most schools in high COVID-19 areas appeared to have made masks optional on Wednesday, based on notices posted to their websites.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

In the Capital Region, Albany and Rensselaer have medium infection levels, according to the CDC calculations.

Positive or exposed to COVID-19

After contracting COVID-19, individuals may return to school after five days of isolation and must mask in school and in indoor public spaces on days 6-10, according to the new state guidelines.

Individuals who are exposed or potentially exposed to COVID-19 should wear a mask for 10 days in school and in indoor public spaces. They are not required to quarantine, regardless of vaccination status.

Typically, anyone who was within 3 feet of someone for more than 15 minutes who later tests positive for COVID-19 is considered a close contact and must wear a mask for 10 days, under the new rules.

Since "individual" contact tracing is time-intensive, the state now allows schools to implement "group" or "classroom" contact tracing,

Group contact tracing requires less information and less effort, but potentially identifies a large number of people as exposed or potentially exposed. This may be a concern in the middle- and high-school settings, where students change classrooms throughout the day.
Times Union archive

ALBANY  A former public defender in Greene County who brutally beat his girlfriend, fracturing her skull, was formally disbarred Thursday.

Anthony Pastel, 38, whose office was based in Catskill, faced automatic disbarment when he pleaded guilty in January to second-degree assault, a felony, in Greene County Court to resolve an attempted murder indictment.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis admonished a group of high school students Wednesday for wearing face masks around him, calling it "covid theater" and telling them to remove the face coverings, despite the event being held in a part of Florida where the CDC still recommends indoor masking.

In a video captured by WFLA News, DeSantis can be seen walking toward a lectern at the University of South Florida, where the governor was slated to announce new cybersecurity education funding. Behind the lectern stood a row of several students wearing face masks.

"You do not have to wear those masks. I mean, please take them off," DeSantis, a Republican, says in the video, which prompts some laughter.

"Honestly, it's not doing anything," he continues, pointing his finger at the students. "We've gotta stop with this covid theater. So if you wanna wear it, fine, but this is ridiculous."

He then turns to the lectern, lets out an audible huff, shakes his head and begins speaking: "Alright, well it's good to be at USF."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week released new guidance that eased recommendations on mask-wearing for people in parts of the United States with low coronavirus transmission rates. However, according to CDC data, Hillsborough County in Florida - where DeSantis held his event Wednesday - remains an area with high levels of the coronavirus in the community and where masks are recommended indoors.

In addition, the CDC recommends masking for people who may need to take additional precautions for themselves or for their family members if they are not up to date with their coronavirus vaccinations - including children under 5 years old who are not eligible for vaccines yet - or if they have underlying medical conditions or are immunocompromised.

A CDC study has shown that wearing any kind of mask indoors offers significant protection against the coronavirus, with N95 or KN95 masks offering the best protection.

Representatives for the governor's office did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment or questions about whether it was appropriate for DeSantis to scold the teens for mask-wearing. On social media, DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw was unapologetic about the encounter.

"I mean, someone had to say it, after 2 years of propaganda that terrified and manipulated young people," Pushaw tweeted. "Breathe free, feel safe and be happy."

Hillsborough County Public Schools confirmed that the students standing behind DeSantis were from the district's Middleton High School.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

"As always, our students should be valued and celebrated," district superintendent Addison Davis said in a statement. "It is a student and parent's choice to protect their health in a way they feel most appropriate. We are proud of the manner in which our students represented themselves and our school district."

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed nearly 1 million people in the United States, DeSantis has consistently resisted or outright opposed mitigation measures in Florida such as masking, lockdowns and testing, often calling the steps an assault on individual freedoms. Last year, amid a surge of the delta variant of the coronavirus, DeSantis issued an executive order prohibiting schools from enacting mask mandates, threatening to withhold funding if they did so.

In January, amid a surge of the omicron variant, DeSantis compared testing asymptomatic people to "lockdown by stealth." He has refused to disclose whether he received a booster shot, prompting even former president Donald Trump - whose base comprises much of the anti-vaccination contingent - to mock DeSantis as "gutless."

Last month, DeSantis put out new statewide guidance advising "against wearing facial coverings in a community setting" and limiting isolation for Floridians who have tested positive for the coronavirus to five days.

- - -

The Washington Post's Tim Craig contributed to this report.
SCHENECTADY  Ishwarnand 'Krisso' Goberdhan testified Wednesday he was surprised to learn while in his native Guyana that the man he chased days earlier while driving his wifes SUV in Schenectady in a bid to retrieve his stolen wallet was dead.

Before you got out of the vehicle, do you recall any impacts? defense attorney Brian Mercy asked his client in the Schenectady County courtroom where Goberdhan is on trial for murder and manslaughter in the Christmas Day 2019 death of Alejandro Melendez.

He was moving, he was trying to say something, but like I said, I was scared, I was nervous, Goberdan replied.

The barber and part-time DJ, who is also charged with leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in death, told jurors he didnt recall striking Melendez with the SUV and only tried to use it to cut him off to get his wallet back.

His lack of memory of key details during the altercation became a common refrain during Assistant District Attorney Christina Tremante-Pelhams cross-examination.

Is there a reason you have such little memory of that night? Tremante-Pelham asked him at one point.

I was nervous, I was shocked, I was scared, replied Goberdhan.

He insisted he never heard or felt the vehicle he was driving hit Melendez, and that it was only after seeing surveillance video of portions of the confrontation that he realized he had hit the man.

Still, Goberdhan maintained to Mercy that despite being angry at Melendez for swiping his wallet after he agreed to give the stranger a few dollars to get some food, he didnt set out to harm Melendez.

My thinking is that after I go after him, hes gonna throw the wallet down, he said. I was upset, it doesnt mean that Im angry, it doesnt mean that I want to hurt somebody,

The prosecution in opening statements earlier this week argued that the now 37-year-old Goberdhan deliberately ran down Melendez, 51, by striking him with the SUV three times in a case of "a life for a wallet." The defense disputed that claim describing the confrontation was a tragic accident and in no way intentional.

Responding to questions from his lawyer, Gobderdhan said he was an emotional wreck during the ordeal that early morning, crying while feeling sad and scared at the same time while driving after Melendez.

The stolen wallet, he said, contained his and his young daughters green card, Social Security cards, his wifes credit card, and $2,500 in cash.

The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote.

He said that even after reading news accounts about the killing he didn't think it had anything to do with him because of the age of the victim, coupled with his insistence that he never knew the man was dead until after hearing from his wife.

The prosecutor asserted that Goberdhans work experience as a professional driver taking people to and from the airport in Guyana along with being a forklift operator in this country meant he knew the dangers of heavy machinery especially if they were to hit a person.

He also denied telling the owner of the Schenectady barber shop where he once worked, who testified for the prosecution, that he struck Melendez when he slid on ice after hitting the brakes to stop the vehicle.

I agree that the vehicle hit him, but not with my intention, he said at one point during cross-examination in response to a question from Tremante-Pelhan.

She again showed jurors a picture of Melendezs lifeless body and played surveillance footage of one instance of the SUV striking Melendez. Once he got his wallet back, Goberdhan recounted driving to his home and parking the SUV. He testified that when he returned to the parking lot in his Hyundai Elantra, he didnt see any signs of a body.

He flew to Guyana,and was arrested when he returned to Schenectady in January 2019.

I never been in trouble, I never hurt anybody ... I am very sorry that somebody died, and its not something that I did on purpose or was aware of, he said.

If convicted on the top murder charge, Goberdhan could face 25 to years to life in prison.
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ALBANY  A state Supreme Court judge said that New York's political maps are likely to survive for at least one year rather than throw the political calendar into turmoil.

It is "highly unlikely" the maps would be invalidated for use in 2022, Steuben County Supreme Court Judge Patrick McAllister said after a court hearing Thursday. It would be a "more prudent course" to let the maps be used this year, he added.

The case, however, will proceed beyond the lower court; a final decision by the state Supreme Court needs to be made by April 4, though that decision could be appealed to the state Court of Appeals, New York's highest bench. Republicans contend there is still potential to use new maps for this year's political cycle.

Expert testimony is slated to be given on March 14, just after the deadline for limited discovery materials to be submitted to the court  although that due date is expected to be appealed.

Republicans believe both requirements can help them prove that the maps approved by the Democratic supermajority in the state Legislature earlier this year are unconstitutional.

The pressing question of whether the maps could be used for this year's midterm elections appeared to experts to have been settled, based on the judge's position Thursday.

That would mean the maps  which tend to favor Democrats in 22 out of 26 congressional seats  could be used for the June primary and November election.

"That's the big takeaway today," said Jeffrey M. Wice, a senior fellow at the New York Census & Redistricting Institute, part of New York Law School. "The judge said at this point it is too late to interfere with the 2022 election."

Tuesday was the first day for collecting signatures to get onto the upcoming primary ballot. McAllister pointed to that process already underway as a reason to look toward changing the maps for 2023 if they are found to be unconstitutional.

"It would be totally impractical and illogical given the judicial reluctance to interfere with an ongoing election," Wice said.

But the Republicans challenging the maps believe that there remains a path to new district lines for 2022.

"The case is very much alive," said former U.S. Rep. John Faso, a Republican who is closely involved in the challenge.

Faso said that he understood the judge to have said he "wasn't prepared today" to invalidate the maps because of the political calendar. But Faso believes the courts would be "reluctant to proceed with unconstitutional districts" in 2022 and there remains time to move the political calendar.

The calendar on the state Board of Elections is a dense set of charts with dates for all stages of the 2022 elections. At the top, it currently reads: "Please be aware that since this is a redistricting year this calendar is subject to change by the Legislature and should be used advisedly."

Democratic leaders in the Legislature have shown no interest in moving any of the dates.

Federal elections, which include those for Congress, are mandated by federal court to be held in June in New York. The Legislature, in 2019, agreed to move its state elections to correspond to federal primaries for the sake of cost and turnout.

The timeline for the redistricting process  which was initially in the hands of the newly created Independent Redistricting Commission  were determined in 2014, prior to the overhaul of the electoral calendar.

A ballot proposal on last November's ballot would have addressed some of the issues surrounding the tight timeline as well as the authority of the Legislature to take over the map-drawing duties if the IRC failed to agree on one set.

The proposition faced staunch opposition from the Republican and Conservative parties, and was soundly defeated by voters. State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs drew criticism for failing to mount a campaign to support the measure.

The GOP's arguments are twofold: First, the plaintiffs claim, the Legislature does not have the constitutional authority to draw the maps because the ballot measure failed; second, the maps are gerrymandered with a partisan intent to favor Democrats.

State Attorney General Letitia James, Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins dispute both arguments.

The case concerns "whether or not the Democrats purposely tailored a map to eliminate districts currently held by Republicans," McAllister  himself an elected Republican  said in his order following Thursday's court proceeding.

Following the ballot proposal's defeat, the Legislature passed a bill providing that authority through its own lawmaking ability. The governor signed that bill into law.

"Obviously all of these arguments are intertwined," Heather L. McKay, a lawyer for Hochul, said at the hearing Thursday. She argued the failed constitutional amendment had several elements and only some of them were necessary to achieve through the constitutional amendment process as opposed to conventional legislative action.

Even if the Legislature does have the authority to draw the maps, Republicans argue that this set was drawn in a way that "Democrats have essentially guaranteed that they will win more congressional districts  and thus more power  than is warranted by the partys popular support," according to the complaint.

Democrats insist the maps were drawn fairly.
Whenever Danyale Sturdivant has a tough day, she channels the sound of her mothers voice in her head. The quote that repeats over and over contains the words she translates into the energy to keep going.

My mother would say, You can get down, but dont stay down because youve got work to do,  Sturdivant said. And as a single working mother of a child on the autism spectrum, shes embracing the work to be done to improve the quality of life for her son, and to help other families of color navigate what can be an unexpected, difficult path forward.

The journey with autism can be so isolating, said Sturdivant, of Albany, who founded Living Autism Out Loud, a nonprofit created to decrease the cultural barriers faced by parents who are Black, indigenous and people of color, while accessing support for children with developmental disabilities. Her son, now 12, was diagnosed to be on the autism spectrum at 2 1/2 years old.

Studivant started the nonprofit in January. She consults and educates service providers on how they can better engage with BIPOC families and their children, through presentations and speaking engagements. That education, in turn, is meant to share her lived experience and help to smooth out the process and provide a layer of education in an area where it is lacking.

It is comforting when parents can speak to professionals of color or those who understand our history, struggles and barriers, Sturdivant said. However, in my experience, there are very few providers of color available, and so the next best thing is to ensure medical and social services providers can offer a culturally responsive environment.

Sturdivant is a licensed clinical social worker, and her education from Russell Sage College and Columbia Universitys School of Social Work has helped her develop a plan to implement services she says are deeply needed. She has participated in more than two dozen speaking engagements and seminars, tackling topics related to her perspective on parenting a child of color on the autism spectrum at conferences and events from New York to North Carolina.

The culturally responsive environment Sturdivant aims to educate people about  and to achieve in medical and educational settings  involves all parties understanding of how racism, implicit biases and microaggressions have an impact on BIPOC children with developmental disabilities.

My goal is to offer assistance to providers in shifting their thought process, and acknowledging the past and present experiences by BIPOC families who are seeking services for their children with autism or other intellectual developmental disabilities, Sturdivant said. When this happens, honest conversations can take place between providers and parents, ultimately leading to better service outcomes and culturally sustaining partnerships.

While her role as a mother is a critical part of the organizations foundation, she is conscious of the way she presents her story in new conversations, which are happening daily as the nonprofit begins to take off in the first of its three startup phases. The parent voice plays a large role in improving overall family engagement with medical providers, human services and educational institutions.

As a single black mother of a male son with autism, I ensure to communicate there are additional fears and anxieties that go along with raising a Black boy with autism, Sturdivant said. Its imperative I continue to collaborate with service providers in the area so that we can more effectively meet the needs of BIPOC families in this space.

Initially, Sturdivant struggled in making connections when she began her nonprofit, similar to the way she did while scheduling appointments and securing the support she sought for her young son after his diagnosis.

Ive learned the importance of allyship, communication and collaboration, Sturdivant said. I started out not knowing where to look, but with the help of familiar members who had experience in nonprofits, I was able to move past these barriers quickly.

As Living Autism Out Loud continues to accelerate and build its programs and partnerships, Sturdivant is already looking to whats next. She hints at phase two of the startup journey, which involves becoming more involved with the BIPOC families served by her organization, and to expand her network to include college and university partners in phase three.

I dont want to reveal much too soon besides that LAOL will continue to grow, said Sturdivant. Id love to have college students majoring in special education research become involved with the organization, and for them to visit my website to learn more.
The commercial vacancy rate in Tipperary rose by 0.1% to 14.5% in the last quarter of 2021 with Clonmel and Thurles having the highest vacancy rates, according to the latest GeoDirectory Commercial Vacancy Rates Report, published today.

Nationally, the commercial vacancy rate was 13.9% in Q4 2021, the highest level of commercial vacancy recorded by GeoDirectory since the report began in 2013. The report, prepared by EY, found that commercial vacancies increased in 15 out of 26 counties.

County Commercial Vacancy Rates

The highest commercial vacancy rates were recorded in the west of the country, continuing the trend observed in previous reports. Sligo, at 20.0%, was the county with the highest commercial vacancy rate, followed by Leitrim and Roscommon, both at 17.1%. In Q4 2021, the average commercial vacancy rate for Connacht was 17.3%.

Meath (10.2%) was the county with the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the state, with Wicklow (10.4%) and Kerry (11.3%) also recording notably low rates.

In Dublin, the commercial vacancy rate increased by 1.0pp in the year to Q4 2021, reaching a rate of 12.9%. This year-on-year increase was second only to Laois, which recorded a 1.1pp increase to stand at 14.2%.

Analysis of towns and Dublin districts

This report examined the commercial vacancy rates among a sample of 80 towns located across the state. Of the towns in Tipperary surveyed, Thurles and Clonmel both had the highest commercial vacancy rate (17.9%), while Nenagh had the lowest (17.2%)

Nationally, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal was the town with the highest rate in Q4 2021, at 30.0%. Edenderry, Co. Offaly (27.7%), Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford (26.3%), Kilrush, Co. Clare (26.2%), and Roscommon Town (24.2%) completed the top five towns by highest commercial vacancy rate.

Gorey, Co. Wexford, at 7.8%, was the town with the lowest commercial vacancy rate in the country. Greystones, Co. Wicklow (7.9%) was the town with the second lowest rate, while Carrigaline, Co. Cork (8.5%) had the third lowest.

In the capital, Dublin 2 recorded the largest year-on-year increase in vacancy, with a 3.1pp increase to reach a vacancy rate of 16.8%, the highest across Dublins postal districts. The Dublin postcode with the lowest vacancy rate was Dublin 16, at 6.8%. A total of 16 postal districts recorded an increase in their vacancy rates since Q4 2020.

Analysis of Shopping Centres (2016-2021)

For the first time, GeoDirectory compiled a nationwide sample of over 3,000 commercial units located within 68 shopping centres and analysed the change in vacancy rates in these centres between 2016 and 2021.

The analysis found that the total stock of shopping centre units remained largely static over the five years in question. However, the number of vacant units in shopping centres nationally increased from 429 in 2016 to 477 in 2021. This amounts to an 11.2% increase across the period analysed.

Commercial Address Points by Sector

Using NACE* codes to classify units by economic sector, GeoDirectory is able to identify broad trends in the use of commercial units nationally. Of the 182,243 occupied address points in the state in Q4 2021, 87.3% of units have been allocated a NACE code.

In the year to Q4 2021, there were 556 fewer Retail and Wholesale units recorded across the country, amounting to a decrease of 1.5%. This percentage YoY decline was only exceeded by Financial and Insurance units (-1.7%), albeit with a much smaller decrease in terms of physical units, at 74.

Looking specifically at the Accommodation and Food (A&F) Service sector, 22,656 units were classified under this sector in Q4 2021. Kerry, with 24.2% of the countys total commercial stock in Accommodation and Food Service units, had the highest proportion of such units in the country, followed by Clare (20.7%), Donegal (19.3%), Leitrim (18.7%) and Mayo (17.9%).

Commenting on the findings of the report, Dara Keogh, Chief Executive of GeoDirectory said, At 13.9%, the commercial vacancy rate in Q4 2021 was at its highest level since GeoDirectory began reporting on this data in 2013. This increase in commercial vacancies is not reflected in terms of numbers in employment, which according to the CSO increased steadily in 2021. This may suggest that Covid-19 has accelerated businesses to pivot towards enhancing their online presence and scaling-back their physical offering on main streets. As working from home is expected to continue beyond the pandemic, and online commerce increases in popularity, there needs to be a policy conversation around how vacant commercial properties are regenerated on our main streets for wider benefit.

Annette Hughes, Director, EY Economic Advisory said, Our analysis in previous reports has shown a clear divide in terms of commercial activity on the east and west coast. This trend remains visible, however commercial vacancies increased in 15 out of 26 counties last year. Dublin recorded the second highest year-on-year rise in commercial vacancies, second only to Laois, both in the Leinster region. I think the most interesting statistic is the over 29,000 vacant commercial units across Ireland. When combined with our over 90,000 vacant residential units in our Residential Building Report published in January, this suggest that there are almost 120,000 vacant buildings, a good proportion of which could potentially be returned to commercial, community or residential uses on the streets of towns and cities across the country."

Also read:
Toy Story music composer Randy Newman has been forced to cancel his European tour after discovering his neck was broken.

The Oscar-winning songwriter, 78, said he had been really looking forward to performing in Europe but has rescheduled his An Evening With Randy Newman tour, which had been due to start in March.

Newman had been due to perform in Dublin on March 15 and March 16.

Randy Newman reschedulesAn Evening With Randy NewmanLive in Concert European Tour Dates Randy's European tour, due to start in March 2022, will unfortunately have to be rescheduled. For the latest information visit the official Randy Newman website: https://t.co/SpSRoAnu4S pic.twitter.com/zVD0VjqrVo  Randy Newman (@RandyNewman) March 2, 2022

In a statement, Newman said: Recently, I noticed I was shrinking. People over whom I had towered now towered over me.

Turns out, my neck was broken.

Newman, who also created music for Monsters Inc and Monsters University, said he had had a successful operation but he has to take extended recovery time.

The doctor said Im not quite ready to tour, he added.

I was really looking forward to coming to Europe to perform. I miss performing a great deal and I look forward to a time when I can come.

Im sorry I wont see you this time but I will see you soon.
The growth in energy prices will have a serious impact on the costs of transport, industry and farming sectors, the Taoiseach has warned.

Micheal Martin said the implications of the outbreak of war in Ukraine will be felt for some time, and will be fundamental to the continent of Europe.

He said there has been an exponential growth in energy prices in recent weeks, and that food security will be an issue across Europe.

In teeth of the war, they are growing even further, Mr Martin added.

We have an open mind in what is the optimal route for Ireland to take to make sure industry continues, and the economy continues to operate.

We are moving out of the worst of the winter but there are very serious issues in terms of input costs, in terms of the transport industry, farming and fertiliser and other costs.

Food security will be an issue across Europe. These are enormous issues facing us.

Mr Martin added: The situation is very serious and I am of a view that the implications will be with us for some time, and they will be quite fundamental in terms of the continent of Europe and the world.

First of all the humanitarian crisis resulting from this continuing barbaric attack on the people of Ukraine, which I think is shocking people all over the world, the sheer scale and nature of that barbarity.

Right now, the focus is on logistical supports and financial supports to those at the borders that are to both countries like Poland, Hungary, and others who are looking after huge numbers of people.

So we have to make sure that we can do everything we possibly can to support that effort.

He said it is hard to estimate the number of people fleeing Ukraine who will arrive in Ireland.

We need immediate action from the Government to protect workers and families from the spiralling cost of living  @conwaywalsh Many people have no access to public transport and have no choice but to pay the ever increasing proportions of their incomes on petrol & diesel. pic.twitter.com/PLYi5mckAH  Sinn Fein (@sinnfeinireland) March 3, 2022

There is a sense now that this is going to be a longer situation than might have been originally viewed and therefore, areas around accommodation, economy, energy, the impact on energy will be significant, Mr Martin added.

This is a wartime situation and weve got to get our mindset focused on that.

We have to look through everything through the prism that this is a wartime situation, which changes everything.

We have to look at the energy issue. We have to look at the food issue in terms of the continent, and in terms of what does this do to food patterns now in terms of the capacity of Ukraine, and Russia jointly exporting massive amounts of grain and so on.

Senior government ministers meeting on Thursday will discuss the impact of the Ukraine crisis on Ireland.

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said ministers will look at how Ireland can help the people of Ukraine, both in its political and humanitarian response.

There will be a discussion on what else we may need to do or be able to do to help households and help businesses and farmers who are going to be affected by the sanctions and the economic disruption caused by the crisis in Ukraine, Mr Varadkar added.

Ireland doesnt have a lot of direct trade with Ukraine or Belarus or Russia, but there will be indirect effects.

He said the Government will give consideration to any further measures to help rising energy costs.

Speaking during leaders questions, Sinn Feins Rose Conway-Walsh said: I believe that the way out of this, as with any conflict, is through politics and through dialogue.

Undoubtedly, those severe sanctions are going to impact on ordinary citizens right across Europe and further afield.

The price of oil and gas on international markets is on the rise once again and this follows massive price rises which are already putting huge pressure on households throughout this stage and contributing to the massive increase in the cost of living.

People want something to be done, they need to feel it in their pockets. They need to feel it in their household incomes. Theyre already struggling.

I acknowledge some of the measures that have been done but some of them dont kick in until September.

Mr Varadkar also said that Ireland needs to increase spending on its defence.

Referring to Irelands militarily neutral stance, he said that the country may no longer be able to assume it will have the backing of the US or the UK if it is attacked.

The assumption that weve made for 70 years now, is that nobody would attack us because were a country thats neutral militarily, Mr Varadkar added.

Ukraine was neutral militarily. It wasnt part of any military alliance.

It was attacked because it was politically part of the West, or at least wanted to be politically part of the West.

We make the assumption that even if we are attacked, the British and the Americans will come and save us anyway.

Im not sure thats the kind of assumption a sovereign country like ours should make.
Students sit at their desks during the first ever Student Input Committee meeting held at Titusville High School. The meeting was held by Junior Council members Gavin Griffin (middle) and Kat Henderson.
This time around Northland political slap fighting is simply not as much fun.



Remember in 2019 there was widespread angst over a pricey Keurig machine that set the courthouse back 600 BUCKS!!!

Now, the perks, payoffs and overspending is endemic.

Sadly, it doesn't seem like social media bullies made much of an impact after YEARS of complaints . . .



"Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway's audit of the previous Clay County Commission found instances of waste, secrecy and generous benefits to certain employees, among other findings."



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Long-awaited, blistering audit of Clay County government cites waste, secrecy and other abuses The Missouri Auditor's long-awaited audit of Clay County described how former commissioners wasted public resources and cloaked those activities in layers of secrecy. Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway presented the audit, a document spanning 162 pages, to the Clay County Commission in Liberty on Wednesday.

Missouri auditor Nicole Galloway rates Clay County 'poor' in audit KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Missouri auditor Nicole Galloway released her long-awaited audit of Clay County Wednesday, rating the county's operations as "poor." A summary of the 162-page report outlined 11 specific areas, ranging from board meetings to contract approvals, as well as compensation policies and procurement procedures.

MO auditor: Clay County spent millions it won't get back due to two former commissioners LIBERETY, Mo. - A four-year audit into the Clay County Commission has finally been released. It's recommending the county significantly improve its operations in the future. Missouri Auditor Nicole Galloway started her investigation into the commissioners in December 2018.

Clay County receives lowest rating possible in citizen requested state audit Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway gave Clay County a "poor" audit rating, citing years of mismanagement by former county leaders.A poor rating is the lowest rating given by the state auditor's office.The county's new administration says it's already working to fix many of the 11 findings of concern Galloway highlighted in the audit her office released Wednesday afternoon.Clay County citizens requested a state audit of county leadership in 2018.

Developing . . .
In this compilation we note that that KCMO homicide count remains dangerously high and comparable with record setting numbers.

2022: 23 homicides so far this year.

2021: 25 homicides around this date on the calendar (157 total).

2020: 26 homicides around this date on the calendar (179 total).



And so, in this compilation we share info on suspected homicides, mugshots, ALLEGED misdeeds and court action . . . As always, we try to finish with a bit of good news.

Here's TKC news gathering . . .

KCPD declares suspicious death a homicide after body discovered near train tracks The Kansas City, Missouri Police Department has successfully identified a woman found dead near train tracks in Kansas City on Tuesday. The investigation into her death was publicly declared a homicide on Wednesday. The victim has been identified as Sheryl Turley, 38, and a Kansas City resident. Tuesday just after 9:45 a.m.

Thousands now asking about Kansas City mother's mysterious death KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City mother's death is getting nationwide attention. FOX4 brought you Asia Maynard's story last week, but now even celebrities are sharing it on social media. The Kansas City Police Department said it hasn't received a final determination from the medical examiner about how Maynard died.

KCPD: Police chase involving shooting suspect ends with crash in NKC Two people are in custody after a Wednesday afternoon police chase that caused multiple crashes in Kansas City's Northland.Officers with the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department began pursuing a driver that authorities believed was involved in a shooting, police said. The vehicle involved, a white Lexus SUV, had also been reported stolen.

Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper injured after Kansas City police chase KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper suffered minor injuries following a police chase that began in Kansas City, Missouri, and ended in North Kansas City. The chase began near Independence Avenue and Hardesty Avenue at around 1:22 p.m. and ended near east 16th Avenue and Diamond Parkway.

Suspect wanted in fatal crash and shooting arrested after standoff in Bonner Springs BONNER SPRINGS, KS (KCTV) -- A man wanted in a January fatal crash in Kansas City, MO, and a later shooting in KCK was arrested Wednesday morning after a standoff at a Bonner Springs home. Yucasante Oropreza, 20, was taken into custody around 9 a.m.

Second Kansas City man charged in 2021 triple murder KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City man is the second person to be charged in a triple murder. Jackson County Prosecutors charged 21-year-old Joshua Bell faced three counts of accessory to second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.

Victim with life-threating injuries in east Kansas City shooting KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Police Department is on scene at a shooting in east Kansas City. Officers were dispatched to the 6400 block of East 16th Street for a reported shooting at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. One victim is reported to have life-threatening injuries.

Family who lost loved one warns of the dangers of fentanyl A deadly drug increasing its grip on people across the nation and here at home.

Straight talk from Kevin Strickland after 100 days of freedom KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV)-It's been 100 days since Kevin Strickland was released from the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri. That's just a blink after spending 43 years locked up for a crime a judge has ruled he did not commit. Strickland reached out to KCTV5 to thank Kansas City for its support.

Kansas City-area nonprofit aims to help grandparents, grandkids impacted by violence KANSAS CITY, Mo - A nonprofit in Kansas City, Missouri, is helping families heal from trauma and bridge generational gaps. Center for Conflict Resolution started the "Generation to Generation" program in Oct. of 2021 to give grandparents left to raise their grandchildren the tools they need to take on the role.

Developing . . .
Postscript on today's rising temperatures . . .

A great many people enjoyed the nicer weather but, of course, some see it as a sign do potential doom that could hit the planet in less then 12 years.

Check-it . . .



"Kansas City now has a new record high temperature for March 2nd. We hit 83 degrees in town, with mid 80s not too far away in Kansas."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

New record high temperature set in Kansas City KANSAS CITY, Mo.- As of 2 PM this afternoon, Kansas City now has a new record high temperature for March 2nd. We hit 83 degrees in town, with mid 80s not too far away in Kansas. We may even t...

Related reading . . .

UN climate report: 'Atlas of human suffering' worse, bigger Deadly with extreme weather now, climate change is about to get so much worse. It is likely going to make the world sicker, hungrier, poorer, gloomier and way more dangerous in the next 18 years with an "unavoidable" increase in risks, a new United Nations science report says.

Climate change threatens nearly one third of U.S. hazardous chemical facilities Nearly one third of the hazardous chemical facilities in the United States are at risk from climate-driven floods, storms and wildfires, according to a new analysis by the Government Accountability Office. The federal watchdog analyzed more than 10,000 factories, refineries, water treatment plants and other facilities that manufacture, store or use dangerous chemicals.

How climate change is re-shaping the way Gen Z works "Climate change gives me an insane amount of existential anxiety," says Lillian Zhou. Many young people can probably relate to the 26-year-old Zhou's worries about the climate - and her desire to work for a company that's doing something about it.

A Ukrainian Climate Scientist is Uniquely Positioned to Explain the Real Threat to the Global Order Svitlana Krakovska, a Ukrainian climate scientist and an author of the new IPCC report, on the report's connection to the Russian invasion.

28 percent of Americans don't want to be carbon neutral, new poll finds Three-quarters of Americans believe the U.S. ought to participate in international efforts to address climate change, but a majority remain pessimistic about those efforts. A Pew Research Center poll published Tuesday found that 53 percent of those surveyed didn't think the world would avoid climate change's worst impacts.

Developing . . .
In a free society government has limited authority to restrict what citizen can view.

In fact, the US Constitution offers more freedom to consider various forms of opinion, info and information than ANYWHERE else on the planet.



However . . .

Tech companies aren't constrained by free speech rules and most of your feed is just a big, fat, fancy advertiser algorithm.



Now . . .

In time of war, hype from "many sides" is flowing rampantly.

Even more importantly, there's a local connection and a question about content straight from Moscow.

Check-it . . .



Most of the day, KCXL 1140AM broadcasts religious programming and conservative talk shows. However, for three-hour blocks in the morning and evening, Alpine Broadcastings three signals flip to Radio Sputnik. Thats the English language broadcast service of the Russian government. The program originates from a studio in Washington D.C.



Radio station owners state Radio Sputnik is popular with European families living near Kansas City, and its emphasis on free speech is important . . .



However, having the information come directly from Russian leadership seems to make people around Liberty uneasy. Members of the community FOX4 spoke with on Wednesday were unaware the radio station and its content existed here.



Its propaganda, Linda Tarwater said. I mean, Russia invaded Ukraine. How can you support that station?

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Kansas City-area radio station stands firm broadcasting Russian news LIBERTY, Mo. - A small Clay County radio station broadcasts news and updates from Russia. It's effectively state-run radio from the Kremlin, directly sponsored by the Russian government. Alpine Broadcasting, which is based in Liberty, has owners who said their signal is a service to Russian people living stateside.

Further reading . . .



Crimea river: Russia gets cancelled in the US Russian products and companies are facing harsh backlash across the US after the invasion of Ukraine At least 10 states have now banned the sale of Russian vodka from state-run alcohol stores Many states are also moving to divest Russian assets from pension funds and sever business ties DirectTV will no longer broadcast Russian state-run media channels American movie releases have been cancelled and musical acts pulled the plug on tours Russia is now facing a flood of boycotts and divestment in the US and around the world in response to Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Russian News Outlets RT and Sputnik Are Now Banned in Europe Over the past week as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has continued to cause death and destruction, governments around the world have introduced increasingly severe sanctions on Russia and its entities. On Wednesday, the EU imposed a ban on news outlets Russia Today and Sputnik from broadcasting and publishing within Europe.

RT sees its influence diminish as TV providers and tech companies take action against the Russia-backed outlet RT, the Russia-backed media outlet infamous for promoting Vladimir Putin's talking points, has seen its influence significantly diminish in recent days as cable carriers and social media companies have taken swift measures to block its reach.

Big Tech's Russia problem Uncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing - and changing us. On Friday morning, as Russia continued its unprovoked attacks on Ukraine, its government also launched an assault on Facebook, announcing that it would begin "partially restricting" access to the social media network in Russia, where there are an estimated 70 million users, because Facebook allegedly restricted pro-Russian news sites.

Tech's crackdown on Russian propaganda is a geopolitical high-wire act Russia's invasion of Ukraine is forcing Silicon Valley giants into a geopolitical high-wire act they have long tried to avoid. From Facebook and Google to Apple and Microsoft, platforms have moved to limit the reach of Kremlin-controlled media outlets. Google has booted Russian state media from its Google News service.

Developing . . .
This week Kansas City paid hacks and amateur urban planners were busy imagining "complete streets" without cars.



Meanwhile back in the real world . . .



TKC EXCLUSIVE!!! KANSAS CITY DOWNTOWN PARKING SPACE QUICKLY DISAPPEARS AS LOCAL WORKERS RETURN TO THE OFFICE!!!



Top echelon insiders share a perspective that might help a few plebs move ahead of their corporate overlords . . . Take a peek . . .



"Now is the time to lock-in a space because everybody is coming back. We've heard so many people complain about the evils of 'surface parking lots' but the spots remain in demand now that COVID seems to be on the decline. The return to the office in underway in KC. That means parking will be at a premium. Sure, bus options are great but for a lot of people that just isn't an option. For those who can't telecommute . . . The practical concern of getting an affordable parking space is something that can't be avoided . . . It's just a fact of life no matter what Bike/Walk wants us to believe . . . And for those people . . . Getting a good space early should be a concern. From what I've seen, the options are already becoming limited."



Accordingly . . .

COVID introduced scarcity back into American life and the fight for good downtown KCMO spaces should be no exception.

Meanwhile, we simply share this helpful info which contracts the protestations of so many Bike/Walk advocates who decry automobiles for commuting workers despite the fact that they all seem to drive big-ass trucks & SUVS to compliment their middle-class lifestyle.



Developing . . .


The Commander-In-Chief has seemingly reversed course on his demands for "equity" and racial progress.

Other than a token bit of hype for his SCOTUS nominee . . . Prez Biden didn't really mention the struggle for social justice during his State of The Union address . . .

What Prez Biden did say, loud & clear, is that the "defund the police" movement is dead.

Take a look . . .

Biden's 'fund the police' comment draws backlash from some BLM activists, support from others President Joe Biden earned some bipartisan applause for declaring "fund the police" during his State of the Union address Tuesday night but got mixed reactions from activists and politicians. "Let's not abandon our streets. Or choose between safety and equal justice," Biden said. "We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police.

NY Times columnist says Biden's call to fund police was 'callous attempt' to appease 'law-and-order crowd' New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow wrote in a Wednesday op-ed that President Joe Biden's call for the funding of police during his State of the Union address felt like "a callous attempt to appease the law-and-order crowd." "We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police.

Biden draws bipartisan applause for calls to 'fund the police' The moment was a significant display of bipartisan unity in a divided Congress. Biden has long rejected the concept of defunding the police, a push from some progressive Democrats that Republicans have used frequently to attack the opposing party. The police reform movement gained momentum after George Floyd's murder in 2020, but reform efforts have stalled in Congress.

And all of that leads us to this question . . .

HOW WILL PREZ BIDEN'S DEMAND TO 'FUND POLICE' IMPACT ROUND II OF MAYOR Q'S UPCOMING BUDGET FIGHT AGAINST KCPD?!?

Consider . . .

We're at the outset of budget discussions and Mayor Q has offered a crafty bit of rhetoric by arguing for rank & file pay raises whilst SIMULTANEOUSLY proposing to cut the police budget.



Outside of the media spotlight . . .

The current budget threatens to cut communications staff.

The current budget also will reduce crime lab funding.



As a distraction . . .

Mayor Q and his gang target anybody who objects with mean tweets whilst the newspaper plays social justice tabloid and attempts to smear the po-po when they REALLY being to lose the argument with the public.

Nevertheless . . .

The Prez is reacting to polling.

Progressive rhetoric against the police is EXTREMELY UNPOPULAR WITH VOTERS.

Meanwhile, Mayor Q and so many council members at 12th & Oak would like us to forget that they were marching with activists who demanded a police "defund" only a year ago.

Now . . .

Reversing course might be hard for Mayor Q and council member activists but it's necessary following a stern rebuke of "defund" rhetoric from The White House.



Developing . . .


Floridas Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) has announced that is has selected the Balfour Beatty Vision 2 Reality (V2R) team and autonomous vehicle (AV) solutions provider Beep to deliver its new public AV service.

The service (Phase I of the Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C) project) on the Bay Street Innovation Corridor in Downtown Jacksonville, will be a roughly three-mile, at-grade autonomous vehicle transportation solution running along East Bay Street.

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The project is supported by a US$12.5 million BUILD grant from the USDOT funding from the Florida DOT North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, and local funds. Phase II of the U2C program includes a full conversion of the JTAs elevated Skyway APM system. Phase III will expand street level extensions into neighboring communities to connect downtown Jacksonville to nearby neighborhoods.

As the first phase of the U2C program, The Bay Street Innovation Corridor lays the foundation for the U2C vision by introducing autonomous vehicles and enhanced technology to Downtown Jacksonvilles premier mobility corridor, says JTAs CEO Nathaniel P Ford Sr. We are proud to collaborate with the Balfour Beatty V2R Team and its consortium of world-class and leading firms like Beep. Their expertise and innovation will help the JTA deliver the nations foremost public transportation network powered by sustainable, electric autonomous vehicles. By leveraging, modernizing and expanding our existing Skyway APM system, and enhancing street level infrastructure, the U2C sets the bar for the rest of the nation.

Since 2017, the JTAs Automation & Innovation Division has tested seven AVs and four AV platforms, and engaged with community partners, local schools, first responders, and disability advocates to ensure the U2C is safe, sustainable and accessible to all.

From April to June 2020, the JTA and Beep deployed a fleet of AVs operating in Level 4 autonomy to support the Mayo Clinics Covid-19 testing efforts at its Jacksonville Campus. Over the four-month period, AVs safely transported more than 30,000 Covid-19 samples collected from a drive-thru testing site to the hospitals laboratories for testing. The Mayo Clinic project has since received national and international recognition from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), and ITS World Congress.

We are honored that the Jacksonville Transportation Authority has placed its trust in Beep and the V2R Team to deliver the nations largest-ever autonomous shuttle project to enhance mobility-for-all in the downtown area, says Joe Moye, CEO of Beep. Phase I of the U2C builds upon our successful partnership to safely test autonomous vehicles and build passenger and community trust in these transformative transportation solutions. We look forward to leveraging our experience as part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations AV test program to positively impact safety and sustainability with this strategic program. JTAs U2C project will transform the City of Jacksonville and provide its residents with enhanced mobility options intended to activate the community and make transportation safer.

For more information about the JTAs U2C program, email dcawton@jtafla.com. To contact Beep senior executives, contact Beep@goDRIVEN360.com.
Brevard, NC (28712)

Today

Except for a few afternoon clouds, mainly sunny. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 83F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.
CzechTourism Produces a USA and Canadian Virtual Marketplace to Promote and Support International Tourism in 2022



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - March 3rd, 2022 - CzechTourism facilitated 447 one-on-one virtual meetings over the course of two days with an eye to provide tourism professionals with up-to-date information from Czech suppliers, including an announcement provided by Delta Air Lines. Delta will start daily non-stop service to Prague out of New Yorks JFK Airport on May 26, 2022.

During two days of online programming, the primary highlight of the events was pre-scheduled, facilitated 1:1 networking meetings, designed to open doors for collaboration and to promote tourism to the Czech Republic. Businesses featured included Prague City Adventures, Art of Travel, Jan Hotels, Europe Bike Tours, Prague Marriott Hotel and more than twenty more.

With still so many things happening in todays world, we must continue to look toward to the future with an optimistic eye, it's important for us to facilitate direct connections between top Czech suppliers with tourism professionals around the world, Michaela Claudino, CzechTourisms Director for USA & Canada said. As travel resumes, we continue to provide the most current information on travel to, in and from the Czech Republic. Especially in todays times, we were able to help tourism professionals learn more about the countrys protocol and offerings as we continue to promote international travel.

Nearly 200 travel advisors were pre-selected to attend the invite-only, sold out virtual event. Both, hosted in partnership with the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Toronto and the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York, occurred on February 22 and 23, 2022.

For more information about the Czech Republics North American Marketplace, travel to and from the Czech Republic and Deltas daily non-stop connection.

###
Following a San Francisco and NYC Food Influencer Campaign lead by Waynes World Media, the Philippines is Getting Lots of Attention from Hungry Travelers (and Travelers Hungry for more!)



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - March 3rd, 2022 - New York City, March 3, 2022: With a spotlight promotion on the Filipino kitchens on both coasts of the United States, interest in Filipino cuisine and travel experiences skyrockets because of an innovative campaign developed by the award-winning boutique travel agency, Waynes World Media.

Notable food influencers in NYC and San Francisco have focused awareness of the authentic Filipino food experiences available in these two legendary cities. The campaign has garnered the attention of the highly sought-after segment of Millennial travelers in the United States. The groundswell of interest in Philippines Travel from the United States has also caught fire among Baby Boomers in the wake of the mouthwatering food campaign, which has happily coincided with the announcement of more flexible and easy options for international travelers in the wake of COVID. On February 10, 2022, the Philippines started to accept fully vaccinated international travelers from visa-free countries, which the U.S. is.

This ongoing targeted promotional campaign has proven that the intoxicating beauty and exotic tropical experiences that await global travelers come to life in the slogans, Eats Better in the Philippines, and Its Better with in the Philippines with YOU. The enchantingly beautiful landscapes and welcoming cultures make up 7,100 islands of the Philippines.

With such heralded food influencers as Allie Tong (@allieeats), Ben Hon (@stuffbeneats), Caitlin Sakdalan (@befatbehappy) and Yusra Wahab (@letsnomnom_) scouring their respective cities seeking the tastes, textures and flavors that exemplify both gourmet meals and soul-enriching street food coming from top Filipino Kitchens, the campaign has garnered attention around the globe.

Wayne V. Lee, Jr., President of Waynes World Media commented, We all travel on our stomachs, and food experiences bring a culture to life through a phalanx of senses  sight, aroma, taste, beauty, emotion and touch. Theres no better way to understand a culture, especially a culture as complex and varied as the Philippines.

The Philippines has long been one of the most sought-after island destinations, with unparalleled diversity of culture, world-class watersports and scuba diving, and breathtaking landscapes. The Philippines strong sense of place and cultural immersion and authenticity keep the destination atop the list of intrepid U.S. travelers looking to explore a remarkable and extraordinary corner of the world.

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Terre Haute, IN (47803)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing later in the day. High 62F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Rain. Low 59F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
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Modern bluetooth is reliable and capable of transmitting high quality audio, which has made bluetooth speakers, both portable and at-home, increasingly popular. Two of the biggest players in the audio industry, Marshall and Bose, both have robust lineups of bluetooth speakers to choose from.

With endorsements from musical legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Slash and Eric Clapton, Marshall is steeped in the history of rock. Founder Jim Marshall, colloquially known as the father of loud, began the company by developing amplifiers that delivered the volume and tone rock musicians were looking for. Marshalls first amplifier was an instant hit, and he was even awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) award for his contributions to the arts.

Today, Marshall continues to adhere to its rock music roots, and Marshall bluetooth speakers have an incredibly wide frequency range that allows for deep bass and twangy highs to shine through.

Great Marshall bluetooth speakers

Best Marshall bluetooth speaker with voice assistant

Marshall Uxbridge Voice Speaker

Marshall Uxbridge Home Voice Speaker with Amazon Alexa Built-In Marshall amazon.com $185.35 Shop Now

Quick Take: With the option to choose from Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa and the fidelity Marshall is known for, the Uxbridge is a practical home audio device.

What youll love: This speaker is loud, but doesnt sacrifice sound quality in the least. And you wont want to hide the Uxbridge out of sight because of its iconic amplifier-inspired aesthetic. Another great feature of the Uxbridge, in addition to being equipped with voice assistant software, is the fact that you can pair it with other Marshall speakers to create multi-room audio.

What you should consider: In order to take advantage of the voice assistant feature of the Uxbridge, you need to connect the speaker to your device through WiFi, which means that the quality will only be as strong as the WiFi signal.

Best Marshall bluetooth speaker for at-home use

Marshall Woburn II

Marshall Woburn II Wireless Bluetooth Speaker Marshall amazon.com $549.99 Shop Now

Quick Take: The Woburn II produces truly room-filling sound and has a whopping 100 watts of power, making it ideal for anyone chasing that signature rock music loudness.

What youll love: Although this speaker has a commanding physical presence, thanks to its large amplifier-esque look, it punches well above its weight class in terms of sound quality and loudness. The Woburn II has two 1 inch tweets and two individually powered 5.25 inch subwoofers, which are also supported by a full bass reflex system. Under the durable rubber exterior is a solid wood cabinet that lends the Woburn II an inviting sound.

What you should consider: As Marshalls flagship speaker, the Woburn II is quite expensive. Another thing to consider is the fact that it isnt portable.

Best portable Marshall bluetooth speaker

Marshall Kilburn II

Marshall Kilburn II Portable Bluetooth Speaker Marshall amazon.com $299.99 Shop Now

Quick Take: The Kilburn II is only 5.5 pounds and more than 20 hours of playtime per charge, making it a great companion for outdoor adventures.

What youll love: In addition to high quality sound, the Kilburn II is rugged  though you wouldnt know it from the design. The Kilburn II has a hardened rubber exterior, a convenient leather carry handle, and an IPX2 water-resistant rating (meaning it can withstand light rain or splashes) as well as bluetooth 5.0 technology, which allows you to connect multiple devices from up to 30 feet away.

What you should consider: Some users reported that the bass would slightly distort at maximum volume.

What makes Bose bluetooth speakers unique?

Founded in 1964 by Amar Bose, Bose has built a reputation for being a fierce innovator in the audio industry. In keeping with their technological roots, Amar Bose donated the largest single share of the company to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011.

While this donation reflects Boses technological foundation, nothing is a greater testament to the quality of Bose audio than the popularity of their products. Proudly featuring a function-forward design, Bose bluetooth speakers have the latest bluetooth and WiFi streaming technology, which makes them a leader in the multi-room and portable speaker markets.

Great Bose bluetooth speakers

Best Marshall bluetooth speaker with voice assistant

Bose Smart Speaker 500

Bose Home Speaker 500: Smart Bluetooth Speaker with Alexa Voice Control Built-In Bose amazon.com $349.00 Shop Now

Quick Take: Complete with a digital display, room-filling audio and voice assistant compatibility for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, this is a top-of the line smart speaker.

What youll love: The Smart Speaker 500 contains two powerful drivers that are strategically placed in opposing directions to maximize the extent to which it can completely fill a space with warm, even audio. You can control this speaker entirely handsfree, which makes it ideal for the kitchen and living room. The Bose Smart Speaker 500 can also be connected to any other Bose smart speaker.

What you should consider: Although this speaker supports most audio streaming services, it doesnt connect to Chromecast.

Best portable Bose bluetooth speaker

Bose SoundLink Revolve II

Bose SoundLink Revolve (Series II) Portable Bluetooth Speaker  Wireless Water-Resistant Speaker with 360 Sound, Silver Bose amazon.com $219.00 Shop Now

Quick Take: The SoundLink Revolve II is a well designed, easy to use and highly portable speaker that offers robust sound quality.

What youll love: One of the best features of the SoundLink Revolve II is the true 360 sound, which allows it to fill small rooms with ease. If you want to play music in a larger room, you can place the Revolve II in the corner and the 360 sound will reverberate off the walls and throughout the room. The Revolve II is also splash proof, which is always an asset if you plan to take it outside. You can also activate and use your phones voice assistant, such as Siri, with the touch of a button.

What you should consider: Although the design is sleek and pleasing, it shows dents and scratches quite easily.

Should you get Marshall or Bose bluetooth speakers?

When it comes down to it, both Bose and Marshall make high quality bluetooth speakers, so choosing between the two is an exercise in personal preference.

However, there are a few differences between the two that are worth noting. First and foremost, all Marshall bluetooth speakers feature the same amplifier-inspired design. Some users find this bulky and prefer the more modern, sleek designs from Bose.

Another thing to consider is that Marshall speakers are known for having outsized bass that benefits genres like rock and hip-hop, while Bose takes more of a balanced approach, which results in a generalist high-fidelity sound profile.

Lastly, Bose speakers tend to be a bit more expensive than their Marshall counterparts  though you couldnt really call either cheap.
(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
Almost three years after his passing, the legacy of Wayne Chance lives on. Today Vision on M
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the Netherlands, has received referrals from 39 State Parties with a request to investigate the situation in Ukraine due to Russias attack.

The work in the collection of evidence has now commenced, an Ukrinform correspondent in The Hague informs, citing a statement by Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

These referrals enable my Office to proceed with opening an investigation into the Situation in Ukraine from 21 November 2013 onwards, thereby encompassing within its scope any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person, the statement reads.

It is noted that the Office of Prosecutor of ICC received the referrals of the situation in Ukraine from 39 ICC States Parties.

As mentioned in my statement of 28 February, in its preliminary examination of the Situation in Ukraine, my Office had already found a reasonable basis to believe crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court had been committed, and had identified potential cases that would be admissible. As I proceed to discharge my responsibilities, I will seek to engage with all relevant stakeholders and parties to the conflict, ensuring that investigations by my Office are conducted objectively and independently, with full respect for the principle of complementarity. In doing so, we will remain focused on our core objective: ensuring accountability for crimes falling within ICC jurisdiction. The support of States Parties and the international community more broadly will be essential as we seek to meet the inherent challenges faced in the conduct of these investigations. I will therefore seek the partnership and contributions of all States in order to address our need for additional resources across all situations addressed by my Office, reads the statement.

Khan reiterated his call to all those engaged in hostilities in Ukraine to adhere strictly to the applicable rules of international humanitarian law.

shells hit a high-rise apartment block and a private house.

On February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops have been shelling and destroying key infrastructure facilities, conducting massive attacks on residential districts of Ukrainian cities and villages using artillery, multiple rocket launchers, and ballistic missiles.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced.

Ukraine officially filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation at the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague. International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan initiated the start of investigation into the situation in Ukraine.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the support of all Ukrainian people, courageously resist the Russian aggression.

ol
The Ukrainian Army has destroyed so much Russian military hardware that it would be possible to arm several countries armies. Meanwhile, the capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are growing.

This was stated by Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov in his address to the nation, Ukrinform reports.

"Our army has already destroyed thousands of invaders and so much enemy equipment that it would be possible to arm several countries armies. The capabilities of our Armed Forces are growing, help is coming. Territorial defense warriors performed brilliantly in many areas. Our air aces have already become legends. Paratroopers, infantry, and artillery  all prove that Ukrainians are the best," said the Minister.

He stressed that for 168 hours, Ukraine has been repelling Russian occupiers.

"No one. Just think about this. No one. Neither in Russia nor in the West, no one believed we would last a week.

The only ones who believed were you and me. By February 24, two-thirds of Ukrainians were convinced that in the event of a full-scale Russian invasion, we would survive. Today theres almost 90% of them, Reznikov said.

According to him, this is the result of heroism shown by Ukrainian defenders, professional performance of commanders, and dedication of each Ukrainian.

"Our doctors, rescuers, utility workers, railway workers, journalists, and financiers are fighting on their respective front. The country has not stopped and is fighting," the Defense Minister stressed.

The minister especially noted the heads of the military civilian administrations and mayors who are at the forefront today and stressed that Chernihiv, Sumy, Konotop, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Kherson, and Mykolaiv are the outposts of Europe.

As reported, on February 24, Russian President Putin declared war on Ukraine and launched a large-scale invasion. Russian troops are killing civilians, shelling and destroying key infrastructure, while missiles are hitting Ukrainians' homes.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was declared. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the support of the entire nation, are courageously repelling Russian aggression.

Ukraine has officially filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation with the UN International Criminal Court in The Hague. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan has launched an investigation into the situation in Ukraine.

Thirty-eight countries have jointly appealed to the International Criminal Court to investigate Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.
The Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine has refuted the fake narrative, spread by the Russians, claiming that the Ukrainian troops use foreign nationals as a human shield.

Thats according to the Centers report on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

According to hostile propaganda resources, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the occupiers "are doing everything possible to ensure the return of Indian students from Kharkiv to their homeland" because they are "taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces who exploit them as a human shield."

The Center for Combating Disinformation stressed that Ukraine is doing its utmost to facilitate the evacuation of foreign nationals from the warzone.

In particular, the Ukrzaliznytsia railway operator has set up evacuation corridors for foreign nationals, forming groups for transportation in separate cars, while foreign language-speaking volunteers have been deployed at railway stations.

"As for isolated cases of domestic conflicts involving foreigners, they occur against the background of their misunderstanding of the Ukrzaliznytsia rules implying priority evacuation for women and children (regardless of race and origin), also being fueled by enemy propaganda," said the Center for Combatting Disinformation.

The Center stressed that by spreading fakes, the aggressor seeks to reduce international support for Ukraine.
Military assistance, including state-of-the-art weapons, ammunition and fuel, is provided to Ukraine on a regular basis by 19 governments.

Thats according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

"Nineteen countries have been sending us the most modern weapons, ammunition, protective gear, medical equipment, and fuel for the needs of the Ukrainian Army on a regular basis," the Foreign Ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry added that diplomats are in intensive talks to get from partners additional combat aircraft for the Air Force in the shortest possible time.

As reported, on February 24, Russian President Putin declared war on Ukraine and launched a large-scale invasion. Russian troops are killing civilians, shelling and destroying key infrastructure, while missiles are hitting Ukrainians' homes.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was declared. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the support of the entire nation, are courageously repelling Russian aggression.
The Ukrainian army destroyed an enemy column in the north of the Poltava region last night. The losses of the invaders are being clarified.

The head of the Poltava Regional Military Administration, Dmytro Lunin, reported this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

"The eighth day of the heroic struggle. The situation in the Poltava region is under control. This night the Ukrainian army destroyed a column of Russian hardware in the north of the region, the enemy's losses are being clarified," Lunin said.

Lunin published videos and photos of the broken equipment on his Telegram channel.

"All invaders must understand one thing: those who come to us with a sword will die from the sword. The excellent work of the Ukrainian army in the north of the region, on the border of the Sumy and Poltava regions," he wrote.

He also noted that in the Poltava region work was underway to strengthen the defense of the region, with tens of tonnes of aid sent to the Sumy and Kharkiv regions and a food reserve of the Poltava region being formed.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops are shelling and destroying key infrastructure, with missiles hitting Ukrainians' homes.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced.
The units of the Russian-occupation forces currently occupy the building of the Kherson Regional State Administration. At the same time, the regional operational headquarters led by the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration continues to work.

"Russians have completely occupied the building of the Kherson Regional State Administration. However, we keep fulfilling our duties! The regional operational headquarters, which I head, continues to work and address pressing issues related to assistance to the region's residents. We are waiting for humanitarian aid," Head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration Hennadiy Lahuta posted on Telegram.

He urged not to believe in fakes and not to panic. "We are working in accordance with the regulations of the operational headquarters," he noted.

As reported, today Ukrainian defenders have liberated Bucha town in Kyiv region. In addition, on the seventh day of the war against the aggressive terrorist state of Russia, border guards of the 5th Border Detachment together with units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reached the state border of Ukraine in Sumy region.

As reported, on February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine and launched a large-scale invasion.

Russian troops are killing civilians, shelling and destroying key infrastructure facilities, and missiles hit Ukrainians' homes.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the support of the entire nation, courageously resist the Russian aggression.

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Russian troops are forced to deploy reserves to help out their attack force.

Thats according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

In an insidious move, the enemy continues to use civilians as a human shield, taking hostages. Contrary to the norms of international humanitarian law, the aggressor uses high-power cluster and fragmentation munitions in their bombings. When inflicting artillery strikes on settlements, the Russian army actively uses the Grad, Tornado, and Uragan multiple rocket launchers.

In the Volyn direction, the enemy with up to 2 BTGs switched to defensive operations and tried to fixate in the area of Bihun, Ovruch, Pirozhky, Riznia, and Ukrainka.

In Polissya, the invaders focused their main efforts on the Kyiv direction, incurring losses in personnel and equipment, but never ceased attempt at blocking Kyiv from the north and north-west.

In the direction of Korosten, the enemy suffered heavy losses and stopped the advance, carrying out no offensive activity at the moment.

In the Siverskyi region, the enemy is trying to hold their ground in the areas of the settlements of Liubech and Mena with the help of 41st all-military army and 90th tank division of the Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces in the Chernihiv-Kyiv direction. At the same time, the aggressors are advancing in the direction of Kotsiubynske - Honcharivske (Kyiv) with the 2 BTGs.

Enemy troops are forced to pull in operational reserves. To resume the offensive in the direction of Kyiv, an additional BTG was deployed.

Seven BTGs, 3 rocket and artillery TGs , a chemical defense TG, of the 6th All-Military Army of the Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces, and 2nd All-Military Army of the Russian Armed Forces continue attempts to resume offensive operations in the Nizhyn and Pryluky areas.

In the direction of Peremoha  Brovary, two BTGs from the 2nd All-Military Army of the Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces are being deployed.

In Slobozhanshchyna, enemy troops from the 1st Panzer Army of the Russian Armed Forces, 6th and 20th All-Military Armies were stopped in the areas of Okhtyrka, Bohodukhiv, Chuhuiv, and Shevchenkove after illegally crossing into Ukraine.

In the Sumy direction, up to two BTGs of 200th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade (14 Army Corps) and 90th SMRB (up to two BTGs) continue to keep in siege the city of Sumy, as well as the towns of Lebedyn and Okhtyrka.

In the Kharkiv direction, the enemy was forced to switch to defense with forces of up to six BTGs. With their three BTGs, they will probably make another attempt to encircle Kharkiv from the south.

In the Svativsky direction, with forces of up to two BTGs, the enemy will probably attempt to advance in the direction of Izium and gain a foothold at any frontier. The main reason for such actions is continued offensive in the directions of the Dnipro and Zaporizhia.

Mariupol remains stable, the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are inaccessible to the enemy.

In the Tavriya direction, the enemy introduced part of the operational reserves  up to a BTGr  trying to continue the offensive in the direction of Zaporizhia, and throwing part of the forces toward Mariupol.

Warship groups of the Black Sea, Northern, Sea and Baltic Fleets of the Russian Federation are actively conducting demonstrative activities.

In the Sumy region, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine advanced along the state border across the region.

The demoralized enemy continues to suffer losses, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine emphasizes.
In Mariupol, Donetsk region, the Russian aggressor currently creates a humanitarian catastrophe, preventing the evacuation of women, children, and the elderly from the town.

"Today, Russian fascists are creating a humanitarian catastrophe in Mariupol! These bastards have found no other way to break us. They hinder the supply and recovery of electricity, water, and heat. They also damaged the railway service. Bridges were destroyed, trains were smashed so that we would not be able to evacuate women, children, and elderly people from Mariupol. They hinder the supply of food, create a blockade as once in former Leningrad," the Mariupol Town Council posted on Facebook.

According to Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko, Russian invaders have been deliberately destroying the town's critical infrastructure for seven days.

"Putin's horde troops are constantly shelling the city and preventing the evacuation of the wounded, women, and children. We are doing our best to restore the city's critical infrastructure as soon as possible. We are working with international institutions to create a green corridor for humanitarian mission. We are striving to set a ceasefire regime to restore electricity supply," the mayor stressed.

Mariupol remains under fire. Women, children, and the elderly continue to suffer.

"We are being destroyed as a nation. This is the genocide of the Ukrainian people. These hypocrites came allegedly to save Russian-speaking citizens of Mariupol and the region. And they arranged the extermination of Ukrainians  Mariupol residents of Russian, Ukrainian, Greek, and other origins," Boychenko stressed.

He warned that the enemy was currently spreading many fakes, so he asked the population to read only official sources.

As reported, on February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine and launched a large-scale invasion.

Russian troops are killing civilians, shelling and destroying key infrastructure facilities, and missiles hit Ukrainians' homes.

Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the support of the entire nation, courageously resist Russian aggression.

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Russian troops fired on and flooded the Panamanian-flagged ship HELT.

According to Ukrinform, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority announced this on Facebook.

"The Panamanian-flagged ship HELT was fired upon and received a hole below the waterline. The last report from the ship - a roll of 70 degrees. At 12:18, HELT disappeared from radars," the report reads.

According to the report, on March 2, a missile struck the Bangladesh-flagged ship Banglar Samriddhi on a raid at the port of Olbia. The rocket hit the superstructure. There was a fire on the ship, which was extinguished by tugboats. One crew member (Bangladeshi) was killed.

On March 1, on raid a at the Mykolaiv port two aggressor missiles hit a tug of the Nibulon company. There was a fire, which was extinguished.

On February 25, 2022, the aggressor fired on two foreign ships near the port of Yuzhny - NAMURA QUEEN (Panama) and MILLENNIUM SPIRIT (Moldova) on a raid in front of the ports of Yuzhny and Odesa. There was a fire, which in the event of an explosion could lead to environmental catastrophe.

Today there are 80 merchant ships flying the flags of different countries in the ports of Ukraine.

Entry from or exit to Ukrainian ports is closed due to mine danger and the threat of piracy by Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels in the Black and Azov Seas.

Cargo operations were almost suspended.
Hubei Media Group: It is reported that on March 2, the internet security company named 360 released a report on the indiscriminate cyberattack launched by the US National Security Agencys APT-C-40 group over the past decade or so. The report reveals that the NSA used cyberweapons to launch cyberattacks against 403 targets in 47 countries and regions around the world, including China, the UK, Germany, France, Poland, Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa and Brazil. Actually, 360 earlier released a report on APT-C-39 who works under the US Central Intelligence Agency and launched large-scale cyber attacks on China. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: We have noted the report released by 360. China condemns the malicious cyber activities exposed in the report. We strongly urge the US to give an explanation and stop such activities immediately. China will take necessary measures to safeguard its cybersecurity and interests.

From 360s APT-C-39 report to Beijing-based Qi An Pangu Labs report on US cyberattacks against China released last week and this latest APT-C-40 report, they show that the US has conducted large-scale and systemic cyberattacks on China for a long time. Such activities have gravely endangered the security of Chinas critical infrastructure, personal data, intellectual property, trade secrets and confidential business information, and seriously undermined China-US mutual trust in cyberspace. The relevant reports reveal that the US did not abide by any international rule in cyberspace and completely abandoned the bilateral consensus on cybersecurity reached in 2015.

The US is unrivalled in malicious cyber activities. Ironically, it presents itself as a victim, misleads the international community and attempts to dominate the international agenda of cybersecurity. The US launched the International Counter-Ransomware Initiative, brewed the establishment of the Alliance for the Future of the Internet, and put together small cliques of all sorts to discuss the security of supply chain. It is worth noting that the US recently stepped up cybersecurity cooperation with some of Chinas neighboring countries, including those in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Central Asia, in the name of enhancing cyber capabilities. Many countries in cooperation with the US are also targets of US cyber attacks, according to report series by Chinese cybersecurity companies.

Cyberspace is a shared homeland for humanity, and cyberattacks are a common challenge faced by all countries. China again strongly urges the US to stop cyber theft and attacks on China and the whole world, and join others to jointly safeguard peace and security in cyberspace with a responsible attitude.

China Daily: It is reported that the US Mission to the UN recently said in a statement that the US decided to expel 12 Russian diplomats of the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN for espionage activities that are adverse to our national security in accordance with the UN Headquarters Agreement. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: China is concerned about the US action and hopes the US can offer a detailed explanation. As a host country of the United Nations, the US should implement the United Nations Headquarters Agreement with good will, and provide due convenience and facilitation for the normal fulfillment of duty by diplomats of UN member states, instead of abusing its capacity as a host country and willfully making unilateral decisions.

Bloomberg: On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly voted to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and demanded it withdraw its forces. China abstained from that vote. Does the foreign ministry have a comment on why China abstained from that vote?

Wang Wenbin: Ambassador Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative of China to the UN, already gave an explanation of the vote.

Chinas basic position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear. We always advocate respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, and peaceful resolution of international disputes based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. The top priority right now is to ease the situation on the ground as much as possible, and prevent the conflicts from escalating or even getting out of control.

Any action by the UN and the relevant parties should give priority to regional peace and stability and the universal security of all parties. It is important to play a positive role in cooling the situation and facilitating diplomatic resolution. Regrettably, the draft resolution submitted to this emergency special session for vote has not undergone full consultations within the whole membership. Nor did it take into full consideration the history and complexity of the current crisis. It did not highlight the importance of the principle of indivisible security, or the urgency of promoting political settlement and stepping up diplomatic efforts. These are not in line with Chinas consistent position. Therefore, China had to abstain in the voting.

We call on the international community to take a responsible attitude, and bring the relevant parties back to the track of political settlement as soon as possible, and rely on dialogue and consultation to seek a comprehensive resolution of the Ukraine issue. China is ready to continue its constructive role in this regard.

Kyodo News: According to Taiwan media reports, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei today. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: This act of Mike Pompeo is simply shameless and futile.

Global Times: The New York Times on March 2 citing a Western intelligence report said that senior Chinese officials told senior Russian officials not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The report indicated that senior Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about Russias plans for military actions. What is your comment on this?

Wang Wenbin: The report by the New York Times is pure fake news. Such practice of diverting attention and blameshifting is despicable. The ins and outs of the developments of the Ukraine issue are very clear. The crux of the issue is known to all.

International media lately mentioned many times that George Kennan, former US ambassador to the Soviet Union, suggested to the US government in the 1990s that expanding NATO up to Russias borders would be the most fateful error of American policy. Regrettably, the US government turned a deaf ear to this. Thomas Friedman, a famous US expert on international relations, wrote in a recent article that ill-considered decision by the US to expand NATO has undermined the relations with Russia and the US government in early years deserves much of the blame. Tulsi Gabbard, former member of the US House of Representatives, said that the crisis could have been ended and the war easily avoided if President Biden had simply promised not to accept Ukraines becoming a member of NATO. But they chose not to do so.

Those who created the problem should be the ones to undo it. We hope the culprits of the crisis can reflect upon their roles in the Ukraine crisis. They should earnestly shoulder due responsibilities and take real actions to ease the situation and resolve the problem instead of shifting the blame to others.

NHK: The Ukrainian President visited China in 2013 and signed a joint statement with China saying that the Chinese government will provide security assurances to Ukraine. According to the statement, China will offer relevant security assurances to Ukraine when it is invaded with the use of nuclear weapons or threatened by such invasion. Now, Russian President Putin has ordered the countrys nuclear forces to stay on high alert. Do you think Ukraine is now facing the threat of an invasion of nuclear weapons? Do you have any response to this? Will China take measures to protect Ukraines security?

Wang Wenbin: According to documents such as statements made by states and the UN Security Council Resolution 984, nuclear-weapon states give security assurances to non-nuclear-weapon states such as Ukraine. The security assurances have clear limitations on the content and are triggered under specific conditions. On the Ukraine issue, the pressing task now is for all sides to remain calm and exercise restraint, deescalate the situation and promote the political settlement.

Shenzhen TV: According to a report run by the US media outlet CNBC, the UK Home Office found that BNO visa holders from Hong Kong said the costs of moving to the UK have been high. Many professionals from Hong Kong are overqualified for new low-skill jobs in the UK. And in most cases, BNO visa holders are not eligible for welfare benefits. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: The UK side manipulated the so-called new BNO passport policy. Some Hong Kong residents were induced to leave their home, only to become second-class UK citizens whose rights and interests are not fully protected. I believe people are clear-eyed about whether the UK did so to protect people in Hong Kong or destabilize the SAR.

China has stated its position on the issue of BNO passports on many occasions. China announced long ago that it does not recognize BNO passports as valid travel or identity documents. The ins and outs of the problem are quite clear. The UK side, clinging onto its nostalgic colonial dream and breaking its promise, grossly interfered in Chinas internal affairs and gravely violated international law and basic norms governing international relations. We express our strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this.

We urge the UK side to stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs, otherwise it will only shoot itself in the foot.

Bloomberg: Does the ministry have any update on evacuations of Chinese nationals?

Wang Wenbin: The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety of Chinese citizens in Ukraine and holds dear to heart their safety all the time. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed in his phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart that all Chinese citizens in Ukraine are envoys of China-Ukraine friendship and friends of the Ukrainian people. We appreciate the opening of special trains for the evacuation of foreign nationals by the Ukrainian side, which conforms to the international humanitarian spirit. We hope that the Ukrainian side will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens in Ukraine and continue to provide guarantee and facilitation for the evacuation of Chinese citizens.

I would also like to take this opportunity to share with you more information on the evacuation of Chinese citizens from Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry is working with the Chinese Embassy and Consulate General in Ukraine to assess the situation, consider various factors and possibilities, and formulate feasible plans to ensure the safe evacuation of Chinese citizens. So far, more than 3,000 Chinese citizens have been safely relocated to neighboring countries of Ukraine. China thanks relevant countries for facilitating Chinese citizens entry and temporary stay there.

Kyodo News: The International Paralympic Committee has just decided that athletes from Russia and Belarus will not compete in the Beijing Paralympic Games. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: I would like to point you to the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG).
Ukraine needs military aircraft so that the Ukrainian military could be able to defend their land more effectively, because Ukraine is losing a lot of people.

He said this in an interview with foreign media outlets, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We need military planes - we lose a lot of people, so I would like you to solve this issue," Zelensky said, answering questions from a Polish journalist about how his country could still help Ukraine.

At the same time, he noted that he does not condemn those states that have decided not to provide such planes to Ukraine, because they provide a lot of assistance. Ukraine is grateful to them for this. "I understand both Poland and the United States. I will not accuse them of anything. They do a lot, I am grateful," Zelensky said.

As reported, several EU countries have officially stated that they are not going to hand over fighter jets to Ukraine, although this information was previously voiced by EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell.

In recent days, most EU member states have offered Ukraine some assistance with lethal weapons or equipment to resist Russian aggression. In particular, Germany has radically changed its position, which has so far opposed and also blocked the supply of weapons of its own production to other countries.
The Ukrainian military continues to retain the defensive in all areas of fighting.

In the Volyn direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine maintain certain boundaries In the Siversky direction, mechanized and tank units are stably defending the established bounds around Chernihiv, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Facebook.

In Slobozhanshchyna, the mechanized units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are effectively conducting defensive battles against the overwhelming forces of the enemy, and are successful in some areas. The enemy suffers heavy losses.

During heavy defensive battles, the Joint Forces thwarted the plans of the Russian invaders and prevented the enemy from entering the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Ukrainian town of Mariupol remains an example of heroic resistance to the Russian invasion.

In the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the formation of units from reservists called up in January-February 2022 continues. According to the plans of the Russian curators, the marching companies will be urgently transferred to Kharkiv. Mobilized men are outraged.

In the Prymorsky direction, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine conduct a defensive operation in the operational zone covering part of the sea coast. Part of the forces performs the task of preventing the enemy from breaking through the area of the settlements of Kherson and Mykolayiv.

Kyiv City Defense Group continues to repel the enemy's offensive, inflict fire on it and maintain defensive lines around the city and major airfields. Suffering a repulse, the enemy fired on civilian buildings from the southwestern outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.

In the territory of the Republic of Belarus, on the other side of the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, there are 38 separate assault brigades of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus in the wooded area.

According to available information, the command of the military unit received an order to cross the border with Ukraine. An instruction on how to act will be made after crossing the border.

The moral and psychological condition of the paratroopers is extremely low. Officers and soldiers do not want to play the role of Russian mercenaries. A significant number called for the termination of contracts, most of which expire in May, the General Staff informs.

As reported, on February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine and launched a large-scale invasion.

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The United States is ready to provide utmost assistance in the restoration of the Ukrainian infrastructure after the end of the war and the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories.

"We held important talks with U.S. Secretary of Transport Pete Buttigieg on systemic measures to support Ukraine in the fight against the aggressor. In the conversation, Buttigieg confirmed that the United States is ready to provide utmost assistance in the process of rebuilding Ukraine's infrastructure after the end of the war and the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories, Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov said, Ukrinform reports with reference to the press release of the Ministry of Infrastructure on Telegram.

He stressed that the Ukrainian infrastructure was being purposefully destroyed: dozens of bridges, hundreds of kilometers of roads and railways, civilian and military airports. In addition, Russian invaders have already begun firing on Ukrainian ports. According to Kubrakov, these crimes and damages are recorded daily.

The Secretary reminded that the United States was tightening sanctions against Russia. In particular, the United States decided to close its airspace for flights of Russian aircraft.

"We told our colleagues that the next logical sanction should be to block, following the United Kingdom and Canada, their ports for Russian ships, as well as companies associated with this country, and to help exclude Russia and its organizations from key international associations," said the Ukrainian minister.

The officials also discussed the supply of defensive weapons, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Such assistance will scale up, and new supply routes from the United States through European countries to Ukraine are being developed for this purpose.

"In a very short time, we managed to agree with the western neighbors on the maximum simplification of procedures for the passage of trucks and trains across the borders to Ukraine. However, we must understand that the help of our partners is currently provided in very dangerous conditions," Kubrakov said.

He noted that, given the insane actions of the aggressor country, the constant disregard for all international rules and regulations, Ukraine insists on the complete closure of sky over Ukraine. According to Kubrakov, now it is a matter of protection not only of our country, but also of the citizens of NATO member states.

As reported, the Russian Federation caused tens of millions of US dollars in damage to Ukraine's infrastructure.

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Published March 3, 2022

Evan Mazunik

WHAT: ULM Jazz Ensemble performs with composer Evan Mazunik

WHEN: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 10

WHERE: Brown Auditorium

COST: Free and open to the public

Renowned composer, keyboardist, and educator Evan Mazunik will leave the Colorado Rockies and spend a few days on the bayou sharing his expertise with students in the music program at the University of Louisiana Monroe School of Visual and Performing Arts.

Mazunik will be on campus Wednesday and Thursday, March 9-10. He will work with students during the day and join the ULM Jazz Ensemble for a performance on Thursday. The concert is at 7:30 p.m. in Brown Auditorium and is free and open to the public.

Im excited to work with the music student body across a variety of ensembles and classes: music ed, band, choir, and jazz, to name a few. From improvisation to composition to managing performance anxiety, Im honored to share what Ive learned, and Im looking forward to performing with students on Thursday night, Mazunik said.

Mazunik received a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance and a Master of Arts in Jazz Performance from the University of Iowa. He is Director of Worship and choir director at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Denver.

As a composer, Mazuniks commissions include works for jazz bands, choir, various solo instruments, and interdisciplinary works for theater, dance, and film. He has presented workshops at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Colorado Mesa University, University of Indiana, University of North Texas, and the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Mazunik, as a solo artist, fuses jazz piano, vintage keyboards, electronic interludes, spoken word, and samples from outer space. In 2020, he released the holiday album Amid the Cold featuring original arrangements of Christmas carols.

We are excited that our students will have the opportunity to work with a musician of Evan Mazuniks talent and versatility, said VAPA Professor of Music James Boldin, D.M.A.

For more information on Mazunik, visit evanmazunik.com. For more information on this performance, visit the ULM School of Visual and Performing Arts in the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences at ulm.edu/vapa.
One is Russian, the other Ukrainian. They dance together in Philadelphia Ballet
For those left behind by the victims of COVID, any sense of normal  any semblance of pre-pandemic life  is still a long time away. (Dreamstime/TNS)
Tokyo, March 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :Toyota said Thursday it would suspend operations at its only factory in Russia and stop shipping vehicles to the country, citing "supply chain disruptions" linked to Moscow's assault on Ukraine.

The world's top-selling carmaker said its plant in Saint Petersburg produced around 80,000 vehicles last year, mainly for the Russian market and representing just a fraction of the 10.5 million vehicles made worldwide by the Japanese group.

"Toyota Motor Russia will stop production at its Saint Petersburg plant from 4 March and has stopped imports of vehicles, until further notice, due to supply chain disruptions," the company said in a statement.

The Saint Petersburg plant employs around 2,600 people, a Toyota spokeswoman told AFP, confirming the supply disruption was linked to the conflict.

Toyota has no factories in Ukraine but said sales operations in the country had been suspended since February 24, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an air and ground assault on the neighbouring country.

"Toyota is watching the ongoing developments in Ukraine with great concern for the safety of people of Ukraine and hopes for a safe return to peace as soon as possible," it said.

"Our priority in dealing with this crisis is to ensure the safety of all our team members, retailer staff, and supply chain partners." Western governments, sporting organisations and big companies have cut Russia off or dealt it punishing sanctions over the internationally condemned attack.

On Monday, Toyota halted operations at all its plants in Japan for a day after a cyberattack on a parts supplier.

Japan's top government spokesman confirmed "a cyberattack" but declined to offer details, saying it was still being investigated.

Hirokazu Matsuno also warned that the "risk of cyberattacks is rising due to the current situation, including Ukraine", calling on companies to "strengthen cyber security measures".
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Braslia, March 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday proposed to lift a ban on mining in indigenous territories in the Amazon to offset potential fertilizer shortages due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The far-right leader said that mineral extraction in indigenous territories -- something vehemently opposed by those local communities and environmentalists -- was necessary to avoid dependence on imported products.

"With the Russia/Ukraine war we now face the risk of a lack of potassium or that its price rises," Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter.

Potassium is a crucial ingredient in many fertilizers.

Agriculture giant Brazil imports more than 80 percent of the fertilizers it uses, and when it comes to those containing potassium, that figure rises to 96 percent, according to the agriculture ministry.

Close to 20 percent of the fertilizers it imports come from Russia.

"Our food security and agribusiness require Executive and Legislative measures so that we don't depend externally on something we have in abundance," said Bolsonaro.

He also cited a bill first proposed in 2020 that would allow for the extraction of minerals in indigenous territories in the Amazon, something that is currently banned by law.

"When this bill is approved ,that would solve the problem." Since coming to power in 2019, Bolsonaro has pushed for a relaxing of environmental protection laws and has faced international protests due to the increase in Amazon deforestation under his watch.

Last week, though, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina said Brazil had "other alternatives" to source fertilizers from Iran, Canada and Morocco.

Bolsonaro, who visited Russian President Vladimir Putin a week before his sent troops to invade Ukraine, has maintained Brazil's "neutrality" in the conflict.

However, on Wednesday Brazil supported a United Nations General Assembly resolution demanding Russia withdraw "immediately" from its neighbor.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Ogoja, Nigeria, March 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :Three years ago, Akor Pelkings fled his home in western Cameroon, where a conflict raged between the security forces and rebels fighting for an independent state.

Today, the 25-year-old is one of 70,000 Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, wondering in despair when they can return.

Yet they in turn are among a million people uprooted by a conflict which is now in its fifth year yet remains largely forgotten -- even unknown -- in the rest of the world.

The violence erupted in 2017, when militants declared an independent state in Cameroon's Northwest and Southwest regions, home to most of the anglophone minority in the majority French-speaking country.

Both the separatists and government forces have been accused of atrocities in the fighting, which according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) has killed more than 6,000 people.

Pelkings crossed into Nigeria, finding shelter in one of the refugee camps that have sprung up near the border regions, although they often have less international aid than in other conflict areas.

"Why no one cares? Our lives are destroyed, and no one cares. The conflict went to days, to months, now to years," he said.

In dozens of interviews with AFP, Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria described their experience.

A common thread emerged -- a process of darkening fear, which began as neighbours, relatives and supporters of the anglophone secessionist movement were whisked away in police vans and were rarely heard of again.

Gerard Tiko'Or Akenji, who founded an agricultural cooperative at a camp operated by the UN refugee agency in Ogoja, eastern Nigeria, said the intimidation was unprovoked.

"They arrest so many youths from my community," said Akenji, 45, who added that he had been picked up four times from the start of the conflict until he finally fled in March 2019.

- Terror at night - "I left the country because of fear of death," said Akenji.

"I always tied my sneakers, and lie on my bed with my legs down, and my door open, in case of any noise I have to run," he said.

"The sound of gun and explosives have killed many of old people, because they are very afraid." Then the schools began to close as threats from separatists and the fear of violence kept students at home.

"At the beginning of the conflict, I had to stop going to high school," said Pelkings, who dreamed of going to university but now raises chickens in this camp in Nigeria.

In September 2021, the start of the academic year, two-thirds of schools in the two English-speaking regions were closed, depriving 700,000 children and adolescents of education, according to the UN.

Hundreds of schools have been attacked there, according to the campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Almost all of those attacks were by armed separatist groups who refuse to allow French to be taught.

Even so, said a humanitarian source, "no one (in the camps) will tell you" that the separatists are to blame, because most of the refugees support their cause.

- Childbirth alone - Access to health care has also deteriorated dramatically in English-speaking Cameroon.

Health centres have been attacked or occupied.

Chu Bernice Chang will never forget the circumstances of her first birth when at age 21 she delivered her girl, at home, without any help.

The clinic in her village was being used as a rear base for the Cameroonian army, she said.

According to the ICG, 250 villages have been destroyed in the conflict -- a punishment for being suspected of helping one side or the other.

Actions of this kind were cited by many refugees as to why they left, sometimes fleeing from one day to the next.

"My village was attacked more than six times," said Odilia Ntong, a 50-year-old. "They destroyed the house, the shooting, I had nothing, so left." For five days she moved through the bush with nine other women, hungry and sleeping on the ground before she managed to cross the border into Nigeria.

Ntong now lives alone in Takum, a small town in eastern Nigeria, in a tiny room that she rents for 1,500 naira ($3.60, three Euros) a month.

To survive, she makes traditional hats that she sells on the market, and receives from the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, like all Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria, 2,600 naira (five euros) per month.

"It's an invisible crisis," said Roland Schoenbauer, the spokesperson for UNHCR in Nigeria.

"The number of refugees kept increasing since 2017, while the funds made available by donors have decreased."After five years of war, Pelkings sees little hope his life will improve.

"Here we are safe, but we are hungry," Pelkings said. "Many of my friends are back in Cameroon. Some were killed, some are still in the bush."
(@FahadShabbir)

Paris, March 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :France "strongly" urged its citizens on Thursday to leave Russia if their presence there was "not essential" following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and the closure of airspace between Russia and the European Union.

"In the context of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and following the imposition of international sanctions, we must increase our vigilance," the foreign ministry wrote on its website. Already on Sunday, Paris had recommended French citizens passing through Russia to leave the country.
(@FahadShabbir)

Tbilisi, March 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :Georgia will "immediately" apply for EU membership, the Black Sea nation's ruling party said Wednesday, a day after the European Parliament backed war-torn Ukraine's bid to apply for EU membership.

The ruling Georgian Dream party chairman, Irakli Kobakhidze, announced the party's "decision today to immediately apply for the EU membership".

Georgia calls on the EU "to review our application in an urgent manner and to make the decision to grant Georgia the status of an EU membership candidate", he told journalists.

The decision was made "based on the overall political context and the new reality", he added.

Georgia's EU integration would put the country "on a path which will lead our country to a qualitative increase in our population's wellbeing, security, and to de-occupation," he added.

Georgia's decision followed a similar move by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who won backing from MEPs in a non-binding resolution recommending EU bodies grant Ukraine the status of candidate country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Georgia's ruling party has faced strong pressure from opposition parties to follow Kyiv's suit. The MEP's vote on Ukraine was largely seen in Georgia as a window of opportunity to advance its own EU aspirations -- a goal enshrined in the country's constitution.

Last year, the Georgian government announced its intention to apply for EU membership in 2024.

Georgia's government has faced mounting international criticism over perceived backsliding on democracy, seriously damaging Tbilisi's relations with Brussels.
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Beijing, March 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from competing in the Beijing Winter Paralympics, the International Paralympic Committee announced Thursday, citing the war in Ukraine.

"In order to preserve the integrity of these Games and the safety of all participants, we have decided to refuse the athlete entries from RPC and NPC Belarus," the IPC said in a statement.
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Vienna, March 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :The head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, will travel to Iran on Saturday in order to meet officials there, the IAEA said Thursday.

"Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi will travel to Tehran for meetings with senior Iranian officials on Saturday," an IAEA spokesman said in a statement, adding that Grossi would hold a press conference on his return to Vienna on Saturday evening.
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The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday instructed the government to grant one more opportunity to India for its response in a case seeking appointment of a lawyer to contest the appeal of its spy Kulbhushan Jadhav against his death penalty in line with the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) decision

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday instructed the government to grant one more opportunity to India for its response in a case seeking appointment of a lawyer to contest the appeal of its spy Kulbhushan Jadhav against his death penalty in line with the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) decision.

Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan informed the IHC's larger bench that according to an act passed by the Parliament, the Law Ministry could file a petition requesting the court to appoint a lawyer for Kulbhushan as India seemed to be not interested in that regard.

India, in fact, wanted to get the judicial proceedings stopped so that it could again approach the ICJ, he added. Pakistan had given consular access to Kulbhushan many times, the AGP said.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah observed that the court would ensure a fair trial in the case. If the court reached a conclusion that the spy was not handed out the capital penalty in accordance with law then it would set aside the decision, he added.

The chief justice asked that how the proceedings could now be proceeded as Pakistan had already given multiple chances to India to hire a counsel.

India could approach the IHC, he said.

The attorney general said the court's decision was also shared with Kulbhushan Jadhav. If India was not interested then the court on its own should appoint a lawyer.

India was not even satisfied with the act passed by the Parliament in that regard, he added.

The court observed that India might have misunderstood the matter and thus it should be given one more chance to hire a lawyer.

The AGP said India had adopted a stance in the ICJ that its citizen (spy) was not being given the right of appeal, but now it was not availing that right. India had been wrongly interpreting the ICJ verdict, he added.

Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb remarked that the Law Ministry could itself appoint a counsel for Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The court noted that ICJ had given references of the Peshawar High Court's decisions , which reflected its trust in the judicial system of Pakistan.

The attorney general said the ICJ, in its judgment, had instructed to file an appeal against the death penalty of Jadhav in Pakistani courts.

The case was adjourned till April 13.
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Nadeem Raza Thursday said Pakistan accords high importance to its long-standing relations with Kenya and believes that both countries would develop meaningful and long-term strategic relationship through enhanced bilateral engagements especially relations in the field of defence and security

RAWALPINDI, Mar 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), General Nadeem Raza Thursday said Pakistan accords high importance to its long-standing relations with Kenya and believes that both countries would develop meaningful and long-term strategic relationship through enhanced bilateral engagements especially relations in the field of defence and security.

The CJCSC, who is on an official visit to Kenya, made these remarks during his wide-ranging talks held on bilateral defence cooperation with dignitaries from Kenya Defence Forces, which included Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Eugene Ludovic Wamalwa, Chief of Defence Forces, General Robert Kariuki Kibochi, Commander Kenya Army, Lieutenant General Walter R. Koipaton, Commander Kenya Air Force Major General John Mugaravai and Commander Kenyan Navy Major General Jimson Longiro Mutai, said an Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release here received.

Besides security and defence cooperation, matters related to enhancing the level and scope of bilateral military engagements in various fields were discussed during separately held meetings, it added.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment for strengthening and enhancing existing defence and security relationship between the friendly countries.

Kenyan dignitaries remained appreciative of the high professional standards of Pakistan Armed Forces, their achievements in fight against terrorism and continued efforts for regional peace and stability specially for peace in Afghanistan.

Earlier upon arrival at Kenya Defence Headquarters, a smartly turned out contingent presented Guard of Honour to CJCSC General Nadeem Raza.
Six lions and six tigers from a shelter for abused animals near Kiev arrived in Poland on Thursday morning, a spokeswoman for Poznan Zoo which organised the evacuation told AFP

Rzeszw, Poland, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Mar, 2022 ) :Six lions and six tigers from a shelter for abused animals near Kiev arrived in Poland on Thursday morning, a spokeswoman for Poznan Zoo which organised the evacuation told AFP.

The Ukrainian truck, which covered nearly 1,000 kilometres (over 600 miles) from Kiev to bypass the central region of Zhytomir which has been shelled by Russian forces, was also carrying two caracals and an African wild dog, Malgorzata Chodyla said.

The truck, which left on Tuesday, had to stop and stay parked all night when it came face to face with Russian tanks, she added.

At the border, the animals were transferred to a Polish lorry.

The undocumented animals were brought across the border legally thanks to a recent change in the international CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) procedure and with the help of Poland's chief veterinary officer, Chodyla added.

Poznan Zoo director Ewa Zgrabczynska, who worked on the evacuation, is in contact with several Western organisations keen to take in the animals.

She has also launched a fundraising campaign.

Despite the war, Natalia Popova returned to the Ukrainian shelter to care for 70 other animals, according to Chodyla.

Two years ago, Zgrabczynska organised the rescue of nine tigers close to death after they were stranded in an Italian truck at the Polish-Belarusian border or their way to a zoo in Russia.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th March, 2022) Interpol has declined the Ukrainian request to suspend the Russian membership over the latter's military operation in Ukraine, media reported.

"Only the general assembly, Interpol's supreme governing body comprising representatives from each of its 195 member countries, can vote on issues relating to membership.

The Interpol general secretariat continues to monitor the situation concerning Ukraine closely," a spokesperson for the Interpol told The Guardian newspaper on late Thursday.

According to The Guardian, the Ukrainian request was supported by the United Kingdom and Poland.
This week on our last episode of Celebrate Today we wish all students well on their finals and end-of-semester struggles. It's a crazy time of year so good luck and may the force be with you!
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Meeting a delegation of Iraqi Church religious leaders on Monday, Pope Francis encourages the local Christian communities to continue promoting dialogue so as to build fraternity and counteract extremism and fundamentalism.

By Lisa Zengarini

Pope Francis on Monday received in audience Representatives of the Christian Churches in Iraq visiting Rome on the occasion of the first anniversary of his Apostolic Journey to the country in March 2021.

Courageous witnesses of the Gospel

In his address to the delegation , the Holy Father recalled that Iraq is the cradle of civilization and of Christianity, remarking that it has also been a land of exiles since biblical times. Referring to the tragic events of these recent years, he expressed his deep gratitude to the Christian communities of Iraq for their courageous witnesses of fidelity to the Gospel amid persecution.

I bow before the suffering and martyrdom of those who have preserved the faith, even at the cost of their lives. Just as the blood of Christ, shed out of love, brought reconciliation and made the Church flourish, may the blood of these many martyrs of our time, belonging to different traditions but united in the same sacrifice, be a seed of unity among Christians and a sign of a new springtime of faith.

Fraternal relations

He further commended the Iraqi Churches for their fraternal relations which have allowed to establish many links of collaboration in the field of pastoral care, formation and service to the poorest and encouraged them to continue along this path, so that, through concrete initiatives, constant dialogue and, fraternal love, progress may be made towards full unity

In the midst of a people which has suffered so much division and discord, Christians will shine as a prophetic sign of unity in diversity.

An essential component of Iraqi society

Pope Francis went on to point out that Christians are an essential component of Iraqi society. Iraq without Christians, he said, would no longer be Iraq, because Christians, along with other believers, contribute strongly to the countrys specific identity as a place where co-existence, tolerance and mutual acceptance have flourished ever since the first centuries. This is why, Pope Francis stressed no stone should be left unturned in ensuring that Christians continue to feel that Iraq is their home, and that they are citizens in their own right.

The importance of dialogue

The Holy Father further highlighted that Christians of Iraq have the special vocation of ensuring that religions be at the service of fraternity and therefore the duty to engage in dialogue. Dialogue, he said, is the best antidote to extremism, which is a danger for the followers of any religion and a grave threat to peace.

He also noted fundamentalism can be eradicated only through addressing its root causes, which include material, cultural and educational poverty and situations of injustice and vulnerability.

"Don't get discouraged!"

Wrapping up his address, Pope Francis called on Christians not be discouraged and to continue invoking the Spirit of Jesus maker of unity: Let us ask the Holy Trinity, the model of true unity which is not uniformity, to strengthen communion among us and among our Churches. In this way we will be able to respond to the Lords heartfelt desire that his disciples be one , Pope Francis concluded.

Listen to our report

Members of the delegation

Members of the Iraqi delegation included, amongst others, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Nicodemus Daoud of Mosul and East Assyrian Bishop Abris Youkhanna of Kirkuk and Diana, who both expressed deep gratitude to Pope Francis for his historic visit to Iraq.

Gratitude for the Pope's visit to Iraq

Indeed, Archbishop Daoud highlighted the positive impact of that visit on interreligious relations in the country, especially on the attitude of Muslims towards Christians. For his part, Bishop Youkhanna noted that the Popes visit has given a new impulse and light to ecumenical dialogue in Iraq. Dialogue is made up of human relationships that constantly reminds us that we are all children of God, and therefore brothers, the prelate said.
The logo and motto of the Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis to Malta

The Press Office of the Holy See announces the official programme of Pope Francis 36th Apostolic Journey, which will be to Malta on April 2-3. The highlights of the two-day visit will include a visit to the Grotto of St Paul at the Basilica in Rabat and a meeting with refugees.

By Vatican News staff reporter

Pope Francis tight schedule visit to Malta on April 2 and 3 will be marked by a stop at St Pauls Grotto, commemorating the shipwreck of the 'Apostle of the peoples' in the island; and a meeting with refugees, as well as moments of prayer and meetings with civil authorities.

Meetings with Authorities

The Holy Father is expected to leave from the International Airport of Rome-Fiumicino at 8.30 on Saturday, 1 April, and is scheduled to arrive at Malta International Airport at 10.00.

After the Welcome Ceremony, at 10.50 am, he will pay a courtesy visit to the President of the Republic of Malta, George William Vella in the "Ambassadors' Chamber" of the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta, followed by a meeting with Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela in the "Pages' Chamber" at 11.35. At 11.50, he will address the Authorities and the Diplomatic Corps in the "Grand Council Chamber" in the same building.

Praying in Gozo

After meeting with the authorities, at 3.50 pm the Pontiff will leave La Valletta on a catamaran directed to Gozo, the second Maltese island, where he is expected to arrive at 5.00 pm. There he will preside over a prayer meeting at the National Shrine of Ta' Pinu and will give a homily.

At 6.45 pm he will board the ferry in the Port of Mgarr headed back to the island of Malta. After arriving at the Port of Cirkewwa he will transfer to the Apostolic Nunciature, which will be his residence during his stay.

The second day of the visit, Sunday, April 3, will begin at 7.45 a.m. with a private meeting with the members of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), in the Nunciature of Rabat.

The visit to the Grotto of St. Paul

At 8.30 Pope Francis will then visit the Grotto of St. Paul in the Basilica of Rabat, where he will stop for a moment of prayer, followed at 10.15 by Mass at the Granaries in Floriana, where the Holy Father will give a homily, and which will conclude with the Angelus prayer.

Meeting refugees

The afternoon will be focused on migrants: at 4.45 pm, Pope Francis will meet a group of refugees at the Giovanni XXIII Peace Lab Center for Migrants in Hal Far where he will deliver a speech.

This will be the last appointment of the visit, after which Pope Francis will transfer to Malta International Airport for the Farewell Ceremony, at 5.50 pm. Departure for Rome is scheduled at 6.15 pm, landing in Rome-Fiumicino Airport at 7.40 pm.

The motto and theme of the journey

The theme of the Apostolic Journey is: They showed us unusual kindness, taken from Acts 28:2. It is meant to highlight the plight of the migrants who cross the Mediterranean toward Europe, and to be a source of encouragement for a new evangelization in the island nation.

The passage references the hospitality shown to St. Paul by the Maltese people when the ship carrying him to Rome was shipwrecked there in 60 AD.



Two previous Popes have made apostolic visits to Malta: Pope St. John Paul II visited Malta in 1990 and 2001, while Pope Benedict XVI visited in 2010.
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations stresses the importance of humanitarian corridors to ensure the safety and protection of thousands of people fleeing ongoing hostilities in Ukraine.

By Benedict Mayaki, SJ

The Holy See has called for the opening of humanitarian corridors in the face of the increasing and concerning number of civilian casualties, as well as the damage to critical infrastructure that trails the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at the Joint Launch of the Humanitarian Flash Appeal and the Regional Refugee Response Plan for Ukraine on Tuesday, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia noted that the number of people fleeing ongoing hostilities and crossing into neighbouring countries is fast approaching 700,000, and is likely to increase due to disruptions to local supply chains, essential services, access to food and other basic goods

Reiterating Pope Francis appeal at the Sunday Angelus, he stressed the urgency of opening humanitarian corridors, as well as ensuring full, safe, and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to deliver assistance to civilian populations in need.



Read also 27/02/2022 Pope: 'Silence all weapons. Those who wage war forget humanity!' Pope Francis renews his invitation to set aside 2 March as a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in Ukraine, and decries the "diabolical and perverse logic of weapons" which, he ...

Protecting civilian populations, as well as humanitarian personnel, in accordance with international humanitarian law, must be the priority, said the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.

Welcoming and protecting refugees

Archbishop Caccia extended the Holy Sees commendation for States that are accepting refugees in a spirit of solidarity as well as those offering the much-needed humanitarian assistance.

He stressed that welcoming, protecting and assisting the hundreds of thousands of refugees is a common responsibility. At the same time, he emphasized that efforts to respond to the needs of those fleeing for safety must respect the principle of non-refoulement (which prohibits States from transferring or removing individuals from their jurisdiction or effective control when there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be at risk of irreparable harm upon return), as well as shared obligations under international law, and must be offered on a non-discriminatory basis.

The archbishop then joined with other Member States to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to diplomacy and dialogue. He also noted the efforts of the Catholic Church and its institutions, and the help they are providing to thousands in need.

The Popes appeals

Taking up the same appeal at the 11th Emergency Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Abp Caccia noted the Popes closeness to those who suffer as a result of the conflict, and re-echoed his calls for the opening of humanitarian corridors.

Pope Francis had also appealed to those fighting, including in wars in order parts of the world, to put down [your] weapons stressing that those who love peace reject war as an instrument of aggression against the freedom of other peoples and as a means for the settlement of international disputes.

Furthermore, the Holy Father had called on men and women of goodwill to observe Wednesday, 2 March, as a day to be close to the sufferings of the Ukrainian people, to feel that we are all brothers and sisters, and to implore of God the end of the war.

The duty to resolve disputes

Archbishop Caccia recalled that the United Nations was founded to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors. Therefore, he continued, it is the duty of all States to seek to resolve disputes through negotiation, mediation, or by other peaceful means, even when war has commenced.



In this regard, the Permanent Observer expressed the Holy Sees conviction that there is always time for goodwill, room for negotiation, and a place for the exercise of a wisdom that can prevent the predominance of partisan interest, safeguard the legitimate aspirations of everyone, and spare the world from the folly and horrors of war.
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Scores of journalists arrested, at least two killed and several news outlets banned. Myanmars junta cracked down on the media at an alarming rate.

And with militias across the country resisting military rule, reporting in Myanmar has become even more dangerous.

The risks independent journalists must take are highlighted in a new film produced by a group of Myanmar filmmakers and reporters living in Bangkok.

We are the journalists, we are the storytellers, we still need to talk about our stories. That was the idea, director and journalist Aung Naing Soe said at a screening for the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok in February.

His film, Walking Through the Darkness, focuses on five journalists as they cover events from the February 1, 2021, overthrow of civilian rule, to mass protests and clashes with opposition forces.

Those featured include a freelance reporter; an editor whose news agency relocated to a remote region where it covers fighting between rebels and military soldiers, and a photojournalist released from detention.

They can represent each group of journalists in the country, Aung Naing Soe told VOA.

The 31-year-old journalist partnered with Athan Myanmar, a pro-democracy and free expression organization founded by poet and activist Maung Saungkha, to make the film.

Media under fire

Nearly all those featured in the film appear anonymously because they still report from inside the country.

Jail is a big risk for Myanmar media, with more than 120 people arrested since the start of the coup, and 47 still in custody, according to the monitoring group Reporting Asean.

The media crackdown changed how journalists work, with many trying to keep a low profile.

Its clearly different from how we could work before the coup. As a journalist, I would always carry a camera in my bag. Now we dont dare take a camera with us. We have to only use our phones, says one of the journalists featured in the film.

Others recount how they moved news operations away from the main cities only to still face danger.

Soe Ya, managing editor of Delta News Agency, says his team set up a media base in Lay Kay Kaw, near the Thai-Myanmar border. But the fighting soon caught up with them.

While covering a barrage of missiles fired in the region on December 25, Soe Yas colleague, A Sai K, was killed.

If we had just managed to pass through the rubber forest, we would have all survived together, Soe Ya says in the film.

Aung Naing Soe hopes such accounts will help viewers understand the dangers  and the drive of Myanmars media.

It can help Myanmar people and other people from abroad to understand the risks that journalists are taking and that will encourage people to talk to journalists, share their stories and to create a better relationship between Myanmar journalists and their sources, he said.

For some, the camera is viewed as a powerful tool.

As a journalist, I cant hold a gun, I cant fight back, (but) I have a camera and microphone, I have my crew, said Ye Wint Thu during a panel discussion on Myanmar at the Foreign Correspondents Club event in February.

The producer for Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) took refuge in the jungle with a rebel force but continues to work. The junta revoked his stations license in early 2021.

For Aung Naing Soe, the film represents the resilience of the countrys media.

The military have stopped everything. Internet shutdowns, they plugged off DVB, but the people still keep going. They cannot stop us, he said. That would be my message: there are still people inside Myanmar, they are doing everything they can.

With dozens of reporters detained or forced into exile, and widespread opposition to military rule, a new generation of citizen journalists has emerged.

One, identified only as Shane to protect his identity, told VOA last month that he witnessed soldiers burn two men to death. Another recalled how junta forces pointed a gun at her chest to block her from reporting.

A decade working as a journalist in Myanmar means Aung Naing Soe is acutely aware of restrictions media faced even before the coup.

He was part of a news crew jailed for two months in 2017 for flying a drone too close to Myanmars parliament.

We had a relative amount of better press freedom in Myanmar, especially between 2012-2020, he said. (But) we were fighting to get complete press freedom. This time is the worst time in the history of Myanmar.

Media watchdogs agree. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said the military coup set press freedom in Myanmar back by 10 years.

Walking Through the Darkness has been screened a handful of times in Thailand, but a date for wider release has not been set.
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) marked its 50-year anniversary Thursday at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Activists have criticized the organization as being slow to address global threats to the environment, such as pollution and climate change. But at the U.N.'s Environment Assembly this week over 100 nations pledged to negotiate a binding treaty to reduce plastic pollution.

UNEP's chief, Inger Andersen, said Thursday the agency has contributed to saving the planet from harm and destruction.

We saved millions of lives and protected nature," she said. "We showed environmental multilateralism does deliver. That is a lesson that should inspire us today. Friends, there are other major achievements, the launch of the scientific body, the IPCC, the phase-out of lead and petrol and just yesterday, the resolution starting the pathway to a global plastic pollution deal to end plastic pollution for good.

The resolution calls for two years of negotiations toward a comprehensive, international treaty on how to handle the growing problem of plastic waste.

The UNEP was formed in Stockholm in 1972 and has been a key player in safeguarding the worlds plant species, wildlife, and climate.

The organization says its mandate is to bring the world together in tackling environmental threats.

Addressing leaders, delegates and environmental activists at the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenyas president, Uhuru Kenyatta, praised its work.



Progressively, over the last 50 years, UNEP has led the world to understand the centrality of the environment in human existence to appreciate the increased threats to the environment and also the existential threat that exists to our planet. They have also helped us galvanize collective global action to protect our environment, he said.



Wanjira Mathai, the vice-president and regional director at the World Resources Institute, said enforcing agreed-upon environment policies and laws has been a challenge.

I think enforcement is usually our biggest challenge because we make commitments but we dont always follow through with enforcement. Thats the biggest opportunity for us, is to see them through, he said.

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi says implementing environmental laws and the agreement requires greater funding.



Botswana continues to walk in the path provided by multilateral environmental agreements that she is a party to. However, with limited resources fulfilling these commitments continues to remain a challenge but we stand committed as Botswana, do not doubt it, he said.



Andersen said her organization needs the support of all countries to achieve and deliver a stable climate and rich nature that benefits all.
U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Thursday for eastern Europe to hold meetings with NATO allies and other European leaders in an effort to find a diplomatic solution to the situation in Ukraine.



In a release, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken will first travel to Brussels for a NATO Foreign Ministerial, as well as meet with his European Union counterparts for the G-7 Ministerial Meeting.



Blinken travels to Poland on Saturday for meetings with Polish leaders, including Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, to discuss further security assistance in the face of Russias continued aggression.



Price said the secretary of state also will thank Poland for generously welcoming hundreds of thousands of displaced persons from Ukraine and discuss how the United States can augment humanitarian assistance efforts for those fleeing Putins war.



Later Saturday, Blinken is scheduled to travel to Moldova to meet with President Maia Sandu, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, and Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu to discuss Moldovas efforts to receive and assist refugees, and underscore U.S. support for that effort.



From March 6 through March 8, Blinken travels to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to meet with leaders in those countries to discuss joint efforts to support Ukraine, strengthen NATOs deterrence and defense, and promote democracy and human rights.



At a news briefing Wednesday, Blinken said intensive diplomacy with allies and partners continues with the aim of ending the crisis in Ukraine.



He said, If there are diplomatic steps that we can take that the Ukrainian government believes would be helpful, were prepared to take them  even as we continue to support Ukraines ability to defend itself.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called for restraint in the Ukraine conflict, noting his country's own suffering after a year of war. The statement notably did not condemn Russia for invading its neighbor.

Many countries over the past week have condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ethiopia refrained from joining the chorus Thursday, issuing an official statement in which it called for restraint from both parties in the Ukraine crisis.

The statement from the office of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Ethiopia is concerned by what it termed the escalation of rhetoric that is intensifying the conflict.

It called on all parties to find pathways toward reaching an end to hostilities,

and noted that Ethiopias own war in the Tigray region has devastated communities and families and has damaged the countrys economy.

However, the statement did not condemn any entity for the conflict in Ukraine.

A day earlier, Ethiopia also abstained from voting on a United Nations General Assembly vote that called on Russia to remove its troops from Ukraine.

Ethiopian officials have not explained the decision to avoid condemning Moscow. However, Ethiopia had close ties to the Soviet Union during the 14-year rule of Mengistu Haile Mariam, and a number of Ethiopian students are currently studying in Russia.

Other Ethiopian students were in Ukraine when the invasion began, and the Ethiopian embassy there says 25 had been evacuated as of Wednesday.
Hong Kong hit a record 56,000 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, but the citys leader denied a wholesale lockdown was looming.

Earlier this week, domestic media reported that such a lockdown was imminent in efforts to enforce the Hong Kong government's recent decision to conduct compulsory mass testing for each resident this month.

The Sing Tao Daily, Hong Kongs oldest Chinese language newspaper, reported that the testing would start March 17, followed by a lockdown, citing unidentified sources.

But for the second time in recent weeks, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam reiterated there would not be a "wholesale" lockdown, despite soaring cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus that continues to overwhelm the citys health system, local media reported.

The mixed messaging comes after Health Secretary Sophia Chan told reporters on Monday that authorities were still considering a lockdown plan.

Dr. David Owens, an honorary assistant clinical professor at Hong Kong University, said having a lockdown in mid-March would make no sense.

The timing of lockdown in this context depends on the strategy and reasons. If the goal is to drastically cut transmission to bring the epidemic under control, then the optimal time was two months ago. If we were to do it now, there may be a small benefit, but even then delaying two weeks would reduce that small benefit further, so it makes no sense, Owens told VOA.

Several health experts have agreed that the peak of Hong Kongs fifth wave, caused by the highly transmissible omicron variant, is due to be reached in the first weeks of March.

My point to this is that we are already living with COVID-19. By then and to pursue zero-COVID when you already effectively have population immunity makes no sense, Owens added.

Since the pandemic began two years ago, Hong Kong has adopted a zero-COVID strategy, aligned with Beijing's effort to control infections across China. The strategy has had some success, with authorities quickly clamping down on rare outbreaks by contact tracing, social restrictions, mass testing and quarantine.

But this year alone, Hong Kong has seen more cases than 2020 and 2021 combined, leaving authorities in an unprecedented health crisis.

On Thursday, Hong Kong recorded a daily high of 56,827 new infections, with 144 deaths. Three-hundred-and-50-thousand-557 positive cases have been recorded, with 1,312 deaths at last report.

Concerned residents say they believe a mainland-style lockdown could be announced soon. China enforced harsh lockdowns at the beginning of the pandemic in efforts to contain cases, with streets empty and citizens prohibited from leaving home.

Many Hong Kong residents have been shopping frantically in supermarkets in recent weeks, stocking up on food and resources, leaving shelves empty.

On Thursday, Dr. Chui Tak-yi, Hong Kongs food and health secretary, played down fears of a supply shortage in the city, telling reporters there was no need for residents to resort panic buying.

According to a survey, however, 90% of the responses would welcome a citywide lockdown, coupled with the universal testing plan. The pro-Beijing political party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, conducted the survey and received responses from more than 13,000 citizens, The Standard newspaper reported.

Ben Cowling, chair professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kongs School of Public Health, tweeted that if health authorities immediately imposed a lockdown, it would save more lives than doing so during the mass testing dates.

A lockdown now for 2 weeks would save many more lives than a lockdown in late March that is implemented to facilitate contact tracing during mass testing cycles. More stringent social distancing now, for two weeks, would slow down transmission as we approach the peak, Cowling tweeted on Monday.

Late last month, Lam announced a universal testing program for the entire 7.4 million population for March, with each resident undergoing three tests.

Local media have reported the universal testing plan will begin on March 26 and last nine days. City health experts have said March is too early because the infection numbers are still high.

Professor Gabriel Leung is the dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, HKU. Citing data in an updated study from the school, he said that if the government wants to achieve a zero-COVID policy, it would be better for mass testing to begin next month instead.

If compulsory universal PCR testing were to be implemented under dynamic zero-covid policy, it should be deployed mid-to late-April when case numbers will already be at very low levels in order to truly achieve elimination or zero covid, Leung tweeted.

Already overworked and short-staffed, one health worker at Hong Kongs United Christian Hospital told VOA she was afraid of the mass testing plan.

I am so afraid of the universal testing program. We dont have enough manpower for that. The government is so keen on a zero-COVID strategy. To me, it is a zero-medical staff strategy. The morale is worsened every day in the front line.

February saw shocking scenes outside several Hong Kong hospitals, as dozens of sick patients lay in beds in cold weather waiting to be admitted. According to recent data from the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, public hospitals in the city were close to full capacity.

The study by medical researchers at the University of Hong Kong suggests the city could face nearly 7,000 deaths in the next three months if hospitals were to be overburdened.

The overflow of Hong Kongs medical facilities has led to the city contracting construction firms from China to build isolation and treatment facilities in Hong Kong, with space for a reported 50,000 beds.
The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned Thursday that Iran had increased its stockpile of uranium well beyond the limits established in the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, inching it closer to being capable of building a nuclear weapon.

In a confidential quarterly report to member nations, the IAEA said Iran has an estimated 33.2 kilograms of uranium enriched to up to 60% fissile purity, an increase of 15.5 kilograms since November.

Such highly enriched uranium can be easily refined to make nuclear weapons. According to The Associated Press, the 33.2-kilogram figure brings Iran closer to having enough weapons-grade uranium to produce such a weapon.

The IAEA report estimates that as of February 19, Iran's stockpile of all enriched uranium was roughly 3.2 metric tons, an increase of 707.4 kilograms.

The report comes as senior diplomats from the original signatories of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, have been meeting in Vienna with Iranian officials since November, trying to reinstate the agreement.

The head of the IAEA, Director-General Rafael Grossi said he will travel to Vienna Saturday "for meetings with senior Iranian officials," the IAEA said Thursday.

The IAEA said these latest uranium figures, which could not be fully verified because of limits placed on the agency by Iran, indicate that time may be running out for the negotiators.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
As Russian troops march through Ukraine, Ukrainians in the U.S. are anxious about their future and that of their homeland.

Roman Korol, a graduate student at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, is concerned for his familys safety here in the U.S. when his visa expires and his extended family in Ukraine.

They're all in Ukraine. They're all under fire. They're all civilians. But that doesn't stop me from worrying about them every day, every second of this conflict. I'm stressed. I'm checking the news all the time and trying to find ways I can help from abroad, he told VOA.

Korol is one of about 105,000 Ukrainians in the U.S. under a noncitizen status, which includes visa holders, undocumented immigrants and DACA recipients. His nonimmigrant student visa allows him to live in the United States while studying at a U.S. institution.

"As soon as I'm done [with] my studies, as soon as I graduate, and then become a doctor of philosophy, I have to leave the U.S. within, I believe, it's two or three months.  I was thinking of coming back there after I finished my degree. But at the moment, the situation is so severe that, you know, there are no flights to Ukraine, said Korol, who is expected to graduate this year.

Temporary Protected Status

These uncertainties, coupled with the magnitude of the conflict, have led some immigration rights groups to call for Ukraine to be given Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to ensure safety for Ukrainians in American soil.

Lisa Parisio, an immigration attorney with Catholic Legal Immigration Network, said the responsibility of designating a country with TPS lies with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

That is a designation that the secretary of homeland security can make for an entire country  a blanket protection for nationals if there are conditions in a country that makes safe returning impossible, including armed conflict and other extraordinary and temporary conditions, which we are seeing in Ukraine right now, Parisio told VOA.

TPS was a program started in 1990 when Congress said the attorney general had the authority to not deport immigrants in the United States who were unable to safely return to their home countries. It has been subsequently applied in countries embroiled in conflict such as Syria, South Sudan and Haiti.

If applied to Ukraine, Parisio said, the designation would provide protection from deportation for Ukrainian nationals in the United States for up to 18 months. And it also can provide work permits for people, if they choose to apply for them.

According to the U.S. Census' 2019 American Community Survey, there are about 105,000 Ukrainian noncitizens in the United States who would benefit from TPS.

Returning is possible

Andrii Umanskyi, a second-year student at American University in Washington, is in a state of disbelief over the Russian invasion.

I'm feeling partially anxious. Even though the invasion was expected by most Ukrainians, who were receiving a lot of reports about Russian troops' movements, and the Ukrainian army was preparing for it, in spite of that, it is still quite shocking to see your own country being invaded, he said.

Recently, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators called on President Joe Biden and Mayorkas to grant Temporary Protected Status to Ukraine, writing in a letter: "It is obviously too dangerous for Ukrainian nationals to return to Ukraine due to the ongoing armed conflict.

When asked for comment, the Department of Homeland Security told VOA that while it was monitoring the situation in Ukraine, it could not say whether a decision had been made.

Umanskyi said that although protection would be welcome, returning to Ukraine would always be an option.

I do intend to go back to Ukraine, no matter the outcome, but I would really prefer to go back to an independent and sovereign Ukraine with all its territories, he said.

Umanskyi said the conflict only strengthened his determination to assist his country, however he can.

Ukrainians need support now more than ever before, he said.

VOA's Aline Barros contributed to this report.
Anglophone separatists in Cameroon have claimed responsibility for an attack Wednesday that killed seven people, including a senior official and a mayor. Cameroons military says the officials were on a tour to raise support against the rebels when a homemade bomb hit their car.

The government said the explosive device hit the officials' car in Bekora village in the Ekondo Titi district of Cameroon's English-speaking South-West region. The government says six officials, including Timothee Aboloa, highest government official in Ekondo Titi, Nanji Kenneth, mayor of Ekondo Titi and Ebeku William, the Ekondo Titi president of Cameroons ruling Cameroon People's Democratic Movement party, died on the spot.

Cameroon's military said after the device exploded, separatist fighters hiding in a nearby bush started shooting.

Bernard Okalia Bilai is the governor of the South-West region. Bilai said several government troops sustained injuries, and a military official died while being rushed to a local hospital by the military. Bilai spoke during a press conference broadcast by local media including Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV.

"All the six occupants of the car died. The other forces of law and order [military] who were in the pickup following the [officials'] car was wounded. One young officer, a lieutenant, was wounded, and he too passed away. So, in that attack we have lost seven persons, he said.

Bilai said the officials were on a meet-the-people tour of Ekondo Titi. He said during the tour, the officials were expected to educate civilians on braving separatists and relaunch economic activities in their towns and villages. Bilai said the officials were also asking civilians to report suspected fighters hiding in their towns and villages.

Cameroons military on Thursday said troops were deployed to Ekondo Titi shortly after the explosion. The military said the troops will track and arrest or kill the fighters should government troops face any resistance from the rebels.

Capo Daniel is the deputy defense chief of staff for the Ambazonia Defense Forces, said to be the largest separatist group in Cameroon.

Capo said separatists regret that one fighter has been missing since Wednesdays attack. He said no fighter was wounded and none were killed by government troops in the Ekondo Titi attack, as reported by Cameroon military. Capo spoke to VOA via a messaging app.

This operation is part of our liberation operations to end the Cameroon occupation and rule of Ambazonia territory. The divisional officer is in charge of coordinating Cameroons military operations and Cameroons occupation of Ambazonia territory. We will continue to battle and resist Cameroon rule of Ambazonia until the last Cameroon military is booted out of our territory, he said.

Cameroon separatists have been fighting since 2017 to carve out an independent English-speaking state in the majority French-speaking Cameroon. The separatists say their state will be called Ambazonia.

Fighters have vowed to attack any worker sent by the central government in Yaounde to the English-speaking western regions. The separatists say they will continue attacking government offices and staff until the central government withdraws its troops from the troubled Anglophone regions.

The United Nations says the conflict has left more than 3,500 people dead and 750,000 displaced.
Ukrainian staff maintaining the decommissioned nuclear power plant at the site of the 1986 nuclear accident are hungry, exhausted and at increased risk of making errors while under the control of Russian military occupiers, officials with Ukraine's main nuclear regulatory agency say.

A relative of one of the workers tells VOA that the staff, who have now been manning the facility for a week without relief, are without clean clothes and blankets and are provided only one meal a day. The Russian soldiers guarding them are also short of supplies and have been scavenging in local villages for food, according to a woman who has been in contact with a relative inside the nuclear plant.

The facility, just 16 kilometers from the Belarusian border, was one of the first sites to fall to Russian forces, who invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 and quickly disarmed a nuclear plant security force of 150 national guard troops. No deaths were reported.

Russian media quoted the defense ministry two days later saying an agreement had been reached on joint security at the plant by Russian airborne forces and the Ukrainian national guard.

But the regulatory authority, known as the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, said in a letter to VOA that that the guard troops were taken prisoner and remain inside the facility.

Also inside are the 95 night shift workers on duty when the Russians arrived, the medical staff of the nearby Slavutych City Hospital, firefighters, and four sightseers who had asked for shelter, the inspectorate said. Altogether, about 300 Ukrainians are trapped inside.

The inspectorates letter said the members of the night crew, who normally work in 12-hour shifts, have not been relieved since the takeover. They have now worked more than 14 consecutive shifts.

"Operational personnel are physically and morally exhausted and can perform only a limited number of priority measures to maintain security and monitoring. This state of staff, despite the high level of professionalism, can cause staff errors," the letter said.

A woman whose relative works inside said that she could communicate by mobile phone until digital communications were cut off Saturday, but that she is still receiving word of conditions in the plant, where rations have been cut to one meal a day. She asked that only her first name, Natalia, be used for fear of retaliation against her relative.

"Before that, two meals  at noon and midnight. Staff walked around the station searching for remaining candies and biscuits in offices and lockers," Natalia said.

She said the Russian soldiers who seized the station didn't have supplies, so they went to the nearby villages, asking for food. The soldiers are treating the staff "with respect" and have not mistreated anyone, she said, but conditions are difficult because of the cold.

"My relative sleeps on the table, dressed in several layers of sweatshirts," Natalia said. "In this situation, you can't sleep much because they have to keep track of everything that happens."

Radiation concerns

The Chernobyl power plants management painted a more reassuring picture of the situation in a public statement posted to its Facebook page on Tuesday, saying that there was no shortage of food inside the facility and everyone was still healthy.

"Under 'no-rotation' conditions, the ChNPP [Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant] staff has been demonstrating high spirit and solidarity with each other, as well as huge responsibility for their duties. Luckily, all of them are safe and sound. The plant's systems operate without any faults. The stock of food is currently enough," says the statement.

The Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate, however, said in its letter to VOA that the Russian soldiers do not comply with the "sanitary regime" involving standard precautions to protect against the escape of radioactive materials. This "will inevitably lead to the spread of radiation pollution from areas with higher levels of pollution to less contaminated areas and premises," it said.

The letter noted that the recorded gamma radiation levels were 5-15 times higher than the average for 2021. "One of the reasons may be the disturbance of the upper layer of radiation-contaminated soil as a result of the movement of heavy military equipment," the letter said, adding that as a result, radioactive particles were lifted along with the dust.

The current levels of gamma radiation do not pose a threat to human health outside the exclusion zone, which extends about 30 kilometers in all directions from the plant, the agency said. But it cautioned that it is no longer receiving data from the plant and cannot detect "the dynamics of gamma radiation levels."

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is the site of what is considered the world's worst nuclear disaster. On April 26, 1986, its Number 4 reactor suffered a core meltdown followed by a series of explosions. The reactor was eventually shut down and encased in a steel and concrete containment structure.

Three other reactors remained in operation after the disaster, but all were shut down by 2000 and still are in the process of being fully decommissioned. The site cleanup is not expected to be completed until 2065.

Ukrainian authorities are keeping the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) informed about developments at the Chernobyl facility and another 15 nuclear reactors at four stations, which provide about half of the country's total electricity production.

In a statement to the IAEA Board of Governors on Wednesday, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said that he had received a letter from the inspectorate asking for "immediate assistance to ensure the safety of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and other nuclear facilities in the country." Grossi said his agency had begun consultations on the request.

Grossi also called for "restraint from all measures or actions that could jeopardize the security of nuclear and other radioactive material, and the safe operation of any nuclear facilities in Ukraine, because any such incident could have severe consequences, aggravating human suffering and causing environmental harm."

"It is of utmost importance that the staff working at the Specialized Enterprise Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant are able to do their job safely and effectively and that their personal well-being is guaranteed by those who have taken control," Grossi said.

He advised the board that Ukraine's nuclear plants were operating normally despite the circumstances, but that grave danger remained.

"It is the first time a military conflict is happening amidst the facilities of a large established nuclear power program, which in this case also include the site of the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant," he said.

War-related dangers

Richard Weitz, director of the Center for Political-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute in Washington, told VOA the most significant danger at the Chernobyl plant comes from possible damage to the confinement structure due to hostilities. He said the reactors elsewhere in Ukraine, which do not have confinement structures, are vulnerable to being hit by missiles.

"This is the first time we've had a war between two countries that have large civilian nuclear power complexes. And that, I think, is even a greater risk than Chernobyl that something's going to happen to disrupt the shielding and safety of one of those reactors," Weitz said.

Chary Rangacharyulu, a physics and engineering professor at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, said the Russians may try to use the nuclear plants for political leverage, but he doubts they are "so foolish to destroy those facilities and let out radioactivities into the atmosphere."

"However, if they make mistakes and blow up a facility or two, the harm will not be limited to Ukraine. It will go beyond. Russia and Belarus are the neighboring countries that will be very much affected. Let us hope and pray that the Russian government is not that insane to cause harm to its own people," he said in a written response to questions from VOA.

Wade Allison, a professor of physics and a fellow at Keble College at Oxford University in England, said he saw no threat posed by the Chernobyl situation because "there have been no active nuclear reactors at Chernobyl since 2000. Spent fuel is not a problem."
A consortium of U.S. states announced on Wednesday a joint investigation into TikTok's possible harm to young users of the platform, which has boomed in popularity, especially among children.

Officials across the United States have launched their own investigations and lawsuits against Big Tech giants as new national regulations have failed to pass, partly because of partisan gridlock in Congress.

The consortium of eight states will look into the harm TikTok can cause to its young users and what the company knew about such possible harm, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said a statement.

Leading the investigation is a coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont.

The investigation will focus, among other things, on TikTok's techniques to boost young user engagement, including efforts to increase the frequency and duration of children's use.

"We don't know what social media companies knew about these harms and when," Bonta said in a statement.

"Our nationwide investigation will allow us to get much-needed answers and determine if TikTok is violating the law in promoting its platform to young Californians," he added.

TikTok's short-form videos have boomed in popularity with the youngest users, prompting growing concern from parents over the potential that their children could develop unhealthy use habits or be exposed to harmful content.

TikTok welcomes investigation

The platform welcomed the investigation as a chance to provide information on its efforts to protect users.

"We care deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community," TikTok's statement said.

"We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens," it added.

Social media's impact on young users came under renewed scrutiny last year when Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked a trove of internal company documents raising questions over whether it had prioritized growth over users safety.

The documents were given to lawmakers, a consortium of journalists and U.S. regulators by Haugen, who has become a figurehead of criticism of the leading social media platform.

Despite media attention on the issue and hearings before U.S. lawmakers, no new rules have gotten close to being enacted on the national level.

States have instead proceeded with their own efforts to look into Big Tech companies.

For example, a consortium of U.S. states announced a joint probe in November of Instagram's parent company, Meta, for promoting the app to children despite allegedly knowing its potential for harm. The consortium of attorneys general, states' top law enforcers and legal advisers, included some of the same states as Wednesday's probe, like California and Florida.

Instagram sparked fierce criticism for its plans to make a version of the photo-sharing app for younger users. It later halted development.
"We're publishing this text while there's still time," independent Russian media site Meduza said.

"Within a few days, maybe even today, it is possible that there will be no independent media left in Russia," read the statement published to Meduza's website Thursday.

The independent media outlet said that Moscow's regulator, Roskomnadzor, has ordered journalists to refer to Russia's invasion as a "special military operation."

Roskomnadzor has warned more than a dozen media outlets, including VOA's Russian language website, that they will be fined or blocked unless they remove content Russia deems illegal or that details military information.

VOA Acting Director Yolanda Lopez said Wednesday that the network could not comply with the order, adding, "The Russian people deserve unfettered access to a free press."

Renowned Russian outlets including Ekho Moskvy closed this week, citing warnings over their coverage of the war, and journalists from Russia and Ukraine have been forced to flee or relocate.

Russian state media have also come under pressure, with the EU banning broadcasts and RT America announcing Thursday that it would cease operations in the U.S.

Two prominent Russian independent outlets were forced off the air this week, and access to RFE/RL's Current Time and Crimea.Realities was blocked.

The board of iconic liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy on Thursday voted to liquidate the station and website.

Ekho Moskvy was taken off the airwaves Tuesday along with Dozhd TV after they failed to comply with orders from the regulator over their coverage.

In its decision, the prosecutor cited the station's sharing "of information calling for extremist activities, violence and deliberately false information about the actions of Russian forces as part of a special operation" in Ukraine.

Editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov told Reuters at the time, "Our editorial policies won't change."

Several staff members from Dozhd TV have left Russia, citing censorship and safety concerns.

With access to the website blocked and reports of harassment, "it is obvious that the personal safety of some of us is under threat," Editor-in-chief Tikhon Dzyadko told reporters.

"No matter how black and nasty it is now, and no matter how happy some are with our decision, we will still win. This is inevitable, because the truth ultimately wins," he added.

International reaction

The U.S. and the European Union have condemned Russian censorship over coverage of its war in Ukraine.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said Thursday that Moscow "is engaged in a full assault on media freedom and the truth."

Psaki cited the media regulator threats to Ekho Moskvy, Dozhd and VOA's Russian Service, bans on terms used to describe the war, and restrictions on social media platforms.

"What they are trying to do is block any information about what they are doing to invade a sovereign country, and they're taking severe steps to do exactly that," she said.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said late Wednesday that Russia's efforts to "mislead and suppress the truth" about the country's invasion of Ukraine were intensifying, and that the Russian people deserved to know the truth about what's happening.

U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, the lead Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told VOA that Moscow's "manipulation and censorship of the media is appalling."

"The Russian people deserve access to the truth about Russia's unprovoked war of aggression and instead are being fed lies by the Putin regime," said McCaul. "The U.S. must continue to robustly support independent media to counter Russian propaganda and disinformation."

The EU has also condemned censorship and disinformation. Member states on Wednesday voted to block transmissions of Russian-backed state media, including Sputnik and RT.

RT America on Thursday announced it would cease operations immediately, citing moves by providers that dropped its broadcasts this week.

Broadcaster Holland Cooke, who hosted a weekly show on RT America, said on a news website that management called a meeting Thursday and announced the U.S. division would cease operations because of condemnation over Russia's invasion in Ukraine.

A memo sent to staff said production would stop "due to unforeseen business interruption events," CNN reported.

Media support

Moscow's independent journalists are standing in solidarity with their colleagues. More than 200 signed an open letter protesting Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Novaya Gazeta, the renowned Russian outlet run by Nobel Peace laureate Dmitry Muratov, on Tuesday said it would offer space to Ekho Moskvy and other media on its site.

Across Europe, media are also offering help and assistance to journalists forced to flee.

Kosovo on Wednesday allocated 150,000 euros or $165,000 toward six months of living costs, wages and shelter for up to 20 Ukrainian journalists.

Priority will be given to female reporters recommended by the European Federation of Journalists and European Center for Press and Media Freedom, Reuters reported.

The London-based media trade magazine The Fix, which focuses on media in Europe, has also offered practical support, setting up partnerships with newsrooms to provide tech and relocation support, and regional hubs so journalists can keep reporting.

"In peaceful times, The Fix is a trade publication and knowledge hub that covers media management in Europe," Zakhar Protsiuk, the outlet's managing editor, told VOA via email. "[But] in the first hours of the Russian invasion, we reorganized our work to support Ukrainian media."

The Fix, which has strong Ukrainian ties, said it was connecting European outlets such as the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Germany's Axel Springer and others with journalists in need of equipment and support in Ukraine or help setting up hubs across Europe so they can keep publishing.

Protsiuk said they were working with independent media in Ukraine and partners in a nongovernmental organization, the Media Development Foundation.

"The Fix team has a lot of experience in working in difficult environments," Protsiuk said. "My colleagues have been providing help for media working in eastern Ukraine; we are working with many Belarus independent media who had to flee the country."

Members of the Council of Europe Platform to Promote Journalist Safety released a joint statement to demand the safety of news crews.

"We emphasize that journalists are considered civilians under international humanitarian law and are not legitimate targets," the statement said.

The platform called for "urgent and practical international assistance and support" for those covering the conflict, saying independent news is essential in conflict situations.

"Their work helps keep people safe and ensures that the international community can understand the full consequences of this invasion and its appalling impact on human lives," the statement added.
A Kentucky jury on Thursday cleared a former police officer of charges that he endangered neighbors when he fired shots into an apartment during the 2020 drug raid that ended with Breonna Taylor's death.

The panel of eight men and four women delivered its verdict about three hours after it took the case following closing arguments from prosecution and defense attorneys.

Former Louisville Police officer Brett Hankison had been charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing through sliding-glass side doors and a window of Taylor's apartment during the raid that left the 26-year-old Black woman dead.

Hankison's attorneys never contested the ballistics evidence, but said he fired 10 bullets because he thought his fellow officers were "being executed."

Hankison, 45, testified during the trial that he saw a muzzle flash from Taylor's darkened hallway after police burst through the door and thought officers were under heavy fire, so he quickly wheeled around a corner and sprayed 10 bullets, hoping to end the threat.

But in closing arguments Thursday, prosecutors cast doubt on what Hankison said he saw, challenging whether he could have looked through Taylor's front door when police broke it open with a battering ram.

"He was never in the doorway," Assistant Kentucky Attorney General Barbara Maines Whaley told the jury. Referring to Taylor she added, "His wanton conduct could have multiplied her death by three, easily."

Whaley also reminded the jury that none of the other officers who testified recalled Hankison being in the doorway before the gunfire began. All the shells from his weapon were found in the parking lot, among a row of cars.

She said while other officers were in the line of fire of a single shot fired by Taylor's boyfriend, Hankison was "over here, shooting wildly through sliding-glass doors covered with vertical blinds and drapes."

The former narcotics detective admitted to firing through Taylor's patio doors and bedroom window but said he did so to save his fellow officers. Asked if he did anything wrong that night, he said "absolutely not." Hankison was fired by Louisville Police for shooting blindly during the raid.

Defense attorney Stewart Mathews told the jury in his closing argument Thursday that Hankison thought he was doing the right thing and is not a criminal who belongs in prison.

"He did what he thought he had to do in that instant. This all happened in such a short span," Mathews said.

The killing of Taylor loomed over the trial, though prosecutors insisted in opening statements that the case wasn't about her death or the police decisions that led to the March 13, 2020, raid. Jurors were shown a single image of her body, barely discernible at the end of the hallway.

Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who had been settling down for bed when officers broke through her door, was shot multiple times and died at the scene.

Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron's prosecutors asked a grand jury to indict Hankison on charges of endangering Taylor's neighbors but declined to seek charges against any officers involved in Taylor's death. Protesters who had walked the streets for months were outraged.

Taylor's name, along with George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery  Black men who died in encounters with police and white pursuers  became rallying cries during racial justice protests seen around the world in 2020.

The jury of 10 men and five women was selected after several days of questioning from a pool expanded to about 250 people. Before deliberations, the jury was reduced to eight men and four women after three alternates were dismissed. The judge declined to release details about their race or ethnicity.
The French government Wednesday seized a yacht connected to Russian oil oligarch Igor Sechin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as part of European Union sanctions over Russias invasion of Ukraine.

In a written statement posted on his official Twitter account, French Minister of Public Action and Accounts Olivier Dussopt said the 85.6-meter yacht  the Amore Vero  was seized by French customs agents at a shipyard at La Ciotat, near Marseille, in the south of France. The statement said the yacht is owned by a company "in which Sechin is the main shareholder."

Sechin runs Russian petroleum company Rosneft and is also a former Russian government official.

Dussopts Twitter post includes a photograph of the yacht, which reportedly features a swimming pool that turns into a helipad, as well as multiple decks, including one with a hot tub.

The statement says the boat arrived in La Ciotat on January 3 for repairs and was scheduled to remain there until April 1. French customs officers say when they arrived to inspect the yacht, its crew was preparing an urgent departure, even though the repair work wasnt finished, the statement said. The boat was seized to prevent its departure.

Forbes magazine has reported that German authorities have seized the superyacht Dilbar belonging to billionaire Alisher Usmanov, but the report has not been confirmed.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
A pro-democracy Hong Kong radio DJ was convicted of seditious speech on Wednesday under a British colonial-era law that authorities have embraced as China flattens dissent in the business hub.

Tam Tak-chi, 49, is among a growing number of activists charged with sedition, a previously little-used law that prosecutors have dusted off in the wake of massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Tam's trial was the first since Hong Kong's 1997 handover in which a sedition defendant fought his case by pleading not guilty and went through a full trial.

Two previous recent prosecutions were wrapped up after guilty pleas.

As a result, Tam's conviction is a legal watershed because it sets precedents for a host of upcoming sedition prosecutions as China remolds Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image.

Better known by his moniker "Fast Beat," Tak hosted a popular online talk show that backed democracy and was highly critical of the government, often using colorful language.

He was a regular presence at protests and often set up street booths to deliver political speeches.

Prosecutors focused on the street booths, with Tam convicted on seven counts of "uttering seditious words" as well as other charges such as disorderly conduct and disobeying a police officer.

Authorities said Tam incited hatred against the authorities by chanting the popular protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times" 171 times, cursing the police force some 120 times, and repeatedly shouting "Down with the Communist Party.

"The attack on the Communist Party is only part of the seditious words uttered by the accused," district judge Stanley Chan said in his verdict.

"Looking at what he (Tam) said, it's far beyond criticizing and theorizing," he added.

Sedition is separate from the sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020.

But the courts treat it with the same severity and there are plans to make sedition one of a number of new national security crimes later this year, meaning it will soon carry a much longer jail term.

Tam was arrested in September 2020 and denied bail, as happens in most national security cases.

His trial began in July 2021 but was delayed for a landmark High Court ruling in which judges declared the popular protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong" was secessionist and therefore illegal under the new security law.

That ruling legally crystallized the reality that certain views and slogans are now forbidden in Hong Kong under the security law.

In Hong Kong, sedition is broadly defined as any words that generate "hatred, contempt or disaffection" towards the government or "encourage disaffection" among residents.

It carries up to two years in jail for a first offense.

First penned by colonial ruler Britain in 1938, it was long criticized as an anti-free speech law, including by many of the pro-Beijing local newspapers now praising its use.

By the time of the 1997 handover, it had not been used for decades but remained on the books.

On the same day Tam was convicted, police charged two men aged 17 and 19 with "uttering seditious words" in a separate case concerning a campus protest in 2020.

In recent months, sedition charges have been brought against pro-democracy unionists who produced euphemistic children's books about a village of sheep defending itself from wolves; journalists from now-shuttered pro-democracy news outlets; and a former pop star turned democracy activist.

In January, a man was jailed for eight months and a woman 13-and-a-half months after pleading guilty in two separate cases over seditious leaflets.
From his tent in a displaced-persons camp in northwest Syria, Motaz has been watching Russia's invasion of Ukraine with one thing in mind.

"I can almost see the same thing that happened to us a few years ago happening to these innocent Ukrainians as well," said the 37-year-old native of Aleppo, who gave only his first name.

Motaz and his family fled Aleppo in late 2016, as Syrian air force and Russian planes bombed the eastern outskirts of Syria's second-largest city to drive out rebels. They, along with hundreds of thousands of other residents of eastern Aleppo, are being sheltered in several Syrian camps as well as refugee camps in neighboring countries.

Throughout Syria's decadelong conflict, Russia has been a staunch supporter of the government. Moscow's formal military engagement in Syria's war in 2015 has been said to have aided Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in reclaiming much of the territory previously held by rebel groups.

The recapture of eastern Aleppo and other rebel-held areas in Syria came at a heavy cost for the civilian population.

Since then, many rights groups and international bodies have accused Syrian government forces and their Russian allies of targeting Syrian civilians across the war-torn country.

"We watched in real time how Russia's war machine destroyed our homes, schools and hospitals," Motaz said. "That's why I'm afraid they would repeat the same thing against civilians in Ukraine."

More evidence of the destruction of civilian infrastructure and mounting civilian casualties has emerged since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine a week ago. More than 2,000 civilians have been killed in the battle, according to the Ukrainian government.

Russian airstrikes targeted civilian infrastructure in multiple Ukrainian cities on Tuesday, primarily in Kyiv, the country's capital, and Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city.

The Pentagon expressed alarm Wednesday about Russia's increasingly aggressive behavior in Ukraine that is further endangering civilians and civilian infrastructure.

According to the United Nations, 1 million people have fled Ukraine in the past week alone.

The Syria playbook

According to experts, in its attack on Ukraine, Russia is employing practically all the military tactics it used in Syria.

"These methods are essentially from the same playbook, which includes shelling residential areas, targeting schools and destroying hospitals," said Ahmed Rahal, a former Syrian army general who works as a military analyst in Istanbul, Turkey.

"For someone like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, achieving their goals is the only thing that matters. He doesn't care if civilians are killed or civilian infrastructure are destroyed. In fact, he would do so if it helps him achieve his military objectives," he told VOA.

The only difference, Rahal said, is that the West is actively watching Russia's military moves in every part of Ukraine, "which could put some restrictions on how Moscow deals with civilian targets."

"In Syria, many places in Aleppo, Idlib, Homs and elsewhere were leveled to the ground because Russian strikes largely were unchecked," he said. "But in Ukraine, the fact that Western leaders and media are thoroughly following what Russia does could potentially help reduce the scale of Russia's atrocities against civilians."

Key similarities

Anna Borshchevskaya, an expert on Russian policy in the Middle East at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, agrees that there are key similarities between Russia's military activities in both conflicts.

"First, it is Russia's focus on use of aerospace forces. In Syria, Russia executed a primarily aerial campaign, with a naval component. Though in Ukraine there are far more boots on the ground, and overall, this is a far bigger invasion that the Syria intervention, these broader elements are still there. They demonstrate the evolution of Russia's way of war that incorporates lessons learned from past failures," she told VOA.

Borshchevskaya, the author of the 2021 book Putin's War in Syria, said the targeting of civilian population is another key element.

"In Syria, Putin helped Assad carpet-bomb his citizens, terrorize them into submission," she said. "We are seeing these same elements emerge now, with Russia's increased aerial bombardments of key cities, which raise the question of, will Kyiv, for instance, turn into another Aleppo?"

This story originated in VOA's Kurdish Service.
For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

For the latest developments of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, all times EST:

11:49 p.m.: Russian forces shelled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, sparking a fire in a nearby building early Friday. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the event highlights once again why he has repeatedly stressed that any military or other action that could threaten the safety or security of Ukraines nuclear power plants must be avoided.

I remain gravely concerned about the deteriorating situation in Ukraine, especially about the countrys nuclear power plants, which must be able to continue operating without any safety or security threats, he said. Any accident caused as a result of the military conflict could have extremely serious consequences for people and the environment, in Ukraine and beyond. VOA has the story.

11:06 p.m.: The American Nuclear Society issued a statement condemning the attack on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and saying, "Currently, there are no indications that any damage caused by the attack poses an additional threat to the public. The latest radiation level readings remain within natural background levels."

10:57 p.m.: "Essential" equipment not affected by nuclear power plant fire, Ukraine tells IAEA.

10:50 p.m.: Ukraine says radiation levels have not changed at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the IAEA says.

10:41 p.m.: U.S. President Joe Biden is also being briefed on the situation at the power plant. VOA's Anita Powell has this readout of Bidens calls with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby:

"President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine this evening to receive an update on the fire at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. President Biden joined President Zelenskyy in urging Russia to cease its military activities in the area and allow firefighters and emergency responders to access the site.

"President Biden also spoke this evening with Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the U.S. Department of Energy and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to receive an update on the situation at the plant. The President will continue to be briefed regularly."

10:36 p.m.: The International Atomic Energy Agency says it's in contact with Ukrainian authorities about the fire at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

10:32 p.m.: Officials say firefighters have been allowed to get into the power plant facility to take care of the fire.

10:03 p.m.: Here's a map showing the location of Enerhodar, home to the nuclear power plant under attack.

8:10 p.m.: Russian forces early Friday began attacking Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia near the city of Enerhodar on the Dnieper River, according to news reports.

Andriy Tuz, the plant spokesman, said shells were hitting the plant and had started a fire at one of its six reactors. The reactor was not operating, but there is nuclear fuel there, he said.

"As a result of shelling by Russian forces on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, a fire broke out," Tuz said in a video posted on the plant's Telegram account.

The plant's power unit had been hit, he added, as Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for an immediate halt to fighting at the site.

A Ukrainian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that radiation levels at the plant were elevated.

Earlier, Chary Rangacharyulu, a physics and engineering professor at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, said the Russians may try to use the nuclear plants for political leverage, but he doubts they are "so foolish to destroy those facilities and let out radioactivities into the atmosphere."

"However, if they make mistakes and blow up a facility or two, the harm will not be limited to Ukraine. It will go beyond. Russia and Belarus are the neighboring countries that will be very much affected. Let us hope and pray that the Russian government is not that insane to cause harm to its own people," he said in a written response to questions from VOA.

7:30 p.m.: Ukraine is going dark, CNN says.

For reasons that are mostly strategic, the bright lights of Ukrainian cities are all but gone. Satellite images show the contrast between the nights before February 25, the night the invasion began, and after.

7:10 p.m.: From his tent in a displaced-persons camp in northwest Syria, Motaz has been watching Russia's invasion of Ukraine with one thing in mind, he told VOA.

"I can almost see the same thing that happened to us a few years ago happening to these innocent Ukrainians as well," said the 37-year-old native of Aleppo, who gave only his first name. "We watched in real time how Russia's war machine destroyed our homes, schools and hospitals."

6:50 p.m.: The BBC announced this week that it would again broadcast news via shortwave radio.

Its often said truth is the first casualty of war, Tim Davie, BBC director-general, said in a statement. In a conflict where disinformation and propaganda is rife, there is a clear need for factual and independent news people can trust.

The announcement that BBC has launched two new shortwave frequencies in the region for four hours of World Service English news a day came one day after Russia struck the main TV and radio tower in Kyiv. The two frequencies can be received clearly in Kyiv and parts of Russia.

5:50 p.m.: The Biden administration will grant Temporary Protected Status to Ukrainians who are already living in the United States and unable to return to Ukraine because of the military conflict with Russia, according to a statement from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The move will allow Ukrainians in the United States as of March 1 to remain and work legally for 18 months, DHS said.

"Russia's premeditated and unprovoked attack on Ukraine has resulted in an ongoing war, senseless violence, and Ukrainians are forced to seek refuge in other countries," Mayorkas said in the statement. "In these extraordinary times, we will continue to offer our support and protection to Ukrainian nationals in the United States."

5:10 p.m.: VOAs Dorian Jones in Istanbul said Turkey was locking Russian warships out of the Black Sea ahead of an expected assault on Ukrainian cities.

It was also sending more Turkish drones to Ukraine despite warnings from Moscow.

4:40 p.m.: VOAs Ihar Tsikhanenka, reporting from New York, and Edward Yeranian, reporting from Cairo, say the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has left global oil and gas markets uncertain and unstable, causing supply issues and price spikes, with oil reaching levels of more than $110 a barrel.

The uncertain duration of the conflict, though, makes it difficult to predict how much of the disruption will be permanent and how much is just temporary.

Washington-based Gulf analyst Theodore Karasik told VOA there were many "wild cards" in the military confrontation that "could drive energy prices up even further."

In the meantime, buying of Russian crude has stalled on the back of rising uncertainty over the possibility of direct Western sanctions on energy exports, sending prices into freefall and prompting buyers to find alternatives.

4:30 p.m.: Adding to an overwhelming number of sanctions already imposed on Russia, the International Cat Federation said Thursday that it had banned Russian cats from competition following Russias invasion of Ukraine. The organization stated that it was "shocked and horrified" by the conflict in Ukraine, according to a report on People.com.

4:02 p.m.: Ekho Moskvy radio station, one of Russia's last remaining liberal media outlets, has been dissolved by its board after coming under pressure over its coverage of the war in Ukraine, its editor said Thursday.



The station, one of the leading news and current affairs channels in Russia, had been taken off the air on Tuesday though it appeared still to be broadcasting on YouTube after the board's decision was announced, according to Reuters.

3:28 p.m. A group of well-known exiled Russian public figures have created an Anti-War Committee to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials responsible after they started a "fratricidal war" against Ukraine last week, reports Arkady Cherepansky from VOAs Russian Service

Former business tycoon and opposition politician Mikhail Khodorkovsky announced the creation of the group, which also includes, among others, ex-world chess champion Garry Kasparov, opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, exiled former lawmaker Dmitry Gudkov, and leading economist Sergei Guriyev.



In a statement released on February 27, the group called on the world community to "take a principal position towards violators of the international law," adding that every person involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week must be held responsible for their actions.

3:10 p.m. It is unclear if Russian President Vladimir Putin expected the nature or scope of the international sanctions that followed his invasion of Ukraine. But their severity could have far-reaching economic consequences for Russia. Oksana Bedratenko has this story, narrated by Anna Rice.

2:58 p.m.: An American television producer who worked for a Russian oligarch was charged in the United States with violating sanctions Thursday.



Jack Hanick worked for Konstantin Malofeyev in violation of United States sanctions and made false statements to FBI agents to conceal his sanctions-violating conduct, according to a statement released by the Department of Justice U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York. Hanick was provisionally arrested on February 3, 2022, in London, the United Kingdom, with a view toward extradition, according to the statement.



U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, Konstantin Malofeyev is closely tied to Russian aggression in Ukraine, having been determined  to have been one of the main sources of financing for the promotion of Russia-aligned separatist groups operating in the sovereign nation of Ukraine.



This action is the first-ever criminal indictment related to sanctions imposed in 2014 after Russia invaded Crimea, in Ukraine, according to the statement.

2:45p.m.: The CEO of a top cryptocurrency transaction-tracking firm said Thursday that it was not yet seeing any large-scale evasion of Western sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals using the virtual currencies, The Associated Press reported. U.S. officials have said they are looking at the sector for possible bans as punishment for Russias invasion of Ukraine.



The size of the crypto economy is still relatively small to be a viable substitute for access to the global financial system and to the U.S. dollar, said Esteban Castano, CEO of San Francisco-based TRM Labs. He said that in monitoring crypto flows his firm has seen some but not very significant spikes in crypto trading on certain exchanges he did not name, AP added.



Castano said he could not comment on whether any of them would be sanctioned or when sanctions might occur. TRM Labs monitors more than 300 Russia-based crypto exchanges and brokers, some of which could be targets of sanctions.

2:29 p.m.: VOA White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reported on new sanctions announced by U.S. President Joe Biden Thursday. "Today I'm announcing that we're adding dozens of names to the list including one of Russia's wealthiest billionaires and I'm banning travel to America by more than 50 Russian oligarchs, their families and their close associates. Biden said. And we're going to continue to support the Ukrainian people with direct assistance," he added.

2:20 p.m.: RT America, a news channel funded by the Russian government, announced its closure "effective immediately on Thursday. TV host Holland Cooke, who hosted a show on RT America, said Thursday that management called a meeting Thursday and announced the U.S. division would cease operations because of condemnation over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

1:47 p.m.: Both Russian and Ukrainian negotiators confirmed that some initial progress was made Thursday at negotiations held in Belarus, according to the Associated Press. Another round of talks is expected to follow shortly.

A member of Ukraines delegation says the parties reached a tentative agreement to organize safe corridors for civilians to evacuate and for humanitarian supplies to be delivered. Mykhailo Podoliyak, an advisor to Ukraines president, who took part in Thursdays talks in Belarus, said that Russia and Ukraine reached a preliminary understanding that cease-fires will be observed in areas where the safe corridors are established.



Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian delegation to the talks, said the parties positions are absolutely clear, they are written down point by point, including issues related to a political settlement of the conflict. He added without elaboration that mutual understanding was found on part of them. Medinsky confirmed the tentative agreement on creating safe corridors for civilians to exit besieged cities, AP reported.

1:26 p.m.: White House press secretary Jen Psaki commented today on Ukraines request for the United Nations to strip Russia from its seat on the U.N. Security Council. We dont see that happening, she said, though she added that Moscow is actively subverting the U.N. Charter and abusing its position, according to VOAs Patsy Widakuswara.



1:16 p.m.: The French government Wednesday seized a yacht connected to Russian oil oligarch Igor Sechin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as part of European Union sanctions over Russias invasion of Ukraine. VOA News reported.

12:41 p.m.: U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Thursday for eastern Europe to hold meetings with NATO allies and other European leaders in an effort to find a diplomatic solution to the situation in Ukraine, according to VOA News. In a release, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Blinken will first travel to Brussels for a NATO Foreign Ministerial, as well as meet with his European Union counterparts for the G-7 Ministerial Meeting.

12:34 p.m.: Today the so-called Quad Leaders  Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan, and President Joe Biden of the United States  discussed the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications, according to VOA White House Correspondent Anita Powell. They agreed to stand up a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will enable the Quad to meet future humanitarian challenges in the Indo-Pacific and provide a channel for communication as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine, according to an official statement from the White House.

12:10 p.m.: VOAs Jamie Dettmer, moving between Lviv and Uzhhorod, files this Reporters Notebook chronicling how in Ukraine now, its a choice between fight or flight for residents besieged by the Russian military.

11:56 a.m.: VOAs photo gallery provides glimpses of life in Ukraine on March 3, 2022, one week after Russia invaded the country.

11:33 a.m.: Disabled orphans fleeing Ukraines capital Kyiv have been received by Poles and Hungarians, The Associated Press reported Thursday. Some of Ukraines most vulnerable citizens have reached safety through an effort of solidarity and compassion that transcended borders and raised a powerful counterpoint to war.

A train pulled into the station in Zahony, Hungary on Wednesday carrying about 200 people with severe physical and mental disabilities  residents of two orphanages for the disabled in Ukraines capital Kyiv that were evacuated as Russian forces battered the city.



Territorially, the orphanages are where the rockets flew, where there were bursts of rifle fire. A metro station near the orphanage was blown up, said Larissa Leonidovna, the director of the Syyatoshinksy orphanage for boys in Kyiv. We spent more than an hour underground during the bombing, she told AP.



The disabled refugees, most of them children, disembarked the train into the cold wind of the platform and into the arms of dozens of Poles and Hungarians waiting to receive them. From there, they were escorted to four waiting buses, sent from Poland by the Catholic relief organization Caritas.

10:54 a.m.: A senior United States defense official said that 90 percent of Russias pre-staged combat power had entered Ukraine as of Thursday. There have been heavy bombardments in the cities to the north and to the eastKyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv, he said in comments reported by VOAs National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin. But Russian forces in the north are still largely stalled he added.



The U.S. was unable to confirm whether Kherson has been taken by Russia, according to the official, who said that Mariupol was still holding out Thursday despite Russian attempts to encircle the city. We assess the Ukrainian air and missile defense system remains intact and remains effective, the senior U.S. defense official said, adding that Ukraine is also able to fly its own jets as airspace over the country remains contested.



The U.S. official assessed that there have been approximately 480 Russian missile launches since the start of the invasion, though he could not confirm whether Russia had used cluster munitions or thermobaric weapons.



Ukrainians still have a majority of their air and missile defense capabilities available to them, the official stated.

10:22 a.m.: VOAs Eastern Europe Chief Myroslava Gongadze tweets that residents of the Ukrainian city Kherson, site of recent heavy fighting, are reporting a lack of food and fuel. Those shortages, coupled with a lack of electricity, and no available public transportation, have made conditions more difficult for the besieged city residents.

10:05 a.m.: The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for its troops to immediately and completely withdraw. VOA published this map illustrating the vote, which took place March 2.

Infographic: UN General Assembly Votes to Condemn Russian Invasion of Ukraine

9:48 a.m.: Mykhailo Podoliyak, an advisor to Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Thursday tweeted that his delegation resumed negotiations with Russia, in an effort to end the current crisis. Ukraine is seeking an immediate ceasefire, an armistice, and humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from conflict zones, he added.

9:43 a.m.: Russian soldiers have been seen looting grocery stores and banks in several Ukrainian cities, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in a report on its website. Security camera footage posted on social media showed Russian soldiers grabbing food and trying to steal a safe. Ukrainian officials say that invading Russian soldiers are running out of fuel and were sent into Ukraine with only three days of rations, although that could not be independently verified, RFE/RL added.

9:01 a.m.: In just seven days, one million people have fled Ukraine, uprooted by this senseless war, according to Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, who released a statement Thursday. I have worked in refugee emergencies for almost 40 years, and rarely have I seen an exodus as rapid as this one. Hour by hour, minute by minute, more people are fleeing the terrifying reality of violence. Countless have been displaced inside the country, he said. And unless there is an immediate end to the conflict, millions more are likely to be forced to flee Ukraine, he added.

8:48 a.m.: In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to keep up their resistance but he didnt comment on whether the Russians have seized any cities, according to The Associated Press.They will have no peace here, Zelenskyy said, calling on the Russian soldiers to go home and describing them as confused children who have been used.

8:32 a.m.: A press officer for Russias Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, has claimed that the Russian military is only hitting Ukrainian military targets in its invasion of that country  repeating his claim about precision weapons as recently as Wednesday, March 2. Fact checkers at Polygraph.info, a website produced by VOA, say that claim has proved false as evidence mounts of damaged civilian structures and rising civilian casualties in Ukraine.

8:01 a.m.: Russias foreign minister says Moscow is ready for peace talks as another meeting by Ukrainian and Russian officials is expected to take place in Belarus Thursday, The Associated Press reported. Ahead of the meeting, Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Moscow that Russia will press its military action in Ukraine until achieving its goals, chiefly the demilitarization of Ukraine but added that it will be up to Ukrainians to choose what government they should have. Talks are expected to be held in the Brest region of Belarus, which borders Poland, AP said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday that his country was ready for talks to resume, but he noted that Russias demands hadnt changed and that he wouldnt accept any ultimatums.



7:52 a.m.: Back at work this week following a holiday recess, U.S. lawmakers are feeling the pressure to agree on legislation sanctioning Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, VOAs Katherine Gypson reports. While Democratic lawmakers praised the executive actions taken by U.S. President Joe Biden to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for bombarding the independent Eastern Europe nation, some Republicans said the actions came too late and suggested harsher additional steps.



7:36 a.m. VOAs Anita Powell reports that today, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled the first bobblehead plastic figurine of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy has become a face of defiance and a symbol of strength in the midst of Russias invasion of Ukraine, said Phil Sklar, Co-founder and CEO of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The museum is donating $5 from every bobblehead soldto Global Givings Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund, supporting humanitarian assistance in impacted communities in Ukraine and surrounding regions where Ukrainian refugees have fled, Sklar added.



6:50 a.m. Overnight explosions heard by Associated Press reporters in Ukraines capital Kyiv were missiles being shot down by Ukraines air defense systems, according to the citys mayor. Russias 40-mile-long convoy of tanks and other vehicles remains outside Kyiv and the city has been struck by deadly shelling. Russia says troops have taken the Ukrainian port city of Kherson. The Ukrainian military denies this. Russian forces have also been bombarding the countrys second-biggest city, Kharkiv, and laid siege to two strategic seaports, AP reported in an update.



6:42 a.m. : While the U.S. joins its allies in sanctioning top Russian officials for the war in Ukraine, humanitarian advocates in the U.S. are urging the Biden administration to give immigration relief to Ukrainians present on American soil. VOAs immigration reporter Aline Barros reports.

6:12 a.m.: China is positioning itself as a mediator between war-divided Russia and Ukraine so as to be seen as a global leader and earn points in the West, analysts say. VOAs Ralph Jennings has more.

5:58 a.m.: A number of Africans fleeing the war in Ukraine say they have had trouble getting out of the country and have even experienced occasional acts of aggression. VOA spoke to Liberian medical student Augustine Akoi Kollie, who shared his experience at the Ukraine-Romania border. VOAs Betty Ayoub has the story, narrated by Carol Guensburg.

5:41 a.m.: A Ukrainian camera operator killed in Russia's airstrike on a Kyiv TV tower is the first confirmed media fatality of the war, VOA News reports. Yevhenii Sakun, who worked for LIVE TV, was killed along with four others in Tuesday's strike, Ukrainian police confirmed late Wednesday.

SEE ALSO: Russian Strike on Kyiv TV Tower Kills Journalist

5:36 a.m.: VOAs Jamie Dettmer brings us scenes of volunteers helping evacuees at the Slovak border.

5:22 a.m.: Frances Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Thursday French authorities have seized a yacht linked to Rosneft boss Igor Sechin  Russian President Vladimir Putin ally  in the Mediterranean port of La Ciotat.

Thanks to the French customs officers who are enforcing the European Unions sanctions against those close to the Russian government, Le Maire said in a tweet written in French.

5:20 p.m.: The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said Thursday Ukraine shot down a Russian jet, tweeting that the countrys air defenses downed a fighter-bomber Sukhoi Su-34.

5:06 a.m.: Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

3:59 a.m.: France advised its citizens Thursday to leave Russia where possible as fighting intensifies since Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Russian President Vladimir Putin chose war, but that he would continue to maintain contact with Russian officials to facilitate peace and to prevent the spread of the war beyond Ukraine.

3:35: Refugees continue to flee the Russian invasion.

3 a.m.: Russian ships are coming to Odessa, a Ukrainian Black Sea port, according to New York Times investigative reporter Michael Schwirtz.

2:21 a.m.: More fallout for Russian athletes:

2:18 a.m.: In its latest intelligence report Thursday, the British Ministry of Defence said Russian gains in Kyiv have been slow due to a staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion and that Russia has been forced to admit soldiers killed since the invasion. Russia said 498 of its soldiers have been killed and 1,597 injured.

The main body of the large Russian column advancing on Kyiv remains over 30km from the centre of the city, the report said. Despite heavy Russian shelling, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol remain in Ukrainian hands. Some Russian forces have entered the city of Kherson but the military situation remains unclear.

2:08 a.m.: The Grevin Museum in Paris has removed its wax statue of Vladimir Putin.

1:52 a.m.: Time magazine honors Ukraines people and president.

1:45 a.m.: A large explosion lit up the night sky in Ukraines capital in the early hours of Thursday. The Washington Post has video.

1:30 a.m.: Authorities in Germany said they have seized Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanovs $600 million superyacht, according to Forbes. Usmanov has faced European Union sanctions over Russias invasion of Ukraine. Forbes said Usmanovs representatives did not respond to a request for comment.

For background on U.S. sanctions against Russian oligarchs, VOAs Rob Garver reports.

12:57 a.m.: Indian authorities denied claims Thursday that students from the country are held hostage in Ukraine, after Russia accused Ukraine of forcibly holding a large number of students in Kharkiv as human shields.

We note that with the cooperation of the Ukrainian authorities, many students have left Kharkiv yesterday, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Shri Arindam Bagchi said in an official statement. We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student.

For background on the condition of Indian students in Ukraine, VOAs Anjana Pasricha has more:

12:27 a.m.: One week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces continue their push despite condemnation from the United Nations General Assembly, which voted overwhelmingly to reprimand Russia for invading Ukraine. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb has the latest.

12:17 a.m.: In response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, the audio streaming company Spotify said Wednesday it is closing its office in Russia indefinitely.

Our first priority over the past week has been the safety of our employees and to ensure that Spotify continues to serve as an important source of global and regional news at a time when access to information is more important than ever, the company said in a statement. Spotify authorities said since the start of the invasion, they have reviewed thousands of pieces of content, restricting access of Russian state-affiliated shows, Reuters reported.

President Vladimir Putin signed a law in 2021 that required online streaming services with more than 500,000 daily users to set up offices locally.

12:01 a.m.: Reuters reports that two U.S. banks have pledged $1 million to aid for Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Ekho Moskvy radio station, one of Russia's last remaining liberal media outlets, has been dissolved by its board after coming under pressure over its coverage of the war in Ukraine, its editor said on Thursday.

The station, one of the leading news and current affairs channels in Russia, had been taken off the air on Tuesday though it appeared still to be broadcasting on YouTube after the board's decision was announced.

Ekho Moskvy's disappearance from the airwaves dealt another blow to independent media in Russia after years of intensifying pressure from the authorities.

"The Ekho Moskvy board of directors has decided by a majority of votes to liquidate the radio channel and the website of Ekho Moskvy," Editor-in-Chief Alexei Venediktov said on the messaging app Telegram.

Venediktov told Reuters this week that the station would not abandon the independent editorial line that has been its hallmark for three decades, declaring: "Our editorial policies won't change."

The board's decision came after the prosecutor general's office demanded this week that access be restricted to Ekho Moskvy and the TV Rain online news channel over their coverage of the conflict.

The prosecutor said its move was prompted by their websites' "targeted and systematic posting ... of information calling for extremist activities, violence and deliberately false information about the actions of Russian forces as part of a special operation" in Ukraine.

Russia rejects the term invasion, and says its actions are not designed to occupy territory but to destroy Ukraine's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists  a pretext rejected by Ukraine and the West as baseless propaganda.

Ekho Moskvy said on Tuesday that the accusations against it were baseless and offensive, and it would fight them in the courts.

Pressure on journalists

Russian journalists have faced an increasingly difficult environment in recent years, with many being designated by the authorities as "foreign agents," a status that snares them in official paperwork and exposes them to public contempt.

Pressure has mounted since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week, with most mainstream media outlets and state-controlled organizations sticking closely to language used by the Kremlin to describe the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment directly on the situation at Ekho Moskvy, saying the decision to close had been taken by its board of directors.

"The radio station violated the law. The right of the prosecutor general's office to take appropriate measures was used," he told a briefing.

Asked if Ekho Moskvy could resume operations in the future, Peskov said that was up to the station's owners.
North Korean authorities waited days to tell the nation about Russias invasion of Ukraine, first informing only members of the ruling Korean Workers Party in private meetings, who later spread the word, government officials told RFA.

In North Koreas one-party state, membership in the Workers Party is reserved for the privileged or for exemplary soldiers who complete long mandatory stints in the armed forces.

The Russian military began its large-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, but it wasnt until two days later that Pyongyang told the party members.

Yesterday, each regional party committee in the province informed all the party members that our strong ally Russia was at war, an official from the northwestern province of North Pyongan told RFAs Korean Service on Feb. 27.

International relations are strained with Russia at war, so the regional party committee demanded that everyone be ready to be mobilized at all times, the source said.

The Soviet Union helped establish North Korea in 1948 after occupying the northern half of the Korean peninsula following Japans defeat in World War II, installing as leader the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un. Under Vladimir Putin, Russia moved in 2000 to revitalize ties with Pyongyang that had fallen off with the USSRs collapse.

The central party leaders delivered the Ukraine news to each provincial party committee, ordering them to tell party members at their weekly meeting, where they confess political errors and reaffirm their commitment to be loyal to the country and its leaders.

The news came privately during self-criticism on Saturday, said the source. The party members were told to be ready to mobilize at any time.

The party members were not surprised, but still wondered why the authorities were keeping news of the invasion private, according to the source.

The party members, of course, already knew from their Chinese acquaintances  that war had begun, but they were more interested in what caused Russia to invade Ukraine, the source said.

After the news was broken to party members in the northeastern province of North Hamgyong, it began spreading rapidly among the public, a resident there told RFA.

They not only stated that Russia is at war, they also ordered us to be prepared to enter into war immediately under any circumstances, said the second source.

In response, some residents showed a radical reaction, saying they wish that war would break out and this disgusting system we are living under would come to an end, the second source said.

The second source said that some residents recognize the hypocrisy of the government siding with Russia while it invades an independent country.

The authorities are always quick to criticize the United States as an aggressor, repeatedly asserting the independence of Korea, and the U.S. interference in our internal affairs, the second source said, referring to Washingtons military presence in South Korea, which North Korea considers to be an occupation of its sovereign territory.

That is why they are watching the governments stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The state-run Korea Central News Agency reported Monday that a spokesperson for North Koreas Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed the U.S. and other Western countries for war breaking out in Ukraine.

The U.S. and the West, in defiance of Russia's reasonable and just demand to provide it with legal guarantee for security, have systematically undermined the security environment of Europe by becoming more blatant in their attempts to deploy attack weapon system [sic] while defiantly pursuing NATO's eastward expansion, the spokesperson said according to KCNAs English version of the report.

Having devastated Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, [they] are mouthing phrases about respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity over the Ukrainian situation which was detonated by themselves. That does not stand to reason at all, the spokesperson said.

Though it was the first official statement on Ukraine by Pyongyang, two days earlier a commentary published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed Washington and its allies for high-handedness and arbitrariness that are shaking international peace and stability at the basis, as rendered in the English version of the commentary.

Penned by researcher Ri Ji Song, it said that the U.S. was disregarding Russias demands for security and unilaterally expanding NATO to cause an imbalance of military power in Europe.

The U.S embellishes its own interference in internal affairs of others as righteous for peace and stability of the world, but it denounces for no good reason self-defensive measures taken by other countries to ensure their own national security as injustice and provocation," wrote Ri.
Another night of flight for some and fight for others. Another night of missiles and rockets raining down on towns large and small. Another night of anguish, fear and courage.

The war has been unrelenting since the first cruise missiles struck Kyiv and other towns and cities across Ukraine in what has become an existential conflict for the country. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, some say the now weeklong operation has morphed from a war of choice into possibly a struggle for his political survival.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are also battling for survival  not political in their case but corporal as they try to navigate themselves or their families to safety. At jam-packed train stations across war-wracked Ukraine, Europes second-largest country, families wait patiently, bundled up against the cold, for trains that arrive late or never appear  and even when boarded, destinations are uncertain.

After one week of merciless war, the United Nations estimates more than 1 million Ukrainians have flooded across borders into Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova. Hundreds of thousands are displaced inside Ukraine and making difficult journeys to reach sanctuary. The war has already likely passed the 1.3 million uprooted in the years-long Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Among the displaced is Mykola, an electrical engineer, who until a week ago was working on large-scale projects to modernize Kyivs energy-delivery systems. A bulky man, made more so by the thick brown canvas jacket hes wearing, he stamps his feet and chain-smokes outside a shabby hotel working out how to get his wife and young son as well as the family of a friend over the border.

No one really thought this war would happen, says Mykola. Most people thought it would just be some bigger fighting in the east, in Donbas, and most people thought, Well, let Russia have the Donbas as the only people left there now are probably pro-Russian and separatists, he added.

You know a week ago, I had a life and a good home, and it was normal and predictable, and we had worked hard for that and now He trails off, lost in thought. And then he spits out: I never thought Putin would do this, and then again falls silent, brooding.

On Wednesday, Mykola, along with his wife and toddler and his friends partner and her children, made it into Slovakia, passing through professionally guarded checkpoints, or block-posts as Ukrainians call them, around Lviv, and then navigating the smaller, more improvised village checkpoints, manned by jumpy, suspicious locals toting single barreled shotguns.

Mykola, a dual Ukrainian-Canadian citizen, was allowed to leave Ukraine because he used his foreign passport. But most Ukrainian men arent allowed to depart. Under the terms of the martial law declared by Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, men aged 18 to 60 must remain, making them available for enlistment. And so, men fearful of what will happen to their families once abroad, part with their families at Lvivs crowded railway station, or wave confused children off near borders.

At first, the kids thought all this was an adventure, but after days they now sense the gravity of the situation and their faces have changed, said one father, Alexander, a teacher from Kharkiv. That certainly seems the case with one little boy, from whom I cant coax a smile or a wave or any acknowledgment whatsoever. He is a statue of misery.

For the wives and children of the men left behind, the partings are compounding the anguish of leaving home. Olena has two children, a baby and a 9-year-old girl. They are from Dnipro, a city in the east of the country which is bracing for a Russian assault. She told me they waited more than a day at the train station to start an arduous and halting trip to get to Lviv, where she plans to find a way to Poland, where friends have said they will help. Some of the trains they have taken have no toilets.

My husband decided to stay and fight, she tells me tearfully. She shifts the squirming baby in her arms. I dont know what will happen to us, but we will have to find somewhere to live and maybe Poland will help with money. I dont know.

Many men are driving their families from east to west and entrusting them with relatives and friends in villages, hoping war wont reach them, and then returning to fight. Among them is Glib, a reservist yet to be called up. The war is a national tragedy that has shattered into millions of personal tragedies, he tells me. I am so divided. I am worried about leaving my family alone, but I must fight.

Like many Ukrainians, he criticizes Zelenskyy, a onetime TV actor, for not mobilizing Ukraine earlier for war and complains that all the reservists  900,000  should have been called up weeks ago in readiness. But like many Zelenskyy critics, he joins in the chorus of praise for Ukraines leader, now saying hes inspirational.

Glib adds, Maybe hes drawing on his skills as an actor  maybe he is not a good manager, but as a communicator hes excellent. And he seems now to be allowing managers to manage.

The personal stories jostle for attention with the national story, of the grand narratives of battles and skirmishes won and lost. In the maelstrom, millions of lives are impacted as people try to survive or just get a footing in a world turned upside down.

And there are too many personal stories to chronicle. Theres the tale of three Ghanaians months short of completing their medical degrees in the town of Poltava, once the venue for a defining 18th Century battle in the Great Northern War between Russias Peter the Great and Swedens Charles XII for mastery of eastern Europe. Some military strategists have hazarded Poltava may again see a titanic fight in the coming days, weeks or months.

The Ghanaians have made their way to west Ukraine and are wondering not only how to slip over the crowded borders, but what it will involve to finish their education. What do I do now? Peter said, adding, I have worked so hard to get to where I am, or was. Now what?

African evacuees allege they are being treated unfairly and sometimes cant get aboard trains or buses. A U.S. official told me they have been tracking the claims, which are of huge concern.

Nigerians were the second largest group of foreigners leaving Ukraine [Tuesday]. I think there was no doubt there were problems for them, he said.

Part of the problem in Ukraine seems to be that women and children are being prioritized on trains and buses and many of the Africans trying to leave are men, say the official and aid workers. Foreign men are not always being distinguished from Ukrainian men barred from leaving, they say.

Then there are the stories of Libyans, more than 1,000 of them, who have been living in Ukraine, mostly for university study, often in Poltava and Kharkiv, where a famous university was bombed on Wednesday.

The Libyan government  no stranger to conflict  has been organizing buses to get them to the borders and chartering flights to Libya. So, from one war zone back to another, Hanadhi, a medical student, quips. Wearing traditional Libyan clothing, she and four other Libyan women, one in Ukraine for eye surgery, stand out from the Ukrainian crowd, but seem so inadequately dressed for frigid weather.

I talk with them at the Slovak border, where I, too, will make a crossing to grab a break before returning to report again. Like the Libyans, I have driven from Lviv, climbing snow-blanketed roads into the Carpathian Mountains, the destination for centuries of those from one or another ethnic group seeking safety. On Saturday, a rabbi in Odesa evacuated 300 Jewish orphans on three buses to the mountains, where my ancestors, too, a century ago, fled on their way to exile.

The Ukrainian border guards say their country may not exactly be winning but in effect it is winning simply by not losing. They ask me whether I will bring missiles when I return. I dont do missiles; I do words, I say.

They seem disappointed.
The United States said Wednesday that Russia is engaged in a full assault on media freedom and the truth after Moscows media regulator blocked multiple media outlets and threatened to block access to VOAs Russia news network.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Russias efforts to mislead and suppress the truth of the countrys invasion of Ukraine are intensifying, and that the Russian people deserve to know the truth about what is happening.

We call upon [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his government to honor Russias international obligations and commitments, to immediately cease this bloodshed, withdraw its troops from Ukraines territory, and to respect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of their own citizens, Price said in a statement.

In a notice sent to VOA, the regulator, Roskomnadzor, said Wednesday that the networks Russian-language site had 24 hours to remove content that Moscow deems illegal or be blocked.

In another sign of the importance all sides attach to how the war is reported to their publics, the European Union announced Wednesday a ban on broadcasts and websites affiliated with Russian state-funded media outlets RT and Sputnik for spreading disinformation.

VOA Acting Director Yolanda Lopez said the network was aware of the media regulator's order but could not comply.

This kind of accurate, credible journalism is the reason why our audience in Russia engages with VOA. We find any attempts to interfere with the free flow of information deeply troubling and consider this order in direct opposition to the values of all democratic societies, Lopez said in a statement.

The Russian people deserve unfettered access to a free press and, therefore, we cannot comply with the Roskomnadzor's request, she added.

The VOA news website is one of a dozen media outlets to be blocked or threatened with fines by Roskomnadzor since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Most warnings relate to content that Moscow deems to be false or that gives information about troops and casualties.

Current Time, a daily news show produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in partnership with VOA, and RFE/RLs Crimea.Realities were blocked on Sunday.

RFE/RL and VOA are independent, taxpayer-funded networks under the U.S. Agency for Global Media.

U.S. Representative Michael McCaul on Wednesday said Moscows manipulation and censorship of the media is appalling.

The Russian people deserve access to the truth about Russias unprovoked war of aggression and instead are being fed lies by the Putin regime. The U.S. must continue to robustly support independent media to counter Russian propaganda and disinformation, McCaul, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told VOA.

On Tuesday, Roskomnadzor removed the independent broadcasters TV Dozhd and Ekho Moskvy from the airwaves.

Ekho Moskvys chief editor, Alexei Venediktov, said the station would contest the regulators decision in court, The Associated Press reported.

"We see a political component in it, as well as the introduction of censorship, which is directly prohibited by the Russian Constitution," Venediktov said.

The regulators warning to VOA came on the same day that the European Union said it would ban Russian state media including Sputnik and RT. EU operators will be banned from broadcasting, facilitating or otherwise contributing to the dissemination of content from Sputnik and RT.

"Systematic information manipulation and disinformation by the Kremlin is applied as an operational tool in its assault on Ukraine," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

Social media platforms including Facebook and YouTube said they would comply with the ban.

Roskomnadzor on Wednesday appealed to Facebooks parent company, Meta, to lift restrictions on the Rossiya Segodnya group that oversees Sputnik and RT.

In a statement, the regulator said the restrictions prevented internet users from accessing independent sources and aim to create distorted perception of the events.

Media solidarity

The international community and media watchdogs have condemned attempts by Russias media regulator to censor or restrict independent reporting on the war in Ukraine.

On Sunday, Teresa Ribeiro, media freedom representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, called on Russia to safeguard the free flow of information and media freedom in line with OSCE commitments and international obligations.

The Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) described Roskomnadzors actions against Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd TV as concerning, saying their news and information services have been essential for Russian citizens.

The AIB stands in solidarity with all journalists and media colleagues who are bringing essential news and information from Ukraine to audiences in the country and around the world, AIB Chief Executive Simon Spanswick told VOA via email. It is essential that they are allowed to work unhindered and without threat to them and their families."

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists also decried Moscows attempts to block news.

Russian authorities restricting of social media platforms and independent media outlets is clear censorship and undermines the free flow of information, CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said Tuesday.

VOAs Russian-language service is a 24/7 TV and digital news network aimed audiences in Russia, where access to independent news is limited.
South Africa chose to abstain Wednesday when the United Nations General Assembly voted on a resolution calling on its BRICS partner, Russia, to withdraw its military forces from Ukraine. South Africas U.N. ambassador defended the move, but some South Africans were unhappy with the decision.

South Africa was one of 17 African nations that abstained.

In a statement, South Africa's U.N. Ambassador Mathu Joyini objected to the phrasing of the resolution, saying it does not create an environment conducive for diplomacy, dialogue and mediation.

Political science professor Bheki Mngomezulu said South Africa is also influenced by its historical ties to the former Soviet Union.

"There are a number of South Africans, most of whom are now in government, who trained both in Russia and Ukraine. So, they do have relations with Ukraine. And the majority of the people are of the view that the liberation struggle was supported solely by Russia in terms of these two countries, but the reality of the matter is all the countries that were part of the USSR participated in terms of assisting the liberation struggle not only in South Africa but in Africa in general," Mngomezulu said.

The main opposition party in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, released a statement condemning the countrys stance. The partys shadow minister for international relations Darren Bergman said the party is shocked that South Africa could abstain from such a vote.

"This was an opportune time for South Africa to take a stand and to assert itself on the international stage, Bergman said.

He said considering how hard South Africans fought to end the racially oppressive system of apartheid and get the right to vote, and how the international community helped them win their fight, they shouldve repaid the favor.

An abstention or voting for Russia is pretty much the same language. Its a vote against Ukraine. Its a vote against peace, and its a condonation of the violence thats currently taking place in Ukraine, Bergman said.

Other South Africans added their voices to the chorus of disappointment, including analyst Mngomezulu.

Of course, it doesnt paint the country in a positive light, more especially because part of South Africas foreign policy agenda is to respect human rights, and in this case its clear that the human rights of the Ukrainians [have] been affected, Mngomezulu.

Ronnie Gotkin, who was out for an afternoon stroll in the summer sunshine, said he was outraged.

I think its pretty appalling. Its not taking a moral stance. I understand that in the real world there are politics and allies, but sometimes morality should trump out, Gotkin said.

In all, 141 nations voted in favor of the resolution, five nations, including Russia, voted no, and 35 abstained.

Eritrea was the only African nation to vote with Russia.
Many members of the opposition in South Sudans parliament say the atmosphere in the house is stifling.

Juol Nhomngek Daniel, a National Legislative Assembly member, said the National Security Services presence at the parliament has created an atmosphere of fear among those not aligned with the government in Juba.

There is high level of intimidation and high level of restrictions of freedom of speech in the Assembly [because] members of [the] National Security are deployed everywhere in the Assembly, he said.

On February 22, Daniel and other Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement in Opposition MPs called a news conference on Assembly grounds, which security personnel disrupted. They confiscated recorders and detained eight journalists working for various media houses in South Sudan, including VOA.

John Agany, chairperson of the Information Committee and Assembly spokesperson, told VOA the press conference was unauthorized and blamed journalists for attending.

It was an illegal activity, by the way. It was not part of the parliamentary procedure. Any member of parliament has no rights to summon any person [journalist] in South Sudan for a press conference without prior consultation, Agany said.

Daniel disagreed, saying that no law in South Sudan prevents lawmakers from holding press conferences to tell the public about Assembly problems.

They have not understood their duties, he said, adding that Article 77 of our constitution is very clear. A member of the Assembly does not need to seek for clarification or permission from the leadership of the Assembly.

Agany does not have the authority to stop members of the parliament from interacting with the media, Daniel said.

Agany is the head of a specialized committee on communications. He is dealing with the Ministry of [Information]. He does not deal with issues of the national parliament, Daniel added.

The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement condemning the arrest of eight journalists.

VOAs South Sudan in Focus radio program made several calls to John Kumuri, the public relations officer at the National Security Service, for comments about the arrests of journalists but received no response.
Turkey says it has locked Russian warships out of the Black Sea ahead of an expected assault on Ukrainian cities. At the same time Ukraine says it is getting more Turkish drones, despite warnings from Moscow. Turkish-Russian ties are facing a critical test.

Ankara claims four Russian warships have withdrawn their request to enter the Black Sea through Turkish waterways. The announcement follows Turkey's curtailing of Russian naval vessels' use of Istanbul's Bosporus waterway, the only access to the Black Sea.

Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Ankara can stop Russian naval ships from using the waterway after it declared on Sunday that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a "war."

Mesut Casin, an advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says Turkey intends to strictly enforce naval access to the Black Sea under the convention.

We will very clearly, very sensitively, and objectively apply the Montreux regime. Russians should be thinking about this. Why? We showed this position in World War II; we stopped the German ships, the Italian ships even the Soviet-armed ships, he said.

Ankara's strict enforcement of the convention appears to have denied any wiggle room for Moscow to access its waiting destroyers and a frigate. Among them is one of Russia's most advanced and modern warships that carries cruise missiles.

The ships were expected to join a fleet of warships already massed outside the Ukrainian city of Odessa, ahead of an expected assault. In addition, Kyiv's announcement Wednesday that Turkish-made armed drones will be delivered is likely to irk Moscow further. Turkish defense analyst Arda Mevlutoglu says the drones pose a threat to Russian forces.

A single armed drone equipped with a couple of bombs may destroy a whole air defuse battery or a very expensive electronic warfare system or take out some armed vehicles etc., he said.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has posted videos of Turkish-made drones targeting Russian forces. Last week, Moscow warned countries supplying Ukraine with weapons they would be held responsible for losses. Ankara has not commented on Ukrainian claims of a new drone delivery.

Turkey, while a NATO member, has close ties with Russia. But Erdogan has strongly criticized Russia's Ukraine invasion. Asli Aydintasbas, a senior fellow at the Council of Europe, says the diplomatic stakes are high for Turkish diplomacy.

This will be a balancing act for Turkey," she said. "Clearly, the defense aid may happen but not at the level that would irritate Russia, So Turkey will push it enough but stop when it becomes existentially important to Russia. In order to prevent them from retaliating in Syria or with natural gas.

Turkey imports more than 90% of its energy and Russia is one of its main suppliers. At the same time, analysts say Ankara is pressing Moscow to use its influence to keep Damascus from moving in on the last rebel holdouts in Idlib, along Syrias border with Turkey  an action that could trigger a new flow of refugees into Turkish territory.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has left global oil and gas markets in the uncertain and unstable, causing supply issues and price spikes, with oil reaching levels of more than $110 a barrel Thursday. The uncertain duration of the conflict, though, makes it difficult to predict how much of the disruption will be permanent and how much is just temporary.

Washington-based Gulf analyst Theodore Karasik tells VOA there are many "wild cards" in the ongoing military confrontation that "could drive energy prices up even further." He argues that "in any case, there are big changes occurring in the energy industry."

"The energy situation and the pricing is contingent upon how long this [conflict] goes for and to what degree it ends. We've already seen extensive sanctions put on Russia because of its actions in Ukraine. Those sanctions against Russia in the energy field are going to affect how the Russian energy industry operates, and we just don't have a clear picture of that yet," Karasik said.

In the meantime, buying of Russian crude has stalled on the back of rising uncertainty over the possibility of direct western sanctions on energy exports, sending prices into freefall and prompting buyers to find alternatives.

The Russian export blend Urals  which trades as a differential to Atlantic Basin benchmark Dated Brent  touched record lows in recent sessions.

A source within the oil trading industry, who specializes in global markets told VOA that European buyers are now actively sourcing alternative crude supplies  Polands PKN Orlen is taking supplemental cargoes from term supplier Aramco  and much of that will come from local North Sea production as well as West Africa and the United States.

The source who chose to be unnamed said that the Chinese refiners, particularly those in Shandong provinces refining hub, are key buyers of Russian crude grades Urals and ESPO Blend.

They have proven less concerned with sanctions, having purchased significant volumes of Iranian crude in the past year. But ongoing disruption to the global banking system as a result of SWIFT sanctions means that even willing buyers are struggling to pay for cargoes. Sanctions against Russian fleet Sovcomflot have only added to the logistical difficulties of buying Russian crude, the analyst said.

Experts believe that Russian firms may eventually seek to set up accounts with Chinese banks to facilitate such transactions. And cargoes of Urals loading now in the Baltic Sea look likely to head to north China in bulk shipments, with or without earmarked buyers.

But that entails losses  current market structure means long-haul arbitrage economics are marginal and storage economics are negative. Shipping a cargo to Shandong and floating for months is a losing proposition, even if that cargo has nowhere else to go, sources in the energy industry told VOA.

Paul Sullivan, a Washington-based Middle East analyst, argues there is no end to the number of wild cards that could change the energy situation. "The conflict increases risk and therefore costs of energy by adding risk premiums," he says.

On the flip side, "sanctions [on Russia]," he adds, "could hammer the world economy and push energy prices down." Meanwhile, "some oil and gas companies are leaving Russia or divesting from Russia  [and that] could disrupt supply chains."

Sullivan goes on to say that potential "terror acts in Russia towards pipelines could push prices up," while "Turkey closing off the straits to Russian warships" could also "affect energy ships" as well, if the Black Sea and other oil shipping routes out of Russia in that area are affected.

Experts note that the majority of Russian spot crude is sold through international trading firms like Trafigura, Vitol and Glencore  only a small share is marketed directly by Russian firms like Surgutneftegaz. If Russian crude oil comes under sanction, then the longstanding dynamics that underpin trade in Russian seaborne exports could change, mirroring recent developments in the countrys upstream sector which has seen an exodus as western oil majors exit projects.

Egyptian political sociologist Said Sadek tells VOA that countries in North Africa, like Egypt and Algeria, are being sought out to increase their gas exports to Europe to compensate for Russian gas, which makes up 40% of European imports.

"North African states that produce gas  Algeria, Egypt  Egypt have limited stock, but they have been increasing by 365% [quantities of] liquified gas, because 90% of Egyptian gas is used domestically, 10% is exported, and then we get gas from Israel and Cyprus and transfer it into liquified gas [to] export, Sadek says.

The expert adds that Qatar also is being solicited to increase LNG exports to Europe, but the tiny Gulf emirate already sends much of its gas to Asia: "A lot of contracts  long term  have already been signed between Qatar, South Korea, Japan, China, which cannot be revoked."

Sadek emphasizes the Middle Eastern state that could conceivably make up the difference for lost Russian gas exports to Europe is Iran, and he thinks some European countries are hoping to lift sanctions on Tehran to allow oil and gas exports to resume. He questions, however, if Iran  an ally of Russia  would be willing to "stab Russia in the back."

Some Middle Eastern and north African states, Sadek points out, are facing a potential food crisis, as well, "because they import large quantities of wheat from both Russia and Ukraine. "Countries like Tunisia, Sudan and Lebanon cannot afford more expensive alternative sources of wheat," and they could eventually face instability if a major staple like bread runs short.
Russian forces took control Thursday of the strategic Ukranian port city of Kherson as they continued to shell major cities in an offensive that has forced more than 1 million people to flee the country.

Local government officials and the Russian military confirmed the seizure of Kherson, the first city to fall in Russias week-old invasion of Ukraine, following days of disputed claims over who was in control. A U.S. defense official said Washington was unable to confirm the development.

Moscow's attempt to quickly take over the Ukrainian capital has apparently stalled, but the military has made significant gains in the south as part of efforts to sever the country's connection to Black and Azov seas.

Despite Russian assaults on Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, Britains Defense Ministry said Thursday they all remained in Ukrainian hands.

We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address early Thursday. They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.

Russian troops were also besieging the port city of Mariupol east of Kherson, an attempt Mayor Vadym Boichenko said was aimed at isolating Ukraine.

They are trying to create a blockade here, Boichenko said Thursday in a broadcast video. He said the Russians are attacking rail stations to prevent civilian evacuations and that the attacks have cut off water and power.

Ukraines Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov cited expectations ahead of the invasion that Russia would quickly overtake Ukraine, writing on Facebook, No one, neither in Russia nor in the West, believed that we would last a week. He added that while there are challenges ahead, Ukraine has every reason to be confident.

Little hope for peace talks

Despite little sign of a potential breakthrough, the two sides are holding a second round of peace talks in Belarus Thursday. Ukraine said it would call for ceasefire and humanitarian passageways for its citizens.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Thursday Russian forces will continue their effort to destroy Ukraines military infrastructure and will not allow its neighbor to represent a military threat to Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States remains open to finding a diplomatic solution to the situation, but that Russia must first de-escalate.

Its much more difficult for diplomacy to succeed when guns are firing and tanks are rolling, he told reporters Wednesday.

In a 90-minute telephone conversation Thursday initiated by Putin with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin told Macron that Russia would achieve its goals that include the demilitarization and neutrality of Ukraine by any means necessary, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Macron told his Russian counterpart the war he started against Ukraine was a major mistake, according to a French official. You are lying to yourself, Macron told Putin if he thinks his goals are realistic, said the official, who added Putin wanted to seize control of the whole of Ukraine.

Poland has taken in half of the more than 1 million refugees who have fled Ukraine in the past week, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The U.N. body has said it expects 4 million people could leave Ukraine due to the conflict.

Ukraines emergency agency said Wednesday Russias attacks have killed more than 2,000 people across the country.

Russias Defense Ministry put out its first casualties report, saying 498 of its troops were killed in Ukraine, while more than 1,500 others were wounded.

Russians still outside Kyiv

A senior U.S. defense official said Thursday Russian forces in northern Ukraine and outside Kyiv remained largely stalled despite U.S. assessments that 90% of Russias combat power that was prepared for the invasion had entered Ukraine.

The official said the cities in northern and eastern Ukraine, including Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv, were subjected Thursday to heavy bombardment but that Russian forces in the north were still facing stiff resistance from Ukrainians.

We continue to see them resist and fight and defend their territory and their resources quite effectively, said the official, who added Russia has launched more than 480 missiles since the invasion began.

Putin offered a more optimistic assessment Thursday, telling members of his security council on a video call that Moscows invasion of Ukraine is progressing according to plan. He added, All tasks are being successfully carried out.

Putin said his military has offered Ukrainian civilians safe passageways for them to leave areas of combat, as requested by Zelenskyy. Without providing evidence, Putin also accused Ukrainian nationalist groups of preventing civilians from fleeing and using them as human shields.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon also announced Thursday that it is postponing a nuclear missile test launch scheduled for this week. The decision comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to put his nuclear forces on higher alert.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the decision to delay the test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was made by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Kirby added that the United States would like to see Moscow reciprocate by taking the temperature down in the crisis over Ukraine.

Another factor that may be helping the Ukrainians is continued support from NATO and the United States.

VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching, national security correspondent Jeff Seldin, Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb, Istanbul Foreign Correspondent Heather Murdock and White House correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
The United Nations high commissioner for refugees said Thursday that one million people have fled Ukraine in the past week alone, one of the fastest and largest mass exoduses of people in conflict situations in decades.

Hour by hour, minute by minute, more people are fleeing the terrifying reality of violence. Countless have been displaced inside the country, Filippo Grandi said in a statement. And unless there is an immediate end to the conflict, millions more are likely to be forced to flee Ukraine.

Intensification of the Russian offensive has seen multiple cities across the country come under air and ground attack in the past week. Russian tanks and armored vehicles are continuing to roll through the country threatening several large cities.

Grandi told the U.N. Security Council on Monday that he had not seen such an incredibly fast-rising exodus of people  the largest, surely, within Europe, since the Balkan wars.

He said unless there is an immediate halt to the conflict, people will continue to flee.

We are currently planning  repeat: planning  for up to four million refugees in the coming days and weeks, Grandi said Monday.

When he briefed the council on Monday, he said more than 280,000 people had fled to Poland alone. As of Wednesday, UNHCR said the number had nearly doubled to 547,982 people.

Numbers of refugees are also rising quickly in Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania and other European countries. Nearly 50,000 people, primarily from eastern Ukraine, have also sought refuge in Russia.

The U.N. Childrens agency, UNICEF, says half of those fleeing the country are children.

The U.N. appealed Tuesday for $1.7 billion to meet emergency needs inside and in neighboring countries for the next three months. Nations stepped up immediately with $1.5 billion in pledges. UNHCR hopes to assist 2.4 million refugees and asylum-seekers with money from the appeal.

The United States announced $54 million in new humanitarian funding last week for Ukrainians.

They are fleeing increasingly violent and widespread strikes by Russian forces against residential areas and infrastructure  from the shelling of hospitals and kindergartens to rockets targeting central city squares, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement. The human toll of Russia's unprovoked and unjustifiable attack against its sovereign neighbor is growing exponentially each day.
Back at work this week following a holiday recess, U.S. lawmakers are feeling the pressure to agree on legislation sanctioning Russia for its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

While Democratic lawmakers praised the executive actions taken by U.S. President Joe Biden to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for bombarding the independent Eastern Europe nation, some Republicans said the actions came too late and suggested harsher additional steps.

"It is time we dropped the hammer and completely shut down the economy in Russia and that we do more to assist Ukrainian defenses," Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a press conference Wednesday.

Risch said his NYET Act, one of many Ukrainian aid and Russian sanctions proposals pending in Congress, would create a "resistance fund" for Ukrainians of at least $350 million.

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Biden announced the U.S. would follow its European allies and close its airspace to Russian flights, as well as create a task force to go after the assets of Russian oligarchs.

In the week since Russia invaded Ukraine, the U.S. and European allies have taken several unprecedented steps to personally sanction Putin and members of his government and cut off Russia's access to the global financial system.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi praised Biden's latest moves to punish Putin, saying in statement Tuesday, "Our nation and the entire world saw President Biden's resolve that democracy will prevail over autocracy. America's commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and to the Ukrainian people remains ironclad. The Congress stands behind [the] president's determined leadership in strengthening the allied response against Russia's premeditated, unprovoked war against Ukraine."

'A defining moment'

Several proposals in the Senate and House would build on sanctions legislation. Democrats and Republicans struggled for weeks in the lead-up to the invasion to agree on whether preemptive sanctions would deter Putin.

Lawmakers eventually passed a resolution condemning the possible invasion and left town without reaching a compromise. But returning lawmakers said the images of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees and the Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities have changed the atmosphere on Capitol Hill.

"There's a growing consensus, a consensus in the Senate, that this is a defining moment in the world," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Wednesday while introducing a resolution calling on Putin and members of his government to be held responsible for war crimes.

"I hope we can find consensus around the package to help the Ukrainian people, but this to me is a layup," he said. "This is maybe the most effective thing we can do is to let the generals in the army of Russia know you follow Putin's orders at your own peril. There were 161 people prosecuted in the Balkans conflict, from privates to prime ministers, generals included. I want the world to rally around the rule of law."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez announced Wednesday that the committee would hold a full hearing on Ukraine next week to assess the next U.S. steps moving forward. Menendez has praised Biden's executive actions but suggested there is more to be done.

"The Biden administration's actions to date to hold Vladimir Putin to account for his illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine are a clarion call for the United States to continue reinvigorating our alliances; stand up to our adversaries; repair the State Department and other agencies; and renew American leadership on the global stage. For this, President Biden deserves immense credit for his adept diplomacy that has brought the international community together in a way we have not seen in decades; to stand for human rights, international law and a principles-based world order," Menendez said in a statement Tuesday.

Democratic Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi told VOA the SUPPORT Act he co-sponsored with Representative Mike Turner, the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Democratic Representative Marc Veasey, would take steps "to prepare and assess ourselves to prepare for supporting an insurgency. That's very important."

If passed, Krishnamoorthi said, the legislation would supply "not only weapons, not only money, but also intelligence. So our partners are able to take advantage of any useful intelligence to defend themselves. Remember, at the end of the day, these people are fighting for their freedom. They're fighting for their democracy. And so we need to be helping them as much as we possibly can  without crossing the line."

US troops not an option

Biden has repeatedly said that no American troops will be committed to the conflict, and the Pentagon said earlier this week there were no plans to consider a no-fly zone over Ukraine, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's request.

Public opinion polling shows Americans have little appetite for a ground conflict in Europe. In a public opinion poll conducted by the U.S. news network CNN, 42% of Americans said they would be in favor of military action if sanctions failed. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have reflected those views.

"I do think that it would certainly exacerbate the situation to put boots on the ground. I think the no-fly zone is something that we should consider. I know there are implications to that. I think that Vladimir Putin will perceive that as a major threat and maybe even a declaration [of war]," Republican Representative Jodey Arrington told VOA.

"We're not going to go to war," Republican Representative Victoria Spartz, the first Ukrainian-born member of Congress, told VOA. "You know, it's not a NATO ally so we don't have the Article 5 commitment. This is just something unfeasible.

Now, we can do some other things. We can talk about providing maybe humanitarian corridor or safe passages so people who actually can get evacuated  not get killed there. So I think that is very legitimate, and we need to be proactive on this issue."

But, she emphasized, the world should view Putin's actions differently.

"It's the genocide of a nation," Spartz said. "It's not a war."

Jamie Moreno contributed to this report.
Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have taken control of Europes largest nuclear plant, Zaporizhzhia, near the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar, after shelling it and sparking a fire in a building at the plant compound.

Ukraine's nuclear inspectorate said that no radiation had leaked at the plant and that personnel were continuing to operate the facility safely. Firefighters were able to get the blaze under control, Ukrainian officials said.

The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the attack at the request of the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Norway and Albania.

"The world narrowly averted a nuclear catastrophe last night," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said during the meeting.

"We've just witnessed a dangerous new escalation that represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world," she added.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said a Russian "projectile" hit a training center at the plant.

This just demonstrates the recklessness of this war, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said of the power plant attack before Fridays meeting in Brussels with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other Western foreign ministers.

British Deputy Foreign Minister Dominic Raab described it as a reckless bombardment, while Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre denounced it as being in line with madness.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov blamed the attack on a Ukranian "sabotage group" that he said had occupied the plant's training building, attacked a Russian patrol and set the building on fire as it left. He offered no evidence, and no other country appeared to take the claim seriously.

Enerhodar is a crucial power-generating city on the Dnieper River, nearly 700 kilometers southeast of Kyiv. The Zaporizhzhia facility produces about 25% of Ukraine's power.

Nuclear safety experts have expressed concern that fighting so close to the power station could cut off the plant's power supply, which would adversely affect its ability to keep nuclear fuel cool and would increase the possibility of a nuclear meltdown.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and received an update on the nuclear power plant fire, according to a White House statement released late Thursday. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a tweet late Thursday that the Energy Department has activated its Nuclear Incident Response Team and was monitoring events.

Meanwhile, NATO countries on Friday rejected Ukraines request that it impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, warning that to do so could spark a wider war with nuclear-armed Russia.

"The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes," Stoltenberg said. "If we did that, we would end up with something that could end in a full-fledged war in Europe."

More sanctions on oligarchs

Also Thursday, Washington heaped another round of sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

"Today I'm announcing that we're adding dozens of names to the list, including one of Russia's wealthiest billionaires, and I'm banning travel to America by more than 50 Russian oligarchs, their families and their close associates," Biden said Thursday before a Cabinet meeting. "And we're going to continue to support the Ukrainian people with direct assistance."

Among the newly sanctioned Putin allies is billionaire Alisher Usmanov, one of Russia's wealthiest individuals. German authorities have seized his 512-foot yacht, estimated to be worth nearly $600 million. Under the directive, his private jet is also open to seizure.

The sanctions list also includes some of Putin's oldest friends, and his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov.

"One of the big factors is, of course, the proximity to President Putin," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. "We want him to feel the squeeze. We want the people around him to feel the squeeze. I don't believe this is going to be the last set of oligarchs."

She also again ruled out Zelenskyy's request for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

"A no-fly zone requires implementation," she said. "It would require, essentially, the U.S. military shooting down Russian planes and causing  prompting  a potential direct war with Russia: the exact step that we want to avoid."

On the ground

Moscow's attempt to quickly take over the Ukrainian capital has apparently stalled, but the military has made significant gains in the south in an effort to sever the country's connection to the Black Sea and Sea of Azov.

On Thursday, local government officials and the Russian military confirmed the seizure of the strategic port of Kherson, the first city to fall in the invasion, following days of disputed claims over who was in control. A U.S. defense official said Washington was unable to confirm the development.

Despite Russian assaults on Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, they all remained in Ukrainian hands, Britain's Defense Ministry said Thursday.

"We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy," Zelenskyy said in a video address early Thursday. "They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment."

Russian troops were besieging the port city of Mariupol, east of Kherson, an attempt Mayor Vadym Boichenko said was aimed at isolating Ukraine.

"They are trying to create a blockade here," Boichenko said Thursday in a broadcast video. He said that the Russians were attacking rail stations to prevent civilian evacuations and that the attacks have cut off water and power.

Giving peace a (second) chance

Also Thursday, the two sides held a second round of peace talks in Belarus and agreed to set up humanitarian corridors with cease-fire zones so that civilians could safely flee. Ukraine had pushed for a general cease-fire.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov  who is also under direct U.S. sanctions  told reporters Thursday that Russian forces would continue their effort to destroy Ukraine's military infrastructure and would not allow its neighbor to represent a military threat to Russia.

In a 90-minute telephone conversation Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron, Putin told Macron that Russia would achieve its goals, including the demilitarization and neutrality of Ukraine, by any means necessary, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Macron told his Russian counterpart that the war he started against Ukraine was a "major mistake," according to a French official. "You are lying to yourself," Macron told Putin regarding the feasibility of his goals, the official said.

Poland has taken in half of the more than 1 million refugees who have fled Ukraine in the past week, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The U.N. body says it expects 4 million people could leave Ukraine because of the conflict.

Ukraine's emergency agency said Wednesday that Russia's attacks have killed more than 2,000 people across the country.

Russia's Defense Ministry put out its first casualty report earlier this week, saying 498 of its troops were killed in Ukraine, with more than 1,500 wounded.

Russians 'stalled' outside Kyiv

A senior U.S. defense official said Thursday the Russian forces in northern Ukraine and outside Kyiv remained "largely stalled," despite U.S. assessments that 90% of the combat power that Russia prepared for the invasion had entered Ukraine.

The official said that the cities in northern and eastern Ukraine, including Kyiv, Chernihiv and Kharkiv, were subjected Thursday to "heavy bombardment," but that Russian forces in the north were still facing stiff resistance.

"We continue to see them resist and fight and defend their territory and their resources quite effectively," said the official, who added that Russia has launched more than 480 missiles since the invasion began.

Putin offered a more optimistic assessment Thursday, telling members of his security council on a video call that Moscow's invasion of Ukraine is progressing "according to plan."

"All tasks are being successfully carried out," he said.

The Biden administration has requested $10 billion in supplemental funding from Congress "to deliver additional humanitarian, security, and economic assistance in Ukraine and the neighboring region in the coming days and weeks," said a statement from Shalanda Young, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget. That money, she said, will cover defense equipment, emergency food aid, U.S. troop deployments to neighboring countries and stronger sanctions enforcement.

VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching, national security correspondent Jeff Seldin, Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb, Istanbul foreign correspondent Heather Murdock and White House correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
The United States has initiated talks with Muslim-majority countries to encourage them to take the lead in pressing Afghanistans Taliban rulers not to exclude the countrys women from public life in the name of religion.



Rina Amiri, the U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights, told a seminar in Washington Wednesday that she is leading the diplomatic initiative to have an alignment of position among all international stakeholders on the issue.

The envoy, speaking virtually to a seminar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said she visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar last week and intends to travel other Muslim-majority nations to engage them on the regressive practices the Taliban are enacting to curtail womens freedom.

What I noted to them is what the Taliban are saying about women's rights and making the argument that it's on the basis of Sharia, is not just bad for Afghanistan and for Afghan women -- it's bad for Islam, Amiri said of her talks with Saudi and Qatari officials.

The actors that need to be leading and countering that narrative [are] the Muslim majority countries, she added.

Amiri noted that many regional and Islamic countries maintain a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan and, in their engagement with the Taliban, they advocate for political as well as ethnic inclusion in the government, but very little is being said about womens inclusion.

When they engage the Taliban, what I've asked them to do is include women in their delegation show that women are playing prominent and strong roles in their own countries, Amiri said.

The Islamist group took over Afghanistan in August and installed a male-only interim government including mostly Pashtuns, the countrys largest ethnic group, like the Taliban themselves.

Critics say the insurgency-turned-government has rolled back womens rights in almost every area, including crushing womens freedom of movement, over the past six months, despite Taliban pledges they would not bring back harsh policies of their previous rule from 1996 to 2001, when women were banned from education and work.

Women are not allowed to share transportation with men or take long trips without a close male relative, and taxi drivers are told not to offer a ride to female passengers who are not wearing hijabs.

The vast majority of girls secondary schools are closed. Universities recently reopened, with new gender segregation rules. But many women are unable to return, in part because the career they studied for is off limits now, as the Taliban banned women from most jobs, said Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch in a statement Wednesday.

The Taliban dismiss criticism of their government, saying it meets all requirements to be recognized as the legitimate entity and it is not allowing terrorist groups to operate on Afghan soil. They also strongly defend restrictions on women, saying they are in line with Islamic principles. The radical group has promised to open secondary schools for all girls in Afghanistan this month.

Taliban leaders have traveled abroad, including to Qatar, in recent weeks for talks with representatives of Western and Islamic governments. But they have failed to win diplomatic legitimacy for their government because of concerns about human rights, political inclusivity and terrorism.

Amiri said she recently also held talks in Qatar with Taliban delegates who reiterated that Kabul wants to improve its relationship with the West.

My response has been, Don't just focus on improving your relationship with the West, improve your relationship with Afghans inside the country, build confidence not just by having inclusivity of a few actors from different ethnic groups but an inclusive process that is transparent, that engenders confidence among the population, Amiri said.

Amiri said she also warned the Taliban that their return to power has only paused the Afghan conflict and it will not come to an end in the absence of inclusivity.

Critics are skeptical whether conversations with the Taliban to challenge their extremely restrictive view of Islam would produce the desired outcomes.

"I dont think there are a lot of people who can influence the Taliban from the outside, Anne Richard, a former U.S. diplomat, told the viral seminar. But I think who can, U.N. officials, special envoys, potentially certain governments, I think we really have to ensure that their efforts are taken seriously and are pursued and we get as much information to them then from the people who are inside Afghanistan as we can.

Afghanistans immediate neighbors, including Pakistan and Iran, as well as regional countries, have all cautioned the Taliban that the countrys economic and humanitarian troubles may intensify unless they live up to international expectations.

Last month, diplomats from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council met in Doha with representatives from Afghanistans de facto authorities and underscored the need for a national reconciliation plan that respects basic freedoms and rights, including womens right to work and education.
The United States said Wednesday that it would follow the lead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by inviting a nonpolitical representative from military-ruled Myanmar to a summit with the 10-country bloc in Washington this month.

President Joe Biden plans to host a special summit of the United States and ASEAN leaders March 28-29.

"The United States supports ASEANs decision to invite nonpolitical representatives from Burma to high-level ASEAN events," a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said, using the former name for Myanmar.

"We similarly have decided to invite a nonpolitical representative from Burma to the summit. The regime has failed to make meaningful progress on ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus and should be held accountable," the official said.

The official did not respond when asked who the representative might be.

Late last year, ASEAN barred Myanmar's ruling junta from key meetings over its failure to honor the plan agreed to with the bloc to end the conflict in the country that has killed hundreds of civilians, displaced more than 300,000 people and triggered an exodus of foreign firms.

ASEAN has since invited a nonpolitical Myanmar representative to meetings, but the junta has declined, arguing that it is the legitimate authority.

ASEAN has not formally recognized the military government, which has been targeted by sanctions imposed by the United States, Britain and the European Union, among others.

The White House summit is part of efforts to step up engagement with a region Washington sees as critical to its efforts to push back against China's growing power.

The Biden administration has declared the Indo-Pacific and competition with China a principal foreign policy focus, which it is keen to maintain despite the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Amid concerns over new Taliban travel restrictions and a halt in evacuation flights from Afghanistan, U.S. officials are urging the group to honor their commitment to provide safe passage for Afghans seeking to leave the country.

Following their takeover of Afghanistan in August, the Taliban pledged to let all people with proper travel documentation leave, acquiescing to international demands for their unrestricted departure.

A State Department spokesperson said Wednesday that officials had raised concerns over the restrictions with the Taliban.

"Our ability to facilitate relocation for our Afghan allies also depends on the Taliban living up to its commitment of free passage," the spokesperson said in response to a query from VOA. "We have reiterated this point to them."

Writing on Twitter, Ian McCary, the U.S. charge d'affaires to Afghanistan, said Wednesday that "all people with valid travel documents should be able to depart the country."

The comments came after top Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a press conference over the weekend that authorities in Afghanistan would stop Afghans from trying to leave the country without an "excuse."

"I have to say clearly that persons who leave the country along with their families have no excuse ... we are preventing them," Mujahid said.

Hugo Shorter, the British charge d'affaires, called on the Taliban to clarify the remarks. "Such actions undermine both commitments to the international community and the trust of Afghans," he tweeted.

Amid the uproar, Mujahid on Tuesday appeared to walk back his comment.

"My remarks about Afghans going abroad was only Afghans who do not have legal documents and are going abroad illegally will be prevented," he tweeted. "Our compatriots who have legal documents and invitations can travel outside the country and can return to the country."

Asked by VOA about a separate reported Taliban directive to officials at Afghan ports of entry to stop anyone who has worked with U.S. and NATO forces, Mujahid said, "This report may not be correct."

The directive was obtained and published by the Afghan news site 8am.af.

Despite Mujahid's reassurances, the Taliban's policy on travel remains unclear, leaving in limbo tens of thousands of Afghans who are seeking to evacuate. According to Matt Zeller, a U.S. Army veteran and co-founder of the nonprofit No One Left Behind, more than 250,000 Afghan allies eligible for special immigrant visas and U.S. refugee status remain in Afghanistan.

Since August, when the U.S. military led the evacuation of more than 124,000 people following the Taliban takeover of the capital, Kabul, the State Department and private organizations have chartered aircraft to airlift some of those left behind.

About 10,000 Afghans have gotten out over the past six months, according to Alex Plitsas, chief operating officer and spokesperson for Human First Coalition, a humanitarian organization. He estimates that private groups have spent roughly $100 million on the evacuation process.

But an apparent row between the Taliban and Qatari officials has brought the evacuation flights to a halt in recent weeks, according to several people familiar with the process.

The last State Department-chartered flight from Kabul to Doha was on January 26, and "then it shut down again," a U.S. government official familiar with the situation said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The [State Department] pipeline is paralyzed, but that seems to have more to do with whatever is going on between the Taliban and Qatar," the official said. "They are looking for other options in the region."

The State Department spokesperson did not respond to a question about the date of the last official evacuation.

The spokesperson, however, said the department continues "to facilitate the safe and orderly travel of U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and Afghan allies and their eligible family members who wish to leave Afghanistan."

"As we've said before, we will be relentless in this effort as we stand by our Afghan allies and their families," the spokesperson said.

VOA State Department bureau chief Nike Ching and VOA Afghan Service's Najiba Khalil contributed to this article.
After almost two years, Western Australia has lifted the nations toughest COVID-19 border controls. Double-vaccinated international and domestic travelers are now allowed in, as the so-called hermit state reconnects with the rest of the world.

For almost 700 days Western Australia was cut off from the rest of the country and the world.

Most international visitors were banned, as Australias largest state, which is 10 times the size of the United Kingdom, tried to isolate itself from the pandemic.

The state premier, Mark McGowan, said the tough policy had avoided needless deaths, but he acknowledged the pain felt by separated families and businesses.

The tough measures did keep infections low, but they were unable to stop a recent surge in omicron cases.

A total of 1,770 cases were reported Wednesday  a new record for Western Australia  but the number of hospitalizations remains relatively low.

With almost 99% of the eligible population double-vaccinated, authorities have insisted that the time is right to end border restrictions.

Dr. Mark Duncan-Smith, president of the Australian Medical Association (Western Australia), told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the tough border strategy appears to have worked.

What is happening here in WA [Western Australia] right now, with omicron at 1,000 cases a day, is a social experiment that has never been done in the world, and so what we are hoping for is that we will get a very, very soft landing and hopefully our hospitalization numbers will stay very low and that will be testimony to the effectiveness of those borders over the last two years, buying us that time, he said.

Western Australias tough stance on border closures led to it being dubbed a "hermit kingdom.

McGowan was compared to the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un by Alan Joyce, the CEO of Australias national airline, Qantas, last month. Joyce later apologized for his comments.

Other Australian states and territories imposed internal border closures during the pandemic, but those restrictions ended last year. Australia reopened its international borders to all vaccinated international travelers on Feb. 21, but Western Australia maintained its restrictions.

Passengers on the first flights from Sydney and Melbourne into the Western Australian state capital, Perth, were welcomed with gifts of toy quokkas, a small marsupial said to be the worlds happiest animal.

Tourism officials in Western Australia have said the reopening of domestic and international travel into the state would bring joy to the industry.

Australia has recorded about 2.9 million coronavirus infections since the pandemic began. More than 5,200 people have died.
Zimbabwe has launched an emergency road repair program after a public outcry over the high death toll on the countrys roads.

The nations roads are in bad shape after years of neglect by the government of the late president, Robert Mugabe.

Instead of driving on the left, motorists drive on what is left of the road in some cases.

Thats how 46-year-old Misheck Rujada was hit by a motorist trying to avoid potholes.

Rujada welcomes the effort to bring the roads up to par.

I think road repairs will drastically reduce road accidents, Rujada said As well as not speeding, and looking out for pedestrians because they are also human beings, only that they are poor. I think that is what is important."

Zimbabwes government says it is aware of the complaints and recently introduced what it calls Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme 2  better known here as ERRP2  to ensure all roads are repaired. Officials say results should be visible by the end of the year.

Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said the program includes the upgrade of drainage systems to keep water off the roads.

The Cabinet wishes to inform the public significant progress was achieved in implementing the ERRP2 on the repair and construction of drainage structures as well as the reclamation of gullies and the repair of wash-aways, where the percentage completion of works exceeded 70%, she said.

Mutsvangwa added that the government has released about $20 million for the program, and more money will be allocated.

On average, five people die every day because of accidents on Zimbabwes roads, according to official statistics.

Jean Todt, the U.N. secretary-generals Special Envoy for Road Safety, recently met with Zimbabwe officials to discuss improving the safety record.

The U.N. secretary-generals special envoy for road safety alluded that Zimbabwe has the opportunity to achieve the goal of reducing by half road traffic crash fatalities and injuries by 2030, said Sirak Gebrehiwot the U.N. communications specialist in Zimbabwe. With increased political and financial commitments from all stakeholders, the country can turn this situation around.
Virtual Spring Bible & Archaeology Fest Offers Global Audience New Insights, New Analysis, and Intriguing Debates

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Biblical Archaeology Society

March 2, 2022



WASHINGTON, March 2, 2022 /Standard Newswire/ -- The Biblical Archaeology Society, publisher of Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR), a niche consumer magazine, will host the first-ever spring online edition of its annual signature event from the fall. The Spring Bible and Archaeology Fest on April 23 offers live talks from 18 leading Bible scholars and archaeologists via the Zoom computer application. Registered, paid participants can enjoy two days of online learning with experts in the fields from all over the world.



The program features The Bible and Archaeology: A Love-Hate Relationship, a plenary session from renowned archaeologist Dr. Yosef Garfinkel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He specializes in the Protohistoric era of the Near East, the period of time when the world's earliest village communities were established and the beginning of agriculture took place.



In the plenary, Garfinkel will analyze the history of the field of biblical archaeology, arguing for five different phases in the relationship between the Bible and archaeology, beginning in 1847 when the Lachish reliefs from Sennacherib's palace in Nineveh were unearthed.



A new feature of this spring event is a virtual tour of Israel's ancient port city Caesarea Maritima, custom designed by host and Bible atlas author Carl Rasmussen, Bethel University in Minnesota.



Other familiar names from Biblical Archaeology Review, plus rising stars will be presenting:

JOHN AHN, Howard University



GAY BYRON, Howard University



ERIC CLINE, The George Washington University



STEED DAVIDSON, McCormick Theological Seminary



JP DESSEL, University of Tennessee-Knoxville



DEBRA FORAN, Wilfrid Laurier University



DEIRDRE FULTON, Baylor University



JEFFREY GARCIA, Nyack College



MARY JOAN LEITH, Stonehill College-Easton



ANNETTE YOSHIKO REED, New York University



JULIA RHYDER, Harvard University



ALISON SCHOFIELD, University of Denver



JUAN MANUEL TEBES, Catholic University of Argentina



GYOZO VOROS, Archaeologist-Architect, Hungarian Academy of Arts



BEN WITHERINGTON III, Asbury Theological Seminary



SARAH YEOMANS, Archaeologist

For more than two decades, numerous scholars and dedicated enthusiasts have come together at a Bible & Archaeology Fest for enjoying the latest finds, scholarship, and discussions of the Bible and archaeology. Registration for this virtual event and its recordings is $199. Early bird pricing of $179 is available until March 21, 2022. The student rate is $99. Sign up at www.biblicalarchaeology.org/fest.



SOURCE Biblical Archaeology Society



CONTACT: Alicia Bregon, 202-364-3300 ext. 216,

travelstudy@bib-arch.org



Related Links



http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/


Russia escalated attacks on Ukrainian cities Wednesday as the two sides claimed control of a strategic city and expressed a willingness to resume talks aimed at ending the nearly week-old war.

Moscow said it had seized control of Kherson, a port city with a quarter million people on the Black Sea, a claim that was disputed by Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych. "The city has not fallen, our side continues to defend," he said.

The most intensive airstrikes hit the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraines second largest city and home to 1.5 million people. An attack destroyed a police building in the citys center, further reducing it to an area of ruined buildings and debris.

Ukrainian authorities said Russian attacks killed 21 people in Kharkiv on Tuesday, and four more Wednesday morning.

Heavy shelling also continued in the southern port city of Mariupol, where the wounded were unable to evacuate, according to the citys mayor.

Ukraines emergency agency said Russias attacks have killed more than 2,000 at hospitals, kindergarten facilities and homes. But nearly a week after the invasion started, Russia had not overthrown Ukraines government as planned.

Russias defense ministry put out its first report on casualties, saying 498 of its troops had been killed in Ukraine, while more than 1,500 others had been wounded.

After hours of talks Monday with Russian officials yielded no resolution on Ukraines demands for a cease-fire and a withdrawal of Russian forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called for a halt in fighting to give negotiations a chance.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a Russian delegation would be ready to resume talks, while a Ukraine spokesman told reporters that our delegation will be in place to await Ukrainian negotiators. Reports said talks could be held Thursday.

"It's necessary to at least stop bombing people, just stop the bombing and then sit down at the negotiating table," Zelenskyy told Reuters and CNN in a joint interview in a heavily guarded government compound in Kyiv.

After a U.S. defense official said Tuesday that the Russian militarys overarching movement on Kyiv is stalled, an official told reporters Wednesday that "there hasn't really been a lot of significant change on the ground since yesterday."

The official said U.S. intelligence indicated that Ukrainian resistance has tried to impede the closely watched kilometers-long Russian convoy that has been making its way toward Kyiv and that it remained stalled Wednesday.

But the official noted that Russia had intensified missile and artillery attacks on Kyiv and had become more aggressive in targeting infrastructure throughout Ukraine. The official added that Kherson was still a contested city."

The official said the U.S. assessed that since the invasion began last Thursday, Russia had launched more than 450 missiles, but that Ukraines air and missile defense systems remained viable.

International pressure on Russia continued, with Canada announcing Tuesday that it would refer the situation in Ukraine to the International Criminal Court for a probe of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russia.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday that the Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure on Monday in Kharkiv violates the laws of war.

Kremlin spokesman Peskov dismissed allegations of war crimes and told reporters that Russian troops dont conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas, despite extensive, mounting evidence of Kremlin attacks on homes, schools and hospitals documented by reporters.

Economic pressure on Russia is also increasing, and President Joe Biden said nothing is off the table when a reporter asked Wednesday outside the White House if the U.S. would ban Russian oil and gas. In addition to sanctions that have directly targeted Russias banking system and figures close to Putin, many companies have halted their Russian operations in response to the invasion.

Exxon Mobil said it would exit Russia, joining other oil companies such as Shell and BP. Apple stopped selling iPhones and other products in Russia, while car maker Ford and airplane manufacturer Boeing announced they are suspending Russian operations.

Putin issued a decree Tuesday banning cash exports of foreign currency from the country exceeding $10,000 in value, according to a Kremlin statement. It said the ban would take effect Wednesday.

Ukraines parliament said Tuesday that a Russian missile had hit the television tower in Kyiv. Local media reported the attack had caused several explosions, and Ukrainian channels stopped broadcasting shortly thereafter.

Ukrainian officials said five people were killed in the attack. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that it had rekindled memories of the mass killing of Jews by Nazi SS troops and local collaborators during World War II.

The U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday that at least 836,000 people, most of them women and children, had fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since last Thursday. It said it expected 4 million people could eventually flee Ukraine.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters.
Ukraine marked one week since Russia invaded the country Thursday, as Russian forces shelled major cities and the number of refugees who have fled Ukraine exceeded 1 million people.

Despite Russian assaults on Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, Britains Defense Ministry said Thursday they all remained in Ukrainian hands. Unclear was the status of Kherson, with Russian troops present in the city amid disputed claims of who was in control.

We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address early Thursday. They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.

Ukraines Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov cited expectations ahead of the invasion that Russia would quickly overtake Ukraine, writing on Facebook, No one, neither in Russia nor in the West, believed that we would last a week. He added that while there are challenges ahead, Ukraine has every reason to be confident.

Thursday also brought the expectation of a second round of peace talks between the two sides, though there has been little sign of a potential breakthrough. An initial meeting Monday yielded only plans for further talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States remains open to finding a diplomatic solution to the situation, but that Russia must first de-escalate.

Its much more difficult for diplomacy to succeed when guns are firing and tanks are rolling, he told reporters Wednesday.

Blinken is traveling to Europe on Thursday for a series of meetings with NATO and other allies about their response to the Russian invasion. NATO foreign ministers are holding an extraordinary meeting Friday in Brussels, and on Saturday Blinken travels on to Poland to discuss further security and humanitarian assistance to help refugees who have fled Ukraine.

Poland has taken in half of the more than 1 million refugees who have fled Ukraine in the past week, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The U.N. body has said it expects 4 million people could leave Ukraine due to the conflict.

Ukraines emergency agency said Wednesday Russias attacks have killed more than 2,000 people across the country.

Russias Defense Ministry put out its first casualties report, saying 498 of its troops were killed in Ukraine, while more than 1,500 others were wounded.

A senior U.S. defense official told reporters Wednesday Russian forces trying to take the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, were stalled outside the city center."

The forces, including a massive Russian convoy, have made "no appreciable movement," the official said, adding Russian advances on other key cities, such as Chernihiv and Kharkiv had also stalled.

Meanwhile, shipments of defensive aid for Ukraine continued to arrive, according to U.S. officials.

The Pentagon on Wednesday also expressed concerns that Russian forces are getting more aggressive in their targeting, putting civilians and civilian infrastructure in greater danger.

The senior defense official said the U.S. believes that since the invasion began last Thursday, Russia has launched more than 450 missiles, but that Ukraines air and missile defense systems remain viable.

The official said the lack of Russian progress around Kyiv, despite its superior firepower, could be attributed to factors including shortages of fuel and food, and a spirited defense by Ukrainian forces.

"It has slowed because of resistance from the Ukrainians that has been effective and quite creative," the official said. "They have marshaled their assets quite well.  The will to fight is very strong, in terms of their armed forces but also in terms of their civilian population."

"We also believe they [Russia] have had morale problems that has led to less than effective operational success," the official added, cautioning that U.S. intelligence expects Russian forces will adapt in order to continue with the massive assault.

The Pentagon also announced that it is postponing a nuclear missile test launch scheduled for this week. The decision comes days after Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to put his nuclear forces on higher alert.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said the decision to delay the test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was made by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Kirby added that the United States would like to see Moscow reciprocate by taking the temperature down in the crisis over Ukraine.

Another factor that may be helping the Ukrainians is continued support from NATO and the United States.

Blinken said Wednesday the United States is imposing sweeping sanctions on Russias defense sector.

"In total, 22 Russian defense-related entities will be designated, including companies that make combat aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems  the very systems now being used to assault the Ukrainian people, abuse human rights, violate international humanitarian law, Blinken said during a news conference.

Blinken said the United States would also choke off Belarus ability to import key technologies by imposing export controls on Belarus to hold the Lukashenka regime accountable for being a co-belligerent in President [Vladimir] Putins war of choice.

VOA State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching, national security correspondent Jeff Seldin, Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb, correspondent Jamie Dettmer, Islamabad Bureau Chief Heather Murdock and White House correspondent Anita Powell contributed to this report.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Huatulco (271.5 km SSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Shaking of walls and floor on lower floor. | 4 users found this interesting.

Paso viejo, Xalapa (204.8 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single lateral shake / 20-30 s : Sitting Outside. Felt a rocking motion | 3 users found this interesting.

Oaxaca (171.2 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 20-30 s Sitting outside, feel the ground shaking trees swaying my RV rocking back and forth | 3 users found this interesting. (reported through (reported through our app / Light shaking (MMI IV) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 20-30 s

los mogotes / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : sitting in a parked car. zero traffic and car started wobbling side to side. looking around nothing near me. other people just told me they felt a quake. | 2 users found this interesting.

Xalapa Veracruz (215.8 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / complex motion difficult to describe / 5-10 s : Senti que el piso se empezo a mover y vi que algunos muebles empezaron a sonar y los perros empezaron a ladrar | One user found this interesting.

En Tepozotlan (423.5 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : Todo se movia las lamparas luminarias los cables | 2 users found this interesting.

Puerto Escondido (303.3 km SSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : Sitting on a rooftop. Felt movement | 2 users found this interesting.

Puerto Escondido, mx (304 km SSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : My husband and I were both sitting down, still other than drinking our coffee. Felt very distinct but weak shaking almost rocking, back and forth.

near Loma Bonita, Oaxaca (43.5 km WSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 1-2 minutes : Temblor fuerte como de 3 minutos de duracion se escucho ruidos causados por la estructura de la casa.

Heroica veracruz (132.9 km NNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 15-20 s : Doors were vibrating and I felt unstable floor on the second floor. | One user found this interesting.

between Boca Del Rio and Anton Lizardo (115.8 km NNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : sitting indoors at computer. Felt like the house was swinging | One user found this interesting.

En el estado de Qaxaca en Santa maria papalo (224.4 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / complex motion difficult to describe / 1-2 minutes : Un poco fuerte | One user found this interesting.

Centro Oaxaca it was a big jolt and wouldn't stop (175.8 km SSW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 2-5 s : the intensity grew with rolling motion then stoppped which lasted about 5 seconds. | One user found this interesting.

Tehuacan Puebla (197.2 km W of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / vertical swinging (up and down) / 2-5 s : Esta va sentada y senti que movieron la silla ???? | One user found this interesting.

Angel R. Cabada (49.6 km N of epicenter) [ Map ] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s : Estaba acostada y sentia que me sacudian movian la cama | One user found this interesting.

Cordoba, Veracruz-Llave (171.5 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / vibration and rolling / 1-2 minutes : Estaba en el segundo piso de un hotel | One user found this interesting.

XALAPA (215.8 km NW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s : Second floor | One user found this interesting.

Minatitlan veracruz (100.6 km E of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Estaba en el bano y el agua de los tinacos se movia | One user found this interesting.

Texcoco (381.8 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / not felt No se sintio si sono la. Alerta sismica | One user found this interesting. (reported through (reported through our app / not felt

Coscomatepec (191.3 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 1-2 s : Esta en casa cuando empezo a caer las cosas y todos empezaron a salir | One user found this interesting.

los mogotes / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : sitting in a parked car. zero traffic and car started wobbling side to side. looking around nothing near me. other people just told me they felt a quake.

Catemaco / Light shaking (MMI IV) / complex motion difficult to describe / 1-2 minutes : Shaking was constant and very long. one minute maybe. it did not stop shaking for this whole time. this chart considers it light shaking but it was strong enough that whole concrete house was shaking. cracks in house are little worse. no upper floors. sha

Oaxaca de Juarez Mexico / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s : mild shaking of house for 2-5 seconds | One user found this interesting.

Tuxtepec / Light shaking (MMI IV) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 5-10 s : Light shaking, some shock. | One user found this interesting.

Oaxaca / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s : Single lateral shake while sitting on bed | One user found this interesting.

Oaxaca de Juarez / Very strong shaking (MMI VII) / single lateral shake / very short Building sway | One user found this interesting. (reported through (reported through our app / Very strong shaking (MMI VII) / single lateral shake / very short

Ejido el Castillo, Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico (421.2 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / not felt

Santa Maria donde Monte Vicente Guerrero Puebla (183.9 km WNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging

San felipe del agua Oaxaca (171.3 km SW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 10-15 s

Coatzacoalcos (110.4 km E of epicenter) [ Map ] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s

Fraccionamiento Costa Dorada, Veracruz, Veracruz-Llave (136.3 km NNW of epicenter) [ Map ] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s Fue un movimiento desplazante fuerte (reported through (reported through our app / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s
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Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Alan Ladd Jr., the producer who green-lit Star Wars and worked on 14 Best Picturenominated films, has died. He was 84. Ladd was known for being a stand-up guy and an all-around nice fellow. There are snakes in this business and then theres Alan Ladd, director Richard Donner was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. Ladds daughter broke the news in a Facebook post. No cause of death was given.

Ladd was the son of actor Alan Ladd. Junior got his start working as his fathers stuntman, but he eventually became one of the most important and well-liked men in Hollywood. Ladd green-lit Star Wars while he was working for Fox, back when the script was still titled The Adventures of Luke Starkiller As Taken From the Journal of the Whills, Saga 1, Star Wars. So he was clearly putting a lot of faith in George Lucas. My biggest contribution to Star Wars was keeping my mouth shut and standing by the picture, said Ladd. He kept his mouth shut and stood by other such beloved films as Young Frankenstein, Blade Runner, Braveheart, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The movies Ladd helped shepherd earned a total of 50 Oscars and 150 nominations. He won Best Picture for Braveheart after being ousted from MGM and taking the project with him, something he called sweet justice.

We are devastated to learn of the passing of Alan Ladd Jr.

Alan was a Hollywood maverick, a pioneer, and a dear friend to us at Lucasfilm, @ILMVFX, and @SkywalkerSound. He was in Georges corner in those early days, and his impact on @StarWars cannot be understated. pic.twitter.com/mlgC14YSQT  Industrial Light & Magic (@ILMVFX) March 2, 2022
Photo: Julien Panie/Netflix

Right now is a pretty good time to be a Francophile  at least when it comes to television. There are a variety of French shows to binge: the crime thriller Lupin, the comedy-drama Call My Agent! (which notably includes French celebrities playing fictionalized versions of themselves), and the most American show ever to take place in France, Emily in Paris. But if youve finished all of these and need a new series to get your fix of French slang and overhead shots of Parisian rooftops, Family Business is the show for you.

Family Business centers on the Hazans, who own a struggling kosher butcher shop. Things take a turn for the Breaking Bad when they attempt to turn the shop into a dispensary after hearing that weed will soon be legal in France. The comedy has a playful tone, but the perils of the drug business keep the stakes high enough to make the show feel meatier than your average sitcom. The Hazans have to manage their operation while avoiding law enforcement, keeping dealers happy, and keeping their secret safe. Naturally, they find themselves in some pretty sticky situations.

The protagonist of the show is Joseph (Jonathan Cohen), an alumnus of the Kendall Roy School of Eldest-Son Entrepreneurship and therefore the catalyst for getting into the weed business. Joseph is charismatic enough that we want to keep watching him  and, hopefully, watch him succeed  but also self-confident to the point of constantly getting in his own way. He nails overexaggerated facial expressions and wild gesticulations and is particularly adept at the comedic art of overexplaining himself when trapped in a bind, as when he tries to tell police officers that kosher pork is a new fad. Cohen is clearly a skilled comedian (he recently appeared in a French parody of The Bachelor called La Flamme), but Family Business also gives him more tender moments. Watch him talk about protecting his children and youll almost forget its the same character who tried to sell an app that allows you to avoid phone calls by pretending youre going through a tunnel.

There are a lot of excellent supporting characters in Family Business: expert weed-grower grandma Ludmila (Liliane Rovere, who also starred in Call My Agent!), #girlboss Dutch drug lord Jaures (Tamar Baruch), and real-life musician Enrico Macias playing himself. But one of the shows greatest creations is Clementine. Embodied by Louise Coldefy, Clementine is an icon for weird girls everywhere. She sands her feet in polite company, casually invites her friends to a sex party, and proposes to Olivier after dating him for three weeks. Without even a whisper of self-consciousness, Coldefy can switch emotional gears on a dime and command every scene shes in. She is id personified  entirely unpredictable but immensely entertaining.

Watching comedies from other countries can be extremely rewarding because they often feel more personal than dramas. Seeing the things we create to make ourselves laugh can be a unifying experience. No culture is too haughty for a sight gag or too elitist for a pun. Sitcoms especially give an inside look into a specific culture and sense of humor. Watching Abbott Elementary will not only teach you a lot about America; it will teach you a lot about what Americans find funny. The same goes for French humor in Family Business. I have watched many comedies in my time, but never have I seen one character trip on shrooms so hard he hallucinates that his friends penis is long enough to touch the floor. Furthermore, I have certainly never seen the aforementioned penis then grow an eyeball. But thats why we watch these shows  for the cultural exchange of it all. Vive la France!

But through all the kidnapping plots and dick jokes, the heart of the show is the strength of its relationships. While Josephs relationships with his father (Gerard Darmon) and his best friend, Olivier (Olivier Rosenberg), dominate the series, his season-two team-up with Clementine and his romance with his on again, off again girlfriend Aida (Lina El Arabi) establish that the show can successfully play with a variety of character dynamics. Similarly, we get some really nice intergenerational bonding between Josephs sister Aure (Julia Piaton) and her grandmother, including a scene in which Aure comes out. Even Aida and Aure get scenes together in which they can just have some girl talk as friends. As with most great sitcoms, the core of the series is the connections between people who care deeply for one another, even if they dont always know how to show it.

The Hazans fight and call one another names, and each one secretly believes they alone know whats best for the group. But no matter how far away they drift, they always come back. My bubbelehs, Ludmila says in the final episode, we did a lot of stupid things. But even on this saddest day of my entire life, I dont regret a thing. Because we did this all together, as a family.

Family Business is streaming on Netflix.
Avast, me hearties! The Russian attacks on Ukraine have not only brought back Cold War nuclear anxieties, but could mean a new golden age of piracy. Stephen Colbert explained on The Late Show Wednesday night that America could potentially issue Letters of Marque to private individuals to seize foreign vessels. Specifically Russian megayachts. For those who arent cramming pirate lore ahead of Our Flag Means Deaths premiere, a Letter of Marque is what separates a pirate (like Blackbeard) from a privateer (like Sir Francis Drake). Privateers are licensed by a government to yoink whatever they want from enemy ships, for war reasons. Apparently the practice was mostly outlawed in the 19th century, but America held out because we love taking stuff and thought the practice could come in handy again. And it very well may! Colbert (and the Washington Post) believe Americans could be legally encouraged to shiver their timbers in the name of taking Russian oligarchs superyachts. Yarr!

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Photo: Leon Bennett/Getty Images for the Critics Choice Association

The post-Ellen daytime talk show space continues to expand and bring in names. Jennifer Hudson is joining folks like Drew Barrymore and Hudsons former American Idol contestant Kelly Clarkson in the Talk Zone. For those who want a steady gig, a daytime talk show is a pretty sweet deal. Glam team, a regular supply of cute little nibbles prepared on-camera by Rachel Ray et al., and a pretty short commute to whatever studio in Burbank you desire.

Warner Bros. announced in a statement that The Jennifer Hudson show will be syndicated to Fox stations this fall. Daytime has found its Dreamgirl, said David Decker, Executive Vice President, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. We are excited to bring Jennifer Hudson to FOX, Hearst and all our broadcast station partners this fall. Hudson is quite a get for the daytime TV sphere, having won an Oscar, 2 Grammys, and a Daytime Emmy. Thats right, she already has a Daytime Emmy. Thats one Tony away from EGOT-ing, depending on whether you think Daytime Emmys count or if you demand Nighttime Emmys for your awards acronym.
From left: Alexis Floyd as Neff Davis in Netflixs Inventing Anna; the real Neff Davis. Photo: Netflix; Courtesy Neff Davis

Whats more surreal than having a segment of your life become part of a viral New York Magazine cover story?

Probably selling your life rights to Shonda Rhimes so the story in question can become a Netflix show.

And what might be more surreal than all of it?

Coming full circle to join the actress who played you for an interview with New York Magazines Vulture.

Thus, we have this conversation between two Neffs. One is Neffatari (Neff) Davis, the filmmaker, former hotel employee, and friend of the now-convicted con artist Anna Delvey  the strategic social-climber (real name: Anna Sorokin) who claimed to be a German heiress and took down several heavy players in the New York finance and real-estate scene. Then theres actress Alexis Floyd, who portrays Davis as Delveys ride-or-die all the way up to, and beyond, her trial in the Netflix limited series Inventing Anna.

All these people are seeing a part of my life that was so long ago, Davis says. I had a chance to watch the show and relive that part of my life. I was like, Oh my gosh, my 20s were crazy.

Davis, who moved in September to Los Angeles from New York, kept in contact with Floyd throughout the making of the show. They united again on Zoom to speak with Vulture about what Inventing Anna gets right, which liberties have been taken, and how the ordeals  both factual and fictitious  impacted their lives.

In the limited series, Neff is working at the 12 George hotel  a stand-in for the swanky 11 Howard in Soho  when shes found by journalist Vivian Kent (actress Anna Chlumskys interpretation of Jessica Pressler, the real-life reporter who wrote the New York story). Is that how it happened?

Neff Davis: I left the hotel at the end of 2017. I was managing the Starbucks in New Yorks Diamond District when Jessica found me on Twitter. When the article dropped, I was still working at Starbucks, and people would see my name badge and be like Hey, are you the girl from the article for New York Magazine? Im like, Yes. How do you want your coffee?

I worked there all the way up until my life rights were purchased by Netflix and Shondaland. It was such a blessing that Jessica direct-messaged me.

What happened after Netflix bought your life rights?

ND: I was living in, like, the hood in Harlem, and my apartment was 300 square feet. When Netflix bought my life rights, I literally Googled luxury apartments in Brooklyn because I had always wanted to live in Williamsburg. I had lived in New York for ten years and said, One day, Im going to get me one of those apartments. I paid off my rent for two years. And I started writing, writing, writing for my own projects and consulting with this show. Its amazing the research they do with this show.

What does it mean to be a consultant on this show?

ND: In my case, I had the privilege of being in contact with the head of research at Shondaland. We did a Zoom with the whole writers room and Shonda, and I broke down everything from the beginning of my life to where I was at. Imagine getting hundreds of emails about different things from Whats your favorite color? to When you worked at the hotel, how did you enter the hotel?

Were you involved in casting Alexis?

ND: I wasnt, but Alexis lived down the street from me, so we could meet up. If she ever had questions or needed to study me in any way, I could be there for her.

Alexis, were you sitting there studying every nuance of Neffs movements and mannerisms?

Alexis Floyd: I was. I must confess, Neff, I was watching you. I love the way you move. You have this glide about you. Neff was really generous and let me record some of our conversations for private use. I would put you on my headphones and walk around the city and try to speak like you, just trying to absorb your vibe.

Neff is an incredibly self-studied, intelligent person who knows herself inside and out in a really special way. It taught me a lot about character development that I think I will take forward in any character I build  how a persons life is saturated with details, the ways these themes come up, and how our lives are sort of magically constructed as stories.

Neff, has there been a different kind of attention on you now that the show has premiered?

ND: When the article came out in 2018, it was more of a Twitter world. Now that TikTok and Instagram are very popular, so many people started following me. Of course, I got negative and positive messages  it was tough the first few days. Because the writing is so well-done, people arent able to separate the real Neff from the Neff in the show.

The positive comments from people are like, I need a friend like Neff or Im naming my daughter Neffatari. A lot of people have been hitting me up saying theyre inspired because they also work a job and also have a dream. The unfortunate part is a lot of racist comments and people who dont understand the dynamics between me being a Black woman and Anna being a white woman. They were feeling like, especially during Black History Month, my character was just someone who kissed Annas ass too much. They mistook my loyalty for something else.

I get it. As a Black woman, I know we are pitted against Caucasian women a lot of times. But at the end of the day, my loyalty with Anna wasnt because of her skin color  I called her out on several things she said. It was based on how she treated me. I never saw the bad side of Anna. I never got scammed by her. She never didnt pay me back. It is interesting to see people disappointed in my friendship with Anna. Im like that with all my friends. All my real friends are watching, and theyre like, Youre like this with me.

Neff, how much of your relationship with Anna is accurate in the show? Alexis, are you surprised by how strong her loyalty is to Anna?

ND: Its almost like a seesaw. I have to set boundaries. Sometimes I wont answer the phone because I had to let her know I have my freedom. I didnt do anything wrong. Im not going to be able to answer every single phone call from jail. But if you need some panties or some coconut milk for Thanksgiving, Ill send it. I definitely had to set boundaries during the trial because Anna started losing her mind a little bit when it came to being famous in jail and by herself without family here in America.

As far as our friendship now that shes been released  Im all the way on the West Coast. Shes in Orange County, New York. We speak as much as we can, which is like once a month right now. I spoke to her yesterday, actually. Its like, if Im bored, Ill pick up.

I try to give her some type of stamina to keep going because she literally has no one out here in America. I mean, of course, she talks to her dad and mom, but theyre so far away, and theyre so confused about her fame.

AF: I remain impressed, first and foremost, with Neffs loyalty to herself. Im really impressed with how in touch you remained with yourself through this whole  I keep calling it a glitter tornado. You really stayed center, girl. You were listening to your body. You were trusting your gut. And you were able to be respectful but still have distance.

Theres also Inventing Anna actress Katie Lowess depiction of Rachel DeLoache Williams. The thenVanity Fair staff member accused Anna of conning her into paying for their trip to Morocco after theyd arrived, convincing her to put the trip on credit cards with the promise that shed be paid back. But the series suggests Rachel acted with free will and was obsessed with the lifestyle Anna promoted (Williams has claimed that the show is a dangerous distortion of the actual events). Neff, do you think the show depicted her fairly and accurately?

ND: You know, I respect Shondaland. I think one of the things people miss before every episode that I love was the note that everything is real except for the parts that are made up. Im not going to go against the Rachel depiction because thats how the writers saw the Rachel character. Its loosely based on all of us.

As far as how I feel about Rachel, I really dont have any feelings toward her. Me and Rachel were never friends. Anna was the only middleman between us. She has said unkind things, and she doesnt really care for me. But thats fine.

She really loved Anna. I mean, loved her to the point that she really wanted to be her, in a way  even though she might not want to admit that now. Anna also wanted to be Rachel in a way because Rachel was legit. She had the Vanity Fair connects. I think they both pull different things out of each other.

AF: What the show does a really good job of is getting the root cause of this need to appear as something youre not and this feeling of never having enough, never being connected enough  this hunger for external validation. It shows up in different ways. Rachel has symptoms of it. Anna has symptoms of it. Thats a big part of whats causing her to make all these displays of wealth and pomp and circumstance that she doesnt have actual access to  this hunger to win this race that is never-ending.

Neff, how relieved are you that you didnt go on that trip to Morocco with Anna and Rachel?

ND: The director of that episode, Nzingha Stewart, gave me such anxiety because of the way she shot it. I kept thinking, What would I have done? My mom watched it, and she was like, You would have faked passing out in the lobby and gone to a hospital, and we would have gotten you a plane ticket. But Im so relieved. I almost went  to the point that Im the one that booked the hotel for them. From Instagram, it looked like they had an amazing time. I didnt know until Jessica contacted me how bad it went.

Wait, you didnt have any connection with Anna or Rachel after the Morocco trip?

ND: The last time I saw Anna, she had paid her bill at the hotel. Shed pulled up in a Tesla and was like Im out, bitch. I was like, Okay, rich stuff. I thought she could just leave, and I went on with my life.

It was all brand new to me when Jessica reached out and told me that Anna says Im her only friend in New York. Im like, Okay, this ended up bigger than just a rich guest at my hotel who provided me with a lifestyle I was already trying to achieve on my own.

Whats your relationship like now with Pressler?

ND: Weve kept in contact once a week for three years. Its like having a mom in New York.

Were seeing a lot of shows right now based on actual female con artists, and theyre all white women. What do you think about that, not just in regard to representation, but also in regard to what people are able to get away with?

AF: This question of the value we place on our exoskeletons is fascinating, and that we see a pattern  I think we have to be sensitive to that. It shows up in so many stories, and I appreciate that theres an illumination that this character has a different set of cards. From the minute they walk in the door, theres something that precedes them that says theyre valuable, theyre intelligent, theyre connected, and I can trust them.

These stories are giving us an opportunity to reexamine the stories we superimpose onto identities before we have the chance to do due diligence. Because before we hear a word out of their mouths, weve already made so many decisions about one another. And in this country, it can literally be a matter of life or death. Or freedom or not.

ND: I definitely know that Anna being a white woman is one of the main reasons she was able to trick those bankers and trick our hotel. Its not like Anna is super stunning, gorgeous, or whatever. Anna literally just used her skin in a way to convince people like, Why would I lie? Annas confidence on top of her skin tone helped her get through a lot of doors. Shondaland shows us that classism and racism. Anna is a representation of a lot of people in America: the Trumps of the world, the Wall Street guys, people who are able to get away with things people from my background wouldnt be able to.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Correction: A previous version of this piece misidentified a photo from Neff Daviss Instagram. It has been corrected.
Since were in rom-com season and the return of Starstruck is quickly approaching, Vulture is returning to where the romance began with weekly recaps of season one. Rewatch along with us and check back every Thursday morning for the next episode.

Its all been heading toward this, right? You cant have three very confusing interactions in which people are overwhelmed by feelings but refuse to talk about them, mixed together with insecurities and miscommunication, and not have it end up in a whopper of a fight. Its science. Or, at least, romcomology.

But before we get into those gutting last few minutes of Autumn, we should do a quick regroup on both Jessies and Toms emotional statuses. In short, theyre unwell. Jessies been left standing in her kitchen confused by Toms mixed signals more than once, and for someone who has insecurities about who she is and where she is in her life on most days, these send those insecurities into overdrive. When he continues to build her up only to reject her again, hes only confirming the bad things that the little voice in her head is surely saying. What is someone like Tom doing with someone like her? Meanwhile, Tom seems unmoored by the level of his unexpected feelings for Jessie  a post-breakup one-night stand on New Years Eve! We dont know much about his dating history before Jessie, but it seems fair to assume he doesnt have much experience feeling this way about someone. Add in the doubts planted by his agent, and Tom is just a ball of anxiety. Is he handling it well? No. Does it help that Jessie isnt exactly straightforward with her feelings either? Definitely not. Like I said, everyone is unwell.

And thats where we are when a very fancy invitation  its clear!  to a private screening of Siege on Olympus starring Tom Kapoor arrives in Jessie and Kates mailbox. Its addressed to Kate with a plus one since, apparently, she was begging Tom for an invite the last time he was over, but come on, Tom knows exactly what hes doing here. He may not have spoken to Jessie since hightailing it out of her flat once Joe misleadingly dropped information about Jessie dating Dan, but he obviously wants to see her again. Kate tells Jessie as much as she convinces her friend to put on something hot and show Tom what hes missing. Jessie says shell think about it  which, of course, means shes totally going. And when the evening of the event rolls around, not only is Jessie going, but shes wearing matching underwear. There is only one reason to go through the trouble of wearing matching underwear out, and that reason is sex. So clearly, while Jessie and Tom may be in yet another one of their limbo periods, Jessie knows its just a matter of time before they fall back into bed  it is their way.

And within seconds of these two running into each other at the screening, you know Jessies instinct isnt exactly wrong. You can feel the tension. Jessie can barely make eye contact at first; Tom cant stop looking at her. While at first this seems like a strong indication that Jessies decision to wear matching underwear was a very, very good idea, we then meet Sophie, Toms co-star in Siege on Olympus, and everything changes. That almost automatic hand Sophie death grips onto Toms shoulder when he introduces the girls  not his parole officers, as Jessie would have some believe  to her? It screams, Were fucking. Jessie knows it, Kate knows it, we know it.

Thus begins Jessies mini-spiral in the middle of a dark movie theater  weve all been there  in which she, while staring at Tom and Sophie in the back of the theater, attempts to reason that actors are always all over each other. When an actor greets another actor, its as if one of thems been cleared of cancer, she whispers to Kate. But by the time Sophie is snuggling up on Toms shoulder, Jessie can barely stand it and makes a run for it. Its not like Tom isnt in the throes of a spiral, too. He is, at first, trying to check out what Jessie is up to as well, but gets distracted first by Sophie making him super-uncomfortable and then by just how awful this movie is. He needs some air to contemplate how his career has become a joke, among other things.

And so Jessie and Tom run into each other in the bathroom for the second time in their budding romance. With Tom sulking and Jessie trying to be comforting, it doesnt take long for these two to wind up in Toms fancy hotel room. It is obvious to everyone except these two that Jessie and Tom just want to be near each other, to hang out, just the two of them. When theyre alone, its all so easy; its when the outside world encroaches on their sweet, banter-y bubble that things get messy.

Things get real messy here. It starts off with so much potential! This is so good, guys!! Tom is having an epic pout on the bed, and Jessie, while laying down next to him, isnt afraid to call him out for being a little bitch and reminds him that hes a movie star who gets to live a life full of free macarons, so he should just get over it. Again, their banter is pitch-perfect. Before long, they are making out. Very hot, no notes. Unfortunately, Jessie decides to pause things so she can run into the bathroom and give herself a little pep talk. Youre doing it! Its happening! she tells herself in the mirror. Dont you just want to yell, Come on, lady, we have been WAITING for you to nail Tom Kapoor again; get out there now and do it for us, humankind!!!!?

Shes too late. It is not to be. While Toms waiting on the bed for Jessie, Sophie walks in and immediately sits on his lap and starts making out with him. This whole situation is excruciating. Tom runs into the bathroom and tells Jessie to be quiet, itll only be a few minutes, and stuffs some macarons in her hands before stuffing her into the shower. It is beyond demeaning and heartbreaking and infuriating. Tom being with Sophie while hiding Jessie away is pretty much the embodiment of her insecurities when it comes to having a relationship with him, and now she has three hours to stew on it.

When Sophie finally passes out, and Tom goes to rouse Jessie from the shower, she doesnt even have words  she just wants to get out of there. But out in the hallway, as Tom tries to explain that theres nothing really going on with Sophie, Jessie cant just let it lie. This fight is brutal. They both let all of the things theyve been angsting over out, but in the angriest, cruelest ways. An exasperated Tom finally tells Jessie that he really likes her but that she makes it impossible for him to say that and that he doesnt understand anything she does (how Mr. Darcy of him). Jessie tells him that this whole thing between them is a joke because they look ridiculous together. She thinks that people would see them and it would be like one of those weird animal friendship shows where a labrador and hedgehog are friends. She assures him that he doesnt actually like her and hes just trying to make himself more interesting. She says he and Sophie are made for each other because theyre both attractive, horrible people. She calls his movie a piece of shit. He calls her pathetic. She calls him an actor (trust me, it cuts to his core). They end the whole thing with a fuck you and a good night before Jessie storms off to the elevator. Its not until the doors close that she lets herself break down in tears. Its all awful. Like, we wanted them to talk honestly about their feelings but not this way! Dear lord, not this way!!

The only silver lining here is that according to romcomology, two people who can have that emotional of a fight most assuredly have real feelings for one another. So, even if it doesnt feel like it at the end of Autumn, theres still a whole heap of hope for Jessie and Tom.

Love Notes

 Should this section just be called What Kate Did This Week? Because she remains the consummate rom-com sidekick. An example: Shes pumping her friend up by telling Jessie that yes, she will attend that screening and she will look fabulous and she will grab him by the scruff of his neck and say, Who do you think you are?

 How about a nice slow clap for Emma Sidi for nailing that whole I cant go, I would love to go, I cant believe Im going bit. Its pulled off expertly.

 I know its only been four episodes, but I feel like Starstruck has been depriving us of these nanny pickup conversations. The nannies waiting to get their charges from school are hilarious, and yes, I would like to hear more from a nanny who describes one childs attitude as having big dick energy and is just so, so proud of Jessie for sleeping with Tom Kapoor. The whole group is a hoot.

 As a person with large feet, I found Jessie falling on the ground and having her boss have to physically look at the bottom of her shoes to get Jessies size rather than just tell her what size she is highly relatable.

 Is Im attending a police auction the best excuse for not being able to go to an event?

 All these flowers are dead! Grow up.

 That was character building for them to get lost.
The Dropout Im in a Hurry Season 1 Episode 1 Editors Rating 3 stars * * * Previous Next   Previous Episode Next Episode  Photo: Beth Dubber/ HULU

Hello again, its me, your trusted Inventing Anna recapper, back to cover another show about an IRL lady scammer with a kind of notorious voice-slash-accent thing. (Is this my niche now?) Yes, Im here to recap The Dropout for you, Hulus new miniseries about Silicon Valleys infamous black-turtleneck wearer (no  the other one) and blood-tech con artist, Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried). As we did with Inventing Anna, lets all hold hands, take a deep breath, remind ourselves that this is a dramatization  not a docuseries  and dive into episode one, Im in a Hurry.



In this premiere, we get Elizabeth Holmess origin story intercut with snippets from her July 2017 testimony regarding Theranoss securities and medical fraud (not the real testimony, Seyfried-as-Holmes). The episode presents the tale of Elizabeth Holmes  ambitious smart wunderkind  with hints about whats to come in terms of Elizabeth Holmes  medical and financial fraudster.

For the wunderkind origin story, we rewind to the 90s and early aughts, starting in Houston, where Elizabeth shows off her determination and drive time and again; first, during a track race at school, then, at an awkward Christmas dinner with some family friends, where she humblebrags about getting accepted early to Stanford and being in the top 10 percent of students accepted. In what seems like it might become a series theme of older people reacting strongly to Holmess perceived-slash-actual audacity, a family friend, Richard (William H. Macy), manages to convince himself that Elizabeth thinks shes smarter than him and gets himself into a little bit of a one-sided pissing match with the teenage girl sitting uncomfortably on his couch. Its as weird as it sounds, made even weirder by the fact that Elizabeths father (Michel Gill) then has to ask Richard for financial help because he was just laid off from  Enron.

Other childhood details that make clear Elizabeth is a determined, smart cookie include her learning Mandarin of her own accord and then insisting on only speaking Mandarin at her summer immersion program in Beijing; her 7-year-old selfs sketch of an invented time machine and note to her father that she wants to discover something new; her repeated listening to Im in a Hurry (And Dont Know Why); her insistence on joining a grad-level research group as a freshman at Stanford (and acceptance into the group when she points out a mistake one of the grad students made in the experiment!); and her obsession with some of Silicon Valleys bigs (Jobs, Woz, Gates, Musk, etc.).

So yes, obviously, Elizabeth Holmes is smart. But shes also in a rush (as the Alabama song and episode title tell us). The show seems to suggest that shes in such a rush because shes always been a bit of an outsider (shes certainly a bit awkward in a lot of the social situations we see her in) and has something to prove, she is genuinely very clever, and she wants to have a purpose in the world while attaining the financial security and autonomy she witnessed her family falter with after the Enron blowup. (This is the implication, anyway, but from appearances, her family looks to be doing just fine financially before, during, and after Enron.) Thats a lot of motives, and how pure and real those motives are and stay once the actual fraud begins remains to be seen, though so far, The Dropout is presenting them as key elements in Holmess story. And we see Elizabeth apply that methodical planning brain and in-a-rush mentality to other endeavors, too, like her plot for gaining some sexual experience.

She plans to have sex over the summer before college, but instead, during her summer in Beijing, we get to meet another important player in the Theranos story: Sunny Balwani (Naveen Andrews), whos in the program (though not a college student) because he wants to learn Mandarin since China is going to be the manufacturing capital of the world. Elizabeth and Sunny become fast friends, touring Beijing together and sharing personal stories, and the friendship continues once theyre back Stateside. This relationship  platonic at first, then romantic  is clearly going to be a focal point of the series since Sunny ends up involved in Theranos, too. Aside from a few moments of scientific excitement, its her interactions with Sunny that seem to add some pep to Elizabeths step  shes at her most natural and at ease when talking to him, though at one point she cuts him off for a while, telling him their bond is weird because of their age difference. That very age difference could be a factor when Sunny is the person she calls after a stray bullet goes through her car window, despite their estrangement, and he comforts her and tells her hell always protect her  after which, they kiss.

Back on the Im going to invent something I just dont know what it is yet front, Elizabeths first idea (for a patch device that both administers medicine and monitors whether the meds are working) during her sophomore year at Stanford is shot down by Professor Phyllis Gardner (Laurie Metcalf), who advises her to take her time and enjoy her youth, but Elizabeth isnt all that interested in the slow pace of scientific innovation. Though shes shown to be having fun in college earlier on  smoking weed and watching Vanilla Sky, telling Sunny she loves college and likes beer, joining a sorority  her attempt at having fun (complete with practice small talk and smiles in the mirror) after the patch is shot down goes sour in the form of an alleged rape at a party. Elizabeth shuts down afterward, shunning Sunny and further spiraling when the school tells her they arent recommending disciplinary action because, as she tells her mom, its a he said, she said situation and no one believes [her]. Its a sad moment, made sadder by the advice her mother (Elizabeth Marvel; who does believe her) gives her to, basically, bury it deep and eventually forget it happened. You get the feeling a similar incident lies in Mrs. Holmess past, but the episode doesnt dwell on it, instead choosing to show Elizabeth finding strength in that advice and going on to have the idea that will eventually become Theranos.

Shes inspired by her fingertip in the actual moment  as well as the size of her iPod  but the foreshadowing and inspiration have been building up all episode. First, in her and Mrs. Holmess queasy reactions to her pre-Beijing blood draw; then, in Sunnys emotional story about his fathers fatal misdiagnosis at the hospital; and even possibly in the sexual assault and the desire for safety that incident breeds in her.

Though Professor Gardner shot her patch down in part because machines make mistakes, too, Elizabeths research group lead (seemingly inspired at least in part by the fact that he previously missed out on investing with two former students on what became Yahoo) Professor Robertson (Bill Irwin) and TA Rakesh (Utkarsh Ambudkar) are intrigued by the blood-test device idea. By the end of the episode, Elizabeth has dropped out of Stanford, put her tuition money into the pursuit, and rented an office in East Palo Alto, which she and Sunny furiously make out in as a voiceover investigator asks future Elizabeth about the medical danger she put peoples lives in with her fraudulent technology. So, you know, a lot has happened, and in a hurry  because as weve learned, thats Elizabeths way.

The episode itself is a fairly standard and straightforward series premiere  theres a lot to set up before we get into the real Theranos-fraud meat of it all  but the draw from the get-go is Seyfrieds performance. She loses herself in Holmes, and yes, that includes the voice, as well as some awkward skulking, running, and a killer what youre saying to me does not compute face. Watching her inhabit Elizabeth Holmes will be fun, I can already tell.

Spare Drops of Blood

 If youre hungry for more Theranos content, The Dropout is based on the ABC Audio podcast of the same name.

 When the family learns about the Enron meltdown, Mr. Holmes expresses his shock and disbelief at how fraudulent the company was, and Elizabeth asks, You didnt know? Call me crazy, but I think this just might be a little bit of an Easter egg foreshadowing Elizabeths own future fraudulent company while also being the truth that her father did indeed work at Enron.

 Dr. Phyllis Gardner is a bit of a Magic 8-Ball come to life as a side character whos full of fun little truth bombs about technologys limitations, the reality of being a woman in science and the working world, the fleeting joy of youth, and the wonder of mail-order DVDs, but this one is my favorite: Dont ever quote Yoda to anybody ever again. Science is trying.

 In case the future attire homage to Steve Jobs didnt make Elizabeths affinity for the Apple man clear, the show hammers that nail hard by showing us a teenage Elizabeths illustrated bedroom poster of a younger Jobs and her constant listening to her iPod, which eventually inspires her blood-machine prototype size.

 I, too, get queasy at the sight of blood draws. Looking away from the screen while taking recap notes is  not easy.

If you or someone you know are a victim of sexual assault, you can call RAINN National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.

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To The Eagle:

Now what? Putin sends Russian troops into Ukraine attempting to take over their country. Nearly every country on earth has condemned this uncalled for war. Countries that have been traditionally neutral are getting involved. Switzerland has condemned Russia as well as Sweden and The Netherlands. Many countries are sending money and or weapons so the Ukrainian people can fight against the invaders. Huge sanctions have been placed against Russian financial institutions and Russia is being shut out of any and all business dealings except for a very few.

There is but one person who has publicly stated that Mr. Putin is just doing a fine thing and guess who that would be? Bingo! Our very own former president who still hasn't realized that he indeed did lose the election nearly a year and a half ago. Yep: Donald J. Trump! Very good, Grasshopper! The same guy that said he believed Putin over our own intelligence services and played a game of kissing A for four years. But, of course, it's Biden's fault, right?

Some of the GOP are actually starting to realize that the brown stuff on the sandwich FOX news is feeding them doesn't taste quite right. Apparently all things brown aren't peanut butter or chocolate; hmm....

James Roberts

Cathlamet
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 52F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Steady light rain this evening. Showers continuing overnight. Low 52F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Rome hospital offers medical treatment to seven-year-old Kyiv cancer patient.

Seven Ukrainian children with cancer are to be welcomed to Piemonte in northern Italy where they will receive medical treatment, the region's governor Alberto Cirio stated on Wednesday.The little patients, who will be treated at the Regina Margherita hospital in Turin, will be collected this weekend from the Ukraine-Moldovan border, along with their families, Cirio said.

Meanwhile in Rome, a seven-year-old Ukrainian girl has already made her way to the paediatric oncology ward at the Gemelli hospital after fleeing the bombs in Kyiv with her mother, reports news agency ANSA.

Referred to as "Anna" by Italian media, the girl is suffering from a nephroblastoma kidney tumour which has spread to her lungs.

She will receive medical treatment at the Roman hospital, including chemotherapy and surgery from a team led by Dr Antonio Ruggiero.Anna and her mother have been welcomed to Rome by volunteers from the Pediatric Oncology Parents Association (AGOP) who will look after their accommodation once Anna is discharged.

After her condition was diagnosed in late January, the little girl started a course of chemotherapy at the International Cancer Centre in Kyiv however the treatment was stopped after the Russian invasion and bombardment of Ukraine.

The outbreak of war triggered the start of an epic journey for Anna, who was met with the kindness of many strangers along her way to Italy where the child's grandmother works as a care-giver near Rome.

After taking a 30-hour bus trip to the Romanian border, Anna and her mother continued by foot before being welcomed by a family who gave them shelter and, together with the Romanian Red Cross, helped to buy them a plane ticket to Rome.Here with us the child will continue her treatment programme which will see the continuation of chemotherapy for about two weeks", Dr Ruggiero told state broadcaster RAI - "subsequently, surgery will be scheduled to remove the diseased kidney and, if possible, also the lung metastasis."

Dr Ruggiero added that he was "confident about the outcome of our treatments."
Rome working towards complete traffic ban in Forum area.

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri presented his city's candidature to host the 2030 Universal Exposition, or Expo, at the Italian pavilion in Dubai on Thursday.

During his presentation the centre-left mayor unveiled Rome's Expo slogan - 'Future is our History' - as well as the proposed Expo site: Tor Vergata in the south-eastern outskirts near one of the capital's main universities.

Expo 2030 Roma logo encases our idea of future. Find out its origins and for the first time in the history of Expo, its NFT version.https://t.co/sto1tVNDuS pic.twitter.com/zeYgyFqfIV Expo2030 Roma (@Expo2030Roma) March 3, 2022

Outlining the city's plans, Gualtieri said: "We envision Expo not only as a temporary exhibition but as an opportunity for intelligent and sustainable urban regeneration."

Urban transformation

The city's bid is built around a project promoting new ways of urban co-existence, designed to "bypass the traditional separation between centre and suburbs", and based around the four pillars of history, nature, innovation and inclusion.

"Urban transformation is increasingly viewed as a game changer and Rome is ready to play its part" - the mayor said in a promotional video - "Over the course of our 3,000-year history we have reinvented ourselves countless times."

Pedestrianisation of Via dei Fori Imperiali

"We have marvels of the past at our fingertips and now we mean to show ways of dealing with the great challenges of the future", he said.

Gualtieri also announced in Dubai that Rome is set to completely pedestrianise the street running through the Forum area "to ensure that the beauty of the past can be enjoyed to the fullest."

The mayor said the city is working to "improve the layout of the Fora and the central archaeological area, transforming Via dei Fori Imperiali into an exclusively pedestrian area."

The plan dates back almost a decade to former centre-left mayor Ignazio Marino who first began to pedestrianise the street, banning private traffic near the Colosseum, against much opposition. "We have the most noteworthy monument in the world" - Marino said at the time - "and we've turned it into a traffic island."

A Dubai nel bellissimo Padiglione italiano. Siamo pronti a presentare la candidatura di #Roma e la nostra idea di un #Expo2030Roma innovativo e capace di coinvolgere la comunita scientifica, i giovani, le idee piu avanzate al mondo per rendere le citta piu inclusive e sostenibili pic.twitter.com/n8XqtAWMjk  Roberto Gualtieri (@gualtierieurope) March 3, 2022

Last September, after the Italian government backed Rome as a candidate for Expo 2030, Italy's premier Mario Draghi said: "It is without doubt a great opportunity for the development of the city."

Jubilee 2025

Rome's Expo bid comes as it prepares for the Vatican's Jubilee Year in 2025, an event which traditionally results in a major influx of visitors to the capital.

Commentators suggest that the infrastructure and services being put in place ahead of Jubilee Year 2025 could prove pivotal in helping Rome win its bid to host Expo 2030.

The Italian capital is up against several other contenders, including Busan (South Korea) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), in the race to host Expo 2030. The winner will be revealed by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in 2023.
Rome shows its solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

A subway train on Rome's underground line has been decorated with the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine's flag, with the word for "peace" in Italian and Ukrainian.

The train is in circulation on the capital's Metro A line since the morning of Thursday 3 March.

Rome's train for Ukraine. Photo Roma Capitale.

The "Train for Ukaine" initiative is designed to express Rome's "solidarity and closeness to the Ukrainian people in this dramatic historic moment", said the city's mobility councillor Eugenio Patane.

"We want to say a decisive "No", with no ifs and buts, to the horrors of war", he added.

On Friday Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri will stage another candlelight procession, or fiaccolata, to call for peace in Ukraine and an end to the Russian invasion.

The march will begin at 19.30 at the Campidoglio and make its way to the Colossseum, following the same route as last week when large crowds turned out to show their support for Ukraine.
Rome sets up task force to help Ukrainians fleeing war.

Rome is preparing for another candlelight procession against Russia's invasion of Ukraine and in support of the Ukrainian people, on Friday 4 March at 19.30.

The event was announced by Rome's mayor Roberto Gualtieri who led the crowds during the first march last Friday evening from city hall to the Colosseum.

"It will be an opportunity to reaffirm our support and closeness to the Ukrainian people at this difficult time" - Gualtieri said - "I am sure that many mayors and administrators from all over Italy will participate to demonstrate strongly the unity of our country for peace and against a very serious and unacceptable military aggression."

The mayor's invitation to join the march for peace comes as the capital sets up a emergency task force to coordinate aid, assistance and hospitality to Ukrainians fleeing the war, in support of the associations and volunteers already offering help.

The task force will be active from 3 March and can be contacted on the toll-free number 800938873 and by email emergencies.ucraina@comune.Roma.it.

Gualtieri has also signed the declaration of the mayors of the "Pact of Free Cities" to welcome the city of Kiev into the alliance.

The declaration was signed by the first citizens of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bratislava, Budapest, Frankfurt, Gdansk, London, Los Angeles, Milan, Paris, Podgorica, Prague, Rijeka, Rome, Stuttgart, Taipei, Taoyuan, Tirana, Ulm, Neu-Ulm , Vienna, Warsaw and Zagreb.

"As mayors of the 'Pact of Free Cities' we strongly condemn President Putin's armed aggression against Ukraine" - reads the declaration - "This invasion is one of the most serious threats to peace and security in Europe since world war two."

The mayors pledged to offer "resources, support and help to the Ukrainian population", concluding: "We stand in solidarity with them in the struggle for freedom and democracy."
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already offered to host a government in exile should Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy be forced to flee. Extending that same spirit of solidarity to those Ukrainians who are similarly dislodged from their homeland would give real underpinning to the governments Global Britain slogan. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight In the main, there is much to praise in the U.K.s response to the Ukraine crisis, especially if you ignore the pitiful first round of sanctions. Britain was quick to send anti-tank missiles and other weaponry and has kept that supply going. It was early to call on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to close down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the ban on Aeroflot and in calling for bans on the SWIFT payment system for Russian entities. Johnson appears to be speaking to Zelenskiy directly most days and Wednesday promised to match public donations in a humanitarian relief program. Slow and late to crack down on oligarchs linked to Putin, there are pledges to reform a system that made London friendly to dirty money.

The gaping hole in that record, however, has been its offer to Ukrainian refugees. Last summers experience with evacuating Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover should have helped work the kinks out of a process that is cumbersome, confusing and often leads to no mans land. And yet, the kinks are the point of it.

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Immigration has long been a sore area for this government. Having won the Brexit wars in part by stoking anti-immigration sentiment, its knee-jerk reaction is to remind people just what good border guards Britains elected leaders have proven to be. Especially when it comes to stopping boatloads of migrants, public opinion has supported the government, even when the result has been tragic.

There are currently about 100,000 people waiting for asylum applications to be processed, 60% more than in 2020. The majority have no right to work and must subsist on just over 5.66 pounds ($7.56) a day for food and other necessities. Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is popular with some key voter groups the Tories need to win elections, wears the injustices of Britains asylum policy like a badge of honor.

And yet those fleeing Ukraine, mostly women and children, could not be a more obvious example of the whole reason the 1951 United Nations refugee convention was created. While Europe has flung open its borders to Ukrainians, Britains initial reaction was notable for its stinginess. Asylum-seekers could apply for a six-month visa to pick fruit if they could find no other way in, tweeted junior minister Kevin Foster (later deleted). One cartoonist depicted Patel shouting into a burning building asking a Ukrainian-flag holding woman if shes willing to pick fruit.

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Fierce criticism forced the government to come up with something better. During a visit to Poland this week, Johnson announced the much-criticized family reunification program would be expanded so that up to 200,000 Ukrainians could benefit. Companies and individuals could sponsor refugees. Normal requirements for a minimum salary threshold or language requirements would be waived.

The revised policy is indeed generous by U.K. standards and far better than fleeing Afghans have received. But the visa-based system certainly makes it harder for Ukrainians to claim asylum. Daniel Sohege, a specialist in refugee policy, says the Home Office helpline has not been updated so lawyers have no way to advise people on the new scheme. It also requires Ukrainians being able to access a place where their visa requests can be processed; long queues, delays and application denials are common at these facilities.

The governments new Nationality and Borders Bill could also make things tough for any Ukrainians who manage to get to Britain without a visa. It seeks to criminalize those who arrive and claim asylum by creating a two-tier asylum system. The House of Lords voted for a series of amendments, but it remains to be seen whether the government will accept them.

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There is nothing theoretical about the refugee crisis. More than a million Ukrainians have fled the war to the EU; projections are for as many as 4 million refugees. But Britain need not fear a mass refugee influx. Kyiv is 1,325 miles from London, and most Ukrainians are likely to want to stay closer to home, where they enjoy visa-free travel anyhow. On Thursday, EU member states are expected to adopt the so-called temporary protection directive that would allow Ukrainians to stay in the bloc beyond the 90-day limit, receive a residence permit and the right to work and education.

On a selfish level, the U.K.  with its aging work force and labor shortages  has much to gain from taking in refugees from political turmoil in Hong Kong and the war in Ukraine, who are largely educated and skilled.

In many ways, Johnson  who only weeks ago fighting for his political life and under attack from many of his own MPs  is made for this moment. The prime ministers speeches and statements have captured the shock and anger of a nation and the growing recognition that this is a moment of historic importance for the free world. Johnson also possesses a keen sense of history and an ability to see the big picture, even if his way with words has too often been put to the service of lesser aims.

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But yoked to a cause bigger than careerism or playing for laughs, its powerful stuff. Crises strip away artifice and reveal the hearts of leaders, just as historic moments shape a countrys national narrative. There really can be no greater test of a nations heart right now than its willingness to provide refuge for those fleeing Europes worst act of aggression since World War II. Johnson should take a keen interest in ensuring that Britains policy falls on the right side of history.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Ukraine Sees Bad Omens in Putins Assault on Syria: Ruth Pollard

 Ukraine Is Helping Europe Smash Some Taboos: Lionel Laurent

 All Is Not Quiet on Putins Home Front: Clara Ferreira Marques

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe.

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Jobless claims, layoffs drop amid recovery Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to their lowest level this year last week, while layoffs declined sharply in February, indicating that the labor market recovery was gaining steam. But the upbeat labor market outlook was overshadowed by a survey on Thursday showing services industry activity slowed for a third straight month in February, with a measure of employment in the sector contracting for the first time since June 2021.

According to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), services businesses reported they were having significant issues with hiring both full time and contract labor, and that open positions are not being filled, and candidates are looking for more money. Employment growth at factories also slowed last month, which poses a downside risk to job gains in February.

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There were a near record 10.9 million job openings at the end of December. Economists are expecting the governments closely watched employment report on Friday will show another month of solid job growth, with the omicron coronavirus variant wave of infections significantly diminished.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 215,000 for the week ended Feb. 26, the lowest level since Jan. 1 and the second straight weekly drop, the Labor Department said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 225,000 applications.

Unadjusted claims declined 21,285 to 194,693 last week, led by big decreases in California and Michigan, which offset a jump in filings in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

 Reuters

China rushes to buy U.S. corn, soybeans

China is scooping up U.S. corn and soybeans as part of efforts to mitigate the risks to commodity supplies from Russias war in Ukraine and slower harvests in South America.

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Chinese buyers recently booked about 20 cargoes of American soybeans and about 10 shipments of corn, according to traders who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they arent authorized to speak publicly. The buying spree reflects robust demand in the top importer as worries over supplies grow following Russias invasion of Ukraine and weaker-than-expected supply from Brazil.

Those purchases come after the phase one deal agreement between China and the U.S. expired without agriculture targets being met.

 Bloomberg News

A court in Japan found former Nissan Motor director Greg Kelly guilty of helping Carlos Ghosn underreport compensation in 2017, but cleared the American of charges for other years and gave him a suspended sentence, drawing a line under one of the most shocking corporate takedowns of the past decade. In a decision welcomed by the U.S., Chief Judge Kenji Shimotsu suspended Kelly's six-month sentence in his ruling Thursday, bringing to an end 17 months of proceedings that essentially served as a proxy trial against the former Nissan chairman. The two auto executives were arrested in Tokyo on the same day in November 2018.

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As the negotiations over Irans nuclear program go down to the wire in Vienna, the regime in Tehran seems to believe its hand has been strengthened by Russias assault on Ukraine. The Biden administration, having announced it is prepared to walk away rather than submit to the Islamic Republics demands, will soon have its resolve tested.

For the best part of a year, the U.S., along with Russia, China and the European trio of Germany, France and the U.K., have been attempting to resuscitate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal they struck with Tehran in 2015. But Iran has been stalling, bogging down the talks with absurd demands even as it races to enrich uranium to levels ever closer to weapons-grade.

Iran claims, implausibly, that its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful. But it is now enriching uranium to levels that serve no peaceful purpose. This has given the latest round of talks in Vienna an extra impetus: Western negotiators worry that further enrichment will make their discussions moot. They are anxious, too, that the open hostility between Russia and the West over Ukraine will hamper cooperation in the talks.

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President Joe Biden, who has made the revival of the JCPOA a high foreign-policy priority, has made several conciliatory gestures toward the theocratic state in the hope of a breakthrough. He has looked the other way as Iran has defied U.S. sanctions to sell oil  especially to China  and has offered Tehran relief from some sanctions.

In addition to talking softly, he has also brandished a big stick by threatening fresh sanctions if the talks in Vienna fail.

But the Iranians, who have refused to negotiate directly with the U.S., believe Biden is bluffing. Tehran continues to demand commitments it knows the U.S. president cant give, such as a guarantee that future occupants of the White House wont rescind the deal as his predecessor did in 2018. And it wants all economic restraints removed, including sanctions tied to its human-rights violations and its ballistic-missile program, measures that remained in place even after the 2015 deal was struck.

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The regime seems to think its bargaining position has been bolstered by Russias war in Ukraine. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has put the blame for the conflict entirely on the U.S. and its allies, reckons it leaves Biden in a double bind  the U.S. president must diffuse a huge geopolitical conflagration even as he tried to head off an economic crisis resulting from spiking oil and gas prices.

Biden, so the thinking in Tehran goes, must now be that much more eager for a deal in Vienna: It would take one geopolitical problem off his hands, and the removal of restraints on Iranian oil and gas supplies would soften prices. (Iran has the worlds second-largest reserves of natural gas and fourth-largest reserves of oil.) Conversely, the collapse of nuclear negotiations would allow Iran to accelerate toward the status of a nuclear threshold state, akin to Japan and South Korea  which have no nuclear weapons but the ability to quickly make them  creating a whole new security crisis in the Middle East for the U.S. to confront.

It is especially telling that the latest sticking point in negotiations is Irans demand that the International Atomic Energy Agency halt its investigation into Tehrans past nuclear activities. This suggests the regime has something to hide. The agencys inspectors are currently investigating the origin of uranium traces found at Iranian sites that the regime had previously failed to declare. Iran is refusing to cooperate with the inspection, and could face strong censure at a key IAEA board meeting next Monday.

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The Western negotiators in Vienna rejected Irans demand, saying the IAEA is an independent body that must be allowed to play its role as nuclear watchdog whether or not the nuclear deal is revived. Safeguards are a fundamental part of the non-proliferation system and are separate, British negotiator Stephanie Al-Qaq wrote on Twitter. We will always reject any attempt to compromise IAEA independence.

What next? If Iran sticks to its demands, the negotiations can go no further. Biden has said he will then pursue other options. That must include ending the laxity that has characterized his administrations imposition of existing sanctions as well as imposing new ones to inflict even more punishment on Tehran. Having demonstrated an abundance of good faith in trying to secure a deal, Biden can now count on the Europeans to follow his lead.

For its part, Tehran may find that the war in Ukraine is not quite the ace up its sleeve. President Vladimir Putin has no interest in having another nuclear-armed near-neighbor, and the Russian president knows that a nuclear deal that opens the spigots of Iranian oil and gas would undermine his ability to blackmail the West into letting him have his way.

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The Iranians have it the wrong way around: It is Biden who should be calling Khameneis bluff.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:



How Do You Replace Millions of Barrels of Russian Oil a Day? Javier Blas



Can Irans Oil Save American Motorists?: Julian Lee



In the Nuclear Face-Off With Iran, Biden Just Blinked: Bobby Ghosh

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering foreign affairs. A former editor in chief of the Hindustan Times, he was managing editor of Quartz and Time magazines international editor.

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After breaking away from a crumbling Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Belarus stayed loosely aligned with Russia, unlike its neighbors. Now those bonds have strengthened with Russias invasion of Ukraine. Longtime President Alexander Lukashenko has allowed Belarus to be used as a staging ground, while so far avoiding sending his own troops to join the attack, and has cleared the way to potentially host Russian nuclear weapons. The tight embrace is payback after Russian President Vladimir Putin bankrolled his government for many years and came to Lukashenkos aid following a disputed 2020 election which sparked a popular uprising, repression and sanctions.

1. What role is Belarus playing in the war?

Belaruss military value to Russia is its strategic position, lying just to the north of Ukraine with a common border several hundred miles long and its southern territory extending close to Kyiv. It also borders on NATO member countries Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. About 30,000 Russian troops may have been in Belarus during joint military drills in February, making it the largest military buildup there since the Cold War, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said before the exercises started. Weapons and other military equipment in the country included S-400 missile systems, the Washington Post reported. Those forces stayed on after the drills finished, paving the way for the Russian assault on Ukraine just days later.

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2. Whats the prospect for Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons?

After the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Belarus agreed to give up nuclear warheads stationed on its soil. However, the country voted in a referendum on constitutional reform on Feb. 27 to scrap its non-nuclear and neutral status, potentially permitting it to host nuclear weapons and Russian forces. Lukashenko said he could request the return of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus if NATO stationed nuclear weapons in Poland or Lithuania.

3. Who is Lukashenko?

A throwback to a different era, he has led the state for almost three decades. Lukashenko, 67, has been in power since Belaruss first presidential election as an independent republic in 1994. Belarus, which has a population of 9.3 million, used to rely on its potash exports, as well as imports of discounted Russian crude oil, which it refined and sold abroad at a profit. Now a torrent of sanctions is testing this economic model. Discontent has simmered as Lukashenko failed to diversify the cash-strapped economy. But it was the 2020 election that got people onto the streets, defying riot police and calling for strikes.

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4. What happened in the election?

The fairness of previous landslide victories by Lukashenko had been slammed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which monitors elections. In 2020, key challengers to him were detained or kept off the ballot. But Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the wife of jailed opposition blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski, was allowed to register. She drew huge crowds at rallies nationwide. So when officials declared Lukashenko had won 80% of the vote, protests erupted and Tsikhanouskaya fled to Lithuania under pressure from authorities. The upheaval continued for weeks and led to some deaths.

5. How did the authorities respond to the protests?

More than 35,000 people were detained, sparking international condemnation. In May 2021, authorities in Minsk scrambled a Mig-29 fighter jet and used a fake bomb threat to force a Ryanair plane flying from Athens to Vilnius to land in the Belarusian capital. They arrested a Belarusian passenger, journalist Raman Pratasevich, who had risen to prominence covering the 2020 protests. Three months later, Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya said she was pressured to leave the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo early for criticizing sporting officials from her country and was granted refuge in Poland. EU members Poland and Lithuania, which have offered shelter to opposition figures from Belarus, accuse Lukashenko of retaliating by channeling thousands of migrants, many from the Middle East, across their border.

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6. Whats been the response?

As with its ally Russia, the go-to tool to try to bring Belarus into line has been sanctions. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU agreed to impose further restrictions on Belarus for its involvement. Trade sanctions include a ban on imports from Belarus of goods used for the production or manufacturing of tobacco products, mineral fuels, bituminous substances and gaseous hydrocarbon products, potassium chloride, wood, cement, iron and steel and rubber, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. At the same time, the EU will block exports of so-called dual-use goods and technology, which could be used by Belaruss military. Financial sanctions announced by the U.S. and U.K. following the Russian invasion also applied to Belarus, while the EU targeted penalties at Belarusian individuals helping the Russian war effort.

7. Werent there already sanctions?

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Yes. The U.S., EU and U.K. had all imposed measures on Belarus following the Ryanair incident and other developments. The EU slapped trade restrictions on petroleum products and potash fertilizers, the countrys main sources of foreign currency revenue. The U.S. also targeted the countrys Olympic committee and business leaders and companies with ties to Lukashenko. The U.K. barred Belarusian airlines from flying over Britain or landing there and also prohibited the purchase of Belarusian government bonds.

8. What help did Russia offer?

Putin agreed to provide $1.5 billion in loans to the country and struck deals on oil and gas supplies following Lukashenkos crackdown on protesters. Still, the Kremlin has been trying to reduce the financial burden of keeping afloat Belaruss inefficient state-dominated economy. Energy subsidies that reached 19% of Belarusian gross domestic product in 2006 had plunged to less than 1% of GDP in 2020, before the election that year that sparked demonstrations and mass arrests. Putin in the past has shown little love for Lukashenko, whom Russia tried to weaken ahead of elections in 2010, but rallied to his support when the street protests erupted.

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Moscow users of Google Maps were greeted earlier this week with something they rarely see: photos of horrific scenes from Ukraine, including bombed out homes and injured civilians, and of captured Russian soldiers. The images showed up in the latest photos tab of landmarks on the app until Google blocked new photos from its maps of the region this week.

While a blockbuster cyber attack from Russia has so far failed to materialize, hacktivists have waged dozens of digital skirmishes. The Ukrainian government has created a volunteer IT Army, attracting hundreds of thousands of people who have knocked major Russian websites offline and helped distribute an air raid siren app. Never before has a government crowdsourced hacktivists in this way, and in a country already teeming with expertise; Ukraine is one of the worlds biggest markets for remote software engineers, with an estimated 200,000 tech employees.

Broader and more intense than even the activity around the Arab Spring, however, the insurgency has looked chaotic and at times unconstructive. A group that disabled electric-charging stations in Russia and re-programmed them to say Putin is a ****head is unlikely to have won hearts and minds among Russian citizens. A more useful tactic in the long run may be to try and break through the propaganda bubble that surrounds Russians, as with the Google Maps stunt.

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Russians are surrounded by an Orwellian alternate reality from state media channels, with most citizens getting their information from TV broadcasts that censor the war. They are told the Ukrainian government is bombing its own residential areas and using children as human shields. Their own military, they are led to believe, is engaged in a human-rights mission while economic problems caused by recent sanctions are the fault of the West, not the Russian government. The few street protests against the war are, of course, never shown.

Information warfare is a critical part of the Kremlins offensive. Its warplanes have begun shooting down mobile-phone towers in Ukraine, while Russias censorship office has threatened to block Wikipedia in the country if it doesnt delete information about the war. When hacktivists target electric fueling stations or warn Russians to withdraw all their money by March 3rd, they risk fueling the narrative that Russians are victims of the West. Instead they could create windows to the truth about the invasion. Earlier this week hackers supporting the global collective Anonymous took down the websites of multiple Russian media outlets, including news agency TASS, and displayed messages showing stats for Russian army casualties and criticizing President Vladimir Putin for forcing journalists to spread lies about the war. Greasing the wheels on that effort: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube have all restricted posts from Russian state media channels at the request of European governments.

A flood of enthusiastic, new volunteers, meanwhile, threatens to pull the leaders of such groups in different directions. The Cyber Partisans, a hacker group protesting the government of Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko, have seen supporters on their public Telegram channel swell to more than 60,000 in the past week. A smaller core of working supporters number 30 people, according to their spokeswoman, while a founding group of five people carry out actual hacks like the recent railway disruption.

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Broadcasting to a population  not just breaking things  has remarkable power during an armed conflict. Hacktivists who can chip away at Russias fake news bubble may have the greatest impact in the long run.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Global Cyber Guerrillas Coming to Ukraines Aid: Culpan & Olson

 The Wests Embrace of Russian Influence Has to End: Martin Ivens

 All Is Not Quiet on Putins Home Front: Clara Ferreira Marques

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Parmy Olson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. She previously reported for the Wall Street Journal and Forbes and is the author of We Are Anonymous.

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When a hostile nation is bombing civilians from the skies, its human nature to want to stop those aircraft from flying. The problem is, preventing Russias warplanes from launching their deadly strikes on Ukraine by imposing a no-fly zone would involve shooting them out the sky. That itself becomes an act of war against a nuclear-armed power.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has issued several calls for such a zone to protect civilians and prevent Russia from using its key strategic advantage: its powerful air force. A member of the U.K. House of Commons Defense Committee, Tobias Ellwood, added his voice to the cause, as have Ukrainians themselves, terrified of Moscows bombardment.

But the flow-on effects of a no-fly zone would be catastrophic. For one, it would give Russia cause to intensify its nuclear preparedness. President Vladimir Putin has already ordered his nuclear forces to high alert, raising the threat that tensions could escalate into atomic warfare. The direct involvement of NATO nations shooting down Russian jets would put the entire region at risk: The aircraft themselves would be targets, as would the military bases they take off from and the European countries that host them.

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Its a step these countries are not prepared to take, given the risks, said Douglas Birkey, executive director of the Washington-based Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. Putin has backed himself into a corner  with so much of his own credibility on the line, he cannot afford to lose in Ukraine, Birkey told me. This is personal, this is existential for Putin, and the nuclear situation is particularly concerning.

So what seems like a logical and relatively less risky solution that doesnt involve troops on the ground is one with deadly implications. NATO, the White House and the U.K. have all ruled out establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

We saw increasingly desperate calls for one in Syria from 2012, when President Bashar al-Assads regime was conducting missile attacks and dropping barrel bombs on his own civilians. Its hard to describe the devastation caused by these cheap, makeshift weapons. Theyre usually filled with high explosives, along with shrapnel, oil and other chemicals like fertilizers. Their indiscriminate use  Assads forces dropped nearly 70,000 barrel bombs on heavily populated civilian neighborhoods, often from low-flying helicopters  along with their dubious accuracy and large payload killed more than 10,000 Syrians. They terrorized people and made it clear there was no safe place to be, day or night.

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But the U.S. and its allies chose not to impose a no-fly zone, even against a significantly weaker air force like Syrias. The risk of war in an already unstable region that was being roiled by Arab revolutions from Tunisia to Egypt and Yemen was deemed too great.

Such havens have been enforced with mixed results; they havent always led to the peaceful end of a conflict, nor have they reduced civilian casualties. In 2011, just as Libyas civilian uprising was pressuring Muammar Gaddafi, the United Nations Security Council voted to implement a no-fly zone over the North African nation to prevent his forces from crushing the rebellion and attacking civilians. The resolution authorized all necessary measures to protect a defenseless population. Their bravery in challenging one of the worlds longest-standing dictators was intoxicating.

For seven months, NATO forces bombed Libyan government positions. Gaddafi  known for his brutal and punishing regime  was overthrown and later killed by his own people. But the alliances attacks also hit residential homes and other sites. More than a decade later, the country is crippled by violent divisions and unable to form a cohesive government. NATOs air support for rebel groups, and the regime-change that ensued, infuriated Putin, who felt he had been duped by the UN into voting for the no-fly zone. This resentment may play a part in his posturing today.

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But there have been successes. After the first Gulf War in 1991, the U.S. and its coalition partners established  without the backing of the UN  a no-fly zone in Iraq to prevent attacks by Saddam Husseins forces against the Kurdish population in the north. The following year, another was created to protect Shiite civilians. As Birkey notes, these zones created a buffer that allowed people to live without being constantly under attack from the sky. In Bosnia, Operation Deny Flight was implemented in 1993 with UN support to protect vulnerable populations.

But in neither Iraq nor Bosnia were strong militaries or nuclear weapons in play. There is no precedent of establishing and maintaining a no-fly zone against any significant resistance.

Moscow, with its large-scale strike capabilities and countless guided and unguided missiles, is an entirely different scenario. Russias air force is second only to the U.S. and we cannot rely on the ongoing poor coordination between the countrys ground forces and their air defense systems, as Justin Bronk described this week in an article for the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. Sooner or later, Russian air capabilities will improve, and the loss of life and infrastructure will be far higher than were seeing today.

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The international community needs to resist popular calls for no-fly zones and focus on other ways of assisting Zelenskiys beleaguered people. There are less risky alternatives, like stepping up sanctions, convincing Turkey to place more stringent restrictions on Russian vessels traveling through the Bosporus and supplying more arms and aircraft to Kyiv. But this needs to be done now, before Putin unleashes more force. To delay will risk everything for Ukraine.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

 Ukraine Negotiations Are Futile Yet Necessary: Therese Raphael

 Putins Strategic Mistakes Are Aiding Zelenskiy: James Stavridis

 Ukraine Sees Bad Omens in Putins Assault on Syria: Ruth Pollard

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Ruth Pollard is a columnist and editor with Bloomberg Opinion. Previously she was South and Southeast Asia Government team leader at Bloomberg News. She has reported from India and across the Middle East and focuses on foreign policy, defense and security.

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Judging whether China is ready to give private property developers a break has become essential to investors looking at the sectors stressed stocks and bonds. But the Communist Partys opaque style means they are forced to rely on media reports to learn about new measures, the impact of which can be ambiguous. Developers themselves arent always clear on their plans to raise cash or pay down debt. Thats prompting money managers to look instead at indicators such as sales data, household loans, bond sales and equity placements for a more detailed picture of developers liquidity and funding stress, while keeping an eye out for additional policy easing signs from Beijing.

1. Why the clampdown?

Chinas property sector expanded rapidly as the countrys economy became more market-oriented, in part because the emerging middle class viewed buying a home as one of the few safe investments available. Home prices skyrocketed, fueling speculation and more demand. Authorities encouraged development which helped meet the nations ambitious gross domestic product targets. Debt piled up as Chinese builders kept going back to refinance. For years, China has tried to defuse the growing debt bomb amid fears it could set off a disastrous financial meltdown. In 2020 it tightened financing rules for private developers with the aim of reducing reckless borrowing. But many developers dont have enough available cash to cover their liabilities. Soon a liquidity crisis at one of the biggest, China Evergrande Group, led to defaults and fears of contagion that have reverberated throughout the industry and the wider economy.

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2. Whats the government doing?

Government efforts suggest state-run firms will come to dominate the market and the days of heady debt-fueled expansion by private developers is over. A key solution to private developers liquidity woes, for instance, is the acquisition of assets by larger state-owned enterprises. Agile Group Holdings Ltd. and Shimao Group Holdings Ltd. both announced sales this year of stakes in companies to SOEs to raise cash. Enlarging the states influence would provide greater stability and limit the risk of financial fallout. At the same time, China has sought to cool ever-rising prices as part of President Xi Jinpings common prosperity campaign to address the countrys persistent wealth gap. The idea of imposing a nationwide property tax was revived to deter speculators and plans were announced to build millions of low-cost rental housing units by 2025 as it seeks sustainable alternatives to the slumping property market.

Why China Could Be Serious About a Property Tax Now: QuickTake

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3. Are there other ways to raise cash?

China plans to issue national guidelines to make it easier to tap cash in escrow accounts from home presales, Chinese media including 21st Century Business Herald and the Securities Daily reported in February. Developers would be able to use some of those proceeds after setting aside the amount required for project building, the reports said. The standardized regulation would replace legions of local rules, some of which are considered overly restrictive. That could boost liquidity substantially at a time when developers are collapsing under funding stress.

4. Why could that be a game changer?

Easing access to escrow cash would free up a significant chunk of capital that developers could use to meet their debt obligations. Presale proceeds from homebuyers are the largest single source of liquidity for real estate firms, making up about 37% of their funding. Restrictions on these funds means that cash from sales at a project level cannot be transferred to other parts of its business, and implementation these of rules is stricter in some cities. Limited access to this channel of funding has already played a critical role in debt crises at Fantasia Holdings Group Co. and Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. which later defaulted on their bonds.

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5. What about monetary policy?

Chinas central bank already cut three of its policy rates in January, though at 10 basis points the reductions were small. Banks also lowered the five-year loan prime rate which serves as the basis for mortgages. That reduction was even narrower at just 5 basis points, disappointing investors at the time. Most analysts and economists agree more monetary easing is needed, especially if falling home prices take a toll on already-fragile consumer sentiment. Property comprises as much as 40% of household assets by some estimates.

6. How to tell if its working?

Watch the indicators:

 Chinas property sales slump worsened in February, with the 100 biggest companies in Chinas debt-ridden property industry seeing a 47% drop in sales from a year earlier. Proceeds from home sales including presales generally make up more than half of developers cash inflows, according to calculations based on official data. Long-term household loans, a key proxy for mortgage loans, grew by the slowest amount since February 2020.

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 The offshore market remains largely closed off, with the yield on Chinese junk bonds prohibitively expensive at 19%. Only one of Chinas top 20 developers by sales, Greentown China Holdings Ltd., sold a dollar bond in January, compared to at least seven in the previous period last year, Bloomberg-compiled data show. Sales of dollar notes in the second half of 2021 fell 49% to $14.7 billion compared to the previous year as concern over contagion from Evergrande flared.

Why Chinas Developers Have So Much Dollar Debt: QuickTake

 The onshore market doesnt show a much better picture for private developers. Last year, local bond sales by such firms fell 39% to 190 billion yuan ($29.9 billion). The situation is very different for state-owned developers. They sold 315 billion yuan of local bonds, up 12% from a year earlier, to overtake private peers for the first time in seven years.

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 Authorities in December eased limits on borrowing by major property firms used to fund mergers and acquisitions, which may make it easier for state-owned companies to acquire assets being sold by weaker developers. Regional lender Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co. sold a bond to help fund loans for M&A in the sector, and at least three other banks and three developers planned or sold similar notes this year.

What Chinas Three Red Lines Mean for Property Firms: QuickTake

 Property firms have $40 billion of local and offshore debt maturing in the first half of the year. But concerns have mounted about the transparency of some troubled developers. Evergrande, Agile, Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. and Fantasia Holdings Group were found to have opaque liabilities that may or may not be reflected on their balance sheets, making it hard to assess true credit risks. Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. was downgraded to restricted default by Fitch Ratings in January after it completed what the Fitch considered a distressed debt exchange.

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Why Hidden Debt Is a Big Problem for China Developers: QuickTake

 More developers are turning to the equity market as an alternative channel to raise cash this year, but the result typically triggers a sharp selloff. Valuations for developers remain low in the equity market, trading at less than 0.3 times book value, and about 2.3 times earnings on average. Because new stock is typically sold at a discount to market, low multiples mean developers would need to sell plenty of new shares to raise a meaningful amount of cash.

 While bank loans remain available for some developers, lenders have become much more selective as they tried to limit exposure to the real estate sector. Their preference for state-owned borrowers makes it hard for private, weaker developers to access credit lines.

 The shadow banking sector, including the $3 trillion trust industry, had provided an alternative for lenders shunned by banks. But it has shrunk in recent years amid government efforts to curb hidden debt. The property sectors net financing from trusts was negative 236.9 billion yuan last year, according to a CICC report. Moodys expects outflows to continue this year as authorities maintain their tight regulatory oversight.

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A Guide to Chinas $10 Trillion Shadow-Banking Maze: QuickTake

 More QuickTake explainers on why Chinas defaults are more alarming, why the developers have so much dollar debt, and what the three red lines are.

 Bloomberg Opinions Matthew Brooker on the tortuous wait for China bulls hoping for policy easing

 A Bloomberg FFM looks at Evergrande and other developers testing the limits

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As it overturned precedent to follow the U.S. and Europe in imposing harsh sanctions to punish Russia for invading Ukraine, Japan said it scrambled fighter jets to intercept a helicopter -- thought to be Russian -- that entered its airspace. That fueled more sniping between Japan and Russia, which have been at odds over four small islands that lie between them since the end of World War II, preventing them from formally ending hostilities. The outbreak of war in Europe has turned rising tensions into downright antagonism, probably ending chances of a settlement for the time being.

1. What is the feud about?

The Soviet Union, which declared war on Japan days before Emperor Hirohito announced his countrys surrender on Aug. 15, 1945, seized the islands off the northeastern coast of Hokkaido, expelled all 17,000 Japanese residents and has held the land ever since. The islands are known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia. Japans official position is that the islands -- home to rich fishing grounds -- are an inherent part of its territory and are under illegal occupation. Russia insists that it owns the isles, which have been inhabited by its own citizens for generations.

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2. Have they tried to negotiate?

Yes, many times. In 2018, President Vladimir Putin and then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed that negotiations should be based on a 1956 joint declaration that refers to the transfer of two of the four islands to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty. Abe -- whose late father, former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe, also tried repeatedly to end the dispute -- expressed optimism at the time for a deal, but Russia insisted that Tokyo first acknowledge Russian sovereignty over the islands. What seemed like a scant prospect for settlement later became even more remote. The Russian parliament in 2020 backed a tougher stance on any territorial concessions, and changes to the Russian constitution also made it illegal to hand over any part of Russia.

3. How did they get tangled up with Ukraine?

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A Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, Hideki Uyama, compared Russias invasion of Ukraine to the occupation of the islands. I understand that Russia occupying the Northern Territories and the Russian militarys invasion happening in Ukraine now are both against international law, Uyama told a parliamentary committee Feb. 28, according to the Asahi newspaper. Russias embassy in Tokyo responded by tweeting that the islands were legally transferred as part of the punishment for Japans aggression and its alliance with Nazi Germany. The reported brief incursion came soon after, on March 2, off Japans island of Hokkaido. Japans Ministry of Defense linked it to naval drills by Russias Pacific Fleet in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk, which it said were intended to show how Russias military could operate simultaneously in Europe and Asia.

4. How do the people feel?

Few in Japan would be satisfied with two islands, while Russian public opinion is against giving away any territory. Any deal to hand over land presents risks for Putin, who has long railed against the erosion of the Soviet empire and annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula back in 2014. Last year he said Russia is setting up a tax-free zone to attract investment to the islands.

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5. What could happen next?

Russias ambassador to Tokyo has warned of countermeasures against Japanese sanctions, though none have been announced. The fishing industry in Hokkaido could effectively lose access to areas within Russias exclusive economic zone around the islands if the Russian side seizes more boats it considers to be fishing illegally. Russia could also step up air incursions as it did in the aftermath of Japans relatively mild sanctions over Crimea in 2014. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel tweeted Americas support for Japans claim shortly after taking up his post this year. For the time being, the Japanese former islanders dream of returning to their old homes is over. The idea that, having invaded a neighboring country in part to prevent it from entering a U.S.-led alliance, Putin would then transfer territory to a U.S. ally is absolutely unthinkable, said James Brown, an associate professor at Temple Universitys Tokyo campus who researches Japan-Russia relations.

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Carlos Ghosn was a jet-setting captain of industry, the C-suite superhero who helped save struggling automakers in France and Japan. Thats why his arrest in Japan on allegations of financial misconduct on Nov. 19, 2018, while he was chief executive of Renault SA and chairman of Nissan Motor Co., came as such a shock. After serving two lengthy stints in jail before being released on bail, all the while professing his innocence and saying the deck had been stacked against him, Ghosn managed to slip out of the country and find sanctuary in Lebanon, where he was raised and has citizenship. Scrutiny of his actions, and the fairness of Japans legal system, continues.

1. What are the allegations?

Ghosn, 67, was indicted in Tokyo on charges of under-reporting about $80 million in compensation and income during the decade before his arrest. Ghosns pay had been called out before in Japan, where executive compensation is a touchy topic. Hed had a high profile in the country since 1999, when Renault entered into its partnership with Nissan. Assigned to turn around the Japanese icon, Ghosn reduced purchasing costs, shut factories, eliminated 21,000 jobs and invested the savings into 22 car and truck models in three years.

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2. Why the focus on 2010 to 2014?

Starting in 2009, when Japan required companies to make executive compensation public, Ghosns reported pay fell to roughly half what he had been making before, but his deferred compensation ballooned, according to people familiar with the investigation. Japanese law requires remuneration to be reported in the year its fixed, even if the payout happens later. (There are similar rules in Europe.) Ghosn was also charged with three counts of breach of trust, two of which allege that he used foreign corporate entities in 2017 and 2018 to funnel $5 million from Nissan into accounts that he controlled and used to purchase a yacht and support a technology investment fund started by his son, Anthony. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. (In September 2019, Nissan and Ghosn settled claims by U.S. regulators that they failed to disclose more than $140 million in pay to Ghosn. His attorneys said they wanted to put that matter behind them to focus on the criminal case in Japan.)

3. Will Ghosn ever be put on trial?

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Unclear. Lebanon could try him on the allegations from Japan, though Ghosn is regarded by many Lebanese as a national hero. (Ghosn has citizenship in Brazil, where he was born, as well as in Lebanon and in France, where he revived Renault as executive vice president from 1996 to 1999.) Japan may attempt to get him back, though it doesnt have an extradition treaty with Lebanon -- which, in any case, doesnt extradite its citizens. In Japan, Ghosn had been out on bail since April 2019 under stringent conditions -- including that he not leave the country -- while preparing his defense. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his trial was supposed to start in the first half of 2020.

4. Who else was charged?

Nissan was indicted over the saga as well, and was ordered by a Tokyo court to pay a 200 million-yen ($1.7 million) fine. The company said it strengthened its corporate governance and compliance, and filed amended financial statements. Former Nissan executive Greg Kelly -- known as Ghosns gatekeeper and confidant -- was found guilty March 3 on some charges related to helping him under-report income, but was given a six-month suspended jail sentence. Lawyers for Kelly, an American, argued that the former director had no motive to hide any compensation for Ghosn and no knowledge of any plans to repay Ghosn for reduced income. The suspended sentence was welcomed by the U.S.s ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.

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5. What does Ghosn say?

I have not fled justice -- I have escaped injustice and political persecution, he said in statement soon after his arrival in Lebanon. He called the Japanese justice system rigged and said he had been deprived of basic human rights, including the presumption of innocence. Ghosn previously accused the Japanese government and Nissan of conspiring against him; his lawyer, Junichiro Hironaka, released a video in which Ghosn said backstabbing Nissan executives wanted him out because they feared their autonomy was under threat. In court in early 2019, Ghosn said the agreements for deferred pay were non-binding draft proposals and so didnt need to be disclosed. His French lawyer said Ghosn didnt get the deferred pay and there is no certainty he ever would have. Addressing a news conference in Lebanon in January 2020, Ghosn said he would stand trial in any country where I believe I can receive a fair trial, but didnt think that was the case in Japan.

6. What explains Ghosns tension with Nissan?

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By the time of his arrest, Renaults decades-old partnership with Nissan had become strained, and Nissans then-CEO, Hiroto Saikawa, was seeking to rebalance what he and others at the Japanese company viewed as a relationship increasingly tilted in favor of the French carmaker and its most powerful shareholder, the French state. Ghosn had been pushing for an outright merger, which Saikawa and others opposed. Nissan ousted Ghosn as chairman three days after his initial arrest, and the alliances other Japanese partner, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., removed Ghosn soon after. The swiftness of those moves fueled conspiracy theories that Ghosn had been the victim of a palace coup in an attempt to curb French influence. (Saikawa has called such theories absurd. In a further twist, he himself was forced out by the board in September 2019 after a scandal over his own pay.)

7. What has Renault done?

Frances largest carmaker said it alerted French authorities after finding some of Ghosns expenses involve questionable and concealed practices and violations of the groups ethical principles. Results of an audit ordered by Renault and Nissan of their joint subsidiary, Amsterdam-based RNBV, were sent to French prosecutors. That report identified 10.9 million euros ($12 million) in questionable spending by Ghosn and others. A spokesman for Ghosn said all the expenses were authorized and tied to legitimate business purposes. Ghosn stepped down as Renault chairman and chief executive on Jan. 23, 2019.

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8. What is Ghosns gripe with Japans legal system?

After his first arrest, Ghosn spent more than 100 days in jail and was released on bail of 1 billion yen ($9 million) -- among the highest ever in Japan -- only to be rearrested a month later on new charges. He was granted bail again after three weeks. Initial conditions included restrictions on the use of his mobile phone and the internet. He could only use a computer offline at his lawyers office and had cameras monitoring his house. His second release had similar conditions, which the court said were meant to prevent the destruction of evidence. While Ghosn was in jail, his wife criticized what she called his harsh treatment and said hed lost 15 pounds (7 kilograms). She said the family wasnt allowed to contact him and that he underwent hours of questioning daily with only limited opportunities to confer with his legal team. Speaking for more than two hours in Lebanon in January, Ghosn called the legal system anachronistic and inhumane, citing his solitary confinement, hours of interrogation and lack of prescribed medication.

9. Is this how Japans legal system is supposed to work?

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For the most part, yes. Suspects in Japan routinely endure lengthy pre-trial detentions and repeated grillings by prosecutors without a lawyer present. Periodically rearresting a suspect on suspicion of new charges allows prosecutors to keep the suspect in custody while attempting to build a case or secure a confession. Bail is the exception more than the rule, and judges are less likely to grant bail to those who fight the charges. Legal experts say this is all a strategy to secure a confession. Tight budgets and a culture of wanting to save face mean that prosecutors usually pursue only those cases they are sure to win. In 2015, a trial was requested in just 7.8% of cases overseen by the public prosecutors office. That helps explain why more than 99% of cases that go to trial end with a conviction; in England and Wales, for comparisons sake, the conviction rate is 87%.

10. Is there anything wrong with that?

Maiko Tagusari, secretary-general of the Center for Prisoners Rights, said the Ghosn case has highlighted serious failings in Japans criminal justice system. Amnesty International said it has persistently raised concerns about the lack of rules or regulations regarding interrogations during pre-trial detentions. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has called for recording of interrogations. In response, the Japanese government says there are strict judicial reviews at each stage to balance the human rights of suspects with the needs of investigators.

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In wars and other crises, governments sometimes appeal to the patriotism of their citizens to cover financing gaps. So through history theyve sold so-called war bonds to raise funds rapidly for military operations or other emergencies. Ukraine quickly turned to the idea after it was invaded by Russia, selling a first batch of war bonds to raise money for its armed forces and civilians.

1. What are war bonds?

Theyre debt instruments sold to finance military operations and production in wartime, sometimes alongside a propaganda campaign that promotes their direct purchase by individuals as a civic duty. They can also be sold to institutional investors, as was the case with Ukraines sale, which raised 8.1 billion hryvnia ($277 million). While they vary in structure, war bonds tend to have lower yields and longer maturities than other government debt, potentially stretching repayment over decades. Ukraines war bonds have similar characteristics to the debt it sells regularly in peacetime and will mature in one year.

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2. Why is Ukraine selling war bonds?

The move is part of a wider crowdfunding effort to capitalize on domestic and international support for Ukraine as it tries to repel Russian forces. The countrys precarious finances have long relied on support from the International Monetary Fund and suffered another blow from the coronavirus pandemic. Its credit ratings were cut further into non-investment grade, or junk, territory after Russia invaded, meaning many big institutional investors cant even buy its debt. The first war bonds sold on March 1 yielded 11% and had a par value of 1,000 hryvnia, or about $33. That compares to an implied yield of 37.8% on regular Ukraine one-year bonds traded in the secondary market. The government planned to auction more war bonds on March 8 to raise money for military gear as well as humanitarian aid such as clothing and blankets. Yuri Butsa, Ukraines debt chief, told Bloomberg Television that the government may also issue foreign-currency bonds.

3. How have war bonds been used through history?

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The U.K. most famously sold National War Bonds to help fund its participation in World War I. They paid a yield of 5% and the sale was supported by a huge advertising campaign intended to inspire patriotic fervor. When they were redeemed almost a century later, they were still owned by 120,000 investors. The U.S. sold liberty bonds during World War I and defense bonds during World War II. The latter were recast as war bonds after Japans bombing of Pearl Harbor, which provoked the U.S. to enter the war, and were bought by more than 84 million Americans.

4. Are there modern equivalents?

Governments have used patriotic appeals to try to sell a wide range of novel debt instruments in difficult times. Italy sold bonds backed by revenue from the countrys national lottery in 2001 when it was the European Unions most indebted nation. Greece attempted in 2012 to sell diaspora bonds to draw in funds from citizens living abroad during the depths of that countrys debt crisis. In 2020, U.S. economic adviser Larry Kudlow proposed selling debt with a structure similar to war bonds to help support the economy through the coronavirus pandemic. In the end, the stimulus package was funded using regular Treasury bills. The EU mulled a sale of what became known as coronabonds during the pandemic, a controversial risk-sharing instrument. While that idea didnt fly, the blocs 27 members have embarked on their biggest-ever splurge in joint borrowing, known as the NextGenerationEU bond program.

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5. Are war bonds controversial?

Yes. They can be volatile by nature since theyre often sold when a countrys economic and political fortunes -- or even its very existence -- are most unpredictable. Increasingly, investors need to be mindful of environmental, social and governance guidelines when dealing with such situations. Ukraines war bonds offer a way to lend money directly to the countrys embattled government and potentially reap an outsized return at the same time. Some retail investors scouring investment forums such as Reddit were trying to get in on the action.

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When Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, cryptocurrency fans appeared to be trapped in a decadent fantasy. A batch of CryptoPunk NFTs (blockchain collectibles) had just been yanked from auction at Sothebys amid fading enthusiasm and a broader market sell-off. The seller tweeted Drake memes to laugh off the canceled event, but considering the glitzy marketing campaign, it was a humbling moment.

A week later, another CryptoPunk is sitting in a Ukraine government account as part of a $51 million fundraising drive. Kyiv is using its tech-savviness to appeal for all sorts of assets that it can sell to finance the war effort. Like the New Zealand lamb donated in the First World War, or chunks of the Berlin Wall sold as memorabilia for a good cause, NFTs are finding a new use in conflict beyond social status and virtual wealth.

Crypto evangelists have been quick to leap on the implications of their favorite asset as a lifeline in war after years of bad press over speculation, illicit money flows and criminal activity. With financial markets cratering and sanctions piling up on Russia, digital tokens and artworks are being sought as an alternative to otherwise vulnerable forms of payment. Bitcoin trading in rubles and hryvnia is surging.

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It may very well be that this is what wartime back-channels will look like in the future. Crypto has traditionally been user-agnostic, used by Ukraine-linked organizations that have been blocked because of military ties, or stolen to reportedly fund North Korea missile programs.

But theres a bigger dose of reality here for cryptos utopian narrative of borderless and stateless money as bombs rain down at Europes doorstep. In a world where even Switzerland is ditching historic neutrality, crypto is finding it hard to escape geopolitical facts on the ground.

Crypto is becoming less meta. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain, tweeted support for Ukraine fundraising: Ethereum is neutral, but I am not. While one CryptoPunk owner a few months ago told Wired she felt like she was living in the metaverse and the physical world was slowing her down, today the Uniswap exchange has a Ukraine donation facility and Kyiv is telling Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. that it must ensure that there is no place for war criminals in Metaverse.

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Just as crypto fans are feeling forced to choose sides, crypto exchanges are also being asked to confront their freewheeling, patchily regulated past. While the likes of Kraken Chief Executive Officer Jesse Powell insist that crypto is about making arbitrary lines on maps meaningless, governments are prodding exchanges to make sure its not being used to evade sanctions. Finance ministers from the Group of Seven and European Union are working on a maximum sanctions toolkit that includes crypto assets, while U.S. financial regulators are probing whether NFT offerings run afoul of their rules.

Perhaps in the same way that Covid-19 saw the crypto market balloon but also spurred governments to drag it into the light, this conflict will likely intensify regulatory efforts. The narrative that the benefits of secrecy or anonymity (technically pseudo-nymity) outweigh the costs will cut little ice  coincidentally, its also one that was used by tax havens, which have found life a lot harder as the world counts the cost of leaking money to them. Even as big exchanges push back against the idea of barring all Russian users, they are at pains to point out theyve complied with sanctions. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis says dodging sanctions without detection would be difficult.

To be sure, the likes of Mike Novogratz predict that sanctions and geopolitical crisis will eventually boost the case for crypto. As capital gets squeezed out of other assets, more of it could find a home there  and even as bombs drop, the sector is having little trouble raising funds.

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But history is still being written. Its unclear if a post-war crypto market will be able to spread HODL memes with quite the same level of science-fiction frenzy. One Russian expat in the U.S. told Bloomberg News that even if crypto platforms offered alternatives, cash was still king in times of trouble: You cant pay everything by crypto, and anyway need to withdraw money on a debit card or exchange on cash.

Maybe when swords are melted back into plowshares, crypto evangelists will have a new story to tell. But for the time being, this feels like a dose of reality after years of decadence. Like those Berlin Wall chunks before it, a CryptoPunk today might have value only because it was donated during a war and can be sold for cash. The ends sometimes justify the memes.

More From Bloomberg Opinion:

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 Crypto Isnt Sanctions Haven Its Jump Suggests: Jonathan Levin

 Putins War Shows West Must Clean Up Dirty Money: Paul J. Davies

 China Can Bypass SWIFT by Going Digital: Andy Mukherjee

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the European Union and France. He worked previously at Reuters and Forbes.

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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)

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Sydneys northern fringe, the Central Coast and NSWs Hunter region are bearing the brunt of the rain on Thursday as the weather system takes on a broader shape.

The Bureau of Meteorologys Helen Kirkup said rainfall was converging north at the moment, but there was still a fair bit of rain due to come through Sydney and Wollongong later on Thursday.

Widespread falls and overflow from the Warragamba Dam also continue to drive flooding along the western suburbs rivers.

In general, the system today hasnt delivered as much rain as people expected, but certain places have experienced it more, she said.
Western Australia has recorded 2423 new cases of COVID-19 overnight, with 2420 local and three related to travel, as the state reopens its borders.

Chief Health Officer Andy Robertson predicted daily case numbers could hit over 2500 by the end of the week, and Thursdays numbers indicate this will likely happen.

WA Premier Mark McGowan. Credit:Peter de Kruijff

Six more people have been admitted into hospital due to COVID-19, bringing the total to 22, and Premier Mark McGowan announced one person from the Great Southern region had died overnight after contracting the virus.

WA Health said it was a woman in her 80s, but would not clarify if she died of or with COVID-19, with every person admitted to hospital required to be tested. There have been no COVID-19 patients in ICU this month.
The campaign director for independent candidate Zoe Daniel, who is running hard to take the federal seat of Goldstein from Liberal MP Tim Wilson, has launched a Supreme Court case against a Melbourne council over its attempt to ban political signs in front yards.

Supporters of the high-profile former ABC journalist had put up signs in front yards around suburbs in Bayside Councils areas, which include Black Rock, Brighton, Hampton and Sandringham.

Tim Wilson and challenger Zoe Daniel. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen, Simon Schluter

But on Friday last week, Bayside backflipped on a ruling it had given Ms Daniels team in December that allowed signs to be put up in front yards across the municipality.

Having ruled in December that front yard signs campaigning for election candidates were exempt from planning laws, the council now says they are banned until the federal poll is called. The councils senior investigations officer on Tuesday threatened residents with fines if they did not remove any signs in their front yard by Thursday.
The plant accounts for about one-quarter of Ukraines power generation. The RIA news agency cited a plant spokesman as saying background radiation levels remained unchanged at the plant. Separately, RIA quoted Ukraines emergency service as saying that the fire was outside the station perimeter and one of the blocks at the station had been switched off. The mayor of Enerhodar said Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the citys outskirts. Video showed flames and black smoke rising above the city of more than 50,000, with people streaming past wrecked cars, just a day after the UN atomic watchdog agency expressed grave concern that the fighting could cause accidental damage to Ukraines 15 nuclear reactors.

As Russian forces battled for control of the Ukrainian city, they gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea. Ukrainian leaders called on citizens to rise up and wage a guerilla war against the invaders. Another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors inside Ukraine to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid. While the huge Russian armoured column threatening Kyiv appeared bogged down outside the capital, Vladimir Putins forces have brought their superior firepower to bear over the past few days, launching hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites around the country and making significant gains in the south. Members of the Ukrainian military walk across a destroyed bridge near the frontline amid fighting in Bucha and Irpin in Ukraine. Credit:Getty

Orlov and the Ukrainian state atomic energy company has earlier reported that a Russian military column was heading towards the nuclear plant. Loud shots and rocket fire were heard early on Friday AEDT. Many young men in athletic clothes and armed with Kalashnikovs have come into the city. They are breaking down doors and trying to get into the apartments of local residents, the statement from Energoatom said. Loading Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on the West to close the skies over the countrys nuclear plants as fighting intensified. It is a question of the security of the whole world! he said in a statement. The Russians announced the capture of the southern city of Kherson, a vital Black Sea port of 280,000, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed the takeover of the government headquarters there, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea. The battles have knocked out the citys electricity, heat and water systems, as well as most phone service, officials said. Food deliveries to the city were also cut. Associated Press video from the port city shows the assault lighting up the darkening sky above largely deserted streets and medical teams treating civilians, including one inside a clinic who appeared to be a child. Doctors were unable to save the person. Severing Ukraines access to the Black and Azov seas would deal a crippling blow to its economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, seized by Moscow in 2014. Overall, the outnumbered, outgunned Ukrainians have put up stiff resistance, staving off the swift victory that Russia appeared to have expected. But a senior US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russias seizure of Crimea gave it a logistical advantage in that part of the country, with shorter supply lines that smoothed the offensive there.

On their call, Putin told Macron Russia would achieve the goals of its military intervention in Ukraine whatever happens, the Kremlin said. However, Macron replied that Putin was making a major mistake, he was deluding himself about the government in Kyiv and that the war would cost Russia dearly over the long term. In a statement issued after the French and Russian presidents spoke by phone, the Kremlin made clear its goals included the demilitarisation and neutrality of Ukraine. Any attempts by Kyiv to delay negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials would result in Moscow adding more items to a list of demands it has already set out, it said. I want to say that the special military operation is proceeding strictly in line with the timetable. According to plan. All the tasks that have been set are being successfully resolved, Putin said, a week after Russia sent tanks and troops into Ukraine from the north, east and south.

Putins televised comments seemed designed to rebut statements by Western governments and intelligence agencies that Russias campaign has stumbled in the face of logistical problems, tactical mistakes and fiercer-than-expected resistance from Ukraine. Russian foreign nationals A charter aircraft carrying Russian foreign nationals has been held at the Yellowknife airport in Canadas Yukon territory, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in a tweet on Thursday. We will continue to hold Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine, Alghabra said in the tweet, without providing more details.

Ottawa has closed its airspace and ports to Russian vessels, sent lethal military aid to Ukraine, and asked the International Criminal Court to probe alleged war crimes by Russian forces. A plane carrying Russian civilians en route to the High Arctic was grounded in Yellowknife on Tuesday, CBC news reported Wednesday, citing a minister from Canadas Northwest Territories. It appears that the plane and its passengers were on their way to Resolute, Nunavut, with the intention of taking a planned Arctic overland expedition in a large all-terrain utility vehicle, CBC quoted Northwest Territories Infrastructure Minister Diane Archie as saying. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met again and Kyiv said it would call for a ceasefire and humanitarian corridors to evacuate its besieged citizens, as the war entered its second week with Ukrainian cities surrounded and under bombardment.

Humanitarian supplies could be delivered though the corridors, which were the Ukrainians main demand heading into their second round of negotiations in Belarus, in the Brest region that borders Poland. Putin also announced the safe zones. Zelensky said the two countries could find a way out of the war if the Kremlin treated Ukraine on an equal footing and came to talks with a will to negotiate in good faith. There are things in which some compromises must be found so that people do not die, but there are things in which there are no compromises, he said in a televised interview, saying he was willing to have an open conversation with Putin. Moldova

Moldovan President Maia Sandu signed a formal application for her country to join the European Union on Thursday, charting a pro-Western course hastened by Russias invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. Sandus move comes days after Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a request for immediate EU membership as it battles invading Russian forces. Moldovas President Maia Sandu poses for photographers prior to a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Credit:AP Moscow is fiercely opposed to the eastern expansion of both the EU and especially of NATO, which it sees as a direct threat to its own national security. Sandu, the Prime Minister and the parliamentary speaker all signed the document during a briefing in the capital Chisinau, where pro-Russian and pro-EU politicians have vied for control since Moldova won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
KYIV, Ukraine  Russian forces captured a strategic Ukrainian port and besieged another Thursday in a bid to cut the country off from the sea, as the two sides headed into another round of talks aimed at ending the fighting that has sent more than 1 million people fleeing over Ukraines borders.

Moscows advance on Ukraines capital has apparently stalled over the past few days, with a huge armored column north of Kyiv at a standstill, but the military has made significant gains in the south as part of an effort to sever the countrys connection to the Black and Azov seas.

The Russian military said it had control of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea, plunging it into darkness, isolation and fear. Electricity and phone service were largely down, and homes and shops faced food and water shortages.

Without phone connections, medics did not know where to take the wounded.

Ukrainians still in the country faced another grim day. In Kyiv, snow gave way to a cold, gray drizzle, as long lines formed outside the few pharmacies and bakeries that remain open. New shelling was reported in the northern city of Chernihiv, where the mayor said he was struggling to organize safe passage for civilians.

Families with children fled via muddy and snowy roads in the eastern region of Donetsk, while military strikes on the village of Yakovlivka near the eastern city of Kharkiv destroyed 30 homes, leaving three dead and seven injured, and rescuers pulled 10 people from the ruins, according to emergency authorities.

Russian energy: Europe scrambles to reduce its dependency FRANKFURT, Germany  Europe is scrambling to reduce its dependence on Russia for energy and 

Ukrainian authorities called on the people to wage guerrilla warfare against Russian leader Vladimir Putins forces by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear.

Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card and this is what we can do best in the world, Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiy Arestovich said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

In just seven days of fighting, more than 2% of Ukraines population has been forced out of the country, according to the tally the U.N. refugee agency released to The Associated Press.

The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, Russias second-largest city, with about 1.4 million people. Residents desperate to escape falling shells and bombs crowded the railroad station and pressed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

At least 227 civilians have been killed and 525 wounded in that time, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, though it acknowledged that is a vast undercount, and Ukraine earlier said more than 2,000 civilians have died. That figure could not be independently verified.

A second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was expected later in the day Thursday in neighboring Belarus, though the two sides appeared to have little common ground.

We are ready to conduct talks, but we will continue the operation because we wont allow Ukraine to preserve a military infrastructure that threatens Russia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, repeating an accusation Moscow has repeatedly used to justify its invasion  that the West is turning Ukraine against Moscow.

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. defense official said the immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last few days.

Russias war spurs corporate exodus, exposes business risks LONDON  Car factories idled, beer stopped flowing, cargo ships dropped port calls and energ

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian land forces have stalled and Moscow is now unleashing air attacks, but that they are being parried by Ukrainian defense systems, including in Kherson.

Kyiv withstood the night and another missile and bomb attack. Our air defenses worked, he said. Kherson, Izyum  all the other cities that the occupiers hit from the air did not give up anything.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions heard overnight in the Ukrainian capital were Russian missiles being shot down by air defense systems.

In Kherson, the Russians took over the regional administration headquarters, said Hennady Lahuta, governor of the region. But he added that he and other officials continued to perform their duties.

From Kherson, Russian troops appeared to roll toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding center to the west. The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, said that big convoys of Russian troops were advancing on the city.

A group of Russian amphibious landing vessels also headed toward the port of Odesa, farther west, the Ukrainian military said.

Russia reported its military casualties Wednesday for the first time in the war, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine insisted Russias losses are many times higher but did not disclose its own military casulaties.

In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Zelenskyy praised his countrys resistance.

We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy, he said. They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.

These are not warriors of a superpower, he said. These are confused children who have been used.

Around Ukraine, others crowded into train stations, carrying children wrapped in blankets and dragging wheeled suitcases into new lives as refugees.

Among the million-plus refugees who have fled Ukraine in recent days were some 200 orphans with severe physical and mental disabilities who arrived from Kyiv by train in Hungary on Wednesday.

___

Isachenkov reported from Moscow; Karmanau from Lviv, Ukraine; Chernov in Mariupol, Ukraine. Sergei Grits in Odesa, Ukraine; Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; Jamey Keaten in Geneva; Lynn Berry, Robert Burns and Eric Tucker in Washington; Edith M. Lederer and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations; and other AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
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Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron conducts an interview in his office in Frankfort, Ky., Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021. Cameron's office investigated the police shooting of Breonna Taylor last year. Cameron was criticized for the lack of charges against the officers who fatally shot Taylor on March 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Dylan Lovan)
NEWS PROVIDED BY

Friends of Lynz Piper-Loomis

March 3, 2022



NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C., March 3, 2022 /Standard Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Lynz Piper-Loomis, candidate for U.S. Congress, SC-01:

My Fellow Americans,



War has been waged upon our soil. It has seeped in through our children's education, political parties, churches, borders, business, medical care, and through venues unimaginable. We are in a crisis unlike the public opinion of my opponent.



I know we are all used to hearing the career politician stand up and tell us how awesome they are, feed us the same boring cliches we have heard a million times before, and explain why we NEED them in Washington.



How well has that worked for us? Clearly, those sentiments are a disappointment to every single American.



Look around at our world today and ask yourself the tough questions:



1. Does anything make sense to you?



2. Can you believe what you are witnessing?



I know I certainly cannot. I am disgusted with what I see happening, and I feel the pain of every American on a daily basis.



What is the solution? There are people who will tell you the key to winning in 2022 is to stand for nothing, do not rock the boat, and just let the other side fail.



The American people deserve better than that. The American people need to remember exactly why WE are exceptional and how WE changed the world.



I share with you one of many reasons why America is an exceptional and unique nation, and this is something most will never say in 2022.



Who should shape and design our world and solve the majority of problems we face?



Every nation in the history of the world has always answered government or those in power  whether that is a King, an Emperor, a Prime Minister, or even a President.



America is the ONLY nation that rejected this way of thinking and said the answers ALWAYS lie with WE THE PEOPLE.



Ronald Reagan summed this up perfectly when he said, "If we look to the answer as to why for so many years, we achieved so much and prospered as no other people on earth, it was because here in this land we unleashed the energy and individual genius of man to a greater extent than has ever been done before."



The answer to our problems right now is NOT me or any other politician coming up with grandiose plans on how to solve our problems becausespoiler alertTHEY WON'T WORK!!!



What do we need right now? We need for politicians to understand their job and to get out of the way of the American people and let you innovate and create solutions to every problem we face.



A politician will dare not say what I will: I believe America is at the dawn of a great reawakening and that our best days are ahead of us. When we get to that point, it won't be because of me or any politician.... IT WILL BE BECAUSE OF YOU and your fellow citizens.



Simply put my job is to be a voice for you, and I will work every day to ensure the government does not trample on your God-given rights.



I am aware many Americans are hurting right now. We are tired, angry, and understandably feel beaten up. Some even say there is no hope of an American revival. GOOD!!! YES, I SAID GOOD... Every American should feel very comfortable here.



Why? Because America has always been a long shot.



America had no chance of defeating the English in 1776. WE DID.



We could never defeat them again in 1812. WE DID.



We could never overcome slavery. WE DID.



We could never go to the Moon. WE DID.



We could never defeat Soviet Russia. WE DIDwithout ever firing a rocket.



We could never get the wall to fall. IT FELL.



We could not survive Obama. WE DID! And we will survive this administration as well.



It's time to remember WE ARE AMERICANS!!!



Nothing has ever come easy for us. We are the people that make the impossible absolutely possible.



Join me and other SC Citizens in this Campaign to Save America. We are the only campaign in this race that believes YOU are the solution.



Join and donate to a Campaign By the People, and For the People.



www.LynzSC.com



It has been publicly suggested to me by an opponent that I would be best suited for the South Carolina State House.



Respectfully, I decline your offer, and I thank you for seeing my worth in office.



God bless you all. God bless South Carolina. God bless America.



Respectfully,

Lynz Piper-Loomis

Candidate for U.S. Congress, SC-01
The scene on Buechel Bank Road, near Lambert Avenue, on March 2, 2022. Police say a man died after he shot himself during a police traffic stop in Louisville's Buechel neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.
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Al Jazeera look at the immigration policy of US President Joe Biden over the past year - as some say he has done little to change the dynamics
It is always said that Shakespeare's works are timeless. These are plays that have endured for centuries, a remarkable fact which also poses questions about what characters and stories signify now compared with when they were created.

If there is one thing for which this production will be remembered, it is depicting The Merchant of Venice for exactly what it is  a play about a group of entitled and pompous villains mercilessly persecuting a Jewish man. As directors, Abigail Graham and Tash Hyman do not shy away from any challenging material. Their contemporary reimagining places these themes right in front of your eyes, barely allowing you to breathe  uncomfortable viewing ensues.

There is no better example than the production's conclusion. Simply put, it is hard to imagine there have been many versions of this play that end in such a brutal and chilling fashion. Whilst the ensemble of Christians rejoice in a win in court, a mournful Hebrew song drowns out their inane dialogue and celebrations. One by one the courtroom's candles are extinguished. During these sombre moments, the audience is focused solely on one man, the slowly withdrawing Shylock, who has lost his family and home, and been forced to renounce his religion. It is utterly tragic, yet simultaneously mesmerising.

Adrian Schiller's Shylock is deeply sympathetic, someone you find yourself rooting for among the crowd of spiteful characters. His hesitancy, even inability, to eventually take the flesh owed to him speaks volumes. In this production, he is an honest and pitiable man pushed to the absolute limit by a lifetime of antisemitic abuse.

Aside from the portrayal of Shylock, this is a modern interpretation of Shakespeare that feels exactly that  vibrant and fresh. There are small touches that indicate a 21st-century setting (think hand sanitiser and subtle Wolf of Wall Street references) but it is also evident in Sarah Beaton's set design as well. Given the trauma of the finale, it seems almost flippant to mention some of the previous scenes involving Portia's suitors, but these are easily the funniest of the entire production. Channelling a modern TV game show, this stretch is slightly Take Me Out meets Shakespeare but rather than being corny or annoying, it's an artistic decision that breathes life into a scene that might have read quite plainly on the page. Sophie Melville and particularly Tripti Tripuraneni excel as Portia and Nerissa in these moments, their chemistry onstage the strongest of the entire cast which is a statement in itself.

Seamless and intelligent scene changes maintain a thrilling pace toward the play's memorable ending, at which point the pressure in the room is unbearable given the tragedy that occurs. Schiller has spoken about how the apparent evilness of Shylock is something that "grew over centuries". This brilliant and uncompromising production has gone a long way to challenging that perception.
Quincy, IL (62301)

Today

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Thunder possible. Low 53F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Thunder possible. Low 53F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Social & Behavior Change Specialist (two positions), Islamabad, Pakistan

Organization: UNICEF - United Nations Childrens Fund

Country: Pakistan

City: Islamabad

Office: UNICEF Islamabad

Grade: NO-C

Closing date: Friday, 11 March 2022

Batch Vacancy Announcement - Temporary Appointment: Social & Behavior Change Specialist, NOC, Islamabad, Pakistan # 119363 & 119364 (2 Positions)

Job no: 548728

Position type: Temporary Appointment

Location: Pakistan Division/Equivalent: Kathmandu(ROSA)

School/Unit: Pakistan

Department/Office: Islamabad, Pakistan

Categories: Communication for Development (C4D)

UNICEF works in some of the world toughest places, to reach the world most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfil their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, advocate!

Pakistan was the sixth country in the world to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child, less than one year after it was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. However, children and adolescents living in Pakistan still face acute challenges.

UNICEF supports the Government of Pakistan to accelerate progress for children, work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and help children realize their rights under the Convention on the Rights of Children. This will be made through, among other things, strong partnerships with provincial authorities, teachers and health professionals, frontline workers and social mobilisers, communities and families, and of course the children and adolescents themselves.

In particular, UNICEF will work so that:

Every child survives and thrives -- being in good health, immunized, protected from polio and accessing nutritious food.

Every child learns.

Every child is protected from violence and exploitation and registered at birth.

Every child lives in a safe and clean environment, with access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation.

To learn more about UNICEF work in Pakistan, please visit the country website www.unicef.org/pakistan and videos on YouTube and Vimeo

The Social & Behaviour Change Specialist NOC will work under the direct supervision of the Chief, SBC- P4 and the overall guidance of the UNICEF Pakistan Deputy Representative, who is also the Chairperson of the UNICEF Pakistan inter-sectoral working group. The Specialist is responsible for supporting national efforts to develop systematic, planned and evidence-based SBC strategies and plans; planning and implementation to promote measurable behavioural and social change through communication, engagement, empowerment and participation of stakeholders, partners constituents, communities, and civil society to achieve successful and sustainable concrete (program/project) results on childrens rights, survival, and wellbeing in the country. A strong focus will be on promotion of the Key essential Family Care Practices presented through the Early Childhood Development (ECD) parenting package.

To make a difference you will be accountable for the following key duties & tasks:

1. Support to strategy design and development of SBC activities

Conduct and/or participate in comprehensive SBC situation analysis of social, cultural, economic, and political issues in the country/region, including through national/subnational working groups or committees. Assess/synthesize qualitative and quantitative information, data and evidence to support the establishment of comprehensive and evidence-based information for developing and planning the SBC component of the Country Programme of Cooperation (and UNDAF).

Participate in country programme planning and reviews to contribute to discussions on the underlying and contextual issues to be addressed (e.g. policies, gender/children inequality, cultural/social behavior etc) to ensure the successful and sustainable delivery of programme results and provide technical recommendations on approaches, strategies and plans of action for SBC to promote behavioral and social change.

Prepare or provide quality assurance on materials and related documentations for SBC strategies and plans to ensure optimum impact, scale, and sustainability of achievements/results.

Collaborate/consult with a wide range of partners and stakeholders to ensure synergy, integration, coherence, and harmonization of SBC activities with UNICEF MTSP, CO global communications and advocacy activities and UN System development activities and initiatives at the CO level, including in humanitarian response.

2. Implementation of SBC activities

Collaborate with, advise and/or consult internal partners and external partners to design SBC strategies, including formulation, production, and testing materials to organize SBC events and activities to ensure engagement and participation of key audiences, and maximum outreach and impact on behavioral and social change, including in humanitarian response.

Confirm/verify the technical quality, consistency and relevancy of communications strategies, including materials that are developed, produced and disseminated to target audiences (e.g. individuals, communities, government officials, partners, media etc). Recommend appropriate multiple media formats (e.g. print, digital/social media, TV/Radio, Web, community networks, etc.). Oversee the production and implementation of multi-media initiatives for compliance with targets and plans that integrate the latest evidence.

Carry out SBC advocacy activities with/for a wide range of constituents, stakeholders, partners, communities, etc. to encourage/promote engagement and dialogue, inclusion, self-determination, and participation in mobilizing social, political, behavioral, and cultural change to achieve sustainable programme results on children and womens rights, equity and wellbeing. Develop/select materials and other communication tools for SBC events.

Identify, establish, and maintain active interaction/relations with media, academia, and other strategic partners to communicate/advocate UNICEFs competencies and achievements to ensure their engagement, interests, and support in promoting social/political engagement for political action on childrens rights, and measurable changes in social and behavioral outcomes.

Conduct and/or participate in M & E and Evaluation exercises, including country programme previews, meetings, and mid-term/annual reviews to assess/report on efficacy/outcome of SBC on UNICEF and CO Strategic Plans/Goals. Recommend timely action to ensure the achievement of results as planned and allocated. Integrate/disseminate lessons learned in development planning and improvements.

3. Technical and operational support

Collaborate with internal CO, RO and/or RO colleagues to contribute to the development of strategies, approaches, policies and the planning of SBC social and resource mobilization initiatives in support of programmes/projects implementation and delivery of results, including humanitarian response.

Participate in CO strategic discussions to collaborate on policy and agenda setting for SBC advocacy and investments and related external relations and resource mobilization initiatives. c8qjyMn Dh7qKS

Participate in budget planning and management of programme funds and prepare financial plan for SBC initiatives. Monitor/track the use of resources as planned and verify compliance with organizational guidelines, rules and regulations and standards of ethics and transparency.

4. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

Identify, build, and maintain partnerships through networking and proactive collaboration with strategic partners, e.g., academia; social networks; celebrities, journalist, media, all sectors/levels of (socially aware) society and critical audience to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities for SBC advocacy to promote UNICEF mission and goals for child rights, social equity and inclusiveness.

Collaborate with internal global/regional communication partners to harmonize, link and/or coordinate messaging and use of multiple media and communication platforms to enhance SBC outreach including in humanitarian contexts.

Participate in organizational and/or inter-agency (UNCT; National UN Communication for Development Roundtable) discussions and planning to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues in the UNDAF planning and preparation of SBC advocacy and resource mobilization initiatives including emergencies.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

Implement innovative practices, approaches and latest technology on multiple media and social/digital platforms and networks for SBC that are appropriate/available for the CO context and audience.

Institutionalize/share best practices and knowledge learned/products with global/local partners and stakeholders to build capacity of practitioners and disseminate these products to key audiences including donors and partners.

Organize/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders/partners (government and non-government) in SBC planning, implementation, and evaluation in support of programmes/projects including in humanitarian settings.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have...

An Advanced University degree (Masters or above) in social and behavioural science, sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, communication, public relations, or other related social science field is required.

*A first University Degree (Bachelors) in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.

A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in areas of social development program planning, communications, and public advocacy and/or related areas at the international and/or large organization some of which preferably were served in a developing country is required.

Relevant experience in related areas in a UN system agency or organization is an asset.

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEFs values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1), Works Collaboratively with others (1), Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1), Innovates and Embraces Change (1), Thinks and Acts Strategically (1), Drive to achieve impactful results (1), Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

View our competency framework at Competency Framework Brochure.pdf

Click here to learn more about UNICEFs values and competencies.

Life at UNICEF

Working at UNICEF is highly rewarding. With attractive remuneration package encompassing competitive pay and benefits, a culture that helps staff thrive and diverse opportunities for personal and professional development, we aim to help you maintain a fulfilling life both at and outside the office.

We make sure you and your loved ones receive the resources and care that you need to thrive. Our contracts, benefits and wellbeing policies and initiatives ensure that you are well equipped to effectively deliver for children such as;

Tax exemption, family allowances, hardship benefits, 10 UN holidays and annual leave allowance, maternity, paternity, adoption leave, medical and dental insurance, pension etc.

Career support, staff wellbeing programme, breastfeeding policy, flexible work arrangements, childcare room, family support, policies & initiatives, security etc.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Verified educational certificates/ HEC Attested Degrees are a pre-requisite for employment at UNICEF. During the recruitment process candidates will be required to present HEC attested degrees/certificates.

UNICEFs active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates will be prioritized.

Advertised: Feb 25 2022 Pakistan Standard Time Application close: Mar 11 2022 Pakistan Standard Time

Link to the organizations job posting: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1646003706847
Learning & Development Consultant, Nairobi

Organization: Unicef

Country: Kenya

City: Nairobi

Office: UNICEF Nairobi, Kenya

Closing date: Sunday, 6 March 2022

Learning & Development Consultant, Nairobi, Kenya (ESARO), 30 days within 3 months (Remote Working)

Job no: 548785

Position type: Consultancy

Location: Kenya Division/Equivalent: Nairobi Regnl(ESARO)

School/Unit: Regional Services Div (ESAR), Nairobi

Department/Office: Reg Serv - Oper, Nairobi Regnl

Categories: Human Resources

UNICEF works in some of the worlds toughest places, to reach the worlds most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, future.

How can you make a difference?

The Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) contributes to effective and efficient management of human resources in the region. With staff learning and development as one of ESARO HRs key priorities, the Regional Office works with the Human Resources Development Committee (HRDC) to provide strategic guidance on annual regional learning and development priorities, to set the annual regional training and learning agenda, review regional and country level learning plans and reports, analyse trends and make recommendations to the Regional Management Team (RMT). Together with RMT, the HRDC promote effective human resources development, using existing mechanisms to strengthen and standardize training and learning plans in all offices in the region.

One of the activities in the ESARO HR work plan is to provide an oversight and quality assurance of the annual learning and training plans and reports of the 21 country offices (CO) in the region. To support the Regional Office (RO) in this important task, an independent consultant is required to provide a thorough review and detailed analysis of the progress of offices in fostering a culture of learning and continuous development through planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the impact of various learning initiatives.

The consultant required will need to have a strong technical knowledge and background in human resources, particularly in learning and staff development as well as training design and delivery, strong analytical skills and excellent writing skills.

Goal and Objective:

Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Human Resources Manager, the consultant will conduct a thorough review of the annual Learning and Developments (L&D) Reports and Plans of 21 COs in ESAR, providing detailed analysis of the strengths, areas for improvement, and best practices and innovations in the learning and development processes observed in each country office.

2. Reference to the Work Plan:

This consultancy assignment is part of the ESARO HR Rolling Work Plan 2022-2023:

Output Statement 1: Enhanced capacity of ESAR COs to practice value based and empowering leadership and management, creating a respectful and inclusive workplace culture for all colleagues

Activity 9: Review and provide feedback on CO learning plans and reports, compiling best practices for dissemination by the second quarter of the year. Adequate monitoring mechanisms in place to support COs in the implementation of the agreed priorities and ensure full utilization of regional learning budget.

Activities and Tasks:

The assignment requires providing the consultant with the regional and country offices 2021 L&D Reports and 2022 L&D Plans as soon as the documents are received by the Regional Office. Given the following deadlines to submit these documents to the RO, a rolling approach of reviewing the reports and plans is recommended to facilitate timely preparation and finalization of the ROs feedback to the offices.

Annual Learning & Development Report (2021) - 28 February 2022

Annual Learning & Development Plan (2022) - 31 March 2022

Key activities

Discuss the scope of the assignment, expectations, and deliverables with the HR Manager.

Review 2021 L&D Reports and 2022 L&D Plans on a rolling basis (i.e., as and when received) to identify areas of strengths, weaknesses, lessons learned, innovations and good practices. The consultant will be required to review each RO/COs learning report and plan from the previous year, which is necessary to inform on the progress of the office in achieving learning goals and objectives based on the ROs recommendations from the previous years review.

Draft individual RO feedback reports, memos and emails for each of the 21 country offices, summarising observations and recommendations.

Incorporate feedback and suggestions provided by the HR Manager and Regional Chief of Human Resources. c8qkbj7 Dh7qKS

Finalize RO individual feedback reports, memos and emails for each of the 21 country offices.

Develop a presentation summarizing the key points and analyses, including best practices, budget utilization on L&D and recommendations, from the review of learning reports and plans conducted.

Develop simple and informative reporting templates for use by country offices, to use in future years for their L&D reports and L&D plans.

Work relationships:

The consultant will work closely with and will be under the supervision of the HR Manager.

Outputs/Deliverables:

Deliverables

Duration (Estimated # of days or months)

Timeline/Deadline

Schedule of payment

21 RO feedback reports in draft + feedback report on the RO L&D report & plan

22 days

On a rolling basis as and when CO reports and plans are received - within the period 15 March - 14 May 2022

50% upon submission of draft documents for at least 15 COs - by

15 May 2022

21 RO cover memo to COs (in draft)

Draft RO cover email to COs (to be replicated once finalized)

21 RO feedback reports - final versions incorporating changes from the RO

2 days

On a rolling basis as and when draft documents are reviewed - within the period 15 March - 15 May 2022

None

21 RO cover memos to COs - final versions incorporating changes from the RO

Final version of the RO cover email to COs

PowerPoint presentation on the summary of key points, analysis, best practice, budget utilization on L&D, and recommendations

1 day

By 31 May 2022

Design of L&D templates for CO

5 days

10 June 2022

50% upon submission of final deliverables

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have...

Advanced university degree or equivalent backgrounds, in Human Resources, Business Administration, International Relations, Social Sciences, Psychology or related areas.

Eight years of relevant professional HR management work experience, particularly in learning and development as well as in training design and delivery.

Previous working experience in a similar scope of assignment desirable

Strong analytical and presentation skills

Excellent knowledge of English and excellent writing skills

Demonstrated ability to work independently and efficiently under tight deadlines

Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEFs values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered "staff members" under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEFs policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.

Advertised: Feb 25 2022 E. Africa Standard Time Application close: Mar 06 2022 E. Africa Standard Time

Link to the organizations job posting: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1646003858209
Willmar, MN (56201)

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Greenwich resident and Royal biographer Diane Clehane died on Monday at age 61. A social media post by her husband Jim Donovan said she had been battling an illness.

Clehane reported on the British royal family for more than 20 years and made frequent appearances on NBC's "Today" show and CNN to offer comment about royal affairs, according to Yahoo News. She also authored five books, including "Diana: The Secrets of Her Style" and "Imagining Diana."

A long time resident of the Nutmeg State, Clehane was a committee co-chair of the Junior League of Greenwich and had worked as the media relations director for Adopt a Dog. She told Greenwich Time in 2017 that her fascination with the late princess of Wales began in the 1980s.

I just couldnt get enough of her style, Clehane, who was in college at the time, said. Many of us saw our own reflection in Diana."

A week before her 1998 book, Diana: The Secrets of Her Style," came out, she made a trip to Althorp, the estate where Diana grew up and is buried, to see some of the dresses pictured in her book.

Clehane also wrote on celebrity culture for publications such as Vanity Fair, People Newsweek, Forbes and Variety. She worked for The Fashion Group International and organized the group's "Night of Stars," an annual fashion gala that hosted celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Meryl Streep.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Jimi Celeste/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

"She was our FGI family and we have heartfelt memories of Diane on the red carpet, at our staff retreats, as an office colleague and most touchingly, sharing her family stories, dreams and love for husband, Jim and daughter, Madeline," FGI shared on Facebook.

Clehane's viewing and funeral mass will be held this week in Greenwich.

"In lieu of flowers we ask that a donation in Diane's name be made to the American Cancer Society or Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center," according to Donovan's post.
Letter to the Editor,

Unless we as a community decide to do something about the present state laws that allow developers to trump local zoning laws, developers will continually come in and build out-of-place multi-story buildings in out-of-place neighborhoods and legally have every right to do so. Write to your legislators and let them know that you want them to correct the affordable housing rules so they are not so draconian.
Smiles are among the last gestures to expect in an art exhibition that responds to one of the saddest parts of Canadian history.

Smiles are among the last gestures to expect in an art exhibition that responds to one of the saddest parts of Canadian history.

There are not one, but 12 grins on the faces of a dozen Indigenous children that Winnipeg artist KC Adams photographed for Giiyaabi Omaa Nindayaamin (We Are Still Here), her new online exhibition hosted by the Portrait Gallery of Canada.

KC ADAMS Mac, age 13, 2021

The exhibition, which includes descriptions in English, French and Anishinaabemowin, can be viewed at portraitcanada.ca.

Adams took the pictures at The Forks on July 1 and 2, 2021 of children ranging in age from 5 to 16  one child per age  as her reaction to the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former residential school near Kamloops, B.C.

"When I heard that Canada Day was going to be cancelled, instead it was going to be a recognition of truth and reconciliation, I realized I knew what I needed to do. I needed to take pictures of kids who were the ages of kids being taken to residential schools," Adams says.

The ear-to-ear grins on the kids werent just happenstance.

"It was really about celebrating who they are and what kind of teaching we can get from them," Adams says. "These children, theyre the survivors, theyre thriving Theyre teaching us the importance of hope. They also teach us about living in the moment. Kids have an incredible ability to teach us these things. I really wanted to showcase that."

KC ADAMS Ava, age 9, 2021

Since the discovery by the Tkemlups te Secwepemc Nation in British Columbia, more unmarked graves have been discovered across the country using ground-penetrating radar. Similar investigations are now taking place in Manitoba.

The Portrait Gallery of Canada, like most arts organizations across the country, has been reaching out to Indigenous artists in recent years, and in early 2021, it commissioned Adams, who is of Cree, Ojibwe and British ancestry, for an exhibition. Adams wanted to provide new art rather than a selection of previous works, says Ann Davis, a curator at the portrait gallery and a former curator at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

"KC very generously proposed a new exhibition of new work for us very specifically reacting to the horrors, absolute horrors, of the discovery of more unmarked graves," Davis says. "She wanted to think about this, but think about it in a sensitive way so that Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous communities can learn from it.

"We settler people have been so blind to the many qualities of Indigenous people, their histories, their accomplishments, and KC wanted to provide an exhibition which showed positive features. So she photographed these lovely children smiling, with flashing, twinkling eyes."

KC ADAMS Felicia, age 16, 2021

At the Forks, Adams met families who agreed for their children to be photographed, and they became fast friends.

"I saw Felicia, she was my 16-year-old (in the exhibition), walking by with her family, and I thought I need to take a picture of this girl, " Adams remembers. "So I respectfully approached her family, and she recognized who I was. She knew my Perception photo series. She said, "Oh yeah, we learned about your work in school.

Shes just really incredible, hopeful, just a smart person."

Theres more to the 12 photographs than smiling faces though. Once Adams returned to her studio, she digitally enhanced each of the pictures, layering seven copies of the same image on top of one another and adding ceremonial aspects, such as quillwork and beadwork, to each one.

KC ADAMS Kaleeya, age 5, 2021

It was a painstaking process for Adams, 50, who has become an expert in several photo-editing programs during her career.

"It looks like it could be just a photograph, but there was a lot of editing that went into these photos," she says.

The seven layers can be noticed around the edges of each photograph, and theres significance behind the number of layers.

"Its deeply embedded with knowledge, knowledge that has been passed down for hundreds and thousands of years, the idea we have to think about seven generations," she says. "The original instructions is we look back three generations, and forward three generations, and we are in the centre, we are the seventh generation. The importance of taking care of ourselves, thinking about our ancestors three generations back and thinking about our future generations."

The exhibition also has an educational component.

Intergenerational trauma still impacts Indigenous families, with descendants of residential school survivors having to learn about and confront the suffering of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.

"I had two great-grandmothers who went to residential schools so my family feels the effects of it as well, the generational trauma of it all," Adams says. "I thought I needed to take back the narrative, that we are still here, and we have actively resisted, and we have resilience and its shown in the kids."

Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com

Twitter: @AlanDSmall

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The Russian-born music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra did not mince words in his condemnation of his native countrys invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian-born music director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra did not mince words in his condemnation of his native countrys invasion of Ukraine.

Daniel Raiskin called the Russian governments actions criminal and the war it is currently waging with its neighbour fratricidal.

I firmly believe that it is the duty of every artist to speak the truth, expressing himself through the art he makes. But today, this alone is not enough, the St. Petersburg-raised musician wrote Wednesday on his Facebook page.

Each rocket, each shell, each shot was made for one reason only: to kill to kill a person, a people, an infrastructure, a country, he continued. Murder is a crime and will be punished. In the country of Dostoevsky, this should be well remembered. War kills, there is no excuse for war. The war must be stopped immediately.

Raiskins post was spurred by the ongoing invasion efforts of the Russian government, led by President Vladimir Putin.

As of Thursday, the Russian army was bombarding several major cities, and had reportedly captured the city of Kherson, a key hub on the Black Sea. The BBC reported more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians were killed in the week since the invasion began, with more than one million fleeing the country over that period.

The son of a prominent musicologist and a mathematician, Raiskin attended the famed conservatory in his native city, according to his personal website, where musicians including Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich were trained.

Since 2018, Raiskin has been the music director of the WSO, while also serving as the chief conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra in Bratislava and a principal guest conductor of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra in Serbia.

In an interview with the Winnipeg Jewish Post & News, published earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, Raiskin recounted his St. Petersburg upbringing, while also discussing the power of art in times of crisis and solitude.

I feel today, more than ever, people feel how important arts and culture are to them, he said from his home in Amsterdam. We suddenly realize that we use art to communicate with each other.

In the past, Raiskins regularly made guest appearances with the St. Petersburg-based Mariinsky Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Symphony, and frequently worked with youth orchestras across the world, including in Russia.

However, those engagements are now on hold, according to a second post on Facebook made Wednesday, in which Raiskin expanded on his initial condemnation of the Russian governments acts of war against a country home to many people he knows and cares about.

In these extremely distressing times, while my family members are being bombed by the armed forces of the country I was born and grew up in, I am suspending all immediate and future work and concert appearances in Russia, Raiskin wrote.

Until the senselessly barbaric bestialities are halted, peace restored and justice served, I do not feel being on moral ground while collaborating with institutions subsidized by the murderous Russian regime.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca
Canada has toughened sanctions against Russia following Moscow's attack on neighbouring Ukraine. A look at the measures and other actions Canada is taking:

Canada has toughened sanctions against Russia following Moscow's attack on neighbouring Ukraine. A look at the measures and other actions Canada is taking:

Sanctions

Canada has removed Russia and its ally, Belarus, off its most favoured nation list of trade partners. That now subjects their exports to 35 per cent tariffs. Previously, the only country not on the list was North Korea.

Canada has imposed sanctions on 10 executives with Gazprom, a major Russian state-owned energy company, and Rosneft, Russia's leading oil company.

That brings to 1,000 the total number of people and entities sanctioned, or in the process of being sanctioned, by Canada since Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

Canada has banned all Canadian financial institutions from conducting transactions with the Russian central bank.

Canada is imposing an asset freeze and a dealings prohibition on Russian sovereign wealth funds.

Canada has imposed sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and other top Kremlin figures.

Canada supported the removal of Russia from SWIFT, the digital payment and messaging network that connects thousands of banks worldwide.

Canada has sanctioned 58 people and entities connected to Russia, including key political leaders, oligarchs and their families, as well as the paramilitary organization known as the Wagner Group and several major Russian banks.

Also on the list are members of the Russian Security Council, including key cabinet ministers close to Putin.

Other sanctions target members of the Russian State Duma who voted to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, two separatist regions of Ukraine that have suffered eight years of war fuelled by Russian weapons and troops.

The sanctions freeze assets and prohibit the conduct of financial transactions with any entity on the list. They also impose a ban on travel to Canada to any individual on the list.

A ban on Canadians from engaging in transactions and activities in the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.

A prohibition on anyone dealing directly or indirectly in Russia's sovereign debt in a bid to prevent that country from raising debt to cover spending costs.

Military

Canada plans to send 4,500 rocket launchers and 7,500 hand grenades from the Canadian Forces armoury to Ukraine.

Canada has also pledged $1 million for the purchase of high-resolution modern satellite imagery.

Canada will provide an additional 1,600 fragmentation vests and just under 400,000 meal packs to Ukraine.

Canada is sending at least 100 portable anti-tank weapons and 2,000 rockets to Ukraine.

Canada has provided $25 million in helmets, body armour, night-vision gear and other non-lethal aid for Ukraines military.

Canada will send up to 460 additional troops to join the approximately 800 already deployed in Europe as part of NATO.

On the ground, Canada will send a battery of artillery guns and an electronic warfare group. The battle group in Latvia already includes up to 540 Canadian personnel, vehicles and equipment.

In the air, the military will send a CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft to serve under NATO command. On the water, a second frigate with a maritime helicopter will join NATO's Standing Naval Forces.

About 3,400 Canadian Armed Forces personnel have also been authorized to deploy to Europe should NATO require the assistance.

The federal government has offered up to $10 million in weapons and equipment to Ukraine. Included in that is $7.8 million worth of lethal weapons and ammunition.

Other actions

Canada will allow an unlimited number of Ukrainians to apply for an expedited visa to stay for two years, without conditions like language requirements or labour market impact assessments.

Canada has also announced a new reunification program for Ukrainians with family in Canada who wish to come and remain here permanently.

The government has encouraged refugees to continue to apply to come to Canada through traditional immigration streams. About 6,000 expedited applications from Ukraine have been approved since January.

Canada and other close partners are calling for Russia's suspension from Interpol.

Canada has banned Russian-owned or registered ships and fishing vessels in Canadian ports and internal waters.

Canada will provide an extra $100 million in humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, targeted at helping displaced people and providing emergency health services, including trauma care, shelter, water, sanitation and food. This is in addition to the $25 million Canada has already allocated to Ukraine since the start of 2022.

Canada has asked the International Criminal Court to speed up its investigation into Russia for possible war crimes.

Canada has banned all imports of Russian crude oil, which were already negligible in the country.

Canada has bolstered its presence in the region so it can fast-track immigration applications for Ukrainians. Canada has already expedited existing immigration applications from Ukraine.

The federal government has asked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to review the presence of the Russian state-run broadcaster, RT, on Canada's airwaves.

Canada has closed its airspace to Russian aircraft.

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Canada will match up to $10 million in donations to the Canadian Red Cross to aid relief efforts in Ukraine.

Canada is cancelling existing export permits for Russia, worth an estimated $700 million in trade.

Canada has provided Ukraine up to $620 million in loans to help the country counter Russian efforts to destabilize the Ukrainian economy.

At the start of February, Global Affairs Canada advised Canadians to avoid all travel to Ukraine. More recently, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly urged any Canadians in Ukraine to leave immediately.

The federal government has also closed its embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022.
DETROIT (AP)  Elon Musk is inviting the United Auto Workers union to hold an organizing vote at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California.

DETROIT (AP)  Elon Musk is inviting the United Auto Workers union to hold an organizing vote at Tesla's factory in Fremont, California.

On Twitter Wednesday, Musk wrote that he invited the union to hold a vote at its convenience. Tesla will do nothing to stop them, he wrote.

The UAW wouldn't comment Thursday but spokesman Brian Rothenberg pointed out that Tesla is fighting a U.S. National Labor Relations Board ruling from last year that found the company and Musk engaged in unfair labor practices in 2018, partly because of his tweets.

Musk's recent tweets seem to defy the NLRB ruling, and are part of an escalating fight between Musk and federal regulatory agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Musk's Wednesday tweet about the union came in response to one from Gene Simmons, the front man for the rock band Kiss, who was supporting Musk in a twitter spat with President Joe Biden over electric vehicle manufacturing.

Biden had tweeted on Tuesday about Ford and General Motors spending a total of $18 billion to create 15,000 jobs building electric vehicles. Musk replied that Tesla had created over 50,000 U.S. jobs building electric vehicles and is investing more than GM and Ford combined.

Simmons wrote that Musk had a solid point and questioned if Biden avoids mentioning Tesla because the company isn't unionized. Unions have strongly supported Biden, and the UAW endorsed him in 2020.

Musk and his fan base have been upset with the president, who rarely mentions Tesla when he talks about electric vehicles and has left Musk off the invite list for electric vehicle events at the White House. Biden has long favored good paying union jobs," and workers at Tesla's plants are not represented by a union.

A year ago, the labor relations board found that in a May 20, 2018 tweet, Musk unlawfully threatened employees with loss of stock options if they chose to be represented by the United Auto Workers union.

Board members ordered Tesla to make Musk delete the tweet and stop threatening employees with loss of benefits for supporting a labor organization.

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Tesla also was required to post a notice addressing unfair labor practices at the 10,000-worker Fremont plant, and post a notice dealing with the tweet at all its facilities nationwide.

In April of 2021, Tesla appealed the NLRB ruling to a federal appeals court in New Orleans.

Among other things, the lengthy March 2021 NLRB ruling also ordered Tesla to reinstate an employee who was fired for union-organizing activity and to give him back pay.

Musk tweeted on May of 2018: Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.

The NLRB declined comment on Thursday.

Last month, California regulators sued Tesla Inc. alleging the electric car maker has been discriminating against Black employees who have been likened to monkeys and slaves at Fremont factory.
Purdue Pharma reached a nationwide settlement Thursday over its role in the opioid crisis, with the Sackler family members who own the company boosting their cash contribution to as much as $6 billion in a deal intended to staunch a flood of lawsuits facing the maker of OxyContin.

Purdue Pharma reached a nationwide settlement Thursday over its role in the opioid crisis, with the Sackler family members who own the company boosting their cash contribution to as much as $6 billion in a deal intended to staunch a flood of lawsuits facing the maker of OxyContin.

The deal follows an earlier settlement that had been appealed by eight states and the District of Columbia. They agreed to sign on after the Sacklers kicked in more cash and accepted other terms. In exchange, the family would be protected from civil lawsuits.

In all, the plan could be worth more than $10 billion over time. It calls for members of the Sackler family to give up control of the Stamford, Connecticut-based company so it can be turned into a new entity with profits used to fight the crisis. The deal would not shield members of the family from criminal charges, although theres no indication any are forthcoming.

Sackler family members have not unequivocally offered an apology but issued a statement of regret about the toll of OxyContin, its signature painkiller, which users learned could be manipulated to produce quick highs. Purdue Pharma had promoted its use for a broad range of pain issues for which doctors previously had shied away from prescribing opioids.

"While the families have acted lawfully in all respects, they sincerely regret that OxyContin, a prescription medicine that continues to help people suffering from chronic pain, unexpectedly became part of an opioid crisis that has brought grief and loss to far too many families and communities, said the statement from the Sackler family.

Under the settlement, victims also are to have a forum in court, by videoconference scheduled for March 9, to address some of the Sacklers. Thats something they have not been able to do previously in a public setting.

The settlement is outlined in a report filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York, and must be approved by the judge. It was hammered out with attorneys general from the eight states  California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington  and D.C. who had opposed the earlier one, arguing that it did not properly hold Sackler family members accountable.

Several parents whose children became addicted to opioids said they were ambivalent  glad that more money will be available for addiction treatment, but upset that the Sacklers will remain wealthy and escape more accountability.

Connecticut's Paige Niver, whose daughter became addicted following a bicycle accident when she was 14 and remains in recovery about 13 years later, said she didn't want other families to endure what hers did.

As a mother, I did what the doctor told me to do and I just kept giving them to her. And when they were starting to have kind of a lesser effect, they say, Oh, then you need to give her more. And thats exactly what I did, she said at a news conference Thursday with her state's attorney general.

I never thought Id see any justice for it, so the money will do so much good  fund as much treatment and prevention as possible, Niver said.

Ed Bisch, whose 18-year-old son died of an overdose 20 years ago, is glad states pushed Sackler family members to pay more. Still, he called the settlement a horrible deal because so many parents who buried loved ones wont see money, while the Sacklers retain their wealth.

Guess what? They still made billions and billions of dollars, said Bisch, of Westampton, New Jersey. Without any jail time, where is the deterrent? Weve lost two generations to their greed.

Individual victims and their survivors are to share a $750 million fund, a key provision not found in other opioid settlements. About 149,000 people made claims in advance and could qualify for shares from the fund.

That amount is unchanged in the new plan, but states will be able to create funds they can use to compensate victims beyond that, if they choose.

Other new provisions include an agreement from Sackler family members that they wont fight when institutions attempt to take their names off buildings funded by the familys support. And additional company documents are to be made public.

Most of the the money is to flow to state and local governments, Native American tribes, and some hospitals, with the requirement that it be used to battle an opioid crisis that has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades.

Were pleased with the settlement achieved in mediation, under which all of the additional settlement funds will be used for opioid abatement programs, overdose rescue medicines, and victims," Purdue Pharma said in a statement issued separately from the family's. "With this mediation result, we continue on track to proceed through the appeals process on an expedited schedule, and we hope to swiftly deliver these resources.

Kentucky and Oklahoma are not part of the deal because they both reached previous settlements with Purdue.

Purdue, the originator of time-release versions of powerful prescription painkillers, is the highest-profile company out of many that have faced lawsuits over the crisis. It has twice pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to its business practices around OxyContin.

The latest announcement follows another landmark settlement late last week, when drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three distributors finalized a settlement that will send $26 billion over time to virtually every state and local governments throughout the U.S.

There are two key differences between the the latest Purdue settlement and the previous one struck last year. The Sacklers cash contribution has gone up by at least $1.2 billion, and state attorneys general and the District of Columbia have now agreed.

The money is to begin flowing after Purdue, which is to be renamed Knoa Pharma, emerges from bankruptcy. It's not clear when that will be. The last payment under the settlement is not scheduled to be made until 2039.

Last year, the eight states and D.C. refused to sign on, and then most of them appealed after the deal was approved by the bankruptcy judge.

In December, a U.S. district judge sided with the nine holdouts. The judge, Colleen McMahon, rejected the settlement with a finding that bankruptcy judges lack the authority to grant legal protection to people who dont themselves file for bankruptcy when some parties disagree.

Purdue appealed that decision, which, if left standing, could have scuttled a common method of reaching settlements in sweeping, complicated lawsuits.

The attorneys general who have signed on are dropping from the main legal battle but are still free to write briefs to tell courts not to allow the protections for people who do not file for bankruptcy themselves.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has repeatedly said he has felt a special obligation to be aggressive in the case because Purdue is headquartered in the state. He expressed some disappointment Thursday with the final settlement, even though he said it was 40% more than the previous one.

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I wanted more. I still want more. But I took it as far as I could take it," he said during a news conference. "If we were to continue, we would do it alone and that is untenable.

The new settlement requires approval from U.S Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain. Appeals related to the previous version of the plan could continue moving through the court system.

___

Associated Press writers Dave Collins and Susan Haigh in Connecticut contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show that the terms of the agreement did not require an apology from the Sackler family, though the family did issue a statement of regret.
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is condemning attacks on a major nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

Trudeau said late Thursday that he had spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about "the horrific attacks at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant."

"These unacceptable attacks by Russia must cease immediately," Trudeau said on Twitter.

U.S. President Joe Biden also spoke with Zelenskyy late Thursday about the shelling of the plant in the eastern Ukraine city of Enerhodar.

The assault sparked a fire and raised fears that radiation could leak from the damaged power station.

The White House said Biden joined Zelenskyy in urging Russia to cease its military activities in the area and allow firefighters and emergency responders to access the site.

Ukrainian authorities later reported the fire had been extinguished, and Ukraine's nuclear regulator said there had been no change in radiation levels.

The International Atomic Energy Agency also said the fire had not affected essential equipment at the facility.

In Brussels, where she is attending a meeting of NATO foreign ministers Canada's Melanie Joly said the attack would be on their agenda.

"We take this extremely seriously and we will raise it this morning at NATO," she said.

Earlier Thursday, a self-described Ukrainian information warrior sent her thanks to Canada from Kyiv after it tightened its economic chokehold on Russian oligarchs and opened its arms to Ukrainians fleeing the war.

The government announced Ukrainians can find a safe haven in Canada using expedited temporary visas for emergency travel, while it ratcheted up economic pressure on Russia by booting it and its ally, Belarus, off its most favoured nation list of trade partners. That now subjects their exports to 35 per cent tariffs, said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Until Thursday, the only other country that did not enjoy that preferred trading status with Canada was North Korea, she noted.

From Kyiv, a 33-year-old information technology worker said though she was not aware specifically of what Canada announced on Thursday, it was exactly what was needed to help her country fight off the Russian invasion.

"My message is: Canadian people, please support Ukraine in this war. For Canadian politicians, political people, please provide the strictest regulations towards Russia. Cut them from everything, from economical relations in business to the political things," Olivia Milton said in an interview from her home in the Ukrainian capital.

"Canadian people, we hear your voices and we appreciate your support. We appreciate that you can host Ukrainian people in Canada right now  and we appreciate support (that) preceded that."

Milton said she was part of a Ukrainian "information army" made up of public relations, marketing and information specialists who are flooding social media channels to tell the world about the horrors being inflicted on their country.

Freeland said the brainstorming of her fellow G7 finance ministers and other western allies to find new, creative ways to inflict economic pain on Russia has been driven by the heroic efforts of Ukrainians of all stripes to repel their massive military opponent over the past week.

"That incredibly brave, incredibly spirited resistance has inspired the West," she said.

Freeland said western democracies might be "losing our mojo. You know, we were getting a little bit cynical about whether democracy really works." But she said seeing a smaller Ukrainian military force stand up to a much larger enemy "has been transformative."

Freeland said the new measures announced Thursday will increase the pressure on Russia's oligarchs, whom she called the "sycophants" and "enablers" in President Vladimir Putin's inner circle who have lived luxurious lives in the West.

Women and children, fleeing from Ukraine, sleep at a makeshift shelter in the train station in Przemysl, Poland, Thursday, March 3, 2022. More than 1 million people have fled Ukraine following Russia's invasion in the swiftest refugee exodus in this century, the United Nations said Thursday. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

"They have enjoyed a pretty fabulous lifestyle in the West with yachts and mansions and having their kids at the fanciest universities and private schools. And what we've done with these measures, much more forcefully than the Russian elite anticipated, is we have said, 'You know what, you have to pick sides.'"

Freeland announced new sanctions against 10 executives with Gazprom, a major Russian state-owned energy company, and Rosneft, Russia's leading oil company. Freeland said that brings to 1,000 the total number of people and entities sanctioned, or in the process of being sanctioned, by Canada since Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

"We're showing that there are consequences. And it's very important for Russia to understand that these consequences will become more and more severe," she said. "Watch this space: there's a lot more to come."

Trudeau said Canada and other close partners are calling for Russia's suspension from Interpol.

"We're supporting this because we believe that international law enforcement co-operation depends on a collective commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and mutual respect between Interpol members."

The government is taking steps to help Ukrainians who have chosen to flee by providing fast-tracked visas for an unlimited number of those who wish to come to Canada to work, and then return home when it is safe, said Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. He said these visas will take just weeks to process, instead of the usual year.

Fraser said a refugee resettlement program would have taken years, and he learned from his conversations with the Ukrainian community that many people will want to return to their home country when the conflict ends.

The application process is expected to open in about 14 days.

Fraser said biometric technology will be used to screen out people in Ukraine who have fought for the Russians after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and during Russian-backed unrest in the country's eastern region in the last eight years.

The United Nations Refugee Agency says the refugees who have fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries since Russia launched its attacks last week now number one million.

The agency warned that without an immediate end to the conflict, millions more will be forced to leave their country.

Freeland said Canada will push the International Criminal Court to pursue "architects" of what she repeatedly called a "barbaric" war for war crimes and crimes against humanity. But she made a distinction between them and young Russian soldiers who she said likely didn't know they were about to invade a foreign country.

"I feel so sorry for them. They've really been sent into a meat grinder to support one man's barbaric effort to undermine democracy," she said.

"I feel sorry for their families."

In addition to the economic pressure, Canada plans to send more lethal military aid to Ukraine in the form of 4,500 rocket launchers and 7,500 hand grenades from the Canadian Forces armoury.

Canada has also pledged $1 million for the purchase of high-resolution modern satellite imagery.

Fraser also announced a new reunification program for Ukrainians with family in Canada who wish to come and remain here permanently.

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The government has encouraged refugees to continue to apply to come to Canada through traditional immigration streams, and says their requests will be expedited too.

About 6,000 expedited applications from Ukraine have been approved since January.

Earlier Thursday evening, the Prime Minister's Office said Trudeau spoke with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A summary of the conversation said the two leaders "condemned these actions as blatant violations of international law" and they "agreed to meet soon."

Rutte tweeted about the call on Thursday and said he would speak with Trudeau in London on Monday, where they would both meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022.

 With files from Laura Osman, The Associated Press and ABC News.
Bryson Woolsey is trading in his chefs apron and the luxury of home for ammunition and danger to help people in Ukraine during their time of crisis.

Bryson Woolsey is trading in his chefs apron and the luxury of home for ammunition and danger to help people in Ukraine during their time of crisis.

The 33-year-old cook from Powell River, B.C., said he dropped the frying pan to answer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys call for foreigners to join an international brigade to defeat Russia.

Bryson Woolsey, shown in a handout photo, is trading in his chefs apron and the luxury of home for ammunition and danger to help people in Ukraine during their time of crisis. The 33-year-old cook from Powell River, British Columbia, said he dropped the frying pan to answer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys call for foreigners to join an international brigade to defeat Russia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Bryson Woolsey

Its not my desire to go into combat and just shoot people. Thats not the reason, he said in an interview. Theres something happening right now, and I have the capacity to help in some way.

While heads of state hammer out sanctions to slow down and stop Russias invasion of Ukraine, people from all walks of life are answering Kyivs call to arms regardless of personal risk and training.

Yet while Ottawa has largely adopted a hands-off approach, saying the decision to fight is up to individuals, some are worried about the potential legal and national security questions of having a large number of Canadians head off to war.

Author and historian Tyler Wentzell, who has studied Canadians involvement in previous foreign conflicts, said it will be interesting to watch how people respond to this request for help considering Canada is home to the third-largest Ukrainian population.

Foreign volunteers have a way of making things seem a little bit less foreign, said Wentzell, who has written a book on Canadians fighting in the Spanish Civil War.

So, if these volunteers go  were going to start to have Canadians sending back TikTok videos from the front lines. And I think that will fundamentally change how Canadians view the conflict.

But Wentzell also noted that there is a difference between the official Ukrainian Armed Forces and any number of oddball militias that already exist or may emerge in such situations.

Some paramilitary units in Ukraine, and even certain segments of the Ukrainian military, have been linked to far-right extremism and hate, and even accused of past war crimes.

The Foreign Enlistment Act actually restricts when people can fight in a war that does not directly involve Canada. Passed in 1937, it was intended to keep Canada neutral during the Spanish Civil War and basically banned joining a foreign military to fight a country Canada considers friendly.

Wentzell, who has studied the act extensively, says he believes those going to fight for Ukraine would not be violating the law. The same might not be said for those who might join the Russian military, even though Canada and Russia are not at war.

At the same time, he said volunteers should be careful about joining Ukrainian paramilitary units as their conduct and affiliations with certain groups could put them afoul of Canadian law.

Kyiv has said anyone who wants to join the international brigade to contact the local Ukrainian Embassy. An email to the embassy in Ottawa asking for more information was answered Wednesday with a question about military and medical experience.

The federal government has not directly addressed the legality of Canadians fighting in Ukraine, or whether it supports those who want to do so. Federal ministers have instead couched the issue as a matter of personal risk.

I will say that is an individual decision that Canadians are making for themselves, and our job as a government is to provide information about the severity of the situation on the ground in Ukraine, Defence Minister Anita Anand said Tuesday.

The call for international volunteers to fight in Ukraine has raised other questions and concerns for Stephanie Carvin, a former national security analyst who now teaches at Carleton University.

Carvin noted extremist groups in Canada and elsewhere are always looking for ways to get military training, experience and credibility. Volunteering to fight in Ukraine could offer all three.

There are national security implications to large numbers of Canadians going overseas and getting military experience by forces we dont know, she said.

Because they may end up with the Ukrainian army, or they could end up with other factions there. And we do know the factions exist, and that could cause problems down the road.

Woolsey noted Canada said that those who want to volunteer to fight for Ukraine are welcome to do it, adding that hes aware of some other countries that have warned their citizens against it.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday warned those in his country against going to fight in Ukraine after his foreign secretary over the weekend got into hot water for voicing her support.

It is clear that the people of Ukraine have right on their side and I can understand why people feel as they do, Johnson said during a visit to Estonia. But we have laws in our country about international conflicts and how they must be conducted.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also advised people against going to Ukraine to fight citing legal logistics and informal militias that might mushroom in such situations.

One: dont do it, dont do it, he said during a news conference. Secondly, the legal position at best is unclear. At best is unclear. And as a result, we would not be encouraging people to join in those efforts.

Australian law prohibits its citizens, residents, and visa holders from engaging in hostile activities overseas unless serving in the armed forces of a foreign country, said a statement from the Department of Home Affairs.

Foreign fighters who have returned to Australia who are suspected of committing a criminal offence will be investigated by law enforcement and security agencies, it said.

The Australian government also has measures in place to proactively identify and take action against non-citizens who have engaged in criminal activity and behaviour of concern, it added.

However, U.S. President Joe Bidens administration has taken a similar approach to Canada.

Our travel advisory remains U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine, White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

She added that the State Department has issued travel advisories and warnings to help Americans make the most informed decisions about their safety, so thats what I would refer you to.

While Carvin didnt want to suggest most Canadians want to do anything but help Ukraine and its people, she worried the government wasnt being clear enough in its own position  or about the potential dangers.

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Joshua Robertson of Barriere, B.C., whose grandfather came to Canada in the 1930s from Ukraine, said his connection to that country is so deep that it cant be explained.

Its just something thats calling me back home, he said. I need to go and help.

The 31-year-old who is hoping to go to Ukraine by mid-March said he has no military experience and is pretty scared. But its something that needs to be done, he added.

Were ready to fight, Robertson said. We will lay down our lives.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2022.

 with files from Tobin Ng in Ottawa and James McCarten in Washington, D.C.
OTTAWA  Former Quebec premier Jean Charest says he's waiting to see party rules before deciding whether he will run to be the next Conservative leader.

OTTAWA  Former Quebec premier Jean Charest says he's waiting to see party rules before deciding whether he will run to be the next Conservative leader.

Charest met Wednesday night with MPs and senators at a hotel in downtown Ottawa at a reception planned by two people who want him to run.

On his way in he told reporters he's waiting for the party to release the rules of the race to see how long it will last.

"The rules will tell us where a campaign is viable or not," he said.

"You'll remember that two years ago I came to the conclusion that the campaign would not have been viable because there wasn't enough time for me to go out there to introduce myself to the membership and to recruit new members, so that'll be part of what we'll be looking for is are the rules viable.

"Do they allow us to do a real campaign and get ourselves known."

So far Pierre Poilievre, the well-known Conservative MP from the Ottawa area, is the only declared candidate in the race.

As Charest met behind closed doors with around 40 MPs and senators, Shannon Stubbs, a Poilievere supporter, tweeted out an image attacking Charest for supporting carbon pricing and the long-gun registry.

"I'm with grassroots Conservative Party members. Our leader must share our values and respect our policies. I'm against the carbon tax, the long-gun registry, and for tax cuts, not tax takes," she wrote.

Conservative MP and former leadership contender Michael Chong said earlier Wednesday that he hasn't ruled out another potential run for the job.

In 2017, he placed fifth in the crowded race to replace former Conservative leader and prime minister Stephen Harper, in which Andrew Scheer was ultimately elected.

Chong told reporters his first priority now is his foreign affairs critic role, which he holds as Canada and other world powers respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

CP Conservative MP Michael Chong placed fifth in 2017 to replace former Conservative leader and prime minister Stephen Harper. (Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press files)

The second focus, he said, is "thinking about, in the coming weeks, what I can do to help my party and my country."

As Conservatives wait to find out their options for party leader, many of their 119 MPs have already thrown their support behind Poilievre.

The contest hasn't officially begun. A committee of Conservatives struck to establish the rules of the race is to meet again in the coming days. It must decide the criteria for membership sales and entrance fees, not to mention make the all-important decision about how long the competition will last.

Quebec Conservative Sen. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu said earlier Wednesday he believes the race should run until September to provide candidates from outside caucus a chance to enter, including Charest, as well as political commentator Tasha Kheiriddin, who is considering becoming a candidate.

Others considering running include Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who formerly led Ontario's Progressive Conservatives, and Leslyn Lewis, the Ontario MP who placed third behind former leader Erin O'Toole in the 2020 contest, thanks to considerable backing from social conservatives and members from Western Canada.

One factor that hangs over the race's timing is the fact that Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau governs in a minority Parliament, which means an election could happen any time.

The lack of official party rules hasn't stopped different camps of Conservatives from coalescing around prospective candidates and Poilievre from kicking off his fundraising.

He's also been hitting the road. He attended an event in Montreal earlier in the week and on Friday plans to hold a rally in Regina.

Poilievre has also been staking out his own policy positions. Recently, he released a video in which he called Europe's response in the lead-up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine "weak."

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"There's a reason much of Europe has cowered in this face of this thug  oil and gas," he said in the roughly six-minute video.

Some of those in caucus backing his leadership defended his wording, while at least one characterized it as divisive.

"I think that we don't have to divide, we have to be very solid with Ukraine. And I think we have to be very prudent with comments," said Boisvenu.

Chong added the Conservative position is that Canada, alongside Europe, the United Kingdom and United States, have presented a united front to counter Russia's aggression.

"Our view is also that NATO has been brought together by this threat coming from President (Vladimir) Putin and the Russian federation and it is working more cohesively and more strongly than it has in the past 10 years."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2022.
OTTAWA - The co-founder of GiveSendGo, a crowdfunding platform used by protesters who blockaded the national capital, testified Thursday to being OK with hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Proud Boys fundraising on the site, so long as it was legal.

OTTAWA - The co-founder of GiveSendGo, a crowdfunding platform used by protesters who blockaded the national capital, testified Thursday to being OK with hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Proud Boys fundraising on the site, so long as it was legal.

The statement emerged from one of the many testy exchanges between MPs on a parliamentary committee and Jacob Wells and Heather Wilson, siblings who founded the U.S.-based site they describe as Christian.

The platform became the vehicle used by organizers of a weeks-long protest in downtown Ottawa last month after GoFundMe cancelled an earlier campaign that raked in more than $10 million.

That decision came after GoFundMe consulted with police in Ottawa about the protest, company president Juan Benitez told the committee separately on Thursday.

Local leaders described the protest as an "occupation" because demonstrators in big rigs blocked street access around Parliament Hill and honked incessantly, causing headaches for local residents.

There were also reports of local businesses facing harassment by those involved and concerns raised over some protesters displaying swastikas and other Nazi symbols.

MPs pressed the GiveSendGo founders for allowing protest organizers to use their site to raise millions of dollars after the city of Ottawa declared a state of emergency over the situation.

Wilson said she believes it was wrong of GoFundMe to pull the plug on the initial fundraiser and said many of the campaigns they host turn to them after being removed due to "political beliefs."

She also questioned why the federal Liberal government didn't reach out directly to GiveSendGo with concerns about the site facilitating funding. Wilson said the information they were receiving about the situation was "hearsay" from media reports.

"I really believe that if Trudeau had just come out and spoken with the truckers when they got there, a lot this would have been avoided," she added.

Wells said most of the donations made were under $100 and confirmed that roughly 60 per cent of the money originated from Canada, while about 40 per cent came from the United States.

He told MPs he saw the protest as being "largely peaceful" and felt there were efforts by what he called a "fringe percentage" of the group to ruin it.

While he emphasized how the platform values freedom, committee member and Liberal MP Pam Damoff questioned its ties to the Proud Boys, which in Canada are listed as a terrorist entity and have used the site for fundraising.

"If we started mandating litmus tests for how good people ought to be in order to use public services, we would be in a very, very difficult situation," Wells said.

"We believe completely to the core of our being that the danger of the suppression of speech is much more dangerous than the speech itself."

In response, Damoff quipped: "My brand of Christianity is very different than yours if it includes hate."

The committee heard Thursday that the more than US$8.4 million raised through the site remains in an American bank account after the Ontario government successfully petitioned a court to freeze its distribution.

Earlier in the hearing, MPs heard from GoFundMe representatives about their decision to release $1 million to a protest organizer, nearly two weeks after the fundraiser began and before it was cancelled.

Kim Wilford, counsel for GoFundMe, said at the time there was nothing to signal there were issues with organizer Tamara Lich, who now faces mischief-related charges linked to her role in the protest.

The money was provided with information on how the funds would be dispersed, including how leftover cash would be sent to registered charities, Wilford said.

It was after the money was released that Benitez said the situation took a turn.

"Things immediately and very rapidly changed," he said. "Communication changed, information on the facts changed, the convoy itself changed and we responded to those changes."

He took MPs through a timeline of how it started monitoring the campaign on Jan. 15, one day after it was launched, because of how many people started contributing.

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At the time Benitez said the fundraiser fell within its terms of service.

But by Feb. 4, after consulting with local police, GoFundMe decided to axe the campaign, which at that point had topped $10 million, and began offering refunds to donors.

The committee heard that more than 85 per cent of the campaign's donations came from Canada and the federal Liberal government never reached out directly with any concerns.

Benitez said while there are lessons to be learned from the experience, he hopes MPs recognize the action taken by GoFundMe.

"The freedom convoy fundraiser was unique," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022.
OTTAWA - A new poll suggests almost two-thirds of Canadians believe the Russian invasion of Ukraine has the potential to develop into a world war.

OTTAWA - A new poll suggests almost two-thirds of Canadians believe the Russian invasion of Ukraine has the potential to develop into a world war.

Just over half of those surveyed backed the idea of Canada providing military support for Ukraine against Russia as part of a joint North Atlantic Treaty Organization force.

The online survey of 1,519 Canadians and 1,004 Americans was conducted by Leger from Feb. 25 to 27, just after Moscows attack began.

The survey cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered truly random samples.

Perhaps not surprisingly, 89 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they were somewhat or very concerned about Russia invading Ukraine.

Asked which side they supported in the conflict, 83 per cent of Canadians said Ukraine, compared with 71 per cent of Americans who backed the target of Moscows assault.

Almost three-quarters of Canadians said Russian President Vladimir Putin was lying when he tried to justify the invasion by saying, "I have decided to conduct a special military operation  to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide  for the last eight years."

Just over two-thirds of Americans polled said Putins statement was a lie.

Sixty-six per cent of Canadians surveyed said they felt Russias invasion could escalate into a global conflict, a figure that surprised Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque.

The figure indicates people see the war as more than just someone else's conflict in a faraway place, he said.

"I would imagine that this sort of concern is probably growing in the population."

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In terms of first steps to address the conflict, 45 per cent of Canadians surveyed advocated stronger economic sanctions against Russia, the primary course of action Canada and its allies have pursued to date.

Just over one-fifth backed the idea of starting negotiations to find a peaceful compromise, while 14 per cent supported military action to help defend Ukraine. Just two per cent advocated military action against Russia.

Twelve per cent of Canadians polled said they backed waiting and seeing what happens, while seven per cent supported doing nothing.

Possible action by the Canadian military was supported by nine per cent of Canadians, while 52 per cent backed the idea if Canada were part of a joint NATO force.

Thirteen per cent said Canada should only send military supplies and money, and 11 per cent felt no military support should be provided.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022.
OTTAWA  Tamara Lich, one of the most prominent organizers of the Ottawa convoy that gridlocked the citys streets for over three weeks, says the judge who denied her bail was biased against her cause and has asked the court to review the decision.

OTTAWA  Tamara Lich, one of the most prominent organizers of the Ottawa convoy that gridlocked the citys streets for over three weeks, says the judge who denied her bail was biased against her cause and has asked the court to review the decision.

Lich was arrested Feb. 17 and charged with counselling mischief, the day before police moved in to disperse crowds in downtown Ottawa using powers invoked under the federal Emergencies Act.

Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois denied Lich bail on Feb. 22, having deemed the convoy organizer a risk to reoffend. In her decision at the time, Bourgeois said she felt Lich was obstinate and disingenuous in her responses to the court, and that her detention was "necessary for the protection and safety of the public."

In court Wednesday, Lichs lawyer filed an affidavit on her behalf that said had she known Bourgeois was a Liberal candidate in the 2011 federal election, she would have asked the justice to recuse herself from the case.

"Had I had that information beforehand, I would have felt uncomfortable with the situation," Lich told the court Wednesday.

She spent the majority of the hearing sitting up straight in the accused dock with her hands folded in her lap, her blond hair in a high bun and a mask over her face.

While protests in downtown Ottawa were mainly aimed at COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates, demonstrators also took aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party with profane flags and slogans.

Lichs lawyer, Diane Magas, also argued that Bourgeois repeatedly referred to the impact of the protest on "our community" in her decision to keep Lich in jail.

"If a justice feels impacted in our community, in her community, in my submission she should not sit. There should be an out of town judge," Magas told the court.

Fellow protest organizer Chris Barber, who travelled by convoy from Alberta to Ottawa with Lich, was arrested the same day as her and charged with mischief, counselling to commit mischief, to disobey a court order and to obstruct police.

He was granted bail on Feb. 18 by the same justice who initially ordered Lich to remain in custody.

Crown counsel Moiz Karimjee said the allegation against Bourgeois is "frivolous," and suggested that Lich lied when she said she would have asked for another judge.

"Really? When the day before, the judge released her friend Mr. Barber?" Karimjee asked the court. "That allegation has no merit whatsoever, and indicates that Ms. Lich is capable of lying under oath."

Wednesdays bail review hearing was delayed slightly as hundreds of spectators attempted to log into the video conference carrying the proceedings, and flooded the chat with messages of support.

Lich has been described as the public face of the protest. One of the lawyers assisting the demonstrators called Lich "the spark that lit this fire and the leader of this organization" at a news conference less than one week into the Ottawa protest.

Lich led the GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $10 million for the so-called Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa, before the website pulled the plug on the campaign and refunded donations, citing local political leaders concerns the demonstration had become an "occupation."

In order to reopen Lichs bail hearing, the judge would have to find Bourgeois made an "error in law" or that the circumstances have changed.

Magas said Bourgeois made an error when she said Lich was a danger to the public, as Lich advocated for peaceful protest and has not been charged with a violent offence.

"Theres been no suggestions of violence, intimidation, threats, destruction of property of any sorts by Ms. Lich, or even her encouraging such activities," Magas said.

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The Crown argued there have been no errors made, and the circumstances surrounding Lichs bail application have not changed.

Karimjee said to release Lich into the community would send the message that people can "flagrantly breach the rule of law, show no respect, no genuine respect for the law."

A decision is expected Monday.

Pat King was denied bail for charges related to their role in the protests over the risk they would reoffend.

Daniel Bulford was arrested and released without charges.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2022.
HALIFAX - The RCMP and a police union are resisting calls to have officers who responded to the worst mass shooting in Canadian history be compelled to testify at the public inquiry investigating the tragedy.

HALIFAX - The RCMP and a police union are resisting calls to have officers who responded to the worst mass shooting in Canadian history be compelled to testify at the public inquiry investigating the tragedy.

All 18 officers who responded to the killings that left 22 people dead over two days in April 2020 run the risk of being re-traumatized on the witness stand, the lawyer for the National Police Federation argued Thursday.

Nasha Nijhawan told commissioners they must consider the inquiry's mandate to be "trauma-informed" in dealing with witnesses.

In addition, Lori Ward, the lawyer for the Attorney General of Canada, which represents the RCMP, said the families' lawyers must realize the public inquiry is attempting a "brave new world" in terms of its format.

"We hear the frustration from lawyers used to a trial-style approach to gathering evidence  but that doesn't mean other methods or alternate methods of evidence aren't meaningful," Ward said.

Most of the RCMP officers who responded to the killings have already provided extensive, unsworn interviews to commission counsel, she said, adding that unless it's clear something is missing, that should suffice.

Lawyers for family members on Thursday asked the inquiry for constables Stuart Beselt and Vicki Colford to testify under oath about the early hours of the attacks in Portapique, N.S., the community west of Truro where the shootings began on April 18, 2020.

Beselt was an acting corporal who was among the first four RCMP members to respond to 911 calls after the killer began his shooting spree.

Michael Scott, a lawyer representing 14 of the 22 victims' families, said, "We need to hear from these officers for the simple reason: they were there. We need to know what the officers heard and saw and did.

"We haven't heard from any witnesses and at this point in the process, we've moved very quickly through one of the central timelines."

Steve Topshee, a lawyer who represents two of the victims' families, noted that Beselt was the first to arrive and within minutes encountered Andrew MacDonald, who had been shot and injured, and MacDonald's wife, Kate MacDonald, as they were exiting the community.

The inquiry's summaries, released earlier this week, indicated that it was Beselt who determined that there was a mass shooting underway and decided to advance on foot with his body armour and carbine, along with constables Adam Merchant and Aaron Patton.

Colford, meanwhile, remained at the main entrance to the community, assisting the MacDonalds and relaying information to other officers.

"It's not to put him (Beselt) on the stand to cross-examine him  it's to get to the truth and get to the facts," Topshee said. "It's not a blame-seeking situation. It's an inquisitorial and fact-seeking situation."

He noted that as Beselt prepared to enter the community on foot, rather than continuing in his patrol car, he talked about the Moncton, N.B., shooting of five RCMP officers in June 2014. During an interview Beselt gave to the commission before hearings began, he told investigators that the Moncton shootings had taught officers that it was riskier to be in a car during a mass shooting than on foot.

"What is he talking about?  That has to be explored," Topshee said. "That has to be looked into."

Topshee said he wanted to ask Colford, who has retired from the force, questions about information she had relayed to officers on April 18, 2020, about a possible escape route the killer could use.

The commission has published transcripts in which Colford radioed to her colleagues that she had heard there was "kind of a road that someone could come out," after she spoke to Kate MacDonald. The commission has said that the killer likely escaped through a rough road that wasn't being monitored by the RCMP.

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Ward said Beselt and Colford had addressed key issues in their interviews, and she said it's unclear further testimony is needed. She also suggested questions could be submitted in writing.

Lawyers for the police union and RCMP argued that the questions victims' families have about the killings have already been answered and can be found in the written transcripts of pre-inquiry interviews.

Commission lawyer Gillian Hnatiw didn't advocate for having any of the officers testify. Instead, she said that some police officers, including Beselt, would participate in "a series of roundtables" composed of firefighters, paramedics and police that are scheduled to take place during the inquiry's second phase later this year.

However, Scott said this wouldn't address the questions families have about the police response on April 18-19, 2020, during the 13-hour manhunt for the perpetrator, who was driving a replica police vehicle.

"We are extremely frustrated at the prospect of having to justify seeking facts in a fact-finding process," he told the commission.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022.
The Conservative Party of Canada will wait until Sept. 10 to pick a new leader, providing more time for prospective candidates to mount their campaigns, including former Quebec premier Jean Charest.

The Conservative Party of Canada will wait until Sept. 10 to pick a new leader, providing more time for prospective candidates to mount their campaigns, including former Quebec premier Jean Charest.

Charest met with about 40 MPs and senators Wednesday evening before the rules of the contest were announced several hours later. He said he was waiting to see the rules before making a decision.

Youll remember that two years ago I came to the conclusion that the campaign would not have been viable because there wasnt enough time for me to go out there to introduce myself to the membership and to recruit new members, so thatll be part of what well be looking for is are the rules viable, he said.

Do they allow us to do a real campaign and get ourselves known.

Among the decisions Conservatives on the committee had to make was opting for a shorter contest or a longer one  a decision many said would determine how many candidates would decide to enter the race, such as those not currently serving as MPs and who may run on single issues.

So far, the only candidate that has declared himself to be running is Pierre Poilievre, a well-known Ottawa-area MP with a reputation for fiery performances in Parliament.

As Charest met behind closed doors and fielded questions from curious MPs Wednesday evening, Conservatives got a taste of what a race with Poilievre may look like.

Shannon Stubbs, a Poilievre supporter, tweeted out an image of Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Charest, attacking him for supporting carbon pricing and the long-gun registry.

Im with grassroots Conservative Party members. Our leader must share our values, and respect our policies. Im against the carbon tax, the long-gun registry, and for tax cuts, not tax takes, she wrote.

Charest, a former leader of the Quebec Liberal and federal Progressive Conservative parties, didnt respond when asked about him being attacked as a Liberal. Caucus members who attended brushed it off as political gamesmanship.

Gerard Deltell, a prominent Quebec MP who is backing a Charest run, said he believes its better to stick to speaking positively about your own candidate.

The party says candidates will have until April 19 to throw their hats into the ring.

The entry fee will be $200,000, on top of a $100,000 deposit to ensure they comply with the rules, which will be refunded after the contest is over.

That is the same amount of money needed to enter the last leadership race in 2020, which saw Erin OToole take the helm of the party.

Membership applications must be in by June 3 and ballots will begin going out to Conservative party members.

Among the people who came to hear Charest speak Wednesday were some from Saskatchewan and Alberta, provinces home to the partys staunchly conservative base.

Saskatoon MP Kevin Waugh acknowledged that as a former premier of Quebec, it would be tough for Charest to run in his province.

Others who attended included some of the partys newest members sent to Ottawa in last Septembers federal election.

Mr. Charest is very, very inspirational and quite honestly, I think thats what the country needs right now, said Nova Scotias Dr. Stephen Ellis.

There are people that have an it factor and there are people who dont  and he has an it factor.

Earlier that day, Conservative MP and former leadership contender Michael Chong said that he hasnt ruled out another potential run for the job.

In 2017, he placed fifth in the crowded race to replace former Conservative leader and prime minister Stephen Harper, in which Andrew Scheer was ultimately elected.

Chong told reporters his first priority now is his foreign affairs critic role, which he holds as Canada and other world powers respond to Russias invasion of Ukraine.

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The second focus, he said, is thinking about, in the coming weeks, what I can do to help my party and my country.

As Conservatives wait to find out their options for party leader, many of their 119 MPs have already thrown their support behind Poilievre.

Others considering running include Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, who formerly led Ontarios Progressive Conservatives, and Leslyn Lewis, the Ontario MP who placed third behind former leader Erin OToole in the 2020 contest, thanks to considerable backing from social conservatives and members from Western Canada.

The lack of official party rules until late Wednesday hasnt stopped different camps of Conservatives from coalescing around prospective candidates and Poilievre from kicking off his fundraising.

Hes also been hitting the road. He attended an event in Montreal earlier in the week and on Friday plans to hold a rally in Regina.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2022.
Demand for COVID-19 booster shots has plummeted in Manitoba, and the massive surge of infections this winter could be partly to blame.

Demand for COVID-19 booster shots has plummeted in Manitoba, and the massive surge of infections this winter could be partly to blame.

Chris Chuckry was among the tens of thousands of Manitobans who caught COVID-19 late last year as the highly contagious Omicron variant ripped through the province. The college instructor in his mid-50s was forced to cancel his booster appointment after getting infected.

And hes still waiting.

Chuckry is following the recommendation made by federal and provincial public health officials to wait three months after infection before getting boosted. Hes re-booked for mid-March.

DANIEL CRUMP / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chris Chuckry was among the tens of thousands of Manitobans who caught COVID-19 late last year as Omicron ripped through the province.

He believes there are other Manitobans who are eager to get boosted, but are following government recommendations to hold off in favour of greater protection.

"I was a little disappointed, but it makes sense," Chuckry said, adding catching COVID-19 hasnt changed his opinion on immunization. "If it was available to me earlier, I would have definitely gotten it earlier."

If it (booster) was available to me earlier, I would have definitely gotten it earlier.  Chris Chuckry

To date, 52.8 per cent of Manitobans 18 and up have opted for a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to the more than 87.7 per cent of adults who have been double vaccinated.

Boosters became widely available to adults on Nov. 10, with public health officials recommending third doses six months after a persons second shot, particularly for those at increased risk of serious illness, their caregivers and close contacts.

Since then, more than 580,300 people have received a third dose, with the highest number of boosters recorded on Dec. 29, when 17,907 were delivered.

However, the province has averaged just over 700 booster shots per day in the past two weeks.

In the past two weeks, the province has averaged just over 700 booster shots per day.

A combination of factors including recent mass infection, government messaging on booster shots and pandemic fatigue have all likely played a role in slowing booster uptake, public health experts say.

And going forward, governments and public health units will face significant challenges in encouraging third doses as public health measures are eliminated, said Michelle Driedger, University of Manitoba professor of community health sciences.

More than 580,300 people have received a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Certainly, some people only got their vaccines because of mandates," said Driedger. "When we start seeing the removal of restrictions that already is going to be taking off a lot of the emphasis on the importance of vaccines."

On Wednesday, deputy chief provincial public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal said uptake of third doses has been strong among the most vulnerable Manitobans, with just over 70 per cent of people 50-plus boosted.

"A lot of people have gotten that third dose," said Atwal, one day after Manitoba lifted its vaccination mandates.

Atwal noted there may still be a number of Manitobans waiting the required five to six months to pass before getting a third dose, but did not have those numbers readily available.

Certainly, some people only got their vaccines because of mandates."  Michelle Driedger

A request for comment from vaccine task force lead Dr. Joss Reimer was not returned by deadline.

Driedger argued there has not been enough public messaging to support booster uptake, including sharing information about the protection offered by boosters compared to natural infection, as restrictions are eliminated in Manitoba.

JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES When we start seeing the removal of restrictions that already is going to be taking off a lot of the emphasis on the importance of vaccines, said Michelle Driedger, a professor of community health sciences at the the University of Manitoba.

The removal of the mask mandate and other protective measures further downplays the risk of COVID-19 despite strong public health recommendations to get vaccinated and continue to mask up while indoors, she said.

"Those messages still have to be there about the importance of vaccines even though we are having now to learn with it," Driedger said. "Part of learning to live with it is still following those recommendations. Its not something, just because were tired of it, that we can ignore."

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca

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A 15-year-old Stonewall girl is accused of murdering and robbing a Winnipeg man whose body was found in a car in Assiniboine Park early Saturday morning.

A 15-year-old Stonewall girl is accused of murdering and robbing a Winnipeg man whose body was found in a car in Assiniboine Park early Saturday morning.

City police officers discovered Paul Enns, 43, in a secluded parking lot off Conservatory Drive, just north of Corydon Avenue, when they responded to a well-being call at about 3 a.m.

A park security officer alerted police after approaching the car and seeing Enns dead inside, a city hall source said.

FACEBOOK Winnipeg police say the body of Paul Enns was discovered in a car in a parking lot off Conservatory Drive at Assiniboine Park, just north of Corydon Avenue.

The teen, whose hometown is 35 kilometres from the homicide scene in Tuxedo, has been charged with second-degree murder and robbery.

The girl, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, appeared in court at the Manitoba Youth Centre on Wednesday following her arrest a day earlier. She is due back in court Tuesday.

A source with knowledge of the investigation said another arrest is expected.

Police would not say if Enns and the suspect knew each other or what brought them together in the parking lot, which is surrounded by trees near Assiniboine Parks southeast boundary.

"I know theres lots of questions over the circumstances, but I just cant provide that right now," spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said.

Grieving family and friends shared their memories of Enns on Facebook, where his mother Claudette announced his death in a post Monday.

"My beautiful son who was so kind and loved everyone is gone," she wrote. "I will give you more details when the police tell us more. Please pray for our family and please pray for Paul Enns."

My beautiful son who was so kind and loved everyone is gone... I will give you more details when the police tell us more. Please pray for our family and please pray for Paul Enns.  Claudette, mother

In response to messages of condolence, Claudette Enns said her family had been through "the worst day of our lives."

According to his social media profiles, Enns was single and a self-employed developer of cryptocurrency financial software and apps. He had worked various jobs in recent years, including tech support and sales.

He graduated from the University of Manitoba with a bachelor of science, majoring in computer science, in 2003, a LinkedIn profile stated.

Friends told the Free Press he was divorced.

"He was really smart, a child prodigy," said a childhood friend, who had not seen Enns in years.

"He was very brilliant. He was energetic and happy," said Rick Thornton, a friend from London, Ont. "He was a hopeless romantic. He had a bad habit where he wouldnt put himself first."

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The teen, whose hometown is 35 kilometres from the homicide scene in Tuxedo, has been charged with second-degree murder and robbery.

In recent months, Enns Facebook timeline was filled with posts opposing COVID-19 restrictions. His profile also featured far-out conspiracy theories, cryptocurrency market trends, selfies showing off new hair styles and pictures of a BMW car.

"He was not afraid to go down the rabbit hole. He would investigate (theories)," said Thornton.

Enns told Thornton he became a self-made millionaire a few years ago through cryptocurrency investments, but he no longer had the same wealth. At the time of his death, he was investing in cryptocurrency projects, said Thornton.

When they last spoke Friday afternoon, Enns did not mention any plans for that evening or indicate he was going to meet anyone, said Thornton, who learned of his friends death when he saw Claudette Enns post.

By then, Thornton figured something was wrong because Enns hadnt been responding to phone calls or text messages all weekend.

"At first, I think I was in disbelief. I started crying," he said. "I just want to pick up the phone and call him and I cant."

At first, I think I was in disbelief. I started crying... I just want to pick up the phone and call him and I cant.  Thornton, friend

He said Enns was excitedly planning an adventure in which he planned to drive across Canada in a truck or recreational vehicle.

Former neighbour Cathy Rencz recalled the days Enns and her son played together as children in their Waverley Heights neighbourhood in the early 1990s.

"Paul was a really sweet kid and super smart. I expected him to become a scientist because he was just curious and asking lots of questions about things, something normal kids dont do," Rencz said.

Rencz was shocked when she found out Enns had died.

"No parent wants to be the one whose child dies before them," she said, adding she doesnt know anything about what happened or why Enns was with a girl that young.

She said Claudette Enns told her the crime scene was awful.

Enns death is Winnipegs eighth homicide of 2022. Last year, the city recorded its eighth slaying in mid-May.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Police would not say if Enns and the suspect knew each other or what brought them together in the parking lot, which is surrounded by trees near Assiniboine Parks southeast boundary.

Yellow evidence markers were visible in the snow next to a dark-coloured BMW within a police cordon in the parking lot Saturday.

Security found the victim and contacted police, confirmed Laura Cabak, a spokeswoman for Assiniboine Park Conservancy.

"Park security perform regular patrols of the park around the clock, 365 days a year," she said.

Cabak said security officers have not received any complaints recently about people or cars being in the parks parking lots late at night.

Coun. Kevin Klein (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) said residents havent complained to his office about crime or anti-social behaviour in the area.

He is alarmed there have been so many homicides so early in the year.

Im gravely concerned at the lack of attention paid to public safety in Winnipeg.  Coun. Kevin Klein

"Im gravely concerned at the lack of attention paid to public safety in Winnipeg," said Klein.

Anyone with information about Enns death is asked to call the Winnipeg Police Service major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

 With files from Erik Pindera and Dean Pritchard

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching
WINNIPEG - The Supreme Court of Canada has decided not to hear an appeal from the Manitoba Metis Federation over a cancelled hydroelectric deal.

WINNIPEG - The Supreme Court of Canada has decided not to hear an appeal from the Manitoba Metis Federation over a cancelled hydroelectric deal.

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The federation and Manitoba Hydro reached an agreement in 2017 that would have given the Metis group $67 million for supporting a variety of hydro projects at regulatory hearings.

Then-premier Brian Pallister cancelled the deal and said it was aimed at buying support instead of providing compensation for any impacts of hydro projects.

The federation took the issue to court and argued that the government had no right to cancel a deal reached by the Crown energy corporation.

But a Manitoba judge ruled the government was well within its rights to approve or deny the agreement, which had not been signed and was subject to cabinet approval.

The federation wanted to appeal to the Supreme Court, but the high court has rejected the request and, as per its usual practice, not provided any details for its decision.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2022
By Azernews





By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan's theater figures have gathered in Baku to demonstrate the greatness of the theater art.

Around twenty independent theaters are taking part in the festival being held for the first time.

Speaking at the event, People's Artist Vidadi Hasanov noted that the festival is held with the support of the Public Council under the Culture Ministry.

He expressed his hope that after the festival the number of independent theaters will increase in the country.

Within the festival, numerous events will take place at the Rashid Behbudov State Song Theater and the Shah Mat Theatre.

As part of the festival, the theater teams will stage various productions and take part in panel discussions

The festival will feature performances, discussions of productions, panel discussions, meetings with theatrical figures.

Theater productions based on works by Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Fyodor Dostoevsky, S?awomir Mrozek, Ulviya Heydarova and others will be staged as part of the festival.

Head of the Culture Ministry's Department of Art and Intangible Cultural Heritage Farah Ajalova stressed that the ministry involves independent theaters in various projects.

" Festival of Short Performances 4.4 took place last November. The festival brought together representatives of the state and independent theaters. At the same time, the Culture Ministry initiated "Laboratory for young theater producers" in partnership with the Russian Institute of Theater Arts (GITIS)," she said.

The opening ceremony was followed by a production staged by M Theater.

Notably, the Festival of Independent Theaters will last until March 7.

Theater development in Azerbaijani culture has a very rich history, which begins with the theatrical elements of open-air folk performances, religious ceremonies and much more.

Azerbaijani theater originated in the second half of the 19th century, with the comedy "The Vazir of Lankaran khan" by Mirza Fatali Akhundov, the first Azerbaijani playwright, prominent thinker and philosopher.

First amateur performances staged by students of non-classical secondary school by initiative of Hasan-bay Zardabi and with the active participation of the Najaf-bay Vezirov and Alakbar Adigozalov, gave an impetus to the establishment of the national theater.

There are a number of theaters operating in Azerbaijan, including Shaki Drama Theater, YUGH Theater and many others.

Today, Azerbaijani theatre art is taking a new turn in the art world. The country pays great attention to the development of theater art.
An Indigenous woman in Saskatchewan wants police officers fired over their response to a domestic dispute in which she says she was detained and her 13-month-old son left with a man accused of killing him.

An Indigenous woman in Saskatchewan wants police officers fired over their response to a domestic dispute in which she says she was detained and her 13-month-old son left with a man accused of killing him.

No mother should ever have to go through this. No mother should have to feel this pain, Kyla Frenchman said in a statement Wednesday. He was such a happy baby who was always smiling.

The Prince Albert Police Service responded to Frenchmans home on the morning of Feb. 10.

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, speaking on Frenchmans behalf, alleges officers racially profiled her and accused her of being drunk. It says they detained her and left the toddler with his father.

They locked her up, lied, and said she was drunk when she was not. This is criminal negligence that would be disgusting in any country, federation vice-chief Dutch Lerat said in Saskatoon. They didnt care about the safety of the First Nations baby.

Kaij Brass was subsequently charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tanner Brass. He was arrested after police received a phone call and returned to the home about five hours after their first visit.

The federation, which represents 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan, said police didnt do a welfare check on Tanner or bring in the Ministry of Social Services.

Federation Chief Bobby Cameron said Frenchman made the initial 911 call because she was fearful for their safety.

When Kyla put the call in, it was clear, she said (to police) my baby. They get to the residence and detain her. Again she said my baby. In the cop car, she said my baby and in the cells, she said my baby, Cameron said.

Frenchman, the federation and other Indigenous groups are calling for the officers involved in the initial response to be fired, along with Prince Albert police Chief Jonathan Bergen.

Cameron, who accused officers of being racist against Indigenous peoples, wants Saskatchewans Ministry of Policing to investigate the Prince Albert Police Service.

The officers would have taken the utmost care and attention if that baby was white, but were First Nation and were being subjected to horrendous, ignorant behaviour from these types of officers, Cameron said.

Were angry. And we expect and demand justice and immediate change and immediate results.

The Saskatchewan Public Complaints Commission is investigating how police responded to the call. Bergen requested the investigation.

The message is received loud and clear, and we are acknowledging we have much work to do to build back the trust and confidence of the community that we serve, Bergen said Wednesday.

He said the two officers who responded to the family dispute were junior members with less than five years experience combined.

Both remain in their roles and, pending completion of the investigation, it will be decided if discipline is necessary, Bergen said.

Since the toddlers death, Bergen has appointed a new inspector to oversee the services patrol section.

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He said that before the change, the inspector on duty was responsible for managing multiple areas, including the patrol division, police detention and custody.

As we look at inter-partner violence and our response as a police service to it, we know theres a number of areas we can improve, Bergen said. Thats where were focusing on with the immediate structure change that has occurred.

The FSIN has called for changes at the Prince Albert police since last year following the deaths of three Indigenous men in custody.

Thunderchild First Nation Chief James Snakeskin said the toddlers death has affected many other First Nations.

This is plain racism and its hard to see this childs life was lost because of that, he said in a statement. This has traumatized many people and its sad to know things like this are still happening.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2022.
While many Manitobans prepare to get on with their lives, the most vulnerable to COVID-19 believe theyre in even greater danger as the province scraps all remaining restrictions.

While many Manitobans prepare to get on with their lives, the most vulnerable to COVID-19 believe theyre in even greater danger as the province scraps all remaining restrictions.

Some people who are immunocompromised have told the Free Press they feel the Tory government ignored them when it sped up its plan to get rid of rules aimed at protecting all Manitobans.

Theyve avoided leaving home for weeks or months at a time because theyre at higher risk of serious illness or death, and they wont change their cautious approach as the province shifts to what Premier Heather Stefanson has called a "new normal."

Doctors Manitoba estimates more than half of Manitobans are at increased risk of severe illness from COVID due to more than 20 factors  from age and underlying health issues to obesity and smoking.

"It feels reckless to be removing all the restrictions without making sure the most vulnerable people in our community are as protected as we can be," said Winnipegger Lindsay Wright, who has autoimmune disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Lindsay Wright, has a autoimmune disease and rheumatoid arthritis. She is at a higher risk if she gets COVID and thinks the government is moving too fast in easing the pandemic restrictions.

"We knew this was coming, but we dont actually get to decide when were finished with the virus. The virus decides when its over."

When the virus flares, Wright, 40, goes weeks without leaving her home and months without seeing people outside her family bubble.

Shes gone grocery shopping only twice since the pandemic started in early 2020, and has mostly been working from home.

Isolating at home doesnt eliminate her risk. Her husband is a nurse and her teenage daughter goes to school.

The worst chapter, Wright said, was last spring when she and her husband lived in separate areas of their home, wore masks indoors and avoided being in a car together.

He was working on a COVID ward and she wasnt yet eligible for a vaccine.

Wright has no plans to relax or change her routine now that the province has lifted capacity limits and proof-of-vaccination mandates, a move that allows unvaccinated people to visit public places, including restaurants, for the first time since September.

Health-care, daycare and education workers no longer have to show proof of vaccination or undergo regular testing. Critics argue this puts people with chronic medical conditions, the elderly, younger children who arent eligible for a COVID vaccine and the health-care system overall at risk.

The face-mask mandate will end March 15, a day before Wright is due to receive her fourth vaccine dose.

"Ill be staying home for the next little while until I have booster antibodies," said Wright, who works in marketing and advertising. "Ill need to see how many people keep wearing masks in public places. Were going to be extra-cautious and see how things play out."

Ill need to see how many people keep wearing masks in public places. Were going to be extracautious and see how things play out.  Lindsay Wright

As it moves from the pandemic to an endemic response, Manitoba is also scrapping COVID case investigations and a rule requiring people who test positive to self isolate.

Dr. Jazz Atwal, the deputy chief provincial public health officer, said Wednesday people who are sick should stay home.

He said severe outcomes, hospitalizations and cases are trending downward.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Dr. Jazz Atwal, the deputy chief provincial public health officer, said Wednesday people who are sick should stay home. He said severe outcomes, hospitalizations and cases are trending downward.

Immunocompromised people, however, have told the Free Press the province should keep restrictions until community transmission and COVID hospitalizations are lower.

They said the government has ignored warnings from health-care workers, and lacks data due to inadequate testing and contact tracing.

Jack, a double lung transplant who asked that his last name not be published, doesnt go shopping because hes worried about contracting the virus.

"Its like being on an island by yourself sometimes," said the 68 year old. "I think its hurtful the way theyve (lifted restrictions). Those that didnt follow the rules sort of won. Theyre able to go back to their normal way of life, but I dont have that option."

His wife, Marian, 64, has been doing their grocery shopping and running errands.

"My fear is going out and bringing something home to him," she said. "I would love to be able to let this fear go and know things are getting better."

My fear is going out and bringing something home to him (Jack)... I would love to be able to let this fear go and know things are getting better.  Marian

When Stefanson and Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, spoke to reporters Feb. 11, they suggested it was safe to ditch restrictions because the highly contagious Omicron variant, which fuelled the fourth wave, peaked in January and was subsiding.

"Manitobans have put their lives on hold, and its time that we give them their lives back," Stefanson said that day.

But many vulnerable Manitobans feel their lives are still on hold and feel forgotten in government decisions, said Joelle Robinson, chair of the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities.

"Lifting those restrictions could have huge consequences for us," said Robinson, a retired lawyer who has multiple sclerosis. "We are the last to be considered, but often the first to be affected. (The province) should listen to the science and the medical professionals, and not their poll numbers."

If another wave overwhelms the health-care system, people with disabilities or chronic conditions might not have access to the care, procedures or services they need, Robinson warned.

On Feb. 2, Roussin acknowledged vulnerable Manitobans need to be protected, but said there will always be some level of risk and restrictions have to end at some point.

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said the government is moving too fast.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES My main concern is people are going to die unnecessarily because the PCs arent listening to public health, said Liberal leader Dougald Lamont.

"My main concern is people are going to die unnecessarily because the PCs arent listening to public health," he said.

Lamont and Winnipeg critical-care physician Dr. Doug Eyolfson said the vaccine mandate for health-care, daycare and education workers should continue.

"There is no reason to get rid of that requirement," said Eyolfson, a former Liberal member of Parliament.

He is worried about people who have chronic conditions and children who are too young to be vaccinated.

"The provincial government is taking a very dangerous gamble," he said.

The province recommends people who are moderately to severely immunocompromised receive four doses of a vaccine. The fourth dose should be given five or six months after the third, depending on age or background.

Wright said Manitoba should cut the wait to as little as three months.

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS It feels reckless to be removing all the restrictions without making sure the most vulnerable people in our community are as protected as we can be, said Lindsay Wright.

She and the others urged Manitobans to consider vulnerable people and continue to follow basic precautions, including getting vaccinated, wearing masks, limiting contact and staying home when ill, to reduce the spread of the virus.

"Were all very tired and we want this to be over," said Wright. "I hope people scrape together a little bit of kindness to get us through this next little bit."

Doctors Manitoba launched a website, NewCOVIDNormal.ca, to explain the risks to Manitobans.

"As pandemic protections are eased, please remember that theres still a significant risk and a need to take precautions," its president, Dr. Kristjan Thompson, said in a statement. "COVID continues to circulate widely."

People who are at higher risk should keep their guard up and speak to their doctor about how to protect themselves, say charities that support them.

"Lifting the precautions early means more people getting COVID," said Neil Johnston, president and CEO of the Lung Association of Manitoba.

Lifting the precautions early means more people getting COVID.  Neil Johnston, president and CEO of the Lung Association of Manitoba

Dana Erickson, CEO of Manitoba Possible, formerly the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities, said parents of immunocompromised children are feeling anxious.

"Families cant be locked up in their house," he said.

The Canadian Cancer Society has urged provinces and territories to take steps to prevent potential future waves.

"The fewer COVID-19 cases there are, the more likely it is that those with cancer will receive the uninterrupted care they need," said regional manager Angeline Webb.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching
A B.C. man who admitted he had fatally shot a recently released inmate as he left a Winnipeg halfway house has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years.

A B.C. man who admitted he had fatally shot a recently released inmate as he left a Winnipeg halfway house has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years.

Dyllan Petrin pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder in the July 2020 shooting death of 31-year-old Cody Alexander Sleigh.

This was clearly, by any standard, a cold-blooded murder a senseless slaughter of another human being, said Queens Bench Justice Rick Saull.

Petrin was set to stand trial for first-degree murder in April but agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge in a deal that will allow him to apply for parole five years earlier than if had been convicted on the original charge.

A small reduction in parole ineligibility is appropriate, given Petrins young age, admission of guilt and the subsequent avoidance of a complex trial, Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft told court.

Mr. Petrin is a young man and he is looking at a life sentence, Vanderhooft said.

Co-accused Kleon Cassidy Pop, Petrins getaway driver, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 years in prison last month.

Court was told Sleigh had left the Main Street halfway house shortly before 6 a.m. and was about to get into a taxi to go to work when Petrin, who had been waiting outside wearing a yellow reflective vest as a disguise, shot Sleigh six times at point-blank range, including once in the head.

The taxi driver alerted police that Petrin had dropped his wallet as he ran to his rented Kia Forte5. The wallet didnt contain identification, but it had Petrins DNA.

Petrin, who was on bail for a home invasion, was arrested in B.C. on Jan. 21, 2021.

Petrin, Pop and Sleigh all served prison time together in B.C. before Sleigh, who had been convicted of kidnapping and other offences, was released from Saskatchewan Penitentiary four months prior to his death.

While the motive for the killing remains unclear, it appears to be connected to disputes Sleigh had with another inmate while in custody in Surrey, B.C., Vanderhooft said.

While we cannot say for sure Mr. Sleighs demise was as a result of incidents with (the inmate), Correctional Services Canada was aware Mr. Sleigh was potentially in danger, Vanderhooft said.

Petrin and Pop drove to Manitoba in a borrowed car, then rented a 2017 Kia Forte5 under an assumed name and changed hotels twice before the killing. Both accused were seen cleaning the car before returning it to the rental agency.

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But for police tracking that Kia, narrowing it down to five such vehicles in the city and finding where all of them were it was from that point that police did hundreds and hundreds of hours of work pulling this case together and finally identifying the culprits, Vanderhooft said.

Sleigh was working two jobs and trying to turn his life around after his release from prison, his father John Sleigh wrote in a victim impact statement provided to court.

Codys life was ended by the cowardly acts of some gutless criminals who shot and killed him in cold blood, John Sleigh said. We cannot find room in our hearts for forgiveness for the cowards who committed this heinous crime.

Petrins guilty plea is the first step in repaying his debt to society and Sleighs family, said defence lawyer Chelsea Suderman.

We acknowledge that debt will never be fully repaid, she said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Manitoba asking the federal government to extend the deployment of Red Cross nurses is at odds with the province ditching COVID-19 public health restrictions and its plans to return to normal, critics say.

Manitoba asking the federal government to extend the deployment of Red Cross nurses is at odds with the province ditching COVID-19 public health restrictions and its plans to return to normal, critics say.

"When the Red Cross is being called in, theres been an ongoing crisis," NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said during question period Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair announced a request for federal assistance from Manitoba was being met and the Red Cross was to "help fulfil short-term, urgent needs and address staffing shortages."

His announcement came the same day the province cancelled the proof of vaccination against COVID-19 requirement for indoor dining and other non-essential services.

ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair announced a request for federal assistance from Manitoba was being met and the Red Cross was to help fulfil short-term, urgent needs and address staffing shortages.

On Wednesday, the province announced those who test positive for COVID-19 will soon no longer be required to self isolate. Starting March 15, masks will no longer be required at most indoor public places.

However, now is not the time to loosen restrictions, critics charge.

"The reality is hospitals are still under strain," Asagwara said.

A provincial spokesperson said the request of the federal government was for continued support from three Red Cross nurses already working at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. The trio will stay on until mid-March "to augment Manitobas COVID-19 response."

While Manitobas COVID-19 case counts and hospitalization numbers continue to trend down, its ICU and acute care centres continue to be a few weeks behind those trends.

A front-line health-care professional at a Manitoba hospital told the Free Press they were alarmed the province continues to need federal nursing help, and worried another pandemic wave may be coming.

"The Red Cross announcement surprised me, as I thought that they would have been sent back prior to the loosening of restrictions," the staff member, who agreed to comment on the condition of anonymity, said Wednesday.

The source said theyre once again being called back to work on their days off  a move that had seemed to peak in early January.

"Call backs have picked up again, including ones related to COVID," the worker said.

"This has me concerned, with the new sub variant in the province combined with our low vaccination rate and, now, no restrictions. I hope this is just a blip. Short staffing makes it harder and harder to manage each surge."

Health Minister Audrey Gordon told reporters Wednesday decisions to loosen public health restrictions are based on COVID-19 indicators that are being closely monitored.

Premier Heather Stefanson said the province is in a "transition phase" right now in its hospital system, as COVID-19 cases decrease and staff are redeployed to their home units.

The request for an extension of the Red Cross nurses at HSC was to ensure there is a "continuity of care," the premier said.

Meantime, health-care advocates said lifting restrictions while hospitals are understaffed is "wrongheaded."

"Masking and vaccine mandates are popular and effective strategies, and to be getting rid of strategies like that while you are still in the midst of calling for help from the federal government just strikes us as wrongheaded," Manitoba Health Coalition director Thomas Linner said in an interview.

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"Theres a number of things that are still concerning in our health-care system  one is that we know we have a chronic understaffing, whether or not there are Red Cross nurses being brought in to our health care," Linner said.

"We also know that we are seeing patients still being transferred out of their own home health regions on a consistent basis All of these are indicators that we shouldnt be taking the foot off the gas when it comes to popular and effective public health measures."

The restrictions are being lifted "for political reasons," by a government is not even "pretending" to listen to public health officials, Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont told the Free Press.

"The PCs are doing one thing and saying another. Telling the federal government we need help for COVID outbreaks behind closed doors, while telling Manitobans the pandemic is basically over, when it is clearly not."

 with files from Malak Abas

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has brought conflict and a board shake-up to Winnipeg-based farm machinery manufacturer Buhler Industries.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has brought conflict and a board shake-up to Winnipeg-based farm machinery manufacturer Buhler Industries.

The publicly traded Canadian firm announced Wednesday it had accepted the resignation of Russian national and parent company co-owner Konstanin Babkin, replacing him on its board of directors with Adam Reid (vice-president of sales and marketing).

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On Feb. 24, Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking a week of heavy fighting and pushing an estimated 800,000 people to flee the eastern European nation.

"Mr. Babkin has been a vocal supporter of the actions taken by the Russian Federation. These views are in stark contrast to those of the North American executive team and do not reflect the position or values of Buhler Industries," the company said in a news release Wednesday.

"Buhler Industries Inc. continues to strongly oppose the decisions of the Russian Federation and stands with the people of Ukraine. In light of the current situation, the company has made several changes to the board of directors to align the organization with the values of the Canadian-based leadership team."

Buhler also announced the role of board chairman would now be held by Grant Adolph, a Canadian who has been with the company since 1975. Former chairman, Russian national Dmitry Udras, remains on the board.

Company founder John Buhler is retiring from the board, and will be replaced with former company president Ossama AbouZeid, the release said.

Chief executive officer Yury Ryazanov, Udras and Babkin are co-owners of the Russian conglomerate that controls 97 per cent of Buhler Industries shares.
A yet-to-be arrested teen boy is the primary suspect in a Winnipeg mans slaying in Assiniboine Park, says the lawyer representing a 15-year-old girl charged Tuesday with second-degree murder.

A yet-to-be arrested teen boy is the primary suspect in a Winnipeg mans slaying in Assiniboine Park, says the lawyer representing a 15-year-old girl charged Tuesday with second-degree murder.

Its important for the public to understand there is a co-accused, David Walker said Thursday. Our position will be that the co-accused is the primary suspect.

FACEBOOK The body of 43-year-old Paul Enns was found early Saturday morning in a car parked in a secluded lot off Conservatory Drive, just north of Corydon Avenue.

The body of 43-year-old Paul Enns was found early Saturday morning in a car parked in a secluded lot off Conservatory Drive, just north of Corydon Avenue.

A park security officer alerted police after approaching the car and finding Enns dead inside, a city hall source told the Free Press Wednesday.

Walker said a male suspect was in hospital for treatment of an ailment unrelated to the killing and was expected to be arrested as soon as his condition allowed.

MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A 15-year-old Stonewall girl is accused of murdering and robbing Paul Enns.

Police have not released any details about how Enns was killed and whether he knew the arrested teen.

Walker suggested his client, who he described as a small, meek girl, with no criminal record, would not be physically able to inflict the very serious injuries Enns suffered.

The injuries to the victim are not commensurate to that kind of accused there is no way to square it, he said.

Walker would not comment on the circumstances that allegedly brought Enns and his client together.

Its definitely our position she is completely innocent, he said. We are going to fight this vigorously. The primary suspect is not in custody.

The Stonewall girl, who has also been charged with one count of robbery, remains in custody. Her next court date is scheduled Tuesday.

A Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson would not confirm whether a second suspect has been identified.

We have nothing further to add at this time, Const. Jay Murray said Thursday.

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A source familiar with the investigation told the Free Press Wednesday another suspect was expected to be arrested.

According to his social media profiles, Enns was single and a self-employed developer of cryptocurrency financial software and apps. He had worked various jobs in recent years, including tech support and sales.

According to childhood friend Rick Thornton, Enns said he became a self-made millionaire a few years ago through cryptocurrency investments, but he no longer had the same wealth. At the time of his death, he was investing in cryptocurrency projects, Thornton said.

Enns is Winnipegs eighth homicide victim of 2022.

Anyone with information about Enns death is asked to call the Winnipeg Police Service major crimes unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
The spring session of the Manitoba legislature officially began Wednesday with the introduction of two new bills  but the spectre of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was front and centre.

The spring session of the Manitoba legislature officially began Wednesday with the introduction of two new bills  but the spectre of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was front and centre.

Members of the legislative assembly were united against a common enemy and in support of democracy, but divided on how best to show it.

"Manitoba stands with the people of Ukraine," Premier Heather Stefanson told the house.

She condemned Russian President Vladimir Putins "heinous attack" on Ukraine and said its not the first time Ukrainians have suffered under an "evil" dictatorship. The premier noted the monument on the grounds of the legislature to the victims of the Holodomor, the man-made famine and genocide in Ukraine engineered by Russian dictator Joseph Stalin in the 1930s.

Premier Heather Stefanson during a moment of silence for Ukraine on the first day back in session at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Wednesday. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Manitobans are united with Ukrainians to "make sure that never happens again," she said.

The government has pledged $150,000 in humanitarian aid for Ukraine and is working to expedite more than 100 immigration applicants to Manitobas provincial nominee program. It also pledged to work with the federal government to welcome refugees whove fled Ukraine.

Thats not enough, critics say.

"We know we have to do more," said NDP Leader Wab Kinew, who called on members "to unite against a common enemy  that enemy is Vladimir Putin."

Manitoba should be bringing in thousands of Ukrainian immigrants and refugees and providing them with support and settlement services, he told the house. The province should waive the $500 application fee for nominee program applicants from Ukraine, a country where many Manitobans have roots, Kinew said.

Manitoba should be bringing in thousands of Ukrainian immigrants and refugees and providing them with support and settlement services, NDP Leader Wab Kinew said. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

There were 18 Ukrainian applicant files in the nominee program system recently, and all were prioritized, completed and sent to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for permanent residency approval, according to the press secretary for Immigration Minister Jon Reyes.

Those were in addition to 36 Ukrainian applicant files previously sent, said Brant Batters, who could not provide specific dates late Wednesday.

Both Kinew and Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont called for the premier to match Manitobans donations toward humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and to make sure the province is supporting economic sanctions and not harbouring any business dealings of Russian entities supporting Putin.

"We know theres a need to take steps to lift the veil of secrecy which helps to protect business interests of some of the oligarchs who enable Vladimir Putin," Kinew told reporters in a scrum outside the legislative chamber.

"Manitobas business registry is a black box," Lamont said, adding there are a few Russian oligarchs with assets in Manitoba. He called on the provincial government to create a transparent, searchable public registry that could identify them.

Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said any Russian oligarchs with assets in Manitoba should have them frozen. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

"Its the only way well be able to identify assets and freeze them to put more pressure on Russia and help Ukraine," Lamont said.

However, Manitoba already has "some of the most complete legislation in the country," the premiers press secretary, Olivia Billson, said Tuesday.

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The 2019 Business Registration, Supervision and Ownership Transparency Act requires companies registered in Manitoba to track people who have 25 per cent or more interest in voting shares, including those outside the province and offshore.

"We can also confirm that the government of Manitobas borrowing and investment activities in no way involve Russia," she said.

Two government bills were introduced Wednesday.

Bill 11 (Elections Amendment Act) authorizes the use of vote-counting machines and removes the requirement a candidates residential address be published.

Bill 10 contains two legislative amendments: one would allow pharmacists to continue to conduct COVID-19 tests, the other allows for virtual meetings of co-op and condo owners, corporate directors and shareholders to continue post-pandemic.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
A plane carrying Russian nationals on its way to the High Arctic was grounded in Yellowknife , the Northwest Territories infrastructure minister said Wednesday.

A Russian member of Winnipeg-based farm machinery manufacturer Buhler Industries who has been a vocal supporter of the invasion has resigned , and a Canadian has replaced another Russian who remains on the board as chairman.

Nearly two-thirds of Canadians believe the invasion of Ukraine could develop into a world war , a poll found.

China called a report it asked Russia to delay invading Ukraine until after the Beijing Winter Olympics  fake news .

Organizers of the Winter Paralympics have reversed a previous decision and expelled athletes from Russia and Belarus because of the war.

More talks aimed at ending the fighting after Russia invaded Ukraine are expected to happen today in Belarus, although it appears the chances of a ceasefire are slim.
I HAVE to admit, my heart sank as my eyes caught the headline Latest Manitoba modelling contains limited wastewater data (Free Press, Feb. 14).

Opinion

I HAVE to admit, my heart sank as my eyes caught the headline "Latest Manitoba modelling contains limited wastewater data" (Free Press, Feb. 14).

"Limited water data" is a somewhat ubiquitous expression that continues to plague those who work in the field of freshwater science. Its a polite and opaque way of saying "we really dont have nearly enough data to build an accurate and complete picture of the health of our fresh water  nor to plan for the future."

All the more galling, given that it was published during Love Data Week.

While that article ultimately revealed that what was limited was the amount of wastewater surveillance data released by the province to help model the trajectory of COVID-19, that phrase remained somewhat triggering for me  especially since I had learned earlier that day that pharmaceutical pollution has wreaked incredible havoc on the worlds rivers.

Despite proudly touting here in Canada that our fresh water (20 per cent of the worlds supplies) is our most importance resource, the freshwater data landscape is sparse and patchy. So much so, in fact, that just over a year ago, WWF-Canada revealed it couldnt even determine the health of 60 per cent of Canadas watersheds, citing lack of data.

I know data is not a particularly sexy topic; in fact, its a pretty nerdy and cumbersome one. But it really is the building block of the scientific processes that keep us and our environment safe.

Without reliable, consistent and accurate data on the health of Canadas freshwater environments, we dont know how healthy and safe those freshwater supplies are, nor can we completely understand the impacts humans are having on them.

The aforementioned study on pharmaceutical pollution and rivers could not have drawn its (admittedly dispiriting) conclusions without access to vast swaths of accurate data from across the globe.

And when it comes to monitoring Canadas freshwater supplies regularly in order to obtain that data, COVID-19 certainly hasnt helped. So, what is the solution? Well, as always, we need to innovate how we do things.

When it comes to scientists monitoring freshwater systems, there are some incredible new innovations on the horizon  many of which are right here in Canada.

Citizen science, or community-based water monitoring (CbWM)  empowering plucky citizens across given regions to grab their knapsacks and go out and take samples of their surrounding bodies of water to be submitted to larger datastreams across the country  has boomed during the pandemic.

And thats a critical part of our freshwater monitoring infrastructure in Canada  a land of often remote and scattered freshwater bodies that are impractical for our limited cadre of scientists to reach.

And we need to maintain this momentum for community-based water monitoring through federal and provincial investments to ensure theyre viable options to complete our freshwater data puzzle here in Canada.

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This includes investment in existing CbWM organizations dotted around the country so they can empower (and fund) local communities to monitor their local water bodies; share the results in accessible formats across communities, cities and provinces; and make informed decisions to effect real improvements to the health of those water bodies.

When it comes to scientists monitoring freshwater systems, there are some incredible new innovations on the horizon  many of which are right here in Canada.

For example, researchers at the IISD Experimental Lakes Area, just outside Kenora, are monitoring one of their lakes for everything from temperature to chlorophyll from the comfort of their own home office. This is thanks to a rather funky Canadian invention: a solar-powered floating platform that tests the water for given parameters, processes the information and then transmits that right to an office in Winnipeg (or London, Tokyo or Sydney, for that matter) to be understood and acted upon.

As the pandemic has taught us, data about health  whether human or environmental  is the only way we can understand current trends and make the best decisions about how to improve them.

Canadas most precious resource, fresh water, is no exception, but we need to invest in its monitoring  for us, and for future generations.

Matthew McCandless is executive director of the IISD Experimental Lakes Area.
PUT sunflower seeds in your pockets, so when you die on my land, flowers will grow.

Opinion

"PUT sunflower seeds in your pockets, so when you die on my land, flowers will grow."

Thats what the Ukrainian woman in civilian clothes told a Russian invader with an automatic rifle last week. Its the least he could do, before a distant brother shoots him dead in the fields, on the steppe or in Kyiv.

The people of Ukraine are taking up arms, as the military and citizen defence units of a democratic nation shoot down the planes and level the tanks of an authoritarian aggressor.

Like one-sixth of Winnipeggers, my blood is Ukrainian. My great aunt was born on the Prairies, in a sod hut under a rainstorm, as great-grandpa worked the land as he would have on the steppe back home.

My family came to Manitoba, up to Grandview and Dauphin, to grow wheat and barley, beets and potatoes. Then they grew families, from farmers to doctors and lawyers and diplomats  and journalists, like me. They built churches and towns. They communed with the Cree and the Ojibwe. They helped built this province into what it is.

They fled the chaos of Europe in the early 20th century. Now, it seems, the chaos has returned to their homeland, as it so often has.

Cousin Daria was the first I spoke to, before the bombs began to fall. I promised her I would do what I could as a journalist to help.

Our ancestral ties are different  her mothers family, Auntie Hannia, came later in the 20th century. Darias nationalist fervour is felt in text messages and phone calls from the front; mine is a distant memory and a longing for real ties.

My side of the family were bohemian bumpkins who barely knew what country they left, while the borders shifted constantly  much different than the family of my ex-girlfriend, Alexa, whose parents fled the Soviet Union just decades ago, rather than a century.

But as I watch the bloodshed on CNN and on Twitter, my heart twinges for the place I know I am from, despite never having touched its soil.

Two of my aunties cousins, men, are staying to defend Ukraine, while the others flee to Poland. Auntie Angela in Ottawa went to the vigil as the bombs fell, the blue and yellow of Ukraine crowding the street. In Winnipeg, thousands crowded in front of the legislative building Saturday, chanting in solidarity, calling for the west to act.

Cousin Joseph is researching Ukrainian art, and he wrote an essay decrying Russias propaganda war, its oligarchy and Putins authoritarianism.

"How is this happening again?" Daria wrote to me weeks before Vladimir Putins troops moved in. "It cant happen. Ukraine has worked so hard for their independence."

But that raises a question  how do I report on a war in a country I have never been to, but that feels my own all the same?

Last week, while working on a story, I walked into a store on Selkirk Avenue that is run by a Ukrainian. I recognized the man behind the till. He comes to my uncles house on Christmas Eve every year. He sings carols.

He also sings for Ukraine, collecting cash for the armed forces and for the care packages sent to those who need it.

Is it right for me to write about the horror in my ancestral home? Do my blood ties muddy my ability to report on whats happening, or do they strengthen it?

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Im not sure, but I lean toward the latter.

In a group chat, the family shares their wishes and news. Cousin Natalya wishes she was "home" in Winnipeg rather than in Toronto. Cousin Ivana wishes Natayla was here, too. Auntie Vonnie says the bloodshed is surreal. Auntie Carla had to work another shift as a public-health nurse amid the pandemic, but she says she was there in spirit on Saturday outside the legislature.

Overseas, my relations are fleeing their country  our country  or theyre fighting to keep every inch of its soil.

Little boys play piano in the lobbies of hotels in Kyiv while outside in the villages, ladies in babushkas make Molotov cocktails and the government hands out automatic rifles.

Here at the intersection of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, I just repeat words of hope.

Erik Pindera is a reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press.
The clamour around the future of Portage Place has quieted down to a chirp. For the moment, its closer to the timbre of the sparrows that live in the mall than to the bluster of Bay Street billionaires.

Opinion

The clamour around the future of Portage Place has quieted down to a chirp. For the moment, its closer to the timbre of the sparrows that live in the mall than to the bluster of Bay Street billionaires.

The stage is now set for a more modest  yet in many ways, profoundly more ambitious  vision for the neighbourhood mall than the one formerly proposed by Toronto mega-developer Starlight Acquisitions.

An unintended but welcome effect of the Forks North Portage Partnerships proposed  and now terminated  sale of Portage Place to Starlight was that it prompted community leaders who opposed the sale to sketch the broad outlines of a grassroots vision for Portage Place, based on priorities that radically differ from those of large property owners and business-oriented politicians.

Inner-city community leaders now agree that the counter vision for Portage Place that they have spent the past several years articulating makes an open-ended community consultation about the malls future unnecessary. The community-based vision for Portage Place  as formulated by community leaders who made presentations at city hall and formed the Portage Place Community Coalition and Portage Place Community Voices Committee  is made up of four key pillars:

1. Portage Place should become a non-profit community centre (that may include for-profit stores offering affordable necessities, as determined by the community) primarily for the people in the neighbourhood, rather than a corporate shopping mall aspiring to serve Jets ticketholders.

2. Hundreds of new rent-geared-to-income social housing units should be built at Portage Place.

3. A real safety plan that centres on Indigenous women and girls should replace the current security approach.

4. Indigenous peoples should own Portage Place.

How possible is this? Since 2019, three things have transpired that make a community-based Portage Place appear realistic:

First, the federal government, which owns the land and parking garage beneath Portage Place jointly with the city and province, has acknowledged it must consider its treaty obligations before privatizing its Portage Place assets. This means a treaty land entitlement process, similar to the one that led to the Treaty One Development Corporations Naawi-Oodena redevelopment of the Kapyong Barracks, could be a possibility for Portage Place.

Second, the city and province have shown their hand by offering a combined $49 million to Starlight for the redevelopment of Portage Place. Whats more, the federal government did not reject out of hand Starlights request for $50 million plus $240 million in loans.

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While the civic and provincial commitments were made with the aim of attracting investment and increasing the tax base, those levels of government have a responsibility to fund community centres and social housing. Given that before the pandemic, the building was offered for sale by Vancouver-based Peterson Group for only $23 million, a public purchase of Portage Place would seem to be easily accomplished.

Third, the Hudsons Bay Companys downtown Winnipeg department store, which permanently closed in 2020 and is valued at $0, is attached to Portage Place by a skywalk. The bulk of the HBCs wealth was stolen from Indigenous peoples by means of exploitative terms of trade and a seven million acre land grant from the British Empire, made without the involvement of Indigenous peoples.

Given the immense level of unmet need that exists in Winnipegs city centre, and the stated willingness of the city and province to support its redevelopment, the Bay building would make a logical component  and HBC would make a logical funder  of an Indigenous-owned Portage Place/Bay building community centre and housing complex.

The profit rates of enclosed shopping malls around the world are declining, and a worldwide process of de-malling is taking place, with cities from Lisbon to Memphis turning disinvested malls into human-services centres. Winnipeg community leaders have a demonstrated capacity to transform large, outmoded buildings into thriving new community infrastructure, with a long track record of inspiring examples that includes the redevelopment of the Canadian Pacific Railway depot on Higgins Avenue into the Neeginan Centre, the Gault building on Arthur Street into Artspace, the Christies Biscuits factory on Notre Dame Street into the Specialized Services for Children and Youth centre, and, as we speak, Kapyong Barracks into Naawi-Oodena.

What is needed now is a formal counterproposal, based on the four pillars above, for communities and organizations to rally around. As the powers that be quietly scramble to find another developer to gentrify the mall, the door has opened for community leaders to seize the public conversation.

Owen Toews is the author of Whats Going on With Portage Place?, recently published report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in Placing Community at the Heart of Recovery from COVID: The State of the Inner City Report 2022. Its available at www.policyalternatives.ca/manitoba.
When bombs explode in Ukraine, Manitoba feels the reverberations and shudders.

This province is geographically distant from the country under siege, but the separation of thousands of kilometres and an ocean cant weaken the special bond between Manitoba and Ukraine.

Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press. Thousands gathered at the Manitoba legislature in support of Ukraine.

The 182,000 Manitobans of Ukrainian descent are understandably appalled by news coverage of citizens in their homeland huddling in underground corridors and shelters, or caught in traffic jams while trying to flee the country.

Their outrage is shared by many Manitobans of different ethnic backgrounds who, even without a personal family link to Ukraine, remain distraught to see the country attacked by Russian invaders at the direction of a dangerously deranged tyrant.

The public support is visible. Thousands of Manitobans gathered beneath the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag on the legislative grounds last weekend, some chanting "Glory to Ukraine," and Winnipeg Jets fans on Tuesday evening gave an extended standing ovation after the Hoosli Male Chorus performed Ukraines national anthem. But many Manitobans want to move beyond symbolism and take specific, tangible action.

We can support boycotts. We can donate money and goods to help Ukraine. We can pray, as Manitoba churches have been doing this week. Perhaps most importantly, we can prepare to accept Ukrainian migrants when the time is right.

To sharpen the focus so our humanitarian efforts are most effective, an appropriate place to begin is consultation with leaders of the Ukrainian community in Manitoba. They are well equipped to advise how best to help.

Thousands of people rally against the Russian invasion of Ukraine outside the Manitoba Legislature in Winnipeg Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

Winnipeg serves as the head office of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and is the spiritual center of both the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Canada and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. Officials in these and other Ukrainian organizations maintain on-the-ground contacts in Ukraine.

A local Ukrainian official said this week some Manitobans have already offered to help welcome Ukrainian migrants, but its too soon to expect a flood of migrants, as most of the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who have fled their bomb-ravaged country are temporarily sheltered in neighbouring European countries, perhaps waiting with hope to see whether the invasion of their country will soon be resolved.

Encouragingly, Canadian governments have pledged to make it easier for Ukrainians fleeing the war to find refuge here. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last Thursday their immigration applications would be prioritized. And Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson told the crowd gathered Saturday on the legislative grounds that Manitoba will take in more Ukrainians under the provincial nominee program.

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While such government pledges are promising, immigration watchers note Ottawa was also enthusiastic last year when it promised to welcome 40,000 Afghan refugees and, to date, only about 8,000 have been allowed in. The gap between intention and action on immigration matters is well known to Lloyd Axworthy, who chairs the World Refugee and Migration Council.

His group urges Ottawa to tap into communities with a sizeable Ukrainian community  Manitoba has the highest per capita of any Canadian province  for a fast-tracked private sponsorship program, and also for measures such as organizing flights to Canada and deploying Canadian visa officers near Ukraine.

When Ukraine migrants do arrive, Manitobas well-established Ukrainian community can lead the way in offering safe sanctuary among people who speak the language, share their culture and understand the challenges of adapting to a new country.

Generations of Ukrainian immigrants have earned a high regard for their contributions to this province. During a crisis of catastrophic proportion, Manitoba can return the favour by offering to help where its needed most.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection said Wednesday night that its evidence shows former President Donald Trump and his associates engaged in a criminal conspiracy to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election, spread false information about the outcome and pressured state officials to overturn it.

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks at the Trump campaign headquarters on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020, in Arlington, Va. Former President Donald Trump sought to defraud the United States by interfering with the presidential election, spreading false information about it and pressuring state officials to overturn the results, the congressional committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection alleged in a federal court filing on March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection said Wednesday night that its evidence shows former President Donald Trump and his associates engaged in a criminal conspiracy to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the presidential election, spread false information about the outcome and pressured state officials to overturn it.

The committee made the claims in a filing in response to a lawsuit by Trump adviser John Eastman. Eastman, a lawyer who was consulting with Trump as he attempted to overturn the election, is trying to withhold documents from the committee as it investigates the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. The committee argued there is a legal exception to attorney-client privilege allowing the disclosure of communications regarding ongoing or future crimes.

The Select Committee also has a good-faith basis for concluding that the President and members of his Campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States, the committee wrote in a filing submitted in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.

The 221-page filing marks the committees most formal effort to link the former president to a federal crime, though the actual import of the filing is not clear since lawmakers do not have the power to bring charges on their own and can only make a referral to the Justice Department. The department has been investigating last years riot, but has not given any indication that it is considering seeking charges against Trump.

The evidence supports an inference that President Trump and members of his campaign knew he had not won enough legitimate state electoral votes to be declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential election during the January 6 Joint Session of Congress, but the President nevertheless sought to use the Vice President to manipulate the results in his favor, the filing states.

The brief filed Wednesday was in an effort by the committee to refute attorney-client privilege claims made by Eastman in order to withhold records from congressional investigators.

The Select Committee is not conducting a criminal investigation, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, the committees Democratic chairman, said in a statement. But, as the judge noted at a previous hearing, Dr. Eastmans privilege claims raise the question whether the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege applies in this situation.

A request for comment from Eastmans lawyer was not immediately returned.

The filing also details excerpts from the committees interviews with several top Trump aides and members of former Vice President Mike Pences team, including chief of staff Marc Short and chief counsel Greg Jacob.

The committee said it found evidence that Trump sought to obstruct an official proceeding  in this case, the certification of the election results  by trying to strongarm Pence to delay the proceedings so there would be additional time to manipulate the results.

In a Jan. 6, 2021, email exchange between Eastman and Jacob, Eastman pushes for Pence to intervene in his ceremonial role of overseeing the certification of the electoral votes.

Jacob replies: I respect your heart here. I share your concerns about what Democrats will do once in power. I want election integrity fixed. But I have run down every legal trail placed before me to its conclusion, and I respectfully conclude that as a legal framework, it is a results-oriented position that you would never support if attempted by the opposition, and essentially entirely made up.

He added, And thanks to your bulls-, we are now under siege.

In other transcripts released as part of the filing, former senior Justice Department official Richard Donoghue described trying to convince Trump that claims of election fraud were pure fiction. I told the President myself that several times, in several conversations, that these allegations about ballots being smuggled in a suitcase and run through the machines several times, it was not true, that we had looked at it, we looked at the video, we interviewed the witnesses, and it was not true.

At one point, Donoghue said, he had to reassure Trump that the Justice Department had investigated a report that someone has transported a tractor-trailer full of ballots from New York to Pennsylvania. The department found no evidence to support the allegations, Donoghue said.

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The transcripts shed colorful detail on a contentious Jan. 3, 2021, meeting at which Trump contemplated replacing his acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, with an assistant who promised to get to the bottom of the presidents bogus claims of election fraud.

That assistant, Jeffrey Clark, had been the departments top environmental enforcement lawyer for a period, a fact that led to some derision from colleagues at the meeting when it was pointed out that Clark had not been a criminal prosecutor.

And he kind of retorted by saying, Well, Ive done a lot of very complicated appeals and civil litigation, environmental litigation, and things like that, Donoghue said. And I said, Thats right. Youre an environmental lawyer. How about you go back to your office, and well call you when theres an oil spill.

The filing was the most comprehensive preview yet of the findings of the committee, which is investigating the violent insurrection of Trumps supporters in an effort to ensure that nothing like it happens again. While the panel cant pursue criminal charges, members say that they want the public to have a thorough account of the attack, in which hundreds of people brutally beat police, pushed through windows and doors and interrupted the certification of President Joe Bidens win.

So far, lawmakers and investigators have interviewed hundreds of people, including members of Trumps family and his chief of staff as well as his allies in the seven swing states where the former president tried and failed to prove he won. The panel has also sought out information from members of Congress and subpoenaed records and testimony from top social media platforms they believe had a hand in the spreading of election misinformation.

The committee is expected to fully release its findings in a lengthy report or series of reports later this year, ahead of the midterm elections. The panel is also planning days or weeks of hearings starting in April with some of the witnesses who testified.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces shelled Europes largest nuclear plant early Friday, sparking a fire as they pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Russian forces shelled Europes largest nuclear plant early Friday, sparking a fire as they pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea.

Leading nuclear authorities were concerned  but not panicked  about the damage to the power station. The assault triggered phone calls between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders. The U.S. Department of Energy activated its nuclear incident response team as a precaution.

The attack on the eastern city of Enerhodar and its Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant unfolded as the invasion entered its second week and another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.

Nuclear plant spokesman Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television that shells were falling directly on the facility and had set fire to one of its six reactors. That reactor is under renovation and not operating, but there is nuclear fuel inside, he said.

Firefighters cannot get near the flames because they are being shot at, he said, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted a plea to the Russians to stop the assault and allow fire teams inside.

Residents carrying supplies walk back from the direction of Bucha, amid the debris of battle with Russian forces, on the outskirts of Irpin, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire, Tuz said in a video statement. There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe.

The assault renewed fears that the invasion could damage one of Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors and set off another emergency like the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the worlds worst nuclear disaster, which happened about 110 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital.

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm tweeted that the Zaporizhzhia plants reactors were protected by robust containment structures and were being safely shut down.

In an emotional speech in the middle of the night, Zelenskyy said he feared an explosion that would be "the end for everyone. The end for Europe. The evacuation of Europe.

Only urgent action by Europe can stop the Russian troops," he said. "Do not allow the death of Europe from a catastrophe at a nuclear power station.

But most experts saw nothing to indicate an impending disaster.

Ambulance paramedics move a wounded in shelling civilian onto a stretcher to a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Russian forces have seized a strategic Ukrainian seaport and besieged another. Those moves are part of efforts to cut the country off from its coastline even as Moscow said Thursday it was ready for talks to end the fighting. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

The International Atomic Energy Agency said the fire had not affected essential equipment and that Ukraines nuclear regulator reported no change in radiation levels. The American Nuclear Society concurred, saying that the latest radiation levels remained within natural background levels.

The real threat to Ukrainian lives continues to be the violent invasion and bombing of their country, the group said in a statement.

Jon Wolfsthal, who served during the Obama administration as the senior director for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Security Council, said the plant's reactors have thick concrete containment domes that should protect them from tank and artillery fire.

But he too was concerned about a potential loss of power at the plant, which could imperil its ability to keep the nuclear fuel cool.

The mayor of Enerhodar said earlier that Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the citys outskirts. Video showed flames and black smoke rising above the city of more than 50,000, with people streaming past wrecked cars.

Prior to the shelling, the Ukrainian state atomic energy company reported that a Russian military column was heading toward the nuclear plant. Loud shots and rocket fire were heard late Thursday.

In this image taken from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the nation in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Many young men in athletic clothes and armed with Kalashnikovs have come into the city. They are breaking down doors and trying to get into the apartments of local residents, the statement from Energoatom said.

Later, a livestreamed security camera linked from the homepage of the Zaporizhzhia plant showed what appeared to be armored vehicles rolling into the facilitys parking lot and shining spotlights on the building where the camera was mounted.

Then there were what appeared to be muzzle flashes from vehicles, followed by nearly simultaneous explosions in surrounding buildings. Smoke rose into the frame and drifted away.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on the West to close the skies over the country's nuclear plants. "It is a question of the security of the whole world! he said in a statement.

The U.S. and NATO allies have ruled out creating a no-fly zone since the move would pit Russian and Western military forces against each other.

Vladimir Putins forces have brought their superior firepower to bear over the past few days, launching hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites around the country and making significant gains in the south.

A building is engulfed in flames after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 3, 2022. Russian forces have seized a strategic Ukrainian seaport and besieged another. Those moves are part of efforts to cut the country off from its coastline even as Moscow said Thursday it was ready for talks to end the fighting. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

The Russians announced the capture of the southern city of Kherson, a vital Black Sea port of 280,000, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed the takeover of the government headquarters there, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea. The battles have knocked out the city's electricity, heat and water systems, as well as most phone service, officials said. Food deliveries to the city were also cut.

Associated Press video from the port city showed the assault lighting up the darkening sky above deserted streets and medical teams treating civilians, including a 16-year-old boy inside a clinic who could not be saved. The child was playing soccer when he was wounded in the shelling, according to his father, who cradled the boys head on the gurney and cried.

Severing Ukraine's access to the Black and Azov seas would deal a crippling blow to its economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, seized by Moscow in 2014.

Overall, the outnumbered, outgunned Ukrainians have put up stiff resistance, staving off the swift victory that Russia appeared to have expected. But a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russias seizure of Crimea gave it a logistical advantage in that part of the country, with shorter supply lines that smoothed the offensive there.

Ukrainian leaders called on the people to defend their homeland by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear. In recent days, authorities have issued weapons to civilians and taught them how to make Molotov cocktails.

Women and children, fleeing from Ukraine, sleep at a makeshift shelter in the train station in Przemysl, Poland, Thursday, March 3, 2022. More than 1 million people have fled Ukraine following Russia's invasion in the swiftest refugee exodus in this century, the United Nations said Thursday. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card, and this is what we can do best in the world, Oleksiy Arestovich, an aide to Zelenskyy, said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in neighboring Belarus. But the two sides appeared far apart going into the meeting, and Putin warned Ukraine that it must quickly accept the Kremlin's demand for its demilitarization" and declare itself neutral, renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron he was determined to press on with his attack "until the end, according to Macron's office.

The two sides said that they tentatively agreed to allow cease-fires in areas designated safe corridors, and that they would seek to work out the necessary details quickly. A Zelenskyy adviser also said a third round of talks will be held early next week.

Despite a profusion of evidence of civilian casualties and destruction of property by the Russian military, Putin decried what he called an anti-Russian disinformation campaign and insisted that Moscow uses only precision weapons to exclusively destroy military infrastructure.

Putin claimed that the Russian military had already offered safe corridors for civilians to flee, but he asserted without evidence that Ukrainian neo-Nazis" were preventing people from leaving and were using them as human shields.

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He also hailed Russian soldiers as heroes in a video call with members of Russia's Security Council, and ordered additional payments to families of men killed or wounded.

The Pentagon set up a direct communication link to Russia's Ministry of Defense earlier this week to avoid the possibility of a miscalculation sparking conflict between Moscow and Washington, according to a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the link had not been announced.

___

Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Chernov reported from Mariupol, Ukraine. Sergei Grits in Odesa, Ukraine; Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; and other AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.

___

Follow the APs coverage of the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. General Assembly voted at an emergency session Wednesday to demand an immediate halt to Moscows attack on Ukraine and the withdrawal of all Russian troops, with sustained applause breaking out after a formidable show of support among the 193 member nations against the invasion.

United Nations members vote on a resolution concerning the Ukraine during an emergency meeting of the General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. General Assembly voted at an emergency session Wednesday to demand an immediate halt to Moscows attack on Ukraine and the withdrawal of all Russian troops, with sustained applause breaking out after a formidable show of support among the 193 member nations against the invasion.

The vote on the Aggression against Ukraine resolution was 141-5, with 35 abstentions. It came as Russia bombarded Ukraines second-largest city and besieged two important ports, and a huge convoy of Russian military vehicles was poised outside the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Only Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea joined Russia in opposing the measure, a powerful indication of the international isolation that Russian President Vladimir Putin faces for invading his countrys smaller neighbor  and that the resolutions supporters sought to emphasize.

The abstentions included China and India, as expected, but also some surprises from usual Russian allies Cuba and Nicaragua. And the United Arab Emirates, which abstained on Fridays similar Security Council resolution, voted yes.

Cuba had spoken in Russias defense on Tuesday, with Ambassador Pedro Luis Cuesta blaming the crisis on what he said is the U.S. determination to keep expanding NATO toward Russias borders and on the delivery of modern weapons to Ukraine, ignoring Russias concerns for its own security. He told the assembly the resolution suffers from lack of balance and doesnt begin to address the concerns of both parties, or the responsibility of those who took aggressive actions which precipitated the escalation of this conflict.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya holds up a copy of the charter of the United Nations while speaking during an emergency meeting of the General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they do have clout in reflecting international opinion. Under special emergency session rules, a resolution needs approval of two-thirds of those countries voting, and abstentions dont count.

From Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden called the special session historic and a demonstration of unprecedented global unity.

An overwhelming majority of the world recognizes that if we do not stand up to Putins Russia, it will only inflict further chaos and aggression on the world, Biden said in a statement.

After Russia vetoed a similar Security Council resolution Friday, Ukraine and its supporters won approval for the assembly to hold an emergency special session  the first since 1997  to try to spotlight opposition to Russias invasion.

Deploring Russias aggression against Ukraine in the strongest terms, the measure demands an immediate halt to Moscows use of force and the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian forces.

The resolution says that Russias military operations in Ukraine are on a scale that the international community has not seen in Europe in decades and that urgent action is needed to save this generation from the scourge of war. It urges the immediate peaceful resolution of the conflict and reaffirms the assemblys commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.

United Nations members stand up and applaud after a vote on a resolution concerning the Ukraine during an emergency meeting of the General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The measure also condemns the Russian Federations decision to increase the readiness of its nuclear forces  an issue raised by many U.N. members concerned about that prospect.

Before the vote, Ukraines U.N. ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, told the assembly, They have come to the Ukrainian soil, not only to kill some of us  they have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist. He said that the crimes are so barbaric that it is difficult to comprehend.

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia urged U.N. members to vote against the resolution, contending Western nations exerted unprecedented pressure with open and cynical threats to get support for the measure.

This document will not allow us to end military activities. On the contrary, it could embolden Kyiv radicals and nationalists to continue to determine the policy of their country at any price, Nebenzia warned.

Your refusal to support todays draft resolution is a vote for a peaceful Ukraine that would not be managed from the outside, he said. This was the aim of our special military operation, which the sponsors of this resolution tried to present as aggression.

The resolution also calls on Russia to reverse a decision to recognize two separatist parts of eastern Ukraine as independent. The measure further deplores the involvement of Belarus in this unlawful use of force against Ukraine, a characterization that Belarussian Ambassador Valentin Rybakov flatly rejected in his speech to the assembly shortly before the vote.

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya speaks during an emergency meeting of the General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

He said Belarus only involvement in the conflict was organizing talks, due to continue Thursday, between Russia and Ukraine. Belarus has taken Russias side, with Rybakov saying the resolution reflected double standards toward Russia and the West.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters immediately after the vote: The message of the General Assembly is loud and clear: End hostilities in Ukraine  now. Silence the guns  now. Open the door to dialogue and diplomacy  now.

We dont have a moment to lose, he said. The brutal effects of the conflict are plain to see  It threatens to get much, much worse.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield urged all countries to keep the momentum going, do everything possible to help the Ukrainian people, hold Russia accountable and match our strong words with strong actions.

Explaining Chinas abstention, Ambassador Zhang Jun used more emotional language than at previous U.N. meetings, citing dramatic changes of the situation in Ukraine and calling what is unfolding heart wrenching. He reiterated Beijings support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, and for the peaceful settlements of all disputes in line with the U.N. Charter.

The top priority right now is to ease the situation on the ground as much as possible, and prevent the situation from escalating or even getting out of control, Zhang said.

During more than two days of meetings preceding the vote, there were speeches from about 120 countries.

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From the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau to Europes economic powerhouse Germany, country after country lashed out at Russias invasion of Ukraine and urged support for the U.N. resolution.

There were only a few that supported Russia and some that took no position, such as South Africa. Urging compromise and diplomacy to find a lasting resolution to the crisis, South Africa abstained.

The resolutions co-sponsors included Afghanistan, where the Taliban ousted the elected government last August, and Myanmar, where the military overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, 2021. But neither the Taliban nor Myanmars military government have gained U.N. recognition, so that support came from representatives of their previous governments.

During the meeting, some supporters of the resolution had signs under the nameplates of their countries in Ukraines blue and yellow colors reading: #TodayWeAreAllUkraine.

British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the vote sent a clear message that the assembly condemns Putin and supports Ukraine.

We have stood up against those who seek to redraw the worlds borders by threat or use of force, she said. For if President Putins aggression against Ukraine goes unchecked, which country could be next?
COLUMBUS  A member of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce spoke before the Columbus City Council on Tuesday with the idea to decorate Firemans Park for the holidays beginning in the next year.

Paula Steiner said the chamber would work with businesses, Columbus Water and Light and Columbus DPW to do the project, however she wanted to make the city itself aware of the idea before they even began.

Steiner said that idea came from visiting the Rotary Park display in Swan Park in Beaver Dam.

When you walk through the park, it is amazing, and there is a lot of community involvement, Steiner said.

Steiner said she suspects the project will begin slowly with some trees decorated in the front of the park for the first year.

The Beaver Dam display was in its fifth year over this winter and took up much of Swan Park.

Columbus Chamber of Commerces next big event is Red Bud Day on Sat. May 14. The event celebrates the trees that bloom on Dickason Boulevard in May and features a variety of activities including the Redbud prince and princess contest.

Follow Terri Pederson on Twitter @tlp53916 or contact her at 920-356-6760.

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The city of Mauston is planning a full revaluation of properties located in the city and will contract with assessors to conduct the revaluation in 2022. The action will not raise or lower property taxes for the municipality as a whole, but some individual taxpayers could see a reduction or increase in taxes as a result of the assessment.

Mauston City Administrator Randy Reeg said the city has contracted with Associated Appraisal to perform the assessment, which will cost about $65,000 above the normal annual cost for assessment. Residents should expect a letter giving details on the assessment process in April, and the assessors will start in May. Assessors might visit properties but will not need to go inside properties.

During an assessment, a value will be placed on each property with that value determining how much of the local property tax levy is apportioned to each property. The process does not change the total levy, but instead changes the amount paid by each taxpayer in relation to other taxpayers based on the value of their property compared to other properties.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, Wisconsin law requires that the assessed value of each of the major classes of property within a taxation district must be within 10% of the full value of that same class at least once during any given five year period.

Municipalities that have four consecutive years without meeting that requirement trigger state action and can receive a warning letter, followed by required training and then a Department of Revenue mandated, contracted and monitored revaluation with the costs billed to the municipality.

Mauston currently has an assessed value more than $30 million below the number the state uses for equalized value, which does not meet the 10% threshold. Reeg said the 2021 assessment was the third year the city was under the threshold.

By us doing this before the state mandate, were trying to be proactive, Reeg said. By doing a full revaluation and looking at all the properties again it levels the playing field property to property.

The equalized value of a citys property, which is set by the state each year, determines how much each municipality in a county or school district will pay towards levys that cross jurisdictional lines.

If a municipality were to keep their assessment low to pay a smaller share to a school district or technical college, the equalization process flattens that out, Reeg said.

During the assessment process the assessed value of properties will change, but the process does not allow the city to levy additional taxes.

The purpose of reassessing properties will not create more revenue, that will be the number one misperception, Reeg said. The amount of money we can levy for property tax is limited by the state on how much it can grow each year we could double everyones assessment and that doesnt double how much money was make.

Instead, the amount of taxes people will owe will on average be similar, but might change based on how much the value of their property changes compared to other properties. Reeg gave the example that if all properties in the city go up in value by an average of 50%, a property owner whose property went up by 75% would have a higher portion since their propertys value is assessed higher than the average increase, while a property owner whose property went up 40% would have a lower portion since their propertys assessment increased by less than the average.

If your assessment goes up 50%, you wont pay 50% more taxes, Reeg said. What matters is not your individual assessment goes up, what matters is the difference between your change and the community as a whole.

Reeg said the city updates some assessments every year based on homes that are sold or get permits for things like additions, but it has been more than a decade since the city has had a full revaluation.

The city should receive results from the assessment around August, after which they will hold open book and board of review sessions. Any change in taxes, whether an increase or decrease, will be seen on the next tax bill that goes out in December 2022. Taxpayers who wish to appeal their assessment will have an opportunity to do so between August and when the next tax bill goes out. Reeg said the city will provide additional information and resources as the assessment nears.

Reach Christopher Jardine on Twitter @ChrisJJardine or contact him at 608-432-6591.

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After eight months and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, an investigation into the 2020 election delivered key recommendations that have been adamantly opposed by the probes chief overseer, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman suggested the Legislature decertify the 2020 results, which experts and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have described as a legal and constitutional impossibility  and something Vos has staunchly opposed, despite growing pressure from far-right conservatives.

Whats more, Gableman called for the elimination and dismantling of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission, based largely on guidance the agency provided in 2020 to not send poll workers to nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vos, who has allocated $676,000 in taxpayer money to Gablemans effort, also has opposed dismantling the agency he was a key player in creating less than seven years ago.

Gableman is Vos Frankensteins monster, said Matthew Rothschild, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. The speaker, after having hired Gableman, is unable to control Gableman and he is running all over the field and trampling on our democracy  so much so that even Robin Vos doesnt agree with his far-right fringe comments about letting the Legislature decertify the elections and basically canceling out everybodys vote.

Vos, R-Rochester, who did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, issued a terse statement hours after Gablemans presentation thanking the former justice for his work while also criticizing the legal challenges filed against Gablemans many subpoenas, which have led to delays in the now eight-month review. Vos did not comment on Gablemans recommendations.

I think Vos does owe an explanation  both on decertification and on the Wisconsin Elections Commission  as to whether or not he agrees with Gableman, and if he doesnt, why is he continuing to hand Gableman taxpayer money to perpetuate ideas that Vos has already said cant happen or shouldnt happen, said Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, who sits on the Assembly elections committee.

Gableman said on Tuesday he believes he still has a legally enforceable contract with the state, but added he and Vos continue to negotiate an extension to the agreement that expired at the end of December. He said a new contract could come with modifications, but did not provide specifics and suggested that he would continue to conduct the review even without a new contract.

Convenient place

Speaking in a Twitter Spaces panel discussion on Gablemans review on Wednesday, UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said the ongoing review could end up paying off for Vos down the road.

It lets him demonstrate to the base of his party that, as (former President Donald Trump) continues to weigh in on these things, that he is seriously questioning the irregularities that people have raised about the election, Burden said. But it also gives him some distance from it. If the Gableman project goes off the rails, he can say, It went off the rails or It went too far.

Maybe by design or maybe by luck, I think it puts Vos in a convenient place that he can either embrace it or reject it depending on where it goes or sort of do both simultaneously depending on the audience, Burden said.

Vos stance on the 2020 election has drawn ridicule from some within the party who want him to push harder on efforts to overturn the presidential election with some party activists calling to toss Vos. Late last month, Burlington resident Adam Steen, a Republican, launched a primary challenge against Vos for the 63rd Assembly District.

We The People cannot expect any different than the status quo from the current leaders that are entrenched in Madison, Steen said in a statement. It is time to send actual representatives to the Capital to stand up for the rights of We The People.

Agency scrutinized

Like many Republicans, Vos has criticized the state Elections Commission for how it administered the 2020 election, going so far as to call for the resignation of the agencys nonpartisan administrator Meagan Wolfe. He has also said he believes five of the six members on the bipartisan commission should probably be charged with crimes for instructing clerks that they did not need to send poll workers into nursing homes.

However, Vos told The Associated Press earlier this year he opposes the call by some Republicans to dissolve the commission, which GOP lawmakers and former Gov. Scott Walker created in 2016 to replace the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, which had been investigating Republican campaigns for coordinating with outside groups during the 2011 and 2012 recall elections.

This idea that we need to blow up the entire system? I just dont see that, Vos said at the time. I do not favor some kind of a radical change to how the elections commission operates.

Vos opposition to decertifying the election has been more pronounced.

I took an oath to uphold the Constitution and I am never going to break that, Vos said in a Feb. 18 interview with WISN. It is unconstitutional for us to try to decertify the election. It is impossible, it cannot happen. I dont know how many times I have to say that.

There are some who believe  theres one who believes  that we somehow have the right (to withdraw electoral votes) even though every lawyer that we have worked with in Wisconsin says we cannot undo the 2020 elections, Vos said in January in reference to efforts by Rep. Timothy Ramthun, R-Campbellsport.

A recount and court decisions have affirmed that President Joe Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. A review by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau found no evidence of widespread fraud and multiple court rulings have also found no evidence of irregularities.

More pushback

Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, who is not seeking reelection this fall, has repeatedly pushed back against claims that the Legislature can overturn an election.

I can guarantee that I will not be part of any effort, and will do everything possible to stop any effort, to put politicians in charge of deciding who wins or loses elections, Steineke, R-Kaukauna, tweeted Tuesday in response to Gablemans report.

Gableman wrote in the report that his intention is not to challenge the states certification, but an appendix in the document does sketch how that might be done. Legislative attorneys and the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau have repeatedly said the Legislature cannot challenge the certification of a presidential election, but Gableman wrote that logic is defective.

Gableman alleges that, if violations of election laws are found, then the decision of which set of electors to certify (or decertify) devolves back upon the Wisconsin Legislature, where the plenary power to select electors was initially reposed.

Sen. Kathy Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, a former county clerk who chairs the Senate elections committee and is also not running for reelection, described any effort to decertify an election as futile.

If youre going to decertify elections because of administrative malfeasance or breaking the law, then you cant just decertify the presidential election. I would suggest you would have to decertify all of the candidates on that ballot, Bernier said. That might require common sense and logic. Im not sure everyone has that these days.

Rather than dismantle the elections commission, Bernier said she plans to soon introduce a bill that would add a seventh, nonpartisan seat to the six-member elections commission to eliminate 3-3 split votes, which increased last year and blocked clear guidance to local election officials trying to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vos said earlier this year he opposes such a measure, adding that the idea that you can find this mythical, unicorn nonpartisan person, is specious at best.

State Journal reporter Alexander Shur contributed to this report.
Wits celebrates 100 years of excellence

The University aims to raise R3 billion through the Centenary Campaign

Wits University has made a formidable impact on society over the past 100 years, and is set to continue advancing society for good. It is a beacon of hope for South Africa, and continues to punch above its weight in the world.

Wits is national treasure that occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of South Africans, says Prof. Zeblon Vilakazi, Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal. It makes a disproportionate impact in society in multiple spheres. We will continue to use our intellectual prowess, social leadership and innovation, to tackle the complex problems of the 21st Century, be it the climate emergency, inequality, pandemics, the future economy, or ensuring better healthcare for all.

Wits celebrates 100 years of academic and research excellence, innovation, and social justice in 2022. It launched the Centenary Campaign, that aims to raise R3 billion to support, teaching, research and innovation, infrastructure developments and students. A series of events is being planned which will culminate in a Homecoming Weekend from 2-4 September 2022, closer to Wits official birthday.

Birth of a University

On 4 March 1922, the University of the Witwatersrand was legislated through an act of Parliament. However, the official inauguration was postponed because of the Rand Rebellion and other events, and the celebrations were held on 4 October 1922.

Wits history is inextricably linked with the growth of industry, mining, the development of Johannesburg, and the transformation of society. Over the past ten decades, Wits has developed the high level and scarce skills required to move South Africa and our economy forward. We have made spectacular discoveries, developed world-firsts, nurtured generations of students, created new knowledge, and developed innovation with global impact, adds Vilakazi. But we are only successful thanks to the efforts of our committed staff, leaders, social partners, and with the support of our friends, alumni, donors and funders.

Wits footprint extends way beyond its lecture theatres and research laboratories. The University hosts South Africas only private teaching hospital, which trains a record number of specialists every year. In the west of the province, Wits own caves and land rich in fossils in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site where staff and students discover, explore and conduct research. In 2016 the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct was opened in Braamfontein, which brings together people from across disciplines to engage in digital entrepreneurial activities that transform our world for good. An invention born in this precinct was announced as TIMEs best creations.

The Wits Rural Campus in Mpumalanga conducts world-class longitudinal research in science, health, social and economic areas, which can for example, be compared to data in urban settings, gathered by research teams working in Soweto. Wits is home to two commercial companies, a Planetarium that will soon be transformed into the Wits Digital Dome, the Wits Art Museum which houses over 9 000 works of unique African art, the Origins Centre, the Palaeosciences Centre and Fossil Vault that houses invaluable fossils, and Historical Papers and Archives, which curate national treasures like former president Nelson Mandelas Rivonia Trial papers, on behalf of the people of the world, and more.

This is just a fraction of how Wits impacts on society. Our doctors, our joint staff and students serve seven public teaching hospitals, work at multiple clinics, and service thousands of beds every day, undoubtedly getting the best clinical training, explains Vilakazi. This week we opened the spectacular Wits Chris Seabrooke Music Hall to launch our Centenary Campaign, with performances from our talented staff and students, and the support of donors. This is a boost for the arts and is just phenomenal!

Over 200 000 graduates

Over 200 000 illustrious graduates and many other Witsies have walked our halls, inspired change, and left an indelible mark on society. These are the critical thinkers, creators, originators, discoverers, problem-posers and problem-solvers and innovators who continue to influence all spheres of society. These are Witsies who stand up and stand out, not for themselves, but for others, to secure our collective futures. These are the curious people who seek new knowledge, who ask questions, and who search for answers. They are the ones who stand up for social justice and pursue the truth. They have a passion for progress, empower others, and change the world for the better, elaborates Vilakazi.

Beyond 2022

There are three core areas that Wits will bolster as it transitions into the next century: developing excellent graduates who advance society, conducting world-class research and fostering innovation, and using its location to lead from the Global South.

Wits has embarked on a Centenary Campaign that seeks to raise R3 billion to support teaching; research and innovation; students; and infrastructure development in eight priority areas: digital transformation, ensuring better health for all, catalysing innovation and entrepreneurship, solving global challenges, advancing society, governance and justice, future proofing our national treasures, energising its alumni, and developing the next generation of leaders.

Join us on the #Wits100 journey

Turning 100 is an extraordinary milestone for this great University, and I invite you to celebrate this momentous year with us, concludes Vilakazi. For over 100 years we have walked, and we still walk with purpose. Every step takes us forward as we create new knowledge, as we shape our city, country and the world for the next Century, for good. Let us walk this journey together and continue to build Wits legacy for the next 100 years.

Read more: Wits Centenary
WADDP Director appointed to SAHPRA Board

Professor Yahya Choonara is appointed to the South African Product Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) Board by the Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla.

SAHPRAs mandate is to regulate all health products for human use and also those applied for in case of veterinary applications in terms of their safety, efficacy and quality. This include vaccines, complementary medicines, medical devices and in vitro diagnostics (IVDs), and clinical trials. Furthermore, SAHPRA has the added responsibility of overseeing radiation control in South Africa.

I am honoured to serve the country in this role and to have the Ministers confidence in me to contribute to the work of SAHPRA, said Prof. Choonara.

As a Board member, he will contribute to overall good governance, oversight and strategic direction for SAHPRA with membership to the Technical, Operational and Regulatory Strategy (TORS) advisory committee to help re-engineer operational models where needed for the Backlog and BAU operational environments, monitor the technical environment and outputs to ensure compliance to the core mandate of SAHPRA.

The appointment is effective from 01 January 2022 to 31 December 2024.

Professor Yahya E. Choonara is Chair and Head of the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Director of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP) research unit and NRF Chair in Pharmaceutical Biomaterials and Polymer-Engineered Drug Delivery Technologies at Wits University. His research is at the forefront of producing targeted and personalized medicines to treat infectious, hereditary and lifestyle diseases in which he continues to make a major impact on generating scholarly activity and intellectual property. He received many prestigious awards recognizing his pioneering research in the areas of targeted drug delivery, drug-eluting devices, nanomedicines, neuro-therapeutics and bio-inspired tissue engineering scaffolds. He is an author of >306 ISI-accredited publications, mentored >110 postgraduates and postdocs as well as a leading inventor of 43 patents in the field.
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 UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE... * WHAT...Minor flooding is occurring and minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Wabash River at Lafayette. * WHEN...Until further notice. * IMPACTS...At 14.0 feet, Lowland flooding is in progress. High water affects river cabins near North 9th Street. Low county roads are nearly impassable. Tapawingo Park in West Lafayette begins to flood. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 9:30 PM EDT Wednesday the stage was 11.3 feet. - Recent Activity...The maximum river stage in the 24 hours ending at 9:30 PM EDT Wednesday was 11.3 feet. - Forecast...The river will rise to 13.2 feet early Friday morning. It will then fall to 12.4 feet and begin rising again early Saturday morning. It will rise to 13.7 feet Sunday morning. It will then fall again but remain above flood stage. - Flood stage is 11.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&
Families have been separated as a growing wave of people have fled their homes to ensure the safety of their children while others stayed back to join the fight.
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Ex-soldier and police boss hail work of brilliant social enterprise in Wrexham

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 3rd, 2022

An ex-soldier who has struggled with drug addiction and PTSD is getting his life back on track thanks to a social enterprise that helps vulnerable people.

Danny Chard, 33, says his life spiralled out of control after leaving the army when he ended up sleeping rough on the streets of Wrexham, getting in trouble with the law and being hooked on cocaine.

But he has found a new purpose in life thanks to the support hes received from Yellow and Blue and he now volunteers at their community hub in Henblas Street in the town centre.

Danny told his story during a visit by North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin who is a big fan of the organisation.

Yellow and Blue was founded by local plumbing and heating contractor Pete Humphreys following the death of his dad, also called Pete, and a close friend who both had bowel cancer.

Its dedicated to helping vulnerable people and anyone facing short term or long-term hardship, illness, disability or is struggling physically and mentally.

Demand for their support rocketed during the pandemic and amongst other things they provided 21,000 free meals in a year during lockdown.

According to Danny, now in temporary accommodation with his partner, he will be forever grateful to Yellow and Blue for making a massive difference to his life.

He said: After I came back to Wrexham I was struggling with mental health issues but unfortunately, I turned to drugs, cannabis and cocaine.

For the last 15 years, Ive been fighting drug addiction, in and out of prison and things like that.

I am clean of cocaine at the minute but I wouldnt say Im fixed. Im at the stage they call white knuckling but the support I get here is a massive help.

I came to Yellow and Blue at the beginning of November because myself and my partner were street homeless, just asking for help because wed been everywhere else and we just kept getting passed from pillar to post.

The first thing Pete did was give us a hot drink, give us a meal and asked us if we needed any clothes. He treated us with respect. He didnt look down on us. I had a chat with him and weve gone on from there.

I know what his aim is and what his vision is and I like where its going. I like what hes doing with the local community and the immediate needs of the community, so I started volunteering.

The most important thing is the respect we get here. Were all human.

Pete set up Yellow and Blue after overcoming mental health issues following the death of his dad and his close friend

He said: I was up on Chirk bridge and ready to jump. I was suicidal because Id had enough of life even though Ive always had my own business and Ive got a masters degree.

My mum came to get me from the bridge and took me home and took me to the hospital. The only reason I didnt end up being sectioned was that she said shed look after me.

When I started going through all these treatment processes and joining these groups, I started meeting these other lads who didnt have a mum.

Thats why I support everybody with mental health here. I take people from recovery, give them opportunities, jobs and things like that.

I still do plumbing occasionally but Yellow and Blue takes up all my time.

We had 10,000 from the National Lottery at the beginning but we are struggling for funding and were surviving day by day.

We really need all the help we can get. We need multi-year funding now for sustainability so I dont have to worry about the next months rent and things like that.

Commissioner Dunbobbin said he was grateful to Danny for sharing his experiences which illustrated the transformational impact Yellow and Blue was having on the lives of the people who turned to them in their hour of need.

Yellow and Blue is a brilliant social enterprise and the work they do here is just phenomenal, he said.

They support all different types of people of various backgrounds, it doesnt matter, who might otherwise fall through the cracks in the system.

There is a great deal of peer support available here and people are signposted to the right places to get themselves housed or if they want a job or help of any other sort.

Its all driven by the vision of one man, Pete Humphreys, and its a fantastic tribute to his dad and his friend who inspired him. Im sure theyre looking down on him with great pride.

What theyre achieving at Yellow and Blue is also a great credit to the local businesses who support them.

This is a model that could be replicated anywhere and it would be great if something similar was established in other towns across North Wales.
Motion could see Council commit to do all in its power to support the people of Ukraine

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 3rd, 2022

Councillors will be asked to back a motion calling on the local authority to commit to do all in its power to support the people of Ukraine and encourage others to join us at meeting next week.

People across the world have watched in horror after Russias Kremlin launchd an attack on Ukraine a week ago.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian residents have since fled to neighbouring countries to escape the atrocity, whilst many more have stayed to either fight the Russian troops or take shelter in bunkers, cellars and subway stations.

Ahead of a meeting of the full council (Wednesday 16 March) members of the labour group have submitted a Motion urging the local authority to call on the U.K. Government to act, and to remind those in power across the democratic countries of our world that to have a soft heart in a cruel world is courage, not weakness.

The motion can be viewed in full below:

Wrexham Council is appalled by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine and stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine against this act of barbarity, dishonesty and cowardice.

Wrexham Council commits to do all in its power to support the people of Ukraine and encourage others to join us.

We recognise and applaud the people of Russia who are risking their own lives to voice their condemnation of Putins War.

This motion is not about resettlement as Ukrainians will want to return to their homeland as soon as it is safe.

This is about refugees; women, children, the frail and the elderly and finding a solution to temporarily support them in our Country.

There are ways we can do that through a Sponsor-a-Family Scheme and look to U.K. Government to set up a formal register with checks and balances to ensure these vulnerable families are placed in safe environments.

This would allow any of us who have accommodation capacity or even a spare bedroom to sponsor a family in their time of need.

We also need to ensure the children can access education and that the Sponsor-a-Family Scheme allows access to employment.

These vulnerable families need our help and support, and Wrexham is stepping up against Putins War and in support of our Ukrainian friends.

In the motion, which has been signed by all members of the labour group, Wrexham Council is urged to:

i. Pursue a National Ukrainian Sponsor-a-Family Scheme, resulting in a formal register with robust checks and balances to ensure vulnerable Ukrainian families are placed in safe environments.

ii. Seek full support for this scheme from our local Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd, ensuring the U.K. Government works in full collaboration and partnership with our devolved Governments.

iii. Provide the Chief Executive with delegated powers to continue this specific work during the pre-election period and until the new Council is formed on the 25th of May 2022.

The motion has also been endorsed by the three leaders of the independent and conservative administration, Council Leader Mark Pritchard, Deputy Council Leader David A Bithell and Cllr Hugh Jones.

Cllr Dana Davies, labour group leader, said: This Motion to Council is not about the resettlement of Ukrainian people, they will want to return to their homeland as soon as it is safe.

This is about refugees; women, children, the frail and the elderly and finding a tenor solution to support them at this very difficult time in our country.

Men and women of Ukraine are fighting to exist, to live a life of their choosing, free from oppression and tyranny.

The least we can do for them, the very least, is to look after their families, their children.

In this Motion we urge the U.K. Government to act, and to remind those in power across the democratic countries of our world that to have a soft heart in a cruel world is courage, not weakness.

Wrexham stands united in condemnation of Putins War and in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Earlier this week Wrexham Council announced plans to fly the Ukrainian flag from the Guildhall, and will light up the building in Ukrainian colours as a show of solidarity.
Quick u-turn sees Executive Board meeting to be held virtually

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 3rd, 2022

A row over a planned move to in-person meetings disenfranchising some councillors has been quelled with swift news tonight from the Council Leader that Tuesdays Executive Board meeting will now be held virtually.

As we reported earlier in a passionate Democratic Service meeting the Executive Board meeting was brought up, with the news that it would be in person only being a surprise to many.

If it had gone ahead as planned those attending the council chamber would take part in person, with no facility for other councillors who are still cautious due to the ongoing pandemic to dial in and take part virtually.

One councillor had expressed concerns to Wrexham.com that questions were due to be placed via the Chair, Cllr Mark Pritchard, and another had asked us about the process around points of order and other normal business  something that clearly had not been communicated at that point to members.

Tonight Wrexham Council Leader Mark Pritchard has told us the meeting will now be held virtually, in line with how business has been conducted over the last two years.

After considering the views raised in the Democratic Services Committee this afternoon I have reviewed the arrangements of the Executive Board next Tuesday.

He confirmed, This meeting will be held virtually and not in person.

We will continue the conversation regarding multi-location meetings, and plan ahead to introduce those in the future. This will be a decision of the new administration.

As Leader of the Council I was quite shocked to witness the Democratic Services Committee and some of the comments which was said at that meeting. I have asked the monitoring officer to investigate these comments, and I await to see the outcome.

Which comments Cllr Pritchard is referring to is unclear, although as we reported earlier Vladimir Putin got an unusual reference from Cllr King.

Cllr King also made an another odd comment to Cllr Dixon who had just returned to the meeting after taking a call and was unsure what he was being asked to volunteer for, to which Cllr King replied, It was to be sold in slavery in Saudi Arabia actually! But no, no, youre not. It was actually to take part in a task and finish group to tighten up the protocol.

You can read the full story on what took place in the Democratic Services Meeting here.
Wake up call on phosphate issue with warning of massive impact on the economy of Wales if its not resolved quickly

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Mar 3rd, 2022

Serious concerns have been raised as planning applications in Wrexham are said to be standing still due to targets to reduce phosphate pollution levels in Welsh rivers.

In January of last year, environmental regulator Natural Resources Wales (NRW) introduced phosphate control regulations to protect watercourses in Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) across the country.

The Welsh Government said phosphate pollution poses a serious risk to health and must be addressed.

However, developers have expressed frustration as the measures have led to their proposals being delayed.

It comes as local authorities are reported to be struggling to find ways to allow schemes to move forward whilst tackling any potential increase in phosphates.

Phosphates are naturally occurring minerals which can enter rivers via land management practices, sewerage and foul water, causing significant ecological damage.

Evidence published by NRW shows phosphorus breaches are widespread within Welsh SACs, including the River Dee, where target levels have not been met.

Both Wrexham and Flintshire Council have experienced delays in having their local development plans approved because of the tough new rules.

It has led the two authorities to create a draft strategy to address the issue of phosphates in the Dee catchment area, with the documents going before the Executive Board on Tuesday.

At this months media briefing, with just the usual two media attending (Wrexham.com and BBC), we probed the issue with Cllr David Kelly who gave a laymans overview from an agricultural point of view of the issue around build up of phosphates, he said I do believe that local authorities have become the fall guys for addressing the phosphate problem, when development will be a contributor. But, with the right type of water treatment and mitigation at the source through even reedbeds and treatment plants and whatever, less and less of this phosphates has got the potential to enter the major water causes highlighting Natural Resource Wales were  in denial that agriculture needs to change.

With talks of water treatment plants we enquired if there will be a short or long term solutions, the answer perhaps hinting at how much the Local Development Plan would be delayed event further. Chief Executive Ian Bancroft explained, I think weve got to undertake this at all levels, short, medium, and long term.

Cllr Kellys talked about the long term resolutions through water treatment and through farming, and that comes through legislation. So theres an important advocacy role that we need to undertake in terms of getting across the criticality of reductions in phosphorus going into water courses, or it being dealt with in terms of treatment.

At the moment, the requirements from Natural Resources Wales means that anytime we build, we have to look through the planning process at mitigating additional phosphorus that generally goes in through toilets and wastewater. So the short term work that we have to do is alongside any planning application, and be looking at is the mitigation place to reduce the impact of phosphorus going in to the water courses?.

The short term work is how do you look at designing and building that mitigates at source phosphorus going into the water course.

The medium term work which is raising awareness and looking at solutions in relation to the Dee Valley, which is the purpose of the board.

The long term work is raising awareness of this, and engaging to make sure that its not just being tackled in terms of new build, its being tackled in relation to treatment.

If we are just addressing it as local authorities, then actually, thats going to make it very, very difficult to address it effectively, because its only a proportion of the way of stopping phosphorus and reducing phosphorus going into the water course.

With the extra onus on local councils to help solve the problem, we asked if there was any new funding to help. Council Leader Mark Pritchard gave a quick no.

Carrying on, he then branded it a mess adding, if were not careful, every planning department in Wales is going to come to a standstill.

Cllr Mark Pritchard said: The Welsh Government and Natural Resource Wales have to resolve this because we cant.

They have to really roll their sleeves up and find a solution to this problem because we have planning applications in Wrexham standing still.

Its the same across Wales and its not good. If were not careful well have serious issues with investments, developers and projects standing still, because we cant mitigate the issue around phosphates through the planning process.

Its a serious issue, everybodys aware of it and I think it needs to be resolved very quickly so we can all move on.

Developers are not going to wait around and wait for this issue to be resolved, they will spend the money in England and invest in England. Its not good. I think that everybody needs to wake up to this very quickly, that it will have a massive impact on the economy of Wales if its not resolved quickly.

Responding to Cllr Pritchards comments, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: We are working with partners to tackle phosphate pollution, which poses a serious risk to the health and wellbeing of our future generations if left unchecked.

While we prioritise building affordable housing at pace in Wales, the resilience of our river ecosystems and the benefits they provide  including top quality drinking and bathing water to benefit our communities, our businesses and our wildlife  must not be jeopardised.

We are in a climate and nature emergency, and must make sure that what we do today doesnt lead to unintended consequences that prove damaging to communities and future generations further down the line.

We are committed to building 20,000 low carbon and affordable homes for rent over the next five years, and are working closely with our partners to deliver this ambitious target.

Natural Resources Wales has been approached for comment.

Members of Wrexham Councils executive board will discuss measures to address the risk of phosphate pollution at their next meeting on Tuesday (March 8, 2022).

Wrexham.com / Local Democracy Service
New bill would remove name, likeness of Michael Madigan from state properties
Despite an overall fall in cases, the UK is still recording hundreds of thousands of COVID infections per week. In the seven days since February 24, the date on which all COVID restrictions were ended in England, 231,973 cases were recorded, and 741 deaths.

This is an underestimate, given that there is no systematic testing nationally, with universal contact tracing already ended. A more reliable picture of COVID prevalence is provided by the regular survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). According to the latest estimate, more than 2 million people had coronavirus infections last week.

People queuing outside a COVID test centre in east London, January 2022 (WSWS Media)

COVID deaths in Britain are officially counted by the government if someone dies within 28 days of a positive test. On this measure 161,630 people have already been killed by the virus. According to a more accurate ONS measure, which records mentions of COVID-19 as a cause on the death certificate, 183,579 have died up to February 18. According to the latter measure, 969 died in the week to February 18.

The other UK nations are following suit in ending restrictions. Northern Ireland ended all anti-COVID measures even before Johnson did. Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein ministers gave their unanimous backing for ending all legal restrictions on February 15 and replacing them with guidance.

On February 28, Waless Labour Party-run government ended the legal requirement to wear a face mask in many indoor settings, including gyms, cinemas, theatres, community centres, and museums. After returning from half-term this week, secondary school pupils are no longer required to wear a mask in classroom settings. First Minister Mark Drakefords government plans to end the use of face masks in all settings by the end of March.

This week, Scotlands Scottish National Party administration ended the requirement for secondary school pupils to wear face coverings in classrooms and for large venues to implement the vaccine passport scheme. All remaining coronavirus restrictions in Scotland will go on March 21.

Ending all restrictions, after almost 19 million people (almost 28 percent of the population) have recorded a COVID infection, lays the basis for a further spread of the disease and new mutations. By the start of this week, total cases just this year had reached 5.5 million in Britain, driven by the Omicron surge.

More evidence has emerged showing that deaths and cases disproportionately hit the most deprived working-class sections of the population. This week, the Independent newspaper reported on a COVID study by Colin Angus, a senior research fellow and health inequalities modeller at the University of Sheffield. It revealed that a majority of hospital and at-home deathsclose to 25 percent, respectivelyare occurring in the most deprived parts of England.

The Independent noted, At least 30 percent more coronavirus deaths have occurred in the most deprived areas of England since the turn of the year

Of the 7,053 deaths registered in the six weeks after 1 January, 1,589 (22.5 percent) were from the most deprived 20 percent of the country, compared to 1,188 (16.8 percent) in the least deprived 20 percent.

It added, Such figures, which are only available to 11 February, are likely to underestimate the scale of Covid inequalities: the most deprived areas in England tend to be younger in age, while the least deprived have an older population, who are more vulnerable to coronavirus. Despite this, the poorest parts of the country still account for a higher proportion of deaths.

The spread of COVID in the most deprived areas will only worsen as the UKs governments end access to free testing for the general public on April 1, as well as sick payments for those ill with COVID forced to self-isolate. Researcher Angus commented that the inequalities weve seen in recent months reflect the situation with free mass testing and mandatory self-isolation [emphasis added]. The Independent cited the Health Foundation charity saying that the figures were concerning and represent a warning sign that the virus may continue to have a disproportionate impact in the weeks and months to come.

The same day as he terminated COVID restrictions, Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament, We will also end self-isolation support payments, although COVID provisions for Statutory Sick Pay can still be claimed for a further month [March 24].

During the pandemic, workers were allowed to claim statutory sick pay from their first day of absence. From March 24, employees off sick will be required to wait for four days to claim sick pay. The cancelled 500 Test and Trace Support Payment was available for those on low incomes required to self-isolate. The ending of even extremely limited support for those infected with COVID will force many to work while ill, jeopardising their health and their co-workers.

Johnson admitted that the last measures in place to protect against COVID were being scrapped due to their cost. He said, The Testing, Tracing and Isolation budget in 2020-21 exceeded the entire budget of the Home Office. It cost a further 15.7 billion in this financial year, and 2 billion in January alone at the height of the Omicron wave. We must now scale this back.

There is no such reluctance when it comes to upscaling spending on the military as the NATO confrontation with Russia escalates.

Justifying the measures, Johnson said, Ive often heard it said over the last couple of years that we have a habit of going back to work, or going into work, when were not well. And people contrast that with Germany for instance where, Im told, theyre much more disciplined about not going to work if youre sick.

German employers are legally required to pay staff 100 percent of their wages for the first six weeks of sickness. In Britain, statutory sick pay paid by employers is set at just at just 96.35 a week, and only up to 28 weeks. The Guardian noted, The proportion of a UK workers salary covered by sick pay is just 19%, according to the TUC [Trades Union Congress]. Rates are higher in Spain (42%), Sweden (64%) and Belgium (93%), with support only worse in South Korea and the US, where workers do not have a legal right to any sick pay at all.

The final ripping up of all protections against COVID includes the axing of mandatory vaccination for social care workers in England on March 15. Care home staff were required to be vaccinated to work in the sector from last November. A proposed move to introduce the mandate for frontline NHS staff had already been abandoned.

Everything is being done to end any acknowledgement of the pandemics existence. For the first time, COVID cases and deaths were not officially reported this weekend, with those days cases instead added to Mondays total.

All restrictions are being ditched despite warnings from the governments own Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) last month that even under an Optimistic scenario there could be a Seasonal wave of infections in Autumn/Winter with comparable size and realised severity to the current Omicron wave in the next 12-18 months.

All scenarios modelled by SAGE assume that SARS-CoV-2 will continue to circulate for the foreseeable future and that variants will emerge. This week Dr Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Advisor for the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA), said in relation to one of the Omicron variants, We now know that BA.2 has an increased growth rate which can be seen in all regions in England. We have also learnt that BA.2 has a slightly higher secondary attack rate than BA.1 in households.
Tens of thousands of lecturers in higher education (HE) continued strikes from Monday to Wednesday this week. The action began on February 14 with a five-day strike, with a further two days of action the following week, taking the total to 10 days.

Staff are fighting attempts by university management to cut their already devalued pensions by another 35 percent, attacks on pay and working conditions, and an increase in casualisation. The cuts are on top of 240,000 already lost from the average lecturers retirement income over the past decade.

Students supporting the strike at the University of Liverpool this week (WSWS Media)

Last week, the Universities Superannuation Schemes (USS) joint negotiating committee (JNC) voted through massive attacks on pensions, meaning workers in the higher education sector losing tens of thousands of pounds. Many of those striking expressed their opposition on social media, demanding that the University and College Union (UCU) respond by escalating the action.

UCU leader Jo Grady responded by telling members, These cuts may take effect from April, but they are not irreversible and this dispute is far from over. Grady said next steps would be decided at the February 25 meeting of the unions higher education committee (HEC). No further action has been announced by the UCU since.

The UCU has enforced a divide and rule policy, splitting of the pensions dispute from what it terms the Four Fights over pay, casualisation, etc. As a result, the final three days of strikes this week were purely over the issues of pay and conditionsjust days after the employers imposed staggering pension cuts on hundreds of thousands of workers in the USS.

Manchester

World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke to strikers and students on picket lines at a number of universities on Wednesday. At the University of Manchester, lecturer Tom explained that universities UK had attempted to justify its pension cuts based on a valuation of the funds assets conducted in March 2020. Tom rejected this ruse: Anyone looking at it from an objective perspective would say theyre insane, theres no resemblance to reality in why you would have a valuation at the start of a pandemic and not revalue it. So it shows that the Joint Negotiating Committee [JNC] independent chair is not independent, I think.

Tom said the structure of the JNC itself was a compromise to end the 2018 strikes, when we could have gone on to strike more, we could have won more. That was under the old union leadership. This was a reference to the rank-and-file revolt of UCU members that year.

In the current round of strikes, Tom said, Our union had made a compromise offer which had cost me more money, which I didnt vote for and I dont agree with. He wanted to broaden the dispute over pensions, calling for workers in other unions and working in other parts of the HE sector to join the strikes. The last thing we should do is accept anything less than the compromise position over pensions. The compromise position, I wouldnt vote for it.

I think stuff like a marking boycott would be part of it [broadening the strike]. Occupation by studentsstudents are very important in this. At the University of Manchester there have been some great occupations about how they were treated over COVID and rent strikes and stuff, we need to see that again.

Staff and students from universities and education institutions in Manchester and Salford protest in St Peter's Square, Manchester (WSWS Media)

Tom continued, I think if they [the UCU] go for a marking boycott, the management would go for 100 percent pay deductions, so you might as well just go on strike anyway. In contrast to the limited 10 days of strike action called this term, it would have to be an indefinite strike, and I dont think theyre going to call that. Theres going to be some kind of crappy compromise between escalation and defeat.

At Manchester Metropolitan University, management had threatened to continue docking 100 percent of the pay of workers who had been on strike until they agreed to reschedule teaching which would have taken place during the strike.

During a rally of workers at the local universities, our reporters spoke to James, an MMU research fellow. He said I think its important for us to come together  and make a case for a fairer, more just, more inclusive higher education. I think its important about the kind of research that we can do, the kind of students we can teach, and the lived experiences that we can relate to.

James said he thought the 100 percent pay deductions were a punitive kind of approach. I feel that often it backfires. He added I think its quite a new tactic, to make strikes more about individuals and drive a divisive line in collective bargaining.

When a previous vice-chancellor took punitive measures against a strike, I wouldnt say it radicalised me, but it did kind of did entrench that division between employee and management. The management only say its our university when they want you to work harder, when they want you to do all these things. James added, I think its unfair, I think its unjust, but this is the kind of academia that were trying to challenge.

MMU workers are part of the Teachers Pension Scheme, so we havent lost like 250,000 in our pension, said James. I think our pension probably isnt as generous as the USS was, but its more generous than the USS is now. I have got friends at Russell Group universities [ 24 leading institutions] and theyre absolutely outraged.

Sociology lecturer Lillian has worked at the University of Manchester for seven years. She told the WSWS it took her five years to get a permanent post. She joined the strike to fight casualisation and the attack on pensions. Going forward in the fight against attacks on pay, pensions and conditions, Lillian said, I believe in collective action.

Based on the University Superannuation Scheme calculator, my pension has been halved. They did this at a time when it looked like the scheme was in deficit, so it should be revalued. Its shocking how much has been clawed back from staff, knowing how much money the University has. One reason we work in Universities is because of the pensions, not the wages.

Lillian added, Its always us and our pensions that suffer. Its important we invest in people and good education. How can we do that if the university is investing in property?

The university is so removed from our ideals. We want to do research and teach. I went to university in 1997. I paid no tuition fees. Its a different world now. And theyve changed the deal on repaying tuition fees. It changes the language we speak. Everything is: how much is it going to cost?

Sam, a philosophy student from Salford University, said, I've come along to support the lecturers because an attack on them is the same as an attack on students. Education has become a business. Id read that the level of income before you start repaying your student loan has decreased. That will have a big impact. Also, theyre going to get rid of courses like philosophy, because courses have to be good for business.

Asked about the escalating war in the Ukraine, he said, I dont support Putin because he has expansionist ideas, but I dont support NATO either. NATOs been attacking Eastern Europe. The way forward isn't war. Nobody wants war.

Sociology lecturer Clara shared her views about the war: Its a lie that the war in the Ukraine is the first war in Europe since 1945. What about the wars in Yugoslavia? NATO is not a peaceful organisation. When governments and the media say this, they must think most people are stupid and cant remember.

Liverpool

Abby, a lecturer at the University of Liverpool, said, Tory government union rules have made it very difficult to get people together and strike ... lots of us cant afford to strike but still are. People are being mistreated and are frightened.

Ayyaz (WSWS Media)

Ayyaz, a lecturer in Human Geography, told our reporters, I support the strike and any action whole heartedly. Asked his view on intensification of the conflict between Russia and NATO, he said, On one side there is the eastward expansion and belligerence of NATO, and on the other side there is an oligarchy. Capitalism is driven by its own contradictions.

Education workers must urgently turn to the formation of rank-and-file committees, which can organise and act independently of the UCU. A joint offensive of educators in the higher, further and school-age sectors, in alliance with students, is required to defeat the offensive of the employers backed by the government, proceeding with its marketisation agenda and intent on clawing back the hundreds of billions shelled out to the corporations and the super-rich during the pandemic. This is the programme of the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee. We call on educators to contact us, attend our meetings and receive our regular newsletter.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland posing with fascist banner

Canadas Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland appeared at a Sunday demonstration in support of Ukraine in Torontos Nathan Phillips Square, while proudly holding a red and black banner emblazoned with a fascist slogan, Slava Ukraini! (Glory to Ukraine!). Toronto Mayor John Tory (in a blue bandana) stood wrapped in the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag just behind Freeland.

The image was captured by a staffer and promoted via Freelands official Canadian Government Twitter account @cafreeland. By Monday morning, in the face of mounting public criticism, another photo was reposted without the fascist banner. However, even the new version of the image still showed the flag in the background, and the Slava Ukraini! slogan was retained.

The episode exposes many truths that Freeland and the Canadian ruling class would prefer to keep hidden, both about the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the historical affiliation of the Canadian ruling class with the far right and Nazism.

The image which was deleted from Freeland's Twitter account

The red and black banner and its slogan are associated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the military arm of the OUN, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The pro-Nazi OUN is drenched in the blood of thousands of innocent Poles and Jews massacred by its members during German imperialisms war of annihilation against the Soviet Union.

The OUN was a right-wing Ukrainian nationalist and terrorist organization, whose two rival factions collaborated with the Nazis during World War II. The OUN M under Andrei Melnyk favoured close collaboration with the Nazi state, while the B faction under Stepan Bandera opted for a militant and bloody war to carve out a fascist independent Ukraine under the dictatorship of Bandera and Yaroslav Stetsko. In reality, both factions were entirely dependent upon Nazi German imperialism and then after the war upon American and British imperialism. OUN activists were among the CIAs first recruits.

Freelands brandishing of the OUNs fascist banner has been greeted with silence in the corporate media because it cuts across the fraudulent narrative that the imperialist powers are arming democratic forces in Ukraine. But ignoring this revealing episode does not change the fact that Canada, together with its US and German imperialist allies, have worked closely with far-right and outright fascist forces in Ukraine since the 2014 Maidan coup that deposed pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Many people who attended the Toronto demonstration no doubt did so because they quite rightly wished to express their opposition to war, the killing and injuring of innocent civilians and the Putin regimes reactionary Russian nationalism. But the Canadian ruling class is clearly attempting to exploit this outrage, together with widespread political confusion about the background to the conflict, to marshal support for NATOs proxy war against Russia. The banner seen above Freeland in the picture displaying the slogan #standwithukraine is that of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which was campaigning for weapons to be delivered to Ukraine long before the outbreak of hostilities.

Freeland is campaigning for war, not against it. As Deputy Prime Minister, she has unveiled many of the brutal sanctions adopted by Ottawa against Russia, which amount to economic warfare and will have their most devastating impact on the lives of ordinary people. Canadas Foreign Minister Melanie Joly is actively encouraging Canadian volunteers to travel to Ukraine to fight. The Trudeau government is also shipping large quantities of weaponry, including anti-tank missiles and sniper rifles, to Ukraine.

Moreover, Canada has served as a key player in NATOs steady expansion into Eastern Europe over the past three decades, which has included the systematic encirclement of Russia with an unrestrained military build-up on its western border.

Freeland is familiar in more ways than one with the foul political record of the OUN. Her grandfather, Michael Chomiak, was the managing editor of a Ukrainian pro-Nazi newspaper, Krakivski Visti, from 1939 until 1945. Chomiak managed the relationship between the paper and the Nazi authorities. He lived in two palatial apartments stolen from Krakows Jews and published a near-constant stream of anti-Semitic and anti-Polish incitement, using a printing press stolen from the Jewish newspaper Nowiy Dzennik, whose owners were later murdered at the Belzec death camp.

The papers publisher, Volodymyr Kubijovyc, made frequent appeals to Adolph Hitler; for the transfer of stolen Jewish and Polish property to Ukrainians, for privileged treatment for Ukrainians, and for the creation of a fascist Ukrainian state on the model of the Cossack Hetmanate of the 17th and 18th centuries, with himself as provydnyk (Fuhrer). Kubijovyc campaigned for and established the 14th Division of the Waffen SS, the so-called Galicia Division, which committed mass murders of partisans, Jews and Poles, and took part in the suppression of the uprising of the Slovak working class in the spring of 1945. He was its first honorary enlistee and swore the SS oath to Hitler.

Freeland worked for the aged Kubijovyc on his postwar Encyclopedia of Ukraine project in the late 1980s as a student in Edmonton, Alberta. The Encyclopedia is devoted to whitewashing the history of Ukrainian nationalism by expunging the overwhelming historical evidence of its fascist and Nazi collaborationist past and re-framing Ukrainian nationalists as perpetual victims.

Freelands decision to pose for a photograph with the OUN banner is not merely, or even chiefly, a personal matter. It is in keeping with Canadian imperialisms systematic cultivation of and collaboration with far-right Ukrainian nationalists stretching all the way back to the end of World War II.

Ukrainian nationalism firmly established itself in Canada after 1945, when the Liberal government of Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent undertook to admit tens of thousands of Nazi collaborators from Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. The established communities of Eastern European immigrants in Canada prior to the war had been politically dominated by socialists and the left. St. Laurent was determined to provide them with new leadership.

Thousands of members of Ukrainian, Latvian and Estonian Waffen SS Divisions were admitted to Canada, as well as tens of thousands of members of the fascist Ukrainian Insurgent Army. Leading members of various Eastern European fascist groups, including the Slovak Hlinka Guard, the Croat Ustasha, and the Romanian Iron Guard found safe haven in postwar Canada. These war criminals enjoyed support at the highest levels of the Canadian state, which desired only fervently anti-communist immigrants. An SS tattoo under ones armpit was in those days a ticket to Canadian citizenship.

These collaborators became immediately influential in the 1950s, through the CIA front group the ABN (Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations), which was founded by Ukrainian Nazi collaborators such as Mykola Lebed, a seasoned murderer and sadist.

The project of whitewashing this history has been undertaken most diligently by the Ukrainian nationalists. The Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) at the University of Edmonton was co-founded by former Waffen SS member Peter Savyryn and continues to host and promote Kubijovycs Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine.

CIUS produces a stream of pro-nationalist scholarship, which both whitewashes the fascist past of Ukrainian nationalism and supports the imperialist policy of the Canadian state. Its statement on the current situation in Ukraine chalks up the war to the personal ambitions of Vladimir Putin. It makes no mention of the role of fascist groups in spearheading the Maidan coup of 2014 or the expansion of NATO to Russias doorstep.

As Canadian imperialism institutes an unprecedented campaign of economic warfare against Russia and provides weapons to Ukrainian nationalist proxy forces fighting NATOs war, its need to lie, not only about the present but about the past, will become ever more urgent. Far-right Ukrainian nationalists are now at the very center of Canadas foreign policy. No effort will be spared to cover up the fascist character of paramilitary groups in Ukraine, such as Centuria and the Azov Battalion, which have been recipients of Canadian military training for years, and for whom the Canadian government is now essentially organizing enlistment.
KSK unit at the Bundeswehr Day 2017 (Image: Tim Rademacher / CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has unleashed horror and fear of a third world war in broad sections of the German population. Those in ruling circles are reacting completely differently: behind their loud moral indignation and denunciation of President Putin lies a barely suppressed euphoria.

At lastso the tenor of countless politicians speeches and media commentaries goesat last, we are allowed to rearm and wage war again. For 75 years we had to moderate our language, apologise for the crimes of the Nazis, and back down to pacifist public opinion. That is now over!

The special session of the Bundestag (federal parliament) on Sunday morning summed up this sentiment. Deputies from all factions cheered Chancellor Olaf Scholz as he announced the biggest rearmament programme since Hitler and promised arms deliveries to Ukraine, effectively making Germany a party to the war. Scholz spoke of a historical turning point, and the media eagerly seized on the term.

The German governments decision to supply weapons to Ukraine is historic. Just like the promises about equipping the Bundeswehr [Armed Forces]. And both are right, wrote Nico Fried in the Suddeutsche Zeitung. To regard the lessons of history as the defining maxim would have rendered the German government politically incapable. It has now freed itself from this situation.

Jasper von Altenbockum, writing in the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ( FAZ ), mocked the West German tradition of letting others pay for security, underneath whose umbrella it was easy to moralise. Now, post-1945 German idealism was proving to be a historical error, a deception, the moral and material failure of a generation that was looking for a vocabulary to find its way out of the provincialism of its peace illusions and back into the centre of world affairs.

FAZ co-editor Berthold Kohler, one of the worst warmongers in the German media, even explicitly thanked Putinconfirming the WSWS assessment that Ukraine has served as bait for NATO to lure Russia into a war.

If it didnt sound cynical, one would almost have to be grateful to the Russian president for bringing German foreign and security policy out of its cloud cuckoo land and down to earth, Kohler commented in the FAZ on 27 February. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) was now vacating old positions so quickly that even Moscow is probably having trouble following. The SPDs opposition to the two percent of GDP target on military spending, the continuation of nuclear sharing, the procurement of armed drones all this was now water under the bridge.

Kohler himself is not satisfied and calls for the nuclear bomb: Putins crusade against the West, however, is also forcing Germany to deal with a question that it, again with reference to its own past, considered answered for all time: the nuclear one, he writes in another FAZ commentary.

The experience with Donald Trump had shown Europeans that there is no eternal guarantee for Americas nuclear umbrella. Frances deterrent arsenal was too weak. If the Europeans did not want to bow to Russian pressure, then Europe must become a nuclear power worthy of the name. Without Germanys participation, this will not be possible.

Similar comments can be found in almost all newspapers, not to mention the numerous talk shows on public television. Only opponents of Russia have their say here; rules about balanced coverage have fallen victim to the historical turning point.

Sundays Bundestag session was characterised by a mood of euphoric war frenzy. The deputies rose again and again to a standing ovation. The SPD, Green and Liberal Democrat (FDP) coalition and the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) outdid each other with militaristic slogans and assured each other of their mutual support. The Left Party and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) also joined in the war chorus.

One after another, Left Party deputies confessed they had criminally underestimated Putin. The partys most prominent representative, Gregor Gysi, had already declared on the ZDF morning show that everything he had said that was critical of the West and NATO had become garbage, because now Putin has decided to wage a criminal war of aggression that violates international law.

Gysi did not explain why Putins attack on Ukraine retrospectively justifies the bombing of Belgrade, the destruction of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and numerous other war crimes committed by NATO and its members.

Finally, the central message of the debate was summed up by AfD deputy Rudiger Lucassen. The brutal politics of power is back and is sweeping dispositional ethics out of German politics, declared the former professional Bundeswehr officer. Germany had no alternative, he said. The federal government must turn the wheel in the direction of power politics, which meant also having military capabilities.

Not satisfied with the massive spending on rearmament, Lucassen called for a complementary ideological offensive. The federal government, he said, was responsible for raising awareness of a new resoluteness among our people. Compulsory military service must be reactivated, he said. Resoluteness is the price of our freedom.

Efforts to hark back to the great power politics and militarism of past times are almost as old as the Federal Republic itself. It was not the SPD that stood in the way, as Kohler suggests in the FAZ, but the resistance of broad sections of the population who, after two devastating wars and the bestial crimes of Hitlers Wehrmacht (Armed Forces) in the Second World War, were determined not to allow another war. The SPD, on the other hand, has supported every expansion of militarism and provided numerous defence ministers.

As early as the first half of the 1950s, there were mass protests against the establishment of the Bundeswehr, which continued in the 1960s in the movement against nuclear weapons. In the early 1980s, hundreds of thousands demonstrated against the stationing of Pershing medium-range nuclear missiles in Germany. In 2003, over half a million demonstrators took to the streets in Berlin against the war in Iraq.

Nevertheless, the efforts to revive German militarism did not abate. The ruling class saw German reunification in 1990 as an opportunity to restore its supremacy in Europe. As a nation of 80 million people, as the economically strongest country in the centre of Europe, we bear a special responsibility, declared the then Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel (FDP) in 1993. We are predestined, because of our central position, our size and our traditional relations with Central and Eastern Europe, to derive the main benefit from the return of these states to Europe.

Since then, the European Union and NATO have moved further and further east, a development from which Germany has benefited most, both economically and geopolitically. In 1999, against considerable opposition from within their own ranks, the SPD and the Greens organised the first international war deployment of the Bundeswehr, which cemented the division of Yugoslavia into seven impotent poorhouses dependent on the great powers.

In 2014, the grand coalition of the CDU/CSU and SPD intensified its efforts to help Germanyin the words of the then Federal President Joachim Gauckplay a more active role in the world and pursue a great power policy. It supported the coup in Ukraine, which brought an anti-Russian regime to power with the help of fascist militias and laid the groundwork for todays war.

German military expenditure from 2013 to 2021 (Graphic: Bundeswehr)

Since then, Germanys defence budget has increased dramatically, from 32.4 billion in 2014 to 46.9 billion in 2021, and now it is set to triple in one fell swoop.

The claim that the Ukraine war is about defending freedom and democracy against an authoritarian dictator, repeated incessantly by the Greens in particular, collapses like a house of cards on closer examination.

Putins actions are undoubtedly reactionary. He represents the interests of the Russian oligarchs who have become rich by looting the Soviet Unions social property. His nationalism, which goes back to the traditions of Stalin and the Great Russian chauvinism of the Tsarist empire, cannot reverse the disastrous consequences of the dissolution of the Soviet Union thirty years ago. It divides the working class and drives it into the arms of nationalist demagogues.

But the Ukrainian regime is no better, it does not even meet the minimum requirements of a democracy. Its armed forces are riddled with fascist militias like the Azov Battalion, which according to a report in Time magazine, have trained 17,000 foreign fighters from 50 countries in the last six years.

The German government knows this. As recently as 9 February this year, the pro-government Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) published a report, Ukraine under President Zelensky, which provided a devastating verdict on the Ukrainian regime supported by Germany with large sums of money.

In addition to the constitutional institutions, there are powerful actors in the country who are not subject to democratic accountability, it says. These include oligarchs as well as regionally anchored political-economic networks and circles of people within the judiciary. Due to its politicised judiciary and the great influence of powerful informal actors in the political system, Ukraine could not be considered a liberal democracy. And since Ukraine is dependent on the Western community of states, both in terms of security policy and economy, the latter had also become another important actor in the country.

In a nutshell: Ukraine is a state dominated by corrupt cronies and a venal judiciary, controlled and manipulated by Western powers.

In addition, NATO is not a peace alliance of democratic states, but a war alliance of imperialist powers, which with $1.1 trillion in 2020, accounted for more than half of the worlds military expenditure and has waged numerous illegal wars in the past thirty years.

As far as the German bourgeoisie is concerned, Ukraine is only a means to an end for them. The hunger of German big business for sales markets and raw materials and the growing social conflicts at home are driving it back onto the path it had already taken in two world warsexpansion towards the East.

Whereas in the last decades it had pursued its goals by peaceful means under the motto change through trade, it is now again resorting to military force. This is the historical turning point that the Bundestag and media are celebrating so enthusiastically. Putins invasion of Ukraine, which Germany and NATO deliberately provoked, comes at the right time for them.

The consequences of this policy are catastrophic. Not only do they conjure up the danger of a military confrontation with the nuclear power Russia, which would lay waste to Europe; in the long run, France, Britain, and the USA will also not accept that Germany, which they defeated in two world wars, should once again become the dominant great power in the heart of Europe. No matter how often NATO and the European Union invoke their unity and togetherness, their aggressive policies already contain the seeds of future conflicts.

The only way out of this impasse is an international offensive of the working class, uniting Ukrainian, Russian, European, American and all other workers, linking the struggle against war with the struggle against its causes, capitalism and the outdated nation-state system.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in Australia is holding an online meeting via Zoom at 4 p.m. (AEDT) Saturday, March 12 to discuss the urgent need to build an international anti-war movement of youth, students and workers as the danger of nuclear war heightens amid the escalating crisis in Ukraine.

The IYSSE urges students and young people in Australia, New Zealand, throughout the region and internationally, to participate in the meeting, which will examine questions of life and death for billions of people around the world. Register for the meeting by clicking this link.

At no point since the Second World War, has the threat of a nuclear exchange been so present. Despite the provocations by the US and NATO powers, Russias invasion of Ukraine must be opposed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin took the unprecedented post-Cold War action of placing the countrys nuclear deterrent forces on alert. Putin, and the section of the Russian capitalist class he represents, cling to the delusion that they can shift US-NATO foreign policy and recognise Russian security interests in Ukraine through threats.

The catastrophe that was set in motion by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 cannot be averted through the reactionary ideology of Russian nationalism which serves the interests of the countrys oligarchs represented by Putin.

Despite the reckless actions of Putin and the Russian ruling elite, principal responsibility for the present crisis and the threat of nuclear war lies with US imperialism and its NATO allies. For decades, the US and NATO have been engaged in provocative militarist and economic intrigues in Eastern Europe and throughout the globe.

In 2014, a US-backed coup placed an anti-Russian government in power in Ukraine. NATO has been engaged since 1991 in a relentless expansion into Eastern Europe. The United States took the lead in planning for the use of nuclear weapons by withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, stationing offensive missiles in Romania and Poland, and undertaking a multitrillion-dollar expansion of US nuclear forces.

In the last week, bellicose war rhetoric of politicians and officials in the US, Britain, Germany, Australia and other imperialist nations have accompanied economic warfare and the sending of NATO weaponry to Ukraine. All of this points to a de facto NATO war against Russia.

The present crisis has emerged out of a very definite context: the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. COVID has exacerbated the social and political crisis globally and has led to nearly one million deaths in the US alone according to official figures. The Omicron variant of Sars-Cov-2 has seen over 2,000 Americans die every day over the past month.

Around the world, governments are dispensing with scientifically-guided measures to stem the viruss spread because they cut across the profit-making ability of the tiny, wealthy capitalist oligarchy. For the ultra-rich, who have gorged themselves during the pandemic, the lives and livelihoods of workers and their families are sacrifices that must be made in order for their continued domination over the worlds resources.

In the face of this mounting social polarisation, the administration of US President Joe Biden aims to manufacture unity at home and project conflict outward through war. Emerging out of the Second World War as the dominant superpower in the world, the United States is now experiencing massive economic, political and social turmoil. It sees Russia and the economic rise of China as the main threats to its plans to retain its position as the global hegemon. As Leon Trotsky, co-leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution with Vladmir Lenin and founder of the Fourth International, said in 1934:

US capitalism is up against the same problems that pushed Germany in 1914 on the path of war. The world is divided? It must be redivided. For Germany it was a question of organising Europe. The United States must organise the world. History is bringing mankind face to face with the volcanic eruption of American imperialism.

But the crisis in the United States is only the most extreme manifestation of the crisis of world capitalism.

In order to understand how to fight against war, youth and students must understand the objective conditions which lead to war. Militarism and armed conflict do not arise out of the minds of individual capitalist politicians. These are merely the reflections of a far deeper process which emerges necessarily out of the contradictions of the capitalist profit system itself. Above all, war emerges because of the division of the world economy into competing nation states, whose ruling capitalist elites vie for control over resources, markets, and spheres of influence.

World war, therefore, can only be averted by the action of the international working class overthrowing the predatory capitalist system and replacing it with world socialism. Youth and students must reject all attempts to divide young people and workers on the basis of nationality. The international working class must adopt an independent position in response to the escalating crisis. It is necessary to oppose imperialism without adapting to Russian nationalism, and to oppose Russian nationalism without adapting to imperialism.

Young people must turn to the worlds working class as the only social force capable of ending capitalism and, hence, ending the war and social misery that it brings. As the youth and student arm of the International Committee of the Fourth International, the IYSSE insists that a Marxist revolutionary party must be built to politically lead the working class to resolve the crisis of capitalism through the establishment of a socialist system based on social need, not private profit.

This perspective and the historical questions that arise out of itincluding around the key strategic experience of the 1917 Russian Revolution which ended the First World Warwill be discussed at the IYSSEs upcoming online meeting. To learn more about the IYSSEs program to build an international anti-war movement of workers and youth and find out how you can join in this struggle, attend our meeting on Saturday, March 12 at 4 p.m.!

Join the fight against imperialist war and for socialist revolution!

Register for the online meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BcVL0fDVTDyHObXC5yJgZA
In a global weapons-running program without precedent in post-World War II history, more than 20 countries, including members of NATO and the European Union, are funneling weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles, to Ukraine for use in NATOs proxy war with Russia.

Thousands of anti-tank weapons, hundreds of air-defense missiles and thousands of small arms and ammunition stocks are being sent to Ukraine, bragged NATO in an official dispatch.

The United States has been joined by Germany, France, Poland and the UK, as well as the majority of the European Union in sending offensive weapons to Ukraine.

Ukrainian servicemen unpack Javelin anti-tank missiles, delivered as part of the United States of America's security assistance to Ukraine, at the Boryspil airport, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the United States have already sent or are approving significant deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine, NATO said.

US officials are openly comparing the present operation to the rat lines used to arm Islamic fundamentalist terrorists in the Middle East in recent decades.

On NATO territory, we should be the Pakistan, Douglas Lute, a former lieutenant-general and American ambassador to NATO, told the New York Times, supplying the Ukrainians as Pakistan supplied the Taliban in Afghanistan, stockpiling materiel in Poland and organizing supply lines.

The shock troops of this latest US-led proxy war will not be, as in Afghanistan, Islamic fundamentalist fighters, but the neo-Nazi forces which played a key role in Ukraines 2014 coup.

We have been given so much weaponry because we perform the tasks set forth by the West, because we like to fight, and we like to kill, Yevhen Karas, leader of the neo-Nazi terrorist organization C-14, said in early February, before the war began.

On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the European Union had opened a hub in Poland to run weapons into Ukraine, citing a French EU official.

Also Wednesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that Spain would follow Germany in sending offensive weapons to Ukraine, breaking his earlier pledge to only send defensive equipment.

Poland has pledged, in the words of the New York Times, to provide tens of thousands of shells and artillery ammunition, anti-aircraft missiles, light mortars, reconnaissance drones and other reconnaissance weapons.

An article by Steven Erlanger in the New York Times stressed the scale of the weapons transfers, warning, in an understatement, that Moscow may see it as a dangerous intervention.

The Dutch are sending rocket launchers for air defense. The Estonians are sending Javelin antitank missiles. The Poles and the Latvians are sending Stinger surface-to-air missiles. The Czechs are sending machine guns, sniper rifles, pistols and ammunition. Even formerly neutral countries like Sweden and Finland are sending weapons. And Germany, long allergic to sending weapons into conflict zones, is sending Stingers as well as other shoulder-launched rockets.  Sweden, not a member of NATO, announced that it would send Ukraine 5,000 antitank weapons, 5,000 helmets, 5,000 items of body armor and 135,000 field rations, plus about $52 million for the Ukrainian military. Finland, similarly, has said it will deliver 2,500 assault rifles and 150,000 rounds of ammunition for them, 1,500 antitank weapons and 70,000 combat rations.

Even as they funnel such vast quantities of weapons into Ukraine, NATO countries are massively increasing their commitment of forces on Russias borders. The Times reports that NATO is moving as many as 22,000 more troops into countries bordering Russia.

The United States has deployed 15,000 additional troops to Europe and provided an additional 12,000 troops to NATOs rapid response force. The US has also deployed additional fighter jets and attack helicopters to Eastern Europe.

The US forces are joined by France and Germany, which are deploying fighter jets, tanks and troops to Poland and Romania. The UK, meanwhile, has sent hundreds of troops and tanks to Estonia and Poland. Canada has sent over 1,200 soldiers to Latvia, while Italy has put 3,400 troops on standby.

The massive troop concentrations on Russias borders are leading to threats of conflict between Russia and NATO.

Risks of a clash between Russian and NATO forces do exist, and there are no guarantees incidents will not take place, the state-run Russian news agency TASS paraphrased Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko on Wednesday.

Risks do emerge. Of course, we are worried about weapons supplies. All this is very dangerous, Grushko said. There are no guarantees some incidents will not occur.

The New York Times struck up the same tone, writing:

In fact, even if no NATO soldier ever crosses into Ukraine, and even if convoys of materiel are driven to the border by non-uniformed personnel or contractors in plain trucks, the European arms supplies are likely to be seen in Moscow as a not-so-disguised intervention by NATO.  World wars have started over smaller conflicts, and the proximity of the war to NATO allies carries the danger that it could draw in other parties in unexpected ways  However proud Brussels is of its effort, it is a strategy that risks encouraging a wider war and possible retaliation from Mr. Putin. The rush of lethal military aid into Ukraine from Poland, a member of NATO, aims, after all, to kill Russian soldiers.

These warnings came amidst a mounting death toll as the war entered its eighth day. Russia has admitted that 498 of its soldiers have died so far, while Pentagon officials estimate that 2,000 Russian soldiers have died, and Ukraine claims to have killed over 5,000.

The United Nations, meanwhile, reports that 227 civilians have been killed between February 24 and March, noting that this figure is likely an underestimation. Over the past week, 1 million people out of a total population of 44 million have fled the war, according to the UN.

The US and EU have also massively intensified their economic warfare against Russia, with the European Union announcing a ban on the supply of Euro banknotes to Russia on Wednesday.

In response, Moodys downgraded Russias debt to junk status, writing, The scope and severity of the sanctions announced to date have gone beyond Moodys initial expectations and will have material credit implications.

In a sign of just how high tensions have become, the United States has delayed the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

In an effort to demonstrate that we have no intention of engaging in any actions that can be misunderstood or misconstrued, the secretary of defense has directed that our Minuteman-III intercontinental ballistic missile test launch scheduled for this week to be postponed, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a briefing.

The Ukrainian regime, meanwhile, has been visibly emboldened by the open backing and weapons deliveries from the imperialist powers. The twitter account of the Kyiv Independent reported Wednesday, Ukrainian special forces will no longer capture Russian artillerymen. The command of Ukraines Special Operations Forces has warned that it will not spare Russian artillerymen in response to their brutal shelling of civilians and cities. If implemented, such a policy would constitute a war crime and open violation of the Geneva Convention for the Humane Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Yesterday, police brought an end to the 23-day occupation of the lawn and streets outside New Zealands parliament by a few hundred anti-vaccine mandate protesters.

In an operation that began at 6:00am and lasted about 12 hours, hundreds of riot police surrounded the protesters and gradually forced their encampment off the lawn. As police moved in during the afternoon, fires were lit, destroying many tents and a childrens playground.

Sections of the protest attempted to incite violence. Numerous videos show people throwing chairs and other flammable items onto the fires and deliberately starting new ones. Part of the nearby Victoria University of Wellington Business School was vandalised and there was reportedly an arson attempt at the Law School.

Police in riot gear advance towards protesters on Molesworth Street, outside parliament. (Source: Zeb Jackson Facebook page)

Police used pepper spray, hoses and rubber bullets, and were filmed punching protesters, some of whom threw bricks and other objects at the cops. Seven officers were reportedly injured, and an unknown number of protesters. Police arrested 87 people.

The protest began as a convoy that converged on Wellington on February 8, inspired by a right-wing convoy that occupied Ottawa in Canada. Two days later, police arrested 122 people for trespassing in an initial attempt to clear parliament grounds. However, many of these people soon returned along with others, and police stood back while the occupation became entrenched and hundreds of vehicles blockaded nearby streets.

The occupiers harassment of the public, and the health risk they posed (at least three protesters were hospitalised for COVID), forced the closure of businesses, the National Library, two schools and part of the university.

The protest was backed by numerous far-right groups, including the Christian New Conservative Party, the fundamentalist Destiny Church front group, the Freedom and Rights Coalition, the Outdoors and Freedom Party and the anti-vaccination groups Voices for Freedom and NZ Doctors Speaking Out with Science.

Support came from the reactionary blogger Cameron Slater, Counterspin Media, which is backed by the American fascist Steve Bannon, and the fascist group Action Zealandia. Counterspin has recently spread the conspiracy theory that the 2019 Christchurch terror attack, which killed 51 Muslims, was a false flag. Action Zealandia promotes the racist ideology of terrorist Brenton Tarrant.

The convoy organisers have denounced the governments public health policies as tyranny, communism, Nazism, globalism and genocide. Throughout the occupation there were numerous calls for politicians to be arrested and publicly executed.

Yesterday, as police faced off against the crowd on Molesworth Street, one protester gave a speech saying: Its time to accept that the plandemic is over, that every single one of us is going to get this virus and that weve got to live with it. He called Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern a Marxist in the pay of Bill Gates and the WEF [World Economic Forum].

This reactionary mob, with fewer than 1,000 participants, was allowed to blockade parliament and the surrounding area for weeks, because its central demand for the population to live with the virus, aligned with the needs of the New Zealand business elite.

The rally received unprecedented media coverage, and was used by sections of the political establishment to pressure the government to dismantle public health measures. The occupation was brought to an end after it had largely fulfilled its purpose of shifting official politics further to the right.

Opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon repeatedly expressed sympathy for the protesters, claiming that they represented broader frustration with COVID restrictions. Far-right ACT Party leader David Seymour held a meeting with representatives of the occupation. Former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, from the right-wing nationalist NZ First, visited the encampment, which he claimed was representative of ordinary people.

Pseudo-left commentator John Minto, liberal columnist Bryce Edwards, and the Redline blog depicted the protesters as ordinary working class people, while downplaying or ignoring the right-wing organisers.

In fact, the anti-vaccination groups represent a tiny minority. There is mass support for vaccines, with more than 96 percent of those eligible having received two doses. More than 142,000 people signed an online petition calling for the occupiers to go home.

Ardern yesterday told a press conference that New Zealand will not be defined by a small handful of protesters. She said thousands of lives had been saved during the pandemic because of peoples adherence to public health measures.

Arderns Labour Party-led government, however, has largely abandoned restrictions after ending its elimination policy last October. It has allowed the Omicron variant to spread out of control, placing tremendous pressure on healthcare services. More than 146,000 people are now infected with COVID and 503 are in hospital.

The far-right is setting the agenda for the Labour government, which has already implemented many of the demands made by Destiny Church, the opposition parties and business groups. With the crucial assistance of the trade unions, the government has ended lockdowns, vowed to keep schools and businesses open, and is removing border quarantine requirements. Last week, the government changed the definition of a contact so that far fewer people will be required to self-isolate if they come into contact with a COVID case.

While Ardern portrayed the country as united, the government is terrified of a confrontation with the working class, which is moving to the left under the impact of the pandemic and soaring social inequality. The governments healthcare authorities have applied to the Employment Court to stop a nationwide strike scheduled for tomorrow by 10,000 public healthcare workers against low wages and drastic under-resourcing.

The government is already signalling that it will exploit the far-right protest to curtail democratic rights. The Speaker of Parliament Trevor Mallard tweeted, I think we will have to have a wall with gates to control public access to parliaments grounds. The site is a major focal point for strikes and protests.

The use of rubber bullets against protesters also sets a new precedent. These weapons, which can inflict severe injuries, were introduced in New Zealand in 2015 for special groups of police. In June 2020, Police Commissioner Andrew Coster spoke about expanding their use by frontline officers, but told Radio NZ there were no immediate plans to do so. His comments followed worldwide protests, including in New Zealand, sparked by the police murder of George Floyd and a wave of police violence in the United States.

The government will also use the events at parliament to justify greater powers to censor online extremism. Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson told Radio NZ, theres a responsibility for all of us to look at how we can stop the spread of dis- and misinformation. Already, since the Christchurch terror attack, Labour has introduced legislation to make it easier to take down social media content, and drawn up laws against hate speech.

The target of all these measures is not the extreme right, but the working class. The government is anticipating a surge in strikes and protests in opposition to the unending attacks on living conditions, the disaster created by unleashing Omicron, and the preparations for war with Russia and China.

Many workers and young people are rightly disturbed by the scenes at parliament. The danger of fascism, however, cannot be countered by relying on the capitalist state and the Ardern government, which has emboldened these forces through its policies. The working class needs its own party, opposed to Labour and its allies, from the standpoint of a socialist and internationalist perspective.

The Socialist Equality Group calls on workers and young people to establish rank-and-file safety committees in schools and workplaces to fight for the elimination of COVID-19, independently of the trade unions, which enforced Labours unsafe reopening of schools and non-essential businesses. We encourage readers to contact us to discuss this perspective.
Tuesdays State of the Union address by US President Joe Biden was a choreographed event intended to portray the COVID-19 pandemic as over. It marked the climax of a weeks-long effort of the entire political establishment and corporate media, spearheaded by the Democratic Party, to force the American population to live with the virus and accept a new normal of unending mass infection, debilitation and death.

The central focus of Bidens speech was the war in Ukraine, as he portrayed Russian President Vladimir Putin as the villain in a Manichean struggle of good versus evil. For the Biden administration and the Democratic Party, the war is seen as a means to unify the country and divert all attention away from the immense domestic crisis triggered by the pandemic.

Customers wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus shop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Despite the fact that the COVID-19 death toll in the US is approaching 1 million and over 125,000 Americans have died since the start of the new year, the corporate media has stopped covering the pandemic and is almost exclusively engaged in war propaganda. A similar phenomenon has swept across Europe, whose capitalist governments are also implicated in ongoing mass infections and deaths from COVID-19.

But, despite the efforts of the political establishment and media to make the public believe that the pandemic is over, this is far from the case. On Tuesday, the day Biden spoke, BNO News reported that 1,763 people lost their lives to COVID-19. The following day, the death toll rose to 2,236.

Almost as many people are dying every day in the US as in the height of the surge caused by the Delta variant of COVID-19 in September. Vietnam, South Korea and other countries are recording record case rates as the BA2 variant surges around the world.

As part of the effort to normalize the pandemic, last Friday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new masking guidelines based on hospital capacity instead of COVID-19 infection rates. The guidelines have been widely denounced by scientists for turning masks into a personal preference rather than a necessary public health measure. On Wednesday, the CDC rescinded its contact tracing recommendations, another significant milestone in the scrapping of all COVID-19 mitigation measures in the US.

The coordinated announcement of the end of masking and contact tracing marks the final implementation of a policy dreamed of by the US political establishment since the start of the pandemic: to end all measures to interrupt the spread of the disease, even as thousands of people needlessly die every single day.

The CDCs masking guidelines were implemented at the State of the Union, with almost every attendee maskless. Behind this veneer of normalcy, all those present had to have tested negative for COVID-19 that day, a luxury denied at nearly every school and workplace across the US.

The pandemic, which has profoundly affected every American for two years, was relegated to roughly seven minutes in the second half of Bidens hourlong speech. Not once did he say the words Omicron, Long COVID, airborne or N95.

As with Bidens speech overall, his remarks on COVID-19 were a mass of contradictions, lies and a profound distortion of the present reality of the pandemic.

He began, For more than two years, COVID has impacted every decision in our lives and the life of this nation. And I know youre tired, frustrated and exhausted. That doesnt even count the close to a million people who sit at a dining room table or a kitchen table and look at an empty chair because they lost somebody.

This oblique reference to the staggering US death toll, which will surpass 1 million later this month, was Bidens only acknowledgment of this immense tragedy. He omitted the fact that since he took office on January 20, 2021, over 535,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, more than the combined total number of US soldiers killed in World War I and World War II. Roughly 15,000 Americans have died each week for the past month, with no end in sight.

As a tried and true American pragmatist, Biden refused to dwell on the past and quickly moved on, stating, Tonight I can say were moving forward safely, back to [] more normal routines. He later added, COVID-19 no longer need control our lives.

He praised the CDCs new masking guidelines, saying, most Americans in most of the country can now go mask free. Directly contradicting himself, he then stated, Because this virus mutates and spreads, we have to stay on guard.

Biden presented a fairy tale description of the future of the pandemic, outlining four commonsense steps as we move forward safely. The first step will be vaccines and treatments.

Evidently having learned nothing from the unprecedented spread of the Omicron variant, Biden stated, The vaccine can stop the spread of these diseases. In fact, for over one year it has been known that the vaccines do not fully protect against COVID-19 infection but rather primarily protect against hospitalization and death. The CDC has withheld critical data on breakthrough infections and deaths, but it is known that they are not uncommon and can lead to death or debilitating Long COVID.

Furthermore, only 65 percent of Americans have received two doses of vaccine. Less than 29 percent have been boosted, with vaccination rates stalled at only 350,000 per day. Antivirals, while promising, are in highly limited supply. Relying on vaccines and treatments alone sets the stage for further mass infections and deaths whenever the next variant inevitably evolves.

Facing enormous backlash for the CDCs new masking recommendations, which place over 9 million immunocompromised Americans in peril, Biden stated, If youre immunocompromised or have some other vulnerability, we have treatments and free high-quality masks. Were leaving no one behind or ignoring anyones needs as we move forward. However, he failed to reconcile this with the fact that every indoor public space will now be hazardous for millions of at-risk people.

The second step of the Biden administrations plan is to prepare for new variants.

Biden promised, If necessary, well be able to deploy new vaccines within 100 days instead of maybe months or years, adding, I cant promise a new variant wont come, but I can promise you well do everything within our power to be ready if it does.

He neglected to mention that attempts to produce an Omicron-specific vaccine proved unsuccessful, as well as the fact that the BA.2 Omicron subvariant is rising exponentially in the US while shattering records for infections, hospitalizations and deaths in Hong Kong, South Korea, Denmark and Iceland, all of which have higher vaccination rates than the US.

The conception that each time a new variant arises, the correct response is to restart the entire process of vaccinating the worlds population, is absurd. Given the laws of viral evolution, this Sisyphean struggle would continue for years, as billions more are needlessly infected and millions die while new vaccines are slowly distributed worldwide.

The third and most critical element of Bidens pandemic future is to end the shutdown of schools and businesses. This is the essence of the new normal, which prioritizes the interests of the corporations and financial elite.

Biden stated, Its time for America to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again with people. People working from home can feel safe and begin to return to their offices. He added, Our schools are open. Lets keep it that way. Our kids need to be in school. This drew a bipartisan standing ovation.

Biden claimed, [M]ost Americans can remove their masks and stay in the classroom and move forward safely.

This is a lie of monumental proportions. The vast majority of children remain unvaccinated, and recent studies indicate that the pediatric vaccine is less effective. During the ongoing Omicron surge, children have been infected, hospitalized and killed at record rates, with the CDC recording 212 child deaths from COVID-19 in February and 84 in the last week alone.

Concluding his four-point plan, Biden said, Well continue vaccinating the world. Weve sent 475 million vaccine doses to 112 countriesmore than any nation on Earth. He elided the fact that the US has refused to relinquish intellectual property rights for the Moderna vaccine, which was developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Bidens remarks summarized the content of a new National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan released Wednesday. As with Bidens first Preparedness Plan issued the day after his inauguration, this plan is nothing but hot air. Nearly every aspect of the plan hinges on securing funding from Congress in a weeks- or months-long, drawn out process that may never come to fruition.

While paying lip service to the need to support Long COVID patients and improve air filtration systems in schools and public spaces, the central aim of the plan is to ensure that schools and workplaces stay open during future surges of new variants. It states, Our path forward relies on giving schools and businesses the tools they need to prevent economic and educational shutdowns, so our students can stay in school, our workers can be safe at work and our economy can continue to grow.

Everything pertaining to indoor ventilation amounts to recommendations, guidance, a checklist and technical resources. Nowhere is there any mention of a legal requirement or funding specifically for this most essential issue.

The new normal demanded by Biden and the Democrats, following in the footsteps of the herd immunity policies of Trump, will only deepen the social crimes committed over the past two years. In demanding that the population accept mass death from a preventable disease, the American ruling class is conditioning society for even more unspeakable crimes and mass casualties in a war with Russia.

The objective reality facing hundreds of millions of workers across the US and billions worldwide belies the propaganda that the pandemic is over. The chief task facing the international working class is to build a mass movement fighting to stop both the pandemic and the escalating drive to world war.
Major Australian construction company Probuild confirmed Thursday morning last week that it would enter administration after its parent company, South Africa-based Wilson Bayly Holms-Ovcon (WBHO), declared it would no longer provide financial assistance to its Australian operations, effective immediately.

WBHO claims it has given 2 billion rand ($183 million) in financial assistance to its Australian arm over the past four years, which has severely depleted its resources and had a significant effect on its financial performance.

Probuild Construction site in Brisbane, Queensland [Source: Wikipedia Commons]

On Wednesday, February 23, workers were seen hurriedly packing up gear and tools and scrambling to exit Probuild sites across the country, after being ordered off by the company.

Workers were kept in the dark about the companys intentions until the last minute. One worker leaving The Ribbon hotel project in Sydney told the media no one had been given any indication of when work might resume. He confirmed there had been no hint of any problems with the company prior to Wednesday afternoon.

Another worker, arriving at the CSL project site in Melbourne, said: Just got told, pack up your tools, were done here. Probuild has gone bust. No notice. Bit of a worry. A tradesman leaving another site declared: All the contractors are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. No ones going to get their money.

WBHO Australia comprises 18 businesses, including Probuild, WBHO Infrastructure and Monaco Hickey. The company employs 750 people directly and has $5 billion worth of unfinished projects across three Australian states, including 13 in Victoria, 3 in NSW and 1 each in Queensland and Western Australia. The vast bulk of the work on these projects is carried out by numerous subcontractors, large and small, employing thousands of workers.

Responding to the news on Probuild, Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) Assistant Construction Division Secretary Nigel Davies said the union was currently seeking information from Probuild to understand the companys situation and any likely impact on workers.

Understanding the companys situation is standard language employed by unions to telegraph that they are ready to suppress workers opposition and work with administrators to slash jobs and cut costs to attract potential buyers or investors.

Reflecting the corporate elites hostility to COVID-19 public health measures that might in any way encroach on profits, WBHO sought to blame the Australian governments so called hardline approach to managing the pandemic for its decision to deny further support to Probuild.

Lockdown restrictions on retail, hotel and leisure and commercial office sectors of building markets created high levels of business uncertainty in Australia, a WBHO spokesman claimed. This had significantly reduced demand and delayed the award of new projects in these key sectors of the construction industry.

The reality is, for almost the entire duration of the pandemic, Australias state and federal governments, Labor and Liberal-National alike, have exempted the construction sector from lockdowns and other restrictions. In line with the demands of big business that profits must not be impeded, workers have been herded onto job sites, endangering their health and lives and furthering the spread of the deadly virus. The CFMEU, like all other unions, has played a leading role in enforcing this murderous let it rip agenda.

It is true that COVID-19 has exacerbated problems in global supply chains, delaying shipments and increasing the price of essential materials across every industrial sector. Procurement issues pose serious problems for the construction sector, where building companies are working to meet extremely tight progress deadlines, often with financial penalties.

In the construction industry, as in almost every aspect of capitalism, the pandemic has revealed and deepened the underlying fragility of the system.

The Probuild crisis is the latest in a series of collapses across the construction sector, including the liquidation of giant project builder Grocon in 2020. Left in the hands of capitalist investors concerned only with profit, many more enterprises are set to go to the wall with a devastating impact on the lives of workers.

A recent report by the Housing Industry Association found that the current construction boom will likely end by the middle of 2022 and described the almost 33 percent rise in building projects since 2019 as unsustainable.

In January 2021, the Liberal-National federal governments Foreign Investment Review Board ruled against a $300 million bid by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation to buy Probuild after federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg indicated he would reject it.

The bid was torpedoed in line with the governments drive to block Chinese investment in Australia on spurious national security grounds, as part of its ramping up of anti-China sentiment in preparation for US-led military conflict with Beijing. At the time, Probuild Executive Chairman Simon Gray said despite the loss of fresh investment from the large Chinese company, the Australian business could still rely on continued support from WBHO.

Melbourne-headquartered Probuild, one of Australias largest construction companies, turned a profit of $4 million off revenue of $1.3 billion last year, down from $2.4 billion in revenue in 2019-2020. While the full extent of Probuilds unpaid debts have not yet been made known, the company reportedly had liabilities worth $401 million last year, $311.6 million of which were listed in its annual accounts as trade and other payables.

Probuild has appointed Deloitte Australia as administrator, which has declared it will be working closely with the company on a number of plans, including looking to secure a new owner for the business and commencing a sale and recapitalisation process

Deloitte is well known for its ruthless handling of company collapses, including initiating massive job cuts along with the carving up and flogging off of assets to pay out secured creditors such as banks and large financial investors. Workers and small unsecured creditors, on the other hand, end up with nothing or receive a fraction of what they are owed after being kept waiting for months on end.

The company was appointed as administrator in the aftermath of Virgin Australias collapse in 2020. As part of Deloittes bid to find a new owner and recapitalise the airline, 3,000 jobs were axedone third of the workforceand the carriers low-cost airline TigerAir was liquidated, destroying hundreds of jobs. Deloittes cost-cutting operation to prepare the $3.5 billion sale of Virgin to private equity firm and corporate raider Bain Capital was fully supported by the airline unions.

With Probuild, the ruling elite is yet again determined to make the working class pay for the financial decisions and misadventures of multinational companies in which they have no say. As the Australian construction boom hurtles towards bust, the assault on workers jobs, pay and conditions will only deepen.

Workers cannot fight this onslaught within the framework of the CFMEU, which is intimately connected to the major property developers and construction companies. Over decades, the union has overseen the destruction of tens of thousands of jobs and the rapidly increasing use of casual and contract labour in order to drive up corporate profits.

Instead, construction workers must urgently build their own organisations of struggle, rank-and-file committees, independent of the unions. Through a network of these committees, across the building industry and the broader working class, workers can take up a fight to place construction and other critical sectors under public ownership and workers control. Only in this way can the industry be reorganised around the social need for affordable high-quality housing, schools, hospitals and other much needed infrastructure, rather than the profit interests of the wealthy elite.
If anyone tuned in to Joe Bidens State of the Union address still expecting to hear a serious speech about any of the metastasizing and intersecting crises confronting United States and the world, they would have left disappointed. Bidens speech was a vulgar attempt to paper over an immense domestic crisis by presenting the US as internally united against one man: Vladimir Putin.

In an earlier period, when the United States occupied the position of a rising capitalist power, its politicians at least felt an obligation to keep the population somewhat informed about what was taking place. Bidens speech, however, included no serious commentary about any of the most pressing issues confronting the country and the world. It was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying the remarkably low intellectual level of the individuals running the US government.

President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., watch, Tuesday, March 1, 2022, in Washington. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)

The speech was so contradictory as to border on the politically absurd. Biden proclaimed America was united as National Guard soldiers protected the Capitol building from the threat of right-wing demonstrations. He said the United States was defending democracy against dictatorship abroad as the 150 Republicans who attempted to establish a dictatorship at home stood and applauded. He called for peace and diplomacy while warning Putin he would pay a price and that the US would inflict pain on Russia.

Biden attempted to blame Vladimir Putin for the ills afflicting the American population. Gas prices are going up because of Vladimir Putin. Democracy is under threat from the international machinations of Vladimir Putin. Americas domestic divisions are exacerbated by misinformation emanating from the evil mind of Vladimir Putin. Referencing the economic crisis that has befallen Russia as a result of US-led sanctions, Biden declared: Putin alone is the one to blame. One does not have to sympathize with Putins reactionary and dangerous invasion of Ukraine to understand these claims as self-serving and false.

Bidens effort to blame Putin for Americas problems was contradicted by the fact that Biden acknowledged the real threat to democracy from within the American ruling class itself.

We will save democracy, Biden said as he liberally used the passive voice to say that voting rights are under assault and that laws have been passed to subvert the entire election. Biden did not reference that such assaults on democratic rights were led by Republicans whom he referred to as his colleagues. He did not mention that the Republican Partys national leadership just endorsed the view that the January 6 coup constituted legitimate political discourse. He made no reference of the fact that several weeks ago he declared that he believed American democracy would not survive the decade.

Biden touted the bipartisan efforts of Congress and said Putin had mistakenly believed the United States was divided. Putin thought the West and NATO wouldnt respond to the invasion of Ukraine. He thought he could divide us at home, in this chamber and in this nation. He thought he could divide us in Europe as well. But Putin was wrong. We are ready. We are united, and thats what we did. We stayed united.

The United States was fighting for lightness over darkness in eastern Europe, Biden said, echoing George W. Bushs proclamation that his administrations murderous wars were justified by the need to confront an axis of evil.

But for all his efforts to present the US as unified, Biden was forced to admit that America was riven by massive levels of inequality and unprecedented internal division. There are so many families that are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to keep up with the rising cost of food, gas, housing and so much more, Biden said, also referencing the extreme cost of health care and child care. He acknowledged that tens of millions of Americans suffer from drug and alcohol abuse, that the country confronts a mental health crisis due to overwork and stress.

Passing by these symptoms of social and cultural crisis, Biden declared that divisions within the US are not so great in comparison with the division between nation states. Folks, while it often appears that we do not agree, and thatwe do agree on a lot more things than we acknowledge. But this was contradicted by Bidens acknowledgment that Americans see each other as enemies. Biden appealed to Americans to start seeing each other for who we are: fellow Americans. We cant change how divided weve been. It was a long time in coming.

How was it a long time coming? How did America become so unequal? How did the country become fertile ground for the type of anti-vaccination sentiment that has facilitated the spread of the pandemic? Biden made no attempt to answer these questions.

To address those divisions that do exist, Biden presented what he called his unity agenda for the nation, which rests on several magical formulas. Biden will help corporations profit by raising the wages of workers, he said. He will protect civil liberties by increasing funding for the police. He will respect the rights of immigrants by securing the border. He will cut the deficit by expanding social programs.

Every Democrat in the audience knew that the legislative proposals Biden laid out in his speech were already dead in the water. Members of his own party in the Senate blocked his bills that would moderately expand the right to vote. While Biden called for expanding the child income tax credit and spending for community colleges, he failed to mention that his own administration and Senate Democrats cut these programs from the infrastructure bill passed last year.

Ultimately, the speech failed in its immediate aims. The attempt to convey strength only revealed the underlying weaknesses.

The state of the union is strong because you, the American people, are strong, Biden proclaimed, adding, We are stronger today than we were a year ago. But Biden began his speech by saying, We meet tonight in an America that has lived through two of the hardest years this nation has ever faced. Half a million people in the US have died over the year in which Biden has supposedly made America stronger.

He acknowledged that Americans are tired, frustrated and exhausted with the immense social suffering inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Close to a million people sit at a dining room table or a kitchen looking at an empty chair because they lost somebody, he said, understating the number of people who have lost a close friend or relative by a factor of 10. Bidens speech writers used this passing reference to the COVID death toll as a rhetorical segue to a declaration that the pandemic was over and that all restrictions would be lifted immediately.

As for his claim to give workers a fair shot while boasting that he comes from Delaware, which he called the land of corporate America, Biden explained to whom he owes his rise to political prominence: There are more corporations incorporated in [Delaware] than every other state in America combined. And I still won 36 years in a row.

In the speech there was a strong sense of corporatism. Bidens guests included the CEO of Intel and a trade union bureaucrat with the United Steel Workers. He praised both for helping promote American industry, especially through the production of microchips, a strategically critical device necessary for weapons manufacturing and war.

Beyond Putin, Biden lacked subjects upon which he could unite the country. The other elements of his unity agenda included opposition to cancer and support for children with diabetes and the elderly.

Bidens speech, like his war with Russia, will solve none of the underlying social divisions produced by the capitalist system. On the contrary, the lies and war threats will only deepen the divisions and further erode the democratic foundations of the country, strengthening the forces of reaction that are always rallied in times of war. The solution is the building of a mass socialist movement in the working class capable of freeing the worlds productive forces from the control of a ruling class that is recklessly paving the way to world war.
CEO Carlos Tavares speaking at the companys Software Day presentation last December (Stellantis Media)

Absences by workers at Stellantis US factories are more frequent than in other countries, CEO Carlos Tavares complained at a media roundtable in Europe last week. Stellantis, formed from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Frances PSA Group last year, is the worlds fourth-largest automaker.

Tavares, speaking to the media the same day as the companys earnings were released, stated that absenteeism was frequent at other auto manufacturers in the US as well and thus was not a competitive penalty for our company, Automotive News reported.

However, it would nonetheless need to be addressed, the CEO said, and the company would work with the United Auto Workers (UAW) and other North American unions to resolve it. So we are discussing this matter with our unions and with our management to see how we can improve it.

What was left unstated in Tavares s comments are the disastrous conditions which have driven absences from work, above all, the explosive spread of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant.

In 2021, approximately 35 million COVID-19 cases were reported in the US, and over 475,000 succumbed to the virus, according to Our World in Data. Since the beginning of the year, the hyper-infectious Omicron variant has led to at least another 24 million cases and 120,000 deaths. In early January alone, nearly 9 million workers were off sick from work, as the Omicron surge headed towards its peak.

A precise accounting of the toll of COVID-19 on autoworkers at Stellantisnot to mention the numerous workers at auto parts companies across its supply chain or at the other major automakers, for that matteris unknown, because corporate management and the UAW have refused to disclose the total number of cases and deaths among workers. Instead, the companies and the UAW have falsely insisted that the plants are safe, in an effort to kept workers on the line and generating profits.

UAW Vice President for Stellantis Cindy Estrada hypocritically criticized Tavaress comments, seeking to distance the union from the deadly sweatshop conditions it has worked to impose. Estrada is notorious among autoworkers for her role in facilitating job cuts and other attacks behind their backs while overseeing the unions General Motors department and was a target in the Justice Departments corruption investigation, according to the Detroit Free Press.

On a day that we should celebrate the rewards of the hard work and dedication of the UAW members here in the U.S., it is sad we have to defend the need for workers to have time off, Estrada told Automotive News. The company has created a footprint that requires the U.S. operations to run 6 and 7 days a week, long hours to meet the demand for the highly profitable vehicles the company sells. The extreme pressure to work these long hours in the midst of a pandemic causes our members to use their contractual time off to recover from illness, rest, spend time with their families or to care for their children.

The reality, however, is that the UAW has acted as the companies enforcers to help exert the extreme pressure to work these long hours and long ago sold off workers hard-won right to the 8-hour day.

The UAW just parrots whatever the company says, sitting on their hands and pretending theres nothing they can do about it, a worker at the Stellantis Belvidere Assembly plant in Illinois, where workers have faced frequent layoffs recently, told the WSWS.

The thing about absenteeismtheyve been laying us off indefinitely, he said. Obviously theres a lot of dissent, a lot of people losing their jobs, they dont know when theyre going to back to work.

So knowing that theyre going to be indefinitely laid off, a lot of people have been using their PA [paid absence] days, sort of like a subtle strike. At some point, the company started saying you cant use a PA day on this day or that day, even though the contract states you can, except for certain holidays. But they were still imposing that, and the UAW was backing it; they just let them do it.

Stellantis sees 2021 profits nearly triple

The same day as Tavares was bemoaning worker absences, Stellantis reported its first full-year earnings as a company, announcing a dramatic rise in its profits to $15.2 billion (13.3 billion). Its 2021 profits were nearly triple the combined profits for Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group in 2020, growing by 172 percent.

More than half of Stellantis profits came from its North American businesses, where it has concentrated on high-margin vehicles, such as Dodge Ram pickups and Jeep SUVs. The company reported an elevated 16.3 percent adjusted operating margin for North America, compared to Fiat Chryslers 8.9 percent margin in 2020.

The companys shareholders are expected to receive a handsome payout, with a proposed $3.3 billion dividend. Tavares, meanwhile, received a reported compensation of $19.6 million in 2021, more than double his 2019 pay as then-CEO of the PSA Group (or Peugeot Societe Anonyme). His 2020 compensation was not released by the company. The estate of Sergio Marchionne, the former head of Fiat Chrysler who was implicated in the UAW bribery scheme, received $29.3 million last year.

Stellantis substantial growth in profits was achieved not primarily by selling more vehicles but rather by cuts in costs and the increased exploitation of workers. The company reported that its revenue grew by a more modest 14 percent compared to 2020, reaching $172.2 billion (152 billion). Its vehicle sales only negligibly increased, from 5.9 million units sold by Fiat Chrysler and PSA combined in 2020 to 6.1 million in 2021.

At the same time, the company stated that it realized 3.2 billion in cost savings and cash synergies from the merger in 2021. It is targeting 5 billion in annual savings going forward.

Stellantis EV transition plan heralds further cuts

On Tuesday, Stellantis released what it touted as a long-term plan to transition to greater electric vehicle production. The company has been viewed as a laggard in comparison to its rivals, such as General Motors and Ford, which have sought to outdo each other in trumpeting substantial investments in EVs in recent months.

Stellantis stated that it planned to have all of its sales in Europe and half of its sales in the US be electric vehicles by 2030. Moreover, the company aims to maintain double-digit profit margins and double its revenues during this transition.

The competition is fierce, and we are ready to take on the fight for the top spot, Tavares stated.

As with the other major automakers, Stellantis is planning to offset the significant capital requirements involved in transitioning to EVs through cost cuts, the elimination of jobs and the intensification of workers exploitation, while simultaneously extorting local or national governments for tax reductions.

The global restructuring campaign is already underway. In France, Stellantis slashed 1,380 jobs last year and is considering another 1,300-1,400 cuts this year, according to Reuters. In Italy, the company is working with the UILM union to cut over 700 positions through voluntary redundancies.

As with the Hunger Games-style competition in which Ford and the unions have pitted workers in Germany against workers in Spain, Stellantis is no doubt planning to dangle the potential of EV product investments in the run-up to the 2023 Big Three contract negotiations, demanding in return major concessions in wages, benefits and working conditions. It will fully expect and can count on the support of the union executives in the UAW, who executed a similar strategy in 2019, most prominently at GM, resulting in the shutdown of the Lordstown Assembly Plant and several other facilities.

The predatory demands for ever greater efficiencies and cost reductions will not be limited to the major auto manufacturers. The restructuring campaign is being pursued throughout the supply chain, threatening the wholesale destruction of large swaths of the parts industry.

Earlier this year, Stellantis released new purchase order terms and conditions for its suppliers, Automotive News reported, demanding that they immediately pass on any savings to Stellantis but bear the full cost of any price increases themselves. Adopting the role of task master, the company has said suppliers must submit written plans annually by October 1 describing how they will increase productivity and slash costs.

The ferocious struggle among automakers to dominate the markets and technologies for electric vehicles is accelerating. On Wednesday, Ford announced that it would be splitting its EV business, dubbing the unit Ford Model e, from that for its internal combustion engine vehicles, which will be called Ford Blue. The prime objective of the reorganization is to lower costs and extract even greater profits from workers. The legacy Ford Blue business is being targeted for $3 billion in cost savings by 2026, which inevitably means further savage attacks on workers.

Predictably, Fords announcement was met with the slavish support of UAW executives, with UAW Vice President for Ford Chuck Browning noting ominously that job security is at the forefront of the unions discussions with Ford.

We get sick, we need rest, we have families

A central element of the automakers strategy to reduce costs and pump out ever greater amounts of surplus value from workers is the increasing utilization of low-paid temporary or supplemental workers. In the 2019 sellout contracts rammed through by the UAW, the expansion of the automakers ability to hire temps featured prominently, covered up with an often illusory pathway to full employment.

Stellantis FCA workers at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant outside of Detroit (Source: FCA Media)

A supplemental worker at the Stellantis Warren Truck Assembly Plant described the exhausting hours workers have been confronting. Workers previously estimated that there were 500 workers out quarantining or sick with COVID-19 at Warren Truck at any given time in January, more than 10 percent of the workforce.

When we were working 12 hours, and there were overlapping shifts, oh, yeah, the worker told the WSWS, that took a toll. That really took a toll. Seriously that took a toll on the people as far as the hours worked and then getting infected from this person or that person, working in close proximity to each other. Its like, you know, when shift change, you got too many people.

I believe when they went to the 12 hours, they lost a lot of people. A lot! The more they brought in the more left.

And us people, we dont get paid that much. Amazon pays more. Sooner or later, Ill be gone, because its not beneficial to stay here. I only make like $15. $15 aint paying enough. I left a job making $21. I came here because I thought it was better. Profit sharing, and get all this and that. And it just didnt turn out the way they made it to be.

So a lot of new people probably went back to their old jobs or found a better job. I cant keep going at this rate, hoping that once they get going theyll fix this and fix that. I dont think theyre going to fix it.

Workers are deeply alienated from the UAW and do not believe it represents their interests, he said. We dont identify with the UAW. Im saying, even though we pay the UAW, we dont get anything out of the UAW. Like the UAW would say no, you cant do this.  They dont tell the company no. Whatever the company decides to do with us, thats what they do with us.

Supplemental employees were forced to work 10 or 12 hours, six or seven days a week mandated by Stellantis even though COVID is killing people daily; and these supplemental employees are not represented by the UAW, despite the fact we pay union dues as well.

Stellantis supplemental employees are human too. We get sick, we need rest, we have families, we have children, we have bills to pay.
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...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 UNTIL TUESDAY AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Wabash River at Montezuma. * WHEN...Until Tuesday afternoon. * IMPACTS...At 18.0 feet, Montezuma agricultural levee is overtopped. Fourteen hundred acres of low bottomlands flood. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 9:45 PM EDT Wednesday the stage was 13.1 feet. - Forecast...The river is expected to rise above flood stage late tomorrow evening to a crest of 18.0 feet Saturday evening. It will then fall below flood stage early Tuesday morning. - Flood stage is 14.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood &&
By Trend

Nineteen Azerbaijani drivers were evacuated from Ukraine, the Azerbaijan International Road Carriers Association (ABADA) told Trend.

According to the message, 12 trucks which were in Ukraines Odessa city headed to Moldova in the morning.

Five drivers have already left the Odessa port and are heading to Moldova while two drivers have left Cherkasy and Vinnytsia cities. Six trucks left Ukraine and reached Bulgaria. One driver, carrying a cargo, is on the Romanian border.
Have any story ideas? You can send them to egaffney@waow.com
Truck convoys meeting in Monroe County while on the way to D.C.
ABCs The Good Doctor will be welcoming back a fan favorite  original cast member Antonia Thomas will reprise her role as Dr. Claire Browne in a couple of episodes this spring.

There are no details about what will bring Claire, who took a job at a Guatemalan clinic at the end of Season 4, to the San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital and how she will cross paths with her former colleagues, including her close friend Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore). Claire had been Shauns confidant for the first four years of the show, and she could lend a hand  and a sympathetic ear  as he picks up the pieces from his latest gut-wrenching fight with Lea in this weeks Season 5 midseason premiere.

More from Deadline

In her exit interview with Deadline last June Thomas indicated that she would love to reprise her Good Doctor role as a guest star in the future.

Absolutely. Absolutely, she told Deadline at the time. Ive had conversations with Freddie about coming back, and absolutely, yes It has not been an easy decision for me to leave, so I absolutely would love to come back every now and then and say hi, bring Claires skills from Guatemala and her stories. Im very much looking forward to that.

Created by David Shore based on a Korean format, The Good Doctor, from Sony Pictures TV and ABC Signature, airs Mondays 10 PM.

After leaving The Good Doctor, British actress Thomas joined Channel 4s upcoming crime drama series Suspect, an English language adaptation of the Danish television series Forhret.

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Some Brevard students walked out of class Thursday as part of a state-wide protest against a controversial piece of legislation that would limit classroom discussions on sexual orientation.

Nicknamed the Dont Say Gay bill by critics, the Parental Rights in Education bill bans encouraging discussions about gender identity or sexual orientation in primary schools and when it is not age appropriate. The bill does not lay out standards for when those discussions are age appropriate. Parents can sue if they feel their childs school has violated the legislation.

Five things to know: About Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' gender discussions at schools bill

Biden denounces 'Don't Say Gay' bill: White House denounces Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill as 'hateful' after DeSantis backs it

Critics worry the bill will chill classroom discussions about LGBT people and make schools less accepting of LGBTQ students, especially those not ready to come out to their families, for whom schools might be the only safe space to discuss the topics.

The bill passed in the Florida House last Thursday and a similar measure has reached the Senate floor for a vote. Gov. Ron DeSantis has signaled support for the bill.

Students concerned about the legislation organized walkouts and protests Thursday to express their concerns about the bill.

Students at Melbourne High School held a protest before class for students who did not want to participate in a full walkout, and Gay-Straight Alliance vice president Simone Hector said some members of the club did plan to go through with a walkout.

Students at Edgewood Jr./Sr. High School on Merritt Island participate in Thursday's protests of Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill.

A group of students at Edgewood Jr./Sr. High also participated in a walkout.

An internal email to Melbourne High School teachers warned staff not to discuss the walkout with students, but also not to stop them from leaving class if they chose to.

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BPS Spokesman Russell Bruhn said the district had not heard any reports from schools that students had participated, but that if students did they would be unlikely to be punished. The district had heard of the walkout from social media posts and was monitoring the situation.

Especially at the high school level, principals are used to working with students who have a variety of a variety of issues that they care about  social issues, academic issues, that they'll protest or they want their voices heard and they work with them to make sure that happens.

Bailey Gallion is the education reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallion at 321-242-3786 or bgallion@floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 'Don't Say Gay' bill protested by Brevard Public School students
Meat Products

getty

Police are still on the hunt for a thief who allegedly stole over $15,000 of "high-value meat products" from a high-end steakhouse in Roswell, Georgia.

"Have you seen Warren Kearney? We have a beef with him," read a post on the Roswell Police Department's Facebook page.

"On two separate occasions this week, Mr. Kearney broke into the external freezer to a local restaurant and stole over $15,000 worth of high-value meat products," the post continued. "Our detectives have secured multiple warrants for his arrest for 2nd-degree burglary."

RELATED: Chef Goes Viral After Closing His Restaurant for the Day to Take 7-Year-Old Son to Legoland

WANTED PERSON: Have you seen Warren Kearney? We have a beef with him.



On two separate occasions this week, Mr. Kearney broke into the external freezer to a local restaurant and stole over $15,000 worth of high-value meat products. pic.twitter.com/33BVUX5dmv  Roswell Police (@RoswellGAPolice) February 18, 2022

PEOPLE has reached out to the Roswell Police Department for additional comment.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Local news station WSB2 reports that Kearney was hired and scheduled to work at Uncle Jack's on Canton Street in February  and allegedly broke into the upscale steakhouse's outside freezer on Valentine's Day, which was stocked for the big holiday.

RELATED: It's 'Very Rare' for Food to Cause Organ Failure  but Here's How to Ensure Leftovers Are Safe to Eat

Although the restaurant beefed up their security after the initial break-in, the suspect allegedly returned three days later, according to WSB2.

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Both incidents were reportedly caught on surveillance cameras.

RELATED VIDEO: Chef Turns McDonald's Burger into Beef Wellington

"It was very easy for him the first time," owner Willie Degel told Fox5 Atlanta.

Describing the second incident, Degel told WSB2, "He saw bigger and better locks, came with big deadbolts, and cut them off. I'm so shocked someone came back that fast."

General manager Eddie Elrod explained to Fox5, "He took our Fred Flintstone tomahawks, he took Hawaiian salmon and short rib as well."

"It's just such a violation," Elrod told WRWD. "It takes away from the servers we have here and then what money they can make because then we're not able to serve as many guests and it just, unfortunately, they're the ones who get hurt the hardest."

Anyone with information about Kearney's whereabouts should contact the Roswell Police Department at 770-640-4100.

Anonymous information can be provided through Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS(8477) or online at www.StopCrimeATL.org.
The special House committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack said for the first time that it had gathered evidence indicating that former President Donald Trump and others "engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States."

The committee alleged in Wednesday court documents that the conspiracy occurred as Trump and his associates pushed false theories of election fraud and pressured former Vice President Mike Pence to invalidate the 2020 election.

"The evidence supports an inference that President Trump and members of his campaign knew he had not won enough legitimate state electoral votes to be declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential election during the January 6 Joint Session of Congress," the committee disclosed in court documents. "But the President nevertheless sought to use the Vice President to manipulate the results in his favor."

WATCH: Former President Donald Trump's social media app Truth Social launches

FEBRUARY: A Texas man will be the first Jan. 6 defendant to face a jury. His trial could set the tone for others.

The committee's extraordinary filing was part of its continuing legal effort to force former Trump legal adviser John Eastman to disclose documents that the committee says outline a scheme to overturn the election.

President-elect Donald Trump, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of The Trump Organization, on Jan. 11, 2017, in New York.

As part of Eastman's plan, according to the documents, Trump repeatedly pushed Pence to "exercise unilateral authority illegally, as presiding officer of the Joint Session of Congress, to refuse to count electoral votes."

"In service of this effort, he and (Eastman) met with the Vice President and his staff several times to advocate that he unilaterally reject and refuse to count or prevent the counting of certified electoral votes, and both also engaged in a public campaign to pressure the Vice President," the committee documents state.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., has said the panel would be "obligated" to refer evidence of potential crimes to the Justice Department.

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More: Who has been subpoenaed so far by the Jan. 6 committee?

It was not immediately clear whether the committee intended to refer its conclusions it made public Wednesday to the Justice Department.

The new filing marked the first time the committee has made such a pointed assertion, while claiming that evidence supported its conclusion.

"If, in the course of our review, we find something that we think warrants review or recommendation to the Department of Justice, to be honest with you, we will do it," Thompson told ABC's This Week in January.

On Wednesday, Thompson and Co-Chair Liz Cheney appeared to indicate that such evidence exists.

"The facts weve gathered strongly suggest that Dr. Eastmans emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power," the panel leaders said in a joint statement.

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Trump faces investigations in New York, Georgia

Trump denied wrongdoing, saying he was only challenging what he called "a rigged election."

He again accused the committee of playing politics.

"The Unselect Committees sole goal is to try to prevent President Trump, who is leading by large margins in every poll, from running again for president, if I so choose," Trump said in a written statement cataloging his complaints about the 2020 election.

The allegations outlined by the committee further underscore the potential legal jeopardy facing the former president.

In New York, Attorney General Letitia James is engaged in a continuing fight to secure the depositions of Trump and two of his children in a wide-ranging civil fraud inquiry related to the family business operations.

A parallel criminal investigation, led by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, appeared to be thrown into some doubt last week when two prosecutors overseeing the probe abruptly resigned.

In Georgia, the Atlanta-area district attorney is pursuing a separate criminal investigation into Trump's efforts to intervene in the state's election.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jan. 6 panel alleges Trump, others engaged in criminal conspiracy
The Mediapro Studio has unveiled first key cast for Season 2 of crime thriller The Head, one of its biggest international hits, with John Lynch (The Terror, In the Name of the Father) and Katharine ODonnelly (Mary Queen of Scotts, Clique) reprising their lead roles as biologist Arthur Wilde and young doctor Maggie Mitchell.

They will be joined by the Spanish actor of Armenian-Lebanese origin Hovik Keuchkerian who shot to fame playing Moscow in Money Heist, as well as Irelands Moe Dunford (Vikings), Swedens Josefin Nelden (The Restaurant) and British thesp Olivia Morris (Hotel Portofino). More substantial name cast will be announced in upcoming weeks.

More from Variety

A huge global hit for The Mediapro Studio, the production-distribution arm of media giant Mediapro, The Head is heralded by the company as a model for high-end success: It clinched some 25 distribution deals and aired in 90 countries, allowed The Mediapro Studio to retain a large part of the IP and promised to become the basis for a franchise.

The last has now become a reality. Season 2 shifts setting from a glacial polar research station in the dark of an Antarctic winter to an equally isolated and inaccessible setting, an ocean freighter carrying a scientific mission. It will reprise the confrontation between good and evil that already marked the first instalment, The Mediapro Studio announced Thursday.

Jorge Dorado (The Pier), will once more direct. Homeland executive producer Ran Tellem, director of international content development at The Mediapro Studio and an executive producer and co-creator of the first season, is leading development of the series plot. He is joined by writers Mariano Baselga (Codigo Implacable), executive producer of the first season, and playwright-writer Jordi Galceran, author of hits such as The Method, Burundanga, Carnival and El Credito.

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The Head Season 2 - Credit: Courtesy of Mediapro

Courtesy of Mediapro

Also returning are executive producers Laura Fernandez Espeso, Javier Mendez and Bernat Elias. The Mediapro Studio Distribution will continue to handle global distribution of the series.

 The Head has been a key title in the international strategy of The Mediapro Studio. Shot in English, the first season has been sold and aired in 90 countries to excellent results, opening doors to news markets and clients with whom we hadnt worked before, said Laura Fernandez Espeso, CEO of The Mediapro Studio.

This success has made possible the continuation of the franchise with a new and passionate instalment whose shoot will begin in the next months, she added.

Embraced by reviewers for its sense of place, pace and constantly shifting perspectives  Watching this, I could practically feel the ice crystals forming on my beard  and I dont even have a beard, said the Financial Times Suzi Feay, the first instalment of The Head broke viewership records on Hulu Japan and HBO Asia.

Releases took in multiple major markets and platforms: U.S. (HBO), Latin America (HBO), U.K. (Starzplay), Germany (Starzplay), France (Canal Plus) and Italy (Amazon Prime Video).

The series has also been made available in Netherlands (Amazon Prime Video), Portugal (AXN), Belgium (Streamz), Baltic States (Go3 and NENT), Latvia (TET), Estonia (ETV), Russia (Yandex), Middle East and North Africa (Watch It), Australia (SBS), Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland (NENT Group), among others. In Spain, the series premiered on Orange TV and since last November is also available on Disney Plus.

The Head Season 2 - Credit: Courtesy of Mediapro

Courtesy of Mediapro

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Jimmy Kimmel devoted considerable time during his monologue Wednesday night to talking about President Joe Bidens first State of the Union address, and in particular, some of the more awkward moments throughout.

He also reminded viewers that its been just over a year since the Jan. 6 insurrection  but mainly he focused on the awkward moments. And if you watched, you know there were plenty, so lets dig in.

More than 33 million Americans watched Grampotus speak for more than an hour, Kimmel said as he got going. He announced he will release 60 million barrels of oil from our national reserve, which is good news for Ted Cruzs hair.

Kimmel also noted things Biden didnt bring up as a way of reminding people about the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 riot stoked by Donald Trump. Biden did not talk about Trump, North Korea or Bruno. He also didnt bring up the insurrection. This was the first State of the Union since they stormed that room in the Capital, Kimmel said.

Where the President is entering right there, that is this is the door, Kimmel continued as he showed some scenes from this years speech, the mob tried to break down. The one that they had to barricade with furniture to keep the police away.

This is where the congress people [hid] under seats. Thats where the fat guys with zip ties were outside threatening to kidnap them. And heres the spot where Republican Andrew Clyde hid behind an armed guard, while the maniacs he later described as tourists were trying to break in and bear spray his colleagues, Kimmel continued.

Then, the late night host, got to some more lighthearted fare.

At one point, Biden, who is going to turn 80 this year, had some trouble saying the word Ukrainian  watch him and his nervous Vice President silently correcting him under her breath, Kimmel said before showing the clip of Biden, who has a speech impediment, saying Uranians.

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You know, the Uranians. But of course he meant the Uranians. Theyre from Uranus, the planet. Theyre visiting us right now and he blew it. He was supposed to keep that quiet, Kimmel said.

Kimmel joked that its weird having two people sitting behind the president for the whole speech, and pointed out one moment when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to do some kind of celebration at the worst possible moment.

Nancy Pelosi, especially, might want to grab a spot in the audience next year because she  inexplicably  decided to jump to her feet and celebrate while the President was on the subject of veterans getting cancer from toxic burn pits, Kimmel noted. What is this?! This is not burn pits. This is, this is like you just got your name called on The Price is Right is what it is.

That wasnt even the most awkward moment of the night, Kimmel added. That award went to Congress members Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who took a break from yelling at the busboys at Applebees to yell at the President.

They heckled him just as he was talking about his deceased son, Beau, Kimmel said. (And yes, they did just that by the way.) Here they are, looking like they were five hard seltzers deep at a Thunder Down Under show in Vegas.

It was embarrassing. Even some of their fellow Republicans were embarrassed. But, as irritating as their behavior was, we do have freedom of speech in this country, Kimmel said. Which means I can remind you that Lauren Boebert is married to a guy who went to jail for showing his penis to a teenager at a bowling alley.

That is also true, by the way.

And Marjorie Taylor Greene spent last weekend speaking at a conference organized by a pro-Putin White Nationalist, Kimmel said. Klan Mom, this woman has so many issues when it comes to people wearing masks, but when it comes to people wearing hoods? None at all. None at all.

Yes, MTG really did attend a convention with ties to white nationalists. And she wasnt the only elected Republican to do so.

Kimmel ended the segment by mentioning the weird way the SOTU ended.

Two of the moments that got some attention last night were ad-libbed, were not in the script. When Biden said Putin has no idea whats coming, that was off the cuff. And so was his final line of the night, Kimmel said.

He then played the clip, where Biden says Go get em.

Go get Who are supposed to go get? Kimmel asked. Putin? Pokemon? What? We dont know.

Watch the whole clip above.
Tucker Carlson spent some time Wednesday night complaining about Joe Bidens Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson. But in what feels like an increasingly common theme among her critics, about all he could really muster was a gripe that Biden, whos called Jackson one of the countrys top legal minds, wont make her LSAT results public.

No, really. Heres what he said:

So is Kentaji Brown Jackson, a name that even Joe Biden has trouble pronouncing, one of the top legal minds in the entire country? We certainly hope so. Biden is right, appointing her is his one of his gravest constitutional duties. So it might be time for Joe Biden to let us know what Ketanji Brown Jacksons LSAT score was. Wonder how she did on the LSAT. Why wouldnt he tell us that? That would settle the question conclusively as to whether shes a once-in-a-generation legal talent, the next Learned Hand. It would seem like Americans in a democracy have a right to know that and much more before giving her a lifetime appointment, but we did not hear that.

Watch the clip here:

Tucker: It might be time for Joe Biden to let us know Ketanji Brown Jacksons LSAT score was. Why wouldnt he tell us that pic.twitter.com/boPHU5PnMd  Acyn (@Acyn) March 3, 2022

So, Ivy League attendance definitely does not automatically make someone smart, but for what its worth, Jackson attended Harvard and Harvard Law School, graduating from Harvard magna cum laude in 1992, and from Harvard Law cum laude in 1996.

Were not sure why Tucker Carlson wants to see her LSAT results though. The LSAT  the Law School Admissions Test  is only required for admission to law school. It has no other impact on whether someone gets to become an attorney. Jackson took her LSAT after graduating from Harvard in the top 5%, and went on to graduate from Harvard Law in the top 20%.

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Which is to say, we would learn absolutely nothing about Jacksons legal qualifications from seeing her LSAT results, other than that she passed a test required to even go to law school. Plenty of people pass the LSAT handily but never actually become lawyers, let alone graduate in the top 20% of their class.

Perhaps Tucker Carlson thinks the LSAT is what you need to pass in order to practice law, in which case he is actually thinking about the Bar Exam. Jackson went on to practice law for firms based in Massachusetts, New York, Washington, D.C. and California long before she was appointed as a federal judge in 2012. Which means she likely had to pass several different bar exams. Talk to any lawyer you know about how easy that is. (Its not.)

Anyway, one last thing: Learned Hand (1872  1961) was a real guy, a hugely admired lawyer and judge notable as one of the most frequently quoted lower court judges among legal scholars and by Supreme Court justices. Learned was his middle name however, his first name was actually Billings. Which means in addition to being a legal pioneer he also understood the power of branding decades before public relations existed as a career path.
Ukrainian families now huddle in bomb shelters and dig trenches to fight off Vladimir Putin's murderous regime. Their battle is for life and death; there is no time for debates about political correctness.

No, those are concerns for the outside world that sits, watches, judges and tweets about a war not outside its door.

This is not to say there aren't problems with how Western societies, the news media and governments perceive (and refuse to receive) nonwhite refugees from countries and regions such as Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Kurdistan, Eritrea, Yemen, Honduras, Haiti, Congo, Guinea Bissau and Mexico.

As a matter of international law, no one group has any more right than another in its struggle for self-determination.

In their own words: Ukrainians talk about living through Russian invasion

And every time a journalist refers to a white refugee as "civilized," they should be called out for it  it is racist nonsense, and we ought to know better and hold public figures more accountable for backward, cruel and dangerous utterances.

A family flees their neighborhood on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 2, 2022.

It is that kind of language that helped to fuel the ethnic and religious hatred that drove the Balkans war in the 1990s.

Broad strokes are unhelpful at best

We also ought to know better than to paint with broad strokes about how Ukrainian refugees are being embraced by the world.

Ukraine, like any other conflict, is not happening in a vacuum. Complicated historical and cultural factors merit attention and cannot be easily glossed over. People turn refugees away for all kinds of (right and wrong) reasons  even when they look like "them."

My USA TODAY colleague Thuan Elston fled Vietnam with her family in 1975 shortly before the fall of Saigon. She wrote in a 2015 column about the Syrian refugee crisis: "Just as some European nations are turning away today's refugees and migrants, not all of Vietnam's neighbors were welcoming. Malaysia and Thailand frequently pushed boats full of desperate refugees away from their coastlines, sometimes after first giving them food and gasoline."

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War criminal?: Thermobaric weapons. Targeting hospitals. Case against Putin as a war criminal is strong.

In an attempt to be inclusive, those of us on the political left sometimes lump all refugees into the same bucket as if the circumstances are the same. We also demand that the same rules apply no matter the nature of the conflict  or the geographical and demographic factors at play in specific cases.

This week, progressives have criticized European nations for supposedly being more welcoming to Ukrainian refugees than they have been of migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

But you can't draw a straight line from one conflict to another. Kyiv is less than a day's drive from Berlin. Kabul, Afghanistan, is nearly 3,000 miles away.

We can expect, merely because of proximity, that countries in the European Union like Poland and Germany will more quickly respond to a refugee crisis so close to their borders.

Why all the unity?: Biden State of the Union address divisively demanded unity, and I'm mad about it!

In situations of oppression  whether Ukraine, Afghanistan or another country  we need action, not just arguments. And receiving refugees, any refugee, is certainly action. As Slavoj Zizek says in his book, "Heaven in Disorder," in these times "decent people are not the enemy."

In the past week I have been in touch with several people in Ukraine, including a man who has said that he will die protecting kids with cancer as their city is bombed. I have met a father of four, an author and filmmaker, who has left his family to fight for his country.

We must stand united

There is a time to question policies and actions by the international community in response to the Russian attack on the sovereign nation of Ukraine. But my biggest concern now is for the people in the bomb shelters hoping to make it through the night.

My priority now is the Russians who, at great risk to themselves, are protesting the Kremlin's terrifying and illegal aggression.

How do we save lives? How do we stop the suffering?

That is how I approach any human rights violation or war crime, regardless of whether it's an illegal bombing in Gaza, white supremacists in Minnesota or human rights abuses against asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the media, as in government, we must focus on the kids losing their fathers in a senseless war. There will come a time for commissions of truth and inquiry. There will come a time for justice in response to systemic human rights abuses. But for now, we must stand united with Ukraine and the Russian resistance to Putin.

Most important, we must stand together.

Carli Pierson is an attorney, former professor of human rights, writer and member of USA TODAY's Editorial Board. You can follow her on Twitter: @CarliPiersonEsq

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukrainian refugee crisis isn't time to judge others for past mistakes
Here are two little words that lift the spirits, and lets hope we hear them more in the coming months and years: Climate success.

Gabriela Hearst made them the driving idea behind her solid fall 2022 collection for Chloe, expressed very literally on hand-painted bags and intricate intarsia sweaters: one side a brown and withered landscape; the other a verdant vista once nature had been allowed to heal and re-wild itself.

More from WWD

We can think about the apocalypse. Were seeing the fires, were seeing the droughts, were seeing the glaciers melting. But we need to start thinking of climate success, Hearst said during a preview, her arms laden with documents and a thick diary where she catalogues where her ecological crusade intersects with her job as a leading fashion designer.

Hearst mentioned Isabella Trees book Wilding, in which Tree documents how she rehabilitated her dairy farm so that it became a paradise where nearly extinct species in the U.K. started returning. The designer has witnessed the same kind of rebirth at her mothers ranch in her native Uruguay, and she plans to dedicate each subsequent Chloe collection to a new climate success, the next one being fusion energy.

Watching her models stride in cowboy-like boots over the gravel runway she installed in a greenhouse-like glass box, her eco manifesto was not emblazoned on sleeves  except when a model had a cashmere blanket draped on one arm, these depicting either a wounded or restored natural environment.

What registered was a sleek and sophisticated chic hinged on austere tailoring in flawless leathers and handsome tweeds. Hearst held out hope that her understated brand of mindful power dressing might coax more women into politics at a time when compassionate, clear-headed and selfless leadership is sorely needed.

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Hearst pinged between mannish pantsuits and topcoats and her go-to X-silhouette leather dress with scalloped edges. Puffed sleeves on leather dresses added a soft touch, as did her arresting melange sweaters in recycled cashmere.

Some might say this Chloe collection skewed too close to the aesthetic of Hearsts signature line, but its a quibble when the clothes look this good, and are gentle on the planet to boot.

Hearst casually mentioned that Chloes multicolor, platform-soled Nama sneaker, introduced with her spring 2022 collection, has zoomed to become the brands number-one-selling shoe. The fact that were changing the volume drivers of the business to a lower-impact means that were building it in a better way, she said. A commercial and climate success, indeed.

Launch Gallery: Chloe RTW Fall 2022

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Reaction to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's federal indictment on wire fraud, racketeering and bribery charges Wednesday included Democrat and Republican lawmakers. Here's what some had to say.

Illinois House Speaker Democrat Emmanuel "Chris" Welch

As chair of the Special Investigating Committee, I made it clear that this matter needed to be handled in a court of law, completely separate from the legislature. As is evident by this federal indictment, the full weight of the justice system was needed to ensure all charges are investigated properly and thoroughly. At my direction, the Office of the Speaker has fully cooperated with the investigation and will continue to do so.

Illinois House Speaker Emmanuel "Chris" Welch talks about the indictment of former Speaker Michael Madigan at the State Capitol Wednesday, March 2, 2022. [Thomas J. Turney/ The State Journal Register]

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs

"This is another chapter in the sad story of corruption that has pervaded every corner of the state that was touched by Mike Madigan and his Democrat enablers and has dismantled true democracy in Illinois."

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin R-Western Springs holds up a printed copy of the Michael Madigan Indictment during a press conference at the State Capital Wednesday March 2, 2022. [Thomas J. Turney/ The State Journal-Register.

Democratic Party of Illinois Chair Rep. Robin Kelly

For the past year, I have been honored to lead our party as the first person of color and the first woman to chair the Democratic Party of Illinois. The DPI is committed to building a party that is more transparent, more diverse, and more inclusive in everything we do. Todays announcement is a stark reminder that elected leaders must hold themselves to the highest ethical standards. We will observe the legal process as it unfolds, but there can be no tolerance of anyone guilty of violating the public trust. While he stepped down as party chair more than a year ago, Michael J. Madigan remains a State Central Committeeman from the 3rd Congressional District. He should resign from that position as well.

"Since I became chair a year ago, our focus has been on electing Democrats up and down the ticket across Illinois and continuing to fight for the things all Democrats believe in, including raising wages, lowering costs, defending reproductive choice, protecting the environment, investing in our infrastructure, providing high-quality education for all, and more. We will not let actions of the past distract us from our mission in 2022 and beyond.

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More: Former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan charged with racketeering, bribery

Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy

For many years, Illinois Democrats across the state  from Governor JB Pritzker on down  supported, enabled, and kissed the ring of Mike Madigan as he built a corrupt state government that served to enrich his allies and special interests while Illinois crumbled. Illinois is a diminished state and a laughing stock for the rest of the nation because Mike Madigan cared more about holding on to power than serving the interests of its citizens - and because elected Democrats across the state-supported him.

The Illinois Republican Party is committed to exposing and defeating every last Democrat still around that accepted Madigans money, voted Madigans way, or defended him as the leader of their party. The list of those needing to be held accountable for what happened is long, and it starts with Governor JB Pritzker.

Senate President Don Harmon, (D-Oak Park)

These are obviously disturbing allegations. I have confidence in our system of justice. Like everyone else, I will be watching to see how this unfolds.

Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, holds up Senate Bill 2048, a comprehensive energy proposal, to note how much work was done on the bill as he gives his closing remarks on the floor of the Illinois Senate at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Monday, September 13, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

Rep. Tim Butler, (R-Springfield)

The corruption surrounding Madigan has been obvious for years. He did everything in his power to stonewall the Special Investigating Committee when he realized his abuse of power would be exposed. The only question left is for every member of the Democratic caucus who supported him over the years to explain what they knew about it and why they kept supporting him.

Illinois State Rep. Tim Butler, R-Springfield, talks about Springfield's Dallman coal-fired power station during debate on Senate Bill 2408, a comprehensive energy proposal, on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Thursday, September 9, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

Sen. Sally Turner, (R-Beason)

Todays indictment of former Speaker Madigan comes as no surprise to far too many people. Once again, the ethics laws of our state have failed the people of Illinois and has forced the federal government to step in to clean up Illinois corruption.

It is time for the lawmakers of this state to take ethics seriously and to pass real reforms that will help keep corrupt public officials accountable for the illegal actions.

Rep. Chris Bos, (R-Lake Zurich)

Todays indictment of Mike Madigan has been a long time coming, said Bos. Never should someone so obviously engaged in public corruption have been able to stay in office for so long and abuse the taxpayers of our state for personal gain. I only hope this convinces Democrats in the General Assembly to join Republicans in passing long-overdue ethics reform, not more meaningless window dressing.

Rep. Kelly Cassidy, (D-Chicago)

For many years, questions of Speaker Madigans involvement in corruption have hung over the work of our chamber and our party. This news comes as we are trying to complete our work in the House on a compressed schedule and I cant imagine what it would be like to try to do that if he was still the Speaker. This is a sad day, a reminder of a terrible abuse of power that undermined our constituents faith in our government. The former Speaker will have his day in court, and the people of the state of Illinois will have an opportunity to learn the full extent of his actions and determine his fate.

When I first began to speak out, I faced harsh criticism from friends and colleagues alike. Over time, as the steady drip of subpoenas and indictments grew closer and closer to the former Speaker, the ranks of members unwilling to continue to pretend everything was fine grew until 19 members refused to be bullied into voting for him to continue in his role. The actions of the group that came to be known as The 19 resulted in historic change in our chamber and our party. These members reflect the best of public service and I will forever be thankful to them for taking that brave stance.

Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, (R-Jacksonville)

Mike Madigan and his corrupt Chicago Machine have finally been charged by the U.S. Attorneys Office for bribery, extortion, racketeering and public corruption. Madigan and his associates created a criminal enterprise, at the expense of the Illinois citizens and good public policy. They used their power in the legislature to benefit themselves.

Sadly, I have sincere concerns that this corruption continues. There are many concerns that politicians are now picking the lobbyists they will work with, in order to get their buddies lobbying contracts. Remember, it was Speaker Welch who chaired the House Special Investigation Committee to investigate Madigan and it is he who found no fault. That committee purposely swept ethics concerns under the rug, and now the federal government is dealing with the fallout.

It's past time for the Illinois General Assembly to pass real ethics reform to give the Legislative Inspector General the tools needed to root out the corruption at its core.

Illinoisans are tired of Democrats' corruption. Illinoisans are hurting. They want safe neighborhoods, good schools, lower taxes and good infrastructure.

It is time to let the Courts decide what happens to Madigan and his criminal enterprise and it is time for the General Assembly to get to work helping the people who voted them into office.

Illinois State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, delivers his remarks on the Illinois Black Caucus' Education Pillar, HB 2170, during the lame-duck session for the Illinois House of Representatives held at the Bank of Springfield Center, Monday, January 11, 2021, in Springfield, Ill. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

State Reps. Jonathan Carroll, Kelly Cassidy, Deb Conroy, Terra Costa Howard, Margaret Croke, Eva Dina Delgado, Daniel Didech, Robyn Gabel, Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, Will Guzzardi, Stephanie Kifowit, Lindsey LaPointe, Anna Moeller, Bob Morgan, Anne Stava-Murray, Maurice West, Ann Williams, Kathy Willis, Sam Yingling

Thirteen months ago, we 19 Democrats made clear to our colleagues that we would not support Michael Madigan for speaker. We knew that our chamber, our state, and our party deserved better leadership and the unfolding corruption scandal would only continue to erode public confidence.

This is a watershed moment for our state that reminds us of the work ahead as the former speakers case makes its way through the legal system. We remain grateful to the people who joined us in bringing historic change to our party and our chamber.

The possibility that this day was coming and would distract us from our work on behalf of the people we serve was top of mind for many of us as we took this position, even as we faced intense pressure to maintain the status quo.

Our stance eventually led to the historic election of our states first Black speaker, who has led our caucus through the process of passing transformative legislation on clean energy, affordable housing, and a truly balanced budget. We are committed to continuing the work of restoring our constituents faith in Illinois government.

Illinois State Rep. Ann Williams, D-Chicago, talks on a cell phone from the floor during the lame-duck session for the Illinois House of Representatives held at the Bank of Springfield Center, Monday, January 11, 2021, in Springfield, Ill. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]

Rep. Ann Williams, (D-Chicago)

In a far-reaching and expansive indictment, today former Speaker Michael Madigan has been indicted on 22 counts of racketeering, bribery and extortion.

In the fall of 2020, I joined 18 of my colleagues in calling on former Speaker Madigan to step down when it became clear he could no longer effectively lead our caucus in light of the unfolding corruption scandal. When he refused to step aside, I ran for Speaker against Mike Madigan - which ultimately served as a catalyst for change and ushered in new leadership for the first time in decades.

I did this despite strong pushback from colleagues and powerful entrenched interests. It was personally and professionally challenging but needed to happen to protect our Democratic values and the integrity of the Illinois House.

Accountability and integrity should be at the foundation of public service. Unfortunately, this was lost in the pursuit of personal gain and political power. Collaboration and inclusion took a back seat to a culture of cronyism and control.

Although the Illinois General Assembly has accomplished much for the people of the State of Illinois in recent years, the continued corruption scandal put our accomplishments in jeopardy and threatened to thwart continued progress.

The advancement of the priorities and policy goals which reflect Democratic values is why we serve - and must always remain at the forefront.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Michael Madigan indictment: How some Illinois lawmakers reacted
BRIDGEWATER  The township announced a roundtable conversation with political leaders, community members and police, over officers handling of a fight at Bridgewater Commons last month that's been questioned as racially motivated, has been scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at the municipal complex.

Mayor Matthew Moench, Somerset County Commissioner Director Shanel Robinson, Bridgewater Police Capt. Sean ONeill, Pastor David Hobbs of Macedonia Baptist Church in Bridgewater, New Brunswick NAACP President Bruce Morgan, community activist Tormel Pittman and former Bridgewater Police Sgt. Art Atkins are expected to participate.

We know that many of our residents are concerned about the incident which recently took place at Bridgewater Commons Mall, and though we cant talk about specifics because of the ongoing investigation, that doesnt mean that we cant begin the important job of healing and moving our community forward, Moench said in a statement.

More: Students lead rally in Bridgewater over arrest of ZKye Husain

Earlier: After Bridgewater Commons mall fight, NAACP calls for police officers removal

Bridgewater found itself in the eye of a media storm after a 15-second video went viral of a fight between two teens at Bridgewater Commons last month that was broken up by two township police officers. A white police officer wrestled a Black teen to the floor while the other teen, a Hispanic, was seated on a couch by another white officer.

Ben Crump, a nationally recognized civil rights attorney who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin, has been retained to represent the Black teen's family. Crump has scheduled a rally and news conference Wednesday outside the Bridgewater Police Department to call for justice.

The township said the event will include a 25- to 30-minute panel discussion, followed by a question-and-answer period. Closing comments will begin shortly before 7 p.m. to allow for the regularly scheduled township council meeting to begin at 8 p.m.

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More: Here's how Bridgewater was trying to improve police-community relations before mall fight

The mayor said he was pleased to partner with Robinson, the first Black woman to serve as a Somerset County commissioner, in the community conversation.

As the county prosecutors investigation continues, we as elected officials are limited in what we can discuss regarding the incident itself. However, we can and should talk about the larger issues involved, and the collaboration Somerset County has had with Bridgewater on the Community Police Alliance and on many other fronts, Robinson said in a statement. We need these conversations between our residents, the Bridgewater Police Department, and community leaders of all types, and I am pleased that the mayor has scheduled this community conversation.

Those wishing to submit their questions in advance may do so here.

The event will be livestreamed; a link will be posted on the Bridgewater Township Facebook page Thursday afternoon.

Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bridgewater to host roundtable with Black community leaders, police
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, poses for a photo with USM Holdings founder, businessman Alisher Usmanov during an awarding ceremony in Moscow's Kremlin, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017 Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Sanctions against Russia and its oligarchs have been implemented by several countries.

A Russian billionaire had his yacht seized by German authorities Wednesday, according to Forbes.

Alisher Usmanov has spoken highly of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past.

Germany seized Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's mega-yacht on Wednesday, according to Forbes, which cited multiple unnamed sources.

Usmanov's yacht, which has been docked in Hamburg, Germany, for months for a refitting, is the first to be seized since Russia's attack on Ukraine began on February 24.

Dilbar, a 512-foot yacht that weighs 15,917 tons, "is the largest motor yacht in the world by gross tonnage," according to Lurssen, the German ship's maker.

Usmanov bought the custom-built yacht for an estimated $600 million and it took 52 months to build, according to Forbes.

Video: How the 1999 Russian apartment bombings led to Putin's rise to power

The US State Department was unable to confirm to Insider if the yacht was indeed seized. Usmanov and Germany's Federal Foreign Office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Many countries, including the US and the European Union, have implemented sanctions  financial consequences applied by one party to another  against Russian banks, Russian oligarchs, and even Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an effort to end the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Usmanov's assets were frozen as part of sanctions levied by the European Union, according to the Guardian. After the European Union announced sanctions against Usmanov and other Russian oligarchs, he stepped down as President of the International Fencing Federation, one of his companies.

"I believe that such a decision is unfair, and the reasons employed to justify the sanctions are a set of false and defamatory allegations damaging my honor, dignity, and business reputation," Usmanov said in a statement on the company's website.

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"I hereby suspend the exercise of my duties as the President of the International Fencing Federation effective immediately until justice is restored," he added.

The oligarch has historically supported Russian President Vladimir Putin, though he has not commented on the current attack on Ukraine.

"I am proud that I know Putin, and the fact that everybody does not like him is not Putin's problem," the Uzbekistan-born oligarch told Forbes in a 2010 interview.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A woman holds a sign reading male violence is a male problem' (Getty Images)

It has been a year since Sarah Everard was kidnapped and murdered by police officer Wayne Couzens.

In a statement released through the Metropolitan Police on the anniversary of her death, Everards family said she was wonderful and we miss her all the time.

Our lives have changed forever and we live with the sadness of our loss. Sarah was wonderful and we miss her all the time, the statement said.

Over the past year we have been overwhelmed with the kindness shown to us, not just by family and friends, but by the wider public.

We are immensely grateful to everyone for their support, it has meant a lot to us and has comforted us through this terrible time.

In September last year, a court heard how Couzens used his Metropolitan Police-issued warrant card to kidnap Eveerard as she walked home from visiting friends in south London. Couzens has been given a whole life sentence.

Handing down the sentence, presiding judge Lord Justice Fulford said Couzens had eroded the confidence that the public are entitled to have in the police and considerably added to the sense of insecurity that many have living in our cities, perhaps particularly women, when travelling by themselves.

In their statement today, Everards family highlighted a culture of violence against women that persists in todays society.

Sadly, Sarah is not the only woman to have lost her life recently in violent circumstances and we would like to extend our deepest sympathy to other families who are also grieving, they said.

According to Counting Dead Women, a project that tracks femicide in the UK, 141 women were killed (or suspected to have been killed) by a man in 2021.

Last week, Koci Selamaj, 36, pleaded guilty to the murder of 28-year-old primary school teacher Sabina Nessa while she was walking to meet a friend on 17 September 2021.

The deaths of Everard and Nessa, who were walking alone on routes they would have been familiar with, left women across the country feeling outraged, devastated, scared and hopeless. And their deaths are by no means isolated.

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Charities and rights groups have long been calling for structural change against an epidemic of violence against women.

Here are some of the key organisations you can support.

Womens Aid

Womens Aid is a UK-wide charity working to end domestic violence against women and children.

Some of its core work includes helping ensure that women who come forward about abuse are believed.

Its latest campaign, #DeserveToBeHeard, calls for recognition of the impact that domestic abuse has on the mental health of women and their children.

The group has urged the police to embark on an urgent programme of restorative work to regain the confidence of women.

Farah Nazeer, chief executive of Womens Aid, said there needs to be institutional and systemic change.

She has called on police forces to work with specialist organisations, like themselves, to ensure that all police staff are trained adequately to improve the response given to all women who have experienced violence and domestic abuse.

This would also address some of the deep-seated inequalities and sexist attitudes that still exist across so many police forces, she said.

Donate to Womens Aid here.

Sisters Uncut

Sisters Uncut, a feminist direct action group that campaigns for the improvement of domestic and sexual violence services, have called for an end to police violence.

Sisters Uncut has asked the public to support its campaign, calling a national demonstration for people to withdraw their consent from police power.

Sisters Uncut protest outside the Old Bailey (Getty Images)

The group is inviting the public to gather outside Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, at 5pm on Saturday 12 March.

The date marks the one-year anniversary of the Clapham Common vigil, led by Sisters Uncut, where women were arrested by Metropolitan police officers.

Speaking after Couzens sentencing last September, a member of Sisters Uncut said he was not one bad apple.

Today we learned that Wayne Couzens arrested Sarah, they said.

He used his power as a police officer to kidnap and rape her. We will never know what might have happened if somebody had stopped to film or intervene with Couzens when he arrested Sarah.

Couzens was not one bad apple  its the whole institution that is rotten.

Learn more about how you can support Sisters Uncut here.

Reclaim These Streets

Reclaim These Streets is campaigning for safer public spaces, arguing that streets should be safe for women regardless of what they are wearing, where they are going, or at what time of day or night they are travelling.

The group said it is wrong that the response to violence against women required women to behave differently.

Following Everards murder, the group has been campaigning to raise awareness of an epidemic of violence against women.

Let all loudly say that women are not the problem. They never have been.

The burden that society places on us to keep safe is put there to distract us from the fact that until we demand that male violence is treated like the epidemic that is, we will never be safe, it said.

Learn more about how you can support Reclaim These Streets here.

End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAWC)

This is a coalition of specialist womens support services, researchers, activists and survivors.

The coalition has built refuges for women and children needing to flee violent men and created woman-centred rape counselling services.

Their work also recognises the different dynamics of abuse that women from different backgrounds face. They have employed women from ethnic minority backgrounds to create services specifically tailored to these groups.

In its new Violence Against Women and Girls Snapshot Report 2021-2022, published today, the EVAWC said the government must make significant investment in preventing violence.

The group said this means addressing harmful attitudes and addressing perpetrator behaviour.

It needs major financial support for the specialist VAWG sector, including organisations led by and for Black and minoritised women.

It needs measures that go beyond the traditional ideas of public space to tackle VAWG that takes place online. And it requires fundamental transformation of the criminal justice system if it is have any hope of delivering justice for all victims and survivors who come forward to report.

Donate to EVAWC here.

The Centre for Womens Justice

The Centre for Womens Justice is a group of lawyers and academics who work to hold the government to account, and challenge discrimination against women in the justice system.

The centre identifies failures in the prevention of violence against women and monitors trends in policy and the law which are further spurring the issue.

In 2019, the group submitted its first police super-complaint. The report highlighted how four different types of measures designed to protect victims of domestic abuse were being used poorly in many policing areas.

The centre is currently collecting funds to help women who suffered domestic abuse from partners that work in the police force.

When women are abused by men working within the police they struggle to be heard, the group said.

Your donations will provoke change in how police deal with abusers within the force and provide access to justice for failed victims.

Donate to the Centre for Womens Justice here.

Making Herstory

Making Herstory is a UK-based charity working to end the abuse, enslavement and trafficking of women and girls.

The charity undertakes various projects, including education programmes with schools and local councils.

It also provides emergency aid and essential items for survivors and supports shelters for women and their children.

Additionally, it is lobbying for policy change to better protect women and girls from violence. This includes a campaign to introduce a national stalker register.

According to the charity, between 2015-2017, 55 women were murdered by their stalkers, despite having made detailed reports of their fears to the police or courts.

Although stalking is a criminal offence, there is currently no existing framework to track or monitor stalkers.

Donate to Making Herstory here.

Womens Equality Party

The Womens Equality Party is a feminist political party that was established in 2015.

The party is pushing for equal representation of women in all aspects of society, including politics, business and industry. Its manifesto aims to tackle existing imbalances, such as the pay gap.

It also recognises physical and sexual violence against women as a public health problem.

Learn more about how you can support the Womens Equality Party here.
A Brooklyn judge rejected a bid for release Thursday by the man accused of shooting Run-DMC deejay Jam Master Jay to death in his Queens studio nearly 20 years ago.

Brooklyn Federal Court Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall shot down Karl Jordans request for release on $1 million bond, saying that she believes the government has proven that he is a danger to the community if released.

Tellingly, the defense did not address the nature and circumstances of the charged homicide offense, Hall said. The court cannot find that the defendant has met his burden with respect to dangerousness.

Jordan is charged with shooting the rap pioneer, whose real name was Jason Mizell, in the head inside his Merrick Blvd. studio in Jamaica on Oct. 30, 2002.

Mizell was planning to sell cocaine in Maryland with Jordan, 38, and co-defendant Ronald Washington, but cut them from the deal at the last minute, prosecutors said. The pair allegedly decided to kill him over the snub.

Mizell, a Queens native, rose to fame in the early 80s in Run-DMC with Joseph Run Simmons and Daryl DMC McDaniels.

Despite ruling in the prosecutions favor, Hall rejected arguments that Jordans violent rap song lyrics should impact whether or nor he remains behind bars.

I will not consider the defendants rap lyrics or other artistic expression, she said. This court will not punish individuals for merely being participants in an industry that incentivizes the use of such language.

In one of Jordans songs, Aim for the Head, he bragged, I aim for the head, I aint a body shooter.

The songs and a video Jordan shot in front of a Hollis, Queens, mural dedicated to Mizell were cited in a prosecution court filing last month, pleading that Jordan remained locked until he goes to trial.

Hall took issue with the defense citing prosecutors not seeking the death penalty for Jordan as a way to spring their client.

The defendant suggested the governments decision not to pursue death penalty is evidence the defendant is not a danger to the community  I cannot reject this argument in stronger terms, she said. This logic is not only flawed, it is dangerous.

Jordan and Washington, 57, are charged with murder and are scheduled go to trial in February 2023.
Mar. 3On the same day District Attorney General Neal Pinkston officially announced he would run for re-election, Hamilton County Commissioner Tim Boyd publicly called on him to fire his wife and brother-in-law and then step down.

Boyd, R-East Brainerd, made his comments during Wednesday's commission meeting. It came a week after the state released a report stating Pinkston violated state nepotism laws.

"I hope DA Pinkston terminates his wife and brother-in-law immediately, not place them on paid leave as I understand he has, and I duly and respectfully ask for his immediate resignation because I think he's failed the office," Boyd said. "He's failed the community."

Boyd had already called for the firings and Pinkston's resignation last week during an interview with the Times Free Press about a report released by the Tennessee Comptroller's Office.

The report signed by Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower states investigators in his office determined the employment of Chief of Staff Melydia Clewell, Pinkston's wife, and her brother, investigator Kerry Clewell, was in violation of the Tennessee State Employees Uniform Nepotism Policy Act.

The act states "no state employees who are relatives shall be placed within the same direct line of supervision whereby one relative is responsible for supervising the job performance or work activities of another relative."

"The 11th Judicial District Attorney General should resolve the violation of the Nepotism Act within his office by means of transfer of the chief of staff and the DAG investigator to another governmental entity or termination of their employment," the report stated.

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery then wrote a letter to Pinkston in response to the report agreeing with its findings.

Pinkston's office did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

During the commissioner's meeting, Boyd emphasized the importance of the position of district attorney and said Pinkston is unfit for office.

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"The arrogance shown by DA Pinkston in this manner is not worthy of the office," Boyd said Wednesday. "The citizens of this county deserve a better leader in one of the most powerful positions the county has."

After the comptroller's report was released last week, Pinkston announced he had placed his two relatives on leave in light of the comptroller's findings. His office declined to say whether the leave was paid or unpaid. County Mayor Jim Coppinger told the Times Free Press on Friday that no paperwork had been put through his finance office to place the siblings on unpaid leave.

Pinkston's family relations first came to light in May 2021 when Boyd asked at a budget hearing whether Pinkston employed any relatives with county funds. Pinkston answered no. The Times Free Press then reported that Pinkston had married Melydia Clewell and hired her brother.

Pinkston denied wrongdoing and subsequently transferred the relatives to the county portion of his payroll instead of the state portion in an effort to prevent violating the nepotism law. Both the state comptroller and attorney general said last week that remedy was insufficient.

Pinkston last year said the employment of his relatives was legally and ethically sound. He blamed the controversy on Boyd, saying the commissioner was retaliating because Pinkston prosecuted Boyd in 2018 on extortion charges. Prosecutors claimed Boyd tried to threaten a political rival with release of damaging information if the person did not withdraw, charges that were dismissed.

Contact Logan Hullinger at lhullinger@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6416. Follow him on Twitter @LoganHullinger.
Photo credit: FPG - Getty Images

The Little Boy and Fat Man atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II are the only nuclear weapons used in warfare ... so far.

But that could soon changein a February address to Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin provided a thinly veiled threat of nuclear warfare against the West.

The atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War IIcodenamed Little Boy and Fat Man, respectivelycaused widespread destruction, leveled cities, and killed between 90,000 and 166,000 people in Hiroshima (about 20,000 of which were soldiers), and between 39,000 and 80,000 in Nagasaki.

These are the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, to date, and lets hope it stays that waybecause some of the nuclear weapons today are over 3,000 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

And there are new fears, stoked by the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, that Russian President Vladimir Putin could deploy nuclear weapons against the West.

During a February 24 address to Moscow, Putin warned other countries that any attempt to intervene would lead to consequences you have never seen, which has been interpreted as a veiled threat of nuclear warfare.

Let's return to the history of atomic weapons. The Little Boy and the Fat Man were atomic bombs, or fission bombs, which set off a chain reaction of nuclear fission. The atomic nuclei of radioactive materials were split to create different elements, which releases a large amount of energy, splitting more atoms as a result and producing a destructive explosion.

In the Little Boy, a bullet-like projectile made of uranium-235 was fired at a core of the same substance to set off the chain reaction. The Fat Man, on the other hand, used a core of plutonium-239 that was ignited with thousands of pounds of conventional explosives, again setting off a chain reaction of nuclear fission.

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In a thermonuclear weapon, often called a hydrogen bomb, the fission process is only the beginning. Modern nuclear weapons, such as the United States B83 bombs, use a similar fission process to what is used in atomic bombs. But that initial energy then ignites a fusion reaction in a secondary core of the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium. The nuclei of the hydrogen atoms fuse together to form helium, and again a chain reaction results in an explosionthis time a much more powerful one.

As the above video from YouTube channel RealLifeLore illustrates, the blast from the Little Boy released about 15 kilotons of energy, equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT, and sent a mushroom cloud up to about 25,000 feet. The Fat Man produced an explosion of about 21 kilotons. The B83? 1.2 megatons, equaling 1,200,000 tons of TNT, making it 80 times more powerful than the Little Boy.

 Extra Credit Reading: Our Favorite Nuclear Books

It gets even more terrifying than that. The largest nuclear weapon ever detonated, the Tsar Bomba, set off by the Soviet Union in 1961, produced an insane 50-megaton blastabout 3,333 times more powerful than the Little Boy bomb that leveled an entire city. The Tsar Bomba is the largest manmade explosion to date, sending a mushroom cloud up to more than 130,000 feet in altitudeabout 4.5 times the height of Mount Everestas it sent shockwaves around the globe three times over.

Curious to see how youd fare in the event that a nuclear bomb were dropped on a big city near you? NUKEMAP, created by Alex Wellerstein, charts out the impacts of a nuclear blast on cities around the world. (It also maps out the waste laid by historic nuclear blasts such as the Trinity blast in New Mexico in 1945, and that 1961 Tsar Bomba blast in Novaya Zemlya, Russia.)

If we wanted to, we could build a bomb even more powerful than the Tsar Bomba. But maybe its time we start looking to use nuclear fusion for something else. How about a six-month round-trip to Mars instead?

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Russian and Belarusian athletes will be banned from the Beijing Winter Paralympics after the International Paralympic Committee reversed its original decision.

The IPCs announcement on Wednesday that athletes from those countries would be allowed to compete under a neutral flag was met by criticism and the threat of a boycott.

In a statement on Thursday morning, IPC president Andrew Parsons said: In taking our decision yesterday, we were looking at the long-term health and survival of the Paralympic Movement. We are fiercely proud of the principles and values that have made the Movement what it is today.

However, what is clear is that the rapidly escalating situation has now put us in a unique and impossible position so close to the start of the Games. Yesterday we said we would continue to listen, and that is what we are doing.

Parsons said 83 athletes would now be unable to compete, but the decision was taken because of the threat of widespread withdrawals from other countries as well as concerns about safety.

The situation in the athletes village, Parsons said, had become untenable.

He said: In the last 12 hours, an overwhelming number of members have been in touch with us and been very open, for which I am grateful. They have told us that, if we do not reconsider our decision, it is now likely to have grave consequences for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

IPC president Andrew Parsons apologised to athletes from the two countries (Thomas Lovelock for OIS)

Multiple NPCs (National Paralympic Committees), some of which have been contacted by their governments, teams and athletes, are threatening not to compete.

Ensuring the safety and security of athletes is of paramount importance to us and the situation in the athlete villages is escalating and has now become untenable.

At a press conference, Parsons addressed the situation in the village, saying: We dont have reports of any specific incidents of aggression or anything like it but the mood in the village, athletes expressing their opinions against the decision we took yesterday, it was becoming a very volatile environment.

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Parsons apologised to athletes from Russia and Belarus, saying: First and foremost, we have a duty as part of the Paralympic mission, enshrined in the constitution, to guarantee and supervise the organisation of successful Paralympic Games, to ensure that, in sport practised within the Paralympic Movement, the spirit of fair play prevails, violence is banned, the health risk of the athletes is managed and fundamental ethical principles are upheld.

With this in mind, and in order to preserve the integrity of these Games and the safety of all participants, we have decided to refuse the athlete entries from RPC (Russian Paralympic Committee) and NPC Belarus.

To the Para athletes from the impacted countries, we are very sorry that you are affected by the decisions your governments took last week in breaching the Olympic Truce. You are victims of your governments actions.

I hope and pray that we can get back to a situation when the talk and focus is fully on the power of sport to transform the lives of persons with disabilities, and the best of humanity.

Very pleased that the IPC has now come to the right decision, and answered our call to ban Russian and Belarus athletes in response to Putin's barbaric, senseless invasion. (1/3)  Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) March 3, 2022

Parsons said the IPC was braced for legal action from Russia and Belarus and that officials were working with the two delegations to get their athletes back home as soon as possible.

He admitted his organisation had been taken aback by the strength of the reaction, saying: Of course we realised that some NPCs would not like it, that some athletes would not like the decision. But I would say the magnitude of the reaction, and the escalation and the trend, it was a surprise for us.

Some NPCs have written letters to us. None of them said, If Russia and Belarus participate, we are out. They say, We think you should do that. Thats very different from what is happening since yesterdays decision. Its a very rapid escalation that we did not think was going to happen.

Valerii Sushkevych, president of Ukraines National Paralympic Committee, welcomed the ban, saying: I want to thank you very much for the vote of IPC for making a very important decision today for all our team, that Russia and Belarus must leave the Paralympic Games.

Sushkevych described Ukraines presence at the Games as a miracle, saying: I want to say that we went from Ukraine and through all of Ukraine for many days.

We overcame a lot of barriers on the way. Many members of our team had to escape while there was bombardment and shells exploding. It is a miracle that we have made it to the Paralympics.

A superpower wants to destroy my country, our country, and our presence at the Paralympic Games is not merely about being here. This is a sign that Ukraine was and will remain a country. It is a symbol that Ukraine is alive.

We came here to defend peace in Ukraine and peace around the world. This terrible war must be stopped.

"The British Paralympic Association welcome the IPC decision to refuse athlete entries from the Russian Paralympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee Belarus for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games."  ParalympicsGB (@ParalympicsGB) March 3, 2022

The decision was also welcomed by the British Paralympic Association, with the organisation saying in a statement: Given the horror of what is happening in Ukraine, we believe they have made the correct decision for these Games and is in line with the values of the Paralympic movement.

ParalympicsGB athletes can now focus on the competition for which they have trained so hard and their welfare has been at the forefront of our thinking. We continue to express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine and our friends at NPC Ukraine.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who had criticised the initial decision, said on Thursday morning: I am pleased that the IPC has now come to the right decision, and answered our call to ban Russian and Belarus athletes in response to Putins barbaric, senseless invasion.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has said the UK Government plans to create a European coalition with the aim of putting pressure on Russia.

The Secretary of State at DCMS @NadineDorries and I continue to work with other governments and sports bodies at home and abroad to exert maximum pressure on the Putin regime (2/2)  Nigel Huddleston MP (@HuddlestonNigel) March 2, 2022

The DCMS said the coalitions goals include stripping Russia and Belarus of hosting rights for international sporting events and banning their teams and athletes from international competition.

The BPA had reiterated its view on Wednesday that allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete was not compatible with the objectives of the Paralympic movement.

IPC president Parsons said on Wednesday that any decision to suspend the Russian and Belarusian Paralympic Committees would have been overturned under German law, which governs the actions of the international federation.

The IPC Governing Board has decided to refuse the athlete entries from the RPC and NPC Belarus for the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. https://t.co/8rE0szi8YE  Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) March 3, 2022

However, the sheer weight of pressure from other NPCs threatening to boycott has now forced a change of approach.

The International Olympic Committees executive board recommended international sports federations and event organisers should exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes, teams and officials wherever possible.

Where this was not possible, the IOC board suggested such athletes compete as neutrals.
A JetBlue pilot is accused of getting ready to fly a plane from New York to Florida while intoxicated. (Photo: Robert Nickelsberg via Getty Images)

A JetBlue pilot was removed from his planes cockpit before takeoff Wednesday morning after authorities suspected he was drunk and say they found him to be over four times the legal blood alcohol limit for pilots.

James Clifton, 52, was taken into custody at Buffalo Niagara International Airport after a TSA officer suspected that he may be impaired while passing through security and alerted airport police, airport officials said in a statement.

Clifton, who was to fly to Fort Lauderdale, was given a portable Breathalyzer test and registered a level of 0.17%, authorities said. The federal limit to legally drive in the U.S. is a blood alcohol content of 0.08%, though pilots are barred from flying if they have a concentration of 0.04% or more or if theyve had a drink within eight hours of flying, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

When interviewed by police, Clifton allegedly admitted to having had seven to eight drinks before getting on the aircraft, a spokeswoman for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authoritys TSA, which oversees the Buffalo airport, told NBC News.

Before submitting to the test, he allegedly said he needed to get his gun from the planes cockpit, the spokeswoman said. Pilots are permitted to carry handguns on planes so long as they are licensed and trained to do so.

The gun was confiscated by police, along with three 17-round magazines, ABC New York reported.

Clifton, who is from Orlando, Florida, was taken into custody and could face federal charges, the airport said.

A JetBlue representative told HuffPost in a statement Thursday that the airline is aware of the incident and that it is cooperating fully with law enforcement.

We are also conducting our own internal investigation. The crewmember involved has been removed from his duties, a spokesperson said.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

Related...
At Avenue M, the traditional Moscow Mule is getting a new name. It may now be referred to as the Peace Mule.

The decision is in response to Russia invading Ukraine and follows suit with the sanctions against Russia that have followed.

Were all trying to decide where everyone is going to stand on it and what our guests are going to feel comfortable with, said Ralph Lonow, co-owner. Were going to call it a Peace Mule for the next little bit until people can figure out how to come together and start working on making the world a little better.

Avenue M sommelier Ralph Lonow poses with various Eastern European wines and their Moscow Mule cocktail on March 2, 2022.

Avenue M already uses Titos vodka, which is made in Texas, as opposed to alcohol made in Russia. The restaurant is joining other businesses, government and groups in showing its solidarity for Ukraine by removing products produced in Russia.

Its all about what the guests need from us. We own a restaurant, we run a restaurant that is ours, but its built for all the other people to enjoy, Lonow said. Should some people feel not comfortable or feel like there are people alienated or not inclusive because of a name or a cocktail, its pretty easy to rebrand that or rename it and still give the people who want that drink the same experience.

Seafood shacks to 'Top Chef': Asheville's Ashleigh Shanti's ambitious culinary journey

More: Alcohol laws you need to know if youre an Asheville transplant, tourist

Banning brands

On Feb. 28, Gov. Roy Cooper took a stance days after Russia invaded Ukraine. Cooper signed an executive order for state government agencies and departments to terminate agreements and operations that directly benefit Russian entities.

The sanction includes the North Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control to suspend approval of products produced by Russian entities, which halts distribution of those brands for distribution and retail sale by the ABC stores.

The invasion of Ukraine is an attack on a free people. This order sends a strong message and helps ensure no public dollars or operations from North Carolina will benefit Russia and its unjustified aggression, Cooper said in a press release. Our state stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they fight courageously against a tyrant to defend their country, their democracy and their freedom.

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Local restaurant and bar owners were proactive to ensure their businesses would no longer financially support Russian companies.

Many stores, restaurants and bars are removing Russian vodka brands from its shelves across the U.S.

The ABC Commission listed Hammer & Sickle, Beluga and Russian Standard as three alcohol brands for the department to suspend. At Packs Tavern, the restaurant team took an early response to check their bars inventory to ensure they werent carrying products produced in Russia, according to marketing manager Mary Evans.

Avenue M doesnt carry these brands either, but Lonow said a deeper dig was done to verify the origin of other spirits presumed to come Russia.

We definitely carry Stoli vodka and Smirnoff vodka. With that being said, Stoli is produce in Latvia, which is a NATO country, Lonow said. And the Smirnoff we buy is from Illinois and its owned by Diageo, which is a British company.

Also, some brands use Russian-inspired art for the marketing a product without being made there, he said.

The Stoli and Smirnoff already in stock are still on the bar shelf, though Lonow is considering whether to buy more in the future. The availability of other vodka brands, including those made in the U.S. or locally, gives the business owner many other options to consider.

Giving back

Lonow hasnt received comments from Avenue M customers, but theyre staying ahead by acting early.

Im like all the other business owners. We started doing our research five or six days ago when all this broke out trying to make sure our guests were comfortable with what were doing," he said.

Avenue M will be changing the name of their Moscow Mule cocktail in light of recent events in Ukraine.

Some customers were vocal at Katie Button Restaurants to ask where the restaurant group stands on the matter. The company's entities include Curate and La Bodega by Curate.

We did have a few people reach out over social media to say, Hey, whats the Asheville restaurant community doing about this? said Mary Palles Byers, director of brand marketing. We were about to respond with information about Benevolent Spirits.

On March 9-15, KBR will lead an initiative called Benevolent Spirits to raise funds for World Central Kitchen.

World Central Kitchen is a global organization that takes food to the front lines for those in need. Money raised will be used to feed Ukrainians who are staying in in the country and the refugees fleeing to neighboring countries.

Theres a beautiful way that sharing a plate of food (can) bring comfort to people in really tough times, and thats what were trying to reach for, Byers said.

Support for Ukraine: Asheville's quiet Ukrainian community comes forward in fear, anger, prayer

Fallout from war: Asheville gas prices up 33 cents in a month, likely to climb higher amid Russian invasion

Benevolent Spirits, launched in 2017, is KBRs quick-activation program that rallies Asheville restaurants, bars and breweries to raise money for a singular cause to make a larger collective impact. In 2021, KBR reported that more than $17,000 was raised for ASAPs Farmer Relief Fund after Tropical Storm Fred.

The participating local businesses selects a cocktail or beverage with proceeds from the week to be donated directly to World Central Kitchens relief efforts.

A lot of people right now are standing on the sidelines and wondering how they can help, Byers said. Theres a lot of uncertainty on how the situation is going to impact us and how its going to trickle down. Although those things are out of our control, one thing thats always in our control is giving and trying to put on the shoes as helper and find some meaningful way to contribute. This was that for us.

Future unknown

Lonow and Byers are bracing for what may come next in the war and how it will impact local businesses, even further with the COVID-19 ramifications.

Supply chain and fuel price increases caused by the war may trickle down to the public, Byers said.

Avenue M will be changing the name of their Moscow Mule cocktail in light of recent events in Ukraine. Avenue M sommelier Ralph Lonow is concerned about future availability of wine from the Eastern Europe.

As things become more complex or if the situation becomes more than it is, I think were expecting some increases in prices from distributors, Lonow said. Its really hard to say. Theres a lot of uncertainty. Were just preparing for some sort of trickle-down impact. But weve been dealt a lot of curveballs over the last couple of years, so its nothing that were really concerned about. We just dont know.

The events are another reminder to invest in locally made products and distillers, she said.

Lonow, a sommelier, is concerned some brands of wine may become limited, unavailable or come with a higher price tag.

Im definitely a little worried and concerned about what if they (Russia) keep moving? I pour wine from Romania. Its right there. Im a big fan of Croatia wine, Moldovas got great wine. Theres a lot of people about to be affected by this war. Hopefully the winemakers and farmers can keep making the art and sharing all the things that we love.

Over the years, Lonow has witnessed world and economy events that have impacted business operations and driven up costs, from tax levying to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Eastern European wine may be more difficult to source depending on what happens next in the war.

Now that were at war, it might definitely affect things if Putin keeps moving, Lonow said. Hopefully he just backs off and goes back to where he came from but, of course, its too early to tell.

Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter/Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville restaurants, bars respond to Russian invasion of Ukraine
By Marcelo Rochabrun

LIMA (Reuters) - A community in the Peruvian Andes has blocked a key transport road used by MMG's Las Bambas copper mine, a source close to the Chinese company said on Wednesday, in what is at least the third blockade to affect the firm this year.

The community of Urinsaya, in the province of Espinar, some 250 km (155 miles) from Las Bambas, blocked the road on Tuesday, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Reuters was unable to reach a representative in Urinsaya, although Flavio Huanque, the leader of another nearby community in Espinar, confirmed the blockade and said Urinsaya was seeking financial contributions from Las Bambas.

Las Bambas produces 2% of the world's copper and is key to Peru's economy, itself the world's No. 2 producer of the red metal.

But the dirt road used by Las Bambas is notoriously contentious. It traverses dozens of impoverished Andean communities that have blockaded it to protest what they see as the mine's failure to improve their lives and the polluting of their crops by its trucks.

Since Las Bambas opened in 2016, communities have blocked the route on and off for more than 430 days. Reuters reported earlier this year that conflicts affecting Las Bambas were extending further and further away https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-mmg-faces-peru-whack-a-mole-mining-protests-splinter-2022-02-16 from the mine, as more communities demand that benefits from mining activities trickle down. Urinsaya is about a four-hour drive from Las Bambas.

Earlier this year, the government and Las Bambas reached a deal with the community of Ccapacmarca to lift a blockade https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/peru-community-restart-blockade-las-bambas-mine-road-neighbors-pause-protest-2022-02-13 that caused the miner to slow down https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-mining-activity-perus-las-bambas-tumbles-amid-blockade-data-source-2022-02-07 operations. Late last year, another blockade triggered a full shutdown at the mine that lasted for more than a week.

The recurrent blockades have also weighed on the shares of Chinese-owned MMG and affected its copper output.

(Reporting by Marcelo Rochabrun; Editing by Paul Simao)
An example of the generator and light tower Pottawatomie County Emergency Management will soon acquire.

The Pottawatomie County Board of County Commissioners approved grant funds to the County Emergency Management office during a regular meeting Monday.

According to County Emergency Management Director Chad Larman, the grants are funds from the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

"The grants were for specific items  one generator and light tower package, one non-potable water buffalo trailer, three pallets of drinking water and a training reimbursement grant," Larman said.

He said $14,800 was awarded in total, but two of the grants are a 50 percent match.

"The generator and light tower and the non-potable water buffalo trailer are the 50 percent match grants, which will be $13,000," Larman said.

Larman explained the generator and light tower will be used as an emergency back up generator for critical infrastructure, which includes dispatch centers, water treatment plants and more.

On schedule: Construction of $6 million Pottawatomie County Administration building progresses

"The non-potable water buffalo trailer and water pallets will be used for communities that lose water during a disaster or have an emergency with their water treatment plants," Larman said. "The training grant will reimburse my hotel and training cost for the Oklahoma Emergency Management Conference."

He said the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security sent the grants and items to the Pott. County Emergency Management office.

"Their goal is to place these assets in every county in Oklahoma to make sure we have these assets locally and not have to depend on the state so much," he said. "These assets will allow us to be more self sufficient."

Currently, the county doesn't have many large portable generators and at the moment Pottawatomie County has to rent a generator and light tower which costs quite a bit of money.

Citizen Potawatomi Nation Emergency Management currently is the only entity that has non-potable water units in Pottawatomie County, he said.

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"We rely heavily on them when one is needed, but they deploy them all over and sometimes are not available to us. This new trailer will allow us to keep one in the county at all times," Larman said.

More: Pottawatomie County commissioners to be fiscal agent for Child Advocacy Center

"We will strategically place these items throughout the county so they can be easily accessed and there are quicker turn around times when a local agency needs them," he added.

The Emergency Management Office will have access to the money once the signed grant documents are submitted.

Larman said they should be able to order these items within the next few weeks.

Going forward, Larman hopes to continue to grow the program to become more self sufficient and not have to rely on the state or federal government as much as they have in the past. These new items will put the department on the path to achieve that goal.

"We will still continue to work with the state and federal agencies because we cannot go without them during times of disaster," Larman said.

This article originally appeared on The Shawnee News-Star: Pottawatomie County Emergency Management office awarded grants
Franklin School of Innovation students throw cups of powder paint on music teacher Mitch Secora, Principal Dana DiTomaso-Junkman and gym teacher Cameron Phillips.

It's not often that students are allowed to throw colorful powder paint on their principal, but more than 300 kids at Franklin School of Innovation did just that on Wednesday.

Franklin students who received perfect scores on their Accelerated Reading tests had their pick of yellow, purple, blue, green and orange powder paint to pour on one of three Franklin staff members  Principal Dana DiTomaso-Junkman, gym teacher Cameron Phillips and music teacher Mitch Secora.

The event was the school's finale for National Read Across America Day, which commemorates Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2.

CSU Pueblo names first dean of undergraduate studies and student success

With more than 22 years of experience in education, Stuart Benkert will fill a newly created role at Colorado State University Pueblo.

Benkert is the university's new dean of undergraduate studies and student success. In his position, he'll oversee execution of student success initiatives, equity initiatives, capstone courses and general education curriculum.

Dr. Benkert is a seasoned academic leader with the experience we need to lead our efforts focused on improving retention, persistence, and graduation rates and closing the equity gaps, said Mohamed Abdelrahman, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

Benkert was previously at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he served as the head of the Department of Performing Arts, assistant provost for Complete College and Student Success, and as a music professor.

He has a doctor of philosophy in music education from the University of Kansas and a Leading Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University.

New K-8 expeditionary school named after trailblazing educator

A future Pueblo School District 60 expeditionary school will be named in honor of educator Nettie S. Freed.

Nettie S. Freed Expeditionary K-8 will be the official name of the school located on the former campuses of Freed Middle School and Heroes Academy K-8 at 715 W. 20th St. Construction is expected to be completed by fall 2023.

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In 1950, Freed was elected the first Colorado state commissioner of education. Prior to her election, she was a teacher at Pueblo Centennial High School and the first female superintendent for Pueblo D60.

CSU Pueblo teams up with Trinidad State College for nursing master's program

Nursing students can simultaneously work on a bachelor's and master's degree following an agreement between Colorado State University Pueblo and Trinidad State College.

Through dual enrollment, online bachelor's in nursing classes taken at Trinidad State College are applicable to a master's degree at CSU Pueblo. With completion of an online bachelor's at Trinidad State College, just 18 credits are needed for a master's degree at CSU Pueblo.

"CSU Pueblo is proud to partner with Trinidad State College to introduce a program that will benefit students wishing to pursue a masters degree in a much faster and more cost efficient way, CSU Pueblo President Timothy Mottet said.

This partnership helps to further expand our pipeline to the nursing workforce in the state of Colorado and increases access to higher education and advanced degrees through our collaborative efforts, he said.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Franklin School celebrates National Read Across America Day
In trial testimony Thursday, a man shot while fleeing a 2019 shooting rampage that killed 5 on the Yakama Reservation identified Morris Jackson as the man who shot him while he was in a pickup.
Press advocates are calling for support of journalists in Ukraine and Russia as the world tries to make sense of a war it's seeing through digital media.

In the U.S., the situation is another reminder of the importance of preserving a diversity of free and independent media outlets.

"As the first casualty of war is so often truth, it is vital that the free flow of independent news and information is fully respected," the International Press Institute said in a release urging the United Nations and European officials to monitor attacks on journalists and press restrictions, and hold those responsible accountable.

Journalists and the flow of independent information must be protected under a 2015 United Nations resolution on the protection of journalists in conflict areas, Robert Mahoney, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists said as the invasion began.

Russia doesn't seem to care, as evidenced by the bombing this week of a Ukrainian TV broadcast tower and its domestic suppression of independent coverage of the war and protests.

CPJ reported on Feb. 28 that "at least five Russian journalists are facing charges and dozens more were detained" after covering anti-war protests. It also noted that Russia's internet regulator demanded that media outlets publish only official government reports about the war and threatened to block their websites if they didn't comply.

This follows a decade of global declines in press freedoms.

Despite the proliferation of online media, the world last year saw "a dramatic deterioration in people's access to information and an increase in obstacles to news coverage," Reporters Without Borders said in releasing its 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

Meanwhile public trust in the media is at new lows. Not coincidentally, politicians sympathetic to Vladimir Putin spent years attacking news outlets and the credibility and legitimacy of the free press.

Although truth is muddled in war, I wonder if trust in nonpartisan media will increase this year.

News outlets working to inform the public about the invasion are demonstrating courage, expertise and integrity, not to mention bravery. (The International Journalists' Network has a list of ways to support Russian and Ukrainian journalists at ijnet.org.)

The war is also raising awareness of the larger attack on democracy being waged by Putin. That should renew appreciation of the institutions of democracy.

Instead of choosing right or left, and viciously fighting for positions along that spectrum, Americans are now presented with a choice of siding with either the Western liberal order or authoritarianism.

With few exceptions, Americans seem united on the side of order, democracy and freedom, as President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

A free press is a cornerstone of that order, so perhaps trust will increase and Congress will step up efforts to sustain it.

New Bellingham paper debuts: Cascadia Daily, the new for-profit newspaper in Bellingham, produced its first print edition this week.

The outlet led by Ron Judd, formerly a reporter and columnist with The Seattle Times, is printing Wednesday editions and daily editions online.

Initial print copies are free, but the company is planning to eventually charge $1.50 for single copies. It will also sell subscriptions bundling print and digital access.

This is excerpted from the free, weekly Voices for a Free Press newsletter. Subscribe and visit the new Save the Free Press web site here.
Greensboro, NC (27407)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 78F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies during the evening will give way to cloudy skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.
A bill calling for the creation of Texas Canyons State Park was introduced in the Lone Star legislature on March 2, 1933, but national status for Big Bend would be a long time coming.

The first shot in the battle for Big Bend was fired a half century earlier by an El Paso editor, who believed the majestic scenery of the rugged wonderland would eclipse anything that has heretofore been produced within the limits of North America. Even though he urged immediate exploration of the Great Bend, 16 years went by before a scientific expedition documented the sights.

In 1923, at the insistence of Gov. Pat Neff, lethargic lawmakers approved in principle a system of state parks. It was a hollow victory, however, because legislators refused to fund the program, which spent the next ten years in suspended animation awaiting an infusion of federal dollars.

In the meantime, Rep. R.M. Wagstaff of Abilene happened to read the December 1930 issue of Nature Magazine. The special all-Texas edition contained an article extolling the eye-catching virtues of Big Bend and breathtaking photographs of the spectacular canyons carved out by the Rio Grande.

Having never laid eyes on the isolated region, Wagstaff showed the magazine to the representative whose district included the wildly beautiful terrain. Soon after E.E. Townsend vouched for the accuracy of the panoramic pictures, the two politicians began beating the drum for a national preserve in the borderland.

The bill Wagstaff introduced on Texas Independence Day sailed through both chambers and was signed by Gov. Miriam Ferguson on May 27, 1933. By years end, Texas Canyons State Park had tripled in size to 225,000 and changed its name to Big Bend.

The National Park Service inspector took a four-day tour of the rocky region in January 1934 and came away profoundly impressed. In his enthusiastic endorsement of Big Bend, he stated that the comparatively unknown area possessed the promise of becoming one of the noted scenic spectacles of the United States.

The baton was passed to the congressional delegation for the last leg of the political relay. Ewing Thomason of El Paso carried the water in the U.S. House, while Morris Sheppard and Tom Connally took care of business in the Senate. With a stroke of Franklin Roosevelts fountain pen, Big Bend officially became a national park.

All the State of Texas had to do was provide the feds with clear title to the land. But that meant coming up with the cash to compensate private landowners, and cash was hard to come by during the Thirties.

Up until then, Gov. James V. Allred had talked a good game assuring park proponents that he was Big Bends best friend. But out of the other side of his mouth he promised to keep a tight lid on taxes for the duration of the Depression.

Allred managed to delay his day of reckoning for two long years. However, four months into his second term, lawmakers backed him into a corner by voting $750,000 for the Big Bend land acquisition.

Speaker Coke Stevenson turned up the heat with powerful dollars-and-cents logic. Reminding Texans of the recent windfall from the centennial celebration, he predicted Big Bend would be a tourist gold mine worth a million or more annually. But Allred chose to be remembered as a tightwad rather than a friend of nature and vetoed the appropriation.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram tried to pull the fat out of the fire by mounting a dollar donation drive. The idea had worked in Virginia, where private contributions paid for Shenandoah National Park, so why not the Lone Star State?

Displaying an amazing abundance of gall, Gov. Allred had his picture taken dropping the first buck in the kitty. A million Texans were supposed to follow his hypocritical example, but the campaign was mercifully put out of its misery after four months of fund-raising netted only $50,000.

Refusing to let the matter drop, Allred challenged 150 business big-shots to finish the job. When the Texas Big Bend Park Association disbanded three years later, all the movers and shakers had to show for their halfhearted effort was a measly $10,000  less than the amount that usually changed hands during an evening of high-stakes poker.

Big Bend might never had opened had it not been for a flour-peddling radio personality, who made the park his number-one priority. In his inaugural speech to the legislature, W. Lee Pappy ODaniel pulled from his pocket a letter with a famous return address. FDR had written it would be very gratifying to me personally if Texas first national park could be dedicated during my Administration.

Five years and $1.5 million tax dollars later, the presidents wish was granted. But the special White House ceremony was overshadowed by a more momentous event which happened to take place on the very same day  the Allied invasion of Europe on Jun. 6, 1944.

Unforgettable Texans brings to life the once famous people no one remembers today. Order your copy for $24.00 (tax and shipping included) by mailing a check to Bartee Haile, P.O. Box 130011, Spring, TX 77393.
Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.
A total of 13 nurses hostels will be renovated at a cost of more than Ft 10.5 billion, while new hostels will be built at four locations, Human Resources Minister Miklos Kasler told a press conference in Budapest.

He said upgrade projects will be implemented in 15 county hospitals and one municipal facility, nurses hostels will be developed in greenfield investment projects in Kaposvar, Kecskemet, Szombathely and Nyiregyhaza, and buildings will be renovated, expanded and upgraded at 13 locations.



In addition to EU funds, Ft 506 million worth of Hungarian resources have been allocated for upgrading and building nurses hostels, he added.
A loud boom prefaced a streaking fireball spotted in three Southern states. NASA confirmed Thursday that more than 30 people in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi reported seeing the exceptionally bright meteor in the sky around 8 a.m. Wednesday after hearing loud booms in Claiborne County, Mississippi, and surrounding areas. Officials say it was first spotted 54 miles above the Mississippi River, near Alcorn, Mississippi. At its peak, the fireball was more than 10 times brighter than a full moon. NASA says the fireball generated enough energy to create shockwaves that produced booms and vibrations felt by people in the area.
YORK  We are here to support truckers, the constitution and America.

That was the overall sentiment among the people gathered at Sapp Brothers truck stop (and a quote from one of the event's organizers), as they waited to greet the reported 100-semi convoy that was making its way from Kearney and Grand Island to Lincoln, with a planned stop in York.

This was part of the Nebraska Peoples Convoy movement, as a rally was scheduled for 5 p.m., Tuesday, in Lincoln. The rally in Lincoln was a send-off for the Nebraska truckers joining the national convoys in support of ending the National Emergency Act.

Truckers made their way from different areas of the state to hold the rally on the states 155th birthday. Stops for these different convoy groups had been planned for Alliance, Sidney, Ogallala, North Platte, McCook, Kearney, York and Omaha  with the main destination being Lincoln.

Locally, an effort to create a crowd of support was started by Nancy Davidson. She organized for a huge flag (courtesy of Bruce Wagner and Neville Construction) to be erected in the John Kohl parking lot and many turned out with their flags, banners and posters of support.

She said she had been touch with convoy organizers from the Nebraskans Against Government Overreach regarding the movement.

The Peoples Convoy is to express opposition to unnecessary mandates and government overreach, Davidson said. And to express our love for our country, our respect for our constitution.

Many motorists, who had otherwise just been passing by, decided to stop in at the Sapp Brothers gathering, to see what was happening and to express their support for the movement.

Initially, the convoy was supposed to arrive in York around 2:30 p.m., but it was delayed due to stops in the west.

The intent of all of this is to have a peaceful, loving movement thats pro America, Davidson said, and in the interest of whats best for one another. We are all Americans working together and events like this bring hope, encouragement and excitement for our country.

Some of the signs  held by supporters from York, Kearney, Osceola and Grand Island  said, Honk for Freedom. And the passing traffic certainly obliged. As truckers passed by on Lincoln Avenue, they blasted their horns  as did motorists in just regular cars and pickup trucks.

It was approximately 4 p.m., when it became apparent the 100-truck convoy was not going to be able to stop in York for a 30-minute rally, as they would be late for the large 5 p.m. rally in Lincoln. While that could have seemed disappointing, those in attendance said they were still glad they were part of the movement in some way.

Its a beautiful day outside, the flags and the patriotism are amazing, one Grand Island woman said, not wanting to offer her name. We still got to express our feelings about government overreach, our love of country and our constitution. We got to meet other people who feel like we do, and get waves and honks from hundreds of motorists who apparently feel the same.

Im a conservative and I would venture to say most out here are of a conservative type of nature, Davidson said. But really, when it all comes down to it, its about loving our country and saying so.

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine has got it subjected to economic sanctions from many different countries. The effect of these sanctions can be seen on the Russian economy; joining these sanctions, various automobile manufacturers have decided on putting a halt to their services in Russia.

Starting from the Swedish carmaker Volvo and American car manufacturers GM and Ford have announced the suspension of their business in Russia. The automotive organisations have taken the step because of their concerns about Ukraine. As per the reports similar actions have been taken by automakers like Daimler Truck.

Also read: Teenager tracking Elon Musk's jet is now behind Russian Oligarchs

In a statement, the American automaker GM said, " Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine at this time." Adding to the statement, they also said, " The loss of life is a tragedy, and our overriding concern is for the safety of people in the region."

Adding to it, Ford also announced the suspension of their operations in Russia. The news was publicized through the Twitter handle of Jim Farley, Ford CEO. He also announced their support for the Global Giving Ukraine Relief fund.

The statements from Ford's announcement said, " Ford is deeply concerned about the invasion of Ukraine and resultant threats to peace and stability. The situation has compelled us to reassess our operations in Russia."

The American automaker announced a sum of $100,000 for the Global Giving Ukraine Relief Fund, in their statement, they said, " Ford Fund is also making a $100,000 donation to the Global Giving Ukraine Relief Fund for humanitarian aid to assist Ukrainian citizens and families who have been displaced during the crisis.

With inpust from agencies

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FlyBig, a scheduled commuter airline operating under the UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme, announced the March 13 inauguration of an Indore-Gondia-Hyderabad service.

The airline recently announced that it is adding three more cities, Hyderabad, Indore and Gondia, to its network, taking the total number of operational cities in its network to 11.

Capt. Sanjay Mandavia, CMD, FlyBig, said it was their constant endeavour to rapidly expand capacity and build a strong pan-national regional commuter network in India's untapped air travel markets. "We are launching new routes in the heart of India -Hyderabad in Telangana, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Gondia in Maharashtra," he said.

Also read: Global air passenger traffic to reach pre-Covid levels by 2024: IATA

FlyBig launched its services in the North-East in May last year. Currently, it operates across four states and eight destinations, including Kolkata (West Bengal), Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Lilabari, Rupsi (all in Assam), Agartala (Tripura) as well as Passighat and Tezu (Arunachal Pradesh).

The airline has a fleet comprising ATR 72-500 and ATR 72-600 aircraft with a total of 20 daily operational flights.

"FlyBig operational philosophy is to provide travellers with the option of transitioning from `Rail miles to Air miles` - emphasizing FlyBig ambition to connect the country`s remote locations by air," Capt. Mandavia added.

Bhandara-Gondia MP Sunil Baburao Mendhe said he was delighted to know that FlyBig is soon going to operate flights from Birsi Airport, Gondia, to important domestic destinations such as Indore and Hyderabad.

With inputs from IANS

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New Delhi: Talented star Dhanush watched megastar Amitabh Bachchan's Jhund recently and is bowled by the team performance. The actor showered heaps of praises for director Nagraj Manjules creative filmmaking skills and was speechless!

Heres what the actor said, link:

Nagraj Manjules JHUND starring megastar Amitabh Bachchan is a unique sports drama that showcases the game of life, the movie features Amitabh Bachchan as a retired school teacher who is determined to change the life of the underprivileged children by engaging them in the game of football, aiming to keep the kids away from petty crime and cheap additions.

Jhund releases in cinemas on March 4, 2022. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Savita Raj Hiremath, Raaj Hiremath, Nagraj Popatrao Manjule, Gargee Kulkarni, Meenu Aroraa & Sandeep Singh, under the banner of T-Series, Tandav Films Entertainment & Aatpat. Its a Zee Studios worldwide release.
New Delhi: An Indian tax investigation into China`s Huawei Technologies has found the telecoms equipment maker manipulated account books to reduce its taxable income in the country, an Indian government source told Reuters on Thursday.

Without naming the company, the Ministry of Finance said a major telecoms group did not account for income of 4 billion rupees ($52 million) in its books, and showed expenses of 4.8 billion rupees that the firm failed to justify.

A Huawei spokesperson in India did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government allegations follow raids by its income tax authorities last month at Huawei`s office premises in New Delhi, neighbouring Gurugram and tech hub Bengaluru. The residences of senior executives were raided too.

The finance ministry said more investigations were in process.

The move comes amid escalating tensions between India and China following a border clash in 2020 between the neighbouring nations. In February, India blocked access to 54 mobile apps mostly of Chinese origin, citing security concerns.

Globally, Huawei has been at the centre of a campaign by the United States, which has asked allies to exclude the company from their 5G networks over spying concerns. The company has denied it is a security risk.

In India, the government overlooked Huawei when it named foreign network equipment suppliers allowed to carry out 5G trials in what is one of the world`s biggest markets by number of mobile phone users. Also Read: PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi scheme subscriber? Know why March 31 deadline is significant for you

Huawei has also been hobbled by trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. administration on the sale of chips and other components used in its network gear and smartphones businesses. Also Read: After Garena Free Fire, Centre to ban BGMI? Check what IT Ministry has to say

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New Delhi: Aiming at fuelling growth, the JMM-led Jharkhand government Thursday unveiled a Rs 1.01-lakh crore budget for the 2022-23 fiscal, with higher spending on sectors like health and infrastructure.

The budget also proposed a massive 59 per cent jump in capital expenditure to Rs 24,827.70 crore.

"... Capital expenditure is essential for the development of the state and in view of this, there is a proposal to increase the capital expenditure by 59 per cent," Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon said in the assembly while presenting the budget.

Revenue expenditure is pegged at Rs 76,273.30 crore.

A fiscal deficit of Rs 11,286.47 crore, is estimated to be 2.81 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) of the next fiscal, he said.

The budget spending shall be met through the state's Rs 24,850-crore tax revenue, Rs 13,762.84-crore non-tax revenue, Rs 17,405.74-crore central assistance and Rs 27,006.58-crore share in central taxes, besides Rs 18,000-crore public debt, the minister said.

A 27-per cent hike in allocation for the health sector has been proposed, and a 20-per cent increase for drinking water and sanitation.

Oraon said Jharkhand's growth rate was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and a decline of 4.7 per cent was registered for 2020-21 as against a slide of 7.3 per cent in GSDP. He added that a growth rate of 8.8 percent is expected in the current fiscal.

The budget also focuses on sectors like water, electricity, roads and universal pension.

Oraon said on the agriculture front, Rs 836 crore has been transferred to the accounts over 2 lakh farmers under the Jharkhand Agriculture Loan Waiver Scheme. Also Read: Huawei accused of tax evasion by Indian government: Report

The budget also proposed creation of 12.5 crore man-days in the next fiscal under MNREGA, while it said under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural), the construction work of 10.44 lakh houses has been completed so far. Also Read: Dont share Aadhaar, PAN details without valid reasons, CBIC cautions public of GST fraud

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New Delhi: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday asked the industry to look at ways to increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to 25 per cent of GDP and set up 10 R&D labs or innovation centres to become a global leader in technology.

He also said the industry should make all-out efforts to increase the share of exports to about 25 per cent of the GDP (gross domestic product).

Addressing the closing session of the DPIIT's webinar on 'Make in India for the World', he talked about a five-point vision for boosting manufacturing and promoting exports.

"How can we really take our manufacturing contribution to the GDP to 25 per cent? Can we increase our global trade to 10 per cent of the size of our economy?... These are ambitious targets but, I think, doable.

"Can we look at being one of the top-three nations in services exports Can we look at supporting MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) to increase their participation in foreign trade," Goyal said.

Currently, manufacturing accounts for about 15 per cent of the country's GDP.

The minister added that Indian companies should support goods manufactured locally. Also Read: Jharkhand government tables over Rs 1 lakh crore budget for FY23

He added that most of the suggestions that came out of this webinar such as technology transfer and harmonisation of regulations are possible to implement. Also Read: Gold Price Today: Russia-Ukraine war sends yellow metal higher; check latest rate in your city

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will today (March 3, 2022) participate in the Quad Leaders' virtual meet with US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.

"The Leaders will have an opportunity to continue their dialogue after the September 2021 Summit in Washington DC. They will exchange views and assessments about important developments in the Indo-Pacific," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

"The Quad Leaders will also review ongoing efforts to implement the Leaders initiatives announced as part of the Quad's contemporary and positive agenda," the statement added.

The four leaders had last met on September 24, 2021, during their first in-person meeting of the Quad and had spoken on Indo-Pacific, Covid-19 response, among other topics.

Here are glimpses from the Quad leaders meeting. The discussions with @POTUS @JoeBiden, PM @ScottMorrisonMP and PM @sugawitter were extensive and productive. pic.twitter.com/cNedF0XRz6  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 24, 2021

The meeting comes amid Russia's attack on Ukraine.

India, notably, is the only country among these four nations that has declined to condemn the invasion by its old friend Russia. It, however, has called for an end to the violence.

Meanwhile, the war between Russia and Ukraine has entered the eighth day after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a military operation on February 24.

Earlier on Wednesday, in a resolution backed by 141 of its 193 members, the United Nations General Assembly deplored in the strongest terms Russia's aggression in Ukraine and reaffirmed its commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. It also demanded that Russia immediately cease its use of force and "completely and unconditionally" withdraw all its troops.

Five countries -- Russia, Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea, and Syria -- voted against the resolution, and 35 abstained including India, Pakistan and China abstained.

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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a post-budget DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade) webinar on 'Make in India for the World', which was also attended by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. "Today world is looking at India as a manufacturing power," PM Modi.

Talking about the importance of being self-reliant, the PM said, "We need to give focus on 'Make in India', need to manufacture sustainable and qualitative products. We have to become self-reliant in the production of semiconductors. 'Make in India' is the demand of the time."

Narendra Modi said that when it comes to buying local products and boosting the sale of items manufactured in India, buying earthen diyas on Diwali isn't enough. "Just buying terracotta diyas on Deepawali is not being 'vocal for local', we need to think big. Domestic manufacturers need to maintain global standards. We need a research-based futuristic approach." He added, "We can promote Make in India in electric vehicles, medical equipment."

PM Shri @narendramodi addresses DPIIT webinar on 'Make in India for the World'. https://t.co/aGdfstJWmU  BJP (@BJP4India) March 3, 2022

The Prime Minister also pointed out that India's manufacturing journey has become smoother after the government lifted several compliances. Laying emphasis on the importance of the initiative of being self reliant, the Prime Minister said, "Our aim is to make India the marketplace for not only ourselves but also for the world based on self-reliance. It will be an effort that will give a boost to manpower and skill development and make us stronger in the times to come." "Make in India brings infinite opportunities," he said.

The Prime Minister also said that work needs to be done towards building India into a "manufacturing powerhouse."Our country has been blessed with manpower and resources that will significantly help in achieving our goals," PM Modi said.

(With ANI inputs)

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New Delhi: After IIT-Kanpur study predicted that a fourth Covid-19 wave will hit in July this year, the Centre on Thursday (March 3) said it is yet to examine whether the report has scientific worth or not.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, NITI Aayog Member (Health) VK Paul said that the government views the IIT Kanpur study with respect as it is produced by eminent people.

...It has been our endeavour to look at science of the pandemic, its epidemiology, trend and virology. All projections are based on data and assumptions and we have seen divergent estimates from time to time. They are sometimes so divergent that decisions based on just a set of projections will be very unsafe for the society. The government looks at these estimates with due respect because these are scientific works produced by eminent people," PTI quoted him as saying.

Paul emphasised that the government will examine the scientific worth of the study. "We saw the news item and found out that this project is carried out by a group in a particular institution. We would like to see it published in a peer reviewed journal. We should be carefully watching the assumption that has been used. Only on a single estimate or projection, one is not taking any decision of significance. We value it as an input. Whether it has a scientific worth and mathematical underpinning will be examined," NITI Aayog Member said.

Led by Sabara Parshad Rajeshbhai, Subhra Sankar Dhar, and Shalabh of IIT Kanpur's Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the IIT Kanpur study said the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India is likely to hit around June 22 and last for four months.

The study, which remains to be peer-reviewed, recently published on the preprint repository MedRxiv, has used a statistical model to make the prediction and found that the possible new wave will peak from mid to late August.

The researchers said that the severity of the fourth wave will depend on the emergence of a possible new coronavirus variant and vaccination status across the country.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi: India called for respect and protection of human rights of people in Ukraine on Thursday (March 3) at UNHRC, urging for immedite cessation of violence in the European country.

India also underlined the necessity of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve disputes. Speaking at the Urgent Debate regarding the human rights situation in Ukraine at the 49th Human Rights Council Session in Geneva, India said, We urge immediate cessation of violence and an end to hostilities. No solution can ever arrive at the cost of human lives. Dialogue and Diplomacy are the only solutions for settling differences and disputes.

India said it is deeply concerned about the stranded nationals in war-hit Ukraine. "We are deeply concerned over the safety and security of thousands of Indians stranded in Ukraine. We're working together with neighbouring States for their evacuation. We call for respect and protection of human rights of people in Ukraine.

Further, India apprised UNHRC of the humanitarian assistance dispatched to Ukraine. India has already dispatched humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, including medicines, medical equipment and other relief material. We're sending more assistance in the coming days. This is an urgent necessity that must be addressed.

We are deeply concerned over the safety&security of thousands of Indians stranded in Ukraine. We're working together with neighbouring States for their evacuation. We call for respect & protection of human rights of people in Ukraine: India at 49th UN Human Rights Council Session  ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2022

Earlier on Wednesday, India had demanded "safe and uninterrupted" passage for all its nationals stranded in Ukraine and cities in the conflict zones, as it abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution deploring Russian aggression against Ukraine.

"India has been deeply concerned over the rapidly deteriorating situation in Ukraine and the ensuing humanitarian crisis," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS had Tirumurti said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA) said today that over 6,200 Indians have returned from Ukraine through special civilian flights and more than 7,400 Indians are expected to arrive in the next two days. Indian has deployed civilian planes as well as Indian Air Force planes to bring back students stranded in war-hit Ukraine.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi: Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield, the Russian Defence Ministry has alleged, amid an escalating assault on the eastern European country on Wednesday.

This came after Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reviewed the situation in Ukraine, especially in Kharkiv and discussed the safe evacuation of the Indian nationals from the conflict areas.

"According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russia. Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities," Russia in India wrote in a tweet.

"According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkov who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod," the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Defence said during the briefing.

"In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place," he said.

He further said that Russian armed forces are ready to take all necessary measures for the safe evacuation of the Indian citizens and send them home from the Russian territory with its own military transport planes or Indian planes, as the Indian side proposed to do.

However, Ukraine has reacted to Russia`s allegations and called on the Russian Federation to "immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy so that they can arrange the evacuation of the civilian population, including foreign students, to safer Ukrainian cities".

"There are students from India, Pakistan, China and other counties who cannot leave because of the indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on residential areas and civilian infrastructure," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that the Ukrainian government stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy.

"The Government of Ukraine stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy should Russia commit to a ceasefire. Attempting to arrange evacuations through cities that are being subjected to Russian bombing and missile strikes is extremely dangerous," read the statement.

Ukraine demanded Moscow allow the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities.

"We urgently call on the governments of India, Pakistan, China and other counties whose students have become hostages of the Russian armed aggression in Kharkiv and Sumy, to demand from Moscow that it allows the opening of a humanitarian corridor to other Ukrainian cities," said Ukraine`s Foreign Ministry in a statement.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in a tweet, said that the country has established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine as the tensions between Moscow and Kyiv rages on.

"We have established an emergency hotline for African, Asian and other students wishing to leave Ukraine because of Russia`s invasion. +380934185684 We are working intensively to ensure their safety & speed up their passage. Russia must stop its aggression which affects us all," he tweeted.

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New Delhi: Ahead of the Maharashtra legislature's budget session, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Thursday (March 3, 2022) staged a protest against the Uddhav Thackeray-led government's decision to not remove Nawab Malik from his post.

The BJP has been demanding the removal of state Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik from his post following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) last week in connection with a money-laundering probe linked to the activities of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim and his aides.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Devendra Fadnavis claimed it is for the first time in Maharashtra's history that a state cabinet minister has been arrested over links with the associates of Dawood Ibrahim, who is accused of masterminding the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993.

"Why is Malik being protected? Is this government committed to Dawood Ibrahim? Under whose pressure is the government working?" Fadnavis asked the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.

A Minister is in Jail & still hasnt resigned!

    ,    .

      ,

         .

  ,       . pic.twitter.com/oyD37ubSeg  Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) March 3, 2022

The former CM also said the BJP was firm on its demand for Malik's resignation.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray should break his silence over the entire Nawab Malik episode, he said.

Maha Governor Bhagat Koshyari leaves Vidhan Bhavan without completing address

Meanwhile, the first day of the Maharashtra legislature's budget session on Thursday witnessed unprecedented chaos as Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari left the Central Hall of Vidhan Bhavan without completing his address to the joint session of both the Houses amid slogan-shouting by legislators.

As soon as the governor arrived on stage in the Central Hall, legislators of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi shouted slogans against Koshyari and in praise of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

State Congress president Nana Patole criticised the governor over some of his recent remarks on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and said he should apologise.

The governor had during a programme in Aurangabad underlined the role of the guru (teacher) while citing the examples of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chandragupta Maurya.

"Many chakravartis (emperors), maharajas took birth on this land. But, who would have asked about Chandragupta had there not been Chanakya? Who would have asked about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had there not been Samarth (Ramdas)," he had said.

(With agency inputs)

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Kolkata: Riding on the momentum of its landslide victory in the assembly polls last year, West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Wednesday stormed to power in 102 of the 108 municipalities of the state as the opposition BJP suffered a complete rout in the elections that were marred by allegations of widespread rigging.

Reaffirming its dominance among the urban voters, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC bagged 1870 of the 2170 wards and 63.45 per cent of the total votes polled in a ringing endorsement for the party 10 months after its emphatic win in the state assembly polls, an official of the State Election Commission (SEC) said.

However, the biggest surprise of the polls was the Hamro party - a four-month-old political outfit - which bagged the Darjeeling civic body, worsting heavyweight hill parties like the GJM and the GNLF.

BJP wins 63 wards, Congress gets 59

The BJP, which lost much of its steam after the assembly poll defeat, managed to win just 63 wards across the state by bagging 12.57 per cent of votes but failed to win a single civic body.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front, which had failed to open its account in the last assembly polls, won 55 wards securing 14.13 per cent votes and a civic body Taherpur Municipality in Nadia district.

The Left Front, despite the mauling, finished second to the TMC in terms of vote share and first runner up in most of the wards.

The Congress, too, was unable to win a single civic body, although it managed to get 59 wards and a vote share of 4.8 per cent.

TMC reduces opposition's tally to zero in 31 municipalities

Elections were scheduled in 108 municipalities but took place in 107 civic bodies on February 27 as the TMC won Dinhata Municipality in Coochbehar district uncontested.

"The TMC has won 102 municipalities. The Left Front has won one civic body, and Hamro Party has won one. Four municipalities have hung board," the State Election Commission (SEC) official said.

The TMC has reduced the opposition's tally to zero in 31 municipalities, securing all the wards.

Four municipalities - Beldanga in Murshidabad, Jhalda in Purulia, Champdani in Hooghly and Egra in Purba Medinipur district - are hung, with no party securing a clear majority. Independents hold the key to board formation in these civic bodies.

Ironically, the independents expelled TMC workers who had contested polls after being denied party tickets, had won nearly 119 wards and had bagged 4.8 per cent of the total votes polled.

The TMC leadership said they are yet to take a call on whether to take back the independents into the party fold or not.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday thanked the people of West Bengal for giving a massive mandate to the ruling Trinamool Congress in the civic elections and called upon winning candidates and supporters to work with humility.

"Heart-felt gratitude to Ma-Mati-Manush for according yet another overwhelming mandate to us. Congratulations to the winning candidates of All India Trinamool Congress in the Municipal Elections," she tweeted.

Let victory enhance our responsibility and dedication. Let triumph impart humility. Let us together work for peace, prosperity and development of the state.

Jai Bangla!(2/2)  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 2, 2022

She, however, ruled out allegations of violence on the polling day as "baseless and a media overhype".

TMC secures Kanthi Municipality, bastion of Suvendu Adhikari

The TMC secured Kanthi Municipality, the bastion of Leader of Opposition and Nandigram's BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari. It is a major setback for the Adhikari family which controlled the civic body for around four decades. The TMC also won municipalities in the bastions of state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Beharampore, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh in Kharagpur and BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar in Balurghat.

Hamro Party (our party), a new outfit floated by Ajoy Edwards, a former GNLF leader and a popular restaurateur in Darjeeling, bagged the municipality in the hill town.

Reacting to the results, the BJP state leadership said it does not reflect the mandate of the people and the election was a "farce".

The CPI (M) leadership, elated over its results, claimed the party is regaining its lost ground and would be the real threat of the ruling TMC in the near future.

Incidents of violence were reported from various parts of West Bengal from the north to the south in one of the most extensive electoral exercises in the state since the assembly polls last year.

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New Delhi: The Opposition leaders backed the government after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday (March 3) briefed the consultative committee of Parliament on the Russian invasion and the evacuation of stranded students from war-hit Ukraine.

As per ANI sources, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who attended the meeting, said that the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine began 'late', however, it should be the Centre's priority now.

"Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of China and Pakistan getting closer to Russia but he said that the priority is to evacuate students from Ukraine right now. Congress leader said that we were late in reaction and advisories were confusing," sources told ANI.

On Rahul Gandhi's charge, EAM said that "students had doubts about their academic position and Ukrainian government was giving assurance on the situation." The meeting was held at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.

While senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor hailed the government and said "we are all united". Taking to Twitter, he wrote, "Excellent meeting of the Consultative Committee on External Affairs this morning on #Ukraine. My thanks to @DrSJaishankar & his colleagues for a comprehensive briefing & candid responses to our questions &concerns. This is the spirit in which foreign policy should be run."

"... Frank discussions took place in an amicable atmosphere, a reminder that when it comes to national interests we are all Indians first and foremost," he added.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also said that the evacuation of the Indian citizens in Ukraine must be the priority. "This (evacuation of Indians) should be our priority. PM rightly spoke to the Russian President, talks are going on with Ukrainian Foreign Ministry too. Contacts were established with rest of the bordering nations too," Chaturvedi said.

The Shiv Sena leader called racism faced by some stranded Indian students "unfortunate". "But the matter of concern is the behaviour being meted out to our students. There is an issue of transportation, they are facing racial comments and being denied entry on trains. That is unfortunate," Chaturvedi was quoted as saying by ANI.

Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force (IAF) informed today that the first four IAF C-17 aircraft have evacuated 798 Indian nationals under Operation Ganga using airfields in Romania, Hungary and Poland. They also supplied 9.7 tons of relief material, the IAF said, adding that three more C-17 planes have taken off for Romania, Hungary and Poland today.

(With agency inputs)

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On Thursday (March 2, 2022), Union Minister Piyush Goyal shared a cartoon, praising India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to evacuate its citizens from war-torn Ukraine. The illustration shows Modi half-submerged in water, with both his hands outstretched, forming a bridge between a river whose either sides seem to stand for Ukraine and India. The illustration shows citizens from other nations pleading for help from their respective governments.

PM Modi serves as the bridge that is allowing Indian students to cross over from the war-hit Ukraine to the safety of their homes in India. But similar help doesn't seem to be coming from other nations for their stranded citizens, as per the illustration. The minister took to social media platform Koo to share the cartoon which was then widely shared and went viral. It was also posted on Twitter. Goyal captioned it as: 'PM Narendra Modi ji, India's 'Bridge of Hope'.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with a group of students who have returned from war-hit Ukraine and hail from various parts of Uttar Pradesh, official sources said. The students shared their experiences with Modi, who is on a tour to the state as part of the BJP's campaign for the assembly polls. The Prime Minister represents Varanasi constituency in Lok Sabha.

The government has launched "Operation Ganga" to evacuate Indian citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine which has been attacked by Russia. The government has already sent four Union ministers to countries neighbouring Ukraine as India's "special envoys" to coordinate the evacuation efforts.

Also, in a bid to further scale up the evacuation efforts, the government has deployed 80 flights under 'Operation Ganga' to evacuate stranded Indians from Ukraine. Till March 2, a total of 24 flights have landed under 'Operation Ganga'.

The government started 'Operation Ganga' on February 26 to evacuate stranded Indians from Ukraine. The first flight carrying Indians landed in Mumbai on February 26 which was received by Piyush Goyal. Prime Minister has sent four Ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia, Hardeep Singh Puri, Kiren Rijiju, and VK Singh to Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Poland to oversee the evacuation of Indians. The Modi government has also roped in ministers to monitor smooth evacuation and receive Indians at Delhi and Mumbai Airport who are coming from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Poland under Operation Ganga.

(With Agency inputs)
New Delhi: Hours after Russia claimed that the Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces, India on Thursday (March 3, 2022) said that they have not received any reports of any hostage situation.

The Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement and said that the Indian Embassy in Ukraine is in continuous touch with Indian nationals in the war-torn country.

"We have not received any reports of any hostage situation regarding any student. We have requested the support of the Ukrainian authorities in arranging special trains for taking out students from Kharkiv and neighbouring areas to the western part of the country," the statement added.

ALSO READ | PM Modi talks to Russian President Putin; chairs high-level meeting on Ukraine crisis

"We have been coordinating effectively with the countries in the region including Russia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova," the MEA said.

The ministry also appreciated the help extended by the Ukrainian authorities to make this possible and thanked Ukraines western neighbours in receiving Indian nationals and for accommodating them while they waited for flights to take them back home.

Our response to media queries regarding reports of Indian students being held hostage in Ukraine https://t.co/RaOFcV849D pic.twitter.com/fOlz5XsQsc  Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) March 3, 2022

Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian Embassy in India had claimed that Indian students have been taken hostage by Ukrainian security forces to use them as a human shield.

"According to the latest information, these students are actually taken hostage by the Ukrainian security forces, who use them as a human shield and in every possible way prevent them from leaving for Russia. Responsibility, in this case, lies entirely with the Kyiv authorities," Russia in India wrote in a tweet.

"According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkov who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod," the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Defence said during the briefing.

"In fact, they are being held as hostages & offered to leave the territory of Ukraine via Ukrainian-Polish border. They offered to go through the territory where active hostilities are taking place," he said.

From briefing by @mod_russia: According to our information, Ukrainian authorities forcibly keep a large group of Indian students in Kharkov who wish to leave Ukrainian territory and go to Belgorod. pic.twitter.com/cHHaTEyAHI  Russia in India (@RusEmbIndia) March 2, 2022

Ukraine reacted to Russia's allegations and called on the Russian Federation to "immediately cease its hostilities in Kharkiv and Sumy so that they can arrange the evacuation of the civilian population, including foreign students, to safer Ukrainian cities".

"There are students from India, Pakistan, China and other counties who cannot leave because of the indiscriminate shelling and barbaric missile strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on residential areas and civilian infrastructure," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that the Ukrainian government stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy.

"The Government of Ukraine stands ready to assist foreign students to relocate from Kharkiv and Sumy should Russia commit to a ceasefire. Attempting to arrange evacuations through cities that are being subjected to Russian bombing and missile strikes is extremely dangerous," the statement read.

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PM Narendra Modi today met a group of students that was rescued by Indian government from war-torn Ukraine. The students were rescued under government of India's special "Operation Ganga" mission.

In an interaction with students from different parts of Uttar Pradesh who have returned from the war-hit Ukraine, Modi also empathised with those students and their families who have expressed their anger, even at him, after facing hardships in Ukraine.

"I think it is natural for them to feel angry in this crisis," he said, adding that they have been facing hardships and braving cold.

The government has launched "Operation Ganga" to evacuate Indian citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine which has been attacked by Russia.

When they are no longer agitated and begin to understand the magnitude of the exercise, they will show their affection as well, the prime minister said, as many students expressed their thanks to him and lauded his government for rescuing them when they had lost all hope.

A strong India is the answer to these troubles, Modi said, expressing his sympathies with the students who, he added, had to go through such an experience at a young age.

"If medical education policies were right earlier, then you would not have to go abroad," he said, adding that no parents want their children to go overseas at such a young age.

His government is working to correct the past mistakes, he added.

There were 300 to 400 medical colleges earlier, and they now number nearly 700, Modi said. The number of seats they offer has now gone up to 1.5 lakh from earlier 80,000-90,000, he said.

"My effort is that every district has one medical college. Probably, there will be more doctors produced in 10 years than the last 70 years," he said.

This will be a big thing as young students would not have to travel abroad, and their families would not have to under such stress, he added.

Speaking to the students, Modi said everyone should keep doing something for the country.

"You had to undergo such an experience in life at such a young age in a distant place alone. I can imagine the mental state you would have been through. Now we are able to evacuate people properly," he said.

The students shared their experiences with Modi, who is on a tour of the state as part of the BJP's campaign for the ongoing assembly polls.

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Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said that the Indian authorities have contacted the Ukrainian Embassy and the efforts to bring Naveen Shekharappas body back to India are on. We have contacted the Ukrainian Embassy and are putting efforts to bring Naveen's dead body back to India, Bagchi said.

Naveen Shekharappa, a medical student from Karnataka's Haveri, was killed when the Russian soldiers blew up a government building in Ukraines Kharkiv. Naveen was standing outside a grocery store when he was hit. Naveens mortal remains was taken to a morgue in university.

Earlier, Foreign Secretary H V Shringla had said that India would try to bring back Naveen's body. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke to Naveen's father, and offered his condolences.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said they were trying their best to recover Naveen's body and bring it back to India. "I know his family. They are very close to me. The PM had spoken to the family. We will try our best to recover the body and bring it back to India. I have requested the PMO and MEA to help us to recover mortals," he said.

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New Delhi: Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani on Wednesday (March 2) received the Indian nationals who were stranded in Ukraine after they returned on a special flight from Poland.

Irani welcomed back 218 citizens, who boarded from Bucharest, by speaking in their regional languages.

"Welcome back home! Your families are waiting with bated breath. You have shown exemplary courage...Let`s thank the flight crew as well...," she told the students through the Public Address System of the special IndiGo flight.

Irani added that she is grateful to our airline crew and pilots for their service and support to Narendra Modi-led Government's efforts in bringing our citizens back home.

Grateful to our airline crew and pilots for their service and support to Governments efforts in bringing our citizens back home. #OperationGanga pic.twitter.com/Q9uUcRP0uA  Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) March 2, 2022

Meanwhile, another flight from Bucharest carrying 183 Indians stranded in Ukraine has landed in Mumbai on Thursday morning. Union minister Raosaheb Danve welcomed passengers of the third evacuation flight from Bucharest to Mumbai

Around four to five thousand Indians have been brought home so far and the mission, named Operation Ganga, will continue to bring back those still stranded in Ukraine and neighbouring countries.

It is noteworthy that the Russian forces had launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after President Vladimir Putin recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. Fighting in Ukraine has so far pushed more than 5,00,000 people across the country's borders, the UN refugee agency has said.

(With agency inputs)
New Delhi: Happy and relieved faces arrive with every flight at the various airbase as Indias Operation Ganga Mission, which aimed to bring back stranded Indians in Ukraine home, intensifies.

However, Indians have not come alone, their furry friends from the war-torn countries have accompanied them home.

Visuals released by news agency ANI from Hindon airbase shows Indian students, who have landed in India, arriving with their dogs and cats.

I have brought my friend's dog with me from Ukraine. Many people who had dogs left them behind in Ukraine, but I brought back this dog along with me, Zahid, a student rescued from Ukraine, told ANI at Hindan airbase.

I have brought my friend's dog with me from Ukraine. Many people who had dogs left them behind in Ukraine, but I brought back this dog along with me: Zahid, a student rescued from Ukraine, at Hindan airbase pic.twitter.com/bEslfEBI6L  ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2022

Similarly, Gautam, who was rescued from Ukraines capital Kyiv, came home with his cat.

This cat has been with me for the past 4 months. It stayed with me in the bunker, and then we crossed into Poland together, said Gautam.

Hindan airbase | This cat has been with me for the past 4 months. It stayed with me in the bunker, and then we crossed into Poland together: Gautam, rescued from Kyiv, Ukraine has brought back his pet cat with him pic.twitter.com/B53TV1LE4M  ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2022

This comes after The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying has issued an office memorandum, making rescue of pets along with their owners easier as a one-time relaxation.

Meanwhile, three IAF flights under Operation Ganga have landed in India out of the 15 scheduled for the next 24 hours.

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New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao met BJP MP Subramanian Swamy and farmer leader Rakesh Tikait in the national capital on Thursday.

The three leaders discussed the current political situation in the country, party sources said.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, has been camping in the national capital for the past few days. He is due to visit Ranchi on Friday, party sources said.

The Telangana CM has lately intensified efforts to take on the ruling BJP at the Centre. He has been reaching out to regional leaders in different states as part of his plans to forge an anti-BJP alliance at the national level.

Ahead of his arrival in Delhi on Monday night, there were talks that KCR would meet leaders of opposition parties, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav.

It was also speculated that he is likely to join West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee at a Samajwadi Party election rally in Varanasi on Thursday. There have been no developments on this front so far.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait had led the farmers` protests against the three Central farm laws, which have been since repealed by the government. Tikait has been critical of the BJP.

Of late, BJP`s Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has been critical of the Central government`s handling of different issues.

As part of his exercise to reach out to political leaders in other parts of the country, KCR had recently travelled to Mumbai where he met Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiva Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray. He had also met NCP chief Sharad Pawar on that occasion.

With the BJP trying to emerge as an alternative to the ruling TRS in Telangana, relations between the two have taken a turn for the worse over the last few months.

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Varanasi: As the high-octane Uttar Pradesh polls enter the last leg, all eyes are on the electoral battle in and around Varanasi which will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi and prominent leaders from opposition parties leading their campaigns. Modi, who has been criss-crossing the state all along in the seven-phase Uttar Pradesh elections, will lead the poll blitzkrieg in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi for two days on March 4 and 5.

Voting for the seventh and final round will be held on March 7 for Varanasi and its eight adjoining districts. Varanasi unit president of the BJP, Vidyasagar Rai, said the prime minister will hold a roadshow in different localities of Varanasi and on March 5, will address a rally in Khajuri village of the district. The roadshow will be held for three assembly constituencies of Cantt, Varanasi North and Varanasi South. Modi is also scheduled to visit the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Prominent leaders of opposition parties are also reaching the pilgrim city, which would be the nerve centre of the grand finale.

Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee is holding a joint rally with SP president Akhilesh Yadav and his RLD ally Jayant Chaudhary on Thursday. All the allies of the SP-led coalition would attend the rally to give a strong message of challenge to the saffron camp.

After humbling the BJP in her home state West Bengal, Banerjee is trying to lead a formidable grouping of the anti-BJP forces in the next national election.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati have already marked their attendance in Varanasi and neighbouring areas. It is not yet known whether Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will visit Varanasi or not before the campaign ends on Saturday evening. However, his party leaders including MP Sanjay Singh have been moving around Varanasi for quite some days.

Locked in a fierce poll battle with the Samajwadi Party in particular, winning a majority of seats out of the 54 constituencies in the end round, is a must for the BJP to continue its sway in the 2024 general election. Riding on the "Modi wave", the BJP-led coalition had won in all the eight assembly segments of Varanasi in 2017 and so was the case in the majority of the seats in the neighbouring districts.

However, changing caste equation and aggressive mobilisation of Muslims in particular by the Samajwadi Party show the outcome would not be one-sided as was the case last time. BJP's allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Nishad Party and Akhilesh Yadav's new friends Apna Dal (K), Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) of Om Prakash Rajbhar and others would have to play an important role to tilt the balance in favour of their groupings.

In 2017, out of the eight assembly seats in Varanasi, the BJP had won six while its partner Apna Dal (S) had bagged one and another one had gone to Rajbhar's SBSP who was with them that time. Rajbhar is now with Akhilesh Yadav and so are the influential OBC leaders Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan and others who have crossed over from the BJP to the SP. The BJP has fielded its candidates on seven seats and left Rohania constituency for union minister Anupriya Patel headed Apna Dal (S).

Akhilesh Yadav has nominated four SP candidates in Varanasi and has left four others to allies, Apna Dal (Kamerwadi) headed by Anupriya's mother Krishna Patel and two for Rajbhar's SBSP. Varanasi has over 3.25 lakh Vaisyas, three lakh Muslims, Brahmins (2.5 lakh), Patels known locally as OBC Kurmi (2 lakh), Yadavs (1.5 lakh), Thakurs (1 lakh), Dalits 80,000 and other OBC castes 70,000.

Reports suggest that the SP and other opposition parties are trying to dent the BJP's support base among Brahmins by playing on their reported unhappiness with the saffron party. A strong poll battle is on the cards in neighbouring Mirzapur and Jaunpur too where the BJP had won hands down last time.

Besides Varanasi, the last round of polling would also cover Azamgarh and Vindhyachal regions. The 54 seats going to polls on March 7 are in Azamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra. SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is also expected to attend a rally in Malhani assembly constituency in neighbouring Jaunpur district during the day in favour of Lucky Yadav, son of his long-time associate and former minister Parasnath Yadav.

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Washington: US President Joe Biden will decide whether to apply or waive sanctions on India, one of America's key partners, under the CAATSA law for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia, a senior administration official has told lawmakers. The US administration is required under a domestic law, Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) to impose sanctions on any country that has significant transactions with Iran, North Korea or Russia.

CAATSA is a tough US law that authorises the administration to impose sanctions on countries that purchase major defence hardware from Russia in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

Responding to a question on possible CAATSA sanctions on India, Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism on Wednesday that it was for President Biden to decide whether to apply or waive sanctions on India.

"I can assure you that the administration will follow the CAATSA law and fully implement that law and will consult with Congress as we move forward with any of them. What unfortunately I am not able to say is to prejudge the decisions of the President or the (Secretary of State) on the waiver issue or on the sanctions issue, or whether Russia's invasion of Ukraine will bear on that decision," he said.

Lu said that the Biden administration is yet to decide on applying sanctions on India under CAATSA. "India is a really important security partner of ours now. And that we value moving forward that partnership and I hope that part of what happens with the extreme criticism that Russia has faced is that India will find it's now time to further distances," Lu said.

The senior American diplomat said it is going to be very hard for any country to buy major weapon systems from Russia because of the sweeping sanctions now placed on Russian banks. "What we've seen from India in just the last few weeks, is the cancellation of MiG 29 orders, Russian helicopter orders and anti-tank weapon orders," Lu said.

Lu's remarks came as India faced flak from US lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats for choosing to abstain from a UN vote on Wednesday to rebuke Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A total of 141 nations voted in favour of the move condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and five nations were against it, with 35 countries, including India, abstaining.

Also read: Russian, Belarusian athletes barred from Beijing Paralympics

The UNGA resolution was similar to the one circulated in the 15-nation Security Council last Friday, on which also India had abstained.

The UNSC resolution, which received 11 votes in favour and three abstentions, was blocked after permanent member Russia exercised its veto. In October 2018, India had signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, despite a warning from the then Trump administration that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions.

The US has already imposed sanctions on Turkey under the CAATSA for the purchase of a batch of S-400 missile defence systems from Russia. Following the US sanctions on Turkey over the procurement of S-400 missile systems, there were apprehensions that Washington may impose similar punitive measures on India. Russia has been one of India's key major suppliers of arms and ammunition.

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not acting on time in evacuating Indians from Ukraine. Mamata Banerjee also accused PM Modi of of being busy in poll meetings in Uttar Pradesh while Indians are stranded in war-hit Ukraine.

Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradesh' Varanasi, while campaigning for the Samajwadi Party (SP) for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, she also accused the Centre of leaving Indians in Ukraine on their own in the midst of a raging war.

"Look what is happening right now. There is a war underway in Ukraine and Modi is doing meetings here (in the state). What is important? Isn't bringing back our Indian students important?" Banerjee said.

"If you (Modi) have such good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and knew three months in advance that a war would break out, why did you not bring back Indians (from Ukraine)," the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said.

Campaigning for the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP in Prime Minister Modi's parliamentary constituency, she also slammed the Centre, saying it is asking Indians in the strife-torn nation to come back on their own.

"Somebody is sleeping in bunkers, others are living without food and water and Modi ji, your government is instructing them to come back on their own. This cannot happen," Banerjee said.

Meanwhile, four evacuation flights with 798 Indians from the Romanian capital Bucharest, Hungary's Budapest and Polish city Rzeszow landed at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad early on Thursday as India's 'Operation Ganga' mission continued to bring people back home from Ukraine.

While Banerjee spoke at the joint rally of opposition parties in Varanasi, Modi addressed election meetings in Jaunpur and Chanduali in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, where polling is scheduled on March 7.

She also slammed the Centre over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the exodus of migrant workers from big towns due to the lockdown imposed by the government in 2020.

Many people walked hundreds of miles on foot and were left without any resources, Banerjee said, adding that her government in West Bengal had made provisions to help such persons from her state to reach their homes.

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New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board (UPPRPB) has launched a recruitment drive to fill 2430 posts and invited online applications for several posts including Assistant Operator, Head Operator, and others in the department.

Interested and eligible candidates can apply for 2430 posts via UPPRPB's official website- uppbpb.gov.in.

The last date to apply is March 15 and all the applications must be submitted on or before that.

Note: Candidates are advised to apply for the posts much before the last date as websites crash/break on the last days of the application date.

Heres all you need to know about UP Police recruitment 2022:

Total Vacancies

Under the recruitment drive, the Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board (UPPRPB) is looking to recruit candidates for the following posts:

Assistant Operator - 1374 posts

Head Operator/HeadOperator Mechanic - 936 posts

Workshop Staff: 120 posts

Last Date to apply

The last date to apply for the various posts is March 15.

Applicants are advised to apply for the posts much before the last date as websites crash/break on the last days of the application date.

Eligibility criteria for UP Police recruitment

For the Assistant Operator post

An applicant must have completed Intermediate with Physics and Maths subjects or equivalent.

For Head Operator post

An applicant must have completed a Three Year Engineering Diploma in Electronics / Telecommunication / Electrical / Computer Science / IT / Mechanical or equivalent.

Workshop Staff members

The candidate must have passed Class 12th and ITI in relevant.

UP Police recruitment age limit

An Assistant Operator applicant must be between 18 to 22 years of age.

While the Workshop Staff, Head Radio Operator/Head Mechanic Operator applicant should be between 20 to 28 years of age.

Selection process for the UP Police Recruitment 2022

The candidates will be selected on the basis of their performance in the online written exam, followed by PST, followed by PET, the final list, and the medical exam.

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New Delhi: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), on Thursday (February 3), cautioned the public against sharing Aadhaar Card and PAN details without a valid reason or for monetary gains.

The department also said that the information could be misused by fraudsters for GST evasion. The agency noted that the information could be used for creating fake entities in GST for evasion of taxes.

In a tweet, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said Aadhaar and PAN details can be used for creating fake entities in GST for evasion of taxes and hence people should refrain from sharing these without a valid reason.

Protect your personal data which may be used for creating fake entities in GST for evasion of taxes.#GST pic.twitter.com/pUvArdYgzs  CBIC (@cbic_india) March 3, 2022

"Protect your personal data which may be used for creating fake entities in GST for evasion of taxes," the CBIC added in its tweet. Also Read: After Garena Free Fire, Centre to ban BGMI? Check what IT Ministry has to say

Over the past several years, Goods and Services Tax (GST) officers have cracked down on several bogus companies used to raise fake invoices without any actual supply of goods. The sole intention is to fraudulently claim an input tax credit (ITC), according to a report by PTI. Also Read: Huawei accused of tax evasion by Indian government: Report

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New Delhi: State Bank of India, the nation's largest lender, has stopped processing transactions of Russian entities that have been sanctioned by the West over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, sources said.

To effect this, SBI has issued a circular as it fears that any transaction with entities or sectors under sanction will invite sanction on it as well, sources said.

No transactions involving entities, banks, ports or vessels appearing on a US, European Union or United Nations sanctions list would be processed irrespective of the currency of the transaction, they said.

Payments due to such entities have to be processed by other mechanism rather than through the banking channel, sources added.

SBI operates a joint venture in Moscow called Commercial Indo Bank Llc, where Canara Bank is another partner with 40 per cent stake.

The bank has not responded to e-mail seeking comment on the matter.

Russia is one of biggest suppliers of defence products and equipment to India mostly under government-to-government contract.

Bilateral trade between India and Russia stood at USD 9.4 billion so far this fiscal year, against USD 8.1 billion in 2020-21.

India's main imports from Russia include fuels, mineral oils, pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; electrical machinery and equipment and fertilisers.

Major export items from India to Russia include pharmaceutical products, electrical machinery and equipment, organic chemicals and vehicles.

In the past too, India had devised a mechanism to pay for imports from Iran, when sanctions were imposed on the Persian Gulf nation.

The Russia-Ukraine war entered its eight day on Thursday, with fighting intensifying in Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other big cities.

Last week, the Group of seven (G-7) major economies imposed punitive sanctions against the Russian central bank.

They also decided to remove Russian banks from the SWIFT inter-banking system -- which is intended to isolate Russia from global trade.

India has so far maintained a neutral stance on Russia attack on Ukraine asking both the countries to resolve the issue diplomatically. Also Read: Russia-Ukraine War: Crypto exchange Binance wont accept cards of sanctioned Russian banks

India demanded safe and uninterrupted passage for all its nationals, including students still stranded in Ukraine and cities in the conflict zones, as it abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution deploring Russian aggression against Ukraine and reiterated that differences can only be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. Also Read: Piyush Goyal asks industry to explore ways to raise manufacturing contribution to 25% of GDP

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The more we speak of how a few brands and businesses have been basking in the glory through their innovative visions, ideas, and strategies to take forward their industries and push growth further in their niches, the more we feel the need to talk about them. This is because these success stories have proved to be motivating factors for other up-and-coming businesses across industries and inspire entrepreneurs in ways more than one. R Sandesh Group by a powerful brother duo Rammu Agrawal and Dilip Agrawal has been doing the same in the world of business and specifically now with Sandesh City, which oozes the greatness of the team behind the business empire that got deep into the ocean named real estate in 2006.

Dilip Agrawal mentions how they have worked with the vision of building exquisite landmarks in Nagpur metropolitan area and with the solid business knowledge and skills of his brother Rammu Agrawal. Rammu Agrawal is proud of how the group has turned out to be one of the top developers of Central India, which carries an enduring legacy of trust, commitment, and craftsmanship. Their landmark projects include Sandesh Dawa Bazaar and Royal Sandesh Dawa Bazaar, which together make up the biggest wholesale pharmaceutical market in the region. Sandesh City in the Jamtha region was launched in 2009 with a vision to create one of the largest integrated township projects of the new Nagpur. They have now effortlessly entered the ultra-luxury segment with its maiden project Wadhwani Bliss which aspires to provide an unparalleled range of lifestyle experiences says Shraddha Agrawal, Gen-Next entrepreneur of R Sandesh Group.

With R Sandesh Group Infrastructure, the group is committed to offering luxury at affordable prices to discerning citizens. Also, investing in them has assured appreciation of property year after year, with handing over clear title homes on time, with no cost escalation to worry about. It is located in the Cargo Hub of Central India MIHAN between Butibori Industrial area, with easy access to destinations like VCA stadium, MIHAN And MIDC Butibori Industrial Hub. It easily connects to Wardha Road and Hyderabad Road as well as Varanasi Road and onwards to the Industrial Hub for its location being close to NH-7.

Sandesh City is an exclusive project located at Wardha Road, Nagpur, which offers 2, 3, and 4 BHK Super Luxurious Bungalows, Flats, NMRDA Plots offering modernism and a contemporary lifestyle for families. Each apartment is carefully crafted, providing the best amenities and comfort.

It has been developed with easy access to different destinations and has astounding villas, excellent connectivity, available at a wide range of prices and a long list of amenities provided in the township, like Paver Block & Tar Road (15M/12M/9M Wide Road), Electrification with LED Street Light, Rain water Harvesting, Sewer Treatment Plant (STP), Drainage Line, Ground Water (22 Borewells & 2 Well), Kirana Shops, Daily Needs, Grocery, Childrens Play Area, Green Gym, Indoor Games and so much more.

(Sponsored Feature)
New Delhi: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has informed the Telangana High Court that 'PUBG Mobile app' and the 'BGMI app' are not the same, in response to a PIL seeking the ban of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI).

N. Samaya Balan was representing the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY). In an affidavit, Balan also reportedly noted that only the government can restrict computer resources.

Separately, the ministry also told the High Court that no requests related to the banning of the Battlegrounds Mobile India were received by the government. The High Court was hearding a PIL filed by a non-profit organisation on Monday.

Responding to the issue, RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch said the government should thoroughly investigate the antecedents and China influence of the BGMI-PUBG app and take immediate action if found in violation, according to a PTI report.

The non-profit organisation, PRAHAR, reportedly urged the government to block the multiplayer online video game BGMI-PUBG. The organisation claimed that it is a new avatar of the banned Chinese gaming app PUBG and that it poses a grave threat to the security, sovereignty and integrity of India.

PRAHAR also wrote separate letters to Home Minister Amit Shah and Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw. The organisation said the Chinese multinational conglomerate Tencent Holdings Limited had launched PUBG in India which was one of the most downloaded games at the time of its ban in 2020. Also Read: Indians can now trade in Google, Apple, 6 other US stocks on NSE IFSC, heres how you can invest

In less than a year, PUBG was re-introduced in India by a front company of Tencent Krafton under the new name BGMI a move that was clearly meant to circumvent the Indian policymakers, it had claimed in its letter. Also Read: PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi scheme subscriber? Know why March 31 deadline is significant for you

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New Delhi: Cryptocurrency exchange Binance, on Thursday (March 3), said cardholders of sanctioned Russian banks would not be able to use them on their platform and confirmed that sanctioned individuals have had their access restricted.

Some of the worlds biggest cryptocurrency exchanges are staying put in Russia, breaking ranks with mainstream finance in a decision that experts say weakens Western attempts to isolate Moscow following the invasion of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the European Commission is studying whether crypto assets are being used to get round financial sanctions imposed on Russian banks following the country`s invasion of Ukraine, a senior European Union official said on Wednesday.

Trading volumes between the Russian rouble and the Tether cryptocurrency spiked on Monday as the local currency tumbled to a record low on Western sanctions.

Crypto-exchange Binance has, however, blocked accounts of any Russian clients targeted by sanctions.

A senior EU official said the EU is aware that crypto assets were a "possible circumvention route" to avoid sanctions imposed by the bloc and other western powers.

The EU`s executive European Commission has been reading reports in the press on crypto assets and has also received information directly, the official said. Also Read: Gold Price Today: Russia-Ukraine war sends yellow metal higher; check latest rate in your city

"The increase in value of some of these assets may be a response to attempts to circumvent the sanctions. We are looking into this, but no decision has been taken," the EU official said. Also Read: Piyush Goyal asks industry to explore ways to raise manufacturing contribution to 25% of GDP

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NEW DELHI: The episode begins with housemates discussing their journeys. Comedian Munawar Faruqui talks about his arrest and says he never committed the crime he was accused of. He tells Nisha Rawal that his energy was comparatively low when he took over the stage after coming out of the jail. Fashion designer and transgender Saisha Shinde talks about her experience to Munawar and Poonam Pandey.

Poonam Pandey discusses that people have always seen her as a trouble. She adds that 10 years down the line, the same world will talk about how it started.

Shivam made a heart-shaped paper art for Sara with her name written inside. Sara, after waking up, reacts to it.

Shivam Sharma breaks down into tears and tells Karanvir Bohra that Sana Khan doesn't believe his feelings for her. He says that Sana told her that he has been 'creating the love drama' as he has been asked to do by the makers.

Sana tells Nisha that she can't believe someone who has just met him and tells her that he is in love with her. She tries to talk to him.

Shivam never misses an opportunity to impress Sara by reciting his shayaris and putting effort into it. It will be interesting to see how their relationship turns out to be in the coming episodes.

Munawar and Karanvir indulge in some fun over Shivam's fondness for Sana.

Shivam and Munawar lock horns with each other after the comedian trolls the former savagely for comparing himself to Marvel characters Iron Man and Thanos. Other celebrity contestants on the show were also spotted laughing at Munawar's comments. While Munawar called his response a 'mic-drop' moment, Shivam was seen fuming and declaring that he will destroy the comedian.

Karanvir discusses popular characters from Marvel Cinematic Universe with his fellow contestants. Shivam joins the conversation and compares himself to the Marvel characters. "Thanos se yaad aaya. Iss saal Lock Upp season one ka Thanos bhi main hun aur Iron Man bhi main hun (Thanos reminded me, that in Lock Upp season one, I am Thanos and I am the Iron Man too)," Shivam said. His response invited a sharp reply from Munawar, who joked, "Kya baat hai dono hi marr jaate hain (how amazing, both of them die," referring to the characters' deaths in Avengers: Endgame.

Munawar discusses with Poonam and Siddharth that he doesn't even deserve his hate.

The contestants participate in the 'Bluff' game and 'Right Block' gets disqualified. 'Left Block' wins and is asked to give the name of one housemate whose wishes will be granted.

'Lock Upp' is live-streamed on digital platforms MX Player and ALTBalaji. Comedian Munawar Faruqui, model Poonam Pandey, actor Nisha Rawal, Sara Khan, Kaaranvir Bohra, Payal Rohatgi, Shivam Sharma, Siddharth Sharma, political analyst Tehseen Poonawala, fashion designer Saisha Shinde, self-styled godman Swami Chakrapani, social media influencer Anjali Arora, and wrestler Babita Phogat among others are the contestants of the controversial show.
Warsaw: Amid the raging war between Russia and Ukraine, there is an inflow of a huge number of refugees in the neighbouring country of Poland. More than 4.5 lakh refugees, including many Indians, have entered Poland.

In today's DNA (March 03), Zee News Editor-In-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary reaches Ground Zero - to bring for you a special analysis of the war - right from a place that holds significance for both Ukraine and Russia.

Poland shares its 535 km long border with Ukraine. Apart from this, it also shares its border with Russia. At present, Poland has become the largest centre of NATO forces. Now the big question is that after attacking Ukraine, can Russia attack its other neighbouring countries as well?

Warsaw is the same city where the Soviet Union announced a military alliance with the communist countries of eastern Europe in 1955. This alliance was against NATO countries. This agreement was signed in the Warsaw city of Poland, so it was called the Warsaw Pact. However, Poland has now become the main centre of NATO countries. At present, five thousand US soldiers and 12 thousand soldiers of other NATO countries are deployed in Poland.

Apart from this, the British army has sent its tanks and armoured vehicles to Estonia. France has also deployed its Fighter Jets here. While Germany has deployed dangerous warships in the Baltic Sea. And the Fighter Jets of the Royal Air Force of Britain are continuously patrolling in Romania and Poland. Moreover, there are 99 thousand soldiers of Poland's army, who are fully prepared to go to war.

Ukraines bordering countries of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania are part of NATO countries. So if Russia attacks these countries, then it will be considered an attack on NATO countries directly. And in that case, 34 lakh NATO soldiers will take on Russia. A total of 30 countries in NATO have 34 lakh soldiers. That means almost twice the army of a country like India will go to war against 8 lakh soldiers of Russia.

Article 5 of NATO countries states that if any of its member countries is attacked, it will be considered as an attack on other member countries as well.

Live TV
By Azernews





By Vafa Ismayilova

Armenia's armed forces have shelled the Azerbaijani army positions in western Tovuz region on the border with Armenia, the Defence Ministry reported on March 3.

From 0850 to 0916 on March 2, the Armenian armed forces' units fired at the Azerbaijani army positions in the direction of Tovuz region's Kokhanebi and Asrik Jirdakhan villages, the ministry said.

The Armenian troops fired from the direction of Tovuzgala region's Chinarli village.

The Azerbaijani army units stationed in the abovementioned directions took appropriate retaliatory measures.

The ministry ruled out any military personnel or equipment losses. It went on to say that Azerbaijani troops are in command of the operational situation and that the situation in the aforementioned directions is stable.

Armenian troops shelled Azerbaijani positions in Kalbajar, Fuzuli, and Tovuz throughout February. Illegal Armenian armed forces also shelled Azerbaijani positions from their locations in Karabakh, which is currently under Russian peacekeeping control.

About 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have been deployed for five years in Karabakh under the trilateral cease-fire deal signed by Baku, Moscow and Yerevan on November 10, 2020. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw all its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it had occupied since the early 1990s.

The trilateral ceasefire deal signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders on November 10, 2020, ended the three-decade conflict over Azerbaijans Karabakh region which along with the seven adjacent regions came under the occupation of Armenian armed forces in the war in the early 1990s.

The deal also stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the peace deal, Azerbaijan liberated 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city that had been under Armenian occupation for about 30 years.

On January 11, 2021, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed the second statement since the end of the 44-day war. The newly-signed statement was set to implement clause 9 of the November 2020 statement related to the unblocking of all economic and transport communications in the region.

On November 26, 2021, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed a statement and agreed on a number of issues, including the demarcation and delimitation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border by late 2021, some points related to humanitarian issues and the issue of unblocking of transport corridors which applies to the railway and to automobile communications.

On December 14, 2021, during the Brussels meeting, organized between Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders at the initiative of European Council President Charles Michel, the sides reaffirmed their commitment to the conditions agreed in the Sochi meeting.

Both sides agreed to establish a temporary working group on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The issue of demining the liberated territories of Azerbaijan was also brought up on the agenda, and the European Union's readiness to provide technical assistance to Azerbaijan in this regard was underlined at the meeting.




The Hague: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has begun an investigation into the Russian activities in Ukraine, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan said. "I have notified the ICC Presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations in the Situation. Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced," Khan said in a statement.

He added that the ICC would focus on the organization`s key objective: ensuring accountability for crimes under the court`s jurisdiction.

Last week, Russia launched a special operation after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested assistance to defend themselves from ongoing attacks by the Ukrainian troops.

The Western countries have strongly condemned the Russian military operation and boosted the sanctions pressure on Moscow.

Russia`s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 has yet to overthrow the government in Kyiv but thousands of people are believed to have been killed or injured, according to officials in both countries and the United Nations.

"Active investigations formally commence in Ukraine upon receipt of referrals by 39 state parties", prosecutor Karim Khan tweeted. The referrals by member states fast-track an investigation as it allows the prosecutor to skip having to seek approval of the court in The Hague, shaving months off the process.

The prosecutor had already said on Monday that he would seek court approval into allegations of war crimes in Ukraine. The prosecutor`s office would start collecting evidence for "any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person", Khan said in a statement.

Following the Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and the subsequent fighting in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces, Ukraine accepted ICC jurisdiction for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on its territory since the end of 2013.

In December 2020 the prosecutor`s office announced it had reason to believe war crimes and other crimes were committed during the conflict in eastern Ukraine, but a request for a full investigation was not filed.

Russia is not a member of the ICC and rejects its jurisdiction. The court can investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on Ukrainian territory regardless of the nationality of the suspected perpetrators.

Live TV
Moscow: As tensions with Ukraine and the West mount, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday (March 3) slammed the Western politicians for considering 'nuclear war, assuring that Moscow has no such thought.

Speaking in an interview with state television, Lavrov said as per Reuters, The thought of nuclear is constantly spinning in the heads of Western politicians but not in the heads of Russians.

"I assure you that we will not allow any kind of provocation to unbalance us, the minister added.

Russian Foreign Minister had stoked fears on Wednesday after he warned that a third World War would be a devastating nuclear war," state-owned TASS news agency reported.

Lavrov alleged today that some foreign leaders were preparing for war against Russia. He said that Moscow would press on with its military operation in Ukraine until "the end".

The Russian minister also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of presiding over "a society where Nazism is flourishing", Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, the second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine is likely to begin in Belarus at 1200 GMT, Belarusian state news agency Belta quoted chief Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky as saying. Russia`s invasion of Ukraine entered its second week today.

The Russian forces laid siege to two strategic Ukrainian seaports on Wednesday and continued their bombardment of the country's second-biggest city.

Mariupol city council said Russia was "constantly and deliberately" shelling critical civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian southern port, affecting water, power and evacuation.

As per British military intelligence, Russia has made little progress in advancing on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol remain under Ukraine's control.

(With agency inputs)
Kyiv: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that Moscow is ready for talks to end the fighting in Ukraine but will continue to press its effort to destroy Ukraine's military infrastructure.

The Russian Foreign Minister said that the countrys delegation submitted its demands to the Ukrainian negotiators earlier this week, and is now waiting for Kyiv's response in talks set for Thursday.

Lavrov said that the West has continuously armed Ukraine, trained its troops and built up bases there to turn Ukraine into a bulwark against Russia. Russia says that made Ukraine a threat to its security.

Live TV
Kyiv: Russian forces laid siege to two strategic Ukrainian seaports on Wednesday and pressed their bombardment of the country's second-biggest city, while the huge armoured column threatening Kyiv appeared stalled outside the capital.

Moscow's isolation deepened, meanwhile, when most of the world lined up against it at the United Nations to demand it withdraw from Ukraine. And the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes.

The second round of talks aimed at ending the fighting was expected Thursday, but there appeared to be little common ground between the two sides. Russia reported its military casualties for the first time since the invasion began last week, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded.

Ukraine did not disclose its own military losses but said more than 2,000 civilians have died, a claim that could not be independently verified. With fighting going on multiple fronts across the country, Britain's Defence Ministry said Mariupol, a large city on the Azov Sea, was encircled by Russian forces, while the status of another vital port, Kherson, a Black Sea shipbuilding city of 280,000, remained unclear.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces claimed to have taken complete control of Kherson, which would make it the biggest city to fall yet in the invasion. But a senior US defence official disputed that. Our view is that Kherson is very much a contested city," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said that it could not comment on the situation in Kherson while the fighting was still going on.

But the mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow crews to gather up the bodies from the streets.

"I simply asked them not to shoot at people, he said in a statement. We don't have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said the attacks there had been relentless. We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop, he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Meanwhile, the senior US defence official said the immense column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 25 kilometers from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last couple of days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages and has faced fierce Ukrainian resistance, the official said.

On the far edges of Kyiv, volunteer fighters well into their 60s manned a checkpoint to try to block the Russian advance.

Russian warplanes bombed the village of Gorenka, a half-hour's drive from Ukraine's capital, Wednesday, leaving the bodies of villagers strewn among ruined homes, residents said.

In the aftermath, Larissa Lipatova crowded under blankets with seven other villages in a cold, damp concrete cellar among jars of pickled vegetables. A candle stuck in a pickle jar, propped up in front of a religious icon, provided their only light.

Lipatova wept, covering her face with one hand, as she spoke in the dark with a message for Ukraine's invaders. We don't need to be freed. Leave us alone!

Russia also pounded Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city with about 1.5 million people, in another round of aerial attacks that shattered buildings and lit up the skyline with flames.

At least 21 people were killed and 112 injured over the past day, said Oleg Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration.

Several Russian planes were shot down over Kharkiv, according to Oleksiy Arestovich, a top adviser to Zelenskyy.

Kharkiv today is the Stalingrad of the 21st century, Arestovich said, invoking what is considered one of the most heroic episodes in Russian history, the five-month defense of the city from the Nazis during World War II.

From his basement bunker, Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov told the BBC, The city is united and we shall stand fast.''

Russian attacks, many with missiles, blew the roof off Kharkiv's five-story regional police building and set the top floor on fire, and also hit the intelligence headquarters and a university building, according to officials and videos and photos released by Ukraine's State Emergency Service. Officials said residential buildings were also hit, but gave no details.

Seven days into Russia's invasion, the United Nations said more than 934,000 people have fled Ukraine in a mounting refugee crisis on the European continent, while the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency warned that the fighting poses a danger to Ukraine's 15 nuclear reactors.

Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency noted that the war is the first time a military conflict is happening amid the facilities of a large, established nuclear power programme, and he said he is gravely concerned.

Russia already has seized control of the decommissioned Chernobyl power plant, the scene in 1986 of the world's worst nuclear disaster.

In New York, the UN General Assembly voted to demand that Russia stop its offensive and immediately withdraw all troops, with world powers and tiny island states alike condemning Moscow.

The vote was 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions. Assembly resolutions aren't legally binding but can reflect and influence world opinion.

The vote came after the 193-member assembly convened its first emergency session since 1997. The only countries to vote with Russia were Belarus, Syria, North Korea and Eritrea. Cuba spoke in Moscow's defense but ultimately abstained.

Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said Russian forces have come to the Ukrainian soil, not only to kill some of us ... They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist.

A large explosion shook central Kyiv on Wednesday night in what the president's office said was a missile strike near the capital city's southern railway station.

There was no immediate word on any deaths or injuries. Thousands of Ukrainians have been fleeing the city through the sprawling railway complex.

A spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, released his side's military casualty figures, disputing as disinformation reports of much higher losses. Ukraine's leader claimed almost 6,000 Russian soldiers have been killed.

Konashenkov also said more than 2,870 Ukrainian troops have been killed and about 3,700 wounded, while over 570 have been captured.

Russia also ramped up its rhetoric. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reminded the world about the country's vast nuclear arsenal when he said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that a third world war could only be nuclear."

In the northern city of Chernihiv, two cruise missiles hit a hospital, according to the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency, which quoted the health administration chief, Serhiy Pivovar, as saying authorities were working to determine the casualty toll.

Live TV
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday held 90-minute long French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. During the talks, Putin told Macron that the goals of Russia`s operation in Ukraine - its demilitarisation and neutral status - will be achieved in any case, the Kremlin said. Putin said that any attempts by Kyiv to delay negotiations would results in Moscow adding more items to its list of demands.

In a statement issued after the French and Russian presidents spoke by phone, the Kremlin made clear its goals included the demilitarisation and neutrality of Ukraine. Any attempts by Kyiv to delay negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian officials would result in Moscow adding more items to a list of demands it has already set out, it said.

"Vladimir Putin outlined in detail the fundamental approaches and conditions in the context of negotiations with representatives of Kyiv. It was confirmed that, first of all, we are talking about the demilitarisation and neutral status of Ukraine, so that a threat to the Russian Federation will never emanate from its territory," the statement said.

"It was emphasised that the tasks of the special military operation will be fulfilled in any event, and attempts to gain time by dragging out negotiations will only lead to additional demands on Kiev in our negotiating position."

The statement said Russia`s "special operation" in Ukraine was going "according to plan". It said reports that Russian forces were bombarding Kyiv were part of an "anti-Russia disinformation campaign", and that Russian forces were doing all they could to protect civilians.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour`s military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

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Washington: The World Bank has stopped all its programs in Russia and Belarus with "immediate effect" in response to Moscow`s military operations in Ukraine.

"The World Bank Group has not approved any new loans to or investments in Russia since 2014. There has also been no new lending approved to Belarus since mid-2020," the international financial institution said in a statement on Wednesday.

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and hostilities against the people of Ukraine, the World Bank Group has stopped all its programs in Russia and Belarus with immediate effect, the statement added.

Meanwhile, World Bank on Tuesday announced that it is preparing a USD 3 billion support package for Ukraine in the coming months, while the IMF also is preparing to provide emergency assistance to the country.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine`s breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.

Several countries including the UK, the US, Canada, and the European Union have condemned Russia`s military operations in Ukraine and imposed sanctions on Moscow. These countries have also promised Ukraine to help with military aid to fight Russia.

The US, Canada and European allies agreed to remove key Russian banks from the interbank messaging system, SWIFT which means Russian banks won`t be able to communicate securely with banks beyond Russia`s borders.

Live TV
Mi saludo y respaldo a nuestras misiones consulares por garantizar la seguridad e integridad de este primer grupo de peruanos repatriados de Ucrania. Luego de la evaluacion correspondiente, optamos por la via mas rapida y eficiente para su traslado y tranquilidad de sus familias. https://t.co/LKVnVHTTpA




This percentage means more than 2,000,000 doses applied (first and second doses).

While first doses have been administered to almost 1,700,000 children, the second ones were given to some 700,000 minors, who account for 13% of the target population, Minsa Immunizations Director Maria Elena Martinez detailed.

"We are quite concerned that children arrive at school without being vaccinated. Therefore, Minsa will combine various strategies so as to increase immunization rates," she said in remarks to Andina news agency.

Along these lines, she indicated that "the fixed-point strategy" of vaccination will be developed, which involves going to meet families or even "going home to home on weekends."

"We must disseminate the importance of vaccination. Parents must allow health personnel to vaccinate their children," Martinez noted.

Regular vaccination schedule

The Minsa Immunizations director was concerned about the decrease registered in the coverage levels of the regular vaccination scheme against other diseases or infections, which are not COVID-19.

The official indicated that quite low coverage has been noticed, adding that it is due to the prioritization given to the care and fight against the pandemic nationwide.

Martinez reminded parents that although the Omicron variant can infect between 15 and 18 people, a person with measles can infect between 18 and 24 people, hence the importance of not neglecting the protection of children against this infection.

"We must strengthen the vaccination against COVID-19, but also catch up with regular vaccination schedules," she noted.

Schools

When asked about the possibility that the schools could host students at 100% of their capacity, she commented that this will depend on the size of schools, capacity, and number of students.

"That is what Minedu (Ministry of Education) analyzes. We are giving the corresponding guidelines so that there is still social distancing and preventive measures are complied with; nonetheless, the Ministry of Education has to determine the state of classrooms and schools," she expressed.

The Minsa Immunizations director also said the possibility of using educational centers as vaccination points is being analyzed.





(END) JAM/KGR/MVB

The Ministry of Health (Minsa) has reported that merely 51.5% of the country's child population has been immunized against COVID-19, which is a cause for concern due to the upcoming return to face-to-face classes, which is why it urged parents to act responsibly and get their children vaccinated as soon as possible.Publicado: 3/3/2022
By Trend

In this very difficult time, when the conflict is erupting in Ukraine and the global security is in danger it is time for the two parties to accept the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev to come to Baku for peace process, Abdulaziz Altwaijri, former Director General ISESCO told Trend.

In his words, Azerbaijan is the right country to hold such meetings, because it is a country that hosts meetings for dialogue and understanding.

"And President Ilham Aliyev is a leader that cares for world peace and security and his country is playing a great role for preserving security in the world. So the meeting in Baku would be a very positive step to solve this problem and I think that with time the two leaders of the two countries will accept this invitation and will find a peaceful solution to this conflict," he said.
The PBS film crew is led by renowned British-Canadian anthropologist and documentary filmmaker Graham Townsley. The team is already in Jaen. One of the protagonists of this documentary is Peruvian archaeologist Quirino Olivera discoverer of Huaca Montenegro.









Also participating in this visit is Brazilian Eduardo Neves one of the world's top specialists in Amazonian archaeology.





The team, whose members arrived in Jaen on February 26, will stay there until March 4.





Olivera led the group of archaeologists composed of Peruvian and Ecuadorian citizens, who began excavations on both sides of the border back in 2009.





In 2012, Peruvian researchers found a "spiral-shaped architecture" in Jaen. Olivera believes that time has the shape of a coiled serpent an important symbol found in nearby sites.









"It has the shape of the Nasca monkey tail, the spiral of Peru Brand," he pointed out.





The architecture is surrounded by "outstretched arms" that wrap the whole towards the center of the spiral, where there is supposed to be a tomb.









A similar archaeological site was found a short time later in Ecuador.





In 2014, the team unearthed the Montegrande archaeological temple, under an abandoned modern Catholic church, which was a dump and smokehouse just five minutes from the city of Jaen.





In 2016, the Peru-Ecuador Binational Plan contributed S/80,000 (about US$22,857) to the project; another S/100,000 (about US$28,571) was financed by the Provincial Municipality of Jaen. With that money progress was made to show details of the beautiful temple.





The oldest cacao





The civilization that built the temples in Peru and Ecuador is more than 5,000 years old and would be the cradle of cacao. Its remains are located in the Chinchipe-Maranon binational basin.





"Where 20 years ago a conflict took place, now archaeologists work together to investigate the past because we are one people," Olivera stressed.





The first monumental architecture was discovered at the source of Mayo Chinchipe River, in Ecuador, where 32 carbon-14 dating (tests) were carried out, which made it possible to identify a fermented drink of Theobroma cacao, while it was thought that this fruit had originated in the Mesoamerican region related to the Olmecs.





"Archaeological evidence indicates that it would be found in the upper part of the Chinchipe-Maranon binational basin, evidence of 2,000 years before the Olmecs; that means 5,500 years old. That makes it the oldest cocoa in the world," said Olivera, who believes that this culture should be called Maranon in honor of the most important course in the Amazon.





"According to the research, cacao was in wild state in the Amazon. What we are looking for is to identify when it was domesticated; (that is) a fundamental process because cacao is vital for rituals and is present in the most important elements of our cultures: stone, gold, lapis lazuli, and the Spondylus shell necklace, which was worn by the Lord of Sipan. Now we conduct research on a model found in Huaca de la Luna, where Amazonian characters carry a large cacao," he added.





First monumental architecture of the Amazonia





Huaca Montegrande is the first monumental architecture in the Amazonia dedicated to veneration and religious worship. It is formed by a great 400-meter stone spiral around which a large number of archaeological remains have been found, such as: ceramics, artifacts, human burials, and hearths.





The spiral is the oldest and most universal symbol in the history of mankind and its meaning is linked to the beginning and end of life.





Montegrande is connected, through the Chinchipe River, with another similar huaca located in Palanda, Ecuador, where the oldest cocoa in the world was found.




?? #Mininter brindara garantias a agentes que denunciaron cobro de cupos a transportistas informales

El ministro Chavarry los invoco a acudir a su despacho y brindar toda la informacion del caso a fin de sancionar a los policias que estarian implicados en actos de corrupcion. pic.twitter.com/S2C5Ar5uHr
El premier Anibal Torres, junto con la titular del @MidisPeru y la rectora de la @UNMSM_, participa en el lanzamiento del Observatorio Nacional de la Descentralizacion, instrumento a cargo de la Secretaria de Descentralizacion de la PCM.



?? En vivo: https://t.co/1WF1oI2UgQ pic.twitter.com/tBVTd3JGJQ
Saludamos el voto del Peru a favor de la resolucion "Agresion contra Ucrania" de la ONU, la cual fue aprobada con 141 votos a favor. Reafirmamos nuestro compromiso con la soberania de #Ucrania y condenamos energicamente la agresion por parte de Rusia. #WeStandWithUkraine???? https://t.co/EWXj3exyDL
YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS. The field works of the Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railways Armenian part, namely of the Meghri region are commencing, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Cabinet meeting, addressing a decision on allocating funds to the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures. Certain preparatory work is planned to be made on 43 kilometer length in the Yeraskh and Meghri section prior to the project's technical objective.

This is a very important event, the PM said. Id like to express hope that simultaneously we will de jure record the agreements which were reached during the trilateral meetings in 2021 in Sochi and in Brussels. Before that, the work is not stopping, we are simultaneously working to use the time rationally, he said.

Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosyan said that as a result of studies in those areas they will specify the standards of ordering the blueprinting works and will implement the technical objectives.

A number of issues will be studied in that sections, tunnels, halls, stations, irrigation water pipelines and others. We are dispatching a specialized team there to conduct the studies. I am happy to note that the team is comprised of our scientists from the National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia. Our partners from the South-Caucasian Railways will work with the team, Sanosyan said.

The 9-man team is leaving for Meghri in the morning of March 4, the PMs advisor Artashes Tumanyan added.

In turn, PM Pashinyan added that they are viewing the work within the framework of the Armenian Crossroad project and it is highly important that now the work is done for the construction of automobile roads, possible routes, including new highways.
YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS. President of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan sent a congratulatory letter to Vahagn Khachaturyan on his election as President of Armenia, the Artsakh Presidents Office said.

Dear Mr. Khachaturyan,

On behalf of the people, authorities of Artsakh and myself personally, I cordially congratulate you on your election as President of the Republic of Armenia.

Let your rich experience, knowledge and abilities contribute to the successful and effective fulfillment of your duties in that high and responsible position, by constantly strengthening the Armenian statehood and leading the Armenian people to a reliable and bright future.

We are convinced that the strengthening of the Armenia-Artsakh-Diaspora trinity, the strengthening of the Republic of Artsakh and the protection of rights and interests of Artsakh residents will have a special place in your activity in addition to other issues.

I once again congratulate you, respectful Mr. President, wishing you good health, success and all the best, reads the letter of the President of Artsakh.
YEREVAN, MARCH 3, ARMENPRESS. The Russian Federation expects that the talks with Ukraine will lead to a speedy settlement of the situation and the establishment of peace in Donbas, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, official representative of the Russian MFA Maria Zakharova said in a briefing.

"These negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are taking place now, I mean not at this moment, but in general. We expect them to end this situation as soon as possible, to restore peace in the Donbas, and to return the people of Ukraine to a peaceful and fair life," she said.
YEREVAN, 3 MARCH, ARMENPESS. Today, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a report by the Government Accounting Office (GAO) which found that, according to Chairman Menendez, the State Department failed to comply with reporting requirements for reviewing U.S. assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS reports, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) informed.

Further, according to Chairman Menendez, the GAO report found that over several years, the Department of State and Department of Defense failed to meet statutory reporting requirements to Congress on the impact of U.S. assistance on the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

We commend Chairman Menendez for his leadership. Given Azerbaijans unprovoked war in the Fall of 2020 and the ongoing ceasefire violations committed by Azerbaijan, along with the failure of the State Department to comply with the reporting requirements of Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, we urge Congress to fully enforce Section 907, stated Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan.

Per Senator Menendez's press release, the following are key findings from the GAO report:

States reporting to Congress from FY2014-FY2021 did not address required elements, including the impact on proposed assistance on the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

States Memorandums of Justification contained limited or no details regarding quantity of assistance, status of the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the impact of U.S. assistance on the military balance, or the impact of the assistance on peace negotiations.

States 2021 guidance did not provide detailed instructions to agencies about reporting requirements to Congress.

State and DoD did not document their consideration of waiver requirements from FY2014-FY2020, including how they determined assistance would not be used for offensive purposes against Armenia.

The Assembly looks forward to working with Chairman Menendez to further strengthen this principled provision of law, added Khaloyan.
By Azernews





By Vugar Khalilov

Azerbaijani armys Nakhchivan garrison troops have conducted special-tactical drills, the Defence Ministry has reported.

The drills on Conducting combat operations in severe cold" were carried out under the Combat Coordination Plan for 2022, the report added.

The Special Forces of the Combined Arms Army and Nakhchivan State Security Service, as well as the Emergency Situation Ministrys Rescue Units, attended the drills.

Classes were organized for the units participating in the exercises to learn how to conduct combat and rescue operations with high professionalism in extremely cold weather, how to perform integrated management activities in operation planning, and how to strengthen the command staff's knowledge and abilities, the ministry said.

During the exercises, the units' abilities to deploy in the area in winter conditions and equipment were checked, special attention was paid to the supply of equipment, vehicles and food for blizzard and hard-to-reach areas, it added.

During the drills, the special forces performed tactical actions behind a fictitious adversary in icy and frosty weather, assessing personnel's ability to carry out combat tasks in extreme cold.

During the exercise, joint operations were carried out to ambush the enemy's military equipment and capture it. The activities of the terrorist group of the imaginary enemy, which was preparing for provocation using unfavorable weather conditions, were detected by the special units. The terrorist activities of the enemy were prevented with the help of military vehicles designed for the area difficult to reach. The leader of the terrorist group was captured alive from an enemy military column ambushed by the attack group in difficult mountainous conditions, the ministry underlined.

The participants were trained to conduct search and rescue operations for those who were exposed to avalanches in the highlands and went missing in snowy areas, as well as to provide first aid and evacuate them from the site.

It was noted that the search-and-rescue and other emergency measures were carried out in accordance with safety rules in the training, which also included rescuers who had gained experience in international rescue courses.

The drills improved the personnel's practical skills in performing reconnaissance and special operations at all hours of the day and night, in a variety of geographical and meteorological conditions, as well as in search and rescue missions.

The objectives of the exercises instilling high moral character in the spirit of courage, endurance, will and patriotism in the conduct of combat, security and evacuation tasks were achieved, the ministry stressed.
Russian servicemen have delivered more than 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid to residents of Ukraine from the Belgorod region, Russias Defense Ministry said on Thursday, Tass informs.

March 3, 2022, 15:00 Russia delivers 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Ukrainian residents from Belgorod region

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 3, ARTSAKHPRESS: "The Russian military delivered a shipment of humanitarian cargo from the Belgorod region to the territory of the Ukrainian settlements near the Russian-Ukrainian border in the Kharkiv region. Humanitarian aid totaling over 30 tonnes has been delivered to Volchansk and Cossack Lopan from the neighboring Belgorod region at the request of the local population," the ministry specified.

According to the ministry, the cargo includes food products: cereals, canned meat and fish, confectionery and bakery products, sweets, bottled drinking water.

The security of the humanitarian convoy was provided by Russian military. The humanitarian cargo was handed over to residents of border settlements - women, children, elderly people.
U.S. Congressman Ted Lieu has condemned Azerbaijani attacks on Armenians in Sumgait (1988) and Baku (2000) and ongoing aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

March 3, 2022, 15:09 Rep. Ted Lieu condemns Sumgait and Baku pogroms

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 3, ARTSAKHPRESS: Rep. Lieu's full statement is below.

"Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the anniversary of the Sumgait pogroms of 1988 and the Baku pogroms of 1990, and to remember the innocent Armenians who tragically lost their lives during these horrific events.

From February 27-29, 1988, hundreds of Armenians living in Sumgait, Azerbaijan were targeted in violent, ethnically motivated attacks. Armenians were beaten, murdered, raped, burned alive, and driven out of their homes. Mass violence against Armenians continued in other Azerbaijani cities in the following years, including in Baku in 1990, and thousands of Armenians were displaced. At the time, Members of the U.S. Congress, both Democrat and Republican, urged Azerbaijan to stop these atrocious events and take steps to protect these Armenian communities.

Many believe that these pogroms occurred in response to peaceful protests led by ethnic Armenians in Artsakh, or Nagorno-Karabakh, who were demanding independence from Azerbaijan and calling for democracy. Throughout the dispute over Artsakh, anti-Armenian hatred and propaganda spread rapidly throughout Azerbaijan. It was this hatred and propaganda that fueled the Sumgait and Baku pogroms.

We must be vocal in rejecting hatred, violence, and discriminationand work tirelessly to ensure that history does not repeat itself. I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring the memory of those lost in the Sumgait and Baku pogroms. And I will continue to work with the Congressional Armenian Issues Caucus to reaffirm our commitment to combatting human rights abuses around the world."
A citizen of Ukraine of Armenian descent was killed as a result of military actions in the Ukrainian city of Kherson.

March 3, 2022, 16:46 Civilian Ukrainian citizen of Armenian descent killed in Kherson

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 3, ARTSAKHPRESS: The Office of the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs told ARMENPRESS.

The Office of the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs said they have confirmed the information with the Armenian community of Ukraine. The deceased was a peaceful civilian.

The victim is identified as Vahik Soghomonyan, a citizen of Ukraine. Other details are being clarified.
Frustrated seasonal workers in Australia say theyre starting to feel like slaves as they reveal payslips showing more than 90 per cent of their wages being deducted by their employers.

The fruit pickers, who travel from Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and other islands as part of the Pacific Island seasonal worker program, came to Australia with the dream of providing for their families back home, but some weeks find they have struggled to feed just themselves.

Payslips posted online and provided to Yahoo News Australia show hundreds of dollars deducted from workers wages to pay off airfares, accommodation and transport to work, as well as health insurance and visa costs.

One payslip shows $129.92 left over from a $1326 pay, while another shows the worker received just $120 after a 71-hour week.

Another payslip posted online by journalist Michael Field shows a berry farm worker taking home $101 from a $608 week.

Several seasonal workers told Yahoo News they wish they'd just stayed home after their experience in Australia. Source: Getty/STOCK

Worker shared home with 16 colleagues

One worker arrived in Western Australia to pick grapes early last year and told Yahoo News he feels he wouldve been better off staying in his home country of Tonga.

This is starting to feel like slavery rather than working for money, the worker, who requested to stay anonymous, said.

I thought Id have a better life working here especially because the money here is good, so that can help my family more and provide for me and my partner.

At first it seemed good but now its getting ridiculous from all the amounts taken off every week.

He said some weeks hes only working three days, and on those weeks his deductions consume about 75 per cent of his wage.

The WA worker was meant to return home in November, but due to Covid his return flight was cancelled and his visa extended.

The payslip on the right shows less than 10 per cent of earnings was received by the worker after deductions. Source: Supplied

Hopefully we can be treated fairly and to also go home soon, he said.

Another worker, from Samoa, described the shocking living conditions he was subjected to when picking mangoes in the Northern Territory in 2016.

Story continues

Like others, the father of six came to Australia to earn money for his family back in Samoa.

To develop my family and raise my children, he said. Paying the school fees, make them well educated.

But he found himself living with 16 other workers in a four-bedroom house, sleeping four to a room.

He said each worker was being docked $161 each week for rent by their employer, labour hire company MADEC, bringing the total weekly rent paid for the house to $2,576.

According to realestate.com.au, the average weekly price for a four-bedroom home in the same area is $650.

MADEC Australia repeatedly declined to comment when questioned by Yahoo News about the amount of deductions, how they are calculated and the living arrangements of workers.

Payslips uploaded to Facebook show 71 hours worked for a total of $120 received. Source: Facebook

Conditions indicate labour exploitation

Alison Rahill, executive officer of the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydneys Anti-Slavery Taskforce, said shes witnessed the substandard living conditions for herself at a number of different employers.

I didnt ever visit somewhere that I would be comfortable sleeping, or any of my family or friends would feel comfortable sleeping," Ms Rahill told Yahoo News.

"One hundred per cent of the accommodation was substandard. You couldnt get a decent nights sleep.

Grown men and women who are exhausted you cant sleep in a room of four people one metre away from each other and still be expected to do a 12-hour shift out in the heat.

Ms Rahill said workers' lack of freedoms and the amount they depend on their employer could make them vulnerable to labour exploitation.

Things like curfews, not being able to go into town on their day off, freedom of movement working for little or no pay, thats an indicator of labour exploitation.

Things like not having anywhere to cook meals, lack of facilities for showering and lack of space to hang clothes up to dry.

She added other workers in Australia get to go to work and get paid, while always having the right to leave.

Youre not dependent on your employer to get access to your health insurance or access a doctor, youre not dependent on your employer for where you live, you dont have to tell your employer youve got a sore tooth, and can they make you an appointment The number of dependencies make the worker vulnerable to labour exploitation.

Seasonal workers harvest Valencia oranges from trees at an orchard in New South Wales. There is no suggest of pay disputes at this farm. Source: Getty/File

And as for the deductions in pay, Ms Rahill questioned the hundreds of dollars being deducted for flights and transport.

Theres always a question around why the airfares are always the most expensive airfares, she said, referencing one MADEC payslip that shows a $700 flight deduction.

Ms Rahill also pointed out the deductions being taken by employers for transport.

I can run my family car on $50 a week and yet every single worker that gets on the minibus is paying $80 [per week] A second-hand minibus can earn a contractor something like $3000 a week. Why should workers have to contribute to the profits of a labour hire company? Its pretty outrageous.

Ms Rahill said workers that have spoken out about the conditions in the past have been hit with instant threats that has seen them put on the next flight home.

A lot of them get shocked at how bad it is, but once theyre here theyre kind of stuck here so theyve got to stick it out, she said.

Parliamentary inquiry into allegations of worker abuse

In February, a federal parliamentary inquiry into allegations of worker abuse in the Pacific Island program was held, where several workers shared stories of their experiences on farms around the country.

One Samoan worker described the conditions as dreadful and told the inquiry how one of his co-workers fainted in the heat while working one day but no one came to help.

We came to Australia so that we could help our families back home but at this stage we wish we just stayed at home."

Like many seasonal workers who come to Australia, Talipope wanted to be able to provide for himself and his family - in his case, back home in Samoa.

Instead, he faced unsafe conditions and rampant exploitation.

And the Morrison government is letting these workers be ripped off. pic.twitter.com/jBbOpWTefW  Senator Tony Sheldon (@senator_sheldon) February 3, 2022

Another worker, named Sergio, told the inquiry he was paid just $70 by MADEC Australia for a week's work picking grapes in Mildura.

"I always ask MADEC... to give me the break down for the deduction, but he didn't," Sergio said.

"After four month(s) I feel very upset."

MADEC chief executive Laurence Burt told News Corp he disputed the evidence given by the workers.

New minimum wage to be introduced in April

In November, a minimum casual rate of pay of $25.41 an hour was secured by the Australian Workers Union.

A new minimum hourly rate for fruit pickers will come into force on April 28.

"It's fantastic that from April 28 fruit pickers will get some certainty about how much they should be legally paid for their labour  the union is counting the days," AWU National Secretary Daniel Walton said.

"For too long the farmers' lobby has seen fruit pickers as somehow beneath the usual standards offered to Australian workers. But the hard work of pickers deserves the same minimum wage dignity afforded to everyone else.

"Now at the end of each day every picker should be assured that their work netted at least $25.41 an hour. If not, their employer is stealing from them and breaking the law.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
Last week in this column I wrote about all the steps that it took to prepare before making a flower arrangement for your home. Today, I want to take you flower shopping.

It is really easy to be a winner when you know what to look for. The first thing is to make a comparison between vendors, and there are many differences. Basically, your choices are between a traditional florist and a supermarket. And it may surprise my readers that each type of vendor has good and bad points. Looking at the numbers from the researchers who look into these things, the majority of purchases from places other than flower shops are impulse purchases. You are pushing your cart around the store not even thinking about flowers and as you walk by the flower display, you think, Wouldnt it be nice to have some flowers on the table?"

You see, in much of the world, for years and years, flowers have been available not only in flower shops, but from street vendors and stalls in marketplaces and food stores. The number of flowers sold per person each year in places like the Netherlands, Italy and Germany, for years and years, was nearly double what the average American bought. We are catching up. That stands well for the retail florist because the need for professionally designed and delivered arrangements has increased too. People are into flowers. There are differences, serious differences.

Lets face it: Other than in California, and a few other areas, there are few cut flower growers left in the United States. The majority of the cut flowers that we see are grown in Colombia, where they produce a broad range of types, and Ecuador, where the finest roses originate. So most of our flowers come from the same sources. Thats standard. The first difference is that many flower shops differentiate themselves by purchasing from wholesalers who have a very broad range of flowers, especially from Hawaii and the Netherlands, where each day, five days a week, millions of flowers arrive from everywhere in the world to be auctioned off to wholesale buyers and shipped to the little flower shop around the corner.

A major difference among all the vendors is how they handle the flowers on arrival at their place of business. The best system, developed by Dr. George Staby at the Ohio State University, is called the "chain of life." With some time and liquids, it helps flowers last longer and perform better. It really works, but it adds as much as a dime to the cost of the stem. For nearly 15 years I gave seminars on this topic to florists, for American Florals Services, across the U.S. and Canada. Briefly: It means cutting an inch or so from the stem upon arrival, stripping the lower leaves to prevent bacteria from growing on leaves under water, putting them in a solution to get water up the stems more quickly, and then putting them into another flower food to sustain them. It means refrigerating at about 36 to 38 degrees and being certain that the water going into the arrangement vase also has flower food. I believe in the system. Does your florist or vender use it?

OK, lets buy some flowers. The rules are the same wherever you go. I like rosebuds to be somewhat firm to the squeeze. If they look in full bloom, leave them. Snapdragons need to have about half the stem or a little less open. Liatris is special. It is the only flower where the flowers start from the top and go down the stem. The flower should be less than a quarter open to get maximum life. The best value in carnations comes when you find them three-quarters open. Too tight, and they may not fully open. Buy iris and daffodils just as the petals start to unfurl. If I were to buy lilies, I would want only one of the three or four buds open or opening. Before buying pompon mums or daisy mums, think of what you are doing with them. For small, dainty arrangements, look for stems that hold the flowers on long breaks so you can take them apart for use throughout the arrangement. For larger arrangements, tight, massive flowers are best.

Be safe. It is still OK to mask up. Enjoy your flowers.

Carmen Cosentino operates Cosentino's Florist in Auburn with his daughter, Jessica. He was elected to the National Floriculture Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2008, received the Tommy Bright award for lifetime achievements in floral education. In 2016, Carmen and Jessica were presented Teleflora's Tom Butler Award, naming Cosentino's the florist of the year at the company's annual meeting in Hawaii. Carmen can be reached at cosenti@aol.com or (315) 253-5316.

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The event will feature cars from every racetrack in New York, including show cars, drift cars and dirt cars, on display in the mall and the former Great Outdoors RV Superstore there. Coordinator Robert Goodell is working with Fowler Farms, Friendly Dodge Ram Jeep, South Butler Nostalgia Dragway and Sampson No Prep Racing to present the event, the mall said in a news release.
The New York State Legislature elected a new member and reelected two members to the state Board or Regents.

Susan Mittler and Ruth B. Turner were reelected and Shino Tanikawa was brought on to the body, according to a news release from the Legislature.

The board is made up of 17 members elected by the Legislature for five- year terms, with one member elected for each of the states 13 judicial districts and four people serving at-large.

The board oversees the state Education Department and the University of the State of New York.

Tanikawa, of the 1st Judicial District, began advocating for education in the Parent Teacher Association of her daughters elementary school, the news release said. Since that time, she served on the Community Education Council District 2 for over 12 years, and is currently with the Citywide Council on High Schools as the public advocate appointee. She is also a co-chair and founding member of the Education Council Consortium.

Mittler, of the 6th Judicial District, has been an educator in the state for over 35 years, the release said.

Mittler was elected president of the Ithaca Teachers Association for nine consecutive two-year terms during her career. She was on the state Professional Standards and Practices Board from 2005 to 2013, serving as chairperson of the Subcommittee for Professional Standards.

"During this time, Mittler focused on developing authentic and valid assessments of educators and students. Throughout her career she was an active member of the New York State PTA on the local, district and state levels addressing legislation, diversity and substance abuse. Regent Mittler was first elected to the Board of regents in 2017," the release said.

Turner, of the 7th Judicial District, Turner worked as a licensed clinical social worker for over 24 years. She served for 13 years within the Rochester City School District, the release said, as executive director of Student Support Services, a school social worker and most recently, chief of Student Support Services and Social Emotional Learning. She was first elected to the board in 2021.

"Turner is committed to the intersection between social work, social welfare and education, and as an educator believes in the principles of restorative practices, equity, diversity and inclusion," the release said.

The new and returning regents have an important role as we continue to work through the hardships the pandemic placed on our education system. I'm extremely confident in their qualifications and diverse skills to help give the best possible education to every child in this state. The Senate Democratic Majority is committed to a system that supports our children from the cradle to college, and I look forward to working with them to ensure that goal. Congratulations to Shino Tanikawa, Susan W. Mittler, and Ruth B. Turner," Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in the release.

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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A new administrator is set to join Wells College in the summer.

Susan Henking will be the new vice president for academic and student affairs for the Aurora-based private college, according to a news release. She will begin on July 1, and was picked after a national search last fall. Henking will succeed Cindy J. Speaker, vice president for academic affairs and the dean of the college. Speaker will depart from Wells at the end of the current academic year.

The news release said Henking is a teacherscholar in religious studies, with her work centered on cultural understandings of American religion and on the theoretical and conceptual relation of religion to gender and sexuality.

For more than 25 years, Henking taught in the department of religious studies at Hobart and William Smith colleges, and was made professor emerita of religious studies in 2015. She worked in various other capacities there, including multiple stints as department chair; interim dean of the faculty from 19982000) and acting provost and dean of the faculty from 2000-2001.

She was a co-founder of Hobart and William Smiths LGBT studies program  the first standalone program of its kind in the nation  and was its chair for over a decade, the release noted. Henking had also been an active member of the womens studies program.

"In 2012, Henking became president and CEO of Shimer College, a small college then located on the south side of Chicago which became part of Napervilles North Central College in 2017. In 2017, she was named president emerita and also received an honorary doctorate in recognition of her service to the institution," the news release said. "From 2019 to 2021, she served as interim vice president of academic affairs and student affairs, and later president, at Salem Academy and College, one of the oldest womens colleges in the U.S. At Salem, she reinforced that colleges commitment to liberal arts education while also expanding its preprofessional offerings, in particular its institutional strategic shift towards health leadership."

Henking earned a bachelor's degree in religion and sociology from Duke University and later obtained a master's degree at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She received her Ph.D. in religion and psychological studies at the latter instruction. She currently lives in Geneva with her partner, Betty Bayer  an "internationally recognized psychologist and professor of womens studies" at Hobart and William Smith  and their dog, Bunty, the release said.

Having overseen both the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs areas at my previous institution, I know the importance of an integrative approach to student learning, Henking said in the release. Colleges like Wells are designed to help students both imagine the possibilities and make them real, and this occurs both within and beyond the classroom. I look forward to helping Wells College continue its mission of liberal arts education, something that is more important today than ever."

Wells President Jonathan Gibralter praised Henking.

Dr. Henkings leadership style and career path make her an exemplary choice for Wells College, Gibralter said in the news release. As a seasoned faculty member who has held a wide variety of leadership roles, she is well prepared to meet the specific needs of our College and its entire community."

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Before President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address, U.S. Rep. John Katko entered the House of Representatives and found his assigned seat.

A card with his name was placed on the seat. As he left the House chamber after Biden's speech, Katko, R-Camillus, grabbed the card  a souvenir for the departing four-term congressman.

While Katko had a lot to say about Biden's remarks, he reflected on attending his last State of the Union as a member of Congress. He announced in January that he will not seek reelection this year.

"I took it all in," he said in a phone interview Tuesday night. "I realized it was the beginning of the end."

The State of the Union was the first of many lasts for Katko. Since taking office in 2015, he has watched three presidents deliver the annual address to Congress. He has worked with the three administrations, regardless of party affiliation, to pass legislation and address pressing issues. In 2021, he was part of a group that met with Biden at the White House to discuss infrastructure. By the end of the year, a $1 trillion infrastructure bill was signed into law.

Katko announced his exit as a few Republicans lined up to run against him. Redistricting also meant that he would have to run in a more Democratic district, raising the possibility he would lose his first election.

But his decision was about more than politics. When he said he would not run for reelection this year, he noted that he and his wife, Robin, buried their four parents within the last three years.

"To say that those gut-wrenching times provided life-changing perspective for me is putting it mildly," Katko said at the time. He added that he wasn't going to run for reelection "so that I can enjoy my family and life in a fuller and more present way."

After the State of the Union address, Katko told The Citizen that while he still has the fire to do the job, he knows it's time to move on.

"I understand that my time is coming to a close," he said. "I just had a big smile on my face knowing that I'm a member of Congress. It never got old. There's not a day that's passed since I've been in Congress where I haven't walked into that building and got a lump in my throat. That's a good thing."

Katko continued, "I'm a firm believer in term limits and I'm a firm believer in leaving a little too early instead of a little too late. That's how I feel and it's all good."

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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Out-of-state and Canadian snowmobilers are invited to explore New York's extensive snowmobile trail system free of charge over the next two weekends.

Gov. Kathy Hochul's office announced this week that on March 5-6 and March 12-13 the requirement to register in New York is waived for properly registered and insured out-of-state snowmobiling enthusiasts.

"New York is unrivaled in its natural beauty in all four seasons and offers a vast recreational trail system for snowmobilers to enjoy our stunning winter landscape," Hochul said in a statement. "New York State partners with local governments and snowmobile clubs who work hard to create an exceptional snowmobile network. By offering free snowmobile weekends, we are helping to highlight our trails to out-of-state visitors and boost our upstate tourism economy, while giving New Yorkers greater opportunity to explore their state."

Outside of this promotion, out-of-state and Canadian snowmobilers are required to register their snowmobiles with New York state before hitting the state's trails, stretching from the Hudson Valley to the North Country to Western New York. Participants in the free snowmobiling event must operate a snowmobile that is validly registered in their home state/Canadian Province and must carry any applicable insurance as required by their home state/province.

And the state is distributing up to $4.2 million for snowmobile trail maintenance to local communities in New York this winter. The local grants program is funded by snowmobile registration fees collected by the state Department of Motor Vehicles and deposited into the Snowmobile Trail Development and Maintenance Fund. County and municipal governments distribute the grants to about 230 snowmobile clubs across the state, which in turn groom and maintain the trails.

Trail conditions vary depending on snowfall amounts and other factors. The New York State Snowmobile Association website has information about snowmobiling and snowmobile clubs. Maps of the state snowmobile trail network are available on New York State Parks' website.

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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order to dismiss Asgar Alakbarov from the post of chairman of the board of the Icherisheher State Historical and Architectural Reserve.

Shahin Seyidzade was appointed chairman of the board of the Icherisheher State Historical and Architectural Reserve upon another presidential order.
New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday asked consumers and businesses to be mindful of potential impacts from the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, including price gouging of fuel, other goods and services, and to take action to protect against potential cybersecurity threats.

As the devastating conflict in Ukraine continues to escalate, New Yorkers must be prepared for potential impacts of the conflict on their wallets and their cybersecurity, James said in a news release. Both consumers and businesses should take the necessary precautions to address the ongoing risks. I encourage anyone who has experienced issues concerning the price gouging of fuel or threats to cybersecurity to contact my office.

Price Gouging of Fuel

Due to Russias role as the worlds second-largest producer of natural gas and one of the worlds largest oil-producing nations, the AG's office said that the crisis may lead to market disruptions and potentially inflated prices at the pump. New York law prohibits sellers of fuel and other vital and necessary goods from charging unconscionably excessive prices during an abnormal market disruption, including disruptions caused by world conflicts. New York consumers are urged to report dramatic gasoline price increases to OAG for investigation, including:

 The specific increased prices, the dates, and places that they saw the increased prices, and the types of fuel being sold

 Provide copies of their sales receipts and photos of the advertised prices, if available

 Buy only as much fuel as they need and not to stock up out of fear of a potential future shortage.

Cybersecurity Best Practices

Safeguards for businesses include:

 Use bot detection systems (software designed to block activity from bots, or automated software that may, for example, generate hundreds of thousands of login attempts), multi-factor authentication, and strong password requirements for most accounts

 Develop processes to manage software updates, limit employee access to systems according to their job functions, maintain the security of remote access to company systems, and identify and manage security vulnerabilities

 Implement antivirus software, endpoint detection and response software;

 Implement technical safeguards to filter emails likely to be phishing attempts, and train employees on phishing and other potential scams

 Review and test your incident response and business continuity plans. The response plan should include processes for investigation (e.g., determining what information/systems were accessed), remediation (e.g., blocking attackers continued access to impacted systems), and notice (e.g., alerting potentially impacted customers).

Additionally, James recommends consumers take the following steps to safeguard their online accounts against cybersecurity threats:

 Protect your passwords: Use a password manager to keep track of your passwords, and never reuse passwords. While reusing login information may be convenient, it can also put your information at risk.

 Enable two-factor authentication: 2FA can provide an extra layer of security by requiring anyone logging in to an account to provide another credential, such as a one-time code sent by SMS or email.

 Watch out for online scams: Scammers may email, text message, or even call you to trick you into clicking a link, sharing your personal information, or sending money or gift cards. These scammers might pretend to be familiar companies, the government, or someone you know.

 Check regularly for unauthorized activity: Not all companies will notify users when their online accounts have been compromised.

 Regularly run antivirus software: Computer viruses can run in the background without your knowing, so we encourage you to run antivirus software regularly to identify and address unknown threats.

 Update your software: Software updates often include important security updates, so make sure you are using the most up-to-date software and applications on all your devices.

 Sign up for breach notifications: You should register with a breach notification service, like Have I Been Pwned, that will send a notification if an account associated with your email or phone number has been compromised.

 Take suspicious activity seriously: If an online service notifies you of suspicious activity on your account, change your password immediately. If you use the same password for other accounts, change the passwords for those accounts as well.

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Beijing (Gasgoo)- On March 3rd, Chinas major auto part player, Desay SV announced that its second factory in Europe and logistics center has been put to use.

Photo credit: Desay SV



In November 2021, the construction of Desay SVs prototype vehicle R&D center in Weimar-Legefeld was completed. The manufacturing plant is located in the same base, taking up 2,700 square meters of land. According to Desay SV, the first six production lines of the second factory have already been put to use after preparations ended in early January 2022.

With the prototype R&D center and the second factory in operation, Desay SV now holds comprehensive R&D, management, sales, quality control, and production capabilities in Europe.

Aside from the existing antenna product line, Desay SVs cockpit and infotainment solutions will also be produced locally in Europe, serving regional automakers directly.

Moreover, the company planned to build a cutting-edge 3D antenna measuring room in Europe. The room can be used to test out the performance and data throughput of the massive antennas used on a car.

Additionally, with the new factory coming together, there will be new jobs in Desay SVs European subsidiary. The company previously disclosed that it intends to double its employee roster to 300 staff members.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- In February, Nissan Motor saw its monthly sales grow slightly from a year ago in China, with sales from its commercial vehicle sector jumping over 25% year over year.

Photo credit: Nissan



In the second month of 2022, Nissan Motor sold a total of 77,494 vehicles in China, edging up 2.5% year on year. The automaker explained that aside from the scattered COVID breakouts, and the crimped raw material supply, the companys sales were also challenged by the Chinese New Year holiday.

During the first two months of 2022, the cumulative sales volume of Nissan Motor in China, amounted to 210,961 vehicles, down 4.9% year on year.

In February, Nissan Motors passenger vehicle joint venture, Dongfeng Motor Co. & Ltd. (DFL), sold 63,688 vehicles (including Nissan, Venucia, and Infiniti brands), notching down 1.5% from a year ago. The cumulative sales volume of DFL amounted to 175,021 vehicles this year, dropping 8% compared to the earlier year.

The light commercial vehicle sector of the group (including Dongfeng Automobile Co. & Ltd. and Zhengzhou Nissan) celebrated a 25.7% year-on-year jump in its February sales with 13,806 vehicles sold. During the two months of 2022, Nissan sold a total of 35,940 commercial vehicles, increasing 13.8% from the previous year.
With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.

Li Auto to launch 'L9' flagship SUV at Auto China 2022

Chinese NEV startup Li Auto announced today it will launch a new smart flagship family-use SUV model, named L9, at the Auto China 2022.

Photo credit: Li Auto



NIOs Metaverse trademark applications turned down

According to Chinas corporate database, Qichacha, several NIOs Metaverse related trademarks were rejected.

Photo credit: NIO

XPeng launches 20kW DC charging piles

Chinas EV startup, XPeng, officially introduced a new addition to its supercharging network, 20kW direct-current charging piles. The piles will be firstly put to use in XPengs destination charging stations in Anyang, Henan Province, Puer, Yunan Province, Bozhou, Anhui Province, and Sansha, Hainan Province.

BYD invests in NEV charging servicer Zhida Technology

Chinas auto player, BYD, recently became a new shareholder to a new energy vehicle intelligent charging product developer, named Shanghai Zhida Technology Development Co., Ltd., according to the corporate database, Qichacha.

CATL sets up new energy material joint venture

CATL has established a new energy material joint venture named Yifeng Shidai Yongxing New Energy Material Co., Ltd. The new venture has a registered capital of RMB1 billion. CATL is immediately related to the company through its subsidiary, Yichun Shidai New Energy Resource Co., Ltd, which holds 70% of the new joint ventures stake, according to corporate database, Qichacha.

JMC sells over 20,000 vehicles in Feb.

According to Jiangling Motors Corporation, its production volume amounted to 20,348 vehicles in February, dropping 12.98% year on year. In the meantime, the company sold 20,008 vehicles, increasing 13.76% from a year ago.

SAIC Motor boasts 30.63% YoY leap in Feb. 2022 wholesales

SAIC Motor announced today its monthly vehicle wholesale volume jumped 30.63% from a year earlier to around 321,966 units in February 2022.

Nissan China sales inch up 2.5% YoY in Feb.

In February, Nissan Motor saw its monthly sales grow slightly from a year ago in China, with sales from its commercial vehicle sector jumping over 25% year over year.

Desay SV second factory in Europe goes into operation

On March 3rd, Chinas major auto part player, Desay SV announced that its second factory in Europe and logistics center has been put to use.

Honda Feb. China sales refresh same-month record

In the second month of 2022, Honda Motor Company managed a 30% jump in sales in China compared to a year ago, setting a new February sales record, the company announced on March 3rd.

IoT developer RT-Thread launches automotive OS strategy, software platform

On March 1st, Chinas leading IoT operating system developer, RT-Thread, introduced its automotive OS strategy and launched an automotive software platform named Chengxuan.
Russia's central bank, led by governor Elvira Nabiullina, ordered the stock market to stay closed. SHAMIL ZHUMATOV/Reuters

Russia's central bank closed the country's stock market for a third day, as it tried to limit panic selling.

The country's war in Ukraine and ensuing Western sanctions have put huge pressure on the financial system.

Russia has ordered its sovereign wealth fund to release $10 billion to prop up the stock market once it reopens.

Russia's central bank ordered the Moscow stock exchange to stay closed for a third day Wednesday as the country's sovereign wealth fund prepared $10 billion to try to limit a plunge in assets.

The Bank of Russia said it would decide whether to reopen trading before 9 a.m. local time Thursday. The three-day closure is the longest since 1998, according to Bloomberg, a year in which a financial crisis rocked the country.

Russia's economy has come under severe strain after President Vladimir Putin gave the order to invade Ukraine last week and Western governments imposed sanctions in response.

The stock market plunged as much as 50% when the invasion started, but has been shuttered since the close on Friday, when it stood 35% lower for the year. The Russian ruble has crashed to a record low and investors have dumped the country's bonds.

Alongside untold human misery in Ukraine, the conflict has unleashed economic warfare between Russia and the West. The US and its allies have cut select Russian banks out of a key global payments messaging system and have prevented the central bank from accessing much of its stockpile of foreign currency reserves.

Read more: Macro strategists at a $900 billion asset manager break down how war in Ukraine and the related energy market turmoil could derail the Fed's monetary policy plans  and reveal which countries' stock markets are best placed to ride out the storm

In an effort to prevent a tidal wave of selling when the market eventually reopens, Russia will use up to $10 billion from its sovereign wealth fund to buy stocks, the country's prime minister said Tuesday.

Story continues

He also announced Russia would temporarily ban foreigners from exiting their investments in the country, after a number of major companies including oil and gas majors Shell and BP announced they were writing off their Russian assets.

Although Moscow was shut for trading, Russian companies cratered on the London stock exchange Wednesday.

Depositary receipts in Sberbank, Russia's biggest lender, plunged as much as 95% to as low as $0.01, while energy companies Gazprom and Novatek both crashed 97%. Depository receipts are certificates that represent shares.

"Russian equities are bleeding in London trading and uncertainty has hit maximum with European sanctions over the weekend reaching levels never seen before," said Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank.

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at trading platform Interactive Investor, said: "Russia's economy is likely to have already suffered a double-digit economic contraction on the back of Western sanctions, a slump in the rouble and corporate exits with more economic pain ahead."

In the US, VanEck's Russia exchange-traded fund was down more than 20% in pre-market trading Wednesday as investors slashed their exposure to the country.

Read the original article on Business Insider
LOS ANGELESPineapple Support will launch Distress Tolerance, a free, six-week online support group with a focus on tolerating feelings of stress or distress, led by therapist Sophia Graham, on Thursday, March 3. The dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) support group is sponsored by Streamate, with each session held from 2-4 p.m. ET/11 a.m.-1 p.m. PT.

"Out-of-control emotions can make it hard to maintain friendships, romantic relationships and can even jeopardize our careers," said Graham, a DBT-trained counselor and teacher. "Without the skills we need to cope with intense distress, anger or overwhelm, its impossible to deal with stressful or distressing situations that inevitably come up in all of our lives. Join us to discover how to reduce the intensity of overwhelming emotions and learn new coping mechanisms alongside other performers."

The support group will cover a variety of topics over the course of its six weeks, with each week focusing on a particular theme:

 Week 1: Orientation and Mindfulness

 Week 2: STOP & TIPP

 Week 3: Improve the Moment, Distraction & Self-Soothing

 Week 4: Radical acceptance

 Week 5: Turning the Mind

 Week 6: Willingness, Willfulness & Mindfulness of Current Thoughts

Pineapple Support was founded by British performer Leya Tanit in 2018, after a string of losses in the adult industry from depression and other mental illnesses. The organization, which has tax-exempt status in the United States, has so far connected over 5,000 adult performers to mental health services, including free and low-cost therapy, counseling and emotional support.

"Id like to thank Streamate for making this support group possible and helping to deliver vital training that will teach performers how to manage distressing events in really effective ways," Tanit said. "Sophia is a fantastic therapist, with a strong track record in helping sex workers and performers manage emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness. No prior experience or knowledge of DBT is necessary, so reserve your place now to start learning how to tolerate distress successfully."

The six-week Distress Tolerance support group takes place each Thursday at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT through April 7.

For more information about this support group, click here. To reserve a place, visit pineapplesupport.org/support-groups.
DELAWARE  Cherry.tv has announced that rising adult star Ebony Mystique will stream live exclusively for Cherry.tv on March 10th at 6 p.m. EST.

Zuzana Kasinski, Cherry.tvs business development and head of talents, remarked, Its truly an honor for us to feature Ebony Mystique on Cherry.tv. A powerhouse of a performer, she is really amazing all around: strong, confident, and beautiful with impeccable style.

A voluptuous 38DDD stunner, Ebony Mystique left her nursing career to pursue full-time adult modeling a few years ago, and continues to prove herself as a force to be reckoned with. She has appeared in Jules Jordans Rack Focus 2, which took home a 2022 AVN Award for Best Curve Appeal Series/Film. Always in demand, Mystique has also worked with other top studios including multiple scenes for Brazzers, Cherry Pimps, PinkyXXX, Reality Kings, Bang Bros, All Black X, Team Skeet, Dogfart, and more.

Ebony Mystique said, Im so excited to perform for Cherry.tv, I can barely keep my panties dry! This is going to be one really wet and wild cam show, so dont miss out!

Kasinski agreed: Mystiques show is sure to be something special and we cannot wait to share her incredible talent with Cherry fans.

For more information on Ebony Mystique, follow her on Twitter (@ebonygoddessm2).
The impossible isnt always impossible although once you name something thus, it portends to be.

I am teaching a climate science writing course this semester and our primary question is how can we begin to convey the devastating effects of something so largeso beyond our comprehension? I, as frustrated as my students, tell them that it takes 12 days to count to a million. 32 years to count to a billion. So when we try to think of the 7 billion people on the planet who we have to convince to reduce, nay turn back, the 416 parts of carbon dioxide by million parts of airmore CO2 in the atmosphere than there has been for 4 million yearswe get overwhelmed. The numbers of people, parts, years. How do we begin to work with such huge figures if we dont even have time to count them?

But other people have successfully done the impossible; like protecting the right to give money to any candidate as per the 1976 Buckley v. Veleo case, which argued before the US Supreme Court that money is protected free speech. You would think this would be an impossible argument. Speech is a guaranteed individual right. Speech connects directly to the human bodytongue, lips, mouth. To speak, you must have something specific to say. To classify money as speech is to put lips on a dollar bill. What does a dollar bill have to say? To imagine money being protected by the First Amendment seems like an impossible idea. But those with money dont start with the impossible, they start by renaming the impossible, possible, just as labeling speech as money, suddenly became precedent.

I guess Neil Diamond was right. Money talks, but it dont sing and dance and it dont walk.

If youre interested in promoting candidates, its not the single dollar that talks. Its the many. The many talks to the court. The many talks to the legislatures. What seems clearly unjust is that those with more money have access to more speech.

For example, the Arizona Daily Sun reported in early February that a candidate, Lori Matthews, received a substantial, or, at least substantial for the local city council race, amount of money from two out-of-state sources. One from Debra and Don Luke, of the Bill Luke Chrysler dealership in Phoenix, who contributed $12,900, and another $12,900 from Tatnall and Roberta Hillman of Aspen, Colorado.

Tatnall and Roberta Hillman of Aspen, Colorado, donate a lot of speech to candidates in small elections. As candidate Matthews herself told the Daily Sun, It was chump change to him.

She went on to say: I can't imagine him wanting any influence. I would be horrified if I found out he did. If I was ever contacted, he'd get his money right back.

According to the article, Tatnall donates all kinds of chump change to all kinds of candidates: Laura Boebert, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, and others who are affiliated with QAnon conspiracies and Stop-the-Steal campaigns.

To a billionaire, who, if there were justice in the world, would be confined to counting his billions in a bank vault dollar by dollar for 32 years, a million dollars here and there is nothing. The 2018 Flagstaff City Council campaign costs barely topped $50,000, combined. Matthews has already amassed half that just for herself. Why would someone invested in national politics, who lives in Aspen, Colorado, be interested in supporting a candidate in Flagstaff?

Matthews, who attends the same church as Wendy Rogers, Flagstaff (and environs) very right-wing representative of our state legislative district, claims she doesnt know why Tatnall invested in her campaign but I think I understand a bit, now that my climate science writing class has grappled with the numbers.

We recognize that individually, using public transportation, riding bikes, installing solar panels, avoiding red meat is not enough to move the needle on climate change. We realize that advancing legislation through the federal government is taking far too long. Even our own democratic senator, whom we voted for to enact that kind of legislation, has not helped us move the government needle.

What we recognize is that its the local community that is going to have the power to make this happen. From rethinking the Lone Tree overpass to limit car travel instead of encouraging it, to supporting more public transportation, to really reimagining Dutch Bros. 40-mile line of idling cars waiting for fancy coffee drinks in plastic cups, the numbers we can see and imagine are the numbers we can change. Those with billions give their speech where they wantenough to speak in every town in every state.

What we have on our side is our small numbers in our small town. If we give $10 to everyone who runs for anything around here and then expand, say, write 860 words talking about how important it is to create and rely on our community, we will be louder than all the money in the world. Its eminently possible. And quick! I wrote this in about two hours and it only took a minute to donate $10a lot faster than 32 years.

Nicole Walker is the author of seven books, most recently Processed Meats: Essays on Food, Flesh, and Navigating Disaster. She teaches at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. The words here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer.

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A husband and wife are both running for Beatrice Public Schools Board of Education this year.

Matt and Crystal Anderson, married for 12 years, moved to Beatrice in 2014. Matt, employed at Exmark Manufacturing Company, said they moved to the community for work.

Their interest in local politics surged early in the COVID-19 pandemic, when school districts across the country wrestled with mask mandates. Crystal also mentioned the School Boards plans for a new elementary building.

The School Board was enforcing the masks and not allowing the parents to choose, Crystal said. And also with the fact that they went behind the parents and the City for building a new school building I know that we need a new school, but the fact that it was put down more than once and they did it anyway is what Im not happy with.

Matt said he questions the efficacy of masks and that the district had no room deciding what children had to wear.

The mask mandate of the students against the parents wishes, which I see as a medical device because theyre using it to stop a medical thing, which kind of violates HIPPA I believe and the parents rights to choose, Matt said. My background in engineering, I can look at the math. The masks dont stop the spread of COVID. And yet they did this anyway and enforced it. And thats what got me interested. What was going on was, Is the parent in charge of the child or not?

Matt and Crystal said school-wide mask mandates harmed child development.

It keeps them from being able to see facial expressions, so they dont know if the person is a good person or not, Crystal said. Kids cant identify with the emotions. They cant see the facial expressions because all they can see is the eyes.

Matt said he is skeptical of the numbers of COVID-19 deaths, which have nearly reached 1 million in the United States, saying they were deaths with COVID and not because of COVID.

Matt and Crystal also said, if elected, they would guard against instructional materials like Critical Race Theory. A product of legal studies, CRT challenges students to look beyond the interpersonal characteristics of racism and toward its system-wide effects. The two said CRT promotes racism and divisiveness.

Matt agreed with Crystal on the subject of the new elementary school building, though both said they acknowledged the problems with the old elementary buildings.

The latest thing that really sealed the deal really is the School Board with the new school, he said. It should have been a bond issue. If the parents and the tax payers say thats not a priority, then the elected official needs to respect that.

The two said their primary concerns would involve doing independent research and ensuring the rights of parents in the school district.

Our major motivations for running really are parental rights and getting that taken care of, he said. Wherever you stand, whatever you believe, about what our government has done, just keep our rights of Americans and as parents. Because if you take sovereignty from me over my childs welfare, that is huge. And the school is there to help the parent, not take away the parents choices.

The two entered a hotly-contested race for School Board. On the spring ballot, their names will appear amongst others for the primary. The top eight vote-getters will then advance to the November election.

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Commentary: China's self-reliant sci-tech innovation not threatening others

Xinhua) 16:04, March 02, 2022

BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Some Western media outlets are misreading China's efforts to be tech self-reliant, claiming that the aim is prompting fear that the world might decouple or split into markets with incompatible standards and products. Such worries are entirely unwarranted and unnecessary.

Treating China's independent sci-tech innovation as a threat is a kind of hegemony mindset. The United States has not stopped deliberately slandering China's high-tech development and using all sorts of pretexts to sanction and suppress Chinese enterprises.

Not only has the United States banned products of Chinese tech company Huawei from its own networks, but also pressured other countries to do the same. It has also barred its companies from supplying software and components to Chinese tech companies.

Bullying and suppression cannot stop the development of China's high-tech enterprises or maintain the U.S. monopoly.

China has learned from experience that it cannot ask for, buy or beg for core technologies in key fields from other countries. It seeks to surpass itself and serve high-quality growth without any intention of beating others.

Self-reliance has enabled China to stand firmly among the world's nations, and innovation is the only path leading to new heights in science and technology.

China adheres to the strategy of innovation-driven development and takes self-reliance in science and technology as the strategic support for national development. Self-reliance and self-improvement in science and technology are inevitable requirements for the country to realize the advanced industrial structure and the key to constructing a new development pattern.

As the world is experiencing a pandemic and other changes unseen in a century, China's economy witnessed a good start during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). This benefits from the growth of the national sci-tech advances.

Sci-tech innovation will continue to be a powerful engine for the steady and sustainable development of China's economy, which is shifting from rapid growth to high-quality development.

From the macro perspective, one country can continue improving its position in the international industrial division by promoting independent innovation. The latter can also beef up economic efficiency.

From the micro view, enterprises can scrap reliance on low-level competitiveness by improving independent innovation and gradually cultivating their core competitiveness.

The country's total expenditure on research and development amounted to about 2.79 trillion yuan (about 441.13 billion U.S. dollars) last year, up 14.2 percent year on year, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Enterprises spent about 76 percent of the total investment. The absolute majority of the research and development investment went to enterprises.

It is necessary to note that the independent path of scientific innovation should not exclude international cooperation.

China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope has been available for scientists worldwide since April 1, 2021. It shows China's determination to increase its openness to international collaboration.

The country collaborated with many countries in COVID-19 vaccine research, development, and production.

Besides, more extensive cooperation in astronaut selection and training, joint flights, and other fields will take place between China and foreign countries, said a white paper released on Jan. 28, titled "China's Space Program: A 2021 Perspective".

There is no doubt that China has made remarkable contributions to the sci-tech innovation of humankind. The country is fully aware that independent innovation should happen in an open environment.

(Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun)
By Trend

Number of Azerbaijani truck drivers evacuated from Ukraine has reached 26, Ruslan Eldaroglu, spokesperson for the Azerbaijan International Road Carriers Association (ABADA) told Trend.

According to Eldaroglu, since February 28, six Azerbaijani trucks have arrived from Ukraine to Turkey. Besides, there are six Azerbaijani trucks on the territory of Moldova, which left Ukraine on March 2.

"Today, nine more Azerbaijani trucks will arrive from Ukraine to Moldova, which are already at the border," he added.
Big step up on third start

Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle: Milldam 0.5pt e/w 33/1

There are two horses in the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle whose last start was in France. One has been talked about more than any other horse in a handicap possibly in the history of the Cheltenham Festival while the other has barely got a mention anywhere. No prizes for guessing which one is the selection.

Milldam started his career with Arnaud Chaille-Chaille and showed some promise on his debut at Vichy last May. He travelled well for a long way before being outpaced in the home straight and he finished third behind Fautinette, who has since joined Venetia Williams, and Purprod Boiz who won two of his next three starts.

He was a bit disappointing at Lyon next time but showed far more of his return from a 4 month break at Auteuil on his third and final start in France. He jumped sharply out to the left at the first and his jumping lacked fluency early on with a poor jump at the fifth resulting in him being pushed along at the back of the field. He gradually made headway down the back straight and despite diving at the last in the back, he travelled well into contention towards the inside approaching the final bend. He moved smoothly into second entering the home straight and was only a length down at 2 out but he was sharply out to the left at the last two hurdles and couldn't recover the last ground, just being pipped for second.

Considering how much ground and momentum Milldam lost with his jumping, it was a fine effort to finish third behind two good horses. The winner, Ivanohe, won again next time while the runner up, Hoppefull Has, was beaten 2 lengths and a length in two subsequent runs in Listed handicap hurdles.

Arnaud Chaille-Chaille tends to bring his horses along steadily so it wouldn't be a surprise if Milldam was able to take another big step forward from this run at some point. He also wore a hood on all three starts in France, which is the norm for horses from this yard, and while he looked in need of it on his second start I'm not sure that was the case at Auteuil so if he's settled down much better at his new yard then Milldam could improve for the removal of the hood.

There is a concern that if he repeats the round of jumping from his last start that he will soon be in trouble at Cheltenham and it wasn't great at Lyon either but hopefully they have done plenty of work on that since. A strongly-run race in a big field will also be a new experience for him so there's an unknown over how he will cope with that.

A mark of 125 looks fair on the bare form of what he has achieved so far but given the potential for improvement due to the faults in his performance at Auteuil and his previous trainer's ways, I think Milldam could show that he's now better than that and has a chance of starting to earn back some of the 145,000 purchase price. He does need four to come out to get a run but with NRMB, any 25/1 or bigger appeals.

Obvious leading hope

The other horse whose last run was in France is Gaelic Warrior and he's been at the head of the market for this race ever since receiving a mark of 129 when entered for a race at the Trials Day meeting.

Given how well the form of his last two runs has worked out, it's no surprise that there was a rush to back him as soon as that rating was given. On his second start he was narrowly beaten by Imprenable, who won a Listed race next time and finished fourth in a Grade 1 at the end of the year, and Sans Bruit, who won his next two starts including a Grade 3. Gaelic Warrior finished third behind that rival on his final start in France while in second was subsequent Grade 2 winner Golden Son and the future Prix Cambaceres winner, Kyrov, was back in fourth.

Gaelic Warrior achieved this despite clearly looking a long-term prospect physically and I expect he's strengthened up plenty since those three starts and I have no doubt that he will show he's better than a rating of 129 at some point.

From a betting point of view, it's difficult to say there's any edge in the current price as there is a concern over whether two miles on the old course will be the ideal test for him. On his third start in France he was outpaced halfway down the back straight and stayed on strongly late and he's jumped a little out to the right at times too. It may be that he's so well handicapped that he will get away with it but I expect Gaelic Warrior will be seen at his best over fences over further in time.

Very eye-catching third run

The Tide Turns is the other obvious candidate after finishing fourth behind Teahupoo at Gowran last time. Held up at the back of the field, he travelled smoothly into contention turning the final bend before being unable to go with the winner from 2 out and, no doubt much to the relief of those who had already backed him for this race, he ended up being beaten 23 lengths so his mark wasn't ruined.

The ground was likely softer than ideal for him that day and I think he will be suited by a strong pace and a big field to help him settle early on but again I think the market has already taken care of any value.

Handicapper may tempt them in

Fil Dor finished two places ahead of The Tide Turns in a Grade 1 at the Dublin Racing Festival and the handicapper giving him a mark of 142 could tempt his connections into running him in this race rather than the Triumph, particularly as they have Pied Piper for that race too.

The concern with Fil Dor is the same as Gaelic Warrior as I thought he looked in need of more of a test of stamina when beaten at Leopardstown so he might find two miles on the old course sharp enough.

McManus trio

Champion Green, Brazil and Icare Allen are leading hopes in this race for JP McManus. The first two named have looked obvious types for this race for a while and Champion Green looks likely to be suited by the strong pace given he's raced a bit too keenly at times. Brazil was looking a very likely contender after finishing fourth behind The Tide Turns at Punchestown but I fear his wide-margin success at Naas last time might have cost him this race as he likely would have been 10-12lb lower but for that.

I think Icare Allen is very talented but his jumping is continuing to prevent him from being able to show just how good he is.

He ran well behind Fil Dor and The Tide Turns at Leopardstown considering his jumping lacked fluency and his jumping wasn't too good in victory last time. Returning to a left-handed track will suit but he likely needs to sharpen up in the jumping department to take this.

Leading British challenger

Saint Segal is the shortest priced of the British entries. He won on debut at Bangor and then ran well when finishing second in the Finale despite racing keenly. He travelled smoothly to join Porticello at 3 out but couldn't go with that rival after 2 out and was beaten 8 lengths.

He's since won at 1/7 to qualify for this race and he's another who I think will be suited by the big field given he's raced too keenly in the past.
Native educators in the Billings School District are working to engage with tribal elders, especially grandparents who may be the main caretakers of their grandchildren.

Coordinators gathered recently with elders to help them with tasks like checking grades and attendance online, support groups, legal resources, summer camps, college counselors, and housing.

If we can get them engaged at the elementary level, then the junior high level shouldnt be as intimidating, and by high school they will know the ropes, said Josie Brady, an Indian Education coordinator at McKinley elementary and Lewis and Clark middle school.

At least 16 grandparents associated with 65 students (some of them have graduated) completed surveys to help organizers continually communicate with them. About 20 kids younger than school age were also present.

The session was a similar atmosphere to the monthly, Native family nights.

First of all, just having a free dinner and I dont have to think about dinner is wow,  said Jodi Bulltail who attended with her three grandchildren: a one-year-old girl, a seven-year-old boy, and a 15-year-old girl.

Since December, she has been trying to foster the baby, said Bulltail who also works full-time.

The 15-year-old girl and her friend quietly played with the baby during the meeting. The three of them looked happy as can be, giggling while the younger boy watched a movie in the child-care area.

There are approximately 7,700 grandparents raising grandchildren in Montana, according to a brochure from Montana State University Extension, which offers a support group by Zoom or phone among other resources.

There are many reasons why a relative child is being raised by a kinship caregiver including family crisis, parental substance abuse problems, death, mental or physical health issues, financial difficulties, abandonment, or military deployment, read the brochure.

Bulltail is frustrated with the process to foster a child. She was able to receive a birth certificate for the baby and a social security card, but the process should have been more efficient, she said.

Even if they have high turnover, the process should already be sitting there and you just go through it I think if they had that handled, they would probably get more foster parents for kids.

There are many success stories, as in the case of Gage Cook, a senior at Billings West. He plans to graduate on time and walk to receive his diploma. He was recently nominated to serve as secretary for the Billings Tribal Council, which is comprised of students and organizes events for Native youth in the district.

In something like my case where my parents werent available, I was bouncing between my mom and my dad, sleeping at peoples houses, and that kind of thing, Cook said.

His grandmother stepped in and raised Cook along with his brother and sister, he said. Im moving out as soon as Im 18, but I feel like shes provided a lot of solid ground for me.

His grandmother, Robin Person, encouraged him to grab information about Montana State University, Billings at a table there.

I have an app now and I can look at the kids grades at any time, Person said. If theyre late for school, if theyre not getting assignments done, and it tells me what their GPA is. Cooks siblings are in eighth and ninth grade.

She planned to attend the monthly family nights after the coordinators invited her to the elder-specific event, but also because of her grandsons involvement with the tribal council.

My grandkids need to learn more tradition, because I was adopted when I was little, so I was raised by whites. But I want them to know more about their heritage, Person said.

Coordinators also hope that some elders will record cultural stories to share with students in school clubs or in classrooms, Brady said. In the survey, they asked for willing and able elders  particularly hoping for stories told in Native languages.

Im really willing to shift gears and help our grandparents in any way I can Whatever it takes to get them here and get them informed, Brady said.

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An Indiana man who pleaded guilty to rape in 2021 was back in Yellowstone County District Court on Monday after violating his parole just days after his sentence.

James Anthony Poynter, 47, was sentenced to five years in the Montana Department of Corrections Feb. 7 for raping an unconscious woman in downtown Billings. He appeared in court Monday after several parole violations he allegedly committed in Powell County prompted a warrant for his arrest.

Poynter was initially arrested and charged in May 2021 with two felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent. Billings police responded to the 2000 block of Montana Avenue after a report of a possible sexual assault. They found an unconscious woman on the ground and a man, later identified as Poynter, standing nearby. A Billings firefighter told investigators that he was the first to reach the scene, and said he saw Poynter raping the woman when he arrived. The 32-year-old woman was taken to the hospital while police took Poynter into custody.

In a statement to police, Poynter said hed been in Billings for less than 24 hours after arriving by bus. Hed recently moved from Indiana and stayed in Bozeman for two weeks before coming to Billings. He told police that he met the woman in Billings, and the two were having consensual sex in the bushes near a local business until she became unresponsive. When asked by police how the woman could consent to sex while unconscious, charging documents say, Poynter said he didnt know how else to wake her.

After initially pleading not guilty, Poynter admitted to raping the woman in October 2021. As part of the plea agreement reached with the Yellowstone County Attorneys Office, prosecutors dismissed one count of sexual intercourse without consent. County attorneys recommended a suspended sentence of five years in the custody of the Montana Department of Corrections. During that time, probation and parole would supervise Poynter, who would undergo a sex offender evaluation and treatment.

During his change of plea hearing, Poynter, his defense attorneys and prosecutors all told the judge that he is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. Poynter said he was properly medicated on the day of his arrest, and denied that his diagnosis effected his knowing that raping a woman was wrong.

Judge Mary Jane Knisely sentenced Poynter according to the recommendation from prosecutors Feb. 7, 2022, court documents say, and ordered that the 256 days that he spent incarcerated be credited to his time in the DOC. The court required Poynter to register as a sex offender, notify his parole officer before moving to any location, and abstain from any alcohol or drug use throughout his sentence. Within three days, he allegedly violated all of those requirements.

Poynter was arrested Feb. 10 in Deer Lodge and charged in Powell County District Court with driving under the influence and theft, according to court documents. The charges spurred the DOC to allege five violations of Poynters parole. Poynter failed to abide by the law on two counts, allegedly consumed alcohol or drugs, left his assigned district without permission from his parole officer and as of Wednesday, he has still failed to register as a sex offender.

If Poynter is proven to have violated his parole, his parole officer wrote in documents filed in Yellowstone County District Court, she recommended that his suspended sentence be revoked.

Judge Knisely issued a bench warrant for Poynters arrest Feb. 23, and county prosecutors petitioned the court to revoke his sentence the same day. After Poynter appeared in court Monday, Knisely set his bail at $5,000 and scheduled his next hearing on revoking his sentence March 28. The maximum term of his incarceration, should the court rule on revocation, is limited to four years and 101 days.

As of Wednesday, Poynter remained in custody at Yellowstone County Detention Facility.

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Gov. Greg Gianforte shot a mountain lion while hunting on national forest in the Paradise Valley late last year, a legal hunt which drew national media attention this week and criticism from some wildlife advocacy groups.

The hunt was the subject of a Washington Post story this week that said the 5-year-old male lion was wearing a GPS-tracking collar fitted by Yellowstone National Park biologists. Gianforte hunted the lion using the aid of hounds to chase and tree the animal in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest near Emigrant.

As the group got closer to the lion, members of the group, who have a hound training license, used four hounds to tree the lion once the track was discovered in a creek bottom on public land, his spokesperson Brooke Stroyke told the Montana State News Bureau. After the lion was treed, the governor confirmed the mountain lion was a tom, harvested it, and put his tag on it.

Gianforte immediately called to report the mountain lion and a Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks game warden tagged the lion in Livingston and took the collar, Stroyke said.

Stroyke also challenged an allegation made by sources in the Washington Post story that Gianforte did not arrive until after the mountain lion had been treed.

The governor was a member of the hunt from start to finish, she said. He had been tracking the lion on public lands and was a member of the group that used hounds to tree the lion in accordance with Montana mountain lion regulations.

Regulations dictate that hunters call into a hotline to report a mountain lion kill within 12 hours and present the hide and skull to FWP for a physical inspection within 10 days. It is also legal to take a collared animal.

Dan Stahler, head biologist for the Yellowstone National Park Cougar Project, told the Billings Gazette he worked with a Montana houndsman in 2019 to capture and collar the cougar. The lion had been wandering to the north in the last six months into good habitat, he said, possibly being pressured by another male.

The lion was one of four collared lions that died in the past year, the other three of natural causes.

You hate to lose these animals to any causes  but when they die, thats valuable data, he said. Losing a lion to a human hunter shows one more risk the big cats face on the landscape when they leave the protection of the park.

The project was able to get two years of great data on the lion, including interacting with females, and likely siring some litters, Stahler said. The park had plans to recapture and place another collar on the cat this winter.

Mountain lions are widespread in Montana and the West with an estimated 4,000-5,000 in the state. On average hunters take about 500 each year in Montana, the vast majority of those with the use of dogs. According to FWP, lions have rebounded following historic anti-predator campaigns.

Part of the reason for that is the passion we see for mountain lions from mountain lion hunters, said FWP spokesman Greg Lemon. Theyre always engaging with us on quotas, help us with surveys and I think thats one thing that gets missed.

The number and sex of mountain lions killed by hunters is among the most highly regulated for big game animals in Montana. Districts are limited by either quotas which close once reached, or permits that restrict the number of lion hunters.

Still, hound hunting has its share of detractors. A bill last year legalizing hound hunting for black bears saw opponents raise questions of fair chase to stress of hound hunting on wildlife. And with the commission currently taking up season-setting for mountain lions, several opponents levied comments either against mountain lion hunting in general or the use of hounds.

Last February, Gianforte made national news after trapping and shooting a wolf in Park County. The governor received a written warning for failing to take a required wolf trapping class, which he told the Montana State News Bureau was a mistake. The wolf had also been fitted by the National Park Service with a GPS tracking collar.

Gianforte has also faced criticism from wildlife advocates over a series of laws he signed aimed at reducing Montanas wolf population.

Nineteen wolves were killed in two districts adjacent to Yellowstone National Park after the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission removed quotas, although overall the number of wolves killed by hunters and trappers in the state remains on par with past years.

The Washington Posts story drew a rebuke of Gianforte from the Center for Biological Diversity Wednesday, with senior conservation advocate Michael Robinson calling it another sad sign of Gianfortes misguided contempt for carnivores. The center is among the groups calling for wolves to be relisted in the Northern Rockies under the Endangered Species Act.

Yellowstones cougars and wolves are vital to the natural balance in the worlds first national park, and GPS-collared animals help scientists understand these fascinating animals, he said. The governors cruel killing spree around Yellowstone sets back research and illustrates why states dominated by the ruthless livestock industry cant be trusted to oversee rare wildlife.

Tom Kuglin is the deputy editor for Lee's Montana State News Bureau. His coverage focuses on outdoors, recreation and natural resources.

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Yellowstone National Park is full of art born out of necessity. Tourists need a place to stay in Lower Geyser Basin, which is the express purpose of Old Faithful Inn. But the Inn is so much more, a grand and historic building so evocative that people will look away from one of the most beautiful places in the world just to gaze at it.

The park is full of these intersections, where the realm of the wild is interrupted by the needs of the humans who wish to explore it.

The Gardiner Chamber of Commerce is looking to add to that tradition in a unique way. The organization has put out a call for artist submissions. The artwork is for vinyl wraps, which will cover four bear-proof garbage containers. The receptacles will then be placed in strategic locations throughout Gardiner.

The Chamber is asking for artwork that can represent the Gardiner community and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem at large. Works of various mediums will be considered. All work must be original, and only one submission per artist is allowed. The vinyl wraps are graffiti resistant, but its still recommended to avoid open spaces in the design to prevent vandalism.

The wraps will be produced by Clean Slate Group. Their home town of Bozeman is dotted with electrical boxes and other bulky utilities covered in the vinyl, turning infrastructure eyesores into showcases for art. Theyve installed similar wraps all over the country, from San Francisco to Plant City, Florida. Fellow Yellowstone gateway town West Yellowstone has several bear-proof garbage receptacles already in place, a good example of what to look for in Gardiner.

The funds for the boxes came from the Gardiner Area Resort Tax District, which allocated for the purchase of four additional bear-proof trash containers. Five containers in all will be installed, including one built by the Gardiner Public Schools welding class. Once finished, the receptacles will be put in high traffic areas in Gardiner, in prime real estate on W. Park St., looking into the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park.

The Chamber initiated the project, which its calling For the Benefit & Enjoyment of the People to the next 150 years, both as a way to promote art to honor Yellowstones history and legacy on its 150th anniversary, but also as a necessity. The garbage cans, and their resistance to bears, are essential infrastructure in Gardiner, a town often more known for four-legged residents than two-legged ones.

While the containers will be in Gardiner, the Chamber isnt limiting the project to just local submissions. With the 150th Anniversary of Yellowstone National Park being signed into law accepting submissions from people far and wide seemed to be a great way to showcase this milestone and the start of America's best idea, Petcoff said in an email.

Two different sizes of containers will be wrapped: two double units and two single units. Once they're installed, they'll join the long history of human involvement in the nation's first national park.

Applicants are asked to send submissions and questions via email to Chamber Executive Director Terese Petcoff at executivedirector@gardinerchamber.com.

The due date for submissions is Thursday, March 31 at 12 p.m. The artwork will go to a public vote via an online survey, and the winners will be notified by Monday, April 18 at 3 p.m.

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A group of North Dakotans with ties to eastern Europe will gather twice this weekend in Bismarck as a show of support for friends and family members impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Separately, a "Rally for Ukraine" fundraiser is scheduled in Dickinson on Monday.

The days-old war has pushed an estimated 1 million Ukrainians out of the country. Sasha Tsibur-Mayer, of Richardton, who grew up in Ukraine and has lived in the U.S. since 1995, said the impression she gets from people on the street is that they dont know or particularly care.

Wed like them to know they really should, said Tsibur-Mayer, 47.

She and others -- some coming from Dickinson and Minot -- will gather at 1 p.m. Friday at the state Capitol. On Saturday a column of cars will leave Little Odessa grocery store at 2 p.m., tour north to Costco and circle back to the Capitol.

Store owner Mirabela Punga, whose roots are in Moldova, a neighbor to Ukraine, said she can understand why many people are only starting to become aware of the impact of the conflict, which started late last week.

As they see the news and see the human suffering, theyre coming together more and more, she said.

Tsibur-Mayer said her aunt in Ukraine spent the first four days of the war in her bathtub, seeking protection. The air raid sirens are frequent and her aunt, 78, cant get to a bomb shelter.

Women and children are under bombings around the clock, she said.

North Dakotas distance from the conflict softens the impact for those not directly affected, Tsibur-Mayer said. Some media reports have been "disheartening and disappointing, she said.

She called Ukraine a peaceful nation that has never attacked another country. The recent action marks the 25th time in a 1,000-year history that Russia has initiated aggression against Ukraine, Tsibur-Mayer said. She's hoping for a NATO effort to keep the skies over Ukraine safe so supplies can be flown in.

"They won't because they say it will start World War III," she said. "It's already started. It's not just two countries."

Her 5-year-old daughter in preparation for the weekend made a cardboard sign that reads, Putin is a coward.

A coward with a nuclear weapon, Tsibur-Mayer said. "Perhaps the world will never be the same."

Electronic communications have helped Tsibur-Mayer stay in touch with family and friends, despite occasional interruptions. Punga coordinates electronic money donations to a friend in the Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhya who is helping Ukrainian soldiers. The friend posts images of the supplies purchased with the donations on social media.

The weekend gatherings are meant to let people across the ocean know were thinking of them and that a good amount of people are suffering here, Punga said.

The days since the invasion have been tough, "but we are staying strong, she said.

Dickinson fundraiser

The "Rally for Ukraine" fundraiser is scheduled at 6 p.m. Mountain time Monday at the Biesiot Activities Center in Dickinson.

A freewill offering will be accepted, with the money going directly to Ukrainian relief by way of St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic Church in Fairfield, according to organizers. Speakers are scheduled during the event, and a light meal will be served.

There is a long connection between western North Dakota and Ukraine," co-organizer Emil Anheluk said. "There is an unconquerable spirit that echoes through our Ukrainian ancestry. The Ukrainian people need help, and we will do the best we can to ensure they receive it.

More information about the rally can be found on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3HFeP3K.

Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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North Dakota is challenging the federal governments awarding of lucrative mineral rights under a Missouri River reservoir to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, otherwise known as the Three Affiliated Tribes. The state attorney generals office said Friday that it notified the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that it plans to intervene in the tribes lawsuit against the federal government. The Interior Department ruled in February that the tribes own the rights, in what has been a long-running dispute. At stake is an estimated $100 million in unpaid royalties and future payments certain to come from oil drilling. The government dammed the river in the 1950s, flooding more than a tenth of the tribes' reservation and creating the reservoir.
Guillermo del Toro won Best Picture and Best Director Oscars for The Shape Of Water (2017), a movie infamous for a leading lady so desperate for intimacy that she makes love to a fish, probably the best metaphor for the ongoing moral collapse of the women who like such movies. It was not blamed for its mediocrity as cinema, since it was supposed to be a story about how tolerant the lady is, unlike the fascist, intolerant white men of the 50s. Del Toro even garnered a third nomination, for Best Original ScreenplayHollywood is decaying from every point of view, from popularity to business to art.

That movie was treated as an answer to Trump. At the time, youll remember, liberal hysteria had reached then unknown peaks, regrettably. For my part, I think the movie was rather meant as a defense of poetry, of visionary artists who dont really fit into American society, but it was a failure, both artistically and from the point of view of reaching its intended audience and making it aware of the need to defend art, much less persuading it to do so.

Nightmare Alley, del Toros new movie, however, is an answer to Trump. Its all about the problem of persuasion in America, the way peoples secret vulnerabilities can be manipulated by con men who seem well meaning and who are more interested in private, personal suffering than a community can be. The promise of relief is, of course, almost an assurance of fraud, but people do get desperate. If they dont feel loved by God, they might require occult love instead. This may be said to be the most respectable liberal argument against Trumpthat he was a con man who found his marks in their moment of desperation. Accordingly, the movie is about demagogy, the great threat to democracy.

The screenplay is an adaptation of a 1946 novel by William Lindsay Gresham, which was first adapted in 1948 by Edmund Goulding, starring the wonderful Tyrone Power. The story is very sordid: A circus huckster becomes part of a very wicked scheme to dupe desperate rich people out of their money with promises to communicate with their dead families, only to fall prey to a scam himself, leading him to ruin. In 1946 it failed to find an audience, but it fits perfectly the elite taste of the 21st century, and the new movie accordingly got del Toro another Best Picture nomination.

The latest iteration boasts quite a cast: Bradley Cooper is the protagonisthe starts out a potential murderer (we dont know exactly what were seeing in the opening) who somehow finds a circus run by the sleazy Willem Dafoe and the tough Ron Perlman, where he learns a cold-reading act from the adulteress Tony Collette and her accordingly drunkard husband, David Strathairn, and romances the sweet girl Molly (Rooney Mara), with whom he leaves for a more respectable act in big cities. He ultimately encounters and begins a scam with psychologist Cate Blanchett, who proves more glamorous and accordingly wicked than he is.

This is a man who sells his soul, though its not quite obvious why, except that success, glamour, and a life above the suffering and indignities of everyday life have an appeal to him, himself as desperate as his marks. Cooper is, as usual, mediocre, the characterization bound to be forgotten the moment the movie ends. Nor is it all his fault, since del Toro wants so much to conceal the character of his protagonist behind a combination of horrorits not a fun circusand romance that he ends up with an uninteresting and ineffective concoction. One gets the suspicion neither actor nor director thought through the moral problem because both were trying to make a magical movie that nevertheless feels adult and serious, on the assumption that adulthood and seriousness are more or less the same as a taste for the sordid. On the other hand, Cooper got to talk in interviews about the tasteful nudity he needed to do to advance the plot, formerly a disgrace usually reserved for foolish women.

Speaking of whom: Id say more about the actresses but they are largely wasted, trapped in ridiculous, cliched genre rolesyou know, the innocent girl caught up in wickedness but who ultimately runs away (Mara), and the glamorous woman whos more scheming and evil than even the protagonist (Blanchett, who often gives interesting performances but here bores and annoys instead, having lost entirely her intriguing quality in the process of becoming a temptress mastermind, a typical mistake for mediocre artists).

Nightmare Alley is a bad movie, but it offers an insight into American character we dont often face: Americans are much more superstitious than we would suspect, given the power of religion in American society. From the liberal point of view, at least, people devoted to science should be immune to superstition, and yet they are often enough the most vulnerable to it. Why should that be? There must be a secret Americathe America of the circuswhere desire leads to dreams and, accordingly, nightmares, a place where the gullible and the wicked inevitably meet.

Nowadays, we have a different name for this problem: fake news or misinformation, to fit the vulgarity of our elites. Americans are all committed democrats, to the point that the poor often defy the rich and the rich feel no moral responsibility for the poor. This breeds a kind of independence, or skepticismnobody wants to be a sucker, yet success on this score is dubious. Moreover, political authority in America takes on the vast power that comes with the population, the economy, the technology, and even the continental span of America. Accordingly, it is rare to find dissent from the majority, which is understood to be the nation in motion, deciding things, moving on to the next problem. But it seems that individual skepticism and conformism to the majority create a massive moral weakness, an absence of character that makes people personally vulnerable, leading to the many mad things we seeit used to be cults, occasionally murderous or suicidal or both, now its online subcultures, which are considered by elites a deadly threat to Progress. Either way, many Americans go crazy in a way the rest are bound to ignore until they are forced to notice.

This is the weakness Nightmare Alley addresses in showing how scamming poor and rich, simpletons and sophisticated, indeed honest people and scammers, is all the same. After all, rich people did believe electricity released occult powers to commune with the dead; I promise you many now believe the internet is an oracle. Rationality is far rarer than we like to admit, as our political madness suggests. Once we also abandon morality and look at ourselves as purely rotten, were as good as done for! This is the connection between the very uninteresting characters, who are without exception weak and vicious, and the remarkable political ambition of laying bare how a very vulgar, if attractive, man could conquer respectability and even piety on his way to the top, despite all the rules, habits, and even laws that separate poor from rich, ordinary from elite in America.

But this suggests circumstancemostly chanceis what stands between Americans and their fantasies turning suddenly dark. To the extent people feel sympathetic to the characters, they imply that we are all the same, all living in fantasies, which is both silly and very moralistic, but its the only basis on which the movie holds any interest. But if you stop and ask yourself from what standpoint one could morally and intellectually look at America this way, you end up with nihilism. The charm of the movie has to do with playing with this dark mood, but Nightmare Alley is much more of the character of the crazy stuff that corrupts the American mind than an antidote to it.

My series on Oscar movies and the artists visions of the past is now at an end. The better movies make the most of selective nostalgia, showing what was good in the past that we may have forgotten; the bad use the past as a kind of metaphor, as though rewriting the national memory might mean changing the national character. National memory is tied up with cinema, of course, so you can see why artists might feel responsibleor tempted. The purpose and character of art in a democracy is at stake in each of these movies, which makes them worth noticing, but not necessarily lovable or even watchable, really.
Before The Mets, Steve Cohen Was The Hedge-Fund King
By Azernews





By Sabina Mammadli

Some 3,000 Azerbaijani citizens left Ukraine for Moldova on March 3, Azerbaijani ambassador to Moldova Gudsi Osmanov has said.

At 1300 Baku time on March 3, another 174 Azerbaijani citizens will fly home from the airport of the Romanian city of Iasi.

Thus, two planes with our citizens evacuated from Ukraine will land in Azerbaijan today [March 3]. One plane will land in Baku in the afternoon and the other in the evening, Osmanov added.

Earlier, the Azerbaijani State Committee on Work with Diaspora has reported that some 1,100 Azerbaijani citizens are on their way from Kyiv to Moldova.

Azerbaijanis left Ukraines Kyiv city by train and headed to Ukraines Mohyliv-Podilskyi city, which borders Moldova on March 2, the committee added.

The Azerbaijani citizens, who faced a serious threat due to the tense situation in Ukraine, got on the train in Kyiv without tickets and on a first-come, first-served basis, the report added.

Mohyliv-Podilskyi city in Ukraines Vinnytsia region is located on the border with Moldova. After arrival at the destination, Azerbaijani citizens are expected to cross the Ukrainian-Moldovan border.

The committee informed that the citizens can contact the Azerbaijani embassy in Moldova on all emerging issues via: +373 781 81 361, +373 789 91 849, +373 222 32 277.

Some 61 Azerbaijani citizens evacuated from Ukraine left Istanbul this morning and are traveling by bus to Baku, Elchin Allahverdiyev, an adviser to the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey, said.

He added that around 50 more people are expected to be evacuated to Istanbul.

"Those evacuated to Istanbul are waiting for relatives who are still on their way." All of these citizens are expected to be transported by bus once they arrive in Istanbul. Our citizens from Romania and Moldova continue to arrive in Turkey. Everything will be done to facilitate their evacuation. "The Turkish Foreign Ministry strongly supports us," Allahverdiyev said.

In a separate message, the Azerbaijani embassy in Poland asked its citizens to use evacuation buses, which are sent to reception points located in various cities of Poland, after crossing the Ukrainian-Polish border.

According to the embassy, immediately after being accommodated at these reception facilities, Azerbaijani citizens should send the following information to the WhatsApp hotline of the Azerbaijani embassy in Poland (number: 0048576900183), as well as by email at [email protected]:

1) A copy of the passport (in case of its absence, any identity document) (photo);

2) Current location address;

3) Phone number (and WhatsApp number, if any);

4) Address and telephone number of a close relative in Azerbaijan.

Based on this information, Azerbaijani citizens will be included in the lists, and evacuation flights from Poland to Azerbaijan will be organized for them. The message added, that for security reasons, only persons who are on the list of the embassy will be allowed on the evacuation aircraft.

It should be noted that during the evacuation, priority is given to women, parents with children, the elderly, and students.

On March 2, 168 more Azerbaijani citizens evacuated from Ukraine arrived in Baku, Trend reported.

At 0920 on March 2, passengers on the third charter flight arrived at Heydar Aliyev International Airport. The majority of those evacuated were women and children.

On March 1, Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) evacuated 176 Azerbaijanis from neighboring countries to Baku on a charter plane due to the situation in Ukraine.

Moreover, Azerbaijans Honorary Consulate in Kharkiv evacuated 500 Azerbaijani citizens, supporting them to cross the Ukrainian-Polish border in Lviv.
"How the steel was tempered," 1942 Soviet novel by Nikolai Ostrovsky (1904-1936) (Ukraine) of Ukrainian origin , was a fictionalized account of author Nikolai Ostrovsky's experiences in fighting for the Bolsheviks

during the Civil War and his difficulty in overcoming crippling injuries after the war ended.

Summary [ edit ]

The story follows the life of Pavel Korchagin, including his fighting in and aftermath of the Russian Civil War. Korchagin fought for the Bolsheviks during the war and was injured. The novel examines how Korchagin heals from his wounds and thus becomes as strong as steel.

The novel begins when Korchagin is 12, living in the town of Shepetovka in Ukraine. He gets kicked out of school for putting tobacco in some bread dough and must go to work as a dishwasher. As a dishwasher he is beaten by a coworker, but his brother Artyom defends him. The novel jumps forward to age 16 when he is working in a power plant. He meets a Bolshevik named Zhukhrai after a run-in with the Tsarist secret police. Zhukrai tells him about the Bolsheviks and Lenin. He also meets Tonia Toumanova, his love interest. Again the novel jumps, to 1917 as the German army invades Shepetovka. Korchagin fights the Germans, and eventually joins the Bolsheviks in the Civil War. He is seriously injured and partially loses his sight. After the war he worked as a laborer, including building railways. He eventually is injured further, and loses his legs and a hand. He goes to Crimea to live out his days. The book closes with Korchigan sitting down to write an autobiography: "How the Steel Was Tempered", thus establishing the book as a self-fulfilling framing device.

Characters.

Pavel Korchagin  The novel's protagonist, was fighting on the Bolsheviks' side

in the Civil War (19181921). He is a quintessential positive hero of socialist realism.

Tonia Toumanova  Pavel's teenage love. Tonia and Pavel became good friends after their first encounter, which later develops into an intimate relationship. Though born of a wealthy and influential family, Tonia treated everyone equally unlike her friends, who only interact with other children of well-reputed families. However, this changed as she grew up, as she became more aware of her appearance and social status of others.

Movies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ppDEFFxQKQ? (1973 version, TV series, part 1)

part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIRv7H2wZJc

part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWWg33YM93s

https://youtu.be/IM6VXjauFA4? (1952 movie)

1942 movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip_-sOxyniI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip_-sOxyniI

How the Steel Was Tempered (Kak zakalyalas stal) is a Soviet 1973 6-part historical mini-series directed by Nikolay Mashchenko and based on the eponymous novel by Nikolai Ostrovsky. This is the third screen adaptation of the original novel, preceded by 1942 and 1956 movies.

Adaptations [ edit ]

In the Soviet Union, three films were produced based on this novel:

Critiques:

From the literary point of view, How the steel was tempered is not original. It was inspired by the utopian novel of Nikolay Chernyshevsky What should we do? written in 1863, which was about a self-made new human, who would replace regular humans in the Socialist era.

Impacts:

Russian writer Nicholas Ostrovski's novel How the Steel Was Tempered (1934) provided generations of Chinese youth

with a widely admired role model: a young devoted communist soldier, Pawel Korchagin , whose image

occupied a prominent place in the orthodoxy revolutionary education and literary imagination during Mao's regime.

Quotes:

1. Human life is like a torrent, and it is difficult to stir up beautiful waves without encountering islands and reefs.[]

2. The most precious thing for a person is life, and life is only once for everyone. A person's life should be spent in this way: looking back on the past, he will not regret for wasting his time, nor will he be ashamed for being mediocre; when he is dying, he can say: "My whole life and all my energy have been dedicated to The most magnificent cause in the world - the struggle for the liberation of all mankind."[]
The U.S. Congress is packed with many kooks, but Andrew Clyde of Georgia is my top pick for the weirdest goofball of the bunch. You might remember Clyde calling the white nationalist rioters who attacked police officers on January 6 "normal tourists." And earlier this week, Clyde was one of only three congress members who voted against making lynching a federal hate crime.

One thing's for certain about this freakish gentleman: he will always do the opposite of what's healthy for democracy.

The latest example of Clyde's bizarre behavior: he has vowed to fight to protect people who irresponsibly pack firearms in their carry-on luggage. In his tweet, Clyde said, "HR 6856 is nothing more than a thinly veiled attack on Americans exercising their Second Amendment rightsand I won't stand for it."

He may not stand for it, but plenty of gun owners have weighed in to let Clyde know that they think people who bring guns onto planes for any reason don't deserve to own guns and should face criminal consequences for their negligence. But calls for rational thinking don't penetrate Bizarro Clyde's thick skull. He's like a ROM chip, incapable of changing his perversely contrarian programming. I follow Clyde's Twitter feed, and not once have I seen him respond to anyone's replies.

Law-abiding gun owners who accidentally carry their firearm through airport security are NOT criminals.



HR 6856 is nothing more than a thinly veiled attack on Americans exercising their Second Amendment rightsand I won't stand for it. pic.twitter.com/wVgZgDBwv1  Rep. Andrew Clyde (@Rep_Clyde) March 2, 2022

"Accidents" are what kill people. Responsible gun owners plan for proper travel.  Janet Byrd (@gajbyrd) March 2, 2022

Law abiding gun owners should always be aware if they are carrying or not.. If they cant recall they are armed, they are dangerous to themselves and to others. Imagine if they forget where the gun is and a kid gets it?  PMCM (@Lasttoletyoudwn) March 2, 2022
COMPILED BY JANET GRAMZA

March 2, 2022

UB medical school injects anti-racism into teaching

The murder of George Floyd and the Covid-19 pandemic are leading to changes at the University at Buffalo's medical school and how it addresses structural racism.

Students at UB's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences demanded that the school take action in response to Floyd's killing and the greater toll the pandemic took on communities of color.

The school is in the process of rewriting its curriculum and said it will work to diversify its faculty, provide anti-racism training and make several other changes that students recommended in a 2020 petition.

Jacobs is among many medical schools across the country that are vowing to transform their programs to address structural racism in the wake of Floyd's killing and the pandemic.

In their June 2020 petition, students demanded the medical school increase its attention to structural racism and social justice to look at the ways that the curriculum creates and perpetuates racism.

Rewriting the curriculum

Students want the school to make an effort to include minority volunteers in the patient cases that students study in their classrooms and clinics. So-called standardized patient volunteers have traditionally been white men age 40 to 55. So have many of the community health care providers the school recruits to mentor students.

Most standardized patients are white, said Tatiana Amaye-Obu, a member of the Class of 2024. I had my first nonwhite patient last year in my second semester, but some students have never had a nonwhite standardized patient.

Jennifer Meka, an associate dean at the Jacobs Schools Medical Education and Educational Research Institute, said the school is creating guidelines "to revise cases to better reflect the diverse population our local students will be working with."

The school views its Health in the Neighborhood course created in 2018 as a model for future community partnerships, said Jacobs Dean Allison Brashear who came aboard in December from the University of California, Davis. UC Davis' medical school is considered one of the most diverse in the nation.

Health in the Neighborhood pairs medical students with members of the Hopewell Baptist Church congregation in Buffalo to help students gain a better understanding of the barriers that many in the African American community have experienced when seeking health care.

The course has now been expanded to include a clinical component, blending classroom learning with culturally sensitive interviewing as they work with members of underserved communities, Brashear said.

New fellowships

Students also urged school administrators to support students of color who are affected by racism while serving as advocates for diversity and inclusion.

The school has established Social Justice and Equity Administration Leadership fellowships to help medical and biomedical sciences grad students work on projects that address social, educational or health care inequities via $3,500 scholarships plus travel expenses.

Five fellowships were awarded in the first round. The grad student projects include developing a curriculum on the history of racism and seeking ways to improve the educational environment for the LGBTQ+ community, said Alan J. Lesse, a senior associate dean at the medical school.

 Janet Gramza

Want to learn more? Check out these stories:

 Dynamic student + committed med school = real progress on equity: Fourth-year UB medical student Karole Collier is not afraid to push boundaries in pursuit of the health equity that remains elusive long after a 1985 federal Health and Human Services report spotlighted the problem.

 Covid-19 lays bare health disparities in the Black community: In Erie County, as nationally, data shows Covid-19 clustered in Black neighborhoods, which suffered a disproportionate share of Covid-19 deaths.

THE LATEST, IN CONTEXT

What: Hundreds of unemployed, laid-off and underemployed workers in Western New York will be able to receive training in entrepreneurial skills via a new initiative offered by UBs Western New York Incubator Network (WIN) and the University at Buffalo's School of Managements Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

Tell me more: The Center for Entrepreneurial Learning has been designated a Reimagine Workforce Center and awarded a grant of nearly $342,000 from Empire State Development to offer entrepreneurship boot camps and master courses in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Olean, Jamestown and Dunkirk.

In the next two years, the center will work with community partners including Jamestown Community College in the Southern Tier, TReC in Niagara Falls, small business development centers, area incubators, chambers of commerce and business associations to develop a program for 24 groups of entrepreneurs.

Half of those cohorts will provide basic entrepreneurship training to people exploring small business ownership, including one-on-one weekly mentoring.

The other 12 will be for new entrepreneurs, focused on strategic planning and operations, including mastering financial reports, overcoming challenges, creating new opportunities and making connections within the business community.

Why it matters: Area business leaders say building a more entrepreneurial workforce will be a major driver of economic growth in the community. These 24 groups of potential entrepreneurs will gain skills to encourage them to start a business or join an existing startup.

For more information on the Reimagine Workforce Programs, contact mgt-cel@buffalo.edu or call 716-885-5715.

ICYMI

Five reads from Buffalo Next:

1. Schumer calls for cap on 'outrageous' cost of insulin for diabetes: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer is backing a bill that would cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month for diabetes patients who rely on the drug to control their chronic, life-threatening illnesses.

2. SUNY schools embrace micro learning to boost education and job opportunities: Short-term certification courses known as microcredentials are gaining macro importance in New Yorks state university system. Many SUNY schools are offering mini-degrees in more than 400 disciplines, with more coming soon to a campus near you.

3. Unemployment benefits played a big role in propping up the Buffalo Niagara economy during the pandemic: And now, new data shows just how much those benefits meant to the region, especially as it struggled with more than 1 of every 5 workers out of their jobs during the dark days of the pandemic.

4. 43North winner TopSeedz is an unusual startup: The artisan seed and cracker manufacturer already has millions in sales. It's outgrowing its Cheektowaga space. And it's never raised money from outside investors, beyond the prizes its won from startup competitions. Natalie Brophy looks at one of the Buffalo Niagara region's promising homegrown startups.

5. ACV Auctions continues to expand with two new acquisitions: The Buffalo-grown tech company, which specializes in online vehicle auctions, purchased Monk and Drivably.

The Buffalo Next team gives you the big picture on the regions economic revitalization. Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com or reach Deputy Business Editor David Robinson at 716-849-4435.

Email tips to buffalonext@buffnews.com.

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Two years after Amazon proposed a sprawling warehouse on Grand Island, only to see it fall through in the face of community opposition, the e-commerce giant is bringing the project back  this time in Niagara County.

The $300 million distribution center that the Seattle-based firm and its developer are proposing in the Town of Niagara is nearly identical to the project it scrapped just off the Niagara Thruway on Grand Island.

Its revival is a major economic development accomplishment for the town and Niagara County, which had been lobbying Amazon to turn northward after Grand Island residents and other critics effectively killed the original project, citing an unwanted impact on their community. It would be the biggest project in the Town of Niagara's history.

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The second attempt by Amazon is also a victory for supporters of that earlier project, who wanted to see such a major investment in Western New York, but feared that the resistance the company encountered would drive its business and dollars away.

But it means the company's investment of more than $300 million, as well as more than 1,000 permanent jobs and seasonal workers, would come to Niagara County instead of Erie County  along with the potential traffic, environmental or other impacts cited by foes the first time around.

It would significantly change the complexion of our town in a variety of ways, as well as the County of Niagara, said Lee S. Wallace, Niagara town supervisor.

We're a small town and we struggle financially sometimes. The number of jobs it would bring, and the tax base, would be extremely beneficial, and we have to weigh those against whatever negative possibilities come out of it," said Wallace, who has been trying to lure the project to the town. "Its a project that we definitely have to take a very strong look at."

Amazon and its new developer, Atlanta-based JB2 Partners, are proposing to construct a 3.08-million-square-foot facility at 8995 Lockport Road, using 216 acres of land adjacent to the Niagara Falls International Airport and Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.

The five-story "e-commerce storage and distribution facility" would employ more than 1,000 people working in two shifts 24 hours a day  but no more than 1,800 at any one time, according to the application submitted to the town. The facility also would include 55 loading docks, along with 469 parking spaces for trailers, 1,755 spaces for cars and 16 for motorcycles.

Amazon is not named in the site plan application, which refers only to a "single Prospective Tenant" and is titled "Project Fifi." But the scale and description of the project is similar  if not almost identical  to what was proposed and defeated in Grand Island.

Local sources also confirmed that it's Amazon.

The documents also include a letter from Wallace to Foster Real Estate, expressing the town's support for the county's pursuit of "Project Olive," and specifically citing the 216-acre property near the airport as suitable. Project Olive was Amazon's designation for the failed Grand Island effort.

The application even noted that "following efforts to construct a similar project in a neighboring jurisdiction, the town provided a letter to the Prospective Tenant encouraging an effort to locate the project at the site, citing the site's shovel-ready status and location adjacent to important transportation infrastructure."

"The project is an exciting new business opportunity in the Town that is consistent with surrounding land uses," Phillips Lytle attorney Kimberly R. Nason wrote in a letter accompanying the application, on behalf of JB2 Partners. "The project will create economic opportunities for other local businesses in the town."

The project had been slated for discussion this week by the town Planning Board, but it was tabled until at least April 5 at JB2's request, said Corey Auerbach of Barclay Damon, the special counsel hired by the Town of Niagara to handle this project.

Niagara County Economic Development Commissioner Michael A. Casale declined to comment on specifics of the proposal, but saud "a project like that  if it were a project  would have positive economic impacts."

The earlier Grand Island proposal had called for a 3.8-million-square-foot, five-story facility to be built by developer Trammell Crow Co. on 145 acres owned by Acquest Development.

But the developer pulled the plug in August 2020  before the Town Board could vote on the project  after meeting stiff resistance over traffic and other issues, and said it would look elsewhere but not in Erie County.

Meanwhile, the Long Road site that Amazon had targeted in Grand Island is now the subject of a potential project to build a 1.1-million-square-foot warehouse that is now under municipal and environmental review.

"Our projects are still moving forward," said Grand Island Supervisor John Whitney. "Kudos to the Town of Niagara."

According to the application , the facility would operate as a fulfillment and sortation center. It would receive bulk shipments of products from vendors, suppliers and sellers, and then package them to be sent to another facility for shipping directly to consumers.

The five-story building on the northern part of the site would consist of a 650,000-square-foot ground level and four additional floors of 606,750 square feet each, to house the company's "unique and innovative storage system."

The first floor of the concrete-and-steel building would contain a rectangular warehouse of 580,000 square feet, aligned to match the footprint of the upper floors, with material handling and sorting equipment. The perimeter of the ground level would feature offices, a staging area, a receiving area and a shipping area.

Each of the upper floors will be mostly occupied by about 450,000 square feet of consumer products storage area surrounded by a fence, with employees located in the remaining space around the perimeter of each floor between the fence and the walls.

The site is zoned as "heavy industrial," making it suitable for storage and distribution, freight-forwarding and long-distance trucking terminals.

It's also been designated as a "Build-Now Shovel-Ready" site by the state since August 2012, with the necessary utilities and infrastructure already in place, and an initial environmental review was already completed in December 2011, although the developer plans to update it.

"The project makes productive economic use of a currently vacant property," Nason wrote.

Town and regional economic development officials have long targeted the site for redevelopment.

"We were just waiting for the right opportunity," said Tom Kucharski, CEO of Invest Buffalo Niagara, noting that the property has been previously considered for light manufacturing or assembly, as well as logistics. "It has a lot of what you would need for any of those uses. It's got a lot of infrastructure in place already."

The town "reached out" to Amazon to point out the suitability of the site for the project, "noting the site's prime location and the town's strong history in the development of a manufacturing base and workforce," Nason wrote.

The land is currently owned by Gotham Homes 18 LLC, a New York City-based investment group headed by Morris Fateha. Located on the south side of Lockport and Packard roads, it's also bounded by Haseley Drive and Tuscarora Road, as well as the airports to the east and south. The former Niagara Drag Strip  closed since 1974  cuts across the southern portion of the site, but very little remains from that operation.

About 150 acres of the site are currently used for growing corn, while the property also includes shrubs, fields, woodlands, ditches and wetlands. The application acknowledged the potential presence of an endangered or threatened wildlife species  the short-eared owl  but suggested it's "unlikely" because the site's character and habitat aren't suitable. According to the application, about 105 acres of land would remain undisturbed by the project.

JB2 Partners is an industrial and logistics real estate development firm that focuses on helping its clients supply chain needs. One of its top executives was formerly a senior executive at Amazon.

JB2 and its attorney also acknowledged that traffic in the area would increase, citing a traffic impact study that projected 510 vehicles in the morning and over 831 in the evening. But their letter said the "existing roadway network" can handle that with changes or upgrades like turning lanes that the project would include.

Besides the building, the project would also include two above-ground water tanks for firefighting, two guard buildings, automatic sprinkler systems, stormwater management, driveways, lighting, signage and landscaping, with 900 trees and 386 shrubs and grasses. Water and sewer lines would also have to be constructed into the site.

JB2 Partners is seeking lot consolidation and area variances, as well as site plan approval from the town. It already received clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration and initiated conversations with the Air Reserve Station, but a host of other county and state consents are also needed.

If approved, the application said that plans call for 18 to 24 months of construction, "with scheduled winter breaks."

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Mayor Byron Brown lost almost as many existing or potential commissioners as he gained as confirmation hearings began Wednesday for key City Hall posts.

Christopher Savage withdrew his nomination for parking commissioner.

Byron Brown has key positions to fill in his cabinet A month into his fifth term, Mayor Byron W. Brown has three key cabinet positions to fill.

Finance Commissioner Donna J. Estrich said she is retiring.

Both developments came as surprises as the Buffalo Common Council reviewed Brown's cabinet appointees.

Parking Commissioner Kevin J. Helfer said earlier this week that he will retire March 19.

City lawmakers to hear where projects funded by American Rescue Plan money stand On Tuesday, Mayor Byron Browns administration will update the Common Council on the status of several projects from March through December last year.

Savage, who is part of a family whose members have staffed a wide variety of City Hall posts, turned down the high-ranking parking post, but will remain on the payroll as a management analyst at the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority.

Savage is the brother of City Court Judge Peter J. Savage III, former chairman of the Erie County Legislature and a former assistant corporation counsel for the city. Their father, Peter J. Savage, was a special assistant to former mayor Anthony M. Masiello and a onetime Common Council chief of staff. He was also head of the Division of Urban Affairs under Brown.

After additional consideration and discussion, Christopher Savage requested that Mayor Brown withdraw the item appointing him as Buffalo parking commissioner, said city spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge. While he was deeply appreciative of this opportunity, he determined that he would best serve the City of Buffalo through his continuing work at the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority. The Mayor understood and accepted that decision and will file a new appointment for this position in the coming weeks.

In a three-hour meeting, the Council unanimously confirmed Joseph Gramaglia as Buffalo police commissioner, Cavette Chambers as corporation counsel and Cathy Amdur as commissioner of permit and inspection services.

Trying to make city safer

City to pay $2.4 million in settlements, including sexual harassment claim A former City of Buffalo employee who said she was sexually harassed on the job by a co-worker and a supervisor and then terminated after she complained is poised to receive a $90,000 settlement from the city.

Gramaglia, a 25-year veteran of the Police Department, rose through the ranks. He served as an officer, lieutenant and captain of B District and investigative services in the homicide unit. He also was a supervisor for the Patrol Division before being tapped as deputy commissioner in 2018. He supervised day-to-day operations.

Masten Council Member Ulysees O. Wingo Sr. said he recently asked Gramaglia over coffee why Gramaglia would want the job.

I posed the question, Who in their right mind would want to be ... the police commissioner during a time like this, a day where there is tension between community and police, a day where people are losing more trust in the police than theyre losing in the government, a day where it is not going to be easy to regain that trust and to reestablish relationships?' " Wingo said. What really impressed me the most is what he stated when he first began speaking, and that he has dedicated his entire adult life to trying to make the city of Buffalo safer. I believe Joe when he says he is here to make Buffalo a better place.

"I think Im not overstating it when I say everyone in this room understands just how important the role of police commissioner is," South Council Member Christopher P. Scanlon said during Gramaglia's hearing. "And I think one of the most important aspects of that position is communication  internally with the command staff, chiefs, captains, lieutenants, all the way down to the police officers, but also externally with the public  not just the press conferences, but out in the community. And I was thrilled to hear you talk about community policing and building bridges."

Relying on Law Department

Chambers became Buffalos first Jamaican American woman to serve as the citys top lawyer.

Now ,she has the weight of every little Black girl, every African American person coming behind her to do it right, and I have the faith to know that she will do it right, Wingo said.

Chambers had been acting corporation counsel since January. She was appointed senior deputy corporation counsel in 2017, and before that post had been an assistant corporation counsel since 2006.

Niagara Council Member David A. Rivera told Chambers he looks forward to working with her, but acknowledged the challenges she faces.

There will be some tension at times, its just natural, between the Common Council and the administration and the comptrollers office, and we need you to give us advice based on law, and Im sure that youll do that, Rivera said.

With the exception of Delaware Council Member Joel P. Feroleto, an attorney, "the rest of us are very much reliant on the Law department, said North District Council Member Joseph Golombek Jr. Its because while something might look very, very simple to the novice, most of us need that legal expertise that comes from the Law Department.

Credentials impress preservationists

Amdur becomes the citys first female commissioner of the Department of Permit and Inspection Services. She takes over for James Comerford, who has retired.

Last year, Brown appointed Amdur the department's deputy commissioner. She also was supervisor of building construction and a senior engineer in the Department of Public Works.

Amdurs bachelors degree in mechanical engineering buoyed preservationists.

I think that appointing somebody with credentials like that shows that the City of Buffalo is taking that position seriously, so thats exciting for us, said Jesse Fisher, executive director of Preservation Buffalo Niagara.

With more attention being paid to owners not maintaining their buildings, including historic structures, Amdurs appointment is a good start, said Tim Tielman, executive director of the Campaign for Greater Buffalo History, Architecture & Culture.

Thats somewhat relevant, Tielman said of Amdurs degree. Just by that shes more qualified than I believe the last three or four people whove headed that department, to my knowledge.

Feroleto spoke with Amdur when he drafted an ordinance requiring building inspectors to visit every local landmark at least once every three years.

The one thing I could say is when I spoke (to her) about the legislation, she was very supportive, Feroleto said.

The Council also approved the reappointments of Otis Barker as commissioner of community services, William Renaldo as fire commissioner and Michael J. Finn as commissioner of public works, parks and streets.

Estrich, who has been the commissioner of administration, finance, policy and urban affairs since 2013, said her retirement date has not been determined.

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Edward R. Ives went to jail Wednesday for stealing money from Lockport's Glenwood Cemetery, where he was the former superintendent.

Ives, 55, who now lives in Cuba, Allegany County, failed to pay the restitution he promised to pay when he pleaded guilty to two counts of petit larceny, Assistant Public Defender Charles F. Pitarresi said.

Therefore, Lockport City Judge William J. Watson sentenced Ives to 60 days in the Niagara County Jail to begin a three-year probation term.

And when he is released from jail, Ives still will owe the restitution money.

"He would owe the insurance company the money, because we were reimbursed through our theft and liability policy," said John Sinclair, president of the Glenwood Cemetery board.

When Ives pleaded guilty Nov. 22, the plea bargain called for his charges to be reduced to disorderly conduct, a violation that would spare him from having a criminal record  if he paid $5,372 in restitution before he was sentenced.

Ives did not do so. The sentencing date, originally set for Jan. 24, was postponed twice, but that didn't help.

"We're disappointed he was unable to pay the restitution. Other than that, justice is being served," Sinclair said.

Pitarresi said Ives will have to pay $195 a month as a condition of probation, and perform 200 hours of community service.

In November, when Ives pleaded guilty, Sinclair said he suspected that more money was stolen than could be proven in court.

Ives was arrested May 27, 2019, about a year after he was fired.

At the time, court records said Ives was charged with third-degree grand larceny for allegedly writing 14 checks totaling $4,289 on a closed cemetery account, and with petit larceny for writing $915 worth of checks to himself on an active cemetery account.

His thefts were among the factors that drove the 200-year-old privately operated cemetery to the brink of financial failure by 2019.

Allan VanDeMark, Sinclair's predecessor as board president, told The Buffalo News in 2019 that he needed to lend $22,000 from his own pocket to cover cemetery payroll and other expenses in 2017 and 2018.

Foundation grants and other donations have helped put the cemetery on firmer ground. It opened a new columbarium last year.

About 20,000 people are believed to have been buried at Glenwood since the early 19th century, although the cemetery wasn't formally incorporated until 1863. Among the well-known people there are Washington Hunt, the only governor of New York from Niagara County, and William R. Kenan, founder of Lockport's Kenan Center.

The cemetery owns 60 acres, but graves are found on only about half of its rolling, hilly property.

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John T. Horton taught history at the University at Buffalo. Last week, posthumously, he made history, or at least what passes for it in the age of Twitter.

David Perry authored a viral tweet about a 1965 letter. It's not the first thing he's written Last week Perry tweeted a copy of the 1965 letter that his father, Lewis C. Perry, received from the chairman of the University at Buffalo's history department informing him of his appointment to the faculty. The letter went viral because it congratulated his father on his comely and charming wife and got only worse from there.

Horton wrote a letter in 1965 to welcome Lewis C. Perry to the faculty at UB. Perry died in January, and recently one of his sons discovered the letter among Perrys personal effects. Last week another son posted it on Twitter, and there it exploded  thanks to this time bomb of a paragraph:

I have learned that you have a comely and charming wife. I cannot make such a possession a condition of employment but I am bound to tell you that the standard of feminine pulchritude among the wives of our brethren here is gratifyingly high. I am happy to know that Mrs. Perry will contribute her share to the maintenance of that standard!

The internet loves nothing so much as an outrage. This one did quite nicely. The letter has everything: the smarmy use of comely, the crude notion of possession, the ostentatious use of pulchritude  and enough puffed-up condescension to float a hot air balloon.

Ruth Perry never saw the letter until around the time that the internet did, which is fine by her. Shes more than happy for the world to see what life was like back in the day. Besides, she gets the last laugh: The woman dismissed as a comely faculty wife at 21 is now, at 78, a professor emerita of literature at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Ann Fetter Friedlaender professor of the humanities there. Better yet  and rarely is irony so neatly packaged  she is a pioneer in the fields of feminist literary criticism and gender studies.

Curtis Perry, her son with Lewis Perry, found the letter and put it on Facebook. And then David Perry  Lewis Perrys son with his second wife, Elisabeth  placed it on Twitter. And there the letter went viral, attracting upwards of nine million impressions and earning an item in Off Main Street, a weekly column in The Buffalo News.

More than half a century went by from the time Horton wrote the letter (on Dec. 16, 1965) to when Ruth read it for the first time last week.

I thought, Oh, my goodness, look at that. Wow,  she says by phone from Boston. There are a few reasons why Lew wouldnt have shown it to me. One, he didnt think it was important. Two, he thought it would be offensive. Three, he forgot about it. I dont know which one it is. It is hard to tell from this distance.

Buffalo plays a key role in the arc of Ruths remarkable life. Arthur Opler, her Austrian-born paternal grandfather, came to Buffalo in the late 19th century and opened a tobacco store, where he hired people to read to his employees while they rolled cigars and cigarettes. Opler also owned one of the first automobiles in Buffalo.

Marvin K. Opler, Ruths father, was born in Buffalo in 1915. He started college at UB but transferred to the University of Michigan, where he got a degree in social studies. He earned a doctorate at Columbia under Franz Boas, known as the father of American anthropology, and went on to fame in his own right as an anthropologist and the founding father of social psychiatry. Marvin and his brother, Morris, also an anthropologist, are members of the Buffalo Jewish Hall of Fame.

Ruth Opler grew up mostly in New York, but when her father joined the UB faculty, the family moved to Summerwood Court, in the Town of Tonawanda. She spent one year at Kenmore Senior High School and then went off to college at Cornell, where she met Lewis Perry. They married and moved to Buffalo when he got his job at UB. The letter informing him of his appointment fawns over his wifes appearance but makes no mention of her scholarship. By then she had a masters degree in social psychology from Cornell. She enrolled in UB as a graduate student.

I couldnt find anyone in the psychology department as it was then constituted to direct the thesis that I wanted to do, she says. I wanted to go over the Peace Bridge and study the draft-resister movement in Canada. I wanted to study real risk-taking. At that time, such studies were done in laboratories and consisted of playing games and throwing dice. That was nonsense. It wasnt real life. But I was 10 years ahead of my time. No one was doing field studies yet. So I couldnt find anyone to direct my thesis, which would have made me famous.

So she switched her studies to literature  and found fame there.

She and Lewis divorced and she moved to the University of California at Santa Cruz, where she earned a doctorate and taught some classes, including a historic one.

I taught what turns out to have been possibly the first womens studies course in literature, Ruth says. It had Bronte, George Eliot, Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen. That was in 1969. I think it was a first of its kind in the country by a semester or so, but certainly one of the very earliest.

She began teaching at MIT in 1972 and, in 1984, founded the womens studies program there. She is a former president of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies and the author of many books and scholarly articles. Last year she retired from teaching. Now shes writing a book on Anna Gordon, an 18th-century Scot who preserved many beautiful Scottish ballads.

Working on the book takes Ruth back to her own folk-singing days with Buffalo balladeer Jerry Raven at Hernandos Hideaway, a coffee shop on Main Street across from UB. That was during her senior year of high school, when she had a lot of free time because she had come to town with most of the credits she needed for graduation. So she took a physics course and spent much of the rest of her time reading at the Grosvenor Library and singing at Hernandos.

Little in life is forgotten sooner than the latest misadventure on Twitter, but the backstory of this one elevates it to something more. The long-ago letter carries such a pretentious tone of uncomely self-satisfaction that it could well serve as a case study in one of Ruths original gender-studies classes.

Yes, thats right, she says. Yes, yes, yes.

What would she have thought of the letter had she read it at the time?

I would have been irritated, she says. I was already on the feminist trajectory.

And what might todays students make of it?

They would just think of it as so old that it might as well be from the Middle Ages, Ruth says with a laugh. But it isnt really so long ago. A lot of injustice was silently allowed in those days. Its good that people are seeing it. And its good that they are shocked by it.

She pauses. Its history, she says.

History, by way of the history department.

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A lawsuit that attempted to overturn North Tonawanda's approval of a cryptocurrency plant was dismissed Wednesday.

State Supreme Court Justice Frank A. Sedita III ruled that the plaintiffs  the Sierra Club and three North Tonawanda residents  didn't have standing to sue, and even if they did, the lawsuit was filed well after a deadline set in state law.

Residents complain of noise as North Tonawanda Bitcoin plant tests operations The Digihost cryptocurrency facility comprises 14 shipping container-sized structures on concrete pads in front of the Fortistar natural gas-burning power plant at 1070 Erie Ave.

"Because I sit as a court of law, I must follow the law," Sedita said.

But Sedita did offer advice to Digihost, a Canadian cryptocurrency company set up on the front lawn of the Fortistar natural gas-burning power plant at 1070 Erie Ave.

"It would be a good idea to reduce the noise," Sedita told attorneys for the companies. "That would be a decent thing to do."

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.

Last week, residents near the plant complained about noise from the operations in shipping containers that contain the computers. Mayor Austin J. Tylec and the city's Building Inspection Department determined that the noise came from outdoor tests of some of the Digihost equipment.

Digihost made a deal last year to buy the power plant for $3.5 million, planning to use its electricity output to power the stacks of computers it needs to carry out the complex mathematical calculations needed to provide security for cryptocurrency investments  a process called "data mining."

"Digihost remains focused on transparency and cooperation with all stakeholders regarding our project at the Fortistar power plant in North Tonawanda, and is always ready to work with elected officials and their constituents to ensure any concerns are addressed," Alec Amar, Digihost president and director, said in an emailed statement. "We acted swiftly in mitigating the noise issue and will continue to monitor its impact on the surrounding community."

However, the state Public Service Commission has yet to vote on accepting the plant sale.

Opponents of cryptocurrency mining say that the data mining process uses massive amounts of electricity, leading to increased emissions of greenhouse gases from power plants in violation of the state's environmental goals, set in a law passed two years ago.

During Wednesday's court arguments, Assistant City Attorney Nicholas B. Robinson revealed that since court papers in the lawsuit were filed, the Building Inspection Department has issued Digihost a certificate of occupancy and all other necessary permits.

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.

Those arguments pertained to the statute of limitations and whether the plaintiffs had the right to sue.

The timing issue wasn't complicated. Sedita said state law allows 30 days to file suit to overturn a ruling by a city planning board.

North Tonawanda's board approved the Digihost site plan on Sept. 8, and the lawsuit wasn't filed until 54 days later, on Nov. 1.

Richard J. Lippes, attorney for the plaintiffs, contended another state law offers a four-month window.

But William V. Rossi, one of the attorneys for Digihost and Fortistar, said that only applies if there's no other law setting a shorter window for a particular type of lawsuit.

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

"The court finds this matter was untimely filed," Sedita ruled.

Sedita also said the three residents and the Sierra Club didn't establish "standing"  a legal term meaning that someone is harmed enough by a particular action that they have the right to challenge it in court.

Sedita said attorneys normally try to establish that by filing affidavits from the plaintiffs detailing the harm that befell them. But Lippes didn't do that, merely writing in his complaint that the three residents live "nearby" the power plant.

Lippes said none of them live within 1,000 feet of the plant, and Rossi said the power plant has been operating with a state permit for the past 30 years, the same as it is now.

"Allegations of harm must not be conclusory or speculative," Sedita said. In legal terms, a conclusory allegation is one made without supporting evidence.

North Tonawanda Council rejects cryptocurrency moratorium The North Tonawanda Common Council voted 3-2 Tuesday against a proposal to hold a public hearing on a proposed moratorium on data mining facilities used for cryptocurrency transactions.

"We alleged traditional environmental issues that the petitioners are concerned about," Lippes said.

Deborah Gondek, one of the plaintiffs, said they will discuss whether to appeal Sedita's ruling.

Darlene Bolsover, another plaintiff, said the city didn't notify residents near the plant or hold a public hearing on the Digihost site plan. There was a public vote, and a contentious Common Council meeting in August at which the Council voted against a moratorium on cryptocurrency projects.

"What we feel raising awareness on this particular project has done is to make people aware what good city government should look like," Gondek said.

The Buffalo News: Good Morning, Buffalo The smart way to start your day. We sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed a Law approving the "Agreement on cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of Turkey in the field of food security".

The agreement was signed on September 28, 2021, in Ankara.
Vladimir Putin has achieved "the opposite of what he wanted" in invading Ukraine, the former Finnish Prime Minister has said (Getty)

Vladimir Putin's has achieved "the opposite of what he wanted", a former Finnish prime minister has said, in a stark warning that highlights the difficulties now facing the Russian president one week into his invasion of Ukraine.

Despite claiming to be "liberating and de-Nazifying" Ukraine  claims that much of the international community rejects  the Russian president has only cemented his position as a "global pariah" who has united almost every nation on Earth in its condemnation of his actions.

Alexander Stubb, who served as the Finnish PM from 2014-15, tweeted: "Putin has achieved in one week the exact opposite of what he wanted: i.e. the Europeanisation of Ukraine, revitalisation of the Transatlantic relationship, the rejuvenation of Nato, unity of the EU and a radical shift in support for Nato membership in Finland and Sweden."

While Putin may have expected an easy victory, his forces have been met with fierce resistance from the Ukrainian people, causing Putin's underprepared soldiers to suffer heavy losses and slow progression.

Russia has so far captured only one Ukrainian city  the southern Dnipro River port of Kherson, which its tanks entered on Wednesday.

Alexander Stubb said Putin has acheived the opposite of what he wanted. (Getty)

Other cities, including the capital of Kyiv and second-largest city Kharkiv, have remained under Ukrainian control despite suffering severe damage from Russian explosives.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday the Ukrainian's defence lines were holding against the Russian attack, adding: "We have nothing to lose but our own freedom."

An emergency UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly for a resolution deploring Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces, with longstanding allies Cuba and Venezuela joining China in abstaining.

The only countries to vote no in support of Moscow were Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria.

The response against Putin has resulted in Nato mounting defensive forces in neighbouring countries, and a favourable application for Ukraine to join the EU as the international community offers Zelenskyy almost unanimous support.

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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday the Ukrainian's defence lines were holding against the Russian attack. (Getty)

Putin has reduced many areas of Ukraine to a war zone. (Getty)

Putin's threat in Ukraine and further afield has also driven Finland and Sweden towards Nato  potentially strengthening the alliance Putin so despises.

Ukrainian authorities have claimed that more than 9,000 Russian soldiers have died since the attack began, in numbers which it is been so far impossible to independently verify.

On Wednesday, Russia admitted for the first time admitted it had suffered heavy losses, saying in a statement 498 of its troops had died. The UK has the death toll will be considerably higher than figures released by the Kremlin.

Instead of a swift invasion, Putin is now personally responsible for over a million refugees who have fled Ukraine into their neighbouring European countries.

In his own country, thousands have also been arrested after staging protests in Russia - most notably in Moscow and Putin's own hometown of St Petersburg.

Watch: Russia captures first major city

An unrelenting campaign of bombing Ukrainian cities has so far killed 2,000 civilians, Ukrainian authorities reported on Wednesday.

Stubb's said on Twitter the world has reached a "point of no return" after repeated examples of Russian aggression, and said Putin "won't necessarily stop" with Ukraine.

He added: "Putin is driven by nostalgia and legacy. Nostalgia of historic Russia with one language, one religion and one leader. A legacy of a leader who has made 'Russia great again'.

"He thus sees Belarus and Ukraina as part of Russia. Wont necessarily stop there."

Read more: Holocaust memorial where Nazis killed more than 33,000 Jews hit by Russian missile

In a mark of what to expect in the coming weeks, months and years, Stubb added Russia will remain a threat "for the foreseeable future".

"This is as much a fight about life, security and identity, as it is about ideology and way of life. Europe is now again split between an aggressive authoritarian regime and co-operative democracies," he said.

Stubb's comments comes after Putin threatened "serious military and political repercussions" if Finland joined Nato.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the country's accession to Nato  the defensive military alliance currently made up of 28 European countries plus the US and Canada  could "have detrimental consequences".

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week, current Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin said the debate surrounding Finland's membership of Nato "will change".
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 9, 2022) - Palamina Corp. (TSXV: PA) (OTCQB: PLMNF) resumed exploration at its 100% owned Lagos Silver Copper Project in late November of 2021 conducting a mapping / sampling program, short magnetometer survey and test Induced Polarization (IP) study before year end. Palamina is proceeding with more sampling and mapping, a pole-dipole IP survey and has commenced an FTA environmental study in order to permit up to 20 drill pads.

Lagos covers 10,300 hectares and is located in the Santa Lucia mining district, 72 km's southwest of Palamina's regional field office in Juliaca in the department of Puno, Peru. Lagos is at a 4,200 metre elevation with excellent infrastructure that includes road access, local power, water and a railway line that transverses the property.

To date four field campaigns have been completed with four distinct mineralized zones identified. The Rosa and Azul zones to the north host higher grade Ag-Cu veins, related to fault zones and hydrothermal breccias. The Gris and Verde zones to the south are being explored to potentially host broad zones of Cu-Ag mineralization, similar to the Cu oxide material found at surface.

In December of 2021, Palamina carried out a channel sampling program in the Verde and Gris zones where outcrop is variable. Select results from mineralized intervals returned results as follows:

Zone Composite Length* Ag Cu Pb Channel Sample (metres) g/t % % Gris 2327 - 2329 4.0 4.0 0.07 3.62 Gris 2333 - 2334 1.7 39.2 1.44 0.55 Gris 2335 - 2336 1.7 14.9 1.68 0.58 Verde 2290 - 2293 3.5 10.8 2.75 0.03 Verde 2294 - 2298 6.5 14.5 1.35 0.02 Verde 2309 - 2313 5.0 0.3 0.85 0.01 Verde 2318 - 2325 9.3 21.3 2.10 0.27 Verde 2337 - 2338 1.9 0.3 1.08 0.01

*True widths are not known. Assay values range from not detected up to those reported herein.

"Palamina's Lagos silver copper project sits at the juncture of the Santa Lucia mining district to the northeast and the Las Bambas copper trend to the northwest. During the rainy season Palamina is conducting further mapping and sampling, a pole dipole IP survey and an FTA environmental permit which allows for up to 20 drill pads." commented Andrew Thomson, President of Palamina.

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In the last quarter of 2021 a test geophysical program was carried out by Valdor Geofisica S.A.C. including a 21 linear km mag survey, 14.1 linear km pole-dipole IP survey and 8.8 km gradient IP survey. Results of the studies identified potential anomalies at depth in the Gris and Verde zones and to a lesser extent in the Rosa zone. Palamina has elected to proceed with more pole-dipole IP surveys as an effective tool to identify drill targets. No drilling has ever been carried out on the Lagos claims.

During the rainy season from December to late April, Palamina suspends exploration on its Puno Orogenic Gold Belt ('POGB') projects and advances the Lagos Project in the Santa Lucia district. Lagos was acquired through staking (starting in 2017) to investigate the potential for the historic Santa Rosa mine area to host a Ag-Cu Carbonate Replacement Deposit ('CRD'). Locally drill programs are underway at Kaizen Discovery Inc's Cu-Au Pinaya project and at Aftermath Silver Ltd's Ag-Cu-Mn Berenguela project. Palamina is working with equity partner GoldSpot Discoveries Inc. to develop a better understanding of the POGB and Santa Lucia districts.



Figure 1

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4727/113250_cbd123ea2473ebc1_002full.jpg

Technical Information

Palamina Corp. quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) protocol is administered on all its exploration projects. Prior to delivery of field samples to the analytical laboratory and with the objective to provide an independent check on precision, accuracy and contamination in the laboratory, Palamina QAQC staff insert blank samples, field duplicates and certified standards into the sample stream. To assure best practice compliance, assay results are only reported once the results of internal QAQC procedures have been reviewed and approved. Samples are collected and transported by Palamina personnel to the Certimin S.A laboratory in Juliaca, Peru where they are processed and then sent for assay to the Certimin SA lab in Lima, Peru.

The technical information herein has been reviewed and approved by J. Blackwell (P. Geo.), a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Blackwell is a technical advisor to Palamina.

About Palamina Corp.

Palamina has first mover advantage on 4 district scale gold projects in southeastern Peru in the Puno Orogenic Gold Belt (POGB). A maiden drill program is underway at its flagship Usicayos Gold Project. The Company also has rights to the Lagos silver-copper project in the Santa Lucia district and two copper-gold projects in southern Peru. Palamina holds an 19.95% equity interest in Winshear Gold Corp. who are advancing the Gaban Gold Project to the drill discovery phase. Palamina has 65,284,836 shares outstanding and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol PA and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol PLMNF.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors:



Andrew Thomson, President

Phone: (416) 204-7536 or visit www.palamina.com

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of such statements under applicable securities law. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the use of proceeds of the Offering and the Company's future business plans. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law. A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company appears in the Company's continuous disclosure filings, which are available at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/113250
As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, some American colleges are joining the growing Western coalition of governments and businesses taking action against Moscow  an unusual position for the academy, which generally tries to stay out of international politics.

The response from U.S. universities has ranged from denouncements of Russias actions to shutting down academic partnerships and programs in Russia.

That development is especially striking given that universities celebrate their openness to cultural exchange, even with controversial governments such as China or Saudi Arabia. But Russia's invasion of Ukraine is testing how far the commitment to intellectual diversity can go in the face of war.

Why is Russia invading Ukraine? Here's what we know

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has taken the most drastic steps in the academy, severing ties with a Russian university it helped found. And on Monday, the State Department urged all Americans to leave Russia, which could affect collegians studying abroad.

Iowa State University students, faculty, and staff members protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine in front of the university's Parks Library Wednesday.

Some study-abroad students heading home from Russia

Middlebury College, a private liberal arts institution in Vermont, pressed students in its Russia study-abroad program to return home as quickly as possible on Monday.

Our priority right now is making sure you are able to leave Russia quickly and safely, wrote Nana Tsikhelashvili, director of the Middlebury School in Russia. Then we will work on the academic component.

Tsikhelashvili said that the college staff would help students find and pay for flights and that it was unfortunate that your time in Russia has been cut short.

Sarah Ray, a spokeswoman for the college, said 12 students  three from Middlebury and nine from other universities  had been studying in Russia. As of Wednesday afternoon, three had left the country and the rest were scheduled to depart later in the week.

Latest developments from Eastern Europe: Sign up for our newsletter on the Ukraine-Russia crisis

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Its not immediately clear, however, how many American students might have been studying in Russia or Ukraine. In the 2019-20 academic year, the most recent year for which data is available, about 400 American students studied in Russia, according to the Institute of International Education. But the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 could have affected those numbers. In the prior two academic years, about 1,300 Americans studied in the country.

To compare, in the 2019-20 academic year, 55 Americans studied in Ukraine, about half of the 100 who had studied there the year before.

MIT pulls out of Russia

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology went further than recalling students from Russia: It severed its connection with a Russian university it helped to launch more than a decade ago.

MITs president, L. Rafael Reif, said the Russian governments violent invasion of a peaceful neighbor forced the university to cut ties with the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology.

The universitys response carried some emotional weight for Reif. In his message to the campus, he shared a story of how his parents fled the western Ukraine-Moldova region ahead of World War II.

The circumstances then were different: My parents were running from pervasive antisemitism and the rise of Hitler, Reif wrote. In their small town, no one they left behind survived. But their experience is a reminder of the brutal human consequences of state-sponsored aggression and violence.

One of the most prominent Russian exchange programs is American University's Carmel Institute of Russian Culture & History. The Washington center also hosts events focused on Russian culture and history, though it has come under fire in the past for what critics say is a sanitized depiction of the country. Maria Butina, a Russian agent who attended American University and was later found guilty of conspiracy, had also attended Carmel Institute events, The New York Times reported.

Matt Bennett, the university's chief communications officer, said in a statement that the institute hadn't sponsored any American University students to study in Russia this semester. A Russian student from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations did receive a Carmel Institute grant for housing and living expenses in Washington, he said.

Bennett also said that the institute doesn't have any planned events and that it generally doesn't "address contemporary political issues."

"Learning about different countries and cultures is a pathway to better relations and constructive global engagement," Bennett said. "One of the many tragedies of war is that it interrupts cultural exchange."

Where are Russian forces in Ukraine? Mapping and tracking Russia's invasion

Should colleges go further?

Some university presidents have denounced Russia's actions outright, including the Rev. John I. Jenkins of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

This unprovoked war is an international abomination and must stop now, Jenkins wrote.

And the Presidents Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, a group of 500 college leaders, asked President Joe Biden's administration to grant special immigration protections to Ukrainian students studying in America.

Bernd Leinauer, professor in the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University, holds a print of the Ukrainian flag at a protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine at NMSU on Monday. To his left are Elena Sevostianova, a researcher from Russia, and Tatiana Kardashina, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering from Russia.

College students, many of them with ties to Ukraine, have also staged demonstrations calling on their universities to denounce Russia and take action to support Ukranians.

So far, such demonstrations have taken place at universities including Northeastern in Boston, the University of Illinois, Louisiana State, Princeton in New Jersey and the University of Wisconsin.

Hanna Onyshchenko, 28, is a doctoral student from Ukraine studying economics at the University of Michigan. She is leading a petition that calls on the institution to "publicly condemn the invasion and prioritize aid to Ukrainian scholars and students fleeing the conflict."

I wonder if it's time for major US research and education institutions to issue their statements in support of Ukraine and in opposition to the war started by Russia? We can't stay silent and observe from the side.@UMich

what do you think?#StandWithUkraine  Hanna Onyshchenko (@HOnyshchenko) February 25, 2022

More than 600 people have signed the document since Thursday, she said. That's encouraging to Onyshchenko, who is still trying to study and spends nearly four hours a day talking to relatives and friends in Ukraine. She is from Chernihiv, a city that recently has been attacked by Russian forces.

Onyschenko said her effort was influenced by MIT's actions. She said she has received support from the economics department and other graduate students, but a statement from the university's administration would carry additional weight.

Ukrainian students also are working together to raise money for their home country. Northwestern University student Mykhailo Ivaniuk, 19, created a website with friends with resources on how to donate to Ukraine or what to post on social media to draw attention.

Ivaniuk said he does wish the Chicago university's administration would issue a bolder denunciation of Russias actions, but he has been pleasantly surprised by the fundraising efforts. He and his peers have raised nearly $10,000 from the campus so far, and they're donating it to Razom, a nonprofit that supports Ukraine democracy and is focused now on providing medical supplies to the country.

Even though the leadership didnt do much to condemn (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or support Ukraine, he said, the student body was incredibly helpful and supportive of the Ukrainian crisis.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colleges on Ukraine war: Ending Russia study abroad, research programs
By Azernews





By Sabina Mammadli

The evolving humanitarian crisis in Ukraine requires expedient measures to alleviate the impact of the current situation on civilians, Azerbaijani Permanent Representative to the UN Yashar Aliyev has said.

Aliyev said this during his speech to the 11th UN emergency special session.

He stated that Azerbaijan has provided humanitarian assistance in the form of medicine and medical equipment, as well as other necessities to the people of Ukraine on a bilateral basis.

Aliyev expressed deep regret in his speech that the ongoing crisis has resulted in significant casualties, particularly among civilians.

He stressed the importance of civilian lives and infrastructure being protected and safeguarded at all times, calling for strict adherence to international humanitarian law.

The envoy emphasized that the situation must be resolved diplomatically and in accordance with international law, reiterating calls for immediate dialogue to avoid further escalation and direct negotiations between the parties.

Following the escalation of tensions and the outbreak of hostilities, Azerbaijan sent 5 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has announced that it will provide free fuel to ambulances in Ukraine.

Concerned about recent events, representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora and Azerbaijani citizens gathered outside the Ukrainian embassy in Baku on February 27 to express their support.

President Ilham Aliyev had telephone conversations with both Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.

Later, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov called Moscow and Kyiv for dialogue to end the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

"Ongoing humanitarian crisis requires urgent measures to help those affected. Azerbaijan provided humanitarian assistance and calls on both sides to dialogue," he said.

The minister expressed Azerbaijan's regret over the situation in Ukraine. Bayramov noted that civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected, underlining that human rights must be constantly observed.

"Azerbaijan regrets that the ongoing situation in Ukraine leads to human casualties, especially among the civilian population," he said.

Azerbaijani ambassador to Moldova Gudsi Osmanov said that 3,000 Azerbaijani citizens left Ukraine for Moldova on March 3.

Under President Aliyev's order, Azerbaijani Airlines (AZAL) will operate daily flights to evacuate Azerbaijani citizens affected by the events in Ukraine.

The evacuation flights will be free of charge for Azerbaijani citizens, according to AZAL.

On March 1, the company already carried out an evacuation flight, returning 176 Azerbaijani citizens to the country.

Azerbaijan also organizes other charter flights to evacuate our compatriots from Ukraine to neighboring countries. Thus, 336 citizens of Azerbaijan were brought to Baku by these flights on February 28 and March 2, the company said.




The Wisconsins Department of Administration has placed 62 acres of state-owned land for sale in the southeast corner of Chippewa Falls, along Seymour Cray Boulevard, that is part of the Northern Wisconsin Center.

Charlie Walker, Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation executive director, said the land has been divided into five lots, with land on both the east and west side of Seymour Cray Boulevard, also known as Highway 178.

It is generally southwest of the Wisconsin Veteran Home; the land is managed by the states Department of Health Services. The DOA is assisting DHS in selling the property, and has valued it at $35,000 per acre. Walker said his organization has been asked to help aggressively market the land and get bids to DOA and DHS.

Its real exciting. Were taking land that hasnt been on the tax rolls and moving it onto the tax rolls, Walker said. We know there has been a lot of interest in that land from a variety of companies. It will be interesting to see what bids come in. Anytime you can get prime land on Seymour Cray, with those traffic counts, that is a valued location.

Chippewa Falls Mayor Greg Hoffman agreed this is good news. The city has been hoping to line up new development along that corridor, near the new Chippewa Falls fire station.

Its great the state has put it on the market, Hoffman said. I have realtors and developers saying they dont have places to expand. Its a great deal for the city. Well see how the bids come in.

While some of the parcels have an asking price of $35,000 per acre, Hoffman said the entire state land is 89 acres, and on an average, would have a price of $26,100 per acre.

Hoffman cant say if the city would be interested in putting in a bid; he said he cant divulge discussions that happened in closed session.

Walker said the Department of Administration will evaluate all the offers and likely select the best plan, but it is possible the DOA could reject all bids. Walker said he could see anything going there from a housing development to office space to an industrial building.

That area has been looked at as possibly a future industrial park, he said. (The state) will probably look at how quickly land would go back on the tax rolls.

Walker added he doesnt know the timeline of when the winning bid will be selected, but reiterated that bids are due to the Department of Health Services by April 15.

The state owns more property in the area, but is first marketing the land directly adjacent to the highway.

If it goes quick, and develops quick, they can sell more of it, Walker said.

The biggest problem for a buyer is a lack of water and sewer lines to that area, so any plan will have to go before the City Council and meet the zoning requirements established by Chippewa Falls. Some of the land is wooded and would need to be cleared as well.

There has been discussions in the past of possibly expanding the states footprint at the Wisconsin Veterans Home campus. Walker said the state is not marketing the land directly adjacent to the veterans home, and this land sale wont affect any possible future plans there.

Walker said he first tried getting the state to sell the land during the Gov. Jim Doyle administration, then worked on it with Gov. Scott Walkers team.

Its been a long time coming, he said. Weve tried to do some property swaps over the years. Its gone through a lot of administrations; I guess you can say government moves really slow. I give credit to the (Gov. Tony) Evers administration for moving forward on this.

To learn more, visit doa.wi.gov/Pages/DoingBusiness/Buy-Underutilized-Real-Property.aspx.

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Ukrainians and Russians are very close in language, culture, and history, and yet, Ukrainians have suffered enormously at the hands of its much larger neighbour, from Imperial Russia's various attempts at Russification of Ukraine from the 18th century onwards, to the Holodomor during the 1930's when Stalin killed upwards of seven million Ukrainians through forced famine, and now, Putin's completely indefensible war against Ukraine. I stand helpless, raging against this war which is solely the choice of one pathetic evil man. I doubt there has ever been any war with less support than Putin's war. So few Russians want this war waged against their neighbours with whom they share many ties of friendship, commerce, family. Today we will hear music of suffering and defiance from Ukraine, Latvia, and Finland, all pointed at resistance towards Russian imperialism. Sibelius' grand 2nd symphony dates from 1902 when Finland was part of the Russian Empire, and many Finns were striving for independence in the face of Russian restrictions on language and culture. Sibelius' symphony was received ecstatically by the Finnish public who saw it echoing this struggle for independence which would not come until 1917. This independence from Russia was not secured without continuing struggle. A little known front in the 2nd World War was the Winter War during the winter of 1939-40 between Finland and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union tried to force Finland back into its empire but the outgunned and outmanned Finns defeated the Soviet Union. Latvians (as well as their other Baltic neighbours) remember Soviet duplicity well. Like Finland, they were part of the Russian Empire and gained their independence with struggle between 1917 and 1920. The rest of the world little remembers that the USSR was allied with Hitler's 3rd Reich in 1939 and part of their pact was the USSR would invade Poland from the East and would also invade the three Baltic nations. They were then occupied by the Nazis after their 1941 invasion of the USSR and then they were re-occupied by the Soviets from 1944 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. They led the struggle for independence starting in 1988 which led to the freedom of 14 nations: Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. This history and the struggle for independence have largely shaped the music of Latvian composer Peteris Vasks, whose first symphony was composed while there were Soviet tanks and loss of life in Riga in January 1991. His cello concerto dates from 1994 and Vasks "has described the work as being inspired not just by the solo instrument but also by a sense of the decades of suffering and humiliation which the people endured under the Soviet Regime, and the psychological strength which helped the people survive." We will begin with my favourite Ukrainian-Canadian composer and musician, the mystic pianist-composer Lubomyr Melnyk. We will hear his impossibly beautiful and sad "Concert Requiem" for piano and violin from 1983. This work was subtitled "Requiem of the 7 Million", dedicated to the victims of the Holodomor, a recording with Melnyk on the piano and Canadian violinist Marc Sabat. Lubomyr Melnyk was supposed to be touring Ukraine again right now. I spoke with him just yesterday and he is safe. He composed and recorded a short piece, which he wrote after seeing a picture of a young Russian soldier lying dead. To Putin: THIS is what a great man is! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr2ofP0Qof4 This program is dedicated to the courageous Ukrainians defending their freedom.
This week we wrapped up public hearings for all new bills for the 2022 session, and next week we will move into full-day floor debate. All Senator and Committee Priority Bills for the session have now been designated.

My bill, LB1102 was advanced from committee to General File, and was selected as 1 of 25 speaker priority bills by Speaker Hilgers. Speaker priority bills are meant to be important, but usually non-controversial bills. LB1102 ensures that the responsible parties, rather than Nebraska taxpayers, are held accountable for clean up in the case of a spill that may require remediation. The bill also authorizes the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy (NDEE) director to issue cease and desist orders if the director finds a situation that presents substantial harm in order to quickly end the situation.

I have co-sponsored LB1143, introduced by Senator Linehan. LB1143 prohibits the current practice of public school districts and ESUs forming agreements that allow them to issue new bonds without a vote of the people. LB1143 would require the bond question be submitted to the voters at as part of a statewide primary or general election.

LB1241 introduced by Senator Lathrop passed the first round of debate. This bill streamlines the process of reciprocity for law enforcement officers moving to Nebraska that are already certified in another state, to become certified in Nebraska.

On February 23, Governor Ricketts appointed Mike Jacobson of North Platte to fill the vacant seat for Legislative District 42, following Senator Groenes resignation. I look forward to working with Senator Jacobson and welcome him to the legislature.

Bio Nebraska, a non-profit trade association, announced scholarship opportunities for Nebraska high school seniors looking to pursue studies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). These scholarships are available to individuals who have been accepted at Bio Nebraska approved colleges and universities in the state, are planning to enroll in an undergraduate STEM-related course of study, and those planning to pursue a career with a STEM-related organization. To apply for this scholarship, or for more information on eligibility requirements, I encourage those interested to visit Bio Nebraskas website at https://www.bionebraska.org/stem-scholarship.

I appreciate hearing from constituents on issues affecting District 23 and encourage you to contact my office on legislation at 402-471-2719 or bbostelman@leg.ne.gov.
The woman told police when she asked a friend for a ride to David City, the friend directed her to a man she didn't know. During the drive, he displayed a knife and a revolver and demanded she turn over her phone and luggage.
The pandemic has accelerated a much discussed technology transformation, exposing new opportunities for colleges to improve how they educate and enroll students, change business models and operations, and conduct research. Now, as we look to the future, how can colleges ensure that they continue to make progress?





A panel of experts joins The Chronicle for a special, 75-minute virtual forum discussing how colleges should approach this new period, following the rapid experimentation of the past two years.

How can colleges begin the planning process for the future?

How can they stick to the plan during tumultuous times?

How can colleges avoid snapping back to outdated models?




Demolition of the old County Mart grocery store building has been underway this year in Downtown Park Hills.

City workers have been hard at work clearing the buildings interior and hauling out its contents in preparation for the demolition of the city-owned structure.

The city agreed to purchase the property in June 2020 for $100,000, making annual $25,000 payments for four years. The city council plans to clear the parcel of the deteriorating building and potentially use the space during future community events.

The building has been vacant since 2007 when the business relocated into its present-day location on the adjacent property and was rebranded as Country Mart. The store was rebranded again in 2020 after the grocery store chain was acquired by Harps Food Stores.

City Administrator Mark McFarland explained that demolition efforts began after a Cape Girardeau company completed asbestos abatement. The city paid $26,000 for the asbestos abatement services.

After the asbestos was removed, McFarland said the Missouri Department of Natural Resources had to reinspect the building for any loose asbestos before the demolition could proceed.

The 23,547 square foot building was constructed in 1970, and original owner William Bill Dugal opened Dugals Big Star at the location. The business would later become a Piggly Wiggly brand grocery store in 1990.

A year later, in November 1991, the supermarket opened for business as County Mart. The grocery store featured a deli, bakery, and video department at the time. The first store manager was Joe Pogue, who cut the ceremonial ribbon at the stores grand opening.

Throughout its many years, the store served the community in many ways. It was a convenient place to get everything from food items, household necessities, and even movie rentals. Patrons could sit and enjoy coffee or meals in the deli area. Area residents could also pay their utility bills at the store.

The business hosted multiple fundraising efforts for school trips and Project Graduations over the years. Students would often collect donations at the entrance or bag groceries for tips in hopes of raising money for their causes.

With no new tenants since the mid-2000s, the building fell into a state of disrepair after sitting vacant for more than a decade. City officials have been making steady efforts to beautify the Downtown area and address derelict properties, leading to the decision of tearing down the County Mart building so the property could be better utilized in serving the community.

Bobby Radford is a reporter for the Daily Journal. He can be reached at bradford@dailyjournalonline.com

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The waters are welcoming, but the currents unknown. Use caution swimming. The river has a life of its own. Swim at your own risk.

I have this photo thanks to a Floridian friend with a camera and a day to kill. Shep and Justin made the trip from Panama City to musky fish with me in early March of 2020, where this sign hung on the porch of our A-frame cabin overlooking the New River. Justin took several photos that day, all of which I admire and appreciate (macros of my gear and flies laying inert on the deck boards), and while most have more significant subjects, this is the one that carries the most weight with me.

On the morning of what would have been our second day on the water, I sat staring at the words, the sign, or maybe just the air around it for minutes. Wed faced high sun and windstough conditionsthe day before. I managed to make a singular fish move with a fly, but only after knocking on a high-percentage door for a good long while. We had another day ahead of us. The winds were lower, and the light a little more diffused. New dice, and we had work to do.

But, only a few minutes before, Id received a call from a friend. Jim was then an old guide on the New River and a lifelong mutual friend of Chuck Krafts. I met Jim through Chuck several years before, when I moved to southwest Virginia for school and took up fishing the New. After staring at that sign for what seemed like most of our morning, I made the decision, unhooked the boat, and met Jim at his home to start our trek to Charlottesville to see Chuck for what would be the last time.

Chuck and I fished for the last time in September of the year before, on the lower New River, on one of the old guides favorite floats. He made a total of four casts, due in large part to shoulder pain, but he caught a smallmouth, nonethelesswhat I believe to have been his last.

During a large portion of his careerthe 1980s, 90s, and early 2000sChuck would book several back-to-back guide trips and leave his home base of Charlottesville for a temporary residence in a motel in Pearisburg. From there, he was able to introduce his clients to one of the greatest smallmouth rivers in the world when it was in its prime.

The New River was firing on far fewer cylinders in the summer of 2019. In fact, it may have been at a many-decades-low in terms of its smallmouth population. Chuck saw that on our last float together, which may have emphasized his belting, celebratory laugh when I urged our buddy, Dirk, in the front seat, to make a cast to a specific spot only to be rewarded with a nice smallmouth upon doing so. As a guide, Ive always wondered why Im deserving of praise when the 119th call I make pays off. As a guide, Chuck never lost his appreciation for a smallmouth rising to the surface to validate such a call.

I still have the last voicemail he left me, asking me to call him back so he could apologize unnecessarily for a doctor visit that would alter our plans for a trip to Arkansas White River. I missed the phone call because I was on the river with another friend musky fishing. On that beautiful, overcast, clear water fall day, we moved five big fish with flies. I called Chuck on my drive home, and we lamented over shoulder surgeries, big brown trout, and how musky, more than just about any other fish, can drive a person to drink.

Looking back, the words on that sign on the cabin on the river align strongly with the essence of the musky pursuit, of fishing in general, and of life itself.

Theres a lot to be gained and a lot to be lost. Sometimes, one outweighs the other, but a wise person learns to live for the rollercoaster, to bear the lows and celebrate the highs. If you can do that with good people around, all the better.

The day after our trek to Charlottesville, we resumed our musky hunt. It was the day of the full moonthe Worm Moonin March, and by the end of it, we got word that the old man was gone.

And so its during this week, perhaps more than any otheron the cusp of another Virginia smallmouth season, and at the conclusion of a winters musky campaign and weeks spent at the vise restocking my fly boxes with variations of Chucks foundational smallmouth patternsthat these memories return. And Im thankful to have them.
Community COVID-19 testing and vaccination centers in Albemarle County and Charlottesville will be closing later this month, but local health officials say options for both will still be available at other locations.

The community vaccination center in Seminole Square Shopping Center will close March 12, and the community testing center at Pantops Shopping Center will end operations March 15.

The Virginia Department of Health used federal emergency funds to hire contractors to run both centers. Blue Ridge Health District spokeswoman Kathryn Goodman said the funding is ending, and the demand for vaccines and testing, along with turnout at the centers, has dropped significantly.

Were just not seeing the need to keep the site operating for as long as we initially thought we would, Goodman said. We always had intentions of the community vaccination center closing at the end of March, and we moved it up to mid-March given that the demand has decreased so much.

According to the health district, 73.5% of residents in the Blue Ridge Health District  which covers Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, Louisa and Nelson counties and Charlottesville  have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 69% are fully vaccinated. Albemarle has the highest vaccination rate at 75.4%, and Louisa has the lowest at 58.1%.

Across the district, 38.1% of residents have gotten a booster.

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Joe Biden said moves are being made to create a test-and-treat environment in the future where antiviral drugs are dispensed at the time of a positive test.

That, however, is in the future.

We will still continue to have weekly clinics at the health departments, Goodman said. [Vaccines] will be available through pharmacies, health care providers, other outlets like grocery stores, and we will still continue to do mobile clinics throughout the district.

In February, there were about 4,230 new COVID cases in the district, down from about 11,240 new cases in January, according to data provided by the state. January had the highest number of new cases in any month so far in the pandemic. February was the second highest month.

January also saw a peak for hospitalizations in the local health district with about 190. February had far fewer hospitalizations, with about 27.

Health district data on case numbers only includes lab tests, so there are likely more cases than what the data shows, Goodman said.

I do think we are on a slight downward trend considering how high of a peak we hit in January and February, she said.

If someone tests positive using an at-home test kit, they should trust that it is positive, stay home and isolate, notify close contacts and notify the health department, Goodman said.

The University of Virginia Health system and the health district are continuing to offer free drive-through community testing sites Monday through Friday.

UVa Health is holding walk-in testing every Monday evening at Church of the Incarnation, in Albemarle County, while on Tuesday evenings it will be at Mount Zion First African Baptist Church, in the city.

NEXT Molecular, which provides clinical testing and other services, is holding walk-in testing Thursday afternoons and Friday mornings at Fashion Square Mall in the former JCPenney parking lot.

The local health district will be holding appointment-only testing clinics on weekday evenings at various health departments and community health centers across the district.

For more information or to sign up for a test or vaccine, visit vdh.virginia.gov/blue-ridge.

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By Trend

Some 61 Azerbaijani citizens, evacuated from Ukraine, have left Istanbul this morning and are heading to Baku by bus, Adviser to the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey Elchin Allahverdiyev told Trend .

Around 50 more people are expected to be evacuated to Istanbul, Allahverdiyev added. Those evacuated to Istanbul are waiting for their relatives there as they are still on the way. After they arrive in Istanbul, all these citizens are also planned to be transported by bus. Our citizens continue to arrive in Turkey from Romania and Moldova. Everything will be done for their evacuation. The Turkish Foreign Ministry greatly supports us.

As for the evacuation from Ukraine, the Azerbaijani citizens can contact:

"hot lines" of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry:

phones: +994505748595

+994506725868

+994125969422

+994125969301

e-mail: [email protected]

Embassy of Azerbaijan in Ukraine (Kyiv city):

phone: +380 73 5050000

e-mail: [email protected]

Honorary Consulate of Azerbaijan in Kharkiv:

phone: (+38057) 7000531

e-mail: [email protected]

Embassy of Azerbaijan in Moldova:

phone: +373 781 81 361, +373 789 91 849, +373 222 32 277

e-mail: [email protected]

Azerbaijani embassy in Poland:

phone: +48 576 900 183, +48 22 718 30 70

e-mail: [email protected]

Azerbaijani embassy in Hungary:

phone: +36300901033, +994552999012 (WhatsApp)

e-mail: [email protected]

Embassy of Azerbaijan accredited in Slovakia:

phone: +43 676 844 509 733

e-mail: [email protected]

Azerbaijani Embassy in Romania:

phone: +407 487 77744, +407 409 90079

e-mail: [email protected]

Embassy of Azerbaijan in Bulgaria:

phone: +359895002732

e-mail: [email protected]

Embassy of Azerbaijan in Turkey (Ankara city):

phone: +905550310007

e-mail: [email protected]

Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Istanbul, Turkey:

phone: +905441040111

e-mail: [email protected]
West Albany High School student Tori Thorp has been named the 2022 Oregon High School Journalist of the Year.

Thorp is the editor-in-chief of The West Albany Whirlwind, the West Albany student newspaper, and is now a candidate for the National High School Journalist of the Year sponsored by the Journalism Education Association.

Thorp has covered student protesters attending a climate strike, school-related stories on a variety of topics and has experience in social media and design for the student newspaper.

As winner of the Journalist of the Year award, Thorp receives the Alyce Sheetz Scholarship of $1,000.

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History repeats itself is one of the saddest comments ever made. Unfortunately, mankind has not been able to render it wrong.

On a schedule of recurrence, the manhole covers roll back every century and out crawls a new batch of dictators, wannabes, power merchants, gangsters, con artists and just plain scumbuckets. They make wars, mass starvations and dislocations that take thousands, if not untold millions, of lives. We have a full deck of these disturbers of the peace to deal with now, just when every skill and intelligence is needed to save this wonderful blue planet.

Russias invasion of Ukraine is a throwback to Stalin, when a young KGB spy named Putin believed in Stalins empire!

After World War II, the Allies divided up Europe in 1945 with the western half of Germany going to the U.S., Britain and France, the eastern half to Russia as far as the Elbe River. Russian armies had liberated Berlin, but they finally agreed Berlin would be divided four ways.

Russia was given administrative control of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungry, Romania, Bulgaria and a group small northern countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) as well as Ukraine. Few remember that 3.9 million Ukrainians were starved or killed for refusing to have their farms forced into collectives (1932 and 1933).

Act 1. Russia was embarrassed by the example of a free Western Berlin growing prosperous under a free society. The Russians decided to cut off the Allies by stopping food transported by truck or rail into Berlins western zone. President Truman created the Berlin Airlift to carry food and supplies for two years.

Outsmarted, Russia built a wall to separate East from West; it came down in 1989. Putin, a young KGB spy, barely escaped in the collapse of East Germany; he has never forgotten.

Act 2. Defeat of the Russian Army in Afghanistan took nine years with U.S.-supplied mujahedeen. Not forgotten.

Act 3. As of the date of this writing, the success of an invasion of Ukraine mirrors Hitlers Blitzkrieg on Poland in 1939. Russia has upgraded its forces, weapons and skills in the use of propaganda since the Cold War of 1947 to 1989.

When I was an engineer terrain intelligence officer from 1953 to 1955, we worked under the constant threat of invasion by divisions of modern Russian tanks and soldiers that kept the Allied Command always in a state of alert. Intelligence of massed Russian divisions were at the major entry into West Germany, the Fulda Gap! In 1953 and 1954, we had the only the 2nd Armored Division to stop or slow down the Russians!

World War III? Countries gathered under the Soviet Union at the end of WWII and now in NATO drive Putin crazy. Did Putin misread the U.S. senator who spent over 14 years stopping a functioning Congress, help elect an admirer of dictators and allow Trump to unleash a barrage of conspiracy theories, hatred and white nationalism that devoured the world?

Its no wonder that Trump deserted his country with Putin in Helsinki. Putin, by encouraging our far right, which is torn between wanting a theocracy, or government by greedy loyalty, or bands of militias roaming our streets, hopes to shred our fragile democracy.

Whatever the outcome, it spells trouble for our polarized country by disrupting the free world  and most tragically, any progress on changing the direction of climate change to save our children from a Mars landscape!

Tony Van Vliet of Corvallis is a retired Oregon State University professor and was a state representative from 1975 to 1995. He is a member and former chair of Oregon Public Broadcasting, and a former Republican of 57 years.

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By Trend

Georgias imports from Turkmenistan from January through December 2021 amounted to $205.2 million, which is an increase of 178.3 percent, compared to $73.7 million worth of imports in 2020, Trend reports via the National Statistics Office (Geostat).

According to Geostat, the share of Turkmenistan in total Georgias imports in 2021 accounted for 2 percent, compared to 0.9 percent in 2020.

Thus, Turkmenistan ranks 10 among main exporters to Georgia over 2021, the report said.

TOP-5 commodities exported to Georgia from Turkmenistan (Jan. through Dec. 2021):

Commodity Value Fuels and lubricants $191.8 million Industrial supplies $9.9 million Transport equipment $2 million Capital goods $824,480 Consumer goods $464,750

Meanwhile, Georgias total imports in 2021 amounted to $10 billion  an increase of 25.1 percent, compared to $8 billion over 2020.

Georgias foreign trade turnover (excluding non-declared trade) in 2021 amounted to $14.3 billion, which is an increase of 25.6 percent, compared to $11.3 billion over 2020.
Coloradans watching lines of Ukrainians escape the war with Russia are wondering whether their paths will lead them to the Rocky Mountains. Bu
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) says it has selected mobile network testing solutions from test and measurement giant Rohde & Schwarz to assess and benchmark the performance, coverage and capacity of the country's mobile network operators.

With the goal of improving the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for end users, the test equipment allows BTRC officials to follow an internationally standardized and fully transparent process based on guidelines from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

A huge increase in network traffic and demand has impacted the QoS and QoE of some service providers in Bangladesh. To keep subscribers satisfied and encourage network operators to invest in their infrastructure, the BTRC has initiated a campaign to transparently benchmark and assess operator performance.

BTRC has selected Rohde & Schwarz for the installation, commissioning and supply of the mobile network benchmarking system. The contract includes modular Benchmarker II systems to be set up in vehicles and R&S Freerider 4 backpacks for in-field data collection. In addition, the SmartMonitor solution supports remote data collection management and visualization, while SmartAnalytics provides deep data analytics and reporting based on the QoE-centric network performance score (NPS).

Rohde & Schwarz developed the NPS concept, a methodology ratified by ETSI and documented in ETSI TR (technical report) 103 559 to characterize the overall network performance for a defined key performance indicator (KPI).
An executive revealed Cisco is replacing Chinese made equipment in Indian operator infrastructure while exploring the option of opening manufacturing plants in India.

Speaking to The Economic Times, Cisco Asia Pacific and Japan service provider business president Sanjay Kaul, said: "We need alternatives to China and every large company has been dependent on China for manufacturing. We do manufacturing in Mexico and Malaysia."

He added: "Strategically, we want to do it as long as we have the ecosystem that's ready to support. We are seriously looking at the third time in the last five years."

The firm is mulling which products to manufacture in the country through a contract manufacturer in India by leveraging the production-linked incentive government scheme, which was announced by the government in March 20202 to boost domestic manufacturing.

Kaul also said this is a phenomenal opportunity for the country as it needs to build up its manufacturing ecosystem to make it a viable processing hub rivalling Mexico and China among many.

Cisco has the added benefit of being approved as a trusted company by the National Cyber Security Coordinator.


Completing a very busy few days for Intelsat, the satellite operator has added deals in Brazil and Mali to the recently reported Ku-band-related agreement in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In Brazil TIM Brasil says it is expanding its Sky Coverage project to new points in the northern region of the country in partnership with Intelsat.

One of the objectives of the project, which currently has more than 1,000 sites, is to bring connectivity sustainably through off-grid sites to more distant areas of Brazil, where there is a deficit in electricity grid infrastructure.

TIM created the Sky Coverage project to cover districts, localities, highways and resorts, also using satellite connection in remote areas. This solution extends the reach of networks faster than terrestrial alternatives. The project also expands connectivity for the agribusiness sector, especially for equipment and investments in the Internet of Things (IoT).

As Marco Di Costanzo, director of Network Engineering at TIM Brasil, puts it: Today we have the largest satellite backhaul in Latin America to support us in the expansion of 4G from north to south of the country. We want to support Brazil in digital inclusion with the Sky Coverage project and for that, we have important partners, such as Intelsat, with whom we work especially in the northern region.

Intelsat has also been selected by Orange Mali, the leading mobile network operator in the country, to bring 3G and 4G connectivity to hard-to-reach areas in Mali, the eighth-largest country in Africa.

The agreement marks a first in Francophone West Africa  the successful deployment of 4G networks over satellite, judged to be the optimal solution given the size of the country and the logistics involved.
Saudi Arabian operator Zain KSA has announced its launch of a 5G local area network (5G LAN). This, it says, makes it the first operator in the Middle East and North Africa to adopt the technology. It made the announcement during MWC 2022.

Zain KSA says it will provide its subscribers, mainly in the business sector, with a virtual local 5G network fully reliant on 5G standalone (5G SA) technology, supporting an unmatched modern, reliable and secure experience regardless of the number of connected devices and the nature of network connections.

By providing a 5G LAN experience, Zain KSA says it will define the requirements of its B2B subscribers through utilizing futuristic 5G use cases and applications over the mobile network.

It adds that 5G LAN technology will eliminate businesses need for costly hardware investments and relevant maintenance contracts as well as their need to build and develop an independent local network.

By deploying 5G standalone technology, Zain KSA says it is consolidating its B2B portfolio, providing Internet of Things services, robotic services, artificial intelligence services, drones and augmented reality.

Zain KSAs 5G network extends across Saudi Arabia with more than 5,000 towers delivering reliable, high-quality connectivity with high speeds that, the company says, are among the fastest in the world.
Following news that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe V. Wade, pro-choice protesters took to the streets of Moscow, and Planned Parenthood officials want to remind people that its health centers are still open and abortion services are currently legal.
By Azernews





By News Center

Foreign Minister Cavusoglu has stated that Turkey has banned the Russian warships from entering the Black Sea.

Cavusoglu made the remarks in light of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict during a live broadcast on Haberturk TV on March 1, according to Yeni Shafak. Yeni Shafak reported.

He stated that Russia intended to pass its warships through the straits (Dardanelles, Bosporus) on February 27-28. However, Ankara asked Russia to withdraw its request to pass through the straits its warships that are not registered in the Black Sea fleet, and the Moscow administration agreed, he added.

Cavusoglu emphasized that the passage of ships to the Black Sea by non-riparian countries, their stay in the Black Sea, and total tonnage are governed by the Montreux Convention (1936), and Turkey is required to apply the convention's 19th article (preventing warships from passing through the straits) in the event of war.

There is one exception: if the warship wishes to return to its registered base in the Black Sea, Turkey cannot prevent its passage, he said.

Cavusoglu underlined that three Russian warships out of four that wanted to pass through the straits were not registered to Black Sea bases, and thus their access was denied by Turkey..

Turkeys stance in conflict

Cavusoglu stated that tensions between Russia and Ukraine, as well as between Russia and the West, are rising.

He emphasized that Turkey is very interested in continuing the dialogues between the parties and communicates with both sides about this.

A day before Russia's attack on Ukraine, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed his desire to bring the two leaders together. Putin also stated that he would think about the offer.

Cavusoglu stated that Russia's intervention in Donbass region was predictable, but the scale of the attack on Ukraine stunned the entire world.

"It is difficult to make an exact prediction about the war. Russia intended to seize key cities in a short period of time. This was our concern in Libya, especially when the conflict devolved into a street war. If the attack on Tripoli had not been halted, it would have escalated into a street war. You never know when the street battle will be over. Of course, once the war began, we made great efforts to bring it to a close and establish a cease-fire," Cavusoglu stressed.

He stated that if the war continues, Turkey will work to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire. The relevant initiatives have been presented to the parties and the international community, the foreign minister said.

Cavusoglu stated that Turkey has suggested that Russia and Ukraine begin negotiations in any location that is convenient for both countries. Ukraine preferred Istanbul, and Turkey was willing to host the meeting. The first meeting, however, was held on the Belarussian side of the border, he added.

We are currently meeting with the parties, getting general information. We know that nothing came out of the first meeting. The messages received from there were carried to the level of leaders, to the capitals. They're trying to lay the groundwork for the second meeting. We would like it to happen, but it seems that tomorrow's [March 2] meeting may be postponed for a day or two. From now on, we want the negotiations to be result-oriented. There must be a negotiation that will result in a ceasefire, Cavusoglu stressed.

He emphasized that Turkey is under no obligation to take sides in the conflict. As a NATO member, Turkey follows and contributes to NATO decisions while maintaining a principled stance.

Despite the differences of opinion, we are the country that has developed cooperation with both countries. When there is a war we don't have to take sides; on the contrary, we are the country that can establish a dialogue on both sides in order to end the war. We don't have the luxury of taking sides. If something is wrong, we have to say it. Russia's attack is a violation of international law. There are humanitarian dramas right now. No matter who makes these mistakes, we will say it openly. We have demonstrated our principled stance in other crises as well, Cavusoglu underlined.

He stressed that Turkey does not want the negotiation process to be broken and seeks a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Speaking about the sanctions imposed on Russia's economy, Cavusoglu said that they affect the EU and other countries as well.

He underlined that the government examines the sanction decisions one by one and their impact on the Turkish economy and energy security, as well as the airspace.

We did not participate in the sanctions in principle; we have no inclination to participate. There was no demand or pressure to Turkey in this regard, Cavusoglu added.

Evacuation of Turkish citizens

Cavusoglu noted that on February 12, Turkey issued a warning to its citizens to leave Ukraine's eastern regions, and on February 22, Turkish Airlines arranged additional flights to evacuate the people. However, due to a lack of sales, the flights were canceled. Approximately 5,000 Turkish citizens left Ukraine with the warnings up until the start of the war, he added.

Cavusoglu emphasized that, following the closure of Ukrainian airspace, citizens are being evacuated by trains and buses.

"As of today, we had evacuated 5,850 of our citizens who had set out. These are on their way to the Romanian border. Our buses, which are waiting there, transport our citizens to Bucharest. We spoke with Turkish Airlines in Bucharest and made our arrangements," he explained.

Cavusoglu added that over 8,000 Turkish citizens had been evacuated from Odessa and that the figure was constantly changing. The government is in constant contact with Ukrainian authorities in order to arrange evacuation trains, but a departure date is difficult to obtain. Citizens must heed announcements made by the Turkish government and diplomatic missions in this regard, he said.

The foreign minister stated that contacts with Russian officials regarding the evacuation of Turkish citizens had been made. He emphasized that buses have been arranged to transport citizens to Russia's Rostov airport in order for them to fly with Turkish Airlines.
National Beta members from Rehobeth Elementary School are celebrating their recent participation in the Alabama Junior Beta State Convention. They were announced as winners of the following competitions:

1st Place-Champion

Songfest

Group Talent

Quiz Bowl Written

Quiz Bowl Oral

Book Battle

Technology

3D Design

Portfolio

Speech-Katie Whitehead

4th grade Science-Lily Tyson

Sculpture-Palmer Rachel

Best in Show-Visual Arts-Palmer Rachel

2nd Place

Living Literature

Robotics

Marketing & Communications

Woodworking-Jonah Trawick

2D Design

3rd Place

Digital Art-Sarah Ann Jones

Drawing-Emmie Whillock

Recyclable Art-Wyatt Roland

5th grade Social Studies-Wesley Murphy

Creative Writing-Jayden Williams

4th Place

4th grade Math-Jason Spallino

Poetry-Jayden Williams

5th Place

Service Learning Showcase

Painting-Paisley Hansen

Premiere Performer-Braylor Dunn

National Beta State Convention allows students the opportunity to compete in various academic and STEM-based, virtual and performing arts competitions. This year, State Convention was offered as a hybrid event. This gave students the opportunity to compete either virtually or onsite at the BJCC, Birmingham depending on their level of comfort.

These victories at the state level provide an opportunity to compete at the national level. National Convention will be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tennessee during Summer 2022.

The Rehobeth Elementary School Beta Club was founded in October 2015. It is comprised of students in both 4th and 5th grades.

In order to become a member of the Beta Club at Rehobeth Elementary a student must maintain ALL A HONOR ROLL status for the entire school year and also score an A on the Leadership & Character Evaluation form. Once a member the students must remain in good standing by keeping All As and Character as well as participating in club leadership and service opportunities.

The club sponsors are Holly Seales (current AL Jr State Sponsor), Brittney Layton, and Tina Allen. Additional Team coaches include Elizabeth Terry, Ashley Murphy, and Nikki Anderson

With more than 500,000 active members and 8,750 clubs nationally and internationally, National Beta has become the nations largest independent, non-profit, educational youth organization.

National Beta promotes the ideals of academic achievement, character, service and leadership among elementary and secondary school students. National Junior Beta includes grades 4-8 and National Senior Beta includes grades 9-12. Visit betaclub.org for more information.
NASCAR owner and Hall of Famer Richard Childress told Fox News yesterday that he will donate a million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine forces fighting off the Russian invasion.

Childress said during an interview on Fox & Friends with Brian Kilmeade and Joey Jones that he heard Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy say he didnt want out, he needed ammunition.

Childress said he contacted his good friend Fred Wagenhals, chairman of AMMO, Inc.

Childress said he told Wagenhals, Fred, weve got to help these people. They need ammunition and he stepped right up.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Childress is a former NASCAR driver and now owner of Childress Racing. After he retired from driving, NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt signed on with his team. Earnhardt died in a crash on the last lap of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18, 2001. Childress was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2016.

Childress told Kilmeade yesterday, This is a wake-up call for America, why we have our second amendment. ... Its terrible to see the lives that are being lost over there. I felt that with AMMo we were doing the right thing and we are going to get that ammunition as quick as we can to them.

Childress said they are working with a private company to get the ammunition to the Ukrainians.

***

PHOTO GALLERY

2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit pennlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Workers struggle to make ends meet in the aftermath of Covid

Meager wages that have not been raised for years and soaring healthcare expenses amid the pandemic mean many workers are struggling to achieve basic living standards.

My Hieu, 30, a worker at a Ho Chi Minh City factory, burst into tears when she heard overtime was being cut.

She left her hometown three years ago, and now works for electronics manufacturer Nidec Vietnam at the Saigon Hi-tech Park.

She and her husband, 32, earn a total of VND14 million ($614) month if they work 12-hour shifts for 22 days, which include 2.5 hours overtime a day.

Rent and utilities cost them VND2.5 million a month, and they pay their landlord another VND2 million to take care of their daughter while they are working. The rest is spent on food, gasoline, their daughters school fees, and other expenses.

Workers houses in Linh Xuan ward, Thu Duc, HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tuyet

They make ends meet by working overtime and not getting sick. Without overtime pay, their income falls to VND10 million.

"Our basic salary has not increased for two years," Hieu said. During the fourth wave of Covid-19, their factory cut overtime, leaving the couple in tears.

Their family is hardly the only one struggling to make ends meet.

Citing the Anker living wage methodology, Dr Do Quynh Chi, head of the Research Center for Employment Relations (ERC), said in 2020 a minimum salary of VND7.5 million was required for workers in HCMC to achieve reasonable living standards for themselves and their families.

But most workers only get paid 7-10 percent higher than the minimum wage for working eight-hour shifts (minimum salary in cities is VND4.42 million), which is not adequate, another ERC survey showed.

Workers at Pouyuen Vietnam attend manicure courses in the hope of earning extra. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tuyet

To make ends meet, workers have to work overtime. But this is hardly a satisfactory arrangement since, then, they have to pay for others to take care of their children and the overwork affects their health, costing them medical expenses.

A recent survey by the HCMC Confederation of Labor found that the average wage of women working in the textile and garment industry is VND6.8 million a month, but 20 percent of them earn less than VND5 million.

Forty two percent said they struggle to maintain reasonable living standards on their current incomes, and so do not save much money.

Workers also frequently borrow from friends and families, even loan sharks, to make ends meet.

"The delay in adjusting minimum wages is hurting workers," head of the Institute of Workers and Trade Union (IWTU) Vu Minh Tien said, adding that they are the backbone of the economy but do not get a fair deal for their contribution.

An IWTU survey showed that most workers have to work two to four hours overtime daily to earn enough for living. Without that, they have to resort to side jobs to supplement their income.

My Hieu and her husband, while waiting for their salaries to improve, want to work overtime every day to earn more.

Getting VND10 million to repay her mother is her short-term goal, but she no longer wants to work in the city.

"Ill return with my family to my hometown in a few years and find a local factory to work in or work on my familys land".
Experts of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) at the scene where a bomb is found in Quang Binh Province, March 2, 2022. Photo by Vietnam News Agency

Bomb disposal experts removed a 230-kg bomb left from the Vietnam War near a residential area in the central Quang Binh Province Wednesday.

Experts from Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a U.K.-based non-governmental organization that assists people affected by landmines, unexploded ordnance, and small arms and light weapons, were sent to Truong Giang Village in Le Thuy District following an order from Quang Binh Military Command.

The bomb was found at a construction site that lies around one kilometer from a residential area, Vietnam News Agency reported.

It was buried 50 centimeters underground and detected by an excavator driver, who immediately reported the situation to local authorities.

As confirmed by experts, the bomb of 230 kilograms still has explosives left inside.

It has been safely moved to a warehouse where it will be destroyed in line with existing rules.

Since the war ended in 1975, more than 40,000 people have been killed and 60,000 injured due to unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Vietnam.

The area of land contaminated with UXO in the country remains large, at 5.6 million hectares, or 17.7 percent of its total land area, heard a meeting to conclude the National Action Program for Overcoming the Impact of Post-War Bombs and Mines in Hanoi last month.

In 2010-2020, almost 50,000 hectares had been cleared from UXO at a total cost of more than VND12.6 trillion ($551.8 million), with over VND10.4 trillion derived from Vietnam's budget and the rest from non-refundable foreign aid.
Two bottles of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine in Connecticut, the U.S., April 2021. Photo by AFP

The health ministry on Thursday extended the expiry date of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from seven to nine months under storage of minus 25 to minus 15 degrees Celsius.

The extended expiry date apply to Moderna batches imported into Vietnam from Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said.

"The update on expiry date does not change the vaccine's quality, safety and effectiveness," the ministry said, adding that the extension is applied globally by Moderna, not just in Vietnam.

The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use by the health ministry in June 2021.

A standard course is two 100 mcg doses given 28 days apart and to people aged 12 and above. A booster shot for adults contains 50 mcg of the vaccine.

By Feb. 25, the health ministry had received and distributed over 14 million Moderna vaccine doses.

The health ministry has also extended the expiry date of the Pfizer and Cuban Abdala vaccines from six to nine months.
Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang said this at a Thursday press meet in response to an inquiry about the status of the visa exemption policy that was in force before the Covid-19 pandemic prompted its suspension and the nation to close its borders in March 2020.

The question was asked in the context of Vietnam fully reopening its borders to inbound tourism starting March 15.

Hang said the ministry's proposal aimed at contributing to socio-economic recovery and development, strengthening international integration in new normal times, and creating favorable conditions for trade between Vietnam and other countries and territories.

The ministry proposed implementing regulations on the granting of visas and visa exemptions in line with the provisions of the Law on Foreigners' Entry Into, Exit From, Transit Through, and Residence in Vietnam, as well as other guidance documents on quarantine and other entry restrictions.

The ministry has recommended that the country resumes its bilateral visa exemption policy as per international treaties and agreements with countries on the basis of reciprocity, abolishing the requirement for personnel approval and local isolation.

The ministry has also asked that the unilateral visa exemption policy with 13 countries, Belarus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K., be resumed.

"Once these measures are adopted, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide the information so that people, businesses and foreigners can quickly learn these updates for implementation," Hang said.

Vietnam has added one more partner, Singapore, to the list of countries it has a mutual vaccine passport acceptance agreement with. The previous 14 partners are Australia, Belarus, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Maldives, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, Palestine, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the U.S, and the U.K.
By Azernews





By Burak Dogan

Turkeys Defence Industries Presidency has begun testing domestic TCG Anadolu warship, Yeni Shafak has reported.

The multi-purpose amphibious assault ship - TCG Anadolu - underwent sea trials at the Sedef Shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul, the report added.

"The TCG Anadolu, which we built, was exposed to the anchor area from the dock and returned to us after the successful test," Sedef Shipyard said in a statement.

After TCG Anadolu is accepted into the Turkish Armed Forces' inventory, it is expected that many domestic systems will be used.

A naval platform version of the ATAK-2 project is being developed in addition to airpower. Furthermore, 10 AH-1W attack helicopters transferred from the Land Forces to the Navy are expected to remain on board until the project is completed.

National aircraft such as unmanned combat aerial vehicles and the Hurjet are also being considered for service on the ship. TCG Anadolu will be Turkey's first and largest aircraft carrier once these studies are completed. The 232-meter-long, 32-meter-wide ship is expected to be added to the fleet by the end of 2022.

When the CG Anadolu enters the inventory, it will take over the title of "Flagship of the Turkish Navy" from the TCG Kemalreis Frigate. The ship was designed by Sedef Shipyard and is based on the Spanish Juan Carlos class. In the ship's construction, Sedef Shipyard collaborates with the Spanish Navantia Shipyard.
Different groups of Vietnamese people living in Poland have acted with urgency to help people fleeing the military conflict in Ukraine.

After Russia announced the launch of a "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine on Feb 24, several hundred thousand people fled to neighboring countries.

Poland has been a key destinations in the exodus.

Tran Anh Tuan, President of the Vietnamese Association in Poland, told VnExpress International that there were different groups of Vietnamese nationals who have supported people coming to Poland from Ukraine. Most of the supporters live in Warsaw, which is around 400 km from the Ukraine border.

In the Polish capital city, the Vietnamese community has actively contributed to various campaigns organized by the local authorities, providing food, water, warm clothes, medicine and other necessities including money for the needy in border areas.

"They are also organizing separate trucks to bring goods that they have collected to the border for people entering from Ukraine," Tuan said.

Vietnamese groups are also using their private vehicles and waiting at border gates to transport people from Ukraine to public shelters, including churches or destinations where they can stay temporarily.

Information about these efforts are mainly exchanged and coordinated on social media.

People fleeing Ukraine stand in line at the border crossing, waiting for entry into Poland, in Shehyni, Ukraine, February 27, 2022. Photo by Reuters/Bryan Woolston

Le Huu Cuong, a Vietnamese resident of Poland, said he has participated in collecting relief goods and loading them on to trucks. He also accompanied trucks to the border for delivering the goods to people coming from Ukraine.

On March 1, he reached the Zosin border gates but Polish border guards asked them not to come close because of the security situation. So his team moved to the Hrebenne border gate, which is 80 km from the first gate.

Cuong said he was saddened at seeing women and kids cold, hungry and exhausted after long journeys from different cities in Ukraine. When he gave them bread, many people burst into tears and hugged him. He also felt proud saying "I am Vietnamese" when Ukraine border guards asked where he was from and thanked his team. They were guided by Polish border guards to provide the relief items on Ukraine territory.

Le Huu Cuong (L) poses for a photograph with a Ukraine border guard. Photo by Le Huu Cuong

Identifying himself as Kim, another Vietnamese resident said hed visited different locations near the border, including villages and cities of Medyka, Przemysl, Zamosc and Chelm to assist people entering Poland.

He helped young Vietnamese people to set up camps, find local people living near the border who could provide temporary shelter for supporters to sleep in alternating shifts. Kim said he was worried on seeing people exhausted and in panic on the other side of the border, and felt relieved as more and more people crossed over.

Receiving continuous messages and calls day and night, Kim said he was tired too, but still tried to help as much as he could.

"I hope that we can assist displaced people have the strength to overcome difficulties caused by the war."

Language services

Besides providing food and other necessities at various borders for whoever they met, Kim said his team also helped Vietnamese people who could not speak Polish to complete immigration procedures by interpreting for them in conversations with border guards, guided them to find trains to destinations in Poland and found Vietnamese families who could pick them up and offer short term stays.

Nguyen Duc Thao, 60, said he was not healthy enough to travel and was choosing to stay at home, providing translation and other guidance via social networks for those who contacted him.

Thao said he and his team used their phones to assist Vietnamese people explain their situation to border guards as also information about their places of departure and alternative ways to register if theyd lost personal documents when fleeing from homes in Ukraine.

Thao said Vietnamese requests for help have been increasing since Feb 27, when Russia and Ukraine reached no positive agreement in dialogue to decrease tensions.

Most of the fleeing Vietnamese made their way to Medyka where they could find vehicles to go into Poland more easily than other border gates, he added.

With various apps, Thao received messages and calls for help from Vietnamese people who were in Ukraine. He said he could not remember how many people he'd helped. Some of them informed him that they crossed the border gate and some could not because they did not have sim cards that are active in Poland.

Providing assistance even as he operated his own business for a living, Thao said he tried to stay up till 1 a.m. and wake up early to do what he had to do. There were times he felt exhausted, but continued to try and help people because he had experienced the wretchedness of war when he was in Vietnam late 1970s. He saw himself as just a cog in a "machine of support" operated by the Vietnamese community in Poland.

Thao hoped that displaced people from Ukraine will receive assistance on a larger scale from the Polish government.

"I will keep assisting them as long as needed."

Seeking new home

Cuong said he could not forget one Vietnamese woman who he met at the border gate. She said shed just bought a house in Kiev after working hard for a long time, but it had been destroyed in the war.

She was 50 and wondering how she would build a new life in a new country.

Cuong felt many people would need assistance in the coming time, and he will continue to participate in the effort to find work for people wanting to settle down in Poland.

Working at the Thien Phuc Temple in Warsaw, Nguyen Quoc Phuong said that after a private trip to the Dorohusk border gate late February to give relief goods, he was now focusing on finding accommodation for Vietnamese people coming from Ukraine.

He has welcomed some at his own house and plans to bring more to the temple.

"I do not have a long term plan yet, but I will arrange accommodation and jobs as much as I can."

Nguyen Quoc Phuong (C) hosts Vietnamese from Ukraine at his home, March 2, 2022. Photo courtesy of Nguyen Quoc Phuong

Tuan said that his association was working closely with various groups to provide additional support and compiling a list to cooperate with the Vietnamese Embassy in Poland for providing legal assistance. They will draw up separate lists of people who need to find jobs in Poland and those who wish to return to Vietnam for submission to the embassy.

"We will need to make a more detailed plan of support as the number of Vietnamese people coming from Ukraine may increase."

On March 2, Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that several hundred Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine have been helped to go to other countries, over 200 came to Moldova (en route Romania), 140 to Poland, 70 to Romania and 30 to Hungary.
In another two weeks Vietnam will fully reopen to tourists. It will be a major milestone, coming two years after the coronavirus stopped all international travel.

It means businesses will be able to receive tourists without any restrictions. We have been waiting too long for this.

But will it be all that easy? Is there something we are missing?

Reopening to international tourism means Vietnam will compete with regional rivals who began the task of reviving their tourism industry months ago. Without an initial boost from outstanding coronavirus management  our current efforts do not match our stellar efforts in the past  we need to face the competition with what we have right now.

Looking at how Thailand geared up to jump start its tourism industry post-Covid, I cannot but worry for Vietnam.

Unlike us, Thailand began to receive foreign tourists all the way back in July 2021 under its Phuket Sandbox program.

Despite the coronavirus still being a threat, Thailand has gained valuable lessons on how to revive the industry.

Within a span of two months over 28,000 tourists visited Phuket alone, bringing with them at least US$48 million.

The country then quickly replicated the model in other regions and gradually revived tourism starting in February through the Test&Go program.

It also shifted its focus to high-end tourists and even geared long-term residency programs toward those with high incomes, retired people and foreign experts. This was Thailand's game plan to catch up with a post-Covid world.

Vietnam meanwhile allowed its first international tourists to visit Phu Quoc Island in November 2021 before expanding to Khanh Hoa and Quang Nam provinces. By January however we had only received around 8,900 visitors.

Vietnam used to be a prime tourist destination and was even hailed as a "miracle" in the 2016-19 period.

We had a record 18 million foreign visitors in 2019 and 85 million domestic tourists, with the industry raking in around VND720 trillion ($31.5 billion). Those numbers put us among the 10 fastest growing tourism markets in the world.

But despite all that there were still things that needed to be fixed: like our overdependence on a small number of markets, low-quality personnel and ineffective marketing.

We know what needs to be done, but the demand to bounce back quickly leaves us little room to resolve these problems immediately.

I hope the two-year break served our tourism industry well, allowing us to prepare for its growth and redesign models and systems to help compete better in the new market.

The numerous conferences and meetings I have attended in the last two years also touched on the subject of reviving tourism, but they all stopped at conversations and drafts, and none managed to address the problems.

We have two weeks left until the reopening, but will we be ready? Especially when there are still so many variables and so many things left to be done.

There is only one way to find out.

*Dang Manh Phuoc is a Vietnamese businessman. The opinions expressed are his own.
Foreigners objected to a Health Ministry's proposal that tourists present negative PCR test result upon arrival and take up to three more tests during three days of self quarantine.

"That's not going to help revive tourism! And won't in any way help control the massive levels of covid already in Vietnam."

Lisa Milligan

"Vietnam is going to isolate itself from the tourism market. No tourist is going to travel to Vietnam to take FOUR (!!!) Covid tests. Sri Lanka dropped the testing requirement yesterday completely. I really think that Vietnam does not want to have tourists. Just go on with these restrictions - I canceled my vacation in Vietnam today and booked Thailand instead. This is so completely out of this world, it is unbelievable. By the way - if there are 100,000 new infections daily without any tourists, do they really think testing tourists EACH DAY is going to change anything? What are they thinking?"

Wohnungsgesuch

"No one will come with these rules. Thailand already tried a less strict version of this and it didn't work, which is why Thailand only requires a PCR test on the first day now. Fewer than 1 percent of tourists to Thailand tested positive. Even if you had 100,000 tourists arriving every day, that would be less than 1,000 positive cases, which is a tiny drop in the bucket compared to hundreds of thousands of local cases."

kahaxid843

"Vietnam has recorded 110,000 new cases today. Tourists from foreign countries that are not seeing these kinds of daily cases from larger countries are now going to be required to quarantine for three days. To enter a country that the omicron virus is exploding. There is still absolutely no guidance for tourist visas for March 15 and beyond. Unfortunately, I had planned my vacation to Vietnam way too early figuring that I would be able to get a tourist Visa in time for my March 31 flight. Apparently, I may have to cancel my trip."

Wayne Crozier

"All I have to do now is cancel my plane ticket. Half the stay in solitary confinement in a hotel, no thanks. I literally feel scammed. Honestly... if the regulations change every week let us know when the country is actually open. And it is still unclear how to pass the Covid test once at the hotel, or which hotel plans to accommodate tourists who must pass this test. How to make it more complicated and off-putting?"

Baptoine J

"Unless you NEED to come to Vietnam simply go to other destinations that have more user-friendly arrival procedures. It's a holiday remember... not an ordeal of tests, lockups and hurdle jumping. The definite vibe on all travel forums, blogs & FB sites is to follow the path of least resistance. Thailand is realizing this and now Bali has finally figured it out."

swander77

"1. Tourists will accept no more than one day of testing. This would kill the whole plan.

2. WHAT ON EARTH is the point of avoiding a few imported cases when Omicron is already raging massively through a country of nearly 100 million?"

ronronbox
Germany has removed 60 countries and territories from its list of high-risk Covid areas, including Vietnam based on the spread of the Omicron variant.

"With the widespread occurrence of the Omicron variant, the probability of this variant to have a severe course is shown to be less compared to the previous prevalent variants, therefore, no areas will be considered as high-risk areas," the German public health institution Robert Koch Institute stated.

Starting from Thursday, tourists from Vietnam arriving in Germany would be exempt from 10-day home quarantine and skip online medical declaration.

However, all travelers aged 12 or over must present a negative test result or certificates proving they have been fully vaccinated or recovered from Covid.

Germany added Vietnam to its high-risk Covid list of countries and territories in August last year.

As many as 78.9 percent of Vietnams 98-million population have received two vaccine doses.

In the latest wave that hit the country in late April, Vietnam has recorded over 3.63 million cases and 40,000 deaths.
A Russian tourist wearing the Vietnamese non la (conical hat) arrives in Cam Ranh Airport, Khanh Hoa Province, on December 26, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Xuan Ngoc

The Russian government has listed Vietnam among current safe tourist destinations without any restrictions along with China, Egypt, India, Tunisia, Turkey, and the UAE.

The recommendations announced by the Federal Agency for Tourism of Russia on March 2 came as the U.S. and many European countries closed their airspaces to Russian flights and imposed sanctions on Moscow following the war in Ukraine.

Russian authorities have advised their citizens not to travel to countries that have imposed sanctions and restrictions on it since they could be barred from returning home in a timely and safe manner.

The Russian tourism agency believed that some destinations, including several Latin American countries, will no longer be available to Russian tourists due to airspace restrictions.

From March 15, Vietnam will fully reopen inbound tourism, with foreign tourists allowed to visit the country without booking tour packages.

In 2019, the year before the onset of the Covid pandemic, Vietnam received a record 646,000 tourists from Russia, making it the sixth largest tourism source market after mainland China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S.
ELKO  An Ohio truck driver was killed when his rig collided with another semi on Interstate 80 near Wells.

Details of the Feb. 8 crash were released Wednesday by Nevada State Police.

Preliminary investigation determined a tractor-trailer rig had experienced a mechanical failure and was disabled on the right shoulder about two miles east of Wells, with the rear of its trailing unit partially in the travel lane.

Edwin Jones, 41, of Cincinnati was driving west at approximately 3:26 p.m. when, for unknown reasons, his 2021 Kenworth rig struck the rear of the disabled vehicle.

Unfortunately, the driver of the white Kenworth was not restrained and was ejected as his vehicle struck the parked commercial vehicle, stated NSP. He succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

Both vehicles came to rest upright and were blocking all westbound travel lanes. I-80 remained closed to westbound traffic for several hours.

The crash is still being investigated by the Nevada Highway Patrol Northern Command East Multi-Disciplinary Investigation and Reconstruction Team. If you were a witness to this incident, or have any information regarding the crash, please contact Trooper Mitchell Payne of the NHP Elko Office at 775-753-1111. Reference case No. 2202-00486.

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ELKO  Local artists have set up a fund to help a photographer get his wife and children out of war-torn Ukraine.

Irakli Dzneladze is one of two photographers from the Republic of Georgia who showed their work at Northeastern Nevada Museum in 2019. He and his family have since moved to Ukraine, although he was in Georgia when the war broke out last week.

The situation is very difficult, Dzneladze wrote to Cynthia Delaney via Facebook Messenger on Feb. 25. My family met the New Year in (Republic of) Georgia. I built a house in the village and made plans to start an art residence this year. But, Putin changed everything. My family is in Ukraine, Im stuck in Georgia. My daughters were in bomb shelter yesterday at night and in the morning.

The girls, age 6 and 8, are still in Shepetovka, a central Ukrainian city, with their mother.

Delaney said many local residents made friends with Dzneladze and Giorgi Nakashidze in the summer of 2019 when they were invited to show their work at the museum.

They had never traveled outside Europe, so coming to the United States was a very big honor for them, Delaney said. They flew into Las Vegas just to see it. Elkoans picked them up and escorted them to our town. The two were special guests here and treated like royalty. They toured the town, ate dinner at the Star, visited local ranches, attended the fair and horse races, and marveled at our lifestyle.

The trip was sponsored by Jonas and Betsy Dovydenas, friends and longtime patrons of the museum, which has a permanent collection of Jonas photography.

They brought gifts of Georgian wine and other generous offerings, Delaney said. The grand finale of the entire tour was a trip to Burning Man, a lifelong dream for Dzneladze.

Dzneladzes wife is Ukrainian and they decided to move to there last year for work purposes. It seemed like a great opportunity.

Fast forward to last week and the story has taken a bitter turn.

I have Covid and Im waiting when I get better and I will get to Poland, Dzneladze wrote last Friday. He has since recovered and has a March 3 ticket to a city in Poland. From there he will try to arrange safe transport for his family. He has no idea how costly this will be.

I dont know how to convey whats going on, Dzneladze said. The price of a ticket to Poland is $1,000, theres no gasoline and there are more than 200,000 people at the border.

The only thing for me is to get to my family and take care of our life and then I hope everything will be sorted out little by little.

In the meantime, friends Catherine Wines, Simone Turner and Delaney have helped set up an emergency fund at Elko Federal Credit Union.

Anyone can help by going to the Elko Federal Credit Union and donating to Help Irakli Donation Account. They can also mail money to Elko Federal Credit Union, 2397 Mountain City Highway, Elko, NV 89801.

All funds received will be directly wired to Deznaldzes Bank of Georgia account that he will have access to while in Poland.

Please help this Ukrainian/Georgian family, Delaney said.

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Russian invasion of Ukraine: headlines

- Evacuation of Mariupol postponed over accusations of Russia breaking a partial ceasefire that was meant to allow humanitarian corridors out of Mariupol and Volnovakha.

- Ukraine President Zelenskyy condemns decision not to implement no-fly zone

- Russia ready to "bomb cities into submission", intelligence official tells CNN

- Ukraine can "absolutely" prevail over Russia - US secretary of state

- Gas prices in US soar, however 80% of Americas says US should stop importing Russian oil even if that means higher prices at the pump

What you need to know about the conflict

- How can I support the refugees fleeing war in Ukraine?

- China and Russia said their relationship had "no limits." Is the statement still true?

- What would happen if Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant exploded?

- Prolonged attack threatens the global supply of crops

- Zelenskyy, Zelensky or Zelenskiy? Why spelling is important to Ukrainians

- How long can Russia fight in Ukraine?

Related news articles:
The war in Ukraine has been raging for over a week, and Russian hopes of a swift victory have dwindled in the face of stubborn Ukrainian resistance.

Nevertheless progress has been made, especially in the last few days. Announced on March 3 was the fall of Kherson, a port city in southern Ukraine, marking the first major population centre to be captured by the invaders. Other cities are under threat, notably Kharkiv in the east, Mariupol in the south, and Kyiv in the heart of the country.

Kherson has fallen to the Russian military, becoming the first major Ukrainian city to come under Russian control since the invasion last week. The mayor, Igor Kolykhaev, told me he met today with the Russian commander who plans to set up a military administration.  Michael Schwirtz (@mschwirtz) March 2, 2022

Relying on government reports from both sides is not helpful for providing an accurate picture of troop locations. Fortunately, organizations have taken the job upon themselves to verify reports and evidence which can provide as clear a picture as possible.

Mapping troop movements in wartime

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a United States-based think tank, has come into its own during the conflict. The ISW has been referenced in articles from many important western news agencies, including the BBC, and their maps have been reproduced daily that are the best way so far to monitor troop movements.

Latest situation in Ukraine based on reports from Institute for the Study of War pic.twitter.com/Up8OgNM5e7  Fuad Alakbarov  (@DrAlakbarov) March 2, 2022

Kyiv, the capital, is under attack from a large Russian convoy, but there has been little movement since Wednesday. After looking under threat last week, the city is still defended strongly. Fighting is fiercer in other regions of Ukraine.

As of Thursday March 3 2022, Russia is in control on the cities of: Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Melitopol. Under heavy attack are: Kharkiv and Mariupol. The latter has been surrounded and is under a siege that has been described as "like Leningrad," the infamous siege during the Second World War when hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed by German encirclement.

Related stories:

Why is it so difficult to pinpoint troop movements?

It is difficult for news agencies to verify locations of anything in war. It takes time to verify sources. When much of the west is united behind support for Ukraine, it would be detrimental for their army if their location was revealed on the 10pm news in the UK.

The Ukrainian military has made it clear to foreign journalists that they do not want to be filmed for fear of Russian troops begin able to locate them. The same is true of the Russians are nearly all participants of a war. Deception and intelligence are key in a successful campaign, and having units broadcast their positions on news and social media is a problem.
In an impassioned plea to the European Union, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine formally applied for EU membership. The request comes as the Russian forces bombard Ukrainian cities and a military convoy 40 miles long moves toward Kyiv to decapitate the government.

Ukraine currently has an association agreement with the EU to align its economy and deepen political ties which it signed in 2017. In order for the country to become a full member of the trading block, Ukraine must satisfy a series of economic and political conditions before it could enter into negotiations.

Also see:

Ukraine has been striving to join the EU and NATO for years and doing so was added as an amendment to the nations constitution in 2019. By joining the EU, Ukraine must hope that this would secure its borders with Russia. Although many members of the trading bloc are NATO members too, the economic union does not carry a joint military defense component.

Russias military aggression has spurred Georgia to move up submitting its membership application by two years. Likewise, Moldova has said it plans to apply for membership in the coming days, most likely prompted by Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus. The close ally of Putin, whose troops have joined Russian forces invading Ukraine, was in front of a battle map that indicated an incursion into Transnistria, Moldova's own breakaway region backed by Moscow.

 Georgia officially applies for EU membership. pic.twitter.com/PXwc4UpVah  Shalva Papuashvili  (@shpapuashvili) March 2, 2022

Joining the European Union can take years to complete

Hours before the Ukrainian leader signed the formal application for accession to the EU, Zelenskyy released a video appealing for Ukraine's immediate entry through a "new special procedure." He didnt detail what such a procedure would entail but other member states have taken years to finalize the process.

Ukraine would need to meet the Copenhagen criteria which involves bringing its national laws into compliance with those of the EU. Any potential member must have a free-mark economy, judiciary system based on the rule of law and a stable democratic political system. After membership a nation must work toward adopting the euro as its currency as well. Currently only 19 of the 27 EU nations are part of the eurozone monetary union.

Once a country submits an application it given to the European Commission which assesses the applicants ability to meet the Copenhagen criteria. The assessment itself can take more than a year. After the Commission greenlights the process, all members on the European Council must unanimously vote in favor of beginning the negotiation process.

President @ZelenskyyUA signed #EU membership application for #Ukraine. This is the choice of  and Ukrainian people. We more than deserve it. pic.twitter.com/FRhLTfyjvJ  Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) February 28, 2022

Speeding up the process is unlikely

Despite earnest efforts to fight corruption Ukraine has its work cut out to meet the accession criteria. In 2021 it was ranked 122 out of 180 countries on Transparency Internationals Corruption Perception Index. The second lowest score in Europe after Russia. The Heritage Foundation 2022 Index of Economic Freedom placed Ukraine 44th out of 45 European countries, below Russia but just above Belarus.

Five other nations are currently in the process of accession to the EU. They include Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey, which itself has been in negotiations since 2005. Letting Ukraine jump the queue so to speak would be difficult for the EU to explain to those countries which have been working to join the bloc for years.
By Azernews





By Ibrahim Acar

Turkish Airlines Board Chairman Ahmet Bolat has said that the company made a $959 million net profit while earning a $1.4 billion operating profit in 2021, Yeni Shafak has reported

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the company increased its total revenues by 59 percent to $10.7 billion in 2021. Furthermore, the company's profit before interest, depreciation, and tax (which indicates its cash generation potential) was $3.7 billion.

Turkish Airlines outperformed its competitors becoming Europe's largest network carrier with the most flights in 2021. Turkish tourism's fastest recovery in the world supported the companys operations. Turkish Airlines' wide flight network, strong tariff structure and superior hygiene standards were instrumental in quickly overcoming the effects of the pandemic.

Turkish Airlines used its wide-body passenger planes for Turkish Cargo service, turning the crisis period into an opportunity by contributing cargo transportation during the pandemic.

The cargo revenue of the corporation climbed by 125 percent from 2019 to $4 billion in 2021. Turkish Cargo's market share climbed to 5.2 percent in 2021, placing it fifth in the globe (with cargo unit revenues up 28 percent and total cargo revenues up 77 percent). The market share of Turkish Airlines in the world cargo market grew from 1 percent to 5.2 percent since 2011.

We have passed through the most difficult period in the history of world aviation. Except for the regional crises, there has never been a period in history where flights stopped and slowed down like this around the world. I believe that the hardest days have passed and the time has come for our industry to make a fresh start, Bolat stressed.

He stated that the restrictions imposed by the countries and the changes in the flight habits of the passengers during the pandemic seriously affected the company in terms of the number of passengers.

Despite all the negativity, the global crisis caused by the pandemic has enabled us to focus on new horizons with the experience and the opportunities it has brought. We turned the crisis into an opportunity with cargo flights at the point where airline flights stopped and passenger transportation was restricted. We aim to increase our growth with the summer term of 2022," he said.

Bolat added that they aim to exceed the capacity in 2019 with the new points they plan to commission at additional flight points in the North, Central and South America regions.

Bolat stated that the company will employ an additional 1,000 cabin crew and 250 technical personnel in 2022, and additional employment announcements can be made according to the need.

Turkish Airlines General Manager Bilal Eksi stated that they put an additional flight to the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv prior to Russian intervention, but these flights did not attract enough attention from Turkish citizens.

Eksi emphasized that it is Turkish Airlines' national duty to transport the compatriots to Turkey from wherever they are in the globe and that the company is always ready for new responsibilities.
The spelling of the name of Ukraine's president is likely to be different on every website you read. The BBC and AFP has his name down as 'Zelensky', the Guardian and Reuters have it as 'Zelenskiy', while Sky and Al Jazeera are calling him Zelenskyy. (Here on AS USA we go with Zelenskyy). In Ukrainian it's written: .

I dont want Ukraines history to be a legend about 300 Spartans. I want peace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses his country in the face of the Russian invasion. pic.twitter.com/fXZu6igpsr  CNN (@CNN) March 3, 2022

It's not often that a leader of a nation can have so many different versions of their name. Which is the correct spelling? President Volodymyr actually told the press way back in May 2019 how his name was spelt, but the confusion gives an insight into the complexity the Ukrainian language, a problem exacerbated by political tensions that have manifested into the war in the country.

So how is the Ukrainian president's name spelt?

According to the man himself: Zelenskyy. But this wasn't always the case.

Confusion stems from how Zelenskyy used to spell his name. He grew up speaking Russian, with the Latin spelling of his name from Russian being 'Zelenskiy.' In fact, it took until December 2018 for him to act in Ukrainian for the first time, everything prior was in Russian.

However, Zelenskyy made his political image out of a break from the old Ukrainian hierarchy of power, one that had strong links to Russia. The two had been united for hundreds of years until 1991. Thus, it would make sense to mark a break with the traditional power structures in Ukraine with a new, ostensibly Ukrainian-spelling English name to show this to the English-speaking world.

Related stories:

Why is the spelling of Zelenskyy's name important?

As alluded to, Ukraine has been trying to make its mark on the world by explaining what it isn't: Russian. Something that has been prominent in the last week of the war is how English language media has also been adapting with the changing view of Ukraine with a key part of this being spelling.

One language switch that readers may have noticed is the change of spelling from 'Kiev' to 'Kyiv', with the former being the Russian language translation of . Other cities have been changed, 'Kharkov' has become 'Kharkiv' as another example.

What these changes in language represent is a fundamental shift in the way Ukraine is portrayed internationally. Far from being a Russian stooge as their Belorussian neighbours are, the English language spellings mark the country as distinctly Ukrainian on the international stage.

Pretty hard to watch this interview with @ZelenskyyUa



pic.twitter.com/xW5V0sD63Q  Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) March 3, 2022

Many older readers may acknowledge an old way of speaking of the country as 'The Ukraine,' in terms of a Cold War territory, and this slight change further shows the tweaks that have been making Ukraine and its language unique and, perhaps more importantly, distinct from Russian or Soviet ideas of the land.

The war has the eyes of the world's media fixed firmly upon Ukraine. It will be no consolation for a people fighting for survival, but acknowledgment from the world that, finally, Ukraine is not discussed in terms of Russian choosing, will be a source of pride from Ukrainians upon the termination of the war.
Milagre Abel Massingue was piloting a drone on his farm in Xai Xai city in southern Mozambique. He set up pre-mapped routes on his cell phone, and the drone started to spray pesticides accordingly.

The buzzing machine does farmwork more precisely and efficiently than the 44-year-old farmer could do alone. With the help of the China-developed BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), it could spray pesticides over about one hectare of farmland per hour, 25 times faster than manual operation.

While technological innovation nurtures modern agriculture, it has changed the life of Massingue and many other farmers on the Wanbao Mozambique rice farm. Through high-tech innovations such as the BDS, the farm has seen a 13.6-percent increase in crop yield in the last three years.

"I like what we have been doing here," said Massingue, a father of three, who has moved to a cement dwelling from a thatched roof house and sent his eldest son to college. "We are living a decent life because we managed to earn something through this project."

The Mozambican farm is just one of many projects in which China shares its technology with its worldwide partners to stimulate economic vitality. Rewards are reaped on both sides.

Over the past decade, China has stepped up technology innovation to power growth, both domestically and globally, practicing "Xiconomics," the economic philosophy of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The BDS eyes rapid development for various industrial applications in China. It is also used for land mapping, transportation, disaster relief and mitigation, precise agriculture, forestry and small ports in over 120 countries and regions.

The Chinese president has reiterated that innovation is the basis for the development of productive forces, said Diego Pautasso, visiting professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

"China's modernization is a case of great success in this direction, producing notable effects in improving people's living conditions," he said.

ECONOMIC ARTERY

About 150 km away from Beijing, a group of engineers use drones to patrol power grids of the ultra-high-voltage (UHV) substation in Baoding city over BDS-defined paths, similar to what Massingue has done on his farm.

The super grids transmitted electricity from a renewable energy farm, about 310 km away from Baoding, and powered the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The grids of UHV projects have greater transmission capacity over long distances and can significantly reduce power losses compared with ordinary power lines.

Using the world's most advanced power transmission technology, the UHV provides a solution to solving resource imbalances in China, the first country to fully grasp the technology and put it into commercial use. It sends excess electricity from China's resources-rich west to the more developed east.

As of 2020, the UHV power projects have delivered 2.1 trillion kWh of electricity since the first station was put into operation in 2009 in China. The technology has not only fostered new engines of economic growth but also helped the country fulfill its carbon commitments by increasing the transmission of electricity generated by green energy.

"China's economy has enjoyed rapid growth over the last few decades," said John McLean, chair of the Institute of Directors for the City of London. "To continue the growth and sustain the momentum, there has been a significant investment in scientific and technological innovation which will increase GDP (gross domestic product) and maintain China as the powerhouse for Asia."

For Xi, innovation should never be developed and applied behind closed doors. "Let the power of innovation drive us to upgrade our economic, energy and industrial structures, and make sure that a sound environment is there to buttress sustainable economic and social development worldwide," said the Chinese leader.

In Brazil, a country also abundant in energy but limited by unequal distribution, a UHV power transmission lane stretching from north to south has significantly met energy needs and enhanced efficiency.

With the help of China, it is delivering electricity to where it is most needed, like an artery of Brazil's economy, bringing benefits to 22 million Brazilians, or 10 percent of the country's population.

"China's cooperation with Brazil in terms of technology and innovation in a variety of sectors has already been helping the development of the Brazilian economy," said Jose Ricardo dos Santos Luz Junior, CEO of Sao Paulo-based company LIDE China.

PEOPLE-CENTERED APPROACH

During the past decade, the Chinese president has been championing a people-centered development philosophy to meet the people's ever-growing needs for a better life.

Innovation in energy transmission is an example of raising living standards. So too is China's flourishing digital economy.

In southwestern China, Guizhou province was once home to the country's biggest poverty-stricken population.

As China was pooling efforts to digitalize its economy, the province was determined to build a big-data industry utilizing its climate and geographical advantages.

Today, the province is among the regions with the most mega-data centers globally. In 2021, the digital economy contributed about 34 percent to Guizhou's GDP and helped lift 9.23 million people out of poverty.

Developing a digital economy is a strategic choice for grasping the new opportunities in the new round of revolution in science and technology and industrial transformation, Xi said when presiding over a study session of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee last year.

"The philosophy of President Xi Jinping about high-quality development through technology innovation can be already seen in China's move by investing a lot on research and development," Luz said.

In the Global Innovation Index, China moved up in the rankings from 14th in 2020 to 12th in 2021 among 132 economies. Regarding efforts to digitalize its economy, China has ranked second in the world for years, according to statistics from the Global Digital Economy Conference.

Meanwhile, with China's help, many developing countries have had their first taste of success in digital transformation with the development of e-commerce. Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, CEO of Africa's leading fintech platform operator M-Pesa Africa, said that secure, stable and innovative technology provided by Chinese companies has transformed millions of lives in Africa.

"As an example for myself, my family is 550 km from Nairobi. And it meant taking a whole day's journey to go and give my mother money every other time," Lopokoiyit said. The technology "changed it all and has been key in driving financial inclusion across the African continent."

From cooperation on soybean breeding with Thailand to collaboration with Europe on optical fibers, from providing communication services via satellite in Algeria to jointly exploring new perspectives on prevention and treatment of cancer in China's space station, China has been honoring its commitments to promoting common prosperity through cooperation on innovations that change the lives of people, like Massingue and Lopokoiyit.

Following Xi's vision for development featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared growth, China has grown its economy in a way that benefits its people and people around the world.

"These development concepts did not emerge from the ether," Xi said, "they came from the domestic and foreign experience of development, and from analysis of both domestic and foreign trends in development."
Vietnamese citizens in Ukraine (Photo: VNA)

She made the remark during the ministry's regular press conference held virtually on March 3, in response to reporters question about the situation of the Vietnamese community in Ukraine and citizen protection work.

In accordance with a Governments official dispatch dated February 26 on protecting Vietnamese citizens and legal entities and issues of concerns in the current situation in Ukraine, Vietnamese ministries, sectors and representative offices in Ukraine and neighbouring countries of Poland, Russia, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia have closely worked together to carry out citizen protection measures, ensuring security and safety, as well as necessary conditions to evacuate Vietnamese citizens from the combat zone and help them return to Vietnam if they want to, the spokesperson said.

Vietnamese representative offices in those countries have operated citizen protection hotlines round the clock to update Vietnamese travelling from Ukraine on safe travel routes; and worked with organisations to receive and support the displaced.

The MoFA has asked relevant authorities of the sides to create a safe corridor and facilitate entry, transit and temporary stay of Vietnamese citizens, as well as provide them with necessities.

As of March 3 afternoon (Vietnam time), most Vietnamese citizens in Kyiv, Odessa and hundreds of people in Kharkov had been evacuated from the battle zone and helped to travel to neighbouring countries.

More than 400 people had arrived in Moldova and were set to move on to Romania; while 600 had reached Poland, 70 others to Romania; about 30 to Slovakia and 50 to Hungary. Vietnamese ambassadors and staff at the embassies had met the citizens and provided them with necessary support, Hang continued.

Representative offices have spared no efforts in assisting the evacuated people with necessary procedures and working with local authorities and Vietnamese organisations to arrange temporary shelters for them.

The MOFA and representative offices are receiving requests from those who want to return to Vietnam to collaborate with relevant ministries, sectors and airlines to promptly arrange flights in tandem with the Governments guidelines, in a humanitarian, swift and safe approach. Information on such flights will be informed to the citizens in a timely, open and transparent manner , the spokesperson affirmed./.
Foreign tourists touring Hoi An ancient town. (Photo: VNA)

According to the article, travelling to distant countries has not been easy for globetrotters in the past two years. However, from mid-March, vaccinated and recovered people will be allowed to enter the popular Southeast Asian holiday destination without quarantine.

It wrote that one of the five reasons why Vietnam is worth visiting is incredibly delicious food. Vietnamese cuisine is one of the tastiest in the world, it wrote, adding that fish and meat are among the main ingredients. But vegetarians need not fear as many restaurants offer meat-free options.

The second is that Vietnam is a country with plenty of sun and beautiful beaches thanks to the long coastline. The author chose Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO-recognised World Heritage Site, and Phu Quoc island as attractive destinations that are worth visiting.

The Mekong Delta is also a reason for Germans to visit Vietnam. According to the article, in order to really experience the tranquility of life in the Mekong Delta, holiday-makers should plan at least three days. The fertile soil allows farmers here to harvest rice three times a year. That's why there are an incredible number of rice fields to admire. A special highlight is Cai Rang floating market where hundreds of wooden boats filled with mangoes, sugar cane and other foods float on the water and people trade their goods.

Other interesting things in Vietnam are narrow streets, old temples and magnificent buildings. A pearl in the heart of Vietnam is the city of Hoi An, as the historic old town is the only one that was not completely destroyed during the war and that is why it was also named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The capital city of Hanoi is also worth a detour, the article wrote, adding that here travellers can see the typical life of the Vietnamese.

The fifth reason, according to the German newspaper, is Vietnams beautiful landscape with green rice terraces and sand dunes. They are advised to visit Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park and Nui Chua National Park if they really want to immerse themselves in nature./.
Zhang Bidi makes coconut carvings with his students in his studio in Qionghai, south China's Hainan Province, Feb. 18, 2022. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

HAIKOU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Wearing masks and overalls, two villagers skillfully drilled holes into coconut shells and used machines to cut them into circular and square pieces.

They are residents of Yushu Village in the city of Wenchang, in the tropical island province of Hainan. In the early years, local people made ends meet by planting vegetables like peppers or by working in big cities.

Thanks to the development of the burgeoning coconut carving industry, villagers do not need to work outside their hometowns any longer. Coconut processing has become a new way to make a living, bringing job opportunities with handsome profits.

The change of Yushu Village is an example of China's efforts to push forward rural vitalization.

China unveiled its "No. 1 central document" for 2022 last week, calling for efforts to be made to develop county-level industries and commerce systems, as well as to encourage rural residents to obtain employment or start businesses locally.

FROM GAMEPADS TO COCONUT LOUDSPEAKERS

In Yushu Village, processed coconut shells are sent to factories that design and make coconut carvings. Zhang Bidi owns one of the factories.

Zhang, 53, was born in the city of Qionghai in Hainan. When he was a kid, his neighbor was a carpenter that was good at coconut carving.

"I developed a deep affection for coconut carvings when I was a child," he recalled.

In 1991, after graduation from high school, Zhang went to the city of Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, and worked in a company making gamepads. Zhang worked years there until 2010 when an idea suddenly crossed his mind.

"Out of nowhere, I had an idea to make a blue-tooth loudspeaker in the shape of a coconut carving," he said. "It proved to be the best idea ever."

Zhang believed that blue-tooth loudspeakers would be popular with the public, and he continued to dig into the industry.

"Coconut shells have high density and have high resonance, so I thought it would be a good business opportunity," he said.

In 2015, Zhang returned to his hometown and launched a coconut carving company with his wife.

CARVING OUT A BRIGHT FUTURE

Zhang said that coconut carvings are a highlight of Hainan's handicrafts and are intangible cultural heritage.

"The problem is that few people know about coconut carvings and the industry scale is still small," said Zhang.

To solve the problem, Zhang set up a research and development studio for coconut carving in 2018.

"I teach 60 students every semester. They can learn coconut carving skills and design, as well as work as interns in my company," he said.

Chen Bolin, 20, graduated from college last year. She works in Zhang's company.

"I joined the company because I was attracted by the coconut carving culture, and I want more people to know about it," said Chen.

Chen and her friends registered a new company several months ago that takes on the design and marketing for the coconut carvings.

Fu Yanzhen, 35, married her husband in Yushu Village. She used to do some part-time jobs in big cities far away from home to make ends meet.

Thanks to the coconut carving industry, she does not need to leave home for work anymore. Instead, she is in charge of coconut shell cutting in her village.

"The job brings me about 3,500 yuan (about 555 U.S. dollars) per month. It is much better than my job before and is closer to my family," Fu said.

Zhang Bidi carves on a coconut shell in his studio in Qionghai, south China's Hainan Province, Feb. 18, 2022. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Zhang Bidi chooses coconut shells for carvings in Yushu Village of Wenchang, south China's Hainan Province, Feb. 18, 2022. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows coconut carvings made by students of Zhang Bidi in Qionghai, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Zhang Bidi (1st R) makes coconut carvings with his students in his studio in Qionghai, south China's Hainan Province, Feb. 18, 2022. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Zhang Bidi carves on a coconut shell in his studio in Qionghai, south China's Hainan Province, Feb. 18, 2022. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

Editor: WXL
The Shenzhou XIII spacecraft and the Long March 2F carrier rocket are moved from a testing facility to a launch tower at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Oct 7, 2021. WANG JIANGBO/FOR CHINA DAILY

China's next-generation rocket designed to carry astronauts will be multifunctional and partly reusable, according to a senior rocket scientist.

Wang Xiaojun, president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the country's major maker of carrier rockets, told an international forum in mid-February that the new rocket, which has yet to be named, will have two models.

The first will consist of a two-stage core booster and will be used to transport astronauts or cargo to China's Tiangong space station, while the other will have a three-stage core booster and multiple side boosters and will be tasked with carrying astronauts to the moon.

The first model will be able to send 14 metric tons of payload to the low-Earth orbit in which the Tiangong station is traveling. The second model will be capable of carrying spacecraft weighing about 27 tons to an Earth-moon transfer trajectory, a gateway for lunar landings, Wang said.

The first two stages of their core boosters will be basically identical while there will be a third stage on the moon-landing rocket, he said.

The first stage of the models will be reusable, Wang said, explaining that the component will have a controlled, powered landing with its own engines and will be captured by a special recovery net.

Wang's remarks were made at the International Symposium on Outlook and Cooperation on Near-Earth Orbit Human Spaceflight on Feb 17 and were published by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp last week.

The virtual conference was co-hosted by the Chinese Society of Astronautics and the International Astronautical Federation.

Chinese space industry engineers have been working to make their rockets reusable for several years and have made substantial progress via technology demonstration tests.

Jiang Jie, a senior rocket designer at Wang's academy and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said research and development of the reusable variant of the Long March 8 rocket are proceeding well.

She said designers are developing an integrated first stage for the reusable variant. It will consist of a core booster and two side boosters. Instead of breaking up and falling back to Earth like the first stages of all previous Chinese rockets, the new core and side boosters will stay together and make a powered landing at a preset landing site or a recovery platform at sea.

The only reusable rocket that has entered operational service is SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, which made its maiden launch in February 2018.

All boosters on the US rocket's first stage can be recovered and reused as they separate from each other before controlled reentry and landing.

Editor: JYZ
By Wang Xinyuan

Its worth noticing that anti-colored-people narratives and their effects are showing no sign of whittling in the US over the years. The on-going COVID-19 pandemic has in many ways worsened the situation, featuring dehumanizing stereotype of anti-African-American.

Hate culture growing like an epidemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, the FBI reported the highest surge of hate crimes the world had ever seen in the US over the past 12 years. The year witnessed the crucial killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and so many others.

According to the FBI data, over 60% of the victims were targeted because of a racial, ethnic, or ancestral bias. Among all those crimes, Black or African Americans were more likely to become the victims of hate crimes than any other group, afflicted by 2,871 crimes, up by 45% from 1,972 crimes the year before.

Hate is a harrowing fact of life, The Boston Globe commented. The FBI also reported 57 historically Black colleges and universities and houses of worship received bomb threats this year, while the US society is still struggling to ensure the courts to recognize the severity of the hate crimes.

Colored people treated as threats to be subdued

A recent report published by CNN revealed Americas long history of dehumanization of Black men and boys that can be dated back to the second half of the 19th century. Numerous infamous examples were raised that made the truth come out: Black boys are often viewed differently than their White peers simply because of their race. Put more bluntly, Black boys aren't seen as children at all -- instead, they're a menace, CNN said.

History repeats itself as it can still be observed the disdain that many Americans have for Black men and boys. The fact that we still see this (dehumanization of Blackness) is, I think, proof that weve not really come that far, Caroline Light, a senior lecturer at Harvard University, told CNN. I think that were going to continue to see these kinds of narratives play out because they're so effective, ultimately (at reinforcing existing power structures).

Systemic racism rooted here and there

Black individuals represent almost 13% of the U.S. population, but only 2.4% of American businesses are run by Black owners, The AP reported that there is obviously a significant gap.

A recent LendingTree study has found that Pittsburgh of Pennsylvania was identified as the metropolitan area with the lowest percentage of Black-owned businesses at a shocking 1%, while Fayetteville of North Carolina topped the list, with a still dissatisfactory 11.2%.

In addition, the US transplant system calls on an overhaul to stop wasting organs and give more patients a fair chance at the life-saving surgery, as the country performed a record number of transplants of kidneys, livers and other organs last year, but for all the lives saved, many more who could benefit from a transplant, particularly colored people, never get put on the waiting list, a research report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine stressed.

Moreover, systemic racism is also found deeply in the formulation of immigration law and its enforcement, a longstanding practice that has been documented by research reports. The American Bar Association (ABA), the largest national organization of lawyers, has called for an investigation by the US government into the influence of racism and xenophobia on the enforcement of immigration laws, The Hill reported.

Editor: WPY
On Feb. 18, 2022, 62 Chinese and foreign journalists visited JD Group's 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. Founded in 2017, 7Fresh is a gourmet fresh supermarket providing consumers with instant and fast quality retail services through online and offline channels, and dedicated to creating a better quality life for customers. Journalits visited the fruit and vegetable, bakery, wine, Chinese food , meat, seafood, and catering sections in the store, to learn about the business and operation mode of 7Fresh, its supply chain, commodity power and innovation power advantages, and experience the convenient shopping experience first hand.

Right in front of the 7Fresh Supermarket, the delivery man is busy loading the just-packed goods into the red unmanned delivery vehicle. Unmanned delivery vehicle is an important application of autonomous driving technology in the field of logistics, which is of great significance in promoting the transformation and development of the express logistics industry from labor-intensive to technology-intensive. At present, JD Logistics has put nearly 400 intelligent delivery vehicles in over 25 cities nationwide, and will continue to develop and put thousands of intelligent delivery vehicles into service in the next two to three years.

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows the 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows the eggs section at the 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows the vegetable section at the 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows Swedish journalist Matthias Kamp visiting the 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows customers shopping at the 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. (Li Wenjian/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows customers shopping at the 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. (Li Wenjian/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows a customer paying through self-service checkout at the 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. (Li Wenjian/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows an unmanned delivery vehicle operating in front of the 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. (Li Wenjian/Guangming Picture)

Photo taken on Feb. 18, 2022 shows an unmanned delivery vehicle in front of the 7Fresh Supermarket in Yizhuang District of Beijing. (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Editor: JYZ
The world's largest European budget carrier Ryanair has canceled all flights to and from Ukraine, in particular, from the airports of Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa, for an unlimited period, this follows from the information in its booking system.

According to one of the correspondents of Interfax-Ukraine, the company, in particular, sent him messages about the cancellation of an already paid flight for August 29, 2022.

The day after Russia launched a war against Ukraine on February 24 and closed the country's airspace, Ryanair announced that it had suspended and withdrawn from sale flights to/from Ukraine until the end of March, pending further information from EU security authorities.

As of the morning of March 2, flights to and from Ukraine were still in the booking system for dates after March 27.

Earlier in February, before the start of the war, Ryanair removed all flights to Kharkiv and Kherson from sale.

Ryanair's main competitor among low-cost carriers in Ukraine, Wizz Air, is still selling tickets to and from the country for the period after March 27.
By Trend

Pfizer Inc is expected to provide around 10 million courses of its highly effective COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid to low- and middle-income countries this year, according to an official with the Global Fund, a healthcare NGO working to buy the pills from the drugmaker, Trend reports citing Reuters.

The Fund's head of strategy for policy, Harley Feldbaum, said Pfizer had committed to at least that many doses and could increase shipments later if organizations involved show they are able to distribute the pills well, noting most will be available toward the end of the year.

"That's obviously not enough or sufficient" to meet the need in those countries, said Feldbaum, during an online meeting of non-government organizations (NGOs), activists and academics hosted by influential consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.
Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) on Wednesday was also forced to stop gas supplies to Voznesensk (Mykolaiv region) due to active shelling of the city and significant damage to distribution networks by Russian aggressors. Earlier gas supplies were stopped to the city of Izium (Kharkiv region).

"After the brutal shelling of Voznesensk by Grad multiple launch rocket systems and artillery, the distribution networks were significantly damaged. We were forced to cut off the gas supply to the city. Damage to critical infrastructure is an act of genocide and a crime against humanity!" Serhiy Makogon, the head of the company, wrote on Facebook.

As Makogon said, due to the continuation of hostilities in the area of this terrorist attack, the company's specialists cannot yet begin to eliminate the consequences to resume gas supply to the city.

Earlier on March 2, as a result of an air strike on a gas pipeline branch in Kharkiv region, GTSOU also had to turn off the gas distribution stations in Izium and Brazhkivka, which led to the cessation of gas supply to Izium. A total of 40,000 residents of the city were left without gas.

"According to preliminary information, there are no victims or injured as a result of the explosion among the employees. Gas transportation will be resumed after the relevant repairs, as soon as they are possible," the head of GTSOU said.

On March 2, the administrative buildings of GTSOU in Mykolaiv and Kharkiv, a gas station in Mykolaiv region also suffered from shelling.
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Karim Khan, said that after the appeal of 39 member states, the court is launching a full-scale investigation into crimes related to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.

In a statement released by the ICC, Khan notes that he has already "notified the ICC Presidency a few moments ago of my decision to immediately proceed with active investigations in the Situation."

"In its preliminary examination of the Situation in Ukraine, my Office had already found a reasonable basis to believe crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court had been committed, and had identified potential cases that would be admissible... Our work in the collection of evidence has now commenced," Khan said.

Earlier, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that 38 countries have filed the largest appeal to the ICC due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Moscow rejected allegations of war crimes in Ukraine, and the Russian Federation was not a member of the ICC.
Japanese govt to freeze assets of four more Russian banks

The Japanese government will freeze the assets of four more Russian banks in response to aggression in Ukraine, Japanese media reported citing Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki.

Suzuki told reporters that Japan supports the EU's decision.

According to him, among the four banks whose assets will be frozen are VTB Bank, Otkritie Bank, Sovcombank and Novikombank.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Finance, the restriction will come into force early April.

Earlier, Tokyo had already frozen the assets of three other Russian banks  Rossiya, Promsvyazbank and VEB.RF.

A day earlier, the European Union announced that its members had agreed to disconnect seven Russian banks from the key international payment network SWIFT.
US senators propose to impose sanctions against all state-owned enterprises in Russia

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Chuck Grassley have introduced the Halting Enrichment of Russian Oligarchs and Industry Allies of Moscow's Schemes to Leverage its Abject Villainy Abroad (HEROIAM SLAVA) Act, which would impose sweeping sanctions on all Russian state-owned enterprises., Rubio's press service reported.

"The HEROIAM SLAVAAct, named after the iconic Ukrainian rallying cry and symbol of national resistance, would deny companies controlled or owned by Moscow, such as Rosneft, Gazprom, Rosatom, Aeroflot, and RT, access to critical American capital as they fund Vladimir Putin's war efforts," they said.

"No Russian state-owned enterprise should have access to American capital while a bloodthirsty dictator is waging an invasion against Ukraine."
Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that two planes with weapons: 1,370 grenade launchers and 700,000 rounds of ammunition will depart for Ukraine this Friday.

"All this will depart on Friday morning, they will go by Air Force planes to Poland, to a point very close to the border with Ukraine, and there they will be taken away by the Ukrainian authorities," Robles said in an interview with Antena 3.

Robles explains that this is the first but "very important" batch because it is a weapon that provides "very individualized protection, meaning it can be used by people who do not have much experience with weapons."
Ukraine insists on the complete closure of the sky over its territory, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Mustafa-Masi Nayyem has said.

"Given the inadequate actions of the aggressor country, the constant disregard for all international rules and norms, Ukraine insists on the complete closure of the sky over Ukraine. So far, this concerns the protection not only of our country, but also of the citizens of NATO countries," Nayyem wrote in his Telegram on Thursday.

He, in particular, spoke about the negotiations with US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg regarding systemic measures to support Ukraine in the fight against the aggressor.

"In the conversation, Buttigieg confirmed that the United States is ready to help as much as possible in the process of restoring Ukrainian infrastructure after the war and the de-occupation of Ukrainian territories," Nayyem said.

According to Nayyem, the United States is also tightening sanctions against Russia. They have closed their own skies for Russian aircraft.

Nayyem said that, in the opinion of the Ukrainian side, the next logical sanctions measure should be blocking, following the UK and Canada, servicing ships of Russian or related companies in ports, as well as assisting in the exclusion of Russia and its organizations from key international associations.

"The focus is on the supply of lethal weapons, medical supplies and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. It will increase, and for this, new supply routes are being developed from the United States through European countries to Ukraine," the Deputy Minister said.
AFU General Staff urges Ukrainians to be careful when disseminating info about shelling in real time

Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine are suffering from enemy missile and bomb attacks, according to a morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook.

They noted that social networks and well-known information resources are beginning to comment on the consequences, the impression and the accuracy of hitting enemy missiles almost in real time.

"We appeal to bloggers, experts and ordinary members of the Internet community: your promt information may be of interest to Russian artillerymen and gunners for further adjustment of the enemy's next shot! Be careful when disseminating information about shelling in real time," the Armed Forces of Ukraine stressed.

As reported, at least four explosions were heard in Kyiv on Thursday night.
The Russian army has lost about 9,000 soldiers during its further invasion of Ukraine, the press service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has said.

"The total combat losses of the enemy from February 24 to March 3 are as follows: approximately 9,000 killed in action, tanks - 217 units, armored combat vehicles - 900 units, artillery systems - 90, multiple rocket launchers - 42, air defense systems - 11, aircraft - 30 units (information is being specified ), helicopters - 31 units (information is being specified); automotive equipment  374 vehicles, light speed boats - 2 units, tanks with anti-tank vehicles - 60, operational-tactical UAVs - 3.

Russia's losses are constantly being updated. Counting casualties is complicated because they are increasing rapidly, the General Staff says.
Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska predicts that Russia will face a severe crisis for at least three years due to military aggression against Ukraine.

"I understand this better than others. When people tell you: will they lower the iron curtain or not? The crisis [waiting for the country] for at least three years is the most severe. Multiply the 1998 crisis by at least three," he said speaking at Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum.

"It will be necessary to reopen this curtain. The first step is peace. The second step is to honestly discuss where we live, how we live, under what conditions, who commands what, what risks it carries, it is certainly important to raise the population. I am against the most severe financial pressure, it [population] is not to blame for anything," Deripaska said.

Deripaska said that in three weeks it would be clear what happened to the Russian state-owned banks as a result of sanctions.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said he welcomed the resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanding an immediate cessation of all illegal activities threatening Ukraine's nuclear facilities.

"I welcome IAEA Board of Governors resolution condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine and demanding it to immediately cease all illegal activities threatening Ukraine's nuclear facilities. World is united against Russia's actions that threaten Ukraine and all of Europe," Kuleba wrote in Twitter on Thursday.
World keeps a close eye on Chinas upcoming Two Sessions

18:27, March 02, 2022 By Zamir Ahmed Awan ( People's Daily Online

The Two Sessions is an annual event and is usually held in March every year, when thousands of Chinese lawmakers participate in devising the future course of action in every dimension of China's development and its people's wellbeing.

Apart from discussions, there will be a dialogue on future progress and a series of policy measures. This year the event is scheduled to kick off on March 4, when the fifth annual session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) will be held. While on March 5, the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) will open its fifth annual session. These important sessions will undertake a comprehensive review of overall government progress, governance-related matters, and national-level policy reports along with taking important decisions to finalize and implement the countrys national economy and development plans. These sessions will also examine and draft central and local budgets for 2022 at national and local levels.

The Two Sessions is a very important event for Chinas political system and the world always keeps a close eye on them to understand the countrys course of action during the following year. It is well understood that what happens in China will have a wide-ranging impact on the entire global economy and worldwide development. If China prospers, the global economy will also follow a positive path, and if China develops, it will have a supportive impact on global developments, with China being a major contributor to the global economy and worldwide development. I myself am also very much focused on the Two Sessions as it helps me to keep up to date with Chinas affairs.

As a window for the world to observe China's development and progress, the "Two Sessions" is significant for promoting national unity and clarity in the overall vision and mission of the nation. Voices from all over China show that these sessions also have the effect of bolstering national enthusiasm. The outcomes of these sessions are significant as they impact China's national-level development as well as the development of the wider world.

Regarding the pandemic, China was the first country to become a victim of COVID-19, but due to its strict policies, it became the first country to bring the COVID-19 virus under control. It was the hard work of the Chinese people and the countrys visionary leadership that allowed for the right policies at the right time. Chinese scientists worked very hard and developed many new approaches, technologies, and devices to defeat COVID-19. In the meantime, China has achieved excellence in the prevention of epidemics as well as developing effective vaccines in the fight against the virus.

Like other areas, China has invested in high tech and innovation and resultantly has achieved several milestones in many areas. It is believed that during the Two Sessions there will be a greater focus on education, science, technology, research, and innovation. China recognizes the importance of these areas and possesses a huge capacity to produce desired results. It has the potential for major breakthroughs and the Two Sessions may provide the framework and requisite budget to prioritize advances in this respect.

China has emerged as a major global power and the countrys leadership is in a strong position to formulate policies in the best interests of its people. Furthermore, China is a peace-loving nation and has continued to strive for global peace, stability, and development. While China is not exempt from the influence of external disturbances, the countrys visionary leadership is ready to address all possible challenges during this years Two Sessions.

Zamir Ahmed Awan is a non-resident fellow with the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and a sinologist at the National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan. E-mail: [email protected]

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

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
By Trend

Georgia will apply for the European Union candidate status at an accelerated pace, Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Irakli Kobakhidze stated, Trend reports citing 1tv.ge.

Kobakhidze said the GD Political Board made this decision per the new reality and political context against the previous plan to apply officially for EU membership in 2024.

However, GD Chair stressed that filing a strong application in 2024, backed by new reforms envisaged by the Georgian Dreams election program, would have had an advantage over applying expeditiously.

The Georgian government, headed by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, is preparing an application for EU candidate status, which will be officially submitted to the EU structures on behalf of the Georgian government tomorrow, Kobakhidze said.

According to the GD Chair, the government will call on the EU to consider Georgias application fast-track.

Our dream and the political goal is Georgia to become an economically strong and secure European country. Every step of our government serves this purpose, including our decision today, Irakli Kobakhidze said.
E-Aid funds can now be spent on any products or goods, restrictions lifted  Fedorov

E-Aid funds can now be spent on any products or goods, restrictions on types of business have been lifted, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov has said.

"E-Aid funds can now be spent on any products or goods. The program no longer has restrictions on a specific line of business. We understand that now every hryvnia can save someone's life or help," he wrote on the Telegram channel.

Fedorov recalled that e-Aid funds can be sent to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As reported, the e-Aid program was launched in December 2021. As part of the state program, every Ukrainian who has received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine can receive UAH 1,000.

Funds under the state program until restrictions were lifted on March 2, 2022 could be spent on sports, travel and visits to cultural institutions or the purchase of books, and people over 60 years of age could pay, including the purchase of medicines. The program was planned to be expanded to cover tuition fees and utilities.

The Ministry of Economy noted that from March 14, all Ukrainians who have a booster vaccination against COVID-19 will be able to receive additional UAH 500.
Russian troops launched a missile attack on a residential area in Chernihiv, head of the regional military administration Viacheslav Chaus said.

"Half an hour ago, Russian troops launched a missile attack on a multi-storey residential area in the city center. Many apartment buildings were damaged, windows were broken, walls, roofs, balconies were damaged, walls and ceilings were destroyed in some places. There are no military installations nearby. Nearby are hospitals, several schools and kindergartens, dozens of high-rise buildings," Chaus said in Telegram on Thursday.

He said that rescuers are currently working on the spot, information about the victims and injured is being specified.
Zaporizhia and Yuzhnoukrainsk nuclear power plants are out of danger, Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the head of the President's Office, has said.

"The cities of Zaporizhia and Enerhodar are under the control of the Ukrainian society and the military. The cities are ready for defense. The nuclear power plants are out of danger. This applies to Yuzhnoukrainsk and Zaporizhia nuclear power plants in Enerhodar. That is, there is no cause for alarm now," Arestovych said at a briefing at the President's Office on Thursday.

According to recent information, on the night of 3 March, the enemy launched missile strikes throughout Ukraine, in particular against Kyiv, Kharkiv and Zhytomyr. "This tactic is an intimidation of local residents, an attempt to break us psychologically," the adviser to the President's Office head said.

In the direction of Chernihiv and Sumy, the enemy is stopped. At the same time, separate units of the Russian Federation troops try to settle down on the routes not occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and move towards Kyiv. The situation is under control.

In Kharkiv, the enemy continues its offensive from the western direction, but suffers losses.

"The pace of the offensive has now slowed down considerably," Arestovych said.

In the JFO zone, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hold the main positions. Reinforcement of Ukrainian servicemen on the outskirts of Horlivka continues.

In the direction of Kherson-Mykolaiv, Russian military during the second 24 hours make attempts to advance.

The situation in Odesa and Mariupol is controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and local authorities.
Head of Kherson Regional Military Administration Hennadiy Lahuta has said that due to Russian aggression, the poultry farm in Chornobayivka is threatened by poultry pestilence and an environmental disaster.

"Now the issue regarding the poultry farm in Chornobayivka is being resolved. Because of Russia's aggression, the enterprise is threatened by a pestilence and an environmental disaster. The poultry farm now has 3 million chickens. At the moment, they can neither be fed nor disposed of," he wrote in the Telegram channel.

At the moment, the mayor of Chornobayivka is negotiating with the occupiers regarding the provision of access to the enterprise and the possibility of selling poultry products (meat, eggs).
Almost 40,000 Ukrainians liable for military service have returned to the country through checkpoints in Lviv region after Russia's open invasion of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has reported.

"Ukrainians liable for military service continue to arrive from abroad. After Russia's open invasion, more than 50,000 citizens of Ukraine entered from abroad only through checkpoints in Lviv region. Among them, about 80% [almost 40,000] are men aged 18- 60 years. There are more and more people who want to meet the 'liberators,' but not with flowers!" the State Border Guard Service said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Ukraine needs antitank and antiaircraft weapons, as well as increased Western sanctions pressure on Russua in the conditions of war, Head of the President's Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak said in an op-ed for the U.S. edition of The New York Times.

According to him, the Ukrainians have proven that they are able to effectively repel the Russian invasion forces, including through the use of weapons provided by Western allies and their sanctions against the Russian economy.

"But it is not enough. We need more - and, please, stop telling us military aid is on the way. Nothing less than our freedom - and yours - is at stake... We need antitank and antiaircraft weapons and other ammunition delivered to our brave soldiers right now. We are calling on the West to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine," the presidential press service said, citing Yermak.

"We recognize that this would be a serious escalation in the war and that it could bring NATO into direct conflict with Russia. But we firmly believe that Russia wont stop at just Ukraine, which would potentially drag NATO into this conflict anyway. A no-fly zone would at least give Mr. Putin some pause," he said.

The head of the President's Office also said that against the backdrop of the approach of a column of Russian troops and equipment to Kyiv, it is necessary to increase sanctions pressure against Russia.

"We welcome the coordinated measures thus far, but we need more. Every Russian bank - not just a select few - must be cut off from the SWIFT banking system, and every Russian oligarch must be sanctioned. We are also calling for a full embargo on Russian oil and all Russian exports to the United States and Europe. These measures would not be without cost to the world economy, but the alternative is far worse," he said.
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk addressed his colleagues from the parliaments of the EU countries to make a decision on granting Ukraine urgent EU membership under a special procedure.

"I sent an appeal to the speakers of the parliaments of 27 EU member states with a request to take the necessary decisions on granting Ukraine urgent EU membership under a special procedure," Stefanchuk wrote on Facebook.

According to him, Ukraine has paid a huge price for the European choice and the security of Europe.

"The best support for the people of Ukraine in these critical times would be the recognition of our European aspirations. I ask the fellow speakers of the EU member states to demonstrate unity with the people of Ukraine in the context of Russia's ongoing war not only against Ukraine, but the entire civilized world. I call for solidarity with Ukraine and maintaining its EU membership!" the report said.
Russian occupying forces are using high-capacity cluster and fragmentation munitions in the bombing of populated areas contrary to the norms of international humanitarian law, and when carrying out artillery strikes, they actively use the Grad, Smerch and Uragan multiple rocket launching systems (MLRS).

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has said the invaders continue to use the civilian population as a human shield, taking them hostage.

As of 12.00 Thursday in Volyn region, the enemy switched to defensive actions and is trying to hold the Bihun, Ovruch, Pyrizhky, Riznia, Ukrayinka line.

Near Kyiv, the invaders suffer losses in personnel and equipment, but do not abandon attempts to block Kyiv from the northern and northwestern directions. Near Korosten, Zhytomyr region, the enemy suffered significant losses and stopped, and does not take offensive actions.

In the northern part, the enemy is trying to stay in the areas of the settlements of Liubech and Mena with the forces of 41 all-military armies and 90 tank divisions of the Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces in the direction of Chernihiv-Kyiv. At the same time, the forces of 2 BTGs are moving towards Kotsiubynske - Honcharivske (Kyiv).

In Slobozhanschyna, the invaders were stopped at the line of Okhtyrka, Bohodukhiv, Chuhuiv, Shevchenkove. At the same time, the cities of Sumy, Lebedyn and Okhtyrka in Sumy region continue to be under siege.

In Kharkiv region, the enemy was forced to go on the defensive, but more attempts are expected to encircle Kharkiv from the south. Near Svatove, an attempt is expected to attack in the direction of the city of Izium, Kharkiv region, and to consolidate on any frontiers.

In the Tavria area, the enemy carried out the introduction of part of the operational reserves, trying to continue the offensive in the direction of Zaporizhia, part of the forces  to Mariupol.

In Donetsk region, Mariupol holds steady, the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are unattainable for the enemy, the General Staff said.
Russia could send multiple rocket launchers in Popovka village to its territory to blame Ukraine  Kuleba

Russia could send a lot of multiple launch rocket systems in the village of Popovka to its territory to blame Ukraine, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said.

"Worrying reports: Russians might have pointed multiple rocket-launching systems in the Russian border village of Popovka towards their own territory. Knowing the barbaric nature of Russian actions, we fear a false flag operation might be prepared in order to accuse Ukraine," Kuleba said on Twitter on Thursday.
The Estonian government has officially supported Ukraine's application for EU membership, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has said.

Ukraine is part of Europe, part of us. Today the Estonian Government approved its official position to support Ukraine's application to join the EU. We must send a strong political signal: Ukraine is a European state and belongs in the EU. I'll ask European leaders to voice their support," Kallas said on Twitter on Thursday.
By Trend

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca revealed late Wednesday that Turkey is scrapping the outdoor mask requirement as the COVID-19 pandemic eases thanks to the country's vaccination efforts, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

Outlining the new measures at a press conference, Koca said that masks will no longer be mandatory indoors "if ventilation is adequate" but added that they are still crucial in certain environments, such as around immunocompromised people or those with diseases that can make a COVID-19 infection lethal.

Venues will no longer require people to scan their HES QR code on entry, Koca said, referring to the Hayat Eve S??ar (Life Fits Into Home) app developed by the Health Ministry that creates a QR code based on personal health records. "COVID-19 tests will not be required for those without symptoms," he added.

Koca also said that only 8% of people who tested positive for COVID-19 and died last month had no other diseases, adding that the "remaining 92% were diagnosed with other illnesses earlier."

The Health Ministry on Monday released figures related to the weekly incidence of COVID-19 in Turkey's 81 provinces for the week between Feb. 12 and Feb. 18. The figures show a relative decline in cases per 100,000 people. Istanbul, the most populous city, reported just 617 cases per 100,000 while this number was around 1,216 for the capital Ankara and about 776 for the third-largest city Izmir.

Istanbul had 717 cases in the first week of February while Ankara and Izmir had 1,323 and 1,017 cases, respectively.
About 800 Ukrainians fleeing the war have arrived in France, said French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.

"Today, about 800 Ukrainians fleeing the war arrived in France. As Emmanuel Macron said, France will play its full role. Therefore, every week I will gather the prefects to organize the reception of Ukrainians together with elected officials," Darmanin wrote on Twitter in Thursday.
EU to provide macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in two tranches of EUR 600 mln  President's Office dpty head

The European Union will provide macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in two tranches of EUR 600 million each, Deputy Head of the President's Office Andriy Sybiha said.

"Macro-financial assistance in the amount of EUR 1.2 million ... Financing will be provided in two tranches of EUR 600 million each. And this is just the beginning," Sybiha said on Facebook.

He added that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky gave the authority to sign the relevant documents to Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko and head of the National Bank of Ukraine Kyrylo Shevchenko.

It is about emergency macro-financial assistance to Ukraine in connection with Russia's military aggression against Ukraine.

The decision to provide this assistance was taken by the European Parliament and the European Council on 24 February 2022 and agreed by the European Commission on March 1.
Kuleba to Lavrov: Tell your boss to stop indiscriminate shelling of Ukrainian cities

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has appealed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to tell Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the indiscriminate shelling of Ukrainian cities.

"Russia's barbaric war tactic is to manipulate the civilian suffering it itself inflicts. Now Lavrov accuses Ukraine of preventing civilian evacuations. Tell your boss to stop the indiscriminate shelling of Ukrainian cities. Show the world that Russia is serous about negotiations," Kuleba said on Twitter Thursday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakly Garibashvili has signed Georgia's application to be admitted to the European Union.

"Today is a historic day for our country. Georgia is now close to the European Union like never before. Since 2014, when we signed the association agreement with the European Union, we have consistently fulfilled all assumed obligations, making progress in forging close ties with the European Union in legal, economic and political issues," Garibashvili said.

Georgia seeks to become "a full-fledged member of the European family," he said.
U.S. secretary of state to visit Moldova on March 5-6

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Moldova on March 5-6, the press service of the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration said on Thursday.

"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the republic of Moldova on March 5-6 to reaffirm support for Moldova in its efforts to provide assistance to Ukrainian refugees, as well as its democratic processes, sovereignty, and the territorial integrity of Moldova," it said.

Blinken will meet with Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita, and Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu, it said.

The Moldovan parliament has declared a state of emergency for 60 days starting February 24 over the situation in Ukraine. Since the start of the fighting in Ukraine, 136,386 Ukrainians have entered Moldova.
The situation in Buchansky district of Kyiv region remains tense, the population is being evacuated from Boyarka and Irpen, the press service of the National Police of Ukraine reported on Thursday.

"At night, enemy troops made an unsuccessful attempt to break through from the direction of Liutizh and Demydiv. However, enemy equipment remains in the residential areas of Demydiv, Kozarovychi and Dymer. The situation in Buchansk region remains tense. Enemy troops dealt a powerful blow to the warehouses in Irpin, but there was no significant damage. Makariv has been freed, but the surroundings are under the control of Russian troops. The evacuation of the population from Irpin and Boyarka is underway," it said.

It specifies that the enemy dealt a powerful blow to Hatne. Police officers help citizens overcome the results of an air attack.

"The situation in Obukhiv and Bila Tserkva is under control. The police continue to provide assistance to citizens and ensure public order. We believe in victory," the police concluded.
UNICEF on Thursday announced the need to raise EUR400 million to provide assistance to the population of Ukraine, European media reported.

According to UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Europe Philippe Cori, the funds are needed for emergency needs due to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

"We need to mobilize teams (to provide assistance), it is becoming increasingly difficult for Ukrainians to get help," he said.

According to Cori, if hostilities in Ukraine do not stop, the number of Ukrainian refugees could reach 4 million people.
Russian aircraft have attacked two schools in Chernihiv and private homes, preliminarily, nine people are dead and four injured, according to the head of the regional military administration, Viacheslav Chaus.

"Russian aircraft also attacked two schools in the Stara Podusivka area and private homes. Rescuers are working. According to the State Emergency Service, preliminarily nine dead and four injured," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree to ensure the conclusion of agreements with the European Union and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to provide financial support to Ukraine, the President's Office has reported.

Thus, by Decree No. 23/2022-rp dated March 3 this year, the head of state authorized Minister of Finance of Ukraine Serhiy Marchenko and head of the National Bank of Ukraine Kyrylo Shevchenko to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between Ukraine and the European Union on the receipt by Ukraine of state assistance in the amount of up to EUR 1.2 million.

In addition, by Decree No. 22/2022-rp, Volodymyr Zelensky formed a delegation of Ukraine to participate in negotiations with the IBRD on concluding an agreement on a loan "Additional financing of a loan for development policy in an emergency economic situation."

Andriy Sybiha, Deputy Head of the President's Office, said that Ukraine would receive financial support from the EU in two tranches of EUR 600 million each.
Zelensky appoints ambassador to Netherlands concurrently as permanent rep of Ukraine to intl Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons - decree

President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed Maksym Kononenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Netherlands, concurrently as the Permanent Chairman of Ukraine to the International Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

Corresponding decree No. 97/2022 was published on the website of the President's Office. "To appoint Maksym Kononenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in combination," the document says.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is an international organization established with the support of the United Nations on April 29, 1997. The headquarters is located in The Hague (Netherlands).
By Trend

Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafel Grossi has expressed hope for progress on remaining safeguards issues with Iran, Trend reports citing Mehr.

Speaking on Wednesday, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency since December Rafel Grossi expressed hope for progress on safeguards with Iran.

The nuclear chief also expressed optimism that progress can be made on the remaining safeguards issues with Iran.

Talks are ongoing with Iran on the content of the nuclear deal, he added.

Grossi also said about the possibility of a trip to Tehran saying that "anything is possible."
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) says that the offensive nature of the Russian invaders has slowed down, the military is increasingly surrendering.

"The insane resistance of the Ukrainians and the Armed Forces of Ukraine gradually changed the offensive nature of the Russian invaders. Therefore, there are more cases when soldiers and officers of the Russian Federation surrender and refuse to continue the offensive. And they do it in whole organized groups," the SBU said on the Telegram channel.

According to the Ukrainian intelligence service, near Mykolaiv, the Armed Forces of Ukraine neutralized the Russian landing force, which was trying to land. "Some of the invaders immediately surrendered. The Russian paratrooper, in a conversation with his mother, told her where he actually fought. And at the same time, he asked the soldiers' mothers to protest with demands to take Russian troops out of Ukraine," the report says.

Also, as they say in the message, near Mykolaiv another six Russian tankers voluntarily surrendered.

"For relatives of the Russian invaders in Ukraine, a Joint Center has recently been functioning. Mothers of Russian soldiers who want to take their sons from captivity can turn to it," the SBU says.
Canadian Defense Ministry announces supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine

Canada has announced its intention to supply Ukraine with a batch of lethal weapons.

Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said Thursday on Canadian television that they intend to provide additional assistance with lethal weapons to Ukraine, this includes 4,500 missile launchers and 7,500 grenades.

Anand did not provide any other details.

In addition, she added, Canada will provide Ukraine with $1 million to purchase high-quality satellite images.
On Friday, March 4, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will take part in a meeting of NATO foreign ministers and discuss with them the provision of specific heavy anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine.

"Tomorrow there will be a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, I will take part in it online. This will be the key topic of my communication with my fellow ministers. Our issue is broader, in principle, air and missile defense of Ukraine. This is now the most vulnerable spot. Therefore, it is necessary to talk not only about closing the sky, but also about systemic and very serious support from partners for Ukraine's air defense, that is, about providing us with specific heavy air defense weapons," Kuleba said on the air of the national telethon on Thursday.
The crew of the ship HELT (Panama flag) that sank after shelling by Russian troops has been rescued.

"Six sailors who were on the ship have been found and are on board the SAR 01 rescue vessel. The health condition of all crew members is satisfactory. The rescue boat is currently returning to the port of Chornomorsk," the Ministry of Infrastructure's Telegram channel says.

The ship was hit by a missile from the Russian Navy and sank within a 12-mile zone on the traverse of the Pivdenny port.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which caused the price of wheat to rise to $500/tonne due to the suspension of grain exports by Ukraine and the reduction of their supplies from the Russian Federation, will soon enough lead to an increase in the number of starvation deaths on the planet, especially in poor countries, as well as to additional spending on food for developed countries, says Andriy Yarmak, an economist at the Investment Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

"Wheat and corn account for 27% of all calories, or, in other words, all the food in the world! Ukraine and the Russian Federation together export more than 25% of all wheat in the world. This is a basic product for food security. There is no export from Ukraine now, from the Russian Federation almost stopped," he said.

"Prices are already in outer space. Wheat is already over $500! Where is this wheat going? Basically, these are third world countries. And it is already hard there and there is a threat of hunger riots," the expert said, emphasizing the threats posed by the Russian Federation to world food security on his page on Facebook on Thursday.

Yarmak said military actions of the Russian Federation are disrupting the sowing campaign in Ukraine, which is especially catastrophic given the high world prices for gas, and, accordingly, for mineral fertilizers. The combination of these factors leads to the fact that Ukraine will not be able to export grain for many months, and after a few more years it will reach pre-war crop volumes. At the same time, the isolation of the markets of other countries from the purchase of agricultural products from the aggressor country of the Russian Federation will also affect the supply of grain on the world market.

During all this time, the number of people in the world who do not have access to the minimum set of calories will grow, according to my very rough minimum estimates, by 800 million people, and maybe by 1 billion, because I have not yet taken into account the collapse in the GDP of all countries of the world. This means a sharp increase in newborn mortality in the poor countries of the world and many deaths from starvation and other diseases caused by malnutrition among adults," Yarmak said.

He added that military operations in Ukraine will lead to a slowdown in the development of all mankind, since many children in the world, forced to live in conditions of food shortages, will not be able to realize their potential in the future, for example, to make new scientific discoveries.

"In the developed countries of the world, people keep savings in stocks. Now, they have already lost hundreds of billions of dollars in recent days. Now they will lose even more. They will also now spend hundreds of billions more on food, and this will also come from their savings. I want so that our friends in NATO and other developed countries understand: now you are already losing much more than Ukraine. Staying away from the conflict, you are now killing millions of children in the poor countries of the world, and with them your own future," the expert said.

As reported with reference to MarketWatch, on March 2 this year, wheat prices soared to a maximum since 2008 amid fears of possible interruptions in grain supplies due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Quotes of May futures for wheat in Chicago jumped 7.6% during trading on Wednesday and reached $10.59 per bushel.

"Both Russia and Ukraine are major wheat producers, which together account for about 30% of global exports, so this is one area where the direct economic impact is acutely felt," Deutsche Bank analysts said.

The closure of the Black Sea ports "means that wheat supplies from Ukraine by sea will not be possible for an indefinite period of time," said Carsten Fritsch, commodity analyst at Commerzbank.

In addition, shipping companies no longer accept orders to ship from or to Russia. And in any case, at present, almost no buyer will want to order Russian wheat. This means that up to 30% of world wheat exports are currently cut off from the market more or less," he added.
A frank discussion of the situation around Ukraine was continued during a telephone conversation on Thursday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the Kremlin stated.

"Putin set out in detail the principled approaches and conditions in the context of the talks with Kyiv's representatives. It was confirmed that [the talks] focused primarily on the demilitarization and neutral status of Ukraine, so that no threat would ever emanate from its territory to the Russian Federation," the statement said.

It was stressed that the "objectives of the special military operation will be fulfilled any way, and that attempts to play for time by dragging out the talks will only lead to our negotiating position presenting Kyiv with further demands," it said.

"It was especially emphasized that during the special operation, which is going to plan, the Russian Armed Forces are doing everything possible to preserve the lives of peaceful citizens. Precision weapons are only being used to destroy military infrastructure. Allegations of rocket attacks and bombardments of Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities are inconsistent with reality and are elements of the anti-Russia disinformation campaign," the statement said.
Ukraine's State Customs Service is transferring confiscated property, including cars, food, fuel and other materials, to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"All the customs offices of the State Customs Service are actively transferring confiscated and such property that on other legal grounds has become the property of the state for the needs of our military. The following have already been transferred from customs warehouses to the needs of the defenders of Ukraine: cars, construction materials, fuel, computer equipment, protective helmets, food, clothes, lumber and fabric," the State Customs wrote on Thursday on its Telegram channel.

The Zakarpattia customs handed over to the military 390 vehicles and more than 120 types of food items, in Sumy - 740 liters of fuel, in Lviv region - 51 vehicles, 342 liters of lubricating oil, food, laptops, tablets, phones, in Kyiv region - 21 ambulances, 35,000 pairs of socks, edged weapons, computer equipment, mobile phones, in Chernivtsi region - 43 vehicles, in Vinnytsia region - fabric and lumber, in Zhytomyr region - 13 cars and lumber and in Khmelnytsky region - eight cars, Kevlar helmets, motor lubricant and fabric.
By Trend

Due to the closure of Iasi International Airport for technical reasons, the departure of the next AZAL evacuation flight from Romania has been rescheduled for tomorrow - March 3, at 11:00 am local time (13:00 Baku time), Trend reports citing AZAL.

The arrival of the evacuation flight of Azerbaijan Airlines with compatriots on board in Baku is scheduled for 16:00 local time.

We ask all passengers to follow the latest flight information on the pages of the airline's official accounts on social networks and in the media.

On the instructions of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, AZAL will operate daily evacuation flights to evacuate compatriots who wish to return to their homeland in connection with the events in Ukraine. Landing on evacuation flights for Azerbaijani citizens is free.
The Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) discussed collaboration and extended its support to the organisers of the "Fintech Road Vision 2022" conference, which will take place on June 28 and 29 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The conference covers a wide range of topics, including the future of fintech and banking, digital and open banking, banking sector digital transformation, cryptocurrencies, cybersecurity, fintech startups, the investment ecosystem, and the third generation of financial services.

Dr Waheed Al Qassim, CEO of BAB, stressed the association's need to be abreast of numerous worldwide advancements in the financial and banking industries, particularly fintech.

He pointed out the progress and leadership of the Bahraini experience in this field thanks to the proactive vision of the CBB and its implementation of several qualitative initiatives, including the bank's issuance of the framework of the experimental regulatory environment in May 2017, the establishment of a specialised Fintech unit, and the Digital Lab FinHub973, among others.

Dr Al Qassim expressed the support of the BAB for the Fintech Road Vision 2022 Conference, which is held under the theme of Accelerating Digital Banking & FinTech Innovation. He stated that the association is willing to assist financial institutions, banking firms, fintech, and technical companies, and all those interested in attending this event.

For his part, the CEO of The Afak Events, the organiser of this conference, Abd Al Hadi Al Bkai said: The Bahraini banking sector's legacy and leadership, as well as Bahrain's leading regional reputation and high-quality expertise in the field of finTech, put the kingdom at the forefront of the countries approached to participate in this conference. He affirmed that the conference would showcase the latest technologies in the financial industry through speeches and workshops run by several leading banking industry experts.

Al Bkai extended his thanks to BAB for its support for the conference, adding that the conference is also supported by the Banks Association of Turkiye (TKBB), West African Bankers' Association, Intelsa Africa Group, and the Fintech Association of Malaysia among other entities.-- TradeArabia News Service
Al-Azhar condemned Friday terrorist attack on a mosque in Afghanistans capital Kabul that left dozens of worshippers dead and injured.
We are a group of at least 55 Egyptians who live in Kherson and its outskirts. We have been trapped here for six days and cannot find a way out," Mohamed Samir told Ahram Online on Tuesday evening.

Some of the youngest members of the group are two years old, he added, noting that a number of Egyptians are married to Ukrainian women and are now trying to find a way back home after Kherson, which is close to Crimea, has fallen into the hands of the Russians.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Mayor of Kherson Igor Kolykhayev announced that the Russian army had reached the city and set up checkpoints on its outskirts after intense fights that lasted for days.

Videos showing the Russian army entering the city have surfaced.

Kherson has a population of around 280,000 and lies north of the Crimea peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Russia claimed to have besieged the city on Sunday.

Russian troops are patrolling the city and searching houses. It is not safe here at all, Samir said.

The Egyptians stranded in Kherson managed to get in touch with the head of the Egyptian community in Ukraine Ali Farouk five days ago. However, he has not answered their calls since, they said.

Ahram Online called Farouk on his cell phone on Tuesday but he did not pick up.

The group said they also failed to contact the Egyptian Embassy in Kyiv.

We want to go back home like the other Egyptians who were repatriated from Ukraine, Samir said.

An official source in the Egyptian Ministry and Expatriate Affairs told Ahram Online on Wednesday that Egypt is aware of the situation and is comunicatiing with Russia to try to evacuate the stranded Egyptians in Kherson and similar areas in the nearest time possible.

On Tuesday evening the first group of Egyptian students residing in Ukraine returned to Cairo from Bucharest on a CairoAir plane that flew to Romania as per the directives of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The Egyptian Embassy in Kyiv had earlier stated it was difficult to reach Egyptians in the cities of Kharkiv, Kherson, and Dnipro due to the military operations and unsafe roads.

It requested Egyptians trapped in these cities to stay safe and to follow the embassy's instructions.

Nonetheless, the group are extremely worried about their safety, Samir continued.

I paid $3,000 to a taxi driver to get me out of the city. We failed due to the shelling and turned back, he added.

The situation is made worse by the constant power and water cuts, Samir said.

We cant go out to buy food because of the ongoing conflict. The streets are not safe, he added.

At present, the majority of the Egyptians stranded in Kherson are taking refuge at a shelter, while Samir and a few others are staying at a nearby one-storey house waiting for a chance to join the others.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine started last week, around 6,000 Egyptians had been living in Ukraine, including 3,000 youths who study in Ukrainian universities, especially medicine.

The Russian invasion has thus far claimed scores of lives, forcing more than 500,000 people to flee from the country, according to the UN.

No deaths have been recorded among Egyptians in Ukraine, but one injury was reported of a man who was hit in an air strike in Kharkiv over the weekend and is currently in a stable condition, according to officials.

The government has instructed the Egyptian Embassy in Kyiv to provide all the necessary support and care to the injured Egyptian nationals and other Egyptian expats in Ukraine.

More than 1,200 Egyptian students arrived in Poland and 250 others reached Romania from Ukraine, Egypts Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram said on Monday.
Nearly 200,000 people have fled Ukraine in just 24 hours, bringing to 875,000 the number of refugees seeking shelter in neighboring countries since the full-scale Russian military invasion began on February 24.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has projected that more than four million Ukrainian refugees may eventually need protection and assistance, while the European Union's crisis management commissioner has said the figure could reach seven million.

More than 37 million people lived under the Kyiv government's control before last week's invasion.

Here is a breakdown of where the 874,026 refugees have headed to:

Poland

Just over half of those who have fled Ukraine have crossed west into Poland.

The UNHCR said Wednesday that 453,982 people had done so. Most arrivals are women and children from all parts of Ukraine.

Polish officials have said that anyone fleeing Ukraine will be welcomed, whatever their nationality.

Polish border guards said 98,000 people entered from Ukraine on Tuesday.

Hungary

Some 116,348 people have so far crossed from Ukraine into Hungary, the agency said.

Thousands of refugees have arrived in Budapest. An AFP photographer saw dozens of refugees disembarking from trains arriving every 30 minutes in the Hungarian capital from the Ukrainian border on Tuesday.

Several border towns such as Zahony have turned public buildings into reception centres, with ordinary people donating food and clothes, the interior ministry said.

Moldova

UNHCR said 79,315 people who fled Ukraine were now in Moldova.

An airlift from Dubai was due to arrive on Wednesday bringing more emergency supplies for refugees.

Slovakia

The UNHCR said 67,000 had fled across Ukraine's shortest border to Slovakia.

"The government is maintaining an open and welcoming policy towards refugees, and has rapidly changed asylum laws to help fast-track asylum procedures," the agency said Tuesday.

Romania

The UN Refugee Agency said 44,540 people who fled were now in Romania.

Some refugees reported they had headed to Romania to avoid massive jams at the Polish border.

Most are passing through Siret in the north of the country, where a camp has been set up, along with a second near Sighetu Marmatiei, where volunteers were handing out hot tea, coffee and pizza, as well as flowers and little charms to mark the beginning of spring, celebrated on Tuesday across the country.

Officials said tens of thousands of refugees who entered Romania have now moved on elsewhere.

Russia

The UNHCR said 42,900 people had fled across Ukraine's longest border since the invasion began -- around five percent of the total number.

Belarus

Some 341 people had crossed north from Ukraine into Belarus, the UNHCR said.

Onward Movement

(Germany)

The refugee agency said 69,600 of those who had fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries had already moved onwards towards other European states.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday his country had welcomed around 20,000 Ukrainian refugees since the conflict started.

(Cezech Republic)

Internally Displaced

Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UNHCR representative to Ukraine, estimated Tuesday that a million people had been internally displaced by the invasion.

She cautioned that the agency still did not have reliable figures.

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Egypts daily coronavirus cases continued to drop, with 1,288 new infections reported on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health and Population's daily update.

This brings the total number of cases since the outbreak began in February 2020 to 486,381, it added.

The ministry also recorded 22 coronavirus-related fatalities, bringing the total tally of deaths to 24,132.

The daily report added that the total number of recoveries increased to 416,471 after 981 patients were discharged from hospitals nationwide in the past 24 hours.

The country witnessed a spike in reported cases over the past two months, recording the highest single day rise on 5 February at 2,298 cases. However, the past several days witnessed a remarkable drop in cases, which fell below the 2,000 mark on 22 February, when 1,989 cases were reported on Tuesday.

The rate of COVID-related hospital admissions across Egypt has declined by 40.4 percent between 11 and 25 February compared to the previous two weeks, Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar revealed on Tuesday.

Egypt plans to vaccinate 70 percent of its eligible population  12-year-olds and above  by the second half of 2022.

New vaccination measures

Egypts health ministry has decided to shorten the interval for the booster dose of coronavirus vaccine for people above 65 years of age to at least three instead of six months, according to local reports on Wednesday.

Pregnant and lactating women and women who plan to marry or get pregnant will get the Pfizer vaccine if they request to be vaccinated, the ministry said.

The ministry will also extend the time period through which people can get the vaccine after receiving a text message of their vaccination date to one week for the first shot, a month and a half for the second shot, and two months for the booster shot.

More than 30 million citizens have been fully vaccinated to date, and almost 40 million citizens have received their first dose, according to the ministry figures. Moreover, over a million citizens have also received their booster shot.

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The Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre (Tadweer) has launched a tender inviting qualified developers to submit their bids for developing a new engineered landfill for hazardous waste with a 4.5 million cu m capacity.

The project seeks to support Abu Dhabis efforts in waste treatment and management, through the implementation of the latest international technologies, said a statement from Tadweer.

The scope of the project involves designing and building an engineered landfill in line with the environmental standards and health and safety criteria as well as operating the new landfill for one year, and covering the cells of the new landfill once they reach their designated capacity.

The landfill will be built on a 805,200 sq m land next to Hameem Road in Abu Dhabi. The site will be developed by the winning bidder to include an electronic scale for incoming waste, and an environmental monitoring and evaluation station.

It also supports the emirate in implementing the right methods for the treatment of hazardous waste generated from the project for cleaning and disinfecting the Mussafah Channel, which is being carried out by the Environment Agency  Abu Dhabi, it added.

Engineer Abdul Mohsen Mubarak Al Katheeri, Director of the Project and Facilities Department at Tadweer, said: "The project comes in line with Tadweers efforts to improve the sustainable solutions in the emirate by building engineered landfills, and providing innovative waste management solutions."

"The centre ensures adhering to the best international practices, while taking into account the increased consumption and waste production in the emirate caused by population growth, with the ultimate goal of maintaining a clean, healthy, safe, and sustainable environment for the community in Abu Dhabi," he added.

Faissal Al Hamadi, the Acting Executive Director of the Environmental Quality Sector at the Environment Agency  Abu Dhabi, said: "We will be cleaning and disinfecting the Mussafah Channel. It will then transport the waste to the landfill that will be constructed by Tadweer. We have completed the surveying to identify the amount the marine sediment, its depth, composition and the methods to ensure its safe disposal."

"Precautionary measures and safe environmental methods will be employed to clean and disinfect the channel and prevent any contaminants from spreading into nearby water channels," he noted.

"The project will contribute to bolstering Abu Dhabis efforts for providing a clean and healthy environment for members of society, in accordance with our mandate of achieving sustainable development in the emirate," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
The United Arab Emirates and the United States are facing a "stress test" in their relationship, a senior Emirati diplomat said Thursday, as Russia's war in Ukraine strains ties.

Yousef al-Otaiba, the Emirati ambassador to the US, was speaking days after the UAE abstained in a UN Security Council vote on a resolution demanding a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine.

"Our relationship with the US is like any relationship. It has strong days where the relationship is very healthy, and days where the relationship is under question," he told the International Defence Industry, Technology and Security Conference in Abu Dhabi.

"Today, we're going through a stress test, but I'm confident that we will get out of it and we will get to a better place."

The wealthy Gulf state hosts US troops and has been a strategic partner to Washington for decades, but it also has growing economic and political ties with Russia.

The UAE, which currently holds the UN Security Council presidency, on Friday abstained from voting on a US-Albanian draft resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Three days later, the UN Security Council voted to extend an arms embargo to all of Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels. After Russia, which is close to Iran, voted in favour of the UAE-supported resolution, diplomats suggested a deal was cut between Moscow and Abu Dhabi.

The Gulf state has also shown no interest in increasing oil production to ease prices sent sky-rocketing by the Russian invasion, saying it remains committed to the OPEC+ alliance, which is led by Saudi Arabia and Russia and controls the levels of output.

The recent developments come after US forces fired Patriot interceptors to help thwart a Huthi missile attack on Abu Dhabi in January. Three oil workers were killed in an earlier attack.

In December, the UAE threatened to scrap its mega-purchase of US F-35 fighter jets, protesting stringent conditions set by Washington over concerns on China.

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Egypts government has disbursed over EGP 33 billion (around $2 billion) to 2,500 export companies since October 2019, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait announced on Thursday.

Since then, Egypts government has launched five initiatives offering targeted support for the export sector.

The latest initiative consisted of cash repayment of exporters arrears from the Exports Development Fund (EDF), which was launched in 2020 under the directives of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The initiative allows instant cash repayment of the entirety of export companies arrears from the EDF at a discount of 15 percent.

Under the fourth round of this initiative, rolled out in mid November 2021, the government allocated EGP 2 billion (around $127 million) to be disbursed to 515 export companies through 28 April 2022, according to Maait.

He added that EGP 900 million (around $57 million) was disbursed in December 2021 under the initiatives fourth round.

The government is currently considering launching a new initiative in this regard with an eight percent discount instead of 15 percent.

The finance ministrys Deputy for Financial Policies Ahmed Kojok stated that export companies in the auto, ceramic and pharmaceutical sectors have been allowed to join the cash repayment initiative in order to attract exporters and encourage them to expand production.

For her part, Niven Mansour, adviser to the financial policies deputy, said that the initiative, which has been executed in collaboration of the banking sector, played a key role behind the boom Egypts non-oil exports witnessed in 2021, which now exceeds $32 billion.

President El-Sisi instructed the government in 2021 to design a roadmap to increase Egypts exports to $100 billion per year.

In 2021, Egypts total exports  including oil and non-oil products  hit an all-high time to surpass $45 billion, despite the pandemic crisis and its related repercussions, especially the global supply chain disruption.

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Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Thursday that the Russia-Ukraine war has had negative economic ramifications over the entire world, including Egypt, adding that the state is working on mitigating these impacts.

"The crisis has cast a shadow over the entire world and left enormous negative repercussions, and we in Egypt are not isolated from the world, and therefore there are negative economic effects," he told a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

The state is working on mitigating the intensity of these impacts through guaranteeing the availability of basic commodities in markets, the prime minister pointed out, according to a cabinet statement released following the meeting.

Egypt has been monitoring the rise in the price of commodities worldwide, especially wheat, due to the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine, two of the worlds top wheat exporters. Egypt, one of the worlds top wheat importers, gets around 80 percent of its wheat imports from both warring countries.

Madbouly called for following up on markets periodically amid the current conditions to prevent any price gouging attempts, warning that the government will not allow such practices since the country has already managed to secure a strategic reserve of various types of basic commodities.

On Sunday, the country's supply minister, Ali Moselhi, said that the strategic reserves of basic food commodities  including wheat, rice, meat and poultry  will last for months.

Madbouly offered assurances that the national megaprojects the state has been carrying out have started to bear fruit and help the country in weathering such crises, saying that these projects "protects us from being affected by any negative repercussions of disturbances or wars."

The premiere said the state-run silo projects contributed to providing a safe strategic reserve of wheat. Also, the presidential health initiative alleviated the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, the statement added.

In recent years, Egypt launched a national project to secure stockpiles of of strategic foods through the construction of nearly 50 silos distributed over 17 governorates, with a storage capacity reaching nearly 1.5 million tonnes.

In 2021, Egypt imported 5.5 million tonnes of wheat, on top of 3.5 million tonnes from local farms. Egypt also forecast wheat imports in 2022 to drop to 5.3 million tonnes due to an increase in local production.

The last years increase is ascribed to the silos project, in addition to the government's decision to raise the price of the wheat it buys from farmers, which encouraged them to increase the amount of land planted.

Madbouly also expressed his appreciation for efforts made by the country's ministries of foreign affairs, emigration and Egyptian expatriates, civil aviation and social solidarity in coordinating the repatriation of 175 Egyptians who were stranded in Ukraine.

During today's meeting, Emigration Minister Nabila Makram said the ministry is pushing ahead with efforts to coordinate with the Egyptian community in Ukraine.

Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine started last week, around 6,000 Egyptians lived in Ukraine, including 3,000 students studying at Ukraines universities, especially in medicine.

The Egyptian authorities have been urging expats in western Ukrainian cities to head to the borders of Romania, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary to be repatriated to Egypt.

Along with 140 other countries, Egypt has voted for a UN resolution on Wednesday calling for a halt to Russias invasion of Ukraine and an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from its western neighbour.

Egypt called for a quick political solution to the Russia-Ukraine crisis through peaceful means, warning of the crisiss impact on the already-suffering global economy. The country also warned against economic sanctions that are not based on the mechanisms of the multilateral international system.

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Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sent energy prices surging, but the oil-rich Gulf monarchies have so far resisted Western pressure to raise output, prioritising their own strategic and economic interests.

The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude topped $115 on Thursday, the highest since 2008, as the war and sanctions against Moscow stoked fears about global supplies.

Russia is the world's second biggest crude exporter after Saudi Arabia, which is close to Western governments but also to Moscow.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), led by Riyadh and Moscow, failed Wednesday to respond to a call to produce more and faster, despite pressure on the Gulf states in particular.

The group argued that the "current volatility is not caused by changes in market fundamentals but by current geopolitical developments," according to a press release.

"Gulf countries are testing their ability to have a strategic autonomy, to defend their own national interests," Hasan Alhasan, a Middle East specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told AFP.

The Gulf countries, which had suffered from declines in oil prices since 2014, now seem all the more reluctant to take immediate action as they benefit from the short-term price surge.

If the barrel stays above $100, this will mean that none of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries will face a budget deficit by 2022, wrote researcher Karen Young of the Washington-based Arab Gulf States Institute.

Keeping Russia

Amena Baker, an analyst with Energy Intelligence, said that according to OPEC+ "there is no physical shortage of crude in the market.

"The impact of the Western sanctions against Russia's hydrocarbon exports is still unknown," she told AFP.

Baker said the only two OPEC+ countries able to truly open the floodgates are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but that even they would be unable to make up for Russian exports.

"Overall our calculations put spare capacity of OPEC+ at 2.5 million barrels per day and that's much less than what Russia exports... Russia's exports are closer to 4.8 million bpd," she said.

However, producing countries are aware that high prices risk depressing the global economy and accelerating the energy transition away from fossil fuels, at a time of fragile post-Covid recovery.

"What is most important for Saudi Arabia is oil price stability," said Alhasan, who added that the kingdom counts on Russia's cooperation in this.

The last time Saudi Arabia and Russia clashed over production quotas, it led to a price war and a collapse of prices, he recalled.

Baker agreed that "keeping Russia as part of OPEC+ is also seen as very important by member states ... That's the only way to ensure an effective market managing tool in the years to come."

Stress test

The International Energy Agency announced Tuesday that member countries would release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves to stabilise global markets.

Half, 30 million barrels, will be released by the United States.

Alhasan said the pressure the United States has exerted on its close Gulf partners has been "limited" so far, adding that "we'll see if the pressure will increase in the coming days".

According to the analyst, the "Gulf countries have said: 'This isn't our war.' A very similar message, by the way, to the one consistently sent by the US to the Gulf states on Yemen... over the past several years."

Saudi Arabi and the UAE -- close diplomatic and military partners of the United States -- have intervened in Yemen since 2015 to support government forces against Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran.

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi would like stepped-up support from Washington against the rebels, but the US has been reluctant to engage further in the conflict.

The UAE hosts US troops and has been a strategic partner to Washington for decades, but its ties with Russia have also been growing.

In its current role as holder of the UN Security Council's rotating presidency, the UAE abstained last Friday from voting on a US-Albanian draft resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

US-UAE relations now face a "stress test", said Yousef al-Otaiba, the Emirati ambassador to the US, but he voiced confidence that "we will get out of it and we will get to a better place".

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Egypts Tourism and Antiquities Fund will pay for Ukrainian tourists stranded in the country to stay at three-star hotels, the Egyptian Hotel Association announced on Thursday.

In a statement issued with directives to Egyptian hotels, especially in South Sinai and the Red Sea governorate, the hotel association said that the Tourism and Antiquities Fund will pay $10 a night for Ukrainian tourists to stay at three-star hotel.

For those staying at five-star and four-star hotels, the association said hotels should give Ukrainian tourists a choice of either moving to a three-star hotel or remain at their current accomodation at a special rate.

Last week, Egypts Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said that all Ukrainian and Russian tourists were welcome to extend their stay at Egyptian hotels.

The embassy added that it contacted last week the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to assist in organising the return of Ukrainian tourists to Ukraines neighbouring countries.

Following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government closed its airspace to civilian flights.

According to statements by the Ukrainian embassy in Cairo on Sunday, more than 16,000 Ukrainian tourists in Egypts Red Sea resort cities are unable to return to Ukraine due to the Russian invasion of their country.

The embassy of Ukraine has shared the statements issued by the Egyptian Hotel Association on its official Facebook page and instructed stranded Ukrainian nationals to cite these statements to hotel staff if necessary.

Egypt is among the top destinations for Ukrainian tourists, with about 1.5 million visiting Egypt in 2019.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, almost 727,100 Ukrainian tourists visited Egypt in 2020.

* Additional reporting from Sharm El-Sheikh by Ahmed Morsy.

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Tens of young artists set up their painting spots at the Heliopolis metro station on Thursday and started to sketch passers-by.

Three prominent artists were working on murals and colourful wall-to-wall photographs depicting the history of the Heliopolis district and its major sites.

This group of artists are part of an Egyptian programme titled Live Portraits and Paintings from Heliopolis that is meant to bring culture, art, and heritage closer to the public.

The first in Egypt, the programme's primary stage is launched in metro stations. It is the brainchild of ARAC for Art and Culture, a non-profit association.

We aim to establish interaction between people and art for many reasons: to enhance the public's taste, improve our relationship with art and beauty, and refine the public's behaviour. so our idea intersected with that of the connected with RATP and the Egyptian National Authority For Tunnels, explained professor Ashraf Reda, CEO of ARAC.

There are several heritage sites from the Coptic, Islamic, and ancient Egyptian eras in Heliopolis, which is why ARAC selected three prominent artists to draw three murals in the metro station, each representing a certain era.

Renowned Egyptian painter Alaa Awad is one of the three artists. Known for his passion for ancient Egyptian heritage and his quest to depict Egypts intangible heritage in his artworks, Awad told Ahram Online about the theme he planned for his mural.

Today I will draw ancient Egyptian women playing the harp. I thought the mural is convenient for the metro station where people usually listen to something as they are on the move," he said.

Not far from Awads mural were young painters drawing passers-by. Under the supervision of professor Murad Darwish, the sketches will be collected in a small exhibition that will be set up here for passers-by to see their portraits on display," Reda said.

"We want to conduct activities related to cultural art and heritage in every metro station in Egypt," he concluded.

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A newly appointed minister in Libya's new, east-based government resigned Thursday, alleging that the the voting in of the Cabinet was unfair and failed to include all Libyan factions.

In a video posted on social media, Gamal Salem Shaaban, who had been appointed economy and trade minister, said there was no honor in joining the new Cabinet and that it will lead to conflict.

His resignation came on the heels of a U.N. statement voicing concerns over reports that the voting on the new government was flawed. There are also fears the appointment earlier this week of the new Cabinet will lead to parallel administrations and fuel tensions in a country mired in conflict for the past decade.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha submitted his Cabinet list to the east-based House of Representatives, and 92 out of of 101 lawmakers in attendance in the eastern city Tobruk backed it.

``That session lacked transparency and integrity and did not meet procedural standards,'' Shaaban said. ``There is no honor in being part of a Cabinet that will bring about war and destruction.''

Bashagha's own appointment last month deepened divisions among Libyan factions and raised fears that fighting could return after more than a year and a half of relative calm.

Libya's embattled Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah - who like Bashagha hails from Misrata - has remained defiant against replacing his government.

Bashagha's Cabinet was sworn-in later Thursday, though not all ministers attended. After taking the oath, he told parliament that armed groups had abducted the newly appointed ministers for foreign affairs, culture and technical education - and shot at others who were on their way to the ceremony. The reports could not be independently verified.

The house condemned the alleged abductions and held Dbeibah's government responsible for the safety of all new ministers. Bashagha's Cabinet includes three deputy prime ministers, 29 ministers and six ministers of state.

``Some are trying to drag us into war and infighting but we will not give them such a chance. We will not spill a single drop of blood,'' Bashagha said. ``We will study all options so that we can take over power in Tripoli by force of the law and not by force.''

The lawmakers renewed their calls on Dbeibah to cede power peacefully.

Dbeibah has repeatedly said his administration will hand over power only to an elected government. He has proposed a four-point plan to hold a simultaneous parliamentary vote and referendum on constitutional amendments late in June. That would be followed by a presidential election after the new parliament crafts a permanent constitution.

Dbeibah was appointed through a U.N.-led process in February 2021 on the condition that he shepherd the country until elections that were supposed to take place in December. The effort to replace him stems from Libya's failure to hold its first presidential election during his watch.

The vote's delay was a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in the oil-rich Mediterranean nation.

Libya has been unable to hold elections since its disputed legislative vote in 2014, which caused the country to split for years between rival administrations, each backed by armed militias and foreign governments.

The oil-rich North African nation has been wrecked by conflict since a NATO-backed uprising toppled then killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

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Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Greeces Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis discussed on Thursday enhancing cooperation in many fields, including solar energy, power linkage, and climate.

El-Sisi and Mitsotakis held a meeting via video conference with the participation of the ministers of electricity and renewable energy, foreign affairs, petroleum and mineral resources, planning, and international cooperation from both sides.

Werner Hoyer, the president of the European Investment Bank (EIB), and governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Tarek Amer also attended the meeting.

The discussion included enhancing cooperation in power linkage and natural gas as well as solar energy, green hydrogen, and climate change, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement.

The meeting comes as part of ongoing cooperation between the two countries as Egypt prepares to host the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh in November, the spokesman noted.

The two sides agreed on moving forward to implement the agreements signed between the two countries in these sectors within the bilateral framework as well as the trilateral cooperation mechanism with Cyprus.

Egypt, Cyprus, and Greece have intensified their trilateral cooperation mechanisms over the past decade, signing several agreements in several fields, including a major deal to link their power grids in October last year.

Egypt will adopt a comprehensive approach during its presidency of COP27 and will take into account the priorities of all parties to make sure that the conference will yield positive results with regards to international climate action, El-Sisi said during the meeting.

Mitsotakis underscored Greeces keenness to enhance cooperation with Egypt on COP27, affirming trust in Egypts presidency of the conference.

The Greek PM highlighted the distinguished Egypt-Greece relations, affirming his countrys keenness to expand these relations, especially in light of Egypts role in enhancing joint action mechanisms in the face of the challenges currently facing the Mediterranean region.

El-Sisi also praised the special relations with Greece and the level of political coordination between the two countries.

The president expressed appreciation for Greece's stances towards Egypt on the bilateral level and within the framework of the EU, adding that they reflect the strength of the long-standing historical relations binding the two countries.

Egypt, Greece and Cyprus: Intensive trilateral cooperation

Since assuming the presidency in 2014, El-Sisi has boosted relations with Greece and Cyprus.

The three countries are part of the EastMed Gas Forum (EMGF), a Cairo-based international organisation that aims to establish a regional gas market in the Eastern Mediterranean and enhance trade relations among the member states.

During the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of EMGF held in Cairo in November, Egypt and Greece signed an MoU to enhance cooperation in the fields of liquefied natural gas trading, relevant research and exploration activities, and the linking of both countries' natural gas pipeline networks.

The leaders of Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus have held several tripartite summits over the past several years, the last of which was in October in Athens.

During the ninth trilateral summit in the Greek capital in October, the three countries signed a trilateral agreement on power linkage in a summit gathering the leaders of the three countries in Athens.

Earlier in the same month, Egypt signed an accord with Cyprus on linking the two countries electricity transmission networks and an agreement with Greece on an undersea cable that will transmit power from North Africa to Europe.

Late last year, Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, COP27 President Designate, stressed in a meeting in Nicosia with his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, the need for cooperation to face climate change in light of COP27.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him, salting the proposal with sarcasm.

``Sit down with me to negotiate, just not at 30 meters,`` he said Thursday, apparently referring to recent photos of Putin sitting at one end of an extremely long table when he met with French President Emmanuel Macron.

``I don't bite. What are you afraid of?'' Zelenskyy said at a Thursday news conference.

Zelenskyy said it was sensible to have talks: ``Any words are more important than shots.''

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In a press conference in Cairo on Thursday, Ukrainian Charge d'Affaires in Egypt Ruslan Nechai has thanked Egypt for the efforts it has exerted during the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started last week.

On Wednesday, Egypt joined 140 countries in voting for a UN resolution calling for a halt to the Russian invasion and an immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from its western neighbour.

The non-binding resolution, passed through a rare emergency session of the 193-member body, comes a week after the Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine.

In a statement on Wednesday after the vote, Ukraines embassy in Cairo hailed Egypts vote for the resolution, saying that such a stance proves again how great Egypt is.

Great stances are taken only by great countries, and, as always, Egypt stands with the truth, the embassy said, voicing appreciation for Egypts noble position.

The embassy lauded President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi as the leader of the Arab world and thanked him for Egypts stance during the vote, which Ukraine will never forget.

It was not surprising that Egypt, with its significance, civilisation and wise leadership, denounced the unjustified brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine, the embassy added.

Five of the UNGAs 193 member states - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Syria, and Russia - voted against the resolution, and 35 nations abstained.

Speaking during the UNGA emergency session on Wednesday, Egypts Permanent Representative to the UN Osama Abdel-Khalek said Cairo voted for the resolution given the countrys firm belief in the rules of international law and the principles and goals of the Charter of the United Nations.

In his speech at the UNGA, Abdel-Khalek called for a quick political solution to the Russia-Ukraine crisis through peaceful means, warning against the economic and social effects of the current crisis on the entire global economy, which is still suffering from the pandemics repercussions.

Russia has drawn global condemnation and was slapped by Western sanctions after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has claimed the lives of scores and forced hundreds of thousands to flee from the country.

The European Union has slapped several packages of sanctions on Russia including a ban on Europes export of specific refining technologies to Russia. Also, countries including the US and UK have introduced several economic sanctions against Moscow to cripple the Russian economy.

On Monday, Germany halted permission for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline designed to double the flow of gas from Russia in response to the attacks.

During the UNGA speech, Abdel-Khalek said Egypt rejects the approach of employing economic sanctions outside the framework of the mechanisms of the multilateral international system.

He warned that similar sanctions in the past had caused severe negative humanitarian effects and resulted in the exacerbation of the suffering of millions of people over the past decades.

Immediately after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Cairo has called for upholding dialogue and diplomatic means to resolve the crisis since the first day of the Russian invasion.

Egypt has also extended the stay of tourists affected by the crisis in Ukraine at Egyptian hotels until they can safely return to their countries.

As many as 20,000 Ukrainian tourists are stranded at the Egyptian resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, and Marsa Allam, Reuters cited Ukrainian embassy officials in Cairo as saying on Thursday.

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The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has marked World Wildlife Day by releasing native species to their ancestral homes amid the nature reserves of north-west Saudi Arabia.

Some 20 Arabian oryx, 50 sand gazelles and 10 Nubian ibex arrived at pre-release enclosures in AlUlas Sharaan Nature Reserve.

The animals came from the King Khaled Wildlife Research Centre, which operates north of Riyadh as a branch of the National Centre for Wildlife. After a period of adjustment to these new environs, the animals will be released into the Sharaan reserve on March 17.

Amr AlMadani, CEO, Royal Commission for AlUla, said: We are unleashing the power of natures balance. By sustaining ecosystems and wildlife  creating nature reserves that protect and conserve biodiversity, restoring and enhancing habitats and ecosystems, and reintroducing indigenous species of flora and fauna  our teams have enabled the release of these animals. The programme is a living example of RCUs commitment to our sustainability goals as well as those of the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative.

In line with IUCN guidelines stating that monitoring is essential to a reintroduction programme, RCU will monitor the newly released animals by using satellite tracking collars, camera trapping and SMART tools.

Satellite collars are the most suitable method for monitoring across RCUs large reserves. Collars provide near real-time GPS animal tracking, enabling our rangers (who are employed from local communities) and researchers to monitor survival, breeding, habitat use, foraging, interactions with other species and wildlife movements.

Camera trapping is a useful tool for sighting species in carefully chosen locations  for example, water points and corridors to provide information on how animals are using the habitat.

SMART is a set of software and analysis tools to support our rangers and researchers in data collection and analysis, thereby improving the effectiveness of protected area management and species conservation.

Ahmed Almalki, RCUs director of nature reserves, said: Each step forward in the release programme is a step forward for our wider conservation vision to restore landscapes and reintroduce native species. By bringing back native species, we bring back balance. The release programme will continue to grow in the years to come as we move towards our long-term goal of reintroducing 12 native species by 2035.

The Sharaan Nature Reserve is located in the eastern part of AlUla County. In all RCU is creating six reserves spanning some 12,400 sq km  more than half the area of AlUla County. RCU is collaborating with the International Union for Conservation of Nature to develop a Protected Area Network plan for the reserves to ensure sustainable adaptive management, enable movement of species and enhance climate change resilience.

World Wildlife Day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013. The UN chose March 3 because that was the day of signature for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973. The RCU animal release programme clearly reflects the 2022 theme for World Wildlife Day, Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration.-- TradeArabia News Service
A Sharqiya criminal court handed on Thursday death sentences against four men and handed 7-15 jail terms to 26 others for murdering two policemen and attempting to murder other security personnel in 2014.

The court convicted the defendants of joining a terrorist group, possessing explosive charges, and sabotaging state properties.

The verdict was issued after the mufti, the authority which issues religious edicts, approved the court's death penalties in a non-binding but legally required opinion as per the country's penal code.

The ruling can be appealed within 60 days before the Court of Cassation.

The defendants, who were arrested in 2014 in the Nile Delta governorate of Sharqiya, were charged with forming a terrorist cell of 30 members with the aim of disrupting order, carrying out terrorist operations, vandalising police vehicles, murdering two policemen, and attempting to kill others.

The defendants were found in possession of ammunitions, explosives, and publications calling for the suspension of the country's constitution, and preventing state institutions from doing their duties.

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Egypts diplomats have succeeded throughout the past century in defending the country's best interests and countering challenges, rendering it a partner in political decision-making, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Sunday.

Egyptian diplomacy has taken part in supporting the state's positions in international forums, Shoukry said in a recorded statement during a webinar organised by Kemet Boutros Ghali Foundation for Peace and Knowledge (KBG) under the title 100 Years of Diplomacy

Egypts foreign ministry was re-established on 15 March 1922, after the country's independence was officially recognised in February of the same year.

Shoukry commemorated the re-establishment of the ministry as part of the national independence process, acknowledging the dedication of his predecessors in the face of challenges and emphasising the necessity of perpetuating their legacy to achieve Egypt's goals at the regional and international levels.

The foreign ministry, he added, has managed to build up expertise in a wide range of areas, such as development, environmental diplomacy, and all the new affairs that appear on the international stage. This has made Egypt capable of interacting with a balanced and flexible policy.

"Egyptian foreign policy has been based on the diversification of its focus, the expansion of mutual partnership frameworks, the promotion of common interests, the support of different people, and the strengthening of national institutions around the world," he stressed.

Amr Moussa, former foreign minister and former secretary-general of the Arab League, said the re-establishment of the foreign ministry opened the door for Egyptian diplomacy to play an active role domestically and regionally.

He pointed out that Egypt defended the Arab identity in the 1940s and that the African question was also a top priority for Egyptian diplomacy. Egypt vigorously participated in establishing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), he added.

Moussa noted that Egypt played an active role in the United Nations after World War II and was a staunch defendant of human rights and that its judges were among the first to work in international judicial organisations.

Egyptian diplomacy has had many independent positions over the years, including its historic role in establishing the Non-Aligned Movement and defending the Palestinian cause, he pointed out.

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Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will travel to Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey; Madrid, Spain; Rabat and Casablanca, Morocco; Algiers, Algeria; and Cairo, Egypt - as the final stop - from 4 to 11 March, according to a statement released by the US State Department on Thursday.

According to the statement, Sherman will travel to Cairo from March 10 to 11, where she will meet with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and other senior Egyptian officials.

Sherman will also meet with the President of the National Council of Human Rights (NCHR) Moushira Khattab, host a discussion with Egyptian human rights advocates, and meet with Egyptian youth, the statement added.

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Egypt has launched an air bridge to repatriate expats who crossed borders from Ukraine to neighbouring European countries, Minister of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram said on Thursday.

Our sons in the western cities in Ukraine are now moving along the borders with Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary to Egypt, God willing, Makram said in a post on her Facebook account.

Egypt launched the air bridge as a cooperative effort between the ministries of civil aviation and foreign affairs as per the directives of the leadership, the minister said.

Egyptian nationals in the eastern cities should be careful while heading from Kharkiv to Cossack Lopan village, and from Sumy city to Sutga city in the direction of Russia, stressing that all nationals heading to these areas should provide their info to the Egyptian Embassy in Moscow on the e-mail: [email protected].

Hundreds of Egyptians, including many students, have arrived in the European countries that lie west of Ukraine in an effort coordinated with the Egyptian foreign ministry, where they are set to be repatriated soon.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine eight days ago, the emigration and expatriate affairs ministry has been working round the clock to coordinate with the Ukrainian authorities to facilitate the exit of Egyptian nationals from the country.

In the past several days, Minister Makram held more than one meeting via video conference with Egyptian expat community in Ukraine to coordinate exit strategies.

The ministry has also coordinated with several of Ukraine's neighbours - Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary - to secure measures to facilitate the entry of Egyptian nationals exiting Ukraine into these countries and safe passage home.

In parallel, the Egyptian Embassy in Kyiv has also been working round the clock in issuing safety directives and planning exit routes for the more than 6,000 nationals who lived in Ukraine before the russian invasion.

On Tuesday evening, Air Cairo flew back from Bucharest 175 Egyptian students who had fled from Ukraine into Romania.

On Thursday, Russian and Ukrainian delegations held a second round of peace talks in Belarus, during which they agreed to organise safe corridors for civilians to evacuate and for humanitarian supplies to be delivered.

The details of safe corridors will be made clear shortly, Leonid Slutsky, a senior Russian lawmaker who took part in the talks said.

Neighbouring countries such as Romania and Hungary have received hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees throughout the week, with many thousands more expected in the coming days.

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A former chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court will head a UN investigation into a wide range of alleged violations committed by all sides in Ethiopia's conflict, the UN said Wednesday.

Fatou Bensouda of Gambia, who served as ICC chief prosector from 2012 to 2021, is among three international experts appointed by the president of the UN Human Rights Council to investigate the rights situation in Ethiopia, the council said in a statement.

Council president, Ambassador Federico Villegas of Argentina, also appointed Kaari Betty Murungi of Kenya and Steven Ratner of the United States to serve on the newly-created International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia.

The top UN rights body agreed last December, despite strenuous objections from the government in Addis Ababa, to send international investigators to Ethiopia, amidst a grinding 15-month war.

The commission was handed a one-year renewable mandate to impartially investigate allegations of violations and abuses committed by all sides in the conflict that erupted in Ethiopia in November 2020.

The investigators have also been tasked with establishing "the facts and circumstances surrounding the alleged violations and abuses, collect and preserve evidence, to identify those responsible, where possible, and to make such information accessible and usable in support of ongoing and future accountability efforts".

The decision to create the commission came after a joint investigation by the UN rights office and Ethiopia's Human Rights Commission (EHRC) determined that possible war crimes and crimes against humanity had been committed by all sides during the conflict.

Ethiopia's war broke out in November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray to topple the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a move he said came in response to the rebel group's attacks on army camps.

The war has killed thousands and, according to the UN and the United State, driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of starvation.

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Saudi energy giant Aramco's shares hit a record high for a second straight day on Thursday, as global oil prices surged after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Aramco's stock was trading at 45 Saudi riyals ($12) in Riyadh, according to the Saudi Tadawul market website, before falling back to 44.3 Saudi riyals ($11.8) at market close.

On Wednesday, trading stopped at 43.05 Saudi riyals ($11.48) per share.

The Gulf kingdom -- the world's top crude exporter -- has remained the firm's majority shareholder since a December 11, 2019 listing.

Aramco had priced its landmark initial public offering at 32 riyals ($8.53) per share and it soared the maximum limit to 35.2 riyals on its market debut.

The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude topped $115 on Thursday, the highest since 2008, as the war and sanctions against Moscow stoked fears for global supplies.

Russia is the world's second biggest crude exporter after Saudi Arabia, which is close to Western governments but also to Moscow.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+), led by Riyadh and Moscow, failed Wednesday to respond to a call to produce more and faster, despite pressure on the Gulf states in particular.

Saudi Arabia confirmed its commitment to the OPEC+ agreement with Russia Sunday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

While Saudi Arabia is seen as the kingpin of the original OPEC member states, Russia is the major player among the 10 other countries that make up OPEC+.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is acutely aware of how destructive the Russian war on Ukraine can be for his countrys already ailing economy. On the first day of the invasion alone, the Turkish lira dropped by over five per cent against the US dollar.

The popularity of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the president himself have been plunging against the backdrop of soaring energy and food prices. At the same time, Turkey has long and close political ties with Russia. Erdogan and his Russian counterpart have worked closely together on a range of foreign policy issues, from Syria and Libya to the Azerbaijan-Armenian conflict, even if they stood on the opposite sides of those issues. They also have much in common: leadership styles, world outlooks shaped by their respective irredentist projects, and shared attitudes towards the liberal, democratic West. They certainly are of the same mind on sanctions from that direction.

It is little wonder that, in its attempt to calm tensions ahead of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ankara should focus on that matter. For several weeks, the mainstream Turkish media cautioned that escalating sanctions against Moscow would be counterproductive. Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin put it bluntly in an interview with Die Welt: Sanctions against Russia are useless. You only postpone the problems, he said, adding that Russia feels threatened by NATO so new rules and principles were needed for both Russia and the West to feel safe.

The Turkish experience with US sanctions following its purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system would naturally have informed this stance. But the economic impact of sanctions on Russia appears of greater concern. Any sanctions imposed on Russia will have an adverse effect on the Turkish economy, Fatih Ceylan, Turkeys Permanent Representative to NATO from 2013 to 2018, warned in an interview with Cumhuriyet newspaper.

The scope of the sanctions against Russia could be broadened soon, and Turkey may be asked to act accordingly. How Turkey will comport itself in this situation needs to be discussed in detail. The situation could narrow Turkeys diplomatic field and push Turkey into corner.... Therefore, Turkey needs to act very cautiously.

Economically, Turkey is stuck between a Ukrainian wall and a Russian hard place. Its annual trade volume with Russia is $34.7 billion and with Ukraine it is $7.4 billion. Turkey is dependent on Russia for 33.6 per cent of its natural gas, and both countries are important sources of food and tourism for Turkey. Russians and Ukrainians made up 15 and eight per cent, respectively, of the tourists who visited Turkey in 2021. On the other hand, Kyiv has become a main importer of Turkeys Bayraktar drones, leading Russia to accuse Ankara of feeding Ukrainian militaristic zeal.

Much to Ankaras dismay, therefore, Turkey has come under increasing pressure to get off the fence. Turkey must not remain neutral, said Ukraines Ambassador to Ankara Vasyl Bodnar, and Kyiv has officially asked Ankara to close the Bosporus and Dardanelles to Russian warships. Ankara has resisted the appeal. In remarks to Hurriyet newspaper on 25 February, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey was obliged by international law to allow Russian warships through these straits. Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Turkey has the right to limit the passage of warships through the straits during wartime or if threatened, but otherwise the convention guarantees the free passage of civilian vessels in peacetime, and restricts the passage of naval ships that do not belong to Black Sea states .

Opinion from across the Turkish political spectrum agrees that Ankara should uphold the terms of the convention. Turkey must strictly adhere to the Montreux agreement; it is not at war, said Ali Oztunc of the opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP). Considering the current fragility of our economy, priority should be given to minimising the possible repercussions of the crisis on our country, the opposition IYI (Good) Party said in a statement.

On Sunday, 27 February, Cavusoglu reiterated his countrys intent to act clearly and transparently in accordance with the principles of the Montreux Convention. Yet, he introduced a crucial shift in rhetoric that allows Turkey to enact the articles of the 1936 Montreux Convention permitting it to limit naval transit through the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits during wartime. Until this point, Ankara had refrained from using the term war. By Sunday, that had changed. At the beginning, it was a Russian attack and we evaluated it with experts, soldiers, and lawyers, Cavusoglu told CNN Turk that day, as reported in Hurriyet. Now it has turned into a war. This is not a military operation; it is officially a state of war.

Nevertheless, he was careful to recall the article in the convention that states that vessels of war belonging to belligerent powers, whether they are Black Sea powers or not, which have become separated from their bases, may return thereto. Cavusoglu stressed that the text was clear on this matter. There should be no abuse. The ship should not be involved in a war after reporting that it was passing through the Bosphorus to return to base.

That provision gives Ankara some wiggle room to avoid incurring Putins wrath, which it felt in the form of stinging economic boycotts after the downing of the Russian Su-24 over Syria in 2015. On the other hand, the above mentioned provision does not apply to Russian ships leaving the Black Sea. Might Turkey suddenly invoke the Montreux Convention to prevent Russian ships from sailing to the Russian naval base in Tartus, Syria, for example?

The Kremlin may have anticipated this. Last week, Russian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mikhail Bogdanov announced that his country supports the participation of Syrian Kurds in the constitutional reform process in Syria. Senior Russian officials have reportedly met with Syrian Kurdish leaders, who have established de facto autonomy in northeastern Syria, to discuss this. To Ankara, the Russian stance lends an unacceptable legitimacy to Syrian Kurdish political forces which it regards as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has been banned in Turkey. Turkey has staged numerous incursions into northern Syria to strike Kurdish targets it has tagged terrorist, yet these operations have always required a tacit Russian go-ahead. Bogdanovs recent announcement signalled that if Turkey does not tread carefully with the Ukraine question, Russia could respond via Syria, in which crisis the Erdogan regime has huge political, economic and military stakes.

So, how is Erdogan to strike a balance? He has attempted to advance himself as a mediator, but his offers were shrugged off. As Cengiz Candar pointed out in Al Monitor, Putin, who prefers direct negotiations with Biden, did not pay much attention to Erdogans initiative, and his planned visit to Turkey, which was announced by Erdogan himself, has yet to materialise. Similarly, there are no indications showing that Turkeys mediation offer was considered seriously by Washington. No Western leaders referenced Ankara during the intensity of their frenzied diplomatic traffic to find an off-ramp to the crisis.

In an article for War on the Rocks, Selim Koru, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and an analyst at the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey, argues that Erdogan, who has been pivoting away from NATO and the West, sees the Ukraine crisis from a different perspective. The natural position for Turkey to be right now is on the fence. It is true that Turkey has strong relations with Ukraine, but that isnt necessarily an effort to balance against Russia. Turkish officials have told me in the past that they were actually disappointed to see such decidedly anti-Russian and pro-Western sentiment in their Ukrainian counterparts. They would much rather Kyiv be nationalistic but non-aligned, and therefore in need of a friendly middle power like Turkey. Still, he adds, Things being as they are, Turkeys immediate consideration is economic.

A version of this article appears in print in the 3 March, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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The conflict in Ukraine has recalled the question of creating a European military force and long-simmering controversies over financing NATO.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point in modern history and a before- and after-threshold for the international order.

It throws into relief all the weaknesses of the post-Cold War arrangements: the failure of arms control polices, the weaknesses of the European security order, and the latent tensions between Russia and NATO.

Regardless of how the conflict ends, these questions will have a high priority on the international agenda in the aftermath of the conflict.

Both Russia and Ukraine have brought up the nuclear question. At the Munich Security Conference that convened a week before the conflict erupted, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with regret about his countrys decision to relinquish its nuclear weapons in 1994 and suggested it might once again seek a nuclear deterrent.

On the fourth day of the conflict, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces on high alert, a step that could trigger reciprocal actions from NATO forces.

Such developments have raised concerns that the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I) that entered in force in 1994, and the New START Treaty that entered into force in 2011 and that was extended after US President Joe Biden took office in 2021 are insufficient to lay to rest the spectre of a nuclear conflagration that has haunted the world since World War II.

There has been increasing talk of a quiet superpower race for nuclear supremacy. By the outset of this year, Russia had modernised the arsenal of nuclear weapons it had inherited from the former Soviet Union, while the US is said to have entered its third nuclear age in its efforts to keep pace with new technologies.

On a related level, the sudden Russian recourse to force in Ukraine reawakened memories of the Russian annexation of Crimea, the question of creating a European military force, and long-simmering controversies over financing NATO or NATOs involvement in wars outside of its original remit, as for example in Iraq and Afghanistan after 11 September 2001 and in Libya in 2011.

Russia may have felt that following the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq, NATO would turn its attention to expanding into areas Russia regards as its backyard or sphere of influence. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO membership has doubled, with most new members having once been part of the Soviet Union. The last to join was North Macedonia in 2020.

Russian concerns over NATO enlargement have been aggravated by expansions in the NATO missile shield and the increase of its military assets in Poland and Romania. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany is determined to rebuild its military, which had largely fallen into neglect.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz on Sunday announced a historic shift in Germanys foreign and defence policy and said that 100 billion euros would be invested in developing the German army in 2022 alone and that more than two per cent of GDP per year would be earmarked for defence.

He also vowed to lay the constitutional foundations for a permanent defence fund that might even exceed targeted NATO dues.

The Ukraine crisis appears to have galvanised Germany, an engine of European change, to lead the way to a new European defence outlook characterised by a resolve not to remain overly dependent on the NATO umbrella regardless of the outcome of the conflict.

Ukraine has become a soft spot in the geopolitical conflict between Russia and NATO. The two sides are in a tug-of-war over their forward defence lines, and Ukraine is paying the price.

Militarily, Russia has set in motion a three-pronged plan that began with warm-ups along Ukraines borders, with Belarus and Chechen forces participating in manoeuvres.

Syria served as a rearguard base. In the lead-up to the conflict, Russia staged manoeuvres off the Syrian coast, signalling that it was prepared for other scenarios further afield.

Phase two of the Russian plan was to paralyse the Ukrainian defence infrastructure and dominate the countrys airspace as Russian ground forces advanced from several directions in order to seize control of nuclear facilities, airports, military installations, and other vital targets.

The third stage was to surround Kyiv and topple Zelenskys government, which Moscow views as a Western puppet.

Russia has accomplished much of its aims in the first two phases. The third, the siege of Kyiv, is the most essential part of the plan. Will the Russian operation stop if it succeeds in overthrowing Zelensky and installing a pro-Russian government?

This question focuses attention on the Ukrainian resistance and how prepared both sides are for guerrilla warfare. The prospect will have reminded Moscow of its debacle in Afghanistan, where Soviet forces sustained major attrition at the hands of Afghan insurgents in the 1980s.

In Ukraine, Kharkiv, the largest city in the east of the country, could be an arena of urban warfare, though this would probably be more intense in western cities such as Lviv.

If Ukrainian forces go for this form of combat, the fighting could drag on and the hopes for a quick return to calm and stability could dim. The fact that Russian tanks found no military contingents to join them when they arrived in Kyiv is a sign of what they might be up against.

As for the political aims of the invasion, it is unclear who Moscow wants to install in Kyiv and how a Russian-backed authority would govern where it is unlikely to find significant popular support.

Kyiv and the other western areas of Ukraine are far removed from the breakaway regions in the east of the country that Russia has supported since 2014.

A version of this article appears in print in the 3 March, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office says fighting is still occurring around the port city of Kherson, which Russian officials have said is in their "complete control.''

Zelenskyy's office told The Associated Press that it could not comment on the situation there while the battle was still being waged.

Meanwhile, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, says troops have taken the Ukrainian port city of Kherson, a claim that the Ukrainian military denies.

But the mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow them to gather up the bodies from the streets.

"I simply asked them not to shoot at people,'' Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said in a statement. "We don't have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.''

Kherson, a city of 300,000, is strategically located on the banks of the Dnieper River near where it flows into the Black Sea. If Russian troops take the city, they could unblock a water canal and restore water supplies to the Crimean Peninsula.

The battle in the Kherson region began last Thursday, the first day of the invasion, and by the next day, the Russian forces were able to take a bridge that connects the city with the territory on the western bank.

A senior U.S. defence official said Wednesday that they have seen claims that the Russians have taken Kherson, but that the Ukrainian military is rejecting that claim.

"Our view is that Kherson is very much a contested city at this point,'' said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to make military assessments.

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Germany will increase its weapons deliveries to Ukraine following the Russian invasion by sending an 2,700 anti-aircraft missiles to the conflict zone, a government source told AFP on Thursday.

The government "approved further support for Ukraine", involving the delivery of STRELA-type anti-aircraft missiles of Soviet manufacture, which were previously used by the army of communist East Germany, the source said.

Germany's first arms consignment of 1,000 anti-tank and another 500 anti-aircraft missiles has already been despatched to the front, the government said on Wednesday.

The move came after Germany reversed its long-standing policy of not sending weapons to conflict zones, a position which has its roots in the country's Nazi-era war guilt.

On Saturday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz recognised that the Russian invasion represented a "turning point in history" that compelled Germany to rethink its priorities.

At the same time, Germany pledged to invest 100 billion euros ($111 billion) in the build-up of its own armed forces in the face of the Russian threat.

The government on Saturday also approved the delivery of German-made arms to Ukraine from third countries, including 400 anti-tank rocket launchers sent by the Netherlands.

Before the escalation of the conflict, Germany had only pledged to contribute helmets and offered to help build a field hospital in Ukraine.

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WayCool Foods, an India-based agri-commerce company, unveiled the most comprehensive tech stack in food supply chain on the sidelines of Expo 2020 Dubai.

The company announced its foray into the UAE at the recently held Food for Future Summit in Dubai, planning to strengthen its footprint in the Middle East, the company said.

The solutions include automation, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a wide set of modular applications to integrate the food economy, enabling stakeholders to increase efficiency by ensuring seamless flow of information, fund, and materials.

The solution covers farmers, aggregators, distributors, movers, hoteliers, institutions, FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) companies, food processing organisations, e-commerce, and retailers. Facilitating traceability and end-to-end integration, the tech is aimed to benefit food ecosystem players by reducing food wastage, informed decision making, and real time intelligence, said the statement.

Karthik Jayaraman, Co-Founder & Managing Director of WayCool Foods & Products, said: We are gearing up to open an office in the UAE with plan to strengthen our footprint across the Middle East. We offer an integrated tech solution for the food sector to enhance efficiency and reduce wastage for sustainable living. We entered the regional market in 2021 and now with the first office outside India, we are all set to strengthen our footprint across the market.

We are glad to have participated in the Food for Future Summit, contributing to future of agri-tech and food security conversations. We focus on food development and distribution, leverage innovative technology to scale and operate a complex supply chain from soil to sale. By deploying deep tech and automation, we continue to contribute to create a world class, highly efficient, and sustainable food economy of the future, Jayaraman added.

WayCool Foods has recently acquired the technology stack of Bengaluru-based agri-tech start up GramworkX to integrate farm management systems with WayCools soil to sale full stack solution. WayCool will invest $1 million in the platform and an additional $1 million in the following years.

GramworkX is a cloud-based smart farm resource management tool, which helps farmers guide, optimise and monitor utilisation of water. It quantifies and provides analytical insights into water consumption patterns across fields and soil types and provides data support, it said.  TradeArabia News Service
Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, the commanding general of the Russian 7th Airborne Division, was killed in fighting in Ukraine earlier this week.

His death was confirmed by a local officers' organization in the Krasnodar region in southern Russia. The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear.

Sukhovetsky, who was 47, began his military service as a platoon commander after graduating from a military academy and steadily rose through the ranks to take a series of leadership positions. He took part in Russia's military campaign in Syria.

He was also a deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army.

A funeral ceremony will be held in Novorossiisk, but further details weren't immediately announced.

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Russian forces battled for control of a crucial energy-producing city in Ukraine's south on Thursday and gained ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea, as Ukrainian leaders called on citizens to rise up and wage guerrilla war against the invaders.

The fighting at Enerhodar, a city on the Dnieper River that accounts for about one-quarter of the country's power generation, came as another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors inside Ukraine to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.

The mayor of Enerhodar, the site of the biggest nuclear plant in Europe, said Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the city's outskirts. Video showed flames and clouds of black smoke rising above the city of over 50,000, with people streaming away from the inferno, past wrecked cars, as sirens wailed.

Moscow's ground advance on Ukraine's capital in the north has apparently stalled, with a huge armored column outside Kyiv at a standstill. And stiffer than expected resistance from the outmanned, outgunned Ukrainians has staved off the swift victory that Russia may have expected.

A top Russian officer, Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, commander of an airborne division, was killed in the fighting earlier this week, an officers organization in Russia reported.

But the Russians have brought their superior firepower to bear in the past few days, launching missile and artillery attacks on civilian areas and making significant gains on the ground in the south as part of an effort to sever the country's connection to the Black and Azov seas.

Cutting Ukraine's access to the coastline would deal a crippling blow to its economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor stretching from its border, across Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, and all the way west to Romania.

The Russians announced the capture of Kherson, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed that forces have taken over local government headquarters in the vital Black Sea port of 280,000, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea, plunging it into darkness, isolation and fear. Electricity and phone service were largely down, and homes and shops faced food and water shortages.

Without phone connections, medics did not know where to take the wounded.

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in neighboring Belarus. But the two sides appeared to have little common ground going into the meeting, and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Ukraine that it must quickly accept the Kremlin's demand for its ``demilitarization`` and declare itself neutral, formally renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron that he was determined to press on with his attack ``until the end,'' according to Macron's office.

After the latest talks ended, both delegations said there was a tentative agreement to allow cease-fires in areas designated safe corridors, and that the two sides would seek to work out the details quickly. Ukraine said a third round of talks would also be held shortly.

Despite a profusion of evidence of civilian casualties and destruction of property by the Russian military, some of it documented by The Associated Press, Putin decried what he called an ``anti-Russian disinformation campaign'' and insisted that Moscow uses ``only precision weapons to exclusively destroy military infrastructure.``

Putin claimed that the Russian military had already offered safe corridors for civilians to flee but asserted without evidence that Ukrainian ``neo-Nazis`` were preventing people from leaving and were using them as human shields.

He also hailed Russian soldiers as heroes in a video call with U.N. Security Council members, and ordered additional payments to families of men killed or wounded.

Ukrainians still in the country faced another grim day. In Kyiv, snow gave way to a cold, gray drizzle, as long lines formed outside the few pharmacies and bakeries that remain open.

New shelling was reported in the northern city of Chernihiv, where emergency officials said at least 22 civilians had been killed in a Russian bombardment of a residential area.

Families with children fled via muddy and snowy roads in the eastern region of Donetsk, while military strikes on the village of Yakovlivka near the eastern city of Kharkiv destroyed 30 homes, leaving three dead and seven wounded, according to emergency authorities.

Ukrainian authorities called on the people to defend their homeland by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear. In recent days, authorities have issued weapons to civilians and taught them how to make Molotov cocktails.

``Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card and this is what we can do best in the world,'' Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiy Arestovich said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

In a video address to the nation, Zelenskyy praised his country's resistance.

The Russians ``will have no peace here. They will have no food,'' he said. They will have not one quiet moment.''

In just seven days of fighting, over 1 million people, or more than 2% of Ukraine's population, have been driven out of the country, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, with about 1.4 million people. Residents desperate to escape falling shells and bombs crowded the railroad station and squeezed onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

At least 227 civilians have been killed and 525 wounded, according to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, though it acknowledged that is a vast undercount, and Ukraine said more than 2,000 civilians have died. The figures could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. defense official said the immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles appeared to be stalled roughly 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Kyiv and had made no real progress in the last few days.

The convoy, which earlier in the week had seemed poised to launch an assault on the capital, has been plagued with fuel and food shortages, the official said.

Ukrainian officials said their missile-defense systems have parried numerous Russian attacks, though some missiles have clearly made it through. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said explosions heard overnight in the capital were Russian missiles being shot down.

From Kherson, Russian troops appeared to roll toward Mykolaiv, another major Black Sea port and shipbuilding center to the west. The regional governor, Vitaliy Kim, said big convoys of Russian troops were advancing on the city.

A group of Russian amphibious landing vessels also headed toward the port of Odesa, farther west, the Ukrainian military said.

Russia reported its military casualties Wednesday for the first time in the war, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine insisted Russia's losses are many times higher but did not disclose its own military casualties.

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President Joe Biden and the prime ministers of India, Australia and Japan will talk Thursday in a virtual meeting of the Indo-Pacific alliance known as the Quad that comes a week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said the leaders will ``exchange views and assessments about important developments in the Indo-Pacific.''

The U.S., Australia and Japan supported a resolution at the U.N. General Assembly to demand an immediate halt to Moscow's attack on Ukraine and the withdrawal of all Russian troops. India abstained from Wednesday's vote.

The leaders of the Quad nations _ Biden, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida _ are also grappling with China, which the Quad countries have accused of economic coercion and unsettling military maneuvering.

The Quad Leaders will have an opportunity to continue their dialogue after their September summit in Washington hosted by Biden, Bagchi said.

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Russian negotiators in talks with Ukraine say another round of talks will likely be held shortly.

Vladimir Medinsky, Russian President Vladimir Putin's adviser who led the Russian delegation in the talks Thursday in Belarus near the Polish border, said the parties' ``positions are absolutely clear, they are written down point by point,'' including issues related to a political settlement of the conflict. He added without elaboration that ``mutual understanding was found on part of them.''

He confirmed that Russia and Ukraine reached a tentative agreement to create safe corridors for civilians to exit besieged cities and observe local cease-fires in areas where they will be created.

Leonid Slutsky, a senior Russian lawmaker who was part of the Russian delegation in talks, said that the details of safe corridors will need to be worked out quickly. He said that the next round of talks could lead to agreements, some of which would need to be ratified by Russian and Ukrainian parliaments.

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman offered to host mediation talks between Russia and Ukraine in a phone call Thursday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as the conflict entered its second week.

The crown prince called for a "political solution" after the Russian invasion and also reiterated his support for the OPEC+ group of oil producers, which includes Russia, to stabilise oil markets.

"The crown prince explained the kingdom's... support for efforts that lead to a political solution that leads to (the war's) end and achieves security and stability, and that the kingdom is ready to make efforts to mediate between all parties," the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

On Wednesday, the Gulf states voted for a UN General Assembly resolution that "demands" Russia "immediately" withdraw from Ukraine.

Saudi Arabia and Russia are both members of OPEC+, which opted to keep production steady this week despite the soaring cost of oil, with Brent North Sea crude flirting with $120 a barrel on Thursday.

The prince "reiterated the kingdom's keenness to maintain the balance and stability of oil markets, highlighting the role of the OPEC+ agreement in this regard and the importance of maintaining it", SPA said.

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More than one million people have fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion just a week ago.

"In just seven days, one million people have fled Ukraine, uprooted by this senseless war," UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said in a statement Thursday.

"Unless there is an immediate end to the conflict, millions more are likely to be forced to flee Ukraine."

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has projected that more than four million Ukrainian refugees may eventually need protection and assistance, while the European Union's crisis management commissioner has said the figure could reach seven million.

More than 37 million people lived under the Kyiv government's control before last week's invasion.

Here is a breakdown of where the 1,038,583 refugees tallied so far by UNHCR have headed to:

Poland

Just over half of those who have fled Ukraine have crossed west into Poland.

The UNHCR said that 547,982 people had done so. Most arrivals are women and children from all parts of Ukraine.

Polish border officials meanwhile put the number higher, saying Thursday morning that 575,100 people had crossed from Ukraine since the Russian assault began on February 24.



A woman holds her dog as she stands with other displaced Ukrainians on the train platform after arriving from Ukraine at the station in Przemysl, Poland, Thursday, March 3, 2022. AP

They said 95,000 people entered from Ukraine on Wednesday, after 98,000 crossed over on Tuesday.

And the influx continued Thursday, with 27,100 crossing into Poland by 0600 GMT.

Before the current crisis, Poland was already home to around 1.5 million Ukrainians.

Hungary

Some 133,009 people have so far crossed from Ukraine into Hungary, or nearly 13 percent of the total, the agency said.

The country counts five border crossings with Ukraine, and several border towns such as Zahony have turned public buildings into reception centres, with ordinary people donating food and clothes, the interior ministry said.

Thousands of refugees have arrived in Budapest. An AFP photographer saw dozens of refugees disembarking from trains arriving every 30 minutes in the Hungarian capital from the Ukrainian border on Tuesday.



Refugees from Ukraine arrive at the Nyugati Railway Station in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, March 3, 2022. AP

Moldova

UNHCR said 97,827 people who fled Ukraine were now in Moldova, marking a jump of nearly 20,000 since the last count on Wednesday.



People fleeing the conflict in Ukraine alk after crossing the Moldova-Ukraine border checkpoint near the town of Palanca, on March 2, 2022. AFP

Slovakia

The UNHCR said 72,200 had fled across Ukraine's shortest border to Slovakia, making up seven percent of the total number.



An Ukrainian woman pushes a stroller between shelter tents after crossing the Slovak-Ukrainian border in Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia, on March 2, 2022. AFP

Romania

The UN Refugee Agency said nearly five percent of those who had fled Ukraine, 51,261 people, were now in Romania.

Some refugees reported they had headed to Romania to avoid massive jams at the Polish border.

Most are passing through Siret in the north of the country, where a camp has been set up, along with a second near Sighetu Marmatiei, where volunteers were handing out hot tea, coffee and pizza, as well as flowers and little charms to mark the start of spring, celebrated on Tuesday across the country.



Refugees coming from Ukraine walk at the Ukrainian-Romanian border in Siret on March 02, 2022. AFP

Officials said tens of thousands of refugees who entered Romania have now moved on elsewhere.

Russia

The UNHCR said 47,800 people had fled across Ukraine's longest border since the invasion began -- nearly five percent of the total number.

Belarus

Some 357 people had crossed north from Ukraine into Belarus, the UNHCR said.

Onward Movement

The refugee agency said 8.5 percent of those who had fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries, 88,147 people, had already moved on towards other European states.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said Wednesday his country had welcomed around 20,000 Ukrainian refugees since the conflict started.



Ukrainian refugees queue to file for residency permits at Prague's foreigner police headquarters on March 2, 2022 in Prague, Czech Republic. AFP

Internally Displaced

Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UNHCR representative to Ukraine, estimated Tuesday that a million people had been internally displaced by the invasion.

She cautioned that the agency still did not have reliable figures.

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Among the sites at risk in the Ukrainian capital are the nation's most sacred Orthodox shrines, dating back nearly 1,000 years to the dawn of Christianity in the region.

The sites, along with other landmark shrines in Kyiv, are religiously significant to both Ukrainian Orthodox and Russian Orthodox. They also stand as powerful symbols in the quarrel over whether the two groups are parts of a single people, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed, or are distinct but related Slavic nations.

The landmarks include the golden domed St. Sophia's Cathedral and the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a sprawling underground and above-ground complex also known as the Monastery of the Caves. Others include the multi-towered St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery and St. Andrew's Church.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces damaged another monument, Ukraine's main Holocaust memorial, Babi Yar, prompting international condemnation.

"What will be next if even Babi Yar (is hit)" asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday. "What other `military' objects, `NATO bases' are threatening Russia? St. Sophia's Cathedral, Lavra, Andrew's Church?''

There is no indication the Russians intentionally targeted Babi Yar. Nor is there any confirmation that the Russians plan to target any of the sacred sites in Kyiv. But civilian buildings have already been hit in other cities, and Kyiv's major shrines sit in elevated locations that could leave them especially vulnerable.

Case in point: The Assumption Cathedral in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, was damaged in the recent attacks, reportedly with stained-glass windows broken and other decorations damaged. The cathedral, which is under the Moscow-affiliated Orthodox church, was Kharkiv's tallest building until sometime in the 21st century.



The Dormition Cathedral after the shelling by Russian forces of Constitution Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, on March 2, 2022. AFP

The risk is even greater in Kyiv.

"We're talking about a very old city,'' said Jacob Lassin, a postdoctoral research scholar at the Arizona State University's Melikian Center for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies. "The center part is densely packed. Even if you're trying to hit one thing, you could easily hit something else.''

The symbolic value of the shrines is powerful even to people who don't share the religious faith they commemorate.

"The idea that the main symbol that stood in your city for 1,000 years could be at risk or could be destroyed is very frightening,'' Lassin said.

The symbols matter not only to the Ukrainian people but to Putin, too. He justified the invasion with baseless claims he was countering "neo-Nazism'' in Ukraine, this in a country with a Jewish president.

Babi Yar, a ravine in Kyiv, is where more than 33,000 Jews were killed within 48 hours in 1941 when the city was under Nazi occupation. The killing was carried out by SS troops along with local collaborators. It was one of the largest mass killings at a single location during World War II, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

It is "at once an accursed and a sacred place,'' American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris said. Just last year, Zelenskyy took part in the inaugural ceremony of a memorial there.

Whether Kyiv's Orthodox shrines come under direct attack or receive collateral damage, such an action would be a "total refutation'' of another of Putin's claims, to be defending Orthodox Ukrainians loyal to Moscow's patriarch, Lassin said.

"It would literally be destroying the main seat of Russian Orthodoxy according to his own rhetoric,'' Lassin said.

The shrines' oldest parts date back to the medieval Kievan Rus kingdom, soon after its adoption of Christianity under Prince Vladimir in the 10th century. Putin has claimed the kingdom is the common ancestor of today's Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainians counter that theirs is a distinct nation now under fratricidal attack from its Slavic neighbour.

The cathedral and nearby monastic complex represent "a masterpiece of human creative genius in both its architectural conception and its remarkable decoration,'' says a summary by UNESCO, which lists them as World Heritage Sites.

The cathedral, built under Prince Yaroslav the Wise in the 11th century, was modelled after the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, the spiritual and architectural heart of medieval Orthodoxy. The Kyiv cathedral includes mosaics and frescoes as old as 1,000 years, and it was a model for later churches in the region, according to UNESCO.

"The huge pantheon of Christian saints depicted in the cathedral has an unrivalled multiplicity among Byzantine monuments of that time,'' UNESCO says.

The Monastery of the Caves, including underground monastic cells, tombs of saints and above-ground churches built across nearly nine centuries, was hugely influential in spreading Orthodox Christianity, according to UNESCO.

Both complexes were endangered and at times damaged by centuries of warfare.

St. Sophia's, sacred both to Ukraine's two main rival Orthodox churches and to Catholics, is currently a museum and isn't normally used for religious services.

Two of the landmarks are associated with opposing sides in the schism within Ukrainian Orthodoxy.

The monastic complex is overseen by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is affiliated with the Orthodox patriarch of Moscow, though it has broad autonomy. St. Michael's is the base for the more nationalist Orthodox Church of Ukraine. But the Ukrainian leaders of both Orthodox groups have harshly criticized the Russian invasion.

If Kyiv's landmarks are damaged or destroyed, "could it potentially damage morale? Yes,'' Lassin said. "Could it potentially galvanize people to be more united? Absolutely. ... What I can say is the Ukrainian people are extremely resilient and are fighting back through all of this.''

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Rescuers meanwhile searched for more survivors of Monday afternoon's quakes that jolted Qadis district in the western Badghis province, a rural area not easily accessible by road.

The US Geological Survey said two earthquakes hours apart of magnitude 4.9 and 5.3 rocked the district.

"Yesterday's earthquake was a very horrifying incident. We had never seen such a thing," Ahmad Shah, whose house in Qadis was damaged, told AFP.

"Because of the cracked walls and roofs of our houses we stayed out all night in this cold weather. Nobody came to help and the people had to dig out those who were buried."

Abdul Jabar, another survivor from Qadis, said many residents preferred to stay in the open fearing more tremors.

"We were scared and did not want to stay at home," he said, adding that some Afghan and international rescue teams arrived Tuesday.

"So far there has not been much support from anyone. They are just assessing the situation."

Qadis governor Saleh Purdel said the survivors might have to stay in tents for another week.

Many fear that further rain in the area could make houses even more vulnerable.

Early on Tuesday Badghis provincial spokesman Baz Mohammad Sarwary said in a video message that the quake had caused "massive" damage to houses, with up to 1,000 buildings damaged.

Sarwary and Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said 22 people were killed and four were injured.

Call for aid

Afghanistan is already in the grip of a humanitarian disaster, worsened by the Taliban takeover of the country in August when Western countries froze international aid and access to assets held abroad.

Images circulating on social media showed residents, including children, searching through the rubble of collapsed homes.

Government officials said rescue workers were helping search for survivors and transferring the injured to local hospitals.

Mujahid said that all government agencies had been instructed to provide food, medical aid and shelter to those affected.

"We also call on international aid agencies and humanitarian agencies to assist the victims of the disaster," he said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The epicentre of the quake was near the city of Qala-i-Naw, the capital of Badghis, less than 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Turkmenistan border, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The United Nations has said it needs $5 billion in 2022 to avert the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan.

A devastating drought has compounded the crisis, with earthquake-hit Qadis one of the worst affected areas.

Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates.

Even weak earthquakes can cause significant damage to poorly built homes and buildings in the impoverished country.

In 2015, more than 380 people were killed in Pakistan and Afghanistan when a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake ripped across the two countries, with the bulk of the deaths in Pakistan.

In that disaster, 12 young Afghan girls were crushed to death in a stampede as they tried to flee their shaking school building.
The attacker walked into a Mogadishu tea shop and detonated the explosive vest he was wearing, said Abdirahman Adan, a police officer stationed near the scene.

"We have confirmed four dead, and nine others wounded," he said. "The casualties were taken to hospital."

The militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, saying it was targeting Somali soldiers undergoing training at a Turkish-run military academy nearby.

Witnesses said the tea shop was popular with soldiers stationed nearby.

"The explosion destroyed the kiosk and the entire area is chaotic," said Mohamed Yare, one of the witnesses.

The attack came just two days after Somalia's government spokesman was injured in a bombing in Mogadishu also claimed by Al-Shabaab.

On January 12, several people died in a suicide car bomb blast in a separate attack targeting a busy part of the capital.

The spate of attacks comes as Somalia limps through a political crisis caused by long-running disagreements over overdue elections.

The president and prime minister have been at loggerheads over the process, which is more than a year late and has been marred by violence.

The latest agreement has earmarked February 25 as the deadline for the completion of long-delayed parliamentary polls, the last step before a vote for a new president can occur.

The impasse has worried Somalia's international backers who fear it distracts from the threat of Al-Shabaab, a violent insurgent group that has been fighting the weak central government for over a decade.

The Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists were driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 after an offensive by an African Union force, but still control vast swathes of rural Somalia from where they launch regular attacks in the capital and elsewhere.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has called on the parties in the Russia-Ukraine conflict to ensure the safety and security of Ukraine's nuclear plants. The director of the IAEA expressed concern about the plants Wednesday in remarks to a UN environmental conference in Kenya.

In the past week, the Russian army reportedly has taken control of several nuclear sites in Ukraine, including Chernobyl, site of the 1986 nuclear meltdown that released high amounts of radiation into the atmosphere.

On Tuesday, Ukraine's deputy environment minister, Roman Shakhmatenko, addressed the U.N. Environmental Assembly from Kyiv, speaking from what appeared to be a basement filled with people trying to escape Russian bombing. The audio was recorded from the livestream of the session.

He warned that the nuclear safety of Europe is at stake. "We see a rise of the level of radiation in Chernobyl because their troops are moving there and there is a threat... of Russian terrorist acts," Shakhmatenko said.

During a briefing Wednesday morning, an IAEA official confirmed there were higher radiation levels at Chernobyl just after the Russians took over the site, but said the readings have since gone down to normal, harmless levels.


UK company Stratospheric Platforms, a partner of German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom (DT) has successfully trialed pioneering technology that provides 5G network coverage from the stratosphere.

The test, which was conducted last month at The Red Sea Project site in Saudi Arabia, was the worlds first demonstration of the High-Altitude Platform System (HAPS) using aircraft to extend a 5G service, covering a geographical area of 450 sq km. The trial was facilitated by Saudi Arabias digital regulator, CITC.

Highlighting the significance of the trial, CITC Governor Dr Mohammed Al Tamimi said: "This is a great accomplishment for Saudi Arabias ICT sector. The deployment of HAPS in the kingdom has been made possible by an enabling ICT ecosystem and strong government support."

"This successful demonstration puts us at the technological frontier globally and takes us closer to our Vision 2030 goal of extending high-quality ICT access to every part of the country," he noted.

HAPS are radio stations located on an object flying or floating in the stratospheric layer. Stratospheric Platforms Limited used a German-made, long-endurance Grob aircraft for the Saudi trial. While HAPS remains an emerging technology, it can potentially bring connectivity to areas that are not covered, or are only partially covered, by cellular networks.

Positioned at high altitude and providing a clear and evenly distributed signal, HAPS enables additional capabilities, including the Internet of Things (IOT), emergency communications, disaster recovery, temporary coverage for events and tourist hotspots, and terrestrial site backhaul.

Stratospheric Platforms CEO Richard Deakin pointed out that the success of the trial in Saudi Arabias western coast had many challenges.

"Now that the 5G HAPS technology has been proven, the question is one of further commercial development. This is why having a diverse consortium such as ours, which includes strong government support, is essential to the continued realization of the programme," he stated.

Deakin said the technology advancements in Saudi Arabia are being driven by the countrys Vision 2030, a whole-of-society programme designed around economic diversification.

Recent ICT initiatives include allocating more than 23 GHz of frequency spectrum for commercial and innovative uses, the launch of regulatory sandbox projects, open access for network operators, and the full-spectrum adoption of the WiFi-6e, becoming the first country in the EMEA region to do so, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Girl group Red Velvet will release a new mini album this month, their management agency said Wednesday.

It comes about seven months after the group's sixth mini album was released in August last year.

Set for release on March 21, the album contains six songs including its title track, "Feel My Rhythm."

Just ahead of the release, the group will hold live concerts to meet fans in Seoul on March 19 and 20.
The curfew for restaurants and bars is likely to be extended by another hour to 11 p.m. after the government gave up its zero-COVID strategy to focus on severe cases.

New rules that could come into effect as early as Saturday will still maintain the nominal, widely ignored cap on permitted gatherings at six people.

This week the government already scrapped the requirement to show vaccine passes, but new COVID cases keep rising, with the daily tally at 198,803 cases and a record 128 deaths on Thursday morning.


Hyundai is increasingly pinning its future on electric vehicles. The auto giant said Wednesday it will expand the proportion of EVs in its total sales to 36 percent by 2030.

In its earlier target, set just six months ago, Hyundai said it would increase the contribution of electric and hydrogen-fueled cars to account for 30 percent of total sales.

The carmaker unveiled the new target at an investment blitz, saying it aimed to sell 1.87 million EVs by 2030, accounting for 7 percent of the global EV market, and to achieve an operating margin of 10 percent. It added, "The focus of sales will completely shift to electric vehicles."

Hyundai sold 140,000 EVs last year, accounting for 3 percent of the global market.
Daily COVID-19 infection cases in Korea rose to 138,993 on Feb. 28, surpassing Germany's 132,801 to become the world's No. 1. Korea's daily cases now hover around 200,000, but the government decided to relax lockdown anyway. The government had been immensely proud of its success in keeping infection numbers low, but not any more.

This week the government abandoned the vaccine pass mandate for various facilities and no longer requires those who came into contact with infected people to self-isolate. The daily number of COVID-19 deaths has soared to 128, but the prime minister claims that infection numbers are no longer a matter of concern given overall mortality among the elderly from other diseases. Frontline hospital workers are close to collapsing, while the country's medical system is showing signs of paralysis. Many infected people are becoming critically ill due to a lack of beds in hospitals where they can be treated. It is only reasonable to suspect that the government scrapped restrictions this close to the presidential election to win the votes of small business owners.

Meanwhile, Korea's household debt burden has increased at the fastest clip during the last five years among 17 countries tallying such statistics. The ratio that gauges how much of a wage earner's annual income is used to service debt reached 12.6 percent at the end of 2021. It rose 16.7 percent since late 2016. The other countries including the U.S. and U.K. saw the debt service ratio (DSR) on average 3.1 percent over the five-year period. Korea's DSR surged because of a sharp increase in people taking out loans to buy apartments, whose prices skyrocketed due to the Moon Jae-in administration's failed real-estate policies.

Korea also leads the world when it comes to real estate taxes. The tax rate on real estate owners rose to 3.98 percent of gross domestic product in 2020, the highest along with France among the 38 members of the OECD, where the average is 1.62 percent of GDP. These are truly shameful firsts for Korea.


Turkey says it has locked Russian warships out of the Black Sea ahead of an expected assault on Ukrainian cities. At the same time Ukraine says it is getting more Turkish drones, despite warnings from Moscow. Turkish-Russian ties are facing a critical test.

Ankara claims four Russian warships have withdrawn their request to enter the Black Sea through Turkish waterways. The announcement follows Turkey's curtailing of Russian naval vessels' use of Istanbul's Bosporus waterway, the only access to the Black Sea.

Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Ankara can stop Russian naval ships from using the waterway after it declared on Sunday that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a "war."

Mesut Casin, an advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says Turkey intends to strictly enforce naval access to the Black Sea under the convention.

"We will very clearly, very sensitively, and objectively apply the Montreux regime. Russians should be thinking about this. Why? We showed this position in World War II; we stopped the German ships, the Italian ships even the Soviet-armed ships," he said.

Ankara's strict enforcement of the convention appears to have denied any wiggle room for Moscow to access its waiting destroyers and a frigate. Among them is one of Russia's most advanced and modern warships that carries cruise missiles.
KYODO NEWS - Mar 3, 2022 - 14:06 | World, All

Ahn Cheol Soo, the centrist opposition People's Party candidate in next week's South Korean presidential election, dropped out of the race Thursday and declared his support for the main opposition People Power Party's Yoon Suk Yeol.

Ahn and Yoon announced their alliance at a joint news conference ahead of the March 9 election, a move that deals a blow to the ruling Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae Myung who is locked in a neck-and-neck battle with Yoon.

"Both of us, Ahn Cheol Soo and Yoon Suk Yeol, agreed to combine our minds for a better change of government, which would also lead to a better change in the Republic of Korea," Ahn told reporters in Seoul, proclaiming his full support for Yoon in the presidential election.

Yoon said he accepted Ahn's support and would aim to win the election with the intention to reform the government.

Ahn's announcement came despite many regarding such an alliance as unfeasible as Yoon had shot down a previous suggestion from his counterpart that a public poll be conducted asking voters to choose their preferred main opposition candidate.

Thursday was a deadline for the deal as two days of early voting start on Friday, five days ahead of the election to choose President Moon Jae In's successor.

Yoon and Lee have been engaged in a tight race, with Yoon's support rate at 46.3 percent while the Democratic Party's Lee stood at 43.1 percent, according to the latest survey conducted by polling firm Realmeter. Ahn was at 6.7 percent in the survey.

In responding to Ahn and Yoon's decision, the Democratic Party presidential campaign committee's chief Woo Sang Ho said the campaign is not panicking and is focused on working hard until the end of the election.

Related coverage:

South Korea ruling party presidential candidate ready for talks with Japan

Race for South Korea presidency starts as economy hurt by pandemic

FOCUS:Lee more hardline on Japan than Yoon in South Korea presidential race
KYODO NEWS - Mar 3, 2022 - 21:53 | All, Japan, World

Japan on Thursday raised its travel advisory for Belarus to the second-highest level to warn against visiting there, citing the possible danger after imposing sanctions on the former Soviet republic for its role in Russia's military invasion of their neighbor Ukraine.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry also issued the third-highest Level 2 advisory on its four-point scale for most of Russia including Moscow to ask Japanese citizens to refrain from nonessential travel to the area.

For the Ukrainian border areas along Russia and Belarus, the ministry raised the advisory to the highest Level 4, which urges all Japanese nationals to evacuate and not to travel there, citing "the possibility of military conflicts."

"There is concern that Japanese will possibly face danger" in Belarus, following Japan's decision to join the United States and European nations in imposing sanctions on the country "due to its involvement in Russia's aggression against Ukraine," according to the ministry.

Earlier in the day, Tokyo decided to impose sanctions such as asset freezes of seven top Belarusian officials including President Aleksandr Lukashenko and stricter export control measures for Belarus, which has served as an entry point for Moscow's forces attacking Ukraine.

The ministry also said a separate sanction measure by European countries of closing off airspace to Russian and Belarusian flights could make it harder to leave the two nations.

The whole of Ukraine has already been under a Level 4 warning since mid-February, following Russia's military buildup along its borders with the country.

Related coverage:

IPC to exclude Russian, Belarusian athletes from Beijing Paralympics

U.N. demands immediate Russian withdrawal from Ukraine

Japan PM says sanctions to be imposed on Belarus possibly this week
KYODO NEWS - Mar 4, 2022 - 00:05 | All, Japan

Former Nissan Motor Co. executive Greg Kelly was given a six-month suspended prison sentence on Thursday for helping former CEO Carlos Ghosn underreport his remuneration for fiscal 2017, but a Tokyo court acquitted him on all other counts over its financial reports covering the previous seven years.

The Tokyo District Court found the former Nissan representative director guilty, handing him the sentence, suspended for three years, for falsifying the automaker's financial report for the year ended in March 2018.

The ruling, seen as an effective defeat for prosecutors, has set the stage for the American lawyer to return home from Japan after he was arrested more than three years ago. The prosecutors had sought a two-year prison term for Kelly, who was Ghosn's right-hand man.

Kelly will appeal the suspended sentence, with his team of lawyers saying he is "completely innocent." In a statement in Japanese, Kelly said he was "shocked" to hear the ruling and "cannot understand" why the court convicted him on one of the counts.

"I have consistently acted in the best interests of Nissan and there is no fact at all that I have been involved in an unlawful act," he said.

The prosecutors said it is regrettable the court rejected part of their argument and that they will consider whether to appeal after reviewing the ruling.

The Associated Press reported Ghosn called the judgement a "save-face verdict" for the prosecutors and other Nissan executives that he accuses of colluding against him, Kelly and all shareholders.

"I am relieved for Greg and his family," Ghosn said in a Zoom call with a small group of reporters, according to the report.

The court ordered Japan's third-largest automaker to pay fines of 200 million yen ($1.7 million), the same amount that prosecutors had demanded, for submitting inaccurate financial statements for fiscal 2011 through 2017 to regulators.

Kelly, 65, was accused of conspiring with Ghosn in understating his remuneration by around 9 billion yen over eight years through March 2018, violating Japan's financial instruments and exchange law.

Kelly has denied any wrongdoing, while Nissan admitted to failing to declare the former auto tycoon's remuneration in its financial documents.

The court recognized the existence of "unpaid remuneration" for Ghosn, a key point of dispute in the trial, judging it must have been disclosed.

However, the court concluded there was not enough evidence to establish that Kelly was aware of such deferred payments for the period from fiscal 2010 to 2016.

"The chief culprit in this case is former Chairman Ghosn," the ruling said, noting that Kelly did not benefit directly from his involvement.

The ruling was the first judicial decision in the high-profile financial scandal that started to unfold when Ghosn, 67, and Kelly were arrested in Japan in November 2018. Since then, Ghosn has also insisted on his innocence and criticized Japan's judicial system.

The trial was held in the absence of Ghosn after he jumped bail and fled to Lebanon from Tokyo in late 2019. The Middle Eastern nation has no extradition treaty with Japan.

Kelly became the only company executive to face trial after his former colleagues involved in the scandal struck plea bargains with prosecutors and were not indicted.

The district court denied the credibility of some of the testimony made by Toshiaki Onuma, a former head of Nissan's secretary office, who reached a plea bargain with prosecutors. Onuma, 63, has claimed he and Kelly had considered ways to compensate Ghosn together.

"(Onuma's claims) should be studied cautiously as they risk being in line with the intention of prosecutors," it said.

The ruling also said Ghosn conspired with Onuma to falsify financial statements for fiscal 2010 through 2017.

In the trial, which began in September 2020, prosecutors argued that Kelly played a role in coming up with a scheme to compensate Ghosn with deferred payments in addition to his regular pay, an effort to make his salary look smaller than it was to avoid a backlash.

They claimed that a rule introduced in 2010 requiring top executives to disclose annual pay exceeding 100 million yen prompted Ghosn to order his subordinates to seek ways to pay him without making it public.

Kelly has maintained his innocence, saying he just sought legal ways to retain Ghosn even after his retirement so he could continue to provide services for Nissan and that there was no agreement for the alleged deferred payments.

Kelly, who was required to remain in Japan but was joined by his wife, said in a recent interview with Kyodo News that his life while out on bail was "stressful and challenging." They plan to go back to the United States after the ruling "to make up for lost time with the people we cherish," he said.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel released a statement following the ruling, saying, "We are relieved that the legal process has concluded, and Mr. and Mrs. Kelly can return home."

Ghosn has claimed his arrest was due to a plot by some Nissan executives who wanted to oust him to prevent him from pursuing a merger with alliance partner and largest shareholder Renault SA of France as it would hurt the Japanese company's independence.

Related coverage:

Ex-Ghosn aide maintains innocence in final hearing over Nissan case

Ex-Ghosn aide Greg Kelly confident of winning acquittal ahead of ruling

Ghosn criticizes Japan's prosecution system as discriminatory
KYODO NEWS - Mar 4, 2022 - 11:17 | All, World, Japan

Leaders from Japan, the United States, Australia and India agreed during their virtual meeting Thursday that they oppose any unilateral use of force to change the status quo in their region, the Japanese government said, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine brings renewed concerns over China's assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.

The four major Indo-Pacific democracies also agreed to launch a new humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mechanism which will "provide a channel for communication" as they each address and respond to the crisis in Ukraine, according to a joint statement.

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he agreed with his counterparts -- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden -- to hold an in-person summit in the Japanese capital "in a few months."

"We agreed that we should not allow any unilateral change to the status quo by force in the Indo-Pacific region like the latest case (in Ukraine) and we need to step up efforts to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific in times like this," he told reporters at his office.

The four countries of the Quad group have been deepening their ties and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, where China is boosting its military and economic clout. Japan is planning to host a Quad summit in the first half of this year.

Among the Quad members, India's response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine has been in focus, given its traditionally close ties with Moscow.

India abstained from voting on a nonbinding resolution at the U.N. General Assembly condemning the invasion by Russia and demanding its troops withdraw immediately from Ukraine.

The joint statement did not explicitly criticize Russia for the invasion, over which Moscow has faced sharp condemnation and economic sanctions from countries including the United States, Japan and Australia.

"The Quad leaders discussed the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and assessed its broader implications," the document said.

But in their commitment to a "free and open Indo-Pacific," they emphasized it means that "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states is respected" and "countries are free from military, economic, and political coercion."

Before the Quad meeting, Kishida said the Indo-Pacific region, especially East Asia, should not allow any unilateral attempt to alter the status quo by force.

Chinese ships have been repeatedly spotted in waters near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, a group of uninhabited islets controlled by Japan and claimed by China.

China-Taiwan tensions remain high as Beijing considers the island as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland by force if necessary.

Related coverage:

Japan to freeze assets of 4 more Russian banks to align with EU

EU bans 7 Russian banks from int'l payment network SWIFT

Ukraine says more than 2,000 citizens killed by Russian forces
KYODO NEWS - Mar 3, 2022 - 22:54 | All, Japan, World

Japan will freeze assets held by four more Russian banks following the European Union's latest financial sanctions against Moscow imposed in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday.

The move came a day after the EU said the 27-nation bloc agreed to exclude seven Russian banks from a key international payment network known as SWIFT to disrupt Russian trade and money transfers. Tokyo had already decided to freeze any assets held by the three other banks.

By freezing assets of banks subject to EU sanctions, Japan will cooperate with other countries in blocking Russia from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Kishida said assets of Russian oligarchs held in Japan would also be frozen.

In a press conference, Kishida condemned Russia's nuclear threats as "outrageous" after President Vladimir Putin said he was putting his country's nuclear forces on high alert.

"As the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings in war, and as a prime minister elected from the atomic-bombed Hiroshima, I have insisted in summit diplomacy and international meetings that intimidation by, or let alone a use of nuclear weapons will never be tolerated," he said.

Asked about the possibility of imposing more sanctions, such as restricting Russian aircraft from using Japanese airspace, Kishida said the government will continue to examine the situation and "take appropriate measures" in cooperation with the Group of Seven nations and other countries.

Earlier Thursday, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters Japan supports the EU's decision and "will firmly implement (sanctions) with other G-7 members," namely Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United States plus the EU.

Japan's restrictions will be implemented on April 2, according to the Finance Ministry.

The four banks are Russia's second-largest bank VTB Bank, Bank Otkritie, Sovcombank and Novikombank. The banks have close ties with the Russian government, according to the ministry.

Other than the banks, the government on Thursday imposed an asset freeze against 18 more Russian individuals, seven Belarusian top officials including President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, and two organizations in the country, which has served as an entry point for Moscow's forces invading Ukraine.

The government also said it will impose stricter export control measures for Belarus.

The United States and the EU said last weekend a select number of Russian banks will be removed from the Belgium-headquartered SWIFT, with Kishida later pledging that Japan will join the punitive effort.

The EU said Wednesday the seven banks will be excluded from SWIFT on March 12.

SWIFT connects more than 11,000 banks, other financial institutions and corporations in more than 200 countries and territories, according to its website.

Related coverage:

G-7 discusses details of additional financial sanction on Russia

Japan lower house raps Russia's Ukraine invasion in "strongest terms"

Japan, U.S. finance ministers agree to work closely over Russia
Spanish infrastructure major Acciona will be presenting its main activities and projects developed to date in Saudi Arabia and in the Middle East in general, at a key industry event which kicks off in capital Riyadh next week.

The Saudi Water Forum will be held from March 6 to 8 under the theme of "Water Sustainability. A Responsibility for all".

Acciona will be outlining its other planned initiatives for the water sector in Saudi Arabia, in line with the 2030 Vision of the Kingdom and its National Water Strategy, at its stand during the three-day event.

Acciona's presentations and workshops will cover subjects such as water security and sustainability; attracting investment to the water industry; the exchange and identification of experiences to achieve sustainability in water resources, and the end-to-end management of resources, among others, it stated.

With this edition, the Saudi Water Forum sets out to become a meeting point for key players, experts and stakeholders in the water sector involved in achieving the objectives stated in the Kingdoms 2030 Vision and its National Water Strategy.

Acciona has a strong presence in Saudi Arabia through its water division, with 6 desalination projects using reverse osmosis technology, another 3 wastewater treatment projects and a contract for the management of the integral water cycle.

Last year, the publicly-owned Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) had announced the financial closure of the Jubail 3B project, a 570,000 cu m/day faciity to supply 2 million people in the cities of Riyadh and Qassim. Acciona will construct the project together with its partner SEPCOIII.

Also last year, the publicly-owned Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC) of Saudi Arabia awarded Acciona and its partner RTCC the design and construction of the Shuqaiq 1 desalination plant for $384 million.

The plant, with a daily capacity of 400,000 cu m, will help to improve potable water supplies and offset the scarcity of water suffered by people living in south-eastern Saudi Arabia. It will provide a new source of potable water for domestic, urban, agricultural and industrial uses.

In the same area, Acciona has built -and currently operates for 25 years- the Shuqaiq3 desalination plant, with a treatment capacity of 450,000 cu m per day to service a population equivalent of two million.

On the east coast of the country the company is building the Al Khobar II desalination plant for SWCC in a joint venture with RTCC, said the Spanish group in its statement.

This facility will incorporate reverse osmosis technology and have a capacity of just over 600,000 cu m per day, sufficient to cover a population of three million, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Aerial photo taken on Dec. 4, 2021 shows an international freight train traveling to Laos near the China-Laos border. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)

KUNMING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The China-Laos Railway has transported over 1.7 million passengers and 1.1 million tonnes of cargo since it was launched in December 2021, said the transport authorities of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

At present, an average of 23.5 pairs of passenger trains run on the railway's section in China every day, while its Lao section handles an average of two pairs every day. The safe, eco-friendly, efficient and convenient China-Laos Railway has become a favored means of transportation for passengers along the route.

Over the past three months since its launch, the railway has handled 1,500 freight trains transporting 1.1 million tonnes of goods. Among them, about 350 international freight trains delivered more than 250,000 tonnes of cargo via the railway, according to the China Railway Kunming Group Co., Ltd.

The China-Laos Railway connects Kunming in Yunnan Province with the Laotian capital Vientiane. It is the first overseas railway jointly constructed and operated by the two countries.

The 1,035-km railway, a landmark project of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, started operation on Dec. 3, 2021.

"With the steady growth of freight traffic volume, the cargo category of the railway has continued to expand, ranging from feed and fertilizer products to electronics, communication devices and local vegetables in Yunnan and so on, which can better meet the market demands in Laos," said Xu Chao, deputy general manager of the Kunming branch of China United International Rail Containers Co., Limited. 
Video: The U.S. misappropriation of frozen Afghan assets, while the country is facing an avalanche of hunger and poverty, is inhumane, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, on March 2, 2022. (Xinhua)

What the United States has done is illegal, unreasonable and inhumane, says Zhang Jun, noting that China once again calls on related countries to immediately and unconditionally return those assets in full to the Afghan people.



UNITED NATIONS, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. misappropriation of frozen Afghan assets while the Asian country is facing an avalanche of hunger and poverty is inhumane, said a Chinese envoy on Wednesday.

Against the backdrop of such a grim humanitarian and economic situation, the U.S. government decided last month to divert 7 billion U.S. dollars in frozen Afghan assets for other purposes, which triggered widespread protests across Afghanistan, said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Noting that those assets belong to the Afghan people and the sovereign state of Afghanistan, Zhang stressed that the practice of arbitrarily handling other countries' overseas assets under U.S. domestic law has no precedent. It is not only an infringement on Afghanistan's sovereignty and property, but also a serious contravention of international law, he said.

The envoy pointed out that those funds are the only few available assets owned by Afghanistan, playing a crucial part in the stability and development of the country. For the Afghan people, those assets are their life-saving money and their hope for survival. When Afghans need them the most, the ruthless deeds of freezing and misappropriation have inflicted "secondary damage" on them and that are completely against the due spirit of morality and justice.

File photo taken on Nov. 27, 2019 shows Zhang Jun, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, addressing a plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on the situation in Afghanistan, at the UN headquarters in New York. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

What the United States has done is illegal, unreasonable and inhumane, he said, noting that China once again calls on related countries to immediately and unconditionally return those assets in full to the Afghan people, instead of making things worse. Moreover, the United States should stop applying double standards on humanitarian issues, Zhang added.

Afghanistan has going through a lot of trials and tribulations, and is now standing at a crucial stage of reconstruction. The country is working hard to improve its political structure, restore order in production and livelihood, and actively carry out foreign exchanges and cooperation. There is a good trend that more and more countries are engaging with the Afghan interim government in various forms, he said.

The international community should continue to adhere to the "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" principle, step up engagement with the Taliban in an equitable, rational and pragmatic approach, and patiently guide the Taliban to respond to the expectations of the international community. Only in this way can Afghanistan gradually achieve lasting peace and stability and eliminate the breeding ground of terrorism. Afghan women and children can thus achieve better development, Zhang said.

As a friendly neighbor, China has always been committed to supporting the peaceful and stable development of Afghanistan. China will work closely with countries in the region, actively participate in various Afghan-related multilateral mechanisms, and promote coordinated actions by all parties to create synergy and help Afghanistan walk on a path of sound development, he said. 
Since its formal operation last December, the international freight via China-Laos Railway is growing. As of March 3rd, more than 350 international freight trains carrying over 250,000 tonnes of cargo had departed from and arrived in China via the China-Laos Railway.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service
People perform during a celebration for the Adwa Victory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 2, 2022. Ethiopians on Wednesday celebrated the 126th anniversary of Ethiopia's Adwa Victory, which marked the East African country's victory against a colonial power some 126 years ago. (Xinhua)

Ethiopians celebrated the 126th anniversary of Ethiopia's Adwa Victory on Wednesday, which marked the East African country's victory against a colonial power some 126 years ago.



ADDIS ABABA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopians celebrated the 126th anniversary of Ethiopia's Adwa Victory on Wednesday, which marked the East African country's victory against a colonial power some 126 years ago.

While marking the Victory day Wednesday, Ethiopians from all walks of life called for replicating similar victory against what they referred to as "unwanted foreign interference."

The Battle of Adwa on March 2, 1896, which is also referred to as the first Ethiopian-Italian war, marks the first black victory against the invading colonial forces of Italy in the African continent.

The war, which was largely fought in the Adwa mountains some 977 km north of Addis Ababa, the capital, is believed to have initiated other freedom fighters across the African continent to struggle toward independence and freedom against colonialism.

This year's Adwa Victory celebration came as the East African country faced internal conflict between the government and rebel forces in the northern parts of Ethiopia. The conflict resulted in strong foreign interference.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in his congratulatory message, said the Adwa Victory is a bright monument. "We are fortunate to be able to celebrate the Victory of Adwa where our brave mothers and fathers have registered great triumph by rejecting colonialism and slavery as well as inferiority and humiliation," Ahmed said. "The Victory of Adwa had laid a solid foundation for peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America to break the yoke of slavery, the burden of colonialism and inferiority policy."

This year's Victory Day was celebrated across Ethiopia, Africa's second-most-populous nation.

In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, a high-level event marked the 126th anniversary with the presence of senior Ethiopian government officials, elders, diplomats and representatives of foreign countries, among others.

While addressing a commemorative event held in the capital, Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde called on Ethiopians to stand together and strive for national peace and development.

"We must learn from the victory of Adwa that nothing will stop us if we stand together," she said. "We have shown that nothing can stop us from working together to make Ethiopia a better place. Once again, on this day, I call upon all the people in Ethiopia to repeat the victory we gained in Adwa to defeat backwardness and misery in the country."

Henok Alene, 57, was one of the tens of thousands of Ethiopians attending the commemorative event held at Emperor Menelik II Square in Addis Ababa.

Alene called on the current generation to draw inspiration from the forefathers toward replicating a similar momentous victory against the surge of foreign interference in Ethiopia.

"The past year witnessed incessant foreign interference and pressure on our country. We, as sons and daughters of our forefathers, should maintain unrelenting gesture to those who have a destructive agenda against our country," Alene told Xinhua.

Smrawit Solomon, 25, echoed a similar sentiment as she emphasized that Ethiopia, as the only not colonized African country, should keep its aspirations high against all odds.

"Unlike any other country, we Ethiopians celebrate Victory Day not an independence day; and now we should remain strong enough to bring our country into a development path that suits our aspiration," she said.

Women in traditional costumes are seen during a celebration for the Adwa Victory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 2, 2022. Ethiopians on Wednesday celebrated the 126th anniversary of Ethiopia's Adwa Victory, which marked the East African country's victory against a colonial power some 126 years ago. (Xinhua)
Guo Weimin (2nd R), spokesperson for the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), answers questions via video link due to COVID-19 prevention and control requirements during a press conference in Beijing, capital of China, March 3, 2022. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese spokesperson on Thursday voiced strong confidence in the outlook of the world's second-largest economy, stressed the importance of the country's zero-COVID policy and criticized American democracy, as China entered its annual political high season.

China's long-term economic fundamentals remain sound and unchanged, said Guo Weimin, spokesperson for the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), at a press conference ahead of China's annual "two sessions."

China's economy kept its stable recovery last year, with gross domestic product up 8.1 percent year on year, Guo said when answering questions.

While acknowledging severe challenges facing China due to a more complex and uncertain external environment, Guo said the CPPCC National Committee members and experts are confident that China has the capability and conditions to achieve stable, healthy and sustainable economic development.

China will continue to take solid measures to expand high-level opening up and work to build an open world economy, Guo said.

The foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, hit a record high in 2021, which has shown overseas investors' trust in China's opening-up policies, business environment and development prospects, he added.

The annual session of the National Committee of the CPPCC will start on Friday in Beijing and conclude on March 10. The 13th National People's Congress, China's national legislature, will kick off its fifth annual session on Saturday.

Journalists attend a press conference of the fifth session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) via video link in Beijing, capital of China, March 3, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

CORRECT POLICY

At Thursday's press conference, Guo stressed China's dynamic zero-COVID policy has helped keep the operation of the global industrial and supply chains basically stable.

"Recently, some public opinions overseas suggested that China's anti-COVID-19 approach has affected the global industrial and supply chains, which I think is incorrect," he said.

"It is precisely because China has adopted a correct epidemic prevention policy that we've taken the lead in restoring economic growth and ensuring the basic stability of the global industrial and supply chains," Guo said.

He said both the scale of China's foreign trade and its share of the international market reached record highs in 2021, which injected strong impetus into the global economic and trade recovery.

Official data showed that China's total trade in goods moved up another notch in 2021, exceeding 6 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time, despite the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to weigh on global trade.

Specifically, Guo expected foreign trade to keep running in a reasonable range this year thanks to a solid industrial foundation and strong resilience.

DEMOCRACY NOT A PATENT

The spokesperson also criticized the American democracy, saying that the United States uses democracy as a pretext to serve its own interests.

The purposes for the United States to convene the so-called "Summit for Democracy" are to suppress others, divide the world while maintaining its hegemony, Guo said while answering a question about whether China and the United States are vying for a greater say in democracy.

"Democracy is diverse in its forms, and is not a patent held by a few countries," the spokesperson said. "The democratic systems of countries should be chosen independently by their own people based on national conditions."

Guo criticized some Western countries for imposing their democratic systems on other countries through "color revolutions," which have caused serious disasters.

He also hailed China's whole-process people's democracy and the roles the CPPCC has played in facilitating scientific and democratic decision-making through consultation, oversight, participation, and cooperation. 
LAGOS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Over 200 gunmen were killed during a joint operation by Nigerian security forces in the country's north-central state of Niger between Sunday and Tuesday, an official said on Wednesday.

Addressing a news conference in Minna, the state capital, Emmanuel Umar, the state commissioner of local government, said two security operatives died in the incidents while a few sustained various forms of injuries.

He said the gunmen were killed in Mariga, Wushishi, Mokwa, and Lavun local government areas of the state, noting that over 100 motorcycles, several rustled cows, and arms and ammunition were recovered from the bandits.

Umar told reporters that several of the gunmen fled with several injuries and were in hiding, calling on the public to report any strange faces in their communities to security agencies as the fight was not for the government alone.

He reiterated the government's determination to ensure that no terrorist strives in the state, stressing that the government's new security strategies and engagement were yielding massive results.

"We will not rest; we will do all we can for these terrorists to pay for the destruction and bloodshed they have caused the people and the state," he added.

"We have adopted new strategies and engagements that are yielding results. But all hands must be on deck to ensure that we all get results, "he said.

The official told reporters that the security operatives were prepared for reprisal attacks over the latest onslaught.

There have been a series of gunmen's attacks in Nigeria in recent months, leading to deaths and kidnappings. 
NAIROBI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Animal rights groups on Thursday lauded the adoption of a resolution that links animal welfare to sustainable development at the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

They said the resolution dubbed "Animal Welfare-Environment-Sustainable Development Nexus" and adopted by the world environment ministers is expected to kick-start global conversations on linkages between animal welfare, the environment and sustainable development.

Tennyson Williams, the regional director of the World Animal Protection Africa, said animal welfare had been neglected in most international sustainable development strategies thus adoption of the resolution had come at a better time.

"The UNEA has sent a strong message demonstrating that the world is waking up, especially after the ravages of COVID-19. While we might not be sure where coronavirus originated from, we do know that habitat destruction, factory farming, and wildlife trade contribute to the emergence of infectious diseases," he said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

Williams noted that the adoption should provoke other policy bodies to recognize the importance of animals in the conservation of the environment and promotion of people's livelihoods.

"The task is now on the implementation of this resolution which will require transformative changes to guarantee success," he added.

The drafting of the resolution began in 2019 and was tabled at the meeting that ended on Wednesday by seven sponsoring countries namely Ghana, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, Senegal, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
FREETOWN, March 3 (Xinhua) -- A Sierra Leonean on Thursday initiates a Chinese vocabulary learning project in five primary schools in a bid to promote the Chinese language in the West African country.

The project, known as Small-Small Chinese, was started by Mariatu Kargbo, a Sierra Leonean woman who worked as an artist in China.

At the launch ceremony, she said the project will enable the school pupils to communicate in simple Chinese and find their way successful in society.

"The courses will enable them to speak with Chinese friends and have an advantage when they join formal Chinese lessons later in the Confucius institute or other schools," she said.

Sierra Leone's Deputy Minister of Basic and Secondary Education Emily Gogra lauded the initiative and suggested that it should be added to school syllabuses.

"The Chinese language is one of the most spoken languages in the world, it is good that our children are now learning the Chinese language," she said.

Hu Zhangliang, the Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone, described the project as an important channel of Chinese teaching for the five primary schools.

He appreciated the founder for her great efforts in promoting the friendship and mutual understanding between China and Sierra Leone.

"With a good command of the Chinese language, one would find it easier not only to appreciate China's profound history, current development, and promising future, but also conduct all other kinds of exchanges with the Chinese people," he added. 
ABUJA, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Two medical doctors have been confirmed killed by Lassa fever in the past 72 hours in Nigeria's southwestern state of Oyo, a medical association said on Thursday.

In a statement, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) described the outbreak of Lassa fever in the country as "another onslaught," noting that it broke out "while we thought that COVID-19 had done its worst."

"We are worried about other health workers who have had contact with the deceased unknowingly," the NMA said, adding it had advised other affected health workers to be quarantined and treat all febrile illnesses with a high index of suspicion.

Lassa fever is usually transmitted when the saliva, urine, and excreta of multi-mammalian rats come into contact with humans through their food or water. Human-to-human transmission is rare but can occur through contact with the body fluids of an infected person.

In some cases, Lassa fever has similar symptoms to malaria, appearing between one and three weeks after exposure to the virus. In mild cases, the disease causes fever, fatigue, weakness, and headache.

As part of measures to contain the outbreak among medical workers, the NMA said it had directed the frontline doctors and other health workers to wear appropriate personal protective equipment at all times.

On Saturday, the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) said the death toll of Lassa fever in the most populous African country had risen to 86 as of Feb. 21.

The NCDC said 74 out of the country's 774 local government areas have been affected by this hemorrhagic fever since January.

The case fatality rate in the country so far this year has reached 19.1 percent, the NCDC said.

The NCDC said it is distributing medical response commodities to states and treatment centers, as part of measures to control the spread.

Nigeria has activated the national multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary Lassa fever emergency operations center in response to the outbreak since late January. 
YAOUNDE, March 2 (Xinhua) -- At least three Cameroonian officials and two other persons were killed on Wednesday when their convoy vehicle detonated a landmine in war-torn English-speaking region of Southwest, according to security and local sources.

A senior army official who asked not to be named told Xinhua the explosion occurred on a road in Bekora village of Ekondo Titi Subdivision in the region by 1:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday.

They were killed when their vehicle stepped on a buried land mine, which exploded immediately, killing all occupants who included the sub-prefect of Ekondo Titi, Aboloa Timothee, the mayor of Ekondo Titi, Kenneth Nanji and Ebeku William, the president of the ruling party in the locality. The body guard of the sub-prefect and driver of the vehicle were also killed in the explosion, according to the army official.

Locals interviewed by Xinhua on phone said security has been beefed up in the village, long considered as a bastion of separatist fighters.

The use of explosives against security and state personnel is common in the region where separatist fighters are known to be active.

Separatists have been clashing with government forces since 2017 in a bid to create an independent nation in Cameroon's two English-speaking regions of Northwest and Southwest. 
Commentary: U.S. politicians playing "Taiwan card" doomed to fail

Xinhua) 08:02, March 03, 2022

BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was famous for priding himself for "lying, cheating and stealing," is shamelessly trying once again to seek political self-interests by playing the "Taiwan card" as he started his visit to Taiwan on Wednesday.

However, the vicious attempts of Pompeo and the like are doomed to fail.

The world's public opinion has set the tone for Pompeo long ago, tagging him as the "worst secretary of state in the U.S. history" and a "political arsonist." It is he who barefacedly claimed that "I was the CIA director, we lied, we cheated, we stole."

While in office, Pompeo blatantly interfered in China's internal affairs by repeatedly meddling in the Taiwan question, leaving a notorious record. Shortly before he left office, Pompeo lifted restrictions on official contacts between the United States and China's Taiwan, in a bid to maliciously inflict a long-lasting scar on U.S.-China ties.

After stepping down, the former U.S. official is still trying to chase global limelight by frequently making irresponsible remarks on Taiwan in self-directed "shows of support" for the "Taiwan independence" forces.

One day before Pompeo's visit, the United States also sent five former high-level officials to Taiwan. That, once again, laid bare Washington's double-dealing over the Taiwan question. Since last year, the United States has pledged many times that it opposes "Taiwan independence." However, its deeds exposed that the United States is actually saying one thing yet doing another, leaving its credibility in serious doubt.

The United States should abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, stop all official exchanges with Taiwan, as well as cease supporting "Taiwan independence" separatist activities, so as to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the overall U.S.-China relations.

The Chinese people are firmly committed to safeguarding their national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a daily press briefing on Tuesday. "The U.S. demonstration of so-called support for Taiwan is futile, whoever it sends."

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority has long been racking its brains to collude with the anti-China forces in the United States. Out of its own ends, the authority has willingly turned itself into a pawn in the scheme of Washington's anti-China forces to contain China's development. It is also trying to create an illusion that its moves are popular with the international community so as to deceive and control public opinion.

The DPP authority, the root of increasing instability and escalating tensions across the Taiwan Strait, is bound to receive a fair trial and harsh punishment by history. Its attempt to seek "Taiwan independence," going against the will of the Chinese people, will not stop the historical trend of national reunification.

The Taiwan question concerns China's core interests and allows no compromise. Over the decades, cross-Strait relations have been moving in the general direction of national reunification despite various twists and turns. The development of the Chinese mainland has been key to determining the development of cross-Strait ties, and the initiative on solving the Taiwan question has always been in the hands of those standing for national reunification.

Playing the "Taiwan card" will in no way sway the global consensus on the one-China principle nor change the fact that Taiwan is part of China. U.S. politicians like Pompeo should wake up to that, stop sending more wrong signals to the "Taiwan independence" separatists, and start to handle Taiwan-related issues prudently to avoid further undermining U.S.-China relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

(Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun)
Novartis, a leading global medicines company, today (March 3) announced a strategic partnership with UAE-based Pharmax Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures and markets affordable, branded generic medication.

In line with the vision of UAEs Ministry of Health and Prevention to encourage partnerships between research-based pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers in the UAE, the collaboration covers the commercialization and co-marketing of Novartis products to Pharmax to enhance patient access to medicines and treatments in a range of Cardiometabolic diseases such as Diabetes and Hypertension.

Both companies formalised their partnership at a signing ceremony held at the Swiss Pavilion, Dubai Expo 2020 in the presence of Massimo Baggi, Ambassador of Switzerland to UAE and Bahrain; Marwan Abdul Aziz, Managing Director at Dubai Science Park; Mohamed Ezz Eldin, President and Head of Gulf Cluster at Novartis Pharmaceuticals; Fahad Al Qassim, Chairman of Pharmax, and Madhukar Tanna, CEO at Pharmax Pharmaceuticals.

Our vision is to foster an effective and sustainable healthcare system that contributes to the wellbeing of society, and key partnerships in the private sector are critical to this effort, said Dr Amin Hussein Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licensing at the Ministry of Health and Prevention. Collaborations such as these will strengthen the UAEs healthcare vision to bring high-quality medicines in the country  and accelerate our position as a regional hub for medical practices, therapies, treatments, and pharmaceutical industries.

As a shared objective between Novartis and Pharmax, this collaboration will serve MOHAPs strategy to make the UAE a benchmark of excellence in the fields of medicines encouraged by local partnerships and initiatives. The agreement will cover the commercialization of oral antidiabetic and oral antihypertensive medicines to enhance care and treatment outcomes for these conditions.

Novartis is on a mission to reimagine medicine and improve and extend peoples lives, said Mohamed Ezz Eldin, President and Head of Gulf Cluster, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. We cannot do that alone. We continually seek out likeminded partners such as Pharmax to support us in our efforts. By joining forces, we will broaden access to medication for the citizens and residents of the UAE, and thereby support the Ministry of Health and Preventions healthcare vision. We pledge today to remain committed to that vision.

Pharmax takes pride in associating with one of the most innovative companies such as Novartis. This partnership will advance the treatment for diabetes and hypertension and improve access to medication for the larger population of UAE, said Madhukar Tanna, CEO, Pharmax Pharmaceuticals.

"UAE is not immune to high prevalence of lifestyle diseases and such efforts will expand choice of treatment for physicians and patients both. We believe this step is in the right direction and will pave the way for improving market access of many new and innovative medicines here in UAE. This progress would not have been possible without pragmatic policies and encouragement by MOHAP, he added.TradeArabia News Service
TRIPOLI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The newly-approved government of Libya on Thursday was sworn in before the House of Representatives, the country's parliament, in the eastern city of Tubruk, Libyan National TV reported.

"The government should create all suitable conditions for the elections, in accordance with the established roadmap," Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the House of Representatives, said in a speech during the oath session.

"The government must lift the state of force majeure that impeded the holding of the elections on December 24 last year," Saleh said, demanding the government of national unity to hand over power to the new government democratically.

Prime Minister-designate Fathi Bashagha of the parliament-approved government said his administration would begin to consider all options and necessary arrangements to resume office in the capital Tripoli "legally and not by force."

Bashagha pledged that his government would work to "end the transitional phases and support the electoral process" in the country.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday granted confidence to a new government to replace the incumbent government of national unity led by Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah.

The House of Representatives withdrew confidence from Dbeibah's government in September last year and kept it as a caretaker government. On Feb. 10, it unanimously voted to appoint Bashagha, former interior minister, as the new prime minister.

However, Dbeibah vowed his government would remain in office until an elected government is established. On Feb. 21, he announced a plan to hold general elections in June.

Dbeibah's government on Tuesday accused the House of Representatives of approving the new government "without achieving quorum" during the session, confirming that it would continue to work and prepare for elections in June.

General elections in Libya were scheduled for Dec. 24 last year, but were postponed indefinitely due to technical and legal issues, according to the country's elections commission. 
PHNOM PENH, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Environment and partner groups on Thursday launched a "zero-snaring" campaign in protected areas to protect animals from being trapped and killed, officials said.

The ministry's secretary of state and spokesman Neth Pheaktra said the six-month campaign will be conducted in protected areas in provinces situated in the eastern side of the Mekong River, including Kratie, Stung Treng, Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom provinces.

The partner organizations in the campaign included the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Birdlife International, and Conservation International, he said.

"The campaign is launched on the day that the world celebrates the World Wildlife Day, and it is aimed at raising awareness about the impact of snares on wildlife and human, enforcing the law, encouraging people to love wild animals and biodiversity, and eliminating poaching, trapping and trafficking wild animals," he told Xinhua.

The spokesman said snares are the most dangerous device to kill wild animals and that some 61,611 snares had been removed from protected areas in 2021, an increase of 42 percent from 43,270 in 2020.

"Snares are the hidden killers that have killed wild animals in Cambodia's protected areas," Pheaktra said, adding that there are many types of snares including electric snares and metal traps.

Kim Nong, general director of the General Directorate of Administration for Nature Conservation and Protection at the Ministry of Environment, urged locals to quit snaring wild animals, saying that under the kingdom's law, wild animal trappers can face imprisonment from one to five years and a fine of 15 million riel (3,750 U.S. dollars) to 150 million riel (37,500 dollars).

"During the six-month campaign, we will work with local authorities and communities to prevent wildlife trapping and to educate people about the law and penalties as well as the value of wild animals," he said.

The WWF's country director Seng Teak estimated that 20 percent of traps in the protected areas have been removed, as the other 80 percent remain in place.

"These traps are a key contributor toward the functional extinction of tiger in Cambodia and the rapid decline of the Indochinese leopard and other predator species, as well as bears and ungulate species," he told Xinhua.

He urged the authorities to take serious actions against perpetrators, bushmeat markets and restaurants that provide wildlife meats to customers. 
Curfew was imposed in Shillong agglomeration and adjoining areas with effect from 10 pm of February 28 to 8 am of February 29 (Photo Credit: Representational Image/Trip Advisor)

New Delhi:

Curfew was reimposed Saturday noon in some areas of Shillong town while internet services remained suspended in the six districts of the Eastern Range as a precautionary measure following clashes between Khasi Students' Union (KSU) members and non-tribals over the amended Citizenship Act on Friday. One person was killed in clashes between KSU members and non-tribals during a meeting on CAA and inner line permit (ILP) in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills. The clashes broke out during the meeting held in Ichamati area of the district on Friday, PTI reported quoting officials. Earlier, an overnight curfew was imposed in Shillong and adjoining areas and lifted at 8 AM on Saturday.

Curfew was imposed in Shillong agglomeration and adjoining areas from 10 pm of February 28 to 8 am on February 29. Most shops and businesses in the city were closed even after the curfew ended, officials said. Curfew was reimposed at noon in the areas under Lumdiengjri and Sadar police stations of Shillong town, they said, adding that five additional companies of armed police forces have been deployed in sensitive areas. The situation in the state is under control and a close watch is being maintained, an official told PTI.

Mobile internet services have been suspended in six districts -East Jaintia Hills, West Jaintia Hills, East Khasi Hills, Ri Bhoi, West Khasi Hills an South West Khasi hills - of the state from Friday night for 48-hours, officials said. Officials said SMSes will be limited to five per day.

Police have arrested six persons in connection with the attack on the rally at Ichamati on Friday leading to the death of a pro-ILP activist, officials said.

Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy has appealed to people to stay calm and not pay attention to rumours. "I appeal to all citizens in Meghalaya, tribal or non-tribal, keep calm. Don't spread rumours and don't listen to rumours. The chief minister has spoken to me. He assured me he is taking all necessary steps. The prime requirement now is to maintain law and order," the governor said in a statement.

Meghalaya Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui has condemned the incident in Ichamati. Rymbui said a magisterial inquiry has been initiated into the incident to find out the truth. He said the curfew was clamped and mobile internet services suspended as a precautionary measure.

(With PTI Inputs)
Nirmala Sitharaman said that it was more important the economy was moving ahead amid the ongoing global slowdown. (Photo Credit: PTI File)

New Delhi:

Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman has said that there was no need to press panic button because of the novel coronovirus epidemic. However, she added that coronavirus outbreak will be a challenge if issues do not get resolved in three weeks. She said that pharma, electronics sectors have suggested airlifting of materials from China due to the coronavirus outbreak. She added that different sectors have come in to speak about the issues which are being faced by them. However, it was comforting that none of them were facing any serious issue or challenge immediately, she said.

"However, it is clear that if the problem does not get resolved in next 2-3 weeks, issues would then stand up as a very big challenge," Sitharaman said.

"Raw material supplies to industries will likely be hit due to the coronavirus crisis, if the situation does not improve in two months. There could be lack of support which comes from China in regards to imports and exports of components and also on technical assistance," Sitharaman was quoted as saying by News18.

Reacting to the latest GDP growth numbers, Nirmala Sitharaman said that it was more important the economy was moving ahead amid the ongoing global slowdown.

"Glad the GDP numbers indicate there is some steadying in the economy", she said at CNBC TV-18 event .

Indias economic growth was at 4.7 per cent in October-December 2019, according to official data released on Friday.

Reacting to the latest GDP growth numbers, Sitharaman said that it was more important the economy was moving ahead amid the ongoing global slowdown. "Glad the GDP numbers indicate there is some steadying in the economy", she said at CNBC TV-18 event .

It was lower than the 5.6 per cent GDP growth recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19. However, it was better than the 4.5 per cent growth rate of last quarter.

On Friday, investor wealth tumbled by more than Rs 5 lakh crore as equity markets crashed tracking global equity selloff amid rising uncertainty over the economic impact of coronavirus outbreak. In six trading sessions to Friday the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies saw a massive decline of Rs 11,76,985.88 lakh crore. Equity markets fell for the sixth consecutive session, with the 30-share BSE index plummeting 1,448.37 points, or 3.64 per cent, lower at 38,297.29.

The carnage in the equity market wiped out investor wealth worth Rs 5,46,287.76 crore, taking the total m-cap to Rs 1,46,93,797.43 crore on the BSE. The m-cap of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 1,52,40,024.08 crore at the end of trading on Thursday. Traders said investor sentiments also remained fragile amid incessant foreign fund outflows. On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 3,127.36 crore on Thursday, data available with stock exchanges showed. Foreign investors have sold equities worth Rs 9,389 crore so far this week, provisional data on the stock exchanges showed. On the BSE, 2,010 scrips declined, while 457 advanced and 153 remained unchanged.

(With PTI Inputs)

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New Delhi:

A video clip of a US journalist making fun of an Indian reporter during US President Donald Trump's press conference at the White House on February 26 has gone viral. In the video, Indian journalist Raghubir Goyal can be seen asking a question about India-US relationships post Trumps maiden visit to the country. While the reporter was asking the question, the NY Post reporter, who was sitting behind him, was seen making faces and laughing at him.

A Twitter user with the handle @damonimani shared the video with the caption, "Who is that reporter in the green mocking an Indian reporter? I bet she thinks Trump is racist."

Who is that reporter in the green mocking an Indian reporter? I bet she thinks Trump is racist. pic.twitter.com/YtGv32XOUe  Damon imani (@damonimani) February 27, 2020

The video went viral in no time and Twitter was angry over the behaviour of the American journalist, identified as Ebony Bowden. The video has garnered over 3 million views. Many users accussed her of being racist and for laughing at the reporter's accent. While one user commented, ''She says ''who is this guy?'' Was she put off that he got called to ask a question and she didn't? Im embarrassed for her.'' Another commented, ''And She Had The Nerve To Say "Who Is This Guy?"

Shoutout to Mr. Goyal.

He has been a White House reporter since President Carter & he speaks better English than most of us speak Hindi. pic.twitter.com/8hOMfBbu2j  Damon imani (@damonimani) February 27, 2020

She says who is this guy?YS Was she put off that he got called to ask a question and she didnt? Im embarrassed for herY  Katy Kay (@KTK113) February 27, 2020

Shoutout to Mr. Goyal.

He has been a White House reporter since President Carter & he speaks better English than most of us speak Hindi. pic.twitter.com/8hOMfBbu2j  Damon imani (@damonimani) February 27, 2020

His Accent is still very heavy but that is no reason to laugh while he is talking  Elaine (@Elaine62591854) February 27, 2020

A Twitter user also posted a high-resolution video of the question asked by the reporter and Trump's response to it.

Who is that reporter in the green mocking an Indian reporter? I bet she thinks Trump is racist. pic.twitter.com/YtGv32XOUe  Damon imani (@damonimani) February 27, 2020

Bowdens friend, Aussie ministerial staffer Elliot Stein stepped in to share this viewpoint.

Twitter dot com can be good for breaking news sometimes but is terrible for hot takes and worse for out of context videos and reflections on people you don't know. I know this - I'm really proud to call @ebonybowden a close mate and a friend.  Elliot J Stein (@ElliotJStein) February 27, 2020

However, he also got slammed by netizens for his statement.

Well, this has been out here for a bit. Havent seen an apology, explanation or anything from Ebony.  Arnold YYYY (@LingenArnold) February 27, 2020

A good friend would be advising @ebonybowden to apologise to maybe salvage whatever credibility she may have left. Blindly defending and justifying her racist behaviour is not helping her or you.  Shane (@ShaneCorvin) February 27, 2020

Of COURSE, how stupid of 1,000's of us not to think of the "context" and "hot takes" because we shouldn't believe our own lying eyes, and ears. Thousands who saw the utterly disrespectful @ebonybowden pulling faces, asking "What is he (the Indian) saying?"  DeplorableCultistCoraMunro (@Cora_Munro1757) February 28, 2020

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GENEVA/BEIJING:

The rapid spread of the coronavirus increased fears of a pandemic on Friday, with six countries reporting their first cases and the World Health Organization (WHO) raising its global spread and impact risk alert to "very high". World shares fell again, winding up their worst week since the 2008 global financial crisis and bringing the global wipeout to $6 trillion. Hopes that the epidemic that started in China late last year would be over in months, and that economic activity would quickly return to normal, have been shattered.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said his organization was not underestimating the risk. "That is why we said today the global risk is very high," he told reporters in Geneva. "We increased it from 'high' to 'very high'." WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the scenario of the coronavirus reaching multiple or all countries "is something we have been looking at and warning against since quite a while." Switzerland joined countries banning big events to try to curb the epidemic, forcing cancellation of next week's Geneva international car show, one of the industry's most important gatherings.

Tedros said mainland China had reported 329 new cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest there in more than a month, taking its tally to more than 78,800 cases with almost 2,800 deaths. China's three biggest airlines restored some international flights and the Shanghai fashion show, initially postponed, went ahead online.

TROOPS DEPLOYED

But as the outbreak eases in China, it is surging elsewhere. Mexico, Nigeria, Estonia, Denmark, the Netherlands and Lithuania reported their first cases, all with travel history connected to Italy, the worst-affected European country. Mexico is the second Latin American country to register the virus, after Brazil. Countries other than China now account for about three-quarters of new infections.

Bulgaria said it was ready to deploy up to 1,000 troops and military equipment to the border with Turkey to prevent illegal migrant inflows as it steps up measures against the coronavirus. It has not reported any cases.

Mongolia, which has yet to confirm a case, placed its president, Battulga Khaltmaa, in quarantine as a precaution after he returned from a trip to China, state media reported. A Chinese official said some recovered patients had been found to be infectious, suggesting the epidemic may be even harder to eradicate than previously thought. Lindmeier said the WHO was looking very carefully into reports of some people getting re-infected.

In addition to stockpiling medical supplies, some governments ordered schools shut and cancelled big gatherings to try to halt the flu-like disease. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration was considering invoking special powers to expand production of protective gear. In Europe, Germany warned of an impending epidemic and Greece, a gateway for refugees from the Middle East, announced tighter border controls.

The death toll in Italy rose to 17 and those testing positive rose to 655. Germany has nearly 60 cases, France about 38 and Spain 23, according to a Reuters count.

OLYMPIC DOUBTS

South Korea has the most cases outside China. It reported 571 new infections on Friday, bringing the total to 2,337, with 13 people killed.

The head of the WHO's emergency programme, Dr Mike Ryan, said Iran's outbreak may be worse than realised - its toll of 34 dead is the highest outside China. Tedros said he expected a WHO team to be in Iran by Sunday or Monday.

U.S. intelligence agencies are monitoring the spread of the coronavirus in Iran and India, where only a handful of cases have been reported, sources said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States had offered to help Iran, raising doubts about its willingness to share information.

Japan is scheduled to host the 2020 Olympics in July but Ryan said discussions were being held about whether to go ahead.

Organisers will decide next week on the ceremonial torch relay, due to arrive on March 20 for a 121-day journey. Confirmed cases in Japan have risen above 200, with four deaths, excluding more than 700 cases on a quarantined cruise liner, Diamond Princess.

A British man infected on the ship had died, bringing the death toll among passengers to six, Kyodo newswire reported.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had called for schools to close and vowed to prevent a severe blow to an economy teetering on the brink of recession.

In Moscow, authorities were deporting 88 foreigners who violated quarantine measures, the RIA news agency cited Moscow's deputy mayor as saying.

Chinese-ruled Hong Kong, where the coronavirus has killed two and infected more than 90, quarantined a pet dog of a coronavirus patient after it tested "weak positive", though authorities had no evidence the virus can be transmitted to pets.

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New Delhi :

The Congress strategy group met at interim chief Sonia Gandhi's residence on Saturday to discuss the partys strategy for the next session of the Parliament. According to sources, it has been decided that the party MPs will try to corner the Central government over Delhi violence. Congress has slammed both the Delhi government and the Centre for being mute spectators instead of trying to take remedial measures to control the situation in the national capital.

The meeting was attended by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, AK Antony, Gaurav Gogoi, Jairam Ramesh, Anand Sharma and Ahmed Patel.

Earlier on Friday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi deputed a five-member team to visit the riot-affected areas in northeast Delhi and submit a report to her after which the delegation met with some of the victims of violence at city hospitals.

The delegation comprises All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Mukul Wasnik, AICC in-charge Delhi Shaktisinh Gohil, Haryana Congress chief Kumari Selja, former MP Tariq Anwar and Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev.

The delegation will visit the riot-affected areas in the national capital and asked them to assess the situation emanating from the mindless violence and its after effects, the party said in a statement.

The team has been asked to submit a 'detailed report to the Congress president immediately', it said. Later, the delegation members visited Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital and another private hospital to meet people who were injured in the violence.

With Inputs From Mohit Raj Dubey

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New Delhi :

In a guarded reaction to the peace deal between the US and the Taliban, India on Saturday said its consistent policy has been to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan and ensure end of terrorism.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India will continue to extend all support to the Afghanistan as a contiguous neighbour, in a clear reference that the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir belongs to India.

After months of negotiations, the US and Taliban signed a landmark peace deal in Qatari capital Doha on Saturday, effectively drawing curtains to the United States 18-year war in Afghanistan since 2001.

Indias Ambassador to Qatar P Kumaran was among a host of diplomats present at the ceremony where the deal was inked.

Indias consistent policy is to support all opportunities that can bring peace, security and stability in Afghanistan; end violence; cut ties with international terrorism; and lead to a lasting political settlement through an Afghan led, Afghan owned and Afghan controlled process, the MEA spokesperson said.

He was responding to signing of the US-Taliban deal in Doha and issuance of a joint declaration between the Afghan and US governments in Kabul. India has been a key stakeholder in Afghanistan as it has already spent around USD 2 billion in reconstruction of war-ravaged country.

As a contiguous neighbour, India will continue to extend all support to the Government and people of Afghanistan in realising their aspirations for a peaceful, democratic and prosperous future where the interest of all sections of Afghan society are protected, Kumar said.

Days before finalisation of the peace deal, India conveyed to the US that pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terror networks operating from its soil must be kept up though Islamabads cooperation for peace in Afghanistan is crucial.

On Friday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla travelled to Kabul on a two-day visit during which he conveyed to Afghan leadership Indias support for an independent, sovereign, democratic and inclusive Afghanistan.

He also conveyed to Afghanistan that sustainable peace in the country requires an end to externally sponsored terrorism, in a veiled reference to Pakistans support to terror groups in the war-ravaged country.

The foreign secretary held talks with President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, Vice President-elect Amrullah Saleh and National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib.

He also met former president Hamid Karzai, acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Haroon Chakhansur and acting Finance Minister Abdul Zadran. Separately, he interacted with a cross-section of Afghan leaders including politician, civil rights activists and academicians.

On the peace deal, the MEA spokesperson said India has noted that entire political spectrum in Afghanistan has welcomed it.

We note that the entire political spectrum in Afghanistan, including the government, the democratic polity and civil society, has welcomed the opportunity and hope for peace and stability generated by these agreements, Kumar said.

In his meetings with the Afghan leadership, the foreign secretary reiterated Indias commitment to enhance political, economic and development partnership between the two neighbours, the MEA said in a statement.

It said Shringla reiterated Indias consistent support for an independent, sovereign, democratic, pluralistic and inclusive Afghanistan in which interests of all sections of Afghan society are preserved.

The foreign secretary also conveyed Indias support for enduring and inclusive peace and reconciliation which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled.

He underscored that sustainable peace in Afghanistan requires an end to externally sponsored terrorism, the MEA said.

Major powers such as the US, Russia and Iran have been reaching out to the Taliban as part of efforts to push the stalled Afghan peace process.

India has also been maintaining that care should be taken to ensure that any such process does not lead to any ungoverned spaces where terrorists and their proxies can relocate.

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New Delhi:

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused opposition parties of inciting communal riots over the CAA by spreading "misinformation" that Muslims will lose their citizenship because of the new law. He also extolled Prime Minister Narendra Modi for addressing important issues relating to "national security and sensibilities", including abrogation of provisions of Article 370, CAA and the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

"Opposition parties are spreading misinformation that Muslims will lose their Indian citizenship because of the CAA. They are instigating people and fomenting riots," he told a pro-CAA BJP rally.

"I have said this before and repeating it now that nobody, no Indian Muslim will lose their citizenship because of the CAA. This law is for granting citizenship to religious minorities that have been persecuted in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Its not intended to take away anyones citizenship".

Calling the Citizenship (Amendment) Act a "historic step", Shah alleged that the Congress, Communists, SP, BSP and Mamata didi were spreading lies about it.

Asking people not to be misled over the opposition's attempts at creating 'bhranti' (confusion) about the new law, he said the Modi government had only fulfilled the dreams of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad and others who favoured Indian citizenship for persecuted minorities from the three countries.

"Shouldnt they get Indian citizenship? Shouldnt their human rights be protected?" Shah asked the audience which responded with a resounding "yes". He said people should come out and ask those fomenting trouble to explain which clause of the Citizensip (Amendment) Act talked about snatching citizenship.

"Because of Article 370 Jammu and Kashmir appeared alienated from 'Bharat'. With its abrogation, Kashmir is now the crown of Mother India, he said. The Home Minister also accused the Congress of stalling resolution of Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in the Supreme Court for decades.

After the BJP returned to power for a second term with 303 seats, the path was paved for building a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya that would touch the sky, he said. Shah thanked the people of Odisha for their support to the BJP which replaced Congress as the main opposition party in the state in the assembly elections.

Talking about the rise of the BJP in the eastern state, the home minister said the party reaped a rich electoral harvest even in the Lok Sabha polls with eight of its candidates emerging victorious. He said BJP candidates led in about 14,000 of the states 37,000 polling booths.

The Union minister said funds allocated to Odisha under Sonia-Manmohan government stood at little over 79,000 crore in accordance with the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission.

Between 2014-19, when the BJP was in power, the allocation went up to a staggering 2.11 lakh crore under the 14th Finance Commission, he said. The Modi government opened the door to development of not only Odisha but the entire eastern region, he asserted.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

TS Inter 1st Year and 2nd Year Hall Ticket 2020 has been released. Candidates who are going to appear for the TS Inter Exam need to visit the official website of Telangana State Board of Intermediate Education, i.e. tsbie.cgg.gov.in to check and download the TS Inter 1st Year and 2nd Year 2020 Admit Card 2020. Alternatively, candidates can click on the below mentioned direct link to check and download the TS Inter 1st Year And 2nd Year Admit Card 2020.

TS Inter 1st Year And 2nd Year Hall Ticket 2020

The TS Inter Admit Card 2020 is an important document that students need to carry along-with a valid photo-ID proof at the time of examination. In order to check and download the TS Inter 1st Year And 2nd Year Hall Ticket 2020, candidates need to follow the below mentioned steps:

Also Read: JKBOSE Class 11 2020 Jammu Division Revised Timetable Released

First, students need to visit the official website of Telangana State Board

Then, click on the TS Inter Hall Ticket 2020 link that is available on the homepage

A new page will open

Enter the login details and then click on the submit button

Download and take a printout of the TS Inter 1st Year / 2nd Year Hall Ticket 2020

The TS Inter Hall Ticket 2020 will comprise important details such as exam center address, candidates roll number and exam instructions. Candidates can also click on the below mentioned direct links to check and download the TS Inter 1st Year And 2nd Year Hall Ticket 2020.

TS Inter 1st Year Hall Ticket 2020 Direct Link

TS Inter 2nd Year Hall Ticket 2020 Direct Link
Airbus Defence and Space will demonstrate live the mission-critical features of its interoperable communication technologies for the defence community at the World Defense Show (WDS) in Riyadh from March 6 to 9, 2022.

Airbus Secure Land Communications will take part in the global event to highlight how its intelligent solutions can support the armed forces in their military operations. Its participation comes amid reports of the Mena regions stabilising defence spending.

Selim Bouri, Head of Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific for Airbus Secure Land Communications said: Our interoperable and agile communication and collaboration solutions can support combat systems across land, air, sea, space, and cyber operational domains. WDS is a strategic event for us to exhibit our capabilities and expertise in the field of defence while highlighting our role in reshaping the industrys future in this century. It is vital for all stakeholders to collaborate more effectively amid the evolving threat landscape worldwide, and the show will provide that important platform to tackle existing and emerging challenges and opportunities.

Furthermore, by participating, we are reaffirming our support for the Saudi Government's bid to become a leader in the area of future defence technologies, in line with the kingdoms Vision 2030. We look forward to engaging with key figures in the international defence community during the gathering, Bouri added.

WDS will be staged as the kingdom, one of the worlds top spenders in the defence sector, seeks to localise 50% of its domestic military expenditure. It will bring under roof industry thought leaders, governments, decision-makers, policymakers, and many more, to provide insights and technological innovations that will impact the regional and global defence industries.

At Airbus Secure Land Communications exhibition stand, Airbus team of specialists will display the companys array of mission-critical collaboration and communication technologies, including Tactilon Agnet, TACteam, Workflowmanagement, Everus Manpack, and Tactilon Dabat.-- TradeArabia News Service
CPI said that it will soon secure a copy of the Delhi governmentas standing counselas recommendations. (Photo Credit: File-PTI)

New Delhi:

The CPI on Saturday said it will fight both legally and politically the sedition case against its leader Kanhaiya Kumar and alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the national capital had succumbed to political pressure. The Delhi government on Friday gave a go-ahead to the city police to prosecute former JNUSU president Kumar and nine others in connection with a four-year-old sedition case, as the ruling AAP denied the persistent BJP charge of blocking the proceedings in the matter.

The national secretariat of the Communist Party of India (CPI) will fight legally and politically the sedition charges against party national executive member and former president of the JNU Students Union (JNUSU) Kanhaiya Kumar.

The party is confident that Kanhaiya Kumar will come out unscathed as the charges are false and politically motivated, the CPI said in a statement.

The party feels that it is unfortunate that the Arvind Kejriwal government has succumbed to political pressure and granted permission to prosecute Kumar, it said.

It may be recalled here that the chief minister (Kejriwal) himself had in the beginning said that there is no case of sedition against Kanhaiya and videos were doctored. We are yet to ascertain why this sudden change of heart has happened, the statement said.

The party said that it will soon secure a copy of the Delhi governments standing counsels recommendations which had not given sanction for the prosecution.

The party vehemently opposes the move to implicate Kanhaiya Kumar in a false sedition case and urges all its units and mass organisations to protest peacefully against the prosecution move, the statement said.

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PM Modi will be launching a saturation drive for distribution of Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) to all the beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN Scheme at the event. (Photo Credit: Twitter)

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reached Uttar Pradesh to lay the foundation stone for the 296-km-long Bundelkhand Expressway in Chitrakoot. A statement from the Prime Minister's Office said on Friday that to mark one year of the PM-Kisan scheme, Modi will also launch 10,000 Farmers Producer Organisations all over the country at Chitrakoot on Saturday. Nearly 86 per cent of farmers are small and marginal with average land holdings in the country being less than 1.1 hectare.

"These small, marginal and landless farmers face tremendous challenges during agriculture production phase such as for access to technology, quality seed, fertilisers and pesticides including requisite finances. They also face tremendous challenges in marketing their produce due to lack of economic strength," the statement pointed out.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi distributes assistive aids&devices to senior citizens & the differently-abled, at a distribution camp in Prayagraj. pic.twitter.com/rbX2VHEtzB  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 29, 2020

Tweeting about his events in Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi wrote: "There will be programmes in Prayagraj and Chitrakoot which would focus on empowerment of divyangjan (people with disabilities), infrastructure, farmer welfare and more."

He said he is delighted to be laying the foundation stone of the Bundelkhand Expressway at Chitrakoot.

"This expressway will be the harbinger of progress for youngsters in the region and will also help the Defence Corridor coming up in the state... Next-gen infrastructure for a better tomorrow," Modi said in a series of tweets.

The prime minister will also be launching a saturation drive for distribution of Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) to all the beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN Scheme at the event.

Over 6.5 crore of the approximately 8.5 crore beneficiaries under PM-KISAN Scheme possess Kisan Credit Cards.

The saturation drive will ensure that the remaining about 2 crore PM-KISAN beneficiaries are also distributed KCCs the statement said.

A 15-day special drive has been launched from February 12 to 26 to provide access to concessional institutional credit to all the PM-KISAN beneficiaries wherein a simple one page form has to be filled with the basic data including bank account number, land record details and a simple declaration that he is presently not a beneficiary of KCC from any other bank branch.

All the PM-KISAN beneficiaries whose applications are received till 26 February will be called to the respective bank branches on Saturday for handing over KCCs.

(With PTI Inputs)

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New Delhi:

In a major breakthrough, the NIA arrested on Friday an operative of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) for his alleged involvement in the Pulwama terror attack last year, officials said. Officials said 22-year-old Shakir Bashir Magrey, a furniture shop owner and resident of Hajibal, Kakapora in Pulwama, had provided shelter and other logistical assistance to suicide-bomber Adil Ahmad Dar.

Magrey was introduced to Dar in mid-2018 by Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Umar Farooq and he became a full-time overground worker (OGW) of the JeM. During his initial interrogation, Magrey disclosed that on several occasions he collected and delivered arms, ammunition, cash and explosive materials to JeM terrorists, including those involved in the Pulwama attack, the NIA said.

Magrey further revealed that he had harboured Dar and Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Umar Farooq in his house from late 2018 till the attack in February 2019, and assisted them in the preparation of the improvised explosive device (IED).

His shop is located near Lethpora bridge, and as advised by Mohammad Umar Farooq, he started conducting reconnaissance of the movement of CRPF convoy on Jammu-Srinagar Highway in January 2019, and informed Mohammad Umar and Dar about it, officials said.

Also Read | Balakot Anniversary: How Indian Air Force Avenged Pulwama Attack

Magrey was also involved in modifying the Maruti Eeco car and fitting IED to it in early February, 2019, they said.

During investigation, the make, model and number of the car used in the attack was quickly ascertained to be a Maruti Eeco car through forensic tests of the tiny remnants of the vehicle, which were seized from the spot during extensive searches, the NIA said, adding this has been corroborated by Magrey.

The explosives used in the attack were determined through forensic probe to be ammonium nitrate, nitro-glycerin and RDX. Investigation has also confirmed the identity of the suicide bomber to be Adil Ahmad Dar through DNA matching with that of his father.

The other key terrorists involved in the attack have been found to be Muddasir Ahmad Khan, JeM's Divisional Commander of South Kashmir killed in an operation by security forces on March 11, last year; Pakistani terrorists ? Muhammad Umar Farooq and IED expert Kamran, both killed on March 29 last year; the owner of the car ? Sajjad Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Anantnag who was killed on June 16 last year and Qari Yassir, JeM's Commander for Kashmir who was killed on January 25 this year.

Also Read | Pakistan Reups 'Masood Azhar Gone Missing' Claim To Get Off FATF Grey List: Report

The attack on the CRPF convoy, moving from Jammu towards Srinagar on February 14 last year in Pulwama, with an IED-laden vehicle by Jaish terrorist Dar had claimed lives of 40 CRPF personnel and grievously injured many others.

Magrey was produced before the NIA Special Court at Jammu on Friday and remanded to 15 days in NIA custody for his detailed interrogation. Further probe was underway.

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New Delhi:

One of the moving moments of the recent communal riots in northeast Delhi over the amended citizenship law was how Delhi Police Head Constable Deepak Dahiya took on a rioter, identified as Shahrukh, brandishing a pistol in Maujpur on Monday. Shahrukh allegedly fired eight rounds of bullets.

The cop said the safety of the public was the only thing on his mind when he confronted the Shahrukh and even dared him to take a shot at him. A video of Dahiya confronting a mob led by Shahrukh went viral on social media. Shahrukh rushed towards Dahiya and threatened to shoot him from point-blank range but he remained calm and urged him to back off.

While speaking to news agency ANI, Dahiya said his parents got scared when they saw the pistol was pointed at him by Shahrukh. But they understand its his job they are proud of him.

I was deployed in Maujpur, where a peaceful protest was going on. Suddenly, a mob turned aggressive from the other end. We had been trying to convince them. When I heard the sound a bullet fire, I came to this side and saw one person brandishing a pistol running towards me. I then dared with a police baton. This made him divert his mind. I further tried dare to him. Then he fired one round on his right side and retuned, Dahiya told news agency ANI.

Also Read | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Announces Immediate Relief Of Rs 25,000 To Violence Victims

My father has appreciated my bravery and told me to keep doing a work like this, the police personnel said. On Thursday, the Delhi Police said Shahrukh is yet to be taken into custody. A senior official in the Delhi Police said that they were conducting raids to nab Shahrukh.

According to The Indian Express, a police official said that the father of Shahrukh is a local drug peddler and has been incarcerated many times for his activity. He is believed to be a relative of criminal Irfan alias Chhenu Pehalwan, who is already in jail.

On Friday, the death count in Delhi's communal violence has gone up to 42 now with four more fatalities being recorded at the city's GTB Hospital, officials said. The number stood at 38 till Thursday. The Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital has recorded 38 deaths, the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital three, and the Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital has reported one.

Nearly 7,000 paramilitary personnel have been deployed in the affected areas of the northeast district since Monday to assist hundreds of Delhi police men and women to maintain peace. More than 250 people have been injured in the communal clashes. The areas mainly affected include Jafrabad, Maujpur, Chand Bagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura.

(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi:

At a time when the national capital Delhi is reeling under the effects of days of communal violence, a Muslim man's attempt at Hindu-Muslim amity in neighbouring Meerut is getting some well-deserved praise. Mohd Sarafat in Hastinapur area of Meerut has got a special wedding card printed for his daughter's wedding. According to IANS, the card has features pictures of Hindu gods as well as traditional Muslim auspicious lines. The card has photographs of Lord Ganesh and Radha-Krishna and also says "Chand Mubarak".

Sarafat got this unique card printed for the wedding of his daughter Asma Khatoon on March 4.

"I thought it would be a good idea to showcase the Hindu-Muslim amity, especially when communal hatred is gaining ground. My friends have reacted very positively to the initiative," Mohd Sarafat was quoted as saying by IANS. He, however, has printed another wedding card in Urdu for his relatives and Muslim friends.

"Many of my relatives cannot read Hindi and for them I have printed cards in Urdu as well," he explained to IANS.

The death toll in Delhi's worst riots in more than three decades climbed to 39 on Thursday as the violence ebbed but did not subside completely. Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on Sunday evening after violence between groups supporting and protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act spiralled out of control. Frenzied mobs torched houses, shops, vehicles, a petrol pump and pelted stones at local residents and police personnel.

(With PTI Inputs)
New Delhi:

NABARD Office Attendant Result 2020 has been released. Candidates who appeared for the NABARD Office Attendant Exam need to visit the official website of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, i.e. nabard.org to check the Office Attendant Result. Candidates should also note that the NABARD Office Attendant Main Exam 2020 is scheduled to be held on March 14, 2020. Earlier, the NABARD Office Attendant Prelims Exam 2020 was held on February 4, 2020.

NABARD Office Attendant Prelims Result 2020

It is to note that NABARD has released the Office Attendant Prelims Result 2020 for Group C posts on the official website. In order to check the NABARD Group C Office Assistant Prelims Result 2020, candidates need to follow the below mentioned steps:

Also Read: CBSE Extends CTET July 2020 Application Date, Check At ctet.nic.in

First, candidates need to visit the official website of NABARD

Then, navigate and click on the Career Section that is available on the homepage

After that, candidates need to click the Result link

A new page will open

Candidates need to find the section of NABARD Office Attendant Result

Select the option and download the result in the PDF format

NABARD has released the Office Attendant Main Exam date. The NABARD Office Attendant Main Exam will be held on March 14, 2020. The NABARD Office Attendant Main exam admit card will be issued by NABARD. The Main Office Attendant Exam will be subjective in nature. For more details, candidates need to visit the official website of NABARD.
New Delhi:

Khoj Khabar: For more than two now, hundreds of protestors, mainly women, have occupied the Kalindi Kunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch to voice their opposition against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Expressing concern at "viral videos" of children participating in protests against the CAA, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has already asked authorities to identify and arrange counselling for them.

The child rights body has urged the authority to issue necessary directions to the local administration and the police to identify children, shown in the viral videos, and "arrange a counselling session for them and their parents, if deemed fit".

On Friday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused opposition parties of inciting communal riots over the CAA by spreading "misinformation" that Muslims will lose their citizenship because of the new law.

Tonight on Khoj Khabar with Deepak Chaursia, we will ask why children are being used as pawns in the name of anti-CAA protests?

Khoj Khabar | Highlights

21:48 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "Neither the CAA nor the NRC will be withdrawn. In fact, two-child law will soon," says Sadhvi Prachi, Hindu spiritual leader.

21:40 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "I was shocked to see the boy chanting 'Modi murdabad' at the rally," says Amber Zaidi, social activist.

21:38 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "Deepak ji, did you read the Constitution? There's nothing wrong in demanding azadi," says Ritu Choudhary, poltical anaylist, when asked why an eight-year-old boy was allowed to abuse PM Narendra Modi at Kanhaiya Kumar's rally.

21:24 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "Kapil Mishra, Kapil Mishra and Kapil Mishra, enough of it. I challenge if they find any weapon or explosives from Kapil Mishra's house. The AAP will be exposed itself," says Sadhvi Prachi, Hindu spirtual leader.

21:20 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "I didn't say the current will reach Shaheen Bagh. I have no connection with Sharjeel Imam apart from our religion," says Ifra Jan, Islamic scholar.

21:18 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "It's police responsbility to arrest Tahir Hussain," says Ghanendra Bhardwaj, AAP spokesperson, when asked if it wasn't the AAP's responsibility to arrest the AAP leader.

21:16 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "This is the problem with the AAP. Whenever we raise question, it tries to digress from the main issue," says Amber Zaidi, social activist.

21:13 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "Why are you asking only about Tahir Hussain? Arrest Kapil Mishra as well," says Ghanendra Bhardwaj, AAP spokesperson.

21:11 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "From the beginning, we have been saying no matter which party he or she belongs to, if anyone is found guilty, publish them hard," Ghanendra Bhardwaj, AAP spokesperson, on asked about suspended AAP councillor Tahir Hussain's whereabout.

21:07 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "Whatever has happened, we need to ask whether was it only about the CAA?" says Anila Singh, BJP spokeperson.

21:05 (IST) Facebook Twitter Whats app Linked In "It's not only about Shaheen Bagh, it's not only about CAA. There's a larger conspiracy," says Anila Singh, BJP spokeperson.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Mumbai:

Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Saturday said the loan waiver announced by the state government will provide huge relief to farmers in the next couple of months.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Deshmukh condoled the suicide of a farmer at Pathardi in Ahmednagar district and said all possible help would be given to his family.

The Maharashtra governments loan waiver policy, which was announced by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, will be implemented phase wise, he said.

The loan waiver will provide huge relief to farmers in the next couple of months, he added.

The chief minister had last December announced the scheme writing off loans of farmers whose crop debt outstanding is up to Rs 2 lakh till September 30, 2019.

Earlier this week, the government released the first list of 15,000 farmers benefited under the scheme.
New Delhi:

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Friday said that setting in India does not give Muslims any special rights. The statement came days after the national capital witnessed violent clashes between pro and anti CAA groups. Swamy took to Twitter and wrote, "In 1947 India was under no obligation to allow Muslims to settle in India because Partition was, according to Indian Independence Act passed by House of Commons, for a Hindu ruled India and a Muslim ruled Pakistan. Settling in India does not give Muslims any special rights."

In 1947 India was under no obligation to allow Muslims to settle in India because Partition was, according to Indian Independence Act passed by House of Commons, for a Hindu ruled India and a Muslim ruled Pakistan. Settling in India does not give Muslims any special rights  Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) February 28, 2020

Also Read | Delhi Violence: 'Sonia Gandhi Should Not Preach Us Rajdharma', Ravi Shankar Prasad Hits Back At Congress

On Friday, several non-Congress opposition parties have written to President Ram Nath Kovind to direct authorities to ensure peace is restored in violence-hit northeast Delhi and action against those accused of making provocative speeches.

Leaders from parties like NCP, CPI(M), CPI, RJD, LJD, DMK and AAP have also sought time from Kovind to discuss the situation in the national capital. "Immediate establishment of peace and a direction to authorities concerned, like the Lt Governor of Delhi who is directly answerable to you, to ensure speedy restoration of normalcy and to ensure that FIRs must be filed immediately against all who have made provocative hate speeches and the perpetrators of this violence must be brought to book," the leaders said in their letter.

The Congress had met the president on Thursday to seek normalcy and peace in areas hit by violence, and had demand Union Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation.

Also Read | Delhi Riots: Death Count Mounts To 42 As Eerie Calm Prevails On Streets  10 Points

At least 39 were killed and over 200 injured in the communal clashes that broke out in northeast Delhi on Monday after clashes between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control.

The areas worst affected in the violence include Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Chand Bagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura. The letter was signed by CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury, LJD's Sharad Yadav, NCP's Praful Patel, DMK's T R Balu, CPI's D Raja, RJD's Manoj Jha and AAP's Sanjay Singh.

(With agency inputs)

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New Delhi:

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has given a go-ahead to the city police to prosecute former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and two others in connection with a 2016 sedition case, sources said on Friday. The police had filed a charge sheet against Kumar and others, including former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya on January 14, 2019. They were charged with leading a procession and supporting the seditious slogans allegedly raised on the campus during an event on February 9, 2016. Delhi Police was awaiting permission from the government on prosecuting the case.

In the 1,200-page charge sheet, police claimed it has video clips to prove the offence which has been corroborated by the statements of the witnesses and that Kumar was leading a procession and allegedly supported seditious slogans raised on the JNU campus in February 2016.

The accused were named in the charge sheet for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans during an event on the university's campus on February 9, 2016, to commemorate the hanging of Parliament-attack mastermind Afzal Guru. The other seven accused chargesheeted in the case are Kashmiri students Aquib Hussain, Mujeeb Hussain, Muneeb Hussain, Umar Gul, Rayeea Rassol, Bashir Bhat and Basharat, some of them were then studying in JNU, Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia.

The accused have been charged with offences under sections 124A (sedition), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), 143 (punishment for being a member of an unlawful assembly), 149 (being a member of an unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The accused have been charge sheeted on the basis of electronic evidence, including CCTV footage and mobile footage, and documentary evidence, which include statements of students and security guards.

(With PTI Inputs)

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Ford is accelerating the development and scaling of electric, connected vehicles, while leveraging its iconic nameplates to strengthen operating performance and take full advantage of engineering and industrial capabilities.



This isnt the first time Ford has reimagined the future and taken our own path, said Ford Executive Chair Bill Ford. We have an extraordinary opportunity to lead this thrilling new era of connected and electric vehicles, give our customers the very best of Ford, and help make a real difference for the health of the planet.



Last May, Ford President and CEO Jim Farley introduced the Ford+ plan, calling it the companys biggest opportunity for growth and value creation since Henry Ford scaled production of the Model T. The formation of two distinct, but strategically interdependent, auto businesses  Ford Blue and Ford Model e  together with the new Ford Pro business, will help unleash the full potential of the Ford+ plan, driving growth and value creation and positioning Ford to outperform both legacy automakers and new EV competitors.



We have made tremendous progress in a short period of time. We have launched a series of hit products globally and demand for our new EVs like F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E is off the charts, Farley said.



But our ambition with Ford+ is to become a truly great, world- changing company again, and that requires focus. We are going all in, creating separate but complementary businesses that give us start-up speed and unbridled innovation in Ford Model e together with Ford Blues industrial know-how, volume and iconic brands like Bronco, that start-ups can only dream about.



Driving the change was recognition that different approaches, talents and, ultimately, organizations are required to unleash Fords development and delivery of electric and digitally connected vehicles and services and fully capitalize on the companys iconic family of internal combustion vehicles.



The creation of Ford Model e was informed by the success of small, mission-driven Ford teams that developed the Ford GT, Mustang Mach-E SUV and F-150 Lightning pickup as well as Fords dedicated EV division in China.



Ford Model e will be Fords centre of innovation and growth, a team of the worlds best software, electrical and automotive talent turned loose to create truly incredible electric vehicles and digital experiences for new generations of Ford customers, Farley said.



Ford Blues mission is to deliver a more profitable and vibrant ICE business, strengthen our successful and iconic vehicle families and earn greater loyalty by delivering incredible service and experiences. Its about harnessing a century of hardware mastery to help build the future. This team will be hellbent on delivering leading quality, attacking waste in every corner of the business, maximizing cash flow and optimizing our industrial footprint.



Ford Model e also will lead on creating an exciting new shopping, buying and ownership experience for its future electric vehicle customers that includes simple, intuitive e-commerce platforms, transparent pricing and personalized customer support from Ford ambassadors. Ford Blue will adapt these best practices to enhance the experience of its ICE customers and deliver new levels of customer connectivity and satisfaction.



Ford Blue will exercise Fords deep automotive expertise to strengthen the iconic Ford vehicles customers love, such as F-Series, Ranger and Maverick trucks, Bronco and Explorer SUVs, and Mustang, with investments in new models, derivatives, experiences and services.



It will also help customers fulfil their passions and daily lives with tailored brand and vehicle experiences, from off-roading to performance to family activities, especially for those situations when ICE capabilities are required and deliver new, connected, personalized and always-on experiences for customers powered by Ford Model es software and embedded systems.



This new structure will enhance our capacity to generate industry-leading growth, profitability and liquidity in this new era of transportation, said John Lawler, Fords chief financial officer. It will sharpen our effectiveness in allocating capital to both the ICE and EV businesses and the returns we expect from them  by making the most of existing capabilities, adding new skills wherever theyre needed, simplifying processes and lowering costs. Most importantly, we believe it will deliver growth and significant value for our stakeholders.



Ford Model e and Ford Blue will work hand-in-glove with other parts of the Ford enterprise. Ford Pro will continue to deliver industry-leading products, services and support that commercial customers depend on. Served by Ford Model e and Ford Blue, Lincoln will continue to create compelling vehicles with an exceptional ownership experience to match.



Ford Drive will continue to develop new digitally connected mobility businesses. Ford Credit will continue to support the customer experience and drive loyalty with a full suite of financial products and services.  TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi:

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Friday that there was no discussion on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) or the NRC at the Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) meeting, but she raised the issue of violence in Delhi. Banerjee expressed concern over the communal clashes in Delhi that have claimed at least 39 lives and said that steps should be taken so that the situation doesnt aggravate further.

"I am very sad about what happened in Delhi. A police constable and an IB official also died. Peace must be restored in Delhi," she told the meeting. Speaking to reporters after attending a lunch hosted by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Banerjee said there was no discussion on the CAA or NRC at the meeting as it was not on the agenda.

"Neither they raised the issues nor did I. It was also not on the agenda. This meeting was not for that," she said. She joined Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the lunch hosted by Patnaik at his official residence. Asked if she would back the demand of Shahs resignation in wake of the Delhi riots, Banerjee said, "The problem should be solved first and then we will discuss politics."

She said that peace should prevail across the country and the riot victims adequately compensated. At the meeting, the West Bengal chief minister raised the issue of alleged negligence of the Centre towards her state. She claimed that West Bengal did not get the required assistance during natural calamities such as cyclone Fani and Bulbul, besides several other pending dues from the Centre. "We have not got Rs 50,000 crore from the Centre," she said.

Banerjee said she also raised the issues of delay in GST compensation payment and lowered share of states in devolution of central taxes.

Issues relating to the development of the states in the region, the need for coal royalty revision, strengthening of infrastructure were also discussed at the EZC meeting, she said.

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New Delhi: Congress Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday tried to corner the central government on the front of evacuating Indians stranded in Ukraine while hitting back at Rahul Gandhi, BJP's Amit Malviya said his father, Rajiv Gandhi while piloting Air India, had gone on leave during the 1971 war with Pakistan.

Amit Malviya tweeted, "No country on the scale of India has made an evacuation in Ukraine. Even after this, Rahul Gandhi, whose father was an Air India pilot, went on leave during the 1971 war with Pakistan. Then when Indira Gandhi lost power in 1977, the entire family hid in the Embassy of Italy and is now interrogating us to secure the Indians."

Let us know that this claim on Rajiv Gandhi is not new and it keeps coming out on social media and WhatsApp every day. However, this claim remains controversial as many historians claim that Rajiv Gandhi had no role in the 1971 war. However, if we talk about Rahul Gandhi's question, the Indian government is giving information every day about how many people have been rescued from Ukraine and the Centre has also sent its ministers to Ukraine's neighbouring countries for this work.

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New Delhi: The case of Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the war has now reached the Supreme Court. Chief Justice (CJI) NV Ramana has summoned the Attorney General on the matter. In the court, the CJI also asked the petitioner what can the court do in this matter. However, the CJI later said that this is an urgent issue. The top court asked the central government to take steps to evacuate the students stranded at the Romania border.

In fact, the petition said that around 250 Indian students were stranded at the Moldova/Romania border in Ukraine. It was said that for the last six days, no flight from India has reached there. The petition was filed by the families of students who are stranded in Ukraine. The petition has been filed by advocate AM Dar on behalf of the families of the stranded students. The CJI said that the matter needs to be heard as the lawyer (Dar) has come from Kashmir for it. The petitioner's counsel said the temperature there was minus 7 degrees below zero. The court should direct the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to provide relief to the people stranded there. To this, the CJI said what can we do in this case? Tomorrow you will say to issue instructions to Putin. CJI said can we ask Putin to stop the war? We have full sympathy and concern with the students, Government of India is doing its job.

The Attorney General told the Supreme Court that the Indian government has also sent four ministers to assist in the evacuation of the stranded students, including one minister in Romania. He said that why they could not cross Ukraine's border, it will be cross-checked because Ukraine says that it is allowing everyone to get out.

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Patna: The Russian attack on Ukraine has been justified by Indian-origin Russian MLA Dr Abhay Kumar Singh. He said the military action was justified because Ukraine had been given enough time. He termed the attacks on Indian nationals in Ukraine as revenge. Russia is being heavily bombed in Ukraine. The war between the two countries has been going on for 7 days. The next round of talks between the two is likely to take place on Wednesday. Dr. Abhay Singh is an MLA from the western city of Kursk in Russia. A 'deputat' in Russia is equivalent to an MLA from India.

Abhay Singh said that if China sets up its military base in Bangladesh, how will India react? Clearly, India will not like it in any situation. Similarly, NATO was created against Russia and it did not disintegrate even after the breakup of the Soviet Union. It came close to Russia. If Ukraine joins NATO, it will bring NATO forces closer to us, because Ukraine is our neighbouring country. This would be a violation of the agreement. President Vladimir Putin and the Russian parliament had no choice but to take action. That's why Ukraine was attacked.

Indian-origin Russian MLA Dr Singh dismissed speculation of a nuclear attack on Ukraine. He said the aim of the nuclear weapons exercise was to respond to another country's attack on Russia. "There is nothing to worry about nuclear weapons. President Putin has declared that the nuclear exercise was just to respond to individuals who intend to attack Russia. If any other country attacks us, Russia will respond in all its forms. On the attacks on Indian students in Ukraine, Dr Singh said that it may be revenge because India is not supporting Ukraine. Dr Abhay Kumar Singh is originally a native of Patna. He went to Russia 30 years ago in 1991 to study medicine.

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New Delhi: A virtual summit meeting of the leaders of the Quad is going to be held on Thursday in the midst of the Russia-Ukraine war. Apart from PM Modi, US President Joe Biden, Japan's PM Fumio Kishida and Australia's PM Scott Morrison will participate. The Ministry of External Affairs had informed the media about this meeting on Thursday. The ministry had said that the four leaders would share their views on important developments in the Asia Pacific region. The Quad leaders will also review the implementation of the initiatives taken as per the agenda of the organization. The four leaders had also taken initiative in the past regarding the contemporary and positive agenda of Quad. Earlier in September 2021, the Quad leaders had a personal meeting in Washington.

What is Quad?

After the Indian Ocean tsunami, India, Japan, Australia and the US formed an informal alliance to support each other in disaster relief efforts. Broadly speaking, Quad is an organization of four countries, which includes India, America, Australia and Japan. These four countries are the biggest economic powers of the world. In 2007, the then Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe formalized this as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad. In 2017, the four countries revived the Quad as the threat to China increased, broadening its objectives. Under this, a mechanism was created, which aims to gradually establish a rules-based international order and has China at its center.

These four countries want to control China's growing grandeur and its influence in the Asia-Pacific region. Especially Japan and India took the initiative to make Quad. When America and Australia engaged in the siege of China became members in it, it emerged as a more powerful regional organization. This organization continued to strengthen its group with the intention of encircling China, which was constantly trying to increase its influence in the Asia-Pacific region. It is believed that in the coming few days, this group can emerge as a powerful organization of Asia-Pacific on the lines of NATO.

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MOSCOW: In response to international sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, Russia's space agency has refused to launch the UK's three dozen OneWeb Internet satellites unless its demands are met.

OneWeb's 36 satellites, which were set to launch on March 5 on a Russian Soyuz rocket, were rolled out to the launch pad at the Russian-controlled Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to Space.com.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Roscosmos Director-General Dmitry Rogozin stated that the agency will not launch the satellites as scheduled unless the corporation guarantees that the craft will not be utilised for military reasons.

As another requirement for launch, the agency required that the UK government, which is a major shareholder in OneWeb, withdraw its involvement. Roscosmos would withdraw the Soyuz 2.1b rocket carrying the satellites from the launch pad if these demands are not honoured by 1.30 p.m. EST on Friday, reports read.

"On OneWeb, there will be no negotiations: the UK government will not sell its stake. We've spoken out to other shareholders to talk about the next steps "Kwasi Kwarteng, a UK Member of Parliament and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, wrote on Twitter.

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Sehore: The cancellation of Rudraksh festival in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh is becoming a problem for the government. Not only is the opposition attacking the government, BJP leaders have also started asking questions to the government regarding this. Devotees are also continuously showing their anger on social media. Everyone has only one question that the event was known about a month back. 1.5 million people were supposed to come in a week. Now what was the problem that Pandit Pradeep Mishra was pressurized to stop it. The government has not been able to give any answer to this question so far. The administration has patted its back for making arrangements by tweeting on February 28. For the second consecutive year, a 7-day Rudraksh Mahotsav was to be organized. A pandal was set up in 10,000 square feet. Shiva Mahapuran Katha and other religious programs were to be held. More than 11 lakh Rudrakshas were to be distributed within seven days in the festival. This thing was reaching the devotees at a fast pace. On February 20, a meeting of more than two dozen women's circles was also held in Agrawal Panchayati Bhawan present in Bada Bazar of the city.

The same Rudraksh was to be energized from 7.30 am on February 28. 11 lakh 51 thousand Rudraksha were procured from Mukti Narayan of Nepal for distribution to the devotees. A team of 2000 workers was raised for the arrangements. 60 teams of 3500 women were also looking after the arrangements for the event. People from outside Sehore were also involved. The arrangements for food for the devotees were in the pandal. Arrangements were made to get food from 7 am to 10 pm. The timing of the story was fixed from 1 pm to 4 pm. After the aarti at 6 pm, artists from Mumbai, Nainital, Pune were to give performances from 7 pm onwards. Three pandals were made, in which arrangements were made to accommodate about 30 thousand devotees. Although the Rudraksh Mahotsav was to start from February 28, but a day before, a large number of devotees had reached to participate in it. The pandals built at the meeting place were already full. All the hotels and dharamshalas in the city were also booked. In the first phase, the consecration of Rudrakshas was to be done by 9 am. The Organizing Committee had made the entrance from Bhatoni Gate to go to the temple complex area. Parking arrangements were also made at all the places in the area of about 60 acres. As per the schedule, this 7 day festival started from 7 am on Monday. Rudraksh was invoked for the devotees. The story started at 1 pm. The influx of devotees continued to grow. The situation became such that the train got stuck for 25 km on both sides of Bhopal-Indore State Highway. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the situation became such that even the two-wheeler was not getting a place to leave.

By the same afternoon, two to two and a half lakh devotees had reached the pandal. The narrator Pandit Pradeep Mishra became emotional seeing the situation of chaos. He said while sitting on Vyas Gaadi  pressure is coming from above again and again, so I am canceling the story. With folded hands, I request you to go to your home and listen to the story through online medium only. Vishal Rudraksh Mahotsav was organized by the story reader Pandit Pradeep Mishra from 28 February. In this event, devotees from all over the country reached Sehore in large numbers. Initially, due to the number of devotees and vehicles being more than expected, the situation of jam was created, but District Magistrate Chandramohan Thakur and SP Mayank Awasthi made the arrangements smooth. The District Magistrate and the SP himself, while handling the front, made continuous announcements from the mic and kept giving instructions to the officers and employees engaged in the arrangements. All the arrangements started going smoothly. The local leaders of Sehore had already come face to face with this. The same Home Minister Narottam Mishra spoke to the narrator Pandit Pradeep Mishra about the arrangements. The Home Minister said  I am bowing down to you, Maharaj, I was requesting that there is no problem with the administration. Let me know if there is anything, if there is any need. The government is only with your blessings, sir. In response, Panditji said that today all the arrangements are fine, now there is no problem. Pandit Mishra asked the Home Minister to come to the temple once. In response, the Home Minister said that he would definitely come.

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Kiev: How much respect the tricolor of India's national flag is respected in the whole world, you can understand it from this that the students of Pakistan and Turkey, who were trapped between Russia's attack in Ukraine, are now trying to get out even with the flag of India. Since the army of Russia and Ukraine is not harming them after seeing the tricolor flag, therefore Pakistani and Turkish students are taking it with them. Let us inform that, Union Minister of Tourism, Culture and North-East Development G Kishan Reddy had instructed Indian students to leave Ukraine with the national flag (tricolor) on their vehicles.

Indian tricolour came to rescue of fleeing Pakistani, Turkish students from Ukraine



Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/28IKvaLcEq

#OperationGanga #UkraineRussiaConflict #evacuation pic.twitter.com/p67p38NCCZ

 ANI Digital (@ani_digital) March 2, 2022

Indian students who reached Bucharest in Romania from Ukraine have already told that they were not harassed by anyone on the way as the car was carrying a tricolor flag. He did not face any problem even while passing through various checkpoints. At the same time, he told that the students of Pakistan and Turkey are also using the tricolor to come out, so that they are not harmed by thinking of them as Indian. The students told how they made the national flag by buying spray paints.

Many Turkish and Pakistani students used the tricolor of India's national flag to cross the checkpoints. Earlier also it was reported that Pakistani students studying in Ukraine have to resort to Indian flag and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' to come back to their country. In the viral video, a person was seen telling a Pakistani anchor that the students of his country had to use the Indian flag to survive from Ukraine.

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The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) conducted a meeting to assess the situation in Afghanistan, which is still grappling with a humanitarian and economic crisis.

Deborah Lyons, the UN Secretary-special General's envoy for Afghanistan, spoke at the meeting on Wednesday, saying that while the worst fears about the humanitarian crisis had been allayed, any achievements were only temporary and "just to buy a little time." She informed the Council that supporting the Afghan people would be impossible without collaboration with Taliban leadership, which she admitted would be difficult for some but necessary.

She did, however, express worry about arbitrary detention, extrajudicial executions, and house-to-house searches in Kabul, promising to "address this with the de facto leadership."

According to Lyons, the Taliban's Islamic Emirate administration claimed that their policy is to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a competition arena. Naseer Ahmad Faiq, Charge d'affaires of Afghanistan's permanent mission to the United Nations, hailed the issuance of the new general licence, which will allow economic activity in Afghanistan to be expanded.

"I would want to suggest that the council members, the UN, and donors develop a monitoring and reporting structure to guarantee that any humanitarian project is implemented in a transparent, accountable, and effective manner," Faiq added.

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Home  Just In  Fashion designing education in Nepal and prospects of career: Your FAQs answered

Today, people, mainly youth, love dressing up in a style setting a unique fashion trend. And, Nepal has also not remained untouched by this clothing and lifestyle trend. The fashion industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in Nepal.

Owing to the increasing interest of youth in fashion designing, today, there are numerous fashion schools in Nepal. But, the scenario was not what it is today two decades back. Fashion designing aspirants then had no choice but to opt for studying abroad, mainly in India. But today, in Nepal itself, there are multiple options.

So, what is the status of fashion designing education in Nepal? What is its career scope? Today, we will answer your FAQs about the topic.

What is fashion designing education in Nepals context?

Fashion designing is an art form dedicated to the application of design and aesthetics to clothing and other lifestyle accessories, drawing inspiration from culture, nature, and varied trends. It varies over time and place, yet it is a creatively fulfilling and financially rewarding job.

Given these prospects, many art enthusiasts are attracted to its formal learning, making it one of the most sought-after courses in the world. Nepal is no more different.

Are there fashion designing colleges in Nepal?

Students of the Namuna College of Fashion and Technology visiting Shangrila Cashmere as a part of their course. Photo: Facebook Page/NCFT

Academic fashion designing education was first initiated by the Namuna College of Fashion Technology (NCFT) in 2002. The NCFT was started as Namuna Institute of Technology (NIT) in 1997, which offered career and self-employment oriented crash courses in various aspects of fashion designing and clothing construction. But, seeing the scope of fashion technology, the college dedicated itself to the field.

Gradually, during the mid-2000s to early 2010s, there happened the steady growth of the college and institutes dedicated to academic and practical education in the discipline in Nepal. Today, there are nearly one dozen institutes in Nepal providing education opportunities in the field.

What shall you study?

The fashion designing course usually includes sewing and tailoring, textiles and colours, pattern making, fashion history, computer-aided designs and various types and designs of clothing.

Does it have any scope?

Mukta Shrestha, is a fashion designer and owner of Muku boutique. Photo: Shankar Giri

Roadsides, streets and markets of the cities like Kathmandu are bombarded with clothing stores and boutiques. These are the most strong pieces of evidence to tell you about the scope of fashion as a career option.

Also, people, nowadays, are conscious of what they wear and how; they have developed a fashion sense. These developments have given larger space for designing (creating designs for apparel) education and career in Nepal.

Fashion designing courses shall appeal to you as they fulfil your creative thrust along with financial rewards.

What can you do after the courses?

People studying fashion designing today are celebrated fashion designers, fashion entrepreneurs, brand owners, leaders, and fashion education educators. Together, they are expanding the horizon of education and career prospects in the field in Nepal and abroad.

You must have heard the names of celebrated fashion designers like Prabal Gurung, Mishu Shrestha, and Sanyukta Shrestha. Who knows you can be next in the line?

As the world is moving forward, there are new scopes being created. Nationally and internationally, you can work as a fashion designer, fashion stylist, fashion merchandiser, fashion consultant, fashion entrepreneur and fashion coordinator.
In a high-profile celebration of resilient leadership in the post-pandemic era, top global leaders and 180 dignitaries from around Asia will come together at Expo 2020 Dubai for the prestigious ABLF Awards on March 1.

The leaders include Ban Ki-moon, the 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka; Shamma Al Mazrui, UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs; Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment; Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, CEO, Emirates Group; Kamal Nath, former Chief Minister, State of Madhya Pradesh, India; and Indian media magnate Aroon Purie.

Held under the patronage of Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Cabinet Member and Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, and in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Economy, the 16th edition of the legacy award series Gala returns as an in-person event after a gap of two years and will be co-hosted by Dubai Cares, a UAE-based global philanthropic organization, under the theme, Resilience Rising: The Great Reset.

Around 20 iconic stalwarts from industry, technology, policy, social enterprise and art will be honoured with the coveted diamond-studded ABLF Trophy in recognition of their success in steering their countries, communities and companies towards stability and growth amidst the turbulence caused by the pandemic.

With the strengthening of UAE-Israel ties in the last two years, the country will garner a strong representation at the ABLF Awards 2022 with the presence and felicitation of Dr Ron Malka, Director-General, Israels Ministry of Economy and Industry, furthering the narrative of the ABLF to foster deeper and more meaningful intra-Asia relations.

Another noteworthy Israeli achiever who will be featured at the event is YouTube Superstar and Founder-CEO of Nas Daily and Nas Academy, Nuseir Yassin.

Some of the other notable attendees include Zayed R Alzayani, Bahrain Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism; Matia Kasaija, Minister of Finance, Government of Uganda; and Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Indian Sustainability Activist and Global Designer.

In line with the theme of resilience, the ABLF Awards Gala will also feature an exclusive High-Level Panel Discussion on the crucial socio-economic narratives that currently prevail in the wake of the pandemic.

Key members of the panel include Ban Ki-Moon, Dr Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chairman of Dubai Cares and Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri along with other influential leaders from industry and government.

The panel will feature a compelling conversation amongst the leaders serving as an elegant prelude to the grand Awards ceremony.

Additionally, the Gala will witness the launch of a unique initiative by the ABLF and Dubai Cares in association with luxury partner Dhamani 1969 for the auction of an exclusive custom-created diamond-studded ABLF Trophy with the entire proceeds to be donated towards Dubai Cares initiatives for education of underserved children around the world.

The ABLF Awards showcases a powerful partner profile with the Aditya Birla Group (a $48 billion global conglomerate headquartered in India), Zand (UAE's first digital bank to provide both retail and corporate banking), the Etisalat Group (Among the worlds leading telecom groups in emerging markets), UNICEF and FICCI (the largest, oldest and apex business organisation in India) and the ABLF Luxury Partner, Dhamani 1969.-- TradeArabia News Service
George and Amal Clooney

Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is being honored as one of Time's 2022 Women of the Year, which has her rubbing shoulders with names like Kacey Musgraves, Kerry Washington, MJ Rodriguez, and Amanda Gorman. The magazine calls the incredible group "extraordinary leaders" looking to make the world a more equitable place for everyone. During her interview, Clooney noted that she was able to do what she does (you know, things like representing Armenia in a case against the Armenian genocide and being on the U.N. Human Rights Committee) because of her support system, which includes husband George Clooney.

Amal and George married back in 2014 and share twins Alexander and Ella. Having her family with her, she explains, is how she balances all the "heavy" work with her other responsibilities.

"Marriage has been wonderful," she said. "I have in my husband a partner who is incredibly inspirational and supportive, and we have a home filled with love and laughter. It is a joy beyond anything I could ever have imagined. I feel so lucky to have found a great love in my life, and to be a mother."

Time Magazine Women of the Year Covers

Courtesy

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Amal noted that she knows people are generally more interested in her marriage and her kids than her humanitarian work, but she also sees that starting to change, little by little.

"Since I can't control it, my approach is just not to dwell on it and just get on with my work and my life and hope that attitudes will catch up," she said. "And I do actually feel like there is a female solidarity that has built up on these issues where other women will sort of call that out in a way that maybe wouldn't have happened five or 10 years ago. So, attitudes are changing."

Earlier this year, the Clooneys were honored with the Elevate Prize Foundation's Catalyst Award for their humanitarian work. Amal explained that the $250,000 prize various causes close to her and George.

"The funding we receive from this award will support our TrialWatch program," she said during her virtual acceptance speech. "Which monitors criminal trials around the world and defends individuals who are unjustly detained, including journalists, women, LGBTQ persons, and minorities."
SYDNEY, March 3 (Reuters) - Atlassian Corp Plc, the Australian-based, U.S.-listed business software maker, said it was pausing sales to Russia and suspending licences to Russian state-owned entities, joining a global trade exodus amid opposition to the Ukraine invasion.

The company led by Australia's second-richest person, Mike Cannon-Brookes, said on its website it was "appalled" by Russia's actions and stood with Ukraine and its people in the fight to keep their freedom and sovereignty.

"In response to Russia's aggression, we are pausing the sale of all new software to Russia," it said in the statement, signed by Cannon-Brookes and co-chief executive Scott Farquhar.

The firm was also suspending Russian state-owned licences as well as those to specific Russian businesses that support the war, it added, whether through cyber warfare, combat, or disinformation.

It did not identify those affected or their number.

The decision puts the $80-billion maker of project management software in the company of tech giants such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Oracle and SAP, which have frozen or curtailed dealings with Russia as condemnation of the invasion.

The Australian company added that it was not terminating existing relationships with small businesses in Russia, as it preferred to focus on businesses with "power and influence".

It said it did not host services or have employees in Ukraine or Russia, though its Ukraine contractors would be cut off from its internal systems to protect customer data.

The company has changed its network to keep customer data out of the affected regions, and stepped up security monitoring for customers who might face cyber attacks because of links to Ukraine, it added. (Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
SYDNEY, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Boutique investment and advisory firm Magnolia Capital has released its CY 2021 data that confirms its Magnolia Capital Emerging Companies Microcap Fund 1 ("the Fund") was the highest-performing microcap fund in Australia in the 12 months leading to December 2021, when compared to other microcap funds listed on Morningstar.

Magnolia Capital MD, CIO & Founder Mitchell Atkins

The extremely high performance was driven by a dozen investments that returned significantly above the last 12 month returns, including the investment made in Telix Pharmaceuticals, Nimy Resources Ltd, Forrestania Resources Limited, Pancontinental Oil & Gas NL, and Prospa Group Ltd.

The Fund has so far committed $50 million and has a target final close of $80 million, which Magnolia expects to achieve in the coming months.

Uncharacteristically for an Australian actively managed fund, however, Magnolia has contributed 70 per cent of the funds under management (FUM) from its own balance sheet to date.

Magnolia will also remain the majority investor moving forward, with all profits from the Fund recycled to scale the FUM.

Magnolia has successfully been providing private real estate finance and other services to ultra-high net worth individuals since 2015, but is now prioritising equities and other alternative funds management as the core of its business.

Magnolia charges extremely competitive management fees for an actively managed fund of 1 per cent per annum, plus 19.5 per cent carried interest over a 5 per cent hurdle.

Managing Director, Founder, and CIO Mitchell Atkins believes Magnolia's secret sauce lies in its strong alignment to investors, deep relationships, proprietary deal flow, a highly active approach to asset management, and its high-performing and uncharacteristically young investment team.

Mitchell Atkins, MD, CIO & Founder of Magnolia Capital, said: "We are extremely proud of the performance of our microcap fund, and the 20+ team at Magnolia Capital that has made this possible.

Story continues

"Magnolia Capital started from humble beginnings, representing the investment interests of a small number of ultra-high net worth individuals. But we are now diversifying our investor base to accept investment from a wider range of sophisticated and institutional investors."

"We put our own money where our mouth is, backing each of our funds with a majority contribution from our balance sheet. Our management fees purely cover the cost of building value for our investors and are a reflection of our total and complete alignment on the above-market performance and returns we generate."

The Fund was launched on 3 November 2020, however Magnolia started successfully trading the microcap strategy from its own balance sheet from May 2019.

Magnolia Capital is a boutique funds management and advisory group with nearly $1 billion in funds under advice, operating across Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Its Australian micro-cap fund was the top performer in its category in 2021. Magnolia was founded in 2015 and built its reputation as a specialist property and alternatives investor for family office and ultra-high net worth clients, but has since diversified and now also counts institutional investors as investors.

SOURCE Magnolia Capital
HONG KONG, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- From personalized vaccines to lab-grown organs and AI-powered medical devices, the future of medicine is happening right now in labs across the world. This month on CNN's 'Vital Signs', Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks to the doctors and scientists working on ground-breaking technologies that could advance the world of medicine.

CNNs Vital Signs explores the future of medicine

mRNA technology has been thrust into the spotlight thanks to its use in the development of Covid-19 vaccines. Dr. Gupta sits down for a virtual chat with the co-founders of BioNTech and the minds behind the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Ozlem Tureci and Ugur Sahin. They tell us how their early research paved the way for the Covid-19 vaccine and why mRNA could be a solution to treat cancer in the future, with a vaccine that could generate a tumor-specific immune response.

Two current human clinical trials for those vaccines focus on some of the hardest cancers to beat: colorectal and pancreatic. CNN hears from Dr. Vinod Balachandran, who is leading BioNTech's phase one pancreatic cancer trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Dr. Balachandran explains the genesis of the project in research on long-term cancer survivors, which revealed that the body's own immune system could be utilized to develop personalized mRNA vaccines. He hopes that the recently concluded trial will provide clues on how mRNA technology could be used to fight cancer more broadly.

CNN then visits the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) in the U.S. to learn about their work in 3D bio-printing tissues and organs using a patient's own cells. Dr. Anthony Atala, Director of WFIRM, started his work in the field of regenerative medicine over 30 years ago, and his team was the first in the world to engineer a lab-grown bladder and successfully implant it into a patient. Today, his team engineers over 40 types of tissues and organs, and their regenerative technology is also used to test drugs and create personalized medicine.

Story continues

Finally, CNN travels to Japan, where a group of cancer survivors are getting their voices back thanks to an AI-powered medical device. Patients who have had surgery to remove part or all of the larynx to treat their cancers are often left unable to speak. Traditional external speech aids are one option for voice-restoration, but they can sound unnatural and are difficult to use. To combat this, Masaki Takeuchi is developing the Syrinx  a hands-free, wearable device for people who have lost their voice. Engineered with the help of graduate students at the University of Tokyo, the technology uses a patient's former voice recordings and runs them through a coding program, producing a sound similar to their old voice, allowing users to speak again.

Vital Signs  The Future of Medicine trailer: https://bit.ly/340bZZo

Vital Signs  The Future of Medicine images: https://bit.ly/3hJgqLH

Vital Signs microsite: https://cnn.it/34AHmXX

Airtimes for 30-minute special:

Saturday, 5th March at 2:30pm and 7pm HKT

Sunday, 6th March at 2pm HKT

Monday, 7th March at 12pm HKT

About CNN International

CNN's portfolio of news and information services is available in seven different languages across all major TV, digital and mobile platforms, reaching more than 475 million households around the globe. CNN International is the number one international TV news channel according to all major media surveys across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Asia Pacific region, and Latin America and has a US presence that includes CNNgo. CNN Digital is a leading network for online news, mobile news and social media. CNN is at the forefront of digital innovation and continues to invest heavily in expanding its digital global footprint, with a suite of award-winning digital properties and a range of strategic content partnerships, commercialised through a strong data-driven understanding of audience behaviours. CNN has won multiple prestigious awards around the world for its journalism. Around 1,000 hours of long-form series, documentaries and specials are produced every year by CNNI's non-news programming division. CNN has 36 editorial offices and more than 1,100 affiliates worldwide through CNN Newsource. CNN International is a WarnerMedia company.

SOURCE CNN International
Fortune Business Insights

Companies covered in the cold chain market are Agro Merchants Group LLC, Americold Logistics LLC., Burris Logistics Inc., Swire Group, Al Rai Logistica K.S.C., Swire Cold Storage, Cold Chain Technologies, Inc., VersaCold Logistics Services, Nichirei Corporation, and Lineage Logistics and more players profiled.

Pune, India, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global cold chain market size is expected to grow significantly because of the rising adoption of technologically advanced refrigeration and storage techniques by retailers and storage depots.

Cold Chain is a thermal packaging and refrigeration system that protects thermally susceptible goods during travel. It is extensively used by the food & beverage sector to safely transport products across several places while preserving the product's quality. It is used to transport biopharmaceutical drugs across several regions globally. A cold chain system is also used to transport agricultural produce across a country or globally to conserve the freshness and vitamins of fruits and vegetables. Adoption of technologically advanced cold chain methods is likely to propel the product's demand.

The incorporation of several technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) technology, real-time data tracking, and cloud platforms are likely to facilitate market growth. For example, companies such as Godamwale are utilizing artificial technology (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing, and deep learning technologies to simplify their manufacturing process. Hence this factor can foster market growth in the upcoming years.

Highlights of this Research:

This research report offers an analysis of the latest market trends and the top segments.

It conducts a comprehensive analysis of the driving and restraining factors and the impact of COVID-19 on the global market.

The research report examines the regional developments and the strategies devised by the market's key players.

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Segments



Based on technology, the market is divided into vapor compression, programmable logic controller, blast freezing, and others. By type, it is bifurcated into refrigerated storage and transport. On the basis of application, it is categorized into processed food, bakery & confectionery, dairy & frozen food, meat & salad, and fruit & vegetables. Geographically, it is clubbed into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East & Africa.

Drivers and Restraints

Robust Demand for Biodegradable Food Products to Facilitate Market Growth

The cold chain system's demand is increasing rapidly because of the rising trade activities and strong demand for biodegradable food products such as vegetables, fruits, milk, poultry products, fish, red meats, and others. The governments are investing heavily in improving cold chain facilities and strengthening their food safety policies. For example, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has incorporated cold chain schemes to provide excellent products to consumers. This scheme has been under effect since 2008. There are corporations, companies, partnership/proprietorship firms under the scheme guidelines. In addition, the growth of international trade has led to the demand for vegetables, fruits, and other imported food items from other regions or countries. Thus, this factor can drive the cold chain market growth.

However, the negative impacts on the environment, such as greenhouse gas emissions, can hamper market growth.

List of Key Players Profiled in the Cold Chain Market Report

Argo Merchants Group LLC

Americold Logistics LLC.

Burris Logistics Inc.

Swire Group

Al Rai Logistica K.S.C.

Swire Cold Storage

Cold Chain Technologies, Inc.

VersaCold Logistics Services

Nichirei Corporation

Lineage Logistics

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Regional Insights

Rising Consumer Preference to Consume Fresh Food Products to Fuel Growth in North America

North America is projected to dominate the cold chain market share due to the increasing consumer preference to consume fresh food products. As per research conducted in the region, the United State's warehouse capacity reached 4.6% due to the reliance on cold chain systems for food & beverage distribution and storage.

In Asia Pacific, the warehouse management tool's adoption is expected to boost the product demand. In developing countries such as India and China, the prevalence of the agricultural sector is likely to spur opportunities for the export and import of fresh products. Thus, this factor can propel market growth.

Competitive Landscape

Prominent Companies to Acquire Crucial Players to Enhance their Market Position

The prominent companies operating in the market acquire certain key players to enhance their market position. For example, Lineage Logistics Holdings LLC successfully acquired Yearsley Group Limited in November 2018 to enhance its market position in the US and improve its global reach. Furthermore, companies' launch of innovative products and security systems such as artificial technology and machine learning technologies can attract consumer attention. Hence this factor can enhance the company's brand image.

Industry Development

June 2021: Dr. Reddy tied up with Rockwell to store its vaccines. Rockwell will supply over 500 freezers to Dr. Reddy for preserving the sputnik V vaccine. This partnership can enhance Dr. Reddy's brand image as a seller of high-quality vaccines.

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By Byron Kaye

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG joined creditors of Greensill Capital by filing lawsuits in Australia seeking compensation from the country's biggest insurer over the supply chain financier's collapse, court filings showed.

Local media put the total claims at A$300 million ($219 million).

Insurance Australia Group Ltd (IAG) was previously named as potentially exposed to the 2021 failure of Greensill since its former unit BCC Trade Credit sold policies to Greensill, but said at the time it had no liability because it sold its share of the unit two years earlier.

But lawsuits have been mounting against the Australian company, which is best known at home for selling property and car insurance.

Greensill's administrator and U.S. private lender White Oak Global Advisors, which is working with Greensill client GFG Alliance, each filed suit against IAG in late 2021, court filings show.

Credit Suisse then filed two lawsuits against IAG last month, filings show. All four lawsuits were joined together and had their first administrative hearing in the Federal Court on Thursday, court filings showed.

The Australian Financial Review reported that the total claimed by the companies was nearly A$300 million, about half of which was by White Oak. White Oak did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comment.

Credit Suisse was not immediately available for comment. Switzerland's second-largest bank played a pivotal role in Greensill's collapse by suspending $10 billion of supply chain funds soon before Greensill filed for insolvency.

An IAG spokesperson said the company continued to believe it was not liable for BCC policies, that it "anticipated potential litigation by the administrators of Greensill or other claimants" and would defend the lawsuits.

($1 = 1.3721 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Kim Coghill)
CHANGSHA, China, March 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The highly anticipated documentary CHINA, returning for a second season showcasing East Asian aesthetics and continuing the exploration of China's legacy across the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, premiered globally on Mango TV and Hunan TV on February 28, 2022.

The documentary's cinematography draws inspiration from Chinese freehand brushwork and uses symmetrical images to express the beauty of harmony and generate a pure and sublime quality. With image setting and color composition placing a huge emphasis on Eastern aesthetic principles, each frame is transformed into a vivid ink wash painting unfurled before the audience.

Stories are also not unfolded through mere acting, but also symbolic visual language coupled with minimalist image composition to convey contextual information. The documentary is also shot in High-Dynamic Range (HDR) to deliver a fully immersive cinematic experience for its global audiences.

Showing Eastern aesthetic at its finest, the storytelling also takes inspiration from the essence of the Chinese traditional visual arts which are characterized by vivid expressions and bold outlines, thus the beauty is expressed by capturing the inner spirit and force through poetic language as opposed to a linear description. For example, in a scene of the documentary, Du Fu, one of the most revered poets in Chinese history, uses Qinqiang Opera to express his inner monologue whiling wielding a brush pen in the air to write poems.

Slow-motion is adopted throughout the documentary to deliver a greater sense of serenity and intimacy, creating a semi-realistic and dreamy condition as the audience savors the grace of Chinese culture. The result is a documentary that is elegant without losing gravitas, interesting without losing emotional touch, easy-to-understand without losing profundity.

About CHINA documentary

Co-produced by Mango TV, Hunan TV and Beijing Bojing Culture, the historical documentary CHINA Season 2 explores China's legacy from the Tianbao era in the Tang Dynasty, the turmoil of the Five Dynasties and the national unification of the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty, to the 1911 Revolution, showcasing Eastern aesthetics with the latest cinematic technology.

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Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/documentary-china-returns-for-season-2-showcasing-chinese-aesthetics-with-eastern-filmology-301493952.html

SOURCE Mango TV
Ehave

Agreement with Heally adds doctors, licensed psychotherapists and registered nurses to the KetaDASH platform



With the opening of KetaDASH, Ehave builds momentum for the psychedelic renaissance in the mental health field

Both the KetaDASH patient and nurse connect to a psychotherapist via Heallys telehealth portal for each treatment session

MIAMI, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ehave, Inc. (OTC Pink: EHVVF) (the Company), a leading healthcare services and technology company, announced today it will partner with Heally, the all-in-one platform and electronic medical record (EMR)/telehealth solution for alternative medicine providers, to provide Licensed Psychotherapists And Registered Nurses to its KetaDASH patients. This mobile solution departs from in-person intravenous treatment, as well as unsupervised telehealth models.

Heally created a platform designed to help alternative medicine clinics address the needs of patients regardless of their location. The platform provides a telehealth and EMR software solution, while concurrently managing lead generation, patient engagement and access to an ecosystem of hundreds of thousands of patients and providers. Ketamine provides an alternative medicine option for those with treatment-resistant depression, post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), anxiety, and other mental health conditions. Through the use of Heallys platform, a registered nurse arrives at the patients preferred location  be it home, office, or hotel  and safely administers a sublingual ketamine lozenge. Together, the patient and nurse, connect to a psychotherapist via Heallys telehealth portal to begin each treatment session.

Heally is the perfect platform to help expand the reach of alternative medicine clinics specifically in the psychedelic treatment space, said Heally CEO Greg Rovner. Our software solutions provide all the necessary tools alternative medicine clinics need to manage their practice and treat patients online.

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Ehave's KetaDASH service provides patients with an in-home setting that offers a space for healing, growth and transformation through psychedelic therapies. Mental health continues to be a national health crisis as rates of anxiety, depression and PTSD keep climbing. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the quality of care, access to healthcare providers, and driven a greater demand for mental health professionals than ever before. The World Health Organization says depression is one of the leading causes of disability. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. People with severe mental health conditions die prematurely  as much as two decades early  due to preventable physical conditions. More than 47 million American workers quit their jobs in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 84% of employees reported at least one workplace factor that negatively impacted their mental health, while 50% of employees claimed to leave their jobs for their mental health in 2021.

Ben Kaplan, CEO of Ehave, said, "KetaDASH provides us with the transformative power of our psychedelic-assisted therapy protocols for people struggling with their mental health. KetaDASH is a managed service organization focused on the psychedelic sector that benefits physicians by helping them streamline their practice operations, create new revenue opportunities, and achieve better patient outcomes. Mr. Kaplan continued, "As we continue to grow into new markets, the potential to positively change peoples lives is endless. Access to Heally's platform along with its provider network of licensed doctors, psychotherapists, and registered nurses will allow us to expand to those new markets quicker, while offering alternative treatment to those who need it."

About Ehave, Inc.

Ehave is a leading healthcare services and technology company, focused on progressing psychedelics-to-Therapeutics by engineering novel compounds and new treatment protocols for treating brain health. Together with our network of scientists and mental health professionals, we are on a mission to create safe and effective therapeutics for patients to address a multitude of mental health issues, leveraging clinical data to help us achieve optimal patient outcomes. Ehaves operations span across the entire USA, Canada, Jamaica, and Australia. Additional information on Ehave can be found on the Companys website at: www.ehave.com

About Heally

Heally is the only all-in-one platform and EMR/telehealth solution for alternative medicine clinics. Heally brings alternative medicine clinics online and connects patients to licensed physicians in-office or online via telehealth, leveraging HIPAA-compliant encrypted live video and messaging. https://getheally.com

Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may be preceded by the words intends, may, will, plans, expects, anticipates, projects, predicts, estimates, aims, believes, hopes, potential or similar words. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, and cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: (i) the initiation, timing, progress and results of the Companys research, manufacturing and other development efforts; (ii) the Companys ability to advance its products to successfully complete development and commercialization; (iii) the manufacturing, development, commercialization, and market acceptance of the Companys products; (iv) the lack of sufficient funding to finance the product development and business operations; (v) competitive companies and technologies within the Companys industry and introduction of competing products; (vi) the Companys ability to establish and maintain corporate collaborations; (vii) loss of key management personnel; (viii) the scope of protection the Company is able to establish and maintain for intellectual property rights covering its products and its ability to operate its business without infringing the intellectual property rights of others; (ix) potential failure to comply with applicable health information privacy and security laws and other state and federal privacy and security laws; and (x) the difficulty of predicting actions of the USA FDA and its regulations. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any written or oral forward-looking statement unless required by law. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is contained under the heading "Risk Factors" in Ehave, Inc.s Registration Statement on Form F-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 24, 2015, as amended, which is available on the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gov.

For Media and Investor Relations, please contact :

David L. Kugelman

(866) 692-6847 Toll Free - U.S. & Canada

(404) 281-8556 Mobile and WhatsApp

Email: Ir@Ehave.com

Skype: kugsusa

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkugelman




Unveiling one of the largest and most significant urban rezoning developments to accommodate Japan's ongoing expansion in e-commerce driven New Economy real estate

TOKYO and HONG KONG, March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ESR Cayman Limited ("ESR" or the "Company", together with its subsidiaries as the "Group"; SEHK Stock Code: 1821), APAC's largest real asset manager powered by the New Economy, announced its latest multi-phase logistics development in Greater Osaka, building ESR Kawanishi Distribution Centre ("ESR Kawanishi DC") on a 505,647 sqm (152,958 tsubo) prime site in Japan's Kawanishi City to further expand its strategic network of institutional-grade New Economy real estate in the metropolitan area.

(PRNewsfoto/ESR Cayman Limited)

ESR Kawanishi DC is a two-phase development located in the eastern Hyogo Prefecture of Kawanishi City, sitting at the core of the Greater Osaka Inland logistics market. Phase 1 will consist of two six-storey multi-tenant facilities with GFA of 99,051 sqm (29,963 tsubo) and 98,746 sqm (29,871 tsubo), respectively. The facilities, which are designed to attain CASBEE A rating and the highest standards of building specifications, will feature a host of sustainability and energy-saving elements to minimise environmental footprints. Phase 1 is expected to break ground in July 2023 and scheduled for completion in December 2024, while the two buildings of Phase 2 will commence construction from 2025 onwards.

Stuart Gibson, Co-founder and Co-CEO of ESR, said: "Considering the scale, complexity and location of the development, ESR Kawanishi DC represents one of the largest and most significant urban rezoning projects in recent years, strategically repurposing a prime residential site for logistics and industrial use. This is an extensive master plan that will help fulfil the growing demand for large-scale, cutting-edge logistics space in Greater Osaka, while enabling the area to reinforce its leading position as a global logistics hub. This development also helps unleash the full potential value of the site and benefit the long-term development of the area by promoting job opportunities, taxable income and thereby economic growth."

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The logistics sector in Greater Osaka continues to demonstrate its strength, propelled by key forces including the continued rise of e-commerce, the automation of logistics operations and transformation of the supply chain ecosystem. In the second half of 2021, the Greater Osaka area recorded the lowest vacancy since 2017 at mid-1.0% and average rent rose by 0.8% year-on-year, led by rent growth in Osaka Inland by 2.3% year-on-year[1].

ESR has cemented its position as a clear leader in this highly strategic market of Greater Osaka. The Group's award-winning 388,570 sqm ESR Amagasaki Distribution Centre, which is primely situated in the Greater Osaka Metropolitan area, boasts a GAV in excess of US$1.0 billion and is now 98% leased to a diversified rent roll of 16 tenants including leading e-commerce companies since its completion in June 2020. This landmark facility represented one of the seed assets of the ESR Japan Income Fund which completed its first close in October 2021 and was endowed with US$750 million of initial equity commitments from some of the world's most prominent institutional investors.

A leader and pioneer in Japan's New Economy real estate, ESR has an unrivalled track record in urban planning and rezoning projects. The Group has also developed some of the most advanced facilities which set new benchmarks for modern logistics infrastructure while protecting and celebrating the heritage of the local communities and surrounding environment.

This rezoning project in Kawanishi City is the latest in a long line of change of land use developments which ESR has undertaken over the past decade. ESR places great emphasis on urban planning and has created a dedicated team that specialises in land rezoning.

"Rezoning takes a long time and requires a very detailed understanding of every step of the lengthy process. In addition, as the planning laws may differ from prefecture to prefecture, it is essential to engage early with the authorities at local and national level," said Mr. Gibson. Local community engagement is also a vital part of the process. This Kawanishi parcel has been looked at by many developers over the past 20 years, however the local community engagement aspect was never compelling enough to get local community and local economy buy-in. ESR will ensure that local subcontractors, suppliers, plant operators and job vacancies are filled with workers and companies from the nearby communities. Some previous examples of rezoning and community engagement are highlighted below.

ESR dedicated years of efforts collaborating with the Tokyo University of Science and the office of Mayor of Kuki to transform the former university campus into a 151,501 sqm modern facility, ESR Kuki Distribution Centre. Now a major distribution centre supporting Greater Tokyo's robust logistics needs, the facility has created 1,500 full time jobs for the local community. Moreover, part of the land was donated to Kuki City for community purposes.

Preservation of community and environmental heritage is instrumental in all ESR developments. At Phases 1 & 2 of the 800,000 sqm master-planned ESR Yokohama Sachiura Logistics Park, the Group brought a neglected urban forest back to life to protect the natural habitat for a diverse mix of flora and fauna, while an old gantry crane will be retained and will be the centrepiece as an architectural icon of the facility and the community.

Mr. Gibson added: "Sustainability, technology and innovation are shaping the future of New Economy real estate. We make the best use of our experiences and expertise to go beyond the provision of prime facilities for not only our customers and the logistics market but also the local communities in which we operate. Through the creation and operation of best-in-class properties like ESR Kawanishi DC and our other landmark developments in Yokohama Sachiura, Kuki, Fujiidera, Amagasaki, to name a few, we are proud to be able to make meaningful contribution and positive impact for the people and communities that we connect with."

ESR has emerged as APAC's largest real asset manager powered by the New Economy and the third largest listed real estate investment manager globally with a gross AUM of US$140 billion[2] following its recent acquisition of ARA Asset Management. As the leading New Economy real estate platform, which tops the APAC region with an AUM of US$59 billion[3], ESR continues to enhance its offerings spanning real estate development products and investment solutions with robust growth potential.

[1] Source: Japan Logistics Marketbeat Report H2 2021 by Cushman & Wakefield [2] Based on management estimates for the Group (including the AUM of associates  Cromwell and Kenedix) as of 31 December 2021 [3] Based on management estimates for the Group as of 31 December 2021

About ESR

ESR is APAC's largest real asset manager powered by the New Economy and the third largest listed real estate investment manager globally. With US$140 billion in gross assets under management (AUM), our fully integrated development and investment management platform extends across key APAC markets, including China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, India, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, representing over 95% of GDP in APAC, and also includes an expanding presence in Europe and the U.S. We provide a diverse range of real asset investment solutions and New Economy real estate development opportunities across our private funds business, which allow capital partners and customers to capitalise on the most significant secular trends in APAC. With 14 listed REITs managed by the Group and its associates, ESR is the largest sponsor and manager of REITs in APAC with a total AUM of US$45 billion. Our purpose  Space and Investment Solutions for a Sustainable Future  drives us to manage sustainably and impactfully and we consider the environment and the communities in which we operate as key stakeholders of our business. Listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, ESR is a constituent of the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (Large Cap), Hang Seng Composite Index and MSCI Hong Kong Index. More information is available at www.esr.com.

CONTACTS

Investors Chang Rui Hua Group Head of Capital Markets and Investor Relations - Managing Director +852 2376 9623 rh.chang@esr.com Media Antonia Au Group Head of Corporate Communications - Executive Director +852 2376 9617 antonia.au@esr.com

SOURCE ESR Cayman Limited
By Samuel Shen and Andrew Galbraith

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The Moscow branch of a Chinese state bank has seen a surge in enquiries from Russian firms wanting to open new accounts, a person familiar with the matter said, as the country's businesses struggle with international sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine.

"Over the past few days, 200-300 companies have approached us, wanting to open new accounts," the person, who works at the Moscow branch of a Chinese state bank and has direct knowledge of its operations, told Reuters.

He declined to be named or have his bank identified as he is not authorised to speak with media.

It was not clear how widespread Russian demand for new accounts at Chinese banks was, but the banker source told Reuters many of the companies seeking new accounts do business with China and that he expected yuan transactions by such firms to increase.

Western governments are shutting off Russia's economy from the global financial system, pushing international companies to halt sales, cut ties and dump tens of billions of dollars' worth of investments.

China has repeatedly voiced opposition to the sanctions, calling them ineffective and insisting it will maintain normal economic and trade exchanges with Russia.

A handful of Chinese state banks operate in Moscow, including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

China Construction Bank declined to comment. The other three Chinese state banks did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.

A Chinese businessman with long-term ties with Russia, who also did not want to be identified, said several Russian companies he works with are now planning to open yuan accounts.

"It's pretty simple logic. If you cannot use U.S. dollars, or euros, and U.S. and Europe stop selling you many products, you have no other options but to turn to China. The trend is inevitable," the source told Reuters.

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As a growing number of Western companies abandon Russia, the willingness of emerging market giants such as China to sustain business relations with Moscow highlights a deep rift over Europe's biggest crisis since the World War Two. That trend could threaten to chip away the dominance of the U.S. dollar in global trade.

FESCO Transportation Group, a major Russian transport and logistics company, said this week it will accept Chinese yuan from customers, after some Russian banks were kicked out of the global financial messaging system SWIFT.

"It's natural for Russian companies to be willing to accept yuan," said Shen Muhui, head of a trade body that promotes links between Russia and China.

But small Chinese exporters are suffering from a tumble in the rouble and many are suspending deliveries to avoid potential losses, he said.

The Russian currency dived to a record low of more than 17 rouble to the yuan on Wednesday, having lost nearly 40% of its value against the Chinese unit over the past week.

"Companies will be switching to yuan-rouble business but in any case things will become two, three or four times more expensive for Russians because the exchange rate between the yuan and rouble is also changing," said Konstantin Popov, a Russian entrepreneur in Shanghai.

Shen said Russian demand for Chinese goods will nevertheless grow in the long term. "The key is to solve trade settlement issues" in the face of sanctions, he said.

(Reporting by Samuel Shen and Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Sam Holmes)
Marriott International has signed an agreement with Venue International to debut Moxy Hotels in Turkey.

Slated to open in 2024, the 168-room Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu will be located in the heart of the city within walking distance from Taksim Square  one of the most renowned tourist destinations in the area.

We are excited to work with Venue International to debut the Moxy brand in Turkey, said Begum Kaya Sanver, Director Development, Turkey, Marriott International. Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu will serve as a playful lifestyle hotel bringing a bold, spirited experience to the vibrant area of Beyoglu.

Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu is expected to offer 168 stylish and cozy, yet smart bedrooms that have been designed to maximise every inch for todays young-at-heart travellers. The hotel is set to feature playful Moxy spaces from the energetic lobby where guests are met by the welcoming crew, to its lively Living Room space ideal for day to night gatherings. In addition to its buzzing public spaces aimed to be the center of activity, Design plans for Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu include an industrial chic look, a fun grab-and-go concept, bold programming with local flavor, and communal tables offering plenty of opportunities to plug and play.

Kaan Namlc, Chairman of the Board, Venue International, said: We are excited to work with Marriott International to bring the first Moxy Hotel to Turkey. We have always believed in the potential of Moxy Hotels in this market but were keen to wait to introduce it in the right location. Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu will infuse an energetic urban vibe to the bohemian and dynamic character of the Beyoglu area. The hotel will feature a unique blend of Afrikahans historic relevance and Moxys playful and stylish experience which is targeted at the next generation of travellers. I truly believe Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu will become one of the most vibrant venues in the city.

Moxy Istanbul Beyoglu is slated to open following a complete restoration of the historical Afrikahan building that was built in 1905 during the era of Ottoman Empire Abdulhamid II, and was one of the three developments in Istanbul to represent the continents conquered by the Ottoman Empire. It was designed by the German architect August Jasmund who also designed the famous Sirkeci Railway Station, the eastern terminus of the world-famous Orient Express. Afrikahan was built as a residential building and hosted retail shops on the ground floor.

Marriott Internationals portfolio in Turkey currently features more than 35 hotels and over 6,000 rooms across 18 of its brands, each serving differentiated experiences across traveler segments.  TradeArabia News Service
By Huw Jones and Tommy Wilkes

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will ban Russian companies from London's multi-billion dollar aviation and space insurance market, the latest restrictions Western allies are imposing to isolate Russia from international financial markets.

Here is a rundown of how Western sanctions already announced impact banks and investors:

WHAT HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED SO FAR?

Britain's finance ministry will legislate to prohibit UK-based insurance and reinsurance providers, such as those who use the Lloyd's of London market, from undertaking transactions linked to a Russian entity or for use in Russia.

Separately, the London Stock Exchange said it had suspended nearly 30 listings in Russian companies as sanctions begin to bite.

The United States, Britain, Europe and Canada have agreed to remove some Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments messaging system, potentially damaging Russia as well as its trading partners.

The EU has named the seven banks it will excluding from SWIFT on March 12: Russia's second-largest bank VTB, along with Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Bank Rossiya, Sovcombank and VEB.

Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, and Gazprombankhave not been included in the list because they are the mainchannels for payments for Russian oil and gas, which EUcountries are still buying. The two banks are subject to othermeasures, an EU official said.

EU leaders previously agreed sanctions on Moscow thatthey said targeted 70% of the Russian banking market.

The bloc also imposed a ban on issuing bonds, shares orloans in the EU for refinancing Alfa Bank and Bank Otkritie,after freezing assets at Rossiya Bank, Promsvyazbank and VEBearlier last week.

Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank do not face the EU assetfreeze.

Refinancing in the EU of Russian state-owned enterprises isalso forbidden, with the exception of some utilities. Securitiessettlement houses in the EU are barred from serving Russiancounterparties, with Euroclear and Clearstream saying they willnot accept transactions in roubles.

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The U.S. Treasury Department last week said it was targetingthe "core infrastructure" of Russia's financial system andsanctioning Sberbank and VTB. Also on the U.S. sanctions listare Otkritie, Sovcombank and Novikombank and some seniorexecutives at state-owned banks.

U.S. banks must sever their correspondent banking ties withRussia's largest lender, Sberbank, within 30 days. These linksallow banks to make payments between one another and move moneyaround the world.

Washington officials also wielded the government's mostpowerful sanctioning tool, adding VTB, Otkritie, Novikombank andSovcombank to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. Themove effectively kicks the banks out of the U.S. financialsystem, bans their trade with Americans and freezes their U.S.assets.

The U.S. sanctions also target two Belarusian state-ownedbanks - Belinvestbank and Bank Dabrabyt - over the country'ssupport for Moscow's attack.

Britain last week said it would impose anasset freeze on all major Russian banks, including VTB, and stopmajor Russian companies from raising finance in the country.

WHAT NEXT?

Russia's large banks are deeply integrated into the globalfinancial system, and sanctions on the biggest institutions arealready being felt far beyond its borders -- the European arm ofSberbank has been forced to close after a run on the bank.

The U.S. Treasury said its sanctions would disrupt billionsof dollars worth of daily foreign exchange transactionsconducted by Russian financial institutions. Overall, theseinstitutions conduct about $46 billion worth of forextransactions, 80% of which are in dollars.

These sanctions target nearly 80% of all banking assets inRussia.

For the EU, the next shoe to drop would be extending its bans to all Russian banks, including those that are heavily involved in energy-related transactions.

The consequences of that are complex, however, especiallyfor Russia's trading partners. There are concerns about howpayments for Russian energy imports would be made and whetherforeign creditors would get paid.

Analysts have said that while Russian institutions arebetter able to cope with sanctions than eight years earlierafter Russia annexed Crimea, their scale and thecoordination of current measures will hit hard.

Shares in Sberbank and VTB tumbled in Moscow before Russianauthorities halted trading to prevent capital outflows.Sberbank's depositary receipts in London fell morethan 90% on Wednesday.

Sberbank has closed most of its European operations and Reuters reported that regulators were preparing for the possible closure of VTB's European arm.

Sberbank has previously said that it was prepared for anydevelopments. VTB said last week it had prepared for the mostsevere scenario.

The Russian embassy in the United States has not replied torequests for comment.

WHICH FOREIGN BANKS ARE MOST EXPOSED?

Many foreign banks have significantly reduced their exposureto Russia since 2014 but several Western lenders have beeninvolved in deals and have other relationships.

Shares of banks with significant operations in Russia suchas Austria's Raiffeisen Bank International andFrance's Societe Generale have fallen sharply.

SocGen, which has a $20 billion exposure to Russia, warned of the possibility that Russia could strip the bank of its local operations.

Raiffeisen is looking into leaving Russia, two people withknowledge of the matter told Reuters this week. An RBIspokesperson said it had no plans to leave Russia.

Italian and French banks each had outstanding claims of some$25 billion on Russia in the third quarter of 2021, based onBank of International Settlement figures.

Austrian banks had $17.5 billion. That compares with $14.7billion for the United States.

Graphic: Bank exposures to Russia: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/myvmnxmabpr/banks%20russia.PNG

(Additional reporting by Tom Sims in Frankfurt, Iain Withersand Karin Strohecker in London, Michelle Price in Washington andJohn McCrank, Megan Davies and Paritosh Bansal in New York. Editing by Jane Merriman)
COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 03, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Express, Inc. (NYSE: EXPR), a leading fashion apparel retailer, today announced that the Company will participate in the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference on Thursday, March 10, 2022, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Tim Baxter, Chief Executive Officer, and Matt Moellering, President, Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer, will participate in a fireside chat that will be webcast live and available for replay at www.express.com/investor.

About Express, Inc.:

Grounded in versatility and powered by a styling community, Express is a modern, multichannel apparel and accessories brand whose purpose is to Create Confidence & Inspire Self-Expression. Launched in 1980 with the idea that style, quality and value should all be found in one place, Express has been a part of some of the most important and culture-defining fashion trends. The Express Edit design philosophy ensures that the brand is always of the now so people can get dressed for every day and any occasion knowing that Express can help them look the way they want to look and feel the way they want to feel.

The Company operates over 550 retail and outlet stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, the express.com online store and the Express mobile app. Express, Inc. is comprised of the brands Express and UpWest, and is traded on the NYSE under the symbol EXPR. For more information, please visit www.express.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220302005966/en/

Contacts

Investor Contact

Greg Johnson

gjohnson@express.com

614-474-4890
By Christian Akorlie and Cooper Inveen

ACCRA, March 3 (Reuters) - The fund responsible for managing Ghana's mining royalties plans to invest up to $60 million this year in companies both within and outside the gold-producing West African nation, its chief executive told Reuters.

The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) bought about $20 million worth of shares last week in the Toronto- and Frankfurt-listed Asante Gold Corporation, which operates Ghana's Bibiani Gold Mine.

Ghana, which is Africa's top gold producer, now holds about 3.5% of Asante's total equity. It was MIIF's first major buy since a 2019 parliamentary vote entrusted it with managing and investing the entirety of the country's mining royalties.

Edward Koranteng, the fund's chief executive, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that the Asante purchase was only the first step in a wider push for positions in high-yielding mines in Ghana and abroad.

"We're looking to cover every class of mineral other than bauxite, which the government is working on in a different way," he said. "We want to go into an accelerated program where we have assets of over $500 million by 2025."

MIIF has a war chest of $200 million with which it plans to expand its portfolio, Koranteng said.

By investing in firms with high growth potential and reviewing the strategies of collecting royalties from smaller firms, Koranteng said MIIF hoped to "widen (Ghana's) royalty net" and keep the fund growing.

This year, the fund has particular interest in industrial salt companies, which Koranteng says could become major suppliers to the region's numerous gas and oil wells.

Starting in July, MIIF also plans to invest in about 400 small-scale gold mining outfits, in hopes of growing them into profitable mid-sized firms.

"We believe in adding value to these sectors by formalising them," Koranteng said. "That way Ghana gains, and we make our money as well." (Reporting by Christian Akorlie and Cooper Inveen; Editing by Bate Felix and Clarence Fernandez)
Company Logo

Global Data Center Switch Market

Global Data Center Switch Market

Dublin, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Data Center Switch Market (2021-2026) by Type, Technology Bandwidth, End User, Geography, Competitive Analysis and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The Global Data Center Switch Market is estimated to be USD 15.2 Bn in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 19.9 Bn by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 5.6%.



Market Dynamics

Advancement in cloud computing, edge computing, government regulations regarding localization of data centers, and increasing demand for data is significant development assisting the data center switch market. The rise of artificial intelligence, virtual reality systems, and 5G networks has boosted the number of data centers, propelling the data center switch market forward.

Furthermore, technological advancements in various devices, such as smartphones and smart TVs, are driving demand for advanced connection and better networking solutions. An increase in internet multimedia content and web applications is anticipated to further fuel the market growth. Some variables, such as the availability of virtual switches, may impact market growth.



The increasing demand for faster speeds, bandwidth, and lower latency is expected to generate untapped opportunities for market participants.



Market Segmentation

The Global Data Center Switch Market is segmented further based on Type, Technology Bandwidth, End User, and Geography.

By Type, the market is classified into Core Switches, Distribution Switches, and Access Switches.

By Technology, the market is classified into Ethernet, Fibre Channel, and Infiniband.

By Bandwidth, the market is classified into ?1 GBPS, >1 GBPS to ?10 GBPS, >10 GBPS to ?40 GBPS, and >40 GBPS.

By End User, the market is classified as Enterprises, Telecommunication Industry, Government Organizations, and Cloud Service Providers.

By Geography, America is projected to lead the market.

Story continues



Company Profiles

Some of the companies covered in this report are Huawei Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Arista Networks, Juniper Networks, AT&T, Lenovo, Nokia, Nvidia, etc.



Countries Studied

America (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, United States, Rest of Americas)

Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Rest of Europe)

Middle-East and Africa (Egypt, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Rest of MEA)

Asia-Pacific (Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Rest of Asia-Pacific)

Competitive Quadrant

The report includes a Competitive Quadrant, a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share, etc.



Why buy this report?

The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the Global Data Center Switch Market. The report includes in-depth qualitative analysis, verifiable data from authentic sources, and projections about market size. The projections are calculated using proven research methodologies.

The report has been compiled through extensive primary and secondary research. The primary research is done through interviews, surveys, and observation of renowned personnel in the industry.

The report includes an in-depth market analysis using Porter's 5 forces model and the Ansoff Matrix. In addition, the impact of Covid-19 on the market is also featured in the report.

The report also includes the regulatory scenario in the industry, which will help you make a well-informed decision. The report discusses major regulatory bodies and major rules and regulations imposed on this sector across various geographies.

The report also contains the competitive analysis using Positioning Quadrants, the analyst's competitive positioning tool.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Report Description



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Market Size and Segmentation

3.3 Market Outlook



4 Market Influencers

4.1 Drivers

4.1.1 Increases in Demand of Data Center Management

4.1.2 Government Regulations Regarding Localization of Data Centers

4.1.3 Surge in Internet Multimedia Content and Web Applications

4.1.4 Advancement in Edge Computing and Cloud Computing

4.2 Restraints

4.2.1 High Data Center Operational Cost

4.2.2 Presence of Self-Reliant Enhanced Servers

4.3 Opportunities

4.3.1 Surges in Demand for Smart Devices

4.3.2 Increasing Investments in Data Center

4.4 Challenges

4.4.1 Presence of Substitute

4.4.2 Complex Architecture and Compatibility Issues



5 Market Analysis

5.1 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5.2 Impact of COVID-19

5.3 Ansoff Matrix Analysis



6 Global Data Center Switch Market, By Type

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Core Switches

6.3 Distribution Switches

6.4 Access Switches



7 Global Data Center Switch Market, By Technology

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Ethernet

7.3 Fiber Channel

7.4 Infiniband



8 Global Data Center Switch Market, By Bandwidth

8.1 Introduction

8.2 ?1 GBPS

8.3 >1 GBPS to ?10 GBPS

8.4 >10 GBPS to ?40 GBPS

8.5 >40 GBPS



9 Global Data Center Switch Market, By End User

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Enterprises

9.3 Telecommunication Industry

9.4 Government Organizations

9.5 Cloud Service Providers



10 Global Data Center Switch Market, By Geography



11 Competitive Landscape

11.1 Competitive Quadrant

11.2 Market Share Analysis

11.3 Strategic Initiatives

11.3.1 M&A and Investments

11.3.2 Partnerships and Collaborations

11.3.3 Product Developments and Improvements



12 Company Profiles

12.1 Arista Networks

12.2 Aruba Networks

12.3 AT&T

12.4 Centec Networks

12.5 Cisco Systems

12.6 Dell EMC

12.7 D-Link

12.8 Extreme Networks

12.9 H3c Technologies

12.10 Hewlett Packard Enterprise

12.11 Huawei Technologies

12.12 Juniper Networks

12.13 Lenovo

12.14 Marvell

12.15 Nokia

12.16 Nvidia

12.17 Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT)

12.18 Ruijie Networks

12.19 Silicom

12.20 ZTE



13 Appendix



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/ej6k5q

Attachment

CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900




(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Google has blocked users leaving reviews on Maps for places in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

Tripadvisor has taken the same action on its own platform, as users were posting political statements to the reviews sections of businesses and restaurants in those countries to try and communicate across borders in the wake of Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The idea was spread by a Twitter account representing the hacking group Anonymous earlier this week, as well as Ukraines IT Army  a group trying to counter Russian propaganda.

Go to Google maps. Go to Russia. Find a restaurant or business and write a review, the Ukrainian IT Army told its 24,000 followers on Twitter, adding: When you write the review explain what is happening in Ukraine.

As a result, Google Maps began temporarily blocking new user-generated reviews, as well as stopping users publishing new photos and videos from the countries.

The company says it is to stop users violating its policy against fake, off topic, or abusive and defamatory reviews.

Tripadvisor, meanwhile, temporarily suspended reviews for listings it thought would be at risk from activists  directing users to its community forums for updates on the war instead.

As well as reviews, it has been reported that Google Maps users were posting pictures of injured civilians and captured Russian soldiers.

A review of the Zoological Museum of Moscow University stated you have dead animals, with pictures of captured Russian soldiers, while a monument to the Soviet film Officers is linked to dozens of photos of captive soldiers and screenshots of news clips, Motherboard reported.

Google has had to make other changes in the wake of the Russian invasion too. It recently disabled traffic tools in Ukraine due to concerns the information could be used by Russia to track Ukrainian troops.

Google subsidiary YouTube also suspended content from broadcasters RT and Sputnik, following the lead of other large tech companies who have also taken action against Russia media.
Greystone

NEW YORK, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greystone, a leading national commercial real estate finance company, provided a $24,750,000 Freddie Mac Optigo loan to refinance a 70-unit senior housing property in Mashpee, Massachusetts that includes 10% of the units designated affordable housing by the Cape Cod Housing Authority. The transaction was handled by Shailini Nehra, Managing Director at Greystone, on behalf of Northbridge Companies.



The $24,750,000 Freddie Mac fixed-rate, non-recourse financing carries a 10-year term and 30-year amortization. Built in 2018, Laurentide at Mashpee Commons in Barnstable County includes studio, one-, and two-bedroom units and offers assisted living and memory care services. The community, managed by New England-based owner / operator Northbridge Companies, features a full physical and occupational therapy gym, movie theatre, bistro, cafe, a large outdoor patio, and landscaped walking paths. Residents also enjoy salon and barber shop services, chef-prepared meals, life enrichment, and wellness programming.

At Greystone, we are dedicated to helping clients realize their vision for their properties  our extensive lending platform means we bring the right resources to bear on any project, said Cary Tremper, head of Greystones Senior Housing Capital Markets Team. We are driven by our commitment to meeting the financing needs of the senior housing space, and it was our pleasure to work with Northbridge on this transaction.

Northbridge is committed to creating environments where residents can be inspired to live well and love life, said Mr. James Coughlin, CEO, Northbridge Companies, which develops, owns, and manages vibrant senior living communities throughout New England. Our Greystone teams passion for what we do made them a true partner on this transaction and we look forward to working with them again in the future.

About Greystone

Greystone is a private national commercial real estate finance company with an established reputation as a leader in multifamily and healthcare finance, having ranked as a top FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac lender in these sectors. Loans are offered through Greystone Servicing Company LLC, Greystone Funding Company LLC and/or other Greystone affiliates. For more information, visit www.greystone.com.

Story continues

About Northbridge Companies

Northbridge Companies develops, owns, and manages vibrant and engaging senior living communities throughout New England. As a privately owned company with a philosophy of living well and loving life, Northbridge offers innovative and inspired senior living solutions for todays senior. Northbridges thorough market knowledge, combined with solid financial strength, has enabled Northbridge Companies to grow from a single community in Plymouth, Massachusetts to a portfolio of nineteen communities (Andover, MA; Burlington, MA; Brunswick, ME; Dartmouth, MA; Hallowell, ME; Marblehead, MA; Mashpee, MA; Milford, NH; Wayland, MA; Needham, MA; Newburyport, MA; Plymouth, MA; Tewksbury, MA; Torrington, CT; Wells, ME; Westbrook, ME) serving over 1,300 residents. For more information visit: northbridgecommunities.com.

PRESS CONTACT:

Karen Marotta

Greystone

212-896-9149

Karen.Marotta@greyco.com




A young girl uses the TikTok app on a smartphone. Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images

State attorneys general across the country announced an investigation into TikTok on Wednesday, the AP reported.

It will focus on how the platform impacts younger users' mental health.

The investigation follows a similar one into Instagram and Facebook, which was announced in November 2021.

A host of state attorneys general began an investigation into TikTok's impact on children's mental health, the Associated Press reported.

It's the latest in an outcry from government officials over children and social media sites. President Biden mentioned the topic in his State of the Union address Tuesday, advocating for banning targeted advertising for kids and holding "social media platforms accountable for the national experiment they are conducting on our children for profit," he said.

"Our investigation will look at what TikTok knew about the risks to our children, and precisely what they have been doing to keep our kids online. In coordination with attorneys general across the country, we are prepared to use the full weight of our consumer protection authority to hold TikTok and other social media giants accountable," Connecticut Attorney General Tong said in a statement.

It will also look into whether the company violated state consumer protection laws, the statement added.

Several state AGs announced the investigation Wednesday. It's being led by California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont, according to the AP. It's unclear exactly how many states are participating.

"Because there are states not authorized to disclose an investigation, we cannot share the total number or list of states," Elizabeth Benton, a spokesperson for Tong, said in an emailed statement.

TikTok is notable for its mesmerizing algorithm. TikTok has a billion monthly users as of September 2021 and beat Instagram for usage by kids 12 to 17 in 2021, according to a Forrester survey.

Story continues

The app has also minted a new generation of entrepreneurs and driven viral real-life trends: some innocuous, like making a feta cheese, pasta, and tomato casserole dish, or potentially more harmful, such as claiming to steal equipment from schools.

TikTok has attempted to respond to criticism about its usage among children. It rolled out Family Safety Mode in February 2020 but in January 2021 bolstered privacy settings for younger users after the Federal Trade Commission ordered several large social media and video streaming companies to reveal how they track user data.

Its ownership by Chinese company ByteDance also generated concerns in the US security apparatus. It's banned on government-issued devices by the US military, for example.

"We care deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community, and appreciate that the state attorneys general are focusing on the safety of younger users," the company said Wednesday, according to the AP. "We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens."

In November, state AGs also announced an investigation into Facebook and Instagram  after a former employee leaked documents that showed the social media company knew its platform was harming younger users, though Facebook has said the reports don't present a the entire picture of its efforts to help young people on its sites.

Read the original article on Business Insider
H&M is stopping all sales to Russia after it temporarily shut all its stores in Ukraine. Photo: Xisco Navarro Pardo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty

Swedish retailer Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) has become the latest company to sever ties with Russia amid "deep" concerns over the conflict in Ukraine.

H&M (HM-B.ST), which is headquartered in Stockholm, said it would stop sales in Russia, and has already temporarily shut all its stores in Ukraine for the safety of shoppers and workers after the invasion.

The worlds second biggest fashion retailer said in a statement: "H&M Group is deeply concerned about the tragic developments in Ukraine and stand with all the people who are suffering."

It added that it "cares for all colleagues and joins all those around the world who are calling for peace".

Shares in the company were down 1.6% to 148.9p in early trade on Thursday in Sweden.

H&M shares declined 1.6% following the announcement. Chart: Yahoo Finance UK

The announcement follows similar corporate boycotts of Russia over the invasion of Ukraine as sanctions over the invasion continue to bite.

Online retailer Asos (ASC.L) stopped sales in the nation on Wednesday, saying "against the backdrop of the continuing war" it was "neither practical nor right" to continue to trade in Russia. The company also suspended sales in Ukraine soon after the invasion last week Thursday.

Read more: How economic sanctions work

A spokesperson for Boohoo (BOO.L) said the fast fashion retailer had already suspended sales in Russia and does not serve Ukraine.

Meanwhile, high street retailer Next (NXT.L), which had sent orders from Britain to Ukraine by air, stopped taking orders last week.

German carmaker, Mercedes-Benz (MBG.DE) announced it will stop selling cars and vans to Russia, joining Aston Martin (AML.L) and Jaguar Land Rover in stopping exports to the country. Ford (F), BMW (BMW.DE), Renault (RNO.PA) have already reportedly shut Russian plants as supply shortages limit production.

Swedish carmaker Volvo (VOLV-B.ST) became the first international automaker to suspend car shipments to Russia until further notice.

Meanwhile insurer Aviva (AV.L) said it will offload almost 250m ($334m) worth of Russian investments following the war.

Story continues

Luxury retailer Burberry (BRBY.L), has paused all luxury goods shipments to Russia "due to operational challenges", a spokesman said. The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) firm, which has four stores in Moscow, said it was monitoring the situation "closely" and was focused on supporting its staff especially in Ukraine and Russia.

Read more: What Ukraine invasion means for consumer prices in the UK

Tech giant Apple (AAPL) announced on Wednesday that it would pause sales of its products in Russia. Netflix (NFLX) has paused all future Russian projects and acquisitions as it "assess the impact of current events", and has indefinitely paused four Russian original series.

Global energy and aerospace firms, BP (BP.L), Shell (SHEL.L), Exxon (XOM) and aircraft maker Airbus (AIR.PA) also exited the Russian market.

British manufacturer JCB has paused all operations, including the export of machine and spare parts, in the country, where it has a small "assembly plant".

Watch: What are SPACs?
Company to launch its year of sustainability by ringing The Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 03, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ICL (NYSE: ICL) (TASE: ICL), a leading global specialty minerals company, announced it will ring The Opening Bell this morning to celebrate its 30th anniversary as a publicly traded company and to commemorate the beginning of its year of sustainability. Raviv Zoller, president and CEO of ICL, and Yoav Doppelt, ICLs chairman of the board, will be joined on the podium by ICLs top female executives in honor of International Womens Day on March 8.

"While 2022 marks the 30th year ICL has been listed as a public company, our roots go back over 90 years," said Raviv Zoller, president and CEO of ICL. "Today we are on a mission to transform from a company that extracts minerals to a company that uses its minerals to create sustainable solutions for humanity in the global food, agriculture and industrial markets. In short, we strive to feed and protect the planet."

As part of the companys efforts to expand on its commitment to sustainability and transparency, ICL recently published its inaugural Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). This new level of disclosure is expected to enhance the companys understanding and management of climate-related risks and opportunities and to enable ICL to deliver updates to it stakeholders through TCFD reporting in the coming years.

About ICL

ICL Group is a leading global specialty minerals company, which also benefits from commodity upside. The company creates impactful solutions for humanity's sustainability challenges in the global food, agriculture and industrial markets. ICL leverages its unique bromine, potash and phosphate resources, its passionate team of talented employees, and its strong focus on R&D and technological innovation, to drive growth across its end markets. ICL shares are dually listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (NYSE and TASE: ICL). The company employs more than 12,000 people worldwide, and its 2021 revenues totaled approximately $7 billion.

Story continues

For more information, visit ICL's website at www.icl-group.com.

To access ICL's interactive Corporate Social Responsibility report, please click here.

You can also learn more about ICL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220303005104/en/

Contacts

Investor Relations Contacts

Peggy Reilly Tharp

VP, Global Investor Relations

+1-314-983-7665

Peggy.ReillyTharp@icl-group.com



Dudi Musler

Director, Investor Relations

+972-3-684-4448

Dudi.Musler@icl-group.com



Press Contact

Adi Bajayo

Scherf Communications

+972-52-4454789

Adi@scherfcom.com
IMCD N.V.

ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands (3 March 2022)  IMCD N.V. (IMCD or Company), a leading distributor of speciality chemicals and ingredients, today announces that IMCD UK has acquired 100% of the shares of Evenlode Foods Ltd (Evenlode), a distributor of speciality food and beverage ingredients throughout the UK and Ireland.

Established in 2005, Evenlodes activities are principally in the beverage, bakery, nutrition, savoury and dessert markets serving customers active in manufacturing, retail and foodservice. Its asset-light operations and long-term relationships with leading global speciality ingredient suppliers make it an excellent fit with IMCDs business model and strategy.

Evenlode distributes high-performance products and has significant expertise in powder technology which enhances IMCDs position as a leading distributor of speciality ingredients in the UK and Ireland, said Paul Hanbury, Managing Director, IMCD UK. We are delighted to welcome a like-minded team, with intimate supplier and customer relationships and an impressive record of innovation and growth added Hanbury.

In 2021, Evenlode generated a revenue of approximately EUR 8,5 mio, and adds five employees to the IMCD UK team.

Joining IMCD is a great milestone for Evenlode and reinforces our commitment to delivering superior food and beverage solutions to the market as we have done for over 15 years. Our growth culture - driven by excellent products, market knowledge, technical innovation, and outstanding customer service - is perfectly aligned with IMCD. Furthermore, we share common core values which is vitally important for employees, suppliers, and customers alike. commented Martin Parry, Owner, Evenlode Foods Ltd.

Attached, the full press release in pdf format.

Attachment




Turkish Airlines and Air Serbia have announced the further enhancement of their commercial cooperation with a codeshare agreement expanding to destinations both from Turkish Airlines and Air Serbias networks.



The codeshare expansion agreement officially signed in Istanbul in the presence of the two airlines CEOs  Bilal Eksi and Jiri Marek.



The two carriers, who already codeshare on both airlines routes between Belgrade and Istanbul, further enhanced their cooperation with Air Serbia adding its JU marketing code on Turkish Airlines brand AnadoluJets flights between Turkish capital Ankara and Serbian capital Belgrade.



At the same time, Turkish Airlines has added its TK marketing code to Air Serbias routes between Nis and Istanbul, as well as Kraljevo and Istanbul, thus providing passengers on mentioned routes access to Turkish Airlines global network.



Both airlines already codeshare on flights from Belgrade to Banja Luka, Tivat, Ankara and from Istanbul to Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Antalya, Dalaman, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Konya, Trabzon, Gazipasa, Bodrum, Odessa, Kiev, Amman, Cairo, Tel Aviv and Nis, Kraljevo.



Moreover, taking into account the complementary structure of timetables of both carriers and agreement working reciprocally, it will allow both airlines customers to enjoy seamless connectivity in their respective hubs.



Joint flights offer fast and convenient connections for customers leaving Istanbul, the biggest Turkish city and an important flight hub in the region, to Belgrade and beyond, as well as for passengers travelling from the Serbian capital to Istanbul and beyond.



As Turkish Airlines, we are glad to expand our existing cooperation through this enhanced codeshare agreement with Air Serbia. With the introduction of new codeshare flights on several destinations in Serbia, Turkey and Balkans; passengers have started to benefit from an effective opportunity to enjoy more travel alternatives, said Bilal Eksi, Turkish Airlines CEO.



We hope to provide further travel opportunities for our customers with the enhanced bilateral rights in the forthcoming period. By this chance, I would like to thank Mr. Marek and his team for their efforts to put this enhancement into effect. Without a doubt, this step would also be a substantial added value for the bilateral relations of both countries.



Jiri Marek, Air Serbias CEO, said: Improving our commercial cooperation with Turkish Airlines began in mid-2020, just a few months after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which completely changed air traffic. Despite the fact that we had to meet remotely, we managed to agree an extremely successful cooperation on flights between our hubs, which quickly expanded to additional points.



It is a great honour for me that we can now sign the additional expansion of codeshare cooperation between the two companies in a direct way, by the meeting of the two CEOs and thus formalize even better cooperation in the months and years to come, hopefully with the weakening of the pandemic and global recovery of air traffic.



Turkish Airlines, flies to more countries and international destinations than any other airline in the world, currently operates to more than 300 international passenger and cargo destinations in total, in 128 countries. Since the establishment of the company in 1927, Air Serbia has been a leader in air travel in the region of Southeast Europe. In 2022, Air Serbia will launch 12 new destinations throughout Europe and Middle East, from its three hubs in Serbia.  TradeArabia News Service
Menlo Park, California; Vancouver, British Columbia, and Boulder, Colorado--(Newsfile Corp. - March 2, 2022) - Intellabridge Technology Corporation (CSE: KASH) (OTCQB: KASHF) (FSE: KASH) (the "Company"), is pleased to announce that the Company has launched Kash US Dollar accounts in the United States with connections to more than 11,000 US banks and credit unions, ushering in a new era for decentralized markets by providing customers with easy access to high yield stablecoin savings accounts.

The Kash USD product is now live and customers can connect their bank accounts to Kash and transfer unlimited USD to their account and exchange for US Dollar stablecoins which can be deposited into their savings accounts to earn more than 10% APY.

The Company's product release is currently open by invite only to customers on the waitlist, and will open in stages on a daily basis over the next weeks, with plans to fully open to the public by March 31 2022.

"The arrival of Kash in the United States marks the beginning of a new milestone for the Company and we're thrilled to bring these new capabilities to our customers," said John Eagleton, Kash CEO. "We are pushing the boundaries to deliver value to customers, leading a paradigm shift in financial markets, making it easier for customers to access decentralized markets and earn stable high yield on their savings."

About Intellabridge Technology Corporation

Intellabridge Technology Corporation (CSE: KASH) (OTCQB: KASHF) (FSE: KASH) is a digital bank based on blockchain technologies that provides retail and institutional investors with access to decentralized financial applications with additional layers of cybersecurity and customer service. Intellabridge offers depositors self-custody services to empower them with complete transparency and control over their accounts through its institutional-grade platform. The Kash product features DeFi interest-bearing savings accounts, stablecoin checking, fiat-crypto on-ramps, synthetic stock, ETF and commodity investing, and other DeFi banking services, with plans to offer debit cards, virtual cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay in a growing number of markets globally.

Story continues

The Kash platform is available on web and mobile at kash.io.

For more information on Intellabridge, visit www.intellabridge.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD of DIRECTORS

INTELLABRIDGE TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION

"Maria Eagleton"

Maria Eagleton, COO

To contact Intellabridge:

Website: intellabridge.com

Phone: +1-303-800-5333

Email: maria@intellabridge.com

The CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively "forward-looking statements"). The use of any of the word "will" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors. The Company believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. The Company does not undertake to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

###

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115437
The Great Falls Public Library sits on the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 3rd Street North.

The Great Falls Public Library and the Montana Library Association are pleased to announce the introduction of a new annual awardthe Alma Smith Jacobs Diversity Equity and Inclusion Awardto honor library efforts in the area of equity, diversity, and inclusion, according to a city press release.

The Montana Library Association has a rich history of annual awards for Library excellence including the Pat Williams Intellectual Freedom award, the Cates Librarian of the Year award, Library of the Year award and several others.

Alma Smith Jacobs was a remarkable human. A Montana native, Jacobs worked as head librarian of the Great Falls Public Library for more than two decades before becoming Montanas State Librarian in 1973both historic firsts, as she was the first Black female to serve in either position. A passionate advocate for libraries, education, community and social justice, it is in this spirit that the Alma Smith Jacobs Diversity Equity and Inclusion Award recognizes those who follow Almas inspirational lead. Each year, this award will recognize a library, an individual, or a group whose efforts have produced outstanding positive effects in improving equity, diversity and inclusion in library services for Montana.

Nominations may be made by any library board, individual library, librarian, trustee, MLA member, or the Montana State Library Commission. The award shall be based upon, but not limited to, activities or accomplishments such as the following: Actions that have promoted a Library environment that is welcoming, supportive and nurturing of cultural, ethnic, racial, class, gender, sexual orientation, language and other human differences. Actions and dialogue that highlight unity and strength in diversity. Creation and development of programs and services for the community that celebrate diversity, foster empowerment and improve access to quality library services for the disadvantaged and underserved groups. Actions that have contributed to raising awareness and consciousness about diversity and inclusion in the context of Library services and the wider Montana Library community.Award winners will be chosen from nominations submitted to the Montana Library Association Awards Committee by March 1, 2022.

The first award winner will be announced at the Montana Library Association annual conference to be held Aug. 3-6, 2022 in Missoula.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: GFPL announces Alma Smith Jacobs Diversity Equity and Inclusion Award
Calgary, Alberta and Houston, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - March 3, 2022) - PetroTal Corp. (TSXV: TAL) (AIM: PTAL) (OTCQX: PTALF) ("PetroTal" or the "Company") advises that it has reduced production to ensure field safety and manage storage levels due to social protests at PetroTal's loading dock.

On February 28, 2022 a small group from the Asociacion Indigena de Desarrollo y Conservacion de Bajo Puinahua ("AIDECOBAP") commenced gathering outside the Bretana oilfield that led to access to the Company's loading dock being blocked. To ensure employee / contractor safety and minimize environmental risk, the Company has constrained its production level to approximately 4,000 barrels of oil per day, accumulating into field storage facilities, while aiding in protest negotiations.

AIDECOBAP continues to push for fulfillment of their demands from the government. AIDECOBAP claims they are being persecuted by the government for protesting their requests. They are also requesting the establishment of an indigenous trust to allow them to execute projects whose funding was approved by the government in late 2020 to reduce the basic needs gap in local communities. Lastly, AIDECOBAP is also requesting that the government expedite the formalization of the Bretana 2.5% social fund, offered by PetroTal, into the Block 95 license contract.

For the second fortnight of January and all of February 2022, PetroTal had been segregating the 2.5% social fund into a separate bank account, but due to the current protests and resulting production curtailment, no funds will be allocated for the upcoming fortnight as per the guidelines of the social trust.

The Company is also monitoring the progress of necessary maintenance repairs to the Northern Peruvian Pipeline ("ONP"). While the repairs have been ongoing, PetroTal has been selling oil through the Brazil export route. Last month the Company completed a 240,000 barrel oil sale through Brazil, for the first time without diluent blending, which will have a positive impact on diluent costs in Q1 2022.

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ABOUT PETROTAL

PetroTal is a publicly traded, triquoted (TSXV: TAL) (AIM: PTAL) (OTCQX: PTALF) oil and gas development and production Company domiciled in Calgary, Alberta, focused on the development of oil assets in Peru. PetroTal's flagship asset is its 100% working interest in Bretana oil field in Peru's Block 95 where oil production was initiated in June 2018. In early 2020, Petrotal became the second largest crude oil producer in Peru. The Company's management team has significant experience in developing and exploring for oil in Peru and is led by a Board of Directors that is focused on safely and cost effectively developing the Bretana oil field. It is actively building new initiatives to champion community sensitive energy production, benefiting all stakeholders.

For further information, please see the Company's website at www.petrotal-corp.com, the Company's filed documents at www.sedar.com, or below:

Douglas Urch

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Durch@PetroTal-Corp.com

T: (713) 609-9101

Manolo Zuniga

President and Chief Executive Officer

Mzuniga@PetroTal-Corp.com

T: (713) 609-9101

PetroTal Investor Relations

InvestorRelations@PetroTal-Corp.com

Celicourt Communications

Mark Antelme / Jimmy Lea

petrotal@celicourt.uk

T : 44 (0) 208 434 2643

Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated & Financial Adviser)

Ritchie Balmer / James Spinney / Robert Collins

T: 44 (0) 207 409 3494

Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Joint Broker)

Callum Stewart / Simon Mensley / Ashton Clanfield

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7710 7600

Auctus Advisors LLP (Joint Broker)

Jonathan Wright

T: +44 (0) 7711 627449

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/115575
Purpose Investments Inc.

The firm worked alongside industry peers this week to rally leaders across the asset management and pension industries to join them in this pledge

TORONTO, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Purpose Investments Inc. (Purpose) today announced it has divested all direct holdings of Russian companies and pledges to cease new investments so long as Russias invasion of Ukraine persists. To take a stance against this senseless war and show support for the Ukrainian people, Purpose began divesting its funds of Russian companies and companies that do meaningful business in Russia last week.



Like so many Canadians, we have an undeniable urge to do all we can to support those who are suffering, says Som Seif, CEO and founder of Purpose Investments. We took a stance many years ago to embed ESG factors into all our investments portfolios, and believe there is no better test on a firms ESG principles than this. We simply do not feel that its appropriate to have our clients capital supporting Russian companies or businesses that are engaged in direct business in Russia.

Purpose has spearheaded a call for industry action alongside other asset managers to support the divesting of Russian assets in our portfolios. Individually, each of us may be small, but collectively our industry is a force that can make a difference. Today asset managers and pension funds representing over $200 billion in assets have stepped up and made this pledge and we anticipate many more to speak out and talk with their capital. We encourage our capital market peers to fulfill their role as responsible leaders and sign the Pledge to Divest from Russia.

Through this shared pledge, leaders across Canada have already agreed to identify their exposure to Russian companies, cease any new investments in the region, and divest holdings of relevant entities as soon as possible. Signatories are also encouraged to publicly report on exposure, divestments, and future investment plans to build awareness and transparency for this effort.

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This decision goes far beyond investments. It reflects our concern and apprehension over the situation taking place in Ukraine, and our desire to support the brave Ukrainian people however we are able, says Som Seif, CEO and founder of Purpose. By rallying the asset management and pension industries together, we can spread the message far and wide that we cannot and will not support tyranny and the suffering it causes.

For more information on the pledge, please visit Pledge to Divest from Russia .

About Purpose Investments Inc.



Purpose Investments Inc. is an asset management company with approximately $14 billion in assets under management. Purpose has an unrelenting focus on client-centric innovation, and offers a range of outcome-focused products. Purpose Investments is led by well-known entrepreneur Som Seif and is a division of Purpose Financial, an independent technology-driven financial services company.



For further information please contact:

Keera Hart

Keera.Hart@kaiserpartners.com

905-580-1257

Not official disclosure

This notice does not constitute the official version of the Company's disclosure documents and may not always be the most current. This notice is provided strictly on an "as is, where is" and "as available" basis, without any warranties of any kind, express, implied, statutory or collateral, including implied warranties of merchantable quality or fitness for a particular purpose. Facts and information provided in this notice are believed to be accurate at the time they are posted. However, this notice could include inaccuracies, typographical errors, or out-of-date information. Changes may be made at any time to the information on this website without prior notice. Please consult us for complete and up-to-date information on products and services.

No solicitation

The content of this document is for informational purposes only, and is not being provided in the context of an offering of any securities described herein, nor is it a recommendation or solicitation to buy, hold or sell any security. The information is not investment advice, nor is it tailored to the needs or circumstances of any investor.

Forward-looking statements are not guaranteed

Certain statements on this site may be forward-looking. Forward-looking statements (FLS) are statements that are predictive in nature, depend on or refer to future events or conditions, or that include words such as may, will, should, could, expect, anticipate, intend, plan, believe, estimate or other similar expressions. Statements that look forward in time or include anything other than historical information are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results, actions or events could differ materially from those set forth in the FLS. FLS are not guarantees of future performance and are by their nature based on numerous assumptions. Although the FLS contained in this document are based upon what Purpose believes to be reasonable assumptions, Purpose cannot assure that actual results will be consistent with these FLS. The reader is cautioned to consider the FLS carefully and not to place undue reliance on the FLS. Unless required by applicable law, it is not undertaken, and specifically disclaimed, that there is any intention or obligation to update or revise FLS, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.




Black History Month

SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, and Reps. Dwight Evans and Chrissy Houlahan participate in a National Urban League Black History Month Small Business Roundtable featuring local small business owners in Philadelphia, PA.

Black History Month

SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman talks with Silvias Bakery owner Silvia Paulino in Philadelphia, PA. Silvias Bakery received funding from PPP, RRF, and COVID EIDL, and used it to fund her payroll and for working capital, including inventory, mortgage payments, and utilities.

Philadelphia, PA, March 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Monday, February 28, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman , head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice for Americas 32.5 million small businesses in President Bidens Cabinet, joined U.S. Reps. Dwight Evans and Chrissy Houlahan in Philadelphia for a roundtable discussion with Black small business owners to highlight the economic impact of President Joe Bidens American Rescue Plan, and the SBAs COVID-19 relief funding programs.

Administrator Guzman kicked off her trip by meeting Reps. Evans and Houlahan, and National Urban Leagues President and CEO, Marc Morial, and participating in a National Urban League Black History Month Small Business Roundtable featuring local small business owners to discuss the state of small businesses in Philadelphia under the Biden-Harris Administration and its policies, which are designed to create generational wealth through entrepreneurship.

For decades, in the face of underinvestment, discrimination, and systemic prejudice, many Black entrepreneurs have had to forge their own paths to achieve the American dream. Now more than ever, we need to do more to empower Black entrepreneurs to continue powering Americas strong recovery, said Administrator Guzman. Together with Representatives Dwight Evans and Chrissy Houlahan, I met with several Philadelphia entrepreneurs who are doing the important work of creating jobs, building economic output, and supporting their neighborhoods. In addition, I was honored to join Marc Morial to highlight the National Urban Leagues role as a Hub in the SBAs Community Navigator Pilot program . The SBA will leverage the Urban Leagues extensive network to reach small businesses and entrepreneurs who have historically been left behind and are now launching startups at record rates. With growth opportunities ahead, including $1.2 trillion being invested through President Bidens Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) , the SBA is pulling out all the stops to make sure Philadelphia's Black entrepreneursand entrepreneurs all across Americaare ready to seize this moment and help build a better, more equitable, America.

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The National Urban League is one of 51 Hubs within the SBAs Community Navigator Program  an American Rescue Plan initiative designed to reduce barriers faced by underserved entrepreneurs when attempting to access programs needed to recover from economic crises or to simply start and grow their business. The program provides $100 million in funding to 51 Hubs to work with community groups (spokes) to improve access to government resources.

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, said Rep. Evans. As a member of the Small Business Committee, I am committed to increasing minority entrepreneurship. I want to thank Administrator Guzman for coming back to Philadelphia, and I congratulate the Urban League for being selected as one of SBAs Community Navigators.

After a pandemic, global supply chain issues, and disparities in our economic recovery, it has been an especially trying time for Black small business owners, said Rep. Houlahan. That's why I was honored to join Monday's conversation with the Small Business Administration and the Urban League of Philadelphia to highlight the efforts we've taken to support small businesses so far and recommit ourselves to the work ahead, including building out the navigator program partnership to deliver necessary tools and resources. Small businesses are the engine that keeps our economy moving forward, and I will always lift up their voices and champion their priorities.

Following the roundtable discussion, Administrator Guzman also visited Community First Fund, an SBA Microlender and 7(a) Loan Guaranty Lender that provides loans, training, and one-on-one counseling to low-income communities to increase opportunities for economic prosperity.

Administrator Guzman ended her trip by meeting Silvias Bakery owner, Silvia Paulino. Silvias Bakery specializes in baking pastries and creating Latin-inspired desserts for wholesale and retail clients. In 2020, Paulino was chosen as the Eastern PA Districts Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year. Silvias Bakery braved the worst of the pandemic with funding from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), and COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan (COVID EIDL) and used it to fund her payroll and for working capital, including inventory, mortgage payments, and utilities.

This visit marks the Administrators second official visit to Philadelphia, PA. In her first year in office, Administrator Guzman has visited 26 states and U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, and over 41 cities.

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About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov .

Attachments

CONTACT: Press Office United States Small Business Administration press_office@sba.gov




SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Russia's central bank and sovereign wealth fund may account for nearly a quarter of foreign holdings of Chinese bonds, analysts at ANZ Research calculated, potentially offering shelter from Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's financial markets have been thrown into turmoil by sanctions imposed over the invasion, the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.

In the face of those sanctions, Russian companies have been exploring workarounds with emerging market allies, especially China, with settlement of transactions in yuan seen rising at the expense of the dollar.

In a note this week, ANZ economists and strategists said they estimate yuan bond holdings of Russia's central bank and the Russian National Wealth Fund at $80 billion and $60 billion, respectively.

Foreign holdings of bonds on China's interbank bond market totalled 4.07 trillion yuan ($644.13 billion) at the end of January, the latest month for which data is available.

"We are watching if Russia will liquidate the assets if (yuan) cash is needed to meet other payment obligations," ANZ said.

Yuan accounted for 13.1% of the Russian central bank's foreign currency reserves in June 2021, compared with just 0.1% in June 2017. Dollar holdings dropped to 16.4%, from 46.3%.

But while Russia could potentially make use of yuan assets and China's Cross Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) to counter the impact of Western sanctions, including bans on some Russian banks from the SWIFT global financial messaging system, the crisis is unlikely to significantly boost use of the yuan, they said.

"CIPS is a mainly a RMB clearing system and more than 80% of transactions on CIPS rely on SWIFT telegram. It is not an immediate replacement for SWIFT."

Underscoring the impact of sanctions over the invasion, rating agencies Fitch and Moody's slashed Russia's sovereign credit rating to "junk" status, following a similar move from S&P Global last week.

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Russia calls its action in Ukraine a "special operation".

($1 = 6.3186 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
IndexBox, Inc.

Sparkling wine exports in the EU doubled over the past decade, peaking at 1.1B litres in 2021. Italy remains the leading supplier, accounting for 49% of the total exports in the EU.

NEW YORK, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In its latest report on the global sparkling wine market, IndexBox says that the EU exports spiked to 1.1B litres in 2021, rising by 27% compared to the previous year. In value terms, supplies soared from $5.8B to $8.7B.

Italy was the largest exporter of sparkling wines in the EU, with the volume of exports finishing at 523M litres, which was near 49% of total supplies in 2021. It was distantly followed by France (245M litres) and Spain (165M litres), committing a 39% share of total exports. Germany (33M litres), Belgium (29M litres) and Latvia (19M litres) comprised a relatively small percentage of total volume.

In value terms, France ($5.1B) remains the largest sparkling wine supplier in the EU, comprising 58% of total exports. The second position in the ranking was held by Italy ($2.3B), with a 26% share of the total value. It was followed by Spain, with a 6.7% share.

Supplies from France gained +58.6% against the previous year. In Italy and Spain, the growth rates amounted to +34.4% and +26.5% per year, respectively.

Sparkling Wine Prices in the EU

In 2021, the sparkling wine export price in the EU amounted to $8.2 per litre, increasing by 18% against the previous year. Prices varied noticeably: the country with the highest price was France ($21 per litre), while Spain ($3.5 per litre) was amongst the lowest. In 2021, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by Spain, while the other leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

Top Leading Sparkling Wine Importers in the EU

Germany (77M litres) and Belgium (72M litres) represented the key importers of sparkling wines in the EU, together comprising near 37% of total purchases in 2021. It was distantly followed by France (33M litres), Sweden (26M litres), the Netherlands (25M litres), Latvia (23M litres), Lithuania (20M litres), Austria (19M litres) and Italy (19M litres), together generating a 40% share of total imports. Poland (15M litres), Spain (15M litres), the Czech Republic (11M litres), and Denmark (8.7M litres) followed a long way behind the leaders.

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In value terms, Germany ($547M), Belgium ($454M) and Italy ($300M) constituted the countries with the highest levels of imports in 2021, together comprising 46% of total supplies. These countries were followed by the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, France, Denmark, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic, which accounted for a further 43%.

About IndexBox

IndexBox is a market research firm developing an AI-driven market intelligence platform that helps business analysts find actionable insights and make data-driven decisions. The platform provides data on consumption, production, trade, and prices for more than 10K+ different products across 200 countries.

For more information, please visit

Website https://www.indexbox.io

Twitter https://twitter.com/indexbox

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/IndexBox

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/indexbox-marketing/

Companies Mentioned in the Report

Arvitis, Centre Vinicole  Sparkling wine Nicolas Feuillatte, Sparkling wine Piper-Heidsieck, Diageo, Lanson-BCC, Laurent-Perrier, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Taittinger, Pernod Ricard, Vranken - Pommery Monopole SA, Bauchet Pere Et Filsbauchet Pere Et Fils, Minsk Sparkling Wines Factory Ojsc, Vdc France Vie De Chateaux, Spumante Silvania, Sparkling wine Claude Perrard, Vindega, Distillerie Othon Schmitt, Sparkling wine Cristian Senez, Divine Wines, Sparkling wine Cheurlin-Dangin, Sparkling wine Boulachin-Chaput, Sparkling wine Ayala, Sparkling wine Cretol Et Fils

Sources

EU - Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

World - Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

Eastern Europe - Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

Northern America  Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

Australia and Oceania - Sparkling Wine - Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

CONTACT: Contact Information Mekhrona Dzhuraeva Editor media@indexbox.io




Image

The digital healthcare analytics company welcomes new employees, including a senior C-suite addition, as it ramps to meet customer, partner, and product growth

Welcome to Pivotal!

Welcome to Pivotal!

RADNOR, Pa., March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pivotal Analytics, the creator of strategic healthcare analytics solution Pivotal, announced it has brought on board key talent to fuel its Product, Engineering, and Customer Success teams. Among the new hires so far in 2022 is Pivotal's first COO. This talent investment is part of a larger strategy fueled by the company's $10.2M Series A funding round completed in October 2021.

Mecal McDade has joined the company's leadership team as Chief Operating Officer. Mecal will be responsible for driving excellence in product strategy and development, creating an enhanced customer experience, and driving a unique, design-thinking approach to Pivotal's product and service design and delivery processes.

More recently, Mecal held the role of Experience Director at PNC, one of the largest banks in the U.S. She led the Retail National Expansion fleet, an agile organization focused on delivering experiences that matter for PNC's customers and employees at a national scale on a modernized technology platform. Her 20+ years of experience includes extensive work and senior leadership in operations, strategic planning, business optimization consulting, and engineering.

Other key hires include:

Paul Somers, Manager of Business Analysis: 20+ years driving technology projects as senior systems analyst or solution designer, spanning strategic and tactical planning, master data management, data strategy, architecture design, and development.

Beth Owens, Manager, Customer Success: 15+ years performing advanced analytics, with 10+ in large, multi-site health systems, providing operational insights to service line teams as well as market and financial insights to executives and senior leadership.

Dana Parisi, Product Manager: 5+ years working closely with engineers and UX designers across B2B and B2C, identifying customer needs, turning insights into actionable business requirements, and building and managing product roadmaps.

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"The momentum we were experiencing at Pivotal in Q4'21 has only intensified in the first quarter of 2022," said Carl Davis, CEO and Co-founder of Pivotal Analytics. "We knew we needed to add talent to meet the evolving needs of our growing customer and partner base, so we kept our foot on the gas in terms of recruiting. Kudos to our hiring team for bringing onboard candidates with critical functional and industry expertise, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a shared commitment to Pivotal's vision and values."

"We are undertaking massive changes to our product strategy and product roadmap," said Fady Barmada, President and Co-Founder of Pivotal Analytics. "Changes of this magnitude will be game-changing for us and require a skilled team and leadership that can thoughtfully strategize, plan, execute, and optimize. Talent has proven to be the elixir for success in bringing complex products like this to market, and we are confident this team has what it takes to do the same for Pivotal."

About Pivotal Analytics

Pivotal Analytics is a technology company seeking to redefine how healthcare systems and their partners identify growth opportunities in a value-based care market while optimizing their real estate portfolios. We believe that more innovative and dynamic healthcare planning reduces operational and financial risk while ultimately improving access to quality, affordable care. We empower healthcare stakeholders - healthcare organizations, developers, REITs, consultants, and other healthcare facility experts - to develop better systems of care by enabling consumer-centric decisions of who and what to put where. Through Pivotal, a unique, GIS intelligence platform, we integrate traditional and non-traditional data, powerful analytics, and deep healthcare knowledge into map-based visualizations that locate providers, services, facilities, patient needs and preferences, and care gaps across the U.S. For more information, visit us at pivotal-analytics.com and on LinkedIn.

Media Contact: Sylvia Marten, Pivotal Analytics, (312) 259-6252, smarten@pivotal-analytics.com

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Image 1: Welcome to Pivotal!









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Attachment




FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A Toronto-Dominion Bank sign is seen outside of a branch in Ottawa

By Nichola Saminather

TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto-Dominion Bank beat analysts' estimates for quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by strong trading revenues, although higher variable expenses and weaker growth in interest income than peers left some analysts underwhelmed.

Net income excluding one-off items rose to C$2.08 per share in the three months ended Jan. 31 from C$1.83 a year earlier and versus analysts' estimates of C$2.04 a share.

While TD's capital markets earnings fell from a year ago due to higher expenses, trading revenues beat expectations -- but to a lesser degree than its competitors.

TD's "net interest income growth was weaker than the peer average," analysts at CIBC Capital Markets wrote in a note. "Capital Markets (were) better than expected, but not as good as peers."

The results of Canada's second-largest lender round out a strong quarter for the country's Big Six banks, with many reporting loan growth, higher fees and continued strength in trading and investment banking all helping to soften the impact of higher expenses and margin pressures.

Canadian banks' capital markets businesses have been a boon during the pandemic, and continued to flout expectations for more muted results during the quarter, despite outsized earnings a year earlier.

"I've been wondering, how long does this gift keep on giving? They've been coining (strong) profits for four to six quarters in a row now," said Brian Madden, chief investment officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel.

"Prudence would suggest tempering enthusiasm for capital markets," he said.

While continued improvement elsewhere, most notably domestic business lending, could offset a smaller contribution from capital markets, rising interest rates may crimp loan volumes, particularly mortgages.

The Bank of Canada raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, and flagged more hikes as soon as next month.

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TD reported 14% growth in Canadian business loans from a year earlier and an 8% rise in personal loans, although net interest margins shrank by 12 basis points.

The impact of higher rates on loan volumes would depend on several factors, including the number and pace of hikes, TD's Chief Financial Officer Kelvin Tran said in an interview.

Even so, "the fundamentals of the economy are strong and there's a lot of pent-up demand," he said.

TD's U.S. banking unit reported earnings growth of 27% from a year earlier, helped by increased revenues and lower provisions for loan losses.

Earlier this week, TD said it had agreed to buy First Horizon Corp for $13.4 billion to expand its U.S. presence.

($1 = 1.2638 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting By Nichola Saminather in Toronto; Additional reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Tomasz Janowski and Jonathan Oatis)
Millennium Hotels & Resorts MEA, a leading hotel management company, is expanding the Studio M brand with a new property now open in Dubais Al Barsha neighbourhood, in partnership with Jersey Properties.



Studio M is a standout lifestyle concept that embraces technology and allows people to socialise and interact, offering a unique place to rest and play. Studio M is one of Millenniums newest brands providing an alternative lodging experience with a vibrant design and technology integrated into cool spaces to help guests unleash their sense of creativity.



Hamid Sidine, Chief Operating Officer of Millennium Hotels and Resorts, Middle East and Africa, said: We are delighted to introduce Studio M Al Barsha that comes as part of our continuous efforts to provide innovative lifestyle concepts that address the guests changing expectations and contemporary functionality.



Studio M brand founded in Singapore and Studio Al Barsha is the second hotel in Dubai under this brand after Studio M Arabian Plaza Hotel & Hotel Apartments. Studio M Al Barsha will offer a chic urban concept featuring thoughtful and well-designed spaces with the cool factor combined with stylish rooms and fuss-free technology, he added.



Studio M Al Barsha offers 155 rooms and has been thoughtfully designed with vibrant colours, complimentary high-speed Wi-Fi and premium amenities that will suit the guests all needs. The hotel is within two minutes walking distance to the Mall of the Emirates and close to various attractions in Dubai. The nearest metro station is the Mall of the Emirates station.



The hotel F&B offering includes Hello Grab N Go which provides an innovative and convenient way to dine in or out with a variety of freshly prepared and pre-packaged foods, Level ONE that offers tasty breakfast choices, and a cafe. It also includes co-working spaces available at the restaurant and the lobby, M FIT gym with Technogym equipment, a temperature-controlled rooftop pool, and a unique spa concept for the guests to relax and unwind.  TradeArabia News Service
New partnership provides business travelers with robust safety insights prior to travel

Tripkicks

Tripkicks

NEW YORK, March 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tripkicks, the add-on for business travel programs that influences traveler behavior, continues to add value through strategic alliances with the announcement of a new partnership with Riskline, the leading travel risk and intelligence Denmark-based company for the travel industry. Riskline is a risk assessment pioneer that tracks potential travel threats and keeps customers informed through accurate, actionable intelligence. With this partnership, Tripkicks further strengthens its highly respected location-based traveler safety and risk insights, including a new capability to tailor risk assessments to a granular, city-by-city level.

As business travel continues to rebound, 89% of business travelers expect their company to protect their health and safety while traveling, according to a survey of 3,850 business travelers across 25 global markets conducted by SAP Concur[1], which features Tripkicks as an App Center Partner. Given the critical role employers play in facilitating a productive trip, safety information is crucial for helping employers and employees prepare accordingly. Tripkicks makes it easy for companies to provide the right insights and guidance for their business travelers, which helps to improve the traveler experience.

"Adding Riskline to our growing list of industry-leading partnerships helps to ensure that business travelers are set up for success," said Tripkicks CEO Jeff Berk. "With insights on safety, health, and risks, in addition to essential local background information, business travelers are now more informed and equipped to make better decisions and effectively navigate their destination."

Commenting on this announcement, Director of Partnerships at Riskline, Emanuele Scansani, said: "We are delighted to announce a new partnership with Tripkicks. Tripkicks provides an innovative service that will ensure that Riskline's intelligence will reach travelers in new ways. We're excited to see how our information contributes to better-informed travel choices and use that to continuously improve and develop new ways of providing our intelligence that is meaningful, insightful and useful. The partnership is aligned to our mission to keep travelers informed and updated, and to ensure they are prepared so that they can have safe travel experiences."

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[1] New Survey Uncovers Travelers' Requirements for Return to Responsible Business Travel

ABOUT TRIPKICKS

Tripkicks is an add-on to business travel programs that provides companies with the tools to influence traveler behavior and empower travelers with the knowledge they need for a successful trip. We work with travel managers and companies throughout the world to help them better support their travelers, make progress on corporate initiatives, and achieve their program goals. Tripkicks is based in NYC.

Learn more on www.Tripkicks.com, https://www.tripkicks.com/press-insights/ and linkedin.com/company/tripkicks. See Tripkicks in Action.

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Uponor Oyj

Uponor Corporation Press Release 3 March 2022 at 16:35 EET

Uponor stops exports and imports to and from Russia and donates to UNICEF and the Red Cross

Uponor Corporation has decided to suspend all exports and imports to and from Russia until further notice due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Uponor has a manufacturing facility and a sales office in Russia, employing around 90 people. In Ukraine, Uponor has 4 employees working in sales.

To support the families and children in Ukraine, Uponor has made a 100,000 donation split equally between UNICEF Finland and the Finnish Red Cross.

"We are focusing on the well-being of all our employees as best as we can, says Michael Rauterkus, President and CEO of Uponor Corporation.

Uponors sales in Russia and Ukraine is below 2.5% of total Group revenue.

Uponor continues to actively monitor the situation and the development of sanctions and countersanctions, and to comply with all applicable laws, regulations and sanctions.

Franciska Janzon

Senior Vice President, Communications & IR

Uponor Corporation

Tel. +358 40 192 1653

Uponor in brief

Uponor is rethinking water for future generations. Our offering, including safe drinking water delivery, energy-efficient radiant heating and cooling and reliable infrastructure, enables a more sustainable living environment. We help our customers in residential and commercial construction, municipalities and utilities, as well as different industries to work faster and smarter. Uponor employs about 3,900 professionals in 26 countries in Europe and North America. In 2021, Uponor's net sales totalled approximately 1.3 billion. Uponor Corporation is based in Finland and listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.uponorgroup.com




Verbit, a Tel Aviv- and New York-based AI-powered transcription and captioning service platform, has acquired Take Note -- the U.K.-based company that provides transcription, captioning and note-taking services for the market research sector. This acquisition marks Verbits entrance into the market research space and increases its presence in Europe.

The company did not disclose the terms of the deal. Verbit told TechCrunch at the time of its most recent $250 million Series E funding in November that it would double down on its acquisition strategy with the proceeds to consolidate the fragmented $30 billion transcription industry. Last year, it acquired captioning product and solution provider VITAC for $50 million and education and government transcription company Automatic Sync Technologies for an undisclosed amount.

Tom Livne, founder and chief executive officer of Verbit, said in an email interview with TechCrunch that Take Notes current CEO David Abbott will remain in his position to lead the company and support continued growth and integration efforts. Also, Take Notes 28 employees will join the team. With the acquisition of Take Note, Verbit will now serve more than 2,500 customers, Livne noted.

Since 2006, Take Note has offered efficient, accurate and general data protection regulation (GDPR) compliance service.

Take Notes niche, high-end audience appeal through its market research dialect and subject matter expertise made the company a natural fit to join the Verbit Group as we continue to grow our specialized teams and technologies, Livne told TechCrunch. The deal was also attractive to Verbit as it expands our corporate service portfolio with Take Notes note-taking and meeting minutes services, furthering our goal of becoming a one-stop-shop for all voice AI needs.

Verbit is familiar with the market research sector and already serves several customers in the space, Livne said, adding that it wanted to solidify its service by bringing in the expertise of a leading market research transcription company. Verbit says the acquisition will allow Verbit to enhance its performance and delivery of U.K. English language requests.

Story continues

Were thrilled to join forces with Verbit and add our Market Research transcription and live note-taking solutions to its broad portfolio for captioning and transcription, Abbot said in a statement. Well also now have access to the Verbit companys technologies and capabilities, which our customers will benefit from as well.

Verbit says it will accelerate its growth with additional strategic acquisitions to expand into new verticals, geographies and functionalities. Verbit, which uses a tier 1 cloud provider AWS, offers its customers the option to geo-locate their data to the U.S. or Europe to meet their compliance needs, Livne told TechCrunch.

The company will use Take Note's office in the U.K. to support all customers in Europe. Verbit currently has more than 470 employees in New York, Colorado, Pittsburg, Palo Alto, Canada, Tel Aviv and Kyiv, with 35,000 freelancer transcribers and 600 professional captioners globally.

When asked about its staff safety in Ukraine, Livne said that out of 37 employees in Kyiv, 10 employees have evacuated, and one employee has joined the army. The rest chose to relocate to safer countries in Europe and Israel.

Our team has been given full flexibility and time off, and we are in direct contact with each employee daily to understand their needs so we can best support them while they focus on the safety of themselves and their loved ones, Livne told TechCrunch.

Updates with additional comments from Livne in the eighth paragraph
By Jonnelle Marte

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's nearly $9 trillion balance sheet has more room to decline than it did the last time the central bank shrank its holdings and policymakers will still watch money markets closely, a senior bank official said on Wednesday.

The Fed's standing repo facilities should also serve as a backstop to keep markets stable as the central bank shrinks its bond holdings, said Lorie Logan, an executive vice president with the New York Fed.

"Staff will carefully monitor developments in money markets to understand changes in reserve conditions," Logan said during a webinar organized by New York University.

Logan reiterated that policymakers want to shrink holdings mainly by letting their securities mature.

Some officials have said the Fed may need to consider selling some if its mortgage-backed securities later to speed up the transition to a portfolio made up mostly of Treasury securities, but Logan said those decisions would be made later.

She also shared some estimates on what the balance sheet runoff could look like. For instance, principal payments from Treasury holdings could range from $40 billion to $150 billion per month, over the next few years, averaging around $80 billion.

The runoff for mortgage-backed securities could average about $25 billion per month over the next few years, but the exact pace is uncertain and affected by mortgage rates, she said.

The Fed's balance sheet doubled after the central bank purchased assets to stabilize markets and support the economy during the pandemic. Logan, who heads the New York Fed's market operations, said that asset purchases to support market functioning will be rare in the future.

"I expect circumstances warranting sizable intervention to support market functioning to be extraordinarily rare," she said.

(Reporting by Jonnelle Marte; Editing by Sam Holmes)
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Area families will have the opportunity to experience the mesmerizing spectacle of Disneys The Lion King as its North America tour comes to the Altria Theater in Richmond next week. They will return to their homes, inspired by this unforgettable Broadway show, with a smile on their faces and a song in their hearts.

This tale of friendship, loyalty and duty opens with a call to all creatures to the lions Pride Rock for the ceremonial presentation of the new cub of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, the future king Simba. As the story unfolds, we watch as the curious and adventurous cub is lured into a danger that nearly takes his life and does claim that of his beloved father.

Shocked and innocent, Simba believes his conniving uncle Scar who tells him that he is responsible for his fathers demise, and he flees the Pride Lands. The cubs isolation ends when he meets the comical duo of Pumbaa the warthog and Timon the meerkat, who introduce him to the no-worries lifestyle of Hakuna Matata.

Simba comes of age and has adjusted to his new environment and carefree way of life when one day a lioness pursuing Pumbaa races by and he recognizes her as Nala, his best friend from childhood days. At first, the two are shocked to see each others transformation through the years, but then Nala reports that under Scars selfish and careless rule, the Pride Lands have been devastated.

Simba goes beyond his no worries perspective and responds to the crisis with bravery and determination to rally the jungle creatures to reclaim and restore their homeland, and Pumbaa and Timon join the cause to support their friend. With their victory won and Simba taking his rightful position as king, the Pride Land creatures celebrate and, in a final scene, all gather at Pride Rock as the newborn cub of Nala and Simba is presented to allthe embodiment of the circle of life.

An energetic and emotive cast of 49 brings the musicals 200 creatures to life, ranging from rod- and shadow-puppets to 14-foot giraffes. The productions iconic scenes include stirring performances of Circle of Life, as well as powerful depictions of a wildebeest stampede and a climactic battle where protective lionesses take their stand against a pack of vicious hyenas and conquer them in a spectacular full-company dance number.

Ben Lipitz has performed as the heartwarming and humorous Pumbaa in nearly 6,500 shows throughout the past 19 years on Broadway and on tour. His two children, now in their teens, grew up in a family in which their dads work gear included not a briefcase, but a 50-pound warthog mask and costume. Asked how he keeps his performance fresh after so many productions, Lipitzs answer reveals the heart he invests in his role.

I love what I do every single day. The spectacle and joy of Lion King is not lost on me, nearly 20 years later, he said. There is a saying in show business, Perform every performance as if for the first time. I perform every show as if it were for the last time. I tell myself, Tonights show is the last one I will ever do and I will remember this show for the rest of my life. Thats the performance I am going to give.

The characters in the production are depicted through a Japanese style of puppetry called Bunraku with masks, some of which, like Pumbaas, are huge and comprise an actors full costume.

Its designed to be a double event, where you are seeing multiple things at once, and it layers in a richness to the performance. Thats what makes it so unique and special, said Lipitz. You see me as the actor manipulating the puppet, but you also lose sight of me and accept me as Pumbaa.

In his performance, Lipitz exhibits the heart, talent, sensitivity and humor that has made The Lion King the unforgettable experience that it is. He shares why the storys theme has a powerful personal impact in his life.

The year our son was born was the same year that I lost my father. If there was ever evidence of the circle of life being an absolute truism, it came to me with full force as I experienced the transformation from being a son to being a father.

Lipitz commented on the shows appeal to audiences of all ages.

I think adults are equally movedand sometimes more movedby the representation of life thats created onstage, bringing their life experience to the story. We are coming up on the 25th anniversary of the Broadway production, and I think what has made it a timeless and enduring work is its power to speak on so many levels. Experiencing that live and sharing it with your children can be a watershed moment for a family.

To date, more than 100 million people throughout the world have experienced the phenomenon of The Lion King.
Historic Port Royal Inc. has announced the reopening of The Port Royal Museum of American History on Saturday. The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and by special appointment.

New items on display include a restored 1830s officers saddle with an eagle head pommel and two rare 1848 Zachary Taylor campaign buttons on temporary loan located next to the new painting of the president.

During Womens History Month, the museum will highlight selected objects and their associations with influential women in history. Docents will emphasize the First Ladies influence on the stately china designs on display in the White House China Room. In the 18th-century silver display is the delicate creamer made by British silversmith Hester Bateman (1708-1794). Docents will also talk about businesswoman Dorothy Buckner Roy, who gained ownership of the Port Royals chartered tobacco warehouse around 1734; and Capt. Sally Tompkins, one of the few women recognized by the Confederacy for her medical successes during the Civil War. Located next door to the museum is the restored one-room African American School House, where its lone teacher Hortense B. Rich taught from 19241959.

While in town, visitors can stop by the Port Royal Medicine Museum, which can be toured at request or by appointment.

Visitors can also view a display showcasing HPRIs restoration accomplishments and ongoing projects.

For more information or to request an appointment, call HPRI President Carolyn Davis at 804/370-5285.

Staff reports
As the parents of Madelyn Ann Hoad welcomed their baby homeafter she spent her first six weeks in the NICUthey came to realize a lot of people played a part in her safe arrival.

Jessica Witter and Tyler Hoad got help from first responders, friends and strangers they encountered as they made a perilous journey from King George County to Mary Washington Hospital during the early January blizzard.

A fire department brush truck with a snow plow attached literally paved the way for the ambulance carrying Witter, whose life was in jeopardy, along with that of her unborn baby. Once she arrived at the hospital, the pregnant woman said she felt like she was in a medical TV drama as emergency workers enveloped herand then little Maddie, who was born more than 2 months earlywith care and concern.

I just wanted to thank everybody because I am so grateful for being alive and for our baby being alive, the mom said. It was honestly the most terrifying thing Ive ever experienced, I was bleeding to death. Everybody did everything they could to get us to the hospital safely.

Witter said its taken a while to kind of get back to normal and to resume a new routine as little Maddie has taken her place in the family. Witter has four older children and Hoad, one.

Their story illustrates the way a community came together to help a woman whose already high-risk pregnancy developed an even more dangerous complication at the worst possible time.

I cant overstate how the whole team came together to help, said Chief David Moody with King Georges Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services.

King George had triple the number of normal calls on that snowy day, Moody said, citing countless county workers and residents who stepped in to help.

HIGH RISK, TIMES THREE

Witter woke up on Jan. 3 to a raging snowstormand heavy bleeding. She wasnt due for another nine or 10 weeks and her labor hadnt started, but a serious complication was at work.

A few years earlier, Witter had an ablation, a procedure in which the uterus lining was removed to reduce menstrual bleeding. As she understood it, she couldnt get pregnant afterward, so when she and Hoad found out otherwise, that was a super surprise, she said.

But it also made her prone to miscarriage or problems with the pregnancy. Also, she would be age 35 by the time she delivered, which put her at higher risk. Her doctor also diagnosed a condition in which the placenta was too low in the cervix.

That made me high risk, times three, she said, noting shed seen a specialist who feared another problemthat the placenta would grow into the uterus. Pretty much, the scare was if I started bleeding, I would have uncontrollable bleeding and bleed out. I had a lot of stuff against me.

When the bleeding started, Hoad called 911 and learned the ambulance might not be able to get to their home in the Comorn area of King George. As much as 2 inches of snow was falling each hour and pine trees were snapping like twigs and covering roadways.

Hoad said hed try to get Witter to a nearby road to meet the ambulance, but couldnt get his car out of the driveway.

I was just chucking towels at her, trying to stop the bleeding, the father said. Ive never seen that amount of blood before.

WORST-CASE SCENARIO

As Witter started walking from the driveway, King George Sheriffs Deputy James Simmons pulled up in his Ford Explorer. His wife, Shawn, is the administrative health and safety chief with the countys fire and rescue department, and she knew Witter was facing a worst-case scenario.

She asked her husband if he could get to Witter. He loaded the couple into his Explorer and was trying to take them to meet the ambulance, but some areas looked like a bomb went off, Witter said.

People were cutting down trees to clear roadsand Hoad and Simmons joined in several times, trying to get the pregnant passenger through the snow. But when they reached one area where a massive tree was down, the deputy had to stop.

He saw a Jeep on the other side of the tree and asked the driver if hed take the emergency patient to meet the ambulance. Witter has no idea who the person wasand shed sure like to thank him. He lifted her into the Jeep, and off she and Hoad went. They waited at the top of a hill for the ambulance.

One rescue squad had been dispatched from Fairview Beach but couldnt get to the couple, and a second from company headquarters on State Route 3 was on another call. Shawn Simmons and Christina Degruy, whos pregnant with her third child, were able to take another ambulance and reach Witter.

Shawn Simmons also asked if the departments brush truck, with the plow in front, could come with the squad.

That really proved to be extremely vital, said Chief David Moody. Thats probably the only time in history that weve actually had to plow from King George County all the way to Mary Washington Hospital. It went the entire distance.

Even in Fredericksburg, roads were closed with jackknifed trucks and abandoned vehicles, and the squad had to detour through neighborhoods. Once Witter was dropped off at the hospital, the brush truck with the plowinitially manned by Rodney Ash and Kevin Cookprobably worked straight for the next 72 hours, assisting with calls, Moody said.

IN THE NICK OF TIME

Meanwhile, in the ambulance, Simmons and Degruy tried to keep the patient calm. Witters a dental assistant who regularly takes her patients blood pressure, so every time the machine checked her vitals, Witter got more and more anxious about her dropping pressure.

It took about 2 hours and 15 minutes for the entourage to reach the hospital.

They got me there and rushed me back to some room, she said. I felt like I was in a Greys Anatomy episode. There were like 10 to 15 people, all in masks and scrubs, asking questions and taking blood.

Hoad hadnt been able to ride with Witter in the ambulance, so the deputy took him to a nearby Sheetz where he put out his own call for help. A Facebook friend drove him to the hospital.

He got to her room in the nick of time, Witter said, right before she was taken into emergency surgery. The two were able to say goodbye, just in case, and she told him to tell all the kids she loved them. He later joked that it was part of her Im-gonna-die speech, but neither was laughing at that moment.

Surgeons delivered the baby through C-section and performed a hysterectomy to stop the mothers bleeding. She got two units of blood to make up for what shed lost.

Meanwhile, little Maddie was evaluated in the neonatal intensive care unit. She weighed 3 pounds. While her level of prematurity was one problem, an even bigger issue really was the circumstances of her birth, said Dr. Joshua Attridge, the neonatologist on duty. That kind of blood loss can be critical for both mother and baby, and Madelyn needed help breathing as well as a blood transfusion.

Newborns are tested after birth and given an Apgar score based on their heart rate, reflexes, muscle tone and breathing. Doctors like for babies to score between 6 and 8, Attridge said.

Madelyns score was 2. She really wasnt doing much on her own, not responding in the way we would have liked her to, he said.

The NICU put in place its golden hour process with a team that included a doctor, nurses and respiratory therapist along with the resuscitation equipment needed to help the baby breathe, said Nancy Young, the NICUs nurse manager. With the treatments, and over the course of several weeks, Madelyn eventually was able to breathe on her own. She also needed special IVs for feeding because she was unable to suck.

Most premature babies are able to leave the NICU when they reach what would have been their 36th to 38th week of gestation.

She was right at that point, Attridge said. Despite her rough start, she went home at 37 weeks, which was pretty impressive.

DESTINED FOR SOMETHING

Young spent at least 15 minutes every day with the parents when they visited Madelyn and she never heard the story about their perilous journey to the hospital until the day before the baby went home.

This mom and dad were so dedicated and devoted to being present and doing all the right things for Madelyn, Young said, adding how surprised she was when she heard about the trauma.

But now that little Maddies safe at home, Witter and Hoad have had time to reflect on what a tale theyll have to tell when shes older. Even with all that took place, Witter believes everything happened for a reason.

If it hadnt been snowing, her boyfriend wouldnt have been at home and she would have faced the emergency alone. Shes grateful the older children, who range in age from 4 to 11, were with other parents. It was traumatizing enough for her, she cant imagine how it would be for a child to see all that blood.

Witter and Hoad wonder what life has in store for little Maddie, given all she had to go through to get here. They laughed about comments the NICU nurses posted on Facebook, including one from Nurse Stephanie Crabil in which she described the babys mean mugs and the way she cuts her eyes. Fellow nurse Jessica Lee said Madelyn has the best expressions and her family will always know what shes thinking. No hiding that.

Witter believes her daughters little attitude illustrates her journey, so far.

She had to make her debut into this world extraordinary. Shes just defied all odds, the mother said, looking at her little one. Youre destined for something, baby girl, I just dont know what it is.

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Russias invasion of Ukraine has been at the forefront of news and conversation over the past week, and Ukraine native Andrew Moroz, teaching and vision pastor at Lynchburgs nondenominational Gospel Community Church, has followed developments with hope and anxiety.

Born in 1986 in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, Moroz moved to upstate New York with his parents in the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The family immigrated for opportunities to build a better life, Moroz said. Ukraine, at the time just emerging as its own nation, had limited economic opportunities for its citizens as it worked to find its footing as a democracy and build itself up, forcing many citizens to leave their homeland to sustain themselves.

Moroz has many aunts, uncles, and cousins living in and around Kyiv, which now is one of the most turbulent areas in the present conflict.

Im watching images of places that are being bombed  theyre places that Ive been, that Ive explored, Ive spent time with my family, Moroz said.

Pulling up a photo on his tablet taken a few years ago in Kyivs city center during a family visit, Moroz showed a beautiful, lively, peaceful place.

This was the Ukraine we experienced, Moroz said. Free, fun, especially in the summers, full of culture. Lots of people. Its very European in that way, but this place looks entirely different right now.

Three years ago, Moroz and his wife took their children to Ukraine for the first time so they could get to know their cultural background and extended family. Now ages nine, seven, and four, the childrens parents are trying to explain the reality of what is happening and how it might affect their family as they learn to cope and process it together.

A photo of a family reunion in Ukraine several years ago showed smiling faces, people of all ages gathered together outdoors under a sunny sky.

Swiping to a second photo, Moroz showed an image he recently received from a family friend unable to escape. Almost two dozen people huddled in a basement, sheltering from air strikes, listening to sirens and the sounds of violence outside as Russian and Ukrainian forces clash.

Theyve been there now for about four days, I think. Their kids are my kids age, Moroz said Monday. It really breaks my heart to see them experience this.

In the days leading up to Russias invasion of Ukraine, Moroz had hoped any conflict would stay limited to a couple of states in the eastern portion of Ukraine, where things already had been in turmoil. A full-scale invasion of the entire country, he said, was a shock.

I think Ukrainians are surprised at how far Putin took it. I dont think theyre surprised he attacked, Moroz said.

Some villages surrounding larger cities, even if they are not being shelled, are being pillaged of food and fuel by Russian troops, according to reports Moroz has heard.

When this first started, the Russian Federation didnt really pay a lot of attention to the villages, so they were relatively safe. The last couple days, though, as the conflict is moving forward, were hearing reports of them pillaging in these villages, he said Monday. People dont realize that. Its not a harmless, Were just going to do a strategic military strike. Real people are affected.

One family member was on their way to the border of Poland as Moroz spoke with The News & Advance on Monday, hoping to escape safely into one of the neighboring countries that is welcoming Ukrainian refugees.

The days and nights since the invasion are filled with as much anxiety as there is hope.

I go to bed every night restless, and I wake up at night, and I dare not open my phone, because Im not sure if Ukraine is still a nation, Moroz said.

There is great pain in watching his home nation struggle so valiantly, Moroz said  and he wrestles with a sense of survivors guilt.

In some way, [Im] feeling guilty that Im not over there, that Im not able to tangibly help, he said. So thats hard to know that theyre suffering, and not being able to join them in that.

Moroz is not idle, however. He and his family channel their efforts into supporting the Ukrainian people however they can, and strive to encourage their friends and family as they communicate daily.

What I can do is advocate. What I can do is tell the story. I can relate live information, and help filter it through the grid of what others are hearing from other media sources. We can pray; were doing that. We can lead others to pray and share the story, he said.

Last Sunday, Feb. 27, Morozs congregation did just that. He snapped a photo of the prayer time and sent it to his friends and relatives in Ukraine. Seeing that others cared enough to take time out of their normal routine to pray for them and their country provided encouragement for which Morozs connections expressed gratitude.

The invasion has been hard on multiple sides, Moroz added. An important distinction he made is the Russian government, not the Russian people, is the problem.

Ive been telling people along the way, the Russian people are not a threat. Theyre good people, he said. Ukrainians have had good relationships with Russian people throughout different parts of history. Theres not animosity towards the people themselves. Theres animosity toward the regime, and toward what that stands for.

Some reports indicate many Russian soldiers did not know they were about to invade a peaceful neighbor. They were told they were engaging in a military training exercise, and suddenly found themselves in a foreign country, told to target civilians, among other orders. The New York Times recently reported the Pentagon said some Russian soldiers have been surrendering en masse, or sabotaging their own military vehicles to avoid fighting.

Moroz spoke of these reports as well, though he emphasized he was not always certain what was propaganda and what was factual about these reports.

In many ways, watching the conflict and the unwavering resolve of the Ukrainian people in the face of seemingly hopeless odds is as inspiring as it is heartbreaking.

To me, its just confirmed what I always knew. Ukrainians, they have a way of finding resources; they have a way of making things work that shouldnt work, Moroz said. I think it goes back to making much of little. Historically and culturally, thats just the way theyve had to operate: making more of the little they have. That gives me such hope for the future. Imagine what they could do if they were actually appropriately resourced. Imagine the way they could impact the globe, if they were appropriately resourced, if people didnt have to leave Ukraine to find other places to flourish like my family did in the early 90s.

This war, while tragic, is an opportunity for Ukraine to solidify itself as a democracy, Moroz added, and he believes the nation is doing just that.

Even if the worst happens, and Ukraines government falls, Moroz said Ukrainians will not submit to a puppet government. As in the Orange Revolution of 2004-2005, when Ukrainians stood up for  and in some cases, died for  democracy as their young government faced pressure from Russia to adopt a regime like Russias, Moroz believes there would be drawn-out conflict, with fighting in the streets. That is why defense in this moment is critical, he said.

To support Ukraine from afar, Moroz offered several suggestions for those with a burden to help.

Urging representatives and senators to do more to aid Ukraine and keep the conversation going is important, he said.

Being ambassadors of truth is another key way to help, by sharing factual, accurate information from Kyiv and Ukraine as a whole. News sources such as The Kyiv Independent and certain Ukraine-based journalists such as Victor Tregubov, who can be found on Twitter, are news sources Moroz recommended as reliable. Media literacy and discernment, especially in the face of Russias reputation for expertise in misinformation, are crucial to be mindful of.

Supporting nationally known aid organizations is another opportunity to assist.

Perhaps one of the most important ways to show support, Moroz said, is communicating empathy to those who are hurting.

I hope other people can enter into that pain with us, and Im finding that generally, people are willing to do that here. You dont have to be Ukrainian to feel the pain, Moroz said. We should care. And we should all consider how we could help.

Ukrainians continued holding their ground Tuesday as international leaders further strategized ways to aid the nation.

During a moment of quiet, one of Morozs Ukraine friends messaged him: ...we quickly climbed out of the basement to cook, eat, wash the children, and myself! What a joy to wash your head, brush your teeth, we all do as soldiers, very quickly, at any moment you have to run to the shelter! Our city is surrounded when Im writing.

Pain still is deep, as shown in a message from a relative: I dont know why politicians look from the outside at how people are being killed in the heart of Europe, how Ukraine is being killed in front of the whole world???

The sender of this message added how grateful they were for the outpouring of support and prayer from people around the world.

I admire the participation of people in our grief, in my personal grief, the sender wrote, before having to sign off to conserve phone battery. I need to pray for my soldiers, for my country, for my president.

Moroz emphasized he is not a military strategist or politician, but being born and raised in Ukraine and staying connected with his homeland and family there gave him insights and perspective to offer as he works to keep the Ukraine conversation going. He hopes to see world leaders do more to assist Ukraine in this pivotal moment.

Its a story that has to be told, and we have to rally, Moroz said. Im not an international leader. Im a local church leader. But there are people that are international leaders that have more authority, more power, and more influence, and the more people like us talk about this stuff, the more they hear about it. The more pressure and empathy they begin to experience. And I think both is appropriate. We want them to feel empathy, and we want them to have a little pressure. This is urgent.
DOES ANYONE remember how to duck and cover?

Elementary school students went through those drills in the 1950s and 60s during the height of the Cold War when the nuclear threat was very real.

Do we need to revive those drills in the face of implied nuclear threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin?

During my generations childhood, whenever we heard a loud boom we looked in the direction of Washington, D.C., and hoped a mushroom cloud didnt rise up above the horizon. Washington, we were warned, would be a primary target of the Russians because they would want to take out the seat of American government.

Well, Washington is still 60 miles away from most of us and it is still the Nations Capitol. It would almost certainly be a prime target in any nuclear exchange with the Russians.

We thought we were past worrying about nuclear war, especially since the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union dissolved. But as I have said in a number of columns over the years, the nuclear warheads are still there and ours are aimed at Russia and Russias are aimed at us.

The amazing thing about the nuclear age is that since we dropped two bombs on Japan in 1945, no country has waged war with the H-bomb, the A-bomb or anything in between. Could Putin be the leader who breaks the chain?

A reader called me the other night and for 20 minutes screamed that America and the rest of the free world is not doing enough to stop Putins invasion of the Ukraine. When I asked her what she would suggest doing that we arent already doing she replied that she didnt know.

This Ukraine business is a complex and dangerous matter. Vladimir Putin is, as he proved last week with his nuclear high alert statement, a very dangerous and unpredictable man. Knowing that most of the world was against him, he did not hesitate to invade Ukraine despite promised repercussions from the West.

He was almost certain the West would not try to stop him with military action and that economic sanctions would not be severe. Many feel, however, that the Russian president was not prepared for the tough sanctions and the solidarity that have followed his invasion.

Now what does he do? That is the big question. Putin many not be concerned about what the Russian people thinkno leader back to Ivan the Terrible hasbut he has to be concerned about what other high-level members of the Communist Party think.

Now more questions arise. How strong is his hold on power? Could there be a coup? Could he be deposed?

And what does he do if he is backed into a corner by sanctions or the prospect of a coup? Is the man unstable enough to say, they might get me but Im going to take the rest of the world with me? Im sure he has the launch codes and the authority to send missiles in every direction. It is a frightening proposition.

So now we sit back and wonder how Putin will respond to all the sanctions his country now faces. Will there be cyber attacks? Will he go off the deep end and attack the West?

Historians will recall how Japan responded when America imposed oil and scrap metal sanctions on that country in 1941. Pushed into a corner, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

And what of China? Putin had talks with the Chinese before the Ukraine invasion. Whose side is that country on?

With all due respect to the lady who called me, this is a very complex situation. We want to stop Putins aggression, but we do not want to start a nuclear war.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedys battle was as much with his own military as it was with the Soviets. Several generals wanted to bomb Russia and be done with it. Biden must be strong because he will likely face similar hawks if this situation escalates.

In past crises there have been cries of Bomb Iran and Bomb Iraq but not even the most hawkish of Republicans are calling for us to bomb Russia.

They do make one good point, however. If the Ukranian population did not have guns, they would have no way to defend themselves against the Russian invaders.

Rifles may not stand up to tanks, but an armed population will give Russian soldiers something to think about.

Lets hope cooler heads prevail because we are only 60 miles from Washington.

And no one wants to duck and cover.
The Ascott Limited, the leading international lodging owner-operator, has entered the Omani market with the launch of its vibrant brand Citadines in the capital of Oman.

Citadines Al Ghubrah Muscat opened its doors to guests, and commemorates its presence with a Special Opening offer of Triple ASR points and up to 60% off on bookings, as part of its Ascott Star Rewards (ASR) loyalty programme.

The Ascott Limited brings an innovative perspective of the authentic apart-hotel concept to the country, through a new 96-unit stellar property, specially designed for the versatile and independent global citizen; delivering a fresh, functional and fulfilling lifestyle to every type of guest.

Boasting lavishly decorated spacious living spaces and adorned with sophistication, Citadines Al Ghubrah Muscat houses a variety of apartments for guests to choose from.

Business travellers can opt to stay in urban Studio Deluxe apartments, ideal for extended stays and fully equipped with a contemporary-styled kitchen. For the solo and on-the-go traveller, the chic Studio Premier apartments offer guests a relaxing stay with views of the citys scenic skyline.

The elegantly designed One-Bedroom Executive and Premier apartments provide the perfect recluse to unwind, seamlessly styled to make guests feel right at home. Furthermore, residents can take advantage of the propertys state-of-art amenities including a swimming pool, gymnasium, residents lounge, restaurant, ball room, meeting rooms and a coffee shop.

Vincent Miccolis, Managing Director for The Ascott Limited Middle East, Africa, Turkey and India says: Oman is a very popular international tourist destination and has immense growth potential for the tourism and hospitality industries. The Ministry of Tourism in Oman is proactively investing in expanding this industry, with the aim to develop the country as one of the top travel destinations in the world. We are proud to establish Ascotts presence in Muscat with the launch of the Citadines brand that caters to the global citizen, and compliments the flexibility and practicality of a serviced residence with a blend of locally-influenced experiences.

Citadines Al Ghubrah Muscat offers guests and visitors a home-away-from-home experience in the heart of Muscat, conveniently situated steps away from Sultan Qaboos Road, Muscats arterial link to the citys International Airport.

The new property is located within business and leisure districts including exhibition centres, the largest shopping malls, embassies, tourist attractions, beaches and national parks.

Commenting on their partnership, Mohamed Hamed Salim Al Ruzaiqi, Group Chairman, Al Ruzaiqy Group said: We feel proud to introduce our first hotel in Oman, that is managed by the Ascott Group. Offering luxury service apartments with international standards, Citadines Al Ghubrah Muscat is the place to be at for business and leisure travellers.

Property guests are guaranteed a cultural extravaganza into the sultanates deep-rooted heritage, from picturesque natural landscapes to discovering Omans vibrant marine life.

Adventure enthusiasts can explore the magnificent dunes with an exciting desert safari experience, while foodies can indulge in an alluring selection of local culinary offerings.

Citadines Al Ghubrah Muscat, ideally nestled near the central business district and Omans natural paradise, is the residence of choice ensuring every guest has a unique and memorable time.-- TradeArabia News Service
The Capital Wing of the Commemorative Air Force based in Culpeper and the Delaware Aviation Museum Foundation announced its tour schedule for the 2022 Warbird Showcase.

World War II aircraft will be flying at 12 cities in six states this year as a tribute to the thousands of men and women who built, serviced and flew them.

A Capital Wing Meet-and-Greet will launch the aviation events Saturday, April 23, at Culpeper Regional Airport. As always, rides in the warbirds will be available to the public.

Mothers Day weekend May 78 at Warrenton Airport will see the debut of Women and Girls Can Fly! featuring three women pilots. One flies the B-25 and is a retired Southwest Airlines captain who flew Boeing 737s. Another female member flies the Fairchild F24 and a Falcon 7X jet in her day job. The third woman is a student pilot flying a Piper TriPacer.

A WWII Weekend will be held June 35 in Reading, Pa., at which riders in the TBM Avenger will be flying exactly 80 years to the day of the Battle of Midway where the planes were heavily involved.

An Independence Day celebration July 3 at the airport in Martinsburg, W. Va., will enjoy fly-bys of the TBM Avenger and Stearman bi-plane as well as fireworks at night.

Other cities on the 2022 Warbirds Tour are Cumberland, Md.; Ashland/Richmond; Frederick, Md.; Manteo, N.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Hagerstown, Md.; Leesburg; and Georgetown, Del.

At each event, the public can be a passenger in these historic flyers, including a meticulously restored 1945 TBM Avenger torpedo bomber, 1945 North American B-25 twin-engine twin-tailed bomber Panchito, a 1943 Stinson L-5 Sentinel and a 1942 Boeing PT-17 Stearman open cockpit bi-plane.

Warbird rides allow the public to sit in the exact same seats as did those of another generation 80 years ago. Many riders are overcome with emotion if their grandfathers or fathers flew in these same type warbirds.

For more information, contact 443/458-8926; capitalwingwarbirdrides.org; CapitalWingRides@gmail.com or Webmaster@DelawareAviationMuseum.org.Warbird rides with these nonprofit historic flying groups are priced to fit every budget and can be purchased on site, if available.
PLATTSMOUTH  Another political leader has come forward to endorse Robert Sorenson as the next sheriff for Cass County.

Weeping Water Mayor Michael Barrett announced this week hes supporting Sorenson to replace the current sheriff, William Brueggemann, who is retiring.

Sorenson is a Plattsmouth police officer currently serving as the school resource officer for Plattsmouth Community Schools.

Hes got experience and I think hell do a good job, Barrett said.

The mayor recalled how Sorenson visited the communitys City Council to discuss his goals for that position, as well as taking questions from the council.

Hes the only candidate to visit with us, Barrett said.

Sorenson has done that elsewhere, according to Barrett.

He seems to be the only candidate that has gone everywhere listening to people, Barrett said. To me, thats important.

Barrett joins an endorsement list that includes Plattsmouth Mayor Paul Lambert.

Hes an excellent Plattsmouth police officer and has been with us a number of years, Lambert said. Hes a community leader who takes part in lots of activities.

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 34 has announced its unanimous support for Sorenson. According to the countys election office, Sorenson, who lives in Nehawka, is one of two men seeking that position.

The other is Lawrence Burke of Louisville.

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Over the last decade running Woodcliff Restaurant, Brooke Goracke said she's served those who have lived in the lakefront community for more than 50 years.

"We hear all of the stories about the previous owners and just the history of the lake itself, and it's fun to be a part of that," she said.

From casual dinners to special occasions, Woodcliff Restaurant has given both residents within Woodcliff Lake and those from outside the area a relaxed dining and drinking experience.

The restaurant is open 5-9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 5-8:30 p.m. on Sunday at 980 County Road W.

Growing up in Fremont, Goracke attended culinary school in Minneapolis, working at Lord Fletcher's Old Lake Lodge.

"It was on a lake just like this about three times the size," she said. "They had three kitchens, a huge wharf that had 60 boat slips, so I fell in love with the ambiance of it."

Goracke returned to Omaha, where she cooked for locations like V. Mertz and M's Pub for six years.

"Then once this place came available, I wanted to snag it up," she said. "So here we are."

Started in 1965 by John Poehling, Woodcliff Lakes is a private lakeside housing development about 4 miles south of Fremont. In the '70s, Poehling and his wife, Diane, started the small bar.

Having seen several owners since then, the lakeside restaurant was sold to Goracke by Joe and Kathy Watson in June 2010. The location features a bar and dining area, while a recent addition added a party room to the building.

"The back room is curtained off from the main dining room, and we can host anniversary parties, rehearsal dinners are very popular, birthday parties, all sorts of things," Goracke said.

Woodcliff serves everything from catfish to steaks, with its signature burger, "The Woody," as one of its most popular items, featuring seasoned sour cream, cheese, Portobello mushroom fries and onion rings on a hand-pattied burger.

"We also offer a New York strip that never leaves the menu that has my dad's signature peppercorn sauce on it," Goracke said. "And our menu changes seasonally. We change it twice a year just to offer more seasonal options."

The restaurant's specials include $13.95 steak night on Wednesdays, burger night on Thursdays, karaoke on Saturdays, half-price wine night on Sundays. Additionally, the first Friday of every month is catfish night.

With more than 400 homes and cabins at Woodcliff, Goracke said she wanted to always accommodate for them with the restaurant.

"We do a lot of community fundraisers and things like that to support the community, and they do a lot of changes on the lake too for the beautification and upkeep," she said. "So just seeing the things that've changed throughout the years have been really fun to be a part of."

Since taking over the restaurant, Goracke said she's been appreciative of the "incredible" community.

"It's almost like a family, so we like to offer that ambiance when you come in," she said. "We want you to feel at home and feel like part of our family here."

Although Goracke said it took a while for people outside of the Woodcliff community to find the restaurant, she said the spot has been especially popular with from Omaha restaurants.

"They like to come out here because they don't have to fight parking downtown and whatnot," she said. "But Fremont is a big pull. Growing in Fremont, I have a lot of connections and people that I know there, so they have supported us really well."

Whether they're from out of town or just down the street, Goracke said Woodcliff Restaurant's customers have enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and staff, including chef Sam Trahan.

"Our food is incredible, my chef has been here since day one, so he has created really good relationships with our guests with his food," she said. "So things have been really great."

Like Goracke, Trahan said he's enjoyed meeting with the Woodcliff community in his role.

"They've just been very welcoming to us over the last 11 years, and I've just been learning under Brooke and taking over the kitchen and just growing into that," he said.

Thanking her staff for their hard work over the years, Goracke said she's always excited to interact with the customers at Woodcliff Restaurant.

"It's really fun to be able to be with the customers as well and get out of the kitchen and be able to interact with our guests," she said, "and be able to just ensure that they have a wonderful experience from start to finish."

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The UN special envoy for Afghanistan said on March 2 that the international community has not done enough to revive the countrys economy as it heads toward a point of irreversibility, while the United States said it is the responsibility of the ruling Taliban to create the conditions for economic stability.

The envoy, Deborah Lyons, told the UN Security Council that Afghanistan is nearing a tipping point that will see more businesses close, more people unemployed and falling into poverty.

Afghanistans long-troubled economy has been in a tailspin since the Taliban took over last August as U.S. and NATO forces wrapped up their chaotic withdrawal from the country after 20 years.

Nearly 80 percent of the previous governments budget came from the international community. That money, now cut off, financed hospitals, schools, factories, and government ministries.

Desperation for basic necessities has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and health-care shortages, drought, and malnutrition.

Lyons welcomed a U.S. Treasury decision to issue a general license aimed at facilitating commercial and financial activity and allowing work with all governing institutions, with restrictions on individuals facing sanctions.

But she said challenges remain, including weak demand without foreign development aid, restrictions on international payments, and constraints on the central bank.

Lyons said the UN political mission she heads has taken all conceivable measures to inject liquidity into the economy," including physically importing cash. And it is seeking to establish a temporary humanitarian exchange facility to scale up aid efforts that would provide access to U.S. dollars to legitimate businesses so they can import goods.

U.S. Deputy Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said the onus" is on the Taliban to restore economic stability. The United States wants Afghanistan's central bank to take on normal activities, he said, but its not up to us.

He noted President Joe Biden's executive order of February 11 to free $7 billion in Afghan assets now frozen in the United States, splitting the money between humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and a fund for victims of the September 11 terror attack that killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States.

No money will be immediately released, and DeLaurentis said no decision has been made on how the funds for Afghanistan relief will eventually be used, saying that will require wide consultations.

Aside from that money, the United States remains the largest donor to the United Nations' humanitarian operations in Afghanistan, contributing $308 million so far this year. DeLaurentis urged donors to contribute generously at an upcoming conference to address Afghanistans humanitarian crisis.

Russias deputy UN ambassador, Anna Evstigneeva, criticized the 20-year U.S. mission in Afghanistan as having left the country worse off. She welcomed the humanitarian pledging conference but said it wasn't enough to ensure lasting post-conflict recovery in Afghanistan.

With a paralyzed banking system and wide unemployment, the people of Afghanistan remain on the edge of subsistence, even ready to sell their own children, to say nothing of human organs, Evstigneeva said.

She said some countries are trying to postpone the release of assets and put it on the back burner, pointing to Bidens executive order, which she said appears to be nothing less than a mockery.

The attempt to make the innocent people of Afghanistan responsible for this tragedy looks immoral, the Russian envoy said.

A key factor in the Afghan financial crisis is the refusal of the United States and its allies to recognize the Taliban.

DeLaurentis acknowledged the economic and humanitarian problems plaguing Afghanistan but said the root was the Taliban's decision to seek power by force, rather than through negotiation.

Our attention to Afghanistans immense humanitarian and economic needs cannot distract us from continuing to demand that women, girls, and members of minority groups be fully able to enjoy their rights and participate in political, economic, and social life in Afghanistan, he said.

With public schools scheduled to reopen throughout Afghanistan this month, DeLaurentis said the United States will be watching carefully to see if girls and women are able to access education at all levels, as the Taliban have publicly committed.

Evstigneeva said the Taliban has demonstrated readiness to establish constructive interaction with the international community, pointing to efforts to address political, socioeconomic, humanitarian, and human rights problems and a decree ordering measures to uphold the rights of women.

She said Russia still notes the Taliban's unmet promises, including having all major ethnic and political forces be part of the government. Lyon said the UN political mission has tried to act as a bridge-builder with the Taliban, saying that we do not believe we can truly assist the Afghan people without working with the de facto authorities."
Chipotle Mexican Grill opens at 10:45 a.m. Friday in the Victory Ridge development southeast of InterQuest and Voyager parkways, becoming the latest national restaurant brand to expand to the red-hot InterQuest area in northern Colorado Springs.

The location, at 1846 Democracy Point, will be the first Chipotle in the Springs to offer what the California-based chain calls its "Chipotlane"  a drive-thru pickup lane.

Customers who order and pay for their food on the Chipotle app, at Chipotle.com or via marketplace vendors can select their pickup time and drive to the pickup window to grab their food without leaving their vehicles. Chipotle introduced the Chipotlane concept in 2019.

The first 50 people in line for Friday's opening will receive free Chipotle merchandise. The restaurant  which joins In-N-Out Burger, Whataburger, Slim Chickens, Fuzzy's Tacos, Panda Express and several other familiar chains in the InterQuest area  will be open until 10 p.m. daily.


Against rising hate crimes against Muslims, polarization and widening rift along communal lines, these Twitter pages run by Muslims are making an effort to alleviate the differences and bring forth stories of harmony and the syncretic culture of India.

Midhat Fatimah | TwoCircles.net

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NEW DELHI  Amid the ongoing Hijab row in Karnataka and rising cases of hate crimes against Indian Muslims, many Twitter handles run by Muslim youth have emerged as a platform for the countrys largest minority to raise voice against hate, highlight community achievements, and share the history of the community not covered by the mainstream media.

Ali Sherwani runs a Twitter handle The Muslims Of India, which he started in 2018 with the help of a few like-minded people.

The issue of persecution and denial of rights to Muslims is not new. Earlier the issues could not reach the masses as easily. Today, social media has enabled increased visibility to the issues of the community, Sherwani told TwoCircles.net.

The Muslims of India was started to connect Indian Muslims and network. The handle regularly shares the communitys achievements and has over 9,000 followers. The Indian Muslim community is doing some stellar work across the country at the individual as well as at the institutional level. However, such news rarely reaches the public because unfortunately, the private media is very Delhi-centric, Sherwani said.

Against the backdrop of rising hate crimes against Muslims, polarization and widening rift along communal lines in India, some of these Twitter pages run by Muslims are making an effort to alleviate the differences and bring forth stories of harmony and the syncretic culture of India.

Lessons on Indo-Islamic culture during his college years inspired Ati Ullah, a medical practitioner, to start a Facebook page in 2009 that focussed on the Indo-Muslim culture, contribution of Indian Muslims and Indias syncretism. In 2015, he decided to switch to Twitter and now his page Indo Islamic Culture has over 35,000 followers. I realized that for my target audience, Twitter is a better platform as it gives a better shot at taking discussions to a global level with a very concise piece of information.

I do share news around the current issues faced by Muslims but my focus has remained on diminishing the misconceptions and prejudice against Muslims, he said.

In 2017, when Umar Ashraf, who runs another similar Twitter page Muslims of India shared an article on the camaraderie between Indian freedom fighter Babu Kunwar Singh and Muslims, he received an emotional message from Singhs great-grandson thanking the Muslim community for their contribution to the freedom struggle.

Ashraf recalls the impact was such that Babu Kunwar Singhs great-grandson stopped sharing anti-Muslim posts.

Although these Twitter accounts sharing stories about Muslim issues, culture and history receive appreciation, they have also received an unwarranted amount of attention from the right-wing trolls on Twitter. Issue of trolling exists on Facebook as well but on Twitter, trolling is very systematically done. I have had to take several precautions to reduce the amount of trolling, said Ati Ullah.

Sherwani believes there is no point in trying to fight the right-wing trolls. We have received threats from the trolls but I believe it is better to delete the person and block the account. Right-wing trolls are like salespeople who are selling hate. There is no point in engaging with them, he said.

He said that Twitter accounts run by Muslims are run by the efforts of an odd number of individuals whereas the right-wing engages in trolling in a coordinated effort.

Through Twitter, the Muslim community has found a way to put our issues in the public domain and get them highlighted through hashtags but the use of Twitter has also made Muslims an easy target for laws like UAPA as there is still need to educate people on how they can effectively engage online and avoid trouble, said Ashraf whose Twitter account shares information about Muslim personalities and their contributions.

Last year in March, handles with significant reach amplifying Indian Muslims issues were suspended by Twitter. The accounts included Indian Muslimahs, Indian Muslims, Indias Muslims among others. Each account had over 20,000 followers and consistently shared issues about the Indian Muslim community. The accounts remain suspended to date, despite Twitter receiving criticism for its alleged technocratic silencing of Muslim voices.

I have never been part of any online controversial debate but both the pages I run were suspended by Twitter without any explanation for two months which were later restored but my personal account was never recovered so I had to create a new one, said Ashraf.

Sherwani believes there is a clear bias against Muslims in India. Today, we need to be very cautious considering the kind of system that is working against Muslims, he added.

Midhat Fatimah is a freelance journalist based in Delhi. She tweets at @MidhatFatimah
How to help

Send checks to Ukrainians of Colorado, P.O. Box 150054 Lakewood, CO 80215. Make the checks out to Ukrainians of Colorado. You can also send money via Zelle to Ukrainians of Co.

Locations and times to bring medical supplies:

East Alameda Dental, 14591 E. Alameda Ave., Aurora, 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday

West Arvada Pharmacy, 10382 Ralston Road Arvada, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday

Ukrainians for Colorado website: